Book I, Chapter II

If thou attain to the full contempt of thyself, know that thou shalt then enjoy abundance of peace

(On these words’^ — u If thou attain to the full contempt of thyself, know that tnou shalt then enjoy abundance of peace.” B. iii. c. 25.

Question. How can one obtain perfect contempt for oneself?

Answer. — There are three steps, as it were, to arrive at this.

1. The first is, to have no regard for our own interests, to be insensible to all that regards ourselves, to have little esteem for ourselves, so that, if we are attacked, slandered, or insulted, as long as our own honour and reputation only are at stake, we should not complain of it, should not be in the least moved by it, and if some slight resentment is excited, should suppress it instantly. This it is to despise oneself; for he who thinks well of himself, and wishes to be somebody, thinks it strange if he is attacked without regard for his rank or merit. It is true, if we may believe him, it is not the affront that he resents, still, things so false are ascribed to him, that he cannot but require an explanation Besides, it is necessary for the edification of others, that he should justify himself and the truth be known.

Such is the language of a vain man who seeks some cloak for his pride. For he who has a real and perfect contempt for himself, leaves all to God, is always tranquil, and gives himself no trouble about what is said against him. If any murmuring thought, any suspicious or bitter feeling surprises him, he stifles it instantly, for although he might flatter himself with

PERFECT CONTEMPT OF SELF. 7 feeling, “ I do not yield to my vexation; I let the woild talk, I care as little for its contempt as for its applause,” still, however little he may dwell upon all this, be is unavoidably more or less disturbed. The 1 shortest and surest way is to put away at once all i such thoughts, to offer up one’s resentment to Christ Crucified, and to seek true repose in the Cross. By such means one ensures that internal peace after whi^h the whole world strives in vain; safe sheltered, we can no longer have anything against any one, are free from all anxiety for one’s own interests, willingly renounce the right (so reasonable in the eyes of certain so-called philosophers, but bad Christians,) to defend one’s honour and repel calumny even to the extent of demanding full satisfaction, contrary to the injunction of our Saviour, Of him that taketh away thy goods,

ask them not again. Luke vi. 30.

I The true friends, perfect imitators, and faithful i disciples of Jesus, that Divine model of gentleness and humility, never repine about their rights, because they are persuaded that if He had not renounced many of His, there would be no salvation for them.

This mode of acting, equally humble and noble, is always acceptable to Him; for He wishes us to love but Him, to prize only His friendship, to seek only His glory, and after the example of St. Paul, to count all the rest hut as dung. Phil. iii. 8. In this manner we obtain the peace of the heart, sweet and ’ abundant peace, and this is the first step towards perfect contempt for oneself.

2. The second consists not only in never resenting the insults which are offered us, and in never complaining of those who humble us; but in welcoming humi- 1 liation, in yielding willingly to others, in taking everywhere the lowest place, in preferring contumely to respect, in regarding ourselves as worms of the earth in the eyes of God, and, in the sight of the world, as j

HOW TO OBTAIN the lowest of men, in loving the shame of the Cross, 1 in finding our delight in it, and placing our treasure in it. These sentiments are nourished by a consideration of our sins and demerits, and by a fervent i desire of imitating our Lord, Who sought and loved humiliation. “ Abase yourselves,” says our author, “ that the whole world may trample you underfoot as the mud of the street.” He who thus retires into; his own nothingness, enjoys a peace which cannot be expressed for when God sees a soul humbled in His Presence, He loves to visit her, He communicates with her; and the soul, having no earthly clog to prevent its union with God, forgets herself wholly, and thinks only of pleasing Him.

On the other hand, the ambitious man, who seeks only for opportunities of display and aggrandizement in the world, is always uneasy, always dissatisfied; and God hath pleasure in mortifying him, because he is not satisfied with God, and his whole passionate longing is to see himself honoured by man.

