Volume III, Treatise III, Chapter VII

« Means to Acquire and Preserve Poverty of Spirit

Sr. Ianatius, in his constitutions, provides us with the first means or help towards it, in these words, “Let no one make use of anything as if it were his own property”—Reg. 4, Sum. A religious, says this saint, ought to be in all things he has for his use, like a statue, which is dressed and stripped again without being troubled or without making any resistance. It is thus you ought to look on your books, habit, chamber, or anything else you make use of; if you are ordered to give them up, or to make an exchange with others, you must be no more concerned than a statue is when it is undressed; and by this means all propriety will be avoided. Whereas, if when you are bid to change your chamber, or to part with this or that, or to exchange it for another, you find any repugnance, and are not like a statue herein, it is a sign you look upon those things as properly belonging to yourself, otherwise you would not be vexed to part with them. For this reason our holy founder appoints superiors to try their religious, as God did Abraham, and particularly in poverty and obedience, in order hereby to make a trial of this virtue, and to give them an occasion of making every day new progress in perfection; and without question, it is an excellent trial of their virtue, to take away now and then from every religious the things which he has the use of. It usually happens, says St. Austin, that we believe we do not love a thing whilst it is in our possession; but when we come to be deprived of it, it is then we certainly know how we stand affected to it. If you find yourself troubled and uneasy when anything is taken from you, there is no doubt but you loved it; for all that trouble and uneasiness arise from your too great attachment to it. On the contrary, if you felt no grief at all in parting with it, it is clear you -had no tie to it. For, as the same holy father says, “we forsake without pain what we possess without love, but we cannot without grief give up that which we enjoy with pleasure”, Hence we may infer how profitable it is that superiors sometimes exercise their subjects in making them change their chambers when they find some convenience in them and begin to love them but too well: in taking such books away as they wish most to retain; in obliging them to exchange a good habit for another that is worse. For otherwise there would be a kind of propriety pretended over everythingy and by degrees the wall of poverty, which environs us, and is the bulwark of religion, would at last be quite demolished. The old fathers of the desert exercised their religious in this practice, in order to disengage them from everything, and to make them count nothing as their own. Thus St. Dorotheus treated his scholar, St. Dositheus. He used to give him a habit to make up for himself, and take it again from him and bestow it upon another, after he had taken a great deal of pains about it. This is conformable to what we practise at present; and the book of instructions which St. Dorotheus left, whence this example is ‘taken, affords a great many more of this nature, which are very profitable to maintain religious discipline. In this book it is related that the same St. Dositheus, being infirmarign, wished very much to have a knife, and asked it of St. Dorotheus, not for himself, but for the use of the infirmary which he had care of. Whereupon the saint replied: ‘Well, Dositheus, does the knife please you? Had you rather be a slave to a knife than to Jesus Christ? Do you not blush to think that a knife is your master? Henceforward I charge you not so much as to touch it”, And St. Dositheus never touched it after, so much effect had this grave rebuke and prohibition upon him. I wish we would in like manner often reproach ourselves, and say: Are you not ashamed that the love of a trifle should prevail so much upon you and cause you so much uneasiness? And do not believe withal that these things are so frivolous or of such little consequence as is, through want of due examination, generally imagined. For, as St. Jerom says, perhaps they may seem trifles and very inconsi-. derable to those who are strangers as yet to virtue and perfection, but at the bottom they contain things of profound wisdom and exquisite perfection, which God has hid from the wise and prudent, but discovered to the simple and humble of heart.

The second help to maintain poverty of spirit is, to have nothing superfluous; and the mercy of God has admirably provided for this by the conduct which is observed in the society of Jesus. Our chambers are like to that which the Sunamite fitted up for the prophet Eliseus, who, having occasion to pass frequently that way, used to call in to refresh himself. ‘I observe”, says this woman to her husband, “that he who comes often hither is a man of God, and therefore let us provide him ‘a little chamber with a bed, a table, a chair, and a candlestick in it, that he may lodge with us when he comes”—IV. Kings, iv. 9, 10. Such ought to be the furniture of our chambers, such ought to be our moveables; these are all really necessary, the rest superfluous. For this reason we are not permitted to adorn our chambers with pictures or such like ornaments. We have no great armed chairs or couches, tapestry, desks, or wrought carpets. We cannot keep anything in our chambers, either for ourselves to eat, or to entertain strangers with; nay, we are obliged to ask leave to go to the refectory, though it be but to drink a glass of water; nor can we have any book in our chambers in which we may write so much as one line or carry away with us. And as it is not to be doubted but this is true poverty, so it is at the same time to be granted that it is a great happiness, and’ no less perfection; for were we permitted to have superfluities, the care and trouble of getting them, of preserving them, and of increasing their number, would take up a great deal’ of time and be too great a distraction to a religious; whereas this wise prohibition removes all these inconveniencies. And one of the chief reasons why the society does not permit secular persons to come into our chambers, is to preserve us in this holy poverty. For we are men, and should we receive visits in our chambers, we would perhaps be tempted to exceed the limits prescribed us concerning poverty, and at last procure a handsome library, in order to make people believe we are learned. Hence this exact observance in the society is a mighty help to make us live up to the rules of poverty, and to cut off all desires of what is superfluous; and certainly this conduct is so prudent, that we can never esteem it enough, nor observe it too strictly.

