Chapter IX: Religious Poverty

The Vow of Poverty, the Perfection of Poverty, and Community Life.

All the views of the world are opposed to the laws of God: in the estimation of the world riches are the basis of greatness; but in the eyes of God poverty is the foundation of sanctity. It is not certain that the rich are damned; but the Redeemer has declared that It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.² Hence the founders of every religious order have endeavored to establish in all the Communities of their Institute a perfect spirit of poverty as the basis of the common good. St. Ignatius of Loyola³ called religious poverty the fortification by which the spirit of fervor is preserved. The truth of this observation is demonstrated by daily experience; for in the Communities in which poverty is maintained fervor flourishes, and in which poverty is violated irregularities soon prevail. Hence the powers of hell labor so hard to introduce a relaxation of poverty into the observant Orders. Speaking of her own religious, St. Teresa once said from heaven: “Let them endeavor to have a great esteem for poverty; for while it lasts fervor will be maintained.”⁴ Poverty is justly styled by the holy Fathers the guardian of virtues, since in religious it preserves mortification, humility, detachment from creatures, and, above all, interior recollection.

² “Facilius est camelum per foramen acus transire, quam divitem intrare regnum cœlorum.”—Matt. xix. 24.

³ Const. p. 10, § 5.

⁴ Way of Perf. ch. 2.

1 The reader’s attention is drawn to the fact that the Saint is addressing himself to nuns, i.e. to religious with solemn vows. Wherever his teachings do not apply to religious with simple vows will be indicated in footnotes. (Editor).

In treating of religious poverty it is necessary to distinguish between the perfection of poverty and that which is the object of the religious vow.

The vow implies that a religious has no dominion over worldly goods, and that her use of them is dependent on the will of her Superior.¹ But, alas! this is a rock on which many religious are lost. St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi saw many nuns in hell for the transgression of the vow of poverty. In the Chronicles of the Capuchins it is related that the devil once took away from among his brethren and in their presence a religious, from whose sleeve, at the moment when he was carried off, a breviary fell, which the unhappy man had, in violation of the vow of poverty, appropriated to his own use. The fact related by St. Cyril to St. Augustine² is still more alarming. In Thebais there was a convent containing two hundred nuns who did not live according to the rules of holy poverty. St. Jerome appeared to one of them, who was more exact than the rest, and commanded her to admonish the abbess and the other nuns that, if they did not amend, a frightful chastisement should be inflicted upon them. The good religious executed the command, but her advice was received with derision. While at prayer she was again commanded to repeat the admonition, and, should it be fruitless, to depart immediately from the convent. She obeyed a second time; but the abbess, instead of profiting by the advice, threatened to expel the sister from the monastery if she said any more on the subject. “You shall not,” replied the nun, “expel me; for I will depart instantly, that I may not be involved in the common ruin.” Scarcely had she gone out when the monastery fell, and crushed to death all the religious.

¹ Cepari. Vit. c. 59.

² Inter op. S. Aug. E. B. A pp. ep. 19, c. 8.

Woe to those that introduce into religion a relaxation of holy poverty. Examine, dear sister, whether you keep money or any other kind of property without leave. And remember that the permission of the Superior is invalid, whenever its object is not just; for she cannot permit you to retain what cannot be lawfully kept. All the money, furniture, clothes, and whatever species of property you possess, all that you receive from your relatives, or for the fruits of your industry, belong not to you, but to the monastery.¹ You have only the use of what the Superior gives you. Hence, if you dispose of anything without her leave, you are guilty of theft, and of a sacrilegious theft, by violating the vow of poverty.² Be persuaded that the Lord will demand a very rigorous account. Hence, zealous Superiors are always most exact and severe in chastising every fault against that virtue. Cassian relates³ that among the ancient Fathers, the procurator, in consequence of allowing a few lentils to be wasted through negligence, was deprived of the benefit of common prayers, and was excluded from the holy Communion till he had done public penance. It is related of Rinald, the prior of the Dominican convent at Bologna, that he chastised very severely a lay-brother for having taken without permission a shred of cloth to mend his habit, and that he caused the cloth to be burned at Chapter, in presence of the whole Community.

¹ Religious with simple vows may acquire other goods or property, unless forbidden by their constitutions. Whatever they receive for their labors or by reason of their religious character, they acquire for their Institute. (Can. 580. n. 1, 2.)

² This is the case only if the goods belong to the community.

³ De Cœnob. inst. l. 4, c. 20.

What has been just said regards the vow of poverty; but the perfection of holy poverty requires that a religious be divested of every affection for the goods of the earth, and that she make use of them only as far as is necessary for the preservation of life. It was this that the Redeemer wished to signify to the young man, who asked what he should do in order to attain perfection. If, says Jesus, thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give it to the poor.¹ The Saviour told him that he should renounce all his possessions without a single exception. For when, as St. Bonaventure says, the spirit is encumbered with the weight of any temporality, the soul cannot rise to union with God. “Burdened with the load of temporal things, the spirit cannot ascend to God.”² “The love of terrestrial objects,” according to St. Augustine, “is the birdlime of the spiritual wings,”³ which impedes the flight of the soul to God. And again the holy Doctor says: “By the great wing of poverty a Christian quickly flies to heaven.”⁴ Hence, St. Laurence Justinian exclaimed: “O blessed voluntary poverty! possessing nothing, fearing nothing; always cheerful, always abounding, because it turns to advantage every inconvenience.”⁵

¹ “Si vis perfectus esse, vade, vende que habes, et da pauperibus.” —Matt. xix. 21.

² “Cum sarcina temporalium, spiritus ad Deum non potest ascendere.”

³ “Amor rerum terrenarum viscum est spiritualium pennarum.” —Serm. 112, E. B.

