BÉRULLE
AND
THE
FRENCH SCHOOL
SELECTED WRITINGS
EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
WILLIAM M. THOMPSON
TRANSLATION BY
LOWELL M. GLENDON, S.S.
PREFACE BY
SUSAN A. MUTO
PAULIST PRESS
NEW YORK · MAHWAH
Cover Art: Frank Sabatté, C.S.P., received his B.A. in art from U.C.L.A. in 1973, studying under James Valerio, Lee
Mullican and others. He has been a campus minister since 1979 and an illustrator for Paulist Press since 1977. In
1986-87 he served as vice-president of the Liturgical Arts Guild of Ohio.
Scripture citations in the Introduction are from the Ne»·’ American Bible translation.
Copyright © 1989 by William M. Thompson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without
permission in writing from the pub Usher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PubHcation Data
Bérulle and the French School: selected writings/edited with an
introduction and notes by Wilham M. Thompson; translated by Lowell
M. Glendon; preface by Susan A. Muto.
p. cm.—(The Classics of Western spirituality;
Texts translated from French and Latin.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-8091-0426-1: $19.95 (est.).—ISBN 0-8091-3080-7 (pbk.):
$16.95 (est.)
1. SpirituaEty—France—History. 2. Bérulle, Pierre de,
1575-1629. 3. SpirituaHty—CathoHc Church—History. I. Bérulle,
Pierre de, 1575-1629. II. Thompson, William M. III. Glendon,
Lowell Μ. IV. Series.
BX1529.B46 1989
24810944—dc20
89-3283
CIP
Published by PauHst Press
997 Macarthur Boulevard
Mahwah, New Jersey 07430
Printed and bound in the United States of America

CONTENTS
Foreword
Preface
Abbreviations
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE FRENCH SCHOOL
I. Historical Aspects of The French School
II. Theology and Spirituality in The French School
III. The French School: Retrospect and Prospect
IV. Comments on die Texts
THE TEXTS
Translator's Foreword

xi

xv
xix

3
32
77
97
105

Piem de Bérulle
Discourse on the State and Grandeurs of Jesus
The Life of Jesus

109
159

Elevation to Jesus Christ Our Lord Concerning the Conduct of His Spirit and His Grace 17°
Toward Saint Magdalene
Pièce 891: A Letter on the Priesdiood
1g
3
Notes
186
Madeleine de Saint-Joseph
The Spiritual Letters of Madeleine de Saint-Joseph
191
Notes
213
-viiJean-Jacques Olier
Introduction to the Christian Life and Virtues
217
The Christian Day
277
Notes
288
Jo/w Eudes
The Life and Kingdom of Jesus in Christian Souls
293
The Most Admirable Heart of the Most Sacred Mother of God
326
Notes
334
Selected Bibliography
335
Indexes
351
-V111-

Editor and Author of the Introduction
WILLIAM M. THOMPSON is professor of theology at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. A native of Boise, Idaho, he received the Ph.D. in theology from the University of
St. Michael's College, Toronto, having written a dissertation on Karl Rahner's thought. He is an
associate editor of HORIZONS, a member of The American Academy of Religion and on the
board of directors of The Catholic Theological Society of America.
Professor Thompson specializes in the classical themes of systematics, especially Christology
and soteriology, hermeneutics, and the contemplative-spiritual dimensions of theology. His major
Christological-soteriological works are Christ and Consciousness: Exploring Christ's Contribution to
Human Consciousness, Jesus, Eord and Savior. Λ Theopatbic Christology and Soteriology and most recently
The Jesus Debate: A Survey and Synthesis. His recent Fire and Eight: The Saints and Theology represents
his first sustained exploration of theology's roots in spiritual-mystical experience. The study of
theology's and religion's foundations in human experience has also led him to a continual study
of die works of Eric Voegelin. Dr. Thompson is active in the Eric Voegelin Society, and one of
his more important studies on Voegelin, edited with John Kirby, is T- Pegelin and the Theologian: Ten
Studies in Interpretation.
Professor Thompson's studies on the French School are directly linked to his stress upon the
experiential-mystical foundations of theology. Among those studies are "The Christie Universe of
Pierre de Bérulle and die French Schoo" in The American Benedictine Review, "A Study of Bérulle's
Christie Spirituality" in his Jesus, Ford and Savior, and "Oiler's Ea journée chrétienne as a Guide for
Today's Theology" in the Bulletin de Saint-Sulpice.
Translator of This Volume
LOWELL M. GLENDON, S.S., is a member of the American Province of die Society of Saint
Sulpice and director of St. Mary's Spiritual Center in Baltimore. He has a long-standing interest 111

the French School. His doctoral dissertation from Fordham University (1983) studied Olier's
theological and spiritual anthropology. He has also written "Jean-Jacques Olier's Shifting Attitude
Toward the Human" for the Bulletin de Saint-Siilpice as well as An Annotated and Descriptive
Chronology of the Important Events in the Life of Jean-Jacques Olier (1608-1657). He has served as a
resource person in French School Spirituality for his community in the United States, Canada and
France. He is presently employed on the faculty of the Loyola Pastoral Counseling Program,
Columbia, Maryland. Father Glendon is currently writing a book on spiritual direction.
-ixDR. SUSAN A. MUTO, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is executive director of the
Epiphany Association, an ecumenical lay formation center, and an adjunct professor of literature
and spirituality at the Institute of Formative Spirituality, Duquesne University. She is also the
author of six books exploring the art and discipline of formative reading and the related themes
of silence, meditation, prayer, contemplation and action. Dr. Muto teaches courses at Duquesne
that focus on the writings of the masters of Western spirituality and other great faith and
formation traditions. Her books, fourteen in total, include Blessings That Make Us Be: A Formative
Approach to Tiring the Beatitudes and Meditation in Motion. Her current projects entail co-authoring a
book on adult Christian formation and readying a contemporary commentary on die collected
works of St. John of the Cross to coincide with die four-hundredth anniversary of his death
(1591-1991).
FOREWORD
One feels particularly blessed, but not quite worthy, to be a part of this project that introduces,
in a somewhat new way, the French School of Spirituality to the readers of this series. One feels
blessed, for surely here one finds rich and daring explorations of die movement of the spirit—
"elevations," to use a term beloved to the School—which transport one into familiar and
fascinatingly unfamiliar territory. One also feels not quite worthy, for this school pulsates with an
ardor and passion—-with a "fire," to use Father Olier's favored metaphor—that few would dare
to claim as their normal possession. Illumination and passion, light and fire, insight united with
heart—tiiese are the ingredients of what the French School calls the "science of the saints."
In its own time—the exciting yet turbulent seventeenth century —the wedding of "science"
with "sanctity" created by the mystics of the French School was an effective way to make the
gospel contemporary. There is surely die element of science, in the French School's sense: the
rich theological heritage, the awareness of new challenges from Reformers and Renaissance
thinkers, an attempt at a new apologia of Roman Catholicism, a refusal to hide behind simplistic
and overly pious slogans. But there is also the element of sanctity: an intense desire to ground
theological science in living experience or in an experiential faith, which expresses itself most
passionately on both the personal and the ecclesial-social levels. The reader of this volume, then,
can expect to oscillate between daring, "metaphysical" speculations and glowing and "burning"
outbursts of mystical love.
I suspect that the mixed genre, which the "science of the saints" is, will be the key characteristic
that powerfully commends this School
-xito our contemporary period. It seems that our very experiential age longs for a deep and
renewed sense of adoration, reverence, God- centeredness, transcendence and die overcoming of
narcissism, yet not without sensing how all of tiiese great virtues are the deepest meaning of
human experience. The rich explorations of human experience provided by the great mystics in
this volume will, hopefully, confirm for the reader the belief that human experience opens out, in
and through God, to a Mystery inviting adoration. This intersection between human experience
and Divine Mystery is something of a master key in the French School, unlocking the meaning of
humanity and indicating why our French mystics had such a concentrated fascination for tile
mystery of the Incarnation (for our mystics, die most intensive and unsurpassable expression of
that intersection).

The French School as a term can be used rather loosely to embrace all those who have been
deeply influenced by the founding mystics of that School. Even a sampling of texts from all such
spirituals would be impossible in one volume, for this School's influence extends well into our
own century. We have chosen to concentrate upon die glowing center of die School, the
founders and foundress. By undisputed consensus Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle is the originating
influence. Jean-Jacques Olier and John Eudes drink deeply from Bérulle's well, but they are never
mere imitations; their creative adaptations also serve as sources for the later followers. Readers
normally think of Charles de Condren as belonging to the founding circle too, and we would
agree, but the paucity of writings by Father Condren has led us to emphasize the other
"principals." If you will, Father Condren surfaces chiefly through those whom he influenced.
Somewhat new is die attention given Mother Madeleine de Saint- Joseph, the first French
prioress of the Great Carmel in Paris. She was enormously influenced by Cardinal Bérulle, and
also seems to have exercised considerable influence over the Cardinal. Something of Father
Condren also radiates out from the Mother. Clearly she belongs to the foundational center and
deserves to be more commonly recognized in this capacity. At the same time, she somewhat
represents the very important contribution women have always made to the thought and vitality
of the French School.
In die end, die French School is its own best introduction. The reader won't be into die text
for very long before being transported into a world of daring, challenge and love. One suspects
that Cardinal Bérulle was listening to his felt experience when he showed a special fondness for
the metaphor of "elevation."
-xiiNumerous people deserve to be thanked for their assistance in this project. I must especially
thank Fatiier Raymond Deville, the Superior General of St. Sulpice; Fathers Edward Frazer and
Gerald Brown, former and current provincial of die U. S. Sulpicians, respectively ; Sulpician
Fathers Irénée Noye, Raymond E. Brown, Cale Crowley, Gerald Coleman, James Fredericks,
William Tee, John Bowen, Joseph Bonadio, Frederick Cwiekowski, Gilles Chaillot, Vincent
Eaton, Peter Chirico, William Morris, Raymond Hesler; Father Louis Levesque, Assistant
Provincial of the Eudists m Quebec ; Father John Sullivan, of the Institute of Carmelite Studies;
Father Bonaventure Hayes, O.F.M.; Brothers Michael J. McGinniss, F.S.C., and Francis Huether,
F.S.C.; Fatiier Francis X. Malinowski, C.S.Sp., Chair of the theology department at Duquesne
University, especially for his enthusiasm for die French School and for his meditative reading of
the texts with me; and thanks, too, to my colleagues here at Duquesne University, for their
encouragement. A very special thanks to Mary Ellen Lewis, Marybeth I fensberger, Father Jason
DelVitto, Sister Margaret Ayers, O.S.B., Andrea Mallek, and Fatiier William Rademacher for
assistance with checking the texts and to Harry Hutchinson and Patricia O'Kane of the
Duquesne University Library. And warm thanks, too, to the priests, staff and community of die
Pittsburgh Oratory, for their support and encouragement, especially Father Drew Morgan, C.O.
The greater debt, however, is owed to my wife, Patricia Kobielus Thompson, for her
encouragement, her helpful and also meditative reading of the texts with me, and her patience; to
Susan A. Muto, for her inviting Preface to this volume, and to Father Lowell M. Glendon, S.S.,
the translator for this volume, for his perseverance, his stunning competency, his humor and
support, and his love for die French School. Affection and competence are die characteristics of
the scholarly method he has displayed throughout this project.
-xiiiPREFACE
Western Catholicism boasts of a number of special schools of spirituality named after founders
or associated with rules of religious life. A few of the most notable are the Augustinian, die
Benedictine, the Franciscan, the Dominican, the Ignatian and die Carmelite. Special schools are
also designated by location as, for example, the English School (Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton, the
anonymous author of The Cloud of U.nknomng, Julian of Norwich); the Rhineland School (John

Ruusbroec, Henry Suso, John Tauler); and, of course, the French School, which is the focus of
this edition of the Classics of Western Spirituality.
In die Roman Catholic tradition a special school represents and articulates the common ways
of the faith—repentance, prayer, meditation on scripture, devotion to the sacraments—but its
expression of these foundations includes a distinctive typology of styles and emphases. Special
schools thus contain the essentials of a gospel, a Christian and a church-oriented spirituality, but
they enable people so attracted to them to personalize these basics in a special, even intense
manner that at once awakens them to God in a new way and facilitates their ongoing formation.
This book delineates the specific typology of the French School, revealing its place in die
Catholic mainstream and disclosing its characteristic attitudes and applications. I would like to
highlight a few key aspects of this spiritual doctrine and then encourage the reader to savor them
more fully in the writings of the masters of this school: Pierre Cardinal de Bérulle, Jean-Jacques
Olier, John Eudes and Mother Madeleine de Saint-Joseph.
It is die basic assumption of the French School of Spirituality that we are created by God and
formed in God's image; we come from
-xvhim, as Augustinian exemplarism suggests, and it is to him that we must return. Thus our lives
on earth ought to be pathways and pointers to what we shall be eternally in heaven.
The first emphasis of our journey has to be on adoration, a habitual state of soul that consists in
acknowledging always and everywhere the greatness and divine goodness of God. This state of
adoring love, proceeding from the core of one's being (one's heart of hearts) calls for an attitude
of abasement before the supreme majesty, for a posture of deep humility as we creatures bow
before our Creator in an act of unending oblation and surrender, expressing with our whole being
the praise God alone ought to receive.
To live in this state of adoring and self-emptying love, die Christian must imitate in his or heteveryday spiritual life three facets of Jesus' own love for the Father. We must adhere to Jesus, the
Father's perfect adorer, whose attitudes, virtues and transcendent willing each disciple must
reproduce by rejecting sin and remaining open to grace. Like Jesus, the Christian must also
annihilate all traces of self-interest and act only and always to glorify God. We must, in Olier's
words, "live entirely for God in Christ Jesus," becoming "annihilated" in regard to our own plans
and committing ourselves as disciples to Jesus, who is in us in order for us to live wholly with the
Father. As Jesus accepted God's will in everything, so must we say with unceasing faithfulness:
Not my will but thine be done.
The most vivid exemplar of this profound surrender is Mary. She is the model of the third
facet, abnegation. Jesus will live in us, as he dwelt in Mary's womb and in her heart, only to the
degree that we joyfully "disappropriate" ourselves, that is, renounce proprietorship over ourselves
and become God's servants. In so doing we let go gradually, with the help of grace, all that is
contrary to tile Christ- form of our soul. We submit our pride and every tentacle of sin to Christ's
regenerating, redeeming renewal. Thus strengthened by grace and responsive to the call of the
Spirit, we can accept and worthily fulfill our apostolic duty to teach all nations and to build up the
body of Christ in his holy church.
Once we allow our frail, human hearts to become more and more like die adoring, adhering,
annihilated, abnegated hearts of Jesus and Mary, we can carry out the work we are called to do
"on earth as it is in heaven." In this way we become children of God, paradoxically liberated by
renunciation, elevated by humility, and illumined by the night of faith. Purified thus in heart and
mind, we cannot help but be pleasing to God.
-xviThis theme of spiritual childhood, taken up so powerfully by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, finds its
seeds in the French School. Bérulle, Olier, Eudes and Mother Madeleine capture in prose and
poetic prayers the soaring freedom of soul that can be ours if we willingly let go of the egocentric
gratification, greed and grandiosity that separate us from God. Christ cautioned that unless we

become as little children, abandoned, trusting, joyful, we cannot enter into the fullness of the
reign of God. The founders and followers of the French School would resonate, therefore, with
these words of Olier: "I feel that die Child Jesus has given me the grace to be like a small child,
without any will of my own. He has also given me the grace of joyful abandonment and so
abandoning myself to God, I place all my trust in him. To put it ... in a single sentence: I am as
carefree as a child."
This spirit of freedom, far from paralyzing productivity actually enhances the depth and
effectiveness of Christian commitment. It is a tribute to the French School that it has made a
lasting impact on Catholic spirituality in the Modern Period. Its special emphases serve as
reminders of what is most essential to a Christian way of life: openness to the inspirations of the
Spirit and a willingness to incarnate these directives in daily life.
-xviiABBREVIATIONS Le coeur admirable de la très sacrée mère de Dieu (Eudes)

c

Cat
Coll
CB
DC
DS
E
El
I

J
M233
Ma
Mars
Me
Mém
Mémor
N
OC
OP
OR
RHE
-xix-

R

Le catéchisme chrétien pour la vie intérieure (Olier)
Collationes (Bérulle)
Correspondance du Bérulle
Discours de controverse (Bérulle)
Dictionnaire de spiritualité
Traité des energumènes (Bérulle)
Elévations (Bérulle)
Discours de l’estât et des grandeurs de lésas (Bérulle)
Introduction à la vie et aux vertus chrétiennes (Olier)
Lajournée chrétienne (Olier)
Pans, Archives nationales, carton M. 2 3 3 (papiers Bérulle)
Elévation sur saincte Magdelaine (Bérulle)
Marseille, Bibliothèque municipale ms. 467 (microfilm) (Bérulle)
A later copy of Mém (Olier)
Mémoires autographes (Olier)
Mémorial (Bérulle)
Narré (Bérulle)
Oeuvres complètes (Eudes)
Oeuvres de piété (Bérulle)
Textes (Dupuy, Bérulle et le sacerdoce)
Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique 57 (1962): 813-62 (Bérulle)

Ta vie et le royaume de Jésus dans les âmes chrétiennes (Eudes)

J

T Traité des saints ordres (Olier)
I I le de Jésus (Bérulle)
Note: See Bibliography, under "Primary Sources," for all sources of the citations from Bérulle. Madeleine,
Olier and Eudes. M reference to Lettres, without any volume number being indicated, always refers to the
Serouet edition of Madeleine de Saint-Joseph's letters. N reference to Oller’s Lettres (Levesque edition, two
volumes) will indicate the appropriate volume.

-XX-

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE FRENCH SCHOOL
I. Historical Aspects of The French School
The Larger Context: Some Dimensions
The period between Pierre de Bérulle's birth (1575) and John Eudes' death (1680) witnessed
seismic transformations on the European continent in all the major areas of human concern :
politics, economics, culture and religion. The phenomenon that was seventeenth-century France
and the "child" it birthed—the French School of spirituality—needs to be set against this larger
horizon of experience. If we begin with the political theater, this was the era of the newly
emerging "middle-sized" sovereign monarchies/states. Power now was beginning to concentrate
at relatively few urban centers, like Spain, or Sweden, or France. The crumbling of die earlier
medieval jurisdictions set the stage for diis. But die more immediate catalyst was the new military
technology arising to meet the needs generated by the always-present feuding. That technology
required an urban population sufficiently developed to offer die necessary artisan shops,
manufactories, mining and metallurgical entrepreneurs, capitalists and bankers. Historian William
McNeill suggests diat this kind of technology was simply too complex for die smaller nobilities
or principalities or cities. But it was also too delicate and sophisticated for the more "universal"
sovereignties like Papacy and Empire.1
France clearly was able to supply the necessary powder and shot,
-3the transportation for heavy artillery, and die military skills needed for the making of a new
European power-center. So unnerving, in fact, was diis new French power becoming that the
Dutch and English, with die Hapsburgs, found it necessary if distasteful in 1689 to enter into an
alliance to check Louis XIV's expanding power. A growing conflict with traditional powers like die Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire (the
Hapsburgs) was a price to be paid by the new power centers. The period 1500-1648 (especially
the years 1618-48, the Thirty Years War) is particularly illustrative of the new tensions. The
Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 finally brought some easing of tensions by acknowledging die
political and religious sovereignties beyond the Empire's borders. This kind of tension is a great
theme in Cardinal Bérulle's career. He wanted France to remain loyal to Papacy, Catholicism and
Empire. Richelieu, however, was more pragmatic and less principled, working for France's
dominance, even if this meant coming to terms widi Protestantism.
It might be well for us to take a closer look at this Bérulle-Richelieu condiet, for it is a very
relevant illustration of the new kind of struggling emerging on the European scene. Richelieu, for
example, had already criticized Bérulle and the "devout party" to which he belonged in 1620
through several anonymous pamphlets. The latter had backed die new Emperor Ferdinand in his
struggle with die Protestant Elector Palatine Friedrich V and had even succeeded in convincing
the Royal Council to oppose the Elector. Another conflict is especially revealing. Bodi Bérulle
and Richelieu favored the marriage of Henriette of France to Charles I of England, but for quite
different reasons. Bérulle hoped it might help salvage something of English Catholicism.
Richelieu wanted to weaken Spain (the Empire) through an alliance with England. Both were
disappointed in the end. Richelieu removed the aspects of the marriage contract favorable to
Catholicism, which stung Bérulle, surely. But Richelieu had to turn toward Protestant Germany
for his alliance.
Bérulle and his "devout party" continued to exercise important influence at court. The struggle
with Richelieu intensified. And Bérulle's receiving die cardinalate in 1627 did not ease matters.
The final blow came on 15 September 1629, when Bérulle refused to sanction the Treaty of Susa,
a treaty that was ultimately harmful to France's alliance with England. Slighdy earlier Richelieu,
against Bérulle's recommendation, convinced the Royal Council to back die Duke of Mantua,
Charles de Nevers, who was being attacked by die
-4-

Spanish. The result of all of this was the famous political disgrace of Bérulle in 1629. Richelieu
had hoped to remove his rival by making him the French Ambassador to Rome, but Bérulle's
death cut off that possibility. But such political maneuverings, which die Bérulle-Richelieu conflict pointedly exemplify, were
but one of the enormous transitions of die time. Surely the shock of the Protestant Reformation
was another. As die Treaty of Westphalia illustrates, the older Catholic tradition, like it or not,
had to arrive at some kind of setdement with the Reformers. In France that meant with
Reformed or Huguenot tiieology and practice. Not a little of die French School of Spirituality is a
response to the challenges of the Reformation. Echoes of the Reformers' thinking are quite
evident in Bérulle, and still present in Olier and Eudes, but less intensively. There is a significant
collection of "works of controversy" directed explicitly against especially Calvin's thought in
Bérulle's collected works. Topics like the Eucharist, especially die sacrificial character of the
Mass, the notion of heresy, the nature of justification, and even the infallibility of the church are
taken up in response to die "new doctors," as Bérulle likes to call the Protestant Reformers. One
can sense something of the pressures of die Reformation in Oiler's stress on die sacrificial nature
of die Eucharist, and rather more positively in his trying to work out criteria for discerning a true
priestly vocation. John Eudes repeatedly had to deal with the Huguenot alternative on his many
missions. To the Reformation we must add die Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo
Buonarroti, Copernicus and Rabelais are only slightly earlier than our precise period of focus
(from Bérulle's birth to Eudes' death). Many Renaissance "greats" fall precisely within the period.
Cervantes (d. 1616), Shakespeare (d. 1616), Velazquez (d. 1660), Rembrandt (d. 1669), El Greco
(d. 1614) and Rubens (d. 1640) were giving shape to a new kind of national literature and style of
painting in die new urban centers. Nicholas Copernicus (d. 1543) and his heliocentric system of
astronomy, arguing for a circular rather than an elliptical orbit for the planets, deserves special
mention. As we will see, he caught the imagination of Bérulle, who imaginatively and hauntingly
compares his new style of Christ-centered spirituality to a kind of "Copernican Revolution" in the
second discourse of die Grandeurs.
There are many more scientific greats of the Renaissance falling within our precise period of
focus. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
-5defended the Copernican astronomy. William Harvey (d. 1657) studied the heart's role in die
circulation of blood. The interest in the sacred heart may have something to do with this. In any
case, John Eudes' tiieology and spirituality of the sacred hearts of Mary and Jesus were brilliant
ways of rendering the gospel contemporary. Ljohannes Kepler (d. 1630) discovered a
madiematical formula exactly describing die elliptical motion of each separate planet, thus
correcting Copernicus and removing an important objection to his views. Newton (1642-1727)
formulated his law of universal gravitation, and Francis Bacon (d. 1626) formulated an
empirical criterion of scientific knowledge. To all of this we might add die important
inventions, still with us, of die telescope (c. 1608), microscope (c. 1590), pendulum clock (c.
1656), thermometer (c. 1654) and barometer (c. 1643). As we will see, one of the enduring
debates is the precise nature of the influence of die Renaissance upon die French School. But
that there was a definite influence can hardly be doubted.
McNeill sums up this entire period under die label "cultural pluralism." ^Clearly Europe was
experiencing a new kind of diversity and stretching of horizons. If we were to follow Karl
Rahner s lead we could describe this as a qualitatively new kind of pluralism, for the new methods
of inquiry, intellectual disciplines, and changing presuppositions about the nature of reality were
making it almost impossible for any one person to truly master all the new discoveries. Mt seems
plausible to think that at least the beginnings of this kind of pluralism were making themselves
felt. And as we well know from the intensified experience of our own pluralistic situation, die
results can be ambiguous. Such richness of experience can lead to greater depth of insight. It can

also lead to fear, insecurity, narrow- mindedness, totalitarianism (to restrain the new querying)
and other simplistic solutions. In some ways it is all rather like a "dark night." Is it any wonder
that sensitive souls like Bérulle, Oller and Eudes speak of anéantissement (abasement) so
frequently? Surely the passage through all of this was something like an annihilation of former
modes of thought and behavior. The times themselves were a superb analogy for the more
difficult side of the spiritual ascent, and sensitive mystics like our three "greats" knew this quite
well.
If we follow Yves Congar, theology at this time was on the way toward becoming rather arid,
uncreative and "scholastic" in the rather pejorative sense. (_The notion of a "dogmatic" theology,
tied to an exposition of church doctrines and thus free of theological
-6disputes, was coming into its own. Here the new pluralism seemed to foster a style of theology
free from too much intellectual "insecurity." In illustration, Congar cites Noel Alexandre's
definition of dogmatics (1693):
[We understand as] dogmatic and moral, theology in which, having set aside all
Scholastic questions and omitted questions of positive theology ... only those
things are treated which were defined or handed out as dogmas in the Council of
Trent, or explained in die Catechism of this same council. 2
The abandoning of the technique of die medieval quaestio and its replacement by a simple
method of doctrinal exposition is a perfect illustration of this state of affairs. We all remember
some of the great breakthrough thinkers like Aquinas and Scotus who put the quaestio to powerful
use. But who can recall a great breakthrough systematician of the seventeenth century?
Louis Cognet, in his penetrating survey of systematic theology in die France of our period
confirms Cougar's more general assessment of Catholic theology as a whole. Theologians were,
he says, "frequendy influenced by the deteriorating Scholasticism of the waning Middle Ages." —
Philippe de Gamaches (1568-1625), who held one of the two chairs at the Sorbonne established
by Henry IV for "positive" theology, is a good example. He is also a quite relevant one, for he
taught Bérulle and Condren (the next general of the Oratory founded by Bérulle) and had a
profound influence on die former. Gamaches knew the patres and cited diem frequently, but in
the more "dogmatic" style coming into favor. The fathers were not part of a creative return to the
sources but proofs and illustrations for a Catholic doctrine assailed by the Reformers. André
Duval, the occupant of the other Henry IV chair, did show some originality in his creative use of
Platonic themes and the mysticism coming from Ruusbroec and Harphius. But in the main he
followed an ahistoric and deductive method. Cognet rather wittily says that even Bossuet didn't
bother to keep his notes of the lectures from his days at the College de Navarre! 11 Moral
theology followed suit, growing ever more abstract (removed from people's experience) and even
casuistic. Cognet comments: "To a certain extent this development was even demanded by die
need to reform the clergy as well as by die necessity to educate sufficiently well-instructed
confessors." —
The "regular" school theology did generate something of a reaction, which can partly explain
the phenomenon that is the French School of Spirituality. Louis Bail (1610-69) issued, in four
parts, his Théologie affective on saint Thomas en meditations between 1638 and 1650. The Dominican
Guillaume de Contenson (1641-74) surpassed this attempt to unite theology and spirituality witii
his Theologia mentis et cordis, issued between 1668 and 1687. Here speculative "scholastic" analyses
of doctrine (speculationes) are followed by spiritual applications (reflexiones). This newer kind of
"contemplative" scholasticism was in many ways a continuation of Gerhard Groote's attempt to
wed mysticism to scholasticism in the fourteenth century. The Sorbonne had endorsed by official
statute this kind of theology by 1600. —
We find much more creativity in the development of historical theology. This was partly a
response to the Reformers, who would only listen to the scriptures and die patres, not die

medieval scholastics. Thus the Bibliotheca patrum of Marguerin de la Bigne from 1575 on, as well as
the editions of the patristic sources coming from the Benedictines of Saint-Maur, came into
being. At first, as Cognet indicates, this réssoiircement was more polemical, as Bérulle's controversial
discourses with the Huguenots indicate. In time it would create the foundations for a new
theological specialization in its own right. u
Some highpoints of tins patristic renaissance are worth underscoring. The Dominican François
Combefis published an impressive edition of St. Maximus Confessor in 1675. The reformed
Benedictines of Saint-Maur (Maurists), of course, continued to issue their high-quality editions.
For example, Dom Jean Mabillon gave us an edition of the works of St. Bernard in 1667, and
Dom Thomas Blampin (1640-1710) directed the edition of St. Augustine. Comprehensive
syntheses of the tyz/zwwere contributed by the Jesuit Dems Petau in his Dogmata theologica (164450) and by the Oratorian Louis Thomassin's Dogmata theologica (1680-84).
Biblical studies, too, were undergoing something of a profound transformation and renewal,
which would eventually bear fruit in today's historical-critical approaches to die scriptures.
Richard Simon (1638-1712), a member of the Oratory founded by Cardinal Bérulle, is widely
credited with being the originator of modern biblical criticism. He wrote works on both
testaments, but unfortunately aroused the wrath of the likes of Bossuet. The Oratonans,
-8despite their tradition of scholarship, were forced to expel him m 1678. But the Oratonans
contributed other "proto-critics" of the scriptures: Jean Morin and Bernard Lamy. At the same
time, as Cognet puts it, die "tradition of spiritual, moral, and even allegorical exegesis no doubt
continued to be widespread." 1Ί Bossuet's Apocalypse avec une explication of 1689 might serve as an
example of this kind of exegesis. The mystics of the French School, I might suggest, tend to be in
the tradition of a more spiritual-contemplative exegesis. But more tenuous forms of allegory are
missing, in the main. Perhaps something of the Renaissance critical spirit served as a modulating
force in this regard. —
One of die greatest sources of renewal, and the one with the most direct importance for our
study, must be, of course, die breakthroughs in mystical and spiritual diought and practice. On
one level, surely, this mystical renaissance can be seen as a creative alternative to the dogmatic
aridity of the prevailing school theology. It represents a deep effort to remain in tune with the
experiential sources of faidi and theology. On anodier level, too, it can be seen as a reaction
against what is perceived to be an excessively humanistic trend in the Renaissance period. In
other words, this mysticism is a tension-filled reality moving between two extremes. At times it
fell into those extremes. The extent to which this creative tension is maintained rather dian
collapsed is one of the great debates among scholars of the French School, as we shall see.
In some sense, of course, the patristic and biblical renaissance rehearsed already forms a part of
this renewal of mysticism and spirituality. The Johannine and Pauline texts, so beloved to die
French School, are die biblical texts that easily lend themselves to a more inward, contemplative
reading. The patres, too, practiced a form of dieology wedded to spirituality and mysticism. The
"theological" reappropriation of them was, then, a kind of reappropriation of spirituality. )J_The
popularity of Dionysius the Areopagite meant the popularity of his brand of apophatic mysticism.
The dissemination of Augustine's writings meant that the Augustinian inwardness and ChristianPlatonic mysticism were making diemselves felt, and both of these left a great impression upon
Bérulle and the entire French School. Bishop Zamet, in approving Bérulle's Grandeurs, said that
he found within it "the spirit of the great apostle of France, Saint Denis and his Divine Hierarchy."
_^_The historian Jean Dagens has this to say about Bérulle's Augustinianism:
-9It is beyond doubt that he receives die tone of his elevations, of his
contemplative meditations, from Saint Augustine.... The powerful speculations on
the Trinity and Incarnation, which form the beauty of the Grandeurs de Jésus, are of

Augustinian inspiration; in the sweeping view of universal history which is that of
the I z? de Jésus, one perceives the vestiges of the City of God. —
Alongside this, however, there was an increasingly appreciated literature of spirituality and
mysticism penetrating France. After Dionysius must surely come the Rheno-Flemish writers:
Harphius and Blosius in the late 1500s; and in the seventeenth century the greater writings: The
Pearl of the Gospel, and Ruusbroec's Ornament of the Spiritual Espousals, translated into French by the
Carthusian Dom Beaucousin. At about the same time appeared the translations of the Spanish
and Italian mystics: Luis de Granada, Juan de Avila, the great St. Teresa of Avila, then St. John of
the Cross and St. Catherine of Genoa. At the same time, of course, St. Francis de Sales and St.
Jane Frances de Chantal were forging a uniquely Christian and French form of "everyday
mysticism," which would have an effect upon Olier and John Eudes at a later time.
Bérulle probably absorbed much of this spirituality through frequenting Mme. Acarie's
celebrated circle of friends, which included Dom Beaucousin, die Capuchin Benet of Canfield,
the Sorbonne theologian Duval, the Jesuit Coton, the secular priest Gallemant and the Marquise
de Maignelay. He was her cousin (she later became the Carmelite Marie de l'incarnation at
Pontoise, eventually receiving beatification), and one of his early works—Bref Discours de
l'abnégation intérieure—reflects the kind of mysticism characteristic of the Rheno-Flemish writers
and Catherine of Genoa. Often called abstract mysticism, it emphasized a transcending of all
concepts and images as die sign of the deepest mystical union with the Divine. Oftentimes even
Jesus' humanity was seen as one of die earthly realities needing to be transcended. In time, this
"bypassing" of Jesus' humanity would find its corrective in the likes of Teresa of Avila and the
later Bérulle. Somewhat earlier, even Canfield was pressured by his Capuchin superiors to add
some chapters on the contemplation of Jesus' passion in the second edition of his Eide of
Perfection. Bérulle's Bref Discours also has some references to Jesus' life and passion as an exemplar
of die mystic's way. zlAs we will see, mysticism went through a number of modulations as it was
received
-10in France and as people began to explore the spiritual life and the kind of theology most
congenial to that life. In many ways it seems to have been a self-correcting or self-enriching
reality. —
Finally, in this brief overview of historical trends, mention should be made of the enormous
pastoral renewal occurring. If you will, this was the praxis dimension of the various kinds of
renewal and reaction coming into being. There was a kind of interchange among theology,
spirituality and pastoral action that makes of this age a rather fascinating precursor of our own.
For example, despite Richelieu's tendency to use die monasteries for monetary gain, abbeys like
Cluny, Citeaux and Premontré did strive to be centers of spiritual renewal. What we today might
call basic communities frequently gathered at die reformist convents of Port-Royal, Val-deGrace, the Carmelites, the Visitation nuns and at the equally reformist monasteries of La Trappe
and Rancé. —
A particularly active area of renewal, and one with profound consequences for the French
School, was die embattled terrain of priestly reform. Quite clearly a crucial strategy for renewing
the church, regardless of how one might define renewing—and we will see that that was a
contested issue—is to concentrate on the transformation of the ecclesial leaders. In the
seventeenth century, that meant die priests. zlThe Council of Trent had legislated the foundation
of seminaries, but this never became law in France, despite die initiatives of people like La
Rochefoucauld. The situation was quite desperate. Listen to St. Vincent de Paul's castigation:
The Church has no worse enemies tiian her priests. Heresies have come from
them ... and it is through them that heresies have prevailed, that vice has reigned,
and that ignorance has established its tiirone among the "poor" people; and this
has happened because of their undisciplined way of life and refusal to oppose
those three torrents now inundating the eardi with all their might. ~

Vincent clearly has in mind the Protestant Reformers when he speaks of heresies. When he
speaks of vice, he has in mind the immorality of all kinds widely characteristic of die clergy. The
large numbers ordained in die various sacred orders, despite their lack of training and the
church's lack of need, as well as die piling up of benefices—diese are what Vincent probably has
in mind. After all, the life of die clergyman offered an easy career in a culture where
-11careers were hard to come by, especially for the less privileged. And die more privileged could
gain quick income through the technique of piling up benefices. Cognet tells us that "virtually all
monasteries and priories were benefices and many of their titulars were mere tonsured people
less than twenty years of age." And he adds that the kings "used diem unscrupulously for the
purpose of rewarding loyal servants and supporting artists and literati." 35 When he speaks of
ignorance, he has in mind the lack of preparation and training characteristic of the secular clergy.
As we saw, seminary education had not yet taken hold.
Adrien Bourdoise (1584-1665) is considered die pioneer in French seminary education. He
formed a society for priestly candidates in 1612 at Paris, and by 1643 his seminary experiment, as
Cognet calls it, was finally approved officially. Cognet continues,
His example was emulated: between 1622 and 1680 there appeared in twenty
French towns seminary societies of this type.... Initially Bourdoise's enterprise
required true courage, for at that time even La Rochefoucauld did not dare open a
seminary either in Clermont or in Senlis, the diocese he was given later on.
Bourdoise's influence was to prove vital in connection with other foundings, such
as the Oratory and Saint-Sulpice. —
Unfortunately he limited the preparation to practical matters for the most part. Little education
in theology and spirituality transpired.
Learning from Bourdoise, partly building upon his labors but really creating an alternative style
of seminary education, was Bérulle's Oratory, Oiler's Company of Saint-Sulpice, and Eudes'
Congregation of Jesus and Mary. Here die aim was to develop a secular clergy that might serve as
a paradigm and example of what the priesthood should really be. Not a religious order in vows
(although the French School adapted the religious orders to their own ends), but the "order" of
priests of Jesus and the apostles, which could in turn educate aspirants coming to live with and
learn from them. Perhaps one of the reasons Olier maintained cumulative benefices, a practice in
violation of canon law, was precisely so that he would have an institutional-parochial basis from
which to launch his program of priestly renewal. —
The Oratory had seventy-one houses by 1631. Obviously it met a real need. But under its
second general, Charles de Condren (1588- 1641), the Oratory ceased to make an effort to
promote seminary
-12education in its houses. The leadership in seminary education passed to Olier and his new
Company of St. Sulpice, which became a veritable model of seminary training. John Eudes' new
Congregation also took up the task of such training, as we will see. These efforts were profoundly
lasting programs of ecclesial renewal, only really coming under serious question again around the
time of tire Second Vatican Council. When we add these breakthroughs in seminary education to
the renewal among tire aristocracy (as the beata Mme. Acarie and her circle partially illustrate) and
to tire extensive mission work of tire time (think of St. Vincent de Paul, but also of die extensive
missionary work of the Oratonans, Sulpicians and Eudists), we can begin to imagine the kind of
irruption of pastoral praxis that was beginning to transform die French church. —
Bérulle, Olier and Eudes: A Brief Chronology
As we can see, the above forms the horizon of experience of our three founders of the French
School. Each enters into it, contributes to it and significantly alters it in common yet unique
ways—commonly enough to make it plausible to call them a school, I believe. But like all living
schools, it is a commonality which preserves and even fosters creativity and uniqueness. There is

something irreducible about Pierre de Bérulle, Jean-Jacques Olier and John Eudes. The Oratory,
Saint-Sulpice and the Eudist Congregation are a kind of monument to this diversity-in-oneness.
The future Cardinal Bérulle was born at Certify (Yonne) in 1575 and studied philosophy and
theology at the College of Clermont, being ordained a priest in 1599. He had already published
his Bref Discours (1597), was participating in Mme. Acarie's mystically inclined circle, and perhaps
had taken Dom Beaucousin for his spiritual director in 1596. In 1602 he made die Ignatian
exercises under P. E. Maggio, which possibly sensitized him to the "Christological gaps" of the
abstract mystics. His growing involvement with the Carmelites probably deepened this sensitivity.
In 1603, by papal bull, he was named the third co-superior of the French Carmelite sisters (Mme.
Acarie is usually considered their foundress) and helped escort Spanish Carmelite nuns to France
for their founding of the Carmel of the Incarnation in Paris (1604). The following year Mother
Anne of Jesus (one of the original Spanish nun-foundresses in Paris) den
-13ounced abstract forms of mysticism that ignore Jesus's humanity, and we know that Cardinal
Bérulle grew decisively Christocentric about this time (1605-10) as evidenced in his writings of
this period.
With the foundation of die Oratory by Bérulle (1611), its papal approbation two years later, and
Bérulle's papal appointment as perpetual visitator of the Carmelite nuns in 1614 (there were not
yet Carmelite priests in Paris), he became a more public, powerful, and also controversial figure.
In the latter year he inaugurated die feast of Jesus' solemnity and proclaimed, against Dionysius
the Areopagite, a "reversal of the hierarchies" that Dionysius had explored in Neoplatonic
fashion in his writings. Henceforth, for Bérulle, all the hierarchies of angels will adore Jesus, the
God-man. The Cardinal, as we shall see, never stopped drinking at die well of Dionysius, but he
surely modified him in a Christocentric way. 30 For Bérulle, Jesus Christ is God's unique and
highest revelation.
But it is Bérulle's role as Carmelite visitator that seems to have spawned die greatest
controversy in his career to this point. We are referring to die delicate, complex issue of the vows
of servitude to Mary and Jesus, vows he proposed both to his fellow Oratorians and then to die
Carmelite nuns between 1615 and 1616. He actually "imposed" one to Mary upon the Carmelites
of Chalons-sur-Saône in 1615. He could not know that these vows would thrust him into highly
controversial waters for almost a decade. Why was he a partisan of tiiese vows?
Bérulle, it seems, had encountered the tradition of professing vows to Mary, the perfect
example of servitude, during a mission to Spam in 1604 for die Carmelites. Such vows can be
dated back to Ildephonse of Toledo in 667. And, of course, such vows are a common Catholic
tendency, perhaps especially in an anti-Protestant period. They were also congenial to the
Dionysian horizon of thought: Reality was to be structured in various orders, the nature of one's
vow expressing die order to which one belonged. The scholar Paul Cochois suggests that those
professing die two vows of servitude to Mary and Jesus would, in Bérulle's plan, "form a choir
and an order, capable of diffusing upon the inferior hierarchies the deifying light that they
themselves received by means of the Virgin and die incarnate Word from the fontal deity of die
Father." JfyMost important, these vows gave expression in an intensified way to the new
Christocentric tone developing in Bérulle's experience.
In any case, Bérulle's desire to have the Carmelite nuns profess the
-14vows—Marie of die Trinity professes one formulation of them in 1616—inaugurates a grand
controversy of multiple dimensions. One suspects a certain jealousy in die attacks from the male
Carmelites, perhaps displeased by Bérulle's influence with die nuns (lais position had been
reconfirmed by Pope Paul V in 1620). The Sorbonne professor Duval, also a co-superior of the
nuns, viewed the vows as fourth, non-canonical vows. Meanwhile Mme. Acarie, now a sister,
expressed disapproval of them. Bérulle began only to recommend them, but troubles continued.
A defective copy of die vow found by the Carmelites in 1620 caused more misunderstanding.

And some expressions in die vow were capable of receiving Nestorian or Monophysite
interpretations. Bérulle's approach to Jesus' humanity led some to think that he was personalizing
the human nature (in the School theology die human nature subsists in die Word's person; there
is a human nature, not a human person). Odiers feared the monophysitic drowning of humanity
in divinity.
It is possible that vowing servitude to a "deified humanity" or a "humanized divinity"—to use
the expressions in question—can be bent in heretical directions. And sadly, the defective copy of
the vow was indeed censured by die theological faculties of Douai and Louvain, and by P.
Lessius. (Mint interestingly, Lessius himself writes that his action was uncharitable and unjust,
and that the formula of the vow could be given an orthodox interpretation. ^_In any case, no
further official action was taken, Bérulle did make clear tiiat die vows were a prolongation of die
baptismal vows (not uncanonical fourth vows), and most crucially, he wrote his great Grandeurs in
1623 at least partly as an apologetic defense of this entire episode. Let me end this chapter in
Bérulle's life by citing his reformulation of the vows in die form of "elevations" from the Second
Discourse of the Grandeurs:
I praise you [the holy humanity of Jesus] in the infinite dignity and in all the
powers and offices which you receive in this quality; in the relation, rights, and
appropriation which you maintain toward die Holy Trinity; toward the Father, in
the filiation of die humanized Word proceeding from him; to the Son, in die
subsistence which you receive from him; to the Holy Spirit in the operation by
which he produces you and unites you to the Word! And finally I praise you in
the supreme, wholly divine, and completely admirable state which you have
entered through the hypostatic union, and in all the consequences, rights, and
obligations owing to this divine state, according to the order of die
-15Power of Wisdom and the good will of the eternal Father towards a nature
nearer and more intimate to him than any other, according to its essence, because
it is intimate with and conjoined to his subsisting Son. —
Urban VIII was elected pope in 1623, and by personal decision (20 December) he put an end
to die controversy associated with Carmel. Bérulle only had six more years to live, and he spent
them working on both a theological-spiritual and more "political" front. He wrote his beautiftil
three elevations on the Trinity, Incarnation and Marian mystery (1625), which can be considered
a concentrated summary of his thought. His meditative, less apologetic (than the Grandeurs) I de de
Je'sus appeared in 1629, preceded two years earlier by the elevation on Mary Magdalene, and he
devoted a number of important writings to die Oratory's work of spiritual direction and seminary
renewal. This was also a particularly active period for Bérulle in the political sense, as we have
already noted. It was between 1624, when Richelieu became chief of the Royal Council, and 1629,
the year of Bérulle's "disgrace" by Richelieu, that the great struggles occurred. Bérulle's
cardinalate (1627) was something of a consolation during this trying time. Pope Urban VIII was
clearly a supporter of Bérulle, reportedly naming him "the apostle of die incarnate Word."
Jean-Jacques Olier, like Bérulle, was born to die aristocracy; his father was a councillor of
Parliament at Paris. The fourth of eight children, he was born in die year 1608. The first period
of his life might be said to culminate in his attraction to die renewal work of St. Vincent de Paul
and his priestly ordination in May of 1633. His parents did favor him with die usual kinds of
ecclesiastical benefices: tonsured at eleven, and receiving the priory of Bazainville and the abbey
of Pebrac. He also earned the bachelor's degree in theology at the Sorbonne (1630). The
atmosphere of spiritual renewal greatly inspired him (not surprising for one who had known St.
Vincent de Paul and St. Francis de Sales!) He was even thinking of joining die Carthusians. The
year 1630 was important for another reason: Olier was healed from a condition of eye
deterioration, a healing he attributed to his "first conversion" to a serious life of holiness through
the Blessed Virgin's intercession.

A second period of Olier's life and work saw him exploring the consequences of his
commitment to spiritual and churchly renewal.
-16He collaborated with St. Vincent in a series of missionary endeavors (such endeavors were
enormously important to the entire pastoral effort of the time): near his own abbey (1634), then
in Auvergne (1636-37), near Nantes and at Montdidier (1638-39), and finally in the Diocese of
Chartres (1639-41). Apparently Olier was becoming something of a star, for Bishop Zamet of
Langres wanted to make him his successor (and Olier was only 26!). It was the advice of Charles
de Condren, die Oratory's new superior general, which kept Olier from accepting the episcopacy.
The following year Olier asked Condren to be his spiritual director. In this way the developing
heritage of the French School began to shape Olier deeply.
The climax and even culmination of this second period must surely have been the "great trial"
Olier underwent from 1639 to 1641. This is probably one of the more controversial aspects of
Olienan scholarship, but the new critical work being done on Olier's Mémoires is bringing us to
greater clarity on the matter. ^Apparently tins trial was a kind of total, somatic-spiritual ordeal
and transformation. Nothing was spared! On a physical level basic bodily functions were lost:
I cannot even move my arms, legs, head, eyes or tongue without dus
dependence which is within. That which I depend on is in die depth of my soul,
and swallows up my natural powers. It is stronger dian I am for it is the absolute
master not only of this but capable of bestirring and moving die whole world as it
does at each instant. a
And there was a psychological dimension:
That which God's goodness brought about in my body he also caused in my
soul. For he took away the strength from its natural faculties, leaving me
languishing in foolishness, stupidities, and imbecilities which only those who have
experienced it can understand —
Apparentiy even his mother began to wonder whether he were fee- bleminded, and die leader
of the mission he was on advised him to give up his benefices and to "hide [himself] in a hole." —
Along with this went an experience of his profound sinfulness:
After original sin, left to ourselves, we are only self-centeredness, incapable of
raising ourselves to him. We are only dryness, restlessness, frivolity, blindness, in
short, misery. And by misery, I mean
-17nothingness and sin. But on the other hand through his Spirit we are forever
lifted up and attentive to God. He alone can accomplish this in us, beyond our
•
4Π
capacity.
—
It is unnecessary to view this entire episode simply as a neurotic breakdown, as Henri Bremond
was inclined to do. 41 It is quite possible for a spiritual breakdown and breakthrough to occur
through human experiences of suffering, tragedy and neurosis. The one explanation is not
incompatible with the other, especially if one is persuaded of die plausibility of an incarnational
notion of divine causality, whereby the Divine operates through die human. Bremond seems to
create a dichotomy, whereas the Mémoires seem to give expression to a mystical experience of
purgation and die dark night, an interchange between human suffering and Divine illumination.
Sometime in 1641 Olier experienced great peace. While praying to St. Anne at Chartres he
experienced an "unparalleled peace" from her words in die "depths or fond of his soul." Earlier he
had been given to understand that the Eord wanted him to learn to love with a kind of pure love:
"Do it out of love, not only justice, for it is sweet to please one so beautiful." ^Finally he wrote
of a great deliverance from the ordeal, which he experienced on the Octave of Corpus Christi, 6
June 1641:
O my God, I thank you for placing in my Jesus praises so worthy to be
presented and offered to you.... O my God how pleased I am to know what he is;

to know all he is for your glory, for it seems to me that nothing could be more
lovable than to exist completely for your glory. O glory a thousand and a million
times more cherished than my own glory.... In this way you delivered me from my
ordeal, O my God, when you so grandly illumined my spirit ... this light gave me
an ardent desire for your great glory and my abasement [anéantissement, and die
abasement of all the world. —
Here we can see that die breakthrough to a deeper and purer love, and the peace it brings, is
the brighter side of the breakdown caused by self-doubt and self-absorption expressing itself in
the psychosomatic symptoms so powerfully experienced in Olier's spiritual itinerary. —
The experience at Chartres of 1641, which signals the beginnings of Olier's recovery from the
dark night, occurred at the same time that a group of missionaries, led by Denis Amelote and
including
-18Olier, was attempting to found a seminary for the reform of the clergy. This work of ecclesial
and priesdy renewal and reform occupied the final period of Olier's life. Partly influenced by the
pious widow Marie Rousseau, pardy by Condren, and pardy by his own interior movements, he
founded a seminary near Paris at Vaugirard at the end of 1641, transferring it a year later to the
parish of Saint- Sulpice, where he had become pastor. He served as pastor for the next ten years,
profoundly influencing die well-meaning parishioners through his preaching and liturgical
leadership as well as his spiritual direction. He experienced heavy opposition from die newly
emerging Jansenists, from die Huguenots, and from the simply frivolous. He was able to
influence the aristocracy in an especially deep way. As we have seen, the seminary work became
quite successful too. Between 1649 and 1657 Olier founded, with his "Sulpician" companions
(die Society of St. Sulpice was formally founded in 1645), seminaries at Nantes, Viviers, SaintFlour, Magnac, Te Puy, Clermont and Amiens.
Before his death on 2 April 1657, Olier had successfully turned over his parish to Bretonvilliers,
launched a mission to Montreal, co-founded a congregation of women religious (which did not
endure), and written some of the masterpieces of the French School. Bremond suggested that
Olier's "special grace and mission was, not exacdy to popularize Bérullism, but to present it with
such limpidity, richness of imagination and fervour that its apparently somewhat difficult
metaphysics are placed invitingly in the reach of most readers." 45 The seventeenth-century
scholar Louis Cognet did say, as if confirming Bremond's judgment, that Olier's Journée chrétienne
"enjoyed rare success." 46 Olier's life and work comes home as hauntingly real and manifoldly
rich. —
Saint John Eudes (1601-80) lived during most of Bérulle's life and during all of Olier's. He
knew them both, and there can be little doubt that the growing spirituality of the French School
reached something of a concentrated pitch in the heart symbolism, devotion and theology
gradually explored and quite originally carved out by him. It is, says die Eudist scholar Paul
Milcent, "a transcription of die more basic thinking of Bérulle anci De Condren, and of the
Pauline theme of life in Jesus Christ." —
We can conveniently speak of John Eudes' early period as diat of his formation in tire Oratory
and its mission. Unlike Bérulle and
-19Olier, John was born of a peasant family the first of seven children. He did some of his studies
at the Jesuit College at Caen. Deciding to become a priest, he entered the Oratory, studying under
both Cardinal Bérulle and Charles de Condren (1623-27). After priesdy ordination (1625), he
devoted his time to die kinds of missionary endeavors that tire Oratonans engaged in, working in
Normandy (his native area), Brittany, die Ile-de-France, Bourgogne, and even giving three
missions in Paris at Louis XIVs court.
Toward the end of diis period (1641) he also encountered Marie des Vallées (1590-1656). The
bishop of Coutances wondered whedier she might not be possessed and invited John Eudes to

examine her case. John became convinced that she was a woman of profound holiness and
derived much comfort from her.
It is tire shift in attention to seminar)’ work that enables us to speak of a second period in
John's career. His missionary work had steadily convinced him of die need for the clergy's
reform, if die seeds of renewal begun during die missions were to take hold. Tike die other
Oratorians, John found himself attracted to die formation of priests through seminary work.
Unlike the model envisaged by the Council of Trent—namely, the training of adolescents John,
as some others (Sulpicians, the Vincentians, some Oratorians), developed the model of
associating with themselves older candidates and even priests in an intensive period of spiritual
and pastoral renewal. Such seminary work would almost define die future work of John Eudes.
Here we touch upon one of the more obscure and controversial areas of Eudist scholarship.
Paul Milcent speaks of François Bourgoing's opposition to this work (Bourgoing was die superior­
general of the Oratory at the time) being based upon "reasons which are not clearly known." Was
Bourgoing more comfortable with the Tridentine model, well-known to the Oratory?49 Clément
Guillon, another Eudist scholar, also speaks of the difficulty of clarifying die nature of
Bourgoing's opposition. ^_In any case, on 25 March 1643, John Eudes founded, with some other
like-minded priests, the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (the future Eudists), which took priestly
formation and the missions as its work. This began at Caen, followed by the founding of
seminaries at Coutances (1650), Lisieux (1653), Rouen (1659), Evreux (1667) and Rennes (1670).
During this same period, he founded the Religious of Notre Dame of Charity to work with
young girls experiencing serious difficulties. Eventually this
-20group developed into two congregations: Our Lady of Charity of Reftige and Our Lady of
Charity of the Good Shepherd. —
We can, perhaps, speak of two great climaxes in this second period of John's life and work. On
the one hand, perhaps partly in response to the growing rigorism of Jansenism, his thought
moved toward die developing of an impressive heart theology centered on the love of Mary and
Jesus. As we will see, he worked out a mature synthesis of his own form of Bérullism around tills
metaphor of the heart. Coupled with this was his liturgical expression of tins heart tiieology in
feasts of Mary's (beginning in 1648) and Jesus' sacred hearts (about 1668). On the other hand
John experienced his own form of die "great trial" through increasing opposition on a number of
fronts. Jansenists smarted from John's opposition and disliked his supposedly insufficiently
rigorous spirituality. Some of his former Oratorian colleagues opposed his new congregation. A
mysterious "Letter to a Doctor of the Sorbonne" (circulating around 1674) attacked John's friend
Marie des Vallées and the heart devotion as he had developed it. The dark night grew increasingly
darker.
Particularly painftil, to judge from John's letters, was his disgrace in the eyes of King Louis
XIV, lasting from 1674 to 1679. ^Apparently one of John's well-intentioned supporters in Rome
expressed John's fidelity to the papal authority in such a way that King Louis interpreted it as a
threat to John's fidelity to himself as John's monarch. By royal command John had to leave Paris,
and the survival of his fragile congregation was in question for some time. This was a period of
disintegrating relations between France and Rome, a period fertile for the emergence of
Gallicanism. John finally had to appeal personally to the monarch for forgiveness. As we have
indicated, the king did, in the end, receive John in audience and promise him the royal support he
needed.
John Eudes wrote much throughout his career. His The Life and the Kingdom ofJesus in Christian
Souls, written already by 1637, is widely recognized as his basic work. It manifests, with some
Eudist touches we will examine later, the spirituality of Bérulle and his "school." Perhaps his
most original and synthetic work is The Admirable Heart of the Most Sacred Mother of God or the
Deration to the Most Sacred Heart of Maty, finished only a few weeks before his death in 1680. The

spirituality found here was both the cause of, and die greatest consolation in the midst of, die
great trials. Upon his
-21beatification in 1909 Pope Pius X called him the "father, doctor and apostle of the liturgical cult
of the hearts of Jesus and Mary." Pius XI canonized him in 1925. Now perhaps we understand
something of why Jean-Jacques Olier called him "this great preacher, the Père Eudes, the wonder
of his time." —
A Woman's Perspective: Madeleine de Saint-Joseph
One cannot study the French School for long without being struck by the important, even
critical role that women played throughout. The phenomenon of Cardinal Bérulle is very bound
up with die Christocentric spirituality of die great St. Teresa of Avila, with the mystical
aspirations of Mme. Acarie and her circle, with St. Catherine of Genoa's thought, with the work
of the French Carmelite nuns in Paris, and especially with die Venerable Madeleine de SaintJoseph, the first French prioress of Paris' Great Carmel. So, too, biographers of Olier stress the
crucial role of women in his evolving spirituality. One thinks of Marie Rousseau's important role
in helping Olier through his dark night and in his seminary reform work. One thinks, too, of die
Mère de Bressand, Mère Agnes, and especially of Marguerite de Saint-Sacrement. All played
important roles in Oiler's life. John Eudes was also deeply impressed by Marguerite's holiness,
particularly her devotion to Jesus' infancy. And who can forget the important bonds he had with
Marie des Vallées? —
As feminist theological criticism is beginning to teach us, much of the contribution of women
to theology and spirituality in general is only now beginning to receive the attention it has always
deserved. As an aid in sensitizing us to this need and desire to surface more fully the critical role
of women in the story of our French School, we will single out Mother Madeleine de SaintJoseph. If you will, perhaps she can serve as a representative for us of the rich amount of
theology and spirituality awaiting the critical scholar. Let us introduce her by a citation from
Louis Cognet:
[Her] outstanding holiness irradiated the whole world of the devout. An
intimate confidante of Bérulle, she no doubt influenced the evolution of the great
spiritual master, who had die highest esteem for her revelations and mystical
states. Warmly attached to Bérullian spirituality, she fought untiringly to defend it,
to extend it in the Carmels and to
-22lessen the influence of die abstract school. But her Bérullism assumes a mystical
form in many respects original and very attractive: it is a great pity that her
writings, but for some very short fragments, have not yet been published. —
Venerable Madeleine du Bois de Fontaines was a contemporary of Bérulle, being born in 1578
at Fours, die sixth child in her family of fifteen children. She lived until 1637 (Bérulle died eight
years earlier). She entered the Great Carmel at Paris only a few weeks after its founding and
quickly became an important figure in the Carmel's development. She made her profession on 12
November 1605, and soon became a Mistress of Novices. She was elected prioress at the age of
30. Between 1615 and 1617 she assisted in die founding of Carmels at Tours and Lyon, returning
to Paris to found a Second Carmel there, where she served as superior for another six years.
Again, rather remarkably, she returned to the Great Carmel (at Paris), and found herself again the
prioress for another eleven years (1624-35).
It is in titis last period that Mère Madeleine became an intimate confidante of Bérulle. One can
realistically speak of a kind of two- way spiritual direction, and die evidence is strong that she
influenced the theological evolution of Bérulle's spirituality in important ways. She had apparently
played a decisive role somewhat earlier in the founding of the Oratory, for Bérulle sought her
counsel on die matter and was encouraged by her support. 56 She also supported Bérulle on die
matter of the vows of servitude at die Great Carmel. At die time when Mme. Acarie and the

theologian Duval were attacking his views on the vow, Madeleine wrote Bérulle (in 1616) that die
thought of being in servitude to the Virgin in the Order had aided her immensely. 57 Cognet.
basing himself on her correspondence of 1623-25, thinks she may have been die major influence
behind Bérulle's great "Elevation on Mary Magdalene." She speaks of her own great troubles and
promises him die help of die "great Saint Magdalene." —
Perhaps one of die most fascinating aspects of Mère Madeleine is her own theology of love,
which Cognet suggests may have been quite influential on Bérulle. There does seem to be a
tendency on Bérulle's part to stress love more fully at the very time that he is getting to know the
Mother more intimately. Her letter 144 seems especially important in this regard. "Adoration not
only cannot be
-23perfect without love, but it doesn't even deserve the name of adoration ... unless love is its soul
and life," she tells us. Bérulle's I-7? de Jésus, written in 1627, stresses an adoration always
developing in love, unlike some of Bérulle's earlier thought, which seems to present love more as
a gateway to adoration. Another text of Bérulle's distinguishes among three types of honoring the
"uncreated, incarnate, and crucified life of Jesus: ... first by adoration, which is an act of
reverence, secondly by love, and then in a third way by an adoring love, that is to say, loving
while adoring." —
After Bérulle's death, Modier Madeleine found herself having to clarify and even reject some
aspects of die "abstract spirituality" that had been fashionable in Mme. Acarie's circle. Anti­
mysticism was becoming more useftil to the political forces opposed to the policies of die devout
(namely, to Richelieu's camp). Further, the tendency to diink that one can achieve sublime
mystical states and revelations is always somewhat dangerous, bodi because it can be easily
subject to illusion, and because it can be threatening to a religion like Catholicism, which stresses
the mediation of revelation through Jesus and through the ecclesial structures. We should think,
too, of Madeleine's Carmelite tradition: Teresa of Avila very strongly critiqued any bypassing of
Jesus' humanity in the spiritual life.
There are ample letters from Madeleine's correspondence that illustrate this growing concern
for the abstract school, at least in its extreme tendencies. At one point she criticizes Mère Agnes,
a cherished confidante of Condren and Bishop Zamet, for being in "a profound illusion." At
another point in her life she was very opposed to die notion of withdrawing (désappliquer} from
Jesus' humanity in die spiritual journey, a term dear to Condren's austere spirituality of sacrifice.
Some circles, after Bérulle's deadi, did try to associate his name with a kind of crusade against
Benet of Canfield's abstract spirituality. Is this the source of die pressure that caused Mère
Madeleine to say that Bérulle's zeal for an abstract spirituality caused her great pain? Did the
Mother not understand die Cardinal's careful critique of this abstract spirituality in his later Jesus­
centered theology and spirituality? Or was she simply pointing to a danger always in need of
critique in die spiritual life? Bérulle, as we shall see, never completely abandoned the abstract
spirituality stemming from Dionysius. He integrated it with a Christocentrism. Judging from the
Mother's acceptance of the Bérullian theology of anéantissement,
-24she, too, did not completely disown the "Dionysian moment" in Bérullian spirituality. —
The Modier died on 30 April 1637. During her life she had published a study of die mystic
Sister Catherine of Jesus. But her letters are the particularly crucial sources for her developing
thought and work. Given the critical role of the Great Carmel in the renewal taking place in
France, and given her own contribution to die French School, she deserves to be considered one
of die great initiators of the kind of spirituality we are studying here. The French School has a
foundress as well as founders.
Alerting ourselves to the role of women in die history of the French School seems an
appropriate place to say something about the theology of woman present there too. So far as I
know, no studies exist on this issue, and we must rely upon educated guesses stimulated by die

newly emerging feminist criticism of theology. If we borrow a clue from Rosemary Ruether and
speak of three basic "types" of understanding of women-patriarchal, androgynous and
liberationist/the-refusal-to-stereotype—then we might suggest that the French School seems
predominantly influenced by the androgynous viewpoint.
By androgyny we mean the tendency to associate certain characteristics with either males or
females. Both characteristics may be present in males and females in varying degrees, but die
crucial facet of androgyny is to name a certain set of characteristics properly male or female. This
is the source of the so-called masculine and feminine archetypes. Olier employs them frequently,
it appears. God is like a mother who nourishes her son, and in imitation of this the church's
prelates are like mothers who engender and nourish their babes. Spiritual directors are like fathers
in their force, courage and ability to correct; like mothers in their tenderness, patience and
compassion. They "enter into the two great qualities of Our Tord ... [who] is truly father and
mother." )J_Is this androgyny behind Bérulle's great elevation on Mary Magdalene, in which her
founding of a school of love is contrasted with the Beloved Disciple's founding of a school of
knowledge of the Lord? She has more fervor and love; he, more discernment and light. —
One senses that much of die Marian theology and piety characteristic of die French School
particularly lends itself to an androgynous viewpoint. Mary is, after all, the great example of
servitude to die
-25Lord through her maternity and virginity. "The great desire of the Mother of God is to see her
son perfectly loved," says Mère Madeleine. ^_This Marian piety lends itself to a stress upon the
mothering, nourishing aspects of woman. And yet Mary's servitude is her elevation, just as Jesus'
servitude is his elevation. And, in line with this, Bérulle speaks of Mary Magdalene as the first to
witness the Risen Jesus; indeed, as one who did not dee from die cross, but who was strong.
"The first bull and patent" die Risen Jesus issued was to Mary Magdalene "making her an apostle,
but one of life, of glory, and of love; and an apostle to the apostles." ^_Do these texts indicate
that the French School was perhaps on the way to breaking out of the limiting, androgynous
viewpoint? Androgyny seems too limiting a framework for this kind of experience and
spirituality.
Could we perhaps sum up by saying that despite an occasional patriarchal text, misogynist in
viewpoint, the French School leans more in the direction of androgyny, yet with indications of a
move toward a more liberationist perspective? Much more research needs to be done, but for a
first and tentative approach, this conclusion seems legitimate. —
-26NOTES
1. William H. McNeill, A World History (New York: Oxford, 1979), p. 311; cf. pp. 295-326, 359-76 for the basis
of much of the following.
2. Ibid. p. 316. Some key dates and facts: Henri IV of France is assassinated in 1610, succeeded by Louis XIII
(with Anne of Austria); 1624, Richelieu becomes chief minister; 1642, Mazarin succeeds Richelieu; 1643, Louis XIV
succeeds under regency of his mother until Mazarin's death in 1661, and then he assumes full powers, ruling until
1715 (72-year reign). His wife was Marie Thérèse.
3. Cognet is the great church scholar on our period. See Louis Cognet, "Ecclesiastical Life in France,” in History
of the Church 6: The Church in the Age of Absolurism and Enlightenment, ed. Hubert Jedin and John Dolan, trans.
Gunther J. Holst (New York: Crossroad, 1981), pp. 3-106 at p. 13.
4. Cf. Bérulle Oeuvres complètes 2 vols., ed. François Bourgoing (Villa Bethanie, Montsoult Seine-et-Oise:
Maison D'Institution de L'Oratoire, 1960), Vol. 1, pp. 35-115; Vol. 2, pp. 679-743, esp. p. 742; see below on Olier
and Eudes. Translations in the introduction are by me.
5. Cf. Paul Milcent, S. Jean Eudes: un artisan de renouveau chrétien au XVIIe siècle, Semeurs (Paris: Cerf, 1985),
p. 450.
6. McNeill, pp. 325-26.
7. Pluralism involves complex ambiguities. Cf, for example, Karl Rahner's very suggestive "A Small Question
Regarding the Contemporary Pluralism in the Intellectual Situation of Catholics and the Church," in Theological
Investigations 6, trans. Karl-H. and Boniface Kruger (Baltimore: Helicon, 1969), pp. 21-30.

8. We lack a sustained study of seventeenth-century theology. See Yves Congar, A History of Theology, trans, and
ed. Hunter Guthrie (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1968), pp. 177-81; the small amount of space Congar devotes to
seventeenth-century theology says something about the era's (systematic) theological creativity.
9. Congar, p. 178, citing Alexandre's Theologia dogmatica et moralis (1693), 1, praef.
10. Cognet, p. 93.
11. See Cognet, pp. 94-101, for much of this detail.
12. Ibid. ρ. 95.
13. See Jean Dagens, Bérulle et les origines de la restauration catholique
-27-

(1575-1611) (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1952), pp. 39-40; see pp. 16-103 for an overview of the times similar to
Cognet.
14. Cognet, p. 97; cf. pp. 97-101 for what follows.
15. Ibid. p. 99.
16. It is quite possible that the French School's "new" emphasis upon Jesus' humanity served as a kind of bridge
toward a growing appreciation of the historical dimensions of scripture.
17. See, for example, Harvey Egan, Christian Mysticism: The Future of a Tradition (New York: Pueblo, 1984), p.
375, and Hans Urs von Balthasar, "Theology and Sanctity," in Word and Redemption, Essays in Theology 2, trans.
A. V. Littledale, in cooperation with Alexander Dru (New York: Herder and Herder, 1965), pp. 49-86.
18. Dagens, p. 31.
19. Ibid. p. 36.
20. Bérulle, Oeuvres complètes 2, pp. 650, 657, 662-63.
21. On all this see Dagens, pp. 103-32, 249-69, and Louis Cognet, Post-Reformation-Spirituality, trans. R.
Hepbume Scott (New York: Hawthorn, 1959), pp. 56-68. Also see Henri Bremond, A Literary History of Religious
Thought in France 2: The Coming of Mysticism (1590-1620), trans. K. L. Montgomery (London: SPCK, 1930), pp.
145-94, for an engaging treatment of Mme. Acarie.
22. Helpful here is Cognet, "Ecclesiastical Life in France," p. 20.
23. Milcent has suggested that at least the nobility were regarded like priests, given their sacred character at the
time (p. 257), and we have seen the spiritual renewal among them.
24. André Dodin, ed., Entretiens spirituels aux missionaires (Paris: Seuil, 1960), p. 502, my translation.
25. Cognet, "Ecclesiastical Life in France," p. 8.
26. Helpful here is Michel Dupuy, Se laisser à l'Esprit: itinéraire spirituel de Jean-Jacques Olier (Paris: Cerf, 1982),
pp. 17-28.
27. Cognet, "Ecclesiastical Life in France," pp. 20-21.
28. Cognet, "Ecclesiastical Life in France," p. 8, mentions the cumulative benefices of Olier.
29. Cf. Cognet, "Ecclesiastical Life in France," pp. 20-22, on much of this; also Dupuy.
30. Cf. Jean Orcibal, Le cardinal de Bérulle: évolution d'une spiritualité (Paris: Cerf, 1965), p. 80, referring to
Bérulle's Coll 245. For Bérulle's life, see the critical study by Dagens, especially pp. 13-245. Cf. Henri Bremond, A
Literary History of Religious Thought in France 3: The Triumph of Mysticism, trans. K. L. Montgomery, (London:
SPCK,'1936), pp. 1-222.
31. Paul Cochois, Bérulle et l'école française, Maîtres spirituels Series (Paris: Seuil, 1963), p. 33; see pp. 30-43 for
this entire controversy. Cf. Dagens, pp. 205-28.
-2832. Orcibal, p. 154, calls this Formulaire III of the vow.
33. See CB 2, P. 341, p. 245.
34. G 2, 4, p. 174. Cf. Bérulle's N for his own defense, appended to the G.
35. See Dagens, p. 291.
36. This remarkable document of around three thousand pages, written from 1642 to 1652, is available through
important selections in Dupuy, which is the modem, critical study of Olier's life. See also Bremond 3, pp. 359-434.
37. Cf. Lowell M. Glendon, "Jean-Jacques Olier's View of the Spiritual Potential of Human Nature" (Ph.D. diss.,
Fordham, 1983), p. 82, for this and subsequent citations; this one is from Mém 1:117.
38. Mém 1:214-15; in Glendon, p. 83.
39. Mém 1:95; Me 1:86 (a later copy of Mém); in Glendon, pp. 83-84.
40. Mém 1:128; in Glendon, p. 87.
41. Cf. Bremond 3, pp. 359-91. Interestingly, St. Thérèse of Lisieux suffered a remarkably similar illness in 1883,
when she was ten. "I appeared to be almost always delirious, saying things that had no meaning.... I often appeared
to be in a faint, not making the slightest movement." (Story of a Soul, trans. Jolui Clarke [Washington, D.C.: Institute
of Carmelite Studies, 1975], p. 62). Hans Urs von Balthasar, relying upon P. Roquette, who considers these illnesses
mystical experiences, notes this similarity among Thérèse, Olier and Surin in his Thérèse of Lisieux: The Story of a
Mission, trans. Donald Nicholl (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1954), p. 280.
42. Mém 1:192, in Dupuy, p. 112; Lettre 69, 1, p. 149; Mém 1:149; in Glendon, p. 90.

