Abandonment to the divine will contains the substance of that incomparable prayer which Christ Himself has taught us. We repeat it vocally many times a day according to the order of God and His holy Church; but we utter it in the depth of our hearts each moment that we lovingly receive or suffer whatever is ordained by this adorable will. What the lips need words and time to express, the heart effectively utters with each pulsation, and thus simple souls unceasingly bless Him in the depth of their hearts. They sigh nevertheless over their inability to praise Him as they desire: so true it is that God gives His graces and favors to such souls by the very means which seem to deprive them of these blessings. This is the secret of the divine wisdom—to impoverish the senses while it enriches the heart, and to fill the heart in proportion to the aching void in the senses.
Let us learn then to recognize in the event of each moment the imprint of the will of God, of His adorable name. This name is infinitely holy. It is but just therefore to bless it and receive it as a form of sacrament which by its own virtue sanctifies the souls in which it finds no obstacle to its grace. Can we do other than infinitely esteem that which bears this august name? It is a divine manna which falls from heaven to continually strengthen us in grace. It is a kingdom of holiness which is established in the soul. It is the bread of angels which is given upon earth as it is in heaven. No moment can be unimportant since they all contain treasures of grace, angelic food.
Yes, Lord, let Thy kingdom come to my heart to sanctify it, to nourish it, to purify it, to render it victorious over my enemies. Precious moment! how insignificant thou art to the eyes of the world, but how grand to the eyes enlightened by faith! And can I call that little which is great in the eyes of my Father who reigns in heaven? All that comes thence is most excellent. All that descends therefrom bears the impress of its origin.
[CHAPTER XI.]
The Divine Will imparts the Highest Sanctity to Souls; they have but to abandon Themselves to its Divine Action.
It is only because they know not how to profit by the divine action that so many Christians spend their lives anxiously seeking hither and thither a multitude of means of sanctification; these are profitable when the divine will ordains them, but become injurious the moment they prevent one from simply uniting himself with the will of God. These multiplied means cannot give what we will find in the will of God—that principle of all life, which is ever present with us, and which imparts to its every instrument an original and incomparable action.
Jesus has sent us a master whom we do not heed. He speaks to all hearts, and to each one he utters the word of life, the incomparable word; but we hear it not. We would know what he says to others, and we hearken not to what is said to us. We do not sufficiently regard things in the supernatural light which the divine action gives them. We must always receive and worthily meet the divine action with an open heart, full confidence and generosity; for to those who thus receive it it can work no ill. This illimitable action, which from the beginning to the end of all ages is ever the same in itself, flows on through all moments, and gives itself in its immensity and its virtue to the simple soul which adores it, loves it, and solely rejoices in it. You would be enraptured, you say, to find an occasion of sacrificing your life for God; such heroism enchants you. To lose all, to die forsaken and alone, to sacrifice one’s self for others—such are the glorious deeds which enchant you.
But let me, O Lord, render glory, all glory, to Thy divine action! In it I find the happiness of the martyrs, austerities and sacrifice of self for others. This action, this will, sufficeth me. Whatever life or death it ordains for me I am content. It pleases me in itself far more than all its instruments and its effects, since it permeates all things, renders them divine, and transforms them into itself. It maketh heaven for me everywhere; all my moments are purely filled with the divine action; and living or dying, it is my sole contentment.
Yes, my Beloved, I will cease to prescribe Thee hours or methods; Thou shalt be ever welcome. O divine action, Thou seemest to have revealed me Thy immensity. I will but walk henceforth in the bosom of Thy infinity. The tide of Thy power flows to-day as it flowed yesterday. Thy foundation is the bed of the torrent whence graces unceasingly flow; Thou holdest the waters thereof in Thy hand, and movest them at will. No longer will I seek Thee within the narrow limits of a book, the life of a saint, a sublime thought. No: these are but drops of that great ocean which embraces all creatures. The divine action inundates them all. They are but atoms which sink into this abyss. No longer will I seek this action in spiritual intercourse. No more will I beg my bread from door to door. I will depend upon no creature.
Yes, Lord, I would live to Thy honor as the worthy child of a true Father, infinitely good, wise, and powerful. I would live as I believe, and since the divine action labors incessantly and by means of all things for my sanctification, I would draw my life from this great and boundless reservoir, ever present, and ever practically available. Is there a creature whose action equals that of God? And since this uncreated hand directs all that comes to me, shall I go in search of aid from creatures who are impotent, ignorant, and indifferent to me? I was dying of thirst; I ran from fountain to fountain, from stream to stream; and behold at hand was a source which caused a deluge; water surrounded me on all sides! Yes, everything becomes bread to nourish me, water to cleanse me, fire to purify me, a chisel to give me celestial form. Everything is an instrument of grace for my necessities; that which I sought in other things seeks me incessantly and gives itself to me by means of all creatures.