Divine Intimacy: Meditations on the Interior Life for Everyday of the Year

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343. OUR DUTIES

TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

PRESENCE OF GOD - Teach me, O Lord, to fulfill all my duties in homage to Your sovereign Majesty.


MEDITATION

1. The teachings contained in the Mass of this Sunday can be synthesized in the well known statement of Jesus, which we read in the Gospel (Mt 22,15-21) of this day: “Render...to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God, the things that are God’s”; in other words, fulfill with exactness your duties toward God and toward your neighbor, by giving to each one his due.

The Epistle (Phil 1,6-11) presents St. Paul to us as a model of charity toward those whom God has confided to his care. “I have you in my heart,” writes the Apostle to the Philippians, “for that in my bands and in the defence and confirmation of the Gospel, you all are partakers of my joy.” St. Paul is keenly aware of his spiritual paternity toward the souls he has begotten in Christ; even from a distance, he feels responsible for their success, is preoccupied with their perseverance in good, sustains them with his fatherly affection and wise counsels: “Being confident of this very thing, that He, who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus.” He does not want them to be frightened because he is far away from them: he is nothing but a poor instrument, God alone is the true guide of souls, and He will complete the work begun. As for him, they may be certain that he does not cease to love them: “For God is my witness how I long after you all in the heart of Jesus Christ.”

St. John Chrysostom asserts that the heart of Paul is the heart of Christ because of the great love for souls which makes him so like the Redeemer; thus should it be possible to say of the heart of every apostle. When God has put us in contact with a soul and has asked us to occupy ourselves with it, we can no longer be disinterested; this soul is henceforth bound to ours, we should feel responsible for it, and bound to help it even to the end.

After having spoken to us of the solicitude we should have for those confided to our care, the Epistle reminds us also of charity toward our neighbor in general: “That your charity may more and more abound in knowledge and in all understanding : that you may approve the better things.” He speaks of a charity increasingly delicate in its understanding of the souls of others, adapting itself with an ever more refined tact to the mind, the demands, the tastes of others; a charity which must urge us, as St. Paul says, to “approve”—and therefore, to do—“the better things,” in order that we “may be sincere and without offence unto the day of Christ.”


2. The Gospel outlines, clearly and distinctly, the position of the Christian toward civil authority. The insidious question: “Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” gives Jesus the occasion to solve the problem of the relation between religious and civil duties. He asks for a coin and says: “Whose image and inscription is this? They say to Him: Caesar’s. Then He saith to them: Render, therefore, to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God, the things that are God’s.”

There is no opposition between the rights of political power and the rights of God, since “there would be no power unless it were given from above” (cf. Jn 19,11): political authority, legitimately constituted, comes from God and must be respected as a reflection of the divine authority. This is precisely the reason why every Christian is bound to fulfill all the duties of a good citizen, and, consequently, must obey political authority, unless its orders are opposed to the law of God; for, in this case, it would no longer represent
divine authority and then, as St. Peter says, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5,29).

We must not believe that because we are vowed to the apostolate or dedicated to religious works, we are, by this fact, dispensed from civic duties; on the contrary, even in this domain Catholics should be in the front rank. Emperors, kings, statesmen, soldiers, whom the Church honors as saints, tell us that sanctity is possible everywhere and for everyone, that it can be realized by those who dedicate themselves to the service of the State, because even here it is a question of serving God in His creatures.

By telling us to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, Jesus teaches us to give to the State all that falls under its jurisdiction, that is, everything that concerns temporal order and the public good. But Jesus does not stop there, He says more: “Give to God what is God’s.” If the coin which bears the image of Caesar should be restored to Caesar, with much greater reason should our soul, which bears the image of God, be restored to God. To say that we must give our soul to God, is to say that we owe Him everything, because, as a matter of fact, we have received everything from Him. In this sense, to fulfill our duties toward our neighbor, toward our equals or our inferiors, toward our ecclesiastical or civil superiors, is to fulfill our duty toward God; it is to restore to Him everything He has given us, by submitting our freedom to His law, by putting our will in the service of His will.


COLLOQUY

“O my God, since I am Yours for so many reasons, and have so many obligations to serve You, permit no longer that sin, or Satan, or the world, usurp, even in the slightest degree, that which is entirely Yours. But, if it please You, take complete and absolute possession of my being and of my life. Here lam, O my God, I give myself entirely to You, protesting to You that I do not wish to exist but for You, and that I do not want to think, or say, or do, or suffer anything but for Your love, today, tomorrow, and always” (St. John Eudes).

