Volume I, Treatise VIII, Chapter III

Of the Great Advantages We Receive from a Conformity to the Will of God

St. Basu affirms, that all the sanetity and all the perfection of a Christian life consist in ascribing to God the cause of all things whatever in general, and in conforming ourselves thereupon entirely to his holy will. But that we may the better comprehend the merit and importance of this conformity, and that we may aspire to it with a fervent desire, and also that we may apply ourselves with more diligence to the attaining it, we will explain in particular the great helps and advantages annexed to it First, then, it produces a true resignation, or rather it is itself this perfect and entire resignation, which the saints and masters of a spiritual life prize at so high a rate, as to esteem it the very foundation and beginning of all the peace and tranquillity of our soul, For by this resignation a man places himself in-the hands of God, as a piece of clay in the hands of the potter, that is, that divine Providence may dispose of him at pleasure; not desiring anything for the future in order to himself, nor to live for himself, neither to eat, sleep, or work for himself, but to do all things for God alone, and for his service and glory. A conformity to the divine will works the same effect; for thereby a man delivers up his whole self in such manner to this holy will, that he cannot seek or covet any other thing, than to see this will totally accomplished in him, not only in all the actions he does, but also in all accidents whatever which can occur; and this not only in prosperity and consolation, but even in adversity and affliction. This sort of submission is so acceptable to God, that for this very one reason he calls David a man according to his own heart. “I have found,” says he, “a man according to my own heart, who will comply with all my desires.” (1 Kings 13:14) The reason indeed was, that David had that submission of his own will to the orders of Providence, as that his heart was always disposed to receive all sorts of impressions alike from the hand of God, as a piece of softened wax is disposed to receive any figure that is given it; insomuch that he repeated it in a’ certain place: “My heart is disposed, O God, my heart is disposed.” (Psalms 56:8)

Secondly, he who has an entire and perfect conformity to the will of God, will have also a perfect mortification of all his passions, and all evil inclinations whatever. It is sufficiently evident how necessary this mortification is for a Christian, and how much it is recommended and inculcated to us by the holy Scripture and the saints. Yet before we can attain a perfect conformity to the divine will, this mortification is necessary to be presupposed; since conformity is considered as the end, and Mortification but as the means to attain this end; and as all know, the end is always more perfect and noble than the means. That this mortification is a necessary means to acquire a real conformity to the will of God, nothing can be more evident. For it is most certain that our own will and our own irregular appetite are the chief things which oppose this conformity; and by consequence, the more we renounce ourselves, and the more we mortify and keep in subjection this will and appetite of ours, the more we unite and conform ourselves to the divine will. To join a piece of rough and unshaped timber, and another piece which is brought into form, we must first plane it and bring it into the same figure, without which it is impossible ever to join them together. We may see by this what effects mortification produces in us. It retrenches and cuts off all that which may any ways hinder us from this union with God; to the end we may join ourselves to him by a more strict tie, in conforming ourselves to the divine will. And the more we mortify ourselves, the more strictly we unite ourselves to God, and when we shall have gained an absolute victory over our passions in all things, then shall we attain a perfect union with him.

Hence flows a consequence, which may be looked upon as a third advantage, which is, that this resignation and entire conformity to the divine will, is the most grateful and most acceptable sacrifice that a man can possibly offer to God out of his own stock and treasure. For in other sacrifices, he only offers Up something appertaining to him; but in this, he offers and delivers his whole self. In other sacrifices, and other mortifications, he only mortifies himself in some particular thing; for example, in temperance, in humility, in modesty, and in patience, he offers but a part of himself to God; but in this, he offers

self, an entire holocaust, that the Divine Majesty may determine and dispose of him in what it shall please, and when it shall please, without any the least exception or any the least reserve. So that as much as the man himself is superior to his property—the whole to a part; by so much is this sacrifice superior to whatever is foundin other sacrifices and mortifications,

Moreover, God sets so high a value and esteem upon this holocaust of our heart, that it is this very one thing precisely he demands of us. “My son,” says he, “give me your heart.” (Proverbs 23:26) As the eagle, the prince of birds, feeds only upon the heart, so what God most regards is the heart; and in case you bestow not this upon him, itis not in your power to bestow any other present which can give him satisfaction. Nor is it indeed any great thing he demands of us. For if we, who are but dust and ashes, cannot be fully satisfied with all things God has created; and if there is nothing, except God alone, can fill this heart of ours, a8 little as it is; how do you imagine, you can satisfy God in giving him but a part of your heart, and reserving the rest to yourself? To pretend this, is only to abuse him; since our heart cannot be divided in this manner. “For the bed is so narrow,” says Isaias, “that the one or the other must necessarily fall out; and the cloak so short that it cannot cover both at once.” (Isa. xxviii. 20.) The heart of a man is a narrow bed, it cannot contain any, besides God alone. And it isfor this reason that the spouse calls it a little bed. ‘I will search,” says she, “all night in my little bed him whom my heart loves.” (Canticle of Canticles 3:1) She has made the bed of her heart so narrow, that there is only place left for her beloved. And, on the contrary, he who enlarges his heart to that extent, as to admit place for another, at the same time leaves no room for God, and expels him thence. It is of this division of our heart, which God complains in the Prophet Isaias, when he says, “You have discovered yourself near me to receive an adulterer; you have enlarged your bed, and have contracted an alliance with others.” (Isa. lvii. 8.) Had we a thousand hearts, we ought to offer them all to God; and look upon it as but little, in regard of what we stand indebted to him.

In the fourth place, whosoever has a perfect conformity to the will of God, will also have, as we have said before, a perfect charity: and the more he advances in this conformity, the more will he also advance in charity and the love of God; and consequently in perfection, which consists of this charity and of this love. Besides our having sufficiently established this truth in the first chapter, what we have said in the preceding article ‘may serve again for a confirmation: since the love of God consists not in words but in actions. ‘The proof or trial of love,” says St. Gregory, ‘‘is the performance of deeds” (Hom. xxx. in Evan.); and the more painful and difficult the works are, the more they testify love. Wherefore St. John, explaining the excess of love which God had for the world, says, that ‘‘he so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son.” (John 3:16) And Jesus Christ, speaking himself of the love he bore his heavenly Father, says thus, ‘‘ That the world may know that I love my Father, and that I perform what my Father has commanded me, rise let us go hence.” (John 14:31) But where was it he went? He went to suffer death on a cross; and by fulfilling so rigorous an injunction, he clearly proved to the world the love he bore his eternal Father. Insomuch that hereby we see, that love proves itself by actions; and the greater and more difficult the actions are, the greater does the love appear. Moreover, this entire conformity to the divine will is, as we said before, the greatest sacrifice we can make of ourselves. Because it presupposes a perfect mortification of all our senses, and absolute resignation, whereby we offer up ourselves to God, and put ourselves into his hands, to be disposed of at his pleasure. ‘We may hence, therefore, conclude, that there is nothing whereby we can testify our love to God more than by this conformity; since by this means we give and resign up to him all things in general we have, and all things whatever we are in prospect of enjoying or desiring, and in case we enjoyed more, or if it were in our power, we would offer it up wholly in like manner.

About ReligiousBookshelf.com · A Supernerd Media project