Thus Father Caussade does not suppress our active co-operation in the work of our sanctification, but he teaches us to profit much better than we do of God’s part therein, by abandoning ourselves more to Him. In events where too frequently we see only misfortunes, because we regard them as more or less reprehensible effects of the malice or the imperfection of creatures, he teaches us to see the divine love using these same creatures as instruments either to correct our vices or to cause us to practise virtue. Therefore he changes the principal obstacles to the success of this great work into means of sanctification, and teaches us the art of changing creatures the most indifferent or the most hostile into powerful auxiliaries. With good reason does he desire to be able to inculcate this doctrine in men of all conditions; for there is no doubt that, if they understood it well, sanctity would seem to them much more attainable; and that, seeing God laboring unceasingly upon this work, they would fulfil with much greater courage the duties imposed upon their free will.
H. Ramière, S.J.
CONTENTS.
| PAGE | ||
| Preface by Rev. H. Ramière, S.J. | 3 | |
| [BOOK FIRST]. | ||
| OF THE NATURE AND EXCELLENCE OF THEVIRTUE OF HOLY ABANDONMENT. | ||
| CHAPTER | ||
| [I]. | The sanctity of the righteous of the Old Law,and of Joseph and of Mary herself, consistedin fidelity to the order of God | 31 |
| [II]. | The duties of each moment are the shadowswhich veil the divine action | 33 |
| [III]. | How much easier sanctity becomes whenstudied from this point of view | 36 |
| [IV]. | Perfection does not consist in knowing theorder of God, but in submitting to it | 42 |
| [V]. | Reading and other exercises only sanctify usin so far as they are the channels of thedivine action | 44 |
| [VI]. | The mind and other human means are usefulonly in so far as they are the instruments ofthe divine action | 49 |
| [VII]. | There is no enduring peace but in submissionto the divine action | 52 |
| [VIII]. | The perfection of souls and the excellence ofdifferent states are in proportion to their conformityto the order of God | 54 |
| [IX]. | All the riches of grace are the fruit of purity ofheart and perfect self-abandonment | 62 |
| [BOOK SECOND]. | ||
| THE DIVINE ACTION AND THE MANNER INWHICH IT UNCEASINGLY WORKS THESANCTIFICATION OF SOULS. | ||
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| [I]. | The divine action is everywhere and alwayspresent, though only visible to the eye ofFaith | 69 |
| [II]. | The divine action is all the more visible to theeye of Faith when hidden under appearancesmost repugnant to the senses | 74 |
| [III]. | The divine action offers us at each momentinfinite blessings which we receive in proportionto our faith and love | 79 |
| [IV]. | God reveals Himself to us as mysteriously, asadorably, and with as much reality in themost ordinary events as in the great events ofhistory and the Holy Scriptures | 82 |
| [V]. | The divine action continues in our hearts therevelation begun in Holy Scripture; but thecharacters in which it is written will be onlyvisible at the last day | 86 |
| [VI]. | Divine love is communicated to us throughthe veil of creatures, as Jesus communicatesHimself to us through the veil of the Eucharisticspecies | 92 |
| [VII]. | The divine action, the will of God, is as unworthilytreated and disregarded, in its dailymanifestation, by many Christians, as wasJesus in the flesh by the Jews | 94 |
| [VIII]. | The revelation of the present moment is themore profitable that it is addressed directlyto us | 97 |
| [IX]. | The revelation of the present moment is an inexhaustiblesource of sanctity | 99 |
| [X]. | The present moment is the manifestation of thename of God and the coming of His kingdom | 101 |
| [XI]. | The divine will imparts the highest sanctityto souls; they have but to abandon themselvesto its divine action | 106 |
| [XII]. | The divine action alone can sanctify us, forit forms us after the divine Model of our perfection | 114 |
| [BOOK THIRD]. | ||
| THE PATERNAL CARE WITH WHICH GODSURROUNDS SOULS WHOLLY ABANDONEDTO HIM. | ||
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| [I]. | God Himself guides souls who wholly abandonthemselves to Him | 119 |
