The spiritual letters of Archbishop Fenelon : letters to women

Front matter

af she Cheulogirg,

PRINCETON, N. J.

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Contents

LETTER PAGE I. Tothe Duchesse de Beauvilliers. On Meditation and

Prayer . 3 : 2 ; : : I

II. To the Comtesse de Gramont. On the Difficulties of a Worldly Life .: . : : : aro III. Ona Scandal lately arisen : : : of mists: IV. Simplicity in Action - 2 ; : ZO V. Need for Devotion amid a Worldly Life : 5 Be VI. Conduct inthe World. 3 é : 5 26 ‘VII. Not to be troubled about Unintentional Omissions in Confession ; : c : 5 Veg VIII. On Silence’and Récollection . j 5) 3o IX. Avoiding Scruples : ; ; an 633 X. Evils of a Disdainful Manner , ; c at Peis XI. Concerning Scruples about Common Things . 30) XI. Real Humility . ; : - . Pee XIII. How to meet Trial - é : é PAT XIV. The same Subject ‘ : ; 4 a EB XV. Prejudice A : ; ‘i ‘ A AA XVI. Peace amid Trial ; A é ‘ + | 46 XVII. Not to postpone Plans of Amendinent , : a 43

II. Go the Comtesse ve Gramont

On the Difficulties of a Worlnlp Life.

[Elizabeth Hamilton, daughter of the Marquis of Hamilton and Mary Butler, his wife. She was born in 1641, and married Philibert Comte de Gramont in 1660. This lady was a dame-dupalais to the Queen Marie Thérése, and being of a devout mind, soon placed herself under Fénelon’s direction. In 1692 the Comte de Gramont had a severe illness, to which reference is.made in some of the following letters. His wife made use of the opportunities thus afforded for winning him to think of religion. In the Journal de Dangeau it is mentioned that the Comte was so ignorant of the very rudiments of devotion, that when his wife repeated the Lord’s Prayer by his side, he exclaimed, “Comtesse, say that again; it is a beautiful prayer. Who made it?” After this time Fénelon’s counsels seem to have been as valuable and as acceptable to her husband as to the Comtesse, and they both retained a staunch friendship for him through all the period of his disgrace at Court. Their correspondence was continued for many years. The following twenty-eight letters are all addressed to this lady. |

I was out of town, Madame, when you wrote to me from your hermitage, or I should not have failed to obey your summons. . : . One thing is certain, namely, that I daily ask with all my heart that you may. have all the recollection and faithfulness to God’s Holy Spirit which you need to. conquer the difficulties of your position. You have much to fear, both from within and from without. From without, the world smiles, on you, and that side of the world which is most adapted to flatter your pride ‘fosters it | by all the consideration you are held in at Court. Then within, you have to conquer your taste for a refined life, your haughty, disdainful temperament, and a long-formed habit of dissipation. All this put together is a torrent likely to carry you away in spite of all your good resolutions. The real remedy for so many difficulties is to snatch, in spite of everything that hinders you, some fixed hours for prayer and reading. You know what I have more than once told you about this. I pray our Lord rather to take you from all, than to let you fall a prey to the world.

Fen. Sp, L.— IL] B

LE

On a Scandal fatelp arisen.

— Dec. 10, 1686.

I HEAR, Madame, that the scandal just burst forth has renewed the natural trouble which such affairs have caused you before. I sympathise exceedingly in all that grieves you. The thing I mind most in these unhappy events is that the world, always too ready to think evil of good people, assumes that there are none such on the earth. Some rejoice to think so, and triumph maliciously ; others are troubled, and, in spite of a certain desire for what is good, they hold aloof from piety out of mistrust of the pious. People are astonished to see a man who has seemed to be religious, or who, more correctly speaking, has been really converted while living in solitude, relapse into old ways and habits on being once more confronted with the world. . Did they not know before that men are frail, that the world is full of contagion, and that weak human beings can only stand upright by shunning occasions of falling? What new thing has happened? Surely this is a great fuss about the fall of a rootless tree, on which every wind blew! After all, are there not hypocrites in honesty as well as in religion to be found in the world? and ought we to conclude that there

WORLDLY SCANDAL 19 are no honest people because we find some false? When the world triumphs over a scandal like this, it shows how little it knows about mankind or about virtue. We may well be grieved at such a scandal, but those who know the depths of human frailty, and-how even the little good we do is but as a borrowed thing, will be surprised at nothing. Let him who stands upright tremble lest he fall; let him who is prostrate, wallowing in the mire, not triumph because he sees one fall who seemed able to stand alone. Our confidence is neither in frail men nor in ourselves, as frail as others ; it is in God only, the One Unchanging Truth. Let all . mankind prove themselves to be mere men— that is to say, nought save falsehood and sin; let them be carried away by the torrent of iniquity, still God’s Truth will not be weakened, and the world will but show itself as more hateful. than ever in having corrupted those who were seeking after virtue.

As to hypocrites, time, always unmasks them, and they are sure to expose themselves one way or another. ‘They are hypocrites only with the object of enjoying the fruits of their hypocrisy. Either their life is sensual and pleasure-seeking, or their conduct self-interested and ambitious. One sees them cajoling, flattering, playing all manner of. parts, whereas real virtue is simple, single-minded, free from empressement or mystery ; it does not rise and fall, it is never jealous of the success or reputation of others. It does the smallest amount of wrong that it can, lets itself be criticised in silence, is content with small things, is free from cabals, manceuvres, pretensions. . Take it or leave it, it is always the same. Hypocrisy may imitate all this, but very roughly. If it deceives any one, it will be only through their lack of perception or of experience in real virtue. . People who do not understand diamonds, or who do not examine them closely, may take false stones to be real; but all the same there are such things as real diamonds, and it-is not impossible to distinguish them. One thing is true, and that is, that in order to trust fair-seeming people, we should be able to recognise their conduct as simple, stedfast, solid, and well tried under difficulty, free from affectation, while firm and vigorous in all that is essential.

IV. Dimplicity in Action

June 12, 1689.

I aM well, thank you, Madame, doing credit to quinine, and fit to silence its enemies. Your kindness gives me real pleasure, and I am grateful to my fever for inducing it.. You go

SIMPLICITY IN ACTION. 21 too far, Madame, in your discretion; if you want to see me, you have but to say so. A simple, straightforward line of action is too much after God’s Own Heart ever to disturb those who wish to serve Him, and who are bound to speak in His Name, and _ teach simplicity. I hope you may be able to arrange the troublesome business which brings you to Paris. I fancy you will find a very. drunken man in... 3 the journey will have excited him. ‘There are very various kinds of drunkenness. Holy Scripture speaks of those that “are drunken, but not with wine.”* There is the drunkenness of pride, of anger, and of vengeance ; and there is another kind altogether, of zeal and fervour. It was with this latter that the Apostles were filled when they received the Holy Ghost.? I shall hope to see you in this latter condition, Madame, when you return. And I shall still pray for you heartily.