The paradise of the Christian soul/Chap. I. Colloquy between Christ and Man on the method and practice of honouring the Saints.
PART II.
OF THE HONOUR AND VENERATION OF THE SAINTS WHO
REIGN WITH CHRIST IN HEAVEN.
FOR MONDAY.
CHAPTER I.
Colloquy between Christ and Man on Ike method and practice of honouring the Saints.
MAN. How lovely are thy
tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs and faints for
thy courts! For, when I
contemplate the happiness of
thy elect, who now feast with
thee in thy kingdom, and are
inebriated with the plenty of
thy house, and are made to
drink of the torrent of thy
pleasure, my soul, too, thirsts
after thee, the strong living
God; when shall I come, and
appear before the face of
God? My soul is weary of
my life, that is full of so
many miseries and pains.
Who will give me wings like
a dove, and I will fly, and
be at rest? For better is
one day in thy courts above
thousands. Woe is me, that
my sojourning is prolonged!
Unhappy man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I long
to be dissolved, and to be
with thee, my Christ Jesus.
Oh, how blessed are they that
dwell in. thy house, O Lord!
They shall praise thee for
ever and ever.
Christ. Have a little more patience, my son; and, to be the more sure of arriving there, first learn the way whereby the saints my friends have attained to glory. Mark their footsteps, if thou wilt win the same race. See thou refuse not the toils and the wrestlings of those whose rewards delight thee. None will be crowned but he who strives lawfully. Were not they, and even I myself, obliged to toil and suffer, and so enter into glory? And see, my elect too, amidst those miseries of the flesh, endured to live while they longed to die; but they had learnt well from my words and example, that the kingdom of heaven should suffer violence, and the violent bear it away.
Nor shall thou be deprived of those good things, if, like them, thou walk in innocence, and dispose in thy heart to ascend by steps, in the vale of tears, in the place that has been set for thee by thy first parents, and by thy own sin. But fear not, I, thy protector, am with thee. I will go before thee, and will humble the great ones of the earth. I, who have aided the saints, will not fail thee; and I will give thee my blessing, that thou mayest go from virtue to virtue, until, with my elect, thou see the God of gods in Sion, and art inebriated with the plenty of my house.
Man. Blessed is the man whom thou instructest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law. Teach me, I beseech thee, to do thy will, for I, too, long to be partaker with all that fear thee and keep thy commandments.
Christ. Thy sanctification is my will. Be holy, because I am holy; from me all the saints derived all the holiness they possessed. I might propose to thee myself only, as the perfect pattern of all virtue and perfection; for I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the door; by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. But it will be very useful to thee to look upon my elect, thy brethren, like thyself in the infirmity of the flesh, who yet bravely overcame the world, the flesh, and the devil. It may not perhaps seem wonderful, if a singular and extraordinary perfection is discovered in my works, because all the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily in me. But thou canst not but wonder to see how the saints lived not according to the flesh, but by a saving hatred of self, lost their lives in this world, that they might keep them to life eternal.
I. Praise of the Saints.
In the first place then, often hear, read, meditate, upon, and admire the acts of the saints. Praise their virtues, their constancy, patience, fortitude; extol their chastity and abstinence; celebrate their obedience, poverty, and contempt of the world. For the more marks of virtue thou celebratest in them, the more miracles thou celebratest of my power and goodness.
If, therefore, thou wilt honour my friends who reign with me in glory, or venerate one of the saints whom thou most lovest as thy patron, and wouldst render them an acceptable service, praise God and give him thanks, for having chosen, from all eternity, St. N. to be his friend; for predestinating, calling, justifying, and, finally, glorifying him; for infusing into him grace and virtues; for giving him so many oppbrtunities of doing good; for protecting him amid the many temptations, deceits, snares, and dangers of this life; for enabling him to persevere to the end, and for crowning him now with so much glory and honour in heaven. Praise him, lastly, for warning and arousing you by their example, to contend, by fighting bravely, for a similar prize and reward.
There is, therefore, no reason to apprehend derogation to my praise and glory from the praises of the saints. For it is impossible to praise their virtues without praising me, who am the author of all virtue and grace. For without me they could do nothing; I gave them the will and the power. All the praise, therefore, of the saints returns to me as its source. I am the vine; they were branches, which could have borne no fruit of themselves, unless they had abided in the vine. Therefore, in rewarding them, I crown, not so much their good works, as my own gifts.
But they have always themselves candidly acknowledged that they had nothing but what they had received, and, though they did all their duty, still they confessed themselves unprofitable servants. Hence they had never any vain-glory, but always gave glory to my name. Observe, and follow this example, if thou wilt truly raise the saints, and God in is saints.
Man. But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable; their principality is exceedingly strengthened. For who is able worthily to praise thy saints? My eyes are dazzled by the majesty and glory of those who shine in thy presence as the brightness of the firmament, and sparkle with as many virtues as the sky with stars. Thou art truly wonderful, O Lord, in,thy saints; I praise and glorify thee for thy boundless goodness, because thou hast so abundantly prevented them with blessings of sweetness; thou hast set on their head a crown of precious stones; with glory and honour thou hast crowned them, O Lord.
