NIHIL OBSTAT quominus liber cui titulus “THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIAN LIFE”, auctore Père Gardeil, O.P., imprimi possit J. Rea, D.D., Ph.D. Censor Deputatus IMPRIMATUR supradictus liber Joseph Episcopus Cliftoniensis Datum Cliftoniae 23a Januarii anno 1953 THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIAN LIFE by Père Gardeil, o.p. I, BLACKFRIARS PUBLICATIONS LONDON 1953 1 First published : October, 1953 Made and Printed in Great Britain by Arthurs Press Ltd., Woodchester, Glos. FOREWORD The studies published in this volume served as the theme of a retreat given in 1923 to the Little Nursing Sisters of the Poor, of the Dominican Third Order at Beaune. It was not the first time that Père Gardeil had taken as his subject, within the framework of regular spiritual exercises, the doctrine of the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit. Already, to speak only of his ministry in this congregation, he had preached on this subject in similar circumstances at Orleans in 1917, and at Verviers in 1923, and there is every reason to believe that other communities profited, through him, from a spiritual doctrine of which he had long made himself a master1. Whilst particularly adapted to the needs of men and women consecrated to God in the religious state, his teaching will be no less profitable to priests and layfolk aiming at a deeper spiritual life. “ The spirit bloweth where it listeth.” The beneficent dew of its gifts, and of its fruits, is the privilege of no particular way of life : it is free to fall on everyone sanctified by grace. It will be, then, in the truest sense of the words that we shall find, in these pages, a retreat upon the Christian life. A point to which a little attention may be usefully directed : this is not a fundamental, or more precisely, the fundamental retreat on the Christian life. The activity proper to the gifts—at least according to the nature of things, will operate only on the basis of the theological virtues, by which the soul is brought into contact with the 1 Père Gardeil had already in 1903 published a work on this subject: The Gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Dominican Saints ” (Paris : Gabalda) ; and some years later he was responsible for the article on the “ Gifts of the Holy Spirit ” for the Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique. divine life, and on the foundation of the moral virtues, by which our life is directed in the ways of God. To these bases of the Christian life, Père Gardeil devoted another series of conferences, the benefits of which he here assumes his hearers to possess. Nevertheless, this series, par­ ticularly the first conference, recovers sufficient ground to place the reader at the correct angle, without need of further explanation, or danger of losing track. The text of this retreat is not from the hand of Père Gardeil who, according to his custom, spoke ex abundantia cordis ; it has been noted down by one of his hearers. But Père Gardeil has himself carefully reviewed the notes, which he also adopted for his personal use. It is therefore a work authenticated by its master, whose imprint it quite unmistakably bears. The religious whose hand has piously transcribed these conferences has happily succeeded in retaining, along with the austerity of its theological exposition, something of that interior flame, restrained yet so ardent which characterises the style of Père Gardeil as at once a work of the truth and the labour of an apostle’s heart. May, these pages, then, if God so will, continue and extend the supernatural action of one who was, and ever remained, a theologian, a man of the divine science, but one who had understood and felt this science to be at the same time, wisdom, the delectable knowledge, sapida scientia. II. D. Gardeil, O.P. Le Saulchoir. vi CONTENTS Page Foreword by H. D. Gardeil, O.P........... .... v .... 1 .............................................. 11 .... INTRODUCTION The Holy Spirit in Christian Life Chapter I—The Gift of Fear .... II—The Beatitude of Poverty .... .... 19 .. . 29 IV— Hunger after Justice............................................. 40 III— The Gift of Fortitude V—The Gift of Piety .... . .. .............................................. 50 VI—The Beatitude of Gentleness or Meekness 61 VII—The Gift of Counsel .... .... 69 .... .... 78 ................................ 89 .... VIII—The Beatitude of the Merciful IX—The Gift of Knowledge X—The XI—The XII—The Beatitude of Tears .... .... .... 100 .... .... 108 Beatitude of Pure Hearts .... .... 118 Gift of Understanding XIII— The Gift of Wisdom .... .... .... XIV— Blessed are the Peacemakers . .. .... XV—Spiritual Progress vii .... .... .... 130 .... 141 .... 148 INTRODUCTION The Holy Spirit in Christian Life We need, firstly, to be quite clear about the place of the Holy Spirit in our Christian life and, in particular, about his inspirations. For this we shall need to take a comprehensive view of the wonders of this Christian life which we are destined to live in its perfection, for the religious life is the perfection of the Christian life : it is no life apart, its roots are thrust deep down in the Christian life. It is more perfect, because it derives from a greater love, greater because it not only refrains from the forbidden, but denies itself the permissible : therein lies the difference between the Christian and the Religious life. For the one, and for the other, the commandment is the same : Thou shalt love thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. There are Christians more holy than ourselves/ because they lead a deeper life, more sacrificing, more heroic. But they are not on this account in the state of perfection, because they make no official profession to tend towards perfection by the denial of permitted good ; they may indeed so deny themselves, but this is not their principal care. I The Christian Life HE Christian Life, so named because it has been brought to us by Christ our Lord, is our eternal life in heaven begun here and now, with all that constitutes and T 2 THEHOLYSPIRITINCHRISTIANLIFE completes it, with all its elements—save one alone : we do not see God. And, in consequence, our charity is not inflamed as it will be by the Divine vision ; it is also, always possible for us to lose this life, whilst in heaven we shall be inseparable from it. Do we possess God now as really and substantially as in the life of eternity ? Yes. We enjoy this happiness when we are in a state of sanctifying grace ; we possess God as really as do the blessed. God is everywhere, and he is everywhere fully. It is not easy for us to get an idea of this God, whose infinite spirit, is, in a special manner, in all things. Our soul is in all our body ; God is in all creation. Wherever he creates, conserves, activates, there he is fully. When we speak of the immensity of God, we mean that he is every­ where present, not only as we are present to that which we see, but personally, really and substantially. He cannot make without creating ; and where one creates, there one is, without any intermediary. God is then in all things. But how much more he is in the souls of the just ! If he exists, is fully present, in all created things, it is of necessity; since from him all that is derives its being, but he is present to his creation essentially, with complete indifference on the part of the created thing, incapable of so much as suspecting his presence, void of the least knowledge that it receives its God. God imposes his presence upon it. But in the human soul, God finds already a remote power of knowing him and of loving him ; and when