Holiness in the cloister

Contents

Page

Preface . 7

Introduction . 8

CHAPTER I. Children of Illustrious Parents . 9-24

1. In the name of Jesus.—2. Children of illustrious parents.—3. Judge of oneself.—4. Special obliga¬ tions.—5. Order Our Lady.—6. Esteem of one’s profession.—7. St. John of the Cross our special master.—8. Five minutes of examination.—9. Nearly always at the top.—10. Beginners are not forgotten.

Chapter II

St. John of the Cross and the Precautions . 25-35

1. Preface by the Saint.—2. Abridgment of Perfec¬ tion.—3. The world and its principal induce¬ ments. Three counsels concerning them.—4. The devil and his threefold temptations against good persons.—5. Three counsels in regard to these.—

6. Our own nature and its bad inclinations.—7.

Last three “Cautelas.”—8. Most sublime perfec¬ tion accessible to all.

CHAPTER III. The First Precaution against the World—Our Neigh¬ bor . 36-48

1. Words of the Saint.—2. Apparent harshness and erroneous opinions.—3. Spiritual education.

Model of a good educator.—4. How to understand the mind of a holy writer.—5. Defects in the bio-

Page graphies of the saints—6. St. John of the Cross and his social manners.—7. His Letters.—8. He showed himself in them as he was.—9. The author of the Letters does not seem to be the same as the one of the “Precautions.”—10. Need of an explana¬ tion. Quotation from St. Teresa.

CHAPTER IV. Continuation of the Same

1. Creation and Life according to the holy Doctor of Carmel.—2. He dislikes heartless men.—3. Broth¬ erly love the support and pledge of the love of God.—4. St. John of the Cross a poet of the heart. —5. Broad horizon of the spirit and of the heart. —6. Triple character of the love of the saints.—7. Auto-portrait of St. John of the Ci’oss.—8. Poverty of the human heart and a powerful re-agent.—9. Universal love and most prudent advice.—10. Childish men and the curative system of St. John of the Cross.—11. No right to complain of ex¬ cessive rigor.—12. Coldness of the heart.—13. Moral distinctions.

CHAPTER V. The Second Precaution against the World—Worldly

Riches .

1. Words of the Saint.—2. Riches of the world form the second danger to virtue.—3. Natural and law¬ ful to have certain affections.—4. How man has distorted the desire for possessions.—5. Exhaustless fountain of disorders.—6. Threats and eulogies.—7. Divine promises to the poor of spirit.—8. Neither riches nor misery.—9. Vow of poverty. Definition of St. Thomas.—lo. How easily the heart is attached to worldy things, no matter whether great or small.—11. Downfall of many souls.—12. Fountain of peace.

CHAPTER VI. The Third Precaution against the World—Not to

Interfere in Other Men’s Affairs.

1. Words of the Saint.—2. Bad example in the re¬ ligious life. The saints were practical and sincere. —3. Ordinary causes of scandal.—4. Real faults

49-68

69-84

85-97

Page in religious houses.—5. The devil tempts saints. Prayer of Jesus for souls that are tempted. St. Peter, Job, friends of Jesus.—6. Divine Provi¬ dence wants us to profit by our failings.—7. Great souls are not scandalized. Human weaknesses harm more the incautious who observe them than the weak persons themselves.—8. Salutary advice and energetic language of our holy Father.—9. An observation. Religious vocation a gift of God; it does not make us impeccable.—10. Great advan¬ tages of religious vocation. View it from the last moment of life.

Chapter VII

1. Severe but fatherly admonition.—2. Interior mur¬ murs. Ignoring the intentions of our neighbor.

—3. Sickly souls. Notable observation of St. Thomas: He who easily judges reveals the bottom of his own soul.—4. Terrible threats against evil thinkers; St. Paul, St. Thomas. The holy Gos¬ pels. God is more benign than we in judging our neighbor.—5. Excuses that are not very safe.—6.

Sins of the tongue proceed from auto-intoxication.