43. Mc 1:85; in Glendon, p. 91.
44. See Gilles Chaillot, "Les premières leçons de l'expérience mystique de Monsier Olier," Bulletin du Comité des
Etudes 40 (1962): 501-43.
45. Bremond 3, p. 393.
46. Cognet, "Ecclesiastical Life in France," p. 78. The Journée chrétienne went through six editions in the
seventeenth century, three in the nineteenth century, and three again in our own. The lack of eighteenth-century
editions may have been owing to biases against mysticism in the church in general (information courtesy of Irénée
Noye). Besides the major works of Oiler referred to throughout these pages, mention should be made of his venture
in "spiritual exegesis," L'explication des cérémonies de la Grande Messe (1657).
47. Besides Dupuy's critical life, see also Frédéric Monter, Vie de JeanJacques Olier (Paris: Poussièlgue, 1914).
48. Paul Milcent, "Jean Eudes (saint)," Dictionnaire de Spiritualité 8, ed. M. Villcr, et at. (Paris: Beauchesne, 1972),
cols. 488-501 at 498. 49. See Milcent's Saint Jean Eudes: introduction et choix de textes,
-29Témoins de la foi Series (Paris: Bloud and Gay, 1964), pp. 15-16, for an explanation; the phrase "not clearly
known" is my rough translation of "Pour les raisons qui restent mal connues ... ," in Milcent's article on Eudes in DS,
col. 489. See Bremond 3, pp. 133-92. Cf. Raymond Deville, L'école française de spiritualité, Bibliothèque d'histoire
du Christianisme Series 11 (Paris: Desclée, 1987), pp. 92-94.
50. Clément Guillon, En tout la volonté de Dieu: S. Jean Eudes à travers ses lettres (Paris: Cerf, 1981), p. 28.
Eudist scholars manifest a quite understandable circumspection about the Oratory, the "mother," after all, of their
own congregation.
51. "Llnlike attempts made elsewhere, Père Eudes did not admit the 'penitents' [young women] into the religious
life; on the other hand he endowed this novel institute with solid constitutions" (Milcent, Saint Jean Eudes:
introduction, p. 20, my translation).
52. See the letters assembled and interpreted in Guillon, pp. 133-52, for a fine analysis of these trials by John
Eudes himself, and by Guillon.
53. Olier, Mém 2:221; for these details, see Milcent, "Jean Eudes," in DS, cols. 490-91.
54. See above, in the text, for the role of most of the women mentioned in Bérulle's work. For Olier, Dupuy is
especially sensitive to the place of the women mentioned in his Se laisser à 1'Esprit, pp. 299-3 21. Also see Constant
Bouchaud, "Le role de Mère Agnes dans la preparation spirituelle de JeanJacques Ober a la fondation du Séminaire
de Saint-Sulpice," Bulletin de Saint-Sulpice 12 (1986): 160-70. On Eudes' appreciation for Marguerite, see Milcent, S.
Jean Eudes: un artisan, pp. 228-30. This will surely become the critical study of the saint in our time. Also see
Bremond 3, pp. 497-572.
55. Cognet, Post-Reformation Spirituality, p. 104; see lais La spiritualité moderne (Histoire de spiritualité 3/1)
(Paris: Aubier, 1966), pp. 360-410, for Cognet's sensitivity to women.
56. Tills was around 1611. See (Louise de Jésus), La Vénérable Madeleine de Saint-Joseph (Clamart: Carmel de
1'Incamation, 1935), p. 128. This is the key study of Madeleine; also cf. Dagens, pp. 191-228; and Bremond 2, pp.
227-67.
57. See Lettre 3 in Madeleine de Saint-Joseph, Lettres spirituelles, ed. Pierre Serouet (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer,
1965), p. 17. Cf. Louise de Jésus, pp. 225; 500-02nl0.
58. Cognet, La spiritualité moderne, pp. 363-64; Lettre 14, p. 25.
59. XXXI A in Michel Dupuy, "De nouveaux inédits de Bérulle," Revue d'histoire de la spiritualité 52 (1976): 363;
for Cognef s view, La spiritualité moderne, p. 364; also see Lettre 144, p. 144; see below, pp. 200-03.
60. See the appropriate texts in Lettre 39, pp. 46-47, and in Louise de Jésus, pp. 243-44nl5. Orcibal, pp. 133341161, has an important analysis of the matter. For anéantissement see, for example, Lettre 159, pp. 166-67.
-30-

61. Olier, Projet de l'establissement d'un séminaire dans un diocese, in Traité des saints ordres, ed. G. Chaillot, et
al. (Paris: St.-Sulpice, 1984), p. 315; L'esprit d'un directeur des âmes [paraphrasing M. Ober] (Oeuvres complètes de
M. Olier, ed. J.-P. Migne [Paris: Ateliers catholiques, 1956], col. 1219).
62. See Chapter 3 especially.
63. Serouet, Lettre 177, p. 181.
64. Ma 5, 5, 7; 7, 4. Mère Madeleine also speaks of the strength of women who followed Jesus: Lettre 174, pp.
179-80.
65. For these categories, see Rosemary Ruether, Sexism and God-Talk: Toward a Feminist Theology (Boston:
Beacon, 1983). One apparently misogynist text in the French School: Bérulle speaks of "the vanity common to the
fragile sex" in his Observations sur le texte de Sainct Luc, en faveur de la Maodelaine, I.
-31-

II. Theology and Spirituality in The French School

Because the French School forms part of the creative reaction against the separation of
theology and spirituality, we will try our best to interrelate die two aspects throughout our
overview. There is a continual perichoresis or interchange between die theological and the practical.
"Some distinguish between a mystical and a practical theology, but this is a distinction which I do
not wish to employ," says Bérulle. "All God's graces distributed upon earth are to enable us to act
better." Tn this respect Bérulle reminds one of die fathers, particularly Augustine. Like them, he
is in quest of a "science of die saints." l_The science dimension links it with the critical clarity of
the scholastic tradition. The saints dimension attaches it to spiritual experience: a deep life of
faith and even mystical experience. Not a small part of the fascination of the French School is the
dynamic and sometimes surprising manner in which each of our four founding mystics enters
into this tension-laden interchange.
The Basic Pattern
Two traditions intersect in the French School: the Neoplatonic and the Christian. Like the
millennial tradition as a whole, Bérulle and his collaborators employ the Dionysian, Neoplatonic
schema: We have come from God (exitus) and we find our being's fulfillment in re
-32turning to our origin (reditus). But the French School has thoroughly "Christianized" or
"Christified" this pattern: Our emanation reflects Christ, our wounding it through sin deepens
our need for Christ, and our return to God is through tire mediation of Christ. Jesus Christ is
God's unsurpassable revelation. This spirituality and theology is at once very Pauline and Paschal,
and very Neoplatonic and Dionysian. Both of these aspects shine out in Bérulle in an almost
perfectly balanced manner. In Madeleine, Olier and Eudes die Dionysian dimension constitutes a
more or less deep context within which the Paschal or Pauline aspects are rather more heavily
accented. But there is also a third element to be added: the unique modulations each of our
mystics give to the millennial tradition. With Bérulle this can take the form of daring intuitions
quite unheard of before, a kind of mining of new shafts within the tradition. With Madeleine,
Olier and Eudes it more commonly takes the form of intensifications of aspects deserving greaterstress.
Theocentric and Trinitarian
"So God who is unity leads everyone to unity, and through distinct degrees of unity comes and
descends toward man that he might ascend toward God," says Bérulle. J_Here we note the
dynamic kind of unity, beloved of much Neoplatonism, that lies behind Bérulle's theocentric
exemplarism: The divine unity is the example or form which creates in creatures the basic
tendency toward unity. We come from divine unity and our being is a living dynamism of
participating in that same unity. We should not think of intermediaries between humans and
God, for die Divine grounds and permeates all: "... God, creating and forming all things, refers
them and relates them all to himself ... a movement more intimate to the creature than his own
being itself." This divine "unity of essence" is also revealed to be a "unity of love" in die trinitarian mystery.
At times Bérulle explores this m a more Augustinian, typically Western fashion: "All the divine
persons are of the same essence." At other times he seems more typically Greek, stressing the
persons more than the unity: "The divine society of persons subsisting eternally in the divinity."
The Father is the "fontal deity," the source and even end of all, "like an admirable circle," who
performs "the work of a father and mother simulta
-33neously as regards his Son and eternal Word." The Son, "the image which the Father has
formed of himself," is simply "a continual reference to his Father." The Holy Spirit, produced by
the Father with the Word, is their "unity of love." In this sense, that the Spirit does not himself
produce another person but is the loving fecundity of Father and Son, Bérulle will daringly speak
of the "sterility of die Holy Spirit." 5

This trinitarian theocentrism forms the background of Mère Madeleine's writings too. In her
letters she usually dwells upon the inner life of the person and her relation to Jesus, but at times
she will express the typically Bérullian trinitarian theology undergirding dus. She knows that
Father, Son and Spirit are "one in essence," but this unity is a rich one. She was known to have
spoken of the "plenitude of God," from which emanates a "plenitude of grace." An especially
fine formulation of her trinitarian thought, more reflective of die typically Greek approach and
tinged with her own love theology, is the following:
For, as in the eternal generation the Father is pleased in his Son and the Son in
his Father, and this mutual contentedness happily finds its completion in the Holy
Spirit who is love, so God, producing in the creature several different effects,
finally wishes the creature to adore this contentedness of Father and Son in
themselves and that love be die goal and fulfillment of all dieir work. Olier's commentators will say that some Platonic themes enter into his thought about God
chiefly through Condren: God is the "All," for example. But the typically Dionysian stress on
God's hiddenness finds only an echo in Olier. "God is transcendent by excess more than by
difference." LThus, Olier's God is very much a communicator, a fire, to use one of his favorite
metaphors: "O my God, you have appeared like fire." Thus, he likes to stress the trinitarian
(communicative) aspect of God, in whose image we are all made: God "has formed human
society upon the model of die society of persons in the most holy Trinity." As the divine persons
love one another, so "God wants each to love one's neighbor as oneself." 2
John Eudes too, like Olier and Madeleine, developed a more biblical, less Dionysian
formulation of the divine mystery. There is a well-known, Dionysian-like text in which Eudes
counsels us to be detached from our own "attachments" to God, for God is truly so
-34much more. But for Eudes, God is primarily love, perhaps dirough the influence of St. Francis
de Sales and also attentiveness to his own inner experience. Thus he moves easily into
meditations upon the trinitarian mystery, stressing die divine persons' sharing of love among
themselves and imprinting diat love upon us, especially dirough baptism. His great work on
Mary's heart is really a prolonged meditation on how the Marian mystery is grounded upon die
heart of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. "To adore die heart of Jesus," Eudes tells us, "is to adore
the heart of the Son and the Holy Spirit; ... a heart which is a furnace of love burning very
intensively for us." Note die Eudist twist given die unity in Trinity: the "diree persons in the
adorable mystery of the Trinity ... are but one heart." 2
As we indicated earlier, the French School refused to separate theology from spirituality. Thus,
the kind of theocentric trinitarianism essayed here goes along with a certain spiritual praxis. We
will need to look at what the French School thinks about the reality of sin and the Christ event to
fully appreciate its spiritual praxis, but even now we should mention that there is a spirituality
corresponding to this theocentric trinitarianism. For each of our mystics, we are a reflection in
some way of the inner mystery of the Trinity. Here the Platonic exemplarist and die biblical
"image of God" tradition intersect : We are most ourselves when we reflect the loving relations
of the divine reality itself. —
Christological and Soteriological
No scholar doubts that the French School is profoundly Christocentric. We have even seen
that the early Bérulle, more deeply influenced by the abstract style of spirituality seeking to
transcend everything finite and human (even Jesus' humanity), still saw in Jesus the exemplar of
the life of ascent to the Divine Mystery. As he undergoes his so-called Christocentric conversion
his Christology deepens. He never disowns his early acceptance of the abstract, Neoplatonic
school of spirituality. But he rather creatively integrates it with a more biblical perspective. ^_This
usually takes the form of viewing the Incarnation as a prolongation of the trinitarian mystery on
earth. "For God produces all things by his Word," Bérulle tells us. "Now the first operation of
God is the production of his Word,

-35and the final, the incorporation of this same Word into the human nature." 12 In a passage
unique in his writings, but which Cognet suggests sounds strikingly similar to Harphius, Bérulle
calls the Incarnation a "second Trinity, a novel Trinity," for it unites Jesus' body, soul and
Divinity. It is not a "Trinity of subsistence in the unity of essence" (as in the "First" Trinity), but a
"Trinity of essence in the unity of subsistence." 13 Of course, all the trinitarian persons are
involved in die Incarnation: the Fatiier through his initiative; the Spirit, "infertile" within die
Trinity becomes fecund outside of it in lovingly sharing die God-Man. But Bérulle especially
underscores the role of the Word: the Image produces a perfect "image." —
What is diis "novel state" of the Incarnation, as Bérulle likes to describe it? Bérulle particularly
meditates upon the hypostatic union, combining insights from the fathers, the scholastics and die
mystics. "The person of the Word ... possesses an extraordinary and inexplicable relation to die
human nature, which being deprived of its subsistence, must receive that subsistence from the
Word," says Bérulle. Mlérullc here takes over die traditional notion diat Jesus' human and divine
natures subsist in die person of the Word (the so-called enhypostasia of the humanity in the Word).
Jesus thus has no need of a human "person" (or act of subsistence). This establishes "an order
and state ... singularly divine and singularly proper to die eternal Word." If you will, the hypostatic union is what Bérulle elsewhere calls the substance of the mystery of
the incarnation. He displays his originality in his meditations upon the economy of that same
mystery, die way in which that mystery deifies the life of Jesus and of those who share in diat life.
ILThere exists a "commerce and communication ... between [Jesus'] divinity and humanity." In
more daring terms: "He who is, becomes: the Uncreated is created: ... die One who enriches the
world becomes poor." (^.Because of tills, there can be no bypassing or surpassing of Jesus'
humanity (against abstract mysticism). And yet Jesus' humanity is one of poverty, of subsisting
not in itself but in die Word, of dénuement or self-emptying (with diat abstract mysticism). Here
we see how Bérulle unites the more Jesus- centered mysticism of the scriptures and the Teresian
(Carmelite) tradition with the concerns of Dionysian, negative mysticism. Our goal is indeed die
Transcendent One, but our means is Jesus, and our goal is Jesus too. He is God's highest
revelation. —
-36Through this novel state, the God-Man Jesus now becomes a "Father" in the order of the
economy. Bérulle can use the biblical notion of the "New Adam": Through Jesus' humanity,
which is in solidarity with us, we enter into a new order. Bérulle can also use the Neoplatonic,
exemplarist language: Humanity is deified through Jesus; "God becomes man in order to make us
gods." i_l le will also use his complex and somewhat unique term état to develop diis economy.
At least as this term is used in die important OP 77, On the Perpetuity of the Mysteries ofJesus Christ,
Bérulle sees in die mystery of the Incarnation some tilings "past" and others "present and
perpetual." "They are over as regards their execution, but present as regards their power [zw&J."
Or, Bérulle will say diat die "love with which they have been accomplished will never pass away."
^_If you will, there is a power of deification perpetually at work in the events of the incarnation.
In this sense, the "states" of Jesus are die archetype of "states" in die Christian:
For the incarnation of the Word is die basis and foundation ... of the deification
of all the states and mysteries sharing in the life and earthly voyage of the Son of
God upon earth.... Jesus ... wishes that we have a unique share in these various
states, according to the diversity of his will for us and our piety toward him. 22
We find die main aspects of this Bérullian christology, with some unique modulations, among
Madeleine, Olier, and Eudes. Madeleine sees the incarnation as the expression of the Trinity in
the historical economy. Her own formulation of die God-Man mystery is to speak of it as the
Son's abasement before die Father, whereby he enters into the "state of perpetual victimhood," a
phrasing reminiscent of Condren's theology of sacrifice. Like Bérulle she uses die term état to
refer to the inner dispositions within Jesus and within ourselves by which we are conformed to

him. The Bémllian Soften has a "permanenc y" about it: Our participation by state is deep and
lasting. Her special charism was to emphasize die role of the humanity of Jesus as the never-tobe-bypassed mediator of union with God. "I know that not everyone can apply themselves
through discourse to [Jesus'] mysteries; ... I speak of an adherence of the will ..." she says,
echoing the view of the French School as a whole. Whether verbally or not, we are always one
with Jesus, through "state," adherence, in our depths. In this respect she was influenced by
Bérulle,
-37whose counsel on diis issue she sought: "He gave me an explanation which filled me with great
joy." She was also deeply influenced by the great St. Teresa of Avila, who regretted "having
followed the advice ... to bypass Jesus Christ's humanity, as if it were an impediment to the
highest contemplation." yhAgain, Jesus Christ is God's unsurpassable revelation.
No one could doubt the Christ-centeredness of Oiler's life and thought. He was deeply marked
by his vow of servitude to Jesus (1641) and vow of ho st-victim two years later. ^_His writings are
permeated by a Jesus-centeredness. We find the Bémllian view of the Incarnation as a
prolongation of die Trinity, as the hypostatic mystery in which the human "person" is replaced by
the person of the Word ("The holy humanity of Our Lord has been annihilated in its own
personhood."), and as a "mystery" or "state" whose "dispositions" are "never interrupted," still
working in "all his members." Under the influence of Condren he seems, again, to accent the
host- victim nature of Jesus: "Our Lord, in his divine person, ... is this altar of gold upon which is
consumed the most perfect sacrifice." JfyOlier often spoke of die "heart" or "interior" of Jesus,
rather than the état, something which Bérulle himself tended to do after the Grandeurs: "Thus the
interior of Jesus Christ ... filling his soul ... must be always before our eyes as die source and
model of our own soul's interiority." 26 Throughout his writings Olier treats us to an almost
dizzying series of meditations and probings on various facets of the Jesus mystery, as we would
expect from someone who knew that "it is necessary that Jesus' humanity flow through us that
we might participate in his life." It is the summit of revelation. —
We can note in the later Bérulle of die I de, in Madeleine's important Lettre 144, and in Olier's
stress on Jesus' "interior" an increasing stress upon die loving heart of Jesus. It is as if the more
the French School meditated upon the mystery of die Incarnation, the more it moved toward
love as the "deep grammar" of it all. Perhaps the growing rigorism of the Jansenists had
something to do with this. It is a fact that our mystics always opposed the Jansenists. Is their
heart and love Christology their answer to Jansenistic rigorism? Perhaps, too, we can sense
something of the Renaissance and Baroque humanism here: Jesus' "heart" is die kind of
personalism capable of satisfying the new desire for a more human and personal existence. In any
case, it is this heart Christology that erupts in the work of St. John Eudes.
-38The great Bémllian Christological themes, of course, punctuate Eudes' works, particularly die
early and foundational Royan/ne. One will find die Incarnation as die Trinity's supreme
manifestation in history, and meditations upon the states and mysteries of Jesus and our
participation in him. 28 However, even here there are noticeable shifts in accent: toward a more
biblical language, especially Paul's. Milcent, for example, notes diat the phrase "the formation of
Jesus in us" (Gal 4:19) becomes almost a technical notion. The influence of St. Francis de Sales is
probably also evident in the new stress on the heart, on love and on "devotion" instead of die
Bémllian term "religion." yfy'To be a Christian," says Eudes, "this is but to be one with [Jesus] ...
to have but one life, one spirit, one heart... one devotion and disposition with you." —
John Eudes' theology of Jesus' sacred heart finds its consummate expression in die later Coeur
and in die feast which he composed. It represents a tmly great and appealing transposition into
the register of charity of the Bémllian Christology. An interesting fact is that John Eudes
followed historically die route "from Mary to Jesus," for it was only through meditation upon her
loving heart that he slowly discovered Jesus' loving heart. 2 In any case, the Bémllian theme of

the Incarnation as the prolongation of the Trinity finds expression in the Eudist theme of die
divine heart present in die mystery of Jesus. Similarly, the Bérullian mystery of the hypostatic
union is transposed into meditations upon Jesus' corporeal and his spiritual hearts as enfolded in
that divine heart. These three—die divine, corporeal and spiritual hearts—embrace die total
divine (divine heart) and human body and soul (corporeal and spiritual hearts) of Jesus. Even the
Bérullian theme of die état of Jesus as a perpetual power of deification is transposed into die great
heart of the mystical body. "My daughter," Eudes once wrote, "do you know that you possess
two hearts, a great and a small?" And he explains: "The latter is your own, but die great one is
that of our good Savior, which is also your own...." —
Corresponding to tiiese theocentric, trinitarian and Christological-soteriological accents is a
view and practice of die Christian (spiritual) life as one of a struggle between attunement to our
deepest being and die opposing failure to remain so attuned. The conflictual nature of tiiis
struggle is particularly accented by Bérulle and Olier. In Madeleine and Eudes we seem to
encounter a somewhat greater stress upon our deliverance from this struggle through Jesus. But
in
-39all die founding mystics of the French School there is a refusal to slide into either a simplistic
optimism, which would ignore human perversity, or a rather frightful pessimism, which would
plunge us into a kind of miserable despair and spiritual impotence. Between these two extremes
there seems to be room for varied and legitimate accents, depending upon the needs of the
spiritual life at a given time and place.
Owing to his biblical and Neoplatonic horizon of thought, Bérulle possessed an emphatic
sensitivity to the creature's fragility apart from God. If we are but "a tending toward him in the
state of our lives and in all our actions," then the reverse side of this is our "nothingness," our
"need," and our "impotency" without God.
Perhaps in the humanistic atmosphere of tire
Renaissance Bérulle felt a special pressure to think this way against tendencies to derail into an
autonomous view of die human person. But the notion of die creature's "nodiingness" {néant)
seems directed at our being as separated from God. It is by no means an unqualified assertion,
and some commentators have noted a tendency in the later Bérulle of the I z? to mollify the talk
of néant. ^_Still, Bérulle seems to be an Augustinian "realist," in the sense that he recognizes outexistence as fallen. We do not inhabit a state of pure nature. Far from it, as OP 29 gratingly puts
it:
The state to which we have been reduced by the sin of our first father ... is
deplorable.... For in tiiis state we possess rights only to nothingness and to hell,
and we can do nothing but sin, and we are but a nothingness opposed to God. —
Cognet thinks that Bérulle was even somewhat critical of St. Francis de Sales' optimism. He
rather emphasizes die harsh judgments of the Council of Orange on human depravity, says
Cognet. Bérulle also seems intrigued by Satan's captivity of humanity, a theme that surfaces in the
early treatise on possession (1599). Our death, too, is in some way linked to our punishment for
sin, according to the tradition upon which Bérulle draws: "This world is but a theater of death,
and diis life is but an obligation to die." —
But if Bérulle can accent our nothingness and sinfulness, he can also celebrate our grandeur.
For as we have seen, we are a tending toward God and a reflection of the Trinity in our very
being. "From die first," Bérulle tells us, "God has given us an instinct and move
-40ment toward himself ... and this movement is inseparable from the creature and will endure
forever." ^_Here, of course, Bérulle has in mind "dieandric humanity," tire person as related to
the Divine, rather than the "nodiingness" of a creature supposedly separated from God. Similarly
God has acted tiirough Jesus to restore us to our proper being after the ravages of sin. As we
have already seen, there is a very developed soteriology in the French School. The permanent

vertu operative in the "state" founded by die "economy of Jesus" graces us. Jesus, Bérulle will say,
"gives us his heart, his grace and his spirit; he incorporates us into him." —
Bérulle's meditations upon the Incarnation, as substance and economy, lead him especially to
emphasize die states of "adoration" and "servitude" as informing Jesus especially, and through
him, other Christians. The Incarnation is, if you will, an irruption of adoration and servitude in
history. Servitude, because God becomes one with a human nature whose being is to be God's
servant. Because in becoming human, Christ lives out the painftil life of a pilgrim during his
human existence. But most especially, because
This humanity ... which is emptied of something so great and intimate to its
own essence as is its subsistence, and according to the Angelic Doctor, of its
existence, is much more under the power and possession of the eternal Word
which receives and sustains its existence, which is but a slave within die power
and possession of its master.
And what is true of Christ, the archetype, becomes true of the Christian; our life, too, is marked
by a radical servitude which in some way "Christiforms" our own existence. Christ's state of
servitude "creates diverse states in souls" as it "operates in [Jesus] the dependence in which [lie
is]." ^Through tins servitude the Christian can become mystically passive and receptive to Christ
in the depths of being and in all one's actions. This was die point of the Bérullian "vow of
servitude," which more cautiously became an "elevation to servitude" in die Grandeurs. We
deepen our creaturely dependence upon God through servitude. We also heal it, insofar as it has
been ravaged by sin. It enables us to undergo the anéantissement, die "no-saying," to any attitude or
action away from Christ. "The anéantissement of [Jesus]," says Bérulle, "is the basis and foundation
of all our good actions." —
-41The Incarnation also renders us "adorers" in our actions and in our being. By now we should
be getting used to Bérulle's penchant for moving to the deeper (metaphysical) level of being, die
level from which springs our thoughts and actions. "You are now, O Jesus, [die] adorer" of a
God who has been adorable from all eternity, but has only found an infinite adorer with the
coming of Christ, Bérulle prayerfully exclaims. 42 This Jesus, who "alone adores by state the
divine persons and emanations" has this state "imprinted into the fond [or "fount"] of his created
being," and in turn we ourselves "must honor ... the Son of God ... first by adoration ... secondly
by love ... and then thirdly by an adoring love, that is to say, loving while adoring." —
As Guillén Preckler puts it, Bérulle powerfully transforms die "essential introversion" of the
soul's "fount," so dear to the mystics of the Rhineland, into a Christo logical adoration by state.
His originality is in making the mystic's contemplation a sharing in Christ's exemplary adoration
itself. JLThis state of adoration is die basis of our need for contemplation. As the Son is the
"flower and fruit" of the Father's contemplation, so we are "called to contemplation, not only by
inspiration but by state," Bérulle tells us. 45 Here the Bérullian contemplation becomes a
Christological act of adoration itself. Servitude and adoration, then, or anéantissement and
contemplation, are the two great movements within the spiritual life. They lead us to our end.
They heal us from die sinftil obstructions blocking our journey to our end.
We will find the main Bérullian themes sketched above in Mère Madeleine's writings. There
seems less of a stress upon our nothingness and sin, but these themes do, of course, surface, as
they must in any realistic exploration of the spiritual life. "Know that die trutii of our néant is so
great," she can say. ^_Her biographer, Louise of Jesus, records an especially strong awareness of
sin that came to the Mother during her great dark night. "God made me see die malignity of the
human being corrupted by sin; ... I have seen with trembling what would become of me were
God to leave me to my sinful being." —
We have already noted that the Mother told Cardinal Bérulle how helpful the vow of servitude
was to her in her spiritual life. Like the Cardinal she can also commonly speak of abandonment

adherence, self-renunciation and anéantissement. Perhaps we might say that this complex of terms
refers to one of the great movements of the spiri
-42tual life through which Christ acts to redeem us. In a somewhat more Carmelite-Teresian
manner she will also speak of following the cross as die way to Christ. 48 But the Mother also
knows die other, more positive movement of the spiritual life: honoring and adoring and loving.
And we have seen that perhaps her great contribution to the French School is to have
emphasized the love dimension of the moment of adoration.
Let's take a closer look at the Modier's teaching in this regard, especially as noted in her crucial
Letter 144. Much of this letter seems to reflect die great second discourse of the Grandeurs: that
adoration is what God has been seeking from his creatures; that our sinftilness has made it
impossible for us to comply; that the Incarnation makes it possible for a God to adore God and
for Jesus' humanity to enter into a state of adoration; and that inasmuch as we conform ourselves
to this model and unite ourselves with his dispositions, we, too, can become adorers. Note,
however, some unique Madeleineian accents. She tells her correspondent that she prefers "the act
of adoration" to "thanksgiving." This will save one from self-preoccupation, and it might be a
critique of the dangers of mystical "introversion." We remember die Mother's problems with
abstract mysticism.
Particularly important is the great stress upon love: adoration "does not even merit its name ...
if love is not its soul and life," Madeleine says. And she adds a gloss: They are "but one duty
called by two names because of their differing effects." Here, I think, she rejoins die biblical
perspective of love as the foundation of die virtues, rather than simply one virtue among others.
We have seen that Bérulle eventually seems to have come to tiiis same position, when he speaks
of an adoring love. In this same letter Madeleine also stresses die theme of Jesus' and die
Christian's state of victimhood and host, probably under Condren's influence. It's perhaps not
accidental that she senses the need to balance this through love. Of course, her own Teresian and
Carmelite perspective must have a lot to do with this too. Along with this, she will also speak of
prayer in more Teresian terms as a conversation with Jesus, and she counsels against too much
attention to methods. —
In Olier we encounter an intensification of die "nodiingness-sinservitude-tf/^/zZArezw/z/"
complex. Besides the already cited Mémoires, the early portions of the Catéchisme are the crucial
witnesses here. "The entire mass of the flesh [of Adam's children] and
-43all its substance is corrupt." Or, "Man is so depraved in his fond that he is nothing but an
inclination to evil and sin." Olier even exclaims that "we are not only sinners, but sin [itself]." The interpretations of these texts, and otiiers like diem, are controversial waters in Olierian
scholarship. To help us make our way here, let us remember some points worth pondering.
First, the Catéchisme, from which the above citations come, is usually regarded as Olier's most
severe account of human corruption. But of its little more than ninety pages, only approximately
twenty- five are dedicated to the theme of sin. Second, it seems important to catch die nuances.
Olier says that "man is only wtfand sin by himselflfar lui-même)" Or, "The old man ... opposed to
the spirit [is] in us only inasmuch as ne are not regenerated." Or, finally, "without die grace of God" are
we sinners. ^_Third, I would suggest that Olier be interpreted against the horizon of the thinking
of the French School, unless we can clearly prove otherwise. Given his nuances, it seems
legitimate to see in him an intensification of Bérulle's spirituality, perhaps under die influence of
Condren. That is, the human being inasmuch as it is considered as either separate from God or in
sin is corrupt. Again, we aren't dealing with unqualified assertions. Fourth, I would suggest that
Olier be read against the backdrop of the mystical tradition of the sort represented by die
Rhineland and St. John of die Cross. Olier seems to accent die deptii of our human evil and sin,
thus calling for a profound and rigorous anéantissement. But this is not so different from the
Sanjuanist nada and die Rhineland's self-renunciation. Finally, the larger portion of Olier's

Catéchisme is dedicated to probing this statement: "We have recovered in Jesus Christ what we
have lost, and many more graces and goods than the sin that has been removed." ^.Perhaps what
we need to do is to read Olier dialectically, as we read many of die odier great mystics. We are
both sinner and saved, in need of anéantissement and filled with grace, and the latter to the extent
that we are "participating in all the mysteries of Jesus Christ." —
Olier usually describes the two great movements of the spiritual life in die Pauline, Paschal
categories of death and resurrection. As we die to our penchant for selfish autonomy and sin
through Christ so we rise to new life. fj_He can even speak of our participation in die "state of
the divine ascension," whereby, "as the saints say, [the soul] becomes perfectly deiform, that is, all
burning with love and shining with die brightness of God!" And this "deification" reaches down
to
-44the "fount of [one's] heart." ^_As Louis Cognet thought, Olier "was a ... very great mystic who
experienced the highest unitive states, and it was through his own interior atmosphere diat he
interpreted the themes of Bérulle and Condren." ^It is not surprising, then, that we come upon
profound explorations of the subtle depths of the spiritual ascent m his works. Olier’s piercing
analysis of die Pauline moment of "dying to the old self' extends to the highest stages of the dark
night. We are called to undergo the anéantissement beyond the surface and up to die very fond of
our being. We must, he says, aspire for an "emptiness of everything," which is the kind of faith
spoken of by John of die Cross: "a completely empty faidi and love alone." Olier is equally capable of profoundly moving explorations of the odier, positive movement of
the spiritual life. He speaks, like Bérulle and Madeleine, of our state of adoration. The deiform
state in which we find ourselves through participating in the resurrection-ascension states of
Jesus enables us to pray with a prayer reaching down to die depths. We are to have "our Lord
before our eyes, m our heart, and in our hands." And Olier glosses: "The first is called adoration;
the second, communion; die third, cooperation." ^_If you will, die transformation of our depth
(fond) bubbles up into a transformation of our mind (eyes), our affections (heart), and our actions
(hands). Here we have hints of the profoundly moving unitive style of mysticism Olier
experienced and fostered. Glendon has, in this regard, spoken of the "remarkable statement"
from the Mémoires in which we find Olier speaking of Jesus as "more willingly [in us] than in a
ciborium." f^_We even find a nuptial mysticism: As God conquers self-love in our soul, Olier
explains, one is "placed into a true ecstasy" and "becomes a spouse of God." ^_And who can
forget the profoundly lyrical last pages of the Journée, where Olier chants the praises of a God
united widi all of creation? His final meditation, "Upon Hearing the Birds Sing," speaks of die
birds' chant as but "slight manifestations of the immense and unending jubilation which God
enjoys in his beatitude." —
St. John Eudes speaks a very biblical, Pauline language as he navigates in these waters too. We
must undergo the Pauline death to self, because of the great triad of the world, sin, and our old
selfish selves. "For being members of our dead and crucified head," says Eudes, "we must be
crucified to the world, to sin, and to ourselves." ^.Eudes, like all the members of the French
School, is a realist aware of the night-side of human existence. He can even use the familiar
-45language of Bérulle: We are "but nothing (néant), sin, and abomination ; all that is in die world is
but smoke, vanity, and illusion." —
Again, the two great movements of the spiritual life surface in Eudes. Of course, as an
Oratorian he practiced die devotion to servitude and the states of "detachment" and anéantissement
to which it gave rise. One of his most challenging pages is the section in the Royaume where he
says diat
the perfection of Christian abnegation or detachment does not only consist in
detachment from self and world; but it obliges us to even be detached from God
in some way.

... that is to say, from die delights and consolations ordinarily accompanying
God's grace and love. —
This detachment is but a participation in the radical abnegation of Christ himself, for we are
"like die image towards its archetype [Christ]." ^_Here we can sense something of die mystical
dark night of die senses and spirit and a certain congeniality widi Oiler's own mystical
experiences.
Few writers in the French School can surpass, however, the celebration of the positive
movement of the spiritual life we encounter in John Eudes. In his Royaume he usually moves
within the Pauline and biblical language of die covenant alliance and our baptismal obligations as
a way of describing this. But, as we know, he developed his "heart" theology and spirituality, and
came in time to prefer a language centered around this great metaphor. He was particularly fond
of the phrase from the Latin translation of 2 Maccabees 1:3, corde magno et animo volenti, which he
translated into avec un grand coeur et un grand amour: "with an immense heart and a huge love." —
Somehow our participation in Christ becomes a participation in this great heart experience. Here
Bérulle's late discovery of the primacy of love, perhaps dirough or at least with, Madeleine,
breaks out. Our own "heart" is, widely viewed, "die whole interiority of the person," and, more
narrowly, "the supreme part of die soul ... , the place of the spirit from which emanates
contemplation." [_"God," Eudes tells us, places die soul "in the way of passive prayer" here
through our heart. This is "contemplation," which is "a very unique regard and a very simple view
of God, without discourse or reasoning, nor multiplicity of thoughts." —
-46Here John Eudes, like all his colleagues in the French School, transposes the mystical
introversion of the Rhineland-Flemish mystics into an experience of the heart and love. It is a
very pure form of love, freed from all clinging and attachment. It is so pure, in fact, that he can
say:
I ask you to notice carefully that the practice of practices, the secret of secrets,
the devotion of devotions, is to have no attachment to any practice or special
exercise of devotion, but have a great concern to surrender yourself, in all your
exercises and actions, to the Holy Spirit of Jesus. —
Mariological
There is a kind of natural passage from Christology to Mariology in die thinking and practice of
the French School. Indeed, a sketch of this school would be woefully inadequate were it not to
surface the enormous importance of Mary to all our founding mystics. The extremely intensive
Mariological accents of a Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort is in many ways a normal
development of trends already well in place in Cardinal Bérulle. ^Mary's "love and grace render
her incomparable," said the Cardinal. "Her dignity brings her close to the Creator in die quality of
motiierhood." 2_But yet this intensified acclamation of Mary is closely linked to die Christological
mystery for Bérulle: Note the stress on her motherhood (of Jesus, of course).
There are several Mariological accents found throughout Bérulle's writings, with a growing
stress upon Mary's inferiority in his later I- !e, which could be called a kind of psychological
biography of Mary in many ways. But all are agreed that the central Mariological principle for the
Cardinal is her maternity of Jesus, thus rooting Mary's importance squarely in the event of the
Incarnation itself. Her "grace and life as the Mother of God is die foundation and origin [of
everything else]," says Bérulle. She "is born in order to be die Mother of God." 2-Bérulle loves to
contemplate die multifaceted reality of this very special maternity. Unlike Aquinas, but like
Scotus, he sees in it the basis of Mary's immaculate conception, a term he explicitly uses. _Mary's
virginity is also founded therein, for die novel state of die Incarnation and her maternity gives her
"a novel and perpetual primacy" over all odiers in the state of virginity. God
-47has united, in Mary, "purity and fecundity, maternity and virginity." And God has done this in
such a way tiiat Mary's virginity is "not only preserved" but even "fulfilled ... by her maternity;

and her maternity is ... divinely accomplished in her virginity." (j_Not surprisingly, then, although
less commonly, Bérulle will celebrate the singularity of Mary and her grandeur: The eleventh
discourse of the Grandeurs speaks of her occupying an order "distinct and separated from all the
orders among die angels and saints." 75 And, in line with his penchant for daring intuitions,
Bérulle even explores correspondences between Mary's maternity and God's paternity. The
maternal relation to the child perhaps witnesses to the relational reality of the Trinity. The earthly
maternity perhaps points to the heavenly paternity, for her earthly birthing of Jesus reflects die
Father's eternal generation of the Word. —
Guillén Preckler, however, thinks that Bérulle reaches the summit of his Marian spirituality in
the creative twist he gives to the abstract mysticism that he continually integrates into his
Christological spirituality. Just as we find a Christological transposition of some of die themes
dear to that abstract mysticism in Bérulle, so now we find a Bérullian "Marian transposition." "O
inclination of Jesus towards Mary, of Mary towards Jesus emanating from the eternal inclination
of die Father towards the Son, of the Son towards the Father," sings Bérulle. 7 This rooting of
the Marian mystery in the trinitarian relations, this language of "inclination" (and many odier
terms dear to the Rhineland and Flemish mystics), is quite suggestive of Guillén's diesis. Notice,
too, the following, typically mystical expressions: the body, heart and soul of the Virgin is said, by
Bérulle, to be made for the Incarnation and the divine maternity, all of which has "imprinted in
the Virgin a spirit of life, of grace, and of love toward Jesus." —
A second Marian accent of special import for Bérulle is that of "Marian servitude." We have
already noted the great importance of this theme in Bérulle's Christology and in his struggle over
the issue of the vow of servitude. Thus it is to be expected that we will find texts in which he
surfaces the dimension of servitude in Mary. But here, as Guillén Preckler notes, we find
something somewhat surprising. We do find the theme of Mary's own state of servitude, to be
sure, for Bérulle does quite explicitly see in Mary's Fiai the "state of servitude" in which Mary was
placed from the "moment of the Incarnation." 79 But Bérulle's normal tendency is to stress the
Christian person's servitude toward Mary, much as he stressed our own
-48servitude toward Jesus. Here, of course, he follows tire lead of Dionysius the Areopagite: There
is a Christological and Mariological hierarchy (this last is the Dionysian element), and the latter
precedes the former, at least temporally. The state in which Mary exists is capable of founding an
order, for the Virgin dominium acqiiisivit in omnia opera filii sui: Mary has acquired a dominion over
all tire works of her Son. She now, if you will, founds a "choir" of people in servitude to her, and
through her, to Jesus. Through her maternity, Mary
possesses a right and special power of giving Jesus to souls [... and ...] a grace
which forms a special choir in heaven.... She uses her power ... giving a special
place to Jesus who is her son, and to herself, she who is his mother. —
Here we can see again how spirituality and theology (Mariology) are united in Bérulle, for the
varied states in which the soul in servitude to Mary finds itself correspond to the varied states of
the soul of Maty herself.
We might say that the third and final Marian accent of Bérulle is his almost dizzying exploration
of the varied states of Mary's soul, and of course the corresponding transformation these cause in
the soul "in servitude" toward her. We also need to remember that, at least around tire time of
the 17<?, he can move easily from a more ontological to a more psychological exploration of
Mary's soul. Note the subtle shifts in this text:
Contemplating tire occupation of the most holy Virgin, I say that she is not in
an action, but in a state: for her occupation is permanent and not passing. She is
not in a state, but in an action: for what is occurring in her is powerful and
penetrates the marrow of her soul. She is, in neither an action nor a state, but in a
novel being. —

In any case, just as Bérulle contemplated the many-natured states of the Incarnation, so he did
the same for Mary. His 17? is perhaps a major source for this, but one will also find moving
elevations in his correspondence, in the archival materials and in his works of piety. The key
principle here is that as Mary's soul corresponds to that of her Son, so that of the Marian serviteur
corresponds to that of both the former. The infancy of Christ was, of course, a point of special
intimacy between Jesus and Mary, and Bérulle has a special fascina
-49tion for it. Thérèse of Eisieux, perhaps under die Cardinal's influence, will give this her own
playful twist in her own life. It creates a special participation of Mary in Jesus' life, and begins the
transformation of her throughout the depth of her being. During the infancy Mary becomes a
contemplative mystic of the incarnate Word: She "is established ... in a state of perpetual
ravishment upon an object perpetually worthy of ravishment." 82 But Bérulle, in writings other
than the 177, can contemplate other states of Jesus penetrating Mary and die Christian "Marian
serviteur" He particularly dwelt upon the paschal mysteries. Especially through her participation in
these Mary became "attentive to the interior and spiritual life of her Son and a pure capacity of
Jesus filled widi Jesus." ^The basic tendency of Bérulle is to present Mary's participation in Jesus
in a mystical fashion. The Marian mystery is a mystical (gratuitous and "passive") transformation
of Mary's deepest being through her participation in die life, death and resurrection of her Son.
Through this emerges a "novel order of the cross and of heaven altogether! ... an order of souls
crucified with and by Jesus." —
The Mère Madeleine was, as a Carmelite, especially pledged to a spirituality deeply stamped by
Mary. "It is one of my desires, of my greatest desires, that all die souls of this order, who have the
privilege of having the Virgin for their patron and Mother, render her the honor which she
deserves," she tells us. 85 There is, then, a strongly Carmelite and Teresian current within die
waters of Madeleinian Mariology. At the same time, she quite explicitly mentions how Cardinal
Bérulle thought that the Carmelite sisters' devotion to Mary's maternity would be one of their
greater blessings and sources of influence. !)_And there is a strong Bérulle-like emphasis upon
devotion to Mary's maternity in Madeleine's writings. And we do know that she was influential in
causing the Oratorian theologian Guillaume Gibieuf to write his treatise on die life and grandeurs
of the Blessed Virgin. —
I would single out lettre 121 as particularly disclosive of the Mariological accents within
Madeleine's spirituality. It is a letter in which she is commenting upon insights stimulated by
Gibieuf s work on Mary's maternity. We find die grounding of all die Marian mysteries in die
maternity. Madeleine celebrates, for example, the "privileges of die Mother of God" which "are
rare and terribly holy." Hence she is venerated by a multitude of names, such as "Mother of
divine grace, Gate of heaven, Seat of Wisdom, faithful
-50Virgin," and so on. But all of this happens to her "because she is the Mother of God." And like
Bérulle, we can participate in her maternity : "She arranges matters for [us] so that we can fully
receive the effects of her maternity." In this letter Madeleine also singles out die mystery of the
infancy, m which Jesus shows not only "love and tenderness, but also the respect and submission
of an infant towards die mother." We too, she says, "must honor this quality with her and as
something which comes from her." 88 The typical Madeleinian stress on love seems conjoined
here to the Bémllian and Condrennian stress upon submission or servitude and played in a
Mariological register.
Jean-Jacques Olier presents us with an appealing and quite unique transposition of die Bémllian
Mariology. To some extent it is also quite daring, because of die flexible and creative way in
which Olier finds himself forced by his profound experience to invent new theologisms. Mary, he
says in one of his beautiful letters, is an abrégé de l'intérieur de Jésus-Christ, a concentrated but less
explosive expression of the depths of Jesus. He is not afraid to put this another way, which
sounds terribly modem, by calling Mary a sacrament:

Jesus-Christ is, in the sacrament [of the altar], risen and filled with glory; and
even though he is in a sacrament of goodness and mercy, he also exercises
judgments by his condemnations.... Thus we must go to a sacrament which is
pure mercy, where Jesus-Christ exercises no judgment, and this sacrament is the
most holy Virgin, through whom we can confidently have access to Jesus. —
It is clear from this that Olier roots the Mariological mystery in the Christological and
soteriological mystery. She is what she is because of the mystery of Jesus, and her entire existence
is a mediation of that, to herself and us. The common theme of Mary's submissiveness (die Fiai),
expressed by Bérulle as servitude, becomes widi Olier the virtue of humility: Her "poor little
nothingness" is the "portrait" of die Word, the "Word's becoming 'tangible' " (sensible). //But like
Bérulle and Madeleine, Olier loves to contemplate die many mysteries of Mary, emphasizing in a
special manner die maternity, but in his own special way. In the Introduction he calls fecundity the
greatest virtue, and maintains that because God has espoused himself to the Virgin, ennabling her
to generate the Word in time, Mary herself possesses this, die highest virtue. This is an interesting
Olierian
-51spousal transposition of Mary's maternity. We have noted his use of spousal, marital mysticism
before. //Related to this is his calling Mary the "Fadier's Spouse," echoing die Bérullian tendency
to seek correspondences between Mary's maternity and God's paternity. 92 Perhaps the most
celebrated expression of Mary's maternity is found in the following prayer from the Journée
chrétienne, a prayer derived from Condren:
O Jesus, living in Mary, come and live in me, in your spirit of holiness, in the
fulness of your virtue, in the perfection of your ways, in the trudi of your virtues,
in the communion of your divine mysteries: overcome in me all die powerful
enemies, the world, the devil, and die flesh, by the power of your Spirit and for
the glory of your Father. —
Saint John Eudes composed his own slightly different version of this prayer, no doubt highly
influenced by Charles de Condren, like Olier. 94 In fact, perhaps under pressure from the
Huguenots, it has been suggested that he accents die Christological foundations of Manology
even more than his master Bérulle. For example, in his Royaume, his early, more Bérullian work,
he rather daringly (for a Catholic of the Counter-Reformation) says that Mary, of herself, "is
nothing, possesses nothing, can do nothing," for Jesus is "all to her: he is her being, her life, her
holiness, her glory, her power and her grandeur." //.In this early work, which is really a manual of
devotion, we find varied meditations on the various states of Mary, all of them indicating the
close link between Jesus and Mary:
O Jesus, only Son of God, ... you are in ... your most holy Mother ... imprinting
a most perfect image of yourself, of all your states, mysteries and virtues, and
rendering her so like yourself, that whoever sees Jesus, sees Mary, and whoever
sees Mary, sees Jesus. —
Eudes never wavers; his fidelity to diese fundamental Mariological principles remains constant.
But it is clear that, under the surface, he was growing in an enormously deep devotion and
commitment to Mary. How else can we explain, nearly forty years after die Royaume, die
"explosion" of the three-volume Fe coeur admirable de la très sacrée mère de Dieu ou la devotion au très
saint coeur de Marie in die last few months before the saint's death? This remarkable work,
comprising volumes 6-8 of die Oeuvres completes, is an engaging
-52theological-spiritual analysis of die history and meaning of devotion to Mary's sacred heart.
And, on Eudist principles, because Mary is what she is because of Jesus, a study of her heart
ultimately becomes a study of Jesus' heart. This perichonsis between Mary's heart and Jesus' heart is
clear throughout, finally culminating in a more detailed exposition in volume 8/12. The three
volumes, radier like a rosary, make up twelve books, to which are added devotions, rich liturgical

feasts on die sacred hearts composed by John Eudes, and other documents relevant to this heart
devotion.
The first nine books explore die foundations, rather similarly to what we have already seen in
our treatment of Jesus' sacred heart. Like his treatment of Jesus, John Eudes employs die
traditional faculty psychology of the time, finding in Mary the threefold differentiation of die
corporeal, spiritual and divine heart. If you will, because of die union between God and Mary, die
Divine (the divine heart) has transformed die complete being of Mary, bodily (die corporeal
heart) and spiritually (the spiritual heart). "These three hearts of the Mother of God are but one,
for, excepting the hypostatic union, there could never be a holier or closer union," says die saint.
2_This is a transposition, into the language of the heart, of die grounding of Mariology in Mary's
divine maternity. John Eudes wants to show that Mary's heart is "admirable," because it is "an
abyss of marvels." ^_And what makes it so is the mystery of the Divine Presence penetrating her
being in a total way. Books 2-8 probe tliis mystery in a trinitarian manner: die Fadier, Son and
Spirit are the first three foundations for the Marian mystery. Book 9 calls various "excellences" of
Mary herself the fourth foundation of die entire treatise: her freedom from sin, her being a sea of
grace, her love, charity, humility and mercy. Throughout these books, too, we find one of the
more massive historical studies of tins heart theology, in the scriptures, the Fathers and the great
spiritual writers. —
The tendi book is perhaps die summit of die whole: a rather beautiful bib Heal meditation on
the Magnificat, extending to about one hundred pages. Impossible to summarize, Eudes gives a
kind of Bérullian-Eudist spiritual sense to die Marian canticle, which is still moving even today to
a heart properly disposed. The canticle's "language," says the saint, "was not uttered until the very
moment [Mary] received it from the [divine] heart." And continuing in a truly mystical mode:
-53For die corporeal heart of this divine Virgin, filled with a sensible and
extraordinary joy, caused her holy mouth to chant this Magnificat with a fervor and
extraordinary jubilation. Her spiritual heart, completely ravished and transported
in God, caused ecstatic words to arise from her sacred lips: And my spirit is
exalted in God my Savior.... Her divine heart, that is, her divine child, residing in
her blessed womb and remaining in her heart, and who is the soul of her soul, die
spirit of her spirit, die heart of her heart, is the primary author of this Canticle. —
The eleventh book of the Coeur distills from the whole work twelve reasons for a special
devotion to Mary, as well as twelve devotional means for doing so. To this is appended various
meditations for die celebration of die feast of Mary's heart. And finally, arriving in a sense at the
summit of the whole in a more didactic way, the twelfth book explores the sacred heart of Jesus,
itself the ground of Mary's own heart. We have already spoken of this book's contents before in
the section on John Eudes' heart Christology. This final book also contains numerous
meditations on Jesus' heart, as well as the liturgical feasts (Masses and breviary offices) that die
saint composed for these sacred hearts.
The feasts composed by John Eudes are in some sense a Eudist transposition of Cardinal
Bérulle's own original feast of Jesus' solemnity, which the Cardinal composed for the Oratory as a
celebration of the Incarnation (in all its facets, as distinct from particular mysteries of the Jesus
event). Sulpicians had an Olierian feast to celebrate Jesus' interior life (or his heart: Olier uses the
heart language too). We should not ignore Olier's influence in this regard. 101 In any case, it would
seem that Eudes is especially original in giving liturgical expression to the heart devotion. The
French School's notion of participating in or adhering to die states of Jesus and Mary finds in the
saint a liturgical formulation. —
Ecclésial and Pastoral
The spirituality and theology of the French School is clearly interested in contributing to the
spiritual and theological renewal of individuals. There is, clearly, an accent on die individual's own
personal and intimate growth in interiority. All our great founding mystics are noted as profound

spiritual directors, and were usually under a quite definite program of spiritual direction and
discipline themselves.
-54Perhaps the most massive example of this would be Jean-Jacques Olier's two volumes of
letters, most of which are concerned with spiritual direction in this individual sense. This sense of
the individual person shouldn't be surprising in a spiritual tradition that stresses die interior or
the inward or the heart. Partly this is a result of the personalism of die classical and Christian
traditions. It is also probably a result of the deepening sense of the individual typical of a post­
Renaissance world. The accent upon anéantissement, so common in this spiritual tradition, may
result from an intuition that there were dangers toward narcissism that accompany this new sense
of die self. On the other hand, the French School didn't only produce deeply holy i ndividuals.
We only need to diink of Bérulle's founding of die Oratory, of Mère Madeleine's work for die
success of die introduction of die Carmelite tradition (as influenced by Bérulle) into France, of
Olier's Company of St. Sulpice (as well as his support for die Company of the Blessed Sacrament,
open to lay participation), and of John Eudes' Congregation of Jesus and Mary and the female
religious congregations he co-founded, to realize an equal accent upon die ecclesial and pastoral
dimensions of die French School. These great institutional expressions of the school certainly
imply a vision of the church and its pastoral practice. But our mystics do more dian this for us.
We find a fairly well developed explicit tiieology and spirituality of the church, and its ministries
and pastoral practice (especially through missions and education), among the writings of our
mystics.
It is particularly in the period of his Discours de controverse (1609) that we find Cardinal Bérulle
formulating more systematically his vision of die church. Clearly his debates widi the Reformed
(Calvinist/Huguenot) churches were the stimulus for this thinking. Again, we find here a
Neoplatonic or Dionysian ecclesiology, integrated to some extent with die biblical vision. On the
one hand, Bérulle seeks correspondences between nature and grace: the God who authored
nature also formed "the church within die world, as a new earth, and as a new world." In a sense,
the God of nature is an archetype of the church on earth. But Bérulle views die God of grace, the
Trinity, as the church's archetypal foundation too: The church is "the living image of die divine
essence, and the work of die most holy Trinity," says Bérulle. In a charming phrase, the Cardinal
speaks of die "conclave of the holy Trinity" as the foundation of die church on earth. Of course
the Cardinal, in line with tills trinitarian
-55ism, will transpose his ecclesiology into a Christological register too. This is already true in the
period of his controversial discourses, but it especially surfaces in the Vie: "... religion only tends
to [Jesus], and only imprints upon us ... his states and mysteries." 104 Bérulle's vision of the church
is also quite practical, characteristically uniting the theoretical and die practical, theology and
spirituality. For this church's deepest nature is one of mission, oriented to the
salvation of people; the disciples' preaching of our Savior; in a word, the entire
state and exercise of the Christian Religion. Thus it is as die basis and foundation
of the house of God. —
Here we also note the characteristic term found in die French School of religion. Bérulle, and
our otiier mystics, move back and forth between church and religion almost imperceptibly.
Religio, of course, hearkens back to the Roman, Eatin tradition; Dglise, to die biblical. The French
School inherits both. One has die impression that the term religion carries a more philosophical
resonance, intending to penetrate to the interior or depth dimension of the church. We will see
later that M. Olier uses it in this sense, and Bérulle, for example, calls "the state of religion" an
"alliance by grace of God widi humanity, and of humanity with God for die service and honor
they owe him." 10tl Bérulle is a reformer, seeking to renew the church especially through a spiritual
transformation. This word religio seems a good one for conjoining die institutional to the more
mystical or interior dimensions of die church.

Guillén Preckler tells us that Bérulle gradually concentrated his attention upon the state of the
priesthood, certainly after 1599, the year of his own ordination. In illustration of this, he refers to
one of the Cardinal's letters in which he tells us that his "new priestly state ... engages me in a
desire and effort to aspire toward a very great purity, one better corresponding to the grandeur of
my priestly state." '"7 Of course, his controversies with the Calvinists also pressured him to turn
his attention to a theology of ministry, and we find something of a beginning of this in his first
controversial discourse on the mission of pastors referred to earlier. Bérulle always roots his
vision and praxis of ministry in his vision of the church and of Jesus. His own biblical
Dionysianism issues forth in a vision of the ecclesiastical state as "the first and the holiest state of
the church of God," its origins being those of the church's holiness itself. When he puts
-56this into Christological terms, he says that Jesus' "state of the Incarnation" is "the foundation
and the origin of all the states to which God calls us." And among these callings or states within
the church, the priesthood receives a special accent: The bond of the priestly state to Jesus is
"greater and stronger than that of a solemn vow." 108 This is why, in the very Dionysian-sounding
section on die priesdiood in his Nam, appended to his Grandeurs, he calls bishops die archangels
and princes of the church, and priests the church's angels. They "bear the character of the only
Son of God imprinted upon their souls, and this doubly, through baptism and the sacrament of
orders." 122
Part of the Cardinal's genius and charism was to translate this vision of the priesdiood into the
reformist program of the Oratory itself. Bremo nd has a very moving chapter on Bérulle's
foundation of the Oratory as in some way the summit of his work. And the renewal of the
priesthood—always a crucial issue for any realistic renewal of the church—was clearly central in
the Cardinal's vision of the work of the Oratory. The great motif sounding through Bérulle's
program for priestly renewal—in one way or another—was to unite the great triad necessary for
priestly ministry, a triad that had somehow splintered : "authority, holiness, and doctrine." I1" We
might say today, priestly office, spirituality and learning. Perhaps with some exaggeration, the
Cardinal believed that office had fallen to the prelates; holiness, to the religious; and learning, to
the doctors. As a result, the ecclesiastical state was an unlearned, spiridess shell of audioritarian
power. And he conceived the Oratory's charism as one of trying to reunite tiiese great
dimensions of priesdy ministry. If you will, the spiritual or mystical dimension would free
authority from derailing into naked power and manipulation. It would also free learning from the
danger of egoism. Living out the anéantissement of Jesus in the concentrated way demanded by the
priestly state is clearly a great and chief concern tunning through Bérulle's work. At the same
time, it is interesting that his spirituality is very ecclesial, and thus also at least partly sacerdotal.
Hence mysticism needs to be conjoined to ministry and ecclesiastical authority, lest it derail into a
dreamy solipsism. And there is something rather modern in the stress on learning. In part this is a
reaction to the Protestant Reformation, itself surely the result of the "doctors" of the day against
the perceived abuses of the time. It may also be a reflection of the Renaissance and its new spirit
of critical learning.
-57Of course, other aspects of the church surface in die writings and work of Bérulle. Naturally
the Eucharist was also a key concern, from the time of the controversial discourses on. The sixth
discourse of the Grandeurs is an especially fine summary of his eucharistie teaching, in which he
points out the correspondences between the mysteries of the Trinity, die Incarnation, and the
Eucharist. If you will, the way the divine persons reside in one another is somehow reflected in
God's residence in Jesus as incarnate and as eucharistically present. 111 And, despite his
concentration upon the grandeur of the priesdy state—a situation partly demanded by the
ecclesiastical corruption of die time—Bérulle also held a high view of the lay state. For him, as
for the entire French School of this period, all were called to perfection, each through his or her
own unique manner of participating in the various states of Christ. "And we must regard every

soul ... as a hierarchy of heaven upon earth," says die Cardinal ; or, again, "as a subject of [God's]
holiness which should shine and operate [in him or her]." 112 We must not forget die importance
of the lay aristocracy, especially in the renewal of the French church at diis time. Mme. Acarie, we
recall, was enormously important in Bérulle's work. Also, Bérulle was a profound spiritual
director engaging in a direction which cut across all the "states" within the church, as his letters
particularly exemplify. Direction was, for him, "the science of the saints" which "pertains to
saints, makes saints, and directs saints." —
Mère Madeleine's vision of die church seems to remain radier more in the background as an
implicit presupposition of her thought and work. Unlike the Cardinal, she did not have
occasion—through, for example, debates with the Reformers—to explicitly fashion her unique
thoughts on the matter. In her great letter on conjoining love with adoration, referred to so often,
she does speak of the church in both Bémllian and Condrennian terms as the place where Christ
"offers to remain in the state of adoration and immolation." Like Condren, the Mother says tiiat
Christ "has continually offered [the immolation of his blood] since die incarnation." 114 A survey
of her letters leaves one with the impression that her focus is much more eucharistie, as die
accent on Christ's sacrificial immolation just mentioned seems to indicate. The Eucharist, she
says, is the "abrégé [concentrated expression] of [Jesus'] marvels and where he deigns to enclose
himself for us ... in order to associate us with all diat he renders to his Father." 115 This focus
upon the Eucharist is an inter
-58esting blend of the two traditions that converge in the Mother: the Teresian/Carmelite and the
Bémllian/Condrennian.
As Bérulle focuses upon the priesthood and upon die Oratory as the instrument of die
priesthood's revitalization, so Madeleine concentrates upon die religious life and the Carmel as
the instmment of its efftision in France. Not only diis, of course, for we recall that Bérulle sought
her counsel on the matter of die founding of the Oratory. Still, it is only natural that her special
charism should be that of being the first French prioress of die Carmelite tradition. Her letters
are continually concerned witii this, in one way or another. Note the Teresian and Bémllian tone
of the following:
You have asked me what the life of Carmelites should be like. I tell you that we
must conform ourselves to the saints in heaven. The saints always contemplate
the face of God and of his Son whom he has sent, Jesus Christ. This is what
eternal life consists in, as the Son himself teaches us. We must seek to do the
same on earth, insofar as we can. ... Ceaselessly we must regard Our Lord Jesus
Christ and, as we cannot see him in his glory and grandeurs like the saints in
heaven do, we must contemplate and adore him in his abasement and in the
mysteries of his holy humanity. —
In the service of dais vision of die religious life the Mother, as occasion arises in het­
correspondence, advances various suggestions. A special charism of Carmel is to imitate the love
of solitude characteristic of the fathers of the desert. Carmel is a kind of "perpetual novitiate" in
which one learns the art, not only of leaving the world, but of leaving oneself too. 117 In line witii
this, she seems particularly concerned to develop criteria of the Carmelite vocation, as Olier will
develop similar criteria for the priestly vocation. The abuses of the time made this imperative, of
course. Letter 256 seems particularly important in this regard, pointing out some of die bodily
(strength and health) and spiritual requirements (prudence, docility, capacity for repose, lack of
agitation) of the religious vocation. But the Mother also indicates that one must have not only a
vague religious vocation, but one especially suited to the charism(s) of the Carmelite tradition. "It
is," she says, "necessary to see a particular attraction to recollection, solitude, silence, and the life
of prayer which is the unique profession in our Order." 118 As diis indicates, and as many of her
letters also illustrate, the Mother was a highly respected and sought after spiritual director.
-59-

The Mother tells us that "the direction of souls is a great matter." She especially emphasizes the
need of the director to "submit to the power and conduct of Jesus Christ, who is the great
Superior and common Fadier of souls." This liberates die director from her own "inclinations,"
enabling her to experience the kindness and charity required for direction. The Mother
continually speaks of an oscillation between kindness and firmness in dealing widi souls,
dispositions which come to a director who is striving after self-renunciation and adherence to
Jesus in her own life. 119 What comes through is a special concern to protect the unique path to
which God may be calling a soul, a special concern that the director not project her own whims
upon the directee. This is an accent drat also characterizes Oiler's abundant spiritual
correspondence and his other writings on direction. In line with this, the Modier also manifests
an appreciation for die lay state, like our other founding mystics of die French School. Her
concentration upon the religious life does not needlessly narrow her ecclesial horizons. "This
obligation of imitating by our life that of the Son of God is for all Christians, for they are pledged
to it by baptism, but it is a stricter obligation for religious consecrated to it by vows." —
Jean-Jacques Olier's Mémoires indicate diat die mystical dark night he endured during his terrible
trial issued forth, at least in part, in an ecclesial "stretching of horizons." Perhaps he had already
assimilated in a more surface way the general Dionysian perspective of Bérulle and the more
sacrificial perspective of Condren, but his own dark night "burns" into his being a conviction of
the church as "Jesus' extension," enabling him to develop his own unique perspective on the
church and its mission:
The Church is an awesome reality. After experiencing this, I am no longer
astonished by die love one should have for the neighbor or for die least creature
not yet a member of the Church. For myself, I fail to see how one could not die
for the faithful insofar as they will one day form a part of the admirable body of
the most holy Church. —
In general, tiiis more simply Chnstological perspective on die church tends to dominate in
Olier's thinking, and he explores it throughout his writings through striking symbolisms. It is a
"mystical body" through which Jesus has willed to "dilate and expand ... Ins Spirit." Or it has been
"destined to honor Jesus' holy humanity
-60... accompanying [Jesus] in every mystery of die incarnation." 132 In his Journée and Mémoires we
even find a strong "heart" language reminiscent of John Eudes employed to express the church's
nature as the act of religion. The Spirit spreads, "in all the church," what "Jesus' heart" renders
the Father. And our own "hearts and temples are but echoes ... of the harmonies rendered to
God by Jesus' heart." 12j Note the mention of die characteristic term religion. Olier begins his
Introduction with a more systematic analysis of this, which interestingly blends Bérulle's
Christocentrism, Condren's accent on sacrificial imagery, and Olier's own special sense of God's
desire to enter into a deep mystical union with us through the church. Religion consists in
"respect" and "love," we are told. And it is through "the inventions of [Jesus'] love" diat the
kingdom of Jesus brings about the state of religion. Ultimately Jesus' "intimate presence within
us" is like a fire devouring us, transforming us into "consummated hosts" for sacrifice. —
Tike Bérulle, Olier tends to concentrate upon the two realities of priesthood and Eucharist, on
both a theological and pastoral front. Again, he is a reformer, and one of his special charisms is
the renewal of die priesthood, and even the episcopacy. To this end, as we have seen, he founds
his Company of Saint Sulpice, which works in pastoral reform and seminary education. In tins
regard, his Projet de I'establissement d'un séminaire dans un diocese, proposed to the Assembly of the
Clergy of 1650-51, is a particularly fine document to study, and it is somewhat novel in its
attention to the episcopal state.
It is clear that Olier is within the Oratorian tradition of the
need to reunite authority, sanctity and learning in the ecclesiastical state, but widi his own special
modulations, as always.

To gain a perspective on Olier's complicated vision of the priesthood, together with the
spiritual praxis it entails, modern scholarship should, I think, take its bearings from tire critical
analysis of die document traditionally ascribed to Olier, the Traité des saints ordres. This has recently
been provided by the three Olierian scholars Gilles Chaillot, Paul Cochois and Irénée Noye. First
published in 1676, this treatise underwent numerous editions up until even 1953, receiving eleven
editions alone in the nineteenth century. It was, in other words, an enormously influential work,
both in die formation of priests and in spreading a certain image of M. Olier himself. The general
result of current scholarship, however, is to argue that the work is to some extent an anthology of
some writings of the mystic,
-61but also an expurgation and tailoring done by Touts Tronson (1622- 1700), die Sulpicians' third
superior general. The lack of any original autograph, as well as important inconsistencies with the
"authentic" works of Olier, are the deciding criteria of evaluation.
Tronson apparendy tends to stress die "cultic" side of religion, accenting the exercises to which
the cleric is called; Olier, the interiority, as we have seen. This is related to a farther tendency to
transpose into a moral and obligatory register what Olier tends to put in a more voluntary,
mystical register. The language of "obligation" and "exercises to perform" seems rather frequent
in Tronson's touches to the Olierian texts. Tronson also likes to present the various ministries as
so many moral preparations leading to die priesthood, moral steps along the way, so to speak.
Olier, on the other hand, tends to see diem as a dimension of die priesthood itself. Tronson
speaks of the orders as "only the beginning," while Olier leaves out die "only" and sees diem as
the "commencement of the great powers" [of the priest], 126 Even more fundamentally, the
Treatise shows no trace of Olier's Dionysian vision of the episcopacy as the sacramental sharing in
the plenitude of die Spirit. We can only speculate on Tronson's ignoring of Olier's important
texts on die epsicopacy. This enables Tronson to exalt the priest over all else. Was there also a
growing fear of the bishops as instruments of the growing independence of the French church?
A view of ministry that stresses the episcopal college, as Olier does in his Projet, is a view that
gives more place to collegiality and territorial particularity. As Olier puts it in his Mémoires, in
rather Bérullian language, "in die church the prelate and bishop imparting die Holy Spirit must
live a heavenly life, [they] must be elevated to the divine life and to die conversation of heaven."
And in a way somewhat unique to Olier, the episcopacy is "a communication and participation
[in die] dispositions of our ascended Lord...." 127 Finally, and highly problematically, Tronson
omits Olier's avoidance of clericalism. Where Olier sees the priesthood as a special expression of
the priesthood of all die faithfal, Tronson omits any reference to die faithfal.
The basic conclusion to which our scholars come is this: Olier does not make of priests,
through the strong spirituality he demands of them, "super-Christians but rather—and this is
something entirely different—tiiey are experienced Christians and actual examples." 128 There
seems to be an accent upon priests, to be sure, within die Olierian writings. But there is also an
equilibrium between the
-62faithful as a whole and the priest, which enables our mystic to avoid the abuses of clerical
arrogance. "Priests are especially obliged to [a] continual sacrifice, because of their explicit and
public profession," he tells us. But he continues: "At the same time, Christians are all priests in
faidi and in the secret of tire life of the spirit." 129 Perhaps Olier's special contribution was to
contribute to the forging of criteria of the marks of an authentic priestly vocation, given the
abuses of the time. To tins end he especially dwells upon the spirituality necessary for the priestly
vocation. Particularly appealing in this regard is his application of the traditional triple way of the
mystic ascent to the priestly vocation. In his Mémoires we are told that the church requires of its
priests the ability to purify, to illuminate and to unify. One can see here the mystical dimensions
of die purgation, illumination and union transposed into a priestly register. 130 One of die
advantages of this way of thinking is that it nicely conjoins the spirituality of the priest with diat

of the Christian and mystical life in general. Searching for such a conjunction is quite typical of
Olier's priestly theology and spirituality.
As we have mentioned, Olier also has a very developed eucharistie devotion and spirituality.
And related to this is a particular emphasis upon a spirituality of devotion to the Blessed
Sacrament. For example, much of his popular Journée is eucharistie, stressing the Eucharist as "a
dilation of the holy mystery of the Incarnation." And we have earlier noted how he brings out die
deeper meaning of eucharistie communion in mystical terms as a "marriage of Our Lord with the
soul." 131 Of course, he will also accent the sacrifical nature of church and Eucharist, disciple of
Condren as he is: Jesus "always offers himself to God in himself and in all his members ... [lie] is
an altar upon which everyone is offered to God," Olier tells us. 132 And as we have mentioned
several times, Olier was a noted and much sought after spiritual director, as his letters particularly
manifest. In fact, his disciples Bretonvillier and Tronson also compiled a number of his thoughts
on direction into L'esprit d'un directeur des âmes which we have already alluded to. Together with
Olier's own Regulae Artis Artium this presents us with a mystic who devoted a substantial effort of
reflection to the matter of spiritual guidance. The dominant note throughout is upon the motif of
anéantissement necessary for both director and directed. This leads to a posture of openness to the
one real director, who is Jesus. One becomes free to open oneself to the path desired by Jesus.
Through self-abandonment the
-63director will not project his or her own whims upon die directee, and the latter will have the
freedom to move as the Spirit wishes. One will find, I think, a rather fine synthesis of the
Olierian principles of guidance in the final chapter of the Introduction. In the end, as Olier
indicates, die "interior of Jesus" becomes the "source and model of our own interior." We need
not, he says, "feel" or "taste" Jesus' Spirit in us. It is enough "to unite ourselves to [this Spirit] in
faith."
John Eudes, of course, inherited the Oratorian tradition through his years of membership
within Bérulle's Oratory. He also knew M. Olier very well, having given a mission for him at St.
Sulpice. It is interesting that St. John Eudes directed that Olier's writings be among the important
works used by new members of his Congregation, along with Condren's letters and Eudes' own
Royaume. 2i.lt is not surprising, then, that we find the ecclesial and pastoral accents typical of our
French School with the saint.
Eudes is very much a practical, pastoral person. His writings, other than perhaps die great
Coeur, bear all the characteristics of ad hoc practical works. It is from them that we can discern die
lines of a rather full ecclesiology and pastoral theology.
Perhaps the key accents of the saint's thought can be found already in his Royaume in the
"Exercise for Holy Mass." "Jesus Christ," we read, is the "supreme Priest." We, clergy and laity,
are "participating in his priesthood," and this means that we should not only assist at Mass but
actually "do it widi the priest." Eudes' ecclesiology is very Christological and biblical: "Christians
... are but one witii Jesus Christ, as members with their head, ... sharing all his qualities." Notice
the equilibrium between priest and laity, characteristic of die French School: clericalism is
avoided. Like Condren and Olier, we also find some sacrifical accents: We are "but one victim
[with Jesus the victim] ... to be immolated and sacrificed with [him] to God's glory." We even at
this early date find the beginnings of Eudes' heart theology: Our sacramental communion is the
result of Jesus' "very burning desire to make his dwelling in our heart." —
In the service of this ecclesial vision Eudes founded his Congregation of Jesus and Mary to
carry on the work of pastoral and priestly reform. He also contributed a significant number of
pastoral works for die same end: on baptism, on priesdy piety, on the art of being a good
confessor, on preaching, and on the theology and spirituality of the priesthood in general. —
There is clearly an accent on the
-64-

priesthood, as with Bérulle and Olier. In fact, some statements can seem exaggerated if they are
not balanced with his wider ecclesial vision and usual estimate of the lay state. 137 At the same
time, there is a fine emphasis upon the pastoral dimension: die "salvation of souls" is "the first
and die greatest obligation of die ecclesiastic." This is why one becomes a priest. 138 We also find,
as with Olier, an emphasis upon developing criteria of the priestly vocation, as well as the need to
unite priestly office with die pursuit of sanctity. Priests, we are told, "must be animated [by the
Spirit] in order to preach the gospel and work for the salvation of souls." —
We are especially in John Hudes' debt for Ins appealing transposition of ecclesiology and
ministry into die language and conceptuality of a theology of die heart and love. Here his
ecclesiology seems even more directly rooted in Christology and Mariology, and the accent on
sacrificial love avoids any hint of ecclesial clericalism and elitism. As the great Eudist scholar Paul
Milcent illustrates, die symbolism of the heart functions for Hudes as a master metaphor,
enabling him to expose the reader to the multiple dimensions of theology and spirituality at once.
We have already seen its Christological and Mariological dimensions. To this should be added die
ecclesial and pastoral. As the heart signifies interiority, we might suggest that a heart ecclesiology
surfaces the depdi dimension of the church. This depth is Jesus' heart, which loves us and
attracts us to him and to one anodier. It also, of course, makes us think of immolation and
sacrifice, thus bringing out this facet of die Condrennian and Olienan aspects behind Hudes'
thought. In Milcent's terms, "We rediscover here the theme of the mystical body." ^.We perhaps
catch much of this in the saint's suggestive transposition of Ezechiel 36:26: "I will place widiin
you my Spirit and my heart so that you will love God with a great heart, with much love, Corde
magno et animo volenti ["with a giant heart and a burning spirit"]. 141 This notion of the giant heart—
embracing Jesus, his mystical body, our call to sacrificial mysticism, our union with Mary's
burning heart, and die heights of mystical love—is clearly one of those primal metaphors that at
once attracts us with its power of integration and yet even somehow invites into this mystery.
Perhaps we can see why John Hudes, like our other founding mystics, was also noted as a great
spiritual director, witii a tremendous gift of spiritual fecundity. His published letters of spiritual
guidance number, like theirs, in the hundreds. —
With this we come to the conclusion of our survey of the theology
-65and spirituality of our founding mystics. There are other aspects that would deserve to be
treated in a more complete analysis. The numerous and moving elevations or contemplations of
the states and mysteries of the events of Jesus, earthly and risen, and of Mary and even Mary
Magdalene particularly deserve more attention. The devotional and liturgical creativity of the
French School is also impressive. I might fittingly conclude with a mention of the eschatological
dimension. Although our mystics lived and wrote chiefly in die "grand century," they basically
seem to preserve their critical balance, avoiding too easy a syntiiesis between the times and the
Christian revelation. This tiieology and spirituality, especially in Bérulle, is one of grandeur, but it
is also one of servitude, kenosis, anéantissement, and the cross. I would say that it is mainly through
these Christological and Mariological accents that our mystics preserve the eschatological reserve
of an authentic faith. But we also find other ways of expressing this, perhaps more direct ways.
With Bérulle, one might look particularly to his elevations on Jesus' resurrection and ascension
for much of this. He also emphasizes, as a special mark of the Oratory, the devotion to die saints.
Because we ourselves do not yet know die state of glory, we must have "a bond with the holy
souls who converse with the Son of God," says the Cardinal. For we must "in some manner
conform ourselves to die impassibility of die Son of God in his glorious state." ^_In her own
charming way Mère Madeleine speaks of the disproportionate experience of "our baseness and
smallness, which we experience now, and thinks it is "just" that we will have an eternity in which
to have a place for our capacity to revere die mystery of Jesus' love. 114 Olier holds out the image
of the church in heaven, and tells us in a meditation on Jesus' resurrection "to aspire
continually to heaven. L[_John Hudes, too, knows of die mystery of eternal life. His prayers to

be united in eternity to die hearts of Mary and Jesus are quite expressive of this. But we perhaps
catch a more interesting sense of his eschatological sensitivity in the way he begins a famous
prayer of the French School: "Come, O Lord Jesus, come into me." —
-66NOTES
1. OP 118 col. 1143.
2. Mémor 11, p. 625. Cf. Dagens, pp. 249-69, and François Bourgoing's Préface to the Oeuvres complètes, pp. vivii.
3. G 7, 4, p. 267. On exemplarism see Julien-Eymard D'Angers, "L'exemplarisme bérullien," Revue des sciences
religieuses 31 (1957): 122-39. Dupuy offers a succinct explanation of Neoplatonic (Dionysian) exemplarism :
"Resemblance is the fundamental relation between beings thanks to which they become intelligible. To explain ... to
know causes ... is to discern similarities. A creature is situated in the hierarchy of beings when one knows what it
imitates. To be a cause of a category of beings, this is to be the archetype upon which they are molded." (Bérulle et le
sacerdoce: étude historique et doctrinale [Paris: Bibliothèque d'histoire et d'archéologie chrétiennes, 1968], p. 151).
4. Coll 1151.
5. The citations and references are, in order: G 3, 8, p. 205; 7, 6, p. 271; 5, 3, p. 232; 4, 10, p. 228; 10, 2, p. 323; 5,
2, p. 231; 5, 8, p. 237; OP 33, col. 968; G 4, 2, pp. 212-14. See Cognet, La spiritualité moderne, pp. 328-34, for
helpful commentary. The distinction between Western and Eastern emphases in trinitarian theology is not as rigid as
one sometimes think. One can find Westerners who stress the persons, and Easterners who stress the unity. Cf.
Walter Kasper, The God of Jesus Christ, trans. V. Green (New York: Crossroad, 1986) pp. 296-98. See below, pp.
131-34.
6. Madeleine de Saint-Joseph, Lettre 129 ("one in essence"), p. 124; Louise de Jésus, p. 416 (God's plentitude);
Lettre 130, p. 125 (this citation).
7. Irénée Noye and Michel Dupuy, "Olier (Jean-Jacques)," DS 11 (1982), col. 741. Cf. Dupuy, Se laisser, p. 61.
8. J, p. 209 (the fire metaphor: see pp. 208-13); I, p. 148.
9. RJ 2, 10: OC 1, pp. 187-91 (on detachment from God; see below, pp. 310-12); C 12, 11: OC 8, pp. 262-63. Cf.
Milcent, Saint Jean Eudes: introduction, p. 33, for the influence of De Sales.
10. A breakthrough work on the relational view of God and corresponding relational view of humanity in Bérulle
is R. Bellemare, Le sens de la créature dans la doctrine de Bérulle (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1959). This is now a
standard view; see Fernando Guillén Preckler, "état" chez le Cardinal de Bérulle: Théologie et spiritualité des "états"
bérulhens, Analecta Gregoriana Series, 197 (Rome: Gregorian University, 1974), p. 71.
-67-

11. See Orcibal, p. 134: "Thus he renders possible the reconciliation of dionysian apophaticism with union to the
divine will, this latter being revealed by the incarnate Word, and, since the Man-God realizes the ideal of
anéantissement and of adoration by being, there is no need of any other 'supereminent wav' than his own."
12. G 4, 10, pp. 227-28.
13. G 3, 8, p. 207. See Cognet, La spiritualité moderne, p. 336, referring to Harphius' Théologie mystique, trans. J.
B. de Machault (Paris, 1617), p. 16. Also see below, pp. 126-30.
14. See G 5, 11, pp. 241-42, and 5, 2, pp. 230-32.
15. G 4, 5, p. 218. For the "novelty" of the incarnation, see G 11, 6, pp. 348-49.
16. G 8, 4, p. 284. See Cognet, La spiritualité moderne, p. 340, for the sources: Cajetan, St. Thomas Aquinas,
Harphius. The crucial source is the Second Council of Constantinople (553). Cf. Kasper, Jesus the Christ (New York:
Paulist, 1976), p. 239.
17. See OP 16-18, cols. 937-42.
18. G 4, 6,p. 220.
19. G 11, 4, pp. 344-46. Bérulle uses the term dénuement in one of Iris formulations of the vow of servitude: cf.
Guillén Preckler, p. 88. On the issue of the humanity of Jesus in spiritual theology, see William M. Thompson, Tire
Jesus Debate: A Survey and Synthesis (New York: Paulist, 1985), pp. 312-15; Dagens, pp. 301-21; Karl Rahner, "The
Eternal Significance of the Humanity of Jesus for Our Relationship with God," Theological Investigations 3, trans.
Karl-H. and Boniface Kruger (Baltimore: Helicon, 1967), pp. 35-46. Helpful here is also Louis Cognet, "Bérulle et la
théologie de l'incarnation," XVIIe Siècle 29 (1955): 330-52.
20. See G 5, 9, pp. 238-39 (on Jesus' paternity); 9, 3, pp. 312-15 (on tire New Adam); OP 73, col. 1049, and G 5,
12, p. 242 (on deification). Cognet, La spiritualité moderne, pp. 343-44, suggests that Bérulle was both a Thomist and
a Scotist when it comes to the motive of the incarnation: God wants to be in union with us (Scotus), and in the only
world in which we live that means God must redeem us from sin (Thomas). See G 11, 7, pp. 350-52 and 9, 3, pp.
312-15. Also 5, 25, pp. 500-4.
21. OP 77, col. 1052. Guillén Preckler is the important study here: He traces the origins of the notion in canon
law, theology and mysticism, suggesting that Bérulle does not create the term, but uses it more frequently between
1611-15 and gives it novel and creative Christological nuances: see pp. 250-63. Also see below, pp. 153-54.
22. OP 17, col. 940.

23. Lettre 142, pp. 138-39; 144, pp. 142-46 (the state of victim) ; 49, pp. 57-59 at 58 (adherence to Jesus); 139, pp.
133-35 (advice from Bérulle); 238, pp. 253-55 (on St. Teresa of Avila). Cf. Louise de Jésus, pp. 479-88.
-68-

Charles de Condren (1588-1641), second superior of the Oratory, developed an accent upon the sacrificial aspects
of Christology, seeing Jesus' state of victimhood (or host) as the consummation of his life. We have only his letters
and posthumously published conference notes to rely upon. See Cognet, La spiritualité moderne, pp. 382-89.
Bremond 3, pp. 243-358, offers the English reader an extensive selection of Condrennian texts and commentary. See
Charles de Condren, Lettres du Père Charles de Condren (1588-1641), ed. Paul Auvray and André Jouffrey (Paris:
Cerf, 1943), the most "secure" source of our knowledge of Condren's thought.
24. See Dupuy, Se laisser, pp. 391-93.
25. Cf. Cat, pp. 45-47, for these citations and a good summary.
26. I, pp. 156-57; Cf. Dupuy, Se laisser, pp. 127-28, for evidence from the Mem.
27. J, p. 155; cf. pp. 153-57. Cf. Dupuy, Se laisser, pp. 323-31, for Olier's approach to abstract mysticism: He
stresses in his itinerary a later fascination for Jesus' divinity, but through the humanity, not by bypassing it.
28. See RJ 2, 1-21: OC 1, pp. 161-204, on the foundations of the Christian life; and 5, 3-11: OC 1, pp. 419-40,
meditations on the states of Jesus' life; and passim.
29. Milcent, S. Jean Eudes: Introduction, pp. 32-34.
30. RJ 7, 13: OC 1, p. 515.
31. Cf. Milcent, S. Jean Eudes: un artisan, pp. 449-58, for the major sources behind Eudes. Cf. also Jacques
Arragain, "Evolution de la pensée de saint Jean Eudes sur le Coeur de Jesus," Charles du Chesnay, "Place de Saint
Jean Eudes dans l'histoire de la dévotion au coeur de Jésus," and Louis Cognet, "Le coeur de Jésus et la Trinité
d'après Saint Jean Eudes," in Jacques Arragain, et al., Le coeur du Seigneur: études sur les écrits et l'influence de saint
Jean Eudes dans sa devotion au coeur de Jésus (Paris: La Colombe, 1955), pp. 43-68, 19-42, 108-119. Cognet
interestingly argues that Eudes applies Bérulle's theme of Jesus' paternity to the theme of Jesus' heart [C 12: OC 7],
although one does not find the central theme of the Cardinal of "the privation of the personal subsistence in the
humanity of Jesus": pp. 116, 115.
32. Cited in Milcent, S. Jean Eudes: un artisan, p. 452. For the theme of the "great heart," see C 3, 3: OC 6, pp.
264-65; for the three hearts (divine, corporeal and spiritual), see the entire Coeur and Cognet, in A rr again, for a good
commentary; also see below, pp. 331-34.
33. OP 1, col. 911; 172, col. 1222; 181, col. 1234. Cf. Dagens, pp. 335-66.
34. See Cognet, La spiritualité moderne, p. 349.
35. OP 29, col. 958.
.36. See Cognet, La spiritualité moderne, pp. 349-50. The texts are: OP 137, col. 1172; 29, 1, col. 959; E, esp. 2 (the
study of possession); and OP 60, col. 1035 (this citation).
-6937. OP 111, col. 1131.
38. OP 17, col. 941. Bérulle knows our being is gifted by both "created grace," the Scholastic term for the
modification of our being through Christ, and "uncreated grace." See Cognet, La spiritualité moderne, pp. 350-51,
for texts and commentary.
39. G 2, 10, p. 185 (a crucial text on the enhypostasis of the humanity in the Word [see below, pp. 122-26]); for
the other reasons for Christ's servitude: OP 15, 3, col. 935 and El, n. 12, pp. 536-37. Guillén Preckler, pp. 103-45, is
superb on the background in Thomism and the mystics of the Rhineland. I follow him throughout this section.
40. See CB 3, P. 686, pp. 3.13-34. Bérulle speaks of our general (universal) participation in Jesus' states and
mysteries as well as more specific participations in special states of Jesus, depending upon our own unique response
to Christ's offer. See Guillén Preckler, pp. 159-67, and OP 17, cols. 940-41.
4L Mars. fol. 12 RHE 13 3 D. Many of the themes of abstract, Rhineland mysticism surface here: abandonment,
denial, nothingness, etc. See Guillén Preckler, esp. p. 119.
42. G 2, 13, pp. 190-91; see below, p. 126 (a famous text) and p. 109.
43. G 11, 6, pp. 348-49 (this entire section is a key text on adoration); "De nouveaux inédits de Bérulle," XXXI A.
See below, pp. 153-54.
44.Guillén Preckler, p. 143; esp. cf. Michel Dupuy, Bérulle: une spiritualité de l'adoration (Paris: Desclée de
Brouwer, 1964).
45. OP 7, cols. 917-18. Cf. OP 8, cols. 918-20. Bérulle never offers us an analysis of prayer, unlike some of his
followers. His teaching on these movements of purgation (anéantissement) and contemplation are the closest he
comes to such a thing. Of course, his writings are filled with prayers (or "elevations"). Cf. Guillén Preckler pp 2728.
46. Lettre 159, p. 167. This letter, pp. 166-67, is an especially rich source for the Mother's view of nothingness and
sin.
47. Louise de Jésus, p. 508.
48. See Lettres 159 (esp.), pp. 166-67; 28, p. 39; 49, pp. 57-59; 157, pp. 164-65, for representative examples.

49. Lettre 144, pp. 142-46; see below, pp. 200-03; cf. Lettres 137, pp. 131-33; 149, pp. 155-57, and 150, pp. 157-58
(on prayer). Cf. Louise de Jésus, pp. 488-94 (on adoration in her life). On the issue of love in Bérulle, see OP 164,
cols. 1207-10, fully devoted to love; note esp. col. 1210: |love] "is the greatest action of nature and grace ... yet up to
now I have thought about it so little ..."; cf. Karl Rahner, "The 'Commandment' of Love in Relation to the Other
Commandments," Theological Investigations 5, trans. Karl-H. Kruger (Baltimore: Helicon, 1966), pp. 439-59.
50. Cat, pp. 19, 36, 34.
51. Cat, pp. 24, 17, 38.
-7052. Cat, p. 44.
53. Cat, p. 45.
54. I, p. 18, referring to Rom 6.
55. Cat, p. 52; J, p. 100.
56. Cogner, Post-Reformation Spirituality, p. 96.
57. J, p. 148; Cat, p. 82. Helpful here is Noyé, et al., cols. 742-45, and Dupuy, Se laisser, on the influence of St.
John of the Cross, pp. 288-89. We know from his Mém that he read and studied John.
58. I, pp. 228-32; see below, pp. 228-32; cf. Cat, pp. 71-74. Here we have a bit more of an exploration of methods
of prayer than we find in Bérulle. See G. Letourneau, La méthode d'oraison mentale du séminaire de Saint-Sulpice
(Paris: Victor Lecoffre, 1903), who traces this form of prayer as far back as Ambrose (pp. 286-87, 304-5).
59. Mém 3:49 (July 1642), in Glendon, p. 215.
60. I, p. 81. Cf. Cat, p. 63, where Olier speaks of the "marriage of our Lord with the soul" through holy
communion.
61. J, p. 247; see below, pp. 285-87; cf. J, pp. 234-47. Dupuy, Se laisser, pp. 354-57, likes to underline the notion
of complete abandonment to the Spirit and of "being lost in God," pp. 361-81, as major themes in Olier. They are
further expressions of his unitive mysticism, employed especially in the Mém. For a challenging interpretation of
Ober's view of human corruption, see Glendon, pp. 128-261. Also note the Olierian use of the Pauline notion of the
"flesh." Olier is not a metaphysical dualist, but more Augustinian and Pauline. Cf. Dupuy, Se laisser, pp. 131-32.
Olier employs the traditional tripartite anthropology (body, soul, spirit) in a number of places (viz., I, pp. 88-89, 159).
This is corrupted by sin, but not destroyed.
62. OC 2, p. 182. Eudes' view of the "world" is Johannine: see Rf 2, 7: OC 1, p. 178.
63. RJ 2,4: OC 1, pp. 170-71.
64. RJ 2, 10: OC 1, pp. 187-88; see below, pp. 310-12.
65. RJ 1, 3: OC 1, p. 101.
66. See Letter 10 in Guillon, pp. 38-41, esp. the commentary in note 2.
67. C 1, 2: OC 6, p. 35. Cf, on this, Milcent, "Jean Eudes," col. 498.
68. Lettres, OC 10, p. 439; C 1, 2 and 4: OC 6, pp. 35, 87.
69. RJ 6, 18: OC 1, p. 452.
70. See Deville, pp. 139-55.
71. Ma 2, p. 558.
72. OP 9,1, cols. 920-21.
73. See M 233 RHE 98 D.
74. For these texts on Mary's virginity see V 12, pp. 470-71; 15, p. 481.
75. G 11, 11, p. 360.
76. See OP 119, col. 1144, and M 233 RHE 94 B, for example. A key work on the correspondences between
divine paternity and Marian mater
-71-

nity is M. de Vidal, Le cardinal de Bérulle théologien marial. La doctrine de Marie Epouse (Nicolet Quebec Centre
marial canadien, 1957).
77. M 233 RHE 94 B. See Guillén Preckler, pp. 231-34.
78. Guillén Preckler, pp. 231-34. See, for example, John Ruusbroec, The Spiritual Espousals and Other Works,
Classics of Western Spirituality Series, intro, and trans. James A. Wiseman, (New York: Paulist, 1985), for an example
of the kind of Flemish mystical language Guillén Preckler has in mind.
79. OP 162, col. 1206 RHE. Cf. Guillén Preckler, pp. 234-37; I have been greatly aided by Guillén Preckler, pp.
221-49, for this entire section on Bérullian Mariology. Guillén Preckler provides us with perhaps the best synthesis
available.
80. Coll 1615, p. 70; CB 2, P. 409, pp. 344-45 (January 1623).
81. V 17, p. 484. The term state would indicate a more ontological concern; that of action, a more psychological
one. Of course, this way of analyzing the matter, common among Bérullian commentators, is based on a view of
ontology that is static. Bérulle himself, in the final line of this citation, seems to want to break free of this way of
thinking, I suspect.

