CHAPTER XXVI.

ON SENSIBLE DEVOTION. REVELATIONS, CONSOLATIONS. THE HOLY EUCHARIST.

IF, when thou art praying, or offering the holy Sacrifice, or meditating on divine things, or occupied in spiritual reading, or doing any other holy work, thou art destitute of the sensible affection of devotion, do thou yet persevere in what thou hast begun; and, with a pious desire of pleasing God, offer to Him the barrenness of thy heart, and thy labour, to His eternal praise. For thus will that dryness which thou sufferest be no less pleasing to Him than the affluence of interior sweetness; yea, verily, more pleasing; because reasonable devotion is, by far, safer and more acceptable to God than sensible devotion. Devotion is reasonable when we hate and execrate ever sin, and 67worship God with a ready will; and when we strenuously embrace and execute whatever we know to be pleasing to God. If thou hast this devotion, thou wilt in no wise fail of thy reward, even if thou be without the other kind of devotion.

O with what wisdom God cleanses us from pride, if we are infected with it; or defends us from it, if we are yet free! O how mercifully He shuts out the love of this exile from our souls, and compels us to sigh after that, our blessed country. O how graciously He works out our salvation, even when we understand it not! We ought, therefore, to praise Him, even when He seems to leave us exposed to divers miseries and calamities. For, in truth, He never can desert those whom He sees to be humble and of good will.

Be not curious in seeking for heavenly revelations: for those who rashly desire, and lightly give credence to them, lay themselves open to many dangers, and to many snares of the devil. For our common enemy often transforms himself into an angel of light, that he may deceive the careless. If thou dost not at once believe a vision shown to thee, but remainest humbly in doubt, till thou hast more evident and certain knowledge of it; thou offendest not God, even if it should have been sent by God Himself. Those revelations which are made from heaven to the pious, console and soothe the mind, and make it humble; those visions, on the contrary, which are concocted by the craft of the demons, do nothing but disturb and harden the heart, and render it perverse.

When thou art benignantly visited by God, when all is tranquil and serene, do thou refer what thou hast received to His pure grace and mercy, not to thy own diligence, nor to thy own merits or efforts. On no account do thy own pleasure, nor give thyself up to foolish joy or dangerous security; but keep thyself ever in holy vigilance and fear; prepared to accept spiritual tribulation and dryness, if it should be God’s will to send them to thee again, and be not of the number of those thus described by Solomon, saying, “The prosperity of fools shall destroy them” (Prov. i. 32).

Thou shalt not unseasonably magnify to thyself the gift thou hast received, nor love to speak of it every where to others, (though thou mayest reverently and humbly divulge it, if any spiritual good or necessity require it), but rather turn away thy thoughts from the gift itself, as if thou hadst received nothing, and dwell upon God. If thou wishest to dwell upon it more particularly in thy own mind, do it for this end only, that thou mayest be more aware of the goodness of God towards thee, and of thy own ingratitude towards God. Attribute to God all that is of God, and be grateful; but to thyself ascribe nothing but sin. Acknowledge thyself to be an unprofitable servant, unworthy of any favour or solace; in order that the more progress thou dost make, the more, thou mayest humble thyself. For humility alone will preserve the good that is in thee uncorrupted.

Those feelings of sensible love and sweetness, though they may usually be signs of salvation, must not be 69considered undoubted indications thereof, unless the Holy Spirit has so revealed it. For they are some times natural feelings rather than divine; and they may arise even in a heart that is far distant from God. Wherefore, we ought ever to grow more vile in our own eyes, and to steer between chaste fear and holy hope, so long as we are tossed upon the waves of this present life.

When thou art about to receive the most Holy Eucharist, see that thou assist not unworthily at that tremendous and heavenly feast. Cast down thy spirit, and hide thyself in the deepest valley of humiliation; confess, most heartily confess thyself to be a sinner. Beseech the Lord that He will deign to purify thy soul, and to adorn it with His merits and virtues. Approach with firm faith, with certain hope, and sincere love, in memory of His most dear Incarnation, Passion, and Death: so that thou mayest be able to say with truth, “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover” (St. Luke xxii. 15). Having at length received the King of glory, be watchful lest thou admit anything that may offend the eyes of so great a Guest. And if, perchance, thou hast done anything amiss, and hast wounded thy soul by sin, fly instantly to the remedy of penance, and to the medicine of the divine mercy.