Another proper help, which also conduces much to this virtue, is, that a religious, as soon as he perceives himself to have a particular inclination for anything he makes use of, should carry it immediately to the superior, and leave it to him to dispose of, even though this religious should have leave to keep it. This practice was very religiously observed heretofore by the monks of St. Jerom, who were also very vigilant to see that none should have anything superfluous; and if at any time they found a monk to have any vain or curious thing about him, they presently assembled, and burnt it before his face, saying that such things as these were the idols of religious. In imitation of them, we ought to deprive ourselves of every thing which we have not a real need of, and put it in the hands of our superior, without hopes of recovery. Moreover, to make this kind of sacrifice, it is not necessary to wait till we have an affection to the thing itself, for if it be not really necessary, this is a sufficient motive for us to make this sacrifice itself.

St. Bonaventure goes farther, and says he does not approve that any should heap up superfluous things in order to make presents, even under pretence of devotion, or upon any other account whatsoever. For, says he, besides that this makes the person singular, and be looked upon as one that traffics in such ware, and as one to whom application is to be made for them, it is certain that this takes up his thoughts too much, and by consequence diverts him from his duty. The same saint finds this other inconvenience in it, that a religious may sometimes dispose of such things without leave, either out of haste or inadvertency, or through shame of troubling the superior with his frequent petitions about such frivolous things. Hence it also happens that the party he gives it to receives the present without leave, either because he has not courage to refuse it, or because he is unwilling to put the other to the blush, and thus he gives at once both bad example and matter of scruple to his brethren. Besides, these little presents serve ordinarily either to create or continue particular friendships amongst religious, which holy men have always condemned as highly prejudicial to union and fraternal charity. And it was for this reason, says St. Bonaventure, that our ancient fathers would never allow of it. It is the same amongst us; for although we permit some religious to have such things upon account of their employments, yet certainly this can be no reason why others pretend the same privilege; and if any

one should, he would both displease his superior and disedify his brethren. A religious ought to be so poor as to have nothing to dispose of, and it is this that truly edifies. With respect to those that wish to have some little things to make presents of, they are never looked upon as the most regular persons; and therefore it is best to follow St. Bonaventure’s counsel in this matter in order to live up to the rule of true poverty.

There is another thing observed in our society, which helps very much to keep true poverty in its purity, and wherein the Lord bestows on us a particular favour. Our chamber doors are never locked, nor can we have a box, desk, or cupboard locked without leave from the superior. All things are to be exposed to the superiors’ eyes, so that we can say we have nothing which they may not take. This agrees with these words in St. Jerom’s rule: ‘Let all use of locks and keys be prohibited amongst you, that all the world may see by your exterior you possess nothing but Jesus Christ”. But although our chambers lie open, yet all things in them are secured from the rest of the religious, by a prudent foresight of our holy founder, who, in another rule, forbids any religious to enter another’s chamber without leave of - the superior, and in another place prohibits all his subjects to carry anything out of the house, or even out of another’s chamber, unless the rector consents thereunto. These are the securest locks and keys, which being defended with the vow of poverty, are rendered almost incapable of being broken open. And, without doubt, our chambers, though so exposed, are safer by this means in respect to our own religious, than if they were shut up with bolts and padlocks. Let us then endeavour to maintain this holy practice; and certainly should any religious give the least blemish thereunto by endeavouring to violate it, he would deserve a most severe punishment, and run the hazard of making a change in the purity and simplicity of what we practise, wherein true poverty appears and shines so bright. St. Basil and St. Bonaventure exclaim very much against such persons as these.

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