Chapter XIII: Patience

Patience in General.

Patience hath a perfect work.¹ Patience is a perfect sacrifice that we offer to God; because in suffering tribulations and contradictions we do nothing but accept from his hands the cross that he sends us. A patient man is better than the valiant.² He who suffers with patience is better than a valiant man. Some are resolute and courageous in promoting and supporting a pious undertaking, but are not patient in bearing adversity: it would be better for them to be valiant in patience than in the works that they undertake. This earth is a place of merits, and therefore it is not a place of repose, but of toils and pains; for merits are acquired not by rest, but by suffering. All those that live here below (whether saints or sinners) must suffer. Some are in want of one comfort, others of another; some have nobility, but have not property; others abound in riches, but want nobility; others enjoy nobility and wealth, but have not health. In a word, all, even sovereigns, have occasion to suffer; and because they are the most exalted of mortals their cares and troubles are the most harassing and perplexing.

¹ “Patientia autem opus perfectum habet.”—Ames, i. 4..

² “Melior est patiens viro forti.”—Prov. xvi. 32.

All our good, then, consists in bearing crosses with patience. Hence the Holy Ghost admonishes us not to assimilate ourselves to senseless beasts that break out into a rage when they are unable to indulge their appetites. Do not become like the horse and the mule who have not understanding.¹ What other advantage than to double our misfortunes can we ever derive from giving way to impatience in contradictions? The good and the bad thief both died on the cross and suffered the same pains; but because the one embraced them with patience he was saved, and because the other bore them with impatience he was damned. St. Augustine says that the same affliction sends the just to glory because they accept it with peace, and the wicked to fire because they submit to it with impatience.²

¹ “Nolite fieri sicut equus et mulus, quibus non est intellectus.”—Ps. xxxi. 9.

² “Una eademque tunsio bonos producit ad gloriam, malos redigit in favillam.”—Serm. 52, App. E. B.

It often happens that a person who flies from a cross that God sends him meets with another far more afflicting. They, says Job, that fear the hoary frost, the snow shall fall upon them.³ They who shun the hoar-frost shall be covered with snow. Such a nun may say: Give me any other office, but take from me the one that I hold. But she shall suffer much more in the second office than in the first, and with little or no merit. Be careful not to imitate her: embrace the fatigue and tribulation that God sends you: for you shall thus acquire greater merit, and shall have less to suffer: you will at least suffer with peace, knowing that your sufferings come not from self-will, but from the will of God. Let us be persuaded of the truth of what St. Augustine says, that the whole life of a Christian must be a continual cross.⁴ The life of religious who wish to become saints must in a special manner be a continued series of crosses. St. Gregory Nazianzen says that these noble souls place their riches in poverty, their glory in contempt, and their delights in the voluntary privation of earthly pleasures. Hence St. John Climacus¹ asks: Who is truly a religious? It is, he says, the nun that offers continual violence to herself: and when shall this violence cease? When, answers St. Prosper, life shall have an end.² Then shall the battle cease when the conquest of the eternal kingdom shall be obtained. If you remember to have hitherto offended God, and if you desire to be saved, you should be consoled when you see that God sends you occasions of suffering. St. John Chrysostom writes: “Sin is an ulcer and chastisement a medicinal iron: therefore the sinner if left unpunished is most miserable.”³ Sin is an abscess of the soul: if tribulation do not come to extract the putrid humor the soul is lost. Miserable the sinner who is not punished after his sin in this life.

³ “Qui timent pruinam, irruet super eos nix.”—Job, vi. 16.

⁴ “Tota vita christiani, crux est.”—Serm. 52, App. E. B.

¹ Scal. par. gr. 1.

² “Tunc finienda pugna, quando succedit secura victoria.”—De Vita cont. l. 1, c. 1.

³ “Peccatum, sanies est; pœna, ferrum medicinale; ita peccans, si non puniatur, miserrimus est.”—Ad pop. Ant. hom. 6.

Be persuaded, then, says St. Augustine, that when the Lord sends you suffering he acts as a physician; and that the tribulation that he sends you is not the punishment of your condemnation, but a remedy for your salvation. “Let man understand,” says the holy Doctor, “that God is a physician, and that tribulation is a medicine for salvation, not a punishment for damnation.”⁴ Hence you ought to thank God when he chastises you; for his chastisements are a proof that he loves you, and receives you into the number of his children. Whoever the Lord loveth, says St. Paul, he chastiseth; and he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.¹ Hence, St. Augustine says: “Do you enjoy consolation? acknowledge a father who caresses you: are you in tribulation? recognize a parent who corrects you.”² On the other hand, the same holy Doctor says: “Unhappy you, if after you have sinned God exempts you from scourges in this life. It is a sign that he excludes you from the number of his children.”³ Say not, then, for the future, when you find yourself in tribulation, that God has forgotten you; say rather that you have forgotten your sins. He who knows that he has offended God must pray with St. Bonaventure: “Run, O Lord, run, and wound Thy servants with sacred wounds, lest they be wounded with the wounds of death.” Run, O Lord, and wound Thy servants with the wounds of love and salvation, that they may escape the wounds of Thy wrath and of eternal death.

⁴ “Let man understand that God is a physician, and that tribulation is medicine for salvation, not punishment for damnation.”—In Ps. xxi en. 2.

¹ “Quem enim diligit, Dominus castigat; flagellat autem omnem filium quem recipit.”—Hebr. xii. 6.

² “Gaudes; agnosce Patrem blandientem. Tribularis; agnosce Patrem emendantem.”—In Ps. liv.

³ “Si exceptus es a passione flagellorum, exceptus es a numero filiorum.”—Serm. 46, c. 5.

Let us rest assured that God sends us crosses not for our perdition but for our salvation; if we know not how to turn them to our own profit it is entirely our own fault. Explaining the words, the house of Israel is become dross to me, all these are... iron and lead in the midst of the furnace;⁴ St. Gregory says: “As if God should say,' I wished to purify them by the fire of tribulation, and sought to make them gold, but in the furnace they have become to me iron and lead.”⁵ I have endeavored by the fire of tribulation to change them into gold, but they have been converted into lead. These are the sinners who, after having several times deserved hell when visited with any calamity, break out into impatience and anger; they almost wish to treat God as if he were guilty of injustice and tyranny, and even go so far as to say: But, O Lord, I am not the only one who has offended Thee; it appears that I am the only person whom Thou chastisest: I am weak, I have not strength to bear so great a cross. Miserable man, alas! what do you say? You say to God, I am not the only one who has offended you. If others have offended God, he will punish them also in this life if he wishes to show mercy to them; but do you not know that, according to the words which God himself spoke by Ezekiel, My indignation shall rest in thee, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and... I will be angry no more,¹ the greatest chastisement that God can inflict on sinners is not to chastise them on this earth? I have no more zeal for your soul, and therefore as long as you live you shall never more feel my anger. But St. Bernard says, “God’s anger is greatest when he is not angry. I wish, O Father of mercies, that Thou mayest be angry with me.”² God’s wrath against sinners is greatest when he is not angry with them, and abstains from chastising them. Hence the saint prayed the Lord, saying: Lord, I wish that Thou shouldst treat me with the mercy of the Father of mercies, and therefore I wish that Thou shouldst chastise me here for my sins, and thus save me from Thy everlasting vengeance. Do you say, I have not strength to bear this cross? But if you have not strength why do you not ask it of God? He has promised to give his aid to all who pray for it; Ask, and it shall be given you.³

⁴ “Et ferrum et plumbum in medio fornacis . . . facti sunt.”—Ezek. xxii. 18.

⁵ “I wished to purge them by the fire of tribulation, and I sought for gold to be made; but in the furnace they were turned for me into lead.”—Pastor, p. 3, adm. 14.

¹ “Auferetur zelus meus a te, et quiescam, nec irascar amplius.”— Ezek, xvi. 42. '

² “Tunc magis irascitur Deus, dum non irascitur. Volo irascaris mihi, Pater misericordiarum.”—In Cant. s. 42.

³ “Petite et dabitur vobis.”—Matt. vii. 7.

