For there is a happiness other than that which consists in the enjoyment of the good that is seen: for us, we do not consent to seek any other good than God, nor any other beatitude than the outpouring in us of his eternal bliss :

   This happiness, being borrowed from naught created, is not subordinate unto the events of this world. As such, it is superior to everything else, and subsists in the midst of the most diverse external opportunities. Still imperfect in this world, forasmuch as the sovereign good is not fully delivered unto us, and forasmuch as we live in faith, naught external can diminish it in us: only the failings of our will could compromise it.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   Faith comes first of all from hearing, but then it maketh us behold the truth according to its special mode, which must penetrate the intelligence and the will. It is impossible for our relations with God in this world to remain a mere formality; our heart must really turn towards him, under the impulse of our intelligence; we must rediscover the secret of that intimate conversation, which the Lord had with Adam in the earthly paradise.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   Our emancipation is wherefore attached unto the truth, the truth known and lived, which must rectify all our imperfections, raise all our lapses, correct all our vices, as the Holy Church asks us to do in this prayer:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   And anon:

   By attaching himself unto the one who has kindly become his adopted brother, man will possess the true light of the spiritual life: he shall enter the illuminative life, which was not previously his:

   

   

   The New Testament shows, above all, that Our Lord has come to increase the intensity of the light and to make access to it easier and more universal. The Prince of the Apostles notes this with the enthusiasm of his pastoral heart:

   

   

   

   

   He also repeats it in one of his homilies on the prophet Ezekiel:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   belong, even more than aught else, to God's good pleasure and are the privileged object of His gratuitous liberality:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   And yet what can be said of the new facilities offered to those whose evangelical counsels become the law, and who have heard this word:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   Wherefore beati, - happy - if not forasmuch as eminent gifts and choice favors are reserved for this vigilance? God will let us wait and sigh sometimes until such time as the third watch, and then he shall come: what would not be the detriment and misfortune of the soul whose expectation had grown weary, on the eve or eve before the Lord's visitation!

   The Gospel gives us the precious assurance that this expectation will not be fruitless:

   

   

   This saint asked for true life, and God gave it unto him with an unhoped-for breadth and development.

   

   An admirable work of divine compassion and mercy, which we behold daily and which is the joy of the angels! But this work is not yet the last effort of essential beauty; Saint Paul reveals this unto us by borrowing the words of another prophet:

   

   

   And when it comes to Peter's infallibility, Our Lord shows it still resting on his almighty prayer:

   

   

   

   The same means made him defeat the Lord himself, when he said:

   So Nehemiah obtained the cessation of the captivity through prayer; so the Prophets showed themselves to be men of prayer as well as inspired preachers; so Esther won over Ahasuerus and saved her people.

   

   

   

   

   

   It is most remarkable that Our Lord does not say:

   but well :

   God is keen to assert his divine freedom; he saith so elsewhere formally:

   

   But we must beware, we say, of limiting God unto the proportions of our nature.

   

   

   

   And when it unites without symbol and without intermediary with the substance of the soul, it produces no phenomena, forasmuch as such a union remains absolutely hidden from our senses. So there is evermore an insufficiency in the phenomenon, the clue is infirm, distant, inadequate; and it is not in this poor translation that true supernatural life consists.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   When the Holy Spirit gives this clearly perceptible testimony to our soul, order is more or less restored within us, and naught stands in the way of the child of God.

   

   

   

   

   For this, it's not enough just to have habitual grace in oneself; it's also necessary to make no reservations about God, to verily seek Him, and also to have resolutely entered the path of perfection. The soul then learns from the Spirit of adoption to say: Abba, Pater - Abba, Father (Rom 8:15). This is the continual cry of intimate being, the persevering, filial abandonment of those who have become brethren and co-heirs of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

   

   

   our growth, like our birth, is the work of God. But this growth must be sheltered by our care; what is given unto the soul in potential must come to act. Just as our physical organs atrophy from lack of exercise, and our muscles relax and refuse all service if we don't get them moving, so it is with the supernatural habits that remain lazy within us. Yet the sacrament of Confirmation gives us the means to act virilely in the supernatural order, and provides us with the possibility of manifesting, in the pursuit of good, in the confession and affirmation of the faith received at Baptism, the vigor, energy and quiet assurance that is the sign of true strength. This supernatural vigor is also the hallmark of the perfect Christian, who moves with ease in strong works, without being distracted from contemplation by the toils and pains that accompany the acquisition of the virtues.