this soul possesses sanctifying grace, which is a sharing in the divine nature itself, enabling it to make acts reserved to God himself as their object, to know him and to love him, then the soul has power to lay hold on its God ; it becomes divinised. The soul itself, from the level of INTRODUCTION 3 its creaturely estate, can make that sovereign act whereby God apprehends himself, possesses himself by his knowledge and his love, in his own eternal life. When the soul is able thus to lay hold on God, he dwells in it in a twofold manner, first by this presence necessary to all being, and secondly because the soul, by knowledge and by love, is enabled to open itself up to this presence, to receive its interior guest, and to entertain him. This is the meaning of the dwelling of God in the souls of the just. God in them is at home. The soul, a living spirit, opens itself up to receive the divine Spirit, to know him, to love him, to enter into relationship with him—a relationship not of equality, but no less intimate since on the part of each there is love and understanding. The Christian life, then, is the personal dwelling of God with the soul, which lays itself open to receive him. This is effected by that power which raises up sons to God, of which St John speaks in his Gospel (John, 1, 12). We have all this if by divine mercy we are in a state of grace. God makes his place in our innermost selves ; there, when we desire his presence, we must seek him out, our interior guest, the friend with whom we can lead with some degree of familiarity an intimate life, full of blessings for those who understand. The soul in this state is a sort of seedling of eternity. All that will be in the plant is contained in the seed ; it needs only the nourishment of rain and sunshine to spring up and grow to its fulness ; but this process does not change its nature. Our soul with its capacity for possessing God, and God the principal of fertility in the interior of the soul—this is the seed of heaven, of beatitude ; at bottom, heaven and the just soul are one and the same ; in the latter all is prepared, but the time of harvest is not yet come. This gift is received at baptism ; in the little 4 THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIAN LIFE baptised child there is God, substantially present, and by sanctifying grace it is empowered to possess itself of him. When we arrive at our eternal life we shall not need to look to the east or to the west ; there is the life, welling up from the depths of the soul sanctified by grace ; it will be the revelation of all that we have been : ‘ That which we shall be, has not yet appeared ’ says St Paid, but this already is. In the depths of our souls is found all that will make our blessedness. The Father is there, the Son is there, the Holy Spirit is there ; there the Father begets his Word ; the Word, perfect expression of the Father, reflects the Father ; together they love one another infinitely, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from their love. This is the intimate life of the Perfect, in love and knowledge. The Christian soul, by faith, is witness to this divine performance, and is cast by it into a state of adoration. God is there ; we still, however, have a road to travel. On the one hand we have attained our object, since we possess God ; on the other, this possession is not irrevocable, nor do we enjoy the vision of his perfection and his glory. Our full and final enjoyment of everlasting beatitude is still to be won by the works of the Christian life. The little child dying after baptism is transported directly to the place of the divine vision ; to us is still the labour of bearing fruit to God’s gifts in us. We have seen his part ; now it is up to our efforts. The road leading us to eternity is long and difficult, and sown with obstacles ; there are, too, different degrees of attainment, we may arrive at our end more or less quickly, more or less perfectly, obtain an enjoyment of the vision more or less complete ; a greater or lesser possession of this infinite good. S INTRODUCTION II The Function of the Holy Spirit in the Christian Life OD does not regard inactively our labours in treading the road which brings us to our final end. In the first place it is he who called our souls into being, endowed them with grace, and those infused virtues we call the theological and moral virtues, he who gave them also the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Still more, it is he himself within us who conserves, maintains and motivates the life we hold from him. In our spiritual life, we make not one single act, but God is there. here "that we must consider the function and place of ■L the Holy Spirit in our life. In the work of creation, all is common to Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father has willed that, to bring about our salvation, the Son should take flesh and suffer for us ; and, this work of our salvation accomplished, Father and Son together have willed that the Holy Spirit should continue it by the sanctification of our souls. Christ bur Lord is, surely, ever there ; he is the Head y of the Church, the source of supernatural life through / the sacraments, the dispenser of actual grace, teaching us through the Church, surrounding us with his divine vjaction. But above all, he is always sending us his Holy Spirit : I will send you the Holy Spirit, he said, He will teach you, and bring all things to your minds. He will be your comforter for my absence. Upen-thoTioly-Spirit-hasm· myotoriouQ-wiscpthe-ea^. for u sanctification. Hë"îsTteTïïaster ofthe road, entr-ustod-by-the-Father and the Son with bringing us to everlastmg frfe. There are two ways in which the Holy Spirit leads us. He, the breadth of love of Father and Son, acts upon us G xa x 6 THEHOLYSPIRITINCHRISTIANLIFE with inspirations. which take· a-double “Cbufgg. Sometimes he simply leaves us to act by ourselves—to make acts of faith, hope or charity, acts of prudence, justice, fortitude or temperance ; we ourselves set these acts in motion ; it is under the impulse of divine love, yet we ourselves hold the mastery, rule the conduct of our lives. I / in Some Important Observations 1. The gifts are not to be confused with the inspirations of the Holy Spirit ; they are powers in the soul making it receptive to the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, a sail to catch the wind of the Holy Spirit. We are not by nature so divinely receptive, but the soul loving God by grace offers itself to the Spirit of Love, Spirit of Knowledge, Fortitude, Understanding ... ; we ourselves set the sails with the ordinary aid of grace, and the Holy Spirit blowing 8 THEHOLYSPIRITINCHRISTIANLIFE guides us on our course. The gifts of the Holy Spirit and his inspirations may be compared with a wireless set sensitive to sounds received over incalculable distances. A few wires have the gift of catching and centralising the waves of electricity, and by means of them thoughts are communicated across the ether. The gifts are like these receiving wires in our soul, able to receive the inspirations of the Holy Spirit to our spiritual advantage. The greater love the soul has for God the more receptive it becomes. The gifts are not of greater importance than charity ; they will not enter into the soul where charity is not first, for charity retains its primacy. But in the soul which loves God these receptive faculties, these seven gifts, will _i»ist. Weean^syt our-sailsor puJ.up^Attr wires, the wind willd^ié^y^^Jïé tnpïSHïit the spiritual powcrsGvnich will read us on our course. T|iez4. The activity proper to the gifts of the Holy Spirit is ^contained, according to St Augustine and St Thomas, in the first seven beatitudes in St Matthew’s gospel. Our government by the Holy Spirit will have for its object to compass in us this poverty, meekness, etc. Each beatitude corresponds to a gift. It is enough for the Spirit to inspire the principal points : for example, where we would be labouring against our various concupiscences in detail, the Holy Spirit will give us a spirit of detachment, and all will ) be made pure by the Spirit himself, this department of our I life is put in order. The same with mourning—his breath I will come on us and produce all at once what would I otherwise require a long and patient labour. Concerning the order of the gifts : our Lord possessed them, and exercised them all in their plenitude, so Holy Scripture began by attributing to him the most perfect, that of Wisdom. We will begin at the bottom, by that ‘fear, which is the beginning of Wisdom’. If we have a devotion to this work of the Holy Spirit in souls, let us reflect on these things, which can bring 10 THEHOLYSPIRITINCHRISTIANLIFE us help in our spiritual life, and an élan towards perfection. Let us turn our thoughts with gratitude and submission to this divine Spirit within us, and we shall draw down his blessing upon ourselves. CHAPTER I The Gift of Fear The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom (Ps. 110.10.) HE first breath of the Spirit to touch the soul, his very first inspiration when, for instance, he converts a man from evil or initiates an advance in virtue, is the fear of the Lord. Fear of God—the words freeze us ; we like to speak of the love of God, not of the fear, and we do so rightly. Nevertheless it is a fear we cannot evade. T I FEAR---- GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST There is a fear which is nothing more than being frightened, the passion of fear, purely human and to which small honour can be attributed. Some people are afraid of God in this way, and they hide themselves from him. Adam and Eve in Paradise were afraid, because they had sinned ; afraid too was the unfaithful servant who, fearing the severity of his lord, hid his talent in the earth ; and so also St Peter who, for fear of a serving girl, denied his Master. This fear is evil, leading us into sin ; it has no admission into the kingdom of God. This fear is of another sort than true fear. It is called servile fear. When it becomes the sole motive of our good actions they are vitiated at the root. So it is with the man who serves God only from fear of his judgment and of hell, as who would say : Were it not for hell I would lead quite another life. This servile fear is bad, and is capable of begetting sin. 12 THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIAN LIFE There is however a certain ‘ fear of servitude ’ ; a fear of God’s judgments and his punishments, which can be used to a good end. There are times when such a fear can help us and restrain us. In the education of children, for example, we use it when higher motives fail to appeal. Provided love of God be not excluded from it ; provided it be not our sole motive, it has its value, and we can use it as a means. There are cases where it will effect a conversion, or keep us on the right path. In contradiction to protestant doctrines, the Council of Trent has defined it as a gift of God. Lastly, there is filial fear, childlike fear. When a soul truly loves God with all its heart, seeing in him perfect Goodness, the only God, knowing him to be its loving Father, it does not on that account forget his greatness, his majesty—God enclosed, in his impenetrable secrecy, with his terrifying judgments, his infinite power. Between these two concepts, God the Terrible and God the Father, what will the soul do ? Where will the impulse of its heart direct it ? Will the Divine Majesty compel it to flee its Father ? Or will his goodness constrain it to cast out all fear ? And yet his justice remains. For the soul loving God in sincerity there is only one course, to cling to its Father’s side. What shall it fear indeed, if not separation from him ? The soul then shall know fear, because God is holy, and it sinful, God is great and it is small. But this will be a child’s fear of the Father it knows to be good, and it will lead the soul to throw itself into his arms, seeking there security from his very greatness. Surely this fear will not be forgetful of God’s majesty, justice and punishments, but it will return from these to affection, and a more ardent desire to belong to God, and never to be separated from him. How great the difference between this fear of separation from God and that servile fear which THE GIFT OF FEAR 13 only constrains us to obedience by making us ‘ afraid ’ of him. At bottom, this filial fear is made of love. It always remains fear ; fear to be unworthy of the majesty, perfection and holiness of God ; but a fear inspired by love. It is with this fear that the Holy Spirit will inspire us when we put into effect our gift of fear, a gift which we will only find in souls loving God. This inspiration of fear will be seen to be intimately connected with what is called ‘ piety ’ ; that part of the virtue of religion by which we look upon God as our Father. For this reason, as St Thomas tells us, the gift of fear is one of the auxiliaries of the virtue of religion. Truly pious Christians, looking upon God as upon their Father, will receive from the inspiration of the gift of fear a superabundance of strength by which to adhere to him. II THE EFFECTS OF THE GIFT OF FEAR The result of this state of submission to the spirit of fear will be that one will give oneself up to God, place oneself completely in his hands, saying ‘ O Lord, take me, possess yourself of me. I belong to you ; hold me, clasp me, so that I may never be separated from you.’ This entire gift, this surrender of all our being- with all its powers into the hands of God, so that he may take full possession of us, is the immediate effect of the gift of fear. The governing quality of a good tool is that it should lie well in the hand of the artisan who is to use it. Even if it be defective, provided we can take a firm hold of it we shall make better use of it than of one of improved design and higher value, but of the wrong size. It may do well for others, but it will never suit us. The rule of the Holy Spirit has about it this in particular : that, as we have seen, God by the gifts uses us as instru­ ments. He himself rules us by his inspirations. The gift 14 THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIAN LIFE of fear is first in the order of perfecting the soul : ‘ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom’. In fact, just as in undertaking any task we begin by putting in our hand the appropriate instrument—the labourer his tool—so, before working on our souls by his inspiration, the Holy Spirit takes hold of us. Fortitude, Piety, Knowledge, Counsel, Understanding, Wisdom—they will come ; here and now we are but at the opening of the way, and our beginning is this surrender of ourselves into the hands of the Holy Spirit who, by a progressive ascent, will lead us to the summits of Wisdom. In effecting this surrender of ourselves into God’s hands, the gift of fear becomes auxiliary to the theological virtue of hope. By hope we trust, with God’s help, to come to eternal beatitude. This hope is not in ourselves and our own merits, but in God’s help, the best of all our merits. God’s help alone, indeed, is proportionate to his reward of eternal beatitude. In thus inspiring our dependence on the divine assistance, the gift of fear is auxiliary to hope, with which it