When Martin Luther nailed his
95 Theses to the Wittenberg Cathedral, the Augustinian priest ignited a
firewall that continues to separate Catholics and Protestants down to this
day. At the heart of his question was the
abuse of indulgences, but he ultimately attacked the firewall upon which the
doctrine was built—Purgatory—in order to make his point. Unfortunately, the debate still rages today,
not necessarily because of Purgatory itself but because of all of the ancillary
issues attached to it: Atonement, Penance, Tradition, Development of Doctrine,
and Authority. In an age of exaggerated ecumenism,
we tend to ignore those doctrines like Purgatory that ultimately lead to
division. Ignoring the truth is never a
good idea, especially when the truth is a practical one. Purgatory is perhaps the most practical of
doctrines; many of those who don’t believe in it now will experience it
first-hand in the not too distant future.
But it also is important to have a ready explanation for it because it
is also a “head-pin” doctrine; knock it down and many of the aforementioned
obstacles will fall with it.
The most common argument
against it is that it is not Scriptural.
We have spoken any number of times in the past about the rule of faith
being implicit within Sacred Scripture and the need for Tradition to make it
explicit. In other words, doctrines like
Purgatory need not be explicit in Scripture only implicit. We will not traverse that well-worn path yet
again. It is mentioned because we need
not necessarily have this discussion regarding Purgatory. If we dig a little deeper into Scripture then
we will find that Purgatory is a common theme, so much so that we can offer a
strictly Scriptural defense of it.
St. Thomas said that, when
arguing with an opponent, we should always argue using terms and sources of
authority that they agree with. For
example, when discussing some aspect of morality with a non-Christian, we
should not cite the Bible but instead Natural Law. We can certainly show how the Bible agree
with that source of authority, but to obstinately stick to the Bible when they
think it mythical is foolish. A similar
thing happens with Catholics and the doctrine of Purgatory. Second Maccabees (2 Maccabees 12:39-46) clearly
points to a belief in Purgatory. The
problem is that Protestants don’t accept that book as inspired. By referencing them it seems to only prove
their point that Purgatory is a Catholic fabrication, yet it still remains the
go-to texts from the Old Testament.
St.
Francis de Sales and the Argument from Scripture
Throughout post-Reformation
history, there is perhaps no one better than St. Francis de Sales at converting
Protestants. Some estimate that he was
responsible for over 70,000 conversions in his lifetime. It is therefore instructive to look at how he
presented this divisive doctrine. He did
not argue from Tradition or even mention 2Maccabees, but instead gave a strict
Biblical defense using Protestant accepted texts. Given his success rate and the fact that most
of these texts are rarely cited, it is educative to review what he said (Catholic Controversy, Appendix II).
It without saying that
Catholics and Protestants both agree that Christ’s Blood is the true
purgatory. But the question still
remains how and when that purgation is applied.
For the saintly Bishop of Geneva
and the thousands he converted there was a simple reasoning process: if there
are passages which speak of purgation after death then there must be a place
(call it Purgatory since the name is never given us) where this purgation
occurs for purgation can happen neither in hell (where “the worm does not die”
Mk 9:48) or in heaven (where “nothing unclean may enter it” Rev 21:27).
St. Francis begins where many
of the Fathers of the Church, those who spoke the great Amen to God’s
Revelation, began, in Psalm 66. There
the Psalmist speaks of being led out into the spacious place by passing through
fire (Ps 66:12). Likewise, Isaiah 4:4
speaks of being cleansed by a spirit of burning.
St. Francis also refers to
Christ’s teaching on the Sermon of the Mount where he cautions about the
punishments attached to anger (Mt 5:22-26).
Our Lord suggests different levels of punishment, with only the latter
meriting hell. For the other two, Jesus
speaks of a prison of sorts that one can leave saying, “truly, I say to you,
you will never get out till you have paid the last penny” (5:26). Building on this theme, St. Paul refers to a
man who is saved “as through fire” (1
Cor 3:11-15).
Praying
for the Dead
All of this points to a time
and place of purgation, but, absent a connection to Tradition, one could argue
that this purgation occurs in this life.
The problem with that interpretation however is the abundance of
Scriptural examples of people praying for the dead. St. Francis begins by referring to David’s prayer
and fasting for Saul and Jonathan after their deaths—”And they mourned and
wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the
people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the
sword” (2 Sam 1:12). Likewise, we find
St. Paul praying for his departed friend Onesiphorous (1 Tim 1:16-18).