⁴ “Magna penna paupertatis, qua cito volatur in regnum coelorum.” —De Adv. D. s. 4.

⁵ “O blessed voluntary poverty: possessing nothing, fearing nothing; always cheerful, always abounding; and although it has nothing, it makes every inconvenience serve its progress!”—De Disc. mon. c. 2.

It was for our edification and instruction that Jesus Christ wished to live in continual poverty on earth. Hence, St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi called poverty the. spouse of Jesus. “Poverty,” says St. Bernard, “was not found in heaven—it abounded on earth; but man did not know its value: therefore the Son of God, longing after it, came down from heaven to choose it for himself, and to make it precious to us.”⁶ Being rich, says St. Paul, he became poor for your sakes, that through his poverty you might be rich.¹ Our Redeemer was the Lord of all the riches in heaven and on earth, but he wished to be miserably poor in this life, in order to enrich us, and to excite us by his example to the love of poverty, which, by withdrawing our affections from temporal goods, procures for us eternal riches. He wished to be poor during his whole life. Poor in his birth—he was born not in a palace, but in a cold stable, having only a manger for his cradle and straw for his bed. Poor in his life and poor in all things, he dwelt in a miserable hut containing but a single room; which served for all the purposes of life. Poor in his garments and in his food. St. John Chrysostom says, that the Redeemer and his disciples ate nothing but barley-bread; and this may be inferred from the Gospel.² Poor, in fine, in his death: leaving nothing behind him but his miserable garments; and these, even before his death, were divided among the soldiers. Thus for his winding-sheet and sepulchre he depended on the bounty of the charitable.

Hence, Jesus once said to Blessed Angela of Foligno: “If poverty were not a great blessing, I should not have chosen it for myself, nor should I have left it as an inheritance to my elect.” It was because they saw Jesus poor that the saints loved poverty so much. Father Granada and Father M. Avila discussed one day the reason why St. Francis of Assisi had such an affection for poverty. Father Louis of Granada maintained that it was because the saint wished to be freed from every impediment to a perfect union with God. But Father Avila asserted with more truth, that the ardent love of St. Francis for holy poverty arose from his ardent love of Jesus Christ. And surely a soul that loves Jesus Christ intensely cannot but exclaim with the Apostle: I count all things as dung, that I may gain Christ.¹ I esteem all the goods of the earth as dung, and therefore I despise them all, that I may gain Jesus Christ. Hence, St. Francis de Sales used to say, that when a house is on fire the furniture is thrown out of the windows; and long before, the Holy Ghost said: If a man should give all the substance of his house for love, he shall despise it as nothing:² The ardent lover cheerfully despises all things through the love which he bears to God.

⁶ “Poverty was not found in heaven; on earth it abounded, and man did not know its worth; therefore the Son of God, desiring it, descended so that he might choose it for himself and make it precious to us.”—In Vig. Nat. D. s. 1.

¹ “Propter vos egenus factus est, cum esset dives, ut illius inopia vos divites essetis.”—2 Cor. viii. 9.

² John, vi. 9.

¹ “Omnia arbitror . . . ut stercora, ut Christum lucrifaciam.”—Phil. iii. 8.

² “Si dederit homo omnem substantiam domus suæ pro dilectione, quasi nihil despiciet eam.”—Cant. viii. 7.

From the Sacred Scriptures we learn that the reward of poverty is most certain, and great beyond measure. It is most certain; because Jesus Christ has said: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. To the other beatitudes, heaven is promised only as a future reward. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land.³ Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.⁴ But to the poor in spirit God’s kingdom is promised as a present recompense: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.⁵ Because, to those that are truly poor in spirit the Lord gives very great helps, even in this life. Hence, Cornelius a Lapide says, that since, by the decree of God, the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor, they have a full right to it.⁶ The reward of poverty is very secure, and great beyond conception. “The less we have here,” says St. Teresa, “the more we shall enjoy in God’s kingdom, in which the mansion of each is proportioned to the love with which he shall have imitated the life of Jesus Christ.”¹ “O happy commerce,” exclaims St. Peter Damian, “where clay is given away and gold received.”² O happy traffic! in which we renounce the goods of the earth, which are but mire, and receive in exchange the graces of God and eternal rewards; which are more precious than the purest gold.

³ “Beati mites, quoniam ipsi possidebunt terram.”

⁴ “Beati mundo corde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt.”

⁵ “Beati pauperes spiritu, quoniam ipsorum est regnum cœlorum.”—Matt. v. 3, 4, 8.

⁶ “Ex Dei decreto, ad pauperes pertinet regnum cœlorum; ipsi, in illud, plenum jus habent.”—In Matth. l. c.

¹ Found, ch. 14.

² “Felix tale commercium, ubi datur lutum, tollitur aurum.”—Epist. 1. 7. ep. 7.

The poor in spirit shall also have the honor of sitting with Jesus Christ as the judges of the world. Behold, says St. Peter to Jesus, we have left all things and have followed thee: what, therefore, shall we have?³ And Jesus said to them: Amen, I say to you, that you who have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the seat of his Majesty, you shall also sit on twelve seats, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.⁴ God has promised eternal glory hereafter, and a hundredfold in this life, to all who abandon earthly goods for his sake. And every one that hath left house or lands for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting.⁵ This promise is fulfilled in all the poor in spirit who, because they desire nothing on earth, possess all riches: As having nothing and possessing all things.⁶ The Redeemer has justly compared riches to thorns,⁷ for in proportion to their abundance, riches torment the soul by cares, by fears, and by the desires of increased possessions. Hence, St. Bernard says, that while the avaricious, because their desire of riches is never satiated, like mendicants, thirst after the goods of this world; the poor in spirit, because they wish for nothing upon earth, despise mammon. “The avaricious man, like a mendicant, hungers after earthly things;¹ the poor man, like a lord, contemns them.” ] Oh! how great is the happiness of a religious, who desires and possesses nothing upon earth. She enjoys true peace—a blessing more valuable than all worldly goods, which can never content a soul destined to be made happy only by the possession of God.

