October 11

Character Of The Interior Man

Preparation. - In the Christian religion, says St. Paul, “Christ is all and in all” (Col. 3. 11). The interior man strives to cling to God alone, and therefore in the first place, he views everything in God, and secondly, he finds everything in God. Let us examine whether our intentions are always upright and our affections perfectly pure, so that we may belong entirely to Jesus Christ and, through Him, wholly to God. “Christ is all in all;” “that God may be all in al” (1 Cor. 15. 28).

I. To Be Interior, We Must View God In All Things.

The interior man judges of every thing, not by reason alone or from mere appearances, but by the light of faith and the gift of understanding with which the Holy Ghost enlightens him. He knows that God is the centre of all creation, that every thing subsists by His power, and that His wisdom governs powerfully and mildly every thing, from the stars in the heavens to the smallest insect concealed under the grass. He acknowledges that from Him he receives the light that enlightens him, the air he breaths, the garments he wears, the food he eats and all the good done him, and he thanks the Lord for it all, and draws therefrom continual motives for adoring, loving, praising and thanking Him.

Does not the Gospel teach him that his superiors hold the place of God on earth (Luke 10. 16), and that Jesus considers as done to Himself whatever is done to the least of His brethren? (Mat. 25. 40). Wherefore he sees Jesus Christ in all those who lawfully command him or receive his services. He sees Jesus in the Holy Father, the bishops, priests, rulers and magistrates (Rom. 18. 2); in the unfortunate, the poor, the sick, the afflicted, in all who have a soul created by God and redeemed with the blood of Jesus.

He considers Him even in the events most opposed to his wishes. When he has to bear contempt, privations and reverses, he blesses Providence for furnishing him occasions of becoming more humble, more mortified, more patient, and consequently richer in merits.

Do we act thus? Alas! nature has such a dominion over us, that it is but seldom that the principles of faith can induce us to obey, suffer and practice charity in a manner worthy of God and befitting a disciple of Jesus. We so often act through feeling, taste and inclination, instead of viewing God in all things, and this is one of the reasons why we make so little progress in the interior life.

O my God, by a continuous creation, Thou drawest all creatures out of nothing. Thou art present to each, and nevertheless, I think of everything except of Thee, the Author of all good. Thou laborest without ceasing for my sanctification by mans of earthly events, and I am so often hardened against Thy holiest dispositions! Deign to forgive me, and show me henceforth, in all things and everywhere, Thy presence and beneficent influence.

II. To Be Interior, We Must Find All Things In God.

The interior man not only sees God in all things, but also finds all things in God. By means of faith, mental prayer and confidence he draws from the supreme Good that which satisfies his thirst for truth, love and happiness, by which the human heart is tormented here below. Often the angels hear his cry: “What is there in heaven, and what can I desire upon earth, if not Thyself? When shall I come and appear before Thy face,” to contemplate all truth in Thee? When a certain remembrance grieves him, or some created object disputes God’s place in his affections, he says with St. Francis de Sales; “Lord, Thou alone art sufficient for me; in Thee alone do I find what is necessary for my soul.”

And, in fact, what else can a soul need than to possess God, His grace and His love? In heaven He is the joy of the angels and saints, and one day He will be there our delights; and why should He not already in this life be everything to us? What! God is sufficient for Himself, and should not He be sufficient for us? O how narrow and miserly is the heart that craves for flesh and blood, for the transitory goods of this life, and remains cold and indifferent, when there is question of the supreme Good! Our heart having been created for God, is a vase destined to possess Him alone. The blood of a God redeemed, consecrated and sanctified it, and made it, as it were, into a ciborium, which every foreign attachment defiles and profanes.

And then what happiness can that heart enjoy out of its centre and final destiny? By serving and loving God alone, it would, on the contrary, already in this exile, enjoy a foretaste of the delights of our true country. If we really desire to become holy and happy, let us learn to content ourselves with the supreme and eternal Good, and often say to ourselves: “My only pleasure here below is to see God glorified and His will fulfilled. In this dwell my honor, my rest, my treasure and all my delights both in this life and in the next.”

O my God, for the love of Jesus and Mary, enable me to seek in Thee what is found nowhere else, that is, truth, love and happiness; truth, to enlighten my mind concerning the mysteries best calculated to raise and ennoble me; love, to purify and deify my heart, and happiness, to make me a partaker in Thy own peace and happiness. I shall thereby possess everything in Thee, O infinite Good, and “Thou shalt be all to me in all things.”

