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SPIRITUAL EXERCISES 
 
 TO SERVE FOR THE 
 
 Annual Retreat of a Carmelite 
 
 BY 
 
 THE ECCLESIASTICAL SUPERIOR 
 
 OF A 
 
 CARMELITE CONVENT 
 
 Translated from the French 
 
 by a Religious of the 
 
 Carmel of New Orleans 
 
 Monastery of Discalced Carmelite 
 
 1236 N. Rampart St. 
 
 New Orleans, La., U. S. A. 
 
 1919 
 
 Copyright, 1920, by The Monastery of 
 
 Saint Joseph and Saint Teresa of the 
 
 Discalceated Carmelites of New Orleans. 
 

 *t$ 1 
 
 Archbishop's House, 
 
 1205 Esplanade Ave., 
 
 New Orleans, La v May 18, 1919. 
 
 Reverend Mother Prioress : — 
 
 I gladly give you my approbation for the "Carmelite 
 Retreat" in English, and hope it will prove of profit 
 to you and the Community. 
 
 Wishing you every blessing I am 
 
 Yours devotedly in Christ, 
 
 ►I«J. W. SHAW 
 Archbishop of New Orleans. 
 
 
 ©CLA565462 
 
Rome, April 27, 1919. 
 
 Discalced Carmelites 
 General House, 
 
 Corso d'ltalia, 38. 
 
 My Very Reverend Mother Prioress: — 
 
 As you have kindly asked my opinion of the 
 "Spiritual Exercises" that you have translated from 
 French into English, and propose to have printed, I 
 can only say with his Eminence, Cardinal Donnet, 
 Archbishop of Bordeaux, who approved them in 1852 : 
 "They denote a profound knowledge of the spirit of 
 Carmel, and will serve greatly to maintain and develop 
 it." 
 
 What pleases me above all is that the author insists 
 so much on the meditation of the Life of Our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, which is the pure doctrine of our Holy 
 Mother Teresa of Jesus, and of our Father St. John 
 of the Cross. "No one can advance in virtue', says 
 the latter, "but in following Our Lord Jesus Christ; 
 He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the only gate 
 by which any one who pretends to be saved, should 
 enter. Let the first care of your heart therefore be, 
 to excite in yourself an ardent desire to imitate Jesus 
 Christ in all your works, trying to do everything as 
 Our Lord Himself would do it". And our Holy 
 Mother Teresa teaches us that "in the beginning of 
 the life of prayer, we should meditate assiduously on 
 the life of Jesus Christ", that "meditation on the 
 Passion is the method of prayer by which all should 
 commence and continue"; that "it is a sure and 
 excellent road which we should not leave' until Our 
 Lord Himself raises us to higher ways". Finally she 
 assures us that "if we accustom ourselves to remain 
 with Him, He will never abandon us; He will assist 
 
us in all our needs, and will accompany us wherever 
 we go". 
 
 I could cite many other texts also, but these pro- 
 found words of our two great mystical Doctors are 
 powerful enough to convince the soul that will take 
 these "Spiritual Exercises" for a guide, that in the 
 beginning of her retreat she should resolutely enter 
 the school of Jesus Christ as she is often reminded 
 during the course of these instructions. 
 
 The author himself, I am convinced, insists so much 
 on this because he was inspired not only by the doc- 
 trine of our Holy Parents, but also by that of the 
 great St. Ignatius of Loyola, whose plan he has fol- 
 lowed as traced in the retreat of Manresa. 
 
 I cannot then, but felicitate you, my Reverend 
 Mother, on the happy idea you have had of translat- 
 ing so good a book, and of having it published, thus 
 placing it within the reach of all English speaking 
 Carmels who I hope may draw from it the greatest 
 profit and advantage for their religious perfection, 
 and for the salvation of their souls. By the good use 
 of this book every Religious soul will be excited to 
 love and serve Our Divine Master better. I pray 
 Him to bless and greatly reward you for it. 
 
 Please accept at the same time the expression of 
 my fraternal sentiments, and believe me 
 
 Of Your Reverence. 
 The most humble servant in Jesus Christ. 
 Fr. Clement of Sts. Faustinus and Jovita, 
 
 Prepositor General. 
 L^S. 
 
To The French Edition. 
 
 ARCHBISHOPRIC OF BORDEAUX. 
 
 We, Ferdinand Francois Auguste Donnet, by the 
 grace of God and the Apostolic See, Cardinal 
 Priest of the Holy Roman Church, Archbishop 
 of Bordeaux, Primate of Aquitaine. 
 
 Having examined the work entitled: "Spiritual 
 Exercises to serve for the Annual Retreat of a Carme- 
 lite", and recognizing that the reflections and readings 
 which compose it, offer an abridgment of what is 
 most useful as well as most essential in the best as- 
 cetical writers, judging besides that this book, fruit 
 of a wise experience and a profound knowledge of 
 the Rules of Carmel, will serve most advantageously 
 to maintain and perfect the Religious of this Order in 
 the spirit of their holy vocation, have approved, and 
 by these presents do approve the said work and rec- 
 ommend it with confidence to the pious Daughters 
 of Carmel, for whom it has been composed. 
 
 Given at Bordeaux, under our sign, the seal of our 
 arms and the countersign of the Secretary of our 
 Archbishopric, October 9, 1852. 
 
 Ferdinand Cardinal Donnet, 
 Archbishop of Bordeaux. 
 
 By order of His Emminence 
 Montauroil, 
 
 Sec. of the Archbishopric. 
 L.^S. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Letters of Approbation. 
 
 Dedication. 
 
 Advice on Prayer. 
 
 FIRST DAY 
 
 First Meditation: The Retreat. 
 
 Importance of the Retreat. 
 
 Means of profiting by the Retreat. 
 Second Meditation: God is the End of Man. 
 
 God is my Last End. 
 
 How to attain my Last End. 
 Third Meditation: The End of the Regilious Life. 
 
 End of the Religious Life. 
 
 How we attain to this End. 
 1st Lecture: Pefection. 
 
 SECOND DAY 
 
 First Meditation: On Death. 
 
 Terrible is the Death of the Sinner. 
 Precious in the Sight of the Lord is the Death 
 of the Just. 
 Second Meditation: The Particular Judgment. 
 After Death: Judgment. 
 What Shall the Judgment be? 
 Third Meditation: The General Judgment. 
 
 All Men Shall be Judged at the End of the World. 
 How will this Judgment take place? 
 
 2ndLecture: The Perfection of the Order of 
 Carmel. 
 
 THIRD DAY. 
 
 First Meditation: Hell. 
 
 What is Hell? 
 
 Should I fear Hell? 
 Second Meditation : Mortal Sin. 
 
 The Injury which it does to God. 
 
 The Harm which it does to Man. 
 Third Meditation: Venial Sin. 
 
 The Malice of Venial Sin. 
 
 The Effects of Venial Sin. 
 
 3rd Lecture: The Spirit of Penance. 
 
 NOTE — Necessity of Imitating Jesus Christ. 
 
FOURTH DAY 
 
 First Meditation: Imitation of Jesus Christ necessary 
 for a Religious Soul. 
 I am the Way. 
 I am the Truth. 
 I am the Life. 
 Second Meditation: Advantages and Qualities of the 
 Imitation of Jesus. 
 Advantages of this Imitation. 
 Qualities of this Imitation. 
 Third Meditation: The Reign of Jesus Christ. 
 Jesus is Our King. 
 On what Conditions? 
 4th Lecture: Prayer. 
 
 FIFTH DAY 
 
 First Meditation: Love and Devotedness of Jesus 
 Christ in the Mystery of the Incarnation. 
 Mystery of Love. 
 Mystery of Devotedness. 
 Second Meditation: Annihilation of Jesus Christ in 
 the Incarnation. 
 Jesus is Annihilated. 
 Third Meditation: The Birth of Our Lord. 
 Poverty of Our Lord in His Birth. 
 Advantages and Practices of Religious Poverty. 
 5th Lecture: The Divine Office. 
 SIXTH DAY 
 
 First Meditation : The Circumcision of Our Lord. 
 
 Necessity of Mortification. 
 
 Its advantages and Practices. 
 Second Meditation: Flight into Egypt. 
 
 Faith in the Providence of God. 
 
 Abandonment to this Providence. 
 Third Meditation: Return to Nazareth. 
 
 Necessity of Obedience. 
 
 Advantages and Practices of Religious Obedience. 
 
 6th Lecture: The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. 
 
 SEVENTH DAY 
 First Meditation : Hidden Life of Jesus. 
 
 A Hidden Life and at the same time a Common 
 
 Life. 
 A Life of Labor. 
 Second Meditation: Baptism of Jesus. 
 
Third Meditation: Jesus in the Desert. 
 
 Jesus in the Desert, the Model of the Solitary 
 Life. 
 Jesus is tempted by the devil to teach us the means 
 
 by which we are to overcome him. 
 7th Lecture: The Solitude Proper for Carmel. 
 EIGHTH DAY. 
 First Meditation: Public Life of Jesus Christ. 
 The Charity of Jesus Conversing with Men. 
 Characteristics of True Charity. 
 Second Meditation: Jesus Washing the Feet of His 
 Apostles. 
 Practice of Abjection. 
 Third Meditation: Institution of the Most Holy 
 Eucharist. 
 The Eucharist is the Abrigdment and Centre of 
 
 all Religion. 
 By this Mystery, Jesus prolongs for His Children 
 
 the Life which He led upon Earth. 
 This Life is given to us by Holy Communion. 
 8th Lecture: The Spirit of the Rule of Carmel. 
 NOTE : Preliminary Advice for the Ninth Day. 
 
 NINTH DAY. 
 
 First Meditation: Jesus in the Garden of Olives. 
 Jesus a Voluntary Victim. 
 Jesus Agonizing. 
 
 Jesus Bound and Led away Captive. 
 Second Meditation: Opprobriums of Jesus during His 
 Passion. 
 Why did Jesus suffer these Humiliations? 
 Third Meditation : What Jesus Suffered in His Body. 
 Jesus Scourged. 
 Jesus Crowned with Thorns. 
 Jesus Crucified. 
 
 9th Lecture: Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. 
 Instruction for the Last Day. 
 TENTH DAY 
 First Meditation: Resurrection of Jesus. 
 Second Meditation: Ascension of Jesus. 
 Third Meditation: Descent of the Holy Spirit on the 
 Apostles. 
 10th Lecture: Devotion to the Blessed Virgin. 
 Prayer to Our Lady. 
 
 8 
 
TO THE 
 
 MOST HOLY VIRGIN MARY 
 
 MOTHER OF GOD AND QUEEN OF CARMEL. 
 
 Humbly prostrate at your feet, the least and most 
 unworthy of your servants comes to beg you to ac- 
 cept the offering of this little treatise which has for 
 its object the sanctification of a family of your Holy 
 Order of Carmel. 
 
 Ever since I undertook to retrace in the Spiritual 
 Exercises of a Retreat, the degrees which conduct 
 these Religious souls to the perfection of charity, 
 that is to say to the love of God and of man, carried 
 even to contempt of self, forgetfulness of self, entire 
 immolation of self, sublime end of their Holy Insti- 
 tute, you know that I have had constant recourse 
 to your powerful mediation, while my eyes were 
 ever fixed upon your admirable life. You are among 
 all creatures the one who without any possible com- 
 parison has carried farthest the heroism of Divine 
 Love; the only one who has attained the perfection 
 of it, since you have immolated to its Divine object 
 more than yourself in sacrificing upon Calvary the 
 Emmanuel, the Man-God, your Son, by a sublime act 
 of love comformable to that with which you gave Him 
 to the world in Bethlehem. 
 
 Between these two prodigious, ineffable acts of 
 your charity, your life was but one uninterrupted ex- 
 ercise of holy love. Therefore, it is in your Immacu- 
 late Heart that I have sought the rules and the holy 
 rigors which the perfection of Carmel, of which you 
 are the foundress, the Queen and the Mother, re- 
 quires of her children, 
 
 Deign to complete your work by pouring down 
 upon this writing your benediction, O Mother of 
 Beautiful Love, in order that those who read it, and 
 above all, that those who will use it for the purpose 
 for which it is particularly destined, may draw 
 abundant fruit for their advancement in the perfec- 
 tion of their holy state. 
 
I beg this of you for the love of Jesus, your Son, 
 Whom you saw so perfectly submissive to your will 
 on earth, while you were yourself all lost, annihilated 
 in His. Amen. 
 
 ADVICE UPON PRAYER. 
 
 As Methods of Prayer, when we come to the ap- 
 plication of them, contribute sometimes to embar- 
 rass, or even to discourage beginners in this holy 
 exercise, by the multiplicity of the acts which they 
 prescribe, I have thought it well to analyze and at 
 the same time, simplify these acts, in order to con- 
 vince the most prejudiced, as well as the most dis- 
 couraged minds, that nothing is more simple or 
 more easy than meditation, and that if they but 
 bring to it a sustained application, they will be able 
 in a short time with the ordinary means of grace, to 
 make their meditations well. 
 
 In effect, it is only necessary in this exercise that 
 the just, whom Jesus Christ calls the children of 
 light, should apply to the truths of Religion the same 
 operations of the soul which the children of darkness 
 make use of for their temporal interests. When the 
 latter wish to undertake some affair, they commence 
 by studying the nature of it, the advantages, and the 
 inconveniences; then they take into consideration 
 what means are necessary to succeed in it, after which 
 they determine by reflection to reject or to apply 
 themselves to it. 
 
 Therefore the Christian or the Religious soul, who 
 wishes to undertake seriously the important affair 
 of her salvation or of her santification, represents to 
 herself some holy truth, draws the consideration 
 which naturally flows from the subject, makes the 
 application to herself, and determines by reflection 
 to reject vice and to embrace virtue. 
 
 Meditation is then only a serious reflection upon 
 some truth of Religion, in order to draw practical 
 consequences from it; and to succeed in this, it is 
 only necessary to apply to a spiritual subject, the 
 three powers of the soul, which are the memory, the 
 understanding and the will. 
 
 10 
 
The memory recalls the subject upon which we 
 wish to meditate — be it something learned from a 
 recent lecture, or a remembrance of some truth of 
 Religion, for example, some circumstance in the 
 life or the Passion of Jesus Christ. The understand- 
 ing by examining all the details, and by the con- 
 sideration which it draws from them, endeavors to 
 penetrate the truths which are their consequences. 
 Thus in the example cited, a soul will take some one 
 of the virtues of Our Saviour, His sweetness; His 
 charity; His patience; His humility; and then mak- 
 ing the application of these considerations to her- 
 self, she will try, by comparing these virtues with 
 her faults and defects, to understand the extreme 
 need which she has of the help of grace to get rid 
 of her imperfections. 
 
 Here commence the acts of the will; for at the 
 sight of her misery and the perfection of her Divine 
 Model, the soul enters into sentiments of confusion, 
 of regret, and of repentance, which she expresses 
 with so much the more compunction as she will have 
 become more penetrated with them. 
 
 Then follow holy desires, fervent prayers, loving 
 colloquies with Jesus, Mary and the other holy 
 personages who have entered into the subject of her 
 prayer. She takes at their feet fervent and effica- 
 cious resolutions, imploring them to grant her the 
 grace (or to obtain it for her) to be faithful to them. 
 
 Then she should recommend to God her particular 
 needs, renew her petitions to obtain the virtue most 
 necessary to her, or the correction of her pre- 
 dominant passion, represent to Him the general 
 needs of the Church, and of those persons for whom 
 she wishes especially to pray. We find a great num- 
 ber of persons who, imagining themselves to have 
 little aptitude for reflection, believe it a duty to 
 neglect the considerations of which we have spoken, 
 that is to say, the operations of the memory and the 
 understanding, to pass immediately to those of the 
 will, which are pious reflections or aspirations. 
 
 But the greater number fall into a grave illusion, 
 and perceive not that the acts of the will are but 
 
 11 
 
the fruit of the considerations which they previously 
 made, and when not willing to take the pains to 
 make reflections and thus overcome the first diffi- 
 culties, their pretended affections are vain and 
 sterile, and their prayer pure idleness. It must be 
 admitted that there are souls who from the first 
 time they commence to give themselves to the holy 
 exercise of prayer show a great facility in produc- 
 ing these pious aspirations and in uniting themselves 
 to God by acts of the will alone, without any pre- 
 ceding reflections, but as this facility is the effect 
 of a particular grace, it should not be lightly sup- 
 posed in beginners: it will always be more sure to 
 prove them first, and afterward, it will be very easy 
 for the Mother Prioress, or the one who has the 
 direction of the Novices to recognize if the prayer 
 of these souls is produced by grace. It will suffice 
 to examine the fruit which they draw from it, that 
 is to say, the change which is operated in their con- 
 duct. But the great and we may say the one ob- 
 stacle to progress in prayer comes from a defect in 
 what is called the remote preparation, that is to say, 
 the habits of mortification and recollection. 
 
 It is necessary then that the soul who aspires to 
 establish in herself the reign of God by prayer, 
 should keep her senses so closed to exterior objects, 
 and to the impression of creatures, that she can 
 habitually retire within herself during the course of 
 her daily occupations, and this she will easily do, if 
 to the mortification of her senses, she adds care to 
 produce frequent aspirations, and renews the offer- 
 ing of her actions through love. As to the prox- 
 imate preparation, this consists in a great purity 
 of intention, that is to say, to propose to herself as 
 the unique end of her prayer, the glory of God with 
 perfect indifference as to the means by which He 
 wills to unite Himself to her. The soul thus dis- 
 posed is prepared for aridities or consolations, ask- 
 ing nothing but the good pleasure of God. The im- 
 mediate preparation consists in putting one's self in 
 the presence of God, and invoking the light of the 
 Holy Spirit. 
 
 12 
 
FIRST DAY 
 
 FIRST MEDITATION. 
 The Retreat. 
 
 "And Jesus was led by the Spirit into the 
 Desert."— Luke IV, 1. 
 
 FIRST ACT. 
 
 To Place One's Self in the Presence of God. (1) 
 
 I come, O my God, to converse with Thee, I seek a 
 place where Thou wilt be alone with me, a throne 
 where Thou mayest reside through love, awaiting 
 Thy well beloved to hear and to answer them, and 
 Faith teaches me that this throne is my heart. I 
 enter then within myself; I descend into this interior 
 sanctuary of my soul, there I find Thee and I com- 
 mence by annihilating myself before Thee, filled with 
 confusion and sorrow at the sight of my profound 
 misery and numberless sins. I wish to detest them 
 sovereignly, to regard myself as the most unworthy 
 and the most culpable of Thy creatures; yet not- 
 withstanding this, I pray Thee to efface them, and 
 to suffer me in Thy adorable Presence, all unworthy 
 as I am, and to permit me to entertain myself with 
 Thy Divine Majesty. I will do this with confidence 
 because I am clothed with the merits of Thy Son, 
 Our Lord Jesus Christ, and I address my prayer to 
 Thee in the same spirit in which He prayed to Thee 
 while on earth. 
 
 SECOND ACT. 
 
 To Represent to One's Mind the Subject of Prayer. 
 
 I prostrate myself humbly before Thee, O Divine 
 Solitary, perfect model of souls in retreat. I follow 
 Thee into the desert. I come to adore Thee, to con- 
 template Thee, and to unite myself to Thee, in order 
 
 (1) The First and Third Preparatory Acts are 
 not found in the following Meditations, but they 
 should not be omitted. 
 
 13 
 
to have part in the spirit of that profound solitude 
 in which Thou didst live for forty days and forty 
 nights, to merit for us those graces which have peo- 
 pled the deserts, and have sanctified the inhabitants 
 of them. Grant me grace to share in this Retreat, in 
 the lights, the sentiments, and the affections which 
 Thou didst have in Thine. 
 
 Speak to my heart, fill me with Thy holy unction, 
 discover to me the obstacles with which I have until 
 now opposed Thy Divine inspirations; teach me how 
 to overcome the devil, and to render Thee entire 
 master of my heart, in order that I may draw from 
 these holy exercises, the principal fruit which I 
 should propose to myself, that is to say, the amend- 
 ment of my life, a result without which the best 
 sentiments can be counted as nothing. 
 
 The Second Act varies with each Meditation. 
 
 THIRD ACT. 
 
 To Invoke the Light of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 my God, I implore Thee to come to my aid, that 
 I may draw from this meditation the lights and the 
 fruits which are most appropriate to my wants. 
 Without Thee I can do nothing, absolutely nothing: 
 Thou hast said, "Without Me you cannot have even 
 one good thought, for you know not what you should 
 ask, or how you should ask it". Give light to my 
 mind, O Lord, and the impulse of Thy grace to my 
 heart, in order that for Thy glory, and in view of 
 Thy pure love, I may find in this prayer, a remedy 
 for the wounds of my soul, strength to overcome its 
 weakness, and constancy to put an end to its un- 
 certainties and levities. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 Importance cf the Retreat. 
 
 1 have now entered into the solitude of the Re- 
 treat, profound solitude, happy solitude! I shall 
 live separated, not only from the world since I have 
 left it and no longer belong to it, but from the com- 
 
 14 
 
merce of all creatures, of those even whose company 
 is advantageous to me at other times, because we 
 are united by the same Rule for one common end 
 of sanctification. 
 
 To-day, God wishes to find me alone! It is upon 
 the solitary soul that He is accustomed to lavish 
 His most precious favors. It is in Retreat that He 
 discovers to the soul of a Religious, the secrets which 
 He hides from the children of the world. There He 
 touches her with lively compunction at sight of her 
 past sins, which she has known until now but im- 
 perfectly; there He discovers to her their greatness 
 and their multitude, at the same time that He en- 
 lightens her upon her actual infidelities and upon the 
 principal obstacles which she has opposed again and 
 again to her advancement in virtue. 
 
 The exercises of a Retreat are a picture of the dif- 
 ferent degrees through which a Religious soul must 
 pass to arrive at perfection, a faithful mirror where 
 she can see her faults clearly, and also her negligence 
 in the practice of the means which the Rule furn- 
 ishes her for her sanctification. In effect, in the 
 first part of the Retreat, after having meditated at- 
 tentively upon the end for which God has created 
 ^her, having naturally thought of death, which will 
 decide the important affair of her salvation, and 
 being well penetrated with the rigors of the judg- 
 ments of God, and the chastisements reserved for 
 sinners in hell, the soul comprehends all the malice 
 of sin, and detests it more and more. She then enters 
 into the design of working to purify herself by 
 penance, and to practice the virtues of which Jesus 
 Christ has given her the example. This first part of 
 the Retreat corresponds with the "Purgative Way". 
 
 Then commences the Second Part, a picture of 
 the "Illuminative Way'', thus called because the 
 soul finds in the different mysteries of the life of 
 our Saviour, not only the model of all virtues, but 
 also the motives for them, and the lights and helps 
 to practise them; the effects of this contemplation 
 ibeing to produce in the heart which applies itself to 
 
 15 
 
it, a grace corresponding to the truths which it con- 
 siders in its prayer. This assiduous meditation ex- 
 cities in the soul the love of her Divine Model, a 
 love which produces conformity to Him and which 
 unites her to the object of her contemplation. 
 
 The Third Part of the Retreat is the picture of the 
 'Unitive way", of which the Religious soul can feel 
 the foretaste, and by attending with fidelity to the 
 good resolutions which she will make, she will be- 
 come truly established in it, and this is the end of 
 her vocation. 
 
 "Alas, the earth is made desolate with extreme 
 desolation, because there is no one who thinks in 
 his heart", for if we think always of our last end, we 
 shall never sin. Whence comes so much re- 
 laxation which is found in certain Religious Orders? 
 Why even in holy communities under the strictest 
 rules do we find so many tepid and imperfect souls? 
 It is because they have neglected to lay a solid foun- 
 dation to their perfection by the attentive considera- 
 tion of their last end, and wishing to leave too soon 
 the exercises of the purgative way, if they have ever 
 so much as seriously entered it, they have abandon- 
 ed the practice of mortification, of doing penance for 
 their sins, and of correcting their faults, to throw 
 themselves with temerity into a search after im- 
 aginary virtue, and a prayer replete with illusions. 
 Is it not from a want of serious consideration upon 
 the fundamental truths of salvation that I myself 
 should attribute the little fruit which I have until 
 now drawn from my ordinary meditations, and 
 especially from my Retreats, in which I have po- 
 duced only superficial reflections, and deluded my- 
 self by sentiments of piety which soon vanished, 
 leaving me in my habitual sterility? 
 
 Oh! Lord, open the eyes of my soul and I will 
 consider the wonders of Thy Law, and the secrets 
 of eternity. "Give me intelligence and I shall live''. 
 May this Retreat be not like preceding ones. Grant 
 me the grace to be so entirely penetrated during it 
 with the fundamental truths of salvation, that I may 
 
 16 
 
preserve the salutary impressions of them the rest 
 of my life. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 The Means of Profiting by the Retreat. 
 
 There is yet another cause of the little fruit which 
 we draw from the Retreat, the exercises of which 
 are so proper to make a soul advance in perfection, 
 and which have sanctified so great a number. It is 
 that so few on entering the Retreat seriously propose 
 the amendment of their lives ; so f ew understand 
 that without this real and lasting change, we can- 
 not attain the true end of these holy exercises. In 
 effect, the fruit of the Retreat consists not in con- 
 secrating a more considerable time to prayer; to com- 
 municate daily; to live in silence, in recollection, 
 and separation from creatures; to conceive good 
 sentiments and pious ardors; to read much and to 
 write our resolutions; but it consists in changing — 
 in becoming better. We would be able to say to a 
 person entering the Retreat what Samuel said to 
 Saul in announcing to him the choice which God 
 had made of him: "The Holy Spirit will take 
 possession of you, and you will be changed into a 
 new man"; but if in terminating these holy exer- 
 cises, or in a short time after, I am subject to the 
 same weakness, if I am as little generous in over- 
 coming myself, as little recollected, and as unmodi- 
 fied as before this solitude, no matter what might 
 be the sentiments of fervor which accompanied it, it 
 will have been for me only a loss of time, and an abuse 
 of grace. 
 
 To attain then the end of the Retreat, which I now 
 understand is the amendment of my life, it is neces- 
 sary first, to neglect nothing to make it well. It is 
 necessary to commence by regulating the exercises, 
 determining in advance, the subject and the 
 time to be spent in each exercise, in order that 
 I may never be uncertain about the employ- 
 ment of any part of the day. It is necessary to live 
 not only in recollection and exterior silence, but still 
 
 17 
 
more in interior silence, which withdraws me as much 
 as possible from useless thoughts, the remembrance 
 of creatures, and all that is foreign to the great af- 
 fair with which I am going to occupy myself. It is 
 necessary in fine, besides the general change of life 
 which I must propose to myself, to determine a 
 particular object, without which these projects oi 
 changing remain inefficacious, because they are con- 
 ceived in a manner too vague and too little determin- 
 ed. Each Religious can know with the aid of 
 her Spiritual Guide, what her predominant passion 
 is, the virtue most necessary for her, and the prin- 
 cipal obstacle to her advancement, and it is toward 
 this point that she should direct all her efforts, hav- 
 ing recourse to fervent prayer, and doing a holy 
 violence to heaven, begging the intercession of the 
 Blessed Virgin and the Saints to whom she has a 
 particular devotion, and under whose protection she 
 will have placed her Retreat. But a very essential 
 remark to be made in terminating this meditation 
 is that the life of a Carmelite should be a continual 
 Retreat, and the spirit of the Rule being one of soli- 
 tude and of death, she who commences her Retreat 
 should enter it with the thought and the resolution 
 never to leave it, so that she should be determined, 
 after having employed in these holy exercises the 
 ten days prescribed by the Rule, to continue to live 
 in the same spirit of separation and of recollection, 
 (of which she will have commenced to gather the 
 fruit and to taste the sweetness), by preserving the 
 holy habit of conversing with God in the midst of 
 her occupation. This resolution is decisive and its 
 execution will become the source of a multitude of 
 graces and the principle of her sanctification. If, in 
 effect, the most imperfect Religious sometimes ex- 
 perience so great a benefit from the Retreat, if they 
 there receive so much light, if they are there so strongly 
 drawn to virtue that, in a short time, they find their 
 sentiments entirely changed, what will they not 
 gather who persevere in these dispositions? But, alas! 
 scarcely out of Retreat, our unmortified nature, as 
 
 18 
 
if in satisfaction for the fatigue of these holy exer- 
 cises, now that they are terminated, hastens to free 
 itself from this restraint, and to give itself up to its 
 former liberties, having no longer any regard for 
 the holy practices of recollection, of modesty, or of 
 silence. 
 
 my God, I recognize in this picture myself. I 
 find there the history of the days which have fol- 
 lowed my Retreats until now, I understand the cause 
 of the little fruit which I have drawn from them. I 
 did not enter them with a sincere will to be changed 
 into another person, since I did not take the means 
 necessary to operate this change, to become a true 
 Carmelite, that is to say, a true Solitary, vowed to 
 silence and separation from all that is not God. I 
 believed that I had done enough for my perfection 
 when I had devoted myself during ten days to this 
 complete separation without thinking that, although 
 less sensible out of the time of Retreat, it should be 
 the habitual disposition of my heart and the ordinary 
 state of my whole life. Oh, how I have deluded my- 
 self until now! 
 
 Who will give me the wings of a dove, that I may 
 fly to the desert, with Jesus, never more to return? 
 O Divine Solitary, hide me in the secret of Thy 
 Face, may I dwell there unknown to all creatures, 
 and may they never again find me. Bless these re- 
 solutions which I take at Thy feet of profiting so 
 well by this time of salvation, and of being so faith- 
 ful to the graces which Thou wilt grant me, that 
 becoming a new creature, I may correspond to the 
 sublime vocation of Carmel with which Thou hast 
 favored me. 
 
 SECOND MEDITATION. 
 
 God is the End of Man. 
 
 "God has made all things for Himself."— 
 Prov. XVI, 4. 
 
 1 come trembling to adore Thy Divine Majesty, 
 O Immense, Eternal God, Infinite Source of all good, 
 of all truth! Thou art my Creator, my Beginning 
 
 19 
 
and my Last End. I humbly come to supplicate 
 Thee to make me comprehend, to make me relish 
 and love this first and most important of all truths: 
 that Thou hast created me for Thyself, and that my 
 supreme interest consists in uniting myself to Thee 
 by grace in this life, and by glory in the next. 
 
 If with the aid of Thy grace, I succeed in pro- 
 foundly engraving in my heart, this fundamental 
 truth, I will have acquired the principle, the basis of 
 my salvation and of my sanctification. I supplicate 
 Thee, O my Creator, to grant me the grace to be 
 touched and convinced in a lively manner with this 
 truth in commencing this Retreat. I acknowledge 
 with confusion and sorrow that my sins and number- 
 less infidelities render me unworthy to obtain this 
 favor, but I hope for it from the infinite love which 
 Thou hast for all Thy creatures. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 God is my Last End. 
 
 God exists: evident truth, eternal truth, necessary 
 truth, because from it all others flow. The heavens 
 and the earth proclaim it; the most savage of people 
 have recognized it, while they disfigured it. Pagan 
 philosophers have declared it. It is true that they 
 did not draw from it the necessary consequence : 
 they have believed that God exists, but that sufficed 
 not for their salvation. It is necessary to believe 
 with the Church in God, that is to say, we must 
 recognize Him as our Last End, and direct to Him 
 all the faculties and all the powers of our soul, "Be- 
 cause God has made all things for Himself". 
 
 Formerly God said to Moses: "I am Who am", 
 that is to say, "I alone have being, I alone live from 
 Eternity; all other creatures live but by Me, and for 
 Me". Thus all creatures who have been gifted by 
 Him with intelligence and liberty, and to whom He 
 has been pleased to make Himself known, are ob- 
 liged to live for Him alone, and to refer to Him, not 
 only in general but even in particular, all their 
 actions, their thoughts, and their words, without 
 
 20 
 
voluntarily withdrawing any from Him. It will not 
 suffice them to believe that there is a God, it is neces- 
 sary to believe that there is only one God, who alone 
 has Being, who alone lives of Himself, and that I 
 should live but for Him, and regard all things else 
 as nothingness. This is a necessity, it is a law which 
 creatures cannot violate without outraging their 
 Creator, and doing themselves an infinite wrong. In 
 this consists their interests, their glory, and their 
 sovereign happiness in this world and in the next. 
 It is the end of Man, it is the term of his creation. 
 "Fear God and keep His Commandments", says the 
 Holy Spirit, "because this is all man". Yes, it is the 
 whole man, it is his perfection and his beatitude, 
 since the excellence of any creature consists in at- 
 taining the end for which it was made. Admirable 
 thought, astonishing thought, but most true, for it 
 is the foundation of all Religion. This good God, 
 who is love itself, this great God, father of all being, 
 source of all good, of all joy, and of all glory, sover- 
 eign Bounty, ineffable Beauty, infinite Spirit, pos- 
 sessing in His simplicity all imaginable perfections, 
 — infinite in number and in grandeur — wishes to be 
 the End of man, that is to say, He has created man 
 to make him a sharer in His eternal felicity. "I, My- 
 self, will be thy recompense', said He to Abraham, 
 "a recompense too great for the capacity of thy heart", 
 because God is infinite. 
 
 O my God, what is man that Thou has't thus 
 glorified him, and raised him to the equal of the 
 angels? O beautiful truth, glorious truth, but ter- 
 rible truth if I conform not my life to it! God has 
 placed me upon earth, giving me His Command- 
 ments (a perfect expression of His infinite sanctity) 
 in order to render me conformable to Himself, that 
 by their faithful accomplishment I may unite myself 
 to Him, in this world by grace and in the other by 
 glory, thus securing for myself a happiness which 
 will never end. But if unfortunately, I quit this 
 world without having occomplished this condition, 
 I shall be justly and eternally separated from God, 
 
 21 
 
my last End, and precipitate myself into hell, there 
 to receive forever the terrible chastisement of my in- 
 gratitude and my injustice. To be united to God, 
 behold the end of the creature, behold my end! To 
 'work for it with fervor and without relaxing is then 
 my essential affair, my only affair, my first and last 
 affair. 
 
 FIRST, MY ESSENTIAL AFFAIR. Although I 
 shall have failed in all others, although I be de- 
 spoiled of all things, lose my reputation, my repose, 
 my health, even my life, if I succeed in this affair, 
 all is gained, but if I fail, although I should succeed 
 in all things else, all is lost. 
 
 SECOND, MY ONLY AFFAIR. God has not 
 placed me in this world for any other interest. He has 
 not created me to acquire here below fortune, talents, 
 or a great reputation; to attract to myself the es- 
 teem or the affection of creatures. No, He ha? 
 created me to acquire His love in this world, and 
 His felicity in the next. 
 
 THIRD, MY FIRST AND LAST AFFAIR. It is 
 in seeking and in obtaining the end for which God 
 has created me, that I will find the plenitude of my 
 felicity, and will repose in peace; while in the pos- 
 session of creatures and all the joys which they arc 
 able to contain in themselves, I would find but an- 
 xiety, trouble, and emptiness, the entire world being 
 too little to fill or to satisfy a soul created for an in- 
 finite good. It is then true my God that, "Thou hast 
 made us for Thyself, and "that our hearts are agi- 
 tated and cannot rest until they rest in Thee''. 
 
 What have I done until now in this world. I who 
 have so seldom sought Thee, I who have loved Thee 
 so little, I who have placed my Last End in creatures, 
 and lowered my ambition to the things of the earth? 
 What have I done here below, O my God, my sover- 
 eign Beatitude? "O, too late have I loved Thee, 
 Beauty ever ancient, and yet always new!'* If I 
 have loved Thee and sought Thee with but little 
 eagerness and fidelity, Thou who art my Beginning 
 
 22 
 
and my End; it shall be so no longer. I desire to 
 be entirely Thine, Thine without reserve and forever. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 How to attain my Last End. 
 
 When God created this universe with so* much 
 magnificence, He made it for man. It was for man 
 that He extended the rich pavillion of the heavens, 
 for him that He filled the sea, the earth, and the air 
 with all sorts of creatures, providing with paternal 
 bounty not only for his needs but even for his 
 pleasures. He established him king of creation, and 
 as God was the End of man, man in a way was the 
 end of all other creatures, since God has made them 
 for his use in order that they might aid him to 
 glorify and to love his Creator. Such was the happy 
 state of Adam in his innocence; he used creatures 
 only in as much as they assisted him to elevate him- 
 self by love, even to the Author of all good. But 
 by his sin, being turned from God, his Last End, 
 he placed this end in creatures, who became then 
 but snares for degraded man, and instead of using 
 them to elevate himself to the One who had made 
 them, he placed in them all his affections, and made 
 use of them to forget and to outrage his Creator. 
 
 It is now necessary for the Christian soul who 
 does not wish to fall into this culpable disorder, but 
 on the contrary to attain the end of her creation, to 
 use created things only in as much as they conduct 
 her to this end, and to abstain from them if they 
 turn her from it. Since, in consequence of the evils 
 which Adam's sin introduced into the world, the 
 use of creatures is full of sufferings for the soul and 
 for the body, it is therefore necessary, according to 
 the admirable disposition of Divine Providence and 
 the Infinite Wisdom of God, that we use the goods 
 and the evils of this life to arrive at our Last End. 
 To attain the possession of God is then the end, all 
 things else are but means. Health or sickness, joy 
 or sorrow, poverty or riches, the esteem of creatures 
 or their contempt, their love or their hatred; what 
 
 23 
 
does it matter? All these things are but means, the 
 one thing of importance, the one thing necessary is 
 to arrive at my Last End, it is to unite myself to 
 God in this life and in the next. Behold my end, 
 I must at any price attain it! I should theji be per- 
 fectly indifferent as to the means or the way by 
 which God wills to conduct me to it; whether He 
 makes me pass through aridities or through spiritual 
 consolations; whether He permits that I be aban- 
 doned by those whose support seems most neces- 
 sary to me, or that I receive their encouragement; 
 esteemed by my Superiors or disregarded and left 
 by them in oblivion; whether He calls me to serve 
 Him in an office which is agreeable to nature, or 
 in an employment for which I have a repugnance; 
 whether by the practice of hidden virtues which es- 
 cape the notice of men, or by acts the most brilliant; 
 in fine, whether He grants me great peace of heart, 
 or exercises me in the most cruel trials, or the most 
 severe temptations; what does it matter, provided 
 that by this I accomplish His holy will? 
 
 But for an end so noble, so sublime, so important, 
 does indifference as to its means suffice? And if 
 faith discovers to me that to arrive there, poverty 
 is a more sure way that riches, sufferings than 
 pleasures; if it reveals to me that the contempt of 
 creatures is more advantageous to me than their es- 
 teem, solitude than the company of the world, tears, 
 trials, temptations, and combats, than joys, satisfac- 
 tions, or the approbation of men; should I hesitate to 
 follow this path, straight and thorny, but more short 
 and secure? Is not my choice already made? Has 
 not Jesus Christ taught us these ways as the most 
 sure and called them Beatitudes, saying: "Blessed 
 
 are the poor, Blessed are those who weep, 
 
 who suffer, .... who are meek," etc., because they 
 have found the way to heaven, and are assured in 
 advance of its possession. 
 
 O my God, what has been my illusion until to-day? 
 I now recognize that the sufferings, contempts, con- 
 tradictions, inconveniences, privations, and blame, 
 
 24 
 
which I have avoided with so much care and fled 
 from with so much eagerness, are precisely what 
 would have conducted me to Thee. Ah, if I had at 
 least referred to Thee the use I made of Thy 
 creatures! If I had offered to Thee ail my thoughts, 
 words, actions and affections! If I had for Thv 
 glory and my own salvation, consecrated entirely to 
 this one end, the employment of my time, my work, 
 my repose, even my eating and drinking, as Thy 
 Apostle prescribes, I should be less culpable. But 
 alas ! Lord, when I used the life of Thy creatures and 
 of myself, I had no regard for my Last End, I sought 
 what would give me the most satisfaction, what 
 would be most agreeable to my self-love. Behold 
 the cause of my wanderings out of the right path, 
 and of the numberless sins which I have committed. 
 C my sovereign Lord, grant me the grace in this 
 Retreat to be so deeply penetrated with the import- 
 ant truth that Thou art my First Beginning and my 
 Last End, and that my supreme interest consists in 
 living for Thee alone, that henceforth I may not 
 have any other care or desire. 
 
 THIRD MEDITATION. 
 On the End of the Religious Life. 
 
 "Listen my daughter and see, lend an atten- 
 tive ear; forget thy people and thy iatner's 
 house, and the Kine; will greatly desire thy 
 Deauty."— Ps. XLIV, II. 
 
 Behold me humbly prostrate at Thy Feet, O Jesus ; 
 my Lord and my King! Thou hast caused me to 
 hear Thy voice, and I have listened; Thou hast in- 
 vited me to follow Thee, to quit the world, to abandon 
 my father's house, and Thy grace has given me the 
 strength to respond to the call. But the first step 
 suffices not for Thy love, or for my obligations. It 
 is necessary now that I render myself worthy of 
 the choice which Thou hast made of me for Thy 
 spouse; it is necessary that I render my life and my 
 sentiments conformable to Thine; that I love what 
 Thou hast loved, and despise what Thou has rejected. 
 It is necessary in fine that I understand the infinite 
 
 25 
 
value of my vocation, and above all the inestimable 
 advantages which I find in it, of being able to arrive 
 more surely and more happily at the end for which 
 Thou hast created me. Thy grace will finish the 
 work which it has commenced: I expect this of Thy 
 infinite mercy. FIRgT pomT 
 
 End of the Religious Life. 
 
 After being convinced of this important truth, that 
 God is my Last End, and that my sovereign beati- 
 tude consists in uniting myself to Him in time, that 
 I may be united to Him in eternity; I have concluded 
 that I ought to make every effort without ceasing, 
 to refer to this great and unique affair all the actions 
 and ail the thoughts of my life. 
 
 But ah, how difficult it is for those who live in the 
 world to fulfil, in its full extent, this obligation! 
 Either they are so much taken up with the interest 
 of this world, or they are so engaged in temporal af- 
 fairs, or they are so held back by the ties of flesh 
 and blood, as scarcely to be able to raise themselves 
 above themselves, to think of eternal things, and to 
 refer to this thought the goods or the evils of life. 
 In a heart filled with solicitude and love for created 
 things, there remains but little place for the love of 
 the Creator, or little care to please Him, and to attain 
 perfection which is, notwithstanding, the greatest and 
 most desirable good in the world. 
 
 But God must have adorers in spirit and in truth; 
 it is necessary for His glory and the edification of 
 the Church that there should be in it until the end of 
 time, generous souls who, bidding an eternal adieu 
 to the world, renouncing all the pretentions and all 
 the hopes of earth, and severing all the ties of nature, 
 have no other ambition than to please Him, and to 
 attach themselves to Him by ties the most binding 
 and the most indissoluble. The Divine Master, in 
 His Gospel, has not only traced the precepts which 
 all are obliged to accomplish in order to be saved, 
 but He has also transmitted the counsels for those 
 {souls who should feel the desire of imitating Him 
 
 26 
 
more particularly and following Him more closely, 
 in order to -arrive at a higher perfection, and thus 
 merit the grace of a more intimate union in this 
 world and a more glorious recompense in the next, 
 Now this state of greater perfection is the Religious 
 State, to which God by a signal favor, calls a certain 
 number of privileged souls, and to which He has 
 called me, notwithstanding my sins. After having 
 prevented them by His grace, which alone could in 
 spire them with so generous a design, He aids them 
 by His inspirations to triumph over the obstacles 
 which the world, the flesh, and the devil offer to 
 prevent them from accomplishing it, and conducts 
 them if they are faithful, to the end of their voca- 
 tion, which is their sanctification in this world, and 
 in the next to a more abundant participation in His 
 glory and eternal happiness. 
 
 The Religious life at first sight appears to have 
 no other end than that of the Christian life. To pos- 
 sess God in this world by grace and in the next by 
 glory, is the end of both; but we can say, neverthe- 
 less with truth, that the Religious life has a more 
 particular and a more excellent end than the com- 
 mon life, because the soul who embraces it, having 
 burst all earthly ties, renounces forever by the vows 
 of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience, all her goods, 
 her body and her will, and the employment of all the 
 moments of her existence, not only in general but in 
 particular. She belongs no longer to the earth but 
 to heaven, no longer to time but to eternity, no 
 longer to herself but to God. Thus by her profes- 
 sion, she takes God for the only end of all her 
 thoughts, her words, and her actions, even the most 
 indifferent and natural. Therefore while the Chris- 
 tian in the world is obliged to make great efforts 
 to acquire a dominion over nature, and to elevate 
 to the supernatural state by offering them to God, 
 the thought, words, and actions which compose her 
 life, because they are ordinarily employed in the in- 
 terests of the world, the Religious soul produces 
 supernatural works as it were, naturally, unless self- 
 
 27 
 
love comes in to corrupt them, thus interrupting the 
 holy habits of grace. The Religious life is then an 
 anticipated Paradise where the soul possesses God 
 in advance. It is the treasure hidden in the field of 
 the Church, of which the Lord has discovered the 
 price to a certain number of privileged souls, who 
 have sacrificed all with joy, to assure themselves of 
 its possession. 
 
 O ineffable grace of the Religious vocation, by 
 which the soul walks more surely towards its End, 
 where she works more efficaciously, and enjoys by 
 anticipation, while here on earth, the life of the Angels ! 
 
 precious pearl of the Gospel, to whose price all 
 the goods of earth are but vile dust ! O life of Carmel ! 
 Religious life pure and immaculate! "Where man 
 lives more purely, falls more rarely, and rises more 
 promptly, walks more securely, receives the dews of 
 divine grace more copiously, reposes more tran- 
 quilly, dies more happily, merits to be purified more 
 promptly, and to be recompensed more abundantly". 
 What thanks should I not render Thee, O my most 
 amiable Saviour, for having called me to a Religious 
 Life where I can, even in this world, unite myself 
 so intimately to Thee, that I can live Thy life, and 
 my conversation need be no longer with men but 
 with Angels? Is it not the end of the Rule of Carmel 
 to lead to this divine union, the souls who wish to 
 bear its yoke? Ah! If I had profited by these precious 
 advantages, I should now be more advanced in Thy 
 holy love, and I should not have to regret the abuse 
 of so many precious graces, and the loss of so much 
 time, which will never return. But by Thy mercy, 
 
 1 may still repair it, Lord, and I will work with all 
 my strength in order to arrive at the happy state, 
 where all my thoughts, words, and actions shall have 
 no other end but Thy glory and Thy love. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 How I may Attain the End of the Religious Life. 
 
 Consider now the means which are offered you to 
 arrive, even in this world, at the enjoyment of your 
 
 28 
 
end, by the divine union. The first, without which all 
 the others would be but weak helps, is an entire 
 separation from the world. It was by this that our 
 Holy Mother, St. Teresa, commenced her reform: 
 this separation was the foundation of the new spirit 
 which she established. She prescribed strict enclosure, 
 closed grates, visits to the parlor very rare and very 
 short, and she endeavored to banish from the con- 
 versation of her Religious, everything that could re- 
 call to their minds, persons or things of the world. 
 The world is in effect "full of fools'' who despising 
 the true good, run after a phantom, who give to lies 
 the name of truth, and to truth the name of lies. 
 All in it, according to St. John, is the concupiscence 
 of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the. 
 pride of life, because pride, love of riches and of 
 pleasures is the impoisoned source of all the sins 
 committed there. Now by the three vows of Poverty, 
 Chastity and Obedience, the ax is laid to the root 
 of the tree, and on the day of her profession, the Re- 
 ligious soul cuts it down by one single stroke, and 
 henceforth it will be easy for her to retrench the 
 branches, which may still be able to grow upon the 
 mutilated trunk. Disengaged thus from the flesh 
 and the world, a stranger to its interests, and its af- 
 fections; losing the remembrance, even the names 
 of its pleasures and affairs, this privileged soul has 
 but one pleasure, one affair, which is to labor to en- 
 rich her soul and to embellish it in the eyes of God. 
 
 To this first benefit of her profession may be added 
 the means, so efficacious and so numerous, v/hich the 
 Rule furnishes her for despoiling herself of her faults, 
 acquiring virtue, and attaining thus the end of her 
 vocation. Silence almost continual, profound recol- 
 lection, universal mortification, the habitual practice 
 of mental prayer; frequentation of the Sacraments, 
 pious lectures, public and private corrections, charit- 
 able admonitions, the company of the holy spouses 
 of Jesus Christ, who by their good example excite, 
 without ceasing, a generous emulation for perfection, 
 — what abundant means, what facilities, what riches! 
 
 29 
 
After considering all these means of sanctification, 
 the Religious soul reflects upon the loving attrac- 
 tions of grace which accompany practices so holy, 
 and upon the precious and continual inspiration with 
 which God pursues those who have contracted them, 
 ishe asks herself how shall she be able to return 
 thanks for the inestimable gift of her vocation! But 
 what on the contrary should be her confusion and 
 her sorrow, if she has not gathered from them the 
 fruits which God has a right to expect from her? 
 
 Ah! Lord, when I consider all the advantages of 
 jthe holy state to which Thou hast deigned to call 
 me, and the great facility I find in it, to fulfill all 
 ,my obligations, I feel a lively sorrow for having 
 profited so little by them. Thy infinite wisdom and 
 Thy ineffable goodness have delivered me for all the 
 preoccupations of this life; Thy amiable Providence 
 by the charity of my Superiors, provides for all my 
 wants without my having to think of them for a 
 single instant. Like the little birds of which Thou 
 hast spoken in Thy Gospel, I sow not, nor do I reap, 
 I gather not into barns, yet Thy paternal hands 
 nourish and cloth me. I have no anxiety for the past, 
 to which I have bid an eternal adieu, or for the future 
 of which Thou hast taken upon Thyself the care; 
 I have but to fulfill each day the task prescribed for 
 me, and this only for Thy holy service. 
 
 And notwithstanding all this, I have robbed Thee 
 of what belongs to Thee, seeking myself, and suc- 
 ceeding only too well in finding myself where I 
 should have found Thee alone; stopping at the 
 creature, when all should have been given to the 
 Creator. Thou hast delivered me from all the 
 solicitudes and embarrassments of the world, but 
 the devil, seconded by my bad nature, knows how 
 to create fears, anxieties and desires without foun- 
 dation, to turn me from Thy holy service. Ah, 
 Lord grant me in this Retreat the grace to overcome 
 these obstacles so frivolous, yet so fatal to my weak- 
 ness. Thou hast burst my bonds, I will sacrifice to 
 Thee a sacrifice of praise, and I will call upon Thy 
 
 Holy Name. 
 
 30 
 
LECTURE. 
 
 Perfection. 
 
 I have understood in the First Meditation of to- 
 day, that beatitude consists, for all reasonable 
 creatures, in attaining the end for which God has 
 made them, and that this end obtained is their per- 
 fection. I have seen at the same time that man 
 is made for God; and his happiness and his 
 perfection cannot be found except in his union 
 with God, a union which is commenced in this 
 life by grace, and completed in the next by glory. 
 There will be accomplished his consummate perfec- 
 tion, and to speak more exactly, his only perfection, 
 because in this happy state, he will be perfectly 
 united to God, his Beginning and his End, without 
 fear or danger of ever being able to separate himself 
 from Him. 
 
 But there is question here only of that perfec- 
 tion which we can attain in this life, and which con- 
 sists in a certain disposition of the soul to produce, 
 besides those works which are of precept, those also 
 which are only of counsel, and to practice them in a 
 manner pure and spiritual. This perfection increases 
 in the soul, in proportion with its union with God; 
 and its progress will be so much the more sensible, 
 as divine charity will have extended its dominion 
 over a greater number of its thoughts, actions, and 
 affections, animating all its virtues by transforming 
 and in some sort divinising them. Perfection then 
 supposes the faithful practice of virtues, in the midst 
 of which shines charity, which is the queen and which 
 gives them motion and life, at the same time that it 
 gives value to their actions. 
 
 According to the Seraphic Doctor, St. Bonaven- 
 tura, perfection consists in fleeing vice, doing good 
 and suffering the adversities of this life, and all this 
 in a manner the most generous that is possible to 
 us ; that is to say, a perfect soul, not only abstains 
 from grave faults, but even from those which have 
 
 31 
 
the appearance of evil, that she does good with 
 fidelity, generosity, and facility, and that she em- 
 braces sufferings with joy, knowing that there is in- 
 comparably more love, and consequently more per- 
 fection in accepting tribulations, because it is the 
 will of God Who sends them, than in practicing some 
 other good works which we ourselves choose; ac- 
 cording to the words of the apostle, St. James: 
 "Patience has a perfect work.'' After these reflec- 
 tions, it is easy to see that perfection is not the work 
 of a day, but a serious undertaking which requires 
 great courage and a strong resolution. Because of 
 the double consequence of original sin, our perverted 
 will finds itself considerably weakened, and our cor- 
 rupt nature tries without ceasing to draw us far from 
 the difficult path which displeases it; while the 
 demon, jealous of the glory of God and our own ad- 
 vantage, employs all kinds of snares and even vio- 
 lence to draw us from it; and little by little, if we 
 give way to our laxity and natural inconstancy, we 
 shall soon find ourselves very far from the end which 
 we had proposed to attain. 
 
 Let us then resemble a hardy navigator, who 
 having discovered land fruitful in all kinds of riches, 
 pursues his route with ardor until he reaches it, 
 struggling with courage against the waves and con- 
 trary winds, and repulsing the powerful enemies who 
 oppose his enterprise. Yes, whatever be the labor and 
 the efforts which we must employ to acquire perfec- 
 tion, it is of so great a price and procures to those 
 who attain it so much happiness, even in this life, 
 that all the sacrifices which it requires bear no pro- 
 portion to the advantages which it gives. By means 
 of this divine perfection, the soul here below is put 
 in possession of God Himself, to whom she is united 
 by ties of the most ineffable friendship, and she em- 
 joys the sweetness of a profound peace. If she must 
 share with the other children of Adam, the sufferings 
 and privations attached to their condition here, these 
 evils lose for her the greater part of their bitterness, 
 
 32 
 
because love sweetens them and makes her come out 
 victorious from these trials, enriched with the in- 
 estimable prize of patience. But a very consoling 
 truth for the Religious soul, who on entering her 
 Retreat proposes the acquiring of perfection as the 
 end of these exercises, in order to commence to en- 
 joy the precious advantages attached to it, is that it 
 suffices that she be resolved to labor for it during 
 her whole life, that at present she but enter reso- 
 lutely into this holy undertaking, and never abandon 
 it, notwithstanding all obstacles; notwithstanding 
 even her infidelities. The first fruit which she will 
 gather from her labor, (and it is precious enough to 
 repay her superabundantly) is the assurance of her 
 perseverance, in as much as it is possible to be as- 
 sured of this grace, which God without doubt is not 
 obliged to give to any one, and which is a pure gift 
 of His love. In effect, as I have seen, there is much 
 to hinder fallen man in the practice of virtue, be- 
 cause his natural inclinations violently draw him 
 down to base and terrestrial things. In the execution 
 of his good desires, he remains always much behind 
 the end at which he has proposed to arrive; if he 
 wishes to keep strictly to the exact requirement of 
 the law without being willing to do more, it often 
 happens that he transgresses the law. In the same 
 way that an arrow directed to an end will not reach 
 it, because of its own weight which always tends 
 downward, if the one who aims it does not look above 
 the mark, thus the human will should be directed to 
 acts of the most eminent virtues in order to succeed 
 in those which are of necessity. This is why our 
 Divine Master, Who alone possesses the science of 
 the human heart, presses us in the Gospel, to make 
 every effort to enter by the narrow gate, and ex- 
 horts us without ceasing to follow the straight way 
 which alone conducts to life, presenting us with 
 nothing less than the sanctity of God Himself, as 
 a model of the perfection which we should strive to 
 attain; "Be ye perfect as your Heavenly Father is 
 
 33 
 
perfect." But the counsel of our Saviour is not 
 relished nor understood by Christians of the world, 
 and they should attribute to no other cause their 
 want of perseverance in observing the command- 
 ments of God and of the Church. They imagine that 
 to secure their salvation, it suffices to keep the rigor- 
 ous practice of the precepts, without making any ef- 
 fort to advance in virtue. They neglect pious prac- 
 tices, make light of small faults, and very soon lose 
 the inestimable treasure of grace, without even being 
 aware of the immense loss which they have sus- 
 tained. 
 
 The Church, faithful depository of the Spirit of 
 her Divine Spouse, has established or approved a 
 state of perfection in favor of those of her children 
 who wish to apply themselves in a special manner 
 to acquire this divine science. This is to be found 
 in the Religious Orders, where she teaches, (as in 
 some institutes they learn human sciences and the 
 mechanic arts) by means of method and exercise. 
 The Religious soul has then the means to arrive at 
 perfection, and she is obliged by the sanctity of her 
 state never to depart from this great end; and as 
 there is no day of her life on which she is not obliged 
 to be perfect, so there is none on which she is dis- 
 pensed from laboring to become so. The moment 
 she abandons this work, she sins against the spirit 
 and the essential duty of her state. She is powerfully 
 aided because each Religious Order, approved by the 
 Church, offers in its rules and in the spirit which 
 animates it, the means which should conduct the 
 souls who embrace it, to that perfection which is 
 proper to them, and which is the end of each insti- 
 tute. The Rules and Constitutions are not then 
 matters of indifference which each one is at liberty 
 to observe or to disregard, because by them, the Re- 
 ligious Orders are distinguished one from the other; 
 and they present to the members of each, the way 
 which they should follow in order to arrive at that 
 perfection which God requires of them. 
 
 34 
 
If then, it is true that each point in particular of 
 the Rule does not bind under pain of sin, it is im- 
 possible, however, that the neglect which goes so 
 far as to despise one of these points, or the tepidity 
 which will dispense with their observance in general, 
 does not constitute a veritable sin, which can be of 
 fatal consequence to a Religious soul. We under- 
 stand by this the evil and the danger of tepidity and 
 negligence in the practise of the duties of the Re- 
 ligious life. What a disorder to see in this state, 
 which is a state of perfection, souls without love for 
 virtue, without zeal for their spiritual advancement. 
 And, nevertheless, we meet with this disorder but too 
 often. Thus, while we sometimes meet in the world, 
 and even in the state of marriage, persons raised 
 (notwithstanding the dangers of the world and the 
 occasions inseparable from their state) to the most 
 sublime perfection, there exists in the most holy 
 Communities sheltered from the perils of the world, 
 and surrounded by means of sanctification the most 
 abundant, souls relax and pusillanimous, remaining 
 in a state of stagnant idleness, without wishing to 
 make the least effort to advance in virtue. It is to 
 such souls that Jesus Christ addressed these words: 
 "They (the people of the world) will themselves be 
 thy judges', and ye will prepare for yourselves by 
 the abuse of so many graces, a judgment much more 
 severe than theirs. 
 
 But there is in regard to perfection another abuse 
 opposed to the one we have just been considering, 
 and which is not less dangerous. Into this presump- 
 tious souls fall who wish to take their flight toward 
 the very heights of the Holy Mountain, before they 
 have wings (if it be permitted to speak thus), that 
 is, to aspire to sublime prayer, extraordinary states, 
 speaking only of ecstatic love and supernatural de- 
 lights, thus mistaking for true virtue the means which 
 lead to it. Perfection has degrees through which 
 it is necessary to pass in order to arrive at perfect 
 love. These degrees are the purgative way and the 
 
 35 
 
illuminative way; it is by them that the soul reaches 
 the unitive life. It is necessary then, before all 
 things and it is the first step in the career of per- 
 fection, that the soul be purified from her past sins 
 jy a sincere repentance; that after having discovered 
 her secret vices, the disorderly inclinations of her 
 heart, and her faults of character, she should labor 
 generously to correct them, and to cause the death 
 of nature by following the Spirit of Jesus Christ. 
 
 It is in the first period that she should, with the 
 aid of those who direct her, study her predominant 
 passion and the principal obstacles which oppose 
 her progress in virtue. When she has labored dur- 
 ing a considerable time to do penance and to amend 
 her life, she will be enlightened by Him, who is the 
 only true light, and meditating upon the virtues of 
 Jesus Christ, she will strive to conform her life to 
 that of her Divine Model and to be filled with His 
 sentiments and His virtues. Moreover, this entire 
 Retreat is a picture of these three states of perfec- 
 tion, and one of its principle fruits for the Religious 
 soul is to make known to her the way which she 
 ought to follow in order to arrive at the possession 
 of this perfect Charity, of which we shall speak in 
 the last meditation of the last day. 
 
 EXAMEN UPON THE LECTURE. 
 
 Have I a great esteem for perfection, regarding 
 it as the hidden treasure, the precious pearl of the 
 Gospel, for the acquisition of which I would be 
 ready to sacrifice all? Second, have I a sincere and 
 constant desire for my own perfection? Have I not 
 abandoned it for a considerable time without caring 
 about what I was losing and that it was one of the prin- 
 cipal obligations of the Religious Life? Third, has 
 not indifference for my spiritual advancement caused 
 me to neglect the means of sanctification attached 
 to the holy practices of the Religious Life, above all, 
 the mortification of my senses, silence, recollection, 
 the use of ejaculatory prayers, a careful preparation 
 
 36 
 
for Confession and Holy Communion, and particu- 
 larly fervent and constant prayer? Fourth, instead 
 of having recourse to my Superiors to find out my 
 faults, and to take the means of advancing in virtue, 
 have I not yielded to my repugnance to these open- 
 ings, and have I not shown resentment and discon- 
 tent when reproved or warned of my faults? Fifth, 
 have I not sought to raise myself or to pretend to 
 sublime gifts of grace without exercising myself for 
 a long time in the practice of mortification and con- 
 tempt of self? 
 
 37 
 
SECOND DAY. 
 
 FIRST MEDITATION. 
 
 On Death. 
 
 "The death of the wicked is very evil."— 
 Ps. XXXIII, 22. 
 
 "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the 
 death of His Saints.'"— Ps. CXV, 5. 
 
 Being well penetrated with the fundamental truth 
 that Thou, O my God, art my Sovereign Good, my 
 Last End, to Whom my entire life with all its interior 
 and exterior acts should be directed, I come into Thy 
 holy presence to represent to myself the supreme mo- 
 ment which shall terminate it. I come to transport 
 myself in spirit to the moment of my death, which 
 will decide the important affair of my destiny, and to 
 consider if I shall be put forever into possession of 
 my Sovereign Beatitude, which is Thyself, or if I shall 
 be irrevocably condemned to pains, terrible and 
 without end, which accompany the loss of Thee. 
 
