Chapter I. Its nature and its properties

Article I

In what pu/rUy ofhea/rt consists.

Purity of heart consists in having nothing therein which is, in however small a degree, opposed to God and the operation of His grace.

All the creatures there are in the world, the whole order of nature as well as of grace, and all the leadings of Providence, have been so disposed as to remove from our souls whatever is contrary to God. For never shall we attain unto God until we have corrected, cut off, and destroyed, either in this life or in the next, every thing that is contrary to God.

Article II

How necessa/ry purity ofhea/rt is to us, The first means towards the attainment of perfection is purity of heart ; by it alone a St. Paul hermit, a St. Mary of Egypt, and so many other holy solitaries attained thereto. Next after purity of heart come the precepts and spiritual doctrine to be found in books ; then direction and faithful co-operation with graces bestowed. This is the high road of perfection.

We must devote our whole care to the purifying of our heart, because there lies the root of all our evils.

To be able to conceive how requisite purity of heart is to us, it would be necessary fully to comprehend the natural corruption of the human heart. There is in us a very depth of malice, which we do not perceive, because we never seriously examine our own interior. If we did, we should find therein a multitude of desires and irregular appetites for the honours, the pleasures, and the comforts of the world unceasingly fermenting in our heart.

We are so full of false ideas and erroneous judgments, of disorderly affections, passions, and malice, that we should stand confounded at ourselves, could we see ourselves such as we are. Let us imagine ourselves a muddy well, from which water is continually being drawn : at first, what comes up is scarcely any thing but mud ; but by dint of drawing, the well is gradually cleansed, and the water becomes purer, until at last it is as clear as crystal. In like manner, by labouring incessantly to purge our soul, the ground of it becomes gradually cleared, and God manifests His presence by powerful and marvellous effects which He works in the soul, and through it, for the good of others.

When the heart is thoroughly cleansed, Grod fills the soul and all its powers, the memory, the understanding, and the will, with His holy presence and love. Thus purity of heart leads to union with God, and no one ordinarily attains thereto by other means.

The shortest and the surest way of attaining to perfection, is to study purity of heart rather than the exercise of virtues, because Grod is ready to bestow all manner of graces upon us, provided we put no obstacles in their way. Now it is by purifying our heart that we clear away every thing which hinders the work of Qod. When all impediments are removed, it is inconceivable what wonderful effects God produces in the souL St. Ignatius used to say, that even Saints put great obstacles in the way of God's graces. p § in. Without an abundant supply of grace, we shall never do any excellent acts of virtue ; and we shall never obtain this abundant supply, till we have thoroughly purged our heart. But when once we have reached this perfect purity of heart, we shall practise those virtues, an opportunity for which is furnished us ; and with respect to others, an opportunity of which may not occur, we shall possess the spirit, and so to say, the essence of them, which is what Gk)d principally requires ; for it is very possible to perform an act of some particular virtue without possessing its spirit and essence.

Of all the exercises of the spiritual life, there is none against which the devil directs more opposition than the study of purity of heart. He will let us perform some exterior acts of virtue, accuse ourselves publicly of our faults, serve in the kitchen, visit the hospitals and prisons, because we sometimes content ourselves with all this, and it serves to flatter us and to prevent interior remorses of conscience ; but he cannot endure that we should look into our own heart, examine its disorders, and apply ourselves to their correction. The heart itself recoils from nothing so much as this search and scrutiny, which makes it see and feel its own miseries. All the powers of our soul are disordered beyond measure, and we do not wish to know it, because the knowledge is humiliating to us.

Article III

The order to he observed in pwrUy ofheourt, cmd the different degrees of purity.

The order to be observed in cleansing the heart is, first, to note all venial sins, and correct them; secondly, to observe the disorderly movements of the heart, and amend them ; thirdly, to keep watch over the thoughts, and regulate them; fourthly, to recognise the inspiration of God, His designs, His will, and encourage ourselves to the accomplishment of them. All this must be done calmly, joining therewith a true devotion to our Lord, which comprises a lofty conception of His greatness, a profound reverence for His person and for every thing belonging to Him, as well as the love and imitation of HinL There are four degrees of purity, and to these we may attain by a faithful co-operation with grace. The first is, to free ourselves from actual sins and the penalty due unto them. The second, to get rid of our evil habits and disorderly affections. The third, to deliver ourselves from that original corruption which is called,/bme» peccati, the aliment of sin, which is in all the powers of our soul, and in all the members of our body, as is manifest in children, who have the inclination to evil before they yet have the power of actually committing it. The fourth, to shake off that weakness which is natural to us, as creatures taken out of nothingness, which is called defectibility.

The first degree is attained mainly by penance. The second, by mortification and the exercise of the other virtues. The third, by the sacraments, which operate within us the grace of our renewal The fourth, by our union with God, who being our beginning and the source of our being, can alone strengthen us against the weaknesses to which our nothingness of itself draws us down.

A soul may attain to a degree of purity at which it has such complete dominion over its imagination and its powers, that they have no longer any exercise, except in the service of God. In this state it can will nothing, remember nothing, think of nothing, hear nothing, but what has to do with God ; so that if in conversation, vain and frivolous discourse were held, it would have to recollect itself, for lack of ideas or images whereby to understand what was said, or to retain the remembrance of it.