When you, dear sister, are visited by God with any infirmity, or loss, or persecution, humble yourself, and say with the good thief, We receive the due reward of our deeds.¹ Lord, I deserve this cross because I have offended Thee. Humble yourself and be comforted: for the chastisement that you receive is a proof that God wishes to pardon the eternal punishment due to your sins. Who will grant me, says Job,... that this may be my comfort, that afflicting me with sorrow, he spare not?² Let this be my consolation, that the Lord may afflict me and may not spare me here below in order to spare me hereafter. O God! how can he who has deserved hell complain if the Lord send him a cross. Were the pains of hell trifling, still, because they are eternal, we should gladly exchange them for all temporal sufferings that have an end. But no: in hell there are all kinds of pain—they are all intense and everlasting. And though you should have preserved baptismal innocence and have never deserved hell, you have at least merited a long purgatory: and do you know what purgatory is? St. Thomas says³ that the souls in purgatory are tormented by the very fire that tortures the damned. Hence St. Augustine says that the pain of that fire surpasses every torment that man can suffer in this life.⁴ Be content, then, to be chastised in this life rather than in the next; particularly since by accepting crosses with patience in this life your sufferings will be meritorious; but hereafter you will suffer without merit.

¹ “ Digna factis recipimus.”—Luke, xxiii. 41.

² “Et hæc mihi sit consolatio, ut, affligens me dolore, non parcat.”— Job, vi. 10.

³ In 4 sent. d. 21, q. 1, a. 1.

⁴ “Gravior erit ille ignis, quam quidquid potest homo pati in hac vita.”—In Ps. xxxvii.

Console yourself also in suffering with the hope of paradise. St. Joseph Calasanctius used to say: “To gain heaven all labor is small.” And before him the Apostle said: The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us.¹' It would be but little to suffer all the pains of this earth for the enjoyment of a single moment in heaven: how much more, then, ought we to embrace the crosses that God sends us when we know that the short sufferings of this life shall merit for us an eternal felicity. That which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for us... an eternal weight of glory.”² We should feel not sadness but consolation of spirit when God sends us sufferings here below. They who pass to eternity with the greatest merits shall receive the greatest reward. It is on this account that the Lord sends us tribulations. Virtues, which are the fountains of merits, are practised only by acts. They who have the most frequent occasions of annoyance make the most frequent acts of patience; they who are most frequently insulted make most frequent acts of meekness. Hence St. James says, Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life.³ Blessed is he who suffers afflictions with peace; for when he shall be thus proved he shall receive the crown of eternal life.

¹ “Non sunt condignæ passiones hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam, quæ revelabitur in nobis.”—Rom. viii. 18.

² “Momentaneum et leve tribulationis nostræ . . . æternum gloriæ pondus operatur in nobis.”—2 Cor. iv. 17.

³ “Beatus vir qui suffert tentationem; quoniam, cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitæ.”—James, i. 12.

This thought made St. Agapitus, martyr, a boy of fifteen years, say, when the tyrant ordered his head to be encompassed with burning coals, “It is very little to bear the burning of my head, which shall be crowned with glory in heaven.” This thought made Job exclaim: If we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil?¹ He meant to say, if we have gladly received good things, why should we not also receive with greater joy temporal evils, by which we shall acquire the eternal goods of paradise? This thought also filled with jubilation the hermit whom a soldier found singing in a wood, though his body was covered with ulcers so that his flesh was falling to pieces. The soldier said to him: Is it you that were singing? Yes, I sang, and I had reason to sing; for between me and God there is nothing but the filthy wall of my body. I now see it falling to pieces, and therefore I sing, because I see that the time is at hand when I shall go to enjoy my Lord.² This thought made St. Francis of Assisi say: “So great is the good which I expect, that to me every pain gives delight.” In a word, the saints feel consoled when they see themselves in tribulation, and are afflicted when they enjoy earthly consolations. We read in the Teresian Chronicles that in reciting these words of the Office: When wilt thou comfort me?³ Mother Isabella of the Angels used to say them so fast that she would anticipate the other sisters. Being asked why she did so, she answered: “I am afraid that God may console me in this life.”

¹ “Si bona suscepimus de manu Dei, mala quare non suscipiamus?”—Job, ii. 10.

² Spec. Exempl. dist. 9, c. 138.

³ “Quando consolaberis me?”—Ps. cxviii. 82.

To be in tribulation in this world is a great sign of predestination. “To be afflicted here below,” says St. Gregory, “belongs to the elect, for whom is reserved the beatitude of eternity.”⁴ Hence we find in the lives of the saints, that all, without exception, have been loaded with crosses. This is precisely what St. Jerome wrote to the virgin Eustochia: “Seek,” says the holy Doctor, “and you shall find that every saint has been subject to tribulations: Solomon, alone, lived in the midst of delights, and therefore perhaps he was lost.”¹ The Apostle has said that all the predestined must be found like to Jesus Christ: Whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be made conformable to the image of his Son.² But the life of Jesus Christ was a life of continual suffering; hence the same Apostle says: Yet so if we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him.³ If we suffer with Jesus Christ, we shall then be glorified with Jesus Christ.

⁴ “Electorum est hic conteri, quibus servatur de æternitate gaudere.”—Mor. l. 26, c. 18.

¹ “Seek, and you will find that individual saints suffered adversities; Solomon alone lived amid delights, and perhaps for that reason he fell.”

² “Quos præscivit, et prædestinavit conformes fieri imaginis Filii sui.”—Rom. viii. 29.

³ “Si tamen compatimur, ut et conglorificemur.”—Ibid. 17.

But we shall not be glorified with him unless we suffer with patience like our Saviour, who when he was reviled did not revile: when he suffered he threatened not.⁴ St. Gregory says that as to suffer with patience is a mark of predestination, so to suffer with impatience is a presage of damnation. Hence the Lord tells us that we shall attain salvation only by suffering with patience: In your patience you shall possess your souls.⁵ And let us be persuaded that God sends us tribulations only because he seeks our welfare; by them he wishes to detach us from earthly pleasures, which may occasion the loss of our eternal salvation. “The world,” says St. Augustine, “is bitter and it is loved; if it were sweet, how ardently, think you, should it be loved.”⁶ The world is bitter because all its delights do not content the heart of man, and because they all ultimately terminate in bitterness and remorse of conscience; but still it is loved. Imagine, then, says the saint, were it sweet, how intensely should we love it, and how completely would we forget the soul, heaven, and God. To wean an infant, and to give it a horror of taking suck, the mother puts gall on the paps. It is thus God treats us. He makes the very pleasures of this earth become bitter, that, detaching our hearts from them, we may pant after the eternal delights which he prepares in heaven for all those that love him. It was for this end that our loving Saviour came on earth to suffer, that we might not refuse to imitate his example. Christ, says St. Peter, suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps.¹ Behold how he invites us to follow him: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.² As if he said, He who wishes not to suffer and refuses the cross, let him cease to pretend to be my disciple, or to expect to follow me to paradise.

⁴ “Qui cum malediceretur, non maledicebat; cum pateretur, non comminabatur.”—1 Pet. ii. 23.

⁵ “In patientia vestra, possidebitis animas vestras.”—Luke, xxi. 19.

⁶ “Amarus est mundus, et diligitur; puta, si dulcis esset, qualiter amaretur.”—Serm. 298, App. E. B.

¹ “Christus passus est pro nobis, vobis relinquens exemplum, ut sequamini vestigia ejus.”—i Pet. ii. 21.

² “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”—Matt. xvi. 24.

But the desire of pleasing God is the sublime end which a soul should have in embracing sufferings Ecclesiasticus says that some show friendship only in the time of prosperity, and abandon a friend in his adversity: There is a friend for his own occasion, and he will not abide in the day of thy trouble.³ But the most certain testimony of love is to suffer with cheerfulness for the person loved. The sacrifice most agreeable to God consists in embracing with patience all the crosses which he sends. Charity is patient... beareth all things.⁴ Love bears all things: external crosses, loss of health, loss of property, of honors, of relatives, of friends: interior crosses, anguish, temptations, sorrows, desolation of spirit. By patience virtue is proved. Hence, in the lives of the saints we usually find a description of their patience under afflictions. It is thus the Lord proves our fidelity. The devil tempts us, and God also tempts us. The devil tempts us in order to bring us to perdition, God tempts us in order to prove us: As gold in the furnace he hath proved them.¹ As gold is proved by fire, so God proves the love of his lovers by the fire of tribulation. Hence to be in tribulation is a mark that the soul is dear to God. Because thou wast acceptable to God, said the angel to Tobias, it was necessary that temptation should prove thee.² St. Jerome says that when God sends a person an occasion of suffering, he confers a greater favor than if he gave him power to raise the dead to life.³ Because, adds the saint, when we work miracles we are debtors to God, but when we bear afflictions with patience, God is, in a certain manner, our debtor.⁴

³ “Est enim amicus secundum tempus suum; et non permanebit in die tribulationis.”—Ecclus. vi. 8.

