Of the discretion to be used in the love of our neighbor, that it may not prejudice this peace

CHAPTER VI

Of the discretion to be used in the love of our neighbor, that it may not prejudice this peace.

Experience will inform you that this is the ready way to eternity, for immediately charity – and that is the love of God and of your neighbor – will pour itself into your soul. Christ assures us, he came to send fire into the world, and desires no other but that it burn (Luke xii 49). But though the love of God hath no limit, yet that towards our neighbor hath a limit, and must not exceed its bounds, lest to edify others we destroy ourselves. Never do any action merely for example’s sake, for instead of uncertain gain to them, you will bring undoubted loss upon yourself. Do all things with simplicity and purity, with no other design than to render yourself acceptable to God. Humble yourself in all your works, and you shall come to understand how little you can profit anyone by them of yourself. Consider that zeal for souls cannot justify or recompense the loss of your own peace. Have a longing desire that all may comprehend this truth which you have attained, and inebriate themselves with this precious wine which God so freely promises to all gratis. This thirst for your neighbor’s good is commendable indeed, since you have received it from the hand of our Lord, not acquired it by your own solicitude or indiscreet zeal. God must plant it in your heart and reap it when he pleases. Do not you presume to till or sow, but keep the field of your soul free and well weeded, and let God sow it in his good season. He desires to find your soul stripped and disengaged, that he may engage, unite, and firmly bind it to himself. Let him make choice of you for his workman; sit down and with a holy idleness and disengaged mind, expect till he hire you. Abandon all solicitude, and steer your course alone and unencumbered, that God may clothe you with himself, who will give you what it cannot enter into your thought to desire, if forgetting yourself your soul live only to his love. Thus it will come to pass that with all diligence, or, to speak more properly, without any diligence at all on your part, which may in the least discompose your quiet, you will be able to calm and pacify all your transports and fervors with much moderation, God preserving in you all peace and tranquility. Thus, to be silent is to pierce heaven with your cries; thus, to be idle is the happiest and most gainful of businesses, uniting the soul with God, and disuniting it from all other objects. And this must pass without your thinking that you on your part do anything excepting through his grace, where God must do all; who desires nothing from you in this silent pasture but that you humble yourself before him and offer him a heart disengaged from all terrestrial propensities, with longing desire that the divine will may be perfectly accomplished in you.

How the soul is to keep itself solitary, that God may work in it

CHAPTER V

How the soul is to keep itself solitary, that God may work in it.

You cannot make too much account of your soul, where God resides and delights himself. Set so high a value upon it as to disdain and scorn to permit anything else to enter in and defile it. Let your whole expectation and longing be fixed in the coming of your Lord, who desires to find in it this free and happy disposition, without any other thought, any other wish, any other ill or tendency. Seek not out of your own head, without the advice of your spiritual Father, crosses which you may pretend to suffer for God; but let God dispose of you to suffer for his sake what and how he pleases. Do not you do what you have a mind to, but let God do in you what he hath a mind to. Let you will on all sides be at free liberty, your affections perfectly disengaged; wish no one thing more than another; but if you needs must, let it be in such a manner that if not it, but the contrary were to happen, you would receive no trouble but equal satisfaction. True liberty is in this; to adhere to nothing, to have no dependence, no bias. God works not his wonders but in a thus solitary and disinterested soul. Happy solitude where the walls of Jerusalem are built up! Desert of pleasure, banishment above all fruition of friends and country, where God himself is so securely enjoyed. Take nothing with you for this journey; put off your shoes, for it is a holy land; salute nobody in the way; leave the dead to bury the dead. To the land of the living you are traveling, let nothing mortal bear you company.