He also explains two other
often problematic texts by referring to Purgatory. The Mormons often justify their habit of
literally vicariously baptizing the dead by referring to Paul’s text in the
fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians (1 Cor 15:29). St. Francis says that when Paul speaks of
being baptized for the dead he does not mean it in the literal sense, but as an
exhortation to offer sufferings for the dead.
He says that St. Paul is using Baptism in the same manner as Christ did
when He speaks of His baptism of afflictions and penances undertaken in Luke 12:49-50—I
have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be
baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!”. Notice how Our Lord references to a fire in
this rather clear passage.
Perhaps his most convincing
passage prooftext is the last one he refers to: Philippians 2:10. St. Paul says that that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth”. In particular, St. Francis is concerned with
a proper interpretation of those “under the earth”. To assume that refers to those in hell would contradict
Scripture— ”For there is no one in death, that is mindful of thee: and who
shall confess to thee in hell?” (Ps 6:5, c.f. Isaiah 38:18). Instead those “under the earth” refers to “holy
souls in Purgatory”, that is the Church Suffering. St. Paul’s hymn is making reference to the
Church in all her members in heaven, on the earth and in Purgatory. Ultimately then, there is no firewall between
the Church’s members nor should there be between Catholics and Protestants.
In investigating how we come to
Faith, we discussed how the key
step in the journey from natural faith to supernatural faith is to
have “reasons to believe” that God has authentically spoken. These external proofs of Revelation, when
combined with the internal light of the Holy Spirit, help to formulate the
content of faith. The Church calls these
reasons to believe motives of credibility (CCC 56) and enumerates three of
them: prophecy, miracles and growth. Only
the Catholic Church bears all three of these stamps of authenticity, proving
that she is the voice of God. But these
motives of credibility can also be applied in the opposite direction; not only
are they signs of authenticity, but their lack is a sign that a given religion
is false.
St. Francis de Sales, in his
book The
Catholic Controversy puts these motives of credibility to the test in
refuting the authenticity of the Protestant Reformers. He points out that throughout Salvation History,
every ambassador for God carried with him a “letter of recommendation”. This letter of recommendation comes in two
forms, mediate and immediate.
The mediate minister is the one who is commissioned by an already
established authority and sent by one of God’s authentic ministers. Scripture is replete with examples, but one
will suffice to demonstrate the point.
When Elijah, who was God’s anointed, appointed Elisha as his successor,
the latter became the authentic prophet and the voice of God among men through
the imposition of his mantle (c.f. 1 Kings 19:16-21). Likewise, Acts of the Apostles shows numerous
cases in which the Apostles (or those who have been given authority by them) sending
ministers out to speak in the name of the Church, the voice of God among men.
Someone who is sent immediately is one who received direct
divine commission. Again, we find
numerous Scriptural examples including the aforementioned Elijah and the
Apostles themselves. In contrast to the
mediate ministers, these immediate ministers must always carry with them two
marks: prophecy and miracles. They must
be both prophesied and prophecy themselves.
The Apostles once again are the example par excellence through both being
prophesied and prophesying themselves.
They also performed miracles making their message believable. The interior movement of the Holy Spirit was
met with external signs directing them to the true voice of God.
Applying
the Principle to the Protestant Reformation
Once this principle is
established, St. Francis de Sales applies it to the Protestant Reformers to see
if they are truly God’s ambassadors. It
is readily apparent that the Reformers were not mediately appointed. They rejected the authority of the Church and
therefore to argue that they were sent by the Church would be nonsensical. But what is often argued is that the
Protestant Revolt was one from below and that it was the rank and file laity
that sent them. This viewpoint is
historically debatable given that it was mostly imposed by princes, but even if
we concede that it is true, then it is most certainly not Scriptural.
Hebrews 7:7, “unquestionably,
a lesser person is blessed by a greater” carries with it a corollary and that
is that a lesser person cannot bless a greater person. What this means practically is that the laity
cannot ordain an ambassador for God. Even
if some of them were priests, sharing only in Apostolic Succession through
their Bishop, they lacked the proper authority to act directly against those
Bishops. To say that Luther, Zwingli,
and Calvin were anointed by the people would contradict a fundamental tenet
that the Reformers all had in common: sola
scriptura. Therefore, we cannot say
that these same Reformers were mediately appointed.
