Of Spiritual and Sensible Consolations, and How We Must Make Use of Them.
God makes this great world pass through a succession of perpetual vicissitudes, and we see day turn by turns into night, spring into summer, summer into autumn, autumn into winter, and winter into spring; one day is never quite like another: some are cloudy, some rainy, some dry, and some stormy—a variety which lends great beauty to this universe. The same is true of man, who, according to the saying of the ancients, is a compendium of the world; for he is never in the same state, and his life flows upon this earth like the waters of a river, ever swept along through a multitude of diverse movements, which at one time raise him up through hope, at another cast him down through fear, at one time bend him to the right through consolation, at another to the left through affliction; and never is one of his days, nor even one of his hours, entirely like another.
God makes this great world pass through a succession of perpetual vicissitudes, and we see day turn by turns into night, spring into summer, summer into autumn, autumn into winter, and winter into spring; one day is never quite like another: some are cloudy, some rainy, some dry, and some stormy—a variety which lends great beauty to this universe. The same is true of man, who, according to the saying of the ancients, is a compendium of the world; for he is never in the same state, and his life flows upon this earth like the waters of a river, ever swept along through a multitude of diverse movements, which at one time raise him up through hope, at another cast him down through fear, at one time bend him to the right through consolation, at another to the left through affliction; and never is one of his days, nor even one of his hours, entirely like another.
Now, amid such great inequality of events and accidents, it is of the utmost importance for us to preserve an unalterable evenness of heart; and although all things turn and combine in diverse ways around us, we must ever keep our eyes fixed upon Heaven, and remain steadfast in our resolve to strive continually toward God, that we may attain unto Him. Let the ship take whatever course one will, let it sail eastward or westward, northward or southward, whatever wind may bear it, its mariner’s compass will ever look to none other than the fair polar star. Likewise, though all things be turned upside down—not only around us, I say, but within us; that is, whether our soul be sad, joyful, gentle, bitter, at peace, troubled, in light, in darkness, in temptation, at rest, in relish, in distaste, in dryness, or in sweetness; whether the sun burn it, or the dew refresh it—ah! the point of our heart, our mind, our superior will, which is our compass, must ever look unchangingly, and tend perpetually toward the love of God, its Creator, its Saviour, its sole and sovereign good. _Whether we live, or whether we die_, saith the Apostle, _we are God’s; and who shall separate us from the charity of Jesus Christ?_ No, nothing shall ever separate us from this love: neither tribulation, nor anguish, nor death, nor life, nor present evil, nor fear of evils to come, nor the devices of wicked spirits, nor the height of consolations, nor the depth of afflictions, nor sweetness, nor dryness; no creature in the world shall ever separate us from this holy charity, which is founded in Jesus Christ.
This resolute determination never to forsake God or His sweet love serves as a counterpoise to our souls, to keep them in a holy and perfect evenness amid all the inequalities and all the motions that the condition of this life occasions in them. For, as bees, surprised by the wind in the open fields, take up small stones so as to balance themselves in the air and not be so easily tossed about by the storm, so our soul, having warmly embraced the resolve always to love its God, remains steadfast amid the inconstancy and variety of consolations and afflictions, whether spiritual or temporal, exterior or interior.
But besides these general rules, we need some particular instructions.
But besides these general rules, we need some particular instructions.
1. I say, then, that devotion does not consist in all those sweetnesses, delights, and sensible consolations which move us to tears and sighs, and give us a certain pleasant satisfaction in some exercises of piety. No, Philothea, devotion and this are not one and the same thing; for there are many souls who have these consolations and yet are vicious, whence it follows that they have no true love of God, and still less any true devotion. Saul, pursuing poor David to the death in the wilderness of Engedi, entered all alone into a cave where David was concealed with his men. David, who on that occasion could have killed him a thousand times, spared his life, and would not even frighten him; but, having let him go forth at his ease, he called after him to show him his innocence and make him know that he had had him in his power. What did Saul not do then to show David that his heart was softened? He called him his son, began to weep aloud, to praise him, to bless his generosity, to pray God for him, to foretell his future greatness, and to commend to him the care of his own family. What greater tenderness and sensibility could he have shown? Yet, amid all this, his heart was not changed, and he continued to persecute David as cruelly as before. So there are persons who, at the sight of God’s goodness and the Passion of the Saviour, feel great stirrings of heart which make them sigh and shed tears, accompanied by prayers and thanksgivings so heartfelt that one would think them seized with the greatest devotion; but when they are put to the test, it is found that, like passing showers in a very hot summer, which fall in great drops upon the earth without penetrating it, and serve only to bring forth mushrooms, so these tears of tenderness, falling upon a vicious heart, do not penetrate it and are altogether useless to it; for, with all this, these poor people would not part with a single farthing of the ill-gotten wealth they possess, they would not renounce a single one of their evil inclinations, and would not take the slightest trouble in the world for the service of this Saviour over Whom they have wept so much; so that the good motions they have felt are nothing but spiritual mushrooms, which are not only not true devotion, but are often great wiles of the enemy, by which, diverting souls with these little consolations, he makes them content and satisfied with themselves, and thereby causes them to neglect true and solid devotion, which consists in a constant, resolute, ready, and active will to do what one knows to be pleasing to God.