³ “Ecce nos reliquimus omnia, et secuti sumus te; quid ergo erit nobis?”—Matt. xix. 27.

⁴ “Amen I say to you, that you who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the seat of his majesty, you also shall sit upon twelve seats, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”—Ibid. 28.

⁵ “And everyone who has left house . . . or lands for my name shall receive a hundredfold and shall possess eternal life.”—Ibid. 29.

⁶ “Nihil habentes, et omnia possidentes.”—2 Cor. vi. 10.

⁷ Matt. xiii. 22.

¹ “Avarus terrena esurit ut mendicus, fidelis contemnit ut dominus.”—In Cant. s. 21.

Thus the poor in spirit receive a great reward in this as well as in the next life. But where shall we find a religious truly poor in spirit? Let us examine in what true poverty of spirit consists.

It consists, first, not only in the absence of all poverty,² but also in the destruction of every desire which has not God for its object. “A pauper meets me,” says St. Augustine, “and still I seek a man who is poor.”³ Yes, in the world the number of the indigent is countless, but few of them are poor in spirit and desire. St. Teresa used to say, that the religious who appears to be bereft of all property, but at the same time is not poor in spirit, deceives the world and herself. What will her actual poverty profit her? The poor that desire the possession of riches suffer indeed the pains of want, but do not practise the virtue of poverty. “He that desires the goods of the earth,” says St. Philip Neri, “will never become a saint.” You, dear sister, have abandoned the world; you have left all things, and will you, after so many sacrifices, expose yourself to the danger of being lost, or at least of not being a saint? Ah! be content with humble food and raiment; seek to become a saint, and do not, for miserable trifles, risk your eternal inheritance. But, says the Apostle, having food and wherewith to be covered, with these we are content.¹ For they that will become rich fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil, and into many unprofitable and hurtful desires, which draw men into destruction and perdition.² Whoever covets worldly riches shall fall into the snares of the enemy, and into numberless desires, which lead to death and to eternal misery.

² Property may be retained by religious with simple vows, unless prohibited by their constitutions. (Can. 580. n. 1.)

³ “Occurrit mihi pauper, et quæro pauperem.”—Serm. 14, E. B.

¹ “Habentes autem alimenta, et quibus tegamur, his contenti simus.” —1 Tim. vi. 8.

² “Those who wish to become rich fall into temptation and into the snare of the devil, and into many useless and harmful desires, which plunge men into destruction and perdition.”—Ibid. 9.

Poverty of spirit consists, secondly, in keeping the heart detached, not only from what is valuable, but also from what is trifling. The adhesion of the smallest portion of earth prevents the free ascent of a feather in the air; and the possession of a particle of worldly goods, in opposition to the perfection of poverty, impedes the perfect union of a religious with God, and the enjoyment of true peace. Thorns (or riches), however small, torment the traveller, and diminish the expedition of his journey. To be perfect, it is not necessary for a religious to abandon large possessions; no, it is sufficient to leave in effect and in affection the little that it is in her power to relinquish. St. Peter gave up little; but because, in affection, he left all that he possessed (behold, we have left all things), he merited to hear from Jesus Christ that he was chosen for one of the Redeemer’s assessors at the general judgment. You shall sit on twelve seats, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.³ There are some religious who have an affection, not for precious stones, nor for vessels of gold, but for certain miserable trifles, such as some article of furniture, a book, or the like. They have not renounced all attachments to the goods of the earth, but have transferred their affections from things of value to trifles, and their solicitude about these trifles occasions as many imperfections and as much inquietude as the care of large possessions.

³ Matt. xix. 27.

If seculars are lost, they are lost for the attainment of something great in the eyes of the world; but what a pity, says Cassian,¹ to see a nun, after having left the world, and after having renounced her inheritance and liberty, lose the crown of a saint for trifles that are vile and miserable even in the estimation of worldlings. “The adversary,” says St. Eucherius, “exults when he sees us, who contemned the most valuable goods, overcome in matters of the smallest importance.”² What a source of triumph to the devil to find a person who has left considerable possessions shamefully conquered by the love of trifles. “Some,” says Cassian, “who despise the most magnificent property, we see disturbed for a needle or a pen, and thus fall into the occasions of death.”³ St. Eucherius asserts what appears very extraordinary, that “the love of property, unless it be perfectly eradicated, is most ardent in small things.”⁴ Most ardent, and therefore most criminal; for by attachment to trifles a religious shows a greater avidity for earthly goods than by an affection for what is valuable. Hence Jesus Christ has said, So likewise, every one of you that doth not renounce all that he possesseth, cannot be my disciple.⁵

¹ Collat. 5, c. 21.

² “Exsultat adversarius, quando nos videt ad hoc maxima contempsisse, ut in minimis vinceremur.”—Ad Monach. hom. 5.

³ “Prædiorum magnificentiam contemnentes vidimus, pro acu, pro calamo, commoveri; et inde occasiones mortis incurrunt!”—Coll. l. 1, c. 6.

⁴ “Habendi amor, nisi ad integrum resecetur, ardentior est in parvis. —Ad Monach. hom. 4.

⁵ “Qui non renuntiat omnibus que possidet, non potest meus esse discipulus.”—Luke, xiv. 33.

