Light and Peace
INSTRUCTIONS FOR DEVOUT SOULS
TO DISPEL THEIR DOUBTS AND ALLAY THEIR FEARS.
By R. P. QUADRUPANI, Barnabite.
PART FIRST.
EXTERIOR PRACTICES.
I.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION.
For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Ghost. (S. Mark, xiii, 11.)
1. It is absolutely true that in matters of conscience obedience to a spiritual director is obedience to God, for Christ has said to His ministers on earth: “He that heareth you, heareth Me.” (St. Luke, x, 16.)
2. A soul possessed of this spirit of obedience can not be lost: a soul devoid of this spirit can not be saved. (St. Philip Neri.)
3. Saint Bernard says there is no need for the devil to tempt those who ignore obedience and permit themselves to be guided by their own light and deterred by their fears, for they act the devil’s part towards themselves.
4. Do not fear that your director may be mistaken in what he prescribes for your guidance, or that he does not fully understand the state of your conscience because you did not explain it clearly enough to him. Such doubts cause obedience to be eluded or postponed and thus frustrate the designs of God in placing you under the direction of a prudent guide. It was the priest’s duty to have questioned you further had he not fully understood you, and that he did not do so is a positive proof that he knew enough to enable him to pronounce a safe judgment. God has promised his special help to those who represent Him in the direction of souls. Is not this assurance enough to induce you to obey with promptness and simplicity as the Holy Scripture commands?