This leaves us with the immediate
option, namely, that they were appointed by God directly. These reformers were
obviously not the first in the history of the Church to make claims against the
Church. Heretics almost continuous made similar
claims and were all rejected in part because they lacked these two signs of
credibility. So then, if the Protestant Reformers were
truly on a mission from God, then we should expect both prophecy and miracles. Unfortunately, we find neither as Luther and
company never performed any miracles nor were they either subjects or objects
of prophecy.
This certainly deals a blow to
their credibility and should have been enough for many people to reject them
out of hand. But they countered that
they were not changing anything , but restoring it. Anyone who has studied the history of the
Church knows that this is a rather dubious claim at best. But what is indubitable is that they did
change one thing: the Priesthood.
Changing
the Priesthood
We find two Scriptural
examples of a change in the Priestly Office.
First, we have the Levitical Priesthood.
Moses instituted the Levitical priesthood through his brother Aaron
(c.f. Ex 28) as a replacement for the original priesthood of the firstborn son
of every family. This changing of the
Priesthood was accompanied by a changing of the law given on Sinai. The members
of the tribe of Levi were set aside to offer sacrifices for the people, despite
the fact that the entire people of God was a “kingdom of priests” (Ex 19:6).
Jesus, the new High Priest,
instituted a new priesthood. It was
prophesied that there would be a new priesthood. This new priesthood would cease to be a hereditary
Levitical priesthood but would be of the order of Melchizedek. This priesthood will never be replaced (c.f.
Ps. 110). To make the point clear, the
Book of Hebrews explicitly lays out how Jesus’ priesthood was of the order of
Melchizedek and was the replacement for the Levitical priesthood (c.f. Hebrews
7:11-28). Its sacrifice (a priest by
definition must have a sacrifice) is bread and wine (c.f. Gn 14:18-20). Jesus anointed the Apostles as priests and
commanded them to continue this sacrifice perpetually at the Last Supper.
Looked at in this light, we
can clearly see then that the Protestant Revolutionaries instituted a new
priesthood. Gone was the Melchizedekian
priesthood to be replaced by “the priesthood of all believers.” Yet, unlike Moses and Jesus, they did not
carry the divine letters of credit with them.
The Melchizedekian priesthood was to last forever so these “reformers”
were not prophesied anywhere within the divine deposit of faith. Nor did they perform any miracles. Thus, we must conclude that they were
operating under, at best, their own inspiration.
Lacking the first two motives
of credibility would be incriminating enough, but they also lack the third as
well. The reformers sowed disunity
rather than unity, leading to over 200 different “churches” or denominations
(the number 33,000 has been greatly
exaggerated ). Unity is evidence of
God-protected and inspired institution while disunity is evidence of a man-made
institution. That is why the unity or “one-ness”
of the Church remains a mark distinguishing it from all other ecclesial
communities.
St. Francis de Sales spent
much of his life battling the Protestant reformers, even being exiled from his See
of Geneva. But because of his grasp of
Scripture, a love for the Church and a love for those who left the Church, he convinced
many Protestants that he had the truth on his side. We could all learn a valuable lesson from
him.
If there is
one virtue that plays an integral part of Lent, then it is perseverance. Forty days isn’t forever, but it is long
enough that our ability to sustain spiritual intensity greatly determines how
receptive we are to the graces of Lent. Perseverance
is vital if we are to run all the way through the next seven weeks. So, it makes sense as we are going to examine
the obstacles to developing the proper spirit of Lent that we look at the
obstacles to perseverance. According to
St. Thomas then we should examine one of its opposing vices, effeminacy (c.f.
ST II-II, q.138, art.1).
In the previous
post in the series, we called this second obstacle “luxury” rather than
effeminacy. This is partly because in modern
parlance luxury connotes an almost addictive fascination with comfort. We no longer speak in terms of vices but
instead must use psychological terms like addiction. Secondly, because of political correctness we
must flatten our language to remove any words that at least give the impression
that they are sexist or homophobic. Effeminacy,
because it sounds like the word “feminine” and because it connects
homosexuality with vicious behavior, has fallen into disuse. Nevertheless, the Scholastic tradition has a
perfectly good word that captures the exact vice we are trying to describe so
that we can at least rely on its description even if we must call it by a less
threatening name. Whether we call it effeminacy,
luxury, or even “softness” the threat to our spiritual well-being remains the
same.