 I understand, O my Lord, that nothing is more im- 
 portant for me than to transport myself now to my 
 deathbed, in order that when I leave this Retreat I may 
 see the necessity of forcing myself to become such as 
 I shall wish to be found at that decisive moment. 
 Deign, O my God, to bless a meditation so important. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 Terrible Is the Death of the Sinner. 
 
 Death is the separation of the soul from the body, 
 the rupture of all the ties that bind us to the earth, 
 that attach us nearly or distantly to persons, to the 
 affairs, and to the interests of the world. It is an 
 eternal farewell to all the creatures of this earth; an 
 adieu to the light of day and to the darkness of night; 
 to the riches of nature, and to all the objects which 
 surround our senses, and which compose this vast uni- 
 verse. We tremble at the thought of the terrible 
 catastrophes which must precede the last judgment; 
 
 3S 
 
no one would wish to be a witness of the last scenes 
 of the world, such as they are described by the Pro- 
 phets and by Jesus Christ Himself. Nevertheless, all 
 these events shall take place for me at the hour of my 
 death, because for me the sun will be eclipsed, the 
 earth will tremble and open its bosom to engulf me, 
 and my soul must go forth alone into an unknown 
 region, where shines a light very different in brilliancy 
 from that which now enlightens us. There all ideas 
 are changed, all illusions dissipated; there the riches of 
 earth have no value; nobility, science, reputation, 
 honors count as nothing there: in a word, the money 
 ol- this world is not current in the other, because there 
 only the knowledge and love of the Creator is es- 
 teemed; there only those actions are counted which are 
 done for Him. Behold why the death of the sinner 
 is so terrible, he has done nothing for God, nothing 
 for himself! "Fool," said Jesus Christ in the Gospel 
 to the rich man, who had commenced to enjoy in ad- 
 vance the great riches which he had amassed: "Fool, 
 this night thy soul shall be required of thee, and to 
 whom then shall thy riches belong?" "Thus," con- 
 tinues our Saviour, "will it be with those who have 
 not sought their treasure in God." 
 
 St. John in the Apocalypse, describing the events 
 which are to precede and accompany the final judg- 
 ment, tells us that he perceived an Angel, standing 
 upon the sea and upon the earth, that is 
 between time and eternity, "raise his hand 
 to heaven and swear by Him who liveth 
 and reigneth forever and forever, that hence- 
 forth there should be no more time." "No more 
 time!" That is to say, the duration of the ages, which 
 had been given to men to gain life eternal, is termi- 
 nated. "No more time!" That is to say the years 
 of grace are completed, man's career is forever closed 
 to combat, to trial, and consequently to merit. "No 
 more time!" That is to say, there remains but an un- 
 changing eternity for punishing sin and recompensing 
 virtue. Ah! this terrible sentence will be passed upon 
 me at the hour of my death, and it shall be imme- 
 
 39 
 
diately executed. Is not this a consideration most 
 proper to make me understand that death is truly for- 
 midable? Yes, at the hour of death, there will be 
 no more time for me. This life is as a day of labor, 
 which should be consecrated to meriting the salary 
 promised to those who employ it well. "Work while 
 it is day," says Jesus Christ, "because the night 
 cometh (death) wherein no man can labor." Now the 
 end of time, the evening of this day is death. Then 
 shall cease for me the means so numerous, so multi- 
 plied, which have been given me to reach my Last 
 End, and particularly those which are attached to my 
 vocation: means so efficacious that they would have 
 secured my sanctification, had I but made use of them. 
 In fine, death is the time of the harvest, when we shall 
 gather what we have sown during life. Ah! what a 
 cruel and disconsolate thought this will be for the 
 tepid and negligent Religious, who finds herself at 
 the last hour with empty hands. She will cast a last 
 sad look upon the long years which she has passed 
 within the solitude of her Monastery; she will reflect 
 upon the graces so precious and so abundant, which 
 she has received there, and which, alas! she has de- 
 plorably abused. She will desire but a little time 
 to repair that which she has so unhappily lost, but the 
 sentence, passed upon all men that they can die but 
 once, is instantly executed for her. She must submit 
 to it; she must bid an eternal farewell to that holy and 
 happy solitude, where she found the sad secret of 
 living so unlike a solitary; farewell to those silent 
 cloisters, where she observed neither silence nor recol- 
 lection. Farewell to that holy cell whose precious re- 
 treat she has loved so little. Farewell to the sacred 
 tribunal of Penance where she should have purified 
 her soul, and acquired a new life and new strength. 
 Farewell to that mystic table of the Lord, where she 
 was nourished with the Bread of Angels, reserving all 
 her earthly inclination — to that sacred tabernacle, 
 chaste delight of faithful spouses, but which she ap- 
 proached with a frozen heart and an inattentive mind. 
 All the sources of grace are forever closed against her. 
 
 40 
 
Never shall it be given her to unite her voice to the 
 sacred canticles which ascend day and night from 
 the holy place, where she listened to the word of God 
 and assisted at the august Sacrifice. Sad thoughts, 
 useless regrets! 
 
 In vain, to calm her fears and to appease her ter- 
 rors, are the Divine mercies recalled to her. Alas! 
 are they who seek thus to reassure her reassured them- 
 selves? The priest is at her side, he presents to her 
 the image of Jesus crucified, but can she render to her- 
 self the testimony of having conformed her life to the 
 Divine Model? She has received from his hands the 
 Bread of Life, which should be the happy pledge of 
 her entrance into her heavenly home; but her dispo- 
 sitions in preparing for the Holy Eucharist being ordi- 
 narily so imperfect, perhaps even doubtful, how can 
 we hope that in the trouble and agitation inseparable 
 fiom the hour of death she can be better prepared? 
 The oil of the last combat has flowed upon her mem- 
 bers. . . .But it effaces only the remains of sins already 
 pardoned, and supposes a victorious soul, who awaits 
 this last succor to secure her trimuph. 
 
 O my God! what folly, what criminal negligence to 
 await the last hour to prepare myself for death! 
 Should not the Religious Life, above all that of Car- 
 mel, be a preparation for that supreme moment? Ah! 
 Lord, Thou hast shown me that death is most terrible; 
 that it is the end of time and the beginning of eter- 
 nity — the end of that precious time, which has been 
 purchased for us at the price of the Blood of Jesus 
 Christ, and of which each moment should be em- 
 ployed in gaining eternal goods. If, until now, I have 
 not known its value, I now discover it by the light of 
 death. If, until now, I have profited so little by the 
 graces attached to my holy state, I will no longer abuse 
 them, because very soon, O my God! I shall be called 
 before Thee to render an account of the five talents 
 of my vocation, and it is not for two or three that I 
 must account, but for five! for "Unto whom much has 
 been given, of him much shall be required." What 
 have I done until now? My profession of Carmelite, 
 
 41 
 
the sanctity of my habit, and the practices of the Re- 
 ligious life cannot reassure me, since these should be 
 new motives of fear, when I remember the terrible 
 sentence passed not only upon the bad servant, but 
 even against the idle one: — "Let them be thrown into 
 exterior darkness, where there shall be weeping and 
 gnashing of teeth." It is not the long years in the 
 cloister that Thou countest, O Lord! but a truly holy 
 life, be it ever so short; because the just live a long 
 time in a few days. Grant, O Lord, that I remember 
 often my last end, and that I keep in mind the eternal 
 years. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 Precious in the Sight of the Lord Is the Death of the 
 
 Just. 
 
 After having considered the sad sight of a tepid 
 Religious on her death bed, let us now see her die 
 whose life has been conformed to the sanctity of her 
 obligations. The situation is the same, the circum- 
 stances are the same, both having lived together in 
 the same Monastery, worn the same habit, followed 
 the same exercises, exteriorly; but what a difference 
 between them when we consider the dispositions of 
 their souls. What a contrast in their sentiments, their 
 fears and their hopes! What a difference in the feel- 
 ings of those who assist at their last moments! Those 
 who assist the first, retire full of inquietude, sorrow 
 and uncertainty about her eternal welfare. On the 
 contrary, those who assist the faithful Religious carry 
 away impressions the most sweet and most favorable 
 of her eternal happiness. They withdraw with regret 
 from her bed of death, their hearts filled with conso- 
 lation, and all embalmed with the perfume of the Re- 
 ligious virtues which they have inhaled. Although 
 the features are so changed on that pale face, they find 
 imprinted there the peace of God, which surpasses all 
 understanding. In those eyes almost closed, in those 
 few words scarcely heard, they can read the assurance 
 of her eternal happiness, which the Holy Spirit makes 
 her feel in advance. Ah! the true Religious dies not: 
 
 42 
 
death is for her but the commencement of life, the 
 end of combats, the ceasing of trials, the last act of 
 the dying life to which she has vowed herself. 
 
 In effect, the Religious life, and especially the life 
 of Carmel, is the faithful accomplishment of the words 
 of Saint Paul: "They who belong to Jesus Christ 
 have crucified their flesh with its vices and concupis- 
 cences." "You are dead and your life is hidden with 
 Christ in God." By her profession, a true Carmelite 
 is dead to the world, not only being separated from 
 it by her sacred engagements, and a stranger to its 
 pleasures and its affairs; but she loses even the remem- 
 brance of the persons and things of the world, and 
 comports herself in their regard as if they did not exist. 
 She is dead to the goods of the world by voluntary 
 poverty, dead to its affections by mortification of the 
 heart; and to this renunciation of exterior objects, she 
 joins a constant abnegation of her entire self. Her 
 will and her judgment are annihilated by the practice 
 of a generous and universal obedience; modesty and 
 guard of her senses favor a habit of recollection, and 
 cause her to live the life of God, a life unknown to 
 men and praised by Saint Paul in these words: "You 
 are dead and your life is hidden with Christ in God." 
 What is death able to effect upon such a creature, ex- 
 cept to sever the last feeble tie, which retains her upon 
 earth, and to leave her soul at liberty to fly to Him, 
 Whom she has loved! 
 
 The devil is there also, it is true, like a roaring lion 
 foaming around her bed of pain, now become an altar 
 where the victim of charity is consummating her sac- 
 rifice; but he dares not approach it, for he finds there 
 nothing that belongs to him. He trembles in seeing 
 there all the Religious virtues which she has loved 
 and practiced, — obedience, chstity, humility, penance, 
 solitude and silence, ranged around as a valiant guard, 
 like the one which day and night stood, sword in 
 hand, around the bed of King Solomon. It is to such 
 a death that we may apply in a particular manner 
 these words, or rather these magnificent promises of 
 Jesus Christ: "I am the Resurrection and the Life, he 
 
 43 
 
who believes in Me, although he be dead, shall live." 
 How precious in Thy sight, O my God, is the death 
 of the just. "Blessed are the dead who die in the 
 Lord, their good works shall follow them." O how 
 well the faithful Religious now understands the austere 
 life which she so generously embraced. If she could 
 have any regret, doubtless it would be not to have 
 done more for that most happy eternity, whose glory 
 already appears to her infinitely surpassing her feeble 
 sacrifices. O how well she now recognizes the value 
 of mortification, of silence, of recollection, and the 
 merits of trials and combats generously sustained. 
 
 "O my God, may my soul die the death of the just!" 
 May I die the death of Thy Holy Spouse Teresa, our 
 Mother! Love burst the ties which bound her, and 
 her beautiful soul flew like a pure dove to Thy bosom, 
 leaving all who witnessed her precious death pene- 
 trated with admiration. O may my soul then die so 
 precious a death, may it die the death of many other 
 worthy daughters of our Holy Mother, and imitators 
 of her virtues! But, O my God, in order to die their 
 death, I must live their life; and until now, I have 
 lived my own, a life all natural, full of actions which 
 had self-love for their motive, instead of being ani- 
 mated by Thy holy love. 
 
 But it shall be so no longer, O my Saviour, if I have 
 lived until now as a foolish virgin, without taking care 
 to keep my lamp filled with the oil of charity, I wish 
 henceforth to live by Thee and for Thee alone, in 
 order that, dying in Thee, I may possess Thee eter- 
 nally. Amen. 
 
 SECOND MEDITATION. 
 
 The Particular Judgment. 
 
 "We must all be manifested before the 
 judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may 
 receive the proper things of the body, accord- 
 ing as he hath done whether it be good or 
 evil."— II Cor. V, 10. 
 
 I come trembling to prostrate myself at Thy feet, O 
 my Lord, Jesus Christ! I adore Thee as the Awful 
 Judge, before Whom I must appear when I leave this 
 world at the terrible hour of death. Then Thou 
 
 44 
 
shalt have no more regard but for the rigorous rights 
 of Thy justice, because the time of Thy mercy shall 
 have passed. But since that time has not yet come, O 
 my Saviour, thanks to Thy goodness, and as Thou hast 
 even granted me this Retreat, which is doubly a time 
 of mercy, I wish to profit by it and to anticipate to-day 
 that terrible judgment, by judging myself in advance 
 and citing myself in spirit before Thy dread tribunal. 
 Make me feel at this moment all the rigor and all the 
 extent of the rights of Thy Justice, in order that, being 
 penetrated with a salutary fear and after the example 
 of the Holy Fathers of the desert, I may live in con- 
 tinual expectation of that day. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 "After Death, the Judgment." 
 
 After having meditated upon death, it is important 
 to examine what it is that renders death so terrible, 
 and to consider the decisive moment of judgment 
 which follows it. Now, as this judgment is passed by 
 God Himself, that is to say, by the Sovereign 
 Monarch of the universe, Whom nothing can resist, 
 from Whom nothing can escape, it is impossible to 
 understand it in all its rigor. He is a judge enlight- 
 ened and incorruptible, as He is powerful and dread- 
 ful. He has no need of satellites to drag the guilty to 
 His tribunal, of witnesses to convict them, or of chains 
 to keep them. He is God. He will not allow Him- 
 self to be moved by tears; He cannot be won by pres- 
 ents; He is deaf to all considerations foreign to His 
 Justice; He laughs at the eloquence of human dis- 
 courses. He is God, — God alone with His Justice, 
 "Whose depth is an unfathomable abyss," says the 
 Prophet, while His scrutinizing eyes count the grains 
 of sand on the sea shore. . . .And the soul appears be- 
 fore this Judge. Alone, also!. . . .Alone with the good 
 or the evil which she has done while in the body. All 
 things else, talents, beauty, greatness, courage, friends, 
 goods, parents, protectors, she has left on earth, not 
 being able to bring any with her when she presents 
 herself before Jesus Christ. She brings only the sins 
 
 45 
 
of which she is guilty and the virtues which she has 
 practised ; and these sins and these virtues shall be ex- 
 amined with rigorous justice. The time of life has now 
 passed and with it the time of mercy. During the time 
 that she lived upon earth, God had no regard to His 
 justice, supporting with an infinite patience all her 
 iniquities, ceasing not to pursue her with the attrac- 
 tions of His love, soliciting her by His grace, and offer- 
 ing her until the last moment a generous pardon. But 
 to-day, unhappily for this soul if she has despised these 
 invitations, abused these graces, and rejected these 
 mercies, the hour of justice has sounded. "Call Me," 
 says God by the mouth of His Prophet; "Call Me with- 
 out mercy." "It is terrible to fall into the hands of 
 the Living God," of the Just Judge, when one has 
 despised the treasures of His infinite goodness, of His 
 patience and His long suffering. What shall I do, what 
 shall I say, when God shall stand to judge me, and 
 when He shall demand of me the goods He has con- 
 fided to my care, saying: "Render an account of thy 
 stewardship" ? 
 
 Alas! Lord, I tremble to think of myself as this un- 
 fortunate soul. I see myself, scarcely out of the prison 
 of my body, and already standing before Thee as my 
 Sovereign Judge. Hopelessly I look around me. 
 Time has finished, my Eternity has begun. No longer 
 can friends console me, nor protection defend me. I 
 implore Thy mercy, but the time of mercy has passed. 
 "Sad situation," says Saint Bernard, "for a sinful soul 
 in the presence of God, weighed down by mortal 
 agony: above, an inexorable Justice; below, the horri- 
 ble chaos of hell which awaits her; on one side, the 
 multitude of her sins which accuse her, and on the 
 other, a troop of demons who claim her; within, re- 
 morse which tears her; outside, the world escaping and 
 passing forever from her sight." 
 
 But, O my God, the time of justice has not yet ar- 
 rived for me. Thou hast spared me until this day, to 
 breathe the sweet air of Thy mercy. Thou hast granted 
 me the grace of this Retreat, a time of mercy and of 
 salvation by excellence. Suffer me, then, to say with 
 
 46 
 
Thy Prophet, "Enter not into judgment with Thy ser- 
 vant, O Lord, for in Thy sight shall no man living be 
 justified." I implore Thy goodness and I hope for a 
 favorable sentence. Teach me how to judge myself, 
 since Thy Apostle assures me that if I judge myself I 
 shall not be judged. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 What Shall the Judgment Be? 
 
 I shall conclude from the preceding consideration 
 that the rigor of the judgment which shall be exer- 
 cised upon the soul at the moment of its separation 
 from the body, exceeds all that I can imagine, since 
 the Judge is God, Who possesses an infinite exactitude 
 in the appreciation of faults, an infinite precision in 
 the examining of consciences, an infinite justice in the 
 application of punishment. This examination, this ap- 
 preciation, this sentence, requires not a considerable 
 time, for the soul invested all at once with the bright- 
 ness of the light of God shall see herself entirely as she 
 is, not only her sins, but her least imperfections, her 
 abuse of the graces of God; and the consequences of 
 all these faults will appear to her in an instant. 
 Nothing can escape her: neither the sins of her youth 
 of which she has lost the remembrance, nor the faults 
 committed in the indulgence of her passions, and of 
 which she has stifled the salutary remorse. She shall 
 be judged upon the least thought she had formed in 
 her mind; each word that had escaped her lips; all her 
 affections, her desires, her hatreds, her repugnances; 
 upon all her steps, actions and the undertakings which 
 had filled her entire life. Nothing shall be omitted, 
 since, according to the testimony of Jesus Christ Him- 
 self, we shall render an account for every idle word. 
 
 This account will extend to all the gifts of nature 
 and of grace; it is Jesus Christ Who again assures us 
 of this in His Gospel: "Render an account," says the 
 Master to His unfaithful servant, "Render an account 
 of what I have confided to thy care." 
 
 Yes, render Me an account of thy body and all its 
 senses, of thy soul and all its faculties, thy hands, thy 
 
 47 
 
feet, thy eyes, thy mouth, thy ears — how hast thou 
 used them? Thy understanding, thy memory, thy 
 will, to what hast thou applied them? How hast thou 
 used riches, beauty, credit, nobility? What use hast 
 thou made of My creatures; the light of day, the dark- 
 ness of night, fruits, plants, animals — in a word, of all 
 the beauty and riches with which I have clothed the 
 universe for thee? Render Me an account! 
 
 But what of the gifts of grace? General graces, the 
 inestimable graces of the Incarnation, of Redemption, 
 of Vocation to Christianity! The soul will understand 
 then their infinite value and the important obligations 
 which flow from them upon her. She shall then see 
 the continual and particular succors that were given 
 her by which to profit. She must render an account of 
 all the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, and of the man- 
 ner in which she has corresponded to them; of the 
 trials, afflictions, spiritual aridities, as well as of the 
 consolations and interior lights, because all have been 
 measured out to her with equal wisdom for her sal- 
 vation. The exterior means of sanctification will not 
 be forgotten in this examination: Exortations, Lec- 
 tures, Confessions, Commuions. And that incompar- 
 able grace of her Religious Vocation, with all the 
 means of salvation attached to it! The Holy Vows of 
 Obedience, Poverty, and Chastity; happy separation 
 from the world, examens, private advice, public cor- 
 rections, prayer, the Divine Office, and all the holy 
 means afforded by the Rule of Carmel for divesting 
 one's self of imperfection and acquiring all the virtues! 
 Religious souls, "Render Me an account of all these 
 great talents confided to thee," a rigorous account, a 
 decisive account, a prompt and definite account! But 
 this is not the end of the examination, already so se- 
 vere! This soul must answer to the Judge, not only 
 for her own sins, but also for the sins and faults which 
 she has caused others to commit; for the examples of 
 relaxation and dissipation, of tepidity and sloth which 
 she has given them. What a terrible examination for 
 all, and especially for those who have care of guiding 
 others, and who owe them not only good example, but 
 
 48 
 
warnings and corrections; because it is certain that in 
 a community no one can sanctify herself alone, nor 
 abandon herself to relaxation or be lost, without ex- 
 ercising a most malignant influence upon the other 
 members which compose it. 
 
 But behold something more astonishing and more 
 terrible yet, and it is the testimony of the Sacred 
 Books: "God will judge even justice," that is, He 
 will judge even our good actions, examining for what 
 motive and under what circumstances they have been 
 performed, and reducing their number to those which 
 have been truly meritorious, not according to the opin- 
 ion of man, but according to that of Truth itself. Oh! 
 how we shall change our sentiments in the brightness 
 of this Divine Light; how our illusions shall vanish! 
 A crowd of works which we now judge as good will 
 then appear but the fruit of human virtue; acts which 
 we now consider holy, and habits which we esteem as 
 virtues, will then lose their prestige; for they shall be 
 found infested with secret vices, and soiled with the 
 poison of self-love. When we put these pretended 
 good works in the balance of our own estimation, they 
 seem to be of great value; but when they are weighed 
 by the Justice of God they shall be found worthless, 
 and thus escape, leaving our hands empty. Not only 
 souls of mediocre virtue, but even the most holy shall 
 see a part of their good works, and the merits which 
 they believe they had acquired, vanish thus. "Ah!" 
 cries the Apostle, Saint Peter, "if, on the great day of 
 the Justice of God, the just shall scarcely be saved, 
 what must become of sinners?" . 
 
 And this judgment, so terrible, will be succeeded by 
 a sentence more terrible still. The sinful, and hence- 
 forth lost soul, who has already read with terror her 
 doom in the irritated eyes of her Judge, shall hear 
 from His holy mouth these frightful words: "Depart 
 from Me, ye cursed into everlasting fire." Ah! Lord, 
 I wish not to hear this terrible sentence. I will not 
 hear it for this Retreat shall be for me a judg- 
 ment which I desire to enforce upon myself, as severe 
 if possible, as Thine. I shall treat my soul with the 
 
 49 
 
same rigor, with the same precision which I have just 
 considered in Thee; I shall descend into the depths of 
 my conscience, I shall question it, I shall examine not 
 only my sins, but the sources whence they proceed. 
 I shall consider the numberless graces which Thou hast 
 bestowed upon me, I shall recall all the inspirations by 
 which I have not profited, the precious time purchased 
 for me by Thy Blood, and of which I have lost so 
 much. I shall call to mind the bad example which I 
 have given to the community. I shall forget none of 
 my sins, none of my infidelities, Lord, in order that, 
 by weeping over them now, I may merit to hear from 
 Thee, "Come ye Blessed of My Father" — "Come 
 good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of 
 thy Lord." Amen. 
 
 THIRD MEDITATION. 
 The General Judgment. 
 
 "Then shall the king say to them that shall 
 be on his right hand: Come ye, blessed of 
 my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared 
 for you from the foundation of the world. . . . 
 Then shall he say to them also, that shall 
 be on his left hand: Depart from me you 
 cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the 
 devil and his angels."— St. Matthew, XXV, 
 34, 41. 
 
 I adore Thee, O Sovereign Judge of the living and 
 the dead, My Lord Jesus Christ, Who, at the last day, 
 shall cause to appear before Thy dread Tribunal all 
 the nations of the earth. I represent to myself that 
 solemn moment, when appearing upon the clouds of 
 heaven with great power and majesty, Thou wilt send 
 Thy Angels to order the dead to arise from their 
 graves and to come to judgment. I see even now the 
 sad separation of the good from the bad. I hear the 
 happy sentence which Thou shalt pronounce upon the 
 first, and the maledictions which Thou shalt cast upon 
 the last, which will receive an eternal and irrevocable 
 execution. How terrible and awful! How important 
 and profitable these truths, to make upon my mind 
 salutary impressions! Deign to grant me the grace to 
 profit by them, O my God! 
 
 50 
 
FIRST POINT. 
 All Men Shall Be Judged at the End of the World. 
 
 As it is very necessary for me to meditate upon 
 this truth, it is important that I have a profound knowl- 
 edge of it, and to conceive a lively and sincere faith 
 in it. I will then consider that of all the dogmas of our 
 Holy Religion there is not one more explicitly taught 
 in the Holy Books, in the Old as well as in the New 
 Testament, and upon the authority of the Church, as 
 the one which I now consider: "That God has re- 
 served a day upon which He shall judge the universe 
 in His Justice." This divine teaching corresponds at 
 the same time to the need that we feel of a great and 
 solemn Reparation for the scandals, the injustice, and 
 the disorders of which this world affords us a spec- 
 tacle. 
 
 In the Old Testament, the Prophets have left the 
 most terrible descriptions of this great day, at the 
 same time that they represent to us in the most mag- 
 nificent terms the advent of the Sovereign Judge. In 
 the New, Jesus Christ Himself addresses His disciples 
 arid the people who follow Him, at several different 
 times, concerning the Last Day. He retraces it in the 
 lamentable catastrophe of the unfortunate Jerusalem; 
 He instructs them concerning the signs of terror which 
 are to precede it; He describes to them the order and 
 the principal circumstances of it; and goes so far as 
 to refer to the words by which the Judge shall pro- 
 nounce the sentences and the motive which He shall 
 assign for them. In fine, to make known this impor- 
 tant truth more clearly, He consecrates to it an entire 
 parable, which is regarded as the most instructive and 
 the most important of all His parables. It is that of 
 the cockle, thrown by the enemy of man into the field 
 of the father of the family, and which is allowed to 
 grow together with the good seed, until the time of 
 the harvest. "The field," adds Our Saviour, "is the 
 world; the good seed, the children of the Kingdom; 
 the cockle, the children of the wicked one. But the 
 harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are 
 
 51 
 
the Angels. Even as cockle is gathered to be burned 
 by fire, so shall it be at the end of the world. The 
 Son of Man shall send His Angels to gather out of 
 His kingdom all scandals and them that work iniquity, 
 and cast them into the furnace of fire, where there 
 shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 
 
 "The just shall shine as the sun in the Kingdom of 
 their Father"; "Those who have ears, let them hear." 
 
 After the example of their Divine Master, the Apos- 
 tles ceased not in their Epistles to propose to the faith- 
 ful the second coming of Jesus Christ as a most press- 
 ing motive for being vigilant and firm in the Faith. 
 Saint John, in his Apocalypse, has left us a most mag- 
 nificent picture, at once touching and terrible, of the 
 imposing scenes which shall precede, accompany and 
 follow this grand event. It is in watching and prayer 
 that we should await it, but it is necessary also, for 
 the glory of God and the interest of Jesus Christ, that 
 we desire it. "The Spirit and the Bride (the Church) 
 say: Come/' and those who hear say: "Come." 
 
 How can we consider the disorders which reign in 
 the world, the contempt which most men have for the 
 Divine Law, and their forgetfulness of their Loving 
 Saviour, without being pressed with the desire of see- 
 ing that day on which Jesus Christ will seize the reins 
 of His power and receive from His Father the inves- 
 titure of His Royalty, a glorious, immutable and eter- 
 nal Royalty, which He Himself has taught us to pray 
 for in these words: "Thy Kingdom come." And as 
 the world, not content with ignoring its Saviour and 
 rejecting His grace, has dared cite Him before its 
 tribunal at the time of His Passion, so God has estab- 
 lished this Divine Mediator as Judge of all men, in 
 order that He may judge the world, which has been 
 guilty of the audacious sacrilege of judging Him. 
 
 At the same time God will avenge His Divine Provi- 
 dence, outraged by the blasphemies of the impious 
 and the murmurs of His ungrateful children. This 
 Day, in effect, shall be the day of His manifestation. 
 This is why it is called the Day of the Lord, by excel- 
 lence; for it shall not be formed by the light of the 
 
 52 
 
sun, but by that of God Himself, the true Sun of Jus- 
 tice, Who shall discover to all the admirable wisdom 
 by which He has ruled all the events of the lives of all 
 people in general, and of each man in particular, in 
 order to their eternal salvation, if they had been faith- 
 ful. It is this resplendent light of the Eternal Truth 
 which shall force all men to render homage to the in- 
 finitely wise and merciful ways of Divine Providence, 
 and all, whether just or sinner, elect or reprobate, must 
 cry out in one voice, "Thou art just, O Lord, and Thy 
 judgments are true." This day is necessary in order 
 to make known solemnly the judgment which each 
 soul has submitted to at the moment of its separation 
 from the body, and to cause to appear the sovereign 
 justice and wisdom of God in all these Divine Judg- 
 ments, according to the words of the Prophet: "Judge 
 between My vineyard and Me, and see if there is any- 
 thing which I could have done for her and have not 
 done." 
 
 Thus it is that the glory of God claims a day and a 
 place where the generations of all peoples which have 
 passed successively upon the earth must appear simul- 
 taneously, in the presence of their Creator, to cast 
 themselves upon their faces before His Sovereign Au- 
 thority, and to render a last and brilliant homage to 
 His infinite perfections. After this supreme reason 
 for the last and General Judgment, it is easy to explain 
 the awful signs which go before, and the terrible 
 catastrophies which precede, accompany and follow it. 
 
 These great events, the earth trembling to its centre 
 like a drunken man, the sun refusing its light, the moon 
 shrouded in a veil of blood, the stars falling from 
 heaven, the furious sea breaking all its bounds, and, 
 in fine, a devouring fire, are not only sent as terrible 
 warnings to render men attentive to the great things 
 which are to appear, and by which the justice of God 
 menaces them, but, above all, to purify the earth from 
 all works of iniquity. 
 
 And I, Lord, what can I say, what can I think when 
 representing to myself this Last Great Day? Should 
 I desire it? Should I fear it? Should I make it the 
 
 53 
 
subject of my prayers, because it will put an end to sin, 
 be an entire defeat to the demon, the manifestation 
 of Thy glory, the commencement of Thy reign and the 
 triumph of Thy faithful servants? Or should I appre- 
 hend it because of my sins, my infidelities, and the re- 
 sistance which, until now, I have made to Thy merci- 
 ful inspirations? Ah, Lord, I fear it because of my 
 sins, but I desire it because of Thy glory; and I shall 
 force myself to be of the number of those to whom 
 Thou dost address these consoling words: "When 
 these things shall happen, lift up thy head, because thy 
 redemption is near at hand." I will say with the 
 Spouse, being myself Thy spouse, all unworthy as I 
 am of it: "Come, Lord Jesus, come." 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 How Will This Judgment Take Place? 
 
 After being well penetrated with the truth, and the 
 sovereign necessity of this Great Day, for the good of 
 my soul I shall endeavor to represent to myself its 
 principal circumstances. 
 
 First — The Coming of the Sovereign Judge. 
 
 Immediately upon the given sign, the Angels shall 
 sound their trumpets towards the four quarters of the 
 globe, and in a voice like unto thunder, or the voice 
 of great waters, cause to be heard among the tombs 
 these formidable words: "Arise, ye dead, and come 
 to judgment." The heavens shall open and the souls 
 of the blessed shall descend and clothe themselves 
 with their bodies, as with a vesture of glory and im- 
 mortality; while, at the same time, hell will open her 
 immense gulf and vomit forth her victims — wicked 
 and unfortunate souls, who, constrained by an all- 
 powerful Hand, shall re-enter each its own body, now 
 become hideous and flaming, thus adding to their pre- 
 ceding evils the torture of those members which were 
 the instrument of their sins. Behold this immense mul- 
 titude, composed of all the peoples of all the gener- 
 ations which have inhabited the earth since Adam, 
 without excepting a single one, whether just or sinner. 
 
 54 
 
Led by the Angels, they come trembling before the 
 Throne of the Sovereign Judge. Already He is seated 
 upon the clouds of heaven, the Immortal King of Ages, 
 to Whom, according to the faithful promise of the 
 Eternal Father, is reserved a reign without end, and 
 Who has received the privilege of judging the living 
 and the dead. He is more brilliant than the sun, and 
 is surrounded by innumerable legions of the Celestial 
 Militia. The demon is under His feet, as the pitiless 
 executor of that Justice of which he is the first to feel 
 the effects. He waits — His terrible look interrogates 
 this immense multitude. 
 
 What a terrible moment ! Where shall I be then, O 
 my God? What shall I do? Fear and terror pene- 
 trates my bones when I represent to myself this terri- 
 ble hour, when the thunders of Thy judgment shall 
 pass over my head; when Thou wilt come to discover 
 the secrets of all consciences, and, opening the Book 
 where all is written, Thou shalt seat Thyself to judge 
 the world. Ah! Lord, imprint deeply in my soul a 
 fear of Thy judgments. 
 
 Second — The Manifestation of Consciences. 
 
 The Light of God, that light which envelopes every 
 soul on leaving the body, shall shine at this moment 
 upon this vast multitude which it shall illuminate on 
 all sides — discovering all the thoughts, the words, the 
 actions, the sentiments of each, with a million times 
 more clearness and evidence than the sun shining at 
 midday upon a vast field, illuminating all its parts, en- 
 lightening all its paths, and distinguishing all its ob- 
 jects, from the leaves of the trees to the smallest weed 
 of the meadow. Thus shall be accomplished the 
 words of Jesus Christ: "There shall be nothing cov- 
 ered which shall not be revealed, nothing hidden 
 which shall not be seen on that Great Day." Each 
 soul shall see clearly, in this Divine Light, the different 
 ways and the ineffable means by which Divine Provi- 
 dence has willed to conduct her, and how, by her 
 fidelity or her resistance, she has gained or lost the 
 One True Good. Her crimes, her malice, her sins 
 
 55 
 
without number, she shall then see in the presence of 
 God; and all other souls shall see them with her, and 
 the confusion of the others shall diminish nothing of 
 her own, for there shall be, in that Day so full of bit- 
 terness, place for the sorrows and the shame of all 
 men. This prodigious and instantaneous brightness 
 shall be the glory of the just, in discovering to all eyes, 
 their combats and their victories by which they have 
 triumphed over sin and established in their purified 
 souls the empire ojF grace; and it shall cause such sor- 
 row and such confusion to sinners that, according to 
 the Prophet, they shall seek to hide themselves in the 
 holes of the rocks, in the depths of caves, saying to the 
 mountains, "Crush us," and to the earth, "Swallow us 
 up." This manifestation of souls shall be more evi- 
 dent by the very state of our resuscitated bodies; for, 
 as Saint Paul teaches us, those of the elect shall shine 
 in their glory, and their beauty shall resemble the stars 
 of heaven, shining with different degrees of light, and 
 bearing character proper to the virtues which have 
 distinguished them and to the combats which they 
 have sustained ; while those of the reprobate, hideous 
 and deformed, shall portray the horrible variety of 
 their sins and their vices, and show the frightful char- 
 acter of their perversity. O Day of Excellence! Day 
 of Truth! Day without shadow! Day of God! 
 There shall be then no longer illusions, no longer lies, 
 no more dissimulation. The shameful nakedness of 
 the earth shall be revealed to all eyes. We shall see 
 the nothingness of its riches, its grandeurs, the dis- 
 honor of its cupidity, its voluptousness, its pride. And 
 all these shall proclaim that God alone is, that the 
 supreme happiness was in His service, the sovereign 
 unhappiness to offend Him. 
 
 Alas! O my God, this knowledge, so clear, shall 
 then serve only for Thy Justice; it shall be useless for 
 confounded and reprobate sinners. But since I may 
 yet profit by it, Oh! may I make use of it to dissipate 
 the illusions of my self-love and to destroy the false 
 pietexts of which my laxity makes use to dispense me 
 from the efforts which the practise of virtue requires. 
 
 56 
 
Give that light to my soul now, in order that it may 
 not turn to rny confusion on the Last Great Day. 
 
 Third — The Sentence of the Sovereign Judge. 
 
 It is then that Jesus Christ, the Sovereign Judge of 
 the living and the dead, shall eternally separate the 
 good from the bad. By His orders the Angels, like 
 the shepherd who, in the evening, separates the sheep 
 from the goats, shall distinguish in this vast multitude 
 all those who bear the sign of the elect and who have 
 combatted under the standard of the Cross, and separ- 
 ate them from sinners who have imprinted upon their 
 foreheads the character of the beast. These are ranged 
 on the left, the first on the right. The Supreme Judge, 
 turning to those on His right, shall say in a voice full 
 of goodness: "Come, ye Blessed of My Father, 
 possess the Kingdom which has been prepared for you 
 from the beginning of the world." Then, turning to- 
 wards sinners with a look of anger, He shall cry out: 
 "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, 
 which has been prepared for the devil and his angels." 
 Thus will be accomplished the last part of the parable: 
 "Then the reapers shall gather the good grain into My 
 barn, but the bad they shall throw into the fire to be 
 burned." 
 
 In effect, the ministers of Divine Justice shall seize 
 and precipitate the infernal troop of confused, des- 
 perate and unhappy reprobate souls into the abyss; 
 while the Angels are inviting the elect to ascend with 
 them into heaven, to add glory to the triumph of 
 Jesus Christ and to live eternally under the scepter of 
 this glorious and peaceful King in the Heavenly Jeru- 
 salem. O, where shall I be on that Great Day of Thy 
 Justice, O, Jesus, my Saviour ! Shall I be on Thy right 
 with Mary, Thy Most Holy Mother, Thy Holy Apos- 
 tles, Virgins and Martyrs? Or shall I tremble on Thy 
 left, struck with anathema and confounded? Shall I 
 hear Thy sentence of benediction or of malediction? 
 Shall I be among the wise virgins who will joyously 
 enter with Thee to the nuptial banquet, or shall I be 
 among the foolish virgins to whom Thou wilt say: 
 
 57 
 
"I know ye not"? What terrible words, O my Sa- 
 viour! Nevertheless, I know that Thou hast warned 
 me of them, because, on that Great Day, many shall 
 believe themselves Thy servants, who will even have 
 performed brilliant acts, yet to whom Thou must say: 
 "Depart from Me, ye workers of inquity, I know ye 
 not!" Ah! Lord, it is now that I must separate my- 
 self from sinners, from languishing and idle souls, from 
 tepid and negligent Religious, if I wish not to be found 
 among such souls on the Last Day. I beg this grace 
 of Thee. Amen. 
 
 LECTURE. 
 
 The Perfection of the Order of Carmel. 
 
 As in a royal garden, where grows a multitude of 
 fragrant flowers, each having its own particular grace 
 and perfection, some are distinguished from others by 
 their beauty, brightness, brilliancy of color and the 
 sweetness of their perfume, so in the Holy Church of 
 God, among an admirable variety of Religious orders, 
 each one having a perfection proper to its particular 
 end, there are, nevertheless, some which rank above 
 the others, because in them are practised a more sub- 
 lime and far-reaching charity. Such, in particular, is 
 the Order of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount 
 Carmel. There will be no longer cause for astonish- 
 ment at the beauty and grandeur of this Order, and 
 and at the sublimity of the virtues which it requires of 
 those who embrace it, if we consider that it has been 
 founded by the Blessed Virgin Mary, as several Sov- 
 ereign Pontiffs have declared in their authentic Bulls. 
 The Holy Mother of God has adopted its members for 
 her true servants and as her children of predilection. 
 She has given them her habit, image of that beautiful 
 love of which she is the Mother and the most perfect 
 model, and which she expects them to practice in a 
 manner constant and heroic. 
 
 In effect, the law of this Holy Order is a law of 
 charity, but of a charity carried to the highest perfec- 
 tion, and in virtue of which a soul forgets herself en- 
 tirely, immolates herself entirely for the glory of God 
 
 58 
 
and the salvation of other souls. Their model of he- 
 roic love is the Holy Mother of God sacrificing upon 
 Calvary all her affections, and a million times more 
 than herself, since she there sacrificed her only Son to 
 the rigorous requirements of holy love, to satisfy the 
 justice of God and to operate the salvation of man- 
 kind. After the glorious Ascension of Jesus Christ, 
 this admirable Queen still afforded to her well-beloved 
 children a perfect example of all the virtues proper to 
 to them. She lived incessantly plunged in the most 
 sublime contemplation; while, at the same time, she 
 powerfully aided the Infant Church by the efficacy of 
 her continual prayers, the edification which she gave 
 it, and the part which her admirable zeal took in its 
 sufferings, its combats, and its progress. This spirit of 
 zeal and of charity, joined to contemplation, with 
 which this Holy Mother inspired her first servants of 
 Carmel, who were already heirs of the pious traditions 
 and sentiments of the Prophet Elias, became hence- 
 forth the particular spirit of this Holy Order. 
 
 But as in the course of ages, it began to decline from 
 its first charity, God raised up our Holy Mother, Saint 
 Teresa, to recall it to the primitive spirit, and to the 
 end for which Divine Providence had destined it. That 
 we may have no doubt concerning the spirit and the 
 object of this Institute, it suffices to remark that it was 
 precisely on the occasion of the evils which heresy and 
 increasing scandals caused in the Church, that Our 
 Lord pressed His Holy spouse to reform Carmel. He 
 willed that in opening these houses of penance and of 
 prayer, she should establish a more severe discipline 
 and a greater separation from the world, in order to 
 form chosen souls who would become instruments of 
 His mercy, by calling down upon sinners greater abun- 
 dance of grace through their prayers, their austerities, 
 and their immolation of self. 
 
 The Daughters of Saint Teresa should then unceas- 
 ingly reanimate in their souls, this spirit of zeal and 
 devotion, continually immolating themselves by a life 
 of abnegation and prayer; applying without relaxation 
 to sanctify themselves, less in view of their own inter- 
 
 59 
 
est than in that of God and their brethren, complete- 
 ly forgetting themselves, so to say, for this noble ob- 
 ject. It is thus that they will join the spirit of solitude 
 and retirement to the apostolic spirit, and render still 
 more vain and unjust the reproach sometimes ad- 
 dressed by the worldly minded to the Contemplative 
 Orders : that they are useless to their neighbor, a re- 
 proach which can never be applied to true Carmelites, 
 devoted to the most excellent of the spiritual works of 
 mercy — that is, to prayer and self-immolation for their 
 brethren. 
 
 The great means which this Holy Institute presents 
 to those who aim at this sublime charity, is contempla- 
 tion. It is in prayer and by prayer that the Solitary of 
 Carrnel is to establish in herself the reign of God. It 
 is by prayer, if she is faithful to her vocation, that she 
 will attain the Divine Union — her perfection, conse- 
 quently, her end. Behold why some Patriarchs of the 
 Order of Carrnel have taught that prayer is the end of 
 their Institute. A Carmelite is then an instrument of 
 prayer, a vase of prayer. A Carmelite without the spir- 
 it of prayer is a body without a soul, she merits not the 
 name of Carmelite. 
 
 Thus it may be said that all the Rules, Constitutions, 
 and pious customs of Carrnel, and above all the spirit in 
 which they should be followed, tend to one end, which 
 is to dispose souls for prayer, to make of them Con- 
 templative Souls. Profound solitude, even to living in 
 one's cell as in a desert; separation from the world, 
 even to the avoiding of a word, a sign which recalls to 
 mind the least of its habits, its goods, its pleasures; 
 avoidance of the parlor, pushed even to disgust, even 
 to seeing rarely and with necessity persons united by 
 the ties of blood; silence almost continual, interrupted 
 but seldom, and through piety or necessity; practices 
 of modesty and of recollection which interdict even a 
 look upon the countenance of a companion, or upon 
 the work which occupies her; mortification constant 
 and universal, which leaves no liberty to the senses, 
 interior or exterior. How, with such practices, with 
 Buch powerful means, if they are faithful to their ob- 
 
 60 
 
servance, can they fail to arrive, and in a short time, at 
 perfect prayer? It is true that great constancy, cour- 
 age, and generosity are necessary, and that a relax and 
 pusillanimous soul can never aspire to such a vocation. 
 Thus Superiors should be as attentive in sending away 
 from this Institute, souls of little generosity, as they are 
 in dismissing those whose minds are wanting in recti- 
 tude and intelligence, which Saint Teresa calls a good 
 und erstanding. 
 
 A peculiarity of this Holy Order which shows clear- 
 ly that the Spirit of God is in it, is that it unites the 
 advantages of the solitary life to the benefits of a com- 
 munity life, without having the inconveniences of eith- 
 er. The Solitary life is without doubt, the most suit- 
 able for establishing the soul in a holy communion with 
 God, its separation from things of the world favoring 
 a habit of recollection and facilitating holy thoughts; 
 but on the other hand, an entire separation from crea- 
 tures can give rise to many illusions, and expose one to 
 most dangerous temptations. Let us add to this, that if 
 a soul has the misfortune to fall there, she has no one 
 to extend a helping hand to raise her from her fall; 
 above all, she is deprived of good example and edifi- 
 cation, of helps so advantageous as good counsel, en- 
 couragement, and the consolations which are to be 
 found in a holy community; she is deprived of the oc- 
 casions of practicing precious virtues, such as obedi- 
 ence, patience with others, humiliations. On the other 
 hand, a community life has also its dangers and incon- 
 veniences which balance its advantages, if a soul is 
 not animated by charity and submissive to regular dis- 
 cipline; because trouble, divisions, and jealousies will 
 not be slow to form, and thus engender murmurs and 
 antipathies which very soon make Religious Houses 
 places where disorders abound, and where it is more 
 difficult to be saved than in the midst of the world. 
 
 But the Spirit of God in dictating Rules so full of 
 wisdom for the Order of Carmel, has placed such mod- 
 eration in the intercourse of the Religious, that they 
 communicate to fulfill the duties of fraternal charity, 
 without losing the spirit of solitude, and their spirit of 
 
 61 
 
recollection and mortified life in no way injure charity; 
 because this intercourse being accompanied by silence, 
 modesty and mortification, these virtues avert its incon- 
 veniences and regulate its use. But this supposes that 
 each Religious is animated by the spirit of solitude and 
 recollection, of crucifixion and death. To maintain 
 this two-fold life of solitude and charity, the Carmel- 
 ites have two great devotions which they call the Moth- 
 er devotions of the Order; these are a devotion to the 
 Most Adorable Sacrament of the Altar, and to the most 
 Holy Virgin. Behold the secret of their strength, their 
 happiness, their support; from the Altar of Jesus where 
 they imbibe without ceasing a new life, they pass to the 
 Altar of Mary, there to seek new courage and assist- 
 ance : behold the two great means, the two great treas- 
 ures of Carmel's Solitaries. 
 
 To have in resume, a striking and perfect picture of 
 the Holy Order to which I have the happiness to be- 
 long, it suffices to call to mind, and never to forget, 
 the end of this Order — the love of God and our neigh- 
 bor, carried even to the immolation of one's own in- 
 terests, of one's entire self; its spirit — eremitical, and 
 at the same time apostolic; its Mother devotions — love 
 for the August Sacrament, and the most Holy Mother 
 of God. The principal means to arrive at its perfec- 
 tion, means which in a way is the end itself of this In- 
 stitute, is contemplation. 
 
 We must conclude from what we have just remarked 
 of the perfection of Carmel, that it would be a great 
 error to imagine that it suffices to wear its holy Habit 
 and to follow its exterior practices, in order to belong 
 t/uly to it, and to gain all the precious advantages at- 
 tached to it. That which is most important is not the 
 letter of its Constitution, but the spirit which vivifies 
 them. One should without doubt, attach great im- 
 portance not only to the observance of the Rule and 
 Constitutions, but even to maintain the holy practices 
 of the Order. But the more severe and rigorous the 
 exterior observance of Religious discipline, the more 
 difficult and painful it will be, if devoid of the spirit, 
 which should animate it. It is necessary that the yoke 
 
 62 
 
of Rule should be to the religious soul what wings are 
 to the bird; these wings like all material things have a 
 certain weight; but notwithstanding this, it is by means 
 of these that birds raise themselves above the earth, 
 and take their flight on high. Thus it is that the Rule 
 which is followed in the spirit which is proper to it, 
 and the practice of which is animated by Divine love, 
 far from being to the soul a heavy yoke, on the con- 
 trary, soothes, unbends, and charms it. The interior 
 spirit is so essential for a Carmelite that if she be de- 
 void of it, having nothing of her holy state but her 
 Habit and exterior practices, she would resemble a ring 
 from which the diamond that gave it its value is lost. 
 
 There are several Religious Orders where greater 
 austerities are practiced than those of Carmel; but 
 that which constitutes the excellence of Carmel is inte- 
 rior mortification, detachment from creatures, the spirit 
 of solitude, the elevation above all created things, and 
 the forgetfulness of all that is not God; the spirit of 
 death to every care, affection, occupation and thought, 
 foreign to the glory of God, and consequently, the gift , 
 of prayer. Behold what constitutes a true Carmelite, 
 what establishes her in the state of a victim devoted to 
 the glory of God and the salvation of her neighbor; 
 what makes of her an instrument of prayer, destined 
 to call down by incessant supplication, the succors of 
 heaven upon all the needs of the Church. 
 
 Examen Upon the Lecture. 
 
 Have I a great esteem for my Holy State, and while 
 honoring and esteeming all the other Religious Orders, 
 since they have been raised up by the Spirit of God 
 and approved by the Holy Church, have I had for that 
 of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a veneration and a love 
 of predilection, since it offers in the Most Holy Vir- 
 gin, who is its Foundress, its Queen, and its Mother, a 
 model of the most sublime perfection, and in its Rules 
 and Constitutions, the means of attaining it? 
 
 Have I understood well all it requires and all the 
 perfection of that charity which should be practiced in 
 it? Have I understood well that self-sacrificing love, 
 
 63 
 
which obliges me to labor for my perfection, even to 
 attain the highest perfection of which I am capable 
 with the aid of grace? This consideration made our 
 Holy Mother, St. Teresa, regard as useless the vow 
 which she had made, to do always what she believed 
 to be most perfect; because a Carmelite, to be faithful 
 to the spirit and end of her Holy Institute, should al- 
 ways choose by preference, that which is most con- 
 fortable to Divine love. 
 
 Instead of conforming myself to the holy rigors of 
 Divine love, choosing what was most perfect, have I 
 not inclined by preference to those things in which I 
 found the most natural satisfaction, contenting my 
 self with the assurance that there was no sin in it? 
 
 In order to acquire the perfection of our Holy Or- 
 der, and the spirit of solitude, crucifixion, and death 
 which it requires of its children, do I enter generously 
 into the practice of a universal mortification and habit- 
 ual recollection? To attain this, have I sought to aug- 
 ment in my heart a devotion to the most August Sacra- 
 ment, and to the Holy Virgin Mary? In a word, have 
 I not thought that to be a Carmelite, it sufficed to wear 
 the Habit and to follow the exterior exercises without 
 taking the pains to acquire the interior spirit and the 
 gift of prayer, which is the soul of the Institute, while 
 exterior practices are but its body? 
 
 64 
 
THIRD DAY. 
 
 FIRST MEDITATION. 
 On Hell. 
 
 "And these shall go into everlasting pun- 
 ishment.'*— St. Matthew, XXV, 46. 
 
 I adore Thee, O Incarnate Word, Thou who hast the 
 key of David, Thou who openest to the elect and no 
 man can shut, Thou who shuttest to the reprobate and 
 no man can open! Ah! Lord, in order that I may not 
 be among the number of those victims of Thy justice, 
 whom Thou shalt shut up in the abyss, let me descend 
 there to-day in spirit. I wish to contemplate there the 
 place which my sins have merited. I desire thus to 
 share in that grace, which Thou didst give to our Holy 
 Mother, St. Teresa, when Thou didst in a vision full of 
 horror, conduct her into that place of torment. This 
 grace she always esteemed as one of the greatest which 
 she had received from Thee, because by it, she under- 
 stood the danger of infidelities, even the lightest. 
 Grant that I may draw from it the same fruit. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 What Is Hell? 
 
 St. Faul, raised up to the third heaven, where he 
 had tasted ineffable delights, could say nothing ex- 
 cept, with the Prophet Isaiah, that eye hath not seen, 
 nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the mind 
 of man to conceive the greatness of the joy and happi- 
 ness which God has prepared for those who love 
 Him. Such would be, although in a sense very dif- 
 ferent, alas! the language of a reprobate soul if, ap- 
 pearing upon earth, it tried to explain the horrors of 
 hell. The eye of man has not seen evils, torments and 
 despair; his ear has never heard cries of rage, of fury, 
 of sorrow and of suffering, gnashing and grinding of 
 teeth; his heart has never felt agony, tortures, bitter - 
 
 65 
 
ness, or despair comparable to the torments, clamors 
 and agonies of hell. Because hell is the place where 
 God exercises His justice, as heaven is the place 
 where He satisfies His bounty; in one as in the other, 
 He acts as God, that is to say, with infinite love or 
 infinite rigor. Just as in heaven, He places in the 
 souls of the just an ocean of infinite glory and felicity, 
 so in hell, He buries the reprobate in an abyss of deso- 
 lation and suffering which surpasses all that we can 
 imagine. 
 
 Hell contains in itself all evil, since in it reigns sin. 
 which is essentially the sovereign evil; and because 
 they who inhabit it are confirmed in sin, identified with 
 sin, and as it were, become sin itself. Thus, if it 
 were possible to accumulate upon one single person, in 
 one single day, and in one single place, all that is most 
 painful in bodily sufferings, all the torments invented 
 by tyrants for their victims, by persecutors for the 
 martyrs — fire, melted lead, devouring beasts, venom- 
 ous reptiles, burning gridirons, and added to these, 
 hunger, cold, fear, despair, persecutions and the 
 hatred and the cruel insults with which victims have 
 been tormented — all these evils, according to the testi- 
 mony of the Fathers of the Church, especially St. 
 Augustine, St. Chrysostom, St. Gregory and St. 
 Thomas, are nothing, or at least very little, compared 
 to those of hell ; because not only are they all found 
 there but united with them are an infinity of others un- 
 known to man, and all are intensified in the highest 
 degree. 
 
 These terrible evils are not confined to the place 
 which the demons inhabit, neither to the air they 
 breathe, as, for example, a closed furnace, or an atmos- 
 phere charged with pestilential vapors into which these 
 unfortunate victims could be plunged; but, as in 
 their proper place, they will be incorporated, identi- 
 fied with the reprobates themselves, in a word, they 
 will possess them and be possessed by them. This 
 possession is full and entire, that is to say, very differ- 
 ent from the suffering which they endured on earth, 
 where the patient neither suffers forever, nor equally, 
 
 66 
 
nor continually, nor everywhere, the evil which at- 
 tacks him, while the reprobate must endure them all 
 at once, in every part of their being, interiorly as well 
 as exteriorly, and this without the least interruption, 
 or the least alleviation. This possession is also perfect 
 and entire, that is to say, eternal, because without this 
 eternity the suffering of hell would not be a supreme 
 misfortune and hell would not be hell. But they are 
 to last always — this word "always" making the sover- 
 eign desolation of hell. 'Always' to suffer," cries 
 out the lost souls, "never to cease!" "Always!" As 
 long as God shall be God our torments shall never 
 cease! To this desolate prospect of eternity must be 
 added the most bitter remembrance, and the most 
 poignant regret, at the thought of all the means which 
 they had at their disposal for saving their souls when 
 they lived on earth. They will recall the abundant 
 helps which Holy Church offered them in the Sacra- 
 ments, prayer, and the Word of God, and the many 
 holy examples and charitable advice by which they 
 did not profit. Ah! it is there that the worm of which 
 our Saviour speaks dies not. But, above all, what 
 shall be the despair of a Religious soul, in thinking of 
 the many means of sanctification, of the grace of hav- 
 ing been chosen, of other precious privileges, the con- 
 tempt and the abuse of which shall add to her crime 
 and to her unhappy eternity! 
 
 That which will put the finishing touch to all the 
 evils and desolation of hell, and without which these 
 evils themselves, all incomprehensible as they are, 
 would nevertheless be susceptible of relief, is the 
 awful certainty which the reprobates have of being 
 always separated from God. The loss of God, — Ah! 
 this is the sovereign evil! If, indeed, they could but 
 conceive the faintest hope of seeing God for one in- 
 stant at the end of each million of years, this sight, al- 
 though so distant, would alleviate their torments. But, 
 alas! the darkness which environs them being so dense, 
 and the abyss into which they are plunged so pro- 
 found, that never can the least ray of hope penetrate, 
 nor one drop of the Blood of Jesus fall there. Who 
 
 67 
 
can explain this tortue of a damned soul! A torture 
 incomparably greater than all the others which she 
 endures, as it is caused by the inconsolable regret of 
 having lost forever the sovereign Good for which she 
 had been created, which she could have so easily ac- 
 quired — the sovereign Good which she has lo3t 
 through her own fault. 
 
 In this present life, notwithstanding the light of 
 Faith and the unction of grace, we can have but a 
 very imperfect idea of the anguish of a lost soul at 
 being eternally separated from God. In consequence 
 of original sin, our understanding is so clouded and 
 our will is so depraved that we forget that God is our 
 end, and we seek it in the enjoyment of created things. 
 But as soon as the soul is freed from the flesh which 
 has held and weighed it down, it finds itself animated 
 only with the instincts of its spiritual nature, and feels 
 an immense need of light, of truth, of peace and of 
 love. At the same time, it understands that God 
 alone can satisfy it, and it flies toward Him; but, while 
 the faithful and pure soul is received with love, the 
 lost soul is violently driven back and cursed! Ah! 
 who can explain the anguish, the agony, the torture 
 of this unfortunate soul in the midst of the useless ef- 
 forts which it makes to reach the Supreme Good, Who 
 responds to its desires only by new maledictions. It 
 is not love that thus transports it — it is the need it 
 feels of possessing God, joined to a frightful incli- 
 nation to hate Him and to curse Him. Horrible con- 
 tradiction! Astonishing combat! which tears the soul 
 and throws it without ceasing into new despair, into 
 that "exterior darkness, where there is weeping and 
 gnashing of teeth." "O, who will give water to my 
 head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes, to prevent 
 that useless weeping, and to deliver me from those 
 eternal flames which burn, yet never consume!" 
 
 "Ah! Lord, turn not Thy face from me, and take 
 not Thy Holy Spirit from me." Permit not that I 
 separate from Thee here, that I may not be separated 
 fiom Thee eternally. O my God, since hell is the sov- 
 ereign evil because there is the reign of sin, Thy irre- 
 
 63 
 
concilable enemy, I detest it more than hell itself, be- 
 cause hell is less an evil than sin; I will weep over 
 those I have committed, and I will live in the resolution 
 of preserving myself from sin at all costs. Grant me 
 this grace, O God, my Sovereign Good ! 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 Should I Fear Hell? 
 
 It is infinitely important for the Religious soul to 
 answer this question in the depths of her conscience, 
 because it is generally Religious souls who imagine 
 that this truth does not regard them; that it is not suit- 
 able for contemplative souls to meditate upon it, since 
 they should have abandoned the imperfect way of 
 fear, to raise themselves to God upon the wings of 
 pure love. But if we interrogate upon this 
 point the Doctors of the Church, the Fathers of 
 the Desert, and the History of the Church, it will be 
 seen how far these souls have been led into a danger- 
 ous delusion. From Judas, who was lost in the com- 
 pany of Jesus Christ, even to the last years of the last 
 century,* when we have seen the terrible anger of God 
 fall upon many Religious Houses, in punishment for 
 the forgetfulness of their duties and their sacred en- 
 gagements, how many Religious, solitaries, and per- 
 sons consecrated to the Holy Altar, have left their 
 holy state to follow the way of iniquity! Thus neither 
 the holy habit nor their profession, neither solitude 
 nor the high walls of their Monasteries could protect 
 nor preserve them from the eternal damnation which 
 they have merited precisely by the abuse of the 
 graces of their vocation. This is why there was no 
 practice more habitual with the Holy Solitaries of the 
 Desert than the consideration of the severity of the 
 judgments of God, and the rigor of the pains which 
 He inflicts upon impenitent sinners. 
 
 But what! you say, a Carmelite to be damned! She 
 who has quitted the world and made the greatest sac- 
 rifices for God; must she lead a life of crucifixion and 
 
 *Eighteenth century. The author probably refers to the French 
 Revolution. 
 
 69 
 
 
death to end in hell! Angels in heaven have fallen, 
 and the first man in the terrestrial Pardise, so many 
 solitaries in the most profound deserts, so many Re- 
 ligious in the most austere orders have unhappily been 
 lost; and shall I not tremble for myself? Shall I believe 
 myself assured against all danger by my profession 
 alone Ah! rather I should tremble more on account 
 cf the sanctity of my vocation, and the sublime perfec- 
 tion to which I am called in the Holy Order of Carmel, 
 as this shall be for me matter for a more severe judg- 
 ment and a more rigorous chastisement if I abuse so 
 great a grace. 
 
 But how can one damn herself in Carmel? Alas! 
 it is but too easily answered. How hast thou fallen 
 from heaven, O Lucifer? It was pride — self-love 
 which precipitated thee from it! Thus the first cause 
 of our ruin is ordinarily a secret pride, which, becom- 
 ing the principle as well as the motive of all our ac- 
 tions, causes us to refer all things to ourselves, to seek 
 with avidity the esteem and affection of creatures, to 
 seek or desire honorable charges, and suffer with pain 
 to be forgotten or reprimanded, considerng that we 
 are injured when others are preferred to us. The 
 the demon, ever ready to profit by our vicious disposi- 
 tions, drags us very soon to thoughts, murmurs and 
 actions which become the source of the gravest faults 
 and the most culpable disorders. Others are lost be- 
 cause of a pride more subtile and dangerous yet, as it 
 is more hidden. Seduced by the illusions of their 
 self-love, they are caught by the ruses of the demon, 
 disguised as an Angel of light to deceive them. They 
 believe that they are called to extraordinary ways; 
 whether because they esteem these ways too much, or 
 prefer them to the sure but humble way of faith; or 
 v/hether it is because they despise the warning of their 
 Superiors, they abandon the practise of humble and 
 ordinary virtues, such as obedience and contempt of 
 self, to follow their pretended revelations and imag- 
 inary visions, which serve only to nourish their pride 
 and lead them far from the beaten path of faith and 
 obedience. Many others, in fine, according to the 
 
 70 
 
Oracle of the Holy Spirit, neglect small things, and 
 thus fall, little by little, into grave infractions; or allow 
 themselves insensbly to sleep in a fatal tepidity, which 
 forces the Divine Spouse to vomit them out of His 
 mouth. 
 