⁴ “Charitas patiens est,... omnia suffert.”—1 Cor. xiii. 4.

¹ “Tamquam aurum in fornace, probavit illos.”—Wisd/, iii. 6.

² “Quia acceptus eras Deo, necesse fuit ut tentatio probaret te.”— Tob. xii. 13.

³ “Quando Deus dat alicui ut mortuos resuscitet, minus dat quam cum dat occasionem patiendi.”

⁴ “Pro miraculis enim, debitor sum Deo; at pro patientia, debitorem habeo Christum.”—In Phil, hom, 4.

O God, how is it possible for him who looks at the crucifix, and beholds a God dying in a sea of sorrows and insults; how, I say, is it possible for him, if he loves that God, not to bear with cheerfulness, or even not to desire to suffer every pain for his sake? St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi used to say: “The sharpest pains become sweet when we behold Jesus on the cross.” Justus Lipsius once found himself greatly afflicted with pains: a certain person endeavored to encourage him to bear them with patience by placing before him the patience of the stoics; but he turned to the crucifix and said: There is true patience. He meant to say, that the example of a God who had suffered so much for the love of us is sufficient to animate us to endure all pain for the love of him. “The ignominy of the cross,” says St. Bernard, “is grateful to him who is not ungrateful to a crucified God.”¹ To him who loves his crucified Saviour pains and opprobrium are agreeable. When St. Eleazar was asked by his virgin spouse, St. Afra, how he could submit to so many insults from the rabble without seeking revenge, he said: “My spouse, think not that I am insensible to these insults; I feel them strongly; but I turn to Jesus on the cross, and continue to look at him until my soul becomes tranquil.” Love, says St. Augustine, makes all things easy.² After being wounded with divine love, St. Catharine of Genoa used to say that she knew not what it was to suffer. Although she endured the most grievous pains, she felt none of them, because she regarded them as sent by him who loved her so tenderly. Thus also a good religious of the Society of Jesus, when God visited him with any pain, sickness, or persecution, used to say within himself: “Tell me, O pain, sickness, or persecution, who sends you? Does God send you? Welcome, welcome!” Thus he was always in peace.

¹ “Grata ignominia crucis ei qui Crucifixo ingratus non est.”—In Cant. s. 25.

² “Omnia fiunt facilia charitati.”— De Nat. et Grat. c. 69.

Let us conclude. Since in this life we must suffer either cheerfully or with reluctance, let us endeavor to suffer with merit, that is, with patience. Patience is a shield that defends us against all the pains arising from persecutions, infirmities, losses, and other afflictions. He who has not this shield, has to bear all these pains. Let us, then, in the first place, ask this patience of God; without asking it we shall never obtain this great gift When afflictions come upon us, let us be careful to do violence to ourselves, and not to break out into words of impatience or complaint. The fire that burns in a vessel is soon extinguished when the vessel is closed. To him that overcometh, I will give the hidden manna.¹ When a person does violence to conquer himself in adversity, by instantly embracing the cross that God sends him, oh! what sweetness does the Lord make him afterwards experience in the very tribulation that he suffers—a sweetness hidden from men of the world, but well known to souls that love God. St. Augustine used to say, that to enjoy a good conscience in the midst of afflictions is sweeter than to live with a guilty conscience in the midst of delights.² Speaking of herself, St. Teresa said: “I have several times experienced that when I generously resolve to do an act, God instantly makes the performance of it pleasant to me. He wishes the soul to feel these terrors in the beginning, that she may have greater merit.”

¹ “Vincenti dabo manna absconditum.”—Apoc ii. 17.

² “Jucundius gaudere de bona conscientia inter molestias, quam de mala inte_r delicias.”—De catech. rud. c. 16.

He who resolves to suffer for God, suffers no more pain. Let us read the lives of the saints, and see how they have been enamoured of suffering.

St. Gertrude used to say, that so great was her enjoyment in suffering, that no time was more painful than that in which she was free from pain. St. Teresa used to say, that she did not wish to live without suffering; hence she would often exclaim: “Either to suffer or to die.” St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi went so far as to say: “To suffer and not to die.”

When the tyrant was preparing new torments for the martyr Procopius, the saint said to him: “Torment me as much as you please; do you not know that to him who loves Jesus Christ there is nothing more dear than to suffer for Jesus Christ.”³

³ Surius, 8 Jul.

St. Gordian, as St. Basil relates, being threatened with great torments if he refused to deny Jesus Christ, answered: “I am sorry that I can die but once for my Saviour, Jesus Christ.”¹ He afterwards intrepidly suffered death.

¹ Victories of Mart., Part I. ch. xxxiii.

To the tyrant who threatened to make her die in a caldron of boiling pitch, St. Potamiena, virgin, said: I entreat you to let me down into this caldron, not at once, but by degrees, that thus I may suffer more for my Jesus. The tyrant complied with her request: she was let down gradually into the caldron, till the pitch having reached her neck, took away her speech and her life.²

² Victories of Mart.., Part I. ch. xlviii.

Baronius describes the celebrated martyrdom of three holy virgins, called Faith, Hope, and Charity, who when threatened with torments by the tyrant Antiochus courageously said: Do you not know that to Christians nothing is more desirable than to suffer for Jesus Christ? St. Faith was first scourged; her breasts were then cut off, she was afterwards tormented with fire, and finally beheaded. St. Hope was first beaten with the sinews of an ox; her ribs were then torn with iron combs, and she was afterwards thrown into a vessel of burning pitch. St. Charity was the youngest; she was not more than nine years old; hence the tyrant expected that she would yield through fear of torments. He said to her, My child, be you at least wise, unless you wish to be tortured like your sisters. The holy child answered: You deceive yourself, O Antiochus; all your torments shall not make me forsake Jesus Christ. The tyrant ordered her to be fastened to a rope, and to be cast several times from a height to the ground, until all her bones were dislocated. He then commanded her members to be pierced with sharp irons, so that she died exhausted of blood.

Let us come to more modern examples.

In Japan a certain married woman called Maxentia was subjected to torments for the faith. One of the executioners wished to alleviate her pains, but she rejected the offer, Seeing her continue firm in confessing the faith, one of her persecutors pointed a sword twice to her cheek in order to terrify her; but she said to him: O God, how do you expect to terrify me with that death which I desire? The way to fill me with terror is to promise me life. After these words she stretched her neck to the executioner, and he cut off her head.

In Japan, also, Father John Baptist Maciado, of the Society of Jesus, was confined in a damp prison, in which he remained for forty days in such intense pain, that he could not rest by night or by day. From this prison he wrote to another religious: My Father, notwithstanding all my pains, I would not exchange my condition for that of the first monarch of the earth.

From a prison in which he had a great deal to suffer Father Charles Spinola wrote to his companions: “Oh! how sweet is it to suffer for Jesus Christ! I have received the news of my condemnation. I pray you to thank the divine goodness for the great gift bestowed upon me.” In the same letter he added: “Charles Spinola condemned for Jesus Christ.” Soon after he was burnt alive on a slow fire. It is said that, in thanksgiving to God, when he was fastened to the stake, he intoned the Psalm, O praise the Lord, all ye nations.¹ Thus he died.

¹ “Laudate Dominum omnes gentes.”—Ps. cxvi.

But how, some one may ask with wonder, were the holy martyrs able to suffer with so much joy? Were they not flesh? or did the Lord make them insensible to pain? No, says St. Bernard, their patience and jubilation under suffering, says the saint, were the effect not of insensibility, but of the love which they bore to Jesus

Christ; they were not exempt from pain, but through love for their Lord they conquered and despised it.¹ That great servant of God, Father Hippolitus Durazzo, of the Society of Jesus, used to say: “Let God cost what he will, the price is never too great.” And St. Joseph Calasanctius said, that he who knows not how to suffer for Jesus Christ knows not how to gain Jesus Christ. Ah! souls that understand the language of love, being convinced that by embracing crosses they please God, know well how to find all their happiness in suffering.

