Salesian Literature

Chapter 13:  Spiritual and sensible consolations and our conduct with regard to them

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God keeps this wonderful world in existence amidst constant change. Thus day passes into night, spring into summer, summer into autumn, autumn into winter and winter into spring.  One day never exactly resembles another: some days are cloudy, some rainy, some dry, some windy.  Variety gives great beauty to the universe.  It is the same with man, who has been called by the Ancients “an epitome of the world.”  He is never in the same state.  His life flows on earth like the waters which surge and swirl in a perpetual diversity of movements.  Sometimes he is lifted up by hope, sometimes cast down by fear; sometimes bent to the right by joys, sometimes to the left by sorrow.  Not one day nor one hour is exactly the same.

 

We can learn much from all this: we must try to keep a constant and unchanging balance of mind in the midst of this great variety of changes.  Though everything turns and changes about us, we must always remain firm, our eyes fixed on God seeking him and moving towards him.  A ship may sail in different directions, north or south, east or west, driven by various winds, yet the needle of its compass will always point towards the pole star.  Let everything turn upside down, not only about us but also within us: whether we are in sadness or joy, in consolation or bitterness, in peace or trouble, in light or darkness, in temptation or tranquillity, in liking or disgust, in dryness or warmth, scorched by the sun or refreshed by the dew, yet the highest point of our heart, of our spirit, of our superior will, which is the needle of our compass, must always be turned to God, our Creator, and Saviour, our unique and sovereign good, tending continually towards him.

 

Whether we live or die, says the Apostle, we are the Lord’s (Rom. 14:8).  Who shall separate us from the love and charity of God?  No, nothing shall ever separate us from this love: neither tribulations nor sorrow, neither death nor life, neither the present sufferings, nor fear of future calamities, neither the deceptions of evil spirits, nor the height of consolations, neither the depth of afflictions nor the tender feelings of devotion nor dryness ought ever to separate us from this holy charity which is founded in Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:35, 38, 39).

 

This total commitment never to abandon God, nor to forsake his gentle love serves as counterweight to our spirits, to preserve them in holy equanimity in the midst of all the changing circumstances which the conditions of this life bring to them.  Bees, when caught in a storm in the fields, take up little stones to keep their balance in the air and not to be easily carried away by the storm.  Similarly, we hold on eagerly to the precious love of God by our firm determination.  Thus we remain steadfast in the midst of the inconstancy and instability of consolations and afflictions, whether temporal or spiritual, exterior or interior.  But in addition to this general principle we need some particular instructions.

 

1.       First of all, devotion does not consist in delight, pleasant feelings, consolation and sensible tenderness of heart which moves it to tears and sighs, and gives us a certain pleasant and enjoyable taste for some spiritual exercises.  No, dear Philothea, all this is not the same as devotion.  There are many who have these feelings of tenderness and consolation, but are still subject to many sins.  As a result, they have no true love for God, much less any true devotion.

 

Saul was in pursuit of David in order to kill him.  David fled from him into the desert of Engaddi.  Saul entered all alone into a cave where David and his men lay hidden.  David could very easily have killed him on this occasion, but he spared his life.  He did not even want to cause Saul fear.  He let him go undisturbed and called out to him afterwards to prove his innocence and to let him know that he could have killed him.  Now what did Saul do to show that his heart was softened towards David? He called him his son and wept aloud, praising him and admitted his goodness.  He prayed to God for him, foretold his future greatness, and asked him to be merciful to his descendants (1 Sam. 24).  What greater affection and tenderness of heart could he have shown?  Nevertheless, in spite of all that, he did not change his heart and continued to persecute David as cruelly as before.

 

In the same way, there are persons who, considering the goodness of God and the Passion of the Saviour, feel their heart greatly moved.  This leads them to sigh and to shed tears, to prayer and offer thanksgiving with deep feeling.  From this it would seem that their hearts are full of devotion. But when this devotion is put to the test, it is found to be similar to showers of a very hot summer which fall in great drops on the earth without soaking it serving only to produce mushrooms.  In fact these tears and feelings of tenderness fall on a sinful heart without penetrating and so are of no use to it.  Because of this, these poor persons would not give up one single cent of the ill gotten goods they have, would not renounce any of their evil attachments, and would not inconvenience themselves in the least to serve the Saviour for whom they have shed tears.  The good movements they had, are only spiritual mushrooms.  Not only they are not true devotion, but very often they are great snares of the devil to please such person with these little consolations.  Such snares make them remain pleased and satisfied with such feelings.  Hence they no longer seek true and solid devotion which consists in a firm, determined, prompt and active will to do what we know is pleasing to God.

 

A child will shed tender tears, if he sees his mother bled with lancet; but if at the same time his mother, for whom he has been weeping, asks him for an apple or for sweets that he has in his hand, he will not part with them.  Such are most of our feelings of devotion: seeing the thrust of the lance which pierced the heart of Jesus crucified, we weep tenderly.  Alas, Philothea, it is right to weep over this painful Passion and Death of our Saviour and Redeemer.  But why then do we not give him the apple which we hold in our hands and which he asks for so earnestly? In other words, why do we not give him our heart? It is the only apple of love which our dear Saviour wants for us.  Why do we not give up for his sake those little pleasures and satisfactions which he desires to pluck out of our hands?  We cannot do it because they are our sweets and we prefer them to his heavenly grace.  Such are the friendships of little children, tender but feeble, whimsical and fruitless.  Hence devotion does not consist in those delicate feelings and affections.  Sometimes, these result from a natural temperament soft and susceptible to the impression which may be given to it.  Sometimes, they come from the devil who to deceive us, stirs up our imagination to the emotion which produces such effects.