 St. Teresa gives us a terrible proof of the fatal con- 
 sequence which infidelities can have for even the most 
 generous souls, if they continue in them. This Holy 
 Mother teaches us, in the thirty-second chapter of her 
 life, that God had shown her the place in hell which 
 the demon had prepard for her, and which her sins 
 would merit if she persevered in her infidelities and 
 her resistance to grace (yet, from the Bull of her 
 Canonization, and from authors of her life, it is evi- 
 dent that she never fell into any mortal sin). "It 
 seemed to me," she says, "that I found myself in a 
 moment in hell, without knowing how I had been 
 carried there. This lasted for very short time, but 
 if I should live many years I do not believe it possible 
 to lose the remembrance of it. The entrance seemed 
 to be like a long, close alley, or rather like a low, dark 
 and narrow oven; and the ground appeared to be like 
 mire, exceedingly filthy, stinking insupportably, and 
 full of a multitude of loathsome vermin. At the end 
 of it there was a certain hollow place, as if it had been 
 a kind of little press in the wall, into which I found 
 myself thrust and close pent up. All that I have said 
 might pass for delightful, in comparison with what I 
 felt in that press; the torment was so dreadful that no 
 words can express the least part of it. 
 
 "I felt a fire in my qfoul which I cannot express or de- 
 scribe, as it was in reality. All those other most griev- 
 ous torments which I have endured by the shrinking 
 up of my sinews, and by other ways, which, in the 
 judgment of physicians, were the greatest which could 
 be suffered in a corporeal way in this world, and some 
 also, as I have said, which were caused by the devil, 
 were all a mere nothing, in comparison with what I 
 suffered there, joined with the dismal thought that all 
 
 71 
 
this suffering was to be without end or intermission. 
 And even this is still nothing, if compared with the 
 continual agony the soul suffers; that pressing, that 
 stifling, that anguish so exceedingly sensible, together 
 with such desperate torturing, discontent and disgust 
 that I cannot express it. To say that it is a butchering 
 or rending of the soul, is to say little; for this would 
 seem to express a violence, used by some other agent 
 to destroy her. But here she is her own executioner, 
 and even tears herself to pieces. I saw not who it was 
 that tormented me; but I seemed to find myself both 
 burnt and cut to pieces all at once; and in so dread- 
 ful a place there was no room for the least hope of 
 once meeting with any comfort or ease; neither was 
 there any such thing as sitting or lying down. Thus 
 was I thrust into this place like a hole in the wall ; and 
 these walls, which are also most horrible to the sight, 
 press in upon their prisoner, so that everything chokes 
 and stifles there. There is nothing but thick darkness, 
 without the least glimpse of light; and yet I know not 
 how it is, though there is no light, yet one sees all that 
 can afflict the sight." 
 
 What a picture, O my God! painted by a soul who 
 had herself felt all the frightful terrors which she de- 
 scribes. How after this can anyone dare say that no one 
 has ever returned from hell to tell us of what passes 
 there? How can I myself be able to sleep on in a 
 mortal tepidity, reassuring myself on the lightness of 
 my faults? If St. Teresa thus saw the place which 
 would have been hers, if she had the misfortune to fall 
 into the sins to which her infidelities might have led, 
 had she not renounced them, should I not tremble now 
 at the sight of my faults, my resistance to a multitude 
 of Thy graces? Ah! Lord, I wish to delay no longer 
 in giving myself entirely to Thee. I will do so no mat- 
 ter what it may cost me. I will recoil before no sacri- 
 fice, I will no longer resist Thy inspirations, that by 
 this fear, which is the commencement of wisdom, J 
 may arrive at the perfection of love. 
 
 72 
 
SECOND MEDITATION. 
 Mortal Sin. 
 
 "Deliver us from Evil."— St Matthew, VI, 
 13. 
 
 I adore Thee, O my God, Who art sovereignly good 
 and holy, or rather goodness and sanctity itself, — in 
 a word, Sanctity by essence. "The heavens are not 
 pure in Thy sight, and Thou hast found corruption 
 even among the Angels." How, then, can I dare to 
 present myself before Thy Divine Majesty, — I who am 
 all covered with sins! But I throw myself at Thy feet, 
 Lord, that Thou mayest enlighten me by Thy grace 
 and make me understand the greatness of the evil 
 from which Thou wiliest that I beg to be delivered. 
 Thou dost detest it, Lord, because it is Thy supreme 
 enemy: make me abhor it also as Thou dost, because 
 it is also my greatest enemy. Dissipate the clouds 
 which my sins have caused in my heart and my mind, 
 in order that I may see clearly and feel deeply how 
 "great an evil it is to have abandoned the Lord, my 
 God." 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 The Injury Which Sin Does to God. 
 
 God is essential Goodness: He is Love itself. He is 
 the inexhaustible source of goodness and of love, and 
 desires only to pour out His riches upon His creatures. 
 Before the creation, and from all eternity, this commu- 
 nication took place in the Adorable Trinity, by the in- 
 effable relations which the three Divine Persons have 
 among themselves; and when God resolved to create 
 man in time, He made him to His Image and Likeness, 
 in order that he might enter into a participation of His 
 Eternal Beatitude. God can do nothing but for His 
 own glory, but this glory He places in the happiness 
 of His creatures. Thus, as I have already seen, the 
 end and the perfection of man consists in being united 
 to God by grace in this life and by glory in the next. 
 The Creator has regulated all the laws which govern 
 this vast universe to this end, so glorious and so advan- 
 tageous to His privileged creatures. He has given 
 
 73 
 
them the Commandments, not as the arbitrary condi- 
 tion of the infinite glory which He has prepared for 
 them, but as just and reasonable means for arriving 
 at it, since the Commandments are the expression of 
 His infinite Sanctity. He has prescribed them to man, 
 ill order that preserving or re-establishing in himself, 
 by their observance, the image of God, He may merit 
 to be eternally united to Him. Nothing then is more 
 beautiful, more admirable, or more just than the har- 
 mony existing among all the laws which govern the 
 creatures of this vast universe, and the end which God 
 proposed to Himself, when He drew them out of 
 nothingness — man's eternal happiness. My Lord, and 
 my God, I cry out with Thy Prophet: "How admir- 
 able is Thy name in the whole earth. . . .What is man 
 that Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor; 
 and hast set him over the works of Thy hands?" 
 
 Who would now dare disturb an order so perfect, 
 established for the glory of the Creator and the felicity 
 of His creatures, a marvelous result of the eternal 
 counsels, of the divine perfections, and in particular 
 of infinite power, wisdom and love? What name can 
 be given to the one who would try to prevent the 
 Sovereign Master of the world from attaining the end 
 of His works — who would deprive the Father of all 
 Being from enjoying the complacency which He pro- 
 posed to find in the happiness and the love of His 
 children? This disturbance, this disorder is sin, the 
 evil by excellence, because it attacks the Sovereign 
 Good, because it attacks Him in His Essence, and 
 wounds His adorable perfections in their exterior 
 manifestations, in a manner so horrible, so unqualified, 
 that if God, by His eternal and immutable Nature, was 
 ,iot beyond attack, sin would cause His death. 
 
 Sin, then, has no being; it is rather a non-being, 
 since it is a violation of the Holy Laws of God, and 
 attacks this God, Who alone has Being. — a violation 
 so much the more culpable because it is committed by 
 those in favor of whom these laws have been made — 
 by man, who thus uses to outrage his Creator the very 
 means given to glorify Him. These truths, which are 
 
 74 
 
so evident to reason enlightened by faith, are con- 
 firmed by the most formal teachings of Religion, teach- 
 ings at which we should fear and tremble. In effect, 
 I consider that God is Love; that He is Truth and 
 Justice itself, that His mercies are above all His works, 
 and by consequence, that the pains which He inflicts 
 upon the culpable cannot be greater than their faults; 
 that, on the contrary, knowing the frailty and imper- 
 fection of His creatures, whom He loves as His image, 
 He shows, even in the chastisements to which He 
 makes them submit, that His justice is tempered by 
 His love. I am forced to admit that if God has in- 
 flicted upon sinners the greatest pains to which their 
 nature is susceptible, it is because sin in His eyes is an 
 infinite malice, a disorder, an evil without measure. 
 Ah! what does Faith teach me here? It teaches me 
 that the torments of hell are an assemblage of all evils, 
 in an infinite degree, and that there may be a multi- 
 tude of the reprobate guilty of but one mortal sin. 
 
 Again, what does Faith teach? That for a single 
 mortal sin, a sin of thought, a sin committed in one 
 instant, God precipitated into hell the most noble, the 
 most beautiful of His creatures, the Princes of His 
 Court, His friends in whom He took His complacency, 
 in a word, the Angels — and that without any regard 
 for their dignity, their beauty and their number. He 
 condemned them to eternal and infinite torments, 
 without giving them time to repent or the means to do 
 penance. 
 
 But behold the Victim of the Justice of God, much 
 more elevated, much more noble, much more worthy 
 than all the legions of heaven — it is Jesus Christ. Has 
 He not been condemned by His Just Father, as the 
 Divine Saviour calls Him, to the torment of the Cross 
 — that is to sufferings of infinite value, on account of 
 the dignity of the One Who submitted to it in our 
 name! We must then conclude anew, and tremble 
 at the thought, that sin is an evil of infinite malice, 
 since it was effaced at so infinite a price. How striking 
 are these truths, O my God, which, until now, I have 
 endeavored so little to comprehend. Where shall I 
 
 75 
 
find motives to reassure myself? Because, if Thou 
 hast not spared even the Angels, if Thou dost plunge 
 into hell each day a multitude of sinners who imitate 
 them in their revolt, if Thou hast not spared Thy Only 
 Son, what shall become of me? 
 
 Lord, all unworthy as I am, I beg of Thee this 
 grace, give me light; grant to-day that I may under- 
 stand that sin is the one evil, and that there is no other, 
 because it attacks Thee, O my God ! Deliver me, then, 
 from the sins which I have already committed, and pre- 
 serve me from those into which I am in danger of 
 falling. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 The Harm Which Sin Does to Man. 
 
 If sin offers God an infinite injury, it is also for man 
 a sovereign evil, because it separates him from God, 
 his End and his infinite good in this world and in the 
 next. God — as I have seen with admiration, thanks 
 and love — God is the beginning and the end of man. 
 The perfection of this privileged creature is com- 
 menced here by grace and is consummated in heaven 
 by glory. Now, if man is faithful to grace, nothing 
 can be an obstacle, nothing can deprive him of this 
 supreme happiness. "If God is for us," says the Apos- 
 tle, "who can be against us?" "What can separate us 
 fiom the love of Jesus Christ; shall afflictions, or an- 
 guish, or persecutions, or hunger, or cold, or naked- 
 ness, or perils, or the sword? For I am persuaded 
 that neither life nor death, nor any other creature, 
 shall be able to separate us from the love of God, 
 which is Christ Jesus." 
 
 The sufferings and evils of this life, far from being 
 able to separate us from God, serve, on the contrary, 
 if we support them with Jesus Christ and in His Spirit, 
 to unite us more closely to Him, and merit for us a 
 greater abundance of celestial glory. Tribulations and 
 trials should, then, rather be called good than evil. 
 Sin, on the contrary, is an evil unmixed with any good, 
 an evil which is the source of all evil, because mala- 
 dies, death, disorderly passions, all the sufferings of 
 
 76 
 
this life, all the plagues of the world, pests, wars, 
 famine and hell itself come from it, as from a cursed 
 father. But, above all, it is for man the greatest evil, 
 because it separates him eternally from God, his Su- 
 preme Good, his perfection, his end; and, even in this 
 world, reduces his soul to a state of such deformity 
 that if a soul in mortal sin could be seen with our bodily 
 eyes it would be the most hideous, the most frightful 
 sight, ever given to man to behold. Moreover, sin, 
 when mortal, plunges the soul into the most profound 
 misery, into a complete and absolute indigence of all 
 good. Whatever may have been his preceding good 
 works, by this sin he immediately falls into disgrace 
 with God; and not only is he despoiled of all merit 
 and loses all right to recompense, but, as a tree struck 
 by lightning, he is become sterile and incapable of 
 producing any fruit for life eternal. Although this 
 soul distributes all his goods to the poor, has faith 
 enough to move mountains, and gives his body to be 
 burned, according to the testimony of St. Paul, it 
 profiteth him nothing. He is dead, his works are 
 dead. 
 
 A soul in mortal sin is a profaned temple, a vine 
 ravaged by storms and despoiled in an instant of all 
 its fruits; it is a city, devastated by fire, of which there 
 remains not a stone upon a stone. O unfortunate 
 soul! like a sheep without a shepherd, wandering 
 among the mountains, or like a vessel without a sailor 
 or pilot, thou dost wander around the world, destitute 
 of the favors of thy God and of the attentive cares 
 of a loving Providence. Alas! thou dost possess no 
 longer thy God, thou art the sad object of His hatred 
 and His disdain, thou who wast called to love and 
 possess Him eternally, and to find in this possession 
 the entire satisfaction of all thy faculties. Thou hast 
 lost this God. He is no longer thy God, or if He is 
 still so, it is only because thou hast not yet descended 
 into hell, where thy place is marked out. It is, then, a 
 truth too certain that the sin called mortal, because 
 it separates the soul from God, is the sovereign evil 
 of man in this world, as hell will be his sovereign evil 
 
 77 
 
in the next; for hell is nothing else than the eternal 
 reign of sin, and the eternal death of the soul in an 
 agony without end. 
 
 It is here that the Solitary of Carmel should, in the 
 silence of Retreat, recall, briefly however, in the bitter- 
 ness of her heart, the sins of her past life, and, pene- 
 trated with a livly sorrow at having fallen into so 
 great a snare as mortal sin, ask herself if her sorrow 
 has ever been proportioned to the evil, and if she has 
 ever thought of expiating it by penance. Above all, she 
 should fear to fall into a very dangerous illusion by im- 
 agining that Carmel is a shelter from mortal sin, for- 
 getting, alas ! that she has brought herself into it with 
 all her feebleness, her inconstancy and self-love — that 
 the demon has followed her as a ravening lion, seeking 
 to devour his prey. What such a soul should con- 
 sider is, that not only can she fall into mortal sin, but 
 that, if she has the misfortune to commit one, it will be 
 much more grave than those of the same nature which 
 she might commit in the world, because, belonging by 
 her professon rather to heaven than to earth — the life 
 of Carmel being an anticipated Paradise — she should 
 be an Angel rather than a terrestrial creature. Her 
 sin, consequently, assumes the character and the grav- 
 ity of that of the Angels. The sin of the rebel Angels 
 drew its enormity from the fact that it was committed 
 with full knowledge, in the midst of clear light, and 
 notwithstanding the signal and continual favors which 
 they had received from their Sovereign King, which 
 marks it with a peculiar character of ingratitude and 
 of felony. Add to this the terrible scandal, of which 
 crime Lucifer was the first to become guilty, by draw- 
 ing the other Angels in their horrible and proud de- 
 fection. Therefore the Religious of Carmel cannot 
 sin, without contemning graces and lights, the most 
 precious and abundant, and abusing the most signal 
 favors, thereby rendering herself guilty of infidelity, 
 ingratitude and scandal. Ah ! may she fear by thus 
 participating in the character of the Angels' sin, to 
 draw down upon herself their chastisement — blindness 
 of mind and hardness of heart. 
 
 78 
 
Lord, I will not say with the sinner spoken of in 
 the Scriptures: "I have sinned and nothing has hap- 
 pened to me." On the contrary, I confess before 
 Thee that when I sinned I offered Thee an infinite out- 
 rage, and at the same time drew upon myself a great 
 unhappiness, for what greater misfortune, O my God, 
 my Life, my All, than not to live for Thee! Ah! if 
 this evil has befallen me a single time; if for one day, 
 one hour, or even one instant of my life, I had re- 
 mained in the state of mortal sin; I ought by tears of 
 blood and the rudest works of penance to force my- 
 self to efface its stains from my soul. By separating 
 myself from Thee, I have deprived Thee of the rights 
 which Thou hast over my heart; of the complacency 
 which, as Father, Thou desirest to take in Thy child; 
 of the enjoyment as Spouse, of the reciprocal love of 
 Thy spouse. 
 
 O sin! my enemy! my supreme evil! I declare thee 
 eternal hatred. O God, my Sovereign Good! I prom- 
 ise Thee an eternal love, a fidelity without bounds. 
 L.et me rather die a million times than offend Thee 
 again; for this will be dying to live eternally. Amen. 
 
 THIRD MEDITATION. 
 Venial Sin. 
 
 "He that is unjust in that which is little, 
 is unjust, also in that which is greater."— 
 St. Luke XVI, 10. 
 
 Since freedom from sin attracts the soul to Thee, 
 O God of Infinite Sanctity, and since lightest offenses 
 sadden Thy Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Purity; I come 
 to-day into Thy holy presence to impress well upon 
 my mind the powerful motives which should make me 
 detest and avoid venial sin. Alas! until now I have 
 not sufficiently considered its malice and its dangers — 
 nor feared its terrible consequences, therefore my life 
 is replete with faults which are called light. Ah! Lord, 
 can I call light, faults which offend Thee and cause such 
 prejudice to the soul? Grant me the grace to con- 
 ceive on this subject sentiments more worthy of the 
 holy state which I profess, and of Thy Divine Majesty, 
 to which I have the honor of being consecrated. 
 
 79 
 
FIRST POINT. 
 
 The Malice of Venial Sin. 
 
 Charity has two enemies, mortal sin and venial sin. 
 The first not only wounds but kills, all its wounds are 
 mortal. The second does not cause death, it is true, 
 but it enfeebles the soul, it soils and makes it ugly in 
 the sight of God, and disposes Kim to withdraw from 
 it. If venial sin is not the capital enemy of God, and 
 sovereign evil which mortal sin is, it is the greatest 
 after it, because it is opposed to the Sovereign Good, 
 ^hom it offends and displeases. Venial sin, being the 
 enemy of God, cannot, according to all the Holy 
 Fathers and Doctors of the Church, be called light, nor 
 can it be compared with all other created evils. It can- 
 not be compensated for by all the good that creatures 
 may effect, because an evil of an infinite order cannot 
 be balanced by a good of a finite nature. 
 
 These truths have been confirmed by the divine 
 lights with which certain extraordnary souls have been 
 favored. St. Catherine of Genoa teaches that venial 
 sin is an evil greater than all the evils of the universe 
 together, an evil worse than death and hell itself. And 
 St. Catherine of Sienna says that even the slightest sin 
 contains in itself, in a certain manner, an infinite 
 malice. This doctrine is taught in the writngs of this 
 last Saint, which several Sovereign Pontiffs have 
 praised as being all celestial, and which are conform- 
 able to the teaching of St. Thomas. 
 
 But that which should completely convince me of 
 the evil of venial sin is the severity of the judgments 
 which God has inflicted upon it in this world and in 
 the next — chastisements which we might call exces- 
 sive, if the offense did not possess that degree of 
 malice and of gravity which we have just recognized 
 in it. Moses, a man so dear to God, this servant so 
 devoted and faithful, at the sight of the obduracy of 
 the people of Israel, falls into a diffidence which seems 
 very excusable; nevertheless he is condemned never 
 to enter the Promised Land. After forty years of 
 labors and of sufferings, he prays the Lord to retract 
 
 80 
 
this sentence, but receives only a refusal, and dies 
 within sight of the land, whose entrance is closed to 
 him. A slight vanity in David, on the occasion of the 
 number of his people, caused the death of seventy 
 thousand of his subjects. A vain complacency in 
 Ezechias, who showed his treasures to the Babylonian 
 Ambassadors, is punished not only by the loss of his 
 riches, but by the desolation of Jerusalem and the 
 leading away captive of the most illustrious families 
 of the kngdom. An indiscreet look at the Holy Ark 
 cost a great number of the Bethsamites their lives. 
 
 But what are these chastisements and the pains of 
 this world in comparison to the torments of Purgatory, 
 — torments which the Holy Fathers liken to those of 
 hell, save the duration and the despair. If I descend 
 in spirit into the expiatory fires, and ask myself who 
 are those souls whom God keeps enchained in the 
 midst of so much suffering, some for entire centuries, 
 some until the end of time, I shall see that, alas! they 
 are not souls of the impious or impenitent sinners; no, 
 they are souls already victorious, they are the well- 
 beloved spouses of the Only Son of God, whose place 
 is marked in heaven, but in whom the Divine Eye per- 
 ceives some trace of what we call light faults — venial 
 sins. 
 
 After this reflection, it is easy to understand the 
 teachings of all the Doctors of the Church, that if, 
 even by one venial sin, a small lie for example, we 
 could put a stop to all woes that desolate the earth — 
 to war, famine, pests, inundations; deliver the human 
 race from all anxieties of heart and mind, and from 
 all the maladies of the body; convert all heretics, Mo- 
 homedans and Jews; snatch all the damned from the 
 flames of hell; deliver all the souls from Purgatory; 
 and secure the salvation of all the faithful, it could not 
 be lawful for us to commit this sin — to tell this lie. 
 This doctrine is especially that of St. Augustine and 
 St. John Chrysostom. 
 
 The Sanctity of God obliges Him to pursue, and 
 to punish the lightest offense with such rigor, that, to 
 give us some idea of it, theologians say that if, by a 
 supposition altogether impossible, the eyes of God 
 
 81 
 
could discover in the Sacred Humanity of Jesus 
 Christ, or in the immaculate soul of Mary, the slightest 
 trace of sin, the union of the Divinity and the Human- 
 ity of Our Lord Jesus Christ would be immediately 
 broken, and the Holy Mother of God would be pre- 
 cipitated from her elevated throne where she reigns 
 eternally, until purified from this stain, however 
 light. 
 
 That which shows most clearly all the venom and 
 the malice of venial sin, which so few Christians under- 
 stand, is the impossibility of all creatures together, 
 even the most perfect, to offer for it any reparation 
 whatsoever. Yes, if I represent to myself an altar as 
 large as the world, where there are to be immolated to 
 the glory of God and in satisfaction for one single 
 venial sin, the most noble among the celestial intelli- 
 gences, the most holy among the Patriachs, the Pro- 
 phets, the martyrs, the confessors, and the virgins, sup- 
 posing this expiation to be prolonged during en- 
 tire centuries; all these reduced to their own value and 
 dis-united from the merits of Jesus Christ, would be 
 entirely impotent in effacing this pretended light stain 
 of sin. 
 
 It is then not astonishing that the Saints, so pene- 
 trated with these great truths, had such a horror for 
 the slightest faults that, rather than voluntarily commit 
 the least sin, they would have precipitated themselves 
 alive into burning flames. What is my confusion, O 
 m> God, to see how little I have until now understood 
 the injury I have done to Thy Sovereign Majesty and 
 Thy Infinite Sanctity by this sin so improperly called 
 light! What is my grief for having committed it with 
 such facility, for having taken so little care to testify to 
 Thee my repentance, and so little pains to efface its 
 stains by penance and virtue! Lord, it shall be so no 
 longer! Should I have the misfortune to displease 
 Thee again, may it be at least without reflection and 
 deliberation, and may I at once testify to Thee my 
 sorrow and confusion, and with Thy grace take the 
 most efficacious means of not falling again. 
 
 82 
 
SECOND POINT. 
 The Effects of Venial Sin. 
 
 The first effect of venial sin, which alone should 
 suffice to fill us with an eternal horror for it, is that it 
 corrupts the most beautiful acts of virtue, it diminishes 
 and even deprives them entirely of all of their merit, 
 for, according to the Scriptures: "Dying flies falling 
 into a precious perfume will corrupt all its sweetness." 
 This truth is founded upon the words of Jesus Christ: 
 "Take care that you do not your justice before men to 
 be seen by them, otherwise you shall not have a re- 
 ward of your Father Who is in heaven." Whence the 
 Holy Doctors conclude that the best actions done 
 through vain glory lose their merit; even martyrdom 
 itself, according to St. Jerome, if endured to win the 
 applause of men, would count for nothing before 
 God. 
 
 Pause here, Religious soul, reflect upon this impor- 
 tant teaching, and consider how easily you may lose 
 all the merit and recompense of a life so full of sacri- 
 fices, immolation and holy practices. Yes, although 
 I be raised to the highest contemplation, although I 
 practise the rudest bodily austerities, although I acquire 
 the purity of the Angels and the love of the Seraphim, 
 and although my life be filled with acts of patience, 
 resignation and sweetness; if these different acts of 
 virtue be infected, however lightly, by any culpable 
 thought or sentiment of self-complacency; if self-love 
 seeks itself in them, or a desire of pleasing the creature 
 insinuates itself into my heart, and I do not imme- 
 diately reject it, this is sufficient; according to the part 
 which my evil inclinations have taken in them : I have 
 lost my recompense and the merit of my sacrifices. 
 What a subject of confusion and regret that so many 
 actions, which fill my days and ought to be works pro- 
 duced by grace and animated by a pure intention, are 
 stolen from me by vanity, natural activity, love of ease 
 and my own satisfaction — forgetting the good pleasure 
 of God, which alone I should seek. 
 
 But a still more deplorable defect of venial sin is, 
 that it diminishes the fervor of charity and in manner 
 
 83 
 
causes God to withdraw from the soul. To appreciate 
 well these terrible consequences of an evil which is 
 generally regarded so lightly, it is necessary to know 
 that, however true it is to say that sanctifying grace 
 cannot be lost by venial sin, we ought to remember, 
 nevertheless, that such faults, committed habitually, 
 through negligence or by a certain affection or incli- 
 nation, weaken the soul, render it languid, and thus 
 it becomes cold in the service of God, and experiences 
 no longer in prayer that familiarity and fervor which it 
 enjoyed when it was faithful. God, on His side, with- 
 draws these sensible attractions, those secret graces, 
 those particular inspirations with which He favors His 
 friends. Thus is accomplished this double sentence of 
 the Holy Spirit: "He who is unfaithful in small things 
 shall fall little by little," and "Would to God that 
 thou wert cold or hot, but because thou art lukewarm, 
 I will begin to vomit thee out of My mouth." Behold, 
 O my God, whither these venial faults lead the soul 
 who takes little care to deplore and to avoid them — to 
 coldness in Thy service, and, by consequence, to the 
 loss of Thy favors, and to the subtraction of Thy 
 graces and efficacious succors! What shall become of 
 the soul thus destitute of Thy precious favors? She 
 will fall into that fatal state which is called lukewarm- 
 ness, a state so sad that, in one sense, mortal sin would 
 be preferable to it. 
 
 But, alas! as a result of the unhappy facility with 
 which venial sin is committed, this fall, or rather this 
 invasion of mortal sin, is not long delayed; and it is 
 the last and most terrible consequence of the habit or 
 affection for venial sin. Thus the soul descends by de- 
 grees into the profound abyss of disgrace with God, 
 where she sleeps and entombs herself without perceiv- 
 ing it, without understanding the horror of her situ- 
 ation, and without making any effort to free herself 
 from it. If this unfortunate soul had fallen through the 
 weakness of nature, or the ruse of Satan, into some 
 mortal sin, she would have been instantly awakened 
 by the very effect of the depth of her great fall; her 
 sorrow and confusion would have served to raise her 
 
 84 
 
up more promptly, and it was in this sense that Jesus 
 Christ has said to the tepid soul: "I would that thou 
 wert either hot or cold," but because her death has 
 been the last effect of a languishing life, which died 
 out little by little, a miracle is necessary to resuscitate 
 it to grace. 
 
 But, my God, what will it avail me to understand 
 the malice of venial sin, the outrage which it offers Thy 
 Infinite Sanctity, the injury which it does my own soul, 
 and the peril to which it exposes my eternal salvation, 
 if I do not entertain in my heart a profound aversion 
 to all that can offend Thee, if I do not, according to 
 the advice of the Apostle, take continual care to pre- 
 serve myself even from the appearance of evil. I must 
 confess, to my shame, that such has not been my past 
 conduct. I have exposed my soul each day to a mul- 
 titude of dangers. Provided I fell not into consider- 
 able infractions of Thy Holy Law, I counted as of little 
 importance those continual infidelities by which I 
 wounded Thy Eye so pure, which is kept fixed upon 
 me. My words, my looks, my steps, my thoughts, and 
 m> desires are entirely according to nature, and I have 
 not endeavored to render them conformable to Thy 
 good pleasure. Therefore, who could count for one 
 day my infractions of Thy holy will? Ah! if, even 
 after having rendered myself guilty of these faults, 1 
 had deplored them and imposed upon myself some 
 expiation; if, at least, I had felt confusion for them 
 at the feet of Thy minister; if, in regard to the exte- 
 rior, I had submitted, in presence of my sisters, to the 
 expiations which the Rule permits; but, alas! I have 
 shown in repairing these faults the same tepidity 
 which I had in committing them. I have made of Thy 
 tribunal of penance, and the public acknowledgment 
 of faults, an excuse rather than a remedy for my in- 
 fidelities. 
 
 Ah! Lord, St. Catherine of Genoa would have much 
 preferred to throw herself into burning flames than to 
 offend Thee in the slightest thing. I also take this 
 resolution; I desire henceforth to be disposed to suf- 
 fer and even to die, rather than to offend Thee de- 
 
 85 
 
liberately. I will put a watch upon my eyes, my tongue 
 and my heart, that they may not escape my care and 
 follow after evil. I will entertain in my soul a great 
 horror of sin; and if, notwithstanding all these precau- 
 tions, I unhappily fall into some faults, I will deplore 
 them bitterly until Thou dost pardon me. In fine, I 
 will keep my heart in that purity which will permit me 
 to contemplate Thee here below, in order to love Thee 
 eternally in heaven. Amen. 
 
 LECTURE. 
 
 The Spirit of Penance. 
 
 Penance is one of the virtues most honored and 
 practised in Carmel; it belongs essentially to the spirit 
 of this holy Order. This virtue consists in a sincere 
 sorrow for having offended God, joined to a firm pur- 
 pose to offend Him no more, and to satisfy His divine 
 justice. The spirit of penance is then the habitual 
 disposition of bearing before God and nourishing in 
 the heart regret for sin, and profiting by every occa- 
 sion for making expiation. Thus the penitent soul, not 
 content with accepting, in punishment for her faults, 
 the fasts and abstinences of the Church and of the 
 Order and the holy rigors of the Religious life, adds to 
 them, with permission of her superiors, some particular 
 austerities. She submits in the same spirit to trials and 
 sufferings, interior as well as exterior, recognizing in 
 them a loving Providence, which wishes to purify her 
 by the fire of tribulation from the stains of her past sins. 
 Thus it was that David, although he had received from 
 the Prophet Nathan the assurance that God had for- 
 given his sin, he never wearied of testifying his regret, 
 and feeling confusion before God. He repeats that 
 his sin was always before his eyes, and that every night 
 he watered his couch with his tears. He prayed to be 
 purified more and more from his iniquity, and accepted 
 with great submission and resignation the revolt of his 
 son, the loss of his kingdom, and the most grievous 
 outrages from his former servants, as the just chastise- 
 ment of his crime. This spirit of penance has the 
 double advantage of purifying us from our sins, and 
 
 86 
 
of rendering us more and more agreeable to God, 
 while it nourishes a hatred of sin in our hearts and, at 
 the same time, withdraws us from its possibilities. 
 
 We may say that the great cause of our little perse- 
 verance in grace, after receiving pardon for our faults, 
 comes from the lightness of the penance which we re- 
 ceive, or which we impose upon ourselves. Thus it 
 is much to be regretted and deplored that Holy 
 Church has been forced to condescend to the weak- 
 ness and the laxity of her children, and to relax her 
 rights relative to the penances which she imposed upon 
 sinners in the first centuries; beacuse the rigor of her 
 laws relating to penance made them feel the gravity 
 of their faults and impressed, even on the just them- 
 selves, a fear and horror of sin. 
 
 It is not only the grievous sins of her past life that 
 a Religious soul should strive to efface by penance and 
 expiation; it is even her habitual infidelities which she 
 should not pass over lightly. Happy the soul who 
 knows how to humble and afflict herself before God 
 for her slightest faults, and who offers Him some pain 
 proportioned to each offense; she will attain in a short 
 time a great purity of conscience, which will merit 
 for her the most abundant graces. 
 
 This spirit of penance has also the advantage of in- 
 creasing and nourishing in our hearts the precious and 
 necessary virtue of humility, and of being thus the 
 best disposition for prayer: because the greatest ob- 
 stacle to this holy exercise comes from a certain pre- 
 sumption, a secret confidence in ourselves which ar- 
 rests the flow of God's grace into our hearts, accord- 
 ing to these words: "God resists the proud, but gives 
 His grace to the humble." 
 
 The Religious soul who is habitually in this humble 
 disposition has no difficulty at the commencement of 
 her prayers, meditations, at the Holy Sacrifice of the 
 Mass, and at Holy Communion to excite sentiments of 
 true compunction, and God never fails on His part to 
 be touched by her humble supplications. 
 
 Although the spirit of penance should never be 
 dispensed with by the Religious soul, even if she has 
 
 87 
 
entered upon the exercises of the Unitive Way, it is 
 most particularly suitable for the time of her Novitiate; 
 and by the Novitiate must be understood the first four 
 or five years from the time of receiving the Holy 
 Habit, and during which the exercises of the Purga- 
 tive Way should be insisted upon. It is during this 
 time that one should make a general confession, and 
 offer habitually, in expiation for all her sins, all the 
 penances in use in Carmel, such as fasts, watching, aus- 
 terities, etc., and, in general, all in its Holy Rule that 
 is painful or difficult to nature. 
 
 It may appear at first sight that this spirit of penance 
 is contrary to perfect love, and that the practices which 
 it inspires are little favorable to souls called to a state 
 of contemplation. To reply to this difficulty, or rather 
 prejudice, we may cite the example of a multitude of 
 Saints, in particular that of Saint Mary Magdalen, a 
 patron and model of our holy Order, who united the 
 most sublime prayer to the most austere penance. But 
 it is sufficient to consider that the spirit of penance, far 
 from injuring the exercise of holy love, serves but to 
 purify the heart and to dispose it better for the flames 
 of divine charity, just as wood, despoiled of its ver- 
 dure and humidity, lends itself more easily to the 
 action of fire. We must add that the remembrance of 
 sins for which we have obtained pardon is a new mo- 
 tive for attaching ourselves to Him Who granted this 
 favor, according to the comparison made by Jesus 
 Christ when He defended this illustrious penitent from 
 the unjust suspicions of the Pharisees: "The one to 
 whom much is forgiven loves much." 
 
 Penitent love has a character of strength, sweetness, 
 humility, generosity, and gratitude which is not always 
 to be met with in innocent love, that is to say, in love 
 which is not prompted by the motive of pardon ob- 
 tained. To whatever degree of prayer we may attain, 
 it is always necessary to present ourselves before God 
 with sentiments of profound humility founded particu- 
 larly upon a regret for the sins which we have com- 
 mitted — which we should always take care to express 
 to Him and accept the salutary confusion which fol- 
 
 88 
 
lows. It is true that, according to the intention of the 
 Church, the practices of penance used in the Holy 
 Order of Carmel have for their object to satisfy for 
 sinners who never think of appeasing the Divine anger; 
 but without excluding this motive, so holy and so 
 charitable, the Religious soul should not stop here. 
 She can well, she even ought to, offer herself to God, 
 particularly at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, as a 
 common victim devoted to His love and His glory; 
 but the sentiment of confusion and sorrow for her own 
 sins ought to lead her to look upon herself as a peni- 
 tent, and to keep her habitually in humble sentiments 
 of her misery and insufficiency. This act of humility, 
 far from diminishing the value of her prayers and her 
 sacrifices, will but add new value to them. 
 
 As to Penance considered as a Sacrament, it is un- 
 necessary to refer here to its divine institution, the 
 three parts which compose it, contrition, confession, 
 and satisfaction, and the qualities which they should 
 have, because no Religious is supposed to be so ig- 
 norant of the elements of Christian Doctrine. But it 
 imports much that we entertain no illusion upon the 
 dispositions necessary to receive with fruit this Sacra- 
 ment, which is one of the marvels of Divine mercy, 
 since through it God has given to man a power which 
 seems incommunicable — that of pardoning the sins of 
 a fellow-man. In frequenting this Sacrament it is 
 equally important to preserve ourselves from an abuse 
 too common in communities, as is signalized by great 
 Bishops and skillful directors of souls — that of seek- 
 ing in it rather the tranquility of the soul than its 
 cure. 
 
 In effect, if frequent confession is a very holy and a 
 very profitable practice, it can also be turned into an 
 abuse by habit, when it degenerates into routine. We 
 should descend into this holy piscina only to find a 
 remedy for the maladies of our souls, new strength 
 in order to triumph over our weakness, and an aug- 
 mentation of sanctifying grace by being again bathed 
 in the Blood of Jesus Christ. But, alas! how often we 
 go there to seek a false peace and to calm the troubles 
 
 89 
 
of a conscience which God is secretly reproaching for 
 its repeated infidelities and resistance to the inspiration 
 of His love. Thus the tepid and negligent soul, accus- 
 toming herself to regard sacramental absolution as an 
 infallible remedy for her spiritual infirmities, makes of 
 it a support to maintain herself in her guilty negligen- 
 ces, in her dangerous attachments, for which she pre- 
 serves all the affection, even while accusing herself of 
 them. She leaves the holy Tribunal with that false 
 peace to continue in the same way of infidelity and re- 
 sistance to grace. 
 
 To understand well this disorder, and the pernicious 
 consequences of this abuse, we must remember that 
 if the Sacraments have an efficacy which is proper to 
 them, because they contain a Divine virtue, their ef- 
 fects depend in a great measure upon the dispositions 
 of the souls who receive them. Thus, for the Sacra- 
 ment of Penance, it will not suffice to examine our 
 conscience, to make an act of contrition, to confess our 
 sins and to receive absolution ; it is necessary that grace 
 find hearts truly detached from sin, by a sincere re- 
 pentance for it. and a firm resolution of not again fall- 
 ing deliberately. This is precisely what is often want- 
 ing to the souls of whom we speak, because, not hav- 
 ing grave sins to confess and accusing themselves al- 
 ways of the same faults without ever correcting them, 
 it is so much the more difficult to have true contrition, 
 as these faults appearing so light they have more af- 
 fection for them. For these souls there is, then, real 
 danger of profaning the Sacrament, or at least of ren- 
 dering it null and without effect. 
 
 It is to guard against this grave disorder that per- 
 sons who ordinarily have but venial sins to confess, are 
 counseled to add some grievous sin of their past life, 
 because it is supposed, and with reason, that by this 
 means the soul will have the contrition which is indis- 
 pensable for the validity of the Sacrament. This is 
 true of souls truly penitent who habitually reprehend 
 and punish in themselves every offense against God, 
 whether grievous or light; they have no difficulty in 
 exciting contrition, it being the habitual disposition of 
 
 90 
 
their hearts. But it is not so with Religious who have 
 little fervor, who have no zeal for their perfection, and 
 who, being filled with sensible attachments, have no 
 more facility in exciting sorrow for the grave sins of 
 their past life than regret for their daily infidelities. 
 To supply for this want of perfect contrition, they de- 
 lude themselves by confessing a multitude of involun- 
 tary failings, of imperfections inseparable from human 
 frailty, and exterior irregularities which have their 
 place rather in a chapter of faults, because these avow- 
 als cost nothing to their self-love, while they drown in 
 useless detail their real faults and pass lightly over the 
 predominant fault, which is the source of all their dis- 
 orders. A Carmelite, truly worthy of the name, need 
 not fear to fall into the faults which we have just 
 considered. Since she lives in the fear of offending 
 God, and as she sincerely deplores the faults which es- 
 cape her, and immediately imposes upon herself some 
 expiation, she has no difficulty either in examining her- 
 self or in exciting contrition. Thus it is very justly said 
 that a Carmelite should always be ready to go to con- 
 fession, and her confessions are as simple and humble 
 as they are short and easy. She does not charge them 
 with useless recitals, vague accusations; she tells her 
 faults clearly, making most prominent what is most 
 guilty in her conduct and indicating the source of her 
 habitual transgressions. 
 
 Examen Upon the Lecture. 
 
 Have I understood that penance is a virtue essen- 
 tial to my profession; and that without its spirit I lose 
 the greater part of the fruit and the merit of the prac- 
 tices in use in the Order of Carmel? Have I taken 
 care to animate these works of penance with this spirit, 
 accepting at Chapter the penances and corrections 
 which have caused me confusion? Have I, according to 
 my strength and with permission from my Superiors, 
 added some particular penances to those ordained by 
 the Rule? Have I accepted with resignation, and in 
 the spirit of penance, the sufferings and trials, both 
 interior and exterior, which have been sent me by 
 
 91 
 
Divine Providence? Instead of profiting by my ex- 
 amens of conscience, have I not waited until the time 
 of Confession to enter into myself and to excite con- 
 trition for my sins and infidelities? 
 
 Note — Advice for the Following Meditation. 
 
 The soul is now going to enter upon the second part 
 of her Retreat, which corresponds to the "ILLUMI- 
 NATIVE WAY." There she will be enlightened and 
 illumined by the teachings of Jesus Christ and inflamed 
 by the example of His virtues. But it is necessary that 
 she examine beforehand, in the presence of God, 
 whether she has fulfilled well all the conditions of the 
 First Part, which appertain to the "PURGATIVE 
 WAY"; sufficiently excited compunction for her past 
 sins; studied and recognized her predominant passion, 
 her bad inclinations; and whether she has taken the 
 most efficacious means to extirpate them from her 
 heart. These means are prayer, vigilance and morti- 
 fication. The soul should insist upon these essential 
 points, and not allow herself to pass on to the follow- 
 ing meditations until she has laid deep in herself a 
 solid foundation of humility and penance. 
 
 92 
 
FOURTH DAY. 
 
 FIRST MEDITATION. 
 
 Imitation of Jesus Christ Necessary for a Religious 
 
 Soul. 
 
 "I am the way and the truth and the life." 
 —St. John, XIV, 6. 
 
 Penetrated now, O my God, with these great truths 
 of Faith — that Thou art my Sovereign Good, for 
 Whom I have been created, and that Thou hast placed 
 me in this world only to glorify Thee here, that I may 
 possess Thee eternally hereafter — I come to beg of 
 Thee a guide who will conduct me to Thy Heavenly 
 Kingdom; for, alas! how can I, the degenerate child 
 of a guilty parent, a traveler wandering in the midst 
 of a world sown with snares and filled with enemies 
 who seek my ruin, and finding in my own heart only 
 inclinations to evil and to things of earth, how can I 
 regain the path to my heavenly country, which I have 
 lost? Behold! Thou presentest Thyself to me imme- 
 diately; I hear Thy sweet voice saying: "Ye who seek 
 heaven, come, I am the Way; ye who ask light to guide 
 your steps, I am the true Light which enlightenest every 
 man who cometh into the world; in fine, ye who de- 
 sire to possess another heart, another life, Ah! I am 
 the Life, the true Life." Ah! Lord, at this voice and 
 these words, I recognize my Master, my Guide, and 
 my Saviour, I adore Thee, O my Lord Jesus Christ! 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 "I Am the Way'.' 
 
 "He who followeth Me walketh not in darkness," say- 
 eth the Lord, "because I am the Way, and no one can 
 come to the Father except by Me." This admirable 
 truth taught by our Lord Jesus Christ, that He is Him- 
 self our Way, our Guide, our Doctor, was known to 
 
 93 
 
the ancient people, and announced by Moses and the 
 Prophets- "God will send you a Prophet like me, and 
 like me taken from your nation, and you will listen to 
 Him," said this holy Legislator to the JewisW people. 
 And the Prophet Isaias addressed to them these solemn 
 words: 'Thine eyes shall see the Master whom God 
 will give to instruct thee; thine ears shall hear the 
 sweet words which He will address to thee, as, walking 
 before thee, He will say: 'Behold the straight road, 
 walk in it without turning to the right or to the left.' 
 
 On the very eve of His death the Divine Master 
 wished to recall to His disciples and to the whole 
 Church the sweet and essential obligation of follow- 
 ing and imitating Him, and of becoming entirely con- 
 formed to His sentiments and to His conduct. "I have 
 given you an example," said He, "that as I have done 
 to you, do you also." Saint Paul unceasingly recalls 
 this precept and makes it the foundation of his sublime 
 doctrine. "Be ye followers of me, as I also am of 
 Christ." "Clothe yourselves with the Jesus Christ, 
 after you have been despoiled of the old man;" and 
 he adds that God has predestined to eternal glory 
 "those whom He has foreseen would be conformed 
 to Jesus Christ, and in whom He has found the image 
 of His Son," making this, our conformity with Jesus 
 Christ, the essential condition of our predestination. 
 
 But this conformity, this imitation, supposes a 
 knowledge of the life, the mysteries, the doctrine and 
 the intimate sentiments of Jesus Christ; or, rather, it is 
 nothing else than a loving knowledge and imitation of 
 Jesus Christ, according to the words of our Divine 
 Saviour; "Eternal Life, O Father, consists in knowing 
 Thee and Him whom Thou hast sent!" 
 
 In effect, we see the human race, in consequence of 
 the sin of our first parents, plunged in the most pro- 
 found darkness and sleeping in the region of the 
 shadow of death. Not only had it lost the way to its 
 true country, but it had lost even the remembrance of 
 it, even the desire for it; it was then necessary to 
 create a new way, a new communication, between 
 
 94 
 
heaven and earth, and this mysterious way, this chain 
 is Jesus Christ. 
 
 It was to render this imitation more perfect, to fa- 
 cilitate this obligation, that the Religious Life has been 
 instituted. Not content to conform herself to Jesus 
 Christ by fidelity to His precepts, the Religious soul 
 makes profession of embracing, after His Divine ex- 
 ample, all that will raise her above the common life; 
 that is, His obedience, His poverty, His chastity and 
 His unreserved devotion to the glory of His Father 
 and the salvation of souls. Aspiring to the glorious 
 title of Spouse of Jesus Christ, she understands well 
 that she cannot succeed in pleasing Him except in 
 rendering herself conformable to Him by the assidious 
 practise of the virtues most dear to His Heart; apply- 
 ing to herself the very letter of these words of Saint 
 Paul: "Jesus Christ is my life, and for me to die is 
 gain." 
 
 O my God, how little have I considered, how little 
 have I fulfilled until now the strict obligation which 
 I am under of following and imitating Thee, and con- 
 sequently, of knowing and of studying Thee. What 
 I know of Thy Life and Thy Mysteries is only what I 
 have been taught in my childhood, or what I have 
 heard in the instructions and lectures which the Rule 
 and the charity of the Superiors have provided for 
 the Community. But what have I learned by my own 
 efforts? What knowledge have I acquired of the Mys- 
 teries of Thy Infant Life, Thy Public Life, Thy Suffer- 
 ing Life, Thy Glorious Life? What care have I taken 
 to meditate upon the "Law of the Lord," Thy Holy 
 Gospel, those words so full of light, those actions all 
 Divine, from which I should have learned so many ad- 
 mirable lessons? Ah! Lord, I blush at my negligence, 
 I am penetrated with sorrow at my little zeal in study- 
 ing Thy Life, and my little ardor in imitating it! Grant, 
 that by Thy grace, it shall be so no longer! Remem- 
 bering that I am Thy spouse, I shall take the greatest 
 care to please Thee by conforming myself to Thee. 
 
 95 
 
SECOND POINT. 
 
 "I Am the Truth/* 
 
 In order to penetrate well the sense of these admir- 
 able words of our Saviour, it is necessary to represent 
 to ourselves the profound darkness which the sin of 
 Adam had spread over the earth. Man, having lost 
 the Divine light which showed him God as the Sover- 
 eign Good, sought in vain this good in the enjoyment 
 and love of creatures, and placed his end in them, 
 whence sprang innumerable errors and crimes; evil 
 was called good, lying truth, and man, despising the 
 true good, ran blindly after the shadow. He blushed 
 not to raise altars to his own vices, which he deified, 
 offering to them a sacriligious incense. If some men 
 seemed to rise above others, and to practise a certain 
 kind of virtue, it was nearly always but a semblance — 
 plants without root, because they ordinarily had for 
 their principle only a more subtile and guilty pride. 
 It was in the midst of this dense darkness that the true 
 Light arose and shone with such sweetness upon all 
 men coming into the world. From His first appear- 
 ance at Bethlehem, Jesus Christ, Truth itself, discov- 
 ered to all eyes the falsity of the goods, the pleasures 
 and the glory of earth, by taking for His portion pov- 
 erty, sufferings and humiliations. Henceforth all ideas 
 are changed, all errors dissipated, and there are no 
 longer any but the wilfully blind, who cannot see the 
 folly and the vanity of earthly things. 
 
 But there are to be no bounds to the happy influ- 
 ence of this Truth; Jesus Christ will show in what 
 true virtue consists, upon what principle it is supported 
 and what motives it proposes. "The Word was made 
 Flesh and dwelt amongst us," and "we have seen Him 
 full of grace and Truth." He sought in all His actions, 
 His words and His thoughts, only the glory of His 
 Father. 
 
 Jesus is, then, not only the perfect model of all 
 virtue, the type of all perfections — He is the principle. 
 Saint Paul says: "Strip yourselves of the old man and 
 put on the new, who, according to God, is created in 
 
 96 
 
justice, holiness and truth." "Have in you the same 
 sentiments which are in Christ Jesus." There is, then, 
 no other source of virtue for the Christian, and par- 
 ticularly for the Religious soul, than the interior of 
 Jesus Christ. It is also the faithful mirror in which we 
 ought to consider ourselves unceasingly, in order to 
 discover our spiritual defects, and after having recog- 
 nized them, correct them. Jesus is, according to Saint 
 Teresa and all masters of the spiritual life, the most 
 worthy object of our contemplation. The secret of 
 this holy exercise consists in a great part in casting 
 upon Him looks of love, in order to engrave in our- 
 selves the likeness of His virtues. 
 
 My God, my Sovereign, should I not attribute my 
 little advancement in religious perfection to the ignor- 
 ance in which I have lived, until now, of the necessity 
 there is for every Christian to imbibe Thy virtues, and 
 to seek the principle, the grace and the practice of 
 them in Thy Divine Heart? Yes, Lord, in Thee alone 
 is virtue, amiable; in Thee alone, above all, is it true; 
 and with Thee it is easy; because Thy grace sustains 
 me by the interior look which contemplates Thee, 
 rendering me capable of all the sacrifices which it im- 
 poses and causing me to cry out with Thy Apostle: 
 "I can do all things in Him Who strengthens me." 
 
 THIRD POINT. 
 "I Am the Life." 
 
 *T am the the Living Bread which came down from 
 heaven; he who lives by Me shall never die." O 
 words worthy of being received with ineffable trans- 
 ports of joy and thnksgiving! I can live the true life, 
 not only that which I have in common with vile crea- 
 tures, with animals and insects, but the very life of 
 God; and I am assured that it is not within the power 
 of any creature to deprive me of it. It is not enough, 
 then, to imitate and to follow Jesus from afar, to 
 
 97 
 
have some of His sentiments, some of His virtues. We 
 are called to live His own life; that is to say, He should 
 dwell in us in such a manner that we abandon to the 
 Divine Master the whole conduct of our interior; it is 
 He Who ought to act by our hands, see with our eyes, 
 speak through our mouths, etc. This is expressed by 
 these words of Saint Paul: "I live now not I, but 
 Jesus Christ liveth in me." It is toward this that all 
 my prayers, all my Communions and all the exercises 
 of the Life of Carmel should tend — that I live no 
 longer my own life, but the Life of Jesus Christ, my 
 Celestial Spouse. 
 
 Behold the whole economy of Religious perfection; 
 behold the road which I should follow to attain it; it 
 is to attach me to my Divine Model, to nourish me 
 with His doctrine and example, and to live His Life. 
 This was the art of all the Saints and their habitual 
 study. It was in this rich mine that they found all their 
 virtue, all their science. Ah! my God, grant me the 
 grace during the days of my Retreat, which I am to 
 consecrate to the meditation of the principal Mysteries 
 of Thy Divine Life, to attach myself so strongly to 
 the contemplation of the virtues of which Thou hast 
 given me so many admirable examples, that they may 
 be for the remainder of my life the principal object 
 of my application, my study and my love. 
 
 May I understand, Lord, that I cannot be a true 
 Carmelite, worthy of the name and of the habit which 
 I wear, until I become filled with Thy Spirit, a faithful 
 imitator of Thy virtues, and transformed in Thee, be- 
 cause it is thus that I shall be despoiled of my miser- 
 able life and live Thy Divine Life, and I may say with 
 the Apostle: "Jesus Christ is my life." O my God, 
 for so great an undertaking I cannot count upon my- 
 self, upon my resolutions, upon my own efforts; but 
 permit me, Lord, to count upon Thy assistance and 
 upon the grace of my vocation, which requires of me 
 such perfection. 
 
 98 
 
SECOND MEDITATION. 
 
 Advantages and Qualities of the Imitation of Jesus 
 
 Christ. 
 
 "Therefore as we have borne the image of 
 the earthly man, let us also bear the image 
 of the heavenly."— I. Cor. XV, 49. 
 
 Since the seal of my predestination, O my Saviour, 
 depends upon my conformity to Thy Divine Interior, I 
 humbly come and prostrate myself at Thy feet, to sup- 
 plicate Thee to make me appreciate more and more 
 the advantages attached to the zeal which I ought to 
 show in following Thee, imitating Thee and conform- 
 ing myself to Thee in all things. Lord, teach me the 
 secret of this science, so sublime; teach me by what 
 means, by what way I may attain this Divine knowl- 
 edge. An Angel is lost in heaven, and the first man 
 falls in the terrestrial Paradise for having conceived, 
 through foolish pride, the design of becoming like 
 unto Thee. It suffices not, then, to wish to imitate 
 Thee, O my God; it is necessary that this desire, this 
 imitation, be inspired by Thyself, animated by motives 
 agreeable to Thee, and clothed with the qualities re- 
 quired by Thy Infinite perfections. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 Advantages of This Imitation. 
 
 When God said in the beginning: "Let Us make 
 man according to Our Own Image and Likeness," "He 
 made him," says Saint Ambrose, "according to that 
 of His Only Son, Who is the image of His substance." 
 That image being effaced by the sin of Adam, this Son r 
 the Eternal Word of the Father, becomes Incarnate, 
 in order that man, by imitating Him, might re-establish 
 in himself this first resemblance. Our beauty, our hap- 
 piness, our glory are then attached to the re-imprint- 
 ing in our souls the image of the Son of God. The 
 more we approach to the Divine Original, the more 
 right shall we have to the benevolence of our Heavenly 
 Father, Who, perceiving in us the resemblance of His 
 Son, will regard us with love and load us with His 
 
 99 
 
favors, saying, "This is an image of Him in Whom I 
 have placed all My complacency." Can I be insensi- 
 ble, O Divine Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, to the 
 signal honor, to the supreme happiness of attracting 
 Thy regard, and of becoming an object of Thy Divine 
 complacency? May I hasten, O my God, to efface in 
 my soul the impure remains of "the image of the 
 earthly man," to imprint there "the image of the 
 heavenly man." 
 
 But it is not only the benediction and the favors 
 of the Heavenly Father which I shall draw upon my- 
 self by the care I take to render myself conformable 
 to His Only Son; I shall give to this Divine Son Him- 
 self an honor and glory by which He cannot fail to be 
 touched. In effect, by my application to retrace in 
 my soul the traits of this Divine Model, I recognize 
 that Jesus is the pattern of the highest perfection; that 
 all virtue and merit consist in approaching Him as 
 nearly as possible; and that it is only by imitating 
 Him that I can render myself worthy of the great 
 recompense which He has promised me. O my Divine 
 Model, how I should redouble my efforts and my ap- 
 plication to follow and to imitate Thee, since I see that 
 i can thus render Thee some glory, and draw upon 
 myself the most abundant graces. 
 
 We should add that the soul who is attentive in 
 retracing in herself the life and virtues of Jesus Christ, 
 thus gives Him the highest testimony, the most cer- 
 tain proof of her love, because love tends toward 
 union, and this union, so desirable, with her Heavenly 
 Spouse, cannot take place except by a resemblance 
 and entire conformity to Him. By making this imi- 
 tation the principal object of her attention and her 
 efforts, she will show Him that she desires above all 
 things to be united to Him, and to possess Him with- 
 out division. How can her Saviour, Who is so sweet 
 and so tender, be insensible to this care so attentive 
 and this zeal so pure and so generous? Will He not 
 accord her new and precious favors, and draw nearer 
 to her in proportion to the efforts which she makes to 
 unite herself to Him? Ah! Lord, inflame me with 
 
 100 
 
this holy ardor! "Draw me and I will run in the odor 
 of Thy perfume!" 
 
 In fine, this assiduous care of the soul to imitate 
 Jesus Christ attracts to her His Divine Spirit, that same 
 Spirit Who was, in the Man-God, the principle and 
 the source of all His actions. What would be all my 
 efforts, my zeal in rendering myself conformable to 
 so perfect a Model, if I did not attract within myself 
 this same Spirit, to guide me and to aid me in this holy 
 undertaking — this Spirit of light, of fire, of celestial 
 unction, Who will regulate all my steps and Who will 
 give to all my actions a value and a supernatural 
 grace? It was by the effects of this indwelling of the 
 Holy Spirit in their souls that the Saints, becoming 
 other Christs, have produced such marvelous fruits of 
 sanctity in the Church and gained so many souls to 
 God. O Divine Spirit, create in me then, by Thy Al- 
 mighty Power, a new heart, a heart like unto the very 
 Heart of Jesus, entirely devoted to His glory. 
 
 But, O my Divine Saviour, Thou desirest this change 
 to be the fruit of my labors, of my constant efforts; 
 grant me then, I implore Thee, an ardent zeal, so 
 attentive in following Thee that it may become the 
 most pressing need of my heart. Thou hast warned 
 me that I cannot belong to Thee unless I possess Thy 
 Spirit, and this Spirit will not dwell in me unless I am 
 conformed to Thee. Ah! Lord, then I shall apply 
 myself to know Thee and to imitate Thee. Ah! 
 Have I not cause to blush in seeing the children of the 
 world captivated by a foolish love of creatures, or by 
 ambition of the honors of the world; consuming them- 
 selves with cares and attentions, even to making them- 
 selves slaves of other men to satisfy their follies and 
 their passions? And I, until now, have had no ambi- 
 tion to please Thee, no assiduity in paying homage to 
 Thee, the Sovereign King and Spouse of my heart! 
 Ah, what confusion, what regret I feel! I wish to re- 
 pair my past insensibility and infidelity by a conduct 
 the very opposite. 
 
 101 
 
SECOND POINT. 
 
 Qualities of This Imitation. 
 
 First — It should be affectionate: that is to say, it 
 should have its source in the love of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, in a desire to please and to honor Him. With- 
 out this love for the Master, the disciples will soon 
 weary of listening to and following Him; whereas 
 hearts sustained by the affection they bear the one who 
 instructs them will triumph over all difficulties in- 
 separable from labor and study. Now I understand 
 that the imitation of Jesus Christ is a science, which, like 
 other sciences, can be acquired only by study. This 
 study in the beginning, requires more effort on the 
 part of the disciple^ because ordinarily love is then 
 more weak and imperfect; but in proportion, as he 
 advances in the knowledge of his Model and- the con- 
 templation of His adorable traits, his love becomes in- 
 flamed, his desires increase, his zeal is enkindled, and 
 he applies each day with a new and greater ardor to 
 conform himself to and be more closely united with 
 Him. 
 
 Ah! I recognize, my Divine Redeemer, that my lit- 
 tle care and application in contemplating Thy life, 
 and in imitating Thy virtues, come from the weakness 
 and imperfection of my love; but to-day I understand 
 fully, the obligation which a Christian, and much more 
 a Religious, is under of living a life entirely conform- 
 able to Thine. I wish to delay no longer this holy 
 undertaking; may I be sustained by Thy grace and 
 fortified by the hope of finding thus the source of true 
 love. 
 
 Second — This imitation ought to be attentive, as- 
 siduous and persevering. It ought not to be super- 
 ficially and at intervals, that the Religious soul should 
 study the Divine Model and unite herself to His dis- 
 positions; she should do so with continual care, ap- 
 plying herself to enter into the views, sentiments and 
 the intentions of Jesus Christ, keeping Him ever pres- 
 ent in the centre of her heart. Thus will her union 
 with her Divine Spouse become easy and constant. 
 
 102 
 
This habitual application to unite ourselves to Jesus 
 Christ is a good little relished, and appears very diffi- 
 cult; nevertheless it is the essence of the perfection of 
 Carmel. Indeed, the true perfection of man is not 
 in the beauty of his body, neither is it in the regularity 
 of his features, but in his interior — in his soul; it de- 
 pends upon the purity and sanctity of his disposition, 
 according to this sentence of Scripture: "All the 
 beauty of the King's daughter is within." The Holy 
 Spirit says, "All," not a part, to make us understand 
 that all the perfection of our actions depends upon the 
 motive which produces them and the spirit by which 
 they are animated. Now, as all the actions, thoughts 
 and words of Jesus Christ have been animated by the 
 most perfect motives, our continual care ought to be 
 to get rid of the low, base, mercenary manner in which 
 we generally speak and act, to enter into the disposi- 
 tions of the Holy One, Who lives in us. Alas! O my 
 Jesus, perfect Mirror of pure souls, to dispense my- 
 self from this holy obligation I offer the excuse of the 
 inconstancy of my will, the levity of my mind and 
 my many occupations; but I ought, rather, to acknowl- 
 edge my tepidity, my little zeal for my own advance- 
 ment, and my little attention in observing the holy 
 practices of recollection, of silence, especially interior 
 silence, and of abnegation. Ah! may it be so no 
 longer. 
 
