LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 Shelf ..B.^.r 
 
 UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. 
 
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 J 'i^ 
 
 Solid Virtue 
 
 A TRIDUUM 
 
 SPIRITUAL CONFERENCES. 
 
 ^„' 
 
 Rev. Father Bellecius, S. J. 
 
 '> 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN BY A FATHER OF THE SOCIETY 
 OF JESUS. WITH THE PERMISSION OF SUPERIORS. 
 
 **Be ye renewed in the spirit of 
 the new man." — Eph. iv. : 23, 
 
 mMKl- ana DUt'^ 
 
 GOT 26 1882 
 
 No-, 
 
 ^r7n9> 
 
 J 
 
 NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, AND ST. LOUIS : 
 
 BENZIGER BROTHERS, 
 
 PRINTERS TO THE HOLY APOSTOLIC SEE. 
 1882. 
 

 Ths Ijbrart 
 OF Congress 
 
 WA8HI1K>T0N 
 
 John, Cardinal McCloskey, 
 
 Archbishop of New York, 
 
 Copyright, 1882. by BENZIGER BROTHERS. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Whoever seeks to acquire solid virtue must 
 cultivate purity of heart, cleansing himself grad- 
 ually from every stain, even of the smallest sin. 
 This the Triduum of Fr. Bellecius, if well per- 
 formed, actually makes, us do; for it first re- 
 moves the obstacles to Solid Virtue, then points 
 out the means, and finally gives the incentives to 
 its acquirement. This retreat is an abridgment 
 of Fr. Bellecius's larger work on Solid Virtue — an 
 abridgment made by himself. His three spirit- 
 ual conferences practically show in what Solid 
 Virtue consists. 
 
 Of your charity pray for the 
 
 Translator. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface 3 
 
 On the Eve of the Triduum 7 
 
 Meditation. — On the Necessity and Utility of this Re- 
 treat 7 
 
 The Following of Christ, i. 20 ; Rules for making a 
 
 good Triduum 12 
 
 FIRST DAY. 
 
 Meditation I.-— On Venial Sin 17 
 
 The Following of Christ, i. 24 ; Consideration, — On 
 
 Tepidity .' 25 
 
 Self-Examination. — On Human Respect 32 
 
 Meditation II. — On the Abuse of Grace. Following 
 
 of Christ, iii. 55 36 
 
 SECOND DAY. 
 
 Meditation I. — Incentives for the Perfect Performance 
 
 of our Daily Actions. Following of Christ, i. 15. . 49 
 
 Consideration. — On Recollection 57 
 
 Self-Examination. — On the Practice of the Particular 
 
 Examen 65 
 
 Meditation II. — On Fervor in Prayer. The Follow- 
 ing of Christ, iv 5 70 
 
Contents. 
 
 THIRD DAY. 
 
 Meditation I. — What Faith teaches concerning the 
 Excellence of Solid Virtue. The Following of 
 Christ, i. 2 and 3 81 
 
 Consideration. — What Benefits we may hope to derive 
 
 from Solid Virtue 89 
 
 Self -Examination. — The signs of Divine Love. 98 
 
 Meditation II. — God's Love for us deserves that we 
 should give ourselves to Solid Virtue. The Follow- 
 ing of Christ, iii, 27 102 
 
 Prayer of St. Augustine no 
 
 SPIRITUAL CONFERENCES. 
 
 I. Holy Indifference 115 
 
 II. The three degrees of Humility 125 
 
 III. The Glory and Happiness of one who is despised 
 
 and afflicted 134 
 
ilT^bttation on t\)t (£vt of t\}t ^riirtium* 
 
 On the Necessity and Utility 
 OF THIS Retreat. 
 
 POINT I. 
 
 The Necessity of this Holy Retreat. 
 
 By a mere glance at the present state of your 
 soul you will readily perceive the urgent need 
 you have of this triduum. The disrelish for 
 heavenly things, the tepidity in spiritual exer- 
 cises, the continual outpourings of a dissipated 
 mind, the hasty and faulty manner of perform- 
 ing the usual actions of the day; the frequent 
 and very dangerous temptations, the little fear 
 of sin, or, perhaps, the absence of all fear of it, 
 show that you walk on slippery ground, too nigh 
 the danger of a grievous fall. Besides, so many 
 and such violent passions not 3"et completely 
 subdued; so many vicious and deeply-rooted 
 habits not yet corrected; so much wrong done 
 in the abode of the saints, in the sanctuary of 
 religion, among terrestrial angels; all these 
 prove that you are in much greater danger of 
 losing your vocation, and even your salvation, 
 than you imagine, and that there is a pressing 
 
8 Solid Virtue, 
 
 need to avert the ruin of your spul by a timely 
 correction of these serious faults. 
 
 The necessity of this retreat is also manifest 
 from the daily, perhaps hourly, failings in your 
 obligations and duties. By the rules of the in- 
 stitute which you have entered you should lead 
 a life of profound submission, of invincible pa- 
 tience, of heroic obedience, of continual mortifi- 
 cation, of constant and fervent prayer; you 
 should be a religious dead to self — living only 
 for God and your neighbor, intent solely upon 
 augmenting His divine glory and seeking the 
 salvation of souls. In short, you should be a 
 living model of virtue; the mere sight of you 
 should inspire all with a horror of sin and a love 
 for holiness. 
 
 But alas! you are nothing of all this, but quite 
 the contrary. Ah! the old man domineering 
 over reason lives in you yet. If a sudden death 
 should to-day cut you off from this w^orld and 
 bring you before the Divine Justice to be judged 
 what would be your lot? This frightens 3'ou; 
 yet you dare to live in the state in which you 
 would fear to die, and this you have the temerity 
 to do while professing to be a religious! See 
 how necessary it is to examine the state of your 
 soul in time of seclusion. 
 
 This same necessity is, moreover, apparent by 
 the frustration of the graces which you have re- 
 ceived. You could be a saint from the manifold 
 graces within your reach, you ought to be one 
 
The Necessity and Utility of this Retreat. 9 
 
 on account of your sublime vocation. And yet, 
 I am ashamed to speak thus. By your remissness 
 you are disedifying the outside world, a bad ex- 
 ample to the house in which you live and a 
 shame to the religion wdiich you profess. 
 
 Alas! after so many communions, the same 
 tepidity; after so many confessions, the same 
 stains in the soul; after so many meditations, 
 retreats, examens, the same predominant pas- 
 sions, the same abuse of grace, the same apathy 
 in the exercise of the duties of the holy life 
 you have chosen. Is there not just reason to 
 fear lest, since you are like the barren fig-tree 
 described by St. Luke, you shall likewise be 
 hewn down and destroyed by the avenging hand 
 of God? It is absolutely necessary then to apply 
 yourself to this holy retreat with such fervor as 
 at the hour of death you will wish. 
 
 POINT II. 
 
 The Utility of this Holy Retreat. 
 
 The graces we obtain for ourselves and others 
 prove this utility. 
 
 I St. We obtain graces for ourselves. — There is 
 no doubt that those who devote themselves with 
 earnestness to this recollection of spirit will re- 
 ceive innumerable graces of a high order, a pro- 
 found knowledge of eternal truths, divine in- 
 spirations, efficacious inclinations and impulses 
 
lO Solid Virtue. 
 
 to good and magnanimous determinations, 
 which will be denied to those who neglect this 
 holy retreat or perform it tepidly, with irrepar- 
 able loss of merits in this life, and of corre- 
 sponding degrees of glory in the next. 
 
 Almighty God, it may be, has annexed to the 
 making of this retreat the critical and decisive 
 grace to which, as to a golden chain, is connect- 
 ed a series of many others; perhaps the call to a 
 very great work for God's greater glory; per- 
 haps a highe^r degree of virtue not attainable 
 otherwise. Do now what you will w4sh to have 
 done when on the threshold of eternity. 
 
 2d. We obtain graces for others. 
 
 Perchance, upon this retreat, well made, de- 
 pends the conversion of some great sinner, or 
 the holy unction which God will give to your 
 words in the pulpit or tribunal of penance, the 
 happy success of some apostolic mission, or some 
 other work very important for the salvation of 
 souls. 
 
 Oh, what a strict account will you not have 
 to give if, owing to your tepidity during this 
 triduum, you prevent the accomplishment of so 
 much good; if souls which otherwise would have 
 been saved be eternally damned; if you render 
 yourself unfit to be God's instrument in bringing 
 sinners to repentance! 
 
 3d. How great, on the contrary, will be your 
 consolation if you perform this retreat with the 
 proper dispositions! 
 
T!ie Necessity and Utility of this Retreat, 1 1 
 
 '^ Unto whomsoever much is given, of him 
 much shall be required, and to whom they have 
 committed much, of him they will demand the 
 more." (St. Luke xii. 48.) To the measure of 
 grace is proportioned the rigor of the account. 
 He to whom five talents were entrusted was 
 obliged to acquire other five. If he had done 
 less he would have been called a slothful servant. 
 This solitude for three days is a new grace. The 
 truths which shall be proposed in the course of 
 the retreat are new talents. Woe to you if you 
 do not use them to advantage, if you do not 
 " trade' with them.* Oh, if this precious time 
 of recollection were given to the members of 
 your Order who now burn in the purifying 
 flames, perhaps, for the neglect with which they 
 performed this very retreat, with what fervor 
 would they not avail themselves of it! The axe 
 may be now laid " to the root of the tree." (St. 
 Luke iii. 9.) 
 
 This may be your last retreat. How many 
 whose health and strength of body promised a 
 long life has not death snatched away after one 
 such winter or summer retreat. If you are wise, 
 you will do that which, if neglected, will be your 
 greatest sorrow; if well performed, your greatest 
 consolation. 
 
 AFFECTIONS. 
 
 O my God! do not permit that the very means 
 which have been for others a help to greater 
 
12 Solid Virtue, 
 
 perfection should be for me an occasion of 
 greater negligence, and that I should find death 
 where others have found life, I am determined 
 to devote these three days to this all-important 
 work with all the earnestness in my power, and 
 to retrieve, during this brief period, so many 
 years miserably lost. ^' For Thee, O my God, 
 shall I live at least a little while, who have till 
 now lived for the world. I will give a few days 
 to my soul, /who have lavished so many months 
 and years in the pampering of my body.'' (St. 
 Peter Chrysol.) For it may happen that for me 
 Time shall be no more, if, like a spendthrift, I 
 waste these days of grace. 
 
 For this reason, O God, strengthener of hearts, 
 make known to me Thy will, 'Hhat I may know 
 what is w^anting in me." (Ps. xxxviii. 5.) And 
 Thou who givest the grace to desire give also 
 the grace to accomplish what Thou wiliest. 
 (St. Augustine.) 
 
 PRACTICAL CONCLUSION. 
 
 The fruit of this Meditation should be a firm 
 resolution during the time of this retreat to work 
 out your salvation with great fervor and energy; 
 to seek the Divine will in regard to yourself; to 
 strive earnestly to correct every fault, and to 
 observe accurately the following rules: 
 
 Rules for Making a Good Triduum. 
 ist. To keep from all occupations as much as 
 possible, to read nothing, write nothing, do noth- 
 
Tlie Necessity and Utility of this Retreat. 1 3 
 
 ing but what is conducive to the end of the re- 
 treat. 
 
 2d. To perform your daily actions with greater 
 exactness and fervor. 
 
 3d. To observe carefully external solitude and 
 custody of the senses, and to secure internal soli- 
 tude by a more strict recollection of the mind, 
 and by frequent aspirations co God. 
 
 4th. To write the resolutions, which must not 
 be general and vague, but particular as to the 
 circumstances of time and place. 
 
 5th. To increase the usual mortifications of 
 the body. The subject matter of the Particular 
 Examen during the retreat will be the exact ob- 
 servance of the prescribed rules, of the order of 
 the day, and of silence. 
 
 6th. To make the semi-annual confession, not 
 through routine but in the spirit in w^hich our 
 holy Father St. Ignatius wished it to be done, 
 and with the threefold fruit which he intended: 
 ist. To ascertain, by considering the number of 
 your sins, whether there is up to this time a fall- 
 ing off or a progress in virtue. 2d. To conceive 
 a more vehement sorrow and increased horror 
 of sin. 3d. To acquire a knowledge of your 
 predominant passion, and of the vice which is 
 the source of all the rest. 
 
 7th. To begin this renovation of the spirit with 
 the firm conviction that you stand very much in 
 need of it, notwithstanding you have made, or 
 will soon make, the annual eight days* retreat; 
 
14 Solid Virtue, 
 
 also to have a generous will to do all that God 
 requires of you, denying nothing to the Almighty, 
 but offering Him your whole heart. 
 
 8th. To read over the resolutions that were 
 taken in other retreats and days of recollection, 
 and to see whether they have been carried out; 
 what God frequently inspires you to do or par- 
 ticularly to avoid; what is the principal obstacle 
 to your progress in perfection. Attention to the 
 rules will be of great assistance in reaping the 
 desired fruit from this triduum. 
 
 9th. To dwell on one point only if the Medita- 
 tions be found too long, and to use the remain- 
 der of them as spiritual reading. 
 
 loth. To prepare yourself for each Meditation 
 by reading accurately the fruit which is to be 
 gathered from it, and the means assigned to 
 reap this fruit. 
 
FIRST DAY. 
 
FIRST DAY. 
 
 On the First Day of this holy Triduum we must 
 get rid of the principal obstacles to solid virtue; 
 for if these are allowed to remain, this precious 
 time will be spent to no purpose. Among these 
 obstacles the principal are: Venial sin, tepidity 
 of the soul, human respect and the abuse of 
 grace. To remove entirely these obstructions to 
 spiritual progress will be the work of this day; — 
 the exercises of the first day answer to the " Pur- 
 gative Way." 
 
£T£ibitatton 1. 
 On Venial Sin. 
 
 POINT I. 
 
 Venial sin is a great evil in itself, because it is 
 worse than all the evils of the world taken to- 
 gether; worse than death, worse even than hell 
 itself. For this reason could I, by one venial sin, 
 prevent the greatest calamities, or procure the 
 greatest good, I should not be justified in com- 
 mitting this sin. Could I by telling one lie avert 
 all wars, famine, conflagrations, sickness and pes- 
 tilence; could I free myself or others from the 
 greatest pains and disasters; I should not be jus- 
 tified in telling this untruth. Could I by one 
 wilful distraction in prayer convert all heretics, 
 infidels and heathen to the true faith; could I 
 extinguish the flames of Purgatory or the fires 
 of Hell, this would not justify such a distraction. 
 It is better that the whole world should be in 
 confusion until the end of time; that the damned 
 souls should be tormented by eternal flames, than 
 that I should commit one slight sin. And this 
 is a truth, it is even a dogma of faith which it 
 would be impious to doubt. For all these are 
 evils only to the creature; but sin, even venial 
 sin, is an injury to the Creator. As great, there- 
 
1 8 Solid Virtue, 
 
 fore, as is the difference between the Creator and 
 the creature, so great is the difference between 
 the malice of sin and the malignity of these other 
 evils. 
 
 Nevertheless, we find Christians who common- 
 ly say: *' It is but a slight thing, only a venial 
 sin." O these inconsiderate words ! What? Is 
 that only a slight thing which is greater and far 
 worse than the ruin of the universe? According 
 to the doctrine of the Fathers, it would be a less 
 evil were we possessed by the devil; were our 
 bodies to be tormented by the most violent pains; 
 were our souls to be tortured by the fires of 
 Hell. 
 
 This we believe, and yet these sins are com- 
 mitted by religious; even by priests, without 
 horror and without reflection, in jest, as it were, 
 without the least thought of the consequences. 
 O how pernicious is this blindness! Here pause, 
 O presumptuous contemner of little things ! Ve- 
 nial sin is something great in itself, yea, after 
 mortal sin, the greatest evil in the world. 
 
 POINT II. 
 
 Venial sin *s a great evil in its effects; for first 
 it diminishes the fervor of charity, increases the 
 tepidity of the soul, and corrupts acts of virtue 
 by lowering their high standard and taking away 
 from them all merit for Heaven. 
 
On Venial Sin. lo 
 
 Secondly, it keeps back innumerable actual 
 graces, and makes us unworthy of the special 
 providence and particular love of God by which, 
 through His paternal affection, evil is averted 
 and all things made to co-operate for good in 
 the just, ''We know that to them that love 
 God all things work together unto good." (Rom. 
 viii. 28.) 
 
 Thirdly, the soul, stained with venial sins, 
 becomes displeasing and deformed in the sight 
 of God; for, according to the Holy Fathers, such 
 sins are to the soul what disease is to the body. 
 
 Fourthly, venial sin is extremely dangerous 
 inasmuch as it leads to the commission of mor- 
 tal sin and ultimately to Hell. 
 
 Shudder, O pious souls ! at this most horrible 
 result; hear and tremble, O ye sinners ! who de- 
 risively reject this truth. Know that venial sin 
 leads on to mortal, and consequently to Hell. 
 Whosoever is not thunderstruck at this tendency 
 of venial sin, is on the very brink of perdition. 
 No one becomes wicked all of a sudden. Those 
 who are unfortunately lost forever first fell into 
 venial sins, then gradually, step by step, they 
 went to mortal sin and finally to Hell. In short 
 eternal damnation often depends on one venial 
 sin. Remember St. Teresa, who would have 
 been eternally ruined, had she not avoided a 
 slight defect. Perhaps from laziness in rising, 
 tepidity in prayer, curiosity of the eyes, your 
 damnation may ensue. Surely these are not less 
 
20 Solid Virtue, 
 
 faults than the idle conversations of St. Teresa. 
 And do not say, *^ Perhaps my salvation does not 
 depend on such trifles." For perhaps it does. 
 Will you then risk, on an uncertainty, eternity, 
 your soul and Heaven ? Assuredly, had St. Te- 
 resa reasoned thus, she would have been deluded 
 and would have perished forever. And why may 
 not that which would have happened to St. Te- 
 resa, happen to you ? Woe then to you, should 
 you continue to despise venial faults, for per- 
 chance, in your case also, your salvation depends 
 on what you despise. Abide then in fear, and 
 **fly from all sin as from the face of a serpent." 
 
 POINT III. 
 
 Venial sin is a great evil on account of its 
 punishments. 
 
 The punishment of venial sin consists in the 
 excruciating torments of Purgatory, which are 
 greater and more intense than all the tortures 
 inflicted upon the martyrs, all the sufferings of 
 criminals, and all the pains of the sick, put to- 
 gether. This is the teaching of St. Augustine 
 and St. Thomas. Who does not shud'der at this ? 
 But let us proceed. Reflect that these pains and 
 torments of Purgatory, so great in their number, 
 so violent in their severity, so long in their dura- 
 tion, are inflicted for venial sins, — for a lie, for 
 one act of impatience, for an idle Vv^ord. And 
 
Oil Venial Siji. 21 
 
 they are imposed on predestined souls; upon the 
 spouses of Christ — upon the heirs of Heaven. 
 They are the sentence pronounced by an infinitely 
 just God, who cannot punish sin more than it 
 deserves; who loves these souls with a most ten- 
 der and infinite love; and, nevertheless, they must 
 suffer in continual agony. Either, then, God is 
 an unjust and ruthless tyrant, which would be 
 blasphemy to think, or venial sin is a dreadful 
 and detestable evil. O God ! this we believe, 
 this we teach others and still we continue to sin. 
 We know that the least offence deserves Purga- 
 tory, and yet we hesitate not to commit it. Were 
 we assured that for one or more faults we should 
 be burned at the stake, we would not be so fool- 
 ish as to sin, even slightly. What ! we believe 
 that for these very sins we commit we shall have 
 to burn in the flames of Purgatory, and still v/e 
 go on heaping sin on sin ! What folly ! but let 
 us at last be wise, and being convinced of these 
 truths, let us always entertain, in our hearts, a 
 great horror and implacable hatred of every ve- 
 nial sin. 
 
 AFFECTIONS. 
 
 O God! I, a handful of dust, have offended 
 Thee, the Lord of Lords, after so many graces 
 bestowed on me. And this so often — and so in- 
 considerately — out of mere wantonness — when 
 no hope of any good, no fear of any ^vil incited 
 me. Ah! I ought not to have offended Thee, the 
 
22 Solid Virtue. 
 
 Supreme Good, even if, by doing so, I could 
 have obtained the dominion of the whole world, 
 or have avoided the greatest misfortunes and 
 sufferings. I knew this and yet I have sinned 
 daily, from morning until night, and formed, as 
 it were, a continuous chain of venial sins. This I 
 have done in jest. Alas! I have in jest of- 
 fended Thee, my God — for a little comfort, 
 through vainglory, for the sake of recreation. 
 Brought to the verge of mortal sin and the pre- 
 cipice of Hell; reckless of my salvation, I have 
 set at naught the pains of Purgatory, due to 
 these sins! O blindness to be lamented with 
 bitter tears. " Who will give a fountain of tears 
 to my eyes" (Jer. ix. i), that I may lament with 
 uninterrupted sorrow my sins which have accu- 
 mulated beyond the hairs of my head ? " O Lord ! 
 To Thee have I sinned and have done evil before 
 Thee !" (Psalm 1. 6.) But now I repent, I detest 
 even the least sin. I will imprint indelibly on 
 my mind these words: / will rather die than be 
 stained with any sin however light. Terrified by the 
 gravity of the slightest venial sin I purpose never 
 ag^in to allow my soul to be contaminated with 
 it. " As God liveth, so long as breath remaineth 
 in me, and the spirit of God in my nostrils, my 
 lips shall not . speak iniquity, neither shall my 
 tongue contrive l3ang." (Job xxvii. 3.) 
 
 I would rather lose all good and suffer all evil, 
 than ever again sin even slightly " against my 
 own soul." (Eccl. xix. 4.) *' O my God! en- 
 
Oil Venial Shi. 23 
 
 lighten my darkness" (Psalm xvii. 29), that I may 
 more clearly know, every day, the heinousness of 
 venial sin. ^^ Enlighten my eyes that I may never 
 sleep in death." (Psalm xii. 4.) " Renew a right 
 spirit within my bowels" (Psalm 1. 12), that I 
 may fly with great horror and aversion from 
 whatever displeases Thy Divine Majesty. 
 
