74. How Patience Begets Hope and Love — First Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday After Trinity

Synopsis — The littlest work of a meniber of Christ's body partakes of the dignity of the Head — Each one should do all his works for the sake of all his brethren — Searching for God among little duties — The farmer in a trance, flail in hand — How to obtain heavenly guidance in small affairs.

FIRST SERMON FOR THE TENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.*

There are diversities of operations, but the same Lord, who worketh all in all, and the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man unto profit. To one, indeed, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom ; and to another, the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another faith in the same Spirit. But all these things one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to everyone according as He will. — I Cor. xii, 6-11.

Here the apostle names a variety of gifts, but which are all the work of the same Holy Ghost. In the days of the apostles, the Holy Ghost wrought wonderful things among His friends for the proof of the Christian faith, including prophecies; and His final work was the martyrdom of the apostles and their disciples. Miraculous signs are not needed in our days, although it must be confessed that living Christian faith is as little evident in some among us as in pagans and Jews.

Let us consider this teaching — that there are diversities of work in God's service, and yet that one and the same Spirit is in them all. Children, look at the human body, with all its different members and senses, each part having its separate office. Not any sense or member usurps the office of any other, or acts otherwise than as God has ordained for it. So are we all members of the same body, and of this body Christ is the head. Now, the eye in the body of holy Church, that is her teachers. It is an office that does not concern you, for we ordinary Christians must note carefully what our place is, the office to which our Lord has called us, and in the performance of whose

•No sermon of Tauler's for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity is extant.

duties we are firmly joined to the Head, our Lord, by means of His holy grace. For no matter how insignificant the work may seem, il it be that of a member of Christ's body, then it is done by the grace of the Holy Ghost to the profit of men's souls.

Well, then, we live among the lowest members. One can spin, another can make shoes, some being skilful at one trade, others at another. And these are all graces that are made active by the operation of the Spirit of God. If I were not a priest, and were only a brother in a community, I should consider it a great thing to be able to make shoes, and I would be very glad to earn my bread by the labor of my hands. Children, the foot or hand should not wish to be the eye, but each should fulfill the office assigned by God ; for however lowly that may seem, it could not be done by the other members. Thus our sisters do their part, as, for example, in piously chanting the psalms. St. Augustine says: "God is a most simple being; and yet He works in a most manifold way, being all things in each single thing, and one in all of them together." Every least little work of ours comes to us as a duty from God and each has its particular grace. Let us do it gladly for the sake of all our brethren, who cannot do it as appropriately as we. Thus do we all mutually exchange grace for grace. Believe me, the man who does not pray nor work for his neighbor's sake shall have much to answer for before God, when, as the Gospel tells us, it will be said to him : ''Give an account of thy stewardship" (Luke xvi: 2). And each of us is appointed as a steward to do a certain work for God, and to render account of the same.

How does it happen, then, that so many complain that their occupation in life hinders their serving God? God makes no limitations to His service, and how, then, does it happen that thy conscience is afflicted at having to do what He appoints for thee? Dear children, make up your minds that it is not your occupation, but your own ill-regulated way of performing it that disturbs your interior peace. Do thy duty rightly ; have God alone in view ; be disengaged from all self-conceit and self-love; look not to what is pleasant or unpleasant as thy end in doing or not doing; fear nothing and desire nothing but God ; seek no profit, think of no joy in thy work ; regard nothing except what is wholly for God's honor: — act this way, and it is impossible that thou shouldst feel distress of conscience in thy usual occupations. It is a shame for any spiritual man to have it said of him, that he is disorderly in doing his daily round of duty, for one

.— ■ n - ■ ■ i - ■ ■ — ■ r " ■ ' ~ — soon perceives this defect — the work is not done in God, nor is it done to the henefit of his neighbor.

Ry this slovenly carelessness thou makest manifest that it is not for and in God thou art laboring; and herein is shown the cause of thy unrest of soul. Our Lord did not reprove Martha on account of her work, for that was holy; he chided her for her excessive solicitude. A man should practice approved spiritual exercises, attend to his hounden duty, and then cast all his care upon God, attending meanwhile to his obligations diligently and in all calmness of mini. And he should be careful to remain at home in his own spirit, looking often there in search of God, with inward intentness and very devoutly, meanwhile carefully attending to every call of duty in his external jife. And, besides, he should carefully watch for the inspirations ol tlie Holy Ghost, whether to action or to suffering for God's sake. By this means he does or he leaves undone according to the guidance of the Holy Ghost, now resting quiet and again pushing onward : such is the way to fulfil thy part in life in all Godliness and peace.