 Third — This imitation ought to be universal, that 
 is to say, it should extend to the interior as well as 
 to the exterior, embrace all the actions of my life, 
 extend to all my occupations and to all my relations 
 with God and with my neighbor. This union with the 
 interior dispositions of Jesus is necessary in my Re- 
 ligious duties — the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, prayer, 
 recitation of the Divine Office, that they may become 
 efficacious and truly worthy of the One to Whom 
 they are offered; in my different relations with my 
 Superiors and Sisters, in order to become penetrated 
 with that respect which my Divine Model had for those 
 invested with authority, and that charity which em- 
 braced all men, particularly those by whom He was 
 
 103 
 
surrounded; before and during work, rest, sleep and 
 meals, in order to purify by the motives so pure, so 
 noble, which animated the Divine Master, that which 
 is vicious or too natural in mine. It suffices not that 
 this conformity with Jesus be in the interior only; the 
 imitation of the Divine Model should extend also to 
 the exterior. If the disciples of those pretended sages 
 of antiquity carried their docility to the teachings of 
 their masters, even to servile imitation of their gestures, 
 and their unworthy and even ridiculous manners, how 
 comes it that I, who recognize in my adorable Saviour 
 the most beautiful among the children of men, do not 
 force myself to resemble Him, since this great honor 
 is permitted me? The Holy Gospel and tradition 
 show Him to me full of meekness and of grace in all 
 His movements. His walk, His features, the modesty 
 of His eyes, the tone of His voice — all in Him was 
 admirable, and is worthy of being imitated, yet I do 
 not conform myself to Him interiorly or exteriorly — I, 
 whom He designs to call His Spouse, and who make 
 profession of living only for Him! 
 
 my God, all this appears difficult to me, this care 
 and application are fatiguing. Ah! it is because I am 
 loveless. But I feel the need of loving Thee, O my 
 God! Therefore, I wish to unite myself to Thee, and 
 it is this great favor which I supplicate Thee to grant 
 me in this Retreat — that powerful and victorious grace 
 which will raise me above myself, and make me under- 
 take the most difficult things in order to attain to the 
 perfection of Thy love. 
 
 THIRD MEDITATION. 
 The Reign of Jesus Christ. 
 
 "I have been established King upon the 
 Mountain of Sion, there to publish His holy 
 Law."— Ps. II, 6. 
 
 1 adore Thee, O true King of the Heavenly Sion, 
 Whose reign shall have no end. I am one of Thy con- 
 quests, because my soul is the price of Thy Precious 
 Blood. And now, generous Conqueror, Thou hast 
 called me to share Thy eternal reign; but to merit this 
 priceless favor it is necessary that in this life I succeed 
 
 104 
 
in establishing in my soul the reign of Thy grace. 
 Thou requirest more, because of the holy state which 
 I profess — because, not content with establishing Thy 
 reign in my heart, Thou wishest that I labor to estab- 
 lish it in the hearts of all men; Thou desirest that I 
 identify my interests with Thine, and, filled with zeal 
 for Thy glory, I contribute by my prayers, works and 
 sacrifices to the destruction of the empire of Satan, and 
 to the extension of Thine. Grant me the grace, O my 
 Saviour, to enter thus into the particular spirit of my 
 vocation. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 Jesus Christ Is Our King. 
 
 The Son of God, in becoming man, is destined by 
 His Eternal Father to become the King of a new peo- 
 ple. But this people being still struck with anathema, 
 and groaning under the slavery of the Prince of Dark- 
 ness, it was necessary that, before reigning over them, 
 He should deliver them from this anathema by paying 
 the debt which they owed to Divine Justice and by 
 triumphing over the infernal powers. This admirable 
 work He has accomplished by His Cross upon Cal- 
 vary; this brilliant victory He has gained by His death. 
 Man has been reclaimed and the demon overcome. 
 
 But the number of this people will not be complete, 
 nor the Kingdom of Jesus Christ solemnly established, 
 until the Last Day, when His Heavenly Father, after 
 "having put all His enemies under His feet, shall es- 
 tablish Him King over the Mountain of Sion" — the 
 Holy Nation which shall form the Church Trimphant. 
 This Heavenly Jerusalem is then to be built slowly as 
 a city, that is by the people, who will form it, little by 
 little, in the course of centuries, from the militant 
 Church — the souls who have chosen Jesus for their 
 King and have established His reign in themselves. 
 This truth is conformed to these words of Saint Paul: 
 "Your life is hidden with Christ in God," and "When 
 Jesus Christ, your life, shall appear on the Last Day, 
 you shall appear with Him in glory." This Divine Re- 
 deemer, after having consummated His victory upon 
 
 105 
 
the Cross, has charged His faithful servants, who are 
 filled with His Spirit, to go forth throughout the whole 
 world, to gather its precious fruits, and to establish 
 His reign in souls. Such have been the Apostles, the 
 Martyrs, the Doctors; such also are Apostolic men, 
 Religious Orders, holy virgins — the first have estab- 
 lished the reign of Jesus Christ by their blood, the 
 others by their preaching and their doctrine, while the 
 greater number do so by their prayers and perpetual 
 self-immolation. 
 
 Among these privileged souls shine in the first rank 
 "the children of Elias." Heirs of the zeal of the Holy 
 Prophet, the Solitaries of Carmel have for their 
 peculiar mission, to contribute by their prayers and 
 penances to the extension of the reign of Jesus Christ 
 in souls, to the triumph of the Church in her combats 
 against heresy and schism, to the conversion of sinners, 
 the sanctifiction of the just — in a word, to preserve to 
 the utmost of their power all the interests of God. It 
 was this zeal which burned so brightly in Saint Teresa, 
 their Mother, and which she has left them as the prin- 
 cipal spirit of the Reform which she established. 
 
 I will now represent to myself, in order to reanimate 
 in me the spirit of my holy vocation, the King of 
 Heaven, Jesus, going through the whole world, seek- 
 ing and gathering among faithful souls those who are 
 more particularly filled with true zeal for His glory 
 and devotion to His interests. He requires that they 
 be profoundly touched by the ever-increasing progress 
 of sin and impiety, and give themselves to Him with- 
 out reserve, to gain new subjects for His empire, 
 snatching them from the cruel captivity of Satan^ He 
 Wishes that they sacrifice without hesitation, in this 
 glorious enterprise, all the pretensions of the world, 
 their own interests, their liberty, their goods, and if 
 necessary their reputation, their health, and even their 
 life. He walks at their head, He has received the first 
 blows on His Sacred Person; and during a life of 
 thirty-three years He embraced and suffered courage- 
 ously poverty, contempt, persecutions and oppro- 
 brium, and finally crowned His labors by a most cruel 
 
 106 
 
death. But in dying He has overcome death, and 
 promises to those who are generous enough to pursue 
 the course of His conquests that their combats shall be 
 short, their victory certain, and their recompense 
 eternal. 
 
 O Divine King of the Elect! I have heard Thy in- 
 vitation; I have responded to Thy appeal. Behold 
 me! now ranged under Thy banner, to undertake this 
 holy enterprise and to offer some reparation to Thy 
 Divine Heart, so pressed by zeal for the glory of Thy 
 Father and the salvation of souls. I belong to Thee, 
 since I combat under the standard of Mary, Thy 
 Mother. It is to serve Thy cause, to immolate our- 
 selves to Thy glory, that she has united us around her, 
 and imposed upon us this law of love toward God and 
 our brethren — carried even to the sacrifice of all our 
 interests and all human affections. 
 
 But, alas! how poorly have I understood, how little 
 have I appreciated until now the happiness of my holy 
 state! My laxity, my indifference, and my resistance 
 contrast sadly with the fervor and courage which so 
 holy and noble a vocation demands; that fervor and 
 courage which have so brilliantly distinguished the 
 Holy Reformatrix of Carmel and animated so great a 
 number of her worthy children! O King of my heart, 
 henceforth, with Thy grace, I will walk in their foot- 
 steps ! 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 On What Conditions? 
 
 Consider then, O Religious soul! O Daughter of 
 Carmel! O servant of Mary! the conditions offered 
 you to co-operate in the great enterprise of this Im- 
 mortal King, Who calls you to follow in His suite. It 
 suffices to bring to mind the means by which He Him- 
 self overcame the world and the devil, and by which 
 he taught His disciples to conquer. It was by poverty, 
 abnegation, contempt of .honors, and the esteem of 
 creatures, by sufferings, humiliation, crufixion, and 
 death. Hence only those souls who by these means 
 
 107 
 
live the life of Jesus Christ merit to become truly His 
 followers and instruments in extending His Kingdom. 
 
 Jesus Christ wills not to be served by you in this 
 enterprise in the same manner as He was served by 
 the apostles, martyrs and doctors; He will not ask you 
 to contribute to it by the shedding of your blood, by 
 your words or by your writings; but He expects from 
 you a concurrence which may be even more efficacious 
 — that of prayer and self-immolation. You can labor 
 with apostolic zeal, and address continual supplications 
 toward the Holy Mountains to call down upon the 
 militant Church that succor so necessary for it. You 
 can be a secret martyr of charity by sacrificing nature 
 to the requirements of grace. You can, by your si- 
 lence, recollection, your spirit of mortification, and 
 continual example of all Religious virtues, offer to the 
 community in which you live a living sermon that will 
 powerfully contribute to the advancement of the 
 reign of God in the souls of your companions and 
 through them, in those of the entire world. • 
 
 But to attain this end, it is necessary that, first, you 
 completely establish in your own soul the reign of 
 Jesus Christ — that you be so filled with His Spirit as 
 to love only what He loves, hate only what He hates, 
 and seek only wht He sought. It is not in your mind 
 only that His law and His maxims should be found, 
 but especially in your heart and in your whole life; it 
 is necessary, in a word, that Jesus speaks, acts and 
 lives in you. This is the Reign of Jesus Christ. You 
 will in this way be the instrument of the prayer of 
 Jesus, of His sacrifice, of His immolation, and you will 
 draw down upon His Church the most abundant bene- 
 dictions. 
 
 Now the means of arriving at an end so desirable 
 are those of which the method is offered you in the last 
 part of the Retreat. You will contemplate the Myste- 
 ries of the Infancy, the Hidden Life, the Public Life, 
 the Suffering and the Glorious Life of Jesus, and par- 
 ticipate each day with affection in the virtue and 
 the graces which spring out on all sides from this Di- 
 vine Source: insensibly the Life of Jesus will be formed 
 
 108 
 
in you; you will become another Christ, and you can 
 say with the Apostle: "I live now, not I, it is Christ 
 Who lives in me." 
 
 O my Divine King, how little have I followed this 
 way so well trodden by Thy Saints, which would have 
 conducted me to the perfection of my state, to the 
 summit of Carmel! I had Thee ever near me, and I 
 needed but to cast my eyes upon Thee. Thou wert 
 ever watching at the door of my heart, ready to enter 
 to establish Thy Reign, and to make me live Thy life, 
 and I cared not to call upon Thee. I have expected 
 everything from my own labor and efforts, and be- 
 hold why I "have worked all night and taken nothing." 
 O my Saviour, I will henceforth listen to Thee, my 
 Divine Teacher, for "Thou hast the words of Eternal 
 Life." 
 
 LECTURE. 
 Prayer. 
 
 Prayer, as we have already remarked, is in one 
 sense the end of the Order of Carmel, since it is par- 
 ticularly by this divine exercise that the soul who fixes 
 her dwelling upon the Holy Mountain ought to raise 
 herself, even to the Divine union. It follows from this, 
 that prayer is also the great means which will enable 
 this soul to attain the perfection of her sublime state. 
 It is then sovereignly important not only that a Car- 
 melite makes her meditations, employing in this holy 
 exercise the time prescribed by her rule; but she should 
 strive to become a soul of prayer, that she may be to 
 the Church an instrument of prayer, like one of those 
 golden censers spoken of in the Apocalypse which, be- 
 ing swung unceasingly by the hands of Angels, sent 
 forth continually the incense of prayer consumed by 
 the fire of charity. Such, according to the order of 
 Divine Providence, should a Carmelite be: such is the 
 function which she is called upon to fulfill. Saint Paul 
 teaches us that all the faithful should be as members 
 of one same body, and although they have different 
 functions, all are necessary and contribute by their di- 
 versity to the beauty of the body. If then in the 
 Church there are active members who represent its 
 
 109 
 
hands and feet; if others charged with the duty of 
 teaching doctrine are as its mouth; and if there are 
 others in fine to guard and watch over it as its eyes; 
 what shall we say of those hidden souls who constitute 
 the most intimate part of this mystic body, who speak 
 not, nor act exteriorly, but who are charged to pay 
 to God in silence and adoration a tribute of unceasing 
 love, supplication and thanksgiving? Should not these 
 latter be considered as the heart of the Church? Now, 
 it is to the contemplative Orders, and to Carmel in 
 particular, that these sublime functions belong. How- 
 ever, Jesus Christ alone is the prayer and the victim 
 of the Church, and our prayers and immolations draw 
 ail their value from His, our prayers and our sacri- 
 fices have value only when united to this Divine Medi- 
 ator, and they will be profitable to the Church in pro- 
 portion as this union is more or less perfect. Let us 
 then conclude that a Carmelite, who wishes to attain 
 the end of her vocation and to accomplish what the 
 Church expects of her, should strive to become a soul 
 of prayer, and to work without ceasing to render her- 
 self conformable to Jesus Christ, and to have one same 
 Spirit with Him. 
 
 The tribute of prayer which she ought to offer each 
 day is divided by the Constitutions into two parts: 
 Vocal Prayer or Recitation of the Divine Office and 
 Mental Prayer or Meditation. We shall treat of each 
 separately. In the advice which preceded this Retreat, 
 we have given an abridged method of this meditation; 
 and as it is also treated of at length elsewhere (in the 
 Direction of Novices), we shall not repeat it here. We 
 shall content ourselves with simply recalling the obli- 
 gation of each Religious to understand this method 
 well, and to prepare each day the subject upon which 
 she is to meditate, either by reading or making use for 
 this purpose of the knowledge which she has already 
 acquired of the Mysteries, or the virtues of our Saviour, 
 or of some truth of Religion. She will put herself in 
 the Presence of God, humble herself before Him, ex- 
 cite sorrow for her sins, and implore the light of the 
 Holy Spirit. 
 
 110 
 
But what is essential to repeat here, as it is the 
 principal part and the most important point of prayer, 
 is that we should always terminate by lively and effi- 
 cacious petitions. It is not lightly, briefly and by rou- 
 tine that we should acquit ourselves of this duty, but 
 it is necessary to stop and reflect deeply upon the re- 
 quests by which we conclude our meditations. Why 
 should we reflect and make considerations? It is to 
 move the will by the sight of the great truths which 
 we are examining, our particular needs and the vir- 
 tues which correspond to them. The first effect of 
 these salutary impressions ought to be to draw forth 
 our sighs, to express our regret and to expose our 
 miseries and our wounds, as did the blind man on the 
 road to Jericho, who, hearing that Jesus was passing 
 by, began to cry with all his strength : "J esus > Son of 
 David, have pity on me!" Jesus, touched by these 
 penetrating cries, asked, with sweetness, what he 
 wished. He replied with great fervor: "Lord, that 
 I might see." There are a great many persons who 
 neither advance in prayer nor make any progress in 
 virtue, because they do not reiterate and insist enough 
 upon the pressing petitions by which they terminate 
 their prayers, employing in this exercise only a few 
 short moments, while lively and persevering prayer 
 addressed to God for the cure of their defects, the ac- 
 quisition of some virtue, or a grace for salvation, is 
 always followed by its effects, because Jesus Christ 
 has said so. 
 
 Although each Religious should keep to the ordi- 
 nary method of prayer and not force herself into the 
 more elevated ways without a special attraction of 
 grace, submitting herself in this to the judgment of 
 those who guide her and who know her well; at the 
 same time it is important for her to know that by 
 simple fidelity to the Rules of her Institute, above all 
 by the practise of recollection and by the spirit of soli- 
 tude and universal abnegation, as has been said else- 
 where, she will infallibly arrive, and even in a short 
 time, at contemplation. 
 
 We must not attach to this word contemplation 
 the idea of something extraordinary, for it is or should 
 
 111 
 
be ordinary to the Religious of Carmel. It is not a 
 question of visions, ecstacies, ravishments and other 
 states more to be feared than desired for, besides 
 the fact that these singular gifts are not virtues, they 
 can draw into grave illusions those souls who are not 
 humble and well directed. By contemplation we here 
 understand "a view of God and the things of Faith, 
 of the Mysteries of the Life and Death of Jesus Christ 
 — a simple, free, penetrating and certain view, which 
 proceeds from love and tends to love." In this kind 
 of prayer the mind reasons not, the acts of the will 
 are almost imperceptible, and the soul, in a manner 
 simple, clear, evident and certain, embraces and pene- 
 trates the supernatural objects which she contem- 
 plates; she touches and in some sort nourishes herself 
 with them, by making them the object and the food 
 of her love; thus she draws greater profit from a few 
 hours of such prayer than in many years of ordinary 
 meditation. 
 
 But as this prayer is altogether supernatural and a 
 pure gift of God, it is necessary that the soul, in order 
 to be capable of it, should be free from the least de- 
 liberate sins, from disorderly affections, from eager- 
 ness, and from useless cares and inquietude: because 
 with these defects she, like a bird having its feet tied, 
 makes useless efforts to fly upward. The Prophet 
 longed for this divine flight of contemplation when 
 he said: "Who will give me the wings of a dove, that 
 I might fly away and be at rest in the bosom of my 
 God?" Contemplation is, then, only a single glance of 
 the soul who habitually walks in the presence of God 
 and who sees Him alone in all creatures; it is the simple 
 and direct flight of the dove toward the only object 
 of her love. It is easy to recognize, if we examine 
 them attentively, that the prescriptions of the Rule of 
 Carmel, with all that they require of abnegation, of 
 death, of recollection, of silence, of mortification, have 
 for their end the rendering a soul capable of this 
 grace. 
 
 Whence comes it that there are so few souls, even 
 in Carmel, who enjoy this light of contemplation, and 
 
 112 
 
so many to be found in the ways of imperfection, with 
 inclinations and tastes all human and natural? The 
 pious Author of the Imitation gives the reason: 
 "Unless a man be at liberty from all things created, he 
 cannot freely attend to things divine. This is the rea- 
 son why there are found so few contemplative per- 
 sons; because so few wholly sequester themselves from 
 transitory and created things. A man ought there- 
 fore to pass and ascend above every thing created, 
 and perfectly to forsake himself, and in ecstacy of mind 
 to stand and see that no creature can be compared to 
 Thee, because Thou infinitely transcendest them all." 
 
 Nature suffers and groans at this restraint, it is true. 
 What! not one look, not one preoccupation, not one 
 useless remembrance! What! to check without ceas- 
 ing curiosity, preoccupation, levity, the desire of 
 speaking, of questioning what passes before us — what 
 is done, what is said! Courage, with perseverance, 
 prayer and frequent turning to God, we shall not have 
 to wait long to obtain from Him this mortification and 
 recollection in which we shall very soon find our de- 
 light, and the soul will then have only disgust for all 
 that hitherto occupied it. When we neglect in the 
 beginning of our Religious life to contract these holy 
 habits, the soul never being made to submit to the 
 yoke of mortification, but trained in the sad path of 
 imperfection, will hide under the holy habit of Carmel 
 a heart all sensual and human. The prayers of such 
 an unfaithful soul will be filled with distractions and 
 disgust. Far from finding in them a powerful sup- 
 port, which will sweeten her labors and aid her in 
 bearing the yoke of the Rule, she will experience only 
 weariness, and these prayers themselves will be but a 
 burden added to the other observances. 
 
 As for the rest, the whole life of a Carmelite should 
 be but a remote preparation for prayer. This is why 
 she should acquit herself of her duties with an interior 
 spirit, because by never entirely going out of herself, 
 she will have, as the Author of the Imitation says of 
 an interior man, "no trouble in finding herself always 
 ready to converse with God"; or rather, this Divine 
 
 113 
 
conversation will never cease for her, as we can say 
 without the least fear of exaggeration, that the life 
 of a Carmelite ought to be a perpetual contemplation. 
 Now, contemplation being nothing more than a sim- 
 ple glance, free and penetrating, toward God, can a 
 Religious who has left all things, who has bid an eter- 
 nal adieu to the world, have any other pretention than 
 the good pleasure of the One whom she is seeking 
 in solitude? Is it not in His presence that she walks, 
 that she works, prays and keeps silence; that she takes 
 her nourishment and repose? With a little attention 
 and fidelity to grace, disembarrassed as she is of all 
 earthly cares, can it be difficult for her to put in prac- 
 tise the precept of the Apostle : "Whatsoever you do, 
 whether you eat or drink, do all for the glory of God 
 and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ? v It can 
 then be only by continual infidelity, that is by a volun- 
 tary neglect of all the practices and the spirit of her 
 holy state, that she can render herself unworthy to 
 obtain from God the gift of prayer (which is the par- 
 ticular gift of her vocation), and thus remain deprived 
 of the virtues and the graces which she ought to ac- 
 quire by this means. 
 
 It is then very important that she examine herself 
 during this Retreat upon the following points: 
 
 Exam en. 
 
 Have I not neglected to instruct myself in the 
 method of Mental Prayer, or forgotten that which I 
 have been taught? 
 
 Is it not in consequence of this that I do not know 
 how to put myself in the presence of God, by first 
 annihilating myself, recognizing myself as altogether 
 unworthy to appear before His Infinite Majesty, hum- 
 bly begging pardon for my sins, and regarding myself 
 as the most vile of His creatures? 
 
 Have I taken care to consider that I am incapable 
 of even a good thought, and begged the light of the 
 Holy Spirit? 
 
 Have I, then, serious reflected upon the mystery or 
 the truth given as the subject of my prayer, and made 
 the application to myself, recognizing how far removed 
 
 114 
 
I was from the model or the virtue proposed in my 
 meditation, producing from these considerations sen- 
 timents of sorrow and confusion at the sight of my 
 faults, and exciting a lively desire for the perfection 
 of the object whose beauty I have admired? Have 
 I especially insisted upon the last part of my prayer, 
 'devoting at least a quarter of the time allowed to beg 
 of Our Lord, of the Holy Virgin, or my patron Saints, 
 with great fervor and earnestness, the object of my 
 supplications — such as the acquisition of some virtue or 
 the extirpation of some vice? 
 
 Have I added to these, loving colloquies and fer- 
 vent prayers for the Church and for souls? Above 
 all, have I taken practical and particular resolutions, 
 trusting in the mercy of God to accomplish them? 
 
 Have I understood well that the success of Mental 
 Prayer depends particularly upon the remote prepar- 
 tion, that is to say, the habitual and assiduous care to 
 recollect myself and to mortify my senses? 
 
 Is it not because I allow myself to be dissipated 
 exteriorly and interiorly, and have but little regard 
 for my rules of silence, recollection and mortification, 
 that I am assailed during my meditations with 
 thoughts, useless and foreign to this holy exercise? 
 When I have been tried by spiritual dryness or interior 
 desolation, instead of submitting myself to the Divine 
 pleasure, and to this crucifixion, willingly making of 
 prayer a most profitable exercise of abnegation and 
 renouncement, and taking occasion to humble myself 
 as being justly chastised, have I not abandoned my- 
 self to discouragement and sadness, not reflecting that 
 such dispositions are but, the fruit of my self-love 
 which I ought to reject? 
 
 In fine, have I had a great desire to obtain from God 
 the gift of prayer, and particularly the light of con- 
 templation, which is truly the precious pearl of the 
 Gospel, given in Carmel to purchase heaven? Have 
 I for this end made use of continual mortification of 
 my sense, profound recollection, fervent aspirations 
 and familiar conversation interiorly with Our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin and the Saints? 
 
 115 
 
FIFTH DAY. 
 
 FIRST MEDITATION. 
 
 Love and Devotedness of Jesus Christ in the Mystery 
 
 of the Incarnation. 
 
 "And the word was made flesh, and dwelt 
 among us." — St. John 1—14. 
 
 "God so loved the world as to give His 
 Only Begotten Son."— St. John III— 16. 
 
 I adore Thee, O my God, the Father of Our Lord 
 Jesus Christ! I am ravished with admiration, thanks- 
 giving and love in contemplating the infinite charity 
 which Thou hast shown in giving us Thy Only Son, 
 in order that, believing in Him, we might not perish, 
 but on the contrary acquire Eternalj Life. This in- 
 estimable gift has, so to speak, exhausted all Thy 
 power, because Thou couldst not give us anything 
 greater or more excellent; and it has also put us under 
 an impossibility of thanking Thee otherwise than by 
 returning it to Thee, giving back the One Whom Thou 
 hast given with so much munificence, and ourselves 
 with Him. This is what I pretend to do to-day, O my 
 God, infinitely amiable; give me the grace to enter so 
 entirely into this mystery of love that I can no longer 
 refrain from loving Thee without division, and from 
 giving myself to Thee without reservation. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 A Mystery of Love. 
 
 God could have treated guilty man as He treated 
 the rebellious Angels; but by a judgment as impene- 
 trable as it is adorable, while He made Angelic na- 
 ture, thus debased, the object of His justice, He made 
 human nature the object of His mercy, by drawing 
 it out of the abyss into which it had fallen through 
 its own fault. "This rehabilitation of man is more 
 admirable than His creation," and the means which 
 God has employed are so marvelous, that "so far as 
 the heavens are removed from the earth, are His 
 
 116 
 
thoughts above our thoughts, and His ways above our 
 ways." 
 
 When God, after having created the world, wished 
 to form man, He said: "Let Us make man." The 
 Three Persons of the Holy Trinity take counsel for a 
 work of so much importance, for there is question of 
 the creation of the King of the Universe, of the one, 
 who in the name of all other creatures, ought to ren- 
 der to the Creator the just tribute of their gratitude, 
 their adoration and their love. And when man, imi- 
 tating the revolt of the Angel of Darkness, was en- 
 snared in his ruin, God, notwithstanding the greatness 
 of his fault and the blackness of his ingratitude, re- 
 solved to extend to him a helping hand. The Ador- 
 ble Trinity again take counsel; the Son offers Himself 
 to the Eternal Father to be given to man; the Father 
 consents to make the gift of His Only Son; the Holy 
 Spirit applies to this work the seal of His love, and 
 the decree of the Incarnation is decided. O Work of 
 Love by excellence — not only because it is made by 
 the One Who is Charity itself, but because its fruits, 
 its effects should fill man with glory and happiness, 
 and oblige him to pay to God all the love of which 
 he is capable! Without speaking of the glory which 
 this work renders to God by reconciling His justice 
 and His mercy (since mercy in the person of His Son 
 is charged to offer to justice a superabundant satisfac- 
 tion), let us consider here, this Masterpiece of God's 
 love, only in relation to the advantages which it pro- 
 cures us. 
 
 The Son of God becomes man; He is made a child 
 of Adam to the end that man might become God, or 
 according to the language of Saint John, "in order 
 that man may not only be called the child of God, 
 but that he may be so in effect." "The Word was 
 made Flesh," in order that, as our souls had become 
 fleshy in consequence of original sin, our flesh in turn 
 might become spiritual by its union with the Word 
 made Flesh. Man was lost by wishing to be like to 
 God, and now God has come to resemble man, in 
 order that we may not only, without crime, wish to be 
 
 117 
 
like to Him, but that our highest merit and greatest 
 perfection might consist in our conformity to this 
 Word of Life. Thus the Son of God makes use of 
 human nature, with which He clothed Himself as with 
 a garment, to attract us to Himself "by the cords of 
 Adam" (as He has said by the mouth of His Prophet, 
 Osee), that is, by the charms of His Humanity. Like 
 a shepherd who clothes himself in sheepskin that he 
 may be better followed by his flock, He wishes that, 
 in following Him under this exterior accommodation 
 to our weakness, the path of perfection would seem 
 less rough, and the virtues personified in Him appear 
 more amiable and easy. In fine, He wished to de- 
 stroy that fear which He knew man, so weak and 
 sinful, would have in approaching His Divine Majesty, 
 that fear which made the Jews tremble at the foot of 
 Mount Sinai and say: "Let Moses speak to us, but 
 let not the Lord speak." 
 
 "Great," says Saint Paul, "is the mystery of godli- 
 ness which was manifested in the flesh, was justified 
 in the spirit, appeared unto Angels, hath been 
 preached unto the gentiles, is believed in the world, 
 is taken up in glory." 
 
 But this Mystery of the Incarnation is more a Mys- 
 tery of charity than a Mystery of glory, and if it merits 
 our admiration, it merits still more our love. "Con- 
 sider," says Saint John, "what manner of charity the 
 Father has shown us in willing that we should not only 
 be called the sons of God, but should be so truly." 
 "For my beloved," continues the Apostle of love, 
 "we are now the sons of God, but the affiliation shall 
 appear one day when we shall see Him as He is." Ah! 
 who would not be ravished with admiration when 
 Jesus Christ Himself experienced this sentiment, and 
 in a transport of love exclaims: "God so loved the 
 world as to give," not His servant, not one of the 
 princes of His court, but "His Only Begotten Son," 
 and with Him He has given us all things! 
 
 And it is not a loan; He made man a perfect gift, 
 entire and irrevocable. He is made man's own. Man 
 can clothe himself with Him as with a vesture, he can 
 
 118 
 
nourish himself with Him as with a food of immor- 
 tality; not only can he put Him as a seal upon his 
 heart, and upon his arm, but he can change himself, 
 he can transform himself into God and, presenting 
 himself to the Father, he becomes also the object of 
 His eternal complacency. 
 
 O Jesus, Word Incarnate, the Man-God, my Celes- 
 tial Spouse, by what thanksgiving, by what praise can 
 l acknowledge the charity of Thy Father, Who has 
 given Thee to me, and Thy own ineffable love, which 
 has made Thee enter into His designs by putting Thy 
 Adorable Self at my disposition? Ah! I understand, 
 Lord, that the only means I have of acknowledging 
 this work of love is by applying to myself its precious 
 fruits. Thou art clothed in my flesh that I might ac- 
 quire Thy Spirit. Thou hast given Thyself to me 
 in order that I might give myself entirely to Thee. 
 Thou art made the Son of man, that I might become 
 the child of God. 
 
 Ah! my most amiable Redeemer, all the glory, the 
 advantages and the happiness are on my side. And 
 notwithstanding this, how little have I tasted of its 
 sweetness, how little have I appreciated this in- 
 estimable gift of Thy love! I am so much the more 
 guilty, so much the more filled with confusion at the 
 thought that one of the principal objects of my vo- 
 cation to Carmel was to honor Thy Incarnation, and 
 to extend in myself its marvelous fruits, by retracing 
 in my own person Thy life of prayer, of annihilation, 
 of immolation — causing Thee, by the crucifixion of 
 my flesh, and the union of my spirit with Thine, to be- 
 come Incarnate anew in me. Alas! I am far from 
 this happy state! O Incarnate God! inflame me with 
 Thy love. Put me as a seal upon Thy Heart, in order 
 to soften the hardness and coldness of mine, "for love 
 is strong as death." 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 A Mystery of Devotedness. 
 
 On the part of the Word made Flesh, the Incar- 
 nation is a work of devotedness by excellence — for 
 
 119 
 
the glory of God, for the salvation of man. Saint 
 Paul refers to this sublime act of the Son of God en- 
 tering into the world and announcing Himself by these 
 words so clear, and expressed before by the mouth 
 of His Prophet: "Sacrifices and oblations Thou 
 wouldst not; but a body Thou hast fitted to me. Holo- 
 caust and victims for sin did not please thee. Then 
 said I: 'Behold! I come.' In the head of the book it 
 is written of me that I should do Thy will, O my God." 
 "Thy Law is engraved in the depths of my heart." 
 
 Behold, then, this grand act of devotion by which 
 Jesus Christ substitutes His Sacred Humanity for all 
 the victims of the Ancient Law. He declares that He 
 belongs not to Himself; but that He is the Lamb 
 of God destined to be sacrificed, to satisfy the Divine 
 Justice, at the same time that He gives Himself to the 
 human race, of which He constitutes Himself the Ser- 
 vant and the Victim. In the accomplishment of this 
 work, He submits Himself without reserve to all that 
 the Eternal Wisdom of His Father has appointed. 
 What devotedness contained in this single act! It sup- 
 poses not only the sacrifice of the entire will of the Son 
 to His Father's good pleasure, but the sacrifice of all 
 His particular views, however perfect they may be; 
 the sacrifice of His judgment, His desires, His hopes. 
 The first use which the Incarnate Word made of His 
 faculties was to consecrate them, to immolate them 
 in the service of His Father, for the salvation of the 
 world. And such should be the first thought, the first 
 desire, the first duty of a soul prevented by grace and 
 enlightened by divine light — to devote herself, to cry 
 to God from the depth of her heart, with Jesus: "Be- 
 hold, I come to do Thy Will," and with Mary: "Be- 
 hold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me ac- 
 cording to Thy Word." This shows clearly that de- 
 votedness to the interest of God to which are linked 
 necessarily the true interest of man, the salvation of 
 souls, the reign of grace in all hearts, is contained in 
 that act of sovereign love to which all Christians are 
 obliged; for there is no love without devotedness. 
 "We cannot render worship to God," says Saint Au- 
 
 120 
 
gustine, "otherwise than by love, and it is evident that 
 we do not love Him if we are not devoted to Him." 
 
 To think of one's salvation in view of one's own 
 interest, to fear hell and to desire heaven in order to 
 insure one's own happiness, is a good disposition, but 
 not a very perfect one: this is to be devoted to self 
 rather than to God. Although the interest of God 
 does not exclude this, it should hold the second rank, 
 while His interests ought to hold the first. We should 
 seek the glory of God in the care which we take of 
 the salvation and sanctification of our own soul, but 
 if, until now, we have made so little progress in vir- 
 tue, it is perhaps because the zeal which we have for 
 our perfection is debased by the view of our own in- 
 terest and our own glory; we labor at it through the 
 effects of a certain ardor of character, an activity all 
 too natural, which we throw into all our undertakings, 
 while we tend not to God in a manner sufficiently pure 
 and disinterested. 
 
 Alas! this pure devotion is very rare in the world 
 among Christians, even the most pious. Engaged as 
 they are in the interests of the world, they think that 
 they do enough for those of heaven when they do not 
 neglect them. Nevertheless, they ought to remember 
 that the devotion of which they have made profession 
 is nothing else than devotion to the interests of God. 
 But this unreserved devotedness should be appre- 
 ciated and practised by Religious souls. What a sub- 
 ject of astonishment and sorrow if it be not found in 
 them! What, above all, in those who belong to the 
 Grder of Carmel, if their piety does not extend beyond 
 the narrow and mercenary views which, perhaps, 
 might suffice for other souls, but which are too far 
 from the spirit of sacrifice, from the forgetfulness of 
 themselves and their own interests; in a word, from 
 that entire devotedness to God and souls which is 
 their fundamental spirit. It was that of their Holy 
 Mother, Saint Teresa; it was the end of her Reform, 
 of her numerous foundations, and of all her labors; 
 this spirit of devotedness breathes in all her writings, 
 and accompanied her even to her last sigh. 
 
 121 
 
As the Prophet Eliseus begged of his father, Saint 
 Elias, his double spirit, I ask of my Holy Mother the 
 gift of her's, which will make me say unceasingly: 'To 
 Thee, O my Sovereign Lord, be all honor and glory, 
 and to me confusion and contempt." I will contem- 
 plate my Divine Redeemer, the only worthy Adorer 
 of the Eternal Father, the only One who knows and 
 comprehends His infinite grandeur, Who has counted 
 as nothing all the labors of His life, all the humili- 
 ations and sufferings of His death, in order to glorify 
 His Father, to conquer souls made to His own image 
 and likeness, not thinking them too dearly purchased 
 at the price of all His Blood. Ah! Lot-d, Thy senti- 
 ments and Thy conduct show forth all that which is 
 low, egotistical and mean in mine; if I examine the 
 secret motives of my actions, I will find very few are 
 not actuated by the seeking of self or creatures, yet, 
 Lord, Thou hast made all things for Thyself and for 
 Thy glory, which is just and could not be otherwise; 
 since, being the only source of all good, all glory must 
 redound to Thee. Unhappy the creature who deprives 
 Thee of any part of it, by seeking its own satisfaction, 
 praise or anything else before Thee: it is unfaithful 
 to Thy pure love. Ah! Lord, make me understand 
 that Thou art all, and that I ought to have no other 
 ambition than to add by my labors, my efforts and my 
 sacrifices some rays to Thy exterior glory. Make me 
 feel a spark of that pure zeal by which Thou wert de- 
 voured for the glory of Thy Father's interests, which 
 never permitted Thee for one instant of Thy life to 
 seek Thy own satisfaction in anything, but only the 
 extension and glory of the Reign of Thy Heavenly 
 Father. 
 
 Associate me, all unworthy as I am, to Thy life of 
 devotedness, for the salvation of souls, with Mary, 
 Thy Immaculate Mother, and with Teresa, Thy heroic 
 spouse, that following their example in time I may 
 merit to share their glory in eternity. Amen. 
 
 122 
 
SECOND MEDITATION. 
 
 Annihilation of Jesus Christ in the Incarnation. 
 
 "I am nothingness in thy sight."— Ps. 
 XXXVIII, 6. 
 
 "He emptied Himself, taking the form of 
 a servant."— Philip, II, 7. 
 
 I adore Thee profoundly, O Eternal Word, anni- 
 hilated in the virginal womb of Mary. Thou art truly 
 a hidden God. What, Thou art the Light of the 
 World, and hid est Thyself thus from the gaze of men! 
 Thou comest to save them, they await Thee; Thou 
 art eager to manifest Thyself to them and they ignore 
 Thee, yet Thou wouldst remain in the midst of them; 
 Thou dost hide Thyself in profound obscurity and 
 this obscurity will envelop the greater portion of 
 Thy Life upon earth. What a subject of astonish- 
 ment, what a mystery! Ah! may I become well pene- 
 trated with it from this day. Make me understand the 
 important lessons which I receive from Thee at the 
 first instant of Thy Incarnation. Give me a proper 
 knowledge of Thy annihilation, which ought to be 
 the first act of a creature: to humble itself, to annihi- 
 late itself, to confess itself unworthy of any favor, and 
 incapable of any good without the help of grace. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 Jesus Annihilated. 
 
 The Apostle Saint Paul, and after him Saint John, 
 wishing to speak of the prodigious abasement of the 
 Son of God in the Incarnation, and not finding, in 
 human language, words to express the infinite distance 
 which there is between the divinity and the humanity, 
 employ expressions evidently exaggerated or im- 
 proper, the first saying that He annihilated Himself, 
 and the second that He was made flesh when, in ef- 
 fect, God cannot possibly reduce Himself to nothing- 
 ness, nor cease to be God, even when He clothed Him- 
 self in our humanity. But the Holy Spirit, in suggest- 
 ing such expressions, wished to strike us, to touch us 
 by the consideration of this astounding annihilation, 
 and to make us draw from it the salutary fruit of hu- 
 mility. 
 
 123 
 
The Son of God, the Eternal Word, by Whom all 
 things in heaven and on earth are made, lowered Him- 
 self so far as to rank Himself among His creatures. 
 He is made man, man poor and suffering, a son of sin- 
 ful Adam; and, afterwards, He speaks of Himself as 
 the Son of Man, recalling to us by this title so dear to 
 Him, and so familiar to us, how much His love for 
 us has debased Him. From the first moment of His 
 existence in the womb of Mary, He seems to take 
 pleasure in repeating to His Heavenly Father: "I am 
 become as nothing before Thee." Who can under- 
 stand the sentiments of humility with which the Holy 
 Soul of Our Saviour was animated, and the ineffable 
 acts of this virtue which He offered to God. Our 
 minds, so naturally proud, can hardly comprehend 
 that humility could be found in Jesus Christ, or at 
 least, that this humility was real, after all that faith 
 teaches us concerning the interior riches, graces, vir- 
 tues and grand perfections with which the holy Hu- 
 manity was ornamented and ennobled without the 
 least mixture of imperfection, without any possibility 
 of sin. Notwithstanding this, the humility of the Man- 
 God was perfect, and established upon foundations 
 the most solid and true. Without doubt, Jesus Christ 
 was not ignorant that His Soul was enriched with all 
 the treasures of science and wisdom, filled with all 
 the gifts of grace; but he understood that His Hu- 
 manity drew all its glory from a personal union with 
 the Eternal Word. And it was precisely this knowl- 
 edge which furnished motives of humility the most 
 profound and the most perfect that ever has been or 
 ever can be; it was in this that He found the subject 
 of that act of annihilation, by which He rendered to 
 God a glory so great. 
 
 Scarcely entered into the world, this Divine Re- 
 deemer was pleased to recognize that the predestina- 
 tion of His Humanity to the Divine Union was purely 
 gratuitous, without any preceding merit on its part, 
 and that all the treasures of nature and of grace, with 
 which it had been gifted, were but the outcome of this 
 vocation, admitting that in quality of man, He was 
 
 124 
 
only a creature called forth from nothingness, like all 
 creatures, and that the glory of His existence with 
 all the wonders attached to it, ought to be referred 
 entirely to the Creator. It would be necessary to have 
 another intelligence, but not a human intelligence, 
 another tongue, not human, to understand and to re- 
 late the profound abasements, the prodigious acts of 
 His holy soul, comprehending in the single glance of 
 His contemplation the Being of God and the nothing- 
 ness of the creature- Behold in what His humility 
 consisted, because humility is truth. 
 
 After Jesus, the most humble, the most annihilated 
 of beings is Mary, His Holy Mother. While, accord- 
 ing to the testimony of Jesus Christ Himself, the rebel 
 Angel was cursed and precipitated from heaven be- 
 cause he had not remained in the truth that God is 
 all and man is nothing, Mary, on the contrary, re- 
 mained so fervently attached to her nothingness that 
 God filled her with His grace and raised her to Him- 
 self. 
 
 O my God, teach me that admirable science of hu- 
 mility which exercises so irrisistible an empire over 
 Thee. Teach me the secret of that annihilation which 
 obliges Thee, so to speak, to abase Thyself to the 
 soul which produces such an act, while Thou dost re- 
 sist the proud. O my Divine Jesus, it is in Thy Sa- 
 cred Heart, so humble, that I must seek this funda- 
 mental virtue; there Thou wilt teach me how to annihi- 
 late myself before God, particularly when I come into 
 His presence for prayer. There, also, I shall learn to 
 abase myself before all creatures at the sight of my 
 sins, my profound misery and the corruption of my 
 heart. And if I am faithful to Thy grace, this salu- 
 tary confusion, this contempt of myself, will lead me 
 to suffer patiently and to desire even to be despised 
 and rebuked by all the world, as I deserve. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 But, not content with annihilating Himself in spirit 
 before God, as I have just contemplated Him, Jesus 
 
 125 
 
Christ annihilated in some sort His Will, by putting 
 His Human Will under the direction of the Eternal 
 Word. It was this dependence which He wished to 
 make known to us by these words: "I do nothing of 
 Myself. I do always the things which please My 
 Father." Thus, then, notwithstanding the distinction 
 of the two natures and the two wills, divine and hu- 
 man, which existed entire and without confusion, ac- 
 cording to the teaching of Faith, the Sacred Human- 
 ity annihilated Itself morally but voluntarily under the 
 action of the Divinity. The only use which It made of 
 Its wisdom and infused science, with all the gifts of 
 nature and of grace which accompanied them, and the 
 only movement which It gave to Its will, was to anni- 
 hilate them, in order to leave the Word the entire con- 
 trol of Its thoughts, words, actions and sentiments. 
 
 Thus all is annihilation in the Mystery of the In- 
 carnation: annihilation of mind, annihilation of heart. 
 And this is the remedy which the Divine Physician has 
 applied to the wounds of original sin, to pride, love of 
 self and esteem of one's own excellence, and He has 
 considered necessary nothing less than the annihilation 
 of the Son of God, to satisfy the justice of the Eternal 
 Father and to cure the wounds of the heart of man. 
 
 Behold then the secret of your salvation and per- 
 fection: First, to humble one's self before God by 
 a true contempt of self and a just appreciation of our 
 importance for good. Second, to renounce all the 
 movements of nature, to follow entirely the conduct 
 of the Divine Spirit and the inspirations of grace. The 
 more we approach this moral annihilation of Jesus 
 Christ, the more shall we approach perfection. The 
 most perfect souls, then, are those in whom there is 
 less of themselves and more of the Spirit of Jesus 
 Christ, as a consequence of their fidelity in renouncing 
 the sallies of self-love and mortifying the inclinations 
 of corrupt nature, to follow entirely the conduct of 
 
 126 
 
grace, according to the constant teaching of Saint 
 Paul. 
 
 But this fidelity in humbling one's self under the 
 hand of God, supposes a great spirit of recollection, 
 and an assiduous care in watching over the heart, in 
 order to be able to discern the impulses of the Spirit 
 of God, from those of nature, and a great spirit of 
 interior mortification in obeying one and resisting the 
 other. 
 
 O my God! Alas! I have known humility only in 
 name. I have believed that it consisted only in cer- 
 tain illusions of holy souls to hide from themselves the 
 knowledge of their virtues and their merits, while I 
 see now that humility of mind consists in seeing ac- 
 cording to truth that we are nothing, and of ourselves 
 can do nothing, and that humility of heart consists 
 in acting according to this clear light. Thus, they seek 
 neither the affections nor the esteem of creatures, be- 
 cause they merit them not, and they apply themselves 
 constantly to forsake themselves by a perfect self-con- 
 tempt, obliging God to succor them by this avowal of 
 their indigence. 
 
 Such have not been my sentiments and my conduct, 
 
 my God! I have been filled with a secret confi- 
 dence in my own virtue, expecting to obtain perfec- 
 tion by my own efforts. I believed myself doing good 
 works, when I but followed in all things my natural 
 inclinations. O Divine Jesus, grant me to-day this 
 powerful grace which will enlighten me upon my own 
 nothingness! Imprint in my will a generous deter- 
 mination of seeking henceforth, by constant union with 
 Thee, the desire and the strength to practise virtue. 
 
 1 beg this grace of Thee, through the intercession of 
 her who, though the purest, was the most humble of 
 creatures, and found in this humility the principal 
 source of all the blessings with which Thou hadst 
 filled her. Amen. 
 
 127 
 
THIRD MEDITATION. 
 The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 "And it came to pass that when Mary and 
 Joseph were at Bethlehem, her days were ac- 
 complished, that she should be deliverd, and 
 she brought forth her first-born son, ..and 
 wrapped Him up in swaddling clothes, and 
 laid Him in a manger; because there was 
 no room for them in the inn." — St. Luke, II, 
 6-7. 
 
 I enter in spirit the stable with the shepherds, 
 whom Thou invitest by the voice of Angels. I pros- 
 trate myself, O Divine Infant, before that manger 
 which serves for Thy cradle. I adore Thee, O Desired 
 of Nations! O my Amiable Redeemer! O my King! 
 O my Master! I come to listen in silence, and to 
 gather the admirable lessons which Thou givest me at 
 Thy first appearance in this world. I unite my ador- 
 ation to that of Mary and Joseph, humbly supplicating 
 Thee to accept the offering of my heart and grant me 
 in return a clear knowledge of the Mystery of Poverty 
 which is shown in Thy Birth. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 The Poverty of Jesus Christ in His Birth. 
 
 I will first consider with the deepest recollection, 
 and with the eye of faith, that touching picture which 
 unfolds itself before me. An abnadoned Stable, a 
 frail Infant clothed in poor garments, and laid in a 
 manger. Near Him I perceive a daughter of Israel, 
 whose mien and visage full of modesty bear the im- 
 press of every virtue, but whose exterior announces 
 only an humble mediocrity. Such is also that of the 
 venerable old man, who accompanies her and who 
 is but a poor artisan. Around them press the humble 
 shepherds, called by the voice of the Angels. 
 
 Is this then, O my God, the One Whom Thou didst 
 promise from the beginning of the world to our first 
 Parents, the One Whom Thou didst show to Abraham, 
 Whom Moses announced to Thy People, and of 
 Whom the Patriarchs left the hope to their children 
 as their most precious heritage? 
 
 128 
 
Is this He, Whose glorious entrance into the world 
 the Prophets have related in such magnificent terms, 
 Whose victories, conquests and Eternal Reign they 
 have described with so much pomp? Is this the 
 strong God, the Angel of the Great Council, the Prince 
 of Peace, the Father of the world to come? Can I, 
 in fine, recognize in such signs the Mediator Whom 
 Thou hast promised, the glorious King Whose throne 
 is established upon indestructible foundations? Is this 
 His palace, His court, His guard ; are these the insignia 
 of His Royalty? 
 
 Yes, respond the heavens, by the voice of Angels — 
 yes, by these signs thou must recognize that God has 
 accomplished His promises, that Christ, Our Saviour 
 is born. It is voluntarily, it is by choice of preference, 
 that He takes to-day Poverty as His portion. We 
 should not attribute to the vanity of Caesar, who or- 
 dained the enrollment of his subjects, the journey of 
 Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem; neither should we at- 
 tribute their retirement into a stable, to the avarice and 
 cruelty of the innkeepers, who repulsed them, because 
 the birth of Jesus Christ in this place had been decreed 
 in the Council of Eternal Wisdom. He should be 
 bcrn in destitution, deprived of all those helps which 
 in like circumstances are not wanting to the most in- 
 digent families. And God, Who, in His Almighty 
 Power, makes use for the execution of His designs, of 
 the perverse wills of His creatures, so disposed all 
 things that His Divine Son was born at Bethlehem, 
 as had been announced by His Prophets, and that this 
 temporal birth was marked with the character of the 
 most abject poverty. 
 
 In order to become initiated into this Mystery, it is 
 necessary that we recall to mind that the Creator, when 
 He drew man forth from nothingness, had placed him 
 in a Paradise of delights, with the intention of ele- 
 vating him by the contemplation of creatures, and 
 causing him to attain by the enjoyment of created 
 goods to the possession of eternal riches. But Adam 
 lost himself in this path; and creatures, instead of be- 
 ing for him a means of salvation, became in conse- 
 
 129 
 
quence of sin and the corruption of his heart, obsta- 
 cles to the exercise of love. God then resolved to 
 save him by an opposite way. Behold why our Re- 
 deemer gives us at His Birth a shining example in His 
 obscurity, of perfect contempt of all created goods. 
 And from that instant, that is to say, from the Crib at 
 Bethlehem, to the Cross on Calvary, His life will be 
 marked by a want of all things. When the time of 
 His infancy and youth has passed, He will live painfully 
 by the labor of His hands; in His public life, He will 
 receive His subsistence from charitable souls. He has 
 not whereon to lay His head; He will die despoiled of 
 His garments, and be buried in the tomb of another. 
 But if His first example is one of poverty, the first 
 word with which He opens the promulgation of His 
 new Law, is in favor of holy Poverty. "Blessed are 
 the poor," He says! "Blessed are the poor," echoes 
 through the Chritian ages! And these words received 
 in hearts prepared by the grace of the Redemption 
 will change the face of the earth. Human wisdom 
 had placed happiness in an abundance of temporal 
 goods; it had for poverty nothing but contempt; and 
 behold how Divine Wisdom discovers to those who 
 are willing to hear Him, the falsity, the insufficiency 
 and the danger of these goods, and the precious treas- 
 ures hidden in the absence of all terrestrial things. Im- 
 mediately we see following in the footsteps of their 
 poor Redeemer, not only His Apostles and first Dis- 
 ciples, but a multitude of Christians of both sexes, 
 from every rank of life, who with joy distributed to 
 others their goods, esteeming Evangelical Poverty 
 more than all the goods of the universe. 
 
 O Holy Poverty, precious pearl, hidden treasure, 
 which Jesus has loved, which He made His companion 
 during His whole life, and from which He wished not 
 to separate in death! When wilt thou become the 
 object of my ambition and my love? Without under- 
 standing the precious advantages attached to thy prac- 
 tise, should it not suffice for me to love thee, because 
 thou belongest to Jesus, Who has espoused thee 
 through love for me, in order to enrich me with eter- 
 
 130 
 
nal goods? Ah! if I possessed some part of the gar- 
 ment which He had worn, I would cherish it tenderly, 
 kiss it with respect, and preserve it with love; and yet, 
 when 1 wear this habit of brown, when I dwell in a 
 cell despoiled of all ornaments, when I repose upon a 
 poor bed and make use of the food of the poor, do I 
 not truly possess the relics of the Poverty of Jesus, 
 with which I am enriched? But, alas! there is want- 
 ing in these holy practises the faith which should ele- 
 vate them, and the love which should give them value 
 and cause me to seek them. And often, instead of 
 cherishing these holy observances, I fear and try to 
 escape them. Ah! how far am I from the spirit of 
 my holy state, and the sentiments of Carmel's holy 
 Reformatrix who, having had so much zeal for this 
 precious virtue, has left us so many admirable ex- 
 amples of it. My God, I again beg Thee to grant me 
 in this Retreat the grace of understanding and of prac- 
 tising the Poverty of Jesus. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 Advantages and Practice of Religious Poverty. 
 
 It is certain that one of the principal causes of the 
 perdition of men is, according to Saint Paul, cupidity, 
 that is, a love of earthly goods. Hence arises in us 
 a crowd of useless desires, cruel thorns, as they are 
 called by Our Saviour, which choke the seeds of grace, 
 kill good desires, prevent us from thinking of celestial 
 goods, from loving virtue, and from practising good 
 works. Some pursue with inquietude these goods be- 
 cause they possess them not. Others put all their af- 
 fection in the enjoyment and preservation of these 
 deceitful riches which become for them a source of 
 innumerable sins; because, from the time that man 
 makes the things of earth the object of his ambition 
 and his efforts, he forgets the care of his soul and 
 his eternal destiny, and counts as nothing the viola- 
 tion of the Holy Laws of God and of the Church. 
 Provided he satisfies his cravings, he puts the things 
 of time before those of eternity, the care of the body 
 
 131 
 
before the care of the soul, and falls into the vice 
 which Jesus Christ combats in His Gospel by these 
 words: "Be not solicitous, therefore saying: What 
 shall we eat, or what shall we drink, wherewith shall 
 we be clothed? Thus the heathens seek. Seek ye 
 first the Kingdom of God and His Justice, and all 
 these things shall be added unto you." 
 
 According to this divine doctrine, the great Apos- 
 tle, writing to Timothy, says: "Fly, cupidity, and 
 adorn thyself with piety, which is the greatest of 
 treasures to a heart- which knows how to content itself 
 with the little which it possesses. For we brought 
 nothing into this world: and certainly we can carry 
 nothing out. But having food, and wherewith to be 
 covered, with these are content." 
 
 These words of Saint Paul are a resume of all the 
 advantages of Religious Poverty; Holy Poverty, one 
 of the most admirable inspirations of the Spirit of Jesus 
 Christ, by which each member of a Religious family, 
 having nothing of her own, is poor in effect. She has 
 before God all the merit of renouncing the goods of 
 the world, while, by the care of the Community, 
 nothing is wanting to her of necessary or even useful 
 things, and each one can truly say with the Apostle: 
 "I am as one having nothing, yet possessing all things." 
 The Religious soul thus finds herself placed in that 
 happy state which Solomon begged of God when he 
 prayed to be delivered equally from extreme indigence 
 and great opulence, because one is too often the source 
 of complaints, murmurs, the forgetfulness of salvation, 
 and a multitude of sins, while the other opens the 
 door to all the passions by furnishing the means of 
 satisfying them. 
 
 Blessed, a thousand times blessed, is the Holy Pov- 
 erty of Carmel ! It is here that the solitary soul, hav- 
 ing no care but to make the praises of God resound 
 day and night throughout her solitude and to enrich 
 herself for heaven, resembles the little birds of which 
 Jesus Christ speaks: they neither sow nor do they reap, 
 yet they are nourished each day by their Heavenly 
 Father. Her treasure is in her detachment. Accord- 
 
 132 
 
ing as she curtails her own wants, as she becomes 
 enamored of the Poverty of Jesus Christ, and desires 
 to bear His Livery — as a just recompense of the Di- 
 vine Remunerator, she gathers more abundantly from 
 His hand those celestial goods which fill her heart, ac- 
 cording as He finds it empty of creatures. These pre- 
 cious advantages the Holy Spirit reveals to hearts 
 which are His. 
 
 But Religious Poverty, however holy it may be in 
 itself, has for each soul no reality or advantage, ex- 
 cept inasmuch as it is voluntarily embraced by faith 
 and practised with love. It is very necessary and in- 
 dispensable to be penetrated with its spirit; otherwise 
 the words of Our Saviour, "Blessed are the poor in 
 spirit," the poor by their own will, are not applicable 
 to us. Alas! some Religious souls have embraced 
 Poverty by a vow, yet understand neither its obliga- 
 tions nor its value. 
 
 They have no love for it, they observe its practices 
 badly, and consequently do not gather its precious 
 fruits. If they do not go so far as directly to violate 
 their sacred promises, by disposing of what they have 
 the use of, or receiving what is given them by others, 
 without the consent of their Superiors; at least they 
 show this same disposition in the use of things, as if 
 they really belonged to them, whether it be by attach- 
 ment, by the complacency with which they use them, 
 or or by the pain which they experience in giving them 
 up, or lending them to others. Oh! how far removed 
 from the examples of St. Teresa and all holy Carmel- 
 ites are such sentiments, they were never so happy as 
 when by some circumstance, fortunate in their estima- 
 tion, they could suffer the want and the privation of the 
 ■very necessaries of life. On the contrary, these Re- 
 ligious of whom we are speaking give way to secret 
 murmurs when it happens that the Sisters charged with 
 the care of providing for their needs have not satis- 
 fied their desires for clothing or nourishment, seeking 
 always for themselves what is the best and most com- 
 fortable. 
 
 133 
 
What is not my confusion, O my God, in contem- 
 plating Holy Poverty, so amiable in Thy Person, for 
 which if I have not had a real repugnance, at least I 
 have not loved as I ought, after the precious example 
 Thou has given me of it during Thy entire life. The 
 Order of Carmel contains a great treasure in Holy 
 Poverty, with which I can acquire a multitude of 
 spiritual goods, and yet this treasure has been for me, 
 until now, a buried treasure. I was poor by my pro- 
 fession, in my habit, in my customs, but I was not poor 
 in spirit and in truth. I was rich in those riches which 
 Thou hast cursed, rich in desires, in a multitude of 
 cares and thoughts which filled my heart with creatures, 
 and, alas! this is why I behold it so empty of Thee and 
 Thy Spirit. 
 
 Ah! Lord, grant me to understand the favor Thou 
 hast done me since, being rich, Thou hast made Thy- 
 self poor to enrich me by Thy own indigence. Make 
 me love Thy Poverty more than the world loves its 
 opulence, that I may buy of Thee that pure gold, which 
 is Thy Love, and which will insure for me the eternal 
 possession of Thy Kingdom! Amen. 
 
 LECTURE. 
 
 The Divine Office. 
 
 The Religious of Carmel are bound to recite each 
 day in Choir the Divine Office. Among the obliga- 
 tions imposed upon them, this is one of the gravest, 
 the most holy and the most glorious. It is then very 
 important to be penetrated during this Retreat with 
 a high esteem for this holy exercise, and to understand 
 that not only their perfection, but even their salvation, 
 will depend upon the exactitude and the piety with 
 which they acquit themselves of this duty. 
 
 Let us first speak of the motives which will make us 
 conceive that respect and esteem which the Divine 
 Office merits. Consider its antiquity, the greatness 
 of the authority which imposes its obligation, the mat- 
 ter which composes it, the end for which it has been 
 instituted and, in fine, the circumstances which accom- 
 pany its recitation. 
 
 134 
 
The practise of reciting the psalms and canticles 
 by two choirs is so ancient in the Church that Saint 
 Augustine says that the chanting of the Divine Office 
 has not been established by any ecclesiastical law, but 
 by the example of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. The 
 Church has charged her priests and the Religious Or- 
 ders to pay for her to God this tribute of prayer, im- 
 posed upon her by Jesus Christ. This is the sacrifice 
 of the lips which she has ordained them to offer at 
 stated times of the day and night, which takes the 
 name of Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, 
 Vespers and Compline, according to the hours at 
 which they are recited. Thus, there is no hour of the 
 day or night when the Church ceases to send up to 
 heaven the precious perfume of her prayers. There 
 is nothing so useful as this thought to make us under- 
 stand and esteem the dignity of the functions con- 
 fided to Religious communities. They should con- 
 sider themselves as a deputation sent from earth to 
 the Throne of God, by the authority of the Church, 
 to pay in her name this tribute of praise and thanks- 
 giving which she owes to her Sovereign Lord, and to 
 present to Him the sorrow and the supplications of 
 this desolate Mother, for the sins of her children, the 
 cry of her distress, and of her needs, amid the perils 
 and combats which assail her. It is like a continual 
 sacrifice which the Religious are charged to offer to 
 God — a sacrifice which joins to the merits of prayer 
 that of obedience to the Church, thus becoming in- 
 finitely more precious and agreeable to God. 
 
 This admirable truth will acquire a new value in 
 our eyes when we consider the matter which com- 
 poses the Divine Office, the spirit with which it is re- 
 plete, and the circumstances which accompany its reci- 
 tation. In effect, in the accomplishment of this holy 
 exercise there is question of nothing less than the glory 
 of God and the salvation of souls. It is to praise God, 
 to exalt His grandeur, His wisdom, His infinite mercy; 
 it is to beg of Him the sanctification of the just, help 
 for those in tribulation and in temptation, and grace 
 for the conversion of sinners, that this tribute of praise 
 
 135 
 
is offered each instant, and in order that God may re- 
 ceive it more favorably, the Church makes use of 
 words which have been inspired by the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Moreover, the Holy Fathers have always recognized 
 that the Psalms and Canticles which compose the dif- 
 ferent parts of the Divine Office are the voice of Jesus 
 Christ and of His Church. For it is the Spirit of Jesus 
 which filled the Prophets, which made them feel in 
 advance the different sentiments of the Man-God, and 
 express them in so lively and so touching a manner, 
 not only those which the Messiah was to experience in 
 His own Person, during the course of His life on earth, 
 but also those which He was to feel in His mystical 
 body, which is the Church, during the course of its 
 duration; that is to say, until the end of ages. What 
 a consolation, and at the same time what a glory for 
 the Religious soul to be thus, in the recitation or chant- 
 ing of these holy canticles, the organ of Jesus Christ, 
 and as an instrument which He Himself causes to 
 vibrate by His Holy Spirit, sometimes representing to 
 His Eternal Father His sufferings, His labors and His 
 death, and demanding of Him mercy for the sins of 
 men; sometimes celebrating His victory over hell, the 
 glory which He has acquired, and which He shares 
 with His children. 
 
 Even the language in which the holy words are 
 written and pronounced should inspire the soul with 
 the most profound respect; for it is the unchangeable 
 language of the Church, and of Faith. It matters 
 little that one does not penetrate the sense of the holy 
 words, provided that she understands well how to unite 
 herself to the Spirit of Jesus Christ, Who is so per- 
 fectly understood by His Father. Know then, O Re- 
 ligious soul, that these words, thus full of the Spirit of 
 Jesus as they fall from thy lips, are gathered by the 
 Angels, invisible witnesses of thy prayers, and imme- 
 diately borne to the Throne of God; and that the 
 functions which thou fulfillest in this circumstance are 
 in a measure those of the Divine Mediator, since it is 
 in His Name, and by His Spirit, that thou speakest. 
 