—7. Damages of an imprudent word.—8. Effects of backbiting. Holy Scripture condemns back¬ biters.—9. Sins of the tongue are the enemies of charity and peace.—10. Backbiters and the Pillar of Salt. Mountain of Cardona.—11. Souls that turn everything about them barren.—12. Religious houses according to the designs of God. A great danger.—13. Opportune observation. A prudent superior.—14. Foretaste of heaven. Words of St.

Teresa of Jesus.

CHAPTER VIII. Precautions against the Devil—Preface—Power of

the Devil .115-126

1. Words of the Saint.—2. Belief in the power of the evil spirits. Testimony of holy Scripture. Dia¬ bolical spirit opposed to the children of the Church.—3. Neither incredulous nor fanatic.—4. Beautitude is a reward. It requires one’s co¬ operation. The devil tries to frustrate it.—5. He has special interest in tempting the good. Worth

Page of a perfect soul. They hide themselves. The devil cannot easily ruin them; he can disturb them —6. The mask of the enemy of souls.—7,

Notable passage from St. John of the Cross on different delusions of the devil.—8. Many people seem to be good and live deluded; how much they harm themselves and others.—9. They would be horrified if they knew it. Sincere examination.

The devil is satisfied with many good persons.

CHAPTER IX. Fourth Precaution, and the First against the Devil

Live always under Obedience .127-140

1. Words of the Saint.—2. How pleasing to God is obedience.—3. Through obedience man receives the blessing of God.—4. Two mottoes, Non Serv¬ ians, and Fiat Voluntas Tua.—5. Children of the devil. Brothers, sisters, and Mother of Jesus. He Who neither deceives nor exaggerates.—6. Obedi¬ ence. The basis of all order and guarantee of success.—7. Merit of good works lies in obedience.

Isaias, St. John of the Cross.—8. Testimony of St.

Teresa. Religious institutes cannot exist without obedience.—9. Why saints are so zealous for obedi¬ ence. Entire sacrifice of man to God.—10. We cannot reclaim what we have once given to God. Religious who elude obedience commit a kind of sacrilege.—11. Necessity of acquiring the virtue of obedience. Admirable testimony of Hedley. A good citizen, but not a good religious.

CHAPTER X. The Vow and the Virtue of Obedience .141-152

1. It is not enough to keep the vow, it is necessary also to practice the virtue.—2. Between two ex¬ tremes.—3. Sin is very seldom committed against the vow.—4. How sad a life fruitlessly laborious.

—5. Neither grave sins, nor solid virtues. A ter¬ rible threat.—6. Lord, I always did my will, but never intended anything against the vows. Poor excuse.—7. Reprove the useless servant neither breaking the vow nor acquiring virtue.—8. The vow is the root, the virtue is the tree.—9. Five great advantages of obedience.—10. Words of St. Teresa.

CHAPTER XI. Page

Fifth Precaution, The Second against the Devil.—

How WE SHOULD REGARD OUR SUPERIORS—TlIEIR

1. Words of the Saint.—2. Importance of this sub¬ ject.—3. Human imperfections of the superior and lack of virtue in the inferior.—4. Dignities are also tests. Some are so weak that a little honor makes them dizzy.—5. More liberty. A good superior seeks to have less.—6. Reflections on the first superior of the Church.—7. The best superior has the most generous heart. Every man needs affection.—8. Two practical examples.—9. Behold the man.—10. The superior a father. He has no right to repel. He blesses. We feel loved.—11.

The greatest moral force lies in the affection. How Divine Providence grants it. Human nature is very poor in affection.—12. The superior must look after his subjects. Repulsive natures. Per¬ sons who seem to have no other mission than to annoy others.—13. Hours of test for the su¬ perior. Voice of conscience, and voice of wounded pride.—14. How difficult it is to attend to con¬ science. Groanings of Moses.—15. The ungrateful and the imperfect. Words of Ezechiel the Proph¬ et.—16. The example of the superior and his responsibility.—17. Celebrated and terrible words of St. Teresa.—18. Poor superiors.