“O my Lord Jesus, You gave Yourself to me and You ask only for my heart. But, O my Lord, what is this poor heart of mine when You are all? If my heart were worth more than those of all the children of men combined, and all the love of the angels, and if its capacity were so great that it could contain more than all the empyreal heaven, I would consecrate it wholly to You. It would be a very poor gift, and even almost nothing, to so great a Lord. But, how much more shall I not give You, and wholly repose in You, this little spark of a heart which I find in myself! Because this is for me a very great thing, that You should deign to keep my heart. Would it not be folly if I should consecrate it henceforth to some creature, when my God wills it for Himself? I do not want it to remain any longer in me, but to repose entirely in You, who have created it to praise You. It is better that I place my heart in eternal joy, in divine majesty and in immense goodness, rather than in my frailty; that I place it in Your deity, rather than in my iniquity” (St. Bonaventure).

344. THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE APOSTOLATE

PRESENCE OF GOD - O Holy Spirit, take possession of my soul and transform it into a chosen instrument for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.


MEDITATION

1. The heart of the apostolate is love. St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus understood this well; after having passed in review all possible vocations, and recognizing that they would not suffice to appease her immense apostolic desires, she exclaimed: “ My vocation is found at last—my vocation is love!... In the heart of the Church, my Mother, I will be love! Thus shall I be all things” (T.C.J. St, 13). Where can we obtain such a complete and transforming love? We must never forget that the source of charity is the Holy Spirit, who is the personal terminus of the love of the Father and of the Son, the eternal breath of Their mutual love. This Spirit “has been given” to us, He is “ours”; He dwells in our hearts precisely to pour forth in them that supernatural love which makes us burn with love for God and for souls. “ The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us ” (Rom 5,5). By communicating the flame of divine charity to men and associating them to His infinite love, the Holy Spirit is the secret animator and sustainer of all apostolate; “It is He,” Pius XII teaches, “who through His heavenly breath of life is the source from which proceeds every vital and efficaciously salutary action...in the Mystical Body of Christ” (Mystici Corporis). He is the soul of the Church. Do we wish to become apostles? Let us open our hearts wide to the outpourings of the Holy Spirit, in order that His love may invade and penetrate us to the point of absorbing our poor love into Himself. When the love of a soul is united to “the living flame of love” which is the Holy Spirit, so as to “become one thing with it” (cf. J.C. LF, 1,3), then it becomes a vivifying love in the heart of the Church. This is the only way to realize the magnificent ideal: “In the heart of the Church I will be love. Thus I shall be everything” (T.C.J. St, 13). To attain to this supreme summit of love and of the apostolate, we must follow, day by day, moment by moment, the motions of the Holy Spirit, open ourselves submissively to His action, and allow ourselves to be directed and governed by Him. Above all, we must yield ourselves to His infinite love which diffuses itself totally in the Father and the Son, and then overflows on souls, to draw them all into the Blessed Trinity.


2. The apostolate was inaugurated in the Church on the day of Pentecost when the Apostles “ were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Spirit gave them to speak ” (Acts 2,4). Before that, the twelve were poor men, dull, weak, full of fear. But once the Holy Spirit took possession of them, He transformed them into men of fire, ready to give their lives to witness to the Lord.

In our day too, the Holy Spirit can renew that great miracle. As in former times, He can—or rather, He wills— to take possession of poor men, of weak women, in order to, transform them into ardent apostles. What is the condition that He requires? A total self-surrender, a docility so sensitive, so delicate, that the apostle becomes wholly amenable to His operative presence, to His motions, to His inspirations. To attain this, the apostle must have a true sense of his complete dependence on the divine Paraclete, a sense which must manifest itself practically by diligent care to maintain, even in the midst of activity, a continual contact with Him, always attentive to His inspirations, and quick to follow them. Like the wind “the Spirit breatheth where He will; and thou hearest His voice, but thou knowest not whence He cometh, and whither He goeth” (Jn 3,8). His inspirations may surprise us in the midst of activity no less than in prayer; it is essential, therefore, to learn to speak interiorly with Him even while exteriorly we are occupied with creatures.

This attitude is particularly necessary in our direct contact with souls; then, more than ever, the apostle should invoke the Holy Spirit, keep himself under His influence, and allow himself to be directed by Him. Souls belong to God and they should be directed, not according to one’s own spirit, but according to the Spirit of God. Complete submission demands great faith and great confidence in the omnipotent and transforming action of the Holy Spirit. Only in this way will the apostle have the courage to follow His lead in any form of activity, while remaining fully aware of his own insufficiency. Only thus will he have the courage to face any sacrifice with generosity, while feeling all his own weakness. The Holy Spirit has not been given to us in vain; He is within us, and provided we give ourselves wholly to Him, He can transform us into “chosen instruments” for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.


