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When God, at length, sees that we will not respond to benefits, nor threats, nor admonitions, nor amend our lives, He is forced by our own very selves to punish us. God will then chastise us because we ourselves force Him to chastise us.
I.
When God, at length, sees that we will not respond to benefits, nor threats, nor admonitions, nor amend our lives, He is forced by our own very selves to chastise us, but while punishing us, He will place before our eyes the great mercies He has extended to us: Thou thoughtest unjustly that I shall be like to thee; but I will reprove thee, and set before thy face (Ps. xlix. 20). He will then say to the sinner: Think you, O sinner, that I had forgotten, as you had done, the outrages you put upon Me, and the graces I dispensed to you? St. Augustine says that God does not hate but loves us, and that He only hates our sins. He is not wroth with men, says St. Jerome, but with their sins. The Saint says, that by His nature God is inclined to benefit us, and that it is we ourselves who oblige Him to chastise us, and assume the appearance of severity, which He has not of Himself. St. Jerome, reflecting on those words which Jesus Christ on the day of the General Judgment will address to the reprobate: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. xxv. 41), inquires, who has prepared this fire for sinners? God, perhaps? No, because God never created souls for hell, as the impious Luther taught: this fire was kindled for sinners by their own sins. He who sows in sin, shall reap chastisement. He that soweth iniquity shall reap evils (Prov. xxii. 8). When the soul commits sin, it voluntarily obliges itself to pay the penalty thereof, and thus condemns itself to the pains of hell. For you have said; we have entered into a league with death, and we have made a covenant with hell (Is. xxviii. 15). Hence, St. Ambrose well says, that God has not condemned any one, but that each one is the author of his own punishment. And the Holy Ghost says, that the sinner shall be consumed by the hatred which he bears himself: with the rod of his anger he shall be consumed (Prov. xxii. 8). He, says Salvian, who offends God has no more cruel enemy than himself, since he himself has caused the torments which he suffers. God, he continues, does not wish to see us in affliction, but it is we who draw down sufferings upon ourselves, and by our sins enkindle the flames in which we are to burn. God punishes us, because we oblige Him to punish us.
II.
You will say the mercies of the Lord are great: no matter how manifold my sins, I have in view a change of life by and by, and God will have mercy upon me. God does not wish you to speak thus. Say not the mercy of the Lord is great, he will have mercy on the multitude of my sins (Ecclus. v. 6). The reason is this, for mercy and wrath quickly come from him (Ibid. 7). Yes, it is true, God has patience, God waits for some sinners; I say some, for there are some whom God does not wait for at all: how many has He not sent to hell immediately after the first transgression? Others He does wait for, but He will not always wait for them; He spares them for a certain time and then punishes. The Lord patiently expecteth, that when the day of judgment shall come, he may punish them in the fulness of their sins (2 Mach. vi. 14). Mark well, when the day of judgment shall come: when the day of vengeance shall arrive, in the fulness of their sins. When the measure of sins which God has determined to pardon is filled up, He will punish. Then the Lord will have no mercy, and will chastise to the full.
The city of Jericho did not fall during the first circuit made by the Ark, it did not fall at the fifth, or at the sixth, but it fell at last at the seventh. And thus it will happen with thee, says St. Augustine, "at the seventh circuit made by the Ark the city of vanity will fall." God has pardoned you your first sin, your tenth, your seventieth, perhaps your thousandth; He has often called you, He now calls you again; tremble lest this should be the last circuit of the ark, that is, the last call, after which, if you do not change your life, it will be over with you. For the earth, says the Apostle, that drinketh in the rain which cometh often upon it ... and which bringeth forth thorns and briars is reprobate, and very near unto a curse, whose end is to be burned (Heb. vi. 7). That soul, he says, which has often received the waters of Divine light and grace, and instead of bearing fruit produces nought but the thorns of sin, is nigh unto a curse, and its end will be to burn eternally in hell fire. In a word, when the time comes, God punishes.
Spiritual Reading
II. MORTIFICATION OF THE EYES
The Saints were particularly cautious not to look at persons of a different sex. St. Hugh, bishop, when compelled to speak with women, never looked at them in the face. St. Clare would never fix her eyes on the face of a man. She was greatly afflicted because, when raising her eyes at the elevation to see the consecrated Host, she once involuntarily saw the countenance of the priest. St. Aloysius never looked his own mother in the face. It is related of St. Arsenius, that a noble lady went to visit him in the desert, to beg of him to recommend her to God. When the Saint perceived that his visitor was a woman, he turned away from her. She then said to him: "Arsenius, since you will neither see nor hear me, at least remember me in your prayers." "No," replied the Saint, "but I will beg of God to make me forget you, and never more think of you."
From these examples may be seen the folly and temerity of those who, though they have not the sanctity of a St. Clare, still gaze around upon every object that presents itself, even on persons of a different sex. And notwithstanding their unguarded looks, they expect to be free from temptations and from the danger of sin. For having once looked deliberately at a woman, the Abbot Pastor was tormented for forty years by temptations against chastity. St. Gregory states that the temptation, to conquer which St. Benedict rolled himself in thorns, arose from one incautious glance at a woman. St. Jerome, though living in a cave at Bethlehem, in continual prayer and macerations of the flesh, was terribly molested by the remembrance of ladies whom he had long before seen in Rome. Why should not similar molestations be the lot of those who wilfully and without reserve fix their eyes on persons of a different sex?
"It is not," says St. Francis de Sales, "the seeing of objects so much as the fixing of our eyes upon them that proves most pernicious." "If," says St. Augustine, our eyes should by chance fall upon others, let us take care never to fix them upon any one." Father Manareo, when taking leave of St. Ignatius for a distant place, looked steadfastly in his face: for this look he was corrected by the Saint. From the conduct of St. Ignatius on this occasion, we learn that it is not becoming in those who aspire to sanctity, to fix their eyes on the countenance of a person even of the same sex, particularly if the person is young. But I do not see how looks at young persons of a different sex can be excused from the guilt of a venial fault, or even from mortal sin, when there is proximate danger of criminal consent. "It is not lawful," says St. Gregory, "to behold what it is not lawful to covet." The evil thought that proceeds from looks, though it should be rejected, never fails to leave a stain upon the soul. Brother Roger, a Franciscan of singular purity, being once asked why he was so reserved in his intercourse with women, replied, that when men avoid the occasions of sin, God preserves them; but when they expose themselves to danger, they are justly abandoned by the Lord, and easily fall into some grievous transgressions.
Evening Meditation
CONFORMITY TO THE WILL OF GOD
XI. SPECIAL PRACTICES OF THIS VIRTUE.
I.
We may at times have to suffer the loss of persons who, in either a temporal or spiritual point of view, happen to be of service to us. This is a matter in regard to which devout people are often very faulty, through their want of resignation to the Divine dispensations. Our sanctification must come, not from spiritual directors, but from God. It is, indeed, His will that we should avail ourselves of directors as spiritual guides, when He gives them to us; but when He takes them away, He wills that we should rest content, and increase our confidence in His goodness, saying at such times: Lord, it is Thou Who hast given me this assistance; now Thou hast taken it from me; may Thy will be ever done; but I pray Thee now to supply my wants Thyself, and to teach me what I ought to do to serve Thee. And in the same way ought we to receive all other crosses from the hands of God. but so many troubles, you say, are chastisements. But, I ask in reply, are not the chastisements God sends us in this life acts of kindness and benefits? If we have offended Him, we have to satisfy Divine justice in some way or other, either in this life or in the next. Therefore we ought all of us to say with St. Augustine, "Here burn, here cut, here do not spare; that so Thou mayest spare in eternity"; and again, with holy Job: And that this may be my comfort, that, afflicting me with sorrow, he spare not (Job vi. 10). It should, too, be a consolation to one who has deserved hell to see that God is punishing him in this world; because this will give him good hopes that it may be God's will to deliver him from punishment eternal. Let us, then, say when suffering the chastisements of God what was said by Heli the high priest: It is the Lord; let him do what is good in his sight (1 Kings, iii. 18).
II.
