Book IV, Chapter IV

As to be void of all desire of external things produceth inward peace, so the forsaking of ourselves inwardly, joineth us unto God

(On these words) — “ As to be void of all desire of external 1 things produceth inward peace, so the forsaking of ourselves inwardly, joineth us unto God.” B. iii. c. 56.;

Question. — What assists us most to obtain union with God?

Answer. — Two things particularly; the first of o 2 I

148 TO FORSAKE THINGS WITHIN AND WITHOUT which is, to put away all outward things which may serve as a wall of separation between God and us; the second, to feel no attachment even to things within us. Without this perfect disengagement and entire freedom of spirit, we must not hope ever to be fully united with God.

Question. — How does detachment from outward things avail to this union with God?

Answer. — It avails not a little, since it gives peace to the soul, and preserves it; for one who often and ardently desires something external to himself is always uneasy, because he is always finding some obstacle to the accomplishment of his desires therefore there is no surer means of enjoying true repose than to desire nothing.

This is not difficult to one who seeks God with his whole heart, who regards Him as his Supreme Good, his only Happiness, and who knows assuredly that all created things, of whatever nature, are very little; for having conceived a true idea of the infinite Greatness of God, and being persuaded of this fundamental truth, that there is no solid joy but in God, he will find pleasure in desiring nothing besides Him. If it^ is difficult for him to do so, it is only because he has been long accustomed to seek for satisfaction in God’s visible creation.

This evil habit causes a dangerous sickness of the soul, which is a constant uneasiness, and, as it were, an unappeasable hunger. Within the soul is a devouring fire, which demands fuel to feed it, and this fuel is some good thing either sensible or spiritual. Sensible things present themselves with powerful attractions, hard to be resisted; the inclination of nature is to that side, and thither she has ever allowed herself to be drawn from childhood. Those things which faith offers are invisible, they are not within

UNITES US TO GOD. 149 the scope of the senses, and by meditation only can any knowledge of them be acquired; but at length Faith perceives them through a cloud. God reveals Himself to the soul, and with Himself brings peace to her. But if He withdraws, and she feels His presence no more, she hastens instantly in search of created objects; and then her uneasiness is renewed, according to the saying of St. Augustine, that our heart is always in a state of agitation till it reposes in God, and that it can therefore have no peace separate from God.

It is a very common delusion among those who desire to live happily, to be everywhere seeking occasions of rejoicing and amusement; for experience shows plainly that worldly pleasures, in proportion as they increase, augment, instead of diminishing, our thirst for them. Even the philosophers teach us not to accumulate riches, but to retrench our immoderate desires. The great maxim of the Saints is to desire nothing, but to be so indifferent to all things as to will only what God wills, and to will it through the motive of love; and even if that love be not accompanied by any sensible tenderness, never to cease to perform its acts, and to excite themselves to it by faith. He who walks after the light of Faith will find peace. We must try to unite ourselves to God, by wholly conforming ourselves to His Will; for it is by this union, which is the sole happiness of devout souls here below, that we begin to feel and enjoy Him.

Question. — How is this sweet union of the soul with God formed?

Answer. — In the way that our Author says. As the means of obtaining peace, and taking away the very root of uneasiness, is to forsake all outward things, so the means of obtaining union with God is absolutely to renounce ourselves. How is this? o 3

150 TO FORSAKE THINGS WITHIN AND WITHOUT

Figure to yourself that God stands at the door of your heart, and that when you open it by entire self-abnegation, immediately He will come in. It takes place thus.

A man who is engaged by his state of life in exterior functions, who cannot dispense with seeing the world, who has business, and who is obliged to discourse with all sorts of people, finds satisfaction in these employments, he attaches his affections to them so far as to make them a pleasure; and he has no scruple, because he sees no sin in them. But yet this pleasure takes the place of God in his heart, and He will not have a place already occupied. Thus too great an attachment to outward things hinders him from enjoying God. He is contented with a certain repose arising from the harmless life led by the generality of good people, for whom it is enough not to be guilty of great faults. But an interior man who seeks God simply, is not contented with a moderate degree of virtue; he will not rest therein. He renounces this satisfaction, which he thinks too merely natural; he deprives himself of it voluntarily; he strips himself of all, and makes in his soul, as it were, a void; and because he makes it for God, God immediately fills it. Thus is the Divine Union formed.