A child will weep tenderly if he sees the physician make a cut with his lancet in his mother; but if at the same time his mother, for whom he was weeping, asks him for an apple or a sweetmeat which he holds in his hand, he will not at all let go of it. Such are most of our tender devotions: seeing a spear thrust into Jesus Christ crucified, piercing His heart, we weep tenderly. Alas, Philothea, it is indeed right to weep over the death and grievous Passion of our Father and Redeemer; but why, then, do we not eagerly give Him the apple we hold in our hands, which He so earnestly asks of us? I mean, our heart, the one apple of love which this dear Saviour asks of us. Why do we not sacrifice to Him so many little affections, satisfactions, and self-indulgences which He would tear from our heart, but can never succeed in doing so, because they are our favourite sweetmeats, of which we are fonder than of the gifts of His divine grace? Ah! these are but the friendships of little children, all of this: tender, but weak, whimsical, and without effect. Devotion, then, does not consist in these kinds of sensible affections, which sometimes arise from a soft nature, readily receiving the impressions one wishes to give it, and sometimes, too, are a device of the enemy, who thus stirs our imagination in order the better to deceive us.
2. These tender and affectionate sweetnesses are nevertheless sometimes very useful; for they stir the appetite of the soul, strengthen the spirit, and add to the promptness of devotion a holy and lively gladness, which makes our actions very beautiful and very pleasing, even outwardly. Hence comes that relish for divine things which made David say: _O Lord! how sweet are Thy words to my palate! they are sweeter to my heart than honey to my mouth._ And indeed it is quite true that the least little consolation devotion gives us is in every way better than the most excellent recreations of the world. It is the milk of which Scripture speaks, which is preferable to the choicest wine; whoever has tasted it regards all other human consolations as gall and wormwood; and just as those who have Scythian grass in their mouths receive such great sweetness from it that they no longer feel either hunger or thirst, so those to whom God has given the heavenly manna of inward consolations can no longer desire or receive the consolations of the world, at least so as to take delight in them and occupy their hearts with them. These are little foretastes of the immortal sweetnesses that God gives to souls who seek Him; they are sweetened grains which He gives His little children to entice them; they are cordial waters which He offers them to strengthen them; they are also sometimes pledges of the eternal reward that awaits them. They say that Alexander the Great, being at sea, judged that he was not far from Happy Arabia by the sweet fragrance with which the air was filled; and this served greatly to encourage his fleet: so do the sweetnesses of grace, amid the storms of this mortal life, give us a foretaste of the ineffable delights of the heavenly homeland for which we aspire.
3. But, you will say to me, since there are sensible consolations which are good and come from God, and yet there are others which are useless, dangerous, and even pernicious, coming either from nature or from the devil, how can I recognize them, and distinguish the bad or useless from the good? This is a general rule, Philothea, for the affections and passions of our soul: we must know them by their fruits. Our hearts are the trees, our affections and passions their branches, and our works the fruits. The heart is good if it has good affections, and the affections are good if they produce in us good effects and holy actions. If, then, these sweetnesses and consolations render us more humble, more patient, more tractable, more charitable and more indulgent toward our neighbor, more fervent in mortifying our passions, more diligent in our duties, more submissive and more pliant toward our superiors, and more simple in our life, then doubtless, Philothea, they are from God. But if these sweetnesses are sweet only to us, if they make us curious, peevish, captious, impatient, obstinate, proud, presumptuous, harsh toward our neighbor, and if, thinking ourselves already little saints, we will no longer suffer correction or counsel, then undoubtedly they are false and pernicious consolations. A good tree produces only good fruits.
4. When we have sweetnesses and consolations, 1.º let us humble ourselves greatly before God; let us take good care not to say, on account of these sweetnesses: Oh! how good I am! No, Philothea, these are goods which do not make us better; for, as I have said, devotion does not consist in this; but let us say: Oh! how good God is to those who hope in Him, and to the soul that seeks Him! He who has sugar in his mouth cannot say that his mouth is sweet, but rather that the sugar is sweet; so, although this spiritual sweetness is very good, and God Who gives it is most good, it does not follow that he who receives it is good. 2.º Let us acknowledge that we are still little children in need of milk, and that these sweetmeats are given us only because our spirit is still tender and delicate, and because such baits are needed to draw us to the love of God. 3.º But after this, speaking generally, let us receive these graces and favors very humbly, and regard them as most precious, not so much because they are so in themselves, as because it is the hand of God that works them in our heart, as a mother might do, who, to please her little child, would put little sugar-plums into his mouth, one after another; for if the child had discernment, he would prize far more the sweetness of the caresses his mother gives him than the sweetness of the sugar-plum itself; and so, Philothea, it is much to have these sweetnesses; but the sweetness of sweetnesses is to consider that it is God Who, with His loving and motherly hand, puts them into our heart, our spirit, and our soul. 4.º Having received them thus humbly, let us carefully employ them according to the intention of Him Who gives them to us. Why does God give us these sweetnesses? Is it not to stir up our love toward Him and make us gentler toward our neighbor? A mother gives sugar-plums to her child in order to obtain some caresses from him; likewise, in return for His consolations, God expects from us tokens of affection and gratitude. Now, we have no surer means of proving both to Him than to humble ourselves before Him, keep His commandments, and follow His desires. 5.º We must, moreover, from time to time renounce these kinds of consolations and sweetnesses, detaching our heart from them and declaring that, although we accept them humbly, and love them as things coming from God and leading us to love Him, nevertheless it is not they that we seek, but God and His holy love; not consolation, but the Comforter; not sweetness, but the sweet Savior; not sensible relish, but Him Who is the sweetness of Heaven and earth. This disposition must be such that we be fully resolved to remain steadfast in the holy love of God, even if throughout our whole life we should never have any kind of consolation, being equally ready to say on Calvary and on Tabor: O Lord, it is good for me to be with Thee, whether Thou art upon the Cross or in glory. 6.º Finally, I warn you that if you should receive these kinds of sensible consolations in some abundance, or should experience anything extraordinary in this regard, you ought to confer sincerely about it with your director, in order to learn with what moderation and prudence you should make use of it; for it is written: _Have you found honey? Eat only as much as is sufficient._