Salesian Literature

Letters on:

Overcoming Fear, Temptation, Failure and Discouragement

1. We must be patient as we seek perfection    ::    2. Have courage, for you have only just begun   ::    3. Be gentle and charitable to your soul

4. God loves greater infirmity with greater tenderness   ::    5. We must bear ourselves until God bears us to Heaven   

6. Self-love can be mortified, but never dies   ::    7. We must attain holy indifference   ::    8. Lean on the mercy of God

9. To change the world, we must change ourselves   ::    10. In patience shall you possess your soul   ::    11. Do not worry yourself about temptations  

12. We must not be fearful of fear   ::    13. Constrain yourself only to your serving God well   ::    14. True simplicity is always good and agreeable to God

15. We must do all by love and nothing by force   ::    16. Be then all for God

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1. we must be patient as we seek perfection

To a young woman who is discouraged by spiritual failures

 

Mademoiselle,

 

… My good daughter, as you have half got out of those terrible paths that you have had to travel, I think you should now take a little rest, and consider the vanity of human spirit, how prone it is to entangle and embarrass itself within itself.

 

For I am sure you will note that those interior troubles you have suffered have been caused by a great multitude of considerations and desires produced by an intense eagerness to attain some imaginary perfection.  I mean that your imagination had formed for you an ideal of absolute perfection, to which your will wished to lift itself; but frightened by this great difficulty – or rather impossibility – it remained in dangerous travail, unable to bring forth, to the great danger of the child…

 

So now take a little breath, rest a little, and by considering the dangers escaped, avert those that might come afterward.  Suspect all those desires that, according to the general opinion of good people, cannot come to effect: such as the desires for a certain Christian perfection that can be imagined but not practised, in which many take lessons, but which no one realizes in action.

 

Know that the virtue of patience is the one that most assures us of perfection; and if we must have patience with others, so we must with ourselves.  Those who aspire to the pure love of God have not so much need of patience with others as with themselves.  We must suffer our imperfection in order to have perfection.  I say suffer, not love or pet; humility feeds on this suffering.

 

The truth must be told: we are poor creatures, and can only just get on.  But our God, who is infinitely good, is content with our little services and pleased with the “preparation of our heart” (Ps. 9:17; RSV Ps. 10:17).

 

I will tell you what is meant by this preparation of heart.  According to the Holy Scriptures, “God is greater than our heart” (1 Jn. 3:20), and our heart is greater than all the world.  Now, when our heart, by itself, in its meditation prepares the service it will render to God – that is, when it makes its plans for serving God, honouring Him, serving our neighbour, mortifying the interior and exterior senses, and similar good resolutions – at such times it does wonders; it makes preparations and gets ready its actions for an eminent degree of admirable perfection.  All this preparation is indeed in no way proportioned to the greatness of God Himself, who is infinitely greater than our heart; but still this preparation is generally greater than the world, than our strength, and than all of our exterior actions.

 

A soul that considers the greatness of God, His immense goodness and dignity, cannot satisfy herself in making great and marvellous preparations for Him.  She prepares Him a flesh mortified beyond rebellion, an attention at prayer without distraction, a sweetness in conversation with no bitterness, a humility with no outbreak of vanity.

 

All this is very good; here are good preparations.  And still more would be required to serve God according to our duty.  But in the end of this we must find someone to do it: for when it comes to practise we stop short, and perceive that these perfections can neither be so grand in us nor so absolute.  We can mortify the flesh, but not so perfectly that there shall be no rebellion; our attention will often be broken by distractions, and so on.  And must we, for this, trouble, worry, and excite ourselves? Certainly not.

 

Are we to apply a host of desires to excite ourselves to arrive at this miracle of perfection?  No.  We may indeed make simple wishes that show our gratitude.  I may say, “Ah! Why am I not as fervent as the Seraphim, in order better to serve and praise my God?”  but I would not occupy myself with forming desires, as if I must in this world attain that exquisite perfection.  I must not say, “I wish it; I will try to get it; and if I cannot reach it, I will be vexed.”

 

I do not mean to say that we are not to put ourselves in that direction; but that we are not to desire to get there in one day, that is, in one day of this mortality.  For this desire would torment us, and for nothing.  To advance well we must apply ourselves to make good way in the road nearest to us, and to do the first day’s journey.  We must not busy ourselves with writing to do the last, but remember that we are to do and work out the first.

 

I will give you this word, but you must keep it well: sometimes we occupy ourselves so much with being good angels that we neglect being good men and women.  Our imperfection must accompany us to our coffin; we cannot walk without touching earth.  We are not to lie or wallow there, but still we are not to think of flying.  For we are but little chicks, and have not our wings yet.  We are dying little by little, so we are to make our imperfections die with us day by day: dear imperfections, which make us acknowledge our misery and exercise us in humility, contempt of self, patience, and diligence, and in spite of which God regards the preparation of our hearts, which is perfect.

 

I know not if I am writing to the purpose, but it has come to my heart to say this to you, as I think that a part of your past trouble has come from this: that you have made great preparations, and then, seeing that the results were very small and that strength was insufficient to put in practice these desires, these plans, these ideas, you have had certain heartaches, impatiences, disquietudes, and troubles. Then followed distrusts, languors, depressions, or failings of heart.  Well, if it is so, be wiser in the future.

 

Let us go by land, since the high seas make our heads turn, and give us retchings.  Let us keep at Our Lord’s feet, with St. Mary Magdalene, whose feast we are celebrating.  Let us practise certain little virtues proper for our littleness.  Little peddler, little pack.  These are the virtues that are more exercised in going down, than in going up, and therefore they are suitable to our legs: patience, bearing with our neighbour, submission, humility, sweetness of temper, affability, tolerations of our imperfection, and such little virtues as these.  I am not saying that we should not try to mount by prayer, but that we should do so step by step.

 

I recommend to you holy simplicity: look before you, and regard not those dangers that you see far off.  As you say, they seem to you armies, yet they are only willow branches; and while you are looking at them you may make some false step.  Let us have a firm and general intention of serving God all our life, and with all our heart.  Beyond that, let us have no solicitude for the morrow (Mt. 6:34).  Let us only think of doing well today; when tomorrow arrives it will be called in its turn “today,” and then we will think of it.  We must here again have great confidence and acquiescence in the Providence of God.  we must make provision of manna for each day and no more, and we must not doubt that God will send us more tomorrow, and after tomorrow, and all the days of our pilgrimage…

 

Pray hard for me, I beg you.  It is incredible how pressed down and oppressed I am by this great and difficult charge.  This charity you owe me by the laws of our alliance, and I pay you back by the continual memory that I keep of you at the altar in my feeble prayers.  Blessed be Our Lord.  I beg Him to be your heart, your soul, your life; and I am

 

Your servant,

Francis

 

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