¹ “Neque hoc facit stupor, sed amor; n c deest dolor, sed superatur, sed contemnitur.”—In Cant. s. 6i.

Prayer.

My crucified Jesus, Thou hast suffered so many sorrows and insults for my sake; Thou hast died in order to gain my love, and I have so often renounced Thy love for nothing. Have mercy on me and pardon me. Blessed be Thy mercy which has borne with me so long and with so much patience. During that time I neither loved Thee nor cared to be loved by Thee. I now love Thee with my whole soul; and the greatest of all my pains is that which arises from having offended Thee, who hast loved me so tenderly. Yes, this is my greatest pain. But it is a pain that consoles me, because it gives me confidence that Thou hast already pardoned me. Oh! that I had died rather than have ever offended Thee. My God, if I have not hitherto loved Thee, I now give myself entirely to Thee. I wish to renounce all things to love only Thee, my Saviour, who art worthy of infinite love. I have sinned enough against Thee. The remainder of my life I wish to spend in loving Thy heart, which is so enamoured of me. Tell me all Thou wishest from me: I wish to do it. Give me strength to execute this wish. I love Thee, O infinite Goodness, I love Thee with my whole heart; and for Thy sake I accept all the pains which Thou shalt be pleased to send me.

Mary, my Mother, assist me by thy intercession: in thee I trust.

Patience in Sickness, Poverty, Contempt, Persecutions, and Spiritual Desolation.

1. Patience in Sickness. We must practise patience in sickness. This is the touchstone by which the spirit of a Christian is found to be of gold or of copper. Some are cheerful, patient, and devout as long as they enjoy health, but when visited by sickness they commit a thousand defects: they appear to be inconsolable; they are impatient to all, even to the person who attends them through charity; they complain of every pain or inconvenience that they suffer; they complain of all,—of the physician, the Superior, the infirmarian,—saying that they are treated with neglect and inattention. Behold, the gold is found to be copper. But, my Father, such a person may say, I suffer so much, and can I not even complain, or tell what I endure? I do not forbid you to make known your pains when they are severe, but when they are trifling it is a weakness to complain of them to all, and to seek sympathy and compassion from every one who visits you. And should the remedies prescribed not remove your pains, I wish that you yield not to impatience under them, but that you resign yourself in peace to the will of God.

Another may say, But where has charity gone? Behold how my very sisters forget me, and abandon me on the bed of sickness. I pity you; not on account of your bodily infirmities, but on account of your want of patience under them, which makes you doubly sick—in body and soul. The sisters forget you; but you have forgotten Jesus Christ, who died abandoned for your sake on the cross. And what profit do you derive from complaining of the sisters? Complain of yourself because you have but little love for Jesus Christ, and therefore have so little patience. St. Joseph Calasanctius used to say: “If the sick had patience there should be no more complaints.” Salvian writes that there are many persons who, had they good health, could not be saints.¹ With regard to saintly women, we know from their published lives that they were almost all continually afflicted with various infirmities. For forty years St. Teresa was not free from pain for a single day. Hence, Salvian adds, that persons dedicated to the love of Jesus Christ are infirm, and wish to continue in their infirmities.²

¹ “Si fortes fuerint, sancti esse non possent.”—De Cub. Dei. 1. i.

² “Homines Christo dediti, et infirmi sunt, et esse volunt,”

Another will perhaps say: I do not refuse sickness, but I regret that on account of my infirmities I am not able to be present in choir, to go to Communion, or to make mental prayer, and that I am a burden to the Community. Allow me to answer all these excuses one by one. i. Tell me, why do you wish to go to the choir in order to recite the Office? or to the church in order to communicate? Is it not to please God? Well, but if it is God’s will and pleasure that you go neither to choir to say the Office, nor to the church to communicate, but that you remain in bed to suffer, why should you be troubled? Father M. Avila³ wrote to a priest laboring under sickness: “Friend, do not stop to examine what you would do if you had health, but be content to remain sick as long as it shall please God. If you seek the will of God, it matters not whether you are in sickness or in health.” St. Francis de Sales has even said that “we serve God better by sufferings than by works.” 2. You say that in sickness you cannot make mental prayer, and why can you not make mental prayer? I grant that you cannot apply the mind to reflection, but why can you not look at the crucifix, and offer to your crucified Saviour the pains that you suffer? And what prayer can be better than to suffer, and to resign yourself to the divine will, uniting your sufferings to those of Jesus Christ, and presenting them to God in union with the sufferings of his Son? 3. You say that in sickness you are useless, and a burden to the Community. But as you conform yourself to the divine will, so you ought to suppose that your sisters also conform to it, when they see that you are a burden to the monastery, not through your own fault, but by the will of God. Ah! such desires and complaints spring not from the love of God, but from self-love; for we would wish to serve the Lord not in the manner that pleases him, but in the way that is agreeable to ourselves.

³ Part 2, Ep. 51.

Ah! embrace with peace all the infirmities that God sends you, if you truly wish to please him, and wish at the same time to give good example to your sisters. Oh! how great the edification given by the religious, who, in spite of all her pains, and even in the danger of death with which she is threatened, preserves a serene countenance, abstains from all complaints against the physician or the sisters, thanks all for their attendance, whether it be much or little, and accepts in the spirit of obedience the remedies applied, however bitter or painful they may be! St. Lidwina, as Surius relates, lay for thirty-eight years on a board, abandoned, covered with sores, and tortured by pains: she never complained of anything, but peaceably embraced all her sufferings. Blessed Humiliana of Florence, a Franciscan nun, being afflicted with several painful and violent diseases, used to raise her hand to heaven, and say: “Be blessed, my love, be blessed.” St. Clare was likewise continually sick for twenty-eight years, and the smallest complaint never escaped her lips. St. Theodore, abbot, had a painful ulcer during his whole life, and he would say that the Lord sent it in order to give him occasion to thank God unceasingly, as he was always accustomed to do. When we suffer any pain, let us cast a glance at so many holy martyrs, whose flesh was torn in pieces with iron hooks, or burnt with red-hot plates, and let us at the sight of their torments take courage to offer to God the pain by which we are afflicted.

Patience under the severity of the seasons accompanies patience in infirmities. When cold or heat is intense, some are disturbed and complain, particularly if they have not the clothes or other comforts that they wish for. Be careful not to imitate their example; but bless these creatures as ministers of the divine will, and say with Daniel, O ye fire and heat, bless the Lord.... O ye cold and heat, bless the Lord.¹

¹ “Benedicite, ignis et aestus Domino;... benedicite, gelu et frigus, Domino.”—Dan. iii. 66, 69.

Above all, we should in the time of sickness accept death should it come, and the death that God wills. And what is this life but a continual tempest, in which we are always in danger of being lost? St. Aloysius, though he died in the flower of youth, embraced death with joy, saying: “Now I find myself, as I hope, in the grace of God: I know not what might happen to me hereafter. I therefore gladly quit this earth, if it now pleases God to call me to the other life.” But you will say: St. Aloysius was a saint, and I am a sinner. But listen to the answer of Father M. Avila: Every one who finds himself even moderately well disposed should desire death, in order to escape the danger of losing the grace of God, to which he is always exposed as long as he lives on this earth. What more desirable than, by a good death, to be secure of being no longer able to lose God! But, you reply, hitherto I have gained nothing for my soul: I would wish to live in order to do something before I die. But if God calls you at present to the other life, how do you know that for the future you will not be worse than you were hitherto? and that you will not fall into other sins and be lost?

And if we had no other motive, we ought to embrace death with peace when it comes, because it delivers us from the commission of new sins. In this life no one is exempt from all sins—at least from all venial sins. Hence, St. Bernard says: “Why do we desire life, in which the longer we live the more we sin?”¹ Why do we desire to live, since we know that the greater the number of our days, the more our sins shall be multiplied? Moreover, if we love God, we should sigh to see and to love him face to face in heaven. But, unless death opens the gate to us, we cannot enter into that happy country. Hence the enamoured St. Augustine exclaimed: “Lord take me out of life, that I may be able to go to see Thee.”²

¹ “Cur vitam desideramus, in qua, quanto amplius vivimus, tanto plus peccamus?”—Med. c. 2.

² “Eia, Domine! moriar, ut te videam.”—Solil. an. ad D. c. 1.

