Book II, Chapter V

False freedom of mind, and great confij dence in ourselves, are very contrary to heavenly visi| tations

(On these words) — “ False freedom of mind, and great con- fidence in ourselves, are very contrary to heavenly visitations.’ * [ B. ii. c. 10. j

Question. — What are these heavenly visitations? j

Answer. — They are an effect of grace fortifying; and elevating the soul, and producing in her a super- natural feeling, without which she is incapable of making the smallest progress in the spiritual life for the Spirit of God must be present, to enlighten her, to give her strength and courage, to make her I enjoy the exercises of virtue, above all, to prevent her \ from falling back into her original weakness. There- fore Job said, Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit a, and prevented it from perishing. Righteous souls are most careful to seek these visitations, knowing how precious are their uses. Worldlings, on the t contrary, neither esteem them as they ought, nor 1 strive to render themselves worthy of them. For that they receive them so rarely is a punishment of their sins, and, above all, of those which our Author mentions, I mean, too great freedom, and extreme confidence in themselves.

The former of these two defects makes them neglectful of certain feelings of remorse produced in them by the grace of the Holy Spirit, Who desires the perfection of men, and suggests to them those things which He sees to be profitable towards their attain- ing it. And because these inspirations are a bridle to nature, which ever passionately desireth liberty, those who wish to be free obstinately reject them, notwithstanding the reproofs of the Spirit of God, Who, being infinitely pure, can endure nothing un-; holy..!

Further, this Divine Spirit, opposed to all violence, does not compel the soul to obedience; He suffers her to follow her own will, but when she resists Him, He makes her feel deeply His just indignation.; After having essayed to gain her by gentleness, if she persists in refusing to yield subjection to grace, He gives her up, speaks to her no more, abandons her at last to her own will. This was the cause of « the grief of the Son of God, when weeping over!

HINDER HEAVENLY VISITATIONS. 73

I Jerusalem, He said that that unhappy city knew not i the time of her visitation, Luke xix. 44, and that as the punishment of her wilful ignorance, she should be sacked and destroyed to the ground. The same thing befalls the soul which refuses our Lord’s visitations too often; for she thus deprives herself of the assistance, without which she is unable to resist the attacks of her besieging enemies, who, after a feeble resistance, make themselves her masters, and bring her to utter desolation and ruin.

; 2.’ The second thing which hinders the frequent visitations of God, is confidence in ourselves; a greater and more dangerous sin than is generally imagined. There are some who may be called virtuous, but whose virtue is very ordinary and imperfect, who are almost always in a state of dryness, and devoid of sensible comfort. They think that God leaves them in this manner solely to try them, and console themselves with this idea; but when all things are considered, the cause of this inward desertion is, too commonly, the liberty which they allow themselves to say and do whatever they please, without regard to the illumination and motions of Grace. These are not spiritual men, nor have they a spirit of mortification, for they know not what it is to overcome them- I selves, and they permit themselves very many and considerable faults. This very criminal licence is caused by their valuing their own discernment and reasonings too highly, despising the prudent warnings of pious people, and rejecting as ill-grounded scruples those things which they should regard as real duties, and true signs of faithfulness to God.

Now, of those who thus trust in themselves there are two sorts. The first are far separated from God, the others less so. Among the former are freethinkers, who imagine they know every thing, and who decide on all subjects, not excepting matters of

74 FALSE FREEDOM AND SELF-CONFIDENCE

faith, and the incontestable dogmas of theology. Young people are subject to the same fault; they I cut, they prune, they judge the things of religion, they criticise the lives of the Saints, and scarcely do holy Scripture and the teaching of the Church escape their censure. These people are all so far from Grace, and so unworthy of the visitations of the Holy Spirit, that there is nothing more pitiable, nothing more to be compassionated, than their state. They can enjoy nothing which does not flatter their sensuality or their pride, and therefore God abandons them; and it is not surprising, for they so completely abandon God, that the most Christian sentiments appear to them mere weakness of mind. We may say that obstinacy is their only strength, as the whole strength of rocks consists in their hardness.