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September 27

Our Soul Is The Garden Of God

Preparation. - Our soul is not only a field, but also a flower-garden, in which God takes delight. We shall meditate, first, on the nature of this garden, and secondly, on how to cultivate it. We shall then resolve to watch over our heart, so as to keep it free from every fault and attachment, and to make it as an enclosed garden for Jesus. “My spouse is a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed” (Cant. 4. 12).

I. Our Soul Is God’s Garden

“The soul, My sister,” says Jesus Christ, “that is, she is spiritually related to Me, she that participates, through habitual grace, in My wisdom, My holiness and My very divine nature, that soul, My spouse through innocence and charity, is ‘My sister, My spouse’; I consider her as My garden, closed to the world and to sin, ‘an enclosed garden.’ From her very baptism I have made her My delightful abode, and have enriched her with heavenly gifts and adorned her with the flowers of all the virtues. Wherefore, I will that she be wholly reserved to Me.” Thus speaks our amiable Redeemer.

He claims as wholly His the flower-garden of our soul; and is He not right? Does she not belong to Him by every title? He created her with His breath. He redeemed her with His blood, one drop of which is of greater value than the universe. His rights over her are, therefore, incontestable, absolute, universal and eternal. We have, moreover, promised at the baptismal fount, ever to remain His own. We thereby belong to God so completely, that we may not, without robbery, deprive Him of a single one of our thoughts, intentions and affections. And nevertheless, how often have we not wholly delivered our mind, our heart, our very soul to the enemies of Jesus, who laid it waste!

O my amiable Saviour, I am deeply grieved for having so often offended Thee, for having thus disregarded Thy sacred rights over my heart, by profaning it through guilty attachments, or at least, attachments foreign to Thy love. Repentant I now return to Thee and anew consecrate to Thee alone the wretched property of my soul, beseeching Thee to accept it and take full possession of it. “O North wind, hurtful and cold wind of earthly affection, flee from me, and come, thou soft warm breeze of the sacred love of the Holy Spirit, which comes from the Heart of my Jesus! Do thou alone reign in my soul, which Jesus has chosen for His garden of delights” (St. Alph.).

O my Redeemer, deign to indicate to me what displeases Thee in my sentiments and my conduct. Is it tepidity or inconstancy? Is it self esteem, vanity, dissipation of mind or attachment to trifles? Is it diffidence, despondency or the want of fidelity to Thy graces? Speak, O Lord, for I am ready to remove from my heart whatever displeases Thee therein. “My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready” (Ps. 107. 2).

II. How To Cultivate The Garden Of Our Soul

That we may make our soul an abode ever more and more pleasing to the divine Spouse, we ought to cultivate it without ceasing and promote therein the growth of the virtues. But how can we succeed in doing so? By fervently and constantly imploring the assistance of the sanctifying Spirit. As a balmy breeze reanimating and keeping up in us a lively faith, He causes us to pray, says St. Paul, “with unspeakable groanings” (Rom. 8. 26). As an inexhaustible fountain watering by day and by night the hearts of the faithful, He provides us the pure and fertile waters of grace, without which we should be ever barren. If we but corresponded with the love of mental prayer, with which He inspires us, then would fountains of living water spring from our heart! We would no longer be so dry in our holy Communions, so little fervent in our pious exercises, so languid and indifferent in doing good.

But as the flowers of virtue are cultivated only by dint of care, it behooves us to unite a strict watch over ourselves in mental prayer. Wherefore we ought to strive to correct in our conduct whatever displeases our Saviour or offends His divine looks, and, consequently we should be faithful to His light and inspirations. Unless we watch over our whole life, we shall be unable to extirpate pride from our mind, and to cultivate the virtue of humility, which St. Bernard compares to the violet, which conceals itself, but spreads about its perfume. Without watchfulness we shall find it impossible to cause the lily of purity and the roses of charity to grow in our soul, for these virtues requires mortification of the senses and the heart, and this cannot be practiced without recollection and unceasing prayer.

O my loving Mother Mary, from thee I expect fidelity in the practice of mental prayer, not only in the morning, but throughout the day, by means of pious reflections and aspirations. Preserve me from the pestiferous breeze of the world and my passions, which sometimes destroys in a single moment the fruit of long and difficult labors. Purify and sanctify my soul; make it a garden closed to vice, and one of the privileged flower-plots of Jesus. May my good desires be not always mere flowers and blossoms, but gradually, with the help of grace, become delicious fruits of virtue. I am resolved to strive to spread especially the sweet odors of humility by means of self-contempt, of chastity, by means of modesty, and finally of charity, by practicing condescension and benevolence towards all.

