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    "name": "Johannes Tauler"
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  "chapter": {
    "num": 1,
    "slug": "00-sermons-and-conferences-full-text",
    "title": "Sermons and Conferences (full text)",
    "of": 1,
    "words": 348086,
    "text": "## Sermons and Conferences (full text)\n\n\nHIS SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE\n\nFirst Complete English Translation with Introduction and Index\n\nBY\n\nVERY REV. WALTER ELUOTT\n\nOf tU Pauliil Fathen\n\n^\n\nAPOSTOLIC MISSION HOUSE\n\nBrookland Station\n\nWashington, D. C.\n\n5^tl|tl nbfltat\n\nJOSEPH McSORLEY, C. S. P.\n\nCUM PERMISSU SUPERIORUM\n\n5^il)il obatat\n\nJOHN F. FENLON. S. S., D. D.\n\nRector Collegii Sancti Augustlni, Washington, D. C.\n\nCENSOR DEPUTATUS\n\n+ JACOBUS. CARDINALIS GIBBONS\n\nARCHEPISCOPUS BALTIMORENSIS\nDIE MARTII XXVII MCMX\nIN DIE SANCTO PASCH/E\n\nDEDICATION\n\nThii tranilation u affectionately dedi-\ncated to Father A. P. Doyle, C. S. P..\nwithout whose zealoui and skillful co-oper-\nation it could not have been published.\n\nW. E.\n\nThis Volume is\n\nNo\n\n•f Five Hundred Copie*.\n\nCopyright\nWaltkr Elliott\n\nPatrouB\n\n1 ifia lEmittenre ifamffl QIarbinal (Sibbona, ArrI)bial|ojj of\nSalttmorf.\n\n1 l|ts SxcfUertrg Stameli? 3Falranin, ApaatoUr S^kgate.\n\nJ^atrona among tl|? ArrljbtflljnpB\n\n2 Most Rev. Jas. H. Blenk, D.D., Archbishop of New Orleans, La\n4 I Most Rev. J. L. Spalding, D.D., Peoria III.\n\n7 ^ Most Eev. J. M. Farley, D.D., Archbishop of New York\n8j\n\n^ L Most Rev. John Ireland, D.D., Archbishop of St. Paul\n\n20j\n\n22 r Most Rev. J. E. Quigley, D.D., Archbishop of Chicago\n\n2 . r Most Rev. J. J. Keane, D.D., Archbishop of Dubuque, Iowa\n\n25 Most Rev. P. W. Riordan, D.D., Archbishop of San Francisco\n\n!- Most Rev. P. J. Ryan D.D., Archbishop of Philadelphia. Pa.\n\n26 Alerding, Rt. Eev. H. J., Bishop of Fort Wayne, Ind.\n\n27 Allen, Rt Rev. Edward, Bishop of Mobile, Ala.\n\n28 1\n\n-Q i- Bonacum, Rt. Rev. Thos., Bishop of Lincoln, Neb.\n\n30 Bnrke, Rt. Rev. Maurice F., Bishop of St. Joseph, Mo.\n\ny Canevin, Rt. Rev. Regis, Bishop of Pittsburg, Pa.\n\n88 Carroll, Rt. Rev. John P., Bishop of Helena, Mont.\n\nI'^l Colton, Rt. Rev. Chas., Bishop of Buffalo\n\nConaty, Rt. Rev. Thos. J., Bishop of Los Angeles, Cal.\nCorrigan, Rt. Rev. Owen B., Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore.\n\nCusack, Rt. Rev. Thos. F., Auxiliary Bishop of New York\n\nDunne, Rt. Rev. Edw. J., Bishop of Dallas, Texas\n\nFox, Rt. Rev., Joseph J., Bishop of Green Bay, Wis.\nGarrigan, Rt. Eev. P. J., Bishop of Sioux City, Iowa\nGarvey, Rt. Rev. E. A., Bishop of Altoona, Pa.\n\nGrace, Rt. Rev. Thos., Bishop of Sacramento, Cal.\n\neg !- Harkins, Rt. Rev. Matthew, Bishop of Providence, R. I.\n\n65j\n\nHaid Rt. Rev. Leo, O.S.B., Bishop of North Carolina\nHennessey, Rt. Rev. John, Bishop of Wichita, Kan.\nHeslin, Rt. Rev. Thos., Bishop of Natchez, Miss.\n\nHoban, Rt. Rev. M. J., Bishop of Scranton, Pa.\n\nJanssens, Rt. Rev. John, Bishop of Belleville, 111.\n72 Koudelka, Rt. Rev. Joseph M., Auxiliary Bishop of Cleveland\n\n„^ L Keane, Rt. Rev. J. J., Bishop of Cheyenne, Wyo.\n\n75 Maes, Rt. Rev. Camillus P., Bishop of Covington, Ky.\n\n76 Monaghan, Rt. Rev. J. J., Bishop of Wilmington, Del.\n\n'^^1 Muldoon, Rt. Rev. P. J., Bishop of Rockford, 111.\n\n78/\n\n'^^ I McGolrick, Rt. Rev. Jas., Bishop of Duluth, Minn.\n\n80j\n\n81 Northrop, Rt. Rev. H. P., Bishop of Charleston, S. C.\n\n82 O'Connell, Rt. Rev. D. J., Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco\n831 Prendergast, Rt. Rev. E. F., Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia,\n84j Pa.\n\n85 Schinner, Rt. Rev. A. F., Bishop of Superior, Wis.\n\ng- y Trobec, Rt. Rev. James, Bishop of St. Cloud, Minn.\n\n89 y Van de Vyver, Rt. Rev. A., Bishop of Richmond.\n\n90j\n\n91 Lenihan, Rt. Rev. M. C, Great Falls, Moni\n\n^atronfl amnttg tl|F JPr? latrB\n\n101 Connolly, Rt. Rev. Mgr. J. N., New York\n^^2[ Dufify, Rt. Rev. Mgr. J. S., Brooklyn, N. Y.\n\n104]\n\n105 y Edwards, Rt. Rev. Mgr. John, New York\n\nloej\n\n107]\n\n108 I\n\n109 j- Lavelle, Rt. Rev. Mgr. Michael V. G., New York\n\nlllj\n\n112 McNamara, Rt. Rev. Mgr. P. J., Brooklyn, N. Y.\n\n. ^ McCready, Rt. Rev. Mgr. Charles, New York.\n\n115 McGean, Rt. Rev. Mgr. James, New York.\n\n116 McCarty, Rt. Rev. Mgr. Edw., Brooklyn\n\n117 O'Brien, Rt. Rev. Mgr. John, East Cambridge, Mass.\n\n118 Tiben, Rt. Rev. Mgr. J. li. Wichita, Kans.\n\n119 Wall, Rt. Rev. Mgr. F. A., New York\n\n120 Engel, Rt. Rev. Peter, O.S.B., Collegeville, Minn.\n\nPatrona amattg tl|^ Prt^ata\n\n124 Buckley, Rev. John, Delavan, Wis.\n\n125 Bresnahan, Rev. Patrick J., Tallahassee, Fla.\n\n126 Brosnahan, Rev. Timothy, Waltham, Mass.\n\n127 Brancheau, Rev. L. D., Lansing, Mich.\n\n128 Corrigan, Rev. M. F., Dunmore, Pa.\n\n129 Carroll, Rev. John H., Wallingford, Conn.\n\n130 Cavanaugh, Very Rev. John, C.S.C, Notre Dame University\n\n131 Corrigan, Rev. George W., Newark, N. J.\n\n132 Chidwick, Very Rev. John, St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie.\n\n133 Coyle, Rev. Richard, LL D., Jamestown, N. Y.\n\n134 Coopman, Rev. A. R., Anaconda, Mont.\n\n135 Crowe, Very Rev. John W., Routt College, Jacksonville, 111.\n\n186]\n\n187 [ Connolly, Rev. M. D., San Francisco, Cal.\n\n188 J\n\n139 Cleary, Rev. J. M., Minneapolis, Minn.\n\n140 Carrigan, Rev. J. P., Denver, Col.\n\n141 Cunnion, Rev. Malick, New York\n\n142 Coyle, Rev. James E., Birmingham, Ala.\n142a Dobbin, Rev. W. A., Darwin, Minn.\n\n143 DriscoU, Rev. J. J., Jerseyville, 111.\n\n144 Dixon, Rev. G. J., Blossburg, Pa.\n\n145 Dougherty, Rev. James, Canandaigua, N. Y.\n\n146 Devlin, Rev. Thos., Pittsburg, Pa.\n\n147 Duggan, Rev. Thos. S., Hartford, Conn.\n\n148 Dougherty, Rev. W. F., Bronx, New York City\n\n149 Donnellon, Rev. John J., Erie, Pa.\n\n150 Dillon, Rev. John J., Albany, N, Y.\n\n151 Eisler, Rev. Geo. J., Caledonia, N. Y.\n\n152 Early, Rev. J. L., Hopkinton, Mass.\n\n153 Ellis, Rev. John H., Sacramento, Cal.\n\n154 Foley, Rev. Maurice P., St. Augustine, Fla.\n\n155 Finn, Rev. Thos., Rockford, 111.\n\n156 Gallagher, Rev. Michael, Washington, D. C.\n\n^^'^ \\ Huntman, Rev. Gerard, 405 W. 125th Streeet, New York\n\n158 J\n\n159 Hamel, Rev. J. J., Olean, N. Y.\n\n1^0 1 Hanna, Rev Edward, D.D., Rochester, N. Y.\n161/\n\n162 Hogan, Rev. Thaddeus, Trenton, N. J.\n\n163 Hackett, Rev. Edw. J., Mobile, Ala.\n\n164 Hally, Rev. Jas. A., Wyandotte, Mich.\n\n165 Howlett, Rev. M. J., Loveland, Col.\n\n^^®l Jennings, Rev. Gilbert, Cleveland, Ohio\n\n167 J\n\n168 Kress, Rev. William, Stephens, Cleveland, Ohio\n\n^^^ 1 Kirwin, Rev. James, Galveston, Texas.\n170]\n\n^^^ I Keane, Rev. Francis, Pittsburg, Pa.\n\n172J\n\n173 Kehoe, Rev. Francis B., Alton, 111.\n\n174^\n\n18H j\n\n184 Murphy, Rev. J., Decatur, 111.\n\nLyons, Very Rev. John V. G., Wilmington, Del.\n\n1851 .r .\n\n186] ^®^\"^^^y' ^^^y ^^^- Andrew, C.S.C, Notre Dame, Ind.\n\n187 Moore, Eev. K. T., LL.D., New Britain, Conn.\n\nj^n Murray, Eev. M. J, Kiverdale on Hudson, New York City\n\n190 Matutaitis, Eev. W. V., Grand Eapids, Mich.\n\n191 Mahoney, Eev. T., South Boston, Mass.\n\n192 Mahoney, Eev. P. J., D.D., New York.\n\n193 Moran, Eev. Francis T., Cleveland, Ohio\n\n194 Moffitt, Eev. James A., Taylor, Pa.\n\n195 McGuire, Eev. Hugh, Chicago, 111,\n\n196 McEvoy, Eev. H., Pittsburg, Pa.\n\n197 Mclnerney, Eev. Patrick, Kansas City, Kans.\n158 McGivney, Eev. P. J., Middletown, Conn.\n199 McClean, Eev. Peter, Milford, Conn.\n\n201 J\n\n214J\n\nMcQuirk, Eev. John, D.D., New York\n\n202 McQuaid, Eev. W. P., Boston, Mass.\n\n203 McCall, Eev. M. J., Salem, Mass.\n\n204 McAdam, Very Eev. W. J., Brooklyn, N. Y.\n\n205 Noll, Eev. J. F., Hartford City, Ind.\n\n206 Nihil, Eev. John B., Bridgeport, Conn.\n\n207 O'Malley, Eev. Peter, Dubuque, Iowa\n\n208 O'Brien, Eev. James J., Somerville, Mass.\n\n2091 O'Eeilly, Very Eev. Jas. T., O.S.A., Lawrence, Mass.\n210J\n\n211 O'Grady, Eev. Jas., Louisville, Ky.\n\n212 O'Keefe, Eev. Thos M., New York\n\nPrice, Eev. John, Pittsburg, Pa.\n\n215 Pyne, Eev. William, Providence, E. I.\n\n216 Power, Eev. Jas. W., New York\n\n217 Phelan, Eev. E. W., Bath, Maine\n\n218 Phelan, Eev. James, Kansas City, Mo.\n\n219 Plamondan, Eev. W. A., Burlington, Vt.\n\n220 Pfeil, Eev. Nicholas, Cleveland, Ohio\n\n221 Philipps, Eev. M., Buffalo, N. Y.\n\n222 Eyan, Eev. D. J., Auburn, 111.\n\n223 Eyves, Eev. John, Terre Haute, Ind.\n\n224- Rosensteel, Eev. T. W,, Sharpsburg, Pa.\n\n225 Randall, Rev. W. E., St. Louis, Mo.\n\n226 Smith, Rev. J. T., Omaha, Neb.\n\n227 Stapleton, Rev. John H., Hartford, Conn.\n\n228 Shaw, Very Rev. J. W., Mobile, Ala.\n\n229 Stephan, Rev. J. L., Bufifalo, N. Y.\n\n230 Orosz, Rev. Frederic, Elmhurst, Providence, R. I.\n\n222! Van Dyke, Rev. Ernest, Detroit, Mich.\n\n233\\ y^Q Antwerp, Rev. Francis J., Detroit, Mich.\n234/\n\n235 Walsh, Rev. James, Kansas City, Kan.\n\n236 White, Rev. William, Brooklyn, N. Y.\n\n237 Wheeler, Rev. Jas., Detroit, Mich.\n\n238 Salter, Rev. J. B., Spring Valley, N. Y.\n\n239 Savage, Rev. D., Montgomery, Ala.\n239a Scullin, Rev. Felix, Niagara Falls\n\n240 Gavisk, Very Rev. Francis H., Indianapolis, Ind.\n\n241 Hurley, Rev. Geo. Auburn, Mass.\n\n242 Fitzgerald, Rev. Robert J., Minneapolis, Minn.\n\n243a ^\n243b\n243c J\n\n244 Sweeney, Rev. Edwin M., New York\n\n245 Tracy, Rev. Joseph V., Boston, Mass.\n\n246 Quilter, Rev. P. J., Pittsburg, Pa.\n\n247 McRae, Rev. K. J., Brechin, Ont.\n247a Drumm, Rev. Thos. W., Dubuque, la.\n247b Kittenhofifen, Rev. F. J., St. Johns, Ore.\n247c Kelty, Rev. Wm., Crafton, Pa.\n\n247d Mulcahy, V. Rev. D. J., Anderson, Ind.\n\nJPatrnna mttnng tl)p iRpli^touB ©rbpra\n\n248 Franciscan Fathers, Very Rev. J. B. Stark, Ne^v\"* York\n\n249 Passionist Fathers, Rev. Bertrand, West Hoboken, N. J.\n249a Benedictine Fathers, Julius, Rev. O. S. B., Bristow, Va.\n\n250 Benedictine Fathers, Rt. Rev. Nepomecene Jaeger, O.S.B., Chi-\n\ncago, 111.\n\n>■ Coyle, Rev. Denis F., New York\n\n251 Benedictine Fathers, Kt. Kev. Frowin Conrad, O.S.B., Concep-\n\ntion, Mo.\n\n252 Benedictine Fathers, Kev. Leonard, Walter, O.S.B., Manches-\n\nter, N. H.\n\n253 Benedictine Fathers, Rt. Rev. Abbot Bernard, O.S.B., St.\n\nBernards, Ala.\n\n„ y Benedictine Fathers, St. Mary's Abbey, Richardtown, N. D.\n\n256| Benedictine Fathers, Rt. Rev. Innocent Wolf, O.S.B., St.\n257] Benedict's Abbey, Atchison, Kan.\n\n258 Benedictine Fathers, Very Rev. I. Hitmann, St. Procopius\n\nCollege, Lisle, 111.\n258a Benedictine Fathers, Rev. P. J. Sittenauer, O.S.B., Atchison,\nKan.\n\n259 Benedictine Sisters, St. Mary's, Elk Co., Pa.\n259a Benedictine Sisters, Erie, Pa.\n\n260 Benedictine Sisters, Bristow, Va.\n\nI Benedictine Sisters, Villa Sancta Scholastica, Diihith, Minn.\n262 J\n\n) Carmelite Sisters, Cor. Caroline and Biddle, Baltimore, Md.\n\n264a Carmelite Sisters, Roxbury, Mass.\n\n265 Carmelite Sisters, Cor. 18th Street and Victor, St. Louis, Mo.\n\n266 Carmelite Sisters, 1808 Howell Street, Seattle, Wash.\n\n267^ Carmelite Sisters, Discalced, 1236 N. Rampart St., New\n\n268 J Orleans, La.\n\n269 Dominican Fathers, Rev. B. F. Logan, Minneapolis, Minn.\n\n270^\n\nL Dominican Fathers, Rev. F. A. Linahan, Springfield, Kv.\n\n271] ' » F e ^ .\n\n279I Dominican Fathers, Rev. C. H. McKenna, Lexington Avenue,\n\n273J N. Y.\n\n274^ Dominican Sisters, Corpus Christi Monastery, Hunts Point,\n\n275/ N. Y.\n\n976]\n\n\" _r Dominican Sisters, 13th Avenue and 9th Street, Newark, N. J.\n\n278 Dominican Sisters, Park Street, Fall River, Mass.\n\n279 Dominican Sisters, Sacred Heart Academy, Grand Rapids,\n\nMich.\n\nDominican Sisters, Detroit, Mich.\n\n280| Dominican Sisters, Aquinas Academy, Tacoma, Wash.\n\n282 Dominican Sisters of Perpetual Rosary, Hale's Corners, Wis.\n\nt Dominican Sisters, Jersey City, N. J.\n\n285 Dominican Sisters, St. Mary's of Springs, Shepard, Ohio\n285a 1\n285b J\n\n286 Franciscan Fathers, Very Eev. Edw. Blecke, Paterson, N. J.\n\n287 Franciscan Sisters, Maryland Avenue, Baltimore, Md.\n\n288 Fathers of Blessed Sacrament, Rev. F. Letellier, E. 76th Street,\n\nNew York\n\n289 Helpers of Holy Souls, E. 86th Street, New York\n\nV Jesuit Fathers, St. Louis University, St. Louis, Mo.\n\n292 Jesuit Fathers, College of Sacred Heart, Denver, Col.\n\n293 Religious of Sacred Heart, Rev. Mother Dupont, Chicago\n\n294 Religious of Sacred Heart, Lake Forest, HI.\n\n2951 Marist Fathers, Dr. Gunn, S. M., Atlanta, Ga.\n296/\n\n297 Marist Fathers, Rev. J. Guinan, S.M., All Hallows, Salt Lake\n\nCity\n\n298 Norbertine Fathers, Very Rev. Pennings, West de Pere, Wis.\n\n299 Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Very Rev. H. A. Constantineau,\n\nSan Antonio, Texas\n\n300 Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Brownsville, Texas\n\n301 Passionist Fathers, Brighton, Mass.\n\ny Passionist Fathers, Normandy, Mo.\n303i\n\n804 I Passionist Fathers, Very Rev. Stanislaus, Grennan, West\n\n^^°r Hoboken, New Jersey\n\n306j\n\n309 Paulist Fathers, W. 59th Street, New York\n\n310 Paulist Fathers, Austin, Texas\n\n311 Paulist Fathers, San Francisco, Cal.\n\n312 Redemptorist Fathers, Very Rev. Caspar Ritter, New York\n\n313 Redemptorist Fathers, Very Rev. Francis Klauder, Annapolis\n\n314i\n\nI Redemptorist Fathers, Very Rev. J. J. Frawley, Brooklyn, N. Y.\n\n316 Redemptorist Fathers, Very Eev. Jas. Hayes, Mission Church,\n\nBoston, Mass.\n\n317 Sisters of Mercy, Sister M. de Sales, Xader Park, Chicago\n\n318 Sisters of Mercy, Manchester, N. H.\n\n319 Sisters of Mercy, Freeman Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio\n\n320 Sisters of Mercy, Sr. .\"Rosalia, Cincinnati, Ohio\n\n321 Sisters of Mercy, Mother M. Vincent, St. Bernard's Hospital,\n\nCouncil Bluffs, Iowa\n\n822 Sisters of Mercy, St. Joseph's Academy, Sacramento, Cal.\n323^\n\n324 1\n\n325 I Sisters of Mercy, St. Mary's Hospital, San Francisco, Cal.\n326]\n\n327j\n\n328 Sisters of Mercy, Altoona, Pa.\n\n329 Sisters of Mercy, Sister M. Antonio, St. Xavier, Beatty, Pa.\n\n330 Sisters of Mercy, Sister M. Louise, East Oakland, Cal.\n\n331 Sisters of the Visitation, Brooklyn, N. Y.\n\nPQOn\n\nL Sisters of the Visitation, Wilmington, Del.\noooj\n\n334 Sisters of the Visitation, Cabanne Place, St. Louis, Mo.\n\ny Sisters of the Visitation, Mount de Chantal, Wheeling, W. Va.\n\n337 Sisters of the Visitation, Kiverdale on Hudson, New York\n\n337a Sisters of the Visitation, Elfindale, Springfield, Mo.\n\n339j Sisters of the Visitation, St. Paul, Minn.\n\n340l\n\n341 r Sisters of Charity, Mount St. Vincent's on Hudson, New York\n\n342J.\n\n343 Sisters of Charity, Mount St. Joseph, Cincinnati, Ohio\n\n344 Sisters of Charity, Mount Seton, Greensburg, Pa.\n\n345 Sisters of Charity, St. Mary's Academy, Leavenworth, Kans.\n\n346 Sisters of Charity of Blessed Virgin, Mount St. Joseph's Col.\n\nlege, Dubuque, Iowa\n\n347 Sisters of Notre Dame, Dayton, Ohio\n\n348 Sisters of Notre Dame, Grandin Road, Cincinnati, Ohio\n\nI Sisters of Providence, St. Mary's of Woods, Vigo County, Ind.\n\nSister of Presentation, Holy Family Institute, Fitchburg, Mass.\n\n349^\n350^\n\no-oT Sisters of St. Joseph, 4th and Jackson, Troy, N. Y.\n\n355 j. Sisters of St. Joseph, Carondelet, St. Louis, Mo.\n\n356'\n\n358 \\\n\n359J\n\ngg-j y Sisters of Presentation, Sacred Heart Academy, Fargo, N. D.\n\n363 !- Sisters Poor Clare, Sr. M. Coletta, Abbess, Chicago, 111.\n\n364 J\n\n365 Sisters Poor Clare, Omaha, Neb.\n\n366 Sisters of Holy Names, Webster Street, Oakland, Cal.\n\n367 Servants of Mary, Mount St. Mary, Cherokee, Iowa\n\n>- Sisters of Good Shepherd, Gravois Avenue, St. Louis, Mo.\n\n370 Sisters of Precious Blood, Putnam Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y.\n\n„g y Sisters of Loretto, Nerinx, P. O., Ky.\n\n373 Sisters of Holy Childhood, Mother Ethelburga, New York\n\no«r r Ursuline Sisters, Columbia, S. C.\n\n3/5J\n\n376 Ursuline Sisters, Mother Jerome, Paola, Kan,\n\n377 Resurrectionist Fathers, Rev. Michael Jaglowicz, C. R., St.\n\nMary's, Ky.\n\n378 Josephite Fathers, Rev. Justin McCarthy, Baltimore, Md.\n\n379 Les Religieuses Dominicaines, Billancourt, France\n\n380 Visitation Sisters, Mobile, Ala.\n\n381 Carmelite Sisters, Philadelphia, Pa.\n382\\\n388/\n\n384 Sisters of Mercy, Pittsburg, Pa., Mother Gertrude\n\n385 Paulist Fathers, Winchester, Tenn,\n\n386 Dominican Sisters of the Sick Poor, New York\n\nDominican Sisters Mission, San Jose, Cal.\n\n387 Bentlej, Eev. 0. L., Copenhagen, New York\n\n388 Huber, Kev. L., C.P.P.S., Dayton, Ohio\n\n389 Delany, Kev. Joseph F., D.D., New York\n\n390 Kelly, Thos. B., New York\n\n391 Gerest, Rev. Regis. O. P., Cienfuegos, Cuba\n\n392 Dooley, Rev. Patrick, St. Louis, Mo.\n\n393 Fenlon, Very Rev. John F., S. S., Washington, D. C.\n\nPatrottH amottg tl|^ Eaitg\n\n400 Burritt, Miss Mary L. St. Regis House, New York\n\n401 Boyle, James J., Mauch Chunk, Pa.\n\n402 Brown, Edward Osgood, Chicago, 111.\n\n403 Campbell Napoleon, Northampton, Mass.\n\n404 Coyle, John G., M. D., New Y^ork\n\n405 Coyle, John A., Attorney at Law, Lancaster, Pa.\n406^\n408 [. Caffrey, J. J. 1320 S. Floyd Street, Louisville, Ky.\n\n411 Daly, Daniel, New Y^ork\n\n412 Dunphy, James W., Eoxbury, Mass.\n\np Emmet, Thos. Addis, M. D., New York\n\n416 Finlay, Miss Alice, New Y'ork\n\n417 Frawley, Hon. James J., Senate, Albany, N. Y.\n\n418 Fahy, Thos A., Philadelphia, Pa.\n\n419 Fenton, T. E., Boone, Iowa\n\n420 Griffiss Mrs., Baltimore, Md.\n\n42n\n\n422 I Gallagher, E. P., Philadelphia, Pa.\n\n423 J\n\n426 y Gradv, Hon. Thos F., New Y^ork Senate, New York\n\n428j\n\n429 Healy, Mrs. Martha E., Preston, Minn.\n\n480 Hartigan, John J., Troy, N. Y.\n\n433 '- Hirst, A. A., Philadephia, Pa.\n\n434 j\n\n435 J\n\n436 Haas, Michael S., Baltimore, Md.\n\n437 Ilorstmanu, Ignatius J., Philadelphia, Pa.\n\n438 Kelly, J. F., North Tonawanda, N. Y.\n\n439 King, James W., Philadelphia, Pa.\n\n440 Lally, P. E. C, Denison, Iowa.\n\n441 Meighen, Thos. J., Preston, Minn.\n\n442 Murphy, The John Co., Baltimore, Md.\n\n443 Murrin, Jas. B., Carboudale, Pa.\n\n444 McAleer. George, M. D., ^Vorcester, Mass.\n\n445 McNamee, John, Brooklyn, N. Y.\n\n446 Mahoney, Daniel 11., Philadelphia, Pa.\n\n447 McPartland, John E., New Haven, Conn.\n\n448 O'Halloran, D., St. Paul, Minn.\n\n% Prendergast, James M., Boston, Mass.\n\n1 Prendergast, W. A., Comptroller, New York City\n\n453 Quinn, P. H., Providence, K. I.\n\n454 Eoesch, Hon. Geo. F., Municipal Court, New York\n\n^^^l Routt, Harvey John, Jacksonville, 111.\n456 J\n\n^^\"^I Storer, Miss Agnes, Newport, R. I.\n\n459 Sloan, Peter Elendorf, Greystone Park, N. J.\n\n460 Scanlan, P. B., El Paso, Texas\n\n461 Shriver, C. C, Metropolitan Savings Bank, Baltimore, Md.\n\n462 Smith, Thos R., Philadelphia, Pa.\n\n\\ Sullivan, Alexander, Chicago, 111.\n\n465 Thompson, Katherine Beach, New York\n\n466 Reilly, Richard M., Lancaster, Pa.\n\n467 Roe, J. A., Detroit, Mich.\n\n468 McCusker, Bernard E., Troy, N. Y.\n\n469 Amberg, W. A., Chicago, III.\n\n470 Fennessey, Capt. Jeremiah G., Court House, Boston, Mass.\n\n471 Flaherty, James A., Supreme Knight K. of C, Philadelphia, Pa.\n\n472 Herrick, John F., M.D.\n\n473 Cullen, Hon. Thos. H., Brooklyn, N. Y\n\n474 Cronin, Hon. Barth, Senate, Albany, N. Y.\n\n475 Hodson, Ingo Bernard, Montclova, Mexico\n\n476 Haiden, Hon. Thos. C, Senate, Albany, N. Y.\n\n^'^'^1 Von Hoffman, Baroness, Oberniais, Tyrol\n\n478 J\n\n470 Ryan, M. F., Chicago, 111.\n\n480 Wakelin, Catherine, Allegheny, Pa.\n\n481 McOscar, Edward J., M. D., Fort Wayne, Ind.\n\n^^2\\ cary, Miss Emma F., Cambridge, Mass.\n\n483J •^'\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS\n\nPage\n\nIntroduction 3\n\nThe History of the Reverend Master John Tauler y\n\nThe Interview of Master John Tattler With a Beggar 49\n\nAdvent and Its Lessons — Sermon for the First Sunday of Advent 51-\n\nGoing Into the Dessert to Find God — Sermon for the Third Sunday of\n\nAdvent 55\n\nUnity and Multiplicity — Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent 61\n\nThe Three Births of Christ — First Sermon for the Feast of Christmas. . 66\nThe Four Dwelling Places of Christ — Second Sermon for the Feast of\n\nChristmas 72\n\nThe Generation of the Word in a Perfect Soul — Sermon for the Sunday\n\nAfter Christmas 75\n\nLessons for the New Year — Sermon for New-Tear's Day 83\n\nThe Holy Trinity in the Soul's Essence — Sermon for the Sunday After\n\nNew Year's ' 87\n\nThe Day of Perfection — First Sermon for the Vigil of the Epiphany 96\n\nSeeking for God — Second Sermon for the Vigil of the Epiphany 101\n\nHow Bitter Myrrh is Turned into Sweet Incense — First Sermon for the\n\nFeast of the Epiphany 103\n\nHow Ignorance Leads to Wisdom — Second Sermon for the Feast of the\n\nEpiphany 107\n\nGod's Light in the Soul — Third Sermon for the Feast of the Epiphany. . . 113\nGod is Gained by Detachment from Creatures — Sermon for the First Sun-\nday After the Epiphany 117\n\nHow Men Thrist After God Differently — Sermon for the Second Sunday\n\nAfter the Epiphany 124\n\nThe Five Porches of the Pool of Healing — Sermon for the Third Sunday\n\nAfter the ETpiphany 131\n\nMarks of a Truly Converted Soul — Sermon for the Fourth Sunday After\n\nthe Epiphany \" 137\n\nThe Yoke of Christ is the Soul's Thought of God — Sermon for the Fifth\n\nSunday After the Epiphany 144\n\nSigns of a True Scholar of Christ— Sermon for the Sixth Sunday After\n\nthe Epiphany \" 149\n\nThe Different Degrees of Spirituality — Sermon for Septuagesima Sun-\nday 152\n\nNot Our Own, but God's Activity Makes Us Perfect — Sermon for Sexa-\n\ngeslma Sunday I60\n\nSufferinq a Condition for Interior Progress — Sermon for Quinquagesima\n\nSunday 1^^\n\nGradations of Merit — Sermon for Ash Wednesday 171\n\nTrue and False Spiriiuality Compared — Sermon for the First Sunday of\n\nLeiit 180\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS-Coniinued\n\nPage\n\nThe Rudiments of Pebfection — First Sermon for the Second Sunday of\n\nLent 192\n\nSteadfastness as an Element of Devotion — Second Sermon for the Sec-\nond Sunday of Lent 194\n\nChildren of Abraham : True and False — Sermon for the Third Sunday\n\nof Lent 202\n\nJesus the Focus of Divine Light — First Sermon for the Fourth Sunday\n\nof Lent 206\n\nThe Soul's Festival Day — Second Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Lent 211\n\nHearing and Bleeding for Christ — First Sermon for Passion Sunday.... 216\n\nOf Desiring to be Perfect — Second Sermon for Passion Sunday 222\n\nShort Cuts to Holiness — First Sermon for Palm Sunday 225\n\nChrist's Cleansing of the Temple of the Soul — Second Sermon for Palm\n\nSunday 228\n\nLessons of Christ's Passion — First Sermon for Good Friday 233\n\nHow God Draws Souls to Himself — Second Sermon for Good Friday 239\n\nUnion With God — Sermon for Easter Sunday : First Part 242\n\nUnion With God — Sermon for Easter Sunday : Second Part 248\n\nThe Degrees of Love — Sermon for Easter Monday 254\n\nThe Qualities of Love — Sermon for Thursday in Easter Week 269\n\nThe Call to Peace — First Sermon for Low Sunday 2&i\n\nPrayers Outward and Inward — Second Sermon for Low Sunday 268\n\nThe Winter of the Soul — Sermon for the Second Sunday After Easter. . . 271\nThe Paraclete's Judgment Against the World — First Sermon for the\n\nFourth Sunday After Easter 277\n\nHindering the Coming of the Holy Ghost — Second Sermon for the Fourth\n\nSunday After Easter 282\n\nWhy Prayer is Without Fruit — Sermon for the Rogation Days 287\n\nWhy Christ Upbraids Men — First Sermon for the Feast of the Ascension. 293\n\nThe Soul's Five Captivities — Second Sermon for tlie Feast of the Ascension 290\nHow TO Ascend with Christ into Heaven — Third Sermon for the Feast of\n\nthe Ascension 304\n\nHow We Witness to Christ in Unrest and Suffering — Fourth Sermon\n\nfor the Feast of the Ascension 309\n\nThe Exchange of Matthias fob Judas in the Inner Life — Fifth Sermon\n\nfor the Feast of the Ascension 314\n\nPrudence and Praying — Sermon for the Sunday After the Ascension 317\n\nPreparing to Receive the Holy Ghost — First Sermon for the Feast of\n\nPentecost 322\n\nGiving God Unhindered Liberty in the Soul — Second Sermon for the\n\nFeast of Pentecost 328\n\nThe Gifts of the Holy Ghost— Third Sermon for the Feast of Pentecost. 334\nThe Good Shepherd and His Sheep — Fourth Sermon for the Feast of\n\nPentecost 342\n\nThe Apostles Before Pentecost — Fifth Sermon for the Feast of Pentecost 346\n\nThe Drawing of the Holy Ghost — Sixth Sermon for Pentecost 349\n\nKnowing God — First Sermon for Trinity Sunday 357\n\nThe Tbutitt and the Iijtbbiob Life— Second Sermon for Trinity Sunday. . 362\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS— Continued\n\nPaoe\n\nOn Holt Communion — First Sermon for the Feast of Corpus Christi 368\n\nDispositions fob Holy Communion — Second Sermon for the Feast of\n\nCorpus Christi 374\n\nThe Dignity and Worth of Holy Communion — Third Sermon for the\n\nFeast of Corpus Christi 383\n\nThe Fbuit of Holy Communion — Fourth Sermon for the Feast of Corpus\n\nChristi 390\n\nFoBETASTEs OF HEAVEN — Semion for the Second Sunday After Trinity 397\n\nThbee Foundation Stones: Humility, Love and Detachment — First Ser-\nmon for the Third Sunday After Trinity 401\n\nFouB Classes of Sinners — Second Sermon for the Third Sunday After\n\nTrinity 410\n\nGod's Deep Seabching of Oub Souls — Third Sermon for the Third Sunday\n\nAfter Trinity 41 7\n\nPatience with Men and Patience with God — First Sermon for the Fourth\n\nTrinity 442\n\nGiving God Good Measure — Second Sermon for the Fourth Sunday After\n\nTrinity 428\n\nPbayeb. Vocal and Mental — First Sermon for the Fifth Sunday After\n\nTrinity 434\n\nFishing in Deep Waters — Second Sermon for the Fifth Sunday After\n\nTrinity 442\n\niNTEBioR Obedience to God — Third Sermon for the Fifth Sunday After\n\nTrinity 448\n\nFrom the Alpha to the Omega of Perfection — Sermon for the Sixth\n\nSunday After Trinity 453\n\nWho \"May Go Often to Communion — Sermon for the Seventh Sunday\n\nAfter Trinity 460\n\nThe Inspirations of Grace— Sornion for the Eighth Sunday After Trinity 464\n\nFidelity in Little Things — First Sermon for the Tenth Sunday After\n\nTrinity 472\n\nElection and Reprobation — Second Sermon for the Tenth Sunday After\n\nTrinity 477\n\nHindering and Helping a Worthy Communion — Sermon for the Eleventh\n\nSunday After Trinity 482\n\nHow Patience Begets Hope and Love — First Sermon for the Twelfth Sun-\nday After Trinity 490\n\nSpiritual Deafness — Second Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday After\n\nTrinity 494\n\nSpiritual Blindness — First Sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday After\n\nTrinity 498\n\nThe Inner Revelation — Second Sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday After\n\nTrinity 504\n\nIn What Way a Perfect Man is Like God — Sermon for the Fourteenth\n\nSunday After Trinity 51 1\n\nIdeals High and Low — First Sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday After Trinity 514\n\nTrusting God — Second Sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday After Trinity. . 521\nThe Dimensions of the Soul — Third Sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday\n\nAfter Trinity 537\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS— Continued\n\nPaok\n\nBeginnebs, Pboficients and the Pebfect — First Sermon for the Sixteenth\n\nSunday After Trinity 535\n\nPeace Thbough Patience and Meekness — Second Sermon for Sixteenth\n\nSunday After Trinity 540\n\nInward Phabisaism— Sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday After Trinity. . 544\n\nRenewal of Spibit— Sermon for the Eighteenth Sunday After Trinity 552\n\nAttiring the Bride for the Bbidegboom — First Sermon for the Nineteenth\n\nSunday After Trinity 559\n\nLaying the Axe to the Roots of Imperfection — Second Sermon for the\n\nNineteenth Sunday After Trinity 564\n\nOn Temptations— Sermon for the Twentieth Sunday After Trinity 570\n\nThe Wide Sweep of Love — Sermon for the Twenty-first Sunday After\n\nTrinity 573\n\nSelf Deception, Its Cause and Its Cure— First Sermon for the Twenty-\nthird Sunday After Trinity 582\n\nGod Alone— Second Sermon for the Twenty-third Sunday After Trinity 589\nDwelling with God— Sermon for the Feast of St. Andrew, the Apostle. . 593\nDealing Honestly with God — Sermon for the Feast of St. Barbara, or for\n\nthat of any Virgin 600\n\nHoly Severity with Self — Sermon for the Feast of Our Lady's Concep-\ntion 604.\n\nA Dying Life— Sermon for tlie Feast of St. Stephen 610\n\nSelf Deception and Its Root — Sermon for the Feast of Our Lady's Nativity 620\nMystical Prayer— Sermon for the Feast of Our Lady's Visitation, or for\n\nthe Octave of Her Nativity 62.5\n\nChristian Purity— Sermon for the Feast of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr 631\nThe Virginal State— Sermon for the Feast of St. Agatha, Virgin and\n\nMartyr 636\n\nMary's Place in the Incarnation — Sermon for the Feast of the Annuncia-\ntion of Our Blessed Lady 640\n\nSelf Revelation — First Sermon for the Feast of the Nativity of St. John\n\nthe Baptist 646\n\nGod the Light of the Soul — Second Sermon for the Feast of the Nativity\n\nof St. John the Baptist 654\n\nFraternal Correction — Sermon for the Feast of St. Timothy 663\n\nCutting off Superfluities — Sermon for the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. 607\nGuidance: Human and Divine — Sermon for the Feast of St. Lawrence,\n\nMartyr 670\n\nWatching for Friends and Enemies — Sermon for the Feast of St. Augus-\ntine 683\n\nThe Supremacy of the Cross of Christ — First Sermon for the Feast of the\n\nEJxaltation of the Holy Cross 689\n\nInterior Crucifiction — Second Sermon for the Feast of the Exaltation of\n\nthe Holy Cross 693\n\nJesus Crucified — Third Sermon for the Feast of the Exaltation of the\n\nHoly Cross 700\n\nGiving Up All — Sermon for the Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evange-\nlist 705\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS— Continued\n\nPaqk\n\nThe Holy Angels— Sermon for the Feast of St Michael and all Holy\n\nAngels 711\n\nThe Beatitudes — First Sermon for the Feast of all Saints 716\n\niNTEBioB Cleanliness — Second Sermon for the Feast of all Saints 72i\n\nPebfection the Peabl of Great Pbice— Sermon for the Feast of St Cath-\nerine, Virgin and Martyr 728\n\nHow Holy Love Joins Us to the Thbee Divine Persons — Sermon for the\n\nFeast of all the Holy Apostles 733\n\nThe Suffering of a Bloodless Martyrdom and its Crown — Sermon for\n\nthe Feast of Many Holy Martyrs 738\n\nHow TO Meet Temptations — Sermon for the Feast of a Holy Martyr 744\n\nOn Human Respect — Sermon for the Feast of a Holy Bishop Confessor. . 751\nThe Mistake of Turning Outward Instead of Inward — Sermon for a\n\nFeast of Many Holy Confessors 758\n\nThe Triple Crown of Holy Love: Self-abnegation, Patience and Earn-\nestness— Sermon for a Feast of Many Holy Virgins 762\n\nHuman Nature Depraved and Sanctified — First Sermon for the Aniyer-\n\nsary of the Dedication of a Church 768\n\n^aith as a Practical Means of Sanctification — Second Sermon for the\n\nAnniversary of the Dedication of a Church 772\n\nTwo Useful Instructions About Confession 77G\n\nOn the Attributes op God 778\n\nSpiritual Doctrine of John Tauler\n\nThe Sermons and Conferences\nof John Tauler\n\nOF THE\n\nORDER OF PREACHERS\n\nSurnamed \"The Illuminated Doctor\"\n\nFIRST COMPLETE ENGLISH TRANSLATION\nWITH INTRODUCTION AND INDEX\n\nBy Rev. Walter Elliott\n\nOf the Paulist Fathers\n\nAPOSTOLIC MISSION HOUSE\nBrookland Station\nWashington, D. C.\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\nJohn Tauler was born in the city of Strassburg about the year\n1290. His family was in easy circumstances, his father, as it is sur-\nmised, having been a member of the city council. At eighteen years\nof age, or even earlier, John entered the Dominican novitiate in his\nnative city, a young man full of religious fervor, and endowed with\nhigh intellectual gifts. His order gave him the best possible educa-\ntion, sending him to their greater house of studies at Cologne, and\nperhaps to their famous school at the University of Paris. Besides\nprofiting by the usual scholastic training in the spirit and letter of\nSt. Thomas Aquinas, Tauler, it is noted, became well versed in the\nFathers of the Church, especially St. Augustine. He merited and\nobtained his order's highest diploma, that of Master of Sacred Theol-\nogy. He soon manifested a taste for the mystics, studying St.\nDionysius, St Bernard, and Hugo and Richard of St. Victor with\ncharacteristic ardor.\n\nThis mystical tendency was strengthened by personal association\nwith men of like tastes, some of them of the highest degree of\nspirituality, mostly members of his own order. On his return to\nStrassburg at the end of his studies, Tauler entered into familiar\nfriendship with Master Eckhart, a leading spirit of that day, and\nalso with Blessed Henry Suso, one of the most beautiful religious\ncharacters of the era. Both were distinguished Dominicans. Their\ninfluence on their young friend and brother was powerful and\npermanent.\n\nTauler's lot was cast in troubled times, the epoch of the papal\nresidence at Avignon, to be followed not long after his death by the\nGreat Western Schism. Churchmen, monarchs and statesmen, of\nevery degree of sincerity or of treachery, kept the whole Christian\nworld in a state of conflict the most tremendous, perhaps, the Church\never experienced. Their good deeds and their misdeeds monopolize\nnearly every page of the history of the times. But the activity of the\nhumble saints, missionaries and mystics of this era, including such\nvarious types as Tauler, St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Vincent\nFerrer, accounts for the final settlement of the Church's diflBculties\nmore adequately than all the expedients of statecraft. In the supreme\nwork of preaching Jesus crucified, and of enforcing the maxims of\n\nThe Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n* the Gospel, Tauler's place was very important. He was one of many\ngreat preachers in the Ehine country, members of the religious orders\nand of the secular clergy, who labored incessantly to divert men's\ngaze from the perplexed external condition of religious affairs, to the\nserene glories of the interior life of God in their own soul. Though\npreaching in Latin to an occasional audience of the educated, Tauler\nusually preached in the rough German dialect of his day to all\nclasses of the people, and with a power seldom equaled.\n\nHis field of activity was all lower Germany, especially along the\nKhine between Basel and Cologne ; and his opportunity was given him\nby his great and learned order, which was everywhere venerated, and\nwhich had houses and churches in most of the larger towns.\n\nThe least acquaintance with Tauler's sermons shows him to have\nbeen the ideal preacher. With soundness of Catholic faith and its\nsimplest spirit he combined real learning, gentleness of heart, and\ndignity as well as fearlessness of address. It is true that his denun-\nciation of the vices prevalent at the time verged on the extravagant\nand excited hostile criticism. On one occasion some of his violent\nsermons caused his Dominican brethren of the convent in which he\nwas stationed — no cowards themselves, we may be sure — to forbid\nhim their pulpit. But the people, including many whom Tauler had\ngcourged for their vices, petitioned the friars to remove the prohibi-\ntion. They did so, gladly enough, we venture to say. But this inci-\ndent is fine testimony to our mystic's mingled kindliness and boldness.\nIn fact, he or any other preacher could do little good in those\ndesperate days, without giving offense to the timid and time-serving.\nSuch is the fate of all who assail popular errors and vices.\n\nBut these sermons on popular themes, with some exceptions of\ndoubtful authenticity, have not come down to us. What we have\nare Tauler's ascetical and mystical discourses, a priceless treasure\nfor souls who are seeking by the more interior methods to make\nthemselves wholly responsive to the divine guidance.\n\nThese are the only ones that critics generally will allow to be his.\nThey treat of the life of the counsels of perfection, the virtues to be\npracticed if one would become entirely pleasing to God, the spirit\nof holy living as well as the various methods to be adopted. They\nwere addressed to religious communities, mostly in convents of\nDominican nuns. But it is plain that they were not strictly private\nconferences, but rather sermons delivered in the public oratories of\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nthese communities, in the main room of which were assembled con-\ngregations of the people, including both clergy and laity, the sisters\nmeanwhile being inside their cloister whose grating formed one side\nof the sanctuary. To the zeal of these nuns principally, if not\nwholly, we are indebted for what is known as Tauler's sermons,\nmeaning his spiritual doctrine. They made notes of his preaching\nand afterwards compared and arranged them. This was done with\nmuch intelligence as to ordinary ascetical and mystical matters,\nthough with some defects as to theological terms and passages of\nScripture.\n\nAs to Tauler's life, the reader is referred to the brief History which\nprecedes his Sermons in this book. Therein is given an account of the\nmost important event in his spiritual career. Perhaps he himself\nwould call it his second conversion to a life of perfection. There\nalso will be found a touching account of his death.\n\nTauler has been accused of being a forerunner of Martin Luther;\nof having openly disobeyed the Pope and defied his authority; and of\nhaving joined an heretical association called the Friends of God.\nBut he is held guiltless of all these accusations by the best critics,\nespecially by the more recent historical students, including both\nCatholics and non-Catholics.\n\nTauler's activity in later life centered at the Dominican house at\nCologne, in which city he preached incessantly for many years, the\n\"eight years\" mentioned in the History, referring only to the last\neight years of his life. He was also confessor and spiritual director\nof a convent of Dominican nuns in Cologne. But at the end he\nreturned to Strassburg. He died there June 16, 1361, and was buried\nin the Dominican convent.\n\nTauler's fame rests solely upon the solid and magnificent foundation\nof the sermons here given for the first time in English.* The little\n\n♦ Twenty-five of them were translated into English by Miss Maria Winkworth,\na Protestant lady, and published in England in 1857. These are less than one\nfourth of all the sermons, and the translator expressly excluded the more dis-\ntinctively Catholic ones. As to the spirit and tone of that translation, it ia\nenough for Catholics to know that Charles Kingsley was chosen to write the\npreface to the book.\n\nA translation of thirty-flve of the sermons has lately been procured and\npublished by an Anglican clergyman, Mr. Arthur Wallaston Hutton. It Is con-\nceived and executed in a true spirit of fairness. The little book is useful, and\nthe editor and translator are worthy of thanks and praise.\n\nFor a very able vindication of Tauler against the claims of Protestants and\nthe suspicions of certain Catholics, our readers are referred to a masterly and\nlearned article by the English Oratorian, Father J. B. Dalgairns, Dublin Review\nMarch, 1858.\n\nThe Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nbook known as Tauler's Imitation of Christ, is undoubtedly spurious.\nA few brief spiritual letters to nuns and some little ascetical instruc-\ntions, together with some short devout poetical pieces, may rightly\nbe ascribed to him. The Divinae Institutiones so often quoted as his,\nare but a collection of maxims drawn from Ruysbroek and other\nmystics no less than from Tauler's Sermons. A book of Meditations\non our Saviour's Passion, attributed to him, has recently been given an\nEnglish dress under the learned and sympathetic editorship of the\nlate Father Bertrand Wilberforce, O. P. The book is worthy of our\ngfeat author and has some of the characteristics of his powerful\nstyle. But its authenticity lacks extrinsic evidence.\n\nIn the spring of 1904 we engaged a friend to make an English\nversion of these Sermons; but when that failed to give satisfaction\nwe ventured upon the task ourselves, constantly being drawn nearer\nto Tauler by the attraction of his wisdom and force. And now with\nGod's favor we offer the result of many delightful hours of labor to\nthe devout Catholic public. We have used Dr. Julius Bamberger's\nmodernized German edition (Frankfurt am Main, 1864), adhering as\nclosely as possible to his rendering. Sainte-Foi's fine French trans-\nlation (Paris, 1855) has also been consulted, together with a very\nearly edition of Surius's Latin version (1553).\n\nIt must be understood that a translator of these Sermons is some-\ntimes compelled to interpret them. Not any part of them was pub-\nlished by Tauler himself, for, as we have seen, they are an assortment\nof notes taken down by some of his auditors, persons zealous and\nintelligent, indeed, but plainly lacking in theological training. This\nhas left us with occasional awkward statements of doctrine to deal\nwith and misplaced quotations of Scripture. Besides this general\ndifiSculty, Tauler occasionally is made to use terms open to misun-\nderstanding on various other grounds, especially in view of the errors\nof quietism condemned by the Holy See in the seventeenth century.*\n\n•The reader would do well to begin this book with the sermon for the first\nSunday of Lent, for in that, especially the second half of it, will be found\nTauler's singularly explicit adherence to the approved doctrines on the subject\nof contemplative prayer. With that sermon in his mind one may go from begin-\nning to end of our volume with a perfect safeguard against misunderstandings on\nthe score of quietism.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nAll of which necessitates interpretation. This has always been\ndone by his translators and editors, and in different ways; some-\ntimes by foot notes, again by sentences of their own placed in the text\nin brackets, and at other times by incorporating Tauler's own word*\nused elsewhere but in the same connexion— his exact words or their\nequivalent. Some passages of the original German are so obscure,\neven meaningless, that they are usually entirely omitted in the\ntranslations. Now and then Taulers' extravagance in assailing evil\ndoers does not suffer literal translation into English, however much\none may admire his sincerity and his splendid vehemence.\n\nNo effort has been spared to make this English version as perfect a\nreflex of the German original as our literary deficiencies allow. It\nmay be added that in Dr. Hamburger's edition there are a few\nsermons which he agrees are not Tauler's; we have not translated\nthese.\n\nA reader not familiar with the mystics may object that Tauler\nconstantly repeats himself— if not verbally, at least substautially—\nin these discourses. So he does. But so does the medical professor\nrepeat his instructions as he walks the hospital wards with his class.\nOver and over again does he explain the same disease, symptom for\nsymptom— but yet rarely suggesting identically the same treatment\nand remedies. For though the malady is the same the patients\ngreatly differ one from another, and each requires some change of\ntreatment, each case affords something new to be learned about the\ncommon disease. It is so with Tauler in teaching us the cure of spirit-\nual ailments, and the building up of the newly recovered soul into\nperfect holiness. No doubt there is frequent repetition of the chief\nmeans of perfection, but with an infinite variety of personal appli-\ncation and of illustration, enlisting the renewed and unfailing interest\nof the student of the soul's welfare.\n\nWe heartily recommend these sermons to all who aspire to whole-\nhearted service of God. whether they are led into mystical states of\nprayer or not. They will find Tauler a master of the entire course\nbetween repentance from grievious sin and ecstatic union with God.\nHe is as serviceable a guide in the ordinary degrees of the asceticai\nlife as in those of high contemplation, ever coupling the two states\ntogether into an integral Christian career.\n\n3 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n, St. Paul of the Cross was certainly a competent judge of the worth\nof all kinds of spiritual writings; for besides being (as every saint\nmust be) a contemplative, he was also a most practical leader in the\ndevout ways common to all fervent souls. And in advising one of his\nPassionists about bearing the stress of care and disappointment inci-\ndent to the office of rector, St. Paul says of our author: \"My dear\nFather rector, now is the time to dwell in the depth of Tauler. I\nmean in interior solitude, and to take the repose of love in sinu Dei.\nThere you will learn to perform well the duties of your office of\nrector, and to become a saint.\" And much more praise of Tauler is\nadded by the saint. (Oratorian Life of St. Paul of the Cross, Vol. II.\nCh. XI). The same testimony is borue by many other devout writers —\nthat Tauler is a most enlightened and trustworthy guide to Christian\nperfection in all its grades; and that he is especially helpful in\nshowing the simplest and shortest way, namely steadfast self-abnega-\ntion, joined to restful acquiescence in God's outward good pleasure,\nas well as ready responsiveness to the inward touches of divine\ngrace.\n\nThe Translator.\n\nThe Apostolic Mission House,\nWashington, D. C.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nTHE HISTORY OF THE REVEREND MASTER JOHN TAULER.\n\nCHAPTER FIRST.\n\nIn the year of Christ 1340, a certain Master in sacred theology was\nengaged in preaching in a certain city. He was listened to gladly,\nand his teaching was spoken of for many miles around. Now it hap-\npened that a layman, a man rich in grace, was admonished in sleep\nthat he should go to that city and hear that preacher; and this\nmessage came to him three times. The city, however, was thirty miles\naway, and was in a different country. But this man said to himself:\nThou shalt go there and wait upon God as to that He wills thee to do.\nSo he went and he heard the Master preach five times. Upon this\nGod gave him to understand that the Master was of a sweet disposi-\ntion, kindly and good hearted by nature, with a good mind, and well\nversed in Scripture; but that as to the light of grace, he was dark.\nThis deeply aroused the man's pity for him, and he went to him and\nsaid: \"My dear good Master, I have journeyed thirty miles for thy\nsake, for I wanted to hear thee preach. I have heard thee five times;\nand now I beg thee for God's love to hear my confession.\" The master\nsaid: \"Gladly.\" Then the man made his confession very simply, and\nas he wished to receive the Lord's body, the Master gave it to him.\nTwelve weeks passed away; and then the man said to the Master:\n\"Dear Sir, I ask thee, in God's name, to preach, and to explain to us\nthe closest place to God and the highest perfection that a man may\nhave in this life.\" The Master said: \"Ah, dear son, what is this thou\nasketh? Why should I speak of such high things to thee, for I well\nbelieve that thou understandeth little of them.\" Then the man\nanswered: \"Ah, dear sir, even if I may learn little or nothing of this\ndoctrine, yet I may at least be moved to lament my ignorance. Many\npeople run after thee; and if among them all only a single one should\nunderstand thee, thy work were well done.\" Then the Master said:\n\"Dear son, if I shall do this, I must first study hard to get the\nmaterial together.\" And the man did not give over, but begged and\ninsisted so long, that at last the Master promised him to do it.\n\n^ The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSo the next time he preached, he announced to the people that they\nshould come again three days afterwards, for he had been requested to\npreach how a man could arrive at the closest place to God, and reach\nthe highest and best spiritual state possible in this life. When the\nday arrived a multitude of people came to hear the sermon, and the\nman took a good place for hearing. The Master began his address,\nand spoke as follows.\n\nCHAPTER SECOND.\n\nDear children, I have much to tell you in this sermon about what\nI promised; therefore I cannot explain the Sunday's gospel to you\nto-day, as my custom has been. Nor shall I use much Latin in this ser-\nmon; but what I have to say I will prove by holy Scripture.\n\nDear children, you should know that there are many men who reach\na clear knowledge of spiritual things and have an intellectual under-\nstanding of them, but this they have by means of forms and figures\nimparted by men's instruction and without Scripture. And we meet\nwith others, who, when they have learned something through the\nScripture, stop there contented. Such men are far off from their\nsupreme good. Dear children, when such a man has broken through\nand gone beyond all that, and when he has thereby died to himself,\nand when he has passed through forty years of such contemplation\nand of the reasonings and imaginings and figurings of his soul-\nthen he has gained a place dearer to God than that of a hundred\nthousand men, who have never got out of self and who live in a state\nof self approval. Into these God cannot come, nor in them can He\nact. The reason is their self will, and because their simplicity of\nspirit is self chosen; it is on account of their self approval, their\nresting in the forms and figures of their intelligence. But the men\nwho have gone beyond this, giving themselves up to God in the dying\nspiritual way and by renouncing all things, attaining to a state above\nthe contemplation of the forms and images of the mind— in such\nmen, let me assure you, children, God finds His place of rest; there\nHe dwells and there He works as He wills. St. Dionysius says of\nsuch a one: ''The light of faith demands that a soul shall transcend\nthe power and scope of its own reason.\" When God thus encounters\nno resistance. He does His own will in the soul, drawing it to Him-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 11\n\nself and into Himself. You must know that these men are excep-\ntional, for their spiritual life is hidden to all but those whose inner\nexperience has been like their own ; and these, alas, are not numerous.\nAnother thing to bear in mind is that this noble degree of perfection\nno man can achieve without boundless humility; and he must also\nhave a clear head and sound reasoning faculties. By lack of humility\nseveral learned doctors have fallen, and other dignitaries in holy\nchurch. And how many brilliant spirits of the angelic choirs went\nastray, and fell away eternally from divine truth, though by their\nvery nature they were beings of the highest endowments of reason.\nThus it happens to all who trust to their own reason, who would make\nthemselves like unto God in their obstinate self opinionatedness. On\naccount of all this, it is necessary to understand what kind of a man\nthe right, true, reasonable, enlightened, contemplative man should be.\nAnd this, dear children, is what I will tell you, as far as I can gather\nit from holy Scripture. And there are twenty-four qualities which\nsuch a man should possess.\n\nThe first is placed by the sovereign teacher of all teachers, and\nthe source of all science and wisdom, our Lord Jesus Christ: \"This\nis My commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you\"\n(John xv:12); as if He had said: If you have all wisdom and\nknowledge and high reasoning power, it is all in vain unless you\nhave mutual trust and love along with it. One might think that\nBalaam was very intellectual, knowing as he did many things that\nGod was to do for hundreds of years. That, however, helped him\nlittle enough, because he did not follow up what he knew with fidelity\nof heart and great love.\n\nThe second trait of a truly reasonable and enlightened man. is\nthat he must be detached from self. And when he has come to that,\nhe must in no wise be proud of it, but must strive onward to a greater\nand greater degree of self renunciation; he must banish from his\nsoul all love of created things.\n\nThe third is this: he must give himself up to God that He may\nwork His will in him; nor dare he ascribe to himself any of the\nresults of that divine operation, but on the contrary, he must esteem\nhimself incapable of it.\n\nThe fourth: searching carefully within his soul, in whatsoever thing\nhe finds his own self to be his aim and object, from that he must\n\n^^ The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ndepart for time and for eternity. This exercise of the spirit will give\nhim much increase in virtue.\n\nThe fifth: he should consult his own interest in no manner or\nmatter whatsoever or in any creature, either for time or for eternity;\nand this ministers to true content of heart.\n\nThe sixth: he should constantly attend upon God to learn what\nHis will may be about him, and then with the divine help fulfill it,\nnor in any wise claim the merit of it.\n\nThe seventh: it should be his daily practice to surrender his will\nto God's will, saying: O God I will naught but what Thou dost\nwill.\n\nThe eighth: he should so adjust his mind to God, and so stead-\nfastly apply all its force and love to God, that God cannot act in him\nwithout him, nor can he act in God without God.\n\nThe ninth: he must profit by God's presence in all his activity, at\nall times and in all places, just as God disposes, whether for sweet-\nness or bitterness.\n\nThe tenth: he must feel neither pleasure nor pain from any crea-\nture, but only from God. Although God often works through crea-\ntures, yet a perfect man receives their influence as from God direct.\n\nThe eleventh: he shall not be fettered by any pleasurable emotions\nreceived from creatures, nor be influenced by it beyond reasonable\nnecessity.\n\nThe twelfth: no mishap shall force him out of the path of truth;\nlet him tread closely and faithfully in it.\n\nThe thirteenth: he must not be betrayed by the deceitful attrac-\ntions of created things. Let him take things kindly and quietly as\nthey come, and make the best of them for his own perfection, nor be\nin any wise worried. This spiritual trait is a sure sign of the presence\nof the Holy Ghost.\n\nThe fourteenth: in order to oppose vice within him with all his\nmight and to win the victory over it, he must be armed with every\nvirtue and always ready for the conflict.\n\nThe fifteenth: he must look directly at the naked truth of things,\njust as truth is in itself, according as God guides him and as far as is\nhumanly possible, and live perfectly up to this knowledge.\n\nThe sixteenth: he should be a man of few words, and much given\nto the interior life.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 13\n\nThe seventeenth; he must be a perfect man, and yet by no means\nthink himself perfect.\n\nThe eighteenth: his life must be open and sincere with all men,\nand he must preach better by his life than by his words.\n\nThe nineteenth: he should seek God's honor in all things, nor have\naught else in view in his daily conduct.\n\nThe twentieth: in contending with others he shall suffer himself\nto be corrected and shall yield his rights, unless indeed he is con-\ntending for God's rights.\n\nThe twenty-first: he shall look for no personal advantage in any-\nthing whatsoever, esteeming himself worthy of not even the lowest\nplace.\n\nThe twenty-second: he shall esteem himself the least instructed\nand the least deserving of all men; and yet he shall hold in his heart\na great treasure of faith. He shall lay no store by his mental\nacquirements or his intellectual powers, and in regard of such things\nhe shall rank himself beneath all men. For it is the author of all\nwisdom who is doing His supernatural work in him, but only on con-\ndition that his soul shall be found humbled to the very depth; and\nit is God Himself who goes before to prepare the soul for His coming,\nas He did with St. Paul. But it seems to me that in our days, alas,\nlittle heed is given to this.\n\nThe twenty-third: he shall set before his eyes the life and doctrine\nof our Lord Jesus Christ, to be the model of his own life, words and\nworks. Into this he shall constantly gaze as into a mirror, striving\nalways, to the best of his ability, to lay aside whatsoever is inconsis-\ntent with this divine rule of life.\n\nThe twenty-fourth and last: he shall always reproach himself with\nbeing a slothful servant of God; he shall always set to work as if he\nwere a beginner in a good life. And if this draws on him the con-\ntempt of his fellows, let him value it more than the favor of the whole\nworld.\n\nAnd now, you dear children, these are the marks of a well seasoned\nand prudently grounded spiritual life, enlightened and instructed by\nrules of all truth. Any man who cannot show these spiritual signs\nthen neither he can consider himself nor can any one else consider him\na reasonable man.\n\nMay God the eternal truth. Father, Son and Holy Ghost, help us all\nto be thus formed upon the pattern of our Lord's truth and humility.\nAmen.\n\n^^ The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nCHAPTER THIRD.\n\nAt the end of the sermon the man returned to his lodgings, and\nthere he wrote it down word for word, just as the Master had preached\nit. He then took it to the Master, and said: \"I have written out thy\nsermon, and if it will not weary thee, I will read it over to thee.\"\nThe Master answered: \"I will hear it gladly.\" When the man had\ndone reading it, he said: \"I ask thee, dear sir, if I have left out a sin-\ngle word.\" The Master answered: \"Dear son, thou hast written it\ndown exactly as it came from my mouth. I assure thee that if I\ncould have been paid a high price to compose it anew from the holy\nscriptures and to write it out again, I could not do it as exactly as\nthou hast done it. And let me confess that I stand in much admira-\ntion of thee; I marvel that thou hast been so long with me and yet\nremain hidden to me, and that I have not observed thy great intelli-\ngence; and that thou hast often made thy confessions to me, and\nyet held back from me thy real character, so that I have not known\nthee for what thou art.\" When the man made as if he wanted to go\naway, he said: \"Dear sir, if God pleases I will return home.\" Upon\nwhich the Master said: \"Dear son, what wilt thou do there? Thou\nhast neither wife nor child to care for, and thou canst fare as well\nhere as there; for with the blessing of God I intend to preach more\nupon the subject of a perfect life.\" And the man answered: \"Dear\nMaster, you should know that I did not come here on account of thy\npreaching. I came here with the thought that by God's help I should\noffer thee some advice.\" The Master said : \"And what advice couldst\nthou give me? Thou art a layman, thou dost not understand the\nScriptures. It is unbecoming that thou shouldst want to preach.\nStay here longer; perhaps God will grant me such perfect preaching\nthat thou Shalt gladly listen to it.\" And the man answered : \"Master,\nI would willingly have said something to thee, but I feared that thou\nmightest not willingly bear it.\" And the Master said: \"Son, say\nwhatever thou wilt; I pledge myself to bear it patiently.\" Upon\nthis the man spoke as follows: \"Thou are a great clergyman, and in\nthy sermon thou has given a good doctrine; but thou thyself dost not\nlive up to it. And yet thou talkest to me about it, and asketh me to\nstay longer and hear yet another sermon. Sir, be sure of this: thy\npreaching and thy outward talking, and all like things that anyone\ncan say in the whole world, can have no effect in my soul; but on the\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 15\n\ncontrary it has hindered me rather than advanced me. And the rea-\nson is this: when I came away from the sermon I found that it\ncaused me various distracting thoughts, which I was scarcely able to\nget rid of after long continued efforts. The fact is thou hast\npreached thyself. But when the sovereign Master of all truth comes\ninto a man, his spirit must be empty of all transitory things. Be sure\nthat when that Master comes to me, He teaches me more in one hour\nthan thou canst ever do, and all other teachers from Adam's time to\nthe end of the world.\" Then said the Master: \"Dear son, I beg thee\nas thou dost reverence our Lord's death that wouldst remain with\nme.\" Upon which the man answered: \"Dost thou adjure me so\nsolemnly to stay with thee? Well, then, if I remain here out of\ndivine obedience, it shall only be because thou shalt promise me, that\nwhat I have said to thee and shall say to thee, shall be held by thee as\nsacred a secret as that of confession, and shall never be told.\" The\nMaster said: \"Dear son, that I will do gladly, if thou wilt only stay.\"\nAnd the man said: \"Thou hast imparted much good instruction in\nthat sermon; but as thou didst preach, a thought came into my mind.\nIt was that thy sermon was just as if someone should take good\nclear wine, and mix dregs with it till it was all muddied-\" Then the\nMaster said: \"Dear son, what meanest thou?\" And the man an-\nswered: \"I mean that thy vessel is unclean, and many dregs adhere to\nit. That is to say, thou hast allowed thyself to be killed by the letter\nof thy doctrine, and dost continue so daily and hourly, although thou\nknowest well what the Scripture says: 'For the letter killeth, but the\nspirit quickeneth' (ii Cor. iii: 6). Now thou mayst be certain that\nthe same letter that killeth thee will make thee alive again, in so\nfar as thou wilt allow it. But in that life in which thou now dost\nlive, thou shouldst know that thou hast no light. Thou art in the\nnight, in which thou mayst indeed know the letter, but the sweetness\nof the Holy Ghost thou hast not yet tasted, and on that account thou\nart as yet but a Pharisee.\" And then the Master said : \"Dear son, I am a\nman of mature age, and believe me that such words have never before\nbeen spoken to me.\" Then said the man: \"Where is thy preaching\nnow? Dost thou now preceive how thou dost stand? And although\nthou thinkest that I have spoken too hard against thee, yet thou hast\nonly thyself to blame. And I will prove that to thee.\" Then said\nthe Master: \"I beg thee to do so, for I have never been considered a\nPharisee.\" And the man answered: \"I will first show thee how it\nhappens that the letter killeth thee.\n\n16 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n\"Dear sir, thou wilt remember that when the time came for thee to\nknow the difference between evil and good, thou begannest to learn\nthe letter of religion, and therein thou didst seek thy own interest;\nand now up to this very day thou art of the same mind. That is to\nsay, thou hast given thyself up to thy own intelligence for guidance.\nThou dost not have in view God alone, nor love Him alone, but resteth\nin the letter, seeking thy own self and not God's glory alone, to which\nend, notwithstanding, the holy Scripture directs us. Thou art in-\nclined to creatures; and especially to one creature art thou inclined,\nand that one thou lovest inordinately; and that is the reason why\nthe letter killeth thee. And when I said that thou art an unclean\nvessel, I said true; for thou dost not take God into account in all\nthings. When thou shalt come to know thyself, thou shalt find\nlodged in a portion of thy soul vain and frivolous things. These\ndisturb thy soul and adhere to it as the dregs and lees do to a vessel\nof wine. When the clear, pure wine of divine doctrine passes through\nthe unclean vessel that thou art, then it comes to pass that pure\nsouls and loving hearts find no divine flavor in thy words; thou\nimpartest no grace to them. And I further have told thee, that thou\nart in the night, and that thou hast not the true light ; now that is also\na fact. And that is easily seen, because so few receive an increase\nof the grace of the Holy Ghost from thy preaching. And when I said\nthat thou art a Pharisee I told but the truth. Of course I do not\nmean that thou art one of those false wretches of our Lord's day.\nBut was it not a trait of the Pharisees, that they were dear to\nthemselves in all things, that they kept themselves ever in view in\nall that they did, rather than God's glory? Now study thyself care-\nfully, dear sir, and see if thou art not a genuine Pharisee in God's\neyes. Dear Master, thou oughtest to know that there are many\npeople now a days, great and small, who are Pharisees in God's eyes\nbecause He knows their hearts and their lives.\"\n\nAs the man said these words, the Master took him in his arms and\nembraced him and kissed him. And he said: ''Thou hast shown me a\ntrue picture of myself. I see myself as the heathen woman saw her\nimage in the waters of the fountain. I confess to thee, dear son, that\nall my Bins and imperfections have been manifested to me by thy\nwords. Thou hast told me the things that I had hidden away in my\n\nsoul, and especially that I am inclined particularly towards one crea-\nture; but thou shouldst know that I was not aware of this myself.\n\nof John Tauler, the THummated Doctor 17\n\nand I believe that not a soul in the whole world knows it. And I am\nat a loss to know who has told thee of it. I doubt not but that thou\nhast got it from God. And now, dear son, I beg thee as thou honorest\nthe death of Christ, that thou will become my spiritual father and\ntake me for thy poor, sinful son.\" Then the man said: ''Dear sir, if\nthou thus speakest against the right order of things T will not «tay\nwith thee — I will go away at once; thou mayst be sure of that.\"\"\nThen spoke the Master: \"Ah no, I beg thee for God's sake do no such-\nthing; stay with me for a while; I promise thee willingly not to speak\nlike that again. I have the will to become a better man, with God's\nhelp and with thy counsel; what thou approvest that will I gladly be\nguided by for the improvement of my life.\" Then the man said: \"I\ndeclare to thee that the letter and the science of things mislead\nmany great Masters, bringing some to an awful purgatory, and others\ninto hell, according to the life they have led. And I declare to thee\nfurthermore, that it is no trifling matter that God should give a man\nsuch great knowledge through the holy Scripture, and that neverthe-\nless he should not put it in practice in his own life.\"\n\nCHAPTER FOURTH.\n\nThen the Master said : \"I beg thee for the love of God to tell me\nhow thou earnest to thy present manner of life, and how thou hast\nbegun ; and what has been thy custom and way of spiritual exercise.\"\nThe man answered: \"That is a simple enough request, and I will\nanswer with the exact truth. And if I should write down the\nwonderful things that God does for me, a poor, sinful man, during\nthe past twelve years, it would make a bigger book than any thou\nhast; at any rate on this occasion I will tell thee something of it.\n\n''What first helped me was that God found in me a real state of\ndetachment and a fathomless humility. Now I think that there is\nno need of my telling thee what were my external and bodily devo-\ntional practices, for men's natures differ greatly. But when a man\nhas humbly resigned himself to God with interior sincerity, then\nGod begins and never ceases to give him inward discipline by\nallowing certain temptations to afflict him; by that and other like\nmeans which He knows to be useful and which the soul is able to\nbear — if it only will — God tries it well. But thou shouldst under-\n\n18 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nBtand that any man who seeks many counsellors is very likely to go\nastray; for each one will advise according to his own devotional\n(ustoms. One man may benefit by one kind of spiritual exercises\nthe like of which would be of no help to another. The devil some-\ntimes excites a man to severe penances, thinking that thereby he will\nbreak down his health and lead him into imperfections, or hurt his\nbrain and make him an imbecile, or the like of that.\n\n''And I will tell thee what happened to me in the beginning. I read\nthe lives of the saints in the German language; and thought within\nmyself that they were only men as I am a man, but that they had not\nsinned as I had. And at that thought I began to imitate the saints\nin various ways; and soon I was brought so low in health that I was\nat the point of death. One morning at daybreak, after I had prac-\nticed hard austerities, I became so weak that my eyes closed in spite\nof myself and I fell asleep. And then it seemed to me that a voice\nspoke to me saying: O thou simple-minded man, what art thou about?