Description of True Devotion.
You aspire to devotion, dearest Philothea, because, being a Christian, you know that it is a virtue most pleasing to the Divine Majesty. But, since it often happens that the small faults one commits at the beginning of an undertaking grow much greater as one proceeds, and become almost irreparable at the end, you must, before all things, know well what the virtue of devotion is; for there is only one true devotion, and there are many false and vain ones; so that, without this discernment, you might be mistaken, and lose time following some imprudent and superstitious devotion.
The painter Arelius gave all his characters the likeness of the persons he loved; and everyone paints devotion according to his own passion and disposition. He who is given to fasting will consider himself very devout, provided he fasts, though his heart be full of rancour; and, not daring to dip his tongue in wine, or even in water, out of sobriety, he will make no scruple of dipping it in his neighbour’s blood, through detraction and calumny. Another will esteem himself devout because he says a great multitude of prayers every day, although afterwards he gives himself over to angry, proud, and insulting words against his servants and neighbours. Another willingly draws alms from his purse to give to the poor, but cannot draw gentleness from his heart to forgive his enemies. This one forgives easily, but as for paying his creditors, he does so only under the stern compulsion of justice. All these people pass for devout, and are not so in any way. Saul’s officers, having gone to David’s house to arrest him, Michal put an image in his bed, and, having covered it with David’s clothes, made them believe that it was David himself, lying there sick. Thus many people cover themselves with certain outward practices that belong to devotion, and the world believes them to be truly devout and spiritual people, when in fact they are nothing but statues and phantoms of devotion.
You aspire to devotion, dearest Philothea, because, being a Christian, you know that it is a virtue most pleasing to the Divine Majesty. But, since it often happens that the small faults one commits at the beginning of an undertaking grow much greater as one proceeds, and become almost irreparable at the end, you must, before all things, know well what the virtue of devotion is; for there is only one true devotion, and there are many false and vain ones; so that, without this discernment, you might be mistaken, and lose time following some imprudent and superstitious devotion.
The painter Arelius gave all his characters the likeness of the persons he loved; and everyone paints devotion according to his own passion and disposition. He who is given to fasting will consider himself very devout, provided he fasts, though his heart be full of rancour; and, not daring to dip his tongue in wine, or even in water, out of sobriety, he will make no scruple of dipping it in his neighbour’s blood, through detraction and calumny. Another will esteem himself devout because he says a great multitude of prayers every day, although afterwards he gives himself over to angry, proud, and insulting words against his servants and neighbours. Another willingly draws alms from his purse to give to the poor, but cannot draw gentleness from his heart to forgive his enemies. This one forgives easily, but as for paying his creditors, he does so only under the stern compulsion of justice. All these people pass for devout, and are not so in any way. Saul’s officers, having gone to David’s house to arrest him, Michal put an image in his bed, and, having covered it with David’s clothes, made them believe that it was David himself, lying there sick. Thus many people cover themselves with certain outward practices that belong to devotion, and the world believes them to be truly devout and spiritual people, when in fact they are nothing but statues and phantoms of devotion.
True and solid devotion, Philothea, presupposes the love of God, or rather, it is nothing other than a true love of God; I say a true love, and not just any kind of love. For insofar as divine love adorns our soul, it is called grace, as making us pleasing in the sight of God; insofar as it gives us the strength to do good, it is called charity; but when it has reached that degree of perfection which moves us not only to do good, but also to do it carefully, frequently, and promptly, then it is called devotion. And I explain this by a comparison. Ostriches never fly, although they have wings. Hens fly, but heavily, seldom, and very low. Eagles, doves, and swallows, on the contrary, fly swiftly, high, and almost continually. Thus sinners do not fly toward God, but make all their journeys upon the earth and for the earth; good people who have not yet attained devotion fly toward God by their good works, but seldom, slowly, and heavily; and only devout souls rise toward God with a swift, frequent, and lofty flight. In a word, devotion is nothing other than a certain spiritual agility and vivacity, by which charity performs its works in us, or we perform them through charity, promptly and affectionately; and just as it belongs to charity to make us practice all the commandments of God universally, so it belongs to devotion to make us observe them with all possible diligence and fervor. Thus, whoever does not observe all the commandments of God is neither just nor devout: he is not just, since he lacks charity; he is not devout, since, besides charity, he lacks the zeal and promptness in charitable actions which are proper to devotion.
And because devotion consists in the perfection of charity, it makes us prompt, active, and diligent, not only in observing all the commandments of God, but also in doing as many good works as we can, even though they be not of precept, but merely of counsel or inspiration. A man newly recovered from sickness walks as much as is necessary for him, but slowly and heavily; so it is with a sinner newly healed of his iniquity: he walks as much as God commands him, but quietly and slowly; and it is only when he has attained devotion that, like a sound and vigorous man, he not only walks, but runs and leaps along the way of God’s commandments, and moreover, bounds forth upon the paths of heavenly counsels and inspirations. In short, charity and devotion differ no more from one another than flame differs from fire; since charity, which is the spiritual fire of the soul, is called devotion when it is greatly inflamed. So that devotion adds nothing to the fire of charity, save the flame which makes charity prompt, active, and diligent, not only in the observance of God’s commandments, but also in the practice of heavenly counsels and inspirations.