 136 
 
That which in fine especially enhances the value of 
 the Divine Office is that it is a common and public 
 prayer. This unanimous concert of voices and of hearts 
 united in one same language, in one same thought, in 
 one same love, and reunited in the Heart of Jesus, 
 ascends directly to the Throne of the Lord and does 
 Him a holy violence; as we read of the ten lepers, 
 who, uniting their voices, cry from a distance to the 
 Savior: "Jesus, our Master, have pity on us," and 
 were immediately heard and their prayer granted. 
 
 After these considerations, and without recalling 
 here the obligation which is imposed upon us under 
 pain of grievous sin, of reciting the Divine Office, we 
 understand that one of the first duties of a Religious 
 of Carmel is to acquit herself of this obligation in a 
 manner corresponding to its grandeur and its holiness. 
 The first condition of fulfilling it worthily is to have a 
 heart) pure and full of charity which, without effort* 
 can unite itself to Jesus and become in His hands a 
 sweet-sounding instrument of prayer, upon which His 
 Divine Spirit will cause to resound those ineffable 
 groanings which are always heard by the Celestial 
 Father. In order to place herself in these dispositions, 
 as much as possible, she should endeavor, before the 
 commencement of the Office, and during the interval 
 prescribed by the Rule, after the first sound of the 
 bell, to purify herself from her faults by an act of con- 
 trition, and unite herself to Jesus Christ by a Spiritual 
 Communion. She could renew these acts each time 
 the Hebdomadary invokes the Divine Aid, by saying: 
 "Deus in adjutorium," and likewise at the "Gloria 
 Patri" of each Psalm unite her voice to that of the 
 Divine Mediator in rendering homage to the Blessed 
 Trinity. 
 
 It is evident that the Religious soul should make use 
 of great precautions, in order to ward off all distrac- 
 tions, all thoughts which could trouble her and pre- 
 vent the accomplishment of a duty so holy, and what- 
 ever might distract the attention of the other Religious. 
 She has the obligation, first, of acquiring a perfect 
 knowledge of the different parts of the Divine Office, 
 
 137 
 
of the Rubrics, of the Ceremonial — that is to say, the 
 different prostrations, inflections of the voice, etc. ; 
 second, to study or mark in advance the Office of each 
 day, the proper Antiphons, Psalms, Lessons from 
 Scripture, Commemorations, etc. But that which is 
 particularly essential is to understand the spirit of each 
 part of the Office, in order to replenish and maintain 
 not only her attention, but also her devotion. The 
 "Little Hours," especially Prime, may be regarded as 
 our morning prayer. It contains the most touching 
 expressions of the Prophet, protesting his fidelity and 
 his tender love for the law of the Lord; expressions 
 and protestations which the Religious soul ought to 
 apply in a special manner to the holy rules of her 
 state; and after which follow prayers in which the 
 Church begs God's grace for her children to pass the 
 day in silence, recollection, and exemption from sin. 
 Vespers are an evening sacrifice, in which the praises 
 of the Lord are chanted. Compline is the prayer which 
 terminates the day, and in which the Religious soul, 
 after having acknowledged her faults by an humble 
 "Confiteor," represents to herself the tender care of 
 Divine Providence, and abandons herself with confi- 
 dence into its Arms, for the night which is coming on. 
 
 Matins and Lauds are the prayer of the night. St. 
 Teresa has assigned this hour for Matins, in honor of 
 our Lord's agonizing in the Garden of Olives, and she 
 wishes us to unite ourselves to the dispositions of His 
 Heart in this mystery of sorrow and of resignation. 
 This part of the Office is intended to make some rep- 
 aration to our Lord for profanations and crimes which 
 the darkness of the night envelops. The Religious 
 should pay particular and respectful attention to the 
 Canticles of the New Law; these are the "Magnificat" 
 at Vespers, the "Nunc Dimittis" at Compline, and the 
 "Benedictus" at Lauds. In the first, she should be 
 penetrated with those sentiments of humility, thanks- 
 giving, and annihilation with which the soul of Mary 
 was filled. The same thoughts should occupy her in 
 reciting the Canticle of the holy old Simeon, and while 
 
 138 
 
repeating the words of Zachary she will bless God for 
 the ineffable benefit of the Redemption. 
 
 Examen Upon the Lecture. 
 
 Have I understood the rigor, and the sanctity of my 
 obligation of reciting daily the Divine Office? Have 
 I applied myself to acquire the knowledge which would 
 enable me to understand it, and aid me in acquitting 
 myself well of this duty? Have I taken care, before 
 going to choir, to read attentively the Ordo and mark 
 carefully the Antiphons, Lessons, etc., looking over 
 with attention those which I have been appointed to 
 read, in order not to be distracted during this holy 
 exercise, or to give distraction to others? Have I 
 recollected myself before entering choir, and united 
 myself interiorly to Jesus Christ, in order to acquit 
 myself of this sacred act of Religion, in union with His 
 Divine Spirit? Have I renewed the intention fre- 
 quently during the Office? 
 
 139 
 
SIXTH DAY. 
 
 FIRST MEDITATION. 
 The Circumcision of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. 
 
 "And after eight days were accomplished 
 that the child should be circumcised; his 
 name was called Jesus, which was called by 
 the angel, before he was conceived in the 
 womb.'— St. Luke, II, 21. 
 
 I adore Thee, O Divine Infant Jesus, shedding under 
 the knife of the Circumcision the first drops of Thy 
 Precious Blood, which upon the Cross Thou wilt shed 
 with so much profusion. The name of Jesus, which is 
 now given to Thee, is the only reward which Thou wilt 
 receive today from this first Sacrifice. Ah! what sor- 
 rows it presages for Thee; what torments hast Thou 
 embraced in accepting it! How precious should this 
 Name be to me since it cost Thee so dear! Give me, 
 Lord, a knowledge of this Mystery; teach me the rela- 
 tion which exists between the name of Saviour and of 
 suffering, between the mortification of my disorderly 
 affections (signified by the word circumcision) and 
 the salvation which Thou comest to bring upon earth. 
 Grant me grace to understand, that I can have no part 
 in Thy Redemption unless I do violence to my natural 
 inclinations. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 Necessity of Mortification. 
 
 God, in calling Abraham to His service, imposed 
 circumcision as a mark of alliance. His children were 
 to bear upon their flesh this bloody sign, used in con- 
 secrating them to God, and to separate them from the 
 people living in idolatry. This operation, at once pain- 
 ful and humiliating, marked also the dependence in 
 which this nation ought to live in relation to God, 
 because of their origin from a prevaricating father. 
 It was the mark of a double slavery, of nature and of 
 sin. It should not then have been made upon the inno- 
 cent flesh of the Infant God — a law made for sinners 
 
 140 
 
should not have been extended to Him. Ah! but the 
 Son of God was made man precisely to substitute Him- 
 self for sinners. Thus, He has willed to receive in His 
 Divine Flesh the marks of sinners, to subject Himself 
 to the law of sinners, and by receiving circumcision to 
 engage Himself to accomplish this law, leaving us by 
 this conduct an admirable example of humility and of 
 fidelity in fulfilling all the divine prescriptions. 
 
 But by submitting to this painful and humiliating 
 law, He abolished it. He came, in order that to this 
 ancient people, gross and carnal, attached to its ex- 
 terior observances, a new and spiritual people might 
 succeed, of whom He Himself would be the Father, 
 and for whom the law would no longer be printed 
 upon the tables of stone, but engraved by the Spirit 
 of God in the depths of the heart. He came to substi- 
 tute for this material circumcision of the body the true 
 circumcision of the heart, to replace this painful cutting 
 away of the flesh by an operation altogether spiritual, 
 which, without being bloody, would be more painful, 
 but also more glorious and more meritorious: the ex- 
 tirpation of vice and the mortification of the passions. 
 
 St. Paul speaks in his epistle of this circumcision of 
 the heart instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ as of a 
 law to which all Christians are obliged to submit. "The 
 real circumcision," says the grand Apostle, "is that of 
 the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter; whose praise 
 is not of men but of God." He established this obliga- 
 tion in the most expressive manner. "If you live 
 according to the flesh, you shall die; but if you mortify 
 the deeds of the flesh by the spirit, you will live." 
 Thus this circumcision of the heart — that is to say, this 
 mortification of the senses and the degraded appetites 
 — is for every Christian, and with greater reason for 
 Religious, a rigorous law, and it is the principal fruit 
 which we should draw from this Mystery. 
 
 To understand well this principle and the necessity 
 of this spiritual circumcision, we should recall the 
 source of the depravity of our nature. When Adam 
 came forth from the hand of God, his flesh was entirely 
 submissive to the spirit, and the spirit to God. But 
 
 141 
 
sinful man, reversing this primitive order, has caused 
 the most frightful disorders to succeed to that beauti- 
 ful harmony which the charity of God had made to 
 reign in his soul. 
 
 As to the exterior, creatures no longer, except by 
 force, submit to his empire; and as to the interior, he 
 finds his soul fallen under the empire of the senses, 
 and from being their master is become their slave. It 
 was this sad reversion which St. Paul deplores in these 
 memorable word: "I feel in my members a law which 
 wars against the spirit, captivating me in the law of 
 sin, which is in my members. Unhappy man that I 
 am, who will deliver me from the body of this death?" 
 And he hastens to indicate to us the Author of our 
 deliverance: "It is the grace of God which comes to 
 us through Jesus Christ." 
 
 In effect, this new Adam gives us in Baptism His 
 own spirit, the spirit which regulated in Him all the 
 powers of His soul and body, and thus re-establishes 
 us in the primitive order, or at least gives us the 
 strength to overcome our flesh, with its evil inclina- 
 tions; and in order better to excite in us that holy 
 hatred of self, which He requires of His disciples, He 
 arms Himself against His Flesh, so pure and so sub- 
 missive; subjects it to the rudest treatment, and His 
 pains become for us a source of particular grace, to 
 combat courageously our evil inclinations. It was for 
 this end that He submitted to the law of circumcision, 
 that He embraced poverty with all the privations 
 which accompany it, that He bore the fatigues and 
 persecutions of His Public Life, which was terminated 
 in so much suffering by the cruel pains of the fagella- 
 tion, the crowning with thorns, and the crucifixion. 
 
 I understand now, Divine Infant, the harmony which 
 exists between the sweet Name of Jesus and the Blood 
 which I now see Thee shed, between the salvation 
 which Thou bringest to us and the pains which Thou 
 eiidurest. 
 
 If I wish to be saved by Thee, it is necessary that I 
 suffer also — because I must combat — that I wage a 
 continual war against my flesh, and against my soul 
 
 142 
 
insomuch as it follows the inclinations of my flesh. Ah! 
 Lord, how is this! Thou, Whose Divine Interior was 
 so well regulated, Who could not experience in Thy 
 senses any revolt or even the least resistance, hast 
 willed for love of me to endure in Thy Innocent Flesh, 
 the most cruel dolors; and I, for love of Thee and my 
 own salvation, am not willing to enter generously into 
 the combat against myself, to which is attached the 
 assurance of so glorious a victory? Thou hast said: 
 "The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence and only 
 the violent can bear it away." Ah, if until now, I have 
 been so cowardly, so tender towards myself, enlight- 
 ened by Thy Divine Light and fortified by Thy Divine 
 example, I shall find in Thee the strength necessary to 
 conquer my perverse nature, and to obey the require- 
 ments of Thy love. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 Advantages and Practice of Mortification. 
 
 It is certain that mortification is the essence of vir- 
 tue. This word virtue signifies nothing else but 
 strength, victory; and according to the doctrine of the 
 saints, we should judge of our advancement in per- 
 fection by our progress in mortification. We need no 
 longer be astonished that the holy rules of Carmel, 
 whose end is to conduct the souls who embrace them 
 to the summit of the holy Mountain, that is to say to 
 the perfection of charity, require of them an entire 
 mortification; a mortification generous, universal, con- 
 stant, which subjects the interior as well as the exterior 
 to its rigorous laws. 
 
 In the measure to which a soul closes the door of 
 her senses to all exterior objects, and banishes crea- 
 tures from her mind and her heart, the Divine Light 
 will enter to enlighten the darkness formed by the for- 
 getfulness of all created things; and the will strength- 
 ened a hundred-fold by this privation of creatures, will 
 embrace its Creator with a vigor which will make her 
 cry out with the Spouse in the Canticles: "I have found 
 Him Whom my soul loveth, I will hold Him and I 
 will not let Him go." 
 
 143 
 
Have we not said elsewhere that it was by prayer 
 that the holy Rule of Carmel proposed to conduct 
 souls even to the Divine Union? Well, in order to ac- 
 quire the spirit of prayer, it is absolutely necessary to 
 practice a real and generous mortification. How, in 
 effect, can a soul be capable of Divine communica- 
 tions, how pretend to converse reverently and famil- 
 iarly with the great God, if she appears before Him 
 with unmortified senses, a mind filled with frivolous 
 images, and a heart occupied with sensible attach- 
 ments? "Where our treasure is, there is our heart." 
 She will be where her affections place her, where her 
 thoughts carry her — her body alone will remain at 
 prayer. 
 
 I now understand the indispensable necessity and 
 the precious advantages of perfect mortification, in or- 
 der to reach my sublime end. Ah, Lord, this is not 
 the work of a day, nor child's play! Alas! if Thou 
 didst command me to combat an exterior enemy, even 
 one most terrible, perhaps I would find in myself 
 enough resolution to attack, and to vanquish him. But 
 Thou hast taught me that this enemy is not far from 
 me, not outside, but within me — that it is myself. What 
 then is this new kind of warfare where one is at once 
 the aggressor and the attacked ; the conquered and 
 the conqueror? What is this new courage which con- 
 sists in plotting against one's self? This new kind of 
 victory for which it is necessary to be stronger than 
 self? Where shall I seek the vigor necessary for such 
 an enterprise! It is impossible to find it in myself. 
 Whence then, O Lord, cometh this strength which 
 Thou demand est of Me? 
 
 O Religious soul, you have just meditated upon the 
 circumcision of your Divine Master, the true symbol of 
 that mortification which He requires of you; you have 
 seen His Precious Blood flowing, and did not your ear 
 catch the Name which has come down from Heaven? 
 Ah! then listen again and be filled with hope, for it 
 is this holy Name which gives strength and victory. 
 This Name is not like unto the names of other men, a 
 name of earth; it was sent from Heaven. It is the Name 
 
 144 
 
above all other names, and there is no other name by 
 which we may be saved. It is a substantial Name 
 which gives life; it is a nourishment which fortifies, a 
 light which enlightens, an armour of defense with 
 which to attack our enemies. It is a delightful har- 
 mony which charms the heart. This name is "JESUS" 
 By pronouncing it with reverence, according to Saint 
 Paul, by calling "JESUS," your Master, you call for 
 His Spirit, and with it the impression of His virtues. 
 Ah; pronounce often this blessed Name of "JESUS" 
 Repeat a thousand times "JESUS," "JESUS/' for in 
 the measure that you read it and pronounce it, it will 
 pass from the eyes and the lips into the depth of the 
 heart; there to repose, to inflame and transform it. 
 When overcome with sadness, say "JESUS/' and soon 
 joy will return. Art thou in trouble? Call "JESUS/' 
 He is thy peace. Dost thou feel overcome in the 
 struggles of thy warfare? Arm thyself with this 
 strong Name, repeat it with fervor, and thou wilt 
 regain strength. Does a sudden passion take posses- 
 sion of you? An emotion, a word about to escape 
 
 you "JESUS/' "JESUS," and the waves are 
 
 appeased. Is there question of a generous sac- 
 rifice; is it necessary to submit to a humiliation, 
 or to bear a sudden sorrow or disappointment? 
 Call "JESUS," because Jesus is in your heart to give 
 you humility and strength. Finally, behold Satan ad- 
 vances: you are surrounded by his shafts, enveloped 
 by temptation as by a thick cloud, you are about to 
 perish — fear not, seize thy weapon — call "JESUS" It 
 is a cry of victory and already thy enemy takes flight. 
 O my Divine Saviour, what treasures I discover in 
 studying Thee, in approaching Thee! Today, I take 
 Thy Name as a shield which gives strength, which con- 
 tains a marvelous power. O admirable Name, O new 
 Name promised to the ancient people as their only 
 hope! Ah! I have hitherto left unused and neglected 
 a weapon so powerful, an instrument so full of melody, 
 a food so sweet. The saints have penetrated this Mys- 
 tery of Thy Name; they had it always on their lips, 
 and I have made no use of it to conquer my passions, 
 
 145 
 
to triumph over nature, and to call forth Thy Life in 
 me. O sweet Name of JESUS, henceforth Thou shalt 
 be my strength, my vrtue, my light, as Thou art the 
 pledge of my eternal happiness. Amen. 
 
 SECOND MEDITATION. 
 
 Flight Into Egypt. 
 
 "After the Magi had departed, behold an 
 Angel appeared to Joseph in sleep, saying; 
 Arise, take the child and his mother, and 
 fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall 
 tell thee. For it will come to pass that 
 Herod will seek the child to destroy him. 
 Who arose, took the child and his mother, 
 by night, and retired into Egypt, and he was 
 there until the death of Herod."— St. Mat- 
 thew, II, 13-14. 
 
 I adore Thee, O my Divine Savior, in the arms of 
 Mary and under the protection of St. Joseph, escaping 
 by flight the cruel jealousy of Herod. Scarcely born 
 into our world, Thou art pursued by those who seek 
 to destroy Thee Who hast come to save them. Far 
 from opposing Thy strength to their strength, or Thy 
 power to their power, Thou dost fly precipitately, as 
 if Thy divine wisdom had no other means of protect- 
 ing Thee from the fury of Thy enemies. But thus was 
 it ordained by Thy Eternal Father; and Thou dost 
 abandon Thyself blindly to the guidance of His Divine 
 Providence, so well represented in Thy holy parents. 
 I supplicate Thee, O my God, to make me understand 
 $nd feel the force of the admirable lessons contained 
 in this memorable circumstance of Thy Divine Life. 
 
 Faith in the Providence of God. 
 
 It was during the night that St. Joseph received 
 fiom God, through the ministry of an Angel, the order 
 to fly into Egypt. It is pressing, it will allow of no 
 delay. Arise, but what! can he not prepare things 
 most necessary for the journey, take leave of his 
 friends, at least await the dawn of day? No, arise — 
 this very instant thou must flee. But where? Is it into 
 another part of Judea, or perhaps into the country of 
 the Holy Magi? There at least the Holy Family will 
 find an assured asylum, and powerful protection. No, 
 
 146 
 
but into Egypt, a strange and distant land, of which 
 they do not know the language nor the customs, and 
 where they are to be exposed during a long period to 
 all the rigors of indigence. Is there, then, no other 
 means to confound the cruelty of Herod, to turn 
 against himself his impiety and perfidy? Such are the 
 ways of Divine Providence: it would wish that the 
 means employed to save the Infant Saviour from the 
 first snares of His enemies be as simple as they are 
 natural; He must escape by flight, and He will not 
 return into His own country until after the death of 
 His persecutor, which will not be for many years. 
 The exile of Jesus in Egypt enters into the Eternal 
 designs, and God, to accomplish them, made use of 
 the cruel order of Herod, as He had the enrollment 
 ordered by Augustus, that the oracles of the prophets 
 should be accomplished and His Son should be born 
 in Bethlehem. 
 
 Thus our false wisdom with our pride and our eager- 
 ness are confounded. We would much prefer to read 
 in this place in the holy Gospel that Herod was pre- 
 cipitated from his throne when about to consummate 
 his fatal projects, or that some extraordinary event had 
 hidden the Holy Family from his cruelty, and that they 
 tranquilly returned to their peaceful dwelling. We 
 forget that if Divine Wisdom arrives at its ends in an 
 infallible manner, it prepares the ways by means full 
 of sweetness, so that the delays, the obstacles, even the 
 persecutions by which creatures strive to prevent them, 
 serve only to assure their success, in perfecting, by 
 tribulations, the instruments which He destines for 
 their accomplishment. 
 
 It was because Mary and Joseph were filled with 
 faith and with confidence in Divine Providence that, 
 without delay, without reflection, they accomplished 
 the order of heaven, complaining not of the malice of 
 Herod, or of the blindness of the Jews, or of the long 
 trial of labors and of sufferings to which they were 
 obliged to submit. 
 
 Here, then, is an essential point, which I should en- 
 deavor to fix firmly in my mind in this meditation, 
 
ii is that all exterior events, vicissitudes, trials of the 
 interior life, all contradictions, all the sufferings which 
 I may have to endure, whether they come from the 
 malice of the demon, or from my own depraved na- 
 ture, or from creatures as my superiors, my com- 
 panions, my relatives, or persons of the world, they 
 always come to me by the will of God. I should, 
 then, not regard those who try me, even should they 
 be influenced by guilty motives or deceived by false 
 and malignant reports — it matters not. God, with- 
 out doubt, cannot will sin; but those actions which 
 are the effect or the cause of sin, enter, nevertheless, 
 in an admirable manner, into the designs of His 
 Providence, and in the accomplishment of His views 
 in relation to myself, and I should say in all events: 
 "It is Thou, O Lord, Who ordainest this, and ordain- 
 est it for my greater good and for Thy greater glory." 
 Penetrated with this truth of faith, I will conform my 
 conduct to it, instead of making useless reflections and 
 complaints, murmuring and showing resentments. 
 
 Ah, Lord, how far I find myself withdrawn from 
 this lively faith and generous confidence in Thy Di- 
 vine Providence. In all that happens to me, I 3top 
 at natural causes, I attribute sickness to the inclemency 
 of the seasons or my own temperament, cures to the 
 remedies used, the success of an affair to the wisdom 
 or the efforts of those who conduct it. I attribute the 
 displeasure of my Superior at my bad conduct to 
 dispositions unfavorable to me, and the coldness of 
 rny companions to caprice or malice, instead of rais- 
 ing my thoughts higher and recognizing in all these 
 contrarieties the dispensation of Thy Adorable Provi- 
 dence, by which Thou desirest me to expiate my sins, 
 to correct my secret vices, and sanctify myself by these 
 different trials. Grant me, then, O my God, senti- 
 ments more worthy of Thy love, more worthy of the 
 profession I have made, since I am clothed with the 
 holy Habit of Carmel, and have promised to walk in 
 Thy footsteps and conform myself in all things to 
 Thee. 
 
 148 
 
SECOND POINT. 
 
 Abandonment to Divine Providence. 
 
 I will consider, in the second place, the admirable 
 dispositions of the Infant Jesus reposing in the arms 
 of His Holy Mother, while being carried precipitately 
 into exile. I will penetrate the sentiments of His 
 Adorable Heart in this circumstance, and there find 
 peace, a profound repose in the midst of the exterior 
 agitation by which He is surrounded. He obeys or 
 rather He abandons Himself into the arms of His Holy 
 Mother, as into those of the Divine Providence of 
 God, His Father, of which she is to Him the image. 
 He resigns to her the care of His Person; He is dis- 
 turbed by nothing, He wishes for nothing, He reposes 
 peacefully under the Almighty power and wisdom 
 of Him Who, as Master, disposes of all events, and 
 Who causes to concur to His Eternal decrees the di- 
 verse and often opposed wills of men. The Divine 
 Saviour disregards all that He could know as God of 
 the motive for and the duration of His cruel exile, in 
 order to see only one thing— —the will of His Heavenly 
 Father. He wishes to ignore, and does ignore in a 
 certain manner, all else, repeating already in the 
 depth of His Heart the words which later on in His 
 Public Life He will openly pronounce: "My meat is 
 to do the will of Him that sent Me." "I do always 
 that which is pleasing to His eyes." 
 
 O my Jesus, what canst Thou find so amiable in 
 this humiliating flight, in this exile, in this being for- 
 gotten by Thy own creatures, if not that it is the will of 
 Thy Heavenly Father? What dost Thou wish to teach 
 me by this abandonment to Thy Blessed Mother and 
 Saint Joseph, if not the abandonment of myself with- 
 out reserve, without inquietude, to the dispensations of 
 Divine Providence, by placing all my interests in Thy 
 hands, blessing God in all the states in which I might 
 find myself, either of soul or body; above all when 
 assailed by temptations, aridity, pains of mind and 
 conscience, distractions in prayer, when the demon 
 tries to raise in my soul excessive fears, inquietude 
 concerning my salvation, thoughts of dispair or other 
 
 149 
 
suggestions capable of throwing me into discourage- 
 ment, even into profound darkness of soul, when I 
 no longer know where I am nor what to do. O my 
 Saviour, Thou peacefully allowest Thyself to be con- 
 ducted in this obscurity, because Thou art innocent 
 and the worthy object of Thy Eternal Father's com* 
 placency. But I, who draw upon myself these trials 
 by my sins and infidelities without number, where can 
 I find any ground for confidence? It shall be in Thy 
 mercy, which abounds where sin has abounded; for 
 is it not true to say that all trials, if they are chastise- 
 ments for my infidelities, are also the remedies for 
 them, and consequently the effects of the loving will 
 of my God, and I should always submit with peace 
 and resignation. 
 
 This abandonment, far from preventing the soul, 
 as some believe, from correcting her faults and ad- 
 vancing in perfection, on the contrary supports and 
 causes it to advance by overcoming discouragement 
 and sadness — sources of new sins — and by producing 
 humility which, to be sincere, must necessarily be ac- 
 companied with confidence. I will then cry out with 
 the Prophet: "Lord, my lot is in Thy hands," and 
 again, "In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never 
 be confounded." With Jesus on the Cross, I exclaim: 
 "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit." May 
 I often recall the exhortation of the Apostle, St. Peter: 
 "Cast all thy care upon God, for He hast care of 
 thee." 
 
 O Mary, O Joseph, with what punctuality, with what 
 exactitude did you not execute the orders of heaven, 
 however rigorous and extraordinary they appeared! 
 It is necessary to start at once, and during the dark- 
 ness of the night, for the land of exile, and you go 
 without inquietude, without regret. It is true that 
 Jesus is with you, that He holds for you the place of 
 all things — parents, friends and country. And I, if 
 I would only understand it, am I not in one sense more 
 blessed than you? In quitting the world, my family, 
 my goods, in breaking all earthly ties to enter this 
 solitude, have I not found Jesus? Do I not dwell 
 
 150 
 
with Him? Can I not converse with Him every hour 
 of the day, and carry Him always in my heart; if not 
 so holily as you did, at least in a manner equally as 
 real? And notwithstanding this I do not know, I do 
 not apperciate my happiness. What inquietude, what 
 troubles agitate my soul! What useless desires, what 
 deceiving remembrances of the past, what secret re- 
 turns upon persons and things which I have left for 
 God, what solicitude for the future, what discourage- 
 ment! Ah, it is because I will not, as you did, keep 
 closely united to Jesus, by invoking Him at every hour 
 of the day, abandoning myself to His love, and placing 
 in Him all my hope. 
 
 O holy abandonment! O losing of myself, O re- 
 mitting of all my interests to Jesus through the hands 
 of Mary and Joseph, be ye henceforth my refuge, my 
 defense, my life! This holy abandonment does not 
 exclude vigilance over my faults, nor efforts to be de- 
 livered from them, it aids me to rise more promptly 
 from my falls, and to strive more generously to attain 
 perfection. O Mary! O Joseph! obtain for me from 
 Jesus a share in that holy abandonment which you 
 practised in so admirable a manner in this mystery, the 
 Flight into Egypt. Amen. 
 
 NOTE — Here the Religious soul should turn on 
 herself, to consider that her troubles and anxieties 
 come only from her self-love, from her want of union 
 with God, and from her little confidence. She will 
 then take the resolution to labor to deliver herself 
 from them by the preceding considerations. This 
 ought to be one of the principal fruits of her Retreat. 
 
 THIRD MEDITATION. 
 
 Return to Nazareth. 
 
 "And Jesus went down with Mary and 
 Joseph and came to Nazareth; and was sub- 
 ject to them."— St. Luke, II, 51. 
 
 Sweet Jesus, Model of the most perfect and the 
 most generous obedience, I prostrate myself at Thy 
 feet, I adore Thee, I thank Thee. What right has not 
 Thy obedience to my admiration, my thanksgiving 
 
 151 
 
and my love, since by it I have been delivered from 
 the most cruel slavery — that of sin and the devil. By 
 it, I have entered into the liberty of the children of 
 God, having the happiness of living under the mater- 
 nal authority of the Church. In fine, it is to Thy 
 divine obedience that I owe the happiness of bearing 
 the sweet yoke of the Religious life, which assures me 
 such precious advantages, if I am faithful to my holy 
 obligations, renouncing my own will to accomplish 
 Thine until the last day of my life. O Jesus! amiable 
 Jesus! Jesus obedient for my sake even to the death 
 of the Cross! I implore Thee by the merits of Thy 
 obedience to teach me to appreciate Thy divine les- 
 sons, and to understand the value and the advantages 
 of Religious obedience, in order to fulfill my obliga- 
 tions more faithfully than I have hitherto done. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 Necessity of Obedience. 
 
 The obedience to which my Divine Saviour devoted 
 Himself during His whole life is a subject well worthy 
 of my serious reflection and astonishment. I see Him 
 born in Bethlehem in a poor stable, not only to con- 
 form to the Will of His Eternal Father, but to obey 
 the order of a Roman Emperor, an obedience with 
 which He had inspired His holy parents before His 
 birth; and from that time to His last sigh on the Cross, 
 He seemed to live and to breathe only to obey, making 
 Himself the servant of all. Thus, at Nazareth until 
 His thirtieth year, the Gospel says nothing of Him 
 but that He was subject to Mary and Joseph. I see 
 this Divine Child, from His first years, rendering to His 
 holy parents the constant testimony of an obedience 
 full of respect and love. First to His Holy Mother, 
 c.ccording to His age and the measure of His strength, 
 He rendered all the duties and all the services which 
 could relieve her of the cares of her family and her 
 house. Later on, He aided Saint Joseph in his hard 
 labors; and when He had attained His full strength, 
 He condescended to devote Himself, but always under 
 His foster father's orders, entirely to the exercise of 
 
 152 
 
His trade, and allowed the hardest work to fall upon 
 Himself. It was then that He subjected Himself to 
 all the servitude of His profession, going generously 
 to the city or to the country like an ordinary workman 
 to execute the orders which had been given Him, and 
 always in the same spirit of submission and of depend- 
 ence. But it was, above all, in the exercise of His 
 Public Life that Jesus Christ continued to verify this 
 truth: "I came not to be served but to serve." For 
 from that time, He was no longer content with obey- 
 ing Mary and Joseph and the inhabitants of Nazareth; 
 but went through Judea, obeying all who claimed His 
 services, going where He was called, and replying to 
 all who interrogated Him, never seeking to hide Him- 
 self even from His enemies, who surrounded Him with 
 snares, submitting to His iniquitous judges, and aban- 
 doning Himself as a tender lamb to the fury of those 
 who were putting Him to death. 
 
 O my Divine Saviour, teach me the secret of this 
 Mystery; make me understand how the work of our Re- 
 demption is the Masterpiece of Thy Obedience. The 
 Apostle Saint Paul teaches it in these remarkable 
 words: "As sin and death entered the world by the 
 disobedience of one man," Adam, "so salvation and 
 Jife have entered by the obedience of one Man" — 
 Jesus Christ, the new Adam. 
 
 In effect, what have we seen in the garden of Para- 
 dise? We have seen there the first man, innocent and 
 happy by obedience. He obeys God, and his body 
 with all his senses obeys him. But, seduced by the 
 spirit of lies and of revolt, he lost this primitive rec- 
 titude by a crime ineffable in its baseness; he dis- 
 obeyed, and thus became his own idol; he loved him- 
 self, no longer with that perfect love which made him 
 seek his happiness in God and for God, but with a dis- 
 oiderly and miserable love which drew him from God 
 — self-love, which is the source of all evil, as divine 
 love is the source of all good. From self-love flows 
 self-will, the accursed principle of all the crimes, and 
 all the errors which inundate the world. Man thus de- 
 graded cannot be restored except through obedience. 
 
 153 
 
But who can give him strength enough to submit his 
 will, to renounce self-love? Ah, it is Jesus Christ, Who 
 has descended from heaven in order to practise and 
 to teach this perfect obedience — this renunciation of 
 of one's own will, to do always the Will of God, 
 manifested by the Commandments, and by the will 
 of those whom He has placed over us- Thus is de- 
 stroyed our disorderly self-love to give place to di- 
 vine love, for Jesus Christ Himself has said: "If you 
 love Me, keep My Commandments." 
 
 If we cannot be saved unless we love God, then 
 we cannot be saved without obeying. Remember al- 
 ways that it is from self-will, that is to say, from the 
 will that does not agree with that of God and of our 
 Superiors, that come and ever will come all evils, and 
 that by forcing it to die within us, we extinguish the 
 flames of hell which it alone enkindles. Obedience is 
 then the science of salvation. Yes, this admirable 
 science is contaned in the single word — obey. When 
 Jesus Christ was about to leave this earth, He said to 
 the Church: "Teach, govern My children"; and to 
 the faithful: "Obey the Church" — "He who will not 
 hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen 
 and publican." 
 
 O self-will! O self-love! It is you who have caused 
 the ruin of the human race, you who have covered 
 God's fair earth with crimes and disorders, you who 
 have caused all the schisms and all the heresies which 
 have desolated the Church, and precipitated so many 
 souls into hell. O obedience of my Jesus ! I love you 
 because without you I should now be the slave of my 
 degraded senses. No longer, O my Divine Saviour, 
 am I astonished to hear Thee exclaim: "I came not 
 to be served, but to serve." By this admirable sub- 
 mission, make me understand the necessity of obe- 
 dience. May I fear nothing so much as my own will, 
 and may I renounce it from this moment, not only in 
 some of my actions, but always and in all things, in 
 order that by thus dying to myself, I may live only 
 in Thee and for Thee, by doing at every moment the 
 will of God, manifested to me by Thy Divine Com- 
 
 154 
 
mandments and those of the Church, by my Rule and 
 through my Superiors. Alas! I have until now sought 
 but myself in all my actions, even when I obeyed ex- 
 teriorly. Touched by Thy divine example, I wish to 
 be obedient to all creatures for love of Thee, as Thou 
 hast obeyed for love of me. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 Advantages and practice of Religious Obedience. 
 
 The Vow of Obedience is so excellent that it ranks 
 above the Vow of Poverty, by which we sacrifice to 
 God all our exterior goods. It is greater than the Vow 
 of Chastity, by which we renounce those satisfactions 
 which right reason teaches us to despise, and w T hich 
 we have in common with vile animals. By Obedience, 
 we give ourselves really and entirely, since it is free- 
 will which makes a man, and when we sacrifice this 
 upon the Altar of God, we truly immolate ourselves. 
 Chastity and poverty offer to God the flesh and the 
 fleece of the victim. Obedience burns in His honor, 
 the entrails, the marrow and the heart. This truth is 
 confirmed by the Holy Scriptures, which tell us that 
 obedience is better than sacrifice; we can even say 
 that without obedience there is no sacrifice, or at least 
 no sacrifice agreeable to God. Self-will debases our 
 best actions, and renders them disagreeable to the 
 Divine Majesty. Saint Bernard says: "Your fasts, 
 your vigils, your prayers, your austerities, your re- 
 treats, your silence, cease to please God from the 
 moment that they are practised through your own 
 will ; He will even reproach you with the sufferings 
 which you endure without any friut, considering them 
 not only useless, but even as injurious to His honor.'* 
 'Your fasts are displeasing to Me," said our Saviour, 
 one day to the Jewish people, "because they are in- 
 spired by your own will." This is, however, the de- 
 lusion of many souls who, deceived by a secret pride, 
 give themselves up to extraordinary practices, and 
 who embrace indiscreet austerities, without the advice 
 of their Superiors, and who merit by this conduct, so 
 opposite to obedience, the reproaches addressed by 
 
 155 
 
Samuel to the unfortunate Saul, for having offered to 
 God a sacrifice which He had not demanded of him. 
 But if self-will corrupts our best actions, obedience, 
 on the contrary, gives value to the most indifferent 
 and the least, it shelters us from all dangers, and 
 makes us practise virtues the most necessary and the 
 most sublime. Behold the great advantage of Re- 
 ligious Obedience! In some Religious Orders, instead 
 of making all the vows, the professed content them- 
 selves with one — Obedience, because in promising 
 obedience to the rule and to the superiors, they engage 
 themselves to observe not only Poverty and Chastity, 
 but even all the pious customs and all the virtues of 
 the Order in which they make their profession. 
 
 Christians who live in the world can, without doubt, 
 by observing faithfully the Law of God, secure their 
 salvation, but to what dangers does not self-will ex- 
 pose them? How many, in effect, lose their souls be- 
 cause they have too much liberty in the choice of a 
 multitude of actions, in their reading, their recreation, 
 their conversations, the occupations which compose 
 their lives, and in which sometimes their state engages 
 them. Insensibly they are led by self-love into dan- 
 gerous ways, and thrown into proximate occasion of 
 sin; while in the Religious life, the Rule extends its 
 authority over all our actions in general and over each 
 one in particular, even our thoughts, words and af- 
 fections, withdrawing the soul from the dangers of self- 
 will and self-love, and preserving it from an infinity of 
 evils. 
 
 In effect, obedience, by determining the employ- 
 ment of our time, of our faculties, of our strength, 
 fixes our indifference, takes us from ourselves, and 
 from a thousand projects formed one day and aban- 
 doned the next. For, alas! left to ourselves, that 
 which happens to so many souls in the world, who 
 are perhaps better than we, might happen to us. 
 After practising piety for a short time, we might aban- 
 don prayer, penance and the most essential duties, 
 having had only a devotion of fancy, without solidity 
 or consistency; while being obliged to follow the Rule 
 
 156 
 
of the Community, notwithstanding our natural weak- 
 ness, we persist in practising all the means necessary 
 to secure our perseverance. From this come calm and 
 peace; for we are assured of doing the will of God, of 
 being in the place which He has marked out for us, 
 while we can say at every hour: "I am where God 
 wishes me to be, I am doing what pleases Him." 
 What a source of joy, of peace and of happiness! 
 
 From these considerations, we must conclude that 
 obedience is a way the shortest, the surest and at the 
 same time the most meritorious. However, it is not 
 rare to see persons who believe that they merit more 
 by doing things outside the Rule than by practising 
 works prescribed by obedience. The truth is, how- 
 ever, that obedience augments the value of our vir- 
 tuous acts, such as prayers, meditations, and gives 
 merit to our commonest actions, such as work, recre- 
 ations, repasts, etc., when we seek in them the ac- 
 complishment of the will of God. We may also add 
 that the practice of obedience contains in itself the 
 most perfect acts of all the virtues, and that it will 
 receive the same reward. It is an act of humility, since 
 it obliges us in the sight of God to submit to the 
 creature; an act of mortification the most heroic, 
 since it is the immolation of our free-will to that of 
 another. It is an act of generous and sublime faith, 
 which makes us respect the authority of God in His 
 creature; in fine, it is an act of hope, since it is prac- 
 tised in view of obtaining eternal goods. And if it is 
 true that love is nothing else than the union of our 
 will with the will of God, the life of perfect obedience 
 is then a continual exercise of love. O precious 
 Obedience! O life of the soul! O love of transfor- 
 mation! O death to self, to live by the will of God! 
 How is it that I have not loved Thee more, esteemed 
 Thee more? How little have I appreciated Thy 
 worth ? 
 
 Ah! Lord, henceforth, with Thy grace, I wish to be 
 perfectly obedient, to be penetrated with this truth 
 taught in the Holy Gospel, that in hearing my Supe- 
 riors, I hear Thee, and in resisting them, I resist Thee. 
 
 157 
 
Yes, Lord, with this ray of faith, I will henceforth re- 
 gard my Superiors. I will no longer consider them 
 with human eyes as simple creatures. I will not stop 
 at the imperfections of nature, I will love them, I will 
 accomplish their will as being Thine; I will honor 
 them for Thy sake, I will obey them promptly, joy- 
 ously, simply, without reasoning, without delay; I 
 will submit not only my will, but my judgment. O 
 Obedient Jesus, grant me grace to accomplish faith- 
 fully all these sacred promises! Fortify my resolu- 
 tion, aid my weakness, in order that, having been sub- 
 jected to others on earth, I may merit to reign eter- 
 nally with Thee in heaven. Amen. 
 
 LECTURE. 
 
 The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. 
 
 One of the most important duties, a duty which is 
 also the sweetest to be performed by the solitary of 
 Carmel, is the daily assistance at the Holy Sacrifice of 
 the Mass. We must add that if it is accomplished 
 with the faith and piety which it demands, the most 
 precious and abundant fruit is drawn from it. But, 
 alas! it happens, as a consequence of that unhappy 
 facility of our mind and heart to lose imperceptibly 
 the taste, the respect and the love of things which we 
 practise daily, that habit familiarizes us with the most 
 holy actions, and we perform them in a spirit of rou- 
 tine, which makes us lose all their advantages. The 
 spirit of faith alone can remedy this evil and prevent 
 the sad effects of our levity and natural inconstancy. 
 Let us consider what this great act of Religion is, which 
 we so simply call the Mass, and let us recall what the 
 Church teaches us about this adorable Mystery. It 
 is the great Sacrifice of the New Law, of which the 
 sacrifices of the ancient alliance were but gross and 
 imperfect figures. They, with all the blood of their 
 victims, could not efface the least stain of sin, while 
 one single drop of the Precious Blood of the Lamb 
 without spot, immolated upon Calvary, suffices to 
 wash away, and superabundantly, all the sins of the 
 
 158 
 
world. Now, the Sacrifice of the Altar is a continu- 
 ation and a renewal of the Sacrifice of the Cross, of 
 which the fruits and the merits are and will be applied 
 until the end of the world, to all souls who form a 
 part of the Church; in such a manner, however, that 
 these souls participate in these fruits, and these merits, 
 in proportion to their dispositions, their preparation 
 and their union with the Lamb immolated. 
 
 It is certain, according to the words of the sacred 
 liturgy, that not only the Mystery of the Cross is con- 
 tinued, renewed and applied to our souls in the Holy 
 Sacrifice of the Altar; but that the Mysteries of the 
 Incarnation, Birth, Life, Glorious Resurrection and 
 Triumphant Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ are 
 represented equally, and their different fruits applied 
 to our souls. There is, then, in this act of religion by 
 excellence, a vast field for the attentive and loving oc- 
 cupation of a faithful soul. 
 
 If all Christians who assist at the Holy Sacrifice are 
 bbliged to unite their intentions with that of the 
 Priest, as co-operators in that Royal Priesthood of 
 which Saint Peter speaks, and to bring to the Holy 
 Mysteries a lively faith, profound veneration, ardent 
 love and gratitude; with what sentiments should not 
 the spouses of Jesus Christ, the daughters of Mary, be 
 animated? Will an ordinary attention to the great act 
 which is being accomplished upon the Altar suffice 
 to make them enter into the true spirit of their obli- 
 gations? Seeing near the Cross their Queen and their 
 Mother participating so intimately, so generously in 
 the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, immolating herself com- 
 pletely with Him for the glory of God and the sal- 
 vation of souls, should they not strive as far as possi- 
 ble to enter into her admirable dispositions? The 
 true solitary of Carmel, worthy child of Mary, will then 
 bring to the great Sacrifice a spirit of zeal for the in- 
 terests of God and her neighbor, a spirit of immolation 
 of her entire self, and of union, absolute and without 
 reserve, with the great Victim Who is being offered. 
 
 To this general disposition, she will add the inten- 
 tions which refer to the four ends of the Sacrifice, in- 
 
 159 
 
tentions concerning which she should be perfectly in- 
 structed. In effect, the Eucharistic Sacrifice is offered 
 first, to glorify God and in recognition of His Sover- 
 eign dominion over all creatures; secondly, in thanks- 
 giving for all the benefits which His divine munificence 
 ceases not to pour upon us in the temporal and spirit- 
 ual order; thirdly, to offer to His justice a Victim, suf- 
 ficient and even more than sufficient for our sins; 
 fourthly, to obtain from His bounty in virtue of the 
 merits of His Son, all the graces necessary for our sal- 
 vation, and in general for all the helps we need. A 
 soul enlightened by faith, which discovers to her the 
 Value of the Blood of the Divine Lamb and the super- 
 abundant merits of His Sacrifice, clothed with them, 
 presents herself with unbounded confidence before the 
 Throne of God, knowing that she can offer worthy 
 homage to His Infinite Greatness, thanksgiving propor- 
 tionate to His benefits, and that she will be heard, 
 whether she beg for new favors or for the pardon of 
 sin. For the voice of His Blood, more powerful than 
 the voice of her sins and miseries, will rise and ascend 
 even to the Heart of God, to call down His benefits 
 and His pardon. 
 
 As the Communion is the completion of the Holy 
 Sacrifice, since it applies to the soul all the merits of 
 the Life and Death of Jesus Christ, all the fruits of His 
 Divine Passion; when we have not the happiness of 
 communicating sacramentally, we should not fail to 
 make a Spiritual Communion. At the moment that 
 the Priest consumes the Sacred Host, the fervent Re- 
 ligious will form the most ardent desires of communi* 
 eating with him, and opening the door of her heart, 
 she will beg her Divine Spouse to enter and dwell 
 there, not only for a few moments, but during the 
 whole day and the night which is to follow, to be the 
 interior guide of all her steps and the motive of all 
 her thoughts, words, actions and affections. 
 
 As to the method of assisting at the Holy Sacrifice, 
 since there are many, one may choose the one most 
 most proper to nourish devotion, or most suitable to 
 the state in which she finds herself. This diversity in 
 
 160 
 
tKe manner of hearing Mass is founded upon what has 
 been said of the Holy Sacrifice being a renewal of all 
 the Mysteries of the Life and Death of Jesus Christ, 
 and of applying their graces to our soul. This appli- 
 cation and this attention may vary, according to the 
 times and the solemnities of the Church, such as Ad- 
 vent and Lent, Christmas, Easter, or Pentecost. 
 
 But as the Mysteries of the Passion are represented 
 at the Holy Mass in a more lively manner than the 
 other mysteries, we may return more habitually to the 
 consideration of our Saviour's sufferings. When the 
 Piiest is at the foot of the Altar, we may consider 
 Jesus appearing before His Father in the Garden of 
 Olives, charged with the sins of all men. When he 
 ascends the Altar, while he passes from one side to 
 the other, until the Sanctus, we may recall His appear- 
 ance before the tribunals of the high priests, of Pilate 
 and of Herod. From the Sanctus to the Agnus Dei, 
 we may meditate on His leaving Jerusalem and His 
 Crucifixion. Finally, at the Communion, we place our- 
 selves, in spirit, at the foot of the Cross, to receive in 
 our souls the Precious Blood of this Holy Victim and 
 to unite ourselves entirely to Him. Or we may con- 
 tent ourselves with a single feature of the Passion, or 
 even with some one of the words of Jesus on the Cross. 
 Thus each one may follow her attractions and use that 
 method which will profit her most, and give more 
 devotion. 
 
 Examen. 
 
 Have I acquired a sufficient knowledge of the dogma 
 of the Mass? Have I had for this Adorable Sacrifice a 
 faith, a confidence, a veneration and a love propor- 
 tionate to its sanctity, its sublimity, its marvelous 
 efficacy? Have I assisted at it with respectful atten- 
 tion and tender piety? Have I offered it with the 
 Piiest, according to the four ends for which it has 
 been instituted — Adoration, Thanksgiving, Expiation, 
 Propitiation? 
 
 161 
 
SEVENTH DAY. 
 
 FIRST MEDITATION. 
 
 Hidden Life of Jesus at Nazareth. 
 
 "He went down with them and came to 
 Nazareth."— St. Luke, II, 51. 
 
 I adore Thee, O my Lord, Jesus Christ, in the mys- 
 tery of Thy hidden life. I contemplate Thee with an 
 admiration mingled with astonishment, in this House 
 of Nazareth, where Thou didst dwell unknown for 
 thirty years. At the sight of this profound retreat, 
 this forgetfulness of creatures, and the care which 
 Thou didst take to hide Thyself from the eyes of all, 
 Thou Who art the True Light, I am confounded and 
 I exclaim with the Prophet: "Truly Thou art a hid- 
 den God!" But all hidden as Thou art, Thou dost 
 willingly and graciously reveal Thyself to souls who 
 seek Thee in this obscurity, and Thou discoverest to 
 them admirable secrets. I will no longer ask, Lord, 
 what dost Thou do in Thy solitude and why dost 
 Thou appear to lose Thy time, which, according to 
 human ideas, would be better employed in causing the 
 light of Thy divine wisdom to shine before the world 
 and in teaching men Thy sublime lessons; because this 
 obscurty and silent life is itself the most admirable 
 lesson. Thou hast led it during so many years to make 
 me understand the merit and the advantage of retire- 
 ment, the value of an obscure and ignored state; and 
 to extinguish in my heart that love of being known, 
 loved and esteemed by creatures, and of seeing them 
 occupied with me, of occupying myself with them, 
 and with a multitude of exterior cares that serve only 
 to absorb my attention, which should be occupied with 
 Thee alone. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 A Hidden Life and at the Same Time a Common Life. 
 
 As Jesus Christ was to be the Model for all men, 
 He willed to lead a common life, a family life. He 
 
 162 
 
did not hide in the desert, far from the commerce of 
 men, but left this extraordinary life to His Holy Pre- 
 cursor; yet He hid Himself more securely in the ob- 
 scure labors of a vulgar trade. He lived with Mary 
 and Joseph in a little town of Galilee, Nazareth, of 
 which it was customary for the Jews to say: "Can 
 any good come out of Nazareth?" It was in this 
 despised place that He passed the greater part of His 
 life upon earth. The world ignored Him, and the 
 Jews themselves, notwithstanding the testimonies of 
 the Prophets so precise and so numerous, are far from 
 supposing that in this corner of Galilee, under the 
 humble care of a poor workman, resides the Re- 
 deemer, expected from the commencement of the 
 world, and promised to their fathers. There nothing 
 shows a trace of His heavenly origin; He allows not to 
 escape one ray of that celestial light, which will one 
 day enlighten the whole world. The inhabitants of 
 Nazareth regard Him with indifference, they do not 
 penetrate into the interior of the Holy Family, which 
 on their side remain strangers to worldly affairs and 
 interests. Thus Jesus, Mary and Joseph live, ignored, 
 forgotten and almost unknown to their fellow-citizens, 
 but known to God, Who regards them with compla- 
 cency, while He turns with indignation from a corrupt 
 and corrupting world, given up to the demon and to 
 sin, in which all is lies and nothingness, and which 
 despises true goods for those which are deceitful. 
 
 O Life of Jesus hidden with Mary and Joseph! Per- 
 fect model of the life of Carmel; happy life where the 
 soul doubly hidden from the world and herself, lives 
 only for God, occupies herself only in pleasing Him, 
 without any anxiety for the esteem of the world which 
 she has abandoned. Ah, who will give me to under- 
 stand the inestimable treasure which it contains! 
 What security, what advantages in living unknown to 
 the world, and without knowing it! If the world knew 
 me, it would blame or it would praise me, and perhaps 
 it would do both at the same time, but to the ruin of 
 my soul ; for if it praised me, it would be for pretended 
 virtue, which existed only according to its mistaken 
 
 163 
 
judgments, and this would nourish in me the secret 
 esteem which I have for myself; if it blamed me, it 
 would be precisely on the occasion of my practising 
 humility or penance, which form all my strength, and 
 would disgust me with them. If I knew the world, I 
 would, perhaps, love what it loves and esteem what it 
 esteems, and thus fall into its snares. 
 
 Ah, it is much better for me to forget it and to be 
 forgotten by it, for Saint Paul says: "If I please the 
 world and the world pleases me, I am no friend of 
 Jesus Christ." I am most happy in being not only 
 hidden from the world, but even from myself, in the 
 common life. In effect, in living the holy life com- 
 posed of salutary practises which others share with 
 me, I avoid singularity and escape vain glory; and, 
 moreover, the exercises of the common life, far from 
 losing their merit by being shared, add to their value 
 that of obedence and the edification of the neighbor. 
 Thus all souls enlightened by the Spirit of God have 
 in general, a particular attraction for the common life, 
 and avoid with care all singularity. This, O Jesus! is 
 the fruit of Thy hidden Life, that precious grace by 
 which the soul takes pleasure in the practices of the 
 common life, which hides her from the esteem of crea- 
 tures and her own esteem. However, she advances 
 each day toward perfection, by an intention ever more 
 upright and an affection ever more pure, with which 
 she observes her Rule; but this interior progress es- 
 capes the view of man and even that of herself, and 
 is known and appreciated by God alone. 
 
 But, alas! O my God, must I still find in myself so 
 much opposition to this happy life, where all is hidden! 
 What! do I still find it painful to consent to be for- 
 gotten by creatures! Do I not find it hard not to 
 speak of them, not to hear of them, not to ask news of 
 any person or anything? And when an occasion of 
 breaking this silence presents itself, do I not seize it 
 with eagerness? Does not my cell sometimes appear 
 tedious to me, and the parlor perhaps agreeable? Do 
 I not become fatigued with edifying conversations, be- 
 cause they do not satisfy my curiosity or nourish my 
 
 164 
 
vanity? O confusion! O sorrow! if in Carmel such 
 inclinations do not die, if I occupy myself with at- 
 tractions so opposed to the hidden life, which I should 
 lead here! 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 A Life of Labor. 
 
 What a touching picture! What a spectacle 
 worthy the admiration of Angels and our most pro- 
 found contemplation, is that labor which Jesus em- 
 braced from His earliest youth, and which He con- 
 tinues until His thirtieth year. All are occupied with 
 the labor of their hands in the Holy Family. Mary at- 
 tends to the cares of the house, Joseph supports Jesus 
 and Mary and himself by a poor and laborious trade, 
 and Jesus aids His foster father; and as He grows 
 older the heaviest of the work falls upon Him. I see 
 Him, Who has created the heavens and the earth, 
 take in His divine hands the saw and the hammer, and 
 forge the iron destined for the implements of labor 
 for, according to an ancient tradition, this was the 
 principal occupation of Jesus and Joseph, and in the 
 first centuries, they showed with respect, some ploughs 
 which came from this divine workshop. It was by the 
 sweat of His brow that Jesus wished to teach us to sub- 
 mit ourselves to work, as to a penance imposed by 
 divine justice, and to sanctify it by love and respect 
 for the will of our Heavenly Father. 
 
 In the designs of God, work is something more than 
 a penance. It is also a salutary remedy which engages 
 the activity of our minds, and withdraws the imagina- 
 tion from vain and dangerous thoughts, consuming 
 thus a part of the natural life of this body of sin, of 
 which the ardors and the dangerous impetuosities 
 pouring themselves out upon criminal objects, drag the 
 poor soul far from the path of virtue. Let us, then, 
 thank the goodness and the wisdom of God which has 
 ordained that we should labor, and let us sanctify it by 
 uniting ours with that of Jesus. What noble and sub- 
 lime intentions animated His labor, so holy! What 
 mysterious silence! What ardent aspirations to the 
 
 165 
 
throne of His Father! What inflamed desires for His 
 glory! If sometimes the work of the Holy Family 
 was accompanied by words or interrupted by intervals 
 of rare conversation, how holy and useful were such 
 discourses? How well-seasoned by the salt of wisdom 
 and animated by charity? But they spoke little in the 
 house of Nazareth, because where hearts are united to 
 God, and lost in the contemplation of truth, words 
 cannot express the sentiments with which they are 
 filled. 
 
 The Rule of Carmel has wisely ordained that the 
 time not consecrated to prayer should be entirely em- 
 ployed in manual labor, and that this work be nour- 
 ished with holy thoughts; or when at the time of recre- 
 ation, it is accompanied by conversation, this should 
 always be edifying and foreign to the spirit of the 
 world, which the soul should endeavor to forget. In 
 a word, the interior of the monastery should resemble 
 the interior of Nazareth. But, alas! O my God, Thy 
 example serves to discover to me a multitude of faults 
 which I show in the accomplishment of the work which 
 is given to me, and in the discharge of the offices con- 
 fided to my care. \\ hat eagerness, what natural ac- 
 tivity in my occupations? With how many useless 
 words are they accompanied! What little care to keep 
 myself recollected, to unite myself to Thee by frequent 
 aspirations! How often I endeavor to do my work 
 quickly rather than to do it well, less to please Thee 
 than to gain the approbation of creatures. But in gen- 
 eral, what neglect, what forgetfulness, what inexacti- 
 tude, in acquitting myself of it as it has been prescribed 
 by holy obedience. Have I not followed my own will 
 in preference to the Rule, the Holy Customs of the 
 Order and to the will of my Superiors? Thus it has 
 happened that nature, self-love, and levity have caused 
 me to lose the advantages of labor, which I could have 
 rendered so meritorious and so salutary by conform- 
 ing to Thee, O my Divine Model! 
 
 I have worked all the day and I have done nothing 
 for heaven! 
 
 166 
 
O my Divine Jesus, grant that in this Retreat I may 
 learn, after Thy example, to sanctify all my occupa- 
 tions, to render my labors worthy of my state, worthy 
 of Thee, to the end that nothing may be given to 
 creatures, nothing to self-love, but that all may be for 
 Thy glory and Thy love. Amen. 
 
 SECOND MEDITATION. 
 The Baptism of Jesus. 
 
 "Then Jesus cometh from Galilee, unto John 
 on the banks of the Jordan, to be baptized 
 by him."— St. Matthew, III, 13. 
 
 After having lived in a most profound retreat for 
 thirty years, Jesus Christ goes forth to manifest Him- 
 self to the world, of which He is the light and the 
 salvation. 
 
 And behold, the first steps He takes are toward 
 the banks of the Jordan, where John the Baptist is 
 preaching penance and baptizing a multitude of sinners, 
 who eagerly run to him. This baptism of John was 
 only a preparation for that more excellent Baptism, 
 which should be instituted by the Saviour. He ad- 
 vances, confounding Himself with the crowd of peo- 
 ple, publicans and soldiers loudly confessing their sins, 
 and presents Himself for baptism, but John knew Him, 
 and was already pointing at Him and crying out: 
 "Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him Who taketh 
 away the sins of the world." John could not suffer 
 himself to see Jesus thus humbled, and in the attitude 
 of a sinner: "It is I," said he, filled with confusion, 
 "who ought to be baptized by Thee; and comest 
 Thou to me!" But Jesus answered him: "Suffer it 
 to be so; that thus I may fulfill all justice." In the 
 holy contest, the humility of our Saviour triumphed, 
 and John, through respect to His wishes, yielded and 
 baptized his Divine Master. 
 
 O my Saviour, always adorable, always admirable, 
 what a new subject for astonishment and of contem- 
 plation does Thy Baptism offer me, but Thou art even 
 more amiable, if possible, when Thou abasest Thy 
 dignity before one who is Thy servant, sent before 
 
 167 
 
Thy face to prepare the way. Ah! Lord, a conduct so 
 astonishng must contain some great instruction. Grant 
 me the grace to penetrate it and to be docile to its 
 teachings. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 The first sense of these words of Jesus Christ: "Suf- 
 fer it to be so that I might fulfill all justice," marks the 
 intention which He had to confirm by this step the 
 mission of Saint John the Baptist. He wished to 
 honor the ministry which God had confided to him, 
 in charging him to make known to man, the Messiah, 
 and of opening to them, through penance, the way 
 which should conduct them to His love. By this ex- 
 ample, the Saviour teaches us to render on all occa- 
 sions to those who are clothed with His divine author- 
 ity for the government of the Church, or for the care 
 of souls, the testimony of respect, and all the duties 
 of Religion and of that submission which, as His repre- 
 sentatives, they have a right to expect from us. Be- 
 cause all authority, especially that of the spiritual 
 order, comes from God, and those who resist it, re- 
 sist God Himself. Our Holy Father the Pope, Bishops 
 in general, all ecclesiastical superiors, confessors, and 
 for me in particular, the Superiors of the Monastery, 
 especially the Mother Prioress, are living represent- 
 atives of God, depositaries of His power and charged 
 by Him to govern me and to instruct me in my duties. 
 
 If Jesus willed to honor in His Precursor, the Envoy 
 of God, and to submit with prodigious humility to his 
 ministry, which has been established only for sinners, 
 how can I, dust and ashes, disregard that respect which 
 I owe to those who are clothed with an authority, all 
 divine, for the guidance of souls? Have I understood 
 that I am obliged to show them all deference, sub- 
 mission, and love, acting in their regard, with a spirit 
 of faith, seeing in them not the creature, but Jesus 
 Christ, Whom they represent. 
 
 It is to establish and preserve this spirit that our 
 holy Constitutions impose upon us in regard to our 
 Superiors, above all to the Mother Prioress, the duties 
 of the most profound respect, and of a submission, 
 
 16S 
 
the most humble and entire. With a little reflec- 
 tion on what they prescribe to me in her regard, as 
 to the manner of speaking and listening to her, and of 
 receiving her advice and corrections, it will be seen 
 that such testimonies are becoming only to Jesus 
 Christ, and that by this, my Rule reminds me unceas- 
 ingly that she is for me the most lively image of Him 
 in the Monastery. But if these exterior demonstra- 
 tions are not accompanied by a profound spirit of 
 faith and piety, it is evident that I render myself cul- 
 pable of a kind of hypocricy, and lose at the same 
 time, the precious fruit of these acts of Religion. 
 
 But, O my God, how far withdrawn am I from this 
 spirit of faith! How little have I profited by these 
 means so numerous, which have been offered to me 
 to increase in virtue by imitating Thee! But I wish 
 henceforth to walk in Thy footsteps, and to say with 
 Thee, in regard to my Superiors: "Suffer it to be so 
 that I might fulfill all justice." 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 But if Jesus Christ, by this solemn act, recognized 
 and honored the ministry of His Holy Precursor, 
 did He not destroy His own? By mingling with sin- 
 ners to ask baptism from John, did He not expose 
 Himself to pass as a sinner, and thus destroy in the 
 minds of all men a belief in the truth that He was the 
 source of all the graces necessary for penitent? And, 
 in effect, what a prodigious abasement! I am not sur- 
 prised at Saint John's repugnance to consent to the 
 desires of His Divine Master to be baptized as a sin- 
 ner. But Jesus troubles Himself not about the judg- 
 ments which the multitude will pass upon Him. He 
 cares not — He is the representative of sinners, He 
 comes to pay the penalty of their sins, and with this 
 title, He humbles and annihilates Himself, and honors 
 in Saint John the ministry of public penance, and it is 
 in this sense that we should understand these words: 
 "Suffer it to be so." 
 
