Book V, Chapter III

Thou oughtest to give all for all, and to retain nothing of thyself

(On these words) — “ Thou oughtest to give all for all, and i to retain nothing of thyself.” B. iiL c. 27. j

Question. — What is it to give all for all? J

Answer. — It consists in refusing nothing to God, \ in obeying Him in all things, and parting with all; for the love of Him. What He demands, and we must sacrifice to Him, is, in the first place, all outward things that we love too much. Thus, we must have no attachment to any particular place, to little comforts, to things, or to persons, nor to any thing 1 that pleases the flesh or the mind. It is, secondly, all offices and employments in which nature delights. Lastly, it is all joys, all graces, all supernatural gifts, I which must be delivered into the Hands of Him from. Whom we received them; so that we may be always 1 ready to renounce them, and that there may be nothing which we will not readily quit to obtain the possession of God, and to do His Divine Will, which I should fill the place of all. A man who reserves for i his own satisfaction but one of the things of which we have spoken, and becomes attached to it, is very far from the perfection contained in this maxim of our Author.

4 B. i. e. 3.

180 WHAT IS TO GIVE ALL AND RETAIN NOTHING.

Question. — What is the all that we promise to give to Him Who gives all?

Answer. — It is the entire disposal of all good things, even those which are spiritual. This God demands, and it concerns us much to offer it, for He refuses nothing to one who gives Him all. The i liberality of God is proportioned to that of man. ] One who offers little receives little; one who gives all, gives all; but one who reserves but a single hair, does not give all. And in these dealings between God and man, there is a very great difference between much and all. We must try them according to the counsel of St. Paul, to be perfect in every good work a. But, besides this abundance of spiritual and supernatural good things, we acquire another Good of infinite value; it is God Himself, the Most Holy Trinity, Who gives Himself to the soul, to dwell with her in true union — a favour not to be obtained by those who give not all.

Question. — What must we do to retain nothing of ourself?

Answer. — The soul must forget herself, so that her whole affections may be given to God. This can be done in three ways firstly, by turning away her eyes from her own interests, and abandoning to the disposal of her Lord and her God all that concerns her property, her health, her life, with all that may befall her, not only in time, but even in eternity. This absolute freedom from all private interests makes her careful to be led only by the purest motive — that of pleasing our Lord. Not that the desire of recompence is not a good motive, or is to be blamed; but the most praiseworthy and perfect is that of disin- I terested love, whose only object is to give glory f 1

HOW WE MAY GO OUT OF OURSELVES. 181 I

to God. With this we may hope all from the Father of mercies, for Whom we renounce all.

I 2. The second way in which we may forget ourj selves is;* by following in all our actions the guidance of Grace. rather than the motions of nature. Many fail on this point in that they give way too much to temperament and disposition, and obstinately refuse to change their way of proceeding, as being in general natural and disinterested.

3. The third way of retaining nothing of self, is so to love God, and to let Him so absolutely rule all the powers of the soul, that she should no longer feel herself a, as our Author says. This is a practice of great perfection, and depends far more on the operation of Grace than on the efforts of the creature. Thus a man, moved and excited by the Spirit of God, feels within him no longer his own inclinations, hut those of the Holy Spirit, Who is the principle of all his movements, according to the saying of the Apostle, As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Rom. viii. 14. A soul thus guided by God, is no longer conscious of its own actions, and knows experimentally that one who gives all, retains nothing of himself.