\nThou wilt kill thyself with penances, suffering dreadful pain. Let\nGod exercise thee in the spiritual life; He can serve thee better than\nthyself, or the devil's counsels. When I heard the devil's name I\nwoke up, very much frightened; I rose and went into a wood near\nthe city. Then as I found myself alone, I recalled how I had begun\nthose austerities without seeking advice, and I said that I could seek\ncounsel about my condition from the old hermit living there. I did\nthis, and I repeated to him the words that I had heard in sleep. I\nbegged him for the love of God to give me his best advice. Then\nthe hermit said to me: 'Thou must tell me what thy customary exer-\ncises of piety have been, before I can advise thee.' I told him what\nthey were. He said: 'Who has counselled thee to do these things?'\nI said : 'I did them of my own* will.' He said : 'Thou must know\nthat it was at the devil's suggestion that thou didst them; and thou\nmust no longer be ruled by him. Thou must give thyself wholly up\nto God; He can better practice thee than thyself or the devil.'\nBehold, dear Master, how it was I quit those austerities, and yielded\nmyself and all my doings with deepest sincerity to God. Kow besides\nall this, thou shouldst know that by nature I am a sensible, capable\nand kindly disposed man, although I have had no training in divinity\nas thou hast had. Thus I began to know myself according to my\nreasonable intelligence, and sometimes it happened that I was so\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nhighly exalted that I was astonished. Once it happened that I\nthought within myself: Thou hast so intellectual a gift, that if thou\nshouldst apply thyself earnestly to study, thou wouldst comprehend\nsomething. But as this thought took shape, I saw at once that it\nwas a suggestion of the devil, and detected its utter perversity.\nThen I said : O thou wicked spirit, what false and filthy counsel hast\nthou given me — treacherous counsellor as thou art. For if we had\na God who could be comprehended by our reason, I would not give\na straw for Him. At another time, when at midnight I began to\nrecite matins, a great longing took possession of me, so that I said :\nO eternal and merciful God, I would that thou shouldst grant me\nto experience something above and beyond the power of reason. But\nas soon as I had thus spoken, I was terrified at this eager desire, and\nI exclaimed : Alas, my God and my Lord, forgive me in Thy boundless\nmercy for acting thus — that I a poor worm of the earth should allow\nsuch a thought to enter m}' heart, desiring so rich a gift ?nd one so\nfull of Thy grace — I, a man who, as I fully confess, have heretofore\nby no means lived as well as I ought. I confess, dear Lord, that in\nall things I have been ungrateful to Thee. Therefore I am convinced\nthat I am not worthy to tread the earth after harboring such a pre-\nsumptuous desire for Thy rich favors : — the earth is burdened with\nmy worthless carcass. I then flogged myself till the blood flowed\nupon my naked body. The words I spoke to God burned jn my heart\nand were on my lips till day broke, and meanwhile my blood flowed\nin my penance. Then did God show me mercy, and to my reason he\ngranted a much clearer light than before. But presently I was\nravished out of my reason into an ecstacy, and the time of it seemed\nexceedingly short. When God permitted me to return to myself, I\nbeheld a marvellous supernatural sign, so that I could say even with\nSt. Peter: 'Master, it is good for us to be here' (Luke ix. 33). Let\nme assure thee, dear sir, that I learned more truth in that short hour,\nand was given clearer perception of spiritual things, than all the\nteachers in the world could bestow with all their natural learning.\nAnd now, dear sir, I have said enough to show thee how thou standest\nbefore God.\"\n\n20 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nCHAPTEK FIFTH.\n\nThen the Master spoke: \"May God give thee grace to say more to\nme, for that would be very welcome, for I am telling thee the simple\ntruth, when I say that I have heard thee gladly. Go on and do it,\ndear son, and do not leave me but stay with me. If thou needest\nmoney, I will not let thee suffer want, even if I must pawn one of\nmy books.\" Then said the man : ''May God reward thee, dear sir.\nBut I do not need thy gift, for God has made me his steward to the\nextent of five thousand florins. These are God's, and did I but know\nsome one who needed them, or any other purpose God had for them, I\nwould give them away.\" Then the Master said : \"Dear son, thou art\nthus a rich man, a very great steward of the Lord. But I am aston-\nished at thy saying, that I and all other teachers till the day of judg-\nment, could not teach thee as much as thou didst learn in one hour.\nExplain this to me, I will gladly listen. And is it not true that the\nScriptures have come from the Holy Ghost?\" The man answered:\n\"Sir, it seems incredible that thou shouldst talk so childishly after\nall that I have told thee. And I will ask thee a question, and if\nthou shalt answer it with all thy intelligence, with or without the\nhelp of Scripture, I will give thee ten thousand florins.\" The Master\nasked: \"What is it?\" And the man said : \"Canst thou instruct me how\nto write a letter to a heathen, one buried deep in a heathen country,\nin such style and language that the heathen can read it and under-\nstand it, and that the letter will have such an effect on him as that\nhe will come to the Christian faith?\" The Master said: \"Dear son,\nthat is the work of the Holy Ghost; tell me where that has ever\nhappened, if thou knowest anything of the sort. Did it ever happen\n1o thee?\" The man answered: \"Yes. Although I am a miserable\nsinner, through me the Holy Ghost has done that work. It would\ntake too long to tell how it happened — one could fill a book with an\naccount of it. The heathen was a well meaning man, and he often\ncried out to heaven, and implored Him who had created him and all\nthe world besides, saying: O Thou creator of all things, here am I\nborn in this country, and I find that the Jews have one faith and the\nChristians another. O Lord, thou art over us all and thou hast made\nall creatures: I implore Thy light to know. Is there no faith better\nthan the one in which I was born — none whatever? If there is, I\nbeseech Thee to show it to me that I may believe it — show it in what-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 21\n\nsoever way it pleaseth Thee. I will gladly obey Thee and believe.\nBut if it should happen that Thou dost not grant my prayer nor\nshowest me a better faith, and that I shall die in my present faith\nbecause I know none better and because Thou hast not revealed a\nbetter one to me, then shalt Thou have done me an injustice. Now\nunderstand, dear sir, that a letter was written and sent to that\nheathen by me, a poor sinner, and by its means he came to the\nChristian faith. And he wrote me a letter in answer, in which he\ntold me what had happened to him, and his letter was written in\ngood plain German, so that I could very easily read it. Dear sir,\nmuch more might be said about this, but enough for the present;\nand thou wilt understand the meaning of what I have said.\" Then\nthe Master spoke: \"God is wonderful in all His works and gifts.\nDear son, thou hast told things that are strange indeed.\"\n\nThe man said : \"I fear that some of the things I have said may\nhave distressed thee, and that is because I am a layman and thou a\ngreat master of sacred learning; and yet have I presumed to say so\nmuch after the manner of the learned. But I meant it all affection-\nately, seeking thy soul's welfare and wholly for God's honor, as He\nbears me witness.\" Then the Master answered : \"Dear sir, if it will\nnot anger thee, I will tell thee what has really distrssed me.\" And\nthe man said : \"Be assured on that point, thou needest have no fear\nof angering me.\" The Master said: \"My mind is in a state of amaze-\nment, and I do feel distressed, that thou being but a layman and I a\nclergyman, I should receive instruction from thee. And it further-\nmore annoys me that thou didst call me a Pharisee.\" Then spoke the\nman: \"Does nothing else weigh on thy mind?\" The Master said:\n\"I can think of nothing else.\" And the man said: \"May I inform\nf;hee on both these points?\" The Master said: \"Yes, dear son, and\nI ask it of thee in all friendliness, and for God's sake.\" Then the man\nsaid: \"Tell me, dear sir, how did it happen, that dear St. Catherine,\nwho was but a young girl of fourteen years, yet vanquished by her\ndiscourse fifty of the greatest professors, so that they were ready to\ndie for the truth? Who worked that wonder?\" Then the Master\nsaid : \"The Holy Ghost did that.\" And the man said : \"Think you\nnot that the Holy Ghost still has that power?\" The Master\nanswered : \"Yes, I believe it firmly.\" Then said the man : \"Why then\nwilt thou not believe, that the same Holy Ghost here and now speaks\nto thee through me, all unworthy as I am and a poor sinner; even as\n\n22 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nHe spoke the truth by the mouth of Caiaphas, who was also a sinner.\nBut thou mayst be sure, that since thou receivest my message thus\nevilly, therefore will I be careful to have no more speech with thee.\"\nThen said the Master : ''Dear son, say not so. I hope, if God wills it,\nto improve my soul's state through thy words.\" Then the man spoke:\n\"Ah, dear sir, it distressed thee that I said that thou art a Pharisee.\nAnd jet when I did so, I added enough to prove to thee that I did\nthee no wrong; thou shouldst have rested content. But as thou art\nnot satisfied, I must go on further, and I will show more plainly that I\nam right, and that thou deservest the name Pharisee. Dear sir,\nthou knowest full well that our Lord Jesus Christ Himself said of\nthe Pharisees: 'They bind heavy and insupportable burdens, and lay\nthem on men's shoulders; but with a finger of their own they will\nnot move them, (Matt, xxiii: 4). Now, dear sir, thou hast in thy\nsermon bound together twenty-four burdens, and thou takest little\naccount of them for thy own self. Our Lord also said: 'All things\nwhatsoever they [the Pharisees] shall say to you, observe and do:\nbut according to their works do ye not; for they say and do not*\n(Matt, xxxiii: 3).\" Then the Master spoke: \"Our dear Lord said\nthose words for that occasion and time.\" And the man answered:\n\"He speaks them yet, now and forevermore, and to all men. Dear\nMaster, look into thyself and see if they are not to be applied to thee\nor to thy way of living : God knows if that be the case, and so dost\nthyself. And I avow to thee, as regards thyself, that I had rather be\nguided by thy words than by thy life. Lay it to heart as to whether\nor not thou mayst be called a Pharisee in the sight of God ; but I do\nnot mean that thou art one of those false Pharisees whose portion is\nthe fire of hell.\" The Master spoke: \"I know not what to say. I\nconfess freely that I am a sinner, and I declare that I will reform my\nlife; I will do it if it kills me. Dear son, I can no longer postpone\nthis holy work, and I beg thee sincerely and for God's sake, to tell me\nhow I shall take hold and begin. Teach me and guide me how to\nreach the highest perfection that man can reach in this life.\" The\nman spoke : \"Dear sir, I beg thee not to be angry with me ; but I must\ntell thee in all truth that thou art hard to advise. For if thou art\nto be converted, it will be a woeful thing to thy established manner\nand custom of living, for all the old ways must be given up; and\nnow thou art nigh fifty years old.\" Then the Master answered : \"That\nmay all be so. But ah, dear son, remember that to him who came\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 23\n\nat the eleventh hour the same penny was paid as to him who came\nat the first. And I will tell thee this, my dear son : I have thought\nit all over, and I have set it firmly in my heart that with God's\nassistance I will give up the life and enjoyment of my senses, and\nalso my intellectual way of meditating; and I will follow thy direc-\ntion, and consider it all one if it costs me even my life. I beg thee\nfor God's sake to delay me no longer, but to tell me at once how I\nshall make a beginning.\" Then the man said : \"Since thou hast\nnow received grace from God to wish to be humbled beneath a vile,\npoor, worthless creature, and to be subjected to him and bend under\nhis yoke : let us give praise to God for all this, for this grace comes\nwholly from Him and must return again to Him by our thanksgiving.\nDear sir, inasmuch as it is wholly on God's account that I will guide\nthee, I will call Him into help. I will instruct thee in divine love,\nand I will give thee a lesson to learn, as is done with children in\nschool; it is the twenty-four letters of the alphabet. And so I begin\nwith A.\"\n\nCHAPTER SIXTH.\n\n\"A. Make a beginning of a new life in the spirit of a man and\nwith no childish timidity.\n\n''B. Give up all wickedness; and do good with thy mind made up,\nand all diligently.\n\n\"C. Be temperate and moderate in everything; learn to hold the\nsafe middle course.\n\n\"D. Be humble in everything, in word and deed.\n\n*'E. Thy own will must thou renounce in the most thoroughgoing\nspirit, steadfastly and earnestly clinging to God and abiding in God.\n\n\"F. Be zealous, obedient, and willing for all good works, and be\nwholly free from murmuring.\n\n\"G. Diligently practice thyself in all divine works of mercy, both\ncorporal and spiritual.\n\n\"H. Look not backwards, neither towards the world, nor crea-\ntures, nor thy own affairs.\n\n**I. Deep in thy heart recall thy past life with entire truthfulness,\nreal repentance, with bitterness of heart, and tearful eyes.\n\n\"K. Boldly and sturdily withstand the temptations of the devil,\nof the world, and of the flesh.\n\n24 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n*'L. Learn to overcome idleness courageously, and all delicacy in\nbodily matters, and the devil's suggestions of personal comfort.\n\n\"M. With burning love, with assured hope, with mighty faith,\nlive in God; and bear thyself towards thy neighbor as thou wouldst\ntowards thyself.\n\n^'N, Covet no man's goods, be they bodily or spiritual.\n\n''O. Make the best of all things as they happen, never borrowing\ntrouble.\n\n\"P. Penances, come they from God or from thy neighbor or from\nany creature, thou shalt willingly accept and suffer to atone for thy\nsins.\n\n''Q. Whosoever shall harm thee in thought, word or deed, acquit\nhim and pardon him in all sincerity.\n\n\"R. Purity of body and of soul, destitution of goods and of honors,\nthou shall cultivate with all earnestness.\n\n\"S. Be gentle-minded in all happenings, and find a way of improv-\ning thyself under all circumstances.\n\n'•T. Fidelity and truthfulness shalt thou cherish in thy dealings\nwith all men, shunning all double dealing.\n\n\"U. Zealously learn to refrain from all and any kind of excess in\neating.\n\n\"X. Follow the example of our beloved Lord, guiding thy every\nstep thereby, as far as thou art able.\n\n''Y. Ceaselessly beseech our dear Lady's intercession that she may\nhelp thee to learn this our lesson.\n\n\"Z. Hold thy will and thy senses in an even balance, so that thou\nmayst enjoy peace in all things, whether it be those between God\nand thee, or between thee and all created things.\n\n*'Now this whole lesson must be learned and observed without\ncontradiction, with a free heart, and a good will.\"\n\nCHAPTER SEVENTH.\n\n\"Now, dear sir, take this lesson of a child, without any objections,\nas if it came from God to thee for thy good, through me, a poor\nunworthy man.\"\n\nThen the Master spoke: \"It may please thee to call this a child's\nlesson, but to my thinking it will be a manly exploit to observe it all.\nAnd now tell me, dear son, how long a time wilt thou give me to\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nlearn it?\" The man answered : \"We will take five weeks, to do honor\nto the five holy wounds, so that thou mayst the better learn thy task.\nThou Shalt be thy own master; and when one or other of these\nsentences arranged by the alphabet is not observed, and thou thinkest\nthat thou canst not master it, then strip thyself naked and chastise\nthy body, so that it may be reduced to submission to the soul and to\nreason.\" Then the Master said: \"I will gladly be obedient.\"\n\nAt the end of three weeks the man asked the Master: \"Dear sir,\nhow stands it with thee?\" The Master said: \"Let me tell thee, dear\nson, that during these three weeks I have been whipped harder on\naccount of this lesson, than ever I was whipped before in my whole\nlife.\" Then spoke the man: \"Dear sir, thou must understand that\nbefore one goes onward in a lesson, he must learn perfectly what\ngoes before— namely, the first lines.\" The Master answered: \"If I\nshould say that I now knew them well, I should say what is not true.\"\nThen the man said : \"Go right on that way, till thou hast learnt thy\ntask well.\" At the end of three weeks more, the Master sent for the\nman, and said: \"Dear son, rejoice with me, for it seems to me that\nwith God's help I now know the first lines well. And now, if thou\nwilt, I am ready to recite the lesson to thee.\" The man said: \"No,\ndear sir; but I will gladly rejoice with thee, and fully credit thee\nthat thou knowest thy lesson well.\" And the Master answered: \"1\ntell thee in all sincerity, that I have something heavy on my mind.\nAnd dear son, I beg thee to teach me yet further.\" Then spoke the\nman : \"I can teach thee nothing more, as far as I am personally con-\ncerned. But if it pleases God to teach thee through me, I will gladly\ndo my part, willingly acting as the instrument by which our Lord\nwill act upon thee.\n\n\"Listen, dear sir, for I will counsel thee about divine love and\nbrotherly fidelity; so that when the Lord's call shall come to thee, as\nit did to the young man in the gospel, I shall have no responsibility:\naf thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor,\nand thou shalt have treasure in Heaven: and come follow Me'\"\n(Matt, xix: 21). Then the Master spoke: \"Dear son, thou needst not\ncare for that, for I have already yielded myself to that call, and with\nGod's help I will go forward obedient in it to God and to thee.\"\nThen spoke the man: \"Because thou hast made that secure, giving\nthyself entirely over to God to have a care of thee, then will I earnestly\ncounsel thee ever to be obedient to the rules of thy Order ynd to thy\n\n26 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nsuperiors; for it may easily happen, that if thou wouldst tread the\nstraight, narrow way, thou shalt be oppressed by others, and\nespecially by thy own brethren. And when that happens, thy\nthoughts will be bent on the words by which thou didst vow thyself\nto God, being tempted meanwhile to find some way of loosing thyself\nfrom the cross. But that must not be. For thou must willingly\nbe obedient, suffering gladly what happens to thee, from whomsoever\nit may come to thee. Thou must tread the way the Lord pointed out\nto the young man, namely, thou must take up thy cross and follow\nJesus Christ, imitating Him in very truth; in all humility and in\npatience. That proud, cultivated intelligence of thine, which thou\nhast gained by study of sacred learning, thou must let pass from thee.\nDuring this thy time of preparation thou must neither study nor\npreach. But toward thy penitents, both men and women, thou shalt\nbear thyself very simply when they make their confessions. And\nwhen they are done, instead of giving them thy usual advice, say to\nthem: I am now anxiously learning how to give myself good advice,\nand when I have succeeded in that, I will then give you good advice.\nIf any one askest thee when thou wilt preach, refuse to tell him ; but\nsay to him in all truth that thou art not idle; and thus the people\nwill excuse thee.\" Then the Master spoke: \"Dear son, all this I will\ngladly do; but what occupation shall I have meanwhile?\" The man\nsaid: ''Thou shalt go into thy cell and read thy breviary, and attend\nin choir and join in the singing; thou shalt celebrate thy daily mass\nwhen thou canst do so. Whatever time is left over, take it up with\nthe passion of our Lord, and meditate how thy life stands in com-\nparison with His. Think also on the lost time of thy life, namely\nthat in which thou didst have thyself in view as thy aim and purpose.\nThink, too, how very small has been thy love compared to His love.\nThese things shalt thou study and that very humbly, so that thou\nmayst attain to some degree of real humility, thereby becoming rid\nof thy old habit of mind and quite departing from it And when\nour Lord decides that the time is come, then will He make a new man\nof thee, supposing that thou shalt have been born again of God.\n\n\"But be sure that ere all this happens, thou must sell all that ihou\nhast, and humbly give it up to God. And that means all that thou\ndost possess in thy proud intelligence, whether of Scripture learning\nor other learning, whereby thou mightest achieve honor in this life,\nor that has before this ministered to thy joy. All this thou must now\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nlet go, and thou must with St. Mary Magdalen fall at Christ's feet,\nand earnestly undertake all these ways of perfection. Then without\ndoubt the King of Heaven will look upon thee with favor. But He\nby no means allows things to rest thus, for He will push thee further\nyet, so that thou mayst be purified still more, even as gold in the\nfurnace. And it may well happen that He will offer thee the bitter\ndraught that He offered His only begotten Son. And I surmise that by\nGod's will all that thou doest and all that thou leavest undone, and\nindeed thy whole life, shall be brought to contempt and made nothing\nof in the eyes of the people. All thy penitents will leave thee, think-\ning that thou hast not good sense any longer. All thy good friends\nand brothers in thy monastery, will take offense at thy way of life,\nand say that thou hast adopted a preposterous kind of devotion.\n\n\"But when all this comes to pass, do not be affrighted, but rather\nbe rejoiced, for just then thy salvation is at hand. To be sure thy\nhuman weakness will be terrified and sickened by it. But neverthe-\nless, dear sir, do not give up, but trust God steadfastly, for He in\nno wise abandons His servants; and thou knowest that full well from\nthy knowledge of the lives of the dear saints. Now, dear sir, if thou\nwilt indeed undertake this way, realize that nothing in the world\nis better for thee or more useful than great detachment — boundless\nand humble, extending to all things, as well sweet as bitter, whether\nfor weal or woe, so that thou shalt be able to say truthfully: Ah, my\nLord and my God, if it were thy will that I should stay in this pain\nand in this anguish of heart till the end of the world, yet would I not\ndepart from Thee and I would steadfastly continue in Thy service.\nAnd now, my dear sir, I know that in thy heart thou sayest, that this is\nindeed a heavy task that I have conferred with thee about. And for\nthat reason it was that I begged thee to dismiss me, and that I said\nthat if thou shouldst fall short of thy purpose, I should not be to\nblame.\"\n\nThen the Master said : ''Thou hast spoken truly ; I own that it\nseems to me somewhat hard to undertake this way.\" The man spoke:\n\"But thou didst beg me to teach thee the shortest road to the highest\nstate of contemplation. Now I know no shorter, no surer way than\nthis, if one would model on the true example of our Lord Jesus\nChrist. But, dear sir, I counsel thee by all my truth, that thou take\ntime to think over all this; and what God then gives thee to do, that\n\n28 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ndo in His name.\" Then the Master said: ''I will do that; and I will\nwait and see if with God's help I may overcome my repugnance.\"\n\nCHAPTER EIGHT.\n\nAfter eleven days the Master sent for the man and said to him:\n''Ah. dear son, what martyrdom have I suffered, and what interior\nbattles have I fought day and night, ere I could vanquish the devil\nand my own flesh. But with the grace of God, I have now concen-\ntrated all my faculties of mind and powers of body to this decision: I\nwill cheerfully undertake this way, and I will remain in it fast and\nfirm, come weal come woe.\" Then the man said: \"Dear sir, dost thou\nrecall the words I used with thee, when thou didst ask me how thou\nshouldst make a beginning?\" The Master spoke: \"Yes, for the\nmoment thou hadst gone from me I wrote thy advice down word for\nword.\" Then the man said: \"Dear sir, that thou hast received this\nbold spirit from God, I am heartily glad, and value it for thee as if\nit were for myself, and of this God is my witness. And now in the\nname of our Lord Jesus Christ make a beginning.\" Then the man\nsaid farewell, and he took his departure, and the Master did as he\nhad been directed.\n\nAnd it came to pass ere a year elapsed, that the Master was held\nto be good for nothing in the monastery, even by his most trusted\nfriends. And his penitents all left him; they were gone from him as if\nthey had never seen him. All this was a heavy blow to him and\ncaused him much suffering. Meanwhile his head began to grow\nweak. And now he sent for the man, and told him how things were\nwith him, and how his whole body was almost in a state of sickness,\nand especially his head. Then the man said: \"Sir, do not be alarmed.\nHumbly cleave to God, and trust Him implicitly. I assure thee that\nI am well pleased with thee; all goes well with thy life, and will\ndaily go better.\n\n\"Dear sir, thou knowest well, that whosoever will take the right\nroad and travel onward, must imitate the sufferings of our Lord\nJesus Christ. Therefore stand thy ground, and give thyself wholly\nup to God. I assure thee that thy experience was also my own. And\nmeanwhile, as thou art now undergoing those interior trials, treat\nthy body with some consideration, giving it wholesome food. As to\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 09\n\nthy head, I will have made for thee a decoction of herbs, the same as\nstrengthened me when I was in thy situation. But bear in mind that\nI ever gave both body and soul to God, to do with them entirely as he\npleased.\"\n\nThen the Master spoke: ''But thou toldst me before to avoid good\nfood and drink.\" And the man answered: \"Yes, sir; but that was in\nthe first beginnings, while as yet the body was robust; but now that it\nbecomes dry and thin and would be all submission to the spirit, there-\nfore thou mayst come to its help and build it up somewhat, or other-\nwise thou wouldst be tempting God by excessive austerity. Whilst\nthou art in thy present weak state thou dost a service to God if thou\ndost discretely nourish thy body; but by no means shalt thou inordi-\nnately indulge thy appetite— that must not be. Dear sir, call in God\nto thy help and go forward cheerfully. Give thyself up to God in\ntrustful and entire self renunciation; rely confidently on his infinite\nmercy, and wait for His grace. Whatever God may demand of thee,\nsweet or bitter, prove thyself equal to it with His help. And now\nI beg thee for God's sake not to take it amiss that I must return home,\nfor thither I am called by an affair of great importance; my interest\nis much involved— that I say to thee in all sincerity. But if it should\nhappen that thou canst not get on without me, send to my city for\nme, and I will willingly come to thee. But if thou canst endure to\nsuffer without the help of any creature, that is everyway the best for\nthee.\" Then the Master spoke: \"Dear son, say no such thing to me,\nfor I cannot and will not get on without thee for any length of time.\nIf thou goest away it will be excessively painful to me, for I can\nhave no comfort in this world now.\" The man answered : \"Dear sir, I\nwill tell thee of a better comfort, and that is the Holy Ghost, who\nhas called thee to this way, lovingly invited thee, and brought thee\nso far onward, by means of me a poor sinner. His is the work done\nin thee, not mine; and I have been but His instrument, gladly serving\nHim in it, to God's glory and to thy happiness.\" Then the Master\nspoke: \"Dear son, may God be thy eternal recompense. And because\nthy affairs are so urgent I must let thee go. I will resign mvself to\nGod to suffer as best I may.\" The man spoke: \"Dear sir, now that\nthou art subjected to the divine discipline, and hast entered a life\nof true spirituality in obedience to God, and inasmuch as this is thy\nfree act, I now admonish thee to bear thyself discreetlv, and care\nfor thyself prudently, lest thou shouldst regret that thou art forsaken\n\n30 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nby all creatures. But if it should happen that thou fallest into want\nand money fails thee, then I advise thee to pawn a part of thy books,\nand to avoid suffering excessively. But on no account shalt thou sell\nthe books, for the time is sure to come again, when good books will\nbe useful to thee, and indeed necessary.\" Then the man made his\nfarewell and took his departure. But as to the Master, his eyes over-\nflowed and he began to weep.\n\nCHAPTER NINTH.\n\nSo it happened that the Master suffered great trials and tempta-\ntions for two years, and these included disgrace in the eyes of all his\nfriends. To this was added such destitution that he was forced to\npawn a portion of his library. Meanwhile his body was reduced to\ngreat weakness. But he bore it all, and found himself sincerely\nhumble. And it came to pass in the night of the feast of St. Paul's\nconversion, that he was assailed by the worst temptation that could\nbe imagined. And at that moment all his natural force was so weak,\nthat he could not so much as walk to the choir to attend at matins,\nand must perforce sit idly in his cell, giving himself up to God most\nmeekly, void of all comfort and help from creatures. This was his\nsorest trial. Now amid all that feebleness, he meditated on the pas-\nsion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and on the great love He had for us.\nAnd then he considered his own life, and how petty a thing it was,\ncompared to the love of God for him. Upon this he entered into a\nvery deep sorrow for all his sins, and of regret for all the time he had\nwasted, and he spoke to God with heart and mouth: Ah merciful\nGod! In thy boundless mercy take pity on me a poor sinner, for I\nam unworthy to walk the earth. And as he sat there in his utter\nhelplessness and sadness, and being quite wide awake, he heard with\nhis bodily ears a voice that said: Stand fast in thy peace, and trust\nin God. And remember that when He was on earth in His human\nnature, when He cured men of bodily sickness. He also made them\nwell in their souls. The moment these words were spoken, he lost\nall sense and reason, and knew not whether he was carried away nor\nhow. But when he came to his senses again, he found a great change\nhad taken place in him. All his interior and his outward faculties\nwere conscious of a new strength; and he was gifted with clear\nperceptions of matters that before had been very strange and alien\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 31\n\nto him. He greatly wondered from whence this change had come;\nand then he thought: Thou canst not rightly place thyself now, and\nthou wilt send for thy friend and tell him of this.\n\nSo he sent for the man, and when he came the Master told him all\nthat had happened. Then spoke the man: \"These thy words I have\nheard with joy from the bottom of my heart. Dear sir, thou must\nunderstand that now for the very first time thou hast found the true,\nthe great grace in God. I say to thee that now for the very first\ntime thou hast been touched by the Most High. And this thou must\nknow: as formerly the letter had somewhat killed thee, so now shall\nthe same make thee alive again. For now thy teaching comes from\nGod the Holy Ghost, whereas before it was from the Hesh. Now\nthou hast the light of the Holy Ghost, received from the grace of\nGod, and thou hast the holy Scriptures in thee. Therefore hast thou\nnow a great advantage, and in the future far more than formerly\nthou Shalt understand the Scriptures; for thou knowest full well\nthat the Scriptures in many places seem to contradict themselves.\nBut now that in the light of the Holy Ghost thou hast received\ndivine grace to possess the holy Scripture in thyself, so wilt thou\nunderstand that all Scripture has the same meaning and is never\nself-contradictory. And now thou wilt go on right, following the\nexample of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thou must begin to preach again,\nteaching thy fellow men the right road to eternal life. The time is\ncome when good books are useful to thee. And be sure that now one\nsermon will profit the peoplfe and give them good fruit more than did\na hundred formerly. For the words that thou shalt speak go forth\nfrom a purified soul, judging and weighing all things in simplicity\nof spirit. Hence just in proportion as thou hast been good for\nnothing in the people's estimation, thou shalt now become all the\nbetter appreciated and loved.\n\n\"But it is of particular necessity that thou shalt keep thyself\ntruly humble. Thou knowest that whosoever carries a precious\ntreasure openly in his hand, must be on his guard against thieves.\nI assure thee that the devil is greatly frightened, when he finds that\nGod has confided to a man so dear a prize, so noble a treasure as\nthou possessest. He will exert all his skill and cunning to rob thee\nof it. Therefore be prudently on thy guard. And thou canst in no\nway baffle his scheming so well as by boundless humility. Now, dear\nsir, there is no longer any need of my speaking to thee by way of\n\n32 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ninstruction, as I did before. For now thou thyself hast iliat Master\nright and true, whose instrument I have been. Hearken to Him and\nbe obedient; that do I counsel thee with all my faithful heart.\n\n\"And now I on my part wish to be instructed in divine love by\nthee, for with the help of God I have done thee the favor that God\nled me here to do. So, if God wills, I shall stay a good while with\nthee and hear thy preaching. For if God grants it, I am of opinion\nthat thou shouldst begin preaching again.\" Then the Master spoke:\n\"Dear son, what is thy advice? I have placed many good books in\npawn for thirty florins.\" Then said the man: \"I will give thee\nthat sum of money for God's sake; and if after thy books are\nredeemed aught remains over, thou mayst give it to God; for all that\nwe have is His, whether goods of body or soul.\" And thus did the\nMaster redeem his books.\n\nHe then announced publicly that he would preach the third day\nfollowing. The people were amazed at this, because he had stopped\npreaching for so long a time, and a great throng came to hear him.\nWhen he saw that the crowd was so great, the Master mounted a\nhigh pulpit so that all could hear him better. He knelt and covered\nhis face with his cowl, and he prayed silently: Merciful and ever-\nlasting God, if it be Thy will, grant me the grace to speak so that\nThy divine name may be praised and honored, and these people\nthereby advanced in Thy love. And as he said these words, his eyes\noverflowed with tears so abundantly, welling up from his heart, that\nnever a word could he utter from the power of his feelings. That\nlasted so long that the people were much annoyed. And a man in\nthe crowd spoke: \"Sir, how long must we sit here waiting for thee?\nIt is already very late; if thou art not going to preach, then say so\nand let us go home.\" But the Master yet remained weeping and in\ndeep recollection, and again did he speak to God: Ah my Lord and\nmy God, if it be Thy divine will, then take this weeping from my eyes,\nand grant that I may preach this sermon to Thy praise and glory.\nBut if Thou dost not do this, so is it a sign that thou deemest that\nI have not yet been despised and scorned enough. Now, dear Lord,\nperfect Thy divine will upon poor me, to Thy praise and to my need.\nBut this prayer helped nothing, for the weeping grew harder and\nharder. Then did he understand that God would have it thus. And\nso he addressed the people : \"My dear children, it is a deep pain to\nmy heart, that I have detained you so long, for I can say not a single\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 33\n\nword for weeping. Pray to God for me that He may help me. And\nI with His grace will preach for your benefit another time — the soonest\nI possibly can.\" And so the people went away, and this occurrence\nwas noised abroad over the whole city. He was greatly ridiculed for\nall this, and made nothing of by everybody. People said: \"It is now\nplain enough that he has become a veritable fool.\" Then his own\nbrethren in the monastery strictly forbade him to preach again, for\nthis occurrence gave much scandal in their community ; and they said\nthat he made the Order a scandal in the people's eyes, by the foolish\nspirituality which he had adopted, and which hurt his brain and made\nan idiot of him.\n\nThen the Master sent for the man, and he related all that had\nhappened to him. The man said: \"Dear sir, do not be alarmed at\nthis occurrence. The Bridegroom is accustomed thus to try all His\nbest loved friends, and this is a certain sign that God is thy good\nfriend. Without doubt there was something of pride hidden in thy\nsoul unknown to thyself. This is why thou hast been scorned and\nridiculed. And it may be that hereby thou hast received some great\ngifts from God, of which thou art thyself as yet unaware — granted\nthee through the exercise of patience in this trial. Therefore be at\npeace, and be cheerful and humble. Nor needst thou take this for\nso very strange a thing, for I have knowTi the same and worse to happen\nto others. Thou shouldst not be ashamed of the burden of this cross\nthat God has sent thee, but rather value it as a great treasure, a very\nprecious gift of God. I counsel thee to stay by thyself for five days,\nshut ofif from speech with all men, to the praise and honor of the\nfive holy wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ. And when the five days\nare passed, beg thy Prior for leave to deliver a sermon in Latin. If\nhe will not permit that, then pray him to try thee in class, and permit\nthee to deliver a lecture to the brethren.\"\n\nNow this last permission was granted him. And he lectured to\nthe community in so deep-searching a way, that they never heard\nthe like in their whole lives, so great and profound a divine doctrine\ndid he teach. Then they allowed him to deliver a sermon to the\npeople. One day after one of the brethren had preached to the people\nin the church — the same in which the Master had formerly been\naccustomed to preach — that brother announced: \"I have been\ndirected to announce that the Master will preach in this place\n\n34 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ntomorrow. If what happened to him lately should occur again, then\nI am not to be blamed for it. But this much I can truthfully say,\nthat in our convent school he has lectured to us with such great and\ndeep doctrine and such divine knowledge as we have not heard this\nmany a day. How he will succeed with you God knows, not I.\"\nThe following day the Master came to the church of that convent (it\nwas a convent of nuns) and he began to preach as follows:\n\nCHAPTER TENTH.\n\nDear children, it may well be two years or more since last I\npreached. I then spoke to you of twenty-four points of the spiritual\nlife. It was then my custom to use much Latin in my sermons, and\nto divide them into points. But it is now my purpose not to do so\nany more; and when I do speak in Latin, it will be when the educated\nare present who can understand it. And now let us say an Ave Maria\nand beg God's grace.\n\nDear children, I have chosen a text for my sermon, and I will\ndiscuss it and adhere to it. In German it is as follows :\n\n\"Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet Him\" (Matt.\nXXV : 6). The Bridegroom is our dear Lord Jesus Christ, and the\nbride is Holy Church and Christianity. Ah, dear children, we are\nthus all spouses of Christ, and we should all gladly go forth to meet\nHim. But in that, alas, we are found wanting. Dear children, the\nright roads and the plain ways on which we should go forth to meet\nthe Bridegroom, have become deserted and overgrown, and we are\neven beginning nowadays to have little knowledge of them at all.\nThe road to Christ is strange enough to many a one among us — that\nroad on which we should gladly meet our true Bridegroom. Of this,\nwith God's help, I will speak on another occasion. But now, knowing\nthat we are all chosen to be spouses of Christ, I will have something\nto say, showing how the bride should act if she would really go forth\nto meet the Bridegroom.\n\nMy dear children, a faithful bride should strictly avoid all that is\nagainst the Bridegroom. That is all vainglory, pride, envy, together\nwith all the sins of this world, all the concupiscence of the flesh,\nwhether of delicate and luxurious pampering of the body or any other\nsuch thing: everything indeed except what is of real necessity. And\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nwhen that happens, that is when the bride for sake of the Bridegroom\ndetests all this and forsakes it totally, then does the bride begin to\nbe somewhat pleasing to the Bridegroom.\n\nBut if she would become yet more pleasing, then must she humbly\nbow down and say with heart and mouth: Ah my dear Lord Bride-\ngroom, Thou knowest all hearts well; and now with all my heart I\nsay this to Thee — that I will do all that lies in my power to learn\nfrom Thee through my heart's reason, what is pleasing to Thee. Now\nwhen the bride pays these vows to the Bridegroom, He turns and\nlooks upon the bride. Then she requests Him to give her a jewel for\na keepsake. And what is that jewel ? It is that she shall be visited\nwith many inner and outer trials, according to the way He is accus-\ntomed to try His special friends.\n\nBut if it happens that the bride is as yet unused to suffering, then\nwill she say to Him : \"Ah, dear Lord Bridegroom, this is very hard\nupon me, and I feel most anxious lest I shall not be able to endure\nit. Therefore, dear Lord Bridegroom, I beg thee to maki my suffer-\nings somewhat lighter, or to take away a part of them. Then the\nBridegroom says: But let Me ask this. My dear bride: should the\nbride be now better off than the Bridegroom once was? If thou\nwilt go forth to meet the Bridegroom, thou must in some degree\nimitate Him ; and it is altogether proper that a faithful bride should\nsuffer somewhat out of sympathy with her Bridegroom.\n\nAnd when the bride thus heard her Bridegroom's will and perceived\nHis earnestness, she was much frightened, and said : Dear Lord.\nBridegroom, Thou must not be angry with me, for I will gladly be\nobedient. Visit me with what trials Thou pleasest, and I will gladly\nsuffer it all with Thy help and in Thy love. When the Jiridegroom\nheard this,' the bride was somewhat more dear to Him than before.\nTherefore He would give her a better cup to drink. Now the draught\nHe gave was that she should be quit of all her thoughts, that all doing\nand not doing should become entirely tasteless to her because it had\nceased to please her in the least degree. No matter how good things\nmight be in themselves, as she did them she could only think how\nmuch she angered her Bridegroom by doing them; and she greatly\nforboded how much punishment she must perhaps suffer for it all.\nAs this showed itself outwardly, she was scorned and derided by\neverybody, and whatever she did was accounted nothing but fool-\nishness.\n\n36 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nNow, dear children, all this time the bride was worn and feeble\nin all her natural powers; she constantly dreaded that she could not\nhold out but must finally die during her trial. Therefore she was\naffrighted. This was because she was still cowardly and weak-\nspirited. So she invoked her Bridegroom anxiously, and said: Ah,\ndear Lord Bridegroom, how Thou hast terrified me, oh so dreadfully-\nI cannot suffer long this way; I am about to die. Then the Bride-\ngroom spoke: If thou wilt go forth rightly to meet the l^ridegroom,\nit is fitting that thou shouldst first go after Him a part of the way\nHe has gone over. Now the Bridegroom suffered for thirty-three\nyears — much shame, hunger, thirst, cold, heat, and bitter torments.\nAt last He suffered a cruel death. And all this he bore out of true\nlove of His bride and entirely for her sake. Is it not tlien proper\nthat the bride should risk death for His sake, and out of heart's love\nfor Him? Surely, if thou hadst right trust and true love for Him,\nall thy fears would vanish away.\n\nWhen the bride heard these words from her Bridgeroom, she was\nmuch frightened and her whole heart trembled ; and she said : Ah,\ndear Lord, I confess most sincerely that I have done wrong in mur-\nmuring; and on that account I am exceedingly afraid. It cuts me to\nthe heart that I have not given myself up to Thee most trustfully unto\ndeath. Dear Lord Bridgeroom, I will now most truthfully promise\nThee all that Thou wilt have me: Whatever Thou dost will, that do\nI will also : sick or well, for weal or woe, for sweet or bitter, cold or\nhot, dry or wet — just as Thou wilt so do I will. I will give my will\nup to Thee entirely. I will be wholly and gladly obedient to Thee.\nApart from what Thou dost will, I will never desire anything what-\nsoever. Do with me, a poor worthless creature, all that Thou wilt\nin time and in eternity. For, dear Lord, when I consider what there\nis in me and of me, I feel that I am not worthy to tread the earth.\n\nWhen the Bridegroom saw this true heartfelt loyalty of the bride,\nand the deep fund of humility in her, what did He do? He was moved\nwith pity; and He bestowed a present on the bride, namely, a blessed\nsweet draught. And what draught is this? It is that He caused\nher yet greater trials, and afflicted her with yet greater anguish than\nshe ever before had suffered. Now when the bride became aware of\nthis, when she knew His stem purpose and His will, she suffered all\nthis willingly on the Bridegroom's account. And she bowed down\nhumbly before Him, and said : Ah dear Lord Bridegroom, it is indeed\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 37\n\nright that Then shouldst not will as I will, but rather that I should\nwill as Thou dost. From Thy divine hand will I receive this new\npresent, all willingly and gladly, and wholly for the sake of Thy love,\nwhether to my flesh come weal or woe: for to Thy love and Thy will\nhave I most lovingly given myself up.\n\nWhen the Bridegroom in His eternal wisdom knew this purpose\nof His bride's soul, knew the downright earnestness of this humble\nbride, then she became very dear to Him. And out of true love He\nleft her this present of his — namely to suffer in all her natural\npowers so long as was necessary to cure all her imperfections, and to\ncleanse away all the stains of her former sins, until she should be all\npure and beautiful. And so He spoke: All hail my well loved bride,\nso beautiful and so well pleasing to Me; for now thou art all clean\nand without spot, and thou art most acceptable to Me. Then did\nHe gaze upon her with an immeasurably great and divine affection.\nAnd presently to the joys of the marriage feast comes the Bridegroom's\neternal Father, and He says to the bride: All hail, my well loved\nchosen friend. It is now high time that we should go to the church,\nto solemnize the espousals. And then He takes the Bridegroom and\nthe bride, and leads them to the church, and He plights them to each\nother, and binds them together in divine love ; and God binds them in\na union so fast and firm, that the bride says that neither in time nor\neternity shall they ever be separated. And when they have thus been\nmade one in the divine espousals, the Bridegroom says : Dear, eternal\nFather, what shall now be our wedding gift to the bride? The Father\nsays: That shall be the Holy Ghost, for that office is due to Him as\nstanding for the Father Upon this was poured into the bride the\noverflowing divine love, so superabundant that it seemed to overflow\nupon even the Bridegroom. And now the Bride was ravished out\nof herself, and was wholly inebriated with love, and became forgetful\nof self and of all creatures in time and eternity.\n\nNow, my dear children, whosoever has been invited to so noble a\nspiritual espousals, and has accepted the invitation and come to the\nmarriage feast, the same shall begin to taste the true, the solemnly\npromised, the richly gifted sweetness of the Holy Ghost. This bride\nis then a true adorer, for she prays to the Father in the Holy Ghost.\nAt this marriage feast is joy upon joy. Here in one hour more peace\nand joy is had than all creatures in time and eternity can ever bestow.\n\n38 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nThe joy of the bride with the Bridegroom is greater than any human\nmind can ever comprehend.\n\nAs the Master reached thus far in his sermon and spoke these words,\na certain man cried out very loud : *'It is true !\" and he fell down as\nif he were dead. And then a woman cried out from among the\npeople: \"Sir, stop speaking, or this man will die on our hands.\"\nThen the Master said: Ah, dear children, the Bridegroom then took\nthe bride and led her away to His home. Let us gladly leave her to\nHim. And thus will I make an end of my sermon. Dear children,\nlet us all call out to heaven to our God and Lord for His help. For\nthere is sore need to do so, since we have grown so dull and foolish\nthat we have no compassion one for another, although we know that\nwe have been named by God brothers and sisters. There are few\nenough among us who are willing to crucify their flesh in imitation\nof the Bridegroom, and in order to obtain a better joy and have an\nespousals rich in graces.\n\nYou should know that in our days there are not many who have\nin all sincerity gone forth to meet the Bridegroom, as many a one\ndid in former times. Hence the need that every one of us should\nstudy his soul, and take earnest account of himself. For the time\napproaches and is indeed now come, that most of those living here\nhave eyes and see not, have ears and hear not. Dear children, let all\nof us strive to win to this most blessed, loving and joyous marriage\nfeast.\n\nNow after the bride had taken her departure from the espousals\nand was left to herself, and found herself still living amid this life's\nmisery, then she said in her soul : Alas, poor me, miserable me ; am\nI yet in this life? And so she was somewhat sad within herself.\nBut she was so entirely detached in her inmost soul, and so perfectly\nhumbled towards her Bridegroom, that she dared not so much as\nthink of or desire her Bridegroom's return, esteeming herself wholly\nunworthy of Him. But therefore did the Bridegroom by no means\ndesert her, but He looked upon her from time to time, for He knew\nfull well that no one could comfort her except Himself alDne.\n\nNow, dear children, do not be astonished that I have not told you\nhow affectionately the Bridegroom conversed with the bride. It is\npossible that men would not believe me (except it be one here and\nthere who has tasted this sweet union), if I told them the strange\nand marvellous words the bride speaks with her Bridegroom. We\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 39\n\nfind such things in the Scripture; for when the inner soul speaks\nwith its beloved the words cannot be perfectly uttered. And even\nin these days, it happens that when the espoused soul speaks out loud\nwith its Bridegroom, those who listen say that the soul is drunk, or\nsilly.\n\nNow, dear children, I fear that I have held you too long. But it\ndid not seem long to me; and I meant it all very kindly. Nor could\nI on thi^ occasion be easily more brief, if I would rightly explain\nthis matter. So I beg you to take it in good part. God grant us all\nto become true and perfect brides of our Lord Jesus Christ; that we\nmay go forth in real and boundless self-abandonment and humility\nto meet our blessed Bridegroom; and that we may ever and eternally\nremain espoused to Him. To this happy lot may God the Father,\nand God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost lovingly assist vs. Amen.\n\nCHAPTER ELEVENTH.\n\nWhen this sermon was over, the Master went and offered mass, and\nhe gave God's body in communion to several good souls. But fully\nforty men staid behind in the churchyard lying as it were in a swoon.\nNow the man who had previously given counsel to the Master, when\nhe learned of this, told the Master of it, and when mass was over he\nled him to the churchyard that he might see these people aud consider\nwhat ailed them. But while mass was being said they hud risen up\nand gone away, all but twelve, who still lay there. Then the Master\nsaid to the man : \"Dear son, what thinkest thou we should do with these\nmen?\" Then the man went from one to another of them and touched\nthem. But they moved very little, and lay there almost as if they\nwere dead. This was a very strange thing to the Master, for he had\nnever seen the like before. So he said to the man : \"Tell me ; what\ndost thou think? Are these people dead or living?\" The man smiled\nand said : \"Were they dead, the blame would be on thee and the\nBridegroom. How canst thou bring them back to consciousness?\"\nThe Master spoke: \"If the Bridegroom is with me in this under-\ntaking, then can I indeed restore them.\" Then the man said : \"These\nmen are still alive, and I beg thee to request the sisters' leave to have\nthem carried under shelter, lest by exposure to the night air and by\nlying on the cold earth, they should catch cold.\" And so the Master\n\n40 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nhad them carried into a warm place. Then the sisters said: \"Dear\nsir, here is one of our sisters to whom the same thing has happened,\nand who lies in bed as if she were dead.\" The Master said : \"Have\na care, my dear children, for all these sick people for God's sake, and\nas soon as any of them returns to consciousness, give him something\nwarm if he is able to take it.\" And the sisters said that they would\ngladly do so. And now the Master took his departure, and the man\nalso, and they went to the Master's cell. Then the man spoke : \"Now,\ndear sir, what thinkest thou? Didst thou ever see the like of this in\nthy whole life? Thou now seest plainly what wonders God will do\nby one who is a fit instrument of his work. Dear sir, I foresee that\nthis sermon will move many people, and they will discuss it one with\nanother. If it be thy will, I would advise that thou leave these weak\nchildren awhile in peace, for they must have a long time to deal with\nthis discourse. And if thou thinkest well of it, and God is favorable,\nthen thou mightest give a sermon to people of the secular state of\nlife, for it is now the time of Lent. The Master willingly complied,\nand he preached very well to the people living in the world, several\nof whom were greatly improved.\n\nThe next year it happened that the Master went to a certain\nmonastery of nuns, and five of the sisters begged him for the love of\nGod to give them a sermon, instructing them how a tru^ religious\nshould pass her life. Then the Master said: \"That I v/ill gladly\ndo, with God's blessing, next Sunday.\" And when he arrived, many\npeople attended the sermon, and the Master entered and began as\nfollows :\n\nCHAPTEK TWELFTH.\n\nDear children, St. Paul gives us good instruction in this day's\nEpistle, from which I make this extract: \"I know a man in Christ\nabove fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I know not, or out of\nthe body, I know not; God knoweth), such a one caught up to the\nthird heaven\" (II Cor. xii: 2). Now we notice that our dear apostle,\nwho is speaking of himself, had kept these wonderful things secret for\nfourteen years, nor would he ever have revealed them but by God's\npermission. He did not do as people do nowadays. For if some\nlittle grace is granted them, they forthwith blazen it abroad without\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 41\n\nGod's leave, telling it to others who know as little as themselves what\nit may signify. This is very foolish, and is an injury to themselves.\nTherefore be on your guard against such an indiscretion. We find\nfew men, alas, in our time who have correct judgment in such matters.\nTherefore, dear children, no one should without God's permission\npublish around the graces he may have received. God granted leave\nto St. Paul to tell us his wonderful experiences, and this was for our\nimprovement. And also to teach the doctrine that when God gives\na man the antecedent and unmerited graces, he should not .^hrink from\nany heavy task God may lay upon him; as He did in the case of St.\nPaul.\n\nAnd, dear children, you must know that God's gifts are to come\nto us through suffering; and if they come before suffering, then are\nthey none the less to be preserved by suffering. And because suffering\nso greatly ennobles the soul, and is so fruitful of good to it, therefore\ndoes God give great suffering to his dear, holy friends, and He did\nespecially to His only begotten Son. Men suffer in this life by God's\nwill, and this is on account of the fruitfulness of suffering. This\nis why God granted leave to St. Paul to tell us of his sufferings, and\nalso of his graces. In this day's Epistle he says : \"In many more\nlabors, in prisons more frequently, in stripes above measure, in deaths\noften. Of the Jews five times did I receive forty stripes, save one.\nThrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered\nshipwreck, a night and a day I was in the depth of the sea. In\njourneyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robber:^;, in perils\nfrom my own nation, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city,\nin perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils from false\nbrethren\" (II Cor. xi: 23-26).\n\nThese and many other pains and miseries did the apostle suffer,\nand why? Further on in this Epistle he tells us why sufferings were\nsent him : \"And lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me,\nthere was given me a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan to buffet me.\nFor which thing thrice I besought the Lord, that it might depart\nfrom me. And He said to me: My grace is sufficient for thee; for\npower is made perfect in infirmity.\" And then St. Paul adds.\n\"Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of\nChrist may dwell in me\" (II Cor. xii:7-9). Now, dear children, it\nbehooves us to believe St. Paul when he says suffering is useful and\nfruitful, and imitate his example in bearing all kinds of inflictions.\n\n42 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nFor be sure that if ever we come to a fruitful Christian life, there\nis no other way but this : a voluntary renunciation of our nature, so\nthat a man shall take leave of all natural joy, and do it from his\ninmost heart, providing only for reasonable necessity and that solely\nbecause it advances him nearer to God. Whatever provision for\nnature is over and above that, he must renounce wholly and be totally\nstripped of.\n\nBe sure that nobody can possess and taste God's sweetness, until\nhe has put away from him and totally rooted out the inclinations of\nthe life of the senses, and the concupiscence of his entire nature.\nHence did St, Paul again say: '*For if you live according to the\nflesh, you shall die : but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the\nflesh, you shall live\" (Rom. viii: 13). My dear children, we must\nframe ourselves into the sweet image of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here\nagain St. Paul teaches us to put off the old man and clothe ourselves\nwith Christ: \"Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not pro-\nvision for the flesh in its concupiscences\" (Rom. xiii : 14).\n\nBut even beyond all this there is a much nobler and greater self-\ndenial. For after the spirit has fully vanquished the flesh, and has\nsuppressed all the lower, sensual, fleshly uprisings of nature, then\ndoes the spirit leap upward into things eternal, and the spiritual life\nbecomes full of sweetness, and the former works of nature are heartily\nhated. Now when that happens, when a man's spirit begins to enjoy\nsupernatural things, all very high and noble, another step must be\ntaken. As first of all he renounced all the sweetness of nature, it\nnow remains for him to renounce his own will. And he must give\nup joy in spirtual things; he must renounce the superfluities of the\nspirit as he did before those of nature; he must give up to God, and\nlet Him do His work in him just as He pleases. And heroin does he\nfirst come to real self-renunciation, real and true, arriving at that\npoverty of spirit which is rewarded with the kingdom of heaven.\n\nNow, my dear children, it happens that some souls, drawing them-\nselves inward, place their joy in themselves, picking and choosing\nwhat pleases them in the spiritual life. They do not abandon them-\nselves to God, but all in self-will they follow their own self-chosen\ndevotional methods. The souls that act that way enjoy God's gifts\nand graces inordinately, receiving little fruit, and sometimes none at\nall. Now God knows that if He should cast a brighter light upon\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 43\n\nsuch people's faults, and if He withdrew from them their devotional\nsweetness, they would not remain faithful to Him. That is why He\ngives such spirits the sweet solace of religious feeling, lest ihey should\nquite give up His service. They are yet petty and weak of character ;\nand the reason is because they are full of self-will. They are very\ndear to themselves. As to perfection, they mistake the show for the\nreality. They are essentially outward characters, having little\ninterior life. Hence they are all too readily led astray.\n\nBut there are other souls, who have given up to God in a state of\nmost interior detachment, receiving everything from God with equal\nindifference whether it be bitter or sweet. And if spiritual joy\ndeparts, that loss moves them not one whit farther from God. These\nsouls prefer the reality to the show of perfection; they lead spiritual\nlives fruitful of the essentials of religion. They are the true, interior\nspirits.\n\nAnd you should know this : the man who has thus freely given up\neverything in the body and in the soul that is not God has made great\nand indescribable progress. What he now needs is the counsel of the\nwise and the good. And he must also very carefully cultivate ft deep,\na boundle«?s humility, and in that constantly abide, for the evil beasts of\nhell never give over their purpose to destroy him.\n\nDear children, deep resignation — that is to say, a sincere detachment\nfrom all our natural inclinations — is a good beginning. But that should\nbe inspired with real humility, as St. Peter teaches : \"Be you humbled,\ntherefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in the\ntime of visitation\" (I Peter v, 6). Dear children, could we but\nlearn how to be gladly and totally free from desires, that would be good.\nUpon this subject St. Dionysius speaks : \"When it happens that God\nactually and truly dwells within my soul, then is my spirit so exalted\nthat it seems to me that nothing in the world is lacking to me, and if He\nat the same moment made all created things subject to me, it would not\nbe a favor done me. But when it happens that God is in my soul\nonly by His presence and by way of satisfaction in Him and perception\nof His sovereignty, then do I yet have a longing for Him, and that long-\ning can only exist because of some imperfection of which I am guilty ;\nfor, as Solomon teaches, we should have peace in all Divine works.\"\nThus does St. Dionysius reckon interior longing to be in a kind of a\nway a defect, for it is self-evident that if one longs for entire detach-\nment he has not yet fully attained to it. The most perfect detachment is\n\n44 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nto be detached from one's very detachment, if we may say so. But this\nwill seem a strange doctrine to certain men among us, who are advocat-\ning novel and erroneous views, for they have beheld God only according\nto their own spiritual joys.\n\nBut I must now grant the request of these Sisters and tell them what\nare the virtues proper to their state of life. And I say this : A true\nnun should all her life long be purified from all creatures and be\ndetached from them. She should have so pure a soul that it may be\nfit and able to help to eternal salvation all who hold the faith of Christ.\nBut one of the Sisters might say : I have so much human weakness that\nit is necessary for me to be now and then recreated and refreshed with\nhuman company, and I must spend some time conversing with people.\nI answer : Alas, thou poor creature, in this thou art under the guidance\nof the devil! Make up thy mind that whosoever seeks in the cloister\nanything else but willing suffering through God enters there very unad-\nvisedly. Some enter the cloister with such motives that it seems a sin\nfor them to live on the alms given to their order, for they would be very\nunwilling to practice actual poverty; that is to say, to lead the life of\nthose poor people on the streets who are in actual want and subsist by\nbegging. Besides this, when a Sister joins the community she should set\nabout becoming free from all imperfections of the bodily and of the\nspiritual life. She must willingly go along with Jesus Christ to Calvary\nand be crucified with Him for the salvation of all mankind. For Christ\nexclaimed from the cross : \"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken\nMe?\" (Matt, xxvii, 46). And as God the Father did thus forsake His\nonly begotten Son for men's salvation, so must all true monks and nuns\nforsake all created things, all worldly and fleshly desires. Otherwise,\nthey have their labor for their pains. Holy Mary Magdalen was a true\nnun, for she willingly gave up all self-love and gladly chose to be\ndeprived of all human help.\n\nThe Heavenly Father sent His only begotten Son in human nature,\nthat He might endure suffering, and we would fly from all suffer-\ning. I tell you emphatically that, do what we may, if we would find\nthe safest and the shortest and the most reasonable way to perfection,\nthen we have no choice but to set our Lord's life and passion before us as\nour pattern and follow after Him by suffering.\n\nBut I must tell you something else : The Heavenly Father is not so\nhard with us as He was with His only begotten Son. If we will but give\nourselves to God in a state of suffering and do it with all our powers ;\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 45\n\nif we but gladly accept sufferings because He so wills it ; if we do not\nseek to escape from suffering when He visits it upon us, but stand fast\nand firm : when the Heavenly Father finds us at last thus disposed\ntoward Him, then, in due time, He will withdraw all suffering from us\nand He will bestow on us a comfort divinely joyful. When a man\nexperiences these happy and gracious joys in his espousals with God,\nhe will never again think of earthly joys. The joys even of Christmas\nand of Easter seem to him to be all merged in the unbroken happiness\nof his perpetual marriage feast, as God ever comes to him with over-\nflowing supernatural graces. Whatever day that first happens to him\nis the great day of his heavenly jubilation.\n\nDear children, these are the reasons why we should gladly suffer all\nthat our tender Father inflicts upon us. We know full well that the\nman who through suffering attains to the Divine espousals is made a\nwise man, and his life is a well-ordered life. He overflows with the\ninfluence of the Holy Ghost, giving him plain guidance what to do and\nwhat to leave undone and making all his activity spiritually fruitful.\nBut, meanwhile, such a man makes nothing of himself. He is pro-\nfoundly humble, and he feels a continual fear, dreading lest he is falling\nshort of his duty to his well-loved Father. God grant us to learn how to\nsuffer in all our life. May God the Father and the Son and the Holy\nGhost help us to enjoy the Divine espousals. Amen.\n\nCHAPTER THIRTEENTH.