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September 26

Our Soul Is A Field To Be Cultivated

Preparation. - Perfection is not only symbolized by an edifice to be built in us, as we have previously seen, but also by a harvest to be gathered. We shall therefore see, first, in what sense St. Paul says to us: “You are God’s husbandry” (1 Cor. 3. 9), and secondly, by what means we shall succeed in cultivating our field. Our spiritual bouquet will consist in frequently calling this truth to mind: “We are God’s property of which He can dispose; we are the field which He has the right to cultivate as He pleases.” “We are God’s co-adjustors; you are God’s husbandry.”

I. Our Soul Is Gods Field

“The kingdom of heaven,” or perfection, says our Saviour, “is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man having found, hid it, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field” (Mat. 13. 44). Which is this field, if not our soul? Which is that treasure, if not sanctifying grace, the source of every good? How can we possess this filed, this treasure? By keeping them concealed from the world, that is, far from its dangers; by rejecting all that originates from our fallen nature, all that induces us to sin.

But is it enough to avoid sin? No; for we must also cultivate the field of our soul and cause it to bring forth fruits, as the saints did; they rooted up and planted. They rooted up the defects, evil inclinations and habits, and replaced them with their opposite virtues. In fact, there is no real perfection without self-denial; and this is what people dread the most. We would like to sanctify ourselves, but without giving up or opposing our views, our judgments and our will. We pray as long as we find prayer sweet and easy, but as soon as it becomes disagreeable, we give up our customary pious practices, and soon becomes careless. We would like to be humble, modest and mortified, but we but feebly combat our pride, conceit, presumption and sensuality. We fail to penetrate to the root of the evil, or, as St. Francis de Sales says, to the very refined bottom of self-love, self-esteem, attachment to creatures and the seeking of every thing that is not God. Hence we spend our life with virtues more apparent than real.

If we allow the thorns of light faults and the briars of our defects to grow in our field, they will soon choke the good seed. Hence we shall have that spiritual poverty, not uncommon among persons otherwise pious, but who live tranquilly amid their imperfections without worrying much about their progress.

O my God, remove from me all levity, sloth and negligence, those defects so opposed to the spirit of self-denial, which is inseparable from Thy love. Make me true and sincere in abhorring sin, despising myself and in being willing to die to all my evil propensities, so as to plant in me the maxims and inclinations of Jesus. For this is the object of my existence on earth, to eradicate from my heart whatever is displeasing to Thee, to plant therein, in its stead, sentiments, affections and virtues pleasing in Thy sight. “Lo, I have set thee this day to build to plant” (Jer. 1. 10).

II. The Means Requisite To Succeed In Cultivating Our Soul

We have just seen the labor necessitated by the wretched soil of our heart, a labor of purification and cultivation which we may never interrupt during our earthly career. But by what means shall we hasten and increase the harvest of virtues in our soul? First, in not working alone. As a vast filed requirers many laborers, so to cultivate our soul, which is a little world in itself, besides the spiritual direction, we should also implore the help of the angels and saints, of Mary, Jesus, and the sanctifying Spirit, by continual mental prayer, or as Jesus says, by praying always. For, without the special assistance of heaven, which is the fruit of prayer, we can never wholly clear the rough soil of our heart, and accomplish a task so far above the powers of nature.

Moreover, it behooves us to proceed methodically, and not to pretend to complete in one day a task that requires our whole lifetime. The best method of success is to lay out for ourselves a definite task, by striving to remove one defect at a time. Therefore, let us concentrate our whole attention, all our prayers against our predominant inclination, habit or instinct. We should resolve every morning to watch all day long this particular point, to have recourse to God, when there is a chance of our gaining a victory, and to examine at noon and at night whether we have faithfully followed these tactics.

How many virtues would bloom in the field of our soul, were we carefully to rid it of the cockle of our evil habits. But, alas! we have always the same defects, we are always so sensitive, so impatient of restraint, so irritable, so easily disturbed; we are so inclined to self-praise, to boasting, to defend ourselves bitterly against even well-merited reproaches; we are so eager to get all that pleases us, to seek our ease, our comforts, and all that flatters our effeminacy. O how necessary is it to study our heart, so as to eradicate that fund of self-esteem which prevents us from seeing our imperfections and our lack of virtue!

O my God, I am still very far from possessing solid humility, which cheerfully embraces affronts and contempt; habitual recollection, which is proof against external distractions; and detachment and patience, for which the saints were distinguished. Grant me the will to strive constantly to retrench from my heart what is most opposed to Thy perfect love.