harmonises. Truly in God’s hands we are well placed to receive his help and to win, through him, to paradise. Let us go deeper into the effects of the gift of fear. What do we fear ? Why do we fear God ? For one reason alone—because we have in us, by our will, our liberty, the terrible power of separating ourselves from him. It is less God we fear than our own sinful wills. The effect of the gift of fear will be to make us face this perverse will and, armed with the all-powerful inspiration of the Holy Spirit, combat it, renounce it, destroy it, crucify our flesh according to the words of the psalm ‘ Pierce thou my flesh with thy fear’. When we fear loss of God, we fear sin and every occasion of sin : our vices down to our least failings, weaknesses and disabilities. THE GIFT OF FEAR J5 We have experienced this effect of the gift of fear after a good confession : perhaps we had committed some more serious fault and, looking upon it with remorse, under the eye of God, feeling him close to us, at the end of our act of faith we have turned to him as to a father and said : How could I have done that to my Father ; how could I, for such little things, separate myself from him ? We experience a feeling of contrition ; our wounded heart desires to wipe out this fault, which love of God had moved us to detest. In the sacrament of penance the gift of fear acts at its highest level of all ; during and after absolution we remain under the influence of filial fear : the spirit of fear inspires our repentance, our sorrow and, in consequence, the desire to oppose our faults and overcome them. St Thomas also teaches that the gift of fear is a powerful auxiliary of the virtue of temperance. Those who, recognising in their flesh the ever-reviving source of all their faults, truly fear God with a childlike fear, are temperate, penitent, sober and humble. The virtue of temperance has no better auxiliary than this spirit of fear which puts us on our guard against our sinful wills. This gift of fear is therefore a help both to our piety which it prospers, to our hope which it strengthens, and to temperance, which it enables to rule. When a person has received this gift of fear and, dreading separation from God, abandons himself totally into his hands, so that God might keep him and do with him as he wills. When he flees sin and its occasions, then such a one enters into the state of ‘ fearful ’ souls. The fearful person fears according to the Holy Spirit. Such a man will not become scrupulous, for scrupulosity has nothing to do with the gift of fear ; it is an infirmity, 16 THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIAN LIFE a trial, which may be either natural or supernatural in its origins. Neither will this man have too broad a conscience, although he will have a certain breadth of spirit, but not the sort which chooses to despise little things. He is securely established at a careful centre, equidistant from exaggerated fear on the one hand and too great breadth of conscience on the other : his conscience will be precise and fearful. There are those the rectitude of whose bearing attracts our attention ; they are exact, upright, remote from all excess, pleasant, engaging even, but without laxity, they are animated by a sense of restraint which informs their thoughts, judgments, their very way of acting ; their attitude is in fact exemplary. True fear possesses them, inspired by the Holy Spirit ; a fear that does not freeze with dread and apprehension for it is the fear of sons, inspiring reverence towards God and withholding from the seductions of fallen nature. The Holy Spirit retains these people in that true centre, which our unaided vision finds it so difficult to determine. They are, by his inspiration, already established there. Ill DEGREES OF THE SPIRIT OF FEAR In proportion as love increases the gift of fear will find us more docile. The soul expands. If there yet be a little stiffness left in our fear, it will be warmed and melted away, and we will be filled to overflowing with trust and confidence. For even filial fear has its degrees. At its lowest its influence is disciplinary ; but the soul will open and expand until it can say with joy these words from the psalms of Compline : ‘ He who dwells in the help of the Lord abideth under his protection ’ and ‘ Under his wings you shall hope,’ in the sense that our Lord compares himself to a mother hen gathering her chicks under her THE GIFT OF FEAR 17 wing. God has become such a mother to us, and under the cover of his wings, all that is left of our fear is a tremble of love, a gasp of admiration : this is the supreme trans­ figuration of fear. St Rose seems to be an example of this : like a rose in the splendour of its bloom, trembling on its stem, she was nevertheless but a simple penitent ; she had explored all the degrees of fear, but in her we can see only blossoming the child of her heavenly Father. In such a fear the angels stand before God’s majesty. They enjoy beatitude, yet night and day they sing their Sanctus, entering ever more into the mystery of his holiness, and in his presence discovering their own imperfection and littleness—they remain enthralled in that tremble of admiration which is the supreme develop­ ment of the gift of fear, in the state of glory. Sweet emotion it is indeed, since its object lies in the majesty adorning the countenance of the Father ! Let us live in this fear, and try to pass through each of its degrees. The Holy Spirit, deep in our souls, is seeking to inspire us with fear, to inflame our hearts with filial love, with fear lest we be let fall from our Father’s hands, with fear of the least occasion of sin. Let us open up our souls ; let us set our sails with generosity, with confidence. So much depends on us, for it is up to us, with the help of grace, to make use of our ordinary gifts. And the wind of the divine Spirit will blow. By the breath of his wind we shall be set free from the multitudinous complications among which we labour. We grieve to find ourselves irritable, rebellious, idle in prayer ; on this occasion and that we resist temptation, we repent our falls, we receive pardon, we preserve ourselves for a while and then fall again ; we have our interior struggles, and obscure temptations with which we labour to do violence. So it is | 18 THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIAN LIFE good, so it must be ! The Venerable Agnes of Langeac said : ‘ A good fight to every temptation.’ Still we would not wish to take too much on ourselves, unaided and alone. Since the Holy Spirit will gladly accept the government of our lives, let us make use of him : so we shall arrive more speedily and more effectively at the same result as by our warfare alone. To do this we must love increasingly. God must be our all, loved above all. Is it hard to love ? Yes, it is true, God’s dealings with us are mysterious1. Even in the Holy Eucharist we cannot see him, nor should we ; a price is set us to eternity. Still, there are times when we can penetrate the veil, obtain a sense of his sweetness, enter into intimacy with him. So let us be ever more united with God, and we shall become one with the Holy Spirit : ‘ He who adheres to the Lord (by love) is no longer but one spirit with him ’2. His Spirit will pour himself out into the loving soul, and under his empire we will ascend joyfully from virtue to virtue. Instead of overturning one by one the obstacles that beset our path, we will find ourselves crossing over them. Our task in this way is carried out more easily and we find it entails less painful effort. Let us try it ! Let us put our souls under the inspiration of the Spirit of love, abandoning ourselves utterly, in fine, to God’s action, for ‘ God begins to reign in a soul when that soul is under the inspiration of the gift of fear of the Lord, which begets the poor in spirit.’ 