If there is any poor, old, feeble, helpless creature, do thou run quickly to his help. One should outdo the other in this work of charity, thus bearing one another's burdens. If thou failest in this, be sure that God will bestow the privilege upon another with all the accompanying graces, leaving thee empty. Dost thou feel a special joy in any work? Be on thy guard carefully — do the work for God alone, be not carried away by thy feelings. Here, then, children, is the way to acquire virtue, and a very necessary way, If thou wouldst come to God. Do not dream that by counselling quiet waiting for God, I mean that thou art to sit down idle till God shall come and infuse virtue into thy soul.

Put no trust in immature virtue, unearned virtue. If a man claims that the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost have taken up their abode within him, there is nothing in what he says, unless he has* attained to this state by devout exercises of religion, interior as well as exterior, the same that we have been considering. A farmer stands and threshes his grain with his flail uplifted, and suddenly falls into a trance; now the flail will fall on him and strike him, unless an angel from Heaven shall catch it. So with you. None like to thresh, all would wish to be entranced — all the members of the body would be the eye, all for the contemplative and none for the active life. Now this is a sign of stupidity. I knew a man who was a very dear friend of God, and who was a ploughman all the days of his life-more than forty years, and, indeed, he is the same yet. Well, he once asked our Lord whether or not he should give up his labor and spend his time in church. The Lord said to him: "No, thou shalt eat thy bread in the sweat of thy face, and in that service thou shalt do honor to My precious blood." And yet everyone, each following his own pious method, should daily and nightly retire apart and sink down into the depths of his soul, choosing therefor a proper time and place. Those who are so far advanced as to go to God direct and without the images of the imagination, should follow their method ; others in turn are helped by a different one ; for we cannot all be eyes in the Lord's body. Each one for himself must thus pray just as God ordains; and in deep love and quiet peace. Whosoever serves God as He wills, to him shall God respond according to that man's own will. But if one serves God according to his own will, him shall God treat, not as he would wish to be treated, but as God in His justice deems best.

Children, it is in this self-departure, this going forth from selfwill. that the essential peace of the soul is born within us, which means the acquisition of well-seasoned virtue. Believe me that essential peace never comes otherwise — it is false to assert such a thing. Outwardly practiced and inwardly cherished virtue produces peace of soul ; though it is to be said that the peace that arises from the more interior exercises of religion is a treasure that no man can rob you of. Men wise in their own conceit will bid you do this and do that to become perfect— and it is all a set of observances of their own contrivance. Such men have sometimes been forty years in religion, and to this day they do not appreciate their state of life. They are far bolder in devotional things than I would dare to be.

My vocation is that of a teacher of the people. And yet when I hear confessions and ask my penitents how this is and how that, having in view their spiritual direction, at the last I am often unable to form a judgment about them. Then I pray to our Lord for light; and if He does not grant it to me, I can but say: Dear children, you must yourselves pray for the divine guidance, and it will certainly be granted you. Not so the rash men of whom I have been speaking; they praise or they condemn quickly, each of them according to his own chosen standard, and strive to fasten on others their own favorite devotional customs. And by this means many a plant in our

Lord's garden is worm-eaten in the bud. They say to you ; Your way is a novelty and we do not approve of it, it is full of the spirit of innovation ; and meanwhile God's ways are wholly unknown to them. Ah, strange things may be expected from men of that kind.

Now says St. Paul : "But all these things the same Spirit worketh, dividing to everyone according as He will." Children, to what kind of men, think you, does God give the knowledge of the divisions He makes among men? Who are they that have the judgment and discernment of different spirits in men? Be sure that they who have this gift are well exercised in the ways of God. The trials of flesh and blood are familiar to them, for they have suffered them in the severest form. The enemy of souls has gone through them, aye, and they have gone through him. Bone and marrow have been searched through and through, and all their souls have been perfected — such are the men to whom God grants the discernment of spirits. If they will but turn their attention to any souls and consider them, they at once discover whether or not their spirit is of God; and they can decide what is the right step to be taken in the road of perfection, or what it is that stands in the way. Meanwhile let us lament how trifling a thing it is that causes us to turn out of the straight road to everlasting truth, doing ourselves a grievous and eternal harm — for God and His love are eternal, and if we neglect His love on earth it will never be ours in the life to come. May God help us to do His work in all truth, and just as His Holy Spirit shall guide us, each one according to his particular inspirations. Amen.