\n\nDear child, if thou wilt finally come to thy perfection and to God,\nthou must observe three things: Firstly — Thou must make God thy one\nand only motive and meaning, seeking God's honor in everything and\nby no means thy own honor — His will and not thy own. Secondly — In\nall external activity thou shalt keep a close watch on thyself. Gaze\ndown into thy own utter nothingness and take good heed of that. Look\ncarefully to thy relations to persons and things around about thee, an<i\nto thy own sentiments and feelings about them, looking inward toward\nthy most secret thoughts. Thirdly — Meddle not with what does not\nconcern thee. Let things be as they are, if they are not committed to\nthy charge. What is good, is good; what is bad, is bad, and thou canst\nnot help it. Turn inward to thy own soul and there abide, waiting for\nthe tones of thy Father's voice calling thee to be and remain steadfastly\nin Him.\n\n46 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nAnd, O dear child, if thou wilt but observe these two other things,\nthou shalt win a great victory. Firstly — Thou must in all sincerity be\nlittle in thy own esteem, whether thou considerest thy outward or thy\ninward life. Nor should this sentiment be in words only, but in thy\nheart's truest sincerity. Reckon thyself as of small account, yea, of no\naccount at all, and let this be the clear persuasion of thy mind and the\nstrong feeling of thy heart, with not the least taint of hypocrisy. Sec-\nondly— Have true Divine love. And this is not to be what we call love\nin our life of the senses, but rather that essential manner of loving by\nwhich our intention is fixed singly and wholly on God in our inmost\nsoul.\n\nO man, thou shalt be void of all attention, understanding and activity\nof the senses that is not directed to God, because the Lord God Him-\nself is empty and void [to thy apprehension] in order that tbe spirit\nmay be assimilated to the infinite, absolute Divine essence. It is neces-\nsary that thy soul should thus stand free and detached if it shall ever be\nable to comprehend the hidden mystery of familiar union with God.\nThus must a man renounce all things in which he detects any trace of\nself-love. Amen.\n\nCHAPTER FOURTEENTH.\n\nAnd now you must know that this Master increased in a godly life\nand became, by the grace of the Holy Ghost, so wise that he was often\ncalled on to preach both to the clergy and the laity, following the way\nwe have described. He was much loved in both town and country. What-\never weighty matter was to be settled, he was called on for guidance,\nnot only in spiritual, but also in temporal affairs, for his advice was\nimplicitly followed. When the Master had passed eight years of these\nfruitful labors it was God's will to leave him no longer in this state of\nexile. And He would have him come to Him without any purgatory.\nGod then sent him the decree of death. He was attacked by a severe\nillness and lay abed for full twenty weeks, a most painful time and full\nof deep sorrows. Finally he knew, in the grace of the Holy Ghost,\nthat he was about to bid farewell to this world, for God would now\nreward him for his labors. Therefore did the Master send for that\nholy man, his beloved friend, telling him that he had not long to live.\nThe man was obedient and came to the Master, who received hira very\naffectionately. The man was glad to find him yet alive, and he said:\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 47\n\n'\"Dear sir, how art thou?\" The Master answered: '*I believe that the\ntime is at hand when God would take me out of this life. Therefore,\ndear son, it is a great comfort to me that thou shalt be with me at my\nend. And I pray thee to take the books lying there. Thou shalt find\nwritten in them all the conferences that thou gavest to me and my\nanswer to thy words. Thou shalt also find there some account of my\nlife and of what God has done for me, His poor, unworthy servant.\nDear son, if thou thinkest well of it and God gi-ants thee the gi'ace to\ndo it, thou wilt make a little book of all this.\" Then the man spoke :\n\"Dear sir, I have written down thy five sermons, and if thou approve\nof it I will add them to the little book thou askest me to make about\nthee.\" Then the Master said : \"I admonish thee with all the earnest-\nness I am capable of, and for the love of God, that thou shalt write\nnothing about me and shall not mention my name. For thou shouldst\ncertainly know that my way of life, the words, the works that have\nbeen done through me, a poor, unworthy, sinful man, are not mine,\nbut Almighty God's — they are His alone, now and forevermore. There-\nfore, dear son, if thou shalt write the little book for the benefit of our\nfellow-Christians, so write it that neither my name nor thine shall once\nbe mentioned. Thou mayst, however, use the words — the Master, the\nman. Again, permit not this little book to be read or to be seen by\nanyone in this city, for they would easily know that I was the Master\nnamed. Take it with thee into thy own country, lest my interior life\nshould be be revealed in this place.\"\n\nDuring full eleven days the Master conversed with the man. And\nthen the time came when he must die. And he said : \"Dear son, I beg\nthee, for God's sake, that thou wilt consent, if God is willing, that after\nray death my spirit should appear to thee and tell thee how it is with\nme.\" Then the man said: \"Dear Sir, if God pleases, I will gladly\nconsent.\"\n\nAnd it came to pass that when he was dying the Master had a manner\nand appearance the most shocking and fearful, so that all the brethren\nin the monastery, and, indeed, others from without, were distressed and\namazed, such was the anguish that he seemed to endure when he died.\nHis death caused universal sorrow, both in his community and in the\ncity generally. When people were told of the long and confidential\nfriendship between him and the man, many came to see the latter and\nwished to show him honor, inviting him to visit them. But when this\nhappened he instantly left the city and returned home. And while he\n\n4g The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nwas yet on his journey, the third day after the Master's death he and\nrfs servant we e overtaken by nightfall at a little village. Seemg .\nnobleman going along the road, he said to him: \"^-r,/\"-^' ^^^^^^^^\nan inn in this village?\" The nobleman answered : \"No.\" And the man\n.aid • \"Wilt thou be so kind, dear friend, to give us a n^g^^^s lodging for\nthe love of God? and we will pay thee what thou wilt.\" The nobleman\nanswered: \"If thou will put up with our accommodations I will gladly\nlodge you as best I may.\" And he led them to his house. And so he lay\ndown to sleep in a room, and the servant lay on the straw m the barn\n\nNow, it happened during the night that the man awoke, and presently\nhe heard a voice speaking, but he saw no one. Then he began to be fright-\nened, and he made the sign of the cross on himself. The voice spoke\n\"Fear not, my dear son, it is I, the Master.\" Then spoke the man : My\ndear Master, is it thou? Then I do beg of thee from my heart s depths\nto tell me, if such be God's will, how it is with thee and how it happened\nthat thou hadst so distressful a death? For thy brethren in the mon^\nastery almost despaired for thee; thy own fellow-religious, it would\nseem, were much shocked at the manner of thy death.\" Then the Mas-\nter's voice spoke: \"Dear son, I will tell thee, and thou must know that\nthe Lord God willed me to have so painful and anxious an end in order\nthat the holy angels might receive my soul instantly after death and\nbear it away to Heaven. And I must tell thee, besides, that thou also\nShalt for the same reason, have the same distressful kind of a death.\nIt was necessary for me to suffer that trial in order to escape the pains\nof purgatory. I must tell thee, too, that the evil spirit caused me\n<.rievous pain and tempted me with great cunning, so that I was much\nalarmed lest I should fall into despair. But, however dreadful was my\nsuffering at death, I now see how little it was compared to the additional\njoy granted me on that account by the Almighty, Eternal and Merciful\nGod The instant that my soul was parted from my body the blessed\nangels took it and they bore me away to Paradise. And they said to me :\n'Here shall thou tarry five days ; but have no anxiety, nor the least fear\nthat the evil spirits will harm thee more; nor shalt thou have any toil.\nOnly this • Thou shalt be postponed here for five days from the everlast-\ning and blissful company of Heaven. At the end of that time we will\ncome to thee again and we will lead thee into the unspeakable joy of\nHeaven.' Now, dear sou, more than this I dare not tell thee, nor mayst\nthou lawfully ask to know. I pray God to reward thee for thy good\nspiritual teaching of me and thy most profitable counsel. For this T\ncan never give God and thyself sufficient thanks.\"\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 49\n\nThen the man spoke : \"Dear sir, I beg of thee from the depths of my\nheart that when thou shalt come to God thou wilt pray for me.\" What\nthe man said after this received no answer. And then, being tired out,\nhe would gladly have slept, and turned now on one side and then on the\nother, but all in vain. He could rest no more that night, and he was\nso anxious that he could scarcely wait the break of day. At daylight\nhe instantly wrote to the Prior of the monastery and to the brethren\nthere all that the Master's spirit had said to him. He then returned\nto his home, and in due time he made a good and happy end.\n\nMay we all follow the sweet example of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that\nwe may pass through this miserable life and all its transitory joys and\nenter the ever-enduring joys of Heaven with God and His elect. May\nGod the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, grant us that\nunspeakable favor. Amen.\n\nEND OF THE HISTORY OP MASTER JOHN TAULER.\n\nTHE INTERVIEW OF MASTER JOHN TAULER\nWITH A BEGGAR.*\n\nThere was once a famous Master of holy learning wlui for eight years\nprayed God to send him a man able to teach him the v.ay of truth. It\nhappened one day tbat this longing was more than usually earnest\nwithin him, and presently he heard a voice from on high, saying: \"Go\nforth to the church door and thou shalt find the man thou hast been\nlooking for.\" Going to the church door, the Master met a beggar there.\nHe was in a miserable plight, his feet covered with mud and all his tat-\ntered clothes not worth three pennies. The Master said : \"Good day,\nmy friend.\" The beggar : \"I never remember to have had a bad day my\nwhole life long.\" The Master : \"May God grant thee prosperity.\" The\nbeggar: \"I never have known adversity.\" The Master: \"Well, then,\nmay God make thee happy.\" The beggar : \"I have never been unhappy.\"\nThe Master : \"At any rate, may God save thee. And I beg thee to speak\nmore plainly to me, for I do not catch thy meaning.\" The beggar : \"Thou\ndidst bid me good day and I answered that T have never had a bad one.\n\n♦The authenticity of this incident is more than doubtful. It is not given in the\nGerman critical edition of Tauler that we have followed in our translation. But\nwe give it here because it is inseparably associated with Tauler's name and\ncareer, and is in itself very instructive.\n\n50 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nIn fact, when 1 am hungry, I praise God; when I am cold, or it hails,\nor snows, or rains, if the air is clear or foggy, I praise God. If I am\nfavored by men or despised, I praise Him equally. And all this is why\nI have never known a bad day. Thou didst wish me prosperity, and I\nanswered that I have never known adversity, for I have learned to live\nwith God, and I am certain that all that He does can be naught but good.\nTherefore, all that happens to me that is pleasing, or the contrary —\nsweet or bitter — I receive from Him as being very good for me. Thus\nI have never been in adversity. Thou hast wished me happiness, and I\nanswered that I have never been unhappy, for I have resolved to fix my\naffections only on the Divine will. Hence it comes that I desire only\nwhat God desires.\" The Master: \"But what wouldst thou say if God\nwould will to cast thee into hell?\" The beggar: \"God cast me into\nhell? If He did it, I would embrace Him with my two arms. With the\narm of humility I would embrace His sacred humanity, and with the\narm of love I would embrace His divinity, and I would thus force Him\nto descend with me into hell. For hell with Him would be more happy\nthan Heaven without Him.\" The Master concluded from this that\nresignation, united to profound humility, is the shortest road to God.\nThen he asked the beggar: \"Whence comest thou?\" The beggar:\n\"From God.\" The Master: \"Where didst thou find God ?\" The beggar:\n\"Where I left all creatures.\" The Master: \"Where is God?\" The\nbeggar : \"In hearts that are pure and in men of good-will.\" The Master :\n\"Who art thou ?\" The beggar : \"I am a king.\" The Master : \"Where is\nthy kingdom?\" The beggar: \"In my soul; for I have learned to order\nand govern my interior faculties and my exterior senses in such a way\nthat I am master of all my affections and of all the powers of my soul.\nNow, that kingdom is certainly to be preferred to all the kingdoms of\nthe world.\" The Master : \"By what means hast thou gained this degree\nof perfection ?\" The beggar : \"By silence, meditation and union with\nGod. I have never been able to find rest in anything, be it what it\nmight, that was less than God. I have found my God, and in Him I\nhave found rest and peace eternal.\"\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 51\n\nSynopsis — Mortal sin — Uses of suffering — Interior life — Our Saviour's\nthree motives.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT.\nIt is now the hour for us to arise from sleep. — Rom. xiil, 11.\n\nToday we celebrated the beginning of Advent, the coming of our Lord.\nA precious time has begun for us, and we find during this season words\nof joy and devotion in the lessons and songs of holy Church. Even as\nthe month of May is the most delightful and beautiful part of the year,\nso the season of Advent has a holiness and sweetness all its own. It is\nthe time toward which the prophets and saints of the ancient covenant\nduring four thousand years sighed with incomparable ardor, crying out\nto God : \"O that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down !\"\n(Isaias, Ixiv, 1.) to deliver those that sit in darkness and in the shadow\nof death. All the happenings, all the symbols of the Old Testament, had\nthe one end of setting forth the grandeur of Him who was to come, and\nwho now has come. Let us, then, thank God and always praise Him,\nthat He has created us at this time and under this law of grace, that He\nhas willed to give us His gifts and His riches in such abundance, if we\nwill only take them. The Holy Apostle exhorts us to awake from the\nsleep of sin : \"The night is passed, the day is at hand * * * let us\nwalk honestly as in the day\" (Rom. xiii, 12-13). We must, therefore,\nconsider carefully how we have fallen and how we can rise again out of\nour sins and vices to our first innocence.\n\nGod created us to fill the places from which Lucifer and His angels\nwere driven out. Through hate and envy of us Lucifer treacherously\nled the first man into disobedience and caused him to lose all the graces\nand virtues which made him like God and the angels. In this way was\nman poisoned and his noble nature stained. By his sin he wounded it\nmortally. And by this transgression has come upon us blindness of\nreason, perversity of will, disorder of the appetite of concupiscence\nand weakness in resisting evil. ''Man when he was in honor did not\n\nThe Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nunderstand; he hath been compared to senseless beasts and made like\nunto them\" (Ps. xlviii, 21) .\n\nWe thus have three enemies to combat, which triumph, unhappily,\nalmost universally, and rule in the breasts of nearly all men— the world,\nthe devil and the flesh. When these three enemies have worked their will\nin man his soul is lost— that soul so noble, chosen out by God with so\nmuch love— for he who allows himself to be wholly overcome shall most\ncertainlv go down to eternal death. God's friends-those who seek in\nall things His glory-can hardly keep back their tears when they behold\nthe hateful tyranny with which these three enemies hold sway over so\ngreat a multitude of men, among whom they usurp the place of God.\nAnd these souls are to be found both in the worldly state of life and in\nthe cloister. To God's friends the eternal destruction of their brethren\nis a great torture. Their hearts wither away with sorrow as they con-\nsider that self-love is so rooted in the world that there are few who love\nGod purelv and tend toward Him solely.\n\nThe world rules by pride-exterior pride or that of the spirit. How\nmany men belong to this order of the devil ! They wish to be something,\nto make a fine showing, and they could not count their sins and vices\nif they tried. Satan excites his subjects to hate, wrath, bitterness, sus-\npicions, rash judgments and revenge, to aversions and discord. His\ndisciples are glad to sow dissensions; they are without love for their\nbrethren. Our flesh seeks its own interest in everything, in all sensual\nand voluptuous pleasures. Men ignore all the misery this surely brings,\nthose above all who suffer from it. By these three enemies is the\ngreater part of men drawn into hell. If one wishes to recover his first\nglory and the dignitv which Adam lost by sin and which we have lost\nwith him; if one wishes, I say, to make a place in his heart for the\ncoming of Jesus Christ, he must flee from the world, triumph over\ndemons, overcome his flesh with sound reason and in all discretion, and\ncarefully exercise himself in the virtues which I shall explain to you.\n\nIn the earthlv paradise man fell by two things— sensuality and pride.\nNow we must rise up and regain the early force of our nature by two\nthings. Firstly— We must resist courageously and with judgment, even\nunto death, every ill-regulated pleasure. Secondly— We must humble\nourselves in deep abasement, not only under God, against whom we have\nrisen in pride, but even under all men. Wouldst thou rise to the first\nplace, choose always the lowest. By these two means it is that nature\nwins back her first energy.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 53\n\nMan must become like the angels in two ways. Firstly— He must\nwillingly pardon all who have offended him and love his enemies sin-\ncerely, as do the angels in our case when we vex them by our sins. Sec-\nondly—He must render willing service to our neighbor, even as the\nangels serve us for the love of God. In two ways we should become like\nGod— in the practice of obedience after our Saviour's example, who\nobeyed His Heavenly Father even unto death, and by growth and perse-\nverance in that virtue and in all others. Thus do we become heavenly\nmen ; thus are we made one spirit with God through deep humility, by\nentire yielding up of self, by patience full of sweetness, by poverty of\nspirit and by warmth of charity. All who do this— and their number,\nalas! is very small— shall triumph over their foes. God will free them\nfrom the heavy burdens which weigh them down and help them in bear-\ning the trials, many and painful, which He sends ; for he sends trials in\norder that men entering within themselves may consider the reasons of\nthese trials, so that being, as it were, thrown back on themselves by\nsuffering, they may be kept in a state of recollection. He wishes them to\nask themselves why God crushes them beneath so heavy a weight; for\nwhithersoever God shall lead them by these trials they must follow, sub-\nmissive to His Divine will. Again, God sends trials so that men may\ndepart from themselves and from all creatures, and likewise that by\nsuffering they may have patience.\n\nBut in what does this patience consist? Is it that a man is inacces-\nsible to all external emotion? No; certainly not. To be truly patient\nis to hold for certain that no one can do us wrong ; nay, far more than\nthat, we feel that those who make us suffer are right in what they do\nagainst us, that they ought, indeed, to torment us yet more, and that\nwe ought to feel a tender gentleness toward them. Such patient men\nfollow Jesus Christ in His humility, who says : \"If you continue in My\nword you shall be My disciples, indeed ; and you shall know the truth,\nand the truth shall make you free\" (John viii, 31-32).\n\nThere are two ways of hearing the Word of Jesus Christ. Some hear\nit with joy, as far as they can; reason and the senses listen to it with\npleasure ; but this is only a natural light. What they cannot feel nor\ntaste they reject, and, since such food cannot satisfy them, they cease\nnot running about looking for something new, something more that they\ncan hear and understand. They do not perceive that they must stop\nthese useless searchings and adopt another way if they would become\nbetter. The others, on the contrary, enter within themselves and dwell\nin the remotest depth of their being, observing simply by their reason.\n\n54 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nenlightened by grace, the commands of God, and they wait until He\ncalls them and invites them directly and without any perceptible inter-\nmediary whither He wills to conduct them. Whatever Divine influence\ncomes by such exterior means as perishable creatures has little flavor; is,\nas it were, wrapped up in multiplicity and contains a seed of bitterness.\nOne finds herein a certain savor of the creature, from which the posses-\nsion of God must be freed if the spirit shall truly taste Him and if He\nshall sink into the deepest depths of the soul. Those who look within\nthemselves for the gifts and decrees of God partake of them at their very\nfountainhead, and there they give them back again. They draw and taste\nat the very fountainhead, whilst the former class are self-seekers in\neverything. And yet nowhere can they find their own selves in a way\nso certain and so simple as in that innermost depth, where we feel the\nimmediate presence of God.\n\nPerhaps you will ask me how we can do and observe without hin-\ndrance what God requires of us? It is by being careful to dwell within\nourselves. Let each one dwell within and give over all seeking on the\noutside. So shall a man soon and surely learn what he should do, what\nGod wills of him interiorly and exteriorly ; and, when he knows it, let\nhim yield himself to God and follow along whatsoever road He shall\nconduct him, whether it be in the active life or the contemjilative or\nthe unitive, in suffering or in joy. If God gives him nothing, let him\nresign himself simply to His will, and, for love of Him, agree to be\ndeprived of His gifts. And let him sink yet deeper into his inner life,\nhaving ever before his eyes the dear image of our Lord. Our Lord had\nthree motives in all His actions; He sought only His Heavenly\nFather iS glory, with no thought of anything else, great or small, and\nHe referred all to His Father's glory. Secondly — From the depths\nof His being He willed our salvation and our happiness. He willed\nthe salvation of all, and to bring all to the knowledge of His name; even\nas St. Paul says that God ''Will have all men to be saved and come to the\nknowledge of the truth\" (I Tim., ii, 4). Thirdly— In all His words\nand deeds and life our Lord willed to leave us in an eminent degree the\ntrue pattern and exemplar of a perfect life. His followers are the\nnoblest and most lovable of all men. Those who are born spiritually\nwith Him are the choicest treasures of the Church — always striving\nafter perfection and having no care if their works be great or small, but\nin all things seeing only God, and therefore it is that their works are\nperfect. They do by no means consider whether God shall set them very\nhigh or very low, for they have taste only for the Divine will.\n\nMay God grant us these dispositions! Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 55\n\nSynopsis — Spiritual direction — Self-knowledge — Brotherly love — Lov-\ning God — Growth in love — Imitation of the saints — Beholding\n\nChrist — Sensible devotion.\n\nSERMON FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT.*\nWhat went ye out into the desert to see? — Matt, xl, 7.\n\nOur Lord asks the Jews: \"What went ye out into the desert to see?\nA reed shaken by the wind?\" We find in these words three matters for\nconsideration — the going out, the desert, and what they went to see.\nLet us first speak of the going out. This is done in four ways, for we\nmust go out from the world, that is to say, from its concupiscence, by\ncontempt for it, according to St. John's words : \"Love not the world,\nnor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the\ncharity of the Father is not in him\" (I John, ii, 15). Those who\nrenounce the love of the world depart truly out of Egypt; they leave\nKing Pharaoh's service in renouncing pride, vainglory, presumption and\nall other sins; and those who would go out of the world have great need\nof finding a Moses who will serve them as conductor— one who will be\nlike the first Moses, full of gentleness and compassion. They need a\nguide — sweet, kindly and patient — who will make their going forth,\nwhich costs so dearly, more easy to them. There are others who go forth\nout of Sodom and Gomorrah, that is to say, from avarice, intemperance\nand impurity, and who have still to suffer dire assaults from these vices.\nThey should have an angel for director and counsellor; that is to say, a\nman compassionate, grave and of an austere manner of life. He who\nallows himself to be thus directed or led will surely escape pride, avarice\nand sensuality, according to the words of Isaias: \"For you shall go\nout with joy and be led forth with peace\" (Isaias Iv, 12).^ Or, accord-\ning to our Saviour: \"In the world you shall have distress\" (John xvi,\n33) , and in Me, peace.\n\nWe must go forth from all exterior things, useless preoccupations,\nself-love and self-will, and enter into ourselves if we would know our-\n\n♦Tauler has left no sermon for the Second Sunday of Advent.\n\n56 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nselves and distinguish clearl}' the nature and origin of the motives\nwhich actuate us. Whosoever does not go forth from himself, whether\non account of self-love or some other motive, cannot learn to know him-\nself, according to the teaching of St. Bernard : \"There are plenty of men\nwho know many things, but who yet know absolutely nothing of them-\nselves. Now, to know oneself and to realize how sick one is and full of\ndefects is of more worth than to possess all sciences. Says Solomon in\ntht Canticle: 'If thou know not thyself, O fairest among women, go\nforth and follow after the steps of the flocks and feed thy kids beside\nthe tents of the shepherds' \" (Cant, i, 7). That is to say, look at thy-\nself in the lives of the saints and follow their example, instead of fol-\nlowing thy own will.\n\nThou must depart from thy own ease and sense and thou must give\nthyself up wholly to the service of thy neighbor, helping him with all\nthy might by good advice, good works and pious example, by a deep and\nconstant charity, in order that he may the more easily attain to eternal\nhappiness. For such is our Saviour's precept : \"A new commandment I\ngive unto you, that you love one another. * * * By this shall all\n.men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another.\"\n(John xiii, 34-35) , And St. Paul says : '\"Bear ye one another's burdens,\nand so shall ye fulfill the law of Christ\" (Gal. vi, 2). And in Genesis\nwe read that Joseph said to his brethren : \"You shall not see my face\nunless you bring your youngest brother with you\" (Gen. xliii, 3).\nAnd again in the Canticle we read : \"Come, My beloved, let us go forth\ninto the field, let us abide in the villages; let us get up early to the\nvineyards\" (Cant, vii, 11).\n\nWe must go forth from all that is not God ; in such a manner that our\nlove for Him surpasses all other love, and that we love Him with all\nour soul, all our heart and all our strength. Of old God said to Abra-\nham : \"Go forth out of thy country and from thy kindred, and out of thy\nfather's house\" (Gen. xii, 1). That means fix not thy heart on perish-\nable things, but on God alone ; seek Him and love Him in all that thou\ndost possess. The Canaanitish woman had thus gone forth, as her words\ntestify, and, therefore, she got from Jesus all that she asked. In the\nCanticle God invites the faithful soul and its companions to this going\nforth, saying to them: \"Go forth, ye daughter of Sion\" (Cant, iii, 11).\nIt is right that He should give them the name of daughters rather than\nthat of sons, for their spirit is yet weak, troubled by the fears and dis-\ntresses of women, for they are not yet strong enough of resolution to\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 57\n\nundertake to give up all, and they have still the weakness and delicacy\nof a young girl.\n\nLet us now speak of the desert. Scarcely have we quit worldly desires\nand sin than we encounter the desert, an image of that life, spiritual and\ndetaxjhed, that we must lead here below. But there are two kinds of\ndesert — one good and the other bad. The latter is that in which the\nheart of man fills itself with vanity, stripping itself of charity and of\nheavenly longings. In the temple of the soul are no longer heard the\nchants of divine praise ; and the sheep of the house of Israel, that is to\nsay, good thoughts, are scattered and go forth each on his way. The\nfertile desert is that wherein a man has driven down into the lowest\ndepths of his heart the stormy disturbance of passions, the irregularity\nof worldly desires and the love of created things. He still sometimes\nexperiences, it is true, in his body or his senses the first movements of\nthe passions, but his will remains inaccessible to their attempts. There\nis the good desert — storm without and the sweetness of peace within. It\nis of this desert that God speaks to the prophet : ''I will lead her into\nthe wilderness and will speak to her heart\" (Osee ii, 14), for no one\nhears or understands what is within himself or what God says within\nuntil He reaches that desert.\n\nIt is called a desert, this life of detachment and separation, because of\nthe small number of those who go into it after being separated from the\nworld. These are few enough when compared with the great number of\nthose who continue to yield to their sensual desires. We must drive out\nof our hearts the world and its images and advance into the interior of\nthe desert, to dwell there with Moses. There can we the more easily\nguard our flocks ; that is to say, free ourselves from our interior tempta-\ntions and the caprices of our imagination. When Moses had led his\nflocks into the interior of the desert God showed Himself to him in a\nburning bush, which signifies that the fire of charity and holy desires\nshall fill our heart, and then it is that we can follow God whithersoever\nHe calls us.\n\nThere is to be found that delightful desert of which it is \\STitten:\n''Who is she that goeth up by the desert as a pillar of smoke of aromat-\nical spices?\" (Cant, iii, 6) . St. Gregory says that the nature of love is\nto rise each day higher above oneself toward God by holy desires and\nnever to rest until one has reached the supreme good. For upon the\nearth there is nothing that can attract a loving soul's glances; but his\nwhole effort is to go to God, raising himself above himself. Such is the\n\n58 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nheritage of God's friends, and the more they are united to Him by the\nfervor of their longings, the more wearisome and painful becomes all\nthat smiles on them in the world. It is of this desert that the angels\nspeak in the Canticle, saying : \"Who is she that goeth up by the desert?\"\nAnd to them the fervent soul makes answer : \"I found Him whom my\nsoul loveth; I held Him, and I will not let Him go\" (Cant, iii, 4). For\nwhoever penetrates into this desert knows how to savor and how to\nexpress interior and mystical things. Charity by its good works renews\nand increases all the virtues, and this our Saviour well showed us when\nhe clothed himself with glory on Mount Tabor and discovered to us the\nfruits that we gather in the desert when we are sincerely converted to\nGod. Thus St. Paul tells us : ''We all, beholding the glory of the Lord\nwith open face, are transformed into the same image from glory to\nglory, as by the spirit of the Lord\" (TI Cor. iii, 18).\n\nWe find, besides, in the desert a multitude of beautiful flowers on\nwhich the foot of man has never trodden. It is even so with a life of\nrenunciation and separation; by pious practices, hard to nature, the habit\nof Christian virtue is acquired. But, as these practices cost much effort\nand pain, there are but few who make up their minds to adopt thtm. In\nthis desert we find lilies and other flowers of shining whiteness, namely,\npurity of soul and body. There we also find deep red roses, namely,\nmortification, exhausting to flesh and blood, triumphing over sin and\ncausing us, if necessary, bravely to suffer martyrdom. Ah, there are\nthings there which one can hardly get in the world. This desert grows\nalso the violet, the symbol of humility, and many other precious plants\nand flowers; that is to say, the example of the saints. Choose, then, for\nthyself a spot in that desert by living piously, by imitating the purity,\npoverty and obedience of the saints and their other virtues, according to\nwhat is written in the Canticle: ''The flowers have appeared in our\nland\" (Cant, ii, 12), which means that many men have departed this\nlife full of virtue and of merit.\n\nBut one must not expect to find his ease in the desert, and it is on this\naccount that the lovers of this world cannot endure it. The children of\nIsrael murmured against Moses because of the very many privations to\nwhich they were subjected. Those privations are a symbol of the sober,\nsevere and recollected life necessary for every Christian; for, had we\nthe whole universe at our command, we ought yet to use only what is\nneedful, and we ought ever to dread going beyond the just measure of\nnecessity ; it is thus that the soul strengthens itself. This desert minis-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 5^\n\nters, it is true, very little that is pleasing to the senses, but in compensa-\ntion we find abundance of spiritual comforts, much surpassing worldly\njoys. 'The Lord will comfort Sion. * * * He will make her desert\na place of pleasure and her wilderness a garden of the Lord\" fisaias\nii, 3). And again the prophet says: \"That which was dry land shall\nbecome a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water\" (Isaias xxxv, 7).\nThe solitary soul shall be granted a more numerous posterity, that\nis to say, a greater number of merits, than the soul that is wedded to the\nworld. God had commanded Pharaoh to let the people of God go into\nthe desert to sacrifice to the Lord, for they were to receive spiritual con-\nsolations in place of the worldly consolations of Egypt.\n\nWhen we have penetrated into this desert we shall, with the eyes of\nthe soul, see the King and His bride, namely, God and the soul ; and that\nsight is a fountain of delights for us. So it is written in the Canticle:\n\"Go forth, daughters of Sion, and see King Solomon\" (Cant, iii, 2) ;\nthat is to say, Christ, of whom Isaias says : \"A child is bom to us, and\nHis name is Wonderful\" (Isaias ix, 6). Behold, indeed, how much\nGod is wonderful, since He has even willed to become man for the sake\nof His bride. This is the marvel that Moses saw and of which he tells :\n\"I will go and see this great sight— why the bush is not burnt\" (Exo-\ndus iii, 3). That bush is the human nature of Christ; the flame is His\nholy soul, burning with love, and the light, that is His divinity united to\nHis mortal body. Come, then, and behold Christ, this Solomon into\nwhom is poured the infinitude of wisdom and who understands all\nthings. He is the truth that has shown us the road to Heaven. The\nsoul should contemplate Him without ceasing, in order to be able to\nimitate Him by living according to the Spirit and not according to\nnature. And even nature will be greatly strengthened in her struggles,\nif she will hold her eyes fixed on her King, and meditate how it was that\nHe accomplished His pilgrimage here below. It is a great consolation\nfor a loving soul to consider in Jesus Christ at one time the infirmity\nof human nature, and again the spiritual life that He led so superior to\nhuman nature.\n\nAccording to an illustrious teacher, an abundance of consolation*\nweakens our energies, and spiritual joys even wholly devour the soul\nwhen they are excessive. A very lively happiness cannot last long, and a\nprompt change is made necessary-, for here below the soul is not admitted\nto serve God in the holy of holies : \"Thy chalice, which inebriateth me,\nhow goodly it is!\" (Ps. xxii, 5). The soul should, therefore, consider\n\n60 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nin Jesus Christ sometimes the glory of His divinity, sometimes the\nexcellence of His humanity. As to souls estranged from God, whom He\nhas not yet visited, in them we should arouse faith ; but interior souls,\nwell proved and rich in experience, them we must lead to contemplate\nthis King in His beauty. Souls consumed with love should also study\nwith the inner eye how they may guide other souls ; or, if need be, how\nto resist them for their own good.\n\n\"Lord,\" exclaims St. Bernard, \"come to me and reign from Thy throne\nin me, for, alas ! it too often happens that I occupy it myself.\" Pride,\ncovetousness, lust and sloth would reign in me ; wrath, hate and calumny\nmake deadly attacks upon me and claim control of my will. I resist\nthem, I mourn over their assaults and I cry out : I will have no king\nbut Jesus Christ. O peaceful King, come and reign in me, for I desire\nno other king but Thee! I await Thee, O Lord, with wonder, with\nprayers and burning supplications, with many changes of grief and joy !\nO, how can we for an instant leave off preparing to receive so great a\nKing — a God who has made our poor nature capable of receiving His\nDivine Being, who has taken it and united it to Himself, and clothed\nHimself with its shades and colors and displayed its beauty to us. He\nloves us much more than we love Him. I shall, therefore, be without\nexcuse if I do not love Him above all things, for He asks nothing else\nof us but that we love Him. We should, therefore, go forth entirely\nfrom ourselves, and enter into that blessed solitude, and long to know\nand to contemplate the true King and spouse of our soul. For this we\nneed Moses — that is to say, a good will to conduct us even to that\nmountain where God dwells.\n\nThe people taken out of Egypt by Moses are our old habits, for after\nour conversion we easily go back to our accustomed ways and, with our\nfleshly desires and our unclean or worldly thoughts, make, as it were, a\ngolden calf, that we may live according to the flesh and enjoy creatures\nrather than God. On this account we have great need that the true\nMoses, Jesus Christ, should lead us and guide us on our way ; that He\nmay draw us after Him, in order to make us enter into the interior\ndesert of our soul, in which is the mysterious dwelling place of the Lord.\nMay He grant us this grace. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor ^ 61\n\nInttg mh IfflultttJltrtt^\n\nSynopsis— Definition of simplicity — Three classes of created things—\nAhandomnetit— Purity of heart— Unquiet souls— Perfection de-\nfined—Souls abandoned ly God— Contemplating Christ.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT.\n\nI am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the\nLord. — John i, 23.\n\nWe are close to that festival, so full of charm, in which the Eternal\nWord took birth in human nature, in order that He might ceaselessly\nbe begotten in every one of us. Speech, or word, and the voice are closely\nrelated to each other. Yesterday I explained to you how we should\nsincerely abandon ourselves to God, and annihilate ourselves before Him\nfrom the depth of our soul. Would it not be a great help if, in order to\nreach that end, we could find a road shorter than all others? That road\nis simplicity. And to obtain simplicity one must close his senses, empty\nhis mind of every image, and despise himself. Amid the infinite multi-\nplicity of our outward actions we should remain masters of our senses,\nfor without this they will carry us outside of ourselves, and bring back\ninto us a thousand foreign images. We read of a father of the desert,\nvenerable for the holiness of his life, that, being obliged to go outside of\nhis cell in the month of May, he covered his eyes with his hood. When\nasked why he did so he said : \"So that my eyes may not look at the trees\nof these country- places, and that I may be nowise hindered from seeing\nmy soul.\" Ah, my children, if the sight of a lonely forest was a hin-\ndrance to that holy man, what an injury to us shall of fen be the worldly\nand trifling things which surround us. The second means to lead us to\nthat simplicity, is to love God above all things.\n\nNow, we can make three classes of the things amid which we live.\nOne class is injurious; the other is vain and fleeting; the third, though\nconsisting of good things, is yet capable of being made a hindrance to\nus. Outward things are hurtful to us when they draw creatures to us\nwith pleasure and content and we are happy with them, and when we\nseek or enjoy in them ill-regulated or blameworthy delight. Ah, chil-\n\n62 The Sermons euid Spiritual Conferences\n\ndren, no one can tell how disastrous such things are to us, for they force\nGod to draw away from us to make room for them, even when we have no\nintention of sinning, in clinging to them. Why rob that sweet friend\nof our souls of the happiness and pleasure He would love to enjoy in\nHis own palace? Why defile this precious vine of His as if by a poison-\nous vapor ; and we while in that state can no longer say, with the spouse\nin the Canticle: \"Our bed is flourishing\" (Cant, i, 1.5).\n\nBut here a distinction must be made. A man who loves God sincerely\nand who would love Him yet more, sometimes experiences the influence\nof creatures pressing upon him against his will and inflicting on him a\nkind of martyrdom, even unto death. What, then, should he do?\nSuffer them with patience and in abandonment to God — providing,\nalways, that he is himself in no manner the cause of these temptations\nby his attachment to creatures. Happy, children, a thousand times\nhappy, is the man whose purity shall never have been soiled by any\nimage alien to purity. He will possess a priceless treasure.\n\nBesides bad things, there are those that are vain and useless. As to\nthese, we should be no more disturbed by them than by flies flying about,\nor the Rhine flowing along; these are no real hindrances to us, and no\none here below is quite free from them ; only it happens that by them\nsome are more disturbed than others. \"When the heart is full of the\nlove of God,\" says St. Bernard, \"vain things no longer find any room\nin it.\" What we should do in such a case, is to drive out one nail by\ndriving in another on top of it, which means the sinking deep into our\nheart of thoughts of Divine things, so as to drive out thoughts of vain\nthings.\n\nFinally, there are things which, in spite of their usefulness, are yet\nfor us a hindrance. We meet with people who make as much anxiety\nand uneasiness for themselves as if the river Rhine flowed over their\nsoul. Their heart never can enjoy a moment of calm. If they try to\ntaste a little outward peace and rest, they are prevented by the multi-\ntude of thoughts and cares that trouble them, as the wind tosses the\nleaves of a tree. They cannot free their hearts of the things they have\nundertaken to do, and they carry them on with such struggles of mind,\nthat they are never happy, and enjoy no interior peace. Beloved chil-\ndren, when one wishes for many things he loses unity. I know that\nthere are men who are quiet and restful by character. These more easily\navoid these anxious preoccupations than the others do. But if men of\na lively and eager disposition, had a little persistence in overcoming\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 63\n\ntheir restless nature, and would but do violence to themselves, thus con-\nquering and winning peace of heart, they would become very superior to\nthe others.\n\nThese unquiet and agitated souls should watch themselves closely and\nunremittingly ; they should renounce and avoid all frivolity, put under\nthe ban certain recreations and amusements, if they would reach a\nperfect way of life and fulfill God's will. Like brave and loyal knights,\nthey should behave with honor on the field of battle and fight generously.\nThey should break down nature, triumph over the images which usurp\ntheir mind, and act like a man who has a chain entangled in his hair and\ncannot remove it without pain — cut off and cast away what enslaves\nthem. If a schoolmaster had among his pupils a child who, instead of\nlearning his lessons, went gadding about and playing, he would correct\nhim once or twice; then, if he saw that all this was useless, he would\nturn away from him and leave him to become what he willed. That is\nwhat our Saviour does with those whom He has deigned to invite into\nHis Divine school, that holy state in which one enjoys His familiar\ncompany, learns to love Him tenderly and tastes His sweetness. His\ndisciples — these are members of communities or others who are striving\nfor perfection ; his school — it is the spiritual life in which, by leaving the\nworld, one frees himself from a multitude of sorrows and cares in order\nto love God sincerely and in the most perfect way, fixing one's glances\never upon God and oneself, and dying wholly to nature, to the senses, and\nto the world. There we are under the eyes of God ; He warns, punishes,\nstrikes us; and if, in spite of this, we run away to play instead of attend-\ning to His lessons. He expels us from His school and gives us up to our\nown will. From that on warnings cease, and so do chastisements; and\nthus without love and, so to speak, without grace, yea, without God, we\nare content to live in a deceitful calm, for now our Master deigns no\nmore to chide us, to strike us or to be concerned about us. O children,\nhow disquieting and perilous is that state? Guard carefully against\nfalling into it.\n\nA spiritual man should long only for God, forgetting self and crea-'\ntures, acting as worldlings do who, if they can but obtain the earthly\ngoods for which they strive, are indifferent to the pleasure or pain it\ncosts them. Our Lord complains that the children of light are less wise\nin seeking their ends than the children of darkness. A spiritual man\nshould be so aflame with Divine fire, and become so Divine inwardly\nand outwardly, that we could only see God in him, and that no heart\n\n64 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nwould be so cold but it would be warmed in His company, as we see\ndead coals lighted up again by a burning one placed among them, receiv-\ning from it their light and heat. Be sure of this, children ; there is not\na single instant in which God does not pour into us some Divine influ-\nence, which we would plainly feel if we were but more attentive; for\nGod is borne on by His nature to communicate Himself unceasingly,\nand all the nature of our spirit is formed to receive Him. God is all\nact, and the soul is all receptivity. The soul should be to God, who is\nour origin and our end, what the stream is to its fountainhead. But,\nalas, poor creatures that we are, we are ever going out of ourselves and\nremaining in the life of the senses! Therein we deceive and injure our-\nselves, even though we know that Jesus Christ has said : \"God is a\nspirit, and they that adore Him must adore Him in spirit and in truth\"\n(John iii, 24), and, therefore, not externally alone with the senses and\nthe imagination.\n\nBut do not fancy that I wish to strip thee of all images ; there is one\nwhich I would engrave deeply in thy soul. Enter, then, into thy interior,\nand from thence take thy flight, even to the heart of God ; there possess\nthyself of that supreme image which is eternally being formed, and which\nGod is ever drawing forth from the abyss of His Divinity, namely, Jesus\nChrist, God's only begotten Son. Go yet deeper into that Divine abyss\nin order to sink that ravishing image yet further down into the depths\nof thy being, as if in a mirror, until it penetrates all the powers of thy\nsoul. Whether thou dost walk or stand still, dost eat or drink, sleep or\nwake, let not that beloved image be absent one instant from thy mind\nand thy imagination. According to it, guide and arrange all thy being\nand all thy life, whether inward or outward. Do as a painter does\nwho would copy a masterpiece; at every touch of his brush his eye is\ncarefully fixed on the model before him, which he reproduces as exactly\nas he possibly can.\n\nEnter thou, therefore, into the Divine depths; contemplate there\nunceasingly that Divine and enrapturing image and all that it has\nreceived of the Father, and make after that picture the co})y thou\ndesirest; fix thy gaze upon both its Divinity and its holy humanity;\nstudy its humility and kindness ; but stay not for any fixed form ; rather\nelevate thyself above all forms and use them all vaguely, according to\ncircumstances, having everywhere and always thy mirror before thy\neyes, as well amid the throngs of men as alone in solitude. If thou art\neven the busy porter of a convent, or occupied in other outward works,\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 65\n\nlet that sweet image be none the less familiar to thee than if thou wert\nseated quietly in thy chamber or in the church ; act and speak as if thou\nwert ever in its presence. When thou eatest, moisten each mouthful\nwith the precious blood of the heart of Jesus; if thou drinkest, think\nthat it is He who giveth thee His blood to drink out of His sacred\nwounds; if thou sleepest, rest upon His bleeding heart; if thou speakest,\nrealize that He is very close to thee and hears thy words, that He is\npresent with thee and sees all thy movements and all thy thoughts, and\nthus busy thyself in the contemplation of this Divine model.\n\nAnd He will draw thee yet further, and will lift thee up to that image\nwithout form, without mode, which nothing can picture or describe as\nit is revealed to devout souls interiorly. Go ever onward and upward,\nfor whosoever halts and sits down before God has ordered him to do so,\nshall be expelled from his place. Sometimes we have many purposes in\nour mind, and when that is the case we lose unity with God. Formerly\nand in happier times a master of spiritual life sai'a: \"Watch well the\ndepths of the soul, what works and observances raise thee up most\nquickly to that Divine image above all forms, and choose them instead\nof others, until thou shalt be stripped of thyself and of all images and\nabsorbed into the Divine being.\" May God grant us that grace. Amen.\n\n66 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSly? E\\:}ttt Strtl|fi at ffilyrtflt\n\nSynopsis — The three Christmas masses — The hirth of Christ in our\nsoul. The eternal generation of the 8on of God — His generation\nin us. Interior emptiness and fullness — Practical suggestions —\nDetachment — Relation of virtuous acts to the inner life — Interior\nsilence and retirement.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF CHRISTMAS.\n\nFor a Child is born to us, and a Son is given to us. — Isaias ix, 6.\n\nToday the church celebrates three births, each of which is such a\nsource of joy and delight that we should break forth into jubilation, love\nand thanksgiving, and whoever does not feel such sentiments should mis-\ntrust himself. The first birth and the most sublime, is that whereby the\nHeavenly Father begets His only Son in the Divine essence, and in the\ndistinction of the Divine persons. The second birth is that which made\nMary a mother in virginity most pure and inviolate. The third is that\nby which every day and every hour God is truly and spiritually begotten\nin our souls by grace and love. These three births are shown forth by\nthe three masses of Christmas Day. The first is sung at midnight, com-\nmencing with the words : \"Thou art My Son ; this day have I begotten\nThee\" (Ps. ii, 7), that is to say, in eternity.\n\nThis brings home to us the hidden birth accomplished in the darksome\nmystery of the inaccessible Divinity. The second mass begins with\nthese words: ''Today light has shined upon us\" (Isaias ix, 2). It\nfigures the glory of human nature Divinely influenced by its union with\nthe Word. That mass is celebrated partly in the night and partly in\nthe day, because the birth it represents is partly known to us and partly\nunknown. The third mass is sung in the daytime, and begins with the\nwords : \"A Child is born to us and a Son is given to us.\" It figures that\nmysterious birth which should happen, and does happen, every day and\nevery instant in holy souls, when they dispose themselves for it by deep\nattention and sincere love; for one can never experience that birth\nexcept by the recollection of all one's powers. In that nativity God\nbelongs to us and gives Himself to us so completely, that nothing what-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 67\n\never is more our own than He is. And that is what those words say to\nus : ''A Child is born to us, and a Son is given to us.\" He is, therefore,\nour own; He is ours totally and everywhere, for He is always being\nbegotten within us.\n\nLet us speak first of the ineffable birth represented by the third mass\nof Christmas, and let us explain how it may be brought about in us in\na manner the most perfect and efficacious. To that end let us consider\nthe qualities of that first generation, by which the Father begets the Son\nin eternity. The ineffable riches of the Divine good are so overflowing\nthat God cannot contain Himself, and by His very nature He is forced to\nexpend and communicate Himself. ''It is God's nature to expend Him-\nself,\" says St. Augustine. The Father has thus poured Himself out into\nthe other two Divine persons; after that He communicated Himself to\ncreatures. The same saint says further: \"It is because God is good\nthat we are good, and all the good that the creature has is good with the\nessential goodness of God.\" What, then, is the peculiar character of\nthe Divine generation? The Father, inasmuch as He is Father, turns\ninward to Himself and His Divine intelligence; He sees Himself and\npenetrates Himself with a gaze which wholly embraces His Divine\nessence, and then, just as He sees and knows Himself, so does He utter\nHimself completely; and the act whereby He knows Himself and the\nWord whereby He utters Himself is also the act whereby He begets His\nSon in eternity.\n\nThus the Father Himself remains within Himself in the unity of His\nessence, and goes out of Himself in the distinction of persons. Again\nHe returns into Himself, and therein He rests in unspeakable self-\ndelight, and that self-delight goes forth and overflows in ineffable love,\nwhich is the Holy Spirit. Thus does God dwell within Himself and go\nforth out of Himself to return again into Himself. Therefore, is all out-\ngoing for the sake of ingoing again. And hence in the material universe\nis the movement of the heavenly spheres most noble and most perfect,\nbecause it unceasingly returns again to the origin and beginning from\nwhich it first set forth. And so also is the course of man ever noblest\nand most perfect, when it returns again upon its source and origin.\n\nThe quality which the Heavenly Father has in this His incoming and\noutgoing, the same should every man have who will become the spiritual\nmother in this divine bringing forth. He must enter wholly into him-\nself, and again go out of himself; as the soul has three noble powers,\nwherein it is the true image of the blessed Trinity — memory, understand-\n\n68 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ning and free will. Through these powers is the soul capable of receiving\nand clinging to God, and all that God is, has and can bestow, and in this\nway it can gaze upon Him in eternity. For the soul is created between\ntime and eternity; with its superior part it belongs to eternity,\nand with the inferior — the sensitive, animal powers — it belongs to time.\nBut both the higher and lower powers of the soul wander away into\ntime and into the fleeting things of time, and this is because of the kin-\nship between its higher and lower powers. Very easy is it in this stray-\ning thus to go astray from eternity. If we would be born again with the\nDivine birth, then we need to start back again, earnestly struggle\ninward and there gather up all our powers, lower and higher, if we\nwould restore all dissipation of mind to unity, since united forces are\never the strongest, and they become united when drawn back from\nmultiplicity. When a hunter would hit the mark he shuts one eye in\norder that with the other he may look straighter ; when one would think\ndeeply about anything, he closes all his senses and unites all his powers\nin his inmost soul, out of which, as branches from a tree, all the senses\ngo forth into activity. When all our powers of sense and motion are\nthus by an inward movement assembled together in the highest power,\nwhich is the force and foundation of them all, then happens an outward,\nyea, an overflowing movement, beyond and above self, by which we\nrenounce all ownership of will, of appetite and of activity. There\nremains for thee then only a pure and clear intention to be of God and\nof God's purposes, to be nothing whatever of self, or ever to become any-\nthing of self, to be for Him alone, to give room to Him alone, whether in\nthings high or low, so that He may work His will in thee and bring\nabout His birth in thee, and therein remain unhindered by thee to\nthe end.\n\nIf two are to be made one, then must one stand passive and the other\nactive. If my eye is to receive an image, it must be free from all other\nimages; for if it already has so much as one, it cannot see another, nor\ncan the ear hear a sound if it be occupied with one already. Any power\nof receiving must first be empty before it can receive anything. Hence\nSt. Augustine says: ''Empty thyself if thou wouldst be filled. Go\nforth, if thou wouldst enter in.\" And elsewhere he says : \"O noble soul,\nO noble creature of God, wherefore goest thou outside thyself in search\nof Him who is always and most certainly within thee, and through\nWhom thou art made a partaker of the divine nature? What hast\nthou to do or why dost thou concern thyself with creatures ?\"\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 69\n\nWhen a man thus clears the ground and makes his soul ready, without\ndoubt God must fill up the void. The very heavens would fall down to\nfill up empty space, and much rather will God not allow thee to remain\nempty, for that would be against His nature. His attributes; yea, and\nagainst His justice. If, therefore, thou wilt be silent, the Word of this\nDivine birth shall speak in thee and shall be heard ; but, if thou speakest,\nbe sure He will be silent. Thou canst not serve the Word better than\nby being silent and by listening. If thou goest out of self, He without\ndoubt goeth in, and so it will be much or little of His entering in, accord-\ning to much or little of thy going out.\n\nAn illustration of this going out of self is given in the book of Moses,\nhow God made Abraham go forth from his country and his kinsfolk, so\nthat He might show him all good things. The Divine birth in the soul\nof man — that means certainly all good things, and that alone is its\nmeaning. The country or region out of which the soul must go — that\nmeans the body, with its lusts and concupiscences of whatever kind.\nThe friends he must have — these are his inclinations and the sensitive\nor sensible powers with their images, which draw him on and fasten\nhim down. These set love and pain in motion, joy and sorrow, longing\nand dread, care and frivolity. These friends are very near akin to us ;\nagainst them we must be strictly on our guard if we would wholly elude\nthem, and if we would have born in us the all-good that this Divine birth\nreally is for us. A proverb says : A boy kept too much at home behaves\nlike a calf when away from home, which means that men who have not\ngone beyond their natural life, nor raised themselves above what the\nsenses furnish to be seen, heard, tasted, moving about — men who have\nthus never gone forth from this the native home of all sensible life,\nare veritable animals when there is question of understanding the high\nthings of God. Their interior being is like a mountain of iron, in which\nno gleam of light ever shines. When outward things and images and\nforms are gone, they no longer know and feel anything. They are,\nindeed, at home; but for that very reason they do not experience this\nwonderful resignation. Therefore did Christ say: \"If any man come to\nMe and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and\nbrethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My\ndisciple\" (Luke xiv, 26).\n\nWe have so far spoken of the first and last births, and how by the last\nwe learn a lesson about the first. And now we shall instruct you about\nthe second birth, in which this night the Son of God is born of His\n\n70 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nmother and becomes our Brother. In eternity He was born a Son with-\nout a mother, and in time He was born a Son without a father. Now,\nSaint Augustine tells us : \"Mary is much more blessed because God was\nborn spiritually in her soul than because He was born her fleshly Son.\"\nNow, whosoever would experience this spiritual and blessed birth in his\nsoul, as Mary did in her soul, should consider the qualities of Mary, that\nmother of God both fleshly and spiritual. She was a virgin, all chaste\nand pure, and yet she was retired and separated from all things, and so\nthe angel found her. It is thus that one must be who would bring forth\nGod in his soul. That soul must be chaste and pure. If it has strayed\naway from purity, then must it come back and be made pure again ; for\nthe meaning of virginity in this teaching, is to be outwardly unfruitful\nand inwardly very fruitful. And this virgin soul must close its outward\nsenses, having little external occupation, for from such it can have little\nfruit. Mary thought of nothing else but of Divine things. Inwardly\nthe soul must have much fruit ; the beauty of the King's daughter is all\nwithin. Hence must this virgin soul live in detachment in all its habits,\nsenses, behavior, in all its speech. Thus will it bear many and great\nfruits, namely, God's Son, God's Word, Who is all in all and contains\nall things in Himself.\n\nMary was a wedded virgin, and so must the soul be wedded, as St.\nPaul teaches. Thou must sink thy tickle will deep into the Divine will,\nwhich is immovably steadfast, so that thy feebleness may be strength-\nened. Mary lived retired, and so must the soul espoused to God be in\nretirement, if it will experience the interior regeneration. But not alone\nfrom those wanderings after temporal things which appear to be faulty,\nbut even from the sensible devotion attached to the practice of virtue,\nmust the soul refrain. It must establish rest and stillness as an enclos-\nure in which to dwell, hiding from and cutting off nature and the senses,\nguarding quiet and interior peace, rest and repose. It is of this state of\nthe soul that w^e shall sing next Sunday in the introit of the mass:\n\"While all things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of\nher course, Thine Almighty Word, O Lord, came down from Heaven,\nout of Thy royal throne\" (Wisdom xviii, 14-15).. That was the\nEternal Word going forth from the Father's heart. It is amid this\nsilence, when all things are hushed in even eternal silence, that in very\ntruth we hear this Word; for when God would speak thou must be\nsilent. When God would enter in, all things must go out. When our\nLord entered Egypt, all the idols in the land fell down. However good\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 71\n\nor holy anything may seem, if it hinders the actual and immediate\nDivine generation in thee it is an idol. Our Lord tells us that He has\ncome bringing a sword, cutting off all that clings to men, even mother,\nbrother, sister; for whatever is intimately joined to thee without God\nis thy enemy, forming, as it does, a multitude of imaginations covering\nand hiding the Divine Word.\n\nAlthough this tranquillity may not as yet wholly possess thee, nor\nlast all the time within thee, yet thou shouldst so constantly cultivate\ninterior silence as a means of experiencing the Divine birth, that it shall\nfinally become a spiritual habit. What is easy to a well-practiced man\nmay seem impossible to an unpracticed one, for practice makes perfect.\nMay God grant us all the grace of inner stillness, and thereby the birth\nof His Divine Word in our souls. Amer*.\n\n'•'2 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — Christ upon the altar — In the pulpit — In the literal flesh-\nIn the human soul — Conditions for interior union with God.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF CHRISTMAS,\nlu the beginniug was the Word. — John i, 1.\n\nLearned men say of the Eternal Word, that God never spoke it but\nonce, and that in a certain sense it is yet unspoken, which means that\nthe Eternal Word is the speech of the Father, even His only begotten\nSon, our Lord Jesus Christ. In Him, without beginning and without\nend, has the Father uttered all created things. Nor can we say, in every\nmeaning of the terms, that the Word has been uttered, since He has\nnever come forth out of the Father.\n\nAnd, mark well, dear children, that we may understand this Word in\nfour ways. The first is His place on the altar in the hands of the priest ;\nthere shall we know and love the Eternal Word, just as we shall be\nknown to the Father in the same Eternal Word. Again shall we know\nthe Eternal Word in what we are taught by the preacher from the\npulpit, uttering His Divine truth. And we must receive Him thus\nproperly, for, as water flows through the stream, so comes the Eternal\nWord through the lips of the preacher. We must not be hindered by\nthe preacher's defects ; we must rather look at the Eternal Word in His\nvery essence, as He floweth forth eternally from the depths of His being.\nThirdly, we must recognize the Eternal Word in all our Lord's friends,\nwho, having imitated Him here on earth, are now joined to Him in\neverlasting life, or who are yet His disciples here below. These are all\nthey who are in living union with our Lord Jesus Christ. Fourthly, we\nmust know the Eternal Word as He is uttered in our very souls by God\nHimself ; and this is a revelation of Him not to be described, for the soul\nhas no words that can tell it.\n\nYou must know that the Eternal Word is self-begotten in the soul and\n(hat the soul itself, when favored with the Divine generation within it,\nknows the Eternal Word better than all teachers can describe Him.\nWhat one can put into speech is all too little, and, therefore, the Word\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 73\n\nitself quickly teaches the soul. Hence we are instructed to hurry gladly\nto that school in which the Holy Spirit is the schoolmaster. And be\nsure, dear children, that when He is the schoolmaster, He wants to find\nHis scholars very well prepared for Him, so that they may be able to\nunderstand the precious lessons which He draws for them from the\nFather's heart.\n\nHence the soul which would experience this birth of the Word must\nstand forth in great purity, and its life must be a noble one and wholly\ninterior, not running after the pleasures of the five senses, nor absorbed\nin multiplicity of created things; but it must live in the utmost purity\nof heart. Says Master Eckhart: ^'What God does in a soul which He\nfinds free and stripped of all things, so detached from creatures that He\ncan be spiritually born in it, is both more pleasing to Him and more\ncommunicative of His own self than the creative act by which He drew\nall things out of nothing.