| [II]. | The more God seems to withdraw light fromthe soul abandoned to His direction, the moresafely He guides her | 125 |
| [III]. | The afflictions with which God visits the soulare but loving artifices at which she will oneday rejoice | 129 |
| [IV]. | The more God seems to take from a soul whollyabandoned to Him, the more generous He isto her | 133 |
| [V]. | The less capable the faithful soul is of defendingherself, the more powerfully does Goddefend her | 136 |
| [VI]. | The soul abandoned to the will of God, so farfrom resisting its enemies, finds in them usefulauxiliaries | 140 |
| [VII]. | The soul that abandons itself to God has noneed to justify herself by words or actions;the divine action abundantly justifies her | 142 |
| [VIII]. | God gives life to the soul abandoned to Himby means which apparently lead only todeath | 144 |
| [IX]. | Love holds the place of all things to souls whowalk in the way of abandonment | 149 |
| [X]. | The faithful soul finds in submission to the willof God more force and strength than theproudest of those who resist Him | 154 |
| [XI]. | The soul abandoned to God learns to recognizeHis will, even in the proud who resist Him.All creatures, whether good or evil, revealHim to her | 158 |
| [XII]. | God assures to faithful souls a glorious victoryover the powers of earth and hell | 160 |
| [APPENDIX]. | ||
| PAGE | ||
| [I]. | A very easy means of acquiring peace of heart,by Fr. Surin | 165 |
| [II]. | On perfect abandonment, by Bossuet | 172 |
| [III]. | A short and easy method of making the prayerof faith, and of the simple presence of God,by Bossuet | 173 |
| [IV]. | Exercise of loving union of our will with thatof God, by St. Francis de Sales | 185 |
| [V]. | Acts of abandonment | 188 |
[Book First.]
The Nature and Excellence of the Virtue of Holy Abandonment.
[CHAPTER I.]
The Sanctity of the Righteous of the Old Law, and of Joseph and of Mary herself, consisted in Fidelity to the Order of God.
God speaks to-day as He spoke to our fathers, when directors were not so numerous, nor methods of direction so well defined. All their spirituality consisted in simple fidelity to the order of God; but it was not reduced to a science which explained it so sublimely or minutely, or contained so many precepts, so many maxims, so much instruction. Our present wants, no doubt, require this explanation. It was not so in the first ages of the Church, when men were more simple and upright. Each moment brought a duty to be faithfully fulfilled: this was sufficient for interior souls of that day. Their whole attention was concentrated simply upon the duty of each successive moment with the fidelity of the hour-hand of a clock which steadily traverses stroke by stroke the circle in which it is appointed to move. The mind, unceasingly moved by divine grace, turned insensibly to the new duty which presented itself in the order of God every hour. Such were the hidden springs of Mary’s life, the most perfect example of simple and absolute self-abandonment to the will of God. The simple words, Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum, with which she was content to answer the angel, expressed all the mystic theology of the ancients. Then, as now, it was all reduced to the simplest and most absolute abandonment of the soul to the will of God under whatever form it manifested itself. This noble and exalted disposition, the basis of all Mary’s spirituality, is brilliantly manifested in the words Fiat mihi. Observe how perfectly they accord with those which our Lord would have ever on our lips and in our hearts: Fiat voluntas tua. True, the duty required of Mary at that supreme moment was a glorious one for her. But all the splendor of that glory would have made no impression upon her if the divine will, alone capable of influencing her, had not arrested her attention. It was this divine will which guided her in everything. Her occupations, whether ordinary or exalted, were in her eyes but shadows more or less obscure in which she found equal means of glorifying God and recognizing the workings of the Almighty. She joyfully accepted the duty or suffering of each moment as a gift from Him who fills with good things the hearts which are nourished by Him alone, and not by appearances or created things.