Confirmation and elucidation of what has been said, by a remarkable example.
But to make this whole instruction clearer, I wish to relate here a very beautiful passage from the life of Saint Bernard, as I found it in a learned and judicious writer. He says, then, that it is a common thing among those who begin to serve God, and have not yet experienced the withdrawal of grace and spiritual vicissitudes, that when they come to lack the taste of sensible devotion, and that gracious light which invited them to run in the ways of God, they at once lose heart, and fall into great sadness and faintness of heart. Those who understand these things well give this reason: that the rational nature cannot long remain hungry, and without any delight, whether heavenly or earthly. Now, just as souls raised above themselves by the taste of higher pleasures readily renounce visible objects, so, when by a divine dispensation this spiritual joy is taken from them, finding themselves moreover deprived of bodily consolations, and not yet accustomed patiently to await the return of the true sun, it seems to them that they are neither in Heaven nor on earth, and that they are to remain buried in perpetual night; so that, having become like little children who are weaned and seek their nurse’s breast, they know only how to languish and lament, and to make themselves burdensome to everyone, and chiefly to themselves. This is exactly what happened, during one of Saint Bernard’s journeys, to one of his religious, named Geoffrey of Peronne, newly consecrated to the service of God. This good brother, having suddenly found himself arid, deprived of all consolations, and filled with inward darkness, began to recall his friends in the world, his relatives, and the fortune he had just left; and this remembrance brought upon him so violent a temptation that one of the religious of the house noticed it in his countenance, and could not help saying to him: “What is this, Geoffrey? Why is it that, contrary to your usual manner, you look so gloomy and distressed?” “Ah! my brother,” replied Geoffrey, “it is over; never in my life shall I be joyful.” Moved with compassion at these words, the good religious hastened to report them to Saint Bernard, who, seeing the danger, went at once to the church; and while Geoffrey, overcome with sadness, had fallen asleep upon a stone, he began to pray for him. Soon the saint’s prayer was granted, and Geoffrey awoke with a countenance so cheerful and serene that his friend, unable to comprehend so great and sudden a change, reproached him somewhat for the answer he had given him a little while before. Then Geoffrey replied to him: “If just now I told you that never in my life should I be cheerful, I now assure you that never shall I be sad.”
Thus ended the temptation of this devout personage. But observe in this account, Philothea,
1. That God ordinarily gives some foretaste of heavenly delights to those who enter into His service, in order to withdraw them from the pleasures of the world, and encourage them in the pursuit of divine love, as a mother, who, to accustom her little child to the breast, first puts a little honey there.
2. That it is nevertheless this good God Who sometimes, by a disposition of His wisdom, takes from us the milk and honey of consolations, so that, thus weaned, we may learn to eat the dry and substantial bread of a vigorous devotion, exercised by the trial of temptations and distastes.
3. That sometimes very great temptations arise amid dryness and aridity, and then we must resolutely fight the temptations; for they are not of God. But we must patiently endure the dryness, since God has ordained it for our exercise.
4. That we must never lose courage amid our inward trials, nor say, as good Geoffroi did, “I shall never be joyful”; for during the night we must await the light. And, conversely, in the fairest spiritual weather we can have, we must not say, “I shall never be sorrowful”: no, for, as the Wise Man says, in happy days we must remember adversity; we must hope amid trials, and fear amid prosperity; and in either state we must always humble ourselves.
1. That God ordinarily gives some foretaste of heavenly delights to those who enter into His service, in order to withdraw them from the pleasures of the world, and encourage them in the pursuit of divine love, as a mother, who, to accustom her little child to the breast, first puts a little honey there.
2. That it is nevertheless this good God Who sometimes, by a disposition of His wisdom, takes from us the milk and honey of consolations, so that, thus weaned, we may learn to eat the dry and substantial bread of a vigorous devotion, exercised by the trial of temptations and distastes.
3. That sometimes very great temptations arise amid dryness and aridity, and then we must resolutely fight the temptations; for they are not of God. But we must patiently endure the dryness, since God has ordained it for our exercise.