Those lowly hearts who seek God Alone, find Him everywhere; and as soon as He has revealed Himself to them, He communicates to them His peace, He makes them sharers of His joy. For, exalted as He is, He hath no greater pleasure than in descending to those who make themselves little before him. It was this that made the Blessed Virgin say, He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden. Luke i. 48. Though the Lord he high, says David, yet hath He respect unto the lowly, hut the proud He hnoweth afar off. Ps. cxxxviii. 6. There is then no more certain mode of pleasing God, and deserving [ His favour, than to humble oneself.

With this view many great princes have embraced I the religious life, as being mean and contemptible in the eyes of the world.

But what doth the religious, who, full of the spirit

PERFECT CONTEMPT OF SELF. 9 of the world, and weary of living under obedience, thinks of promotion He dreams of the highest dig* I nities of the Church; his head is full of the episcopate. I If he has friends, he hopes to attain it through their. assistance; and sometimes his hopes are not deceived. Very different they who are more mortified and more wise; they flee honours, imitating St. Ambrose, St. Martin, and many others; they shrink from them, like hidden shoals; at least, they wait till God calls them; even when they are obliged to accept them, there is nothing they would not do to escape from them.

We are told in Ecclesiastical History, that a German monk, about two hundred years ago, being torn from his cloister, was made a Bishop and then a cardinal. This holy man was so humble, that he declared when dying, that the thing which had caused him most grief was, having been obliged to leave his monastery, and that it would have been far more profitable for him to have taken his turn in the kitchen there, than to be raised to dignity in the world. Admirable lesson for those who aspire to honourable posts, and who cannot endure poverty and humiliation After all, if their intrigues succeed, and they find means of gratifying their ambition, we do not see that their minds are calmer, nor do they appear more contented than they were in solitude and in communion with God. For nothing can make a man’s happiness during his life, but that which will form his consolation and joy at his death.

3. The last step by which we reach real contempt of ourselves, is that which St. Ignatius, the Founder of the Company of Jesus, recommends so earnestly to his children, when he exhorts them not only to remain in an abject condition, but even to desire and take pleasure in it; and to welcome calumny and slander with no less joy than people of the world feel in honours and dignities. Indeed, they are special gifts

10 HOW TO OBTAIN from Heaven, since chiefly through the shame of the Cross do we grow like our Saviour.

In this frame of mind we seek only how to abase ourselves and truly learn self-contempt. The love we have for the Saviour, makes us happiest then, and to feel that there is no greater happiness than when plunged, by some unforeseen circumstance, into a degrading situation, in which we are pointed at as a nothing, an object of indignation or compassion. He who finds, upon calmly submitting to this, that he has no other view than content to resemble the Suffering Jesus, has, it seems, reached the highest stage of self-renunciation. St. Ignatius accordingly regards this as the most exalted degree of humility, and he holds it out to his fraternity as a source of many graces. In truth, all who can attain this, derive from it an ample store of blessings. “ Abundance of peace” is their recompense, B. iii. c. 25., for Heaven showers continually upon them torrents of joy and rapture.

Some suppose that the Saint intended to give us merely an idea of heroic humility, but that he was well aware that it was far easier to wish for it than to obtain it. They acknowledge that it is the height of perfection, but feel that without extraordinary grace it is useless to aspire to it. I grant that the state of a mind which glories in shame and makes it a subject of joy, is indeed a very elevated one, but it is not beyond our power to desire it earnestly, to make it an object of our prayers, to ask it of God, and to make it the principal subject of self-examination. We may all purchase this pearl of great price, of which the Gospel speaks; and to obtain it, we have only to meditate seriously on Jesus Christ nailed to the Cross; to endeavour to form ourselves after this Divine model, and to unite ourselves to Him in closest love.

Led by this spirit, we reach by degrees the height

PERFECT CONTEMPT OF SELF. 1 1 of perfection of which we have spoken, till at last we prize nothing but contempt — we are dead to the world and to ourselves — we have burst all human bonds, and are buried with Christ in God. Thus we possess, if we may so speak, the key of the treasury of heaven; its precious gifts are within our reach; its holy joys are abundantly poured on us; and light from on high is never wanting in our time of need. This is the fountain of internal peace — especially when we are conscious of a resemblance to Jesus, and when we can calmly delight in inward communion 1 with God. There is, in fact, no path leading so 1 surely to gain the friendship of one’s Lord, as contempt for oneself.