COLLOQUY

“Pardon me, my Jesus, if I venture to tell You of my longings, my hopes that border on the infinite; and that my soul may be healed, I beseech You to fulfill all its desires. To be Your spouse, O my Jesus...and by my union with You, to be the mother of souls, should not all this content me? Yet other vocations make themselves felt, and I would wield the sword, I would be a priest, an apostle, a martyr, a doctor of the Church.... O Jesus, my Love, my Life, how shall I realize these desires of my poor soul?


“You make me understand that all cannot become apostles, prophets, doctors; that the Church is composed of different members; that the eye cannot also be the hand.... You teach me that all the better gifts are nothing without love, and that charity is the most excellent way of going in safety to You.

“At last I have found rest.... Charity gives me the key to my vocation. I understand that since the Church is a body composed of different members, she could not lack the most necessary and most nobly endowed of all the bodily organs. I understand, therefore, that the Church has a heart—and a heart on fire with love.

“I see too, that love alone imparts life to all the members, so that should love ever fail, apostles would no longer preach the Gospel and martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. And I realize that love includes every vocation, that love is all things, that love is eternal.... O Jesus, my Love! my vocation is found at last—my vocation is love! I have found my place in the bosom of the Church, and this place, O my God, You Yourself have given to me: in the heart of the Church, my Mother, I will be love. Thus shall I be all things and my dream will be fulfilled” (cf. T.C.J. St, 13).

345. UNION WITH GOD

PRESENCE OF GOD - My God, Thou hast created me for Thyself; grant that I may return to Thee and unite myself to Thee by love.


MEDITATION

1. The whole life of man is a return journey to God: he came from God and must go back to Him. The more complete this return, the more intimate his union with God will become and the better will he have attained the end for which he was created: he will be perfect and eternally happy. St. Thomas teaches that a being is perfect when it attains its end; thus the perfection of man consists in rejoining God and uniting himself to Him, his last end. Man finds in union with God all that he can desire: he finds his peace, the assuaging of his hunger for the infinite, of his thirst for love and imperishable felicity. “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in Thee” (St. Augustine). Man finds his eternal happiness in union with God; and the life of heaven is nothing else than this union carried to its ultimate perfection, wherein man gives God the greatest glory and the greatest love which, in turn, redounds to man’s own eternal beatitude.

The soul that truly loves God does not resign itself to waiting for heaven in order to be united to Him, but desires ardently to anticipate this union here below. Is this possible? Yes, Jesus has said so: “If anyone love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him; and We will come to him and will make Our abode with him ” (Jn 14,23). Our Lord Himself tells us in these words the condition for living united to Him: love. “He that abideth in charity, abideth in God, and God in him” (1 Jn 4,16). Love is the great power which unites us to God even in this life, where, imprisoned in matter, we cannot yet enjoy the direct contact, the face to face vision of Him. “The end of the spiritual life,” says St. Thomas, “is that man unite himself to God by love” (II@ IIe, q.44, a.1, co.). By steps of love, gressibus amoris, we advance toward our last end: union with God. Such is the great ideal which should illumine and direct our whole life, the great goal which, with the divine assistance, we can attain even here below, as far as is possible in our state as pilgrims.


2. St. John of the Cross explains wherein union of love with God consists. It is not a question of the substantial union which always exists between God and everything created and by means of which He is preserving their being. That kind of union is natural and can never be jacking in any creature, not even in the greatest sinner. The union of love, however, is supernatural and only takes place in souls “when there is produced that likeness that comes from love,” that is, in souls that are in the state of grace. The Saint says: “Although...God is ever in the soul, giving it, and through His presence conserving within it, its natural being, yet He does not always communicate supernatural being to it. For this is communicated only by love and grace, which not all souls possess; and all those that possess it have it not in the same degree; for some have attained more degrees of love and others fewer.” He concludes: “God communicates Himself most to that soul that has progressed farthest in love” (AS II, 5,3.4).

The state of grace is the point of departure for the union of love with God. The goal is the full development: of grace, so that the soul remains totally supernaturalized, and all its powers, its entire will, all its affections are concentrated in God, neither desiring nor loving anything henceforth but what God wills and loves. Grace is the life of God in us, a life which develops through progress in love. The more the soul loves, the more grace increases in it, with the result that its participation in the divine life becomes more profound, leading it to an ever more intense and perfect union with God. Grace and love are the precious seeds of union with God; they put the soul in intimate communion with Him: communion of life, of thought and of will. God always remains God, distinct from His creature; the creature always keeps its own personality, and yet the soul becomes so permeated with divine life, God so “communicates to it His own supernatural Being that it seems to be God...rather than a soul” (ibid., 7). Such is the ultimate end of union with God upon earth, a sublime end, but one which it is not rash to desire, since each of us has already received in baptismal grace the seed of union with God.