II. Invocation of the Saints.
Christ. It is part of the praise and glory of the saints to be invoked for succour, and to protect you in necessity. True indeed it is, that thy help is from me alone, and that there is salvation in none other, but only in my name. But I have freely granted this to my elect, that, since they have served me faithfully and with their whole heart, I am more open and ready to bestow my assistance and grace upon those whose cause the saints, who are my intimate friends, have undertaken, as patrons and intercessors, to plead before me. For the Church triumphant is united to the militant in the bond of charity; and the article of the communion of saints, which you profess daily in the creed, reminds you how profitable it is to you to implore and to honour the saints, whom I have honoured so highly. How often have I withdrawn from a people my scourges! How often have I spared kingdoms, provinces, and states for my servants’ and elect’s sake, who have stood crying to me to turn away my anger! And if the prayer of the just prevailed so greatly when they lived in the flesh exposed to so many miseries and failings, what will it not effect, when, placed far beyond all corruption of nature, they live happy with me, as my friends and associates, in my kingdom? There, in fact, they are so much the more inclined to pity, as they have been brought so much nearer to the very fountain of pity, and have a truer knowledge of your sorrows. For that happy home has not lessened, but enlarged their charity. They are, indeed, already in harbour, but they see you tossing and suffering shipwreck on the sea. Then, when you invoke them, they instantly have recourse to me to help you, nor is it just that I should shame them, or refuse them any request.
Man. Thy words are sweet, O Lord, for I, a sinner, unworthy, but needing help, often know not whither to fly, when, for the many sins I am stained with, I dare not appear in thy presence. But now I will come more boldly, under the shadow of those whom thou lovest, that, by the merits and prayers of them that please thee, I may obtain what I cannot by my own. Oh, that I were partaker with all that fear thee, and that keep thy commandments!
III. Imitation of the Saints.
Christ. But know, my son, that it is in vain for one to praise and invoke the saints who takes no pains to be like them. For the life of the saints is the rule for thee and the rest of my faithful servants to live by. You are running the same race, why not, then, hold the same course? Is it possible that you are seeking life, yet going the way whose end leads to death? Oh, how many there are among those who bear my name and my badge, whose practice it is to clothe themselves, with the rich man, in purple and fine linen, to feast sumptuously every day, to spend all their life in pleasures, and yet presumptuously to promise themselves the death and the portion of Lazarus! They lead bad lives with wicked Balaam, and yet most senselessly wish their last end to be like the saints! ’ What can be greater madness? How can they presume to demand what they nave not earned? How can they wish to reap what they have not sown? What! do they who, in slumbering, sporting, and feasting, pass their days in pleasure, claim wages with my labourers, who have borne in my vineyard the burden and heat of the day? Do they serve the world and the flesh, and then claim their wages of me? Can anything be more extravagant? My Father has, indeed, entrusted to me a stewardship, but that is to give wages to the labourers only. For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that sows in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption; but he that sows in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting.
But thou, my son, regard my faithful labourers who have been eminent for true religious perfection. They served me in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness, in labour and weariness, in watchings and fastings, in prayers and holy meditations, in many revilings and persecutions. How frequent were they, and fervent in holy exercises; they never relaxed their unsubdued spirit from prayer. How rigid was the abstinence with which they subdued their bodies! how* anxious the watchfulness with which they laboured to fortify themselves against every assault of concupiscence! Reflect upon this, my son, and you will see that what thou dost is little more than nothing. What is thy life in comparison of theirs, in whose company thou desirest to be crowned?
Man. Shame has covered my face, O Lord my God, because I am become so unlike my brethren, and a stranger to the sons of my mother the Church. How shall I appear in thy presence, alas, in the council or the just, who burn with so ardent a charity? With fear and trembling they worked out their salvation. One feared all his works, knowing that thou dost not spare the offender. Another chastised his body, and brought it into subjection, lest, when he preached to others, he should become himself a castaway. Another, though holy from his mother’s womb, withdrew into the desert, that there he might the more easily preserve his innocence. He clothed not himself in soft garments, but covered his loins with camels’ hair, and took nothing but wild honey and locusts for food. Others served God in fasting and prayer all the days of their life. All their will and pleasure was in the law of the Lord; to talk with God, or of God, was the chief occupation of their whole life. Oh, how great was the fervour of the saint 8! How great their zeal for God’s service! Oh, how wonderful, O Lord, hast thou been in thy saints!
Christ. My son, thou dost right to admire the wonderful works of my power, and to celebrate the glorious combats of the saints; but their glory is now thy shame. Thou seest that the saints were men with passions like thyself, mortal and frail. The strength of rocks was not their strength, neither was their flesh brass. But they were framed from the same clay, and encompassed with the same carnal infirmity as thou. They too felt a law in their members, fighting against the law of their mind. They were also sorely persecuted by the world. Nor was Satan more gentle, nay, he was even fiercer, to them than to thee. Yet, see ho w bravely they stood up in the fight! how they were animated by my love! They gave their body no rest, sleep fled from their eyes; with fear and trembling they worked out their salvation; they walked before me anxious only to please me. Thus they went from virtue to virtue, and their path, as a shining light, increased even to perfect day. Behold, these are they who are come out of great tribulation. These endured scoffs and. blows, besides chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were cut asunder, they were tempted, they were put to death by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being in want, distressed, afflicted; and they esteemed worthy of all those sufferings the eternal glory which they laboured to gain by so many trials and hardships; and yet a longer than ordinary prayer, a short abstinence from food, or a light mortification, appears to thee too hard and troublesome to earn it with.