Certainly nothing can be more pitiable than the ordinary disposition of the generality of those who profess to serve God. They love to distract themselves, and to go out of themselves; they become attached to vain amusements, and remove yet further from their true repose. God offers them all real and solid good things which satisfy the mind, but very few receive them. They have none to blame but themselves; for all the evil arises from their desire of satisfying themselves without God, and from their attempt to silence their conscience, by saying, that God is not angry, under which pretence they go

UNITES US TO GOD. 151 in search of human consolations which hinder the I Divine Union.

Some are entirely unacquainted with this wonderful union; it appears to them a fanciful idea, or an invention of the mystics, on which the mind should not dwell. The truly Faithful, say they, do not seek to enjoy God, but to serve Him on earth; it is not in this life, but in the next, that they hope to possess Him, and to receive from Him the reward of their services. This objection is very weak, and easily answered. 1 acknowledge that simple love is not eager for pleasures, above all for those which may be enjoyed here below; but these people are not consistent with themselves, and their actions are very different from their maxims. They take no trouble to taste in prayer how gracious God is; and yet they have so little aversion to their own satisfaction, that they seek it in all circumstances. There is nothing that they will not do to please men, to attract their esteem, to obtain their praise; and they are delighted by some testimony of affection, some good office done to them, some sign of gratitude shown to them. It might be said to them, Despise these consolations and passing joys which come from creatures; and if the Lord refuses or withdraws His, at least for a time, bear this privation as faithful and zealous servants, who care only for their Master’s concerns. But that you should be resigned to lose the consolations of Heaven, and at the same time anxiously seek those of the earth, is very strange, and entirely contrary to reason.

People are much deceived in their judgment with regard to this supernatural union of God with man.

It aids us extremely to know, love, and serve Him. None can know better how to conform themselves to the Divine Will, than those who depart from outward things in order to converse more freely with the Lord in prayer. For by this they lift up their heart

TO FORSAKE THINGS WITHIN AND WITHOUT and mind to heaven, and conceive ardent desires of being for ever faithful to God. But those of whom we speak, and to whom we are now replying, think I that such unions of the soul with God are nothing more than certain spiritual affections, more fit for women than for men, and ordinarily accompanied by some tears of devotion. They say that very common feelings are concealed under very specious words; i that they have the same feelings themselves, but do J not make much of them like the mystics, who express the most well-known things in terms full of affectation and emphasis. In this there is much error and ignorance; for the supernatural union, often I spoken of by our Author and by all who have * treated of the mystic life, this union, I say, is, as it were, a participation in the Divine Nature; it is that perfect fulness of God, Eph. iii. 19, which the Apostle desired for the faithful of his time; it is the hidden manna, Rev. ii. 17; it is an inestimable treasure for the pure in spirit; it is a source of grace and truth, from whence comes far other light than can be acquired by the disputes of the schools, and in which s are found far other joys than those which God some- times bestows on the imperfect, when He is pleased to testify to them that He approves of their good works; in fine, it is the shortest of all means of arriving at perfection. j

Thus the most important truth to impress on the minds of those who profess to serve God is, that man being unable to exist without some pleasure, and God Himself having created him to be happy, he must i necessarily find his happiness either in God or in himself; that there is none but God able to satisfy him, but that God Who is Purity Itself, cannot dwell with any thing impure; that he must then seek to purify himself; and that as this cannot be done but by renouncing himself, he must so watch over himself,

UNITES US TO GOD. 153 that whenever any thing pleasing to the senses presents itself to him, he should immediately turn away, in order thus to show how much he loves Him Who

By labouring constantly thus to mortify ourselves, we become more and more united with God, we participate still more in His Divine Perfections, and the union at length becomes so intimate, that we may say with the Apostle, I live yet not /, but Christ liveth in me. Gal. ii. 20. It is this that makes Saints; for it is certain that the height of sanctity is so completely to conform our will to that of God, as to feel God Alone acting and reigning within us. This should be continually preached to those who aim at perfection, above all to those who are engaged by their state to aspire to it. And it is to this that every man should try to attain, instead of satisfying himself with an ordinary degree of virtue, which is in general only a low, natural life, full of imperfections.