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September 23

The Edifice Of Perfection

Preparation. - It is not enough to desire perfection, we must also, first, labor at it methodically, as is done in constructing a building, and secondly, to complete or perfect it by practicing perfect charity. Let us examine which virtues are wanting to us, that we may become a sanctuary worthy of God and agreeing with the divine Model of all perfection, Jesus Christ. “Be you also as living stones built up a spiritual house” (1 Pet. 2. 5).

I. How To Construct Our Spiritual Edifice

Before building a house, a church, a palace, the ground is first cleared, the foundations are dug and filled with materials capable of making a solid basis for the building. In like manner, we must proceed with our spiritual edifice. We clear the ground by banishing from our heart worldly affections and human respect by means of the fear of God; we dig the foundation by means of humility, and faith fills it up with all the truths necessary for our progress. And then there remains only to put up the walls of our spiritual edifice by practicing the virtues.

But how should we cement and consolidate these virtues in us? By means of meditation, prayer and self-denial.

When meditating on the eternal truths and the mysteries of salvation, we shall be induced to pray or ask for the light and helps necessary for our sanctification. Prayer will obtain for us the graces that will enlighten concerning our defects, our evil inclinations and passions, which are directly opposed to the maxims of the Gospel. Being thereby enabled to understand how indispensable self-denial is to us, we shall feel urged to practice it, in order to establish in ourselves the virtues opposed to our vices.

Such is the method we ought to follow in constructing our spiritual edifice. Are we not, perhaps, building on the moving sand of levity, that is, the want of seriousness in our meditations and self-denial? Or have we not too good an opinion of ourselves, which causes us to enjoy present tranquility, without adverting to the future trials in store for us? This would be building on sand, as our Saviour calls it; and would prepare fatal ruins when the rain, the winds and the storms will come, that is, reverses, persecutions, interior combats raised up by hell and the world. Let us henceforth be more prudent, and construct to God a solid sanctuary within us, built on the rock, as our Lord says. And what is this rock, if not a profound humility, a lively faith in the truths revealed, a ceaseless mortification and continual mental prayer? In this manner, we shall be prepared for the struggles, employments, labors and sufferings, which may later on require of us consummate and, perhaps, heroic virtue. Woe to us, if, through our fault, we are not equal to our obligations and fit to resist all temptations and bear adversity.

O my God, the final tribulation of death, together with its preceding illness, should also induce me to fortify myself in Thy love by all the means within my reach. Grant me the grace often to meditate on Jesus crucified and His Blessed Mother at the foot of the cross. Thence I will draw out all the motives of striving unceasingly to sanctify myself solidly by means of reflection, prayer and constantly renouncing myself and all created objects. “Be ye also as living stones built up, a spiritual edifice.”

II. How To Complete Our Spiritual Edifice

A building is completed by its roof, which is, as it were, its crown. In like manner, our mystical edifice shall be completed by the roof of charity. This virtue, according to St. Paul, is not only “the bond of perfection” (Col. 3. 14), but also the completion or “fulness of the law” (Rom. 13. 10). It comprises the love of God and the love of the neighbor, which form but one and the same love, by which we love the Creator both in Himself and in souls, His images, or portraits. “And this commandment we have from God,” says the beloved disciple, “that he who loveth God, love also his brothers” (1 John 4. 21).

The world, says St. Dorotheus, is like a circle of which God is the centre and men are the radii. The nearer these approach the centre, the nearer they are to one another, that is, the more closely we are united to God, the more closely also are we united to our fellow-men by the bonds of true charity. Wherefore let us never separate in our heart the love of God and the love of our neighbor. “Thou needest two feet to walk,” said our Lord to St. Catherine of Siena, “and these two wings to fly to heaven.”

Are these our views concerning perfection? Do we faithfully keep this command of our divine Master: “Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, pray for those who persecute and calumniate you” (Mat. 5. 44). And if we are obliged to pray for the latter, how much more are we not bound to pray for our parents, relatives, benefactors, superiors and all who take an interest in us?

Let us examine whether we are not tainted with selfishness, always occupied with ourselves and never caring for others, not even in our spiritual exercises. Do we ever think of recommending to God the suffering, the tempted, those in danger of falling into the abyss of mortal sin? Are we not forgetful of sinners, of the dying, of the souls in purgatory? The Church militant and the Church suffering should be the objects of our solicitude and zeal.

O Jesus, in vain do I labor to build Thee a temple in my soul, unless Thou assistest me with Thy grace. Wherefore I rely on Thee and Thy holy Mother, to consolidate in me the different virtues, as Thou didst to the saints. Enable me, like them, to crown the virtues with a sincere love for Thee and for my neighbor.