We must be conformed to God's will in times of spiritual desolation. When a soul begins to lead a spiritual life, the Lord is accustomed to heap consolations on it in order to wean it from the pleasures of the world; but afterwards, when He sees it more settled in spiritual ways, He holds His hand, in order to try its love, and to see whether it serves and loves Him unrecompensed and deprived of spiritual joys. "While we are living here below," St. Teresa writes, "our gain does not consist in any increase of enjoyment of God, but in the performance of His will." And in another passage: "The love of God does not consist in tenderness, but in serving Him with constancy and humility." And again, elsewhere: "By means of drynesses and temptations the Lord tries the fidelity of those who love Him." Let the soul then thank the Lord when He caresses it with sweetness; but not torment itself by acts of impatience, when it finds itself left in desolation. This is a point which should be well attended to; for some foolish persons, finding themselves in a state of aridity, think that God has abandoned them; or, that the spiritual life was not for them; and so they leave off prayer, and lose all they have gained. There is no time better for exercising resignation to the will of God than the time of dryness. I am not saying that you will not suffer pain at seeing yourself bereft of the sensible presence of God, for it is impossible for a soul not to feel such pain as this. Neither can we refrain from lamentation, when our Redeemer Himself upon His Cross complained: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matt. xxvii. 46). But, in its sufferings, it should ever resign itself perfectly to the will of its Lord. This spiritual desolation and abandonment is what all the Saints have suffered. "What hardness of heart," said St. Bernard, "do I not experience! I no longer find any delight in reading, no longer any pleasure in meditation or in prayer."
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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God is as clement and kind when He chastises as when He bestows favours. His chastisements are the effects of His love. They are most certainly punishments, but punishments which ward off eternal penalties, and bring us to eternal happiness. We are chastised by the Lord that we may not be condemned with this world.
I.
We have not been created for this earth: We have been created for the blessed kingdom of Paradise. For this reason it is, says St. Augustine, that God mingles so much bitterness with the delights of the world in order that we may not forget Him and eternal life. If, living as we do amid so many thorns in this life, we are strongly attached to it, and long so little for Paradise, how little should we not value Paradise if God were not to embitter continually the pleasures of this earth?
If we have offended God, we must needs be punished for it either in this world or in the next. St. Ambrose says that God is merciful as well when He punishes as when He does not punish. The chastisements of God are the effect of His love; they are, to be sure, punishments, but only temporal punishments which ward off from us eternal punishment, and bring us to everlasting happiness. But whilst we are judged, we are chastised by the Lord, that we be not condemned with this world (1 Cor. xi. 32). And Judith reminded the Hebrews of the same truth when they were under the scourge of the Lord: Let us believe that these scourges of the Lord, with which like servants we are chastised have happened for our amendment, and not for our destruction (Judith viii. 27). Sara, the wife of Tobias, says the same: But this every one is sure of that worshippeth thee … if his life be under correction, it shall be allowed to come to thy mercy, for thou art not delighted in our being lost (Tob. iii. 21, 22). Lord, she said, Thou chastisest us here in order that Thou mayest spare us in the other life, for Thou dost not desire our destruction.
II.
God Himself tells us that those whom He loves in this life He chastises, in order that they may be converted: Such as I love I rebuke and chastise (Apoc. iii. 19). Where God loves, says St. Basil of Seleucia, severity is usually the pledge of His graces. Unhappy are the sinners who, living in the state of sin, prosper in this life: it is a sign that God reserves them for everlasting punishment. The sinner hath provoked the Lord; according to the multitude of his wrath, he will not seek him (Ps. ix. 25). St. Augustine says, speaking of the passage quoted, behold the most grievous chastisement! When God does not appear to take notice of the sinner, and leaves him unpunished, it is a sign that He is very wroth. I call you, says God to him whom He chastises, and will you be deaf to my voice? Son, be converted, otherwise you shall confirm My anger, since I shall cease to regard your salvation, and allow you to live on in your sins without punishment, but only that I may punish you in the life to come. And my indignation shall rest in thee; and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will cease and be angry no more (Ezech. xvi. 42). The Apostle warns you not to be deaf to the voice of God, for that on the Day of Judgment your obstinacy will be rewarded with a dreadful chastisement, and that chastisement eternal. But according to thy hardness and impenitent heart thou treasurest up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the just judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his works (Rom. ii. 5, 6).
Spiritual Reading
HOLY HUMILITY
I. THE ADVANTAGES OF HUMILITY
Humility has been regarded by the Saints as the basis and guardian of all virtues. Although in point of excellence the virtue of humility does not hold the highest rank, still, according to St. Thomas, because it is the foundation of all virtues it has obtained the first place among them. Hence, as in the structure of an edifice, the foundation takes precedence of the walls, and even of the golden ornaments, so, to expel pride, which God resists, humility must, in the edification of the spiritual man, precede all other virtues. “Humility,” says the angelic Doctor, “holds the first place, inasmuch as it expels pride, which God resists.” Hence, St. Gregory asserts that “he who gathers virtues without humility is like the man who carries chaff against the wind.” His virtues shall be scattered.
There was in the desert a certain hermit who had a high character for sanctity. At the hour of death he sent for the abbot, and asked from him the Viaticum. During the administration of the Holy Sacrament a public robber ran to the cell; but seized with compunction for his sins, he esteemed himself unworthy to enter, or to be present at so sacred a ceremony, and in the humility of his soul exclaimed: “Oh that I were what you are!” The dying monk heard the words, and, swelled with pride, said: “Happy, indeed, should you be were you as holy as I am.” After these words he expired: the robber immediately ran off from the place for the purpose of going to Confession, but on his way he fell over a precipice and was killed. At the death of the hermit his companion burst into tears; but at the fate of the robber he exulted with joy. Being asked why he wept over the death of the former and rejoiced at the melancholy end of the latter, he replied: Because the robber was saved by contrition for his past sins, but my companion is damned in punishment of his pride. Do not imagine that the hermit yielded to pride only at the hour of death: from his last words it is clear that pride had long before taken root in his heart; by its baneful influence he was brought to a miserable eternity. “Unless,” says St. Augustine, “humility shall have preceded, shall be continued, and shall have followed, pride will wrest the whole from our hands.” Yes, the rapacious grasp of pride will tear from us every good work which is not preceded, accompanied, and followed by humility.
This sublime virtue was but little known, but little loved, and greatly abhorred on earth, where pride, the cause of the ruin of Adam and of his posterity, enjoyed universal sway. Therefore, the Son of God came down from Heaven to teach it to men by His example as well as by His preaching. To instruct them in humility he came upon earth in the likeness of flesh and in the form of a servant. He emptied himself, says the Apostle, taking the form of a servant (Phil. ii. 7). He wished to be treated as the most contemptible of men. Despised, says the Prophet Isaias, and the most abject of men (Is. liii. 3). Behold Him in Bethlehem, born in a stable and laid in a manger; in Nazareth, poor, unknown, and employed in the humble occupation of assisting a poor artisan. Look at Him in Jerusalem, scourged as a slave, buffeted as the vilest of men, crowned with thorns as a mock king, and in the end suffering as a malefactor the ignominious death of the Cross. And with all His humiliations before your eyes, hearken to His advice: I have given you an example, that as I have done so you do also. (Jo. xiii. 15). My children, I have embraced so much ignominy that you may not refuse abjection. Speaking of the humiliations of the Son of God, St. Augustine says: “If this medicine cure not your pride, I know not what will heal it.” Hence in one of his epistles to Dioscorus he tells his friends that it is principally by his humility a man is made the disciple of Jesus, and that the soul is prepared for a union with God. “The first,” says the Saint, “is humility; the second, humility; the third, humility; and as often as you would ask I should answer, humility.”
Evening Meditation
CONFORMITY TO THE WILL OF GOD
XIII. SPECIAL PRACTICES OF THIS VIRTUE
I.