Thirdly, poverty of spirit consists not only in being poor, but in loving poverty. “For,” says St. Bernard, “it is not poverty, but the love of poverty, that is reputed virtue.”¹ It is not the poor man, but the lover of poverty, that is esteemed virtuous. And to love poverty is to love the effects of poverty, that is, hunger, cold, and, above all, the contempt attendant upon want. For St. Thomas teaches² that the honor of judging the world shall be given to the poor in spirit, as the reward of the humiliations occasioned by their indigence. Many religious, says St. Vincent Ferrer, glory in the name of poverty, but shun the sufferings and opprobrium that are its constant companions. “They glory in the name, but fly from the associates of poverty.”³ St. Joseph Calasanctius used to say, that he who feels not the inconveniences of want, is not poor. And Blessed Salome, a religious of the Order of St. Clare, used to say, that “angels and men shall laugh at the religious who desires to be poor, and at the same time wishes to enjoy the advantages of wealth, or complains whenever she is deprived of them.” But, my God, what is to be said of the poverty of the religious who, should her food be scanty or not well seasoned, breaks out into complaints? —who, should she not be supplied with a new habit before the old one is torn, disturbs the whole Community by her murmuring against the Superior, and against those who hold office in the convent? What shall I say of the poverty of the nun who seeks finer cloth and linen than become her state?—who is disquieted if her dress be not made in a neat and graceful form, so as to give her a genteel appearance? “They indeed,” says St. Bernard, “wish to be poor, but only on the condition that nothing may be wanting to them.”¹

¹ “Non enim paupertas virtus reputatur, sed paupertatis amor.”— Epist. 100.

² In Matt. xix. 27, 28.

³ “De paupertatis nomine gloriantur, et paupertatis sodales fugiunt, famem, sitim, contemptum, despectionem.”—De Vita spir. c. i.

¹ “Pauperes esse volunt, eo tamen pacto, ut nihil eis desit.”—In Adv. D. s. 4.

But you will, perhaps, say that the Community life^* not being observed in your convent, you must think of everything, of food, of clothing, of medicines, and that you must go to the grate to sell your work and to receive a price for it in order to procure for yourself the things that you need. I answer: Although your Institute, or the present usage of your convent, permits this to you, yet you should not show yourself like a secular who sells her wares by directly treating with outside persons without the modesty and gentleness that suit your state. This kind of traffic is often the effect, not of necessity, but of cupidity that induces certain religious to work much at night, to neglect the duties of their office, the choir, mental prayer, the sacraments, and even sometimes to use without permission what belongs to the Community. Ah! when the true love of God enters the heart of a nun, she easily finds the means of practising perfect poverty, even though Community life no longer exists in the convent. Blessed Hyacinth Mariscotti, when she had laid aside her tepidity and given herself up entirely to God, immediately set to work to strip her cell of all that was superfluous, and to give it to the Superior; and she even gave up her habit to take another that was torn and patched, that had covered the body of a deceased nun.

Since mention has been made of the Community life, I must make a few reflections on this point. It is certain that all the cares and disquietudes of nuns, all the annoyances

• What is here said, as far as the end of the chapter, does not apply to well-regulated convents, and has reference only to the abuses that had gradually crept into convents of Italy at the time when St. Alphonsus lived, and that could not be entirely removed.—Ed. that they frequently experience, and all the obstacles that hinder them from advancing in perfection, usually arise from the possession of personal property, and from the desire of preserving and increasing it. The necessity of providing for their own maintenance in regard to food, clothing, furniture, medicines, is indeed a source of care and embarrassment for the poor nuns, and the cause of distractions in their prayers and Communions. It is true the vow of poverty does not forbid them to keep or use things with the requisite permission; but this must be done with such indifference regarding these things that one is always ready to deprive one’s self of these should the Superior so ordain. Unfortunately this total indifference is not found in all nuns. There are some who are willing to deposit the money with the Superior; but if the latter should wish to use it for the benefit of the convent they would excite a great commotion. I therefore say that this depositing of money is a mere sham, is a fiction, and I should say it is an attempt to deceive the Superiors and God at the same time, since such nuns are in fact real owners. All those who live a private life are exposed to this danger. Now community life delivers and preserves the nuns from all these inconveniences. Hence St. John Climacus says: “This is community life in which true spiritual poverty is preserved: it frees us from worldly cares; it is a smooth road that enables us, without any obstacle, to unite ourselves to God; it removes all sadness and all disquietude.”¹

¹ “Paupertas est abdicatio sollicitudinum sæculi, iter ad Deum sine impedimento, expulsio omnis tristitiæ.”—Scala par. gr. 17.

It is certain that all the holy founders of religious Orders had in view the establishment of community life; and as long as community life has been maintained, fervor has reigned in the communities. We must here remark, that, according to the common opinion of theologians, such as Suarez, Navarro, Lessius, and others, the vow of poverty obliges the religious always to be interiorly disposed to enter community life when the Superiors, after having examined the circumstances, judge it opportune. This being the case, we must conclude that a religious would be in a bad state as to her conscience if the Superiors wishing to re-establish community life, she would refuse to accept it, even though it did not exist when she entered the convent. We should not be afraid that in community life we shall not find the means of living; for our Lord one day said to St. Catherine of Sienna: “While the religious Order observed poverty, they did not suffer; but now, when they are living by themselves, they suffer.” Oh! how happy you would be if you would co-operate in the introduction into your convent of this great good—the community life!

If, however, the community life does not exist in your house,¹ and if under present circumstances it cannot be established, I do not wish to force you to observe it. It is therefore permitted to you to take a moderate care of what concerns food, medicines, and other things of which you may be in need. You may also, with the requisite permissions, sell your work, procure for yourself what is required for your sustenance, and retain the money necessary for your daily wants, depositing the rest in the common fund and leaving it at the disposal of the Superior in case she should think fit to use it. You may also receive permission to spend or receive money up to a certain amount. In acting in this manner you may still merit the reward promised to the poor in spirit.

