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Chapter XIV. Ill. Progress in the Practice of Charity

  1. General principle. Love being the gift of self, our love for God will be more perfect the more completely we give ourselves to Him, without reserve and forever, with our whole soul, with our whole heart, with our whole strength. Since on earth we cannot make the gift of self without selfsacrifice, our love will be more perfect the more unselfishly we practice this spzrvt of self-sacrifice for the love of God

(82320); 1225. 1° Beginners practice the love of God by striving to avoid sin, especially mortal sin, and its causes.

a) They practice repentant love by bitterly regretting having offended God and having deprived Him of His due glory (n. 743-745).

This love has two effects: 1) it removes us further from sin and from creatures to which pleasure had made us cling; 2) it reconciles us with God and unites us with Him, not only by removing sin, the great obstacle to divine union, but also by infusing into our heart those sentiments of contrition and humiliation which constitute the beginning of love, and which under the action of grace are often transformed into perfect love. “For,” as St. Francis de Sales says, “perfect love wants God and needs Him; penance seeks and finds Him; perfect love possesses and holds Him fast.” At all events, our sins are more perfectly remitted, the purer and the deeper is our love.

  1. b) They also practice, in its first degree, the love of conformity with the divine will, by obeying God’s commandments and those of the Church, and manfully withstanding the trials that Providence sends them for the purification of their souls (n. 747).

€) Soon their love becomes a grvavefiul love. Realizing that despite their sins, God continually showers upon them His blessings, and grants them such generous pardon, they evince a sincere sense of gratitude towards Him, praise His goodness, and strive to profit better by His graces. This is in itself a noble sentiment which constitutes an excellent preparation for pure love ; we easily rise from the benefaction received to the love of the Benefactor, and we desire His goodness to be recognized and praised the world over. This is perfect love, or charity.

  1. 2° Those advancing in the way of perfection practice the love of complacency, of benevolence, of conformity to the will of God, and thereby arrive at the love of friendship.

A) The love of complacency * is born of faith and reflection. a) Through faith we know and through meditation we realize

"ST. FRANCIS DE SALES, The Love of God, Bk. V, C. I-V.

that God possesses the fulness of being, of perfection, of wisdom, of power, of goodness. Now, with but a little good-will, we cannot help taking complacency in such infinite perfection; we rejoice at seeing that our God is rich in goodness, we delight more in Gods pleasure than in our own, and we show our joy by acts of admiration, approbation and praise.

b) Thereby we draw unto ourselves the perfections of the Godhead. God becomes our God; we live on the thought of His perfection, His goodness, His sweetness, His Divine life; for the heart feeds upon such things as it delights in. Thus we are enriched by the divine perfections, which we make our own by a loving complacency.

  1. c) But in thus attracting to ourselves the divine perfections, we attract God Himself, and we give ourselves entirely to Him, as St. Francis de Sales! well explains:

“Tt follows that through this love of complacency we not only enjoy the perfections of God as if they were our own; but also, that since the divine perfections are infinitely above the powers and capacity of our mind and heart, we could not attract them into us to enjoy and possess them without being also possessed by them in turn. The love of complacency is then a reciprocal donation, in virtue of which we may truly assert that we belong to God, Who is also our possession.” Thus, “the soul inflamed with the love of complacency exclaims from the midst of its repose and sacred silence: ‘It suffices to my happiness to know that God is God; that His perfections are boundless, that His goodness is infinite. I am indifferent to life and death, since the object of all my love lives, and will live eternally, surrounded by the unfading splendor of endless glory.’ Death cannot terrify a heart which breathes but to love, and which is aware that its sovereign good lives forever. It suffices to her to know, that He Whom she loves more than herself is overwhelmed with bliss: she lives more in the object of her predilection than in herself.”

  1. d) This love, when it contemplates the Suffering Christ turns into compassion and sympathy. A devout soul, beholding the depths of dejection and grief wherein the Divine Lover is plunged, cannot but share in the holy love that makes Him endure such afflictions. It was this love that caused the stigmata to be imprinted upon the flesh of St. Francis of Assisi, and the Sacred Wounds upon that of St. Catherine of Sienna. Complacency produced compassion, and compassion produced a wound like that of the Beloved.

  2. B) From the love of complacency springs the love of benevolence, that is to say, an ardent desire of glo- t The Love of God, Bk. V, C. III.

rifying the object of our love and of causing it to be glorified. This may be done in two ways in regard to God.

a) In what concerns His interior perfections, to which we can add nothing, we can give glory only in a hypothetical way, saying, for example: “If (assuming the impossible) I could procure Thee any good, I would unceasingly desire it, even at the cost of my life. If, being what Thou art, Thou couldst receive an increase of perfection, I would desire it with all my heart.”