 He regards not what refers to His Divine Person, 
 it is the affair of His Father; His own is to glorify His 
 
 169 
 
Father and to abase Himself. And the Eternal Father 
 chooses this circumstance to show forth the Divinity 
 and the Glory of the Saviour: "Jesus after His bap- 
 tism, being come out of the water, behold the heavens 
 were opened above His head, and the Spirit of God 
 descended upon Him in the form of a dove; at the 
 same time a voice from heaven was heard saying, 
 This is My Beloved Son in Whom I am well 
 pleased.' 
 
 It is thus that God is pleased to pour down His 
 cherished favors, and to mark with the seal of His 
 Spirit those who forget their own interests to occupy 
 them with the interests of His glory, who seek after 
 humiliations, or at least fear not to abase themselves 
 before those who bear the mark of His authority. In 
 effect, it suffices not, if we wish to enter into the 
 Spirit of Jesus Christ, that we treat superiors with 
 faith and respect. It is necessary besides not to fear 
 to abase ourselves, to humble ourselves before them 
 in presence of all, that is in presence of the Commu- 
 nity; to render to them the most humble duties, to 
 receive their orders with submission, to accept their 
 advice and corrections with a good heart without op- 
 posing any excuse interiorly or exteriorly, without tes- 
 tifying any discontent; on the contrary, the humble 
 posture of our body and the expression of our coun- 
 tenance should testify that we recognize ourselves 
 worthy of these reproaches and of others more se- 
 vere, and that we receive with gratitude their ad- 
 monitions, having a sincere intention of profiting by 
 them. 
 
 But, O my sweet and humble Jesus, how Thy ex- 
 ample covers me with confusion! How different my 
 conduct from Thine! How little have I practised this 
 submission of mind and heart to the advice and cor- 
 rection of my Superiors! How little have I observed 
 with an interior spirit that point of my Rule which 
 obliges me to humble myself before them! I content 
 myself with a vain ceremony, and I accomplish it 
 without sentiments of confusion, of deference, of ac- 
 quiescence, in which consists all its value. O my most 
 
 170 
 
amiable Redeemer, perfect Model of all virtues, and 
 particularly of humility and obedience, grant me dur- 
 ing this Retreat the grace to be penetrated with their 
 importance and their value. May I henceforth prac- 
 tise them more faithfully, that by imitating Thee I 
 may learn to love Thee on earth and possess Thee in 
 heaven. Amen. 
 
 THIRD MEDITATION. 
 Jesus in the Desert. 
 
 "Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost, return- 
 ed from the Jordan and was led by the 
 Spirit into the desert. For the space of 
 forty days; and was tempted by the devil. 
 And having eaten nothing during those days 
 when they were ended, He was hungry." — 
 S. Luke IV, 1-2. 
 
 I adore Thee, O Divine Solitary, in a spirit of ad- 
 miration and gratitude, because of the marvelous ex- 
 ample which Thou dost give us of the eremitical life. 
 Thou didst deliver Thy Innocent Body to rude aus- 
 terities in the Desert, and didst submit Thyself to a 
 most humiliating trial for my instruction, that of be- 
 ing tempted by Satan. It is true that this temptation 
 was only exterior, for Satan had not the least power 
 over Thy Divine Person, and that he found in Thee no 
 matter of temptation — all there being holy and per- 
 fectly regulated, and nothing in Thy sacred flesh or 
 holy mind capable of being troubled without Thy ex- 
 press will. But Thou hast willed to teach us by Thy 
 example how we should conduct ourselves in our com- 
 bats with the enemy; and hast furnished us by the 
 grace which flows from this Mystery, with the arms 
 necessary for overcoming him. Be Thou always 
 blessed for it! 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 Jesus in the Desert, the Model of the Solitary Life. 
 
 The Solitary Life is an extraordinary life which can- 
 not be followed except by a small number, and which 
 should, consequently, not be chosen except by a par- 
 ticular attraction of the Spirit of God. 
 
 171 
 
It was for this that it is related in the Gospel that 
 Jesus Christ was led by the Spirit into the De3ert; and 
 in living there forty days, He has merited for His 
 Church those abundant graces, whose marvelous ef- 
 fects have peopled the desert with a multitude of Soli- 
 taries who have followed Him, and who have aston- 
 ished the world by their detachment, penance, and the 
 practice of all virtues. Our Saviour, in the Desert, 
 had no other companions than wild beasts, no other 
 shelter than the rocks, no other bed than the earth, 
 and He consecrated all His time to prayer, accom- 
 panied by an uninterrupted fast. 
 
 The Solitary Life, when the soul is called to it by 
 God, is most fruitful in spiritual benefits of all kinds. 
 In this happy life, the soul withdrawn from all com- 
 munion with creatures, finds herself near to God, and 
 disposed for His Divine communications. The noise 
 of the world, the impression of its joys, its affairs, its 
 affections, and its concerns, reach her not, and she 
 understands that God is all and takes the place of all 
 things. Insensibly, she begins to taste His sweetness 
 and to repose in Him above all creatures, above all 
 that is not God; and the more she enjoys the Sover- 
 eign Good, the better she will understand the utter 
 nothingness of all that is not God. She ends by for- 
 getting the world and herself, to repose in Him Who 
 is her life. O happy life, source of the purest joy, of 
 an abundance of holy tears, and of an astonishing fa- 
 miliarity with God! 
 
 But, as nature, the flesh, and self-love are always 
 living there — because the Solitary soul, not being able, 
 alas! to separate entirely from them, has brought them 
 with her into the desert — this soul, led by the Spirit 
 of God, must be continually accompanied by prayer 
 and penance. Without these precautions, the solitary 
 life will be for her only an illusion full of perils. This 
 Jesus teaches us — He went into the Desert only when 
 He was led by the Spirit of God, and while there He 
 lived in continual prayer and austerity. Now the soul 
 who wishes to imitate Him with security in her soli- 
 tude, must remain there with a spirit of docility, of 
 
 172 
 
obedience, of prayer, and a hatred of self which she 
 must never abandon. 
 
 While the life of Carmel is a community life, it is, 
 nevertheless, pre-eminently a solitary life. The spirit 
 which reigns there is an eremitical spirit; a Carmelite is 
 e hermit of the holy Mountain of Carmel; she ought 
 to be as perfect a solitary as if her cell were built in 
 the midst of a desert, placed at a distance from the 
 others of the community. The spirit of solitude, 
 which is the spirit of her vocation, ought to effect in 
 her this holy disposition, and she will be a perfect 
 solitary if she maintains herself in a state of abnega- 
 tion and of death, indifferent not only to the interests 
 and affairs of the world, but even to those of her own 
 Monastery, that is to the work, to the affairs, to the 
 employment of her companions, in a word : to all that 
 does not refer to her own particular duties. If she is 
 faithful to the holy law of renouncement taught in her 
 Constitutions, and so strictly followed by all the holy 
 Religious of her Order, she will avoid looking around, 
 raising her eyes to consider the countenance of any 
 one, or to occupy herself with what is going on, giving 
 her opinion or asking news. If a careful observer of 
 the holy laws of modesty and of silence, she will speak 
 only when necessary or very useful, and then in a 
 moderate tone of voce, avoiding all boisterous mirth, 
 or those exterior manifestations which would make her 
 lose that spirit of habitual recollection in which she 
 ought to live. She will be a perfect solitary if, be- 
 sides exterior silence, she observes that interior si- 
 lence of the spirit which forbids all useless thoughts 
 and remembrances, that silence of the heart which re- 
 nounces all attachment, all affections for creatures — 
 parents, friends and all objects which could occupy her 
 contrary to the spirit of her state. In fine, she will be 
 a perfect solitary, if she is fervent in filling her mind 
 and heart, thus emptied of creatures, with images and 
 affections drawn from the life and death of our Sa- 
 viour; if she nourish herself with His Divine Word 
 and with the frequent aspirations which His love will 
 inspire. O holy solitude of Carmel ! O sole beatitude, 
 
 173 
 
which has conducted so many of its holy inhabitants 
 to the highest perfection of love; why have I until now 
 profited so little by advantages so precious? Ah! I 
 understand it now: it is because in the midst of soli- 
 tude 1 have been little solitary; I have found there an 
 occasion of sin rather than a means of perfection, a 
 martyrdom rather than than a consolation; and be- 
 cause I did not possess its spirit, I failed to gather its 
 precious fruits. In occupying myself with what was 
 going on around me, and wishing to see and hear 
 everything, I have lost the spirit of recollection, and 
 consequently those holy thoughts, those inflamed de- 
 sires which are the life of a solitary soul, and thus I 
 have closed the entrance of my heart to the visits of 
 the Holy Spirit, and to the inspirations of His grace. 
 
 O Jesus, Divine Solitary, grant me in this Retreat, 
 the spirit of solitude which is the soul of the life of 
 Carmel, and for this end, grant me the grace to over- 
 come the sallies of an unmortified nature, which bears 
 me so violently toward exterior objects, drawing me 
 away from the sanctuary of my heart, where Thou so 
 much desirest to stay, if Thou couldst find me there 
 and alone. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 Jesus Is Tempted by the Devil to Teach Us by What 
 Means We May Overcome Him. 
 
 But the more important solitude is for drawing the 
 soul to God and causing it to produce fruits of the 
 most precious virtue, the more Satan, jealous of these 
 advantages, seeks to disturb and turn away souls who 
 embrace it, from an enterprise which can procure so 
 much glory for God, and is so powerful an aid to 
 Holy Church. Thus, while he attacks lightly, persons 
 engaged in the world where the are so many occasions 
 of falling and so many subjects of scandal, he re- 
 doubles his efforts against solitary souls, and endeav- 
 ors to lay snares under their feet. But by an admir- 
 able dispensation of the Providence of God, for Whom 
 they have left all, such deceits of Satan serve only to 
 
 174 
 
purify these generous souls, and afford them new 
 means of sanctification. At the same time, their vic- 
 tory over the cruel enemy turns to his confusion, glo- 
 rifies God Who is the author of it, and prepares for 
 them brilliant crowns. 
 
 It was for this end that Jesus, as the Model of soli- 
 tary souls, descended first into the arena, conducted 
 by the Spirit, and defied to the combat, the proud 
 enemy, in order to give us by His victory, an illus- 
 trious example of the conduct we should follow in the 
 solitary life which is a perpetual warfare. The tempta- 
 tions to which He condescended to submit, are those 
 which ordinarily assail solitary souls. The first 
 is a temptation to sensuality, under the pretext of ne- 
 cessity: "Command these stones to be changed into 
 bread"; but Jesus in replying to the tempter, "Man 
 liveth not by bread alone, but by every word which 
 proceedeth out of the mouth of God," teaches the 
 solitary soul when tempted to relax the holy rigors of 
 mortification, that we must seek relief in our sufferings 
 and our wants, only according to the Rule and the 
 advice of our Superiors, in order to avoid falling into 
 the snares of nature — always eager to satisfy itself. 
 
 The second temptation is a foolish presumption, 
 under the pretext of showing forth the power of God: 
 "Cast Thyself down from the pinnacle of this temple, 
 if Thou be the Son of God; for it is written, He has 
 given His Angels charge over Thee." But Jesus re- 
 plied: "It is written, thou shalt not tempt the Lord, 
 thy God," warning the solitary soul of an illusion 
 very dangerous, and nevertheless very common, into 
 which the devil draws certain persons. Under pretext 
 of the glory of God, and greater perfection, they aspire 
 to extraordinary states of prayer. Deceived by the 
 enemy, they produce by the imagination, or receive 
 really through the power of the devil, pretended 
 visions and revelations, which serve only to nourish 
 self-love. 
 
 The third attack of the devil upon our Lord was to 
 present Him with a fantastic image of the false glory 
 and the vain grandeur of the world, which he prom- 
 
 175 
 
ised upon condition that He prostrate and adore him. 
 It is thus that Satan strives to relax the fervor of the 
 solitary in her search after perfection, by recalling to 
 her memory the vain pleasures and goods of the 
 world, which he wishes to make her regret, and per- 
 haps may succeed in engaging her to return to their 
 enjoyment. Jesus Christ teaches her here to arm her- 
 self against this temptation by the remembrance and 
 the love of her Sovereign Good, in saying: "The 
 Lord, thy God, alone shouldst thou adore, and Him 
 only shouldst thou serve." God alone is my begin- 
 ning and my end; God alone can give me joy and 
 happiness: I have chosen Him for my portion, I shall 
 never quit so good a Master to become the slave of 
 Satan and the world. 
 
 But the Religious soul should never forget that, ac- 
 cording to the example of her Divine Saviour, she must 
 oppose to temptation fasting, that is to say, a constant 
 mortification of the senses, and a prayer accompanied 
 by continual recollection. And in the same way that 
 our Lord had humble recourse to the Word of God, 
 in replying to the devil, so should she, in all temp- 
 tations, have recourse to her Superior, who is the sa- 
 cred oracle where she may find her replies, the spirit- 
 ual arsenal where she will obtain arms to attack the 
 enemy. Without this simplicity, without this humble 
 communication to those charged with guiding her, she 
 will remain exposed to the attacks of Satan and will 
 soon be overcome, while very often the simple avowal 
 of a temptation will serve to banish it, and to put the 
 tempter to flight. 
 
 Oh! how true it is, my God, that those who enter 
 Thy service must prepare their souls for temptation. 
 How dangerous are the temptations of the enemy 
 against those who have left all to follow Thee! What 
 violence, what ruses, to attack each one in the weakest 
 point! Then often the Angel of Darkness transforms 
 himself into an Angel of Light, in order to draw us 
 into illusions, discouragements, or a foolish presump- 
 tion. O my God, how can we escape so many dan- 
 gers, if we are not aided by Thy example and as- 
 
 176 
 
sisted by Thy grace? With this double help, I hope 
 to triumph over him. It must then be by prayer, by 
 mortification, by recollection, and an humble open- 
 ing of my heart to the guide of my soul, that I can 
 gain the victory. O my Divine Saviour, I beg of Thee 
 this grace, through the victory Thou didst gain over 
 him in the desert. Amen. 
 
 LECTURE. 
 
 The Solitude Proper to Carmel. 
 
 In the same way that in the Religious life in general, 
 they are poor only by vow and in spirit, since in reality 
 nothing is wanting, not only of what is necessary, but 
 even useful for the support and well-being of life; thus 
 in Carmel, where all are obliged to an eremitical state 
 of life, they can be solitary only by affection and in 
 spirit. In reality and materially, they live in society, 
 that is, in constant contact with the other members of 
 the community- But as the poverty which is prac- 
 tised in Religion is real and full of merit when one 
 has its true spirit; so the solitude of Carmel is real and 
 marvelously fruitful, when one possesses the grace for 
 it. But here is the difficulty, and it must even be ad- 
 mitted that few persons attain perfection in the ere- 
 mitical spirit, because there are few souls generous 
 enough to persevere in the constant efforts which it is 
 necessary to make in denying themselves all useless 
 intercourse with creatures. 
 
 Now by creatures, we understand here persons, 
 even those nearest to us, and by intercourse, we under- 
 stand the relations which we keep up with them by the 
 senses. For we communicate with our neighbor by 
 the eyes, the mouth, the ears, even by the imagination 
 and the heart. When once a soul succeeds in impos- 
 ing silence on all her senses by closing the door 
 through which she pours herself out upon creatures, 
 and becomes in the midst of her companions as soli- 
 tary as in the desert; when she loves her cell, cherishes 
 retirement; when she is a stranger to all care, to all 
 curiosity, to all desire to know or to speak, then she 
 
 177 
 
begins to find a charm all divine in her solitude, and 
 soon tastes the sweetness of God to such a degree, 
 that all which does not recall to her His holy presence 
 or remind her of His love and benefits, is insipid. It 
 is in this precious solitude that is found the source of 
 those tears which purify the soul, day and night, and 
 enables her to attain an astonishing familiarity with 
 God. Because from the moment that we speak no 
 longer with creatures, and remember them only so 
 far as charity and our duty to God require, our inter- 
 course with the Creator becomes more easy and more 
 frequent, and the soul thus prepared by her habitual 
 intercourse with our Lord, has no difficulty I will not 
 say in recollecting herself in her prayers, since she is 
 recollected even in the midst of her exterior occupa- 
 tions, but in raising herself to God, and uniting herself 
 to Him by this intimate communication. 
 
 By what steps may we arrive at this spirit of solitude 
 of which the fruits are so precious? The first step is 
 silence. Silence is, in effect, one of the most admira- 
 ble means which the Holy Spirit has suggested to Reli- 
 gious of all times and in all lands, to arrest the source 
 of a multitude of irregularities and sins, of which the 
 tongue is the principle, the occasion, or the instrument. 
 Not only is the tongue an instrument at the service of 
 all the passions, but it even awakens and excites them 
 when they are dormant, and apparently extinct; and 
 in consequence of the intemperance of the tongue, the 
 wise are often taken in great straits; while, on the con- 
 trary, as the Scripture tells us, a fool may pass for a 
 wise man, if he will but keep silence. 
 
 To these advantages, which we may call negative, 
 we can add many of a positive nature, which it pro- 
 cures us. By silence we learn to become master of 
 ourselves, according to the Word of God: "He who 
 holds his tongue, keepeth his soul," and, consequently, 
 it makes us practise the most excellent of mortifica- 
 tions. It obliges us to enter into ourselves, to speak 
 to God, or to listen to His Ho*Iy inspirations, in order 
 to obey them immediately. By silence, we imtate the 
 holy inhabitants of the desert, who live withdrawn 
 
 178 
 
from all converse with creatures, in order to contem- 
 plate more easily heavenly things. We understand, 
 then, that silence is an indispensable condition for 
 attaining the spirit of solitude. It is unnecessary to 
 add that this exterior silence will have no value, at 
 least will produce only a small part of the happy effects 
 of which we have just spoken, if unaccompanied by 
 interior silence; that is, that attentive care to banish 
 from the mind all dangerous and even useless remem- 
 brances, from the heart, all affections and sensible at- 
 tachments which could disturb it. 
 
 The second means is the spirit of abnegation and of 
 death to all that is not God, and an entire indifference 
 to all that relates not to His glory, His service, and 
 the accomplishment of His holy will. It is here that 
 the difficulties augment and combats will multiply. It 
 is no longer the mouth only which must be closed to 
 all useless converse; the ears must be shut to the noise 
 that attracts our attention and excites our curiosity. 
 The eyes must be closed, first to those with whom we 
 treat, then to their occupation and their work; to all 
 places through which we pass, and the objects which 
 we meet. Then we must control our walk, avoid pre- 
 cipitation; apply ourselves to become modest and 
 guarded, in order that the soul may not be tarnished 
 b}' levity and indiscretion. The mind, so prompt in 
 fixing upon all that presents itself, must be restrained 
 from making reflections, and prevented from giving 
 advice for which we have not been asked. In a word, 
 we must resemble a dead person, who has eyes and 
 sees not, ears and hears not, a mouth and speaks not. 
 
 But as there is in the heart of man an intense craving, 
 and in his mind an extreme activity, solitude will be- 
 come insupportable, even impossible, if with the depri- 
 vation of all converse with creatures he does not force 
 himself to converse habitually with God. This is at 
 once the means and the end of the solitary life, which 
 at first sight seems contradictory, but which, neverthe- 
 less, is well founded upon reason. In the beginning, 
 without doubt, solitude will appear tiresome and con- 
 versing with God difficult; however, in the measure 
 
 179 
 
that we, on one side, withdraw our hearts from crea- 
 tures and, on the other, turn to God by short and 
 fervent prayers and loving aspirations, the weariness 
 of retreat will diminish, and the sweetness of this in- 
 tercourse with God will soon make itself felt. Thus 
 we soon reap the first fruits of our efforts. This is the 
 place to make known the importance, the necessity 
 even, of frequent aspirations and of ejaculatory pray- 
 ers, called by masters of the spiritual life loving move- 
 ments or elevations of the soul toward heaven. In 
 vain should we pretend to arrive at real prayer, and 
 much less at contemplation, if we do not accustom our- 
 selves to these familiar conversations with God, to 
 these frequent aspirations. Without doubt, and it is 
 ar- admitted fact, this habit is difficult to contract, and 
 we cannot succeed in it without a special grace from 
 God. But when a Religious soul perseveres in this 
 design, which she profits by all occasions to offer to 
 God her labors, and to express to Him her desires, her 
 love or her regret, according to the circumstances or 
 dispositions in which she may be; if she determines 
 beforehand the number of times during the day that 
 she will raise her heart to God, as at each hour the 
 clock strikes, the beginning and end of each occupa- 
 tion; if she apply herself to formulate in advance a cer- 
 tain number of aspirations of love, of faith, of confi- 
 dence, of humility, confusion, mortification; and if she 
 study to employ them according to her needs and her 
 attractions, making use of certain means which will 
 recall this holy practice, she will certainly attract to 
 her the benevolent regard of her Creator, Who will 
 not fail to recompense her perseverance by the precious 
 gift of a habitual remembrance of His holy presence, 
 a gift which will be infallibly followed by that of 
 prayer. Few persons are courageous and persevering 
 enough alas! never to abandon this holy resolution, 
 when once taken; and behold why so few are true soli- 
 taries, why so few attain to contemplation. 
 
 As to myself, I am a Carmelite and, consequently, 
 I am called in a special manner to unite myself to God 
 by prayer. I should then never neglect the most 
 
 180 
 
efficacious and indispensable means of corresponding 
 to my vocation, and this means is to exert myself to 
 become a solitary and a contemplative. I will remem- 
 ber the lessons and the examples of our Holy Mother, 
 Saint Teresa, who teaches me to enter within that 
 "little heaven of my soul and to regard nothing out- 
 side of it, in order to find there the One who created 
 it." "Those who have entered upon this way should 
 know," says she, "that they walk in an excellent way, 
 and that in a short time they will drink of the fountain 
 of Living Water." "This habit of recollection," again 
 says the Holy Mother, "is one that depends on us. It 
 is acquired by striving, little by little, to render our- 
 selves masters of ourselves, and recalling our senses 
 within, retrenching their exterior uses, to make them 
 serve for our interior recollection. So that, if we 
 speak, we try to remember that we are to converse 
 with One within our own soul; if we listen, we should 
 remember that we are about to hear One Who speaks 
 most intimately to us, and if we wish, we may never 
 be separated from this Divine Companion. Let the 
 soul, if she can," continues our Holy Foundress, "prac- 
 tice this often in the course of the day, or at least 
 sometimes; by accustoming ourselves to this, we 
 shall, sooner or later, derive great advantage from it. 
 God will no sooner have granted this grace to a soul, 
 than she would not wish to exchange it for all the 
 treasures of earth. In the name of God, since nothing 
 is acquired without trouble, do not complain of the 
 time and application which you employ in this; and 
 I assure you that, with the assistance of Our Lord, 
 you will succeed at the end of one year, or perhaps in 
 half that time." 
 
 Oh ! how well adapted are these words to encourage 
 and animate me to this holy labor. Whence is it, Lord, 
 that, after so many years in Religion, I find myself so 
 far from this holy custom? "Ah! my Lord," exclaims 
 our Holy Mother, St. Teresa, in answer, "all the evil 
 comes from our not understanding the truth that Thou 
 art so near to us. We act as if Thou wert far away. 
 Ah! great indeed would be the distance were it neces- 
 
 181 
 
sary for us to go to heaven to find Thee. I would 
 wish, at present," she adds, "to make them understand 
 that to accustom ourselves to fix our mind, in order 
 that it may know what it says, and to whom it speaks, 
 it is necessary to recollect our interior senses, and give 
 them something to occupy them, having no doubt that 
 heaven is found within us, since the Creator of heaven 
 dwells there. I confess never having known what it 
 was to pray with satisfaction until He taught me this 
 method, and as. I have derived so much profit from 
 thus recollecting myself, this is why I have insisted so 
 long on this subject." 
 
 Examen. 
 
 Am I well persuaded that a solitary spirit is essential 
 to the holy Order to which I have the honor of belong- 
 ing, and that, without it, I do not merit the name of 
 Carmelite? Do I understand the inestimable value 
 and multiplied advantages of solitude? Have I the 
 spirit of solitude? To know whether I possess it, I 
 have only to examine whether I love the retreat of the 
 cell; whether I find my delight in silence and recol- 
 lection; whether I have a horror of the parlor and of 
 useless conversations, of worldly news, of dissipation 
 and noise. Have I not, on the contrary, a desire, a 
 kind of need to converse with creatures and to know 
 what is going on? Have I not readily seized the occa- 
 sion of leaving our cell, or the place of my ordinary 
 occupations? 
 
 If I have so little of the eremitical spirit, should I 
 not attribute it to my little care to keep silence, which 
 I break without scruple and for the most frivolous 
 reasons, thus depriving myself of its precious fruits? 
 It is not also because of my little zeal for the mortifica- 
 tion of the senses, for the practice of abnegation and 
 of the spirit of death, that I am so little solitary and, 
 consequently, so little recollected during the day and 
 that I have so little fervor in my prayers? Have I not 
 my ears open to every word and every sound ; my eyes 
 attentive to or distracted by all that excites my curios- 
 ity; my mind awakened by a crowd of objects which 
 
 182 
 
ought to be strangers to it, and my mouth always 
 ready to express the sentiments which they excite? 
 
 To attain and to nourish this spirit of solitude, have 
 I made use of frequent ejaculatory prayers? Have I 
 not neglected this practice because it required care, 
 attention, and perseverance, despising thus one of the 
 most frequent recommendations of our Holy Mother, 
 Saint Teresa? 
 
 183 
 
EIGHTH DAY. 
 
 FIRST MEDITATION. 
 The Public Life of Jesus. 
 
 "He went about doing good."— Acts of Apos- 
 tles X, 38. 
 
 I will contemplate Thee to-day, O, My Divine Mas- 
 ter, in Thy Public Life. What subjects of admira- 
 tion present themselves! Each one of Thy steps is 
 marked by miracles; words full of grace fall from 
 Thy lips for our instruction; brilliant testimony is 
 rendered to Thy Divinity by men, by Angels and by 
 God Himself, Who several times declares that Thou 
 art His Beloved Son. But my Saviour, that which 
 strikes me above all in these marvels is Thy ineffa- 
 ble charity to man, that love so pure, so disinter- 
 ested, so patient, so generous, so strong, so constant, 
 so magnanimous to those whom Thou tenderly call- 
 est Thy brethren, and whom Thou lovest even so 
 far as to forget Thyself, sacrificing to their interests 
 the most pressing necessities, the legitimate care of 
 Thy sacred Person, its consolations the most holy, 
 its repose, its sleep and even Thy conversations with 
 Thy Eternal Father. Admirable charity which be- 
 longs only to Thee, and which has made Thee aban- 
 don the care of Thy reputation and even of Thy life. 
 Thus Thy great Apostle, St. Paul assures us that 
 Thou didst never seek Thy own satisfaction and 
 wast occupied with one thing only — to save men and 
 to do good to all, at Thy own expense. 
 
 O ineffable charity of Jesus! May I in this medi- 
 tation be so penetrated with Thy sweetness, that my 
 heart inflamed by Thy divine ardors, may no longer 
 be touched by anything but the interests of Thy Glory 
 and the salvation of souls. 
 
 184 
 
FIRST POINT. 
 
 The Charity of Jesus Conversing with Men. 
 
 The Holy Gospel, properly speaking, is nothing 
 but a history of the charity of Jesus Christ. Nothing 
 is more admirable, nothing more touching than the 
 picture which it offers us on each page, of the Sa- 
 viour conversing with men. I open at hazard this 
 Sacred Book, and everywhere I find Him instructing 
 the ignorant, consoling the poor and the afflicted, 
 and curing the sick, without giving Himself either 
 repose or relaxation. He went on foot through the 
 cities, the villages, and the country places of Judea, 
 surrounded and pressed by a multitude of persons, 
 for whose wants He provided, at one time nourishing 
 them with material bread which His charity multi- 
 plied at another, dispensing to them the more pre- 
 cious bread of His Word. He cured their infirmi- 
 ties and supported their importunities without ever 
 testifying the least weariness. They stop Him 
 in His discourses and He listens; they interrupt His 
 repasts and He abandons them; they call Him from 
 His prayer and He follows; they press round Him 
 with requests and He satisfies them; they present 
 Him with insidious questions and He replies with 
 wisdom and sweetness. He supports without com- 
 plaint the grossness of His disciples, the injuries of 
 His persecutors, and the calumnies of His enemies; 
 showering upon all new benefits, and calling upon 
 all without exception, to come and seek in His Di- 
 vine Heart, relief in their labors and rest for their 
 souls, and to prove by a happy experience the sweet- 
 ness and humility of this Divine Heart. It was thus 
 that Jesus showed Himself during the three years 
 of His Public Life; making no account of Himself, 
 seeking Himself in nothing, immolating Himself each 
 instant in His most pure satisfactions in 
 His tastes so holy, and in His most imperious 
 
 185 
 
needs. And if, with the light of faith, we penetrate 
 the mind and the Heart of our Divine Model, we 
 will find there only one thought, one desire, which 
 presses and consumes Him, it is to sacrifice Himself 
 entirely for those for whom, in His immense love, 
 He has descended from Heaven; which made the 
 Apostle say: "Jesus Christ did not please Himself 
 in anything." 
 
 O Jesus! teach me the source whence Thou hast 
 drawn this sacred fire which Thou earnest to cast on 
 earth, and dost so ardently desire to see inflaming all 
 men. Ah! this love so generous, so pure, so disin- 
 terested, which I admire in Thee, Thou hast drawn 
 from Thy love for Thy Eternal Father, in Thy zeal 
 so perfect, for His glory and His interests. Thou 
 teachest me also that the precept of the love of my 
 neighbor is the same as the precept of the love of 
 God, because it is essentially contained in it. In 
 degenerate man, Thy divine eyes have discovered 
 the effaced image of God, and by taking human na- 
 ture, Thou hast accepted the work of repairing it. 
 "Scarcely," says the Apostle, "can we find one who 
 is willing to die for a just man," but that which 
 shows forth Thy infinite charity is that Thou wast 
 willing to die for us, who were sinners, and Thy ene- 
 mies. Thou hast no need at all of us, and it is en- 
 tirely gratuitous that Thou dost love us with so 
 much ardor and support us with so much 
 patience, await us with so much longanimity, 
 and save us with so many sorrows and ignominies. 
 
 love, love so pure, so generous, so tender, so com- 
 passionate, mayst thou prevail over my insensibil- 
 ity, my hardness of heart in the accomplishment of 
 the precept of charity! 
 
 In effect, whence comes it that I find in myself so 
 much egotism, that I seek myself in all things, that 
 
 1 am so touched by what refers to myself, and so lit- 
 tle by what concerns others? Ah! it is the sad herit- 
 age of my first father Adam; that self-love which is 
 the fatal source of all evils, and from which flow in 
 
 186 
 
a direct line faults against the love of our brother — 
 hatred, jealousies, suspicions, calumnies, contempt, 
 and that cruel insensibility for the suffering and mis- 
 fortune of others. Ah! my God, if I loved Thee 
 truly, I would also love my neighbor, since he is Thy 
 image and Thou wishest that I regard him as Thy- 
 self. If I truly loved Thee, O my God, I would love 
 myself less, or rather I would love myself better by 
 loving myself for Thee, and in Thee. I would find 
 my happiness in sacrificing, after the example of 
 Thy Divine Son, my own personal interests and sat- 
 isfaction for the requirements of my neighbor, and 
 thus I would advance more and more in Thy love. 
 Oh! who will give me to draw water from the foun- 
 tains of the Saviour, sacred source of charity where 
 is extirpated the root of that cursed tree, self-love, 
 which produces only the bitter fruit of sin. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 The Character of True Charity. 
 
 In order to know whether I really have in my 
 heart that charity for my neighbor, of which Jesus 
 Christ has left us so admirable an example, it is nec- 
 essary that I examine well in this Retreat, its char- 
 acteristics as they have been traced for us by St. 
 Paul: 
 
 1st. — Charity is patient; it supports with a good 
 heart, the weakness, the humors, and the imperfec- 
 tions of its neighbor. 
 
 2nd. — Charity is sweet and kind; it never allows 
 harsh or proud words to escape; and when it sees 
 that the persons to whom it speaks have little vir- 
 tue, it offends them not easily, it treats them with 
 cauion, never using stern words or reproving them 
 with anger, or commanding them with arrogance. 
 
 3rd. — It envieth not. Far from envying the hap- 
 piness of its neighbor or being afflicted at his prog- 
 ress in virtue, it rejoices as if it were its own gain, 
 and wishes for him what it desires for itself. 
 
 187 
 
4th. It acts not through caprice or humor. It 
 knows not how to feign, dissemble or flatter, it is 
 not light, inconstant or bold. 
 
 5th. It is not proud. It makes each one have a 
 greater esteem for his neighbor than for himself, 
 showing deference to one another, honoring one an- 
 other, according to this precept of the Apostle. 
 
 6th. — It is not ambitious; that is to say, it has no 
 desire to domineer over others. 
 
 7th. — It seeks not its own: it is ever ready to sac- 
 rifice for the good of the community, its own inter- 
 ests, its ease, its tastes, and on certain occasions, 
 even its spiritual advantages when God requires this, 
 abandoning to Him the care of compensating it by 
 more abundant graces. 
 
 8th. — It is not easily provoked to anger. It is 
 never irritated against any one, but feels towards all 
 sentiments of kindness. 
 
 9th. — It thinketh no evil: it is not suspicious. It 
 never suspects actions or attributes them to bad mo- 
 tives, and far from reflecting upon the evil which 
 may have been done to it, it excuses, pardons, and 
 forgets all. 
 
 10th. — It rejoices not in iniquity; on the contrary, 
 it rejoices to see good accomplished, to see the good 
 qualities and virtues of its neighbor; and far from 
 secretly triumphing over his falls, his defects, and 
 his imperfections, or over the confusion of those pub- 
 licly corrected, the charitable soul is grieved and re- 
 flects that she herself is capable of even greater dis- 
 orders. 
 
 11th. — It suffers all things; that is, it accommo- 
 dates itself to different characters, to the imperfec- 
 tions, to the requirements of its neighbor, without 
 appearing to notice them, knowing that this patience 
 with the faults of others is a sacrifice most agreea- 
 ble to God. 
 
 12th.lt believeth all things. It believes all the good 
 it can of its neighbor, and willingly admits that his 
 intentions must be good. 
 
 188 
 
13th. — It hopeth all things; that is to say, although 
 it sees imperfections in others, it hopes, neverthe- 
 less, that they will amend, because it never loses the 
 good opinion it has that they will listen to grace with 
 a good will. 
 
 14th. — It beareth all things, and its constancy in 
 serving its neighbor is so great that it cannot be 
 shaken by contempt, or suffering, or any tempta- 
 tions. 
 
 In this admirable picture of charity, traced by St. 
 Paul, it is easy to recognize it as Queen of all the 
 Virtues, and although it be not itself patience, hu- 
 mility, meekness, modesty, endurance and fortitude, 
 it makes the soul practise these virtues while they 
 without it have no value, or at least merit no re- 
 ward. The same Apostle says: "If I have faith 
 enough to move mountains, give all my goods to the 
 poor and my body to be burned, and have not char- 
 ity, it profiteth me nothing, for without charity, I 
 am as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal." Alas! 
 my God, when I compare my sentiments and my life 
 to this divine image of charity, have I not cause to 
 fear that I have done nothing and that all the prac- 
 tices of the Rule, all the austerities of the Religious 
 life in which I am engaged, are useless, because I 
 have not charity? If in effect, I turn seriously upon 
 myself, how far I find that I am withdrawn from the 
 practice of this most necessary virtue. Have I that 
 sweetness and patience with others? Am I not often 
 surprised by feelings of jealousy, of secret joy at 
 their faults and mistakes? Am I not impatient with 
 them, little inclined to comply with their desires and 
 to assist them in their little wants? Have I not nour- 
 ished interiorly, aversions toward them, and ex- 
 pressed openly my disapprobation of their actions? 
 When it became necessary to render them some ser- 
 vice, have I not shown displeasure, have I not some- 
 times refused? Have I not been irritated by their 
 words said often without intention of offending me? 
 
 189 
 
Have I not kept secret resentments? Have I not 
 complained of their humors, of their character? 
 
 O my God, a child of Carmel should be all charity. 
 The most tender love should unite all hearts, even 
 so far that each should be ready to give her life for 
 the others. Without this disposition I dishonor the 
 title of spouse of Jesus Christ, and do not even merit 
 that of disciple. 
 
 O my Jesus, by the ineffable charity of Thy Di- 
 vine Heart, by that love which Thou didst have for 
 all men, I supplicate Thee to grant me in this Re- 
 treat, the gift of true fraternal charity, without which 
 I bear in vain the name of Carmelite. Grant me the 
 grace to love all men with a true charity, and above 
 all my sisters with whom I live. May I have with 
 them but one heart, one soul, one sentiment, in order 
 that being united with them on earth by the bonds 
 of most tender charity, I may not be separated from 
 them in a happy eternity. Amen. 
 
 SECOND MEDITATION. 
 
 Jesus Washing the Feet of His Apostles. 
 
 "Before the festival day of the pasch, Jesus 
 knowing that the hour was come that he 
 should pass out of this world to His Father; 
 having loved his own who were in the world, 
 he loved them unto the end. And when sup- 
 per was done, knowing that his Father had 
 given all things into his hands, and that he 
 came from God and goeth to God. He riseth 
 from supper, layeth aside his garments, and 
 having girded himself with a towel, he put- 
 teth water in a basin, and began to wash 
 the feet of His disciples, and to wipe them 
 with the towel with which he was girded. 
 Until coming to Peter, who at first forbade 
 him, then on the menace of Jesus to have 
 no part with him he consented, like the 
 others."— St. John XIII. 
 
 O my Divine Master, what prodigy is this, which 
 infinitely surpasses all human intelligence! I see 
 Thee at the feet of Thy disciples to fulfill in their 
 regard a most abject office! Thou didst reply to the 
 chief of Thy Apostles who was confounded at Thy 
 humility: "What I do thou knowest not now; but 
 thou shalt know hereafter." Grant me then this 
 knowledge, Lord! Even more than Thy Apostles 
 
 190 
 
do I need it. Teach me why Thou, the King of 
 heaven and earth, into whose hands the Eternal 
 Father has committed all things, didst abase Thy 
 Divine Majesty so low. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 The Practice of Abjection. 
 
 The Evangelist, in order to make us better under- 
 stand how admirable and stupendous was this action 
 of Our Saviour, and what a testimony of charity it 
 contained, prefaces his recital by these solemn words : 
 "Jesus having loved his own who were in the world, 
 loved them even unto the end." Admirable contrast 
 of the sublimity of the Person with the baseness of 
 the action. To show more clearly the greatness of 
 this humility of Jesus, we must remark that the 
 Apostles were all rough men belonging to the low- 
 est of the people, and above all that Judas, the per- 
 fidious traitor, was among them; and many of the 
 holy Fathers think that Our Blessed Lord com- 
 menced with the traitor, in order that an action so 
 touching might soften his heart. But that which 
 fills us to overflowing with admiration, and is for 
 our instruction, is the manner full of care and dili- 
 gence with which our Saviour accomplishes this 
 duty. 
 
 He rises promptly from table, lays aside His gar- 
 ments, girds Himself with a towel, without the aid 
 of any one, He takes a basin, pours into it the amount 
 of water necessary, and immediately kneels at the 
 feet of His disciples and begins to wash them, tak- 
 ing thus in their regard not only the form but the 
 humble functions of a servant. By this divine ex-. 
 ample, He teaches us the exact care with which we 
 should perform all that we do, even things the most 
 lowly and most humiliating. What must have been 
 the feeling of the disciples when they saw the Divine 
 Master dragging Himself on His knees, so to say, 
 to render them so humiliating a service ! What must 
 
 191 
 
they have thought and felt when He washed their 
 feet and kissed them with love! Ah! the Gospel 
 speaks only of Peter, but without doubt the others 
 mute and immovable from astonishment, could only 
 express by tears their sentiments at the sight of 
 this strange abasement of the Son of God. 
 
 Jesus after having washed the feet of His Apos- 
 tles, replaced His garments, while they still stupi- 
 fied, awaited in silence the explanation of this mys- 
 tery of humility and love. Then He said: "Know 
 you what I have just done to you? You call me 
 Lord and Master; and you say well, for so I am. 
 If then I, being your Lord and Master, have washed 
 your feet; you also ought to wash the feet of one 
 another; For I have given you example, that you 
 may do that which you have seen me do." 
 
 This act of abjection on the part of Jesus Christ 
 took place on the very eve of His death, and at the 
 moment of instituting the Adorable Eucharist — the 
 Master-piece of His love, the Divine Seal of the New 
 Alliance. This admirable act of humility is then like 
 the preface, or rather like the first article of His 
 Testament, and the most precious heritage He has 
 left us, after that of the ineffable gift of His own 
 Body and Blood. It is then of the greaest impor- 
 tance that I treasure it up by forcing myself to enter 
 into a study of this Mystery, and apply it to myself 
 by a constant and faithful practice of the lessons it 
 teaches me. 
 
 In effect, it suffices not that I believe humility to 
 be the root of all virtues, the guardian of all graces, 
 a safe-guard in temptations; that without it the 
 place, the habit, the profession will be but ineffica- 
 cious guarantees against the perils of life; it suffi- 
 ces not even to have an esteem, a desire of humility, 
 if I do not join to this a true and constant practice 
 of it. For it often happens that we seek to delude 
 others and deceive ourselves, by dispensing ourselves 
 from reducing this virtue to practice; we adopt what 
 does not cost us much; its language, its air, its man- 
 
 192 
 
ners, even to a certain point, its sentiments. Thus, 
 by a hypocrisy more common than we imagine, we 
 exteriorly humble ourselves by our words, or by 
 receiving with apparent submission, corrections and 
 reproofs; while interiorly we excuse and justify our- 
 selves, preserving an esteem for ourselves, and mak- 
 ing up for the bad opinion of others, by attributing 
 to ourselves qualities and virtues which we suppose 
 are unknown to them; thus nourishing thoughts 
 most dangerous to humility. 
 
 Learn then, O Religious soul, after the example 
 of your Divine Master, that true humility consists 
 in a love of abjection; that the soul which is really 
 humble or at least endeavoring to become so, recog- 
 nizes her faults, her defects, her daily failings, and 
 makes continual efforts to correct them; while she 
 loves the abjection attached to them, that is to say; 
 the confusion they cause her before God, before oth- 
 ers, and in her own eyes. In regard to God and her- 
 self, far from letting this confusion cast her down 
 and discourage her, she takes occasion from it to re- 
 animate her confidence. She puts all her trust in 
 grace, is happy to lose all reliance on herself, and re- 
 gards with a kind of joy her extreme misery, be- 
 cause she hopes that this great weakness will at- 
 tract to her the mercy of God. In regard to others, 
 that is in presence of the community, she is very 
 happy to be despised, and in the accusations which 
 she makes of her failings, she represents them in a 
 manner the most humblq and sincere, sefeking to 
 make them known and to suffer the confusion they 
 deserve. 
 
 True humility, far from seeking extraordinary 
 gifts in prayer, loves, or at least receives and bears 
 with profit for its spiritual advancement, the prayer 
 which humbles, the trial which mortifies, the afflic- 
 tions which detach, the temptations which show our 
 own corruption, our own weakness, and what we 
 would be without grace; while in these same cir- 
 cumstances false humility would cause sadness, com- 
 plaints, and discouragements. 
 
 193 
 
O my Divine Master, to what illusions would we 
 be exposed in regard to humility, if Thou hadst not 
 taught us by Thy own example, that there is no hu- 
 mility without the love of abjection, without a sin- 
 cere contempt of self? My God, grant me a love 
 for abjection, teach me to take pleasure in what 
 causes me confusion before men, to be glad on the 
 occasion, that my want of virtue be recognized and 
 my imperfections and defects appear. May I rejoice 
 at having few talents, little ability, little education, 
 little intelligence, little address; and far from seek- 
 ing to avoid the humiliations which come to me from 
 this, may I find my happiness in being nothing, be- 
 cause I will thus be more hidden from the snares of 
 self-love, which is so great an obstacle to Thy grace. 
 Then, Lord, I will expose my misery and my weak- 
 ness to Thee with more confidence, I will run to 
 Thee as to the source of all good; and Thou wilt 
 supply for my insufficiency by the abundance of Thy 
 grace, Thou who abasest Thyself for the little, and! 
 fillest with Thy favors those who acknowledge their 
 own indigence. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 The Practice of Abjection. 
 
 Jesus Christ added : "If you know these things, you 
 shall be blessed if you do them.'' 
 
 By these words, Jesus Christ recommended to us 
 the practice of self-abjection. St. Bernard teaches 
 that the most efficacious means of attaining humil- 
 ity is humiliation. But the occasions of humiliation 
 are rare enough in a community where charity 
 reigns in the hearts of all, and tempers in the heart 
 of the Superior that which in the most just correc- 
 tion might be too sensible for self-love. The soul 
 which has drawn from the teaching and the example 
 of her Divine Master a knowledge of the precious 
 advantages attached to acts of self-abasement, will 
 eagerly seize every occasion of practising them, mak- 
 ing use even of expedients and holy ruses, to procure 
 these humiliations which she values so much. As 
 
 194 
 
to the rest, the Rule comes before all her desires. 
 Among the excellencies of the Rule of Carmel which 
 distinguishes this Order from all others, we must 
 remark that the practices of humility are very mul- 
 tiplied, and that they hold the first rank in the du- 
 ties of the Order. The accusation of one's faults 
 publicly, receiving reprimands and penances, never 
 to open the mouth to excuse one's negligence, or to 
 justify innocent actions when misrepresented, to em- 
 brace humiliating practices, to impose upon one's 
 self the penances in use before the Sisters assembled 
 in refectory or other places, this is what the Rule 
 commands, permits, and authorizes, and by multi- 
 plying these practices of abjection, we enter into its 
 spirit. 
 
 But to draw all the advantages from these prac- 
 tices and the n^any others with which God inspires 
 souls who are truly humble, or filled with a desire to 
 become so, it is necessary to join a true contempt 
 of self to the interior sentiments which correspond 
 to the exterior acts which we are performing. It is 
 necessary then, that the religious soul should be- 
 lieve herself the least among her companions, that 
 she should esteem herself the poorest and most de- 
 ficient in the community, and far from desiring 
 charges and offices which would bring her into prom- 
 inence, she wishes for the lowest place, and em- 
 braces by preference the humblest employments in 
 the community. 
 
 But, O Divine Jesus, are there in Thy House, any 
 employments which can be called little or low? Are 
 there any which cannot be called great and estimable, 
 and if some are more preferable than others, are they 
 not those which draw us nearer to Thee, and make 
 us participate more abundantly in Thy spirit? Ah! 
 unhappy me, if I can for one minute permit in my 
 heart a desire for offices which give me authority 
 over others, or which give me prominence in the 
 community. Unhappy me, if I find any employments 
 little or contemptible among Thy spouses, if I feel 
 any repugnance in fulfilling them, forgetting what 
 
 195 
 
Thou, my Divine Master, didst teach me: "He who 
 would be the first among you, let him be the last, 
 and esteem himself the servant of all." 
 
 In effect, it is for this reason that superiors, who 
 are obliged by their office to direct the community, 
 and command others, should after the example of 
 Jesus Christ, constitute themselves the servants of 
 all, and in this spirit regard themselves as obeying 
 them, when providing for their spiritual and temporal 
 wants. 
 
 But, O Divine Jesus, in order to preserve these 
 sentiments, we have great need of grace to triumph 
 over our inborn pride, and to dissipate all the sub- 
 terfuges of this hidden enemy, which sometimes per- 
 suades us that we will be more useful to Thy serv- 
 ice and glory in those employments which attract 
 the attention of others, for without Thee, Lord, we 
 are blind and soon seduced by vanity. 
 
 O Heart of Jesus! Heart so humble! be my refuge, 
 grant me to be always ready to suffer with joy, to 
 be abandoned by all creatures and counted as noth- 
 ing, in order that I may possess within myself a 
 solid peace, receive they grace, and become perfectly 
 united to Thee for time and for eternity. Amen. 
 
 THIRD MEDITATION. 
 
 Institution of the Most Holy Eucharist. 
 
 "After having washed the feet of his dis- 
 ciples; and whilst they were at supper, Jesus 
 took bread, and blessed, and broke, and gave 
 it to his disciples saying: 'Take and eat; 
 This is my body.' And taking the chalice 
 he gave thanks; and gave it to them saying: 
 'Drink ye all of this. . For this is my blood 
 of the new testament, which shall be shed 
 for many unto remission of sins.' " — St. Mat- 
 thew XXVI, 26-28, 
 
 What marvels, O my Divine Redeemer! What 
 riches, what grandeurs, what love in these few 
 words! The Holy Eucharist which Thou didst in- 
 stitute upon the eve of Thy death exhausted, so to 
 speak, Thy power and Thy goodness. For Thou 
 art not able to do anything greater or more excellent 
 for man; never could he have had such a thought 
 
 196 
 
himself; and if, which is impossible, it could have 
 presented itself to his mind, never could he have 
 dared to ask its execution. This Mystery is truly 
 an abridgment, a memorial of all Thou hast done 
 for Thy people, the reality of all the figures con- 
 tained in the holy Books, the accomplishment of all 
 Thy promises, the seal of the new and veritable Al- 
 liance. This is the real and true sacrifice of which 
 the gross victims of the Jewish law were but dark 
 shadows. It is the Tree of Life planted in the field 
 of the Church to give us immortality. It is the mir- 
 ror of all virtue, the inexhaustible source of all grace, 
 the bread of the traveler. In a word, it is our entire 
 religion, the only religion worthy of God; for there 
 are united in Thy Divine Person, my Jesus, the Tem- 
 ple and the Altar, the Priest and the Victim, the 
 oblation and the prayer: all that forms the essence 
 of religion. How then shall I be able to enter into 
 the contemplation of so high a Mystery, if Thou 
 dost not aid me and elevate my mind above my own 
 weakness and misery? But as my profession makes 
 it my duty to consecrate myself to love and honor 
 this Master-piece of Thy charity, I confidently hope 
 Thou wilt not refuse me the succor I humbly beg. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 The Eucharist is the Abridgment, the Center and the 
 Reality of all Religion. 
 
 Adam placed in that perfect state of innocence and 
 felicity which we have so often considered and ad- 
 mired, possessed in the Tree of Life a precious fruit 
 which secured for his body immortality; and in the 
 ineffable grace which united him to God by charity, 
 the assurance of a life still more precious. This dou- 
 ble life the first man should have transmitted to us, 
 but alas! he lost it, and has instead transmitted with 
 his sin, the two-fold death of soul and body. Irre- 
 mediable loss, fault ineffable in its greatness, and 
 absolutely irreparable since it outraged God Him- 
 self! 
 
 197 
 
But Jesus Christ has become through love the Re- 
 pairer of humanity, thus fallen; not only did He im- 
 molate Himself to the justice of an offended God, but 
 He has willed to fulfill to the very end the mission 
 He had accepted, that of replacing man in the happy 
 state from which he had fallen. Upon the Cross 
 He paid, superabuntantly, all our debts, and fully 
 satisfied God by a sacrifice of infinite value; and this 
 sacrifice He perpetuates in the adorable Eucharist, 
 in order to apply to our souls until the end of ages, 
 its precious fruits — fruits much more excellent than 
 those of the Tree of Life; for these only assured us 
 of the life of the body while the Body and Blood of 
 Jesus Christ deposits in our flesh, a germ of immor- 
 tality, which ought to make it one day rise glorious- 
 ly from the tomb, and restores to our soul the true 
 life which it had lost. Thus are accomplished the 
 admirable promise of Jesus Christ: "He that eateth 
 •my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting 
 life: and I will raise him up on the last day/' and the 
 terrible menace not less formal: "Except you eat 
 the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, you 
 shall not have life in you." It is therefore in the 
 Divine Eucharist that we find the true Life which 
 was destroyed by Adam's sin. It is also the per- 
 petual sacrifice where Jesus Christ is at once the 
 Priest and the Victim; since it was this Divine Sa- 
 viour Who was offered upon the Cross, upon the 
 Altar of His Heart and in the only temple worthy 
 of God, which as He Himself declares, is the temple 
 of His Body, "with supplications and prayers which 
 are heard by God on account of His reverence." 
 
 The Eucharist which contains and renews so many 
 marvels, resumes and contains all Religion. It is 
 to this great act of Religion that all our ceremonies 
 refer, with all the functions in the Church. If there 
 are bishops, priests, deacons, sub-deacons, acolytes, 
 lectors, exorcists and porters in the holy Hierarchy, 
 it is to offer the great Sacrifice of the New Law in 
 the Name of Jesus Christ the only and Sovereign 
 
 198 
 
Priest, or to serve at the Sacrifice, and to dispose all 
 things for its oblation. When then I partake of this 
 great and ineffable Mystery by receiving Holy Com- 
 munion, I apply to my soul the Blood of the New 
 Alliance, the Seal of my Redemption, and the pledge 
 of my reinstatement in the rights of my celectial in- 
 heritance. 
 
 O Ineffable Mystery! O Marvel of Wisdom, 
 Power and Divine L,ove ! Adorable Sacrifice where the 
 Princes of the Heavenly Court assist invisibly, where 
 the Seraphin and Cherubin annihilate themselves, 
 veiling their faces with their wings; incomparable 
 prodigy, which astonishes all Heaven! Why is it 
 then that the earth remains so insensible? How can 
 man assist at it with so much indifference? Why 
 have I my self until now, so little comprehended this 
 supreme act of Religion? Why have I taken so little 
 care to bring to it proper dispositions? Now it is 
 necessary that these dispositions be the same as 
 those of Jesus Christ, to Whom I should particular- 
 ly at this solemn moment unite myself entirely. I 
 should immolate myself with Him to the glory of 
 God, for the accomplishment of all His designs in 
 me, by making to Him the oblation of my body, my 
 soul, and all my desires, my affections, my entire 
 self. Ah! if this great and adorable Sacrifice were 
 offered only once a year by the Sovereign Pontiff, 
 in the chief city of the Catholic World, and that only 
 once in my life I had the happiness of assisting at 
 it, would I not preserve its memory with veneration, 
 gratitude, and love! But because all priests have 
 the power to offer the Holy Sacrifice, and because 
 each day I have the signal honor of being present 
 at this Holy Oblation, should I be less touched, 
 less grateful? Ah! am I not more ungrateful, more 
 indifferent to this gift of God because He has so 
 multiplied it, and rendered a participation in it more 
 frequent and easy? O hardness of my heart! O de- 
 plorable consequence of our familiarity with holy 
 things ! 
 
 199 
 
O abuse of graces the most precious, by reason 
 of their very abundance! Preserve me, O my God, 
 from such a misfortune! Grant that my fervor and 
 my love increase in proportion to the facility with 
 which Thou dost admit me to a participation in this 
 Divine Mystery. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 By this Mystery, Jesus Christ Prolongs among His 
 Children the Life Which He led on Earth. 
 
 This consideration is as true as it is consoling; 
 but it is little understood and appreciated. Jesus 
 Christ on ascending to heaven quitted not this earth; 
 He still lives and converses among His own, and it 
 is the Holy Eucharist which renders Him present 
 in the midst of us. We can see Him, speak to Him 
 and listen to His divine responses. He leads in this 
 Adorable Sacrament a most admirable life, He there 
 practises virtues the most sublime, and the most 
 worthy of our imitation. 
 
 Yet we pay no attention to them, we do not com- 
 prehend them. If we were well penerated with this 
 Presence, as real as it is admirable, of Jesus in this 
 Adorable Sacrament of our Altar, we would not envy 
 the happiness of the disciples who lived in the com- 
 pany of our Beloved Saviour, who each day witnessed 
 the examples of virtue which He gave them, and 
 who gathered the words of grace and truth which 
 fell from His divine lips. 
 
 Say not that their happiness was greater than ours, 
 because they could see Him with their eyes, hear 
 Him with their ears, and touch Him with their hands ; 
 while it is not given us to see Him, hear Him, or 
 touch Him except by faith, as if they could have en- 
 joyed these inestimable advantages otherwise than 
 by a supernatural light. In effect, to follow Him 
 and to listen to Him in a profitable manner, His dis- 
 ciples were obliged to elevate themselves above the 
 senses, in order to recognize in His Sacred Human- 
 ity the Son of God, the Mediator promised to their 
 
 200 
 
fathers. It was this Faith which Jesus Christ praised 
 and recompensed in St. Peter when that Apostle con- 
 fessed loudly, that He was the Christ, the Son of 
 the Living God; the Divine Master added that He 
 had spoken thus by a particular inspiration from His 
 Heavenly Father. The priests and the Pharisees 
 who persecuted Jesus saw Him with the eyes of the 
 flesh, and perceiving in Him only a man, they hard- 
 ened themselves. Thus, as the Word was then hid- 
 den under the veil of our humanity, and was profit- 
 able only to those who saw and heard Him, accord- 
 ing to faith, so now Jesus Christ still hides Himself 
 under the Eucharist species, but His Life there is as 
 real, as profitable, and as full of marvels as when 
 He was among His disciples, and the souls who ap- 
 ply themselves to the contemplation of Him, in this 
 state, discover there ever new subjects for imitation 
 and love. 
 
 Jesus in the Adorable Sacrament is in a continual 
 state of Victim and of Priest. From the tabernacle 
 of love which He has placed upon our altars, He 
 raises His Sacred Voice without interruption toward 
 the throne of God, offering the labors, the sufferings, 
 the humiliations, the merits of His life and death, to 
 draw down upon us the blessings of God, and to ar- 
 rest the divine anger, ready to strike sinners. What 
 poverty in so many sanctuaries, despoiled of all or- 
 nament, and in tabernacles so miserable, which serve 
 as His dwelling! What obedience for eighteen hun- 
 dred years to the voice of so many priests, whatever 
 be the disposition of their souls, alas! so often im- 
 perfect! What abnegation, what solitude, what si- 
 lence, what patience in awaiting the sinner, what 
 charity, what devotedness, what prodigality of Him- 
 self! 
 
 Ah! when He instituted this Adorable Mystery, 
 He foresaw all: the places, the times, the profana- 
 tions, and the abandonment in which He would be 
 left in so many deserted sanctuaries, where noi one 
 would come to pay Him homage, or even speak to 
 
 201 
 
Him. What bounty He there shows to a faithful 
 soul, what sweet words He makes her hear? "His 
 conversation has no bitterness/' 
 
 O! my Divine Master, what confusion, what regrets, 
 should I not feel for having so little known, so little 
 loved Thy Eucharistic Life. And this, notwithstand- 
 ing that I live under the very same roof with Thee; 
 for we, children of Carmel, more happy far than the 
 ancient Israelites, who had in their midst only a figur- 
 ative tabernacle, possess day and night in our monas- 
 teries, Thy true Tabernacle; and from Thy glory, 
 Sweetly veiled, rays dart forth to all parts of this holy 
 house; and Thy amiable Presence makes itself felt in 
 the cells, even those most distant from where Thou 
 dwellest. I am continually with Thee, I can speak to 
 Thee, and listen to Thee; I can come to the foot of 
 Thy holy Altar to learn of Thee the spirit of immola- 
 tion and of sacrifice, the spirit of obedience and of pov- 
 erty, the love of silence and of solitude, of abnega- 
 tion and of self-contempt. 
 
 And until now I have seen nothing, understood 
 nothing of this adorable Mystery, so grand and so sig- 
 nificant; but to-day, awakening, like Jacob, after the 
 vision of the mysterious ladder, 1 would cry out: "The 
 Lord is in this place and I knew it not!" that is to say, 
 I did not think of it, I did not occupy myself with it. 
 But henceforth, O Jesus, my Adorable Master, I wish 
 to attach myself to Thy Eucharistic throne, and to re- 
 peat without ceasing with Thy Prophet: "Thy Taber- 
 nacles, O Lord God of Hosts, are dear to me. Blessed 
 are they who dwell in Thy House. The sparrow has 
 found herself a house, and the turtle dove a nest, but 
 Thy Altars, O my God, are the only asylum I seek. 
 One day spent in Thy Court is better than a thousand 
 in the rich dwelling of sinners." 
 
 THIRD POINT. 
 
 This Life of Jesus in the Holy Sacrament Is Given to 
 Us by Holy Communion. 
 
 If the advantages of this Divine Sacrament were 
 limited to what has just been considered, they would 
 
 202 
 
be most worthy of my admiration and of my eternal 
 gratitude. But the love of Jesus Christ for men does 
 not stop here. This admirable Life which He leads 
 in the Holy Eucharist is the same which He led upon 
 earth, with all its marvels and acts of heroic virtue; 
 the precious fruits of His Birth, His Passion and Death 
 are communicated to us by the participation of His 
 Body and Blood. 
 