4. That we must never lose courage amid our inward trials, nor say, as good Geoffroi did, “I shall never be joyful”; for during the night we must await the light. And, conversely, in the fairest spiritual weather we can have, we must not say, “I shall never be sorrowful”: no, for, as the Wise Man says, in happy days we must remember adversity; we must hope amid trials, and fear amid prosperity; and in either state we must always humble ourselves.
5. How it is a sovereign remedy to disclose one’s distress to some wise friend who can bring us relief.
Lastly, to conclude an admonition that is so necessary, I will observe that, in matters of inward afflictions, as in all other things, our good God and our enemy have aims wholly contrary; for God makes use of these trials to lead us to great purity of heart, to an entire renunciation of our own interests in what concerns His service, and to a perfect stripping of ourselves. Whereas the devil strives, by means of all these afflictions, to make us lose heart, to turn us back toward sensual pleasures, and, in the end, to make us burdensome to ourselves and to others, so that holy devotion may be decried and slandered. But if you observe the teachings I have given you, you will grow greatly in perfection through the exercise of inward afflictions, of which I must yet say a little to you before I conclude. Sometimes distaste, barrenness, and dryness arise from the body’s poor condition, as when, through excessive vigils, toil, and fasting, one finds oneself overcome by weariness, drowsiness, heaviness of head, and other such infirmities, which, though they depend upon the body, nevertheless distress the spirit, because of the close union between them. Now, in this state, one must always take care to make several acts of virtue with the sharp edge of our spirit and our superior will. For although our soul may seem asleep and quite overcome with drowsiness and weariness, this does not prevent the operations of our spirit from being most pleasing to God, nor prevent us from saying then with the sacred bride: _I sleep, but my heart waketh._ Lastly, as I have already said, if there is less relish in working in this way, there is also greater merit and virtue. As for the remedy to be used, it is to strengthen the body by allowing it some relief and some seemly recreation. Thus Saint Francis instructed his religious to moderate their labours so well that the fervour of the spirit might not be overburdened.
Lastly, to conclude an admonition that is so necessary, I will observe that, in matters of inward afflictions, as in all other things, our good God and our enemy have aims wholly contrary; for God makes use of these trials to lead us to great purity of heart, to an entire renunciation of our own interests in what concerns His service, and to a perfect stripping of ourselves. Whereas the devil strives, by means of all these afflictions, to make us lose heart, to turn us back toward sensual pleasures, and, in the end, to make us burdensome to ourselves and to others, so that holy devotion may be decried and slandered. But if you observe the teachings I have given you, you will grow greatly in perfection through the exercise of inward afflictions, of which I must yet say a little to you before I conclude. Sometimes distaste, barrenness, and dryness arise from the body’s poor condition, as when, through excessive vigils, toil, and fasting, one finds oneself overcome by weariness, drowsiness, heaviness of head, and other such infirmities, which, though they depend upon the body, nevertheless distress the spirit, because of the close union between them. Now, in this state, one must always take care to make several acts of virtue with the sharp edge of our spirit and our superior will. For although our soul may seem asleep and quite overcome with drowsiness and weariness, this does not prevent the operations of our spirit from being most pleasing to God, nor prevent us from saying then with the sacred bride: _I sleep, but my heart waketh._ Lastly, as I have already said, if there is less relish in working in this way, there is also greater merit and virtue. As for the remedy to be used, it is to strengthen the body by allowing it some relief and some seemly recreation. Thus Saint Francis instructed his religious to moderate their labours so well that the fervour of the spirit might not be overburdened.
And concerning this glorious Father, he was once attacked and troubled by so deep a melancholy that he could not help showing it outwardly; for, if he wished to converse with his religious, he could not; if he withdrew from them, it was worse still; abstinence and mortifications weighed him down, and prayer gave him no relief whatever. He remained in this state for two years, so that he seemed to be utterly abandoned by God. But at last, after he had humbly endured this fierce storm, the Saviour restored to him in a moment a full and happy tranquillity. This is to show that the greatest servants of God are subject to these assaults, and that others ought not to be astonished if some befall them.
FIFTH PART
CONTAINING EXERCISES AND COUNSELS PROPER FOR RENEWING THE SOUL, AND CONFIRMING IT IN DEVOTION.
FIFTH PART
CONTAINING EXERCISES AND COUNSELS PROPER FOR RENEWING THE SOUL, AND CONFIRMING IT IN DEVOTION.