Part I, Chapter IV

Of the Necessity of a Guide to Conduct Us in the Way of Devotion

Young Tobias, being commanded to go to Rages, answered, “I know not the way.” “Go then,” replied his father, “and seek some man to conduct thee.” I say the same to thee, my Philothea. Wouldst thou walk in earnest towards devotion, seek some good man, who may guide and conduct thee; this is the best advice I can give thee. “Though you search for the will of God,” says the devout Avila, “you shall never so assuredly find it as in the way of humble obedience, so much recommended and practised by all holy persons who have aspired to devotion.” St. Teresa, seeing the lady Catharine, of Cardona, perform such rigorous penances, desired anxiously to imitate her, contrary to the advice of her confessor. The saint was much tempted to disobey him in that particular; but God said to her: “Daughter, thou art in a good and secure way; seest thou her penance? But I value more thy obedience.” Hence she conceived so high an esteem for this virtue that, besides that which she owed to her superiors, she vowed a particular obedience to an excellent man, to whose direction and advice she implicitly submitted. In return for this obedience she, as well as many other devout souls before and after her, who, that they might more entirely subject themselves to God, submitted their wills to that of his servants, enjoyed most unspeakable consolations. St. Catharine, of Sienna, in her dialogues, highly applauds this implicit obedience. The devout princess, St. Elizabeth, submitted herself with an entire obedience to the learned Conradus; and the advice given by the great St. Lewis to his son, a little before his death, was, “Confess often; choose a good confessor, a wise man, who may safely teach thee to do the things that shall be necessary for thee.”

“A faithful friend,” says the Holy Scripture, “is a strong defence; and he that hath found him hath found a treasure. A faithful friend is the medicine of life and immortality; and they that fear the Lord shall find him.” (Ecclesiasticus 6:14,16) These divine words, as you may easily perceive, refer to a happy immortality, for the attainment of which it is necessary that we should submit ourselves to the direction of a faithful friend, who, by the prudence and wisdom of his counsels, may guide us in all our actions, and secure us from the ambushes and deceits of the wicked one. Such a friend will be to us as a treasure of wisdom and consolation, in all our afflictions, our sorrows, and relapses; he will serve as a medicine to cure, and as a cordial to comfort our hearts in our spiritual disorders; he will guard us from evil, and make us advance in good; and should any infirmity befall us, he will assist in our recovery, and prevent its being unto death.

But who shall find this friend? They that fear the Lord, answers the wise man; that is, the humble, who earnestly desire their spiritual advancement. Since, then, it concerns you so much, Philothea, to travel with a good guide in this holy road to devotion, beseech God, with the greatest importunity, to furnish you with one who may be according to his own heart; and be assured that he will rather send you an angel from heaven, as he did to young Tobias, than fail to grant your request.

Now, such a guide, when you have found him, ought always to be an angel to you; consider him not as a mere man; place not your confidence in his human learning, but in God, whose minister he is, and who speaks to you by his means, putting in his heart and in his mouth whatever shall be requisite for your happiness, so that you ought to pay as much attention to him as to an angel who would come down from heaven to conduct you thither. Open your heart to him with all sincerity and fidelity, manifesting clearly and explicitly the state of your conscience without fiction or dissimulation; by this means your good actions will be examined and approved; and your evil ones corrected and remedied; you will be comforted and strengthened in your afflictions, and be kept regularly in order in your consolations. Place great confidence in him, but let it be united with a holy reverence, so that the reverence may not diminish the confidence, nor the confidence the reverence. Confide in him with the respect of a daughter towards her father; respect him with the confidence of a son towards his mother. In a word, your friendship for him ought to be strong and sweet, pure and holy, entirely spiritual and divine.

“For this end, choose one amongst a thousand,” says Avila; but I say, choose one amongst ten thousand; for there are fewer than can be imagined who are capable of this office. He must be a man of charity, learning, and prudence. If any one of these three qualities be wanting in him, there is danger; but I say to you again. Ask him of God, and having obtained him, bless his Divine Majesty, remain constant, and seek no other; but proceed on, with sincerity, humility, and confidence, till you arrive at the happy end of your journey.

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