¹ Code prescribes community life. (Can. 594, n. 1.) Contrary custom should be done away with according to Can. 5.

Prayer.

My Jesus, if hitherto my heart has been attached to the goods of the earth, Thou shalt henceforth be my only treasure, O God of my soul! Thou art a good infinitely greater than any other, Thou dost merit infinite love; I esteem and love Thee above all things, and even more than myself; Thou art the only object of all my affections. I desire nothing in this world. If I had any desires, it would be to possess all the treasures and kingdoms of the earth, for the purpose of renouncing them all, and depriving myself of them for the love of Thee. Come, O my love! come and consume in me every affection that is not for Thee. Grant that, in future, I may regard nothing but Thee, think only of Thee, and sigh only after Thee. The love that made Thee die on the cross for me, makes me die to all my inclinations—makes me love only Thy infinite goodness, and desire only Thy grace and Thy love. My dear Redeemer, when shall I be entirely Thine, as Thou art all mine? I am not able even to give myself to Thee as I ought. Oh! take me and make me live only for Thy glory.

Trusting in the merits of Thy blood, O Jesus, and in Thy intercession, O my mother Mary, I hope for all things.

The Degrees and the Practice of Perfect Poverty.

First Degree.

The first degree of perfect religious poverty is not to possess anything as one’s own. Hence a religious should regard but as a loan whatever she possesses, and should be ready to give it up at the first intimation of the Superior’s will. She ought to be like a statue, which when dressed is not elated, and when stripped is not dejected. A sister who is afflicted at being deprived of anything by the Superior shows that she did not retain it with the true spirit of poverty, or at least that she had some attachment to it. A religious should remember that what she is permitted to receive or retain, belongs not to her, but is the property of the monastery. She should, therefore, hold it as a deposit, and ought not to expend it on vanity, or in superfluous presents. Neither should she complain when the Superior applies it to the use of the Community, or of any of the religious. What then are we to think of the nun who throws the whole convent into confusion whenever the sisters, with the permission of the Superior, use what she possesses. Search, then, dear sister, your heart, and see if it is detached from all you possess.

Examine how you would feel if the Superior refused to permit you to incur a certain expense, to retain a certain sum of money or a certain piece of furniture. And if you feel an attachment to anything whatsoever, resolve, in imitation of that great servant of God, Sister Mary of the Cross, either to deprive yourself of it, or to bring it to the Superior and leave it at her disposal. In a word, you must preserve the heart free from all affection, even for those things that you are permitted to retain.

Second Degree.

The second degree of poverty is, to deprive yourself of whatever is superfluous: for the smallest superfluity will prevent a perfect union of the soul with God. St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi went so far as to strip her little altar of all its ornaments except the crucifix. St. Teresa relates of herself that, knowing God to be most jealous of religious poverty, she could not recollect herself in prayer as long as she retained anything that she thought to be superfluous. If in your convent there is not a perfect community of property,¹ endeavor at least to imitate the poverty practised by the most exemplary and exact among your companions, as well in dress as in food and furniture.

¹ See note on community life, p. 262.

But you will perhaps say that whatever you possess is retained with the leave of the Superior. Permission to keep superfluities may save you from the punishments inflicted on proprietors, but will not secure to you the merit of perfect poverty.

Again, you will perhaps say that you have no attachment to what you keep. But whether you have an attachment to it or not, the possession of what is not necessary will always prevent you from attaining the perfection of poverty.

You may imagine that a certain sum of money or a certain portion of property will enable you to relieve the poor or to assist your companions. But I repeat that it is the nun that has nothing to give, and not the religious that has the means of distributing alms, who edifies the Church. St. Thomas says that “it is good to give your goods to the needy, but it is better to be poor with Christ.”¹ It is meritorious to distribute your property to the poor, but it is better to be like Jesus Christ, without the means of giving alms. Besides, as the Venerable Sister Amadea, a Visitation nun, used to say, a good religious should desire to dispense only the goods that she receives from God, that is, good example, prayers, salutary advice, and the helps to spiritual life.

¹ “Bonum est facultates pauperibus erogare; sed melius est egere cum Christo.”—2. 2. q. 32, a. 8.

If, dear sister, you desire to please your Spouse, you must renounce whatsoever you know to be superfluous. Should you be unable to ascertain what is absolutely necessary for your use, beg of the abbess to examine your cell and to remove whatever is not indispensable. If you truly desire to be with Jesus Christ, I advise you not indeed to be singular, but not to allow any of your companions to surpass you in poverty. And that you may be among the poorest of your companions, you must endeavor to be poor in all things, in your dress, in your furniture, and in your food.

I. With regard to clothes, be careful to practise the highest degree of poverty compatible with the usage of the Community. Let your clothes be such as necessity requires, and not what vanity would suggest. Of what use are fine clothes to religious except to gratify vanity, and to attract the notice and esteem of all that behold them? “For,” says St. Gregory, “no one desires to be clothed in precious garments, when he cannot be seen by others.”¹ But the Holy Ghost has declared that beauty does not consist in external decoration, but in interior comeliness. All the glory of the king’s daughter is within.² On the contrary, “the exterior signs betray what is concealed within the soul.”³ Thus, every vain ornament of dress shows that he who wears it is puffed up with vanity. Hence St. John Chrysostom says that a religious who attends to the decoration of her person manifests the deformity of her soul. “Attention to the ornaments of the body indicates internal deformity.”⁴ St. Jerome observes that “the soul is defiled in proportion as the body is adorned.”⁵ St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi saw many nuns in hell for violating poverty, and especially by vanity in dress.⁶

¹ “Nemo vult ibi pretiosis vestibus indui, ubi ab aliis non possit videri.”—In Evang. hom. 40.

