. CHAPTER 29 The Way of Perfection - Continues to describe methods for achieving this Prayer of Recollection. - Says what little account we should make of being favoured by our superiors. . |
For the love of God, daughters,
avoid making any account
of these favours.
You should each do your duty;
and, if this is not appreciated
by your superior,
you may be sure that it will
be appreciated and rewarded
by the Lord.
We did not come here
to seek rewards
in this life,
but only in the life to come.
Let our thoughts
always be fixed upon
what endures,
and
and
not trouble themselves
with earthly things
with earthly things
which do not endure
even for a lifetime.
For to-day
some other sister will be
in your superior's good books;
whereas to-morrow,
if she sees you exhibiting
some additional virtue,
it is with you
that she will be better pleased--
and if she is not
it is of little consequence.
Never give way to these thoughts,
which sometimes begin in a small way
but may cost you a great deal of unrest.
Check them by remembering
- that your kingdom is not of this world,
and
- that everything comes quickly to an end,
and
- that there is nothing in this life
that goes on unchangingly.
But even that is a poor remedy
and anything but a perfect one;
it is best
that this state of things should continue,
and
and
that you
- should be humbled and out of favour,
and
and
- should wish to be so
for the sake of the Lord
Who dwells in you.
Turn your eyes upon yourself and
look at yourself inwardly,
as I have said.
You will find your Master;
He will not fail you:
indeed,
the less outward comfort you have,
the [much] greater the joy
He will give you.
He
is full of compassion and
never fails those
who are afflicted and out of favour
if they trust in Him alone.
Thus David tells us
that he never saw the just forsaken, [99]
and again,
that the Lord is with the afflicted. [100]
Either you believe this or you do not:
if you do, as you should,
why do you wear yourselves to death
with worry?
O my Lord,
if we had a real knowledge of Thee,
we should make
not the slightest account of anything,
since Thou givest so much to those
who will set their whole trust on Thee.
Believe me, friends,
it is a great thing
to realize the truth of this
so that we may see
how deceptive are
earthly things and favours
when they
- deflect the soul in any way
from its course and
- hinder it from entering within itself.
[101]
God help me!
If only someone could make you realize this!
I myself, Lord, certainly cannot;
I know
that [in truth] I owe Thee
more than anyone else
but I cannot realize this myself
as well as I should.
Returning to what I was saying,
I should like to be able
to explain the nature
of this holy companionship
with our great Companion,
the Holiest of the holy,
in which there is nothing to hinder
the soul and her Spouse
from remaining alone together,
when the soul desires
• to enter within herself,
• to shut the door behind her
so as to keep out all that is worldly
and
• to dwell in that Paradise with her God
I say "desires",
because you must understand
that this is
not a supernatural state
but depends upon our volition, and
that, by God's favour,
we can enter it of our own accord:
this condition (God's grace and favour)
must be understood of everything
that we say in this book can be done,
for without it
˚ nothing can be accomplished and
˚ we have not the power
to think a single good thought.
For this is not a silence of the faculties:
it is a shutting-up of the faculties within itself
by the soul.
There are many ways in which
we can gradually acquire this habit,
as various books tell us.
♦ We must cast aside everything else,
they say,
in order to approach God inwardly and
♦ we must retire within ourselves
even during our ordinary occupations.
♦ If I can recall the companionship
which I have within my soul
for as much as a moment,
that is of great utility.
But as I am speaking only about the way
to recite vocal prayers well,
there is no need for me to say
as much as this.
♦ All I want is
that we should
• know [102] and
• abide with the Person
with Whom we are speaking, and
• not turn our backs upon Him;
for that,
it seems to me,
is what we are doing
when we
talk to God and
yet think of all kinds of vanity.
The whole mischief comes from our
• not really grasping the fact
that He is near us, and
• imagining Him far away--
so far,
that we shall have to go to Heaven
in order to find Him.
How is it, Lord,
that we do not look at Thy face,
when it is so near us?
We do not think people are listening to us
when we are speaking to them
unless we see them looking at us.
And do we close our eyes
so as not to see
that Thou art looking at us?
How can we know
if Thou hast heard
what we say to Thee?