 If the Oblation of this Adorable Victim and the 
 consummation of this Sacrifice is the living and effi- 
 cacious representation of the Life and Death of our 
 Saviour, and this is undoubted, the participation in 
 this Mystery, by Comjmunion, applies them to the 
 soul so that she may live the life of her Divine Re- 
 deemer, that she may be penetrated with His senti- 
 ments and filled with His virtues; that, in a word, she 
 may become transformed in Him. Holy Communion 
 is the principal means of this formation in our souls 
 of the New Man — Jesus Christ. It is true that this 
 transformation of ourselves according to the interior 
 man is accomplished only by successive degrees, and 
 this is why the adorable Eucharist has been established 
 under the form of our daily nourishment. But this 
 progress, although slow and sometimes insensible on 
 account of the imperfection of our dispositions, is no 
 less real, in proportion to the faith and the 
 love that we bring to Holy Communion. As the 
 manna in the desert, figure of the Eucharist, had all 
 kinds of tastes and took the flavor of the most de- 
 licious meats, according to the desires of those who 
 partook of it, while it was tasteless and insipid to the 
 murmuring Israelites, thus this true manna will have 
 for us, according to our intention and desire when 
 receiving it, the taste, the divine unction of someone 
 of the graces, the virtues, and the lights attached to the 
 Mystery of the life or the death of the Saviour, which 
 we wish to apply to ourselves; and losing, little by 
 little, this natural and gross life our miserable self- 
 love, and of the senses, we will succeed by partaking 
 of this Sacred Food, in living the very Life of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 203 
 
It is by frequently approaching the Adorable Sacra- 
 ment that the Religious of Carmel receive the grace 
 and the strength necessary to overcome their passions, 
 correct their natural defects, detach themselves from 
 creatures and from self; practise abnegation and mor- 
 tification of the body; and by humility, solitude and 
 silence, attain to the divine union which consumes 
 them by charity. It is true that prayer is for them 
 the source of abundant graces, and that by contem- 
 plation of the Mysteries of the Life and Death of Jesus 
 Christ they communicate with His Divine Interior; but 
 the graces and the lights of prayer being subject to 
 many illusions, and the demon and our own natural 
 inconstancy rendering success in this holy exercise 
 doubtful, or at least imperfect, even its best and most 
 precious fruits are ripened and perfected in the soul 
 only by the seal of this Sacrament. It is true that this 
 Sacrament can no more dispense with prayer, than 
 prayer can with the Sacrament: that is to say, if the 
 Religious soul be not habitually disposed for Holy 
 Communion by solid and fervent prayer, she will 
 draw from it little or no fruit; but it is always to be 
 regarded as incontestible that this Sacrament consum- 
 mates the union of a soul with Jesus Christ, and that 
 the virtue which it will acquire by receiving the Holy 
 Eucharist is assured to it in a manner much more ex- 
 cellent, more noble, and more inalienable than by 
 prayer or even by fidelity to heavenly inspirations. In 
 Holy Communion, it is Jesus Christ Himself Who en- 
 compasses the soul and transforms it into Himself, be- 
 coming its purity, its charity, its patience, its humility, 
 its fidelity and its constancy. The soul which under- 
 stands the greatness of the grace she here receives 
 will strengthen herself more and more in humility; 
 knowing that it is Jesus Christ Who acts in her, she 
 will attribute to Him all the good she accomplishes, 
 and reproach herself for the imperfections and faults 
 which may mingle with it, easily distinguishing the sal- 
 lies of nature from the inspirations of grace. 
 
 Blessed, a thousand times blessed, O my Divine 
 Spouse, is the Religious soul who understands all the 
 
 204 
 
treasures which she possesses in the Sacrament of 
 Thy Love, and who endeavors with great care to unite 
 herself to Thee, and to cause Thee to increase in her. 
 But, alas! what cause have I to humble myself and to 
 weep in Thy Presence, for the little I have profited by 
 the precious advantages I possess in this Adorable 
 Sacrament. I press my lips so often to this divine 
 source of Life and Love, and I am not refreshed; I 
 approach this sacred Fire and I remain cold, when 
 I ought to find there strength, fervor and life. 
 
 Our Mother, Saint Teresa, teaches that one Com- 
 munion well made suffices to sanctify a soul and to 
 change it entirely. And I, after all my Communions, 
 am so tepid and so imperfect! Ah, I understand, my 
 God, that I should attribute my tepidity and imper- 
 fections to my negligence in disposing myself to ap- 
 proach Thee, because I have not understood that these 
 dispositions consist in making my whole life a prepar- 
 ation, by prayer, and consequently by a spirit of recol- 
 lection, mortification and abnegation. And in effect, 
 how canst Thou fill with Thy grace a soul occupied 
 already with the multitude of foreign objects, bound 
 by a thousand unworthy attachments, and full of im- 
 mortification and tepidity? If Thou couldst find there 
 a sincere desire to break these ties, Thou wouldst lend 
 Thy aid and strength. But, alas! Thou findst there 
 only tepidity, indifference and laxity. It is done, 
 O sweetness of my soul, O my only Treasure, O my 
 Light, O my Love! I wish henceforth to die to all, 
 to live by Thee, and for Thee alone. It is as yet but 
 a desire, but a resolution: Thou wilt strengthen it, 
 Thou wilt render it efficacious, and wilt lead me to 
 that blessed state which Thou hast promised, saying: 
 "He who eats of this bread shall live forever." 
 Amen. 
 
 LECTURE. 
 
 The Spirit of the Rule of Carmel. 
 We have already seen that the Religious Orders, be- 
 side their common end, which is perfection and the 
 practice of the evangelical counsels, have also a par- 
 ticular end, and that it was by their different Rules 
 
 205 
 
and Constitutions that each could attain this end of 
 its Institute. We conclude from this, that it is not a 
 matter of indifference to follow or to neglect these 
 observances, and that although the Rule does not 
 oblige under pain of sin, properly speaking, it is very 
 difficult to offend against it, apart even from contempt, 
 without rendering ourselves guilty of a grave fault; 
 because ordinarily these infractions come from tepid- 
 ity, laxity, and the abuse of grace. 
 
 It is necessary, then, to observe all points of the 
 Rule and Constitutions, the customs and Religious tra- 
 ditions with great exactitude and a sustained fervor 
 since, having been written or established by holy souls 
 who were inspired by God, and approved and pro- 
 posed by the Church, they are for us the faithful ex- 
 pression of the divine will, and the most efficacious 
 means by which we may attain the perfection of our 
 holy state. 
 
 The Order of Carmel can claim the greatest an- 
 tiquity. From the first centuries we find Solitaries 
 dwelling upon Carmel, heirs of the zeal of the Pro- 
 phets, and given up to contemplation in order, like 
 Moses, to call upon the Christian people combatting 
 upon the plain the necessary succor to conquer their 
 many enemies. Their life consecrated to poverty, obe- 
 dience, profound retreat and habitual silence, they di- 
 vided between the recitation of the Psalter, and almost 
 continual prayer, with fasting and other rude prac- 
 tices of penance. 
 
 Their clothing, their nourishment, their customs, 
 their language show this eremitical spirit. The reform 
 of Saint Teresa had for its first object the re-establish- 
 ment or maintainance of the antique and venerable 
 customs of the Order of Carmel, and to preserve in 
 its Religious, its particular character of solitude, of 
 penance, and elevation above the things of this earth. 
 She wished to form and did form, in effect, a congre- 
 gation of Solitaries who, considering themselves as 
 strangers and pilgrims on earth, would disregard its 
 customs and regard only those of the home toward 
 which they were traveling, living by faith, preserving 
 
 206 
 
in their occupations, and even in their most natural 
 habits, such as eating, sleeping and dressing, some- 
 thing of the supernatural, the holy, and the sacred, 
 which they draw from the element in which they live, 
 and with which they are clothed as with a vestment. 
 
 It is this which strikes with admiration or at. least 
 with astonishment, those who enter one of our mon- 
 asterfes to share in the occupations and the saintly 
 life led there. The Religious occupy separate cells, 
 ranged in the upper part of the house, around the 
 Holy of Holies, elevated in His Tabernacle, as upon 
 the heights of Carmel. Their beds are hard and poor, 
 their sleep brief, the first watches of the night are con- 
 secrated to the chanting or the grave recitation of 
 sacred hymns. The day is divided between the Di- 
 vine Office, assisting at the Holy Sacrifice, prayer, and 
 manual labor. The solitude is profound, the silence 
 almost continual, and the time accorded, more by in- 
 dulgence than by the Rule, to innocent or pious con- 
 versation, to holy relaxations — which they call recre- 
 ation — is not stolen from mortification and solitude, 
 because of the spirit of abnegation and of death which 
 are there prescribed, these if they are faithfully fol- 
 lowed, scarcely give any other liberty to the soul than 
 that of charity, and to the mind than that of piety. 
 The true Carmelite is able to leave this exercise more 
 recollected, more mortified, more fervent, and more 
 generous than when she began it. 
 
 The same may be said of Refectory, where they as- 
 semble only on leaving choir, after having obtained at 
 the feet of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, the 
 dispositions of mortification and purity of heart for 
 the accomplishment of a function so carnal, and where 
 a Religious soul should have no other intention than 
 to support her body, in order to Consecrate all her 
 strength to the service of God. 
 
 It is with the recitation of prayers that the Religious 
 go to the Refectory. The repast is preceded and ter- 
 minated with prayer; before giving to nature an in- 
 dispensable satisfaction, Grace is said, for, according 
 to the words of Jesus Christ, when replying to the 
 
 207 
 
tempter, "Man lives not by bread alone, but by every 
 word which proceeds from the mouth of God." It is 
 only at the signal of the one who presides, that the 
 Religious, after having made an inclination to mark 
 the dependence which nature has upon grace, kiss 
 their bread in a spirit of submission and of gratitude, 
 after having renounced all natural eagerness. The 
 manner of taking their food, of drinking and of eat- 
 ing, the modesty, silence, and attention to the reading 
 by which the soul is nourished as well as the body, the 
 practices of penance in use during meals, all, in fine, 
 in this exercise is capable of elevating the soul to God, 
 of ennobling it and of separating it from the gross 
 satisfaction of the senses and of itself. 
 
 The other practices in use in this holy Order, espe- 
 cially the public acknowledment of faults; the pros- 
 tiations — in presence of the Blessed Sacrament on 
 entering the choir, during the Holy Sacrifice, when 
 they acknowledge their faults, and when they are re- 
 proved; those marks of extraordinary respect toward 
 the Mother Prioress, when they speak to her or re- 
 ceive her directions; all these holy prescriptions have 
 a character especially adapted to the end of the Order, 
 and to the excellent virtues which one is obliged to 
 practise in it. 
 
 But the more extraordinary these observances and 
 the more rigorous this discipline, the more necessary 
 it is that they be accompanied by the true spirit which 
 established them. If destitute of this spirit they be- 
 come not only useless, but impracticable. 
 
 There are here two opposite abuses to be noted, 
 and it is not rare to encounter them among the Reli- 
 gious of Carmel. One is to forget the reproaches of 
 Our Lord to the Pharisees of neglecting the laws of 
 God, particularly that of charity, to attach themselves 
 to human traditions, and observing the exterior prac- 
 tices of the law without taking pains to animate them 
 with an interior spirit, attaching themselves to the let- 
 ter which kills, and putting aside the spirit which vivi- 
 fies. Therefore, while we must carefully practise 
 these, we must not neglect the other. Such souls show 
 themselves very zealous for the practices, customs, and 
 
 208 
 
observances of the Order, crying out when, for legiti- 
 mate reasons, Superiors believe it their duty to inter- 
 pret them otherwise, or to accord a momentary dis- 
 pensation. Nor do they take care to profit by these 
 occasions of practising humility, renewing their faith, 
 their reverence and love for the Most Holy Sacrament, 
 and the Blessed Virgin, respect for Superiors who are 
 the representatives of Almighty God, and love and 
 zeal for religious obedience. 
 
 The second abuse is a certain wrongly-conceived idea 
 oi the perfection and the virtues proper to the Order, 
 and in consequence of which these souls persuade 
 themselves that it suffices to belong to it, in order to 
 be in possession of the highest virtues, and to aspire 
 to gifts of the most sublime grace. Such souls have 
 ever on their lips only terms of the highest spirituality, 
 and they can name the different degrees of prayer 
 taught by mystic writers; they speak only of the 
 heights of Carmel and of the sublime functions of the 
 redemptrix and victim, which a Carmelite should ful- 
 fill on earth, and of the delights of the garden of the 
 Spouse. They enumerate the virtues and the duties 
 which the Carmelite should practise, but they omit all 
 that regards the elements of perfection, and remem- 
 brance of the four ends of man — degrees through 
 which all Christians should pass, even in Carmel, be- 
 fore arriving at divine union. We find even in books 
 which contain excellent practices, this defect, which 
 thus strengthens the illusions, too common, of taking 
 the sentiments and the definitions of the virtues proper 
 to Carmel, for the virtues themselves. 
 
 The spirit of Carmel is, above all, one of universal 
 crucifixion of nature; and it is only by this generous 
 and continual mortification of the senses, interior as 
 well as exterior, joined to a spirit of recollection, soli- 
 tude, and separation from creatures, that the true 
 Carmelite, after having purified herself by penance 
 from her past sins, and from her evil inclinations by 
 abnegation, becomes capable of entering into the di- 
 vine union by prayer. And very far from it being 
 necessary that she aspire to sublime states of prayer, 
 she will be more capable of attaining these, the less she 
 
 thinks about them. 
 
 209 
 
Without doubt, nothing is more sublime than the 
 perfection of Carmel; but at the same time it is very 
 simple, since there is only question of loving God and 
 hating self; and the whole Rule of Carmel, when it is 
 observed in the spirit proper to it, will infallibly re- 
 sult in conducting to this perfection the souls who em- 
 brace it. A Carmelite is then necessarily called to 
 the divine union, but she must understand and remem- 
 ber that it is only on the Cross that this union can be 
 formed and consummated. 
 
 Examen Upon the Lecture. 
 
 Forgetting what Saint Paul teaches, that the letter 
 killeth, and the spirit vivifieth, am I not too much at- 
 tached to the letter of the Constitutions, drawing per- 
 haps vanity from a certain exterior regularity with 
 which I follow them, while I neglect to animate them 
 with a spirit of faith and purity of intention, which 
 alone constitutes their value? Have I understood 
 well that the merit and value of the observance of the 
 Rules of Carmel consist principally in the spirit of hu- 
 mility, abnegation and solitude, which should con- 
 stantly accompany them? In consequence of my ne- 
 glect to nourish myself with this spirit, have I not lost 
 innumerable occasions of practising virtue, in the ac- 
 tions which form my daily life? Thus have I not per- 
 formed acts of Religion such as adoration, prostra- 
 tions, inclinations, chanting or reciting the Divine 
 Office, etc., without increasing in reverence for the 
 Adorable Sacrament? Have I not shown demonstra- 
 tions of respect, obedience and submission to my Su- 
 periors without producing these acts interiorly? Have 
 I not performed acts of humility without humility, of 
 penance without the spirit of mortification? 
 
 Have I not kept our cell without love for solitude 
 and exterior recollection, without the interior spirit? 
 In fine, have I not fallen into the delusion of thinking 
 that the virtues of a Carmelite consist in a knowledge 
 of the degrees of prayer and a certain senimentality, 
 without taking pains to go to the depths of things, and 
 lay the foundation by a profound contempt of self, 
 
 and true mortification? 
 
 210 
 
NOTE. 
 
 Preliminary Advice for the Ninth Day. 
 
 This day is very important, because upon its being 
 well employed depends the fruit which we will draw 
 from the Retreat. In effect, there is question not so 
 much of taking resolutions, (which is done always) 
 resolutions very soon forgotten, but of establishing in 
 ourselves a will of amending our lives and of advan- 
 cing in the ways of perfection, so firm that nothing will 
 be capable of making us change it, whatever be the 
 difficulty of the undertaking. Now, according to the 
 sentiments and the experience of the Saints, nothing 
 is more proper to give to the will that decisive impulse, 
 that strength which will enable it to triumph over all 
 the obstacles raised by Satan and our own weakness, 
 than consideration of the sufferings and the death of 
 Jesus Christ. In effect, a soul who has formed the 
 generous design of giving herself to God, must ex- 
 pect to be proved by rude combats, either on the part 
 of hell, or from her own self-love, and the victory will 
 always be uncertain, or at least incomplete, until she 
 embraces courageously sufferings and humiliations. 
 But where will she be able to obtain strength sufficient 
 to practise things so contrary to nature, and to prac- 
 tise them generously and constantly? It will be in as- 
 siduous meditations upon the Passion of her Divine 
 Master. 
 
 It is for this reason that the Ninth Day is entirely 
 consecrated to the contemplation of the Sorrowful 
 Mysteries, in order that, at the sight of all that her 
 Divine Saviour has endured of torments and oppro- 
 brium for her salvation, the soul inflamed by divine 
 love will burn to testify her gratitude and her love by 
 the practise of things the most painful and difficult. 
 To give more efficacy to the meditations of this day, 
 it will be necessary: First — to withdraw the mind from 
 all other thoughts save those of the sufferings of Jesus 
 Christ, and especially from thoughts which afford joy 
 to the soul. Second— -to keep herself more recollected 
 than usual by seeking places the most retired and hid- 
 
 211 
 
den, representing to herself during her repasts the gall 
 and vinegar given to our Saviour upon the Cross, and 
 using on this day some particular austerities. Third — 
 to try to obtain, by a deep consideration of the oppro- 
 brium and the torments of her Saviour, that generous 
 disposition which, if the choice were given her of a 
 life full of spiritual consolation with the approbation 
 and affection of creatures, or a career full of humili- 
 ations, suffering and contradictions she would choose 
 the latter way, as the more sure and the more conform- 
 able to that which Jesus led — even when by the other 
 way, God would be equally glorified. This disposi- 
 tion to suffer after the example of our Divine Saviour, 
 is indispensable for the Religious soul who wishes to 
 ascend the heights of Carmel. In fine, in order to be 
 profoundly touched by these meditations, it is neces- 
 sary to represent to ourselves the circumstances of the 
 Passion in a manner so lively, that we seem to be pres- 
 ent at the sorrowful scenes, see Jesus attached to the 
 column, crowned with thorns, raised on the Cross; 
 that we be witnesses of the cruel treatment which He 
 endured at the hands of His murderers, hear the blows 
 of the hammer, the insults of the soldiers; and in this 
 state contemplate Him, speak to Him just as though we 
 could see His sorrowful looks fixed upon us, assuring 
 us that it was really for us and for the expiation of our 
 sins, that He endured all these evils. 
 
 212 
 
NINTH DAY. 
 
 First Meditation. 
 Jesus in the Garden of Olives. 
 
 "At that time Jesus went forth with the 
 disciples over the brook Cedron, where there 
 was a garden into which He and His dis- 
 ciples entered. And He said to the disciples: 
 Sit you here till I go yonder and pray. And 
 taking with him Peter and the two sons of 
 Zebedee, He began to grow sorrowful and to 
 be sad. Then He saith to them : .. My soul 
 is sorrowful even unto death; stay you here 
 and watch with Me, and going a little fur- 
 ther, He fell upon His face praying and say- 
 ing: My Father, if it is possible, let this 
 chalice pass from Me. Nevertheless not as 
 I will but as thou wilt. And He cometh to 
 His disciples and findeth them asleep, and 
 He saith to Peter: What? Couldst you not 
 watch one hour with Me? Watch ye and 
 pray that ye enter not into temptation. The 
 spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak. 
 Again He went the second time and prayed, 
 saying: My Father, if this chalice may not 
 pass away, but I must drink it, Thy will be 
 done. And He cometh again and findeth 
 them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 
 And He went again; and He prayed the third 
 time saying the self-same word. And be- 
 ing in an agony, He prayed the longer. And 
 His sweat became as drops of blood trickling 
 down upon the ground."— St. Matthew, St. 
 Luke and St. John. 
 
 How mysterious, how astonishing is this first 
 scene of Thy Passion, O my Divine Master! I enter 
 with Thy suite into this bloody career, I prostrate 
 myself before Thee, and I supplicate Thee to admit 
 me into Thy company during the course of Thy 
 Passion, and to initiate me into the secrets of Thy 
 sorrows, and into the holy dispositions of Thy Sa- 
 cred Heart, abyssed in a torrent of bitter woes. May 
 I learn after Thy example, how to suffer, to pray, 
 to be silent, to immolate myself for the glory of 
 God and the salvation of souls. I will commence by 
 that fear, that sadness, with which Thou art seized 
 at Thy entrance into the garden, the first theatre 
 of Thy sufferings, and I conjure Thee to grant me 
 a share in Thy anguish, and to permit me to ap- 
 proach so near to Thee, that I may be able to hear 
 
 213 
 
and to treasure up some of the words which Thou 
 didst address to Thy Eternal Father, and to receive 
 into my soul, so weak and so languishing, some 
 drops of the precious sweat with which Thy Sacred 
 Person was inundated. Ah! Precious Blood, inun- 
 date me! Precious Sweat of the agony of Jesus, 
 purify me ! Divine soul of Jesus, sanctify me ! 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 Jesus a Voluntary Victim. 
 
 What can be the cause of the change just now 
 operated in the soul of Jesus? Only a few moments 
 ago He was conversing tranquilly with His disci- 
 ples. He was speaking to them of His sufferings 
 and of His approaching death, as of an hour ardently 
 desired, impatiently awaited; of a bloody baptism 
 in which He desired to be plunged, because it would 
 put a seal to the glory of His Heavenly Father, and 
 satisfy His immense love. And now that this hour 
 has come, He fears, He is troubled in spirit, He is 
 overcome with a sadness so profound that, accord- 
 ing to His own testimony, it is enough to cause His 
 death. He, Who is to be the strength of the mar- 
 tyrs in raising them by His grace above the fear 
 and the terrors of death, appears to me at this mo- 
 ment weak, trembling, and almost discouraged. "My 
 Father, My Father,'' He cries, " if it is possible, let 
 this chalice pass from Me." 
 
 What a profound mystery! Who can penetrate 
 it? Ah! I may do so by entering into the garden 
 which is about to become a place of reconciliation 
 and of salvation, as another garden had been, in the 
 first days of the creation, a place of perdition. The 
 Man-God will here present Himself to His Father, 
 and renew the obligation which He had made of 
 Himself at the first moment of His Incarnation. 
 Behold. I hear Him say, the Victim, substituted for 
 all the ancient victims which were not agreeable to 
 Thee, see as gathered upon my Head, all the ini- 
 quities of the world, see nothing in Me but the guil- 
 
 214 
 
ty human race. Strike only Me, allow to fall upon 
 My Person all the blows which should fall upon sin- 
 ners: Behold Me! This time the Eternal Father 
 accepts the exchange. He wills to see no longer in 
 Jesus Christ His co-equal Son, but only a victim 
 destined to pay the death penalty, and even when 
 He has drained the chalice of opprobrium and suf- 
 fering which His justice has prepared for Him, He 
 will still look upon Him with anger. It is to con- 
 form Himself to this decree which He accepts, and 
 which He had Himself ardently solicited, that Jesus 
 at this moment abandons His holy Soul to sadness 
 and fear. These sentiments are not in Him as in 
 other men, because of the passions which prevent 
 the will, and carry them to great excesses which 
 they can no longer master. This sadness and this 
 fear are as admirable in their principle, as they are 
 noble in their effects, because it is He Himself who 
 has called them forth, and they are to become a fe- 
 cund source of consolation and of the most precious 
 grace to souls, and they stop at the point and the mo- 
 ment which He wills. Thus, far from being scan- 
 dalized by this apparent weakness of my Saviour, 
 I find in it a great proof of His power and infinite 
 mercy. 
 
 If there are here sadness and fear, they are the 
 sadness and the fear of a God; if the prayer which 
 they force from Him expresses terror and seems to 
 bear the impress of trouble and discouragement, it 
 is because He prays as a Mediator, and this prayer, 
 joined to His admirable acquiescence to the divine 
 will, is to furnish a memorable example of the con- 
 ditions with which we must pray, if we wish to be 
 heard, and it has obtained for us most powerful 
 helps to attain perfection. 
 
 O my Saviour and my God! Behold then the 
 principle of Thy sadness and Thy fear. Without 
 doubt they are occasioned by the sight of the fright- 
 ful torments prepared for Thee, and the torrent of 
 all the iniquities of the earth, which are become 
 
 215 
 
Thine own, and submerging Thy innocent soul, 
 throw Thee into such a state of confusion, that Thou 
 art not able to bear the look of Thy irritated Father. 
 But, Lord, I need seek no other cause for Thy sor- 
 rowful feelings, because it is none other than Thy 
 love for poor sinners of whom, alas! I am the great- 
 est. For it is because Thou hast charged Thyself 
 with all my sins and assumed the consequences of 
 such a responsibility, that I see Thee almost suc- 
 cumbing under the weight of such a burden. Ah! 
 if notwithstanding my sins, or rather because of 
 them, I could, after Thy example, offer myself to 
 Thy justice as a victim for my brethren, it seems 
 to me Lord, that I would be disposed to do it in or- 
 der to pay Thee, as far as in me lies, my immense 
 debt of gratitude. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 Jesus Agonizing. 
 
 To these first motives of the fear and sadness of 
 Jesus, others were added which reduced His soul to 
 extremity, and enveloped it as with the shadows of 
 death. In effect, it would have been little for His 
 love to accept the chalice of opprobrium and of suf- 
 fering which had been offered Him, if at the same 
 time, He could have foreseen the reward of such an 
 immolation, that is to say, the confirmation of the 
 ancient Alliance which God had made with His 
 people, and the salvation of all men. But He must 
 listen to the ferocious cries of that decidal people 
 demanding His death, and die by the hands of those 
 whom He had come to save. He must see the rep- 
 robation of the Synagogue with the dispersion of 
 the holy Nation, and that desolation of desolation 
 even unto the end of time presents itself before Him, 
 notwithstanding His sacrifice. If again, the nations, 
 which are to be given the heritage lost by His 
 chosen people, would only respond perfectly to the 
 grace of their vocation to the faith — but alas! of the 
 many nations which received successively the pre- 
 
 216 
 
cious light of the Gospel, how many allowed it to 
 become extinct after having been enlightened by it! 
 And among the Churches the most flourishing, how 
 much cockle mingled with the good grain! What 
 heresies, what schisms! How many souls among 
 the most fervent Christians, in Religious Orders the 
 most holy, miserably perish notwithstanding the in- 
 estimable price which has been paid for them! 
 
 It was then the sorrowful knowledge of the inu- 
 tility of His Blood for so great a number of souls 
 for whom it was shed, that filled His soul with mor- 
 tal agony. Behold the subject of that prayer, so 
 fervent and so often repeated! Behold the cause of 
 the seeming struggle with the eternal decrees of 
 His Heavenly Father, a mysterious struggle, pre- 
 figured by that which Jacob had with the Lord Him- 
 self, in the person of an angel; and by his prayer 
 begging that his cherished spouse might at least es- 
 cape the fury of his brother Esau. So did Jesus 
 long to save His unfaithful Synagogue; and behold 
 the sense of these words: "If it is possible," spare 
 me the reprobation of my people. "If it is possible." 
 give me all the souls for whom I am going to die. 
 It was then, exhauted by this struggle of which the 
 sorrow and the agony had covered His Face and 
 entire Body with a bloody sweat, that He fell with 
 His Face to the ground, feeling as at the approach 
 of death, convulsions, tremblings, and the oppres- 
 sion of a cruel agony, without abandoning for a sin- 
 gle instant the exercise of prayer, but on the con- 
 trary redoubling the fervor of His prayers to obtain 
 what He so ardently desired. At this moment an 
 angel descended from heaven bringing for His suf- 
 fering, the only solace of which it was susceptible. 
 He doubtless represented to Him the return of the 
 Jews at the end of time, the great number of faith- 
 ful and generous souls who would tread in His foot- 
 steps, and imitate His example; he doubtless showed 
 
 217 
 
Him the Apostles with a multitude of the faithful ac- 
 companying them, the victorious band of the martyrs, 
 the solitaries who would people the desert, and the 
 pure and faithful virgin souls who would follow Him 
 in His career of suffering even to the Cross, asso- 
 ciating themselves by their love and their crucifixion 
 of the flesh, to His sufferings: the Bridgets, the 
 Catherines, the Teresas, etc. 
 
 And Lord, I also hope to join these holy souls 
 and to bring my share of alleviation to the sorrows 
 which oppress Thee, in that ocean of bitterness in 
 which Thou art plunged by Thy mysterious agony. 
 I wish to separate no longer my cause from Thy 
 cause; I wish to walk in Thy bloody footprints, em- 
 bracing for love of Thee and with Thee, sorrows, 
 contempt, and crucifixion; rendering myself present 
 by assiduous contemplation of the Mysteries of Thy 
 Passion, and applying to my soul their precious 
 fruits. I wish above all to have part in that ever 
 memorable prayer which Thou didst address to Thy 
 Eternal Father with so much fervor, in the midst 
 of Thy sorrows, of which the meaning is so deep 
 and the effects so marvelous. In asking that this 
 chalice might pass away, Thou didst wish to prevent 
 the damnation of so many souls; and by adding, 
 "Thy will be done," Thou didst merit a multitude 
 of victorious graces which would bring forth the 
 elect. This FIAT, more admirable than the one by 
 which Thou didst draw forth light from the bosom 
 of darkness, brought forth the supernatural light, 
 which enlightens the Church and makes saints. It 
 is this FIAT which gives charity to the Apostles, 
 strength to the martyrs, science to the doctors, and 
 purity to the virgins. Ah! and Thou didst also ask 
 for me the virtues which form solitaries — victims of 
 Thy love. I reply with Thee a thousand times, FIAT, 
 FIAT! May Thy will which desires that I be sanc- 
 tified in this Retreat, be accomplished. FIAT, FIAT! 
 
 218 
 
f THIRD POINT. 
 
 Jesus Bound and Led Away Captive. 
 
 Now the hour is come when Jesus is to be deliv- 
 ered into the hands of sinners. Judas adavances at 
 the head of a band of Roman soldiers and servants, 
 the one armed with swords and sticks, and the other 
 with lanterns. He is followed by the unworthy pon- 
 tiffs themselves who have not blushed to join the 
 ministers of their vengeance. This confused mob 
 approaches the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus is still 
 abyssed in the horrors of His desolation and pain- 
 ful agony. But He knows how to dissipate the sad- 
 ness and the terror with the mortal agonies which 
 are their effects. Sovereign Master of Himself, He 
 will show His enemies that He is able to extermin- 
 ate them with a breath, and that if He is delivered 
 to them, it is because He so wills it. 
 
 In effect, He rises full strength and assurance, 
 He goes to His sleeping disciples, and after sweetly 
 reproaching them for the little part they have taken 
 in His sorrows, and their want of vigilance, He an- 
 nounces to them the approach of the traitor, and 
 goes Himself in advance to meet His enemies, de- 
 ceiving thus their cruel hopes of surprising Him. 
 "Whom seek ye?" He said to them. They, struck 
 with blindness, visible punishment of their malice, 
 instead of casting upon Him the reproaches and 
 charging Him with the crimes they had prepared^ 
 recognized neither His voice nor His features, nor 
 His vestment, nor anything which distinguished 
 Him from others. Judas himself, although His dis- 
 ciple and familiar friend, and precisely because of 
 this, more blind than the rest, did not know His 
 Adorable Master; and they all replied, "We seek 
 Jesus of Nazareth/' "I am He/' said Jesus. At 
 these words, by an effect of the almighty power of 
 the One who pronounced them, as prompt as it was 
 unexpected, the numerous band fell as one man, 
 prostrate in the dust. Jesus however, instead of 
 
 219 
 
profiting by the state of confusion inseparable from 
 their sad fall, satisfied with what He had done, be- 
 cause His hour had not come, suffered all of them 
 to rise, and He repeated the question: "Whom seek 
 ye?" and they, more hardened and more blind, again 
 responded: "Jesus of Nazareth." "I have said it, I 
 am He," replied our Saviour, and immediately giv- 
 ing a brilliant mark of that empire which He had 
 exercised over Himself and over others, and which 
 surpasses all the strength of human nature, He reg- 
 ulated the conditions of His; captivity; for before 
 giving Himself up, He provided for all that con- 
 cerned the glory of God, the security, and even the 
 edification of His disciples. He occupied Himself 
 even with the traitor Apostle and with His enemies, 
 offering them a last means of instruction and of sal- 
 vation: "If ye seek Me let these go away," said He, 
 speaking of His disciples. Then turning to Peter, 
 who had already taken his sword and struck off the 
 ear of one of His transgressors, He taught him that 
 it was not with such arms that His cause should 
 be defended; indignant with this Apostle who had 
 wished to prevent Him from drinking of the chalice 
 prepared by His Father. 
 
 After this reprimand, freeing Himself with dig- 
 nity from those who had already commenced to sur- 
 round Him, He approached the wounded servant 
 and cured him. But our Saviour saw another wound, 
 much deeper than the one which He had just healed: 
 it was that of the ulcerated heart of Judas. Twice 
 He endeavored, but in vain, to apply the remedy 
 of His charity: "My friend, wherefore art thou 
 come?" "Ah Judas! it is with a kiss that thou be- 
 trayest the Son of Man?" Then He addressed Him- 
 self to the multitude, and especially to the priests 
 and the pharisees, making a last effort to enable 
 them to recognize their malice: "You are come to 
 Me," He said with sweetness, "armed with swords 
 and clubs, as to a robber; while I was daily with 
 you in the temple, teaching, you laid not hands upon 
 
 220 
 
Me; but now is your hour and the power of dark- 
 ness:" giving them to understand by these words, 
 that if He was faithfully accomplishing the will of 
 His Heavenly Father, they were only ministers of 
 hell, and instruments of its malice. After these last 
 words, having regulated all things, and said to each 
 one what He wished to make known, He presents 
 His adorable hands which are immediately loaded 
 with chains, and the cruel wolves throw themselves 
 upon this Immaculate Lamb, ill-treating Him and 
 striking Him, while they push Him before them, to- 
 ward that unfaithful Jerusalem, which is to be the 
 theatre of the greatest of all crimes. They conduct 
 Him to the palace of the High Priest where His 
 enemies were already assembled, hiding under the 
 sacred robes of judges, the hatred of accusers 
 and the rage of cruel murderers. 
 
 O Jesus! Thou Who hast just cast to the ground 
 by a single word, the whole cohort of Roman sol- 
 diers, Thou Who hast just confounded Thy enemies 
 by Thy wisdom, and astounded them by Thy good- 
 ness, Thou couldst with the same facility have ex- 
 terminated them, or have sent them away disarmed 
 and confounded. These chains would have given 
 way at the first touch of Thy sacred hands, more 
 easily than the cords with which the Philistines had 
 bound Samson. But there is a power more formid- 
 able which retains Thee captive, it is Thy love. It 
 is Thy ineffable love which makes Thee forget Thy- 
 self. It is love which chains Thee and delivers Thee 
 up to Thy enemies, love for me in particular; yes, 
 I can say with Thy Apostle: "He has loved me, and 
 delivered Himself up for me." 
 
 What can I do to acknowledge so much love? Ah! 
 I can give myself up a captive for Thee, as Thou 
 hast done for me. I am so already, enclosed by 
 these walls which separate me from the world; I 
 am so by the sacred ties which bind me to Thy ser- 
 vice, by the holy Rules which restrain my liberty, 
 and which permit not my corrupt nature to pass 
 
 221 
 
the limits of Thy holy Law. But I have not cherished 
 these holy chains, this glorious captivity ,1 have not 
 borne them with love, because there was no charity in 
 my heart, or at least it was very languishing. This 
 is finished; Thy love has triumphed over my tepid- 
 ity, and, after the example of one of Thy Apostles, 
 in seeing Thee deliver Thyself to death, I will say: 
 "Let me go and die with him." Yes, may I die to 
 all things of this world, that I may live with Thee 
 in eternity. Amen. 
 
 SECOND MEDITATION. 
 Opprobriums of Jesus During His Passion. 
 
 "He shall be filled with reproaches."— 
 Jeremias III, 30. 
 
 I prostrate myself before Thee, O my humbled 
 Jesus, I adore Thee, steeped in opprobrium, soiled 
 with spittle, wounded with blows, and covered with 
 a veil of ignominy. ''We have seen Him," cries out 
 the Prophet, "and we have not known Him." But 
 ah! Lord, I recognize Thee, I love Thee thus dis- 
 figured, as my Spouse and my King, and the more 
 changed I find Thee by sorrow and the contempt 
 of men, the more dear and venerable Thou art to 
 me, for it is Thy innocence and sanctity which ex- 
 cite the fury of hell and the malice of Thy enemies. 
 Ah! discover to me the secret of Thy opprobrium, 
 give me to understand all that Thou didst endure 
 during Thy bitter Passion, both interiorly and ex- 
 teriorly, in the darkness of night and in the light of 
 of the sun, before the face of Thy judges and out 
 of their sight, on the part of Thy enemies, Thy 
 friends, and from strangers, from Jews, from Gen- 
 tiles, from magistrates, from soldiers, from the ser- 
 vants, and from all the people who insulted Thee, 
 envied Thee, and loaded Thee with injuries. Teach 
 me above all, the graces, the lights, and the bless- 
 ings hidden under humiliations and contempt, since 
 Thou hast endured such bitter woes for our salva- 
 tion, in order that I might, after Thy example, love 
 
 222 
 
and embrace them and draw the precious fruit which 
 Thou hast attach to them. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 The first outrage which Jesus received is a brutal 
 blow from a menial officer who struck His August 
 Face saying: "Answerest Thou thus the High 
 Priest." From that moment Jesus gave up His 
 Adorable Face to insult and sorrow, wishing to pre- 
 sent to the eyes of all, an expressive and touching 
 sign of the ignominious state to which He allowed 
 Himself to be reduced for love of us. This blow ac- 
 companied by an unjust reproach, gave occasion of 
 the admirable response of Jesus to the High Priest, 
 who was interrogating Him upon His Doctrine and 
 His Disciples: "I have always taught in the Syna- 
 gogue, and in the Temple, whither all the Jews re- 
 sort, and in secret I have taught nothing. Why ask- 
 est thou Me? Ask those who have heard Me." A 
 necessary reply, since it established even in the 
 presence of this iniquitous tribunal, and for all ages, 
 that His Gospel was not announced in darkness but 
 in public, that it had been most conformable to all 
 rules of justice. 
 
 For this reply so wise and measured, Thou re- 
 ceivest, O my Divine Jesus, the most bloody out- 
 rages. How comes it that Thy Holy Angels, wit- 
 nessing the insults offered to their King, did not ex- 
 terminate that barbarian; why did not the heavens 
 launch forth at him a thunder bolt, or the earth 
 swollow him up? But O my Divine Master, Thou 
 didst prefer to give us by Thy patience in suffering 
 this insult, a striking example of Thy sweetness 
 and humility. And so instead of keeping silence, 
 Thou sayest to this barbarian, with a moderation all 
 divine: "If I have spoken evil, give testimony of the 
 evil, if well, why strikest thou Me?" It is that Thou 
 mightest not remain to the eyes of all future ages 
 guilty of this contemptible accusation. 
 
 223 
 
Witnesses are at last brought in, witnesses, who 
 being bribed, accuse Him falsely. Then Jesus, in- 
 terrogated in the Name of the Living God, renders 
 testimony to the truth, and declares Himself the 
 only Son of God. It was then that the High Priest 
 rent his garments as a sign of horror, and condemned 
 Him to death as a blasphemer and an impostor. Im- 
 mediately they abandon Jesus to a crowd of cruel 
 servants and soldiers who, seconding the hatred of 
 their masters, take a barbarous pleasure in striking 
 and insulting Him. It is not only one buffet which 
 He receives on His Adorable Face, but a shower of 
 blows which bruise and disfigure it. They soil it 
 with vile spittle, and cover it with an ignominious 
 veil, as if they had not already veiled its Majesty 
 and beauty by the insults with which it was loaded, 
 and they defy their Saviour with cruel irony, to 
 prophesy who had struck Him. They redouble their 
 blows and insults, and thus they pass a great part 
 of the night. Ah, Jesus! is this not enough to sat- 
 isfy Thy love? Alas, it is only the commencement 
 of Thy sorrows and Thy torments! And yet the 
 Gospel spares us the details of these sad scenes. But 
 Thou, dearest Lord, deignest to reveal to souls who 
 know how to watch with Thee, Mysteries still more 
 astonishing, enveloped in the darkness of that night. 
 
 At the first sign of day, the priests and scribes 
 hasten again to seize their Victim to conduct Him 
 to the Roman Magistrate, who must confirm their 
 parricidal sentence. Jesus is then dragged to the 
 Tribunal of Pilate, in the sight of a multitude, which 
 the tumult and cries of His enemies had gathered. 
 Here the unworthy priests abandon the accusation 
 of blasphemy, which does not appear to them of suf- 
 ficient influence with a pagan judge, and call Him 
 a seducer, a rebel, and an enemy of the Roman Em- 
 pire. Pilate, it is true, had little difficulty in recog- 
 nizing the innocence of Jesus, and attributing His 
 capture to the jealousy of the priests; but sacrificing 
 justice to policy, instead of granting Him His lib- 
 
 224 
 
erty, he profited by an opening which was made to 
 send Him away to Herod, hoping thus to cast upon 
 another, the discharge of an affair which He had 
 not the courage to settle by his own authority. 
 
 Jesus then appears for the second time in the 
 streets of Jerusalem, more despised and insulted by 
 the populace. For the vulgar judge only by appear- 
 ance; and seeing Jesus treated with contempt and 
 insulted by those whom they were accustomed to 
 respect, they conclude that He is guilty. But Herod, 
 will he at least, not be able to recognize in Jesus 
 that Divine Wisdom which shines above all His ig- 
 nominy? Will he perhaps understand that the One 
 who keeps so silent and preserves His patience in 
 the midst of so many insults, is more than man? 
 But no, Herod is one of those vain princes, who seek 
 only new means of enjoyment and of satisfaction for 
 their curiosity. He rejoices to see Jesus appear in 
 His presence, thinking that he is going to see Him 
 operate some great miracle. But Jesus is silent, and 
 in keeping silence, performs a miracle far more ad- 
 mirable than that which had been expected — a prod- 
 igy of patience, of strength, and of wisdom. But 
 this insensate King, is he capable of understanding 
 it? No, he despises Jesus, he and his court with 
 him, and he clothes Him with the livery of a fool. 
 And thus Jesus returns to Pilate followed by the in- 
 sults, the derision, and the bitter irony which is 
 more easily understood than explained. Oh, who 
 can teach me the secret of Thy divine silence, my 
 Adorable Master, if I learn it not from Thyself when 
 contemplating Thee in this Mystery! 
 
 Jesus finds Himself a second time in the presence 
 of Pilate whose vile weakness prepares for Him new 
 outrages more cruel than any He had yet endured. 
 "Which one do you wish that I deliver unto you?" 
 demanded the cowardly magistrate, of the crowd sur- 
 rounding his tribunal, whose ferocious instincts had 
 been excited by the priests, the Pharisees, and the 
 demons themselves. "Which will ye that I deliver 
 
 225 
 
up, Jesus or Barabbas?" And in this unworthy par- 
 allel between good and evil, sanctity and sin, to the 
 eternal shame of the Jews, of the world, of sinners 
 and consequently, of myself, alas! Barabbas the im- 
 pious, the criminal, is preferred; and Jesus, the good, 
 the meek, the amiable, the innocent Jesus is reject- 
 ed and condemned! Ah! what bitterness, what an- 
 guish His Sacred Heart must have felt at this new 
 outrage, this new ingratitude of His own people. 
 O my Saviour, Thou hast not yet finished the cha- 
 lice of humiliation which Thou wilt drain to the 
 dregs. Pilate wishing to soften this barbarous peo- 
 ple, implores only a little pity for Jesus, while his 
 conscience and justice would oblige him to send Him 
 away acquitted, in the presence of all His enemies. 
 He imagines he will do this by having Him flogged. 
 They despoil Jesus of His garments, and in this 
 state of nakedness so painful to His modesty, He is 
 exposed to the gaze of the multitude, shaniefully 
 tied to a column, and whipped as a vile slave. To 
 this barbarous punishment, this inhuman torture in- 
 spired by hell, they added insults and injuries. After 
 this bloody scene, they plait a crown of cruel thorns 
 and press it upon His adorable head; upon His 
 wounded shoulders a purple rag is thrown; in His 
 sacred hand, trembling through the excess of His 
 sufferings, a reed is put for a scepter. Then some 
 bend the knee before Him, while others strike His 
 Adorable Face with His derisive scepter, and mock- 
 ingly salute Him: "Hail King of the Jews!'. In this 
 sad state, He is again presented by Pilate to the 
 people, and again rejected with renewed fury. 
 
 After having re-clothed, so that all might recog- 
 nize Him, and having loaded Him with the ignomini- 
 ous woods of the Cross, they conducted Him to 
 Calvary in the midst of the vociferations of His mur- 
 derers. When He falls through weakness they strike 
 and insult Him. O my Saviour, O my Master, O 
 my Spouse, permit me to follow Thee in company 
 with St. Veronica who wiped Thy Adorable Face, 
 
 226 
 
with the compassionate and heroic women, and with 
 Thy most Holy Mother, to share Thy sufferings and 
 opprobrium ! 
 
 O my Saviour, can I henceforth desire the esteem 
 of the world, when Thou art thus abandoned, un- 
 known, and betrayed! It has thus treated Eternal 
 Wisdom and Infinite Charity; and can I wish for 
 anything more precious, more honorable to the eyes 
 of faith, than to receive the same treatmr.it as did 
 my Master and my God? 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 To understand better the greatness of the humil- 
 iation of Jesus in His Passion, let us now consider 
 Who He is that is thus outraged; who they are from 
 whom He endures these outrages; and for whom 
 and why He suffers. 
 
 He Who is outraged is the Eternal Son of God, 
 the mirror of His wisdom, the delight of Heaven, 
 in a word, God Himself. He is the most amiable, 
 the most benevolent, the most beautiful among men; 
 it is He Whom we have seen showering upon us His 
 abundant charity, and Who merits the love, the ador- 
 ation, and the gratitude of all men. 
 
 And by whom is He treated with so much ig- 
 nominy? By contemptible men, by traitors, by 
 priests unworthy of their sacred calling and given 
 up to their most vile passions; by soldiers, by ser- 
 vants, by a populace made up of the most perverse 
 men. 
 
 And how does Jesus, the Divine Jesus, suffer their 
 insults and their outrages? With an admirable 
 sweetness, unalterable patience, and invincible si- 
 lence. He could have so easily enlightened His 
 judges and confused His accusers and, according to 
 our human views, it seems that He ought to have 
 done so, as there was question of His Father's 
 Glory, the reputation of His Holy Mother and His 
 Disciples, and of His own honor of which He should 
 
 227 
 
have had regard, because of His Doctrine and those 
 who professed it. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding all the apparent reasons, He 
 would not defend Himself, but kept silence and suf- 
 fered in peace all these outrages, leaving to His 
 Eternal Father the care of regulating all things 
 which seemed irreconcilable, and abandoned Himself 
 to the will of sinners whom He recognized as the 
 executors of Divine Jestice. 
 
 O patience of Jesus, O sacred silence which has 
 given strength to the saints to be so reticent in their 
 own defense, even so generous as to keep silence in 
 union with their Divine Master, when one word 
 from them could have cleared them of the most in- 
 jurious calumnies. 
 
 O my God! how little have I profited by Thy di- 
 vine lessons, I, whom all see so eager in defending 
 myself from the least accusations and the slightest 
 suspicions, whilst Thou didst keep silence under the 
 weight of the greatest accusations accompanied by 
 the most humiliating injuries and atrocious calum- 
 nies. Ah Lord, if I understood well the value of 
 this silence, this humility, this tacit avowal of the 
 faults for which I am reproached, even when I can- 
 not believe myself guilty, with what humble con- 
 fidence could I not present myself before Thee to 
 beg mercy for guilty souls. What a source of con- 
 solation I would find in acting thus! What assur- 
 ance I should feel at the hour of death! 
 
 But, alas! I lose all these precious advantages by 
 my self-love and desire of the vain esteem of crea- 
 tures. O Jesus! grant me the grace to appreciate the 
 value of Thy humiliations, so that when Thou ap- 
 pearest in glory I may appear also with Thee. 
 
 THIRD POINT. 
 
 Why Does Jesus Suffer These Humiliations? 
 
 Jesus endures these humiliations as a remedy for 
 our pride. He has willed to espouse* opprobrium 
 
 228 
 
and ignominy, to suffer the most bloody affronts, in 
 order to render amiable in His Person that from 
 which nature flies in such horror. 
 
 Although we cannot see how this opprobrium con- 
 tains anything profitable to us, we ought still to love 
 it, because it has been the portion of Jesus; yes, 
 humiliation, opprobrium, contempt of creatures have 
 become divinized; and the one who under the em- 
 pire of Jesus loves them not, and seeks them not, 
 has not entered far into His Heart. This is what 
 grace, what profound meditation on the humiliations 
 of Jesus should teach all Christians, and should even 
 delight the Solitary of Carmel. 
 
 Jesus, my Divine Master, since Thou hast 
 chosen humiliations for Thy portion, it ought to be 
 evident to me that they are a hidden treasure. It 
 should suffice to know that Thou hast espoused 
 them for love of me, to cause me to espouse them 
 for love of Thee. Grant me this grace, the greatest 
 which Thou canst give me in this life; for if I die 
 to the esteem of creatures, I will at once commence 
 to live for Thee alone; blessed life not only for time 
 but for eternity, Amen. 
 
 THIRD MEDITATION. 
 What Jesus Suffered in His Body. 
 
 "He was wounded for our iniquities. He 
 was bruised for our sins." — Isias, LIII,5. 
 
 1 come now, O my Divine Redeemer, to contem- 
 plate the wounds which Thou didst receive in Thy 
 sacred body, in order to heal those which sin has 
 made in my soul. Alas! "from the sole of the foot 
 even unto the head there is no soundness in Thee." 
 Who would try to count these wounds, since they 
 are innumerable?. Who could tell how many thorns 
 have entered into Thy sacred head, and pierced Thy 
 brow? Who can say how many stripes have fallen 
 upon Thy sacred shoulders and torn the flesh in all 
 parts of Thy divine body? Thy hands and Thy feet 
 are pierced by the nails, Thy knees are all torn and 
 
 229 
 
bleeding from the falls occasioned by Thy weakness 
 and the brutality of the soldiers. 
 
 Oh Lord, in seeing Thee thus, I understand what 
 Thou hast said by the mouth of Thy Prophet: "I 
 have thought Him become as it were a leper, and as 
 one struck by God, and afflicted." The leprosy of 
 sin must then be inveterate, since it can be cured 
 only by such a remedy. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 Jesus Scourged. 
 
 To limit myself to the principal circumstances of 
 the Passion of Jesus, I will first represent to my 
 mind His cruel scourging. I will consider my Sav- 
 iour bound by the hands to a column in such a way 
 that His body, despoiled, is exposed to the strokes 
 of the scourge. These instruments of torture were 
 made, some of little chains armed with points, and 
 others of the sinews of oxen or rings of green and 
 thorny wood. The executioners of this bloody tor- 
 ture were sixty in number, according to the revela- 
 tion made to St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, and they 
 took turns, two by two. as their strength was ex- 
 hausted. These cruel tormentors pressed around 
 this tender lamb, like tigers thirsting for His blood; 
 they are also animated by the fury of the demons, 
 and secretly excited by the Jews, who fear that Pi- 
 late may succeed in snatching their victim froi> 
 them. They strike Him violently and with redou- 
 bled strokes; His flesh is torn in shreds, His veins 
 are broken, His blood flows and the earth is inun- 
 dated therewith. 
 
 Jesus could not have sustained this horrible tor- 
 ture, exhausted as He was by the blood He had shed 
 in His cruel agony and by all the torments He had 
 so far endured, if His love, upheld by His omnipo- 
 tence, had not prevented Him from succumbing. 
 He wished to preserve Himself for other sufferings, 
 and by new wounds to open to us new sources of 
 
 230 
 
grace. St. Bernard estimates the number of stroke? 
 which our Saviour received in the cruel flagellation 
 to exceed six thousand, and no doubt He would have 
 received many more, had not His weakness at last 
 robbed Him, so to say, from the rage of His exe- 
 cutioners. He falls at the foot of the column, ex- 
 hausted by suffering and the loss of blood. They 
 raise Him up and hastily replace His garments — 
 the only dressing, alas! applied to His wounds. 
 
 O my Divine Saviour, who could have obliged 
 Thee to suffer a torment so cruel and inflicted only 
 on slaves? Ah! I understand: by this torture Thou 
 didst wish to expiate in Thy body, the shameful and 
 criminal pleasures which the children of Adam have 
 allowed theirs; it was necessary that Thy horrible 
 sufferings should be the remedy for their infamous 
 pleasures ; that Thy innocent flesh should be bruised 
 and torn, in punishment for the delicate care they 
 have given their sinful and criminal flesh. Thou 
 didst wish by this, not only to teach us to master 
 our rebellious flesh and to subject this body of sin — 
 a slave always ready to revolt — but also to merit 
 for us the grace to obtain a complete victory over 
 ourselves; so that reducing our senses to servitude, 
 we ought to treat our body as a dangerous enemy, 
 which we should fear and hate, because it cares not 
 if it lose us and itself too, provided it be satisfied. 
 Infinite thanks to Thee, O my Divine Redeemer, for 
 so great a benefit! Ah! I will come often to the foot 
 of this column, to receive the salutary dew of Thy 
 Precious Blood; here I will find strength to reani- 
 mate my courage, to triumph over my malicious na- 
 ture, which always seeks to draw me into relaxation 
 and softness; here I will receive the grace necessary 
 to subject the flesh to the spirit. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 Jesus Crowned with Thorns. 
 
 What is this new torment which Thy enemies are 
 preparing for Thee, O my Divine Redeemer? Tor- 
 
 231 
 
ment unheard of and unknown in the annals of hu- 
 man cruelty — even invented for Thee. The wicked! 
 are they not satisfied with all that they have made 
 Thee suffer, and the painful death they have in re- 
 serve for Thee? I see them pressing around Thee, 
 O sweet Victim! Again they tear off the garments 
 with which they had covered Thy bleeding body, 
 and replace them by a torn purple mantle. And after 
 having made Thee sit on a seat of sorrow — a throne 
 truly worthy of such a King — they placed on Thy 
 Sacred Head, which alone their lashes have not 
 wounded, a crown formed of thorny reeds, the long 
 points of which penetrate deeply, being rudely 
 pressed by these barbarians with clubs, and the reed 
 that serves as a sceptre which they place in Thy 
 hands after using it so cruelly. Thy sacred brow is 
 pierced in every part. Oh! who could express the 
 insupportable suffering which Thou didst endure at 
 that moment, and which will increase until Thy last 
 sigh? The blood flows over Thy eyelids covering 
 Thy eyes with a thick cloud, and inundates Thy di- 
 vine Face, mingling with the vile spittle with which 
 it is again covered. Thus is accomplished the sor- 
 rowful ceremony of Thy Crowning, O my Divine 
 Redeemer! Ah! permit me to turn my eyes away 
 from this cruel spectacle, which they can no longer 
 endure, and raising them toward Thy Heavenly 
 Father, ask Him what His infiinite wisdom and mer- 
 cy have hidden in this sorrowful Mystery; for it is 
 He who has ordained and regulated all the circum- 
 stances of it. Thy executioners think only of obey- 
 ing their cruel instinct, and of seconding the hatred 
 of Thy enemies; and they are without knowing it, 
 the instruments of Him Who, by their hands, con- 
 fers upon Thee to-day the investiture of the most 
 beautiful, the most desirable, the most glorious of 
 all royalties, and decorates Thee with the insignia 
 which by right belongs to Thee alone. Precious in- 
 signia, the splendor of which infinitely surpasses the 
 riches and the magnificence of the crown and the 
 
 232 
 
purple of kings! Yes, Thou art King, O Divine Sav- 
 ious! Thou art Kings by right of birth — King from 
 all eternity as only Son of the King of the universe, 
 and King in time as heir of David. Thou hast be- 
 come King by right of conquest; and this peaceful 
 conquest Thou hast not accomplished in the man- 
 ner of ordinary conquerors, by ravage, ruin, and the 
 blood of nations, but by shedding Thy own Blood, 
 and covering the earth with Thy blessings. That 
 crown, that sceptre, that royal mantle, Thou hast 
 not acquired by imposing taxes on Thy subjects — 
 they are the price of Thy sufferings and ignominy. 
 Thou hast willed to be shown in this state to Thy 
 people and to all the peoples of the world, with 
 these words which will be repeated to all future gen- 
 erations: "BEHOLD THE MAN," in order to teach 
 us what guilty man merits, and the true value of 
 the honors and authority to which he can pretend. 
 O, Thou art in truth the grandest, the most amia- 
 ble, the most powerful of kings: Thou art the most 
 magnificent of conquerors! To-day, prostrating at 
 Thy feet, to adore and glorify Thy royalty, I will 
 say: "I salute Thee, O my King!" Thou art and 
 Thou shalt always be the King of my heart; there 
 never was, and there never will be another like 
 Thee. 
 
 Not content with saving us by Thy sufferings, by 
 these sufferings Thou dost also wish to instruct us. 
 Thy head pierced with cruel thorns, teaches us what 
 the honors and vain distinctions of the world should 
 be for Thy friends. In seeing Thee thus, could I 
 again seek that which flatters my vanity and nour- 
 ishes in me vain glory? O Divine Teacher! Who 
 has thus traced in Thy body, in characters of blood, 
 the lessons so necessary for me, engrave them also 
 in the depths of my heart that, after the example of 
 St. Catherine of Sienna, and so many other of Thy 
 faithful spouses, I may prefer Thy crown of thorns 
 to any other ornament. 
 
 233 
 
THIRD POINT. 
 
 Jesus Crucified. 
 
 The Jews, far from being touched at the sight of 
 Jesus Whom Pilate leads out to them, His head 
 crowned with thorns, His face livid and bleeding, 
 His shoulders torn and bruised, and in a state capa- 
 ble of moving the hardest hearts, become only more 
 furious. "Behold your King,' Pilate says in pre- 
 senting Him to them, and they respond by demand- 
 ing His death in loud cries. This weak magistrate, 
 having tried in vain to speak to them by the touch- 
 ing spectacle of the sufferings of Jesus, endeavors 
 to bend them by reminding them again of His qual- 
 ity of King, and of the recognized falsehood of all 
 the accusations accumulated against Him. The peo- 
 ple excited by the priests, cry out with renewed 
 rage: ''Let Him be crucified !'' 
 
 Then by a judgment unique in the history of all 
 ages, this prevaricating judge, at the same time that 
 he condemns Jesus to death, proclaims His inno- 
 cence in these ever memorable words: "I am inno- 
 cent of the blood of this just man." To leave an 
 eternal and characteristic memorial of this contra- 
 dictory sentence, he has water brought to him and 
 washes his hands in presence of the whole multitude. 
 In this unique judgment visibly shines forth the just 
 judgment, declared in heaven by the Eternal Father, 
 and willingly submitted to on earth by His beloved 
 Son. Yes, Jesus is innocent! He is the Just by ex- 
 cellence, He is Sanctity itself; but man whose place 
 He has taken is guilty, guilty of the crime of revolt 
 against the Divine Majesty — behold the mystery of 
 the apparent contradiction between the declaration 
 of Pilate who openly recognizes the innocence of 
 Jesus, and the sentence by which he condemns Him 
 to the last torture. 
 
 O ! who can tell with what inexpressible joy Jesus 
 hears this sentence of death, veritable sentence of 
 life for the children of Adam? Who could express 
 
 234 
 
the eagerness with which He seizes the cross pre- 
 sented to Him and presses it to His Heart? This 
 new Isaac lovingly taking on His shoulders the wood 
 for His sacrifice, prepares to ascend the mountain 
 on which He will immolate Himself for the salva- 
 tion of the world. It is true that the exhausted 
 strength of His body no longer responds to that of 
 His love; He will fall several times under the weight 
 of this burden, He will be forced to accept the aid 
 of the Cyrenean; but this weakness and the relief 
 which He receives will enter into the economy of 
 our redemption. We shall there find new strength 
 to rise from our falls, and ineffable consolation in 
 all our trials and afflictions; for these sufferings, if 
 I accept them with faith and love, are the very suf- 
 ferings of Jesus which I share — they assure me then, 
 a share in the graces which He has merited for us, 
 and ample recompense for eternity = 
 
 At last, Jesus has arrived at the summit of the 
 mount of sacrifice. His feet and His hands extended 
 with effort, are cruelly pierced and nailed to that 
 Cross which He has dragged so far with so much 
 suffering and fatigue. Ah! it is not without a great 
 design of mercy that He has chosen this frightful 
 torment, and that He remains thus immovable, fas- 
 tened by horrible wounds to this mysterious wood 
 during long hours, without consolation, without re- 
 lief, having only vinegar and gall to quench the 
 thirst which devours Him, nothing whereon to rest 
 His adorable head, and unable to make any move- 
 ment without augmenting His insupportable suffer- 
 ings. In this state He merits for us the grace to 
 nail with Him to His Cross, our passions, our vices, 
 and all the sallies of our rebellious flesh. He ren- 
 ders, finally, His last sigh with a loud cry, which 
 attests at the same time His Divinity and the ex- 
 treme anguish of His sacred Humanity. Ah! let 
 me now contemplate for my salvation Him whom 
 I have thus pierced. 
 
 235 
 
Divine Redeemer! Not content with offering us 
 the price of our ransom, Thou becamest Thyself 
 this inestimable price. Our souls were wounded and 
 sick and Thou, charitable Physician, offerest the 
 remedy which must cure them, and this remedy is 
 Thyself. This it is that absorbs, so to speak, all the 
 attention of Thy spirit which cannot be cast down 
 by so many sufferings. This is the great and one 
 thought which occupies Thy holy soul during the 
 whole course of Thy sorrowful Passion. This it is 
 which maketh Thee to speak and to be silent. If 
 Thou openest Thy mouth on ascending Calvary, and 
 if Thou consolest the pious women who follow Thee, 
 it is to turn their compassion from Thy sufferings 
 to those which are to strike a people which denies 
 Thee. If, from the height of the Cross, a few words 
 fall from Thy dying lips, it is again to pardon, to 
 console, and to instruct — praying for Thy execu- 
 tioners opening heaven to the good thief, leaving 
 Thy holy Mother to the beloved Disciple, and to 
 all men in his person; complaining of Thy abandon- 
 ment in order to make known to us the desolation 
 to which our sins have reduced Thy soul. Thou 
 sayest: "I thirst," and thus discoverst to us Thy 
 great desire for the salvation of souls. Finally, "in 
 remitting Thy soul into the hands of Thy Father," 
 after having solemnly declared that "all is consum- 
 mated;'' Thou givest a new and sublime example of 
 Thy submission to the orders of Thy Father. Thou 
 dost declare that Thou hast accomplished all that 
 He had ordained for my salvation, and that Thou 
 dost die by obedience. 
 
 O Jesus Crucified! Thou art a book open to all 
 people, to all future generations, where each can 
 contemplate and learn all the essential truths: the 
 greatness of God, His infinite justice. His ineffable 
 mercy, the value of our soul, the enormity of sin, 
 the chastisement it merits, and finally the inexpres- 
 sible love of our Redeemer. In contemplating this 
 book, this divine image, each should and ought to 
 
 236 
 
say: "He has loved me and delivered Himself for 
 
 me. 
 
 my Saviour, how little have I read of this ad- 
 mirable book! How little have I applied myself 
 to study and learn that which is so important for me 
 to know! How slightly have I been touched by that 
 excessive charity, carried even to the folly of the 
 Cross! Alas, how weak has been my love in com- 
 parison with Thine, or rather is it not an insult to 
 say that I love Thee, offering Thee sentiments so 
 unworthy of Thy extreme tenderness? Should I 
 not abyss myself in a sorrowful confusion, seeing 
 that I do so little for Thee, my Creator and my Re- 
 deemer — I, Thy creature, covered with Thy bless- 
 ings and redeemed by Thee at so high a price, since 
 it is by the very Blood of the Son of God, Immacu- 
 late Lamb which has expiated the sins of the world! 
 