 PRACTICAL CONCLUSION. 
 
 The fruit which is to be gathered from this 
 Meditation is a deep-rooted, persistent and lasting 
 horror of every deliberate venial sin, particularly 
 of the sin you commit most frequently; which 
 is the source of other defects, and which draws 
 you into more immediate danger of greater sins. 
 
 The means to obtain this horror are the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 ist, Often to excite in yourself, and chiefly at 
 the Particular Examen and before Confession, 
 a lively sorrow for the venial sins you have com- 
 mitted. 
 
 2d, Whenever you go to Confession, select one 
 venial sin, and firmly resolve to avoid with spe- 
 cial care any relapse. 
 
 3d, Often repeat, for instance, when the clock 
 strikes, " I would rather lose my good name, my 
 honor, my health, yes, even life itself, than allow 
 my soul to be sullied with one venial sin, espe- 
 cially the one which I have resolved to guard 
 against." 
 
 4th, It helps very much to represent to one's 
 
24 Solid Virtue, 
 
 self, in Meditation or Confession, or holy Com- 
 munion, the occasions of sinning venially; and to 
 arm one's self by a previously conceived horror 
 and determination to avoid them. Make often 
 the following acts: ^'O God! if by a little im- 
 patience I could avoid dishonor, sickness, death, 
 or procure for myself the highest erudition, the 
 esteem and the love of men, I would not give 
 way to this sin." 
 
 Such ejaculations are a powerful antidote against 
 venial sins. 
 
On Tepidity. 
 
 On Tepidity. 
 
 POINT I. 
 
 The Infallible Signs of Tepidity. 
 
 They are tepid who have a horror only of 
 mortal sin, and think very little of venial sin; 
 who perform the spiritual exercises negligently, 
 out of mere custom or human respect, with an 
 interior disgust; who pray without attention, 
 confess without amendment, communicate with-, 
 out devotion and fruit; who perform their daily 
 actions without a proper intention, without 
 method or order; who, being intent on exterior 
 things, seldom enter into themselves, and give 
 their thoughts still less to God; who, content 
 with mediocrity, neglect the pursuit of a higher 
 virtue; who avoid those who aim at perfection, 
 and eagerly seek the company of those who lead 
 a life of greater laxity; who form a conscience of 
 their own, by false principles, on the strength of 
 which they endeavor to dull the edge of remorse; 
 who, while frequenting the holy Sacraments, 
 cherish interior aversions, envy, jealousy, pride, 
 familiarities, and a spirit of murmuring and bit- 
 terness; whose tongue is virulent and conten- 
 
26 Solid Virtue, 
 
 tious; who foster a hidden self-love, which, se- 
 cretly pervading all their actions, infects and 
 taints them with its venom; who, weary of self- 
 denial and labor, seek only ease and comfort. 
 These are the indubitable signs of tepid souls, 
 and if they be found in you doubt not of your 
 being tepid. 
 
 Lift then the curtain and look a little into your 
 conscience. ' Perhaps with Ezechiel, who was 
 commanded to look into the temple through 
 that mystical aperture, you also shall see with 
 astonishment '^ the wicked abominations which 
 they commit all roundabout." (Ezech. viii. 9.) 
 
 For what else are the wicked habits, the un- 
 conquered impulses, the loose manners, the 
 innumerable defects, with which, like a foul 
 carcass, swarming with worms, your heart is in- 
 fected ? What more shall I say? Your unbridled 
 affections made of you that field of the slothful 
 man, whose ground is all covered with the thorns 
 of countless stains and blemishes. (Prov. xxiv. 
 
 30.) 
 
 You are the fig-tree by the wayside, on which 
 our Lord found nothing but the leaves of pre- 
 tended virtue and hypocrisy. (St. Matt. xxi. 19.) 
 
 You are the earth, which drinketh in the rain 
 that Cometh upon it, viz., the showers of graces; 
 and bringeth forth thorns and briers of vice, and 
 is thus very near to a curse. (Hebr. vi. 8.) Con- 
 ceive, therefore, a horror of the miserable state 
 of your soul; be filled with fear and confusion. 
 
On Tepidity, 27 
 
 POINT II. 
 
 The Dangers which Invariably Accompany 
 Tepidity. 
 
 Tht first danger is that of falling into mortal 
 sin. The tepid live in a state of continual im- 
 perfection, commit venial sins without remorse, 
 and but seldom consider the malice of sin, and 
 the motives which should prompt them to refrain 
 from the commission thereof. The horror of 
 mortal sin gradually diminishes, so that con- 
 science becomes, as it were, familiar with it;, and 
 so they play securely, as they imagine, even with 
 impure temptations; rashly waver between ap- 
 proval and dissent; doubt very little of the 
 pleasure they have taken therein; allow danger- 
 ous freedom to the senses, and form in their 
 minds various principles, or rather subterfuges, 
 with which to make excuses for their sins; until 
 at last, under strong temptations, they are 
 plunged headlong into some crime. Oh! if Hell 
 were opened, how many voices should we not 
 hear of the suffering inmates confirming this 
 truth, and cursing their tepidity with unutterable 
 anguish! 
 
 ^' He that contemneth small things shall fall 
 by little an^ little" (Eccle. xix. i), is the oracle 
 of the Holy Ghost. Unless therefore, O tepid 
 religious, you expel from your mind this Ian- 
 
28 Solid Virtue, 
 
 guor, you are in the greatest danger of falling 
 into mortal sin and perhaps into Hell; and if this 
 consideration do not rouse you from your tepid- 
 ity you are already on the point of sleeping* 
 quietly and perchance of dying in mortal sin. 
 
 The second danger is, that a tepid soul is on 
 the point of being cast away, with disgust, by 
 Almighty God. This is proved by Holy Writ: 
 •^ Because tliou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor 
 hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth." 
 (Apoc. iii. i6.) Behold, O miserable slave of 
 tepidity! God begins to vomit you out of His 
 mouth. God, the same God who earnestly seeks 
 after sinners, and receives them with tenderness, 
 is quite estranged from you, disgusted with 
 your sickening lukewarmness, and is on the 
 point of vomiting you forth with horror. O un- 
 happy mortal, you have become abominable to 
 the Divine Heart, and you fear not, you tremble 
 not! You read these things without feeling, 
 without emotion. You believe what you read, 
 yet you shake not off your coldness! Alas! you 
 go through these very considerations tepidly. O 
 slothful religious! What shall ever awaken you 
 from your torpor, if these thundering words 
 rouse you not? God wishes men to be even 
 cold rather than tepid, and seems to prefer the 
 state of coldness to that of tepidity. He says, 
 ''I would that thou wert cold or hot." (Apoc. 
 iii. IS.) 
 
 We know this and 5^et we are tepid. O indif- 
 
On Tepidity, 29 
 
 ference! O lukewarmness, deserving of avenging 
 flames! 
 
 The third danger is the risk of not dying a 
 pious death. 
 
 Death is the echo of life. It would, therefore, 
 be wonderful if they were to die in a state of 
 fervor who have lived in a state of tepidity. It 
 is deplorable to see how carelessly, and with 
 what want of devotion, these persons receive the 
 last sacraments; if, indeed, they be not deprived 
 of them altogether, and die suddenly in punish- 
 ment of their tepidity. The last Confession is 
 made inconsiderately, holy Viaticum is received 
 without fervor. They are unconcerned and neg- 
 ligently unconscious while Extreme Unction is 
 administered to them; the pains of sickness are 
 borne impatiently, as if the sufferings of Christ 
 had never been heard of by these unfortunate 
 religious. For want of previous exercise in de- 
 votion they heed not the priest who suggests 
 pious affections; they drop into their agony in 
 a state of stupidity as to heavenly things. At 
 last, by a chilling death they leave those who 
 stand around in the greatest anxiety. They ap- 
 pear before the terrible tribunal and are plunged 
 if not directly into Hell, at least for an untold 
 number of years into the flames of Purgatory. 
 ^^ O Lord, pierce Thou my flesh with Thy fear" 
 (Psalm cxviii. 120), that, terrified by these dan- 
 gers, I may shake off my tepidity and serve Thee 
 henceforward more fervently. 
 
30 Solid Virtue. 
 
 POINT III. 
 
 It is very hard to cure tepidity. 
 
 In order that one may apply a remedy it is 
 necessary that he should first know the evil and 
 its malignity. Now the tepid do not believe 
 that they are tepid, at least they do not perceive 
 the dangers of the malady, for blindness of mind 
 is the inseparable companion of tepidity. The 
 knowledge of the unhealthy state of their souls 
 would already suppose some fervor. Moreover, 
 they who, in the performance of their daily 
 exercises of piety, occasionally, though very im- 
 perfectly, do some good, are deluded by a false 
 appearance of virtue, and do not see their 
 miseries, nor provide a remedy for them, and 
 this it is which renders the cure so very difficult. 
 
 The tepid religious may be compared to that 
 class of sick persons to whom, on account of the 
 disordered state of the stomach, medicines 
 themselves become a poison. For meditations, 
 examens of conscience, confessions, communions, 
 masses and spiritual exercises are gone through 
 by them without any fruit, because they are 
 performed slothfully and without attention, and 
 thus the only means most efficacious to expel 
 tepidity and acquire fervor are, by them, turned 
 to the detriment of their souls. For this reason 
 St. Bernard in the 96th letter to the Abbot Fon- 
 tanus says, very truly: ^' More readily will you 
 
On Tepidity. 31 
 
 find many worldlings abandoning their evil ways, 
 and returning to God, than one tepid religious 
 correcting his faults and becoming fervent." 
 The greatest sinners are often awakened from 
 their death-slumber by merely looking upon the 
 Crucifix, by reflecting upon the Last Judgment 
 or the eternity of Hell; while, on the contrary, a 
 slothful religious, who is accustomed to meditate 
 carelessly and without proper attention upon 
 these eternal truths, is as little touched by them 
 as those who daily assist the dying are by the 
 sight of death. 
 
 Finally, the onty remedy for this evil would 
 be some extraordinary grace, by the overwhelm- 
 ing influence of which this inveterate torpor 
 would be shaken off. But languid religious 
 whose minds are engrossed with exterior things, 
 owing to the tumult of their passions, far from 
 taking advantage of the ordinary graces, turn a 
 deaf ear to them, and render themselves unwor- 
 thy of such extraordinary graces. 
 
 No wonder, then, that God gives up at last 
 rousing them, and allows them to sleep on,4[n 
 avenging darkness. 
 
 It too often happens that they perform even 
 good works with a bad intention, and sin con- 
 tinually. Although, now and then, some heavenly 
 ray illumines the blindness of their minds and 
 melts their frozen hearts, still these momentary 
 fi.ts of fervor soon vanish, and the state of torpor 
 is resumed, and hardly ever shaken off but with 
 
32 Solid Virtue. 
 
 life. Who shall now deny that it is very difficult 
 to cure this malady ? O the dismal and destructive 
 effect of this languor! which is the more to be 
 feared as it is common. And this makes the 
 state of tepidity so deplorable. 
 
 Shake off, therefore, O my soul, thy tepidity! 
 redeem lost time. Renew thyself, and " be mind- 
 ful whence thou art fallen. Do penance now" 
 and begin to reform, or else fear that God in His 
 anger will ^' come to thee and will remove thy 
 candlestick out of its place." (Apoc. ii. 5.) 
 
 The remedies to banish this languor, are: 
 
 ist. A fervent meditation to be performed 
 every morning. 
 
 2d. Pious and attentive spiritual reading every 
 day. 
 
 3d. A daily examination of conscience joined 
 with the particular examen. 
 
 4th. A short recollection, for at least half an 
 hour every month. 
 
 SELF-EXAMINATION. 
 
 On Human Respect. 
 
 One of the greatest obstacles to solid virtue is 
 human respect. This malady of the soul con- 
 sists in a depraved desire to please men, and in 
 a servile fear of displeasing them. 
 
 It is clear that it originates in pride, from 
 which this fear of contempt and love of esteem 
 arise. Therefore, searching the inmost recesses 
 of vour heart, seriouslv examine: 
 
071 Tepidity, 33 
 
 ist. Whether you have not committed many 
 evil deeds from this vain fear of displeasing 
 others, and omitted many good works out of a 
 base desire to please them. If you have done so 
 "Know that for all these God will bring you 
 unto judgment." (Eccle. xi. 9.) This plague is 
 a mad folly, the most galling tyranny and the 
 greatest contempt of God. 
 
 2d. Inquire diligently whether you believe with 
 a lively faith the following oracles of Eternal 
 Truth. " No man can serve two masters'* (Matt, 
 vi. 24.); that is to say, Christ and the world. 
 " Whoever will be a friend of this world, becometh 
 an enemy of God." (St. James iv. 4.) "If I did 
 yet please men I should not be the servant of 
 Christ." (Gal. i. 10.) " God hath scattered the 
 bones of them that please men." (Ps. lii. 6.) 
 
 Examine, therefore, whether you seek not the 
 favor of men by ceremonious behavior, by ab- 
 ject flattery, by fulsome praise, by imitating the 
 manners of worldlings? Senseless mortal that 
 you are! what you so eagerly seek is as dust, 
 which is blown away, as smoke that is scattered 
 abroad by the wind, as a thin fog which is dis- 
 persed by the storm. You are like the dog in 
 the fable which lost the reality by snatching at 
 the shadow; you neglect eternal, that you may 
 enjoy transitory goods. 
 
 3d. Consider whether you are practically per- 
 suaded of this truth, which is inculcated by 
 Christ. " Fear ye not them that kill the body 
 
34 Solid Virtue, 
 
 and are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear 
 Him that can cast both body and soul into Hell.'* 
 (Matt. X. 28.) See, therefore, whether you are 
 firmly resolved to incur the displeasure and 
 hatred of men; to be harassed by jests and 
 mockeries of your companions, to be excluded 
 from their gatherings, to be ridiculed, despised 
 and shunned by them, rather than offend God 
 by a single venial sin. Why do you hesitate? 
 
 Hear what the Holy Spirit says: ^' Be not 
 ashamed of any of these things, and accept no 
 persoa to sin thereby." (Eccl. xlii. i.) *' Cursed 
 be the man that trusteth in man and maketh 
 flesh his arm/* (Jer. xvii. 5.) 
 
 4th. Lastly, examine whether you are troubled 
 and take it ill when others speak coldly to you, 
 avoid your company, turn away from you, and 
 shun you ? This is the very thing, you say, 
 which is so hard to nature and which stings me. 
 
 But tell me why do you grieve at the removal 
 of deceptions ? Why do you lament the drying 
 up of a source of much weariness of spirit ? Why 
 do you regret the loss of that companionship, the 
 abstaining from which will one day be your joy ? 
 
 Is not God better to you than a dozen such 
 companions, yea, than a thousand of such erring, 
 inconsistent- and wicked friends? Rather re- 
 joice that the world hates you, for it is a sign 
 that Christ has chosen you from out of the 
 world. " If you had been of the world, the 
 world would love its own; but because you are 
 
On Tepidity. 35 
 
 not of the world, therefore the world hateth 
 you." (St. John xv. 19.) Be glad, therefore, 
 and rejoice. ^''Know ye that it hated Me before 
 you." (St. John XV. 18.) "The disciple is not 
 above his Master." (Matt. x. 24.) 
 
 Rejoice exceedingly that you are treated by 
 the world in the same manner in which Christ 
 was treated. 
 
 Finally, this transitory contempt, which tepid 
 persons evince for you, is abundantly compen- 
 sated for by the genuine and enduring esteem 
 of the just on earth, and the Blessed in Heaven. 
 Yea, these very scoffers, at the end of their lives, 
 and on the last day, will praise you. Although 
 such revilers may have "a forehead of brass" 
 (Is. xlviii. 4), God will give you, if you carry 
 out your heroic resolution, *^a face stronger than 
 their faces, and a forehead harder than their 
 foreheads." (Ezech. iii. 8.) 
 
 You have only to receive their taunts and 
 railleries for the first few days with undaunted 
 courage, and you shall have conquered. These 
 ver}^ same people will afterwards praise you, 
 and, as they thought little of you, when you 
 were like themselves, so will they revere you 
 now for being unlike themselves. 
 
 Follow, then, the advice of St. Paul: Turn 
 your back upon the world and let it be crucified; 
 laugh at it, when it laughs; despise it, when it 
 despises; and setting at naught its judgments, 
 fear only the judgments of God. 
 
36 Solid Virtue. 
 
 iHebitation 2. 
 
 On the Abuse of Grace. 
 
 POINT I. 
 
 The Enormity of the Abuse of Grace. 
 
 This is first proved by the absolute need of 
 grace. There is the greatest necessity for grace, 
 because faith teaches, on the one hand, that with- 
 out it no supernatural act can be performed 
 meriting an eternal reward (Council of Trent, 
 Sess. 6, Can. 3), and, on the other, no one who 
 has arrived at the age of discretion can, without 
 such an act, attain salvation. Therefore, since 
 such a supernatural act is absolutely necessary 
 to work out our salvation, and since no one can 
 perform such an act without supernatural grace, 
 whoever neglects grace throws away a means 
 which is absolutely necessary to work meritori- 
 ously and gain Heaven. Consequently, when- 
 ever, O senseless mortal ! you reject an impulse 
 of grace, you waste a talent, whereby alone an 
 immortal crown can be merited; you cast away 
 a precious stone with which God can be pur- 
 chased, and you think but little of it ! But the 
 hour shall come in which you shall bitterly weep 
 over such an unpardonable abuse of grace; 
 lamenting shall you cry out, " When I could, 
 I would not." 
 
On the Abuse of Grace, 37 
 
 The second proof is drawn from the worth 
 and excellence of grace itself. 
 
 Grace w^hich is offered is an immense good, 
 surpassing all the treasures of the earth, and, 
 after sanctifying grace, and the Beatific Vision, 
 transcending everything that is not God ^ it is 
 the price of the blood and death of Christ; it is 
 the beginning, the increase, and the reward of 
 our merits; it is the seed of eternal glory; for, 
 after every actual grace, if you co-operate with 
 it, follows a higher degree of indwelling grace, 
 and consequently a greater degree of glory 
 which will last forever. What then can be more 
 foolish than to reject this heavenly gift, thi^ 
 divine fruit, this seed of glory! and yet this is 
 done in a jesting way, as it were without re- 
 morse, for a mere nothing; for the loss of the 
 least thing grieves us more than the loss of 
 grace. But woe to us! if we only then begin to 
 estimate its worth, when we shall be deprived 
 of it. 
 
 The third proof of the enormity of the abuse 
 of grace is its munificence. 
 
 The graces bestowed are exceedingly great; 
 namely: vocation to the religious life, elevation 
 to the dignity of the priesthood and the cure of 
 souls, besides the novitiate, the yearly eight 
 days' retreat, the renewal of the spirit twice 
 every year, the frequent sharing in the holy 
 mysteries, and so on Moreover, these graces 
 follow each other in uninterrupted succession: 
 
38 Solid Virtue, 
 
 the daily masses, meditations, examens, spiritual 
 readings, examples, exhortations and internal 
 inspirations. 
 
 Lastly, they are efficacious in themselves, as 
 the theologians speak, considered in their entity 
 or congruity, since these same graces, if they 
 had been given in the same number to other per- 
 sons, would have made them the greatest saints, 
 and they would have been sufficient to convert 
 the most wicked men; but they are deprived in 
 us of their e;ffect, solely because they are volun- 
 tarily rejected by us. Therefore, since we resist 
 such great, continued and efficacious graces, 
 and despise these heavenly gems as so much 
 tinsel, no wonder that the abuse of grace is 
 something very enormous and heinous. 
 
 "Woe to thee, Corozain! Woe to thee, Beth- 
 saida! " Woe to thee, O religious! '' for, if in Tyre 
 and Sidon had been wrought the mighty works 
 that have been wrought in you, they would have 
 done penance, long ago, sitting in sackcloth and 
 ashes." - (St. Luke x. 13.) On the Day of Judg- 
 ment there shall arise *^ from the East and from 
 the West" (St. Matt. viii. 11), the heathen and 
 the heretic; there shall also arise many Catholics 
 who lived In the world, your pupils, your peni- 
 tents, your hearers, whom you have animated to 
 the faithful correspondence with grace; they 
 shall arise, I say, and accuse you of so horrible 
 abuse of grace. 
 
 The blood of Jesus Christ shed in vain for 
 
0)1 the Abuse of Grace, 39 
 
 you, and which procured for you so many graces 
 shall call for vengeance. Alas! with what terror 
 shall this thought torment and overwhelm you 
 on your death-bed : I could have become a 
 saint, and so easily, and I ought to have be- 
 come one by virtue of my rules and my voca- 
 tion, and, nevertheless, I have made little or no 
 progress. 
 
 O Lord, I detest my malice and great ingrati- 
 tude! Alas! what have I done^ when I rebel- 
 liously resisted so many graces ? I have foolishly 
 despised the price of the Blood of Jesus Christ, 
 the ray of Thy Divinity, the pledge of eternal 
 salvation. Grant that I may at least correspond 
 with constant fidelity to the present grace, which 
 is perhaps the last. 
 
 POINT II. 
 
 The Punishment of the Abuse of Grace. 
 
 Those who abuse sufficient graces are usually 
 punished by the withdrawal of such as are effi- 
 cacious. "*" 
 
 * (jX2i\\2, excitans dicitur vel sufficiens vel efficax. Sufficiens 
 pure talis, et ut efficaci opposita, est gratia excitans quatenus 
 non obtentura liberum hominis consensum, ad quern tamen 
 obtinendum sufficit. Efficax est gratia excitans liberum 
 hominis consensum certo et infallibiter obtentura. 
 
 [Exciting or impelling grace is either sufficient or effica- 
 cious. Sufficient grace, purely such, and as opposed to effi- 
 
40 Solid Virtue, 
 
 And this is of all punishments the greatest, the 
 most just and the one ordinarily inflicted. 
 
 ist. It is of all the punishments in this world 
 the greatest. 
 
