Part IV, Chapter XIII

Of Spiritual and Sensible Consolations, and How We Must Behave Ourselves in Them

God continues the existence of this great world in a perpetual vicissitude, by which the day is always succeeded by the night, the spring by the summer, the summer by the autumn, the autumn by the winter, and the winter again by the spring. One day seldom perfectly resembles another: some are cloudy, some rainy, some dry; others windy, — a variety which adds considerably to the beauty of the universe. It is the same with man, who, according to the saying of the ancients, is an epitome of the universe, or another little world; for he never remains long in the same state; his life flows away upon the earth, like the waters, floating and undulating in a perpetual diversity of motion, which sometimes lift him up with hope, and sometimes bring him down with fear; sometimes carry him to the right hand by consolation, sometimes to the left by affliction; and not one of his days, no, not even one of his hours, is in every respect like another.

Now, it is necessary that we should endeavor to preserve an inviolable equality of heart amidst so great an inequality of occurrences, and that, although all things turn and change around us, we should remain constantly immovable; ever looking and aspiring towards God. No matter what course the ship may take; no matter whether it sails towards the east, west, north, or south; no matter by what wind it may be driven, — never will the needle of the compass point in any other direction than towards the fair polar star. Let everything be in confusion, not only around us, but even within us; let our soul be overwhelmed with sorrow or joy; with sweetness or bitterness; with peace or trouble; with light or darkness; with temptation or repose; with pleasure or disgust; with dryness or tenderness; whether it be scorched by the sun or refreshed by the dew; yet the point of our heart, our spirit and our superior will, which is our compass, must incessantly tend towards the love of God, its Creator, its Saviour, in a word, its only sovereign good. “Whether we live,” says the Apostle, “we live unto the Lord, or whether we die, we die unto the Lord.” And “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” No, nothing shall separate us from this love; neither tribulation, nor anguish, nor death, nor life, nor present grief, nor the fear of future accidents, nor the artifices of evil spirits, nor the height of consolations, nor the depth of afflictions, nor tenderness, nor dryness, ought ever to separate us from this holy charity which is founded in Jesus Christ.

This first absolute resolution, never to forsake God, nor to abandon his divine love, serves as a counterpoise to our souls, to keep them in a holy equilibrium, amidst the inequality of the several motions attached to the condition of this life; for as little bees, surprised by a storm in the fields, embrace small stones, that they may be able to balance themselves in the air, and not be so easily carried away by the wind; so our soul, having by resolution strongly embraced the precious love of God, continues constant in the midst of the inconstancy and vicissitude of consolations and afflictions, whether spiritual or temporal, exterior or interior. But, besides this general doctrine we have need of some particular instructions.

1. I say, then, that devotion does not always consist in that sweetness, delight, consolation, or sensible tenderness of heart, which moves us to tears, and causes us to find satisfaction in some spiritual exercises. No, dear Philothea, for there are many souls who experience these tendernesses and consolations, and who nevertheless, are very vicious, and consequently have not a true love of God, much less true devotion. Saul, pursuing David, who was fleeing before him in the wilderness of Engaddi, entered alone into a cavern, in which David and his people lay concealed. David, who on this occasion had many opportunities of killing him, spared his life, and would not even put him in bodily fear; but, having suffered him to go out at his pleasure, called after him to prove to him his innocence, and to convince him that he had been at his mercy. Now, upon this occasion, what did not Saul do, to show that his rage against David was appeased? He called him his child, he wept aloud, he praised him, he acknowledged his goodness, he prayed to God for him, he foretold his future greatness, and he recommended to him his posterity. What greater display could he make of sweetness and tenderness of heart? Nevertheless his heart was not changed; neither did he cease to persecute David as cruelly as before. In like manner there are some persons, who, considering the goodness of God, and the passion of our Saviour, are tenderly affected. They sigh, weep, pray, and give thanks, in so feeling a manner that we imagine that they have acquired an extraordinary degree of devotion; but, when the moment of trial arrives, we see, that as the passing showers of a hot summer, which fall in large drops on the earth, but do not sink into it, serve for nothing but to produce mushrooms, so these tender tears, falling on a vicious heart, and not penetrating it, are altogether unprofitable; for, notwithstanding all this apparent devotion, these tender souls will not part with a farthing of the ill-gotten riches they possess; nor renounce one of their perverse affections; nor suffer the least temporal inconvenience for the service of our Saviour, over whose sufferings they have just been weeping; so that the good affections which they had were no better than spiritual mushrooms, and their devotion a mere delusion of the enemy, who amuses souls with these false consolations, to make them rest contented, lest they should search any farther after the true and solid devotion, which consists in a constant, resolute, prompt, and active will to reduce to practice whatever we know to be pleasing to God. A child will weep tenderly when he sees his mother bled with a lancet; but if his mother, for whom he is weeping, would at the same time demand the apple or the sugar-plums which he had in his hand, he would by no means part with them; such is the nature of our tender devotion, when, contemplating the stroke of the lancet which pierced the heart of Jesus Christ crucified, we weep bitterly. Alas, Philothea! it is well to lament the painful death and passion of our Blessed Redeemer; but why, then, do we not give him the apple which we have in our hands, for which he so earnestly asks? why do we not give him our heart, the only token of love which our dear Saviour requires of us? why do we not resign to him so many petty affections, delights, and complacencies, which he wants to pluck out of our hands but cannot, because we feel more affection for these trifles than his heavenly grace? Ah, Philothea! these are the friendships of little children; tender, indeed, but weak, capricious, and of no effect. Devotion, then, consists not in these sensible affections, which sometimes proceed from a soft nature, susceptible of any impression we may wish to give it; sometimes from the enemy, who, to amuse us, stirs up our imagination to conceive these effects.