St. Thomas
gives us a very good image to help us see just how harmful luxury is. He says that perseverance is praiseworthy
because through it a man will not forsake some good thing just because it is
hard. Now a man may actually yield when
things get too hard. That is not effeminacy.
The effeminate man does not yield because the thing is too hard, but because he
is too soft. He is not beaten, but
instead is a pushover. It isn’t the heavy blows to which he yields,
but the slightest touch.
What Makes Us Soft
Who can deny
that modern men and women are incredibly soft?
Compared to men and women from even two or three generations ago we are
chumps. But that is not the point
here. The point is how we are to reverse
the trend. St. Thomas says there are two
causes of this vice. The first is an
addiction to comfort. We are, without a
doubt, the most comfortable generation to ever walk the face of the earth. We spend the bulk of our days in climate-controlled
environments, sleep in comfortable beds, bath regularly in lukewarm water, have
access to painkillers for even the slightest headache, indulge in low calorie
sweets, etc. These are all good
things. But they are not unquestionably
good. In fact, they often are lulling us
to sleep and we need a cold shower or two to wake us up. If we are going to do the hard work of Lent,
we must first become hard ourselves.
St. Francis de
Sales once said, “I am never more well than when I am not well.” What he meant by this is that a certain
amount of discomfort, even self-inflicted discomfort is good for us. Talk about counter-cultural. But that attitude spills over to us in ways
you don’t realize. Try watching yourself
for the next 24 hours and see how many times you choose something just because
it is comfortable. We should choose not
based on comfort but based on strengthening virtue. And just as no one ever grew stronger bodily without
resistance, neither did anyone grow spiritually.
The second cause of the vice is what St. Thomas calls inordinate fondness of play. He mentions this so that we don’t rationalize effeminate behavior by labeling it relaxation. This is, by far and away, the greatest obstacle for younger people (especially men). They have grown up with constant entertainment at their fingertips. They find easy and virtual adventures in video games. The result is a generation that is sure to be softer than all the previous generations combined. And they will be all the more ignorant of them because it will feel like they have accomplished hard things—winning the Super Bowl, landing in far away lands and winning the Battle Royale, responded to the Call of Duty and defeated evil Zombies—even though they have in reality only done so virtually. Only those who unplug from The Matrix and are hard enough to fight the real fights really live.
To avoid becoming
effeminate many of the saints developed a mortification plan. They would examine themselves to identify
those things (all of which were good in themselves) that were making them
soft. Then they would adjust themselves accordingly. Lent seems to be an excellent time to develop
such a plan if you do not have one.
Cardinal Mercier, the 19th Century Belgian Cardinal collected
a bunch of the mortification practices of the saints and included them in his
mortification plan that I have included for your Lenten consideration below.
THE PURPOSE OF CHRISTIAN MORTIFICATION by Cardinal
Mercier
The aim of
Christian mortification is to counteract the evil influences which original sin
continues to exert on our souls, even after Baptism has regenerated them. Our
regeneration in Christ, while completely wiping out sin in us, leaves us, none
the less, very far indeed from original rectitude and peace. It was recognized
by the Council of Trent that concupiscence, which is to say the triple
covetousness of the flesh, the eyes and the pride of life, makes itself felt in
us even after Baptism, in order to rouse us to the glorious struggles of the
Christian life*. It is this triple covetousness which Scripture calls sometimes
the old man, as opposed to the new man who is Jesus living in us and ourselves
living in Jesus; and sometimes the flesh or fallen nature, as opposed to the
spirit or to nature regenerated by supernatural grace. It is this old man or
this flesh, that is to say the whole man with his twofold, moral and physical
life, that one must, I do not say annihilate, because that is an impossibility
so long as our present life continues, but mortify, which means to cause it to
die, to reduce it almost to the powerless, inactive and barren state of a
corpse; one must prevent it from yielding its fruit, which is sin, and nullify
its action in all our moral life.
Christian
mortification ought therefore to involve the whole man, to extend to every
sphere of action in which our nature is able to operate. Such is the purpose of the virtue of mortification;
we shall explain its practice by running through, one after another, the many
forms of activity in which it is manifested in our lives.