But ask now my apostle Paul, whether he regrets the toils that he underwent for me? That he chastised his body, and brought it into subjection; that he was often beaten with rods, and covered with so many wounds; that he encountered so many dangers by land and sea; that he laboured more than all the apostles; that he felt very troublesome the angel of Satan, the sting of the flesh, which I so ordered for his salvation? Even then he gloried in his infirmities, and soothed the pain of present suffering with the hope of future reward. For he knew that the sufferings of this present time were not worthy to be compared with the glory to come. For your momentary and light tribulation works for you an eternal weigh t,of glory. And therefore neither hunger, nor nakedness, nor death, nor any creature, were able to separate him from my love; but he fought the good fight, kept the faith, finished his course, and so awaited the crown of justice, which was laid up for him.
Ask, if thou wilt, too, my martyr Laurence, whether he repents that, for a short space of time he exposed his body to tortures, and gave it to be broiled in the fire? Behold, a thousand years and more are now passed away since the sufferings of only one day and one night have requited him with the enjoyment of priceless glory. And how many thousands, how many myriads of thousands of years, are remaining still for that enjoyment to last! Put the same question to all the saints, and thou wilt find, that though none has been crowned without fighting, none would wish that he had not fought. They have all of them sown in tears, and therefore now they reap in joy. They have laboured little, and have gained abundance of repose; they have passed through fire and water, and thereby have been brought out into their refreshment. I have wiped away all tears from their eyes, and now there shall be no more mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow, for the former things are passed away. If, then, they so glorified God in their body, and received the cup of salvation, what shalt thou render to the Lord for all the things that he hath rendered to thee? 1 have stamped thee indeed with the same image, redeemed thee with the same blood, and called thee to the same incorruptible and eternal inheritance laid up for thee in heaven. How, then, is it that, with those saints, thou canst not drink of my chalice? Yet wouldst thou partake with them of my kingdom, wouldst thou be crowned and divide the spoil with those in whose company thou wilt not fight?
Man. I am a wretch that stands, and pants, and sighs after them afar off. I confess that the combats of the saints animate me, that their rewards delight me, and that their example induces me to follow them. To will is present with me, but I find not how to accomplish. Remember, I entreat thee, O Lord, what my substance is. Is not my life a wind? "What can a wretch like me effect, unless thou reach out thy right hand to the work of thy hands? Thou art the strength and the crown of all the saints. By thy cooperation it was that thy saints achieved such wonders. Let thy grace precede me also, and its aid follow me. I can do all things in thee, who strengthenest me. Lead me, O Lord, into the path of thy commandments, which the saints themselves so cheerfully trod, because thou didst enlarge their heart, that in their footsteps I may come to thee, and with thy saints praise thee, and be united to thee for ever and ever.
Christ. Take courage, my son; I provided for my saints a severe contest, that they might learn from victory that patience is stronger than all things. But thou art more gently dealt with than they. For this thou needst not think a season of persecution necessary. He who desires to lead a good life will hardly fail of being persecuted. Prove at least in small conflicts how bravely thou canst stand thy ground in greater. Behold, my apostles forsook all and followed me. Renounce at least thy affection for the goods of this life, and if they increase, set not thy heart upon them. The martyrs hesitated not to shed their blood, and to die for my name. But I say not to thee, Die, lay down thy life, overcome tyrants, or shed thy blood for me. But mortify thy members that are upon the earth. Restrain the desires of the flesh. Deny thyself. Be patient, humble, meek. Render not evil for evil. Set a watch over thy mouth, fence in thy ears with thorns. Turn away thy eyes, that they may not behold vanity. Be reconciled to thy brother. Break thy bread to the hungry. Will these, and similar duties, be hard for thee? Canst thou not bear to die? Bear at least an insult or a trivial injury with patience. Thou hast not resisted unto blood, like so many thousands of my martyrs. Behold, even young and delicate maidens outdo their sex and age, and trample under foot the world, the flesh, and the devil. Even they vanquish tyrants, and, unstained in mind and body, fly to the standard of the cross. And canst not thou chastise thy body, and bring it into subjection? Or expectest thou to go straight to heaven by so soft and broad a way, as living luxuriously, and pampering thy slave, the body? Go; this was not the way of the saints. Arise, thou that sleepest, and I will enlighten thee. My hand is not shortened. Be not wanting to thyself, and I, who have aided the saints, will not be wanting to thee. Praise, therefore, the saints with fervour, invoke them often, and diligently follow their example. As I have been theirs, so I will be also thy exceeding great reward.