We must above all be conformed to the will of God in regard to our death, as to the time and manner of it. St. Gertrude one day, when climbing a hill, slipped and fell into a ravine. Her companions asked her afterwards whether she would not have been afraid to die without the Sacraments? The Saint answered that it was her great desire to die fortified by the Sacraments, but she considered that the will of God was better, because the best dispositions one can have when dying would be one’s submission to all that God should will; consequently, she desired whatever death the Lord would be pleased to allot to her. It is related by St. Gregory, in his Dialogues, that the Vandals having condemned to death a certain priest named Santolo, they granted him the choice of the kind of death he would prefer; but the holy man refused to make a selection, saying: “I am in the hands of God, and will suffer the death He permits you to make me suffer; nor do I wish for any other.” This act was so pleasing to God that, when these barbarous men had resolved on having his head cut off, He held back the executioner’s arm; whereupon they acknowledged the great miracle, and spared his life. As to the manner, then, we should esteem that death the best for us which God may have determined to be ours. Save us, Lord (let us ever say, when thinking of our death); and then let us die in whatever manner seemeth good unto Thee.
Then, again, we ought to unite our will to God’s will as to the time of our death. What is this world but a prison in which we have to suffer, and every moment run the risk of losing God? It was this that caused David to exclaim: Bring my soul out of prison (Ps. cxli. 8). It was this fear that made St. Teresa sigh for death. On hearing the clock strike, she felt the utmost consolation in the thought that an hour of her life had passed, an hour in which she was in danger of losing God.
II.
Blessed John of Avila used to say that everyone, even those with imperfect dispositions, should desire death, because of the danger in which we live of losing the Divine grace. What is more precious, or more to be desired than a good death whereby we are secure of never losing the grace of our God? But, you say, “I have as yet done nothing. I have gained nothing for my soul.” But if it be the will of God that your life should terminate now, what good would you be able to do if you were to remain alive contrary to His will? And who knows whether, in that case, you would die such a death as you can have hope of dying now? Who knows whether, through a change of will, you might not fall into other sins, and lose your soul? And even were there nothing else, you could not live without committing at least venial sins. Hence, St. Bernard exclaims: “Why, oh, why do we wish to live, when the longer we live, the more we sin? And it is certain that one of our venial sins displeases God more than all our good works can please Him.
I say, moreover, that he who has but little desire for Paradise shows that he has but little love for God. One who loves desires the presence of the object loved; but we cannot see God without leaving this world; and therefore it is that all the Saints have sighed for death, in order to go and see the Lord Whom they loved. Thus did Augustine sigh, “Oh, may I die, that I may see Thee!” Thus, too, St. Paul: Having a desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ (Phil. i. 23). Thus, again, David: When shall I come and appear before the face of God? (Ps. xli. 3). And thus, speak all those souls that have been enamoured of God. It is related that one day, as a gentleman was out hunting in a forest, he heard a man singing sweetly. On going in that direction, he found a poor leper in a state of semi-putrefaction. He asked him if it was he who was singing? “Yes, sir,” answered the poor leper, “it was I who was singing.” “And how can you sing amid sufferings like these, which are taking your life away?” The leper answered, “There is nothing between my Lord God and myself but this wall of clay, which is my body, and when this obstruction is removed, I shall go to enjoy my God. Seeing, as I do, that it is falling to pieces every day, I therefore rejoice and sing.”
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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Holy Job enquires why the wicked are allowed to live, and why are they advanced and strengthened in prosperity? And why instead of dying in poverty and tribulation they continue to enjoy health and honours and riches? The holy man himself gives the answer: They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell.
I.
St. Jerome says that there cannot be a greater punishment for a sinner than that he should not be punished in this life. And St. Isidore of Pelusium says that sinners who are punished in this life do not deserve pity, but those only who die without having been punished. It is not so bad, continues the Saint, to be simply sick as to have no one to cure you. St. Augustine says, in another part, that when God does not chastise the sinner in this world, He chastises him most severely; whence he concludes that there is no greater misfortune than impunity for a sinner. After England had rebelled against the Church, God did not visit her with temporal scourges: her riches have been increasing from that time; but her chastisement is all the greater on that account, as she is left to perish in her sin. The absence of punishment is the greatest punishment, says the same holy Doctor. Not to receive chastisement for sin in this life is a great punishment, but prosperity in sin is a still greater punishment.
Why then, Job inquires, do the wicked live, are they advanced and strengthened with riches? How comes it, O Lord, that sinners, instead of being taken out of this life in poverty and tribulation, enjoy health, and honours, and riches? The holy man answers: They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell (Job xxi. 7, 13). Wretched men! they enjoy their riches for a few days, and when the hour of chastisement comes, when they least expect it, they are condemned to burn forever in that place of torments. Jeremias makes the same inquiry: Why doth the way of the wicked prosper? and then adds, Gather them together as sheep for a sacrifice (Jer. xii. 1-3). Animals destined for sacrifice are kept from all labour, and fattened for slaughter. Thus does God act towards the obstinate: He abandons them, and suffers them to fatten on the pleasures of this life in order to sacrifice them in the other to His eternal justice; for these, says Minutius Felix, are fed like victims for the slaughter.
II.
Poor wretched sinners, says David, shall not be punished in this life, but they shall enjoy their fleeting pleasures. By and by their dream shall cease: Neither shall they be scourged like other men; ... they have suddenly ceased to be; as the dream of them that awake, O Lord, so in thy city thou shalt bring their image to nothing (Ps. lxxii. 5, 18, 20). How painful is not the case of a poor sick man, who dreams that he has grown rich and great, and upon awaking finds himself a miserable and sick creature still? And the enemies of the Lord shall ... vanish like smoke (Ps. xxxvi. 20). The happiness of sinners is as suddenly dissipated as is smoke by a breath of air. "Smoke," observes St. Gregory, "vanishes in its ascent." And the same is the case with sinners: I have seen the wicked highly exalted, ... and I passed by, and lo! he was not (Ps. xxxvi. 35). These unhappy men are exalted the higher, that their fall may be the greater. The Lord allows the sinner to be exalted for his greater punishment, in order that his fall may be the more grievous, as is said by David. When they were lifted up thou hast cast them down (Ps. lxxii. 18). If the sick man, says St. John Chrysostom, suffer hunger or thirst by order of his physician, it is a sign that the physician has hope of him; but if the doctor allow him to eat what he pleases, and drink as much as he likes, what are we to conclude from that? It is plain that the physician has given him over. And thus, says St. Gregory, it is a manifest sign that God abandons the sinner to perdition, when He never thwarts his evil purposes: and in the Book of Proverbs we read that the prosperity of fools shall destroy them (Prov. i. 32). As lightning precedes thunder, says St. Bernard, so is prosperity the forerunner of damnation for the sinner.
Spiritual Reading
HOLY HUMILITY
II. ITS ADVANTAGES
The proud are objects of hatred and abomination before God. Every proud man, says the Holy Ghost, is an abomination to the Lord (Prov. xvi. 5). Yes; for the proud man is a robber, and is blind; he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. He is a robber, because he appropriates to himself what belongs to God. What hast thou that thou hast not received? (1 Cor. iv. 7). Would it not be the extreme of folly in a brute animal, were it gifted with reason, to glory in the gilded trappings of which it knows it may be stripped at the beck of its master? The proud man is blind, as we learn from the Apocalypse of St. John. Thou sayest: I am rich ... and knowest not that thou art wretched and blind (Apoc. iii. 17). And what has man of his own but nothingness and sin? Even the little good he does, when examined with rigour, will appear full of imperfection. "All our justice," says St. Bernard, "if rigorously judged, will be found to be injustice." Lastly, the proud man is a liar, and the truth is not in him. For all his advantages, whether of nature -- such as health, talent, beauty, and the like; or of grace -- such as good desires, a docile heart, and an enlightened mind, are all the gifts of God. By the grace of God, says St. Paul, I am what I am (1 Cor. xv. 10). The same Apostle tells us that of ourselves we are not capable of even a good thought. Not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves as of ourselves (2 Cor. iii. 5).
