LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
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 Shelf-.: 
 
 'j>A-M^a^ 
 
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 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
APR 17 iuo-i 
 
Eiosie deln (Swite erlancp B enziger Brothers, PttblisTiers. 
 
 Belioldthe handm'aid of tlie Lord. 
 
 (SLLucke 1,38.) 
 
Spiritual Direction 
 
 FOR THE USE OF 
 
 RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES. 
 By the Author of "Golden Sands." 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY 
 
 Miss ELLA McMAHON. 
 
 New York, Cincinnati, and St. Louis : 
 
 BENZIGER BROTHERS, 
 
 PRINTERS TO THE HOLY APOSTOLIC SEE 
 1884. 
 

 imprimatur, 
 
 JOHN, Cardinal McCloskey, 
 Archbishop of New York. 
 
 Thb Library 
 op congrbs8 
 
 washinoton 
 
 Copyright. 
 
 -;:^^:;;7^7benziger brothers. 
 
From Mgr. Dubreil, Archbishop of Avignon. 
 The work bearing the title Spiritual Direction 
 has been examined by our Commission. Upon the 
 favorable report given us, we authorize the printing 
 of it and we recommend it be read by the rehgious 
 Communities of our Diocese for whom it is written. 
 t Louis, 
 
 Archbishop of Avignon. 
 Avignon, September 25, 1873. 
 
 From Mgr. Gonin, Archbishop of Port of 
 
 Spain. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 I have had the pleasure of receiving the copy of 
 the Treatise, Spiritual Direction which you kindly 
 sent to me. ^ 
 
 It suffices to consider the precious sources 
 whence the writer has drawn, I mean the Saints 
 and Doctors, to be convinced that this publication 
 cannot but be very salutary to pious souls for 
 whom it is principally destined. 
 
 t Fr. Joachim Louis, 
 
 Archbishop of Port of Spain. 
 Trinidad, January 8, 1874. 
 
 From Mgr. Forcade, Archbishop of Aix. 
 
 The correctness of doctrine and the spirit of wis- 
 dom manifest in the editing of the book, persuade 
 us to recommend it very particularly to the religious 
 Communities of our diocese. 
 
 t Augustine, 
 
 . . -^ , ^ Archbishop of Aix. 
 
 Aix, February 24, 1874. 
 
4 Approbations. 
 
 Feom Mgr. Mermillod, Bishop op Hebron, 
 
 Vicar-Apostolic of Geneva. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 You are untiring servants of the truth. You are 
 about to pubhsh now a small work on Spiritual Di- 
 rection which merits our best approval. These 
 pages will be useful to souls in learning the secrets 
 of Christian perfection. 
 
 t Gaspard, 
 Bishop of Hebron, 
 
 Vicar-Apostolic of Geneva. 
 
 Fernex, Nov. 4, 1875. 
 Feast of St. Charles. 
 
 From Mgr. Egbert, Bishop of Constantine and 
 or HiPPONE. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 There are yet, thank God, a great 
 number of souls called to practice the perfection of 
 Evangehcal Counsels, in the religious state. These 
 privileged souls are like the divine salt which pre- 
 vents corruption from spreading on the earth. 
 But in the sublime path which they are following, 
 they are exposed to dangerous illusions, unless they 
 meet with a sure guide for their conduct. The 
 little book which you have pubhshed, shows them 
 in a clear and precise manner, how they should 
 practice the ^'Direction" which is so important for 
 advancement in perfection. I beheve it will effect 
 much good throughout the religious Communities. 
 t Louis, 
 
 Bishop of Constantine and of Hippone. 
 Constantine, December i, 1875. 
 
Approbations. c 
 
 Feom Mge. Grokleau, Bishop of Eveeaux. 
 
 • • • • • This book, written clearly and with 
 unction, shows the author to be one of wise experi- 
 ence in the conduct of souls. We willingly add Our 
 approbation to that of Our Venerable colleagues, in 
 favor of this work. 
 
 t Feangis, 
 
 Bishop of Evreaux. 
 Evreaux, December 15, 1S73. 
 
 Feom Mge. Becel, Bishop of Vannes. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 I will recommend to the reHgious communities 
 of my^ diocese, the little work entitled Spiritual 
 Direction. They will find in it wise counsels. 
 May my humble commendation please the pious 
 writer, and contribute to the success of his works. 
 
 t Jean-Maeie, 
 Vannes, December 16, 1875. Bishop of Vannes. 
 
 Feom Mge. Mabile, Bishop of Veesailles. 
 By ordef of Mgr. the Bishop of Versailles, I have 
 read the little work entitled *' Spiritual Direction 
 for the use of rehgious communities." 
 
 This work appears to me to contain correct doc- 
 trine, substantial and of a nature to keep up the spirit 
 of piety in the communities for which it is destined. 
 The Canon-Dean of the Chapter. 
 
 BoRMAND, Char.V.G. 
 Having read the report of M. the Dean of the 
 Chapter, We approve this little work. 
 
 t Pierre, 
 
 Bishop of Versailles. 
 Versailles,[December 23, 1873. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Obedience," says St. Augustine, "is the 
 fiery chariot into which the Prophet Ehas en- 
 tered and in which he was swiftly borne to hea- 
 ven Happy the souls who enter this chariot 
 with no other thought than to continue in it 
 and allow themselves to be borne upward " 
 
 After all, what matters a more or less com- 
 modious position ? 
 
 What matter more or less violent shocks 
 since we know we are on the route that each 
 moment brings us nearer the goal, and that 
 the guide whatever his exterior bearine- 
 language, inanner of speaking, is himself 
 guided by the spirit of God ? 
 
 Our only care must be not to abandon 
 the chariot which is bearing us on to the 
 goal. 
 
 II. 
 
 The road of obedience is sure, but some- 
 times difficult : and in the road to Heaven 
 as m every other, the sun parches and burns 
 us, the dust stifles us, we are bruised by the 
 stones, and pierced by the thorns. There 
 are times during the journey when every- 
 thing seems lost Clouds envelope the 
 
8 Preface. 
 
 chariot; it experiences rude shocks, the 
 guide himself seems to us astray, and dis- 
 couraged and frightened we would turn 
 from the path. 
 
 God foresaw all these discouraging trials, 
 and to alleviate them He has placed along 
 the route shelters in which we may rest, 
 springs at which we may be refreshed. God 
 foresaw all these discouraging trials, and 
 to alleviate them He has willed that the 
 guide in charge of the chariot should be 
 Guide and Father in one. 
 
 As Guide, he causes it to move, and impels 
 it forward. As Father, he loves us, consoles 
 us, encourages us. 
 
 HI. 
 
 The object of this work useful to all pious 
 souls though intended principally for relig- 
 ious communities, is to set forth the mission 
 of Guide and Father which God has confided 
 to Superiors, 
 
 The sentiments of a father are never ab- 
 sent from the heart of a superior, but they 
 are particularly manifested in those hours of 
 converse which, under the name of direction^ 
 draw to his own heart the hearts of those 
 who submit themselves to him. 
 
 Ah ! would we might make direction 
 known and loved. How the trials of the re- 
 
Preface, p 
 
 ligious life would then be sweetened ! Doubt- 
 less they would not cease, for they enter into 
 God's designs for our sanctification, but 
 with what resignation they would be borne 
 and how meritorious they would be ! 
 
 IV. 
 
 All that we have said is gathered from 
 the writings of Saints and Doctors of the 
 Church. The works of Tronson, the Mys- 
 tical Theology of Schram, the Ascetic Guide 
 by Scaramelli, Z^/e-Z^^ /r^2?^' sur la direction, 
 par Mgr. Rey, Bishop of Annecy — the works 
 of R Surin, of P. Grou, of P. St. Jure, of St. 
 Francis de Sales, the different treatises of 
 Rodriguez, and various ascetic works, all 
 approved bythe Church, have served us as 
 guide and furnished the most beautiful 
 pages of our book. 
 
 Therefore we offer it with confidence to 
 pious souls, humbly asking a few prayers 
 from those whose hearts we shall have ex- 
 panded. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface _ ^ 
 
 Definition of Spiritual Direction 15 
 
 Chapter l.~Necessity of a Director, 
 
 1st. For persons called to perfection 22 
 
 Proofs furnished by authority .'.*.*.* 22 
 
 Proofs furnished by reason *. 1 * ^ * ! 28 
 
 From the nature of a perfect life. .*. . 28 
 From obstacles encountered in this 
 
 life.,..., ,.., 28 
 
 From illusions encountered in this 
 
 life. . „ 3Q 
 
 From the maladies incident to this 
 
 life ^2 
 
 2d. For all states and conditions ....*.*.*! * .* .* . ^6 
 
 3d, For all times and seasons , * * * ' 41 
 
 4th. For all kinds of actions * . '. 41 
 
 Chapter II, —Advantages 0/ Direction. 
 
 1st. For communities 4. 
 
 2 ''. For individuals : 
 
 It opens the heart 48 
 
 It dilates the heart 40 
 
 It gives peace co 
 
 It causes one to advance in virtue . . 53 
 It causes one to taste the joys of holy 
 
 friendship ce 
 
 Chapter llL-^Choice of a Director, 
 
 An appointed Director 61 
 
 Freedom in the choice of a Director. . ' * 71 
 
 Prayer to ask of God a Director. ...!!!!.*.*!! 8«; 
 
1 2 Contents, 
 
 Chapter IV. — Abuse of Direction. 
 
 1st. A multiplicity of Directors 86 
 
 2d. Changing Directors 9*^ 
 
 3d, Relations with a Director: 
 
 Attachment for a Director 9^ 
 
 Dislike for a Director loi 
 
 Reserve with a Director 104 
 
 Chapter V. — Duties of the soul directed. 
 
 1st. To pray much for her Director 112 
 
 2d. To seriously will to become better 1 14 
 
 3d. To be simple 1^5 
 
 4th. To be obedient . . ..- 118 
 
 5th. To be discreet 123 
 
 6th. To be humble 126 
 
 7th. Summary 13^ 
 
 8th. A few counsels 132 
 
 Chapter N\.— Objections to Direction. 
 
 1st. Sources of these objections - - - - . ^34 
 
 2d. Answers to the principal objections: 
 
 My Director is not a priest 136 
 
 My Director is not a saint 137 
 
 My Director is too young 138 
 
 I find nothing to say 139 
 
 I cannot open my heart 140 
 
 My Director is not discreet 141 
 
 My Director says nothing to me, or 
 
 continually reproaches me 144 
 
 I am dissatisfied after receiving direc- 
 tion ; - 146 
 
 I prefer to seek my direction in writ- 
 ing 150 
 
 I fear to weary my Director 151 
 
Contents. 
 Chapter Vll,— Mailer of Direction. 
 
 n 
 
 1st. General principles on the matter of direc- 
 tion 153 
 
 ad. Subjects which may serve as matter of 
 direction: 
 
 A virtue to be acquired .... 161 
 
 Actions 163 
 
 Temptations 164 
 
 Trials 167 
 
 Inclinations and disposition 169 
 
 Of the body 1 70 
 
 Of the soul 171 
 
 Of the mind 1 73 
 
 Daily Life 1 74 
 
 General formula 1 76 
 
 Chapter VIII. — Pa^^ticular counsels for Direction. 
 
 1st. Character of pious persons 186 
 
 2d. Different slates of pious persons .... 190 
 
 3d. How pious persons should bear them- 
 selves in these different states 193 
 
 4th. Rules for discerning the spirit of God ig^ 
 
 Chapter YK..— Practice of Direction. 
 
 1st, Direction: On humility 201 
 
 2d. Direction: Counsels on piety 213 
 
 3d. Direction: On laxness 216 
 
 Conclusion.— Z>^^/n;/^ of St. Liguori. 
 
 1st. On the general necessity of direction 222 
 
 2d. On the particular necessity of direction 
 
 for scrupulous souls 223 
 
 3d. On obedience to one's Confessor 233 
 
14 Contents. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 Two Letters of Marie Lataste. 
 
 1st. Letter : Necessity of a Director 235 
 
 2d. Letter ; How we should act towards a Di- 
 rector 241 
 
 Letter of St. Ignatius on Obedience.. 245 
 
PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. 
 
 DEFINITION NATURE DIVISION OF THE 
 
 TREATISE. 
 
 J. 
 
 Definition and Nature of Spiritual Di- 
 rection. 
 
 Spiritual direction means '*a summary 
 of the counsels which a person, experienced 
 in the ways of God and the science of the 
 Saints, gives to a soul which asks for them in 
 order to advance in perfection." 
 
 Observations upon the words of the definition. 
 
 We say ist, a summary of the counsels, for 
 an occasional counsel or decision does not 
 constitute spiritual direction. Direction is 
 a series of counsels, teachings, encourage- 
 ments which, while allowing the soul perfect 
 freedom to act for herself, never leaves her 
 alone. A director is a guide, and a guide 
 
1 6 Preliminary Chapter, 
 
 not only shows the way but accompanies us 
 the length of the route. 
 
 zdi^ An experienced person : such a person 
 may be a confessor, a superior a layman, or 
 even a friend ; but he must always have the 
 experience afforded by age, study, practical 
 life, and the authority which his position or 
 his well known devotion gives him. 
 
 3d, ^ soul which asks counsel: Direction 
 not being, as we shall show later, of rigid 
 precept, a soul that wishes to be guided 
 must ask for direction, or voluntarily submit 
 in her community, to all that the rule pre- 
 scribes concerning direction. 
 
 4 th, 7^ order to advance in perfection : The 
 end of direction is particularly, perfection. 
 
 We have not here to examine how far 
 eveiy Christian is bound to perfection by 
 these positive words of Jesus Christ : *^'Be you 
 perfect as also your heavenly Father is per- 
 fect." '' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
 with thy whole heart, with thy whole soul, 
 and with all thy strength; '' but all admit as 
 certain, that persons living in a community 
 and taking religious vows, are obliged to 
 tend to perfection, and that direction, as we 
 are about to explain, is a great means of at- 
 taining thereto. 
 
Preliminary Chapter, ij 
 
 Though our work may be useful to all 
 Christians, we are writing it particularly for 
 persons consecrated to God. 
 
 II. 
 Division of the Treatise. 
 
 1 . Necessity of Direction. 
 
 2. Advantages of Direction. 
 
 3. Choice of Director. 
 
 4. Abuse of Direction. 
 
 5. Duties of the soul Directed. 
 
 6. Objections to Direction. 
 
 7. Matter of Direction. 
 
 8. Particular counsels on Direction. 
 
 9. Practice of Direction. 
 
CHAPTER FIRST. 
 
 Necessity of Direction. 
 
 Direction, as we have defined it, may be 
 independent of confession, * and as in some 
 communities it is given by other than a 
 confessor, it is not absolutely necessary for sal- 
 vation. 
 
 The counsels of a confessor,— religious 
 instructions, — spiritual books, generally in- 
 dicate sufficiently the means to avoid sin and 
 obtain salvation. 
 
 But we can say without exaggeration, that 
 except in particular and very rare cases, di- 
 rection is necessary to attain the perfection 
 which the religious state requires. 
 
 It is the doctrine of the founders of all 
 Orders who in their constitutions have pre- 
 scribed the obligation of spiritual direction. 
 
 It is the thought of the Church which has 
 approved these constitutions. 
 
 It is the teaching of the Doctors who say 
 
 * The direct end of confession is to purify the soul from its 
 sins. The direct end of direction is to make it advance m vir- 
 tue, by indicating the means of overcoming faults and natural 
 inclinations which might lead it to sin. 
 
Necessity of Direction, ig 
 
 that God, though able to guide souls by His 
 inspirations alone, has,nevertheless,not willed 
 to do so, and has always made use of men 
 to form men, either to punish our disobe- 
 dience and overcome our pride, or because 
 His fatherly condescension chooses this 
 means- as better suited to our infirmity, or 
 as St. Augustine says, because He designed 
 to thus maintain the tie which should exist 
 between men. 
 
 It is, finally, the practice of the Saints, all 
 of whom regard the happiness of being under 
 obedience to a director as an important 
 grace, and have manifested towards him a 
 filial and complete submission which, to us, 
 is truly astonishing. " All have been led in 
 this way, " says St. Dorothy, ' ' and if, '' adds 
 Tronson, " God has sometimes dispensed a 
 few from it, it has only been in rare cases ; 
 nor are we aware that He has ever done it 
 without verifying the dispensations with 
 many miracles and wonders, and He has 
 thus dispensed souls, only when there was 
 no one at hand to direct them. Therefore, 
 though the miracles performed by a person 
 were to equal the number of his actions, his 
 sanctity would be doubtful if, being able to 
 have a director, he did not submit to his 
 guidance." 
 
20 Necessity of Direction, 
 
 " It may happen, '' says Schram, ** by an 
 extraordinary providence, or, in default of a 
 suitable person to guide the soul, or simply 
 because God wishes to grant this singular 
 grace, it may happen that He will deign to 
 guide and direct her in a more sublime way 
 Himself or by means of an angel. For God 
 only confines Himself to His laws with the 
 right of infringing them, if it be His greater 
 pleasure, when an intermediary is lacking, or 
 He wills to act miraculously. '' 
 
 St. Gregory, who makes the same remark, 
 cites several examples of persons who, having 
 no spiritual master to ostensibly direct them ^ have 
 had God alone for their director. ''But," 
 adds the same Saint, ''these are extraor- 
 dinary cases and should not be cited as the 
 rule, lest certain souls, pretending to be in- 
 teriorly directed by the Holy Ghost, may 
 cease to consider themselves disciples and 
 aspire to be guides. " 
 
 " If a person, desirous to advance in virtue; 
 lives where a director, capable of directing 
 him in the way of perfection, cannot be had, 
 I have no doubt, ''says Scaramelli, "that 
 God will become the spiritual master of this 
 soul and will give him counsels and interior 
 lights to guide him in the true way and to 
 cause him to attain perfection, for the iso- 
 
Necessity of Direction, 21 
 
 lated soul, on his part, will implore this as- 
 sistance from the divine Mercy, and God is 
 in one sense obliged to supply the deficiency 
 of His ministers. * 
 
 '' If later, however, this soul, so eager to 
 advance in perfection, finds himself where 
 there are priests, confessors, directors, from 
 whom he may seek counsel for the regula- 
 tion of his interior and exterior actions, and 
 if, pretending that God has become his sole 
 and special guide, he refuse to accept the 
 direction of His ministers, and claiming 
 that God himself speaks to his heart, he re- 
 fuse to hear the words of experienced masters 
 to whom he may have access, he acts with 
 great temerity and deserves that God should 
 refuse to guide him, and Scaramelli even adds 
 that this temerity should be punished by 
 abandonment on the part of God, who per- 
 mits him to fall into grave faults. " 
 
 * Witness St. Honore, an example cited by St.Gregory ; he 
 was born in the country, grew up in the society of herdsmen, 
 and had no spiritual master who could teach him the rules 
 of perfection, 
 
 Moses is another example ; God himself told him what he 
 was to do, for, being in a desert, he had no one of whom to 
 ask counsel. 
 
 Samuel, like Moses, heard God's voice, but because Samuel 
 dwelt in the temple, the abode of the high priest Heli, from 
 whom he could seek counsel, God sent him to the latter. God 
 willed, says Cassian,that Samuel should be an example of def- 
 erence and submission, for all those who seek from spiritual 
 superiors rules of conduct. 
 
2 2 Necessity of Direction, 
 
 In addition to these general considera- 
 tions, here is something more precise. 
 
 I. 
 
 A director is generally necessary for all 
 persons whom God calls to perfection. 
 
 In our blindness, infirmity, and misery, 
 it is very difficult for us to attain perfection, 
 or for the majority of Christians to attain 
 salvation without a Director.'^ 
 
 Proofs furnished by authority. 
 
 *' It is better that two should be together, 
 than one ;" says the Holy Spirit, ''for they 
 have the advantage of their society. If one 
 fall, he shall be supported by the other ; woe 
 to him that is alone, for when he falleth, he 
 hath none to lift him up. And if a man pre- 
 vail against one, two shall withstand him; a 
 threefold cord is not easily broken." — Eccles., 
 iv. 9,10,12. 
 
 "Does it not seem" writes the Bishop of 
 
 * Some of the words of the Saints and Doctors which wc 
 are about to quote, may at first seem exaggerated ; they 
 would perhaps be exaggerations were they applied indis- 
 criminately to all the faithful buthere they only refer, as 
 we have said, to souls called to perfection, and obliged to 
 aspire thereto by the state which they have embraced ; these 
 souls cannot be saved without having acquired a certain 
 degree of Perfection which God requires of each one, and 
 which is only known to Him. 
 
Necessity of Direction. 23 
 
 Angers, ''as if you read in these words the 
 history of the incessant struggles of the in- 
 terior Hfe and the falls which we sometimes 
 experience therein ? But do you not also 
 see by the side of the evil, that which will 
 correct it: side by side with frailty, that which 
 will convert it into strength ? Therefore it 
 is a principle of the religious life that we 
 must seek from superiors direction for our 
 own conduct, and, there is no religious 
 community where it is not held an impor- 
 tant duty." 
 
 ''Lean not upon thy own prudence'" says 
 the Holy Spirit : ne innitaris prudentice tuc^. 
 — Prov. iii.5. 
 
 ' 'Be not wise in thy own conceit : ne sis 
 sapiens apud te ipsum, — Prov. iii, 7, 
 
 ''Counsel shall keep thee and prudence 
 shall preserve thee.'' Consilium custodiet te et 
 prudentia servabit te, — Prov. ii, 11. 
 
 "Be not your own master," says St. Jer- 
 ome, ' ' and do not venture without a guide 
 in a way which is not known to you." * 
 
 ' ' Salvation is a difficult science, we must 
 therefore have a master to instruct us in it.'' 
 —St. Dorothy, f 
 
 * Nee ipse ie doceas, nee sine doetore ingrediaris viam quam. 
 
 nunquam ingressus es. — St. 
 
 i" Ojfzts est nobis auxilio prcefer ipsujn Deum ; o^us est 
 
 aliquo etiatn qui nos inoderetur et subernet. — 
 
24 Necessity of Direction, 
 
 '*It is the most dangerous navigation ; 
 we must therefore have a pilot to direct us/' 
 —St. Basil. * 
 
 '* It is a most intricate path, therefore we 
 need a guide to lead us and save us from 
 wandering.'' f 
 
 In a word, a director is absolutely neces- 
 sary. " Without one, " says St. Dorothy, 
 ^' there is no salvation ; '' — ** without one/' 
 says St. Vincent Ferrer, *' do not expect that 
 God will give you His grace. "| 
 
 '' Without one/' says Cassian, ^^do not ex- 
 pect that God will make known to you the 
 way of perfection/' § 
 
 **Ihave never known a person retired 
 from the world, to be lost in any other way 
 than by neglecting to take the advice of a 
 director, and trusting to his own guidance. 
 Many even affirm that there is no other 
 
 *Consihi exj>ers similis est navigio rector e car enti.— 
 
 t Sicut ccecus sine ductore, sic homo sine doctor e red am 
 viatn vix graditur. — St. Augustine. Si hi qui sunt ignari 
 locorum, cum solertibus viarum iter adoriri gestiunt: quan- 
 ta m.agis adoCescentes cujn senibus detent novum, sibi iter 
 ^aggredi quominus err are possint et a vera tram.ite virtutis 
 deflectere. — St. Ambrose. 
 
 X Deus nunqua^n suam gratia jn ministrabit alicui, si 
 homo sit a quo possit institui et deduci, et non curat alterius 
 ductutn a^nplecti. — 
 
 § Nidli a Domino viam perfectionis ostendi, qui habens 
 unde valeat erudiri, doctrinam senioruin et instituta con- 
 tempserit, parvi pendens illud eloquium : interroga patrem 
 tuum. et annuntiabit tibi. — Cassian. 
 
Necessity of Direction. 25 
 
 source of ruin for souls, and that when you 
 learn that a soul has fallen, it is no rash 
 judgment to conclude that he willed to guide 
 himself and have no other director but his 
 own mind/' — St. Dorothy.* 
 
 'We shall inevitably be overcome, ''says 
 St. Ambrose, *' if we have not a friend who 
 consoles us in our afflictions, who re-ani- 
 mates us when discouraged, who rouses us 
 from our languor, who, in a word, does for 
 our soul what was formerly done for the par- 
 alytic by charitable persons who brought 
 him to the feet of Jesus. " 
 
 '*The first thing which God requires of 
 any one who aspires to sanctity is, that he 
 renounce his own opinion, that is, that he 
 humble himself and submit to the guidance 
 of those to whom God has confided the min- 
 istry of souls. Just as there are very special 
 graces attached to submission, so there are 
 manifest dangers incurred when we have the 
 pride to judge and govern ourselves. The 
 interior life is full of obscurities, temptations, 
 and pitfalls, and to enter it alone is evident- 
 ly exposing one's self to the danger of being 
 lost. Therefore there is no middle course : 
 
 ^Ne persuademur esse nos satis ad regimen nostrum : 
 opus est nobis auxilio prceier Deum, opus est coadjutoribus . . 
 nee aliter possit salvari. — 
 
2-6 Necessity of Direction. 
 
 either we must absolutely renounce entering 
 this life, or if God calls us thereto, we must 
 take a director, that is, a man lo whom we 
 fully disclose our soul, to whom we render 
 an account of everything pertaining to our 
 spiritual life, and to whom, as God's repre- 
 sentative, we render the obedience we would 
 to God. ■'— Grou. ' ' Many, " says the Ven- 
 erable de la Salle, "■ lose the spirit and grace 
 of their vocation because they do not fully 
 disclose their heart to their superiors. If 
 they do not observe this essential rule, it is 
 impossible to guarantee them from the evil 
 consequences liable to follow from the temp- 
 tations with which the devil attacks those liv- 
 ing in a community. These temptations are 
 usually the stronger the more souls advance 
 in virtue. For when they fervently labor to 
 acquire the perfection of their state, the 
 devil, who knows that if they persevere they 
 will do him great harm, as much by their 
 example as by the graces their prayers ob- 
 tain for others, continually hovers about, 
 watching, as St. Peter tells us, an opportu- 
 nity to make them fall. " '^ The enemy of our 
 perfection rejoices '' says St. Dorothy, ''when 
 he finds souls who trust to their own guid- 
 ance and do not abandon themselves to the 
 direction of their superiors, for he knows 
 
Necessity of Direction, 2 J 
 
 that tney will fall like Autumn leaves, being 
 alone in their struggle against him, or rather 
 in league with him/' 
 
 We could easily prolong these quotations 
 which we find in great numbers in all books 
 which treat of direction. 
 
 We will complete what we have cited, by 
 the following remarkable page from Mgr. 
 Rey, Bishop of Annecy. ^^ Experience teach- 
 es us that the religious who ceases to fol- 
 low direction under any pretext whatever, 
 becomes lax, tepid, proud, arrogant, weak, 
 sinful. *He falls ill,' says St. Jerome, * he 
 does not make his malady known to the 
 physician, therefore he cannot be cured, but 
 dies/ 
 
 *' Experience proves that a community, 
 in which the rule for direction is not ob- 
 served, goes ill, it is divided, it loses char- 
 ity and religious simplicity — it falls into dis- 
 order. It is a fatal presage of more or less 
 imminent dissolution. 
 
 * * If it happen in a community that direc- 
 tion is no longer practised , or practised ill, I 
 would say that such a community has run 
 its course, it is lost. It must be regenerated 
 and its soul restored, for direction is the soul 
 of a community.'' 
 
28 Necessity of Direction, 
 
 Proofe furnished by reason. 
 
 The necessity of a director in order to 
 attain perfection is drawn : 
 
 1st. From the very nature of a pious and 
 perfect life. 
 
 This hfe is a divine art by the exercise of 
 which we become more and more submis- 
 sive to Jesus Christ, and acquire a greater 
 resemblance to our Divine Model. 
 
 Like all other sciences,it is usually only ac- 
 quired by a knowledge of the elements, that 
 is, the virtues of which it is composed, and 
 the exercise of the virtues which, to be ac- 
 quired and practised demand a more or less 
 extended apprenticeship, and a habit which 
 is sometimes formed only by heroic efforts. 
 
 Now, who is there, who, when he can eas- 
 ily have a master, would wish to learn by 
 himself a science which is absolutely neces- 
 sary to him in order to attain the end he 
 proposes, particularly when the errors he is 
 liable to commit m acquiring it may often 
 be irreparable, and might, as in the present 
 science, led him to perdition } 
 
 2d. The obstacles to be encountered in a devout 
 life make a director necessary. 
 
 The obstacles spring particularly from the 
 
Necessity of Direction, 29 
 
 opposition within us to the practices of a 
 devout life. 
 
 Thus, a devout life is a life of submission, 
 and in us there is a decided tendency toward 
 independence. 
 
 A devout life is a life of humility, a hid- 
 den life, and in us there is a decided ten- 
 dency to vanity and an exterior life. 
 
 A devout life is a life of self denial, and 
 in us there is a decided tendency to sensu- 
 ality and sensual enjoyments. Therefore, 
 continual effort on our part is required to 
 struggle against these evil tendencies. 
 
 Now, who is capable, without counsel, of 
 knowing how to struggle, and of finding 
 means for the struggle ? Who, without sup- 
 port, is capable of not falling off in his prac- 
 tice and of not being overcome .? 
 
 These obstacles are also created by the 
 evil one, who does not wish that we should 
 attain this devout life, and foments troubles, 
 temptations, discouragement, weariness, and 
 other impediments. 
 
 How again, without an enlightened and 
 experienced master are we to recognize and 
 baffle the snares of the evil one ? 
 
 The world also raises obstacles and op- 
 poses us with its mockeries or its joys ; our 
 family, our friends oppose us with their affec- 
 
30 Necessity of Direction, 
 
 tion, our temperament opposes us with its 
 delicacy. Again, how are we to resist these 
 seductions, these allurements, these appar- 
 ently absolute needs without a counseller, a 
 helper, a guide ? 
 
 3d. The illusions so frequently met with in a 
 devout life, prove the necessity of a director. 
 
 These illusions are snares by which the 
 devil under the appearance of good, endeav- 
 ors to lead to evil those who give themselves 
 to virtue. 
 
 Who does not know how frequent are 
 these illusions and how many souls they have 
 ruined ? 
 
 All our actions, the holiest in themselves, 
 as well as the most indifferent, may, through 
 the malice of the evil one, be fruitful in il- 
 lusions. 
 
 They are to be found in austerities which 
 we believe ourselves obliged to practice, which 
 injuring our health, unfit us for the per- 
 formance of our duty ; — in the solitude which 
 we believe ourselves obliged to observe to 
 avoid the scandals ofthe world, and which pre- 
 vent our performing the acts of zeal which, 
 our duty prescribes ; — in the prayers and 
 meditation which we believe it our duty to 
 prolong or multiply, or perform in a certain 
 
Necessity of Direction. 3 1 
 
 way under pretext of greater perfection ; — 
 in the acts of virtue, which we practice, thus 
 zeal may be too ardent, humility too appar- 
 ent, gentleness too inactive, etc. 
 
 There may also be illusions in what we call 
 interior inspirations ; — ^'without doubt these 
 • inspirations are precious," says St. Francis de 
 Sales, " they are heavenly rays which bring 
 into our hearts vivifying light which enables 
 us to see the good and incites us to the pur- 
 suits of virtue and without them our souls 
 would lead indolent, impotent, useless 
 lives. 
 
 But who will assure us that these inspira- 
 tions come from God, even when they incite 
 us to an action which appears good to us, 
 if it be but commanded by our rule, or is the 
 result of our ordinary manner of life t 
 
 Frequently the devil in urging us to a good 
 action and representing it as excessively im- 
 portant for our perfection, though it is not 
 directly within the sphere of our duty, has no 
 other object than to make us neglect a duty, 
 yield to a thought of self complacency or in- 
 spire us with a feeling of compassion, perhaps 
 contempt, for others apparently less divinely 
 favored than ourselves. 
 
 ' ' In order not to be deceived, " says St. Fr. 
 de Sales, ** before heeding inspirations con- 
 
32 Necessity of Direction. 
 
 cerning important or extraordinary things, 
 ask counsel of your guide that he may ex- 
 amine whether the inspiration be true or false. 
 The enemy/' adds the Saint, " seeing a soul 
 prompt to accept inspirations, often suggests 
 false ones to deceive her, which he never 
 can do while she humbly obeys her con- ' 
 fessor/' 
 
 Illusions are never discerned by souls 
 about whom they entwine their attractions, 
 they can only be discovered by a clear sighted 
 and disinterested friend, and even when dis- 
 covered, their too weak, slothful, inconstant 
 victims cannot dissipate them without the 
 support, encouragement and firmness of a 
 director, 
 
 4 th. The frequent and unexpected accidents 
 encountered in the da'out life make a director 
 necessary. 
 
 These accidents, or rather these maladies, 
 which every pious soul experiences in a 
 greater or less degree, and for a longer or 
 shorter period are : 
 
 I St. Discouragement after a humiliating 
 fall, — a failure which we deemed impossible, 
 — a reproof, or sharp word which we think 
 unmerited, or the apparent fruitlessness of 
 our numerous eflforts — How are we to keep 
 
Necessity of Direction. 3j 
 
 up our courage and rise again, without a 
 word from a friend who doubtless shows us 
 the weakness of our virtue and that there is 
 cause for humiHation, but also points out real 
 amelioration in our conduct and persuades 
 us to continue our efforts ? 
 
 2d. Aridity of mind and heart when in 
 neither one nor the other can be found a 
 thought, a word, a sentiment, which leads 
 it to God. Prayer wearies them, medita- 
 tion particularly oppresses and tries them, 
 communion seems useless, the exercise of 
 virtues becomes very painful. . . How are we 
 to continue the faithful performance of our 
 duty without a friendly voice to tell us again 
 and again that God is not obliged to console 
 us, but that we are obliged to serve Him; — 
 who will prove to us that joy, consola- 
 tion, sensible fervor, do not give to prayer or 
 action its real merit, but that it depends upon 
 the will with which we act, and our efforts to 
 act well. 
 
 3d. Scruples, There are sometimes long 
 periods during which by a direct permission 
 of God, or through the malice of the devil 
 who often makes use of the weakness of our 
 constitution, or in punishment for our in- 
 fidelities and our little care to please God, our 
 mental vision is obscured, we see nothing 
 
34 Necessity of Direction, 
 
 clearly or positively ; everything we do seems 
 a sin ; — a vague disquiet seizes our heart, 
 our thoughts are unstable, our actions nerve- 
 less; we force ourselves to begin them, we 
 leave them through fear of doing them ill, 
 we resume them through fear of being pun- 
 ished by God. . » We suffer ourselves, and 
 we make others suffer. How are we to come 
 forth from this night which envelops us, with- 
 out a hand which will hold us firmly and 
 guide us with energy } Never was a scrupu- 
 lous soul cured other than by submission to 
 a director. * 
 
 4th. Tepidity, finally, which is more fre- 
 quent and more dangerous than scruples 
 and discouragement. We say our prayers, 
 badly through our own fault, we omit them 
 without remorse, we merely try to pass away 
 the time during meditation, and our little 
 progress in virtue is a matter of indifference 
 
 to us, we do not positively wish to offend 
 
 God/ but we seek our own gratification on 
 every occasion, — we do everything in our 
 power to avoid suffering, and the end of all 
 our efforts is to lead an easy life.— How are 
 we to throw off this torpor without the ener- 
 gy of a director who, not only shows us the 
 
 * See at the end of the present work the Doctrine of St. Liguo- 
 ri on the necessity of a Director for scrupulous souls- 
 
Necessity of Direction, 35 
 
 danger of our conduct, but impels and holds 
 us to our duty and obliges us to perform it ? 
 
 St. Bonaventure thus sums up the reasons 
 which oblige a soul to have a director : 
 
 I. **A director is necessary to teach a soul 
 what it should know — what it should fly, 
 — what it should practice. Books no 
 doubt tell us all these things, but some one 
 must teach us to apply them to ourselves, 
 otherwise our inclinations, our temperament, 
 our very passions will modify the teachings 
 of books in favor of our sensuality. 
 
 2. "A director is necessary to guide a soul 
 in the practice of virtue. Knowledge is little, 
 — will is a little more, — practice is every- 
 thing; now, practice requires material aid to 
 support, stimulate, to revive and encourage it. 
 What soul is there which, left to itself, will 
 not frequently exclaim: Enough, Enough ! 
 I can do no more ! 
 
 3. ** Every soul is a traveller who needs a 
 
 guide. 
 *'An invalid who needs a physician. 
 **A convalescent who needs some one to 
 
 lean upon. 
 ''An apprentice who needs a master." 
 
$6 Necessity of Direction, 
 
 11. 
 
 A Director is generally necessary for all 
 kinds of persons, and for every one, "what- 
 ever his condition, 
 
 Whether they are beginning, or whether 
 they are advanced in perfection— whether they 
 have already made great progress in virtue 
 and find themselves in the ranks of the per- 
 fect. * * 
 
 Those who are beginning, need a director to 
 purify themselves ; for as they themselves do 
 not know all their maladies, and every one 
 is constantly mistaken in things which con- 
 cern himself, how can they cure themselves ?* 
 
 Even though they clearly recognized their 
 infirmities and maladies, they could not effi- 
 caciously apply the remedies^ for they would 
 not take the special remedies, or they would 
 take them indiscriminately, or finally they 
 would weaken their effects by the almost in- 
 evitable mixture of self-will which corrupts 
 all things. 
 