CHAPTER XII. The Obligations of the subject .174-185

1. The superior is the messenger of God.—2. Pro¬ fessional object of religious persons. There is very seldom open rebellion.—3. A secret rebellion is very dangerous. Doctrine of St. Thomas.—4.

Mortal sin through contempt or to frustrate the end of religious life.—5. The religious state the radical remedy for moral diseases of the human heart.—6. The essentials of the religious life.—7.

Weak and enigmatic persons in religious com¬ munities.—8. They are in great danger of mortal sin.—9. They have a poor excuse: Lamentable state of conscience.—10. Warnings of our Lord Jesus Christ.

chapter XIII Page

Religious Obedience . 186-201

1. To look to the qualities of the superior is to lose all the merit of obedience.—2. It is easy to form judgments and have unfavorable conversations against the superior.—3. The most delicate flower of charity. Depth of human pride.—4. First mur¬ muring and rebellion in the world. Its conse¬ quences.— 5. Scandal in religious houses.—6. Su¬ periors are not infallible. We must be guided by reason, but reason itself tells us to obey with simple submission.—7. The point of view of the superior. Ideals and practice.—8. A Spider's cobweb for many souls. An opportune observa¬ tion of great value.—9. TJie tale-bearer and the good angel of the superior.—10. An observation is not an imposition.—11. Genuine religious spirit.

Our Rule.—12. Example of the saints and of Jesus.—13. Jesus in the Eucharist, a perfect model of obedience. Obey, suffer, and be silent.

CHAPTER XIV. Sixth Precaution, and the Third against the Devil

1. Words of St. John of the Cross.—2. What is best known is generally practised worst. False con¬ ception of humility.—3. For St. John of the Cross humility is the daughter of love and light: For St. Teresa it is of truth. Notable passage of St.

John.—4. Love never says enough.—5. A learned and pure person thinks his works unworthy of such a great Lord. This is the fountain of true humility.—6. Words of St. Teresa: Humility is Truth. A room where much light enters. There is no humility without much light.—7. Not all is bad in us. Humility does not disavow our own perfections. Words of St. Teresa. Humility takes a man as he is.—8. Our holy Father and our holy Mother in perfect harmony. They are the great masters of humility.—9. St. Teresa must be under¬ stood. Error is the mask of truth. What it is to walk in truth. To know how to use the gifts of God.—10. Self-love exaggerates our good qualities and lessens our defects. Each virtue carries with it a responsibility.—11. Everything for the good of all. Nothing to wound anyone.—12. Vanity

Page supposes some defect in the mind or in the heart.

—13. To the vain the Lord denies a multitude of gifts for their own good.

Chapter XV

1. How humility is directly opposed to the diaboli¬ cal spirit.—2. How much God loves the humble.

—3. Humility the foundation of greatness. Teach¬ ing of the Divine Master on humility.—4. The whole life and doctrine of Jesus a canticle of humility.—5. God takes pleasure in humbling the proud and casting them aside.—6. The proud seek to appropriate the glory due to God alone.—7.

Pride, the most deeply rooted capital sin, a devia¬ tion of a holy aspiration.—8. Self-love not bad in itself, but only in its ways and means. Is a sure road to greatness.—9. Words of St. John of the Cross.—10. Pride the father of envy. It destroys souls.—11. The wicked spirit fosters it. Very common evil.

Chapter XVI

1. Pride and wine.—2. Self-love is a help to virtue.

—3. All are children of God. The nothing of St.

John of the Cross. It is necessary to educate self-love; not to destroy it.—4. Little talent is needed to know self-love. Vanity, the first fruit of self-love. The vain and th© drunkard.— 5. Pride rises threateningly over the ruins of vanity. A diabolical vice. Contradiction and overthrow en¬ liven it.—6. Vanity and pride must be cured from within.—7. A harmless silly pride is almost inno¬ cent. The vain quickly become proud. The proud are like drunkards, never satisfied.—8. Pride, a universal vice. Its manifold expressions.—9. Tal¬ ent is not enough to avoid pride. Men think well as long as their selfishness is not hurt.—10. “Leave him alone, for that is his way.”—11. This evil is not recognized by those affected. Words of St. John of the Cross.—12. Cure of self-love.—

13. Humility and charity. It is right to ask much from religious persons.—14. Foundation of the religious life. Overcome evil by good.—15. Value of an act of humility. Drive the devil away. Rejoicing of the heart.

