The supreme and infallible work of the divine action is always opportunely applied to the simple soul, and she in all things wisely corresponds to its intimate direction. She accepts all that comes to her, all that transpires, all that she feels—all, all save sin; sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously, being impelled, not by any reason, but by an indistinct impulse, to speak, to act, or not to act.
Frequently the occasion and the reason which determine her course are merely of the natural order; the simple soul sees no mystery therein, but pure chance, necessity, conventionality; it is nothing in her eyes or those of others: and yet the divine action, which is the wisdom, the counsel, the knowledge of its friends, causes these simple things to work their good. It appropriates them and turns them so energetically against the schemes of the faithful soul’s enemies, that it is impossible for them to injure her.
The divine action frees the soul from the petty anxious schemes so necessary to human prudence. Such precautions are suitable for Herod and the Pharisees: but the Magi have but to follow their star in peace; the Babe has but to rest in His Mother’s arms; His enemies advance His cause more than they injure it; the more they seek to thwart and overwhelm it, the more peacefully and freely He advances. He will not court or temporize with them to turn their attacks from Him; their jealousies, their distrust, their persecutions, are necessary to Him. Thus lived Jesus in Judea; and He still lives after this manner in simple souls, where He is generous, gentle, free, peaceful; fearing and needing no creature, but beholding them all in the hands of His Father; eager to turn them to His service, some through their criminal passions, others through their good actions, others through their obedience and submission.
The divine action marvellously adjusts all these things: there is neither too little nor too much; no more good and evil than needful.
The order of God sends each moment the appropriate instrument for its work; and the simple soul enlightened by faith finds all things good, desiring neither more nor less than she possesses. At all times she blesses the divine Hand which so carefully supplies her needs and frees her from obstacles; she receives friends and foes with equal sweetness, for it is the way of Jesus to treat the whole world as a divine instrument. We want for none, and yet we have need of all; the divine action renders all necessary, and we must receive all from it, accepting each thing according to its nature and quality, and corresponding thereto with sweetness and humility, treating the simple with simplicity, the ungentle with gentleness, after the teaching of St. Paul and the more beautiful practice of the divine Master.
Divine grace alone can imprint that supernatural character which adapts itself so marvellously to each individual nature. It is not learned from books; it is a true spirit of prophecy, and the effect of intimate revelation; it is the teaching of the Holy Spirit. To conceive it one must have attained the highest degree of self-abandonment and the most perfect detachment from all plans and interests, however holy they may be. We must keep before our eyes the one important thing in this world, viz., the passive abandonment to the divine action which is required of us in order to devote ourselves to the duties of our state, leaving the Holy Spirit to operate interiorly, indifferent as to what He operates upon, even happy not to know it. Then, then we are safe; for all the events of the world can only work the good of souls perfectly submissive to the divine will of God.
[CHAPTER VI.]
The Soul abandoned to the Will of God, so far from resisting her Enemies, finds in them Useful Auxiliaries.
I fear my own action and that of my friends more than I do my enemies. There is no prudence equal to that of offering no resistance to one’s enemies but that of simple abandonment to the will of God; nothing which so fully insures our peace; it is rowing with the tide, sailing with a wind which swiftly brings us into port. There is nothing better than simplicity with which to meet the prudence of this world; it skilfully, though unconsciously, evades its snares without even thinking of them.
Dealing with a simple soul is, in a measure, dealing with God. Who can cope with the Almighty, whose ways are inscrutable? God espouses the cause of the simple soul; she has no need to study the intrigues of her enemies, to meet their activity with equal alertness, watching all their movements: her Spouse relieves her of all this; she confides all to Him, and then rests on His breast in peace and security. The divine action inspires her with measures so just that they who sought to surprise her are themselves surprised. She benefits by all their efforts, and rises by the very means with which they sought to abase her. All contradictions turn to her good; and by leaving her enemies to work their will she draws so great and continual profit from them that all she need fear is that she may interfere in a work in which God wills to be the chief actor, using her enemies as His instruments, and in which the soul has no other part than to peacefully watch the working of the divine will and follow its guidance with simplicity.