82. V 28, p. 517. This work actually ends before Jesus' actual birth. It is greatly a meditation upon Mary's singular
intimacy with Jesus in the conception stage (infancy is meant in this extended sense). Bremond 3, pp. 435-96, has a
very suggestive treatment of this theme in the French School. For Thérèse, see Von Balthasar, St. Thérèse of Lisieux,
pp. 215424.
83. V 29, p. 520 (perhaps the most famous line of the work!).
84. Ma 5, 6, p. 574.
85. Lettre 179, p. 183.
86. Lettre 96, p. 91.
87. Cf. Louise de Jésus, pp. 533-37, esp. p. 537; Guillaume Gibieuf: La vie et les grandeurs de la très saincte Vierge
Marie Mère de Dieu (Paris, 1637).
88. Lettre 121, pp. 113-14. Louise de Jésus, p. 536, notes that the Mother had a special devotion to the mystery of
Mary's Assumption among all the Marian mysteries. This seems reflected in Lettre 177, p. 181 (and note the Bérullian
tone): "We owe a special application of ourselves [to the Assumption]. And we must desire in our eternity to
participate in the glorv of our great Patron and our Mother, and to believe that there is no greater service we could
render the Son than that of honoring his Mother, because her own greatest desire is to see her Son perfectly loved;
and in this way we would become his daughters if we were to love Jesus Christ and have his actions, his words and
his mysteries continually present."
89. Cat, p. 59; Lettre 340, 2, p. 234.
90. I, p. 44.
91. I, p. 15 3. A related notion here is Mary's mediatorship of participation in Jesus; cf. Cat, p. 88.
-7292. Lettre 408, 2, pp. 389-90.
93. J, p. 178. On this see Irénée Noyé, "Sur la prière 'O Jesu vivens in Maria,' " Bulletin du Comité des études 7
(1954): 8-17, and Dupuy, Se laisser, pp. 181 and 267.
The Latin version is the more common one, handed down traditionally in Sulpician seminaries, and it differs
slightly from the one in the J: the second line has "your servants" rather than "me"; it omits mention of the world,
de\il and flesh; and there is some paraphrasing:
O Jesu vivens in Maria, Veni et vive in famulis tuis, In spiritu sanctitatis tuae, In plenitudine virtutis tuae, In
perfecrione viarum tuarum, In veritate virtutum tuarum In communione mysteriorum tuorum, Dominare omni
adversae potestati. In Spiritu tuo, ad gloriam Patris, Arnen.
Condren's prayer, as Eudes' in η. 94, lacks the Marian accent of Olier's; there is another version of Olier's prayer
that is even more Marian. See DeAvilie, p. 68, for texts of Condren's and Olier's prayers.
94. See Milcent, S. Jean Eudes: un artisan, p. 303: "Come, Lord Jesus, come in me, with the fullness of your
power, with the holiness of your Spirit, with the perfection of your mysteries, and the purity of your ways. Come,
Lord Jesus!"
95. RJ 3, 11: OC 1, p. 338. Cf. Milcent, "Jean Eudes," DS, col. 494, for the suggestion about the Protestant
influence.
96. RJ 5, 9: OC 1, pp. 432-33.
97. C 1, 2: OC 6, p. 38; see below, pp. 326-31.
98. C 1, 1: OC 6, p. 17. Vol. 6 contains Books 1 through 4; 7, Books 5 through 9; 8, Books 10 through 12, as well
as the remaining appended feasts and documents.
99. Jean Eudes explicitly shows the foundations of his heart theology in Bérulle at C 8, 1: OC 7, pp. 344-49. See
Milcent, S. Jean Eudes: un artisan, pp. 406-21, 449-58, for historical background, as well as Bremond's exciting pages,
536-72 in vol. 3.
100. C 10, 2: OC 8, p. 10. Note, too, the typical stress on the divine child/infancy in this citation.
101. Cf. Bremond 3, pp. 549-72 (on Bérulle's feast and its role in Eudes' thought), and Michel Dupuy, "Intérieur
de Jésus," DS 7/2 (1971) col. 1877. See Bérulle's V 26, p. 507; 27, p. 510, for similar heart language. Arragain, pp. 5659, is helpful.
102. John Eudes spoke of the novelty of his devotion to the sacred
-73hearts, but felt that development was allowed in the area of piety. He apparently did not believe in historical
development in the area of dogma. Cf. Lettre 46: OC 11, pp. 104-5, and Milcent, S. Jean Eudes: un artisan, p. 456.
Olier, in his Cat, p. 86, has an even more emphatic denial of the historical sense in theology: "God would not be
pleased that I propose anything new in matters religious!" Still, the French School is actually quite novel, and were
John Eudes to reflect on the relationship between piety and dogma, he would have to nuance his views. But as we
know, the notion of doctrinal development was still in the future.
103. See Bremond 2, pp. 227-67, on the founding of the French Carmel, and 3, pp. 13 3-92, on the Oratory,
Sulpicians and Eudists. The Oratory is Bérulle's unique adaptation of the earlier Italian Oratory of the sixteenth
century, founded by St. Philip Neri. It has some spiritual connections with Catherine of Genoa too. For The
Company of the Blessed Sacrament, see Edward Healy Thompson, The Life of Jean-Jacques Olier: Founder of the

Seminary of St. Sulpice (London: Burns and Oates, 1885), p. 103; and Henri Daniel-Rops, The Church in the
Seventeenth Century (History of the Church of Christ 6), trans. J. J. Buckingham (London: J. M. Dent & Sons/N.Y.:
E. P. Dutton & Co., 1963), pp. 98-104.
104. V, Préamble 14, p. 445; DC 2, 4, pp. 75-76; 1, 22, p. 63; 1, 23-24, pp. 65-66. Cf. Dagens, pp. 322-34, 367-76,
for a basic overview. Pages 229-45 of Dagens offer a valuable commentary on the controversial discourses, so
important for Bérulle's views on these issues.
105. DC 1, 27, p. 71; cf. Dagens, pp. 238-39.
106. DC 2, 10, p. 86.
107. Guillén Preckler, p. 41; CB 1, P. 1, p. 2.
108. CB 1, P. 89, p. 166; OR 1, p. 260; OP 141, cols. 1177-78; OR 18, p. 297. Cf. Dupuy, Bérulle et le sacerdoce
and Bourgoing's Préface, OC 1, pp. xxiv-xxv.
109. N 19-20, pp. 393-94.
110. Bremond 3, pp. 13 3-92. See CB 3, P. 891, pp. 617-18. See below, pp. 183-85.
111. G 6, 3, p. 247. Cf. DC 3. See below, ρρ. 138-40.
112. Mémor 3, pp. 618-19.
113. Mémor 11, pp. 624-25.
114. Lettre 144, p. 143.
115. Lettre 142, p. 139; cf. Louise de Jésus, chapter 21.
116. Lettre 142, p. 13 8.
117. Lettre 205, pp. 212-13; 229, p. 184; 312, pp. 290-91.
118. Lettre 256, p. 280.
119. Lettre 219, p. 232; 236, p. 250; 11, pp. 22-23; 22, pp. 33-34; 214, p. 225; Louise de Jésus, pp. 363-87.
120. Lettre 260, p. 287.
-74-

121. Mém 3: 336, 275.
122. I, p. 69; Cat, p. 91.
123. J, p. 123; Mém 1:310. Cf. I, p. 7, on the Olerian notion of religion.
124. I, pp. 7-10; see below, pp. 217-20.
125. Appendix 10 in T, pp. 311-17; full text in Etienne-Michel Failion, Vie de M. Olier 3 (Paris: Poussièlgue,
Frères, and F. Wattelier et Cie, 1873), pp. 555-71.
126. T, p. xxxvi.
127. Mém 2:163; cf. T, p. xxxix. For Olier, the episcopal state is a special sharing in Jesus' ascension, the state of
Jesus' plenitude. Yet all people share in it: Cat, pp. 51-53. So, too, the priest specially shares in Jesus' resurrection, yet
all share in it: Cat, p. 50; Mém 4:21-47.
128. T, p. xiv.
129. J, p. 193; cf. I, p. 108; Cat, pp. 14, 45; Lettre 443, 1, pp. 479-83 (on the resurrection state).
130. Mém 3: 321-42, in Appendix J, T, p. 269; Lettre 441, 2, pp. 473-75 (on vocational criteria). On the priesthood
in Olier, also cf. Gilles Chaillot, "Criteria for the Spiritual Formation of Pastors: The Pedagogical Tradition Inherited
from M. Olier," Bulletin de Saint-Sulpice 4 (1978): 24-32; Stanislaw Nowak, "J.-J. Olier 'Docteur du sacerdoce' dans
l'école française," Bulletin de Saint-Sulpice 10 (1984): 25—62; and Eugene A. Walsh, The Priesthood in the Writings
of the French School: Bérulle, De Condren, Olier, S.T.D. diss. (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University· of America,
1949).
131. J, p. 153; see pp. 152-64; Cat, p. 63.
132. Cat, p. 47. Cf. Gilles Chaillot, "L'expérience eucharistique de J.-J. Ober: le témoignage des Mémoires,"
Bulletin de Saint-Sulpice 10 (1984): 63-106.
133. I, pp. 156-59. Cf. especially Timothy K. Johnson, "Jean-Jacques Olier: Spiritual Director," Bulletin de SaintSulpice 6 (1980): 287-310; and, for some selections and helpful commentary on Bérulle and Olier, among other great
directors, see Jerome M. Neufelder and Mary C. Coelho, eds., Writings on Spiritual Direction by Great Christian
Writers (New York: Seabury, 1982).
134. Milcent, S. Jean Eudes: un artisan, pp. 284, 121. See Constitutions 6, 3: OC 9, p. 302.
135. RJ 24: OC 1, pp. 459-64; see below pp. 322-25.
136. On baptism, see Contrat de l'homme avec Dieu par le saint Baptême (1654), OC 2, pp. 204-70 (cf. \Iilceul, S.
Jean Eudes: un artisan, pp. 254-57); Manuel (1668), OC 3, pp. 235-92; Le bon confesseur (1654), OC 4, pp. 143-369;
Le prédicateur apostolique (1681), OC 4, pp. 1-115; Le mémorial de la vie ecclésiastique (1681), OC 3, pp. 1-233 (on
all these latter see Milcent, S. Jean Eudes: un artisan, pp. 423-33).
137. Mémorial 5, 14 and 16: OC 3, pp. 207 and 212.
-75-

138. Le bon confesseur 2: OC 4, pp. 165, 182.
139. Mémorial 2: OC 3, p. 48.
140. Milcent, S. Jean Eudes: un artisan, p. 452; cf. pp. 449-58.

141. Office of Matins, Second Response: OC 11, p. 471. The phrase is from a Latin rendering of parts of 2
Maccabees 1:3; see p. 46 of this text.
142. See Milcent, S. Jean Eudes: un artisan, ch. 23, pp. 367-80, on Eudes as a spiritual director, especially of
women. Guillon is also helpful, as well as OC 10 and 11, which contain much of the saint's correspondence.
143. M 233, RHE 73 E and A; cf. Guillén Preckler, pp. 197-206.
144. Lettre 65, p. 69.
145. I, p. 155; Cat, p. 50; cf. J, pp. 119-20, and Cat, p. 89.
146. RJ 5, 11: OC 1, p. 439; cf. Exercice de piété: OC 2, p. 363.
-76-

III. The French School: Retrospect and Prospect
In this chapter I would like to touch upon a number of rather more speculative questions.
Among those of a more retrospective character would be, first, how scholarship might evaluate
the French School's relationship to its own times. We have already mentioned that this is a
somewhat controversial matter. Is our French School Ito be seen as a conservative, restorationist
reaction to the unsettling events of the time, especially the Renaissance and the Protestant
Reformation? Or is it rather a more positive affirmation of the forces unleashed by those two
great movements? I have waited until now to raise the question in a more sustained way, because
now that we have surveyed die key tendencies of our writers die reader will be in a position to
make a tentative judgment for himself or herself.
One can receive the strong impression from today's scholarship that Bérulle and his
colleagues/heirs are mounting a rather powerful restorationist assault upon the forces of both the
Reformation and the Renaissance. This seems rather clear with respect to the Reformation, for
one must search in vain for positive statements about the Reformers. With respect to the
Renaissance, there is a general agreement that an excessively humanistic reductionist!! was being
opposed by Bérulle. Recall his great "Copernican Revolution," announced in die second
discourse of his Grandeurs. Bémlle's stress upon die relational nature of the human being, as
always referred to God and Jesus, and as nothingness and sin when severed from that
-77reference, seems die key assault upon any excessive humanism. And although these Dionysian,
Neoplatonic accents may be somewhat toned down in Madeleine, Olier and John Eudes, still the
creature's "reference to God" is there as the crucial fact about us. 2
And yet there is another side to the matter, especially if one entertains the hermeneutical notion
that a writer's work is in some way distanced from die author's intention, becoming a world of
meaning in itself, bearing a catalytic power of its own. Let us take the concerns of die Reformers
first. Much of what they wanted finds its echo in our school, despite the mutually unecumenical
atmosphere of the times. The emphatic Augustinianism of the French School is surely significant
in this regard, widi its emphasis upon the priority of God over all. When Olier prefers die term
cooperation to resolution as a moment in prayer, because it "indicates more explicitly die power of
the Holy Spirit," Mie is but exemplifying what we have in mind for our School as a whole. And
our mystics surely share, at least broadly, the concerns for ecclesial reform diat motivated a
Luther and a Calvin. How else explain dieir view of the need to reform die ministry, rejoining die
great triad of learning, authority and sanctity?
Bremond felt, in the great study often referred to, that the French School was not opposed to a
Christian kind of humanism, but united it to its theocentric and Christological concerns. In this
sense it was not, at least for Bremond, a simple rejection of die Renaissance. I would prefer to
speak of our School's integrating some Renaissance concerns, for integrating introduces a critical
element: tendencies incompatible with dieocentrism and Christocentiism are rejected. We have
already noted that Bérulle did not simply reject the abstract mysticism so favorable to (die young)
Mme. Acaiie and her circle. This more intellectual, Neoplatonic tradition was rather critically
integrated into a Christological piety and theology. So, too, our School favorably received and
used the new biblical and patristic "sciences" then developing, albeit within certain limits. And
the new accent on Jesus' humanity, while traditional, seems also quite modern in the Renaissance.

Jesus' humanity, and die transformation devotion to it works in Mary, Magdalene, and the saints
and mystics, is a kind of Christian humanism, die French School's alternative to the possible
reductionism of die time. This seems particularly clear in the heart theology of John Eudes. But it
is also there in the stress upon Jesus' love and interiority in Bérulle, Madeleine and Olier. The
heightened stress upon the interior depth dimension of the states of
-78Jesus, and our own interior appropriation of them, also strikes a contemporary chord. This was
surely not a modern narcissism or introspectionism. At the same time, it was a deepened probing
of our human depth in the light of Jesus.1
In the light of all of this, perhaps we need to move beyond die simple alternatives of
restorationism or Renaissance liberalism. Again we seem compelled to think dialectically: not
eitiier/or, but botii/and. We seem to be in die presence of various creative tendencies, which can
go now this way, now that. In die main, these tendencies are integrated in a kind of creative
friction. The best of the past is kept current, but critically so. Interestingly, Karl Rahner, when
evaluating the theology of the devotion to the sacred heart as practiced by Margaret Mary
Alacoque (the Paray-le-Monial devotion), a near contemporary of John Eudes (and probably
influenced by him), spoke of this devotion as avoiding the extremes of Jansenistic rigorism, on
the one hand, and Renaissance secularism on the other. It was in between, in a way radier like the
French School as a whole, I would suggest. As we have seen, even the harshly rigorous negativity
and sense of sin of die French School keeps its balance, even when vigorously accented. It is a
critique, surely, of Renaissance secularism to employ die Rahnerian vocabulary; but a critique that
needs to be set against other tendencies, as we have already suggested. In this regard, it is
interesting that the Jansenists always regarded Olier and Eudes as enemies. This in-between posture of our French School, avoiding bodi excessive rigorism and faddish
novelty, probably explains its creativity and endurance. For this in-between space seems to be a
creative and tension-filled one. Excessive rigorism usually means an inability to remain
contemporary or relevant. Faddish novelty usually means one is at die whim of every new gust of
wind that's blowing, with no discriminating sense. The fecundity and generativity of the French
School, however, indicates that it has maintained its critical balance and perspective. And yet in
an exceedingly lively and non-boring way, for our great mystics, with their unique modulations,
avoid a banal kind of balance. We have balance, to be sure, but a creative and tension-filled
balance.
This brings us to a second issue, which could be said to be both retrospective and prospective;
namely, the generativity of the French School. What did it birth in the past, and what has it
birthed today? Tracing lines of historical causality is exceedingly difficult, however.
-79Wliat do the scholars suggest? If we keep in mind the practical and theoretical sides of the
French School, its refusal to separate ecclesial practice and personal development from theology
and reflective spirituality, then we need to measure its fecundity on these two fronts. It is an
irruption in the spheres of both practice and meaning.
On the practical level, first place must surely go to the great ecclesial foundations birdied by
our mystics, as well as others greatly influenced by them. Of course, die Oratory of France, die
Company of Priests of Saint Sulpice (with a presence beyond France in Canada, the United
States, South America and Asia), and the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, or Eudists (with a
presence beyond France in North and South America) are die capital foundations. Tightly linked
with Bérulle, surely, although also with Mme. Acarie and her "devout circle," is the foundation
and flourishing of the female branch of Carmel in France. The request for the relic of Bérulle's
heart by Mother Madeleine stands as a powerful expression of this relationship between Bérulle
and Carmel. Also rather closely linked with St. John Eudes and his Congregation are a
surprisingly large number of female congregations. Well-known in this country are perhaps the
"Good Shepherd Sisters" (the Congregation of Our Eady of Charity of the Good Shepherd),

founded by Saint Marie-Euphrasie (Rose- Virginie Pelletier). The saint also co-founded die
Institute of Our Lady of Charity. Various Eudist priests have also played an important part in
founding a number of female congregations, some quite recently. It is somewhat more difficult to trace the lineage in die area of theology and spirituality. We
can, I think, meaningfully speak of the French School when the master images and fundamental
horizon of thought are shared in common, even allowing for and wanting original modulations of
the master metaphors. This seems true of our founding mystics and perhaps of some few odiers.
Cognet, in the important study often referred to here, speaks of the "Bérullian Current," and
includes some of the following. Two Carmelites of the same name, Marguerite du SaintSacrement (1619-48) of Beaune, who greatly furthered devotion to Jesus' infancy, and the other
Marguerite du Saint-Sacrement (1590-1660), who was a daughter of Mme. Acarie, of the Carmel
of rue Chapon, are clearly forceful Bérullians. François Bourgoing (1585-1662), third general of
the Oratory, wrote the l Irités et excellences de Jésus-Christ, which went into numerous editions. We
have already mentioned the im
-80portance of Condren. Of less importance, but still heavily Bérullian, were die Oratonans
Guillaume Gibieuf (1591-1650), who wrote an important work on the grandeurs of Mary, and
Paul Métézeau (1583-1632), whose De sancto sacerdotio of 1631 is die sole Oratonan work on die
priesthood alone, heavily Dionysian in tone. The Oratorian Claude Seguenot (1596-1676)
authored die Conduite d'oraison in 1634, thus somewhat systematizing the Bérullian views on
prayer.
St. Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) goes his own way, according to Cognet, although Cognet
thinks he was more influenced by Bérulle than anyone else. He seems to have transposed Bérulle
into more simple, pastoral terms, stressing especially die Bérullian accent on interiority and
personal commitment to Jesus. Still roughly within the seventeenth century, Cognet hesitates to
attribute much Bérullian influence to a number of Jesuit mystics (Bremond tends to be more
affirmative of tins influence). Cognet suggests that Louis Lallemant (1587-1635) has very diverse
influences and is chiefly Ignatian, although some Bérullian terminology may have influenced
some of his successors: Jean-Joseph Surin and François Guilloré. 1
Among later members of the French School special place must surely go to St. Louis-Mane
Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716) and St. John-Baptist de la Salle (1651-1719). Both were
formed at the Seminary of St. Sulpice in Paris and were decisively influenced by the later
"Sulpician" transmission of the School. The Sulpician Superior General Louis Tronson (16221700) directed Montfort and suggested to him the devotion of servitude to Mary and to Jesus in
Mary. One drinks of him especially as a propagator of Marian devotion, as we have already noted.
But he also developed a rather more total spiritual theology, especially developing Bérulle's
meditations on the Wisdom writings. La Salle, of course, founded the Christian Brothers. He,
too, was directed by the Sulpicians Tronson and François Leschassier. He was clearly Bérullian,
but uniquely blended a number of dimensions present in the French School into his new
community: die apostolate, the importance of education, a sense of the needy, the element of
service, and so on. As the French School, among its male representatives, had stressed die
priesthood as the experienced example of commitment to Jesus, so now La Salle stressed the
apostolate of teachingas an expression of Jesus. Beyond this, I think we would have to say that die French School usually became, not the
major influence, but an important formative
-81influence over some religious "families," theologians, and those in quest of a spiritual life in
general (excepting those who perhaps choose to allow this school die major voice). Here I have
in mind those who explicitly refer to die School and/or its representatives, although one could
make the case that in some instances die influence is rather more subtle and unnamed. J_For
example, the Congregation of die Holy Ghost, formed through the union of an earlier society of

priests of the Holy Spirit (founded by Claude-François Poullart des Places) and the Congregation
of die Immaculate Heart of Mary (founded by François-Marie-Paul Libermann in 1841), was
influenced by the Sulpician and Eudist transmission of the French School through Libermann
(1802-50), who was trained at St. Sulpice and was formed by the Olierian and Eudist spiritualities.
Libermann is representative of this wider, more diffuse transmission of the French School, I
think. His independence from it is great, and his charism quite original, stressing especially the
active apostolate, but still he drinks from the Christocentrism and Marian piety of our founding
mystics. 10 This more diffuse "Bérullianism" could be applied to the numerous priests, nuns,
brothers, seminarians, students, and so forth, who have come under the influence of the religious
families we have mentioned above. Viewed in this perspective, die French School has been
enormously fecund in France and indeed throughout the Western world, with some beachheads
in Asia and Africa.
Bérulle and his disciples commonly receive acknowledgment as crucial forces in spirituality in
the standard studies on spirituality. Although, as I have tried to indicate, tracing historical
causality is exceedingly difficult, what Jordan Aumann says in his recent history of spirituality is
standard: "The Christocentric spirituality of the French School was diffused so widely that for all
practical purposes Catholic spirituality in modern times could be characterized as French
spirituality." ^_Among speculative theologians, the French School occasionally surfaces as a
source of theological renewal in our times. For example, already in the early part of our century,
Emile Mersch believed that the mystics of our School
have been more successfùl than others in effecting the synthesis between
Christology and spirituality, and in proposing the truth of our incorporation in
Christ as a code of perfection; they have also been more successful than anyone
else in the Latin Church, in bringing out
-82the divine and transcendent aspect of the life that is given us in Christ, and the
elevation of soul that is demanded of us in consequence. —
What was true for Mersch remains true for a number of significant speculative theologians
today. Hans Urs von Balthasar has long pointed to die need to unite spirituality and theology,
stressing the importance of the saints as theological sources. And in a central essay he has
pointed to the saints of the grand siècle, among whom he numbers Bérulle and Condren, as
important sources. In his multi- volumed theological aesthetics he has also, as is well-known,
devoted important studies to Pascal and to the influence of the French School, especially
Condren, upon him, as well as to Bérulle and Condren m their own right. Von Balthasar
especially sees in them an expression of the precisely theological and Christological moment in
theology: the transcendent grace through Jesus shattering the human being with its beauty. —
Karl Rahner has a number of times (which is significant in a theologian who rarely indicates
sources) mentioned Bérulle as an important figure for die theologian. In an important study in
which he is indicating the need of die theologian to "consult" spirituality and saints and mystics,
Rahner says that the "true theologian ought to prove his education also by planning within five or
ten years to acquire an idea of the history of spirituality by reading Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine,
the great medieval mystics, Francis de Sales or Bérulle and Charles de Foucauld, to mention only
a few names." The company Bérulle keeps, in Rahner's mind, is surely significant, is it not? And
Rahner has especially pointed to Bérulle as a key source for a theology and spirituality centered
on the Incarnation, even citing from one of the Cardinal's works. There has always been a
Christocentric dimension to Rahner's thought (lie is, after all, a son of St. Ignatius Loyola), but
the Christocentrism deepened and became more emphatic as time went on. Surely his own
deepening meditation on Ignatius Loyola played a key role in this—die key role, Rahner has said.
But Rahner has also singled out two others for tiieir Christocentrism: St. Teresa of Avila and
Cardinal Bérulle. —

This "consultation" of Bérulle and the French School in contemporary theology provides us
with a smooth transition to our final, "prospective" issue, that of the role of this School in today's
spirituality and theology. This seems an appropriate issue to end with since the French School
always practiced theology with a practical
-83intent, hoping to contribute to the ongoing revitalization of church and faith. In a general
sense, I think we can say that our School has proven its worth as an ongoing and valuable source
of die Christian heritage. Its generativity·—through the religious families it has birdied, through
the spiritual and theological literature it has contributed to us—attests to this. The fact diat die
hierarchy has canonized John Eudes, La Salle and Montfort, and declared Madeleine venerable,
as well as granting official recognition to the religious families coming into being through tills
School, also witnesses to tills worth. The constant reputation of profound mysticism attributed to
our principals also provides important attestation. To borrow David Tracy's categories, die
French School's spirituality and theology is a classic instead of a period piece, a proven source of
continual human and Christian enrichment, theoretically and practically. —
Many would agree, I tliink, that the task today is to bring die tradition of die French School
into an appreciative but critical dialogue with the concerns of our contemporary experience. A toand- fro conversation between both stands die best chance of preserving the best of the
"Bérullian current" in our contemporary period. Along these lines I would suggest that this
School might serve as one model or paradigm of a theology firmly grounded in experience or in a
lived spirituality and ecclesial praxis. It is experiential, on the whole, presenting us with a
"translation" of the Christian message that is far from extrinsic and alienated from our
experience, personally and socially. Of course, this is a somewhat grand statement. Like
everything else human, our French School has known its derailments and corruptions, at times
through an excessive rigorism (quasi-Jansenism), or clericalism, or moralism, and so forth. But on
the whole, especially when appropriated at its glowing center in Bérulle, Madeleine, Olier and
John Eudes, it is a powerful paradigm of the kind of experiential theology and spirituality that die
Christian Faith is meant to be and that our experientially-oriented age seeks. 16 If you will, it is
highly experiential without succumbing to reductionism.
In the mam our founding mystics present us widi a critical integration between the classical
inheritance (through its Neoplatonic, especially Dionysian transmission) and the biblical-patristic.
Much of the enduring relevancy of the French School finally turns on die enduring relevancy of
these sources, for in many ways the genius of the School was to surface the spiritual and practical
dimensions of these great traditions. I would suggest that it was relatively successfill
-84in revising the non-biblical accents of Dionysianism by bringing out the Jesus-centered nature
of Christianity and its ecclesial nature. We are involved, not in a flight to die Transcendent One,
but in an ecclesial movement to the interpersonal life of the Trinity through the mediation of
Jesus Christ. The biblical accent on the historical and dynamic is present in our School; we are a
reference, a relation, a tendency, a dynamism, and so forth. It is not as historically conscious as
our modem period, to be sure, and perhaps too much of the static seeps through the
Dionysianism: the notion of states or castes, for example.
A good case can be made that our School surfaces the crucial elements in its theocentric
trinitarianism. Widi the biblical heritage God remains the transcendent Creator, but with the
Neoplatonic heritage this transcendent One also "births" through emanations reflections of the
divine life upon earth. Biblical creationism and Neoplatonic emanationism (purged of pantheism)
are nicely integrated : God is the Holy One, but not too distantly so. The School's trinitarianism
brings out the loving, interpersonal reality of God, a love that ecstatically spills out into the world
through Christ. The Holy One is a plenitude of sociableness, we might say, deifying us widi an
analogous sociableness. The emanation of God in history is a loving, Christie sharing in the inner

life of love of the Trinity. Today's heightened stress upon the social could find here a rich source
of theological renewal. —
A particularly appealing facet of our School is die way it sought to bring out the unsurpassable
centrality of the Jesus event for its own time. It was very creative, yet appropriated the tradition.
Notice die "translation" of the Chalcedonian enhypostasis of the human nature in the person of the
Word into a theology of servitude and adoration, or of selfless sacrifice, or of the great heart of
love. Guillén Preckler has recently suggested service or the more biblical kenosis as a more
contemporary expression of the Bémllian insight. ^_If you will, the Jesus event is an unequalled
explosion in history of service to humanity on behalf of God. The person of Jesus is a total
pouring out of himself into that service (an anéantissement or surrendering, we might say today).
But Guillén Preckler's stress on service can be fruitfully complemented by a renewed stress upon
adoration, which is the other side of the Bémllian servitude. The Incarnation is also an explosion
of adoration, and because it is, Jesus is able to be the utterly selfless servitor. Adoration keeps our
service open and really utterly
-85at God's disposal, creating a space for our neighbors and for God especially. This is perhaps
what Madeleine and Olier, under Condren's influence, were trying to surface in the notion of the
perpetual sacrifice or immolation to God in the Jesus event. Perhaps in our own time, when we
run the danger of instrumentalizing and manipulating everyone and everything, even our service,
this kind of adoration (or reverence) is crucially needed. 19 John Eudes' great metaphor of the
heart still has the power to surface this note of non-manipulative love at the center of die Jesus
event.
Entering into or participating in this great heart, this movement of service and adoration, is the
French School's insight into tire soteriological drama unleashed by the Incarnation. This is our
being, through our graced nature, and it is only in its light that our great mystics "attack" die
reality of human depravity and sin, which are what happen to us as we fail to participate in this
great movement. They are a kind of Restbegriff to use a Rahnerian term: Evil and sin are what is
left over when we stay aloof from the dialectic of service and adoration.
There is no question that the French School is rigorous in its phenomenology of human
depravity. It moves beyond the surface to the fond, from a symptomatology of evil and sin to its
roots. Rather like die Jesus of the gospel: "Wicked designs come from die deep recesses of the
heart" (Mk 7:21). But this seems to be standard mystical fare. True, Olier perhaps especially, and
Bérulle somewhat less, accent our depravity. But an accent is not an exaggeration, and when one
is describing the dynamic movement of the Christian life, at times an accent is what is called for.
Perhaps as we move out of an era marked by a kind of Enlightenment utopianism and naivete, at
least in the West, we will be able to reappropriate in our own way the rich exploration of evil and
sin found in the French School. We might even want to develop it, by surfacing rather more ftilly
the social aspects of sin and evil known somewhat, surely, in the biblical notion of the evil of the
world and the devil. But the "somewhat" can be enhanced.
We surely have a "high Mariology" in die French School, but it seems centered and balanced, I
suggest. The fundamental Mariological principle for our mystics is Mary's maternity; that is, at the
core of her being, the root of it all, is that same Jesus-like mystery of service and adoration, that
great heart nourishing our small heart. In this sense, Mariology bridges trinitarianism, Christology
and eccle
-86siology; her being witnesses to these realities. The God of loving sociability, through her, makes
a beachhead in history and "dilates" that loving sociability into the community of believers. To be
Mariological, for our School, is to believe that one is rooted in this same dilation of love, to
believe that one is a part of this great movement in history. The accent in Mariology, at least in
this tradition, is on Mary's maternity. Appreciating that requires transcending an individualism

that ignores our bondedness with one another, our interwovenness in the "great heart," to use
John Eudes' terms. —
I suspect that we can still find much that is helpful in die French School in our attempts to
revitalize church and ministry today. Reuniting die great triad of authority, learning and holiness
seems, still now, an effective formula for the renewal of the ministry. And a formula very
congenial to the Christology of service and adoration of our mystics. This is perhaps their
greatest contribution: to wed a deep spirituality to ecclesiology and ministry. The church and
ministry is the "soul writ large," if I might borrow a famous phrase. Many of us today will feel
that diis ministry of service and adoration gets along somewhat uneasily widi the Dionysian
stratification of holy orders, which is also found in our school in varying shades of accent. Bérulle
began a critique of Dionysius on the issue of Christology. We might want today, faithful to
Bérulle's instincts, to carry through die critique into the area of ecclesiology/ministry.
Perhaps what we need to accent is Olier's notion of die priest as the experienced Christian in
service to all, helping them to move toward the perfection to which all are called. This preserves
the place of the priest without denigrating the other members of the faithful. As we have seen,
there is an attempted balance between ministry and otiier faithful in the French School that stays
clear of clericalism without lapsing into anticlericalism. Interestingly, Bernard Cooke's recent
great study of ministry would seem to share our misgivings about the Dionysian accents of the
French School, yet wanting to retain die great spiritual renewal it contributed. Edward
Schillebeeckx seems harsher, arguing that despite some attractive dungs the French School
dangerously roots the priesthood in Jesus' divinity, making the priest a very cultic, other-worldly
and unchangeable reality. This is perhaps truer of the later alteration of Olier's thinking, for
example. But in the main the French School stresses the humanity of Jesus as the unsurpassable
revelation of the divine presence. Few schools are as centered on Jesus' humanity as
-87this one. We come to divinity through humanity, and the priesdiood is rooted in diis
incarnational principle. Our own call to perfection is rooted in it too. This is, we recall, the whole
point of Bérulle's Christological critique of the abstract mysticism and tiieology. —
Of course, there are other limitations of the French School our age will need to consider, issues
raised in our own time that these mystics could not consider. We can draw inspiration from them
for these new issues too, surely, but we cannot expect them to give us answers with respect to the
feminist critique of religion (which we have but alluded to), die place of liberation theology, and
so on. Like everything else, die French School is limited. We have already seen that it was largely
a renewal confined to the aristocracy. 22 Although it radically critiqued the aristocracy by its
mystical renewal, still it accepted other aspects of the culture: die class structure, the role of
women by and large, the inherited assumptions about the poor, and others. We do find a stress
upon charity and almsgiving in our mystics and the founding of congregations to care for die
poor and outcast, 23 but not a radical critique of social structures such as the contemporary
political theologies and die papal teachings variously have in mind. Still, the rooting of all genuine
renewal in the contemplative transformation of die heart seems as fresh today as it must have
seemed back then.
-88NOTES
1. The name French School seems to have been first used by the Sulpician G. Letourneau around 1913, being
taken over by Bremond in his great volume 3, and receiving its currency there. I hope that, by now, our continuing
to use this title seems justified. It seems preferable to Bérullian, bringing out the non-Bérullian character of each of
the founding mystics (that is, his or her own unique modulation of the tradition). Cf. Louis Cognet, "Mysticism : E.
École Française," in Sacramentum Mundi 4, ed. Karl Rahner, et al. (New York: Herder and Herder, 1969), pp. 15152. Whether reserving this title to our principals does justice to other spiritual families in France needs nuancing.
"French spirituality" embraces more than the "French School."
2. Dagens can give the impression of proposing a simply restorationist perspective. But a careful reading reveals a
Bérulle who critically assesses the Renaissance, accepting congenial elements; see pp. 16-27, 49-68 esp., for this subtle
view. Bellemare's great work, referred to earlier, is the breakthrough one on the relational self of the French School.

Anne M. Minton, "Pierre de Bérulle: The Search for Unity," ed. E. Rozanne Elder, The Spirituality of Western
Christendom 2: The Roots of the Modem Christian Tradition (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1984), pp.
105-23, stresses this unifying facet of Bérulle over against the deterioration of the unified, Christian West prior to the
twin forces we are discussing. It is important to keep in mind the unecumenical atmosphere of the times. St. Teresa
of Avila, for example, in The Way of Perfection 1, makes a typical comment which surely inspired the Carmelite
nuns to come to France: "News reached me of the harm being done in France and of the havoc the Lutherans had
caused and how much this miserable sect was growing. The news distressed me greatly, and ... I cried to the Lord
and begged Him that I might remedy so much evil" (The Collected Works of St. Teresa ofAvila 2, trans. Otilio
Rodriguez and Kieran Kavanaugh [Washington, DC: Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1980], p. 41).
3. Cat, p. 73. For the notion that a text undergoes a distancing from its author, see David Tracy, Blessed Rage for
Order: The New Pluralism in Theology (New York: Seabury, 1975), pp. 49-52.
4. For Bremond's suggestions, see vol. 3, esp. p. 15, and vol. 1, Devout Humanism, trans. K. L. Montgomery
(London: SPCK, 1928), esp. pp. 397-405. Karl Rahner has written suggestively on the Renaissance horizon
-89of St. Ignatius Loyola, albeit an horizon somewhat unthematic. I have been stimulated by his work: "Modem Piety
and the Experience of Retreats," Theological Investigations 16, trans. David Morland (New York: Seabury, 1979),
pp. 135-55.
5. Cf. Karl Rahner, "Some Theses for a Theology of Devotion to the Sacred Heart," Theological Investigations 3,
trans. Karl-H. and Boniface Kruger (Baltimore: Helicon, 1967), pp. 331-52 at 339; C. Annice Callahan, Karl Rahner's
Spirituality of the Pierced Heart : A Reinterpretation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart (Lanham, MD: University
Press of America, 1985); and Bremond's still suggestive comments comparing Eudes (and the French School) with
Paray-le-Monial, Bremond 3, pp. 567-72.
We have mentioned Jansenism several times throughout these pages; perhaps a further word should be said about
it. It takes its name, of course, from Cornelius Jansen (d. 1638), theologian and bishop of Ypres, whose Augustinus
was published in 1640. It is usually described as an extreme form of Augustinianism, with its notion of a rigorous
divine election. It tends to pit the human (free will) dimension against divine grace, and in the area of morality
stresses a rigorism against a so-called Jesuit probabilism. Only actions above all moral doubt can be performed;
contrition demands love of God, not simply fear of hell; communion should be rare, since it is enormously great; the
priesthood was a vocation of great heroism; and so on. Clearly Jansenism opposes grace to human freedom, rejecting
the more incamational view that grace is the ground and basis of human freedom. I think it should be clear from our
treatment of the French School that our mystics are more within the incamational perspective.
From an historical perspective, the Jansenistic reaction to the dawn of modernity spread into France chiefly
through the convent of Cistercian nuns of Port-Royal under the Abbess Angelique Arnauld (d. 1661). There was
considerable influence from the Abbot of Saint-Cyran, Jean-Ambroise Duvergier de Hauranne (d. 1643), who was a
friend of Jansen while a student at Paris. From a sociological perspective, Jansenism seems to have been favored by
the upper-middle class, which felt increasingly impotent under the weight of the absolute monarchy (perhaps this
experience of human impotency made this class ripe for the anti-humanism of Jansenism?). The controversy over
Jansenism was a long one in the church, leading to a number of papal condemnations (the latest in 1713) and the
eventual suppression of Port-Royal (1707-12). Bérulle himself knew some of the leading figures involved here: He
learned from Saint-Cyran, drawing upon his patristic scholarship, and sent him a copy of the Vie to study and
correct; Jansen approved a formulation of his vow of servitude too. The extreme tendencies of Jansenism did not
surface, however, until after Bérulle. Cf. Orcibal, pp. 154-56; Bremond 3, pp. 277-87 (on Condren, Olier and
-90Saint-Cyran); Konrad Hecker, "Jansenism," Sacramentum Mundi 3, pp. 171-74.
6. The Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Coutances (1674); that of the Sisters of Providence of Evreux (1705),
and of the Good Savior (1712), united after the Second Vatican Council; the contemplative Holy Family of Sees
(1805) and the secular institute of the Faithful Servants of Jesus (1941-84, in Colombia). Several members of John
Eudes' "third order" of the Society of the Heart of the Admirable Mother founded further female congregations: that
of the Daughters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (1821) founded by Marie-Thérèse Auffray; that of the
Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor (1852) founded by the recently beatified Jeanne Jugan; and that of the
Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (1853) founded by the Venerable Amelie Fristel. On all this,
see Milcent, S. Jean Eudes: un artisan, pp. 561-64. Helpful information on the Oratorians, the Sulpicians and the
Eudists can be found in Raymond Hostie, Vie et mort des ordres religieux (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1972), pp.
191-221.
We might note, too, that Bérulle can be regarded at least as a co-founder of the Carmelite nuns in France, and of
course there are strong spiritual bonds between the Ursulines of France and the Oratory, all forming a part of the
same renewal movement. J. B. Romaillon, who eventually joined the Oratory, is regarded as one of the founders of
the French Ursulines. See Bremond 2, throughout, and W. H. Principe, "Bus, César de, Ven.," New Catholic
Encyclopedia 2 (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967), p. 908. M. Olier, as noted, tried to establish the Daughters of the
Interior of the Blessed Virgin (to help in retreat work); it was actually established only after his death, and it did not

endure. Sulpicians have been somewhat active in promoting religious foundations over the centuries, either as co­
founders or as catalysts. A recent letter to me from the Sulpician Irénée Noye lists the following: in France, (1)
seventeenth century: Charles De Lantages: Daughters of Instruction; (2) eighteenth century: Louis Normant du
Faradon: Gray Sisters; (3) nineteenth-twentieth centuries: E.-M. Failion: the "Petite oeuvre," which later fused with
the Daughters of Mary; Marius Lepin: Servants of Jesus the High Priest (extinct); Claude Animé: Trinitarians of St.Marin-en-Haut; Paul Laurain: Benedictines of Jesus the Priest (extinct); in Canada, Antoine Mercier: Little Sisters of
St. Joseph, and Onil Lesieur: Servants of Mary Immaculate. Americans may be especially interested to note that
Sulpicians played a very formative role in the spiritual life of (St.) Mother Elizabeth Seton, as well as in the earliest
formation of the American hierarchy. The Sulpician James H. Joubert co-founded, with Elizabeth Lange, the first
community of black sisters in the United States in 1829 (Oblate Sisters of Providence), and the Sulpician Bishop
Jean-Baptiste David co-founded what eventually became the Sisters of Charity of Nazar
-91eth in the early 1800s with Mother Catherine Spalding. Interestingly, this community's name derives from Bishop
David's very Olierian devotion to Jesus' "hidden, interior life." Cf, for Olier's Daughters, Lettre 221, 1, pp. 550-52,
esp. the explanatory comment. For the American (U.S.A.) materials, see Christopher J. Kauffman, Tradition and
Transformation in Catholic Culture: The Priests of St. Sulpice in the United Stater from 1791 to the Present (New
York: Macmillan, 1988), esp. pp. 75-82, 89-90, 113-16.
7. See Cognet, La spiritualité moderne, pp. 360-452, and "Mysticism E. Ecole Française," p. 152. Also, on the
"Bérullian" Jesuits, see Bremond's views in vol. 3, pp. 223-42.
8. See Deville, chaps. 8 and 9, pp. 125-55. Cf, among others, Til. Rey-Mermet, Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort
(Paris: Nouvelle Cité, 1984); and Michel Sauvage and Miguel Campos, St. John Baptist de La Salle: Announcing the
Gospel to the Poor, trans. Matthew J. O'Connell (Romeoville, IL: Christian Brothers National Office, 1981).
9. For example, Alain Gouhier, "Néant," DS 11, cols. 64-80 at 73 argues for a connection between Bérulle's stress
upon kenosis and the same as found in St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Ida Friederike Gôrres traces Thérèse of Lisieux'
devotion of the child Jesus to Bérulle, Condren and the French School in The Hidden Face: A Study of St. Thérèse
of Lisieux, trans. Richard and Clara Winston (New York: Pantheon, 1959), pp. 344-48.
10. See Hostie, p. 201; Bernard Tenailleau, "Father Libermann's Spirituality," Spiritans Today 4 (1985): 49-76 at 58
and 65; and J. M. R. Tillard, "Father Libermann's Missionary Intuition," Spiritans Today 4 (1985): 77-94. This
"diffuse" French School plausibly is found in, for example, Pascal, Bossuet, Fénelon, Malebranche, among die
"earlier" representatives.
11. Jordan Aumann, Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition (San Francisco: Ignatius, 1985), p. 218.
12. Emile Mersch, The Whole Christ: The Historical Development of the Doctrine of the Mystical Body in
Scripture and Tradition, trans. John R. Kelly (London: Dennis Dobson, 1938), pp. 531-55 (on the French School) at
542. To be fair, he does think the School is too rigorous in its estimate of human nature (p. 552). He does not read
the School in the dialectical manner proposed by us.
13. Hans Urs von Balthasar, "Spirituality," Word and Redemption, pp. 87-108 at 92-93; cf. idem, "Theology and
Sanctity," pp. 49-86; idem, "Pascal," in The Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics 3: Studies in Theological
Style: Lay Styles, ed. John Riches, trims. John Saward, Martin Simon and Rowan Williams (San Francisco: Ignatius,
1986), pp. 172-238, esp. 173, 175, 238; idem, "Die Metaphysik des Oratoriums," Herrlichkeit: Eine Theologische
Àsthetik 3/1, Im Raum der Metaphysik (Einsiedeln: Johannes Verlag, 1965), pp. 471-79.
14. Karl Rahner, The Practice of Faith: A Handbook of Contemporary
-92-

Spirituality, ed. Karl Lehmann and Albert Raffelt (New York: Crossroad, 1984), p. 56; idem, On Prayer (New
York: Paulist, 1958), pp. 20-21: "The Incarnation is our great source of inspiration in prayer. 'In stooping without
defiling Himself,' wrote the famous seventeenth century mystic, Cardinal Bérulle, 'God the Son raises us; in His
union with the Father, He purifies us; in Incarnating Himself, He deifies us." (Rahner does not reference this; it
might come from G 4, 6 or 5, 12); Karl Rahner in Dialogue, ed. Paul Imhof and Hubert Biallowons, trans. Harvey D.
Egan, (New York: Crossroad, 1986), p. 191 (on the importance of Loyola for him); idem, "Teresa of Avila Doctor of
the Church," Opportunities for Faith, trans. Edward Quinn (New York: Seabury, 1974), pp. 123-26.
15. See David Tracy, The Analogical Imagination: Christian Theology and the Culture of Pluralism (New York:
Crossroad, 1981), pp. 99-338, esp. 107-15: "Certain expressions of the human spirit so disclose a compelling truth
about our Eves that we cannot deny them some kind of normative status. Thus do we name these expressions, and
these alone, 'classics' " (p. 108).
Perhaps this is the appropriate place to say something on the beatification processes of our principals. Pope
Innocent X, at the request of Bourgoing, introduced the beatification process for Cardinal Bérulle in 1648; forty-five
miracles were actually attributed to him. So far as I can tell, the process was halted mainly because Jansenists put the
Cardinal on their calendar (something they also did with St. Francis de Sales, for example) and thus Bérulle, quite
wrongly, was suspected of Jansenistic leanings. See A. Molien, "Bérulle (Cardinal Pierre de)," DS 1 (1937), cols. 153982 at 1580, and A. Liuima, "Bérulle, Pierre de," New Catholic Encyclopedia 3, pp. 362-63 at 363.

Mother Madeleine's beatification process was introduced in 1645, and the heroic nature of her virtues was
proclaimed by Pope Pius VI on 16 July 1789 (lienee her title of "Venerable"). See Serouet, "Madeleine de
Saintjoseph," DS 10 (1980), cols. 57-60 at 58.
M. Olier's beatification process was introduced in June of 1867 with the support of the bishops of Canada, 230
priests of the diocese of Montreal, and forty of the bishops of the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore. Various
factors, it seems, have delayed the process: (1) perhaps a tendency to link Olier with Jansenist rigorism (which is
quite inaccurate) as in Bérulle's case; (2) a certain anti-mystical tendency in the Roman Curia, wrongly suspecting
Olier of quietism (a book by the Sulpician Etienne-Michel Faillon on Mary's interior life [La vie intérieure de la t. s.
Vierge] based on fragments from Olier and published in 1866 was so suspected, even though it obtained a Roman
imprimatur; a different work by Faillon, a life of Ober, was intended to aid in the beatification process); and (3) the
charge that Sulpician seminary professors taught Gallicanism (of course this would not
-93-

apply to Olier himself). Actually, they sometimes favored a moderate Gallicanism, which avoids ultramontanism
and extreme Gallicanism, a position very close to the current, acceptable one among many theologians today. See
Kauffman, pp. 158-60; an important defense of St. Sulpice is H.-J. Icard, Doctrine de M. Ober (Paris: Victor
Lecoffre, 1891).
The late canonization of St. John Eudes (1925), too, may have been partly caused by Jansenistic pressures, as well
as by his relationship with Marie des Vabeés. Jansenism's influence may also have caused St. Margaret Mary
Alacoque's canonization to be delayed (untfi 1920). See Daniel-Rops, pp. 76 and 249n.l.
16. Recab Tronson's later "clericahzing" and "morabzing" of Ober's views on the priesthood; recall, too, the
powerful influence of the Jansenistic current up to Vatican II. We know, for example, that the ex-Oratorian P.
Quesnel was the primary target of the bub Unigenitus of 1713 condemning Jansenism. Cf. A. J. Krailsheimer,
"Jansenism," The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituahty, ed. Gordon S. Wakefield (Philadelphia:
Westminster, 1983), pp. 219-20 at 220. For a theological hermeneutics such as the one proposed in the text, see
Tracy, Blessed Rage for Order.
17. Bertrand de Margerie, The Christian Trinity in History, trans. Edmund J. Fortman, JS I ill River, MA: St. Bede's,
1975), p. 349, appreciatively mentions Bérulle's emphasis upon Jesus and the Eucharist as "icons" of the Trinity.
18. Fernando Guibén Preckler, Bérulle aujourd'hui 1575-1975: pour une spirituahté de l'humanité du Christ, Le
point théologique Series, 25 (Paris: Beauchesne, 1978). He particularly sees in the theology of von Balthasar a
theology and spirituahty congenial to Bérulle (pp. 64-65n. 39, for example). This may be so, although it is interesting
that von Balthasar has spoken of the "proclivity to empirical and psychological considerations" characteristic of the
mystics of the grand siècle, like Bérulle, Teresa, Ignatius, ]ohn of the Cross, and so on! See his "Spirituality," p. 92.
Interestingly, Bérubian scholars, even Bremond (throughout vol. 3), stress the ol)jecti\ il\ (as distinct from a modem
subjectivity) of Bérube: Guillén Preckler, "Etat," p. 27n71; Dupuy, Bérulle: une spiritualité de l'adoration, pp. 51-52,
distinguishing him from Loyola in tins respect. I would tend to see an integration of both dimensions in Bérulle, as
argued above.
19. Dupuy, Bérube: une spirituahté de l'adoration, is very helpful here. Friedrich Von Hügel, himself formed by
the French School through the Sulpician-Fénelonian-Huvelinian transmission, nicely stresses the import of
adoration. See, for example, The Reabty of God and Religion and Agnosticism (London: J. M. Dent and Sons, 1931),
p. 71: "Rebgion, at least among the mystics (and I behove that, on this point at least, the mystics merely dive deeper
into and bring out more explicitly the sap or the central core of the rehgious passion), consists centraby in the sense
of Presence—the sense of
-94an overflowing Existence distinct from our own and in the Adoration of the same." For the influence of the
French School upon Von Hügel, see Joseph P. Whelan, The Spirituality of Friedrich son Hügel (New York:
Newman, 1971), pp. 15-32. Recab Von Hügel's great work on Catherine of Genoa, The Mystical Element of Rebgion
as Studied in Saint Catherine of Genoa and Her Friends, 2 vols. (London: J. M. Dent and Sons, 1961), and recab also
that Bérube always carried "her image upon linn," according to Madeleine's Lettre 284, p. 314.
20. Cf. Vincent R. Vasey, "Mary in the Doctrine of Bérube on the Mysteries of Christ," Marian Studies 36 (1985):
60-80.
21. See Bernard Cooke, Ministry to Word and Sacraments (Phbadelphia: Fortress, 1976), pp. 147-48, 152, 293,
301, 382, 388, 487-88, 495, 610-11, 622-23; Edward Schibebeeckx, The Church With a Human Face: A New and
Expanded Theology of Ministry (New York: Crossroad, 1985), pp. 3, 202-3. The critical work on Ober's T was, of
course, not yet avabable to these authors.
There is an interesting tradition in the French School of closely associating the Virgbi Mary with die presbyteral
priesthood. Bérube, Ober and Eudes see analogies between them: Mary, like presbyters, brings the Word into history;
both sacrifice; and so forth. But M. Ober also cabs Mary a priest in a seemingly presbyteral sense, and Eudes gives
her the tide, but then quahfies it (and in some texts M. Olier also seems to say that Mary doesn't express her
presbyteral priesthood like other priests). See, for the sources, Bérube, OR 4, p. 426, and Gufilén Preckler, "Etat," p.
247; Ober, T, pp. 177-250, and H.-J. Icard, pp. 344-45; and René Laurentin, Maria Ecclesia Sacerdotium 1 (Paris:

Nouvelles Editions Latines, 1952), esp. pp. 370-73 (see 278-82 and 341-85 for texts on the entire French School,
with historical antecedents); Eudes, C 9, 11: OC 7, pp. 563-73, 676; cf. Louise de Jésus, p. 533, for Madeleine.
Of course, this is a controversial issue, and despite the calling of the Virgin a priest by Popes Pius IX and X (the
latter indulgencing a prayer to Mary as priest and virgin), still the Holy Office has issued a warning against
"incorrect" inferences and practices in this area. See Michael O'Carroll, "Priesthood of Mary," Theotokos: A
Theological Encyclopedia of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier, 1986), pp. 793-96. Is it
possible that this presbyteral-Marian devotion may open up some new perspectives on the question of the
(presbyteral) ordination of women?
22. For helpful comments on this, see Dagens, p. 181.
23. One would have to look through what our mystics say about charité or almsgiving, or to their support of
religious foundations (like the Good Shepherd Sisters), for their understanding of what we might call the
commitment to the poor and the oppressed. It is there in subdued tones, but we need to develop this in our own
way. See, for example, Olier's great chapter
-95-

on charité in the I, pp. 148-55, esp. 153, where we are told that Jesus is a "mystery... known only to the little ones
... [which] overturns all states (Flats), monarchies and empires." This is surely a fine beginning of a social, political
critique of modem society, is it not? See below, pp. 267-73. Cf, in Bérulle, CB 3, P. 855, p. 573; P. 904, p. 628; for
Madeleine's sense for the poor, see Louise de Jésus, pp. 476-78; for Eudes, see Milcent, S. Jean Eudes: un artisan, pp.
73-76, 430-33, 456-58 (for his custom of inviting twelve poor people to the refectory for the Feast of Jesus' Sacred
Heart), 562 (the Good Shepherd Sisters). Cf. Raymond Deville, "Actualité de l'école française?" Bulletin de SaintSulpice 8 (1982): 42-54, and chap. 10 of his L'école française de spiritualité, pp. 157-69.
-96-

IV. Comments on the Texts
In our choice of selections, we have used the best critical editions available, hoping for a
proportional sampling of texts. In the case of Bérulle, this means we have worked from the editio
princeps of his Oeuvres completes, which originally appeared in 1644, through the work of Gibieuf
and under the Oratorian generalate of Bourgoing. This edition was reissued by the Oratory in
1960, in two volumes. Migne also reissued the complete works in 1856, but the texts are inferior
in some cases to the editio princeps; hence our choice of the 1960 reissue, at least for our selections
from the Grandeurs, the 4 le and the Idlévations. Our selections by no means represent the full range
of Bérulle's works, whose pages number in the thousands. But most would agree that the
Grandeurs and the 4 le are the masterworks of die Cardinal, and that die "Elevation on Mary
Magdalene" is a work of enormous mystical depth and literary power. We have included a
celebrated letter on die priesthood too.
The case of Mother Madeleine de Saint-Joseph is similar. Her writings too are extensive. We are
fortunate to possess a truly critical edition of about three hundred of her letters produced by
Pierre Serouet in 1964, and so far as I know, this is the only truly critical edition of her works in
existence. With every letter Père Serouet indicates the sources he works from (usually copies
dating to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries), and his comparative analysis of "more
suspicious letters" against the "more authentic" renders his work die crucial one in Madeleinian
studies. Unfortunately a collection of original autographs of her letters, numbering over three
-97hundred, was sent to Rome for her beatification process but remains lost. A decree signed by
Pope Pius VI in 1785 confirms that these originals were received. Père Serouet has not yet been
able to find them.
Deciding what to choose from the published writings of Olier was more complex because
scholars do not agree upon a particular work as his masterwork. We have already seen that Louis
Cognet found evidence for the high popularity of the E/ Journée, and if one reads through
Bremond's selections from Olier, one will note his predilection for this work too. It is a
remarkable work, a kind of guide for the Christian day, with deeply moving meditations on just
about everything likely to confront the serious Christian in die daily struggle. But the work is too
long to translate in this introductory volume, and perhaps does not range as fully as we would
want through most of the major Olierian spiritual and theological themes. For this reason we

have chosen mainly from the Introduction à la vie et aux vertus chrétiennes, which also has its lyrical
power, albeit in a somewhat more didactic framework, and ranges through a good representation
of Olierian themes. We have included a few pieces from the Oa Journée too, which are
incontestably praiseworthy for their spiritual and lyrical power. These might give the reader a first
feel for this fascinating work. We have worked from the most recent 1954 critical edition of these
works prepared by François Amiot, who worked from the original 1655 and 1657 editions
respectively. Again, these are but a small part of Olier's complete works, especially if we keep in
mind die Mémoires, which alone are around three- thousand pages. Still, there is a basic unity amid
the diversity of M. Olier's works, and we remain confident that the reader will sense that unity-indiversity in the selections presented here.
The reader will recall our speaking of St. John Eudes' enormous output, much of it found in
the twelve-volume Oeuvres completes, edited with notes by J. Dauphin and C. Eebrun between
1905-11. We have worked from this in every case. Here our selections were easier to come by.
The Royaume, first published in 1637, is usually considered the expression of the saint's basic
theological and spiritual framework, from which he never really departed. We have chosen
passages that range through the key Eudist themes in this work, aiming for selections that
combine theological depth with literary power of expression. The Coeur of 1681 is also
represented, since it shows how John Eudes eventually placed the decisive accent upon the
metaphor of die heart, summing up his entire work through this
-98nch theme. This work ranges dirough three of die volumes of the collected works, and so we
have had to be very selective, choosing passages that might enable the reader to glimpse die
overall movement of the Coeur.
In our selections we have tried to be sensitive to die subtle relationship between diought and
expression, idea and form. The two often cannot be detached, as if the form or literary style were
accidental to die content struggling to come forth. In many ways the French School has
generated its own symbolic form, its own cluster of images and metaphors, which it has
structured dirough certain genres that seem to correspond to the kind of spiritual and theological
disclosure it has been its charism to give to die rest of us. It would be well for the reader to pay
attention to this dimension of our selections, I think. As some literary critics and philosophers
put it, we naturally move from die texts to the world of meaning opened up by the text, from the
sense encoded in the text to the references of a historical and theological nature expressed
through that sense. The medium is, often, an essential dimension of the message.1
Bérulle's Grandeurs, for example, seems a kind of mixed genre. It is a theological treatise, a kind
of grand synthesis of twelve discourses (and the number may have a symbolic impact foreign to
us). And yet it continually breaks into "elevations" or aspirations to the Divine and die God-Man
Jesus. Here theology becomes prayer and prayer becomes theology; learning slides into adoration,
and adoration slides into the "servitude" of theological analysis. The genre itself expresses the
science of the saints, die new style of theology wedded to mystical experience, which Bérulle
wants to develop in his times. The elevations, if you will, keep the dieology humble, open to a
stance of adoration and transcendence. They break die dieologian out of himself or herself, as it
were. The master metaphors found throughout—adoration, servitude, anéantissement, reference,
capacity, adherence—are all structured in the Grandeurs as in the service of this great theological
movement into mystical contemplation and depth. And yet somehow an elevation is not an
absorption into divinity, which Bérulle may have feared was true of some forms of abstract
mysticism. Elevations keep us aware of die Divine distance : We must be on earth before we can
stretch upward. And so the Grandeurs does not forget about earthly tilings: die world, the church,
die priesthood, our call to holiness. I would suggest that this genre also expresses something of
that critical balance between the Classical/Christian Heritage and the new Renaissance stress
upon
-99-

human inferiority. The movement between elevation and analysis is the aspect I have in mind.
Rather like die early beginnings of the Baroque, with its mixture of classical themes and the new
Renaissance probings of nature and human existence. 2
Madeleine's letter form, like all letter forms, expresses the dialogical nature of die Christian life
and brings out the potential of the French School to move us into die dialogue with God. The
message of the French School, and of Carmel, becomes a personal address, a Thou summoning a
you. In this sense it expresses beautifully Madeleine's love theology and also gives added meaning
to die letter output of all the principals in this book. Olier's Journée and Introduction are again that
mixed genre so typical of the French School, theological analysis wedded to elevation and prayer.
Reading them is to enter into that great movement from die self and its daily concerns to die
Divine Mystery dirough Jesus. Only in Olier die texts are much less grand than Bérulle's: less of
Neoplatonic Dionysianism and more of the evangelical poverty and humility seems to slime
through. Bérulle's vastness becomes rather scaled down to size in Olier: It is not so much die
universe as a whole on die way to God but the humble person, or at most the churched
community of those struggling for perfection. And John Eudes continues this mixed genre too.
He wants to reflect upon the Christian life in a theological way, but more like a preacher. And he
always weds this to prayer. The mixed genre generates the same mixed movement from self to
God. But John, preacher and missionary that he is, seems in a hurry in his writings, moving now
here, now there. The Coeur is like a summary, but it seems loaded with incomplete beginnings.
The text makes us hurry, filling us with eagerness. What should we expect, if we really believe we
are moving toward the great heart of God? 2
In die end, all our principals of the French School could have said of them what was said by
Father Amelote of Bérulle: "[Bérulle] is die one to have raised up this buried virtue [of respect]....
it is certain diat, in this century in which so much sanctity appears, we see in souls more
familiarity with God than reverence, and we find many Christians who love God, but few who
respect him ... but should one penetrate to the deptii of spirits, he will doubtlessly confess diat
respect for God is hardly known, and that children aren't raised with a profound adoration of his
grandeur, but only widi a freedom toward him. This is the source of the neglect of the Holy
Sacrifices, the esteem for apparent austerity, and the scorn of priests." -100NOTES
1. Helpful information on the texts, which I have drawn upon, can be found in Guillén Preckler, "Etats", pp. 1-5;
Serouet, Lettres, pp. 9-11; Glendon, pp. 5-6; Noye and Dupuy, "Olier," cols. 739-40; Milcent, "Jean Eudes," cols.
490-92. Louise de Jésus, p. 523, notes Madeleine's destroying her letters to Bérulle.
For a sensitivity to the kind of literary analysis I have in mind, see especially Tracy, The Analogical Imagination, on
the nature of genres and their meaning. The notion of "symbolic form" is taken from Eric Voegelin; see Eugene
Webb, Eric Voegelin: Philosopher of History (Seattle: University of Washington, 1981), pp. 52-88, for an
introduction and bibliography. Paul Ricoeur is also enormously helpful here; see his Essays on Biblical
Interpretation, ed. Lewis S. Mudge (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1980).
2. Dagens, pp. 37 and 249, suggests that Bérulle was greatly influenced by Augustine in his literary form. The De
Trinitate does continually move between analysis and prayer/aspiration (elevation?), and this is typical of Augustine.
Dagens sees Eph 3:18-19 as an important biblical elevation that may have influenced Bérulle. And, of course,
Bérulle's influence can be felt in the Oratorian Malebranche's elevations, as well as in Bossuet's. On his classical or
Baroque tendencies, Dagens wavers: pp. 165, 208. See "Baroque," The Oxford Companion to Art, ed. Harold
Osborn (Oxford: Clarendon, 1970), pp. 108-111, for helpful comments. Bérulle seems to bridge a more classical and
later Baroque era in France, but apparently classical influences remained powerful in France until quite late. Bremond
3, pp. 93-132, has insightful comments on Bérulle's literary style.
3. See Bremond 3, pp. 393 (on Olier) and 536-45 (on Eudes) for insightful literary comments that have helped
me. Bremond is a very helpful source for sensitizing one to these kinds of concerns. See also Emile Bertaud,
"Elévations spirituelles," DS IV/1 (1960), cols. 553-558, for helpful historical and liturgical sources of the Bérullian
elevations. As the preface of the Mass invites us to lift ourselves up to God, so does Bérulle. The lyrical Bérullian
"O's" might, I think, be partially rooted in the "O" antiphons.
4. Denis Amelote, La vie du père Charles de Condren, 2 (Paris: Henry Sara, 1643), pp. 80-81.
-101-

TRANSLATOR'S FOREWORD
This is the first English translation for most of the selections in this volume. I have attempted
to present these texts in contemporary American English. At the same time I have tried to
respect, as much as possible, die original "feel" of their poetic, flowing and passionate style. I
hope this will allow an English- speaking public to understand what these remarkable spiritual
authors wished to convey without losing a sense of their enthusiasm, creativity and originality.
Since this volume does not pretend to be a critical edition I have taken two general liberties.
First, I have placed the references to the scripture quotations in parentheses immediately
following each text. In the original works this varies; sometimes the references are in the text,
sometimes in the margins, sometimes in footnotes and at times there is no reference at all. My
choice was motivated by a desire for simplicity and accessibility.
Second, I have translated all scripture quotations, whether in French or Latin, into English
without identifying the original language. Most texts were in French, but a substantial number
were in Latin, following the practice of the period. I followed the same procedure for the few
non-scriptural Latin quotations. On those few occasions where the authors furnished a
translation for a Latin quotation in the text, I left the original version as well.
All the translations of the scripture quotations are mine. Since the writers did not always cite
the texts exactly and at times took slight liberties because of the context, it seemed more in
keeping with the purpose of a translation to present their version in these instances. The few
accommodations they do make with the scriptural texts are innocent enough and will be obvious
to the reader who is at all
-105familiar with the Bible. For example, on page 139 (G 6, 4, p. 247) Bérulle changes the verses
around and omits a phrase that he probably thinks is not necessary to the point he is making.
Furthermore, the writers worked mainly from the Vulgate, but often utilized the Hebrew and
Greek editions of their period. Therefore it makes more sense to translate what they wrote rather
than to insert references from a contemporary edition of the Bible, which would frequently be
based, at least in part, on other sources and on contemporary scholarship.
The question of exclusive/inclusive language was a real struggle for me. For many years I have
been committed to the use of non- sexist references to God and humankind. After some
experimentation, as well as consultation with a number of people, I decided to leave die exclusive
language. It is in fact part of the writers' world. It reflects how they saw reality. It is the way they
wrote. Just as I would not think, as a translator, of altering those theological or spiritual points
with which I might disagree, or try to update some of their anthropology, in the same way I
chose not to change a language that reflects a different sensitivity to the interplay of masculine
and feminine reality than many of us have today.
I am greatly indebted to Joanne Bierl, M.M.M., Virginia Brown, Barbara Glendon, O.S.U.,
Margaret Glendon and Anthony Lobo, S.S., for their gracious assistance in the revision of die
manuscript. I am also very grateful to William Thompson, the editor of this volume, whose
understanding, support and guidance were crucial to the completion of this work of love.
-106PIERRE DE BÉRULLE
Discourse on the State and Grandeurs of Jesus 1
First Discourse on the Excellence and Singularity of the Sacred Mystery of the
Incarnation
[1, 2, p. 162]
One of die first and most important lessons that we are taught in this school of wisdom and
salvation, ^_which was founded and made available to die world, is the holy mystery of the
Incarnation. This mystery is so exalted that it surpasses the loftiest thoughts of men and angels. It
is so excellent that it contains and includes both God and the world in itself. This mystery is so
deep that it is hidden from all eternity in the most secret thoughts of the Ancient of Days and in

the very bosom of the eternal Father, in such an exalted and ineffable manner that the Apostle
speaks rightly of it in various places as: the mysterious design which for all ages was hidden in God, the
Creator of all (Eph 3:9).
Nevertheless this mystery, which is so exalted and excellent, so deep and so hidden, is at the
same time quite public. It is realized in the fullness of time, in the center of die earth, so as to be
seen by both earth and heaven. Its purpose here is to become the object of faith for all people,
the anchor of their hope, the cause of their salvation and the fulfillment of die glory of God in
the universe. For it is through this mystery that heaven is opened, earth is made holy and God is
adored. This adoration is new. It is ineffable and was unknown to earth and heaven even in
former times. For although heaven previously had adoring spirits and an adored God, it had not
as yet an adoring God.
-109It is through this mystery that God is on earth hiding his greatness in humility. He is covered
with our weaknesses and clodied with our mortality. He himself accomplishes the salvation of the
world in our midst just as if he were one of us. Through this mystery earth is a heaven. It is a new
heaven where God dwells in a manner that is loftier and more august, holier and more divine
than the way in which he dwelt previously in the highest heavens. It is with faith, love and
homage toward diis sacred mystery that God himself, radier than through angels and servants,
established a religion on earth. ^_This religion will never be changed or removed from the earth.
He saved it for the end times since diis mystery also bears within it the final manifestations of his
power, his love and his eternal wisdom.
The church should be caught up in this mystery in a holy and divine way. It should be the focus
for the devotion of the most advanced souls, transfixed with wonder and admiration as they
contemplate diis object where they discover and perceive in an unspeakable fashion the majesty
of the divine essence, die distinction of its persons and die depth of its designs as well as die
exalted, rare and unheard of way in which God chose to exist in this masterwork. For everything
that is great, holy and worthy of admiration is there. It is like a résumé and a summary of all that
the oracles of faith reveal and teach us about God and his works. This divine mystery is like the
center of die created and uncreated world. It is the only place where God chose once and for all
to contain and reduce to our level both die world and himself, that is, his own infiniteness and
the immensity of the whole universe.
[1, 6, pp. 165-68]
After an eternity of dwelling, being absorbed and operating within himself, God wanted to
move outside, as it were, in a new type of operation. That is to say that in addition to the internal
emanations, which in a blessed and divine way occupy him in his essence and in his eternity and
which constitute the divine persons in the holy Trinity, he wished to become active outside
himself. He wanted to produce creatures capable of knowing, serving and loving him. He decided
to create the world that we see. Even though he was able to bring forth many worlds from the
treasures of his power and wisdom, he wanted to create only one to represent the unity of his
essence by the unity of his work.
-110Also as this same God contemplated himself, he loved his own unity and wanted to paint it
more vividly and dedicate it in a more holy fashion within this same world. And since he had
created a world in his honor, in this very world he wanted to choose a subject to be a work of his
own, which was unique, singular and unlike any other; rare and surpassing all the other works of
his hands; a work that, because of its own excellence, would have a perfect relationship with its
maker; because of its unity, a perfect relationship with his own unity. This is the divine mystery of
the Incarnation, the finest work of the divinity; the masterpiece of his power, his goodness and
his wisdom. It is God's very own work, as his prophet calls it in this word, God, your work (Hab
3:2). It is a work beyond all understanding, which contains God himself. It is the work and the
triumph of uncreated love, in which fortunately love triumphs over God himself. This work, this

mystery is unique and unlike any other in the world. Eternal wisdom produced it as its work of
works and its mystery of mysteries. Heaven and earth are blessed by its presence, filled with its
grandeur, ruled by its power and sanctified by the effects of this power.
We see God's unity imprinted in the unity of this mystery and engraved in this work, as in a
precious diamond. In this world where there are several natures capable of receiving his
greatness, God only chose one. Leaving aside angelic nature, he chose to unite himself to human
nature. We see that in the whole of the human race, where there are many possible subjects, he
chose only one and that there is only one Son of Man who is Son of God among the children of
the world. We see that in God himself, where there is a plurality of persons in an essential unity,
only one person became incarnate, although the Father and Holy Spirit are both powerful
enough to communicate their divine substance in this way.
Thus the unity of God is honored not only as before through creation, but also by the very
unity of a divine and uncreated person in tiiis masterwork of die Incarnation. Let us speak more
simply and let us offer more clarity and breadth to this thought. Let us say that it is no longer the
unity of the elemental and earthly world, the material and tangible world that proclaims, praises
and worships the unity of God, but rather the unity of a new work and a new world; a world of
grace, of glory, and of greatness; a world that is in all ways heavenly, glorious and divine. It is a
world that is the equal of God himself,
-Illcontaining God himself as if he were a part of it (if we can speak tiiis wav).
For Jesus is a world, a splendid world, according to autiientic theology, and this is true for
many more reasons than philosophy ever knew when referring to the human person as a world in
miniature, as we will say later. Furthermore, we adore in Jesus the unity of a divine person,
subsisting in two different natures, who, divinely and unspeakably, proclaims, honors and serves
the supreme unity of the divine essence. O supreme unity, how lovable and admirable you are in
the divinity and in die most divine of its works! How adorable you are, because God himself
honors you through the unity of his Word in two related natures! He honors you forever because
you are eternal and everlasting!
How guilty are those mortals who think so little of you, preserve you so neglectfully and violate
you so freely in your works. They do not realize drat God is unity and that he creates everything
for unity and creates everything through unity itself. For it is the unity of his power, his essence
and his intelligence that is die source of all he accomplishes outside himself in all his works. He
intends to draw everything to himself and to his holy unity through the unity of his Spirit in grace
and through the unity of his Word in die Incarnation, using this mystery and through it, even one
of the divine Persons to honor the unity of the divine essence. O unity of essence, how adorable
you are in the holy Trinity! O unity of person, how adorable and lovable you are in the
Incarnation; unity of divine Essence and divine Persons in these two mysteries, uniquely adorable
and lovable, you wish to draw us to God and to his unity!
There are reckless spirits who, motivated by inadequate reasons and strong passions, rupture so
easily the unity of minds in faith through heresies and die unity of hearts in obedience through
rebellions ! But let us leave these thoughts behind to return to our discussions and mysteries.
Let us say that God has established in the universe three distinct orders; the orders of nature, of
grace and of glory. In each of these there are many subjects, which till heaven and earth with
practically an infinite variety of creatures, admirable in their diversity. In the midst of this he
wanted to found a new order with only one subject who would be alone and without prototype.
For when we contemplate the order of nature, how many stars do we see in the sky, how many
plants on die earth, how many birds in the air, how many fish in
-112the waterways, how many animals in the forests, how many millions of people, and how many
thousands of angels? If we then look at the order of grace, how many just men and women do
we see, how many prophets and patriarchs, how many martyrs and confessors, how many virgins

and how many souls who serve God either in innocence or in repentance? And if we raise our
sights to the state of glory, how many varieties of saints do we see? How many seraphim,
cherubim, thrones, virtues, dominations, powers, principalities and how many other names that
are unknown in this world, but recognized in the other?
However, in the order of tire hypostatic union, which is the highest of all the orders, die light
of faith tells us that there is only one subject. Just as our faith tells us that there is only one God,
it also tells us that diere is only one Man-God and one God-Man. For just as there is only one
begotten Son in the bosom of the Father, so also did God desire that there be only one Son of
Man who was Son of God. He wished this Son of Man, born of the Virgin Maty to be unique
and singular, not in his human existence, but in his divine state; not in his nature, but in his
dignity. He wished that he alone be included in that ineffable order of personal union with the
divinity, the only subject of that admirable order. God wished that each of the orders of nature,
grace and glory be shared and communicated with an infinite number of subjects. However Jesus
was the only one to take part in this ineffable order, with which no other human being or angel
could be associated.
In the heavenly orders and hierarchies each angel fulfills adequately his species without the
need for any other individuals. In the same way the only son of the Virgin, die angel of good
counsel, fhlfills in himself this great order and no one else can ever be diere with him. God
wished to bring his creation to a close with him as his masterwork. In him God wished to express
and bring to fulfillment his greatness, Ins power, his goodness and die unspeakable
communication of himself. He could never make anydiing greater, holier or more divine than
Jesus. He would never want to make anything like him.
Let me say diat although there are many who possess grace and glory, Jesus is die only on earth
or in heaven, in time or in eternity, to possess uncreated and infinite being. Jesus is die only one
who has die divine Essence as one of his own essences and the divine Person as his own person.
Jesus is the only one seated at the right hand of the
-113Father, die only one placed on die throne of the Godhead. He alone is worthy to be adored by
all creatures. He alone is worthy to possess our hearts and minds, our sentiments and our
thoughts, just as he alone, through the holy mystery of the Incarnation, possesses the divine
Essence and divine Person in a way that is ineffable and quite unique to him.
Second Discourse in the Form of an Elevation to God Upon the Mystery of the
Incarnation
[2, 1, p. 170]
Those who contemplate a rare and excellent object are pleasandy surprised by the astonishment
and admiration they experience at die first sight of diat object, even before they recognize in
detail the particularities of die subject they are contemplating. Furthermore, this astonishment,
which appears to cause a weakness in die soul, gives it strength and vigor. For the soul draws
strength from its weakness, elevating itself to a greater light and to a higher and more perfect
knowledge. This same thing happens to us when we first behold and think of the excellence, the
rarity and uniqueness of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the sacred mystery of the Incarnation.
Because we are deeply and tenderly touched by the grandeur of tills rare object, which was
presented in the preceding discourse, we believe we should lift ourselves to God and praise him
in this unique work of his, waiting until later to reflect more on the state and grandeurs of Jesus
and to penetrate die secrets and the depth of this most exalted mystery.
Thus we are like one who emerges from a deep, dark cave, finds himself on a high mountain
and beholds the sun for the first time. He sees this sun as a serene, beautiful day breaks over our
hemisphere, decorating and embellishing the universe and enlivening it with its light and rays.
Touched by die sight of such a beautiful object, no doubt he would be surprised and delighted by
this view. He would feel die need to honor God in this work of his, without taking the time to

measure, by the rules and principles of astronomy, the size and dimensions of this great star. He
would not stop to study and observe with curiosity the properties of its light, the power of its
-114influence, the phases of its movements and the other perfections of dus great heavenly body.
In the same way, we leave the obscurity of earthly things and we come to contemplate the true
Sun of the world, the Sun of this sun that enlightens us, the Sun of justice who enlightens
everyone coming into the world. We are taken aback in astonishment and infatuated with love
and admiration at the first brightness, the first sight of this splendor. For at the beginning of this
work and as we first begin thinking about so worthy a subject, we need to interrupt our discourse
in order to approach God and contemplate the greatness of his only begotten Son and the state
of this most holy mystery. Let us contemplate God made man and let us approach this sanctuary
with a spirit of humility and devotion. Let us try to enter with reverence and love into his clarity,
rather titan enter by clarity into his love. Of course we desire to receive from him both of these
qualities and impressions as we direct our stirrings and affections toward an object and a mystery
that is one of love and clarity at die same time.
[2, 2, pp. 170-72]
The Egyptians adored the sun and inappropriately referred to it as the visible son of the
invisible God. But Jesus is the true sun who looks upon us with the rays of his light, who blesses
us with his countenance and who rules us by his movements. He is the sun we should always
behold and adore. Jesus is truly the only begotten Son of God and neither the sun nor any other
created tiling, whether in heaven or on earth, is his equal. Jesus is the only begotten Son and the
visible Son of die invisible Father, as we shall say later. Let us say for now that he is not the sun
of the Egyptians, who were deceived by their myths, but the Sun of Christians, who have been
instructed in the school of truth, in the light of tins sun, who is the light of the supernatural
world. He is a sun who chose to depict and represent himself by die natural sun, which is only his
shadow and symbol.
For the sun is die image of God, the Father of nature, the universal source of life. And Jesus is
the true and living image of the eternal Father. He is his image both in his divine person and in
his sacred humanity, which is united to the Godhead. He is die author of the world, the father of
human nature both by his power, which created it, and his love, which redeemed it. He is the
source of grace and the principle of true life on earth and in heaven, m time and in eternity,
-115in men and in angels, in grace and in glory. The sun was formed m the middle of the days set
aside for die creation of the world. It was placed m the middle of all creatures, some higher and
some lower, tliat it might illumine them all. And Jesus, the splendor of the Father, reveals himself
in the world and enters the world of grace in the middle of the ages; at die end of die old law and
the beginning of the new. By the light of his grace he illumines the Fathers who preceded him
and those who came after him. All of them were, according to scripture, like stars, shining with
the clarity of this sun and m the middle of them he emerged and appeared to the world.
Created light, which subsisted from die first day of the world, was united to the body of the
sun on die fourth day in order to be, in and through the sun, a body and source of light for earth
and heaven. In die same way the eternal light, die totally uncreated light, subsisting m the
Godhead, was during the fourth millennium united and incarnated in the humanity of Jesus in
order to become, in and through him, a source of life, grace, glory and light for all eternity.
One of the most renowned astronomers of antiquity was so infatuated widi the sun, which is
the principal object of his science, that he wanted to look at it and contemplate it at close range. He was burned and consumed as he looked at it. Jesus is die object of the science of salvation,
the science of Christians. The teacher and the Aposde of die world proclaimed openly that his
science was to know Jesus (1 Cor 2:2). Should not Christians then be touched by the love and
desire to see and contemplate die principal object of their belief, their science and their religion?
Should tliey not have more affection for die Sun of their souls tiian this philosopher had for the

sun of the earth, which is commonly exposed to the sight and usage of both humans and
animals? And should they not be burning to come near to this Sun of justice, not in order to be
consumed, but rather to be set afire by love and charity as they look upon it?
An excellent mind of this age ^claimed that the sun and not tire earth is at die center of the
world. He maintained diat it is stationary and that tire earth, in conformity with its round shape,
moves in relation to the sun. This position goes against all appearances, which constrain outsenses to believe that die sun is in continuous movement around die earth. This new opinion,
which has little following in the science of the stars, is useful and should be followed in die
science of salvation.
For Jesus is die sun that is immovable in his greatness and that
-116moves all other tilings. Jesus is like his Fatiier. Seated at his right hand, he is immovable like
him and moves all things. Jesus is the true center of the world and the world should be in
continuous movement toward him. Jesus is the Sun of our souls and from him we receive every
grace, every light and every effect of his power. The earth of our hearts should be in continuous
movement toward him, so that we might welcome, with all its powers and components, the
favorable aspects and benign influences of this great star. Let us bring, then, the movements and
affections of our soul to Jesus. Let us raise our spirits and praise God for his only begotten Son
and for die mystery of his Incarnation with the following thought and words. [2, 5, pp. 174-77]
In diis state _and subsistence you are an abyss of marvels, a world of greatness, an abundance
of eminent, rare and singular realities. You are the Center, the Circle, die Circumference of all the
outer emanations of God! fyYou are the masterpiece of God. As he moved outside himself you
became the work in which he exhausted his greatness, power and goodness and in which he
enclosed himself so as to become part of his own handiwork and to exalt you over all the otherworks of his hands, thus dignifing and deifying you tlirough his very being. You are the throne of
glory and greatness where the fullness of the divinity dwells in a unique, divine and bodily
fashion, according to St. Paul, that worthy herald of the glory of this sublime mystery (Col 1:1523)!
In the holy Trinity, the Son of God is united to the Father in a unity of essence. Here he is
joined to his humanity in a unity of Person. In the Godhead, this same Son of God is one witii
the Father. They are a single source, which produces the third Person of the Trinity. Here he is
united to his humanity, in a unity of Person, to be a co-principle with it, and through it, of the
whole order of grace and all die holiness of earth and heaven. The being and order of nature is
attributed to the Father through die Son. The being and order of grace and glory is attributed to
the Son through his humanity. He carries this out and accomplishes it through his humanity,
which he has elevated and chosen to be an instrument united to the Godhead. The divine essence
is a substantial grace and you, O most holy humanity, united with the Word, you are another type
of substantial grace, subsisting personally in divine and uncreated holiness. Just as
-117the accidents and properties flow from the substance, existing and depending on it, in the same
way die effects of grace have their root and their subsistence in you, O deified humanity, O
humanized divinity ! This is so true tiiat tins Man-God, this Word Incarnate, this unique Son of
the eternal Father in heaven and of Mary on earth, is in the order of grace what substance is to
accidents and what die sun is to light. He has an excellence, an influence, a power; a supreme
excellence, a universal influence, a singular and absolute power over tire whole state of grace and
all die effects that flow from it! In eternity, through the essence that he receives from his Father,
he is die source of the holy, eternal and uncreated Spirit. In die same way in the temporal order,
through the essence he receives from Maty, that is through the instrumentality of our humanity,
he is a new, living and powerful source of all created holiness, of all infused graces, of all divine
assistance, of all the holy operations of earth and heaven, in time and eternity.