CHAPTER XVII. Page

Our Neighbor the Agent of our Santtfication .249-268

1. Words of St. John of the Cross—2. Nature is op¬ posed to virtue—3. God created man a sociable being. The first man alone in paradise.—4. Man made society difficult, education makes it easier.

—5. A good education the helper of virtue. Nota¬ ble observation.—6. Christian charity and educa¬ tion.—7. Point of view of St. John of the Cross.—

8. Psychology of the saints.—9. Divine Providence. Everything for the good of His elects.—10. See Divine Providence in all things. The example of David.—11. It is Providence that brings persons together who are naturally at variance.—12. The best benefactors.—13. Voice of selfishness.—14.

Most opportune comments. Contemplating the agitations of one’s own heart.—15. Nobody should rejoice at another man’s sufferings.—16. Without executioners there would be no ma#yrs. Office of the good angel.—17. Love for those who mortify us. Testimony of St. Teresa and of St. John of the Cross.—18. Insignificant details of daily life.

—19. Prolonged but easy martyrdom.

Chapter XVIII

Eighth Precaution, the Second against the Flesh 269'-289 1. Words of St. John of the Cross.—2. Motive of human actions. Pleasure is a lawful incitement.

—3. To act for the sake of pleasure is degrad¬ ing.—4. God punishes men by allowing them to do their own will. Man must be guided by his reason and not by pleasure.—5. Folly of spirit.

St. John of the Cross the most able master of the spirit and a deep psychologist.—6. Pleasure taken in creatures is degrading. They are crumbs fall¬ ing from the table of the Father of the family.—7.

Effects of pleasure. Most beautiful words of St.

John of the Cross.—8. Desire for pleasure is never satisfied; it makes everything useless and darkens the mind.—9v A safe rule.'Worthy answer of a saint. Dictates of conscience.—10. Great characters.—11. Childish men; they suffer much.

—12. They lose the merits of their good works and deserve severe punishment.—13. First stimu¬ lus of our actions. Names written in heaven.—14.

How to be useful to all and to oneself. Saints do

Page not impair human nature.—15. Moral pruning.

—16. The pure receive the hundred fold even in this life.—17. The life of St. John of the Cross, a practical demonstration of his teaching.

Chapter XIX

Ninth Precaution and the Third against the Flesh. .290-313 1. Words of St. John of the Cross.—2. To prefer sor¬ row to pleasure.—3. The man who always controls his sorrows is very great.—4. How suffering can be cherished.—5. Suffering expiates.—6. It puri¬ fies and adorns. It is purgatory in this life and a great blessing of God.—7. Suffering obtains all things from God. Power of tears.—8. Suffering renders us like our Lord Jesus Christ.—9. The cross is the symbol of suffering through love.—10. Instructions on suffering given by our Lord to St.

Teresa of Jesus.—11. To suffer or to die. The saints and sufferings.—12. The psychology of the saints and of worldly persons.—13. Persons con¬ secrated to God should neither ignore nor dislike sufferings.—14. First class of suffering.—15.

Second cliass.—16. Voluntary sufferings.—17.

Words of St. John of the Cross.

Chapter XX

The Precautions of St. John of the Cross and the

1. Providential mission of St. John of the Cross.—2.

These precautions contain his fundamental and general doctrine.—3. He does not consider them mere counsels, but precepts to be observed. They are the genuine expression of the spirit of Carmel.