² “Omnis gloria ejus filiae regis ab intus.”—Ps. xliv. 14.

³ “Exteriora signa produnt quid in animo latet intus.”—Rev. 1. 4, c. 114.

⁴ “Studium in ornando corpore internam indicat deformitatem.”— In Genes, hom. 37.

⁵ “Quanto amplius corpus foris ornatur, tanto interius aniina fnedatur.”—Dc Modo bene viv. c. 9.

⁶ Puccini, Vit. 1. 4, c. 31; Cepari, c. 56.

I do not require of you to wear a torn or sordid dress: a torn garment is not decent in a religious; but a patched habit is suited to all that have made a vow of poverty: a sordid veil is not becoming, but an affected whiteness sought after by some is not proper. What edification is to be expected from the nun that wears wristbands of fine linen, fastened with silver buttons; that carries a costly ring on her finger, and beads of great value by her side; that uses only fine veils, and casts them aside as soon as the smallest break appears in them? She may be assured that her contempt of poverty is highly displeasing to God. To the Venerable Sister Constants of the Conception, a Carmelite nun, Jesus once appeared, and, because she threw away a torn veil, said to her: “Is it thus you despise the badge of spouse which I gave you?”

Religious that love Jesus Christ do not thus disregard holy poverty. When the Venerable Sister Margaret of the Cross, a daughter of Maximilian II. and a barefooted Clare, appeared before her brother Albert, the Archduke, in a patched habit, he was struck with astonishment, and expressed his surprise at seeing her dressed in such a manner. “Brother,” replied the good religious, “I am more happy in these rags than all the monarchs of the earth are in their purple.” What the world contemns is highly prized and rewarded by Almighty God. Violante Palombara, a noble lady, used only a garment of coarse linen, the poorest bedclothes, and beads of plain wood. At the hour of death she exclaimed: “Oh! what do I see? My dress resplendent with rays!—my covering made of gold!—and my beads of diamonds!”

II. You must also take care to practise poverty in the furniture of your cell. In the chronicles of St. Jerome we read that when Superiors found curiosities in the convent they immediately cast them into the fire, calling them idols of religious. The great servant of God, Sister Mary Magdalene Carafa, who had been duchess of Andria, and afterwards a religious in the Sapienza of Naples, would not keep in her cell paintings, or presents, or even many books. “For reading,” she would say, “a single book is sufficient, and contains more than we can put in practice.” Her conduct should cover with confusion certain religious who keep in their cells a great number of spiritual books, but do not practise the lessons that they read in any of them.

St. Teresa examined every day whether there was any superfluity in her cell; if she found any, she immediately removed it. What profit do religious draw from paintings that are not sacred, from gilded cornices, or splendid chests? Ornaments of silver and crystals are better suited to a lady in the world than to a nun in the cloister. Remember that what now pleases the eyes shall at the hour of death torture the soul, and in another life shall be severely punished—at least in purgatory. The learned Palafox relates that a Superior once appeared to a religious and told him that, with regard to the vow of poverty, God demands a most rigorous account of certain things that are not attended to in this life. He also said that he himself suffered severely in purgatory for having kept in his cell a walnut desk.

III. Some religious must have in their cells a supply of fruits, spices, and other eatables. When the physician prescribed for the Venerable Mother Mary John of the Annunciation a conserve of roses, she refused to keep any of it in the cell, but made a sister bring her every evening as much as was necessary for the night.

IV. Above all, seek to be poor in money. St. Paul compares avarice to idolatry. No covetous person (which is a serving of idols) hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ.¹ The comparison is most just; for the avaricious man desires money as his last end, and thus makes it his God. Hence St. John Chrysostom said, “Let us contemn money, lest we be contemned by Christ.”² If we wish not to be despised by Jesus Christ, we must despise riches. Hence the first Christians, after having sold their goods, placed the price at the feet of the apostles,³ thus showing, as St. Jerome says,⁴ that money should not find a place in the heart of man, but should be trampled under his feet. Some religious, under the pretext of providing for their necessities, desire the possession of riches. St. Catharine of Sienna used to say: “We desire to abound in temporal goods, because, as long as we do not possess them in abundance, we imagine that we stand in need of them.”¹

¹ “Avarus, quod est idolorum servitus, non habet hereditatem in regno Christi.”—Eph. v. 5.

² “Contemnamus pecunias, ne contemnamur a Christo.”—In Rom. hom. 7.

³ Acts, iv. 34, 35.

⁴ Epist. ad Demetr.

¹ L. to the Abbess of St. Peter at Florence.

But, religious who love perfection seek not after riches; they desire only what is absolutely indispensable, and therefore they look for scarcely as much as is necessary for their support. By enabling them to indulge every whim and caprice, a superfluous income serves only to make religious more proud, more at ease, more vain, and less mortified. What a shame, says St. Catharine of Sienna, in one of her letters, to see some religious, who should be mirrors of poverty, enjoy more pleasures in the cloister than they would had they remained in the world! Surely it is a scandalous irregularity in a nun to seek more indulgence in religion than she should obtain in the world.

If you wish not to offend against poverty, you must observe great caution in your whole expenditure. There are some, and particularly in our own time, since the expenses of religious have become extravagant, who boast of their splendor and generosity, saying, While we have the means we must spend. Such language might be expected from a worldling, but should never be uttered by a religious. Nor is it any justification to say that the expenses are incurred for God’s honor, on the solemn festivals of the monastery. Clement V.² prohibited to religious all superfluous expenditure, even on the divine worship.^* Hence, St. Charles Borromeo

² Clementina Exivi, § Rursus, de verb. signif.