   

   

   

   

    but we will have the same life as this bread:

   And lest anyone misunderstand the nature of this divine food, the Lord had just shown its effects by saying:

   What union was ever closer than this?

   

   Certainly, our admirable Master is not speaking here of a necessity of means for salvation; there are indeed certain legitimate circumstances that can prevent Christians from receiving the Lord's body; Catholic theologians are well aware of this.

   

   

   

   

   

   It is in this sense that all the texts of the Sacred Canticle, such as this one, can be interpreted as applied unto the Church:

   It's a more generous milk than wine, but it's still milk and the food of our childhood here on earth.

   

   And lest the Christian soul hesitate before this ineffable mystery, he saith anon:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   But at the same time, the Apostle gives us the means by which the sacrament assures its life-giving effect:

   We will not concern ourselves with those who have no life in them, and who, receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist, cannot draw from it an increase of supernatural life, since they bring a fundamental obstacle unto the grace proper to this sacrament. The words of the Apostle,

   all too clearly imply the need for discernment, for an appreciation such that the soul does not equate the Lord's body with vulgar food, and does not advance, like a walking corpse loving its death and remaining there voluntarily, towards a sacrament which was not instituted to give supernatural being, but to unite living beings to God.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   On the day of supreme revelation, when God himself replaces before our eyes all these procedures, so tender, so strong, so easy, so sure, we'll have no trouble explaining to ourselves the rigorous repetitions of his justice and his unrecognized love.

   

   This is an interesting and fruitful study, easily approached with the help of the Holy Scriptures; and, without seeking to exhaust it here, we shall confine ourselves to setting out our thoughts in a few general considerations, which everyone is free to apply to themselves.

   

   

   And anon:

   There can be no doubt that, very frequently in Scripture, the kingdom of heaven means not only the heavenly Jerusalem, but also the culmination of the spiritual life. There is a visible link betwixt spiritual childhood and the virtue of humility. However, forasmuch as some souls, already tired by the sorrows and struggles of the Christian life, might be afraid of no longer feeling in themselves either freshness of feeling or spiritual youthfulness, Our Lord has gone ahead of these fears; and to these tired souls, he giveth the means to renew their youthfulness. He is well aware that, whilst some begin with that gracious simplicity which easily solves the greatest problems of the spiritual life, others, on the contrary, end up there, and only recover this simplicity in the total transformation of their nature.

   

   

   

   says Our Lord.

   

   The Proverbs contain the same teaching:

   Finally the great contemplative Moses obtained this praise from the Holy Spirit:

   

   And the fatherly heart no longer holds out; it's not just forgiveness that he grants, it's the fullness of goods that he seems to want to confer on repentance. David knew this divine disposition well, when he said:

   

   Or :

   

   And in another place:

   This is also the recommendation of Saint Peter:

   It would be superfluous to review the countless passages in which the Holy Spirit teaches us that exaggerated worry and foresight are enemies of the spiritual life; Our Lord himself pointed out this harmful disposition as one of the causes that choke off good seed:

   

   What is this spiritus bonus, if not the full flowering of charity and the consummation of divine union?

   

   or the one indicated in the psalm: - :

   David even goes so far as to say that the abundance of heavenly sweetness is reserved for this trust:

   This is confirmed by Jeremiah, when he saith:

   This is still the way to full security, for David assures us that God makes himself the shield of those who hope in him:

   Isaiah attributes to trusting souls supernatural privileges of the highest price:

   Doesn't this ensure trust in God, along with definitive victory, the most powerful flight in contemplation?

   

   These thoughts are as old as the world itself. God was already saying through the mouth of Ezekiel:

   Is it not a bloody insult to God to ignore his merciful intentions and persist in fearing in spite of this law of trust? Is it not to wound the Lord unto the quick? And is it any wonder that St. Benedict concluded his spiritual art with these two admirable sentences:

   

   Severity, dryness and personality deserve a just return of rigor from God. We have proof of this in the words of the Lord Jesus, which seem to determine the matter of divine judgment:

   Whereas charity is the distinguishing mark of true disciples of Christ, who taught it to his Apostles, telling them:

   The prophet even attributes the remission of sins to works of mercy:

   

   Saint Paul wants this charity to be exercised at the expense of oneself:

   But what sheds more light on this whole doctrine is the Savior's own words:

   So how can he who breaks unity benefit from this prayer, the sole source of all sanctification?