 ' * I beseech you, new plants of God, " 
 says St. Bernard, "you who do not ye 
 
 * Illud firmissime tenendum est ditficillimum esse se ipsum 
 cognoscere et curare, propterea quod naturaliter quisque 
 seipsum amet. — S Basil. 
 
Necessity of Direction, 37 
 
 discern good from evil, beware of following 
 your own judgment ; heed the counsels of 
 those who have a greater knowledge than 
 you of the artifices of the enemy, and who 
 have acquired this knowledge by long and 
 repeated experience, by all that they have 
 felt themselves and witnessed in others. " 
 
 '*The Devil, that father of lies, '' says St. 
 Justinian, " opposes his infernal views to the 
 happy success of beginners, sometimes by 
 sweet insinuations, sometimes by severe men- 
 aces; therefore, they need the guidance of a 
 master who will not let them draw back with 
 fear, or yield to seductions. Who, without 
 experience, can avoid the snares of the un- 
 clean spirit ? And who can have the expe- 
 rience without the counsels of a skilful mas- 
 ter?" * * 
 
 Persons already purified^ afid advancing in 
 virtue need a director to enlighten them : other- 
 wise they incur great risk of wandering and 
 being lost, for, ' ' the way of salvation in the 
 gospel is narrow, so narrow and so difficult '' 
 says St. Jerome, "that few find it, few enter 
 it, — very few persevere therein." 
 
 The road of perfection resembles those 
 little paths on the top of mountains bordered 
 with precipices, where one can hardly take 
 
38 Necessity of Direction. 
 
 a step in safety, and without endangering 
 his life — hence our mistakes in this road 
 are frequent, perilous and difficult to repair. 
 
 We may be misled by books which, though 
 good in themselves, may not suit us, or we 
 may misunderstand them, therefore we need 
 some one to choose and explain them for us.* 
 
 ^y per sons ^N^xo'^Q society we frequent, there- 
 fore, we need some one to warn us. 
 
 By the projects we form of perfection,, 
 therefore, we need some one who will ex- 
 amine them. 
 
 By a too ardent or too slothful tempera- 
 ment, therefore we need some one who will 
 calm, or rouse us 
 
 These are the reasons which oblige us to 
 take a guide in the spiritual life, and which 
 prove the necessity of direction for those who 
 desire to advance. 
 
 * It is particularly in the choice of books that we need a 
 
 director A good book is defined : " one which benefits the 
 
 mind and heart without any risk to the religion or morality 
 of the reader. " 
 
 Now a book may be good in itself, yet dangerous to certain 
 persons. At such an age with such a temperament, such a 
 character,a book will do you no harm: but place the same book 
 in the hands of a young person, trust it to a nature a'l fire, and 
 the same work will have most disastrous effects. 
 
 " Ascetic books" says Father Faber, " are a terrible power ; 
 they can do as much harm as good, and, like steam, when 
 
 they do harm the results are terrible It is impossible to 
 
 weave about one's selfa stronger net of gross illusions than does 
 he who reads spiritual books above his spiritual coE.d'tion,or 
 
Necessity of Direction. 3 9 
 
 Persons who aspire to perfection and who 
 are already advanced, need the aid of a director 
 to persevere^ and become more perfect 
 
 Perfection is nothing else but the perfect 
 accomplishment of God's will, that is, with- 
 out any mingling of our own will, just as 
 the saints accomplish it in heaven. 
 
 Now, this is possible only in as far as our 
 will is subject to a director who, holding 
 the place of God, commands us in His name; 
 for then only can we say with Christ, '' I do 
 not my will, but the will of my Father." 
 
 We need light and counsel in this state 
 more than in any other. 
 
 The more advanced we are, the more 
 the evil one multiplies temptations and 
 snares. 
 
 ** Those who are over others" says St. 
 Bonaventure, * ^should submit to the direction 
 
 foreign to his actual wants. To every one who constantly 
 reads books on mystical theology, the most ordinary state of 
 prayer will appear extraordinary; a convert,;particularly, will 
 take common graces for rare favors. Of all realities, mysti- 
 cal theology is one of those in which it is easiest to take tin- 
 sel for gold. From constantly reading of a pure and disin- 
 terested love of God, we persuade ourselves that we have a 
 like love in our hearts. Heroic thoughts are contagious, and 
 we are soon inflated with them, but, they do not constitute 
 practical heroism, they give at most a varnish of sentiment 
 to our religion when there is no question of deeds and actions. 
 When a spiritual book does not contribute either to make 
 us mortified or to keep us humble, it is sure to fill us with 
 
 Eride and turn us from the truth ; its doctrine goes to our 
 ead and we commit follies. " 
 
40 Necessity of Direction, 
 
 of another, in order to act with greater pru- 
 dence and judgment; I except not even the 
 Sovereign Pontiff." Eugenius III. submitted 
 to the advice of St. Bernard. Our Lord, 
 listening in the temple to the lessons given 
 by the Doctors of the law, gives us an ex- 
 ample of the humility, submission and sim- 
 plicity with which we should seek and listen 
 to counsel. 
 
 No one person has all the knowledge 
 which it behooves man to possess, and God. 
 to keep us in humility and paternal charity,' 
 is pleased to enlighten superiors in science 
 and virtue by means of their inferiors. 
 
 *' Suppose a religious possessed of all the 
 light you will, he is nevertheless in need of 
 a director. Illusions are so easy; a samt, a 
 learned man, a wise religious, may be sur- 
 prised by the snares of the devil, the errors of 
 the world, a false and seductive ideal; for 
 this reason, direction is necessary to all. St. 
 Teresa was a genius, learned in the ways 
 of God, much more so than her directors, 
 
 '* Distrust," adds Mgr Landriot " all those lives filled with 
 extraordinary things. Respect what the Church respects. " 
 
 " We may even admire " says St. Fr. de Sales, " what we 
 should never seek to imitate, but do not think that the Church 
 approves all that circulates in the way of piety. " 
 
 With the exception of a few well known books : the /mz- 
 tation, the Spiritual Combat, etc., let us ask advice concern- 
 ing all those we have any desire to read. 
 
Necessity of Direction. 41 
 
 but she nevertheless submitted to their di- 
 rection." — Mgr. Rey. 
 
 III. 
 
 A Director is generally necessary in all 
 spiritual states. 
 
 In times of fervor, to sustain us, that we 
 may not attribute our progress to ourselves, 
 that we may not despise, at least in our hearts, 
 those who appear to be less faithful than our- 
 selves, that we may not take as real fervor 
 what is only a passing emotion of the heart, 
 or the result of an exalted imagination. 
 
 In times of dryness, to sustain us, to en- 
 courage us, to help us to continue our duty 
 in spite of weariness, weakness, discourage- 
 ment; to practically teach us how to profit by 
 this state of the soul and the merits we may 
 acquire. 
 
 In times of joy, to keep us in moderation; 
 in times of sadness, to uphold us. 
 
 At all times, to keep us in the way of per- 
 fection, and to bring us back when we have 
 turned therefrom. 
 
 IV. 
 
 A Director is generally necessary to guide us 
 in our various kinds of actions. 
 
 We have, in reality, but three kinds of ac- 
 tions to perform : those that are commanded, 
 
42 Necessity of Direction. 
 
 those that are counselled, and lastly, indiifer- 
 ent actions. 
 
 For those that are commanded, the Direc- 
 tor encourages us, incites us to overcome 
 the difficulties we meet in the performance 
 of them, — regulates the time, the manner 
 and other circumstances necessary to per- 
 form them well; and by this double obedi- 
 ence, our actions become more meritor- 
 ious. 
 
 For the actions which are counselled, the 
 Director indicates when they should be per- 
 formed or omitted, according to the time, 
 the person, and circumstances, and thus 
 always maintains the soul in peace. 
 
 In the performance of indifferent actions, 
 which are sometimes good, sometimes bad, 
 sometimes useful, sometimes injurious and 
 dangerous, who can be sure that he is not in- 
 fluenced by fancy, caprice, vanity or sensu- 
 ality, if he have not a director who reassures 
 him by tracing a rule of conduct to follow ? 
 Then happy the souls who can say at every 
 hour, every moment : I am not guided by 
 my caprice or humor, but by obedience. 
 — Whether I succeed or fail, whether my 
 actions be approved or blam.ed by men, what 
 mattereth it ! God will count it in heaven 
 for me, for I do it in obedience to His will. 
 
Necessity of Direction. 43 
 
 Let us conclude this Chapter with the fol- 
 lowing words from Tronson : 
 
 '*The necessity of a director, — the ac- 
 count we should render him, — the manner 
 in which we should depend upon his guid- 
 ance, is a matter which flesh and blood 
 cannot digest, human prudence can with 
 difficulty understand it, the wise of this 
 world cannot submit to it, and yet the holy 
 fathers believed it of such importance that 
 they presented it to Christians as you pre- 
 sent the alphabet to children, to teach them 
 to read, that is, as one of the first elements 
 of Christianity, and one of the first principles 
 necessary to learning the Gospel. 
 
CHAPTER SECOND. 
 Advantages of Direction. 
 
 1st. Advantages to a community, 
 
 1. The life, the well being, the sanctity 
 of a community depend upon the union of 
 its members and the harmony with which 
 they all labor for the same end. This 
 unity and harmony are only possible in 
 proportion as each member with his in- 
 dividual temperament — individual faults, in- 
 dividual views, endeavors to modify what is 
 his own that he may attain to the one mind 
 common to all the members of the com- 
 munity. 
 
 It is a difficult and important labor which 
 can only be successfully achieved under the 
 influence of direction and of one director. 
 
 I. 
 
 2. The director who, by the avowal we 
 make to him, not of our sins, as we shall show 
 later, but of our tendencies, our faults, our 
 efforts, and who gradually learns the tern- 
 
Advantages of Direction. 45 
 
 perament of each one whom he directs, takes 
 from one, adds to another, moderates a 
 third, rouses a fourth, and thus produces 
 a certain concurrence of thought and action 
 which in spite of inevitable deviations, makes 
 the community one in its purpose. 
 
 Just as the rule to which all submit mod- 
 ifies bodily habits and produces exterior 
 regularity, so this single impetus given to all 
 produces a certain resemblance. 
 
 3. The director knowing the aptitude and 
 tastes of each member of the community can, 
 when he is superior, so distribute the func- 
 tions and charges, so unite different mem- 
 bers in their labors, as to develop for the com- 
 mon good, all the gifts of strength and 
 knowledge which God has given to each 
 one. 
 
 If the superior does not know his subjects, 
 or knows them imperfectly, he will give 
 charges to those who appear capable of filling 
 them, or believe themselves capable though 
 lacking the necessary qualifications ; he will 
 leave two religious together who cannot 
 labor in unison, or whose sympathy is such 
 that it may interfere with their progress in 
 virtue, he will make appointments which 
 will perhaps injure the whole commu- 
 nity. 
 
46 Advantages of Direclion, 
 
 Religious administration requires a far- 
 seeing and correct judgment, which is attain- 
 able only through good direction ; and, if 
 this direction is practised as it should be, 
 then appointments, removal, changes, every- 
 thing, will turn to the advantage of the com- 
 munity in general, and of each member in 
 particular. 
 
 "After examining the subject before God, '' 
 writes St. Ignatius in his ConstiiuHons^ "it 
 seemed to us in presence of the Divine 
 Majesty, that it was extremely fitting that all 
 the religious should make themselves perfect- 
 ly known to their superior, in order that the 
 latter may more easily direct those who 
 are under their guidance, — preserve them 
 from all danger, — and more easily provide 
 for the good of all " 
 
 "Direction is a double power," says 
 Mgr. Rey, " a power of formation, a power 
 of attraction. '' 
 
 By wise direction, souls are formed to 
 goodj to virtue, to the religious state, and 
 perfected therein. 
 
 By wise direction, souls are attracted to 
 God by an interior spirit, a spirit of prayer, 
 a spirit of faith. 
 
 Now, for a religious, formation and attrac- 
 tion constitute everything. 
 
Advantages of Direction, 47 
 
 II. 
 
 Uniess the direction in the community 
 be uniform, it will only result in agitation. 
 There will be many individual efforts, few 
 general results, many virtues and even indi- 
 vidual sanctity, but little general edification. 
 
 Unless direction be uniform there will be 
 a universal discomfort, but little accord, in 
 spite of good will on the part of the mem- 
 bers, no love for one another, notwithstand- 
 ing exterior marks of politeness and even 
 acts of charity. 
 
 Unless direction be uniform, the commu- 
 nity will be divided by parties, particular 
 friendships will abound, and perhaps, even 
 cabals. 
 
 In direction, complaints, murmurs, mis- 
 understandings, resentments, little prejudices 
 are buried never to re-appear again. 
 
 We seek direction with our heart embit- 
 tered, we unburden our soul with perfect free- 
 dom, and we return to our labors, if not 
 cured, at least calmed and strengthened, 
 
 A year of direction faithfully accepted by 
 a whole community would completely trans- 
 form it. 
 
 And if novitiates are more fervent, it is 
 because they observe the rule concerning di- 
 rection with greater simplicity and regularity. 
 
48 Advantages of Direction, 
 
 1st. Advantage to the individual. 
 
 I. 
 
 Direction opens the heart. 
 
 Direction is also called opening the heart, 
 and in this respect it is particularly advanta- 
 geous. 
 
 There are times in life when the heart has 
 need to unburden itself. 
 
 It is oppressed with a burden, sometimes 
 of memories, — regrets, — weariness, — temp- 
 tations,— sadness, — a need to love which 
 tortures it with a dull pain and makes life 
 weary and hard to endure. 
 
 For these trials there is but one remedy : 
 an outpouring of the heart- * 
 
 Founders of Orders who knew these trials 
 and their sole remedy, have, therefore, insti- 
 tuted direction. 
 
 If direction is not accessible, the sick 
 heart will seek among those about it or 
 perhaps abroad a sympathetic friend ; and 
 thence results a wholly natural friendship 
 which gradually dissipates its spirit of piety 
 
 * '• He who keeps his sorrow to himself," says St. Thomas, 
 "feels it more keenly, for he is much more occupied with it ; 
 when he makes it known, his attention is distracted from 
 It, and he is much relieved, for the attention thus shar-ed 
 with another enlarges his heart and causes it to find some 
 sobf^e." 
 
Advantages of Direction, 49 
 
 and ends by becoming culpable ; or if this 
 heart dare not unburden itself to anyone, it 
 will abandon itself to sadness, to weariness, 
 to laxness, to sensuality. 
 
 II. 
 
 Direction dilates the heart. 
 
 It enlarges it and renders it capable, so to 
 speak, of comprehending and embracing 
 God. 
 
 Who has not felt at times that his heart 
 was sealed against everything ? We cannot 
 explain this iron band, which seems to en- 
 compass our poor heart, but we feel that 
 it closes it to every good thought, every pure 
 affection, every joy. Direction breaks this 
 iron fetter and our heart expands and 
 breathes with freedom. 
 
 It was not only a confessor that it needed, 
 but a friend. . . the friend of a religious 
 is called a director. No one can console 
 himself ; consolation is essentially social. 
 
 Ah ! who may express the joy, the happi- 
 ness of a dilated heart ! Creatures pass but 
 do not dwell therein ; trials and anxieties 
 doubtless make themselves felt but they 
 abide not, and leave only their merits. 
 
 A dilated heart is a field where God, un- 
 
50 Advantages of Direction, 
 
 deterred by any rival, sows His harvest of 
 virtues. 
 
 III. 
 
 Direction gives peace. 
 
 He who puts himself under direction, 
 places his soul, in a measure, in the hands of 
 another who has the divine mission to lead 
 him to heaven. 
 
 Then, no more fears, no more anxiety. . . 
 The soul has not to ask : Am I in the 
 right way ? Have I sufficient contrition for 
 my sins ? Am I not laboring under a de- 
 lusion .? No, it no longer needs to ask 
 these quesUons. It has opened its heart 
 simply and frankly, and obeys with the 
 same simplicity and frankness :— it is told 
 to walk, it walks ; it is told to halt, it halts^ 
 Why should it be disquieted ? '' Direction ' 
 said a good, devout soul, ^Ms a carriage in- 
 to which we need only enter to go straight 
 to heaven.'' 
 
 But there are some who fear direction: it 
 is not solid, it is not sure ;— there are some 
 who disdain it : it is not to my taste, I would 
 like other means. , . 
 
 Then go on foot, you who will not trust 
 yourselves to God. . . 
 
Advantages of Direction, 5 1 
 
 ^' One cannot do wrong in obeying, '' says 
 Rodriguez. "The spiritual superior may, in 
 commanding you to do certain things; but 
 you 'are sure of not erring in obeying his 
 command, for God will only ask you whether 
 you have done what you were commanded, 
 and provided you can render a good account 
 thereof, you will be wholly acquitted." 
 
 *' Servants of God, both men and women/' 
 exclaims a pious author, ^^ understand at last 
 the marvellous security God has so abun- 
 dantly bestowed upon you in your obedience 
 to a confessor. O ineffable words! This 
 mortal, your fellow creature, is not infallible 
 it is true, but you yourselves are infallible 
 each time you obey him, and God has sol- 
 emnly pledged Himself never to reproach 
 you with anything you may have done or 
 omitted under obedience. 
 
 *^ Present yourself to him with a deter- 
 mined will to accept what he prescribes, to 
 reject what he forbids, and I will answer to 
 God for everything 
 
 ^ ''Do you not understand that this dispo- 
 sition on your part essentially excludes the 
 will to sin, without which, no act whatever 
 can be a sin. And after this, what remains 
 in our conduct for the good and just God 
 whom we serve, to condemn and punish? 
 
c;2 Advantages 0/ Direction, 
 
 *' The decision of a confessor establishes 
 us in perfect good faith, and were you, in 
 obedience to him, to do a thing which seemed 
 to you forbidden, your good faith would 
 change such an action into a praiseworthy 
 deed, and render it worthy of heavenly 
 reward just as much as alms-giving or the 
 most laudable penances." 
 
 If it be true, as we read in Les Avis Spirii- 
 uels, that virtue consists in perfect submis- 
 sion to the will of God, — in renouncing 
 ourselves, — in distrusting and being detach- 
 ed from our own lights, God who is so good, 
 cannot but be touched when a soul will 
 say to Him : *' Thou knowest that I cannot 
 guide myself. I have chosen as guides 
 those whom I believed capable of teaching 
 me to love Thee ; I obey them because it 
 is Thou whom I behold in their person ; I 
 come to Thee at their w^ord which I regard 
 as an order from Thee; wilt Thou punish me, 
 my God, for having tried to obey Thy will? 
 If Thou hadst willed me to guide myself, 
 Thou wouldst have increased my light ; but 
 Thou hast made me blind ; Thou art too 
 just to condemn me for having sought a 
 guide and believed him as 1 would Thee.'' 
 
 What peace, what tranquillity these re- 
 flections must leave in the soul ! What a 
 
Advantages of Direction 53 
 
 feeling of security, when the Director, on the 
 part of God, says : '*Go in peace ! — Be at rest! 
 I charge myself with your salvation before 
 God!" 
 
 IV. 
 
 Direction causes us to advance in virtue. 
 
 Human sciences cannot be acquired with- 
 out a master, — nor can the science of salva- 
 tion be acquired without a master. 
 
 Never was a man formed to anything 
 whatever by himself. 
 
 God is doubtless supreme Master, but He 
 wills, as we have said, to make use of the 
 mmistry of man in the sanctification of man, 
 and He tells us as he did Saul: ^' Go to An- 
 anias, he will tell thee what thou must do. " 
 
 Direction raises us when we have fallen, 
 encourages us, stimulates us, and gives good 
 example ; — its work is more minute than 
 that of confession ; it studies the exterior 
 conduct and brings to our attention faults 
 which we overlook. It acts in concert with 
 the soul in its efforts to overcome its evil 
 inclinations. Direction requires not so 
 much humiliating avowals, which are re- 
 served for confession, as a knowledge of our 
 efforts to overcome certain mclinations, to 
 
54 Advantages of Direction. 
 
 surmount certain weaknesses, to resist certain 
 temptations ; and these efforts, however 
 slight, are recalled by direction from time to 
 time in order to sustain us, and excite us to 
 continue. Moreover, when we know that 
 we must give our director an account of our 
 prayer and our communion, of what method 
 we have followed, and what fruit we have 
 drawn therefrom ; — of the penances we per- 
 form, and the mortifications we practice, of 
 our labor, of our readings, of our relations 
 with others — of all our actions, intentions, 
 projects, it is impossible that this thought 
 should not incite us to be more faithful and 
 to devote ourselves more earnestly to the 
 pursuit of virtue. 
 
 All that not only Saints, but also philoso- 
 phers, seeking only to perfect human nature, 
 have said of the advantages of particular exa- 
 men,that is, of that daily introspection of the 
 soul seeking its failings to repair them,— 
 its weaknesses to avoid them, — good actions 
 to perfect them, — may be said with more 
 truth of direction, which is a particular ex- 
 amen made by two. The director brings 
 to the assistance of the soul in pursuit of its 
 faults, his experience, his light, and above all, 
 his impartiality, which is too often wanting in 
 particular examen. 
 
Advantages of Direction, 55 
 
 He brings also the support of his counsels, 
 the sweetness of his friendship, the strength 
 of his encouragement 
 
 Oh ! in truth, even in a human point of 
 view, who would not have a friend to care 
 for his soul as his mother cared for his tem- 
 poral needs ? 
 
 A director is such a friend ; thus does St. 
 Francis de Sales name him, paraphrasing for 
 him the sweet words of the Bible : *' He 
 will be to us" he says, ^^ a treasure of wis- 
 dom in our afflictions, va our falls, in our 
 discouragement, — he will serve us healing 
 remedies to lleviate and console our hearts 
 in their spiritual maladies, he will preserve 
 us from evil and perfect the good in us, — 
 and when we are overtaken with any in- 
 firmity, he will prevent its being mortal, for 
 he will restore us." 
 
 It will be useful to develop these 
 thoughts. 
 
 V. 
 
 Direction causes us to taste on earth the joys 0/ 
 holy friendship. 
 
 Direction is the practice of friendship in 
 its sweetest, strongest, purest, most consol- 
 ing, most useful sense. 
 
56 Advantages of Direction, 
 
 Only this friendship does not unite two 
 hearts so much as two souls. 
 
 And if for this reason it is devoid of that 
 natural sensibility which thrills one at the 
 mere sight of a friend, it also loses that which 
 forms the danger of human friendship : an 
 attachment which frequently becomes pas- 
 sionate, — asomew^hat sensual enjoyment, in- 
 nocent, no doubt, but which nevertheless 
 has the effect of weakening the impressions 
 of grace, — a too ardent affection which con- 
 verts two friends into two beings living apart 
 in themselves and by this very fact wounding 
 fraternal charity. 
 
 Affection forms the basis of direction and 
 of friendship, it is the atmosphere in which 
 they both live. But the end of friendship is 
 to love and be loved ; it gives and in return 
 wishes to receive ; the end of direction is to 
 perfect and to sanctify. Loving and being 
 loved form only a means. 
 
 The Christian Mother unites in herself the 
 two elements which form the essence of di- 
 rection and friendship. 
 
 Friendship equalizes hearts ; persons who 
 love, would see and feel and speak alike . . . 
 and involuntarily this equality is established. 
 In direction there is always a difference be- 
 tween the soul directing and the soul direct- 
 
Advaniagts of Direction. 57 
 
 ed. The director bends, inclines, he does 
 not descend, he bends to take the soul and 
 raise it, sometimes to a degree of perfection 
 which he has not attained himself, for he re- 
 ceives for others, graces which he may not 
 have received for himself. 
 
 Friendship springs spontaneously ; it is 
 more the effect of instinct than of reason ; at 
 least it begins through instinct, and reason 
 only follows afterwards. It has need to su- 
 pernaturalize Its mtentions audits motives, 
 not to fall into forgetfulness of God and its 
 duties. — Direction, particularly in religious 
 communities, is accepted, reasons, questions, 
 and cannot live and bear fruit but by the 
 spirit of faith. 
 
 The ties of both have a different source : 
 sympathy is the bond of friendship, faith is 
 the bond of direction, but they both become 
 equally sweet and powerful. The spirit of 
 faith is more lasting and less susceptible 
 than sympathy. 
 
 Friendship naturally seeks more or less 
 mutual pleasure and enjoyment. It must 
 have become very holy before it can deter- 
 mine to pain a friend with a correction ; it 
 is difficult for it to understand that it must 
 sometimes wound in order to heal. Direc- 
 tion seeks only the sanctification of a soul, 
 
58 Advantages of Direction. 
 
 and in administering a reproof, carefully no 
 doubt, and with all the sweetness of charity, 
 loses sight of the pain it causes, in the result 
 it would obtain, viz.: the perfection of the 
 soul confided to its care. 
 
 Friendship is one of the charms of life ; 
 when it unites two hearts they seem raised 
 above all sorrows. Direction has not this 
 charm which, in a human sense, may be 
 translated emotion. It is even painful at 
 times, for it is a duty, and God has attached 
 some pain to duty to make it richer in merit, 
 but how sweet are the joys it brings to the 
 soul ! 
 
 The soul is at peace concerning the past ; 
 she has sincerely laid bare her spiritual con- 
 dition ; her wounds have been healed ; think 
 no more of the past, she is told, and she tran- 
 quilly obeys. 
 
 The soul is at peace concerning the future; 
 she knows that this guidance is leading her 
 to heaven, and, notwithstanding the anx- 
 ieties which may sometimes trouble her, she 
 can say with confidence: God will not per- 
 mit obedience to direction to lead me astray. 
 
 The soul is at peace concerning the pres- 
 ent, she feels that she has the support of a 
 strong, pure friendship, even though no word 
 of affection be uttered, and that her 
 
Advantages of Direction. 59 
 
 weaknesses, her faults, or even her wayward- 
 ness can never weaken this friendship while 
 she continues to be simple, docile, humble 
 and confiding. 
 
 How could she not be happy ? 
 * * 
 
 Finally to conclude : 
 
 1st. Direction causes us to see our faults, 
 and helps us to correct them . 
 
 2d. It is a sovereign remedy against all 
 temptations. *'The humility which leads us 
 to make known our temptations is so pleasing 
 to God/' says Cassian, "that not on^y does He 
 cause us to find in it a remedy for our trou- 
 bles, but frequently, even before the Director 
 has spoken, the evil one loosens his hold and 
 the temptation vanishes. 
 
 3d. It enables us to practice virtue with 
 greater facility, and preserves us from the il- 
 lusions of our own mind. " What must one do 
 to advance in virtue r said a young religious 
 to St. Antony:— "Let yourself be guided, and 
 obey f replied the Saint. 
 
 4th. It renders us constant in our good res- 
 olutions, for the obligation alone, of render- 
 ing an account of all our actions, is a powerful 
 incentive to do well. 
 
6o Advantages of Direction, 
 
 5th. It is a great source of consolation in 
 the trials and critical situations in which we 
 sometimes find ourselves, because of the sup- 
 port, encouragement and counsel we re- 
 ceive. 
 
 After reading these two Chapters, may we 
 not conclude that there ought to be very few 
 souls who should refuse to submit to direc- 
 tion r 
 
 No, there are none among you, dear souls, 
 who, though weak, even culpable, and filled 
 with a thousand faults perhaps, yet have a 
 good will, and desire at any price to please 
 God and become Saints. 
 
 llie few who rebel against direction, who 
 ridicule it, and seek to turn others from it, 
 are proud souls, convinced of their own suffi- 
 ciency— slothful, sensual souls, taking little 
 pains to advance^ — touchy, suspicious souls, 
 fearing to be too well known, to be reproved' 
 to be too little appreciated, and who silence 
 their conscience with : Direction after all is 
 not commanded under pain of sin. 
 
 We will return later to these poor souls 
 who voluntarily resist God's voice calling 
 them to perfection. 
 
CHAPTER THIRD. 
 
 Choice of a Director. 
 
 The director may be the confessor or 
 another priest, or finally, in communities, 
 the superior, who may not, or who cannot 
 be a priest, as in communities of women. 
 
 In communities, the director is usually 
 appointed ; outside of communities, one is 
 free to choose a director. 
 
 I. 
 An appointed Director. 
 
 This Chapter specially concerns communi- 
 ties. Here the choice of a director is made 
 by the rule which prescribes that every re- 
 ligious shall at certain fixed times go to his 
 or her director to give him what St. Francis 
 de Sales calls '' the account of the month," 
 and what in other communities is called, 
 account of '' conscience." We know all the 
 complaints and objections to which this ob- 
 ligation of manifesting one's soul to a person 
 
62 Choice of a Director. 
 
 appointed gives rise. We will answer some 
 of these objections later.''' When there is 
 question of confession, onr spirit of faith, 
 which is livelier and stronger in the recep- 
 tion of the sacraments, enables us to over- 
 come any natural repugnance ; then too the 
 confessor is not seen, and does not see, but 
 when there is question of that manifestation 
 of conscience which, in seme communities 
 is a teteatete, there are temperaments which 
 cannot bring themselves to speak or reply. 
 Direction, to some souls, is real torture ; in 
 these cases, it might perhaps, be well for 
 superiors to dispense such souls tempor- 
 arily from this point of the rule. Freedom 
 of heart is the essence of directios ; " di- 
 rection/' says Father Faber, '' should be free 
 as air," 
 
 The time given to this exercise m.ay be 
 spent m giving counsel, encouragement, or 
 even in pious reading. 
 
 Prayer on the part of the director and 
 the soul directed will end by bringing about 
 that confidence which cannot be forced, but 
 is a grace of God. Happy are confiding 
 souls, particularly in religion ! 
 
 To souls whose temperament makes it 
 repugnant for them to seek direction in the 
 
 * See Chapter vi. 
 
Choice of a Director, 63 
 
 usual vray, I shall simply say : Try to over- 
 come yourselves through a spirit of faith, pre- 
 pare in writing, if necessary, what you have 
 to say, and remember that this direction, 
 which costs you so much to seek, is the safest 
 and most meritorious. 
 
 The following reflections apply equally to 
 the ordinary confessor, who is also appointed, 
 and about whom the evil one accumulates 
 difficulties which appear insurmountable. 
 
 Here also we understand how painful is 
 this forced confidence, so to speak ; it is per- 
 haps one of the heaviest crosses of the relig- 
 ious life, when God permits it to be imposed. 
 But, poor soul, bending under its weights, 
 what a continual occasion of merit it will be 
 for you, if you accept with resignation ! 
 How it will cause God to forget your fre- 
 quent resistance to grace, your infidelity to 
 good inspirations, your frequent seeking of 
 self, even in your pious exercises, and former, 
 perhaps too human attachments, which you 
 sought with so much eagerness! 
 
 No doubt, the very fact, sometimes, that 
 a confessor or director is appointed, prevents 
 our findmg in him, whatever his merits, that 
 
64 Choice of a Director, 
 
 sympathy which cheers the soul ; it creates 
 even a certain restraint, which paralyzes the 
 frank confidence we would give him, and 
 a certain repugnance which, if allowed to 
 grow, gradually becomes unconquerable... 
 But this confessor and this director are sent us 
 by God to sanctify us, and God tells us : *'I 
 desire that thou shouldstgo to him, he has 
 for thy soul all the graces which at this 
 present moment are necessary for it, go to 
 him, then, and heed him/' 
 
 Do you think that if you seek direction, 
 or go to confession under obedience, doing 
 all that depends upon you lo fulfil your 
 duty, God will not reward you for this al- 
 most heroic act ? 
 
 Wait patiently, labor in difficulties and 
 tears, carefully hiding from others all that 
 you sufi"er, and when the proper time shall 
 have come, God will send you, either during 
 the Ember days, or a retreat, or in a wholly 
 providential manner, one of His angels who 
 lias a special mission to restore, strengthen 
 and comfort souls, and who in an hour, 
 thanks to the preparation your soul has un- 
 dergone through resignation, will make you 
 advance more than you would in a whole 
 year of confession and direction in accor- 
 dance with your desires. 
 
Choice of a Director. 65 
 
 How often must pious persons be told 
 that he who has charge of their soul, direc- 
 tor or confessor, is only the channel of God's 
 light and grace. And he whom God 
 sends, has for them the graces of sanctifica- 
 tion and perfection which they now require. 
 
 Then, understand what God asks of you. 
 It is neither the sanctity of your director, 
 nor the confidence he inspires, but your 
 docility, which will save you. You will per- 
 haps allege that, if St. Teresa had not had an- 
 other director she would probably have 
 been lost. But remember, ist, that God 
 gave her another, as he will you, w^hen the 
 proper time comes, were it necessary to bring 
 one from a distant country ; 2d, God 
 rewarded her for her submission ; 3d, God, 
 finally, would never require virtues of her 
 which, through a want of knowledge, she 
 might have been unable to practice. 
 
 Hear, moreover, St. Teresa's avowal in her 
 own words ; ^' The guidance of my director 
 was very injurious to me ... . but that was 
 
 no excuse for me before God and I 
 
 think God permitted, in punishment of my 
 sins, that my directors should be deceived 
 themselves and deceive me , . . . " See what 
 she adds after this avowal : '^ When His 
 Divine Majesty commanded me somethin- 
 
66 Choice of a Director. 
 
 in prayer, and my confessor told me the 
 contrary, God recommended me to obey 
 my confessor/' Let these words be your 
 great rule. *' God," continues St. Teresa, 
 *' brought it about that my confessor after- 
 ward commanded me what His Divine 
 Majesty had told me to do. God wished 
 me to conceal nothing from my confessor, 
 Here is a great safeguard/' 
 
 Sometimes, because of our imagination, 
 our prejudices, our inconstancy, our love 
 of novelty, and the need we have of sensible 
 impressions to believe we are advancing, we 
 seem to profit more by the extraordinary 
 director of inferior merit, than by the 
 ordinary confessor, who no longer produces 
 any sensible effect in us. That may be ; 
 but do you know the reason ? Tt is because 
 your ordinary confessor has prepared your 
 soul in spite of you, and without your knowl- 
 edge. . , , God rarely works sudden miracles. 
 He wishes that the soil be prepared for Him. 
 
 We must give here, in relation to the 
 direction of Superiors in communities of 
 women, a few pages, full of practical teach- 
 ing, from Letires sur la Vie Religieuse : 
 
 "You will remit the care of your conscienco 
 to the priest ; you will go to him at certain 
 fixed periods, that is, every fortnight, to lay 
 
Choice of a Director, 67 
 
 your faults at his feet and to receive his 
 counsels and the precious succors of his 
 ministry ; but is it to him also that you 
 should address yourself for what we more 
 specially call ^/r^r//<9;^/^ No, my dear daughter; 
 religion, which knows your wantSj your 
 weakness, your constant need of succor, has 
 placed near you a permanent guide, who is 
 ever within your reach ; this guide is your 
 superior, she is the source you must seek, 
 the torch which must burn to light your 
 path; and how many claims she has to your 
 confidence 1 She is born in your midst, so 
 to speak, rocked in the same cradle, nour- 
 ished with the same food, she has followed 
 the path you are following, encountered 
 the same obstacles. The rule is her daily 
 study, her ordinary reading ; her administra- 
 tion has ripened her experience, she has 
 every means of being enlightened before she 
 gives a counsel, she is surrounded with the 
 confidence of her sisters by whose suffrages 
 she has been placed at their head; therefore 
 she has every right to receive your confidence, 
 to know your needs, and every means of 
 satisfying them. 
 
 *' Her ministry, — shall I venture to say 
 it ? — her ministry may be even more useful to 
 you than that of a priest. He only sees you 
 
68 Choice of a Director. 
 
 in passing, during a few short moments; he 
 seizes with difficulty and hastily, a few traits 
 of your character, a few of your tendencies ; 
 she sees you constantly, she is with you 
 every day, she studies you, she examines 
 you, the precipitation of a first judgment, 
 is corrected by the maturity of a second ; 
 she can more surely confirm her ideas, and 
 consequently be more useful to you. 
 
 ^' The priest only knows what you tell 
 him, he must believe your deposition ; he 
 applies remedies accordingly, and may err 
 through no fault of his, but because he does 
 not know you well. You, yourself, may be 
 deceived and represent yourself inaccurately. 
 A superior will have a knowledge, not only 
 of what you tell her, but even of what you 
 have forgotten or omitted to tell her ; you 
 will hardly need to speak, your malady is 
 already known to her; she has seen its origin, 
 followed its progress, calculated its chances; 
 she will not be anxious, if^there is no cause 
 for anxiety ; she will reassure you, console 
 you, dissipate your anxiety, revive your 
 drooping courage, or extend a helping hand 
 to you when you are on the point of falling. 
 
 '' The priest only sees you at remote peri- 
 ods ; the rule forbidding you to seek him 
 more frequently without permission, he can 
 
Choice of a Director, 69 
 
 only see you in the holy tribunal, the time 
 he does give you must be short, to avoid 
 the appearance of preference, and not to 
 keep waiting an eager multitude pressed by 
 numerous occupations, who might murmur 
 and complain. Therefore he can only counsel 
 you hastily, without giving you time to devel- 
 ope your difficulties. A superior is with you 
 every day, she can give you all the time you 
 need, she is constantly at hand, you can con- 
 sult her the moment any difficulty occurs. 
 
 Moreover, not unfrequently, by the time 
 you reach the holy tribunal, the trouble has 
 passed, calm is restored, and you are aston- 
 ished at the anxiety with which you were 
 filled. Understand then, my daughter, all 
 the assistance you may derive from the di- 
 rection of your superior. 
 