  1. b) In what touches His outward glory, we desire unconditionally to increase it both in ourselves and in others, and with this end in view we desire to know and love Him better, in order that we may in turn make Him better known and better loved. That this love be not a merely speculative love, we strive to study in detail the beauties and the perfections of God, to praise them and cause them to be blest, sacrificing to this end studies and occupations which would naturally be more agreeable to us.

Filled, then, with esteem and admiration for God we long to have His Holy Name blessed, exalted, praised, honored, adored all over the earth. And as we are of ourselves incapable of doing this in a perfect manner, we call upon all creatures to praise and bless their Maker: Let all the works of the Lord praise the Lord.* We rise in spirit to Heaven there to join the Angelic choirs and the host of the Saints and sing in unison with them: “ Holy, Holy, Holy Lord...”? We join the Blessed Virgin, who raised above the Angels, renders to God more glory than all other creatures, and we repeat with Her: “ AZy soul doth magnify the Lord.” 3 We join ourselves especially to the Incarnate Word, the Great Worshiper of the Father, Who, being God and Man, offers the Most Blessed Trinity a praise that is infinite.

Lastly, we unite with God Himself, that is to say, with the Three Divine Persons, in their mutual praise and congratulation. ‘Then we exclaim: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost! And in order to prove that the object of this aspiration is not the accidental glory of created praise, but the essential, eternal glory which God has in Himself, by Himself, from Himself, and which is, in a word, nothing eise than Himself, we add immediately: ‘As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end,’ wishing that God be ever glorified with that infinite eternal glory, which he possessed in Himself before the formation of creatures. ” 4

Religious and Priests realize that they are by virtue of their vows or of their priesthood specially bound to promote God’s glory. Burning with the desire of glorifying Him, they never cease, even in the midst of their occupations, to bless and praise the Almighty, and they have but one end in view, one ambition, that of extending the Kingdom of God and of procuring the eternal praise of Him Whom they love as the only portion of their inheritance.

t Dan., III, 57. —? Apoc., IV, 8. — 3 Luke, I, 46. 4ST. FRANCIS DE SALES, Zhe Love of God, Bk. V, C. XII.

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  1. (C) The love of benevolence is manifested by the love of conformity. Nothing strengthens the reign of God in the soul more effectively than the accomplishment of His Holy Will: “ Zhy Well be done on earth as tt ts in fleaven.” Love is above all else a union, a fusion of two wills into one; and, since the Will of God is alone good and wise, it is evidently we who must conform our will to His: “ Mot my will, but Thine be done.” 4

As we have explained in nos. 480-492, this conformity comprises obedience to the Commandments, the Counsels, the inspirations of grace, and the humble and loving submission to providential events whether fortunate or unfortunate : failure, humiliations, all sorts of trials sent to us for our sanctification and God’s glory. Conformity in turn produces a holy indifference to whatever does not concern itself with God’s service. Persuaded that God is everything and the creature nothing, we want but God, His love and His glory, and our will remains indifferent to all else. This indifference is not a stoical insensibility, for we continue to feel the attraction of those things that please us, but it is an indifference of mind and will. Neither does this indifference consist in Jetting things take their course, as the Quietists pretended. We are not indifferent to our salvation; on the contrary, we ardently desire it, but we desire it only in agreement with the Divine Will.

This holy abandon produces a profound peace of soul. We know that nothing can happen to us that will not be profitable unto our sanctification: “ Zo them that love God all things work together unto good.”* Hence we joyfully embrace trials and the Cross, out of love for the Divine Crucified and in order to become more like unto Him.

Thus, perfect conformity to the Will of God, as Bossuet says, 3 “makes us find our rest whether in pain or in joy, according to the pleasure of Him Who is our good. It makes us rest, not in our satisfaction, but in that of God, ever praying Him to be well pleased and to do ever with us as He pleases. ”

  1. D) This conformity leads us to frzendship with God. Friendship implies, besides benevolence, reciprocity or the mutual giving of self. Now this is well realized in charity.

This love is a true friendship, says St. Francis de Sales 4, “for it is known and acknowledged to exist on both sides; for God cannot be ignorant of our love for Him, since He Himself enkindles it in our hearts; nor can we have a doubt of His eternal predilection for us, since He has so frequently assured us of it... and He incessantly speaks to our hearts by the inspirations of His grace.” The Saint adds: ‘The mutual love subsisting between God and His creature is not what is termed simple friendship; it is a friendship of benevolent preference, that is, a special love of God founded on our choice and our preference. ”

  1. This friendship consists in the gift of Himself, which God makes to us, and the gift of self which we make t Luke, XXII, 42. —? Rom., VIII, 28. 3 Elevations, XIII, 7. — 4 Love of God, Bk. II, C. XXII.

to Him. We must, therefore, see what is God’s love for us in order to understand what must be our love for Him.

a) His love for us is 1) e¢ernal: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love” ;* 2) it is desinterested, for being absolutely self-sufficient, He simply loves us for our good ; 3) it is generous, for He gives Himself entirely, coming Himself to live lovingly i in our soul (n. 92-97); 4) it is prevenient, for not only has He loved us first, but He solicits our love and begs for it as if He were in need of it: “Jy delight ts to be with the children of men... Son, give me thy heart.”? No one could ever dream of such delicate thoughtfulness.