\"\n\nAnd why is this? Because God has no creature with so great a\ncapacity as a soul in which He is spiritually generated, for in none can\nHe express Himself so perfectly; into none can He pour Himself out so\nentirely and in all the force and essence of His being. Now, we have\nalready said that the birth of God in the soul, is nothing else than that\nHe reveals Himself to the soul with a new knowledge and after a new\nmanner of communication.\n\nIt may be asked if the greatest blessedness of the soul is to be found\nin this work of God in it? I answer: Although God has more joy in\nthis than in all His other works among creatures, whether in Heaven\nor earth, yet the soul's supreme joy is rather in its own work of recep-\ntivity while this birth of God takes place in it. It is not the soul's\nsupreme joy that God is born in it, but rather that, with intimate love\nand union, it responds to the knowledge God imparts by this generation,\nwhereby the soul is born again and restored to Him who is its origin.\nIn this the soul departs from self and cleaves to God, and is thereby\nblessed not by self-blessedness, but by God's. The soul now has, if it\nwill, the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Now is it dissolved\ninto the Divine Unity; now shall be revealed God alone to the soul's\nself alone. Hence a famous doctor teaches, that no one may come to this\nstate who has so much of earthly taint on him as could be held by the\npoint of a needle. Into the pure Godhead can no man enter except he\nbe as pure as when he came forth from God. Thus teach spiritual\nwriters, and they wisely counsel us to yield the victory to God, and\n\n74 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nreceive everything from Him direct and nothing from creatures. And\nit is thus we give God His best glory, and, being detached and empty,\nwe await His action, when and how He wills it ; for we must own that\nGod does all things best. Our part is to help God, as far as in us lies, to\nadvance His glory.\n\nA certain teacher says that a king pays little heed to those of his\nunderlings who do menial service, but he is attentive to those who are\nhis personal associates, and these he always favors. God acts thus with\nHis chosen friends — souls that are in His company in His hidden retire-\nment; God refuses them no petition. Some teachers tell us, however,\nthat many souls reach the Kingdom of Heaven, who on earth enjoyed no\nmore familiar intercourse with God than a man buried in a dark forest\nenjoys the sunlight. But let us in our lives and in our purposes earnestly\nstrive after the highest privilege; and may God grant us His help.\nAmen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 75\n\nSynopsis — What part of the soul is made conscious of the divine gen-\neration— The souVs inner sanctuary is God's holy place — Union\neffected without similitudes — The souVs preparation is silence\nand quiet — Reference in footnote to another sermon of Taulefs —\nTeaching of St. Augustine — Fruits of this divine generation are\nheavenly wisdom and increased assurance of perseverance.\n\nSERMON FOR THE SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS.\n\nWhile all things were in quiet silence. — Wisd. xviii, 14.\n\nWe are to speak today of the eternal generatioD, by which in eternity\nand without cessation God the Father begets the Eternal Word, and now\nin our Saviour's person born in time and in human nature. Says St.\nAugustine: \"What is it to me that the eternal generation of the Word\nceaselessly takes place if He is not generated in me? All depends on\nwhether or not He is born in me.\"\n\nThus it behooves us to speak of this generation, begun and perfected\nwhen God the Father utters His Eternal Word in a perfect soul. Herein\nunderstand me to be speaking of a perfect man, one who has walked in\nGod's paths, and that steadfastly until now, and not of men who are\nnatural and unexercised in a devout life; for these are far removed\nfrom and unknowing of this Divine generation. The wise man Solomon\nsays \"While all things were in quiet silence ♦ * * Thy Almighty\nWord leaped down from Heaven from Thy royal throne.\" This Word is\nthe subject of our sermon. Of it we remark three things. First, we ask :\nWhere in the soul does God the Father utter His Word? What part of\nthe soul is made conscious of this Divine operation ? That must be the\npart that is purest, noblest and most delicately sensitive. Indeed, what-\never of nobility God, with all His power, has implanted by creation in\nthe soul's nature, and whatever of nobility the soul has afterwards\nreceived from Him, upon all of this must God work in imparting this\nDivine generation. Therefore, the soul must keep itself all purified\nand high-minded, living in simplicity and wholly interiorly, restraining\n\n76 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nitself from sensible things and the multiplicity of creatures, for God's\nwork is done in the purest, simplest and most recollected state of the\nsoul.\n\nThe second question is this : Just how should the soul behave toward\nthis Divine generation? Should it labor in co-operation with it, so as to\nfacilitate the Divine birth, forming images in the understanding and in\nthe thoughts, saying to itself such things as God is wise, almighty,\neternal ? Or is it better to assist the Divine fatherly act by withdraw-\ning totally from all thoughts, words and acts, and from all images of the\nmind, resting quite passive under God's influence, as far as this may be\ndone, and letting Him alone to act? Which of these two ways best\nserves the Divine birth in the soul?\n\nThirdly, we are to consider how great are the benefits of this Divine\ngeneration.\n\nAnd now, reverting to our first question. And I will herein use ordi-\nnary and natural language, easily understood. For, although I believe\nthe Scriptures more than I do myself, yet ordinary terms will be better\nunderstood. Our text tells us that a secret word was uttered amid quiet\nsilence. O Lord, where, then, is that silence, where is the spot in which\nthat word is uttered? As I said before, so now say I again : It is the\npurest place the soul can offer and the noblest; it is in the soul's very\nrenovated depths; yea, in its most essential being. That place it is that\nholds the quiet silence ministering to this Divine birth. Never doea\nany created thing or any image enter there ; nor in that innermost soul\nis there any action, or understanding, or knowledge ; no, nor any figure,\nwhether of herself or of any creature. Everything the soul does it does\nby its faculties. If it thinks, it is with its reason; if it recalls the past,\nit is with the memory, and if it loves, it is with the will. Thus, it is ever\nwith the soul's faculties and not with its essential being that it acts;\nall its activity depends on some intermediary. The power of seeing\nworks not without the eyes; without them, seeing is not. And the same\nis true of the soul's activity through all the other senses; it always\ndepends on an intermediary. But in the essential being of the soul there\nis no action, for the faculties with which it works flow out of this very\nessence. In this alone abides that silence, that perfect quiet, that\nproper condition for God to operate the Divine generation and speak\nHis Eternal Word. In this depths of its being the soul is by its very\nnature incapable of receiving anything but God's own esseuce, and that\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 77\n\nwithout any intermediary. God enters here Himself alone, Himself\nwholly and not partially, and God enters into the soul's very essence.\n\nNone but God alone can have access to the soul's essence; creatures\ncannot, for they must stay outside among the soul's faculties, in which\nit beholds their image, by means of which it gives them entrance. When\nthe soul's faculties come into touch with creatures, these faculties form\nan image of them and present it to the soul, which in that way knows\nthem. No deeper than this can creatures sink into the soul. Nor does\nthe soul ever approach creatures except by willingly receiving an image\nof them, and by the presence of the same it is brought in contact with\ncreatures. The soul forms the image from the thing itself by means of\nits own faculties; knowing, for example, and being joined to, a stone,\na horse, or a man by the image thus made and perceived, the knowledge\nnecessarily coming into the soul from outside through the senses. Hence\nit happens that nothing is so little known to the soul as its own real\nself. And hence a certain teacher says that the soul is unable to form\nor receive an image of its own self, for the reason that all images enter\nthrough the senses, and these cannot perceive the soul. It knows all\nother things, but itself it knows not. Of nothing is it so ignorant as of\nitself, and this is for lack of necessary intermediate image.\n\nAnd be assured that when the soul is freed from all images and inter-\nmediaries, God can for that reason join it to Himself directly and with-\nout the interposition of anything whatsoever. Consider that whatever\npower thou dost claim for any human master, thou must own (iod to\npossess the same, and that beyond all measure. Now, the wiser and\nmightier such a master is, the less does he need means and instruments\nto influence thee and the simpler is his power. But man needs many\nmeans and instruments for his outward works, and between his plan-\nning and his performance there is much preparation. On the other\nhand, the moon and sun in their masterful work of illuminating the\nworld, need no longer than the twinkling of an eye to fill all the ends\nof the earth with light. And an angel needs even less means and uses\nfewer images; while the very highest seraph has but one single figure in\nwhich he knows and acts his part, though lesser spirits need a multi-\nplicity of such aids. But God needs no aid of images or instruments\nat all, not even of one. God acts upon the soul directly, without image\nor figure; yea, upon the soul's deepest depths, into which no image has\never penetrated, nor any being other than God's self. This can no\ncreated thing ever accomplish. God the Father thus begets His Son in\n\n78 The Sermons eind Spiritual Conferences\n\nthe soul, and not as creatures act, by showing figure and likeness, but\njust as He begets Him in eternity.\n\nAnd how is this Divine generation accomplished in the soul? Remem-\nber that God the Father has a knowledge of Himself which penetrates\nHis being perfectly and without the interposition of any image ; and it\nis thus that God the Father generates His Son in true unity of Divine\nnature. Now in no other manner does God the Father beget His Son in\nthe essence and being of the soul, and in doing so unite Himself with\nthe soul. But if in this Divine work there were any intermediary of\nfigure or image, there could be no true and perfect union, and upon such\na union depends all the soul's happiness.\n\nBut you may object that by nature the soul is ever full of images. I\nanswer no; for if that were true the soul could never be happy, nor\ncould God ever make a being capable of perfect bliss; nor would God\nbe our greatest joy and last end — God, who is the beginning and the\nend of all. No creature can ever be the bliss of another creature, nor\nits perfection. The perfection of all virtue in this mortal life is fol-\nlowed by the perfection of immortal life hereafter, which consists in\nimmediate union with God. If thou wouldst, therefore, enjoy here\nbelow a foretaste of thy future bliss, thou must needs retire inward and\ndwell in thy soul's depths and essence. There must it be that God will\ntouch thee with His most simjile being, without medium or similitude.\nNo image is for its own sake, but only to show its original, coming from\nwithout by means of the senses acting on creatures ; and as no creature\ncan ever make us happy, much less can any image of creatures.\n\nAnd now let us consider our second question, namely : What shall one\ndo to win and merit that this Divine generation shall take place within\nhis soul? Shall we co-operate by meditating on God, and that by means\nof similitudes? Or shall one rather rest in mental silence and wait for\nGod in quiet of mind, leaving to Him alone all active working? And\nnow let me repeat what I have said before : Such a matter as this con-\ncerns only perfect souls, who have already won to themselves, as it\nwere essentially, all virtuous living, doing good without any effort —\nmen who are living examples of the life and teaching of our Lord. Let\nsuch as these know that if they would be granted this divine life, their\nbest and highest part is to be still and let God act and speak.* When\n\n♦Tauler's teaching here and elsewhere about the prayer of quiet, is to be supple-\nmented and explained by that in the Sermon for the First Sunday of Lent Therein\nhe exposes and condemns the quietism of the false mystics. There, too, he explains\nthe restful and passive receptivity of real contemplation, just as it has ever been\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 79\n\nall the powers of a soul are withdrawn from all activity and all simili-\ntudes of creatures, then in that soul shall the Divine Word be uttered.\nAccording to our text: \"While all things were in quiet silence the\nAlmighty Word leaped down from Heaven.\" Therefore, in proportion\nas thou dost earnestly gather inward all thy faculties in forgetfulness\nof all created things and of all their similitudes, being recollected wholly\nin thyself in obliviousness of creatures, the nearer art thou to receive\nthe generation of the Divine Word.\n\nO, if thou couldst but forget all things ! Yea, if thou couldst but be\nunconscious of thy own very life, and be able to say, with St. Paul :\n\"Whether in the body or out of the body, I know not, God knoweth\"\n(II Cor. xii, 2) . In him had the spiritual part so entirely absorbed the\nnatural faculties that he forgot his bodily existence; memory and under-\nstanding no longer acted, nor did the senses and powers whose office is\nto regulate corporal life. His bodily heat was suspended, and yet with-\nout hurt to his physical condition, and he suffered no injury from being\nfor three days without meat and drink. The same was the case with\nMoses ; he fasted during the forty days he was with God in the moun-\ntain, and was no weaker, but just as strong, the last day as the first.\nSo must one withdraw from the life of the senses and, turning inward\nall his powers, forget everything, even his very self. Hence a teacher\nsays: \"Quit the unrest of external activity, fly and hide from the\nstorms of outward things and inward thoughts, for these breed disturb-\nance.\" If God shall utter His Word in the soul, the soul must be in\npeace and tranquillity. It is then that He, indeed, utters His Word\nand His own self in the soul; it is not any resemblance, but it is His\nvery self. St. Dionysius says : \"God has no similitude or image of Him-\nself, for He is essentially all good, all truth, all being.\" He does all\nin the twinkling of an eye, whether He acts in Himself or out of Him-\nself. Do not imagine that when God made the heavens and earth and\nall things, that he made one today and another tomorrow; for, even\nthough Moses thus writes, he does so in order that his readers may the\nmore easily understand God's creative act, for He Himself was better\ninformed. God's act of creation was only this : He willed and it was\ndone. God acts without means or figiires ; and the more thou art freed\nfrom them, the more apt art thou to receive His influence; and, being the\n\ntaught by approved mystical writers. He shows that it is a relative and not an\nabsolute cessation of mental action. While the ordinary activity of the faculties\nis suspended, the soul is gazing into God with a distinct longing, intensely reaching\nonward into deeper and deeper joy of contemplation.\n\n80 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nmore introverted and self-forgetful, thou art all the nearer to Him.\nAbout this St. Dionysius counsels his disciple, Timothy : \"Chasten thy\nsenses, elevate thyself above thyself and all thy powers above speech\nand reason, above works and methods and existence, and abide in hidden,\nquiet darkness, and it is thus that thou shalt come to the knowledge of\nthe unknown and all-good God.\" There must be withdrawal of the soul\nfrom all things; God feels it beneath His dignity to act by means of\nimages.\n\nYou might ask. Where does God act without any image? It is in\nthe depths and essence of the soul. I cannot know it in the ordinary\nway of knowing, for my soul's faculties perceive nothing except in\nimages, each object being necessarily known by its proper image; for\nexample, the soul cannot see and recognize a horse in the figure of a\nman; and, because all images enter the soul from without, the Divine\ngeneration is hidden and mysterious to it, and that is all for the best.\nThis Divine act within the soul being so unaccountable, it sinks it deep\nin amazement. Then it forthwith studies this evient within its depths,\nand that very eagerly, and knows better and better that it is most real,\nthough it cannot tell how it is, nor exactly what it is, only it soon knows\nthat it is God. When a man knows the cause of anything, forthwith\nhe tires of it and looks about to find something else to investigate, ever\nstriving after knowledge and never resting content. But in this obscure\nknowledge of God acting within it, the soul is fixed fast and keeps on\nconstantly enquiring. Hence the wise man's teaching in our text, that\nHis hidden W^ord was uttered amid quiet silence of all things, in a very\nsecret way, stealing into my soul unawares. But you may ask how can\nthis be a hidden Word, since the very nature of every word is to reveal\nsomething. And I answer that this Word, as it flashes forth in my soul\ndoes, indeed, reveal something, for it is a witness of God, and only\ntherefore is it called a Word. But that it was the Divine Word, was at\nfirst hidden from me by reason of its stealing into my soul in secret\nand in stillness.\n\nAnd the benefit of this is that it makes us search for it, since it is hid-\nden and yet with us, appears and yet is concealed, and so perforce we\nmust yearn and sigh after it. So St. Paul urges us to follow after it\nand never give over till we have possessed it ; for he had come back from\nthe third heaven, having there beheld all Divine things; yet he forgot\nthem, and this was because he had been rapt so deep into God that his\nreason could not act there. W^hen he would seek to tell of what hap-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 81\n\npened, he found it concealed from him; and so he looked for it within his\nvery soul, and not by mental exertion toward what was outward; for\nsuch things are within and not without, absolutely within ; and because\nhe was interiorly sure of this so did he say : \"I am sure that neither\ndeath nor life shall be able to separate us from the love of God\" (Rom.\nviii, 38-39) ; namely, that love he felt the Divine Word had generated\nwithin him.\n\nA heathen sage said this beautiful word : \"I see something true within\nme, shining before my spirit. I know full well that it is something real,\nbut what it is I cannot understand, only I believe that if I could but\ngrasp it I should know all truth.\" And then another sage answered\nhim: \"Ah, yes, keep up thy search for this hidden thing; for if thou\ncanst but grasp it thou shalt have all good, thou shalt have eternal life.\"\n\nSt. Augustine likewise teaches : \"I have discovered something in my\nsoul which lights it up and which, if it could but be perfected within me,\nI would be life eternal. It is hidden and yet revealed, coming in\nsecretly. And its meaning is that it will steal all things away from the\nsoul. What it reveals to me is that it is come to gain entrance to my\nsoul and lead it away, and cause it to strip itself of all things.\" In the\nsame sense the prophet prayed that the Lord might take from him his\nspirit and give him the Divine Spirit. And so spoke the love-stricken\nsoul in the Canticle: \"My soul melted when He [my beloved] spoke\"\n(Cant, v, 6) . As if to say, when He entered my soul I fainted away with\nlove. And such is Christ's meaning when he tells us that whosoever\nleaveth father or mother for His sake shall receive a hundred-fold\n(Matt, xix, 29). And in St. John's Gospel (xii, 26) : \"He that would\nminister to Me, let him follow after Me,\" and not after his senses.\n\nPerhaps thou wilt say : Oh, Lord, wilt thou reverse the soul's natural\nlife and work against its nature? For by our senses and their image-\nmaking must we live. Art thou going to turn back this our soul's order\nof life? No; by no means. But dost thou know what nobility God hath\nimplanted in this same nature, yet all unknown, all hidden? Those\nwho have written about the soul's nobility have never come nearer to it\nthan their natural reason could carry them. They have never entered\ninto the depths, and hence much has been hidden from them and remains\nunknown. Hence the prophet says: \"I will hear what the Lord will\nspeak in me\" (Ps. Ixxxiv, 9). It was because of this hidden nobility\nof the soul that the Word came down in the darkness of night. And\nSt. John says: \"The light sh'ineth in darkness.\" And he also tells\n\n82 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nus that the Word, coming among His own, they yet received Him not,\nbut that \"as many as received Him, to them He gave power to become\nthe sons of God\" (John i, 12).\n\nLet us now consider our third point, the point of the Heavenly Word,\nand of the darkness which is His peculiar accompaniment. In brief,\nit is that thou shait be born as the heavenly Father's child and nothing\nless, for herein He gives thee the power to be made a son of God.\n\nMark well this fruit. For all the truth that those teachers who follow\nreason alone have ever taught, all that such will ever teach till the last\nday, is nothing in comparison to the wisdom in the depths of this soul.\nAlthough this interior life is darkness and ignorance, yet it has more\nwisdom than all external knowledge whatsoever. It strips us of all\nknowledge of things gained by reason ; it even strips us of self. As\nChrist says: \"If any man cometh to me and hate not his father, and\nmother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters; yea, and his\nown life also [and all the external things else], he cannot be My disciple\"\n( Luke xiv, 26) . It is as if He would say, whosoever does not give up all\nthat is outward in creatures is incapable of this Divine inward genera-\ntion. If thou wilt divest thee of thy own very self and of all that is\nexternal to thee, then God will in very truth give thee His Divine gen-\neration. And I firmly believe that the man who thus stands inwardly\nupright with God, would rather suffer the most shameful death than\ncommit the least mortal sin. I will even affirm that as long as he con-\ntinues thus joined to God, he will not be guilty of ordinary daily venial\nfaults against himself or others, as far as these are wilful, whether by\nact or permission. He is so strongly drawn to God that he feels as if he\ncannot turn away from Him, and always sighs and yearns after Him.\n\nMay God help us to obtain this Divine birth within us — God who is\nnow born unto us a Man — so that we poor, weak men, as we are, may be\ndivinely born unto Him. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 83\n\n5I?j0H0«0 for tljr 5ff to fear\n\nSynopsis — Causes of relapse into sin. — Lack of thoroughness, and\nof humility, which is defined — Lack of the interior spirit, and of\nresolute purpose — Examples of two virgins — Lack of recollection,\nwhich is defined — Practical suggestions.\n\nSEKMON FOR NEW-YEAR'S DAY.\n\nOn this happy New-Year's Day should every pious Christian cut him-\nself off from his former transgressions and his evil habits, and over and\nover again renew his good resolutions. For many a one, warned by\nGod or his own friends, begins a new course ; but he quickly falls away\nagain from his good manner of life, and before he knows how or where it\nhappened, he has slipped back, and this comes mainly from the follow-\ning causes :\n\nThe first is that one is not loosened from his inclinations and tastes\nfor created things. It may be love of thy own self that holds thee down,\nor it may be some other transitory good. Whatever is not God, whether\nsmall or great, fetches thee down, even without thy knowing it, so that\nthou mayst not stay in the right way, or with God.\n\nThe second cause is that one is not rooted in humility. Whoever will\nhave his tree grow must sink the roots deep in the earth; otherwise, no\nmatter how the sun shines and the water is poured upon it, it all\navails nothing to make it grow and bear fruit. Once it is well planted,\nand the deeper it is sunk below, the higher it grows up above. Just so\nthen, supposing the soil to be good, it grows well and bears much fruit,\nwith thyself. Are thy roots, that is to say, thy intentions, not planted\nin the good, fertile soil that God alone is, in real and submissive humil-\nity, and that without any doubt? Then all light and teaching and all\nthe waters of devout sentiments help thee nothing. Thou must even be\nwithered and dried up before thou canst come to anything. And true\nhumility is not such talk as this : I am a good-for-nothing creature. But\nrather that one is in all reality totally subjected to God, not in outw-ard\nshow, but in his deepest heart, in the renunciation of self in all things\n\n84 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nand separation of soul from all creatures, until one clings to nothing\nbut what God gives, cleaving to Him with steadfast earnestness, in\nhumble fear, ever lying prostrate at His feet in constant prayer. True\nhumility is to wait on God's blessed will in joy and sorrow, in plenty and\nwant, living in detachment and interior conformity to God; giving up\none's own will to the eternal will of God, which one waits on with patient\ntrust, accepting everything from Him, and in turn offering all to Him\nagain, with a willing soul stripped all naked and in poverty; appropriat-\ning to oneself not a hair's weight of all the gifts God grants him ; every-\nthing of this done in deepest spiritual silence, the innermost soul sunk\nin humble recollection, without the least self-consciousness, without\nsitting in judgment on other men.\n\nThe third cause of failure is a man being too much occupied with his\noutward senses, not abstaining enough from efforts of his own, acting\nas if God could do nothing without his help. A man must in all things\nturn inward, wait inwardly, watch there for God, let God act, and be to\nGod nothing but an instrument in His hands. Let him do God's will\nsimply, passively and not actively, acknowledging as God's his every\neffort, act and word. Surrender thy will to God in all things, and live\nand act interiorly. Draw thyself in to the innermost recesses of thy\nsoul, for it is there that God dwells; gather there unto Him all thy\nfaculties and senses, all will and all activity, and busy thyself only with\nlonging for the all-lovely will of God. And if thou hast no longing, yet\nlong to have a longing; be God's bondsman, not in name, but essentially,\nby an act beyond power of words to tell, or thought, or understanding,\nin a manner all passive, mysteriously sunk down in the darkness of thy\ninmost being, and in pure faith. Only then it is that one prays most\nperfectly in the spirit, and seeks the heavenly Father with a prayer that\nis always heard and granted.\n\nTake an example. There were two virgins in a convent, one versed\nin high learning and deep questions ; the other had no thought, of such\nthings, but in simplicity of soul was absorbed in God, and ever gave her-\nself up to Him. This latter was powerful with God, who at once granted\nher all she asked. And whatever others asked her to pray for, God forth-\nwith granted it to them, even when she had forgotten to pray for it.\nWhen they thanked her she said to God : Ah, my dear Lord, how has this\nhappened, for I forgot to offer the prayers which Thou yet hast granted !\nAnd He answered her : There was no need of thou thyself begging these\nfavors ; it was enough for Me that thou wast asked to do so, and that I\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 85\n\nknew thy good purpose to pray. I must always make it good, because\nthou hast given over to Me all thy will. And so we affirm that those\nwho are entirely abandoned to God pray better without words, and, as\nit seems to them, even without thoughts or desires, than others do with\nlong prayers full of tears; for the former pray in God and with God;\nall their conduct and their life is purely a prayer.\n\nAny man who gives himself to God essentially determined always to\nremain His prisoner, to hira will God in turn deliver Himself entirely,\nand, as it were, become his captive. And then God leads him ineffably\nabove all captivity into Divine freedom in His own self, and makes him,\nin a certain way, rather a Divine than a human being. They who\napproach such a man come near to God, and they who would know him\nwell must know him in God. Herein are all his wounds healed, all his\ndebts paid, and he has passed out of creatures into God. His natural\nstate has in a manner been changed into a Divine state. This blessed\nexchange is beyond comprehension, beyond sensible perception and feel-\ning, for it is beyond natural conditions. Whosoever have found this\ninterior way have found the shortest and happiest ; and the most perfect\nand eternal enjoyment of God is theirs. We had better be silent about\nthis than discourse of it, better experience it than comprehend it.\n\nThese souls are ever abandoned to God in their will and in all things\nas God desires, keeping always a close guard over themselves. God is\nconstantly present to them in their perceptions and feelings; at no time\nor in any act do they lose touch of Him or He of them ; they always mean\nGod and seek Him in what they do, never themselves. And if it ever\nhappens that they lose the sense of God's nearness, whether in their souls\nor in outward nature, then they immediately suffer. Multiplicity,\nunrest, darkness, dissipation of mind, afflict them and cause dissatisfac-\ntion in their labors. This is the test as to whether or not one works\nfor God alone. Thus easily and strongly does Nature seek herself in\nall things, even, alas, in the things of God.\n\nO, if a man will reach the possession of the Supreme Good, he must\nlabor as hard and as skilfully as one who would master a difficult art!\nLet him always lie prostrate at God's feet as a poor little worm, as\nbeing nothing and good for nothing, actually realizing the words of\nthe prophet : \"I have become as a beast before Thee, and I am always\nwith Thee\" (Ps. Ixii, 23). And again the Holy Spirit says to the\nbride : \"If thou knowest not thyself, O fairest among women, go forth\nand follow after the steps of the flocks!\" (Cant, i, 7). This means:\n\n86 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nLearn a lesson from the patient beast, who eats nothing and does noth-\ning except as guided by his owner and according as the heavenly bodies\ninfluence him. O, if any one will but give himself up to God and follow\nHim, he will always be with God and with the prophets, and will,\nindeed, be happy! If you strike an ox, he does not resent it; if you\ncaress him, he regards it not; he neither rejoices nor mourns, but leaves\nall things to themselves. If we shall ever come to that state on account\nof absorption in God we shall, indeed, be perfect men. Whosoever is\nreally detached from himself and savors God alone, to him God makes\na plain response in all things, in pleasure and in pain, in plenty and in\nwant.\n\nIf one will arrive at this state, let him fly away, be still, wait and\nrepose. Whosoever has gained these four helps easily overcomes any\naffliction. He who thinks always of his last end, and with a yearning\nheart awaits eternity, easily despises all earthly things. Thou shalt\nnever taste the Divine sweetness, until thou dost reject earthly sweetness\nas if it were the taste of death. Whosoever will be saved must be saved\nby means of great care and watchfulness. If thy thoughts shall dwell\nin Heaven, Heaven shall be granted thee on earth. Whatever virtue is\nthine without interior silence it will be impossible for thee to keep.\nKnow thyself, for many men know many things and never know them-\nselves. He who has mastered his thoughts, and keeps them hidden from\nmen and the world, is secure from the strokes of the enemy. He who\nis happy when all alone, is secretly visited by God, and the enemy dis-\nturbs him not in his inner life, while his outward life rests in much\npeace. But he that is involved in multiplicity must suffer many\nwounds. Whatsoever man begins to disregard the little things in the\nspiritual life and to heed not his trifling faults, loses courage and zeal\nlittle by little, and at last comes to nothing. May God save us all\nfrom this. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 87\n\nSynopsis — The divine generation is continuous in the perfect soul —\nExplanation of natural spiritual activity — Examples drawn from\nChrist's dealing with His Apostles — Interior and exterior quiet\nnecessary — Hoiv compatihle with duty — Union of action with con-\ntemplation— Hoiv contemplation is superior to action — How the\nintelligence acts during contemplation — Zeal, when inordinate —\nVoivs and other obligations, hoic related to higher states of prayer.\n\nSERMON FOR THE SUNDAY AFTER NEW YEAR'S.\n\nDid you not know that I must be about My Father's business? — Luke ii, 49.\n\nThese words serve our purpose well, for I am going to speak of the\neternal birth, which yet happens in time and does happen every day, in\nthe innermost depths of the soul, far from all outward things. If any-\none will receive this Divine favor, it is before all things necessary for\nhim to be about the Father's business.\n\nWhat, then, is peculiar to the Father? We give to Him among the\nthree Divine persons the attribute of power. If, therefore, the Divine\ngeneration is surely felt, it must be with great power, both in overcom-\ning one's outward self and breaking away from the senses in all things.\nIt takes strong force to throw back and subdue all our faculties, sup-\npressing their activity. Force must be applied ; only by force can this\never succeed. Christ says : \"The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence,\nand the violent bear it away\" (Matt, xi, 12).\n\nAnd now a question arises. Does this Divine generation take place\ncontinuously in the soul, or only at intervals? I answer that that is\naccording to our dispositions, and whether or not one applies himself\nearnestly to God's work, for that end striving day and night to forget\nall things. And now we must make a distinction. Man is endowed\nwith active intelligence, passive intelligence, and that which is only\npossible intelligence. The first is always at work upon something\npresent to it ; the second works by accepting the action of another ; the\nthird remains in readiness to act and holds possession of what it may\nact upon. For example, what things one spoke ten years ago he now\n\n88 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nholds in memory, and although he does not at present speak them, yet\nare they as close to him as what he now does actually speak. The past\nthings (not yet recalled to mind) he holds by virtue of what is called\nhabit ; that is to say, a power seated in him and ready to act; the latter\nhe holds under actual consideration. It is thus with the Divine genera-\ntion. Our Lord said : 'Tet a little while and you shall not see Me, and\nagain a little while and you shall see Me\" (John xvi, 17). And so it\nis with our good God ; sometimes He reveals Himself, sometimes He\nhides Himself. Our Lord took the three apostles with Himself into\nthe mountain and showed them the bodily glory which was His by His\nunion with the Godhead (and which shall be ours after the resurrec-\ntion) ; and immediately Peter would gladly have remained there forever.\nAnd, in truth, when a man finds good things he cannot give them up, in\nso far as they are good. And, therefore, when the intelligence has found\ngood things, so must the memory afterwards recall them with love. Nor\ncan our love be withdrawn from anything good unless we feel that there\nis some evil mixed with it. Our Lord, knowing all this full well, must\nsometimes hide Himself away from us or we should lose our freedom of\naccepting or rejecting Him.\n\nNotice, besides, that the active intelligence is always busy with some\nobject, whether it be God or creatures. And when it acts reasonably\nupon creatures, that is to say, referring them by well-ordered reason to\ntheir first cause, namely, to God's glory and praise, then all is well\nwith the intelligence, which is then rightly said to be active. But when\nGod Himself undertakes to act within it, then the soul must hold itself\npassive. Meanwhile the possible intelligence co-operates with both the\nactive and passive, so that while God acts and the soul receives His\naction, the best possible effect may be produced. The soul is active when\nit busies itself with its work; it must be passive and tranquil when God\nalone works within it; and ere this is begun and perfected the soul looks\nto God and to itself that it may possess a perfected work. In this\nposition the intelligence is called the possible reason; and this, taken\nby itself, is of little value and produces no fruit. But in so far as the\nsoul acts up to its possibilities in all fidelity, in so far does God's Spirit\nrule the soul and its activity; then does it see the power of God and\nreceive His Spirit. But since the sight of God in this corporal life is\noppressive, therefore at intervals He withdraws Himself. Hence:\n\"Yet a little while and you shall not see Me, and again a little and you\nshall see Me,\" which is as much as to say that the good God sometimes\nshows and sometimes hides Himself to our understanding.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 89\n\nCall to mind what I have said about Peter and the other disciples at\nthe Transfiguration, and how we cannot give up any good, as such,\nwhen we find it. Wherever the intelligence perceives good, the will\nand memory follow after, and the entire soul cleaves to it until it finds\nin it something evil. Hence if our Lord, Who is the Supreme Good, did\nnot at times hide His glory from, the soul, it would so turn inward to\nHim and therein fixedly remain, that it could not care for the ,body, of\nwhich it is the single indispensable form and the actual life. Hence St.\nPaul's words about his vision: ''Whether in the body or out of the\nbody, I know not\" (II Cor. xii, 2). If he had been thus rapt away\nin the spirit during a hundred years, contemplating the infinite good,\nhe could not come back to his body, and he would be meanwhile totally\nforgetful of it. That this Divine influence does not belong to this\nearthly life our gracious Father knows full well, and hence He imparts\nit to us only at intervals and in a way most fitting our weakness, just as\na good physician gives a sick man medicine. It is all God's work, not\nthine; and He acts or He acts not by turns, for thy best interests. His\nhand is ever upon thee to guide thee to much or little of His Divine\ninfluence, holding thee away from Him when His Divinity becomes\nintolerable to thee. He is no destroyer of nature ; rather He perfects it ;\nbut only according as thou art by degrees prepared for Him.\n\nAnd now here is a diflBculty. Since one must, in order to prepare\nfor God's visit to his soul, be quite stripped of all interior images\nand freed from all activity of his mental faculties, which is yet ever\nman's natural condition, what shall we say of outward works of broth-\nerly love? Is it not certain that these must sometimes be performed,\nsuch as instructing the ignorant and comforting the unfortunate? Must\nall these be quite given up, the very works that the Lord's disciples so\noften gloried in doing? A father of the church says that St. Paul was\nso filled with love of the people that he seemed to bear the whole world\nof humanity in his heart. Must one be deprived of this great good for\nthe sake of a lesser one? In answer I bid you to observe this : The one\ngood is in itself the nobler; the othei* the more beneficial. Mary was\npraised for choosing the better part, and yet Martha's part was in a\ncertain sense the more useful, for she ministered to our Lord and His\ndisciples. St. Thomas teaches that the active life is better than the\ncontemplative, as long as one's activity springs from that very love\nwhich one has gained in contemplation. Thus the two kinds of holiness\nare one; for the active man is only fruitful when he holds fast to the\n\n90 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ncontemplative state as to the root of his activity. Herein is placed the\nfruitfulness of the active life, namely, that it fulfills the purposes of\nthe soul's contemplative state. One kind of life may seem wholly active,\nand yet it is in reality of a piece with the contemplative. It is as if one\nentered in and came out of a house now by one and then by another\ndoor. The doors are different ; the house is one and the same. There-\nfore, in active holiness one has nothing that is preferable to contempla-\ntive holiness; for one kind reposes in and is founded on the other and\ncarries out its designs. In God's sight there is thus perfect unity\nbetween the two states, in one of which He shows the principle of action\nand in the other shows how to carry it out in the same spirit. In the\none thou ministerest good to thyself; in the other the same ministry is\nextended to the brethren. This manner of life Christ our Lord perfectly\nillustrated in His own career, and He enforces it upon us by His teaching\nand example. This is most plainly shown in His whole life, as well as\nin the lives of all His disciples, all His saints whom He sent forth to\nserve the common good of all.\n\nSt. Paul writes to his dear son, Timothy: \"Preach the Word\" (II\nTim. iv, 2). Does he mean the outward word that beats the air? No,\nby no means; but rather that inwardly given word which lies hidden in\nthe depths of the soul. He is to preach it in such wise that the powers\nof his hearers' souls shall receive it and be fed with it. He shall possess\nit so that he may be enabled to announce it to other men in all plainness.\nAnd a further grace is added : He shall so live outwardly that whatever\nhis neighbor stands in need of, shall be found revealed in his outward\nconduct. The word he preaches shall thereby light up men's thoughts,\nreason, will and senses. According to our Lord : \"Let your light so shine\nbefore men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father,\nWho is in Heaven\" (Matt, v, 16). This teaching is against certain\nmen who value contemplation and at the same time do not value active\nvirtue. They say we have no need of the practice of virtue, we have\nprogressed above that. Of these our Lord did not speak when He said :\n\"Some fell on good ground and brought forth fruit a hundred-fold\"\n(Matt, xiii, 8). And elsewhere He says: \"The tree that bringeth not\nforth good fruit shall be cut down\" (Matt, iii, 10).\n\nThou mayst ask : What, then, becomes of the hush and silence of\nwhich thou hast told us before? For to the active life belong many\nimages, every act having its own, either within or without; as, for\ninstance, that I teach this or do that, causes figures and forms in my\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nmind. And what, then, becomes of my interior quiet? Whatever the\nreason knows or the will determines or the memory recalls— all makes\nforms and images. I ansAver thus : Doctors, as I have already stated,\ntell us of a working or active intelligence, and of a receiving or passive\nintelligence. The active intelligence observes the forms of outward\nthings and strips them of what is material and accidental ; these images\nare then deposited in the passive intelligence as spiritual images. When\nthe passive intelligence has thus become fertilized and impregnated, it\nknows outward things in these their images; but after this has hap-\npened the mind can only recall them with the lurtlier co-operatioQ of the\nactive intelligence, shedding new light upon the passive intelligence.\nNow, understand that all this work done by the active intelligence in the\nnatural man, God Himself exclusively and completely does in a man\nwholly and supernaturally detached from all things. He suspends the\nactive intelligence and puts Himself in its place; and then He does\ndirectly Himself the work that belongs to the active intelligence. This\nman has subjugated himself and reduced his active intelligence to inac-\ntivity. Therefore, God, if He wills him to work actively, must Himself\nbe the worker and act directly on the passive intelligence.\n\nBear in mind that the active intelligence cannot contain two images\nat the same time; one must be before or after the other. Two colors\nmay be in different quarters of the heavens, but thou canst see only one\nat a time. Now, mark well that this is not so when God Himself directly\nimpregnates the mind in the stead of the active intelligence doing so, for\nHe then conveys many forms and images to the passive intelligence\nat the same moment. When God inspires thee to one good work, imme-\ndiately all good works are before thee; thy spirit is lifted on high a\nthousand times more swiftly than before, and is directed to all good.\nIn one instant all the good thou canst do is displayed before thee; and\nthis shows that the work is not of thy reason, but rather of Him Who\nhas all forms and images in Himself at one and the same moment.\nHence, says St. Paul : ''I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth\nme\" (Phil, iv, 13) ; not only this or that thing, but all things whatsoever.\nLearn by this that, when thou comest to this high state, the forms\naccording to which thy work is done are not thine nor nature's ; they are\nHis, Who is nature's master; He it is Who has placed the forms and\ndone the work. This has happened to thee in time, but it is generated\nand done by God in eternity and in a manner above all forms.\n\nThou mayst ask : Since my intelligence is herein stripped of its own\nnatural activity, its own natural works and images, upon what support\n\n92 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nshall it then rest? for some support it must have. Can one's faculties\nnow have any basis from which to act, either of memory, reason or will?\nIn answer I say that the soul has for its basis of action not the acci-\ndentals of being, but being itself. When it perceives real being it imme-\ndiately is drawn to it and rests in it, and therefrom does the soul reason-\nably speak its word or do its act. Until it finds the very truth of being,\nand touches the essence of what it knows, and can say it is precisely\nthis and nothing else, it refuses to rest, but ever searches further, ever\nlonging and seeking. Thus does the soul labor sometimes a whole year\nin the study of even some natural truth. Yet a longer time will the\nmind work at separating the non-essential from the essential, resting on\nno basis and making no decision.\n\nThis is true of the soul's relation to natural truth. As to knowing\nsupernatural truth, that is to say, God, never in this life can the soul be\nwithout longing and laboring, always remaining in greater ig^norance\nthan knowledge of Him, even in the highest spiritual states; for He\nnever reveals Himself very much to His friends here below. What they\nare given to know of Him is nothing compared to what He really is. Yet\nit is really God in His very essence that is in the soul, but to the reason\nknown only in a dark and hidden manner. And the soul is, therefore,\never without rest, struggling to know more, searching for what is con-\ncealed and yet is to be revealed of Him. Thus it is that we cannot know\nwhat God is in Himself, but we learn more of Him by unceasingly\nabstracting from our thoughts of Him whatever He is not, always seek-\ning Him as matter seeks form. Matter never rests till filled with all\nforms; nor does reason, until it has possessed that truth which informs\nand enfolds all things ; and that it must have in its essence. God with-\nholds this, drawing the soul on, exciting its longing and its endeavors\nin search of greater and yet greater good. And the soul is by its nature\nnever content with trifling things, but ever strives after the highest.\n\nThou mayst say : Master, thou hast told us before that all our powers\nmust be still, and yet now Thou hast taught us that in this stillness there\nis a knowledge of and longing after all things in God. Is not this a\nloud cry and an eager speech after what one does not possess, an expect-\ning and a longing — not stillness and rest? Is it not absence of real\nrepose, and rather studying and wishing, seeking, thanking and prais-\ning, filling the mind with images? I answer by pointing out a distinc-\ntion. If a man is stripped naked of self and all things else and that\nin his every faculty and in every way, then whatever happens in his soul\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nis no longer his, but it is God's, to whom he has given himself up. Let\nme insist: The word or action of which we speak, whose word is it?\nIs it His Who speaks or his who hears? Although it is in a certain\nway his who hears, yet it is essentially the Word of Him Who generates\nit and utters it, not of him who hears it. Take an example: The\nsun sheds its light into the air, which receives it and gives it to us, so\nthat we can distinguish colors. And yet the light, though as to its form\nit be in the air, yet in its essence it is in the sun. It comes from the sun\nand not from the air, which yet receives it and distributes it to every-\nthing that is capable of it. It is thus with God's generation of His grace\nin the soul. Thy soul receives it in its powers in many ways— in aspira-\ntions, in intentions, in newness of life, in thanksgiving. Alihough action\nthus affects thee, it is all God's and not thy own. Take, therefore, all that\nhappens within thee as His and not as thy own, as it is written : ''The\nHoly Spirit breathes very softly even amid the tempest (III Kings xix,\n12) . He does not pray in us, but we pray in Him, as St. Paul savs : \"No\nman can say the Lord Jesus but by the Holy Ghost\" (I Cor. xii, s) . It is\nthus before all things necesary for thee not to cling to anvthing, but to\nsurrender thyself totally to God, that He may act within thee according\nto His will. The task is His ; He generates His Word within thee and\nthereby generates all thy activity, and, indeed, all else that concerns\nthee. If thou hast yielded thyself with all thy faculties to God, offering\nup all thy being and its attributes, then must God enter into thy being\nand into its faculties, because thou hast renounced all self-ownership\nand made thy soul like a desert waste before Him. Then happens what\nis written : \"The voice of one crying in the wilderness.\" (Isaias xl, 3.)\nLet this voice resound within thee just as loudly as may be pleasing to\nGod, who sounds it, and for thy part guard thyself with all carefuln'ess.\nDost thou complain and ask how shall a man behave who is despoiled\nand cut loose from self and from all things else? Shall he stay waiting\nperpetually for God's action? Or shall he do some things that belong\nto a devout lif^— pray, fast, watch at night, read pious books— as long\nas he takes nothing from without, but all from God, who is within him?\nIf a man does nothing, is he not a sluggard? Mark my answer: He\nmust by no means neglect outward works, for these are commanded of\nhim for the sake of good order; they lead him to God in a spiritual life,\nand they are for praiseworthy ends. Good works hinder his slipping\ndownward into an irregular way of living, and, as they become habitual^\nthey guard him from straying into eccentricities. By such means does\n\n94 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nGod prepare him for His more interior life, hindering him from that\ngrossness of life which He cannot tolerate.\n\nBut remember that thou must guard against the inordinate longings\nof zeal; for the greater one's longing for outward things, the farther\nremoved is one's happiness. Also, the greater one's love of God, the\nmore bitter is one's pain, for love leads to detachment, and that is pain-\nful. Be assured that all good works are rightly practiced if they lead\na man captive to God and preserve him from strange, foolish and\nungodly conduct ; and this applies to all such works as prayer, reading\ngood books, singing God's praises, fasting and kneeling. Hence, if one\nperceives that God is not actively working His will within him, then\nhe can do nothing better than practice any and. all virtues, choosing\nthose that are most needful for his soul, never seeking any advantage\nthat is not truly spiritual. Let me caution such a one against all\nspiritual rudeness, for he must do nothing but what unites him closer\nto God. And then, when God once more visits him in high, supernatural\nways, He will find Himself at home in his servant's interior life. Well-\ngrounded interior life is the exclusion of outward unrest. Now, it maj\nhappen that God will ravish thy soul out of itself into a state of ecstasy,\nand then, perforce, thou must be totally passive. As to such pious\npractices as are imposed on thee by thy vows, even those thou shalt be\nfor a while wholly unable to observe ; for in that state God elevates the\nsoul above all and into a state higher than all — into Himself. Consider\nan illustration : Suppose that a layman has vowed i)rayers, pilgrimages\nand fasts ; now, as soon as he enter a religious order these vows are dis-\npensed ; for in his new state he is bound to all virtues and to God by a\nnew tie; and this shows what I mean in saying, that when a man is rapt\nin God rightly and truly, he is released from all such obligations, for he\ncannot fulfill them, because he is absorbed and immersed in God in\necstasy. And if the soul thus remains wholly inactive a week or a\nmonth it is not time lost as God sees things, for the soul must be entirely\nfaithful to Him.\n\nBut as soon as a man returns to himself from his rapture he must at\nonce apply himself to fulfill all obligations, without imagining, however,\nthat what has been omitted of rule and duty should be now made good.\nGod is responsible for all that, because He it is that had made thee\nincapable of observing it. Nor shouldst thou wish that He would have\nenabled thee to perform all those holy duties, for the very least thing\nthat God does is greater than all things else. And now be it well under-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 95\n\nstood that all this teaching refers only to men who are by God and Holy\nScripture w ell instructed and fully enlightened.\n\nBut what shall we say of an ordinary layman who knows nothing of\nthis state, and is instructed only in external observances of piety, but\nwho has made a vow to pray or to fast? If in an enlightened conscience\nhe is convinced that the fulfillment of his vow interferes with his certain\nand ordinary duty to God, then he is dispensed from his vow. What-\nsoever leads thee to God and places thee closer to Him, whether it be\na vow or anything else, follow that earnestly, being sure that it is best\nfor thy interior life. According to St. Paul : \"When that which is per-\nfect is come, that which is in i)art shall be done away\" (I Cor. xiii, 10) .\n\nVows differ one from another. Some are never dispensed, as the\nmarriage vow, which, though made in the hands of the priest, is yet as\nsacred as if vowed to God in His open Divine presence. As to other\nkinds of vows, it is good to bind oneself to God to accomplish what one\nbelieves to be some better work. But if later on one finds his conscience\noppressed, as often enough happens, and is convinced that to keep his\nvow would be injurious to God's honor and his soul's welfare, then he\nshould release himself from his vow and find a surer way leading to\neternal happiness. Nor is this a hard matter, for we have only to\nregard the fruit likely to result and the intrinsic truth involved, rather\nthan the outward work. So St. Paul says: ''The letter killeth;\" that\nis to say, the external observance viewed entirely in itself; ''but the\nSpirit giveth life\" (II Cor. iii, 6), which means an interior perception of\nthe actual realities of the case. Be earnestly watchful of thyself ; what-\never duty lies before thee, do it at once and in preference to everything\nelse; cultivate an ardent and elevated spirit within thee and not a cow-\nardly one, and all this in a state of interior tranquillity. Meanwhile\ntake counsel with thy superior or some other enlightened friend of God,\nso as to avoid vain self-reliance. If thou canst not find such a one,\nconsult at least thy father confessor; and in this course thou shalt be\nsafe and secure. Remember that God guards thee, knowing well all thy\nwants before thou dost tell Him them. And, therefore, let thy prayers\nbe simple, unlike those of the Pharisees, of whom our Lord Jesus Christ\nsaid that they trusted to be heard by reason of their long prayers,\nand meanwhile they were the enemies of God and man (Matt, xxiii, 14) .\n\nMay the Blessed Trinity — God the Father, and God the Son, and God\nthe Holy Ghost — bestow upon our spirit this blissful stillness, in which\nthe Eternal Word shall be generated within us. Amen.\n\nThe Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSly? Ila^ of T^ttttttxtin\n\nSynopsis — Be not hasty or premature in beginning — Overcome world-\nliness — Bravely repress sensuality — Resist all envy and bitterness\n— Pray for divine guidance and wait for it — The part that pa-\ntience plays; and obedience and holy fear — Finally pattern on\nJesus in His life and death.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE VIGIL OF THE EPIPHANY.\nTake the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel. — Matt, ii, 20.\n\nIf one reads the Holy Gospels a thousand times and preaches and\nmeditates them as many, he will ever find some new truth unperceived\nbefore by any man. ''Take the Child and His mother and go into the\nland of Israel, for they are dead that sought the Child's life.\" Dear\nchildren, as soon as some men are conscious of an inward striving\ntoward a new life, they are rash and over eager. The newness of the\nHoly Spirit within them leads them to a sudden resolve to do great\nthings for God. Meanwhile they have not considered whether their\nnature is such, or the store of grace in them is such as to make a success\nof what they are undertaking. Therefore, let every one look to the end\nbefore he embarks in such a work, considering his inner state and his\nouter surroundings carefully. Interiorly he should at once place him-\nself in touch with God's Spirit, so that every work begun may in Him\nand by Him be happily ended. Yet some start away instantly, begin\nwith untried methods, venturing this or that scheme blindly ; and hereby\nmany injure themselves in soul and body. They build upon their own\nfoundation both in things natural and spiritual. Often one thinks he\nis guided by God, while he is but following his natural bent.\n\nOur dear St. Joseph, abiding in his exile with the Child and His\nmother, received the angel's message that Herod was dead and that they\nwere to return to the land of Israel ; but he learned by human means that\nHerod's son, Archelaus, reigned in his father's place, and he feared that\nthe beloved little Infant would be killed by him.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 97\n\nDear children, what shall we understand from this? Herod, who had\nhnnted the Child and would have killed Him, may be compared to the\nworld, which would kill the Divine Infant in our souls. From the world\nwe must flee if we would preserve the Child alive within us. Indeed, our\nown soul is the Child. And when one has fled from the world externally\nand gone into a convent or monastery, presently Archelaus rises up and\nbegins to rule interiorly in the soul. It may be that this Archelaus can\nnever conquer thee; but that is because thou shalt by the strength of\nGod, fortify thyself with great and earnest industry in devout practices;\nfor I assure thee that thou hast many fierce enemies arrayed against\nthee and ready to assail thee.\n\nThe first enemy is the world. This attacks thee with spiritual pride,\nleading thee to walk before men's eyes and be esteemed holy by them.\nThou shalt be tempted to please others by thy dress, thy manners, lofty\nspeech, wisdom, friends, wealth, honors ; and all these things are nothing\nelse than the devil's uniform.\n\nAnother enemy is a man's own flesh, which assails him with bodily and\nspiritual temptations to impurity, with evil suggestions of word and\ndeed. In these ways are all those men guilty who wilfully indulge sen-\nsuality in any way whatsoever. Let every man subject to these attacks,\nguard himself most carefully in all his senses, and in all those irregular\nemotions wherein one is likely to suffer uncleanness. Any man whose\nmind is tenderly inclined toward creatures, whether lay people or\nreligious, cherishing tender sentiments about them in his heart day and\nnight, such a one is being drawn into that vice whose ugly name is\nimpurity. And just as external unchastity deprives the body of its\npurity, so does interior unchastity smirch the beautiful purity of the\nsoul. And as the soul is nobler than the body, in the same degree is\ninterior impurity fouler than external.\n\nThe third enemy is bitterness of heart, that evil spirit which poisons\nthy soul with bad wishes, judgments, hatred, revenge; so and so has\ndone thee this injury and has said such and such things to thee; these\ninjuries thou wilt by no means tolerate and thou givest him angry looks,\na scornful bearing, bitter and violent words. Hence come dissensions,\nmutual mistreatment, and other vicious things. Children, this is without\nany doubt the inspiration, seed sowing and actual work of the devil.\n\nBe sure that if thou wilt ever be blessed thou must fly from all this\nand must, for God's sake, yield thyself up to suffer all things kindly and\nmeekly, whether men treat thee justly or unjustly. Leave thy vindica-\n\n98 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ntion to God and the truth and do not defend thyself; and then will the\npeace of God be born within thee, and be spread around thee in all\npatience and love. But if thou failest to do this with zeal and earnest-\nness, then is thy Archelaus present and he will surely slay the Child,\nnamely, the precious grace of God, within thy soul. We know how care-\nfully the humble Joseph enquired, in order to discover if there was any\none near who sought the Child Jesus to kill Him.\n\nAnd even when all these vices are overcome there yet remain a thou-\nsand bands to be broken asunder, and these no one knows but a truly\nconverted man ; for Joseph's example teaches us an earnest perseverance\nin a godly and blessed way of living, together with an ever-growing love\nof God's will. By such virtues did he most faithfully guard the little\nChild and his mother from those who would have killed Him.\n\nJoseph was warned by God's angel and led back by him into the land\nof Israel. Now, Israel means the land of vision. And, children, you\nmust understand that many men are ruined, because they would prema-\nturely break through the numerous cords of imperfections which bind\nthem; that is to say, before God's mercy has graciously released them,\nbefore God's angel has warned them and led them forth. They fall\ninto the grievous error of trying to perfect themselves before God really\nwills it. They think to succeed by their intellectual gifts and their\neloquence about high things, and because they can meditate deeply and\ndiscourse loftily upon the Holy Trinity. It is a great misery that this\ndelusion has now become so prevalent and grows worse day by day.\nSuch men will not patiently endure the restrictions of God's Providence\nand the darkness of Egypt, for Egypt signifies darkness; for it must be\nwell understood that no creature that God ever made can be released\nfrom the bonds of spiritual imprisonment by its own strength; the\neternal and all-merciful God, and none other, can release us. Turn\nthee this way or that way, it must be so if all shall be well with thee.\nRun through the whole world, seek up and down everywhere, nowhere\nand from no one shalt thou find this release but from God alone. An\ninstrument for His work He may choose, whether it be angel or man,\nbut, none the less, He Himself does the work, and none other can do it.\nTherefore, search inwardly for God in the depths of thy soul, and give\nover outward searching. Suffer willingly for God's sake; dwell in the\ndarkness of Egypt until thou art plainly invited by God's angel to come\nforth.\n\nJoseph was warned in sleep. He that sleeps sins not. Thus the\ndevout man should repose in peaceful sleep, indifferent to all the aflflic-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\ntions and oppositions that may come upon him, bowing meekly and in\nall patience under every sorrow, nor adverting to them unduly, willingly\nresigning himself and gladly suffering for God's sake. Surely in no\nother way canst thou set thyself free than thus to remain, as it were, in\nthis sleep of patience without sin, until, like Joseph, thou shalt be\nrewarded for thy humble submission by the heavenly invitation to come\nforth.\n\nUnderstand, too, that Joseph, the Child's guardian, represents the\nrulers of holy church, parish priests, bishops, abbots, priors, and father\nconfessors. These are placed for ruling men and for directing them for\nGod's praise and according to His will. But many among them are,\nalas, blind ; and the blind thus leading the blind, it is to be feared that\nboth will fall into the pit of eternal damnation. Now, each of us has\nmany superiors. Thus I have over me a subprior, a prior, a provincial,\na bishop and a pope; and suppose that by an impossibility each and all\nof them wished to do me evil, were all turned into wolves striving to bite\nme; yet I ought, none the less, meekly to resign myself and be submissive\nunder them, and that without any murmuring or contradiction. If it\nhappens that they do me good, I ought to receive it humbly, as from God ;\nif it happens that they do me evil and wrong me, I ought to accept it in\nall good will and cheerfulness, and suffer it for the sake and love of God.\n\nNotice, again, dear children, that Joseph was in constant fear until\nGod's angel announced that they were dead who sought the Child's life;\nand then with all diligence he enquired who reigned in the land of\nIsrael. Children, some men err by giving up all fear, for you must\nknow that we should not ever be without fear as long as life lasts ; for\nthus speaks the holy prophet : ''The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring\nforever and ever\" (Ps. xviii, 10). So, then, even when the angel calls\nthee forth, thou oughtest still to fear and diligently enquire what it is\nthat reigns within thee, and whether it be truly God or only thy own\nnature.