COLLOQUY


“O Jesus, who will give me the grace to form one only spirit with You? Rejecting the multiplicity of creatures, I desire indeed, O Lord, Your unity alone! O God, You are the only One, the sole unity necessary for my soul! Ah! dear friend of my heart, unite this poor soul of mine to Your singular goodness! You are entirely mine, when shall I be all Yours? The magnet draws iron and holds it fast to itself; Lord Jesus, my Beloved, be the magnet of my heart: draw, hold fast, unite forever my spirit to Your paternal heart! Oh, since I was made for You, how is it that I am not in You? Submerge this drop, which is the spirit You have given me, in the sea of Your goodness, from which it proceeds. Lord, seeing that Your heart loves me, why do You not lift me up to You, as I so much desire? Draw me, and I will run in the odor of Your ointments until I cast myself into Your arms and never move from thence forever. Amen” (St. Francis de Sales).

“O Lord, who could describe how great a gain it is to cast ourselves into Yours arms and make an agreement with You: You will take care of my affairs and I of Yours."

“For what am I, Lord, without You? What am I worth if I am not near You? If once I stray from Your Majesty, be it ever so little, where shall I find myself?

“O my Lord, my Mercy and my Good! What more do I want in this life than to be so near You that there is no division between You and me?

“O Lord of my life, draw me to Yourself, but do it in such a way that my will may ever remain so united to You that it shall be unable to leave You” (T.J. Con, 4 — 3).

346. THE WAY OF UNION

PRESENCE OF GOD - Lord, give me light and strength to root out of my heart all that hinders me from being united to You.


MEDITATION

1. “God communicates Himself most to that soul that has progressed farthest in love : namely, that has its will in closest conformity with the will of God” (J.C. AS I, 5,4). In ordinary life, true love is manifested in willingness to do what pleases the person loved; in conforming oneself to his desires, tastes and will, not willing anything which could displease him. The soul unites itself to God in the measure in which it is truly conformed to His will. It is evident that this union cannot be perfect as long as the soul resists the divine will, be it only in very small things, or does not accept it readily, or as long as it retains desires and tastes which, even in a very slight way, are not in harmony with the will of God. The whole spiritual ascent to divine union consists in a double movement, very simple but essential: despoiling oneself of all that is displeasing to God, and renouncing all that is in opposition to His will, by conforming oneself to that will and fulfilling it with the greatest love. It is an extremely simple movement, but at the same time an all-embracing one, because it extends to every circumstance of life, without exception, so that in all things, the greatest as in the least, the soul acts in a manner that is in perfect conformity with the divine will. It is also a very profound movement which must reach even to the most secret recesses of the spirit, in order to free it from the least residue, the last resistances of egoism and pride, not only eliminating their manifestations but undermining their very roots.

As long as this work of total purgation is incomplete, the soul’s will cannot be totally conformed to that of God; its numerous imperfections and imperfect habits are still opposed to this entire conformity. Only “the soul that has attained complete conformity and likeness of will is totally united and transformed in God supernaturally. It needs, then, only to strip itself of these natural dissimilarities and contrarieties...” (ibid.).


2. If we examine ourselves attentively, we shall see that our will is still very dissimilar to God’s will. God wills only the good, and He wills it in the most perfect manner. We, on the contrary, often will evil together with the good; moreover, we lack the strength to do the good that we will, and we realize it only imperfectly. Every time we commit any fault, even a simple imperfection, we desire something that God cannot will: these faults include slight acts of slothfulness, negligence, impatience; they may involve a subtle seeking of self or the affection and esteem of creatures; there could be numerous secondary motives which secretly insinuate themselves into our actions. To attain to divine union all these must be eliminated.

St. John of the Cross says expressly that it is not only beginners on the spiritual road, but even the “proficients” who are subject to many imperfections and still retain imperfect habits, proceeding especially from a subtle pride and spiritual egoism. As they have exercised themselves for a long time in the interior life, a certain presumption and self-assurance may easily creep in, through which these souls are exposed to failings in humility and reverence in their relations with God, while in their relations with their neighbor, they often fall into the weakness of desiring to be esteemed as perfect. Furthermore, as they are not entirely detached from themselves, they stop to enjoy, a bit egoistically, the spiritual consolations they receive in prayer; thus they distract themselves from seeking God alone, retard their union with Him, and even expose themselves to falling into the snares of imagination or of the devil (cf. DN I, 2,2).