  1. b) We must, therefore, correspond to this love with a love that is as perfect as possible: “Who would not love Him Who loves us so much!” 3
  1. Our love must be forever growing. Not having been capable of loving God from all eternity, and never being able to love Him as He deserves, we must at least love Him more each day, placing no limits to our affection for Him, refusing Him no sacrifice that He may demand, and ever seeking to please Him: “/ do always the things that please him.” 4 2) Our love must be generous, expressing itself in loving affections, frequent ejaculations and such simple acts of love as: “T love Thee with all my heart”; but it must also express itself by actions, chiefly by the entire gift of self. God must be the center of our entire being: of our zztelligence, by the frequent thought of Him; of our wz//, by a humble submission to His least desire; of our sensitive nature, by not allowing our heart to become entangled in affections that would only be an obstacle to God’s love; of all our act#ions, by ever striving to please Him. 3) Our love must be dsznterested. We must love God far more than we love His gifts. Hence we must love Him whether in desolation or consolation, protesting to Him again and again that we want to love Him and for His own sake. It is in this way that in spite of our weakness we respond to His friendship.

§ II. The Love of the Neighbors

After explaining the zazure of this virtue and its sanctify ing power, we shall indicate the manner of practicing it.

I. Nature of Fraternal Charity

  1. Fraternal charity is indeed a theological virtue, as we have said, provided that we love God Himself in our neighbor, or in other words, that we love the neighbor for God’s sake. Should we love the neighbor solely for his

5ST. FRANCIS OF SALES, Devout Life, P. III, C. VII, XXVIII, XXIX, P. IV, C, VI; RODRIGUEZ, Christian Perfection, Vol. I, Treat. IV; SCARAMELLI- STOCKMAN, Manual of Christian Perfection, P. IV, Art. III; VAL uy, Fraternal Charity; REGINALD BUCKLER, Sf7ritual Perfection, Book | DiC ie ABER: Spiritual Conferences, eee GUIBERT, A7ndness; SCHUYLER, The Charity of Christ; HEDLEY, Retreat, XX VI, A Bishop and His Flock, XXI-XX//; The Little Flower of Jesus, C. X, XI.1

own sake, or because of the services he may render us, this would not be charity. m4

A) Hence, it is God that we must see in the neighbor. He manifests Himself in men by xatural gifts, which are a participation in His being and in His attributes, and by supernatural gifts, which are a participation in His nature and in His life (n. 445). Since the virtue of charity is supernatural, it is supernatural qualities that we must have in view as the motive of our love. Therefore, if we consider the neighbor’s natural qualities, we must look on these with the eye of faith, that is, see them as supernaturalized by grace.

  1. B) The better to understand the motve of fraternal charity, we should analyze it by considering men in their relations with God. Then they will appear to us as children of God, members of Jesus Christ, co-heirs with us of the Kingdom of Heaven (nos. 93, 142-149).

Even if they be not in the state of grace or have not the faith, they are called to the possession of these supernatural gifts and it is our duty to contribute, at least by our prayers and our example, to the work of their conversion. This is a most powerful motive for loving them as brethren, and the differences that separate us from them dwindle into insignificance in comparison with all that binds us to them.

Il. The Sanctifying Power of Fraternal Charity

  1. 1° Since the supernatural love of the neighbor is but another form of the love of God, we should repeat in this place all we have explained concerning the marvellous effects of the love of God.

Let it suffice to quote some texts of St. John: “ He that loveth his brother abideth in light; and there ts no scandal in him. But he that hateth his brother ts in darkness.”* In the language of this Apostle, to abide in light means to abide in God, the source of all light, and to walk in darkness means to be in the state of sin. The same Apostle goes on to say: “ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren... Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer.”* He concludes by saying: “ Dearly beloved, let us love one another: for charity ts of God. And every one that loveth ts born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God: for God ts charity. If we love one another, God abideth in us: and Flis charity ts perfected in us... God ts charity: and he that abideth in charity, abideth in God, and Godin him... Ifany man say: I love God, and hateth his brother: he ts a liar. For he that loveth not his brother, whom he seeth, how can he love God, whom he seeth not? And this commandment we have from God, that he, who loveth God, love alse his brother.” It would be impossible to express more clearly that to tJ John, II, 10-11. — 2 / John, Ill, 14-15. — 3 / John, 1V, 7, 8, 12, 16, 20, 21,

580 CHAPTER IIL.

love the neighbor is to love God, and that the love of the neighbor confers on us all the privileges attached to the love of God.