 There is nothing to be dreaded so much as 
 that which alienates us from God, the Sovereign 
 Good, and subjects us to the sovereign evil — sin 
 and Hell. Now this is the deplorable effect of the 
 withdrawal of efficacious graces. For efficacious 
 graces prevent the commission of sin, the cause 
 of damnation, since they are by the decree of 
 God the absolute necessary means by which we 
 are to work out our salvation; and, indeed, so 
 essentia' are they that without them we can 
 never possess God, nor avoid damnation. True, 
 with merely sufficient grace we could be saved; 
 but in reality we never shall be saved by them 
 alone. We shall surely sin, and consequently be 
 damned. 
 
 The withdrawal of grace is, therefore, what 
 most turns us away from the Supreme Good, 
 God and Heaven, and brings us nearest to the 
 worst of evils, sin and Hell. Consequently of all 
 punishments in this world it is the greatest and 
 the most terrible. Moreover, according to com- 
 mon consent, there can be no more awful chas- 
 tisement in this life than that which hardens the 
 
 cacious, is exciting grace, inasmuch as not about to obtain 
 the free consent of man, though it is sufficient to obtain it. 
 Efficacious grace is exciting grace which will surely and in- 
 fallibly obtain the free consent of man.] 
 
On the Abuse of Grace. 41 
 
 wicked and confirms them in their evil ways; 
 which blinds their understanding so that they 
 see not the perilous state of their soul; which 
 binds, as it were, their will so that they are not 
 anxious to extricate themselves from this dan- 
 ger, which deprives them of the best means of 
 repentance, and paves the way to all vices, mak- 
 ing them more prone to evil and more ready to 
 fall. 
 
 Now all this is the result of the loss of effica- 
 cious grace. For when the Almighty allows us 
 to be slandered, visits us with sickness, afflicts us 
 with persecutions, it is a punishment, it is true, 
 but not the greatest, since in these particulars 
 He intends and seeks to turn us from sin, and 
 convert us to Himself, and thus acts rather as a 
 Father who desires the conversion and correction 
 of the sinner than as a Judge or Avenger of sin. 
 
 But when He denies sinners the light by which 
 they could discover the deformity of vice, de- 
 priving them of inspirations by which they could 
 be moved to its detestation, then, indeed, He 
 rages *' as a bear that is robbed of her whelps" 
 (Osee xiii. 8.) Then the omnipotent anger of 
 God strikes with great affliction, with an exceed- 
 ingly great evil, with an incurable bruise, with 
 a very severe wound, the wound of an enemy 
 (Jer. xxx. 12 and 14), with a chastisement so ter- 
 rible that He could not inflict a greater. 
 
 2d. It is the most just punishment. 
 
 Divine grace is a visitation of the Heavenly 
 
42 Solid Virtue, 
 
 Bridegroom, who, standing at the door of your 
 heart, knocks, begs and even urges to be admit- 
 ted. You open not; you hear not His voice; you 
 deny Him entrance. At last God, as it were, 
 tired, ceases to knock, and being despised by 
 frequent refusals goes away. What can be more 
 just? Grace is a torch by whose light God de- 
 sires to enlighten the mind, and by its ardor to 
 inflame the will; but you close the avenues of 
 your heart, you seek only darkness, and like the 
 owl fly light and warmth. 
 
 At length the Sun of Justice, so often frus- 
 trated, ceases to shine, and hides its rays. What 
 can be more just? 
 
 Grace is an inestimable gift, a most precious 
 gem, and a pledge of eternal glory. God offers it 
 of His own accord, without being asked. He 
 even forces it upon you, and begs you would ac- 
 cept it, and this He repeats after so many reit- 
 erated repulses. But you contemn this gift; you 
 refuse to accept this gem; you think nothing of 
 this pledge. At last God very justly ceases to 
 offer it, or to press you to accept it. Who will 
 think that this is wrong? Is not then the with- 
 drawal of grace which has been so neglected and 
 despised a most just punishment? O Great 
 God! it is indeed a most just chastisement. But 
 pardon me! I promise to do better for the fu- 
 ture. Afflict me wuth any other punishment. 
 Oh! do not chastise me with this. 
 
 3d. It is the ordinary pu?7ishment. 
 
On the Abuse of Grace. 43 
 
 There is no chastisement more frequently 
 threatened by God, through Moses, the prophets 
 and the Royal Psalmist, than this very withdrawal 
 of grace. 
 
 ^' I let them go according to the desires of their 
 heart: they shall walk in their own inventions." 
 (Ps. Ixxx. 13.) *^ Blind the heart of this people, 
 and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes." 
 (Is. vi. 10.) ^^ He hath blinded their eyes, and 
 hardened their hearts, that they should not see 
 with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts." 
 (St. John xii. 40.) ^^ The kingdom of God shall 
 be taken from you, and shall be given to a nation 
 bringing forth the fruits thereof." (Matt. xxi. 
 43.) These and other such passages threaten- 
 ing the wrath of God meet our eyes in almost 
 every page of Holy Writ. The examples which 
 writers of Sacred History relate prove abun- 
 dantly that this taking away of grace has been 
 in the Old and New Law usual and very fre- 
 quent, aye, even in our own times. 
 
 We often wonder why God bears so patiently 
 with so many tepid religious, who, notwithstand- 
 ing abundant means, fulfil the duties of their 
 state so negligently; particularly the obligations 
 they are under to aspire to perfection. "Ah!" 
 says St. Augustine, " God punishes them with a 
 secret chastisement which is all the heavier 
 because it is hidden, while he deprives them 
 of His graces and allows them to sleep in their 
 torpor." 
 
44 Solid Virtue, 
 
 Hence it is that they regard as trifles thoughts, 
 looks and actions that are dangerous; that they 
 make light of aversions, particular friendships, 
 hatred, murmuring, anger and detraction. They 
 deem neglect of the duties of their office and 
 violations of their vows trifling. Hence, they 
 make for themselves various excuses by which 
 they try to palliate their faults instead of employ 
 ing the means by which they could overcome 
 them. Would to God that sad experience did not 
 teach us that this usually happens in religious 
 communities. Search, therefore, the innermost 
 recesses of your heart, and see whether you have 
 not often experienced this loss of grace. Think of 
 the annual retreats, of the days of recollection, 
 and of other such periods of special grace; are 
 you not obliged to confess that since that time 
 you have been deprived of many graces, because 
 you neglected to co-operate with them? For God 
 forsakes, at last, those who forsake Him. Take 
 heed that this very same misfortune which has 
 befallen so many may not happen to you also. 
 Perhaps the series of graces destined for you is 
 already on the point of being taken from you to 
 be given to the more deserving. Be in dread, 
 *' the judgments of God are a great abyss." 
 (Psalm XXXV. 7.) Although this is the most ter- 
 rible, yet it is the usual punishment, and it is 
 also a very just one. 
 
On the Abuse of Grace. 45 
 
 AFFECTIONS. 
 
 " O Lord, terrible and exceeding great!" (Eccl. 
 xliii. 31.) *^ Fear and trembling are come upon 
 me." (Psalm liv. 6.) I fear, alas! lest Thou sayest 
 to me, striking me as Thou didst Saul, with a 
 thunderbolt "As thou hast rejected the word of 
 the Lord, the Lord hath also rejected thee." 
 (i Kings XV. 23.) 
 
 " The Lord hath sought him a man according 
 to His own heart." (i Kings xiii. 14.) 
 
 " The Lord hath given the chain of gifts which 
 were prepared for thee to thy neighbor w^ho is 
 better than thee." (i Kings xv. 28.) I fear lest 
 in punishment of such frightful abuse, " the 
 Kingdom of God shall be taken from me, and 
 shall be given to a soul bringing forth the fruits 
 thereof." (Matt. xxi. 43.) Who will not tremble 
 at the thought that in the Kingdom of God's 
 grace Samuel was put in the place of Heli, Da- 
 vid in that of Saul, and Matthias in that of Judas? 
 
 If this was done to a pontiff, to a king, to an 
 Apostle, what shall be done to me? O unhappy 
 moment when I resisted the impulse of grace! 
 Oh, what an irreparable loss I sustained of an 
 inestimable treasure ! 
 
 "Who shall give water to my head and a foun- 
 tain of tears to my eyes ?" (Jer. ix. i) wherewith I 
 may bewail such an enormous contempt of the 
 Divine Goodness! Would to God those neglected 
 inspirations might return! O how^ faithful would 
 
46 Solid Virtue. 
 
 I not be to them! How I would listen to them. 
 Unworthy though I am that Thou shouldst again 
 help me, yet I hope to obtain from Thy infinite 
 goodness the victorious grace which will put an 
 end to my former life and enable me to begin a 
 holier one ; because even ^' when Thou art angry 
 Thou wilt remember mercy." (Habacuc iii. 2.) 
 
 PRACTICAL CONCLUSION. 
 
 The fruit of this Meditation is an heroic reso- 
 lution to listen henceforward to the voice of God 
 and to co-operate with actual grace : 
 
 I St. Promptly, by avoiding all delays. 
 
 2d. Generously, by overcoming all obstacles. 
 
 3d. Cojtstantly, by guarding against all remiss- 
 ness in what has once been undertaken. 
 
 The means to arrive at this are the following: 
 
 ist. Examine seriously and often, particularly 
 at the end of Meditation, or after Holy Com- 
 munion, or in visits to the Blessed Sacrament, 
 what God by reiterated impulses of grace wishes 
 you to do or to omit; for instance what self- 
 denial and victory over your inclinations; what 
 sacrifices, what rooting out of vice, what practice 
 of virtue. He particularly demands. 
 
 2d. Above all endeavor to acquire recollec- 
 tion of mind and tranquillity of heart, because 
 the whisperings of divine grace are hardly per- 
 ceived amidst the tumult of a troubled heart. 
 
SECOND DAY. 
 
SECOND DAY. 
 
 After having removed the principal obstacles 
 to solid virtue, we are to look for the most ef- 
 fectual means of acquiring it. These are as fol- 
 lows: A perfect performance of our daily ac- 
 tions ; a constant recollection; a diligent use of 
 the particular examen, and a fervent daily prayer 
 or Meditation. ' 
 
 These are the four voluble w^heels (Ezech. 
 X. 13) by which the soul will be carried to the 
 highest pitch of perfection; ^' for the spirit of 
 life is in them." (Ezech. x. 17.) 
 
 By the exercises of this Second Day we shall 
 be convinced of the utility of putting these four 
 means into daily practice until they become our 
 constant rule of life. The considerations of this 
 day will then answer to what is called the ^* Illu- 
 minative Way." 
 
Incentives for our Daily Actions. 49 
 
 iHebitation 1. 
 
 Incentives to the Perfect Per- 
 formance OF OUR Daily Ac- 
 tions. 
 
 point I. 
 
 The Gain Which Ceases. 
 
 {Lucrmn Cessans.) 
 
 Man's life is a chain consisting of different links 
 which are his daily recurring actions. These^ if 
 performed with the required perfection, are acts 
 of virtue; consequently if these actions be per- 
 formed in a holy manner, our whole life shall be 
 as a golden chain, the links of which will be 
 formed by the happy succession of virtue after 
 virtue. The Council of Trent (Sess. 6, Canon 
 31) teaches that for every salutary act which is 
 done by the just a degree of sanctifying grace is 
 given; and that every degree of such a grace 
 entitles them to a degree of eternal glory. 
 Hence it follows that their daily works when 
 performed in the proper spirit merit innumera- 
 ble degrees of grace in this life and glory in the 
 next. We each day perform at least twenty dif- 
 ferent actions. How many more in a week, and 
 what a still greater number in a month. Now 
 should these actions be perfectly performed, we 
 
50 Solid Virtue, 
 
 gain in one month more than six hundred de- 
 grees of grace in this life, and as many of glory 
 in the next. 
 
 But one degree of grace and glory is of such 
 value that were the saints capable of sorrow 
 they would lament the loss of one such degree of 
 glory. And we now blindly despise this possible 
 profit; we reckon as naught this irreparable neg- 
 lect of so many degrees of grace and of glory. 
 Oh, what a different opinion shall we form at 
 the hour of death, and at the judgment seat! 
 Therefore, O soul, destined for Heaven, recollect 
 thyself, and consider the greatness of the gain 
 irretrievably lost. Behold, O religious! if you 
 perform well this Meditation which you are now 
 making you shall see God for all eternity one 
 degree more clearly, you shall love Him per- 
 petually one degree more; but if you meditate 
 carelessly you shall love the immense amiability 
 of God one degree less; you shall behold His 
 infinite beauty one degree less clearly, and this 
 eternally; and this happens on account of your 
 shameful sloth which could be so easily shaken 
 off. Those are not worthy of Heaven who are 
 not sorry for depriving themselves of such a gain. 
 
 I am filled with sorrow, O my Creator and 
 my God! What have I done when I performed 
 such and such a work imperfectly? I have in 
 my folly forfeited a greater happiness forever; 
 the opportunity of beholding Thee perpetually, 
 O most Beauteous Love, in a clearer manner, 
 
Incentives for our Daily Actions, 51 
 
 and of loving Thee more ardently. Oh, let me 
 weep! all this I have done for some miserable 
 gratification. 
 
 POINT II. 
 
 The Harm That Arises. 
 {Damnum emergens?) 
 
 First. The careless performance of our actions 
 leads to a more woful death. Oh ! how this 
 thought will torment me as I stand on the thresh- 
 old of eternit}^ Being a religious, I w^as obliged 
 to aim at perfection befitting my state; to fulfil 
 this obligation I had at hand the easiest and most 
 efficacious means, to wit, the exact performance 
 of my daily works; for this is, according to all 
 spiritual writers, the shortest, the least difficult, 
 and the most certain road to perfection. I knew 
 it, and yet I neglected to use this means. O 
 my God! I could have lived a life of holiness, 
 and so easily, had I only in my every-day actions 
 shaken off my sluggishness; had I diligently ob- 
 served tlie rules prescribed for performing them 
 well; had I fostered good intentions and per- 
 formed not other works but these same works 
 diligently. But now, O detestible sloth! I have 
 increased the pains of Purgatory by these very 
 actions, whilst had I overcome myself a little I 
 could have ascended to that high throne of 
 glory which my fellow-religious now occupy. 
 
52 Solid Virtue, 
 
 Others acted differently; encouraged by their 
 example I also purposed to do the same; I even 
 began — oh, had I but continued! Ah! I remem- 
 ber well the troubles, miseries, and hardships 
 which during the course of my life occurred in 
 the discharge of my daily actions. How many 
 difficulties had to be surmounted! Oh! how 
 great a glory in Heaven could I have merited by 
 all these. How exceedingly great was my folly! 
 Instead of reward I have accumulated the chas- 
 tisements of Divine Justice. 
 
 These shall be the thoughts of a dying person, 
 who during life hurried through and negligently 
 performed the wonted functions. Woe is me! 
 I have done but little good, and this little care- 
 lessly. My whole life has been nothing but a 
 chain of defects, by which the enemy shall drag 
 me before the Divine Judge. 
 
 Secondly. The sluggish performance of our 
 daily actions brings on a more rigorous judg- 
 ment. As soon as we die our works good or bad 
 follow us to the tribunal of God, for " we must all 
 be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, 
 that every one may receive the proper things of 
 the body, according as he hath done, whether it 
 be good or evil." (2 Cor. v. 10.) 
 
 There it will not be* asked what illustrious part 
 we have played on this world's stage, but how 
 well we have acted it out ; nor what honorable 
 positions we have filled, but how well we have 
 filled them ; nor how satisfactorily we have borne 
 
Incentives for our Daily Actions. 53 
 
 the burden imposed upon us, but how holily we 
 have sustained it — in short, our daily works will 
 form the principal subject of that examination. 
 *^ For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of 
 His Father, w4th His angels, and then will He 
 render to every man according to his works." 
 (St. Matt. xvi. 27.) 
 
 O soul ! what shall then be thy feelings when 
 the Divine Judge, after having examined the im- 
 perfect state of thy account, shall say, '^ Behold, I 
 have called thee to great sanctity, I have given 
 thee a very easy means to acquire it, viz., to per- 
 form well the ordinary duties of thy station in 
 life, therefore thou art inexcusable." (Rom. ii. i.) 
 Thou art inexcusable because thou didst pay more 
 attention to amusements than to thy prayers, 
 thou wast more mindful of thy studies than of 
 the holy sacrifice of the Mass ; and because 
 thou hast served the great God of Heaven for an 
 eternal reward with less eagerness than seculars, 
 for a paltry gain, serve the world. Alas, O God ! 
 *' searcher of hearts and reins" (Psalm vii. 10), 
 what shall I, miserable sinner, say then ? I can- 
 not give one answer for a thousand accusations 
 (Job ix. 3), and '' if I would justify myself my own 
 mouth shall condemn me ; if I would show my- 
 self innocent He shall prove me wicked" (Job ix. 
 20); my own works shall condemn me — I feel 
 shame and sorrow. I resolve henceforth to lead 
 a more perfect life — grant me pardon and remis- 
 sion before the day of reckoning. 
 
54 Solid Virtue, 
 
 Thirdly, The hasty performance of our daily 
 actions entails a greater and longer punishment. 
 Oh ! what will your terror be at Judgment to 
 find that by so many labors you have merited 
 torments instead of rewards, and that all your 
 actions in which you so often gloried, and pre- 
 ferred yourself to others, are, on account of the 
 imperfect manner in which they were performed, 
 mere chaff in the eyes of God, and destined to 
 the flames of Purgatory. Labor and sorrow, 
 whether we be willing to endure them or not, are 
 the invariable concomitants of the life of every 
 mortal. How lamentable then if, after having 
 endured the miseries and afflictions of life (which 
 certainly are neither few nor light), we deserve 
 only Purgatory for neglecting to fulfil perfectly 
 our ordinary duties. O unfortunate religious ! 
 what shall you think when, upon entering Purga- 
 tory, you shall behold yourself in the midst of fire, 
 darkness and torments ; and this for the very ac- 
 tions by the perfect performance of which you 
 could so easily have avoided its flames, and aug- 
 mented your glory in Heaven ? If you be wise, 
 now is the acceptable time; while the days of sal- 
 vation last provide diligently for yourself. Oh ! 
 could a soul in Purgatory return to the world, how 
 zealously would it not perform its daily actions ! 
 You are therefore guilty of an unpardonable 
 cruelty towards yourself if you do not act as 
 this soul would do, and you shall one day bitterly 
 deplore your neglect. 
 
Incentives for oar Daily Actions, 55 
 
 AFFECTIONS. 
 
 O God of virtues ! justly with the Prophet Job 
 " I fear all my works." (Job ix. 28.) '' My days 
 have been swifter than a post, they have fled 
 away and have not seen good." (Job ix. 25.) 
 ^^ My days were consumed in vanity." (Psalm 
 Ixxvi. 2fZ-) After so many years of life, I have 
 not been able to show any marks of virtue, but 
 *'am consumed in my wickedness." (Wisdom v. 
 13.) " My works are unprofitable works, and my 
 thoughts are unprofitable thoughts." (is. lix. 
 6, 7.) I have labored in vain ; I have spent my 
 strength without cause and in vain (Is. xlix. 4), 
 I feel the darkness of that night coming upon me 
 '* when no man can work" (St. John ix. 4), and 
 when time shall be no more to amass those im- 
 mense gains, and to avoid those dreadful evils. I 
 repent, full of shame and sorrow. O Lord! whose 
 works are all exceeding good (Eccl. xxxix. 21), 
 grant that henceforth I may perform only good 
 actions and these well, to wit, with a pure inten- 
 tion and with becoming fervor. Ah ! by a thou- 
 sand titles I am Thine, for Thou hast formed me 
 from the womb to be Thy servant. (Is. xlix. 5.) 
 Accursed, therefore, be the actions which shall 
 be performed for another end than the love of 
 Thee. And as it is not becoming that the works 
 which are done for Thee, Supreme Lord, should 
 be performed negligently ; put Thyself as a seal 
 upon my heart, that I may serve Thee for pure 
 
56 Solid Virtue, 
 
 love; put Thyself ''as a seal upon my arm*' 
 (Cant. viii. 6), that I may henceforth serve Thee 
 fervently, by performing my daily actions per- 
 fectly. 
 
 PRACTICAL CONCLUSION. 
 
 The fruit will be a great exactitude in perform- 
 ing the daily actions required in our state of life. 
 That our actions may be done well, this exacti^ 
 tude comprises three qualities. They must be 
 performed : ist, with a pure intention; 2dly, with 
 becoming and continued fervor ; 3dly, at the time 
 prescribed — thus we shall do what God wills, 
 how and when He wills it ; which is the shortest 
 way to the highest perfection. The following 
 rules will aid in the accomplishment of this: 
 ist, to select from approved authors the method 
 of performing our daily actions according to the 
 rules of sanctity. 2d, strictly to observe the 
 prescribed order of the day, for what is done in 
 order is also done properly. 3d, after every ac- 
 tion, particularly when it is of long duration, to 
 examine ourselves with sorrow and purpose of 
 amendment as to the faults committed during 
 its performance. 4th, to perform every action 
 as if it were the last of our lives. 
 
On Recollection. 57 
 
 Consikration. 
 On Recollection. 
 
 POINT L t 
 
 The Evlls of a Distracted Mind. 
 
 ^* If any one abide not in Me, he shall be cast 
 forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they 
 shall gather him up and cast him into the fire, 
 and he burneth." (St. John xv. 6.) 
 
 These words declare the three evils of a dis- 
 tracted mind. The first is a weakness and ina- 
 bility to enter into one's self. " He shall be cast 
 forth." For as the branch cut from the vine is 
 thrown over the wall by the vine-dresser with- 
 out any probability of its being ever looked after, 
 so also the soul engrossed with external things 
 is cast by the Heavenly Father from the bosom 
 of His special Providence, and it will only with 
 the greatest difficulty again revert. 
 