2. Patience in Poverty. In the second place, it is necessary to practise patience in the inconveniences of poverty when we are in want of temporal goods. “What,” says St. Augustine, “can be sufficient for him for whom God is not sufficient?”³ They who possess God, though they should want everything else, possess all things. Hence they can say, “My God and my all.”⁴ Hence, the Apostle says, that though the saints have nothing, they possess all things: As having nothing, and possessing all things!⁵ When, then, you want medicines in sickness, when you want food, or fire in the winter, or clothes, say, My God, Thou alone art sufficient for me; and thus console yourself.

³ “Quid tibi sufficit, cui Deus non sufficit?”—Serm. 105, E. B.

⁴ “Deus meus, et omnia.”

⁵ “Nihil habentes et omnia possidentes.”—2 Cor. vi. 10.

Embrace also the losses of creatures, such as the loss of property, of relatives, of friends. Such a nun loses a trifle, a book, a wax taper, a medal, and she disturbs the whole monastery, and cannot keep herself in peace. Another is inconsolable at the death of a relative. She gives up mental prayer, she abstains from Communion, she is impatient to all her sisters, she shuts herself up in her cell, she will not take food, and sends away those who come to console her. To such a religious I would say: Is this the love that you bear to God? Then it is not true that God is your every good, since it is now manifest, that because you have lost a creature, you no longer enjoy peace, and appear almost to care no more about God? Tell me what advantage do you derive from thus abandoning yourself to melancholy? Do you imagine that you please the person who has died? No; you displease God, and also the deceased relative. How much more pleasing would it be to her, if, conforming yourself to the divine will, you endeavored to abstain from weeping and howling, and sought to unite yourself more closely to God, and to pray for her if she is in purgatory. To shed an occasional tear at the death of a relative is a pardonable weakness of nature; but immoderate grief proceeds from weakness of spirit and of the love of God. Holy religious also hear of the death of persons most dear to them; but reflecting that God has willed their death, they instantly resign themselves, and go in peace to pray for them. They then make more frequent meditations and Communions, and unite themselves more to God, hoping to go one day to enjoy him in heaven, along with their deceased relatives.

Other nuns, who appear to be the most devout, are not so much afflicted at the loss of relatives and friends as at the loss of their director. They seem as if inclined to complain of God, saying that he has abandoned them by taking away their help and spiritual guide. Oh what folly! It is God and not a confessor that must make us saints. The Lord certainly wishes that we do not leave our confessor as long as we have him to point out to us the will of God in our regard. But when God takes him away he will take care to send another, or to supply in some other way. Hence to be disturbed when we are deprived of our ordinary director is not virtue, but an imperfection, and a great imperfection; for the inquietude arises either from earthly attachment, or at least from a want of confidence in God. Let it be your care, dear sister, to remain always detached from your director, and to be prepared to lose him whenever God wishes. And should he leave you, or should God call him to the other life, say with Job: The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.¹ You can then follow the directions that he has given you though you should have another confessor: however, regulate your conduct, generally, by the advice of your ordinary confessor, who, commonly speaking, may be said to be the most secure guide; because he is assigned to you by God, and the extraordinary director is chosen by yourself.

¹ “Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit;... sit nomen Domini benedictum.”—Job, i. 21.

3. Patience in Contempt and Persecutions.

Thirdly, it is necessary to practise patience in contempt and persecutions. But, you say, I have not failed in anything—why should I receive such an affront? why should I be persecuted? This is not the will of God. But do you not know the answer that Jesus Christ gave to St. Peter, Martyr, who complained of being unjustly imprisoned, saying: O Lord, what evil have I done that I should suffer this mortification? Jesus answered from the cross, And what evil have I done that I should be nailed to this cross?² If, then, my dear sister, your Redeemer has voluntarily embraced death for the love of you, it is not too much for you to embrace this mortification for the love of him. It is true that God does not will the sin of the person who insults or persecutes you; but he certainly wishes that you bear this, contradiction for his sake, and also for your own welfare. Although, says St. Augustine, we have not committed the fault that is imputed to us, we have been guilty of other sins that deserve the chastisement we receive, and even far greater chastisement.¹

² Boll. 29 Apr. Vit. c. 1.

¹ “Although we do not have the sin which the enemy charges against us, we nevertheless have another which is worthily scourged in us.”—In Ps. lxviii. s. 1.

All the saints have been persecuted in this world. St. Basil was accused of heresy before St. Damasus, Pope. St. Cyril of Jerusalem was condemned as a heretic by forty bishops, and was deprived of his see. St. Athanasius was charged with the crime of sorcery, and St. John Chrysostom with sins against chastity. St. Romuald, at the age of more than a hundred years, was accused of an enormous sin, for which some said that he deserved to be burned alive. St. Francis de Sales was charged with an unchaste familiarity with a secular lady, and remained for three years under the imputation till his innocence was discovered. Of St. Lidwina it is related that one day a woman entered her chamber, and began to insult her in the most atrocious manner; and because the saint preserved her usual tranquillity, the tigress becoming more furious began to spit in her face, and seeing the saint still undisturbed, she screamed like a madwoman.

There is no remedy: for, says the Apostle, all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.² All who wish to follow Jesus Christ shall be persecuted. If, says St. Augustine, you are unwilling to suffer any persecution, tremble lest you have not as yet begun to serve Jesus Christ. Who more innocent and holy than our Saviour? And still he was persecuted by men until he died on a cross, covered with wounds, and overwhelmed with shame. Hence, to animate us to bear persecutions with peace the Apostle exhorts us to keep always before our mind Jesus Christ crucified. Think diligently upon him that endured much opposition from sinners against himself.¹ Let us rest secure that when we suffer persecution in peace God will take up our defence; and should he ever permit us to remain in dishonor here, he will reward our patience with greater honors hereafter.

² “Omnes qui pie volunt vivere in Christo Jesu, persecutionem pati.”—entur Tim. iii. 12.

¹ “Recogitate enim eum qui talem sustinuit a peccatoribus adversum semetipsum contradictionem.”—Hebr. xii. 3.

4. Patience in Spiritual Desolation.

In the fourth and last place, we ought to practise patience in desolation of the spirit, which is the most sensible and the sharpest pain that a soul that loves God can experience on this earth. To a soul assisted by divine consolations, all insults, sorrows, losses, and persecutions are not only not an affliction, but rather a source of consolation, because they give her occasion to offer these pains to her Lord, and by such offerings to unite herself more closely to her beloved. The severest pain of a loving soul consists in seeing herself without devotion, without fervor, without desires, and in finding nothing but disgust and tediousness in meditation and Communion. But, according to St. Teresa, God has the best proof of their love, when without relish, and even with anguish and pain, they persevere patiently in their accustomed exercises. By aridity and temptations, says the saint, God tries his lovers.² Blessed Angela of Foligno, finding herself in a state of aridity, complained to God as if he had abandoned her. No, daughter, answered our Lord, I now love you more than before, and I bring you nearer to myself.

² Life, ch. n.

In the beginning, some religious, finding themselves in desolation, imagine that God has abandoned them, or that they are not fit for the way of perfection; thus they leave the road in which they began to walk, begin to give liberty to the senses, and thus lose all they have done. Be attentive, do not allow yourself to be deceived by the enemy: when you feel aridity, be constant, and omit none of your ordinary exercises of devotion. Humble yourself, and say that you deserve to be treated in this manner in punishment of your sins. Above all, resign yourself to the divine will, and trust more than ever in God; for that is the time of rendering yourself dear to your divine Spouse. Do you imagine that the saints were always in the enjoyment of consolations and celestial tenderness? Know that they have spent the greater part of their life in desolation and darkness. And to speak the truth, which I have learned by experience, I have but little confidence in the soul that abounds in spiritual sweetness without having first passed through the ordeal of internal sufferings; because it not unfrequently happens that such souls go on well as long as the divine consolations continue, but when tried by aridity they give up all, and abandon themselves to a life of tepidity.

But such a nun may say: I do not refuse this cross if it be the will of God; but what afflicts me is that this abandonment may be the chastisement of my infidelities. But I answer: Let it be a chastisement, as you say; to you in a special manner, I say, that if you have failed by attachment to any creature, God, who is jealous of the heart of his spouses, justly withdraws himself. Let it then be a chastisement; is it not a just one? Is it not the will of God that you accept it? Accept it then in peace, and remove the cause of your desolation, take away affections to creatures, take away dissipation of spirit arising from excessive indulgence of the eyes, the tongue, and the ears: give yourself again entirely to God, and he will restore your former fervor. But seek not to be consoled by your former tenderness; but rather ask strength to be faithful to God. Be persuaded that he sends desolation only for our greater profit, and to prove our love. He said to St. Gertrude that he tenderly loves the souls that serve him at their own expense, that is, in aridity and without sensible sweetness.