1 God is ‘disconcerting.’ 2 1 Cor., 6. 17. CHAPTER II The Beatitude of Poverty Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew, 5.3.) T first glance we can miss the relationship which exists between ‘ poverty of spirit ’ (or poverty by desire) and the gift of fear1. What then, is the relationship between the poverty inspired in us by the Holy Spirit and the gift of fear ? A I THE GIFT OF FEAR AND POVERTY OF SPIRIT Remember, the gift of fear is not the gift of servile fear, gift of God though it be to souls not yet converted from sin. The gift of the Holy Ghost will, on the contrary, only be found in souls already loving God. Its effect is to draw us to him as a Father, and, in order to prevent our separation from him, to cast us into his hands, for him to do his will with us. The first operation of the Holy Spirit will be to forearm us against the only possible obstacle in the world between ourselves and the divine will, that is, the sinful inclinations of our will, our love for sin. Now, this love for sin feeds itself on certain objects, and without them it cannot live. 1 The French translation of the Latin pauvres par esprit, allows of two interpretations : poverty by the Spirit, poverty by' desire, or aspiration. Two spirits are indeed concerned, our own spirit and the Spirit of God. If we understand our own, then we will mean a poverty of desire ; if we understand the Spirit of God, we will mean a poverty inspired by him. These two interpretations are, however, in principle but one, for if we desire poverty our desire is inspired by the Spirit of God. 20 THEHOLYSPIRITINCHRISTIANLIFE The world and our own passions provide the abundance on which it maintains life. What is this food ? St John says : ‘ All that is in the world is the concupiscence of the eyes, concupiscence of the mind and concupiscence of the flesh.’ There are things in the world—this world our Lord hates— which have a power of attraction over us and which please the concupiscence of the flesh by the baser temptations, please the concupiscence of the eyes by the good things of the world, please the concupiscence of the mind by pride and independence. Nothing else is there in the world—■ and therefore our Lord hated it—and with them this triple concupiscence which seeks to seduce our desires, our aspirations, and our will from their loyalty to God’s rule. The inspiration of the fear of God arms us against our sinful wills, and this triple concupiscence that desires the riches of this world, by detaching us from the objects of this concupiscence ; from the flesh, from immoderate independence and from riches. This is the spirit of poverty. Perfect fear inspires in us a movement of hate of our own sinful will, of aversion from the things that nourish it ; this movement may be simply expressed as a ‘ will of impoverishment ’ towards all these things. How different is this spirit to that of the world which abandons itself without restraint to the pursuit of pleasures, honours, independence, fortune. The Spirit of God is directly opposed to this spirit of the world. St Paul says : ‘ The things that were gain to me—from a human point of view—I have counted an uncleanness.’ Such is the change wrought in us by the Spirit of fear, that what was before the object of our carnal desires is transformed into a thing of horror, from which we withdraw in fear lest even the moderate acceptance of it should induce us to attach ourselves thereto, and so separate us from God our Father ; for we fear his impending justice, and in him is THE BEATITUDE OF POVERTY 21 our only refuge. Our unique security is in this spirit of poverty which he has inspired in us towards all that can nourish the sinful inclinations of our will. It is in this way that the gift of fear is related to the beatitude of the poor in spirit. II THE ESSENTIAL SPIRIT OF THE GIFT OF FEAR In the life of St Benedict Joseph Labre—albeit more to be admired than imitated for he was by no means a community man—the following anecdote is characteristic of the movement of the spirit of fear inspiring in a soul this desire of poverty in respect of every object of human concupiscence. St Benedict Joseph had a devotion to, nay a passion for, poverty. When his begging was rewarded by some gift, at the moment of receiving it he would say : ‘ Just a little, just a little,’ always fearing to receive in excess of his needs. When God’s pauper was at his last moments he was heard to whisper ; indistinctly he was still repeating with his last breath : ‘ Just a little, just a little.’ These are the little words with which the Holy Spirit defies in us all the concupiscence of the world. Just a little ! The necessary will suffice us, of more we have no need. Expressing the same idea, St Paul wrote : ‘ Having food and wherewith to be covered, let us be content.’ The rule of St Augustine exhorts us to reduce our needs rather than increase our resources, and assures us a greater contentment to be won thereby. All these are forms of the same inspiration of God who, by his divine touch, comes into our souls to inspire in them a desire for poverty of this world’s goods : ‘ He inspires in us the neglect of creatures, that we may find their Creator,’ says the Imitation ; which brings us back to St Augustine : ‘ With every diminution of concupiscence in us, our love of God ί ■ I ; | ΐ i ; jj f ’ i! ! ' 22 THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIAN LIFE increases.’1 The love of God will hold complete dominion when our concupiscence has been reduced to nothing. But we must be quite sure that this detachment, this impoverishment, derives truly from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and not from intellect and pride. Such was the case with Diogenes who, observing one day a man drink from his cupped hands, broke the little vessel he had hitherto retained as indispensable, judging it to be hence­ forth of no use ; his pride had been set on his poverty. With us, on the contrary, it is love of God, under the divine inspiration of the spirit of fear, which removes us far from sin, and its every source. We are the children of the spirit of fear, and in him we have a helper in our combat. Ill POVERTY OF DESIRE, AUXILIARY OF THE RELIGIOUS STATE This struggle against our triple concupiscence is the basis of our religious state. The religious state is none other than a high love of God which undertakes not only to abstain from what is contrary to that love—sin, but to sacrifice even what is permitted, and perfectly lawful. We enter the religious life by the three vows, of poverty, chastity and obedience, which are a solemn and perpetual engagement to renounce our triple concupiscence : independence of the will, worldly goods and pleasures. So, by detachment from these things, by our promise, and our daily practice of it, we shall come to master our concupiscence and to free our higher love for God, and to advance constantly in this love. And the spirit of fear, in so far as he inspires in us this desire of impoverishment, is identical with the spirit of the 1 De Doctrina Christiana. Quaestionibus 83. 