All this proves how deeply pride and egoism are rooted in us. Scarcely have we detached our hearts from earthly vanities and material goods, than we are immediately ready to attach ourselves to spiritual goods. Yet we must not despair of attaining divine union; we must seize the occasion of our misery to beg with greater insistence that Our Lord may deign to complete the work of our purification. Moreover, He desires it more than we ourselves, and if He does not effect it as He would, it is only because He finds us refractory, impatient, little disposed to accept in good. part what humbles and mortifies us to the core. Yet this alone is the way to reach union with God.


COLLOQUY

“As long as my will desires that which is alien to the divine will, has preferences for one thing or another, I remain like a child; I do not walk in love with giant strides. The fire has not yet burnt away all the dross, and the gold is not yet pure. I am still seeking myself. O Lord, You have not yet done away with all my resistance to You. But when the crucible has consumed all tainted love, all tainted pain, all tainted fear, then love is perfect, and the golden ring of our union is wider than heaven and earth.

“But in order to attain this I must die daily to myself. O Jesus, I wish to die, to decrease, to deny myself daily more and more, in order that You may grow and be exalted in me. As a ‘little one’ I dwell in the depths of my poverty; I see my nothingness, my penury, my weakness; I see that I am incapable of progress, of perseverance; I appear to myself in all my destitution; I prostrate myself in my wretchedness, and recognizing my state of dire need, I spread it out before You, my divine Master.... As far as my will—not my feelings—is concerned, I set my joy in everything that can humble me, immolate me, destroy self in me, for I want to give place to You, O Lord.... I no longer wish to live by my own life, but to be transformed in You, so that my life may be more divine than human, and that, inclining unto me, the Father may recognize Your image, the image of His beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased ” (E.T. J, 2 - 3).

347. THE NIGHT OF THE SPIRIT

PRESENCE OF GOD - Pour forth, O Lord, into my soul greater love and greater courage, that I may willingly accept Your purifying action.


MEDITATION

1. The difficult and bitter purification called the night of the spirit is necessary to extirpate the roots of imperfect habits. The purification of the soul begins with the night of sense, which, by putting the soul into obscurity and depriving it of all sensible consolation, frees it from attachment to creatures and to material goods; but this night is completed only by the night of the spirit, which, annihilating the soul in its spiritual faculties, succeeds in destroying in it every imperfect habit. St. John of the Cross remarks very appositely that after having passed through the night of sense, “there still remain in the spirit the stains of the old man, although the spirit thinks not that this is so, neither can it perceive them” (DWN H, 2,1); these stains are so deep and hidden that the soul has difficulty in recognizing them.

Consider, for example, one who is detached from creatures and earthly goods, advanced in prayer and virtue, a soul, therefore, who has already gone through the stages of the purgative and illuminative ways; nevertheless, when put to the test, it is easy to discover in it a certain attachment to its good works—works of the apostolate, exercises of penance or devotion—so that if obedience or the service of its neighbor oblige it to leave these works or substitute others for them, the soul is troubled, offers a certain resistance, and only with much reluctance does it succeed in submitting. This happens precisely because there are still within it the roots of imperfect habits and, above all, those of pride and egoism, whence spring all the other faults and imperfections. Of what use is it to suppress faulty actions if their roots remain in the spirit? Cut off only superficially, these roots, sooner or later, send forth shoots in a new direction.

No one can be freed from the roots of his faults without passing through the painful night of the spirit. Comparing this night with the night of sense, St. John of the Cross says that the difference between one and the other “ is the difference between the root and the branch, or between the removing of a stain which is fresh and of one which is old and of long standing” (ibid.). Although the operation is very arduous and painful to undergo, it is nevertheless indispensable, because the stains of the old man are removed only “with the soap and strong lye” of the purgation of the spirit, without which the soul “ will be unable to come to the purity of divine union” (ibid.).


2. In order to enter the night of sense a good measure of courage is necessary, for it is a matter of renouncing every pleasure that presents itself to the senses, if it be not purely for the honor and glory of God” (J.C. AS J, 13,4). To enter the night of the spirit, much more is required, since it is necessary to renounce not merely material things, but spiritual things as well. It is a matter, for example, of blinding one’s own reason, of renouncing one’s own will or the asserting of one’s personality, not only in what concerns material goods but even in regard to moral and spiritual goods. In the night of the spirit the soul must walk in darkness, it must be placed in emptiness with respect to the senses and also with respect to its spiritual faculties. In this night God “strips their faculties, affections, and feelings, both spiritual and sensual, both outward and inward, leaving the understanding dark, the will dry, the memory empty and the affections in the deepest affliction, bitterness and constraint, taking from the soul the pleasure and experience of spiritual blessings which it had aforetime” (J.C. DN II, 3,4).