To preserve His servants from pride, the Lord sometimes permits them to be afflicted with the shameful solicitations of the flesh; to their repeated prayers to be delivered from the suggestions of Satan and of their own corruption He appears deaf, and leaves them to combat with the temptation. It was thus God treated St. Paul; and, says the Saint, lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me, there was given to me a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me. For which thing thrice I besought the Lord that it might depart from me, and he said to me, my grace is sufficient for thee (2 Cor. xii. 7, 8, 9). "To keep him humble," says St. Jerome, "the Almighty refused to deliver the Apostle from the molestation of the flesh by which he was tormented." Moreover, to teach them humility, the Lord sometimes permits the elect to fall into sin. Thus David acknowledges that he sinned because he had not been humble. Before I was humbled, I offended (Ps. cxviii. 67).
"God," says St. Augustine, "sits on high; you humble yourself, and He descends to you; you exalt yourself, and He flies from you." The royal Prophet says that the Lord looketh on the low, and the high he knoweth afar off (Ps. cxxxvii. 6). He regards the humble with the affectionate eye, but the proud He beholds only at a distance. As we cannot recognize a person whom we see afar off, so the Lord appears to tell the proud, in the words of the Psalmist, that He knows them not.
The proud are hateful before God; He cannot bear them. As soon as the Angels yielded to pride, He banished them from Paradise and sent them into hell, far distant from His presence. The words of God must be fulfilled: Whosoever, says the Lord, shall exalt himself, shall be humbled (Matt. xxiii. 12). St. Peter Damian relates that a certain proud man had resolved to assert his right to an estate by single combat; before the time appointed for the duel he went to Mass, and hearing in the church the above-mentioned words of the Gospel: Whosoever shall exalt himself, shall be humbled, he exclaimed: This cannot be true: for had I humbled myself I should have lost my property and my character. But when he came to the combat, his sacrilegious tongue was cut across by the sword of his antagonist, and he instantly fell dead.
God, says St. James, resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble (James iv. 6). The Lord has promised to hear the prayers of all. Every one that asketh, receiveth (Luke xi. 10). The proud God hears not; according to the Apostle, He resists their petitions. But to the humble He is liberal beyond measure: He giveth grace to the humble. To them God opens His hands, and grants whatsoever they ask or desire. Humble thyself to God, says the Holy Ghost, and wait for his hands (Ecclus. xiii. 9). Humble your soul before the Lord, and expect from His hands whatever you seek.
"Give me, O Lord," exclaims St. Augustine, "the treasure of humility." Humility is a treasure, because upon the humble the Lord pours every blessing in abundance. A heart full of self cannot be replenished with the gifts of God. To receive the Divine favours, the soul must be first emptied by the knowledge of her own nothingness. Thou sendest forth, says David, springs in the vales: between the midst of the hills the waters shall pass (Ps. viii. 10). God makes the waters of His graces abound in the valleys, that is, in humble souls, but not on the mountains, the emblems of the proud and the haughty. In the midst of these, His graces pass, but remain not on them. Because, says Mary, he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid ... He that is mighty hath done great things to me (Luke i. 48, 49). The Lord, looking upon my humility, and my sense of nothingness, hath bestowed great favours on me.
Evening Meditation
CONFORMITY TO THE WILL OF GOD
XIV. SPECIAL PRACTICES OF THIS VIRTUE
I.
We must bring our will into conformity to the Divine Will even as regards our degree of grace and of glory. Highly as we ought to esteem the glory of God, we ought to esteem His will yet more. It would be good to desire to love God more than the very Seraphim, but it would not be right to desire to ascend to a higher degree of love than what the Lord has determined for us. Blessed John of Avila says: "I do not think there ever was a Saint who succeeded in becoming as holy as he had wished to be. But that never disturbed a Saint, because Saints wish to become holy only to please God, and not for their own satisfaction. Therefore, they were satisfied with that degree of holiness to which God's grace raised them, even though it was not as high as what they aimed at. They believed that there was more true love in being content with what God gave than in wishing for more."
All this means, as Father Rodriguez explains it, that we should be diligent in trying to reach the highest perfection possible so as not to turn our own lukewarmness and laziness into an excuse, as those do who say that God must make them a present of holiness if He wants them to be holy, since they themselves can do little or nothing. Nevertheless, when we fail in our efforts we must not lose our peace of mind, nor our conformity to God's will, nor our courage. God's will permits our fall. What we have to do is to rise at once, to humble ourselves by repentance, and with greater earnest than ever in prayer pursue the way of perfection.
It would, moreover, be but too evident a fault to desire to possess gifts of supernatural prayer -- such, especially, as ecstasies, visions, and revelations; whereas, on the contrary, spiritual writers say that those souls on whom God bestows such graces ought to pray to Him to deprive them of them, in order that they may love Him by the way of pure Faith, which is the safest way of all. There are many who have attained perfection without these supernatural favours. Chief amongst the virtues that raise the soul to highest sanctity stands conformity to the will of God. If God does not choose to raise us to a high degree of perfection and of glory, let us conform ourselves in all respects to His holy will, praying that He would at least save us through His mercy. And if we act in this manner, the reward will not be small which, of His goodness, our good Lord will give us, for above everything He loves those souls that are resigned.
II.
In short, we ought to regard whatever comes to us as proceeding from God's hand, and everything we do we should direct to this one end, the fulfilment of God's will, and to do it simply because God wills it to be done. And in order to proceed with greater security in this, we must follow the guidance of our superiors as regards what is external, and of our directors with regard to what is internal, that so we may, through them, understand what God desires of us, having great faith in those words of Jesus Christ: He that heareth you heareth me (Luke x. 16). And, above all, let it be our study to serve God in the way it is His will that we should serve Him. I say this, that we may not deceive ourselves as many do who say: "Oh, if I were in a desert; if I could enter into a monastery; if I could go somewhere, and not have to remain in this house, away from these relatives or these companions of mine -- I would sanctify myself; I would do so much penance; I would say so many prayers." He says: "I would do this; I would do that"; but in the meantime, as he bears with a bad will the cross God sends him, and does not walk in the way God wills, he not only does not sanctify himself, but goes from bad to worse. These desires are mere temptations of the devil, for they are not in accordance with the will of God; we must, therefore, drive them away, and brace ourselves up to the service of God in that one way which He has set before us. By doing His will, we shall certainly sanctify ourselves in any state wherein God places us. Let us, then, ever will only that which God wills, so that He may take and press us to His Heart; and, for this end, let us make ourselves familiar with some of those passages of Scripture that invite us to unite ourselves ever more and more to the Divine will: Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? (Acts ix. 6). My God, tell me what Thou desirest of me; for I desire to do it all. I am thine: save thou me (Ps. cxviii. 94). O my Lord, I am no longer mine own, but Thine; do with me whatsoever Thou pleasest. And at such times especially as any very grievous calamity befalls us -- as in the case of the death of parents, the loss of property, and such like -- Yea, Father, for so hath it seemed good in thy sight (Matt. xi. 26). Yes, my God and my Father, let it be even so; for so it hath pleased Thee. And, above all, let us love that prayer which Jesus Christ has taught us: Fiat voluntas tua sicut in coelo et in terra! -- Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven! The Lord told St. Catharine of Genoa that whenever she said the Our Father, she was to pay particular attention to these words, and pray that His holy will might be fulfilled by her with the same perfection with which it is fulfilled by the Saints in Heaven. Let us, too, act in this manner, and we shall certainly become saints ourselves.
May the Divine will, and the Blessed and Immaculate Virgin Mary, be ever loved and praised. Amen.
O WILL OF GOD! O WILL DIVINE!'Tis Thy good pleasure, not my own,
In Thee, my God, I love alone;
And nothing I desire of Thee
But what Thy goodness wills for me.
O will of God! O will Divine!
All, all our love be ever thine.In love no rival canst Thou bear,
But Thou art full of tenderest care;
And fire and sweetness all Divine
To hearts which once are wholly Thine.
O will of God! O will Divine!
All, all our love be ever thine.In Thee all pure affections live,
To love Thou dost perfection give;
While ever burning with desires
The loving soul to Thee aspires.
O will of God! O will Divine!
All, all our love be ever thine.Thou makest crosses soft and light
And death itself seem sweet and bright.
No cross nor fear that soul dismays
Whose will to Thee united stays.
O will of God! O will Divine!
