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Eighteenth Monday after Pentecost
Eighteenth Monday after Pentecost. Happiness Given by Mortification.
Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation.
We will terminate to-morrow our meditations upon mortification, by considering : 1st, the happiness which the mortified soul enjoys in its relations towards its neighbor; 2nd, the happiness it finds in itself. We will thence deduce the resolution : 1st, not to allow a single day to pass with outperforming some act of mortification, either of the will, or of the disposition, or of self-love, and we will set down two such acts for the day ; 2nd, to obey the Holy Ghost in all the acts He may suggest, such as sacrificing a caprice, a desire, a pleasure. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the words of the Imitation : "Leave all, and you will find all ; relinquish your attachments, and you will have peace" (III. Imit. xxxii. i).
Meditation for the Morning.
Let us admire Our Lord, who is full of esteem and of love for mortification. It would have been easy for Him to have been born in opulence, to live in pleasure, *o die without suffering ; and yet He willed, through choice, to be born in a stable, to live in continual labors, and to die upon a cross, Oh, how admirable this choice is ! How it reveals to us the excellence of mortification, that incomparable virtue which procures happiness for us in our relations with our neighbor and enables us to find it also in ourselves. Let us thank Our Lord for it.
The Mortified Soul finds Happiness in its Relations with its Neighbor.
Mortification is the secret of being on good terms with every one. There is never any dissension, because the mortified man accommodates his will and his character to the will and the char acter of others. There is never any altercation, because, never believing his own judgment to be the sole rule of what is true, he never thinks of entering into any disputes, and his conversation is always sweet, tranquil, calm, and charming. There are never any rivalries or contentions, be cause he prefers to yield his rights rather than uphold them at the expense of charity. There fore, every one is devoted to him ; and as he is attentive to procure happiness for others, they, on their part, are attentive in ministering to his. It is quite otherwise with the unmortified man, who is always striving to make his own will, his own ideas, his interests, and his way of looking at things prevail. Everywhere he meets with nothing but disputes and quarrels, dislike or hatred, affronts or deceptions of self-love, engendered by the conflict of interests, of wills, of tastes, and of characters where mortification does not reign. And thus it happens that the man whose whole desire is not to suffer, suffers on all sides ; he re pels the hearts of his fellows by his haughtiness and his pretensions, by his determination not to render any service in the least degree annoying to himself, by his self-love, which is always on the search for what is most agreeable to himself, with out having any fear of putting others to inconvenience ; lastly, by his words, which are often bitter and hard, his sombre and disagreeable manners, his impetuosity, and his violent temper. Let us examine our conscience with regard to all these points.
The Mortified Soul finds Happiness within Itself.
The mortified man is always happy in himself. All may change around him ; whether he be in the midst of enjoyments or of privations, in one place or another, he is content with everything, content everywhere, because he does not cling to any thing ; he desires nothing but the good pleasure of God, whom he sees, whom he adores, whom he loves in everything. Created objects cannot trouble him, because God is all in all to him, and because he says to himself : "God only suffices ; he who has God has everything" This is why the saints were the happiest of men here below. Raised above all events, their days flowed on in an independence and tranquillity which nothing could disturb ; within them reigned a constant calm, a repose, a continually uniform serenity ; the wind of a thousand desires never came near to agitate them ; still less did emotions and passions overwhelm them ; never the very slightest murmur of discontent passed over the surface of their souls. "I desire very few things," said one of them," and the little that I desire I desire in a very small degree." In these few words, oh, what an admirable secret for being happy is contained ! What movements, what agitations, what troubles and annoyances we may spare ourselves, what happy liberty, what delicious peace we may acquire ! (III. Imit. xxxi. i.).
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.
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