Letter 18. To Madame De Chantal. on Abjection

TO MADAME DE CHANTAL. ON ABJECTION.

May God aid me to answer your letter of July 9 profitably. I desire greatly to do so, but I foresee that I shall not have leisme to express my thoughts.

You are right, my daughter, to speak quite openly to me, as to one whom God has given to you wholly. You say that you are putting your hand somewhat to the work; — ^thank God. That is a great comfort to me. Go on doing so, put your hand somewhat to the work, spin every day some little, whether it be in the day by the light of interior sweetness, or at night by the lamplight of helplessness and barrenness. The Wise Man says of the virtuous woman, “ Her hands hold the distaflf.” * I could say much about these words. Your spindle is a mass of good desires; spin every day a little; carry out the thread of your wishes in^o execution, and you will do much. But beware of hurry \ that would lead you to make knots in your thread, and spoil your work. Let us go on quietly; however slowly we advance, we shall make great progress really.

Your powerlessness hinders you; — ^because, you say, it prevents your recoUectedness, and nearness to God. But this is not the right way to put it: God places us where we are for His greater Glory, and our own profit He would make our misery the throne of His Mercy; — our powerlessness the seat of His Omnipotence. Did not God cause Samson’s great power to lie in his hair, ordinarily the weakest part of his frame? Let me hear no more of this from a daughter * Prov. xxxi. 19.

who seeks to serve God according to His Divine Pleasure, not according to her own tastes and likings. Job said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” No, my daughter, this want of power does not hinder you from recollecting yourself; it only hinders you from self-satisfaction.

We are for ever wanting this and that, and although our Dear Lord rests within our bosom, we are not satisfied; yet surely that is all we can desire. One thing only we need; — to be near Him.

My dear daughter, you know that at the Nativity the shepherds heard the Angels' song of triumph; — but we are not told that Our Lady and S. Joseph, nearest of all as they were to the Holy Child, either heard the angelic song or saw the supernatural light Rather they heard the new-born babe weep, and by some wretched lantern they saw the Infant God shivering with cold. Yet would you not rather have been with them in the manger, than with the shepherds who were abiding in the field? “ It is good for us to be here,” S. Peter said, as on this very day, on the Mount of Transfiguration; but your Mistress (the Blessed Virgin) was not there. She was on Mount Calvary, surrounded by the nails, the thorns, the thick darkness, the utter desolation, and death.

Enough, my daughter; love God amid all darkness. Abide by Him. Love your abjection. Do you? You reply, What do you mean? What I mean is this. If you continue humble, calm, gentle, trustful amid obscurity and powerlessness \ if you are not impatient, not hurried, or eager; — ^if you take up your cross simply and cheerfully, that is loving abjection. What is it to be abject, but to be obscure and helpless? If you love such a lot, for His Sake Who wills it to be yours, you are loving abjection.

The Latin word implies humility; and when our Lady says, “ He hath regarded the lowliness of His Handmaiden,”* she means that God has looked mercifully upon her abjection. Still, there is a difference between humility and abjection, inasmuch as humility is the acknowledgment of abjection; and the highest point of humility is, not merely to recognise one’s abjection, but to love it, and this is what I would have you do.

To speak more plainly; Our troubles are of two kinds — ^honourable and abject; and while many resign themselves to the first class of sufferings, very few submit gladly to such as are abject

For instance, a Capucin monk goes about with a tom habit, shivering with cold. Every one respects his worn habit, and pities his discomfort But a poor artisan, or scholar, or widow, bears the like inconvenience unpitied, and so their poverty is abject • Vulg: ** Respexit humilitatem ancillje suce.”

A Religious takes a rebuke from his Superior patiently, and we call it obedience and mortification. But a gentleman who accepts something similar for the Love of God, is called a coward. This is an abject virtue. One man has a cancer in his arm, another in his face — the first conceals it, and has only the pain to bear; the other cannot hide his disease, and has to bear the external humiliation as well as the pain. But I say that we must learn to love the abjection, as well as the pain. Further, there are abject virtues, and creditable virtues. For the most part, patience, gentleness, mortification, and simplicity in the world, are abject virtues; whereas almsgiving, courtesy, and prudence, are creditable virtues.