 "- The ministry of the priest is doubtless 
 higher, sacramental graces are attached there- 
 to° but the superior also is clothed with a 
 ministry, she also has gifts which are proper 
 to her : if her ministry is less sublime, it is 
 at least maternal. If she is mature in age, she 
 will off'er you the experience of her years; it 
 she is still'young, she will be more energetic, 
 more bold, and perhaps, more urgent in her 
 zeal ; if she even is subject to little miseries and 
 little weaknesses, let not your confidence be 
 
70 Choice of a Director, 
 
 shaken; the divine Master willed to place at 
 the head of His Church two apostles, one 
 of whom denied Him and the other persecut- 
 ed the infant Church, in order, perhaps, that 
 they might be more compassionate. It is 
 also for that reason age and sorrow are al- 
 ways more indulgent, for they have acquired 
 compassion or experience. 
 
 '^Finally, a true reflection ; if God on the 
 one hand promises to reward our faith, and 
 our simplicity, on the other, He grants light 
 and grace to her whom He sends to us. Fre- 
 quently luminous thoughts present them- 
 selves to her mind, words escape her which 
 impress hearts so deeply that she cannot but 
 recognize the effect of the assistance prom- 
 ised by the divine Master to those who are to 
 speak in His name. Therefore, you will ad- 
 dress yourself particularly to the mother 
 superior, since she has the mission and the 
 grace to guide you/' 
 
 There may, nevertheless, be certain cases, 
 and the rule has provided for them, when 
 other direction may be more profitable ; the 
 prudence of the superior meets such cases, 
 and you have only to continue simple and 
 obedient. But there is no case in which a 
 sister may of herself, unless by express per- 
 ;nission, choose one of her companions to 
 
Choice of a Director. 71 
 
 direct her. Her talents, her piety .nspire 
 you with confidence ; that may be, but she 
 will always lack indispensable qualifications : 
 — she has neither the mission nor the author- 
 ity for her work, and thus experience proves 
 that such direction always degenerates into 
 particular friendships which are the pests of 
 religious communities. 
 
 II. 
 
 Freedom in the choice of a Director. 
 
 When we are free to choose a director we 
 must understand that this choice is not 
 usually the result of an impression, an attrac- 
 tion, nor to be hastily made. 
 
 It is certain, first of all, that the greater 
 number of souls need no other director than 
 a confessor, and that in the world there are 
 few souls who need take any trouble to ob- 
 tain special direction. Confession, accord- 
 ing as it is made, the questions of the priest, 
 and the counsels he gives, may suffice. Guil- 
 lor6 even says that ''usually the director 
 and confessor should be the same, for there 
 are many things which should only be com- 
 municated under the veil of the sacrament, 
 and which, nevertheless, are necessary for di- 
 rection. This separate direction frequently 
 
72 Choice of a Director, 
 
 causes great abuses, for while the confessor has 
 only a knowledge of ordinary things relating 
 to the soul, a knowledge of the heart and a 
 hundred little confidences are given the di- 
 rector. I acknowledge, however, that there 
 may be certain circumstances in which for 
 good reason, which I leave to the judicious 
 discernment of those concerned, one may 
 have a director independently of his con- 
 fessor. " 
 
 Even in communities the ordinary and 
 extraordinary confessor would be sufficient 
 to direct souls, were it not necessary for the 
 superior to know his subjects, to replace the 
 priest, when absent, not to remit sin, doubt- 
 less, but to enlighten a scrupulous con- 
 science, dissipate a cloud which troubles one 
 before communion, or to form the religious 
 to the particular spirit of the community, 
 with which the confessor sometimes is not 
 sufficiently familiar ; or possibly, even to in- 
 cite his subjects to greater progress with 
 more authority and wisdom, — or finally, in 
 order to give each one the employment 
 suited to his ability and acquirements. 
 
 For the reasons just stated, founders of Or- 
 ders have established monthly direction out- 
 side of confession. 
 
Choice of a Director. 73 
 
 More care and attention are required in 
 the choice of a director than of a confessor. 
 
 When we have only to declare our sins 
 and receive absolution, if we are sincerely 
 sorry for our faults and firmly determined 
 to r.void the occasion of them, and to take 
 precautions not to fall again, we have no 
 need to be troubled, particularly when it is 
 only occasionally that we need the ministry 
 of a priest. 
 
 The direct end of confession being to cure 
 the wounds made by sin, the power con- 
 ferred by Holy Orders, and the jurisdiction 
 granted by the Bishop, suffice for the Sacra- 
 ment, provided the conditions necessary on 
 our part are not wanting. 
 
 The end of direction being, as we said, to 
 perfect the soul by gradually destroying the 
 faults which rule it, — to beautify it by 
 teaching it to acquire virtues, — to enable 
 it to fully correspond to God's designs, — 
 the director must be possessed of piety, 
 knowledge, experience. This is the teach- 
 ing of the Roman Catechism. The faithful, 
 it tells us, ought to understand how careful 
 they should be to choose as confessors, priests 
 commendable by the integrity of their 
 lives, knowledge, and prudence of judgment. 
 
 I . With piety, which keeps the director near 
 
74 Choice of a Director, 
 
 the Divine Master, he will attract you to God. 
 
 He will have only the interests of your 
 soul in view, your temporal affairs will only 
 concern him incidentally ; he will seek 
 neither your approbation, nor your affection, 
 but lead you direct to God : he will labor 
 for you with zeal, for he will understand the 
 importance of enabling a soul to attain the 
 degree of perfection to which God calls it,— 
 with charity, which he will know is pleasing 
 to God, a charity perfectly free from weak- 
 ness, cowardice, or any material consider- 
 ation. 
 
 2. Knowledge will show him your present 
 state, — the paths you should follow, — the 
 special exercises you should practice, the 
 illusions to which you are liable. 
 
 "Our director" says St. Teresa, ** should 
 be pious and learned ; but if we cannot 
 find these two qualities united, it is better 
 to take one who is learned, rather than one 
 who is pious but not learned." 
 
 ''Of all the wise sayings of this illustrious 
 Saint" adds Fr. Faber, ''I know none in 
 which her character is better reflected than 
 in this." 
 
 '^ I have always believed," the great Saint 
 adds, ** and will always believe that every 
 Christian should seek as director, a man 
 
Choice of a Director, 75 
 
 versed in spiritual science : the more learned 
 he is, the more beneficial will he be ; those 
 who are called to certain states of prayer par- 
 ticularly need such a director. I firmly believe 
 that a soul called to certain degrees of prayer, 
 who consults a learned director, will not, un- 
 less she wishes to deceive herself, be misled 
 by the illusions of the devil." 
 
 3. Experience of the things of God will 
 give more firmness to the director's doctrine, 
 and make his counsels more clear. 
 
 A learned confessor may guide a soul in 
 all that concerns religion, and prevent it 
 from going astray ; but a person of experi- 
 ence only can help you to walk in the way 
 of perfection. 
 
 We have no need to dwell further on the 
 qualities necessary to a director, nor par- 
 ticularly to mention with more detail the 
 marks by which we may recognize whether 
 a director be possessed of piety, learning, and 
 the necessary experience. 
 
 Such details might be prejudicial to cer- 
 tain self-sufficient souls who judge, compare, 
 criticise, and, imparting their impressions to 
 others, injure the ministry of those who do 
 not meet with their approval. 
 
 What mistaken judgments are created by 
 
7^ Choice of a Director, 
 
 opinions founded on mere impressions ! 
 How many priests have seen their ministry 
 paralyzed by the criticism of pious souls 
 to whom their general appearance was not 
 pleasing ! 
 
 Let us not seek so much, but pray with 
 simplicity, and wait ! 
 
 God is pledged not to fail souls who seek 
 Him with an upright intention. 
 
 * * 
 * 
 
 How will you know that such a person 
 is the director you need ? I cannot say, 
 but I know that if you are faithful, if you 
 pray, if you are firmly determined to sub- 
 mit, to be humble, to allow yourself to be 
 guided, God will make him known to you 
 among the thousands from whom St. Fr. de 
 Sales tells us a director should be chosen. 
 ''Earnestly ask God to send you a director 
 after His heart, and doubt not that He wifl 
 send you a good and faithful one, rather, He 
 will send you an angel as He did the young 
 Tobias ; but you must ask it long and earn- 
 est^ly, as the greatest favor God can bestow 
 upon you, for a wise director is the channel 
 through which God communicates all His 
 graces to souls/' The employment of up- 
 
Choice of a Director, 77 
 
 right human measures is, doubtless not for- 
 bidden. ** Seek information/' says Fenelon, 
 " from persons who are most simple, most 
 solid, and least influenced by vam appear- 
 ances, and whose conduct leads you to hope 
 that you will profit by the counsels of him 
 whomyou wish to choose. . . It is even nec- 
 essary, if possible, to see and converse several 
 times with the director we wish to choose, 
 that we may learn whether we can go to him 
 with the necessary frankness and openness, 
 and whether we will find in him all that we 
 need to find. . . Then simply follow what 
 God puts into your heart ; good will, sim- 
 plicity, detachment from all self interests, 
 the fear of falling into hands which are not 
 the best for God's designs, finally, confidence 
 in grace, will be your guides. 
 
 "' God will see your heart and will give 
 you according to the measure of your faith. 
 Let your only object in seeking a director 
 be, to die to yourself without reserve, and to 
 hold to nothing in this life. God, who 
 never fails an upright heart, will gratify the 
 desire of your soul ; an angel Raphael will 
 be sent you. 
 
 " Humble yourself, be detached from all 
 your own interests, remove from your heart 
 all that could prevent you from being docile, 
 
78 Choice 0/ a Director. 
 
 and the guide you seek will not be denied 
 you. ' He will come, I know not how, 
 but he will come/ A conversation, a 
 chance, a trifle, will open your eyes, and 
 you will see him for whom you are 
 waiting." 
 
 A soul under direction may, doubtless, 
 find faults in her director ; but if she have the 
 proper spirit of piety, she will see them with- 
 out remarking them; she will attribute them 
 to human weakness, remembering, that no 
 one is exempt from faults, — that a fault is 
 not necessarily a vice, — that God leaves the 
 most eminent directors with even apparent 
 faults, that knowing their own miseries, they 
 may have more compassion for those of 
 others ; — that a man may be very holy, with 
 defects, against which he unceasingly strug- 
 gles, — that the director, finally, being God's 
 organ, we must not stop at him, but rise by 
 means of him to God, and that our contempt 
 for his person reflects upon God Himself, 
 whom he represents. 
 
 St. Teresa was more learned in the ways 
 of God than her directors, and yet with what 
 simplicity she exposed her doubts ! with 
 
Choice of a Director, j(^ 
 
 what humility she listened 1 — with what obe- 
 dience she submitted 1 
 
 # 
 
 We find in an excellent book published by 
 a Dominican, * the following pages which 
 may perhaps enlighten some souls troubled 
 about the choice of a director: *' For some 
 time the soul of Herminie seemed to be 
 hovering between several paths ; she went 
 from one to the other, not knowing which to 
 choose ; she hesitated and was troubled con- 
 cernmg her duty. An indefinite uneasiness 
 like that which besets a traveller, uncertain of 
 his route, impelled her to seek a guide more 
 familiar with heavenly things, and more skil- 
 ful in sounding the depths of our nature, 
 that she might be enlightened by his coun- 
 sels and find support in his strength. 
 
 "This change was very trying to her, not 
 that she was influenced by these considera- 
 tions, more common than we think, which 
 paralyze so many souls : what will my con- 
 fessor say ? Will I not give him pain ? Is 
 not this ingratitude ? No, Herminie lived 
 in too elevated an atmosphere for these 
 
 * Herminie de la Bassemouturie, par le P. Thomas des 
 frdres Precheurs. 
 
8o Choice of a Director, 
 
 purely human considerations to reach her. 
 Her fears came from a better source, a pro- 
 found respect for the Priest. With the pen- 
 etration which faith and humihty give, she 
 understood all the sublimity of the priestly 
 vocation. 
 
 "The miseries and infirmities inseparable 
 from everything human, mingled with what 
 is divine, escaped her, or at least only ap- 
 peared to her lost in the mysterious splendor 
 of his divine character. The slightest unfav- 
 orable criticism of a Priest, uttered in her 
 presence, pained her, 
 
 " If a school friend ventured an unbe- 
 coming remark, she never hesitated to say : 
 ' Ah ! if our Mothers heard you ! ' 
 
 /'Later, she thus retraces for herself the 
 mission of the Priest ; ^ Oh! how I love, how 
 I venerate the Priest, God's servant, the min- 
 ister of the Divinity ; the Priest raised by sa- 
 cerdotal grace above the angels ; the Priest 
 who daily holds in his hands the Saviour of 
 the world, Jesus Christ, whom he represents 
 on earth ! The Priest, the friend of God, 
 the friend of man, the mediator between 
 God and man, and who unceasingly bears 
 messages from one to the other : he is the 
 dispenser of bread to the poor, of comfort to 
 the sick, of consolation to the afflicted. He 
 
Choice of a Director. 81 
 
 is ever, and at all times, the father and the 
 providence of all. 
 
 *'At our birth the Priest makes us children 
 of heaven by giving us light and grace. At 
 our death, it is again the Priest who helps 
 us to pass the bounds of the last and terrible 
 passage ; he encourages us at this dread mo- 
 ment, he exhorts us, and, reclothing us a 
 last time in the robe of innocence, opens to 
 us the gates of eternal life. 
 
 **And during the short space which sep- 
 arates the cradle from the tomb, how fre- 
 quently have we to bless the hand of the 
 Priest ever extended to his unfortunate 
 brothers? How often has this venerated 
 hand poured balm on our wounds, dissipated 
 our fears, banished our sadness ? How 
 many times has this paternal hand with- 
 drawn us from the abyss ? Yes, when the 
 ties which bind us to heaven are broken, the 
 Priest weeps like a father over the sorrows 
 of a son. Sustained by his great heart, he 
 prays, and with touching patience and per- 
 severance, labors to repair the misfortune. 
 His gentle, firm words follow the traces of 
 the evil and efface it, he restores what was 
 fallen and fortifies it ; he warms what was 
 cold, and reunites between father and son 
 the ties which were so sadly severed. 
 
8 2 Choice of a Director. 
 
 *'And to speak but of ourselves, it was 
 through one of these worthy ministers that 
 God restored peace and serenity to our days, 
 and with these blessings the joy and health 
 which we had ceased to know. After the 
 death of a father, a mother, and beloved 
 brothers, when prostrated by our sorrow, it 
 was this hand which raised us up ; at its 
 touch we felt new life, a smile returned to 
 our lips, and our tearful eyes were raised in 
 fervent gratitude to heaven for the gift we 
 had received. 
 
 Herminie's veneration for the Priest, 
 based upon these various motives, a venera- 
 tion which manifested itself by a modest and 
 reserved bearing, and a childlike confidence, 
 inspired her with such an invincible repug- 
 nance to any idea of change, that nothing 
 short of her keen uneasiness could make her 
 decide to examine the delicate question of 
 choosing a new director. St. Francis de Sales 
 consulted, tells her : " Choose him among a 
 thousand. " St. Teresa affords her some 
 reasons drawn from her own experience : 
 '* Even though your confessor be intelligent 
 and learned, endeavor to go to another from 
 time to time ... I know that there are many 
 to whom this is profitable. '' 
 
 St. John and St. Paul manifest the use- 
 
Choice of a Director. 83 
 
 fulness of a good director when they show us 
 that our Lord gives to His Churchy workmen 
 of every stamp formed by that Spirit which 
 breathes where He will, which gives without 
 measure, but with discrimination; who makes 
 some Apostles, and some Prophets, and other 
 some Evangelists, and other some pastors 
 and doctors, for the perfecting of the Saints, 
 for the work of the ministry, for the edifymg 
 of the body of Christ, giving us to understand 
 by these words that there must likewise be a 
 hierarchy in directors of souls, some being 
 more interior, more spiritual, more experi- 
 enced, and therefore, more capable of safely 
 guiding us to perfection, the sole end of all 
 our efforts. These high authorities were 
 needed to terminate Herminie's hesitation ; 
 accustomed to decide in everything only after 
 she had consulted God in prayer, she will be 
 careful of permitting herself to yield to I 
 know not what natural instinct which too of- 
 ten becomes the sole motive in the very im- 
 portant choice of the Father of our soul. She 
 withdraws into herself, she invokes the Holy 
 Spirit; how many times does she not say : 
 "" Give me I beseech Thee, O my God, a 
 sure and enlightened guide who will lead me 
 to Thy love, who will guide me in the path of 
 perfection ; and if to attain this it be neces- 
 
84 Choice of a Director 
 
 sary to traverse forests of thorns, to ford deep 
 torrents, to wander through nameless deserts, 
 I accept in advance all the trials of the route, 
 relying on Thy powerful succor which never 
 fails one who trusts in Thee." 
 
 And again ; 
 
 *' I have always had a great desire to love 
 Thee with all my heart, O my sweet Master 1 
 but this desire now seems less vague, it is 
 united more firmly with my will and I feel 
 that it must cease to be fruitless. I desire 
 then, to take means of testifying this love as 
 much and as perfectly as possible, but of 
 myself I can do nothing ; and I must needs 
 repeat: Lord, what wilt thou that I do? O 
 how willingly I should obey him who would 
 consent to guide my soul ! But is this pre- 
 cious friend to be found ? Cause me to find 
 him, O my God, and while waiting to speak 
 to me by his lips, speak to my heart, en- 
 lighten my understanding, above all strength- 
 en my will, for I feel my weakness and my 
 misery to be extreme. " 
 
 She added to these prayers novena upon 
 novena ; finally she rose, and impelled by a 
 secret inspiration from God, found the guide 
 whom she sought. He was an enlightened 
 priest, whose prudent and firm direction 
 
Choice of a Director, 85 
 
 caused her to advance rapidly in the way of 
 self denial and virtue. 
 
 Prayer to ask of God a Director, 
 Lord, who knowest all hearts, make known 
 to me the person whom Thou hast chosen to 
 o-uide me, for I am but a child, and I know 
 not how to walk in Thy way. I know, Lord, 
 that Thou art the way and no one can go to 
 Thee, save by Thy grace, but I cannot find 
 Thee if Thou thyself dost not attract me,and 
 if Thou givest me not a guide who will lead 
 me to Thee. Send me a guide who may 
 discern Thy designs for my soul,— who pon- 
 ders Thy words,— who loves the doctrine 
 of Thy Church,— who will be to me a fa- 
 ther and mother in one, and who, after the 
 example of St. Paul, does not tear to suffer 
 for the sanctification of souls. 
 
 Send me a guide who will dispense Thy 
 Holy Word with prudence, who may know 
 how to compassionate my weakness without 
 betraying Thy interests, and who seeks but 
 to guide me to Thee alone. And when I 
 shall have found him, grant me the grace, O 
 my God, to heed him, as I would heed Thee, 
 to obev him as I would obey Thee. 
 
CHAPTER FOURTH. 
 
 flibuse of Direction. 
 
 In this Chapter and the following, we shall 
 treat, not only of the director, but also of 
 the confessor, who, particularly in commu- 
 nities, without being properly the director of 
 the house, gives, nevertheless, a general im- 
 petus to all souls in the same house under 
 his direction. With still stronger reason 
 does this Chapter apply to persons in the 
 world, who have no other director than 
 their confessor. 
 
 These abuses of which we have to speak 
 may arise from : 
 
 I St. The multiplicity of directors. 
 
 2d. Changing directors. 
 
 3d. The relations with a director. 
 
 I. 
 
 Abuse arising from a multiplicity of Direc- 
 tors. 
 
 Unity of direction, particularly in a com- 
 munity, is founded : 
 
 I St. On the conduct and spirit of the 
 
Abuse of Direction 87 
 
 Church, which ensures communities extraor- 
 dinary confessors at the four Ember seasons, 
 and during a retreat, which requires that a 
 superior be wiiUng, in a few extraordinary 
 cases, to call in a strange confessor, and re- 
 quires that every religious be permitted to 
 send for any confessor she wishes at the hour 
 of death ; all of which regulations presuppose 
 habitually uniform direction. 
 
 2d. On experience ; vcs. communities where 
 there are several directors, there is a division 
 of sentiments and opinions, and it rarely 
 happens that the peace of the community 
 is not disturbed. 
 
 They speak of the confessors, — they com- 
 pare them one with another, — they uphold 
 one, they censure, or at least disapprove, of 
 another. . . Thence follow rash judgments ; 
 parties are formed which, though perhaps not 
 compromising in the beginning, end by de- 
 stroying the peace of the community. It is 
 remarked, for example, that souls directed by 
 such a confessor go to Holy Communion 
 more frequently, etc. Thence follow partic- 
 ularly, attachments, not very deep-seated 
 doubtless, but always inimical to a spirit of 
 faith, and sometimes ridiculous ; thence fol- 
 low prejudices, so strong, that some will miss 
 a communion rather than go to confession 
 
88 Abuse of Direction. 
 
 to the other confessor, whom they do not 
 hke, merely because they did not begin by 
 going to him. 
 
 3d. On reason. The director is the chief, 
 and gives the same impetus. 
 
 He is the father, he gives the same nour- 
 ishment. With one director there is but one 
 and the same spirit ; — the spirit of God does 
 not dwell where there is a want of union.* 
 
 In the world, a multiplicity of directors 
 has also deplorable results. 
 
 There are souls who have several direc- 
 tors and several confessors at the same time ; 
 they go from one to the other, sometimes in 
 the same day, usually choosing one for the 
 confession of grave sins, the other for sins 
 they suppose less serious. 
 
 Poor souls, unconscious that the spirit 
 which impels them is a spirit of pride, some 
 times of hypocrisy, always a frivolous spirit 
 at least, and that they run the risk, when 
 there is question of confession, of profaning a 
 sacrament, which they approach without one 
 
 * It IS well to have but one spiritual father but that does 
 not, as St. Francis de Sales says, prevent one from commu- 
 nicating with several others. St. Teresa made a vow of obe- 
 dience to P. Gratien, but it did not prevent her from asking 
 counsel. 
 
 Unity of direction, does not in any way prohibit giving 
 confidences and making communications to another director 
 \JPrinciples <f Mystical Theology ) 
 
Abuse of Direction, 89 
 
 of the most essential dispositions, humility. 
 
 Such souls will never be at peace, for the 
 decisions they receive will rarely be the same ; 
 not that the same principles do not guide 
 the different directors, but because they 
 themselves unconsciously make a different 
 representation of the state of their soul. 
 In t'lese frivolous souls, who go from chapel 
 to chapel and from confessor to confessor, 
 impressions are so transitory that the same 
 thought takes new shape in their imagi- 
 nation every hour. 
 
 They will make no progress in virtue, 
 and will remain all their lives subject to the 
 same faults. We can only correct a fault 
 and acquire a virtue by continuing the same 
 efforts, and this perseverance is impossible 
 to them because of the different impulsions 
 they receive, and of their inconstancy which 
 makes them undertake, interrupt, resume 
 the same exercises several times in the same 
 week ; moreover, one who is ill cannot be 
 cured when his impatience leads him con- 
 stantly to change his physician. 
 
90 Abuse of Direction. 
 
 IL 
 Abuse in changing Directors. 
 
 A change of director may sometimes be 
 necessary, sometimes, simply useful. 
 
 When the desire to change seems rea- 
 sonable, and continues after a certain time, 
 in spite of our submission, and prayers 
 offered with a pure intention for light and 
 guidance, let us, if possible, submit our de- 
 sire and the reasons for it, to a stranger whom 
 we know to be not easily influenced, and 
 follow his advice. 
 
 We understand that such advice cannot 
 always be obtamed ; let us beware, at least 
 when obliged to act by ourselves, of allowing 
 our judgment to be influenced : 
 
 I St. By a spirit of frivolity We feel a 
 need, a wholly nervous need, to change 
 because our director wearies us, tries us, 
 always repeats the same thing, and is not, 
 we think, what he formerly was to us. 
 
 2d. By vanity. Our director has wound- 
 ed us, humbled us, he has administered a 
 reproof to us, he entertains suspicions against 
 us. — We need, we argue, some one more 
 talented, who will not treat us quite so much 
 like a child,— we want such a director to 
 whom the elect, privileged souls go ; — we 
 feel ourselves called to something higher 
 
Abuse of Direction. 91 
 
 than the monotonous life in which he letJ^ 
 us drag wearily on. 
 
 Alas ! all these motives are doubtless not 
 as crudely put into words as we have ex- 
 pressed them ; but let us search well and 
 we will frequently find them m the depth of 
 our souls. 
 
 3d. By sensuality. The ordinary director 
 ceases to please us ; another, in passing, 
 preaches and hears confessions, he delights 
 us. . . " Ah ! here is a man of merit ! What 
 sanctity ! What amiability ! He is a saint I " 
 etc. , etc. 
 
 In truth, how can God bless such mo- 
 tives ? Once more, I repeat, sound your 
 heart well before leaving permanently the 
 priest who has long had the care of your 
 soul, or before asking permission to cease 
 going to the confessor of the community. 
 
 The most useful confessors and directors 
 are not always those who please us most, or 
 those who excite in us most sensible fervor; 
 but those who make us practice solid vir- 
 tues : humility, self-denial, submission to the 
 will of God, manifested by events and by the 
 action of creatures against us. 
 
 Then, before changing, let us know how 
 to wait a certain time and to moderate with 
 patience all that may be natural in our de- 
 
92 Abuse of Direction, 
 
 sire, to manifest to God our good will to 
 suffer a few days longer, and to be under- 
 stood by Him alone. We have asked the 
 spiritual motives for choosing a director, we 
 ask now the spiritual motives for leaving him. 
 **Be not of the number of these persons '' 
 says Guillore, ^^ who change easily because 
 they are seized with shame after the confes- 
 sion of some grave faults, or because they are 
 disgusted, not being directed according to 
 their own ideas, or because they are attracted 
 by the novelty of some director of reputation. 
 This circumstance is gravely prejudicial to 
 the soul, for there is nothing which tends 
 more to maintain bad habits than this fa- 
 cility in changing a director ; doubtless we 
 avoid by this means the confusion of our 
 faults, but the confusion being avoided, we 
 fearlessly fall with impunity into the same 
 
 disorders There must be grave reasons 
 
 for changing a director whom we have 
 carefully chosen and whom we have re- 
 ceived as from Gods hand. We should not 
 lightly undo what God has done. 
 
 There is not question here of a temporary 
 change, such as a confession now and then 
 made to another confessor, — nor of a coun- 
 
Abuse of Direction, 93 
 
 sel asked of a worthy person whom God 
 sends to us, — nor of a manifestation of con- 
 science made in words or by letter to a di- 
 rector whose prudence is known to us. 
 
 There are certain situations in life when 
 we need a strange voice ; — there are certain 
 troubles which we must needs confide to 
 one for whom we feel a particular at- 
 traction ; : — there are, particularly, certain 
 faults, certain kinds of temptation which we 
 have not the courage to discover to our or- 
 dinary confessor and for which we require 
 some one who is perfectly unknown to us. 
 
 Even though there be no extraordinary 
 operations in the soul, we do wisely some- 
 times to make a retreat under a confessor 
 and a director other than the ordinary con- 
 fessor and director. 
 
 The Church in her wisdom has decreed 
 that several times a year an extraordinary 
 confessor should offer his ministry to the 
 religious upon whom the rule imposes an 
 ordinary confessor. 
 
 The religious are not obliged to confess 
 to him, but they must all present themselves 
 at the tribunal of penance. The Church 
 wishes that at the hour of death every relig- 
 ious should be permitted to send for any con- 
 fessor she desires, and that every sister be 
 
94 Abuse of Direction. 
 
 permitted to correspond directly, either with 
 her superior general, or with the ecclesiasti- 
 cal superior of the community. 
 
 There are cases where a change of direc- 
 tor is absolutely necessary. 
 
 *'We must beware/' says Fenelon, *'of 
 choosing a director through complacency, or 
 policy, or through any sensible attraction, 
 or for any reason save to find a man of God. 
 A choice made with human motives is capa- 
 ble of ruining our means of salvation. If we 
 have been so unfortunate as to fall into this 
 fault, the only remedy will be to break away 
 courageously from the consequences, and 
 put our conscience at liberty to seek else- 
 where succor according to our needs. '' 
 
 There may be other circumstances in life 
 which imperiously require a change of di- 
 rector. Let us not act too quickly, and as 
 we said, let us do nothing without the coun- 
 sel of a prudent person to whom we shall 
 have simply represented our feelmgs, our de- 
 sires and ihe motives by which we are im- 
 pelled. 
 
 * Here is what the " Mystical Theology '' of 
 Schram says on the important subject of 
 changing a director: 
 
Abuse of Direction, 95 
 
 * ' Though usually it is well to confide the 
 direction of our soul to but one person, 
 nevertheless, we should not irrevocably at- 
 tach ourselves to him ; we should be suffi- 
 ciently indifferent towards him to be able to 
 do without him, to be free to consult an- 
 othsr, and even to change him at need. 
 
 Otherwise we may have reason to fear the 
 menace of our Saviour : ^^ Woe to him who 
 confideth in man !" — it would be falling into 
 the abuse blamed by the Apostle when the 
 faithful of his time glorified themselves, say- 
 ing, one : '' I indeed am of Paul/' another, 
 '*I am of Apollo/' ''What, then, is Apollo, 
 and what is Paul ? " He answers them : '' The 
 ministers of Him whom you have believed, 
 and they labor for Him every one as the 
 Lord hath given. " 
 
 St. Teresa, in the thirteenth Chapter of her 
 Life, praises the holy liberty with which a sec- 
 ular may choose a better director than her 
 own; she would even have a like liberty in 
 cloisters, without injury, however, to obedi- 
 ence, at least for consulting other priests than 
 the confessor. 
 
 The Life of St. Jane de Chantal retraces at 
 great length the trouble she experienced in 
 consequence of her vow to be directed by 
 one director, who did not suit her. 
 
g6 Abuse of Direction, 
 
 Reason fully justifies this holy liberty. 
 There may in fact be grave cases where it is 
 important for us to consult another director 
 rather than the ordinary one, and even to 
 leave the latter. 
 
 III. 
 
 Abuse in the relations with a Director. 
 
 These relations may be vitiated by a too 
 strong attachment, by a too pronounced dis- 
 like, or by a too absolute reserve. 
 
 I St. Attachment for the Director, 
 
 ist. Attachment for a director is not cen- 
 surable when it is formed by grace, — dictated 
 by gratitude, — inspired by merited confi- 
 dence. 
 
 It gives the director the authority of a 
 father, the soul directed the docility of a 
 child. 
 
 Our manifest confidence in the director 
 excites his zeal, sustains and consoles him. 
 
 The confidence given by the soul directed 
 prepares her for the action of grace, makes 
 her happy, and enables her to more easily 
 bear trials.* 
 
 * Sister Cornuau having- said to Bossuet : " If I am per- 
 mitted to wish that you will always continue your care of my 
 soul, I may have reason to fear an attachment.'' — The learned 
 
Abuse of Direction, 97 
 
 2d. Reprehensible, we shall not say 
 culpable, attachment which always inter- 
 feres with the workings of grace because 
 wholly natural, is recognized by the fol- 
 lowing marks : 
 
 We desire to be esteemed and loved by 
 our director. 
 
 We display to him, and sometimes with 
 a refinement of humility which is pitiable, 
 all the good qualities we recognize in our- 
 selves, particularly exterior qualities. We 
 tell him more or less openly that we are 
 very much attached to him, and know not 
 what we would do without him. 
 
 We accuse him, at least to ourselves, of 
 partiality towards others. . . we would be 
 the sole object of his interest ; we speak 
 when seeking direction, or during confession, 
 of things proper to nourish vanity or sen- 
 suality. 
 
 We are interminable in our relations to 
 him. 
 
 We are disquieted, disconsolate, if absence 
 
 prelate replied: *' You cannot too earnestly desire the care of 
 a pastor. . . As to too great attachments for directors, we 
 , must treat these things as we do other trials, that is, let 
 them pass, and draw into ourselves. It is only the inevitable 
 dust and rust to be found on faces, and the cleanest vessels ; 
 so that we must continually purify ourselves and suffer God 
 to put us back into the fire. Here is the only remedy for 
 this evil ; every other aggravates rather than cures it. 
 
98 Aiuse 0/ Direction, 
 
 or illness interfere with our confession, and 
 we miss communion because we have not 
 been able to make our confession to him ; 
 We go, without his knowledge, when the 
 director is also the confessor, to a strange 
 priest, to confess a humiliating fault, which 
 will lessen, — (we imagine) — the esteem we 
 believe merited.* 
 
 And if the confessor be changedf . . We 
 have not here to depict scenes which would 
 be ridiculous if truly represented, we mere- 
 ly wish to indicate the marks of a too nat- 
 ural attachment which God does not bless. 
 
 If your director be changed, remember 
 that God remains to you. 
 
 If the instrument through which God 
 communicated with you be broken, re- 
 sources are never lacking to this All-power- 
 ful Ardsan. 
 
 If the stream which conveyed God's 
 grace to you be dry, the Source remains. 
 
 * We are right, certainly, to seek another priest for the 
 confession of a grave sin, which we would perhaps confess 
 badly to the ordinary confessor. This is not what we censure. 
 Alas ! we know. how to allow for human weakness ! We 
 censure the little spirit of faith we bring to our ordinary 
 confessions." 
 
 t The abuse of not changing a confessor when we think it 
 necessary, is more pernicious than the contrary abuse. 
 
 Frequently changing one's director without necessity may 
 be prejudicial to perfection, but not to change one's confessor 
 at the risk of making bad confessions, is an abuse which may 
 lead to perdition. 
 
Abuse of Direciio7i. 99 
 
 And who can say whether this change of 
 director be not a punishment for your too 
 natural attachment, and the feeble manner 
 in which you profited by his words ? Who 
 can say whether God had not needs send 
 him to other souls who will better profit by 
 his experience? 
 
 Say not : this director is necessary to my 
 perfection, say he is useful ; God alone is 
 necessary. 
 
 This minister was sent you by God to do 
 you a certain good, determined by the Divine 
 Wisdom ; his mission ended, God sends him 
 to another soul. Who was more useful to 
 Tobias than Raphael ? Raphael leaves 
 him after his mission is accomplished. 
 
 Who was more useful for the conversion 
 of the Chinese than St. Francis Xavier? 
 Yet this servant of God died before setting 
 foot in the kingdom of China. 
 
 Who was more necessary to the Apostles 
 than our Lord ? Nevertheless our Saviour 
 declared to them that His presence was an 
 obstacle to the coming of the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 A natural attachment for one's director is 
 one of the great obstacles to the operations 
 of grace, and never will a soul that yields 
 to the sweetness of this affection, however 
 
lOO Abuse 0/ Direction. 
 
 innocent it may be, attain the degree of 
 perfection to which God calls hex. 
 
 Listen to this remarkable page from the 
 Memoirs of M. Oilier : " It pleased oui Lord 
 to show me one thing upon which 1 must 
 instruct and enlighten souls who come to 
 me ; that is, tarn them from certain practices 
 in which they indulge, innocently, though 
 they are far removed from the purity of God, 
 who desires souls perfectly detached, dead 
 to themselves, and everywhere void of all 
 created things. For example, they affect to 
 receive communion at the mass of their con- 
 fessors and directors ; this deprives them 
 of much grace, weakens God's operations 
 and His pleasure in them. 
 
 '' A person who goes to hear the mass of 
 a priest for whom she feels a particular 
 friendship or esteem, however holy it may be, 
 must necessarily risk turning to him from 
 time to time with certain complacent, 
 pleasurable feelings, certain interior satisfac- 
 tion, which incline her to rest, to lean upon, 
 and delight in what is human, earthly, 
 created, which is not God alone, and His 
 purity, which nevertheless must form the 
 sole object of the soul's aspirations 
 
 " All that leads us to turn the eyes of our 
 soul from God, and to fix them upon the 
 
Abme of Direction. loi 
 
 creature, is a temptation, a distraction, odious 
 to God, particularly in holy things like sac- 
 rifice and prayer/'* 
 
 2nd. Dislike for ones Director, 
 
 A dislike for a director arises, we have 
 already said, from wounded self love, a frus- 
 trated illusion, or a prejudice. 
 
 We have not found in his direction 
 what we expected; — ^we imagine that he is 
 no longer the same to us, and this thought 
 increasing, closes our heart. — Hence we ap- 
 proach him with hesitation, we speak with 
 embarrassment, we reply with visible fear, 
 often in terms that are scarcely polite, and 
 necessarily we find, or imagine, that he re- 
 
 V- 1 cannot " writes an experienced soul, ''resist calling your 
 attention to the ridiculousness of two kinds of persons. Ihere 
 are some who have one appointed director and s^e^^l o^*^f^^^^ 
 \n reserve. Excuse the two expressions ; alas ! they are too 
 sadly true ! Others go to the other extreme ^^^V /^.^^^^ 
 but one director, but he is so unique that no ^J^f^. P"f^'^'^'o2 
 any value in their eyes- And if this ,^«Hf d^';f^^,^\'h"ft°;rr1ble 
 away they are inconsolable ; the whole ^igj^f -^'l^^them to 
 loss they have sustained and how impossible it is for tnem to 
 go to any other priest. 
 