—4. The spirit of a congregation is embodied in its founders. That of Elias, sweet and austere, continuous prayer and great enterprise for the glory of God.—5. Carmelite sketches.—6. St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa have the same spirit, though it may not be apparent. The world does not understand them.—7. The auto-portrait of both saints.—8. Gentleness of our holy Father.—

9. Character of St. Teresa. Why she undertook the work of reform.—10. What is immutable and mutable in the spirit of Carmel.—11. Ideas must not be confused.—12. The essentials of the spirit

Page of Carmel contained in these precautions. All of them can be observed by everybody. They are enough to sanctify us.—13. They facilitate the ful¬ fillment of other duties.—14. All of us have need of taking them well to the heart.—15. Well fixed in our conscience. For this purpose we came to the Order.—16.’The spirit of Carmel and the daugh¬ ters of St. Teresa.—17. The little Flower. The “Ascent of Mount Carmel” and the “Precautions.” —18. Religious.—19. Third Order. Secular per¬ sons and these precautions. A little heaven on earth.

Foub Maxims to a Religious

342-348

Preface

Three very powerful motives induced me to under¬ take the translation of “Santidad en el Claustro 6 Comentarios a las Cautelas de San Juan de la Cruz,” recently written and published by the Very Rev. Father Lucas of St. Joseph, our actual Superior Provincial in the United States.

.The first motive is the great love and veneration I have for the ecstatic and famous mystical Doctor of Carmel, St. John of the Cross, whose writings en¬ lighten the mind and move the will in a most astonish¬ ing way, gently leading the pious reader to put into practice the severe lessons contained in his heavenly books.

The second motive is the respect and filial affection I entertain for the Author of these Commentaries and of several other important works, one of which is “St. Teresa’s Book Mark”, so well known to many Amer¬ ican Catholics.

And the last but not the least motive, is the great regard and admiration I foster in my heart for the many zealous Religious Communities and the intelli¬ gent and devout Catholics of this great country.

The desire of contributing my mite to the spiritual advancement of my American friends has induced me to undertake the translation of this Spanish work in asceticism, “Holiness in the Cloister or Commen¬ taries on the Precautions of St. John of the Cross.” And as I offer them the fruit of my arduous labor with sincere regards and affection, I beg their generous indulgence for all the deficiencies of my humble efforts.

FATHER PASCHASIUS of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 0. C. D.

Washington, September 8, 1920.

Introduction

I have been repeatedly asked by many of my friends to write something in continuation to my books, ‘ ‘ Con¬ fidences to a Youth’’ and “From my Cell,” that would do for the young who are already within the cloister what these did for those who are still in the world. Until the present, I never had a moment’s leisure even to attempt to please my friends who honored me with such a request.

Divine Providence granted me a short period of rest in this great city, and I have devoted it to writing this little book, which I believe will serye, to a certain extent, the above mentioned purpose. This work, writ¬ ten in haste and without the necessary books for re¬ search, save the three or four which are quoted fre¬ quently, will be found somewhat deficient, especially in those points which are so familiar to all writers on the matter. As I am unable to give this book a rich and well-chosen erudition, it will appear as a very poor setting for that most precious literary and doctrinal gem, the “Cautelas”—Instructions—of St. John of the Cross, which it purposes to expound. Hence I recom¬ mend it as it is to the kindness of the reader.

Though this book is specially dedicated to the Re¬ ligious of Carmel, I believe it may prove useful to all kinds of persons. I dedicated it in spirit to our young Religious Brothers and Sisters. I have thought often of them while writing it at the foot of the Crucifix. These pages belong especially to them, because they have been inspired by their holy prayers and enthusi¬ asm, and I have written them with the consoling hope and even with the encouraging assurety that on read¬ ing them some of these young hearts, so full of life and hope, will feel renewed in spirit, and by loving more and mor,e our Lord Jesus Christ, will be more useful to themselves as well as to the Order of our Lady. That such may be the case is the sole ambition of the author.

Washington, D. C., Feast of St. Peter Thomas.