• It is to be remarked that what St. Alphonsus says here applies to the contemplative Orders.—Ed. ordained that on the festivals of nuns the decorations should be decent, but not sumptuous. What think you, says St. Bernard, “Is it penance, compunction, or the admiration of the bystanders that is sought in these things?”¹ ] Do you think that a religious, in the sumptuous celebration of a feast, seeks the honor of God by inspiring others with devotion, or rather the indulgence of her own vanity, by exciting admiration of her generosity and splendor? But you will perhaps say that bishops incur great expenses in the celebration of festivals. In the words of St. Bernard, who has proposed and answered this objection, I reply that “the condition of bishops is different from that of religious. We,” says the saint, “have left all that is precious in the world, and by this means we intended to excite devotion.² The circumstances of bishops, and of religious who make a profession of poverty, are very different: the latter have left the world; even in their festivals they should appear poor, and by their exterior poverty should endeavor to excite devotion in others. Oh! how many faults are committed by religious in celebrating their feasts. They are not content with a great abundance of lights and of ornaments, or with the expense of music: no; they must also display their vanity by regaling all who are invited to the solemnity.

¹ “Quid putas? in his quæritur pœnitentium compunctio, an intuentium admiratio?”—Apol. ad Guill. c. 12.

² “The case of bishops is one thing, that of monks another: we, who have left the precious things of the world, intend by these things to excite devotion.”

But you will say, What am I to do? Others act in this manner: shall I not be like them? If you must be like others, you ought at least not to endeavor to surpass them, nor increase the excesses that have been already introduced. If you indulge in any excess, the sister who will have to celebrate the next feast will strive to equal you in pomp and splendor. The abuses that already exist are more than sufficient. Do not, then, I repeat, introduce any new one; if you do, you shall have to render a frightful account to God. For it is by repeated acts of extravagance that the habit of lavish expenditure is established. One exceeds her companions in magnificence and liberality; she is surpassed by another, and thus a great degree of extravagance is gradually introduced. It is in this manner that many Communities have lost the spirit of fervor, and have fallen away from the habit of regular observance. How many nuns are there who, on account of their extravagant expenditure, lead a life of continual distraction and inquietude, without recollection or devotion, and full of faults and vanities! The Sovereign Pontiffs and the Sacred Congregations have frequently endeavored to correct this evil; but their exertions have in a great measure proved abortive. On this subject I have nothing more to say, except to exclaim: Woe to the nun who introduces abuses and vanities into religion!

A few important remarks must here be made:

1. The sister who is charged with the management of the affairs of the convent should be careful not to expend extravagant sums for her own convenience. By her prodigality she might be guilty of a grievous transgression of the vow of poverty.

2. Let all remember that permissions to lay out money are not to be obtained from the confessor, but from the Superior. For in temporals all the religious are bound to obey her.

3. To lay out money on any object, different from that on which you obtained permission to expend it, is a violation of poverty.

4. Let it also be remembered that to make presents, without just reason, and only through caprice or vanity, to persons who do not stand in need of them, is also an offence against poverty. “It is a sacrilege,” says St. Jerome, “to give the property of the poor to those that are not poor.”¹ It is a sacrilegious violation of poverty to give the goods of the poor—that is, of religious, who have nothing of their own—to those that are not in want. 5.

The decrees of the Sovereign Pontiffs forbid confessors to receive presents from nuns: such presents, when mutual, are particularly prohibited. “Holy love,” says St. Jerome, “does not make frequent little presents, nor indulge in affectionate letters.”² But we shall treat of this subject in the next chapter.³

¹ “Pars sacrilegii est, rem pauperum dare non pauperibus.”—Ad Pammach.

² “Frequent little gifts, handkerchiefs, bands, tasted foods, and flattering little letters have no place in holy love.”—Ad Nepotian.

³ Chap. X., § 2.

Third Degree. The third degree of poverty requires that you do not complain when you are in want even of necessaries. The Mother of God once said to one of her devout servants, a Franciscan nun: My child, as long as all your wants are supplied, you are not poor; true poverty consists in having less than is necessary. “To complain of poverty,” says St. Jane Frances Chantal, “is displeasing to God and to men. I never feel so happy as when I bear some of the marks of poverty.” That great servant of God, Baptista Vernazza, a canoness regular, used to say that she experienced great pleasure in reflecting that she had no provision for any future necessity. St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi was afflicted at seeing her wants supplied by the abbess. She once felt so much complacency, in not having bread at table, that she afterwards accused herself of having entertained too much pleasure in the privation. Sometimes she exclaimed: “Oh! how happy should I be, if I went to table and found no food, if I went to sleep and found no bed, if I went to dress and had no clothes! Oh that all things were wanting to me!

“Tell me, dear sister, do you practise such perfect poverty? Although you may have renounced all affection for the world, and for vain and superfluous possessions, you are perhaps still attached to what you regard as necessary, and still anxious to be furnished with decent and comfortable clothes, food, and bed. It is this solicitude about them that disturbs you whenever they are wanting to you. But in what way do you wish to be poor? Do you expect to enjoy the reward of poverty, and at the same time to want nothing? Would you not be in want of many necessaries had you remained in the world? And do you seek to be supplied with all necessaries in religion, which you embraced for the purpose of suffering, and in which you had made a solemn vow of poverty? “To desire to be poor,” says St. Francis de Sales, “and not to feel any of the inconveniences of want, is to wish for the honor of poverty and the advantages of riches.”¹

¹ Introd. ch. 16.