♦ The great thing
I should like to teach you is that, in order
to accustom ourselves gradually
to giving our minds confidence,
so that we may readily understand
What we are saying, and
With Whom we are speaking,
we must
• recollect our outward senses,
• take charge of them ourselves and
• give them something
which will occupy them.
It is in this way
that we have Heaven within ourselves
since the Lord of Heaven is there.
If once we accustom ourselves
to being glad [103]
that there is no need to raise our voices
in order to speak to Him,
since His Majesty will make us conscious
that He is there,
we shall be able to say the Paternoster
and whatever other prayers we like
with great peace of mind,
and
and
the Lord Himself will help us
not to grow tired.
Soon after
we have begun to force ourselves
to remain near the Lord,
He will give us indications
by which we may understand
that, though we have had
to say the Paternoster many times,
He heard us the first time.
For He loves to save us worry;
and, even though we may take
a whole hour over saying it once,
if we can realize that
• we are with Him, and
• what it is we are asking Him, and
• how willing He is,
like any father, to grant it to us, and
• how He loves to
- be with us, and
- comfort us,
•He has no wish for us to tire our brains
by a great deal of talking.
♦ For love of the Lord, then, sisters,
accustom yourselves to saying
the Pater Noster
in this recollected way,
and
before long you will see
how you gain by doing so.
It is a method of prayer
which establishes habits
that prevent
˚ the soul from going astray and
˚ the faculties from becoming restless.
This you will find out in time:
I only beg you to test it,
even at the cost of a little trouble,
which always results
when we try to form a new habit.
I assure you, however,
that before long
you will have the great comfort
of finding it unnecessary
to tire yourselves with seeking
this holy Father to Whom you pray,
for you will discover Him within you.
May the Lord teach this
to those of you
who do not know it:
for my own part, I must confess
that, until the Lord taught me
this method,
this method,
I never knew
what it was
to get satisfaction and comfort
out of prayer,
and it is because
I have always gained such great benefits
from this custom of interior recollection
[104]
that I have written about it
at such length.
Perhaps you all know this,
but some sister may come to you
who will not know it,
so you must not be vexed
at my having spoken about it here.
♦ I conclude by advising anyone
who wishes to acquire it
(since, as I say,
it is in our power to do so)
• not to grow weary of trying
to get used to the method
which has been described,
for it is equivalent to a gradual
gaining of the mastery over herself
and is not vain labour.
• To conquer oneself for one's own good
is to make use of the senses
in the service of the interior life.
• If she is speaking
she must try to remember
that there is One within her
to Whom she can speak;
• if she is listening,
let her remember
that she can listen to Him
Who is nearer to her than anyone else
• Briefly,
let her realize
that, if she likes,
she need never withdraw
from this good companionship, and
let her grieve
when she has left her Father alone
for so long
though her need of Him is so sore.
• If she can, let her practise recollection
many times daily;
if not, let her do so occasionally.
As she grows accustomed to it,
she will feel its benefits,
either sooner or later.
Once the Lord has granted it to her,
she would not exchange it
for any treasure.
Nothing, sisters, can be learned
without a little trouble,
so do, for the love of God,
look upon any care
which you take about this
as well spent.
I know that, with God's help,
if you practise it
for a year, or
perhaps for only six months,
you will be successful in attaining it.
Think what a short time that is
for acquiring so great a benefit,
for you will be laying
a good foundation,
so that,
♦ if the Lord desires to raise you up
to achieve great things,
He will find you ready,
because you will be close to Himself.
May His Majesty never allow us
to withdraw ourselves from His presence.
Amen.
_________________________
. Foot Notes: [99] Psalm xxxvi (A.V., xxxvii, 25). 25 I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging bread. 28 For the LORD loves justice; He will not forsake his saints. The righteous shall be preserved for ever [100] Psalm xxxiii 20-1 (A.V., xxxiv, 19-20). 15 The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and his ears toward their cry. 17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the LORD delivers him out of them all. [101] Lit. "when they deflect the soul in any way from going within itself." [102] Lit.: "see." [103] Lit.: "once we begin to be glad." [104] Lit.: "of recollection within me." . |
| . End of Chapter 29 The Way of Perfection . |