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Sytbopsis — To abide in self-approval is to court reprobation — Also to serve God in a spirit of buying and selling — Dreadful fate of a certain unworthy monk — An elect soul keeps God ever in view — A plain sign of election is feeling spiritual misery on account of bodily plenty — Again, readiness to hear God's word in a humble mood.

SECOND SERMON FOR THE TENTH SUNDAY AFTER

And when He drew near, seeing the city, He wept over it, saying: If thou also hadst known and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace; but now they are hidden from thy eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side, and beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee ; and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone ; because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation. And entering into the temple, He began to cast out them that sold things, and them that bought. Saying to them : It is written : My house is the house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves. — Luke xix, 41-46.

The city over which our Lord now weeps is Christendom. This is the first meaning of this Gospel ; the second is that He weeps over worldly hearts, and well may He weep, for we may all weep and never weep enough over those who know not and who will not be warned of the time of their visitation. Jerusalem was in joy and peace when Christ wept over the city. And so are all these men who live in the life of the senses. They are full of joy and peace as long as they have this world's goods, power, friends, relatives, honors, everything to their hearts' content, living as if these were to be theirs for all eternity. Meanwhile they keep up a show of religion, confession, and prayer, and dream they are safe. If you say anything to the contrary, you are lost to them. They abide in self-righteousness and in perfect security. But mark what comes after this state of security : their enemy shall come upon them, and leave not a stone upon a stone.

The time of God's visitation is at hand. As they approach death, the fiend enwraps them in a mantle of despair, they know not which way to fly, not a thought of God's goodness can enter their souls. No wonder. God has never been there, they never built on Him, took little account of Him — they were ever absorbed in transitory pleasures and the joys of the senses. When the evil one has knocked away that foundation, then down falls the peace that was built thereon. Now follows an unbearable tumult of soul, unbearable and everlasting, over which all men might weep and wither up with terror; yea, they might well shed tears of blood over such a calamity. Good reason had Christ to weep over these souls, saying: "If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace?' And St. John writes: "All that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life" (I John ii:16). How shall God judge such a soul after death? Would that He might give you to know the terrors of that future tumult of soul which shall never be followed by peace ; which not my words but those of St. Gregory describe in this day's homily.

Then our Lord entered into the temple and drove out the buyers and sellers, saying: You have made My house a den of thieves. He means the soul of man, which is more properly the temple of God than all material temples in the world. St. Paul says: "Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth within you? If any man violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which you are" 1 1 Cor. iii: 16-17). Now when our Lord would enter into this His temple, He finds it a den of thieves and murderers, and a place of traffic. For what is buying and selling? It is when, for example, a man gives the corn which he has for the wine which he has not. Now, a man has nothing that is really his own, except his free will. And it is by bartering away his free will in exchange for the perishable things of this world that he plies his traffic: no matter what he gets in return, he always gives away his free will — seeking joy in food and drink, in raiment and jewels, both for his own pleasure and for the admiration of other men. Alas, the day of reckoning is sure to come. And then they cry out, O blessed Lord, have pity on me! It was not a sensual love but a spiritual love I indulged in ; we must have our relaxations. Dear children, make no mistake. This is really the traffic thou carriest on whilst thou canst barter away thy free will. And as time goes on, God is removed farther and farther away from thee, and grows stranger and stranger. St. Bernard says : •'Divine consolation is of so sensitive and delicate a nature, that it cannot abide the company of any other consolation." One will perhaps exclaim: O Lord, we are in the religious state, members of a holy order. I answer: If thou hadst upon thee all the holy habits thou couldst choose, unless thou dost act up to what these rightly mean, they will do thee no manner of good.