We meet, however, with abettors of self-love, partizans of our corrupt nature, who, on the principles of a philosophy altogether Pagan, urge that man is to take great care of his honor, as of a natural good, and a precious treasure which he should preserve at the expense even of his life. It is true that it is every man’s duty to avoid all occasions of scandal; and it is thus we should interpret the words in Ecclesiasticus, xli. 12, “ Have regard to thy name.” But the saints condemn overstrained anxiety on this matter, all agreeing with one voice that it is praiseworthy to leave one’s good name wholly in God’s hands, and to be ready to sacrifice it for His glory.

Hence it has happened, that many of them, inspired by Heaven, have not chosen to clear themselves from atrocious crimes of which they have been accused; and this accords with the doctrine of St. Ignatius, who teaches in his constitutions, that a religious should be glad and even desirous that the world should despise him; and that provided he does, no wrong, and that his life is irreproachable in the sight of God, he ought to rejoice in opprobrium as much as worldly men rejoice in honour. Our author,

I 1 as we have already remarked, holds the same opinion; he teaches that the perfect imitators of Christ ought i so to abase themselves, and make themselves so little, that they may be trodden underfoot. j

But how then can any venture to maintain that it is an error of the mystics to believe that we are allowed to wish to be accounted fools, and to despise so great an advantage as a good reputation! The most ardent wish, generally, of those who love God with their whole heart, is, that it may please Him to ■ suffer them to be contemptible in the eyes of the world, when this may be without His own glory being diminished by it. St. Ignatius, when advising us to love shame and confusion, teaches us, that to obtain it, we must seek the most complete self-con- I tempt and self-renunciation! Indeed, how is this possible, if we are to believe those philosophers, that we are obliged to guard our reputation with extreme care?

The same Saint, in his exercises, when describing the third gradation of humility, goes further still; for he says, that if a really spiritual man had his choice between two conditions, one obscure and the other brilliant, in both of which he should be equally capable of glorifying God, the one desire of imitating Christ Crucified should determine him to prefer humiliation to grandeur, ignominy to glory.

What can those preachers of comfortable morality I say to this, who require an express command from God, to yield in the slightest instance in a point of honor? Whoso truly loveth contempt is never satis- i fied with disgraces; the worst treatment is his dearest delight; and as humiliation is the path which leads to humility, he desires it, seeks it, embraces it with ardour, when he is not checked by a yet higher con- sideration, such as the greater glory of God ever is.

In a word, if we regard contempt in connexion with J

PERFECT CONTEMPT OP SELF.

God, and not as connected with the world, we shall see that there is nothing more ardently to be sought, since it is a source of infinite blessings, being a sure means of dying strictly to self to please the Lord, and to be united entirely with Him.

They say that God has no delight in seeing His servants in shame and suffering — that there is nothing desirable in contempt, since it is an evil in itself, as well as pain, and that God cannot like what is evil. I answer, that considered in themselves, shame and sorrow are not attractive, but that still God sends them to us because He knows them to be necessary for our salvation, and for our perfection. Even the heathen philosophers were not ignorant of this, for Seneca says, that to see a good man struggling with misfortune, was a sight worthy of God Himself.

We must not then be surprised to find that God loves to see His servants in a condition in which their own nothingness is forced upon them — in which they annihilate themselves before Him, and have innumerable opportunities of growing in virtue. Great souls have always ardently felt this witness Saint Theresa, who cried out so often, “ suffer or die which we must not understand of martyrdom only, but of all sorts of crosses and mortifications, which have this in common, that they purify man of bis vices, elevate him above himself and all created things, not in themselves, as we have already remarked, but by Divine grace. The sight only of Jesus Dying, inspired the saints with a love of suffering, and they were persuaded, with St. Bernard, that it is a shame to see delicate members of a Head pierced with thorns.

14 HOW TO FORSAKE ALL.