Mortification of the body
1-In the
matter of food, restrict yourself as far as possible to simple necessity.
Consider these words which Saint Augustine addressed to God: ‘O my God, Thou
hast taught me to take food only as a remedy. Ah! Lord, who is there among us
who does not sometimes exceed the limit here? If there is such a one, I say
that man is great, and must give great glory to Thy name.’ (Confessions, book
X, ch. 31)
2 -Pray to God
often, pray to God daily to help you by His grace so that you do not overstep
the limits of necessity and do not permit yourself to give way to pleasure.
3-Take nothing
between meals, unless out of necessity or for the sake of convenience.
4-Practise
fasting and abstinence but practice them only under obedience and with
discretion.
5-It is not
forbidden for you to enjoy some bodily satisfaction, but do so with a pure
intention, giving thanks to God.
6-Regulate
your sleep, avoiding in this all faint-heartedness, all softness, especially in
the morning. Set an hour, if you can, for going to bed and getting up, and keep
strictly to it.
7-In general,
take your rest only in so far as it is necessary; give yourself generously to
work, not sparing your labor. Take care not to exhaust your body, but guard
against indulging it; as soon as you feel it even a little disposed to play the
master, treat it at once as a slave.
8-If you
suffer some slight indisposition, avoid being a nuisance to others through your
bad mood; leave to your companions the task of complaining for you; for
yourself, be patient and silent as the Divine Lamb who has truly borne all our
weaknesses.
9-Guard
against making the slightest illness a reason for dispensation or exemption
from your daily schedule. ‘One must detest like the plague every exception when
it comes to rules,’ wrote Saint John Berchmans.
10-Accept with
docility, endure humbly, patiently and with perseverance, the tiresome
mortification called illness.
Mortification of the senses, of the imagination
and the passions
1 -Close your
eyes always and above all to every dangerous sight, and even-have the courage
to do it-to every frivolous and useless sight. See without looking; do not gaze
at anybody to judge of their beauty or ugliness.
2-Keep your
ears closed to flattering remarks, to praise, to persuasion, to bad advice, to
slander, to uncharitable mocking, to indiscretions, to ill-disposed criticism,
to suspicions voiced, to every word capable of causing the very smallest
coolness between two souls
3-If the sense
of smell has something to suffer due to your neighbor’s infirmity or illness,
far be it from you ever to complain of it; draw from it a holy joy.
4-In what
concerns the quality of food, have great respect for Our Lord’s counsel: ‘Eat
such things as are set before you.’ ‘Eat what is good without delighting in it,
what is bad without expressing aversion to it, and show yourself equally
indifferent to the one as to the other. There,’ says Saint Francis de Sales,
‘is real mortification.’
5-Offer your
meals to God; at table impose on yourself a tiny penance: for example, refuse a
sprinkling of salt, a glass of wine, a sweet, etc.; your companions will not
notice it, but God will keep account of it.
6-If what you
are given appeals to you very much, think of the gall and the vinegar given to
Our Lord on the cross: that cannot keep you from tasting, but will serve as a
counterbalance to the pleasure.
7-You must
avoid all sensual contact, every caress in which you set some passion, by which
you look for passion, from which you take a joy which is principally of the
senses.
8-Refrain from
going to warm yourself, unless this is necessary to save you from being unwell.
9-Bear with
everything which naturally grieves the flesh, especially the cold of winter,
the heat of summer, a hard bed and every inconvenience of that kind. Whatever
the weather, put on a good face; smile at all temperatures. Say with the
prophet ‘Cold, heat, rain, bless ye the Lord.’ It will be a happy day for us
when we are able to say with a good heart these words which were familiar to
Saint Francis de Sales: ‘I am never better than when I am not well.’
10-Mortify
your imagination when it beguiles you with the lure of a brilliant position,
when it saddens you with the prospect of a dreary future, when it irritates you
with the memory of a word or deed which offended you.
11-If you feel
within you the need to daydream, mortify it without mercy.
12-Mortify
yourself with the greatest care in the matter of impatience, of irritation or
of anger.
13-Examine
your desires thoroughly; submit them to the control of reason and of faith: do
you never desire a long life rather than a holy life, wish for pleasure and
well-being without trouble or sadness, victory without battle, success without
setbacks, praise without criticism, a comfortable, peaceful life without a
cross of any sort, that is to say a life quite opposite to that of Our Divine
Lord?