Love is not proved so much in following one that caresses you as in seeking after him that flies from you. But, says St. Bernard, fear not, O spouse of Jesus, fear not if the Spouse hides his face for a little; know that he does all for your good; he withdraws for your security, lest, finding yourself greatly caressed, you begin to despise your companions by esteeming yourself better than they are; he withdraws also that you may desire him with greater ardor, and seek after him with greater solicitude.¹ You must in the mean time persevere in your pious exercises, though you should suffer in them the agonies of death: far more painful was the agony which your Spouse suffered in the garden of Gethsemani when he was preparing for death and was praying for you. Being in agony he prayed the longer.² Be constant, then, in seeking after your Spouse; he will not delay long to come and console you.³ And should he not come to give you consolations and tenderness, be content with receiving from him courage and strength to love him without the recompense of present delights. God is more pleased with a strong than with a tender love.

¹ “Do not fear, O spouse, if for a little while he withdraws his face from you; all these things work together for your good; he withdraws for caution, lest you begin to despise your companions, . . . so that he, once desired, may be sought more eagerly.”—Scal. claust. c. 8.

² “Et factus in agonia prolixius orabat.”—Luke, xxii. 43.

³ “Exspecta illum, quia veniens veniet, et non tardabit.”—Ad. ii. 3.

5. A Few Practical Counsels.

Let us conclude with giving a few practical counsels in order to obtain patience and to practise it under every trial.

1. In general, St. Thomas says, that to reflect on them before they happen is a great help to bear all tribulations with fortitude. Jesus Christ said to his disciples: In the world you shall have distress: but have confidence, I have overcome the world.¹ My children, know that in the world you shall be afflicted and despised; but have confidence in me, who have conquered the world. The reason is, that by reflecting beforehand on tribulation, and embracing it with patience we form to ourselves an idea of it, not as an evil, but as a good conducive to eternal life. Thus the premeditation takes from us the fear of the evil that the tribulation excites. This has been the practice of the saints: they have embraced crosses long before they happened; and thus they have found themselves prepared to bear them in peace when they have come suddenly upon them. Accustom yourself, then, in mental prayer to embrace the tribulations which are likely to come upon you.

¹ “In mundo pressuram habebitis; sed confidite, ego vici mundum.” —John, xvi. 33.

2. And when you imagine it to be impossible for you to suffer such a tribulation (should it happen) pray to the Lord to give you his aid to submit to it in case it occurs, and have confidence in him, saying: I can do all things in him who strengtheneth me.² And when you do this, doubt not that your prayers will in that case obtain the strength that you do not possess. And how have the holy martyrs obtained courage to bear so many torments and deaths the most painful, except by prayer and by recommending themselves to God? When you find yourself under the cross have recourse instantly to prayer. Is, says St. James, any of you sad, let him pray.¹ Is any of you afflicted with any tribulation or passion, let him pray, and not cease to pray until he finds the peace of his soul restored. Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou wilt glorify me.² When you are in tribulation invoke my aid, and I will rescue you from difficulties, and you will give glory to me. When a soul in trouble recommends itself to God, he delivers it from the evil which afflicts it, or gives it grace to bear it with patience, and thus it glorifies the Lord. St. Ignatius of Loyola used to say that the greatest evil that could befall him in this world would be the destruction of the society; but he hoped that, even should such a calamity happen, his peace of mind would be restored by a quarter of an hour’s mental prayer.

² “Omnia possum in eo qui me confortat.”—Phil. iv. 13.

¹ “Tristatur aliquis vestrum; oret.”—fames, Vv. 15.

² “invoca me in die tribulationis; eruam te, et honorificabis me.”— Ps. xlix. 15.

3. Endeavor also, in the time of tribulation, to communicate more frequently. The ancient Christians in the time of persecution prepared themselves for martyrdom by frequent Communion.

4. Be careful to ask advice from your director, or from some other spiritual person; for a word of comfort gives great help to bear the cross with patience. But beware of explaining your trials to imperfect souls: for they will only add to your troubles and confusion, particularly if you have received an injury, or if you actually suffer persecution.

5. But above all, I say again, have recourse to prayer, have recourse to Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament, and beg of him to make you in all things conformable to his holy will. He promises to comfort all who are in tribulation when they have recourse to him. Come to me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you.¹

¹ “Venite ad me omnes, qui laboratis et onerati estis, et ego reficiam vos.”—Matt. xi. 28.

Prayer.

My God, I offer to Thee the pains of Jesus, Thy Son, in satisfaction for my sins. He is the Lamb whom Thou didst one day behold sacrificed for Thy glory, and for our salvation, on the altar of the cross. For the love of that victim, so dear to Thee, pardon me all the offences, whether grievous or venial, which I have offered to Thee: I am sorry for them all with my whole heart, because by them I have offended Thy infinite goodness. Thou, O my God, dost call me to Thy love: behold I leave all things, and I come to Thee, my treasure and my life. For the love of Thee, I renounce all the goods and honors and pleasures of the world. I love Thee, O my Sovereign Good, above every other good. Ah! my Jesus, do not permit me to resist any longer, and to be ungrateful to the tender affection that Thou hast shown me. Ah! make known to me always more and more the greatness of Thy goodness, that I may be enamoured of Thee, who art infinitely amiable. Thou hast shown Thyself enamoured of my soul, and shall I be able to love anything but Thee? No, my Redeemer; for Thee only do I wish to live, Thee only do I wish to love.

O Mary, my mother, assist me, and obtain for me grace to be faithful to this my promise.

Patience in Temptations.

Dear sister in the Lord, your past life does not content either God or yourself; if death came upon you at present, you should certainly die discontented. But since, as I hope, you have resolved to serve him better for the future, prepare yourself to combat with temptations. Behold the admonition of the Holy Ghost: Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation.¹ And remember that, as the prophet says,² religious are the most acceptable food to the devil. The enemy labors more to gain one religious than a hundred seculars. And why? First, because by making a spouse of Jesus Christ become one of his slaves he gains a greater triumph. Secondly, because by bringing a nun into sin he gains more than one, because by her bad example she will probably draw others with her. On the other hand, the Lord usually permits souls that are most dear to him to be most severely tormented by temptations. While he lived in the solitude of Palestine, in prayer and penitential works, St. Jerome was greatly afflicted with temptations: behold how he himself described them!— “I was alone, and my heart was full of bitterness; my dried and withered members were covered with a sack. My skin became as black as that of a Moor; the hard ground was my bed, which served rather to give pain than rest; my food was very scanty: and still my heart was inflamed against my will with bad desires. I had no other refuge than to have recourse to Jesus, and to implore his aid.”³

¹ “Fili, accedens ad servitutem Dei, . . . præpara animam tuam ad tentationem.”—Ecclus. ii. 1.

² “Cibus ejus electus.”—Habac. i. 16.

³ Ep. ad Eustoch.

The Lord permits us to be tempted for our greater good. First, that we may be more humble. Ecclesiasticus says: What doth he know that hath not been tried?⁴ What does he who has not been tempted know? In truth, no one is better acquainted with his own weakness than the man that is tempted. St. Augustine remarks, that St. Peter, before he had been tempted, presumed on his own strength, boasting that he would have constancy to embrace death rather than deny Jesus Christ; but when tempted he miserably denied his master, and then he became sensible of his weakness.¹ Hence, having favored St. Paul with celestial revelations, our Lord, in order to preserve him from vain glory, wished him to be molested with an importunate temptation against chastity, which is of all temptations the most humiliating to man. And, says the saint, lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me, there was given me a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me.²

⁴ “Qui non est tentatus, quid scit?”—Ecclus. xxxiv. 9.

¹ “Petrus, qui ante tentationem praesumpsit de se, in tentatione didicit se.”—In Ps. xxxvi. s. I.

² “And lest the greatness of the revelations exalt me, there was given me a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me.”—2 Cor. xii. 7.