\n\nThen holy Joseph took the Child Jesus and His ever-blessed and\nhumble mother. The Child Jesus represents a pure, clean man. A man\nshould be wholly clean and pure, quite unsullied by taint of outward\nthings. And he should also be lowly minded, subject under God and\nunder all creatures for God's sake in deep humility. The blessed mother\nof Christ represents to us godlike love in all sweetness and purity, for\nsuch love is the unfeigned humbling of a man in his own esteem, joined\nto entire subjection to God's will in all sincerity. Children, a man thus\n\n100 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nplaced is a little child and ought not to stray away foolishly into the\nland of vision. Upon occasions he may enjoy some relaxation there, but\nonly on condition that he shall betimes come back again into the land\nof Egypt ; and this continues until he has grown up to perfect manhood\nunder the watch and ward of our Lord Jesus Christ,\n\nHe it is who truly teaches us the way of perfection in all things, giv-\ning us the pattern of His pure and guileless life. And if we could not\nso much as have God's word, yet in His pure and holy life we should\nfind all that is necessary to possess eternal happiness. He went to\nJerusalem when He was twelve years old, but He did not remain there;\nHe came away again because He had not jet perfectly arrived at man's\nestate. He stayed away till that time had come, and then in His perfect\nmanhood He was daily in Jerusalem teaching the Jews the way of\ntruth. He went throughout the land of Galilee; He was in Capharnaum\nand in the city of Nazareth; He was everywhere in the land of Juda\nas a mighty teacher, doing signs and wonders. And thus must every\ndevout man act. He must not dwell in the holy land of contemplation,\nbut only go there from time to time and quickly withdraw, again, for he\nis not perfectly grown up to manhood ; he is a young and unpracticed\nand imperfect spirit. When he has become a strong, perfect and manly\nspirit, then let him enter into the land of Juda — I mean the perfect\nknowledge of God. Then let him in all freedom go up to Jerusalem, the\ntrue city of peace. Thou mayst then, at last, joyfully and plentifully\nteach others and correct them and journey to Galilee, which means a\npassing over.\n\nChildren, when one has thus gone onward, and has passed over all\nthings created, he finally arrives at the city of Nazareth, the sweet\nflower-garden of joy, in which grow the beautiful and fragrant blossoms\nof eternal life. There he finds unspeakable peace, solace, and comfort,\ntranquil rest in God alone, all beyond the power of human tongue to\ndescribe.\n\nChildren, into this depth of God's being all those men are absorbed,\nwho for God's sake have humbly and with good will borne the assaults\nof the passions, in inward and outward conflict. They have meekly\nbowed under God's yoke; they have been submissive to all creatures, and\nthey have persevered till the ever good God has Himself released them\nand led them forth by His grace into His holy peace. Then it happens\nthat it is given them often to enjoy for a brief moment, a sweet foretaste\nof the happiness that shall be theirs in God for all eternity. May God\ngrant us all this in His inflnite bounty. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 101\n\nBttkm^ tot (Sob\n\nSynopsis — The natural yearning for God and its defectiveness — By\ngrace one is drawn to God in the depths of his own soul — Effect\nof the inner finding of God on one's mind and heart.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE VIGIL OF THE EPIPHANY.\nWhere is He that is born King of the Jews? — Matt ii, 2.\n\nThe soul knows that God exists, and that even by the light of natural\nreason ; but as to who He is it has no knowledge ; this is hidden from it.\nNow, there arises in every guileless soul a sweet yearning for more\nknowledge of its God; it seeks earnestly and enquires anxiously for\nHim ; how gladly would it find Him Who is so hidden away from it. In\nthis diligent search there appears to the soul a star, which is a gleam of\nthe light of Divine grace. This light speaks to the soul and says, He is\nborn today; and at the same time it points out His birthplace. Now,\nthis cannot be any natural guidance, for all who follow nature's light in\nseeking God's birthplace will but go astray. God's birth would not be\nknown but for the shining of a Divine light, telling us what that birth is,\nand where it has taken place. Foolish men cannot wait for the light of\ngrace to shine and guide them on till they find the Divine generation ;\nthey break away and seek for it by the natural light of reason, and all in\nvain ; they must bide their time, which has not yet come. This yearning\nfor God works strong within them ; in some it becomes so violent as to\npierce flesh and blood ; yea, to penetrate even to the marrow of the bones.\nIt is true that our natural reason has a part to play and must use all its\npowers, if the soul's longing for God shall be satisfied; but natural\nreason does not know God's generation in us, and cannot, therefore,\nreveal it.\n\nHerein are three things to be considered. One is the yearning, another\nis the seeking, and the third is the finding out of the Divine birth. Con-\nsider, too, three other things in the soul of man. One is what cleaves to\nhis fleshly nature, his bodily senses and sensibility; another is his\n\n102 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nreason ; and the third is the naked and essential substance of the soul.\nAll three differ one from another, each one acting unlike the other and\naccording to its own nature. The sun's light is one in itself and simple ;\nbut when shining through glass it is various, being black,yellow or white,\naccording to the glass's color. Black glass may stand for our sensible\nlife, yellow for that of reason, white for the essential spirit's very self.\nNow, when the senses enter the reason and the reason penetrates the\npurely essential spirit, then the black has become yellow and the yellow\nhas become white. Thus a purely simple state of light results, and in\nthat, and that alone, the light of the Divine birth shines forth. When\nrightly received all images, forms, and resemblances vanish away from\nthe soul, and the light of the Divine birth alone beams in very truth\nwithin it. The natural light of day may be obscured by darkness, but\nwhen the sun rises in all his splendor, he triumphs over darkness, and\nall lesser luminaries disappear from sight. It is thus that the clear\nbeams of this supernatural light shine in the soul, all forms and images\ndisappearing. And hence wherever it shines natural lights are quenched,\nfor the star that showed the three kings the Divine birthplace was not\nlike other stars; it was not naturally fixed in the sky like them. The\nsenses of man take from material things their images, and these are\nfairer than the things themselves. Then the understanding in turn\nstrips these images of their sensible grossness, and retains only the\nheavenly forms that are in them by making them reason's images — the\nyellow glass acting upon the black. And finally the understanding\nitself may become the white glass; that is to say, if it will cleanse itself\nby self-renunciation, and thereby be made a purely spiritual faculty.\nInto this soul alone does the star of the Divine birth brightly shine.\nToward this happy lot does all human life constantly tend.\n\nNow, these three answers that I have given to the three questions, may\nbe compared to the three gifts of the three kings ; and this shall be the\nsubject of tomorrow's sermon.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 103\n\n^om l&xtUt M^vrl] ta Emmh into Bvont Snttrnt\n\nSynopsis — Spirituality is a hitter task — Even innocent joys must \"be\nchastened — The hitterness that is sent specially by God — This\nleads us to great things, the chief being power to suffer for God's\nsake — Danger of seeking pain out of self-will — The crowning bit-\nterness is inner anguish caused by God's testing the soul's fidelity\n— Patience herein — The joy finally resulting.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY.\n\nAnd opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts : gold, frankincense and\nmyrrh. — Matt, ii, 11.\n\nLet us first consider the myrrh. This means the bitterness that one\nmust taste ere he finds God ; for in turning to God one must turn away\nfrom the world ; and, besides that, he must banish away all pleasure and\nconcupiscence. It is a matter of necessity that whatever a man holds\ndear must be given up, and that is a task bitter in the extreme. What-\never was sweet before must become just as bitter to thee now, and this\ncalls for a strong and diligent efi'ort; the greater the pleasure before,\nthe greater the bitterness now.\n\nThou demandest how a man can live without pleasure, joy or desire.\nIf I am hungry, I eat ; if I am thirsty, I drink ; if I am drowsy, I sleep ; if\nI am cold, I warm myself. All this is nature's law, and how can I\nchange it as long as nature is what it is? How can what is sweet\nby nature be turned into bitterness? I answer that these joys,\npleasures, savors, satisfactions, complaisances, when they are not sin-\nful, may not be totally destroyed ; but, at least, they ought not to enter\ninto the inner depths of the soul nor have any place there. These feel-\nings should come and go with the acts which caused them, and leave\nbehind no trace of their existence. Thou shalt take no pleasure in them,\nbut let them pass off and away. Whatever of the world and of created\nthings thou findest lingering in thy soul, thou shouldst not consider as\nthy own to possess, nor permit thyself the least satisfaction therein.\nCreatures and the pleasure arising from creatures, must be to thee some-\n\n104 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nthing thou hast overcome and put to death. And this applies even to\nthe jojs thou findest with men who are friends of God. Whatsoever of\nthis kind of joy thou findest thyself inclined to must be totally overcome.\nThy soul is the child, and until Herod and all his court who seek that\nchild are really dead to thee, thou deceivest thyself if thou imaginest\nthat thou makest any progress. Be not without fear; be not too eager;\nsee how things stand with thee.\n\nThere is yet another kind of myrrh, whose bitterness goes far beyond\nthe first kind. That is the myrrh that God gives. It is trouble and\nsuffering, whether interior or exterior, sent especially by God. Oh, if\nthou canst but receive that myrrh with the same deep-hearted love with\nwhich God gives it, what a happy state shall be generated within thee —\njoy and peace and elevation of soul ! Yes, whether God sends thee suf-\nfering little or great, it is from the depths of His unspeakable love ; and\nin this He but gives thee something greater and more useful than any\ngift; namely, His very love itself. If God has numbered the hairs of\nthy head, so that not one of them falls to the ground without His knowl-\nedge and will, much rather has He foreseen from all eternity the least\nsuffering He gives thee to endure, and hast loved it ; and He has willed it\nfor thy advancement in perfection.\n\nHence if thy finger pain thee or thy skin is hurt, if thy feet are cold\nor thou art hungry and thirsty, if someone annoys thee by word or deed,\nif anything whatever distresses thee with want or pain, it is all a prepa-\nration for the joyful time to come. It was all foreseen and ordered by\nGod, as if weighed out and measured and numbered by Him for thy\nperfection. That my eye rests sound in my head, God has eternally\nforeseen. That its light goes out and I become blind, or that I become\ndeaf, the heavenly Father has foreseen it eternally, decreed it in His\neternal counsels. And shall not I, though blind and deaf outwardly,\nlift up my soul's glances and thank my God that His eternal decree has\nbeen fulfilled in me? Instead of my misfortune aflflicting me, it should\nwonderfully excite me to thanksgiving. It is the same with the loss of\nfriends, goods, honors, the comforts of life ; such calamities are given by\nGod to prepare thee for the truest interior peace if thou but knowest\nhow to receive them. And if thou sayst: These afflictions have come\nfrom my harboring an evil thing in my soul and I have deserved them\nas a punishment, then I answer: Dear child, whether these painful\nthings are deserved or undeserved, they equally come from God. In\neither case thank Him for them, suffer them and be resigned.\n\nAll the myrrh of suffering that God sends, is by Him intended to lead\nthee to great things. It is that we may be privileged to suffer, that God\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 105\n\narrays all things in opposition to us. It were as easy for God to have\nbread ready baked grow in the field as raw wheat; but in this and all\nother things God wills that man must be tried. Everything that hap-\npens is thus foreseen and prearranged by Him. We know how carefully\nthe pain;ter calculates the strokes of his brush, broad or narrow, short\nor long, mingling the red and the blue with all foresight to produce a\nmasterpiece of his art. God is a thousand times more intent than this\nupon making a man the masterpiece of His Divine art; and He does this\nby His strokes of suffering and His colors of pain. O that we would\naccept and use the Divine gift of myrrh in the same spirit in which it is\ngiven !\n\nAnd there are some men who are not content with the myrrh that God\ngives; they seek and find other pains out of self-will, injuring their\nbrains and breeding illusions, suffering much and long from this indis-\ncreet mortification. Little grace comes to them, for they build upon\ntheir own foundation, whether in penances, fastings, praying or other\ndevotional practices. In such cases God must wait till their meddle-\nsome interference is over and done. It has brought them no good. It is\nGod's way not to reward any works other than His own. In Heaven,\nHe will bestow on thee a crown for His works and not for thine. What-\nsoever work of thine God does not work in thee, counts for nothing.\n\nThe third kind of myrrh is very bitter; it is God's gift of inward\nanguish and darkness, aridity and distaste for spiritual things. Who-\nsoever recognizes God's hand in this and resigns himself to it, will find\nflesh and blood and human nature consumed in him ; the Divine artist's\ninward work changes the colors far more than all one's own outward\npractices. God tries us herein with dreadful tests, and in amazing and\nstrange ways, unknown to all save those who have experienced them.\nThere is a wonderful store of the myrrh of suffering in man's nature,\nwhich, if it were set loose, we could scarcely endure; but God knows how\nto use it for our good. If one does not understand this, then when the\ntrial comes he is more deeply injured than can be imagined ; for no heart\ncan measure God's love for us in giving us this myrrh of inner sorrow.\nGiven to us for our profit, we may yet get no good from it by bearing it\nwith sleepy indifference or with murmuring of spirit. And if thou com-\nplainest : O, I am all dry and dark within my soul, I answer thee : Dear\nchild, bear it patiently, and thou shalt be much better on account of\nit than if thou hadst been full of sensible sweetness.\n\nNow, the bitterness of this myrrh is felt both in the senses and in the\nmind. When felt in our sensible and external life, a man will sometimes\n\n106 The Sermons and Spiritual Conference^\n\nventure to relieve himself of it, being wise in his own conceit. He\nattributes his misery to external happenings, and seeks to avoid pain by\nremedying adversities ; and, indeed, he may succeed in doing this ; but all\nthe time he is thereby setting himself up as wiser than God, Whom he\nwould presume to guide and correct, being quite unwilling to accept any-\nthing and everything from His Divine hand. In the end these suffer the\nbitterest woe.\n\nOthers would manage their interior distress and sweeten their myrrh's\nbitterness, by using the resources of natural reason. They take refuge\nfrom their inward sorrow in the occupations and images of their intelli-\ngence. It, therefore, often happens that uneducated persons are sooner\ngranted a solace than the learned. These uneducated souls are more\nsingle-minded and follow God's guidance more implicitly, knowing no\nother method than that of perfect trust in Him. Would that the more\nintellectual would do the same! This way would bring them to an\nelevated and free state of soul even sooner than it does the others,\nbecause they would be aided by their mental endowments. O that thou\nwouldst give thyself thus up to God, not a drop of blood in thy body but\nwould help thee to thy perfection !\n\nOut of this soul is breathed forth the frankincense of the magi — a\nlittle vapor from the fragrant grains of incense. Incense has a sweet\nodor. When the fire takes hold of its grains, it sucks into itself the\nsweetness concealed in them, and then gives it forth in its fragrant\nfumes. By the fire is meant nothing else than the burning love of God\nwhich blazes up in prayer. Prayer is the smoke of incense,~arising from\nour souls to God during our devout exercises; for prayer is defined as\nthe elevation of the soul to God. External devotion, however, is like\nstraw; its whole use is for the wheat, and after the grain has been\nthrashed out of it, it is good for nothing better than to make a bed, or for\nkindling a very smoky fire. So outward devotional exercises are of no\nother use than to excite interior devotion, which is the sweet perfume\nof the soul before God. When thou feelest thy soul rising upward in\ninterior aspiration, then cease the external practice; but this ought not\nto be done when holy Church commands us to observe outward devo-\ntional exercises, or when our father confessor imposes them by way of\na penance.\n\nMay our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Glory, help us thus to benefit\nby these gifts of frankincense and myrrh, and may He draw our hearts'\nprayers thus upward to God. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 107\n\nSynopsis — Difference between God's presence in the natural order and\nin the supernatural — His presence hy grace is a divine birth in\nthe soul — How this is hindered by sin — Rules for discovering\nGod's interior guidance in ordinary things — God's deeper visitor\ntion baffles the soul's faculties and makes it stupid, alienates\nfriends, and shrouds it in darkness — In due time this state of\nignorance and misery is changed for one of God's own wisdom\nand power.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY.\nWhere is He that is born King of the Jews?— Matt, il, 2.\n\nConsider this birth attentively as to where it takes place. And as I\nhave many times told you before, so now I say again : This eternal\ngeneration is in our souls, and that in no other way than it takes place\nin eternity. It is thus in the essence and depth of our souls. And this\ngives rise to some questions.\n\nThe first point is this : God is present in all things, and that more inti-\nmately and naturally than they are present to themselves. Now, wher-\never God is. He must act; that means He must know Himself and\nthereby utter His eternal Word. How, then, is the soul of man to be\ncompared with other created things in reference to this Divine birth?\nIn this way : God is in all things by His essence, His action and His\npower; but in the soul alone is He born. We find a trace of God\nand His footprints in all creatures ; but the soul is by nature made after\nGod's likeness, and that likeness of God is perfected by this Divine birth.\nNo other earthly creature is capable of experiencing it. Resemblance to\nGod is the soul's perfection, whether in form of light, or grace, or happi-\nness; and this is bestowed only by the Divine generation. Await this in\nthy interior life, and thou shalt obtain all that is precious, consoling and\njoyful, most truly and most essentially. Neglect it, and thou neglectest\neverything good, and everything happy. It will bring thee pure and\nessential blessedness. Whatsoever joy thou seekest apart from it, will\n\n108 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nmin everything, no matter how thou shalt manage it. This birth alone\ngives essential life; the other way destroys it. Herein thou art made\npartaker of the Divine influence, with all its gifts. No creature not\nmade in God's image and likeness can be capable of receiving it, for it is\nthat Divine likeness in the soul, that has reference properly and pecu-\nliarly to the eternal generation, which, at the entrance of the heavenly\nFather into the soul's deepest depths, is therein accomplished, no other\nimage but God's ever having penetrated there.\n\nThe second question is this : Inasmuch as the Divine birth is accom-\nplished in the soul's depths, why shall it not be in a sinner's as well as\nin a good man's? for the essential nature of one soul is the same as that\nof another. Yea, even in hell a man's natural nobility of soul still sub-\nsists. And to this 1 answer, that it is proper to the Divine birth always\nto shed a new light upon the soul, pouring forth God's own self in that\nillumination — first in the interior and essence, and then overflowing into\nall the faculties of the spirit, and finally into a man's external life. It\nhappened thus to St. Paul at Damascus, when God's light smote him\nand spoke to him. A reflection of that light shone outwardly round\nabout him and was seen by his companions. It is ever so with pious\nsouls; God's light tills their inner depths, and then its overflow is seen\nin their bodily existence, which is thereby made lightsome. Of all this\nthe sinner is wholly incapable, totally unworthy, for he is filled with\nsin and wickedness, which holds his spirit in darkness. As St. John\nsays : The darkness did not comprehend the light. This is because the\npath of the light is blocked up by falsehood and darkness. Light and\ndarkness cannot exist together in the soul. Nor can God and the crea-\nture rule there together; before God enters in, the creature must be\ndriven out.\n\nHow does a man first perceive this light? When he is converted to\nGod a light glimmers and shines in his soul, giving him to understand\nwhat he ought to do and what he ought not to do ; many a plain guidance\nshall be thine which thou hadst not any notion of before. And if thou\naskest, How shall I know it? I answer that thy heart shall be touched\nby God and led away from worldly things. How can this be done\nexcept by enlightening thee? And it will be so gentle and so sweet,\nthat everything that is not God or inclining thee to God shall distress\nthee. This enlightenment of soul will enrapture thee with God. Thou\nshalt become conscious of many good admonitions within thee, not\nknowing from whence they come to thee; only it shall be plain that this\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 109\n\ninterior inclination does not come from any created things; it is plainly\nnone of their influence. Whatever a creature works in thee comes\nalways from without. But God's light touches the inner depths of thy\nsoul, and that alone, and the more fully thou art freed from creatures,\nthe more distinctly dost thou perceive, that it is the light and truth of\nGod that reigns within thee. Therefore, one never goes astray if he\nkeeps to this true way. But he does wander blindly if he leaves it and\ntrusts for guidance to outward things. Hence St. Augustine teaches\nthat many, indeed, seek the light and the truth, but only toward the\nexterior, where it is not, and they often go to such a length as never to\nturn their eyes into their own souls at all. They have not found the\ntrue path, because the guide is within and not without. Whosoever\nwould learn how to find and to recognize the true light, let him wait and\nwatch for the Divine birth in his inmost soul; soon all his spiritual\npowers will be lighted up, and also his outward faculties. For as soon\nas God touches the interior with His truth, all of a man's forces are filled\nwith light, and by that light he learns more than anyone can teach him.\nHence the prophet says : *'I have understood more than all my teachers\"\n( Ps. cxviii, 99) . But since such a light as this cannot shine in a sinful\nsoul, it is impossible that the Divine birth can be accomplished there.\nThis light can have no fellowship with the darkness of sin, for it acta\nnot in the faculties, but in the essence of the soul.\n\nIt may reasonably be asked why this regeneration does not take place\nin the soul's faculties. Now, consider that every act is done for a\ncertain end, which has first place in intention and last place in fulfill-\nment; and God intends a most blessed end in all His works, namely, His\nown very self. And He would bring the soul, with all its powers, to that\nsame end— union with Himself. With this end in view, God does all His\nworks ; and He generates His Son in the soul so that all its powers may\nbe made partakers of the Divine birth. All that the soul has and is,\nGod gathers up, and He leads it all to this Divine entertainment. If,\nmeanwhile, the soul turns its powers into the outer life, the eyes dis-\ntracting it with their gazing, the ears with hearing, the taste with eat-\ning, and the like, in just that degree is it incapable of acting interiorly,\nfor every mental power that lacks concentration is acting imperfectly.\nIf the soul will have a forceful life it must call home all its powers, and\nall the bodily senses, and concentrate them upon an interior life. St.\nAugustine says : \"The soul is more really present with what it loves than\nwith its own body.\" A certain heathen master was absorbed in a math-\n\n110 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nematical calculation to that degree that he forgot to eat and drink. A\nsoldier rushed into his room and brandished a sword over his head,\nknowing nothing of who he was. \"Tell me who thou art or I will kill\nthee !\" he shouted. But the mathematician was so absorbed in his prob-\nlem that he neither saw nor heard his enemy, nor was he able to utter a\nword. The soldier called and threatened loud and long without any\nresponse, and at last he cut off the master's head. And this absorption\nwas the fascination of purely natural science. How much rather ought\nwe to withdraw ourselves from all things, and assemble all our mental\nforces to contemplate and to know the eternal and immeasurable truth\nthat is God. Gather, therefore, all thy reason, faculties, and senses into\nthe depths of thy soul, for there is thy hidden treasure. Freed from all\naction and holily unknowing of all things, thou shalt surely find God.\n\nThou mightest say : Dear brother, would it not be better that each of\nthe soul's powers should maintain its own peculiar activity, each one\nnot interfering with the others? I answer that I can in no wise know\ncreated things without suffering some hindrance therefrom. How, then,\ndoes God know all things without hindrance, and His blessed saints\nalso? It is because the saints behold God Himself; and in Him it is\nthat they behold all things else, even in one single image. And so does\nGod behold all things in Himself, having no need to turn from one thing\nin order to behold another, as we must do. If in this life we could\nhave a mirror, in which with one glance and in one image we could see\nand know all things, then our activity and our knowledge would work\nno hindrance in our spiritual life. But since we must always turn\naway from one thing if we would know another, therefore our knowl-\nedge of the one must hinder our knowledge of the other ; for the soul is so\nbound up with its faculties that, withersoever any one of them goes, the\nsoul goes forth with it. It is present with every faculty in all its\nactivity; if it is not with them thinking, then they cannot be acting.\nHence if it is poured out with them in the care of external things, so\nmuch the weaker must it become for the care of interior things. And\nfor the Divine generation God will and must have a soul free and unen-\ncumbered, a spirit in which there shall be naught but Himself alone.\nHe demands a soul which waits on nothing and nobody but Himself\nalone ; and thus did Christ teach : \"If any man come to Me and hate\nnot his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and\nsisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple\" (Luke\nxiv, 26) . He came upon earth not to send peace, but the sword\" (Matt.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor m\n\nX, 34), cutting ofif from thee sisters, brothers, mother, children and\nfriends. Whatsoever is near and dear to thee becomes really thy enemy.\nIf thou wilt see all things and hear all, and if in thy heart thou wilt con-\nsider all things, then in very truth thy soul shall be wasted and scat-\ntered among them all. Hence a certain master says : \"If a man would\nlead an interior life, let him draw all his powers, as it were, into a\ncorner of his soul and hide himself with them there, far from all forms\nand images, and then he may act.\" Now, that man must forget all\nthings, ignore all things, and rest hushed in stillness, in order that the\nDivine Word may be born within him. Let him know that he can now\nserve God's Word in no other way, except by being still and tranquil.\nHe hears the Word speak amid his own silence; he sees the Divine light\namid his own ignorance; when he has come to know nothing, then does\nthe Word reveal itself to him.\n\nYou may say : Sir, thou placest all our perfection in a certain kind of\nignorance, and ignorance is a fault, for God has made man to know, and\nthe prophet prayed God to make men know. Ignorance is the cause of\nsin and vanity; an ignorant man is a fool, and is like an ape. And I\nanswer thus : What thou sayest is all true if a man continue in his ignor-\nance. But mark well that from the ignorance I speak of, a man emerges\ninto a knowledge high above all forms and images. Again, this ignorance\nis not the continuance of a previous ignorance; it is from motives of\nwisdom that a man herein makes himself ignorant. We ought to make\nourselves ignorant for the sake of having Divine wisdom ; whereupon our\nsouls, unknowing and empty, are presently adorned and ennobled with\nsupernatural knowledge. In this process, if we but rest passive, we are\nmade more perfect than if we actively worked. Hence the saying of a\ncertain master : \"We learn more wisdom by hearing than by seeing.\"\n\nIt is related of a heathen philosopher, that as he was about to die his\ndisciples told him of a great discovery in science. He raised his head\nand said : \"Let me know about this, that I may enjoy it in eternity.\"\nHearing brings things into us; seeing gives us out to things. Hence^n\neternal life we shall have more joy in the faculty of hearing than in that\nof seeing, for my act of hearing the Eternal Word is all within me, and\nthat of seeing goes forth out of me. By hearing I am made passive; by\nseeing, active; and our happiness does not consist in our activity, but in\nwhat we passively receive from God. As God is greater than all crea-\ntures, so is his action greater than mine. And it is by His infinite love\nthat He has made our blessedness depend on His action and not on our\n\n112 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nown. For our capacity to receive is greater than our capacity to give\nforth, and every gift we receive increases our capacity for the reception\nof other gifts, deepening our longing for yet greater things. And hence\ncertain teachers say : \"In this is the soul like unto God, that as He is\nboundless in giving, so is the soul boundless in receiving; and as God\nis all-powerful in action, so is the soul all-capable in its passiveness; and\nthus is it transformed with God and in God. Let God work, let the\nsoul suffer His working.\" Then it shall know itself with His knowledge,\nlove with His love, ever be happier with His blessedness than with its\nown. And hence the soul's happiness is placed not in its own activity,\nbut in God's. St. Dionysius was once asked whv his disciple Timothy\nsurpassed all his other disciples in perfection of virtue. He answered :\n\"Timothy is more perfect than all other men, because he is a man who is\npassive under God's action.\"\n\nAll this explains how this kind of ignorance is not a defect, but a per-\nfection ; and how thy not doing is thy highest work and far above thy\ndoing. Cease from all activity, be silent in every one of thy powers\nand faculties, and thou shalt in very truth experience the birth of the\nDivine Word within thee, and find thy new-born King within thy souL\nWhatever else besides Him thou now findest there, thou must give up\nand cast away from thee. All whatsoever that is not pleasing to Him\nmay He help us totally to reject — He Who was born a Child unto us that\nwe might be made children of God. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 113\n\nSynopsis — Hoiv men mistake the light of human reason for the light\nof grace — Shown hy persistence in sinfulness — The right way is\nthe preparation of self-denial — The darkness of suffering goes\nbefore the dawn of God's light — Outward activity, how regulated\nin view of God's inner activity and the coming of His light.\n\nTHIRD SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY.\n\nArise and be enlightened, O Jerusalem. — Isaias Ix, 1.\n\nGod desires nothing upon earth but one thing, and that He has set Hig\nheart upon — that He may find the deep abyss that He has created in\nman's spirit empty and ready for the perfect work He will do there. In\nall earth and Heaven He has full power; one thing alone is lacking Him,\nthe accomplishment of His all holy will in man's soul. And what is\nman's part, that God may light up and take possession of his inmost\nsoul? He should arise, says Holy Writ : Arise, O Jerusalem ! This is\nas much as to say, that a man has his own part to play in the Divine\nw^ork, and that it is to arise from all things whatsoever that are not\nGod — from all creatures, including himself. It is in this rising up that\nthe soul's depths are quickly stirred with longing for God. The more\nall inordinate desires are shaken off, the stronger and stronger grows\nthe yearning for God, until it seems to pierce flesh and blood and bones\nand marrow, and enter into the soul's very essence.\n\nThis movement toward God is managed in two different ways. One\nclass of men work with their natural activity of mind, using the images\nand high thoughts of reason, with the result that they confuse the soul's\ninner life and stifle its yearnings, substituting their own efforts at under-\nstanding things for the longing after God. They imagine that by\nreason's activity they have made their souls God's city of peace. Others,\nmen of the same class, think that they can prepare their souls by\narrangements and methods of their own selection in prayers and medi-\ntations and the like, and thereby secure tranquillity. That this is a\n\n114 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nfalse peace is proved by their continuing in their defects, their pride,\ntheir sensuality and self-indulgence, in suspicions and rash judgments;\nthey are irritated by reproof; easily moved to excuses, to hatred and to\nother wilful faults. From all this it is plain, that in taking in hand\ntheir own preparation for God's work they have hindered Him from\ndoing it; that they have not arisen to be enlightened in the right way.\nLet them not fancy that their soul has been made God's holy city of\nJerusalem, the abode of peace. They should rather resolve to overcome\ntheir vices, follow our Lord's pattern in their daily lives, do humble\nworks of holy charity, die to themselves in all things; that is their way\nto learn how to arise and be enlightened.\n\nBut the others, they who in very truth arise and are enlightened, yield\nto God the task of preparing their souls' depths. These renounce them-\nselves in everything. They are attached to neither words, methods or\nacts, totally content in joy or in sorrow. To them all things are\nacceptable as coming from God, and are received in humble fear. They\nstand before Him in entire self-abandonment, bowed down in willing\nsubmission. Whatever may be God's good pleasure is welcome. Be it\npeaceful or the reverse, it is all one to them, for all things are from God.\nTo them may be applied our Lord's words to His disciples when they\nasked Him to go to Jerusalem to the festival day : \"My time is not yet\ncome, but your time is always ready\" (John vii, 6). These men's\ntime is all the time, for waiting and sufifering is always ready for them ;\nbut God's time is not yet. When and how He will act and enlighten\nthem they leave wholly to Him, in entire self-renunciation and the spirit\nof long suffering. It is thus peculiar to these men that to God is given\nover the preparation of their souls, and by no means do they assume the\ntask themselves. Doubtless they occasionally feel the first movements\nof vice within them, from which, indeed, no one is exempt. But at the\nfirst evil suggestion, whether of pride or lust, or worldliness, anger or\nhatred, they immediately and most humbly turn to God, and give them-\nselves up to Him for protection. Such souls do most certainly arise,\npassing upward above all things, including self; they are, indeed, a city\nof peace, a real Jerusalem, enjoying tranquillity in the midst of unrest,\nand happiness in the midst of pain, having relish only for God's will in\nall happenings. The whole world is powerless to deprive them of their\npeace, nor could all men and devils together disturb it. They are\nassuredly enlightened by God, who shines in their souls brightly and\npowerfully, even more brightly and powerfully amid seeming darkness.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\n. 115\n\nwilftl?^'! ^Th'\" ^\"u' ^»P^™^t\"''''\"y glided bj God, without Whose\nwm they do nothing whatsoever. And, if we dared say so, they are in a\nLmd 0, a way nothmg of themselves, but God is all in all within them\nO, It IS these beautiful souls who are the pillars of the world ! Blessed\nIS he who IS so fortunate as to be one of them.\nThese, then, are the two different classes. One class presumes to set\n\n^ZrZTj \" «»?f/'\"^- «- ^^-^^ -ther than His, with t'h\nresult that they remain fettered by their sins, powerless to free them-\nselves; or they sink into self^ontent and self-will. The other class a\"e\nb essed souls full of utter self-detachment, elevated in spiri , watchS\n\nJL\"\"\"^!\" *f \"'^ ^'\"\"' \"\"\" *\"'\"'' ■»<'° ^\"o-\" Gol i« thus preparing\n\nthe command is: Arise, O Jerusalem! and to arise is itself to do some-\nthing. I answer: Yes; one work is theirs to do, and that they ought to\nbe engaged m as long as life lasts, if they would cUe to perfecWon They\nmust rise up constantly; they must be constantly lifting up th^; souls\nm God and in a spirit of entire detachment, asking, in holy fear mere\n\ndo to ptea\"e H m °^'^'''\\'°''^''?' <\"• ^--^^^' and what they should\nrest stm doe?H; h^ *H k '''\"\"' \"'''\" *\" \"^ '\"'^''^ P''^^\"'^. tbev\nthfn, ;\"; , . ^ *'\"'\" ^^ ^''\"\"'' *^<'y ^«t to work; does He Want\nthem contemplation, they enjoy its privileges. Their own inmostlou\n\nluTfZ r T'.^' \"'\"^ *''^°' *° ^'>' '» His light is shirng here\nand that is God's chosen abode, which He will not share with any crea\nture And of those other men, those overactive and self-guided sprts\nof whom we have before spoken, it must be said that God works 'w thin\nhem also, but not directly and without means and images, as He does n\nhe nob er and really detached spirits. In these last Sod's influence is\nfelt without figures and images, and, as far as they can perceive imme\ndiately upon the essence of their souls. And it is not possibrto\ndescribe or explain His work in them, nor does anyone unders, Id it\n\ntMrGoTL^t\".'\" ''\"\"\" ^^^^™°^^'' '*' '''«' -^-^ - one can 0 ;l\nthat God has taken possession of the center of his spirit. He soon finds\n\nhimself freed from being absorbed by extern..! activity, and at the fame\n\nfinally, by his own great earnestness and God's blessed graces he has\nattained to the highest perfection, his self-renunciatiof is complete\n\n116 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\naccording to our blessed Lord's words : \"When you shall have done all\nthese things that are commanded of you, say: We are unprofitable\nservants\" (Luke xvii, 10). This shows that, however perfect a man\nbecomes, he should, nevertheless, stand in humble awe and fear of God.\nYea, if he reaches the very highest point of holiness, he should say to\nGod with deepest sincerity: \"Thy will be done!\" (Matt, vi, 10 j. He\nought to maintain a sleepless watch over himself, examining whether\nhe clings to even one single earthly thing, whether God finds in the\ninterior of His soul, even the very least hindrance to His immediate\ninfluence upon his spiritual life.\n\nMay God help us all thus to arise and be enlightened and to experi-\nence His Divine action within us. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 117\n\n(Boh XB (^uimh b^ iflarljm^ttl from (UrttdnrtB\n\nSynopsis — Human activity must yield to divine — The passive state is\nreceptive of God — The pain of the soul's solitude and silence pre-\ncedes the joy of God's coming — The soul must be empty of crea-\ntures before being filled with God — The good use of penances in\nthis regard.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY.\n\nAnd when He was twelve years old. — Luke ii, 42.\n\nWe read in the Holy Gospel that when our Lord was twelve years old\nHe went with His parents to the temple, and that when they started\nhomeward He remained there and they knew it not. Then when they\nmissed Him on the journey and could not find Him among their kins-\nfolk and acquaintance, they must go back to the temple seeking Him.\nAnd so they found Him.\n\nWe may use this event to show thee, that if thou wouldst find the\nDivine generation thou must quit all men, and go back to the source\nfrom which thou hast sprung. All the powers of the soul, intelligence\nand understanding, memory and will, lead thee into multiplicity. There\nfore, thou must give them all up in so far as they lead thee into the\nlife of the senses and of images in which thou seekest and findest thy-\nself; then and not otherwise shalt thou find the Divine generation. It\nis not to be found among kinsfolk and acquaintance, but, on the con-\ntrary, the search for it among them only leads thee astray.\n\nAnd now it may be asked: Shall a man find this birth in certain\nworks which are in themselves Divine, but which give us representations\nof God contributed by our senses, showing God's goodness, wisdom and\nmercy — framed by our own reason and yet Godlike in very truth? I\nanswer no. Although these are good and Godlike, yet they come from\nour outward life of the human senses, and the Divine generation must\ncome from within us and direct from God. When this Divine illumina-\ntion shines within thee in actual reality, then thy activity must all\ncease and thy soul's powers must minister to God's and not to thy own\n\n118 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nactivity; or, rather, God must alone be active and thou must rest pas-\nsive. When thou hast given up thy own willing and knowing, then does\nGod enter in, and He then lights up thy soul brilliantly with His pres-\nence. Wherever God would know Himself, there must thy power of\nknowing thyself cease to act. Do not imagine that thy reason may ever\nbe so highly developed as to be able to know God by its native power\nin this Divine generation. If this light shines within thee, it borrows no\nrays from thy natural knowledge, but rather both thy reason and thy-\nself must be brought to nothing before God, and His light shall possess\nthee. And when He thus comes to thee. He will bring with Him every-\nthing that thou hast renounced for His sake increased a thousand-\nfold, to be known and enjoyed by thee in a new and all-embracing form.\nAn example of this is given us in the Gospel, where our Lord conversed\nwith the Samaritan woman at the well, and she left her pitcher and ran\ninto the city and announced to the people that the Messias had come,\nand they believed her. But when they hastened out to the well and saw\nour Lord Himself, then they said to her : \"We now believe, not for thy\nsaying, for we ourselves have heard Him and know that this, indeed, is\nthe Saviour of the World\" (John iv, 42). And so in very truth, all\ncreated things and all sciences, added to thy own wisdom, cannot give\nthee the knowledge of God as God is divinely known. Wilt thou gain\nthis knowledge? Then thou must give up all knowledge and become\noblivious to all created things, even to thyself.\n\nAlas, then, thou mayst complain, what will become of my poor mind,\nstanding thus vacant and inert? Can such a way be right, since it\ndirects my thoughts to an unknown knowledge? And how can this\nreally be, for I cannot know at all without knowing something? If I\nknow anything I am not, according to thy teaching, rightly prepared for\nGod. Must I actually be in utter darkness? Yes, I answer, undoubt-\nedly ; thou art never better off than when thou art sunk in the darkness\nof unknowing. And if thou askest : Is this to be my final state, from\nwhich I shall never return? I answer: Yes; certainly yes. Again, if\nthou wouldst know what this darkness is, what name it has, I answer\nthat it is thy soul reduced to a state of pure and simple receptivity,\nwhich alone can fit thee to attain to perfection. Out of this thou art\nnot to come forth, except it be by a way that is not the way of truth.\nThou mayst, indeed, do so, but it must be by the way either of the\nsenses, the world or the devil. And that path will lead thee necessarily\ninto transgressions; perhaps it may lead thee so far from God as to\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor ' 119\n\ncause thy eternal downfall. Let there be no going backwards, therefore;\nthou art to press ever forward with thy longing for God, until all thy\ncapacity for Him has been filled by His blessed presence ; thy soul's long-\ning will never cease until it is entirely filled with God. Unformed\nmatter never rests till its form is granted it to the extent of its capacity ;\nnor does the soul of man ever find repose till it possesses God according\nto the fullness of its capacity.\n\nA heathen philosopher has said : \"In all nature nothing is so swift\nas the flight of the heavenly bodies, and yet the mind of man overtakes\nand passes beyond them.\" If our spirit were only true to its original\npower and unfettered by lower and degenerate influences, it would\ntranscend the highest heavens, and would never be content till it had\ntouched the remotest goal, and fed upon the most perfect food. Such\nwas its original capacity, which it should long to restore. This it will\ndo by entering upon a state of entire abandonment to its nobler\nimpulses, in a state of entire self-renunciation, and never returning from\nthis salutary darkness. In this way it will finally win possession of\nHim Who is all in all, and its progress toward this end is in proportion\nto its emptiness and to its obliviousness to all created things. Hence\nGod speaks of the human soul by the prophet Osee : ''I will allure and\nwill lead her into the wilderness and will speak to her heart\" (Osee ii,\n14) . The true and eternal Word is spoken only in that solitude of heart,\nin which a man has laid waste his affections for creatures and for his\nvery self, being quite alienated from self-love and all multiplicity. This\nsolitude and self-alienation is spoken of by the prophet David : \"Who\nwill give me wings like a dove, and 1 will fly and be at rest?\" (Ps. liv,\n7). Where shall we find rest? Assuredly in the rejection and aliena-\ntion of all created things. Hence David says again : \"I have chosen to\nbe an abject in the house my God, rather than to dwell in the taber-\nnacles of sinners\" (Ps. Ixxxiii, 11).\n\nAnd now thou mayst ask: Must one of necessity be spoiled of all\nthings and alienated from them inwardly and outwardly, including his\nown natural faculties and their operation? It is a grievous thing that\nGod should thus leave a man wholly without support; as the prophet\nsays: \"Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged!\" (Ps. cxix, 5.)\nWhen God prolongs my waiting in a state of self-spoliation, not light-\ning up my soul, nor speaking His Word, nor being anywise active\nwithin me, as thou hast here been teaching me ; when, in a word, a man\nis sunk in absolute nothingness, is it not better that he should do some-\n\n120 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nthing to relieve the gloom and desolation of his spirit? Should he not\nsay prayers, read good books, hear sermons, or resort for help to other\npious means of relief? And to all this I answer no. These are all good\nin their place and time, but now God ofifers thee what is better. Be\nassured that to endure to the uttermost in thy patient silence, is in\nevery way the best for thee. Out of that state thou canst not withdraw\nthyself without injury, no matter to what solace thou mayst resort.\nThou art being made ready for God's coming, and thou wishest to have\nthy own share of this work of preparation, which cannot be ; it belongs\nall to Him. Thou hast not, seemingly, so much as the power to think\nit or desire it. God alone must prepare thy soul. If, by an impossi-\nbility, thou couldst have for thy part the preparation and He have for\nHis part the entering in and possessing of thy soul, yet be assured that\nwhen thy part were done and thy soul prepared, God must at that\nmoment enter in and possess thee. But all this is impossible. Do not\ndream that God acts upon thy soul as a carpenter does his task, now\nworking and again leaving off, all just as He pleases. No, but on the\ncontrary, the moment God finds thy soul prepared. He enters in and\ndwells there. It is like the shining of the sun — shine it must if the air\nis clear. It would be attributing a grave fault to God to suppose that\nHe would not do His great work in thee, as soon as He finds thee capable\nof receiving it ; that is to say, wholly resigned and detached.\n\nLearned men tell us, that the instant a human body is materially\nformed in the maternal womb, God imparts to it the spiritual soul, which\nis that body's living form; the readiness of the flesh and the pouring\nin of the spirit being simultaneous in this case, as in every other. When\nnature has been brought to its highest point of perfection, then and in\nthe same instant God grants His grace. As soon as thy spirit is pre-\npared for Him, God enters in without a moment's delay. In the Apoc-\nalypse we read our Lord's words: \"Behold, I stand at the gate, and\nknock ! If any man shall hear My voice and open to Me the door, I will\ncome in to him and will sup with him, and he with Me\" (Apoc. iii, 20).\nSearch not here nor there for Him; He is not far from thee; He is even\nat the door. There He stands and waits. Whomsoever He finds ready,\nHe inspires to open the door and bring Him in. Thou needst not call\nloudly for Him, as if He were far oft', for He is at hand and eager to\nhave thee ready for His coming — a thousand times more so than thou art\nthyself. The very instant thy soul's door is opened to Him, He is within\nthee.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 121\n\nIf thou objectest that thou dost not feel His presence, I answer that\nthy feelings are not thine, but His, to control as He sees best. When\nHe is with thee, He may show Himself or conceal Himself, as best suits\nHis purpose. Accordingly our Lord said to Nicodemus: \"The spirit\nbreatheth where He will, and thou hearest His voice, but thou knowest\nnot whence He cometh and whither He goeth\" (John iii, 8). He has\noften spoken to thee, and thou hast heard Him and yet hast not under-\nstood Him. But God, whether as master of nature, or of grace, will not\npermit a vacuum. And when thou thinkest that thy soul is empty,\nhaving no feeling of God's presence, in truth it is not empty; God is\nthere. Emptyness of soul cannot continue ; it must be filled by heaven\ncoming down into it, or by its own self returning to its earthly fullness.\nGod never permits a vacuum. Therefore, stand thy ground in all tran-\n-quillity; suffer thy soul to be emptied; for if thou departest from this\ndetachment thou canst not again easily recover it.\n\nAnd now thou mayst ask an explanation about the Divine generation\nof the Son of God, of which we have been treating. May I, thou wilt\nask, have a sign given by which I shall know it has happened? Yes,\ncertainly ; and the sign is threefold. Men often ask me, if one may ever\nattain to such a spiritual state that nothing hinders his perfection —\nneither the lapse of time, nor the oppressive weight of material exist-\nence, nor the distractions of the multitudes about him. And in very\ntruth a man has reached that freedom, when this Divine generation has\ncome to him ; all created things after that are instinctively referred to\nGod, and to His birth within the soul. Take an example from a stroke\nof lightning. Whatever object is struck it is instantly turned toward\nthe lightning. A man may turn his back away from it, but when struck\nhe is quickly swung around again; the tree's leaves are all drawn\ntoward the lightning that strikes it. So when this Divine birth strikes\nthe soul it is instantly turned toward it, carrying with it all the condi-\ntions and circumstances of its existence, even the most unfavorable\nones being transformed into benefits, by the soul's new relationship to\nGod. No matter what thou seest or hearest, it all comes to thee sancti-\nfied by the Divine generation in thy soul. Everything becomes, as it\nwere, God to thee, for thou knowest and lovest naught but God. It is\nlike a man who has been gazing straight at the sun in the sky; when he\nturns to look at other objects he sees the sun's disc shining in them.\nAnd if thou shouldst fail in this, and dost not seek and love God alone\nin everything, even the least, then instantly know that this Divine\nbirth hath failed within thee.\n\n122 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nThou mightest ask : Ought not a man to continue to practice penance?\nIs he not to blame if, on account of this Divine state, he ceases his peni-\ntential exercises? I answer that all such practices, including vigils,\nfasts, tears, sorrowful prayer, disciplines and hair shirts, are good,\nbecause the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the body is grown too\nstrong for the soul, producing an unceasing conflict. Here in this life\nthe flesh is bold and strong, for this earth is its native home, and the\nworld around us is allied with this fleshly uprising. Food and drink\nand all the comforts of life are injurious to the spirit, which is in exile\nin this mortal existence. But in Heaven everything favors the spirit.\nThere is its fatherland and its home, and Heaven's freedom from fleshly\nhindrance is granted the soul, if it would but direct its thoughts and\nits love to Heaven's inhabitants, who are its real friends and kindred.\nHere below in our exile we must weaken the fleshly instincts and appe-\ntites, lest they overpower the spirit. This we succeed in doing by pain-\nful penances, putting a curb on the body's ease and comfort. Thereby\nthe soul holds its own against the uprising of fleshly passions, and finally\nreduces them to captivity. Only lay on the appetites the curb and the\nfetter of heavenly love, and thou shalt m6st quickly and most over-\nwhelmingly subjugate them. Hence about nothing does God complain\nso severely as about our want of love. Love is like the hook on a fisher-\nman's line ; the fish must take the hook or the fisherman can never catch\nhim. After the hook is once in his mouth, the fish may swim about and\neven swim away from the shore, but the fisherman is sure to finally\nland him. And this I compare with love. Whoever is caught by love\nis held perfectly fast, and yet in a sweet captivity. Whoever has received\nthe gift of Divine love, obtains from it more freedom from base natural\ntendencies than by practicing all possible penances and austerities. He\nit is that can most sweetly endure all misfortunes that happen to him or\nthreaten to overwhelm him ; he is the one who most readily forgives all\nthe injuries that can be inflicted on him. Nothing brings thee nearer to\nGod ; nothing makes God so much thy own, as the sweet bond of love.\nWhosoever has found this way never seeks any other. Whosoever is\ncaught by this hook is so entirely captive, that feet, hands, mouth, eyes\nand heart — everything that is himself — becomes God's own. Therefore,\nif thou wouldst conquer these enemies, namely, corrupt natural tenden-\ncies, and render them harmless, love is thy best weapon. Therefore, it\nis written: ''Love is strong as death, [its] jealousy hard as hell\" (Cant.\nviii, 6). Death cuts the soul from the body, but love cuts all things\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 123\n\nfrom the soul. When the soul loves, then whatsoever is not God or God-\nlike, it suffers not to rest with it for an instant. Whosoever is enlisted\nin this warfare and treads this path, what he does or what he does not\nin active good works, or what he is not able to do, makes no ditference—\nwhether something or nothing, all is for love. The work of perfect love\nis more fruitful to a man's own soul and to the souls of all other men\nwith whom he deals, and it brings more glorj to God, than all other\nworks, even if these be free from mortal sin, but are done in a state of\nweaker love. The mere quiet repose of a soul with perfect love, is of\nmore worth to God and man than the active labors of another soul.\nTherefore, do thou but cleave fast and firm to this hook of Divine love\nand thou shalt be God's happy captive, and the more entirely captive,\nthe more perfectly free shalt thou be. That this captivity and liberty\nmay be vouchsafed us, we pray God the Father, and God the Son, and\nGod the Holy Ghost. Amen.\n\n124 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — Beginnei'S long for God amid trials and temptations — They\ngain Him hy meditation on Christ's passion — Proficients seek for\nHim in correcting the least defects — This is folloiced hy the joy\nof jubilee with God — Perfect souls now experience a torment of\nthirst, for God seems lost and gone from them forever — These find\nGod again hy groping through darkness into their deeper spirit.\n\nSERMON FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY.\n\nAnd on the last and gi'eat day of tbe festivity, Jesus stood and cried: If any\nman tliirst, let him come to Me and drink. — John vii, 37.\n\nWhat is the thirst of which our Lord Jesus Christ here speaks?\nNothing else but this : When the Holy Ghost enters a soul, that soul feels\na fire of love; indeed, a very conflagration of love burns in that soul,\ncausing a fiery thirst after God; that is to say, an interior longing to\npossess Him. And it often happens that such a soul is mj'stified and\ncannot account for its condition, knowing only that it suffers interior\nemptiness and anguish, and that it loathes all created things.\n\nThree kinds of men experience this thirst, and each kind differently,\none kind being beginners, the second those who are making some prog-\nress, and the third are perfect, as far as may be in this life. King David\nsays: *'As the hart panteth after the fountains of water, so my soul\npanteth after Thee, O God!\" (Ps. xli, 1). When the hart is driven\nby the hounds through forests and over mountains, he is burnt with a\nconsuming thirst and longs for water more than any other kind of\nanimal. Now, beginners in the spiritual life, much more than any other\nclass, are pursued by heavy trials and temptations, and they are like\nthe hart hunted by hounds. Wheu a man first turns away from the\nworld and repents of his gross sinfulness, then the seven deadly sins\nassail him like so many horrible dogs, tormenting him more now, per-\nhaps, than while he was yet a worldling; he was then tempted, indeed,\nbut now he is fairly hunted by his vicious tendencies. Therefore, Solo-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 125\n\nmen teaches: \"Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in\njustice and fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation\" (Ecclus. ii, 1).\nBut remember that, according to the violence of thy temptations, so\nshould be the fire of thy thirst for God.\n\nNow, it often happens that the hounds overtake the hart, spring on his\nflanks and fasten their teeth in him, and he cannot shake them off; and\nthen he runs under the outspreading branches of a tree, which strikes\nthem and breaks their heads, and thus he is released from then). This\nshows what a devout man may do against his temptations. When they\nfasten on him, let him run with all his might under the tree of the\ncross, meditating piously on the passion and death of our dear Lord\nJesus Christ. This it is that breaks the heads of his enemies; that\nis to say, enables him to overcome all temptations. And, again, it may\nhapjien that when the big hounds are shaken off, then the hart is\nattacked by little ones, which snap off little pieces of flesh; and if their\nattacks are neglected they may cause serious hurt; that is to say, a\nspiritual beginner, having overcome heavy and grievous temptations,\nmust be watchful against trifling faults, for venial sins can mislead\nhim to this side or that, distract his heart from God, hinder his devoted-\nness to the interior life. These hindrances are such things as idle recre-\nations, vain companionship, vanity in dress, human solace and comfort.\nUnless he carefully abstain from them, soon his devout way of living\ngrows less earnest, and he loses grace and the spirit of recollection. It\noften happens that this petty warfare injures a soul, as far as perfection\ngoes, more than did the heavier conflict ; in the latter he was energetic\nin his resistance, for he knew that his enemies directly sought his life;\nwhereas now he fancies he may disregard his lesser foes, because they\nallure him only to venial faults. Under cover of this delusion they\nassail him unawares, and we know that a disguised enemy is more dan-\ngerous than an open one, though the former be much weaker than the\nlatter. So, therefore, let a man resist all kinds of temptations with\nequal courage and vigilence. And as the hart, the more he is hunted,\nthe hotter grows his thirst, so the fiercer a man's temptations are, the\nmore do all and each of them consume his heart with a burning thirst\nafter the love of our Lord, in Whom he shall at last find all trath, all\njoy, all comfort and all righteousness.\n\nWhen the hunters perceive that the hart is worn out, then the hunt\ngrows tiresome to them, and they call off the hounds and feed and rest\nthem, letting the hart roam at will till his strength is restored and he\n\n126 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ncan afford them better sport. And thus does our blesed Lord deal with\nmen during this period of trial; when He perceives that it is too much\nfor them, He calls off the temptation, He gives the wearied soul a\nrefreshing draught from His sacred heart, a taste of the sweetness of\nDivine things. All that is not God now seems very bitter to the soul,\nwhich imagines that the victory is finally and forever won. But it is\nnot so ; this is nothing else than an interval of refreshment, granted in\npreparation for further temptations, all unexpectedly assailing a man,\nlike hounds springing suddenly upon the neck of a hunted beast.\n\nBut if the trials are now more severe than ever before, so is the soul\nstronger to resist them than in previous conflicts. Now, dear children,\nit is only because of God's faithful and unbounded love for us, that He\nallows this terrible ordeal; for it is plain that by so fearful a conflict a\nman is made glad to run to God, as the hunted beast runs to a fountain\nof water. A man's heart, by constantly struggling against his enemies,\nbecomes tormented with yearnings to possess God's joy and grace in\nperfect truth and entire security. And all the thirstier he is, all the\nsweeter shall the waters of life be to him, even here below; and then\nalso hereafter, as he drinks his fill at the fountain head of all joy in the\nheart of his heavenly Father. Hence all his sufferings seem trifling, in\ncomparison with the comfort he feels in bearing them for God's sake.\n\nAnd now that the hart has shaken off and distanced all the hounds, he\ncomes to a clear stream of water; he joyfully plunges down into it and\ndrinks all he wants and is fully refreshed. So it is with the soul at the\nwaters of Divine consolation. When, without Lord's help, he has driven\noff his temptations and at last comes to God with all confidence, what\nshall he do but drink deep of God's love and joy? And then he is so\nfilled with God, that in his happiness and peace he forgets himself and\nthinks that he can work great miracles; he is ready joyously to go\nthrough fire and water for God, and to face a thousand drawn swords ;\nhe fears neither life nor death, neither pleasure nor pain. And so it\nwould seem that he is intoxicated with God's love.\n\nThis is the joy of jubilee. Sometimes such a one weeps for joy ; some-\ntimes he laughs, and again he sings. Men about him, whose only guide\nis natural' reason, cannot understand all this, knowing nothing of the\nwonderful ways of the Holy Spirit with elect souls. Look at this\nstrange conduct, they exclaim ; and they at once sit in judgment upon\nthese chosen spirits and harshly condemn them. But meantime these\nenjoy unspeakable happiness; happiness comes to them from everything\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 127\n\nthat occurs. Do what you please to them, visit them with good or evil,\nit is all one. They rest wholly unconcerned, free and contented. What-\never happens without, the joy of God glows bright within them, a deli-\ncious thirst for God rules their souls without intermission, and is as\nconstantly gratified. Some of them die of jubilation, their hearts quite\novercome with love for our Lord. For, dear children, it is a mark of\nGod's greatest work in their souls, that they can no longer endure its\nbliss and live in the body. Many a one of these favored men has yielded\nup with such entire abandonment to this wonderful visitation of God,\nthat poor, weak human nature has given way and death has followed.\n\nDear children, when our Lord sees men thus intoxicated with His\nspiritual gifts, He acts like a prudent father of a family, whose children,\ntaking advantage of their father's being in bed asleep, go down into his\ncellar and drink to excess the good wine he has stored there. When the\nfather wakes up and sees what has happened, he goes out and cut a good,\nstrong switch, and he comes and gives his children a severe whipping,\nand afterwards he gives them nothing but water to drink till they are\nperfectly sobered again. So does God deal with His chosen ones. While\nthey drink to excess the delights of His love. He is, as it were, asleep.\nBut presently he punishes them by withdrawing the strong, sweet wine\nof His joy, for their want of moderation has hindered its benefiting them.\nAnd now comfort and peace, and the sweetest sense of God's presence are\ngone, and they are as sad as if they never had been joyous ; they are now\nas sadly sober as before they were wildly intoxicated. And when this\nstate begins to darken upon them, they yearn mightily after our Lord;\nbut by this deprivation He leads them once more out of themselves, and\nfrees them more than ever before from all captivity to created things.\nThey are restored to their sober senses and reason ; they are moderated\nand brought down to their own proper level ; they learn just what they\nare and what they can do when left to themselves. A while ago and they\nwere ready to suffer such things for God as anyone might name and\naway beyond that; and now they cannot undertake the least little thing\nfor God without the greatest diflQculty, and if you say a cross word to\nthem they can scarcely bear it, even for God's sake. In this state of\nspiritual collapse, they see with perfect clearness just what little good\nthey are capable of, while acting with their own forces and following\ntheir own lights. Another effect is this : The abstractioj of God's\nsensible graces makes them so humble, and so takes away their self-con-\nceit, that they grow amazingly kind and well-disposed toward all men.\n\n128 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nand in their outard activity they become very unassuming, all of which\nis quite peculiar to souls who have been chastised by God.\n\nAnd yet you must know that all that God has thus far accomplished\nin such souls, causing these stormy times there, has happened among the\nlowest spiritual powers. My dear children, God's chosen dwelling is\nnot there, nor will He there tarry long, for it is all too narrow a place for\nHim if He would do a perfect work. His proper place is only in the\nsuperior part of the soul, both to dwell and to work. There alone does\nHe find His image and likeness. See Him there and nowhere else, if thou\nwouldst surely find Him.