  1. 2° Futhermore, Our Lord tells us that whatever service is rendered to the least of His brethren, He considers as rendered to Himself: “ Amen I say to you, as long as you dtd tt to one of these my least brethren, you did tt to me.” * Now, Our Lord will not let Himself be outdone in generosity, and He will make return a hundredfold by giving all manner of graces for the least service done to Him in the person of His brethren.

How consoling is this thought to those who practice fraternal charity and perform the spiritual or corporal works of mercy; how much more consoling to those whose entire life is devoted to works of charity or zeal! Every moment of the day they do some service to Jesus Christ in the person of His brethren, and every moment of the day Jesus likewise labors in their own souls to beautify and sanctify them.

III. The Practice of Fraternal Charity

  1. The principle that must always guide us is to see God and Jesus Christ in our neighbor: 2 “ Chrtst 7x all,” and thus render our charity more supernatural in its motives and its means of action, more universal in its scope, more generous and more actzve in its exercise.

  2. 1° Beginners strive chiefly to avozd the faults contrary to charity, and to practice those acts to which we are bound by precept.

A) In order not to give pain to Jesus and the neighbor they carefully avoid:

a) Rash judgments, slander and calumny, which are against justice and charity, (n. 1043); b) natural azztipathies, which when consented to are often the cause of faults against charity; @) éz¢ter words, words of ridicule or contempt that cannot but engender or intensify enmities ; likewise, witticisms indulged in at the expense of the neighbor which cause at times smarting wounds; Q) s¢vife and discussions born of pride; €) r¢valrtes, discord, false reports, which cannot but sow dissension among the members of the great Christian family.

  1. Nothing so effectively helps us to avoid all these faults opposed to Christian charity, as the frequent consideration of the touching words of St. Paul to the first Christians: “I therefore, a prisoner in the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation

? St. JOHN EuDEs explains this very well in The Kingdom of Christ Within Us, C. I, p. 29-30: ‘See your neighbor in God and God in him; that is, regard him as one who has come forth from the heart and goodness of God, who is created to return to Him one day, and to dwell within His bosom glorifying God for all eternity; and in whom God will, in reality, be eternally glorified either by His mercy or justice,”2

in which you are called... supporting one another in charity, careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. One body and one Spirit: as you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all... Doing the truth in charity, we may in all things grow up in him who is the head, even Christ.”” Elsewhere he writes: “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ... fulfil ye my joy: that you be of one mind, having the same charity, being of one accord, agreeing in sentiment. Let nothing be done through contention: neither by vain glory. But in humility, let each esteem others better than themselves: each one not considering the things that are his own, but those that are other men’s.” ?

Who could remain unmoved by these exhortations of the Apostle? Forgetting the chains that bind him in his prison-cell, he is concerned with the thought of repressing the dissensions that disturb the Christian community; he reminds the Christians that since there are so many ties that unite them, they must put aside what divides them. After twenty centuries of Christianity this urgent appeal is not less pertinent today.

  1. But there is a fault against charity that must be especially avoided; it is scandal, that is, whatever could probably lead others to sin. We must carefully abstain from things, in themselves indifferent or lawful, but which, because of circumstances, may become to others an occasion of sin. This principle is enjoined by St. Paui regarding the meats offered to idols. Since idols are nothing, these meats are not zz themselves forbidden; but, because many Christians believe that they are forbidden, the Apostle asks those who are more enlightened to take into account the scruples of their brethren: “And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ hath died? Now when you sin thus against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat scandalize my brother, I will never eat flesh, lest I should scandalize my brother.” 3

And today these words should still be the object of meditation. Christian men and women indulge in reading, shows and dances that are at least unbecoming, under the pretext that for them such things have no evil effects. This may be questioned, for alas! many who speak in this manner at times deceive themselves. Be this as it may, do they consider the scandal they give to those who witness their conduct and who take it as an excuse to indulge in pleasures stil] more dangerous?

  1. B) Beginners are not satisfied with avoiding these faults; they practice also what the precept of charity t Ephes., \V, 1-16. — ? Phzd., Il, 1-4. —3/ Cor, VIII, 13.

commands, particularly bearing with the neighbor and forgiving injuries. a) They dear with the neighbor despite his faults.