Such desolation and such privation of everything should not discourage us; they are not ordered to death, but to life and even to the fullness of life, which is union with God by love. Therefore, the soul that loves is neither frightened nor alarmed; its ideal is divine union and it desires to reach it at any cost; no sacrifice seems too hard, provided it reach its goal. On the other hand, if we had the least conception of the infinite perfection of God and were even dimly aware of our own profound misery, we should have to admit that no purification, however severe or painful, could ever be exaggerated when it prepares us, unworthy and wretched as we are, for union with Him who is Goodness, Purity, and Infinite Beauty; nor could the sufferings which this purification imposes on us ever seem insupportable when compared with the immense good which they will procure for us. The soul enamoured of its God repeats with St. Francis: “So great is the good which awaits me that all pain is delightful to me”; and it is here below that it awaits this good, because it knows that God does not refuse to admit to union with Himself the spirit which is well disposed, that is, totally purified.


COLLOQUY

“O my soul, when will you be delivered from your passions and vicious tendencies and changed for the better? When will the root of all evil be dried up within you? When will every trace of sin in You be effaced? Oh, if only you would love your God ardently! If only you were indissolubly united to your Sovereign Good!

“Good Jesus, tender Shepherd, my sweet Master, King of eternal glory, when shall I appear before You without stain and truly humble? When shall I truly despise all that is of earth for Your love? When shall I be entirely detached from myself and all things? For if I were really free of all worldly attachment I would no longer have any will of my own, nor would I any longer groan under the yoke of my passions and ill-regulated affections; I would no longer seek self in anything. The lack of this absolute, total detachment is the only real obstacle between You and me, the only thing which keeps me from taking flight freely toward You. When, then, shall I be despoiled of all? When shall I abandon myself without reserve to Your divine will? When shall I serve You with a pure, humble, calm, serene spirit? When shall I love You perfectly? When, after receiving you into my heart, will my soul unite itself delightfully to its Beloved? When shall I leap up to You with
tender and ardent desire? When will my negligence and imperfections be absorbed in the immensity of Your love? O my God, my life, my love, my sole desire! My treasure, my good! My beginning and my end! My soul longs for Your tender embrace, it languishes and faints with desire to unite itself to You, to be held close to You by the bond of a sweet, holy and indissoluble love! What have I in heaven? What do I desire upon earth? The God of my heart, the God who is my portion forever!” (Bl. Louis de Blois).

348. PURIFYING LOVE

PRESENCE OF GOD - O Lord, help me to open my heart wide to the outpouring of Your purifying love.


MEDITATION

1. One of the greatest graces God can give a soul is that of introducing it into the painful desolation of the night of the spirit, for it is in this way that He prepares and disposes it for union. Although to the soul who experiences its distressing pains, this night seems to be a chastisement from God, it is, on the contrary, a gift of His merciful love, by means of which, He wills to disentangle the soul from the last snares of its imperfections. St. John of the Cross declares expressly that this night is the work of “the loving wisdom of God,” which purifying the soul “ prepares it for the union of love” (DN II, 5,1). But if this is the work of love, why is it is so painful? The soul has become like a piece of green wood placed in the fire; material fire, acting upon wood, first of all begins to dry it by driving out its moisture, and “to make it black, dark, and unsightly, and even to make it give forth a bad odor; and, as it dries it little by little, it brings out and drives away all the dark and unsightly accidents which are contrary to the nature of fire. Finally, it begins to kindle it externally, to give it heat, and at last transforms it into itself, making it as beautiful as fire.” Likewise divine Love, “before it unites and transforms the soul into itself, first purges it of all its contrary accidents. It drives out its unsightliness, and makes it black and dark, so that the soul seems worse than before, and more unsightly and abominable than it was wont to be” (ibid., 10,1.2).