   

   This ease with which we abandon what we possess marks the detachment essential to those who wish to soar on the wings of the spirit. It's also the law of the athlete:

   

   

   Is this mysterious food and unknown name not the great secret that God tells the soul when it reaches perfect charity and the consummation of its union with the heavenly Spouse?

   

   

   

   And no one should be surprised by this condition; we cannot deceive the eye of God, which scrutinizes hearts and minds; our soul has no secrets from him:

   The hour of prayer is indeed one when the soul, finding itself more attentive to God, is also more apt to receive his operation; but it findeth itself there with its habitual imperfections and the remnants of its dissipation outside; so many obstacles to its relations with God.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   And this must be true, during recreation as well as in the silence of the cell, during reading and during manual work, which the Fathers all regarded as an auxiliary unto the spirit of oraison: "For," said Cassian, speaking of the religious of the East, "it is difficult to say whether it is to better meditate that they are constantly occupied with manual work, or whether it is through this assiduity to work that they acquire so much piety, knowledge and light" (Cassian, Instit., lib. II, ch. xiv.)

   

   

   Who amongst us would not be content to say with the Apostle:

   

   

   

   Cassian says: "We must read without ceasing, and entrust to our memory the Holy Scriptures; this continual meditation will produce a double fruit.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

    The supernatural life then increases from hour to hour, so to speak, and grows until such time as it produces the perfection of charity, which is holiness.

   

   

   It is not an examination of conscience of any kind; it is done before God, in the light of the graces received from his goodness, as on the threshold of eternity; it giveth rise to complete abandonment into the fatherly hands of the Lord, and fills the soul with a humble confidence that makes it say:

    These sentiments are a far cry from the illusions of those who believe that judgment is far away, and that time belongs unto them.

   

   

   

   Which the psalm also renders in this form:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   The secrecy of our intimate dwelling, the closed door, the recollection of our soul before God, the truce imposed on every foreign thought - these are the conditions that the Savior first demands. The soul can then humbly address Him whom it rightly calls its Father, since it hath received the Spirit of adoption, and speak to Him in abscondito [in secret]; and this secret is certainly something other than the material solitude created around us, clauso ostio [closed door]: it expresses those mysterious shadows of faith where our prayer is uttered, shadows which are, for God our Father, brighter than day. In this prayer of pure and simple faith, the soul evermore receives its reward and ascends surely to God.

   

   

   

   

    The Christian cannot, like the gentile, ignore to whom he is speaking; he must avoid in his prayer that overabundant flow of words which would betray in him ignorance of God; it is to ward off this error that the Master gives his disciples the formula for all our prayers:

   

   

   

   

   

   But it is no less true that, as far as its practical realization in our souls is concerned, this prayer begins with its last request. In fact, as this prayer works its effect in us and germinates there, so to speak, it begins by delivering us from evil; since it obtains for us not even to be tempted in a dangerous way, according unto the word of Our Lord:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   Moreover, this teaching does not belong to Saint Benedict alone; it comes directly from the Master par excellence:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   He wants everything to be done with order, wisdom and propriety, without any confusion; and to this end he giveth admirable rules of prudence.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   This same formula also asks God to grant that not only vain and evil thoughts, but also foreign ones, may be removed from the heart, and that the Lord may deign to illuminate the intellect and inflame the affections, which is the direct request of contemplation. The Church wherefore trusts that souls will bring to this divine service all the aptitudes of contemplation, and that a living homage will be offered to God, not just an outward one.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   "Experience shows that, when the mind is working, orderly and sustained reflection restores our intelligence to possession of forgotten notions; meditation on supernatural truths can also restore them to our conviction, even after a long time of disuse and oblivion."

   This is how our Fathers understood it: "Prayer," says St. Ambrose, "is the ordinary food we should give our soul, forasmuch as this food, being ground down by continual meditation, sustains and nourishes it, just as the manna that once fell from heaven sustained the body." (De Caïn et Abel, livre. II, ch. VI)

    Saint Augustine develops the teaching of the psalms, and also insists on meditation: "We warn thou, my brethren, after the truths proposed by us have passed through thy memory like meat through the stomach, to nourish thy mind with frequent and assiduous reflection." (Aug in Ps CXVI) And elsewhere the holy doctor proposes the example of David: "The prophet occupies himself in the secret of his mind; but what does he do there? He talks with his mind, he speaketh with his soul, that is to say, he questions himself, he examines himself, he judges himself... he excites and feels joy at the sight of God's mercy and at the memory of his works." (Ibid. in Ps LXXVI)