Have we not ourselves faults that others must bear with? Besides, we are apt to exaggerate the faults of others, especially of those towards whom we feel a natural antipathy. Should we not, on the contrary, overlook their faults, and ask ourselves if it becomes us to notice the mote in the neighbor’s eye when perhaps there is a beam in ours? Instead of condemning the faults of others, let us honestly ask ourselves if we have not like faults or perhaps worse ones. Let us think first of all of correcting ourselves: “ Physician, heal thyself.” *

  1. b) Beginners have the further duty of forgzving tmjuries and of seeking reconciliation with their enemies, with those who have offended them or those whom they have offended... This duty is so imperative that Our Lord says: “If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath anything against thee; leave there thy offering before the altar and go first to be reconciled to thy brother. ” 2

According to Bossuet, the first gift we must offer God is a heart free from all resentment, of all enmity towards our brother. He adds that we must not even wait for the day on which we are to approach the altar, but that we must follow the advice of St. Paul: “ Let not the sun go down upon your wrath ;” 3 for “ darkness will add to our resentment ; our anger will return upon our awakening and become more bitter still.”4 We must not ask ourselves whether our adversary is more in the wrong than we are, whether it is for him to make the first advance. Let us, at the very first opportunity, clear up every misunderstanding by a frank explanation. If our enemy is the first to present his excuses, we must hasten to forgive: “ For if you will forgive men their offences, your Heavenly Father will forgive you also your offences. But if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offences.”5 This is but justice, since we ask God to forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

  1. 2° Souls advancing in the spiritual life strive to draw unto themselves the charitable dispositions of the Heart of Jesus.

A) They remember that the precept of charity is His precept, and that its observance will be the characteristic mark of Christians: “ A ez commandment | give unto you: that you love one another, as J have loved you, that you also love one another.” ©

This commandment is vew, says Bossuet,? “because Jesus Christ adds to the old this important feature of loving one another as He has3 loved us. His love reached out to us when we were not even thinking of Him. He came to us first. He is not disheartened by our infidelities, our ingratitudes: He loves us to make us holy, to make us happy; He loves us in a disinterested way, for He has no need of us, nor of our service.” Charity is to be the distinctive sign of Christians: “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.”

  1. B) They also try to imitate the examples of the Saviour.

a) His charity is prevenzent. He loved us first, when we were His enemies: “ When as yet we were sinners.”2 He came to us sinners knowing that we were the sick who needed a physician. His preventing grace went to seek the Samaritan woman, the adulterous woman, the thief upon the cross, in order to convert them. It is to anticipate and heal our troubles that He gave us this tender invitation: “Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened: and I will refresh you.” 3

We should imitate this divine thoughtfulness by taking the initiative with our brethren in order to discover and relieve their miseries, as do those who visit the poor to help them in their needs, and sinners, to lead them back gradually to the practice of virtue, and who do this without losing heart if at first they meet with resistance.

  1. b) Christ’s charity is compasstonate. When He beholds the multitudes that followed Him into the desert in danger of fainting from hunger, He multiplies the bread and the fishes to give them food. Above all, when He sees souls deprived of spiritual food, He takes pity at their plight, and desires that God be asked to send apostolic workers to their aid: “Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that he send forth labourers into his harvest.”4 Leaving awhile the ninety nine faithful sheep, He goes after the lost one and brings it back upon His shoulders to the fold. No sooner does a sinner give signs of repentance than He hastens to forgive him. Full of compassion for the sick and the afflicted, He heals them in great numbers and often restores their souls to health by pardoning their sins.

Following Our Lord’s example, we must harbor a great compassion for all the unfortunate and aid them according to our means. When our means are exhausted, let us at least show them kindness in word and deed. Let us, then, not be discouraged by the faults of the poor ;

and besides. giving alms for the relief of the body, let us add some good word of advice that one day or other may bear fruit.

  1. ¢) Christ’s charity is generous. Through love of us He consented to labor, and suffer, and die: “He hath loved us and hath delivered Himself for us.” *

Hence, we must be ever ready to render service to our brethren at the cost of real self-sacrifice, ready to care for them in illnesses, even if these be of a repelling nature, and to give them financial aid. This charity should be whole-hearted and sympathetic; for the manner of giving is worth more than the gift itself. It should likewise be z7ée/ligent, offering the poor not only a piece of bread, but if possible, the means of earning a livelihood. It should be zealous, doing good to souls by prayer and example and, upon occasion, by discreet and wise counsels. This duty of zeal is imposed especially upon priests, religious and devout persons. These must always remember that ““e who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way shall save his soul from death and shall cover a multitude of sins.” ?

  1. 3° Perfect souls love the neighbor unto the zmmotlation of self: “In this we have known the charity of God, because he hath laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” 3 a) This is what apostolic laborers do. Without shedding their blood for their brethren, they give their life-blood drop by drop, forever working for souls, immolating themselves in prayer, in study, even in the recreation they take. This is the ideal proposed by St. Paul: “I most gladly will spend and be spent myself for your souls: although loving you more, I be loved less.” 4

  2. b) This is what impelled holy priests to take the vow a) servitude for souls: thereby they engaged themselves to consider the neighbor as a superior with the right to exact service, and they bound themselves to comply with all his legitimate wishes.