\n\nAnd there it is that in all truth, and very quickly, too, an earnest\nsoul finds what it has been seeking with so much unrest. There, in a\nsort of rapturous ecstasy, the soul's very self is lifted above all its\npowers into a spiritual wilderness quite impossible to describe, in whose\nhidden obscurity it discovers the unspeakable Good, and is absorbed in\nthe Divine unity, so completely as to lose all sense of diversity; multi-\nplicity is lost in unity. Children, when these men return to themselves,\nthey find that God has granted them a most joyous knowledge of diver-\nsity, a wisdom otherwise unknown in this life, and born only in souls who\nhave been thus absorbed in the Divine unity. All of the articles of holy\nfaith now shine clear and distinct one from another. Bright light beams\ninto the soul about the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, one\ntrue and eternal God. No one knows the Divine Trinity better than\nthese souls, taught by God's Divine unity. Such is this indescribable\ndarkness, which is yet God's essential light; such is this desert waste\nwherein no man finds road or path, for it is traversed in a Divinely\nsupernatural manner.\n\nThis obscurity is, therefore, in reality a light ; but because it is essen-\ntially superior to the nature of the human intelligence it is darkness to\nit. It is a desert because it is naturally inaccessible to us, and its paths\nare ways unknown to our nature. Into the midst of this state is the\nspirit of a man led by God, in a manner wholly incapable of his compre-\nhension. There he drinks deep of the waters of life flowing from the\nwell-spring of the very Deity. Heretofore the waters were bitter and\ntepid, for they were in the common, open stream; now, like the waters\nof any bubbling spring, they are sweet and cold. O how sweet are the\nwaters drunk from the fountainhead of God! Into those waters the\nsoul longs to cast itself, to be wholly filled with them and to be immersed\nin them. But it finds that this is a boon not to be granted in this life.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 120\n\nMeanwhile the soul is absorbed in God, as a summer shower sinks into\nthe bosom of the earth.\n\nNow, dear children, suppose a man arrived at this state; in case he\nallows his lower spiritual faculties to be idle and useless, then the\nhigher life will profit him nothing. He must use his ordinary faculties\naccording to their nature; otherwise the Spirit of God will depart from\nhim, resulting in the return of the reign of pride^ ill-regulated liberty,\nand intellectual self-conceit. Let such a man continually humble him-\nself in subjection to the will of God, practice entire detachment from\ncreated things, hush all sounds of earth from within and without, and,\nin fact, abound in all the virtues of the ordinary Christian. Then will\nGod continue His intimate union with him and transform him more and\nmore into a Godlike man.\n\nChildren, behold in what marvelous ways God leads souls, and how\nstrange a play he makes with them ! IMrst, He introduces Himself into\ntheir inner powers, so that He gradually absorbs them and they Him,\nand then they cannot restrain themselves and fall into singular and\nfoolish ways. After that He draws them deeper into Himself and\nimparts His very Deity, quite differently from His former way, and this\nsets them rightly ordered in all things. And now the soul may truly\nsay, in the words of the Canticle: \"He brought me into the cellar of\nwine, He set in order charity in me\" (Cant, ii, 4). He hath ordered\nall things well in the soul's life, leading it across a wonderful desert\ndeep into its own self, showing it there what surpasses all sense and all\nreason, and what is quite above human experience, because it is a ver-\nitable foretaste of life eternal. Behold, dear children, how the gentle,\nkindly goodness of God is able so to hide His dealings with His chosen\nones that, as He makes them perfect. He performs a most marvelous\nwork. His aim is always to draw us to union with Himself in a holy and\nhappy life. He would have us all athirst after His everlasting peace\nand love, calling to us with a loud, resounding voice: \"If any man\nthirst, let him come to Me and drink\" living water. He Himself, as it\nwere, thirsts to find a true thirst in our souls, which He quenches by\nfilling us with such sweet and heavenly fullness, that out of us \"shall\nflow rivers of living water\" (John vii, 37) unto life eternal. It is as\nwhen we are nourished with bodily food ; it passes from the stomach into\nevery member of the body, giving strength to all. So does the soul drink\na Divine nourishment in this interior communication with God, which\nspreads Divine love everywhere throughout our faculties, making our\n\n130 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nworks, our life and our very existence, rightly ordered in God and all\ndevoted to the welfare of our fellow-men. In such wise it is, that from\nthe interior operation of God our outward life is well ordered. Thus\nour labors blossom and bear great fruit in God's own way, making for\neternal happiness. To attain to this blessed end may God mercifully\ngrant us His help. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 131\n\n®ljf 3^to P0rrl|fa of tiit Pool of ll^altng\n\nSynopsis — The first is humility — The second is recollection of spirit,\nespecially needful for active spirits — The third is repentance deep\nand true — The fourth is joyous voluntary poverty, forming a\nnohle and elevated character — Tfie fifth is referring all gifts of\nGod hack to the giver, being opposed to spiritual gluttony — The\nwaters of the pool of healing are the most Precious Blood of\nChrist.\n\nSERMON FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY.\n\nAfter these things there was a festival day of the Jews, and Jesus went up to\nJerusalem. — John v, 1.\n\nThis part of the Holy Gospel tells us that Jesus went to a festival at\nJerusalem, and that He visited a pool of healing there enclosed by five\nporches. \"In these lay a great multitude of sick, of blind, of lame,\nof withered, waiting for the moving of the water. And an angel of the\nLord descended at certain times into the pond, and the water was moved.\nAnd he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water,\nwas made whole, of whatsoever infirmity he lay under.\" Our Redeemer\nthere saw a man lying on a mattress who had been sick for thirty -eight\nyears. Moved with pity. He said to him : \"Wilt thou be made whole?\"\nThe infirm man answered : \"Sir, I have no man, when the water is\ntroubled, to put me into the pond; for, whilst I am coming, another\ngoeth down before me.\" Then said our dear Lord to him : \"Arise, take\nup thy bed, and walk !\" And immediately the man was made whole, and\nhe took up his bed and walked, not knowing who it was that had healed\nhim. But \"Afterwards Jesus findeth him in the temple, and saith to\nhim : Behold, thou art made whole ! Sin no more, lest some worse thing\nhappen to thee.\"\n\nThe pool of healing, what is it but the sweet and noble person of our\nbeloved Lord Jesus Christ Himself? And the health-giving water, is the\nadorable and most precious blood of the eternal Son of God, true God\nand true Man, Who has washed and cleansed us in that bath of love,\n\n132 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nand Who, out of His own tender love, will thus wash and cleanse all men\nwho come to Him with real sorrow for their sinful lives, together with\na sincere resolve to be better for the future. The sick who lay around\nthis healing pool in such great numbers, waiting for the angel to come\ndown and stir the waters, may be called the whole human race, who,\nbefore our Lord's coming, lay in captivity under the law of the Old Tes-\ntament while they lived, and after death waited in limbo for the moving\nof the waters; that is, till our Lord's precious blood was poured out at\nHis blessed and bitter death, giving them eternal health and salvation.\nAnd so also in these last days, which are the time of salvation, no man\ncan ever be healed and saved except by the adorable and precious blood\nof our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nAnd you should know, too, that all sick souls that will not pass\nthrough our Lord's pool of healing will, without doubt, perish everlast-\ningly. But there are jet other souls who feel the stirring of these waters\nonly outwardly; they are influenced by the admonitions of their fellow-\nmen, threatening them with the punishments of hell, or painful visita-\ntions of Providence afflicting soul or body ; or. again, they are moved by\nthe Word of God preached to them. All such come, indeed, into these\nhealing waters, but only half-heartedly. And these are much to be\npitied ; for, although they are made whole of their sinfulness, yet thej\nhold off as much as they dare from true and entire conversion to God.\nLet us pity them, I say, for they live and die but half-cleansed, and are\nfinally cast into the bitter pains of purgatory, there to remain till they\nare entirely purified.\n\nThe pool of healing had five porches, before which lay a great number\nof infirm persons, each and all waiting to be first in the waters as the\nangel stirred them, and thereby to be healed. This means the proud, the\nwrathful, the vengeful, the covetous and the unchaste — all these, let us\nwell remember it — are washed in the blood of Jesus and are made whole\nif they will but accept the cleansing.\n\nWe may also consider the five porches as representing our Lord's five\nholy wounds, by the overflow of Whose precious blood, we are healed\nand saved from the mortal sickness of sin. Yet another meaning may\nbe given, for the five porches are like the five virtues of very great\nprominence in the Christian's life, all needed for every soul, but this one\nor that especially necessary to each, according to his peculiar spiritual\nsickness.\n\nHumility is the first — humility, deep and unfeigned. By this a man\nrates himself as worthless ; bows himself down beneath the hand of God\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 133\n\nand of every creature; meekly accepts all adversity and prosperity, sor-\nrow and joy, no matter from what source it comes, as allotted him by\nGod alone; is ever in fear and shame before the face of God; never\nrepining.\n\nThe second portico of the pool of healing, is diligent attention to the\ninterior life — recollection of spirit. O, how necessary is this virtue to\nmany simple, well-meaning men! They do not wait for God's signal,\nbut, wholly self-guided, they rush outwards to the showiest kind of teach-\ning, preaching and the like, little realizing that they are influenced only\nby the human motive of sensible and natural satisfaction. St. Augus-\ntine tells us, that it sometimes happens that men who thus abandon a\nrecollected life and unguardingly mingle with the joys of creatures,\nnever more return. Be assured, dear children, that whoever would\nengage in external works should keep a careful watih over his interior,\nearnestly inspecting his motives. Laboring externally with this safe-\nguard, he ever preserves peace and security both within and without.\nImprudent activity breeds unrest, the soul being guided by the attrac-\ntions of sensible joy and the casual happenings of life, instead of God's\ninterior leadings and admonitions.\n\nThe third portico is repentence for sin, deep and true. It is turning\naway in all sincerity from everything that is not God, or that does not\ncome from God. The very marrow of true contrition consists in this —\nthat a sinner returns absolutely to God with all that he is inwardly\nand outwardly. That a man is wholly absorbed in trustfulness of God's\ngoodness, that he ardently longs to possess Him and Him only, that he\nis resolutely determined to cleave to Him forever in all love, that he has\nthe purpose clear and distinct to do God's will alone to the utmost of\nhis power : My dear children, this is what repentance essentially is. Who-\nsoever has it in that spirit, his sins are without any doubt forgiven him\nwholly, and the deeper the intensity of his earnestness, so much the\nmore perfectly is he cleansed.\n\nThe fourth portico is a joyous voluntary poverty. You know, chil-\ndren, that there is a poverty arising from outward conditions, and an\ninterior, that is to say, a real and true poverty. To outward poverty\nall men are not called; but to interior poverty all are called who would\nbe true friends of God. By this virtue God alone is our riches ; in our\ninmost heart we value Him and Him only. Whatever else we may have,\nis possessed only because we are sure He wills us to have it, and it is held\nin sincere poverty of spirit. St. Paul tells us of this poverty : \"As hav-\n\n134 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ning nothing and possessing all things\" (II Cor. vi, 10). And we must\nunderstand this to mean, that we do not wish to possess anything in this\nlife that God would have us be without ; that we yield up to Him quickly\nand gladly our goods and our friends and our honor, our very body and\nsoul, if He so wills it, for His love and glory. This should be our mind\nevery hour of our lives, even though we have to overcome the resistance\nof mean, cowardly human nature; for this is essentially the poverty\nrequired of all good men. And this forms a noble character — one set at\nliberty from all attachment to creatures, and elevated in spirit above the\nvicissitudes of life, whether of joy or sorrow, ever ready to give up all\nearthly things as God wills it. If such a one were monarch of a king-\ndom, he would in spirit be no different from a literally poverty-stricken\nman, nor would his royal riches in the least degree hinder his soul from\nprofiting fully by any of God's graces. Being incapable of resting for\npeace and joy upon perishable things, he constantly stands in spirit\nbefore God like a beggar asking for an alms from a kind, loving Father ;\nand that alms, the only gift that can ever satisfy him, is nothing less\nand nothing else than God Himself. It is true that when some temporal\ngain or loss happens, such men are momentarily glad or sorrowful; but\nthis is only felt in the lower part of the soul, is not yielded to, and is\nfollowed instantly by an elevation of the spirit to God.\n\nThe fifth portico is giving back to God the glory of all His gifts, a\nsteadfast reference of all graces and favors to the Divine origin from\nwhich they have flowed forth. Many men, when God bestows special\nspiritual favors on them, regenerating them into His wonderful light,\nbegin to felicitate themselves. They riot in spiritual gluttony; they\nnever think of humbly attributing their good fortune to its only origin,\nbut appropriate God's graces to themselves in a feeling of personal\nownership. And this is very perilous to their souls. We should so\nsteadfastly look to God alone in all happenings, that we shall scarcely\nperceive the gifts which he is showering upon us. Consider a man gaz-\ning at something through a narrow opening in a wall; if he fixes his\nattention wholly upon the object he is inspecting, the wall serves him\nwell; but if he begins to examine the wall itself, asking how thick or\nthin it may be, then the wall is a hindrance to him. It is thus with\nthe soul and God's gifts, little or great. Rest thy mind on them, study\nhow noble and beautiful they are, indulge recklessly in all their joys,\nand then art thou hindered from possessing God, Who alone is to be\npraised and glorified in His graces. Thou oughtest instantly to refer\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nback to God all the favors He bestows on thee, sinking thyself deep into\nthe glorious depths of Divine love, from which they all have come forth.\nChildren, many infirm men lay in the porticos enclosing the pool of\nhealing, and whichever one of them first entered the waters after the\nangel stirred them, was made whole. And what meaning has this stir-\nring of the waters? Nothing less than the descent of the Holv Spirit\ninto a man's soul, stirring up with a powerful movement of grace his\nwhole interior life. Thereby is he so totally transformed, that things\nwhich once he loved have now become absolutely tasteless to him. Once\nhe fairly dreaded and strenuously avoided what now he covets with all\nhis heart-to be stripped of all things and to live like a banished man;\nto retire into inner silence; to be humiliated and to be cast off by all\nmen. Such things become sweetest joys to him, when God's Spirit stirs\nthe deep waters of his soul. All this happens to the sick man ; that is to\nsay, the man whose spiritual powers have been absorbed in the outward\nthings of life; these faculties of his soul are now washed and completely\ncleansed in the adorable and precious blood of Jesus Christ. Onlv by\nthis deep searching and cleansing process can he be cured of all his soul's\nailments, as it is written : \"As many as touched Him were made whole\"\n(Mark vi, 56).\n\nAnd now, dear children, sometimes when our beloved Saviour has cured\na sick soul it does not know it, and it may even go on during its whole\nlife hardly aware of it. But this is permitted all for the best; for our\nLord knows full well, that if that soul thought itself all cured and safe\nand sound, it would quickly yield to self-complacencv. It is therefore\nonly out of special affection that He allows it to remain in i^orance of\nIts happy condition, being all its days securely fixed in holv fear and\nanguish of spirit, and quite humiliated in God's sight. Such a soul is\nperfectly safeguarded against offending God, even if the whole world\nwere offered it, and this is a high degree of holiness. Rather than arouse\nthe wrath of God by sinning, such a soul would gladly and joyfully be\nput to death. And, indeed, it dies daily for God's sake within its inmost\nself being entirely self-abandoned to His blessed will, and that in the\ndarkness of a holy ignorance of what may be its standing with Him\nOne only purpose actuates such a soul: To be bound captive to God's\nand in their outward activity they become very unassuming, all of which\n^ill in time and in eternity, and without the least shadow of contradic-\ntion on its part.\n\nAnd what is the termination of this devout resignation to a state of\nIgnorance of God's love or hatred? It is this : When, at last, the heav-\n\n136 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nenly Father comes to lead that sonl to its eternal home, He dispels all\nignorance and darkness and gives it a foretaste of the everlasting joys\nof Paradise. And such a well-tried soul dies full of joy and confidence;\nand, having been so loyal to God during the long years of darkness and\ndesolation of spirit, it is led instantly and without any interval of\npurgatory into His Divine embrace. This is what is meant by the\nwords of Scripture: \"And I heard another voice from Heaven, saying\nto me write : Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord\" ( Apoc. xiv, 13) .\nIt is related in the Gospel that our Lord found a man at the pool of\nhealing who had been sick thirty-eight years. Mark well that this\nsickness, however long continued, was not unto death, but that the glory\nof God might be manifested. O, dear children, may God grant us to\nlearn this lesson well — the example of a man who, because for thirty-\neight years he so patiently waited on God, was at last rewarded. God\nHimself came to him, made him sound and well, bade him take up his\nbed and walk. This teaching, dear children, is a sharp admonition to\nmany spiritual men of our day. I refer to those who have, indeed,\nrepented of their sins and entered on a pious life, but who say that all\nis lost if it happens that our Lord gives them no extraordinary graces;\nthey act as if they thought God had treated them unjustly. They are\nbj no means content humbly to retire into themselves and patiently to\nwait on the Divine will. O, how few there are who possess that beau-\ntiful virtue! How few who sweetly and in perfect good-will give them-\nselves up entirely to God's blessed guidance. Such souls little know\nhow pleasing they are in His sight, and therein they are very fortunate.\nMay God teach us how noble and profitable a thing it is to surrender\noneself captive to His will, never for a moment wishing to be released\nfrom His blessed bonds of ignorance and darkness, until His own\nappointed time. May God grant us this grace, giving us steadfast confi-\ndence and courageous long-suffering under His guidance, even amid mis-\ngivings and anguish of heart. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor I37\n\nfllarkfl 0f u SIrulg (HonmtUh g»o«l\n\nSynopsis— As Israel of old fell away from God, so do many Christians\nnow — This often happens from imperfect conversion to a devout\nlife— First mark of a true conversion, low opinion of self; second,\nbrotherly love; third, bearing wrongs patiently; fourth, compas-\nsionate kindness; fifth, humble subjection to others; sixth, alac-\nrity and exactness in well doing; seventh, strict abstemiousness;\neighth, rigid observance of the rules of chastity.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY.\n\nReturn, O Israel, to the Lord thy God. — Osee xiv, 2.\n\nWe read in this day's Gospel, that Jesus went up into a ship, and that\nHis disciples followed Him. So should all Christians do; repenting of\ntheir sins, they should follow Christ, according to the teaching of the\nprophet : ''Return, O Israel, to the Lord thy God V\n\nOut of all the races of the world our Lord chose one, upon which He\nbestowed many favors, covenanting to give them yet more, if they\nwould turn to Him and would not follow the ways of other people who,\nin willful blindness of heart, lived only to gratify their sensual passions,\nled astray by their love of the vanities of the world, and by the deceits of\nthe evil one. God visibly guided His own people by His servants and\nprophets, giving them His holy commandments. He showed forth His\nInfinite power by fighting for them against their enemies. He lavished\nHis loving kindness upon them, by bestowing innumerable benefits on\nthem, and promised to continue to favor them, if they would but turn to\nHim and love Him and keep His commandments. He bade them never\nforget the day on which He had delivered them from bondage and toil,\nand that they should set themselves with all diligence and earnestness\nto observe His law. But this people were stiffnecked, shortsighted and\nungrateful. They would not obey the precepts God gave them by His\nservants, but, on the contrary, showed themselves self-willed, rebellious\nand light-minded. Therefore, our Lord punished them ; many of them\n\n138 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nHe caused to be put to death, and He permitted all of them to die in the\nwilderness. To their children He continued to send His messengers,\nsaying: 0, my chosen people, return to Me and be converted with all\nyour heart ; wander not ofif in the devious ways of sin, but follow after\nMe, returning from the paths of Egyptian darkness and of wickedness\nand of damnation, and I will bring you into the land of promise and will\ngive you all good things there.\n\nThese events happened under the Old Testament and in very ancient\ntimes and amid many wonders. But therein are to be found various\nsigns of what was to happen after the incarnation of the Son of God,\nand even in our own days; for God uses the self-same words to cause\nus to turn to Him and to do so with all earnestness, giving us many\nreasons, warnings, instructions and inducements; leading us, if we will\nbut follow, with signs and wonders and mighty power, exhorting us to\ndepart out of the Egypt of this world and out of the bondage of Pharaoh,\nits king. All this does God do, both secretly in our souls and openly\nbefore our eyes, in order to work our conversion to Him. Would that\nwe received it with thankfulness and were sincerely c^nrerted. But it\nis with us as it was of old with the people of Israel. '^We follow God in\nbody and we remain in Egypt in our heart's desires. We all march after\nthe pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, but our joy is in the comforts of\nthe world and the pleasures of the flesh. We are very earnest about\nexternal religious practices, about how to be religiously dressed, when to\nsing and when to be silent, when to bow down and to genuflect ; if all\nthis be exactly observed we are sure that we are delivered out of Egypt.\nNot so, my dear children, not so; this is only the pillar of cloud and of\nfire; these observances, if they lack this interior meaning, are but the\nleaves of the fig tree, and not the fruit that can nourish our souls and\nmake them a fit ofifering to God. A man who thus acts is like the tree\nthat God cursed and condemned to eternal barrenness. O, how often\nhave you been taught that you must not trust to the appearances and\nshadows of religion ! These things are good, and even punctilious prac-\ntice of them is necessary for beginners in the spiritual life; but, consid-\nered apart from the essence and truth of holiness, for the sake of which\nthey are instituted, they avail nothing. Unless a man is on his guard he\nwill stick fast in these purely external practices, and in his heart will\nremain as wicked and corrupt as those who have not even this appear-\nance of virtue ; and, finally, he will fall into yet worse vices, sinking back\ninto the Egypt of this world. Indeed, it would have been better to have\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor I39\n\nremained in undisguised worldliness and sin, for the final condemnation\nof these external Christians will be all the greater, because their sins\nhave the added guilt of being done under the garb of holiness, and in the\noutward profession of a sacred state of life.\n\nChildren, I know of nothing more necessary than that beginners,\nwhile taking their first steps in the spiritual life, should be carefully\ninstructed in what is most essentially required; namely, that, being\npracticed in sound and useful external devotions, they should by no\nmeans stop at these, which, if emptied of their true meaning, are of\nlittle help, and are at best only given us as a good preparation for a\nperfect life. If this wisdom is implanted in youthful souls, quick and\nardent for perfection, many of them will doubtless earnestly resolve to\ngo forward to better things. But, alas and alas ! How sad it is to see\nthose who began with such fervor of spirit that they were once very\nguarded in their choice of company, finally absorbed\" in the society of\nworldlings! At first they could hardly bear to listen to a frivolous\nword, and now they are never done with conversation about profane\nthings, early and late engaged in silly speech and foolish disputes. Once\nthey longed for quiet retirement and were glad to follow their pious\nexercises undisturbed, and now the more distracting occupations they\ncan have the better they are pleased. O, this and the like of this is all\na plain sign, that such souls are held in captivity by their fleshly pas-\nsions, and, as far as their hearts' desires are concerned, are wandering\nbackward into Egyptian darkness. Children, for the love of Christ, let\neach one of you be on his guard. Once you have begun a good course', do\nnot stop short; all may be lost again if you are not extremely vigilant;\nour inconstancy is beyond belief.\n\nConsider how some fall away from a state so perfect that at first they\nare scandalized by an idle word; yet no long time afterwards they feel\nnot a qualm of conscience for much flippant and even malicious speech,\ngreatly to the injury of others, making nothing of the guilt of such\nconduct. We meet with men who in the beginning patiently endured\nopposition and contradiction, prepared, if need be and in spite of the\nvery devil, to suffer martyrdom itself. And behold them now, after\nliving for a while with even very pious people ! You never saw or heard\nof men so perverse, self-willed and obstinate.\n\nOthers, again, in their first fervor are hot and eager for austerities;\nall the hard mortifications they see around them are little and trifling\nto them. But wait a while, and you find that they cannot bring them-\n\n140 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nselves to perform such moderate acts of self-denial as are common to all\nChristians. And they incessantly complain, if their demands for ease\nand comfort are not instantly complied with, making themselves in every\nway burdensome to others, no matter how much is done for them.\n\nVery different are those devout, interior men, who, though they must\nstruggle hard to make a beginning, and can only move forward slowly\nand step by step, yet resolutely keep on until they become an edifying\nexample to all others, while the overeager spirits, who at first promised\nso much, have finally come to nothing. Let us be very regardful of our\nwant of steadfastness, for we know not what the future has in store\nfor us.\n\nAnd now, dear children, I will tell you how one may know whether\nor not he has been truly converted to God, and has really renounced the\nevil one and all his works and pomps. When we were baptized we made\nour vows to God and holy Church never to commit sin, and to practice all\nChristian virtue. But we were afterwards led astray by the evil spirit\nand fell into sin, losing thereby the grace of God conferred on us in bap-\ntism. And then God, in His unspeakable mercy, called us back to His\nfriendship, and on our repentance He restored all His favors. But now\nmany allow themselves to be again deceived by the evil one, for he cun-\nningly endeavors to make the soul's contrition for all past sins more\napparent than real. Let us consider this matter attentively, so that we\nmay the better avoid such a misfortune.\n\nA truly converted Christian stands humbly persuaded of his own\nnothingness, and to be so regarded by everyone is his only desire. He\nwould by no means hold authority over anybody, but in all lowliness of\nheart he is pleased to be subjected to others, and glad to do their will,\nwhosoever they may be. He despises himself, regards himself as a\nthief, chooses the least and lowest of everything, is readily guided by\nothers, and makes the best of whatever happens to him. Thus, standing\ntoward men in all gentleness and toward God in all fearfulness, he\naccepts with thanksgiving all that is commanded him or advised him, or\neven wished. The contrary is the case with those who are but superfi-\ncially converted. They stand high in their own opinion, and they set a\nhigh value on their words and works. To be subjected to others is to\nthem a disgraceful thing, and they will not suffer the rule of a superior.\nThey volunteer instructing others with a flood of talk, discoursing boast-\nfully of high spirituality. And all this they do with a show of holy\nhumility, lest their real condition should be suspected. If you pay them\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 141\n\nno regard they are immediately up in arms against you, and if you differ\nwith them they defend themselves vigorously. They are rash, boastful\nand quarrelsome. All these are under the hand of the enemy of souls.\n\nHow different are the truly converted, who are ever affectionate to\ntheir neighbors, praising them with all brotherly love as far as truth will\nallow, rejoicing in their prosperity, aiding them in adversity, and over-\nflowing with pity for all in distress— quite unlike the falsely converted,\nwho are offensive to others, envious of their welfare and even of their\npiety, given to railing and contention, vindictive, contemptuous, self-\nassertive.\n\n^ Rightly converted men patiently bear oppression and injustice, as\ntrials permitted by God for their spiritual benefit. With peaceful hearts\nthey suffer on, always gentle in speech, gladly and easily reconciled to\nthose who have done them injury. Half-converted souls, on the con-\ntrary, blaze up quickly with anger, are sorry at the good fortune of\nothers, are backbiters, double-dealers and gossipers; they murmur\nagainst their superiors; they complain about their inferiors.\n\nThe truly converted are ever kind and compassionate, ready-handed to\ngive and to help ; for they make little of earthly goods, even rejoicing\nin poverty and humiliations, for which they return unfeigned thanks to\nGod, to Whom alone they look for their daily support. Their aim is to\nbe delivered from temporal things and the care of them, so they may be\nwholly absorbed in eternal things. The falsely converted are afire with\nlove for the good things of this life, ever seeking after personal con-\nvenience and pleasure. They misuse their time, deceiving their supe-\nriors if they can, and if that be not possible, then acting in defiance of\nthem. They must be well praised for all they do and amply rewarded;\nfor if they are made little of they are like men possessed, and secretly\nor openly they set about doing all the harm they can. For every work\nof religion they expect temporal gain. They often practice gross deceit\nto procure worldly honors.\n\nMen who are right-hearted, diligently devote all their time to doing\ngood to their neighbor or advancing God's honor, finding much spiritual\njoy in such a life. They are very careful to do everything exactly right,\ntrusting with all their hearts for God's blessing on their labors. And\nthe wrong-hearted are ever slothful to do good and inclined to evil,\nbitter-minded in dealing with others, petty, deceitful — as becomes bar-\nren-hearted men.\n\nH The right-hearted are ever temperate and self -restrained in minister-\ning to their natural wants, and much averse to all superfluity. If they\n\n142 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nexperience excessive craving for anything, it is precisely that thing that\nthey deny themselves. They keep themselves in good discipline by meager\ndiet, and with all precaution they guard against excess in drink. On\nthe contrary, the evil-inclined are given to excess in eating and drinking,\nare overindulgent to themselves and thankless to God. Severe sickness\noften results from their shameless conduct in this respect. After their\nbanquets they give themselves up to silly talk and mirth, jokes and idle\nstories; or they are inclined to quarrel; they are easily enraged, and\nwhen angered they shout and roar like jackasses; or, again, they are\ntotally stupefied and can only lie down and sleep, not able to say so much\nas a Pater Noster. All this comes from heavy drinking and glutton-\nous feeding. Hence the extreme care taken by all holy men against over-\neating and drinking, in order to safeguard themselves and their disciples\nagainst such wickedness. But, alas, it has now come to such a pass that\neven some clergymen — and this is most of all to be regretted — cannot\nand will not be content with what suflSces even rich worldlings. The\nmen who thus behave are spiritually blinded and are seldom able to\nresist the temptations of the devil, who leads them, before they are aware\nof it, into foul impurity, smirching their souls with unclean thoughts and\ndesires. Finally, they fall into detestible sins, calling down on their\nheads God's maledictions beyond anything they can appreciate. These\nwilful impurities unfit them for any good and useful works, and make\nthem offensive to all devout people. And now, blinded by their passion-\nate desires, they rush into low company and give themselves up to vice\nand the pleasures of the table. Their language is flippant, their minds\ntotally averted from any pious practice ; they no sooner begin any exer-\ncise of devotion than they are filled with the evil memories of their sins,\nthe devil playing the ape in their thoughts and acting over again the\norgies of their bad companionship, causing them to laugh aloud when\nthey should be absorbed in penitential thoughts.\n\nHow different are men who have been truly converted ! They stand\nbefore God and His angels so chaste and so timid and cautious, that they\nhad rather suffer death itself than wilfully harbor a single unchaste\nthought. They keep so close a watch over their hearts, senses and mem-\nbers, that they hardly presume to look even upon themselves, being\ngreatly distrustful of their own virtue. They chastise their bodies with\nfasts and vigils and hard labors ; they constantly lift their souls to God,\nplacing their confidence in Him alone — all to safeguard holy chastity.\nThose, on the contrary, who are only seemingly converted, care little\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 143\n\nwhether or not they are thinking of impure things. So, then, it happens\noften enough that gross, sensual emotions of mind and body run riot in\nthem. They are brought to the very gate of hell ; nay, they overstep the\nlimits of mere temptation and would fall heart and soul and body into\nopen carnal wickedness, if they had but the means of doing so. Such is\nthe end of their self-love; such the end of their tendency to gratify their\nlove of bodily ease. Some of these men fall into such a besotted state\nof mind, that they are ready even to hate God because He has forbidden\nthem the lusts of the flesh. They are so blinded by their vicious habits,\nthat they would be glad if He had no knowledge of their sins and no\npower to punish them, which is equivalent to wishing that God did not\nexist.\n\nO, dear children, consider earnestly how you stand; bear in mind\nwhat dangers surround us all. Let none of you be self-trustful ; let each\nand all stand in holy fear. No matter how good you may now seem to\nbe, by no means rely on that. And, on the other hand, no matter how\nsadly you may before this have fallen and gone astray from virtue, take\ncourage and come back to God, this time by a true conversion. As long\nas God spares your life His favor is always ready to be bestowed. God\nhelp us all to that happiness ! Amen.\n\nW4 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nWlft ^okt of (!Ujr!0t ta % BmVn Sljouslft of (gob\n\nSynopsis — TTie inner man is the yoke upon the outer man — The soul\nis driven inward by all of God's creatures — Yet any of them m^y\nhe made a hindrance — At least once a day we should seek Ood's\nlight yoke by holy thoughts — Example of an ancient hermit —\nChrist's burden is the misery of this life — Sorrow is turned into\njoy by suimissiveness to Ood's will.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY.\nMy yoke is sweet and My burden Is light — Matt xi, 30.\n\nIt is eternal truth itself — our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ — who\nutters these words. And yet men contradict Him, men who live accord-\ning to mere matter; these by act and word affirm that God's yoke is\nbitter and his burden is heavy. But the right is with God.\n\nAnything that crushes a man and drags him down is a burden. Now,\nwe understand by the word yoke, as here used, the inner man ; and by\nthe word burden, the outer man. The inner man has come from God,\nand he is a noble being, made after God's image and likeness. And as\nhe comes from God, so is he invited and urgently called back to God, so\nthat, being drawn into the Divine life, he may become partaker of all\ngood. The blessedness that belongs to God by nature the soul may\nhereby obtain by grace. Now, dear children, the treasures that God has\nhidden in the depths of our souls, whosoever discovers them and contem-\nplates them becomes, indeed, a happy man. And, although a man may\nallow his spiritual insight to be for a time diverted from Divine things,\nyet he is incessantly drawn again to consider God's interior presence ; he\ncan never otherwise be at rest. The whole universe is not enough to\ncontent him. All outward things only turn him back into his inner\nlife, whether he perceives it or not ; for there is God, his final end and\nthe only purpose of his existence. As all material things rest on their\nproper basis, as a stone on the earth ; or as they rise upward into their\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 145\n\nproper element, as fire into the air ; so does a devout soul rest upon God\nand rise into God as its only salvation.\n\nNow, to what men is this yoke sweet and light, as they accept it and\nbear it along? Surely only to those whose thoughts are turned inward\nin search of God, and quite turned away from all created things. Chil-\ndren, our souls ever stand on the boundary line between time and\neternity. If we turn toward time, we shall without doubt forget eternity ,^\nand soon be led far away from the things of God. Whatever we see from\na distance looks small ; whatever we see close at hand looks large, for\nthere is but little intervening space. Thus the sun is many times larger\nthan the earth, but if reflected in a cup of clear water on a summer's:\nmidday it seems no bigger than a little bean, and any little object that\nshould come between the sun and that mirror, would be large enough to\nentirely take away the image of the great luminary. So it is with a\nman's soul. No matter how trifling may be the earthly image he places\nin the depths of his soul, it is enough to interfere with God's light shin-\ning there; the infinite good that God is may easily be hindered from\nentering and possessing the soul of man. And this is equally true when\nit happens that the image in the soul is not an evil and a little thing,\nbut a great and really good thing; it may hinder the entrance of God,\nWho is without any image or intermediary whatsoever. Know, there-\nfore, for a certainty, that in whatever soul the infinitely good God shall\nbe mirrored, it must be totally freed and emptied of all images ; if thesoul\nreflects a single created thing, that is enough to exclude the reflection of\nGod. All souls who have not established in their very depths this free-\ndom from creatures, who have not uncovered and laid bare before God\ntheir innermost recesses, are as yet only scullions in the Divine service,\nand to them God's yoke is bitter. And, says Origen, the man who has\nnot looked into the deeper depths of his being has a plain sign, that as\nyet he has not tasted of the eternal sweetness of God.\n\nLet it be well understood, therefore, my dear children, that at least\nonce in the day we should turn inwards with all possible recollected-\nness; for if we do not even that much for the interior life, we are\nwithout doubt unworthy the name of Christians. And all who cleanse\nthe mirror of their souls perfectly clear of the images of created things,\nso that God may pour in the sunlight of His divinity quite unobstructed,\nto them His yoke is sweet beyond all other possible sweetness. To such\nsouls whatsoever is not God is tasteless ; yea, it is bitter and loathsome\nto the taste, whether it be within them or come from without, and the\n\n146 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nvery remembrance of the sweetness of creatures is bitter as gall. The\nsweetness of God enters so deep, that it seems to have become the marrow\nin the bones and the blood in the veins of the truly converted man.\nGod's eternal image expels completely from the soul every other image\nwhatsoever.\n\nBut let us ask, children, why it is that the things amid which we live\nhere below hinder us spiritually? It is because thou clothest thyself\nwith them as if with thy own proper personal qualities ; for if thy mind\nwere in very truth unencumbered with their images, thou mightest be\nmaster of a kingdom and suffer no spiritual harm. Be but free from all\nimages, and all sense of ownership of creatures, and all is well with thee.\nWhat thou needest, thou mayst in humility and in fear of God without\ndoubt possess and use, and God is thereby pleased. If thou fallest short\nof thy needful substance, trust God confidently, for He will provide for\nthee, even, if necessary, by means of His dumb creatures ; He no more\nforsakes His children than He gives up His own eternal life.\n\nThere was once an ancient hermit, whose soul was so free that no\ncreated thing encumbered his thoughts. Now, it happened that a cer-\ntain man knocked at the door of his cell, and when the hermit opened it\nand went out to him, the man asked him to give him a certain object in-\nside the cell, and the hermit turned and entered to do so. But when he\nwould seek for it he found he had, meantime, forgotten what it was.\nAfter a while the man knocked at the door again, and then the holy\nhermit came out, and bade him go inside himself and take what he\nwanted : \"For,\" said he, \"my dear son, I cannot retain in my mind what\nit is thou dost want me to give thee, for I am entirely stripped of all\nthoughts of created things.\"\n\nChildren, in such imageless souls, the light of God shines without hin-\ndrance. They are elevated in spirit and set at liberty from creatures,\neven detached from their own selves, and their wills in all joy and sor-\nrow, in all work and rest, are entirely united to God. They are most\njoyfully enveloped by God's will, as if they were caught in a net. To\nthem pain and pleasure are all one, or rather are instantly forgotten, for\nGod's yoke is sweet to their souls. All creatures, considered in them-\nselves, look far off and seem petty and contemptible, for they behold\nthem from the Divine bosom, into which they have sunken away ; and\neternal things are close at hand and most wonderfully grand, for them\nthey behold in their own souls with God. If men hate them or love\nthem their peace is equally untroubled, for the sweetness of Divine love\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 14T\n\nimparts a calm that can be disturbed by neither friend nor foe. The\nsweetness of our Saviour's yoke safeguards them from all bitterness of\ncreatures.\n\nNow, we are to consider that other Word of Christ : \"My burden is\nlight.\" This refers to the many sorrows we suffer in our external life.\nO, good and merciful God, who are those that nowadays find Thy burden\nlight? For, alas, men no longer want to bear the burdens of life, even\nthose that are unavoidably necessary for our welfare. And yet which-\never way thou turnest thou must bear burdens, in spite of thyself. Fly\nfrom the heat and thou shalt fall into the deep cold snow. O, give thy-\nself up willingly and joyfully to suffer, commending thyself piously to\nGod's protection in whatever may happen to thee. Consider how bit-\nterly our Lord Jesus Christ suffered, and how it was by suffering that\nHe entered into His glory and into the bosom of His heavenly Father.\n\nAnd what, dear children, shall a servant of God suffer? Thou must\nsuffer all the visitations of God's providence, and that in entire submis-\nsiveness, without arguing about their justice or injustice, whether they\nare allowed to come to thee from men or come direct from God — the\ndeath of thy friends, the loss of thy property or of thy good name, the\nprivation of consolations, whether exterior or interior, from God or from\ncreatures. My dear child, these burdens must thou take up cheerfully\nand bear joyously. And, besides these, thou must bear with thy own\ndefects, however painful they may be to thee, and however miserably\nthou hast failed to overcome them. Put thy shoulder meekly under thy\nburdens, and trust to God for strength to suffer; let God's blessed love\nbe thy guide for time and eternity. Take an example from horses in the\nstable. Their manure is filthy and it is offensive to the smell. But the\nsame horse that makes it, draws it with great labor into the fields and\nthere it makes fine wheat and rich wine — all the better wheat and wine\nfor the filthiness of the manure. Thus mayst thou use those disgusting\nfaults of thine which thou canst not quite overcome. Scatter them upon\nthe field of God's holy will, and abandon thyself very humbly to His lov-\ning care; rich fruit of virtue thou shalt without doubt gather to the\nhonor of God and the edification of His servants.\n\nWhatsoever man bows his back humbly under God's dispensations,\nand yields himself joyfully to His holy will in weal and woe; whatsoever\nman looks to God for everything in steadfast hope, receiving all from\nHim and returning all to Him in sincere detachment of spirit; whatso-\never man sinks himself deep down into his own soul, seeking only for\n\n148 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nGod's will in entire renunciation of self and of all creatures; whatso-\never man, I say, does all this with a true heart and perseveres stead-\nfastly in it, to him will God's burden in very truth be made light. Yes,\nchildren, so light that if it were possible to lay on that man alone all\nthe burdens of the world, they would seem so light to him that it would\nbe a joy to carry them — a joy that would seem like that of Heaven. For\nyou must understand, that it is God Himself who bears such a man's\nburden ; God has entered into him and taken charge of all that he does\nand all that he endures. May the eternal God do the like in us. May\nHe thus make His yoke sweet and His burden light to us, God the\nFather, and God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 149\n\nftignii of a Slruf *rI|olar of CCIjrifit\n\nSynopsis — That one is a diligent pupil of Christ is shown hy not fear-\ning or avoiding disgrace; by readily blaming himself; hy esteemr\ning all men his superiors; by holding rich friends in no higher\nfavor than poor strangers; by readily seeing God's will in all\ncircumstances of life, and finally by patient endurance of suf-\nfering.\n\nSERMON FOR THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY.\nLearn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart. — Matt, xi, 29.\n\nChrist, our beloved Lord, true master of all wisdom and virtue,\nexample of all perfection, came down from Heaven that He might teach\nus poor, ignorant men. And in doing so He did not use great subtility,\nnor did He address us in mysterious ways. No ; He taught us our les-\nson in short sentences, and very plain words, at the same time giving\nus in His own blessed humanity a pattern to go by. He is Himself our\nbook — open, easy to read and written with plainest letters. And His\nlesson — it reads thus : \"Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of\nheart.\"\n\nWhat lesson could be more easily taught; what lesson more easily\nunderstood and learned than this? So, let us study it diligently, reading\nit over and over again, putting it in practice in our daily lives, keeping\never before our eyes as our model the life of Christ, so rich in the virtues\nHe would teach us. His whole life was kindly and gently humble, and\nall His words ever taught this same holy lesson. It was for the sake\nof this virtue that he chose for His disciples and pupils men in a lowly\nstate of life, apt to learn meekness and humility. Especially to elevate\nthis lesson to the highest place, did He choose for His beloved mother one\nwho, as she conceived Him in her womb, could say : \"He hath regarded\nthe humility of His handmaid.\" (Luke i, 48.) And in today's Gospel,\nHe thanks His Father for this same virtue: \"I confess to Thee, O\nFather, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because Thou hast hid these things\nfrom the wise and prudent and hast revealed them to little ones\" (Matt.\n\n150 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nxi, 25) ; that is to say, to the humble. From all this we conclude, that\nto the humble-hearted alone is the hidden wisdom of God revealed.\nTherefore, dear children, that we may the better learn our Lord's lesson\nand acquire this beautiful virtue of His, let us consider certain signs\nof real humility, bearing in mind that gentle kindness is ever its close\ncompanion.\n\nThe first sign is this : A truly humble man never is ashamed to do\nany outward act because worldlings will think that it disgraces him, for\nit is a true sign of conversion from a sinful life, and of real pain of\nheart for past bad conduct, if a man is ready and willing to be thrust\nbackward to the lowest place, so that this may help him to be advanced\nto true humility of heart and interior subjection of soul. Whosoever\nwould make progress in God's happy way of perfection, must keep a\nclose watch on himself and avail himself of such opportunities, and for\nthis God will give him such graces as he never had before.\n\nThe second sign of real humility, is that one is ready to blame himself\nto others, to look on all men as his superiors in virtue; one efifect of\nwhich is to draw men's hearts to him, enabling him to lead them onward\nin the practice of humility. And if it sometimes happens that a man is\naccused of what he is not guilty of, still let him bear himself meekly,\nand confess that if he happen to be guiltless, it is God alone that has\nsaved him from this sin, as He had forgiven him other sins — the same\ngrace both in pardoning and preventing.\n\nThe third work is this: The truly humble soul loves all men alike,\nshowing no partiality for near friends or relatives over poor strangers.\nAll men he loves in God ; all are given him by God as his neighbors, and,\naccording to their needs, he loves them all, whether good or bad, not from\nnatural inclination, but rather from Christian principle.\n\nIn the fourth place, a truly humble man contents himself with a free\nand detached spirit; he is content with all circumstances of life. The\nmerciful God may join him in closest union with another whose heart is\nentirely given to the world. In such a case, indeed, we see a man's\nhumility, for he is sunk under God and all creatures, self-effaced in\nspirit and in act, entirely resigned to his lot for God's sake.\n\nThe fifth sign of true humility is patient endurance of suffering,\noffering everything up for God's glory, and in deep love of God, in single-\nhearted trust entirely submitting to His will.\n\nHerein you will perceive that progress in humility is marked by\npatience, by loving abandonment to God in all faith, and by steadfast\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 151\n\nconfidence in Him. In this way the soul grows into a sense of the state\nof exile that this life really is. A man gains a brighter and brighter\nconsciousness of God as his Creator; and he is granted a complete\nsubjection of his will to God's holy will — all this for the Divine honor\nand for no selfish ends of his own. That we may thus learn our Saviour's\nlesson of humility, may God aid us. Amen.\n\n158 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — Beginners are absorbed in external good works, and\neasily are led astray — Others are quite detached from earthly\nthings, hut yet absorbed in tlie sweetness of devout feelings, and\nthereby are much hindered — Still other souls rise above this, but\nare liable to a mare subtle spiritual self-indulgence; this is shown\nby indiscreet mortifications — Tfie real work of perfection is wholly\nOod's, and is done in the hidden life— Examples drawn from vine\nculture.\n\nSEEMON FOR SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY.\n\nThe kingdom of heayen is lilte to an liouseholder, wiio went out early in the\nmorning to hire laborers into his vineyard. — Matt xx, 1.\n\nDear children, this householder went out at the first hour, the third\nhour, and the sixth, and hired laborers at a penny a day. And even when\nevening was come, he still found men standing idle, and he said to them :\nWhy stand ye here all the day idle? Go ye also into my vineyard and\nI will give you what is just. Now, dear children, this householder is our\nLord Jesus Christ, and His house is eternal life, this earth, purgatory\nand hell. The heavenly Father saw that human nature had gone astray,\nleaving His beautiful vineyard sterile and desolate — that vineyard which\nHe had created man to cultivate and make fruitful. To call human\nnature back again into His vineyard the heavenly Father now goes\nforth \"early in the morning.\"\n\nDear children, our Lord Jesus Christ goes forth from the heavenly\nFather's bosom and yet remains there ; and this is one meaning of the\nwords goes forth \"early in the morning.\" But He may be said to go\nforth also in another sense, namely, in His human nature, that He may\nagain hire us into His holy vineyard. This He does variously at the\nfirst, third, sixth and ninth hours. And yet once again He goes forth\ninto the market place of the human race, namely, at the approach of\nevening, and He finds other men standing there idle. To these He\nspeaks sharply : \"Why stand ye here all the day idle ? And they\n\n-of John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 153\n\nanswered Him : Because no man hath hired us.\" Now, these men whom\nno man has hired, are those who still retain their natural innocence and\n.guilelessness. They may well be called happy, for the eternal God finds\nthem yet unhired ; that is to say, unfettered by the world and by created\nthings.\n\nAgain, dear children, there are some men who have once been enslaved\nby the world and by creatures, but have been liberated and are now free ;\n^nd these are standing idle and unhired from spiritual tepidity and\n-coldness of heart, without love and without grace. And whosoever is\nwithout grace stands in nature alone. Let such a one (by an impossi-\nbility) do all the good works in the whole world, yet will he, all the\n«ame, stand idle and fruitless and empty, helped thereby in no manner\nwhatsoever. Going out \"early in the morning\" means the going forth\nof God's grace to men ; for the morning puts an end to the darkness of\nnight, and the coming of grace into the soul of man is the dawning of\nGod's day: \"Why stand ye here all the day idle?\" Go into mj vine-\nyard and I will pay you what is right.\n\nIt is plain, children, that all these men go into the Lord's vineyard\nquite variously. Some are beginners. These labor for God with external\nreligious works and according to their own plans, and they continue in\nthat course, doing what they consider great things, fasting, keeping\nTigils, reciting prayers; at the same time paying little regard to the\nstrictly interior religious life and resting wholly in sensible sweetness\n•of devotion, thereby judging whether they are in God's favor or disfavor.\nFrom this state flow evil results — injustice to others, rash judgments,\nmany faults of vanity and pride, bitterness of spirit and obstinacy,\n■enmities and many other defects besides. Thus are they led astray from\nDivine grace and soon break forth openly into sinful words and deeds.\nWhosoever finds himself resting on this false foundation should at once\ntake measures to change to the true foundation, which is interior, before\nhe suffers further injury or inflicts it upon those who are his associates.\n\nThe second kind of laborers, dear children, who have gone into the\nLord's vineyard are those who despise all transitory things and who\nhave quite overcome their sensual appetites; and by these means they\nhave attained to a good degree of virtue. They are absorbed in the\njoys of interior spiritual exercises, cleaving close to the supreme truth.\nBut they are defective in this; they rest content with these their pres-\nent consolations; they do not press onward through and beyond all\nconsolations to the possession of God Himself, in Whom alone, and not\nin His gifts, they should find their resting place.\n\n154 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nThe third kind of laborers in God's vine^'^ard are those most noble\nsouls, who pass over and beyond all things in search simply of God —\nmen who think of nothing, strive after nothing but God Himself, and God\nfor His own self's sake alone — neither Divine consolations, nor any other\noutpourings from God, but His own very essential Deity, into which they\nsink their own existence in single-hearted devotedness. God's honor and\npraise, the perfecting in them and by them of God's own will — this, and\nthis alone, is the end and object of all their strivings. To suffer all things\nfor His sake, to stand in total abandonment to His providence in all\nevents of life, and to attribute no good thing to their own power or merit,\nsuch is their invariable and universal purpose. As water seeks its level,\nso in their heart's allegiance do all of God's gifts return to Him. They\nwill not tolerate the thought of receiving any gifts from God for their\nown joy or profit in any wise whatsoever ; God alone, God alone is the\nstarting point and the returning point of everything they receive from\nHim, whether it be a favor for their inner or for their outer existence.\n\nAnd it is thus that such souls are lifted out of and above themselves\ninto God, their intentions and purposes being singly and solely for Him.\nBut meanwhile human nature must be reckoned with, for a man cannot\nbe totally separated from his natural self; and therefore, whether he\nwill or not, he longs with a natural longing to be happy, even while he\nwould be absorbed in God alone. But this inclination of nature should\nnot be strong in such elect souls ; it should be reduced to the smallest\npossible degree of influence. Effecting this causes suffering in very\nspiritual men, for they can hardly help being pleasurably absorbed in\nthe good works to which they devote themselves. Hence they are apt to\nseek for new ways of practicing virtue, with a view to the spiritual\njoys to be found therein — prayer, meditation, holy tears and many long\nvigils. And herein, often without realizing it, they go to excess, never\ngetting enough of spiritual sweetness; and when that goes from them, as\nit surely will, then they are afflicted. They now have an aversion for\ndevout practices and become cold-hearted. The blame is all their own ;\nthey have ceased to think of God alone and to seek Him alone ; they have\ndrifted back into an attachment to the sweetness of His service. A man\nmust never seek joy in God's gifts; neither in methods of piety, in words\nand prayers, or in works of zeal. It is not God's gifts, but God's own\nself that we should seek.\n\nYes, children, there are some who cannot abide being empty of all\nspiritual solace and comfort. From this holy emptiness of soul they take\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor I55\n\nrefuge, for instance, with the saints and angels of Heaven, whom they\nappropriate to themselves without due regard to God, and from them\nthey look for spiritual joys. They say, in effect, this favorite saint of\nmine, this beloved angel, shall be my comfort in preference to all others.\nNow, this is unfair to God and really gives little rest to the soul, but\nrather breeds much unrest. Endeavor to be detached entirely from all\ncreatures, whether in Heaven or on earth, except clearly in view of God;\nlean upon God and upon none other. Once thou hast done that honestly,\nthen thou shalt have learned how rightly to honor all of God's saints.\nFor our beloved saints, are they not continually immersed in the depths\nof the Divine immensity — in the most holy Trinity?\n\nI say to thee in that truth that God is: If thou wilt become a man\nafter God's will, then all things to which thou cleavest must perish\nwithin thee. And this means that thou must not cleave to the graces\nGod grants thee, nor to His Saints as something apart from Himself, nor\nto anything else; for whatsoever ministereth to thy spiritual joy must\nbe cut off. Before God can perfect within thee His Divine work of light\nand love, thou must be unencumbered from everything that gives thee\ncomfort except God's own very self.\n\nChildren, you are not to suppose that we are forbidden to venerate\nour dear saints in Heaven, but only to cling to them with a sense of\nproprietorship— with a selfish purpose of enjoying them. I say to thee\nthat if thou wert enriched with all heavenly graces, and, in addition,\nwert granted all the merits of all holy men, the moment that thou\nshouldst appropriate these to thyself in spiritual joy, that moment they\nwould be tainted with thy own personal sinfulness. The true and\nfaithful servant of God goes ever right onward— consolation or no con-\nsolation, pleasure or pain, plenty or want— ever right onward through\nall these things to God's own self. It is by forgetfulness of this that a\nman will, all unconsciously, stray apart from the true path of Divine wis-\ndom and love, and by returning again to this the only right way, does\nhe attain to perfection.\n\nChildren, a really devout man should imitate a laborer in a vineyard\nwho works all day long; and if he must stop to eat at certain intervals,\nthe whole time thus taken up is hardly an hour, while the work absorbs\nthe entire day. He eats because he must have food, for that makes his\nblood and flesh, bones and marrow, which, as they are consumed by\nworking, must be renewed by eating; but much work and a little eating\nis his rule for laboring in his vineyard. And in like manner in God's vine-\n\n156 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nyard. When one feels a yearning for the heavenly joy of Divine grace,\nlet him indulge himself a little in it, so that he may be strengthened to\nwork on more courageously, ever giving back to God in thanksgiving\nthe joy that he has received from Him ; and repeating this process from\ntime to time, as he feels the yearning for God's joy and the need of its\nnourishment to strengthen him in his holy labors. The spiritual men\nwho thus deal with God in their interior and external life, humbly\naccepting and gratefully returning to God all His gifts, constantly\nbecome more worthy of them. Such Godlike men would be worthy to\nfeed upon the finest pearls and gold and silver, if these could be turned\ninto food. The best that the world possesses is but their family inher-\nitance— theirs and no one else's. But all worldly treasures are as\nnothing at all to them, and they are often the poor men of God, trusting,\nas they must, with all confidence in their heavenly Father's care of them ;\nand He does provide for them — if they were hidden away in the heart of\na rock he would provide for them.\n\nSuch men are like a vinestock, which outwardly is black, hard, dry\nand ugly, and, if one went by appearances, would be only fit to chop\ndown and make into firewood. But under this unfavorable appearance\nare hidden the channels of the sap, and the rich natural forces that give\nlife and sweetness to the noblest fruit of any plant that grows. It is\nthus with those recollected souls that are at all times sunken so deep\nin God. Outwardly, they seem dry and dull and useless creatures, for\nthey are humble and retiring, and they appear very insignificant, with\nneither fine words nor showy works, nor elaborate devotional methods,\nin every way appearing the least among their fellows. But concealed\nwithin their souls are the veins of God's grace. They no longer belong\nto themselves, but God has made them and their lives and their inner-\nmost being His own portion among men.\n\nAnd now, children, consider how the vine-dresser goes out and prunes\nhis vines, cutting away the wild growth; for if he let it grow on with the\nuseful branches, then the unpruned vine would give him only sour wine.\nIt is thus that true spiritual men must do ; they must cut out from their\nways and inclinations, and their joys and sorrows, all whatsoever is ill-\nregulated. Thou must exterminate from thy heart all thy defects ; thou\ncanst do it and yet not break thy head or thy bones, for thou shouldst\nhold back the knife until thou art well advised what thou shouldst\nprune away. If the vine-dresser is not skillful at his trade, he may cut\nthe wood that bears the grapes instead of the useless and barren\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 157\n\nbranches, and thus injuring, instead of benefiting, the vineyard. Thus\nact imprudent and ignorant men in the spiritual vineyard. They cut\nand wound our poor, innocent human nature, while they pass over\nuntouched the evil tendencies rooted in our corrupt human nature. Our\nnature is in itself noble and good. Why, then, wilt thou hack at it as if\nit were essentially evil? I say to thee that it may happen, that when\nthou hast come to the time of gathering the spiritual harvest, namely,\nwhen thou hast the grace of a devout, happy and pious life, thou shalt\nfind that thou hast by thy indiscreet mortifications in earlier days\ndestroyed the forces of nature within thee.