Secondly, the Lord permits us to be tempted in order to make us rich in merits. Many religious are disturbed by scruples, on account of the bad thoughts that molest them. But they are disturbed in vain; for it is certain that the consent to evil, but not evil thoughts, is a sin. Temptations, however violent they may be, leave no stain on the soul when they happen without any fault of ours, and when we drive them away. St. Catharine of Sienna and Blessed Angela of Foligno were strongly tempted against chastity, but the temptations increased rather than diminished their purity. Every time the soul conquers a temptation she gains a degree of grace, for which she shall be afterwards rewarded with a degree of glory in heaven. Hence we shall receive as many crowns as we resist temptations. “As often.” says St. Bernard, “as we conquer, we are crowned.”³ And our Lord said to St. Matilda: “He who is tempted, places as many gems on my head as he overcomes temptations.” In the Cistercian Chronicles it is related that a certain monk was one night greatly molested with unchaste temptations, which he overcame. A laybrother had a vision, in which he saw a most beautiful young man handing to him a crown of gems, saying, Go to such a monk, and bring him this crown, which he has gained this night. The lay-brother related the vision to the abbot, who sent for the monk that had been tempted. When the abbot heard from him the resistance that he had made against the temptations, he understood the reason why the Lord had prepared so great a reward for him in heaven. The divine mother revealed to St. Bridget that for the violence that the saint had done to herself, in order to banish bad thoughts, our Lord would give her a reward, although the thought remained in her mind.¹

³ “Quoties restiteris, toties coronaberis.”—In Quadr. s. 5.

¹ “Tunc ille conatus reputabitur tibi pro corona.”—Aev. 1. 6, c. 94.

And God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able, but will make also with the temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it.² St. Jerome says, that to a ship no tempest is more dangerous than too long a calm. He meant to say, that the tempest of temptation prevents a man from rotting in sloth, and makes him unite himself more closely to God, by turning to him to ask his graces, by renewing good purposes, by making good acts of humility, of confidence, and of resignation. In the lives of the ancient Fathers we read that to a certain young man who was constantly and severely assailed by carnal temptations, his spiritual Father, seeing him in great affliction, said: Son, do you wish me to pray to God to deliver you from so many temptations, which do not allow you to live an hour in peace? The young man answered, No, my Father; for though I am greatly molested by these temptations, I derive great advantage from them, for with the divine aid I thus make continual acts of virtue. I now pray more than I did before, I fast more frequently, I watch more, I endeavor to practise greater mortifications of my rebellious flesh. It is better for you to pray to God that he may assist me by his grace to bear these temptations with patience, and thus to advance in perfection. Such temptations, then, we should not desire; but we ought to accept them with resignation, believing that God permits them for our greater good. The Apostle, when molested by similar temptations, several times implored the Lord to deliver him from them. But God answered: My grace is sufficient for thee. For which thing thrice I besought the Lord that it might depart from me. And he said to me: My grace is sufficient for thee: for power is made perfect in infirmity.¹ You will say: But St. Paul was a saint. And St. Augustine answers: By what means, think you, did the saints resist temptations? Was it by their own strength, or by the power of God?² The saints have trusted in God, and thus have conquered. Hence the holy Doctor adds: Do you also abandon yourself into the hands of God, and fear not. He who placed you in the combat will not leave you alone, neither will he abandon you to perdition.³

² “But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make a way out.”—1 Cor. x. 13.

¹ “For which reason I besought the Lord three times that it might depart from me; and he said to me: My grace is sufficient for you.”—2 Cor. xii. 8.

² “An isti in semetipsis possunt, an non in Domino?”—Conf. l. 8, c. 11.

³ “Projice te in eum noli metuere: non se subtrahet ut cadas.”—Loco cit.

But let us come to what is practical, and see with what arms we must fight in order to escape defeat.

I. The first, the principal, and I may say the only, and absolutely necessary means for conquering temptations, is to have recourse to God by prayer. Speaking of the necessity of humility, in order to be true disciples of Jesus Christ, St. Augustine says: “If you ask what holds the first place in the discipline of Christ, I will answer, Humility. What is the second? Humility. What is the third? Humility. And as often as you ask, so often shall I give the same answer.” Now, were you to ask what are the means of overcoming temptations, I would answer, The first means is prayer; the second is prayer; the third is prayer; and should you ask me a thousand times, I would always repeat the same.

This means is particularly necessary for conquering temptations against purity; these, as the Wise Man says, are overcome only by recommending ourselves to God. And as I knew that I could not otherwise be continent except God gave it, . . . I went to the Lord and besought him.¹ As soon as I knew that I could not obtain continence unless God gave it, I went to the Lord and asked it from him. Hence, St. Jerome has written, “As soon as lust assails us, let us instantly say: Lord, assist me; do not permit me to offend you.”² Thus the Abbot Isaias exhorted his disciples always to repeat in such temptations: Incline unto my aid, O God!³—and he would add, that this is a secure defence. He had just reason to say so; for God cannot violate his promises to hear all who pray to him: Cry to me, and I will hear thee.⁴ Call upon me: . . . I will deliver thee.⁵ Ask, and it shall be given you;⁶ seek, and you shall find. For every one that asketh, receiveth.⁷ You shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you.⁸

In the book of the Sentences of the Fathers⁹ it is written that St. Pachomius related to his disciples that he once heard the devils discoursing together; one of them said: My monk, when I tempt him, listens to me he does not turn to God, and therefore I make him fall frequently. Another complained that he could do nothing with his monk, because he instantly asked help from God, and thus was always victorious. Hence, brethren, concluded the holy abbot, resist temptations by always invoking the name of Jesus. But this must be done immediately, without listening to or arguing with the temptation. Another monk, as we find in the lives of the Fathers,¹ complained to an aged Father of being continually tempted to impurity; the good old man prayed for him, and learned by revelation that the monk did not turn away instantly from the temptation, but used to stop to look at it. The Father corrected him for this fault, and the monk was not molested afterwards as much as before. “While the enemy is small,” says St. Jerome, “kill him.”² A lion when small is easily killed, but not when he has become large. Unchaste temptations must be instantly shaken off, as we shake from the hand the sparks that fly from the fire. The best means of conquering them is, as I have said, to turn away from them, without listening to them. Were a queen tempted by a negro slave, what would she do? Would she not indignantly turn away without giving him an answer? Be careful to act in this manner if the devil should molest you; turn away without answering him, and invoke the name of Jesus and of Mary; and if you do this, you will be always sure of not falling into sin. St. Francis de Sales says: “The instant you feel any temptation, imitate children, who, when they see a wolf, run into the arms of their father or mother, or at least cry out to them for assistance. Do you in like manner run with filial confidence to Jesus and Mary.”

¹ “When I knew that I could not otherwise be continent unless God gave it, . . . I went to the Lord and besought him.”—Wisd. viii. 21.

² “Statim ut libido titillaverit sensum, erumpamus in vocem: Dominus, auxiliator meus.”—Ep. ad Eustoch.

³ “Deus in adjutorium meum intende.”—Ps. lxix. 1.

⁴ “Clama ad me, et exaudiam te.”—Jer. xxxiii. 3.

⁵ “Invoca me in die tribulationis; eruam te.”—Ps. xlix. 15.

⁶ “Petite, et dabitur vobis; quærite, et invenietis.”—Matt. vii. 7.

⁷ “Omnis enim qui petit, accipit.”—Luke, xi. 10.

⁸ “Quodcumque volueritis, petetis, et fiet vobis.”—John, xv. 7.

⁹ Vit. Patr. l. 3, n. 35.

¹ Vit. Patr. n. 13.

² “Dum parvus est hostis, interfice.”—Ep. ad Eustoch.

In temptations it is also very useful to make the sign of the cross. St. Augustine says: “All the machinations of the devil are reduced to nothing by the power of the cross.”¹ By giving his life on the cross, Jesus destroyed the powers of hell; and therefore at the sign of that sacred symbol all the machinations of the devil vanish. St. Athanasius relates of St. Anthony, that when the devils assailed him he instantly armed himself with the sign of the cross, and, thus armed, would say to them: Of what use is it to labor to injure me when I am rendered secure by this sign, and by the confidence I have in my Lord?² St. Gregory Nazianzen relates what is still more wonderful, that Julian the apostate, knowing the virtue of the sign of the cross, used, when terrified by the devils, to make that holy sign, and the devils would be put to flight.³

¹ “Omnia dæmonum machinamenta (virtute Crucis) ad nihilum redigit (Christus).”—Serm. 247, App. E. B.