@) This charity is further shown by readiness to anticipate the least of our neighbor’s wishes and to render him all possible service; at times also by the cordial acceptance of proffered service, for this is the means of making happy the one who offers it.

d) Lastly, it is manifested by a sfecial love for our enemies, whom we consider as the executors of divine vengeance, and whom we revere as such, praying for them in a special way and doing them good on all occasions, according to the counsel of Our Lord: “Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you.”5 ‘Thus we resemble Him ‘ Who maketh His sun rise to upon the good and bad.” ®

§ III. The Sacred Heart of Jesus the Model and Source of Charity 7

  1. 1° Preliminary Remarks. In concluding our study of charity, we cannot do better than to invite our

' Epnhes., V, 2. —? St. James, V, 20. —3/ John, Ill, 16. 477 Cor,, XII, 15. —5 Matth., V, 44. —° Matth., V, 45. 7ST. JOHN EuDES, Le Ceur admirable de la T. S. Mere de Dieu, 1. 1V et |. ll readers to seek in the Sacred Heart of Jesus the source and the model of perfect charity. In the Litanies officially approved by the Church we invoke the Sacred Heart as an “ardent furnace of charity” and as “full of goodness and love.”

There are two essential elements in the devotion to the Sacred Heart: the one senszb/e, the heart of flesh hypostatically united to the person of the Word; the other sfzrctua/, symbolized by the physical heart, which is nothing else but the love of the Incarnate Word for God and for men. Just as a symbol and the thing symbolized are but one, so these two elements are but one. Now, the love symbolized by the Heart of Jesus is, no doubt, His Auman love, but it is also His dzvzne love, since in Jesus the divine and the human operations are indissolubly united. It is His love for men: “ Behold the heart that has loved men so much”; but it is also His love for God, since, as we have shown, charity towards men flows from charity towards God, and draws from the latter its real motive.

We can, then, consider the Heart of Jesus as the most perfect Model of love towards God and of love towards the neighbor, and even as the Model of all virtues, for charity contains and perfects them all. Since Jesus, during the course of His mortal life, merited for us the grace of imitating His virtues, He is also the mmerztorzous cause, the source of the graces that enable us to love God and our brethren and to practice all the other virtues.

  1. 2° The Heart of Jesus as the Source and Model of love towards God. Love is the complete gift of self. How perfect, then, must be the love of Jesus for His Father! From the first moment of the Incarnation He offers Himself and yields Himself as a victim in order to restore glory to God outraged by our sins.

At His birth, as well as on the day of His Presentation in the Temple, He renews this offering. During the years of His Azdden life He shows His love for God by yielding obedience to Mary and to Joseph, in whom He sees the representatives of the Divine Authority.

Who could tell of the acts of pure love that arose to the Most Blessed Trinity from the little house of Nazareth? In the course of His Judie

J. CroiseT, La dévotion au S. Ceur; STE MARGUERITE-MARIE, Cuvres, éd. Gauthey; P. DE GALLIFET, Excellence de la dévotion au S, Ceur,; DALGAIRNS, Devotion to the Sacred Heart; MANNING, The Glories of the Sacred Heart; J.-B. TERRIEN, La dévotion au S, Ceur,; P. Le Dork, Les Sacrés Ceurs et le V. J. Eudes; Le Sacré Ceur; J. BAINVEL, La dévotion au S. Ceur, doctrine, histotre; L. GARRIGUET, Le Sacré Caeur, exposé historique et dogmatique, Cath. Encyclop., Heart of Jesus; NOLDIN, Devot. to Sacred Heart of Jesus; HUSSLEIN, The Sacred Heart.

life He seeks but the pleasure of His Father: “7 do always the things that please Him...”* “I honor my Father.”? At the Last Supper He can declare that He has glorified His Father during His entire life: “7 have glorified Thee upon the earth.”? The following day He carries out His self-surrender even to self-immolation on Calvary: “ Made obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross.” * Who could ever number the interior acts of pure love that sprang incessantly from His Heart, and which made of His whole life a continual act of perfect charity?

  1. Above all, who could give an idea of the perfection of that love?

“It is a love” says St. John Eudes, > “worthy of such a Father and of such a Son; it is a love that fits most perfectly the unspeakable perfections of the Beloved One; it is an infinitely loving Son that loves an infinitely lovable Father; it is God Who loves God... In a word the Divine Heart of Jesus, whether considered in its humanity or in its divinity, is infinitely more inflamed with love for His Father, and loves Him infinitely more at each single instant than all the Angels and Saints together could love Him throughout all eternity.”