One easily understands that under the weight of such purifications the soul must suffer; nevertheless, all this is the work of Love. The loving Wisdom of God invading the yet imperfect soul must necessarily begin in it a work of destruction, of purification, and only after having freed it from everything contrary to divine love, will He unite it to Himself and transform it in Himself. ‘Then the work of Love will no longer be grievous to the soul, but very sweet and delightful; however, as long as it is not completely purified, this work of purgation cannot fail to be afflictive. O blessed affliction which disposes the soul for so great a good! St. John of the Cross cries out: “O souls that seek to walk in security and comfort in spiritual things! If ye did but know how necessary it is to suffer and endure in order to reach this lofty state of security and consolation...ye would in no way seek consolation, either from God or from creatures, but would rather bear the cross, and having embraced it, would desire to drink pure vinegar and gall, and would count this a great happiness” (J.C. LF, 2,28).


2. The more deeply convinced we are that purification is the work of Love, the more eager we shall be to welcome it gladly, and to embrace it courageously, even when it costs us dear. Moreover, the general law of perfect love—even of human love—does not tolerate sharing the heart. Love will not admit rivals and cannot endure a lack of harmony between those who love. If human love, so limited and weak, demands such totality, why should we not accord the same rights—or rather, infinitely superior ones—to divine Love?

Love by its very nature tends to equality: it either finds or it makes those who love one another equal; and God, seeing a soul of good will, wanting to give itself entirely to Him, loves it to the point of making it like Himself, by stripping it of all that is contrary to His infinite perfection; and in the measure that He strips it, He clothes it with Himself, with His own divine Life. By its very nature, love also tends to unity: it desires complete fusion of hearts; and God, who infinitely loves the soul that sincerely seeks Him, desires nothing more than to unite it to Himself; therefore He purifies it of every stain that would impede perfect union with His infinite purity.

Jesus Himself, at the Last Supper, expressed the supreme desire of His love for us by asking for this perfect union: “ As Thou, Father in Me, and I in Thee; that they also may be one in Us” (Jn 17,21). But because we were radically incapable of this union, vitiated by sin and full of every misery, He took our sins upon Himself and washed them away in His Blood. The Passion of Jesus tells us how much our purification has cost the sinless Son of God. And if it has cost Him, Innocence itself, so much, is it not just that we should suffer a little, too, we who are culpable, having so often offended God, and having so many times, by our willfulness, put obstacles to the outpouring of His love in our souls? And now that this divine Love, instead of abandoning us as we deserve, comes to us in order to purify us, shall we flee from its action? No, this cannot be! Just as purifying sufferings are the work of God’s love for us, so we want our acceptance of them to be the work, the proof, of our love for Him. “ To love is to labor to detach and strip ourselves for God’s sake of all that is not God” (J.C. AS II, 5,7).


COLLOQUY

“O Lord, be mindful of me, who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death, and quicken Your creature with Your love, which is the very breath of my life. Make the divine fire of Your love consume in me every desire for earthly affection, and may there remain in my heart but one love alone, entirely directed to Your infinite beauty and goodness.

“O Jesus, Your immense love, drawing me to union with Yourself, awakens in me a great longing to love You in return. Therefore, from the very depths of my heart I cry to You, and beg You, by the flames of the boundless charity with which You loved me and became incarnate for me, to send me the Holy Spirit, that divine Fire which inflames the Church, my Mother and Your Spouse, that He may enlighten and convert me and thus revivify my soul.

“O sweetest Son of God, let that divine Spirit come. I open wide my heart to Him so that, disfigured as I am by sin, He may, transform me according to Your beautiful form and grace.

“This, O Lord, is my request, and to obtain it I surrender myself to the fire and water of tribulations, and to all the pains of this life. For this I rise early to forestall You with prayer and to sacrifice myself to You in the morning watches. For this I supplicate You in the silence of the night and knock at the door of Your mercy. By their tears my eyes speak to You, and I shall not take any rest until You have satisfied my desire.

“Tf You condescend to hearken to me by sending me Your Fire, I will sacrifice to You the firstfruits of my affections, and I will never serve strange gods. I will praise You in public and in secret. I will sing Your mercies eternally and acclaim the victories of Your love” (Ven. John of Jesus Mary).

349. TOWARD COMPLETE PURIFICATION

PRESENCE OF GOD - Help me, O Lord, that I may have the courage set out myself by my own initiative toward complete purification.


MEDITATION

1. “The soul desirous of reaching this high state of union with God is greatly impeded when it clings to any understanding or feeling or imagination or appearance or will or manner of its own, or to any other act or to anything of its own, and is unable to detach and strip itself of all these” (J.C. AS I, 4,4). This profound and radical detachment is effected in the soul by the night of the spirit. If then, we wish to enter this night, which will bring such good to our soul, we must try as far as in us lies, to deny ourselves in everything, especially in those things to which we are most attached. We must be disposed to renounce our plans, our projects, and our views, not only regarding material things, but even spiritual ones, for we must go to God, not by a way of our own choosing or taste, but only by the way which He Himself has prepared for us. We must be disposed to renounce divine consolations and to walk in darkness and aridity for as long as Our Lord wills, to renounce our most cherished works, our most legitimate affections, our most holy friendships, even the very support of the one who understands and guides us in the ways of God. There are few who enter effectively into the night of the spirit precisely because “ there are few who can enter, and desire to enter, into this complete detachment and emptiness of spirit ” (ibid., 7,3).