Oh, abundance! Oh, abyss! No one can count the stars in die sky, the leaves on earth or die
sand in the sea, even though these things have limited value and are finite in number. But who
could count die number or estimate the value and die uniqueness of all the effects of grace? I am
speaking of all those effects in every saint in heaven, in all the just of the earth or even in those
sinners who resist the grace that is offered to diem? Who could adequately examine all that is
contained in the unfolding of the centuries until the end of time or in the infinite length of
eternity? I mean an eternity which has no other life than that of grace and which is nothing but
holiness with all its possibilities, being totally filled and absorbed by the effects of grace and of
glory.
All these effects of grace, both of God with men and men with God, are related to you and will
be related to you forever, as to their source. Furthermore, they find their support, thensustenance and their foundation in you as in their substance. Oh, substance, oh, source of grace!
What a wonderful thing this says about Jesus concerning grace!
The order of nature and all the universe, which we see so lavishly spread out in admirable
diversity, is divided in two different categories, substance and accident, which contain all die
varieties of creation. In the same way, the order of grace has its accidents and substance. Its
substance is in the Incarnate Son of God. Its accidents are found in his saints and in his servants.
However, there is this
-118difference. The Man-God is the singular and unique substance of all the order of grace, while
the order of nature is divided and diversified in various types of substances. Thus the order of
grace, being more excellent and closer to the Godhead, is also closer to unity, which is so
celebrated in the divinity. Thus this order has only one deified substance, as there is only one
divine essence and substance.
This Jesus, in whom we contemplate this rare, excellent and unique substance of the order of
grace, does not only support it as a substance supports its accidents. He is also die substance that
is the origin of the whole order and state of grace. For the grace of earth and of heaven flows and
emanates continually from Jesus, just as accidents flow from their substance or as the light of
earth and heaven originates from the sun.
Now let us raise our sights to an even worthier object and more divine exemplar. For this
emanation of grace is a sort of created divinity, of which God said, I said, you are Gods (Ps 82:6). It
is an excellent imitation of that great, noble and primary emanation of the Son in the Godhead,
which looks to God the Father as to its Father and origin. In the same way, we are called to
recognize and honor two distinct emanations in Jesus, one derived from the other: his own
personal emanation from his Father and the emanation grace has drawn from Jesus in honor and
imitation of tire one he has himself from his Father.
This second emanation uncovers and manifests for us an admirable and perpetual state of
Jesus. This state is one of the greatest secrets and is founded on the most sublime mysteries of
the Christian religion. It should serve as the norm and guide of our devotion toward him. For in
the Holy Trinity- the divine persons have a relation and a rapport to their principle of origin. They
only subsist through his attributes and relations and are happy to live in this relatedness, rapport
and mutual love. It is the same way in the order of grace, which is a perfect imitation, a living
portrait and a formal participation in the divinity. All created holiness has an excellent
relationship to the Son of God and a singular rapport with the Incarnate Word. It has life in
Jesus, as in him who is and calls himself the life, since he is its origin and exemplar.
Those souls who are endowed with this created holiness, contemplate and adore Jesus in this
way. They adore and imitate the divine and uncreated holiness, the rapport and eternal
relationship of the Holy Spirit toward the Father and Son and that of the Son toward the
-119Father, who is the origin. Therefore, just as uncreated holiness subsists in the mutual relations
of Persons who process toward those from whom they proceed, in the same way created holiness

subsists in the rapport and singular relation to Jesus and his holy humanity, from which it flows.
Thus we will contemplate Jesus, love Jesus and live in Jesus. For he is life. He wants to be our
life, both now and through eternity.
Oh, humanity, divinely subsistent, divinely living, divinely active! You are worthy in this divine
and infinite attribute that you possess. You are infinitely, most infinitely worthy of ruling all that
has been created or could be created. Endowed with superior power, you are worthy of
commanding all that can be commanded. For even brute nature is sensitive to your commands.
We see this in tempests, winds and storms and other raging elements, which have obeyed you. As
we read in the holy words of a great saint and doctor of die church: The majesty of the Creator. This expresses worthily the homage and submission that even unintelligent things rendered to the
powerful authority and august majesty of the creator, made visible and tangible in you, oh, sacred
humanity! You are worthy of acquiring and meriting everything that can be acquired and merited;
of sanctifying everything that can be sanctified; and of abolishing and wiping away all that should
be wiped away and pardoned. For you are holy with die very holiness of die divine essence. You
are the meeting point of uncreated and created reality. For like the first, you have a divine person
and like the second, you have a finite and limited nature. You are the new and unique focus for
both God and humanity. For the Eternal Father sees you united to his Son, the Son united to
himself and the Holy Spirit united to him who is his origin and the source of his eternal
emanation. All of us see you as the spouse of our God, as the Ark of our covenant, as the temple
of our Divinity and as the source of our salvation.
[2, 6, pp. 177-78]
I wish to honor your greatness, your power and your blessings; die greatness within yourself,
your power over us, and your great blessings toward us. Furthermore, I wish to honor all die
divine objects we have contemplated and all the mysteries diat relate to you: die Holy Trinity,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, decreeing and bringing about the ineffable union of human nature
with the divine Word; die
-120blessed Virgin, in whom that divine union was accomplished and consummated. Thus I lift my
spirit and address myself to you, O Jesus my Eord. I say to you the words of one of your apostles
in ecstasy. I want to say them to you with his spirit and his affection: Dominus mens et Dens mens,
My Lord and my God (Jn 20:28).
Contemplating and thinking of your grandeurs I offer and present myself to you in die humble,
blessed state and condition of servitude. 1_I propose and make a constant, certain and inviolable
promise of perpetual servitude to you, O Jesus Christ, my Lord and my God, my life and my
Savior! It is an offer of servitude to you, to your sacred, deified humanity and to your humanized
divinity. For your humanity is deified not only dirough die infusion and deification of grace, but
through a much nobler infusion and imprint, that is to say, dirough the infusion and imprint of
the Word himself, who communicates his own person to this humanity. In a reciprocal fashion,
your divinity is made human, that is to say, clothed with our humanity’, as a new substance, which
is joined to it and adheres to it, through the support and communication it receives from the
existence and very subsistence of the Divinity. O grandeur, O beauty, O love, O ineffable link
between Divinity and humanity! I join myself to you by the bond of perpetual servitude, in honor
of the holy and sacred bond that you have with us on earth and in heaven, in the life of grace and
glory. I enter this holy union with all my strength, begging you to give me more grace and power
so tliat I might unite myself to you in a greater, holier and closer bond.
Our being is linked to you, O my God, through your grandeur and its poverty, that is, by its
need to be sustained by you so as not to fall into the nothingness from which your powerful hand
has drawn it. Our being is also linked to you through your goodness and its powerlessness, since
it is unable to accomplish any work of salvation if it is not joined to you through grace. This
bond belongs only to those who are good, separating them from those who unfortunately are
separated from you. However, beyond these two bonds, it pleased you to have a third one, which

is yours alone and which can belong only to you. It is a bond of love, a rare and singular love. It
is a holy and sacred bond, which joins your person to our nature; a bond diat forms a new being,
a new state, a new order; a bond diat makes a new man and a new Adam. When I say a new man,
I mean not simply a just man, or a holy man; not an angelic or divine man, but a Man-God who
sustains, rules and delights heaven and earth.
-121I adore your being, O my God, supporting all being dirough the first bond, which is universally
necessary to every created being, whether good or bad. I implore your goodness and mercy that I
may be linked to you forever in the second way through the bonds of your love, through die
effect of your grace and dirough the infusion of your Spirit. But beyond all diat, I long for you, O
my Lord Jesus. I want to partake of you and, through you, have a share in the new grace of your
new mystery of the Incarnation! In honor of the admirable union of your humanity with the
Divinity itself, I want to unite myself to you, to exist in you, to live in you and to bear fruit in
you, like the branch on the vine!
[2,10, pp. 183-86]
Thus die secret of this new mystery, the source of this great work, the work of the works of
God and the unique means divine wisdom has found in order to join earth to heaven as m its
point and center, the invisible with the visible in the same subject, created being with uncreated
being in the same person and this without any mixture or confusion of the two beings and the
two natures, which are so distant and so united at the same time. This secret, as I was saying, this
source, diis means unknown to heavenly intelligences, this divine invention is to strip the
humanity of Jesus of its own ordinary subsistence, so that it could be clothed with a subsistence,
foreign and out of die ordinary for his nature, divided and separated from its own subsistence,
which it had the right to possess and from which it finds itself happily deprived at the moment of
its production.
Thus, for example, in grafting we divide and open up the trunk, which will receive the graft.
Now the fruit of this graft, selected by the gardener, is not the ordinary fruit of the tree to be
grafted. In a similar fashion, the eternal bather whom the gospel mentions as the divine cultivator
of the gospel, chose a wild plant from the earth (if we consider it in its origin and nature), which
is humanity bearing the likeness of sinful flesh. God separated the nature from the person that
would have been proper and connatural to it and that would have flowed out of its essence once
it was actuated and existing. He substituted the heavenly graft, the divine subsistence, the very
person of his Son in place of the human subsistence, which had been negated. Therefore diis
plant, divided in this way and wounded in what is most intimate, most appropriate and most
connatural to its being,
-122bears fruits that are different and do not belong to it, but rather to what was grafted onto it.
This nature, which has been stripped and subsequently clothed in this way, possesses
henceforth a being that is different not in its essence, but in its existence and subsistence. So
much so that its life, its movements and its actions no longer flow from it nor belong to it, but
rather belong to the one who divinely sustains it. For we should notice this difference between
the gardener's graft and this divine graft of the eternal Father, the celestial gardener. Instead of
the graft being sustained by the wild trunk onto which it has been grafted, in this case the Word,
which is like a divine graft on human nature, a wild plant because of its resemblance to sin, this
Word is the subsistence of this very nature. The one who with three fingers sustains the world,
sustains this humanity in a more powerful and unique way by appropriating it, sanctifying it and
deifying it in his person. Thus it follows that the life and actions of this human nature do not
belong to it. It is not that they do not proceed from it as from their source, but rather it can not
claim ownership, neither from a logical perspective, nor from the standpoint of law or morality.
I apologize for prolonging diis topic and for using words that would be more fitting in dieses
and in academic settings than in pulpits and in discussions of faith. However, die reader will be

kind enough to forgive me since I am constrained by die need to ward off those difficulties some
people create. I graciously beg those people either to keep quiet for modesty's sake or please
make the effort to consider attentively and to study more deeply the truths that the faith teaches
in order to assure that we all share the same opinion and are united in love regarding the realities
of faith the apostle commanded (Rom 12:6; Phil 2:2). For they do not understand that by
contesting this truth, they are implicating the basis of Christianity, whose treasure and foundation
are die actions and die sufferings of this humanity, not simply as humanity, but as die humanity
of the Word. In other words, it is a humanity that in its nature, its actions and its attributes
belongs to a divine, uncreated and infinite being, which elevates the essence, status and merit of
this human nature to an uncreated existence and subsistence, to a divine condition and dignity, to
an inestimable worth and value.
Therefore, let us say to them that the actions of this humanity cannot be thought to belong to it
from a logical point of view. For they are not proper to this humanity in itself, and this is
necessary if a
123thing is judged to belong perfectly according to the rules of logicians. The truth is diat these
actions are proper to a substance that is foreign to this humanity, when considered simply within
the state and limits of nature. Ret us say to them, furthermore, that from the perspective of die
law, whether it be common and natural, or divine and supernatural, the actions of diis nature
belong properly to die Word and not to itself. For die eternal Word, as an uncreated and divine
Person, preempting the right of human nature through infinite power and love, takes possession
of this humanity. It unites it to itself, and through infinite power and love, makes it its own, rests
and dwells in it as in its own nature, draws it beyond common and natural limits, anointing and
consecrating it with the unction of the divinity. It exercises right and authority over this nature,
its actions and in general over all diat belongs to this humanity. For everydiing in Jesus Christ has
its foundation in the hypostasis of his divinity. The eternal Word, as die substance and divine
suppositum of this human nature, is the proprietor of all its actions and sufferings. He sustains
them, elevates them, deifies them in his own person, by sustaining, elevating and deifying the
substance of this humanity, dirough which they adhere to die divinity in a common bond of
hypostatic communion. Therefore it is evident from this perspective that the Word has die right
and die legitimate authority to use and dispose of die state, the life, the actions and the sufferings
of his humanity, as something diat belongs to him and is truly, blessedly and divinely his because
of his admirable power and because he deigned to take such unusual possession of diis nature
and everydiing proper to diis nature, which has been thoroughly emptied of itself and so worthily
clothed in the Word.
A slave, after having given up or losing his liberty, loses the right and authority over his actions
and the use of his own life diat our common birth gives him. This right is legitimately transferred
from the person of the slave to die person of the one who holds him in captivity. How much
more is this humanity stripped of diis right and diis power to dispose of itself and its actions.
This right is legitimately transferred from the human nature to die divine Person who sustains it.
For seeing itself stripped of its natural subsistence in order to be mightily elevated to die very
eminent subsistence of die eternal Word, not only does this nature willingly hand over its
freedom and liberty so as to be die fortunate slave of his power, greatness
-124and love, but it gives over to him as well its natural right to subsist in itself, so as to subsist only
in the divine Person; and to be in his power and possession, not only morally, voluntarily and
temporarily, as is die case of a slave who is under the control of his master, but also in a personal,
perpetual and even natural way, if we can speak thus. For it is clear that die stripping of die
human subsistence from human nature is a privation of something much more bound and
inseparable, much more intimate and intrinsic to nature, dian is the freedom and liberty of a
person who enters servitude and slavery. For a nature can only be separated from personal

existence by the very author of nature, whereas a free person can lose his freedom and liberty
through a thousand occurrences. Personal existence is intrinsic to nature. It is its term, bringing it
to fulfillment, making it in a way part of die very substance of things. Whereas freedom and
liberty are simple accidents and qualities, which are temporary and disappear without implicating
the subject. They only enter into the conditions of a given state, not the person. Thus this
humanity is stripped of such a great reality, as intimate to its essence as its subsistence; and
according to the Angelic Doctor, it is stripped of its existence as well. This humanity then is
much more under the power and possession of the eternal Word, which receives it and sustains it
in its being, than the slave is under his master's power and possession. Furthermore, according to
the law, a tree transplanted from one place to another, once it has taken root, no longer belongs
to the lord of the original plantation, but rather to the master of the second, because through the
nourishment received from die new earth, it has become in some way a different tree, even
though it is the same stalk, the same substance and the same vegetative soul both in gender and
species and even in its individual nature, bearing the same fruits and leaves. How much more
could we say the same tiling of that human nature, which is a heavenly plant, which in its species
is an inverted tree, as Plato calls it, and in this individual is even more truly an inverted tree in a
more exalted sense unknown to the great philosopher but known only to Christians? 11 This
humanity has been lifted out of the sterile soil of the common and ordinary existence of its
specific nature and happily transplanted into the very soil of divine and personal existence, in
order to subsist and live forever in this new existence of the divine Word. How much more then,
I ask, should we say tiiat this humanity is no longer subject to the power
-125and possession of nature, which is die soil and die state from which it is separated, but to die
power and possession of divine and uncreated grace, which is the new soil....
[2,13, pp. 190-91]
... You are still this chosen servant, who alone serves God as he ought to be served; that is, widi
an infinite service. And you alone adore him with an infinite adoration, as he is infinitely worthy
of being served and adored. For previously, neitiier men nor angels could serve and adore this
supreme majesty with this kind of service by which it is cherished and adored according to its
infinite grandeur, the divinity of its essence, and die majesty of its persons. From all eternity there
had been a God infinitely adorable, but still there had not been an infinite adorer. There had been
a God infinitely worthy of being loved and served, but no man nor infinite servant able to render
an infinite service and love. You are now, O Jesus, this adorer, this man, tills servant, infinite in
power, in being, in dignity, so that you can fully satisfy this need and render this divine homage.
You are this person, loving, adoring and serving die supreme majesty as he deserves to be loved,
served and honored. And just as there is a God worthy of being adored, served and loved, so
there is also in you, O Jesus my Lord, a God adoring, loving and serving him eternally, in the
nature which was united to your person in the ftilness of time.... from now on we have a God
served and adored widiout any defect in this adoration, and a God who adores, without
detracting from his divinity!
Third Discourse on the Unity of God in This Mystery
[3, 8, pp. 205-07]
In order to better understand this truth, we must look at it from a loftier perspective and affirm
that there are diree holy, divine and adorable unities. The excellence of our mysteries helps us to
know them and the sublimity of our faith proposes diem. The Son of God on the earth
contemplated, loved and adored them. They are the unity of essence, the unity of love and the
unity of subsistence; die
-126unity of essence in die Divinity, which we adore, the unity of love in the Trinity, which we
admire, and the unity of subsistence in the Incarnation, which we profess. They are the unity of
essence, which die Son receives from his Father, the unity of love, which he produces with his

Father and the unity of subsistence, which he communicates to our humanity through the will of
his Father.
According to Saint Paul, the first function of the soul of Jesus was, without doubt, the
adoration of his God as well as tire vision and contemplation of his unities. This is his first duty
and his first exercise. It is his first duty to adore him and his first exercise to behold him, that is
to behold his essence and his glory. This man called Jesus is God through this mystery and he
saw with the light of glory (which no one denies him) that he was God. Because of this,
undoubtedly, his first duty and his first operation, given this vision and blessed life, was to adore
through his human nature the supreme unity of the divine Essence. And following the order of
the eternal origins and emanations, within which he is the only Son of God and the second after
the Father, he devoted himself at once to die admiration and adoration of his Father's power in
begetting him, as well as his own birth, his subsistence and his unique and eternal filiation in the
bosom of his Father. The first activity of Jesus in his divinity is the production of the Holy Spirit,
of which, with the Father, he is the source. Thus, following tills same order of divine processions,
he saw and adored also in the same instant this divine emanation, this eternal Spirit, this personal
love of which he is the source and the origin in die Divinity. It is an uncreated and ineffable bond
uniting the Fadier to the Son, and the Son with the Father through an eternal unity of Spirit and
unspeakable love.
As he beholds these two natures, one human and the otiier divine, joined in die unity of a
subsistence that is divine and uncreated, in the same instant he beholds, loves and adores this
new unity, which makes him the new man, that is to say, which makes him Man-God through a
type of new unity, which constitutes his being, his state and his greatness. After the divine
Essence (according to Saint John) our happiness resides in the vision of our Eord Jesus Christ
and in die unspeakable unity diat unites two such distinct natures m him. Therefore the second
object of the happiness of Jesus' soul is die vision of himself subsisting within uncreated being
and in the vision of diis same unity, which by uniting these two natures, constitutes the divine
composite and makes God man. From that moment on it
-127establishes the new mystery of the Incarnation and gives the world a new object, an eternal
object, an object of grandeur and love, an object of life and happiness. He conceals such
grandeurs with his humility, frequendy calling himself Son of Man in the scriptures. Yet even
though he does this, he does not underestimate them, nor ignore or forget them, because he has
known and seen from the first moment diat in being Son of Man, he was Son of God.
For as he is Son of God, in his divinity, through an eternal generation, so similarly in his
humanity, where he is Son of Man, he is also Son of God by a temporal communication of die
divine Essence to human nature. And thus the Son of Man, who is Son of God, sees and
contemplates continuously this excellent state, always offering himself and this new unity, which
makes him the new man, in homage to the adorable and divine unities of the supreme, uncreated
being. O new unity! O holy unity! O unity of subsistence, how precious, lovable and honorable
you are to Jesus. For in you, that is in diis unity of personal subsistence, consists all his being and
his grandeur. O soul of Jesus, when you were brought forth from nothingness and united to
God, you beheld his glory, you saw this new mystery of the Incarnation. In seeing it, you have
seen how it brings about a holy and incomprehensible unity, a new unity between two such
distinct realities, which is also real, divine and adorable. You beheld that your consistency and
divine subsistence exist in diat unity. What contemplation, what love, what homage did you offer­
at diat moment to diis divine being that is your being, to that divine unity that establishes diis
new, supreme and divine mystery of the Incarnation?
And since you are the only one, O Jesus, to receive it and the first mortal to have seen this
unity of subsistence in your two natures, you were as well, even before the virgin who conceived
you and before the angels who announced you, the first of all to have recognized and honored
this new, divine unity in the fullness of its wonders! You were the first to contemplate diis holy

unity and who prayed to diffuse its grace, its power and its effects in order to bring about the
reuniting of our souls with God, as Saint John said. You are the first to have offered undying
gratitude to the eternal Father for having established in you and in this unity the center and the
source of die unity of grace and die Spirit, which was to be shared with angels and men and was
to govern earth and heaven forever.
Thus, O Jesus, my Lord, in a holy and divine manner you began and you ended your life in die
womb of the Virgin, in this Cenacle of
-128Zion, reflecting, loving and adoring the divine unities. You continued in die same way on die
earth in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Egypt, Judea and in all die places you honored and
sanctified by your holy presence. And this interior exercise was part of the spiritual and
contemplative life you wished to practice in order to accomplish our salvation, to give an example
to your children, as well as to serve and honor the majesty of God on earth. And now diat you
are in heaven and are established in the Father's glory, you still reflect on and contemplate this
same object. Your triumphant, heavenly and immortal life has die same occupation you had
during your humble, suffering and pilgrim life. For you are true life. You are the model of our
life. You are the exemplar revealed to us and to Moses on the mountain, according to which we
are commanded to live. Thus may our interior life be devoted to the contemplation, adoration
and imitation of your interior life. May our spiritual life contemplate and imitate the exercises and
activities of your divine love and your sacred life.
Following your example let us all contemplate and adore, after you and through you, this divine
object. May we see that because of tiiese admirable unities, we have two holy, divine and adorable
Trinities in our mysteries. The first is the Trinity of subsistence in a unity of essence. It is the
first, most exalted and most august mystery of faith in the Person of die Father, of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit. The second is a Trinity of essence in a unity of subsistence through the
mystery of die Incarnation, essence of the soul, of die body and of the divinity of Jesus.
One of these two Trinities exists from all eternity. The other exists for all eternity. One is
uniquely divine and uncreated in both its Persons and its Essence. The other is divine and human
at the same time; divine in the Person and human in two of its essences. One of diem is adored
but never adores. The other is humbly adored and also divinely adores the most exalted, ineffable
and incomprehensible mystery of die Trinity, which is die loving source, the perfect exemplar
and die final cause of the Incarnation.
In the Incarnation, the first Trinity, the eternal Trinity, the Trinity of Persons is sublimely,
uniquely, majestically and divinely recognized, served and adored on earth and in heaven by the
second Trinity. This new Trinity of essences, which constitutes the new Man and is contained in
this new mystery of the Incarnation, also renders this new mystery and this new Man, with die
diversity of his
-129natures, worthy and capable of humbly and divinely adoring die supreme mystery of the most
holy Trinity.
[3, 10, pp. 209-10]
Thus God lives eternally in the unity of his essence. Thus God operates powerfully as a unified
source and rules blessedly through the unity of his love. And thus, in a new way, God introduces
his Son and his greatness to die unity of the divine subsistence and grounds his state and reign in
the unity of that subsistence. O divine unities; O unity of essence, unity of principle, unity of love
and unity of subsistence. How admirable you are, how lovable you are, how adorable you are in
yourself, in your emanations and in your works! How much we should search for you in your
very self, seek you in your designs, respect you in your counsels, glorify you in your works and
include you carefully in all those tilings your spirit and your grace bring us to undertake in your
honor! How much we should adhere to the secret and powerful activity of your wisdom, which
leads everything back to unity, just as everything hows from unity!

For, according to Saint Denis, all things are broughtforthfrom unity by nature and they seek this unity
by a secret instinct of nature. They return to it through grace; they lose themselves in it through
glory. But above all created things, this humanity that we adore in Jesus returns and loses itself in
another type of totally divine unity through a path which is equally divine and incomprehensible.
This humanity is introduced by the Spirit of love, through die new mystery of the Incarnation,
into the new unity of a divine Person and into this supreme state that contains in itself such
uncreated and infinite unity and dignity. Through this mystery Jesus is forever the center, the
source and die foundation of die unity of spirit, grace and love to which he calls us and leads us,
strengthening us by the divine state of his subsistence, by the unfolding of his life, by the merit of
his death, by the efficacy of his prayers. For diis is what he desires, and he insists that it be this
way. And there were three solemn and significant prayers, which he wished to offer on die last
day of his life, on the day of sorrow and suffering, as die scripture said, In the days when he was in
the flesh (Heb 5:7). One of diem was in the Cenacle of Zion, according to Saint John (chap. 17);
another in the Garden of Olives, according to Saint Luke (chap. 22); and the third on the cross,
according to Saint Paul (Heb 5). In the first one he begged for the
-130grace that we might all be consumed in the supreme unity, which he has in himself, and which
he shares eternally with the Father, according to the sacred words recorded by die most intimate
of his servants, the most faithful of his apostles, the greatest of his evangelists and the most
loving and beloved of his disciples: 0 my Father, may all who believe in me be one, as we are one; as you
are in me, 0 my Father, and I am in you. may they be one also in us, so that the world may know that you have
sent me. I have given them of the glory you have given me (that is, I have given them my divinity through
my humanity) so that they may be one. as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. that they may be
consumed in unity and that the world may know that it is you who have sent me and that you love them as you
have loved me (Jn 17:20-33).
Fourth Discourse on the Unity of God in This Mystery
[4, 2, pp. 212-14]
These two aspects together have a natural and perfect relationship. For love tends naturally to
unity, and it is clear that a love that is supreme and divine should be unity itself. But what is most
strange in the contemplation of the Holy Spirit, is that although he is love in the divinity, he is
sterile in that divinity (if such a common word can be used to speak of something so exalted and
so great), instead of love and fertility being naturally joined together. It is one of die most hidden
and impenetrable aspects of the depth of the mystery of the most holy Trinity, where each aspect
is an abyss in which the human spirit loses itself and is engulfed, when it wishes to understand
rather than reverence that which surpasses the limits of our intelligence.
Thus with a humble spirit, poised in adoration of the wonders of our belief and the secrets of
the Godhead, guided by the light of the faith, let us proceed from depth into greater depth, from
secrets into deeper secrets, from wonder into greater wonder. With a loving and reverent spirit let
us say, drawing on a secret that is equally strange and wonderful, that tiiis sterility of die Holy
Spirit is as divine and adorable as the fertility which produces it. It is a sterility flowing from the
power and fecundity of its production, which divinely through its person, exhausts and brings to
term divine fertility. It is a
-131sterility founded in greatness, in die dignity and reality of its very Person, which is happily
produced as die termination and divine repose of the emanations within die Trinity. It is a
sterility, which because it hows from the fertility of God, ends in die fertility of God; in other
words, in the fecundity of a divine Person, operating outside itself. For just as it is unique to the
eternal Word to be both origin and originated at the same time, so it is unique to the Holy Spirit
to be sterile and fertile at the same time. It is sterile in itself and fertile outside itself. It is the
uniqueness of its Person that it is the termination that terminates divinely and brings to a close, in
itself, the divine fecundity widiin the holy Trinity. However, it is the termination diat receives,

contains and brings to an end within itself the fullness of that fertile nature, so that in receiving,
conserving and terminating that fecundity, it may pour it forth powerfully and divinely outside
itself
This is why in the works of God, just as power is attributed to the Father, and wisdom to the
Son, so also fecundity is appropriated to the Holy Spirit. As soon as God begins to speak in the
scriptures and to operate outside himself, this fertility of the Holy Spirit is activated and
celebrated. For in die opening words of Genesis, at the beginning of the creation of die world,
during the first of God's works and before the first day of the world, it is said that die Holy Spirit
moved and hovered over the waters: Incubabat aquis (Gn 1:2), in the words of the Septuagint. This
was to impregnate them with his fertility and to assure that subsequently many excellent creatures
would emerge from die waters and fill heaven and earth, thus forming this universe. This is what
God revealed to his servant Moses, so diat we might know that everything that was produced in
the universe and differentiated afterward during die six days of Genesis, owes its relatedness and
its origin to the fecundity of die Holy Spirit.
However, to stop with the creation of die visible and material world would not be a worthy
termination point for the fertility of the Holy Spirit. It should produce a more exalted being and
create a more excellent world. Its power requires a greater object and its activity needs a more
wortiiy and exalted outcome. Since it is sterile in the divinity by the very nature of die mystery of
the Trinity, it is necessary that, in some other ineffable manner, it be fertile through a new
mystery: by giving a new being to one of the Persons subsisting in the fullness of the most holy
Trinity. In this way just as the fertility of God, in God himself, conies to term in a divine Person,
so also the
-132fertility of the Holy Spirit, outside itself, leads to the production of a God, preexisting (O
strange wonder!) and from now on existing in a new nature.
We see tills in the renewal of the world, when the architect of heaven and earth, the eternal
Word, is clothed with human nature and conies to take on this new being in order to give a new
being to the world. For this same Holy Spirit, who became active in the material world and in the
natural order, according to Genesis, becomes active in die invisible world and in the order of
grace, according to die testimony of Saint Luke, by forming the head of this order of grace and
the new source of supernatural existence, who creates a new heaven and a new earth and
constitutes a new world, to use die language of God himself in the holy scriptures, and who
himself is, in his own Person and in his two divinely united natures, an incomparable universe.
Thus we see how die Holy Spirit does not exercise his fertility within himself but rather outside
himself, not within die world of archetypes but within the world diat is understandable to us; not
in eternity but in die fùllness of time. For he impregnates the blessed womb of die most holy
Virgin with his fecundity. He produces a God-Man and gives a new birth to the eternal Word
within human nature. He produces nothing within himself, but happily and blessedly he produces
outside himself this divine mystery of the Incarnation as the greatest of his works in which he
realizes a life-like portrait of himself, creating a perfect image of himself, applying to it his finest
brush strokes and the most vivid and ultimate colors of his likeness.
Now let us summarize in a few words what we have explained. Since he is the personal love
and unity within the holy Trinity, he accomplishes this undertaking as a work and mystery of love
and unity. He is love produced but does not produce love within die Godhead, where he is the
only one who does not reproduce his equal. Therefore Jesus is the work of the Holy Spirit, who
creates him in the womb of the blessed Virgin, bringing him forth as the love of heaven and
earth. Jesus is also love produced, who does not produce anything equal to the being, order and
state of the hypostatic union. Just as the Holy Spirit is the termination and the resting place for
the love of Father and Son, bringing to term die incomprehensible movement of die divine
emanations within the divinity and pouring the fecundity of God outside into his works, in die
same way Jesus is the

-133termination and divine resting place for divine love operating outside the Godhead, pouring
forth outside himself, into his creatures, the fecundity of his Spirit in the order of grace and glory.
Thus the sacred mystery of the Incarnation is a work, a state and a mystery of love and unity. It
is a masterpiece of the Holy Spirit, reflecting his two divine qualities. On tire one hand, it is a
masterpiece that adores the distinct unities existing in the eternal Persons, who produce and are
produced. On the other hand, it is a masterpiece that contemplates the Spirit of love and unity as
its source and relates to him as its prototype, since he has divinely expressed himself and vividly
represented himself in this mystery of love and unity. This is a unique aspect, which should be
noted, for it contains an excellent exercise that we must perform and underlines the adorable
relationship this work has with the Holy Spirit and the divine unities, which are most worthily
contemplated in the singular state of this divine mystery of tire Incarnation.
Fifth Discourse on the Communication of God in This Mystery
[5, 4, p. 233]
Tet us develop this line of thought more and see in this work how tire Son of God wished to
reflect further about himself, that is, about his unique and intimate eternal activity, which is the
production of the Holy Spirit. For just as he saw that this person who is produced is die bond
between die divine Persons, he also wanted his own person, as producer, to be the bond between
human and divine being. This Holy Spirit, this person proceeding from him in the Holy Trinity,
is the bond that creates such a unity among the divine Persons tiiat they are perfectly united in
the unity of the Holy Spirit and yet they remain distinct in tiieir personal separateness. In die
same way, he wished that his own person be die sacred bond creating such a unity between the
two natures that tiiey retain their distinctness and what is naturally proper to them, while being
perfectly united in die unity of person, without confusion or any division, as expressed in the
Holy Councils.
Thus, in our first mystery we have a divine Person, whom we adore, uniting two Persons.
Similarly in die second mystery, we have
-134a divine Person, whom we adore, uniting two natures, one divine, the other human. He
contemplates, adores and imitates die unity of the Holy Spirit, who is the third Person in die
order of the Holy Trinity and who, by his very nature, is the eternal bond between the two
Persons from whom he proceeds. He is their personal love and sacred unity. Tet us conclude
then and say that as we contemplate the divine Word in his emanation, in his Person and in his
eternal production, in other words, in all die ways in which we can contemplate him in die
Godhead, we see that he is uniquely expressed and vividly represented by die state and qualities
of this divine mystery, which is in a perfect relationship with what is ineffable in eternity, as well
as being a living portrait of God.
[5, 9, pp. 237-40]
As we contemplate thus the birdi, the grandeur and the function of the eternal Word, we adore
his being, his life, his state in God his Father and also his power, which produces within eternity
itself a divine and uncreated person. We admire his birdi and his primacy in the order of die
divine emanations, by which he refers eternally to God his Father both himself and die Spirit,
who emanates from him. Furthermore, we recognize the right he has, by virtue of his own birth,
to establish himself through a divine mystery where he divinely, substantially and personally
offers all created reality in homage to God; just as in the Godhead, he offers to God his Father all
that proceeds and is uncreated at the same time. Therefore, in this way, he is guided and invited
by his very self, that is, by his personal qualities and perfections, to enter into a new state for die
glory of Ins Father and to bring about diis new mystery.
For he is the first to emanate from God, and he wishes to be in a state and condition through
human nature so that he can be offered to God as the first fruits in thanksgiving for all that
universally proceeds from him. He is the only one emanating from the Fatiier alone. He wishes

to be the only one constituting, in himself, tills new mystery; the only one adoring personally and
divinely, in his humanity, the unique source without origin of all reality, that is his eternal Father,
whom Saint Denis calls the origin and source of all divinity. He is the vivid image the Father
produces in contemplating himself. He wishes to be, in a new way, a living and eloquent image of
the grandeurs of God. Through the power of God he wishes to repair in
-135us the image and likeness of the divinity imprinted in our nature and erased through sin.
He is the stamp of the substance of the Father, who offers and communicates to him die
impression of his own substance. He wishes to be the seal and stamp, imprinting his own essence
and subsistence in human nature. And in honor of his Father, who gives and imprints in him
eternal being, he wants to give us this being, and he wishes to commit himself and imprint
himself in created nature, much like a divine stamp. He is the uncreated Word by which all things
were formed. He wishes to be the incarnate Word, by which all things will be reformed and
elevated to a higher dignity. He is the only Son of the Father, and he wishes to create for him by
his power, beget for him by his love, acquire for him by his merits and give him by his Spirit
many children to manifest his glory. He wants to transform his own natural filiation into a living
source of adoptive filiation. This makes him Father and source in the order of grace and glory. It
confers on him some beautiful tides, rights and privileges and gives us some beautiful teachings.
We need to collect them before going any farther and learn through the state of the Son of
God before his Father what should be our state before him. We need to contemplate in the
exalted and sublime life of the only Son before his Father die life we should begin on eardi and
bring to completion in heaven: tracing the preliminary lines and sketches of our perfection based
on such an accomplished model; forming ourselves in the life of the Spirit and in all that is
virtuous by imitating such a divine life and such a rare and excellent exemplar. For as the eternal
Word proceeds in his divine being and has God for Father, so also we proceed in our
supernatural being (though in a different manner) and we should recognize die Son of God as
our Father, from whom we all draw existence and the life of grace. This gives him, among those
titles and attributes announced in the prophecies of his coming, die name of Father of die world
to come.
As the Word and eternal Son of God always contemplates his Father, because he is his Father,
so we should constandy contemplate the Son, because he has been established as our Father. Our
gaze toward him should be a gaze of die greatest honor, die most powerful love and total and
absolute dependence. We should wish diat our beings were nodnng but vision and spirit so that
we could be completely occupied and given over to this spiritual and divine contem
-136plation of the new source and principle of our being. The only Son of God continually refers all
that he is to his Father. His being and his life consist in this relationship. Even stricdy speaking,
his life is nodiing but a life that substantially and personally refers all diat he is to his sole source.
In the same way our being and our life should be totally dedicated to a perfect and absolute
referral of all that we are, in die order of nature and grace, because of his eternal mercy.
In profane literature fabled loves often transform people into strange substances. How much
more should we desire diat the power of him, who truly transforms the nature of things, be
brought to bear on us, so that by the strength of his powerful love the substance of our being
might change its state and condition to become happily a pure relation toward him to honor, love
and imitate his substance, life and personal subsistence, which is totally related to the eternal
Father.
The Son of God truly proceeds from the Father, contemplates the Father and refers all diat he
is to the Father in such a way that he is very intimate to his Father and dwells in him: He flowsforth
from the source without leaving it, as the learned Tertullian said. 12 In the same way, we should be
inseparably joined to the Son of God as die branch to the vine, just as he himself is inseparably
united to his Father. We should exist and dwell perpetually in him, just as he exists and dwells in

his Father. We should always live and act through him and for him, just as he lives and acts
through his Father. For he is both the source and goal of our existence and our life.
Finally the only Son of God, seeing himself immutable in his being, wishes to change his
condition for the glory of his Father and become human in order to live die kind of life in which
he can suffer and accomplish what he could not do in die Godhead. He even wishes to retain
forever this new being to honor God his Father, not only dirough his works and his sufferings
during his pilgrimage on earth, but also through a new permanent state in heaven and eternity. In
the same way, by imitating his example, we should change our life and condition. For the glory of
him who struggles so widi his greatness, we should struggle widi ourselves, our habits and Gui­
passions. There are two ways of serving him. One by actions alone, and the other by a stable state
of being. We should choose the way that is constant, solid and permanent by embracing a way of
life that by its nature honors the majesty of God and becomes die source of many holy, virtuous
actions. We should do dais in honor of the state and
-137the life into which the Son of God entered tiirough the sacred mystery of the Incarnation and
in which he perseveres eternally in heaven.
All of these aspects and unique relationships are quite worthy of inspiring Christian
enlightenment and piety. All of them are solid foundations, which establish the relation we
should have and claim to have with the Son of God through the humble state of servitude that
we vow to him in honor of his relationship to his Father, through the admirable state of his
divine and eternal filiation. It is enough to mention it here in passing. The practice and
implications of it will be dealt with elsewhere.
Sixth Discourse on the Communication of God in This Mystery
[6, 1, p. 245]
There are three mysteries that serve as the principle object and exercise of our faith. They
distinguish and separate it from those academies and religions introduced and proclaimed to die
world. They demonstrate that it is truly divine, unique and superior, exceeding die light and
capacity of nature. The first is die mystery of the most holy Trinity, through whose power we
have been created and fashioned, in whose belief we have been already baptized and justified, and
in whose beatitude we will one day be glorified.
The second is that of the Incarnation, in which human nature has been singularly exalted and
united widi its original source, being joined to it in a new, holy and admirable way which, as it is
mentioned elsewhere, has never been known before in its state on earth or in heaven. Through
this new and supreme life and holiness, which has been established in the center of the earth, die
empire of death has been destroyed on earth, sin has been annihilated and mortals have been
declared to be the children of God, capable of eternal life, heirs of heaven and co-heirs of Jesus
Christ, receiving from him his grace and his glory in exchange for our nature, which he deigned
to assume from out midst.
The third is the Eucharist, in which God gives us and returns to us the very nature he deigned
to take from us, like a sacred deposit. Having received it from us and dignified it in himself, he
returns it to
-138us with interest. For it is in this nature that he gives us his grace, his Spirit and his divinity, and
imprints in our bodies by his divine and sacred touch, as the Fathers say, a power tiiat disposes us
to the glorious resurrection and heavenly life and communicates to all human substance a new
and supernatural privilege, a secret and admirable power, a vital and seminal quality of rebirth,
incorruptibility, resurrection and immortality.
[6, 4, pp. 247-48]
In order to better understand diese sublime truths, we need to consider that in the holy Trinity,
there is a substantial and essential indwelling of the Father's divinity in the person of the Son by
means of the eternal generation, according to these sacred words of this very Son of God: Ego in

Patre et Pater in me, I am in die Father and my Father is in me (Jn 14:10). There is subsequently a
substantial and personal indwelling of the same divinity of the Son of God in his humanity
through the Incarnation. Thus the one in whom die Father dwells, dwells also in this sacred
humanity, which is united to the Son of God in the unity of Person, just as the Son is united to
his Father in the unity of Essence. Third, there is a substantial and bodily indwelling of the living
and glorious body of the Son of God in our earthly and mortal bodies through die Eucharist, in
which we receive die living Son of God. Through him we live a holy and divine life, just as he
lives dirough Ins Fadier, as he says himself in Saint John, chapter 6.
In this mannei we enter into excellent communication with the Divinity. From this very
moment and in this lowly world we are united substantially, in a certain measure and degree, with
God. This is what the Son of God, at the end of his days, in his holy prayer, expressed to his
Father in these sacred words: I have given them ofthe glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we
are one. 1 am in them, yon are in me. so that their unity may be complete. And in the preceding verse: 1 pray
for them, so that they may be one. just as you are in me, 0 my Father, and I am in yon, so that they may be one
in ns (Jn 17:20-23 passim). Sacred words and utterances of the eternal Word, worthy to be
engraved in heaven and on earth by the hands of angels and men. Words and utterances that
express diese three mysteries and express, in this trinity of mysteries, the bonds, the divine links,
bound and intertwined divinely one with the other, by which God
-139the Father, beginning in this lifetime through the humanity of his Son, joins substantially the
body and nature of mortal, earthly men to the supreme Essence of the divinity!
It is as if we have in these divine mysteries, not the false and mythic power of a profane love,
which links gods and men, lowering false gods to earth and falsely elevating men to heaven in
order to situate diem as shining stars in the firmament. Rather we have the true and holy power
of an inexpressible and incomprehensible love, which joins God and men, bringing about a real
and veritable self- emptying of die Son of God, who is God himself, and making him human in
order to make us gods.
Furthermore, through him, as if with a strong and powerful chain, the eternal Fadier exalts us
and draws us up to heaven, even to the heaven of die Godhead. It is a chain of love, for he
speaks of it in that way himself; a chain diat draws us and keeps us united to the Father through
the Son and to the Son through himself and his holy mysteries. It is a precious chain, exceeding
all price and value; a sacred chain, made up, in a holy and religious way, of the principle mysteries
of the Christian religion. It is a divine and inviolable chain of unity and charity; the charity of the
Father and die Son toward humanity and the unity of the Father with the Son in die Trinity; the
unity of die Son with human nature in the Incarnation and the unity of the Body of Jesus Christ
with us in die Eucharist. It is a precious, sacred and divine chain in which is contained the
greatest secret, the strongest bond and the principle source of die designs, counsels and works of
the true God toward humanity. It is a chain made up of the three mysteries, like sacred and divine
bonds, like admirable and strong links by which the eternal Father, drawing us to himself, lifts us
up forever into the heavenly reign whose king is Trinity, whose law is charity and whose measure
is eternity.
Seventh Discourse on the Communication of God in This Mystery
[7, 9, pp. 275-78]
Let us say that God's presence in human nature, through this mystery, should not be conceived
and thought of as a simple, naked presence, simply a lack of distance between things without any
rela
-140tionship to each otiier. Nor should it be understood as the purely natural presence of God,
flowing simply from the use of his creative power, conserving the nature of those things in which
he dwells. Nor is it the presence of God, followed and accompanied by his friendship, his privacy
and familiarity with the soul, as it is with grace; nor even his fulfilled love and perfect beatitude as

in glory. Rather, it should be understood as a presence that is special and particular to the unique
and singular state of this new mystery.
It is a presence that imitates the eternal indwelling, repose and communication of God in
himself. It is a presence that operates and activates this humanity with a new being, a divine and
uncreated being (without any intrusion or confusion between them). In other words, it is a
presence of God, imbuing diis humanity with the divinity of his essence, die infinity of his
power, die uniqueness of his love, the ftillness of his subsistence, the reality of his existence, as
well as the intimacy, depdi and fullness of his divine, supreme, uncreated being.
In short, diis sort of presence is such that this humanity receives from it a communication of
God so vivid, so exalted, so perfect, so secret, so intimate and so unique, diat it is penetrated by
his Essence, enlivened by his Spirit, exists widi his existence, is sustained by his subsistence and is
divinized by his Word. For God the Fadier dwells and reposes in himself, in such a way that
through diis indwelling and repose he communicates his Essence continually to die divine
Persons, and in the same way, the Son of God dwells in this humanity and reposes in it,
unceasingly communicating to it his own subsistence. Furthermore, the Word, which dwells in
his Father, inasmuch as he is his Father, wishes to dwell also in this humanity as in his own
Essence. For he makes it his very own by this subsistence. Therefore, just as he dwells and
reposes in die Godhead, as in his eternal Essence, he also wishes to make his repose and make
his dwelling in this humanity as in his new Essence, and he wishes to dwell there forevermore.
It is only in die Godhead itself and in this humanity that God is present, dwelling, residing in
this way, bringing about an unspeakable and substantial communication of himself. For on earth
he pours forth his grace, and in heaven he gives his glory. However, it is only in the Trinity and in
the Incarnation that there is an appropriate, immediate and substantial communication of die
Divinity; whether by Essence as in the Trinity, or through subsistence as in die Incar
-141nation. These are two mysteries and two distinct communications. Both are unique, adorable
and proper to the Godhead. For, in the one God communicates his Essence, and in the other he
communicates his subsistence, which is die same as his Essence. In the one God is Father as he
gives his substance to his Son, and in the other God is a human being giving his subsistence to
humanity.
In such a unique fashion, through such a powerful and divine communication, God is man and
man is God. God is man, clothing himself with our humanity. Man is God, subsisting and living
in the Godhead. In the world there is a mediator between God and man, who is man in order to
undergo die deatii men have merited. He is God to overcome death, which men could not
defeat, and to offer them his life and his eternity. It is the only Son of God who is dus mediator,
who became man for men and who, through a wondrous love and power, exalted us by humbling
himself, glorified us by suffering, divinized us by becoming human and rendered us eternal by
dymg.
This is how the long desired work of redemption is prepared. Thus the very great mystery of
the Incarnation, which will bring it about, is established and introduced into the world. Saint Paul
exalts and glorifies this mystery in these splendid words: Manifeste magnum est pietatis sacramentum,
quod manifestatum est in carne, justificatum est in spiritu, apparuit Angelis, praedicatum est gentibus, creditum
est in mundo, assumptum est in giorial How undeniably great is the mystery of piety’, which was
manifested in die flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by the angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed
in throughout the world and taken up in glory (1 Tm 3:16).
How great is this mystery, which begins on earth and ends in heaven where Jesus is at the right
hand of the Fadier! How great is diis mystery, which joins for all eternity earth with heaven and
God with man! How great is this mystery widi a greatness and an attribute opposed to that of the
mystery of the Trinity. For the one is great in sublimity; the other is great in humility! The one is
natural and necessary; the other is free and voluntary! It is a great mystery, truly great in dignity’,

love and piety, worthy of bearing the beautiful name and the lovely praise that the Apostle gives
it: Gnat is the mystery ofpiety !
In keeping with the nature of the sacraments, this mystery and sacrament is composed of two
natures, one external, the other inter
-142nal; one divine, die other human; one visible, the other invisible. It is like the foundation, die
source and the exemplar for the odier sacraments, which, following its example, are all composed
of two natures in relation to the incarnate Word, who wished to depict and represent in his works
and in the sacraments of his church the mystery of the Incarnation, which is the sacrament of
sacraments and also a means of grace more divine and august than die other individual
sacraments. It is a sacrament and mystery full of God, full of grace, full of light, which contains
and manifests the invisible God in the visible flesh of man and sanctifies humanity dirough the
Spirit of the divinity, as these beautiful words say: Manifested in the flesh, vindicated in spirit.
It is a powerful and universal mystery, which diffhses its rays and effects everywhere, giving
light to the angels and salvation to the world! Seen by the angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed in
throughout the world. It is a mystery, which is totally divine and celestial, lifted up from earth to
heaven, establishing there its permanent dwelling, drawing us and calling us all into glory: Taken
up in glory; a worthy goal and crown for such a great mystery! May God be blessed forever in
himself and in his only son Jesus Christ our Lord, whom the Father wished to give us dirough a
unique love and gift in this mystery. Also he calls himself die gift of God in these beautiful
words, which he spoke to the Samaritan woman: Si scires donum Dei, If you knew, O woman, die
gift of God (Jn 4:10).
Let us give ourselves to him, for he is the gift of die Father and gives himself to us. Let us
belong to him, for he belongs to us. He is totally ours, in Ins divinity, givenfor us, in his humanity,
born for us, as his prophet and his church say. Let us go to him, for he comes to us, and he has the
words of eternal life. Let us adhere to him for through him, our humanity adheres to his divinity.
Let us love him, for he is our life, our glory and our love! Let us adore him, for he is God. He is
our God; God and man forever. As we love him, praise him, and bless him in his greatness and
wonderful works, let us lift ourselves to him, manifesting his glory. Let us desire that he bless us
and that he be known, served and adored throughout the whole world. Let us conclude widi this
wish from the words of his prophet: Benedicat nos Deus, Deus Noster. benedicat nos Deus; et metuant eum
omnes fines terrae, May God, our God, bless us. May God bless us
-143and may the whole world, even its farthest reaches, revere and glorify tire greatness and power
of his majesty.
Eighth Discourse on the Communication of God in This Mystery
[8, 10, pp. 297-99]
For notwithstanding this supreme and divine state, he experienced swaddling clothes, tire
crèche, childhood and the powerlessness of childhood, flight and persecution. In other words, he
experienced the lowliness of human nature, die thorns of the cross, die darkness of deadi. Even
though in all these states he was truly God-Man, he was God die infant, powerless in a stable. He
was God fleeing and hidden in Egypt. He was God living and unknown in a corner of Judea. He
was God suffering and dying on a cross. He was God dead and buried in a tomb. In this humble
state of abasement, die Divinity of die Father was in him, die love of die Father was in him, and
the Fadier said of him, In whom I am wellpleased (Mt 17:5). However, the glory of the Father had
not yet been established in him. He was in the Divinity of die Father. He was in the love of the
Father, but not yet in the glory of the Fadier.
This glory was deferred by the plan of the Fadier for his Son, by the love of die Son for his
Father, and by the respect diat die Fadier and the Son had for human necessity and need. In
giving his Divinity to humanity and in giving it die Person of his Son, the Fadier suspended the
gift of the frill and perfect state of glory. As we see from the account of his life, he left him for a

while in infancy and powerlessness, in swaddling clothes and the crèche, in persecution and flight,
in a life both known and unknown, on the cross, in death and in the tomb.
Oh, what a strange division and wondrous separation, even between die Divinity and the glory
of the Divinity! A division that existed in Jesus alone and in him for the sole purpose of
representing, expiating and erasing the separation that occurs between God and his creatures
through sin! Is Jesus less adorable and less lovable because he possessed less glory during his
lifetime, given that it was
-144love and only love that separated him from it and that it was for us that he was thus deprived?
Because he was separated from glory through love, let us love Jesus in his love, the love that
deprived him of his glory. Let us adore Jesus in his Divinity, the Divinity through which he
humbled himself to take on our misery. O love, strong love, powerful love, love exercising its
power and its discipline on the very Person of God in his new nature, which he unites to himself
and which he causes to live and subsist in himself! O love, stopping the flow of divine
emanations in die exercise of die very emanation of his love; in other words in the exercise and
the infinite outpouring of himself, as he gave himself to humanity!
It was because of love that he gave his divinity to this humanity. And yet glory was suspended
and interrupted for a while due to the excesses of diis emanation. He is worthy, even infinitely
worthy, to receive this glory and in his time he will possess it as something naturally due to him.
However, he will be deprived of it for quite a long time, that is, for his whole life, by the power
and fullness of his love. I am speaking of the love of Jesus for his Father. For if the love is so
powerful as to deprive and strip Jesus himself of somediing as great as his glory, will it not have a
powerful effect on our hearts? Will it not deprive and strip our spirits of their perverse
inclinations, their disordered pleasures and their illicit affections?
If love is exercising its power and discipline over Jesus, setting him amid thorns, placing him on
the cross and leading him into death, will it not lead us to the thorns of penance, to the cross of
the Christian life and to the death of our vices and earthly affections? Indeed! There is this
crucifying love, which crucifies a God. Let it not be less powerful toward men. Let it crucify us in
Jesus and with Jesus. For while it is humbling and ignominious for Jesus to be crucified and even
crucified for sinners, it is glory, grandeur and happiness to be crucified for Jesus and with Jesus,
being able to say with the Apostle, Christo confixus sum cruci, I have been crucified with Christ (Gal
2:20).
On that cross, thus attached with Jesus, let us be exalted like him and separated from the earth.
For he himself has depicted his crucifixion as an exaltation separating him from the earth. Let us
then be exalted and lifted up above earthly, temporary and passing realities. Let us be fastened in
heart and spirit with Jesus and to Jesus, despis
-145ing everything for his love and for his glory. Let us utter in spirit and in truth this word of the
Apostle: 1 consider everything to be loss, because ofthe surpassing knowledge ofJesus Christ my Lord (Phil 3:8).
[8,11, pp. 299-300]
A writer of old once said that as God created die world, he was so enraptured with what he saw
and so pleased with the beauty of the universe, diat he was transformed into love. ^.However, he
never saw this mystery and, among the works of God, he only knew the material world. We have
been given a higher knowledge. We have appeared at a better time, in the fullness of time, which
bears the fullness of God and the fullness of die love of God in this work of his, the greatest of
his works. We are delighted as we contemplate this mystery. So let us say that as God created a
new world, and the world of worlds, that is Jesus, he was transformed into love. For God is love
and is nodiing but love in this work of his, where his power, goodness, greatness and majesty
have changed and transformed themselves into love.
This mystery is love and only love. For since in it love has united God to man, then also the
greatness of God and the lowliness of man are transformed into love by the power of love

accomplishing diis mystery and triumphing in this mystery, where God brought, in a special way,
both his love and the triumph of his love together. Can we not see how die power of God is
transformed into love, and how by making himself powerless, God reveals himself most
powerful in his loving? Can we not see that die greatness of God is transformed into love and
that God only reveals his greatness through loving? Can we not see even that power and
greatness are captured by love in die powerlessness and in the lowliness of childhood? Can we
not see here that majesty is also transformed into love and changed into die benevolence and
humanity of a child?
Thus God is love and is nothing but love in this mystery. Since die state and die grandeur of
God are transformed here into love, dien also die state and the lowliness of man are transformed
by the exercise and the power of love. God is man, but it is not his nature, rather it is his love
that makes him man. For the divine nature is infinitely distant from human nature. It would
remain forever distant if love, which is as powerful and infinite as nature, had not united divine
nature so intimately to human nature; unifying them in the unity of
-146subsistence, existence and Person. God is a child, but he is a child through love and not
through the necessity of his condition as is the case with human children. He is a God-Child. His
power and his Divinity are united powerfully, personally and lovingly widi childhood and
powerlessness.
This is so true that we can say with surprise and wonder, Lowliness was taken on by majesty,
weakness by power and mortality by the eternal. Jj_For we also see God suffering, God dying, God dead
on a cross and in the tomb. But it is love and not nature that reduces him to that state. His life,
his cross, his death are love, and each of them is nothing but love, life and power. Jesus lives,
loves and rejoices in death and suffering, as he gives us and merits for us life, love and joy. O
love of God existing in this mystery! O love triumphing over both God and the love of God at
the same time! O love, exercise your power over us and over our love! Triumph over us!
Triumph over us in Jesus, according to the truth of this word, In Christ he led ns in triumph (2 Cor
2:14)!
Let us live in Jesus, let us love in Jesus, let us triumph in Jesus, and may Jesus live in us, love in
us and triumph in us forever! And since love triumphs over God himself, may it triumph over us
who are his subjects and his creatures. And since only love triumphs over God, may the love of
God be the one thing that captures us and not our passions and disorders. May the love of God
alone lead us triumphantly into his captivity! Since love wishes to triumph over both God and the
love of God in this mystery, may the power of both this triumphant love and this mystery, in
which it triumphs, hold sway over us and over our wills forever.
Ninth Discourse on the Love and Communication of God in This Mystery
[9, 1, pp. 309-10]
We notice that one of the ways in which understanding is superior to die will is that
understanding transforms its object into itself, whereas the will transforms itself into its object. It
is also one of the aspects that make knowledge different from love. For knowledge draws the
object to itself and does not lower the knowing subject to the known objects. Rather it elevates
and adjusts die known objects
-147to the proportion and dignity of the knowing subject. Love on the other hand transports die
soul to die object it loves and, through a gentle power, lowers and inclines die lover to die
beloved reality.
This general difference between love and knowledge is quite considerable, especially because it
produces a specific difference between the knowledge and die love of God we can acquire here
on earth. Now knowledge places the object in us and does not place us in the object, while love,
on the other hand, places us in die object and so powerfully transports us into it tiiat, according
to this sacred saying supported by various philosophies, die soul exists more in what it loves than

in what it animates. It has more life, more presence, more involvement and affection in die one
than in the other.
It follows then that, through knowledge, the soul possesses God on earth, not as he is in
himself, but as he is in die soul. However, through love, the soul possesses God on earth, as he is
in himself and not as he is in die soul. For love transports us out of ourselves into him and, what
is more, it makes us like he is in himself, by divinizing and transforming us into God. Blessed is
the state of the soul, which is trained in the school of the love of its God, provided it has learned
how to know and serve him. What a strange condition (if we can say diis in passing) found even
among the most eminent and knowledgeable Christians, who can never know God as he is in
himself, but can love him as he is in himself, and yet they work much harder to know him than to
love him.
This is why tiiere are so many schools and academies that train souls in this obscure, uncertain
and imperfect knowledge, and so few, and so little attended, which tram and perfect the soul in
love and in the exalted and eminent possession of its God through love. While in this mortal life
we cannot know God as much as we would wish, yet we can love him as much as we wish, lifting
ourselves up from one level to the next by his grace and love. The condition and die level of
knowledge, which we will have of God in heaven eternally, depends on the level of this love on
earth. For we will know God to the degree that we will have loved him, and not to the degree
that we will have known him on earth.
However, let us leave until later this fondamental point of mystical theology. Fet us save this
secret for the school of love and for its disciples. Let us return to the preceding point, for it will
serve as a base and foundation for this discussion and our mystery. Let us add once more diat
from the general difference that exists between love
-148and knowledge, we have gathered that there is a special difference between die love and the
knowledge of God. From diat special difference we realize, furthermore, diat for good reason
and cause in the school of Christians, happiness on earth is primarily attributed to love and
charity and, in heaven, it is primarily attributed to the knowledge and vision of God.
For, already on eartii, love joins us to God as he is in himself, transporting us out of ourselves
into God. The knowledge we have of God on earth does not unite us to God as he is in himself,
but as he is in us; in other words, as he is in our spirit and in the understanding we fashion of
him, which we only know in enigma and shadow. In enigma (1 Cor 13:12) says he who knew him
in die third heaven. The knowledge of God we have in heaven has this advantage and power
over die knowledge and light of God available on earth m that it unites us and joins us to God as
he is in himself. For in heaven his very Essence unites itself to our spirit and activates it much
more nobly with its light than a transparent body is activated by the ray that penetrates it; thus
elevating it to know God as he is in himself. It establishes us in a state of life that is proper to
God himself, because it is die life of God, whose being and nature are intellectual, to know
himself and to behold himself, who is the primary, the noblest and the most worthy object of all
knowledge.
Since angels and men possess only die shadow of being and light compared to the being and
light of God, dien they are naturally capable of only receiving the shadow and the image of the
knowledge diat God has of himself. He does not raise them up any higher during their time of
pilgrimage and merit, being happy to enable them to love him through grace and to love him as
he is in himself, according to the nature and die reality of love. This is why love on earth offers
the greatest happiness. This is why in heaven knowledge claims this prerogative, which it does
not possess on eartii.
For since love possesses God already on earth, as he is in himself, so also in heaven die
knowledge of God brings us to behold and possess him as he is in himself; a God who through
love imprints and unites himself to both our essence and our faculties so diat we might behold
him as he is, in keeping with the power of diis apostolic word and promise, W7e will see him as he is

(1 Jn 3:2). For happiness consists in possessing God and possessing him as he is in himself. This
is realized by love on earth and by knowledge in heaven.
-149[9, 2, p. 310]
For as die happiness of man has its roots and origin in the love of man toward God, so also
does this love originate in die love of God toward man and in the excess of this love of God,
who gives both his Son and his love to the world. It is this love that astonishes the Son of God in
this sacred text, as he says with admiration, God so loved the world (Jn 3:16).
Tenth Discourse on the Three Births of Jesus
[10,1, pp. 321-23]
We find in the book of life three wondrous births of Jesus, who is the life of God and men.
They are his birdi in the womb of his Father in eternity, his birth in die womb of die Virgin in
time, and his birdi in the tomb to immortality. These diree births are accompanied by wonders,
worthy of Jesus and worthy of his source and origin in these diree different lives.
For in his birdi in divine and uncreated life, there is a twofold wonder: that God engenders and
that God is engendered. In his birth in the human and incarnate life, there is a twofold wonder:
that a Virgin gives birth and diat God becomes incarnate. In his birdi or rather his rebirdi to die
heavenly and glorious life, it is marvelous that a tomb becomes the source of life and that a place
of death becomes the source of life without end. Thus God, who is admirable in himself, his
works and his saints, is also admirable in his only Son, who is another self; and in his masterwork,
which is the Incarnation; and in the holy of holies, who is Jesus Christ, our Cord, foretold and
given this name by one of the prophets. —
These three births of Jesus, by which he lives these three types of holy, distinct and adorable
lives, are expressed in the Word of life and in the Word expressed by the eternal Father, saying to
himself and to his Son, Today I have begotten you (Heb 1:5 and Ps 2:7). For these are die words
which Saint Paul, in the first chapter of the Hebrews, applies to die eternal generation, proving by
the power and authority of that text that Jesus Christ belongs to God the Father, through a
distinct sort of belonging and emanation from him that the
-150angels do not possess. For he engendered him according to that explicit word, Today I have
begottenyou. This applies only to the Son of God and not to the angelic nature.
Now this proof would be thoroughly unconvincing if this text, which die great Apostle
presented and produced, did not signify truly and literally die eternal generation, which is divinely
presented in diese terms, where dirough a clever use of words, the present is joined to the past,
Today I hare begotten you. This expresses him who is forever born and is forever being born and
whose procession is such that it is without end or beginning. By an impenetrable secret this
procession is so fully realized according to the term denoting the past diat it is forever being
fulfilled according to the term signifying die present.
Again Saint Paul, guided by the same Spirit of God, speaking to the same Hebrews in Acts,
chapter 13, presents the same text and applies it to the resurrection of the Son of God, which is a
type of new birdi for Jesus into immortality. In die church resurrection is commonly called
rebirdi and regeneration. Furthermore, the Son of God himself is its author. Since he is the
eternal Word of die Father, his word possesses a special grace and appropriateness, and he names
it thus widi his own lips, speaking of die day of judgment when the universal resurrection will
come to pass: In the new age. when the Son ofMan will take a seat on a throne ofglory (Mt 19:28).
Third, the same Holy Spirit, who dictated this word to the prophet David and who applied it
through his spokesman, Saint Paul, one of his greatest apostles, to the eternal generation and to
the resurrection of Jesus, explains it and applies it, through die voice of die church in the office
for Christmas day, to the temporal birth of Jesus in die world. God, who is fecund and fertile in
his works and in his words, wished that this same memorable word be applied in the same spirit
to these three different meanings, to these three states and mysteries of the eternal Word: to the

mystery of his birth from his Father, to the mystery of his birth from his mother, and to the birth
from die tomb, from which he is reborn like a phoenix to a new life.
These three births are truly wondrous. The first has no time or day, for it never begins or
finishes, rather from it flow days, times and centuries, all of which have a beginning and an end.
Even our eternity of grace and glory draws its origin from there. For it is through his Son that the
Father created the centuries, as die Apostle says to die Hebrews: Through whom he created the world
(Heb 1:2). It
-151is through his Son that the Father introduces us into his grace and his glory, as all scripture
testifies. We should worship him who, through his first and divine birth, is die Orient to which
every Orient owes tribute and homage. —
As I say, we should adore him as an Orient, but an eternal Orient; an Orient that exists always
at midday by die fùllness of its light and always in its Orient by the state and perfection of its
birth, which continues forever and never finishes, just as it never has a beginning. He is so fùlly
begotten that he is always being born in eternity. Oh, wonder! Oh, prodigious nature of this
birth, by which Jesus is an Orient, by which Jesus is an eternal Orient, by which Jesus is eternally
Orient; Orient to which our Orient and our birth in nature, in grace, and in an eternity in his
glory owe homage!
This is why, in former days, catechumens entered the church on the day of their baptism widi a
solemn and remarkable ceremony, in which they turned toward the Orient as a sign of their
homage and communion with the eternal Orient, who is Jesus Christ, our Eord. It is equally
evident that we are all reborn through baptism in the name and in memory of this divine birth
and filiation; being baptized in the name of the Father as Father, in the name of the Son as Son.
Through this powerful and precious name we enter into die church and into grace.
Thus our own Christian condition and our status as believers underline this truth and oblige us
to preserve die honor and memory due the divine and eternal birth of Jesus, which is the source
of our rebirth in the church. If there is no day in the year set aside by the church to celebrate and
commemorate it, this is because of its greatness. It is because it has no moment on earth. It is
because its feast day is the eternal day, in which it is adored unceasingly in the abode and die state
of glory.
Eleventh Discourse on the Second Birth of Jesus
[11, 4, pp. 344-45]
From these grandeurs flow others. As we contemplate die birtii of Jesus we proceed from
grandeur to grandeur. For this human birdi is a mystery of life. For die one who has life from die
Father, and who
-152is begotten as living by the very nature of his emanation; the one who is true life and who gives
himself without reservation the name of life; die one who is life and source of life within himself
and outside himself wishes to take on life in this mystery in order to be our life eternally.
It is a mystery of light. For the one who is light of light, who comes forth from die Father of
lights, who emanates from him as light and who, in the very nature of his Person, is the splendor
of the Father, being light in his Essence and in his Person, comes into the world through this
mystery to be die light of the world. He says it himself: As light I have come into the world.... I am the
light of the world (Jn 12:46; 9:5). Moreover, he is born with light in die very midst of the night. He
comes to die earth with a light from heaven, illuminating the shadows of night and giving a
double light to the shepherds. Just as m his death the light of die world was blocked out and
changed into darkness, also in his birdi a new and extraordinary light appeared, illuminating the
Magi, the Orient and Judea. In this way the heavens manifested and revered the birdi of Jesus as
the birth of a new light in the world.
This birth is a mystery of holiness, according to die angelic words,your offspring will be holy (Ek
1:35). It is a mystery of holiness, superior even to the other mysteries of Jesus. For it contains and

produces in the universe die greatest holiness and the most eminent sanctification that exists or
that could exist. On it are founded every other holiness and sanctification wordiy of note on
earth and in heaven. It is die birdi of die Holy of Holies. It is the birth of a God-Man and of a
Man-God. It is the birdi of the order and die state of the hypotastic union, which produces
outside of God the most exalted and most eminent holiness possible, that which is closest to the
superessential holiness of God himself, which this order and supreme state encloses and contains
in itself as its form and source. For this holiness, new to heaven and earth, this wondrous grace
of die hypostatic union has its birth in the birth of Jesus. It has its source in dus mystery, flowing
forth from it and diffusing itself in all die other mysteries of Jesus, in all his states and' in all his
works.
[11, 6, pp. 348-9]
Jesus ... bears in himself a state which contemplates and adores his eternal state. Before him,
nothing, on earth or in heaven, properly contemplated, perfectly expressed or divinely honored
the Father as
-153Father, and the Son as Son, in the state of his divine birth and eternal filiation. And Jesus alone
adores through his state die persons and divine emanations which the angels adore well m heaven
by the actions of their understanding and will; but not with the sort of adoration we are speaking
of here, which is a very different kind of adoration. For we are speaking of an adoration by state,
not by action; an adoration not simply coming from the faculties of the spirit or depending on
thoughts. Radier it is solid, permanent, and independent of powers and actions, deeply imprinted
in the depths of the created being, and in the condition of its state. And so we say that before dus
totally new birth, nothing, in itself or in its natural or personal condition, adored and rendered
homage to these divine realities nor carried in its origin, being or state the affinity, mark and
impression of something so great and exalted.
Twelfth Discourse on the Third Birth of Jesus
[12, 2, pp. 373-75]
But I discover here a new effort and a new surprise of your love, which desires to manifest its
power and its effects in the beginning of your new and immortal life, as it manifested it during
the whole time of your pilgrim and mortal life. For in abandoning your body to his glory, he
suspends again the place of this glory and Jesus lives between heaven and earth, dwelling on earth
for forty days. O love, love without end, forever victorious, triumphing over exalted and divine
realities such as die life and glory of Jesus! O triumphant love, victorious over Jesus, even in the
triumph of his glory!
For in the birth from die Virgin to mortal life you are born on earth, which is the place that
must receive you in this humble birth. In the same way, in the birth from the tomb into immortal
life you are born into heaven, which is the place that should rightfully receive you in this blessed
birth into the state of glory. However, the love you have for your apostles, your disciples and
your church interrupts for a while the final result of diis final birth. Your entrance into heaven is
deferred and suspended by a miracle. It is a miracle of love, performed by yourself on yourself,
suspending not the state of glory, as previously, but die rightful place of glory. For this powerful
love,
-154capable of drawing you from heaven to earth, from the bosom of the Father into the womb of
the Virgin, holds you back and suspends you between earth and heaven. Thus, while you have
been reborn into die state of glory, you are not however in the place of glory.
By dividing a mystery in two in order to unite us with you, you placed an interval of forty days
between die resurrection and die ascension, so that we could be with you all that time, thus
dividing, through your love, that which die nature of reality and ultimate reality should be joining
together, that is to say, the state of glory and die place of glory. O love whose nature and effects

in Jesus are so unusual! For the nature of love itself is to unite, and the nature of divine love is to
lift up to heaven. On the contrary, the nature of love in Jesus is to divide and draw Jesus to earth.
O Jesus, love draws you out of the bosom of the Father and leads you outside, as you yourself
state, to live in a foreign nature and land. You express it this way: I came forth from the Father and I
came into the world (Jn 16:28). Love separates your human nature from the human person to offer it
to another Person, who is infinitely removed from its rightful nature and condition. During your
earthly life love separates glory from the state of glory and the glory of the soul from the glory of
the body. Through a peculiar exercise, love separates this divinized soul from this divinized body.
Nevertheless, they were joined together not only by a natural relationship, as in us, but much
more powerfully by their Divinity, in which they remain united in their state of separation. And
now tiiat God reunites this divinized soul and body by tlie mystery of the resurrection and gives
the body tlie glory that is its due, love separates die essence and state of glory from the place of
glory, and so on.
O love that divides and no longer unites! What a separation you cause between such worthy
and powerful subjects! In a clearly excellent way you separate tlie Son from die Father, by a
foreign nature, even though their own nature joins diem in a unity of essence! You separate
human nature from human subsistence, and yet it is in itself and in all other instances the normal
term and substantial fulfillment of that nature! You separate glory from the state of glory, the
state of glory from the place of glory. Yet diese realities are supreme, divine and supernatural.
They are divinely united and in every other instance, except in you alone, they are inseparably
joined together!
This is the remarkable difference between love in God and love in Jesus. For love in God
unifies, but love in Jesus separates. Love in
-155God goes so far as to create an essential unity. Love in Jesus creates an essential separation,
dividing the human essence from die human person; the glorified essence from the place of
glory; the divinized soul from the divinized body, which are two essences joined together by
nature, grace and glory! O Jesus, may this love that is in you, be in us! May this love that acts in
you, act in us. May this love that triumphs over you, triumph over us. May this love that creates
separation and division in you, divide and separate in us. May it separate us from sin, die eartii
and ourselves so that we may live for you. May this love absorb us in you, draw us to you and fill
us widi you.
I see that this separating love creates, establishes and accompanies three sorts of life in you.
Allow me to contemplate and adore you in these three lives and in the three moments when you
enter diese three lives. They are die three lives to which all human and angelic life should be
dedicated. They are the three precious moments to which every moment of our mortality and our
eternity should be consecrated.
There is die moment of the Incarnation, when Jesus begins to be Jesus and to live with an
uncreated life. The Word begins a new and incarnate life, a divine and human life, a divinely
human and humanly divine life. There is die moment of his pilgrimage and life of merit, when
the soul of Jesus is united to a body capable of suffering and to die life of glory at the same time.
Through this arrangement Jesus possesses a new type of life. It is a life that is his alone, a life that
is die origin of our eternal life! It is a life of glory and suffering! It is a life that unites and joins
two very distinct states in die same soul, tiirough a miracle performed in Jesus Christ by Jesus
Christ himself. It is accomplished in him alone and continues for thirty-four years on eartii! —
There is the moment of his celestial and fully glorious life when Jesus is victorious in life, glory,
and immortality. It is a life without suffering and without mortality! It is life tiiat is nothing but
life and nothing but glory! It is a life that will last eternally! From these three moments originate
three lives. These three lives have three distinct dwelling places, in which we must adore the
sacred humanity of Jesus. O moment! O dwelling places! O adorable life! This should occupy our
thoughts and be the center of our activities. It will be the object of our eternity.

Allow me to behold you, O Jesus, in these three moments! Allow me to adore you in these
three lives! Allow me to contemplate you in
-156these three dwelling places! For God is your abode and your retreat in these three lives. God
receives you in his bosom, his love and his glory. You are in die bosom of the Father by your
eternal birth. It is there m the fullness of time that your divine Person brings forth and lifts up
your humanity. It is there diat the mystery of the Incarnation is discussed, is resolved and is
established.
There God is man and man is God. There die soul and the humanity of Jesus subsist with the
Divinity. There the only Son of God, who dwells in the bosom of die Father, also dwells in this
humanity. There this humanity possesses its being only in uncreated being and possesses its life,
its subsistence and its state in a Person produced in the bosom of the Father and who dwells in
the bosom of the Father, inseparable from the bosom of the Father. There this man called Jesus
is at the right hand of the Father by his power; in the bosom of the Father through his
subsistence; and lives and dwells forever in the Divinity.
In truth, the Word spent an eternity without dus humanity, but will also spend an eternity with
it. There was never a moment when the Word did not behold in his divine essence, as in a perfect
mirror, that human nature; beholding it as a nature that would be his for an eternity. There was
never a moment when he did not behold it in this way. For his contemplation and his love of our
humanity is an eternal contemplation and love. From all eternity, he beholds it as his own
essence, which will be one day and forever one of his essences, and as the being which he wishes
to perfect and fulfill with his own subsistence.
O divine gaze! O eternal gaze! O gaze full of love and honor! O gaze that should draw outgaze, our love and our homage toward that humanity, which God beholds eternally and
unceasingly as his own, and which we should look upon as our own. It is ours through a gift of
the Father, through the activity of die Holy Spirit, through the subsistence of the Son, which was
given him so that he might accomplish our salvation. Finally it is ours through the power of the
cross and his death, which consumed him for us in sacrifice and holocaust.
-157[SECOND PART OF THE DISCOURSE ON THE STATE AND GRANDEURS OF
JESUS IN WI II CH BEGINS]
The Life of Jesus
The Rare Conduct of God Toward the Virgin
[6,1, p. 456]
To consider his conduct toward the most exalted and rarest person who will ever live in
dependence on him is to give homage to the Most High. Also to consider the condition of the
one whom heaven ordains to be his mother is to honor Jesus. To speak of Mary is to speak of
Jesus, for they are closely united together and she is the grandest object of his grace and the rarest
effect of his power. Therefore, let us spend time reflecting on such a splendid subject.
When God held his first deliberations in the world after the creation of man and his sin, he
spoke of Mary and set her in opposition to the serpent, the source of the curse of the universe.
From then on God and the world have considered her the source of blessing for the world. At
the time decreed by divine wisdom, she entered the world through a miracle, like a work of grace,
not of nature; like a result of prayer, not of sin; like a special subject of God's power, not of
human power. She receives from God more graces, more favors, more privileges than all the
saints together.
While on earth she already bore in her soul a higher grace and a
-159nobler grace than that which triumphs in heaven. God had but one temple on earth, and he hid
her in it from her childhood. And he does more. God exalts, guides, cherishes and hides her in
himself. He himself, O most holy Virgin, is your temple and your sanctuary (just as he is in the

heavenly Jerusalem, of which it is written that the Lamb is its temple). For you were to be also
one day his temple, the living temple of a God living in the world. Therefore God conceals this
chosen person in himself, like a treasure that he keeps for himself through the mystery and
uniqueness of her election; for he destined her to be his mother.
The Virgin's Occupation With Jesus Is Ravishing and Perpetual
[28, 1, pp. 512-16]
... Let us see what [the Son of God] is and what he does in his Blessed Mother. For she is the
one who is the closest and die most united to him by the state of this new mystery accomplished
in her and through her. This is the first period of Jesus' stay in the Virgin. These are two subjects
important enough to be considered. Therefore let us say diat strictly speaking, after the divine
Persons, there is no other person to whom the Son of God is more closely bound than to the
Virgin. Moreover diis bond imitates and adores die bond he has with the divine Persons. He is
united to his Father through birth and nature, and he is united to die Virgin through nature and
birth. He is joined to die Holy Spirit as to its origin since he is its source in eternity. He is united
to die Virgin through production and the infusion of a Spirit in her spirit, which is die life of her
life and the soul of her soul. He is the source of her grace. For all grace in the \ irgin originates
from the highest grace and the mysteries of Jesus. Thus he is joined to her through both nature
and grace.
The bond that he has widi the divine Persons is eternal. The one he has with the Virgin is new
and quite recent. However, it will be for all eternity. This holy Virgin is and will be always die
Mother of Jesus. She will possess that attribute in heaven as well as on earth, and he will honor
her eternally in her condition as Mother of God. However, we see tangibly that in this present
state she is closer and
-160more united to him while he is in her and is a part of her; while she lives for him and he lives
through her; while he is in a constant state of dependence and even neediness toward her.
He is in her in a variety of ways according to his various attributes. It is pleasant to consider
them more than once. The period of diis mystery invites us to reflect carefully on it often. For it
is die period when he is and will be nine months in the Virgin. He is in her as a son is in his
modier, drawing his life from her. He is in her as her son and her God, giving life to her as he
receives life from her. He is in her as in his eartiily paradise. For everything m the Virgin is holy
and delightftil. Even the darkness of sin is not there and never was.
Jesus finds in her his peace and his delight. Outside of her he meets only sinners and sin. Being
in her is like being in heaven. For he experiences life and glory, seeing God and enjoying his
divine Essence. He is in her as in a temple where he praises and adores God; where he offers his
respects to die eternal Father, not only for himself but for every creature. It is a holy and sacred
temple where Jesus dwells, the true ark of the true covenant.
It is the first and holiest temple of Jesus. The heart of the Virgin is die first altar on which Jesus
offered his heart, body and spirit as a host of perpetual praise; and where Jesus offers his first
sacrifice, making the first and perpetual oblation of himself, through which, as we have said, we
are all made holy. Thus Jesus is in die Virgin. In her he finds his peace, his paradise, his highest
heaven, his temple, his modier.
In this state and during this period the Virgin is a sanctuary where there are more wonders than
have existed in heaven up to that time; a Man-God, a Word-Child, a Child-God, a suffering body
united to a glorified soul, a humanly divine life and a divinely human life, a Spirit regulating all the
bodies and spirits of the universe; a unique order, die order of die hypostatic union, an order
superior to every order of nature, of grace and of glory. These are the wonders that are in the
Virgin, not in heaven, and that make her particularly venerable to us.
Let us think of her and think of what she is. Let us contemplate Jesus in this state, fully in the
Virgin as her center and her heart, or rather like a rising sun. According to the prophets, a sun

coveted with a light cloud, that is with the blessed Virgin, who hides him still from the earth and
will hide him for nine months.
Mathematicians claim that there are stars surrounding die sun, which is their center. They
revolve around it, just as the sun revolves
161around the earth. May it please God that we might be one of those stars revolving around
Jesus, rather than around ourselves, as we do on a daily basis. We must forget ourselves in this so
that we might remember only Jesus and the Virgin. Thus he is a sun and die Virgin is a planet
that revolves around Jesus, around this glorious sun. She revolves only around him. He is her
center. He is her circumference. It seems that she encloses and brings to perfection his greatness
and his power. I le looks at her unceasingly from every angle. She is directed only toward him.
He draws her to himself. He enraptures her with himself. These two hearts of Jesus and Mary,
so closely united by nature, are even much more united and more intimate through grace. They
live in one another. But who could proclaim this life? It is described in heaven. We must wait
until this book is opened for us to behold the favors and tendernesses, the raptures and wonders
that are narrated there. While we await this grace, we will stammer rather than speak of tiiese
great realities: that Jesus, being so united to his Mother, attracts and enraptures her in himself
continuously; that just as he is being born, is living and is producing in his Father an uncreated
love who is the third Person of the Trinity, in the same way, as he is being born and living in his
Mother, he produces in her a Spirit and a love that indeed is created, yet does not and never will
have an equal after his own.
Just as Jesus' first involvement was with his Father, his second involvement is with his Blessed
Mother. He chose her. He prepared her for such great things, so united to him. She is the most
worthy object of his thoughts after the divine Persons. She is the subject most amenable to his
influence and activity. She is closest to his holy presence. Yet he is joined to her in a state of
dependence, since he is her Son and she is his Mother and since he is now living in her and living
through her. He wished to share the mystery of the Incarnation with her, by drawing forth from
her this body with which he is clothed and by willing that, as his Mother, she was involved
through her cooperation in this work, which is incomparably greater than the creation of the
world.
He still shares his ongoing nascent life with her. For the life of Jesus is needy and begs for life
from the Virgin. He is in this condition and shares in tills blessed way with her for nine months
without reneging for a single moment. And after this he will offer her a share in his greatest
works on earth and in souls. Such a great and blessed
-162sharing between Jesus and Mary! For die time being he is not involved with anyone other than
his Father and the Virgin. Saint John will have his opportunity for a while and Saint Joseph after,
but now it is the Fadier alone and die Virgin alone who belong to Jesus, who is devoted to diem,
delights in them and communes with them.
He does great things in her, which are worthy of him and worthy of her. We have no way of
measuring tiieir extent. We are not as fortunate as the angel of die Apocalypse who has a rod of
gold in his hand to measure the temple (Rv 21:15). The Virgin is a greater and more august
temple. Only her Son has in hand the measure to take the dimensions. We have only to admire,
not to judge and speak of tilings that surpass so mightily our intelligence. All we can say is that he
is her Son and she is his Mother.
Now is the time when this human filiation begins for the Son of God and this divine
motherhood begins for the Virgin. The Son of God treats her, contemplates her, cherishes her
and honors her as the Mother of God, as his Mother. This divine motherhood is such a holy
attribute that she approaches God, that she attains, according to the great doctors of die School,
the very boundaries of the Godhead, that she reaches into infinity itself, that she is counted among
those incomprehensible realities and we cannot fathom what is hers because of this attribute.

May Jesus, who knows this infinite dignity and whose greatness is die cause and the source of
this infiniteness, honor her motherhood as it deserves. He honors himself in honoring his
Mother, because she is his Mother. He honors her to the extent of his wisdom and power. He
employs his sublime thoughts and heavenly creativity on a subject so worthy of him and close to
him, in which he has so large a part and so great an interest.
With these thoughts, dispositions and foundations, let us undertake the study of this first
involvement of Jesus widi the Virgin and of the Virgin with Jesus.
[28, 2, pp. 516-17]
Let us say then that for four-thousand years there has never been an undertaking like the
Incarnation. Furthermore, since the world has been in existence there has never been a more
remarkable time than this, when the Son of God becomes the Son of Man and a Virgin becomes
the Mother of God. It is the time of delights promised by
-163the prophets, when heaven sends down dew, when the clouds ram down the just one and the
earth, watered from heaven, opens to sprout the Savior (Is 45:8). It is the time of the greatest,
most blessed and most helpftil production of all time.
It is the time when heaven and earth cooperate together to generate the wondrous effort of
presenting die Holy of Holies to the world, which is in such great need of it. It is the fullness of
time, according to the apostles. It is the time of universal salvation and of heavenly delight on
earth, when we can behold and adore die marvels that are on earth and are not in heaven. This
moment, which is so blessed, so remarkable and so delightful, takes place in Nazareth and
involves only Jesus and the Virgin. The rest of the eardi has no part in it. The more alone they
are, the more this solitude is splendid and notewordiy, die more die subject of their solitude
engages them given its importance, and the more their mutual involvement is profound and fills
them widi delight.
Thus Jesus is involved with the Virgin and only with die Virgin at this time. The Virgin is
involved with Jesus and she is the only one in the whole world involved widi Jesus. Thus she is
the only one in the whole world adoring the mystery of the Incarnation, which was brought
about on earth for the earth but unknown to the earth. She is the only one adoring Jesus. The
more that she is the only one captivated by such a great subject, the greater is her involvement.
She is devoted to it with all her faculties. All her senses are brought to bear on it, for it is a
tangible mystery and tangible within her. All her senses should pay homage to her God made
tangible for human nature. Her whole mind is concentrated on it. And the Spirit of Jesus, which
enlivens diis litde divinized body, enlivens the spirit and body of the Virgin as well, through
grace, love and a holy, gentle influence.
This Spirit of Jesus is more powerftil and more active in the spirit and body of the Virgin than
the Virgin's own spirit. The most eminent and exalted grace, infused in the Virgin, captivates and
absorbs all the senses, all the faculties and the entire spirit of the Virgin for this great object; an
object intimately present and wellproportioned to this same grace. For die Virgin's grace is not
like our own. It is a grace that is quite unique and belongs to her alone. It is a grace that from its
beginning reached out toward the mystery of the Incarnation as toward its goal, its origin and its
exemplar.
-164It is a newly infused grace, now attaining its fulfillment, its principal outcome in the Virgin and
its present fulfillment in this mystery of the Incarnation. It is a grace totally binding Jesus to the
Virgin and the Virgin to Jesus. In the same way that ordinary grace binds us to God, so this type
of special grace also binds the incarnate God to the Virgin and the Virgin to the incarnate God.
This grace which is so unique to this mystery produces a unique result in the Virgin, and she is
absorbed in such a great, exalted and powerful way in Jesus, living in her, that we cannot express
it. Thus grace and nature conspire in her to create an eminent disposition by which her heart and
mind are totally enraptured by her Son and her God.

Besides this movement, a very powerful movement of nature and grace, Jesus himself is present
and active. Without any intermediary he draws her mind and heart into this involvement. He is
present in her. He is powerful in her. He is active in her. She is perfectly disposed to welcome his
holy activity and to welcome it in all its power and fullness. These are the first fruits of J esus'
activity in Mary his Mother. Thus as Jesus produces his first works on eartii and his first effects in
the Virgin Mary, he draws her to himself and totally enraptures her.
What tenderness! What love! What favors from this Son to this Mother and from this Mother
to this Son at the very beginning of their love and their mutual enjoyment! It is a perpetual
rapture. For the object is always there and the power of attraction is always operative. It is like
heaven where rapture is perpetual, for the object is always present and always perceived. In this
state, also, die object is always present, always tangible, always active. Besides the Virgin is rooted
not in some accidental reality, but in a state of perpetual rapture toward a subject perpetually
wordiy of such rapture.
We do not have die capacity for this state on earth. However the Virgin does, and we should
not judge her by ourselves. The type of unique grace conferred upon her disposes her to this
state and to something even greater, since it disposes her to be the worthy Mother of God. Her
life is exalted and freed from the weakness of the senses and the human spirit m her relationship
to holy and heavenly things. She is liberated from the disproportion between nature and grace,
which is the cause of the weakness and the loss of consciousness that happens during the
raptures of the holiest souls on earth. She is even rooted in the strength and power of celestial
grace,
-165which is capable of great effort without being weakened in the least. Thus she is living an
earthly life. She is rapt widi heavenly delights. Her rapture is without end and what is more, her
human life is not weakened by divine contemplation.
Jesus' Occupations in the Virgin Regarding the Virgin
[29,1, pp. 517-19]
Such is the Virgin's state of rapture. It is in keeping with her grandeur and her permanent and
ordinary state of contemplation. Jesus is the object of this rapture. He is die source of it, as we
have just said, for he is the one who creates it. However, he is the object as well. Do we need
proof to persuade Christians of this truth? Is it not enough simply to present it to noble souls in
order to persuade them of it? Is not Jesus, newly dwelling in and through the Virgin, a wordiy
and reasonable object for the Virgin, especially in this holy moment as he begins to draw life
from her and in her? Thus during this blessed time Jesus occupies and converses with the Virgin;
converses about himself and delights her with himself.
In Jesus there are several aspects worthy of causing his Blessed Mother to delight in him.
However, in my opinion, what holds her attention now and enraptures her is this new work
brought about on earth and in her, the mystery of the Incarnation. It is die natural or rather
supernatural state of her Son in her. This is the first object of this first rapture, which Jesus
causes on earth in die Virgin's heart. Oh, how she recognized this state! Oh, how she fathomed
this mystery! Oh, how she lived and was absorbed in it! It was her life and in a way, she lost her
own life and personal subsistence in order to live in him who is life itself and her life as well.
However this type of life and rapture, which die Virgin experienced in her Son, is almost as
hidden from us as is die life of the Word in this very humanity. Faced widi such splendid things
we possess only darkness, not light. Some think diat from that moment the Virgin was elevated
to the clear vision of die divine Essence and die Person of the incarnate Word widiin her.
Certainly if this grace was granted to some others on earth (there are some doctors who
-166ascribe it to Moses and Saint Paul), then there would be no doubt about giving it to the Virgin
and even to give it to her in this blessed moment when God humbles himself in her and exalts
her in himself, uniting her to him so intimately through this great mystery.