All, all our love be ever thine.To all the glorious choirs of Heaven
Their very bliss by Thee is given;
And Heaven itself deprived of Thee
Would be a land of misery.
O will of God! O will Divine!
All, all our love be ever thine.Yea, to the lost who burn in hell,
If in their souls Thy love could dwell,
The very flames and torments there
Would seem but sweet and light to bear.
O will of God! O will Divine!
All, all our love be ever thine.Oh! that one day my life may end
In closest bonds to Thee enchained
For thus to die is not to die,
But live, and live eternally.
O will of God! O will Divine!
All, all our love be ever thine.To Thee I consecrate and give
My heart and being while I live;
Jesus, Thy Heart alone shall be
My Love for all eternity.
O will of God! O will Divine!
All, all our love be ever thine.Alike in pleasure and in pain
To please Thee is my joy and gain;
That, O my Love, which pleases Thee
Shall ever more seem best to me.
May heaven and earth with love fulfil,
My God, Thy ever-blessed will!
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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The greatest punishment God can inflict on a sinner is to let him sleep on in his sins, buried in the sleep of death. I will make them drunk that they may ... sleep an everlasting sleep and awake no more, saith the Lord. On the contrary, it is a sign of mercy for the sinner when God chastises him here below. When the surgeon uses the knife it is not to kill but to cure.
I.
The greatest punishment God can inflict on a sinner is to let him sleep on in his sins -- buried in that sleep of death. I will make them drunk, that they may .. . sleep an everlasting sleep and awake no more, saith the Lord (Jer. li. 39). After murdering his brother, Cain was afraid that he should be killed by everyone he met. Every one therefore that findeth me shall kill me (Gen. iv. 14). But the Lord assured him that he should live, and that no one should kill him; and this very assurance of a long life, according to St. Ambrose, was Cain's greatest punishment. The Saint says, that God treats the obstinate sinner mercifully, when He gives him an early death, because He thus saves him from as many hells as he should have committed sins during a longer life. Let sinners then live on according to the desires of their hearts, let them enjoy their pleasures in peace; there will at length come a time when they shall be caught as fish upon the hook. As fishes are taken with the hook ... so men are taken in the evil time (Eccles. ix. 12). Whence St. Augustine says: "Do not rejoice like the fish who is delighted with the bait, for the fisherman has not yet pulled the hook." If you were to see a condemned man making merry at a banquet with the halter round his neck, and every moment awaiting the order for execution, would you envy or pity him? Neither should you envy the sinner who is happy in his vices. That wretched sinner is already on the hook, he is already in the infernal net; when the time of chastisement shall have arrived, then the wretch will know and deplore his damnation, but all to no purpose.
II.
It is a sign of God's mercy when He chastises the sinner here below. It is a sign that God has still merciful views upon him, and that He wishes to substitute a temporal for an eternal punishment in his regard. God, says St. John Chrysostom, when He punishes us on this earth, does not do so out of hatred, but that He may draw us to himself. He chastises for a little while, that He may have you with Himself for eternity. When the physician uses the knife, he does so to cure, says St. Augustine. And God does the same in our regard. God seems to be cruel; but do not fear, for He is a Father Who is never cruel, and does not wish to destroy us. But, does not God say the same Himself? Such as I love, I rebuke and chastise. Be zealous therefore, and do penance (Apoc. iii. 19). Son, says God, I love you, and therefore I chastise you. See how good I am to you and endeavour you to act in like manner towards Me. Do penance for your sins, if you wish that I should spare you the chastisement which you deserve: at least, accept with patience and turn to advantage the tribulation I send you. In this cross which now afflicts you hear you My voice calling upon you to turn to Me; to fly from hell, which is close upon you. Behold! I stand at the gate and knock (Ib. 20). I am knocking at the door of your heart; open then to Me, and know that when the sinner who has driven Me from his heart opens the door again to me, I will enter, and stay with him forever. If any man shall hear my voice, and open to me the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me (Ib. 20). I shall remain united to him forever on this earth; and if he remain faithful, I shall set him beside Me on the throne of My eternal kingdom. To him that shall overcome, I will give to sit with me in my throne (Ib. 21).
Spiritual Reading
HOLY HUMILITY
III. ADVANTAGES OF HUMILITY
St. Teresa relates of herself, that the greatest graces she received from God were infused into her soul when she humbled herself most before the Lord in prayer. The prayer of him that humbleth himself shall pierce the clouds, and he will not depart till the Most High behold (Ecclus. xxxv. 21). The humble obtain from God whatever they ask: they need not be afraid of being confounded, or of being left without consolation. Let not, says David, the humble be turned away with confusion (Ps. lxxiii. 21). Hence, St. Joseph Calasanctius used to say: "If you wish to be a saint, be humble; if you wish to be a very great saint, be most humble." To St. Francis Borgia, while a secular, a holy man once said: "If you desire to be a saint, never let a day pass without thinking on your miseries." Hence the Saint spent every day, the first two hours of prayer in the study of his own nothingness, and in sentiments of self-contempt.
St. Gregory says "that pride is the most evident mark of the reprobate; but humility is, on the contrary, the most evident mark of the elect." Seeing the world covered with the toils of the devil, St. Anthony, with a sigh, exclaimed: "Who can escape so many snares!" "Anthony," replied a voice, "it is only humility that passes through them with security: the humble man is not in danger of being ensnared." In a word, unless we are like infants, not in years but in humility, we shall never attain salvation. Unless you become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matt. xviii. 3). In the life of St. Palemon it is related that a certain monk who walked on burning coals said to his companions: Which of you can tread on red-hot fire without being burnt. The Saint reproved him for his vanity, but the unhappy man did not amend. Puffed up with pride, he afterwards fell into sin, and died without repentance.
To the humble who are despised and persecuted on earth is promised the glory of God's kingdom. Blessed are ye when they shall revile and persecute you ... for your reward is very great in heaven (Matt. v. 11-12). The humble shall be happy in this life as well as in the next. Learn of me, says Jesus, because I am meek and humble of heart; and you shall find rest to your souls (Matt. xi. 29). The proud never enjoy peace, because they never receive the respect or attention which a vain opinion of their own greatness makes them regard as their due. When loaded with honours, they are not content; either because they see others still more exalted, or, because they desire some unattainable dignity, the absence of which is to them a source of torture, not to be removed by the gratification arising from all the honours they enjoy. Great, indeed, was the glory of Aman, in the court of Assuerus, where he sat at the monarch's table. But, because Mardochai would not salute him, he was unhappy. And whereas I have all these things, I think I have nothing so long as I see Mardochai, the Jew, sitting before the king's gate (Esth. v. 13). Being the result of constraint and of human respect, the honour shown to the great does not give true joy. "True glory," says St. Jerome, "like a shadow, follows virtue: it flies from all who grasp at it, and seeks after those who despise it."
The humble man is always content, because whatever respect is paid to him he deems to be above his merits, and whatever contempt may be offered him he regards as far short of what is due to his sins. In all humility he exclaims with holy Job: I have sinned, and indeed I have offended, and I have not received what I have deserved (Job xxxiii. 27). Previous to a long journey which he was obliged to make, St. Francis Borgia was advised to dispatch a courier, who would secure accommodation for his master at the hotels where he intended to stop. "I never," replied the saint, "fail to send my courier before me. But do you know who he is? My courier is the thought of hell, which my sins have merited; this thought makes every lodging appear to me a palace in comparison of the dungeon to which I deserve to be condemned."
Evening Meditation
INTERIOR TRIALS
I.
All the anxiety of scrupulous souls arises from a fear lest in what they do, they should be acting, not with a mere scruple but with a real doubt, and therefore be committing sin. But the chief thing they are to remember is this: that he who acts in obedience to a learned and pious confessor, acts not only with no doubt, but with the greatest security that can be had upon earth, a security that rests on the Divine words of Jesus Christ, that he who obeys His ministers is as though he obeyed God Himself: He that heareth you heareth me (Luke x. 16). Hence St. Bernard says: "Whatever man, in the place of God enjoins, provided it be not certainly displeasing to God, is absolutely to be received as though enjoined by God.
