Of the nature of our heart, and how it may be governed

Chapter I

Of the nature of our heart, and how it may be governed.

You are to understand that God hath given you a noble heart, created only to love him, to unite and, as it were, to melt and incorporate itself into him. By love you may bring it to do whatsoever you please; and as on the one side, being enamoured of virtue, the hardest things become easy and pleasant to you, so on the other, if by your own strength, without love, you attempt anything, be it ever so little, you shall find it not only difficult but altogether impossible. First, therefore, establish firmly the bent and inclination of your heart, that whatsoever you do externally may have its root and principle in the interior; for though penance and austerities are commendable, used with discretion according to every one’s necessity and condition, yet shall you never thereby arrive at true virtue if they are not founded on and regulated by the interior, but rather grasp at vanity and the empty shadow of glory. A continual warfare is the life of man upon earth (Job vii 1), saith holy Job, and ,in order to the good success thereof, you must always stand upon your guard and watch; which watching consists in subduing, pacifying, and quieting all the movements of the soul, so that whatsoever tempest of passion or breath of sensuality begins to arise, you immediately calm it before it hath produced any disorder there. Be sure you do this upon every the least disturbance either in or out of prayer, and then shall you know how to pray as you ought when you have thus learned to act and discharge the duty of your station. And this must be done, not with force, but with sweetness, since nothing is more opposite to peace of spirit than violence.