2. Yet these tender and delightful affections are sometimes good and profitable, for they excite the affections of the soul, strengthen the spirit, and add to the promptitude of devotion a holy cheerfulness, makes our actions lovely and agreeable even in the exterior. This relish which we find in the things of God is that which made David exclaim: “O Lord, how sweet are thy words to my palate! more than honey to my mouth.” Doubtless the least consolation of devotion that we receive is in every respect preferable to the most agreeable recreations of the world. The breasts of the heavenly Spouse are sweeter to the soul than the wine of the most delicious pleasures on earth. He that has once tasted this sweetness esteems all other consolations no better than gall and wormwood. There is a certain herb, the taste of which is said to impart such sweetness as to prevent hunger and thirst; so they to whom God has given the heavenly manna can neither desire nor relish the consolations of the world, so far at least as to fix their affections on them; they are little foretastes of those immortal delights which God has in reserve for the souls that seek him; they are little delicacies which he gives to his children to allure them; they are the cordials with which he strengthens them, and they are also sometimes the earnest of eternal felicity. It is said that Alexander the Great, sailing on the ocean, discovered Arabia Felix, by perceiving the fragrant odors which the wind bore thence, and thereupon encouraged both himself and his companions; so we oftentimes receive these sweet consolations in this sea of our mortal life, which doubtless must give us a certain foretaste of the delights of that heavenly country to which we tend and aspire.

3. But you will perhaps say, since there are sensible consolations which are good, because they come from God; and others unprofitable, dangerous, and even pernicious, that proceed either from nature, or from the enemy,—how shall I be able to distinguish the one from the other, or know those that are evil or unprofitable, from those that are good? It is a general doctrine, dear Philothea, with regard to the affections and passions of our souls, that we must know them by their fruits. Our hearts are the trees, the affections and passions are the branches, and their words and actions are the fruit. That heart is good which has good affections, and those affections and passions are good which produce in us good effects and holy actions. If this sweetness, tenderness, and consolation make us more humble, patient, tractable, charitable, and compassionate towards our neighbor; more fervent in mortifying our concupiscences and evil inclinations; more constant in our exercises; more pliant and submissive to those whom we ought to obey; more sincere and upright in our lives,— then, doubtless, Philothea, they proceed from God. But if these consolations have no sweetness but for ourselves; if they make us curious, harsh, quarrelsome, impatient, obstinate, haughty, presumptuous, and rigorous towards our neighbor, when we already imagine ourselves to be saints, and disdain to be any longer subject to direction or correction, they are then, beyond all doubt, false and pernicious; for a good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit.

4. Whenever we experience these consolations we must humble ourselves exceedingly before God, and beware of saying, “Oh, how good am I!” No, Philothea, these considerations, as I have already said, cannot make us better; devotion does not consist in them; but let us say: “Oh, how good is God to such as hope in him, to the soul that seeks him!” 1. As the bare perception of something sweet cannot be said to render the palate itself sweet; so although this principal sweetness be excellent, and though God who gives it is sovereignly good, yet it follows not that he who receives it is also good. 2. Let us acknowledge that we are as yet but little children, who have need of milk, and that these dainties are given to us because our tender and delicate spirit stands in need of some allurement to entice us to the love of God. 3. Let us afterwards humbly accept these extraordinary graces and favors, and esteem them, not so much on account of their excellence, as because it is the hand of God which puts them into our hearts, as a mother would do, who, the more to please her child, puts the dainties into his mouth with her own hand, one by one; for if the child has understanding he sets a greater value on the tenderness of his mother than the delicious morsels which he receives; and thus, Philothea, it is a great matter to taste the sweetness of sensible consolations, but it is infinitely more sweet to consider that it is his most loving and tender hand that puts them, as it were, into our mouth, our heart, our soul, and our spirit. 4. Having thus humbly received them, let us carefully employ them according to the intention of the donor. Now, to what end, think you, does God give us these sweet consolations? To make us sweet towards every one, and excite us to love him. The mother gives little presents to her child to induce him to embrace her; let us, then, embrace our blessed Saviour, who grants us these favors. But to embrace him is to obey him, to keep his commandments, do his will, and follow his desires, with a tender obedience and fidelity. Whenever, therefore, we receive any spiritual consolation, we must be more diligent in doing good, and in humbling ourselves. 5. Besides all this we must, from time to time, renounce those sweet and tender consolations, by withdrawing our heart from them, and protesting that, although we humbly accept them and love them because God sends them, and that they excite us to his love, yet it is not these we seek, but God himself, and his holy love; not the consolations, but the comforter; not their deliciousness, but the sweet Saviour; not their tenderness, but him that is the delight of heaven and earth. It is in this manner we ought to dispose ourselves to persevere in the holy love of God, although throughout our whole life we were never to meet with any consolation, and be ready to say, as well upon Calvary as upon Thabor: “Lord! it is good for me to be with thee, whether thou be upon the cross, or in thy glory.” 6. To conclude, I admonish you, that should you experience any great abundance of such consolations, tenderness, tears, sweetness, etc., you must confer faithfully with your spiritual director, that you may learn how to moderate and behave yourself under them, for it is written, “Thou hast found honey, eat what is sufficient for thee.” (Proverbs 25:16)

About ReligiousBookshelf.com · A Supernerd Media project