CHAPTER I Children of Illustrious Parents

1. IN THE NAME OF JESUS—2. CHILDREN OF ILLUS¬ TRIOUS PARENTS—3. JUDGE OF ONESELF—4. SPE- . CIAL OBLIGATIONS—5. ORDER OF OUR LADY—6. ESTEEM OF ONE’S PROFESSION—7. ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS OUR SPECIAL MASTER—8. FIVE MIN¬ UTES OF EXAMINATION—9. NEARLY ALWAYS AT THE TOP—10. BEGINNERS ARE NOT FORGOTTEN.

1. We read in the Acts of the Apostles that St. Paul wrought great miracles merely by invoking the holy Name of Jesus on the sick. Therefore many Jews admired those wonders and tried to cure the possessed by exorcizing the evil spirits in the name of the Lord Jesus saying, I conjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preacheth . The most distinguished among all those who pretended ‘to avail themselves of the name of Jesus and of the authority of St. Paul to cure the sick, were the seven sons of the High Priest Esceva. They were then exorcizing a poor man who was pos¬ sessed by the devil; but the evil spirit answering said to them: Jesus I know, and Paid I know, but who are you? And the man in whom the wicked spirit was, leaping upon them, and mastering them both, prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded . (1)

Our Father St. John of the Cross makes the following short commentary on the aforesaid bib¬ lical passage: This happened because they, the sons of Esceva, did not possess the required condi¬ tions; for the Lord is offended with those who teaching others the law of God, do not themselves keep it, and preaching to others the good spirit, they themselves have it not; therefore says St. Paul —Eom. xii, 21: “Thou therefore that teachest another, teachest not thyself.” And the Holy Ghost says through David: “But to the sinner God hath said; Why dost thou declare my jus¬ tice, and take my covenant in thy mouth? Seeing thou hast hated discipline; and hast cast my words behind thee? —Ps. lxix. 16, 17. It is therefore very reprehensible and perilous to assume to oneself the authority of a person without at the same time making the greatest efforts to assimilate his spirit.

2. We, the Carmelites, have very many and great external titles in which we may justly glory. We belong to a celebrated Order whose saints, our Founders and Reformers, are matchless, whose glories are most excellent, and whose graces can be counted by no one. Our dignity and even our own salvation demand of us great and continuous efforts that the spirit of each of us be conformable and in harmony with our great ex¬ ternal titles. It would certainly be disgraceful if what was said of the wretched sons of Esceva could in truth and justice be said of us: We know the Gospel you proclaim and the Order to ivhich you belong; we respect the habit you wear, and we venerate the great saints whose sons you esteem it a great hcmor to call yourselves. But apart from the habit you wear, and the Order that gave you your name, and the saints of whom you consider yourselves sons and successors and fol¬ lowers, we can not recognize you, we do not know who you are, we do not recognize your authority to speak to us in the name of those saints whom you do not imitate.

It would not be the worst evil that men should speak thus to us; nor could it be any com¬ fort that sometimes their judgment of us is favor¬ able ; for after all, it is not so very difficult to attain this at least temporarily. The name and the habit are still highly esteemed by men who ordi¬ narily do not and can not penetrate very much below the surface. Their opinion about us will be according to what appears in us, and by the ap¬ pearance and their impression they will judge us, and by judging us they will esteem or hate or despise us. But of themselves, appearance and habit and profession are worth little before God. His glance, infinitely quick and knowing, does not rest like the human gaze on our outward appearance, but penetrates into the innermost recesses of our soul. It reaches down to that mysterious interior man from whom we so often wish we could slip away, without however being able to separate ourselves wholly; for that interior man is our own self, is our own consciousness, the source and confidant of the motives of all our actions; it can tell us our true spiritual condition, and this it certainly does whenever we listen in all sincerity to its voice.