\n\nAfter the vine-dresser has pruned his vine he ties it carefully, bending\nit toward the ground, and then fastens it securely to a stake. And in\nall this we have the sweet figure of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ in\nHis me and passion, which must be made our only support. Bound\nfast to Jesus crucified, the superior faculties of our mind are sunk in\nlowly humility, in His suflferings and death. Our whole interior and\nexternal existence is by this means subjected to Him, and that not in mere\nmechanical imitation, but in true and hearty conformity to His death,\neach one, according to his state of life, giving Him his senses and his\nthoughts in entire and constant abandonment. This is the taming of\nan overfree will under the rule of God's will, in all things inward and\noutward, exerting every effort to be truly obedient to God, and to respond\nto His grace, in all work and rest. Then one's humility is so true, that if\nhe had done all the meritorious works of all mankind, and possessed all\nthe inner graces of all saintly men, he would not be spoiled by any sense\nof proprietorship; his virtues would seem no different to him than if\nthey were the virtues of someone else, and would all be readily attributed\nto God. In such a soul as that, will God the Father quickly and without\nhindrance complete His hidden work of perfection. And those who fail\nto acquire these dispositions will without doubt fail to experience God's\nperfect regeneration within their souls.\n\nAnd, again, the vine-dresser digs up the soil about the vine and roots\nout the weeds; that is to say, the devout man vigilantly searches his\nsoul's very depths, and if he finds spiritual weeds there, imperfect ten-\ndencies, whether great or small, he puts in his spade and cuts them out\nby the root. He thus gives the bright sun of God's grace free entrance to\nthe inmost depths of his being, enlightening and vivifying all his powers.\nGod's grace thus draws up into active fruitful life all the forces of the\nsoul. Ah, dear children, how sweet and nourishing is the fruit of\n\n158 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nDivine grace, when we thus give God's sunlight full entrance into our\nsouls by cleaving away all that may hinder it! How beautiful its light\nand how sweet the fragrance of the flowers it produces, a fragrance\nwhich is the antidote to all spiritual poison, and fatal to the presence of\nthe tempting serpent. O children, children, when the beams of God's\nsunlight are allowed to fall directly on the human soul, they draw the\nsoul's whole life, inner and outer both, upward to Heaven! All that\nsuch a soul thinks and does, now tastes of God, so that the evil one and\nall his poisonous efforts come instantly to naught. If all the devils in\nhell conspired against that soul, and if all the evil men on earth joined\nthem, they could not harm it, for it thinks and loves and acts only in\nGod, and deeper and deeper into God's life would their machinations\ndrive it. Nay, if such a man were (by an impossibility) sunk even into\nthe pit of hell, he would bring down Heaven there, with God and all His\nblessedness. And in practical daily life, he is perfectly safeguarded\nagainst all dangers that may beset his path.\n\nNow, as the sun of God's holy presence in the soul shines clearer and\nwarmer as time goes on, so the virtues of that soul become riper, and the\nfruit of holy living is more and more filled with spiritual sweetness;\nfor the hindrances to the Divine influence are lessened continually, just\nin proportion to the earnestness and discretion of the soul's co-operation.\nA man's entire spiritual conduct is in a way then made Divine, his\nchief, and we might say his only, inner conception being God. But this\nis a state of soul too far beyond ordinary human existence to be capable\nof description.\n\nFinally the vine-dresser trims away the leaves, to allow the sunlight\nto complete its work of ripening the grapes. In like manner various\ndevotional helps become after a time of little aid to the soul, such as\nthe usual pious practices and prayers, and remembrances of the saints.\nBut this only happens when God has drawn the soul very deep into Him-\nself, and His grace influences it in a way quite above its natural com-\nprehension. For the glory and the sweetness of God's communion, trans-\ncend all purely human methods and mediums of spiritual life, and the\nsoul hardly knows how to distinguish its life from that of God. That\nthe soul's very being should be penetrated through and through by God's\nsweetness, is His special purpose in this work of sanctification, just as if\nHe were a cask of wine absorbing a little drop of water, until the soul\nis, as it were, unconscious of a separate life from that of God, uncon-\nscious of the lowly human existence to which it belongs. A secret and\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nsilent unity of man and God, quite beyond the power of description is\nthus produced Children, one hour, even one moment, of this blissful\n\nfse uHoT\"',;: \" *'\"\"\"\"/ \"r \"\"\" •«'°^«\"^' *» *\"« -»> -^ --\n\nand ^ orv ht «t°\"°' \"'\"'' ^ *''''\"\"'''\"* *™^^ '^\"'•^ '» ^\"^'^ honor\nand glory, than fifty years spent in self-chosen spiritual e^rcises even\n\nthe most approved. May God grant ns grace to give Him place for hTs\n\nwork withm our souls. May we die to all that we should die to HveTor\n\nall that we should live for, and do everything that His grace demands\n\nin preparat,„n for His Divine regeneration wfthin our soTl! Zen '\n\n160 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences.\n\n3Nnt ®ur ®mn, but (BoVb, Arltmtg MnktB TUb IfitvUtt\n\nSynopsis — Going out of self and into God — Giving up the joy of virtue\nfor the sake of virtue's self — Danger of self-inspired activity —\nChrist's passion a meditation safe against pride — Vigor of ex-\nternal zeal not lessened hut increased hy interior quiet.\n\nSERMON FOR SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY.\n\nThe sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, sorae fell by the wayside\nand it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And other some\nfell upon a rock, and as soon as it was sprung up it withered away, because it had\nno moisture. And other some fell among thorns, and the thorns growing up with\nit choked it And other some fell upon good ground, and being sprung up, yielded\nfruit a hundred-fold. — LukevJS.\n\nDear children, take things as we may, the beginning of a spiritual life\nis a going forth; thou must undoubtedly go out if thou wouldst ever\namount to anything in the Christian state — go forth and out of all self-\ncontent, self-conceit, and self-will. Thou must strive to have dear to\nthyself nothing whatever but God's honor and glory. Mark well : In\nwhatsoever condition of mind or body thou findest thyself, out of that\nthou must go, whether it be a multitude of companions, or any other\ncomfort of creatures. And this going forth must effect something more\nthan a bodily change; it must be a deep-seated change in thy very\nsoul. If God is ever to do a fruitful work in thee, thy spirit must be cut\noff and separated from all multiplicity. There is no escape from it ; thou\nmust forsake thy own activity, all thy natural faculties, forcibly break\nasunder the hard bands of nature; go out from thy manners and thy\nhabits and all other such things ; for it is clinging to these that especially\nhinders thy spiritual progress. Do as the ants do; when they have\ngathered the grains of wheat, they eat away and destroy the living kernel\nof each grain, lest it should sprout, and thus they save up their store of\nfood. And so must thou destroy the kernel of joy that is in all thy incli-\nnations and affections, lest when thou thinkest thyself making good\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 161\n\nspiritual progress thou art really near to complete failure. Thou must\nthus go forth out of all things.\n\nPhilosophers tell us that a man's power of going forth lies in his willy\nthough the intelligence invites him to do it. As soon as my mind per-\nceives something good, then the will is informed of it, and forthwith\nstarts away to obtain it and to enjoy it; for it is on account of the good\ncontained in anything that we love it and seek to possess it. Now, this\nmeans the good that is in one's own self, as well as that which we may\nfind in other creatures. This is the better activity of the will. For if\none's love is false and narrow, one's will does not go out, but would by\na bad activity appropriate the desired good selfishly and slothfully.\nAnd it is certainly thus that all those persons act who seek themselves\nin serving God, calculating simply on their own spiritual profit. Their\nlove is untrue and narrow and I would not give a penny for it all.\n\nDear child, thou must, in the love of thy God, so go out of thyself\nthat thou shalt love Him alone, thinking as little as possible of joy or\nprofit or reward, but only of His goodness and His glory. And, although\nthou knowest full well that He will recompense thee, yet on that thoo\nmust not allow thy mind to dwell, hiding it away as carefully as if thou\ndidst not know it at all. Let nothing whatever but God's honor influ-\nence thee ; let thy heart melt with zeal for that ; forget thyself in that,\nadverting little to thy own profit in what thou dost for God in soul or\nbody. Otherwise Avhat thou dost is thine and not God's, for thou hast\ndone it and not God. Consider Him always and seek to please Him,\nnever anxiously asking whether or not or how much He will reward\nthee. Meantime be sure that all that thou thus givest exclusively to Him\nHe will turn back upon thee. The less thou thinkest of thy glory and\nprofit and recompense, the more will He think of thee in regard of all\nsuch things. Therefore does St. John say : ''Perfect charity casteth\nout fear.\" (I John iv, IS.) Men who act in this way know not fear,\nfor they never think of themselves, whether for gain or loss; all such\nthings are shut out of their souls, which know nothing but love. And\nthey are finally rewarded as Simeon was, to whom it was granted to take\nthe infant Jesus in his arms.\n\nBut one might object: Is it really right that I should go out of my\nown activity and become void of all doing, thinking and willing? Is\nthere no danger of my neglecting my bounden duty in this? Should I\nnot even meditate on our Lord's life and passion? On how God in His\ngoodness created me after His own image, and bore my sins on the cross?\n\n162 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nAnd on the joys of eternal life? I answer that this is all good, and well\ncalculated to arouse the love of God in one's soul, and elicit acts of\nthanksgiving. But beware lest with these devout thoughts other\nthoughts and mental images intrude themselves. St. Paul bids us walk\nin faith, and his meaning is that we should know God and truth by the\nfeeling of faith. The very essence of truth must shine into our souls, and\nthat requires that the soul should be totally free from all images of\ncreated things. God forbid that thou shouldst make little of our\nRedeemer's passion, or draw away thy mind from thoughts of His cruci-\nfixion ; but rather and on the contrary, having out of supreme love and\ngratitude stripped th}' mind of all images for His sake, then and in that\nstate shouldst thou contemplate Him crucified. If a man owes me five\nshillings, he pays me best in one single coin equal to the five shillings.\nMartha, Lazarus and Mary all knew the same Christ, but each one very\ndifferently from the others, and each received Him dift'erently.\n\nNow, take all this teaching, and act as a skillful artist does in painting\na picture. He has skill in coloring, and in drawing and in other\nbranches of his art, but they are all joined by him in a single united\neffort to produce the figure upon his canvas.\n\nIf thou wouldst return God the thanks most pleasing to Him, then\nkeep thy soul void, in order that He may do His perfect work in thee,\nand that work is to give thee to know Him and love Him disinterestedly.\nA skillful artist and a rude peasant may stand together gazing upon a\npicture; but how differently do they appreciate it. The artist feels\nat once the full general influence of beauty and power; the peasant\ncarefully counts and names the various figures. So wilt thou be better\nthankful to God, if thou wilt empty thy heart to receive Him in\nall loving simplicity, rather than distract and disturb thyself with\nstudying and numbering thy devotional acts. What the lower orders\nof the angels behold in many images, the higher ones enjoy in a single\nact of contemplation. Choose for thy meditation those subjects which\nare most familiar to thee and which profit thee best, for our Lord\napproves that simple way, meanwhile ever ministering His joy and peace\nto thy soul. He seems to forego His own rights for a time, doing so in\nthe interests of brotherly love among His children. Thus He says in\nthe Gospel: \"If thou comest to the altar to offer thy gift, and there\nthou rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave thy\ngift at the altar, and going, first be reconciled to thy brother ; and then\ncome and offer thy gift. (Matt, v, 23-24.) Nor needst thou fear lest\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nthou Shalt lose anything by resting still in contemplation. Give thyself\nwholly to God in interior abandonment to His will, and be sure that thy\nexternal activity shall lose none of its vigor. What better canst thou\ndo than work for God out of the single motive of love ? Some think that\neverything in the spiritual life depends on their own exertions, and they\nconstantly strive to absorb the Divine light into that of their natural\nreason. Far be this from thee, for that would be to change the uncreated\nwisdom into that of a poor creature. But do thou just the contrary • by\nan effort of perfect love cast all thy wisdom deep into God's— the lowest\nmust not presume to master the highest. That we mav go out of our-\nselves in all sincerity of detachment, and therebv prepare our souls as\ngood soil for the seed of God's Word, may God impart to us His -race\nAmen. '^\n\n164 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n^xtttmn^ a Ol0ttbttt0tt for SntttxBt Prngr^aa\n\nSynopsis — Interior degeneracy is in pride, in routine and in ingrati-\ntude— Progress is seen in earnestness, in humility without limit,\nabsorption in Clirisfs passion, universal love of God's creatures,\nall crowned by steadfast perseverance — Progress becomes perfec-\ntion by peculiarly painful trials, a very filial love of God and en-\ntire abandonment to Him.\n\nSERMON FOR QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY.\n\nWith Christ I am nailed to the cross. And I live, now not I, but Christ liveth\nin me. — Gal. ii, 19.\n\nThe holy apostle St. Paul, whose life was a spectacle of suffering for\nChrist and of conforming to God's will, shows us how a spiritual man\nshould bring forth the fruit of eternal life. It is by being joined close to\nChrist : \"With Christ I am nailed to the cross. And I live, now not I,\nbut Christ liveth in me;\" and he adds : ''And that I live now in the flesh,\nI live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Him-\nself for me.\" This is salutary counsel. The apostle bids us so to live\nthat Christ may appear in us and be honored in us ; that His passion and\ndeath may be exhibited in our mortal bodies, to our own profit and that\nof our neighbor. Now, although we have many afflictions to suffer, and\neach of these crosses has its length, breadth, depth and height, yet we\nshould clearly understand, that it is only by the cross of Christ's holy\nhumanity that we are saved. To this cross is joined — if we may so\nexpress ourselves — the cross of Christ's divinity, all painless and ele-\nvated in heavenly joy. And on either side of the cross of Christ stood\ntwo others — on the right that of the penitent thief, on the left that of the\nimpenitent thief. These three crosses will serve to illustrate how our\nsufferings may be made to advance our spiritual welfare.\n\nBy the cross of the bad thief, we may understand those persons who\nbelong to some holy state of life, and who are therefore obligated to cer-\ntain painful outward observances. They have well deserved their suf-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 1(55\n\nferings, and yet they are not spiritually helped by them, for they obsti-\nnately continue in their wicked self-will and fall into other sins. Al-\nthough nailed to their cross, such persons may suffer eternal loss with\nthe impenitent thief. So that, having borne a heavy burden here, they\nmay bear an infinitely heavier one hereafter.\n\nThe height of this cross is spiritual pride and self-sufficiency. They\nset themselves arrogantly over other men; they are insufferably\nvain of their austerities. No one is good enough to be their e.jual in\nvirtue, so they think; and they look with contempt on all who do not\npractice their manner of life. To such as these St. Augustine wrote:\n''Dear brothers, rather than have you say or even think that you are\nbetter than other men, or any way different from them, I would prefer\nthat you went back into the world. You should say, with Christ, as\nrepresented by the prophet: 'I am a worm and no man, the reproach\nof men and the outcast of the people.' (Ps. xxi, 7.) And voa should\nsay, with the poor sinner: I have sinned; Lord, have mercy on me a\nsinner.\" '\n\nThe depth of this cross is the depth of sinfulness in such a man. His\nmotives are essentially false, and he has never seriously been converted\nto God, never realized his unmortified state, nor really desired to\nchange for the better. He has rested wholly upon his external observ-\nances, and even that very unwillingly and under compulsion. He knows\nnothing at all of intimate union of the soul with God— thinks and\nenquires about such things and longs for them as little as does the Grand\nTurk. To him the real spiritual life is as if it did not exist. If he hears\ndevout men speaking of such things, he understands it as little as an\nItalian does German. He mumbles his Pater Nosters, and he mechan-\nically recites his psalms, and he performs his barren routine of observ-\nance of rule, and so he is quite content. As to God uniting Himself\nintimately to men's soul, what does he care or know about such a thing\nas that? If by some outward religious practices one mav gain some\nprofit or attract some attention, then, indeed, he takes a living interest\nm the matter. Cross his will, if you dare; he at once is revealed as an\nordinary senseless worldling. Hence St. Augustine savs, that he knows\nno man worse than one who falls from a holy state of life, for it often\nhappens that he ends in rejecting the true faith and impugning the\nteaching of Holy Scripture. Thus deep does such a man sink with the\ncross to which he is nailed.\n\nThe breadth of this evil cross is that it points to the broad and well-\ntrodden road that leads to hell. Men fixed to it live according to the\n\n166 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nflesh, caring naught for the sweetness of the spirit. Whosoever lives in\nthe flesh cannot be pleasing to God. Whosoever treads not the narrow\nway that leads to eternal life, will surely go astray and jeopardize his\neternal welfare. These men are self-seekers, and they are self-opinion-\nated in everything. They must be favored in everything; they must be\ncontinually dispensed from the Lord's counsels of perfection; in one\nword, their whole object in life is never to suffer. But this cross they\nmust suffer, whether they will or no — sharp pangs of conscience. For\nthey can have no trust in God, because they have rejected and despised\nHim ; nor in the world, for the world, in turn, despises them. Ah, dear\nchildren, they have, indeed, a hard life and carry a painful cross! They\nwould be without any suffering, and yet they have the bitterest kind.\nAdd to this the forebodings of eternal suffering if they do not return to\nGod.\n\nAnd that brings us to consider the length of this cross. This is shown\nwhen its votaries persevere in vice even to the end, which comes from\ntheir ingratitude. They have received many great graces from God, the\nlike of which, if given to persons living in the world, would have been\ngratefully received by them. But all these graces they have wilfully\nrejected; they have disregarded God's many inner admonitions, even\nsometimes being themselves amazed at their own hardness of heart.\nThey have not turned to God, and have finally reached that dreadful\nstate spoken of by St. Paul : \"It is impossible for those who were once\nilluminated, have tasted also the heavenly gift, and were made par-\ntakers of the Holy Ghost, have moreover tasted the good Word of God,\nand the powers of the world to come, and are fallen away ; to be renewed\nagain to penance; crucifying again to themselves the Son of God, and\nmaking Him a mockery,\" And the apostle adds a comparison : 'Tor the\nearth that drinketh in the rain which cometh often upon it, and bringeth\nforth herbs meet for them by whom it is tilled, receiveth blessings from\nGod. But that which bringeth forth thorns and briars, is reprobate, and\nvery near unto a curse, whose end is to be burnt.\" (Heb. vi, 4-8.)\nWhich all means this : These men who have been given so many graces,,\nwho have been favored with so many marks of God's special love, and\nwho have wilfully refused Him their heart's allegiance and persevered\nin their wickedness — it is to be feared that they will finally suffer God's\neternal anathema. See to it, my dear children, that you do not allow\nyourselves to be fixed to this cross of eternal condemnation, lest you\nremain hanging there till the end.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 167\n\nThe cross of the thief at the right hand is good, for he has made it\nfruitful unto eternal life. It serves to illustrate the resolute earnest-\nness of those who have entered upon a life of penance, turning away\nfrom the world and from all sinfulness with heartfelt sincerity. They\nhave regarded it as a favor to suffer very painfully for their former\nsins, thus atoning for the free rein they once gave to their fleshly pas-\nsions and to their proud self-will. All this they have now quite and\nentirely given up for the sake of God, and they are content to suffer\nwhatever penalties God may inflict on them. To them the cross is not\nonly salutary ; it is also comforting, sweet and well beloved. The cross\nbrings to them, as it did to the good thief, strong faith joined to an\nunshaken confidence in God's unspeakable love and mercy- Ah, my\ndear children, what greater good could the dying thief ever have gained\nin this poor, fleeting life than to hear those welcome words : \"Amen, I\nsay to thee, this day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.\" (Luke xxiii,\n43.) And what more consoling words could a soul so well disposed, so\ntruly converted, ever hear than these: \"Come to Me all ye that labor\nand are heavy burdened, and I will refresh you?\" (Matt, xi, 28.)\nWhich means that I will receive and embrace you by My grace, assist\nyou in times of trial, and aid you to bear your burdens ; and after brief\nintervals of spiritual toil, will continually and sweetly strengthen you.\n\nThe depth of this cross represents humility without limit. By thia\nvirtue a man never rates himself higher than others, and sees no one's\nfaults but his own. He is like the good thief, who freely confessed that\nhe suffered justly for his crimes. A good man, therefore, amid the\nacutest pains, willingly owns that he deserves yet more for his sins. All\nthe sufferings of earth and hell, he really thinks, are not enough to\natone for his former wickedness. Such a man can despise no one but\nhimself, nor judge and condemn anyone except himself. And this\nhumble state of the soul is the blossom and fruit of this tree of the cross.\n\nIts height is elevation of spirit, withdrawal from outward things, and\ncontemplation of heavenly ones. This means that we should train and\ndirect our souls upward to thoughts of the eternal life, steering clear\nof all bodily delusions. We should meditate on the life and character\nof our beloved Lord, the soul's rich mine of all virtues — His sufferings\nand His bitter death, His resurrection, His ascension and His glory in\nthe Kingdom of Heaven. This occupation of mind it is that makes our\ncross very light, as it did that of the good thief, who was thinking of\nHeaven and longing for it when he prayed : \"Lord, remember me when\nThou shalt come into Thy kingdom.\" (Luke xxiii, 42.)\n\n168 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nThe breadth of this cross is universal and true-hearted love of God and\ncreatures; by which a man is ever inspired to pray, not only for himself,\nbut for all men, even for his very enemies. His prayers know no bounds.\nHis kind feelings are lavished upon all men. And his special task is to\nappease the wrath of God aroused against men who have dishonored\nHim. This is the love spoken of by St. Peter (1 Peter iv, 8) and by\nour Lord about Mary Magdalene as covering a multitude of sins : \"Many\nsins are forgiven her, because she hath loved much.\" (Luke vii, 47.)\n\nThe length of this cross is perseverance and the increase of good\nworks, for such men are never done doing good. And they practice their\nvirtues in such good order and with such prudence, that in all things they\nmay put off the old man and clothe themselves with the new man,\nnewly created by God in the righteousness and holiness of truth. By\nthis means their inner man is from day to day renewed, and they press\nonward through all sorrow, pain and opposition, so that they may truly\nsay with St. Paul : \"That which is at present momentary and light of\nour tribulation, worketh for us above measure exceedingly, an eternal\nweight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at\nthe things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are tem-\nporal ; but the things which are not seen are eternal.\" (II Cor. iv, 17-19.)\n\nThe third cross is the cross of Christ. This means the perfect man,\nto whom the heavenly Father imparts a peculiar glory and honor in\nunion with His only begotten Son. To such men He sends many\npeculiar sufferings, contradictions, troubles and various other crosses.\nTo them he granta the privilege of drinking the same chalice that His\nbeloved Son drank, as our Lord foretold to His blessed apostles John\nand James: \"Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink?\" They say\nto Him : \"We can.\" He saith to them : \"My chalice, indeed, you shall\ndrink.\" (Matt, xx, 22-23.) As if he would say (for they had been\ncontending about the first places in His kingdom) : If you would become\nGod's best and most favored friends, then make up your minds to endure\nthe greatest opposition, for the disciple is not above his Master. If it\nwas necessary for Christ to suffer and to carry the cross in order to enter\ninto His Father's kingdom, so without any doubt every friend of God\nmust endure suffering.\n\nThe depth of this cross is a filial fear of God, by which these men give\nthemselves up wholly into His hands, and have an anxious care lest they\nmay offend Him. Its height is the true hope of finally coming to eternal\nbliss. This is no vain trust in their own merits or in their devout life,\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nbut is rooted in the humility of a firm faith in God, and entire surrender\nto His infinite goodness— a trust that shall never be confounded, for it is\nsuch as «t. Paul describes : \"The charity of God is poured forth in our\nhearts by the Holy Ghost, Who is given to us.\" (Rom. v, 5.) The\nbreadth of this cross is charity unfeigned toward God, toward gelf and\ntoward every man for God's sake. Such men diligently cultivate unity\nof spirit in the bonds of peace, being ever on the watch against bitter-\nness of heart, anxious to serve everybody and to be hurtful to none.\nGladly do they bear adversity, if they can but thereby lead souls back\nto God. The length of this cross is the lifting upward of their thoughts\nto eternal life, for which they will cheerfully suffer every pain. What-\nsoever God shall allot to them in time or in eternity, that is the most\npleasing to them— let Him do or not do, place them here or place them\nthere, it is all one; repining or contradiction is quite unknown to them.\nThey can in all sincerity make Christ's words to His Father their own :\n^^Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.\" (Matt, xxvi, 39.) Their sharpest\npain is the thought that they cannot totally uproot their own will, being\nyet subject to some human weaknesses. O, how happy are these men*!\nAnd how fruitful a tree is their cross, not only for themselves, but for all\nChristendom.\n\nThis cross leads them on to the ineffable cross of the Divine nature,\nas St. Paul wished his converts: ''That Christ may dwell by faith in\nyour hearts; that, being rooted and founded in charity, you may be able\nto comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length and\nheight, and depth.\" (Eph. iii, 17-18.)' The length is God's endless\neternity; the breadth is the immensity of His goodness and gentleness,\npoured out and to be poured out upon all men and creatures; the height\nis His infinite power; the depth is the abyss of His eternal wisdom. But\nwhosoever would attain to the cross of God's Divine nature, must first\nbe conformed to the cross of His humanity. Round about this cross are\ngathered all those who lead a truly spiritual life, as we have already\nexplained. They must strictly abstain from all works of the flesh, which\nGod abhors, and they must have an earnest love of all holy living, their\nsouls' hands being, as it were, actually nailed to God's Divine^'cross.\nThey must, furthermore, constantly strive to fulfill God's will, stead-\nfastly fix their thoughts upon Him, and most carefully avoid whatever\nthey perceive to be displeasing in His eyes. And this will stand for the\nnailing of their right foot to the cross of God's nature. Again, they\nmust learn to choose between two joys; namely, never to be drawn into\n\n170 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nthe unhappy joy of this world, and never to refuse the joyful misery\nof God's service- If they choose wisely, then are they fastened by their\nleft foot to the cross of the Divine nature. Yet again, they must have a\nprofound sympathy for God, on account of the dishonor that has been\ndone Him from the beginning of the world until now, and that shall yet\nbe done Him even to the end by all mankind, including the wickedness\nof those whose state of life has called for the highest virtue. And they\nmust include in this their compassion for God's dishonor ; namely, that\nwhich is suffered for His sake b}' His beloved friends who have rallied\nto the side of Christ crucified ; for them also must they wish to suffer,\nthat God's glory may be increased in their lives. Such as these will He\nguard as He does the apple of His eye, for whosoever does injurv to them\ndoes it to God Himself. That we may thus be nailed to the cross of\nChrist's humanity, and that we may finally be brought to the eternal\nvision of His unveiled divinity, may the almighty and the all-holy\nTrinity mercifully grant. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor ^i\n\n(^ruhmom of ifflmt\n\nSynopsis-Remarks on the perverse ingratitude of sinners-First\ngrade of merit is religious fear of hell, forming an unstaUe con-\ndition of virtue and beset with many dangers— Second, fear of\npurgatory, and is far in advance of the first; hut is mercenary and\nlacks whole-heartedness— Third class is nmde up of souls deter-\nmined to ivin heaven by entirely generous devotion to God— Some\nof these unconsciously are self-interested— Perfect gratitude fin-\nishes their course.\n\nSERMOX FOR ASH WEDNESDAY.\n\nConvert us, O Lord, to Thee, and we shall be converted.-Lamentations v, 21.\nGod is very pitiful of poor human nature, and He never ceases His\nendeavors to convert us, always looking out for our acceptance of His\nloving invitations. Some He calls by such visitations as sickness or\npoverty, or the like misfortunes; others He would draw to Him bv the\nteaching and example of good men; some by His interior admonit^ions •\nsome by force, as in St. Paul's case; now it is a severe wav; again it is a\ngentle way that He uses to arouse men's consciences.\n\nAs to what hinders men's turning to God, we notice three things-\nLove of this transitory existence, greediness for worldly possessions, and\ndesire of sensual indulgence. For some are infatuated bv the honors of\nthis world and set their hearts on temporal riches, so that they may\ngratify the lusts of the flesh. After they have persisted a while in this\nwickedness, they become hard-hearted and unresponsive to ^n-ace even\nready to undergo any toil or suffering to satisfy their passions. St\nGregory bids us look at the example of the people of Israel- They\nyearned for the flesh-pots of Egypt, which they had enjoyed only after\nmost painful labor. They preferred this, with slaverv, to the heavenly\nbread God gave them in the wilderness, full of every sweetness. Ah my\ndear children, how sad a lesson is this! God had lovingly led this\npeople out from bondage, showing forth for their sake His great power\n\n172 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nand working many wonders, all His affection and all His mighty works\nhaving no other object than to turn their hearts sincerely to Him, and\nto cause them to observe His commandments. And behold, children, all\nthis they regarded not, but quickly went back to their former evil ways\nand sinful pleasures. They revolted against Moses, God's friend and\ntheir appointed leader; they murmured and resisted him, now in one\nway and again in another. Until, at last, our loving Lord became impa-\ntient with them, and scourged them with serpents and with fire, and\ngave them over to the will of their enemies. And of all those who had\njourneyed into the wilderness, He allowed but two to enter the land that\nHe had promised them.\n\nAh, how many are there among us, whom God with all power and\nmercy has delivered from the slavery of sin and evil habits and led\ntoward a true conversion, so that we might lead a Godly life, according\nto His teaching and His Son's example ! And we have but put on an\nappearance of conversion, outwardly doing things that might make one\nthink that in all truth we were sincerely turned away from our former\nvicious practices. But how pitiful it is that this is all outward show.\nInwardly we still long for the flesh-pots, secretly and weakly yielding\nto our bodily appetites, and if these enjoyments are now less accessible\nthan before, we give ourselves up to murmurings wholly unworthy of\nreligious men. And what is yet worse, we will not be content with the\nworldly goods that belong to our state of life, but whatever luxuries we\nhear of the rich enjoying, we, poor beggars, must crave to possess. Noth-\ning pleases us. Our heavenly Father feeds and clothes and shelters our\nbodies; He gives our souls sweet and nourishing spiritual food — all in\nvain. He cannot win our love; we will not give ourselves up to Hira\nin a deep and true conversion. But, on the contrary, we become too\noften a scandal to our brethren by our perverse discontent. And as we\nread that God destroyed from the earth certain leaders of the discon-\ntented Israelites, so does He sometimes similarly act among us.\n\nThese are often no better than openly wicked men, as is shown if you\ncross their will. They seem to be really possessed and driven onward, in\ntheir evil course, by Satan. Sometimes it happens that they get all\nthat they want and rest quite satisfied with their success; and that is a\nplain sign of their final loss ; the evil one has been given entrance, their\nhearts are hardened. No real peace or joy can be theirs, however, for\ntheir souls are sick with sin, and the enemy casts his fatal net about\nthem. But let them make a mighty effort — naught else will suffice; let\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 173\n\nthem painfully enter into themselves, cast away all that they have\nwrongfully possessed or coveted of this world's joys; let them humbly\ncrave pardon of all whom they have injured; let them beg the prayers\nand the help of all who are fit to instruct them how to be freed from\nSatan's slavery ; and thus, with hearts full of contrition, let them return\nagain to God's service.\n\nAlas, my dear children I What can we say of our conversion to God\nnowadays? It is for the most part only in external signs. Taking us\nall in all, we are like the fig tree that the Lord cursed : We bear leaves,\nindeed, but not fruit — not more than one in a hundred is a thoroughly\nconverted man. We are self-seekers; we enjoy all sorts of material\nconveniences and the pleasures of this life, sometimes more abundantly\nthan if we were still living among worldlings; for those who live in the\nouter world must, with all their luxuries, suffer besides many anxieties.\nWe have become so spiritually enfeebled, that we have no will to suffer\npain of any kind. If we can but imagine a new comfort, we must forth-\nwith have it. If the superiors of the community will not give it, then we\ngo to our friends and relatives outside. Complaints by letters and by\nword of mouth, every species of endeavor for a soft and easy life — all\nthis goes on endlessly. Alas ! shall we never ask ourselves why we came\ninto religion? Shall we forever remain in this childish self-indulgence?\nBut we now conclude our lament over this sad state of things, lest it\nshould detain us the whole day long.\n\nThere are three things that make sin a most detestable evil. The first\nis that offending God is monstrous and shameful — the only thing that\ncan possibly be offensive to Him is sin. The man who lives in sin, if he\nwould but look into his condition, would be overwhelmed with horror at\nthe intolerable and disgraceful state he has brought his soul into. The\nsecond is the shortness of the sinner's time — the swift approach of his\ndeath. The third is the horror that must fill him at the thought of the\neternal death of his soul in hell. As to the reasons for a sinner's con-\nversion, they are one of these three : His sins grievously afflict him\nbecause he dreads eternal damnation ; or because he begins to long for\nthe happiness of Heaven ; or because his heart is touched at the thought\nof God's infinite love for him. These are the inner sources of all con-\nversion to God.\n\nThe sinner recalls to his mind the principles of his Christian faith :\nThere is a God, and He is all powerful and all just, and the dread of His\njudgment fills the sinner's soul with anguish. And, again, his faith\n\n174 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ntells him that God is all merciful, and that a virtuous life is rewarded\nwith a blissful eternity; and now a joyous hope begins to glow within\nhis soul. But, furthermore, he remembers our blessed Kedeemer, and\nhow God, pitying our fallen state, became man for man's salvation.\nThis lights the holy fires of love and of gratitude in his heart, and he\nlongs for the privilege of eternally serving and loving so good a God.\nWhen this noble sentiment inspires him, neither the fire of hell nor the\njoys of Heaven are the motives of his repentance. The fire of love\ndevours every other feeling, and carries every thought upward into union\nwith the Divine will. It is to heavenly love that he turns as the one\nsource of all his happiness. And herein is found love rightly so called.\nThe other two motives of conversion — fear of hell and longiDg for\nHeaven — have some mixture of self-love in them, and are not so pleasing\nto God as the third. Let us now consider each of these three motives\nmore in detail.\n\nThree kinds of men are converted by fear of hell. The first kind fear\nits pains taken by themselves, without fearing the God whose penalties\nthey are. These are gross and bad natures, and if they should die with\nno better mind than this, they cannot be saved. The fear of death, sure\nto come, but the time of it never known beforehand, haunts them and\ntortures them with inward anguish, and finally drives them to repent-\nance and reform of life. Feeling that the ordinary life of this world is\ntoo dangerous for them, these men sometimes enter religious communi-\nties. And their fatal error is that they think that if they but refrain\nfrom mortal sin in their holy order, they will surely escape eternal loss;\nthat is the whole basis of their conduct, namely, to avoid mortal sin.\nAll sorts of venial faults, however, they do not dream of avoiding, and\nhave no sorrow whatever for committing them. Nor do they for a\nmoment think it necessary to atone for their past mortal sins by true-\nhearted works of penance. No desire to advance in the practice of\nvirtue actuates them, the reason being that there is little love in their\nsouls. When they go to confession ^and perform the penance imposed\non them, they think that they may now dismiss the fear of hell, and\nthat gives them content. They thus continue cold and slothful, vain,\nneglectful, and frivolous, self-indulgent and ever seeking after superflui-\nties; consulting their personal advantage in everything, only limited in\ncareless living by the need of keeping up good appearances. Inte-\nriorly their thoughts and affections are ruled by self-will and pride,\nholding them back against all generous impulses, meantime showing an\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\n' ■ 175\n\nexterior decency of behavior. If one opposes tliem. they are irritable\nand .mpatient. If you would advise them, they ar obsLIte and a t\nugly toward you. They can talk wisely, and often have glod mind\nand th,s they would have to take the place of virtue. If thin^to TeH\n\nItHd thi\", tr'd r \"''\" °^''' ^°'°\"°^ \"\"' *''^- O^f-ts very\nfreely, and th s hey do by way of justifying their own. Such, then are\nthe charae ensfcs in heart and in conduct of this class of soul Thev\nare, nevertheless, on their guard against committing mortal sin and vtt\nere they are we 1 aware of it they fall into them most miserabh \"\n\nSuch men all content as they are with an exterior conversion to God\n\nare, as we have said, found in some religious communities and \"re an\n\n.otolerable burden to them. The fervent men.bers woud rather have\n\nav'-ge hons and bears living among them. It is by theh- m ans thl\n\nour mortal enemy, the devil, can work his purposes, for in r\"aHtv they\n\nBut astir\"' \"\" '\"\"\"'■• \"\"\"• \"^\"■^ \"\"'-^ -''-»'« •\"- - V -eaT\n\nfr It V. ^ ■,'i '\"'^ \"\"'*\"'\"•' •\" P\"\"\"^\"- » '« «'«'«yB doubtful whether\n\nor not they w,ll continue in the community. The evil one keeps them\n\nn or sends them out, as suits his ends. If' t happens th th^y return\n\n^er^rr rtiTtitv^rr n^cTT '; 'T '\"■ '^'^- ^\n\nunha death , . religioUcTmre^trdfdTLnnrg i^ th^e\n\nthU rr n . '\"' \" *'\"'•'■ '\"'™ \"o '\"•'Dds ^to will plead for\n\ne^lv sins a^nd ZV u''^ 'T' *'\"^\"' '\"\"^^ -'\" --'/f.'>\" - «\neaajy sins, and will finally forsake their devout associates. Thev say\n\n0 themselves: When I was in the world and in my sins I had at\nowtha^t Ia\"T;' \"'™\"™ \"' \"\"'\"''^^ - -igious 'community bu\n\nof m ' So^e of t'hr\" ',f *T \"\"'^ ™-°-<^'°g«. -'\"at is to b'e'come\nor me. borne of them, fallen thus into despair and mistrustin., r,,^'.\ngoodness leave the community, and are immediately \"nkenlnt'thei\nformer vicious conduct; for they are too proud to reveal their temp 1\nAnd '\"T\"\"' \"\"\" *\"' '^\"^ ^'' ''\"^^'y \"-\"J -ittout good JoZel\n\nembr. cT f tf ^\" \"° ''\"\"\" \"'\"^ *° \"°^^^' '\"\"^^ ^\"^ h-dfong into he'\nembrace of the enemy of their souls, giving themselves up to every evil\npropensity, at first secretly, but soon openly, until some of them are\n\ntilf ItT,: IM'?!\"^ \"^'^\"\"^ '»™\"* \"' *\"- \"- -d tempta\nZZJ. J * ^^^^ ^'\"^^ *'\"' ^'•7 '^O'^t consequences of their\n\nsinfulness and receive the sacraments at the point of death; but at the\n\n176 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nlast it is extremely doubtful whether their end is good or bad. Perhaps\nan all-merciful God, will grant them an altogether unusual grace of\nsorrow and love during their last hours ; then they, indeed, escape hell ;\nbut their purgatory will be long and bitter; thank God that it is not\neverlasting. And when Heaven is reached, their spirits will be placed\nbelow the least of the angels; for it was not out of love that they\nreturned to God. Those who are saved, as it were, by mere compulsion\nof anguish and dread, must be content to be placed in the company of the\nleast in the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who turn to God merely out of\nfear, and who do not serve Him for love first or last, should not enter a\nconvent. It is better for them to remain in the world in some worthy\nstate of life. The visitations of Providence will there chasten them and\nelevate their motives. Meantime they bring no shame on a devout com-\nmunity, nor inflict any injury on its religious observance. It is a mighty\nand a difficult task to change such creatures into men of interior spirit.\nAnd now if this is the sad condition of men who would, indeed, keep\nout of grave sin, but yet only half-heartedly, what must we think of those\nunhappy souls who constantly wallow in wickedness, and never give a\nthought to repentance ?\n\nThe other class of men not only fear hell, but they have a lively dread\nof the fires of purgatory. They, indeed, avoid mortal sin very carefully,\nbut they go beyond that; they diligently avoid committing venial faults.\nThey sigh and weep over their former wickedness ; they do painful pen-\nance. And yet if they die in no better state of virtue than this, they\nwill suffer a long and painful purgatory, for they have so far been\nactuated only by self-love and not purely by the love of God. Yet we\nmust know that their purgation will be a hundred times less painful\nthan that of the cowardly souls above described. But how much better\nis it to do penance out of love and not by constraint of fear only ! The\nsouls we are now describing have not been loyal in all single-heartedness\nto the Supreme Good that God is ; their inspiration has not been a pure-\nmotived trust in the goodness and sufferings and merits of the Son of\nGod. This lack of whole-heartedness they must painfuly make up in\npurgatory ; that done and over, they shall be introduced into the second\nchoir of the blessed spirits of Heaven. And one reason why they are a\nhundred-fold more generously rewarded than the others, is because they\nhave left edifying examples of virtue to their neighbor.\n\nThe third class not only fear the pains of hell and purgatory, but they\nearnestly purpose to go straight to God without any purgatory at all.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 177\n\nThey, therefore, dread and avoid not alone grave sins, not alone venial\nsins — our daily petty transgressions — but they anxiously watch against\nthe very least imperfections. How earnestly do they not strive that the\nsearching fires of purgatory shall find no material in them upon which to\nfeed! To the very best of their power they conquer depraved nature,\nnow by penitential exercises, again by accepting thankfully all painful\nhappenings, and also by applying themselves to every sort of good works.\nThese are more pleasing to God than the former class. And yet they,\ntoo, must suffer purgatory, for there has been a mixture of self-love in\ntheir motives. Their only and all-controlling motive was not God's\nhonor. But their purgatory shall be much shorter, because real love\nhas had a place in their virtuous lives. When their purgatory is done\nand over they shall be enrolled in the third choir of angels; namely,\nthose that are specially called the Powers or virtues, for they have\nlabored hard to overcome their self-indulgence. Hence their place is\nhigher than that of the others. So far we have been considering only\nthe first degree of conversion to God — that of souls moved by some sort\nof fear or anxiety for themselves. Of all of these it may be said that\nthey enter into external bliss by the left-hand gate of Heaven.\n\nAnother class of men are converted to God by desire of eternal glory,\nand these enter Heaven by the right-hand gate. They are in general of\na naturally joyous disposition. To them the joys of eternal life are a\nmore powerful inducement to virtue than the pains of eternal loss. If\nthe happiness of this transitory life, they say, is so sweet, what must be\nthe everlasting bliss of Heaven ? Such thoughts draw them away from\nearthly pleasure. They readily forget the allurements of the world, and\nsoon begin to serve God earnestly, moved by nobler motives than the\nother classes we have considered, whose primary motive is fear. Once\nthey have turned to God and have joined a religious community, or\nentered some other worthy Christian state, they advance immediately\nin virtue. They not only avoid all sin, whether mortal or venial, but\nthey eagerly embrace every opportunity of serving God, determined to\nbecome perfect. As to heavy labors or deep afflictions, nothing of all\nthis can hinder them, for they are ever absorbed in the thought of\neternity. They are very receptive of Divine grace, and grow more and\nmore so every day ; and if they persevere until death, they are given a\nplace among a yet higher choir of the heavenly spirits; this is the\nreward of their great earnestness. And yet they do not entirely escape\nthe pains of purgatory, for they have sought their own happiness rather\n\n178 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nthan the honor of God purely and simply, even though this was more or\nless the result of inexperience and inadvertence. If ever they emerge\nout of this imperfect condition, it will be by means of temptations man-\nfully resisted, and sufferings patiently endured. Only these sore trials\ncan reveal to them how much they have sought themselves, and how\nunconsciously they have forgotten God as the one only motive of their\nlives. Their painful probation must be long and wearisome. It is a\ntiresome and interminable task to leave oneself, to renounce self inces-\nsantly. It is indescribably hard to love God above one's own self, and\nto love one's neighbor as one's self; that is to say, in the meaning of\nthose words when applied to a perfect life. But if they approach this\nstate closely, and die in the full ardor of this love, then are they enrolled\nin the fifth angelic choir, that of the Principalities. Still, even these\nmust sufifer some small detention in purgatory, for their love is hardly\nquite and entirely pure.\n\nIf before death they progress yet further in God's righteousness, suf-\nfering many miseries and the contempt of men in a yet greater degree,\nand with motives still more purified, until at last they are unmoved by\nany and all pains and temptations, and if they finally are able com-\npletely to renounce all selfhood, all spirit of proprietorship, O, how\nhap])y are they ! Penance is perfected ; peace reigns supreme ; they are\nmasters of all temptations. And at death they are introduced into\nthat choir of the angels called the Dominations.\n\nThe third kind of conversion is that of souls who realize how very\ngood God has been to them, all undeserving as they are. A powerful\nimpulse of gratitude possesses them, and an admirable yearning to serve\nGod perfectly and forevermore. Not knowing what to do that God may\nbest be honored by them, they cry out to God in deep anguish of heart,\nsaying, with St. Paul: **Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?\" Acts\nix, 6.) Ah, how gladly would I know Thy will, what I am to do or\nsuffer or give up for Thy sake! O, grant me that knowledge, for I\npromise Thee that I will not spare myself any trial or pain to fulfill\nThy purpose ! Hell has no terrors for such souls. Heaven has no joys,\nuntil they know God's designs with them. Deep sorrow they have for\ntheir sins, yet not on account of the pains of hell, but out of downright\nlove of God — that love to which they know they once were faithless.\nThey cannot forget their past infidelity to so good a God, and they are\nat a loss to find penances severe enough to offer in atonement. They\neven imagine that if they had God's power over themselves, they would\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 179\n\ncast themselves into hell. Now, it must be affirmed of such souls, that\nGod will not condemn them to any punishment in purgatory whatsoever,\nfor the reason that they have so upright a purpose to condemn them-\nselves with absolute justice, doing j)enance to the uttermost limit of\ntheir ability. If such a man had been guilty of the sins of all other\nmen put together, God would forgive him everything the instant he had\nattained this state of perfect love. If he dies in these dispositions, we\nrepeat that he shall have no purgatory, but shall be quickly transported\ninto the seventh choir of the angelic host, that of the Thrones, for he is\nbecome, indeed, a throne of God and a vessel of election.\n\nBut, supposing these men to make yet further progress in holy love\nbefore death, then they are placed among the Cherubim. They can\npraise God with the prophet : \"My heart is ready, O God ; my heart is\nready.\" (Ps. Ivi, 8.) I am ready for joy or sorrow, to do or leave\nundone, according to Thy will — everything for Thy will and nothing for\nmine, in time and in eternity. And if death is yet further postponed,\nand such a soul makes yet greater progress in Divine love, then is he fit\nfor the company of even the Seraphim. He exclaims, with St. Paul:\n\"Who shall deliver me from the body of this death\" (Rom. vii, 24) , that I\nmay live with Christ? As to their neighbor, such men say with the\nsame apostle, and in all sincerity: \"I wished myself to be an anathema\nfrom Christ for my brethren.\" (Rom. ix, .3.) This refers to the fruit of\nDivine grace they would help their brethren to enjoy, even at their own\nexpense, and it is a disinterestedness of soul exceedingly pleasing to\nGod. For now God, seeing them so ready to advance His kingdom in\nmen's hearts, descends into their own in a most intimate union, so that\nthe apostle's words may be made their own : \"And I live, now not I,\nbut Christ liveth in me.\" (Gal. ii, 20.) May God grant us to be thus\nconverted. Amen.\n\n180 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — Piety to men's eyes and self-indulgence to God's — Hot and\ncold hy turns in endless succession; this results in final forgetful-\nness of God — The worst state is a false quiet of souls, cherishing\na state of mental 'blindness and stagnation as that of a divine\nprayer — What supernatural quiet of soul is, as compared ivith\nthe false and natural — The errors and delusions incident to the\nlatter.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT.*\n\nThou Shalt walk on the asp and the basilisk ; and thou shalt trample under foot\nthe lion and the dragon. — Ps. xc, 13.\n\nThus does the Holy Spirit address devout, spiritual men ; and we may\nuse these four beasts to typify four great delusions, four subtle tempta-\ntions in the spiritual life.\n\nThe asp, or snake, represents the devil and his more secret attempts\nto ruin the soul, which are also signified earlier in the same Psalm :\n\"Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night,\" referring to the\nnocturnal terrors which beset beginners in God's service.\n\nBy the second beast, the basilisk, we may understand impurity. For\nthe basilisk of fable was so venomous that even to look upon it was to\ndie instantly — just as the soul dies that dallies wilfully with the occa-\nsions of unchastity. Again, the prophet in the same Psalm says that\nthe true friend of God shall \"not be afraid of the arrow that flyeth in\n\n♦This sermon serves to refute all accusations made against Tauler of favoring\nfalse quietism. Whatsoever he says in other sermons about the passive state of\nthe soul and the inopportuneness of external works in the highest contemplative\nstate, is to be understood in the light of these explanations of false passivity. No\ndoubt some of his expressions are in other sermons obscure and capable of being\nmisunderstood, but not in this sermon. It covers the whole debatable ground ; it\nis as plain as day, and the doubtful passages found elsewhere in his discourses\nmust be adjusted to what is given here, which is incapable of any meaning but\nthe Catholic one. And in saying this of Tauler we say what might apply to all\nor nearly all the orthodox mystical authors, nearly every one of whom, including\nSt. John of the Cross and St. Teresa, stands in need of similar adjustments and\nreconciliations of meaning. — (Translator's Note.)\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 181\n\nthe day.\" He means that those who enter upon a devout life will be\nassailed by open enemies of chastity, striving first to corrupt their heart,\nand then to sully their outward conduct.\n\nBy the third beast, the dragon, we mean love of money, elsewhere\ncalled by the Psalmist \"the business that walketh about in the dark\" —\nthe specter of greed. For this ugly vice may take a spiritual form, as\nwhen God's truth is sold for a price by its teachers or by learned men.\nBy the fourth beast, the lion, we understand spiritual pride, \"the inva-\nsion, or the noonday devil.\" St. Paul thus describes him : \"For satan\nhimself transformeth himself into an angel of light.\" (II Cor. xi, 14.)\nUnder this disguise the evil one openly and grievously deceives men,\nwatching till they have gone on well for a while, and then leading them\nastray by some wickedness under the appearance of good— good works\ndone against good order, or fasting and vigils obstinately persisted in\nagainst obedience, and thereby turned into evil.\n\nLet us consider the significance of each of these beasts; and first, the\nasp, or snake, a creature naturally hateful, creeping silently to its\ndeadly work. This means the insinuating temptations that afflict\ndevout men, who are self-indulgent in eating and drinking and lodging\nand all personal comforts. These will not tolerate a hard manner of\nliving. Both to themselves and to others they are soft and good-\nnatured, and in a scheming way manage to enjoy all sorts of conven-\niences. But, like a snake, they turn venomously on those who are differ-\nent-minded, and who hinder their self-indulgence; they condemn them\nfor singularity; and, while pretending to a kindly disposition, they yet\nviolate charity. They gratify every natural inclination, secretly if need\nbe, ever obstinately following their own will. Because they may happen\nto belong to a devout community and can count many years of external\npiety free from gross sinfulness, they imagine that God will condone\ntheir enjoyment of worldly relaxations. Nearly all Christians living in\nthe world are in our days subject to this delusion, and the same is to be\nsaid of not a few living in the religious state. But alas, they slip\nalmost unknowingly into mortal sin, open or secret, doing deadly harm\nto their own souls and to those of their soft-natured associates.\n\nBy the basilisk we may understand men outwardly spiritual, but\ninteriorly addicted to impurity. In dress and manners they are\nclassed as edifying Christians, but God sees that their minds are filled\nwith unchaste desires. This state comes from their performing good\nspiritual exercises without the right interior dispositions. The devil,\n\n182 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ntherefore, finds the door open. They now and again fall into impurity,\nsometimes secret, even sometimes open. Notice in them that they are\nvariable in their moods, and that they are keen observers of other men's\nsins. How different is a true Christian ; steady-minded, simple-hearted,\ndisinclined to watch his neighbors, and drawn by God's interior light to\nan intimate union with Him — a condition wholly unknown to the other\nclass Notice in them, again, a fertile imagination, dressing up their\nmusings on high spiritual matters, in pretentions and winning words;\nmeanwhile void themselves of inner taste for such things, while vainly\ntrying to create it in others. The really devout man has an infused\nwisdom; he knows truth easily and teaches it fruitfully, all in simple\nwords; treating not of lofty and difficult things, more calculated to mis-\nlead than enlighten, but giving plain and useful instruction for an\ninterior life. The false spirit is the reverse of simple; it is, besides,\nquarrelsome, and readily attacks the teaching of others, no matter how\nadmirable it may be. Such men do little that is praiseworthy, for they\nare quickly wearied with works of zeal. And, whatever they may do,\nthey are puffed up with spiritual pride. See the difference : The right-\nminded Christian ever blossoms out into universal love for all in Heaven\nor on earth; the false-minded has some favorite or other; but at the bot-\ntom he loves but one single man, and that is his own beloved self, whom\nhe esteems the wisest and best of mankind. He would have everybody\nfollow him in all he teaches and does, and no one else, and if he notices\nthat you follow anyone else, he is full sure that you are wrong. He\nyields to his appetites in excess; makes little of venial sins; he is not\nfair toward his neighbor; he has no real humility; toward the poor and\nunfortunate he is not kind or pitying, and in his heart of hearts he has\nno real virtue nor love of God. But let us be on our guard, lest we\nlook around us and judge anyone to be thus miserably placed; let us\nrather sit in judgment on ourselves. Let us fix our eyes on Christ as\nour model, who offered Himself up, body and soul, for all mankind. So\nfar have we considered the kind of temptation typified by the basilisk,\nnamely, that of interior and external impurity. It is rooted in a false\nspirituality, fair-appearing outwardly, but with no Divine spirit within,\nbeing infected with sensuality in the inner springs of life.\n\nThe dragon may be taken to mean a yet worse condition, namely, that\nof men whose piety is infected with a sort of spiritual avarice, shown in\nfour different ways. Some of these have an inordinate desire for bodily\nrelaxation and creature comfort, which consumes them like a fever.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 183\n\nThey must also know about everything, talk about everything, oblivious\nonly of themselves. They encumber their souls with the care of things\nwhich concern them not at all; you may distress them with any trifling\nmatter ; their minds teem with useless anxieties — now about this, again\nabout that. All the day long they are entangled in other people's\naffairs; sleeping and waking, they are distraught with cares. All this\nmay not mean mortal sin, but it is yet seriously hurtful to the interior\nspirit.\n\nA second kind of spiritual avarice is like a fever which returns every\nother day; that is to say, an alternation of too much fervor and too\nmuch indifference. It is the disease of men who, having received God's\ngrace, presently feel the lack of the sweetness of devotion. Then they\nwaver in fidelity, and beat about for ope and then another practice of\npenance to recover it. They resolve to keep silence; that failing, they\nwill try pious conversation; they resolve to join a certain order, and\nsoon they would choose a different one; at one time they purpose to\npractice poverty, at another to retain their earthly goods ; they plan a\nlong pilgrimage; they aspire to become hermits; they purpose to prepare\nfor holy communion, and presently forget all about it; now they will\ndevote themselves to pious reading, and soon will change it for medita-\ntion. All this endless change comes from inconstancy of heart ; it results\nfrom an extravagant esteem for the temporal and external side of\nreligion, instead of the simple love of God in all things inward and out-\nward, for that would free the soul from all inconstancy.\n\nAnd even when the thought of God is present in such minds, it is too\noften held subordinate to that of self-chosen pious observances, and this\nis a yet worse sort of inconstancy of heart. Corrupt nature may easily\nmingle its influences with really religious ones, and that so impercep-\ntibly that they remain for a time unobserved. Such men choose now\none, and again another confessor. They are forever seeking advice, but\nvery seldom do they follow it, often quickly forgetting it. If you reprove\nthem they resent it; and yet they are habitually reproving themselves.\nThey have fine spiritual talk, with no interior fruit. They gladly wel-\ncome praise for their virtues — even great praise for trifling virtues. All\nthe good they do they publicly parade. Thus they are interiorly vain\nand empty and lack the savor of virtue. They presume to instruct and\nguide others, but to be guided themselves they will not tolerate, least of\nall to be admonished for their faults. Just commonplace self-love domi-\nnates their conduct, and hidden pride. This explains their inconstancy.\n\n184 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nThej ever tread on the brink of grave sinfulness; a single false step\ncasts them downward into hell.\n\nThe fourth kind of spiritual avarice arises out of the other kinds, and\nis jet worse than any of them. From inconstancy of heart toward God\ncomes forgetfulness of Hira, disregard of one's self, obliviousness to all\ntruth and virtue, and finally such a condition of error and doubt as to\nknow not what to believe or what to do. Forgetfulness of God soon\nresults in disregard of all devout practices. The least thought of\nreforming one's life is oppressive. The grossest sins are very likely to\nfollow; soon it is as if God were not known at all. Nor is it easy for\nsuch a one to recover grace, unless it may be by taking refuge in thoughts\nol the passion and death of the ever-merciful Saviour. A man of this\nsort may stand his ground against open sinfulness, and may even make\na career in studies, may be chosen for various ofiSces and the manage-\nment of business afifairs, having an appearance of spirituality and\napparent firmness of character. And all this is hurtful to the really\ninterior spirits who may happen to be subject to his jurisdiction. Men\nlike these are often overstrict in enforcing outward observances, and\nthey are harsh to their inferiors. They love to play the master over\nothers, but not to move them upward to God. They are always full of\npride and self-conceit — true dragons, devouring all that approach them\nand resist them.\n\nThe lion, the king of beasts, typifies the highest grade of sin and error;\nnamely, spiritual pride. It means religious men, members of communi-\nties, who follow their devout practices without having really given them-\nselves up to God. Absorbed in themselves, making the object of life\nearthly things, the end they have in view cannot be good. All men by\ntheir very nature seek peace and joy — good men in God, the wicked in\nthemselves and in other creatures. And these last are often little aware\nhow great is their delusion. Joy and peace seem to be their possession\nin a sort of natural quiescence of soul, and it becomes extremely dilBcult\nfor them to perceive that they arc blinded by spiritual pride. It is\ngood, so they are persuaded, thus to rest and be content in peace and\nquiet of soul, and from this dangerous state they cannot easily recover.\nIt is young men, inexperienced and unmortified, who are mostly subject\nto this delusion. They imagine this false peace to be a true and good\nspiritual condition. Now, nature cannot be content with any natural\nrepose, for (iod alone can content us ; hence this counterfeit tranquillity\nis presently an occasion of sin.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 185\n\nA man may, indeed, be detached and recollected from things of the\nsenses, and settled in a sort of rest and quiet of mind, freed from all\nactivity; but in this he has arrived at a merely natural state of tran-\nquillity; namely, that of his sensitive nature. Any man may attain to\nthis without the aid of God's gi-ace ; he has but to empty his mind of all\nimaginings, and at the same time cease from all external activity. But\nno good man can continue in that mental and bodily sloth ; Divine love\ncannot rest indolent. This is but a form of self-seeking. This natural\nquiet, this resting in complete emptiness of mind and stillness of body,\nwith the sole object of being at peace and unhindered by all things, is\nnothing less than sinful. It makes mental blindness and ignorance and\nstagnation the object of the soul's endeavor taken in themselves and\nseparated from all good works. Such a quiet is nothing but a false\nrecollection of soul, in which one forgets God and oneself and all else,\nas far as the real duty of life is concerned.