Some years ago a courtier died at Paris. His con- I fessor exhorting him to prepare for death, presented to him a crucifix, by which he appeared very little moved. Another seeing this, and wishing to show that he was one of those free-thinkers of whom we speak, told the confessor that men of sense were not moved by objects which were good only for the lower classes; that he ought to know how to distinguish them from ordinary people, and not to tell them common things. I suppose he imagined that Seneca was to be quoted to him, and that the sight of the crucifix was only for devout women, while such a great genius required profound reasonings; as if Saint Bonaventure had not a sufficiently lofty mind, of whom it is said that he had worn out, his crucifix by frequent kisses as if we were to; reckon among narrow minds Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas, who, in divine things, were simple and humble as children. Saint Augustine says, that God communicates Himself to the great, but not to those who are great in themselves, that is, in their

; HINDER HEAVENLY VISITATIONS. 75

own esteem, such as courtiers, idolaters of worldly:

honour.

2. The second sort of persons who show this false confidence are those who have muoh probity and uprightness, who are engaged, by their profession itself, to a good life, but who trust too much in their learning and reasonings; for which reason they have little enjoyment of God, and rarely receive His visits. These think themselves very enlightened, and imagine that to reason philosophically enables them to judge well of divine things. Therefore they always find something to blame in the conduct of the masters of the inward life, and of those who devote themselves to it; even going so far as to believe that loving devotedness to God renders them credulous and easily deceived. They sometimes even imagine that the tenderness of devotion enfeebles the mind, and takes away much of its firmness.

As they find no pleasure in pious exercises, they I consider this dryness as the character of a masculine and solid virtue. They say that they are not like women, who weep for nothing, and that God does not treat them like novices; that when they were children, little things affected them, but now being men, they see plainly what they have to do. Thus their learning, used as they use it, serves often but to strengthen them in their evil customs. They pretend that the spiritual Fathers cannot reason as they can; they despise the sensible joys and comforts with which God favours the simple spirit, and think little of the ardour with which He inspires them for penance. Yet we know that St. Francis wept continually, and that St. Ignatius, holding fast to God in heart and spirit, nearly lost his sight from shedding tears.

What is the reason, then, that they have no share in these visitations of Heaven? It is that they do I H 2 j

76 SELF OPPOSED TO HEAVENLY VISITATIONS.

not value them sufficiently. Some of them complain of #their own hardness of heart; and as they are ignorant of its cause, they hlame their occupation, which, by obliging them, as they say, to be constantly treating of dry and speculative subjects, gradually dries up in them the springs of devotion. But they deceive themselves; for application to study is not the true cause of their insensibility to the things of God. St. Thomas, St. Bonaventure, and many other holy Doctors studied constantly, and were still filled with spiritual pleasures. Their indevotion, then, springs only from their too great self-confidence; and it is this which leads them to speak contemptuously of the truly devout; to set a high value on certain talents and actions which are entirely natural and human; to turn into ridicule many terms of which the Mystics make use in their writings; daringly to condemn Denis, the Carthusian, and many other authors equally renowned for sanctity and learning, because they have not always defined things according to the rules of Aristotle, though their whole teaching shows profound wisdom.

Thus they are supreme judges of all, and would have their words regarded as so many oracles. This is the cause why the visitations of Heaven are not for them, and why, for want of this assistance, they fall into thick darkness, and are even overcome by disgraceful passions. Some of them make a mock of the secret operations of the Spirit of God in the soul; and if the Saints endeavour to express in lofty and mysterious terms what passes in these Divine operations, they alter their terms, and explain them in a low sense, to make jests of them. It is presuming strangely on oneself thus to attack those Doctors and Saints for whom the excellent of all ages have felt the greatest veneration. Those who follow the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and not human reason- ings, do quite otherwise; for the communion of the I soul with God inspires no less humility than con- fidence. I