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September 4

The Means Of Healing Our Soul

Preparation. - Although Jesus is the Physician of souls, as we have learned, He, nevertheless, wishes that we should assist Him in effecting our cure. Hence we shall see, first, by what means, and secondly, in what spirit we should do so. Then we shall resolve often to present ourselves to Jesus as a patient to his physician, asking Him to heal us of our defects, and especially of the one that predominates in us, saying: “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean” (Mat. 8. 2).

I. The Means Of Curing Our Spiritual Infirmities

The sick that were brought to Jesus during His mortal life, had usually, when their disease was not manifest, to explain their suffering. In like manner, it behooves us to disclose to our spiritual director, as to Jesus Himself, the interior pains that afflict us. Is not this also the case with all the sick towards their physicians? If the healing of the body requires this candid disclosure that conceals nothing, how much more is it necessary for that of the soul, which is of far greater importance and needs, besides, the graces attached to obedience!

It behooves us, then, to manifest to our confessor or spiritual director our faults, our perverse inclinations and the temptations that beset us. We ought, moreover, to indicate to him the means we use to correct our faults, to deny and conquer ourselves, the peculiar attractions coming from God concerning prayer or certain virtues. For each one is directed as much as he wishes, that is, as much as he discloses the state of his interior to his spiritual father.

In the next place, all that remains for us to do, is to listen to the voice of Jesus speaking to us through His representative, and to put in practice what he prescribes to us. If we fulfill these conditions, our very frequent faults will soon disappear as well as our habitual sloth, our dangerous inconstancy, and our regrettable miseries and imperfections. Our spiritual physicians have the inappreciable advantage over those of the body, of possessing unfailing remedies. For obedience to their human words into divine words, which operate what they mean in those that receive them with faith, and faithfully practice them. Wherefore it is impossible for a docile soul to subject herself wholly to spiritual direction, without finding therein her cure, her progress and her salvation.

Are we not of the number of those presumptuous minds that wish to depend solely on their own judgment even in matters of conscience? “Unless you become as little children,” said our divine Saviour even to His apostles, “you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mat. 18. 3). O my God, deign to confer upon me the spirit of uprightness and sincerity, which I need so much in order to make myself known to those who direct me in Thy name. Enable me to follow, in every point, and not only for one day, but every day, their counsels for the direction of my interior life. Enable me to overcome my inclinations, to repress my defects and to fulfill my duties under Thy guidance, that I may recover perfect health.

II. In What Spirit We Should Seek To Be Cured

The idea of sickness, applied to our vices, indicates also what spirit we should strive to effect our cure. The faithful infirmarian should treat his patient kindly, and cause him to take punctually all the prescribed remedies. If the disease increase, or becomes chronic, he should continue his care with the same patience and zeal. Such is the model we ought to follow in effecting our spiritual cure. We should devote ourselves to it without getting fretful or vexed, and with invincible constancy in employing the means sanctioned by obedience. Let us beware of growing despondent when we see ourselves making no progress, or when our defects, instead of diminishing, seem only to be aggravated under the breath of our passions become more violent in the course of time, or on account of our efforts to overcome them.

The infirmarian, who is filed with the spirit of God, knows that he will be rewarded, not according to his success, but according to his labor. Hence our soul should bear in mind that she will be rewarded for the moments she employed in humbling herself, in mortifying and denying herself in order to obey, even if her efforts seemed unavailing to render her more perfect. She should never cease watching over herself, endeavoring to be recollected, praying constantly, and exercising herself in every virtue, even if she would remark in herself her former inclinations, weaknesses and imperfections, for a day will come when her labors will be duly rewarded.

O Jesus, I will say to Thee with the sisters of Lazarus: “He whom Thou lovest, is sick.” My soul has received so many wounds from my sins; I come to Thee, my divine Physician; heal me. I will labor with Thee, and by means of self-denial, prayer and the sacraments will strive to become conformable to Thee. How many saints, naturally as weak as myself, succeeded by the very means in my power to recover their lost innocence, and even practiced heroic virtue. With Thy assistance and that of Thy holy Mother, may I not do what so many of Thy servants have done? O my lovely Master, I am resolved, first, to come always to Thee, especially in holy Communion, as a sick man goes to his physician; and secondly, earnestly to beseech Thee for the grace of a persevering confidence in Thy help and in the direction Thou givest me through Thy representatives. “There is no power but from God” (Rom. 13. 1). “He that heareth you, heareth Me” (Luke 10. 16).

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