Even if this grace were not given to Moses or Saint Paul, the Virgin certainly has many
privileges that are reserved for her alone. Furthermore, the moment of this new mystery deserves
such great, singular and new privileges that the Virgin can be given what is given to no one else.
In this moment of the Virgin's life she could be given what was not given during another period
of her life on earth.
There are reasons for pursuing this line of thought this far. However to go further and to
inquire whether these favors and privileges included even the enjoyment of the Divinity, tills is a
secret of Jesus' activity in his Blessed Mother that is not revealed to us. I would prefer to
reverence it radier than fathom it. I should prefer to remain unaware of it rather than confirm it.
Therefore, humbly ignorant of this specific aspect, we can say diat whatever she might have
seen, even if she did not see the Person of the incarnate Word in her, this divine Person
possesses the Virgin and die Virgin possesses this divine Person incarnate in her widi such a rare
and singular possession, proper to her alone, that we have no pen to write about it, no tongue to
speak about it, no heart to sense it and no mind to understand it. It is too much grace for us to
dare think about it and to reverence it. It is such a great and perfect possession. It is such a
powerful and intimate communication. It is such an exalted and elevated joy, even in die order of
miraculous and special grace, that if it does not go any further and does not allow the Virgin to
see this divine Person who has just become flesh within her, at least it abundandy fills her soul
and occupies such an exalted place among the divine operations and such a rare privilege among
the favors of the incarnate Word that there has never been and never will be anything like it.
Stuttering rather than speaking, this is what we can say about things diat so greatly surpass the
human mind and even the angelic mind. These are the first tiioughts of the incarnate Word. This
is the first conversation of Jesus in the Virgin. This is the Virgin's first contemplation, or better
yet, this is the Virgin's first ecstasy before die Son of God made Son of Man in her.
-167[29, 2, pp. 519-22]
However, she has in this same instant yet another reason to be captivated, to be rapt in Jesus
who is alive and active within her. It is the first movement of the interior life of Jesus toward his
Father. This object is different from the one we have just described. This contemplation is
different from die one in which the Virgin was totally focused on the state of Jesus in himself and
on the depdis of the mystery of the Incarnation. For in this instance, she is not rapt and
captivated by the state, but by the actions of Jesus himself and by the first interior, spiritual
actions of Jesus' soul dealing witii God his Fatiier.
For this divine child, who is without a name as yet, is not inactive. He is not idle. He is not
prevented from acting interiorly by his infancy, which limits his body, but does not limit and
impede his spirit. He sees. He is alert and active. This is die interior and spiritual life of Jesus.
And diis life is worthy of enrapturing heaven and earth. For now it enraptures the Virgin, who is
captivated in a holy way by her Son and by the states and activities of her Son. The life of her Son
is her life. And Jesus' contemplation is her original and principal contemplation.
For if the Virgin did not possess the divine light, which reveals the divine Essence, at least she
possessed the angelic light, which reveals to her the soul of Jesus and its sacred activities. This
was her light, her grandeur and her happiness on earth. It was one of her principal activities and
she began to experience in this moment a very holy knowledge and a very exalted contemplation.
Thus she contemplates the life and activity of Jesus within her. This is the Virgin's book, which
her Son opens for her, just as he opens it in heaven, according to the Apocalypse (Rv 5 and 6).
In diis book, she sees the dealings of Jesus with his Father. She sees the praise, the adoration,
the gifts, the offering that he makes of himself to God his Father and all the dimensions of this
splendid reality; the life and the dealings of the Son with the Father and die Father with die Son,
who is incarnate in the world for the glory of his Father. Thus the Virgin comes to know his
secrets, since they take place within her. She is die living royal council where die Son deals
secredy with the eternal Father.

Happily, she leaves behind her own thoughts and her interior spiritual life to enter into the
thoughts of Jesus, into the interior life
-168of Jesus. She enters the love and adoration Jesus offers his Father. She enters the obligations
and actions of Jesus. She surrenders the use of her own interior life into the profound depth of
the new interior life of her Son. Up to tins point, the spiritual life of the Virgin had been most
splendid. The Holy Spirit had trained her in a good school, but now it is something quite
different. She enters a new school where the Son of God draws her into himself and the
knowledge of his activities toward God his Father.
She bears die impression of and a share in his divine actions. She exists not through her own
light and love, but through die light, love and activity of Jesus who draws her into union with
himself. He also draws her out of herself and her own interior actions so that she might live in
him and be the bearer of his holy activities through a sort of gende, exalted and powerful
impression by which the Mother is enraptured by her Son, the Virgin by Jesus. Thus Jesus is
living in die Virgin and hers is the first soul in which he established his life. The Virgin's proper
role is to be attentive to the interior and spiritual life of her Son and to be a pure capacity for
Jesus, filled with Jesus.
The Virgin was so careful, as die gospel teaches us on two occasions, to gather up the actions
and words of other people regarding her Son and to preserve them in her heart, not allowing a
single word about such a great reality to fall to earth: Mary kept every word (every, it says), reflecting on
them in her heart (Lk 2:19). How much more then should she be attentive to the interior and divine
actions of her Son, which, although the world cannot see diem, her insight made known to her?
They are so much more excellent because tiieir source is of greater worth. They can be imprinted
only in the sacred heart and the divinized spirit of Jesus. Therefore the Virgin is enraptured by
Jesus and doubly delighted by him; delighted, I say, by his state witiiin her and by the interior
exercises of his Spirit, while he lives in her. For this is the most worthy object that exists after the
Godhead itself.
Nevertheless, it is necessary that I discover some humiliation in the midst of these grandeurs,
bitterness among the sweetness. I would wrong the autiior of these mysteries and the truth of
this story if I did not present it as it is; if I did not describe truthfully what is happening, either in
the state of the Son or in die state of die Blessed Mother. I must not omit, therefore, that in die
midst of these grandeurs to which die Virgin is exalted, that in these raptures where she
-169is established, I discover there the cross and humiliation. For our mysteries are for God himself
both cross and humiliation.
It is reasonable that these two realities, which are appropriated to die Creator, be attributed to
this creature and be spread through all the states of her life on earth. Thus the Virgin shares in
the cross and humiliation. What is most remarkable is that she shares in them even on the day of
her grandeurs and her greatest exaltation.
Since she is the first to share in Jesus, she is die first as well to share in the cross and die
humiliation of Jesus. Her participation is unique and is suitable only to her, as we shall see later.
The blessed Virgin's participation in this cross and humiliation does not flow from the
requirement of sin like us, nor from its claim on her Son who bears our sins, for he is die only
one to carry this burden, but from a law of love and union with her son. For one of the effects of
love is this mutual sharing of attributes with one another.
Thus the Virgin is too united with her Son not to conform to and resemble him. She is too
close to him and too intimate to be ignorant of his state and his secrets. She knows what goes on
between his Father and him. She knows he has taken on the condition of host- victim Nind that
he already bears the marks and effects within her. Because of this condition, Jesus experiences a
state of humiliation within his divine state. This humiliation pierces the heart of Mary and

humbles her as well. And as a result of the state of her Son, she bears similarly a type of
abasement and humiliation within the very state of her divine Motherhood.
Jesus, being the Son of God, is treated as the Son of Man, and even as God's victim for men.
He is conceived, will be born and will live according to that humble state, exposed to suffering.
Thus just as die Son of God is humbled in this state of his new human filiation, so also the
Virgin experiences a condition of humiliation in the sublime state of divine Motherhood. The
privileges due to both the Son and die Mother are reserved for heaven. Earth is not worthy to
experience them.
She should have begot him as immortal. She begot him as mortal. He should have been born
from her as he was born from the tomb, full of glory and splendor. She begot him vulnerable to
our lowliness and misery. She should have begot him in paradise, in heaven, in the bosom of die
Father. For he is his Son and will be one day elevated to the throne at the right hand, in die
bosom of the Godhead. She begot
-170him in Nazareth and gave birdi to him in Bethlehem, in a stable on hay and straw.
She recognizes the greatness of her Son and her own as well in relationship to her Son. She
knows the Father's plan to humble his Son and die Son's plan to humble himself. She embraces
these plans and agrees to be die humiliated Motiier of the humiliated Son. Now this is die place
and die time where she becomes aware of these truths and begins to accept the humiliation
destined for her Son and for herself, for her Son's human filiation and for her divine
Motherhood.
For it is in Nazareth, in this birth of Jesus m her, in dus moment that these things are
accomplished. They are known to her, born in her and experienced by her according to the
splendor of her knowledge, the strength of her love and the vitality of her sensitivity toward
divine reality and die things of her Son and her God.
-171Elevation to Jesus Christ our Lord Concerning the Conduct of His Spirit and His Grace
Toward Saint Magdalene [1,1, P- 554]
During your time on earth, O Jesus, my Lord, during your blessed association with die world
for three years as Messiah of Judah and Savior of the world, you performed many miracles, you
conferred a number of graces and you chose to attract many souls to you! However the rarest
choice of your love, die worthiest object of your favor, the masterpiece of your grace is
Magdalene and you performed die greatest of your miracles for her.
[1, 2, p. 554]
It was for her that you raised Lazarus, granting the greatest of your wondrous works to her
tears. It was as if you wished diat the most brilliant moment of your power be at the service of
your greatest love and that her brother receive in his body your most miraculous deed just as she
herself was your greatest miracle in souls and die rarest result of your favors.
-172[1, 3, p. 554]
On eardi you were a hidden God, as your prophets said, Truly God is bidden, God the Savior of
Israel (Is 45:15). As such, you had two natures, one invisible and divine and the other human and
visible. And just as man created in your image is composed of two substances, one spiritual and
the other corporal, so you also, O Man- God, you are composed of two beings, one divine and
the other human; one created, the other uncreated; one visible to our mortal eyes, the otherinvisible even to the angels unless they have been raised up into glory. In diat state you are a rare
object, totally divine, totally miraculous, revealed to men and adored by angels. Being an excellent
craftsman, you wished to perform two types of miracles as well. Some are interior and visible to
the angels. Others are exterior and visible to men. In his body Lazarus bore the greatest of your
exterior and tangible miracles. In her soul Magdalene bore one of the greatest of your interior and

invisible miracles through the hidden operation of your Spirit in her heart and soul. One of these
miracles delights men, and the other delights the angels.
[1, 4, pp. 554-55]
During your pilgrimage on earth, working wonders, O Lord, you noticed many souls, but your
gentlest gaze, O Sun of Justice, and your most powerful rays fell on this soul! You lifted her from
death to life, from vanity to truth, from the creature to the Creator, from herself to yourself. You
poured out your Spirit in her spirit and in an instant you loosed in her soul a torrent of tears,
which flowed onto your feet, watered them and created a salvific bath, which washed, in a holy
and unctuous way, the sinful soul who was shedding them. In an instant you gave her such an
abundant grace that she began where others hardly finish. From the first step of her conversion
she was at the height of perfection, experiencing such an exalted love that she deserved to receive
praise from your sacred lips, when you chose to protect her from her opponents and complete
her defense with this lovely word, She has loved much (Lk 7:47).
[1, 5, pp. 555-56]
Such a great and remarkable word on the lips of the eternal Word! Tell us, Lord! Is love the lot
of this soul from the first moment of her
-173conversion? And your love, that is to say the sacred love of Jesus, is it the lot of this sinfùl
woman? A unique and new love; a love that begins on earth and not in heaven, but begins here
for both earth and heaven; love that is shaped at your feet and creates from then on a new
difference in the order of grace and in the order of love; a love that is more than seraphic. There
is in you a new being that establishes a new state in the realm of created and even uncreated
reality. You are a new life in the universe, and you are as well a new source of grace and a new
object of love. You are most worthy to be a new subject of a new order of love in die universe.
This new order begins on earth, not like die angelic orders, which began in heaven. For this
order is related to die Incarnation, which also begins on eardi, not in heaven. This order is linked
to the time of this sacred mystery and to die presence of Jesus on eardi. This new order is
reserved for Magdalene, and you wish to give her the primacy in this order and in this love. This
is the moment when you ignite its flames in her heart. The sacred fire of this love is born in the
waters that flow from the eyes of this humble sinner and most blessed penitent, whom I see
glued to your feet and enraptured by you.
How is it diat this new love is not yet in heaven, but it is on eardi? It is not in the Seraphim,
but it is in the heart of this humble and prostrate penitent? It is because she is at your feet and
these feet are nobler dian the highest heavens. It is right that diis new order of grace and love
begins to take shape in such a wordiy place, which I revere and adore, for I should not even
adore the highest heavens, since they are so inferior to the feet of die Son of God on earth. But
does this soul need to be raised up for this love? She is a sinfùl woman, Lord, but she is at your
feet. In such a holy and adorable place there is nodiing but great dignity and holiness in her. Also
you do not at all mention her sms. You only speak of her love. For love has already covered her
offenses. You only mention her tears, her fragrances, her love and her care in kissing, washing
and wiping your feet.
If the petty dioughts of die Pharisee require that you bring up her past life, you cover it with a
word that simply pays honor to her love, attributing to it the remission of her faults: Many sins,
you say, are forgiven her, for she has loved much. Even die counsel to sin no more, given elsewhere, is
not given to her here, as if that would be superfluous, given the strength and power of her love.
This soul is so covered
-174with her tears and her heart so dissolved in love that nothing but love is visible there, except to
the disdainful Pharisee who can neither see the love nor the soul.
Thus love, the love of Jesus is the lot of Magdalene. From that moment on i t is the lot of this
holy, blessed and glorious soul. From then on she even exists in that love. For Lord, you do not

simply say that she lores, but that she has loved and that she has loved much. O wonder! O grandeur! O
uniqueness of the love that dwells in die heart and spirit of this despised penitent woman. The
Pharisee disdained her and it seemed, Lord, that you did not notice her. Nevertheless, her love
was great. It was great from the first moment of her soul's birth into your grace and love. She has
just arrived at your feet, and at these divine feet she makes such great progress that her love
deserves to be called great even by him who is love and greatness itself. It was the first moment
of her life in grace.
Nevertheless, O Jesus, my Lord, you weigh all things and hold in your hand the weight of die
sanctuary as you weigh this soul and her love. You do not say that she loves, but that she has loved and
that she has loved much, as if she had been doing it for many days, months or years. But an instant of
this soul is worth a century, because she is so alive and powerful in grace and fervent in love. In
her abasement at your feet, she experiences such exalted and powerful prayer that in very little
time she makes remarkable progress in the sacred school of your love.
May God grant that the whole of my life be equal to one of these moments, and that after all
the years of a long and strenuous life, I might share somewhat in this level of love with which she
began and about which you chose to state that she has loved much. O soul! O love! O sinner! O
penitent! O Jesus, the source of repentance, grace and love!
The Blessed Time Spent by the Son of God on Earth
[2,1, p. 557]
How blessed is the time of Jesus' life and sojourn on earth! It is a time of mystery and wonders.
It is a desirable and salvific time. It is the springtime of grace and salvation. It is the fullness of
time, as the
-175scriptures say. It is during this time that the greatest and most wondrous things were to be
accomplished, in honor of the presence of a God, nascent and alive, a God walking and
communing, a God speaking and acting on the earth. Let earth rise and rejoice and let heaven
humble itself in amazement before the vision and nobility of this truth. There are greaterwonders on earth than in heaven. For you are on earth, O Jesus, my Lord, and you are not yet in
heaven, and still you are the God of heaven and earth. In heaven I behold angels. I admire both
their grace and their glory. However, I behold a Man-God on earth and in him I see a grace that
is the source of grace and a glory that is the living source of glory.
The angels, dwelling in heaven, possess an existence that is excellent, but nevertheless created.
This new man, dwelling on earth, is a new living reality, author of life and life itself. He is a divine
composite of created and uncreated being, composed of two very different beings, yet very much
joined together. One is divinized by the other, and the other cannot be defiled by the created,
human and abject being that we see. In that lowliness there is an incomparable grandeur and in
that poverty an inestimable treasure, a treasure that earth alone possessed at that time and that
heaven itself sought and adored on earth. If we need to value the earth, let us value and love it
only because the Son of God became incarnate on earth and not in heaven.
It is earth that beholds and carries this Man-God. Heaven does not yet hold him. Earth is
honored by his presence, bears tire imprint of his steps, is taught by his word, sprinkled by his
blood and honored by his mysteries; a worthy reason for valuing earth more than heaven. Thus
this Man-God, this new citizen of the earth honors the earth in which he was born, gives it
privileges worthy of his birth and desires to perform greater works on earth than had been
previously accomplished in heaven. He even chooses to repair on earth what was lost in heaven
and to repair it in a more excellent way, which is worthy of the incarnate Word, worthy of the
noble droughts of eternal wisdom clothed with our humanity, worthy of the eminent ways of him
who is the way, the life and the truth.
[2, 2, pp. 557-58]

In heaven the greatest degree of love that had been created was lost through die loss of the first
angel to whom it had been given. And it is on earth diat this love lost in heaven must be restored.
It is at the feet
-176of Jesus that this love must be restored. It must be restored to a higher degree and in a more
excellent manner, so as to honor the mystery of love, which is the Incarnation, and to give honor
to the triumph of love, who is Jesus. For he is the love of heaven and of earth, die love of angels
and of men, the love of the eternal Father. He is his beloved Son in whom he takes the greatest
pleasure.
I welcome gladly this drought, which honors Jesus and the sacred mystery of the Incarnation. It
is the mystery of mysteries. Its splendor and dignity easily convince us that die grace that flows
from it surpasses diat which existed before it took effect, whether in the earthly paradise or in the
heavenly paradise. Neither man nor angels have received anything similar to die great and
precious realities (thus the first of the apostles calls diem) that have been prepared for us in Jesus
Christ our Lord. It is an incomparable grace. The angels in their glory admire and revere it, and
they seek no other rank than as servants of this grace. The love based in this new grace, which
depends on the Man-God, surpasses the infused love of the angels in heaven and rekindles on
earth a greater fire of love than die one which was extinguished in heaven.
I am not speaking here of the Virgin. Her love and her grace suffer no comparison. Her dignity
as Mother makes her too close to the Creator to be compared to that angel or to all the angels
together. She is their ruler and not their companion. She holds a superior position over all die
creatures of both heaven and earth. This excess of love, splendor and dignity that belongs to her
and that surpasses die thoughts of both men and angels must never be understood in the
categories of sin and grace. In all this she is the exception, even if she is not expressly named. In
all tliis her privileges remain. Thus without prejudice to the Virgin, and even with homage to the
Son and die Motiier of God, let us continue our thoughts and pursue our discussion of die love
lost in heaven and restored on earth.
This love is dignified in being restored by Jesus. Jesus is honored in that it is restored by
himself on earth, during his humiliation radier than at the time of his power and glory. It is easy
for me to believe that diis heavenly love should be restored by Jesus on earth, that this divine
handiwork should be accomplished at his feet, in order to honor the love and humiliation of
Jesus on earth. But to whom should fall this blessed lot? The gospel notes and portrays for us
that Magdalene was frequendy and devotedly at the feet of Jesus.
She begins diat way in the home of the Pharisee. She continues in
-177the same way in die home of Martha, her sister, and in the home of Simeon the Leper in
Bethany. She ends that way at the foot of the cross and later at die tomb in die presence of Jesus
appearing as the gardener. Everywhere we see her at the sacred feet of Jesus. It is her dwelling
place and her lot. It is her love and her constant occupation. It is what identifies her and
distinguishes her in grace. Furthermore, she is the one who collects at his sacred feet the celestial
dew and the divine love lost in heaven. Jesus is the one who restores it and pours it into het heart
while she is at his feet.
The Words of the Angels and Jesus, at the Tomb, to Magdalene
[7, 4, pp. 582-83]
There [in die scriptures] I discover that die first person you visited in your new life and in your
state of glory was the Magdalene. There I discover that the first word you uttered in that blessed
state was addressed to her and concerned her tears and her grief. Woman, why are yon weeping? (Jn
20:15). There I find that the first name your sacred lips pronounced in your glory was her name,
that sweet name of Mary, which enlightens her, which makes her recognize her Lord, which
makes her fall at his feet, which restores life to her and fills her with joy and witii new love.

When you were born in Bethlehem, Lord, indeed it was your holy Mother whom your mortal
eyes first beheld. I lowever, you did not speak to her. You did not at all utter her name, which is
the same name, Mary, even though this name, in her, was dedicated to innocence, to divine
Motherhood and to an eminent grace that has never had any equal. Nevertheless, you did not
utter it, and you remained in the sacred silence and powerlessness of your infancy.
When you were reborn, Lord, from the tomb into your life of glory, the first gaze and tlie first
view of your immortal eyes, glorious and as brilliant as die sun, was of the Magdalene. Your first
words were to Magdalene. The first name you pronounced was her name, the name Mary, the
name dedicated, in her, to love and penance. The first commission you gave and, if I can speak
this way, the first Bull and Patent that you officially issued in your state of glory and power, was
to her, making her an aposde, but an apostle of life, glory and
-178love, and an apostle to your apostles. You had made them apostles some time before, but it was
during your mortal life. You made them twelve in number but you made them your apostles to
the world to proclaim your Cross and your death. In this case, you make Magdalene your apostle
in your state of glory. In tins new state you make her alone an aposde, an apostle of your life
only, for she will proclaim and make public only your life, power and glory. You make her an
apostle not to the world, but to die very apostles of the world and to the universal pastors of
your church because you are so pleased to highlight the honor and the love of her soul.
The Spirit in Which Magdalene Enters Into Her Desert
[12, pp. 594-95]
It is Magdalene's desert. She enters it in honor of Jesus and his hidden life. She enters it by the
decree of God, who wishes to take her aside in this place to speak to her heart. She enters it by
the secret urging of a surpassing love, which draws her and leads there moreso than die urging of
penance does. Without detracting from die honor due such penance, may I be allowed to say that
her blessed penance is no longer anything but love. Love has acquired such power and
possession of her and has converted all that she has and all that she is into love! Her penance is
love, her desert is love, her life is love, her solitude is love, her cross is love, her languish is love
and her death is love. I see only love in Magdalene. I see only Jesus in her love. I see only Jesus
and love in her desert.
She is more alive and hidden in Jesus, in the unknown life of Jesus and in the hidden proofs of
Jesus' love, than she is alive and hidden in die desert where she is dwelling. O desert! O
Magdalene! O Jesus! O mountain, you are much more useful to Magdalene dian was to Saint
Peter the one where he said to Jesus, Li/ ns erect three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses and one for
Idlijab. For I see three tabernacles also on this remote and elevated mountain where Jesus is
drawing and leading Magdalene. However, all diree belong to Jesus and to no one else. All three
were erected by the Spirit of God and not by human hands, and all diree offer Magdalene a place
of retreat, a holy retreat, sacred tabernacles where she dwells for such a long time,
-179where she is alive and hidden, where she is unknown to all, except for her love.
We can say that the first of these tabernacles is Jesus himself in his very person, for he is her
life and dwelling place. She dwells in him more than her soul dwells in her body and more dian
her body lives in this desert. The second one is again Jesus in die state of his hidden and
unknown life. For she has withdrawn and is hidden in this state and she adheres to this life and
shares in it in a very rare and divine way. The third is still Jesus. For Jesus alone is the dwelling
place and die retreat for her soul. She dwells in him in a variety of ways, according to die various
states he possesses and chooses to communicate to her.
In Magdalene's third tabernacle on this holy mountain is Jesus with the ftillness of his Spirit and
love. For the Spirit and love of Jesus is distinct and superior to odiers in heaven and on earth. It
is one of those sacred orders and names, that are pronounced, according to Saint Paul, both in
this world and in the world to come. In this holy tabernacle Jesus wishes to initiate this soul into

the hidden proofs of his love. She bears within her constantly the most excellent activities of die
Spirit of Jesus, who wishes to accomplish things worthy of himself in a soul so pure, so holy, so
sublime, so separated from all and so united to him.
Blessed are those who know this soul and are aware of her thoughts. Blessed are those who
share in her secrets. They are incomparably more blessed than if they shared in the secrets of all
the great and learned people of the universe. Blessed are they who have access to these three
tabernacles and are prepared to enter deeply into this desert, into this Spirit and into diis
sanctuary.
Elevation to Saint Magdalene
[15, pp. 599-600]
O soul, blessed are you living, dying and suffering diis way in this desert! O desert, blessed are
you to hold and possess such a soul for so long a time! This desert is a school of love and for
Magdalene a school of various sorts of love. I see there a separating love, for Jesus is in heaven
and Magdalene is on eartii. I see there a crucifying love, for Jesus unites himself to her, but as
crucified. Moreover he unites
-180himself to her as crucifying. For it is the very nature of die Spirit and love of Jesus to crucify
and to crucify in this way his most cherished souls.
Magdalene welcomes him in botii ways, that is, both as crucified and crucifying. She embraces
him with all the faculties of her soul, as if she were more loving than that soul in the Canticle,
when for the least reason she delays welcoming her beloved. However, I see there as well a third
sort of love, an incomparable love, a love that surpasses and crowns die two preceding loves, a
love that brings her desert and her life to fulfillment. It is a love that is enraptured at the sight of
Jesus, who is no longer crucified but glorified. A love diat consumes her, enraptures her and lifts
her from the desert to heaven and from die cross to glory. O soul! O desert! O life! O cross! O
love! O glory!
What will that glory be like, which responds to such a love? What will that love be like, which
carries such a cross and responds to such a life? What kind of life is it diat is filled with so many
exercises, that is filled with so much love, and that has spent so many years in such a holy,
meaningful and divine way? I reverence every moment of this life, singularly spent in your unique
love. I admire all that was accomplished in her, all her states and all die progress she made. I am
lost in the thought of the supreme height to which she has been elevated. If one hour of your
time spent at die feet of the Son of God in the Pharisee's house has produced and formed such a
great love in your heart that the love of heaven and earth himself, that is, Jesus, values it,
proclaims it and admires it, what should we think and say about so many hours spent on eartii
with die Son of God, who is the honor, love and delight of heaven and earth?
If two or three years in the school of the Son of God exalted you so greatiy in love and
adorned you widi graces, favors and privileges beyond die apostles and even beyond the beloved
of the apostles (who nevertheless are primary in the school and state of the Son of God), what
degree, what love, what status in the midst of the angels, die Seraphim and above the Seraphim
themselves would you have attained in thirty years of a life where you would have lived and died
only for love, where you would have lived only to love and suffer for love, where you would have
lived such a long and unique life; quite long even compared to the passage and moment that we
attribute to the angels, a life in which each moment is admirable and inimitable?
O life, always either accomplishing or suffering such great things on love's path! O life,
constantly lively and unique dirough die love
-181of Jesus; constandy lively and sublime, whether longing for or possessing Jesus! A life that
astonishes and enraptures die angels, who behold such an object on eartii. They see a Seraph in a
desert, continually discerning, forever alive, constantly fervent; having no other purpose for her
life than living, loving and longing in the love of Jesus.

However, it is more appropriate for angels than for men to speak of this life. It is die task of
the blessed angel who watched over that desert as it was converted into a paradise, more of
heaven than of earth. It is your angel, O Magdalene, and not we, who should speak of it. In
recognition of our common inadequacy we should be content to furnish die veil that would hide
your life, your love and your longing from mortals. For we cannot speak about it, nor can they
understand anything of it.
-182Piece 891: A Letter on the Priesthood —
[CB 3, pp. 617-18]
To a Priest of the Oratory
Father,
The grace of Jesus be with you forever.
I feel obliged to speak to you a bit at length about the subject of which you wrote me so that,
when appropriate, you can instruct those people of note who might wish to understand it. You
should know that die church is divided into two parts and both of them are holy, if we consider
its institution and origin. One is the people, and the other is the clergy. One receives holiness,
and die other brings it about. In the period closer to its birth diese two parts brought forth many
virgins, confessors and martyrs who blessed the church, filled the earth, populated heaven and
diffused everywhere the odor of the sanctity of Jesus.
This holy body, animated by a holy Spirit and governed by holy laws, has lost its fervor and
diminished in holiness through the corruption of the ages. This slackening began in its weakest
part, the people. Then, from among the people, some withdrew to preserve in themselves die
holiness proper to the whole body. These were the monks who, according to Saint Denis,
constitute the highest and most perfect part of die people. They were governed by priests in die
early church, receiving from diem direction and perfect holiness, to which they aspired in an
extraordinary way.
-183At that time holiness dwelt in die clergy as in its fortress, and it struck down idols and worldly
impieties. At that time the clergy, composed of prelates and priests, radiated only holy tilings and
dealt only with holy tilings, leaving worldly things to the worldly. At that time the clergy bore
nobly the mark of God's authority, holiness and light: three beautiful jewels in die priestly crown,
joined together by God's design for his anointed ones, his priests and his church. The first priests
were indeed both saints and doctors of the church. God preserved within this same order­
authority, holiness and doctrine, uniting these three perfections in die priestly order m honor and
imitation of the holy Trinity, in which we adore die audiority of the Father, the light of die Son
and the sanctity of the Holy Spirit, divinely united in the unity of their Essence.
However, time, which corrupts all things, brought about laxity m most of die clergy. These
three qualities, authority, holiness and doctrine, which the Spirit had joined together, were
separated by the human spirit and the spirit of the world. Authority has remained in prelates,
holiness in religious and doctrine in the schools. In this separation God preserved in different
segments of his church what he had joined in die clerical state. Such is die plan of God and die
institution of his Son, Jesus. Such is die excellence of our state. Such is die power, light and
holiness of die priesdy condition.
However, alas! We have fallen from it. The evil of die world in which we live has demoted us
from tiiis dignity. It has passed into foreign hands, and we can rightly utter these words of
lamentation: Our inheritance has been handed over to strangers (Lam 5:2). For no matter how much they
are at home in grace and in the unity of die body of Jesus, they are foreign to die ministry; and
God, in his original, primary plan did not choose them for it.
It is the prelates and priests who are called to it. It is diem that Jesus, in the gospel, refers to as
the salt of the earth. It is to them tiiat these three attributes apply. He gives ordinary people faith,
hope and love, but he gives also to public persons diese three other gifts: holiness, authority and

doctrine. This is the core of the inheritance of the tribe of Levi, that is, die clergy, whose name m
Greek means "inheritance," in order to show that they have no possession on earth and that the
only wealth Jesus Christ has left them is diis possession of heaven and this sharing in himself,
that is to say, in his holiness, light and authority, adoring and receiving authority from die Father,
light from the Son and holiness from the Holy Spirit. But we have
-184reason to lament this loss of which we have been guilty. Also we have reason to praise the
goodness of God, who gives us die means to unite once again holiness and doctrine widi die
authority of the clerical state, without prejudice to those who received it and made such holy use
of it in our absence.
It is God's will and plan for us. This is what he has called us to. This is why we are gathered
together; in order to reclaim our inheritance, to recover once again our rights, to enjoy our
legitimate succession, to have die Son of God as our portion, to share in his Spirit, and through
his Spirit to share in his light, holiness and authority, which are communicated to prelates by
Jesus Christ and through them to priests.
-185NOTES
1. The Grandeurs, dedicated to King Louis XIII, is composed of twelve discourses, to which has been added a
Narré dealing mainly with the "vows" of servitude.
2. "This school" refers to Bérulle's earlier statement diat "the divine Word ... having been sent to the world,
wished to establish here a holy academy, a state of grace, a divine assembly, conducted and animated by his Spirit, in
order to speak to earth the language of heaven ... and to introduce [men] to an exalted and sublime knowledge of
God ... which human understanding could never teach them" (G 1, 1, pp. 161-62).
3. In the technical language of the French School of spirituality the term religion evokes a sense of reverence,
adoration and love in union with God die Father.
4. In the margin the name Eudoxe was written, no doubt referring to Eudoxus of Cnidus, a fourth-century B.C.
mathematician and astronomer. It is not clear who wrote the marginal references in the editio princeps. The volume
was edited by François Bourgoing (1585-1662), the third superior general of the Oratory. In his preface he thanks his
fellow Oratorian, Guillaume Gibieuf (c. 1580-1650) for compiling Bérulle's works and providing summaries of the
material. Either of these men could have added the marginal notes, which are often vague and not always accurate.
5. The marginal reference is to Nicolaus Copernicus.
6. At tliis point Bérulle introduces a lengthy theological and spiritually enthusiastic prayer to the Trinity.
7. The word état (state) or estat (an older spelling for état) is a technical term of the French School. It refers to the
permanent conditions and aspects of the life and mysteries of Jesus. While his actions were transitory, his inner
dispositions are stable and remain available to us for adoration and communion. In this paragraph Bérulle is referring
to the state of the Incarnation, which exists forever. See the Introduction to this volume, pp. 37-38.
8. Tliis prayer of praise to the sacred humanity of Jesus Christ is the continuation of the prayer to the Trinity
referred to in note 6 above.
9. The marginal note refers to Jerome's commentary on the gospel of Matthew 8:26 [in Book 1, n. 26],
10."Servitude" refers to an act of total personal consecration, which was at various times and in different
circums tances directed toward Jesus or
-186Mary or the people of God. See the Introduction to this volume, pp. 14-16 for a history of the controversy
surrounding Bérulle's use of the vows of servitude.
11. The reference here is not clear. Bérulle could be referring to Plato's Timaeus, 90b, where the philosopher
speaks of us being rooted from above in heaven rather than from below like earthly plants. He could also have been
thinking of this line from the Rhineland mystic, John Ruusbroec: "... the tree of faith which grows downward from
above, since its roots are in the Godhead" (The Spiritual Espousals, book 1, part 4, section D [The Spiritual
Espousalr and Other Works, p. 70]). The editor adds in a footnote to this text that tliis image is also found in the
first Vision of Ruusbroec's Flemish predecessor, the thirteenth-century beguine Hadewijch of Antwerp.
12. The marginal reference is to Tertullian's Adversus Praxean. However, the quotation, a matrice excessit, non
recessit, is not found in that treatise. Some of the thought seems contained in the last part of chap. 8, esp. n. 45.
13. The marginal reference is to Pherecydes of Syros, a sixth-century B.C. Greek writer said to have been the
teacher of Pythagoras.
14. The marginal note refers to Saint Leo's letter #10 to Flavian [Archbishop of Constantinople]. However, it is
listed as #28 in Migne's Patrologiae Cursus Completus (volume 54, column 763).

15. The note mentions Daniel 9. However there is no reference in that chapter or in the book of Daniel to the
Holy of HoHes [au Sainct des Saincts],
16. The French word, Orient, is used symboEcaEy in this context to refer to any source from which the light and
hope of a new day or era breaks forth. From this perspective Jesus' Incarnation is the Orient of all Orients. I chose
to keep the term to respect that allusion.
17. The authors of the French School were so struck by die humiliation and sublime grandeur of Jesus Eving in
Mary's womb that they counted his time on eardi from the moment of conception. See p. 171 where Bérulle implies
that Nazareth and not Bethlehem is where the "first birth" of Jesus occurs. It is fascinating to note that, although he
intended to write about all of Jesus' thirty-four years on earth, Bérulle's Life of Jesus, through its thirty chapters,
never moves beyond the nine months of gestation. It, too, was dedicated to King Louis XIII.
18. The French expression here is hostie, which in the usage of die period evoked both the sacrifices of the
ancient Hebrews and die host at Mass, which is the body of Christ and the sacrifice of the new covenant. This play
on words is intentional for Bérulle and the authors of the French School. This is why I have translated it as host­
victim to capture the double meaning.
19. This elevation is composed of twenty chapters, to which are added
-187-

some observations on Luke's view of the favors accorded to Magdalene. It was a consolation for Queen Henriette
(a princess of France), the wife of England's Charles I (an AngEcan), to whom it was dedicated.
20. There is much in this view of priesthood that seems antithetical to our contemporary theology of ministry. It
might help the reader to recall that this hierarchical model was the accepted view of that period and that it continued
into our own age until the current renewal. When Bérulle and the other authors of the French School wrote texts like
diis letter, it was primarily to invite the priests and bishops of their day to conversion. They were challenging them to
Eve up to the dignity that was theirs by virtue of their calling. It was not the evocation of an elitist attitude, but rather
a caU to base dieir Eves on the spirit and values of the gospel that they preached and the sacraments that they
celebrated. See the Introduction to this volume, pp. 54-58; 60-66; 87-88.
-188-

MADELEINE DE SAINT-JOSEPH
The Spiritual Letters of Madeleine de Saint-Joseph
LETTER 39
Unknown Comspondent, 1628-34
Since you believe that I am in possession of both great and ordinary realities all at once, I want
to speak about that freely with you. I have none of these subtleties, but it is true that I, like the
others, may have some of this and some graces in prayer. However, in my experience these tilings
are more like something toward which I reach, radier tiian somedung I have achieved. I am
amazed at those souls who have immediately accomplished everydiing. For my part, I am fifty
years old, but I do not seem to have yet begun. Those other souls are in the divine essence. They
no longer exist. They have lost their being in Jesus Christ. They are intimately with God, to hear
them tell it. Indeed diere is nothing more beautiful in the world. My approach is quite different.
One of the greatest sorrows I bear is to see that the evil spirit has been able to detach so many
good souls from the blessed person of our Lord Jesus Christ on the pretext of attaining more
sublime realities and thus leading diem along paths of illusion. O my God, what is more sublime
than Jesus Christ? Is he not the splendor of the Father and the image of his substance? Is he not
his beloved Son in whom he is well-pleased? Is he not die one in whom the fullness of the
divinity resides? Has not the Fadier commanded that everyone should honor Jesus Christ as
himself and offer him the same homage? What better thing can we do than to honor his holy
person and all die mysteries of our salvation he has accomplished? Why have we been created, if
not for that? Our blessed father Sind our blessed Sister
-191Marie of the Incarnation, when I first knew them thirty years ago, expressed great sorrow to see
the beginning of this development. They told me that it was one of the great problems of the
church.
LETTER 42
To Father Gibieufofthe Oratory, 2 October 1629
t Jesus Maria

Dear Reverend Father,
May die love of Jesus Christ fill your soul.
Humbly I beg you and all the Reverend Fathers of your house to please do us the favor of
giving us the heart of Monsignor, the very renowned and very revered Cardinal de Bérulle, our
Reverend Father Superior and Visitor. I am sending you an act of our chapter by which all the
sisters and I make this request with all the power of our hearts and minds. For it is die heart of
the one, after God, to whom we owe all that we are in Jesus Christ, our Lord. I know that such
was his will, and diat he desired this for the union of these two Orders and for die glory of the
Son of God and of his holy Mother. We desire it for the same reasons, and also, that in this
union we may be worthy to receive together, as children of this holy Father, his blessings.
We desire very much these blessings for you and we remain,
Reverend Father,
Your very humble, affectionate and grateful servants in Jesus
Christ,
Sister Madeleine de Saint-Joseph
Sister Marie de Jésus
Sister Marie de Jésus
Sister Marie de Saint-Jérôme
LETTER 45
To a Friend in the Monasteiy,
Shortly after Cardinal Bérulle’s Death,
2 October 1629
Sir,
May our Lord grant you his holy graces.
I am very gratefùl to you for making the effort to let me know what
-192is happening with you. I was deeply touched. Since you want me to send you something about
the virtues of our blessed Father Cardinal de Bérulle, I will do it willingly to satisfy you and, in
this way, to do my small part to honor his memory as I should, since I have been graced by his
confidence in me. He is a saint known only to God but whom I hope we will know in eternity.
Nevertheless he is a very great saint and particularly outstanding in humility. For the humility
with which he stood before God is inconceivable. He believed that no novice or soul existed who
was not more initiated in the ways of God, more interior and more advanced than he was.
I think he spoke more than five-hundred times of his dispositions, but it was always in simple,
ordinary terms, which indicated on the one hand how much he valued the grace and on the other
how much he despised himself. When he spoke of others he used terms that were appropriate to
what he wanted to say, but for himself he only used the lowest and most common terms, in
keeping with the humble opinion he had of himself. He said that lofty things were not for him,
and most often he spoke only of his poverty and indigence. However, this very humble, holy
man, who thought so little of himself, who spoke of himself only with such fear and so little
esteem, never stopped believing that the person of our Lord Jesus Christ dwelt in him in a special
way and that he was present in such an extraordinary manner that it could be easier believed than
articulated. This truth was repeated to him so often that he could not doubt it, and its effects in
his life and in his death give obvious witness to this presence.
It seemed that he could act only for Jesus Christ, thinking and speaking only of him and his
mysteries. He was so filled and so continuously occupied by him that, in order to believe what he
was like, you needed to see the holy and great actions this grace produced in him. He seemed to
have been born only to love the Son of God, to honor him and make him honored by others. We
can say that there has been no one in this century who can be compared to him on this point. As
a result of this very great and holy gift, which the Son of God made to him of himself, he gave
him a number of great privileges. Fie received a very great and extraordinary grace to inspire the

souls entrusted to him. His repeated influence on them was so powerful that it seemed to flow
from an angel rather than from a man. Our Lord gave him such an ardent, loving desire to help
them and comfort them in the trials that occur on the path toward virtue that we can not express
what he offered to God in this matter nor the
-193effort he expended through prayer, penance and the word. He was more affected by their needs
than his own, and above all he experienced incredible sorrow when he had in his care a soul who
was unfaithful to Jesus Christ.
A book rather than a letter would be needed to tell you, sir, die effects of the love of tiiis great
servant of God. Even an entire book would be insufficient. For I boldly assure you that all we
could say would be nothing in comparison to the reality, which I have seen. I assure you tiiis is
equally true for his other virtues.
His faith was very strong, his hope and confidence in God unshakable. His courage in
undertaking projects for his service, as well as his perseverance in seeing diem dirough to the
end, no matter what difficulties he encountered, was marvelous. However his profound humility
never noticed tiiese many gifts. Even though he received sublime insights from God both
regarding what he owed to him and to his mysteries, he never saw them as anything special, but
rather as the effects of die faith offered to every Christian. The insights we have on earth are
transitory and do not last forever. Therefore once those he received had disappeared, he only
remembered them when tiiey might produce results.
When the pope made him a cardinal, it would be impossible to express die interior and exterior
humility with which he received diis honor. He would never have accepted it, if the Holy Father
had not ordered him to do so under penalty of disobedience.
He was a most solitary and withdrawn soul who fled, as much as he could, from involvement in
public affairs and communication with the important people of the world. However, our Lord
often obliged him to get involved and gave him such zeal and such admirable courage for bodi
his works and the public good that he always said what he believed useful, even though that often
exposed him to great danger. He once said to one of the leaders of the state: "If you destroy the
peace, God will destroy you as he has destroyed others." y_Once he was consulted by the
confessor of an important person wanting to know if he was obliged to tell him his opinion on a
matter concerning tire church's welfare, even though he knew it would not be followed. He
responded that to relieve his conscience and fulfill before God the obligation he had for the
salvation of that soul, for whom he would have to answer on judgment day, he should speak
sincerely to him, even though he was sure that his words would have no effect. He further added,
with a powerful and admirable zeal:
-194"What good did it do for Saint John to say to Herod that it was not permitted to take his
brother's wife, except to have his head taken off? He knew it only too well. Yet he did not stop
saying it so as to render to God what he owed him."
Among the gifts that Jesus Christ gave this great man, power over evil spirits was one of the
most remarkable. It became clear in several subjects and especially in a number of exorcisms.
Demons feared him so much that even when he was absent his name subjected them to the
exorcists and terrified them.
But none of this was surprising, since he was so filled with our Lord Jesus Christ and so
outstanding in the love of his Blessed Mother. He belonged in a special way to this Queen of
men and angels. Since nothing is dearer or closer to the Son of God than his Blessed Mother, he
could never have been so devoted to our Lord unless he belonged to the Virgin. He never spoke
of him without speaking of her, and he told me that he could not speak of the Son without
thinking of the Mother.
It should be very consoling to you, sir, to have been known and loved by such a great servant
of God, as it is for us to be the daughters of so virtuous a father and such a great saint. I beg you

to ask him through his paternal care for us that he give us a share in his virtues, especially in his
unshakable faith and burning love for our Lord Jesus Christ and his Blessed Mother. I will make
this same prayer for you, in whom I remain, in dieir Majesties ...
LETTER 128
To a Fanner Prioress
My dearest Mother,
May die holy soul of Jesus Christ fill your soul.
I received your letter on the vigil of the blessed Trinity, to whom I offered you ferventiy to
each of the divine persons, asking diem to give you love and strength in the faith. I ask the same
blessed Trinity to give you the entire share of the life of grace and glory it has destined for you
from all eternity. With all my heart I offer, in a special way, your soul to the person of die Son, so
that he might communicate to it an emanation and special part of the love he has for his Father;
that he might initiate it into his strength, his power, and
-195clothe it completely with himself and his holy and divine attributes, according to everything
that is part of his plan and design for you. In whom I am forever yours ...
LETTER 129
To a Carmelite Prioress
May the love of Jesus Christ fill your soul.
I received your letter and I am very glad to write and implore you to lift your spirit mightily to
God during this time of grace and sanctification, when he gives the Holy Spirit on earth so tiiat
you may welcome all die most holy and splendid results he wishes to produce in each one of us,
provided he finds us disposed for them.
I pray to the same Holy Spirit that he give you his light and his love, for he is light and love.
Quite often what we consider to be light, in die ways of God, is not. However, the Holy Spirit
gives us the true light, which causes us to progress in the ways of the Son of God, in the ways of
humiliation, strength, justice, penance, submission, patience and poverty. For since the Son of
God and the Holy Spirit are but one essence, dtey accomplish die same work. Jesus Christ begins
it, and the Holy Spirit finishes it. He comes to initiate souls into the states through which Jesus
Christ passed and bring them to imitate all the virtues he practiced during his most holy life. You
see what he tells us in die gospel: The Holy Spirit whom the Father will send yon in my name will teachyou
all things and will call to your mind everything I said to you (Jn 14:26).
Now die disposition we should have in order to welcome him is a very great and profound
humility, as these words from scripture teach us: Upon whom will my spirit rest, if not the humble? This is why we must work with very great care to acquire this virtue. It is so necessary and so
valued by God because it makes us worthy to have his Spirit dwelling within us. Even if we have
all the other virtues, if we do not have humility, we have nothing. It is the one he looks for and
hopes to find in us so he can give us his graces. Thus, let us ask him for his Spirit with profound
self-abasement. Few souls are worthy of asking and receiving it because tiiere are so few who are
truly humble. This is why even though we ask frequently, we are seldom heard. I beg Jesus Christ
to make us worthy of asking and
-196receivmg, as daughters of God, as daughters of grace and sanctification.
In his divine Majesty, I am yours ...
LETTER 138
To an unknown person
... We are born into this world, not for die world, nor for all that is in the world, wealth,
honors, pleasures, nor for ourselves, nor to follow the inclinations of our senses, nor to do our
wills, but radier for God and for Jesus Christ, his only Son, to know, love and serve die Fatiier in
his Son and the Son for the love of his Father and to accomplish die Father's will so that every
tongue confess him and every knee bend before his name, bodi in heaven and on earth and even

in hell, as Saint Paul says (Phil 2:10-11), and that every creature submit itself to the sovereign
power that he gave him, as he himself has taught us.
LETTER 139
To a Cannelite Prioress
My good Mother,
May the love of Jesus Christ fill your soul.
Since you wish to know die explanation of the words by which the Son of God teaches us that
he is the door, and the others which follow them, I am satisfied that you are not in any way
interested in leaving him. jThis is a leave taking I would wish on no one. I fear it for myself and
for those whom I love in our Lord, not simply as I would fear death, but rather eternal deadi. For
Jesus is life and life eternal.
Previously, good Mother, I experienced at times the same difficulty widi tiiese words of the
gospel. I asked for an interpretation from our blessed Fadier Cardinal Bérulle. He helped me
understand it and I was overjoyed. He said to me that it was not a question here of leaving Jesus
Christ, which he could not approve. Also let us note that when he asks his apostles if they wish
to leave him, Saint Peter answers: Tord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life
-197(Jn 6:68). Rather, it is a manner of speaking which means that whoever unites himself perfectly
to our Lord Jesus Christ as the way by which we go to God and the only way to get diere, placing
all his confidence in him alone without relying on himself or even other creatures, this person will
live in perfect freedom. He will go and come freely and nothing will prevent him, as die same
Son of God says in Saint John: You will see heavens open and the angels ascending and descending on the Son
of Man (Jn 1:51); that is, serving him in his every command and accomplishing perfecdy his every
will. Scripture teaches us that because of this they are powerful (Ps 103:20).
To enter dien and leave through this door who is Jesus Christ is a manner of speaking that
means to accomplish freely everything God asks of us, entering into the divinity and going out
into the humanity of Jesus Christ. We enter into his interior life where he is occupied with his
Father. We go out into his exterior life where he lives familiarly widi men. We ascend in imitation
of the angels through attention and contemplation of his grandeurs, in which he is in all things equal
to his Father (Jn 10:30). We descend through love and the imitation of his humiliation, by which he
says through his prophet that he is a worm, not a man. a disgrace among men and the scorn of the people (Ps
22:7). We enter with Mary and go out with Martha. At times we remain recollected within
ourselves and occupied solely in adoring him in spirit and truth, listening in silence to the words
of life he speaks to our heart. At other times we go out through the practice of charity and all the
exterior virtues of which he gave us such a perfect example.
Without doubt, my dear Modier, in these holy reflections we will find a pasture quite capable of
nourishing our souls, capable of sustaining diem and causing them to grow in this holy union
with Jesus Christ and widi God, which his own Son wished for us, asked for us and acquired for
us at such a great price. I beg him to make us worthy of it and believe me that I am yours in him

LETTER 142
To a Cannelite Prioress
My good Mother,
Peace in Jesus Christ.
You ask me what the life of Carmelites should be like. I answer
-198you diat we should desire diat it conform to the life of the saints in heaven. The saints
contemplate always the face of God and that of Jesus Christ, Ins Son whom he sent. Eternal life
consists in this, as die same Son teaches us. Were it possible, we should do the same thing on
earth. But because the corruption of the body, which weighs down the soul, does not permit it,
we should at least try to approximate it as much as possible. We should unceasingly contemplate

our Lord Jesus Christ, and even though we cannot see him in his glory and in his grandeurs as
the saints see him in heaven, we should contemplate and adore him in his humiliation and in the
mysteries of his holy humanity.
You will find that they are all there in him who is die summary of his marvels and in whom he
chose to enclose himself in order to keep us company faithfully until the end of the world, to
unite us to all diat he offers there to his Father, to receive the homage we owe his most holy
person and all his states, land to produce in our souls die effects of grace, which are appropriate
to them and which will make us wordiy of honoring them authentically. For as you know,
Mother, we cannot honor God, or Jesus Christ, who is God like his Father, in an authentic
manner wordiy of his acceptance, except through what we receive from him. Therefore, ask the
Father to draw you to his Son and ask the Son to give you a share in himself, which will inspire
your spirit, your heart and all that you are unceasingly to contemplate him, love him, imitate him
and adore his Father with him and as a part of him, in spirit and truth according to what he asks
of us.
In this way you will satisfy the plan of the eternal Father, who wants everyone to honor his Son
as himself. You will obey what our rule commands us, to meditate day and night on the law of
God. Not only will you meditate, but also you will obey that holy and sanctifying law, diat law of
grace and love diat he substituted for that of severity and terror. He did not give it to slaves, but
to children, for it is in Jesus Christ diat he has given us that holy law. It is through this divine
legislator that he has given us his commandments and diat he has made known to us his will. It is
in his life and all his actions that he has placed before our eyes a most perfect exemplar on which
he wants us to model our own [life]. Finally, it is tiirough the grace tiiat he has enclosed in him
for us that he gives us die will and strengtii to accomplish what he commands us and that he
makes us accomplish it, in fact, in a manner wordiy of him and wordiy of die reward he
-199promises to those who observe perfectly his law, diat is, the eternal possession of himself.
In him, I am forever ...
LETTER 144
To a Carmelite Prioress
My good Mother,
May the love of Jesus Christ fill your soul.
I have been thinking about what you asked me for a long time, but since I received your letter I
have applied myself more to die question and I continue to have die same thought that I had: to
prefer the act of adoration to diat of thanksgiving, because it is more extensive and it exposes us
less to the danger of too much self-preoccupation even under die pretext of thanking God for
the blessings he has given us, especially when they are unique to us. Moreover, die respect toward
the majesty of God that adoration creates in us moderates the excesses of sensibility many good
souls experience easily in their devotional exercises.
It is not that I fail to recognize that tiianksgiving is very good and even a strict obligation for
every soul, for a creature has nothing except what it receives from die infinite generosity of God.
Nevertheless, I find that this act of thanksgiving is included in that of adoration, and my thought
is that it is generally more useful to souls for the reasons I have just given.
Adoration is what God looked for from the beginning in his creatures, in the angels in heaven
and in men on earth, because adoration is a duty and a respect that the lesser owes to die greater,
the subject owes to die sovereign Lord. Through it die creature experiences its nothingness in
order to offer homage to its Creator. However, since angels and men failed in this and rebelled
against his majesty, he wanted to choose a worshiper as great as himself and as little capable of
failing as he would be. Thus he decided upon the mystery of die Incarnation, where a God would
adore God. Also let us note diat the first state diat his Son took on as soon as he clodied himself
with our nature was the state of lamb and victim for God, which is a state of adoration, for it is
through sacrifice that adoration is offered.

-200The first act or disposition of his holy soul, according to the teaching of the great theologians,
was the oblation he made of himself to his Father in that moment, blessed for all times, when he
placed his body and his soul in the hands of this Lord, who, while being his Father, became his
God in the temporal order. This is what Saint Paul teaches us when he portrays die Son of God's
entrance into the world and into our nature. The words that he attributes to him at that moment
are words by which he consecrates to his Father the body he gave him to be sacrificed to him in
place of all the former victims and by which he continues to assure him that he welcomes his law
and places it in the center of his heart. Subsequently, during all of his most holy life, he continued
with this same disposition and what he did in dying was to consummate this great sacrifice,
immolating to his own Father with the shedding of his blood this holy victim he had continually
offered him since his Incarnation.
Upon entering the world, Saint Paul tell us, he first appeared as a host through his sacrifice, f_which
teaches us that he is in his state as host-victim _forever. Saint John confirms the same thing for
us in his Apocalypse, where he says that he saw the Lamb slain (that is, sacrificed) (Rv 5:6). He
shows us all die angels and saints offering him their homage as Lamb. Their greatest glory is to
adore God with him, united to his adoration, which is die adoration of eternity. Finally, on earth,
in the blessed sacrament, where he has chosen to dwell as long as the church remains, he is diere
in a state of adoration and immolation, which is why we call it die holy host. What he does there
is nothing odier than offer homage to his Father and adore him in the name of us all as our high
priest. It is true that he is there also as bread come down from heaven, as bread that gives eternal
life, but what he does as bread is to transform us into himself to make us capable of adoring with
him. He makes us what he is so diat we may do now what he does and will do eternally, which is
to adore his Father.
You should not be surprised, dear Mother, if I elaborate so much on tins subject, since it is so
extensive that it surpasses gready what I might say about it. For adoration is a definite duty by
which the creature proclaims the supreme grandeur and the infinite excellence of the being of
God and by which we recognize that he is the author of our being and of all the good that is in us
and could be in us. It is not only from him and through him, but even more for him that we
receive without ceasing, dirough die gift of conservation, everything
-201of which he is die goal as well as the source. Recognizing that these things belong to him
because of so many claims, we protest that we never want to use diem except in relation to him.
Moreover, we give him power over them, being glad for him to dispose of diem himself
according to his will and that he makes use of them in every way he wishes for his glory.
What is most important to understand is diat not only is adoration imperfect without love, but
that it does not even deserve to be called adoration, nor is it welcomed by God as such, if love is
not its soul and its life, if we can speak thus. Odierwise it is only a pretense of adoration and the
kind of cult practiced by [some] Jews about which God complained a long time ago when he said
through one of his prophets that this people honored him with their lips, but that their hearts
were far from him (Is 29:13). Now just as adoration cannot be perfect without love, so diat die
creature is fully possessed by its Creator, it is likewise true that love cannot be perfect unless it is
accompanied by adoration. These are the two obligations diat must be necessarily linked togedier
in order to offer God what we owe him and what he asks of us. It seems to me that it is truer to
say that it is one and the same duty, to which we give two different names because of the
different effects that it produces.
I do not know, Mother, if you have noticed something on this topic that is very important. It is
in the first article of die law of God. After he presented himself to his people as the Lord their
God who took them out of Egypt and who forbade them to have any other god or to make idols
and offer them the adoration and sentice owed to him alone, he adds that he, the Lord their God,
is mighty and jealous, inflicting punishment for the iniquity of fathers on their children through

the third and fourth generation on those who hate him, and that he is merciful for a thousand
generations to those who love him and who keep his commandments, which is the true proof of
love (Ex 20:4-6). What God says in that place shows us clearly, if we know how to understand it,
that he does not see adoration and love as two different duties, but as one and the same. Jesus
Christ witnesses to this as well in the gospel when he is asked what is the first and tlie greatest of
the commandments of the law. For although he knows that it begins with the adoration of God,
and he knows quite perfectly the meaning of everything in the law since he and his Father are its
author, he answers with these words from Deuteronomy: You
-202will love the To rd your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength (Dt 6:5), adding that
this is the first and greatest commandment. Also he says to the Samaritan: True worshipers will
worship his Father in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:23-24). The fact that he is looking for such people to
adore him and that, since God is spirit, those who adore him must adore him in spirit and truth,
all of this, I say, expresses quite profoundly this most important truth. I believe tiiat you will
easily understand it even with little time spent before God, if you have not already done it.
We must fhrtlier notice clearly that, as the Son of God gives us in his own person the example
of all the virtues tiiat he teaches with his sacred lips, he does it most particularly in this matter,
which deals widi our first duty toward God. We see from the words of Saint Paul, which we have
already mentioned, that from the moment he took on our nature, he humbled himself before
God his Father. He recognized his supreme authority over him; he submitted to his will. He
offered himself to him as a perpetual victim. When he said that his law was in the center of his
heart, tiiat shows the burning love with which he fulfilled his duty. Thus it is only in as much as
we conform to this divine model and unite ourselves to his holy dispositions tiiat we can
accomplish perfectly the first and greatest commandment of die law, which contains all the
others. Since it is not in our power to give God die final and most important proof of our love,
which is to sacrifice ourselves to him physically, not being permitted to take our lives (and God
does not ask it of us), Jesus Christ, our head, on his part makes up for what is lacking in us. He
remains continually on our altars and deigns to come into our souls and even our bodies through
holy communion, so that becoming one widi him, we can, tiirough this union, offer him to his
Father and offer ourselves as well as a holy and acceptable sacrifice in die eyes of his majesty.
You are no doubt astonished at the length of this letter, since you are not used to it from me.
Furthermore, I have written it several times. The importance of the subject and die great desire
you have shown to be enlightened obliged me to try to satisfy you as well as I could. You will
pardon me, I hope, if I have not done better. You know that ignorance is proper to our sex and
particularly to me who is yours ... 2
-203LETTER 147
To a Mistress of Notices
My good Mother,
May the love of Jesus Christ fill your soul.
You want me to tell how we must begin prayer, continue it and finish it. I tell you
wholeheartedly that we must always begin, always continue and never end. All our actions in the
service of God are only beginnings, being so weak, so impoverished and so insignificant. Our
concern must be to begin well and continue well always, radier dian finish, at least in the present
state, since finishing can only be done at the moment of our death when Jesus Christ, through his
infinite kindness, will bring to fulfillment his grace in us. For die way to finish well then is to
begin well and continue well now.
You know well, my dear Mother, that prayer is a communication of die soul with God, that it is
what Saint Paul calls, The fellowship of Christians in heaven (Phil 3:20) whose treasure, which is our
Lord Jesus Christ, is in heaven. They have nothing on eartii except what they must leave. They
must not seek this fellowship on earth, but only in heaven. Their spirit must be in heaven where

their true Father is; their heart must be in heaven inhere their treasure is (Mt 6:21). They must live as
creatures risen from death to life, having no more taste or affection for anything but eternal
goods and not for things that will pass with this present world. It is said that Noah walked widi
God. All his fellowship was with God during die pilgrimage of the present life. Also our Fadier
Elijah said ordinarily, as you know, my good Mother, long live God in whose presence I am (1 Kg 17:1),
which indicates to us that he experienced God as always present and that he accomplished his
every action in the awareness of that divine presence. And further, what is said of Moses, that he
conversed as intimately with God as one friend peaks with another (Ex 33:11). Now, if even then die
fellowship of the saints was continually with God, how much more should it be so now that God
has become a man, our brother and our companion, and become available so diat we can freely
address him, approach him and keep him company, which are the graces and advantages we have
through the mystery of the Incarnation? This mystery creates a holy and divine fellowship among
God and Jesus Christ, his only Son, and us. Therefore, Saint
-204John says that we have fellowship together and our fellowship is with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ (1
Jn 1:3).
Let us recognize then the graces diat are offered to us. Let us make use of our rights, for we are
invited to share in a privilege that we could not have hoped for, fellowship with God and widi
Jesus Christ his Son. Let us be careful not to neglect it or to take advantage of it without the care
and gratitude that we owe. Let us live always in God's presence. Let us use everything that
happens to us in life to lift ourselves to him and to unite ourselves to his will and his most holy
plans for us. Let us adore the Son as our God, obeying him as our king and our sovereign Lord,
honoring him, loving him as our Father, going to him in our every need widi confidence as to a
Father who has begotten us in his blood and who has given us life through his own death.
Let us approach him, joining with him as a brother, since diat is what he willingly humbled
himself enough to be. His word teaches us that he was not at all ashamed to call ns his brothers (Heb
2:11). Bring all our concerns to him as to our best, truest and most intimate friend, who has not
spared his own life to rescue us from an infinite misfortune and make it possible for us to rejoice
eternally with his very own happiness. Let us offer him continual gratitude as a benefactor who
was so generous that he gave himself to us with all his riches and never ceases to be good to us.
Let us unite ourselves to him as our head, since we are honored to be his members. Let us follow
his movements, unite ourselves with his intentions, his thoughts and his activities. Let us adore
his Father with him and with his own adoration. Let us love God with him and with his own
love. Let us praise God with him and with his own praise. And on every occasion let us practice
the virtues, humility, gentleness, kindness and the others with him, by sharing in his own virtues,
which he will not fail to give if we ask him for them humbly and with perseverance and if we are
faithfully disposed to receive them.
Finally, let us be with one another as if we were with God and with Jesus Christ, for diat is
what die beloved disciple teaches us, that the fellowship we have together is with Jesus Christ and with his
Father (1 Jn 1:3). We should live together united with God and widi Jesus Christ. Every bond we
have with one another should be through the same Spirit, which unites God widi Jesus Christ.
Oh, how great these things are! How holy they are! How divine they are! Yet they are our
-205rights and privileges. However, they do ask of us a continual detachment from ourselves
without which we will never achieve such a great and precious reality.
I dunk at times that we should blush to be so cold and weak about surrendering ourselves to
this divine fellowship in the midst of all the help we have been given since the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Look at how perfect the saints of old were in this matter, without having seen
what we see nor having received what we receive.

I beg his divine Majesty to give you the grace to make a more perfect use of this every day, and
I beg you to obtain for me by your prayers the grace to begin to leave my misery behind and
render to him what I owe him.
I am yours in him ...
LETTER 174
To a Carmelite Prioress
My good Mother,
Peace in Jesus Christ.
I rejoice at the blessings with which his divine hand inundates your soul, and especially because
he unites you to himself suffering and nailed to the wood of the cross, where I behold you in a
way that I cannot explain. I beg his infinite goodness to make you worthy of adoring his agony
and sharing his interior and exterior sufferings.
Ask the blessed Virgin to admit you into fellowship with her as she did those holy women who
followed Jesus on tire way to the cross. Consider their patience in suffering so much disgrace, so
many blows, so many insulting words in order to approach him. And above all, see their great
strength and constancy as they watched him suffer, he whom they knew to be the only Son of
God and the life of their life. These holy women did not look to themselves or think of
themselves, but they were completely filled with the Son of God and his extreme sufferings. In
the same way, good Mother, never separate yourself from Jesus Christ and beg him to make you
worthy of following him perfectly, for he is the way that leads us to his Father.
I ask him with all my heart that he stay with you until he has established you in his bosom with
himself, in whom I am yours ...
-206LETTER 207
To a Carmelite Prioress
My good Mother,
May tire love of Jesus Christ fill your soul.
I have been meaning to write to you for a long time, but various occupations prevented me
from doing so. His divine Majesty permitted this so that I might write now on this day of the
great Saint Magdalene, to whom we offered you devoutly, desiring that you be numbered among
those souls of whom she takes special care.
Reflecting this morning on those phenomenal tilings that God produced in that soul, I felt a
great desire to honor her thirty-year solitude in that cave, where she experienced so many things
known only to God and angels and unknown to men. It seemed to me that since our Order is a
solitary one, we should all look intently to her so as to learn from her example what we should do
in our seclusion. If we try to discover what occupied her seclusion, we will find that the Son of God was tire
only focus of her attention. He was her life and her all and nothing but him had any part in her.
Thus if we wish to live in authentic solitude, let us banish from our minds, in imitation of her, all
esteem, all love and all desire for tire earth and the present age, in order to be taken up solely with
him who totally fùlfilled that soul, which was so rare and outstanding in grace and love. Let us
contemplate him in his grandeurs and in his humiliations. Let us adore his holy person. Let us
consider his mysteries. Let us reverence his wisdom. Let us submit ourselves to his power. Let us
admire and love his infinite goodness and charity. Let us acknowledge his blessings. Let us listen
to his words of grace and eternal life. Let us show him our misery. Let us open to him the depth
of our hearts, desiring that he fill them, take total possession of them and that he operate in diem
according to his divine plans. Since he has deigned to lower himself to the very vile and miserable
thing that we are and to live closely with us, let us ask that he might be gracious enough to teach
us also how to live closely with him and that he not allow that we or any other creature occupy
the place in us that he alone should fill.

I ask him with all my heart to grant you this grace, good Mother, and I beg you to ask it also for­
me, who am yours in him forever ...
-207LETTER 236
To a Cleric
Sir,
Peace in Jesus Christ.
I received your letter, filled with expressions of your kindness toward us, for which I am most
obliged. I thank our Lord for his care in inspiring you to offer us to him in your holy sacrifices. I
am in great need of that for my soul and my body, both of which are filled with misery.
I beg his divine Majesty to make me worthy of acknowledging this charity in his holy presence,
according to his desire, and to be able to give you a little of what you ask of us. However, I feel
very powerless and I do not know why you approach me to give you advice about such
important tilings. Nevertheless, since you wish, I will ignore my littleness to satisfy your humility.
First then, I will tell you this, sir, about die direction of souls. It is very dangerous to meddle in
it. One must be constrained and called to it by God. As far as the qualities of those diat his divine
majesty chooses for this most worthy activity, you see what Jesus Christ asks of Saint Peter,
which is to love him more than all the others (Jn 21:15). Also Saint Paul wishes that bishops be
irreproachable, so that they might teach grace and virtue by their lives as well as by their words (1
Tm 3:2). Finally, directors should be filled with Jesus Christ, and they should continually strive to
form him in souls. They must not guide them according to their inclinations, but rather with very
great submission to die Spirit of God in them and witii benevolence and charity. Also, it seems to
me, it is good to treat them with respect, like souls for whom Jesus Christ died. We should offer
them often to him, to whom they belong and on whom they and we depend absolutely.
There are directors who, when they undertake die care of a soul, totally turn it upside down in
order to form it in their mode. This is not my approach. Radier, it seems to me that if we find a
soul who has made some progress in grace, we should simply follow what we see God has done
for it, since there is no question of leading everyone along the same path.
Concerning what you ask me, sir, whether we should give souls as
-208much time as they wish, I will tell you that I do not agree with that, especially when they have
been leading a devout life for a long time. Our blessed sister Marie of the Incarnation told me on
several occasions that it was sufficient to talk a quarter of an hour with souls and diat anything
beyond diat was useless because, as she said, a quarter of an hour is enough to learn their needs
and to respond to them. The rest is for our own satisfaction. It seems to me diat what is most
useful for these advanced souls is diat, according to their needs, we give diem some words from
sacred scripture, particularly from Jesus Christ, either to strengthen diem if they have some
difficulty or weakness, or to confirm them in what God is doing in them. For souls who are new
to piety it is necessary that we speak more witii them for several years to instruct them about
many things they do not know. Also, it is possible at times to find in die others certain needs that
require more communication, but we must be careful to give them only the necessary time.
I believe, sir, that you do not have much need for this advice, being drawn to solitude as you
are. However, I am saying everything to you that comes to mind since you are a person witii
whom I can be completely free.
It is necessary at times to listen to the little difficulties that souls can experience in order to
unburden them without spending much time on them. On the contrary, we must even use diis
occasion so diat they can be lifted up to Jesus Christ, so that they can resort to his holy person
and especially his states and mysteries, according to their diverse dispositions. For it is Jesus
Christ and all that he is in himself that should fill souls and not what they have or what they
suffer. It is even good to teach them to seek the Son of God on their own in their difficulties and
to work at offering him the homage he asks of them in each state, without waiting always for us

to be with them. Once we have told diem several times what they must do, if they do not apply
themselves to it faithfully, then tiieir effort is not genuine and lasts no longer than our urging. On
the contrary, souls that give themselves over to what we say to them for love of Jesus Christ
remain steadfast in his ways. He is their strength and tiieir exemplar in all kinds of labors and
dispositions.
I beg you to continue including me in your holy prayers and to believe that I am yours ...
-209LETTER 253
Probably to a Carmelite Prioress
... Concerning those good souls about whom you spoke to me, some of whom are devoted to
the divine Essence and others to the eternal Persons, I think that you can let them follow their
dispositions, since you have reason to believe that they are of God and you see that these souls
approach this in an authentic and solid way. However, you should introduce these souls to other
exercises of homage to our Lord Jesus Christ and his mysteries in order to enrich and fill out
their spiritual lives, because sometimes the most exalted pathways can be very sterile. And it
happens that when these souls have produced a naked and partially formed act, 10 they remain
often with nothing to do. Now if they are devoted to our Lord Jesus Christ and his states, they
are much richer and can more easily persevere in their contemplation of God.
LETTER 284
To a Woman
Madam,
I beg our Lord to give you his holy graces.
Since I have never believed myself worthy to give witness to the virtue of blessed Catherine of
Genoa, I will only be able to say a few things about what you want and what I would desire as
well to contribute to the honor due such a great servant of our Lord Jesus Christ.
All that I can write you is that she has been of great assistance to most of the souls whom I
know whose piety has been outstanding. The late most illustrious and most reverend Cardinal de
Bérulle had a great devotion to her and always carried her image on him. He honored infinitely
the grandeur and purity of her love and desired greatly that both the Carmelites and the Fathers
of the Oratory have a special confidence in her.
Our late, good Sister Catherine of Jesus, whom you know was a soul of rare grace and holiness,
received a number of very noteworthy graces from her, particularly during an illness when she
was quite
-210nauseated and could not take any nourishment without great difficulty or retain it without
experiencing extreme pain. That summer she had recourse to Saint Catherine of Genoa whose
image she had on her bed. She gave her so much strength that while she did not remove the
problem, she was able to take whatever was deemed necessary for her without any apparent
difficulty. After that illness she always asked for her blessing when she wanted to take something.
That good saint helped her quite a bit as well in life and death, having helped her greatly in the
interior pathways where God was leading her, especially in the desire she had to disappear
completely for God. For one day when she was suffering very much, and it seemed that she was
experiencing some of the most painfùl interventions of God, Saint Magdalene and the blessed
Catherine of Genoa appeared to her all covered with thorns as a way of comforting her and
showing her that they themselves had also suffered. Another time this good sister was shown
how that saint had been totally consumed by love and that God would give her some share in
that same grace. However, a handwritten paper from the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross,
which was found in her cell after her death, will help you know her dispositions and tire merits of
the great Saint Catherine of Genoa better than anything I could write you. It contained tiiese
words, which I believe I should copy for you here since this letter is meant to be a deposition.

"O holy and lovable cross! O interior and greatly desired cross! O blessed Catherine of Genoa,
how well you were able to exalt it! O great God, you who dispose souls and wish that they
cooperate with you, did you not find this soul to your liking? Yes, my God, but what did you
want to do, having found her thus disposed, if not leave her all day, that is, all her life, in a
blessed torment that you, her love, created in her? Oh, the great faithfulness of that holy soul! O
my God, it seems that you wanted this holy soul to exalt your interior cross so that she might
become the mother and protectress of the souls you have chosen for that blessing. Thus, once
the day had been spent in this way, you took her to yourself. Oh, my God, please give us a share
in your love!"
I regret infinitely, madam, that I have not indicated all the very great graces and the special
favors that die Son of God was pleased to pour forth on the souls of our Order through the
prayers of diis saint. You can see diat we must certainly ask God, as we do with all our
-211heart, that soon this great saint will be publicly honored and invoked in die church, to the glory
of the Son of God himself.
I beg him to give you the blessings you desire. I am yours ...
LETTER 296
To an Unknown Correspondent
Since it was by these spiritual paths ü_that this soul was so greatly deceived, she must definitely
detach herself from them, moreso than another who had no such attachment. For the latter, it is
enough to let it pass and leave it as it is, while not settling in there, but for the former these
things constitute another sort of danger, and she must distance herself much more from them.
She does not need to do herself in in order to remove it from her mind, but she must consider it
suspect, mistrust it and ask God at once to deliver her from all these things diat have placed her
in such great danger. While she awaits this mercy, she should suffer gently and patiently what she
cannot remove. She must strive mightily to achieve profound humility with great obedience,
perfect charity and all the other authentic virtues. If she believes me, I would advise her, in order
to establish a good and lasting foundation, to detach herself to the core from all these things and
to set herself anew on another approach. She says that she adores the unity of God. If someone
else told me that perhaps I would leave them there, knowing their dispositions and that it would
not do them any harm. However, in her case, it is something harmful and she needs to heed the
basic counsel, which is that by ourselves and dirough our own choosing we should always take
the simpler way.
-212NOTES
1. She is referring to Cardinal Bérulle.
2. 'I lus allusion here is no doubt to Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642). Bérulle was an outspoken opponent of some
of the prime minister's political decisions. Finally he fell from grace at the French court in 1629 shortly before his
death. See the Introduction to this volume, pp. 4-5.
3. Mother Madeleine appears to be alluding from memory to Isaiah 11:2 and 66:2.
4. In John 10:1-17, where Jesus speaks of himself as the Good Shepherd, he also says that he is the door through
whom those who believe will go in and go out (v. 9). This seems to be tire textual point to which she is referring
here. However the deeper theological issue is a belief of abstract mysticism that the mature spiritual person can pass
beyond Jesus' human mediation. See the Introduction, pp. 24-25; cf pp. 10-11.
5. The word state (état or estat, an older spelling for état) is a technical term of the French School. It refers to the
permanent conditions and aspects of the life and mysteries of Jesus. While his actions were transitory, his inner
dispositions are stable and remain available to us for adoration and communion. See the Introduction, pp. 37-38.
6. The reference here is probably to the thought developed in Hebrews, chaps. 9 and 10. It is not clear what the
exact text is.
7. The French expression Mother Madeleine uses is hostie, which in the usage of the period evoked both the
sacrifices of the ancient Hebrews and the host at Mass, which is tire body of Christ and the sacrifice of the new
covenant. Since the play on words is intentional with the authors of tire French School, I have translated it as host­
victim to respect that double meaning.
8. Tliis appears to be an indication of a misogyny that the French School did not always transcend. See the
Introduction, pp. 25-26.

9. In his footnote to this letter Pierre Serouet cites Ribadeneira's Les fleurs des vies des saints 2, trans, and ed.
René Gauthier (Rouen, 1645), page 72, which offers us this context for Magdalene's solitude: "Magdalene, after
having preached with her own lips and converted many souls, withdrew to the desert to weep for her sins. She
remained in this solitude for thirty years, eating herbs and tree roots.... She led a life that was more angelic than
human and the angels lifted her up seven times a day so she could hear their heavenly music" (my translation). See
above, pp. 179-82.
-213-

10. She is probably referring again to a form of abstract mysticism. See the Introduction, pp. 24-25.
11. See note 10.
-214-

JEAN-JACQUES OLIER
Introduction to the Christian Ufe and I Irtnes
CHAPTER ONE 1
The Religion Lof Jesus Christ
Our Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to bring love and respect for his Father and to
establish his reign and his religion. He never asked anything else of him during his lifetime. In the
thirty-three years that he lived on earth, he laid these foundations. His incessant desire was to
open the minds and hearts of the faithfol to this religion. He foresaw that they had been destined
to be the ones in whom he would instill his own religion in order to honor his Father through
them as he honored him in himself.
He requested this grace for men and he merited it for them during his life. Through his death
he not only continued tins prayer, but also gave clear witness to die respect and love he had for
his Father, which are die two realities that constitute the virtue of religion. He experienced his
Father to be so pure and holy that he could see nothing that deserved to live or even exist in his
presence. This was what he affirmed by the death that he suffered in order to witness to this
truth and bring it to light.
He died not only out of reverence but also from love. For he accepted his death most willingly
and joyfolly because he saw that die Fadier was both satisfied and pleased by it. He had
understood that no worthy reparation had been offered to God for die sins committed against
him. He died tiien to satisfy him completely and to leave nothing for which he was not
abundantly satisfied.
-217In diis way he gives an example to Christians who commit diemselves to Jesus' own religion,
respect and love. He shows diem that they must spare nothing to bear witness to genuine
sentiments of religion, which will on occasion call for sacrifice. This will make their sacrifice
more authentic than simply being content with a mere inner inclination, which can often be
deceptive.
By all sorts of loving strategies, our Lord has continued after his death to procure for men this
religion toward his Father. He gave them his own Spirit, the Spirit of God dwelling within him,
so that he might plant within diem the very sentiments of his own soul. In this way Jesus dilates 2
his holy religion so that he and all Christians might become one religious of God. Reigning in heaven, Jesus lives in die hearts and die pens of die evangelists in order to inculcate
everywhere a sense of disdain for creatures and a respect for God alone. He lives in die hearts
and mouths of his apostles and his disciples to proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God, thus
obtaining an adoration worthy of his holy name and offering him perfecdy obedient subjects and
worshipers who respect him in spirit and truth (Jn 4:23).
The Spirit of God also fulfills his particular role in priests _by continuing in them what he
accomplished in Jesus Christ. Through their words, writings and example as well as in all other
possible ways, the Spirit gives birth to die holy religion of God to whom we owe all adoration
and respect while we hold all else in contempt. Everything outside of him is nothing but vanity
and mere symbol. For all of created reality is only a flimsy shell of die being that is hidden in him

but becomes visible in some way through the appearance of all that is visible. Every reflection
will pass away (1 Cor 7:31) on that day when God will no longer reveal himself through his
reflections, but rather will plainly show forth all that he is. Once our spiritual sight is awakened
and strengthened by the light of glory, then the world will no longer please us. We look beyond a
shadow once the body that has cast it appears. We are no longer interested in a portrait once the
actual person arrives. A mask loses its appeal when the face is uncovered. In tire same way, all
will seem to us mere appearance, mask and nothingness when God will reveal himself fully to our
souls.
May God be adored in himself and may everything else perish before him in our spirit; for
everything else is as nothing in his
-218presence. In diis spirit of religion let us anticipate the abnegation ^_and universal sacrifice of all
manner of being which is called to perish on God's behalf as a witness to his grandeur and
holiness. May our faith be the light and die torch of our religion so that we may sacrifice every
existing thing before God. For if Jesus Christ himself desired to be sacrificed because of the great
respect and esteem he had for God and his holiness, how much more ought we to sacrifice
everything for God and disdain all things. In this way we will value and see only the One who is
true, the One who alone deserves to be esteemed and revered.
In the presence of the true God, no idols are to be adored. Everything must be reduced to
ashes. Thus may all creation perish before my God. In his sacrifice our Lord claimed to annihilate
everything and to sacrifice all tilings in himself because he had brought everything together in his
person. Therefore, it is right that we condemn and sacrifice all tilings that are outside of him,
since they are less holy for being less closely related to him. It is the true sign of our religion to
offer everything in sacrifice to God and thus to testify how vile and despicable all things are in his
presence. In this way we value and respect nothing other than him alone.
Finally our Lord comes to us in order to dilate his holy religion toward God and to multiply it
in our souls. He remains on eartii in the hands of priests as a host of praise so that we might
commune in this spirit of host-victim, _giving ourselves over to praising him and communing
inwardly in the sentiments of his religion. He fills us with himself. He invades every part of us
and anoints our soul, filling it witii the interior dispositions of his religious spirit. Thus his soul
and ours become one. He breathes into our souls a similar spirit of respect, love and praise; a
spirit of die interior and exterior sacrifice of all things to the glory of God his Father. This is how
he brings about our soul's communion in his religion so that we may be, as we said earlier, true
religious of his Father.
Similarly, so that he might render our state more perfect and bring us to die most pure and holy
spirit of religion, he draws us to communicate in his state of host-victim so as to be a victim widi
him. Thus we are religious not only in spirit but in truth as well, that is to say, in reality. We have
sacrificed within ourselves everything that is of the flesh with all its sentiments. We have not only
made this sacrifice as Jesus Christ did on the cross through mortification and
-219interior crucifixion (2 Cor 4:10), but we have consumed everything interiorly with Jesus Christ,
consumed on the altar. This is the height of perfection to which he calls us in this life. For by his
intimate presence in us and through his fire, which devours us, he brings us to communicate in
the most perfect state of his religion, which is to be a host consumed for the glory of God. Such
a host no longer lives through its own life and die life of die flesh, but lives totally through the
divine life and the life of one consumed in God.
This is the very state of die risen life to which we are called in imitation of our Lord. He was
exteriorly consumed into his Father on die day of the resurrection and wishes that we may be
interiorly resurrected and consumed in him as well. That is why he says diat he has
communicated to men the clarity that the Fadier had given him (Jn 17:22). That clarity is the
resurrected state, which he already possessed in the host at the Last Supper: That they may be one, as

m are one. I in them and yon in me (Jn 17:21). I am in them, producing the same effect that you, my
Father, who dwells in me, produces in me. I give them life as you give me life. I consume diem as
you consume me. Thus he calls us to be living hosts, holy and acceptable to God (Rom 12:1).
This is why Saint Paul prays most insistently that Christians be brought to that perfect
consummation in Jesus Christ in accord widi that Spirit which renders them interiorly totally like
him. I pray to God with all my heart that he may bring you to consummation, which I wish you
to have by die power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, who consumes you interiorly with him (2 Cor
13:9).
This is the work of the Holy Spirit, who comes into this world as a witness to the truth in our
hearts. The Spirit accomplishes this much better than Saint John, who was only his spokesman.
For the Spirit is die spirit of truth (Jn 16:13).
It is he who will begin to show us interiorly through faith the falsehood and the deceit of all
created reality, of all that is not God. He will lead us to despise it as nothing in the presence of
this All who is so great, magnificent and worthy of admiration. He will give us a distaste for it
and thus lead us to total detachment. He will offer us to God with ardor and unite us to him so
intimately that he will make us all one in him, consuming us perfectly and thus bringing us to
resemble Jesus Christ, who is consumed in his Father.
-220CHAPTER TWO
Concerning the First Way We Must Conform to Jesus Christ
We must all be conformed to Jesus Christ. Saint Paul teaches us dais when he says that God
predestined us to be conformed to die image of his Son (Rom 8:29).
This conformity consists in being like him; first in his exterior mysteries, which were like
sacraments of the interior mysteries he was to bring about in souls. Therefore, just as our Lord
was exteriorly crucified, we are called to be interiorly crucified. As he died in exterior reality, we
must die interiorly. As he was buried exteriorly, we must be buried interiorly. Everyone should
have within him the interior life that the exterior mysteries represent as well as the grace acquired
by these same mysteries, because they have been merited for everyone. That is why Saint Paul,
speaking about all of us, said: You have died (Col 3:3).
It is true diat God has chosen certain souls to express through them these very mysteries even
in an exterior way. We see tiiis in certain holy religious whom he sent to earth in order to renew
the life of Jesus Christ. They were so thoroughly filled with his Spirit and the grace of these
mysteries that diey expressed visibly his external state. Such was Saint Francis, to whom the Spirit
of our Lord Jesus Christ crucified was so fully given that it overflowed into his flesh, thus
manifesting externally the mystery of the crucifix through the wounds of his body. He allows this
to continue in his children who mortify their flesh continually. Such was the case of Saint
Benedict, who symbolized the burial of Jesus Christ by hiding himself in a cave and leaving his
children in tombs. In a similar way several other saints, who have appeared in the holy church,
have borne certain exterior manifestations of these mysteries. But the remainder of Christians, to
whom they left the example of their devotion by placing these mysteries in a concrete form
before their eyes, must have within themselves these graces and this spirit even if they do not
conform externally to these same mysteries.
The spirit of tiiese holy mysteries is given to us through baptism, which activates within us
graces and sentiments that are in relation and conformity to die mysteries of Jesus Christ. We
have only to
-221allow him to operate in us, and through the power of his graces and lights, to work on us and
others in conformity to these holy mysteries.
For example, we have in us die Spirit of Jesus Christ crucified, which offers us die light and
grace to crucify us interiorly and to mortify us at those times when our flesh seeks its own

pleasure and satisfaction. Thus, through this Spirit we will be conformed interiorly to Jesus Christ
crucified.
Thus, this same Spirit gives us the grace so tiiat we might share in and become like Jesus Christ
risen from the dead. Interiorly we have a life hidden in God just as he did exteriorly. First of all,
he was exteriorly removed from everyday human life, having withdrawn into his Father where he
lived and prayed. He was not seen among men nor did he become involved with them. In the
same way our soul should be interiorly withdrawn from contact and communication with
creatures. It should be detached from futile worldly pleasures, having no more interior interest, or
thoughts or affection for them. Thus, withdrawing from things of the world and attending to
God, the soul leaves behind all those attachments by which it had been immersed in die world
and in visible creatures. It begins to enter into God in order to live with him in solitude and
interior retreat. It is by this means that the soul enters into die very state of die resurrection.
Second, our Lord was hidden in God by his holy resurrection, so that his life, diat is his fleshly
life, his human life, his life of weakness, was lost in God. For since he was consumed in God, like
wood in the fire, there was nothing that appeared in him besides God, in whom he was lost,
buried and totally engulfed.
This risen life and this life of God in God is the hidden life diat all Christians should aspire to
and participate in because of the nature of the intimate union to which they are called even in this
life. This union is witii die God, who, like a devouring fire and an ardent furnace, engulfs the
soul, absorbing it, annihilating it and destroying it. It is thus tiiat he hides the soul in himself. This
is how we share in the mystery of the resurrection. This is the risen life, which according to Saint
Paul is given to all Christians by baptism: So just as Christ rose from the dead through the glory of the
Father, so we might also live a new life (Rom 6:4). Jesus Christ entered into the life of God through his
resurrection so that he no longer lived die life of the flesh. The soul no longer gave life to his
body in the crude way it enlivened it before, that is to say, in order to meet its needs and the
demands of
-222life in die world. Radier, his soul, totally transformed into God, was completely devoured, lost
and absorbed in God. Everything that was earthy and crude in his flesh was wholly consumed in
glory. In the same way, the Christian life bears within it a movement of our whole soul into God,
so that afterward it only thinks of loving him, seeing him, remembering him, serving him with all
its strength, so that it brings to God and to his service all its life and power.
Therefore, in this state of resurrection and divine life die soul no longer feels attached to die
flesh in order to serve it and to follow its inclinations and its movements. Rather, it is in such a
breathless pursuit of God that only a very small part of it actually enlivens the flesh. For this
reason the soul's least concern is to give life to die body, which is half-dead and widiout energy,
since the soul has been caught up in God and only lives for him. The soul borrows the qualities
of God and his being. It is much more appropriate that God should consume us than enliven us,
since he is ablaze in himself. Also he is the fullness of being for which all things were made, and
he was made for no odier tiling. Therefore it follows that die soul exists much more for him than
for the body. Thus, it loses itself much more so in him than it would ever be capable of drawing
him to enliven the body and to have God become its form.
Thus, since die soul is in God where it loses itself, being annihilated in his love and uniting
itself to him, it shares in the life of God himself and is thus resurrected in spirit. It inwardly
shares in die resurrection of the Son of God, who was outwardly hidden in God. The power of
that divine life overwhelmed him and annihilated all die life and weakness of the flesh that had
been in him previously. This is die first conformity to which the Spirit of Jesus Christ calls us,
once he has told us to follow him, by making us like him (Mt 16:24).
CHAPTER THREE
Concerning the Second Way We Must Conform to Jesus Christ

The second way in which we should conform to Jesus Christ is to his interior ^.through his
mysteries. In this way our souls, in their interior sentiments and dispositions, will become
conformed not only to
-223the outer aspects of the mysteries, as we have seen, but also to the interior dispositions and
sentiments that our Lord had in these mysteries.
Christian life strictly speaking is die Christian person living interiorly, through the operation of
the Spirit, in die same way Jesus Christ lived. Without this there can be neidier the unity nor die
perfect conformity to which our Lord does call us. He wishes that, through the operation of die
Holy Spirit, we live with him a life that is truly one, just as die Father and Son live with one
another. For tiiey have only one life, one sentiment, one desire, one love, one light, because they
are but one God living in die two persons.
This is why the Spirit of God is poured forth in Christians, as in die members of die same
body, to enliven diem witfa the same life and to have in them the same operations he produced in
Jesus Christ, thus dilating his occupations, dispositions, loves and movements. It is like a drop of
oil on a piece of white satin, which at first covers only a small corner of the material, but spreads
out quickly over dae whole piece. In the same way the Spirit of God, who lived in the heart of
Jesus Christ, with time and the passage of dae years during which the faithful have been united to
Jesus Christ, has spread out m all, guaranteeing that everyone is made to share in the same taste
and dae same smell and finally in the same sentiments.
It is the same Spirit in all, producing the same effects m everyone. Having been transformed
and reformed in this way by dae Spirit in Jesus Christ at dae depth of their souls, they are no
longer distinct by the individual sentiments of tiaeir flesh and their self-love, which normally rule
in everyone differently according to their various temperaments and distinct caprices. Rather,
they are all one darough the unity of the same Spirit, who rules in them and penetrates their
hearts. They are no longer distinct through the diversity of religions: There is no Gentile nor Jew,
circumcised nor tincirciimcised (Col 3:11); no Jew nor Greek (Gal 3:28) nor through the distinction of
climates, nations, nor the opposition of temperaments and barbaric customs: Barbarian nor
Scythian (Col 3:11); nor darough the distinction of social condition: Slave nor freeman (ibid.); nor
through sexual distinction : Neither male norfemale, because they are all dae same in Jesus Christ:
Son are all the same in Christ Jesus (Gal 3:28); and Jesus Christ is all things in all, Sed omnia et in
omnibus Christus (Col 3:11).
Furthermore, the Spirit fills them not only with the general dispositions of his heart, such as a
horror for sin, self-annihilation, pro
-224found adoration and reverence for his Father, and perfect love of neighbor, but also with dae
particular dispositions daat he had in his mysteries. Because every holy disposition in the soul of
Jesus pleased the Father and caused him joy, thus the Holy Spirit, who seeks only to please the
Father in everything, gladly pours himself out in the same way through his holy operations in
those souls prepared to let him act in them.
This is what he accomplishes for dae glory of God, especially in those souls who, because they
are at peace and emptied of all things, give him the opportunity. And above all he desires to do
this in daose souls who are chosen to represent Jesus Christ on earth and to continue his life as
Head and Shepherd for others, his life as a supplement for others, which is the life of dae priest.
It is the priest who takes dae place of Jesus Christ in order to make up what is lacking in the
religion of men, and therefore to be the universal religious of dae church, praying, praising, loving
on behalf of everyone, accepting and fulfilling the duties of all, the one who makes amends for
the omissions of all.
This, then, was the plan of the Son of God, as he came on earth. He wished to continue in
Christians the holiness of both his exterior and interior mysteries and establish in them daese two
conformities, which create a perfect likeness between the members and the head.