 "Avoid the inconstancy of the first and che exciusiveness ot 
 the second. Keep your director as long as God leaves him to 
 you. In case of absence or departure, be resigned, pray and 
 with the assistance of God's grace, go to another. Let your 
 attitude towards v our director be a supernatural one. The 
 priest is Jesus Christ. Your director is in a measure Jesus 
 Christ adapting Himself to you, to better purify, enlighten, 
 strengthen and console you. Never forget this great truth, 
 and know how to observe a happy medium between pusil- 
 lanimity and familiarity." 
 
I02 Abuse 0/ Direction. 
 
 ceives us coldly, is short in his words, 
 
 severe in his decisions and we plan a 
 
 change which, if not possible, pre-occupies 
 us, disquiets us and completely destroys 
 our peace. 
 
 Dislike for the ordinary director may 
 arise from very different causes : 
 
 There are dispositions which love change, 
 and tire of the best things ; they must 
 have novelty. 
 
 Others want a confessor, who talks a great 
 deal in the confessional, and gives them 
 long sermons. 
 
 Others want some one with whom they 
 may discuss everything both in and out 
 of confession. A solid man who says little 
 and to the point dissatisfies them. 
 
 There are persons who seek a confessor 
 vho follows their tastes and inclinations ; 
 who flatters them, spares them, who con- 
 forms himself to their ideas of spirituality, 
 who authorizes all their judgments, and all 
 they wish, as if the approbation they receive 
 justified their immortification. Poor de- 
 luded souls, who seek in the condescension 
 and indulgence of their directors what may 
 maintain their negligence and not the rem- 
 edy for the evil. 
 
 Sometimes dislike for a director and con- 
 
Abuse of Direction. 1C3 
 
 sequently a desire to leave him, comes from 
 jealousy. We would like to be of a limited 
 number, and we are not ; we imagine that 
 the director has more consideration for oth- 
 ers, that he gives them more time, as if a 
 priest had not to give himself to each soul 
 according to its need ! 
 
 There are some, finally, who tire of a 
 director who knows how to control them, 
 who wishes them to advance in virtue, who 
 excites and urges them on. They would 
 rather give up everything than subject them- 
 selves to reproaches and urgent solicita- 
 tions. 
 
 O! the pitiable devotion of such souls! 
 How ill it is understood, how puerile, or ra- 
 ther, how dangerous it is ! Dislike for a con- 
 fessor and director may sometimes be the 
 effect of the devil's malice, who, wishing to 
 hinder the good which certain direction 
 effects in a soul, fills her with a vague 
 disquiet, groundless suspicion, an almost 
 unconquerable weariness. 
 
 This dislike also arises simply by the 
 permission of God, who would oblige a 
 soul to act with more purity of intention 
 and to seek only God in the director. 
 
 Whatever the source of this dislike, a 
 spirit of faith, humility, and patient submis- 
 
I04 Abuse of Direction, 
 
 sion are the means by which we may dissi- 
 pate it or render it meritorious. 
 
 What soul, in fact, convinced that she has 
 no right after all her infidelities to the 
 fatherly care of God, will not esteem herself 
 fortunate that God deigns to concern Him- 
 self for her, even though He permits His or- 
 ders and counsels to be transmitted to her 
 in : way which is irritating to her sensi- 
 tiveness, and displeasing to her nature? 
 
 3rd. Reserve with the Director, 
 
 This reserve which, in the beginning, may 
 be only the result oftimidity and which in 
 this case gradually disappears, is more fre- 
 quently the fruit of self love or prejudice, 
 and always a want of a spirit of faith. 
 
 It prevents the director, the spiritual phy- 
 sician, from learning and consequently cur- 
 ing your infirmities by applying suitable 
 remedies. 
 
 It prevents the director, the guide of your 
 soul, from leading you to the degree of per- 
 fection which God requires of you, for it is 
 necessary that this guide know the lights with 
 which you have been favored, the causes of 
 your imperfections, the nature of your tem- 
 perament. 
 
 Here, in the words of an experienced di- 
 
Aduse of Direction, 105 
 
 rector, is practically what this reserve leads 
 to, which prevents you from discovering the 
 depths of your soul. 
 
 " This reserve may be observed concerning 
 evil inclinations, or graces and gifts of 
 God." 
 
 1st. You who only mention in a general 
 way, or scarce make any mention of your 
 evil inclinations, who fear that their source 
 may be found, and all their results discover- 
 ed, and particularly that your affection for 
 them may be revealed, — do you know the 
 result of this want of frankness ? 
 
 Ever in a state of tepidity and imperfec- 
 tion, you will always continue slothful and 
 imperfect. In a state of degeneracy and 
 decline, you will gradually weaken day by 
 day, and perhaps you will be the only one 
 to whom it will not be apparent. In a state 
 of trial and temptation you will be without 
 support and you will be overcome ; or your 
 soul disquieted and tormented, without 
 bearing the stain of sin will experience all 
 its trouble and bitterness. In a state of 
 doubt and perplexity, you will not act, and 
 you will leave a virtuous act undone ; or 
 you will act against the light of your con- 
 science and you will make a false step, which 
 will bring disorder into your life. 
 
io6 Abuse of Direction, 
 
 You who in a general or ordinary con- 
 fession will have concealed a weakness 
 which it still costs you an effort to confess, 
 do you know what will be the consequences 
 of this reticence ? You will groan under the 
 habitual slavery of sin. You will approach 
 the sacraments and you will profane them. 
 Your life will be but a series of faults and 
 remorse. Fortunate, if awakened by the 
 cries of conscience, you cast yourself in to the 
 arms of God and His minister to procure for 
 yourself, by a faithful confession, the consola- 
 tions which religion offers you. 
 
 You, finally, who with habitual faults, of 
 which every one complains, and for which 
 you have so often been reproved, whether a 
 frivolous spirit of dissipation, a hard capri- 
 cious disposition, a proud and haughty hu- 
 mor, or a tendency to taunt and contradict 
 your sisters, — carelessly and superficially ex- 
 pose these dispositions to your confessor, do 
 you know what will be the result ? Your 
 passions always immortified, will prevent any 
 change being visible in your conduct, and 
 will follow you perhaps to the tomb. Your 
 communions will be as useless as they are 
 frequent, and the little fruit you derive from 
 them will be a source of regret to your con- 
 fessor, or bitter grief to your superior, 
 
Abme of Direction, 107 
 
 and of bad example to the community. 
 We do not sufficiently expose the depths 
 ofoursoulto God's minister, because we 
 hold to our passions, and disguise our faults 
 from ourselves. That sister, for example, 
 who wearies the others by her obstinacy, 
 her sudden sallies of impatience, her brusk- 
 ness, finds reasons to excuse and sometimes 
 to even justify herself. And with such dis- 
 positions, how does she accuse herself.? I 
 accuse myself of impatience she will say, and 
 confine herself to this short accusation. The 
 spiritual father finding it insufficient, ques- 
 tions her to learn the nature of the fault. Was 
 it a sudden movement of impatience which 
 escaped yoa ? Did you indulge it .? Was it 
 accompanied with unkind words which pain- 
 ed another.? "My daughter," continues the 
 confessor, "it is only a sally of impatience,but 
 you fall into this fault repeatedly, you do 
 not correct it ; but you must overcome your- 
 self." — "It is true," answers the penitent, "I 
 wish I could dobetter ; but lam weak, I was 
 born with this tendency ; it carries me away. 
 To be silent and gentle upon certain occa- 
 sions would require the virtue of an angel." 
 — Thus instead of accusing, she seeks to 
 justify herself with apologies, or to make only 
 half accusations ; and after such imperfect 
 
io8 Abuse of Direction. 
 
 accusations what do we see ? the same pas- 
 sions, the same faults, the same habits. 
 
 Another sister accuses herself of disput- 
 ing with a companion engaged in the same 
 work. What is the reason of it ? An an- 
 tipathy which she will not overcome, too 
 great attachment to her own ideas, pride 
 wounded by a word, a contradiction, a re- 
 proach ; but all this is suppressed, there is no 
 mendon of these various motives. The di- 
 rector suspects some reticence on the part of 
 the interested person. The very vehemence 
 with which she expresses herself makes him 
 feel that he must distrust her representations. 
 He enters into detail, he asks questions, he 
 administers a reproof, how is it received ? 
 «' Ah ! Father you blame me, you will not 
 hear me. If you knew all I have to suffer, 
 and how difficult it is to live wiih certain 
 characters !" A moment after, the sister, the 
 subject of complaint, comes and relates the 
 same fact, and in a more temperate manner 
 cites a circumstance which betrays the his- 
 torian, and develops the mystery. Is this 
 confessing one's sins and seeking direction .? 
 Is it not rather convincing a director of what 
 he already knows and what e:xperience 
 teaches us, that your sex has a singular skill 
 in dressing a fact to favor its weakness and 
 
Abuse of Direction, 109 
 
 in devoutly deceiving with an air of truth- 
 fulness ? 
 
 What ! from this wise and wholesomely 
 severe hand which is to cure your wounds 
 by the application of the lancet and caustic, 
 you seek a false condescension which flat- 
 ters and caresses them ! 
 
 Another sister accuses herself of having 
 failed in respect to her mistress or her su- 
 perior. Represent to her that respect to- 
 wards superiors is a rigorous obligation, that 
 all who govern are the depositories of the 
 power and authority of God Himself, that 
 He receives in their person the homage of 
 submission or the insult of revolt, she ex- 
 cuses, palliates the fault which is only too 
 evident : — '^ I do not like that mistress ; she 
 does not attract me ; that superior does not 
 inspire me with sufficient confidence, and she 
 may be mistaken. " — Thus after failing in 
 obedience and submission, she goes to con- 
 fession and in the very tribunal where she 
 should repair her fault, she adds another, a 
 want of humility and compunction. 
 
 Such is the usual cause of the little fruit 
 produced by the sacraments and of so many 
 useless, sometimes sacrilegious confessions 
 and communions. They content themselves 
 with a superficial exposition, without dis- 
 
no Abuse of Direction. 
 
 covering the depths. and the condition of the 
 soul. They declare to the priest a few ex- 
 terior faults, they show him, if I may so speak 
 a few reptiles from the human heart, but 
 without giving him the key of the abyss. 
 
 2d. We sin also against direction through 
 reserve, by not being sufficiently open con- 
 cerning the graces and gifts received from 
 God. These gifts should be examined, re- 
 spected and made profitable. 
 
 First, they should be examined. The 
 Apostle St. John forbids us to believe every 
 spirit, but tells us to try them.* These gifts 
 of God, and these special attractions of 
 which I speak, must then be submitted, 
 for our security, to examination, in order not 
 to confound divine operations with the 
 work of the imagination and the illusions 
 of the spirit of darkness. To what false 
 lights, to what illusions and errors we expose 
 ourselves ! and how many souls are deceived 
 because they will walk alone without a 
 guide ! 
 
 Secondly, these gifts should be respected. 
 It is respecting them, to communicate them 
 when God inspires us to. It is respecting 
 them, to seek in this communication a means 
 of exciting ourselves to the needful gratitude 
 
 * John iv. 
 
A huse of Direction, ill 
 
 for them, learning to believe ourselves un- 
 worthy of them, and detaching ourselves 
 from that self examination and vain compla- 
 cency which are the shoal in such favors. 
 
 Thirdly, they must bear fruit. In fact, God 
 never bestows a grace with the intention of 
 giving but one. The first which we receive 
 is a fruitful germ of those which follow, ano* 
 God, master of His gifts and anxious to dis 
 tribute them, waits only our co-operation t< 
 multiply them. 
 
 This co-operation requires continuous ef- 
 forts which only a director can help us to 
 make; it requires lights which God, to pre- 
 serve us in humility, usually gives to others 
 to be communicated to us. 
 
 It is thus, pious souls, by exposing your 
 conscience, and opening your heart with 
 simplicity that you will walk in the way, God 
 has traced for you, and attain the perfection 
 He requires of you; while with your reserve 
 and your false timidity you will remain al- 
 ways imperfect, and oblige God to withdraw 
 His graces from you. 
 
CHAPTER FIFTH. 
 
 Duties of the soul directed. 
 
 As this work is written particularly for 
 souls under direction, we shall not speak of 
 the duties of the director. 
 
 We have just said a word of the spirit of 
 faith, without which direction becomes, to a 
 large number of souls, an insupportable tyran- 
 ny, a source of vexation, murmurs, trials , . . 
 we shall confine ourselves to this. 
 
 The soul under direction must : 
 
 1st. Pray much for her Direotor. 
 
 This is a duty of gratitude and personal in- 
 terest. 
 
 1st. We shall not dwell upon the director's 
 necessary devotion, — upon the vexations he 
 must conquer, — upon the repugnances he 
 must overcome, — the time he must sacrifice, 
 — the fatigue he must endure, — the little 
 consolation he receives, — the ingratitude he 
 sometimes encounters .... all things which 
 require on his part courage, energy, self de- 
 nial, charity. He is much to be pitied If he 
 
Duties of the soul directed. 113 
 
 has not the glory of God in view, if he is not 
 sustained by this thought : I am sanctifying 
 myself, — I am performing an act of chari- 
 ty, — I am taking God's place 
 
 And you, the object of his care, must be 
 very selfish and unfeeling, if you have not 
 some gratitude for one whom you find ever 
 ready to hear you and to help you; if you 
 have not a little patience with one who is 
 so patient with you, who sometimes is already 
 wearied and tired for hours when you come 
 to fatigue him still more, and who asks of 
 you no pecuniary compensation, not even 
 thanks or affection but only a few prayers for 
 his soul, 
 
 2d. Your own interest requires that you 
 pray for your director. What, in fact, do you 
 desire ? To become virtuous and sanctify your- 
 self ? ... to do this you need the counsel, the 
 help, the protection of a person who has few 
 human resources, and who, outside of faith, 
 finds nothing to sustain him m his ministry. 
 
 Then ask for your director, abundant 
 light, that he may clearly see your needs, 
 and the means he must adopt to meet them. 
 
 Ask for him wisdom, that he may not re- 
 quire what is above your strength, and that 
 he may neither lighten nor increase the bur- 
 den which God gives you to bear. 
 
1 14 Duties of the soul directed. 
 
 Ask for him kindness, that he may not 
 repel you, that he may treat you with pa- 
 tience, affection, in a spirit of God. 
 
 Ask for him sanctity, that he may have 
 no other object but to lead you to God, and 
 that he may sanctify himself in doing you 
 good. 
 
 Pray every day for him, pray especially 
 the day you are going to him. 
 
 2d. The soul under direction must ser- 
 iously will to become better. 
 
 This is the end of direction ; and if your 
 will be very firm in this respect, you will be 
 happy to seek direction, or you will at least 
 seek it with the thought, a sufficiently stim- 
 ulating one : that you are going to gain 
 strength thereby. 
 
 This firm will, will cause you to overcome 
 the repugnance you may feel from time to 
 time, and which may arise from a vague 
 weariness for which you cannot account. 
 
 It will cause you to despise the humiU- 
 ation you will necessarily feel in exposing 
 your miseries, and at finding yourself always 
 with the same imperfections and faults. 
 
 It will cause you to observe the practice 
 of seeking direction as assiduously as you do 
 that of confession. 
 
Duties of the soul directed. 1 1 5 
 
 It will render you simple and docile, to 
 adopt at once the method of prayer, or plan 
 of conduct, suggested to you, to abandon 
 without regret the practices of piety to which 
 you are accustomed,— to will, in a word, all 
 that he wills who takes God's place to you. 
 
 A soul of good will acts when she is told 
 to act, abstains from action when told to ab- 
 stain, withdraws at the first word from any- 
 thing which she has imprudently or incon- 
 siderately undertaken. She makes, un- 
 makes, interrupts, resumes, labors anew, 
 multiplies her efforts, rests, mortifies herself 
 according to the counsel of him who guides 
 her. 
 
 3d. A soul imder direction must be sim- 
 ple. 
 
 '• The sisters' simple and childlike confi- 
 dence in their Mother^ will fill Paradise 
 with religious," said St. Chantal. 
 
 " Have a heart of crystal, fear only one 
 thing, not being thoroughly known to your 
 director. ' How I wash,' says P. Lalleraant, 
 ^ I could take my interior between my hands 
 and show it just as it is T " 
 
 If you see only God in your director, you 
 will be simple, frankly answering the ques- 
 tions which are put to you, — accepting 
 
1 16 Duties of the soul directed, 
 
 without murmur the reproaches you receive, 
 yen when Utile merited,-suffering no doubt, 
 and even keenly, at findmg yourself suspected, 
 perhaps misunderstood, but recognizing it 
 only as a trial, or permitted by God to hum- 
 ble you. 
 
 If you are simple, you will tell your efforts, 
 your combats, your fails, your successes ; — 
 you will make known your plans with a 
 fixed resolution to pursue them or abandon 
 them according as you are counselled, -final- 
 ly you will heartily and afiectionately thank 
 your guide and return to your daily life. 
 
 '' Every month, the sisters' writes St 
 Francis de Sales *' shall briefly and sum- 
 marily expose their heart to ihe superior in 
 all simplicity, and with faithful confidence 
 show her its innermost depths with the same 
 sincerity and candor that a child would show 
 its scratches and bruises to its mother, and 
 by this means they will lender an ac- 
 count as much of their advancement and 
 progress, as of their losses and failings in ex- 
 ercises, and prayer, in virtues and the inte- 
 rior life, manifesting also iheir interior and 
 exterior temptations, not only to seek con- 
 solation, but to be strengthened and hum- 
 bled. 
 
 ** Happy those who practice with frank 
 
Duties of the soul directed. 117 
 
 simplicity this article of the constitutions 
 which teaches a portion of that holy spiritual 
 infancy which our Lord has recommended so 
 much and which creates and maintains true 
 tranquillity of spirit." 
 
 Simplicity gently opens the soul without 
 any reserve whatever, and does not fear that 
 the director may see too clearly. 
 
 Does she fear to make known her weak- 
 nesses ? but she wishes to correct them and 
 she knows that her efforts will be more ap- 
 parent to her director than her miseries; — 
 her faults? but she is sincerely sorry for them 
 and she knows that this sorrow will cause 
 her cowardice to be forgotten; — her desires? 
 her projects ? but she admits none that God's 
 eye could find reprehensible. If some of 
 them claim her attention, she reveals them 
 with great frankness, and states the impres- 
 sion they make upon her, ready to energet- 
 ically reject them, the moment her confessor 
 shall say: *^This desire, this project will 
 profit you nothing ! " 
 
 When we act thus, God does not permit 
 us to be deceived or even our soul to be dis- 
 quieted. 
 
1 1 8 Duties of the soul directed, 
 
 4th. A soul under direction must be obedi- 
 
 ent. 
 
 Obedience to a director is a consequence 
 of the spirit of faith. 
 
 When St. Paul went to the early faithful 
 of Galatia, he was received as an angel and 
 as Jesus Christ Himself. -And with rea- 
 son/' says St. Thomas, '' for it was really Jesus 
 Christ who came to them, hidden under the 
 exterior of this great Saint.'' 
 
 Our director is an Angel expressly sent 
 us by God to make known His will to 
 us. 
 
 *' And if he is a priest/' says St. Bonaven- 
 ture, '^he is another Jesus Christ, for where, 
 think you, Jesus Christ to be?" adds the 
 Saint. '^ In the breast of a good priest, and 
 in the heart of a wise director." 
 
 ^ We must approach him then with a heart 
 disposed to receive as an oracle all that he 
 will say i\\ relation to our soul. 
 
 Therefore, faithful, absolute, unreserved 
 obedience to him. Obedience without ex- 
 amination, discussion or equivocation, to all 
 that he commands, short of what is contrary 
 to the commandments of God, the Church 
 or the rule. Represent to him, doubtless, 
 any undesirable result which you think may 
 
Duties of the soul directed, 119 
 
 follow Irom whai he commands, but if he 
 insists, always submit and obey. "^ 
 
 Obedience in regard to the modifications 
 in the commandments of the Church and 
 some points of the rule, which he thinks right 
 to command, particularly, if the director be 
 our superior— in regard to superfluities 
 which he thinks right to retrench in our dress, 
 our furniture, or any of those thousand and 
 one things to which the heart becomes at- 
 tached,— in regard to the labor he thmk:s 
 useful for us to perform, and even the man- 
 ner of performing it. 
 
 In a word, faithful, blind, prompt, gen- 
 erous obedience. 
 
 " In regard to the particular guidance of 
 the soul," says St. Francis de Sales, ''it must 
 obey the special director and confessor ; 
 search as you will, says the devout Avila, 
 you will never so assuredly find the will of 
 God as by this path of humble obedience so 
 recommended and practised by the early 
 Saints. 
 
 * *' If the director is mistaken," says P. Grou, '-noharnx 
 will result to you who obey with a spirit of faith. God will 
 bless your submission and obedience. He will prevent or re- 
 pair the evil consequences of this error. God never aban- 
 dons a soul that obeys for love of Him ; He is pledged to this 
 by His Providence, since He wishes that in the priest who 
 represents Him, we behold Himself. 
 
1 20 Duties of the soul directed. 
 
 " We must believe directors and spiritual 
 physicians, for God, who loves obedience, 
 often renders useful the counsel we accept 
 from another, and particularly from directors 
 of souls, though there be otherwise no rea- 
 son for followmg it ; just as He rendered the 
 water of the Jordan profitable to Naaman, 
 which Elias, without any apparent humaii 
 reason, had commanded him to use. 
 
 *' You should work out your interior good 
 by the means judged suitable by those ap- 
 pointed to guide souls.— We would be 
 taught perhaps and instructed by God 
 Himself in the way of ecstacies, raptures 
 and visions, and I know not what similar 
 foolishness, manufactured in our imagination, 
 rather than follow the salutary and common 
 way of holy submission to those whom God 
 has sent us. Now, though it is veiy certain 
 thai God will work miracles rather than 
 leave unaided, either spiritually or tempor- 
 ally, those who fully trust themselves to His 
 care and Providence, He wishes neverthe- 
 less that we should do on our part all that 
 lies in our power ; that is. He wills that we 
 should make use of the ordinary means of 
 perfection, in default of which, He will never 
 fail to help us. But while His will is signi- 
 fied to us, and we have persons who tell us 
 
Duties of the soul directed, 121 
 
 what we must do, let us not expect that 
 God will work miracles to teach us and lead 
 us to perfection, for He will not. 
 
 ^^ Let your spiritual director command the 
 pious actions you should perform, for they 
 will be better, and will have double grace 
 and merit : merit in themselves that they 
 are pious, and the merit of obedience which 
 commands them and in virtue of which they 
 are done.'* 
 
 Remember, however, that this obedience 
 must leave your soul in peace, and permit 
 you to act without scruple, according to cir- 
 cumstances, notwithstanding the counsel you 
 have received, when it is not apparent that 
 you can do otherwise. 
 
 Only render an account, when you next 
 seek direction, of the course you pursued 
 and the reasons you had for so doing. 
 
 Counsels for the practice of virtue maybe 
 excellent in themselves, yet, when the time 
 comes to apply them, we may find that we 
 can only do so with great difficulty, or at the 
 risk of grave consequences which could not 
 have been foreseen. 
 
 It is different when the application of the 
 
122 Duties of the soul directed, 
 
 counsel is absolutely necessary to avoid sin. 
 
 "• A spiritual director/' says Father Faber, 
 ** is not a monastic superior. Our obe- 
 dience to the last, must be minute ; to the 
 first, general. 
 
 ''The superior's jurisdiction is universal, 
 the director's only where we invite it, or he 
 asks it and we accord it. 
 
 "The superior turns into precepts matters of 
 supererogation; a director must have forgot- 
 ten himself if he attempts anything of the kmd. 
 '' If we disobey a superior, we sin ; it would 
 require very peculiar and unusual circum- 
 stances to make disobedience to our director 
 any sin at all. 
 
 Let us beware particularly of making a 
 vow of obedience to our director, even if he 
 is also our confessor. A few Saints have 
 doubtless made this vow with profit to their 
 souls, but it was under special and rare cir- 
 cumstances, and then, they lived a life of such 
 intimate union with God, in such perfect de- 
 tachment from creatures, in such continual 
 mortification of their senses and desires, in 
 such profound humility, and God led them 
 by such extraordinary ways, that their ex- 
 ample can in no way be a rule to us. Grave 
 inconvenience may result from this vow of 
 obedience made in a moment of fervor. 
 
Duties of the soul directed, 1 2 3 
 
 5th. The soul under Section must be 
 discreet. 
 
 To speak little of one's director is great 
 wisdom ; — to extol him upon all occasions 
 is great imprudence. 
 
 Some speak of him through vanity. The 
 director is learned, he directs a great many, 
 and we are very glad to have it known that 
 we have been accepted as his penitent, and 
 that under his direction, one becomes a 
 great saint. 
 
 Others speak of him through extravagant 
 affection, which, if not guilty, is at least ill 
 regulated and they are sometimes the cause 
 of much annoyance to their directors, who for 
 the most part are wholly unconscious of the 
 attachment they have inspired. 
 
 Others speak through pure heedlessness, 
 and a desire to talk, telling without reflec- 
 tion the questions they submitted to him, 
 his replies, the counsels they received, the 
 decisions they obtained, . . . they repeat 
 these decisions, these counsels, in their own 
 incomplete, imperfect way, and put in the 
 mouth of the director, a multitude of things 
 which he never said 
 
 Others speak to complain, particularly 
 when the director is appointed, and they are 
 
1 24 Duties of the soul directed. 
 
 not free to leave him . . . These over delicate 
 souls, habitually filled vi^ith themselves, do 
 not see that the complaints in which they 
 indulge, — even though not without foun- 
 dation, will awaken in other trusting, happy 
 souls, suspicions, fears, and vague disquiet, 
 and from that moment weaken their con- 
 fidence How responsible before God, 
 
 is one who censures a director ! What an 
 account he will have to render for having 
 paralyzed the good which an authorized 
 director could have effected in a religious 
 house ! 
 
 When a soul feels a desire to complain of 
 her director, it is pretty certain she is not 
 
 united to God Ah ! dear soul, at times 
 
 when you find your director less kind, less 
 patient, or he seems to pay no more atten- 
 tion to you, instead of murmuring and im- 
 parting with exaggeration your impressions 
 to others, go before our dear Lord and 
 humbly acknowledge that there must be a 
 secret evil within you which God wills to 
 cure with a little harshness. 
 
 Sometimes, no doubt, the director wishes 
 to satisfy himself of the soul's strength, but 
 very often he is only God's instrument for 
 you. God gives to the tone of his voice a 
 harshness of which he is not conscious. 
 
Duties of the soul directed. 125 
 
 places on his lips an expression which has 
 wounded you and which it was not his in- 
 tention to use to you — ^your complaint is 
 not against him alone, but reflects upon 
 God. 
 
 Remember that his manner of guiding 
 you whatever it may be, will always be profit- 
 able if you accept it as coming from God. 
 
 Be also discreet in communicating to 
 others the counsels you have received from 
 your director. 
 
 '' Have you." says a pious work, ''well 
 reflected on the character of intimacy and 
 even individuality which characterise confes- 
 sion and direction .? Only the priest and 
 your soul 1 The priest thinks only of Jesus 
 Christ and your soul You on your part 
 have to think but of Jesus Christ and your 
 soul. My secret is mine, mine is my secret ; 
 practice these words of Holy Scripture. That 
 which is for you, must not be applied to 
 others, and as a general rule cannot be ap- 
 plied to them. 
 
 ^'When God has caused a thought or 
 word to reach you which touches your heart, 
 keep it there. If the person to whom you 
 communicate it be not moved by it, she may 
 take it in a contrary sense, and thus thwart 
 God's designs. 
 
126 Duties of the soul directed. 
 
 ** When we decide to communicate some- 
 thing which has passed between the director 
 and the soul, it must be with the intention to 
 increase in certain persons their love for Our 
 Lord, their confidence in the guidance of 
 Providence, or to help them in a difficult or 
 painful situation ; for example, to overcome 
 a temptation which we have experienced and 
 for which we have been shown a remedy. 
 
 '* Outside of these exceptional and ne- 
 cessarily rare cases, keep for your soul alone 
 the words with which God has inspired 
 your director for your soul alone. 
 
 ^'Imitate the Blessed Virgin who carefully 
 preserved in her heart the great things she 
 saw and heard." 
 
 6th. A soul under direction must be 
 humble. 
 
 The more humble the soul is, the more 
 real and even sensible will be the profit she 
 derives from direction. 
 
 More humility is perhaps required in 
 seeking direction than in the practice of 
 confession, either because we must expose 
 with more detail than confession requires, 
 our want of firmness, our mconstancy, our 
 bad will,— or particularly, because a director 
 must treat us with less consideration than a 
 confessor. 
 
Duties of the soul directed. 127 
 
 He must form us to virtue, and he can 
 only do so by causing us to practice self- 
 denial, and self-denial is not learned so 
 much by mortifying ourselves as by letting 
 others mortify us. The director then must 
 go counter to our desires by restraining us 
 when we wish to go forward, by forbidding 
 us austerities which we would like to practice, 
 and even extra communions which we are 
 led to ask, — ^^by giving us scarcely a word 
 when we expected a long conference, — by 
 meeting a confident outpouring of our heart 
 wdth a few dry, brief words, by requiring 
 such a practice which tries us, such an act 
 of submission or charity at which our self- 
 love revolts. 
 
 How, upon these occasions, and so many 
 others which God contrives with us, are we 
 to continue confident, submissive, respectful, 
 without a great depth of humility ? 
 
 To how many souls a less cordial recep- 
 tion, a want of time, which prevented a 
 director from hearing them as long as they 
 wished, a harsh word designedly spoken 
 sometimes to try them, have been sufficient 
 to rouse them against their director and 
 cause them to leave him in search of some 
 one, they tell you, who better understands 
 them, consoles them more affectionately, 
 
128 Duties of the soul directed. 
 
 and is more advanced in the ways of God, 
 
 Poor souls, poor souls, if you were more 
 humble, that is, convinced that because of 
 your sins you did not deserve that God 
 should give you a director who occupies 
 himself specially with you, — that in hearing 
 you he performs a great act of charity, — 
 that you ought to be very happy to be able 
 to reach heaven by suffering, by being 
 thought ill of, rebuffed, misunderstood, how 
 grateful you would be to this good priest, 
 and this good superior, who, in hearing you, 
 spend time which they both might employ 
 more usefully for themselves ; how submis- 
 sive and patient you would be; how carefully 
 you w^ould gather the least of their coun- 
 sels, how earnestly you would thank them, 
 and how fervently you would pray for them 1 
 
 Be humble, be humble, ask God to make 
 you very humble ! 
 
 ** There are no good directors, " say cer- 
 tain persons impelled by a secret pride to 
 pose as elect souls. 
 
 ^* It is not true, '' Bourdaloue answers, 
 '^ there are many directors, but few persons 
 who allow themselves to be directed. 
 
 " Not that all, or nearly all, devout persons 
 do not wish to have a director, but a director 
 after their own fashion, who directs them ac- 
 
Dtdies of the soul directed, 129 
 
 cording to their ideas, a director whom they 
 themselves direct as to how they must be di- 
 rected. 
 
 ''This is not wishing a director but wish- 
 ing to direct one's self through a director. " 
 
 ** There are certain devotees/' says Fr. 
 Crasset, ' ' who affect to be unable to find a 
 director to their taste. They must change 
 every month, and to justify their fickleness 
 cite the example of St. Teresa, whom the 
 greater number of directors were unable to 
 direct, and St. Francis de Sales, who says, a 
 director must be one chosen among a thou- 
 sand. 
 
 *' I acknowledge St. Teresa needed learn- 
 ed and experienced directors, but are you a 
 St. Teresa ? Do you obey all your confes- 
 sors as she did ? Do you do all they com- 
 mand, even to leaving, when obedience or- 
 dered, our Lord who visibly appeared to her } 
 
 *' If, like her, you are humble, docile, and 
 obedient, the Son of God will not fail to send 
 you when the proper time arrives, men more 
 capable and enlightened than your confes- 
 sors. Meanwhile He will instruct you Him- 
 self, without, however, dispensing you from 
 ^he obedience you owe them. 
 
 *' Persons who are so fastidious in the 
 matter of directors, and so difficult to please 
 
130 Duties of the soul directed. 
 
 probably need one to teach them the elements 
 of the spiritual life, which are humility and 
 mortification." * 
 
 7th. A Smnmary. 
 
 Ancient writers have expressed in the fol- 
 lowing axioms the sum of one's actions in 
 relation to a director : 
 
 Consule — to consult Carpe — to accept. 
 
 Solare — to calm. JDoce — to learn. 
 
 Remitte — to pardon. Fer — to endure. 
 Ora — to pray. 
 — Consult, ask advice instead of following 
 
 * The false devotee is indocile to direction though she affect 
 to be under the direction of the most clever and enlightened. 
 After much peregrination, you believe her settled and defi- 
 nitely submissive to direction ; no such thing. Her plan is 
 made in advance, her life is mapped out, her practices labelled, 
 nothing must be changed. She is prodigal in protestations of 
 submission, but at the least word of contradiction she rebels, 
 murmurs, protests, poses as misunderstood. For example at- 
 tertipt to introduce some order into her numerous practices. 
 It is a sacrilegious interference. Refuse her a communion 
 which she asks I It is treating her with barbarity. 
 
 If she have a mania for representing herself as very unwor- 
 thy, a mania which is often but a shade of pride, or a refuge 
 of cowardice, and you endeavor to dispose her to receive the 
 grace of the sacraments, you are hardening her, brutalizing 
 her. 
 
 Or, if she assents to all your counsels and commands, it is to 
 nave her own way under pretexts which she is in the habit of 
 finding perfectly reasonable. 
 
 Thwarted in her caprices and fancies, or to speak more 
 elegantly, in her religious autonomy, she endeavors to find 
 a good-natured, weak man, whom she can adroitly bend to 
 her will, and if she succeeds, she will be convinced that at last 
 she has the proper kind of direction. — Or et aliiage. 
 
Duiits of the soul directed. 131 
 
 your inspirations which are rarely disinter- 
 ested, or may be the perfidious flatteries of 
 false friends who have the weakness to aban- 
 don you to the mercy of your caprices. 
 —Accept, Accept reproof with humility, and 
 correction without murmur, complaint, or 
 resentment, if you would not weary and dis- 
 courage the kind charity of your guide. 
 — Calm yourself : Direction is a soothingbalm, 
 a vivifying dew, a mingling of wine and oil 
 which nourish the soul. Show your wounds, 
 let the physician do as he wills, suffer him 
 to see them and simply accept the compas- 
 sion he shows you. 
 
 — Pardon diny pain he may cause you in 
 touching your wounds, just as your physician 
 himself must pardon the vagaries of your 
 sick soul. 
 
 — Endure, No one is free from faults ; your 
 director, alas ! has his, as you have yours ; 
 bear with them, forget them as he bears 
 with and forgets yours. 
 — Pray, Finally, pray God to give your 
 guide the special wisdom he needs, which 
 he himself also asks for, that he may be 
 more useful to you ; pray God to make you 
 docile that you may profit by the great favor 
 He bestows upon you in giving you a direc- 
 tor. 
 
1^2 Duties of the soul directed. 
 
 8th. A few counsels. 
 
 Let your conversations with your director 
 be neither too long, nor filled with news or 
 irrelevant matters. 
 
 After treating of the affairs of your soul, 
 withdraw. " Little incidents, natural affec- 
 tions, glide therein so easily/' says Guillor6, 
 '' that if we are not careful, we degenerate 
 after a few words upon God, into a hundred 
 •idle remarks. Then do not remain too 
 long with your director ; necessary things 
 do not require hours to settle them.'' 
 
 Beware, as we have already said, of attach- 
 ing yourself to him too sensibly, let there 
 always be more respect than affection be- 
 tween you ; God withdraws from a soul whose 
 memory is filled with the thought of a 
 creature, however holy he may be. 
 
 Never speak to him in unusual places ; see 
 him as a priest in the confessional rather 
 than at his house. In the confessional you 
 can better treat of the affairs of your soul ; 
 your conversation is more serious'and more 
 free from all that may be human, it is easier 
 to open your heart, and God's blessing is 
 more abundant. 
 
 Do not let caprice regulate the days for 
 seeking direction. In communities, the 
 time for it is fixed by the rule, and we have 
 
Duties of the soul directed, 133 
 
 not to concern ourselves to do it ; it is the 
 director moreover who determines the time, 
 and we must abide by his decision except 
 in extraordinary cases. 
 
 The heart of a superior and a priest is al- 
 ways open to receive those who need him. 
 
CHAPTER SIXTH. 
 
 Objections to the practice of Direction. 
 
 No one denies the usefulness and advan- 
 tages of direction in general, but when there 
 is question of putting it in practice, many 
 pious persons raise a multitude of objections 
 which we shall answer after first showing the 
 source from which they arise. 
 
 Sources of these objections. 
 
 ist. Self love, which is unwilling to expose 
 Its miseries, and acknowledge its faults, which 
 particularly finds it onerous to seek sanc- 
 tion in those thousand details of the interior 
 lite, which, after all, concern, it tells you, 
 only God and the soul. 
 
 Nature at all times has rebelled against 
 absolute submission, but we may say that the 
 spirit oi independence has never so general- 
 ly possessed souls as at the present day 
 
 Who does not see it, who does not feel it 
 even m the most pious houses .? Who even 
 m comparing the present state of his soul 
 
Objections to the practice of Direction. 135 
 
 with that of fifteen years ago, does not find 
 more revolt against authority than formerly? 
 