 Nor should this surprise us. Such a soul is 
 seldom present to itself, and more seldom pres- 
 ent to God. Blind to heavenly manifestations, 
 deaf to divine impulses, always rebellious to 
 grace, it gradually becomes altogether earthly 
 and carnal. It thinks on nothing but vanities, 
 relishes only the things of earth, desires only 
 
58 Solid Virttie, 
 
 what is agreeable to the senses. Its memory is 
 like a public market or highway, a thoroughfare 
 for all sorts of thoughts and imaginations. Its 
 understanding is like a house with open doors 
 and windows, to which there is free access and 
 egress to all temptations, to the most foolish ideas 
 and ermrs. Its will is like a ball which the tu- 
 multucfts motions of the wind keep twirling to 
 and fro. Lastly, the Meditations, the offering up 
 of the Holy Sacrifice, the recitation of the Divine 
 Office, communions, examens and confessions are 
 but a tissue of distractions, a sink of imperfec- 
 tions, a downright lethargy; consequently it fol- 
 lows that, defiled with these stains, exposed on 
 every side to the illusions of the enemy, it is 
 brought at last to immediate danger of a greater 
 fall. It is true that at intervals unhappy reli- 
 gious will see and acknowledge their calamity. 
 Wearied in the paths of sensuality, loathed by 
 creatures, full of disgust they desire to enter into 
 themselves; but as this cannot be done without 
 a special grace (and God with avenging severity 
 usually denies or at least delays it), banished by 
 the world, repulsed by Heaven, and frightened 
 at themselves, they suffer a hard but just exile 
 from their own hearts. " He shall be cast forth." 
 The second evil is dryness of heart and blind- 
 ness of mind, coupled with a very great disgust 
 for holy things. ^' He shall wither." As the 
 branch cut from the vine withers away, so 
 also such a soul separated by dissipation from 
 
0}i Recollection, 5g 
 
 the mystical vine of Christ dries up altogether. 
 At the most endearing mysteries of faith, in the 
 midst of the delights of the Blessed Sacrament, 
 under the very morning dew of meditation, it 
 remains harder than flint; neither does Heaven 
 attract it, nor Hell terrify it much, nor does the 
 tribunal of God cause it great anxiety. It medi- 
 tates or reads without feeling or without pious 
 emotion the eternal truths which are apt to move 
 even stony hearts; it is altogether stupefied in 
 respect of heavenly things, and alive to earthly 
 things alone. In the understanding there is noth- 
 ing but darkness, in the will a bitter dryness, in 
 the conscience nothing but remorse, in the whole 
 soul the tumult of the passions threatening an 
 entire dereliction of the service of God. '^ He 
 shall wither." 
 
 The third evil lies in the manifold chastise- 
 ments with which a distracted soul is punished. 
 St Augustine says, '^ The branch belongs either 
 to the vine or to the fire." If it is not on the 
 vine, it shall be in the fire; that is to say, a soul 
 either must adhere to God by recollection, or it 
 shall burn in the flames of temptations and of 
 afllictions here, and hereafter of Purgatory. Vain 
 thoughts and wicked imaginations shall run to 
 and fro in such minds *4ike sparks among the 
 reeds." At one time they will burn with envy, at 
 another with lust, and then again with anger. 
 Very soon they shall heap upon their heads hot 
 coals of murmurings and detractions. 
 
6o Solid Virtue, 
 
 They shail be thrown in the furnace of various 
 afflictions. The dissipated mind is like to a wasp, 
 which, after leaving its little cell, flies about ter- 
 ror-stricken in the closed chamber, and strikes 
 with all its might against the wall. Hence it 
 happens that, hurt by jests and witticisms, stung 
 by personal injuries and affronts, they fall into a 
 gloomy state of mind, become very melancholy, 
 full of bitterness and vexation, and drink only 
 gall where they should suck honey. Lastly 
 they shall be consigned to the purging flames, 
 there to endure most excruciating torments and 
 for a long time. For as their daily actions are 
 nothing but fuel to increase the flames, there 
 shall they burn until they have paid the last 
 farthing. These are the three evils of a dis- 
 tracted mind threatened by our Lord Himself. 
 
 O great God, ^' in whom we live, and we move, 
 and we are" (Acts xvii. 28), whose ^' eyes are upon 
 the ways of men; and He considereth all their 
 steps." (Job xxxiv. 21.) There is not one mo- 
 ment in which Thou dost not remember me with 
 fatherly care and affection; and I live whole days 
 forgetful of Thee and Thy presence. '^ Hence- 
 forth, if I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right 
 hand be forgotten; let my tongue cleave to my 
 mouth if I do not remember thee." (Ps. cxxxvi. 
 5, 6.) 
 
On Recollection, 6i 
 
 POINT 11. 
 
 The Advantages of Recollection. 
 
 ist. Recollection of mind preserves us from 
 many offences against God, and from great 
 weariness. For this thought ^^ God sees me" is 
 the most efficacious means to withhold us from 
 every fault. Since recollection consists princi- 
 pally in such a thought, or in a watchful atten- 
 tion to the fact that God is everywhere present, 
 it is evident that it keeps one free from innumer- 
 able sins. 
 
 Besides, the three sources of recollection, viz.: 
 the keeping to one's cell, the observance of si- 
 lence, the avoiding of news, reunions and too 
 many distracting occupations, preserve the soul 
 from a world of weariness, melancholy, vexation 
 and afflictions, which are always created by the 
 neglect of recollection, and by too free a manner 
 of acting with others. ^' For where men are, 
 there also are vices;" where there is the free use 
 of the tongue, there also words fly like arrows, 
 inflicting wounds upon the soul which, when we 
 enter our chamber, chafe, sadden and afflict us. 
 It is certain, therefore, that recollection of mind 
 delivers us from a great many sins and vexa- 
 tions, and prevents much sadness and weariness. 
 
 2d. It is the quickest and most efficacious 
 means to acquire a high degree of perfection. 
 Perfection consists in the exact fulfilment of our 
 
62 Solid Virtue, 
 
 daily actions; for by performing them well we 
 do what God wills, and in the manner He wills 
 it. What makes us more prompt and ready to 
 perform them thus than recollection of mind, 
 which consists in affectionate attention to the 
 Supreme Judge? "For w^e must all be mani- 
 fested before the judgment seat of Christ, that 
 every one may receive the proper things of the 
 body, according as he hath done, whether it be 
 good or evil." (2 Cor. v. 10.) 
 
 No one has ever arrived at perfection without 
 recollection, and the fonder and more desirous 
 one is of it, the holier and more perfect will he 
 be — for as, according to the teaching of the 
 Fathers, the solitude of the heart is the mother 
 and nurse of virtue, without it no degree of per- 
 fect virtue will ever be attained or preserved. 
 It is evident, therefore, that recollection is the 
 most efficacious means to acquire perfection. 
 
 3d. Recollection is an earthly heaven, for the 
 recollected soul does in some measure what is 
 done by the blessed in Heaven. It continually 
 beholds and loves God everywhere present; and 
 like those blessed ones it tastes a happy joy, be- 
 ing exempt from all care and fear, and immersed, 
 as it were, in an ocean of delights. Tranquillity, 
 heavenly consolations, fervor, joy and confident 
 security are the fruits of such happiness; and as 
 the angels sent on earth by the Most High bring 
 their beatitude with them, so, also, such a soul, 
 though occupied with business, carries always 
 
071 Recollection, 63 
 
 about it, as it were, a portable heaven, in which 
 it never ceases to contemplate and to love the 
 Divine Majesty. It follows, therefore, that a 
 recollected soul experiences on earth a foretaste 
 of the joys of Heaven. 
 
 4th. Recollection is the source of the most ex- 
 cellent graces, for it infuses into the soul that 
 incomprehensible union, familiarity and com- 
 muning with God, the delight and inestimable 
 value of which no one knows except one who 
 has experienced it. From it also proceeds the 
 tacit testimony of the Holy Ghost whispering to 
 this soul words of consolation, inspiring it with 
 a firm hope of having obtained the pardon of its 
 sins. This sweet assurance of being in the state 
 of grace, and in the enjoyment of the divine 
 friendship, invariably produces a happy peace, 
 a consolation and joy altogether heavenly. 
 Hence also arise wonderful facility, generous 
 alacrity in the practice of virtue, propensity to 
 the things of Heaven, disgust for everything 
 earthly, very great tenderness and purity of 
 conscience, which cause such a soul to fly from 
 even the shadow of sin, and, lastly, perfect indif- 
 ference to everything, so that it seeks nothing 
 and fears nothing. In short, a recollected mind 
 is constantly favored with innumerable heavenly 
 inspirations, and the clearest and most sublime 
 knowledge of eternal truths. The Holy Ghost 
 becomes, as it were, the teacher, that never 
 ceases to instruct and to dissipate all doubts and 
 
64 Solid Virtue. 
 
 reveal what is hidden, intimating what should 
 be don^, showing what should be avoided, cher- 
 ishing and protecting the soul, as a provident 
 mother does her offspring. To conclude, recol- 
 lection is the means by which sins are banished 
 and tedium is overcome; it is the mirror in 
 which heavenly rays are concentrated; it is the 
 channel through which divine graces flow; it 
 is the principle of sanctity, the paradise of joys, 
 and the nurse of interior peace. (Phil. iv. 7.) 
 
 O blessed recollection! thou art truly an infi- 
 nite treasure to men. (Wisdom vii. 14.) Oh, 
 how prudent are they who give everything and 
 spare no trouble to possess thee, but how sense- 
 less are they who live regardless of such a good! 
 How great, therefore, has been my folly! I am 
 become as a dove that is decoyed, not having a 
 heart. (Osee vii. 11.) I have allowed my heart to 
 go freely among creatures; but now "when I 
 return to Him again, I shall seek Him ten times 
 as much." (Baruch iv. 28.) In the innermost 
 recesses of my heart I will build a cell, and en- 
 closed therein, dead to the world, I will live only 
 for God. 
 
 The practical conclusion of this consideration 
 should be henceforth a frequent and constant 
 exercise of the presence of God — that is, a con- 
 tinual and affectionate attention to His immense 
 Majesty evqr present within us. The means to 
 carry out this resolution are: ist. To remain in 
 your room. 2d. To withdraw yourself from. 
 
G71 Recollection. 65 
 
 superfluous talking, and to love silence. 3d. To 
 shun as much as is consistent with your duty- 
 such occupations as have a tendency to distract 
 the mind. 4th. Frequently throughout the day 
 to excite in yourself acts of faith and love of 
 God, who is present in the depths of your soul. 
 
 SELF-EXAMINATION. 
 
 On the Practice of the Particular Exainen. 
 
 On a par with the perfection of our daily 
 works and recollection of mind, the practice of 
 the particular examen is one of the principal 
 means of acquiring solid virtue, and justly so, 
 for it produces the most excellent results, and is 
 the speediest and most efficacious means of extir- 
 pating vices and implanting virtues. This is 
 the reason why its practice is recommended with 
 so much earnestness by the holy Fathers and by 
 spiritual writers, not only to those who begin to 
 walk in the ways of sanctity, but also to those 
 who have a long time trodden therein. 
 
 ist. Inquire what subjects you are in the habit 
 of choosing, whether or not fit ones for the par- 
 ticular examen. Then see what is your predomi- 
 nant passion, also what is the defect which gives 
 you most trouble, which is the root of other de- 
 fects, which is a hindrance to greater perfection, 
 and which brings you nearer to mortal sin. 
 
 2d. After these faults have been corrected, the 
 subjects of the particular examen are the per- 
 
66 Solid Virtue. 
 
 fection of our daily actions, fervor in prayer, 
 recollection of mind and purity of intention, in 
 order that you may conform yourself in all 
 things to the rules of true sanctity. 
 
 3d. After this you will labor particularly to 
 acquire the virtue of which you stand most in 
 need, and which certain circumstances indicate 
 is of all others the most necessary for you. 
 
 4th. The imperfection by which offence and 
 trouble are given to others is especially to be 
 corrected by this method. You should not, how- 
 ever, be wholly occupied in correcting these ex- 
 ternal faults. For as all the glory of the king's 
 daughter (or the soul) is within (Psalm xliv. 14), 
 all: your labor should first be directed to govern 
 its internal motions, according to the rules of 
 rectitude, so that all your rebellious appetites be 
 entirely conquered. Therefore, examine whether 
 jou have thus far observed all this, and decide 
 what you will do in future. 
 
 But, that you may with greater certainty reap 
 the desired fruit, you must above all observe the 
 following rules: 
 
 ist. The root of the disease is to be carefully 
 sought after, and when it has been discovered, 
 every effort should at once be made to eradi- 
 cate it. 
 
 2d. This examination is made on only one 
 thing, so that the particular vice you purpose to 
 conquer by this means ought not to be attacked 
 as a whole, but divided as it were into parts, 
 
Oil Recollection, 6y 
 
 which you must gradually assail and defeat and 
 thus overcome the whole. 
 
 3d. The subject of this exercise should not be 
 changed. They who allow themselves to pass 
 lightly from one subject to another make a great 
 mistake. Yet the primary subject may, accord- 
 ing to circumstances and the disposition of the 
 mind, be interrupted for a short time and be 
 exchanged for another in order to avoid tedium; 
 provided, however, that after some weeks one 
 returns with renewed vigor to the purpose, and 
 wages war more bitterly and energetically 
 against the mortal enemy. See how far you 
 have acquired a thorough knowledge of these 
 rules. 
 
 Besides this, examine yourself as to the meth- 
 od of performing this exercise, which comprises 
 these rules: 
 
 ist. This spiritual warfare is to be commenced 
 with a serious, fervent and very firm resolution 
 of amendment, which is to be made every morn- 
 ing and renewed at noon. This resolution of 
 the mind is not to extend over the whole course 
 of life, lest, frightened by the number of years, 
 you despair of correction; but only from one 
 half day to another, that, by this very shortness 
 of the interval, you may be more powerfully 
 animated to pursue with constancy the work 
 you have undertaken. 
 
 2d. During the day reasonable care should be 
 taken to remember and foster this resolution by 
 
68 Solid Virtue, 
 
 foreseeing the occasion wherein you are to put 
 it into execution, by avoiding the danger of fall- 
 ing, by asking of God the grace to fulfil your 
 resolution, and by making an act of contrition 
 as often as you fail. 
 
 3d. Twice every day, at noon and in the 
 evening, you should examine your conscience, 
 and during these examinations you should in- 
 quire what faults you have committed, and after 
 having excited sorrow for them, and again 
 promised amendment, you should mark the 
 number of these faults in a little book kept for 
 that purpose, so that you may compare the num- 
 ber committed in the afternoon w^ith that of 
 the morning; to-day with yesterday, the present 
 w4th the past week; that by such comparison you 
 may learn whether you have made any progress, 
 or whether you remain miserably fixed in your 
 old habits. Reflect now upon the care and 
 exactness with which you have up to the present 
 performed this exercise, or, at least, with which 
 you are determined to perform it in future. 
 
 Oh, what a severe account you will have to 
 render before the great tribunal for having neg- 
 lected this practice! Will you allow yourself by 
 your indolence to be surpassed in an affair 
 which concerns the salvation of your soul, and 
 your progress in solid virtue by the very mer- 
 chants who with such great care mark dowm in 
 their account-books and daily ledgers their gains 
 and losses? They will condemn the carelessness 
 
On Recollection, 69 
 
 with which you have kept your accounts in this 
 spiritual business. There shall arise so many 
 happy inhabitants of Heaven, who, raised on 
 high by means of these little books of the par- 
 ticular examen, have reached such a height of 
 sanctity and bliss. They shall arise, I say, and 
 put you to shame for your supine neglect. Alas! 
 how great then will be your confusion, when you 
 see that these merchants have done more for mam- 
 mon than you for God; when you shall see that 
 you have lost so much time in useless note-tak- 
 ing, and have not employed one single mioment 
 to note down the faults of your soul, that you 
 have made light of this excellent and most useful 
 exercise, on the plea that it was a pious little 
 practice suited to novices: that, after spending 
 so many years in religion, you have not by it 
 corrected a single fault or acquired a single vir- 
 tue! Ah! if you be wise do now what if neg- 
 lected will fill you with sorrow; if done, with 
 
 joy. 
 
 "O Lord! let the day perish, and let it not 
 be counted in the days of the year" (Job iii. 6) in 
 which I shall neglect to mark down my faults, 
 and to make this profitable comparison. I am 
 determined with the help of Thy grace that no 
 day shall henceforth pass without this exercise. 
 I v/ill prepare a little book, so that by this means, 
 constantly practised, I may completely root out 
 the vices of my soul, and implant therein all 
 virtues. 
 
70 Solid Virtue, 
 
 Ulcbitatton 2. 
 On Fervor in Prayer, 
 
 POINT I. 
 
 Evil Results of Neglected Prayer. 
 
 The first is that there is no progress in 
 virtue. One's advancement in perfection is in 
 proportion to one's ardor in prayer. Where there 
 is very little fervor in prayer there is little or no 
 progress in sanctity. St. Climacus measured the 
 success of the whole day by the morning's medi- 
 tation, for as the meditation is so the day is, and 
 the whole tenor of one's life. As the effect of 
 fervent prayer is a certain sweet propensity to 
 w^hat is good, accompanied by a quiet recollec- 
 tion, quickening and perfecting the actions of 
 the day, and softly wafting the soul onward to 
 sanctity, so the consequences of tepid prayer are 
 a disrelish of divine things, an extreme languor 
 in what is good, an outpouring of the soul on 
 external things, and finally blindness, disquiet and 
 dryness. Thus it happens that all good resolu- 
 tions vanish, wicked affections spring up anew, 
 temptations become stronger, and not only the 
 edifice of perfection which one has begun to 
 erect ceases to rise, but also the portion already 
 built crumbles away; so that b}^ the course of 
 
On Fervor m Prayer, 71 
 
 tepidity we fall from rectitude more in one day 
 than we had progressed therein in many months. 
 St. Chrysostom aptly remarks, " When I see re- 
 ligious remiss in prayer then I think this of their 
 souls: they have very little virtue and are 
 adorned with very few divine gifts." So one's 
 diligence in prayer corresponds with his amend- 
 ment of life and fervor. 
 
 Alas! my progress in virtue is very small, be- 
 cause I pray either tepidly or not at all. Grant, 
 therefore, O Lord! that every day with becoming 
 fervor my eyes to Thee may prevent the morn- 
 ing that I may meditate on Thy words. (Psalm 
 cxviii. 148.) 
 
 The second is that souls are not gained to God. 
 Though one were gifted with the greatest talents 
 and adornments of nature, if fervor of prayer be 
 wanting, *' He is become as sounding brass or a 
 tinkling cymbal " (i Cor. xiii. i); that is to say, 
 a mere sound with the echo of which everything 
 disappears. It is a beautiful musical instrument, 
 but there is in it no melody. The tool without 
 the artist's hand is useless; though the pen be 
 very good it will form no letters unless it be 
 guided by the writer. We are God's coadjutors 
 and the instruments chosen by Him to procure 
 the salvation of our neighbor; the link b}^ which 
 we are united to the hand of God is prayer. 
 
 Whosoever, therefore, neglects it will make no 
 progress in so difficult an undertaking as the 
 saving of souls. Although one of his hearers be 
 
*J2 Solid Virtue. 
 
 converted or advanced in virtue this is not to be 
 attributed either to his eloquence or to his learn- 
 ing, but to the prayers of others, and to the 
 merits of the Order of which he is a member. 
 We shall find no one to have been renowned for 
 bringing sinners to repentance or for teaching 
 with great success who was not prayerful. 
 
 Although there are many laborers in the vine- 
 yard of the Lord there is but little harvest of 
 souls, because the fervent use of this exercise is 
 so rarely practised. Formerly one person alone 
 sufficed to convert whole provinces, nowadays 
 several are unable to convert one town. The 
 reason is evident: they preach much but pray 
 little, and this tepidly; therefore the influence 
 and the fruit of their labors are small. Let 
 those who desire to be instruments for the con- 
 version of sinners be fervent in prayer; for 
 prayer is the condition without which the graces 
 necessary for this end will not be granted. 
 Spiritual writers justly conclude that they who 
 have to save souls must pray more than study, 
 " Many make it their aim rather to know much 
 than live well, therefore they are often deceived 
 and bring forth little or no fruit." (Foil, of 
 Christ, i. 3, 4.) 
 
 O Guardian Angel! obtain for me the grace 
 not to place any barrier in the way of others* sal- 
 vation, and thus not to increase immensely the 
 account which I shall have to render to the 
 Divine Judge. 
 
On Fei'vor in Prayer, 73 
 
 The third is the imminent danger of falling 
 away from sanctifying grace, and of even quit- 
 ting religious life. 
 
 That religious who neglect prayer are not far 
 from falling into great sins and losing their sa- 
 cred calling is a truth which the damned in Hell 
 and the dying from their sick-beds with one 
 voice proclaim. The reason is obvious: in order 
 to persevere in the state of grace and the reli- 
 gious vocation, a special aid is required, as the 
 Council of Trent' teaches. (Sess. vi. Can. 22.) 
 But prayer, as St. Augustine says, is the channel 
 by w^hich the heavenly supplies flow to us, and 
 the condition without which they shall not be 
 granted. It is, therefore, a necessary conse- 
 quence that where prayer fails perseverance also 
 fails; and no wonder, for meditation preserves 
 the light which illumines the soul, and exhibits to 
 the understanding the malice and enormity of 
 sin and the rigor of Divine Justice. It fosters 
 motions by which the will shuns evil and em- 
 braces good, otherwise darkness prevails in the 
 intellect and coldness in the will; consequently 
 Lancicius with truth writes thus: ^'All religious 
 who fall into mortal sin, or who forsake their 
 holy state have either omitted or shortened their 
 meditations or performed them negligently and 
 only for appearance's sake." Let the fall of others 
 make us cautious; we also may sin mortally, and 
 lose our vocation. 
 
 O God! into what a precipice has my sloth in 
 
74 Solid Virtue, 
 
 meditation thrown me ! But I adore the hand 
 that brings me back. Henceforth "' I will medi- 
 tate on Thee in the morning." (Psalm Ixii. 7.) It 
 is my firm resolution. Let my prayer be directed 
 as incense in Thy sight. (Psalm cxl. 2.) 
 
 POINT II. 
 