Since God will condemn nobody, whose con¬ science has not admonished him that he was in the wrong; and since nobody who has come to the use of reason will be rewarded for good works of which his conscience has not approved; it follows that in truth and before God each one is spirit¬ ually only that what his conscience or the intimate voice of the interior man sincerely listened to, tells him he is. To know therefore what I am, and what is my spiritual condition, I must not attend to what others think or say about me, nor what my habit and my profession make me appear to be; but above all, I must attend to the dictates of my conscience. An austere habit, the name of a venerable order, the spiritual affiliation with cele¬ brated saints, may possess great value as induce¬ ments to virtue, and may and generally do bring a certain right to special blessings of God and to a marked protection of the saints; nevertheless it is our own conscience which finally decides what we really are or are not.

3. Certainly much more is demanded from us religious than from those who live in the world. It is the people who do not practise virtue who are generally the most exacting with us who make profession of leading virtuous lives. Our holy

Mother warns us of this in the following nota¬ ble passage; speaking of persons favored by God, the great saint says: “Thousand eyes are watching that soul, while thousands of souls of another order are observed by none. ... A soul which God permits to be thus seen by men may well prepare itself to be a martyr to the world; because if it will not die to the world voluntarily, that very world will kill it. Certainly 1 see noth¬ ing in the world that seems to me good except this, that it tolerates no faults in good people and helps them to perfection by dint of the complaints it makes of them. I mean, that it requires greater courage in one not yet perfect to walk in the way of perfection than to undergo an instantaneous martyrdom. For perfection is not attained at once unless God grants that grace by some special privilege; yet the world, when it sees any one be¬ ginning to travel on that road, insists on his be¬ coming perfect at once, and at a thousand leagues’ distance it will detect in him a fault ivhich after all may be a virtue. He who finds fault is doing the very same thing, and yet pronounces it so wrong in others. (2) We Carmelites rightly glory in the habit we wear, and in our spirtual relation¬ ship with those great saints of whom we are called sons and successors. But conscience will tell each one of us what is our true spiritual condition in the religious state we have embraced.

(2) Life Chapt. XXXI.

4. It is not enough that my conscience does not reproach me as a man or a simple Christian, because God will judge me as a member of the Religious Order to which He called me and in which I vowed to serve Him. What would be enough for a simple Christian will not be enough for me a religious. And what would be excellent for a member of another religious order, may not be perfect for me who must aim at perfection according to the spirit of the Order which I em¬ braced. It is true that perfection or sanctity con¬ sidered in itself is always the same, just as the end of the same sanctity is one and the same; one Master showed the way to obtain it, and one and the same vitality nourishes and vivifies it. Jesus, the divine authority, pointed to God Himself as the sublime model of human perfection. Be ye therefore perfect as your heavenly Father is per¬ fect. He also told us that in the house of His Father there are many mansions. And to those many mansions or degrees of the elect in heaven correspond the different degrees and even kinds of perfection to which each one must attain here below by fidelity to his particular and personal vocation, and to which are attached spe¬ cial graces of God, without which the greatest efforts of our will can avail little or nothing.

5. God calls us to be saints as St. Paul tells us; but He wants each of us to be holy in accordance with the spirit of our state and of the Order we have chosen. God in His divine economy enriched

THE ORDER OP CARMEL with special gifts the founders or reformers of each Order since they were destined by Him to guide many others, and therefore they are the most perfect model for the members of that par¬ ticular Order. All address their children with the words of St. Paul to the Philippians: Be ye fol¬ lowers of me, brethren, and observe them who walk so as you have our model. (3) Therefore our holy Mother St. Teresa used to say: Let us remember our true founders, those holy fathers from whom we are sprung, for we know it was by the way of poverty and humility that they at¬ tained to the vision of God ... if we say, as we do, that these are the beginning of a restoration of the rules of the Virgin Mother, our Lady and Patroness, let us not commit so great a wrong against her or against^our holy fathers who have gone before us, as to fail to render our lives con¬ sistent with theirs. And in another place she adds: If any one thinks the rule hard, let her attribute the fault to her want of the true spirit and not to the rule of the house, seeing that deli¬ cate persons and those not in good health can bear it all with so much sweetness. Let others go to an¬ other monastery, where they may save their souls in the way of their own spirit. (4)