Letter XVII. To a Man Tempted

Rome, November 28, 1544.

JHUS.

May the supreme grace and love of Christ Our Lord ever favour us continuously and help us.

Impossible as it is for me to fail in any way in the very affectionate and very sincere goodwill that animates my soul towards you, I will answer briefly your letter and that of Master Lainez stating whatever it is given me to judge in Our Lord.

First: With regard to your going and living in

7o your own country, I can conceive nothing that would be worse for you, or which you ought more to abhor, as I have on other occasions explained to you at length, and as past experiences and examples have proved.

Second: With regard to your residing and remaining in the same house with our community, I do not think I can give my assent, nor is my mind easy as to its advantages; partly because you do not derive from it the benefit you desire — the case might be different if you did, — partly on account of the sorrow both you and ours experience from the fact that they cannot help you as they would. All things considered, I should certainly deem it the safer course, and the best and most profitable in Our Lord, that you should take some residence of your own away from our house in your neighbourhood, but in good company, that you should use your means for good in your own country, and so make trial of yourself for a year, going often to Confession, and sometimes in the ' week meeting some of ours. For the rest you might attend some courses of lectures, more with the object of strengthening and straightening your character than of acquiring scholastic knowledge for other purposes, and give yourself to healthy conversations and recreations which do not soil the soul, for to possess an unsoiled soul is better than to be lord of all created things. Afterwards, when you have secured and deepened, by means of internal consolations and spiritual appetite, the repose and quiet of your mind, it would be most profitable to study

7i for other purposes, according to your capacity, internal and external. Above all I ask you for the love and reverence of God Our Lord that you should be mindful of the past and consider that the earth is the earth, whether it be your own country or a foreign land.*

May God Our Lord through His infinite and supreme goodness deign to give us His abundant grace so that we may perceive His most holy will and accomplish it entirely.

From Rome, November 28, 1544.