9. xxxvi. III. ch. 10. Liber de Diversis THE BEATITUDE OF POVERTY 23- religious state. It is the same spirit under two forms. If it is alone the Holy Spirit who inspires us with this im­ poverishment, we have simply the good Christian life ; if however we undertake the discipline, the organisation of the religious life, we increase our means, but retain the same end. The distinguishing mark of the religious spirit is that element in it which is inspired by the spirit of fear. Under the influence of the gift of fear we come back to the earth of our daily life, with its various exercises and the sacrifices which the practice of our vows demands of us in order to lessen the appeal of the objects of our con­ cupiscences. The matter of our acts remains the same ; the spirit alone differs. Instead of struggling against each detail to acquire a spirit of detachment from the things that tend to hold us, to repress our proud thoughts, our spirit of independence ; instead of seeking to overcome our difficulties one by one, we receive the Spirit of God which, because it is founded upon a greater love, is able to inspire in us a general detachment. It whispers within, ‘ Just a little, whatever it is, just a little.’ Independence ? —just a little ; attachment to our comforts and faculties— a little ; concupiscence of the heart, human affections—a little ; in everything, a little ! His instructions are general, not detailed. He will press on us with an all-powerful insistence, and if we deliver him our gates, we shall go on to the limits of perfection. His work is different to the sort of mining we have found ourselves compelled to do— detaching day by day, block by block, in the darkness of faith and by duty, everything opposing the divine union. Such work is, however, excellent and necessary, for the Holy Spirit is not obliged always to act in us through his gifts. But let the soul live in his atmosphere, increasing in love, leaving itself ever more in his hands, and it will become more and more impressionable, it will experience 24 THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIAN LIFE a general and powerful desire for impoverishment, and so attain to the most minute detachments of religious life. All our great saints reached this degree. St Dominic felt so strongly over what he considered the too generous tables of his friars, the over-comfortable convents, that he suggested to the chapter that the material administration of the friaries should be handed over to lay brethren, in order to relieve the friars of carefulness for their material responsibilities. When his constitutions had been approved, he offered his resignation to the brethren. He preferred to relinquish the generalship of his Order, than to be burdened with its preoccupations. Only a little was his accustomed need ; he was even then preparing to leave all to labour at the conversion of the Cumans at the other end of the world. St Francis of Assisi is the true type of lovers of poverty. He surely was God’s poor man, wrought by the spirit of impoverishment ; poverty with him was like a strong wind rising from the depths of his soul, and accompanying him always. He would have himself and all his followers to be ever more detached in every respect : poor in food and clothing, in their dwellings, and their mendicancy. It was St Francis’s will to have no business whatever with the objects of concupiscence. Observe that we are not speaking here of that virtue of poverty by which we make sacrifices. This is excellent, but the poverty with which we are concerned derives from the Holy Spirit ; if is like a dry wind, forcing the heart to detachment. Our Lord is the model ; he preaches poverty under all its forms. ‘ If any man will follow me,’ he said, ‘ let him deny himself, selling all that he has, and follow me.’ He was seeking to inculcate in us this fundamental spirit. The spirit of fear will help us to find it again. He will THE BEATITUDE OF POVERTY 25 communicate it to us as a result of love. It is this spirit of total impoverishment which wills that, without prejudice to whatever is necessary for our work, we should neverthe­ less not become attached to it, and should wilfully deprive ourselves of what is superfluous. IV PRACTICE Let us see some of the duties which are consequent on this spirit of poverty. 1. Material goods. The spirit of ownership does not find much opportunity in the common life, but even in the best ruled communities it is sometimes necessary to make reforms ; nothing considerable, but instances will occur of objects that have not been submitted to the superior, the necessary permissions not been asked for. Surely, the scrap of material which one of St. Bernard’s monks had kept to repair his habit was nothing much, and yet the saint summoned him before all the community at Citeaux, and administered a severe correction. Saint Bernard was not a cruel man, but he had seized the sense of that spirit of poverty which is at the heart of the gospel : he reflected, If I slacken, all will go astray ; Christ has bidden us become poor, and we have accepted his bidding by our vows ; this act is a positive scandal. There you have an example, and examples can be of great use, for they succeed in expressing ideas at their greatest intensity. In this matter of poverty we must learn to possess nothing at least without permission. And even from such as may be allowed us we are to be detached. Intrusion, monopoly, the taking of what has been permitted us to use, must not excite us to indignation, lack of charity, or bitter thoughts, as does happen sometimes, when what poor little goods of the world have been left us are suddenly snatched away. 2. Honours and distinctions. Opportunities to rise to ________________________________________________________ 26 THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIAN LIFE honours and distinctions seldom happen in the religious life ; superiors themselves are warned by theii· rules that they should be fathers rather than masters, and that their happiness should lie in putting themselves at the service of others. Nevertheless, thoughts of self-elevation will arise. Interiorly at first, we seek to lift ourselves up in our own eyes, sometimes by putting others down. Then we continue exteriorly by affirming our own abilities, by confidence in our own judgments and preferences. Here is our human nature again ; we are still men and not angels. But to all this the Holy Spirit whispers within us the words of the Imitation : ‘ Love to be unknown and counted for nothing.’ It is the thought of St Benedict Joseph Labre under another form. ‘ Just a little.’ Little of honour, little of esteem—even with regard to the value of our own judgments, not to feed our concupiscence, our sinful will, for fear of beginning a separation from God. Such is the object of the gift of fear. The greater the detachment we realise, the surer we will be not to become separated from God. He alone counts ; let us be warned against nourish­ ing the concupiscence of pride. 3. Obedience. We have not been made to obey, but to command in our degree, under God’s government, to whom alone we owe ultimate obedience. Nevertheless, we have not willed to retain this personal mastery over our acts ; we have discovered a trap in our mastery, and realised that in trusting to the guidance of our own eyes we would be completely led astray ; by our vows we have abdicated our liberty, in respect of our rule, nay, in every respect of life, we are no more our own. True we may adopt the initiative in some little details which have not been foreseen by our rule, but in principle everything is foreseen, and our superiors can exact of us every renunciation of self-will. If we had the spirit of _______________ -........ ...... “ ■...... - -- THE BEATITUDE OF POVERTY 27 impoverishment, we should anticipate these renunciations, we should no longer need the biddings of superiors to coax us, we should more and more seek submission and dependence of every sort. In following the inspirations of the Holy Ghost we will be led to do rather more than less in this respect, yet always with the reservations of prudence. The Holy Spirit will never lead us against the safe laws of prudence, any more than against our rule, or against obedience. It is the same Holy Spirit who has given us both prudence and our rule, and he cannot inspire us against one or the other. This principle can be applied to everything, but it is especially in respect of poverty that one can be misled to the degree of imprudence. 4. Human affections. Lastly we may not give a free rein to the thoughts and regrets of our human affections. Poverty of heart will place us beyond reach of the harms which may come from the affections and from those lower harms too which strike at us through the senses. The penitent soul avoids the sweet things and finds its pleasure in the bitter, for love of God, so as to avoid ever being separated from him. This spirit of poverty is like the grain of mustard seed in the gospel. Its expression in our souls is very small, very humble, just a whisper deep within : ‘ A little.’ But this quiet whisper has such great power. By it we are forearmed against every opportunity to gratify our con­ cupiscence, even before it occurs, and when it does, wre are in good form to withstand its temptation. Dwelling in our most inward being the Holy Spirit acts for us as an instinct, an additional sense whose function it is to warn us of occasions and circumstances which can serve as nourishment for our sinful wills, profit our concupiscence and make us run the risk of separation from God, and which impels us to withdraw, whispering in us, ‘ a little, the least 28 THEHOLYSPIRITINCHRISTIANLIFE possible.’ This, of course, always without exaggeration, keeps us to the common way of life and the rule of virtue practised about us. Such is the spirit of God, the gift of fear. Those souls, especially in the religious life, most sensitive to the touch of the Spirit, and who seek of material things ever less, rather than more, will receive a great reward. ‘ Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ They are set on the certain way, they have only to persevere, and the wealth of heaven is theirs even now, albeit a limited possession. They have accepted the spirit of impoverishment and kept it ; they have said : I esteem created things as an uncleanness, I no longer desire to do business with the lesser goods. All their treasure is in God, they possess the kingdom of heaven. Doubtless this is but a beginning, a lower gift. But the Holy Spirit who has breathed upon them will not desert them ; and making them by his other inspirations, ascend from perfection to perfection, he 'will lead them at last to that ultimate possession of the kingdom of heaven of which poverty of spirit encompasses already the certain hope. CHAPTER III The Gift of Fortitude That he would grant you to be strengthened by his Spirit, with might unto the inward man. (Eph. 3.16.) ERE we are in the hands of God, this refuge to which the gift of fear has directed us ; here with our all powerful Father, as good instruments in his hands. Now he will be able to do something with us, his work, to bring us up by the ways of the interior life, even to life without end. When the craftsman has well grasped his tool, he proceeds to attack the task, and the quality of this attack is strength and vigour. So it follows quite naturally that the gift to be used after that of fear is fortitude, strength, in order that, under the Holy Spirit, we can do our work vigorously, defend ourselves against obstacles that beset the way, and beat out the track to the fulness of everlasting life. H I THE VIRTUE OF FORTITUDE Fortitude is a virtue of the utmost importance in the Christian life, and it is important for us all. Lofty ideas and fervent desires will not suffice if they are without the support of a strong will. Our Lord Jesus Christ has not left this out of his teaching. In his praise of the Precursor he pauses in admiration : ‘ What went you out into the desert to see,’ he cries, ‘ a reed shaken in the wind ? ’ (Matt., 7.29.) What comparison was there between the 30 THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIAN LIFE frailty of a reed and that voice thundering in the desert ? No, John the Baptist is a man of strength. When our Lord himself lifted his voice in the sermon on the mount, ‘ He spoke as one having power, and not as the scribes and pharisees’ (Luke, 11.21). Jesus is a man of strength. Strong to bear the pain of his agony and, raising himself above his sorrow, strong to accomplish his Father’s will. He stood in his strength before Pilate ; he stood before Herod ; he stood before the delirious crowd. And at the last hour, his task complete, did he not say, returning his soul to his Father in a supreme act of self-possession : ‘ Into thy hands I commend my spirit ’ ? The strength of our Lord was strength at its source ; but we in our degree can imitate him. He loved to speak in praise of strength, ‘ When a strong man armed keepeth his house, those things are in peace which he possesseth.’ It is the picture of the just man who has the virtue of fortitude ; he keeps his house, he is strong, all his possessions are in peace ; there is no temptation, no ambush strong enough to overcome the well-armed man. In contrast, let us consider our Lord’s judgment of weakness. He points to the man who is weak, whose armour is not enough : ‘ What king,’ he said, ‘ having five thousand men, would engage with him who comes against him with twenty thousand, but first he will sue for peace ? ’ (Luke,· 14.31). To sue for peace in the interior life is to give up. Fortitude, then, is our need, and, when it is put at the service of truth and righteousness, and of the will to do good, there is no better labourer at the task to do than fortitude, no better protector of the task accomplished. We need fortitude in the doing of the work, and in the protection of the work once done. Among the gifts that accompany his grace the Holy Spirit has given us the virtue of fortitude to this end. Μ THE GIFT OF FORTITUDE 31 Fortitude can also be a human virtue, acquired by the repeated acts of those who labour and strive to lead an honest life, and to fulfil their appointed tasks. A greater quality is required of that fortitude which undertakes, with, human means, a human will and intelligence and passions, the lofty task of oui’ salvation, exposed to so many dangers. Yet, in order that the child of God which comes to the age of reason shall not be at the mercy of the obstacles which will beset it, God gives it, with the sanctifying grace of baptism, the virtue of fortitude. The child finds this virtue in himself already formed, he has but to make it grow. The Christian is already a man of strength, he has the virtue of strength, he can enter into the labours and struggles of life. It is profitable to realise that if we find ourselves weak and not doing all in our power in the accomplishment of our duty, the reason lies in neglect of this resources of God who provides in us the gift of fortitude. II CHRISTIAN COURAGE The Holy Spirit has given us that supernatural strength which was our need. It is for our desire to become enlarged to the proportion of our divine predestination. The humblest of Christian souls has a high destiny ; to become one of the elect, a saint in heaven ; such is the end God wills for it. He has chosen us, says St Paul, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to be holy and unspotted in his sight (Eph., 1.4). No place for the pusillanimous, little souls, content with their small portion, fashioning a little life for themselves within the great Christian life. No, we can expand to the stature of their destiny, vigorous, unhesitant, never retreating, but putting our everything into life, saying : Yes, I will aim at heaven, my life is a preparation for the 32 THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIAN LIFE summit of everlasting life. Magnanimous souls ! Magnanimity—greatness of soul, is the first form assumed by the virtue of fortitude in the Christian heart. Think of the struggle among men to secure the top place— ambition, always so little because its objects never rise above the level of earth. We must transcend it, setting our desires, our plans, at the height of God’s appointed destiny for us. But this is not all. When we have lifted up our desires, then we must labour to see that each day our activities too are set at the same level. This is the work of virtue which makes progress. To fulfil our duties as Christians, the duties of our daily life, we must get down to them vigor­ ously. This new task of fortitude we call ‘Christian Courage.’ Faced with the task, it needs a courageous soul to engage it and not be rebuffed, to begin at the beginning and pursue it vigorously to the end. To take on the task of being a Christian, to apply ourselves to each and everything according to the rule of our conscience ; this requires a great virtue. It is with courage that it is done, and there is no task accomplished that is not the fruit of courage spent without count. For us, duty presents itself in an austere form, and one difficult to maintain, that of regularity. We have a rule which traces out our duties for us ; the duties of our interior life, of our life in community, the duties of our apostolate, and those of our various occupations. Before us is a multitude of duties, all catalogued, and at every moment without truce we have an exercise to perform. Nothing demands more courage than this exercise of regularity. The religious who shows himself faithful thereto may truly say : ‘ I have done my duty.’ This conscience of duty done is the reward of courageo souls. us THE GIFT OF FORTITUDE 33 We must not, however, exaggerate : to try, for example, witk frail health to fulfil heavy tasks. We must take count of our possibilities and ask for permissions which will set a limit to our duties. And even accounting for dispensa­ tions and impossibilities, we shall find we have enough. Unless we have great courage, we shall not find ourselves tending to our sublime end as we ought. We shall discover it to be a trial indeed, to observe this regularity without neglect and infidelity in little things ; it is trying, but it is sanctifying, because love of God fills every repeated effort ; without this love, there is no courage. Courage in all our acts will gain great merit for us. There is another aspect of Christian courage, less satisfying, more difficult, and also more meritorious than the first, even though it appears to effect less. We need courage to work, but there is a result to see. When we come to suffer, there is nothing. There is no going to the attack, our part is to bear, to bear physical pain which prevents us spending ourselves on our most cherished activities, to bear mental stress, caused by shadows overcoming our faith, or scruples, lassitude, boredom, depressions ; the afflictions our Lord experienced in agony, when he said, ‘ My soul is sorrowful even unto death.’ Distress of heart, which can turn us inside out with anguish over those we love, dear ones from whom we are parted. Life is full of suffering of every sort. Sufferings which come from our sins, from our infirmities, from people around who, rightly or wrongly, are a burden to us. Exterior obstacles rise up against us ; our enemies triumph. Our soul is crushed. Traps are laid to draw us into evil, or a lesser good. We need courage to bear, to resist, to hold on, to master our soul, to keep it in peace before God, to possess it, in our Lord’s words : In suffering you shall possess your souls (Luke, 21.19). To carry on to the end, i J I | p j? ? | |j p Î j: f j j J ! i. THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRISTIAN LIFE 34 without giving way, doing God’s will and meriting eternal life ; this is the work of fortitude. Lastly, our high visions, and our courage to work and bear up under tribulation are not to be thought of as occasional resources ; they belong to each succeeding minute of our life, long as it may be, its obstacles cropping up ever anew. There is another virtue which crowns fortitude—perseverance, the virtue by which we never falter, which keeps us always at the task. The Holy Spirit has given us the seed of this fortitude at our baptism with, and in, sanctifying grace. With this energy which proceeds from the love of God, and with that love itself, we shall be able to face martyrdom, the supreme act of a human life ; to deliver ourselves to be pierced, burnt, torn asunder without complaint, our hearts intent on heaven. Ill THE NECESSITY OF THE GIFT OF FORTITUDE It is precisely the magnitude of our end, and that quality of tenderness which our strength needs if it is to be effective, which can be a source of difficulties, an occasion of weakness to the soul. We know that grace is allpowerful and will never fail us, but grace in us now lacks that confirmation which will mark it in heaven, so exposed is it to our frailties and failures that we can even lose it altogether. The dangers are so grave, the task so great, we have reason to be afraid if, even with divine strength and the virtue of fortitude, we think of assuming ourselves the direction of our lives. Our good will does not always meet the task. How well we experience this when, after the grace of enlightenment following a good confession or a retreat, we make some resolution demanding courage, seek God’s help in prayer, and then set to work—and fail ! It needed something more, an even more divine help. THE GIFT OF FORTITUDE 35 The Holy Spirit takes pity on our weakness ; he will not leave us sole masters of the strength we have received from him. He will complete it by a gift. The gift of fortitude comes to help our virtue of fortitude. The gift is not founded upon that strength which is our permanent possession, which we use or refrain from using at will—■ albeit it is for us to set our sail—-the gift comes from the Holy Spirit, and when it is he who takes possession of us, we submit to his irresistible pressure, we are no longer subject to the risks and vacillations of our own personal government. IV i j EFFECTS OF THE GIFT OF FORTITUDE ‘ ii There is a contrast to be observed in the Apostles before and after the descent of the Holy Ghost upon them. If you would portray the most fearful, cowardly, timid of all men, you have only to look at the apostles as the gospel shows them : they are afraid of everything. Peter, it is true, gives an illusion of strength, but it was not that, it was impulse which prompted him to draw his sword and strike off the ear of a soldier. Within a short time he is saving himself from the accusation of a serving maid. He was not there when Jesus was crucified ; ‘ he followed afar off,’ the gospel tells us. All the apostles had fled. And yet We can believe they had divine grace, the virtues of fortitude and charity. Our Lord called them his friends, but they had not received the Holy Spirit. Once they have received him, we find them, on the contrary, full of courage. These boatmen, rude of speech and bearing, are now at ease before rulers and strangers, speaking with assurance to the crowds and handling them with skill. The Peter who trembled before the serving maid now stands without fear before the high priest himself : ‘ We