 The Advantages of Fervent Prayer. 
 
 ist.' It banishes evils. Ignorance of heavenly 
 things, erroneous maxims and foul thoughts are 
 the great bane of the intellect; half-resolutions, 
 sinful affections and depraved desires are the 
 bane of the will. But meditation dispels those 
 and represses these, since it imbues the mind 
 with eternal truths, and fortifies the will by acts 
 of virtue. Moreover, it expels tepidity, the per- 
 nicious pest of the will, removes the danger of 
 losing grace and religious vocation. In short, it 
 banishes a whole host of evils. Oh! what a se- 
 vere account will you not have-to give one day, 
 for having out of mere indolence neglected so 
 easy a means of freeing yourself from innumera- 
 ble evils ! O meditation ! O powerful remedy 
 against every malady of the soul! O how late 
 have I learned to esteem thee ! But in the future 
 thou shalt be my chief care, the delight of my soul. 
 
 2d. Fervent meditation accumulates graces. It 
 is by this heavenly chain that we draw to our- 
 selves the gifts of God; b}^ it we are admitted to 
 
On Fervor in Prayer. 75 
 
 the intimate familiarity of the Blessed Trinity, 
 which is in some degree a heaven on earth, and 
 a foretaste of the Heaven above — giving to the 
 soul a peace that surpasses all understanding. 
 Who can explain the light of the mind and the 
 joy of heart with which a soul given to prayer 
 is flooded! Ah! one little drop of this consola- 
 tion infinitely exceeds all the satisfactions of the 
 senses, for which, O hapless soul ! you neglect 
 prayer. You acknowledge this, why not then 
 reform ? 
 
 3d. Prayer in various and wonderful ways per- 
 fects the soul, fcr ist: it makes saints of those who 
 are devoted to it. ^' By no other means," says 
 St. Chrysostom, " do we make more progress in 
 sanctity than by the practice of prayer." 2d. 
 It unites the soul with the Divine Word; for by 
 it, as William of Auvergne teaches, the human 
 intellect becomes the true spouse of the Uncre- 
 ated Truth. 3d. Those who are given to much 
 prayer, as St. Bernard tells us, are the chamber- 
 lains of Heaven, to whom is given the golden key 
 to the Heart of God, and its treasures. 
 
 4th. Such persons are, as St. Climacus says, like 
 to angels; for that which is the employment of 
 the angels in Heaven is their occupation on 
 earth. Justly exclaims St. Augustine, "' What is 
 more excellent than prayer ? What is more 
 profitable to our life ? What is sweeter to the 
 soul? What is more sublime in our whole reli- 
 gion ?" 
 
*j(> Solid Virtue, 
 
 And nevertheless — '^ Be astonished, O ye heav- 
 ens" (Jer. ii. 12) — many have nothing at heart 
 less than mental prayer; for nothing else have 
 they less time than for meditation; there is no 
 business so unimportant, no allurement so low, 
 as not to make them omit, shorten or languidly 
 perform this exercise. The illustrious Suarez 
 preferred to lose all his knowledge rather than 
 omit one of the seven hours which he every day 
 spent in contemplation. And Ave, alas! trifle 
 away the hour of meditation through mere lazi- 
 ness, that we may indulge in sleep; and this we 
 do, although we see 'clearl}^ the evil results of 
 neglected prayer, and the advantages of fervent 
 prayer; although we know that prayer is the 
 mother of virtues, the support of discipline, the 
 soul's protection and bulwark, the ruin of which 
 is followed by danger to grace, vocation and sal- 
 vation. 
 
 O senseless, being that I am, to have been dis- 
 gusted with the heavenly manna, to have hun- 
 gered after the flesh-pots of Egypt ! who with 
 injury to my health have devoted so many days 
 and months to profane science, and who have 
 not profitably spent one hour in order to acquire 
 by meditation the science of the saints; and even 
 of this short period I have sometimes robbed 
 God that I might give it to study. To talk, 
 to walk, to play, to sleep I had abundant time, 
 but to think on eternity, on the soul, on God, 
 I had none. To feed my body two or three 
 
On Fervor in Prayer. yj 
 
 times every day I had plenty of time, but to re- 
 fresh and strengthen my immortal soul for a 
 short period by holy meditation, alas ! I had not 
 a particle of time. Ah ! with what great reason 
 may I not now justly fear, lest one day all grace 
 may completely fail me. Henceforth, my way 
 of acting shall be better. Accursed then be the 
 action, buried in darkness be the science, changed 
 into bitterness be the pleasure, for which after 
 this I deprive myself of the light and consolation 
 that are to be obtained by meditation. 
 
 O Divine and ever-merciful Saviour ! who once 
 didst drive out of the temple those who bought 
 and sold therein, banish from my heart whatever 
 may interfere with so necessar}^ an exercise. 
 Expel the sleepy languor, the vain and im.pprtu- 
 nate distractions of the mind; grant that in fu- 
 ture my meditation may be worthy to be offered 
 to Thy Divine Majesty, by the "four and twenty 
 ancients" " in golden vials, full of odors which 
 are the prayers of the saints." (Apoc. v. 8.) 
 
 PRACTICAL CONCLUSION. 
 
 Resolve firmly to make every day a reverent, 
 fervent and entire meditation. Reverent in re- 
 gard to the posture of the body, fervent in re- 
 gard to the efforts of the mind, and entire in 
 regard to the duration of the prescribed time. 
 
 THE FOLLOWING ARE THE HELPS TO PRAYER. 
 
 ist. A frequent and attentive reading of the 
 method of meditating well. 
 
78 Solid Virtue, 
 
 2d. A diligent, proximate and remote prepara- 
 tion of the mind for meditation. 
 
 3d. A short review after the meditation, in which 
 we seek out the faults committed, and consider 
 the fruit to be reaped. 
 
 4th. Always a prompt and cheerful rising in the 
 morning, according to the admonition of Eccle- 
 siasticus, ^^ At the time of rising be not slack.'* 
 (Eccles. xxxii. 15.) ''And they that seek Him 
 early shall find a blessing." (Eccles. xxxii. 18.) 
 
THIRD DAY. 
 
THIRD DAY. 
 
 On the First Day \ve endeavored to remove the 
 principal impediments to the attainment of solid 
 virtue; on the Second we indicated the most ef- 
 fectual means to acquire it. On this, the Third 
 Day, we bring forward the motives which will 
 induce us to strive to attain it, among which the 
 following seem to be the most important: 
 
 ist. The teachings of faith concerning the ex- 
 cellence of solid virtue. 
 
 2d. The hope of the benefits to be derived 
 from its practice. 
 
 3d. God's love requiring and claiming as a 
 right this solidity. This last point is preceded 
 by an examen on the sure signs of our love for 
 God. This last day corresponds with what 
 spiritual writers call the "Unitive Way.'* 
 
Concerning the Excellence of Solid Virtue, 8 1 
 
 IHcbitation 1. 
 
 What Faith Teaches Concern- 
 ing THE Excellence of Solid 
 Virtue. 
 
 point I. 
 
 The excellence of solid virtue is exceedingly 
 great; this faith teaches. 
 
 ist. A thing has necessarily just the value 
 which God attributes to it, and whatever He 
 prefers to all things else must doubtless be the 
 most excellent. Therefore, " O earth, earth, 
 earth, hear the word of the Lord" (Jer. xxii. 29); 
 hear the judgment with w^hich the Almighty, 
 the infinitely wise God, who cannot be deceived, 
 passes on the excellence of solid virtue. Behold! 
 thus saith the Lord through Solomon: ^' The 
 purchasing thereof is better than the merchan- 
 dise of silver; and her fruit than the chiefest and 
 purest gold: she is more precious than all riches, 
 and all the things that are desired are not to be 
 compared with her." (Prov. iii. 14.) "All gold 
 in comparison with her is as a little sand, and 
 silver in respect to her shall be counted as clay.*' 
 (Wisdom vii. 9.) " I esteemed riches nothing in 
 comparison with her, neither did I compare unto 
 her any precious stone." (Wisdom vii. 8.) This 
 is what faith teaches. 
 
82 Solid Virtue, 
 
 2d. It is to be preferred not only to the riches 
 of the earth, but to the higher gifts of nature. 
 For thus saith the Lord through Jeremias the 
 Prophet: "Let not the wise man glory in his 
 wisdom, and let not the strong man glory in his 
 strength, but let him that glorieth glory in this, 
 that he understandeth and knoweth Me." (Jer. 
 ix. 23.) Consequently, the practical knowledge 
 of God and of one's self, in which virtue consists, 
 is to be preferred before all human prudence 
 and statesmanship, the eloquence of the greatest 
 orators of Greece and Rome, the bravery of 
 heroes, the glory of kings, the vigorous health 
 of the body, before kingdoms and thrones, be- 
 fore the highest honors of the world, before 
 sceptres and crowns. (Wisdom vii. 8.) This is 
 what faith teaches. 
 
 3d. Even the gift of prophecy, of tongues, of 
 miracles, of the infused knowledge of all things, 
 of the intuition of mysteries; all these gifts, 
 w^hich, in the opinion of men, are the most pre- 
 cious things in this life, are, in the judgm.ent of 
 God, nothing when compared with the lowest 
 degree of sanctifying grace; and yet this is only 
 the commencement of solid virtue. Of this St. 
 Paul assures us, w^riting thus to the Corinthians: 
 ** If I speak v/ith the tongues of men and of an- 
 gels, and have not charit}^, I am become as a 
 soundino; brass or a tinkling- cvmbal; and if I 
 should know-all the mysteries and all knowledge, 
 and if I should have all faith, so that I could re- 
 
Concerning the Excellence of Solid Virtue. 83 
 
 move mountains, and have not charity, I am 
 nothing; and if I should distribute all my goods 
 to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body 
 to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth 
 me nothing." (i Cor. xiii. i.) This is what faith 
 teaches. 
 
 A proof of this is that Lucifer himself, with all 
 his knowledge, strength, skill, and other natural 
 endowments, is only a vile and wretched being, 
 because he is without virtue and grace. God 
 seems to have left these gifts to this haughty 
 and reprobate spirit, on purpose to declare openly 
 to the world how worthless they are in His sight 
 when unaccompanied by sanctity. Moreover, 
 these gifts are often bestowed profusely, even on 
 the most corrupt sinners, in order to teach us, 
 that without virtue all things are of no value in 
 the sight of God. And, therefore, according to 
 the judgment of Heaven, '^ An humble husband- 
 man that serveth God is better than a proud 
 philosopher, who, neglecting himself, considers 
 the course of the Heavens." (Foil, of Christ, 
 i. 2, I.) 
 
 POINT n. 
 
 Between this faith and our actions there is an 
 immense discrepancy. Our mode of life proves 
 this, as a few words will suffice to demonstrate. 
 We believe that the obligation of acquiring solid 
 virtue is the principal, the greatest, and only 
 
84 Solid Virtue, 
 
 necessary one; and yet this is the very thing 
 which is often entirely neglected. 
 
 The science of the saints is the only treasure 
 esteemed by Heaven; and yet we seek it with 
 no greater eagerness than we do the knowledge 
 of mathematics. Even one ray of Divine light 
 which illumines the mind of an humble illiterate 
 man is incomparably greater than the perfect 
 comprehension of all books, greater even than 
 all the natural science of the demons. We be- 
 lieve this, and nevertheless we contemn the in- 
 spirations of grace, and mourn the loss with as 
 little regret as we would that of the meanest 
 trifle. 
 
 What folly ! For the attainment of profane 
 knowledge, which, perchance, we shall never re- 
 quire, we toil day and night, even with detri- 
 ment to our health; in the pursuit of heavenly 
 wisdom alone do we weary. Forgetful of eter- 
 nity, we philosophize about time; we analyze 
 material light, and leave the soul in darkness; 
 we learnedly explain quantity and quality, but 
 care little to inquire what we are before God. 
 Oh, how great is our blindness ! Oh, if men 
 would use as much diligence in rooting out 
 vices and planting virtues as they do in propos- 
 ing questions there would not be so great evils 
 committed, nor scandals among the people, nor 
 so much relaxation in monasteries. (Foil, of 
 Christ, i. 3, 5.) But because they choose to be 
 great rather than to be humble, therefore they 
 
Concerning the Excellence of Solid Virtue, 85 
 
 are lost in their own imaginations. (Foil, of 
 Christ, i. 3, 6.) 
 
 And what, pray, when we are breathing our 
 last, will all these sciences profit, which during 
 the whole course of our life we have acquired to 
 the prejudice of sanctity, with so much labor, so 
 many watchings, and such anxiety ? 
 
 What benefit will it be to us to have read so 
 many books, taken so many* notes, and made so 
 many extracts, unless it be to deplore all the 
 more bitterly our folly for having wasted our 
 strength and rest to obtain that which is not of 
 the least advantage for procuring a happy eter- 
 nity; and to have, on the other hand, foolishly 
 neglected that alone which would have been our 
 only consolation at the last hour? "Verily, 
 when the day of judgment comes, we shall not 
 be examined as to what we have read, but what 
 we have done; nor how learnedly we have 
 spoken, but how religiously we have lived." 
 (Foil, of Christ, i. 3, 5.) 
 
 Is it not madness to prepare so carefully what 
 one shall say in answer to his opponent in a 
 public disputation, and never to reflect what one 
 shall answer to the Divine Judge '^ in the day 
 of the wrath of the Lord "? (Lam. ii. 22.) O 
 wretched soul ! if by the loss of one degree of 
 virtue you could acquire the wisdom of Solo- 
 mon, with his riches and kingly power, you 
 would be exchanging the most precious gem for 
 a glass bead. This you believe, and yet every 
 
86 Solid Virtue. 
 
 day you neglect to acquire many such degrees, 
 and expend all your energies on the perishable 
 things of this life. 
 
 O Lord ! to what are we come ? Behold, a 
 temporal loss is greatly bewailed; for a small 
 gain men labor and toil; but the loss of the soul 
 is little thought of, and rarely ever strikes the 
 mind. That which is of little or no profit takes 
 up our thoughts, and that which is above all 
 things necessary is negligently passed over, for 
 the whole man sinks down into outward things, 
 and unless he quickly recover himself he will- 
 ingly continues immersed therein. (Foil, of 
 Christ, iii. 44, 2.) 
 
 For a scanty substance men run a great way, 
 but to acquire perfection they will scarcely lift 
 a foot from the ground. A petty gain is sought 
 after; for a single coin men sometimes shame- 
 ^ fully quarrel; but alas ! for Solid Virtue^ for an 
 unchangeable good, for an inestimable reward, 
 for the highest honor and never-fading glory, 
 they loathe to undergo even a slight fatigue. 
 Blush then, thou slothful, querulous servant, 
 that they are actually more ready to labor for 
 death than thou for life. (Foil, of Christ, iii. 
 3, 3 and 4.) Truly there is an immense difference 
 between our faith and our life. What Hindoo 
 would think this state of things possible among 
 the faithful, much less among the religious ? 
 
Concerning the Excellence of Solid Virtue, 87 
 
 AFFECTIONS. 
 
 O God of truth ! I believe that the excellence 
 of solid virtue is immense, and that it infinitely 
 surpasses all the gifts of mind" and fortune. I 
 believe that the least Divine illumination infi- 
 nitely exceeds all profane science; that one sin- 
 gle act of piety infinitely excels all natural gifts; 
 that the smallest ray of grace is far more pre- 
 cious than all the treasures of earth; that the 
 lowest degree of glory is much greater than all 
 the honors of the world. This, I say, I believe 
 firmly, without the least doubt, because Thou, 
 O Eternal Truth, hast vouchsafed to reveal it to 
 us. ^' I believe, Lord; help Thou my unbelief." 
 (St. Mark ix. 23.) 
 
 Thou knowest, O Lord ! and the sad experi- 
 ence of our daily faults tells us, how weak our 
 faith is when occasions are offered for putting it 
 in practice; for I must confess that I also am in 
 the number of those whose tenor of life is con- 
 tinually at variance with faith; who, it is true, 
 believe that the excellence of solid virtue is in- 
 finitely greater than all natural endowments, 
 and yet practically value it very little. Oh, how 
 great one day will be my astonishment when the 
 Divine Judge with thundering voice shall pro- 
 claim to me, ''Out of thy own mouth I judge 
 thee, thou wicked servant !" (St. Luke xix. 22.) 
 See, thus have you believed, and thus have you 
 lived! 
 
88 Solid Virtue, 
 
 Grant, O God! that we may at last profess by 
 our lives the faith which our tongue speaketh. 
 Allow not that the belief Ihave in the excellence 
 of perfection be contradicted entirely by my life; 
 for then my credence in and my knowledge of 
 solid virtue would be my greater condemna- 
 tion, and would m.ake me deserve a greater 
 punishment in Hell, or, at least, in Purgatory. 
 
 PRACTICAL CONCLUSION. 
 
 The fruit is a most efficacious resolve to put 
 in practice this most important constitution of 
 St. Ignatius, which says: ^^ Let all who have given 
 themselves to the Society apply to the study of 
 solid and perfect virtues and of spiritual things, 
 and account these of greater moment than either 
 learning or other natural or human gifts; for 
 they are the interior things from which force 
 must flow to the exterior, for the end proposed 
 to us." (Summary of the Constitutions, i6.) 
 
 The means to effect this are as follows: 
 
 ist. Frequent acts of faith in these practical 
 truths of our religion: I believe that solid virtue 
 is of greater moment than learning or other 
 natural gifts; I believe that the study of perfec- 
 tion is of all affairs the greatest and the only 
 necessary one; I believe that all is vanity but 
 loving God and serving Him alone. 
 
 2d. A firm resolution to fulfil every day the 
 customary spiritual exeicises fervently, entirely 
 and perseveringly; to hold as sacred the time 
 
Benefits Derived from Solid Virtue, 89 
 
 set apart for them, and to complete carefully, 
 and as soon as possible, whatever may have been 
 wanting to their completeness. 
 
 (Stonaikration. 
 
 What Benefits we may hope to 
 derive from solid virtue. 
 
 POINT I 
 
 Those only who zealously pursue the path of 
 perfection lead a happy life. 
 
 ist. They are happy on account of the heav- 
 enly consolations with which they are filled. 
 Oh! who can explain the tender and sweet affec- 
 tions, the most pure joys of that soul which, inti- 
 mately united to its Beloved by the bond of love, 
 can exclaim v/ith the spouse in the Canticles, " I 
 have found Him whom my soul loveth/* (Cant, 
 iii. 4.) Ah! we should be a St. Philip Neri, a 
 St. Teresa, a St. Stanislas, to understand these 
 delights. How very great they are is proved by 
 St. Anthony, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Ignatius, 
 St. Francis Xavier, and innumerable others who 
 at times were inundated by such a torrent of 
 heavenly sweetness that they were unable to bear 
 these delights any longer and asked God to 
 moderate them. They confessed that they im- 
 
go Solid Virtue, 
 
 mensely surpassed all the pleasures of the world 
 and of sense, and that all the sufferings, labors 
 and difficulties, undergone for years in the prac- 
 tice of virtue, are compensated a hundred-fold 
 by even one such drop of heavenly consolation. 
 
 2d. They enjoy an ineffable, and, as it were, a 
 heavenly peace, for in them the two sources of 
 all trouble and perturbation, self-will and self- 
 love, are dried up. 
 
 Experience proves that this two-fold monster 
 is the origin of all the interior rebellions of the 
 soul; for what is it that raises in us such fre- 
 quent and violent storms when anything occurs 
 contrary to our wishes and inclinations, when 
 something which we wish done is neglected, or 
 when our honor is impugned or our bodily com- 
 fort disturbed? But souls given to virtue hav- 
 ing put off their own will breathe only the 
 Divine will, as we breath the air. 
 
 Since they have freely renounced all self-will, 
 self-esteem and the pleasures of sense; since to 
 desire nothing created is their only wish and en- 
 deavor; since they have full control of them- 
 selves and full mastery over all their desires, 
 they are very far from this double source of all 
 perturbation, and dwell securely, as it were, in 
 the palace itself of peace and rest. Besides, as 
 nothing in the world occurs without the will or 
 permission of God; and as such souls will noth- 
 ing else but what God wills; therefore, nothing 
 ever happens to them but what they wish. And 
 
Benefits Derived from Solid Virtue. 9 1 
 
 since they seek to be despised, and love crosses 
 and afflictions, they are never troubled by con- 
 tempt nor afflicted in adversity; therefore, can 
 never lose their tranquillity of mind. Thus it 
 happens, as St. Chrysostom said (Horn. 20 on 
 Matt.), that, dwelling yet on earth, they live al- 
 ready, as it were, in Heaven. 
 
 3d. Lastly, they are, in a special manner, 
 cherished, defended and governed by a singular 
 Providence of God. The Almighty, with pecul- 
 iar affection, watches over the interests of those 
 who are constantly laboring with earnest en- 
 deavor to acquire perfection; for if th'e Heavenly 
 Father provides with such care even for the 
 sparrows that, without His Divine will, not one 
 of them shall fall on the ground (St. Matt. x. 
 29), how much more will He protect, direct and 
 foster you, O faithful souls, you, I say, whom He 
 has loved with an everlasting love (Jer. xxxi. 
 3,), whom He hath drawn and holds attached to 
 Himself, " with the cords of Adam, with the 
 bands of love" (Osee xl. 4), whom " He has 
 graven in His hands." (Is. xlix. 16.) 
 
 He carries you in His bosom ^' as the nurse is 
 wont to carry the little infant." (Numbers xi. 12.) 
 ^' He keeps you as the apple of His eye." (Deut. 
 xxxii. 10.) 
 
 He removes from before 3'ou every stumbling- 
 block, destroys the snares of temptation, and di- 
 rects the various events of your lives with such 
 infinite wisdom that all things co-operate in you 
 
92 Solid Virtue, 
 
 for good, even your very falls. ^^ Know that to 
 them that love God all things work together 
 unto good." (Rom. viii. 28.) 
 
 Hence it comes that, free from all cares, you 
 breathe a heavenly atmosphere, you rest sweetly 
 on the bosom of Providence, aad live in the em- 
 braces of Divine Love, a life which gives you a 
 foretaste of that which you hope to live in 
 Heaven. O happy indeed is the state, on this 
 earth, of those who are solidly virtuous! 
 