As to the personal direction of conscience, it is certain the confessor is the lawful superior, as St. Francis de Sales, with all spiritual instructors, declares: while Father Pinamonti, in his Spiritual Director, says: "It is well to make the scrupulous perceive, that submitting their will to the ministers of the Lord gives them the greatest security in all that is not manifestly sin." Let them read the Lives of the Saints, and they will find that they knew no safer road than obedience. The Saints plainly relied more on the voice of their confessor than on the immediate voice of God, and yet the scrupulous would lean more on their own judgment than on the Gospel, which assures them: He that heareth you, heareth me.
II.
The Blessed Henry Suso used to say that God demands no account from us of things done under obedience. St. Philip Neri says the same: "Let such as desire to advance in the way of God submit themselves to a learned confessor, and obey him in God's stead. Let him who thus acts be assured that he will not have to render an account of his actions to God." He says, moreover, that one should have all faith in one's confessor, on the ground that God would not permit him to err; and that there is nothing that more surely cuts asunder the snares of the devil than to do the will of another in what is good, nor anything more full of danger than to be guiding ourselves according to what seems best to us. This is confirmed by St. John of the Cross, who speaks in the Name of the Lord: "When thou art unfaithful to confessors, thou art so unto Me, Who have said: He that despiseth you, despiseth me." And again: "Not to rest satisfied with what the confessor says is pride and failure in faith."
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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Forget not the kindness of thy Surety for he hath given his life for thee. By this Surety we understand Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, Who, seeing that we were unable to satisfy Divine Justice, offered Himself to die for us. He was offered because it was his own will. He offered to make satisfaction for us, and actually paid our debts in His Blood, and by giving up His life. He hath given his life for thee.
I.
Forget not the kindness of thy Surety for he hath given his life for thee (Ecclus. xxix. 19). By this Surety we understand Jesus Christ, Who, seeing that we were unable to atone to the Divine justice, offered Himself because it was his own will (Is. liii. 7). He offered to make satisfaction for us, and actually paid our debts by His Blood and by His Death. He hath given his life for thee.
To repair the insults which we offered to the Divine majesty, the sacrifice of the life of all men was not sufficient; God alone could atone for an injury done to God; and this Jesus Christ has accomplished. By so much, says St. Paul, is Jesus made a surety of a better testament (Heb. vii. 22). By making satisfaction on behalf of man, our Redeemer, man's surety, says the Apostle, obtained by His merits a new compact -- that if man should observe the law, God would grant him grace and eternal life. This is precisely what Jesus Christ Himself expressed in the institution of the Eucharist when He said, This chalice is the new testament in my blood (1 Cor. xi. 25.) By these words Jesus meant, that the chalice of His Blood was the instrument or written security by which was established the new covenant between God and Jesus Christ, that to men who were faithful to Him should be given the gift of grace and of eternal life.
Hence, by suffering the penalties due to us, the Redeemer, through the love which He bore us, made on our behalf a rigorous atonement to the Divine Justice. Surely, says the Prophet, he hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows (Is. liii. 4). And all this was the fruit of His love. Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us (Eph. v. 2). St. Bernard says that to pardon us, Jesus Christ did not pardon Himself. "To redeem a slave He spared not Himself." O miserable Jews, why do you still wait for the Messias promised by the Prophets? He has already come: you have murdered Him; but, in spite of your guilt, your Redeemer is ready to pardon you; for He has come to save the lost sheep of the house of Israel: The Son of Man is come to save that which was lost (Matt. xviii. 11).
II.
St. Paul has written that, to deliver us from the malediction due to our sins, Jesus Christ has charged Himself with all the maledictions we merited; and therefore He wished to suffer the death of the accursed, that is, the death of the Cross: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree (Gal. iii. 13).
What a source of glory would it not be to a poor peasant captured by pirates, and reduced to slavery, to be ransomed by his sovereign at the cost of a kingdom! But how much greater glory do we derive from having been redeemed by Jesus Christ at the cost of His own Blood, a single drop of which is worth more than a thousand worlds! You were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver ... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled (1 Pet. i. 18, 19). Hence, St. Paul tells us that we commit an act of injustice against our Saviour if we dispose of ourselves according to our own, and not according to His will, or if we indulge our inclinations ourselves, or, what is worse, if we indulge our inclinations so as to offend our God. For we belong not to ourselves, but to Jesus Christ Who has purchased us with a great price. Know you not that ... you are not your own? For you are bought with a great price (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20).
Ah, my Redeemer, if I had shed all my blood for Thee, and even given for Thee a thousand lives, what compensation would it be for the love of Thee, Who hast given Thy Blood and Thy life for me? Give me strength, O my Jesus, to be entirely Thine during the remainder of my life.
Spiritual Reading
HOLY HUMILITY
IV. HUMILITY OF THE INTELLECT OR JUDGMENT
Let us examine now what we must do in order to attain humility.
There are two kinds of humility: humility of the intellect, and humility of the will or of the heart. Here we shall speak of the former, without which the latter cannot be acquired.
Humility of the intellect consists in thinking lowly of ourselves; in esteeming ourselves to be vile and miserable creatures, such as we really are. "Humility," says St. Bernard, "is a virtue which, by the knowledge of himself makes a man contemptible in his own estimation." Humility is truth, as St. Teresa has well said, and therefore the Lord greatly loves the humble, because they love the truth. It is too true that we are nothing; that we are ignorant, blind, and unable to do any good. Of our own we have nothing but sin, which renders us worse than nothing; and of ourselves we can do nothing but evil. Whatever good we have or perform belongs to God and comes from His hands. This truth the humble man keeps continually before his eyes; he therefore calls his own only the evil he has done, and deems himself worthy of all sorts of contempt, and cannot bear to hear others attribute to him what he does not deserve. On the contrary, he delights in seeing himself despised and treated according to his deserts; and thus he renders his soul most pleasing to God. "A Christian," says St. Gregory, "becomes all the more estimable in the eyes of God in proportion as he is despicable in his own." Hence, St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi used to say, that the two foundations of Religious perfection are the love of God and the contempt of self. "Because," says the Saint, "he who will have humbled himself most upon earth shall see God most clearly in Heaven."
It is necessary, then, to pray continually in the words of St. Augustine: "May I know myself: may I know Thee, O my God, that thus I may love Thee and despise myself." Make me, O Lord, understand what I am and what Thou art. Thou are the source of every good: I am misery itself. Of myself I have nothing, I know nothing. I can do nothing but evil. It is only the humble that truly honour God. He, says the Holy Ghost, is honoured by the humble (Ecclus. iii. 21). Yes, it is only the humble that can give glory to the Lord, for they alone acknowledge Him to be the supreme and only Good. If, then, you desire to honour God, keep continually in view all your miseries; confess in the sincerity of your soul, that of yourself you are only nothingness and sinfulness, and that whatsoever you possess belongs to God. And, convinced of your own wretchedness, consider yourself deserving only of contempt and punishment; and offer yourself to accept all the chastisements with which God may visit you.
As a sequence of these principles we give here the following rules:
Be careful never to boast of anything. Far different from yours was the conduct of the Saints. It is my continual practice to exhort all to read, for their spiritual reading, the Lives of the Saints. The great labours and exertions of the Saints for God's glory will humble our pride, and make us ashamed of the little we do or have done for God. But how is it possible that we should glory in anything, when we know that all the virtues we may possess are the gifts of God? "Who," says St. Bernard, "could abstain from laughing, if the clouds boasted of having begotten rain?" Whoever glories in any good action deserves to be treated with similar derision. Blessed John of Avila relates that a certain rich nobleman who had married a peasant, to prevent her from being puffed up with pride at seeing herself attended by servants and dressed in rich apparel, caused the miserable garment which she wore before her marriage to be preserved as a reminder. You should imitate his example. When you perceive that you have performed a good work or acquired any virtue, look back to your former state, remember what you were, and conclude that all the good you possess is but an alms from the Almighty. "Whosoever," says St. Augustine, "reckons up to Thee, O Lord, his own merits, what else does he reckon up but Thy gifts?" Whenever St. Teresa performed a good work, or saw an act of virtue performed by others, she immediately burst forth into the praises of God, referring the whole to Him as to its Author. Hence the Saint justly observes, that it is not incompatible with humility to acknowledge the special graces that God has given more abundantly to us than to others. Such an acknowledgment, continues the Saint, is not pride; on the contrary, by making us feel that we are more unworthy, and at the same time more favoured, than others, it assists our humility and stimulates our gratitude. The Saint adds that a Christian who does not reflect with gratitude on the sublime graces he has received, will never resolve to do great things for God. But in contemplating the gifts God has bestowed upon us we must always distinguish between what belongs to God and what belongs to us. St. Paul scrupled not to assert that for the glory of the Lord Jesus he had done more than all the other Apostles. I have, he says, laboured more abundantly than all they (1 Cor. xv. 10). But he immediately confessed that his labours were not his own works, but the fruit of Divine grace, by which he was assisted: Yet not I, but the grace of God with me (1 Cor. v. 10).