 Should not this be a stronger reason for 
 forcing one's self to that exposition of the 
 heart which subjugates and humbles us? 
 
 2d. A spirit of self sufficiency, a necessary 
 consequence of self love, which leads proud 
 souls to believe that they know all they are 
 to hear, that they have no need of the coun- 
 sel they are told to seek, that they could 
 give it equally as well as the person appoint- 
 ed to impart it ; finally, that they are not chil- 
 dren to be led step by step, with no power 
 to act for themselves. 
 
 3d. Sloth and sensuality, which find it 
 hard to thus expose one's weaknesses which, 
 after all, are effaced by the sacrament of 
 Penance ; that the yoke of confession is 
 sufficiently painful without submitting to 
 another yoke no less humiliating. 
 
 4th. The jealousy of the evil one, who 
 knows that a soul under the protection of 
 her director is fortified by his counsels, 
 is safe against his attacks, and cannot be 
 either overcome by his efforts, or surprised 
 by his snares, who understands that a soul 
 without a director is accessible to all kinds 
 of illusions, that she is a city without ram- 
 parts, — that he may approach her, and 
 
136 Objections to the practice of Direction, 
 
 penetrate her with ail the most extravagant 
 delusions ; he will furnish a thousand reasons, 
 a thousand pretexts, a thousand inventions, 
 a thousand chimeras, a thousand phantoms 
 to persuade her not to submit to direction. 
 
 Answers to the principal objections to di- 
 rection, particularly in communities, 
 
 ist. My director is not a priest : new only a 
 priest has the necessary grace for direction. 
 
 You forget first of all that there is no 
 question of receiving absolution. Nor is 
 your superior a priest, and yet you obey him 
 because he is vested with an authority which 
 comes from God. If, as a religious, your 
 rule tells you to go to him for direction, he 
 will have special light from heaven to guide 
 you. 
 
 Moreover, it is not as a criminal that you 
 unveil your soul, but as an imperfect soul ; 
 nor is it making a confession, but simply 
 opening your heart ; you do not exactly 
 seek theological decisions, but instruction 
 and counsel upon the manner of observing 
 your rule, of correcting a fault, of over- 
 coming a prejudice, and which a superior 
 can give as profitably as a director. 
 
 Neither St. Francis of Assisi nor Sl 
 
Objections to the practice of Direction, 137 
 
 Francis of Paul were priests, yet they were 
 wise and renowned directors. 
 
 Neither St. Teresa nor St. Chantal were 
 pnests,and yet do you think that their know- 
 ledge of the things of God would not be 
 sufficient to direct your soul ? 
 
 2d. But if my director and my superior are 
 neither of them Saints like these? 
 
 Who told you they are not? At the 
 time when these directors I have just men- 
 tioned lived, St. Francis of Assisi was treated 
 as a fool, as an ignorant, weak mind by some 
 of his brothers. 
 
 St. Teresa was called a visionary and even 
 said to be one of the Illuminati* by some 
 of her sisters. 
 
 Would you be of the number of those 
 poor religious } 
 
 St. Francis of Assisi had his faults, and 
 St. Teresa had hers. ^^ She was considered 
 a woman of no judgment, and the religious 
 of the monastery of the Incarnation went so 
 far as to say that she ought to be shut up 
 in prison." 
 
 Let us not go outside of a spirit of faith 
 
 *A sect, condemned by the Inquisition, which taught that 
 there was no need of a spiritual director, but that each soul 
 was to trust to what he believes to be the sacred inspirations 
 of the Holy Ghost and to follow them at all hazards. 
 
138 Objections to the practice of Direction. 
 
 in reasoning upon direction. All the ob- 
 jections you make reflect upon the obedi- 
 ence due to your superior. 
 
 3d. My director is very youngs and at my 
 age it is very trying to ask counsel of one so 
 young. 
 
 We shall answer this by a few lines writ 
 ten by St. Augustine to the Bishop Auxilien. 
 *' Behold me, an old man, ready to listen 
 to the counsels of a young bishop ; I, who 
 have been a bishop so many years, accept 
 the advice of a colleague who can hardly 
 count a year of episcopacy." 
 
 We shall answer still better by the words 
 of Jesus Christ : *^ Unless you be converted 
 and become as little children you shall not 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 We have recalled the example of Jesus 
 Christ questioning and listening in the tem- 
 ple to the Doctors of the law; we could cite 
 excellent examples of the submission re- 
 spect and deference manifested to young 
 superiors by old religious who had formerly 
 been superiors themselves. '^ In the religious 
 state," says one of the early masters, *Uhere 
 is no one, whatever his years, so ignorant 
 as to think it unbecoming his age to prac- 
 tice obedience, a virtue which God Himself 
 
Objections to the practice of Direction, 139 
 
 held it no dishonor to practice. The exer- 
 cise of humility and obedience is necessary 
 to youth, but to old age it is honorable, it is 
 its glory and its crown/' 
 
 What is human knowledge, wisdom, and 
 experience compared to the knowledge, wis- 
 dom and experience of God ? Now God 
 has sent His spirit to your superior to guide 
 you to heaven. 
 
 ' ' The seniors/' says St. Thomas, " must 
 receive lessons in certain respects, because 
 in all matters relating to prudence no one 
 is sufficient for himself/' 
 
 4 th. When I go for direction I find noth- 
 ing to say. 
 
 Then you are a great Saint since there is 
 nothing to reform in you ; not even a de- 
 gree to be added to your virtues ! Is that 
 your idea ? Truly we would not venture to 
 believe you possessed of so much pride. 
 
 St. Francis de Sales, St. Teresa, St. Francis 
 Xavier, St. Vincent of Paul, always found 
 something wherewith to reproach them- 
 selves, and you can find nothing ! 
 
 Alas ! may it not be that you fear to find, 
 or rather, that another will find some- 
 thing. 
 
 However, in the next Chapter we will 
 
I40 Objections to the practice of Direction, 
 
 state at some length for your benefit, the 
 subjects which form matter of direction. 
 
 5th./ wish to speak but I cannot, I feel my 
 heart is closed. 
 
 This, it must be acknowledged, is the 
 greatest obstacle to direction when we seek 
 it with the proper dispositions. 
 
 When the heart is closed it is indeed hard 
 to come before a superior who waits for you 
 to speak, who may imagine perhaps that 
 you are unwilling to speak, that you fear 
 him, that you have no confidence in his 
 light. 
 
 Poor soul, I pity you, and yet I would say 
 to you : When the time for direction comes, 
 go to your superior, but go first before the 
 Blessed Sacrament for a moment and say 
 fervently : 
 
 * ' My God, open my heart and my lips. 
 Accept in expiation of my ill-made confes- 
 sions these few moments which will be so 
 painful to me." 
 
 Then go with all simplicity, answer the 
 questions which are put to you; at the end, 
 if it be the custom, ask your superiors bless- 
 ing and withdraw, satisfied that you have ful- 
 filled a duty. 
 
 This reticence is sometimes a temptation 
 
Objections to the p'adice of Direction, 141 
 
 of the evil one, and this temptation is usual- 
 ly dissipated by making it known to the di- 
 rector ; it requires but a slight effort to say : 
 *' I have a fear of you to day, " and these 
 words will put you both at ease. 
 
 It is sometimes a trial on the part of God, 
 but it is only temporary, and passes after a 
 time of patience and humility. 
 
 It is sometimes a punishment of our too 
 natural affection for this same director, or 
 another person. God wishes us to be de- 
 tached; let us profit by the lesson He gives 
 us, and permit not our heart to rest in that 
 of another. 
 
 It may be the result of a delicate nervous 
 state of health, or of a feeling of prejudice in 
 consequence of a reproof, or of an uncharita- 
 ble remark some one has made about the 
 director. 
 
 Let us pray, let us wait, let us suffer, and 
 do our duty. Let us have the frankness to 
 say when we seek direction : " Mother, have 
 the kindness to question me, I will answer 
 as well as I can." 
 
 6 th. My Director is not discreet. 
 
 Are you very sure ? If what you have 
 told him is known, are you certain it was he 
 who repeated it, and that you did not give 
 
142 Objections io the practice of Direclion. 
 
 your confidence to any one else ? Or if he 
 really spoke of it, are you sure he did not 
 learn it from another as well as from you ? 
 
 Secrecy is recommended to a director un- 
 der pain sometimes of mortal sin. Theolo- 
 gians so decide, concerning all revelations 
 which relate to temptations, evil tendencies, 
 and to all that could defame the person who 
 confides in him. 
 
 Certainly if the director is wanting in dis- 
 cretion you are not obliged to reveal your 
 conscience to him again, but beware that 
 your judgment of him is not a grave sin in 
 itself. 
 
 '* In regard to the manifestation of con- 
 science, or direction, whatever it may be, we 
 should know,'' says P. Cotel, "that directors 
 are obliged to strict secrecy concerning all 
 the confidence one may give them, and 
 that they cannot even communicate it to 
 their superiors without the consent of the 
 religious." 
 
 Superiors may, when there is no question 
 of sacramental secrecy, profit by such com- 
 munications, for our good, and our person- 
 al guidance, and even for the good of the 
 community ; but on the express condition 
 that they do nothing of a nature to reveal 
 to others what has been confided to them. 
 
Objections to the practice of Direction. 143 
 
 Moreover, as a religious confides in a su- 
 perior as a father, not as a judge, the latter 
 has no right in consequence of this confi- 
 dence, to take severe measures against his 
 subject, though he is permitted sometimes 
 to gently reprove him, and even to correct 
 him by imposing some salutary and fatherly 
 penance. In a word, superior and subject, in 
 their relations with each other, must be ani- 
 mated solely by a spirit of love and char- 
 ity. 
 
 The one opens his heart to find succor, 
 light, consolation ; the other meets him with 
 special affection and kindness to sustain, 
 help, encourage, and enlighten him, but not 
 to severely reprove or punish him ; and the 
 superior is far from esteeming a subject 
 less, who thus opens his heart through a 
 motive of virtue !* 
 
 *The manifestation of conscience which the director has re- 
 ceived, obliges him to observe absolute secrecy, even concern- 
 ing virtues and special favors from God. It is upon this 
 principle, that P. Regnora, does not fully approve the con- 
 duct of some confessors who, after the death of their penitents, 
 make known the singular privileges of innocence or virginity 
 with which they were favored, when the confessors liave no 
 knowledge of these things, except through the confessional. 
 — Schram. 
 
144 Objections to the practice of Direction. 
 
 7th. My Director says nothing to me, or al- 
 ways reproaches me. 
 
 The first is a very trifling objection. Pro- 
 fit by the little he says to you, and you will 
 become a Saint. 
 
 Are you not yourself to blame for his re- 
 serve, with your distrustful timid manner, 
 your reluctant words, your half avowals, 
 your vague declarations ? 
 
 Go to him frankly, and he will be open 
 with you. '' Do not wish/" wrote Mother 
 Emilie, ** that your superior should say a 
 
 great deal to you If you are simple, like 
 
 a child, a few words will be sufficient for you." 
 *' We should beware,'' says Fr. Faber, '^ of 
 driving our director into much speaking, 
 either by acting on his hurnan respect, or his 
 natural kindness, or wearying him by im- 
 portunity. There is, after all, little to be said 
 where growth is so slow as it is in the spiritual 
 life. A conversation between an oak and the 
 woodman would surely come to an end 
 soon, if growth and development, blight, 
 birds, bees, and ivy, were the only subjects 
 of conversation, and it was not allowed to 
 pass into idle, irrelevant matters. For an 
 oak does not make an inch a month, either 
 of trunk or twig, and it could hardly expect 
 
Objections to the practice 0/ Direction. 145 
 
 to have its bark brushed, and varnished, 
 and picked out with gold. So the soul is not 
 revolutionized every day. To-day is yester- 
 day's brother, and to-morrow's also. 
 
 "' What is there to be said ? All this talk- 
 ing leads to our making new starts in new 
 directions, after each palaver. It is taking 
 up devotions and throwing them down again, 
 like a child restless amid his toys. It is heap- 
 ing practices upon practices, and getting the 
 fruit out of none of them. It is applying 
 remedies, and then applying others before 
 the first have had time to take effect. It i^ 
 driving God." 
 
 Nor must you complain of the continual 
 reproofs which you say you receive. 
 
 Either they are merited, and in this case 
 amend, or at least show a good will to do 
 better, and make some effort, — or they are 
 not merited you believe, then humble your- 
 self, be patient, offer to God the suffering 
 the unfavorable judgment causes you, justi- 
 fy yourself with simplicity if you wish, but 
 quietly and without any bitterness, and 
 tranquilly await your justification, which will 
 not be long in coming. 
 
146 Objections to the practice of Direction. 
 
 8th. After seeking direction I return wearied 
 and dissatisfied. 
 
 Because you seek it only for consolation, 
 when your sole object should be to find in it 
 means of sanctification and of knowing the 
 will of God. 
 
 Consolation is sometimes granted by God 
 as a reward, as an encouragement, but it is 
 not due. 
 
 It is rare, however, that God does not 
 give it sooner or later; we promise it to you 
 in His name, if you seek direction in a 
 spirit of faith, with simplicity and an ardent 
 desire to become better ; try. 
 
 This weariness and discontent, created by 
 direction in which the heart has not been at 
 ease, profoundly discourages the soul if she 
 have not the strength to wait and generously 
 accept the trial. 
 
 One of the causes of this discontent is our 
 too eager desire to find in our director all 
 the spiritual consolations we want, and if this 
 desire is not satisfied, we are disconcerted, 
 saddened, and we complain. 
 
 We believe that all interest on the part of 
 the director has ceased, we doubt whether 
 what he counsels is suitable for us, we want 
 something different from what he tells us, 
 
Objections to the practice of Direction, 147 
 
 and we consider ourselves desolate and 
 abandoned. 
 
 Doubtless such souls do not seek direc- 
 tion from any reprehensible motive, but they 
 would be relieved of a burden which op- 
 presses them, find a support which will sen- 
 sibly help them to rise above their miseries, 
 that they may no longer feel the weight of 
 the trials God sends them. In a word, they 
 would like to feel themselves borne along 
 the road to heaven, and avoid all fatigue 
 and ail difficulties. This is an opportunity 
 for recalling the following words so fruitful 
 in applications : ^*If it were thus, where 
 would the martyrdom of life be ? " 
 
 Generally the mission of a director is to 
 teach us to endure our trials more meri- 
 toriously rather than to lighten them, — to 
 enlighten the soul upon its true interests, — 
 to lead it to God and gradually lead it to 
 rest in God alone. 
 
 Want of faith is another cause of this dis- 
 satisfaction and this weariness after confes- 
 sion as well as direction. Hear these words 
 which were addressed to a soul like yours : 
 
 1st. ''You lack faith in the grace of state 
 granted to every soul of good will, enabling 
 it to worthily approach the sacrament of Pen- 
 ance; — this prrace attached to one's state is 
 
148 Objections to the practice of Direction. 
 
 threefold : The first enables you to reveal 
 your soul to your director as God wishes it 
 to be revealed. Mark you, as God wishes 
 it to be revealed, and not as you wish. 
 
 The second grace enables you to thorough- 
 ly comprehend the advice, the counsels of 
 your director. You always comprehend 
 them sufficiently when you seriously wish to 
 understand and profit by them. 
 
 The third consists precisely in that im- 
 mediate succor granted you by God to en- 
 able you to do His will manifested through 
 your director who is His minister to you. 
 
 Have you faith in this triple grace ? Alas ! 
 your disquiet convinces me that your faith 
 on this point is null. 
 
 You lack faith in the grace of state pos- 
 sessed by your confessor. He also has a 
 triple grace — the grace to hear you, the 
 grace to understand you, the grace to answer 
 you. 
 
 Admire here a delightful mystery. God 
 gives the priest a supernatural hearing and 
 in the sacrament of penance a hearing which 
 may be called sacramental. 
 
 You wish to represent something to him 
 one way, alw^ays, doubtless, in good faith and 
 with an intention to act uprightly, — he, en- 
 lightened by God, understands it in a totally 
 
Objections to the practice of Direction. 149 
 
 different manner. Is he in error ? No, 
 certainly not ! He understands as God 
 wishes him to understand. He gives you 
 a decision which you did not expect, and this 
 decision is from God, it is the only one you 
 need at the time, and the more firmly you 
 hold to it the nearer you will be to the truth. 
 
 You lack faith in confession, in the effi- 
 cacy of the Sacrament, and the virtue of 
 absolution. The sublime words of absolu- 
 tion have been uttered over your soul, you 
 wished to be sincere, you have taken the usual 
 precautions, you are not conscious of any 
 obstacle to the grace of pardon. The sub- 
 lime words have produced their effect. 
 
 You must believe this. Then never say : 
 " I know not how to make myself known.'' 
 We always know how to do what we heartily 
 wish. 
 
 Do not say : **I am not known." God 
 knows you ; you go to the priest as to God, 
 therefore the priest knows you. Know more- 
 over that it is easy for a priest, had he ever 
 so little experience in the guidance of souls, 
 to recognize those whom Godsends to him. 
 He has grace for this. 
 
1 50 Objections to the practice of Direction, 
 
 9th. / would prefer to seek my direction in 
 
 writing. 
 
 Two motives impel us to this resolution. 
 The first, hardly an acceptable one, to avoid 
 the confusion we experience in speaking ill 
 of ourselves ; the second, a reasonable one 
 sometimes, to be more free. 
 
 We leave these permissions to directors, 
 but we think that when direction can be 
 sought in person, it is better. {See the decis- 
 ions of the following Chapter.) 
 
 When one is at a distance from his di- 
 rector, we most certainly do not prohibit writ- 
 ing him, we even recommend religious who 
 have left the mother house, in which their 
 novitiate was made, to write to their superior- 
 general, nor do we censure letters written to 
 a priest who formerly directed us and whom 
 Providence has removed from us, provided 
 this correspondence be sanctioned by obedi- 
 ence. We should not have those pages 
 so full of salutary counsels written by St. 
 Francis de Sales, Bossuet, Fenelon, if the 
 pious souls to whom they were addressed 
 had not been able to correspond with these 
 men of God ; but, here particularly, we enjoin 
 prudence and reserve. 
 
 Our spoken words vanish, but our written 
 
Objertions to the practice of Direction, 1 5 1 
 
 words remain. Doubtless directors preserve 
 no letter containing intimate revelations of 
 the soul, but one cf such letters may be for- 
 gotten, or go astray. 
 
 Here again we have no precise rules to 
 give, do as your directors allow you. 
 
 loth. lam afraid of importuning and troubling 
 my Director. 
 
 This is one of the most specious pretexts 
 of the devil, and one which makes most im- 
 pression on timid souls. First of all, your 
 director knows very well that he is there to 
 be importuned, as you in your human lan- 
 guage express it, but which he, in divine 
 language, calls gaining merits. 
 
 Have you ever heard a merchant com- 
 plain of being disturbed every moment to 
 sell and make bargains ? — Have you ever 
 heard a physician complain of the number 
 of his patients ? — Your director is paid by 
 God for every disturbance. 
 
 Do not forget that the revelation you 
 make to your director of the interior senti- 
 ments of your soul, is the greatest mark of 
 esteem and confidence you could give him, 
 and that this confidence necessarily disposes 
 his soul to pity, compassion, and affection. 
 
 But he is sometimes surprised into showing 
 
152 Objections to the practice 0/ Direction, 
 
 temper, you say. Are you very sure ? And 
 if true, may it not be a weakness due to physi- 
 cal weariness, to the fadgue of long interviews 
 which preceded your arrival, to an extra 
 amount of work, which is pressing upon 
 
 him moreover, he will endeavor to make 
 
 you forget, by greater attention to you, this 
 moment of weakness, of which he quickly 
 repented. 
 
 Do not, of course, be importunate, but 
 also, do not be too timid, and above all, do 
 not judge unfavorably. 
 
 When seeking direcdon, say only what is 
 necessary — express it frankly — show your- 
 self submissive and grateful, — do not ob- 
 stinately or haughtily contest; have the good 
 faith to simply believe without any ulterior 
 thought, that one is hurried, when he tells 
 you he is ; take the suggestion, to come back 
 later, simply as it is said, and not as an indef- 
 inite postponement, or a mark that you are 
 troublesome, — show that you appreciate the 
 advice you receive. In a word let conli* 
 dence be apparent in your countenance and 
 words, and be sure that you will always 
 meet with a visibly kind reception. 
 
CHAPTER SEVENTH. 
 
 Matter of Direction. 
 
 Before entering into detail upon what 
 forms matter of direction, we think it neces- 
 sary to give the following counsels which 
 we find in Les Principes de la Vie Religieuse, 
 par le P, Cotel, and in Le Gouvernemeni des 
 Communautes Religieusesy par P. Valuy. ^ 
 
 L 
 Greneral principles on the matter of Direction. 
 
 The general doctrine of ascetic writers on 
 the manifestation of conscience which re- 
 ligious owe their superiors cannot apply 
 equally to all superiors of communities. 
 Doubdess, any one who enters the difficult 
 way of perfection, should not wish to walk 
 therein alone and undirected, and it is to 
 aid, enlighten, and preserve souls from il- 
 lusions that God has not only given them 
 rules to follow, but also superiors to consult. 
 
 Nevertheless, we conceive that there is a 
 great distinction to be made on the point in 
 
1 54 Matter of Direction, 
 
 question, between superiors who are priests 
 and superiors who are not. The first have 
 the knowledge and grace of the priesthood, 
 both of which are wanting to the second. 
 The first being capable of exercising, and in 
 fact possessing, jurisdiction, a religious may 
 confide the secrets of his conscience under 
 the sacramental seal of confession, which is 
 impossible with the second. 
 
 Hence it manifestly follows, that the ac- 
 count of conscience such as the masters of 
 the spiritual life speak of, is completely due 
 only to superiors who are priests, and that 
 the others can have no right to it, if there be 
 any right about it, save in a much more re- 
 stricted degree which we shall call direction. 
 In support of this conclusion, P. Cotel cites 
 a decree of the Congregation of Rites which 
 we will give later, and which makes the 
 manifestation of conscience a point of 
 perfection doubtless, but leaves it optional 
 and not of obligation. 
 
 In religious Orders of women, and even of 
 men where the superior is not a priest, three 
 things are reputed as not falling under the 
 rule concerning the manifestation of con- 
 science : 
 
 That which relates to sin. 
 
 That which requires a theological decision. 
 
Matter of Direction^ 155 
 
 Temptations of a nature to make one 
 blush or excite the passions. 
 
 These things come within the province of 
 confession. 
 
 Nevertheless, a subject trusting to the dis- 
 cretion of his superior, may in certain cases, 
 lor his profit and consolation go further than 
 the rule requires on this point. 
 
 There are confidences which may be per- 
 mitted but cannot be exacted.* 
 
 ^ ' In saying, " remarks P. Gautrelet " that 
 the object of the manifestation of conscience 
 was not to reveal the sins one may have 
 committed, we did not claim that a subject 
 was prohibited from opening his soul to his 
 superior on this point ; this may be even nec- 
 essary sometimes to make one's self known, 
 but it has its disadvantages ; there are even 
 faults of a certain nature which it is not ex- 
 pedient, ordinarily at least, to declare outside 
 of confession. 
 
 " Therefore we cannot too strongly recom- 
 mend discretion on this point to superiors 
 of religious communities ; we could cite in 
 support of this recommendation, certain facts 
 
 * " We must endeavor as much as possible," wrote M6re 
 Emilie, "to conceal nothing from the person who directs us, 
 if we would be safely directed, except that which concerns 
 the most delicate of all virtues, on which subject we must use 
 reserve and only express ourselves according to our needs m 
 the holy tribunal." 
 
i 5^ Maiier of Direction, 
 
 amusing in their absurdity, but for the pain- 
 ful feelings excited in our heart by the abuse 
 of power in a thing so sacred, and the spe- 
 cies of profanation which results therefrom, 
 to one of the most august sacraments of the 
 Church. 
 
 ** Happily these aberrations are rare. 
 *' If there was ever a founder of an Order 
 who had the practice of direction at heart 
 It was St. Ignatius: ^Let all/ he says, 
 ' make themselves completely known to their 
 superiors, concealing nothing from them; 
 not ^even the depth of their own con- 
 science.' Yet, what says Rodriguez, that man 
 so versed in theology, and so perfect in the 
 ways of God, in explaining this article of 
 the constitutions of his holy founder? He 
 teaches us that we must begin by distin- 
 guishing with great care that which is sin 
 from that which is not, — and he declares on 
 the one hand, that in virtue of this point of 
 the rule, subjects should, in the manifes- 
 tation of conscience, reveal to their superior 
 all their imperfections, and infirmities, make 
 known to him their failings, their evil inclin- 
 ations, and tell him their faults ; — on the 
 other hand, he states most positively that the 
 intention of the rule and his holy founder 
 concerning all that we call grievous sin, is 
 
Matter of Direction. 1 57 
 
 that it be not declared out of confession. 
 He even adds, that superiors should not 
 question persons out of confession upon 
 things which it is extremely shameful to ac- 
 knowledge nor even permit them to speak to 
 them of these things. 
 
 *^ * It is in the sense of this decision/ adds 
 P. Lafiteau, * that we must understand the 
 following paragraph in the constitutions of 
 many religious Orders : The novice, in taking 
 the habit, should give her superior an abridged 
 history of her life, of the good as welt as ^ the 
 evil, reveal her temptations, her interior trials, 
 discover her heart, and let its inmost recesses be 
 known to her superior. This does not mean 
 that the novice is obliged to make a confes- 
 sion of the sins of her life to her superior. 
 Thus the constitutions add that this man- 
 ifestation should be made summarily and 
 briefly, and be sufficient to enable the su- 
 perior to better understand how to guide 
 her/' 
 
 The Congregation of Rites composed of 
 Bishops and regulars established at Rome 
 by the Sovereign Pontiffs, has several times 
 said, in approving religious Institutes sub- 
 mitted to its examination : 
 
 '^ For the present, we restrict the manifes- 
 tation of conscience to public transgressions 
 
158 Matter 0/ Direction. 
 
 of the ruie and to progress in virtue, all the 
 rest being treated of with the confessor; and 
 this manifestation is also simply optional, 
 not obligatory nor formally prescribed, and 
 it must even be rendered verbally and not 
 by letter. '' 
 
 A pious and learned ecclesiastic, consult- 
 ed upon constitutions which were to be 
 sent to Rome for approbation, thus express- 
 ed himself concerning manifestation of con- 
 science ; 
 
 ''I think it indispensable to prescribe 
 what follows in order to obviate a multitude 
 of disadvantages and imprudences. 
 
 '' I St. That the sisters, though having to 
 render with confidence and frankness an ac- 
 count of their interior dispositions to their 
 superior, be in no way obliged to reveal to 
 her their sins, past or present. 
 
 '^ 2d. That this account rendered, may in 
 no way prevent the sisters from treating of 
 their interior with perfect liberty and frank- 
 ness with their confessor.'' 
 
 The theologian Collet states this case 
 of conscience : ** If a superior wishes to 
 oblige one of her religious to reveal to her 
 her most intimate thoughts, is the relig- 
 ious obliged to obey?" Here is Collet's 
 reply : 
 
Matter of Direction. 159 
 
 '* Certainly, confidence in the lights of a 
 wise and experienced religious may be of 
 much service to a religious. A superior 
 who thoroughly knows his subject, sustains 
 him when discouraged, moderates his ex- 
 cessive fears, reforms his vicious tendencies, 
 confirms him in his good desires, secures 
 him against the illusions into which timor- 
 ous souls too often fall. It is upon this 
 ground that the early solitaries wished that 
 a religious should bear his heart in his hand 
 when he went to his superior. But if we 
 place this practice among the points of per- 
 fection and humility. . . it will be very dan- 
 gerous to make it of precept, and more than 
 imprudent to command anyone, whoever he 
 may be, to reveal all that passes in his 
 heart. 
 
 *^Let us not forget that confidence springs 
 from the heart and is not to be commanded. 
 Above all, let us not forget that it has fre- 
 quently been the ruin of those who gave it 
 and of those who received it.'' 
 
 It was the grave abuses arising sometimes 
 from exacting avowals in direction which led 
 the Congregation of Rites to say, when ap- 
 proving in 1863 the constitutions of an In- 
 stitute of Brothers : " All that is said con- 
 
i6o Matter of Direction, 
 
 cerning manifestation of conscience shall be 
 effaced/'* 
 
 Let us sum up these general rules by the 
 tollowmg words of P. Gautrelet : 
 
 ''The direction which the superior is to 
 give is not usually a purely interior direc- 
 tion but rather exterior, and in the interest 
 of the order ot the house; if she is to help 
 the soul in the way of perfection, she should, 
 particularly as superior, direct her subjects in 
 the observance of the rule and discipHne 
 and m the fulfilment of their duties, 
 
 " This remark is subject to modification 
 when there is question of religious supe- 
 riors who are usually priests ; we refer here 
 only to superiors of Orders of women • 
 nor do we pretend to put upon the same 
 level those who, in newly established con- 
 gregations situated in the country have but 
 two or three sisters with them. 
 
 relttW%^^'''''°"- ?^ '^^ Congregatioi^^^^^teher general or 
 Ifflf fo^ ? 'P-^^'^^ ""l"^' T "° "^^y ^^^^e" either the neces- 
 sity for perfection or the advantages of direction. 
 
 . Jl ^ ^ ^''^v''^ u ^"^^^"tee of the perfect liberty allowed a 
 soul to manifest her conscience out of the confessional. 
 
 1 hey confirm by their authority this wise rule which relie- 
 lous superiors had already understood, that there can be 
 
 ?,X^"^^^fT^,"°ri^',^^^ !^ direction, any avowal of past 
 faults, or of faults likely to be committed again. 
 
 i-mally, they enlighten and reassure timorous souls who, al- 
 ways fearing on the one hand that they have not made them- 
 selves sufficiently known, and on the other, not daring To 
 speak of their faults, live in great anxiety ^ 
 
Matter of Direction, 1 6 1 
 
 "The question of direction in their case is 
 still more simple, and the account of con- 
 science, if it should exist at all, is reduced to 
 a very small matter/' 
 
 II. 
 
 Subjects which may serve as matter of 
 Direction. 
 
 A virtue to be acquired^ or a fault to combat 
 Behold the matter which may be called 
 the foundation of all direction, and which, 
 though we have nothing special to say, will 
 always furnish the director an opportunity 
 to give a counsel, and the soul directed 
 an occasion to speak of her efforts. 
 
 Your first care should be to ask your 
 director : What is the virtue I must endeavor 
 to acquire? What is the fault I must com- 
 bat .? 
 
 Then, when you go to him, say simply : I 
 come to render you an account of my efforts. 
 
 Then state the repugnance or attracdon 
 you feel in practising the virtue ; — repug- 
 nance or attraction : these two sentiments al- 
 ternately predominate in each of us, without 
 our being able to account for the cause 
 which produces them ; be not alarmed then 
 at the sudden change you will sometimes 
 experience in your soul. 
 
1 62 Matter of Direction. 
 
 State your efforts, or the little courage 
 you have had to overcome yourself. 
 
 The acts you have produced, or those 
 which you have allowed to escape you 
 through negligence, ill will, or lassitude. . . 
 
 If necessary, in the beginning, note in 
 writing, your gains and your losses. That 
 is tedious you say ; yes, no doubt, but is not 
 the perfection of your soul worth the trouble 
 you would so readily take for the advance- 
 ment of your fortune ? 
 
 The virtue to be chosen first of all is fidel- 
 ity to your rule and your exercises. This 
 is where we must always begin, and it is 
 not possible to advance in virtue without 
 X\ii^ fidelity which gradually breaks and sub- 
 dues the will and prepares it in a most spe- 
 cial manner to receive God's graces. 
 
 Answer the questions which are put to 
 you, — accept with simplicity praise, encour- 
 agement or punishment. 
 
 Do not hesitate to recall the same thing 
 each time you go to seek direction, if neces- 
 sary; it is for your director to judge of your 
 advancement and your efforts. 
 
 Here are other subjects which offer abun- 
 dant matter : 
 
Mailer of Direction. 163 
 
 I St. Actions. 
 
 If there has been any particular incident 
 in our daily life, and the effect it has pro- 
 duced upon us,— some folly, some frivolity, 
 some thoughtlessness,— some humiliation, 
 some failing... and what have been, or 
 what are, the consequences we dread. 
 
 If there has been any remarkable action : 
 merited praise,— commendation received.. . 
 
 If there have been any acts of virtue per- 
 formed before God alone Tell them all 
 
 with simplicity ; it is not vanity, but a need 
 to be known and encouraged ; do not be de- 
 terred by the thought that you are impelled 
 
 by self love Leave your director to 
 
 humble you, he will know how to find oc- 
 casions of doing it, if God so inspire him; 
 but always act with simplicity. 
 
 Speak of the good actions you have omit- 
 ted through indolence, want of zeal, through 
 human respect, those which you have per- 
 formed through habit without the intention 
 of offering them to God. 
 
 You will see how this attention to render 
 an account of your conduct will accustom 
 you to act for God and to fill your life with 
 meritorious actions. 
 
 We must manifest with simplicity, say the 
 
1 64 Matter of Direction. 
 
 Instructions of the Visitation nuns, what- 
 ever inclination or facility for virtue we find 
 m ourselves; reveal the lights we have received 
 from God; the good principles we entertain 
 our projects for advancing in perfection'; 
 mark the sentiments and inclinations which 
 the Holy Spirit produces in the soul ; our 
 relish for the things of God ; the attraction 
 which He gives for prayer and the interior 
 lite ; whether we are inclined to the practice 
 of humility, of obedience, of mortification, 
 of all the other virtues and in what 
 way. 
 
 2d. Temptations. 
 
 Speak to your director of the temptations 
 you experience, even though you in no way 
 consent to them, particularly of those which 
 are most usual. 
 
 ^'We sometimes persuade ourselves," says 
 1 ronson, '' that it is not necessary to speak 
 of the attacks of the evil one because we 
 repel them ; nevertheless it is of the greatest 
 importance for the director to know them 
 ma community particularly, because not 
 knowing our temptations he may counsel 
 us things which he may have reason to be- 
 lieve useful and which temptation would 
 render dangerous to us." 
 
Matter of Direction, 165 
 
 Then, should he not give us the means to 
 resist ? 
 
 Some inexperienced souls imagining a 
 multitude of temptations to be a mark of 
 being abandoned by God, of weakness, of 
 a want of generosity, . . . blush to thus find 
 themselves the sport of the evil one, and 
 dare not, through fear of being despised, or 
 thought guilty, make known their state. 
 
 These souls are in error. The greatest 
 Saints were a prey to the most frightful temp- 
 tations ; God permitted it, to render them 
 more vigilant, to give them an opportunity 
 to manifest greater fidelity, to keep them 
 in humility, to render them particularly 
 more compassionate for others. 
 
 Then tell your temptations with simplic- 
 ity ; and your director, so far from experi- 
 encing a feeling of repulsion, will be filled 
 with pity and compassion. State, if known 
 to you, the origin, source, cause, of these 
 temptations, tell particularly how you resist 
 them. 
 
 Be prudent when there is question of 
 temptations against the holy virtue ; speak 
 of these only in general terms, if your 
 director is not a priest, and reserve the 
 avowal of your faults for confession. 
 
 There are five kinds of temptations of 
 
1 66 Matter of Direction. 
 
 which we should particularly render an 
 account : 
 
 Temptations against the commands im- 
 posed upon us. 
 
 Against the counsels given us. 
 
 Against our vocation, and our state. 
 
 Against the charge confided to us. 
 
 Against any particular person, and even 
 against our director, whom we suspect of 
 not liking us. 
 
 *' A holy religious/' says Mgr. Rey, " in- 
 formed me that the evil one, the first enemy 
 of salvation, rejoices very much at one thing, 
 viz. : that a religious should not like to seek 
 direction and particularly to make known 
 his temptations ; for in this case, victory is 
 assured to the evil one, he fights in single 
 combat now, woe to him who is alone ! 
 
 "There is nothing, on the contrary, 
 which the devil dreads so much as being dis- 
 covered ; an evil-doer fears the light. And 
 the devil, who is the spirit of darkness, find- 
 ing himself and his snares revealed, loses 
 hope of victory, and takes flight, 
 
 *^The devil wounds in silence : a serpent 
 is hidden beneath a stone ; rash one, if you 
 put your hand under it, you are bitten ; 
 but raise the stone, expose the serpent, and 
 he will instantly take flight. 
 
Matter of Direction, 167 
 
 " Behold the conduct of the devil, who re- 
 tires when he is exposed to the light ; as he 
 is a monster of pride, he likes not to find his 
 impotence and weakness discovered, and 
 flies covered with shame. Then raise the 
 stone, tell your director of this temptation 
 and the serpent will hide himself in his cav- 
 erns ! 
 
 " Raise the stone, and tell your director 
 this inclination for possessions, money, little 
 articles of furniture, etc. 
 
 '' Relate without constraint your tempta> 
 tions against sobriety in eating, your tempta- 
 tions to reserve bread, wine, meats and other 
 things, and the evil one is vanquished, " 
 
 3d. Ennui, 
 
 Hours of sadness, discouragement, suffer- 
 ings of heart, sufferings of soul, their real or 
 supposed cause, the resistance we made, the 
 consolations we sought, — here are almost 
 inexhaustible subjects. 
 