 4th. We shall see better how happy the life 
 of such persons must be, if we consider the 
 heavenly gifts which are conferred on them. 
 Their clear insight into the most hidden truths 
 of our religion far surpasses that of the most 
 subtle divines. 
 
 The eight beatitudes, which are believed by 
 others to be great calamities, are to them a real 
 blessedness, which they seek with all their heart. 
 They fly, as it were, along the path of perfection 
 with angelic swiftness. In adversity, they stand 
 invincible with a sort of heavenly impassibility. 
 Trusting in God, they expect and hope for every- 
 thing; confiding in His grace they fear naught, 
 and are frightened by nothing but sin. 
 
 They excel in the divine gift of prayer, in a 
 wonderful recollection of mind, in an astonish- 
 ing facility to comprehend all things appertain- 
 ing to faith, and to the practice of virtue. The 
 reason is this: they give themselves entirely to 
 God, who likewise communicates Himself and 
 
Benefits Derived from Solid Virtue, 93 
 
 His gifts to them. Hence it is that such souls, 
 even in this world, lead a very blessed life. 
 
 Indeed, O Lord! we are deprived of these 
 graces because we are not entirely Thine. Thou 
 withdrawest the things of Heaven, because we 
 deny Thee those of earth. Thou art less liberal 
 towards us, because we are too miserly towards 
 Thee. " It is wonderful that thou wilt not, from 
 the very bottom of thy heart, commit thyself to 
 Me, with all things that thou canst desire or have." 
 (Foil, of Christ, iii. 27, i.) 
 
 *' Give all for all; seek nothing; call for nothing 
 back; stand purely and with a clean conscience 
 before Me, and thou shalt possess Me. Then all 
 vain imaginations shall vanish, all evil distur- 
 bances and superfluous cares. Then also im- 
 moderate fear shall forsake thee, and inordinate 
 love shall die." (Foil, of Christ, iii. 37, 5.) 
 
 I am sorry to have acted with such base in- 
 gratitude tow^ards Thee, O my God! I am full 
 of confusion for having valued so little the ways 
 of perfection. They seemed to me mean and 
 contemptible; scarcely have I ever thought of 
 them; but the hope of obtaining innumerable 
 good by solid virtue, even in this life, will be 
 henceforth a powerful motive for seeking to 
 possess it. 
 
94 Solid Virt7ie, 
 
 POINT II. 
 
 Those only who are anxious for perfection die 
 peacefully. 
 
 ist. They die peacefully, because they rest, 
 and shall ever rest, from their past labors. Such 
 souls are filled with the greatest consolation by 
 the very remembrance of the adversities they 
 have gone through, of the temptations they have 
 overcome, of the dangers they have escaped. 
 Their whole life seems but a moment. They 
 joyously exclaim: *'A11 is past! past are the in- 
 juries, contempt and calumnies that we have 
 suffered; past are the mortifications of the flesh, 
 the restraining of the senses, the pains of sick- 
 ness, and all other troubles. Past would be 
 likewise the honors, allurements and comforts 
 of life, if we had desired and eagerly sought 
 after them. Of all our lives, nothing would re- 
 main but a bitter sting of conscience; whilst, 
 on the contrary, we are now filled with joy that 
 w^e have devoted them w^hoUy to the acquire- 
 ment of solid virtue; that we have not done 
 the evil w^hich w'e could have done, but the 
 good which we were obliged to do. Oh, how 
 great a consolation is it for us now, to have paid 
 little attention to injuries, to have been silent 
 under contempt, patiently to have borne perse- 
 cution, to have labored much for the salvation 
 of our neighbor, to have undergone many hard- 
 ships for God! 
 
Benefits Derived from Solid Virtue, 95 
 
 ^^O blessed Troubles, contempt, miseries and 
 sufferings! O generous silence in adversities I 
 ye opened Heaven to us, and were to us the 
 means of greater glory! Oh, how wisely did we 
 act in preventing by a holy life the fears which 
 a life of tepidity would have caused us now in 
 our last hour! Oh, how happy are we that we 
 have avoided the anguish and grief we should 
 suffer, had we not followed the grace that was 
 offered to us! Ah! we could also have given our 
 consent to that temptation; yes, we were not 
 very far from a fall, but we resisted. 
 
 *'Alas! had we indulged longer in tepidity, 
 what should we have come to? But with the 
 grace of God we shook it off, we have worked 
 out our salvation, we have suffered extreme heat 
 and cold in the vineyard of the Lord; we expect, 
 therefore, with full confidence, the promised 
 penny from the Heavenly Father." 
 
 These are the death-bed sentiments of the 
 just, who have always been devoted to virtue. 
 Who, then, shall deny, that the passage of a 
 pious soul from this life is very placid ? 
 
 2d. They die peacefully on account of the 
 sweet consolation which flows then into their 
 hearts from the three following sources: 
 
 First. From the testimony of a good conscience, 
 which assures them that they are in the state of 
 grace; that they are the children of God, and 
 heirs of the kingdom of Heaven; that they 
 have fulfilled the conditions to which the just 
 
96 Solid Virtue. 
 
 Judge has annexed a never-fading crown of 
 glory. 
 
 Second. From the 'soul's detachment from all 
 inordinate love for created things. ^' Oh! what 
 great confidence shall they have at the moment 
 of death, who are not detained by an affection 
 for anything in the world!" (Foil, of Christ, iii. 
 53, 2.) 
 
 For what could trouble such virtuous souls ? 
 Riches and honors which are to be left to others? 
 These they have always- despised. Perhaps the 
 allurements of the senses which are now to be 
 given up ? Against these they have long ago 
 steeled their hearts. Perhaps the body which is 
 to be reduced into dust ? This they have always 
 treated as an enemy. 
 
 Lastly. The mere sight of the crucifix is to 
 such religious a well-spring of joy, an anchor of 
 trustful hope, and a pledge of eternal bliss. 
 Holy Viaticum is for them an anticipated 
 heaven, as they receive Him whom they desire 
 to enjoy forever; and since they have provided 
 themselves in time with the oil of charity, they 
 fear not to be excluded by the Heavenly Bride- 
 groom, but hope with confidence to be admitted 
 to the celestial nuptials; and this confidence no 
 temptation can disturb, no grief weaken, no hor- 
 ror of approaching death diminish. 
 
 Father Francis Suarez exclaimed on his death- 
 bed, '* I never thought it was so sweet to die.** 
 
 Third. They die peacefully on account of their 
 
Benefits Derived from Solid Virtue. 97 
 
 security from future evils, whilst the fear of 
 death, judgment and Purgatory is the cause of 
 great anxiety to the tepid. Death puts an end 
 to sin and suffering, and to all the miseries and 
 imperfections of this life; it is the gate by which 
 we enter Heaven, where, by a happy necessity, 
 we must perpetually love God. Therefore, . 
 such religious fear not, but rather desire death. 
 And as their conscience tells them that they have 
 laid bare their sins by a sincere, clear and entire 
 confession, they present themselves without the 
 least fear before God's tribunal, of whom Holy 
 Writ says, *^ His tender mercies are over all His 
 works." (Ps. cxliv. 9.) Neither do they fear too 
 much the penalty, which, perhaps, they may 
 have to undergo in the flames of Purgatory, 
 since they have wisely paid most, if not all of it, 
 beforehand. 
 
 Consequently, it is very true that only souls 
 that give themselves up to solid virtue live a 
 happy life, and die a tranquil death. You are, 
 therefore, guilty of very great folly if through 
 sloth 3^ou suffer the loss of these excellent bless- 
 ings; if you allow 3^ourself to be deprived of a 
 happy life and a tranquil death, for fading 
 pleasures, for empty honors, which vanish like 
 smoke in the air; for a little honey, which, when 
 tasted, bringeth death; for a trifle which you 
 refuse to sacrifice to God ! Up then and act, if 
 you are w4se, and do that now which one day 
 you shall wish to have done; and as you are 
 
98 Solid Virtue, 
 
 afraid to die with the tepid, live with the fer- 
 vent, for death is the echo of life; if you desire 
 to die in the Lord, live only in the Lord, and 
 while in health give up to God everything 
 which may fill 3^our heart with fear and anxiety 
 at the last hour. 
 
 PRACTICAL CONCLUSION. 
 
 The fruit shall be the carrying out of this res- 
 olution, ^' I wish to become a saint, a great 
 saint," and in order to do so, I must begin by 
 some heroic act to live a holier life. The means 
 to effect this are: 
 
 ist. To find out the obstacle which principally 
 retards my progress in the path of perfection. 
 
 2d. To extirpate the vice which reigns most 
 powerfully in my soul. 
 
 3d. To sacrifice to God that which most effec- 
 tually withdraws and sepa.rates me from Him. 
 
 SELF-EXAMINATION. 
 
 The Signs of Divine Love. 
 
 Charity, the queen of virtues, is the bond of 
 perfection (Col. iii. 14), the fulfilling of the 
 law (Rom. xiii. 10), and the most perfect justice. 
 St. Augustine said, *^ Charity transcends by its 
 eminent dignity faith and hope." '' There remain 
 faith, hope, charity, these three, but the greater 
 of these is charity." (i Cor. xiii. 13.) Accord- 
 ing to St. Bernard, ^* Charity is the measure of 
 all the excellence of a soul;" hence it is that the 
 
Benefits Derived from Solid Virtue. 99 
 
 infernal enemy labors with all his might and 
 craft to counterfeit this heavenly gem, by offer- 
 ing us self-love in place of divine love. Lest, 
 then, you also should be deluded, I will set forth 
 the signs of divine love; in order that, being im- 
 bued with the knowledge of what is genuine, 
 you may the more easily distinguish and sepa- 
 rate the precious from the vile. (Jer. xv. 19.) 
 
 The first sign of a generous love is the breaking 
 asunder of the chains by which we are fastened 
 with inordinate affection to some created object. 
 Such an excellent victory gained over one's self, 
 such an heroic act performed for God, is without 
 doubt a sign of divine love. Arise, therefore, to 
 generous deeds, and after having courageously 
 assumed the mind of Abraham, while on the 
 point of immolating his son Isaac, and already 
 brandishing as it were the sword of the Spirit for 
 the blow, ask yourself, and carefully examine, 
 for instance, what person, place, office, trifle, 
 comfort, honor, pleasure, sensible gratification, 
 your mind clings to with greatest affection, and 
 God more pressingly asks you to giv^ up. 
 Search your heart, and see which of these things 
 God requires of you. As soon as you detect it, 
 at once, armed w^ith holy zeal, and animated with 
 a hatred for yourself, drag it forth from its hid- 
 ing-place, and lay it on the altar of the Cross, 
 and there let love be the priest that will immo- 
 late this victim. Such a sacrifice is an evident 
 sign of a genuine love for God. 
 
lOO Solid Virtue, 
 
 Another sign of a generous love is the doing 
 and suffering of great things for the beloved, as 
 to work for God means both to act and to suffer. 
 St. Bernard says: *' You then love God truly, if 
 for His love you do all the good you can; for 
 love, if it is truly love, works great things, and 
 if it does not work them, it is not love." 
 
 Inquire, therefore, how faithfully you listen to 
 the divine inspirations which urge you to do or 
 to omit this or that; with what ardor you seize 
 the opportunities of doing some good, either to 
 increase the glory of God, or to promote the 
 salvation of souls. 
 
 Lastly, see what heroic act God asks of you 
 by repeated whisperings to perform. 
 
 To be deaf under such circumstances would 
 show a great coldness of heart and a very great 
 want of love. 
 
 The third sign of pure love is the conformity 
 of our will to the divine will, for, as St. Gregory 
 says, " They love their Maker perfectly who 
 leave self completely aside," but they who retain 
 the principal faculty of the soul, the will, keep 
 themselves wholly to themselves. They conse- 
 quently do not love God perfectly, for it is im- 
 possible for persons to love each other, and be 
 united, and, at the same time, differ in their wills. 
 From this it is clear that, without the conformity 
 of our will to the divine will, there cannot exist 
 a genuine charity, and therefore such conformity 
 is a sure sign of true love. 
 
Benefits Derived from Solid Virtue, loi 
 
 Summon this principal part of yourself before 
 the tribunal of your conscience, and examine in 
 what it particularly differs from the divine v/ill ; 
 what God desires you to do, and what you dis- 
 like to do ; what trifle, or what affection to created 
 things, He wishes that you should sacrifice, and 
 which you niggardly refuse ; whether you accept 
 adversity with the same tranquillity of mind as 
 Job and Heli ; whether, when any trouble or 
 calamity afflicts you, you make use of these words 
 of theirs, as of a ready and secure buckler : '^ The 
 Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away ; as it 
 has pleased the Lord, it is done ; blessed be the 
 name of the Lord." (Job i. 21.) ''It is the Lord, 
 let Him do what is good in His sight." (i Kings 
 iii. 18.) 
 
 Moreover, examine whether you are reall}^ like 
 a corpse or an old man's staff, so that you allow 
 yourself with the same facility to be taken up 
 or laid aside, to be stripped or clad. Have you 
 the same indifference towards honors or con- 
 tempt, towards comfort or hardships as a statue ? 
 Does this indifference extend to every place and 
 employment ? Liasmuch as you are deficient 
 in this, so far are you distant from the perfection 
 of love. 
 
 O Lord Jesus ! who didst come to send fire on 
 the earth, and who wiliest naught else but that 
 it be kindled (Luke xii. 49), kindle in me, I 
 beseech Thee, the fire of divine charity, which 
 never says '' It is enough," but, always rising on 
 
I02 Solid Virtue, 
 
 high, strives to ascend higher still. Grant that 
 my soul, inflamed by it, may rise to generous 
 deeds, and by these signs prove that it possesses 
 true love. 
 
 ittcbitation 2. 
 
 God's Love for us deserves that 
 w^e should give ourselves to 
 Solid Virtue. 
 
 POINT I. 
 
 We must consecrate ourselves wholly to solid 
 virtue, because God gives to us Himself and 
 all His in the most perfect manner. He gives 
 material things for our use and benefit, the 
 guardian angels for our protectors, grace for our 
 merit, and Heaven for our reward. 
 
 Since the earth, the angels, grace and Heaven, 
 among created things, constitute the four prin- 
 cipal ones, by the creacion of which the Almighty 
 made known to the world His omnipotent munifi- 
 cence, it follows that by giving these to us. He 
 generously giv^es us all He has. Moreover, He 
 that spared not even His own Son, but delivered 
 Him up for us all, how^ hath He not also with 
 Him given us all things? (Rom. viii. ^y'^?) Be- 
 sides, the most merciful Lord has with the great- 
 est liberality given to us not only His goods, but 
 
God's Love for its. 103 
 
 Himself wholly ; for He in a wonderful manner 
 employs for us His infinite perfections, which are 
 identically the same as His being. 
 
 And, first, He gives us His being, by dwelling 
 always intimately present in our body and soul, 
 as in a temple consecrated to Him. 
 
 He gives us His power, not only by creating 
 and preserving us, but also by continually con- 
 curring in all our actions. He gives us, more- 
 over. His Providence, not only with singular af- 
 fection w^arding off evils wuth which we .are 
 threatened and providing us with blessings, but 
 making also '' with temptation issue." (i Cor. x. 
 13.) He gives us also His Mercy, by overlook- 
 ing so often and so long the sins of men for the 
 sake of repentance. (Wisdom xi. 24.) Lastly, 
 He gives us His infinite Charity, by heaping every 
 moment upon us, who are so unworthy, in pref- 
 erence to many others, innumerable and quite 
 singular graces. Who, then, can deny that the 
 Great God gives Himself wholly to us, since He 
 communicates His attributes to us so generously 
 and employs them continually in our behalf? 
 Certainh^ this shows abundantly that God gives 
 all His goods and Himself wholly to us, and He 
 is therefore most worthy to receive the entire 
 consecration of ourselves to Him by solid virtue. 
 
 This w411 appear also w^hen we reflect on the 
 manner in which He gives His goods and Him- 
 self entirely ; a manner which has three ennob- 
 ling characteristics. The first is, that this benefi- 
 
I04 Solid Virtue. 
 
 cent affection towards us is eternal, according to 
 Holy Writ. ^' I have loved thee with an everlast- 
 ing love." (Jer. xxxi. 3.) The second is that 
 this beneficence is entirely gratuitous ; for the 
 Prophet says, *' I will love them freely." (Osee 
 xiv. 5.) He loved us spontaneously, ^' even when 
 we were enemies." (Rom. v. 10.) The third 
 quality of this munificent love consists in its 
 being infinite, so that there is not one perfection 
 in the Godhead, not one Person in the Blessed 
 Trinity, which does not embrace us with the same 
 infinite love. Since God gives us, with stupendous 
 liberality, not only His goods but Himself also, 
 and in a manner so perfect, is it not just that we 
 should live for Him wholly who washed to be 
 wholly given up to us ? 
 
 Truly, O Lord ! I acknowledge this to be very 
 just. Therefore because all Thou hast is mine, 
 all I have should likewise be Thine. Henceforth 
 let the love of God, who gives all He has to me 
 and Himself in so generous a manner, be to me 
 a powerful motive to acquire solid virtue. 
 
 POINT II. 
 
 We should especially consecrate ourselves to 
 God because Christ also gave Himself wholly 
 to us on the cross and in the Blessed Eucharist. 
 
 For, on the cross. He gave us, first, His vest- 
 ments, since this heavenly Jonathan stripped 
 Himself of the coat with which He was clothed. 
 
God s Love J or us. 1 05 
 
 (i Kings xviii. 4.) Secondly, His honor, since 
 he chose death — a death which slaves only had 
 to undergo. Thirdly, His body, since He gave 
 it to be tortured with the greatest pains and suf- 
 ferings for our sins. Fourthly, His soul, since 
 He, by such a cruel death, delivered it up for 
 enemies and rebels. ''Greater love than this no 
 man hath, that he lay down his life for his 
 friends." (John xv. 13.) 
 
 And in the Blessed Eucharist, where He poured 
 out, as it were, the riches of His divine love for 
 man (Coun. of Trent, 13 Sess., 2d Chap.), He gives 
 not only His coat, woven by human hands, but 
 His very humanity, united to the Divine Word, 
 He not only sacrifices the honor of the Son of 
 Man, but also exposes the dignity of the God- 
 Man, while He hides His Majesty under the lowly 
 species of bread and wine, and publicly lays Him- 
 self open to so many injuries. He gives up to us 
 therein not a body liable to suffer and to die, but 
 one that is impassible, immortal, glorified. Fi 
 nally, by making Himself a victim in this blessed 
 Sacrament, He so completely sacrifices for us 
 Himself by multitudinous immolations, that 
 while there is nothing in Him which He has not 
 wholly and fully made over to us, there could 
 not have been found, even by angelic intellect, 
 a more perfect manner of communicating Him- 
 self to us. The omnipotent and omniscient 
 God, therefore, could not give us anything 
 greater or better. " What better," exclaims St. 
 
io6 Solid Virtue, 
 
 Bernard, "could He Himself give than Him- 
 self?" In short, nothing is in Christ which is 
 not ours. His body is ours, for it was wounded 
 for us; His blood is ours, for it was poured out 
 for us; His life is ours, for it was sacrificed for 
 us on the cross; His merits are ours, for they 
 were, by His death, given to us as a legacy. 
 
 Since our Saviour so ardenth^ desired in us 
 solidity of virtue, and since He deserves it from 
 us for so many reasons, we shall yield, at last, 
 and resolve what we are to do in future. 
 
 POINT III. 
 
 B}^ giving even all to Him we give Him little. 
 It is little: 
 
 ist. If we consider the vileness of him who 
 gives. 
 
 2d. If we contemplate the majesty of Him to 
 whom it is given, for He stands in need of 
 nothing. 
 
 3d. If we contrast what w^e give with the 
 greatness of the benefits already bestowed on us 
 by Heaven, and if we compare it with the num- 
 ber and grievousness of the sins which we have 
 committed. 
 
 4th. If we place it side by side with what sec- 
 ulars do for the world, with what the saints did 
 for God, and with what an eternal reward de- 
 serves. 
 
God' s Love for its. 107 
 
 Justly, then, we must with deep sighs confess 
 that by giving ourselves wholly to God we give 
 Him little, yea, nothing. But if by giving the 
 whole we give nothing, and if by doing all we 
 do nothing, according to the words of our Lord, 
 *' When you shall have done all the things that 
 are commanded you, say that we are unprofit- 
 able servants; we have done that which we 
 ought to do." (St. Luke xvii. 10.) What will 
 it be to refuse this little, or rather this nothing, 
 to the great God ? 
 
 Since we cannot do much, let us at least do 
 the little w^e can; as we have nothing precious, 
 let us give the trifle we possess; but let us give 
 this little entirely, by devoting ourselves wholly 
 to solid virtue. 
 
 AFFECTIONS. 
 