God's way of carrying out this very sublime work is in accord with the way he acts in the
natural order, where nothing changes suddenly. In fact, each thing grows little by little and
achieves imperceptibly the perfection to which the holy providence of God wishes to elevate it in
the natural order. Thus we must be children before we become fully adults. Trees must have
buds, leaves and flowers before bringing forth fruit. It is the same in the spiritual life. First we
must begin, then advance before being brought to completion. For the height of the Christian
state consists in the participation and the blessed communion in Jesus Christ, our Cord, risen,
ascended in heaven and consumed in God his Father. Moreover, we must first pass through his
first state, which is that of mortification, suffering, the cross, humiliation and death to everything.
In order for Christians to live their true vocation, which is to reproduce Jesus Christ in
themselves, they must express all these holy states in their life in the same order in which they
occurred in Jesus Christ. Therefore, as our sacred model Jesus Christ first suffered all sorts of
disgrace, scourgings and gibbets, then died and was
-225buried before rising and entering into his glory: // was necessary for the Christ to suffer and then enter
into his glory (Lk 24:26), in the same way Christians must bear in their lives all these states of
humiliation before being able to share in his grandeur and state of exaltation.
Christian life has two parts: death and life. The first is the foundation for die second. This is
repeated in the writings of Saint Paul and especially in the sixth chapter to die Romans: Are yon
not aware that having been baptised in Christ Jesus, we were also baptised into his death? For we were buried
with him in death through baptism, so that, as he is risen from the dead, we might also walk in the newness of life
ffr. 3-4). And afterward he adds: Consider yourselves dead to sin and living forGod in Jesus Christ (v. 11).
And in a thousand other places he repeats these two elements of the Christian life. Therefore, as
we have said, death must always precede life. This death is nothing other than our complete
downfall, so diat as everything in us opposed to God is destroyed, his Spirit may dwell in us in
the purity and holiness of his ways.
It is dierefore through death that we enter into die Christian life. But we must know how this
death comes about and how the Spirit of God works in us. To do this we must be aware of the
difference between the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Even though the Spirit of
God and that of Jesus Christ is one, nevertheless, due to the diverse operations diat the Spirit
produces, at times he is called Spirit of God and other times Spirit of Jesus Christ.
When the Holy Spirit acts in us and establishes within us die virtues of fortitude, vigor and
power and gives us a share in die perfections and attributes of God, which contain in themselves
no abasement, then this divine Spirit is called Spirit of God, because God as God has only
grandeur and majesty in him. However, when this same Spirit produces in us the virtues of Jesus
Christ, which are the Christian virtues containing abasement and humiliation, such as love of the
cross, of humility, of poverty, of disdain, then this holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
We have pointed out this difference so that, in what follows, die reader can distinguish between
these ways of speaking. Thus it is this Spirit of Jesus Christ who introduces us into death to sin.
By sin I mean all the life of the flesh, which Saint Paul normally calls sin. He brings about this
deadi in us by placing in the depth of our soul the virtues of Jesus Christ; that is, the virtues diat
he produced in Jesus Christ in his first state, which was one of abasement and humiliation.
-226Thus it is by these holy virtues that the Spirit of Jesus Christ crucifies our flesh and causes it to
die to itself; knowing full well that if anyone tried to build the spiritual life on any other
foundation, it would be only an illusion and a deceit. It would never be solid, but constantly
wavering and would fall with the first wind of temptation and contradiction. Holy mortification,
which flows from an authentic practice of virtues, is the firm rock on which we should build and
without which there can be no guarantee.

Let us work seriously at this first part so that we may be worthy to share in the second. In this
regard we will speak later about several Christian virtues that are most essential in order to
ground us in this death.
CHAPTER FOUR
Concerning the Practice of the Virtues
In order to begin the practice of the virtues of our Lord, we can at times, without any specific
insight or understanding, simply give ourselves over to the unique Spirit of Jesus Christ, who is
the source of all virtue, and thus imbibe diem from him. But it is a great grace when he gives a
clear insight into them, when he reveals in particular their nature and inclinations, and when he
brings us into the spirit of those we should practice on certain occasions. Even though this
insight seems less simple, nevertheless, because it is more developed, it gives a better
understanding of the virtues, which exist in him in an eminent and simple way, and a more
general grace for their acquisition. This is very helpftil for our perfection and as we come to
resemble Jesus Christ.
God's way of advancing a soul is first to point out faults that are contrary to the virtues as well
as its powerlessness to protect itself and to preserve itself from them without the help of Jesus
Christ.
Second, he places before its eyes adept people who are committed to the study and practice of
the purity of the virtues. They become for the soul living models and supplements of the
presence of Jesus Christ. He then gives it the desire to imitate them.
Third, titis good master of souls gives, through his Spirit, the grace to tame the flesh, which is
opposed to virtue. He also even brings it, despite its resistance, to an interior exercise of the
virtues.
-227Fourth, he shows the soul the purity of the virtues and the holy way in which our Lord himself
practiced them, grounding it with a disposition toward these virtues through Jesus Christ, who is
the one and only master of them. And this becomes so natural to the soul, which is thus
grounded, that it is only in this divine exercise that it experiences joy and freedom.
Now the best disposition by which we can be prepared to allow the Spirit to possess us and to
be grounded by him in these virtues is interior annihilation. So much so that as soon as we allow
ourselves to be annihilated by this divine Spirit throughout our whole being, we will experience
ourselves as established by him with a disposition toward every virtue as well as with a readiness
and inclination to practice all of them when needed. Also, we will live continually in this
disposition. I pray to Jesus Christ, our beloved, if it is for the glory of his Father, to graciously
grant us titis grace to perceive ourselves always as annihilated, insignificant, the least of men, poor
insignificant slaves and servants of all, even though we are unworthy; admitting that we are even
more unworthy titan we can express or imagine and seeing others as incomparably superior to
ourselves.
Now the quickest way to experience this annihilation and to attract within us the Holy Spirit,
who implants the virtues, is to come before God often as poor beggars, insignificant, annihilated
and stripped of everything, but at the same time desiring deeply our perfection. There is no better
way to do this than by prayer. Therefore we believe that we should offer a method here to
facilitate this exercise.
A Way ofMeditating on the I rirtnes The method that our Lord teaches his disciples is given only when the more individual
attentions of the Spirit, who guides his children in prayer, are absent.
Whenever he abandons them, and they do not know which path to follow, they can become
quite hindered in such a period if they are not sustained and directed by some holy method to
guide them.

We are suggesting an easy method here, which also is in keeping with the very plan of God the
Father, expressed formerly in the Law. It consists in having our Lord before our eyes, in our
heart and in our
-228hands. Following the command of God, this is the way in which the Jews were supposed to
carry the Law with them. Let these words be in your heart. Bind them to your hand as a sign and let them
hang and swing betweenyour eyes (Dt 6:6,8).
Christianity consists in these three points, and the whole method of prayer is contained therein;
that is, to look at Jesus, to unite ourselves to Jesus, and to act in Jesus. The first point leads us to
acts of respect and religion. The second leads to union and unity with him. The third leads to
action, which is not isolated but rather united to the power of Jesus Christ, whom we have drawn
to us through prayer. The first is called adoration; the second, communion; the third,
cooperation.
So that you can easily apply this exercise to any virtue, we will give now an example of this
method applied to the virtue of penance.
FIRST POINT
Let Us Place Our Lord Before Our Eyes
That is to say, let us respectfully look at Jesus Christ, doing penance for our sins. Let us honor­
in him the holy Spirit of penance, which animated him all the days of his life and which
subsequently filled the hearts of all those who have done penance in the church.
Let us remain reverent and respectful before such a holy and divine reality. After our heart has
expressed freely its love, praise and other duties, let us remain for a while in silence before him,
with diese same dispositions and religious sentiments in the deptii of our soul.
SECOND POINT
Let Us Hare Our Lord In Our Hearts
After having considered in this way Jesus Christ and his holy Spirit of penance, we will spend
some time longing for this divine Spirit. We will pray to this Spirit, who alone can create a new
heart and fashion a penitential soul. We will ask him to please come into us. Using all die wiles of
love we will plead with him to enter our soul to make us like Jesus Christ, the penitent one. We
are called to carry on
-229in ourselves the same penitential spirit that die Spirit began in him. We need to experience die
amount of suffering appropriate for a body, such as ours, which is filled with sins.
We will give ourselves over to him in order to be possessed and enlivened by his power. After
this we will spend some time with him in silence to allow ourselves to be saturated interiorly with
his divine balm, so that he may bring us, when appropriate, to whatever practice of mortification
is pleasing to him.
THIRD POINT
Let Us Hold Our Lord In Our Hands
The third point of this prayer is to have our Lord in our hands, tiiat is to say, to wish that his
divine will may be accomplished in us, who are his members. We must be submissive to him who
is our head and should experience no other movement than that prompted in us by Jesus Christ,
who is our life and our all. Filling our soul widi his Spirit, his power and his strengdi, he should
be accomplishing all that he desires in and through us.
In pastors, he is the Pastor; in priests, the Priest; in religious, the Religious; in penitents, the
Penitent. Through them he accomplishes the works of their vocation. Thus he should produce in
us the effects of penance. We should always dwell in that Spirit, in faithful cooperation with all
that he wants to do in us and accomplish through us. Thus, in this third point, we will give
ourselves over to this Spirit, whom we have drawn to ourselves in die second point. This is so
that we may produce through him all day long the works of penance, wishing to live in him
constantly, since this is the reason we have sought him in our prayer. We will give ourselves over

to that divine Spirit in order to produce through him works of penance, since without this union
with him there can be none. Furthermore, we will abandon ourselves completely to him so diat
he can accomplish in us and with us all that he wishes in order to satisfy God.
In order to further clarify this method and so diat it may be used more easily for the other
virtues, of which we should say die same things as we have with penance, we should know that it
is only through our Lord that we can do penance, for he is the one and only
-230Penitent in the whole church. He is poured out in the souls and hearts of all penitents, who
must groan and suffer in diis world in order to atone to the Father.
Thus we must open our heart to the Spirit of the penitent Son of God, so that we may do
penance in his person and in his power. We must ask him for die Spirit, who gives us the interior
dispositions of penance toward God, such as humiliation, true contrition, condemnation of sin,
and horror of the world and its maxims. He also gives us a consuming zeal to make satisfaction
in ourselves and upon ourselves for the punishment due to sin. Thus we will not be content
simply to behold penance in others or to feel it in our heart, but radier we will desire and ask for
the strength to do penance in our bodies, because, since all have sinned, all must offer retribution
to God.
Thus we must ask God for his strength and power in order to accomplish die satisfaction he
desires, abandoning ourselves to everything he wishes to impose on us himself or through his
ministers. We must participate in the interior penance of Jesus Christ, which is boundless in
himself and in his members, wishing, if it pleases God, to suffer all that he bore in his flesh and
all that his members have suffered in theirs. We should want only those limits that his wisdom
imposes on us and that he makes known to us through our superiors, who take his place.
Thus we must lose ourselves in diis Spirit of contrition of Jesus Christ, in this boundless sea, in
this ocean of penance, so that we can be present in spirit to all that it has produced in him and to
all that holy penitents of die church accomplish. For they only express what he contains in his
interior and what he would have wished to bear in his body, if he could have endured, in die
weakness of his flesh, all diat they have suffered.
Our Lord has dilated himself by dilating the body of his church. Furthermore, he bears the
suffering of his members since he is inserted and enfleshed in them through his Spirit. He gives
life to their souls. He gives strength to their spirits and to their hearts by his presence and his
power. Thus he is more die penitent in diem than they are in themselves. It is the Spirit of Jesus
Christ, the penitent, in their souls that makes penitents of them.
This is the second effect of prayer and the second intention of God and of Jesus Christ in
prayer. The first is to make holy the name
-231of God: Hallowed be your name. This is why our first occupation is to honor and respect die Spirit
of God in him. The second is to bring his kingdom to us: Your kingdom come. Now die kingdom of
God comes in us when, in prayer, we invoke his Spirit upon us and then he, through his power,
subjects us entirely to him. The third is to desire diat his holy will be done in us: Ύοιιγ will be done,
which is accomplished by faithfully cooperating with die movements of diis same Spirit.
CHAPTER FIVE
The Virtue of Humility
Humility is the virtue that is the foundation for all the others. It must be presupposed in every
work of piety. Without it, we will never make any progress. Pride, which is the opposite of this
virtue, is die vice that displeases God the most. This is the horrible and damnable sin that God
insists so often in the scriptures diat he wants to resist: God resists the proud (Js 4:6).
God resists pride because it injures him in a strange way. It takes from him what is most
precious: the glory and honor that are due to him and that he reserves for himself. It attributes it
instead to a nothing and a worm. There is nothing of which God is more jealous. He shares witii
us his divine being, his nature and all his gifts, but only on the condition that we do not steal

from him what he does not wish to share with any creature: I will not give my glory to any other (Is
42:8).
God has such revulsion and hatred for pride that, as soon as a soul is so unfortunate as to open
itself up to it, at that very moment God pulls back and leaves die soul to itself. He removes his
grace and assistance. Likewise, he will not come close again until the soul empties itself of pride
and all self-love. This is why we say that holy humility is die basis for all the virtues, because they
cannot be acquired without grace and divine assistance, which are given only to the humble:
However he gives bis grace to the humble (Js 4:6).
Therefore we will begin with humility and see first of all in what it consists.
-232FIRST SECTION
The Nature of Humility
Humility has three parts. The first is to take pleasure in self-knowledge. For there are many
people to whom God makes known dieir own misery and failings. He even gives them some
experience of diis, making them aware of their stupidity, dieir superficiality, their uselessness and
their inability to do anything. But diey are saddened by this vision. They cannot bear it. They look
for something in themselves that is flattering. They try to discover some perfection and some
virtue diat would shelter them from this awareness. This is a result of pride. At times we find
ourselves in such a state that we are greatly discouraged to see ourselves as we arc, diat is to say,
nothing without grace, and nothing in nature, useless for any good purpose, unbearable to
ourselves and to all others. If all this brings about interior discouragement, it is a sign of false
humility.
On the other hand, our Lord gives this same experience to those holy persons whom he
cherishes and loves and who are rooted in true humility, so as to further deepen this virtue in
them and to prepare a broader base to welcome his grace and his love. But these souls, who are
already humble, rejoice to know who they are. Provided that they do not adhere to die
wickedness of their flesh, they are content. But sometimes they do not know, and God does not
permit them to distinguish between the attacks of the flesh, diat is, covetousness and consent,
which at times causes them to suffer. On certain occasions, they will feel unfavorable toward the
poor and to offering them charity. At other times they will feel opposed to God and his holy
Word. Sometimes diey will feel other movements that originate from the malicious depth of the
flesh, which generally we refer to as our corrupt nature. And being unsure whether diey have
consented to these movements, they are most distressed and greatly humiliated in this state and
also in die thought that they have not worked hard enough to triumph over themselves.
Now these trials in the lives of saints are not so much a question of pain and discouragement as
they are of conftision and humiliation. And even this serves as a reminder to them of who they
are, reminding them of the flesh they carry and what their nature is like; a nature of sin, a terrain
of inexhaustible malice, on which they are die la
-233borers. For having consented with Adam to sin, and having acquired, through the multitude of
their own sins, many vicious habits, they have altered the purity of their nature. They have so
ruined it that there remains in it nothing of value. A new source is needed. Another generation is
needed to give us a second life and a second spirit to maintain it. It is the Holy Spirit himself who
creates in us movements for good and who invites us to good works, just as our flesh draws us
toward bad ones. Thus die spirit and the flesh are in perpetual conflict. Saint Paul says, The flesh
fights against the spirit and the spiritfights against the flesh (Gal 5:17).
In tins way the saints, who are truly humble, recognize very well what they are by themselves
and what in them is of God. They know where the good comes from and who causes it. They
offer unceasing praise and glory to God for the good dungs that he accomplishes in dieir souls
and humiliate themselves just as unceasingly for the evil diat they do and diat they experience in
themselves, recognizing their poverty, their misery and their vileness. They even condemn

themselves as the cause of the evil they experience. This insight humiliates them, but does not at
all crush them or discourage them because of any sadness they may feel about it.
This, then, is the first aspect of die virtue of humility: to know and to love one's own vileness
and misery. For the knowledge of this vileness and misery is not a part of the virtue of humility,
but rather a foundation and presupposition for it. This is why even though self- knowledge by
itself existed in pagans, nevertheless they possessed notiiing of this Christian virtue, of which die
first step is die pleasure and die joy that one experiences in knowing oneself.
What then is this humility? It is the love of one's own degradation, so diat little by little one
becomes so enamored of vileness, littleness and baseness, that one loves it everywhere and in all
things.
For example, someone recognizes in himself his nothingness, which makes him vile and abject.
He recognizes Ins weakness, Ins defects and even Ins sms. He should take pleasure in his vileness,
in his own degradation and in the scorn he will receive. He should take pleasure in what is vile,
abject and humiliating in himself.
The vileness and the degradation that result from sin are quite distinct from opposition to God.
If the soul is humble, it should love the vileness to which it is reduced through sin, but should
despise its sin inasmuch as it is opposed to God. The soul should be so enamored of its vileness
and baseness that it should love it everywhere it
-234is found or where it might be encountered. It should find its charms so delectable that it could
find notiiing else so lovable. It should be our queen, our one and only beloved. Our happiness
and our only peace consist in the love of littleness, the love of baseness and the love of
degradation.
This type of humility has its source in God himself, who, although incapable by nature of being
abased, due to his infinite perfections, nevertheless has in himself an inclination toward little
things. For in himself he loves what is lowly. David says, He looks upon what is lowly (Ps 112:6). The
blessed Virgin states: He has looked upon the lowliness and the littleness of his handmaiden (Lk 1:48); that
is, he is pleased by this and takes pleasure in it.
The immense power of the Godhead first filled the soul of Jesus Christ with its inclinations and
placed in him an infinite tendency toward baseness, which is continually at work in him, but is
never fulfilled or satisfied. All tire scorn, abasement and degradation that exists is like nothing to
his soul before this immense thirst that engulfs him.
This is what constitutes the humility of God and that of Jesus Christ, in which we should
commune and which he pours forth in the heart of Christians, to whom he gives the same
tendency and the same inclination toward lowly things. This is true Christian humility.
We should look at what the prophet says about the heart of Jesus Christ, which he notes was
overwhelmed with humiliation. This was caused by the immensity of God working in the depth
of his soul through his infinite power.
We should not only consider him in the humiliations that he bore himself, of which he said on
the cross, I am thirsty (Jn 19:28) but also in the humiliations and the scorn he desires to suffer in
his Mystical Body and in his members. Beholding them he said also, Sitio, I am thirsty. I am
languishing and dying of desire for more sufferings and new scorn. Since I must extend myself
throughout my whole church and in her satisfy my thirst, then the more scorn I suffer in her, the
more joy and consolation I will experience and the more I will satisfy my immense desire to enter
into littleness.
It is my Father, infinite in his desires, who causes this yearning and this immense desire in me,
before which I am notiiing and I am unable to satisfy it. Therefore, I am continually looking for
someone on earth to satisfy the pain and the desire that I have to drink deeply
-235of shame and scorn at all times and in all places. This means that when someone suffers and
welcomes this with love and joy, then it amounts to satisfying my thirst.

It seems to me that it would be right to give such joy to Jesus Christ in us and to work at
satisfying him and making him happy in this way. We should frilly realize how little opportunity
we give to the power and fruitfulness of God's activity in our heart, because of die aversion we
have to shame.
God is immense in himself. The infinite weight of his being should humiliate everything under
him, leading us to the love of scorn and vileness. Nevertheless, we discover diat our heart resists
him so strongly and exercises such control over him that, instead of tending toward littleness, we
tend only toward greatness, looking only for praise, esteem and applause. God, who is so
powerful in all things and especially in the soul of his Son, finds himself powerless in us.
Let us study how to renounce our inner core, how to condemn it and how to surrender it to
God, so that he can imprint in us what he wants and insert in us his inclinations, his sentiments
and even his dispositions. We must pray much to the majesty of God diat he exercise his power
and immense strength in us, so that he may humiliate us in him and offer us a share in his
inclinations and desires.
The most important humility is the interior one, which concerns primarily the spirit. It consists
in always submitting the powers of the soul to God in complete dependence on him, so diat die
spirit of the Christian would never be so insolent and so proud as to exalt itself in die presence of
its king and God, but rather would remain always in submission and reverence before him,
waiting upon his light and his orders witii patience. And thus it will never be so bold as to act or
reason about things on its own and in itself, but radier it will always submit itself to God, waiting
with faith upon his guidance and his command.
It is the same with our will, which being in sinful flesh and in the present state of disorder,
needs, even more than our understanding, much like a queen who commands and rules, to
depend on the Holy Spirit, who wishes to be king and master in us.
Our will is more affected by sin than die rest of us. Therefore it is more haughty and arrogant.
It is always ready to give orders and rarely disposed to obey. It takes great effort and continuous
attention to keep it in subjection and submission. It gives commands in every
-236situation and pays no attention to the orders, movements and guidance of the Holy Spirit and
to his love, which alone should rule over us and lead us smoothly toward diose things that God
desires.
Therefore, true and perfect interior humility consists in the submission of the will to God,
along with our understanding, which should act as if it were dead and wait very faithfrilly,
submitting itself to the divine impressions and to those lights that God promises to his children.
Thus the soul will be truly humble in spirit and truth, in deed and in perfect sacrifice. For the soul
in diis state protests that it is worth nothing, that it cannot act in justice and holiness, but that
everything comes from God and depends on him and that everything in us should be
accomplished by him.
To be aware that we are worth nothing, that we know nothing and that we can do nothing, and
to take pleasure in this insight and knowledge, is the first point of humility.
The second is to love one's vileness, littleness and nothingness in oilier people's awareness as
well as in our own. In other words, it is to love being known as vile, abject, nothingness and sin
and to want to be seen in this way by everyone. For the heart of humility is to allow ourselves to
experience the love, joy and pleasure of being known and valued by everyone for what we are.
Otherwise we remain hypocritical and dishonest, desiring to appear to be something we are not,
even doing and saying many things to excuse the defects tiiat people notice in us.
It is this defect in humility that causes the pain and shame we have experienced when people
have discovered our imperfections. This causes the struggle that we feel and the anxiety tiiat
prods us to succeed in our undertakings so that we might acquire a reputation and pass for
something of value in the eyes of other people. We can never tolerate what Jesus Christ wishes to
accomplish in us through his spirit of humility, that is, to love being known for what we are:

nothingness and sin. We are nothing more than this in ourselves and of ourselves. All else comes
from God, and we are stealing from him everything diat we wish to attribute to ourselves besides
nothingness and sin.
We are so totally and truly nothingness that if God does not communicate existence to us at all
times, then there is nothing in us. Only nothingness remains. This is our core and our true reality.
So much so diat if there is something in us which is not sin, that is to say, not corrupted by sin in
our faculties, we should give thanks to God,
-237who has accomplished this in us by his goodness to which belongs all honor. For it is we who
have committed sin with Adam, having consented widi him to his fault. For we were contained
in him, as if he were our procurator, holding our will in his hands. God had chosen him for us
with great kindness as the most perfect man in die world and die one to whom, quite
appropriately, we gave the power to deal with God for us and in our name. For Adam dealt widi
God for the whole human race. Thus it was that our will was in this way united and in agreement
with his.
So diere is this first fault, which is our doing and which is the root cause of the evil diat
pollutes even- day and every hour. It also causes diat corruption in us which Saint Paul calls sin,
because it conies from sin and draws us toward it, thus making us sin. Besides diis first sin to
which we consented in Adam; besides this disordered desire that inclines us unceasingly toward
sin, we have also committed a thousand crimes, which have totally blackened us. This is why truly
we are sm in ourselves and nothing but diat. This core of malice, with which we are filled, is a
horror to God. Therefore, in that part of us we are accursed children, and we cannot conceal
what we are m the sight of heaven and earth. Thus we should want to be seen as such in the
minds of even-one.
Thus humility is that virtue which gives us diis pleasure and this satisfaction of appearing as we
are, of being seen as people who are nothing and who are accursed sinners in everyone's eyes.
For in ourselves we are nothing but that. For if there are graces in us or any gifts, these do not
come from us, but from God. If we wish to be appreciated and esteemed for that, dien we
unjusdy steal what does not belong to us, and we claim for ourselves what belongs to God alone.
Humility must make us take a good look at what we are and what is ours, so that we might
leave for God and return faithfully to him all that belongs to him and all that comes from him.
The devil concentrates all his efforts here and works especially on this point, trying to blur dtese
two distinct insights, which teach us so clearly what is of us and what is of God. He works to
make us believe that what is in us is from us, that it belongs to us and diat, because of it, we can
value ourselves and seek to be valued by others.
However, the truly humble soul, who skillfully wards off the wiles of the evil one, works at
never forgetting what it is and what it
-238produces. It sees itself as nothingness and sin and wishes to be seen as such in the sight of
every creature. Thus, it is dead to esteem and is no longer concerned about what people think of
it. When it does receive some honor and praise, inwardly it laughs at itself and makes light of
those who value it, considering them to be blind people who speak unknowingly. At times it
experiences such disgust and such horror at these things that it would much rather suffer a
thousand insults than a single word of praise. For the former is based on die truth and the latteron a lie. Thus, it is very surprised when people appreciate it in some way other than what it sees
and experiences continually in itself.
Saint Bernard says that the second degree of humility is to know not only that we are nodting,
but that even what appears in others is nodting. All being, goodness and truth exist in God and,
through participation, in creatures, whose depth and intrinsic reality is nothing. Flowing from the
nothingness that we are as creatures, our proper activity is a tendency toward nothingness. The
essence of nothing is to tend toward nothing. This is what man is and how he should want to

appear. Otherwise he is robbing and stealing from the supreme Being, desiring to take his place
and to claim for himself what belongs to God.
The third point of humility is to not only want to be known in this way, but also to be treated
as vile, abject and contemptible. It is to welcome with joy all possible scorn and shame, never
getting enough insults, but on the contrary hoping for more of them with an insatiable desire. In
other words, it is to desire to be treated according to one's merit. Since we think of ourselves as
only insignificant nothingness and accursed sinners, and we do not want to be drought of
differently by other people, therefore humility gives us the desire to be treated as nothingness, as
accursed creatures and unfortunate sinners, which are two of the most scornful tides imaginable.
If we try to imagine all possible scorn, it would be nodiing compared to what is due us. This is
why the truly humble soul cannot be scorned. No matter what anyone says or does against it, it
cannot be shamed and even less take offense, because all of that is nothing compared to what it
has merited. What scorn does nothingness deserve ? It has nodiing in itself to recommend it. It
possesses nothing to capture our thoughts or actions. For nothingness speaks of the privation of
all being and all perfection, which are the only bases for
-239our esteem and appreciation. Moreover, what scorn should we not have for sin, which is not in
the least attractive and tolerable, but on the contrary, of its very nature, speaks of alienation from
the true good, who is God and therefore is the privation of every good?
It is clear that an insult is an honor to a humble soul. For since it is nothingness, it does not
merit being noticed or being thought of. It is not worthy of the scorn and the consideration of
others. Since it is nothingness, who would speak to it in order to insult it? We do not insult
ghosts, because diey do not exist and are not worthy of insult. Therefore, the one who knows
that in himself he is only nothingness, and much less than a ghost, thinks himself quite honored
that anyone has thought of him and spoken some insult to him. Therefore, if odiers forget him
and despise him, the humble person is not astonished and does not think that they should act any
differently. An affront does not surprise him at all, and he would be quite astonished if he were
treated in any other way. Even if God despises the soul interiorly, it should not be astonished, for
it does not deserve anything else.
This is the true touchstone to recognize authentic humility: that in interior dryness, aridity,
abandonment and rejection by God, the soul takes God's side and approves of his prosecution of
itself; that it humiliates itself and annihilates itself in prayer, condemning itself and saying that it
deserves no other treatment. We should admit that he is right to reject our works and our very
selves. When we see some evidence of this, if this bothers us, it is a lack of humility. It is a sign
that we are not thoroughly convinced of how totally useless we are.
Our nothingness, which is clothed with a being corrupted by sin, can do nothing of its own self
but sin. It can only spoil everything it does, which is a source of great shame, making us admit
that God, who is fairness, perfect integrity and true justice, has every right to reject us and all that
is part of us. For our good works and all that is holy and acceptable to God in our activities
proceeds from his Son, in whom all his pleasure resides through the work of the Holy Spirit.
To be despised and rejected by God, mistreated by our superiors, our peers and even our
subordinates, in other words, by all creatures, this is our due and should make us rejoice. It is the
most appropriate response, which we should love more than anything, being the best,
-240most advantageous tiling forus and die most in conformity to the desire of Jesus Christ.
Thus we should love littleness, no matter where it comes from and no matter where we find it.
We must love it not only in this world, but also in die odier, not only on earth, but also in
heaven. For example, we should love having the lowest place, as our Eord recommends. It is a
sign of the love of littleness. We should so love the lowest place that we even desire it in paradise.
It is not that we should desire to be the least in the love of God, nor die most negligent about
growing in perfection, nor should we say, as do the least committed, that just to begin is enough

for them. They say that they do not care about being great saints, and by this they risk never
achieving it. On die contrary, we should strive to love God as much as he desires and be faithfol
enough to attain the degree of glory and beatitude, which he prepares for us.
Thus anyone who would commit a fault diat is sinful in order to be humiliated would be doing
nothing of value. In die same way, anyone who omits doing good in order to be litde in heaven
would be very wrong. I am speaking specifically only about litdeness in itself. It should be always
so attractive to our spirit that we would love it everywhere. We should perform no action with
the intention of being great and of protecting us against littleness.
Our pride is so subde that when we close one door to it, it opens another one for itself. When
we deaden the desire for greatness in diis world, then it desires it in the other. When we have
eliminated it in the base things of the eardi, it goes looking for it in the tilings of spirit and grace.
As soon as we have renounced the love of being great, excelling in the honor and richness of the
world to which pride was leading us, then right away, it seeks to be great and outstanding in
grace. It desires to excel in the spirit, it seeks and desires great gifts and superior lights,
spectacular graces, in other words, extraordinary talents. Thus it always seeks greatness.
And if we manage to remove this desire and recognize this subtle pride, then it seeks to excel in
another way, that is, in glory. It hopes for an exalted place in heaven, which, in fact, is fine when
it does not come from a spirit of pride. However, frequently we can even love littleness on eardi
through proud desire, hoping, by this means, for greatness in paradise. Because humility on eardi
is the seed of exaltation in heaven, we accomplish our actions widi this intention of
-241being great and consoling ourselves in our humiliations through this insight. The spirit of pride
is strange, always looking for excellence and greatness, in this moment and die next, in one tiling
and another.
On the contrary, true humility desires to be nothing, neither in its own eyes nor in anyone's
mind. It is carefol to not stand out in anything. It creates a great desire to be hidden and to love
being unknown, passing for nothingness. Only Jesus Christ should stand out in all things and we
should not stand out at all. We should destroy our own being in order to be clothed with Jesus
Christ, so diat we are noticed only under him and in him. This produces a desire and a holy
inclination to accomplish nothing by ourselves and makes us faithful in denying ourselves
interiorly; working to mortify our own spirit and will, at all times, so diat we come to live in diis
spirit of interior death. Neither our spirit nor our will act any more by themselves, but rather,
both exist in simple cooperation with die Holy Spirit, who animates our interior and gives life to
our faculties.
Thus we live in authentic annihilation and we have nothing but God living and reigning in us.
This is why God loves humble souls so much and why he establishes his throne and his domain
in them in such an absolute fashion. For there exists in the annihilated person a total freedom for
him to do what he pleases. He takes supreme pleasure in the religious sacrifice of all one's
intrinsic being, which immolates itself and is divinely consumed.
CHAPTER NINE
On Patience
Patience is a virtue that causes us to bear difficulties and sufferings in peace and gives us joy in
the tribulations that God chooses to send us.
For patience to be Christian, it must, through the eyes of faith, see God as the author of all the
sufferings and persecutions that happen to us.
It must even bear affliction and abandonment with die power of the Spirit of God, who first
dwelt folly in Jesus Christ and then was transmitted to us through baptism and the othersacraments.
-242FIRST SECTION
The Degrees ofPatience

Patience has three degrees, which our Lord indicates to us in the gospel and of which he
wished to offer us the example.
The first is to suffer the trials that come to us widi resignation and complete surrender to the
orders of God. Thus Job, in the midst of his sufferings and trials said with perfect tranquility and
total abandonment to die divine will: God has given it to me, God has taken it away: blessed be his holy
name ( Jb 1:21).
Patience never murmurs against God or against its neighbor. It is not interiorly anxious in pain,
and it offers us die same dispositions as the souls in purgatory, who suffer die violence of the
flames and die torments in sublime peace.
This first degree is indicated to us by these words: Blessed are they who suffer persecution forjustice
(Mt 5:10) and who suffer it in peace and in surrender to die holy decrees of divine Providence.
He gave us an example of this when he submitted voluntarily to so many trials and in the midst
of all these sufferings experienced die tranquility of a lamb being led to the slaughterhouse.
The second degree is to desire passionately to suffer. We see this in the martyrs whose hearts,
inflamed with this desire, even indicated externally the great love that they had for suffering.
Thus Saint Andrew, when he saw the torments prepared for him, cried out: 0 good cross, how long
and passionately have I desired you! In the same way Saint Lawrence showed how he suffered with
difficulty the delay of his martyrdom. Similarly, Saint Teresa, transported by love, cried out: Either
to suffer or to die. —
Our Lord expresses this second degree with these words: Blessed are- those who hunger and thirstfor
justice (Mt 5:6) and who desire ardently to suffer in order to fulfill in themselves die plan of God,
who wishes that all Christians suffer with Jesus Christ and that they appease in him and with him
his divine justice.
Thus he wished to achieve this and show us how much he loved suffering, when he said: I hare
desired passionately to eat this Passover with you (Lk 22:15). He considered the Passover sacrifice to be
the same sacrifice as that of the cross in which all suffering is contained
-243and enclosed. With this in mind, he showed what a great desire he experienced.
The third degree is to suffer widi pleasure and joy. Thus the apostles and die first Christians
went forth rejoicing, because they had been found worthy to suffer for Jesus Christ (Acts 5:41).
Saint Paul in his episdes tells the faithful that he wants them to share die joy he has in his
afflictions and difficulties. He is not content just to share his joy widi them, but he tells diem that
he is victorious in his weakness and diat he glories in his sufferings (2 Cor 12:9). Saint Janies tells
us that our hearts should be filled widi joy when various difficulties and temptations come to us
(Js 1:2).
Our Lord expresses again this tiiird degree when he says that we are blessed when men persecute us
and make us suffer all sorts of misfortune and calamity and that in those moments, we should rejoice (Mt 5:1112). He gave us the example himself, for it says that he carried his cross withjoy (Heb 12:2).
SECOND SECTION
Moth esfor Patience
We are obliged to be patient. First, in our condition as creatures; for God, sovereign master of
life and death, on whom our existence depends absolutely, has die right to dispose of us as he
chooses.
Saint Paul says that die potter has the right to do whatever he wishes with his pot (Rom 9:21)
since it is the work of his hands. He shatters it, he breaks it, he refashions it, he molds it, he
bends it, he compresses it and shapes it as he wills.
This is how we are in the hands of God. Since we are the work of his hands, he can do with us
anything he wishes. Whether he shatters, breaks, kills, mortifies, plunges us to the depdi of hell
and takes us out again, this is totally in his hands and we should suffer it in peace, adoring his
desires, his judgments and his designs for his handiwork and remaining completely abandoned to
his good pleasure.

Second, as sinners. For in this condition, we must bear with the effects of his justice and wrath
toward us. All die punishments that he carries out in this world are nothing compared to what we
deserve
-244and what he would make us suffer if he did not choose to be merciful toward us and to treat us
with gentleness and clemency in this life.
The punishments that God meted out to sinners, as we see in the holy scripture, even die
torments of the damned and die penalties the demons suffer and will suffer eternally for one sin,
should cause us not only to be at peace, but to rejoice in our sufferings.
In fact, what is there in hell that we do not deserve? What torments do they suffer there that we
do not merit as well and a thousand times more? For mercy is even found in hell and we are not
wordiy of it. Should not this insight compel us to bear patiently all the difficulties and tribulations
of this life, especially since our Lord says that these are signs of his love? I reprove andl chastise those
whom I love (Rv 3:19).
Third, as Christians. For as such we should bear with many difficulties and sufferings. This is
why we are initiated into the church. For our Lord only admitted us into it to continue his life,
which is a life of opposition, contradiction and condemnation toward the flesh.
He must then humiliate it and subdue it in us, using tire ways he knows and judges to be most
useful, so as to win a complete victory. He first achieved victory in his own flesh, and he wishes
to continue it in ours in order to show forth in us a sample of the universal triumph that he had
achieved over it in his own person.
The church and Christians are only a handful of flesh compared to die whole world.
Nevertheless, he still desires to be victorious in them to proclaim his triumph and to give definite
signs of his victory. Thus, from this perspective, die Christian should be very faithful to the Spirit
and completely abandoned to him in order to overcome die flesh and to destroy it completely.
There will be no lack of opportunities in this life, for he must suffer: first, die attacks of die
world through scorn, calumny and persecution; second, the violent onslaughts of the flesh in its
uprisings and its revolts; third, the battles with the devil in die temptations he sends us; finally,
the ordeals from God through dryness, desolation, abandonment and other interior difficulties,
which he afflicts on him in order to initiate him into the perfect crucifixion of the flesh.
Fourth, as clerics. For clerics should participate in the fulfillment of Christianity. This cannot
exist without patience.
Patience is a sign that the soul is intimately united to God and that it is rooted in perfection.
For it must be very much in God and fully
-245possessed by him in order to bear difficulties and torments with peace, tranquility and even joy
and beatitude in one's heart.
It must be quite profoundly immersed in him and remain quite powerfully and strongly united
to him, so that the flesh has no power at all to attract it to itself and share with him the feelings
and aversions that it has toward suffering and endurance.
In this state the soul experiences the perfection attainable in this life, since it conforms to our
Lord's perfect submission to God during his sufferings. For although his flesh experienced
aversion and revulsion for the cross, he paid no attention to it with his will. Rather, he always
adhered perfectly to die wishes of his Father.
Therefore clerics, being perfect Christians chosen from the midst of the church to assist before
the tabernacle of God, should pay particular attention to this virtue. This is their very nature. It is
the sign by which they can be identified. This is what predisposes them for the honorable rank
that they possess. This is how they are recognized as domestics and servants of God.
Finally, priests and pastors should have a very high degree of patience because, in Jesus Christ
and with Jesus Christ, they are both priests and victims for tire sins of the world. Jesus Christ the
priest wished to be the victim of his sacrifice. He became tire host-victim for all people. Since

priests are like sacraments and representations of him who lives in diem to continue his
priesthood and whom he clothes with his external conduct and his interior dispositions, as well as
with his power and his person, he wishes furthermore diat they be interiorly rooted in die spirit
and dispositions of a host-victim in order to suffer, endure, do penance, in short, to immolate
themselves for the glory of God and the salvation of the people.
In imitation of our Lord, priests should not only be victims for sin through persecution,
penance, internal and external sufferings, but also they should be like the victims of a holocaust.
This is their true vocation. For they should not merely suffer, as he did, all sorts of difficulties
both for their own sms and the sins of the people entrusted to them, but even more diey should
be entirely consumed with him through love.
The spirit of love strengthens and empowers us to endure affliction and suffering, no matter
how great they are. Since he is infinite, he gives us as much as we need to endure those that can
occur in our vocation.
-246All the torments of the world are nothing to a generous soul filled witii die power of a God,
who is able to shoulder countless sufferings more violent than all those that the world and die
devil might afflict us with. It is witii diis Spirit that Saint Paul said: I can do all things in him who
strengthens me (Phil 4:13). Everything he saw seemed little to do or suffer because of die God who
dwelled in him.
It is through this same eternal, immense and all-powerftil Spirit that he called his sufferings
light and momentary, because Jesus Christ who suffered and bore them in himself and allowed
him to see and experience something of his eternity through his presence, caused him to look
upon the entire duration of this life as but a moment. This is how our Lord, who allows us to
experience interiorly that his power and his strength could support a thousand worlds, leads us to
call his burden light.
However, it is not as if he does not occasionally withdraw his tangible strength from us so that
we might experience die burden of tribulation in the weakness of our flesh and in the frailty to
which it is reduced because of his absence. However, he makes us endure this abandonment in
order to produce two wonderful effects in our souls.
The first is to mistrust ourselves and the weaknesses of the flesh. The second is to appreciate
God and his strength. For in this state we are necessarily forced to turn to God and to dwell in
him so diat we might be strengthened and sustained in order to accomplish and to suffer all that
he wishes for his glory.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
On Poverty
Poverty exists not only to separate man from the external realities of the world, but it has
another goal and more important purpose, which is to return the whole interior man to his
original state.
This detachment from external tilings exists among Christians only in imitation of Jesus Christ
our Lord, who was the first to desire to detach himself from them, in order to make the holy and
heroic virtue of poverty accessible to men, who fear it so much that diey are afraid of being poor
even in the midst of wealth and riches.
-247It exists as well to punish men for die misuse they have made of all things, bodi in Adam and
in themselves. To make satisfaction for this God has desired to deprive them as well as to
undergo penance himself as an example for his church.
FIRST SECTION
On the Nature ofPoverty
If we are to understand the nature of poverty in its purpose and in the intention of Jesus Christ,
who offers reparation for the human race, we must know that man was formed by God to be his
temple, m which he alone wished to be loved, praised and adored. His intention then, in

satisfying God his Father, is to restore man to his original state, to die original perfection and
holiness in which he was created.
His first commandment is the expression of the original state of man and of his original designs
for him, when from the first moment of his creation, he imprinted in his heart the same law he
later etched in stone, obliging him to use his whole soul, his whole heart and all his strength to
love him. It is for this reason, then, that in this first commandment he speaks thus, You will love
your God with all your heart, and so on (Dt 6:5). It is also for this reason that he created die human
heart empty of any object, as a pure capacity for him and for his love.
However, the work of the devil was to fill the human heart with idols, facsimiles and illusions,
to occupy his thoughts and fill his desires with the love of these tilings so that turning away from
true worship and from die unique and pure love of God, he might fall into idolatry.
Saint Paul says that avarice and die love of worldly tilings is an idolatry and once it is implanted
in the human heart, we can say that it is the abomination of desolation in the holy place.
What could be more horrible or be a greater desolation than to see the human heart, which is
the temple of God and a holy place, which he has consecrated in a special way to himself, filled
with so many unclean and impure things and to see in the niches of this temple, as
-248in the one Ezechiel saw (Ez 8), snakes, crocodiles and the other abominable things diat fill it?
This is such an abomination before God that formerly he abandoned his people to the wrath of
his enemies in order to punish die greed of only one person who had kept a scarlet mantle and a
bar of gold, and had taken them from Jericho, a place of anathema, condemned to fire by a
judgment pronounced by the mouth of God (Jos 7:20-21).
The intention of Jesus Christ, as he conies into our heart to sanctify it and to restore it to its
original state of emptiness, is to banish from his temple all that fills it. He cannot tolerate there
anything but his Father and his divine perfections. With the lashes of a whip he drives from it,
through persecutions and dirough crosses, all the buyers and sellers.
Our Eord becomes zealous and furious when he finds his Fadier's house, this house of prayer,
which should be decorated with holiness, filled with merchants. Merchants here symbolize die
greedy, because they risk their life using all their time and their energy in dealing and negotiating
for earthly things, instead of using it for God, who desires all the mind, all die heart, all the time
and all die strength of his weak creatures.
This is why Jesus Christ came into the world. He wanted to purify the human heart, empty it of
every creature and thus make reparation for the original misfortune and disorder into which we
had fallen through the misery of sin and the goading of the devil. Thus it follows that he has
established, as the major foundation of our salvation, holy poverty, which tends by its nature to
empty die human heart of everything diat could fill it, other than God.
This is why he said in his first sermon and established as his first maxim, Blessed are the poor (Mt
5:3), in order to teach Christians that the virtue of poverty is necessary to them in the most basic
and important way.
And to teach diem what this poverty is, he says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, that is, whose core is
empty of any hold on creatures and who have nothing in their heart that takes and fills die place
of God, who alone wants to fill them and occupy them.
Outside of God, everything is an illusion, everytiiing is imaginary, nothing but a husk and
surface. God alone is the autiientic good, and he alone is die entire fundamental and
incorruptible life of our souls.
-249SECOND SECTION
Divisions of Poverty
There are two kinds of poverty, one interior and one exterior. One concerns die stripping of
the heart, which should be emptied of all desire and all love for creatures. The otiier concerns
exterior stripping.

Exterior stripping without die interior is no virtue at all. But the interior stripping disposed to
an exterior stripping is the virtue of poverty of which our Lord speaks in the gospel when he
says: Blessed are the poor in spirit.
In this way he wishes to teach Christians that they must exist in poverty, in the stripping and
deprivation of spirit, in order to be disposed for the pure love of God. For he cannot co-exist
with the love of creatures. He cannot tolerate the slightest attachment to them. He desires a heart
that is not lull, that is detached from everything and whose entire capacity has been emptied.
THIRD SECTION
Exterior Poverty
There are three kinds of poverty, of which the first two were much in use in die beginning of
the church of God.
The first was to leave everything behind and to sell it. Our Lord suggested this to certain
individuals in the gospel (Mt 19:21). And also he chose to renew this in recent centuries widi
Saint Francis and several other saints who practiced this type of poverty.
The second was to place all one's goods in common, which was normal among the early
Christians. Each person stripped himself of all he possessed and gave it to God, so that everyone
could take according to his needs and, everything being shared equally, the poor person was
cared for as well as the rich.
The third is to strip ourselves of die usage of the goods God has given us while remaining in
actual possession of them. This poverty can be practiced to great advantage. For, first of all, in
this way, we remain in the state of life where divine Providence has placed us. Second, we can use
well what he has chosen to give us, utilizing it for
-250his glory. Third, we have die advantage of poverty, which means we have nothing that prevents
us from devoting our attention to God alone. It is about this poverty and these poor that it is
said, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the reign of God belongs to them (Mt 5:f.
FOURTH SECTION
Interior Poverty
Interior poverty does not include merely detachment from bodily goods, from which the spirit
should be separated, interiorly detached and even quite distant. It strips the spirit not only of all
honors, all riches and all die goods of the world, but it detaches it as well from die spiritual gifts
of God, in the midst of which it should exist as if naked.
It should always consider them as belonging to and attached to God, just like rays to the sun or­
as diamonds and pearls would be attached to a garment. Since die master has put them there only
to make his garment more striking and more precious, he is always empowered to remove them
when he wishes. From this perspective, then, the soul should be perfectly detached from diem. It
should exist in the midst of all things without at all touching them and without its heart everparticipating in them.
Poverty of spirit has tiiree parts. The first is to see ourselves destitute before God, begging for
all his gifts, being naked in ourselves witiiout any grace, living in spirit as a beggar, so diat we may
be clothed with his goods.
The second is not to claim as our own the gifts and graces of God, considering diem to be ours
and as something that has become part of our nature, once we are in possession of them. We
must look at them as a man looks at the garment he wears. He knows that his body is naked in
itself and lacking in itself those things that are necessary to protect it from the discomfort of the
seasons. This is why he has a constant need to clotiie himself and to look outside himself for this
help and comfort.
The truly poor soul, even though it might be clothed and enriched with the gifts of God, thinks
of itself as always totally naked before him. For firmly rooted in the knowledge of what it is, even
though it is possessed by and clothed with God, it sees itself all the same as naked in itself. Thus
it never becomes complacent about what it is.

-251For being always the same in its core, it does not think any more of itself with all its gifts than it
did before being filled with them.
The soul should see the gifts of God as emanating from him alone, as belonging to him, as his
possessions and his property and as his rays, which he shines on us in order to hide our lowliness
from his eyes and to make our misery more tolerable.
God is glorious in us through what belongs to him and he alone should be appreciated for what
is good in us. He alone should take satisfaction from it. And if in our depth we think well of
ourselves because of the gifts in us, for which the glory should be given to God alone, we attract
and deflect toward ourselves the glory that is due to him only. This is a very great injustice. For to
him alone belongs the praise that die gifts, by their very nature and with their whole being, offer
to his divine majesty.
The third degree of spiritual poverty is to cany within us die gifts of God and to keep his
treasures in the coffers of our hearts without daring to touch diem and without using diem for
ourselves, letting God be the one to place his valuables in our hands as he takes from these
coffers what he chooses and directs us to dispense them as he wills, so that he himself will be the
author and the manager of the distribution of his graces.
Not only should we take care not to use the gifts of God for our own temporal and vulgar
interests or in order to acquire honor and esteem, which would be a terrible sacrilege, but we
must also abstain from touching these sacred gifts. He deposited them in our souls and we
should leave to him the choice of taking us by the hand, directing us to withdraw what he wishes
and distributing them in his name.
The humble soul, hidden and faithful, to whom our Lord has confided his wealth, is a treasure
sealed with seven seals, which the Lamb alone can open. He alone can search in the coffers
where he has enclosed his treasures. He alone can open them and through the splendor of his
rays, through the clarity of his divine lights; in short, by the power of his grace, direct the soul to
use them as it should.
Unlike earthly kings he does not delegate the care of his finances to treasurers who hold the key
in their hands and to whom he gives the authority to dispense them as they will. He himself has
the key to these coffers in his hands so that he may open them when he wishes.
He is the universal bursar. He is the general distributor. He is everything in us. He does not
need to add anything to his presence or his power. For he is everywhere. He is capable of all
things. He sees
-252everything. He dispenses his goods in us always, in keeping with his wisdom and love.
He wishes then that the soul, present to his treasures, exercise this kind of restraint, touching
nothing in its depth that God had placed there and that he had locked with a key, certainly not
forcing the locks when the coffers are closed, that is, not looking for something through an effort
of memory or with violence.
However, even when God leaves the coffers open, that is, when we are present to all God's
lights and all his truths, it is not up to us to put our hand in them or to take from diem what we
want according to our liking.
We must look with reverence upon these gifts and treasures, which he has placed within us
because of his infinite mercy, as belonging to him. There is nothing in us that gave us reason to
hope for this grace. Our inner depth, in its impurity, was not worthy of his favors. Nevertheless,
through his infinite grace and love, he chose to deposit diem in this notorious place. Since he did
it only because he wished to, then it is also up to him alone to use them in us as he chooses.
God works in the soul like a master in his field, who has piles of rocks brought to his land and
has materials placed here and there so that he may build according to his idea and plan. He has
unloaded more in one spot than in another because of the size of the building, of the pavilion or
the structure that he wants to erect. It is necessary that he use them according to his plan.

He needs to use the materials and to direct his masons and laborers to build and work
according to the design, which often he hides from diem. Widiout revealing anydiing to them, he
shapes his building little by little. He executes and accomplishes it according to the idea he has in
his mind and in his wisdom, which surpasses theirs.
This is die way God uses his gifts. They are materials that he dumps in us as in a blind field,
which knows nothing of the building that the great architect and the master craftsman wants to
build there. It is up to us to tolerate his gifts and his presents. It is up to him to put them to work
and to use our faculties, which should cooperate faithfully with his grace in this construction,
based on his power and his adorable designs, which are unknown to them.
-253FIFTH SECTION
The Foundations of Poverty
We are called to share in die life of God in Jesus Christ. Our life, like his, is hidden in God. It is
he who places it in us as he did in his Son and allows us to share in his dispositions, in his
sentiments and in his virtues.
God dwells in his Son widi his divine splendor. He lives in him widi his majesty, so that
nothing equals his glory. He is clothed with brilliance of divine riches, next to which all things are
but mud and muck.
All the riches of die earth are but rags compared to die glory of God. For this reason we see
that our Lord, after returning to heaven, where he entered perfectly into the grandeur of God his
Father, is infintely more removed from natural assistance than he was during his earthly life,
when he tolerated his disciples having some money to sustain him, preserve his life and help die
poor.
Our Lord, living in God and dwelling interiorly in the splendor of his divine glory, never could
have any desire or love for the wealdi of this world. Since in his interior he shared in the being of
his Fadier and was in his essence rich with this divine wealth, he could not tolerate that of the
earth. Everything seemed to him insignificant and unworthy of his appreciation.
Thus a soul, withdrawn into God and clotiied with the dispositions of Jesus Christ, discovering
in him such great wealth, cannot desire earthly goods. If it did have the slightest appreciation of
them, it would be like a king who, not being satisfied with his glory and majesty, would go
looking for wealth and splendor in the sackcloth of a peasant.
We are called to poverty and detachment from all die world's goods because of the immense
and infinite riches that we find in God. Next to them, all those of the earth are nothing, and in
possessing God, we possess all earthly riches in an eminent way.
God contains everything in himself. He is the source and origin of all goods. He possesses
them all, freed from die imperfection and lowliness of creatures. He is, par excellence, all wealdi,
all greatness, all beauty and all splendor. This is why the one who is in God is removed from
everything and possesses everytiiing.
Thus die saints who leave the world and who after the resurrection
-254dwell body and soul in God, will possess everything in him. Without the use of any creature
they will discover in him their world. He will no longer give himself through the multiplication of
vulgar realities, which man collects to maintain and preserve himself in tins life. Rather, dien he
will be himself die fulfillment of their need. He will envelop them, embrace them and saturate
them widi himself.
This is the advantage God lets us taste in tills life when we possess him perfectly. A sponge
filled with water is so thoroughly penetrated widi its substance that all the empty places are filled
with it. In the same way God fills all the needs and the desires of die man who is in this state. He
can no longer desire anything else because he possesses a God who is everything to him.
Riches exist in this world only as die shadow and the image of God. In their way they contain
all creatures in an eminent way and make them available to man for his needs. In fact, it is widi

gold and silver diat we draw everything to ourselves. These metals, which through divi ne
providence have an unbelievable value in the eyes of men, allow us to acquire, beckon and draw
all things to ourselves.
This is why die one who exists in God, even in diis life, and who begins to taste him, to
nourish himself with him and to behold some of the brilliance of his glory and his divine
splendor, can no longer experience any appreciation, taste, joy, desire or love for all the vileness
of worldly things, because tiiey are only image and illusion. We can easily leave die image when
we possess the truth.
Our Lord enjoyed and possessed God in diis world. He was saturated and satiated in his soul
by what God is in himself. And since he enjoyed in himself true wealth, he could have no desire
for what was only its shell and surface.
He discovered in God Ins Father the one who fulfilled all his desires. Thus he could desire
nothing from all this vile and vulgar world. This is die state and disposition in which Christians
can share even in tins life and which Saint Paul wished for the faithful with these words: May God
fulfillgloriously allyour desires in Jesus Christ, our Lord, according to the fullness of his divine riches (Phil 4:19).
However, this is not to say that our Lord did not sometimes use worldly goods for his
necessities and to meet his needs. But when he did it, it was to sanctify tiieir use and to teach
men, all of whom need to own individually some of these goods in order to preserve themselves
in this life since sin has taken away the common use of diem,
-255how to possess in a holy way what Providence has mercifully placed in their hands.
This is why, although silver and gold are in themselves something quite vile, quite abject and
quite vulgar, nevertheless God created man, in this miserable state to which he is reduced, to
have a natural love and inclination to own them, so that always having some for his use, he could
thus respond to the neediness in which God has left him as a result of sin.
It is part of the design of God's Providence to leave this inclination and desire in men, just as
he leaves in diem the appetite to drink and eat in order to preserve their life. This desire for
wealth is a tyrannical, famished, annoying and unsettling desire because it exists in man as a result
of sin.
Thus graced souls, united securely to God, who enjoy all things in him, lose their desire for this
world. If tiiey experience it at all for tiieir needs, it is a peaceful desire and frequently it is even so
dead in them tiiat they do not think of it in the slightest.
Apostolic souls who live in God through community have the advantage of being able to easily
free themselves of these desires and cares, because they experience God present in tiieir midst,
furnishing adequately what is needed and assuring for them what is necessary to meet their needs.
Their concern is for God himself, who is everything for them, as they are completely given to
him and live only for him.
Oh, how happy in this world is the soul thus devoted to God and living without concern! It is a
servant of God, living for God, devoted to God alone, for whom it labors unceasingly. God as
well, on his part, is looking after its needs and its life. Oh, the soul who serves God in this way
and who seeks his kingdom and his justice possesses marvelous guarantees!
There is nothing more certain than the Word of God. It is worth more than a thousand
contracts. It can never be falsified, or altered, or disputed. It is preferable to any revenue, any
possession, any treasure, which could be stolen from us. Everything perishes. Heaven and earth
will pass away, but the Word of God will never pass away.
O blessed soul who is able to grasp tire truth of God and his holy Word! O apostolic soul,
living in the Holy Spirit, who grounds you in the Word of your powerful, ever vigilant and all
loving God! Wiry
-256concern yourself with anything other than God? Does not God know your needs?

The Gentiles, who know nothing at all about a universal intelligence that is attentive to the
needs of all and whose love cannot tolerate any poverty in his children, can well struggle and
work hard to provide for themselves. However, we see that our Father lives in us, sees the needs
of his family, and senses the affliction and neediness of his children. Why then so much worry
and frenzy?
He is good, tender and filled with love. He does not at all exhaust himself when he gives us his
goods. The generosity he shows us comes only from him. He is not like those fathers who,
whether they be misers or poor, whether they might become even poorer in giving, and whether
they are mainly untouched by the misery of their children, would nevertheless be unable to reftise
the help requested of them. Why should we not have perfect confidence in God? Why would we
not be like our Lord, who lived peacefùlly and quietly relying on the Providence of his Father?
Our Lord in this world lived in constant poverty because he led a life of penance. If he kept in
his disciples' care the alms that people gave him, it was a sign of his penance. For retaining thus
the charity and mercy that God his Father gave him through others, he believed that he should
safeguard with respect these precious presents, of which he felt unworthy, since he was burdened
with our sins. He did not want to squander them, like something God his Father should not at all
have ftirnished to his state, and which therefore he should use without expecting others that were
not in the least due him.
From this penitential perspective die least thing he received was a great treasure for him. He
did not look upon any good, any revenue or alms as guaranteed to him. Seeing himself very
unworthy of the slightest kindness from God toward him as a public penitent, he lived in
continual dependence on divine mercy.
In this condition, since he was taking the place of all sinners, everything should have been
taken away from him. Nodiing was due him. Thus he should have received die least possessions
as very great graces, with very profound feelings of his unworthiness and widi a great
appreciation and reverence for die mercy of God his Father.
He should have been deprived of all help and all wealth since he was doing penance for so
many greedy, money-hungry people and for the luxury and excesses committed by everyone. His
nudity and
-257the shameful stripping of all his clothes was die punishment for these overly rich and
sumptuous garments with which people adorn diemselves with excess and vanity. His crib, his
stable, his straw and his dung heap were a punishment for the very rich houses, excessively
gilded, decorated and so superbly furnished. And die blessed harshness of die cross, where he lay
in death, was a punishment for die many luxurious beds that fill the world widi scenes of so
much sensuality and impurity.
Penances exist in the church to continue the holy penance of Jesus Christ. The holy souls who
are called to this, in a special way, should be victims for die sins of the world, making satisfaction
to God through the very Spirit of Jesus Christ.
They should be poor with him, doing penance for die sms that prevail on earth. They should
oppose luxury and for that reason groan on wood and straw, being content with die poorest
rooms and furniture and with the most mediocre clothes, to give an example to the world
through the power of Jesus Christ, who, through us, can enlighten it and reveal its duty and life.
SIXTH SECTION
Motivesfor Poi erf
1. The heart that is filled with creatures, and especially with wealth, is always anxious. This is
why the Son of God compares, in die gospel, wealdi to diorns, which torment it and never leave
it in peace.
2. The heart filled with this love is pulled down to die earth and turned away from heaven.
3. God does not fill it widi himself. He even burdens and disgusts it.

4. As Saint Paul says: Itfalls into the traps of the deoil (1 Tm 6:9; see also 3:6-7). By giving in to its
own desires, it is fixated in its attachments, which will hasten it toward certain ruin.
5. Sooner or later the soul will be detached and separated from everything. The justice of God
will force it to leave some day what it has not chosen to leave now out of love.
6. Christians should be dead to all die desires of the world, and diey should no longer follow its
inclinations, acting as if they did not
-258have any of them. Thus they must smother all these vulgar desires for the external realities of
this world and all the affection they might have for the riches of the earth.
7. Christians should live die life of heaven. For in heaven we are freed from all the dispositions
of Adam's flesh. We live only according to die inclinations and dispositions of the Spirit. We are
freed from any attachment to creatures. In short, with Jesus Christ and all the saints, we are
hidden in God and separated from everything.
God, in himself, in Jesus Christ and in his saints is die model of our life for he is perfectly holy
and separated from everydiing. This is what Christians need to do if they wish to be lifted up into
God, even in this lifetime, as they will be in paradise. They must detach themselves by a holy life
from diemselves and from every creature.
The Spirit needs to be separated from the soul, which in itself is drawn and inclined by its
fleshly life toward all creatures, so diat our superior faculties, in which all the principal operations
of die interior and divine Spirit reside, will not be pulled down by die weight and inclination of
the inferior part, which is saturated by flesh and its vulgar, animalistic and earthly life. In this way,
these faculties will rise toward God without resistance or impediment.
Therefore our spirit and will need to be healed of every attachment to any creature whatsoever
and must in this way be free, devoid and detached from everydiing.
To attain this we must be equipped with the wings of the contemplation of the divine trutiis
and of the holy love of God, which lift us up and cause us to fly, in order to prevent, through this
divine movement, the downfall the weight of the flesh would cause in us. Since in this life we
always have this miserable weight drawing us down, we must as well always lift ourselves to God
through the power of die Holy Spirit.
SEVENTH SECTION
Other Motivesfor Poverty
1. God is our true and only good. He is the universal good in himself, fillfilling and satisfying all
the desires of those who possess him.
The adorable Persons of die Blessed Trinity are infintely rich and
-259happy in die possession of the divine Essence. The angels and saints of heaven, widi their
immense capacity, are perfecdy satisfied, in their desires, with the possession of God. The same is
true for die just on earth, who, being filled widi die superabundance of God, are totally content
and fully satisfied by the enjoyment of him.
God is our good to such an extent that he is our total good. The least possession of him
satisfies us more and makes us more content tiian all the goods of die world. These goods are
not substantial enough to fill die human heart. For since it is born for God, who alone is its true
good, it finds nothing but emptiness, vanity and falsehood outside of him. He alone can satisfy it
perfectly.
God is so perfect and contains in himself, with such fullness and superiority, all die advantages
of creatures, diat the slightest possession and enjoyment of him allows us to taste all kinds of
goods. So much so, that those who possess him, whether on earth or in heaven, discover in him
all their joy, contentment, peace and beatitude.
This is what our 1 .ord wants us to understand in the gospel when he says that if we are poor in
heart, that is, detached from everything, then to us belongs the kingdom of God, which is God
himself, containing in himself the fullness of all goods.

The Son of God did not come down from heaven and come to eartii simply to detach us from
the goods of the world, but rather to obtain for us true wealth by depriving us of those [goods]
that only appear worthwhile.
This is why the children of the faith can no longer attach themselves to or even look lovingly at
the visible things of diis world. Because faidi, which is die source of their conduct and life, leads
them toward invisible realities and toward die love of them alone.
The children of faith are dead to the senses and to die generation of dieir original fadier. They
can no longer attach themselves to die eardi. They can no longer relish creatures. They can no
longer love this world, which has been made for Adam and destined for his children.
Faidi causes diem to perceive God as the only, unique and ultimate good hidden in everything
visible. It causes diem to see everything in its truth and in its core, which is God alone. It obliges
them to say to every creature, You are only a lie; and to God, You are all my truth, who will one
day destroy every symbol so that you alone will be revealed as the world of believers.
God is not only the true and unique good, who can adorn and
-260enrich people, but he wishes as well to give himself to Christians who are detached from
everything. At one time he gave himself to Adam through creatures, but seeing that they
distracted him and that that was dangerous for humanity, he stripped himself and shed everything
in order to offer himself as die sole possession of Christian souls.
This is why he wishes that Christians be satisfied with him alone and that they come to him as
he gives himself to them, in perfect nakedness, having nothing but faidi, which helps them to
embrace and possess him.
This is the holiest state possible, that is, to possess God as he is in himself, with no distractions
and no intermediary that can stop us, or that can impede us or lead us astray. God fills us
completely in diis state and satisfies us, leaving no aversion or void.
In heaven God allows the saints to possess him without intermediary or image. In the same
way he wishes that the Christian soul be emptied of everything and stripped of every created
being so that it might be disposed to receive him in interior nakedness and in poverty of spirit.
Oh, how blessed is die soul that knows and tastes God in this state! Oh, how blessed is the
condition of Christians, who are all called to this grace!
2. Christians are not of this world. Since baptism places them in another generation, it also
transplants them into a different world. It makes diem citizens of another city. It places them in
another kingdom.
This kingdom is the kingdom of God into which we are introduced by faith, which shows us
other riches to possess, another King to serve and honor, odier pleasures to enjoy, another eardi
to inhabit, another air to breathe, and another light to guide us.
Now the first point and the first condition required to enter diis kingdom is poverty. Blessed are
the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them (Mt 5:3).
The great King of this new world is Jesus Christ, who is poor. The princes of his court, the
holy apostles, are poor. The mistress and queen, the blessed Virgin, is poor. All the courtiers and
all die bourgeois there arc poor. Even the angels are all naked. What would it be like to see a rich
person in the midst of so many poor people?
If at court, where everyone is rich, there appeared a poor person, he would be found repulsive
and would be driven away. Eikewise in die kingdom of Jesus, where all die courtiers are poor, a
rich person
-261cannot enter or show up at the door without being driven away or shamefully rejected.
Our Lord drives away from his banquet die one who did not have on a wedding garment and
threw him, widi feet and hands bound, into hell. The wedding garment and holy poverty are die
livery of die bridegroom.

He himself declares that die rich cannot be welcomed or admitted into his banquet or into his
kingdom: Oh, how difficult it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven (Lk 18:24)! The rich man
mentioned in the gospel cannot be admitted, but die poor are welcomed with Lazarus. For the
kingdom of heaven is theirs.
The kingdom of Jesus Christ is not of diis world. Here we think highly of the rich: Blessed are
the people who have possessions; but in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, Beati pauperes, Blessed are the
poor. The kingdom of die world is a staged kingdom, but the one belonging to Jesus Christ is
authentic and its reign is forever.
EIGHTH SECTION
The evils ofselfcenteredness —
There is nothing more opposed to Christianity than self-centeredness. For Christianity has its
source in Jesus Christ, who fashions his members after himself. As a human being he is grounded
and transplanted in the substance of die Word.
This is why the Christian spirit desires that Christians be transplanted and transferred from the
stalk of Adam onto the incarnate Word and that, being enlivened by him and sustained by him,
they no longer exist for themselves, no longer live tiieir own life and no longer act except
through him alone.
We should hold nothing more in horror than self-centeredness, which deprives us of the
fullness of the Word, his life, his activity and which makes us, in this admirable body, like useless
members who cannot lay claim to any substantial or true good. On the contrary, if we abnegate
ourselves and then ground ourselves in Jesus Christ, we are all things and can do all things in
God.
This is why our Lord put abnegation in his gospel as the first step we must take in the Christian
life! If someone wishes to come after me, let him renounce himself (Mt 16:24), because self-centeredness,
being
-262filled with the self, blocks Jesus Christ and die fullness of his divine life from entering us. It is
the inexhaustible source of every evil and every sin.
In the state of innocence Adam did not belong to himself, but totally to God. By sin he became
self-centered and die father of all sin. Thus having transmitted to men both the sin and the self­
centeredness, diey find in die latter the origin of all their vices and all dieir deformities.
Self-centeredness is a horrible monster and the hideous ocean of all sin, just as abnegation is
the summary of perfection and the source of the Christian life and virtues.
The person who lives in self-denial holds onto nothing. He no longer possesses human
prudence or false wisdom. He no longer has any desires or will of his own. He is flexible, pliable
and docile to the law of die Spirit. He has surrendered to his holy guidance and to his divine
movement. In short, he is entering the reign and domination of God.
NINTH SECTION
The Effects ofSelfcenteredness and Annihilation
Self-centeredness
Abnegation
1. The self-centered person dwells in himself.
1. The Christian goes out of himself.
2. The self-centered person is full of himself.
2. The Christian is empty of himself.
3. The self-centered person places his trust in 3. The Christian mistrusts himself and
himself and relies on himself.
relies on Jesus Christ.
4. The self-centered person is always preoccupied 4. The Christian always forgets himself.
with himself.
5. The self-centered person thinks highly
of 5. The Christian despises himself.
himself.
6. The self-centered person wishes to make an 6. The Christian withdraws and hides
impression and show off.
himself.

-2637. The self-centered person loves praise and seeks it.

7. The Christian is confused by praise
and flees it.
8. The self-centered person speaks about himself.
8. The Christian never speaks about
himself.
9. The self-centered person has difficulty tolerating 9. The Christian rejoices in praise given
any praise given to his neighbor. He never speaks of to his neighbor. He describes with delight
another's perfections, or if he does, he diminishes another's perfections and extols them,
them.
10. The self-centered person cannot tolerate being 10. The Christian gives in easily to his
contradicted and gives in to no one.
brother and submits himself freely to all.
11. The self-centered person is obsessed with his 11. The Christian always mistrusts his
own opinion and judgment. He despises all advice and own judgment. He honors the opinions of
has respect only for his own.
others and defers to them.
12. The self-centered person acts on his own and 12. The Christian acts in light of his
with his own power, widiout paving any attention to nothingness, by uniting himself to die
his weakness.
power of Jesus Christ.
13. The self-centered person acts independently and 13. The Christian acts dependently and
always follows his own will.
follows the will of Jesus Christ in his
superiors.
14. The self-centered person sees, desires and draws 14. The Christian desires nothing for
everything to himself and wills good only for himself, himself and only desires the good of his
neighbor.
15. The self-centered person acts in all dungs for 15. The Christian acts in all things for
himself.
God.
16. The self-centered person values his own 16. The Christian values detachment
pleasure and satisfaction in everything and seeks it from himself in everything and seeks it
everywhere.
everywhere.
-26417. The self-centered person is attached to 17. The Christian is free and liberated from
everything.
everything.
18. The self-centered person stands out in 18. The Christian is ordinary in both his
everything.
exterior and his interior.
19. The self-centered person gets along with no 19. The Christian gets along with everyone,
one.
20. The self-centered person, seeing himself as 20. The Christian, seeing himself as inferior
better than the rest, withdraws from everyone, to all, is delighted to live with everyone, as die
and is happy to remain by himself and with diose least of all, without wondering if anyone sees
who esteem and approve him.
him, appreciates him or loves him.
21. The self-centered person draws the world 21. The Christian is detached from
to himself and becomes more possessive, uniting everything and seeks to offer and lead
all others to himself and detaching them from everyone to Jesus Christ, respecting die social
everyone else out of love for himself.
order.
22. The self-centered person wants to fill the 22. The Christian wants to fill everyone with
heart and mind of every creature with himself.
the love and the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
2 3. The self-centered person is willing to be 23. The Christian is the same in dryness and
devout rn consolation, abundance and praise, but abundance, in scorn and praise. In whatever

he abandons all in desolation, dryness and scorn, state he is in, all his thought and devotion are
for the service of Jesus Christ.
24. The self-centered person always wants to be 24. The Christian always wants to obey. He
in charge and speaks to his brothers arrogantly speaks with respect and gentleness to
and generally in a loud voice.
everyone, whom he regards as his superior.
-26525. The self-centered person wants the very 25. The Christian only desires the least and
best for himself in clothes, food, lodging, and so the simplest of everything.
forth.
26. The self-centered person wants to pass for 26. The Christian does not want to pass for
the author of everything and wishes tiiat the tlie author of the good he does and deflects the
glory be given only to him.
glory on to others.
27. The self-centered person wants to appear 27. The Christian always works to open
involved in everything. He works and searches people's eyes to show them that God is tlie
in his mind for ways to prove it in order to win author of eveiy good. Thus he tries to abnegate
die admiration of others.
himself everywhere in his presence.
28. The self-centered person is always agitated, 28. The Christian is always even-tempered
troubled and anxious, always frustrated and and calm, always peaceful, courageous and
hindered, always timid, frivolous and unstable. constant, always free and ready to do anything.
29. The self-centered person is generally sad, 29. The Christian is joyous, open and his
closed, lost in reverie and withdrawn.
mind is free of all daydreaming.
30. The self-centered person becomes upset 30. The Christian never gets angry. He
by die most insignificant statement. He gets endures everything without his heart ever
angry at everything and suspects that everything changing. He never thinks that anyone pays any
is done and said in relation to him.
attention to him or intends to hurt him.
31. The self-centered person becomes 31. The Christian, who does not look at
exceedingly joyful when his self-love and pride reality in relation to himself but to God,
succeed. He changes and is unrecognizable remains united to him in everything and
whenever various mishaps occur to him.
therefore is always the same in any kind of
occurrence.
-266CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Charity Toward the Neighbor
God, in creating man in his image and likeness, not only gave him a share in his being, his life
and Ins divine perfections, but also wanted him to be like him in his activities.
Thus, as God loves himself with all tiiat he is and to the full extent of who he is and what he is
capable of, so that he cannot love himself more, in the same way he gave man an explicit
commandment to love him with all his heart, all his soul, all his mind and all his strength.
God wishes that man use his whole self to love him and tiiat he be completely lost and
consumed in his love. Just as God is die fullness of love in himself and all that he does outside
himself, he does for the love of himself, likewise he wishes that man use all his strength and do
everything only for die love of God.
Not only did God create man in his image and likeness, but also he modeled human society
after the society of the Persons in the most holy Trinity. For this reason, just as in that adorable
society, the Father loves his Son as himself, and loves himself in his Son, and the same is true for
the love of the Son toward die Father and toward the Holy Spirit, and for die love of the Holy
Spirit toward the Father and die Son, he also wants man to love his neighbor as himself.

This is why he gave this second commandment: You will lore your neighbor as yourself (Dt 6:5),
which Jesus Christ said was like the first (Mt 22:39), because it also conforms to the divine and
eternal life of the Persons in the most holy Trinity.
This is how our Lord has loved us. For, speaking of the love he has for humanity, he says diat
it is like the love that his Father has for him: As my Father has loved me. so I have loved you (Jn 15:9).
The same love he has for me, I have for you. This shows us that the love he has for his neighbor
is drawn from the love his Father has for him and that it is an imitation of the love diat one
divine Person has for another, loving him as another self.
This is the way our Lord wants men to love one another. This is why he says to his disciples:
Love one another as 1 hare lovedyou (Jn 15:12). As I have modeled my love that I have for you on diat
which my Father has for me, in the same way, I want you to model the love you should have for
one another on the love I have for you, so that
-267yours may be found to conform totally to and resemble folly that of my Fadier.
FIRST SECTION
Conditionsfor the Fore ofNeighbor
The qualities and conditions of the love of neighbor should resemble those of the love diat
God has for himself in his Son and those with which his Son loves humanity.
This is why die external examples of his love toward humanity should be the model for what
charity obliges us to do externally for our neighbor; and his interior Spirit, which is given to us,
should govern us and activate us interiorly in that same love. For we can never carry out or
accomplish perfectly this holy command except dirough this Spirit who is God himself.
God, who is in us, loves himself through his Spirit in the neighbor where he dwells. And thus
he causes us to love him as he loves himself. For he is totally in the odier and loving himself
everywhere, as he deserves, he loves himself infinitely in the neighbor.
He animates our heart, fills it with his own love, establishes us in Ins life, in his movements and
in Ins own inclinations. This is why the soul, following the sentiments and interior dispositions of
his divine Spirit, loves its God in its neighbor with die same love and the same passion widi
which it loves God in itself.
The soul should never love itself except in God, that is, only because God animates it and fills
it. It should love itself in God, as God loves himself, because it shares in the life of God. Thus it
should love its God and love itself widi the same love. And since God is also in the neighbor, it
should love God with the same love widi which it loves him in itself.
God loves himself in his Word and gives himself infinitely to him. He gives himself so folly to
him that he holds back nothing of his riches and glory. He exists fully in him. There he dwells
and experiences his beatitude just as he does in himself. Even though he does this out of
necessity, he never stops doing it out of love. Indeed he does it with a necessary love. For
necessity in God cannot impede his love, since he is love in everything that he is.
Thus we must do the same toward our neighbor. We must love
-268him widi our whole selves. We must share ourselves with him: from our hearts, our souls, our
resources and our presence. In short, we should never have anything we are not ready to invest in
him.
The first Christians lived with God's life, following die rule of love, which he had commanded
for them and which the Holy Spirit caused diem to follow. They possessed everything in
common, as Jesus Christ shared everything in common widi his Father. Just as in God there is
only one Spirit, only one vital will in three Persons and a perfect unity of dispositions, thoughts
and desires, in the same way, it is said of the first Christians that they had but one soul, one heart
and one and die same will. This is the life of the saints in heaven, who exist in perfect unity, and
it should be also diat of all the faithfol living in the church.