² Vit. B. Ant. c. 8.

³ “Ad Crucem confugit, eaque adversus terrores consignat.”—In Julian. orat. 1.

II. The second means of conquering temptations is to humble yourself, and to distrust your own strength. To make us humble, the Lord often permits us to be assaulted with temptations, and even frequently with temptations the most shameful. Hence, when we see ourselves thus molested, let us humble ourselves and say: I deserve to be thus tormented for the offences I have hitherto offered to you. In the lives of the Fathers, it is related that a virgin and anchoret called Sara was cruelly persecuted in the desert by the spirit of impurity. She never asked God to deliver her from the temptation, but humbled herself, and constantly implored strength. The more violently the devil tempted her, the more she labored to humble herself, and to supplicate the divine aid. Finally, the enemy, not being able to make her fall into sins of impurity, endeavored to tempt her to vainglory. Hence he said with a loud voice: Sara, you have conquered, you have conquered. The humble servant of God answered: No, wicked spirit, I have not conquered you, but Jesus my God has conquered you.¹

¹ Vit. Patr. 1. 5, libell. 5, n. 11.

Thus let us humble ourselves, and at the same time let us have recourse with confidence to God, who protects all that hope in him. He is the protection of all that trust in him.² He himself has promised to deliver all those that hope in him. Because he hoped in me, I will deliver him.³ When, then, we find ourselves tortured by temptations, and fears of losing God, let us say with great courage: In thee, O Lord, have I hoped: let me never be confounded.⁴ In thee, O Lord, have I placed my hopes: do not permit me ever to be confounded, or to incur thy enmity. I say, with great courage; for, according to St. Teresa, when the devils see themselves despised, they remain powerless.⁵ And when the enemy represents the great difficulty of doing what is necessary to become saints, let us say, with diffidence in ourselves, but with confidence in God: I can do all things in him who strengtheneth me.⁶ I can do nothing of myself, but I can do all things with the aid of my Lord.

² “Protector est omnium sperantium in se.”—Ps. xvii. 31.

³ “Quoniam in me speravit, liberabo eum.”—Ps. xc. 14.

⁴ “In te, Domine, speravi; non confundar in æternum.”—Ps. xxx. 2.

⁵ Life, ch. 25.

⁶ “Omnia possum in eo qui me confortat.”—Phil. iv. 13.

III. The third means of overcoming temptations is, to make them known to your spiritual Father. Thieves, when discovered, take flight. Hence, St. Philip Neri used to say, that a temptation disclosed is half conquered. St. Antonine relates⁷ that Brother Ruffinus, the companion of St. Francis, was assailed by a strong temptation to despair, and to believe that all he did was lost. The afflicted brother concealed the temptation from his Superior, St. Francis; it became more violent, and one day the devil appeared to him in the form of Jesus crucified, and said to him, Know that you and Francis, and all your followers, are damned. Hence, Ruffinus regarded himself as lost. This was revealed to St. Francis, who sent for him; but Ruffinus refused to come; at length he went to the saint and disclosed the temptation. The saint ordered him to despise it. The devil returned, but seeing himself treated with contempt, he fled. And afterwards Jesus crucified appeared to him, and assured him that he was in the state of grace.

⁷ Hist. p. 3, tit. 24, c. 7, § 7.

IV. The fourth means, which is a very important one, of relieving one’s self from temptations is to avoid the occasions of them. St. Basil says¹ that God assists the man who is engaged in the contest against his own will; but he who voluntarily places himself in the battle, does not deserve compassion, and is therefore abandoned by God. And, before him, Ecclesiasticus said: He that loveth danger, shall perish in it.² He that loves danger, and goes in search of it, shall perish in it: nor is it of any use to hope for aid from God; to trust in God, and to expose one’s self voluntarily to the occasion of sin, is not a holy but a rash confidence, which merits chastisement.

¹ Const. Mon. c. 4.

² “Qui amat periculum, in illo peribit.”—Ecclus. iii. 27.

V. Lastly, it is necessary to give in this place two very important admonitions.

1. It is necessary to remark that we must conquer some temptations by contrary acts; for example, temptations to revenge must be overcome by seeking to do good to those who have offended you; temptations to vanity by humbling ourselves; to envy by rejoicing at the good of others; similar temptations must be conquered in the same manner. But it is better to resist other temptations, such as those against faith, or against chastity, or to blasphemy, by despising them, and by making good acts indirectly opposed to the temptations, such as acts of confidence, of contrition, of charity. St. John Climacus relates¹ that a certain monk was greatly tormented with blasphemous temptations. The miserable man was all in confusion: he went to a good Father, and told him all the execrable blasphemies that passed through his mind. Have confidence, said the Father, I take on myself all these sins; do not think of them any more. The monk followed the advice, and his peace of mind was restored. But with regard to temptations against chastity, it is not advisable for timorous souls to contend directly with the bad thought, saying and repeating, I will not do it, I will not consent to it. For by endeavoring to make these contrary acts, the image of the bad objects presented to the mind becomes more vivid, and thus the struggle is longer and more severe. It is better to renew, in general, the purpose of dying a thousand times rather than offend God. It is also useful to renew your vows, particularly the vow of chastity: you must, then, instantly turn to God for help, making acts of hope and love, as has been already said, and frequently invoking the most holy name of Jesus and of Mary.

¹ Scal. par. gr. 23.

2. Secondly, it is necessary to remark that the most dangerous temptations are those that come under the appearance of good, so that a soul, without perceiving it, may find that she has fallen over some precipice. This may easily happen to spiritual persons in particular. “A good man,” says St. Bernard, “is never deceived except by the similitude of good.”² The devil deceives souls that have a good intention only by the appearance of good. St. Bonaventure relates¹ that there was a brother so attached to silence that he would not speak even in confession, but wished to explain his sins by signs. The minister-general, in presence of St. Francis, bestowed great praise on the brother for his exact observance of silence. But the saint said: My Father, you deceive yourself: command him to confess his sins twice a week. The minister imposed the precept, but the brother refused to obey, and became so obstinate on this point, that on account of his disobedience he in the end abandoned the religious state.

² “Nec unquam bonus, nisi boni simulatione, deceptus est.”—In Cant. s. 66.

¹ Fit. S. Franc, c. II.

Still more dangerous would be the temptation which would induce a religious to entertain too great an affection for the spiritual Father or for any other person, because she considers him to be a saint. The devil persuades her that the relations of direction or of friendship to such a one will be conducive to high perfection. He inspires her with an ardent desire to have such an advantage, and she does all that she can to secure it. After this the enemy begins by causing to arise in her heart an affection that appears to be altogether spiritual; then follow mutual confidence, familiarity; then the license of tender words; and finally all ends in allowing themselves to be seduced into base actions or sacrilegious desires. But of this we have already spoken.²

² Page 293.

I conclude by repeating, that, to overcome temptations, all the means explained in this chapter are very good, but the first, and the one that is absolutely necessary, is to have recourse to God by prayer that he may give us light and strength to conquer. Without asking the divine aid, it is impossible to overcome temptations; and if we ask it we shall certainly be victorious. Praising I will call upon the Lord; and I shall be saved from my enemies.¹

¹ “Laudans invocabo Dominum, et de inimicis meis salvus ero.”— Ps. xvii. 4.

Prayer.

Ah! my God, I will no longer resist the love that Thou dost entertain for me. This love made Thee bear me with so much patience when I offended Thee. Ah! my Jesus, through Thy merits do not permit me ever more to offend Thee. O make me cease to be ungrateful to Thee, or make me cease to live. I see that Thou dost wish me to be saved, and I wish to be saved, that I may go to sing Thy mercies for eternity in heaven. Lord, do not abandon me. I know that Thou wilt never abandon me if I do not first abandon Thee; but past experience makes me afraid of my weakness. Ah! through the painful death that Thou didst one day suffer for me on the cross, give me strength in my temptations, and especially the grace to have immediate recourse to Thee. I love Thee, O infinite goodness, and I hope to love Thee always. Ah! bind me with the sweet chains of Thy love, that my soul may never more be separated from Thee.

O Mary, thou art called the mother of perseverance; this great gift is dispensed through thee; thee I ask to obtain it for me: through thy intercession I certainly hope for it.