 O great God! jealous of our heart (Exod. 
 XX. 5), who dost never accept the half if it is 
 not given entirely, ah, what shall I give in re- 
 turn for Thee, if it be not myself? And as Thou 
 hast given Thyself wholly, what can I give Thee 
 less than myself? I am resolved, therefore, O ye 
 citizens of Heaven be my witnesses, to be en- 
 tirely Thine. Thou alone shalt be the Master of 
 my heart. The world and self-love have no 
 right over it. Let this besetting affection which 
 holds me enslaved be banished from it. Let 
 this inordinate desire that has hitherto misera- 
 bly captivated me be destroyed. Let the flesh 
 
io8 Solid Virtue, 
 
 rebel, and Hell gnash its teeth and rise against 
 me. Let my traitorous senses murmur. The 
 die is cast. God alone shall reign in my soul. 
 Christ alone shall live in me. Divine Love shall 
 triumph! For "as iron cast in the fire loses its 
 rust and becomes all bright with burning, so the 
 man that turneth himself wholly to God is di- 
 vested of all sloth and changed into a new man." 
 (Foil, of Christ, ii. 4, 2.) May the love of God, 
 who deserves to find in me solid virtue, remove 
 all obstacles, break through all difficulties, and 
 render even and smooth that w^hich seems rough 
 and hard. Henceforth the acquirement of per- 
 fection shall be my greatest and only occupa- 
 tion. O Lord, all that I possess is a mere noth- 
 ing, and shall I hesitate to consecrate to Thee 
 this nothing ? Had I a thousand hearts they 
 would not be sufficient to love Thee worthily. 
 I have only one, and it is so small should I dare 
 to divide it? Far from me be such ingratitude. 
 Thou hast conquered, O most loving Jesus! 
 Thou hast conquered; I surrender. To Thee 
 alone my heart belongs. No room in it hence- 
 forth for sin, no place for sloth, or for my pre- 
 dominant passion. Self-love shall be banished 
 from it forever. No affection or desire shall be 
 there which shall not be directed towards Thee 
 alone. Henceforth my watchword shall be, 
 God deserves that I become a saint; this will be 
 a powerful spur to make me proceed daily with 
 gigantic strides in the w^ay of virtue. I most 
 
God's Love for us. 109 
 
 humbly beseech Thee, therefore, by Thy infinite 
 goodness and mercy, that thou wilt vouchsafe to 
 accept, in an odor of sweetness, this holocaust 
 of my heart, and this my firm resolve of acquir- 
 ing virtue; and as Thou hast already given me 
 grace to desire and offer it^ so Thou wilt also be- 
 stow on me plentiful grace to fulfil it. 
 
 PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 The fruit to be drawn from these exercises is 
 an efficacious resolve of the heart to advance with 
 the greatest fervor in the way of the perfection 
 which our state requires. The means to accom- 
 plish this are: 
 
 ist. To observe the resolutions that have been 
 made during this Triduum. 
 
 2d. To commence the amendment of our life 
 by some heroic act. 
 
 3d. To make monthly a short recollection. 
 
 4th. To accustom ourselves to make throughout 
 the day acts of the love of God. 
 
 5th. To worship our Lord constantly and fer- 
 vently in the Blessed Eucharist, by visiting Him 
 frequently and always receiving Him with great 
 faith and devotion. 
 
 I conclude the present holy retreat with the 
 words of St. Cyprian: '' I exhort you b}^ our com- 
 mon faith that you guard 5'Our glory by strong 
 and persevering virtue. For the property of 
 virtue is not only to have begun but also to have 
 continued to the end." This St. Augustine con- 
 
no Solid Virtue. 
 
 firms, by saying " it is not great to have com- 
 menced what is good, but to have completed 
 it, this alone is perfect." For what profit would 
 it be to have removed the obstacles to solid 
 virtue, to have considered the means by which 
 solid virtue is acquired, to have earnestly re- 
 flected on the motives which should incite us 
 to give ourselves entirely to God, and to have 
 even laid the first foundations of a holier life, 
 unless the edifice of perfection be raised and fin- 
 ished by assiduous labor and continued endeavor ? 
 St. Jerome said: '* In Christians what we inquire 
 into is not their beginnings, but their end and 
 their perseverance." " Perseverance alon©," re- 
 marks Peter of Blois, "will be crowned." 
 
 PRAYER OF ST. AUGUSTINE. 
 
 {^Second Book of Soliloquies,') 
 
 I seek Thee alone, I am ready to serve Thee 
 alone, because Thou alone rulest justly. I de- 
 sire to be subject to Thee. Heal and open my 
 ears, that with them I may hear Thy words. 
 Heal and open my e3^es, that with them I may 
 see the intimation of Thy will. Remove folly 
 from me that I miay recognize Thee. Tell me 
 where I may expect and see Thee, and I hope I 
 will do all Thou wilt order me. Receive, I beg 
 of Thee, O Lord, most clement Father, Thy fu- 
 gitive servant. I have already suffered punish- 
 ment enough. I have served long enough Thine 
 
God's Love for tis. Ill 
 
 enemies, whom Thou hast under Thy feet. I 
 have been long enough the sport and plaything 
 of illusion. Receive me as Thy servant fleeing 
 from these, because they, when I w^as fleeing 
 from Thee, received me though a stranger. I 
 feel that I must return to Thee. Let Thy door 
 be opened to me when I knock. Teach me how 
 I may reach Thee! I have nothing else save my 
 will. I know nothing else save that w^hich is 
 transitory and perishable should be despised, and 
 that stable and eternal things should be sought 
 after. This alone I do, O Father! because this 
 alone I know; but by what means I may reach 
 Thee I know not. Do Thou suggest them to 
 me. Do Thou show them to me. Do Thou help 
 me to find them. If those who have recourse to 
 Thee find Thee b}^ faith, grant me faith; if by 
 virtue, grant me virtue; if by science, grant me 
 science. Increase faith within me, increase hope, 
 increase charitv. 
 
CONFERENCES. 
 
CONFERENCES. 
 
 To be tcsed as Spwittial Reading during 
 the Retreat, 
 
 I. 
 
 Holy Indifference. 
 
 The foundation of the spiritual life is holy in- 
 difference. Could even the greatest trials de- 
 prive us of it, then the groundwork being shaken 
 the superstructure must necessarily fall. But 
 this holy indifference being contrary to the in- 
 clinations of our corrupt nature, all our self-love 
 rises in revolt against it. We will therefore ad- 
 vance some reasons why we should be induced 
 to labor seriously to acquire this all-important 
 virtue. 
 
 1. 
 
 The great difficulty we experience in the prac- 
 tice of this virtue is to be found in the fear we 
 have of the labors, contempts, vexations and 
 troubles of ill health, which seem to await us in 
 such and such a place, office, or degree of virtue. 
 Remove this fear and indifference is easily ac- 
 quired. 
 
 And first of all, cannot God punish you with 
 
Ii6 Solid Virtue, 
 
 sickness in the very place and office in which 
 you would prefer to be, or preserve you in good 
 health in the place or office you are trying to 
 av^oid ? Now, then, as there is reason for fearing 
 the punishment of God on account of your op- 
 position to His will, so there is every motive for 
 hoping that He will reward your indifference, by 
 preserving your health in the station to which 
 He calls you. Besides, if God your Creator, the 
 Arbiter of life and death, should be pleased to 
 afflict 3^ou with sickness, who are you, vile worm 
 of the earth, that you should fretfully resist, in- 
 stead of readily conforming to His will? Is it 
 not better to suffer in obedience to the will of 
 God, than against it to enjoy vigor and strength ? 
 Thus we put to flight the pretext of sickness, 
 which is but the prompting of self-love. You 
 are not forbidden, however, to inform your su- 
 perior of any fear of sickness which a proper 
 reason justifies, provided 3'ou are ready to com- 
 ply with w^hat he may command, after having 
 heard your case. 
 
 2d. Moreover can not the labors, hardships, vex- 
 ations and troubles which cause you to have such 
 an aversion to this office or place, be abundant- 
 ly compensated by a higher gift of pra3^er, by 
 heavenly delights, by success in the management 
 of all your affairs, by peace of mind, by purity 
 of heart, by exemption from greater annoyances 
 and anxieties, and by freedom from various diffi- 
 culties, v/ith which in another place you might 
 
Holy Indifference. 1 1 7 
 
 have to contend ? Again, cannot God send you 
 in that very place, in the very office which you 
 eagerly seek, adversities far more numerous and 
 greater than those you fear in another place and 
 office ? Should you not have this fear ? Are we 
 not then our own enemies, since we rush blindly 
 into greater evils, the more we endeavor to avoid 
 smaller ones ? If we be wise, let us be indiffer- 
 ent to everything, abandoning ourselves entirely 
 to the guidance of Divine Providence. 
 
 3d. The same may be said of the contempt 
 which we might have to encounter in this or that 
 place or employment, or in such a degree of vir- 
 tue. For if we patiently endure this contempt, 
 we may be amply rewarded v/ith a special assist- 
 ance of divine grace, strong health, and immu- 
 nity from harassing cares. How many there 
 are who, on the contrary, find nothing but con- 
 tempt and trouble Vv^here they expected honor 
 and ease ! How many who are placed above 
 others are regarded with ill-will and are disliked 
 by almost everybod}^ while these same persons, 
 had they been left on a level with others, would 
 have been acceptable to all. 
 
 Such men, by a just judgment of God, fall from 
 one misfortune into another. Thus i\raan, ele- 
 vated to the very highest dignity, suffered death 
 on the gallovv'S Oh! how much happier vrould 
 he not have been had he, satisfied with a lower 
 rank, remained away from the court. Lot, in 
 order to avojd the quarrels of the herdsmen, 
 
Ii8 Solid Virtue. 
 
 departed from Abraham, and chose the fertile re- 
 gions of Sodom. Who could not but congratulate 
 him on the apparent wisdom of his choice; but 
 how badly it turned out we read in the book of 
 Genesis (xix. 24). After much opposition, and 
 after having gone throuf>;h many crooked ways 
 and various difficulties, very often one has to 
 yield at last, and must of necessity do that 
 which before he refused to do. 
 
 The decree of God's Providence is like an una- 
 voidable sea, over which, in spite of your delays, 
 you must inevitably pass before reaching your 
 destination. Let us give an instance from 
 Holy Writ. "Jonas was commanded to go to 
 Ninive, the great cit}^, and to preach in it." 
 (Jonas i. 2.) But fearing to be called a false 
 prophet, in case God spared the repenting 
 Ninivites, he disliked the mission. "And he 
 rose up to flee into Tharsis from the Lord.'* 
 What did his resisting the will of God avail 
 him? "Jonas, who w^as afraid to enter the safe 
 harbor, was cast into the sea;" he who was 
 afraid of men " was swallowed up by a fish;" he 
 who would not preach in the city was hidden 
 away in the belly of a v^hale; and that which 
 would have given him very little trouble if done 
 willingly in the beginning, he was compelled 
 finally to go through, notwithstanding the oppo- 
 sition he made, and the sufferings he endured. 
 At last, when the word of the Lord came to 
 him a second time, he arose and went to Ninive. 
 
Holy Indifference. 119 
 
 With less merit and with less joy he at last did 
 what he should have done in the beginning. 
 Hence it is evident, the principal obstacle to 
 holy indifference is a vain fear of something 
 which, when seen from afar, terrifies us, but upon 
 a nearer inspection vanishes like a vapor into the 
 air. 
 
 II. 
 
 After having overcome the principal impedi- 
 ment, let us consider a very powerful incentive 
 to holy indifierence, namely, the sovereign happi- 
 ness in this life of the religious who possesses this 
 virtue. Those who endeavor to acquire this holy 
 indifference seek no preferment, and refuse noth- 
 ing out of cowardice; for these two things, the' 
 desire of acquiring what we have not, and the 
 fear of losing what we have, are the causes of all 
 the troubles of this earth. These persons rule 
 over the greatest empire of the world, since to 
 feel no want is to reign; they are truly strong 
 and mighty because they are conquerors of 
 themselves; they are superior to the superiors 
 themselves, because they are indifferent to every- 
 thing, and seek the favor of no one. They over- 
 flow with internal consolation, since they are 
 certain that they are in the place and office in 
 which God wishes them to be. For this reason, 
 whenever any difficulty or calamity occurs, sure 
 of the assistance of God, they have recourse to 
 Him in all confidence; they rest tranquilly on 
 the bosom of Divine Providence, remembering 
 
I20 Solid Vtrt7te, 
 
 the word of the royal prophet, ** The Lord ruleth 
 me and I shall want nothing." (Psalm xxii. i.) 
 They lead on earth a life altogether heavenly, for 
 as the angels w^ho stand before the throne of 
 God are always ready to execute His word, 
 hearkening to the voice of His orders (Psalm 
 cii. 20), and equally ready to guard the poor or 
 the rich, the peasant or the king, equally indif- 
 ferent to offer up the prayers of the saints, or to 
 pour out upon the earth the seven vials of the 
 wrath of God, so also the religious who possess 
 holy indifference regard the decrees of God's 
 Providence and His good pleasure with love and 
 submission, for the will of God is the only rule 
 of all their actions. Now you can judge of the 
 grandeur and happiness of such generous souls. 
 On the contrary, they who possess not this vir- 
 tue are like the angry billows of the sea, tossed 
 about by the continual agitation of cares and 
 anxieties. They are obliged to flatter others 
 with servile obsequiousness that they tnay ad- 
 vance, or, at least, not hinder their ambitious de- 
 signs. And when some sharp trial occurs, they 
 dare not have recourse to God, for their con- 
 science tells them that they have merited this 
 affliction, since by importunities they obtained 
 from their superiors this ofhce and this place, 
 the cause of all these troubles. Having strayed 
 from the wa3^s of God's Providence, they wander 
 about anxious and uncertain, always in pain, like 
 one whose limbs are out of joint. They are not 
 
Holy Indifference, 12 1 
 
 at all content in the place for which they had 
 such a preference, and in the employment which 
 they desired particularly; for God, to punish 
 those slaves to their own will, sends them bitter- 
 ness and troubles. And you who read this, have 
 you not experienced it yourself? And yet, it did 
 not avail you. O senseless religious! do you not 
 fear lest God may allow you to be tempted 
 more violently, and even to fall into mortal sin, 
 in the place which you desire so much, while, in 
 another place, He would have preserved you 
 from such a calamity ? Are you not afraid that 
 God may withdraw the graces which He would 
 have given you elsewhere in another employ- 
 ment ? And are you sure of corresponding faith- 
 fully to the graces necessary for the position you 
 are so anxious to fill ? Tell me, what consola- 
 tion will it be to you at the hour of death to 
 have always obtained what you desired, to have 
 always acted according to the dictates of your 
 own fancy? O miserable being! what will it 
 profit you, then, to have followed your own rather 
 than the Divine Will ? What reward can you 
 expect from your labors, v/hich not Heaven but 
 self-love imposed? We must, therefore, gener- 
 ously resolve to serve God in whatever station 
 of life, degree of perfection, office, place, or state 
 of health He wills us to be, and to act or to suffer 
 in perfect resignation to His Divine Majesty. 
 
122 Solid Virfyp, 
 
 III. 
 
 That this resolve may take firm root, be con- 
 vinced that all that happens, sin excepted, is or- 
 dained by God; that whatsoever occurs on this 
 earth occurs not by mere chance, but by the will 
 of an infinitely provident and loving Father, who, 
 with unbounded wisdom, justice, prudence and 
 forbearance, '^ ordereth all things sweetly." (Wis. 
 viii. I.) Be persuaded, therefore, that this place 
 or this occupation is assigned to you by God 
 through your superiors; that this sickness, this 
 adversity, is sent to you by His paternal hand. 
 It is He who wills that you live in this part of 
 the world; that you be employed in these func- 
 tions; that you strive towards this particular de- 
 gree of perfection; that you suffer these pains in 
 your body, these afflictions in your mind. You 
 will say, " Not at all; it is not the will of God 
 that has placed me here, but the scheming of 
 jealous individuals, the ill-will of superiors. In 
 envy, bitterness and hatred lies the source of the 
 evil." Judging rashly you may imagine this with 
 greater temerit}^ than truth. Without any foun- 
 dation the mind sometimes concludes that what 
 has been suspected is a reality. But let us sup-, 
 pose you are right, and that what you suffer 
 proceeds from the wicked inclinations of men. 
 What then ? I freely grant that they err, and 
 that their action is condemned by God, who 
 threatens to punish them severely on account of 
 
Holy Lidiffcrence, 123 
 
 it; but at the same time I maintain that the Sov- 
 ereign Ruler of the world, although He wills not 
 sin, wills its effects. Consequently this place, 
 this office, this sickness and this trial, not being 
 matter of sin, are the objects of the Divine will, 
 though the depraved will of others may be the 
 cause of them. Thus, though " the Lord God of 
 Hosts" disapproved of Joseph being sold and 
 led into Egypt, yet He sanctioned his stay and 
 his service in that country. ''God sent me," he 
 himself confesses, '' before you into Egypt for 
 your preservation." (Gen. xlv. 5.) It was not the 
 envy of his brothers, but the Providence of God 
 that had sent him into Egypt. So also, though 
 all the calamities which afflicted Job were caused 
 by the malice of Satan, yet they were the objects 
 of the eternal decree of God. ''The Lord gave, 
 and the Lord hath taken away," Job himself 
 says. " As it hath pleased the Lord, so it is 
 done." (Job i. 21.) Remark, he said not Satan 
 hath taken away, but " the Lord." Though the 
 Heavenly Father condemned the malice and 
 hatred of the Jews, He decreed, nevertheless, the 
 death of His only begotten Son; for Christ said 
 to St. Peter, " The chalice which My Father hath 
 given Me shall I not drink it ?" (St. John xviii. 11.) 
 Mark, " The chalice given Me," not by the Jews, but 
 ''by My Father." For the same reason, although 
 the sanctity of God condemns the ill-will of your 
 companions, the imprudence of your superiors, 
 the envy of the jealous, yet He wills this your 
 
124 Solid Virttte. 
 
 stalion, this your misfortune, this your oppres- 
 sion. O religious! it is not the envy of fellow- 
 religious, but the Providence of God that has led 
 you into Egypt; it is not Satan who has sent those 
 evils, but the Lord; it is not the malice of the Jews, 
 but the Heavenly Father that mixed this chalice. 
 It is God, I repeat again, who wills that you 
 stay in this place; that you perform this work; 
 that you suffer these pains; that you remain in 
 so obscure a position; that you be afflicted with 
 this misfortune. This contempt, this vexation- 
 God wills them. In spite of the contradictions 
 of the world and self-love, be assured that such 
 is the will of God. And indeed He does so for 
 your own greater good and greater advantage, 
 so that if you could, by lifting the veil, see the 
 sacred decrees of God's Providence concerning 
 you, you would approve highly of the very thing 
 which you now condemn; you would not choose 
 anything else even if you could. Here is the 
 proof of my assertion. God knows Vvhat suits 
 you best; for '^ the works of all flesh are before 
 Him, and there is nothing hidden from His eyes." 
 (Eccl. xxxix. 24.) He also can give Vv^hat He 
 knows to be most advantageous to you, ''for 
 Thy power is at hand when Thou wilt," and He 
 will give it, because He loves you as the apple of 
 His eye. Whatever then happens to you by His 
 will happens for your greater good. " Thou hast 
 ordered all things in measure and number and 
 weight, and, moreover, Thou being Master of 
 
The Tlii'ee Degrees of Humility, 125 
 
 power, with great favor disposest of us by turn- 
 ing evil into good." 
 
 Throw yourself, therefore, with complete and 
 generous indifference into the arms of so loving 
 a Father, and say with St. Ignatius of Loyola, 
 *' Do with me as Thou knowest and as Thou 
 wilt, for I know that Thou lovest me." Let these 
 v/ords, " God wills it," be to you like a buckler, 
 by which you repel all the assaults of self-love, 
 and never rest until you have reached the sublime 
 heights of "'Holy Indifference y 
 
 IL 
 
 The Three Degrees of Humility. 
 
 I. 
 
 The first degree of humility, says St. Ignatius, 
 in the '' Book of Exercises," consists in our giving 
 ourselves entirely to the obsyvance of the divine 
 law, so that even if the dominion of the whole 
 world were offered to us, and our lives were 
 threatened with the greatest dangers, we would 
 not deliberately transgress any divine or human 
 precept which obliges us under pain of mortal 
 sin; so that with Christ, despised, poor and af- 
 flicted, we would rather be despised, poor and 
 afflicted than with the guilt of mortal sin enjoy 
 the highest honors, the greatest riches and the 
 most exquisite delights. 
 
 The motives to urge us on to acquire this de- 
 gree are: 
 
126 Solid Virtue, 
 
 ist. The grievousness of sin, which is very 
 great, on account of the foulness of the offence, 
 the insignificance of the offender and the majesty 
 of the offended. 
 
 2d. The enormity of the punishment inflicted 
 on Lucifer, on our First Parents, and the severity 
 of that which Christ Himself endured. 
 
 3d. The rigor and eternity of the torments 
 which the sinner has to suffer in Hell. 
 
 4th. Moreover, to be in this degree is just. *^It 
 is just to be subject to God.'* (2 Mach. ix. 12.) 
 It is of the strictest obligation, for the Bock 
 of Ecclesiastes says in the twelfth chapter, thir- 
 teenth verse, " Feat God and keep His Com- 
 mandments, for this is all man," i.e.^ to this is 
 every man naturally and essentially bound. It 
 is very profitable. '' Evil pursueth sinners, and 
 to the just good shall be repaid." (Prov. xiii. 
 
 21.) 
 
 5th. Lastly, it is absolutely necessary for salva- 
 tion to be in this degree, for ^^ if we sin wilfully, 
 after having the knowledge of the truth, there is 
 left a certain dreadful expectation of judgment, 
 and the rage of a fire which shall consume the 
 adversaries." (Heb. x. 27.) This the martyrs 
 proved; for rather than sin ^^ they were stoned, 
 they were put to death by the sword." (Heb. 
 xi. 37.) Now have you reached this degree? 
 Are you ready to suffer the loss of your good 
 name, of honors, of wealth and of life itself rather 
 than sin grievously? If by a mortal sin you 
 
The Three Degrees of Humility, 127 
 
 could obtain the greatest dignity and riches, if 
 by it you could free yourself from a long sick- 
 ness or the irnminent danger of death, would you 
 rather be without honors and wealth, and lay 
 down your life than offend the Divine Majesty 
 mortally ? And if this is your mind are you de- 
 termined never to abandon this degree ? Can 
 no temptation overcome you any more ? 
 
 Be assured, unless you are influenced with an 
 implacable, firmly-rooted, never-abating hatred 
 of mortal sin; yea, unless, when occasion offers 
 and the danger threatens of committing a sin, 
 you become terrified and tremble as at the sight 
 of a demon, all hope is gone of a holier life and 
 a closer imitation of Christ; there perishes all 
 that holy indifference so necessary to acquire 
 greater perfection, and not the least fruit will be 
 reaped from this retreat. Let this be the touch- 
 stone of your aversion to mortal sin; examine it 
 well, and then employ the surest means to avoid 
 the greatest of evils. 
 
 II. 
 