 

2.       These feelings of tenderness and delightful affections are nevertheless sometimes very good and useful.  They rouse our spiritual hunger and strengthen the heart.  To the promptness of devotion they add a holy joy and cheerfulness which render our actions beautiful and pleasant, ever externally.  David refers to this delight which may be found in divine things when he says, Lord, how sweet are thy word to my palate! They are sweeter than honey to my mouth (Ps. 119:103).  Indeed, the least little consolation of devotion which we receive is worth far more than the most excellent worldly delights.  The breasts and the milk, that is, the favours of the divine Spouse are sweeter than the costliest wine of earthly pleasures (Song. 1:1).  He who has tasted them holds all other consolations as gall and wormwood.

 

Those who have in their mouth the herb called scitic get from is such a great sweetness that they feel neither hungry nor thirsty[1].   Thus those whom God has given this heavenly manna of interior delights and consolations can neither desire nor receive worldly consolations, at least in such a way as to return them and become attached to them.  They are small foretastes of eternal delights which God gives to those who seek him.  They are the sweets which he gives to his little children to attract them they are medicinal waters which he gives to strengthen them.  Sometimes they are also pledges of eternal rewards.  It is said[2] that Alexander the great, sailing the high seas discovered Arabia Felix by the scent of the sweet odours carried to him by the wind.  It gave courage to him and to all his companions.  So on the sea of our mortal life, we often receive feelings of sweetness and delight which without doubt give us a foretaste of that heavenly Fatherland to which we strive and aspire.

 

3.       But, you may ask me: there are sensible consolations which are good and come from God: there are others useless, dangerous and even harmful, arising from nature or even from the devil.  How can I distinguish the one from the other, and know the evil or useless ones from the good? It is a general principle, Philothea, regarding the affections and passions of our soul that we are to know them by their fruit (Mt. 7:16).  Our hearts are trees, our affections and passions are their branches and our works or actions are their fruits.  The heart is good which has good affections and passions; and the affections and passions are good which produce in us good effects and holy actions.  If the feelings of sweetness and of tenderness, and the consolations make us more humble and patient, adaptable, charitable, and compassionate towards our neighbour, more fervent in mortifying our selfish desires and evil inclinations, more regular in our spiritual exercises, more docile and submissive to those whom we must obey, more simple in our life, it is certain, Philothea, that they come form God.  but if these feelings of sweetness make us gentle only towards ourselves, they make us inquisitive, fussy, impatient, stubborn, proud, arrogant, harsh towards our neighbour, and thanking that we are already small saints, we no longer want to be guided or corrected, there is no doubt that they are false and harmful consolations: A good tree only brings forth good fruit (Mt. 7:17).

 

4.       When we have these delights and consolations let us act as follows:

1. We must humble ourselves profoundly before God.  let us be cautious never to say on account of such feelings: “How good I am!” No, Philothea, they are good things, but they do not make us better.  As I have already said, devotion does not consist in this.  We must rather say: how God is good to those who hope in him, to the one that seeks him? (Lamentations 3:25).  Whoever has sugar in the mouth cannot say that his mouth is sweet, but only that the sugar is sweet.  Similarly, though this spiritual sweetness is very good, and God who gives it is supremely good, yet it does not follow that he who receives it is also good.

2. Let us admit that we are still small children in the need of milk, and these sweets are given to us because our spirit is yet tender and delicate.  So, it needs some inducements and attractions to be drawn to the love of God.

3. With this in mind, generally speaking and in ordinary situations, let us receive these graces and favours humbly and esteem them very highly.  Value them, not so much because they are good in themselves, but because they are put into our hearts by the hands of God.  a mother to win over her child puts sweets into his mouth one after the other with her own hand.  If the child were able to understand, he would find greater pleasure in the sweetness of his mother’s loving attention and caresses than from the sweetness of the sweets.  Philothea, it is a great thing, indeed to have feelings of sweetness, but it is supreme sweetness to realize that God, like a loving mother puts them with his own hand into our mouth, our hearts, our soul and our mind.

4. After thus receiving them humbly, let us use them with care according to the intention of the Giver.  For what reason does God grant us these feelings of delight?  It is to make us gentle towards others and loving towards himself.  The mother gives sweets to the child so that he may kiss her.  Let us them kiss the Saviour who gives us so much sweetness.  Now to kiss the Saviour is to obey him, keep his commandments, fulfil his will, follow his desires.  In short, it is to embrace him tenderly with obedience and fidelity.  Therefore when we have received some spiritual consolation, we must be particularly earnest in doing good and in being humble on that day.

5. Besides all this, we must renounce from time to time such feelings of delight, tenderness and consolation.  We are to separate our hearts from them and affirm that we accept them humbly and love them, because God sends them to us and they arouse us to his love.  However, it is not these that we seek, but God and his holy love: not the consolation, but the Consoler; not the sweetness, but the gentle Saviour; not the tenderness but Him who is the delight of heaven and earth.  In this disposition, we must keep ourselves ready to remain rooted in the holy love of God, even though we may never have any consolation in our lives.  We must be as ready on Mount Calvary as on Mount Tabor to say: O Lord, it is good for me to be (Mt. 17:4) with you, whether you are on the cross or in glory.

6. Finally, I advice you, if you experience such a remarkable abundance of consolations, tenderness, tears and delight or anything extraordinary regarding them, to faithfully communicate these to your spiritual director. Thus you will learn how to regulate them and how to act with regard to them.  As it is written: Have you found honey? Eat what is sufficient for you (Prov. 25:16).

 

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[1]  Pliny.

[2]  Pliny.

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