14-Take care
not to acquire certain habits which, without being positively bad, can become
injurious, such as habits of frivolous reading, of playing at games of chance, etc.
15-Seek to
discover your predominant failing and, as soon as you have recognized it, pursue
it all the way to its last retreat. To that purpose, submit with good will to
whatever could be monotonous or boring in the practice of the examination of
conscience.
16-You are not
forbidden to have a heart and to show it but be on your guard against the
danger of exceeding due measure. Resist attachments which are too natural,
particular friendships and all softness of the heart.
Mortification of the mind and the will
1 -Mortify
your mind by denying it all fruitless imaginings, all ineffectual or wandering
thoughts which waste time, dissipate the soul, and render work and serious
things distasteful.
2-Every gloomy
and anxious thought should be banished from your mind. Concern about all that
could happen to you later on should not worry you at all. As for the bad
thoughts which bother you in spite of yourself, you should, in dismissing them,
make of them a subject for patience. Being involuntary, they will simply be for
you an occasion of merit.
3-Avoid
obstinacy in your ideas, stubbornness in your sentiments. You should willingly
let the judgements of others prevail, unless there is a question of matters on
which you have a duty to give your opinion and speak out.
4-Mortify the
natural organ of your mind, which is to say the tongue. Practice silence
gladly, whether your rule prescribes it for you or whether you impose it on
yourself of your own accord.
5-Prefer to
listen to others rather than to speak yourself; and yet speak appropriately,
avoiding as extremes both speaking too much, which prevents others from telling
their thoughts, and speaking too little, which suggests a hurtful lack of
interest in what they say.
6-Never
interrupt somebody who is speaking and do not forestall, by answering too
swiftly, a question he would put to you.
7-Always have
a moderate tone of voice, never abrupt or sharp. Avoid very, extremely,
horribly; all exaggeration.
8-Love
simplicity and straightforwardness. The pretenses, evasions, deliberate
equivocations which certain pious people indulge in without scruple greatly
discredit piety.
9-Carefully
refrain from using any coarse, vulgar or even idle word, because Our Lord warns
us that He will ask an account of them from us on the day of judgement.
10-Above all,
mortify your will; that is the decisive point. Bend it constantly to what you
know is God’s good pleasure and the rule of Providence, without taking any
account either of your likes or your dislikes. Be submissive, even to your
inferiors, in matters which do not concern the glory of God and the duties of
your position.
11-Look on the
smallest disobedience to the orders or even the desires of your superiors as if
it were addressed to God.
12-Remember
that you will practice the greatest of all mortifications when you love to be
humiliated and when you have the most perfect obedience towards those to whom
God wishes you to be subject.
13-Love to be
forgotten and counted as nothing; it is the advice of Saint John of the Cross,
it is the counsel of ‘The Imitation of Christ’: speak seldom either well or ill
of yourself, but seek by silence to make yourself forgotten.
14-Faced with
a humiliation, a reproach, you are tempted to grumble, to feel sorry for
yourself. Say with David: ‘So much the better! It is good that I should be
humbled.’
15-Entertain
no frivolous desires: ‘I desire few things,’ said Saint Francis de Sales, ‘and
the little that I desire, I desire very little.’
16-Accept with
the most perfect resignation the mortifications decreed by Providence, the
crosses and the labors belonging to the state of life in which Providence has
placed you. ‘There, where there is less of our choice,’ said Saint Francis,
‘there is more of the good pleasure of God.’ We would like to choose our
crosses, to have a cross other than our own, to carry a heavy cross which would
at least have some fame, rather than a light cross which tires us by being
unceasingly there: an illusion! it is our cross we must carry, not another, and
its merit is not in what sort of cross it is, but in the perfection with which
we carry it.
17-Do not let
yourself be troubled by temptations, scruples, spiritual dryness: ‘What we do
in time of dryness has more merit in the sight of God than what we do in time
of consolation,’ says the saintly Bishop of Geneva.*
18-Do not fret
too much about your imperfections but humble yourself because of them. To
humble oneself is a good thing, which few people understand; to be troubled and
vexed at oneself is something that everybody knows, and which is bad, because
in that kind of distress and vexation self-love always plays the greater part.
