On the day you make this renewal of your resolutions, and on those immediately following, you should often repeat with heart and voice the earnest words of S. Paul, S. Augustine, S. Catherine of Genoa, and others like-minded, “I am not mine own, whether I live or whether I die, I am the Lord’s. There is no longer any me or mine, my ‘me’ is Jesus, and my ‘mine’ is to be His. Thou world, will ever be thyself, and hitherto I have been myself, but henceforth I will be so no more.” We shall indeed not be ourselves anymore, for our heart will be changed, and the world which has so often deceived us will in its turn be deceived in us; our change will be so gradual that the world will still suppose us to be Esau, while really, we are Jacob.
All our devout exercises must sink into the heart, and when we come forth from our meditation and retirement it behooves us to tread warily in business or society, lest the wine of our good resolutions be heedlessly spilled; rather let it soak in and penetrate every faculty of the soul, but quietly, and without bodily or mental excitement.
CHAPTER XVII. An Answer to Two Objections which may be made to this Book.
The world will tell you, my child, that all these counsels and practices are so numerous, that anybody who tries to heed them can pay no attention to anything else. Verily, my dear daughter, if we did nothing else we should not be far wrong, since we should be doing all that, we should do in this world. But you see the fallacy? If all these exercises were to be performed every day, they would undoubtedly fill up all our time, but it is only necessary to use them according to time and place as they are wanted. What a number of laws there are in our civil codes and digests! But they are only called into use from time to time, as circumstances arise, not every day. Besides, for that matter, David, king as he was, and involved in a multiplicity of complicated affairs, fulfilled more religious duties than those which I have suggested, and S. Louis, a monarch unrivaled in time of peace or war, who was most diligent in the administration of justice and in ruling his country, nevertheless was wont to hear two masses daily, to say vespers and compline with his chaplain, and to make his meditation daily. He used to visit the hospitals every Friday, was regular at confession, took the discipline, often attended sermons and spiritual conferences, and withal he never lost any opportunity of promoting the public welfare, and his court was more flourishing and notable than that of any of his predecessors. Be bold and resolute then in performing the spiritual exercises I have set before you, and God will give you time and strength for all other duties, yea, even if He were to cause the sun to stand still, as He did in Joshua’s time. We are sure always to do enough when God works with us.
Moreover, the world will say that I take it for granted that those I address have the gift of mental prayer, which nevertheless everyone does not possess, and that consequently, this book will not be of use to all. Doubtless, it is true that I have assumed this, and it is also true that everyone has not the gift of mental prayer, but it is a gift that almost everyone can obtain, even the most ignorant, provided they are under a good director and will take as much pains as the thing deserves to acquire it. And if there are any altogether devoid of this gift (which I believe will very rarely be the case), a wise spiritual father will easily teach them how to supply the deficiency, by reading or listening to the meditations and considerations supplied in this book or elsewhere.