 In seeking direction, sometimes the hour 
 is spent in tears. Let your tears flow, let 
 them flow, poor afflicted soul, and do not fear 
 to meet with cold, unsympathetic words 
 which will close your heart. Where should 
 you go to pour forth this burden which is 
 killing you, if not to that heart friend who 
 
1 68 Matter of Direction, 
 
 replaces the hearts you left in the world and 
 to whom the Heart of Jesus has given His 
 love ? 
 
 '' God tries us sometimes by withdrawing 
 His sensible grace from us and leaving us to 
 our poverty and darkness. He abandons us 
 to certain fears and anxiety concerning our 
 state, our past sins, our continual falls. 
 Ceasing to make His voice heard, He 
 wishes that we have recourse to those who 
 hold His place, to learn how we should 
 bear ourselves in the trials and difficulties 
 which we encounter, such as contradictions, 
 disappointments in the duties of life, which 
 excite in i us impatience, murmurs, com- 
 plaints, vexations, repugnances. Frequently 
 the ingenuousness of making known these 
 sad and bitter impressions dissipates them 
 and consoles us. 
 
 ^' Our frankness in using this remedy 
 should go even as far as making known to 
 the superior any trial we experience, or fear 
 to experience through her. We should be- 
 lieve that her charity will enable her to rise 
 above the pettiness of any personal feeling, 
 and that she will be more concerned for the 
 suffering she unwittingly causes you than 
 for any personal consideration." 
 
Matter of Direction. 169 
 
 4th. Inclinations and Dispositions, 
 
 Towards certain faults : excessive talking, 
 raillery, jealousy^ for example — of such a 
 person whom we like better than the 
 others, — of such a charge, of such a 
 study, . . 
 
 State particularly any opposition we feel 
 for virtue, 
 
 This point is important, for the principal 
 end of direction is to smooth the difficulties 
 we find in the path ot devotion where we 
 have such great need of counsel, support, 
 consolation and encouragement. 
 
 We find obstacles to virtue in our mind: 
 doubts, perlexities, scruples, anxieties, which 
 divert the attention from serious things and 
 form an obstacle to prayer and the freedom 
 necessary to perform our duties well. 
 
 We find obstacles to virtue in our heart 
 and will, and these obstacles come from our 
 weakness in resisting evil, and practising 
 virtue, — from our levity, our inconstancy, 
 from the alternate inclinations for good and 
 evil which we continually experience, ^^ — 
 from our insensibility to the things of 
 God — from an inclination for all that flat- 
 ters our pride and our self love,— from the 
 joys and sorrows created in us by vain 
 
1 70 Matter of Direction, 
 
 things, — from our too eager desires, our 
 excessive activity, our caprices even in vir- 
 tue, — our attachment to our own senti- 
 ments, — our discouragement and disrehsh 
 for virtue, — our aversion and our antipathy 
 to our neighbor, and sometimes even to 
 those upon whom we depend. . . 
 
 We cannot explain ourselves with too 
 much simplicity upon these things, add the 
 Instructions Visitandines, and particularly 
 upon all that attaches the heart and turns 
 the affections to creatures or anything 
 which is not God, — or upon the evil habits 
 we may have contracted, and the passions 
 of which we are most frequently sensible. 
 
 Tell the projects for good with which 
 God seems to have inspired you, speak 
 without fear of the hopes you nourish, the 
 ideas you voluntarily entertain. 
 
 Tell the virtue to which you are naturally 
 inclined : is it devotion to others, activity 
 in labor, a spirit of silence } . , , 
 
 Dispositions of the body. 
 
 Sickness, indefinite indisposition, acci- 
 dents, fatigue, the cause Is it im- 
 prudence ? Is it your work ? We often 
 fail in simplicity to make known our fatigue, 
 and particularly, to accept the alleviation 
 
Matter of Direction. 171 
 
 which it has been thought wise to suggest to 
 us. We fear to appear, in the eyes of our 
 superior, a character without energy, we 
 keep up to the last, and thus we become 
 useless through our own fault and even a 
 burden to the community. 
 
 Dispositions of the Soul, 
 
 For holy communion, the manner in which 
 we prepare for it, the recollection with 
 which we make our thanksgiving, the de- 
 corum we observe on the day we have had 
 the happiness of receiving Jesus Christ. * 
 For meditation, how we make it, whether 
 we follow the method, whether we like it, 
 whether there is another which we prefer ? 
 For the different points of the rule, the in- 
 tentions with which we observed them, the 
 facility, relish or repugnance we experienced 
 in observing them; — the thoughts which 
 
 * The confessor alone, has the right to regulate the num- 
 ber of our communions; and even in communities it is he who 
 should give permission for the extra communions not pre- 
 scribed by the rule. 
 
 Mgr. Landriot, in his beautiful work on Holy Communion, 
 has added to the fifth conference a note on this subject which 
 we think well to reproduce here : 
 
 " In a book printed lately and which contains moreover 
 excellent things, do we not find certain exaggerations in a 
 totally opposite sense to Jansenism ? 
 
 "We read : * The refusal of the permission to communicate 
 more^or less frequently, given by a spiritual director, is a 
 counsel, and not a strict law binding the conscience. The 
 
1 12 Matter of Direction. 
 
 habitually occupy us ;— the graces with 
 wmch God favors us ;— the books wh-'ch 
 lead us to God, those we read, and those we 
 woula like to read. 
 
 For devotions; what are those for which we 
 feel most inclination ? Are we easily moved 
 before^ the Tabernacle, at the foo't of the 
 Blessed Virgin s altar ? Does God cause us 
 to experience joy and sweetness in His ser- 
 vice, or are we cold, almost insensible, oblig- 
 ed to force our lips to tell God we love Him ? 
 Have we a special devotion to the Holy 
 Eucharist, the Sacred Heart, the Blessed 
 Virgin? What are our pious practices to 
 honor Mary, to worthily prepare ourselves 
 for Holy Communion ? What are the pious 
 thoughts which make most impression upon 
 us ?— Is it the fear of God's judgment, aban- 
 donment to divine Providence, confidence 
 
 T^li" communion, and even dailyTommunion is in fact a 
 direct consequence of our baptism! We hold this r.Vhf d; 
 ^nwL'^'°':jJ'=?"' '^I'"^'' ^'"d if we consult on thfs p!h t an 
 enhghtened priest penetrated with the spirit of the Church 
 
 'is::it^\iT:?,r'''-^-^'' ^'--''^^' •^-^e.^t^^^o 
 
 lnmce^nrVr'"'tT'''^l''°'?^"y opposed to the decrees of 
 
 'To say that one need not follow the advice of his coiif,~!.^.- 
 Id'toTh? 3^; " r^"!;,"?'"^ V 'heologiansran opmion o'^ot' 
 of the ChS " '^'"^ °'^""" Doctors and to^he practice 
 
Matter of Direction. 173 
 
 in our Lord, a tender and filial trust in 
 Mary ? 
 
 Dispositions of the mind. 
 
 The studies we prefer, our readings, the 
 course of reading we would like to follow. , . 
 The direction of the mind is a very vast 
 field which may, according to circumstances, 
 give occasion for very useful counsels. 
 
 What useful labors have been accomplish- 
 ed for communities owing to the impetus, en- 
 couragement and counsels afforded by di- 
 rection ! 
 
 How many religious, men and women, 
 with but an imperfect knowledge of their 
 ability and intelligence, would have spent 
 their lives in puerile useless labors, had they 
 not been guided by their superiors, to whom 
 they simply submitted their writings and 
 whom they obeyed as God Himself ! 
 
 What treasures of intelligence buried 
 through humility, indolence, or timidity, 
 the word of a director has brought forth ! 
 And on the other hand, what errors of doc- 
 trine avoided ! what illusions destroyed ! 
 what troubles prevented ! Generally, dis- 
 trust any project, any thought, any idea of 
 perfection promising great results, when we 
 hesitate to make it known ta our superiors. 
 
174 Matter of Direction, 
 
 Daily Life, 
 
 Permissions to be asked and renewed — 
 points of the rule to be expounded and ex- 
 plained,— difficulties of every kind to be 
 solved — an account rendered particularly of 
 the manner in which we perform our labor 
 and the forbearance we exercise towards those 
 who labor with us. 
 
 We think it well to reproduce here the 
 followmg pages from our Little Manual of 
 JSo vices : -^ 
 
 A novice, more than all others, needs di- 
 rection. The religious life is new to her ; 
 all that she sees, all that she hears, aston- 
 ishes her, and makes her wish to be enlight- 
 ened upon a multitude of details which she 
 needs to know ; the questions which press 
 mto her soul form matter of direction. The 
 novice easily experiences disquiet, disgust 
 weariness, from a multitude of causes • at 
 times there are even regrets in this poor 
 heart which was so strong in the hour of 
 sacrifice and believed that its strength could 
 never be shaken . . . Must there not be 
 some outpouring of these trials, and these 
 vexations ? This outpouring is matter of 
 direction. 
 
 The novice understands piety as it is fre- 
 
Matter of Direction. 1 75 
 
 quently understood in the world : with 
 self-chosen, sweet, easy, independent prac- 
 tices, free from any precise rule, — free par- 
 ticularly from sacrifices and contradictions ; 
 and she is grieved at not being able to pray 
 as much as formerly, at finding herself re- 
 stricted to a certain method of prayer which 
 does not please her, at no longer feeling 
 any relish for Holy Communion, and she 
 becomes discouraged and alarmed . . . To 
 calm this trouble, must she not expose the 
 state of her soul ? This exposition is 
 matter of direction. 
 
 The novice hears readings and instructions 
 which are all new to her ; they speak 
 of the maladies of the soul ; of the means 
 of recognizing them ; of the remedies to be 
 applied to them ; of the obligation of a re- 
 ligious to become perfect, etc. . . Books 
 give only generalities ; must she not have 
 that explained which she only partially un- 
 derstands ? These explanations are mat- 
 ter of direction. 
 
 We see that direction is an outpouring 
 of the heart, — the communication of in- 
 timate joys, — consolation in trial, — allevi- 
 ation in crosses, — strength to support our 
 misery, — the rule applied to our weaknesses 
 and our needs. In a word, it is salvation 
 
Matter of Dir^xiion 
 
 made easy, life calm, and actions meritor- 
 ious. 
 
 # 
 
 The directories of religious communities 
 usually give a formula of direction or ac- 
 count of conscience, or manifestation of 
 conscience, as it is called in some houses. 
 It IS well to follow this faithfully. Here is the 
 formula which we find in Les Petits Traites, 
 composed by the Blessed De La Salle : 
 
 Points upon which each Brother should ex- 
 amine himself to render an account of his conduct 
 
 First Week. 
 
 ist Whether he encounters or has en- 
 countered any hindrance, from what source, 
 and since when. 
 
 2d. Whether he has not had some trials 
 of mind, or temptations ; by what they were 
 caused, how he bore himself in them, whether 
 he have not given occasion to them in some 
 way ; what their effect was ; whether they 
 have disappeared. 
 
 3d. Into what faults he has fallen since 
 
Matter of Direction, 177 
 
 the last account of conscience ; whether 
 he fell knowingly and deliberately ; whether 
 he took means to correct himself and what 
 these means were. 
 
 4th. Whether he has striven to advance 
 in the way of perfection, or whether he has 
 diminished his efforts, and in what he remarks 
 this ; what are the virtues he has tried more 
 particularly to acquire ; whether he has had 
 any inspirations, and whether he was faith- 
 ful to them. 
 
 5th. To what he feels most usually inclin- 
 ed ; whether he does not yield to his humor ; 
 whether he does not follow his natural in- 
 clinations or his repugnances. 
 
 6th. Whether he practices mortification of 
 the spirit and the senses ; whether he has 
 practiced any extraordinary mortification, 
 and whether he did it with permission. 
 
 7th. Whether he has faithfully and fervent- 
 ly performed the penances imposed upon 
 him ; whether he was unfaithful to them, how 
 many times, and for what reason ; what were 
 those he neglected, and whether the omission 
 caused disedification. 
 
lyS Matter of Direction, 
 
 Second Week. 
 
 8th. How, and with what interior disposi- 
 tions, he receives humiliations, rebuffs, and 
 contempt. 
 
 9th. With what disposition he receives re- 
 marks upon his faults, and reprimands, whe- 
 ther he profits by the latter to amend his life. 
 
 loth. Whether he daily accuses himself of 
 his faults with simplicity, as if before God ; 
 whether he does not, on the contrary, do it 
 through habit, and without any feeling of re- 
 pentance. 
 
 nth. What affection he has for obedience, 
 and whether he is disposed to obey all that 
 is enjoined upon him ; what difficulty or re- 
 pugnance he experiences in obeying. 
 
 1 2th. Whether he is faithful to do nothing 
 without permission and of his own volition, 
 not even the least things ; whether, on the 
 contrary, he has failed in this respect, how 
 often, and whether he has thus given pain. 
 
 13th. Whether he strictly observes silence 
 at home and abroad ; whether he has spoken 
 to some of the Brothers in particular, or to 
 outsiders ; whether these conversations were 
 held with permission, and what was the 
 nature of them. 
 
 14th. Whether he strictly observes the 
 
Matter of Direction. 179 
 
 other rules of the Institute ; whether he ob- 
 serves them fervently or slothful ly ; what are 
 those in which he has failed, and for what rea- 
 sons ; whether he respects them all as much 
 as he should, and whether there are not some 
 to which he is indifferent, or for which per- 
 haps he entertains even contempt. 
 
 15th. Whether he is faithful to be equally 
 recollected at home and abroad ; whether he 
 frequently, or rarely, enters into himself; 
 whether he lives in habitual dissipation of 
 spirit and the senses, whether he frequently 
 recalls the presence of God ; whether he refers 
 all his actions to Him, and performs them 
 with the intention of pleasing Him. 
 
 Third Week. 
 
 1 6th. Whether he is assiduously faithful to 
 all the exercises ; what are those in which he 
 has failed ; how and with what intention 
 has he acquitted himself of them. 
 
 17th. In what book he has made his spirit- 
 ual reading ; whether, during this time, he 
 has not read other books than those which 
 were given him for this purpose ; whether 
 he is in the habit of reflecting upon what 
 he reads ; whether he applies it, and whether 
 
1 80 Maif&r of Direction, 
 
 he derives fruit therefrom. 
 
 1 8th. What special fault has been the sub- 
 ject of his particular examen ; what means 
 he has taken to correct it, and whether these 
 means were efficacious. 
 
 19th. How he has made his meditation ; 
 what fruit he has derived therefrom ; wheth- 
 er, during it, he has been particularly care- 
 ful to keep himself in the presence of God, 
 and in what way ; whether, he has followed 
 the method proposed ; upon what subjects 
 he most usually meditates ; whether, before 
 concluding, he takes resolutions, what they 
 are, and whether he is faithful to them ; 
 whether he has a relish and facility for this 
 holy exercise, or whether he experiences in 
 it difficulties and dryness; whether thediffi-^ 
 culties he encounters and the repugnance 
 he may feel for it do not render him less 
 assiduous in practising it. 
 
 20th. Whether he has always gone to con- 
 fession with the community ; whether he has 
 any feeling against the Confessor; what is 
 the reason for any he may have ; whether he 
 profits by his confessions. 
 
 2 1st. Whether he feels an attraction for 
 Holy Communion, with what dispositions he 
 approaches the Holy Table, whether with fer- 
 vor and devotion, or with sloth and tepidity ; 
 
Matter of Direction. i8i 
 
 whether he voluntarily frequents it, what 
 fruit he derives therefrom ; whether he dis- 
 penses himself from the Holy Table without 
 permission. 
 
 2 2d. How he assists at mass, with what 
 dispositions, with what attention ; whether 
 he assists at the holy Sacrifice according to 
 the method prescribed, or follows another 
 method ; what is the other method ! 
 
 Fourth T?7eek. 
 
 23d. Whether his charity for his brothers 
 extends equally to all ; whether his affec- 
 tion for them is not natural; whether he loves 
 them only in God ,• whether he has not had 
 some feeling against some of them ; what 
 was the cause of it, and whether it continued 
 for any length of time. 
 
 24th. Whether there is not some Brother for 
 whom he has a particular friendship, or with 
 whom hes ha intimate intercourse, prohibit- 
 ed by the rule. 
 
 25th. Whether he likes his charge, and the 
 exterior exercises of his profession ; whether 
 he acquits himself of them punctually and 
 faithfully and according to the rules, or 
 whether he is indifferent to them. 
 
i82 Mailer of Direciim. 
 
 26th. How he conducts the school ♦ 
 whether he observes the rules ; what are those 
 in which he most frequently fails ; whether 
 tie does not yield to impatience ; whether he 
 neglects anything ; whether he does not lose 
 his time, and how he employs it ; whether 
 he has changed nothing in his class, intro- 
 duced some innovation ; whether he was faith- 
 ful to follow the lessons, to correct all faults 
 and for this purpose, made use of the signs 
 prescribed in the Conduite des Ecoles ; wheth- 
 er he has not spoken to some of the scholars 
 without necessity and too familiarly ; wheth- 
 er he has constantly observed a becoming 
 reserve and circumspection in his intercourse 
 with them ; whether his attentions and char- 
 ity are equally bestowed upon all. 
 
 27th. Whether he earnestly endeavors to 
 make his pupils advance in reading and 
 writing; whether of himself he has not 
 changed the pupils' lessons, and for what 
 reason ; whether order and silence reign in 
 the school, if not, for what reason. 
 
 28th. Whether he is zealous for the instruc- 
 tion and the salvation of the children; wheth- 
 er he consequently devotes himself princi- 
 pally to inspiring them with piety ; whether 
 ne vigilantly watches over them during pray- 
 er, the holy sacrifice of the Mass, and the 
 
Matter of Direction, 183 
 
 other religious exercises, to see that they bear 
 themselves with proper modesty and respect ; 
 whether he has taken pains to teach them 
 the Catechism ; whether many or only a 
 few of the children know it ; whether he 
 teaches it to them every day ; whether he 
 prepares himself for it as he should, and 
 whether he teaches it in a way calculated to 
 give them a knowledge of Christian Doctrine, 
 by developing the Catechism text with ques- 
 tions and explanations suited to their capac- 
 ity. 
 
 29th. What has been his treatment of the 
 pupils ; whether he has not been too harsh, 
 or too lenient ; in what spirit, with what feel- 
 ings, and in what way he has corrected them; 
 whether he has not done it through temper, 
 impatience or even passion; what good or 
 bad effects resulted from his corrections. 
 
 30th. Whether he has not dispensed him- 
 self from Holy Communion without the con- 
 sent of the Brother Director, or even with- 
 out the order of the confessor, or through a 
 want of devotion, and without any legitimate 
 reason, and how often this has happened. 
 
 * * 
 
1 84 Matter 0/ Direction, 
 
 Here certainly is abundant matter of di- 
 rection. 
 
 What soul then, after attentively reading 
 this Chapter can still say: '^ I know not what 
 to say when I go to seek direction/' or, ** I 
 derive no profit from seeking direction ? " 
 
 Then seek direction, guided by a spirit of 
 faith, and convinced that you are going to 
 speak to God's representative, to a soul 
 whose special mission is to hear you, to un- 
 derstand you, to strengthen you, to counsel 
 you, to sanctify you. 
 
 Seek direction with simplicity. Let your 
 director read your heart as an open book, let 
 there be no secret recess or corner hidden 
 from him, no reticence or half avowals ; re- 
 serve for the confessional all that comes with- 
 in the province of confession, but apart from 
 your sins and, as we said, things of a nature 
 to wound modesty, tell your fears, your pro- 
 jects, your desires, your vexations, your dis- 
 appointments, your joys, your successes. 
 
 Peace, security, joy, are only purchased at 
 this price. 
 
 Go for your direction at the time marked 
 for it. God attaches a special grace to this 
 submission of a soul which does not act by 
 
 its needs alone, but by God's will But 
 
 do not wait for the days marked, if you are 
 
Matter of Direction, 185 
 
 haunted by temptation, disquieted by fear, 
 oppressed by uncertainty, tormented by an 
 indefinable trouble and weariness. Go with- 
 out fear to your director and tell him simply 
 that you need him, and be sure that you 
 will return to your daily life calmed, strength- 
 ened, resigned and sometimes, even joyful. 
 
CHAPTER EIGHTH. 
 Particular Counsels for Direction. 
 
 We shall speak in this Chapter of the char- 
 acter of pious persons,— of the different 
 states in which they may find themselves,— 
 of how they should comport themselves in 
 these different states, and finally, we shall 
 give, after St. Ignatius, a few rules for discern- 
 mg whether what passes within us comes 
 from God or the evil one. An extremelj 
 important matter which will help the soul 
 to know herself, and particularly, to make 
 herself known, and which will help her to ap- 
 pease her disquiet, when God permits that 
 she is unable to see her director. 
 
 I. 
 
 Character of pious persons. 
 
 ''Among those who seriously labor to 
 acquire solid piety and attain perfection, 
 there are some who are of a cold phlegmatic 
 disposition, others are naturally sad and mel- 
 ancholy, others, finally, have an ardent sensi- 
 tive nature. All these persons need to be 
 
Particular Counsels for Direction. 187 
 
 differently directed, and all have different 
 illusions to avoid. 
 
 I St. Those who are of a cold, phlegmatic 
 disposition should beware of wishing to walk 
 in the path of virtue with those who are of 
 an ardent, sensitive nature. The former 
 will struggle in vain to resemble the latter. 
 God does not ask it; Each nature has its 
 grace and its way of attaining sanctity. They 
 should not grieve at not experiencing the fer- 
 vent sentiments which they observe in sensi- 
 tive souls, but console themselves with the 
 thought that notwithstanding the dryness of 
 their heart, notwithstanding the weariness 
 they experience in all their spiritual exer- 
 cises, they may yet greatly please our 
 Lord, by a true desire of perfection, and 
 an apostolic zeal for the glory of God 
 and the salvation of souls. The generous 
 accomplishment of duties, stripped of all 
 spiritual sensibility renders them more pleas- 
 ing to God, as it proves them possessed 
 of^more detachment from self, and more 
 real devotion ; for it is neither a desire 
 of consolation, nor personal satisfaction 
 which impels them to be faithful, but only 
 a principle of duty, and a sincere desire to 
 please God. In the midst of the difficulties 
 and trials arising from their disposition, they 
 
1 88 Particular Counsels for Direcfton. 
 
 have need to remember frequently that trae 
 love of God is manifested rather by works 
 than by aifections and words. *'If you love 
 me, keep my commandments ; " says Ouf 
 Lord. " My little children, let us not love in 
 word, nor in tongue," says the Apostle, ^*but 
 in deed and in truth." 
 
 2d. Persons of a sad, melancholy, pensive, 
 self-concentrated disposition are naturally in- 
 clined to consider the terrible truths of faith, 
 to exaggerate the difficulties of virtue, and to 
 magnify the faults they commit. 
 
 They are inclined to examine and scrutin. 
 ize every recess and corner of their hearts, 
 and to abandon themselves to discourage- 
 ment. 
 
 Such persons are greatly to be pitied, they 
 need firm, kind direction. They should 
 apply themselves to the consideration of the 
 consoling truths of our holy Religion, and 
 absolutely prohibit themselves, as far as it is 
 in their power, ail reflection, all examina- 
 tion, which narrows the heart. Let them 
 place with simplicity at the feet of Jesus 
 Christ their spiritual infirmities, their faults, 
 and their continual infidelities, and always 
 rise with new courage. If, to use their own 
 words, they find no means of advancing in 
 virtue, let them try to advance in forgetful- 
 
Particular Counsels for Direction, 189 
 
 ness of self and in confidence in God. This 
 is what Our Lord earnestly asks of them. 
 
 For such persons, their safeguard against 
 the troubles, anxieties and remorse of a timid, 
 pusillanimous conscience, is faithful submis- 
 sion to a confessor. This submission is bet- 
 ter for them than the most minutely detailed 
 confession. 
 
 3d. An ardent and sensitive nature is 
 capable of great things, but it is also exposed 
 to great illusions and grave wanderings. 
 Such a character naturally seeks devotion 
 and sensible consolations. He wishes to 
 advance but, with all his strength, rapidly, 
 and after his own fashion. He is inclined 
 to extraordinary things, to corporal penances, 
 and all that nourishes and excites his sensi- 
 bility. He feels keenly at one time the 
 attractions of grace, the reproaches of con- 
 science, his infidelities, his ingratitude ; at 
 another, an excessive propensity to evil, 
 and the most violent attacks of temptations 
 of every kind. These alternate emotions of 
 good and evil fill him with anxiety, and dis- 
 turb him extremely. He seeks good too 
 impetuously and repels evil too fiercely ; he 
 is astonished to still find himself so far from 
 perfection. He vainly sighs for that serenity 
 of soul and silence of the passions which are 
 
190 Particular Counsels for Direction. 
 
 the fruit of long tried virtue, or the effect of 
 a happy temperament Persons of an ardent, 
 sensitive nature should be very distrustful of 
 all that agitates them, of all that nourishes 
 their sensibility, even in spiritual things. 
 They should labor with sweetness and per- 
 severance to gradually moderate their too 
 great natural activity, to endure the instabil- 
 ity of their heart, and to render their piety 
 mature and reasonable^ rather than sentimental 
 and affecting. 
 
 II. 
 
 Different states of pious sooIb. 
 
 A state of consolation. — We call " Consola- 
 tion, all that inclines the soul to the love of 
 God, to detachment from creatures ; all in- 
 crease of faith, hope, and charity ; peace, tran- 
 quillity, compunction of heart, docility and 
 spiritual pliableness." 
 
 When the consolation is sensible, the 
 soul is filled with ardor, she sighs for Our 
 Lord, she bewails the little she does for His 
 love ; she feels she is far from being all 
 that He desires ! Deeply touched at all 
 that God has done and daily continues to do 
 
Particular Counsels for Direction, 191 
 
 for her, she would redouble her prayers, her 
 pious practices, her penances. At times 
 she is all on fire, so to speak, and nothing is 
 difficult, nothing a burden, for grace upholds 
 her. 
 
 Let the faithful soul observe great prudence 
 and discretion in this state of spiritual abun- 
 dance ; let her moderate all these ardors, and 
 beware of giving herself too much to these 
 sensible consolations. — She should only value 
 them in proportion as they strengthen her 
 will in good. — Let her humble herself and 
 reflect how weak she will be when God aban- 
 dons her a little to her own strength, for the 
 time of trial v/ill not be far distant. 
 
 Yes, the faithful soul should be very 
 prudent in a state of sensible consolation, 
 for it is particularly at such times, that the 
 angel of darkness transforms himself into an 
 angel of light, that he may ensnare her with 
 illusions.— He excites her to excessive pen- 
 ances, long prayers, multiplied pious prac- 
 tices, and all for the purpose of overwhelm- 
 ing her, wearying her, making her attached 
 to her spiritual practices and perform them 
 through caprice. 
 
 2d. A state of desolation.— '' Desolation 
 is the opposite of consolation ; thus, all that 
 leads the soul to base and terrestrial things, 
 
192 Particular Counsels for Direction. 
 
 all weakening of faith, hope and charity, all 
 trouble, anxiety, discouragement, dissipation, 
 all attachment to one's own ideas, and 
 intractableness, is desolation/' 
 
 In this state, the soul no longer feels these 
 heavenly ardors, these loving transports, 
 these generous desires to labor and 
 suffer for Jesus Christ. Spiritual things no 
 longer move her ; prayer is a burden to her ; 
 she is indifferent to Holy Communion; she 
 would keep away from the Holy Table. 
 She feels all her unworthiness, and what is 
 more painful, cannot even bewail it. If she 
 weeps, her tears seem to flow, not through 
 love for God, but through pusillanimity, 
 vexation, self-love. Perverse imaginings, 
 thoughts more than worldly, sensual attrac- 
 tions have taken the place of her pious 
 thoughts, her sentiments of compunction and 
 repentance. Temptations against faith and 
 hope have replaced the abundance of heav- 
 enly light and filial confidence in God. She 
 can hardly be faithful to the most ordinary 
 pious practices ; this soul, which formerly 
 could not find sufficient time to pray and 
 converse with God. Finally,she believes that 
 God repels her, because of her numerous in- 
 fidelities and base ingratitude. 
 
 If the state of trial is not always so violent, 
 
Particular Counsels for Direction. 193 
 
 it is none the less crucifying. This kind of 
 insensibiUty, or spiritaal torpor is not rare in 
 the ways of God, it is in itself a great cross 
 to a naturally sensitive soul, which has for- 
 merly tasted how sweet God is. If her tears 
 at least could flow, but this consolation is 
 denied her. Her heart is in exile."* 
 
 III. 
 Hew pious persons should bear themselves. 
 
 To avoid falling into illusions in times of 
 consolation, and yielding to discouragement 
 in times of desolation and dryness, the only 
 means is to freely open our heart to our 
 director and completely submit to his de- 
 cisions. 
 
 It is he, when we are not subject to a rule 
 in a community, who should regulate the 
 time to be given to prayer, the method of 
 making it, sometimes even the words in 
 which we address God. 
 
 It is he who should regulate our corporal 
 penances, add, retrench, modify, as he thinks 
 proper. 
 
 He who should choose our spiritual read- 
 ing, and know all the books we read. 
 
 * p. Boone. 
 
194 Particular Counsels for Direction. 
 
 He who should be kept informed of our 
 good works, of those we wish to abandon, 
 the new ones we wish to undertake and the 
 motives which actuate us. 
 
 To him should be confided our efforts, our 
 progress in virtue, our spiritual joys, the 
 trials God sends us. 
 
 It is he who should regulate our confes- 
 sions, even to the manner of our accusations, 
 if he judges proper; our communions, even 
 the manner of preparing for them and our 
 thanksgiving. 
 
 In a word, we must renounce our own 
 views to follow those of the director. Despise, 
 through obedience, the fears and troubles 
 which would keep us from Holy Communion, 
 simply make an act of contrition when the 
 soul is disturbed by fear, and go forward at 
 his word. This act of contrition and obe- 
 dience takes the place of the most minute 
 confession and consequently may calm any 
 reasonable soul seriously desiring to love and 
 serve God. 
 
 If this tranquillity, the fruit of obedience, 
 is not sensible, it is reasonable and real; that 
 is, there are real and well founded motives 
 for being reasonably tranquil, though the 
 tranquillity be not sensible. SensibiUty is in 
 no way required. 
 
Particular Counsels for Direction. 195 
 
 Then let us be thoroughly convinced that 
 any one who desires to advance in virtue, 
 whatever his character^ age or condition, has 
 great need to obey. It is obedience which 
 indicates and prescribes the means of per- 
 fection proper to every character, every age, 
 every condition ; obedience, which wisely and 
 prudently adapts these means to our degree 
 of virtue or weakness ; obedience, which 
 discriminately and gently modifies them ac- 
 cording to circumstances. It is obedience 
 which wards off dangers and illusions. She 
 judges with a coolness and impartiality which 
 we could not exercise in our own cause, 
 If obedience exacts the greatest submission, 
 the most complete, and oftentimes the most 
 difficult abnegation, she also obtains very 
 great graces and signal favors from God. 
 
 '* The obedient man shall tell of victory. '' 
 
 IV. 
 
 Rules for discerning the spirit of God. 
 
 We shall only indicate the principal ones 
 after St. Ignatius, Cardinal Bona, Alvarez. . . 
 These indications though briefly stated may 
 be of great service to a soul who sincerely 
 desires sanctification. 
 
196 Particular Counsels for Direction. 
 
 ist Rule.— 77/^ spirit of God is recognized 
 by its fruits. 
 
 This is a fundamental rule, it rests upon 
 the words of Jesus Christ. '' By their fruits 
 you shall know them. . . .the evil tree bring- 
 eth forth evil fruit. '' Let us observe, however, 
 that there is not question here of certain good 
 works in particular, but of the sum of one's 
 good works. 
 
 There may be illusion in a particular 
 work, but the illusion cannot affect the sum 
 of a long series of good works. 
 
 Hence we must conclude : ist. That a soul 
 faithful to observe the law of God and the 
 obligations of his state, who loves to practice 
 charity, to perform corporal and spiritual 
 works of mercy, who never deliberately omits 
 
 one of his duties even the smallest is 
 
 impelled by the spirit of God. 
 
 2d. That the soul who knows how to 
 judge and speak of the excellence of virtue 
 and perfection, but when occasion offers does 
 not practice it, who knows in what patience 
 consists, but complains and gets angry when 
 another offends against him. . . is not com- 
 pletely filled with the spirit of God. 
 
 Let us remark, however, that we must re- 
 gard as impelled by a good spirit one who is 
 generally faithful notwithstanding occasional 
 defections. 
 
Particular Counsels for Direction. 197 
 
 2d Rule. — The spirit of God is recognized 
 by the interior affection and intention to please and 
 serve God. 
 
 Hence we must conclude : ist. That when 
 exterior good works are accompanied with 
 laudable interior sentiments, such as the in- 
 tention to please God, to expiate one's sins, 
 to win souls to God, etc., these works are the 
 effect of the spirit of God. 
 
 2d. That a soul which frequently thinks 
 of God, which habitually lives in the presence 
 of God, and which is restrained by the 
 thought of this presence, is impelled by the 
 spirit of God. 
 
 A fervent spirit zealous for the good of its 
 neighbor, though its fervor exceed some- 
 times the just limits of prudence, is good at 
 least in substance. 
 
 3d Rule. — The spirit of God is recognized 
 by a deep humility. 
 
 Hence we must conclude : ist. That a 
 soul which likes to speak of itself, which 
 seeks to be seen, which delights to contem- 
 plate its works, is not impelled by a spirit 
 of God. 
 
 2d. That a soul which endeavors to con- 
 
198 Particular Counsels for Direction. 
 
 ceal some of its charitable actions, which 
 controls and repels every disparaging thought 
 of its neighbor, which unaffected Iv seeks the 
 society of an inferior, which stifles by a 
 thought of faith every murmur which arises in 
 Its heart, is impelled by a spirit of God. 
 
 4th Rule.— Z/^^ spirit of God is recogjiized 
 by a calm and resigned acceptance of the mortifi- 
 cations which God sends. 
 
 Hence we must conclude : ist. That it is 
 not the number of mortifications one imposes 
 on himself which indicates the spirit of God, 
 but the generous accepting of those mortifica- 
 tions which God sends. To endure contempt 
 without manifesting resentment, correction 
 without seeking to justify one's self, to live 
 for a time under an unfavorable judgment, 
 and to neglect no duty, manifest indeed the 
 spirit of God. 
 
 2d. That the soul inclined to mortify 
 herself by cutting off certain enjoyments, 
 by retrenching superfluities, by denying her 
 senses, if she does all she can to conceal 
 from every one her privations, her sufferings, 
 her self-denials, if particularly her only ob- 
 ject be to render herself more pleasing to 
 God by overcoming her senses which divert 
 
Particular Counsels for Direction, 199 
 
 her thoughts from Him or to expiate her 
 sins. .,is impelled by the spirit of God. 
 
 5th Rule. — The spirit of God is recognized 
 by docility of mind. 
 
 Hence we must conclude : ist. That a 
 soul manifesting a simple, affectionate, com- 
 plete obedience to her superiors, and to her 
 directors, with the ever-present thought that 
 God makes known to them what He requires 
 of her, is impelled by the spirit of God. 
 
 2d. That a soul who, even in the ac- 
 quisition of virtues, and the pursuit of per- 
 fection, goes neither more rapidly nor more 
 slowly than she is commanded, even though 
 she may not recognize the wisdom of the 
 command, who conforms herself in all things 
 with fidelity and humility to the will of her 
 spiritual guide, is certainly impelled by the 
 spirit of God. 
 
CHAPTER NINTH. 
 Direction in practice. 
 
 We can better compass the end of this 
 Chapter by giving a practical illustration of 
 direction, that is a pious conversation, be- 
 tween a soul and her director. We shall 
 see, by the following dialogue, with what 
 simplicity we must expose the state of our 
 soul, the manner of making this exposition, 
 the questions we may ask,— the objections 
 we may offer,— the submission finally with 
 which we must receive the decisions and 
 counsels given us. 
 
 These pages are taken from L Esprit de 
 la Mere Emilie, an excellent work, in which 
 pious souls will find counsels of great wis- 
 dom, and examples which will lead them 
 to love virtue.* 
 
 * Mother Emilie, Founder and first Superior-General of 
 the Congregation of the Holy Family in the diocese of Rodez, 
 died in 1853. A decree signed the 27th of March, 1872, intro- 
 duces the cause of her beatification and canonization. Her 
 life is written by Leon Aubineau, and " Her Spirit" from 
 which we borrow these pages, was written by Abb6 Barthe. 
 
Direction in practice, 20 1 
 
 First Direction. 
 
 Upon Humility, 
 
 The Superior: — Give me an account, my 
 child, of your efforts against your predomi- 
 nant fault. Have you made your particular 
 examen upon it every day ? 
 
 The Religious : — Yes, Mother, 1 even keep 
 a strict account of how many times I speak 
 of myself during the day ; but I confess I 
 am not faithful to impose a penance on my- 
 self every time as you recommended. I 
 really despair of ever becoming humble, 
 for the more I apply myself to acts of humil- 
 ity, the stronger I feel my pride ; when it 
 does not manifest itself in actions, it does in 
 thoughts which I would not dare to tell any 
 one. 
 
 The Superior: — Do not be astonished at 
 that ; when we seriously devote ourselves to 
 the acquisition of a virtue, we are usually 
 strongly tempted to the contrary vice; and 
 frequently the more we practice it the more 
 empire the contrary vice seems to have over 
 us because of the temptations which harass 
 and trouble us. 
 