   It seemeth pointless to multiply quotations on this subject; however, Cassian's doctrine is important to keep in remembrance as it sums up the whole tradition of the greatest contemplatives, of those men who once held schools of holiness and perfection. Here, then, is what our masters thought:

   "The most elementary principles of a profession facilitate its beginnings, and lead unto the highest degree of perfection quickly and effortlessly. A child could never pronounce syllables if he didn't first know the letters. How can he read fluently if he barely knows how to put words together? How could he learn rhetoric and philosophy if he didn't know the rules of grammar? In the same way, in this sublime art that teaches us to unite with God, there are certainly principles that serve as solid foundations on which to build the edifice of our perfection. It seemeth unto us that these principles consist first of all in remembering and thinking of God, and then in the means of fixing this memory and this thought within us. Isn't that what perfection is all about? This is wherefore we wish to know this means of conceiving God, of retaining him in us, so that, if his thought sometimes escapes us, we can promptly recall it and recapture it without difficulty" (Cassian., Coll. X, Ch. VIII).

   One of the holy solitaries Cassian addressed, Abbot Isaac, then gave him a perfect lesson in meditation on the verse Deus in adjutorium meum intende, showing that by means of a single psalm verse the soul can bring itself back unto the thought of God, and thus avoid the mobility and inconsistency that these venerable men regarded as a great danger in the spiritual life. Let us borrow anon from one of these ancients the exact picture of these deviations of the imagination in prayer:

   "As soon as we begin to meditate on a psalm, it slips away without our noticing, and we are surprised to move on so quickly to another text of Scripture. As soon as we do, and before we've had a chance to delve into it, our memory wanders to another passage, and we lose the fruit of our meditation. So we move from one subject to another, wandering from psalm to psalm, from the Gospel unto the Epistles of St. Paul, from the Apostle unto the Prophets, and from the Prophets unto the pious stories. Our mind simply runs through the Holy Scriptures, unable to discard or retain aught. It meditates naught, penetrates naught; it skims, it barely tastes the meaning of things, without producing and appropriating holy thoughts. The ever-mobile, ever-distracted soul is like a drunken person, even during services, and remains incapable of performing its duties properly. If we pray, for example, we think of some psalms or some readings; if we sing a psalm, we occupy ourselves with something other than the text it contains; if we read, we keep in remembrance what we have done or what we have to do, and so we are the plaything of chance, without rule and without means to fix our will and to retain what we would like to meditate on" (Cassian, Coll. X, Ch. XIII).

   The plague is frankly exposed, as we still know it after many centuries; here's part of Abbé Isaac's answer: "There are three things that prevent our heart from wandering: vigil, meditation and prayer; by applying ourselves unto them faithfully and generously, the soul becomes firm and unshakeable. However, this cannot be achieved without the work of the hands". (ibid. Ch. XIV) From this we learn that, for our Fathers, prayer was distinct from meditation, and that the latter seemed unto them to be concerned not with multiple thoughts, but on the contrary with a single one, of which the attention took complete possession. As everyone can behold, intelligence shows its strength much better when it brings diverse notions back to unity and simplicity, than when it spends itself on the variety of thoughts it touches.

   The ancients gave this method especially to beginners, as we behold from what the holy abbot Paphnuce imposed on the generous penitent Thaïs:

   After three years of this unique and brief prayer. God manifested by a prodigy how pure this prayer had been, as it brought about the complete purification of this venerable penitent, whose finery was embellished by the virgins themselves.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   Now, who could ever read in cold blood the Lord's response who had tested her thus:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   Then the King will bow in his turn; he shall take full possession of this daughter of men to make her his forevermore, by making her share the throne of his glory.

   

   

   

   

   The devil views the bride in her glorious finery with jealous and hateful lust:

    Yes, men and the devil himself regard consecrated souls as verily married unto the divine King.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   clothed with all the gifts of nature and grace as with a priceless garment and ornament to enhance his beauty, his creation was like a festival full of harmony:

   

   Underneath these mysterious words, a well-founded tradition admits that God manifested to Lucifer his plan to create the human race and to raise one of its members to hypostatic union with the second per son of the Holy Trinity; at this revelation of the mystery of the Incarnation, Lucifer contemplated himself, pride bursting forth from the depths of his splendid being; he could not bear that a creature other than himself should contract such a close union with God, and refusing to hearken and obey the divine order made known unto us by St. Paul [the letter unto the Hebrews] :