Evening Meditation
"A MAN OF SORROWS AND ACQUAINTED WITH INFIRMITIES"
I.
The Prophet Isaias called our Redeemer a man of sorrows and acquainted with infimities (Is. liii. 3). Contemplating the sorrows of Jesus Christ, Salvian exclaimed, "O Love, I know not whether to call Thee sweet or severe: Thou dost appear to be both." O Love of my Jesus, I know not what to call Thee. Thou hast indeed been sweet towards us in loving us after so much ingratitude; but to Thyself Thou hast been cruel to excess, in choosing a life so full of pains, and in suffering a death so full of bitterness, in order to atone for our sins.
St. Thomas, the Angelic Doctor, writes that to save us from hell, Jesus Christ assumed the most extreme pain and the most extreme ignominy. To satisfy the Divine justice, it would be enough for Him to have suffered any pain; but no, He wishes to submit to the most galling insults and to the sharpest pains, in order to make us comprehend the malice of our sins, and the love with which His Heart was inflamed for us.
The God-man assumed the most extreme pain; hence, as we read in the Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews, He said: A body thou hast fitted to me (Heb. x. 5). The body which God gave to Jesus Christ was made on purpose for suffering, and therefore His flesh was most sensitive and delicate. Sensitive, or capable of feeling pain most acutely: delicate, or so tender that every stroke which it received left a wound; in a word, His sacred body was made on purpose for suffering.
Besides, all the sorrows that Jesus Christ suffered till He expired on the Cross were always present to His mind from the first moment of His Incarnation. He saw them all, and cheerfully embraced them, in order to accomplish the will of His Father, Who wished that He should be offered in sacrifice for our salvation. Then, said I, Behold, I come: in the head of the book it is written of me that I should do thy will, O God (Heb. x. 7). This, according to the Apostle, was the oblation which obtained for us Divine grace. In the which will, we are sanctified by the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ once. (Heb. x. 10).
II.
But what, O my Redeemer, induces Thee to sacrifice Thy life amid so many sorrows for our salvation? St. Paul answers: to this He was led by the love He bore us: Christ hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us (Eph. v. 2). He hath delivered himself: love has induced Him to give His body to the scourges, His head to the thorns, His face to the spittle and buffets, His hands and feet to the nails, and His life to death.
Let him who wishes to see a man of sorrows look at Jesus Christ. Behold Him hanging on three nails; behold the entire weight of His body sustained by the wounds in His hands and feet; each member suffers its proper torment without any mitigation of pain. The three hours during which Jesus remained on the Cross are justly called the Three Hours of the Saviour's Agony; for during these three hours He suffered a continual agony and sorrow, which gradually brought Him to death, and in the end took away His life; this Man of Sorrows died of pure pain.
And what Christian, O my Jesus, can believe that Thou hast died for him on the Cross, and not love Thee? And how have I been able to live so many years in such forgetfulness of Thee, as to offend so often and so grievously a God Who has loved me so intensely? Oh that I had died before I had ever offended Thee! O Love of my soul, O my Redeemer! Oh that I could die for Thee, Who hast died for me! I love Thee, O my Jesus, and I wish to love nothing but Thee.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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From the hour Mary came into the world her only thought, after the glory of God, was to succour the miserable. And in order to succour the miserable she enjoys the privilege of obtaining whatever she asks. She has only to speak and her Son immediately grants her her request.
I.
From the hour Mary came into the world her only thought, after the glory of God, was to succour the miserable. And in order to succour the miserable she enjoys the privilege of obtaining whatever she asks. This we know from what occurred at the marriage feast of Cana in Galilee. When the wine failed, the most Blessed Virgin, being moved to compassion at the sight of the affliction and shame of the bride and bridegroom, asked her Son to relieve them by a miracle, telling Him that they had no wine. Jesus answered: Woman, what is that to thee and me? My hour is not yet come (John ii. 4). Although our Lord seemed to refuse His Mother the favour she asked, yet, as if the favour had already been granted, Mary desired those in attendance to fill the jars with water, for they would be immediately satisfied. And so it was. To content His mother, Jesus changed the water into the best wine. But how was this? As the time for working miracles was that of the public life of our Lord, how could it be that, contrary to the Divine decrees, this miracle was worked? No, in this there was nothing contrary to the decrees of God; for though, generally speaking, the time for miracles was not come, yet from all eternity God had determined by another decree that nothing that she asked should ever be refused to the Divine Mother. And, therefore, Mary, who well knew her privilege, although her Son seemed to have refused her the favour, yet told them to fill the jars with water, as if her request had already been granted. That is the sense in which St. John Chrysostom understood it; for, explaining these words of our Lord, Woman, what is it to thee and me? he says, that “though Jesus answered thus, yet in honour of His Mother He obeyed her wish.” This is confirmed by St. Thomas, who says that by the words, My hour is not yet come, Jesus Christ intended to show, that had the request come from any other, He would not then have complied with it; but because it was addressed to Him by His Mother, He could not refuse it. St. Cyril and St. Jerome, quoted by Barrada, say the same thing. Also Gandavensis, on the foregoing passage of St. John, says, that “to honour His Mother, our Lord anticipated the time for working miracles.”
II.
It is certain that no creature can obtain so many mercies for us as this tender advocate, who is thus honoured by God, not only as His beloved handmaid, but also as His true Mother. And this William of Paris says addressing her: “No creature can obtain so many and so great favours as thou obtainest for poor sinners; and thus without doubt God honours thee not only as a handmaid, but as His most true Mother.” Mary has only to speak, and her Son executes all. Our Lord conversing with the spouse in the sacred Canticles — that is Mary — says, Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the friends hearken; make me hear thy voice (Cant. viii. 13). The Saints are the friends, and they, when they seek favours for their clients, wait for their Queen to ask and obtain; for, as we said “no grace is granted otherwise than at the prayer of Mary.” And how does Mary obtain favours? She has only to let her voice be heard — make me hear thy voice. She has only to speak, and her Son immediately grants her prayer. Listen to the Abbot William explaining, in this sense, the above-mentioned text. In it he introduces the Son addressing Mary: “Thou who dwellest in the heavenly gardens, intercede with confidence for whomsoever thou wilt; for it is not possible that I should so far forget that I am thy Son as to deny anything to thee, My Mother. Only let thy voice be heard, for to be heard by Thy Son is to be obeyed.” The Abbot Godfrey says, “that although Mary obtains favours by asking, yet she asks with a certain maternal authority, and therefore we should feel confident that she obtains all she desires and asks for us.”
I will address thee, O great Mother of God, in the words of St. Bernard: “Speak, O Lady, for thy Son heareth thee, and whatever thou askest thou wilt obtain.” Speak, speak, then, O Mary, our advocate, in favour of us poor miserable creatures. Remember that it was also for our good that thou didst receive so great power and so high a dignity. A God was pleased to become thy debtor by taking humanity of thee, in order that thou mightest dispense at will the riches of Divine mercy to sinners.
Obtain for us true conversion; obtain for us the love of God, perseverance, Heaven. We ask thee for much; but what is it? perhaps thou canst not obtain all? It is perhaps too much for the love God bears thee? Ah, no! for thou hast only to open thy lips and ask thy Divine Son; He will deny thee nothing. Pray, then, pray O Mary, for us; pray: thou wilt certainly obtain all: and we shall with the same certainty obtain the kingdom of Heaven.