4 Since these laws are not found in the Code, they are abrogated. Can. 6. n. 6.

But you will say, Had I good health, I would cheerfully suffer all things; but I am weak and infirm, and therefore I cannot bear to see the Superior as forgetful of me as if I were in good health. You complain that others are unmindful of you, and you yourself forget that you have entered religion for the purpose of suffering. A nun should embrace sufferings in sickness as well as in health. In the Constitutions of the Teresians the following admonition is given: “Our sick brethren, if anything be wanting to them, should remember that they have embraced the poverty of Jesus Christ, and therefore, neither in sickness nor in health, should desire to be treated like the rich.” St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi gives a very excellent advice on this subject. “However great your infirmities,” says the saint, “never take and never seek what savors not of poverty.” Hence, St. Bernard says² that it is not becoming in poor religious to make use of costly remedies; and therefore he recommended his monks not to take any other medicine than decoctions of herbs. Had you remained in the world, you should not, perhaps, be able to procure the medicine and the attendance of physicians, with which you are provided in religion; and still you seek for other remedies. Ah! be content, not only to live but to die in poverty; and rejoice that death, when it comes to take you out of this life will find you treated as a pauper. On every occasion in which you have to suffer from want have before your eyes the beautiful sentiment of St. Jane Frances Chantal, who was accustomed to say, that as the opportunities of practising poverty are so rare, we should, whenever they occur, accept them with gladness.

² Epist. 345.

Fourth Degree.

The fourth and last degree of poverty requires not only that a religious be content with what is poor, but also that she prefer and select what is poorest—the poorest cell, the poorest bed, the poorest clothes, and the poorest food. St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi rejoiced in eating what was left by the other sisters. Her habit was so threadbare that the Superior obliged her to change it. St. Jane Frances Chantal used to say that for the perfection of poverty it is advisable not to use silver when tin is sufficient, nor tin when lead answers the purpose. The nun who wishes to be a saint observes a similar rule in all other things.

It will be useful to insert in this place the beautiful instruction of Father Anthony Torres to a nun who was one of his penitents: “Since your Spouse esteemed poverty so highly, you should love it as a treasure; you should practise it in all things, and glory in it more than in the most splendid ornaments. Do not allow any nun or lay-sister in the convent to be poorer than you. You should wear no ornaments, and no more clothes than are absolutely necessary; you must practise poverty even in your veil, which should be coarse and patched, and even in the beads that hang by your side. You should delight in wearing a poor patched habit, and should not cast it aside until it is no longer fit for use. Abstain as much as possible from keeping two habits, or more linen than the humblest of the lay-sisters. Do not possess or seek anything, however necessary it may appear, without first looking at your naked Spouse on the cross, and asking his permission. Neither give nor receive any presents, however small, without the Superior’s leave. In your cell you should have only a poor bed, the coarsest bed-clothes, two chairs of straw, a crucifix, four unframed pictures, the few books that your director will prescribe for your use, and whatever else is indispensably necessary. You should frequently examine before the crucifix your conduct with regard to the virtue of poverty; and if you find that you possess any superfluity you should take it immediately to the Superior. Never ask from your relatives anything for your own use; you may ask something from them for the Community, but never reserve anything whatsoever for yourself.”

Ah! dear sister, after having renounced the world and all its goods, do not, I pray you, prefer emptiness and nothingness to the Lord. When, to induce St. Clement, Bishop of Ancyra, to deny Jesus Christ, the Emperor Diocletian offered him silver, gold, and precious stones, the saint heaved a deep sigh of sorrow at seeing his God compared with dross. And when, on condition of renouncing Christianity, the dignity of first pontiff and head of the priesthood was offered by the tribune to St. Basil, Martyr, on the part of the Emperor Licinius, the saint replied: “Tell the emperor that though he made me master of all his dominions he could not give me as much as he would take from me by robbing me of my God to make me a slave of the devil.”¹ And, dearest sister, since you have left all things for God, do not, for the sake of any miserable earthly good, expose your soul to the danger of eternal perdition. Imagine that God places before you himself on the one hand and creatures on the other, and that he speaks to you in the language that he once addressed to the Venerable Mary Crucified: “Choose between me and creatures whichsoever will make you happy.” A religious should have no treasure but God. I conclude in the words of St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi: “O happy the religious who, detached from all things by means of holy poverty, can say, The Lord is the portion of my inheritance.” God only is the portion that I desire in time as well as in eternity. Hence the saint was heard to exclaim: “Nothing, nothing but God; I desire to possess him only for his own sake.”

¹ Boll. 26 Apr. Act. n. 11.

Prayer.

My Jesus, in Thee I find all things: out of Thee I desire nothing. Ah! draw me entirely to Thee; enkindle in my heart Thy holy love, by which I desire to see myself entirely consumed. My dear Redeemer, I know that Thou hast been near to me for so many years, because thou dost wish me to belong entirely to Thee. Since, then, Thou dost so ardently desire my welfare, grant that henceforth I may seek only Thy love, and the fulfilment of Thy holy will. Ah! Lord, deliver me from all affections that remove me from Thee. Grant that my thoughts may be wholly employed in endeavoring to avoid every offence against Thy majesty, and in seeking to please Thee to the best of my power. O incarnate Word! Thou art come upon earth to kindle the flames of love in the hearts of men. Oh! take possession of my heart; fill it with Thy love; enlighten it, and make it ready and willing to execute all Thy holy desires. In a word, unite my soul perfectly to Thy divinity, and possess it entirely and forever. Unite Thyself to me, and me to Thee, by a perfect love that shall never be dissolved. Grant that I may be no longer mine own, but that I may be Thine entirely and forever, my treasure, my love, and my only good.

Mary, my mother, in thy intercession, my hopes are placed.