This is how our Lord showed that he was the first to follow the orders diat he decreed for man
and diat he was fillfilling die law of his Father. For being the first-born of his brothers, he needed
to be the first one to obey his Father perfectly and to be for us the model and image of how to
conduct our lives perfectiy.
He imitates his Father in the eternal love that his Father has for him and shows in his life diat
he loves us as his Father has loved him from all eternity: I hare lovedyou as my Father has loved me.
My Father pours all his substance into me, and I communicate mine to you in my blessed
sacrament and in my communion.
My Fadier communicates and gives me his life. I give you mine, not only by not sparing it on
the cross and giving you die very last drop of my blood, but also in giving you my Spirit, who is
my life.
My Father communicates his riches and treasures to me. I give you the gifts of my Spirit.
He gives me his fecundity, so that I am able to produce a divine Person. I give you the same
fecundity in order to produce and generate children for God and for eternal life.
He gave me all power in heaven and earth. He gave me power over all nature to do with it as I
wish and to alter its order when it pleases me and however I choose. I have given you strength
and power, through the presence of my Spirit, to do die same things and even greater ones
whenever it will be necessary for die glory of God my Father and for the good of his church.
I have nothing that I have not given to you. All that I have in me, I wish you to share with me;
just as all that my Father has, I share in common with him. Finally, just as my Father places in me
all diat he
-269has and all that he is, in die same way, I place in you all diat I have and all that I am. This is the
law of true and perfect charity toward the neighbor.
SECOND SECTION
Signs of True and Perfect Tore ofNeighbor
True and perfect love can be recognized by the great love we have for everyone. This love
would like to set everything ablaze, even to seeing itself filled with a fire, a passion and a zeal to
make God known and loved everywhere.
This universal charity should not be an illusion, as in some who are ablaze with a zeal generated
by a spirit of pride and self-love, which relishes great filings and wants to be involved in brilliant
and extraordinary works.
It should be shown toward all individuals, for whom we should want to do as much good as
possible, helping them with our resources in their struggles and needs and satisfying, with
Christian gentleness and cordiality, all those who come seeking some comfort.
Pure love has no external tenderness and no apparent emotional expression. It binds hearts to
itself with such purity that, although it wins them all over and, by a secret operation of God,
keeps them intimately united and bound to oneself, nevertheless, externally, it does not keep
them bound. That is what results from the freedom of a holy and pure love, which liberates those
who are united in God from any external and tangible bond.
This divine charity never exhausts itself or grows weary. The neighbor in need can always have
recourse to it in any place or occurrence it may find itself without fear of rejection.
It always produces this marvelous result as well, which is one of its infallible signs. It remains
bound and united to all, never attracting anyone to itself, in a way that would separate it from
others, or from its duty and obligations.
Its love fosters union among all things. It becomes a center point where every line ends and
comes together. Unlike false charity, which divides people who are united in order to draw them
to oneself alone, true charity holds together people with the most diverse inclinations. Through
its care the most polarized are maintained in relationship.
-270-

Perfect love of neighbor leads us to rejoice with him over his goods as if they were our own.
Just as God rejoices in die goods of his Son and die Son rejoices as well in die goods of die Holy
Spirit as if they were his own, in die same way we should rejoice over the blessings of God in die
neighbor and look upon diem as our own. Therefore, if love in us is perfect and if it is truly God
who produces it in our heart, then it will rejoice and dilate in us as we behold the blessings diat
our neighbors have.
Thus our Tord rejoices interiorly, through the action of the Holy Spirit, to see the holy apostles
recount the admirable effects of his Father in them. He rejoices to see his disciples clothed with
the gifts and riches of his Spirit. He rejoices in advance over all the activities with which this
divine Spirit will one day adorn and enrich his church through die merits of his death. This is a
mystery hidden from the eyes of the wise and prudent and which was only to be known by the
litde ones, who, being subject to the guidance of the church and its leader, would see that a most
insignificant reality of nature, that is, the son of a carpenter, a poor man, disgraced and worthless
in the eyes of the world, would stir the world and overturn all nations, monarchies and empires
through the power and efficacy of his finger, who is the Holy Spirit present in his gifts. For if we
take into account the substance of this same Spirit, then tiiese gifts, compared to the Holy Spirit,
are only like die finger of a man compared to his whole body.
In this same way the Holy Spirit rejoices through Saint John and through Saint Elizabeth in the
good fortune of the blessed Virgin, who had become Mother of the Son of God and thus the
bride of the eternal Father. For she became, with him, the source of the temporal generation of
the Word, accomplishing together with him in the Incarnation what he accomplishes alone in
eternity.
That is the most wondrous activity and the most divine exaltation possible for a creature, to
share with the eternal Father in his fecundity through die actual generation of his Son.
The highest, the most sublime and most perfect power of die Most High is his fecundity. It is
this he shares with die blessed Virgin, in marrying her, in order to realize with her the temporal
generation of the eternal Word.
She becomes at the same time the temple of the Holy Spirit in die purest and most abundant
fullness possible. Since she was destined to be the Mother of Jesus Christ, she received the
fullness of grace. The
-271angel acknowledges that by these words: Hail, full of grace (Lk 1:28). This is why she is the
purest, most divine and most perfect creature possible. Her maternal fecundity flows from this
fullness of perfection, just as the fecundity of God originates from die exuberance of his perfect
substance and his divine being. In a similar way trees only produce dieir fruit through die
overabundance and excess of the sap in them.
However, even though this admirable Mother is filled with die perfection needed for divine
fecundity, she receives further graces and gifts through a wonderful superabundance. This is what
the angel says to her: The I lolg Spirit will come uponyou (Lk 1:35) to work great tilings, and diey will
surpass the fullness of blessings he has already communicated to you. This is the reason for Saint
Elizabeth's joy, who rejoices in her cousin's happiness as if it were her own.
Even the blessed Virgin, in contemplating Jesus Christ, who comes to her with the fullness of
his Father's divinity, rejoices in her spirit. She rejoices in the blessings of Jesus Christ. She rejoices
in the fullness of God in him, who clothed him with the treasures of his wisdom and his
knowledge. This was the great reason for her joy.
She rejoices also that the church is to be clodied and filled with the fullness of her Son. For it is
through his divine Spirit that all the faithful come to share in his grace and his gifts.
In die same way all the saints in heaven rejoice in the gifts of God, which they possess. They
rejoice for each other, each one sharing in the good fortune of everyone else and making it his
own.

In fact, these gifts are all shared through the real and perfect communion in the favors of God,
which exists among them, and which they communicate to one another through the common
indwelling that they have with one another.
Through an admirable resemblance to the three Persons of die most holy Trinity, they are in a
circummcession, dwelling in each odier, as die divine and eternal Persons dwell in each other
through their circummcession.
This is what our Lord teaches us with these words:
As I am in my Father and my Fadier is in me through the sharing of his
substance and his life, and yet at the same time he never ceases to remain who he
is, and I remain who I am, thus it is with you. For I am likewise in you and you
are totally consumed in me, as my Fadier and I are identified in the simplicity and
the unity of die same Essence.
-272Just as my Father and I are distinguished by die characteristics of our Persons,
even though, however, our goods are in common and individually we possess
nothing of the treasures and riches of his common, divine substance, similarly,
even diough you are totally consumed in me, each one nevertheless remains who
he is. Each one preserves his individual being. Each one is distinguished by his
gifts, by his graces and by his own personality.
This is the condition of the saints who possess Jesus Christ completely. He is their common
substance. For although each one possesses die whole Spirit and the whole life of Jesus Christ,
nevertheless they are not indistinguishable. Each one has his own personality and his own gift.
Thus in die holy church on eardi, as well as in heaven, just as each individual possesses Jesus
Christ in his fùllness, all share in his gifts, all communicate in his holy disposition, all share in his
divine Spirit, which is a Spirit of joy, and which dilates in giving itself and pouring itself out into
the hearts of die faidiful, so everyone should rejoice in their common goods, as if they were their
own. Also we notice that when this Spirit is given to an individual, all pure souls give thanks and
rejoice.
As Saint Anthony was dying, the whole church was filled with sadness, because tins same Spirit
stopped sharing himself widi him on earth, along with the joy and dilation that the souls of the
church militant experienced when he received it. For in his time he was one of the those in
whom the Spirit of God was most pleased.
Let us bless God for everything: for the gifts he has given to die church in heaven and for
those he communicates to the church on earth, in which every individual participates.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
How to Accomplish Our Works According to the Principle of the Christian Life
The old man in us wants always to be active and therefore to be self-seeking, because flesh in
us, in its present state, cannot stop looking after its own interests.
Since the flesh does not want to lift itself to God, or lead us to him, and since it is unceasingly
self-seeking, it must be rejected at the
-273beginnmg of every undertaking with all its plans and intentions. This is why the first disposition
we should have in our works is to renounce ourselves in all self-seeking.
The second tiling we must do is to adore die Spirit of Jesus Christ who lifted his soul to God
with all die purity, holiness and justice possible. He lifted it to God widi die holiest of intentions
and the purest dispositions he could muster. For die Spirit of God in the soul of Jesus Christ
rendered to God die Father all the honor, praise and glory that he was capable of receiving.
The third thing we must do is to ask this divine Spirit to pour out in us the dispositions in
which he wishes to establish us for the glory of God.

Finally, we must abandon ourselves to this Spirit, so that he can lift our soul to have the
dispositions that he wishes for this entire undertaking, remaining intimately united to him in all
we must be about.
The interior of Jesus Christ consists in the divine Spirit filling his soul with all the intentions
and dispositions by which God could be honored by him and by his whole church. This interior
life must be always before our eyes as die source and model of all the interior life of our souls.
We must even offer often to God diis divine interior as a supplement to our own so that it
might act as a reparation to him for out faults. Our Lord himself graciously chose to offer it
often to God for this intention.
For this union that we must have widi the Spirit of Jesus Christ in order to live the Christian
life and act in a holy manner, we must also realize that it is not essential to feel in ourselves this
Spirit and to taste experientially the sentiments and die dispositions of Jesus Christ. Rather, it is
enough to unite ourselves through faith, that is, through out will and a real and authentic desire.
This is what the Holy Spirit gave us so that we might act according to die desire of our Lord
himself, when he said that his Father desires worshipers in spirit and truth Qn 4:24), that is, true religious
and worshipers who are separated from themselves in truth, not seeking their own interests, and
who adhere in a real way to the Spirit of Jesus Christ, die religious and worshiper of God die
Father. This is what constitutes the authentic interior Christian religion.
When the Holy Spirit dwells in us dirough grace, and we are separated from sin, it is enough
that our soul, in its purest part, diat
-274is, in diat part that is called spirit, remain united to the Holy Spirit so diat we might act widi his
life and his holiness.
We must also realize, for the consolation of pure and holy souls, that our Lord served his
Father, especially during his passion, with his spirit and the superior part of his soul, without
feeling anything in the inferior sensate part.
The superior part of Jesus Christ our Lord was in glory and saw, in its full light, the whole
range of adorable intentions by which he could honor God the Fadier. He entered into these
intentions. He adhered to the Spirit who showed them to him and who produced them in him.
During the time his soul experienced aversion, dryness and bitterness, he experienced resistance
toward that which his spirit accepted and which he willed for the glory of God.
Thus we should not become very upset over the dryness and aversion of the flesh, provided
that we are doing our duty and that dirough die superior part of our soul, which is our spirit and
our will, we adhere to die Holy Spirit, who is in us to act according to his intentions and his
desires.
We must unite ourselves widi a pure spirit of sacrifice and faith, that is, with an intangible and
obscure yet certain knowledge that God is in us through his holy and divine spirit to help us in
our infirmity, which cannot on its own lift itself to God.
When he sees our assent to die good desires that he gives us, that we wish only to act for his
glory, that we give ourselves totally to him and that we seek die help of his grace, he embraces us,
he elevates us, he sanctifies us and leads us to act in spirit and truth, without in any of this
making himself felt by the soul, in order to wean it from die flesh and to maintain it in a greater
holiness and detachment from itself.
This Spirit is the spirit of all Christian religion, which gives life to all the faitiiful, as well as the
power to act in holiness and justice. We must lose ourselves constantly in him, separating us from
ourselves, following our Lord's commandment in the introduction he gives us to the Christian
life: He who wishes to come after me must deny bis very self, take up bis cross andfollow me (Mt 16:24). The
authentic disciple of Jesus Christ, who wants to live like him, must renounce himself. He should
no more seek to please himself titan did Jesus Christ. Rather, he must adhere to the divine Spirit
who is in him. He must
-275-

follow him and imitate die conduct of Jesus Christ, who never did his own will.
He lived in perfect adherence to die Spirit of God his Father and kept his soul, in its superior
and principle part, always united to him during all the aversions, alienations and contradictions
that he allowed to arise in his flesh. Such was the contradiction that he suffered in himself against himself. —
This is the third condition of diose who follow our Lord: to adhere continually to the Spirit
through a resolute will, which keeps us always at our duty in die middle of crosses and
contradictions and which elevates us to God without pleasing ourselves, during which our flesh,
wishing the complete opposite of what it should and being unable to ever subject itself to God,
contradicts him unceasingly.
The flesh desires die opposite of what the spirit desires. Thus during this struggle a part of us,
which is the spirit, must adhere to the Holy Spirit with which it should be totally one in its desire,
its will and its divine qualities, infinitely separated from and transcending the flesh. Meanwhile,
the other part of us, which is die soul in its inferior part, adheres to the flesh.
Furthermore we must hate die soul that animates the flesh and maintains widiin itself this
struggle and diis perpetual cross. If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself daily, take up his cross
andfollow me (Lk 9:23).
-276The Christian Day On Seeing the Sun
My God, I adore you in diis beautiful star, where you dwell as in your tabernacle. He made the
sun to be his tabernacle (Ps 19:5).
In it I adore and conceive some small idea of what you are in yourself.
In yourself you are one. You are very simple in your life and substance. Nevertheless, my God,
you give life to a countless multitude of creatures, all distinct and different, which subsist and
have life through you.
Have you not expressed, my God, diis wonder? Have you not shown in die sun, which is
unique and simple in its substance, diat die lives of creatures depend on a single reality?
If it traverses the whole world, is it not to proclaim this trudi: diat you are the Father of every
creature and the source of life in all diat subsists?
When this sun brings creatures to the fullness and perfection of life, which they receive from
you, you show us that you possess in yourself alone, in unity and eminent perfection, the life that
is poured out in creatures. You have placed yourself in it, as in a throne, from which you enliven
all die dead and all the creatures tiiat languish in die graves of earth, where they possessed only
the seed of life, which you furnish them through diis star.
O my God, my possession and my life, everything depends on you. If for a moment you would
cease giving existence and life to creatures, we would see everything perish.
You teach us this truth through this beautiful star, for when it
-277undergoes an eclipse and is prevented from lavishing its effects on the earth, it leaves
everything to languish.
O my God, you use die rays of the sun to bring life and energy to everything on eardi. Through
the absence of their effects, you make us realize that it is through diem diat you operate in die
world.
You wish, O my possession, that while we see creatures rejoicing at its rising, turning
themselves toward it and opening themselves to it in order to receive life; you wish, I was saying,
that we adore you in it and diat we fix our gaze on you, proclaiming with a spirit of religion that it
serves only as a covering for you and as a channel to bring your life into the world, for there is
nothing in us that does not come from you.
Also it is you, O my God, tiiat all creatures behold. They give homage to you as their sovereign,
and in this star they recognize you as die king and source of their life.

In it all creatures are your slaves. They all render homage to you. From them you receive
adoration and die unspoken reverence of die work of your hands.
However, O great all-encompassing One, this veneration is quite lowly and very unworthy of
your sovereign majesty. Jesus Christ came to offer you die homage of all creatures. He is the one
who should animate them, who, through them, should adore you as the author and the source of
everything and who should give you thanks for all your lavish generosity.
O Lord, O the love of our hearts, you who are yourself a sun, do for us what you do for your
non-rational creatures. Thank your Father for us, since you cannot tolerate that he remain
without honor and gratitude for all the good he does. Do this both for them and for us at the
same time. For we are indebted to God for all the good that he does for us through them.
We are overwhelmed with blessings. Through both grace and nature, he gives us everything we
could think of and more dian we can understand. O my Lord, you alone understand everything.
Be charitable and merciful enough to kindly thank him for everything.
It is not, my Lord, that we want to become lazy in offering our homage for his lavish gifts or
that we want to remain ungrateful or silent because you are thanking your Father on our behalf.
No, my Lord. For we want to lose ourselves, plunging into your Spirit and thus entering into
your praise and thanksgiving to God.
Inasmuch as it is possible, we wish to share in your religion toward
-278him. However, since we know practically nothing of die gifts he gives us, and since we have
nothing in us that is pleasing or acceptable to him, we need to approach you and seek in you
what we need to satisfy him.
O Lord, be our only supplement. And you, who alone are worth more than all things, be our
unique offering and present to God.
ANOTHER MEDITATION
0/z the Sun
I greet you, image of my master Jesus Christ. You are the original emanation from my God,
filled widi his light and splendor.
God engenders his Word in eternity, as a light proceeding from light, a God emanating from
God. In the first production of the world God creates light and attaches it to the sun, which fills
the whole world with clarity. Similarly, in the creation of the new world Jesus Christ enlightens all
men. Coming into this world, he enlightened every man (Jn 1:9). He who said let light shine in the darkness has
shone in our hearts (2 Cor 4:6).
Jesus Christ, my sun, you fill with your power your sacraments, which are like the planets and
stars that sustain the world.
O beautiftil sun of justice, grant that your light will never fail us, that your church will never
experience your eclipse, that your clarity and your holy influence will pour forth on us forever.
Without you, everything would perish, O my Lord Jesus, because God lives in you to enlighten
and to enliven the world.
God enlightens die world in you and through you by faith, which is an obscure light, because
we are pilgrims. However, in eternity, O my Jesus, God will enlighten us in you and through you
with a splendor a thousand times brighter than die sun.
It is you, as Saint John says in his Apocalypse, who are the sun of paradise. He says that he no
longer saw the sun shining on that city because of the light of God, which shone brilliantly in die
Lamb (Rv 21:23).
O Lord, how happy I will be when I will see that splendor! It is a sun that never blinds and
never dazes those who approach it. Approach him and be enlightened: and you will not be confused (Ps
34:6).
Lord, how strong my countenance will be! How powerful will be
-279-

my eyes in those beautiful days when your majesty, a hundred million times more splendid and
brilliant than the light of the sun, will not weaken or blind my vision!
Then, my all, my love, my possession, my life, my God, I will see you in your light. You will be
in me, sustaining me and strengthening me in my nothingness. You will see yourself in me and
you will be another you in me.
Oh, how irritating and unfortunate is any other brilliance, any other light of day for us who wait
for that one!
O my Master, grant that soon you will be all things to me and that I will enter into that light
which permits no darkness.
PRAYERS
When We See the Earth, Plants, Flowers and Fruits
My God, how adorable you are in this spectacle of nature!
My God, you are much more beautiful and more wondrous in yourself than concealed in these
beautiful things!
O my God, how happy I would be if my faith and your holy light allowed me to see what you
are beneath them.
How greatly I should lament that my sin has deprived me of this light!
Adam rejoiced in his innocence because he saw you in all dungs. He saw what they showed him
of your beauty. In their depth, he adored your hidden divinity.
The universe, my God, and even a thousand universes together could not represent you. Only
your Word represents you as you are in yourself.
However, my God, since the Word can only be seen in heaven, it is quite fitting diat you
furnished a kind of word on earth to express yourself. It is fitting, O my All, that you caused your
creatures to speak perceptibly to our eyes and ears, proclaiming what you are and teaching us
something of what you keep hidden m yourself.
You have thus manifested the depth of your existence, your substance, your life, and your
beauty, albeit coarsely, through these insignificant creatures. This was no doubt so that you would
be adored through them. Thus, O my Love, I adore you in all you are and in all diat you wish to
reveal of yourself.
-280I do not know very clearly all that you are, but it is enough that I know that you have placed
diese tableaux before our eyes so diat, through them, we might adore your beauty and that our
faith might be aroused, since it often becomes listless when it does not have something external
to awaken it.
My God, you create everything to lead us to your love, and I want to love you for all these
beautiful means, which you give me.
My God, do I not see on earth, on the one hand, stones that exist without producing any fruit,
and on the other, land which gives life to a diousand plants?
What does that mean, my God? From what little I can understand, it seems to me that these
stones represent your being, that is your eternal being. The eardi, which produces fruit
abundantly, represents die fecundity of that being and that life-giving substance which, from its
depth, enlivens all things.
My gentle Love, your own substance possesses every imaginable treasure in the same way diat
you chose the eardi to cany, in its womb, mines and hidden treasures.
Your substance, beyond the beauties and perfections, which it contains in itself, is also the
source of the fecundity and life in all things. It is in this way, O my All, that the eardi is, so it
seems to me, like the source of life for all those beautiftil things, which are born in her.
My God, my All, so many diverse and admittedly coarse tilings exist in order to reveal that
which you are in the simplicity of your being!
How perfect you are, O my possession and my God, since you contain all these things in your
simplicity and without any of their cormption, their complexity and their impurity!

O Fullness of Being, how perfect you are! How pure and holy you are! When will I have the
great blessing of seeing you in yourself?
One day you will draw back the irritating and unfortunate curtain from all those created things
that hide you and shield you from the eyes of your lovers.
You leave this blindfold on them to create the desire to see you. Lord, you wish to train us to
long for you.
Take away, my God, all these images and show us the truth. They will perish one day. For we
will not be interested in the shadows once we see the light. We will see the sun of justice himself.
We will
-281see Jesus Christ, the portrait of your beauty. We will see you, O my God, who is the source of
everything!
How the whole universe displeases me when it hinders me from enjoying you! However, my
possession and my God, how it pleases me, in my exile and deprivation, when it speaks to me of
you!
Therefore, all you creatures, speak of my love. All of you, open yourselves up, uncover your
bosom and show me what you carry in yourselves of my All.
You cannot argue with me. It is clear. It is up to you, my possession, to show yourself and to
reveal yourself to me in your very self.
How easy it is for my love to project rays of light from all these places where he dwells in order
to reveal himself to my mind and my heart!
It is very easy for my All to reveal himself from the depth of all things and to make himself
known to us through all that he is in them. My God, I desire this to the extent that it is for your
glory and no more.
In the meantime, I condemn the sin of my first fadier and my own, which caused you to
remove from all things die revelation of what you are in yourself, which you had given to us.
While awaiting, my possession, for you to choose to reveal tins to me, I adore you in Jesus
Christ, who is my universe and who reveals to me in himself all your perfections. Having become
man, he contains them all as in a précis. He desires that we find in him our whole universe, so
that nothing of you will remain hidden in him. Quick, destruction is decreed, overflowing with justice. For
the Lord will execute his decree without delay in the midst of the earth. Quickly the Lord willfulfill his word on
earth (Is 10:22-23; Rom 9:28).
He became a man, visible like us, to reveal visibly and tangibly what you are in yourself. He
came to make known to men your beauty and your perfections by his way of life, his words and
his powerful works.
He showed men your love, your gentleness, your patience, your power, your strength, your
beauty and your life.
I see clearly that these herbs, these plants and these fruits represent the life of God, but it
would take thousands and millions throughout the world to reveal it to us in its infinite expanse,
and even then they would do so quite imperfectly.
But you, O my Jesus, who contain in yourself all the life of God and all the forms of life that he
communicated to creatures, you
-282reveal in yourself alone, in an eminent way, what all these things show us very imperfectly.
My possession, my All, do you not possess, beyond such ordinary, natural lives, that divine life
in which you wish that all might participate ?
Do you not have within yourself tire source of all life and all authentic life, my beloved Jesus,
you who took on our life in order to offer us the fullness of your Father's life?
My Jesus, blessed be you, gentle source of my life, blessed be you above all these creatures,
which perish and which are nothing but vanity, short-lived tableaux and images that last but a
moment.

My possession, continuously they perish in order to give homage to the life of God, which
never perishes. You never come to an end. You live forever so as to be die tableau and the
eternal representation of the life of your Father. Jesus Christ yesterday, today andforever (Heb 13:8).
My All, these creatures represent so little of you that they need to be reborn every year through
an alteration of beauty and form in order to manifest, at least by their vicissitude, their alteration
and their diversity what you alone do perfectly.
My Jesus, you are unique. You were yesterday, you are today and you will be for all ages the
same without change, because you alone are all the beauty of God. You are the perfect
representation and die perfect universe of God, containing in yourself alone the whole universe
and every distinct creature scattered throughout heaven and earth: His plan... is to restore in Christ
what is in heaven and on the earth (Eph 1:10).
My God, you show us your life, not only through these plants, but even more you reveal your
beauty through these flowers.
It seems to me that dowers bear within themselves the image of your Word much as plants, O
eternal Father, bear diat of your divine Person.
The Word, having emerged from your bosom, shows us your beauty, which you keep hidden in
yourself as if in a stem.
You keep your life hidden within yourself and your beauty dwells in the secret of your essence.
However, your Word brings it forth and reveals it to us.
This is why, my God, he is called the flower of the fields and the lily of the valleys (Sg 2: 1). He
is die lily, which is begotten in your bosom. He is also the flower of the fields, who contains in
himself
-283more than all those in the countryside and, to say it better, he is the one who is the only dowerbegotten in the great countryside and in the vast expanse of your essence, which is immense and
infinite in itself.
A dower gives off the odor that it contains in itself. Eikewise, O my God, your Son Jesus Christ
came into die world to sow the sweet odor of the virtues and the perfections that you had
enclosed in him. He made it possible for the earth to experience the love, sweetness and peace
that you had possessed in him from all eternity. Furthermore, previous to his blessed sojourn
with us on earth, they had never been experienced nor recognized by men.
Before his coming, you were, O my God, only justice and severity. You were experienced
through thorns, as a lily among the thorns (Sg 2:2). Your gendeness was enclosed in your justice. You
did not let your odor escape. You allowed the goodness of yourself to be experienced only
through the loving behavior and the gentle relationship tiiat your Son had with men.
Finally, my All and my Eove, those trees laden with fruits tiiat nourish us, represent for me
your Holy Spirit, whose tasty fruits nourish the whole church. His gifts give life, strength and
energy, and his sweet fruits give the soul its nourishment, its support and its food.
Therefore, O my All, may this whole coarse world perish before me, as long as I possess Jesus
Christ your Son and his divine Spirit, who brings forth in me the life he has received from him
and which he maintains always present in the church in order to satisfy and support it.
The tree is the image of the Father. The flowers begotten on it represent the Son, who
appeared for a very short time in the world: flowers have appeared on our earth (Sg 2:12). But the fruits
represent the Spirit, who is always living in the church and who is always suspended there to
nourish souls.
O life of God, how sweet you are! How adorable you are! You are worth more than all these
husks and images; more dian all die pleasures and charms that gratify our senses.
My God, how I wish to live your life alone! Caring for this coarse life is so displeasing,
annoying and burdensome to me!
My everlasting All, my Beloved and my only One, my God, my Jesus, my Savior, my flower, my
fruit, my food, if it pleases you, may

-284I delight only in you. May I be dead to this exterior aspect of the world and to this coarse
existence, so that I may live only in you!
It seems to me that this world was made only for the children of Adam, who need to use it in
order to preserve the life that they have received from him. However, my Jesus, it seems to me
that you are the world of God's children, who need to nourish themselves with you through your
Holy Spirit.
Alas! My All, when I eat all these fruits, what passes through me? A bodily substance and an
earthly life for the sustenance of my body.
However, O my All, when I enjoy you, when I nourish myself with your Spirit through your
Blessed Sacrament or through prayer, in which the Spirit nourishes me and enlivens me interiorly,
I am being nourished with your divine life. I am being nourished with die very life that God lives
in himself from all eternity and that he comes to pour forth in souls through Jesus Christ and
through his divine Spirit.
What an honor! What a joy! What blessing and what greater happiness than to be invited to live
the life of God himself!
My God, may I cease to live the life of my own spirit so diat I might live in your divine life and
in you alone; knowing dirough your light, loving dirough your love and acting through your
power.
Therefore, I bid farewell to the whole world. May I no longer savor you, since your author
himself wishes to be my entire universe. Farewell to all images, since I see die truth. Farewell to
all the treasures of the world, since I am enjoying every good dung in my God.
I desire nothing but you, O my Jesus, whom I cany in my soul and whom I contemplate within
me, while withdrawing interiorly away from the sight of all these things, to contemplate through
him the beauty of his Father, to hear his Word and to taste its fruit.
Upon Hearing the Birds Sing
My God, I adore you, the life of all things.
You are the life of plants and birds. The depth of your immense life pours itself out into every
living thing.
-285Your life is expressed with some beauty in plants, but it appears much more perfect to us in
your animals. You have given them a more complete and perfect level of life than the otiier
things on the earth.
O my God, these birds express something of you in their song, which seems to me most
wondrous.
Is it not true, my God, that you are sufficient unto yourself and that you experience bliss in
possessing your peace and in beholding your beauty and your perfection? You experience, O my
God, perpetual happiness, beatitude and jubilation.
All these birds, my God, express nothing in their song but the jubilation of their heart and the
joy of their soul as diey behold the beauties of nature and savor leisurely the serenity and die
delightfulness of this season.
They sing neither at night nor in winter, for these times are not in any way meant to express
your divine life and the beauty of your essence.
The angels in dieir song and die church m its song express the jubilation of your Holy Spirit in
your divine life.
The operations of the Holy Spirit in us are participations in the immanent operations of God in
himself, which his kindness makes tangible in us in order to express externally something of his
interior life and operations. This is why souls at times find themselves sharing in this spiritual
jubilation, which caused the great saints to utter canticles of joy: Bejoicing with cymbals (Ps 150:5).
They are only slight expressions of the immense and eternal jubilation that God enjoys
unceasingly in his own beatitude.

Lord, what transcendent jubilation, which expresses itself through the saints of heaven and
earth, whom you possess and permeate with yourself and who participate in your operations and
the effects of your blessed life!
Alas! Splendid fullness of being, should these birds enjoy your life in their own way, while men,
due to their sins, are deprived of your beatitude? My God, should they be more faithfùl to their
vocation than we are to ours?
Oh, wondrous vocation! Oh, holy vocation! We are called to share in the divine nature, sharers
in the divine nature (2 Pt 1:4), yet we want to share only the life of animals!
God has given us a share in all the lives of nature. He has even
-286given us the life of angels, and not satisfied with that, he wants to give us a share in his own
divine life.
God wanted to give us all of these more basic lives so that we might spurn them and thus
experience the excellence of die ultimate life, so as to sacrifice all the others for it.
God has rightly given us reason, which is a life he wants us to keep obedient and subject to
faith. If he wants us to despise it in comparison to faith, what scorn then should we have for all
the other lives and their operations in us?
My God, I am no longer concerned about anything but your holy, interior and divine life. All
the rest, O my God, is nothing to me but instability and corruption. All of it is nothing but
vanity, error and illusion. It is all nothing to me except as it is in you.
-287NOTES
1. The Introduction to the Christian Life and Virtues contains fifteen chapters. We have omitted the following
chapters: six, "Pride"; seven, "The Virtue of Penance"; eight, "Mortification"; ten, "Gentleness"; twelve, "Chastity";
thirteen, "Obedience"; and the second through the fifth sections of chapter five.
2. In the language of the authors of the French School of spirituality the term religion evokes a sense of
reverence, adoration and love in union with God the Father.
3. The term here is dilatant from the verb dilater, which means "to dilate" or "to expand." Father Olier uses it in a
very poetic sense. Thus the living reality of the religion of Jesus Christ grows and radiates outward to penetrate and
enliven more and more of the spiritual universe. To capture this special meaning, I have generally translated the term
with the English word dilate.
4. Since we are in communion with the mysteries of Jesus Christ, we share in his religion and thus together, as the
body of Christ, we express the type of loving reverence the term implies. 'I lus is not a specific reference to the state
of the vowed religious.
5. The priesthood and the clerical state were of primary importance Io Olier and the French School. It had
become clear to him early in his parish mission work that the ongoing reform of the church depended greatly on the
renewal of its leadership, which in that period was almost exclusively clerical. To accomplish this he invited bishops
and priests to five as fully as possible the common baptismal commitment shared by all Christians, while not denying
their particular responsibilities as leaders in the church. The reader may wish to look at the other references to the
clerical state in this work and note how they are situated in a universal call Io holiness addressed to all Christians (see
pp. 218, 219, 225, 230, 245-46). In a section of The Christian Day, dealing with the spirit of sacrifice, Father Olier
states: "Although priests are particularly called to this continual sacrifice ... nevertheless all Christians are priests in
faith and in the hidden life of the spirit. They are all priests in Jesus Christ. They are called to five in a spirit of
sacrifice because the spirit of Jesus Christ dwells in all the faithful in order Io exercise his priesthood and dilate his
sacrifice" (J, p. 193). See also the Introduction to this volume, pp. 61-63.
-288-

6. Hie French term is anéantissement. For Father Olier and the other authors in this volume Hie foundational
attitude of the authentic Christian life is to deny oneself, especially in one's inner attitudes and dispositions. In this
way we commune in Christ's own kenosis or self-emptying (Phil 2:5-11). We claim as our own the nothingness from
which we were drawn by the creative hand of God and Io which the weight of our sinfulness pulls us once again. To
appreciate the overall positive context of this term, we must realize that anéantissement and communion are two
sides of the same movement into deeper union with God. Generally I have translated this term with the word
abnegation.
7. The French word is hostie, which in the usage of the period evoked both the sacrifices of the ancient Flebrews
and the host at Mass, which is the Body of Christ and the sacrifice of the new covenant. This play on words is
intentional. This is why I have translated it "host-victim," to capture the double meaning.

8. The use of die word interior here reflects the great respect that the French School had for the inner world of
Jesus Christ and the Christian. It refers to the sentiments, dispositions and spiritual movements diat animated Jesus
Christ and that will animate us if we are open to them. Clearly our authors highly valued the "interior" and saw it as
primary in the ongoing conversion of the Christian life.
9. Father Oder's method of mental prayer is very simple in its original expression, as we see here. However, what
has been passed on historically as the method of Saint-Sulpice was his original structure plus the considerable
additions of Louis Tronson (1622-1700), the third superior-general of Saint-Sulpice. Apparently he felt that the
seminarians of his time needed more structure than M. Oder offered here.
10. Actually the original quote of Teresa is o morir o padecer, "to die or to suffer." Throughout the years it has
been quoted differently in various editions. This text can be found in her Life, chap. 40, no. 20.
11. The French word is propriété, which has a sense of inappropriately clinging to the goods of the world and to
oneself. As the reader will see, the term self-anteredness fits wed in the various contexts in which M. Oder uses it.
12. Circumincession is a technical term of scholastic Trinitarian theology that attempts to describe the unique way
in which the Persons of the Trinity are present to one another in both their total unity and real distinctness at the
same tune.
13. It is not clear to what text he is referring here. Perhaps it is Hebrews 12:3: Consider him who endured from
sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
14. The Christian Day is a remarkable devotional work applying the principles of the Christian hfe to common
everyday occurrences. It is a
-289-

series of reflections, meditations and prayers by which Oder seeks to help the reader sanctify Ids or her entire hfe.
It is divided into two relatively equal parts. The first section offers thoughts and prayers for the various spiritual
exercises that make up die devout Christian's day, for example, morning prayer, Mass, visits to the Blessed Sacrament
and Marian devotions. The second section focuses on other daily events such as waking up in the morning, dressing,
meals, work, conversations and going to bed at night. There are also meditations and prayers for the time of sickness
and recovery. We have mcluded in this translation the last twelve pages of this work, which will give the reader some
feel for how Father Oder invited Christian people to commune with their God in every moment of their lives. For a
contemporary theological appreciation of the Journée, cf. William M. Thompson, "Oder's La journée chrétienne as a
Guide for Today's Theology," Bulletin de Saint-Sulpice 14 (1988): 113-127.
-290-

JOHN EUDES
The Ufe and Kingdom ofJes/is in Christian Souls
[2, 1-21: OC 1, pp. 161-204]
[THE CHRISTIAN EIFE AND ITS FOUNDATIONS]
Speaks of IF hat Ike Must Do in the IF hole op Our Ufe to Uve in a Christian and Holy Manner and to
Form, Sanctify and to Cause Jesus To Une and Rule in Us
I. The Christian Life Must be a Continuation of the Most Holy Life which Jesus Lived
on Earth
Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, King of angels and humanity, is not only our God, our
Savior and our sovereign Lord, but he is also our head and we are members of his body (Eph 5:30),
as St. Paul says: bone of his bones andflesh of bisflesh. ^Therefore, we are united with him in the most
intimate union possible, that is, the union of the members with their head. We are united with
him spiritually by faith and by the grace he gave us in holy baptism. We are united with him
bodily in the union of his most sacred body with ours in the holy Eucharist. It follows necessarily
from this that, just as bodily members are animated by the spirit of their head and live its life, in
the same way we must be animated by die spirit of Jesus, and live his life and walk in his ways.
We should be clothed widi his sentiments
-293and inclinations, perform all our actions with the same dispositions and intentions diat he
brought to his. In a word, we should continue and bring to fulfillment the life, religion and
devotion with which he lived on earth.
This proposition is very well-founded. It is supported in several places by the sacred words of
him who is trudi itself. Do you not hear him saying m various places in his gospel: I am Ufe and I
hare come that you may have life. Ton do not want to come to me in order to have life. I live and you will live. In
that day you will know that I am in my Father andyou are in me and I am in you (Jn 14:6; 10:10; 5:40;

14:20). This means that just as I am in my Father, living the life of my Father, which he
communicates to me, you are also in me living my life and I am in you, communicating that very
life to you. Therefore I live in you and you will live with me and in me.
Furthermore, does not his beloved disciple cry out to us that God has given ns eternal life and that
life is in bis Son; and the one who has the Son of God within him possesses life? On the contrary, the one who
does not have the Son ofGod within him does not have life; and God sent bis Son into the world so that we might
live through him; and we are in this world as Jesus was in it (1 Jn 5:11-12; 4:9, 17), which is to say that we
are taking his place and that we should live as he lived.
Also in his Apocalypse, does he not proclaim to us that the beloved Spouse of our souls, who
is Jesus, continually cries out to us saying: Come, come to me and let the one who is thirsty come, and let
him who wishes drawfreely the water of life without charge (Rv 22:17)? This means let him take, let him
draw from me the water of true life. This agrees with what is narrated in the holy gospel, that one
day the Son of God, standing in the midst of a great crowd of people, cried out in a loud voice: If
anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Jn 7:37).
And what else is the holy apostle Saint Paul continuously preaching to us if not that we are dead
and our life is hidden with Jesus Christ in God; that the eternal Father has given us life with Jesus Christ and in
Jesus Christ (Col 3:3; Eph 2:5)? This means that he has brought us to life, not only with his Son,
but even in his Son and with the life of his Son. W'e should reveal and show forth the life ofJesus in our
bodies. Jesus Christ is our life. He is in us, he is dwelling in us. Saint Paul also says, It is not I who live, but it
is Jesus Christ who lives in me (2 Cor 4:10-11; Col 3:4; Gal 2:20). If you consider carefully the
remainder of the chapter where he says these words, you will discover that he is not
-294only speaking of himself and in his name, but that he is speaking in the name and person of
every Christian. Finally, in another place, speaking to Christians, he says that he prays to God to
make them worthy of their vocation, and to bring about powerfully in them all the desires of his goodness and the
work, offaith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ might be glorified in them and them in him (2 Thes
2:11-12).
All these sacred texts teach us clearly that Jesus Christ should be living in us and diat we should
live only in him; that his life should be our life and that our life should be a continuation and
expression of his life; that we have no right to live on earth except to carry, reveal, make holy,
glorify and cause to live and reign in us the name, the life, the qualities and perfections, the
dispositions and inclinations, the virtues and actions of Jesus.
II. Confirmation of the Preceding Truth
So that you might understand more clearly and establish more firmly in your soul tiiis basic
truth of Christian life, religion and devotion, please pay attention and realize that our Eord Jesus
Christ possesses two types of bodies and two types of lives. His first body is his own body, which
he received from the blessed Virgin. His first life is the life that he lived in tiiis same body while
he was on earth. His second body is his Mystical Body, that is, the church, which Saint Paul calls
Corpus Christi, the body of Jesus Christ (1 Cor 12:27). His second life is the life that he has in tiiis
body and in those authentic Christians who are members of this body. The temporal, vulnerable
life, which Jesus lived in his personal body, was fhlfilled and came to an end with his death. But
he wishes to continue tiiis same life in his Mystical Body until die end of time so that he might
glorify his Father by the actions and sufferings of a life, which is mortal, laborious and painful,
not only for thirty-four years, but until the end of the world. So much so that the temporal,
vulnerable life diat Jesus has in his Mystical Body has not yet reached its fulfillment, but is
fulfilled day by day in every true Christian. It will not have been completely fhlfilled until the end
of time. This is why Saint Paul says that he fills up what is lacking in the sufferings ofJesus Christfor the
sake of his body
-295tbe church (Col 1:24). What Saint Paul says about himself can be said of every true Christian,
whenever he suffers something in a spirit of submission and love for God. What Saint Paul says

about suffering can be said about all the other actions of a Christian on earth. For just as Saint
Paul assures us that he fills up what is lacking in the sufferings of Jesus Christ, in die same way
we can say that any true Christian, who is a member of Jesus Christ, and who is united to him by
his grace, continues and completes, through all the actions that he carries out in the spirit of
Christ, die actions that Jesus Christ accomplished during the time of his temporary life on earth.
So that when a Christian prays, he continues and fulfills the prayer diat Jesus Christ offered on
earth. Whenever he works, he continues and fulfills die laborious life of Jesus Christ. Whenever
he relates to Ins neighbor in a spirit of charity, then he continues and fulfills die relational life of
Jesus Christ. Whenever he eats or rests in a Christian manner, he continues and fulfills the
subjection that Jesus Christ wished to have to these necessities. The same can be said of any
other action that is carried out in a Christian manner. It is dius that Saint Paul tells us that the
church is the fulfillment ofJesus Christ and that Jesus Christ, who is the head of the church, is fulfilled in all
things in all people (Eph 1:22-23). In another place, he teaches that all of us are cooperating in the
perfection ofJesus Christ and in the age of hisfulfillment (see Eph 4:1-13), that is, his mystical age in his
church, which will never be fulfilled until die day of judgment.
Now you see what the Christian life is. It is a continuation and fulfillment of die life of Jesus.
All our actions must be the continuation of the actions of Jesus. We should be like odier Jesus
Christs on earth, so as to continue his life and works and to accomplish and suffer all that we
accomplish and suffer in a holy and divine manner, in the spirit of Jesus, that is, with die holy and
divine dispositions and intentions with which this same Jesus accomplished all his actions and
sufferings. This divine Jesus is our head and we are his members, united widi him in a way that is
incomparably more intimate, more noble and more exalted dian the union between die head and
members of a natural body. Therefore it follows logically diat we must be enlivened by his spirit
and his life more closely and more perfectly than die members of a natural body are enlivened by
the spirit and life of their head.
These truths are very great, very important and quite considerable. They ask great things of us
and should be thoroughly reflected upon
-296by diose who wish to live in a Christian manner. Therefore, study them often and attentively
and learn from them that Christian life, religion, devotion and piety consist properly and truly in
continuing the life, religion and devotion of Jesus on eardi. Thus not only men and women
religious, but all Christians are obliged to live a holy and divine life and to perform all their
actions in a holy and divine manner. This is neither impossible nor even as difficult as some
imagine. Radier, it is very pleasant and easy for diose who take the time to frequently lift their
minds and hearts to Jesus and to give and unite themselves to him in all that they do, following
the approach of the exercises that were proposed above and that will be presented again later.
III. What Are the Foundations of Christian Life and Holiness?
Since our only right to live in the world is to continue the holy and perfect life of our head,
Jesus, there are four tilings that we should often consider and adore in the life Jesus lived on
earth. As far as possible we should try, with the help of his grace, to express and continue in out­
lives the four things diat are the four foundations of Christian life, piety and holiness and without
which, therefore, it is impossible to be truly Christian. This is why it is necessary to tell you
something here about each one of them in particular.
IV. The First Foundation of Christian Life and Holiness, Which is Faith
Faidi is the first foundation of the Christian life. For Saint Paul tells us diat, if we wish to go to
God and hare access to his divine majesty, the first step is to believe; and that without faith it is impossible to
please God. Gaith, says the same apostle, is the substance and foundation of the things we hope for (Heb
11:6, 1). It is die cornerstone of the house and reign of Jesus Christ. It is a heavenly divine light, a
participation in die inaccessible eternal light, a ray from the countenance of God. Or
-297-

to speak according to scripture, faith is like a divine character by which the light of God's face is
imprinted in our souls (Ps 4:7). It is a communication and an extension of the divine light and
knowledge, which was infused into the holy soul of Jesus at the moment of his Incarnation. It is
the science of salvation, die science of the saints, the science of God, which Jesus Christ drew
from the bosom of his Father and brought to us on earth to dissipate our darkness, to illumine
our hearts, to give us the necessary knowledge so that we might serve and love God perfectly, to
submit and subject our minds to die trudis that he taught us and that he continues to teach us
himself and through his church. Thus he expresses, continues and fulfills in us the submission,
the docility and the voluntary clear subjection of his human mind to the lights that his eternal
Father communicated to him and to the truths diat he taught him. Faith, then, is given us to
capture and subject our minds through belief in the truths that are proclaimed to us on God's
behalf. Therefore we continue and fulfill the loving and most perfect submission of the human
mind of Jesus to the truths that his eternal Father proclaimed to him.
This divine light and science gives us as perfect a knowledge as is possible in this life of
everything diat is in God and outside of God. Reason and human science deceive us most of the
time because they are too weak and limited in their lights to attain the knowledge of the infinite
and incomprehensible things of God. This is also true because human science and reason ate too
filled with darkness and obscurity, as a result of the corruption of sin, even to attain authentic
knowledge of the things that are outside of God. However, since the light of faith is a
participation in the truth and light of God, it cannot deceive us. Instead it shows us tilings as
God sees them, diat is, in their truth and as they exist in the eyes of God.
Thus if we look at God with the eyes of faith, we will see him in his trudi, just as he is and, in a
certain manner, face to face. For even though faith is linked to obscurity, showing us God not
clearly as we will see him in heaven, but obscurely as through a cloud, nevertheless it does not
reduce his exalted greatness to the measure of our mind, as science does, but rather it penetrates,
through its shadow and darkness, to his infinite perfections, so that we know him as he is, that is,
infinite in his being and in all his divine perfections. It teaches us that everything in God and in
Jesus Christ, Man-God, is infinitely great and admirable, infinitely worthy of being adored,
glorified and loved for the love of himself.
-298It shows us that God is most authentic and faithful in his words and promises; that he is all
goodness, all gentleness, all love toward those who seek him and put their trust in him. However,
he is very strict, terrifying and severe toward those who abandon him, and it is frightening and
horrible to fall into die hands of his justice. Faith gives us a very sure knowledge that divine
Providence guides and governs everything that happens m the universe in the most holy, wise
and best way possible, and that it deserves to be infinitely adored and loved for everything it
decrees either through justice or mercy, whether in heaven, on earth or in hell.
If we consider the church of God in the light of faith, we will see that since Jesus Christ is its
head and the Holy Spirit is its guide, it cannot in any way wander from the truth or become lost
in falsehood. Thus all the ceremonies, customs and functions of die church have been most
divinely instituted. Everything it prohibits and commands is most legitimately prohibited and
commanded. Everything it teaches is most infallibly true. Therefore, we should be ready to die a
thousand times rather than stray in the least from the truths it proclaims to us. Thus we must
revere and honor, in a special way, everything in the church as holy and sacred.
If we see ourselves and everything in the world with the eyes of faith, we will see very clearly
that of ourselves we are nothingness, sin and abomination, and that everything in the world is
only smoke, vanity and illusion.
In this way we must look at all things, neither with the vanity of our senses, nor with die eyes
of flesh and blood, nor with die short- sighted and deceitful eye of reason and human science,
but in die truth of God and with die eyes of Jesus Christ, that is, with that divine light, which he

has drawn from the bosom of his Father and widi which he sees and knows all things. He has
given this to us so that we might see and know all dungs as he sees and knows them.
V. Faith Should Guide All Our Actions
Just as we should look at all things in the light of faith so as to know them authentically, so also
we must accomplish all our actions under die guidance of diat same light, so as to do them in a
holy way. For
-299God is guided by his divine wisdom; angels by dieir angelic intelligence ; man, deprived of faith,
by reason; die worldly by their maxims; and the voluptuous by their senses. Similarly, Christians
should be guided by the same light as Jesus Christ, dieir head, that is, by faith, which is a
participation in the science and light of Jesus Christ.
This is why we should attempt through all manner of means to thoroughly learn this divine
science and never undertake anything except through this holy guidance. To achieve this, at the
beginning of our actions, especially the most important, let us place ourselves at die feet of die
Son of God. Tet us adore him as the author and consummation of faith; as he who is the true
light, enlightening everyone coming into diis world; as the Father of light.
Tet us realize that of ourselves we are only darkness and that every light of reason, science and
even human experience is often notiiing but obscurity and illusion in which we should place no
confidence. Let us renounce the prudence of the flesh and worldly wisdom. Let us ask Jesus to
destroy them in us as his enemies and not to allow us to follow their laws, dieir reasons and their
maxims. Rather, may he enlighten us with his heavenly light, guide us by his divine wisdom, and
show us what is most pleasing to him. May he give us die grace and strength to adhere solidly to
his words and promises so that we might close our ears constantly to all the reasons and
arguments of human prudence, courageously preferring the truths and maxims of faith, which he
teaches us through his gospel and his church, to the reasons and arguments of men who are
guided by the maxims of the world.
To this end it would be veiy good, with the permission of those who can give it to you, to read
on your knees every day a chapter, either in French or Latin, of the life of Jesus, that is, of the
New Testament. This is, to learn about the life of your Fadier and to note, by contemplating his
actions, the virtues he practiced, the words he uttered, the rules and maxims that guided him and
by which he wishes us to be guided. For Christian prudence consists in renouncing the maxims
of worldly prudence and invoking the spirit of Jesus Christ, so that he might enlighten us, guide
us according to his maxims and govern us according to the truths he taught us and the actions
and virtues he practiced. This is what it means to be guided by the spirit of faith.
-300VI. The Second Foundation of the Christian Life: The Hatred and Flight From Sin
Just as we must continue on earth the holy and divine life of Jesus, so also we must put on the
sentiments and inclinations of this same Jesus according to the teaching of his apostle: Hoc sentite
in robis quod et in Christo Jesu, "Have in you die sentiments of Jesus Christ" (Phil 2:5). Now Jesus
Christ had two types of extremely contrasting sentiments in himself; namely, a sentiment of
infinite love toward his Father and us, and a sentiment of extreme hatred toward what is contrary
to the glory of his Father and our salvation, that is, toward sin. For just as he loves his Father and
us with an infinite love, so he hates sin with infinite hatred. He loved his Fadier and us so much
that he did infinitely great things, suffered extremely painful torments and sacrificed a precious
life, all for the glory of his Father and our love. On die other hand, he has such horror for sin
that he came down from heaven, humiliated himself taking on the form of servant, lived thirtyfour years on earth with a life filled with labor, scorn and suffering, shed his blood to die last
drop and died the most shamefhl and cruel death possible. All of diis was due to his hatred for
sin and his desire to destroy it in us.
Now we must continue in ourselves those same sentiments that Jesus had toward his Fadier
and toward sin. We must pursue the war he waged against sin while he was on earth. For we

should love God above all and with all our might, just as we must hate sin infinitely and with all
our strength.
To motivate yourselves for this, from now on look at sin not as men see it, with carnal and
blind eyes, but as God sees it, with eyes enlightened by his divine light, that is, widi eyes of faith.
With this light and these eyes, you will see sin as in some way infinitely contrary and opposed to
God and all his divine perfections and as a deprivation of an infinite good, which is God. Thus it
contains in itself a malice, a foolishness, an ugliness and a horror as great, in a sense, as God's
infinite goodness, wisdom, beauty and holiness. Therefore, sin should be hated and persecuted as
much as God deserves to be sought after and loved. You will see how horrible a thing sin is and
that it can be wiped away only by the blood of God.
-301It is so despicable that it can only be destroyed by the death and destruction of a Man-God. It
is so abhorrent that it can only be annihilated by the annihilation of the only Son of God. It is so
execrable before God, because of the infinite injury and dishonor that it does to him, that this
injury and dishonor can only be satisfied worthily by the labors, sufferings, agonies, death and
infinite merits of a God.
You will see that sin is a cruel homicide, a horrifying deicide and an incredible annihilation of
all tilings. It is homicide because it is the unique cause of die death of both the human body and
soul. It is a deicide because both sin and sinner put Jesus Christ to death on the cross and crucify
him daily in ourselves. Furthermore, it is an annihilation of nature, grace and glory and all reality.
For as it annihilates, as much as it can, the author of nature, grace and glory, it annihilates
therefore, to the same extent, all reality.
You will see also that sin is so detestable before God that when the angel, the first, most noble
and cherished of his creatures, committed a single sin, and one of thought only and a sin of a
moment, he cast him from the highest heavens to the depth of hell without offering him a single
moment for repentance, for he was unworthy and incapable of it. Also, when he discovers a soul
in mortal sin at the hour of death, even though he is filled with goodness and love for his
creature and has an extreme desire to save the whole world, having shed his blood and given his
life to that end, nevertheless he is obliged by his justice to pronounce a sentence of eternal
damnation against that miserable soul. But what is even more astonishing than all that is diat the
eternal Father, seeing his own Son, his only beloved Son, most holy and innocent, carrying the
sms of others, did not spare him, says Saint Paul, but handed him overfor ns to the cross and death (Rom
8:32), so abominable and execrable is sin to him.
Furthermore, you will see that sin is so full of malice that it transforms the servants of God
into slaves of die devil; the children of God into die children of Satan; die members of Jesus
Christ into the members of Satan and those who are gods by grace and participation into devils
through likeness and imitation, according to die word of truth himself, who speaking of a sinner,
called him a devil: One of yon is a devil (Jn 6:70).
Finally, you will know that sin is die worst of evils and the greatest of all misfortunes. It is die
source of all the evils and misfortunes that
-302fill the earth and overwhelm hell. In fact, there is only this single evil in die world that can be
called an evil. It is die most terrible and horrible of all terrible and horrible tilings. It is more
frightening than death, more atrocious than die devil and more horrifying than hell, because
everything that is horrible, atrocious and frightening in death, die devil and hell flows from sin. O
sin, how detestable you are! Oh, if men knew you! Oh, we must say that there is something about
you that is infinitely more horrible than all we can say and think. For the soul that is soiled by
your corruption can only be washed and purged m the blood of a God. And you can only be
destroyed and annihilated by the death and annihilation of a Man- God ! O great God, it does not
surprise me that you hate so much this infernal monster and that you punish it so forcefully. Let
those be surprised who do not know you and who do not understand the wrong that sin inflicts

on you. Surely, my God, you would not be God if you did not have an infinite hatred for iniquity.
For just as you have the blessed need to love yourself infinitely, for you are infinite goodness, you
have also the holy obligation to hold in infinite horror that which in some way is infinitely
opposed to you. O Christians, you who read these tilings wholly founded on the word of eternal
truth, if you have left in you even the slightest spark of love and zeal for the God whom you
adore, hold in horror what he holds in such horror and what is so opposed to him. Fear and
avoid sin more than the plague, more than death and more than any other imaginable evil.
Preserve always in yourself a powerful resolution to suffer a thousand deaths with all kinds of
torments rather than to be ever separated from God by a mortal sin.
So that God may keep you from this misfortune, be careful also to avoid venial sin as much as
possible. For you should remind yourself that our Lord had to shed his blood and sacrifice his
life just as much for venial as for mortal sin. Those who give little importance to venial sin will
soon fall into mortal sin. If you do not experience these resolutions within you, ask our Lord to
place them within your soul. Do not rest until you experience this disposition. For as long as you
are not resolved to die and suffer all sorts of scorn and torment rather than commit any sin,
know diat you are not truly Christian. For if by misfortune you should fall into sin, try to pick
yourself up as soon as possible dirough contrition and confession and thus return to your original
dispositions.
-303VII. The Third Foundation of Christian Holiness: Detachment From the World and
Worldly Things
It is not enough for a Christian to be free from vice and to hold every kind of sin in horror.
Beyond that you must work with care and energy to become perfectly detached from the world
and worldly things. By "world" I mean die corrupt and disordered life that people lead in the
world, the damnable spirit that rules there, the perverse sentiments and inclinations that people
follow and the pernicious laws and maxims diat people obey. By "worldly things" I mean
everything the world values, loves and seeks so ardently, diat is, the honors and praises of others,
vain pleasures and satisfactions, wealth and temporal comforts, friendships and affections based
on flesh and blood and on self-love and self-interest.
Look at the life of our Lord Jesus Christ and you will discover that he lived on eardi in the
most perfect freedom, being stripped of all things. Read his gospel, listen to his word, and you
will learn that he who does not renounce all things cannot be his disciple (Lk 14:33). This is why, if you
wish to be truly Christian and a disciple of Jesus Christ, and if you wish to continue expressing in
your life his holy life of detachment from all things, dien you must strive to become absolutely
and totally detached from die world and from worldly things.
To achieve diis you must reflect often that die world has always been and will always be
opposed to Jesus. It has always persecuted and crucified him, and it will persecute and crucify
him incessantly until die end of the world. The sentiments, inclinations, laws, maxims, life and
spirit of the world are so opposed to the sentiments, inclinations, laws, maxims, life and spirit of
Jesus that it is impossible for diem to exist together. For all of Jesus' sentiments and inclinations
lead only to the glory of his Father and our sanctification. The sentiments and inclinations of die
world lead only to sin and perdition.
The laws and maxims of Jesus are very gende, holy and reasonable. The laws and maxims of
the world and the laws and maxims of hell are totally diabolical, tyrannical and unbearable. What
can be more diabolical and tyrannical than the execrable laws of those martyrs of die devil who
are obliged, according to tiieir damnable maxims, to
-304sacrifice their well-being, their soul and dieir salvation to Satan for a cursed point of honor?
What is even more horrible is diat they are bound by the mad tyranny of the abominable laws of
the world when they are called as seconds, to fight at times in cold blood, without cause and
reason, for die passion and foolishness of an insolent person who is nothing to them, against

their closest friend, frequently introducing sword and death into his bosom and thus ripping the
soul out of his body, delivering it to Satan and to eternal fires.
O God! What cruelty, what madness! Is there anything more difficult and tyrannical?
The life of Jesus is a holy life, adorned with eveiy type of virtue. The life of the world is a
depraved life, filled with disorder and every sort of vice.
The spirit of Jesus is a spirit of light, truth, devotion, love, trust, zeal and reverence toward God
and the things of God. The spirit of the world is a spirit of error, disbelief, darkness, blindness,
mistrust, grumbling, impiety, irreverence and hardness of heart toward God and the things of
God.
The spirit of Jesus is a spirit of humility, modesty, distrust of self, mortification, self-denial,
reliability and firmness among those who live with this spirit. On the contrary, the spirit of the
world is a spirit of pride, presumption, disordered self-love, frivolousness and irresponsibility.
The spirit of Jesus is a spirit of mercy, charity, patience, gentleness and of unity toward our
neighbor. The spirit of the world is a spirit of vengeance, envy, impatience, anger, calumny and
division.
Finally, the spirit of Jesus is the spirit of God, a holy and divine spirit, a spirit of every type of
grace, virtue and blessing. It is a spirit of peace and tranquility, a spirit that only seeks the
interests of God and his glory. On tire contrary, the spirit of the world is the spirit of Satan. For
Satan is the prince and leader of the world. Thus it follows necessarily diat the world is animated
and governed by his spirit; an earthly, carnal and animal spirit, a spirit of every sort of sin and
malediction, a spirit of unrest and anxiety, of storm and tempest, a spirit of devastation (Ps 10:7). It
is a spirit that seeks only its own ease, satisfaction and interest. You judge now whether the spirit
and life of the world are at all compatible with the Christian life and spirit, which is none other
than the spirit and life of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, if you wish to be truly Christian, that is, if you wish to belong perfectly to Jesus
Christ, live with his life, be animated by his
-305spirit and be guided by his maxims, you must necessarily commit yourself to renounce the
world completely and to bid it farewell forever. I do not mean that you must leave the world and
shut yourself up between four walls, if God is not calling you to that. Rather you must strive to
live in die world without being at all of die world, that is, you should make a public, generous and
faidiful profession to no longer live die life of die world and to no longer conduct yourself
according to its spirit and laws. You should not be ashamed, but rather glory, in a holy way, diat
you are a Christian, belonging to Jesus Christ and preferring the holy maxims and trudis, which
he left us in his gospel, to the pernicious maxims and falsehoods that the world teaches to its
disciples. You should have sufficient courage and determination to make a clean break with the
laws, sentiments and inclinations of the world and to despise virtuously all its empty discourses
and deceptive opinions, just as it shows a diabolically audacious and impious disregard foiChristian laws and maxims and insolently attacks those who follow diem. For true courage and
perfect generosity consist in this. However, what the world calls courage and strength of
character is nothing but cowardice and fear. This is what I mean by detaching oneself from the
world, renouncing the world and living in die world as not of it.
VIII. Continuation of the Same Subject: Detachment from the World
In order to deepen this detachment from the world in your soul, you must not only strive to
separate yourself from it, but also to hold it in horror, just as Jesus Christ held it in horror. For
Jesus so held the world in horror that not only did he exhort us through his beloved disciple to not
love the world, nor the things of the world (1 Jn 2:15), but also he tells us through his aposde Saint James
that friendship with the world is an enemy to him (Jas 4:4), that is, diat he considers as enemies all those
who love the world. Furthermore, he assures us himself that his kingdom is not of this world, no mon
than he is of this world and that those whom his Father has given him are not of this worldJust as he is not of it

(Jn 18:36; 17:12-16). What is much more overwhelming is tiiat he solemnly protested at the very
time when he manifested the great
-306est excesses of his goodness, that is, on die eve of his death, when he was ready to shed his
blood and lay down his life for the salvation of men; he protested solemnly that he does notprayfor
the world (Jn 17:9). In diis way he pronounced a dreadful anathema, curse and excommunication
against tlie world, declaring it unworthy to participate in his prayers and mercy.
Thus he assures us that thejudgment of the world has already been made and that the prince of the world has
already been judged (Jn 12:31). In fact, as soon as the world had fallen into the corruption caused by
sin, at that very moment divine justice judged it and condemned it to be ignited and consumed by
fire. And even though the execution of the sentence has been deferred, nevertheless it will be
carried out at the end of the world. It follows then that Jesus Christ looks upon die world as the
object of his hatred and curse, as something that he intends and desires to burn on the day of his
wrath.
Embrace tiien these sentiments and inclinations of Jesus toward die world and everything in
the world. From now on look at die world as Jesus looks at it, that is, as die object of his hatred
and curse. Look at it as something tiiat he prohibits you from loving under the pain of incurring
his enmity; as something he has excommunicated and cursed widi his own mouth. Therefore you
cannot communicate with it without sharing in its curse. It is something he wishes to burn and
reduce to ashes. Look upon everything die world values and prefers, such as pleasure, honor,
wealth, worldly friendships and affections and all other similar tilings as realities that are only
passing away, according to this divine oracle: The world passes away along with its lust (1 Jn 2:17).
They are only nothingness and smoke, deceit and illusion, vanity and affliction of spirit. Read and
consider often and attentively these truths. Ask our Lord every day to imprint them in your mind.
Finally, to dispose yourself in this way, take some time each day to adore Jesus Christ in his
most perfect detachment from die world and beg him to detach you from it completely,
imprinting in your heart a hatred, horror and abomination for the tilings of die world. On your
part, be careful not to engage in the fiitile visits and conversations that occur in the world. If you
are involved in them, in die name of God leave diem at any cost and flee, as you would from the
plague, from the places, persons and company where they only speak of die world and worldy
things. For since they speak of such tilings with esteem and affection, it would be very difficult
for these con
-307versations not to leave some bad impression in your mind. Besides, you will gain nothing from
them except a dangerous waste of time. You will experience only a sad dissipation and affliction
of your spirit. You will carry away with you only bitterness of heart, a loss of devotional fervor,
estrangement from God and the countless faults you will have committed there.
And while you will be seeking and enjoying the company of the world, he who takes his delight
in being with the children of men will take no delight in you. He will not give you any taste of die
consolations that he communicates to those whose only delight is to spend time with him. Thus I
say once more to you, flee from this world. Flee from it and abhor its life, its spirit and its
maxims. As fiilly as possible, only make friends and spend time in die company of those people
who, by their example and word, can help and inspire you to love our most beloved Jesus, to live
in his spirit and to detest everything opposed to him.
IX. Detachment from Oneself
It is a lot to have renounced die world in the way we have just mentioned, but this is not
enough to achieve perfect detachment, which is one of the first foundations of die Christian life.
For our Lord cried out in a loud voice that the one who wishes to come after him must renounce himself and
follow him (Mt 16:24). Therefore if we wish to follow Jesus and belong to him, we must renounce
ourselves, that is our own mind, insight, will, desires and inclinations as well as our self-love,

which makes us hate and avoid everything that causes any pain or mortification to our spirit or
flesh and makes us seek and enjoy everything that offers them any pleasure or satisfaction.
Two reasons make this self-denial and renunciation necessary.
1. Everything in us is so disordered and depraved, due to the corruption of sin, that there is
nothing of our own in us, which is not opposed to God, which does not place obstacles in the
way of his plans and which is not contrary to the love and glory that we owe him. This is why, if
we wish to belong to God, we must necessarily deny ourselves, forget ourselves, hate ourselves,
persecute ourselves, lose ourselves and annihilate ourselves.
-3082. Our Lord Jesus Christ is our leader and exemplar. There was notliing in him that was not
completely holy and divine. Nevertheless, he was so detached from himself and so abnegated in
his human spirit, his own will and self-love that he never did anything according to his own
insight or human spirit, but according to the guidance of his Father's spirit. He never followed his
own will but that of his Father. He behaved toward himself as someone who had no love, but
rather an extreme hatred toward himself. He deprived himself, in this world, of infinite glory and
happiness, of all human pleasures and satisfactions, embracing instead everything that could
cause him to suffer in his body and soul.
Consequently, if we are truly his members, we should embrace his sentiments and dispositions,
resolving powerfully to live from now on in complete detachment, forgetfulness and hatred
toward ourselves.
To this end make sure that you adore Jesus often in this detachment from himself and give
yourself to him, begging him to detach you entirely from yourself, your own mind, your own will,
and your self-love so that he might unite you perfectly to himself and govern you in all dungs
according to his mind, his will and his pure love.
At die beginning of your actions, lift your heart to him m this way: "O Jesus, widi all my
strength, I renounce myself, my own mind, my own will and my self-love. I give myself
completely to you, your holy spirit and your divine love. Free me from myself and guide me in
this action according to your holy will."
In moments of disagreement, which occur all the time because of diverse opinions, even if you
feel diat you have reason and truth on your side, gladly renounce your point of view for the
opinion of others, provided the glory of God is not at stake.
When you experience any desire and inclination toward something, abnegate it immediately at
the feet of Jesus, assuring him that you have no other desires and inclinations than his own.
As soon as you notice that you have some tenderness or emotional feelings toward somediing,
at that moment turn your heart and affections toward Jesus in dus manner: "O my beloved Jesus,
I give you all my heart and all my affections. O unique object of my love, grant diat I never love
anything except in you and for you."
When someone praises you, return it to him, who alone is worthy of every honor, in this
fashion: "O my glory, I desire no other glory
-309than yours. For to you alone is due all honor, praise and glory and to me all abjection, scorn
and humiliation."
Whenever you experience something that mortifies your body or mind, or whenever there are
opportunities to deprive yourself of some satisfaction (this happens all the time), embrace them
willingly for the love of our Lord and bless him for giving you the chance to mortify your selflove in honor of the mortifications and deprivations which he experienced on earth.
Whenever you experience some joy or consolation, return it to him who is die source of every
consolation and speak to him thus: "O Jesus, I desire no odier satisfaction than your holy
satisfaction. Lord, I have enough joy just knowing diat you are God and that you are my God!
Ah, Jesus, be always Jesus, that is, full of glory, grandeur and joy, and I shall be content. O my

Jesus, never allow me to be satisfied by anything other titan you alone. Rather make me say with
the holy queen Esther: You know, 0 Gord God, that I have never rejoiced in anything other than you." 3
X. Perfect Christian Detachment
Perfect Christian self-denial or detachment does not simply consist in being detached from the
world and oneself. It obliges us to be detached even from God in a certain fashion. Do you not
know that while Jesus Christ was on earth he assured his apostles that it was expedient for him to
leave them so that he might go to his Father and send his Holy Spirit to them? Why was this so,
if not because they were attached to the tangible consolation afforded diem by the presence and
visible companionship of his sacred humanity? This was an obstacle to die coming of his Holy
Spirit in them. For it is essential to be detached from all dungs, no matter how holy and divine,
so diat we might be animated by the Spirit of Jesus, which is the Spirit of Christianity.
This is why I say that we must be detached from God in a certain way, diat is, from the delights
and consolations that ordinarily accompany the grace and love of God; from the pious plans we
make for the glory of God; from our desires for greater perfection and love
-310of God; and even from our desire to be freed from the prison of the body in order to behold
God, to be united perfectly with him, and to love him purely widiout interruption. For when
God allows us to experience the delights of his goodness in our devotions, we must be careftil
not to rest there and become attached. Radier we should humiliate ourselves immediately,
considering ourselves very unworthy of any consolation. We should return them to him, being
ready to have them stripped away and assuring him that we desire to serve and love him, not only
for the consolation that he gives, whedier in tins world or the next, to those who love and serve
him, but for love of him and for his own pleasure.
Whenever we undertake some pious plan to do some holy work for the glory of God, we
should attempt with all our power to carry it out. Nevertheless, we should keep from being
attached to it, so that, if by some accident we are obliged to interrupt or completely abandon tins
plan or deed, we would not lose our peace of soul. Rather, we would be satisfied with the divine
will or permission, which guides all tilings and is equally loved.
Similarly, even though we should tty our best to overcome our passions, vices and
imperfections and to become adept in die exercise of every virtue, nevertheless we must work at
it without being overly zealous and attached. Therefore when we do not experience in ourselves
as much virtue and love of God as we might wish, we can remain at peace without anxiety,
humbling ourselves because of the obstacle we place in the way of virtue. We will be able to love
our own abjection, being content with what God chooses to give us and persevering always in the
desire to make progress, having confidence in the goodness of our Eord, who will give us the
graces needed to serve him with the perfection he requires of us.
In die same way, it is true that we should anticipate, desire and languish continuously for the
blessed hour and moment diat will separate us completely from earth, sin and imperfection in
order to unite us perfectly with God and his pure love. We should labor strenuously to complete
the work of God in us, so that once this has been accomplished, he can call us back to him right
away. However, this desire should be without attachment and anxiety. In this way if it pleases
God that we remain separated for some years to come from the sweet vision of his divine face,
we might be satisfied with the
-311vision of his most lovable will, even if he should want us to experience this painful privation
until the day of judgment.
This is what I mean by being detached from God. This constitutes the perfect detachment that
all Christians should have from the world, themselves and everything else. Oh, how sweet it is to
be so free and detached from everything!
You might think it is very difficult to achieve this. However, everything will be easy for us if we
give ourselves totally and without reservation to die Son of God, and if we place our trust and

confidence, not m our own strength and resolve, but rather in the greatness of his goodness and
in the power of his grace and love. For wherever this divine love is found, everything is
accomplished with gentleness. It is true that we must do violence to ourselves at times and
experience much suffering, bitterness, darkness and mortification. Nevertheless, on the path of
sacred love there is more honey than gall, more gentleness than harshness.
O my Savior, how you glory, how you delight and how you accomplish great things in a soul
that walks courageously on this path, thus abandoning all and detaching itself from everything,
even from yourself in a certain manner, m order to give its whole self more perfectly to you! How
strongly you unite it to you! How divinely you take possession of it! How divinely you plunge it
into the abyss of your holy love! How wonderfully you transform it into yourself, clothing it with
your attributes, your spirit and your love!
Oh, what satisfaction, what delight it is for the soul to be able to say truthfully: My God, here I
am free and detached from everything! Who can prevent me from loving you perfectly? Now I
no longer cling to anything. Draw me now closer to you, O my Jesus, Draw me after you. IDe will
make baste in the fragrance ofyour oils (Sg 1:3,4). Ah, what a consolation it is for the soul who can say
with die holy spouse: My beloved is all mine and I am all bis (Sg 2:16); or with Jesus: Omnia mea tua
sunt, et tua mea sunt, "Everything that is mine is yours, O my Savior, and everything that is yours is
mine" (Jn 17:10).
Let us cultivate a great desire for this holy detachment. Let us give ourselves totally and without
reservation to Jesus, begging him to use the power of his arm to break our bonds and to detach
us completely from die world, ourselves and all things, so that, without any obstacle, he may
work in us everything he desires to accomplish for his glory.
-312XI. The Fourth Foundation of Christian Life and Holiness: Prayer
The holy exercise of prayer must be considered one of the chief foundations of Christian life
and holiness because Jesus Christ's whole life was nothing but a continuous prayer, which we
must continue and express in our life. It is very important and absolutely necessary because
prayer is more essential for a Christian who wants to live a Christian life than are the eardi which
supports us, the air which we breathe, the bread which sustains us and the heart which beats in
our breast necessary to us for human life. This is because:
1. The Christian life, which the Son of God calls eternal life, consists in knowing and loving
God (Jn 17:3). Now, it is through prayer diat we acquire this divine knowledge.
2. By ourselves we are nothing. We are capable of nothing. We possess only poverty and
nothingness. This is why we have a very great need to turn to God at every moment through
prayer in order to obtain and receive from him all that we lack.
Prayer is a respectful and loving elevation of our mind and heart to God. It is a delightful
encounter, a holy communication and a divine conversation of the Christian soul with its God.
There we consider and contemplate him in his divine perfections, in his mysteries and in his
works. We adore him, bless him, love him, glorify him and give ourselves to him. We humble
ourselves before him at die sight of our sins and ingratitude, ask him for mercy, learn to become
like him by imitating his divine virtues and perfections, and finally we ask him for everything that
we need in order to serve and love him.
Prayer is a participation in the life of the angels and saints, in the life of Jesus Christ and his
blessed Mother, in the life of God himself and the three divine Persons. For the life of the angels,
the saints, Jesus Christ and his blessed Mother is nothing else but a continuous exercise of prayer
and contemplation, in which they are constancy given over to contemplate, glorify and love God,
asking him to give us those tilings that we need. The life of the three divine
-313Persons is a perpetual contemplation, glorification and love of one another, which is the
primary and principal object of prayer.

Prayer is the perfect delight, the highest happiness and the true paradise on earth. For through
this divine exercise the Christian soul is united to its God who is its center, its goal and its highest
good. In prayer it possesses him and is possessed by him. In prayer it offers him its respect,
homage, adoration and love, and receives from him his light, his blessing and a thousand tokens
of his unbounded love. It is in prayer that God delights in us: My delight is to be with the children of
men (Prv 8:31). There God teaches us experientially that true delight and perfect happiness are
found in God and that a hundred, even a thousand years of the false pleasures of the world do
not equal one moment of the authentic delights that God allows those souls to taste, whose
greatest joy is to commune with him through holy prayer.
Finally, prayer is the worthiest, noblest, most exalted, greatest and most important activity and
occupation to which you can give yourself, since it is the continual work and occupation of the
angels, die saints, the blessed Virgin, Jesus Christ and die holy Trinity throughout all eternity. It
will also be our perpetual exercise in heaven. Indeed, it is the true and proper function of a man
and a Christian. For man is created for God alone and to live with him. The Christian is on eardi
for the sole purpose of continuing what Jesus Christ accomplished here during his lifetime.
This is why, with all my power, I plead with you who read this and beg you in God's name,
since our most beloved Jesus deigns to take delight in being and dwelling with us through the
means of holy prayer, do not deprive him of his joy, but rather experience for yourselves how
true are tiiese words of the Holy Spirit: There is no bitterness in his presence or boredom in bis company,
but only joy and gladness (Wis 8:16). Consider this activity as the first, foremost, most necessary,
most pressing and most important of all your occupations. Free yourselves, as much as possible,
from other less essential activities so as to devote as much time as you can to prayer, especially in
the morning, the evening and just before dinner, using one of the ways that I am going to now
propose.
-314XII. Various Ways of Praying, Beginning with Mental Prayer
There are various ways of praying. I will indicate here die five most important ones.
The first is what we call mental or interior prayer, in which the soul converses interiorly with
God, taking as a subject for diis encounter one of his divine perfections or some mystery, virtue
or word of the Son of God or what he has accomplished or now accomplishes in the order of
glory, grace, nature or in his blessed Mother, in the saints, in his church or in the natural world.
The soul begins by applying its understanding, with a gentle and firm attention and effort of the
mind, to consider die truths contained in the chosen subject, and which are able to incite the soul
to love God and detest its sins. After that the soul applies its heart and will to produce many acts
and feelings of adoration, praise, love, humiliation, contrition, oblation as well as the resolution to
flee evil and do good and odier similar acts according to die promptings of the Spirit of God.
This way of praying is so holy, so help fill and so filled with blessings that words cannot explain
it. Thus, if God draws you to prayer and gives you the graces for it, you should thank him indeed
for giving you this very splendid gift. If he has not as yet given you this gift, pray that he gives it
to you and do all that you can on your part to correspond to his grace and to cultivate this holy
activity. God will instruct you in it better than all the books and all the doctors in this world, if
you throw yourselves at his feet with confidence and a pure heart, in the way I will now propose.
XIII. The Second Way of Praying: Vocal Prayer
The second way of praying is called vocal prayer. In this we use our mouth in speaking to God,
either by saying the divine office, the rosary or some other vocal prayer. This means is almost as
usefill as
-315the first one, provided that your lips are united to your heart. In other words, as you speak to
God with your lips, you are also speaking to him with your heart and an attentive mind. For in
this way, your prayer will be vocal and mental at the same time. On the contrary, if you become
accustomed to reciting many vocal prayers in a routine and inattentive manner, you will leave

God's presence more dissipated, colder and less fervent in his love than you were before. This is
why I advise you to do little of this, except for the obligatory prayers, and to do them well with
much attention and application of yourself to God, filling your mind and heart with some holy
thoughts and feelings while you speak with your lips. Remind yourself that you must continue the
earthly prayer of Jesus Christ. To accomplish this, give yourself to him. Unite yourself to the love,
humility, purity, holiness and the very perfect attention that he brought to prayer. Beg him to
imprint in you die dispositions and the holy and divine intentions with which he prayed.
You can offer your prayer to God in union with all the holy and divine prayers that have been
and will be offered continually in heaven and on earth by the blessed Virgin, the angels, and all
the saints of eardi and heaven, uniting yourself to the love, devotion and attention they bring to
this holy practice.
XIV. The Third Way of Praying: Performing All Your Actions in a Spirit of Prayer
The diird way of praying is to accomplish all your actions in a Christian and holy manner, even
the least significant, offering them to our Lord when you begin them and lifting your heart to
him from time to time while you are performing diem, according to the way that has been and
will be proposed once more in the sixth part of this book. For in this way, we perform our
actions in a spirit of prayer. We are always in a continual exercise of prayer, faithftil to our Lord's
command that we pray always and without interruption (Lk 18:1; 1 Thes 5:17). It is a very excellent and
quite easy way to remain always in the presence of God.
-316XV. The Fourth Way of Praying: Reading Good Books
The fourth way of praying is to read good books, not hurriedly and in haste, but in a leisurely
fashion, applying your mind to what you read, stopping to consider, mull over, weigh and savor
the truths that touch you most, in order to imprint diem in your mind and draw from them
various acts and feelings, just as I suggested for mental prayer. This exercise is very important and
accomplishes in the soul die same effects as mental prayer. This is why I insist in particular that
you never let a day go by without reading some holy book for half an hour.
The most appropriate are: the New Testament, if you have permission to read it; die Imitation of
Jesus Christ; the life of the saints; the books of Grenada, especially the splendid Guide for Sinners
and the Memorial of the Christian lafe; (_the books of Saint Francis de Sales; those of die most
illustrious founder of die Oratory of France, Cardinal de Bérulle; the Spiritual Treasury of Father
Quarré. j_However, take care at die beginning of your reading to offer your mind and heart to
our Lord. Beg him to give you the grace that will allow you to derive die fruit he expects of you
and allow him to accomplish in your soul what he wishes for his glory.
XVI. The Fifth Way of Praying: Speaking about God. How to Speak about God and
Listen to Others Speak of Him
It is also very useful, holy and capable of greatly inflaming our hearts with divine love to speak
and converse witii one another at times in an intimate way about God and the things of God.
Christians should spend part of their time in this way. It should be their usual discourse and
conversation. In it they should find their relaxation and delight.
The prince of the apostles exhorts us to do this when he says: If someone speaks, let his words be like
the words of God (1 Pt 4:11).
For since we are children of God, we should delight in speaking
-317the language of our Father, which is most holy, heavenly and divine. Since we are created for
heaven, we should begin speaking on eartii the language of heaven. Oh, how holy and charming
this language is! Oh, how sweet it is for a soul who loves God above all else to speak and hear
about what it likes most in the world! Oh, how pleasing these sacred conversations are to the one
who said that where two or three are gathered in his name, he would be in their midst (Mt 18:20)! Oh, how
different these conversations are from the usual conversations in die world! Oh, what a holy use
of time this is, provided we come to it with the proper dispositions!

To this end we should follow the example and rule on this subject given us by Saint Paul in
these words: Sicut ex Deo, coram Deo, in Christo loquimur, "We speak as from God, before God in
Jesus Christ" (2 Cor 2:17). These words indicate three things we must observe in order to speak
of God in a holy manner.
First we must speak from God, that is, we must draw from God the realities and words we are to
say, giving ourselves to the Son of God at tire beginning of our spiritual conversations so diat he
can put in our mind and on our lips die realities and words we have to say. Thus we can say what
he said to his Father: I have given them the words you have given me (Jn 17:8).
Second, we must speak before God, that is, with attention and application to God, who is present
everywhere and with a spirit of prayer and recollection, giving ourselves to God so that we might
bring forth the fruits of what we say or hear said and use them according to his will.
Third, we must speak in Jesus Christ, that is, with the intentions and dispositions of Jesus Christ
and in the same way he spoke while he was on earth or as he would have spoken if he were in
our place. To this end we must give ourselves to him and unite ourselves to his intentions when
he spoke in the world, having no other goal than the pure glory of God. We must be united as
well to his dispositions of humility toward himself, of gentleness and love toward tiiose widi
whom he spoke as well as love and devotion toward his Father. If we do this our conversations
and encounters will be very pleasing to him. He will be in our midst. He will delight in being with
us, and diis time spent m such holy encounters will be a time of prayer.
-318XVII. The Dispositions and Qualities that Should Accompany Prayer
The holy apostle Saint Paul teaches us that in order to accomplish all our actions in a holy
fashion, we must do them in the name of Jesus Christ. This same Jesus also assures us that
whatever we ask his Father in his name, he will give us. Thus, in order to pray in a holy manner
and to obtain from God what we ask of him, we must pray in the name of Jesus Christ. But what
does it mean to pray in the name of Jesus Christ? I have already mentioned it in passing, but it
cannot be repeated too often, so diat it will be imprinted in your mind as a very important trudi
that can help you in all your exercises. It means that we continue the prayer of Jesus Christ on
earth. For since all Christians are members of Jesus Christ and are his body, as Saint Paul says,
they take his place on earth. They represent his person, and therefore they must do all that they
do in his name, that is, with his spirit, his dispositions and his intentions, as he himself did while
he was in the world and as he would do if he were in their place. This is like an ambassador, who
takes the place of and represents die person of die king. He must act and speak in his name, that
is, widi his spirit, his dispositions and his intentions, acting and speaking as he would if he were
present. This is why I say that praying in the name of Jesus Christ is to continue the supplication
and prayer of Jesus Christ, that is, to pray with the spirit of Jesus Christ and with his dispositions
and intentions, just as he prayed himself on earth and as he would pray if he were in our place.
This is how Christians should pray.
To this end, when you go to pray, remember that you are going to continue the prayer of Jesus
Christ; that you should continue to pray as he would if he were in your place, that is, with the
dispositions with which he did pray and still does pray in heaven and on our altars where he is
present in continual prayer to his Father. To this end unite yourselves to the love, humility,
purity, holiness, attention and all the holy dispositions and intentions widi which he prays.
Now among these dispositions, there are four in particular widi which he prayed and with
which we must pray if we wish to glorify God in our prayer and obtain from him all that we ask.
-319XVIII. First Disposition
The first disposition for prayer is to present ourselves before God with profound humility,
recognizing that we are most unworthy to appear before his face, to comtemplate him or to be
seen and heard by him. Of ourselves we are unable to produce any good thought or any act
pleasing to him. This is why we must abnegate ourselves at his feet and give ourselves to our

Lord Jesus Christ, asking him to annihilate us and fill us with himself so that he might pray
through us. For he alone is worthy to appear before the face of God his Father to praise and love
him and to obtain from him all that he asks. After this, with assurance we should ask the eternal
Father for everything we seek in his Son's name, through his Son's merits and on behalf of his
Son, who is in us.
XIX. The Second Disposition for Prayer
The second disposition with which we must pray is a respectful and loving confidence,
believing with lull assurance that we will obtain infallibly everything we ask that is for the glory of
God and for our salvation. Often we will obtain something better than we ask, provided diat,
relying not on the merits and the power of our prayer, we ask instead in the name of Jesus Christ,
through the merits and prayers of Jesus Christ and on behalf of Jesus Christ himself, relying on
his absolute goodness and the truth of these words of his: MjA and you will receive; everything that yon
ask for in my name mil be given to yon; and when yon ask Godfor something, believe and hare full confidence
that yon will receive it and it will happen to yon in this way (Lk 11:9; Jn 16:23; Mk 11:24). For indeed, if
God treated us according to our merits, he would drive us from his face and destroy us as we
appeared before him. This is why, when he grants us some grace, we must not diink diat it is our
own, or [that he gives it] because of the power of our prayers. Rather, everything he gives is to his
Son Jesus, and on account of the power of his prayers and merits.
-320XX. The Third Disposition for Prayer
The third disposition with which we must pray is purity of intention, assuring our Lord from
the beginning that we renounce all curiosity of mind, all self-love, and that we wish to perform
this action not for our own satisfaction and consolation, but only for his glory and satisfaction,
for in this way he will deign to delight in dealing and conversing with us. We must assure him
also that our desire is to ask him everything for this same goal.
XXL The Fourth Disposition for Prayer
The fourth disposition that should accompany perfect prayer is perseverance.
If you wish to glorify God in prayer and obtain from his goodness what you ask, you must
persevere faithfully in this divine exercise. For there are many tilings we ask of God that he does
not give us the first, second or third time we ask because he wants us to ask him for a long time
and frequently, intending by these means to keep us in a state of humility and self-contempt as
well as the appreciation of his graces. He is pleased to leave us for a long time in a matter diat
makes us return many times to him, so that by this means we might be with him and he with us
often, because he loves us so much and because it is true that he delights in our company.
Finally, to fulfill every holy disposition, when you begin your prayer, give your mind and heart
powerfully to Jesus and his Holy Spirit, praying diat he place in your mind the thoughts and in
your heart the sentiments and affections he wishes. Surrender yourself completely to his holy
guidance so that he may direct you as he wishes in this divine exercise. Have confidence in his
most splendid goodness, that he will lead you in die most appropriate manner and grant you
everything you ask him. If it is n< >t in die way you desire, it will be in some better way.
-321[6, 24: OC 1, pp. 459-64]
Λ n Exercisefor Holy Mass
XXIV. What We Must Do to Assist Worthily at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
In order to assist in a holy manner and to glorify God worthily at the most holy sacrifice of the
Mass, you must do four things.
I. As soon as you leave your house to go to Mass, you should realize that you are not going
merely to assist or to see, but indeed you are going to perform an action that is the holiest and
most divine, die greatest and the most important, die worthiest and most admirable action
accomplished in heaven and on eartii. Therefore it should be performed in a holy and divine
manner, diat is, with the most holy and divine dispositions and with very great care and attention

of mind and heart, being die most important thing you have to do in the world. I said that you are
going to do. For all Christians are one with Jesus Christ, who is the high priest. Therefore they
share in his divine priesthood, which is why they are called priests in the scriptures (see 1 Pt 2:9).
Therefore they have die right not only to assist at die holy sacrifice of the Mass, but to join with
the priest in doing what he does, that is, to offer witii him and Jesus Christ the very sacrifice that
is offered to God on the altar.
II. As you enter the church you should humble yourself profoundly in your heart, seeing
yourself as most unworthy of entering the house of God, of appearing before his face, of taking
part in such a great mystery, which contains in itself all die mysteries and all die wonders of
heaven and earth. This awareness of your nothingness and sins should create in you a spirit of
penance, humiliation and contrition at the beginning of Mass. You should accuse yourself of
them in a general way witii die priest, asking God for pardon and praying that he will grant you
perfect repentance, as well as die grace and strength to avoid them in the future. In reparation
you should
-322offer him the holy sacrifice of the precious body and blood of his Son, which was offered to
him on the cross and is about to be offered to him on die altar.
III. Next you should adore our Tord Jesus Christ, who makes himself present to us on the altar,
so that we might offer him die homage and adoration we owe him. Pray that just as he changes
the lower, earthly nature of bread and wine into his body and blood he might change and
transform also the sluggishness, coldness and dryness of our earthly and arid heart into die fire,
tenderness and agility of die holy, divine affections and dispositions of his divine and heavenly
heart. Then you should remember that Christians are one with Jesus Christ, as members with
their head, and thus they share in all his attributes. So as Jesus Christ is in this sacrifice both as
priest and host at the same time, so all those who assist should be there as priests and as those
who offer sacrifice m order to offer, witii Jesus Christ, die High Priest, die same sacrifice he
offers. They should also be tiiere as hosts and victims, who are but one host just as they are one
priest with Jesus Christ. They need to be immolated and sacrificed with the same Jesus Christ for
the glory of God.
Therefore, since you share in the divine priesthood of Jesus Christ and, as Christians and
members of Jesus Christ, you bear the name and attribute of priest, you should exercise this
quality and use die right it gives you, which is to offer to God, widi the priest and with Jesus
Christ himself, the sacrifice of his body and blood offered in the holy Mass. You should offer it
to him, as much as possible, with die same dispositions as Jesus Christ offers it. Oh, with what
holy and divine dispositions it is offered to him by his Son Jesus! Oh, with what humility, what
purity, what holiness, what detachment from self and all things, what devotion to God, what love
toward men, what love for his Father! Unite yourself in desire and intention witii these
dispositions of Jesus. Pray tiiat he will engrave them within you so that you may offer this divine
sacrifice with him, united to the same dispositions with which he offers it.
Unite yourself to the intentions for which he offers it. There are five main ones. The first is to
honor his Father with all that he is in himself and in all things and thus offer him an honor, glory
and love worthy of him. The second is to offer a gratitude wordiy of his kindness; for all the
blessings he has ever given to creatures. The third is to make full satisfaction for all the sins of
the world. The fourth is to ftilfill his plan and will. The fifth is to obtain from him
-323everything that men need for their bodies and souls. In harmony with these intentions of Jesus
Christ, you should offer God the holy sacrifice of the Mass:
1. In honor of the blessed Trinity, in honor of all that Jesus Christ is in himself, in all his states,
mysteries, attributes, virtues, actions and sufferings; and in honor of all that he is and performs
through botii mercy or justice in his blessed Mother, in all the angels and saints, in the whole
church, triumphant, militant and suffering, and in every creature in heaven, on eardi and in hell.