 But this empire really diminishes without 
 our knowledge, so to speak, when we con- 
 
202 Direction in practice. 
 
 tinue to struggle against the assaults which 
 importune and weary us. Do not be dis- 
 couraged, Sister ; only do not fail to inflict a 
 slight penance upon yourself after each 
 fault, such as making a very sincere act ol 
 contrition, devoutly kissing your crucifix, 
 making a pious visit to some of the altars 
 in the house, or kissing the floor three or 
 four times with a feeling of contempt for 
 yourself; and I beg of you do not let me 
 hear you say again : I (despair. We must 
 despair of nothing when we have God's 
 assistance, and you have it, Sister. He gives 
 you light to know your faults, he gives you 
 a desire to become humble, is not this 
 already a great deal ? And have you not 
 always had the grace of prayer which will 
 obtain for you still greater succor?. . . Oh 1 
 my child, I have a strong hope that your 
 desire will be granted, but not without hu- 
 miliations. Come, tell me your thoughts 
 of pride. 
 
 The Religious:— Moih^i, I dare not, be- 
 sides I do not dwell upon everything that 
 passes through my mind, and I even try not 
 to remember it. 
 
 The Superior: — May it not be the fear of 
 having to reveal these thoughts which makes 
 you quickly reject them .? In that case you 
 
Direction in practice, 203 
 
 are influenced by a subtle snare of self-love. 
 What do you think ? Is not this your 
 motive ? 
 
 The Religious: — Yes, Mother, it influences 
 me a little, but then, what necessity is there 
 to reveal all that one thinks, when you do 
 not consent to these thoughts and they give 
 you pain? 
 
 The Superior: — If we would triumph over 
 pur pride we must humble ourselves ; and 
 one of the greatest acts of humility we can 
 make is to simply reveal our miseries to the 
 person who directs us. Certainly you are 
 not obliged to tell all your thoughts of pride, 
 but I think that God asks this of you, and if 
 you refuse, you may be sure you will not 
 be satisfied. Come, my child, pluck this 
 thorn from your heart, tell me all."^ 
 
 The Religious: — Mother, I dare not ; let me 
 wait until another time, it will cover me 
 with confusion now. 
 
 The Superior : — How skilful the evil one 
 is in deceiving us 1 Another time you will 
 
 *To act with this holy familiarity and thus simply question 
 intimate thoughts, requires a childlike confidence between 
 the director and the soul directed, which is the effect of grace, 
 and supposes much virtue on the part of both. 
 
 No, a soul is not obliged to discover her intimate thoughts, 
 but when she can do it, Oh ! what happiness ! what peace \ 
 what a guarantee of sanctity and of reaching heaven she 
 ensures herself ! 
 
204 Direction in practice, 
 
 only find it more difficult ; if you wait, he 
 will keep you more and more occupied 
 with your repugnance, and will even in- 
 crease it, whereas, if you tell me all now, 
 that will be the end of it. Come, Sister, 
 courage, I am looking at my crucifix. 
 
 The Religious : — Well, I will tell you: I 
 thought that if I wished, I could become 
 one of the most learned religious in the 
 Congregation ; that perhaps, you would give 
 me the office of Sister N. — , which would 
 bring me in contact with Madame N. — 
 and N. — and I should feel flattered. After 
 my pupils' examination, I took much pleas- 
 ure in the compliments I received, they re- 
 curred to me several times a day, and 1 
 longed for another examination. The fact 
 that in the Novitiate I passed from the last 
 to the first place in Instruction, made me 
 think I had more ability than the others. I 
 liked to remember also, that the Father in 
 speaking of me to the Mistress of Novices, 
 told her that I would make a good Mistress, 
 and recommended me to her care. I like 
 also to find myself with certain persons, even 
 inferiors who tell me agreeable things. 
 There, I am sure this is quite sufficient, 
 Mother,you can understand all the rest. 
 
 The Superior : — If, instead of becoming 
 
Direction in practice, 205 
 
 one of the most learned religious, you were 
 to become one of the most fervent, would 
 you not be satisfied ? Well, that is what I 
 want you to be. From the summit of 
 pride, you must descend to the holy depths 
 of humility. You are young, and believe 
 me, when I tell you, you must wage serious 
 war against a vice which may be your ruin, 
 if you do not control it. I repeat, from the 
 summit of pride, endeavor with all your 
 strength and by every means to descend to 
 the holy depths of humility. 
 
 The Religious : — I do not understand what 
 you mean by the summit of pride and the 
 
 holy depths of humility Do not, I beg of 
 
 you, propose too great humility to me ; if I 
 could not do all that you counselled me, I 
 should have remorse for it all the rest of 
 my life. I am always afraid that the thought 
 of imitating you will enter my head, and I 
 confess, I would not wish to do it. 
 
 The Superior : — ** Do not propose to me, 
 too great humility " ! do you understand 
 what leads you to make such a request } Ah ! 
 it is perverse nature, grace does not speak 
 thus ; on the contrary, it would impel you 
 to beg me to counsel you the surest and 
 shortest way to attain great humility, the es- 
 sential foundation of all other virtues ; and 
 
2o6 Direction in practice, 
 
 at the cost of any sacrifice. It is of the last 
 importance for you to combat your predom- 
 inant fault, and to combat it tirelessly and 
 unrelentingly. It is a general of an army 
 with many soldiers under his command, who 
 effects great ravages in souls ; you must pur- 
 sue it to the last, without being in any way 
 alarmed, either by the violence, or the du- 
 ration of the combat. God, the witness of 
 your efforts, who in these combats, antici- 
 pates the soul, and sustains it b}^ His grace, 
 usually gives victory if you earnestly ask it 
 It is for love of Him, for His glory, that 
 you combat, and fear not that He will fail 
 to help you. 
 
 The Religious : — What then must I do ? 
 
 The Superior ; — Always the opposite of 
 what pride suggests. 
 
 The Religious : — Shall I have the strength 
 to do it ? 
 
 The Superior : — God will give it to you. 
 Thus, if you have committed a fault which 
 will draw some censure upon you, do noth- 
 ing to prevent it ; if you are thought ill of, 
 do nothing to change the opinion in which 
 you are held ; if pride leads you to do things 
 which may win you praise, leave them un- 
 done, unless duty or obedience demands 
 them ; then purify your intention ; if 
 
Direction in practice, 207 
 
 you want to be counted as something by 
 your superiors, your companions, or even 
 by persons outside, seek '^ to be unknown 
 and esteemed as nothing/'* choose the last 
 place everywhere and in everything, bat un- 
 affectedly. 
 
 The Religious : — Oh ! that is so difficult ! 
 to avoid no blame, to permit one's self to be 
 unfavorably judged when one word could de- 
 stroy this false opinion, and reinstate you in 
 the minds of others, no, I do not think I 
 have the strength to do it always. But here 
 is what I already thought of : I know my 
 pride is great, and I am going to ask God 
 to keep me always in humiliations, to per- 
 mit me to be proud of nothing. I will say 
 to Him : *^ My God, feed me with the bread 
 of humiliations, steep me in the water of 
 tears, wean me from my love for the esteem 
 and favor of creatures : make me an object 
 of contempt ; may all that I do to exalt my- 
 selfj turn to my confusion, so that I may be 
 ever in abasement by the continual remem- 
 brance of my sins, by a profound sense of 
 my misery." And as I am so fond of enjoy- 
 ment, I would add : *' Do not permit me to 
 find satisfaction in aught here below, save in 
 loving and pleasing Thee ! Make eating, 
 
 *Imitation, B. i, Chap. 2. 
 
2o8 Direction in practice, 
 
 drinking and other natural satisfactions a 
 cross to me ! I ask of Thee but one thi^g 
 O my God : not to permit me to be bst 
 eternally !" 
 
 This, dear Mother, is all I can do. I have 
 already begun to address this prayer to God ; 
 sometimes I tremble as I utter it, at the 
 thought of great humiliations coming upon 
 me, but I reflect at once that all these suffer- 
 ings will be of little moment, if I have the 
 happiness to be saved. Oh ! pray, pray for 
 me, I beseech you. 
 
 The Superior : — I will, and I hope that 
 you will become very humble. But at least 
 do not let a day pass without asking God to 
 give you this virtue of humility, which ren- 
 ders a soul so happy, which drew the Son of 
 God to this earth. One day, the price of 
 abjection will be clear to us. Believe me, my 
 child, it is good to rest in contempt, to be 
 counted as naught. Since you are very 
 earnest in your desire to become humble, 1 
 am going to call your attention to certain 
 things you did, in which there was more or 
 less pride. When Sister N. told you, in my 
 presence, that your pupils were too slow, 
 that they lost time through want of being 
 stimulated by the Mistress, you answered 
 impatiently : ^' Ah ! what a trial those chil- 
 
Direction in practice, 209 
 
 dren are to a person of any spirit !" You 
 should have contented yourself with quietly 
 answering : "I will see that they do better 
 for the future ; if I were more devoted my- 
 self, doubtless they would make more prog- 
 ress." When Mdlle N. was unable to 
 answer what I asked her, you said very quick- 
 ly : '* I have told her that five or six times." 
 If you had kept silence, you would have 
 made a good act of humility. Yesterday 
 morning, when I visited your class to assure 
 myself that everything was in order, you 
 hurried up stairs to see for yourself wheth- 
 er everything was in its place ; you should 
 have let me pass first. When I said to 
 you the other day, that the soup you 
 made for the poor was not well made, you 
 answered : ^ * At home we do not make these 
 soups." You should have said : *' That is 
 true, Mother, will you be kind enough to 
 leach me how to make it .?" See, my dear Sis- 
 ter, how we can profit by little occasions, to 
 overcome our pride and practice humility, 
 do not let such opportunities escape you as 
 you have done heretofore. 
 
 The Religious : — Mother, you said a while 
 ago that the vice of pride would be my ruin 
 \^ I did not control it. Will you explain to 
 me, please, how it might cause the loss of a 
 soul? 
 
2IO Direction in practice. 
 
 The Superior : — It may cause its loss in 
 several ways. A proud person is generally 
 rash ; he fearlessly exposes himself to dan- 
 ger ; and if he perishes therein as the Holy 
 Spirit threatens, we may say that pride is 
 the cause of his being lost. A proud person 
 is nearly always too tenacious of his own 
 ideas, his own judgment ; he believes he 
 has light superior to that of others ; and if 
 he falls into error, there is no means, or at 
 least it is very difficult to bring him back to 
 truth. All the arch-heretics mentioned in 
 ecclesiastical history were such, only because 
 they were proud, obstinate minds. Any one 
 may be deceived, but if he is humble he 
 will be easily persuaded of his error, and 
 above all will submit his judgment to the 
 Holy Church, which is infallible ; but if he 
 is proud, he will obstinately persist in his 
 opinion and will ''obey not the truth.'' — 
 Rom. ii. 8. We probably will not become 
 arch-heretics here ; but there are many er- 
 rors which enter the mind of a religious, 
 most dangerous errors which only humility 
 can cure. Thus a religious may take it in- 
 to her head that she would do more good if 
 she were to go back to the world ; her su- 
 perior, her confessor, who sees clearly that 
 she runs the risk of being lost by renounc- 
 
Direction in practice, 211 
 
 ing her profession, tells her that she is about 
 to commit an act of folly, of which she will 
 repent too late ; they leave nothing undone 
 to persuade her to remain ; if she is hum- 
 ble she will be convinced of her error ; if 
 she is not, she falls into the snare the devil 
 lays for her, and her loss is imminent, and 
 it is pride which leads her to perdition. An- 
 other, still young, and with some talents, 
 seeks very much to display them ; she yearns 
 for praise. She is counselled to be as retir- 
 ing as her functions will permit ; to fly 
 praise, particularly from persons of the other 
 sex, of whatever age or condition. But 
 no, she must let every one see her trifling 
 success in her class ; if she is not cloistered 
 she tries to obtain a visit from the pastor, 
 the curate, or some other person competent 
 to judge of her supposed merit, and the 
 progress of her pupils. If she had been 
 humble and docile she would not have fall- 
 en into this disorder. Here is another who 
 does notobserve the Rule well; her confessor, 
 her superior warn her ; show her that she 
 is falling into a dangerous way ; they sug- 
 gest some penances proper to correct her ; 
 she omits these penances, or only performs 
 them to be rid of them ; finding that her con- 
 fessor and superior restrain her too much, 
 
212 Direction in practice. 
 
 she leaves her confessor to find one less 
 severe ; she neglects to make her dispositions 
 known to her superior, or does so very su- 
 perficially. This religious who disregards 
 the wise warnings of her confessor and of her 
 superior will end by becoming blinded, and 
 by falling into deplorable laxness ; and will 
 owe her ruin to pride. 
 
 God detests pride in all His creatures, 
 Sister, but particularly in His Spouses, He 
 cannot endure it. Thus the shameful sins 
 into which He sometimes permits souls 
 consecrated to Him to fall, are a punish- 
 ment of that vice which He pursues wher- 
 ever it may be found, and still more in 
 the souls whom He has honored so much 
 as to make His own. Leaving the holy 
 state of religion is frequently a punishment 
 of pride and in my opinion the greatest 
 
 The Religious : — Oh ! beg God, Mother, 
 never to send me such chastisements ; I 
 would a thousand times rather die than leave 
 the Institute or fail into any grave sin. 
 What you have told me has fi^lled me with 
 fear. 
 
Direction in practice. 213 
 
 Second Direction. 
 Counsels on Piety, 
 
 The Religious : — I am glad that I am Hear- 
 ing the time for the annual retreat ; I am 
 going to ask permission to make a general 
 confession of my whole life. 
 
 T/ie Superior : — To rejoice at the approach 
 of the retreat, and to prepare ourselves for it 
 puts us in an excellent disposition for profit- 
 ing by this great grace ; but a desire to make 
 a general confession may be a ruse of the 
 evil one to make you lose time, and, perhaps, 
 fill you with trouble ; you must speak with 
 the confessor about it. 
 
 The Religious : — But, Mother, this confes- 
 sion seems to me necessary ; not to repair 
 my past confessions, but to rouse myself 
 from this state of tepidity into which I have 
 fallen. 
 
 The Superior : — Who told you that you 
 were in a state of tepidity ? 
 
 The Religious : — No one, but I feel it. 
 
 The Superior: — It is for your confessor 
 and your superior to decide the state you 
 are in. No, my child, I for my part do not 
 see that you are in that state of tepidity 
 which would lead the good Master to reject 
 you from His mouth. 
 
214 Direction in practice. 
 
 The Religious :—^hy is it, then, that I do 
 not love God as I formerly did ? I can 
 hardly speak to Him any more in med- 
 itation ; I find my prayers irksome and 
 filled with distractions ; I am ill at ease in- 
 teriorly ; I would rouse myself from this 
 state. 
 
 The Superior : — This is simply because 
 the good God wills for our advantage that 
 we should not always continue in the same 
 interior state. Love for God is not proved 
 by feelings, but by works. It is not neces- 
 sary to feel a relish for prayer and be free 
 from distractions, it is sufficient to make it 
 as well as one can ; we have even more merit 
 in praying without any relish for prayer and in 
 the midst of unwiHing distractions which we 
 do our best to banish than with facility and 
 sweet fervor. It does not satisfy our self-love, 
 however, and hence our repugnance ; but it 
 benefits, purifies and strengthens our soul. 
 
 The Religious : — I would be consoled if I 
 were sure that I did all I could to pray well ; 
 but how can I be sure } 
 
 The Superior : — One should ask her con- 
 fessor or her superior, tell him what she 
 does, and rest tranquilly upon his word. 
 There is great merit before God in keep- 
 ing one's self at peace through a spirit of faith, 
 
Direction in practice, 2 1 5 
 
 on the word of those charged to direct us. 
 
 The Religious : — Let me tell you, my dear 
 Mother, the present state of my soul? 
 and then I will follow your counsels, for my 
 whole desire is not to displease God. 
 
 77ie Superior : — Certainly ; but tell me, do 
 you voluntarily dwell upon these distractions 
 which assail you ?~-Do you neglect or cease 
 to pray because you have no relish for prayer ? 
 
 T/ie Religious :—l think not. But I find 
 it very trying during meditation and my visit 
 to the Blessed Sacrament to be like a statue 
 before God, or to have my mind filled with 
 anything but the thoughts which should 
 occupy me at that time. 
 
 T/ie Superior : — Is it bad to be a statue, 
 when it pleases God ? Is it not a great 
 honor ? In the palaces of Kings there are 
 statues which do nothing of themselves; but 
 their presence is useful, they honor the mas- 
 ter of the house. Why would you not 
 honor God in this way if He wills it.? 
 
 The Religious : — But when one's mind isi 
 filled with useless, even extravagant thoughts, 
 how can you honor God ? 
 
 The Superior : — By being very patient with 
 one's self, saying to God in the words of a 
 Saint : ** Behold the fruit of my garden ; thai 
 is all that is mine." 
 
-2 1 6 Diredmi in practice. 
 
 It is well to repeat a few lines of a pious can- 
 ticle, or some verses of a psalm, forcing one's 
 self to will what the words express. If we are 
 incapable of doing it, then accept this state of 
 impotence. 
 
 The Religious : — Would it not be better to 
 read a pious book or say the Rosary ? 
 
 The Superior : — In extremity one may do 
 it, but we should only rarely have recourse to 
 this means, for meditation is not vocal prayer 
 or spiritual reading. One should do it, for 
 example^ w^hen harassed by evil thoughts, for 
 then the mind will be more en.sily divert- 
 ed. 
 
 Third Direction, 
 
 Laxness, 
 
 The Superior :-^Yoxvc\^x\y it was you, my 
 child, who feared, and I reassured you. But 
 to-day you are without fear, and for that 
 reason I fear, yes, I fear very much for you. 
 
 The Religious: — Mother, what do you 
 mean ? Your words and manner frighten 
 me. 
 
 The Superior: — You do not understand 
 me.? . . . There was a time when you always 
 feared to be estranged from God ; you pun- 
 ished yourself, or asked punishment, for the 
 
Direction in practice. 217 
 
 slightest faults ; you came frequently to con- 
 sult me; you did nothing without my assent; 
 the fear of becoming tepid maintained you 
 in fervor. But how is it with you now? 
 Where have fled all those timid apprehen- 
 sions which I liked to see, for they proved 
 that you were not far from the good God. 
 
 The Religious : — True, Mother, I do not 
 fear as I formerly did, yet I do not believe I 
 do anything wrong, 
 
 The Superior : — I do not say that you do 
 anything wrong, but there are things which, 
 I am sorry to say, you have ceased to fear. 
 What is that book which you have in your 
 hand ? 
 
 The Religious : — It is an abridged history 
 of France ; I think it is approved, for Sister 
 N — reads it. 
 
 The Superior : — A year ago you would not 
 have read a book merely on the supposition 
 that it was approved, you would have come 
 and asked my approbation. You will tell 
 me : this is not a bad book, others, read it. 
 That is not a sufficient reason for you to read 
 it without my knowledge.* 
 
 Fear, Sister, fear, I repeat, to read profane 
 books even when approved ; and as to pious 
 
 ♦Constitutions of the Sisters cf the Holy Family, Explana- 
 tions, No. 203, No. 273. 
 
2 1 8 Direction in practice. 
 
 books bearing even episcopal sanction, ask 
 before reading them ; for all may not equally 
 suit you. 
 
 Come nearer, Sister, take off your belt, do 
 you not see that your dress is too tight ? 
 You like a small waist ; is that fitting for a 
 religious? The folds of your dress are 
 arranged with too much care ; your veil is 
 too low over your eyes, it was not modesty 
 which prompted you to lower it in that 
 way. Again, I tell you to fear, fear the 
 approach of vanity ; I have just surprised 
 you in one of its snares : it will lead you 
 still further, you will, become, perhaps, its 
 slave and victim. 
 
 Only a short time since, it was your de- 
 light to keep God's house, the sanctuary, in 
 the most perfect order and neatness ; you 
 never could give too much time to it ; and 
 now, you hastily sweep the sanctuary, and 
 use all possible haste in putting it in order 
 that you may go to study, or other things 
 which flatter your self-love. Fear, Sister, 
 if you persist in thus withdrawing from 
 God, God will end by abandoning you 
 and, perhaps, irrevocably. 
 
 Formerly, you spoke but of God at your 
 recreation, everything else wearied you. Is it 
 the same to day ? Now, you follow Nature 
 
Direction in practice, 2 1 9 
 
 which leads you to go with those Sisters 
 whose humor suits your disposition, you 
 seek to be well with everybody, you accept 
 little flatteries ; here are imperfections which 
 will lead you very far if you do not beware 
 of them. Fear, Sister, fear to gradually re- 
 place the love of God which formerly reign- 
 ed in your heart by a love of creatures. 
 You will be unfortunate, believe me, if you 
 withdraw from Him who formerly has been, 
 and who alone can be, your happiness. 
 What has become of that delicacy of con- 
 science which made you fear the least evil, the 
 slightest disobedience, the most trifling eva- 
 sion ? A slight criticism, or blame, a slight 
 irreverence in choir, would be a subject of 
 tears to you ; you frequently came to me, not 
 daring to receive Holy Communion for rea- 
 sons which appeared to me sufficiently 
 slight ; and now you no longer come, yet 
 I find you less faithful than you were then, 
 much more reprehensible in certain things. 
 Fear then, Sister, fear tepidity. Ah ! it is 
 a dangerous evil to souls ! Tepidity has 
 led many to perdition ; disregarding neg- 
 ligence and slight faults, its forerunners, 
 they gradually fell into mortal sin ; and 
 mortal sin at length precipitated them into 
 hell. 
 
2 20 Direction in practice. 
 
 The Religious.— Moih&T, I feel myself 
 guilty, very guilty ; I have been deluded, I 
 see It now ; pray for me that I may return 
 to what I formerly was, and that I may not 
 have the misfortune to be lost in the midet 
 of the abundant succor with which this 
 holy house abounds. 
 
 The Superior.-— I will, most heartily, you 
 may be sure. Return to me in two or three 
 days ; but pray, pray yourself a great deal, 
 and do not be discouraged. 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 As a summary and conclusion of our 
 labor, we have gathered from the works of 
 St. Liguori the doctrine of this Doctor of 
 the Church on direction. 
 
 We know that St. Liguori, who to knowl- 
 edge and sanctity adds great experience of 
 souls, does not limit himself in his writings 
 to speculations, but gives always numerous 
 practical details which powerfully aid one 
 in the conduct of life. 
 
 It was to present these details in full 
 that we preferred not incorporating them 
 in our work; it seemed to us that gathered 
 together here they might be more profitable 
 to religious, to whom they are principally 
 addressed. 
 
 We are happy to be guided in practice 
 by a doctrine in which the Church has 
 found nothing reprehensible and which she. 
 proposes to all the faithful as a safe rule ; 
 and to accept the decisions which the holy 
 Bishop gave only after he had implored on 
 his knees the light of the Holy Spirit and 
 the assistance of Mary. 
 
2 2 2 Conclusion, 
 
 Geueral Necessity of Direction. 
 
 *' There are religious who pretend to 
 live without a director ; they think that, 
 having rules and a superior, they need no 
 other guide; but they are mistaken ; for be- 
 sides the rules and the superior, it is fitting 
 that religious have also a director, that they 
 may be counselled and guided in interior 
 and even exterior exercises. 'It is true,' says 
 St. Gregory, 'that some Saints have had God 
 Himself as their immediate guide, but one 
 should not wish,' he adds, ^ to follow these 
 examples, for fear that by disdaining the 
 guidance of a man, we lead ourselves into 
 error.' 
 
 ** If a religious finds no director who can 
 guide her in the way of perfection, God 
 will supply her need ; * but to refuse one 
 of His ministers when we can obtain him 
 
 *Permit us to add here a few words of consolation for persons 
 in the country, reduced to one priest, absorbed by the numer- 
 ous exterior duties of the ministry, and who, unable to choose 
 a director, do not find what seems necessary for the needs of 
 their soul. 
 
 Jesus Christ is the first, or rather, the only director of souls. 
 Address yourself to Him in all confidence ; serve Him faith- 
 fully ; come to your confession every week with a great spirit 
 of faith, a sincere regret for your faults, a serious will to lead 
 a regular and devout life, and be at peace ; Jesus Christ with- 
 
Conclusion. 225 
 
 is temerity which God punishes by permit- 
 ting us to fall into many errors. God could 
 direct us Himself, but to render us hum- 
 ble, He wishes that we submit to His minis- 
 ters and that we depend upon their author- 
 ity." 
 
 Particular necessity of direction for scrupu- 
 lous souls. 
 
 *'The masters of the spiritual life indicate 
 several remedies against scruples ; but all 
 theologians, as well as ascetic authors, agree 
 in concluding that the principal or rather the 
 sole efficacious remedy is for the penitent to 
 
 out your knowledge will take upon Himself to teach you the 
 secrets of the interior life ; it was thus He directed Mary of 
 Egypt in the desert, and in infidel countries He directs Chris- 
 tians who scarcely see the missionaries once a year. 
 
 But neglect no succor within your reach ; read each day 
 some soM, pious book ! " The Holy Gospels," " Introduction 
 to a Devout Life," " The Imitation of Christ," "Short Lives of 
 the Saints," "Spiritual Combat," " Visits to the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment," by St. Liguori, and a small book of daily meditations 
 may m a great measure suffice you. 
 
 If you are a female and can communicate in the parish with 
 some truly pious person, that is attached to her duty, chari- 
 table in her words, submissive to the will of God, see her 
 sometimes, though she may be unlearned m human things. 
 
 If an occasion offers of consulting a strange priest who comes 
 for a mission, or a retreat, do it simply, without ostentation, 
 but do not be deterred by human respect. 
 
 Do not complain of what is lacking you, and wait. God 
 never fails any one, and He who feeds the birds of the air. 
 Will know how to afford your soul the food it requires. 
 
2 24 Conclusion. 
 
 wholly mistrust his own judgment and, plac- 
 ing himself in the hands of his spiritual fa- 
 ther, blindly obey him. St. Philip Neri says 
 that there is nothing more dangerous in 
 affairs of conscience than to wish to guide 
 one's self after one's own views. A scrupulous 
 person who does not obey his director is 
 lost. Not to yield to the decision of a direc- 
 tor shows pride and a want of faith, says St. 
 John of the Cross. In fact, Jesus Christ has 
 declared that he who obeys His priests, obeys 
 Him, and that he who despises them de- 
 spises Him. Qui vos audit, me audit ; et qui 
 vos spernit me spcriiit. — Luke x. 1 6. 
 
 "Hence St. John of the Cross speaks thus 
 in the name of the Lord : * When you are 
 wanting in docility to your confessors you 
 disobey Me, for I have said : *^ He who de- 
 spiseth you despiseth Me." He, on the con- 
 trary, who obeys his spiritual father cannot 
 be deceived.' According to St. Bernard, 
 what man commands, when he holds the 
 place of .God, provided it be nothing certain- 
 ly displeasing to God, should be taken as 
 a direct command from God Himself: 
 Quidquid vice Dei prcecipit homo^ quod ncn sit 
 tamen certum displicere Deo, haud secus omnino 
 accipiendum est, quam si prcecipiat Deus. — De 
 Praec. and Disp. 
 
Conclusion, 225 
 
 *'Thus the blessed Henry Suso assures us 
 that God will not hold us accountable for 
 what we shall have done through obedience. 
 And St. Philip Neri taught the same to his 
 penitents : ^ Those who desire to make prog-> 
 ress in the ways of God should submit to 
 an enlightened confessor and obey him as 
 God Himself ; while we act thus we are sure 
 of not being held accountable to God for 
 what we do/ He added that we must have 
 faith in our confessor^ for God would not let 
 him be deceived. For my part, I say that if 
 a person becomes blind, his only resource is 
 to take a faithfal guide to lead him in the 
 way he should go ; in like manner, a soul 
 who finds herself in the darkness and con- 
 fusion of scruples should allow herself to be 
 directed by the guide God has given her 
 and obey him blindly. — I say, by the guide 
 God has given her, for, generally speaking, 
 it is not well for a scrupulous person to 
 speak of her doubts to other spiritual fathers 
 than her own director, even if they should 
 be holy and learned ; another, not know- 
 ing the state of her conscience, may ask 
 her a question, or say a word to her not in 
 accordance with the views of her own direc- 
 tor ; and for this word, her conscience is 
 again completely disturbed, and, losing the 
 
2 26 Conclusion, 
 
 confidence she hitherto reposed in her own 
 guide, she will remain forever, or at least for 
 a long time, in disquiet and trouble. 
 
 "■ Then obey your director, my dear Sister, 
 and be sure that in obeying him you can- 
 not go astray. 
 
 " Thus did the Saints, who were likewise 
 frequently tormented by scruples and fears of 
 offending God, and by this means they en- 
 sured their safety. St. Catherine of Bologna 
 was afflicted with scruples, but she obeyed 
 her confessor in all things; if sometimes she 
 feared to approach the Holy Table, a sign 
 from her spiritual father sufficed to make 
 her conquer her fears and go forward imme- 
 diately and receive Holy Communion, there- 
 fore Jesus Christ appeared to her one day, 
 and to encourage her still more to obey, told 
 her to rejoice, for her obedience was very 
 pleasing to Him. This good Master ap- 
 peared also one day to Blessed Stephanie 
 Soncino, a Dominicaness, and caused her to 
 hear these words: ' Since thou hast remitted 
 thy will into the hands of thy confessor, who 
 is My representative, whatever grace thou wilt 
 ask Me shall be granted thee/ She replied; 
 ' Lord, I desire only Thee.' 
 
 ^' St. Augustine gave the same counsel to 
 his friend, St. Paulin,who exposed his doubts 
 
Conclusion, 
 
 227 
 
 to him, ' Go ' he said, ' and consult some 
 good spiritual physician upon your doubts 
 and let me know what the Lord will have 
 said to you by his mouth.' — We see that the 
 holy Doctor held it as certain that if St. Pau- 
 lin asked the advice of a spiritual father, 
 God would speak to him and make known 
 His will through His minister. St. Antony 
 relates that a Dominican being very much 
 tormented by scruples, another religious, who 
 was dead, appeared to him and said : Consule 
 discretos et acquiesce illis : Take counsel of the 
 wise and hold to what they tell you. — The 
 same Saint also relates that a disciple of St 
 Bernard was reduced to such a state by scru- 
 ples that he was unable to say mass; but in 
 his perplexity he happily went to consult his 
 master, St. Bernard, who, without reasoning 
 with him, contented himself with saying : 
 'Go, say mass, and let it be on my conscience.' 
 The religious obeyed, and was forever deliv- 
 ered from all his scruples. 
 
 '* We must not say: If I had St. Bernard 
 for confessor I would obey as blindly, but my 
 confessor is not St. Bernard. 
 
 ^'Doubtless, he is not St. Bernard; but he 
 is more than St. Bernard, since He holds 
 God's place to you. Hear the learned Ger- 
 son's reply to this : ' You who speak thus are 
 
228 Conclusion, 
 
 in error; for you have not placed your confi- 
 dence in a man because he is enhghtened 
 or holy, but because He is charged by God 
 with the guidance of your soul, obey him 
 then as God, and you cannot fail to do 
 well/ — St. Ignatius Loyola at the beginning 
 of his conversion was so beset by darkness 
 and scruples that he could find no rest; but 
 as he had real faith in God's words: Quivos 
 audita me audita he said with great confidence: 
 ' Lord, show me the path I must follow : 
 though Thou sendest me a dog for a guide, 
 I promise to faithfully follow him/ He 
 was in fact faithfully obedient to his di- 
 rectors; which availed him not only deliver- 
 ance from his scruples, but also made him 
 an excellent master for others. St. Teresa 
 then had reason to say : * Let the soul take 
 her confessor as judge and give herself com- 
 pletely to his guidance, firmly resolved not 
 to plead or think of her cause, confidently 
 trusting in the words of our Lord : He that 
 hearethyou, heareth Me. This submission is 
 very pleasing to God and powerfully helps 
 us to conquer in the thousand interior com- 
 bats we sometimes have to sustain, even 
 though the judgment given upon our cause 
 appear to us unreasonable, or we experience 
 great repugnance in executing it. In a word, 
 we accomplish the will of God !' 
 
Conclusion, 229 
 
 *'If, then, Sister, when Jesus Christ comes 
 to judge you, He ask you an account of 
 what you will have done in obedience to 
 your director, prepare yourself to make 
 this reply : 'Lord 1 I did that to obey Thy 
 minister, as Thou didst command me to 
 do/ — If you can then answer thus, you have 
 no reason to fear that He may condemn 
 you. Fr. James Alvarez assures us that, even 
 though the confessor be mistaken, the pen- 
 itent in obeying him cannot err, and walks in 
 safety. What ! would you be obliged in or- 
 der to secure tranquillity of conscience to ex« 
 amine whether your confessor is learned or 
 not ? It is sufficient that he is lawfully ap- 
 proved by his mission, which you may readi- 
 ly suppose ; from that moment he holds God's 
 place to you, and you cannot be repre- 
 hensible in doing what he commands. 
 
 ''But, perhaps, you will argue : I am not 
 scrupulous ; my fears are not vain, but well 
 founded. I reply, no insane person believes 
 himself insane, for madness consists precisely 
 in not recognizing that we have lost reason. 
 Nevertheless I tell you you are scrupulous, 
 you whom your director thinks so, because 
 you will not recognize the vanity of your 
 scruples ; if you understood that your ap- 
 prehensions were vain you would pay no at- 
 
230 Conclusion. 
 
 tention to them, and you would not be 
 scrupulous. Then quiet yourself and obey 
 your director, who knows your conscience. 
 *'^ ' That does not depend upon the direc- 
 tor/ I hear you reply, ' but upon me, who 
 cannot explain myself and make known 
 
 to him the miserable state of my soul/ Ah ! 
 
 there you are, inventing a thousand scruples 
 on this head and making no scruple whatever 
 of treating your spiritual father as an igno- 
 rant person, or one capable of sacrilege ! 
 
 '' For when you confessed your doubts, and 
 upon grave matters, according to you the 
 confessor, if he did not understand you, was 
 obliged to put to you such questions as would 
 enable him to judge of your doubts ; so that 
 if without a just reason or without under- 
 standing you, as you think, he has ordered 
 you to despise them as vain scruples, 
 he must have done it through ignorance or 
 negligence. Thus by distrusting his judg- 
 ment through fear that he has not under- 
 stood you, you represent him, as I said, 
 either as ignorant or capable of sacrilege ; 
 and you make no scruple of this rashness ! 
 Every one who permits herself to judge the 
 decisions of confessors should be answered 
 as the learned Bishop of Gubbio, Mgr. 
 Sperelli, one day answered a scrupulous re- 
 
Conclusion. 
 
 231 
 
 ligious who denounced her confessor to him 
 as a heretic because he had told her sins 
 were not sins. 'Tell me, my daughter,' he 
 said, ^in what university did you study the- 
 ology that you know more than your con- 
 fessor ? Go busy yourself with spinning and 
 cease to occupy yourself with these follies. ' 
 '^ I would not say the same to you, but 
 I urge you to abide tranquilly by all that 
 your spiritual father tells you. It suffices 
 that you have once exposed your doubts 
 to him. Now and always, when he says, 
 ' That is sufficient, I do not wish to hear any 
 more, do as I tell you, go to communion,' 
 etc., you should obey without another 
 thought, and believe that he has understood 
 you sufficiently : do not question the wis- 
 dom of his decision, but obey him blindly, 
 without arguing, without seeking to know 
 his motives, abandoning yourself complete- 
 ly to his guidance ; for if you seek to know 
 the reason of what he tells you, you will 
 only awaken new scruples, and you will 
 fall back into your perplexities. Obey blind- 
 ly, that is, without pretending to discover 
 the why or wherefore ; and never set your- 
 self to reflect upon what is prescribed you 
 by your confessor. Scruples are like pitch, 
 the more you handle them the more they 
 
232 Conclusion, 
 
 stick to you ; the more you reflect upon 
 them, the more involved you become. Be 
 satisfied to walk in obscurity, bearing in mind 
 the beautiful maxims of St. Francis de Sales, 
 one of which is : ' We must be content to 
 believe that we are doing well, on the word 
 of a director and spiritual father, without 
 seeking to know and feel it/ Another 
 says : ' The best way is to walk blindly 
 under the guidance of divine Providence 
 through darkness, desolation, crosses and 
 other perplexities of this life.' Another, final- 
 ly, and this one should completely reas- 
 sure you, says : ' A truly obedient soul is 
 never lost/ Keep ever before your eyes 
 this certain rule, that in obeying your con- 
 fessor you obey God ; force yourself to obey 
 without heeding yonr fears ; and be per- 
 suaded that if you do not obey, it is impossi- 
 ble for you to do well ; while, if you obey, 
 you are always safe. Do not say then : 
 and if I am lost in obeying, who will release 
 me from hell ? — For that is not possible. 
 No ; it is not possible that obedience, which 
 is the sure road to Paradise, should become 
 for you the road to hell." 
 
Conclusion. 233 
 
 III. 
 Submission due to the Director. 
 
 ** Obey your director and do not deviate 
 from what he prescribes or permits you, how- 
 ever good anything contrary to his advice 
 may seem. We read, in the lives of the early 
 Fathers, that a young religious already far 
 advanced in virtue willed, contrary to the 
 advice of his spiritual father, to leave the 
 monastery and retire into solitude. But 
 what happened to him ? From the desert, 
 whither he had retired, he chose at one 
 time to pay his parents a visit ; while at 
 home he forgot his solitude and abandoned 
 himself to a lax life. 
 