Spiritual Reading
“WHAT GOD CAN DO BY HIS POWER, HIS MOTHER CAN DO BY HER PRAYERS.”
Valerius Maximus relates that when Coriolanus was besieging Rome, the prayers of his friends and all the citizens were insufficient to make him desist; but as soon as he beheld his mother Veturia imploring him, he could no longer refuse, and immediately raised the siege. But the prayers of Mary with Jesus are as much more powerful than those of Veturia, as the love and gratitude of this Son for his most dear Mother are greater. Father Justin Micoviensis says that “a single sigh of the most Blessed Mary can do more than the united suffrages of all the Saints.” And this was acknowledged by the devil to St. Dominic, who, as it is related by Father Paciucchelli, obliged him to speak by the mouth of a possessed person; and he said that “a single sigh from Mary was worth more before God than the united suffrages of all the Saints.”
Saint Antoninus says that “the prayers of the Blessed Virgin, being the prayers of a Mother, have in them something of a command; so that it is impossible that she should not obtain what she asks.” St. Germanus, encouraging sinners to recommend themselves to this advocate, thus addresses her: “As thou hast, O Mary, the authority of a Mother with God, thou obtainest pardon for the most enormous sinners; since that Lord in all things acknowledges thee as His true and spotless Mother, He cannot do otherwise than grant what thou askest.” And so it was that St. Bridget heard the Saints in Heaven addressing our Blessed Lady: “O most blessed Queen, what is there that thou canst not do? Thou hast only to will, and it is accomplished.” And this corresponds with that celebrated saying, “That which God can do by His power, thou canst do by prayer, O sacred Virgin.” “To be thus jealous of the honour paid His Mother,” says St. Augustine, “would indeed ill become that Lord Who declares that He came into the world, not to break, but to observe the law: now this law commands us to honour our parents.” St. George, Archbishop of Nicomedia, says that Jesus Christ, even as it were to satisfy an obligation under which He placed Himself towards His Mother, when she consented to give Him His human nature, grants all she asks: “the Son, as if paying a debt, grants all thy petitions.” And on this the holy Martyr, St. Methodius, exclaims: “Rejoice, rejoice, O Mary, for thou hast that Son thy debtor, Who gives to all and receives from none. We are all God’s debtors for all that we possess, for all is His gift; but God has been pleased to become thy Debtor in taking flesh from thee and becoming Man.”
Therefore, Saint Augustine says that, “Mary, having merited to give flesh to the Divine Word, and thus supply the price of our Redemption, that we might be delivered from eternal death, she is more powerful than all others to help us to gain eternal life.” St. Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, in the time of St. Jerome, left in writing the following words: “The prayers of His Mother are a pleasure to the Son, because He desires to grant all that is granted on her account, and thus recompense her for the favour she did Him in giving Him His body.” St. John Damascene, addressing the Blessed Virgin, says: “Thou, O Mary, being Mother of the most high God, canst save all by thy prayers, which are increased in value by thy maternal authority.”
Let us conclude with St. Bonaventure, who, considering the great benefit conferred on us by our Lord in giving us Mary for our advocate, thus addresses her: “O truly immense and admirable goodness of our God, Who has been pleased to grant thee, O sovereign Mother, to us miserable sinners for our advocate, in order that thou, by thy powerful intercession, mayest obtain all that thou pleasest for us.” “O wonderful mercy of our God,” continues the same Saint, “Who in order that we might not flee away on account of the sentence that might be pronounced against us, has given us His own Mother and the patroness of graces to be our advocate.”
Evening Meditation
MARY, OUR ADVOCATE, DEFENDS THE CAUSE OF EVEN THE MOST MISERABLE.
I.
Mary is so tender an advocate that she does not refuse to defend the cause of even the most miserable. So many are the reasons we have for loving this our most loving Queen, that if Mary was praised throughout the world; if in every sermon Mary alone was spoken of; if all men gave their lives for Mary; still all would be little in comparison with the homage and gratitude we owe her in return for the tender love she bears to men, and even to the most miserable sinners who preserve the slightest spark of devotion for her.
Blessed Raymond Jordano, who, out of humility, called himself Idiota, used to say that “Mary knows not how to do otherwise than love those who love her; and that even she does not disdain to serve those who serve her; and in favour of such a one, should he be a sinner, she uses all her power in order to obtain his forgiveness from her Blessed Son.” And he adds that “her benignity and mercy are so great, that no one, however enormous his sins may be, should fear to cast himself at her feet; for she never can reject any one who has recourse to her.” Mary, as our most loving advocate, herself offers the prayers of her servants to God, and especially those which are placed in her hands; for as the Son intercedes for us with the Father, so does she intercede with the Son, and does not cease to make interest with both for the great affair of our salvation, and to obtain for us the graces we ask.
With good reason, then, does Denis the Carthusian call the Blessed Virgin the special refuge of the lost, the life of the miserable, the advocate of all sinners who have recourse to her.
O great Mother of my Lord, I see full well that my ingratitude towards God and thee, and this too for so many years, has merited for me that thou shouldst justly abandon me, and no longer have a care of me, for an ungrateful soul is no longer worthy of favours. But I, O Lady, have a high idea of thy great goodness; I believe it to be far greater than my ingratitude. Continue, then, O Refuge of sinners, and cease not to help a miserable sinner who confides in thee. O Mother of mercy, deign to extend a helping hand to a poor fallen wretch who asks thee for pity. O Mary, either defend me thyself, or tell me to whom I can have recourse, and who is better able to defend me than thou, and where I can find with God a more clement and powerful advocate than thou, who art His Mother. Thou, in becoming the Mother of our Saviour, wast thereby made the fitting instrument to save sinners, and wast given me for my salvation. O Mary, save him who has recourse to thee.
II.
Should there be, by any chance, a sinner who, though not doubting Mary’s power, might doubt the compassion of Mary, fearing perhaps that she might be unwilling to help him on account of the greatness of his sins, let him take courage from the words of St. Bonaventure. “The great, the special privilege of Mary is, that she is all-powerful with her Son.” “But,” adds the Saint, “to what purpose would Mary have so great power if she cared not for us?” “No,” he concludes, “let us not doubt, but be certain, and let us always thank our Lord and His Divine Mother for it, that in proportion as her power with God exceeds that of all the Saints, so is she in the same proportion our most loving advocate, and the one who is the most solicitous for our welfare.”
“And who, O Mother of Mercy,” exclaims St. Germanus, in the joy of his heart, “who, after thy Jesus, is as tenderly solicitous for our welfare as thou art?” “Who defends us in the temptations with which we are afflicted as thou defendest us? Who, like thee, undertakes to protect sinners, fighting, as it were, in their behalf?” “Therefore,” he adds, “thy patronage, O Mary, is more powerful and loving than anything of which we can ever form an idea.”
“For,” says the Blessed Raymond Jordan, “whilst all the other Saints can do more for their own clients than for others, the Divine Mother, as Queen of all, is the advocate of all, and has a care for the salvation of all.”
Mary takes care of all, even of sinners; indeed she glories in being called in a special manner their advocate, as she herself declared to the Venerable Sister Mary Villani, saying: “After the title of Mother of God, I rejoice most in that of advocate of sinners.”
O my Lady, I am a sinner and I do not deserve thy love, but it is thine own desire to save sinners that makes me hope that thou lovest me. And if thou lovest me, how can I be lost? O my own beloved Mother, if by thee I save my soul, as I hope to do, I shall no longer be ungrateful, I shall make up for my past ingratitude, and for the love which thou hast shown me, by my everlasting praises, and all the affections of my soul. Happy in Heaven, where thou reignest, and wilt reign forever, I shall always sing thy mercies, and kiss for eternity those loving hands which have delivered me from hell, when I deserved it by my sins. O Mary, my liberator, my hope, my Queen, my advocate, my own sweet Mother, I love thee. I desire thy glory and to love thee forever. Amen, amen. Thus do I hope.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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A reminder ...
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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