Even among spiritual persons, few are persuaded that the way which leads to union with God “ consists only in the one thing that is needful, which is the ability to deny oneself truly, according to that which is without and that which is within, giving oneself up to suffering for Christ’s sake, and to total annihilation” (ibid., 7,8). We must be convinced of this, and act in all things with the greatest detachment, without detaining ourselves through a spirit of ownership or by vain complacency, either in material or in spiritual goods. We must look at Jesus on the Cross: He was truly despoiled, stripped of all things, and “annihilated in everything, that is, with respect to human reputation; since, when men saw Him die, they mocked Him rather than esteemed Him; and also with respect to nature, since His nature was annihilated when He died; and further, with respect to the spiritual consolation and protection of the Father, since at that time, He forsook Him” (ibid., 7,11). From this we should understand the way to unite ourselves to God; we should realize that the more completely we annihilate ourselves for love of Him, the more completely will we be united to Him.


2. The generous practice of total renunciation is not the only thing we can do in order to enter the night of the spirit; there is another, no longer negative but eminently positive: the intense exercise of the theological virtues. Faith, hope and charity must be our support and guide in the obscurity of the night and, at the same time, help us to purify the faculties of our soul—the understanding, the memory and the will—-so that they may cling to God alone.

“Faith,” writes St. John of the Cross, “causes an emptiness and darkness with respect to the understanding” (AS II, 6,2). Indeed, in proposing for our belief truths which we cannot understand because of their sublimity, faith teaches us that instead of depending upon our own manner of reasoning and understanding, we ought rather to despoil ourselves of this—thus placing our intellect in emptiness—in order to unite ourselves to God. The greater our progress in faith, the more detached we shall be from our shallow ways of thinking, not only in what concerns the divine mysteries and our direct contacts with God, but even with respect to the events of life, which we shall learn to judge only in relation to God.

Hope, on its part, “renders the memory empty and dark with respect both to things below and to things above” (ibid., 6,3). If we hope earnestly, it means that we await blessings which we do not yet enjoy and are not content with those already possessed. If we place all our hope in God, it means that we no longer hope in the things of earth, that possession of them does not satisfy us; thus the remembrance of them becomes less lively, less frequent, so that our memory remains empty, and capable of applying itself solely to what concerns God and His service. If we exercise ourselves intensively in the hope of heavenly goods, we shall forget earthly ones; if we hope in God alone, we shall no longer be occupied with the remembrance of creatures.

“Charity causes emptiness in the will with respect to all things, since it obliges us to love God above them all; which cannot be unless we withdraw our affection from them all in order to set it wholly upon God” (ibid., 6,4). If we wish to attain to detachment and to total renunciation we must love much. The more we grow in divine love, and the more readily we detach ourselves from earthly things and also from ourselves, the more capable we become of renouncing our own will and annihilating our ego in all things. If we walk in faith, hope, and love, we shall go forward in the night of the spirit, without going astray in the obscurity and darkness that is encountered, for these virtues will keep us strongly anchored in God.


COLLOQUY

“O Lord, make possible to me by Your grace what seems impossible to me by nature. You know that I can bear but little and that I am quickly discouraged by a small adversity. Let every trial and tribulation become agreeable to me, for Your name’s sake; for to suffer and to be afflicted for You is very beneficial to my soul.

“Be with me, O Lord Jesus, in all places and at all times. Let this be my consolation, to be willing to be without all human comfort. And if Your comfort also be withdrawn, let what You will and ordain for my trial be to me as the greatest of comforts. ‘For You will not always be angry, nor will You threaten forever.’

“Lord, provided that my will remain but right and firm toward You, do with me whatever pleases You. For whatever You shall do with me can only be good. If You wish me to be in darkness, I shall bless You; and if You wish me to be afflicted, I shall still bless You forever.

“Lord, I shall suffer willingly for Your sake whatever You wish to send me. I will receive with indifference from Your hand both good and evil alike; keep me from all sin, and I will fear neither death nor hell. Do not cast me out forever, nor blot me out of the book of life, and whatever tribulation befalls will not harm me” (Imit. III, 19,5 — 16,2 — 17,2.4).