 *^You will tell me, perhaps, that following 
 the guidance ofyour confessor you were very 
 badly directed, as several priests have thus 
 assured you. — I answer that you could hard- 
 ly go astray in following the path of obedi- 
 ence. But if this did happen, do you know 
 the reason ? It was probably because you 
 obeyed in certain things and not in others. 
 God has not promised His concurrence to 
 such defective obedience. Place yourself 
 completely in the hands of your guide and 
 obey him in all things ; then God will never 
 permit you to fall into error. If your con- 
 
234 Conclusion, 
 
 fessor have not the necessary knowledge, 
 God will take care to supply the deficiency, 
 for it is not possible for a soul desiring to 
 sanctify herself, and trusting in God, to be 
 deceived when she faithfully obeys God's 
 minister. 
 
 ''Hence I conclude that a religious who 
 has no particular director, cannot err in 
 allowing herself to be directed by the ordi- 
 nary confessor, though he be changed from 
 time to time. A great servant of God, Sister 
 Paula Centurion, used to say ; ^ To me all 
 confessors seem the same *, they all apply 
 the Blood of Jesus Christ to heal the wounds 
 of my soul/ When a new confessor comes, 
 it suffices to give him a general knowledge of 
 our conscience and thus place ourselves un- 
 der his direction. To one who truly desires 
 to sanctify herself, and seeks but God, every 
 confessor assigned her by authority is good. 
 We must have a good will, and a firm res- 
 olution to refuse self-love every satisfaction, 
 to seek in all things only what is pleasing to 
 God. For this reason the venerable Sister 
 Ursula Benincasa used to say to her relig- 
 ious : ' Sisters, be persuaded that no director 
 can lead you to sanctity, if you are not re- 
 solved to mortify your own will and your 
 passions.' " 
 
APPENDIX. 
 Two Letters of Marie Lataste * 
 
 First Letter, 
 
 Necessity of a Director, 
 
 You asked me, whether the voice which 
 spoke with me ever said anything to me of 
 my director in a manner to found an in- 
 struction thereon ? I have already answered 
 you, yes. 
 
 The Saviour Jesus, for it seems to me to 
 be really He who speaks to me, gave me 
 several counsels as to how I should bear 
 myselfin my relations with my director. I 
 
 * •' Independently of the marvellous communications of our 
 Saviour with the humble Mane Lataste, we find in her 
 writings such a breath of inspiration, such peace, such sweet 
 simplicity, and deep unction, should they produce such an 
 impression upon the soul, that in my opinion, the simple read- 
 ing of the letters must lead us to discover God and His spirit 
 in them. 
 
 " Several letters of Marie Lataste have been found singu- 
 larly remarkable. We quote among others the first and 
 second relative to the necessity of having a director and the 
 manner of conducting one' s self toward him." 
 Etudes rUigieuses par les PP. de la Compagnie de Jesus, 
 
,2^6 Appendix, 
 
 have referred to it in my note-books when I 
 found occasion. But besides this He spoke 
 to me in a most special manner of my di- 
 rector from the beginning when I had the 
 happiness to hear His voice. He spoke to 
 me three times in succession on this subject, 
 and in the following order ; First, on the 
 necessity of a director ; second, on how we 
 bear ourselves in our relation with a di- 
 rector ; third, on the qualities of a director. 
 I will give the first discourse, the neces- 
 sity of a director : 
 
 " My daughter/' said the Saviour Jesus 
 to me one day after mass, ''I have often rec- 
 ommended you to speak to him who di- 
 rects you of what you experience in your 
 relations with Me. You have never asked 
 yourself the motive of this recommendation, 
 nor, why you have not only a confessor but 
 a director in him to whom you make known 
 the secrets of your soul. I wish to make 
 you understand and to show you how it is 
 necessary it should be thus. 
 
 •* Since the revolt of the first man all 
 men are plunged in darkness ; they have 
 eyes, and yet they are incapable of guiding 
 themselves in the way which leads to God. 
 Life, in fact, is surrounded with dangers, per- 
 ils, precipices; the enemies of man spring 
 
Appendix. 237 
 
 up everywhere in his path, and for this reason 
 man needs other light than that of his eyes, 
 or his intelligence, to be able to walk securely, 
 and it is thus by the aid of directors and 
 counsellors that all men must pursue their 
 march to eternity. 
 
 '' Such is the will of God. Man sinned 
 through pride and willed to walk by his own 
 light. He is punished in that in which he 
 sinned, and until the end of ages man shall 
 walk in the way of salvation by the light and 
 guidance of another. 
 
 '* You know how it has been since the 
 beginning of the world. The heads of fam- 
 ilies were the counsellors of all the family, 
 and as they could not find in their children 
 the counsellors they needed themselves, God 
 caused them to hear His voice and lent them 
 His light and His counsel. Such were the 
 heads of families, the patriarchs, the legisla- 
 tors, the prophets, and the pontiffs of the 
 people of God. The counsels of these in- 
 spired men of God were the light and guid- 
 ance of the people. 
 
 ** When the time had come, I came My- 
 self to be the universal Counsellor of the 
 human race. I came to restore it light, 
 truth, and life. I shed this light, this truth, 
 and this life on my Apostles; and through 
 
238 Appendix, 
 
 the priesthood of those whom I have chosen 
 as my ministers it passes to generations, en- 
 lightening intelligences, nourishing them 
 with the only true food, vivifying them and 
 leading them each day by a stronger, more 
 generous life to the centre of that life which 
 will never end. 
 " Therefore, man, My daughter, must make 
 use of a counsellor or director because God 
 has so regulated the commerce of the su- 
 pernatural life. 
 
 "Behold man, My daughter, in the com- 
 merce of the natural life ; he consults, he 
 asks advice, counsel, light ; be he the most 
 learned, the most enlightened, the wisest 
 of men, he distrusts himself, he has re- 
 course to another. 
 
 ** The supernatural life, with still stronger 
 reason, requires that we act in like manner, 
 if we would walk uprightly in this life, if 
 we would not wander, or pursue a false 
 path. 
 
 " You understand, in fact, that the super- 
 natural life, my daughter, has an importance 
 very different from the natural life, which is 
 for time, while the other is for eternity. 
 Therefore, if you examine the supernatural 
 world, you will see all the saints, the great- 
 est doctors, the doctor of nations himself, 
 
Appendix. 239 
 
 struck on the road to Damascus seeking of 
 another counsel and light to walk in the 
 way of God. 
 
 *'I alone can dispense with counsel and 
 light, for I am the counsel and the light of 
 all ; but all men are subjected to walk by 
 the light of another and not by their own 
 light and counsel. 
 
 '' Men, the most learned, and the wisest 
 in directing others, are like blind men who 
 find themselves alone with no one to guide 
 their steps, when they wish to walk according 
 to their own wisdom. They grope blindly 
 for awhile, they proceed slowly for a few 
 days, and they fall into abysses. For man is 
 blind to what concerns himself ; he easily 
 takes what is vicious and defective for good- 
 ness or virtue, and the error is to him the cause 
 of a fall, or death. He falls because he has 
 no one to guide him, he dies because he 
 has not the assistance of a friend to with- 
 draw him from a precipice. Therefore, if 
 God, My daughter, has willed that all men 
 should have a director, and if a director is 
 a thing so necessary, that even without the 
 express will of God all men should have one, 
 you must see how important it is for you to 
 be directed in the path of salvation by an- 
 other guide than yourself. 
 
240 Appendix. 
 
 ** Yes, My daughter, you need a director 
 that he may teach you that of which you 
 are ignorant : the science of salvation, the 
 science of the supernatural life. Though 
 through kindness to you I have deigned to 
 instruct you Myself, yet it is necessary that 
 you submit my instructions to your director, 
 that you may learn through him and know 
 positively that you may receive My teachings 
 and conform yourself thereto, for they con- 
 tain nothing contrary to truth on the subject 
 of your faith, your hope, your charily, and 
 all the actions of your life. You fear to 
 be the vicdm of illusions ; who will reassure 
 you on this point if not your director ? 
 
 ' ' You need a director that he may exer- 
 cise you in the practice of all virtues, that 
 he may indicate to you the means of avoid- 
 ing sin, and that he may regulate your dis- 
 cretion in the fulfilment of your duties to- 
 ward God. 
 
 *' You need a director to increase your 
 merits for eternity, and your crown in heaven, 
 by your obedience and your submission 
 to all that he prescribes. Obedience to his 
 voice will give you greater resemblance to 
 Me, who always did the will of My Father 
 upon earth. 
 
 ^' You need a director, because life is full 
 
Appendix, 24 1 
 
 of miseries, tribulations and trials ; there- 
 fore you need a word of consolation in trial, 
 succor to strengthen you in combat. And 
 all this you find in your director. 
 
 ^' Finally, My daughter, you need a direc- 
 tor because, like all the children of Adam, 
 you are the victim of sin, inclined to evil* 
 subject to offend God, 
 
 '' Follow, then, the light, the counsels, 
 the advice you receive from your director. 
 Grieve not if I have taken from you him 
 who first showed you the way. I tell you 
 truly you will bless My Providence one day 
 for having placed you m the hands of him 
 whom I have sent to you." 
 
 Second Letter. 
 
 Haw to bear one s self toward a Director, 
 
 Here is the second discourse of the Sa- 
 viour Jesus. He taught me, in this discourse, 
 how I should bear myself toward my direc- 
 tor. 
 
 '*My daughter," He said, ''I wish to 
 teach you how you should act toward your 
 director. There are two ways of acting for 
 you, one interior, the other exterior ; the 
 first comprises the intimate sentiments of 
 
242 Appendix. 
 
 your soul, the second, your acts, and your 
 exterior relations. 
 
 ''What should be your exterior conduct 
 in relation to your director ? 
 
 *' By what should it be regulated ? 
 
 ^^ My daughter, by sentiments of faith and 
 religion, 
 
 " Your director is clothed with My priest- 
 hood, that is, with the greatest dignity that 
 can possibly be communicated toman. He 
 is a priest, he holds My place, he acts as I My- 
 self would act, he has ail My powers. You 
 should consequently regard Me as living in 
 his person ; you should honor Me in honor- 
 ing him, respect Me in respecting him ; 
 hear My voice in listening to him ; submit 
 to Me in submitting to him; you should feel 
 for him the deepest and most sincere grati- 
 tude; you should love him as the spiritual 
 father of your soul, as your guide, your 
 counsellor, and your Saviour ; for he fills for 
 you the part of Saviour which I have assign- 
 ed to him, as I have to all My priests. 
 
 " These sentiments should also be the rule 
 of your exterior conduct. 
 
 " If you act with faith and piety, you 
 will make yourself known to your director 
 with simplicity, telling him all that you 
 know, hiding nothing from him, communi- 
 
Appendix. 243 
 
 eating your secrets and the most intimate 
 trials, you will speak to him as to God, 
 whom you would not deceive, because He 
 knows all things, even the most hidden 
 thoughts ; you will speak to him as to God, 
 that is, as to your father, with confidence and 
 freedom, hoping everything from him, and 
 abandoning yourself to him with the convic- 
 tion that he will act in the best way pos- 
 sible to enlighten you, to succor you, 
 to help you in the combats or trials of 
 life. 
 
 '' You will submit your will to his as to 
 Mine. You will not dispute with him ; you 
 will defer to his wisdom. You wdll be in his 
 hands an instrument full of intelligence, to 
 accomplish all that he prescribes. 
 
 ** You are permitted, however, in certain 
 cases, to humbly and deferentially represent 
 an objection, but it must always be with the 
 intention not to persist, but to act afterward 
 according to the will of your director, when 
 he shall have heard your objection. 
 
 '* In acting thus, My daughter, your con- 
 duct will be irreproachable, your conduct 
 will be full of merit, and you will obtain the 
 recompense which I have promised to those 
 who hear My word, I will come to you and 
 I will make My abode with you." 
 
244 Appendix, 
 
 It was thus the Saviour Jesus told me to 
 act toward my director. 
 
 I do not know whether I have acted thus m 
 all circumstances ; but my most earnest de- 
 sire is always to conform myself to this teach- 
 ino". 
 
 "Ves, I wish to submit in all things to what 
 it will please you to counsel or command 
 me. I wish to have no other will but yours. 
 
 In regard to the frankness or simplicity with 
 which I make known to you all that passes 
 within me, I assure you that my serious in- 
 tention is to conceal nothing from you, and 
 if I do not tell you all, it is because I have 
 forgotten it. 
 
^Epistle of St. Ignatius on Obedience. 
 
 ''Ignatius of Loyola to the Brethren of the 
 Society of Jesus who are in Portugal, wishes 
 grace and love everlasting in Christ our Lord. 
 
 ** I. It is a cause of great comfort to me, 
 most dear Brethren in Christ, when I hear it 
 reported with what earnest desire and en- 
 deavor you strive to attain to the highest 
 perfection of all virtue and piety, by His 
 favor Who, as He has called you to this 
 kind of life, so in His mercy keeps you in 
 the same, and directs you to that blessed 
 end whereunto those that are chosen by 
 Him do arrive. 
 
 * We reproduce here this beautiful letter of St. Ignatius as 
 we find it in the Book of Rules of the Society of Jesus. 
 
 Being little known in communities, we have thought proper 
 to add it to our work. Ponder it well, and it will cause you 
 to appreciate " Spiritual Dirfxtion," which is simply the 
 submission of our judgment and our will to the judgment and 
 will of a person who acids God's place to us, and to whom God 
 Himself has said : " He that heareth you heareth Me, and he 
 that despiseth you despiseth Me. " 
 
246 Epistle of St, Ignatius on Obedience, 
 
 '^2. And truly, though I wish you to be 
 perfect in all spiritual gifts and ornaments, 
 yet especially do I desire (as you have un- 
 derstood of me heretofore) to see you most 
 eminent in the virtue of Obedience ; and this 
 not only for the excellent and singular fruits 
 thereof v^^hich are proved by many testi- 
 monies of Holy Writ, and by examples both 
 in the Old and New Testament ; but also 
 because as St. Gregory (L. 35, c. 10) says : 
 ' Obedience is the only virtue that plants all 
 other virtues in the mind, and preserves them 
 after they are once planted. ' As long as 
 this virtue shall flourish, all others doubtless 
 will flourish and bring forth such fruits in 
 your hearts as I desire and He, with good 
 reason, requires ; Who, by His salutary obe- 
 dience, redeemed mankind when afflicted 
 and destroyed through the crim.e of disobedi- 
 ence, becoming obedient unto death, even 
 to the death of the cross. — Philip, ii, 8. 
 
 " 3. More easily may we suffer ourselves 
 to be surpassed by other Religious Orders in 
 fasting, watc^ *ng, and other severities in diet 
 and apparel, which, according to their insti- 
 tute and rale, every one of them does piously 
 practice ; but in true and perfect Obedience 
 and the abnegation of our will and judg- 
 ment, I greatly desire, most dear brethren, 
 
Epistle of Si. Ignatius on Obedience, 247 
 
 that those who serve God in this Society 
 should be conspicuous, and that the true and 
 genuine progeny of the same should, as it 
 were, be distinguished by this mark, that they 
 regard not the individual whom they obey; 
 but in him, Christ our Lord, for whose 
 love they obey. For the Superior is not to 
 be obeyed because he is prudent, or virtuous, 
 or excels in any other divine gift, whatsoever 
 it be ; but for this only, that he is in the 
 place of God, and has authority from Him 
 who says : 'He that heareth you heareth 
 Me ; arid he that despiseth you despiseth Me/ 
 — Lukex, 16. Neither, on the other hand, 
 if he be wanting in understanding or pru- 
 dence, is he therefore to be the less obeyed in 
 that wherein he is Superior ; since he repre- 
 sents Him Whose Wisdom cannot be deceiv- 
 ed, and Who will supply whatsoever shall be 
 wanting in Flis substitute, whether it be virtue 
 or other qualities. Wherefore, Christ our 
 Lord, when He had said in express and open 
 terms : ' The Scribes and Pharisees have sitten 
 upon the chair of Moses \ presently added : 
 * all things therefore whatsoever they shall 
 say to you, observe and do ; but according to 
 their works do ye not/ — St. Matt, xxiii, 2. 
 
 ''4. Wherefore I desire that you should 
 earnestly endeavor with all care and diligence 
 
248 Epistle of St. Ignatius on Obedience. 
 
 to acknowledge Christ in every Superior, 
 and with great devotion, reverence and obey 
 in him the divine Majesty. This will seem 
 to you less strange, if you consider how the 
 Apostle St. Paul commands us to obey even 
 secular Superiors and Gentiles as Christ 
 Himself, from whom all well-ordered au- 
 thority is derived, for thus he writes to the 
 Ephesians : ' Be obedient to them that are 
 your temporal lords according to the flesh, 
 with fear and trembling, in the simplicity of 
 your heart, as to Christ, not serving to the eye 
 as It were pleasing men; but as the servants of 
 Christ, doing the will of God from the heart ; 
 with a good will serving as to the Lord and 
 not to men/ And from this you yourself may 
 judge what account in his heart a religious 
 man ought to make of his Superior to whom 
 he has given himself to be ruled and gov- 
 erned, not only as to a Superior, but express- 
 ly as to one that has the place of Christ :— 
 whether he should look on him as man, or 
 as the Vicar of Christ. 
 
 *' 5. Moreover, I desire that this should be 
 thoroughly understood and deeply imprint- 
 ed in your minds that it is but a base and 
 very imperfect kind of Obedience which con- 
 sists in the external execution only of that 
 which is commanded ; and that it is not 
 
Epistle of St. Ignatius on Obedience, 249 
 
 worthy of the name of virtue, unless it pass 
 to a further degree, making the will of the 
 Superior our will, and so agreeing with the 
 same that not only is there external fulfil- 
 ment of the command, but also agreement 
 of will ; that so both may be of one mind 
 in willing and not willing the same. And 
 for this reason it is said in Holy Writ : 
 ^Obedience is better than sacrifices.'— i 
 Kings XV, 22. For as St. Gregory teaches us, 
 ' In victims, the flesh of another, but in. 
 obedience, our own will is killed.' And be- 
 cause this part of the soul is so excellent, 
 hence it is that the offering of it to our Lord 
 and Creator, through Obedience, is of great 
 price and value. 
 
 ''6. It is then a very great and dangerous 
 mistake, not only in those who imagine that 
 they are not obliged to obey in things ap- 
 pertaining to flesh and blood, but also in 
 those who persuade themselves that they can 
 deviate from the will of the Superior in things 
 otherwise very holy and spiritual, as fasting, 
 prayer, or other good works. Let them give 
 ear to what Cassian prudently remarks in 
 the conference of Daniel the Abbot, saying : 
 * It is one and the self-same kind of disobe- 
 dience, whether in earnestness of labor, or 
 from desire of ease, one breaks the command 
 
250 Epistle of SL Ignatius on Obedience. 
 
 of the Superior, and as prejudicial to go 
 against the statutes of the Monastery out of 
 sloth, as out of watchfulness ; and finally, it 
 IS as much to transgress the precept of the 
 Abbot by reading, as to contemn it by sleep- 
 ing/ Holy was the action of Martha, holy 
 the contemplation of Mary Magdalen, and 
 holy the penance and tears wherewith she wa- 
 tered the feet of Christ our Lord; but all this 
 was to be done in Bethania, which word is 
 interpreted, the house of Obedience, whereby 
 our Lord would signify to us, as St. Bernard 
 says, that * neither the endeavor of good 
 works, nor the quiet of contemplation, nor 
 the tears of the penitent, could have been 
 grateful unto Him out of Bethania/* 
 
 '' 7- Wherefore, most dear Brethren, cast 
 off wholly, as far as you can, your own wills ; 
 deliver freely, and dedicate to your Creator 
 m His substitute, the freedom He has be- 
 stowed upon you. Consider it no little ad- 
 vantage of your free will that you are able 
 to give it back fully, through Obedience, to 
 Him from whom you received it And by 
 so doing you not only do not lose the same, 
 but rather increase and perfect it ; since by 
 this means you direct all your wills by that 
 
 * Serm. ad Milit. Tempi, c. 13. 
 
Epistle of St Ignatius on Obedience, 251 
 
 most certain rule of rectitude, the will of 
 God interpreted unto you by him who in 
 place of God governs you. 
 
 *' 8. And for this reason, you must always 
 be very careful that you never seek to wrest 
 the Superior's will (which you ought to hold 
 for the will of God Himself) unto your own: 
 for this would be, not to conform your will 
 unto God's, but to endeavor to rule His will 
 by yours, inverting the order of His Divine 
 Wisdom. Oh ! how great an error it is, and 
 one which belongs to such as self-love has 
 blinded, to account themselves obedient, 
 when by some means or other they have 
 brought the Superior to that which they de- 
 sire. Listen to St, Bernard, a man emi- 
 nently experienced in this matter : ^ Whoso- 
 ever, ' says he, ' endeavors either openly or 
 covertly to have his spiritual Father enjoin 
 him what he himself desires, deceives him- 
 self, if he flatters himself that he is a true 
 follower of obedience ; for in that he does 
 not obey his Superior, but rather the Super- 
 ior obeys him\* It follows, therefore, that 
 whosoever is desirous of the virtue of Obedi- 
 ence must necessarily attain to this second 
 degree so as not only to fulfil the Superior's 
 
 *Serm. de trib. Ordin. Eccl. 
 
252 Epistle of SL Ignatius on Obedience, 
 
 command, but to make also the Superior s 
 will his own will, or rather, to put off his 
 own will, that he may put on the will of 
 God declared to him by his Superior. 
 
 " 9. But he that will wholly sacrifice 
 himself to God, besides his will, must also 
 offer up his understanding (which is the 
 third and highest degree of obedience) ; that 
 he may not only will but also think the 
 self-same with his Superior ; and submit his 
 own judgment unto him, so far as a devout 
 will can bend the understanding. For 
 though this power of the soul has that free- 
 dom wherewith the will is endowed, and 
 by nature itself is drawn to assent to what- 
 soever is represented unto it as true, yet 
 nevertheless, in many things, in which the 
 evidence of the known truth does not force it, 
 it may, by the strength of the will, be inclin- 
 ed more one way than another. When 
 these things happen, whosoever professes 
 Obedience must submit himself to the 
 judgment of the Superior. For obedience, 
 being a holocaust, in which the whole man, 
 nothing at all excepted, is offered up unto 
 his Creator and Lord in the fire of charity 
 through the hands of his substitute, and as 
 it is also a full renunciation, in which a re- 
 ligious man freely yields up all his own 
 
Epistle of St. Ignatius on Obedience, 253 
 
 rights to dedicate and bind himself to God, 
 to be possessed and governed by His di- 
 vine Providence by means of his Superior ; 
 it cannot be denied that Obedience com- 
 prehends not only the execution, so that 
 the person do that which is commanded, 
 and the will, so that he do it willingly, but 
 also the judgment, that whatsoever the Su- 
 perior commands and thinks good, seem just 
 and reasonable to the inferior, so far, as I 
 have said, as the will by its force and vigor 
 can bend the understanding. 
 
 '' 10. Would that this obedience of the 
 understanding and judgment were as much 
 understood and put in practice by men, as it 
 is grateful to God, and necessary for all 
 those who live in Religion. For as in the 
 celestial bodies and globes, to the end that 
 one may receive motion and influence from 
 the other, it is necessary that, with certain 
 conformity and order, the inferior globe be 
 subject to the superior ; so amongst men, 
 when one is moved by another's authority (as 
 happens in obedience) it is necessary that 
 he who depends upon another be subject 
 and subordinate, to the end that he may re- 
 ceive some virtue and influence from him 
 who commands. Now this kind of sub- 
 jection and obedience can in no wise stand 
 
2 54 Episile of St. Ignatius on Obedience, 
 
 unless the will and judgment of the inferior 
 agree with the will and judgment of the 
 Superior. 
 
 ''II. Moreover, if we regard the end and 
 intention of Obedience as our will, so 
 our judgment may be deceived as to what 
 is good to us ; wherefore if, lest our will 
 should stray, we conform it to the will of the 
 Superior, our understanding is also to be 
 ruled by his, to the end it may not err : 
 * Lean not upon thy own prudence/ — Prov. 
 iii, 5, — says the Holy Scripture. And even, 
 in worldly matters, those who are wise, judge 
 it to be the part of a prudent man not to 
 trust his own wisdom, especially in his own 
 cause, in which, when the mind is troubled, 
 one can hardly be a good judge. And if, 
 in matters concerning ourselves, we are to 
 prefer the judgment and counsel of another, 
 who is not our .own Superior, before our 
 own, how much more the counsel and judg- 
 ment of the Superior to whom we have 
 yielded ourselves to be directed, as to one 
 who is in place of God and interpreter of 
 His divine will. And certain it is that in spir- 
 itual matters and persons, so much the more 
 heed is to be taken, as the danger of a spir- 
 itual course is greater when one runs along 
 therein without the bridle of counsel and 
 
Epistle of St. Ignatius on Obedience. 255 
 
 discretion. Wherefore Cassian, in the con- 
 ference of Abbot Moses, says : ' By no 
 other way does the devil draw a monk 
 headlong and bring him to death sooner, 
 than by persuading him to neglect the 
 counsel of the Elders and trust to his own 
 judgment and determination/ (Coll. ii, 11.) 
 ** 12. Moreover, unless we have this Obe- 
 dience of our understanding, it is impossible 
 that either the consent of our will or the ex- 
 ecution, will be such as they ought to be, for 
 nature itself has so ordained tuat the con- 
 cupiscible power of the soul must follow the 
 apprehensive, and the will without violence 
 cannot long obey against the understanding. 
 And if there be any who for some time obey, 
 induced by that common apprehension, that 
 obey they must, though commanded amiss, 
 yet doubtless this cannot be firm and con- 
 stant, and so perseverance fails, or at least 
 the perfection of Obedience which consists 
 m obeying promptly and with alacrity, for, 
 there can be no alacrity and diligence 
 where there is discord of minds and opin- 
 ions. Then perish that zeal and speed 
 in performing, when we doubt whether it be 
 expedient or not to do what we are com- 
 manded ; then perishes that renowned sim- 
 plicity of blind obedience, when we call, in 
 
256 Epistle of St, Ignatius on Obedience, 
 
 question the justice of the command, and 
 perhaps, even we condemn the Superior, 
 because he bids us to do such things as are 
 not very pleasing unto us : then fails humil- 
 ity ; for although on the. one> hand we obey, 
 yet on the other we prefer- ourselves before 
 our Superior, then fails fortitude in difficult 
 enterprises, and (to conclude in brief) the 
 whole force and dignity of this virtue, are lost 
 And in place thereof, there arise; pain, 
 trouble, reluctance, weariness, murmurings, 
 excuses and other vices of no small moment, 
 by which the value and merit of Obedience are 
 wholly destroyed. Wherefore St. Bernard, 
 of those who take it ill when things are 
 enjoined that seem somewhat hard unto 
 them, speaks as follows : * If you begin to 
 grieve at this, to judge your Superior, to 
 murmur in your heart, though outwardly 
 you fulfil what is commanded, yet this is not 
 the virtue of patience, but a cloak of your, 
 malice.'* And if peace and tranquillity 
 of mind are desired, he certainly shall never 
 acquire them who has within himself the 
 cause of his disquiet and trouble, to wit, the 
 disagreeing of his own judgment from the 
 law of Obedience. 
 
 * Serm. 3, de Circumci.s. 
 
Epistle of SL Ignatius on Obedience, 257 
 
 ^^3. And therefore, for the maintaining 
 of union, which is the bond of every society, 
 ihe Apostle so earnestly exhorts all=^ to think 
 and say the same thing, that by the agreeing 
 of their wills and judgments they may be 
 mutually comforted and sustained. Now, if 
 there must be one and the self-same senti- 
 ment between the members and the head, 
 you may easily judge whether it is more just 
 that the head should yield to the members or 
 the members unto the head. It is plain then» 
 by what has hitherto been said, that this obe- 
 dience of the understanding is necessary. 
 
 **i4. But how perfect the same is in itself 
 and how pleasing to God, we may gather by 
 this : First, because thereby the most excel- 
 lent and precious part of man is consecrated 
 unto Him : secondly, because the obedient 
 man is by this means made a living holocaust 
 most grateful to His Divine Majestv, keep- 
 ing nothing whatever to himself : lastly, by 
 reason of the great difficulty of the combat ; 
 for the obedient man overcomes himself for 
 the love of God, and resists that natural in- 
 clination which all men have to embrace and 
 follow their own opinions. Hence, there- 
 fore, it follows that Obedience, though its 
 proper fruitseems to be to perfect the will.in- 
 
 * Rom. XV. 51. I Cor. i. lo. 2. Cor. xxii, n. Philip, ii, i* 
 
255 Epistle of St, rgnafi'us on Obedience, 
 
 asmuch as it makes it prompt and ready at 
 I he beck of the Superior, yet it must belong 
 also to the understanding, as we have de- 
 clared, and bring it to be of the self-same 
 opinion in all things with the Superior, that 
 all the forces of the will and understanding 
 being united together, we may fulfil what 
 is commanded with all speed and integrity. 
 
 ''15. It seems to me, most dear brethren, 
 I hear you say, that you now no longer 
 doubt of the necessity of this virtue, but that 
 you earnestly desire to know how you may 
 attain to the perfection thereof. To this 
 question I answer with St. Leo: 'Nothing 
 is difficult unto the humble, and nothing 
 hard unto the meek: ' so that if you want 
 not humility nor mildness, assuredly God 
 will not be wanting in His goodness to help 
 you to perform that which you have prom- 
 ised Him, not only patiently but also will- 
 ingly. 
 
 "16. Moreover, three things I will lay 
 down unto you, which will greatly further 
 you in the attainment of this obedience of 
 your understanding. The first is, that, as 
 I said in the beginning, you do not behold 
 in the person of your Superior a man sub- 
 ject to errors, and miseries, but Christ Him- 
 self, Who is the highest Wisdom, Immeasur- 
 
Epistle of Si, Ignatius on Obedience, 259 
 
 able Goodness, and Infinite Charity, who 
 neither can be deceived, nor will deceive 
 you. And because you are conscious within 
 yourselves that you have undergone this 
 yoke of Obedience for the love of God, to 
 the end that you might, in following the Su- 
 perior's will, more assuredly follow ihe Divine 
 Will, doubt not but the most faithful charity 
 of our Lord continually directs you, and 
 leads you the right way, by the hands of 
 those whom He has given you for Superiors. 
 Wherefore, hear their voice, no otherwise 
 than if it were the voice of Christ, seeing 
 that the Apostle, writing to the Colossians 
 and exhorting subjects to obey their lords, 
 says as follows : * Whatsoever you do, do it 
 from the heart, as to the Lord and not to 
 ma'i, knowing that you shall receive of the 
 Lord the reward of inheritance ; serve ye the 
 Lord Christ/* And St. Bernard, ' Whether 
 God, or man His substitute, commands any- 
 thing, we must obey with equal diligence, 
 and perform it with like reverence, when, 
 however, man commands nothing that is 
 contrary to God. ' f And thus if you do 
 not look upon man with the eyes of the 
 body, but upon God with those of the soul, it 
 
 *Col. iii. 23. 
 
 tTract. de Praccep. and Dispen. C. xii. 
 
2 6o Epistle of Si, Ignatius on Obedience. 
 
 will certainly be hard to conform your 
 will and judgment to that rule which you 
 yourselves have chosen. 
 
 " 1 7. Another means is that you always se- 
 riously endeavor to defend within yourselves, 
 that which your Superior commands or 
 thinks good, but never to disapprove of it. 
 And to this it will help to be well affected 
 towards whatsoever he shall command ; 
 whereby you shall not only obey without 
 trouble, but even with joy and pleasure. 
 For as St. Leo says, ' It is not hard to serve 
 where we love that which is commanded/* 
 *' 18, The last means to subject your un- 
 derstanding both more easily and securely, 
 and also in use among the holy Fathers, is 10 
 determine within yourselves whatsoever the 
 Superior commands, to be the command- 
 ment and will of Almighty God Himself ; 
 and as in order to believe what the Catholic 
 Faith proposes, you at once bend all the 
 forces of your mind to consent thereunto, so 
 in doing that which your Superior commands, 
 you must be carried with a kind of blind 
 impulse of your will desirous to obey. So 
 it is thought Abraham did when he was or- 
 dered to sacrifice his son Isaac ; f so, under 
 
 * Serm. 4 de jejun sep. mensiij. 
 t Gen, XXI I. 
 
Epistle of St. Ignatius on Obedience, 261 
 
 the new law, did some of those holy Fathers 
 whom Cassian speaks of, as John the Abbot,* 
 who did not question whether that which he 
 was commanded to do was profitable or not, 
 as when, with such great and continued labor, 
 for a year together he watered a dry stick ; 
 nor whether it could be done or not, as 
 when he endeavored so earnestly to move 
 a huge rock, which many men together 
 could not have stirred. 
 
 This kind of Obedience we see sometimes 
 confirmed by miracle. For, to say nothing 
 of others, whom you yourselves are not 
 ignorant of, Maurus, St. Benedict's disciple,f 
 going by command of his Superior into 
 a lake, did not sink. Another being bid by 
 his Superior to bring a lioness to him, took 
 hold of her and brought her unto him. 
 
 Wherefore this manner of subjecting our 
 own judgment so as, without questioning, 
 to sanction and approve within ourselves 
 whatever the Superior commands, is not 
 only a common practice among holy men, 
 but also to be imitated by all who are de- 
 sirous of perfect Obedience in all things, 
 in which manifestly there appears no sin. 
 
 *'' 19. Neither are you hindered by this, if 
 
 * L. 4. C. XXXIV and xvi. 
 t Greg. 2 Dial. C. vii. 
 
262 Epistle of St. Ignatius on Obedience, 
 
 anything occurs to you different from the 
 Superior's opinion, and it seems (after you 
 have commended the same humbly to God) 
 that it ought to be declared, from proposing 
 it unto him : wherein lest self-love and your 
 own judgment should deceive you, this pre- 
 caution is to be taken, that you remain most 
 indifferent, before and after you have made 
 the proposition, not only as to undertaking 
 or relinquishing the matter of which there 
 is question, but also as to approving and 
 thinking better whatsoever seems good to the 
 Superior, 
 
 ^ ' 20. And this which I have said of Obe- 
 dience, is equally to be observed by every 
 private person towards his immediate Super- 
 ior, and by the Rectors and local Superiors 
 towards the Provincials and by the Provin- 
 cials towards the General and by the Gener- 
 al towards him whom God has placed over 
 him, to wit, His Vicar upon earth ; to the 
 end that thus a perfect distinction of degrees, 
 and consequently peace and charity, may be 
 preserved ; without which the right of gov- 
 ernment, neither of our Society, nor of any 
 other congregation can be maintamed. And 
 this kind of proceeding the Divine Provi- 
 dence uses, in disposing all things sweetly, 
 and bringing them to their appointed ends. 
 
Episile of St. Ignatius on Obedience. 263 
 
 the lowest by the middlemost, and the mid- 
 dlemost by the highest. Whence also flows 
 that SLibordmauon in Angels or one Choir 
 towards another, and that perfect har- 
 mony of the celestial bodies and all things 
 which are moved, each in its own deter- 
 mined place and position, whose resolu- 
 tions and motions proceed orderly from one 
 Supreme mover by degrees unto the low- 
 est. The same we see upon earth, as well 
 in all well-ordered commonwealths, as most 
 of all in the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, whose 
 members and functions are all derived 
 from one General Vicar of Christ our Lord ; 
 and, by how much the more exactly this dis- 
 position and order are kept, by so much 
 the whole government is better ; and on the 
 other hand, by the neglect hereof, what 
 grievous damages have befallen various Con- 
 gregations, there is no one who does not 
 see. And therefore, in this Society whereof 
 our Lord has delivered unto me some charge 
 and care, I desire that this virtue should 
 be practised as diligently and flourish as 
 perfectly, as if the whole good and safety of 
 our Society depended hereon. 
 
 *'2i. Wherefore, that where my epistle 
 began, there it may also end, I most earnest- 
 Iv beseech you for Christ our Lord's sake 
 
264 Epistle of St. Ignatius on Obedience, 
 
 Who gave Himself unto us not only as a 
 Master but as an example of Obedience, 
 that you will bend all your forces to the 
 attaining of this virtue ; and that desirous 
 and greedy of so glorious a victory, you 
 will endeavor to overcome yourselves, that 
 is, to conquer and subdue the most ex- 
 cellent and difficult part of your soul, your 
 will, I say, and understanding ; and to the 
 end that the true and solid knowledge and 
 love of God Almighty our Lord may draw 
 you wholly unto Him, and rule and govern 
 you in the whole course of this life and 
 pilgrimage, until at length He bring you, 
 and many others assisted by your help and 
 example, to the last and most happy end 
 of bliss everlasting. 
 
 "I commend myself most earnestly to 
 God in your prayers. 
 
 '' From Rome^ the 26th of March, 1553." 
 
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 NEW PRACTICAL MEDITATIONS 
 
 FOR EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR, 
 
 ON THE LIFE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. 
 Chiefly intended for the Use of Religious Contmmiities, j 
 
 By the Rev. Father BRUMO VERCBUYSSE, S.J. 
 
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