To purchase this peace the soul must renounce all other comforts

CHAPTER IV

To purchase this peace the soul must renounce all other comforts

That this important foundation of humility may be solidly and durably laid, you must endeavor to embrace with open arms and sisterly affection all tribulations, desiring to be condemned and vilified by all the world, and to have no comforter but only God. The judgement and maxim which must take firm root and absolute possession of your soul is this: That God alone is all your joy and welfare; all things else to you no other than thorns and briers. Accustom your soul to entertain itself with God. Think, if you were being borne along to receive some affront or confusion, with what content and alacrity you would go suffering with joy in his presence and for his love, valuing and seeking no other honour whatsoever, but to suffer for him and his glory. When any reprehension, injury, or contempt befalls you, cherish it as a hidden and an unknown treasure, as a purifying expiation for all your former transgressions. Desire not in this life the affection or esteem of any creature. Let nobody make any account of you, or so much as take notice that there is such a person in existence as yourself, but as the greatest of kindnesses leave you to suffer with Christ crucified. And above all, defend yourself against your self as against the worst of enemies; never follow your own will, judgement, or inclination, unless you willfully seek your own ruin; and when your affection or inclination leads you to anything, though it be ever so holy, represent it purely, with profound humility, in the sight of God, beseeching him to bring to pass his own holy will in it as he sees good, and this with sincerity and with fervor of heart, without any mixture of self-love, knowing that of yourself you are nothing, have nothing, nor can secure yourself against those desires and judgements which have the appearance of sanctity, peace, and indiscreet zeal, of which our Lord saith: Beware of false prophets, which come to you in the clothing of sheep, but are in reality ravening wolves; by their fruits shall you know them. (Matt. vii 15) The fruit of such temptation is to leave in the soul disquiet and dissatisfaction. Whatsoever withdraws from humility, from internal peace and tranquility, be the pretext never so specious, is a false prophet and a ravenous wolf, which, under the cover of the sheep’s skin, comes to deprive you of the virtues most essential to your advancement, and in a moment devour what with much time and industry you have amassed. By how much more appearance of sanctity the thing hath, so much the more strictly doth it require to be examined, but still without violation of your interior peace and tranquility, as hath been said. And if at any time you fail in these directions, trouble not, but rather humble yourself before our Lord, acknowledging your own weakness, and take heed for the future; perhaps it was permitted to abase and quell some secret pride which you were not aware of. And if, moreover, the sparks of extinct vices or concupiscences revive now and then and threaten your soul, be not dismayed, but redouble your watch, and gently withdraw your spirits and settle them in peace, neither afflicting yourself, nor rejoicing, nor growing angry, but preserving your soul pure and calm for the operation of God, whom you will certainly find within your own breast, and be by him convinced that the divine aim is always at your good and profit, though you have never so much difficulty to apprehend it in the aforesaid cases.

How by little and little we are to build this habitation of peace

CHAPTER III

How by little and little we are to build this habitation of peace

Have a care never to permit your heart to become sad, concerned, or solicitous for whatsoever happens; but let your whole endeavor be to keep and preserve this peace, since our Lord tells us, Blessed are the peaceful. (Matt. v 9) Thus doing, he will come and build himself a City of Peace in your soul, a house of delights. He requires no more on your part but that as often as your senses mutiny you hasten to repress and quiet them, still all your powers, movements, thoughts, and actions. But as a city is not built in one day, so neither in one day ought you to pretend to this internal peace, it being no less than to build a house for God and a temple for his Holy Spirit, although, indeed, he be the principle Architect, and without him all your labour were in vain. Now the corner-stone and chief foundation stone of this structure is Humility.

Of the care the soul must take to pacify itself

CHAPTER II

Of the care the soul must take to pacify itself

Place, then, above and before all things, this peaceful watch upon your senses, and without any violence, yea, on the contrary, with much serenity and security, and it will carry you on to great achievements. With this peace, sent by God, you will be able to watch, pray, obey, and suffer all injuries without difficulty or the least repining; and though, till you arrive at this, for want of experience, you may encounter hardships enough, yet shall your soul find much consolation withal, and every day gain new advantages and acquire new skill to make a better defense in the future. If at any time you are in more than ordinary distress, so that this peace seems to have fled from you, have immediate recourse to prayer, and persevere there in imitation of Christ our Redeemer, who to give us an example prayed thrice in the garden to his Eternal Father, that we might not go about seeking any other remedy, or cease making use of this one till we find our wills entirely pacified and conformed to the will of God. And if the temptation or disorder found you employed in corporal exercise, be not too eager to persist or strive too much to finish the same in a set time, but proceed calmly and moderately, reflecting that it is your principle affair to have God always with great tranquillity before your eyes, with little regard to give content to any but him. And if any other consideration mingle and insinuate itself, you shall soon perceive the storm and disquiet it will raise in your soul; and by thus rising and falling you will come clearly to discover that all our misery is from self-love, whilst we covet to have all things our own way and discompose ourselves when we fail therein.

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.