Now, this love of Jesus for His Father we can make our own, by uniting ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and by offering it to the Father, saying with Saint John Eudes: “My Saviour, I give myself to Thee in order to unite myself with the eternal, boundless, and infinite love which Thou bearest Thy Father. Adorable Father, I offer Thee all this eternal, boundless, infinite love of Thy Son Jesus as a love that is mine... I love. Thee as Thy Son loves Thee”

  1. 3° The Heart of Jesus The Source of Love for Men. We have seen (n. 1247) how Jesus loved men while on earth; it remains for us to point out here how He never ceases to love them now that He is in Heaven.

a) It is because He loves us that He sanctifies us through the Sacraments : these are, to borrow once more the thought of St. John Eudes, “so many inexhaustible fountains of grace and holiness which have their source in the boundless ocean of the Sacred Heart of Our Saviour; and all the graces that issue from the sacraments are so many flames of that divine furnace.” 6

  1. b) It is in the Hucharist especially that He gives us the greatest proof of His love. 1) For nineteen centuries He has been with us night and day, like a father who is loath to leave His children, like a friend who finds his pleasure with his friends, like a devoted physician who constantly t John, VIII, 29. —? John, VIII, 49. —3 John, XVII, 4. — 4 Philip., Il, 8. 5 Le Ceur admirable, . X11, ch. I], — © /é¢d., Ch, VII.

remains by the bed-side of his patients. 2) He is ever active, adoring, praising and glorifying His Father for us, thanking Him for all the benefits He continually bestows upon us, loving Him in our stead, offering Him His Own merits and satisfactions to atone for our sins, and ever asking new graces in our behalf: “ Always living to make intercesston for us.” * 3) He never ceases to renew upon the altar the Sacrifice of Calvary; He does so thousands of times a day, wherever there is a priest to consecrate, and He does so out of love for us, in order to apply to each one of us the fruits of His Sacrifice (n. 271-273). And not content with immolating Himself, He gives Himself whole and entire to every communicant, to impart to each His graces, His dispositions and His virtues (n. 277-281).

This Divine Heart ardently longs to communicate to us His, Own «charity. “My Divine Heart,” ‘said. He, ‘to St. Margaret Mary, “is possessed of such a passionate love for men and for you in particular, that unable to contain the flames of its burning charity, it must needs extend them through you, that it may be made known to them in order to enrich them with its priceless treasures.”2 It was then that Our Lord asked the Saint for her heart in order to unite it to His own and place in it a spark of His love. What Christ did in a miraculous manner for her, He does in an ordinary way for us in Holy Communion and every time that we unite our hearts to His; for He is come to earth to bring the sacred fire of charity, and His only desire is to enkindle it in our hearts: “I am come to cast fire on the earth. And what will I, but that it be kindled?” 3

  1. 4° The Heart of Jesus the Source and Model of All Virtues. In Holy Writ the heart often signifies all the interior sentiments of man in contradistinction to his exterior acts: “ Man seeth those things that appear; but the Lord beholdeth the heart.” 4 The heart of Jesus, therefore, symbolizes not only love, but all the inward sentiments: of His soul. It is thus that the great mystics of the Middle Ages, and, after them, St. John Eudes, understood the devotion to the Sacred Heart. The same may be said of St. Margaret Mary. No doubt she lays special stress, and rightly so, on the love wherewith this Divine Heart is filled; but in her various writings she shows us this Heart as the model of all virtues. Father de la Colombiere, her confessor and interpreter, sums up her thoughts in an act of consecration, which is found at the end of the Sfzrztual Retreats.

t Hebr., VII, 25. — ? First of the Great Revelations. — 3 Luke, XII, 49. 47, Kings, XVI, 7. 5 Guvres completes, Grenoble 1gor, ch. VI, p. 124.

“This offering is made in order to honor this Divine Heart, seat of all virtues, source of all blessings, and the refuge of all holy souls. The principal virtues intended to be honored therein are: zm the first Place, the most ardent love for God His Father, together with the most profound respect and the deepest humility ever known; secondly, infinite patience in the midst of sufferings, the keenest of pains for the sins He had laid upon Himself, the trust of a tender son together with the shame of a great sinner; ¢/zrdly, a most lively compassion for our wretchedness, and in spite of all these emotions, an unalterable serenity, the result of the most perfect conformity to the Will of God, a serenity that could not be troubled by any event whatsoever.”

Besides, since all virtues flow from charity and find therein their highest perfection (n. 318-319), the Heart of Jesus, being the source and model of Divine Charity, is at the same time the source and model of all virtues.