Almsgiving and forgiveness of injury are both works of charity, but the former is honourable in the world's eyes, while the latter is abject I am taken ill among people who look upon my illness merely as an inconvenience; there is abjection added to suffering. Or your quiet widow's dress is condemned as affected by worldly-minded ladies, or perhaps they say that it is studied with the intent to attract; or men will not believe that I do not wish for a higher position and rank than I possess, or that I heartily delight in my vocation. All these are cases of abjection.

On the other hand, you and your Sisters go forth to visit the sick, among whom the most wretched are allotted to you In the world's judgment this is the most abject part. But if those better off are assigned to your care, you have the most abject lot in God's Sight — for He and the world do not agree as to what is honourable in these things. The best thing is to rejoice in whichever part falls to you. If you are sent to the worst cases, say, “ They suit me best." If to the best, say, “ I am not worthy to minister to those who need more."

If I am guilty of some folly, it makes me abject, or I stumble, and give way to uncontrolled anger; in so doing I displease God, and deserve to be esteemed as vile and abject. Nevertheless, my daughter, beware of one thing: while we love the abjection following upon what is evil, we must not slacken in trying to remedy the evil. Whatever I can do to avert having cancer in the face, I am bound to do; but if it comes, I am bound to welcome the abjection. So in moral concerns: I have been disobedient, ill-regulated, and I am grieved at it, even while I accept the consequent abjection; and if the two things were separable, I would gladly retain the abjection, while I shun the sin.

Again, we must not forget charity, which sometimes requires that we put abjection aside for our neighbour's sake; but in such a case, we must only hide it from his eyes, lest he be scandalised, not from those of our own heart “ I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of the ungodly.” *

Finally, my daughter, you ask what are the best abjections? I answer such as are not self-chosen, and are least welcome; those for which we have least inclination; in a word, those which pertain to our vocation or profession.

For instance: Some think any abjection preferable to that of marriage; some Religious would obey any Superior save the one to whom she is subject; or you might say you would rather be worried by any possible religious Superior, than by the father-in-law with whom you dwell. But I answer that the abjection laid upon each of us is the most profitable, and choice takes away half the merit thereof. Who will give us grace, my daughter, to love our own abjection? None save He "Who so loved His Own abjection as to die therein. Surely that is sufficient for us.

Full of hope that you might shortly enter the religious life, you fear to have run counter to obedience. But I did not tell you not to think or hope for it. I would not have you trifle with it, because most assuredly nothing so hinders us in what we are doing as to be longing after something else; in so doing, we leave off tilling our own field, to drive the plough through our

• Ps. Ixxxiv. In the Vulgate, “ Elegi abjectus esse in domo Dei mei, magis quam habitare in tabemaculis peccatorum.”

neighbour's land, where we must not look to reap any harvest; and this is mere waste of time. If our thoughts and hopes are elsewhere, it is impossible for us to set our faces steadily towards the work required of us. Jacob never really loved Leah while he was longing for Rachel. But remember, I do not say that you are not to think and hope; I only say that you are not to trifle with such matters. We may look to the place where we fain would be, but on condition that we always look onwards. The Israelites could not sing in Babylon, because they were looking back homewards, but I would have you able to sing always.

Fear is a greater pain than pain itself. O thou of little faith, what dost thou fear? Be not afraid; you walk indeed on the waves, amid the storm, but it is with Jesus; why should you fear? But if terror should come over you, cry out aloud, ‘‘ Lord, help me!” He will stretch forth His Hand; hold it tightly, and go on jo)dully. In short, do not philosophise over your troubles; do not argue; go on in all simplicity. God will not let you perish while you are stedfast in resolution. Let the world be turned upside down, let it be in utter darkness, in smoke, in tumult, so long as God be with us; we know that on Sinai He was surrounded with thick darkness, with thunder and lightning, and He is still near to us.