It happened once that a man committed a crime, and then he entered a monastery, wholly unrepentant and unconfessed. Having received the holy habit, he came to his death — and the devil cut him to pieces and carried him off, body and soul, but leaving the holy habit after him. And they that belong to orders should be for that reason all the more holy than the ordinary traffickers of this world. Alas, how vast a subject is this for our meditation, if we did but search it to the bottom. For everybody seems full of his own will, full, full, full ! How few strong characters do we meet with, men who subject themselves wholly to God ; indeed, the majority of those who act thus are poor, humble women. All seek their own, all are self-willed. Ah, if they would but traffic with God, and give Him their free wills, that would indeed be a prosperous venture. And what is the net profit of their worldly barter? Nothing but disturbance of mind. Yet these half-hearted Christians are all the better off for their pain upon pain of heart, if they but knew it, for by means of this distress of conscience they will at last be saved; whereas those who are content with their state of infidelity to God are in great peril of final loss. St. Augustine speaks thus of the half-hearted : "Ill-regulated spirits provide a martyrdom for themselves, and lay on their souls an oppressive burden ; they feel deep unrest and yet know not what ails them." The trouble is that their temple is a place of traffic; they will not give up self-love.

Sometimes one will give up relatives and friends, his goods and his inheritance; but he will not give up self. And all is then in vain. He must be to himself as utterly stripped of all things as when he came naked from God. This is true, even though one must have many cares for himself, like eating and drinking, seeing and hearing, all of which leave their memories in the soul. What then? A man must in all these things keep God in view: he must seek God in all he does, in all he leaves undone. As long as he acts that way, he may disregard his memories and the images of his imagination, lie keeps the temple of his soul clean from traffic. He is not entangled by these intrusions of outward things.

The bride in the Canticles says that their bed is full of flowers, that is to say, the soul in friendship with God is full of heavenly flowers, of thoughts and images of divine love and of Heaven. Ah, if thy temple were only totally empty, cleansed of all trafficking, all imaginations, then would it indeed be the temple of God — never until then, no matter what thou mayst do to it. Peace and joy would then possess thy heart; nothing whatever could lead thee astray; all that now annoys thee and even fills thee with anguish would vanish away. The Lord commanded Ezechiel to dig his way through the wall into the temple, and to behold the many abominations there, and the foul images therein to be found — painted by the keepers of the temple themselves. And thus it is with the recollections and the imaginations of men ; they themselves paint them upon their souls.

Herein may one distinguish between the elect and the reprobate. The former cannot enjoy full peace in inordinate use of created things, even if they do for awhile lose themselves and go astray in them. They feel the tooth of remorse constantly gnawing their conscience, sorrow and dread haunt them even in their evil hours; and this is the work of the Holy Ghost, as it is written : "The Spirit Himself asketh for us with unspeakable groanings" (Rom. viii: 26). They come at last to sincere repentance^ weeping over their wayward and disorderly life, and thus they are saved. This is true even though years may pass before they return to God. What an inestimable grace is this; and be who is granted it may well thank God for the warnings vouchsafed him, and the interior inspirations that stirred him to repentance. But, alas, with others it turns out differently. There are some to whom it avails not to give private warnings or public discourses — nay, there are whole countries that seem to be averted from God.

Therefore do I warn you to hear God's message, while yet it is addressed to you : profit wrell by it. Admit the word of God into thy understanding, for it is too little understood. It is a blameworthy thing that God's warning remains in the ear and does not reach the heart, for that is filled already; it is all encumbered and overlaid with things of sense. Make room for God's word; drive out of your hearts the joys you take in created things; expel the imaginations and memories of this world — otherwise you cannot understand what God means.

When one preaches a truth of God today, and preaches the self -same truth again tomorrow, his hearers will receive it attentively and with joy, because it is a property of divine truth, that as fast as we learn one lesson in it God makes our hearts ready for another. It is full of undiscovered beauty and instruction, all of which we never can perfectly comprehend. And this ever-increasing power of understanding God's word, is granted especially to those who come to hear it with souls' detached from earthly things. As to the others, much is lost to them, and much is not rightly understood. The truth of God reaches their ears and forms figures in their fancy — not much more. This is on account of the preoccupation of their souls by worldly thoughts. If these thoughts, these traffickers, were but driven out of that temple of God, it would be transformed into a house of prayer, in which God would love to dwell. And presently we shall discourse upon the prayer that should be offered therein. Meanwhile, may God grant us the grace to drive out all traffickers, and make our souls acceptable to Him. Amen.