 "Ah! the charity of Jesus presseth me, considering 
 that if one has died for all, all being dead, and if 
 He has given His life in order that we may live, our 
 life belongs no longer to us, but to Him who has 
 died for us." Oh pressing consequence! I belong no 
 longer to myself, O Jesus, my loving Redeemer, I am 
 Thine! I am Thy conquest and I wish, cost what 
 it may, to live only for Thee. Tear me from myself; 
 take from me all my supports; disembarrass me 
 from all those affections, from all those researches, 
 from all those attachments to creatures and to my- 
 self, which envelop me as with a sad vesture; in or- 
 der that despoiled, as Thou hast been, I may be at- 
 tached through love to Thy Cross, remaining united 
 to Thee on this bloody and sorrowful bed, and thus 
 attain an eternal union with Thee in heaven, Amen. 
 
 LECTURE. 
 
 Devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament. 
 
 As the life of Carmel is entirely consecrated to 
 the exercise of holy love, the life of Jesus in the Most 
 Blessed Sacrament, which is the most perfect model 
 
 237 
 
as well as the source of the most ardent charity, is 
 therefore the object of the most particular devotion. 
 It is there that the Religious of this holy Order 
 should enkindle in her heart the flames of that per- 
 fect love with which she should be animated. Thus 
 devotion to the Blessed Sacrament holds, in Carmel, 
 the first rank. 
 
 The end proposed in this Institute is divine union. 
 What means more sure, more prompt, more sweet 
 of attaining this love, than receiving this Adorable 
 Sacrament! Nor can we doubt this truth when we 
 hear Jesus Christ addressing to His disciples these 
 admirable and astonishing words: "As the living 
 Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so 
 he that eateth me the same also shall live by me!'' 
 We see indeed, that the Saviour compares the union 
 which He contracts with the soul in the Holy Sac- 
 rament, to His union with His Heavenly Father, 
 which is the closest and most noble that can be 
 imagined. Thus as the Father is in the Son and 
 the Son in the Father, the same, my analogy how- 
 ever, in Holy Communion our Lord is in us and we 
 in Him, and by our union with His Humanity, we 
 ascend to His Divinity. God the Father unites Him- 
 self to His Son in unity of essence by begetting Him 
 eternally; the Son unites Himself to man in the In- 
 carnation by unity of person, and then to all men by 
 unity of the Sacrament; and by means of the union 
 which He gives them with His Humanity, He unites 
 them with His Divinity and through Himself to His 
 Father. Behold the term of the Incarnation of the 
 Word coming from the bosom of His Father to de- 
 scend into the womb of Mary, to come to us; it is 
 for this reason and with all justice and truth, that 
 the reception of the Holy Eucharist is called the ex- 
 tension of the Incarnation. 
 
 But it is not enough to renew daily on the Altar, 
 and continue until the end of time, the sacrifice 
 which He offered on the Cross for the salvation of 
 the world, and to apply to us the fruits of it in Holy 
 
 238 
 
Communion; He wishes to remain with us day and 
 night in our Holy Tabernacles, a prisoner of love, 
 to the end that we may be always sure of finding 
 Him there and of receiving from Him all the bless- 
 ings, all the assistance, all the consolation of which 
 we have need in this valley of tears. Seated on His 
 Throne of Mercy, He is always ready to welcome us, 
 to listen to us, and to grant all the requests which 
 we will come to make to Him for His glory and for 
 our salvation. Who can number the holy souls who 
 have found their delight in these loving conversa- 
 tions with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, who have 
 passed days and nights contemplating the marvels 
 therein enclosed, uniting their prayers and their im- 
 molations with His, praying for the conversion of 
 sinners and their own sanctification. 
 
 More happy than the Israelites traveling in the 
 desert toward the promised land where the tribes 
 camped round the figurative tabernacle, while the 
 cloud which covered them — darkness for the Egyp- 
 tions — enlightened this chosen people, the Religious 
 of Carmel ranged round the true Tabernacle of the 
 new Alliance, traveling toward the true land of 
 promise, through the desert of life, are enlightened 
 by the rays of this true light, while the world re- 
 mains plunged in the darkness of ignorance and in- 
 credulity. These divine rays not only shine over the 
 place particularly consecrated to prayer, they pene- 
 trate all parts of the monastery and into each cell 
 in particular, so that there is no place where this 
 Divine Presence should not be felt, awakening in the 
 soul sentiments of profound piety, and maintaining 
 in it modesty and recollection. For this reason, the 
 interior of the monastery ought to inspire silence, 
 and it can never be troubled nor interrupted by use- 
 less conversation and untimely noise v/ithout detri- 
 ment to the respect due to the holy presence of God. 
 
 After these considerations, it is easy to understand 
 why devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament is one 
 
 239 
 
of the Mother devotions of the holy Order of Mount 
 Carmel, and what this devotion should be. It ought 
 to be for the Carmelite an esteem and a love pro- 
 portioned to the greatness of the benefits contained 
 in this mystery, the master-piece of the love of God, 
 the abridgment and the memorial of all His marvel- 
 ous works. Now, the Eucharist being the Sacra- 
 ment by excellence which exhausted, so to say, the 
 divine omnipotence, since God could give us noth- 
 ing better, nothing greater, nothing sweeter, nor in 
 a more perfect manner; the faith of the Religious 
 soul in this mystery, her love, her respect, her zeal 
 should have no other limits than her power, always 
 infinitely below the blessings contained in the 
 Blessed Sacrament. Considering then that in the 
 Tabernacle is hidden not only the greatest treasure 
 which she has in the world, but her one, only, and 
 sovereign good, her heart remains there, always en- 
 closed with this great object of her love, according 
 to these words of Jesus Christ: "Where thy treasure 
 is, there is thy heart also/' Therefore, without re- 
 turning here to the dispositions which she should 
 bring to the Holy Sacrifice, because this has been 
 sufficiently treated of already, she should apply her- 
 self continually to reanimate her faith and veneration 
 for this Adorable Sacrament, referring to it all her 
 works, and finding in it the assistance and consola- 
 tion of which she has need in the trials and tempta- 
 tions to which she is continually exposed. She 
 should redouble her respect and affection every time 
 she approaches the place where Jesus resides, or 
 touches the objects that serve for His worship. 
 
 But it is above all in her preparation for Holy 
 Communion, that she will display her zeal and her 
 fervor. Being indeed obliged by her Rule to fre- 
 quent Communion she cannot pay too much atten- 
 tion to the preparation, for inasmuch as this holy 
 
 240 
 
banquet is advantageous to a soul who brings to it 
 holy dispositions, so it is dangerous and sometime* 
 injurious to the one who approaches only with tep- 
 idity: for familiarity with holy things, when it passes 
 into routine, produces a certain hardness of heart and 
 blindness of spirit, the least result of which is the 
 abuse of the most precious of graces. 
 
 To avoid this misfortune so common in commu- 
 nities, Carmelite Religious ought to recall the 
 thought of their holy Mother, St. Teresa, who com- 
 pares the soul to a castle where there are several 
 dwellings of which the last, which is the most retired 
 and the most beautiful, represents the sanctuary of 
 the will, that is to say, that superior part of which 
 God is so jealous, being very certain that when He 
 enters there and reigns as Master and as Spouse, the 
 soul is entirely His. Now that He may reach this 
 secret apartment of the spouse, the Religious soul 
 must open successively all the doors of the other 
 apartments. Without this care, He is received only 
 in the first, and sometimes is obliged to remain at 
 the door. To open these doors is nothing else than 
 to overthrow, by means of the mortification of the 
 senses, of the mind, of the judgment, and of the will, 
 the obstacles which our attachments, our lightness 
 our sensuality, our curiosity, our vanity, in a word 
 our self-love, place in the way of the graces which' 
 Jesus Christ would wish to grant up. When He is 
 received in Holy Communion by a tepid, negligent, 
 and unmortified soul, Hie remains as it were at the 
 entrance without penetrating intimately into the soul. 
 
 The first disposition of a Carmelite Religious for 
 Holy Communion should be a generous and constant 
 mortification, as well interior as exterior. She should 
 never present herself at the holy Altar to receive 
 the Adorable Victim, without first having performed 
 some mortification to prepare for this great act. 
 
 241 
 
To this disposition which may be called general, 
 she should add a more particular preparation which 
 will consist in proposing to herself each time she ap- 
 proaches the Holy Table, beside the ordinary inten- 
 tions — sufficiently indicated by the rules and habits 
 of piety — a particular end, which will always be a 
 virtue to acquire, a defect to correct, a victory to gain 
 over temptation or corrupt nature, or some other 
 spiritual good of which she may feel the importance 
 for her advancement in perfection. The moments 
 immediately following Communion are very precious 
 for offering these lively and reiterated petitions, be- 
 cause then the soul is united with Him whose prayer 
 is always heard by the Heavenly Father. Unhap- 
 pily, few persons know how to profit by so favora- 
 ble an occasion for obtaining everything from their 
 Divine Guest. 
 
 In fine, the Religious should not be less attentive 
 to excite in herself, the evening before, the most holy 
 desires for this Sacred Banquet by making fervent 
 and ardent aspirations — above all when going to rest 
 at night and in the morning on awakening — than to 
 converse during the rest of the day with Him Whom 
 she has received into her house. What means 
 sweeter, and at the same time easier and more ad- 
 vantageous for keeping us in the holy presence of 
 God, than to represent to ourselves Jesus Christ re- 
 siding in the sanctuary of our soul, seated on a 
 throne of love, always ready to listen to us and to 
 reprove us, according to the solemn promise which 
 He has made in these words: "He that eateth my 
 flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in Me and I in 
 him." 
 
 Oh! how deplorable to see so many Religious 
 who, forgetting this intimate union which they have 
 contracted in the morning with their Heavenly 
 Spouse, pass the entire day without thinking of it, 
 
 242 
 
without recollecting themselves to keep company 
 with Him who has come to dwell within them, to 
 fill them with every blessing. 
 
 EXAMEN ON THE LECTURE. 
 
 Have I a true devotion to the Holy Sacrament of 
 the Altar, being habitually filled and penetrated with 
 faith, respect, and love for this ineffable mystery of 
 the charity of Jesus Christ? 
 
 Is it in such sentiments that I enter the choir and 
 remain in the presence of the Adorable Sacrament? 
 Is it not only through custom, without sentiments 
 of humility, veneration, and love that I prostrate 
 on entering this holy place where He reposes, low- 
 ering my head to the dust and kissing the floor? 
 
 Have I not forgotten that the presence of Jesus 
 Christ in the Blessed Sacrament should be felt all 
 over the monastery, and that His divine eyes follow 
 me wherever I go, in the office or the cell where I 
 remain; and instead of making use of this thought 
 to keep myself constantly modest and recollected, 
 have I not given way to dissipation or to thoughts 
 foreign to my holy vocation? 
 
 Have I understood how essential it is not to abuse 
 frequent Communion, and how easy it is to fall into 
 this misfortune, by neglecting to reanimate my faith, 
 respect, and love for this great Sacrament with an 
 ardent desire to receive it? Have I prepared for it 
 by some act of mortification, by recollection, and by 
 ardent and repeated aspirations? 
 
 On the eve of my Communion days, has the hap- 
 piness of the morrow been my last thought at night, 
 and the first in the morning on awakening? Have 
 I always proposed some particular fruit to be drawn 
 from my Holy Communions, in order to sustain my 
 attention and devotion? 
 
 243 
 
Finally, have I not neglected to profit by the pre- 
 cious moments which follow Holy Communion, by 
 opening my heart to Jesus Christ, exposing to Him 
 my needs, and making my petitions, not ceasing to 
 pray until I have obtained all that I desire? 
 
 NOTE ON THE LAST DAY. 
 
 This last day of the Retreat is consecrated to the 
 exercises of the Unitive Life; not that the Religious 
 soul can flatter herself that she has attained to it 
 in so short a time, but she will go through an abridg- 
 ment of the degrees of this happy life. She has al- 
 ready seen in the preceding days which refer to the 
 Illuminative Life the means by which she can arrive 
 at this. 
 
 244 
 
TENTH DAY. 
 
 FIRST MEDITATION. 
 The Resurrection of Jesus. 
 
 "The Pharisees and chief priests being 
 assembled went to Pilate and said to him: 
 Sir, we remember that this seducer said dur- 
 ing his life: .. I will rise three days after my 
 death. Order therefore that his tomb be 
 guarded until the third day; lest perhaps 
 His disciples take away His body, and say 
 to the people, He is risen: and the last 
 error shall be worse than the first. Pilate 
 answered; you have a guard; go guard it as 
 you know. They going, sealed the sepulchre 
 and left soldiers to guard. However at the 
 first gleam of the third day, there was a great 
 earthquake. An Angel descended from 
 heaven, approached the tomb, and rolling 
 back the stone, sat upon it. The soldiers 
 were seized with great fear, and remained 
 as dead men. Some of them went and an- 
 nounced to the chief priests all that had 
 taken place. And the Angel of the Lord said 
 to the holy women who had come to embalm 
 the body of Jesus: fear not, He whom you 
 seek is risen."— St. John 19; St. Matthew 28; 
 St. Luke 24; St. Mark 16. 
 
 I adore Thee, O Divine Victor over death. Thy 
 enemies had thought to assure their triumph by obtain- 
 ing from Pilate Roman soldiers to guard Thy tomb, 
 and by placing the seals of the Empire thereon; but 
 what could the vain precautions of human wisdom do 
 against the designs of Thy divine wisdom? They 
 have only assured their defeat and Thy triumph. The 
 time of humiliations, sufferings, and persecutions is 
 forever passed for Thee. Clothed with Thy body, for 
 the future immortal, as with a glorious vesture, Thou 
 art going to enjoy Thy victory in peace, and rest from 
 Thy long labors and hard combats. But, what do I 
 say, Lord? I forget that this is not the object of Thy 
 triumph. If Thou didst die for me, it is also for me 
 that Thou hast risen to-day. If Thou hast been nailed 
 to the Cross to deliver us from our iniquities, by nail- 
 ing to it also the handwriting of the condemnation 
 we had merited, Thou hast come forth from the tomb 
 to restore me to immortality. Thy Resurrection must 
 be the model and pledge of mine. It is because Thou 
 
 245 
 
hast been resuscitated that I shall rise on the last day. 
 And it is not enough to assure thus to my body an 
 abundant participation in Thy glory to the end of 
 ages; Thou dost wish, even now, that I reap in my 
 soul fruits of Thy victory over death, by rising spirit- 
 ually, that is to say, by entering, even during this 
 mortal life, into a perfect state of detachment from 
 earthly things, and of elevation toward heavenly 
 things. Make me understand, Lord, the value of this 
 grace and the conditions necessary for meriting it. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 Nothing is more true or more consoling than this 
 truth; in virtue of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, if 
 I have the happiness of dying in His grace, not only 
 shall I come forth one day from the tomb with all 
 mankind, but I shall come forth clothed with a body, 
 beautiful, glorious, and incorruptible — a body more 
 brilliant than the sun, more indestructible than the dia- 
 mond, more agile than the eagle in its rapid flight 
 through the air. This glorious body will be given as 
 companion to my soul, which had shared here below 
 all the works of patience, of purity, of mortification, 
 and of penance. The old Adam had caused me to 
 lose immortality, the new Adam has restored it to me. 
 It is by faith in His glorious Resurrection that I receive 
 the first assurance of mine; but, above all, it is by 
 uniting me in Holy Communion with His glorified 
 Body, that I receive a more certain pledge of this 
 happiness, and more efficacious means of acquiring it. 
 Yes, the flesh of my Saviour is like a precious seed of 
 the Resurrection sown in my corruptible flesh which, 
 like a precious germ, will develop and transform my 
 body fallen into dust, into a body resplendent with 
 glory. Immortal graces have been given to Thee, O 
 Divine Victor, and though far above what I could 
 expect, deign to share Thy victory with me, a poor 
 creature. It is then true, O my Divine Redeemer, 
 that united one day with all the elect, "I shall see 
 Thee, and my eyes shall behold, and not another." I 
 shall contemplate Thee in the midst of the assembly 
 
 246 
 
of the Saints, I shall enjoy the sight of this magnificent 
 spectacle with this glorious company, and my happi- 
 ness shall be doubled because of the joy that shall be 
 mine in sharing it with this nation of brothers, con- 
 quered by Thy victories; and all together, under Thy 
 peaceful sceptre, we shall reign eternally with Thee. 
 O dear hope, hide thyself, sink hidden into my heart, 
 live and repose in my breast! Render me, therefore, 
 more generous to combat this flesh, to subject this 
 body a few days longer to the hard labor of mortifi- 
 cation, and to the privations which the law of the 
 Lord requires. It is thus that I shall be truly the 
 friend of my body, because I shall prepare it for such 
 great glory, for enjoyment so pure, beauty so perfect, 
 e» vesture so glorious. 
 
 Ah! when I flattered it, when I allowed it its liberty, 
 when I gave it a soft bed, when I clothed it richly, and 
 gave it its ease, then I was its enemy. But to-day, O 
 my Divine Saviour, I understand these words coming 
 from Thy divine lips: "He who hates himself for 
 eternal life loves himself truly." Grant me this holy 
 hatred of my flesh, a horror of all that flatters the 
 senses, in order I that may share more abundantly in 
 the glory of Thy Resurrection. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 The second fruit of the Resurrection of Jesus 
 Christ is a grace which raises us above the weakness 
 of nature, earthly attachments, affection for creatures, 
 and establishes us in a continual intercourse with God. 
 It is this grace which Saint Paul refers to in these 
 words: "If you be risen with Jesus Christ, seek the 
 things that are above where Jesus Christ sits at the 
 right hand of God. Mind the things of heaven, not 
 those that are upon earth." 
 
 We must not confound this happy state of spiritual 
 resurrection of which we are speaking, with the state 
 of grace, which is common to all souls exempt from 
 mortal sin. It is much more elevated, more excellent. 
 By its happy effects, it establishes the soul in a manner 
 almost unalterably fixed in the love of her Divine 
 Spouse. 
 
 247 
 
The Apostle St. Paul describes the different char- 
 acteristics of the spiritual resurrection. In considering 
 them attentively, I shall be inflamed with a desire to 
 attain them, and shall see how far I have succeeded 
 in this during my Retreat, destined to operate this 
 happy resurrection. These characteristics are drawn 
 from the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ: 
 
 1 . Jesus Christ is truly risen, surrexit vere. Is my 
 resurrection true? Have I really risen from the tomb 
 of my vices, of my immortincations, of my tepidity, of 
 my attachment to self, from my self-love and self-will? 
 Am I truly changed, and resolved to live for the fu- 
 ture as a true Carmelite? Is my heart changed, does 
 it now belong as much to God as it formerly did to 
 creatures and to myself? 
 
 2. Jesus Christ is not only risen, but He shows 
 Himself such to a great number of persons, and on 
 many occasions they see Him, touch Him, hear Him 
 speak, and see Him eat, act, etc. It is by my actions 
 that it will be seen and that I myself will recognize 
 whether I am truly risen: for my conduct marked by 
 obedience, mortification, regularity, fidelity, charity, 
 the reserve of my words, and even the expression of 
 my face and modesty of my eyes should show and 
 prove to all that I am truly risen. Thus I shall repair 
 the disedification formerly given by my dissipation, 
 my lightness, and the intemperance of my words. 
 
 3. In showing Himself to men, to His Apostles, 
 and to the holy women, Jesus Christ appears only as 
 long as is necessary for the glory of God, His Father, 
 and the strengthening of their faith. After that He 
 withdraws from their sight; not that He abandons His 
 stay upon earth, but while remaining here, He is en- 
 tirely occupied with His communications with His 
 Heavenly Father— —communications so intimate and 
 ineffable that they surpass all the conceptions of ce- 
 lestial intelligences, and which no human tongue can 
 describe. Behold the third characteristic of the happy 
 spiritual resurrection on which I am meditating. The 
 soul having reached this state can converse no longer 
 with creatures, except for the glory of God, or to 
 
 248 
 
fulfill the precept of charity toward her neighbor. 
 Conversations, occupations and relaxations in which 
 she does not find the enjoyment of her God are in- 
 supportable to her. Alas, until now, how far I have 
 been from this happy disposition! 
 
 4. Finally, "Jesus Christ risen from the dead dies 
 no more," says Saint Paul. The soul, having arrived 
 at this state of happiness, has so great a relish for the 
 things of faith, and attains by this supernatural taste 
 to such a contempt of all the goods and all the pleas- 
 ures of earth, that it is, as it were, confirmed in grace 
 and established in the love of its God, and therefore 
 with a little fidelity, should no more die to the spirit- 
 ual life. Ah, how precious is this privilege of the Re- 
 surrection, and to acquire it, how easy should every 
 sacrifice and suffering appear! 
 
 Now the conditions by which I shall infallibly at- 
 tain to it, are all included in the faithful fulfillment of 
 my Rule, which is one of crucifixion, death, and of 
 burial. If Jesus Christ passed through these different 
 states before rising again, is it not necessary that I also 
 pass through them before reaching the spiritual resur- 
 rection? I must be crucified with Him: for says the 
 Apostle, Saint Paul, "they that are Christ's have cru- 
 cified their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences." 
 This explains the continual mortification prescribed by 
 the Rule of Carmel. If the Religious soul enters gen- 
 erously and faithfully into this practice, she will be 
 aided by the Holy Spirit, Who will teach her the 
 science of that war which she must declare on her 
 senses; and if she persevere therein, she will die at last 
 that mystical death of Jesus on the Cross. 
 
 Happy state in which this soul, for the future a 
 stranger and, as it were, dead to all that passes, to 
 all that is said or done around her, remains indifferent 
 to all except what concerns the glory of God, and 
 touches the accomplishment of His most holy will. 
 But the requirements of grace go still farther; Jesus 
 
 249 
 
Christ after His death was buried and placed in a 
 tomb; and this burial of Our Lord has brought forth 
 a grace of spiritual burial, by which the soul, already 
 dead to all things, is yet more profoundly buried and 
 hidden from creatures and from herself, to be known 
 only to God alone; until Jesus Christ, seeing in her a 
 spirit of life, raises her to that spiritual resurrection 
 described by Saint Paul. 
 
 Yes, Carmel is a Calvary where the flesh is cruci- 
 fied ; it is a tomb where the soul is buried, in order that, 
 disengaged from its earthly bond, it may rise with 
 Jesus to a new life, by perfect union with its Divine 
 Spouse. Nature shudders at such a destruction; it 
 Seeks to change the requirements of the divine union; 
 it would wish to satisfy them by some acts of exterior 
 mortification; but when it must come to that death to 
 all things, and to descend into that tomb where she is 
 no more occupied with creatures or they with her, she 
 recoils affrighted: this is why so few souls, in this holy 
 and perfect Order of Carmel, attain the perfection of 
 
 their state. 
 
 I 
 
 Ah! when I consider that a solitary of Carmel, by 
 the sole effect of the grace of her vocation and of the 
 practices attached to it, can and should arrive at this 
 spiritual resurrection, so as to have no more taste for 
 anything of this earth, aspiring only to things above, 
 conversing with the Angels in heaven far more than 
 with men on earth; what confusion to see myself, after 
 so many years, still so far from the term which I should 
 have reached. How is it that I am still so natural, so 
 attached to creatures and to myself? O Jesus, Divine 
 Conqueror of death! Draw me after Thee, out of this 
 tomb where I languish; give me the grace which Thou 
 hast merited for me, to crucify my senses and to die 
 to all, in order to live truly in Thee, for Thee, and 
 with Thee alone. Amen. 
 
 250 
 
SECOND MEDITATION. 
 
 The Ascension of Jesus. 
 
 "They saw Him raised up: and a cloud 
 received Him out of their sight. And as they 
 were beholding Him going up to heaven, two 
 men in white garments stood by them and 
 said: Ye men of Galilee, why stand you 
 looking up to heaven? This Jesus who is 
 taken up from you into heaven, shall so come 
 as you have seen Him go into heaven." — Acts 
 of the Apostles, 1—9, 10, 11. 
 
 What a ravishing spectacle for my faith, O my 
 Jesus, is Thy glorious Ascension and return to Thy 
 Father. Thou dost leave at last this earth which Thou 
 hast sanctified by Thy presence, purified by Thy 
 Blood, and enlightened by Thy teaching. Thou dost 
 return to the bosom of Thy Father, from which Thou 
 didst come forth, and in taking Thy seat at His right 
 hand, Thou dost bring there the whole human race of 
 which Thou art the head and representative. Thou 
 goest to prepare a place for Thy elect, for, O my Sa- 
 viour, in Thy triumphs as in Thy sufferings, it is still 
 man that Thou hast in view. For me Thou wast im- 
 molated, for me Thou didst rise from the dead, and 
 to-day, it is again for me that Thou goest to take 
 possession of Thy kingdom. Ah! Lord, give me the 
 grace to open my heart to this hope, so that for the 
 future my thoughts may be entirely with Thee, and at 
 the same time to render myself more worthy of that 
 glory. I may live in the expectation of that great day 
 when, as the Angels tell us, Thou shalt descend from 
 heaven in the same manner in which Thou didst go 
 up. Thus my heart, piously balanced between fear 
 and hope, shall become more and more attentive and 
 faithful to profit by the means of sanctification offered. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 It is not without a design well marked by Divine 
 Providence, that Jesus terminates in view of His dis- 
 ciples, His career of suffering and glory on earth, by 
 His triumphant Ascension. In raising Himself to 
 heaven before their eyes by His own power, as He 
 had raised Himself from the dead, He places the finish- 
 
 251 
 
ing touch to the numerous testimonies of His divine 
 mission, and at the same time, gives a last and im- 
 portant lesson on the end of their labors and the only 
 object of their ambition and their efforts. In resum- 
 ing thus, the road to His heavenly Kingdom, He dis- 
 sipates the gross illusion of His disciples, who asked 
 Him a few moments before whether He would re- 
 establish the Kingdom of Israel: and He teaches not 
 only His Apostles, but the faithful of all time, who 
 are to enjoy by faith the magnificent spectacle 'of His 
 Ascension, not to rest their desires and their hopes on 
 things here below, but to raise toward the heavenly 
 country all the thoughts of their minds, all the de- 
 sires of their hearts, and to dwell there by faith; so 
 that their conversations be no more with men on earth, 
 but with Angels in heaven. 
 
 Such is the fruit of this glorious mystery — a lively 
 faith or rather an anticipated possession of heaven, 
 in the person of our Brother, our Spouse, and our Di- 
 vine Saviour, so that our thoughts, our desires, be more 
 in heaven than on earth. This grace, attached to the 
 Mystery of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 is well expressed by these words of the Apostle : "You 
 are dead; and your life is hid with Christ in God; 
 when Christ shall appear, who is your life, then you 
 also shall appear with Him in glory." Behold the 
 fruit of this glorious Ascension, for the soul that is dead 
 to all things on earth: to live with Jesus Christ in 
 heaven, and finally to return with Him in glory and 
 happiness, when He shall again appear on earth, to 
 commence that reign which shall have no end, after 
 having pronounced judgment on all men. 
 
 Our Holy Father Saint John of the Cross teaches 
 that by this hope for the goods of the other life, the 
 Religious soul dies more really and more completely to 
 the things of earth, than by any other means. Thus, 
 while, by continual mortification, she detaches herself 
 and succeeds in dying to all earthly affections, soon 
 rising to a new life she reaches a state more perfect 
 still — that of the spiritual ascension, an eminent grace, 
 raising her above all created things, enabling her to 
 
 252 
 
dwell in spirit in heaven, according to these words of 
 Saint Paul: "Your life is hid with Christ in God.'* 
 But, alas, how far am I from this state, how different 
 my sentiments from what they should be! When, 
 then, O my Divine Jesus, shall I possess this happy 
 fruit which is a grace properly belonging to the holy 
 Order of Carmel? When shall I think of Thee alone, 
 and perfectly dead to all things around me, have no 
 other desire or expectation than that of contemplating 
 Thy glory in heaven? Oh, that I were, like the Pro- 
 phet, inspired by the Holy Spirit with these sublime 
 aspirations, which I desire to repeat with the same sen- 
 timents: "O Lord, how lovely are Thy tabernacles!" 
 "Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house!" "As the 
 thirsty stag pants after the fountains of living water, 
 so do I sigh for Thee, O Lord." "When shall I con- 
 template Thy face?" "Oh, how my exile is pro- 
 longed!" "On the rivers of Babylon they have asked 
 me to sing the canticle of Sion in a strange land?" Oh! 
 yes, let us keep for our heavenly home, the canticles 
 and hymns of joy and gladness; for me, in my solitude 
 of Carmel, 1 will sigh night and day like the lone spar- 
 row on the house-top, I will sigh like the dove, and 
 I will weep at the remembrance of Sion. 
 
 SECOND POINT. 
 
 While the Apostles, ravished with admiration, were 
 seeking with their eyes, Him Whom the cloud had 
 just hidden from view, the Angels descending from 
 heaven completed the instructions of this great day. 
 'Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking up to 
 heaven? This Jesus, Who is taken up from you into 
 heaven, shall so come as you have seen him going into 
 heaven." 
 
 Not for the Apostles alone were these words sol- 
 emnly pronounced, they are addressed to the rising 
 Church and contain important instruction for the 
 Church in all ages, placing it in a state of expectation 
 of the second coming of Jesus Christ. The Apostles, 
 and particularly Saint Paul, by these words, "the 
 
 253 
 
Lord is nigh," warn the faithful to keep themselves 
 in continual vigilance, accompanied by prayer and 
 fear, in expectation of the second coming of Jesus 
 Christ; as in the old law the just expected the first 
 coming of the Redeemer, and prepared for it by the 
 practice of all the virtues, so the faithful of 
 the new law should live in expectation of the 
 second coming, and prepare for it with all the more 
 care, since this last coming of Jesus Christ must be one 
 of terror and of justice. Thus the Divine Master con- 
 tinually warns us to watch and to pray without ceas- 
 ing, because of the uncertainty of the day of His com- 
 ing. Hence those numerous parables, where He re- 
 calls this obligation by the most striking comparisons: 
 now it is the vigilant servant with loins girded and 
 lamp in hand, awaiting the return of the Master; 
 again it is the virgins, who watch in order to follow 
 the Spouse when He shall arrive; but the same words 
 always terminate these comparisons — "Watch and 
 pray, for you know not the day nor the hour of the 
 Son of Man; know only that He will arrive when you 
 least expect Him: not to be surprised, you must watch 
 always." "As the men in the time of Noah, while 
 marrying, and building, and occupied with their or- 
 dinary affairs, were surprised by the deluge, and all 
 *it once buried in the waters; so will it happen to you 
 if you do not watch unceasingly." 
 
 This, then, O my Jesus, should be the disposition 
 of my soul: that of expectation — an expectation full 
 of vigilance, of fear, and of love, but where love is 
 greater than fear. Thou hast represented this expec- 
 tation by the faithful servant who loves his master, 
 and awaits his return to render an exact account of 
 his services during his absence — it is that of the bride 
 who awaits the return of her spouse. This expectation 
 is loving, but it is vigilant and generous. Therefore, 
 I should divide my life between mortification and 
 prayer. 
 
 Why, indeed, have I left the world? Why have I 
 renounced all occupation with the things of the earth? 
 Why have I broken the ties of flesh and blood? Is~ 
 
 254 
 
it not to occupy myself with the service of God alone, 
 and to have no other care than to please my Creator 
 and Redeemer, awaiting His coming like a wise virgin, 
 keeping the lamp of charity ever burning in my soul? 
 This, certainly, is the principal spirit of my vocation. 
 Behold the motive of those mortifications and those 
 continual exercises which oblige me to watch over all 
 my acts, all my thoughts, and to prepare myself for 
 the coming of the Spouse. 
 
 But, alas! until now, I have had so little of this 
 spirit! How far I am from that watchfulness over my- 
 self, from that care to mortify my senses and guard my 
 heart, which constitute Christian vigilance; and yet I 
 should be a faithful servant, with eyes always fixed 
 on the movements of my Master — a faithful Spouse, 
 preparing myself unceasingly for the return of Him 
 Whom I have come here to seek. Moreover, I am a 
 child of Elias — that great Prophet who, according to 
 an ancient and respected tradition, supported by the 
 formal texts of both the Old and the New Testament, 
 is destined to come at the end of time, to reawaken 
 men from their indifference and their mortal lethargy, 
 and to prepare them for the last coming of Jesus 
 Christ. It belongs, then, to the Solitaries of Carmel, 
 inheritors of his spirit, to keep up by their vigilance, 
 their profound recollection, and the practice of pen- 
 ance, this expectation of the Sovereign Judge of the 
 living and the dead. 
 
 O my Lord Jesus Christ, I wish, by Thy grace, to 
 enter into this spirit of expectation of Thy coming — 
 into this disposition of fear, of desire, and of love. 
 Grant that the mystery of Thy glorious Ascension may 
 produce in my soul these happy fruits. Raise me 
 above everything which is not Thee. Transform me 
 into Thyself, and render this transformation such that 
 I may never fall from this happy state. May my spirit, 
 O Jesus, rise unceasingly by its desires and thoughts 
 toward Thy eternal tabernacles, and dwell there in ad- 
 vance! May my heart, disengaged from all earthly 
 affections, regard Thee as the only object of its hope 
 and its love. May my soul, at last considering the 
 
 255 
 
earth only as a place of exile, hasten by its desires the 
 moment when, leaving the prison which retains its 
 captive, it can fly toward Thee, and take part in Thy 
 eternal triumph. Amen. 
 
 THIRD MEDITATION. 
 
 Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. 
 
 "The disciples were altogether in one place: 
 and suddenly there came a sound from 
 heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it 
 filled the whole house where they were sit- 
 ting. And there appeared to them parted 
 tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon 
 every one of them. And they were all filled 
 with the Holy Ghost."— Acts of the Apostles, 
 II, 1-5. 
 
 What, then, is this sacred fire which enlightens and 
 inflames the Apostles without consuming them, which 
 fills them with strength and wisdom; so that from men, 
 timid, gross, pusillanimous as they were, they are all 
 at once transformed into heroes, ready to undertake 
 all and to suffer all for the glory of their Divine Mas- 
 ter? O my Redeemer, I understand! This is the fire 
 which Thou earnest to bring to earth, and with which 
 Thou dost wish to inflame the whole world — it is the 
 divine fire of charity. Thus, dost Thou place the seal to 
 the admirable work of our redemption. The old Adam, 
 our unhappy father, has tainted his entire race with 
 self-love, one and fruithful source of sin; and Thou, 
 the new Adam, didst bring divine charity, in order 
 that we may establish it in our hearts, on the ruins 
 of self-love. Ah, my Saviour, give me now this per- 
 fect charity! Behold for ten days, after the example 
 of Thy Apostles, I have kept myself shut up in the 
 Cenacle, to await and receive at last this fire of divine 
 love, which is the fulfillment of the whole law — the 
 end and abridgment of all perfection. Ah! I implore 
 Thee, Lord, in finishing this Retreat, do not refuse me 
 this precious gift of Thy love: it alone can seal my 
 resolutions and help me to keep them. I ask it of 
 Thee through the intercession of Mary, who was, as it 
 were, the channel of the graces by which the Apostles 
 were inundated on this solemn day, and who must 
 be still for all Christians, and particularly for the child- 
 
 256 
 
ren of Carmel, the channel of that divine charity of 
 which she is the mother and the mistress. 
 
 FIRST POINT. 
 
 AH the evils, whether of body or soul, which deso- 
 late the human race, have their source in the dis- 
 ordered love of self, which our first father transmitted 
 to us with his fault. 
 
 Adam created in charity, in virtue of this inestim- 
 able gift which his Creator had superadded to his na- 
 ture, attached himself to God spontaneously and with- 
 out division, as to his principle and his end. He loved 
 all things and loved himself in God and for God, 
 recognizing that all comes from Him, and should re- 
 turn to Him. But as soon as, by the malice of the 
 demon, sin entered into the world, self-love established 
 itself in the degraded heart of man, who fell, all at 
 once, from the sublime heights of charity where His 
 Creator had placed him, into the frightful abyss of 
 egotism. He tried to make himself his God and his 
 end — a wicked attempt, as foolish as it is horrible, 
 whence have come forth all disorders and crimes. 
 From that time he commenced to seek his happiness, 
 not in God, source of all good and of all beauty, but 
 in the creature, in nothingness, in the flesh, and in 
 the world. For divine love was substituted love of 
 himself — gross and animal love, when man seeks in 
 his senses that happiness which flies from him ; diabolic 
 love, when it places him in the esteem of his own ex- 
 cellence; idolatrous love, when he seeks to find happi- 
 ness in the possession of some creature which he, in 
 his folly, prefers to that of the Creator. Turn and 
 return this truth as you will, you shall find that all 
 the sins committed on earth have their one source in 
 this disorderly love of self — self-love. It is the capi- 
 tal enemy, and inevitably the enemy of divine love. 
 
 Therefore, when the Holy Trinity take counsel for 
 the reparation of fallen man, what is the end of the 
 mission of the Son of God on earth? To re-enkindle 
 there divine love — "I am come to bring fire on earth 
 
 257 
 
and what would I, but that it be enkindled/' says Jesus 
 Christ. He has willed that this sacred fire be not an 
 accidental flame to be extinguished: it is the consub- 
 stantial love of the Father and the Son; it is the in- 
 created love which unites them in the Holy Trinity ; it 
 is the love which has been given to us, and which takes 
 possession of our souls in order keep them perpetually 
 in this sacred fire. Saint Paul teaches this in these 
 words: "The love of God has been given to us." 
 This love is then imparted to the Apostles to-day, and 
 makes of them new men — men all divine. I also will 
 be transformed by its virtue if I place no obstacle to 
 its flame, and allow my heart to be inflamed by it. 
 
 How admirable the effects of the Holy Spirit in souls 
 which He entirely possesses? Besides sanctifying 
 grace which is common to all the just, He imparts the 
 inestimable gifts of His love which become in them 
 like certain habits or permanent qualities, communi- 
 cating light to their minds, and to their wills a special 
 strength for loving and practising virtue. These gifts 
 are: Wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, 
 fortitude, piety, and fear, of! which the first 
 four enlighten our minds, and the other three af- 
 fect our wills. They are opposed to the fatal proper- 
 ties of self-love: to its wisdom, carnal and diabolic 
 wisdom, which enjoys only present and earthly things; 
 to that understanding which has aptitude and atten- 
 tion only for the things of the world; to its science 
 which inflates the heart and disappears with its object; 
 to its prudence — prudence of the flesh, which applies 
 itself entirely to the seeking and the acquisition of 
 earthly goods, honors, and pleasures. After having 
 thus enlightened the understanding with His celestial 
 lights, the Holy Spirit penetrates even to the inner- 
 most part of the human soul — the will. He fills it with 
 supernatural strength, enabling it to triumph over its 
 weakness in virtue of a secret unction which gives it a 
 taste and love for holy things, and finally, inspiring 
 that filial fear which makes it avoid even the appear- 
 ance of evil, in place of that fear, according to the 
 spirit of the world, of which the Prophet said: "They 
 
 258 
 
feared where there was nothing to fear,*' while they 
 had not feared sin, the only object worthy of fear. 
 
 O Holy Spirit, infinite love, ineffable bond of the 
 Father and the Son! Come to me, unite me to my 
 God, according to the prayer which my Saviour ad- 
 dressed to His Father, in order that I may be consum- 
 mated in unity. Pour into my soul Thy sacred gifts, 
 give that heavenly wisdom which will make me relish 
 Thee in all things. Give me the understanding of Thy 
 law and of the life and death of Jesus. Give me that 
 divine knowledge which will teach me to rise unceas- 
 ingly from the creature to the Creator; the gift of 
 counsel to choose always the surest way of perfection; 
 the strength to triumph over my rebellious will and 
 my flesh always ready to hinder me in the practice of 
 good. Grant me that piety full of unction and ardor 
 for the things of God, and that filial fear which will not 
 permit me to offend Thee in anything whatsoever. 
 Ah! if I had love, I should possess all these gifts, for 
 they are only the divine properties of charity. He 
 who loves has understanding, fortitude, wisdom — in 
 a word, he has all. Grant, then, at last that I may 
 love Thee, that I may think of Thee alone. 
 
 SECOND POINT 
 
 Whence comes it that, among souls animated by 
 sanctifying grace and honored consequently, by the 
 presence of the Holy Spirit — even among the spouses of 
 Jesus Christ, privileged inhabitants of Mount Carmel, 
 there are found so few who enjoy these divine proper- 
 ties of love, and those gifts the price of which, accord- 
 ing to the Holy Books, is far above the purest gold and 
 the most precious stones? Ah! it is because of their im- 
 perfections, their infidelities — in a word, it is self-love, 
 whose roots, badly extirpated from their hearts because 
 of want of mortification, restrain these eminent proper- 
 ties of holy love and prevent the exercise of therru 
 Thus these souls never reach that divine union, that 
 perfect union which is, nevertheless, the object and the 
 end of their vocaton. 
 
 259 
 
It is then very important that, before terminating 
 this Retreat, I consider the summit of the sublime 
 Mountain of Carmel to which I have been conducted 
 by a succession of meditations that are, as it were, the 
 development of the practical truths of Religion. Now 
 this summit is divine charity — perfect love, the love of 
 God obtained by immolation of self, the transforma- 
 tion of my whole self into the being of God, my Be- 
 ginning and my End, my one and sovereign good. 
 This is the height to which I am called, to which I 
 should tend, and which I shall infallibly reach, if I am 
 faithful to my vocation, that is to say, if I enter gen- 
 erously and perseveringly into the practices and the 
 spirit of the Rule of this Holy Order of the Blessed 
 Virgin Mary, Mother and Mistress of fair love, whose 
 incomparable charity is proposed to me as the model 
 of the love to which I should aspire. 
 
 In effect, divine love can be established in a soul 
 only on the ruins of self-love. Thus, by a little re- 
 flection on the spirit of the Rule, Constitutions, and 
 practices of the holy Order of Carmel, I recognize with 
 admiration, that the spirit of God has inspired every 
 point to make war to death on self-love, pursuing it 
 everywhere and always, chasing it from its strong- 
 holds, in order to leave the soul wholly free for divine 
 love. Self-love is first attacked in the flesh by the pre- 
 scription of a universal and continual mortification, by 
 that law of a fierce and constant war which the soul 
 must make on the senses, allowing them no rest, no sat- 
 isfactions except those which necessity requires, and 
 not even taking any complacency in these. Then this 
 Divine Spirit goes on, continuing its work of destruc- 
 tion, carrying its holy requirements into the most inti- 
 mate recesses of mind and heart. For the mind it 
 permits no curiosity, preoccupation, remembrance, no 
 attention to persons or things the sight and thought of 
 v/hich could turn it from the one object which should 
 or;cupy it. To the heart, it forbids the love of crea- 
 tures, the desire of their approbation, the affection of 
 relatives, of friends, of objects the most innocent in 
 appearance, but which could occupy it uselessly. It 
 
 260 
 
goes so far as to demand entire death of the will, re- 
 quiring the soul to live only to obey the Rule and 
 superiors, to submit all its sentiments to theirs: that is 
 to say, that she then lives in God, since the will of su- 
 periors is for her the faithful expression of the divine 
 will. The generous soul is sustained, in the midst of 
 these sacrifices and of this warfare, by the love which 
 increases with her victories. She encourages herself to 
 correspond more and more with the requirements of 
 this sacred love; she avoids even a look, a useless 
 word, in order not to lose the least of its favors or in- 
 terrupt, for an instant, any of its holy exercises. 
 
 Ah! Lord, I recognize to-day, if I do not love Thee 
 with that royal charity which should be found in every 
 soul in Carmel, it is because I have not satisfied its re- 
 quirements ; it is because I have loved myself too much, 
 and have not practised that renunciation, that hatred 
 of self, which Thou hast so much recommended to 
 those who would follow Thee, or rather hast imposed 
 as a rigorous condition of their union with Thee. O 
 God, my supreme good, I wish to love Thee now, I 
 wish to love Thee at any cost; I wish to love Thee with 
 that perfect love which will make me despise, hate, 
 and immolate myself entirely. In this Retreat Thou 
 hast made me see and understand the conditions of 
 this divine love; with Thy grace, O Lord, I will fulfill 
 them. While waiting until, by my works and renun- 
 ciations, I can prove this love, let me make to-day a 
 generous protestation, a firm act from the depths of 
 my soul, which will influence all the rest of my life. I 
 shall renew this act every day and prolong it by ar- 
 dent aspirations, to be repeated every instant of my 
 existence. 
 
 Yes, I wish to love Thee with my whole soul, with 
 my whole mind, and with all my heart, O Jesus, my 
 Saviour, O God! sovereign beauty, sovereign good- 
 ness, O God who art all love! Ah! how can we help 
 loving Love, when we have received the pledge of 
 the Holy Spirit — Love itself? This Spirit, the Spirit 
 of Jesus Himself — principle of all His life, all His acts, 
 of all the immolations which He offered for the glorv 
 
 261 
 
of His Father — has been given to me in Baptism. In 
 Confirmation I received the plenitude of it, and an 
 ever new and more abundant communication is given 
 each time that I am nourished with His Adorable 
 Body. In receiving Thee, O my Jesus, I have within 
 me the object, the principle, the means, and the very 
 act of my love. 
 
 Ah! how is it, in the midst of these flames, that I 
 do not burn? Why, in the bosom of love, inundated 
 by love, should I not love? How could I not love 
 that beauty ever ancient, ever new, that goodness in- 
 effable in all its gifts, that miercy ever ready to pardon 
 and to forget, that wisdom so amiable and so admira- 
 ble? How not love that Father "of whom all pater- 
 nity in heaven and earth is named," and His Son, the 
 Word and image of His substance, and that Spirit, in- 
 effable bond of the one and the other — consubstantial. 
 eternal, infinite, adorable love! O Father! O Son! O 
 Holy Spirit! Adorable Trinity, my Beginning and 
 my End ; I say no more that I wish to love Thee, but 
 I do love Thee, because I unite myself with Thee and 
 love Thee with Thyself; for Thou alone canst worthily 
 love Thyself. 
 
 For the future, then, my life shall be but one exer- 
 cise of love. What ever I do shall be all for Thee — 
 all my thoughts, all my words, all my acts, all the 
 movements of my heart shall have no other end, no 
 other principle than love. In repose as in labor, in 
 sleep and in watching, I shall think of Thee alone, I 
 will live only for Thee, that, possessing Thee in time 
 by grace, I may possess Thee in eternity by glory. 
 Amen. 
 
 LECTURE. 
 
 DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 
 
 Since devotion to the most Holy and Immaculate 
 Mother of God belongs essentially to the spirit of Car- 
 mel, it is only just to terminate these considerations 
 and this entire Retreat by treating of devotion to Mary. 
 As all Christians are obliged to render to the august 
 
 262 
 
Queen of Heaven that special homage due to her alone, 
 it is important to consider what I owe to her as a 
 daughter of the Church, before examining what I owe 
 to her as a child of Carmel. 
 
 The dignity of this adorable creature, the sublim- 
 ity of her title of Mother of God, her many and singu- 
 lar privileges, the ineffable grandeur of her perfections, 
 the eminence of her virtues, and above all her incom- 
 parable charity, her devotion to the glory of God and 
 the salvation of men, surpass all that can be said or 
 imagined. Her glory and her virtues so far exceed 
 all those of the Angels and saints united, that the 
 Doctors of the Church fail in expression when they 
 wish to describe them. St. John Chrysostom, in par- 
 ticular, says that her soul contains eminently all that 
 there ever has been or ever will be of the most sub- 
 lime perfection in heaven and on earth. Provided 
 that, in praising her, we do not exceed the just limits 
 fixed by faith, admitting the infinite distance between 
 the creature and the Creator, and recognizing her 
 grace and her beauty as the work of God Himself, 
 our praises and our homage will always be far below 
 her glory and her merits. Far then from fearing to 
 say or to imagine too much of this lovely Queen, let 
 us sigh that we know so little, and can only lisp when 
 Ave speak of her greatness and her perfections. 
 
 Although we know in general the great privileges 
 and sublime dignity of Mary, there are few persons 
 who really know the high rank which she occupies, 
 not only in the work of our redemption and the es- 
 teem of the Church, but even in the thought of God. 
 Therefore, when some privileged souls, dazzled by 
 the knowledge which God has given them of this in- 
 comparable creature, make use of certain expressions 
 or praise her in terms proportioned to the sentiments 
 they have conceived, timid servants of Mary seem to 
 take fright. 
 
 However, the Church, pillar and foundation of 
 truth, fears not to call her our life, our hope, Mother 
 of Mercy, Mother of Divine Grace, and to apply to 
 her these words which seem to have been written only 
 
 263 
 
of eternal wisdom: "I was set up from eternity, and 
 of old before the earth was made. The depths were 
 not as yet, and I was already conceived; neither had 
 the fountains of waters as yet sprung out; the moun- 
 tains with their huge bulk had not as yet been estab- 
 lished; before the hills I was brought forth." Mary was 
 eternally in the thought of God; not as all other crea- 
 tures which God had foreseen coming forth from noth- 
 ingness, but in the distinguished rank which belonged 
 to her, that is to say, as the true Eve, the Mother of 
 all the living — the woman by excellence who was to 
 give birth to the Man-God type of creation, that image 
 on which the old Adam had been formed. God has 
 not separated, in His eternal decree, His Incarnate 
 Son from His Mother; this divine fruit is seen in His 
 thought on the tree which was to bear it; this mar- 
 velous flower is offered to Him on its stem, because 
 God has willed that the new Adam should come by 
 the way of generation, that He should have a mother, 
 in order that the family of which Jesus Christ is the 
 elder Brother should have one; that there should be a 
 mother in heaven — that there should be a maternity, 
 as there is, according to St. Paul, a Paternity which 
 is the source of the fecundity of all being. This is 
 the place which Mary occupies in the Incarnation, and 
 which will be hers in Redemption until its perfect ac- 
 complishment on Calvary, where uniting and offering 
 herself in the sacrifice with her Divine Son, taking the 
 title of our Mother, she will suffer the sorrowful travail 
 of it, and bring us forth to a new life by the immeasura- 
 ble sorrow of this immolation: truth admirably an- 
 nounced in the mysterious title which the Church gives 
 her of Mother of Divine Grace. Should we be aston- 
 ished, after this, that the Fathers of the Church call 
 her the Mediatrix of our Redemption, and endeavor 
 to inspire us with unlimited confidence in her supreme 
 power over the Heart of God? 
 
 But this is not sufficient for our confidence. What 
 would her ascendancy over the Heart of God be to 
 us, if her maternal heart did not constantly solicit 
 her to use it in our favor; or rather if God, in estab- 
 
 264 
 
lishing her the mother of all men, had not given her 
 a heart proportionate to the immense love which this 
 function would call for — a heart the master-piece of 
 grace, as the heart of a mother according to the flesh 
 is a master-piece of nature? Again this comparison 
 fails to do justice to the heart of Mary; since she re- 
 ceived, in recompense for the sacrifice which she of- 
 fered on the Holy Mountain, a love for her children 
 that corresponds to the designs of the mercy of God, 
 Who has placed her on a throne of love, unceasingly 
 to implore grace and mercy for them, and to bring 
 down upon their heads showers of blessings. Thus 
 we may say of Mary that her goodness equals her pow- 
 er, and that both are in a way without restriction and 
 without limit. 
 
 When we say of Mary that she is a mother, that 
 she is a virgin, that she is immaculate, these titles have 
 a meaning so profound, so elevated above our feeble 
 hghts, that we scarcely know what we say. When we 
 speak of her Immaculate Conception, we do not suf- 
 ficiently understand that this privilege is only the first 
 trait of that purity with which God wished to adorn 
 the soul of her whom He had eternally chosen to be 
 the ark of the covenant, His temple and His veritable 
 sanctuary. When we speak of her virginity, we under- 
 stand well the integrity of her body exempt from all 
 stain; but who knows, who admires in Mary other vir- 
 ginities far more glorious than that of her body — the 
 virginity of her mind which permits no thought foreign 
 to her supreme end, and the virginity of her heart, 
 which allows no affection, forms no design, conceives 
 no desire which has not for its end and object divine 
 love? In one word, she had as her portion all the 
 purity with which a creature could be endowed, so 
 that Holiness itself, in contemplating her, could ex- 
 claim: "Thou art all fair, my beloved, and there is 
 no spot in thee." What more shall we say to prove 
 how little we know of the marvels hidden in Mary? 
 That she was a virgin and a mother at the same time, 
 reversing all the laws of nature, unique privilege given 
 to her alone, prodigy which will never be repeated; 
 
 265 
 
hut do we think that we have now said all that there 
 is wonderful and divine in this virginal motherhood? 
 It is undoubtedly a miracle, and a miracle of the first 
 order, that a woman should become a mother without 
 ceasing to be a virgin; but there is nothing which we 
 cannot easily conceive with the assistance of the sov- 
 ereign power of God ; but the master-piece of omnipo- 
 tence, of mercy, and of divine wisdom, is that this 
 virgin, daughter of Adam, gives birth to a child who 
 is more than a man, who is the great Emmanuel — 
 that is to say, "God with us." 
 
 That a stem detached and planted in an arid soil 
 bears a fruit full of beauty and sweetness is marvel- 
 ous ; that this fruit be not of this world but of another, 
 not of earth but of heaven, is what passes all concep- 
 tion, and is the object of the admiration of the Angels; 
 it will be eternally the marvel of heaven, and should 
 be the subject of thanksgiving and praise on earth. 
 
 What shall we say of her fidelity in corresponding to 
 the graces with which God prevented her and in ren- 
 dering herself worthy, in so far as it depended on her, 
 of the privileges by which she had been distinguished? 
 If God has done such great things for Mary, what has 
 Mary not done for God! If she was called happy for 
 having borne and nourished the Saviour, she was much 
 more happy, according to the testimony of Jesus Christ 
 Himself, for having conceived in advance the Word 
 of God by her humility, for having preserved and nour- 
 ished Him by her fidelity, and for having brought Him 
 forth anew, at the foot of the Cross, by her incompara- 
 ble charity. Her crown and her glory consist far more 
 of the admirable virtues which she practised and the 
 part which she took in our redemption by her zeal, her 
 suffering, and her immolation, than of the privileges 
 with which she was enriched. 
 
 Likewise, as God willed the Redeemer to be an- 
 nounced by holy Prophets and prefigured by holy and 
 illustrious personages, so Mary, His Mother, had her 
 Prophets and her figures. The Holy Fathers are pleased 
 to recognize her in Esther, liberatrix of her people; 
 in the invincible Judith victorious over Holifernes. 
 
 266 
 
They have admired her fruitful virginity in the rod of 
 Aaron which blossomed in the shadow of the taber- 
 nacle; in the burning bush which burned without being 
 consumed; and again, in that little cloud which our 
 Holy Father Elias saw shedding a refreshing rain over 
 a land desolated by long drought. 
 
 Is it astonishing, after this, that the Church should 
 have assigned to Mary a special cultus, due to her 
 alone; that in her praises she seldom ever separates 
 the Son from the Mother; that the name of Mary 
 should constantly mingle with that of Jesus; and that 
 if at the beginning of her Offices she implores His as- 
 sistance, she terminates them by addressing her prayers 
 to her ? One cannot be a child of the Church without 
 making it a duty, a consolation, a happiness to be a 
 child of Mary, and paying to her each day a tribute 
 of praise, thanksgiving, and love. 
 
 But what, in regard to Mary, should be the senti- 
 ments and the homage of the children of Elias, of the 
 Solitaries of Carmel? We know there is a tradition 
 in this holy Order — tradition sanctioned by several 
 holy Pontiffs — that this Virgin Mother of the future 
 was shown to the holy Prophet, and that her expecta- 
 tion became, from that time, the subject of special de- 
 votion for the pious solitaries who dwelt on the holy 
 Mountain. Then when the world was awakened by 
 the preaching of the Apostles, the heirs of the spirit 
 of Elias were the first to range themselves beneath the 
 yoke of the Faith, and on Carmel arose the first chapel 
 built in honor of the Mother of God. They were the 
 first to take the name of servants of Mary, who was 
 regarded as their mother, their foundress, and their 
 model. The Rule which they followed was the expres- 
 sion of the charity of that incomparable Virgin, who 
 gave them her habit — symbol of that sublime perfec- 
 tion which they pledged themselves to practise — and, 
 later on, clothed them with the signal privilege of the 
 scapular, as the distinctive mark of their adopton. 
 
 The children of Carmel are then the privileged chil- 
 dren of Mary, and are obliged by this title to honor 
 her as their foundress, their superior, and their mother. 
 
 267 
 
It is for this reason that in this holy Order there is no 
 abbess, but simply a prioress — the most Holy Virgin 
 being regarded as the general Superior of the whole 
 Institute, and the Superior of each monastery in par- 
 ticular. 
 
 How can the Solitaries of Carmel prove themselves 
 worthy of the privileged title of first servants and 
 daughters of Mary? First of all, by clothing them- 
 selves with her spirit, with her charity as with a vesture 
 which is proper to them; this is the true habit with 
 which they should be clothed, and of which the holy 
 habit they receive from the hands of the Church is the 
 characteristic symbol. They should be clothed with 
 Mary, as St. Paul enjoins all Christians to be clothed 
 ■with Jesus Christ. Since Mary has been the most per- 
 fect and faithful imitator of Jesus Christ, by retracing 
 in their lives that of their Mother they retrace that of 
 her Son with a particular grace which renders them 
 still more agreeable to their Heavenly Spouse. There- 
 fore the Queen of Carmel, the Mother of fair love, ad- 
 dresses to them these words, far more true on her lips 
 than on those of St. Paul: "Be ye imitators of me as 
 I am of Jesus Christ." In vain would one wear the 
 habit of Carmel, without also putting on this interior 
 habit, the veil of the modesty and the purity of Mary, 
 the tunic of her humility, the mantle of her charity, the 
 girdle of her fortitude, the sandals of her fidelity, the 
 robe of her penitence and mortification. 
 
 As Mary is herself this Carmel, this holy Mountain 
 of perfection and charity, it is to her we should have 
 recourse, in order to ascend by its rugged paths to the 
 summit. We should call upon her at every moment 
 for the assistance of which we have need in our daily 
 combats, and say to her at each instant: 
 
 "Show thyself a Mother — 
 Offer Him our sighs, 
 Who, for us Incarnate, 
 Did not thee despise." 
 
 It is then by Mary that the children of Carmel should 
 go to Jesus and attain unto union with Him. From tJ>«« 
 
 268 
 
confidence in Mary, her true Mother, and from this 
 obligation to resemble her, zeal should arise in the 
 Religious soul, to profit by every occasion to prove 
 her love and to render homage to her. She will then 
 be happy to sing her praises, to ornament her images, 
 to invoke her at every hour, to beg her blessing on en- 
 tering or leaving her cell. She will have recourse to 
 her in her sufferings, in her temptations, and in her 
 discouragements; the better to receive the Body and 
 Blood of her Son, she will try to unite her heart to the 
 heart of Mary. She will pay to her with particular at- 
 tention the repeated tribute of the salutation of the 
 Angel, which we call the Rosary; a prayer so excellent 
 and which would be so fruitful, if at each decade we 
 renewed our piety, offering our fervent prayers to the 
 Mother, in unison with her Son, to obtain some special 
 grace; but a prayer the value of which is not known, 
 or the fruit of which is often lost through routine. 
 
 EXAMEN ON THE LECTURE. 
 
 Have I an esteem for the Most Holy Virgin, her 
 greatness, her virtues, and her power, conformable to 
 that of the saints, and in accord with my title of priv- 
 ileged daughter of Mary, Religious of Carmel? 
 
 In order to acquire this veneration and love for my 
 august and holy Mother, have I taken pleasure in med- 
 itating on the mysteries of her life, and in celebrating 
 the solemnities consecrated to honoring them? 
 
 In my meditations, at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, 
 and in my prayers, have I had recourse to her power- 
 ful mediation for advancing in general in the perfec- 
 tion of my state, and in particular to obtain the vic- 
 tory over my defects, and the acquisition of the vir- 
 tues most necessary for me? 
 
 Have I not limited myself to those devotions re- 
 quired by the Rule, in visiting her shrines or reciting 
 the prayers prescribed in her honor, without seeking 
 to reanimate my confidence in her goodness and her 
 maternal love? 
 
 269 
 
Have I not in particular to reproach myself with 
 precipitation and routine in the recitation of the Ro- 
 sary? 
 
 Is it not my want of devotion to the Most Blessed 
 Virigin and to my little zeal in her service, as well as 
 to my negligence in invoking her powerful intercession, 
 that I should attribute my little advancement in per- 
 fection ? 
 
 270 
 
PRAYER TO THE MOST HOLY VIRGIN. 
 
 To Conclude the Retreat. 
 
 O most Holy Mother of God, Queen of Carmel, in 
 terminating my Retreat, I humbly supplicate thee to 
 receive into thy hands the graces which thy Divine 
 Son has given me, with the resoluitons they have in- 
 spired, in order that thou mayst keep them and ob- 
 tain for me the grace to be faithful. For if abandoned 
 to myself, and left to my weakness and natural incon- 
 stancy, I will soon forget them; and in a few days will 
 again find myself with senses as little recollected, flesh 
 as unmortified, my mind as dissipated, and my heart 
 as little touched by the things of God as formerly; 
 and will fall back into the same old way — those exer- 
 cises with tepidity, meditations without devotion, Com- 
 munions without fruit, over which I have had so much 
 to sigh. It is necessary then that the Spirit of thy Di- 
 vine Son complete the work of my sanctification which 
 He has commenced during this Retreat. It is to thee 
 that I address myself, O Virgin Immaculate, in order 
 that, by thy powerful intercession, I may obtain from 
 God courage and perseverance. It is for thy glory, O 
 Mary, ornament of the holy Mountain of Carmel, since 
 although unworthy of it, I am a member of thy family, 
 and belong especially to thee. Suffer no longer in thy 
 house a soul so imperfect. May I die at last to myself 
 and to all creatures that, after thy example, my "life 
 may be hidden in God with Jesus Christ," and at the 
 last day I may appear with Him in glory, never more 
 to be separated from Him. Amen. 
 
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