19-Let us
beware alike of the timidity and despondency which sap our courage, and of the
presumption which is only pride in action. Let us work as if everything
depended on our efforts, but let us remain humble as if our work were useless.
Mortifications to practice in our exterior
actions
1-You ought to
show the greatest exactitude in observing all the points of your rule of life,
obeying them without delay, remembering Saint John Berchmans, who said:
‘Penance for me is to lead the common life’; ‘To have the highest regard for
the smallest things, such is my motto’; ‘Rather die than break a single rule.’
2 -In the
exercise of your duties of state, try to be well-pleased with whatever happens
to be most unpleasant or boring for you, recalling again here the words of
Saint Francis: ‘I am never better than when I am not well.’ * Saint Francis de
Sales (1567-1622), who is so frequently quoted in this essay, was Bishop of
Geneva.
3 -Never give
one moment over to sloth: from morning until night keep busy without respite.
4-If your life
is, at least partly, spent in study, apply to yourself this advice from Saint
Thomas Aquinas to his pupils: ‘Do not be content to take in superficially what
you read and hear, but endeavor to go into it deeply and to fathom the whole
sense of it. Never remain in doubt about what you could know with certainty.
Work with a holy eagerness to enrich your mind; arrange and classify in your
memory all the knowledge you are able to acquire. On the other hand, do not
seek to penetrate mysteries which are beyond your intelligence.’
5-Devote
yourself solely to your present occupation, without looking back on what went
before or anticipating in thought what will follow. Say with Saint Francis:
‘While I am doing this I am not obliged to do anything else’; ‘let us make
haste very calmly; all in good time.’
6-Be modest in
your bearing. Nothing was so perfect as Saint Francis’s deportment; he always
kept his head straight, avoiding alike the inconstancy which turns it in all
directions, the negligence which lets it droop forward and the proud and
haughty disposition which throws it back. His countenance was always peaceful,
free from all annoyance, always cheerful, serene and open; without however any
merriment or indiscreet humor, without loud, immoderate or too frequent
laughter.
7-He was as
composed when alone as in a large gathering. He did not cross his legs, never
supported his head on his elbow. When he prayed he was motionless as a statue.
When nature suggested to him he should relax, he did not listen.
8-Regard
cleanliness and order as a virtue, uncleanness and untidiness as a vice; do not
have dirty, stained or torn clothes. On the other hand, regard luxury and
worldliness as a greater vice still. Make sure that, on seeing your way of
dressing, nobody calls it ‘slovenly’ or ‘elegant,’ but that everybody is bound
to think it ‘decent.’
Mortifications to practice in our relations
with our neighbor
1 -Bear with
your neighbor’s defects; defects of education, of mind, of character. Bear with
everything about him which irritates you: his gait, his posture, tone of voice,
accent, or whatever.
2-Bear with
everything in everybody and endure it to the end and in a Christian spirit.
Never with that proud patience which makes one say: ‘What have I to do with so
and so? How does what he says affect me? What need have I for the affection,
the kindness or even the politeness of any creature at all and of that person
in particular?’ Nothing accords less with the will of God than this haughty
unconcern, this scornful indifference; it is worse, indeed, than impatience.
3-Are you
tempted to be angry? For the love of Jesus, be meek. To avenge yourself? Return
good for evil; it is said the great secret of touching Saint Teresa’s heart was
to do her a bad turn. To look sourly at someone? Smile at him with good nature.
To avoid meeting him? Seek him out willingly. To talk badly of him? Talk well
of him. To speak harshly to him? Speak very gently, warmly, to him.
4-‘Love to
give praise to your companions, especially those you are naturally most
inclined to envy.
5-Do not be
witty at the expense of charity.
6-If somebody
in your presence should take the liberty of making remarks which are rather
improper, or if someone should hold conversations likely to injure his neighbor’s
reputation, you may sometimes rebuke the speaker gently, but more often it will
be better to divert the conversation skillfully or indicate by a gesture of
sorrow or of deliberate inattention that what is said displeases
7-It costs you
an effort to render a small service: offer to do it. You will have twice the
merit
8- Avoid with
horror posing as a victim in your own eyes or those of others. Far be it from
you to exaggerate your burdens; strive to find them light; they are much more
often than it seems; they would be so always if you were more virtuous.