  1. In this the devotion to the Sacred Heart joins with the devotion to the /xzterior Life of Jesus, explained by Father Olier and practiced in the Seminaries of St. Sulpice. This interior life consists, says he, “in His interior dispositions and sentiments towards all things, for example: His sense of religion towards God, His love towards the neighbor, His self-abnegation, His horror for sin, His condemnation of the world and its maxims.” *

Now, all these dispositions are found in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and it is there that we must seek them. Father Olier wrote to a pious soul who delighted to withdraw within the Heart of Jesus: ‘Lose yourself a thousand times a day in His lovable Heart whither you feel yourself so strongly attracted... The Heart of the Son of God is the pearl of great price; it is His most precious gem; God’s own treasury wherein He pours all His riches and where He dispenses all His graces... It is within that Sacred Heart, within that adorable Soul, that first are enacted all mysteries... See, then, to what Our Lord calls you by opening to you His Heart, and see how much you must profit by this grace, one of the greatest that you have obtained in your life. Let not creatures ever draw you out of that place of delights and may you be plunged therein for time and for eternity with all the holy spouses of Jesus.”? In another place he said: “ What a Heart is that of Jesus! What an ocean of love is contained therein, flooding the whole earth! O rich and overflowing source of all love! O inexhausible depths of all religion! O Divine center of all hearts... O Jesus! allow me to worship, to adore the inmost recesses of Thy holy soul, to adore Thy Heart which I have but to-day beheld. 1 would picture it, but its ravishing beauty will not permit me. I beheld it as a Heaven radiant with light, full of love, of gratitude, and of praise. It breathed forth God, it showed forth His grandeur and magnificence.”3 For Father Olier, the Interior Life and the Heart of Jesus were but one and the same thing, that is, the center of all the dispositions of Christ’s holy soul and of His virtues, the sanctuary of love and of worship, where God is glorified and whither fervent souls love to withdraw.

  • Cat, for an Int. Life, P. 1, Lesson I. — 2 Letéres, t. II, lettre 426. 3 Esprit de M, Olier, t. 1, 186-187, 193.
  1. Conclusion. That devotion to the Sacred Heart may be productive of these happy effects, it must consist of two essential acts: Jove and atonement.

1° Love is the first and the foremost of these duties, according to St. Margaret Mary as well as according to St. John Eudes.

Giving an account to Father Croiset of the second great apparition the former writes ' : “He made me see that it was the great desire He had of being loved by men, and of withdrawing them from the road of perdition, that induced Him to conceive this plan of making His Heart known to men, with all the treasures of love, of mercy, of grace, of sanctification and of salvation, in order that those who wish to render and procure Him all the honor, glory, and love of which they are capable, might be abundantly and profusely enriched with the treasures of the Heart of God.” Another letter, to Sister de la Barge, ends thus: ‘‘ Let us, then, love this, the only love of our souls, since He has loved us first and loves us still so ardently that He continually burns with love for us in the Blessed Sacrament. To become saints it suffices to love this Holy of Holies. What shall hinder us? We have hearts to love and a body to suffer... Only His Holy love can make us do His pleasure; only this perfect love can make us do it in His own way; and only this perfect love can make us do it in His own acceptable time.” ?

  1. 2° The second of these essential acts is atonement, for the love of Jesus is outraged by the ingratitude of men, as He Himself declared in the third great apparition to St. Margaret Mary :—

“ Behold this Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to testify its love. In return, 7 receive from the greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverences and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt they have for Me in this Sacrament of love.” Then He asks her to atone for these ingratitudes by the ardor of her own love: “My daughter, I come into the heart I have given you in order that ‘hrough your fervor you may atone for the offences which I have received from lukewarm and slothful hearts which dishonor me in the Blessed Sacrament. ”

  1. These two acts are highly sanctifying. Love will, by uniting us intimately to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, make us share in His virtues, and give us the strength to practice them in spite of all obstacles. Azonement will further enkindle our fervor, by having us sympathize with the sufferings of Jesus, and will lead us, out of love for Him and in union with His Sufferings, to endure all the trials that it may please God to send us.

Thus understood, devotion to the Sacred Heart contains nothing that could savor of artificiality or sentimentality.

It is rather the very spirit of Christianity, a happy blending of love and sacrifice, attended by the gradual development of the moral and the theological virtues. It is like a sasmmary of the /duminative Way, and an apt initiation into the Unitive Way.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremtas, XXXI, 3. — 2 Prov., VIII, 31; XXITI, 26. ↩

  2. Matth., XXV, 40. ↩

  3. Luke, WV, 23. —? Matth., V, 23-24. — 3 Ephes., IV, 26. 4 Méditat., X1Ve jour. — 5 Matth., V1, 14-15. ® John, XII, 34. —7 Médctations, La Céne, I Part., 75¢ jour. ↩

Chapter 17 of 24