2. In thanksgiving to God for all die temporal and eternal blessings he has ever conferred on
the sacred humanity of his Son, die blessed Virgin, every angel and man, every creature and
especially yourself.
3. In reparation to his divine justice for all your sins, for all die sins of die world and especially
for those poor souls in purgatory.
4. For die fulfillment of his every plan and will, in particular for those he has for you.
5. To obtain from his kindness all the graces diat are necessary for you and all men so that he
may be honored and served by all, according to the perfection he asks of each person.
This is what you must do as a priest. However, beyond that, as a host, in offering Jesus Christ
to God in the holy Mass as victim, you must offer yourself also with him as a victim. More
exactly, you should pray diat Jesus Christ come widiin you and that he draw you within himself,
that he unite himself to you and diat he unite and incorporate you with him as host, in order to
sacrifice you with him to the glory of his Father.
Since die host that is to be sacrificed must be killed and dien consumed in the fire, pray that he
will make you die to yourself, diat is, to your passions, your self-love and everything that
displeases him. Pray that he will consume you in the sacred fire of his divine love and diat he will
make your whole life from diis moment on become a perpetual sacrifice of praise, glory and love
for his Fatiier and for himself.
IV. You should prepare yourself for communion, at least spiritual if not sacramental. You need
to realize diat our Cord Jesus Christ, who loves you infinitely, does not become present in this
sacrifice only to be with you, to relate with you in a familiar manner and to communicate his gifts
and graces to you. There is much more. He wants to be within you. He has a strong, burning
desire to dwell
-324in your heart and to give himself to you dirough sacramental or spiritual communion. This is
why you should prepare yourself to receive him and, to diat end, adopt the same dispositions you
should have for sacramental communion, diat is, dispositions and sentiments of humility and
love. Humble yourself then before him, considering yourself most unworthy to receive him.
Nevertheless, since he desires it so, desire as well to receive him. Invite him by repeated acts of
love to come within you, so that he might live and rule in you perfectly.
V. Finally, after having thanked our Lord for die graces he granted you during holy Mass, go
forth with a firm resolution to make good use of die day in his service. Also take this thought
with you: diat you should be from now on a host, dead and living at die same time; dead to
everything that is not God and living in God and for God, totally consecrated and sacrificed to
the pure glory and most pure love of God. Assure our Lord diat this is what you desire and that
you offer yourself to him to accomplish and suffer for this goal all diat he wishes. Pray that he
accomplish this in you through his great mercy. Pray that he give you die grace to lift your heart
to him often during die day, to do everything for his glory, to die rather than offend him. To this
end ask diat he give you his most holy blessing.
This is die way in which you should take advantage of such a holy and divine reality, that is, die
most holy sacrifice of the Mass. If you do not need all these tilings to occupy your mind devoutly
during Mass, choose the ones that afford you greater blessing. However, in order to make these
exercises easier for you to use, they have been summarized in prayer form. Use them, not hastily
and on die run, but leisurely and with an attentive mind and heart, if you wish to benefit from
them for the glory of God.
[There follows a series of prayers for Mass.]
-325The Most Admirable Heart of the Most Sacred Mother of God [1, 2: OC 6, pp. 33-40]
The Meaning of the Heart of the Blessed Virgin

Before speaking of the phenomenal supremacy and the incomparable marvels of the admirable
heart of the blessed Mother of God, according to the lights that it pleases him who is light itself
and the source of all light to give me through die divine scriptures and the writings of the holy
Fathers, I will first state that the word heart has many meanings in sacred scripture.
1- It signifies this material and bodily heart, which we possess in our chest. It is the most noble
part of the human body, die source of life, the first to live and the last to die, the seat of love,
hatred, joy, sadness, anger, fear and all the other passions of the soul. It is of this heart that the
Holy Spirit speaks when he says: Omni custodia serva cor tuum, quia ex ipso vita procedit, "Take good
care of your heart for it is the source of life" (Prv 4:23); which is as if he said: Take great care to
subdue and rule the passions of your heart. For if diey are appropriately subject to reason and the
Spirit of God, you will live a long and peaceful life in your body and a holy and honorable one in
your soul. However if, on the contrary, they possess and govern your
-326heart as they wish, they will bring you temporal and eternal death through their dissipation.
2. The word heart is used in sacred scripture to signify the memory. This is the meaning of these
words of our Lord to his aposdes: Ponite in cordibus vestris, non praemeditari quemadmodum respondeatis,
Put this in your hearts," diat is, remember, when they bring you before kings and judges for my
name's sake, "do not worry about what you should respond" (Lk 21:14).
3. It also denotes die understanding used for meditation, which consists in the discursive
reasoning of our intellect about the things of God. This tends to persuade us and convince us of
the truth of Christian teaching. It is this heart diat is indicated by diese words: May the medstation of
my heart be always inyour sight (Ps 19:15). "My heart," diat is, my understanding, "is forever devoted
to meditating and reflecting on your grandeurs, your mysteries and your works."
4. It signifies the free will of die superior and reasonable part of the soul, which is die noblest
of its powers, the queen of the other faculties, the root of good and evil and the mother of vice
and virtue. It is this heart our Lord mentions when he says: The good man out of the good treasure of his
heart produces good, but the evil man out of the evil treasure produces evil (Lk 6:45). "A good heart," that is,
the good will of the just man, "is a rich treasure out of which can come only good; but an evil
heart," that is die ill will of die wicked man, "is the source of all sorts of evil."
5. It means that highest part of the soul, which the theologians call the point of the spirit. This is
the seat of contemplation, which consists in a most special gaze and an utterly simple vision of
God, without discursive reasoning and the multiplicity of thoughts. The holy Fathers understand
that these words, which die Holy Spirit inspires in the blessed Virgin, refer to this part of the
soul: Ego dormio, et cor meum vigilat: "I sleep and my heart is awake" (Sg 5:2). According to Saint
Bernardine of Siena and many others, bodily rest and sleep did not prevent her heart, that is the
highest part of her spirit, from being always united to God in sublime contemplation. 6. At times it signifies the whole interior of man. By this I mean all that pertains to the soul and
the interior and spiritual life, according to these words of die Son of God to die faithful soul:
Pone me ut signaculum super cor tuum, ut signaculum super brachium tuum, "Place me as a seal upon your
heart and on your arm" (Sg 8:6); that is,
-327imprint, through perfect imitation, die image of my interior and exterior life in your interior
and exterior, in your soul and your body.
7. It means the divine Spirit, the heart of die Father and the Son, which they wish to give us to
be our spirit and our heart: I will give you a new heart and I will place a new spirit in your midst (Ez
36:26).
8. The Son of God is called the heart of die eternal Father in the sacred scriptures. For it is of
this heart that the divine Father speaks to Ins divine spouse, the most pure Virgin, when he says
to her: Ton have wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse (Sg 4:9); or in the Septuagint version, You have
ravished my heart. Also, in the same scriptures, tins same Son of God is called, The spirit of our mouth
(Lam 4:20), "our spirit," diat is, soul of our soul, heart of our heart.

All these hearts are found in the Mother of love and make up a single heart in her because all
the faculties of the superior and interior part of her soul have always been perfectly united with
one another. Moreover, both Jesus, who is the heart of his Father, as well as the divine Spirit,
who is die heart of the Father and die Son, have been given to her to be the spirit of her spirit,
the soul of her soul and the heart of her heart.
But to understand better what we mean by the heart of the blessed Virgin, we must know that
just as we adore in God diree hearts, which are in fact a single heart, and just as we adore in die
Man-God three hearts, which are one and the same heart, so also we honor in the Mother of
God three hearts, which are a single heart.
The first heart in the blessed Trinity is the Son of God, who is the heart of his Father, as we
have said earlier. The second is die Holy Spirit, who is die heart of die Father and the Son. The
third is divine love, one of die adorable attributes of the divine essence, which is the heart of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These three hearts are an utterly simple and unique heart
with which the three eternal Persons love one another with as sublime a love as tiiey deserve and
with which they love us as well widi an incomparable love.
The first heart of the Man-God is his bodily heart, which is divinized, as are all the other parts
of his sacred body through their hypostatic union with the divine Person of die eternal Word.
The second is his spiritual heart, that is, die superior part of Ins holy soul containing his memory,
understanding and will, which have been divinized in a special way by the hypostatic union. The
third is Ins divine heart, die Holy Spirit, which has always animated and enlivened Ins adorable
humanity more than his own soul and heart ever
-328did. These diree hearts in this admirable Man-God are but a single heart, because his divine
heart is the soul, the heart and the life of his spiritual and bodily heart. He grounds them in such
a perfect union with himself that diese diree hearts are but a single unique heart, filled with an
infinite love toward die blessed Trinity and an inconceivable love toward men.
The first heart of the Mother of God is the bodily heart enclosed in her virginal breast. The
second is her spiritual heart, die heart of her soul, which is indicated by these words of the Holy
Spirit: Omnis gloria Filiae Regis ab intus, "All the glory of the King's daughter originates from her
interior" (see Ps 45:14), that is, in her heart and in her inmost soul, of which we will speak more
later. The third heart of this divine Virgin is die one she refers to when she says: I sleep and my
heart is awake; tiiat is, according to the explanation of many holy doctors, while I give my body the
needed rest, my son Jesus, who is my heart and whom I love as my own heart, is always watching
over me and for me.
The first of these hearts is bodily, but totally spiritualized by grace and by die Spirit of God
who fills it completely.
The second is spiritual, but divinized, not by die hypostatic union like the spiritual heart of
Jesus, which we just mentioned, but by an eminent participation in the divine perfections, as we
shall see in the following pages.
The third is divine, indeed God himself, since it is the Son of God. These three hearts of the
Mother of God are but a single heart tiirough die most holy and most intimate bond tiiat ever
existed or will exist, next to the hypostastic union. Referring to these three hearts, or radier to
this unique heart, die Holy Spirit uttered twice these divine words: Mary kept all these things in her
heart (Lk 2:19,51).
First she preserved all the mysteries and marvels of her Son's life in some way in her material,
bodily heart, source of life and seat of love and all the other passions, because every movement
and beat of this virginal heart, all the functions of material life tiiat flowed from it and all the
activities of the aforementioned passions were at the service of Jesus and everything that
occurred in him. There was love to love him; hatred to hate everything opposed to him, that is
sin; joy to rejoice in his glory and splendor; sorrow to grieve over his labors and sufferings; and
so on with die other passions.

Second, she preserved them in her heart, that is, in the noblest part
-329of her soul, in the innermost recesses of her spirit. For all die faculties of the superior part of
her soul were occupied unceasingly in contemplating and adoring everything that happened m the
life of her Son down to the least detail.
Third, she preserved them in her heart, that is in her son Jesus, who was the spirit of her spirit
and the heart of her heart. He preserved them for her, suggested them to her and recalled them
to mind when it was opportune to serve as nourishment for her soul in contemplation and so
that she might honor and adore them as they deserved and repeat them to the holy apostles and
disciples, who would then preach them to the faithful.
This is what we mean by the admirable heart of die beloved of God. It is a perfect image of the
adorable heart of God and of the Man-God, as we will see more clearly later.
Such is the most worthy subject, which I will treat in diis book. The following three chapters
will explain more in detail about the bodily heart of the Modier of the Savior, her spiritual heart
and her divine heart. Throughout die remainder of die book you will find a number of things,
some of which are appropriate to her bodily heart, others to her spiritual heart, others to her
divine heart and others that refer to all three. All of them will be quite useful for your soul, if you
read them after having given your spirit over to the Spirit of God with the intention of putting
them to good use.
To this end, take care from time to time, as you read this, to lift your heart to God to praise
him for all die glory he has given himself and will give himself eternally in this wondrous
masterpiece of his divine love. Bless him for all the extraordinary favors he has bestowed on this
most august heart. Thank him for the countless graces he has granted to men through her. Offer
him your heart and beg him to make it like Ins own, destroying in it everything that displeases
him and engraving on it an image of the most holy heart of the Modier of die saint of saints. I
exhort you to give your heart often to her as well with the same intention.
O Jesus, only Son of God, only Son of Mary, you see that I am involved in a task that is
infinitely beyond my grasp. However, I undertook it out of love for you and your most worthy
Mother, confident in the kindness of the Son and die charity of die Modier. You know, my
Savior, that I have no other intention in this dian to please you and to offer you and your divine
Mother some small gratitude for the numerous mercies that I have received from your
-330paternal heart and through the intervention of her most gracious heart. Nevertheless, you see
also that of myself I am nothing but an abyss of unworthiness, powerlessness, darkness,
ignorance and sm. This is why I renounce widi all my heart everything of my own. I give myself
over to your divine spirit and holy light. I give myself over to the immense love you have for your
beloved Mother. I give myself over to die burning zeal you have for your glory and her honor.
Possess and animate my spirit, enlighten my darkness, enkindle my heart, guide my hand, direct
my pen, bless my work and please use it for your greater glory and the honor of your blessed
Mother and to imprint in the hearts of those who will read this book an authentic devotion to her
most lovable heart.
[12, 6: OC 8, pp. 344-47]
The Three Hearts of Jesus, Which Are Only One Heart
FIRST POINT
We have three hearts to adore in our Savior, which are nevertheless only one unique heart
because of the very close bond diat exists between them.
The first is his divine heart, which he possesses from all eternity in the adorable bosom of his
Father, which is but one heart and one love with the heart and love of his Father; and with the
heart and love of his Father, it is the origin of die Holy Spirit. Therefore, when he gave us his
heart, he gave us as well die heart of his Father and his adorable Spirit. Because of this, he says to
us these marvelous words: As my Father has loved me, so I have loved you, "I love you with the same

heart and the same love with which I am loved by my Father" (|n 15:9). My Father loves me with
an eternal, boundless and infinite love, and I love you also with an eternal, boundless and infinite
love. My Father makes me what I am, that is, God like him and die only Son of God; and I make
you, through grace and participation, what I
-331am by nature and essence, that is, gods and children of God. You have die same Father as I, a
Father who loves you with die same heart and the same love with which he loves me. You have
loved them as you have loved me (Jn 17:23). My Father makes me die universal heir of all his goods, He
appointed him heir of all things (Heb 1:2); and I make you my co-heirs, heirs of God and'fellow heirs with
Christ (Rom 8:17). I promise you that I will give you possession of all my treasures, He will set him
overall his possessions (Mt 24:47). My Father takes all his pleasure and delight in me. Also I take my
delight and pleasure in you, My delight is to be with the children of men (Prv 8:31).
O goodness! O love! O excess! O God of love! How can die hearts of men be so cool and
frigid toward you, who are all on fire and aflame with love of diem? Oh, may all my joy and
delight be in thinking of you, in speaking of you and in serving and loving you! O my All, may I
be totally yours and may you alone possess everything that belongs to me, that is part of me and
is within me.
SECOND POINT
The second heart of Jesus is his spiritual heart, which is the will of his holy soul. It is a purely
spiritual faculty whose proper role is to love what is lovable and detest what is detestable.
However, this divine Savior so c< impletely sacrificed his human will to his Father that he neverfulfilled it while he was on earth and will never do so in heaven. He accomplishes nothing but the
will of his Father, according to these words of his: I do not seek, my will, but the will of him who sent me.
I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me (Jn 5:30; 6:38). Now it
was for love of us that this lovable Jesus renounced his own will in order to accomplish our
salvation, through the will of his Father alone, especially when he spoke to him in the Garden of
Olives: Pater, non mea voluntas, sed tuafiat, "Father, not my will, but yours be done" (Lk 22:42)!
O God of my heart, if out of love for me you sacrificed a most holy and divine will, how much
more should I, for love of you, renounce my own will, which is totally depraved and corrupted by
sin! Oh, grant that with all my heart, I renounce it now and forever. I beg of you most humbly, O
adorable Redeemer, to crush it in me completely
-332like a snake filled witii poison and replace it with the rule of your will.
THIRD POINT
The third heart of Jesus is the most holy heart of his divinized body, which is a furnace of
incomparable, divine love toward us. For since this sacred heart is united hypo statically to the
person of the Word, it is enkindled with the flames of his infinite love toward us. This love is so
ardent that the Son of God is impelled to carry us continually in his heart; to keep his eyes fixed
always on us; to take such good care of the least tilings that pertain to us, that he counts all the
hairs of our head and will not let even one perish; to ask his Father that we may dwell with him
eternally in his bosom: Father, I desire that those whom you have given me may be with me where I am (Jn
17:24); and to assure us that, if we overcome the enemies of his glory and our salvation, he will
seat us with him on his own throne and will give us possession of die same kingdom and the
same glory that his Father has given him.
Oh, how abundant and enraptured is the love of Jesus for men, as ungrateful and unfaitlifiil as
we are! O Jesus, my love, either let me live no longer or let me live only to love you, to praise you
and to glorify you without end! 1 ,et me die a thousand deaths rather than do anything willingly
that would displease you! You have three hearts, which are one and die same heart, which is
devoted to loving me continually. Oh, that I might have all the hearts of the universe in order to
consume diem in your holy love!
EJACULATORY PRAYER

I love you most beloved Jesus. I loveyou infinite goodness. I love you with my whole heart and I wish to love yon
more, and more.
-333NOTES
1. He appears to be referring here to Genesis 2:23, which he has attributed inaccurately to Paul. Many of the
scripture texts in this section are blended together by Saint John Eudes even though they are taken from various
places. I will place the references at the end of these "textual mosaics" to make them more readable.
This entire book is a loosely related series of prayers, meditations and teachings on the spiritual life. The selections
translated here illustrate the range of topics.
2. The reference given here in the French edition is to Esther 14:18. This is the numbering of the Vulgate. The
reader will only find ten chapters in most contemporary versions of the Bible, where this text and other later Greek
additions have been incorporated. For a reconstructed version of this text see the Bible of Jeruralem (Garden City,
New York: Doubleday, Inc., 1968), p. 563.
3. Louis of Grenada (1505-88) was a noted Dominican preacher.
4. John Hughes Quarré (1589-1656) was a priest of the Oratory and a follower of Cardinal Bérulle.
5. For an overview of the contents of the Coeur, see the Introduction to this volume, pp. 52-54, 73-98.
6. Saint Bernardine of Siena, Sermon 51, art. 1, c. 2. Bernardine was a Franciscan reformer and preacher who lived
in Italy from 1380 to 1444.
-334-

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bérulle
Primary Sources
Bérulle et be sacerdoce: étude historique et doctrinale. By Michel Dupuy. Paris: P Lethielleux, 1969. Pages 255-430 are textes
inédits of Bérulle's writings on the priesthood. Citations indicated by OR.
Collationes. Latin manuscript 18210, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale. Citations indicated by Coll.
Correspondance dn Bérulle. 3 vols. Edited by Jean Dagens. Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1937-39. Citations indicated by
CB.
"Des nouveaux inédits de Bérulle." Edited by Michel Dupuy. Revue d'histoire de la spiritualité 48 (1972): 435-52; 52
(1976): 345-86; 53 (1977): 275-316; and Revue des études aiigiistiniennes 26 (1980): 266-85.
Elévation sur sainte Madeleine. Foi vivante Series, 224. Introduced and edited by Joseph Beaude. Paris: Cerf, 1987. A
helpful introduction, and a modernized version.
Les ''Oeuvres de piété' du cardinal de Bérulle. Essai de classement des inédits et conjectures chronologiques. Edited by Jean Orcibal.
Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique 57 (1962): 813-62. Citations indicated by RHE.
Oeuvres complètes. 2 vols. Edited by François Bourgoing. Villa Bethanie, Montsoult Seine-et-Oise: Maison D'Institution
de L'Oratoire, 1960. Lhiless indicated otherwise, all citations are from this.
Oeuvres de piété. From Les oeuvres de I'eminentissime et reverendissime
-335Piem cardinal de Bérulle. Edited by J.-P. Migne. Paris: Ateliers catholiques, 1856. We have chosen this edition for our
citations, indicated by OP, since this contains a more ample collection of the OP than the Montsoult edition (the
numbering of the two editions is slightly different also). It is best to test the two editions against one another; the
Montsoult edition is often considered the more "authentic."
Pierre de Bérulle: Introduction et choix de textes. Témoins de li foi Series. Edited by Michel Dupuy. Paris: Bloud et Gay, 1964.
English Translations
Bremond, Henri. A Literary History of Religious Thought in France 3: The Triumph of Mysticism. Translated by K. L.
Montgomery. London: SPCK, 1936. Selections from Bérulle throughout, esp. pp. 1-222.
Secondary
Bellemare, R. Le sens de la créature dans la doctrine de Bérulle. Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1959. A fine analysis of Bérulle's
relational anthropology.
Bremond, Henri. 3 (above) and Histoire littéraire du sentiment religieux en France 7: La metaphysique des saints. Paris: Bloud
et Gay, 1928, pp. 5-162 (for some comparisons between Bérullian spirituality and St. Francis de Sales).
Cochois, Paul. Bérulle et l'école française. Maîtres spirituels Sériés. Paris: Seuil, 1963. Perhaps the best overview of the
controversy of the vows of servitude.
Cognet, Louis. "Bérulle et la théologie de l'incarnation." Al Ile siècle 29 (1955): 330-52. . La spiritualité moderne (Histoire
de spiritualité 3/Ί). Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1966, pp. 310-59. Indispensable.
D'Angers, Julien-Eymard. "L'exemplarisme bérulhen: les rapports du naturel et du surnaturel dans l'oeuvre du
cardinal de Bérulle." Revue des sciences religieuses 31 (1957): 122-39.
Dagens, Jean. Bérulle et les origines de la restauration catholique
-336(1575-1611). Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1952. The best historical study to date.

Dupuy, Michel. Bérulle. Une spiritualité (le l'adoration. Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1964. A particularly fine and
sophisticated analysis, with some helpful comparisons with St. Ignatius Loyola.
Guillén Preckler, Fernando. Bérulle aujourd'hui 1575-1975: pour une spiritualité de l'humanité du Christ. Le point théologique
Series, 25. Paris: Beauchesne, 1978. An excellent attempt to probe Bérulle's contemporary relevance, noting Bérulle's
similarity to Hans LTrs von Balthasar's theology, and suggesting service as a contemporary transposition of servitude.
—. "Etai" chep le cardinal de Bérulle: théologie et spiritualité des "états" bérulliens. Analecta Gregoriana Series, 197. Rome:
Gregorian University, 1974, The best study of the difficult notion of état, and also a fine overview of Bérulle's entire
thought.
Houssaye, Michel. Le cardinal de Bérulle et le cardinal de Richelieu. Paris: E. Plon, 1875.
. Les carmélites de France et le cardinal de Bérulle. Paris: E. Plon, 1873.
—. Lepère de Bérulle et {oratoire de Jésus. Paris: E. Plon, 1874.
—. M. de Bérulle et les carmélites de France. Paris: H. Plon, 1872. (Houssaye's works are the "classic" historical sources.)
Huijben, J. "Aux sources de la spiritualité française du XVIIe siècle." Supplément de la vie spirituelle 25 (1930): 113-39;
26 (1931): 17-46, 75-111; 27 (1931): 20-42, 94-122. Helpful especially for the Rhineland-Flemish mystical tradition's
influence on the French School.
Minton, Anne M. "Pierre de Bérulle: The Search for Unity." The Spirituality of Western Christendom 2: The Roofs of the
Modern Christian Tradition. Edited by E. Roxanne Elder. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1984, pp. 105-23.
—. "The Figure of Christ in the Writings of Pierre de Bérulle: 1575-1629." Ph.D. dissertation. New York University,
1979.
Orcibal, Jean. Le cardinal de Bérulle: évolution d'une spiritualité. Paris, Cerf, 1965.
Thompson, William M. "A Study of Bérulle's Christie Spirituality." In Jesus, Lord and Savior. A Theopathic Christology and
Soteriology. New York: Paulist, 1980, pp. 226-49.
-337. "The Christie Universe of Pierre de Bérulle and the French School." American Benedictine Review 29 (1978): 320-47.
Vasey, Vincent R. "Mary in the Doctrine of Bérulle on the Mysteries of Christ." Marian Studies 36 (1985): 60-80.
Vidal, M. de. Le cardinal de Bérulle théologien marial. Li doctrine de Marie épouse. Nicolet Quebec centre marial canadien,
1957.
Walsh, Milton Thomas. "The Sources of Pierre de Bérulle's Christocentric Spirituality." M.A. thesis. Menlo Park, CA:
St. Patrick's Seminary, 1978.
Madeleine de Saint-Joseph
Primary
Lettres spirituelles. Edited by Pierre Serouet. Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1965. All citations from her letters are from
this edition, indicated by Lettre.
Une mystique du XT 71 siècle: soeur Catherine de Jésus. Editions de la T ie spirituelle. Edited by Jean-Baptiste Eriau. Paris:
Desclée et Cie, 1929. A fine edition of Madeleine's La vie de soeur Catherine de Jésus.
English Translations
Bremond, Henri. Vol. 2 (see above): The Coming ofMysticism (1590-1620). Translated by K. L. Montgomery. London:
SPCK, 1930. Selections from the La vie de soeur Catherine de Jésus, pp. 227-67.
Secondary
Bremond, Henri. Vol. 2 (see above). Pp. 227-67.
Cognet, Louis. La spiritualité moderne (see above). Pp. 362-67.
Eriau, J.-B. La vénérable Madeleine de St.-Joseph: première prieure française du Carme! de /'Incarnation (1578-1637): essai sursa vie
et ses lettres inédites. Paris: L'Art catholique, 1921.
-338(Louise de Jésus). La vénérable Madeleine de Saint-Joseph: première prieure française du premier monastère des carmélites déchaussées
en France (1578-1637). Paris/Clamart: Carmel de l'incarnation, 1935. The best biography available, with ample
selections from her writings.
Macca, Valentine. "Magdalen of St. Joseph (Magdalen du Bois de Fontaines, 1578-1637)." In Saints of Carmel: A
Compilation from 1 arious Dictionaries. Directed by Louis Saggi. Rome: Carmelite Institute, 1972, pp. 183-86.
Madaule, Jacques. "La première prieure française du Carmel réformé." La vie spirituelle 49 (1936): 499-516.
Rimaud, Elisabeth. "Présence au monde d'une carmélite: la vénérable Madeleine de St.-Joseph." Le carmel (1966), 4866. A good view of Madeleine's involvement with the aristocracy.
Serouet, Pierre. "Madeleine de Saint-Joseph." Dictionnaire de spiritualité. Vol. 10. Edited by Marcel Viller, et al. Paris:
Beauchesne, 1980, cols. 57-60.
Winowska, Maria. "Mère Madeleine de Saint-Joseph, première prieure du Carmel de France." La vie spirituelle 89
(1953): 57-83.
O her
Primary
Anthologie. Edited by Michel Dupuy, et al. Paris: Compagnie de Saint Sulpice, 1987.
Catéchisme chrétien pour la vie intérieure et Journée chrétienne. Edited by François Amiot. Paris: Le Rameau, 1954. The best
critical edition, from which our citations come. Citations indicated by Cat (for I he Catéchisme) and J (for the Journée).
Divers écrits. Paris: Sulpician Archives.

Esprit de M. Olier. Paris: Sulpician Archives.
Introduction a la vie et aux vertus chrétiennes with the Pietas Seminani. Edited by François Amiot. Paris: Le Rameau, 1954.
The best critical edition, from which our citations come. Citations indicated by I (for the Introduction).
Lettres deM. Olier. 2 vols. Edited by E. Levesque. Paris: J. de Gigord,
-3391935. Our citations are from this, indicated by Eettre with the appropriate volume number.
Mémoires autographes. 8 vols. Paris: Sulpician Archives, 1642-52. Our citations are from this, indicated by Mém or Mém c
(a later copy).
Oeuvres completes de M. Olier. Edited by J.-P. Migne. Paris: Ateliers catholiques, 1856. Unless indicated otherwise, this is
the source of our citations.
Traité des saints ordres. Edited by Gilles Chaillot, Michel Dupuy and Irénée Nove. Paris: St.-Sulpice, 1984. The best
critical edition, arguing that the Traité is a touched up anthology of various works of M. Olier. Citations indicated by
T.
Translations
Bremond, Henri. Vols. 2 and 3 (see above). Selections throughout both volumes.
Olier, Jean-Jacques. Catechism of an Interior Life. Translated by M.E.K. Baltimore: Metropolitan Press, 1847. I was
unable to locate a copy of this translation.
Secondary
Bouchaud, Constant. "Le role de mère Agnes dans la preparation spirituelle de Jean-Jacques Olier à la fondation du
Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice." Bulletin de Saint-Sulpice 12 (1986): 160-70.
Bremond, Henri. Vol. 3 (see above). Pp. 359-434. A very lively overview of Ober's Efe and spirituality. Bremond
clearly has an affection for his subject, but his interpretation, especially of Ober's "great trial," sparked an ongoing
controversy.
Chaibot, Gibes. "Criteria for the Spiritual Formation of Pastors: The Pedagogical Tradition Inherited from M. Ober."
Bulletin de Saint-Sulpice 4 (1978): 24-32.
. "L'expérience eucharistique de J.-J. Ober: témoignage des Mémoires." Bulletin de Saint-Sulpice 10 (1984): 63-106.
. "Les premières leçons de l'expérience mystique de Monsieur Ober." Bulletin du comité des études 40 (1962): 501-43. An
-340indispensable analysis of Ober's "great trial," this tune surfacing its genuinely mystical character.
Cognet, Louis. La spiritualité moderne (see above). Pp. 399-406.
Dupuy, Michel. Se laissera [Esprit, itinéraire spirituel de Jean-Jacques Olier. Paris: Cerf, 1982. The most recent biography,
from a psycho-historical perspective. Plentiful selections from the Mémoires.
Faibon, Etienne-Michel. Abrégé de la vie de M. Olier. Montréal: L. Perrault, 1847.
. T le de M. Olier. 3 vols. Paris: Poussièlgue Frères, and F. Wattelier et Cie, 1873. A basic historical study, upon which
ab others must rely.
Glendon, Loweb M. An Annotated and Descriptive Chronolog of the Important Events in the Life ofJean-Jacques Olier (1608/657). Baltimore: Society of St. Sulpice, 1987.
—. "Jean-Jacques Ober's Shifting Attitude Toward the Human." Bulletin de Saint-Sulpice 5 (1979): 43-49.
—. "Jean-Jacques Ober's View of the Spiritual Potential of Human Nature: A Presentation and an Evaluation."
Ph.D. dissertation. Fordham University, 1983. A very chabenging study of how Ober's spirituahty intersects with
some currents til contemporary American (U.S.) theology and spirituahty.
Huvelin, Abbé. "Monsieur Ober at St. Sulpice" and "Monsieur Ober and the Seminaries." Some Spiritual Guides of the
Seventeenth Century. Introduction and translation by Joseph Leonard. New York: Benziger, 1927, pp. 63-86, 87-108.
Huvelin was Baron Friedrich von Htigel's spiritual director; this work is one of the links between the Baron and the
French School.
Icard, H.-J. Doctrine deM. Olier. Paris: Victor Lecoffre, 1891.
Johnson, Timothy K. "Jean-Jacques Ober: Spiritual Director." Bulletin de Saint-Sulpice 6 (1980): 287-310. A valuable
study of the most important sources on this topic.
Letourneau, G. La méthode d'oraison mentale du séminaire de SaintSulpice. Paris: Victor Lecoffre, 1903. A genetic study,
tracing the various accretions to Ober's approach to prayer, as well as its origins.
Monter, Frédéric. T ie de Jean-Jacques Olier. Paris: Poussièlgue, 1914. Unfortunately incomplete, this is a very fine
historical study.
-341Noye, Irénée. "Sur la prière: 'O Jesu vivens in Maria.' " Bulletin du comité des études 7 (1954): 8-17; 8 (1955): 10-21.
Noyé, Irénée and Michel Dupuy. "Ober (Jean-Jacques)." Dictionnaire de spiritualité. Vol. 11. Edited by M. Vüler, et al.
Paris: Beauchesne, 1982, cols. 737-51.
Pourrai, Pierre. Father Olier. Founder of Saint-Sulpice. Translated by W. S. Reilly. Baltimore: Voice Publishing Company,
1932. For the English reader, the best biography.
Thompson, Edward Healy. The Life ofJean-Jacques Olier. Founder of the Seminary of St. Sulpice. London: Bums and Oates,
1885. Based upon FaiUon's work.
Thompson, Wilham M. "Ober's La journée chrétienne as a Guide for Today's Theology." Bulletin de Saint-Sulpice 14
(1988): 113-27.

Eudes
Primary
En tout la volonté de Dieu: S. Jean Eudes à travers ses lettres. By Clément Guillou. Paris: Cerf, 1981. A very helpful selection
of letters by the saint, spanning his career and major concerns, with critical commentary.
Oeuvres complètes du vénérable Jean Eudes. 12 vols. Introduction and notes by Joseph Dauphin and Charles Lebrun.
Vannes or Paris: P. Lethielleux, 1905-11. The critical edition; unless otherwise indicated, all our citations are from
this.
Saint Jean Eudes: introduction et choix de textes. Témoins de la foi Series. By Paul Milcent. Paris: Blond et Gay, 1964. This
work contains a thematic selection of the saint's writings.
T ranslations
Bremond, Henri. Vol. 3 (see above). Esp. pp. 497-572.
Eudes, Saint John. Tetters and Shorter ll'orhs. Translated by Ruth Hauser. New York: Kenedy, 1948.
-342—. Meditations on I Prions Subjects. Introduction by Charles Lebrun. New York: Kenedy, 1947.
. The Admirable Heart ofMary. Translated by Charles di Targiani and Ruth I lauser. New York: Kenedy, 1948. A nicely
condensed version of the three volumes of the Coeur.
. The Life and Kingdom ofJesus in Christian Souls: A Treatise on Christian Perfection for 1 Ise by Clergy or Laity. Translated by a
Trappist of Gethsemani. Introduction by Fulton J. Sheen. New York: Kenedy, 1946.
. The Priest: His Dignity and Obligations. Translated by W. Leo Murphy. Introduction by Charles Lebrun. New York:
Kenedy, 1947.
. The Sacred Heart ofJesus. Translated by Richard Flower. Introduction by Gerald A. Phelan. New York: Kenedy, 1946.
(All the Kenedy translations are in the series The Selected llbrhs of St. John Eudes. Edited by Wilfrid E. Myatt and
Patrick J. Skinner.)
Milcent, Paul. Saint John Eudes: Presentation and Texts. Glasgow: John S. Bums, 1963. An English translation of
Milcent's book (above).
Secondary
Arragain, Jacques, et al. Le coeur du Seigneur, études sur les écrites et l’influence de saint Jean Eudes dans sa dévotion au coeur de
Jésus. Paris: La Colombe, 1955.
Bremond, Henri. Vol. 3 (see above). Pp. 497-572. This includes helpful and provocative studies of the saint's relation
to Marie des Vallées and of the saint's sacred heart theology in comparison with that of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.
Herambourg, Peter. St. John Eudes: A Spiritual Portrait. Translated by Ruth I lauser. New York: Newman, 1960.
Lebrun, Charles. La dévotion au coeur de Marie: étude historique et doctrinale. Paris: P. Lethielleux, 1917.
—. La spiritualité de saint Jean Eudes. Paris: P. Lethielleux, 1933.
. Lr bienheureux Jean Eudes et le culte public du coeur de Jésus.
-343Paris: P. Lethielleux, 1917. Lebrun is the premier historian of the saint.
Legaré, Clément. La structure sémantique, le lexeme du coeur dans [oeuvre de saint Jean Eudes. Montréal: Les Presses
Universitaires du Quebec, 1976.
Milcent, Paul. "Jean Eudes (saint), 1601-1680." Dictionnaire de spiritualité. Vol. 8. Edited by M. Viller, et al. Paris:
Beauchesne, 1972, cols. 488-501.
—. X Jean Eudes: un artisan de renouveau chrétien au AT Ile siècle. Semeurs Senes. Paris: Cerf, 1985. The leading historical
study.
Peyrous, Bernard. "La christologie de saint Jean Eudes." Divus Thomas 88 (1985): 42-57.
General Studies
Aumann, Jordan. Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition. San Francisco: Ignatius, 1985.
Balthasar, Hans Urs von. "Die Metaphysik des Oratoriums." Herrlicbkeit : Line Theologische Asthetik, 7/7: Im Raum der
Metaphysik. Einsiedeln: Johannes Verlag, 1965, pp. 471-79. Bérulle and Condren are featured.
—. "Pascal." The Glory of the Lord: A TheologicalAesthetics 3: Studies in Theological Style: Lay Styles. Edited by John Riches.
Translated by Andrew Louth, John Saward, Martin Simon and Rowan Williams. San Francisco: Ignatius, 1986, pp.
172-238. Sensitive to Condren's influence on Pascal.
—. "Tiieology and Sanctity," and "Spirituality." Essays in Theology1 2: Word and Redemption. Translated by A. V.
Littledale in cooperation with Alexander Dru. New York: Herder and Herder, 1965, pp. 49-108.
Bertaud, Emile. "Elévations spirituelles." Dictionnaire de spiritualité. Vol. 4/1. Edited by M. Viller, et al. Paris:
Beauchesne, 1960, cols. 553-58.
Boisard, M. L: compagnie de Saint Sulpice: trois siècles d’histoire. 2 vols. Paris: Compagnie de Saint-Sulpice, n.d.
Bremond, Henri. Vols. 2, 3 and 7 (see above). A great and provocative study, beginning the modem reappropriation
of the French School. Controversial, but indispensable. The entire series was
-344published under the general title of Histoire littéraire du sentiment religieux en France depuis la fin des guerres de religion jusqu’à
nosjours. H vols. Paris: Blond et Gay, 1916-33. English translation: A Literary History ofReligious Thought in France From
the liars of Religion Down to Our Own Times. 3 vols. Translated by K. L. Montgomery. London: SPCK, 1928-36.

Cahiers lasalliens. Rome: Casa Generalizia, 1959ff. Critical editions of the works of St. John Baptist de La Salle and of
the early biographies.
Cahill, Michael. Frauds Hibermann's Commentary on the Gospel of St. John: An Investigation of the Rabbinical and French School
Influences. 2 vols, in 1. Dublin and London: Paraclete Press, 1987.
Callahan, C. Annice. Karl Rahner's Spirituality of the Pierced Heart : A Reinterpretation of Devotion to the Sacred Heart.
Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1985. I lelpful suggestions for a renewed heart theology, and for
understanding St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.
Cognet, Louis. "Ecclesiastical Life in France." History of the Church 6: The Church in the Age of Absolutism and
Enlightenment. Edited by Hubert Jedin and John Dolan. Translated by Gunther J. Holst. New York: Crossroad, 1981,
pp. 3-106. The best general historical survey of our period.
. Li spiritualité moderne (see above). The best survey of the spirituality of the "modern" period.
. "Libermann et la spiritualité française." Spiritus, Supplément, 1963, 23-30.
—. "Mysticism: E. École Française." Sacramentum Mundi. Vol. 4. Edited by Karl Raimer, et al. New York: Herder and
Herder, 1969, pp. 151-52.
. Post-Reformation Spirituality. Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Catholicism. Vol. 4L Translated by P. Hepbume
Scott. New York: Hawthorn, 1959.
Condren, Charles de. Hetties du Pert Charles de Condren (1588-1641). Edited by Paul Auvray and André Jouffrey. Paris:
Cerf, 1943. Essential for understanding Condren's influence over our principals.
. The Eternal Sacrifice. Translated by H. J. Monteith. London: Thomas Baker, 1906. A translation of Condren's Idée du
sacerdoce et du sacrifice de Jésus-Christ. See J. Galy (below) for theories of how much of this book comes from Condren,
and
-345how much from his disciples. In any case, Condren's theology of the "eternal sacrifice" of Jesus in heaven will be
found here.
Cooke, Bernard. Ministry to Word and Sacraments. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1976. An excellent study, recognizing the
place of the French School.
D'Angers, Julien-Eymard. H'humanisme chrétien au Λ I lie siècle: St. François de Sales et Yves de Paris. International
Archives of the History of Ideas, 31. La Haye: Martimis Nijhoff, 1970. This work attempts to clarify and critique
Bremond's confusing meanings of the idea of "humanism."
Damel-Rops, H. History of the Church of Christ 6: The Church in the Seventeenth Century. Translated by J. J. Buckingham.
London: J. M. Dent & Sons/New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1963.
De Paul, Vincent. Entrétiens spirituels aux missionaires. Edited by André Dodin. Paris: Seuil, 1960.
Deville, Raymond. "Actualité de l'école française?" Bulletin de Saint-Sulpice 8 (1982): 42-54. . L'éco/e française de spiritualité.
Bibliothèque d'histoire du christianisme Series, il. Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1987. An excellent introduction, with
selected texts from Bérulle, Condren, Olier, Montfort and La Salle.
Dionysius (the Areopagite). Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works. Classics of Western Spirituality Series. Translated by
Cohn Luibheid. Introductions by Jaroslav Pelikan, et al. New York: Paulist, 1987. Essential for the Dionysian,
exemplarist horizon of the French School.
Dupuy, Michel. "Intérieur de Jésus." Dictionnaire de spiritualité. Vol. 7/2. Edited by M. Viller, et al. Paris: Beauchesne,
1971, cols. 1870-77.
Egan, Harvey. Christian Mysticism: The Future of a Tradition. New York: Pueblo, 1984. Very helpful for exploring the
relation between theology and spirituality, a theme important to the "science of the saints" of the French School.
Galy, J. He sacrifice dans (école française. Paris: Nouvelles Editions Latines, 1951. Especially good on this theme in
Condren, with ample studies of Bérulle and Olier, and briefer studies of others.
Goichot, Émile. "Du 'siecle classique' au 'siecle mystique': l'apport liistorique de l'abbé Bremond." Ha rie spirituelle 142
(1988): 433-50.
. Henri Bremond historien du sentiment religieux: genèse et
-346strategie d'une entreprise littéraire. Paris: Éditions Ophyrys, Association de Publications près les Universités de
Strasbouig, 1982.
Harang, Jean, ed. Ha spiritualité bérullienne. Prières de tous les temps Series, 32. Chambrey: C.L.D., 1983. Samples of
prayers from the spectrum of the French School, with an introduction.
Kasper, Walter. Jesus the Christ. Translated by V. Green. New York: Paulist, 1976. Very helpful for understanding the
"privation" of Jesus' human "person" (in the technical conciliar sense) by the "person of the Logos." A central theme
in Bérulle and Olier especially.
Kauffman, Christopher J. Tradition and Transformation in Catholic Culture: The Priests ofSaint Sulpice in the United Statesfrom
1791 to the Present. New York: Macmillan, 1988. An accessible entry into the Sulpician tradition for the American
reader, stressing its progressive leadership in the United States.
La Salle, St. John Baptist de. John Baptist de Ha Salle: The Tetters. Edited by Augustine Loes. Translated by Colman
Malloy. Romeoville, IL: Christian Brothers Conference, 1988.
. Meditations for the Time ojRetreat. Translated by Augustine Loes. Romeoville, IL: Christian Brothers Conference, 1975.
A popular entry into the saint; the influence of the French School is quickly felt by the reader.

Laurentin, René. Dieu seul est ma tendresse: René Laurentinprésente L AL Grignion de Montfort, Le secret de Marie. La mère du
Seigneur Series. Paris: O.E.I.L., 1984. Written for the sake of the saint's becoming a "doctor of the Church." The
saint's influence on Pope John Paul II is also featured.
Le Brun, Jacques. "VI. Le grand siècle de la spiritualité française et ses lendemains." Dictionnaire de spiritualité. Vol. 5.
Edited by M. Viller, et al. Paris: Beauchesne, 1964, cols. 917-53.
—. "Marguerite-Marie Alacoque (Sainte)." Dictionnaire de spiritualité. Vol. 10. Edited by M. Viller, et al. Paris:
Beauchesne, 1980, cols. 349-55.
Lebrun, François. Le XT Ile siècle. Collection U. Histoire moderne Series. Paris: A. Colin, 1967.
Marie-Thérèse de Saint-Joseph. "Marie de L'Incarnation (bienheureuse)." Dictionnaire de spiritualité. Vol. 10. Edited by
M. Viller, et al. Paris: Beauchesne, 1980, cols. 486-87. A study of Mme. Acarie.
-347Matthews, V. J. St. Philip Neri. Rockford, IL: Tan Books and Publishers, 1984. I lelpful for the origins of the Oratory.
Mersch, Emile. The Whole Christ: The Historical Development of the Doctrine of the Mystical Body in Scripture and Tradition.
Translated by John R. Kelly. London: Dennis Dobson, 1938. An extensive treatment of the French School's
contribution is included.
Milet, Jean. God or Christ? The Excesses of Christocentricity. Translated by John Bowden. New York: Crossroad, 1981.
Tends to view the French School as the influential factor promoting an unbalanced Christocentrism, which in turn
leads, the author suggests, toward humanism. Milet seems to exaggerate the influence of the Renaissance on the
French School, and misses the relational and dialogical view of God characteristic of the school.
Montfort, St. Louis-Marie (Grignion) de. Oeuvres complètes. Paris: Seuil, 1966. (English translation [nearly complete]:
God Alone: The Collected Writings of St. Louis Mary de Montfort. Bayshore, NY: Montfort Publications, 1987.) . The Love of
Eternal Wisdom. Translated and annotated by A. Somers. Bayshore, NY: Montfort Publications, 1960. . True Devotion to
Mary. Translated by Frederick Faber. Rockford IL: Tan Books and Publishers, 1985. Tire influence of the French
School is quickly evident to the reader.
Muto, Susan Annette. Pathways of Spiritual Living. Petersham, MA: St. Bede's Publications, 1984. Helpful and
contemplative explorations of themes central to the French School, as well as to other great spiritual families.
O'Shea, William "The Liturgical Tradition of the Society· of St. Sulpice." Il;w'j7yj> 31 (1956-7): 443-529. A good
beginning; we need a solid study of the liturgical contributions of the entire French School.
Osborne, Kenan B. Priesthood: The History of the Ordained Ministry in the Roman Catholic Church. New York: Paulist, 1988.
Includes the Olierian, Sulpician contribution at some length.
Pascal, Blaise. "Lettre de Pascal à monsieur et madame Périer, à clermont" (No. 5). Ouevres complètes. Bibliothèque de la
Pléiade Series, 34. Edited by Jacques Chevalier. Paris: Gallimard, 1954, pp. 490-501. This illustrates the influence of
Condren's views on sacrifice.
-348Pourrat, Pierre. Christian Spirituality 3: Later Developments: Pt. 1: From the Renaissance to Jansenism. Translated by W. H.
Mitchell. Westminster, MD: Newman, 1953.
Rahner, Karl. On Prayer. New York: Paulist, 1958. Turns to Bérulle to highlight the role of the Incarnation in prayer.
—. "Some Theses for a Theology of Devotion to the Sacred Heart." Theological Investigations 3. Translated by Karl-H.
and Boniface Kruger. Baltimore: Helicon, 1967, pp. 3 31-52. Proposes that this devotion is an alternative to both
Jansenistic rigorism and Renaissance "secularism."
—. "The Eternal Significance of the Humanity of Jesus for Our Relationship With God." Ibid., pp. 35-46. A
profound study of the theological foundations of Christocentrism, a theme central to our principals.
Ruusbroec, John. The Spiritual Epousais and Other Works. Classics of Western Spirituality Series. Introduction and
translation by James A. Wiseman. New York: Paulist, 1985. An excellent entry into the themes characteristic of
Rhineland-Flemish mysticism, a major source of the French School.
Sauvage, Michel, and Miguel Campos. St. John Baptist de La Salk: Announcing The Gospel to the Poor. The Spiritual
Experience and Spiritual Teaching oj St. John Baptist de La Salle. Translated by Matthew J. O'Connell. Romeoville, IL:
Christian Brothers National Office, 1981.
Saward, John. "Bérulle and the 'French School.' " The Study of Spirituality. Edited by Cheslyn Jones, Geoffrey
Wainwright and Edward Yamolds. New York: Oxford, 1986, pp. 386-96.
Sheppard, Lancelot. Barbe Acarie: Wife and Mystic. London: Bums Oates, 1953. An accessible introduction to Mme.
Acarie, but biased against Bérulle.
Squire, Aelred. "The Human Condition: A Study of Some Seventeenth-Century French Writers." Life of the Spirit 15
(1961): 166-82.
Thompson, William M. Fire and Light: The Saints and Theology. New York: Paulist, 1987. An analysis of theology's
relationship to mystical experience, a theme central to the "science of the saints" of the French School.
Tenailleau, Bernard. "Father Libermann's Spirituality." Spiritans Today 4 (1985): 49-76. Helpful in appreciating the
French School's influence.
-349Tracy, David. The Analogical Imagination: Christian Theology and the Culture of Pluralism. New York: Crossroad, 1981.
Essential for appreciating the theo-literary nature of religious classics.
van Kaam, Adrian. A Light to the Gentiles: The Life Story of the I enerable Francis I Jbermann. Milwaukee: Bruce, 1959.

Walsh, Eugene A. The Priesthood in the Writings of the French School: Rendle, De Condren, Olier. S.T.D dissertation.
Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1949. Still a very fine introduction; particularly good on the
theology of sacrifice in the French School.
Wright, Wendy M. Bond of Perfection: Jeanne de Chantal and Francois de Sales. New York: Paulist, 1985. Very helpful for
appreciating male-female "spiritual" friendship during the founding period of the French School.
-350INDEX TO THE FOREWORD,
PREFACE, AND
INTRODUCTION
Abasement/Abnegation/Annihilation (Anéantissement), xvi, 6, 24, 41 -46, 55, 63, 85, 99
Abstract Mysticism: See Mysticism
Acarie, Mme., 10, 13, 15, 22 -24, 28 n21, 58, 78, 80
Adherence, xvi, 37, 42, 68 n23, 99
Adoration, xii, xvi, 23 -24, 35, 41 -47, 70nn42-43, 49, 85 -86, 99, 100
Agnes, M., Ver., 22, 24
Alacoque, Μ. M., St., 79, 94 nl5
Alexandre, P., 7, 27 n9
Amelote, D., 19, 100, 101 n4
Amiot, F., 98
Androgyny, 25 -26
Anne of Austria, 27 n2
Anne of Jesus, 13
Animé, C., 91 116
Apophatic, 9
Aquinas, Thomas, St., 41, 47, 68 nnl6,20, 70n39
Amauld, A., 90 n5
Arragain, J., 69 nn31,32, 73 nlOl
Auffray, M.-T., 91 n6
Augustine, St./Augustinian (School), xvxvi, 8 -10, 32 -33, 40, 78, 83, 101 n2
Aumann, J., 82, 92 nil
Auvray, P., 69 n23
Ayers, M., xiii
Bacon, R., 6
Bad, L., 8
Balthasar, H. U. von, 28 nl7, 29 n41, 72n82, 83, 92 n!3, 94 nl8
Baroque, 38, 100, 101 n2
Beaucousin, D., 10, 13
Bellemare, R., 67 nlO, 89 n2
Benedictine (School), xv
Benedictines of Jesus the Priest, 91 116
Benet of Canfeld, 10, 24
Bernard, St., 8
Bertaud, É., 101 n3
Bérulle, P. de, xii, xv, xvii, 3 ff, 27 n4, 28nn20,30, 29 n34, 30 nn54,59, 31nn62,64-65; 32 -34 (on God and Trinity),
35 -42 (on Christology, soteriology, spirituality), 47 -50 (on Mary), 54 -58 (on ecclesiology/pastoral work), 66
(eschatology), 67 nnl-5,10, 68nl2-22, 69 nn31,33,35-36, 70 nn3745,49, 71 1171-75, 71 -72n76, 72n77-84, 73
mi99,101, 74 nl04-113, 7511133, 76 nl43, 78 ff, 89 n2, 90 n5, 91n6, 92 n9, 93 nl5 (beatification process), 94 1117-18,
94 -951119, 95 n21, 95-96n23, 97 and 99 -100 (texts of), 101112-3
Bib Heal (Christian), 32 ff, 84 ff.
Bigne, M. de la, 8
Biollowous, H., 93 n!4
Blampin, T., 8
Blessed Sacrament, 63
Blessed Sacrament, Company of the, 55, 7411103
-351Blosius, 10
Bonadio, J., xiH
Bossuet, J.-B., 7 -9, 92 nlO, 101 n2
Bouchaud, C., 30 n54
Bourdoise, A., 12
Bourgoing, F., 20, 67 n2, 74 nl08, 80, 97

Bowen, J., xiii
imiin
Bremond, H, 18 -19, 28 nn21,30, 29nn36,41,45, 29 -30n49, 30 mi54,56, 691123, 72 n82, 73 nn99,101, 74nnl , ,
78, 81, 89 nnl,4, 90 n5, 91n6, 92 n7, 94 n!8, 98, 101 n2-3
Bressand, M. de, 22
Bretonvilliers, M. de, 19, 63
Brown, G., xiii
Brown, R., xiii
Buckingham, J., 74 nl03
Buonarroti, Michelangelo, 5
Bus, C. de, Ven., 91 n6
Cajetan, 68 nl6
Callahan, C., 90 n5
Calvin, J., 78
Campos, M., 92 n8
Capacity, 99
Carmelite (School), xv, 13 ff, 36, 50, 55, 59, 74 nl03, 80, 91 n6, 100
Carthusians, 16
Catherine of Genoa, St., 10, 22, 74 nl03, 95nl9
Catherine of Jesus, 25
Cervantes, M. de, 5
Chaillot, G., xiii, 29 n44, 31 n61, 61, 75nnl30,132; See references to Olier's T
Chantal, J. F. de, St., 10
Charity, 23 -24, 46, 65 -66, 70 n49, 88, 95-961123, 100
Charles I, 4
Chesnay, C. de, 69 n31
Childhood/Infancy (of Jesus), Devotion to, xvi-xvii, 22, 49 -54, 72 n82, 73nn93,100, 80
Chirico, P., xiii
Christocentrism: See Christology
Christology, 35 -47, 65, 70 n40, 78 -79, 82ff, 94 nl7
Church: See Ecclesiology
Clarke, J., 29 n41
Classical (Tradition), 84, 100, 101 n2; See Dionysian/Platonic/Neoplatonic
Cloud of Unknowing, The, xv
Cochois, P., 14, 28 n31, 61
Coelho, M., 75 nl33
Coeur (book by St. J. Eudes) 21, 52 -54, 731198,98-99
Cognet, L., 7 -8, 12, 19, 22 -23, 27nn2,10-13, 28 nnl4-15,21-22,25,2729, 29 n46, 30 nn55,58-59, 36, 40, 45, 67n5, 68
nnl3,16,19-20, 69nn23,31-32,34,36, 70 n38, 71 n56, 80-81, 89 nl, 92 n7, 98
Coleman, G., xiii
Combefis, F., 8
Company of St. Sulpice: See Sulpicians
Condren, C. de/Condrennian, xii, 7, 12, 17, 19 -20, 24, 34, 37 -38, 43 -45, 51-52, 58 -61, 63 -65, 69 n23, 73 n93, 81,
83, 86, 90 -91n5, 92 n9
Congregation of Jesus and Mary: See Eudists
Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Ghost), 82
Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 91 n6
Congregation of the Oratory: See Oratory
Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, 91 n6
Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Coutances, 91 n6
Cougar, Y., 6 -7, 27 n8-9
Contenson, G. de, 8
Cooke, B., 87, 95 n21
Copernican Revolution, 5, 77
Copernicus, N., 5 -6
Coton, P., 10
Crowley, C., xiii
Cwiekowski, F., xiii
D'Angers, J.-E., 67 n3
Dagens, J., 9 -10, 27 -28nl3, 28nnl8-19,21,30-31, 29 n35, 30 n56, 67n2, 68 nl9, 74 nl04-05, 89 n2, 95 n22, 101n2
Daniel-Rops, H., 74 nl03, 94 nl5
Daughters of Instruction, 91 n6
Daughters of Mary, 91 n6

Daughters of the Interior of the Blessed Virgin, 91 n6
Daughters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, 91 n6
David, J.-B., 91 -92n6
Dauphin, J., 98
Deification: See Spirituality
DelVitto, J., xiii
de Paul, Vincent, St., 11 -13, 16 -17, 81
-352Deville, R., xiii, 30 n49, 71 n70, 92 n8, 96n23
Devotion, 39
Dialogue Form, 100
Dionysius (the Areopagite)/Dionysian, 9 10, 14, 25, 32 -34, 49, 55 -57, 60, 62, 68nll, 78, 81, 84 -85, 100
Dodin, A., 28 n24
Dominican (School), xv
Dru, A., 28 nl7
Dupuy, M., 28 n26, 29 nn36,42,47, 30 n54, 67nn3,7, 69 nn24,26-27, 70 n43-44, 71nn57,61, 73 nn93,101, 74 nl08,
94nl8-19, 101 nl; See references to Olier's T
Duval, A., 7, 10, 15, 23
Eaton, V., xiii
Ecclesiology, 54 -65, 87 -88, 99
Economy, 36, 41
Egan, H., 28nl7, 93 nl4
Elder, E., 89 n2
Elevation, xi-xii, 15, 66, 99 -100, 101 n2-3
Enhypostasia/Enhypostasis, 36, 38, 68 nl6, 70n39, 85
Enlightenment, 86
Episcopacy, 61 -62, 75 nl27
Eucharist, 58 -61, 63 -64, 95 nl7; See Ecclesiology
Eudes, J., St., xii, xv, xvii, 3, 5 -6, 10, 12 13, 19 -22, 30 mi50-52,54, 34 -35 (on God and Trinity), 37 -39 and 45 -47
(on Christology, soteriology, and spirituality), 52 -54 (on Mary), 64 -65 (on ecclesiology and pastoral work), 66 (on
eschatology), 67 n9, 69 nn28,30-32, 71n62-69, 73 nlOl, 73 -74nl02, 75nl34-37, 76 nnl38-39,140-42,146, 78-80, 84
ff, 91 n6, 95 -96n23, 98 -100 (texts of), 101 n3
Eudists, 12 -13, 20, 55, 64, 74 nl03, 80, 82
Evil, 86 ; See Soteriology (Sin)
Exemplarism, xvi, 35, 37, 67 n3; See Dionysian/Platonic/Neoplatonic
Experience, xi, 34
Failion, É.-M., 75 nl25, 91 n6, 93 nl5
Faithful Servants of Jesus, 9 1 n6
Faradon, L. du, 91 116
Feminist Theology, 25 -26, 31 n65, 88, 95n21
Fénelon, F. de/Fénelonian, 92 nlO, 94 nl9
Ferdinand, Emperor, 4
Fire (metaphor), xi, 34, 67 n8
Flemish (School), 10, 47 -48, 72 n78; See Rhineland (School)
Fond, 44 -45, 86
Foucauld, C. de, 83
Franciscan (School), xv
Frazer, E., xiii
French School, xi-xii, xv-xvii, 3 ff, 28nl6, 32 (science of the saints), 33 ff, 77ff, 89 nl (name's origin), 91 -92116
(religious foundations)
Fredericks, J., xiii
Friedrich V, 4
Fristel, A., Ven., 91 n6
Galilei, G., 5 -6
Gallemant, 10
Gallicanism, 21, 93 -94nl5
Gamaches, P. de, 7
Gibieuf, G., 50, 72 n87, 81, 97
Glendon, L., xiii, 29 nn37-40,42-43, 71nn59,61, 101 nl
God (theology of), 33 -35, 78, 85
Good Shepherd Sisters (Congregation of Our Lady of the Good Shepherd), 80, 95-96n23

Gorres, I., 92 n9
Gouhier, A., 92 n9
Gray Sisters, 91 n6
Greco, El, 5
Gregory of Nyssa, St., 83
Groote, G., 8
Guillon, C., 20, 30 nn50,52, 71 n66, 76n142
Guilloré, F., 81
Guthrie, H., 27 n8
Harphius, 7, 10, 36, 68 nn13,16
Harvey, W., 6
Hayes, B., xiil
Hecker, K., 91 n5
Henriette, Princess, 4
Henry IV, 7, 27 n2
Hensberger, M., xiii
Hilton, W., xv
Holst, G., 27 n3
Holy Family of Sees, 91 n6
Host-Victim, 38, 43, 61, 68 -69n23
Host-Victim, vow of, 38
Hostie, R., 91 n6, 92 n10
Huether, F., xiii
Hügel, F. von, 94 -95n19
Huguenots, 8, 19, 52, 55 ; See Reformers

-353Humanism, 78
Hutchinson, H., xiii
Huvelin, A./Huvelinian, 94 -95n19
Icard, H.-J., 94 n15, 95 n21
Ignatian (School/Exercises), 13 ; See St. Ignatius Loyola
Ildephonse of Toledo, St., 14
Imhof, P., 93 n14
Immolation, 58 -59, 64, 86 ; See Sacrifice/ Host-Victim/Condren
Infancy (of Jesus), Devotion to: See Childhood (of Jesus)
Innocent X, Pope, 93 n15
Institute of Our Lady of Charity, 80
Interior/Inferiority (of Jesus/Mary/ Christians), 38, 51, 54 (feast of Jesus'), 62, 64, 78, 91 -92n6
Jansen, C., 90 n5
Jansenism/Jansenists, 19, 21, 38, 79, 84, 90-91n5, 93 -94n15, 94 n16
Jesus: See Christology
Johannine texts (in the French School), 9, 71n61
John (Beloved Disciple), 25
John of the Cross, St., 10, 44 -45, 71 n57, 94n18
Johnson, T., 75 n133
Joubert, J., 91 n6
Jouffrey, A., 69 n23
Juan de Avila, 10
Jugan, J., Bd., 91 n6
Julian of Norwich, xv
Kasper, W., 67 n5, 68 n16
Kauffman, C., 92 n6, 94 n15
Kavanaugh, K., 89 n2
Kelly, J., 92 n12
Kenosis, 85, 92 n9
Kepler, J., 6
Krailsheimer, A., 94 n16
Kruger, B., 27 n7, 90 n5
Kruger, K.-H., 27 n7, 70 n49, 90 n5
La journée chrétienne (book by J.-J. Olier), 19, 29 n46, 98
La Salle, J. B. de, St., 81, 84

Laity, the, 28 n23, 58, 60, 62 -65, 75 n127
Lallemant, L., 81
Lamy, B., 9
Lange, M., 91 n6
Lantages, C. de, 91 n6
Laurain, P., 91 n6
Laurentin, R., 95 n21
Lebrun, C., 98
Lee, W., xiii
Lehmann, K., 93 n14
Lepin, M., 91 n6
Leschassier, F., 81
Lesieur, O., 91 n6
Lessius, P., 15
Letourneau, G., 71 n58, 89 n1
Lettre, 144 (of Madeleine de Saint-Joseph) 23-24, 43
Levesque, L., xiii
Lewis, M., xiii
Liberation theology, 88
Libermann, F., Ven., 82
Little Sisters of St. Joseph, 91 n6
Littledale, A., 28 n17
Liturgy, 66 ; See Solemnity of Jesus/ Interior/Sacred Heart
Louis XIII, 27 n2
Louis XIV, 4, 20 -21, 27 n2
Louise de Jésus, 30 nn56-57,60, 67 n6, 68n23, 70 nn47,49, 72 n87-88, 74nn115,119, 96 n23
Love, 23 -24, 46, 65 -66, 70 n49, 88, 95-96n23, 100
Loyola, Ignatius, St., 83, 89 -90n4, 93 n14, 94n18; See Ignatian
Luther, M./Lutherans, 78, 89 n2
McGinniss, M., xiii
McNeill, W., 3, 6, 27 nn1,6
Mabillon, J., 8
Machault, J. de, 68 n13
Madeleine de Saint-Joseph, Ven., xii, xv, xvii, 22 -26, 30 nn56-57,60, 31 n63-64, 34 (on God and Trinity), 37 -38 and
42-43 (on Christology, soteriology, and spirituality), 50 -51 (on Mary), 58 -60 (on ecclesiology and pastoral work), 66
(on eschatology), 67 n6, 68 n23, 70nn46,48-49, 72 nn85-86,88 (on Mary), 74 n114-120, 76 n144, 78 ff., 93n15
(beatification process), 95 n19, 96n23, 97 -98 and 100
Magdalene, Mary, 16, 23, 26, 66, 78
Maggio, P., 13
Maignelay, M. de, 10
Malebranche, N., 92 n10, 101 n2
Malinowski, F., xiii
Mallek, A., xiii
Margerie, B. de, 94 n17

-354Marguerite du Saint-Sacrement (of Beaune), 22, 30 n54, 80
Marguerite du Saint-Sacrement, 80
Marie des Vallées, 20 -22
Marie of the Incarnation, Bd.: See Mme. Acarie
Marie of the Trinity, 15
Marie-Euphrasie, St., 80
Marie Thérèse, 27 n2
Mariology, 25 -26, 35, 47 -54, 65 -66, 72nn88,91, 73 n93, 81 -82, 86 -87, 95n21
Mary, B. V., xvi, 39, 66, 78, 81 ; See Mariology
Mass: See Euchirist
Maurists, 8
Maximus Confessor, St., 8
Mazarin, J., 27 n2
Mercier, A., 91 n6
Mersch, E., 82 -83, 92 n12
Métézau, P., 81

Milcent, P., 20, 27 n5, 28 n23, 29 n48, 29 30n49, 30 nn51,53-54, 65, 68 n9, 69nn29,31-2, 71 n67, 73 nn94-95,99,
7411102, 75 nn!34,136, 76 nnl40,142, 91n6, 96 n23, 101 nl
Ministry, 87 -88; See Priesthood
Minton, A., 89 n2
Monier, F., 29 r47
Montfort, L.-M. Grignion de, St., 47, 81, 84
Montgomery, K., 28 nn21,30, 68 nl3, 89 n4
Morgan, D., xiii
Morland, D., 90 n4
Morris, W., xiii
Mudge, L., 101 nl
Morin, 9
Muto, S., xiii
Mystery, 70 n40; See Christology
Mystical Body, 39, 60, 65
Mysticism, 9 -11, 13, 44 -45, 50 ff., 71 116O, 93nl5; Abstract: 10 -11, 13, 24 -25, 35 36, 48, 69 n27, 78, 88 ; Everyday:
io'
Néant/Nothingness, 40 -47, 77
Neoplatonism/Neoplatonic, 14, 32 -33, 35, 37, 40, 53, 78, 84 -85, 100 ; See Classic al/Platonic and Dionysius
Neri, Philip, St., 74 nl03
Neufelder, J., 75 nl33
Nevers, C. de, 4
Newton, I., 6
Nicholl, D„ 29 n41
Nobility, the, 28 n23
Nowak, S., 75 n!30
Noyé, I., xiii, 61, 67 n7, 71 n57, 73 n93, 91n6, 101 nl; See references to Olier's T
O'Carroll, M, 95 n21
O'Connell, M., 92 n8
"O Jesu vivens in Maria" (prayer), 52, 73n93-94
O'Kane, P., xiii
Olier, J.-J., xi-xii, xv-xvii, 5 -6, 10, 12-13, 16 -19, 20, 22, 29 nn36,3840,42-43,46, 30 nii50,53-54, 31 n61, 34 (on God
and Trinity), 37 -39 and 43-45 (on Christology, soteriology, and spirituality), 51 -52 (on Mary'), 60 -64 (on
ecclesiology and pastoral work), 66 (on eschatology), 67 n8, 69 n25-27, 70n50-51, 71 nn52-55,57-61, 72n89-91, 7a
nn92-93,101, 74 nl02, 75nl21-33, 76 nl45, 78 ff., 90 -91n5, 91-92n6, 93 -94nl5 (beatification process), 94 n!6, 95
n21, 95 -96n23, 98 and 100 (texts of), 101 n3
Oratory/Oratonans, 12 -14, 16 -17, 20, 23, 55, 57, 59, 61, 64, 66, 69 n23, 74nl03, 81, 91 n6 (religious foundations
associated with)
Orcibal, J., 28 n30, 29 n32, 30 n60, 68 nil, 90n5
Osborn, H., 101 n2
Pascal, B., 83, 92 nlO
Passion (of Jesus), 10
Pastoral Renewal/Reform, 11 -13, 54 -65
Patristic influence on French School, 84
Paul, St./Pauline texts (in the French School), 9, 33, 39, 44 -46, 71 n61
Paul V, Pope, 15
Person (of Jesus), Privation of Human: See Enhypostasia
Pelletier, R.-5 ■, 80
Petau, D., 8
Petite oeuvre, 91 n6
Pius VI, Pope, 93 nl5, 98
Pius IX, Pope, 95 n21
Pius X, Pope, St., 22, 95 n21
Pius XI, Pope, 22
Platonic 9, 34 -35; See Classical/ Dionysius/Neoplatonic
Prayer, 70 n45, 71 n58, 99 -100; See Spirituality
-355Priesthood, the, 11 -13, 54 -58, 60 -66
Principe, W, 91 n6
Quesnel, P·, 94 nl6
Quietism, 93 nl5

Quinn, E., 93 ni 4
Rabelais, F., 5
Rademacher, W., xiii
Raffelt, A., 93 n!4
Rahner, K., 6, 27 n7, 68 nl9, 70 n49, 79, 83, 86, 89 ni, 89 -90n4, 90 n5, 92 -93nl4
Reference, 99
Reformers/Reformation, 5, 8, 11, 55, 57 58, 73 n95, 77 -78, 89 n2
Religion, 39, 56, 61, 75 n!23
Rembrandt, H., 5
Renaissance, 5 -6, 38, 40, 57, 89 n2, 89-90n4, 100
Reversal of Hierarchies, the Dionysian, 14
Rhineland (School)/Rheno-, xv, 10, 42, 44, 47 -48, 70 nii39,41
Richelieu, A., 4 -5, 11, 16, 24, 27 n2
Riches, J., 92 nl3
Ricoeur, P., 101 nl
Rodriquez, O., 89 n2
Rolle, R., xv
Romaillon, J., 91 n6
Roquette, P., 29 n41
Rousseau, M., 19, 22
Rubens, P., 5
Ruether, R., 25, 31 n65
Ruusbroec, J., Bd., xv, 7, 10, 73 n78
Sacred Heart (of Mary and Jesus), 6, 19-21, 38 -39, 46 -47, 52 -54, 61, 65-66, 73 nn99,101, 73 -74nl02, 86-87, 90 n5;
Feasts of: 22, 54, 96 n23
Sacrifice, 37, 60 -61, 63 -65, 68 -69n23, 86; See Condren/Host-Victim/ Immolation
Saints, 66
Saint-Cyran (Duvergier de Hauranne), 90-91115
Saint Sulpice, Company (Society) of: See Sulpicians
Sales, F. de, St., 10, 16, 35, 39 -40, 67 n9, 83, 93 n!5
Sauvage, M., 92 118
Schillebeeckx, E., 87, 95 n21
Science of the Saints (in the French School), xi, 32, 99
Scott, R., 28 n21
Scotus, D., 47, 68 n20
Séguenot, C., 81
Seminary Reform/Seminaries, 11 -12, 20
Serouet, P., 97 -98, 101 nl; See references to the Lettres of Madeleine de Saintjoseph
Servants of Jesus the High Priest, 91 n6
Servants of Mary Immaculate, 91 n6
Servitude/Service, 26, 41 -50, 70 n39, 85 87, 92 n9, 99 ; See Kenosis
Servitude, Vows of, 14 -16, 23, 29 n32, 38, 41, 48, 51, 68 nl9, 81
Seton, E., St., 91 -92n6
Seward, J., 92 n!3
Shakespeare, \\'.. 5
Simon, M, 92 nl3
Simon, R., 8 -9
Sin: See Evil/Soteriology
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, 91 -92n6
Sisters of Providence of Evreux, 91 n6
Sisters of the Good Savior, 91 n6
Society of the Heart of the Admirable Mother, 91 n6
Soteriology, 35 -47
Solemnity of Jesus, Feast of the, 14, 54
Spalding, C., 91 -92n6
Spiritans: See Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Ghost)
Spiritual Direction, 54 -55, 58 -60, 63 -65, 75nl33, 76 nl42
Spirituality, 35 -47, 65 ; See Prayer
State (Etat), 37 -39, 41, 72 1181,78 -79, 85
Substance (of the mysteries), 36, 41
Sullivan, J., xiii

Sulpicians, 12 -13, 19 -20, 55, 61 -62, 64, 74n103, 80 -82, 91 -92n6 (religious foundations associated with), 93-94n15,
94 n19
Surin, J.-J., 29 n41, 81
Suso, H., Bd., xv
Tauler, J., xv
Tenailleau, B., 92 n10
Teresa of Avila, St./Teresian, 10, 22, 24, 36, 38, 50, 59, 68 n23, 83, 89 n2, 93 n14, 94n18
Theology, 6 ff
Thérèse of Lisieux, St., xvii, 29 n41, 50, 72n82,92n9
Thomassin, L., 8
Thomistic; See St. Thomas Aquinas
Thompson, E., 74 n103
Thompson, P., xiii

-356Thompson, W., 68 n19
Tillard, J., 92 n10
Tracy, D., 84, 89 n3, 93 n15, 94 n16, 101 n1
Trinity, the Holy, 33 -35, 85 ; See Bérulle, John Eudes, Madeleine de Saint-Joseph, and J.-J. Olier
Trinitarians of St.-Marin-en-Haut, 91 n6
Unity, the Divine, 33 -35
Urban VIII, Pope, 16
Ursulines, 91 n6
Vasey, V., 95 n20
Velâzquez, D., 5
Victim: See Host-Victim
Vidal, M. de, 71 -72n76
Vincentians, 20
Vinci, Leonardo da, 5
Voegelin, E., 101 n1
Vows of Host-Victim and Servitude: See Host-Victim and Servitude, vows of
Wakefield, G., 94 n16
Walsh, E., 75 n130
Webb, E., 101 n1
Whelan, J., 95 n19
Williams, R., 92 n13
Winston, C., 92 n9
Winston, R., 92 n9
Wiseman, J., 72 n78
Women: See Feminist Theology
Zamet, S., 9, 17, 24
-357-

INDEX TO TEXTS
Abandonment, 242
Action, 3 16
Adoration of God, 200 -02, 205
Affliction, 242
Andrew, St., 243
Angels, 286
Annihilation of self, 228, 263 -67
Anthony, St., 273
Avarice, 248 -49
Baptism, 221, 293
Benedict, St., 221
Bernard, St., 239
Bernardine of Siena, St., 327
Birds, 285 -86
Books, 317
Carmelites, 198 -200, 210
Catherine of Genoa, St., 210, 211

Catherine of Jesus, Sister, 210
Charity, 267 -69
Christian life, 295 -97
Christianity: the basis of, 123
Church, the, 299
Communion, 324 -25
Contemplation, 131, 207, 327
Cross, the, 211, 219 -20
De Bérulle, Cardinal, 192 -95, 197, 210
Death, 226
Denis, St., 130, 135, 183
Detachment, 222, 247 -48, 251, 254, 260, 304-12
Deuteronomy, 202
Direction of souls, 208 -09
Elijah, 204
Elizabeth, St., 271
Essence of God: in the Trinity, 141
Eucharist, 293
Exaltation of the Holy Cross, 211
Exorcisms, 195
Faith, 297 -301
Fathers of the Oratory, 210
Flesh, the, 273, 276
Flowers, 283 -84
Francis, St., 221
Fruit, 285
Glory, the order of, 112 -13, 117
God: active outside himself, 110 ; adoration of, 200 -02, 205 ; is the authentic good, 249 ; authority of, 184 ■
communicates, 134 -35, 140 -41, 269 ; confidence in, 320 ; contains everything in himself, 254 ; contemplation of
115, 210; created the world, 146 -47; fellowship with, 205 ; fertility of, 132 ; fills us, 219 ; generosity of, 255 -57; oifts
of, 253, 277 -87; gives himself, 260-61; in human nature, 140 -41; humility of, 110 ; and idols 219 · Jesus a living­
portrait of, 135 ; knowledge of, 148; law of, 199, 202 ; is love, 146 -47, 267; love in, 155 -56; love of, 148 ; is man
142,^157 ; possession of, 148, 261 ; will reveal himself, 218 ; splendor of, 191; suffering, 147 ; thanksgiving to, 20002, 324 ; union with, 205 ; in tlie unity of his essence, 130 ; is unity, 112 ; is the universal bursar, 252 ; works of 12?
Godhead, 117, 141
Grace, the order of, 112 -13, 117, 119

-358Heart of the Blessed Virgin, 326 -31
Heart, the, 326
Heavenly order, 113
Holiness, 119 -20, 297
Holy Spirit: acts in us, 226 ; adherence to, 276; contemplation of, 131 ; dwells in us 274 -75; fecundity of 13? ■
fertihty of, 131 -33; operations of, 286 -87; poured forth, 224 -25; is the Spirit of Christianity, 275 ; is the spirit “of
truth, 220; unity in. 224
”
House of God, 322
Human nature, 144, 146 -47
Humility, 193, 196, 212, 232 -42, 320, 322
^Incarnation, the: the grace of, 122 -23; the moment of, 156 ; the mystery of the, 109-11, 114 -15, 200 ; the unity in
James, St., 244
Jesus Christ: adoration of, 274, 307 -08; his adoration of God, 127 ; before our eyes, 229 ; conforming to, 221 -27■
contemplates his Father, 136 -37; crucified, 222 ; is the door, 197 -98; Essence of, 113 -14; our exemplar, 309 ; gift of
the Father, 143 ; God-Man, 144 ; in our hands, 230 -31; in our hearts, 229-30; heart of, 328 -29, 331 -33; is the heart
°f
Father’ 328 ’ homage to, 210; humanity of, 122 -23; humiliation of, 235 -36; mutâtes his Father, 269 ; imitation
of, 276 ; interior of, 274 ; laws of, 304 ; life in, 220 ; life of, 296 -97, 305; love in, 155 -56; Mystical Body of, 295-96·
religion of, 217 -18; reproduced m Christians, 225 ; separated from glory, 145 ; Son of God 128; Son of Vkn 1?8 ■
the spirit of, 305-06; sufferings of, 206 ; is the sun, 115-17, 279 -80; three births of 150-57' three lives of 156 -57·
union with, 206, 293 -95; is a world, 112
’
’
’
' ’
John, St., 201, 271
Kingdom of God, 261 -62
Lawrence, St., 243

Lazarus, 172 -73, 262
Light, 116
Love: in Christ, 155 -56; God is 146 -47; joins us to God, 149 ; of God i48
f
270 _71 ; possesses God, 149
Magdalene, St., 172-82, 207, 211
1
Malice, 238
Marie of the Incarnation, 192, 209
Mass, 322 -25
Meditation, 327
Moses, 167
Mysteries, holy, 138 -40
Nature, the order of, 112 -13, 117 -19
Neighbor, love of, 267 -72
New Testament, 300
Noah, 204
Nothingness, 237 -40
Old man, the, 273 -74
Patience, 242 -43
Paul, St., 151, 167, 201, 208, 226, 244, 248, 258
Penance, 229 -31, 257 -58
Perfection, 220
Perseverance in prayer, 321
Peter, St., 197, 208 '
Plato, 125
Poverty, 247 -49, 259 -60
Prayer, 204 -06, 313 -21
Pride, 232 -33, 241 -42
Priesthood, the, 183 -85, 218, 245 -46
Providence, 256
Purity in prayer, 321
Religion, 217 -19
Resurrection, the state of, 221 -23
Riches, 255 -56
Risen life, 221 -22
Saints, the, 272 -73
Satan, 302
Self-centeredness, 262 -67
Self-denial, 263 -67, 308
Sin, 238, 255, 301 -03
Solitude, 207
Speaking, 317 -18
Suffering, 212, 296
Sun, the, 277 -80
Teresa, St., 243
Tertullian, 137
Thanksgiving, 200 -01, 324
Trees, 284
Trinity, the Holy: eternal, 129 ; mystery of, 131 ; unity of, 112, 117, 119 ; vigil of the, 195 ; and wealth, 259 -60

-359Union, the hypostatic, 113, 120
Unity: of essence, 126 -27; of God, 111, 126-27; of God's work, 110
Universe, the orders of the, 112
Virgin, the, 121, 128 -29
Virgin the Blessed: and Jesus, 162 -69; fellowship with, 206 ; God and, 159 ; grace of, 165 ; light of, 168 ; Mother of
Jesus, 160 -61, perfection of, 271 -72; is a sanctuary, 161 ; shares the cross, 170 ; mentioned 121 P8 -29
Virtues, the, 227 -29
’
’
Wffl, the, 236
Word: the Eternal, 122 -25

-360-