 The second degree of humility is more perfect 
 than the first, and consists in our feeling, when 
 the service of God and our salvation could be 
 equally well procured, the same inclinations .to 
 riches or poverty, to honor or ignominy, to a 
 long or a short life, so much so that no human' 
 felicity, not even life itself, can ever induce us to 
 commit, I do not say a mortal sin, but even the 
 
128 Solid Virtue. 
 
 slightest venial sin. Consequently, the second 
 degree consists in this — I would rather choose 
 to lead with Christ a life of poverty, abjection 
 and distress than by committing a venial sin to 
 abound in honor, wealth and pleasure. The 
 motives which draw us to this degree are these: 
 
 ist. *'We must be indifferent," says St. Ig- 
 natius, ^' towards all created things, so that as 
 far as lies in us we desire not health more than 
 sickness, and prefer not riches to povert}^, honor 
 to contempt, a long life to a short one." They 
 act then against this indifference, who in view of 
 a slight fault prefer honor to contempt, riches to 
 poverty, health to sickness, life to death. Now, 
 if we do not wish to destroy the foundation of 
 this retreat, and to lose the fruit which we have 
 reaped, we must lay hold of the second degree of 
 humility, viz., we must choose to be despised, 
 to be sick, even to die, rather than stain our soul 
 with a venial sin, and thereby deviate from the 
 indifference so earnestly inculcated. 
 
 2d. Riches and pov^erty, honor and ignominy, a 
 long life or a short one, are only means to arrive 
 at the end for which we are created; they are 
 means useful only inasmuch as they bring us 
 to this end. Reason itself tells us that we should 
 be indifferent as to the means, and be directed in 
 their choice and use only by the end of our crea- 
 tion. We must^ therefore, be equally inclined to 
 riches or to poverty, to honor or to ignominy, 
 to a long or to a short life. But those who 
 
The Three Degrees of Humility, 129 
 
 commit a venial sin in order either to avoid 
 poverty, contempt, sickness, or to acquire honor, 
 riches, to preserve health and life, relinquish 
 the path of indifference, so requisite to make a 
 good choice, deviate from their last end. 
 
 3d. Furthermore, we should, to make us avoid 
 venial sin, think as much as possible of its malice, 
 which is exceedingly great, for, after mortal sin, 
 it is the greatest evil in the world. God detests 
 it with infinite hatred; it spoils the acts of virtue, 
 diminishes the fervor of charity, finally leads to 
 mortal sin, and is severely punished by God 
 either in this life or in the next. 
 
 We must, therefore, firmly resolve to detest 
 and avoid, by all means, this horrible monster, 
 so that no human felicity, even life itself, can 
 ever induce us to commit even the slightest 
 venial sin. 
 
 " Search now Jerusalem with lamps," and see 
 . how great is your horror of venial sin; ask your- 
 self, if by a little lie I could avert either trouble- 
 some poverty, great disgrace, dangerous sickness, 
 death itself, or obtain a large sum of money, a 
 distinguished employment, or a long life, would 
 I not commit this sin ? Am I equally satisfied to 
 be despised or to be honored, to live in poverty 
 or in abundance, to be in the vigor of health or 
 to be on the point of death ? What does your 
 conscience answer ? 
 
130 Solid Virtue. 
 
 III. 
 
 The third degree of humility, which surpasses 
 all the rest in loveliness and in value, consists in 
 our choosing — even though in riches and honors 
 we could as easily as in poverty and contempt, 
 work out our salvation — poverty, contempt, dis- 
 grace, in preference to wealth, honors and repu- 
 tation, in order that we may thus more closely 
 follow our Lord, who was poor, dishonored, and 
 despised. 
 
 The motives to reach this degree are : 
 
 ist. The example of Christ, who, for our sake, 
 chose the road of poverty, contempt and pain; 
 " who, having joy set before Him, endured the 
 cross, despising shame.'* (Heb. xii. 2.) Conse- 
 quently, we also out of love for Him should en- 
 deavor to follow Him herein more closely, not 
 only when riches and honors do not hinder the 
 end of our creation, but even when they bring us 
 thereto, and help to our advancement in perfec- 
 tion, as well as poverty, trouble and contempt. 
 
 They whom the example of Christ cannot 
 persuade to love this degree have hearts of 
 stone; for the King of kings has become for 
 love of us "a man of sorrows" (Isaias liii. 3); 
 "the reproach of men" (Psalm xxi. 7); "not 
 having whereon to lay His head " (Luke xi. 58); 
 and sinful man, mere dust, swells with pride 
 and "spends his days in wealth." (Job xxi. 13.) 
 
 We know that honors, wealth and pleasures 
 
The Three Degrees of Humility, 131 
 
 are the baits by which we are caught by the 
 devil and precipitated into eternal flames, and 
 that contempt, pains and poverty are the means 
 which conduct us to the heavenly kingdom. 
 We believe that Christ has chosen a poor and 
 humble life for no other reason than to inspire 
 us with a desire of contempt, poverty and hard- 
 ships, and to make us despise pleasures, riches 
 and dignities; and yet knowing and believing 
 all this we neglect the example of Christ, and 
 live only in the enjoyment of riches and of the 
 gratifications of the flesh; we hate what He 
 loved, and still we call ourselves Christians, 
 who, according to St. Gregory of Nyssa, should 
 be other Christs. Perhaps even we are reli- 
 gious, who, by our vows, should be the living 
 images of the Crucified Redeemer. What ex- 
 cuse have w^ for this discrepancy and opposi- 
 tion between our faith and our lives ? Cannot 
 the example of Christ, our Saviour, have over us 
 as much influence as that of a commander over 
 his soldiers ? He first of all gains the wall of 
 the beleagured city, and is at once eagerly fol- 
 lowed by his men. Christians only are unwill- 
 ing to follow their Divine Master. Far be from 
 us such cowardice and faintheartedness! *' Take, 
 therefore, courage, brethren; let us go forward 
 together." With a generous mind we will strug- 
 gle towards this third degree of humility; we 
 have promised it in every retreat. ** We have 
 begun; we may not go back, nor may we leave 
 
132 Solid Virtue. 
 
 off. Take courage, then; Jesus will be with us. 
 He will be our helper who is our captain and 
 forerunner. Behold our King marcheth before 
 us, who will fight for us. Let us follow Him 
 manfully; let no one fear terrors; let us be 
 ready to die valiantly in battle, nor let us bring 
 disgrace upon our glory by flying from the 
 Cross.'* (Foil, of Christ, iii. 56, 56.) 
 
 2d. The fear lest if we do not attain this third 
 degree of humility we have not attained the sec- 
 ond and even the first. For although we may 
 have made a firm resolution not to contaminate 
 ourselves with a mortal sin or even with venial 
 sin, though surrounded by riches, honors and 
 comforts of life, it is very difficult amidst them 
 to avoid sin, at least, for a long time. Who- 
 ever, therefore, wishes to be firmly fixed in 
 the first and second degrees, must .needs strive 
 towards the third. 
 
 Justly may it be feared, lest in punishment of 
 the neglect of the call to a holier life, divine as- 
 sistance be withdrawn, the suppiy of grace be 
 taken away, the thread of God's special Provi- 
 dence be cut short, dangerous temptations be 
 incurred, so that at last a great fall ensues. 
 These words of Holy Writ would then be veri- 
 fied: 
 
 ** I called and you refused; I stretched out my 
 hand and there was none that regarded. I also 
 will laugh in your destruction, and will mock 
 when that will come to you which you feared; 
 
The Three Degrees of Humility. 133 
 
 when sudden calamity shall fall on you, and de- 
 struction as a tempest shall be at hand." (Prov. 
 i. 24.) Lest this fate should befall us let us 
 promptly follow Christ calling us to the third 
 degree. 
 
 3d. This last degree of humility is the dis- 
 tinctive mould of our Society. From this 
 sprung most of the Constitutions, particularly 
 the nth Rule of the Summary, "They must 
 diligently observe (esteeming it of great impor- 
 tance, and of the highest moment in the sight of 
 our Creator and Lord) how much it helps and 
 contributes to progress in spiritual life to abhor 
 wholly and not in part, what the world loves and 
 embraces, and to accept and desire with their 
 whole strength whatsoever Christ our Lord loved 
 and embraced. They would wish to suffer re- 
 proaches, slanders and injuries, and to be 
 treated and accounted as fools (without at the 
 same time giving any occasion for it), because 
 they desire to imitate and resemble in some sort 
 their Creator and Lord Jesus Christ, and to be 
 clothed with His garments and livery.'* 
 
 It would be very disgraceful if we never 
 thought of this rule and considered it as a mere 
 theory, whilst in it is embodied the spirit of the 
 Society, and on it depend the entire strength, 
 safety and felicity of the whole Order. 
 
 From all this it is evident how justly this 
 third degree of humility is called a treasure hid- 
 den in the field; a pearl to be bought at any 
 
134 Solid Virtue, 
 
 price; the marrow of the Spiritual Life; the 
 abridgment of the evangelical doctrine; the 
 chief point of perfection, the abundant source 
 of graces of the highest order, and finally, 
 the mystery in which lies hidden the Wisdom 
 of God, of which Christ said, *^I confess to 
 Thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, 
 because Thou hast hid these things from the 
 wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to 
 little ones.' (Matt. xi. 25.) 
 
 III. 
 
 The Glory and Happiness of One who is 
 Despised and Afflicted. 
 
 The object of this instruction is to confirm a 
 soul that has arrived at the degree of humility 
 in which it would rather, even supposing 
 God's glory were equal in both cases, lead a life 
 of contempt, troubles and hardships, than abound 
 in this world's joys and honors. But to be de- 
 spised and to suffer is a thing very difficult to 
 our weak nature. It is therefore important to 
 place before our eyes the glory and happiness 
 which lie concealed under afflictions and con- 
 tempt, that, allured by the sweetness of the fruit, 
 we may thereby be encouraged to undergo the 
 severity of the labor. 
 
 In order that contempt and suffering may be- 
 come more agreeable, let us consider that to be 
 
The Glory and Happiness of the Afflicted, 135 
 
 despised does not bring shame but glory; to suf- 
 fer does not make us miserable but happy. 
 
 The glory which adversity brings to a despised 
 and afflicted soul is very great. For sufferings 
 prove that such a soul is heroic, that it equals 
 the martyrs and angels, and that it is very dear 
 to Christ, on account of the resemblance it has 
 to Him. 
 
 I St. If the soul patiently bears sufferings, it is 
 heroic. 
 
 St. John Chrysostom spoke thus of the Egyp- 
 tian Joseph: " He became celebrated and illustri- 
 ous by the calumny, imprisonment, chains and 
 hardships which he suffered. Although he was 
 great by his chastity, he was made greater still 
 by the sufferings which he endured; for, at that 
 time, he was more glorious and appeared in 
 greater splendor than when he sat on Egypt's 
 throne, and distributed bread to the hungry." 
 Adversities prove how great our virtue is. Even 
 the heathen knew this. "Adversities," says 
 Epictetus, " prove us to be men." " It is not," 
 remarks Seneca, "a sign of a great soul to be 
 brave in prosperity, when life flows on with an 
 even course. A tranquil sea and favorable wind 
 do not show the difficulty and the art of steering 
 the vessel. Adversity must occur to show forth 
 the man as a hero." 
 
 " God acts," observes St. John Chrysostom, 
 
136 Solid Virtue, 
 
 **with virtuous men, in the same manner as a 
 general who chooses the best soldiers for the 
 most difficult work. Thus God sends greater 
 sufferings to those whom He knows to be great 
 heroes in the spiritual battle-field." 
 
 2d. Adversity makes us equal to the martyrs 
 and angels. First to the martyrs. **For pa- 
 tience/' says St. Lawrence Justinian, "makes a 
 man a martyr." " Blessed is he," observes St. 
 John Climacus, " who being everywhere calumni- 
 ated for God's sake, and provoked by opprobri- 
 ous words, overcomes himself; truly there is no 
 difference between such a soul and a martyr." 
 This is also confirmed by the authority of the 
 Church. In the office of St. Martin, Bishop of 
 Tours, we say, "O thrice holy soul, that didst 
 not lose the crown of martyrdom, although the 
 sword of the persecutor did not take away thy 
 life." 
 
 3d. It renders us equal to the angels. " Those," 
 says St. John Chrysostom, " who are meek and 
 patient, and bear with calm resignation the in- 
 sults and affronts heaped upon them, and bless 
 those who persecute them, are equal to the heav- 
 enly powers, who are endowed with the gift of 
 impassibility; for, like the angels, they are above 
 the troubles and vexations of this life." What 
 is more glorious than to be equal to the martyrs 
 and angels ? 
 
 4th. Adversities prove that we are very dear to 
 Jesus Christ, and render us like unto Him. The 
 
The Glory and Happmess of the Afflicted, 137 
 
 experience of the saints shows us this; "for we 
 always find," as St. Teresa remarks, " that those 
 who are nearer and dearer to our Lord have a 
 larger share of labor and adversities." One day 
 the blessed Angela of Foligno asked our Lord 
 who were His dearest children. He replied: 
 " Those whom I love most sit the nearest to Me 
 at My table, eating with Me the bread of tribu- 
 lation, and drinking with Me of the chalice of 
 My Passion. To My dearest children I send 
 many tribulations, and it is a special grace for 
 them that I do so." Consequently, those who 
 suffer most are the truest sons of God and 
 brothers of Jesus Christ, His nearest guests 
 at table, and His dearest and most cherished 
 friends. 
 
 They are conformable to Christ and like unto 
 Him. **For whom He foreknew He also pre- 
 destined to be made conformable to the image 
 of His son" (Rom. viii. 27); that is to say, as 
 Vasquez and Cornelius a Lapide explain: ** Those 
 whom God foreknew to be by grace His beloved 
 friends. He predestined to suffer; that they might 
 by patience become conformable to His Son, who 
 underwent for the love of them such hardships 
 and labors. In short, God desires that they 
 should also be crucified with His Son and be a 
 perfect image of Him." 
 
 As many strokes of the chisel, and of other 
 sharp instruments, are required to form out of 
 ivory an image of the dying Saviour, accurately 
 
138 Solid Virtue. 
 
 representing the muscles and veins of His body, 
 so many tribulations and afflictions transform 
 the soul into a perfect likeness of the bruised 
 and suffering Jesus. The more, therefore, one is 
 afflicted with great and numberless pains, the 
 more Christ shows that He desires to make Him 
 conformable to Himself. 
 
 Oh! what an honor it is to be an image of the 
 Crucified, to be nailed with Christ on the same 
 cross! "As it is very honorable to a soldier to 
 carry the arms of his king, so it is very glorious 
 for a Christian to bear the prints of the wounds 
 of Jesus Christ,** remarks St. Lawrence Justinian. 
 
 And yet, O blindness of men! we flee from 
 sufferings as much as possible; we fear to be 
 brought to the same state to which Christ was 
 reduced on the cross. The third degree of hu- 
 mility is a stumbling-block and foolishness, not 
 only to the Pagan and to the Jew, but also to 
 a great number of Christians. Woe to those 
 who, seeing the eminent glory that is hidden 
 under contempt and affliction, conceive, never- 
 theless, neither esteem, love, nor desire for such 
 a state; they deserve to be covered "with the 
 double cloak of confusion." (Psalm cviii. 29.) 
 
 II. 
 
 One who is despised and afflicted enjoys very 
 great happiness, both on account of the preroga- 
 tives granted to this state, and of the excellence 
 of the grace which is hidden under adversity. 
 
The Glory and Happiness of the Afflicted. 139 
 
 ist. The prerogatives of this state are great 
 indeed, for adversities are the means of perfec- 
 tion, a sign of the divine love towards us, and a 
 mark of predestination. 
 
 That they are the means of perfection is evi- 
 dent from the teaching of St. Gregory the Great, 
 who says, " I make bold to assert that the fewer 
 persecutions you suffer the less holy is your 
 life." By the abundance of affliction this saint 
 measured the greatness of perfection. St. Law- 
 rence Justinian is of the same mind, for he de- 
 clares, "When the world rages against you, 
 when the envious repine, when the devil roars, 
 when the wicked calumniate you, and the proud 
 lay their snares, then be assured you walk in the 
 footsteps of the perfect." The reason thereof is 
 obvious; for contempt, poverty and pain de- 
 prive our sensuality, self-love and pride of all 
 charm, nourishment and strength, and conse- 
 quently stop the fertile source of evil, and afford 
 the soul frequent occasions of performing heroic 
 acts. Thus it is that one is led in a wonderful 
 way to the very height of perfection. 
 
 Adversities are, moreover, a sign of God's love 
 towards us. " For whom the Lord loveth He 
 chastiseth." (Heb. xii. 6; Prov. iii. 12.) "Be- 
 cause thou wast acceptable to God it was neces- 
 sary that temptation should prove thee." (To- 
 bias xii. 13.) 
 
 These are the oracles of Holy Writ. Similar 
 are the sentiments of the holy Fathers concern- 
 
140 Solid Virtue. 
 
 ing it. " In the just/' writes St. Lawrence Jus- 
 tinian, "tribulation is a sign of the divine love 
 towards them, and even the more one is loved 
 the harder he is treated in this present life.'* 
 " We see,'* remarks St. Gregory the Great, " the 
 chosen ones of God live piously and suffer bit- 
 terly." "It is most certain," observes St. Teresa, 
 " that those whom God loves much are led by 
 Him through the path of difficulties and labors, 
 and the more He loves one the greater hardships 
 He sends him." 
 
 Adversities are likewise the best proof of our 
 love for God. As Christ has shown His love for 
 us by His death on the cross, so we prove our 
 love for Him by suffering with Him. "And 
 thus the more we bear with," says St. Catharine 
 of Sienna, " the greater proof we give of our 
 love." "For tribulation," remarks St. John 
 Chrysostom, "is an evident proof of undying 
 love for God." On the contrary, to have no 
 cross is the sign of the divine wrath towards us; 
 for, as the same saint elsewhere says, " God chas- 
 tises every son whom He receives, consequently 
 one who is not chastised is certainly not among 
 the number of His sons." For this reason St. 
 Francis Xavier used to say, " It seems to me that 
 we do not serve God faithfully if we are long 
 without persecution." Even Seneca wrote to 
 one of his friends, " Unfortunate I deem you to 
 be, because you have never been unfortunate." 
 If a heathen then, to whom the mystery of the 
 
The Glory and Happiness of the Afflicted. 141 
 
 cross was a scandal, thought this, what shall be 
 the sentiments of a Christian, of a religious, who 
 is instructed in the mysteries of faith ? 
 
 Lastly, adversities are a mark of predestina- 
 tion and divine election. This St. Augustine 
 affirms. *^ When God," he says, *^ chastises you 
 with severe persecutions, it is presumptive evi- 
 dence that He has destined you to be among the 
 elect." *^ Tribulation," observes St. Lawrence 
 Justinian, " is in the elect a proof of divine love, 
 a token of future bliss, and a mark of predestina- 
 tion." And in another place he says, ** Crosses 
 patiently borne are undoubtedly a sign of pre- 
 destination." Who shall then say that one who 
 is despised and afflicted is not truly happy, since 
 he enjoys prerogatives that give the greatest 
 happiness, namely, the most efficacious means of 
 acquiring perfection, an unmistakable sign of 
 God's love for him, and a most certain mark of 
 predestination ? 
 
 2d. Very great also is the excellence of grace 
 which is hidden in adversity. *^ For it is," says 
 St. Chrysostom, " the greatest honor to be 
 deemed worthy to suffer something for Christ. 
 It is a precious crown, a reward almost equal to 
 the life to come. Even if there were no reward 
 hereafter, to suffer hardships for the sake of Him 
 who is loved is in itself a great reward and an 
 ample remuneration. Those who love under- 
 stand this. To be a prisoner for Christ is more 
 glorious than to be an apostle, a doctor, or an 
 
142 Solid Virtue, 
 
 Evangelist. This is truly a great dignity, far 
 beyond that of royalty. One that loves Christ 
 would rather be in prison for His sake than en- 
 joy the blessedness of the heavenly court. No 
 glittering diadem so adorns the head of a prince, 
 as chains adorn one that is a prisoner for Christ's 
 sake." 
 
 To suffer is Something greater than even to 
 work miracles. *^ For," remarks St. John Chry- 
 sostom, " when God gives the power to raise the 
 dead to life, He gives less than when He con- 
 fers the grace to suffer; for the gift of miracles I 
 am indebted to God, but for suffering patiently 
 Christ is indebted to me." Miracles by no 
 means make a saint, since they may be common 
 to the good and bad, but patience in adversity 
 is the surest way to sublime sanctity. 
 
 Lastly, to suffer is something greater than to 
 have revelations of the most profound mysteries. 
 "O my God!" exclaimed the blessed Baptista 
 Verana, **by revealing all the secrets of Thy 
 most Sacred Heart, Thou wouldst not confer on 
 me so great a good as by sending me afflictions." 
 
 From all this you may infer that our enemies 
 are our greatest benefactors and our best friends. 
 *' Acknowledge yourself," says the same blessed 
 Verana, " more indebted to him that does you 
 harm than to him that does you good; for the 
 former purifies your soul, and giakes it beautiful, 
 lovely and acceptable to God." "Will you call 
 him an enemy,*' asks St. John Chrysostom, "who 
 
The Glory and Happiness of the Affiicted, 143 
 
 opens to you the gates of confidence, and the 
 treasures of divine graces, and cleanses your 
 soul from all stain of sin ? " The holy doctor 
 concludes: "Were the choice offered me, either 
 of Heaven or the prison, I would choose the lat- 
 ter. Had I the choice either to stand with the 
 angels above near the throne of God, or to be 
 bound with St. Paul, I would prefer the dun- 
 geon. Nothing can be better than to suffer for 
 Christ. St. Paul is not so blessed for having been 
 caught up to Heaven as for having borne chains. 
 It is more desirable for me to suffer evils for 
 Christ than to be honored with Christ. This is 
 a grace above all graces." 
 
 Thus the saints thought, spoke and acted con- 
 cerning the glory and happiness which are con- 
 cealed in adversity. These are the thoughts of 
 the children of God, and from them let us not 
 degenerate. 
 
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