\n\nOn the contrary, the holy quiet of the soul in God is a loving seclusion\nfrom all things for the sake of God, and it is joined to single-minded\ncontemplation of the incomprehensible glory of God. This means that\nthe soul seeks this union with God by an interior activity of desire\nwhich never is at rest. This holy quiet is only acquired in the form of a\nlonging altogether energetic, is enjoyed in an ever-burning love, and,\nwhen wholly possessed, it is none the less ardently and energetically\nlonged for. This shows the deception in the other and false state of\nquiet, in which men by mere natural effort sink away into natural repose\nof the mental and bodily powers. They do not yearn for God ; they do\nnot seek Him with positive aspirations of love, and do not, of course,\nfind Him. The quiet of soul they reach leads but to detachment from\nself, and from what by nature and habit they are inclined to ; but this by\nno means is to find God. It is an emptiness of soul that a Jew or a\nheathen might attain, or any wicked man ; they have only to cease ques-\ntioning their conscience, live wholly self-absorbed, and withdraw from all\nactive life — a state of quiet very enjoyable to a certain class of men.\nTaken in itself, it is not sinful, for it is only what all men naturally are\nwhen entirely void of active exertion. But it is far otherwise if one\npositively seeks to have it and enjoy it to the exclusion of the good\nworks of a Christian life. Then it becomes sinful, and produces a state\nof spiritual pride and self-assurance from which the soul seldom recov-\ners. Such a man imagines at times that he possesses God, nay, that he\n\n186 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nhas been made one being with God ; whereas he is in reality in that state\nwhich is most absolutely incompatible with union with God. In this\nfalse quiet and false detachment, he considers that all our devout\nreligious exercises only hinder him in his inner peace, which delusion is\nbut in reality to resist the entrance of God into his soul. It was thus\nthat the bad angels acted; for what else did they do but turn away from\nGod to themselves and follow their own natural lights? That was the\ncause of their blindness; it was that which led to their expulsion from\nthe light and the repose of heaven into the eternal unrest of hell. But\nthe good angels, from the first instant of their creation, turned absolutely\nto God as the only end and object of all their existence, and thereby were\ngranted everlasting happiness. Now, as the lion is the king of beasts,\nso do these falsely guided souls imagine themselves the masters of all\nvirtues; whereas they are the worst enemies of virtue, and in God's\nsight are hypocrites. Such is the state of souls whose spirituality is\nbased upon a merely natural detachment.\n\nThis delusion leads to yet another evil, namely, a kind of spiritualized\nimpurity; for spirituality without a sincere yearning for God lays one\nopen to all sorts of errors and temptations. A man is herein averted\nfrom God and devoted to self; hence he instinctively seeks pleasure and\nsolace in natural ways.\n\nThis soul is like a merchant who thinks of nothing but gain ; all his\nspiritual labors and sufferings are for his own selfish profit, which soon\nleads to seeking satisfaction in forbidden pleasures. They sometimes\npractice severe mortifications, but always in a selfish spirit and that they\nmay be honored as holy men. It may happen, too, that they do austeri-\nties with a view to the eternal reward ; self-love craves praise, and works\nfor a recompense in time and in eternity. They demand great favors\nfrom God, and are deluded with the thought that they have received\nthem, for sometimes the evil one serves their ends, thereby puflfing them\nup with yet greater pride, in which they remain fast fixed, God's grace\nmeanwhile being absent from their interior life. They are elated by\ntrifling feelings of apparently spiritual joy, little dreaming of the real\ninner comfort their selfhood has cost them. The interior sensuality,\nthe spiritual lust of our fallen nature, quite absorbs them, being totally\nenamored of self, always passionately addicted to' self, seeking their own\nselfish interests in everything. None can be more obstinately self-\nwilled; if they fail to get what they want, even from God Himself, they\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 187\n\nare almost bereft of their senses, and sometimes say and do abominable\nthings. And it has happened that some have suffered themselves\nactually to be possessed by evil spirits, in order to obtain what neither\nGod nor man was willing to grant them. Alas, how manifestly do they\nlive in contradiction to the Holy Spirit ! How different are they from\na good, humble Christian, who unceasingly offers to God all that he is\nand all that he has, and who can only be content with the possession of\nthe supreme and incomprehensible good that God alone is !\n\nNatural love and Divine love are as much alike as two hairs of a man's\nhead, as far as outward activity and appearances go, but totally unlike\nin the interior of the soul. The good spirit seeks God's honor within\nand without the soul, seeks and longs for it alone, and with ever-increas-\ning earnestness. Natural love invariably seeks self in one form or\nanother, and when it has grown so strong as to dominate Divine love in\nthe soul, four vices enter into possession — spiritual pride, avarice, glut-\ntony and impurity. Such was the fall of Adam in Eden, and with him\nfell all human nature. It was because Adam made himself the object\nof his natural and inordinate love, that he turned away from God and in\nhis pride contemned the Divine law. His craving for knowledge and\nwisdom was his sin of spiritual avarice; upon this followed his indul-\ngence in gluttonous eating and drinking; and then came impurity. But\nbehold Mary, the mother of God ! She recovered the grace that Adam\nlost, and a greater grace besides. Hence she is called the mother of\nfair love, for all her works of love were directed straight to God. She\nconceived Christ in her womb in all humility ; from the depths of her soul\nshe offered to the heavenly Father all her trials and sufferings ; she cov-\neted neither knowledge nor wisdom ; no, nor even any virtue in a spirit\nof selfishness or avarice; she sought not any joy or solace in the con-\nsciousness of her virtues, any more than in earthly comfort ; in all her\nlife and in all her soul and body she was unspotted. She alone, there-\nfore, has overcome all heretics and hypocrites.\n\nOut of these tw^o illusions comes forth a third, and in every way the\nworst that can mislead men who are considered to be contemplatives.\nIt is detected in their state of natural quiet and detachment; for\nthey have the presumption to claim that they are exempted from the\nliability to sin ; that they are united to God directly and without any\nintermediation whatsoever, understanding this in a perverted meaning;\nthat they are emancipated from obedience to holy church ; that they are\nnot bound by God's commandments; and that they are no longer required\n\n188 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nto practice virtue. They justify these errors by saying that their detach-\nment is so noble a state, that nothing whatever must be permitted to\ninterfere with it. Thus, then, they stand free from all authority, with-\nout a single good work in things high or low — as idle as a workman's\ntool waiting for his hand to take it up and use it. They fancy that if\nthey do anything, God will be hindered from acting through them, and\nthus they are vacant and empty of every virtuous act. They go to the\nextent of ceasing to thank and praise God; they must have nothing,\nknow nothing, love nothing, pray for nothing. They already have all\nthey could pray for — such is their delusion. They think that they are\ntruly poor in spirit because they have renounced all will and all proprie-\ntorship, whether present or future. They have arrived, as they imagine,\nat the complete and final possession of the holiness which the church\nwas instituted to bestow, and no one can give them or take from them\nanything whatsoever. Nor can God Himself increase their sanctity, so\nthey dream; for they consider themselves as placed high above all pious\npractices and all virtues, maintaining that perfect detachment consists\nin detachment even from all virtue, and that men should labor more\ndiligently to be detached from virtue than to acquire virtue. This\naccounts for their assertion of a false liberty and their refusal of obedi-\nence to every authority, whether of pope, bishop or parish priest. If\nthey do sometimes obey, it is only outwardly, for interiorly they consider\nthemselves subject to none, either in soul or body ; and they are deter-\nmined to be exempt from all church authority. They say openly that\nas long as a man strives after virtue he is still in a state of imperfection,\nknowing nothing of spiritual poverty and spiritual liberty. They rate\nthemselves above all angels and men, above all human merit and faith,\nincapable of further increase in holiness, incapable of committing sin ;\nfor they live, as they think, in a state devoid of the action of the will,\nin spiritual quiet and detachment so perfect as to amount to self-\nannihilation and total absorption into God. Meanwhile, what nature\ncraves, that they may freely grant themselves, all without sin ; for they\nhave reached the highest grade of innocence — no law can bind them.\nHence when nature yearns for any self-indulgence, they yield without\nscruple in order that their liberty of soul may not be hindered. As to\nfast days, festivals and commandments, they pay no heed to them,\nexcept in order to keep up appearances; for they are no longer guided\nby conscience.\n\nLet each one of us examine himself carefully, lest he may be tainted\nwith these delusions. These falsely spiritual men are worse than any\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 189\n\nshameless sinners, even murderers, for the latter own that they are\nwicked and the others know it not. It is extremely hard to convert\nthem; sometimes they have even fallen under control of the devil. They\nare clever reasoners, and it is almost impossible to silence their argu-\nments, except it be by the life of our Lord Jesus Christ and His holy\nScriptures — a plain mark that they are under deception.\n\nAnd now we are to consider the fourth kind of illusion which affects\ncertain men calling themselves contemplatives, who resemble, but yet dif-\nfer from the class we have just been treating. This fourth class consider\nthemselves as mere passive instruments of God, set totally free from all\nactivity of their own. God works within them ; and they have thereby,\nso they claim, more merit than others who do good works and whose\npersonal activity is ever inspired by Divine grace. They call their state\na Divine passivity. Although they do nothing, they yet merit reward, so\nthey afiBrm, and are by no means to be blamed for their inactivity. They\nlive a life of perfect interior rest in God, as they think ; and, cultivating\na very humble demeanor, they pay no regard to anything whatsoever,\nand are quite patient with whatever befalls them — as bright souls which\nare mere instruments of the Divine will. They have many points of\nresemblance with men of sound spirituality. But here is what proves\nthat they are wrong: Whatever they feel themselves interiorly moved\nto do, whether it be good or bad, they are persuaded is the work of the\nHoly Ghost. But the Holy Ghost never inspires men to be idle and use-\nless, least of all, to do evil things, nor to do anything against the life and\ndoctrine of Christ and His holy Scriptures. And this demonstrates that\nsuch men are under deception. But it is not easy to detect them, for they\nare cunning in concealing their vagaries. However, they are betrayed\nby their obstinate self-will. They will rather die than yield the least\npoint of their infatuation. They are greatly opposed to those who tell\nthem that they are not in a way of perfection, for they hold that they\nare in a most meritorious state. Be assured that all such men are fore-\nrunners of anti-Christ, preparing the way for the spread of unbelief and\nthe eternal loss of souls.\n\nAnd now let us briefly consider how we may escape these fatal snares.\nNo man can be dispensed from keeping the commandments of God and\npracticing virtue. No man can be united to God in a state of detach-\nment from creatures without having the love of God and the desire of\nGod. No man is holy or can be made holy without good works. No\ngood man shall cease doing good works. No man can rest in God with-\n\n190 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nout loving God, No man can be raised to any state which he does not\ndesire and which he does not experience. No man shall cease to do good\nworks under the pretext that his works hinder God's work in him, but\nrather he must co-operate with God in all thankfulness. No man shall\nserve God except with gratitude and with praise; for God is the creator\nof all men, Who alone has the right to give and to withhold — inllnitely\nrich and powerful. A man may advance in virtue and in merit and in\nthe practice of religion as long as he lives; but no one will receive more\nreward than he merits, however vainly he may imagine that he lets\nGod work within him while he himself rests passive. God's work is\nin itself eternal and changeless, done by Himself alone and not otherwise;\nand in this respect His work receives no increase from any creature, nor\ngains any value; for it is of God alone, than Whom there can be nothing\ngreater or better. But creatures are granted by God to have activity\nof their own, and this is placed in works of nature, of grace, and, finally,\nin the glory of Heaven. And if it were possible (as it is not) that our\nspiritual nature should be totally deprived of its activity, and should be,\nas it were, annihilated in itself and absorbed into oneness with God, as\nit was in God's mind before being created; if, in a word, a reasonable\ncreature could bring about such a state of existence, then what would\nfollow? Simply this: Such a nian could merit nothing whatever, any\nmore than he could before his creation. Such a human being could no\nmore be holy nor hai)])y than wood or stone.\n\nLet it be well understood, that without our own activity in knowing\nand loving God we can never be happy. What does it avail us that God\nis happy, and is so from all eternity, unless we shall know Him and love\nHim? Hence this emptiness of spirit, of which we have been treating,\nis undoubtedly a deception. Hut the souls thus led astray are very hard\nto undeceive, so subtle is their spirit; indeed, they are not unlike the\nsouls of the damned. The damned have neither joy in God, nor do they\nwant to know Him; they have neither thanksgiving, nor worship, nor\npraise for Him, and they are lost eternally. The deluded souls whom we\nhave been considering, have only this same fate awaiting them in eter-\nnity, when the justice of (Jod shall be revealed in them.\n\n.Vgainst them stands (.'hrist and the example of His life. He lived\nHis whole life long constantly loving, desiring, thanking and praising\nHis heavenly Father, with Whom in the l>ivine essence He was most\nclosely joined ; and yet He never had the emptiness of soul these deluded\nmen boast of. And all the saints of God incessantly hungered and\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 191\n\nthirsted with love for Him, always longing to possess Him, never having\nenough of Him. The blessedness of Christ and of all His saints was to\nenjoy God, in a union beyond all power of heart to conceive or tongue to\ntell ; to attain to this has ever been the object of the striving of all elect\nsouls. They worked and struggled for that as their only bliss. And\nsuch must be the perfection of every good man — a state of virtue which\nis measured by the extent of his love, finally bestowing on him a\nrighteousness which shall never pass away.\n\nAnd how shall we be safeguarded against all such delusions? By\nadorning our lives with interior and exterior virtues, and by good Chris-\ntian living, docile in all such things to the guidance of holy Church and\nthe teachings of Scripture, and constantly offering ourselves to God\nwith that end in view. Thereby do we meet God with His own gifts,\nand these He makes use of to touch our hearts with love for Him, a love\nactive and energetic, resulting in the fullness of fidelity to Him. And\nnow we overflow with love for all mankind; and presently, entering into\nour souls, we are filled with loving thanks and praise toward God in\nour interior life, rooted fast and firm in simple-hearted peace, well\npleasing to God. It is by a love thus active, and by God's light thus\nclear in our souls, that we are enabled to advance toward that union\nwith God which is direct and without any intermediary influence, in the\nproper meaning of the words, in the enjoyment of perfect repose of\nspirit. Thus, besides, do we learn how to live a life always interior,\nreadily and constantly withdrawing into our soul's depths to be alone\nwith God — the truest means of acquiring and maintaining virtue. That\nwe may have such a life, and be freed from all danger of delusion, may\nGod mercifully grant. Amen.\n\n192 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSlljf SubtotftttB of l^nftttwn\n\nSynopsis — Every man is called in a way peculiar to himself, yet all\nhave a common road to travel — First, all must learn to hate mor-\ntal sin hy studying Christ's passion — Second, all must suppress\nthe evil tendencies of nature — Third, all must adopt a rule of life\nwhich makes sure of needful devout practices and penances —\nFourth, all mu^t patiently hear the painful happenings permitted\nhy providence — Perfection of hath motive and act surely results\nin God's good time.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT.\n\nFor He hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters and from the sharp\nword. — Ps. xc, 3.\n\nThus spoke the great prophet and king, David, of those Avho give tliem-\nselves up to the will and the protection of God. By the word snare, we\nmust understand the poisonous temptations of the devil. And by the\nsharp word, we are to understand the day of doom and judgment then\nto be visited upon sinners : \"Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlast-\ning fire.\" (Matt. XXV, 41.) The man who has not often pondered these\nawful words is no servant of God ; for it is by this means that we escape\nthe snare and the hunter of our souls, and it is by a good life that we\nguard against the dreadful fate of the wicked.\n\nNow, it can be said of every saint : \"There was not found the like to\nhim in glory who kept the law of the Most High.\" (Eccli. xliv, 20.)\nEvery man called by God to repentance is called in a way peculiar to his\nown outward circumstances; but interiorly it is to one and the same\nlove all are invited; they — all, without exception — love justice and\nhate iniquity.\n\nIf we are going to serve God, God must give us His grace of conver-\nsion. And now, if you will bear a little with my dullness, I will,\nto the best of my ability, show you a plain way by which to advance\nin perfection, if you will but follow it.\n\nThe first point is, for the love of God to renounce all mortal sin; and\nthen for the sake of both penance and perfection, to meditate carefully\non the passion of Jesus Christ the Son of God, especially on His five\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 193\n\nholy wounds : Jesus crucified must a man study daily, with particularly\nfervent prayers and devotions.\n\nThe second point is to suppress the gross concupiscence of nature,\novercoming it from hour to hour ; and this we should do by means of all\nthe penitential exercises that we can endure. For this end one should\ngladly be much alone with God. As for the rest, one must seek every\nopportunity to do good to others and practice himself in all virtues.\n\nThe third point is this: A man must shut out all inordinate human\nlove; his heart must be emptied of love of any creature in preference to\nGod or on an equality with God. The better to accomplish this, he\nshould make a beginning with such a desire as this : That God would\npunish him for his sins in this life by sending him suffering. And he\nshould also undertake penitential works of his own prudent choice,\nlament and weep for his sins, and have at least a sincere longing to\natone fully for them. For the better doing of all this he should adopt\na rule of life, and begin at once, and with some severity, to hold himself\nas firmly as possible to his virtuous practices, having constantly before\nhis eyes the example of Christ's humanity. And let him live in obedi-\nence to the precepts of holy church to the very best of his ability.\n\nThe fourth point concerns the bearing of trouble and adversity. For\nwhen this man has acquired some virtue and become pleasing in God's\nsight. He sends him many sorrows, both interior and exterior, and soon\nall devotional practices cease to attract him. Now is the time for him\nto be patient; he must by no means lessen his diligence in spiritual\nexercises; if all interior comfort be withdrawn, let him go right on\nwithout it, for thus does he become truly poor in spirit. Let him under-\nstand that now God is giving him lessons how to love, not for the sake of\nhis own profit, but wholly for that of his beloved. Finally, he must\nnot be actuated, as his chief motive, by the hope of reward in doing his\ngood works ; nor should he fear any suffering, looking upon all that as\na form of self-love; God's honor alone should inspire him.\n\nAfter a time such a one wonders how a spiritual man can serve God\nmainly for any reward, temporal or eternal. He seeks no interior com-\nfort in this life, nor does he advert to reward hereafter as the motive of\nvirtue; no thought of his personal profit enters his mind. He wills\nsimply what God wills ; and this state of soul is sweeter to him than the\nthought of any recompense can ever be. May Almighty God grant us\nthese happy dispositions, whereby we may escape the snares of the\nhunters of our souls, and may never hear the sharp word of condemna-\ntion spoken against us by the Supreme Judge. Amen.\n\n194 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nS^Ut^tuBtntBB VLB an ^Ummt of B^nntuin\n\nSynopsis — The danger in self-chosen devotional methods — The divine\nmethod 'breeds patience with delays on God's part — Exposition of\nthe Cainanitish woman's steadfastness in prayer — To stand one's\nground when hope seems gone is an indispensable requisite for\nperfection — Disinterestedness of spirit — Example of a holy nun.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT.\n\nAnd Jesus went from thence and retired into tbe coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And\nbehold a woman of Canaan who came out of those coasts, crying out, said to Him :\nHave mercy on me, O Lord, Thou son of David ; my daughter is grievously\ntroubled by a devil. Who answered her not a word. And His disciples came and\nbesought Him, saying : Send her away, for she crieth after us. And He answer-\ning, said : I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel. But\nshe came and adored Him, saying : Lord, help me. Who answering, said : It is\nnot good to take the broad of the children and to cast it to the dogs. But she\nsaid : Tea, Lord ; for the whelps al.so eat of the crumbs that fall from the table\nof their masters. Then Jesus answering, said to her : O woman, great Is thy\nfaith ; be it done to thee as thou wilt : and her daughter was cured from that\nhour. — Matt, xv, 21-28.\n\nAh, dear children, this passage of the Gospel shows us the noblest,\nmost profitable, surest and deepest conversion to God that a man can\never experience. And be assured, besides, that anj conversion that is\nnot, some way or other, effected after this manner, will be of little or no\nbenefit, no matter what we may do or leave undone.\n\n\"Our Saviour went from thence,\" says the Gospel. And from whom\ndid He depart? From the scribes and the hypocrites. Mark well that\nthe scribes were the wise ones of this world, who trusted in their own\nknowledge and went according to their own plans. Children, this\npoints out the most injurious condition in which spiritual men can be\nplaced; many a noble soul is in this way brought to total failure, some-\ntimes by one, sometimes by both of two different errors. Indeed, there\nare few who wholly escape. By scribes we mean intellectual men, who\nvalue everything according to the standard of their reason and the\nobservation of their senses, and they have a great store of this kind of\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 193\n\nknowledge. Presently they are much admired; they discourse with\nbeautiful and stately words. But in the depths of their souls — that\ninterior source of all true science — there is nothing but an empty and\nbarren waste.\n\nThe hypocrites, or Pharisees, are those who rank themselves good\nspiritual men, and yet are full of self-esteem. Their own plans and cus-\ntoms are the only rule they follow, and their one aim in life is to be\npraised by men. They hotly condemn all who venture to differ from\nthem. Mark well, that our beloved Lord went forth from among such\nmen as these, for they had demanded of Him : '\"Why do Thy disciples\ntransgress the traditions of the ancients? For they wash not their\nhands when they eat bread.'' But he gently reproved them : \"Why do\nyou also transgress the commandment of God for your tradition?\"\n(Matt. XV, 2-3.) So do these men of whom we are speaking value their\nown methods and practices above the interior admonitions of God's\nSpirit, condemning God's real friends because they will not be guided\nby their inventions, but prefer to be directed by the hidden impulses of\ngrace. Yet these or any other kind of misguided men, should not\nbe condemned openly in a monastic community, for that would not be\nin accordance with religious discipline.\n\nLet everyone be on his guard privately against such men. There are\nalways religious men who are totally absorbed in the external side of a\ngood life, and who yet interiorly are miserably held captive by love of\ncreated things. They have many prayers to recite, many readings of\nthe Psalter. As much may be said for the poor, deluded Jews of our\ntime, devoted as they are to reading the Psalms and the other Scrip-\ntures, and yet the true knowledge of God is entirely hidden from them.\nThese men take the discipline, they pray and fast and watch, and yet\nGod is not purely and simply the motive of any of these practices, but\nonly poor, deluded human nature. All this parade of spiritual exer-\ncises is entirely directed by their self-love. This Phariseeism excludes\nthe eternal God from their souls. This vineyard was never planted by\nthe heavenly Father, but will be disowned and destroyed, as our Lord\nHimself declared : \"He that is not with Me is against Me ; and he that\ngathereth not with Me, scattereth.\" (Matt, xii, 30.) When the time\nof the harvest has come, then God will gather in His corn, that is to say,\nHis elect; and those who do not gather with Him shall be rejected; in\nwhatsoever souls He finds a harvest that He has not planted, those\nalso shall be rejected. Beware, then, of the influence of this false devo-\n\n196 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ntional spirit. The tendency to be guided by natural motives, after the\nmanner of the scribes and Pharisees, running into the excessive use of\nexternal and showy exercises of religion, prevails greatly nowadays\namong all classes. Many are so much affected by the spirit of the\nscribes of old, that a conscientious father confessor can hardly hear\ntheir confessions, so obstinately are they rooted in their purpose to\npersist in their delusion. Out of the company of such men Jesus goes\nforth, and ever will go forth.\n\nBut whither goeth our blessed Lord? He goes into the land of Tyre\nand Sidon. Now, Tyre may be taken to mean somebody suffering from\nanguish of heart, and Sidon, one who is hunted. Alas, dear children,\nhow few men there are who appreciate the value of interior suffering\nand of interior persecution, or being hunted ! Yet nothing in the world\nis so honorable or so precious as that both these trials should meet\ntogether in our souls. When one has safely gone through such an\nexperience, then alone can he understand what nobility of soul and what\nfruit of virtue result from these bitter struggles.\n\nBut what do I mean by a man who is hunted? I mean that an\ninterior man must insist on being always close to God as the only true\nstate of his soul, and this forces him incessantly to hunt and drive him-\nself inward to God's presence in his interior consciousness. Kow, this\nprovokes the violent resistance of the outward man that is in us all;\nwe would ever and again seek to return forcibly to the outward things\nthat minister to our natural weakness. Here, then, is the conflict.\nThe inner man's proper place is with God ; of this he ever thinks and for\nit he ever yearns, and toward that union with God our Lord is ever\ndriving and hunting him. Now, to our outward man this is always\noffensive and against nature, and he always fights against it. St. Paul\ntells of this struggle : \"I am delighted with the law of God according\nto the inward man, but I see another law in my members fighting\nagainst the law of my mind.\" (Rom. vii, 22-23.) And hence the\napostle complains that what he wills not that he yet does, and what he\nwills he is not able to do. This is the war between nature and reason,\ninto which God enters with His grace, and hunts and drives both before\nHim. And be it well understood, children, that when this is rightly\nappreciated by you, then all is well; for whosoever is thus hunted by\nGod's Holy Spirit is one of God's elect.\n\nYou can easily understand, children, that from this constant hunting\nof a man's soul bitter anguish results. But when at last he is content\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 197\n\nto abide, for God's sake, without auy consolation, then will Jesus surely\ncome to him and possess him. But if he will not patiently suffer the\nanguish of the conflict between grace and nature, then will Jesus not\ncome to him. All who have not experienced this interior distress and\nsincerely accepted it — even unto the very death of nature — from them\nnothing good can be expected; they are bound captive to the world.\nSometimes such men never realize the meaning of what has been going\non within their souls, for there are many trials of body and of soul\nwhose end and purpose is little observed by us, and which, if humbly\nand thankfully received from God and patiently endured, will end hap-\npily with the inpouring of Divine grace. Sometimes, again, the world,\nthat is to say, our fellow-men, conspire to mislead us, and do even\nviolently assail us. Add to this the cunning of the evil one, and the\nuprisings of fleshly passion, and the poor soul seems beset with fatal\noutward diflSculties, while interiorly God Himself seems to oppress her\nand she is tormented by her naturally inordinate impulses — altogether\na sad and bitter state of suffering.\n\nChildren, what can this poor, belated and desolate man do that he\nmay hold his own, and not be driven to extremities in this dreadful\nhunted condition? No otherwise than the Canaanitess did in her\ndeep sorrow — run to Jesus Christ and call out to Him with all his\nstrength : \"Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me !\" Ah, children, in\nthis hunted state of soul, there is granted a voice to utter a holy call to\nGod ; the answer will be the measureless joys of the interior life. Our\nprayer is a sigh of the spirit yearning for God, so deep and so sad that\nit flies through measureless space far over all the range of nature —\nstraight to the Divine heart. Indeed, it is the Holy Spirit Himself that\nnow assumes charge of and perfects this work in us ; and as St. Paul\nsays, it is His voice that pleads for us : \"The Spirit Himself asketh for\nus with unspeakable groanings.\" (Rom. viii, 26.) And, dear children,\nwhen the Holy Ghost thus prepares us, no other preparation can com-\npare with it.\n\nBut now something strange occurs ; for occasionally it happens that\nthe souFs cry seems to be unheard by God. After bravely enduring\nthe inner anguish and the outward tribulation, after crying aloud with\na strength of ^-earning that seems to pierce Heaven itself, then, yea even\nthen, God sometimes acts as if He would have nothing to do with this\nafflicted soul. This is the cruelest trial of all. Ah, children, how deep\nmust be the self-denial of that soul, and how disinterested its loyalty to\n\n198 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nGod, if it now turns all the more resolutely to Hira and relies wholly\nupon Him, and upon none other, and suffers simply and purely for His\nvery sake, in this its hour of unspeakable desolation ! Oh ! it exclaims,\nhow can it be that God has shut against me the door of infinite mercy ?\nAnd yet that soul remains true to Him.\n\nBut so it happened with the Canaanitess — as she cried out her prayer\nafter Christ, His mercy seemed shut against her. And when His\ndisciples pleaded for her. His answer was a cold and stern refusal : ''I\nwas not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel.\" Then\nwhen she came and adored Him and implored Him to grant her prayer.\nHe said these harsh words to her : \"It is not good to take the bread of\nthe children and to cast it to the dogs.\" To His refusal He added the\nsting of most bitter words, calling her not only an unworthy creature,\nbut even a dog. Could He have dealt more severely with her? Could\nHe have crushed her down more pitilessly? And, now, what did this\npoor soul do in her agony of woe? She suffered everything meekly and\npatiently; she let herself be hunted like a dog by the Lord her God\naccording as He willed. Nay, she more than accepted his dreadful\nchastisement. He had called her a dog, she called herself less than a\ndog — avowed herself to be only a dog's whelp, a pitiful and miserable\nlittle puppy. By this entire self-annihilation, she proclaimed her true-\nhearted and steadfast trust in our Lord Jesus Christ. How beautiful\nare her words : \"Yea, Lord, for the whelps also eat of the crumbs that\nfall from the table of their masters.\"\n\nAh, dear children, happy is the man and holy, who can strike so deep\ndown into his heart to find the will of God there. This is not a matter\nof words or of any pious use of the senses, but of truest earnestness, for\nit annihilates us in a self-renunciation deeper than anything else in us,\nhuman or Divine. Anguish, suffering, shame are at their worst in that\nman's soul, and yet he trusts God with unshaken constancy, and his\nconfidence in the Divine loving-kindness grows stronger and stronger, as\nGod's abandonment of him seems to grow more certain — just as was the\ncase with the Canaanitess when rejected by our Lord. The harder He\ntreated her the more confidently did she beg His mercy ; and it was for\nthis reason alone that she got all she asked from Him. Dear children,\nthis is the right and the Divine road to true spirituality. The man that\ncan thus stand his ground meekly under all God's visitations of inner\nand outer affliction, looking to nothing but God's will for guidance,\nawaiting God's time of relief most patiently — the man who will thus\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 199\n\nstand his ground until death without the least repining — ah, children,\nhe has found the straight road to union with God without any inter-\nmediation. That road is total self-renunciation, in mind and in heart,\nin the face of God and of all creatures ; the soul willingly suffering ban\nishment from all joy, and maintaining that self-renunciation with all\nconfidence in God, even to the end. To such a true and faithful soul the\nLord will, at last, speak words similar to the ones He addressed to the\nCanaanitess : ''O, woman, great is thy faith ! Be it done to thee as thou\nwilt.\"\n\nChildren, I tell you the everlasting truth when I say, that all who\ntread this path will one day, without doubt, hear such words as these :\nMy beloved, whatsoever thou shalt ask of Me, shall be granted thee in all\nfullness, for thou hast for My sake gone out of thyself and away from\nall that is thine, w^hether in mind or in body. Enter, now, into My\ninmost spirit and be joined to Me without any intermediation, to be\nmade one with Me by My grace, as I am one in My nature. Children,\nsuch an entrance into Infinite Good, is granted only to one who has\ngiven up all things, all selfhood in soul and body. For just in propor-\ntion as a man gives up self in all things, so does he enter into God by\nthe help of Divine grace. He that voluntarily loses all things for God's\nsake, finds all things in God.\n\nAnd now I will give you an example of a maiden whose case is like\nthat of the Canaanitess; she is still living, and the incident occurred\nwithin four years. Once it happened that she was rapt out of her\nsenses so far and high, that she seemed to behold God and our Lady and\nall the saints in their glory; but as to herself, she seemed to be separated\nfrom this glorious company by an immeasurable space. And this ban-\nishment gave her a pain so inexpressibly bitter, that it could be compared\nonly to that of hell itself; for we know that the pain of hell is essen-\ntially this— the lost souls know that they have wilfully cut themselves\noff from God and His saints, never more to see Him and to love Him.\nOur good maiden in her anguish, now humbly besought our Blessed\nLady and the saints to intercede for her. But, alas, they were all so\ndeeply absorbed in the joy of God that they could not grant her a single\ninstant's attention ; her cry for relief was unheard. Then she turned to\nJesus crucified ; she implored Him by His bitter passion and cruel death\nto have pity on her. An answer came reproving her for praying to Him r\nThou hast never yet proved thyself worthy of the favor thou asketh.\nUpon this, seeing that neither our Lady, the saints, no, nor even our\n\n200 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ncrucified Saviour, would help her, she went direct to God and said:\nO Lord, O my everlasting God, no one will help me. Thy unhappy crea-\nture, in my misfortune ! And now, O my Lord and Creator, my Eternal\nFather, I humbly accept Thy righteous judgment upon me ! If it be\nThy will that this awful pain, seemingly like that of hell itself, shall be\nmine eternally, then may Thy will be done upon me in time and eternity ;\nto Thy disposal I meekly abandon myself. Whatever shall please Thee\nin me and from me, heavenly Father, to that 1 give myself up for all\neternity. Thus did she offer herself to God absolutely and without\nany reserve. And instantly she felt herself carried away from her ban-\nishment and absorbed, without any intermediation, in the abyss of\nGod's being. And since then not a day passes but that she is again\ndrawn in that manner into union with God. I am firmly convinced that\nshe has never in her whole life committed a mortal sin; and yet see\nwhat dreadful pain she has had to suffer. Ah, dear children, what\nmanifold suffering must not we undergo before God grants us that per-\nfect union with Him — we who have often offended God grievously and\neven now cling so tenaciously to created things ! Learn a good lesson\nfrom this pious maiden's case, who was so lovingly submissive to God's\nholy will that (if such an impossible thing could be) she would eternally\nendure the pains of hell, if that were His decree.\n\nBut that is precisely what we do not do when we enter upon the\nspiritual life. We count upon making wonderful progress inside of\nfour or five years. We are accustomed to say to others : Dear brothers,\npray to our Lord for me, that I may become one of His dearest friends\nboth in time and eternity. But be assured of this : If thou wert in the\nright way thou wouldst not think thyself at all worthy of any such\nhonor, or of being enrolled even in the lowest rank of the friends of\nGod. Therefore, sit thee down in the lowest place, as the Gospel\nteaches, for then only wilt thou be sure of being raised up higher, for\nall those who exalt themselves, will undoubtedly be humbled and cast\ndown lower. Beg God's guidance that thou mayest clearly know where\nHe would place thee, both in His own sight and in that of men. Be\ncontent with that place and aspire to none other.\n\nChildren, it is in entire self-renunciation for the love of God in all\nour doings, in plenty and in want, as well in matters spiritual as cor-\nporal, that God enters the soul without any intermediation. Mark well,\nmy children, that even a little drop of such virtue as this, joined to only\na faint emotion of Divine love in the soul, is a better preparation for\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nintimate union with God in our soul's depths, than if we stripped our-\nselves naked to clothe the poor or fasted upon rocks and briars. A\nsingle minute of this perfect self-renunciation is of more profit to a man,\nthan forty years following his own religious contrivances. It is the\nmost praiseworthy way to God, and the shortest; of all ways that can\nbe thought of it is the easiest, and the most beneficial. O, my God, how\nmany men are there forever circling about and losing the precious time\nof Divine grace, instead of going direct by this way to the possession\nof the Supreme Good, which would then be given them in a life wholly\nregenerated ! Year after year they continue oblivious to the grace that\nawaits their fidelity, as if they were lulled to sleep by their forgetfulness\nof God. After the better part of a lifetime, they still remain as far\nremoved from perfection as at the beginning — a lamentable evil among\nspiritual men. Did they but recognize the injury, great and perilous,\nthat they do themselves by following their own inventions and methods,\nthe marrow in their bones would wither up and the blood would freeze\nin their veins.\n\nThat we may sink deep down into the abyss of God's life, and will-\ningly yield ourselves to His eternal decrees, grant us, O Father, and Son,\nand Holy Ghost. Amen.\n\n202 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nOIl|ill^ren of Abral|am: (Lrixt unh Jabe\n\nSynopsis — The test is whether self is sought or God alone in one's de-\nvotion— How this is revealed in the sacrament of penance — Piety\nreckoned by observances practiced compared with that generated\nby love of God and man — The soul captured by God is interiorily\ndirected straight to Him, and is patient in exterior adversity and\npain.\n\nSERMON FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT.\n\nThen Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him : If you continue in My word,\nyou shall be My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth\nshall make you free. They answered Him : We are the seed of Abraham, and we\nhave never been the slaves of any man : how sayest Thou : You shall be free? —\nJohn viii, 31-33.\n\nUpon this angry reply from the Jews, Jesus told them that not only\nAbraham, but the devil, was their father, for it was the devil's work\nthey were occupied with. ''Whosoever committeth sin is the servant\nof sin. Now, the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the Son\nabideth forever; if, therefore, the Son shall make you free, you shall be\nfree, indeed. * * * My Word hath no place in you. I speak that\nwhich I have seen with My Father, and you do the things which you\nhave seen with your Father.'\"\n\nHerein we may distinguish between the true and the false in the spir-\nitual life. The false spirit does not seek God, but self, and that in\neverything whatsoever — personal advantage or personal enjoyment in\nall created things. And it takes all things not as leading to God or\ncoming from God, but in a selfish spirit. The master and the father of\nthis way is the evil one, who, when he has accomplished his purpose,\nleads his victims into his own house. They are not sons of God, but\nservants of the devil. They have been cast out of God's house and\nrejected by Him.\n\nThe other spirit — and the only true one, because it is born of God —\nis altogether admirable and praiseworthy. It would go straight to\nGod as a ray of sunlight darts down to the earth. It is as Jesus said :\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 203\n\n\"I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again I\nleave the world and I go to the Father,\" (John xvi, 28.) The Son\nreturns to His Father with all that He brought out from the Father.\nAnd that man is Christ's in word and in doctrine, who holds back\nnothing from God of all that he has received from Him — no, not a hair's\nweight. As he came forth from God, so does he return again to God.\nIn this is he the Lord's true disciple, full of love and of thanksgiving\nto His Father, reserving no joy in self nor approval of self, having no\nthought and no sentiment whatever, that is not veritably consecrated to\nthe Father's honor.\n\nBut there are some in whom, together with this solid foundation,\nthere is mingled a certain weakness, the soul thinking of other things\nand having other affections, together with those devoted to God. And\nthis defect a man must cure by the sacrament of penance, nourish-\ning deep contrition and performing penitential works. This requires\nthat one should learn how to confess his sins with much intelligence,\nand in a very interior spirit of sorrow. The father confessor must, on\nhis part, carefully point out to the penitent in what manner his dispo-\nsitions are defective — a duty very generally neglected nowadays, either\nfrom lack of skill or want of time; or, as is perhaps more often the case,\nfrom lack of affectionate interest of the priest in the penitent. Mean-\nwhile the penitent should enter deeply into his own soul, and thoroughly\nsearch and discover what his motives are for everything he does or\neven thinks. And then, whatsoever he discovers inordinate or faulty,\nlet him resolutely set to work to correct it. Let him pour out all his\nimperfections into the very heart of God, consumed with deep interior\nsorrow. By this means a man soon learns how to know himself; purity\nof heart is acquired, and fear of God. and earnest zeal of virtue, espe-\ncially to guard against future defects. And if it should happen that\nwhen he goes to confession he forgets some faults, he has, nevertheless,\nalready repented of them fully and been pardoned. His constant and\ncontrite confessions to God, should be so made as to bring him contin-\nually in spirit before God's awful tribunal. There let him prostrate\nhimself at God's feet in the deepest humility, and so remain till he is\nat least all afire with the Divine love, and melted, as it were, with confi-\ndence in the Divine mercy. O how good a gift of God is this, and how\ndeserving of heartfelt thanks ! And if it happens — as, indeed, it may —\nthat the soul still continues to suffer from the remembrance of past\ninfidelity to God, let this be accepted humbly and fearfully as God's\nblessed will.\n\n204 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nMany men, however, who have begun in this right way, give it up and\nexchange it for the wrong way, because they must have consolations and\nspiritual solaces. But what peace can there be between the temporal\nand the eternal? Can joy in transitory things exist in the same heart\nwith joy in eternal things? Where the joys of this life dwell, there the\njoys of eternal life cannot abide. These deluded men say with the\nJews : We are the children of Abraham ; we are spiritual men ; do we\nnot sing hymns and read pious books and say fine prayers? Why,\nthen, should we not have the comfort of created things? Do we not\nknow by experience that these relaxations and consolations are not\nharmful? Are we not well-disposed and really pious men? Are we\nnot always in the state of Divine grace? Dear children, listen to St.\nPaul's answer to all this : \"If I speak with the tongue of men, and of\nangels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a\ntinkling cymbal. » * * And if I should distribute all my goods to\nfeed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned and have not\ncharity, it profiteth me nothing.\" (I Cor. xiii, 1-3.) And tell me, I\npray thee, how can that love be called God's love, which is given in all\njoy and self-satisfaction to created things? Ah, this is a false spiritual\nway ! It is quite otherwise in the true way, in which all one's love is\nheld captive to God alone.\n\nThis captivity is twofold — interior and exterior. The interior affects\nthe higher faculties of the soul, directing them so resolutely to God,\nand binding them so fast to His will, that they shall not ever resist Him.\nThe external captivit}'^ to God is best shown when heavy sorrows are\nborne in all patience for God's sake. When one's worldly goods, one's\nhonor, beloved friends and relatives, are all lost ; ah, then poor human\nnature weeps and wails to God and to all creatures in earth and Heaven\nfor relief. And this painful experience must happen to all well-tried\nfriends of God. They must have their inmost soul full of God and\ntheir outward life full of suffering. But the outward tribulations and\npains can well be endured, if the interior life be only fast and firm in\nits union with God.\n\nBut, again, the inner man is sorely tried by temptations — those of\npride, impurity, irritability, silliness, rashness and many others — as\nSt. Augustine teaches: \"For such is the misery of our poor fallen\nnature. O let us grapple courageously with these evil tendencies and\never keep God and His blessed law before our eyes, absolutely resigned\nto suffer all these trials, simply and entirely because such is the Divine\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 205\n\nwill!\" Not the slightest thing happens to us but that our heavenly\nFather knows it, and knows just exactly when and where and how it\nhappens. Let us even be thankful to God that He permits us thus to\nsuffer temptation, remembering that God allows the bitterest sufferings\nto fall on those whom he best loves. And this applies especially to\nthose whom He has set over His people as their teachers or father con-\nfessors. Of that class, those who have had the hard lot of trial and\ntemptation are the ones who are very compassionate in dealing with\nsinners. Others are not so much so, but are too often over-severe with\nthem.\n\nWhatsoever man, therefore, shall steadfastly endure this course of\ntrial repeated over and over again, has become in very truth God's dis-\nciple. He will easily find the right path to perfection. Him the truth\nwill in very deed make free from all subjection to sinful inclinations.\nAnd one effect of this self-renunciation will be that even his body will\nby God's grace be so freed from its weakness and fitted for all possible\nvirtue, that it will become a proper companion for his soul. That we\nmay thus be made God's disciples, and that we may thus be made free,\nmay His blessed grace be granted us. Amen.\n\n206 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n3lf0ua ti|? 3^omB of Ettitn? Sijlit\n\nSynopsis — Man's tendency to truth and joy is the craving of darkness\nfor light — Hindrances the tcorldly spirit; self-conceit and self-\nguidance — Helps; unfeigned self<ibnegation; recourse to Jesus in\njoy and sorroio alike; avowal of sinfulness; devotion to the hu-\nmanity of Jesus.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT.\n\nI am the light of the world. — John viii, 12.\n\nTo these words of our beloved Saviour the Jews could only reply by\nreproaches and contradictions. He insisted, and continued to teach\nthem that He was the light of the world and of all mankind.\n\nAnd, indeed, He is the light of the world, even of the material uni-\nverse, for He gives the sun its light, and the moon and stars; He is the\nlight of our bodily eyes; He is especially the beautiful light of reason\nshining in our souls. And to this light, to God our Saviour, the source\nof all light, must the light in every creature return again or it will lapse\ninto utter darkness ; and He that is the light of the world hateth dark-\nness. Now, Jesus says to thee : I am the true light, and I will give thee\nMy eternal light to expel thy darkness, and with My light I will give\nthee My being. My life, My glory and My joy. He will join us to Him-\nself, as He prayed His Father to make us one with the Father and with\nHimself. He says to thee : I would that thou shouldst be in Me and\nI in thee, not simply joined, but united in one — \"that they also may be\none in Us\" (John xvii, 21) ; not, indeed, by unity of nature, but by the\nmysterious operation of grace. We know that all things tend toward\nthe original source of their existence, as even the rocks and the elements\nof fire and air and water. What, then, shall we say of man's tendency\ntoward God his Creator — man, for whose sake God made the heavens\nand the earth and all things that are in them, so that they might min-\nister to his wants and help him to serve his Creator the better. Is it\nnot a pitiful thing that man, full of the light of reason and God's noblest\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 207\n\ncreature, should of all creatures remain alone fettered and helpless, and\nshould not return again to his heavenly origin — into the true and\neternal light of God ?\n\nLet us study this matter and learn what hinders our making God the\nend and object of our life, and then what is the manner and method to\nfollow to attain to our final destiny in God.\n\nIt must be something very strong, my dear children, that can hinder\nus from gaining possession of infinite good. With one class of men it\nis this: Their hearts are worldly. They live for the joy they find in\ncreated things, which they intensely love. They are wrapped up in the\nsensual enjoyment of creatures, in which they wear themselves out and\nsquander their precious time. Children, these men are not only envel-\noped in darkness, but they resist the light that God is and they sin\nagainst it.\n\nAnother kind of men are, indeed, in a kind of a way spiritual — at\nleast as far as name and ai>pearances go. They fancy that they have\nsoared high above the realms of darkness; but, as God sees their inner\nlife, they are in reality but Pharisees, full of self-love and self-will ;\nand they are themselves the only object of all their strivings. It is not\neasy to distinguish them from the friends of God, whom they often sur-\npass in practicing external devotions, such as prayers, fasting, vigils\nand outward austerity of life. But if thou hast the true spirit thou\ncanst detect them. Only one external difference from right-minded souls\nthey all have, and that is censoriousness ; they are addicted to judging\nand condemning, especially really devout men, and, of course, praising\nthemselves. It is just the reverse with those who are in the right way ;\nthese readily condemn themselves and just as readily praise others.\nSelf-seeking characterizes the others, whether in things human or\nDivine, a defect (peculiar to the Pharisees) so deeply rooted in our\nfallen nature that it tends to influence everything we do. The men\nwhose false spirituality we are considering, are as hard to change in\nthis as it is to pierce a mountain of iron ; that is to say, by any natural\ninfluence or argument. No, children, one thing alone can overcome\ntheir obstinate selfhood: God must come with all His goodness and\ngain the upper hand in their hearts and thus possess Himself of them.\nBut, alas, this happens but very seldom. The blame is not God's, it is\nours; we all too willingly admit created things to have that place and\npower in our thoughts and affections which belongs alone to God.\n\nA reasonable being should never give himself rest until he has\nstruggled through all created things to the possession of God alone;\n\n208 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nand it is an unspeakable misery, that the world is full of men whose\nlives show that they do not recognize this duty. God's friends are\nafflicted to the marrow of their bones, as they see and hear the injury\ndone to God and the harm to immortal souls by men's affection for\ncreatures, which is all too prevalent around them. Therefore, dear\nchildren, be zealous and diligent in acquiring the true spirit of detach-\nment, for it involves a lifelong conflict. To be guided by one's own\nlight and not by God's, is the chief cause of our not attaining to union\nwith God. And, no matter how courageously we combat, the victory\nis never quite complete. There is an overmastering joy in self -guidance,\neven in spiritual matters; nature is intoxicated by this pleasure more\nthan by any other; and, withal, it is deceitful, and its hurtfulness too\noften remains hidden. It was this natural self-guidance that the\nheathen philosophers knew so well and loved so dearly. In that they\nremained; they were powerless to go onward to union with God; and\nhence it was that they dwelt in eternal darkness.\n\nAnd now let us consider the true way, and the shortest way leading\ninto the very focus of this heavenly light. Briefly, it is unfeigned self-\ndenial joined to boundless love of God — one's own self in not a single\nparticular and God's honor in all things. Let there be no crooked, but\nall straight ways in thee; whatever comes to thee, accept it as immedi-\nately out of the hand of God, sweet or bitter, and refer it all back again\ninto the same loving hand, in entire abandonment to His holy will.\nThis is the straight road to perfection, even the highest. And it is this\nthat gives the test, as to who are the true and who are the false friends\nof God. The latter Jook to self ; they accept even God's gifts in a spirit\nof proprietorship. They are far from accepting His graces in a spirit\nof self-renunciation and entire thankfulness — by no means absorbed in\nthe Divine Giver, in spirit and in flesh, inwardly and outwardly. The\nformer are God's true friends, because their self-renunciation and their\nloyalty to God has become a personal trait, deep-rooted in heart and\nmind. Without this a man stands in self-love, and is addicted to created\nthings, and while in that state he can never see the true light of God.\n\nBut, dear children, mark further, that the false spirit is often deceit-\nfully mingled with the rays of Divine light in the soul, and this involves\nserious peril. Many a time one cannot tell whether or not he is seeking\nto do God's will only ; and it often turns out that he has been but guided\nby natural impulses. Adversity opens his eyes; grievous suffering\nreveals the hand of God. When trouble comes, then God's true friends\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 209\n\nfly to the feet of Jesus, and there they suffer in all patience, lost in His\nlove, accepting every pain from His hand. And their sincerity in this is\nso deep, and their love of God so true, that presently their sorrow ia\nturned into joy, because they now suffer because God wills it.\n\nThose whose spirit is not the right one, as soon as adversity falls\nupon them, are at a loss to know what to do and whither to fly for relief.\nThey run to this one and that one for help, for counsel and for comfort,\nand are frantic even to despair. How sad to think that such men some-\ntimes are overtaken by death in this condition of soul. In their whole\n\nlives they have never sought for God sincerely, never truly loved Him\n\nGod is not in their souls during their last moments. They have not\nbuilt their lives upon Christ as the only foundation, and the building\ncan now only fall to the ground. Such men are worse off a thousand\ntimes than mere worldlings, who make no Pharisaical pretentions.\nOrdinary sinners are conscious of their evil state, and are not devoid of\nsome salutary fear of God, as was the case with the common multitude\nthat always obediently followed after our Lord Jesus Christ. The\nPharisees, on the contrary, and the elders and scribes— men with the\nexternal show of holiness— never ceased to contradict and to oppose\nHim, and at last they put Him to a cruel and shameful death. To\nthe like of these you dare not say a word, for if you try to advise them\nabout their sins, they resist you violently and scornfully, or they\ninstantly fly from you— just as did the Jews when our Lord wrote their\nwickedness with his finger on the ground. They will not own to their\nwickedness; but they take to flight, beginning with the oldest and the\ngreatest and including the very least among them, till the precincts of\nthe temple are cleared of them all. Simple and commonplace sinners\nare far more easily led back to God, because they will not deny that they\nare sinners. Many a time, while they dread that they are yet God's\nenemies, they have in reality become His friends, be(!ause their humble-\nhearted fear has brought them to the feet of our Redeemer.\n\nAmid all this distrss our heavenly Father has comforted us. Out of\nthe love of His Divine heart for us, He has sent us His only begotten\nSon, our Lord Jesus Christ. Before our eyes stands His holy life, filled\nwith divinely perfect virtue; in our souls is His glorious truth; we have\n\nthe merits of His bitter suffering, His shame, His poverty, His death\n\nall given to us with unspeakable love and all for our salvation. And,\nbesides, it is all given to us as an example to follow with every possible\nearnestness, inward and outward, so that we may pass out of the dark-\n\n210 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nness of sin into His glorious sunshine of truth and love. And that this\nmay the more eflBcaciousiy be granted to us, God has given us His holy\nsacraments, beginning with the grace of the true faith in holy baptism,\nand then the sacrament of confirmation; holy penance, with its deep\nsorrow for sin, humble confession and sincere satisfaction ; our Redeem-\ner's precious body and blood in holy communion ; and in our last\nmoments the sacred anointing. All these Divine gifts has He given us,\nin order that when we unhappily fall from His gi-ace we may the more\nreadily be restored to His friendship.\n\nThese are all helps to guide us back to God's first love for us, as St.\nAugustine teaches : \"The infinite Divine light has placed a lesser lumi-\nnary between itself and us, not to hinder, but to temper the over-brilliant\nrays of heavenly influence.\" The great light is the heavenly Father,\nand the lesser one is the humanity of God the Son, our Lord Jesus\nChrist. Although in His divinity He is the equal of the Father, yet He\nhas humbled Himself and taken our humanity, not so much to conceal\nHis divinity as to temper its majesty, so that it might be possible for us\nto look upon it. For He is the true light that eniighteneth every man\nthat cometh into this world — the light that shineth in darkness and the\ndarkness received it not.\n\nNo man receives this light who is not poor in spirit. He is a man\nwho is totally empty of self-love and self-will. But, alas, we meet with\nmen not a few, who for forty years have been poor, indeed, in the goods\nof this world and yet have not an atom of poverty of spirit. In theory\nand in external observance, yes; in the depths of the soul and in all\nsincerity they are by no means self-denying men. True poverty of siprit\nis unknown and strange to them, absent and distant from their souls.\nDear children, I beg you to bend all your energies, in principle and in\noutward endeavor, to acquire the right dispositions and to do the right\nthings for enjoying the bright rays of God's light; for that will bring\nyou back to God, the source and origin of all light. Long for it\nearnestly; pray and strive for it incessantly with mental and vocal\npious exercises; implore the Divine aid and that of all of God's friends\nin earth and Heaven, that you may be brought to union with Him.\nMay He graciously grant us this favor. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 211\n\nSIl^ ^mVB S^tBtimi Bay\n\nSynopsis— The sacrcdness of longing for God's joy— Need of energetic\npurpose in spiritual affairs— Our baptismal vows bind us irrevo-\ncably to strive for God's joy alone— Community vows and rules\nare for the same end— And the joy of God is essentially in our\nsoul's deeper depths.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT.\n\nMy time is not yet come. — John vii, 6.\n\nAnd when He had said this to His disciples, our Saviour added : ''Go\nyou up to this festival day ; but I go not up to this festival day, because\nMy time is not yet accomplished.\" As He had already said to them :\n''My time is not yet come, but your time is always ready.\"\n\nLet us enquire what this festival day is, to which our Lord invites us,\nand whose time it is that is always ready. It is the greatest of all\nfestival days, namely, the feast of everlasting life, eternal beatitude in\nGod's unveiled presence. This cannot yet be ours; now our festival\nday is bat a foretaste of that eternal jubilee. It consists in the pres-\nence of God in the interior of our souls, to obtain the joy of which, is\nthe object of the seeking and the longing of all our time— the purpose\nof all work and life and love. To obtain this festival enjoyment of\nGod in our souls, we must journey far beyond ourselves, we must go\nbeyond all that is not God, and this must be done with our whole\nheart and in all sincerity. The time for doing this is always.\n\nNow, inasmuch as men naturally desire to be happy, so, however\ndimly, do they desire this festival day by an impulse of nature itself.\nBut such a longing is not enough; it by no means can be naturally satis-\nfied. We must know God better; we must seek Him for His own sake,\nand that will give us a foretaste of Him. To this happy state many\nsouls would gladly attain, and they complain that they are powerless\nto do so. When they find no festive joy of God within them, they start\nto pray, and they practice other devotional exercises, trusting thereby\nto succeed in their wishes. But when they fail they lose courage, they\n\n212 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nlessen their pious practices, they give up or but half perform their\ngood works, and in their distress they complain that they have no feel-\ning of God.\n\nNow, no man should act that way. We should never relax our\nenergy in well doing from any such cause, for God is really present with\nus, whether we feel Him or not. As Jesus did with His disciples, so\ndoes God do with us ; He comes secretly into our hearts, and where He\nis there in very truth is the festival day. It cannot be otherwise ; God\nmust be with any soul that seeks Him and Him alone, and that in all\nthings. He may be either secretly or openly present; He is none the\nless there. And whether we are consciously influenced by Him or not,\nyet must we ever turn inward to Him, passing over and beyond all self-\nhood. This is what our Lord meant when he said : \"Your time is\nalways ready;\" that is to say, your time to pass interiorly beyond self\nand into God. His time is not yet come ; that is to say, to reveal Him-\nself to you ; leave the choice of that time entirely to Him. Without the\nfaintest doubt He is with you, right there in your soul, but in a hidden\nmanner; pleased that you will think of Him as being there and that you\nwill there commune with Him. Do not, therefore, relax your fervor in\nyour devotions, for He will in His own good time most certainly dis-\ncover Himself to you.\n\nTo this end serve all the pious exercises of our holy religious orders,\nand all their good works; all sacred laws and rules of what kind soever\nthey may be have this object in view : That we may make ready our\nsouls to hold high festivity with God in the interior life, unencumbered\nby any other thing whatsoever. In so far as our devout observances\nminister to this, just so far are they useful and praiseworthy, and\nwhere they fail in this the fault is our own; we have caused them to\nrank only with the observances of the Jewish synagogue. The Old\nTestament prescribed many things great and holy in themselves, and\nsome of them difiScult to perform, and yet all of them taken together\ncould not bring eternal salvation ; they were one and all no more than a\npreparation for the New Testament, to which alone the gates of God's\nkingdom were thrown open. So must it ever be with external observ-\nances; they are useful as a preparation; and, taken by and in them-\nselves, no man can find in them the Divine festival day. The Old Tes-\ntament led up to and was ended in the New, because the New alone\nreached into the depths of the soul. So all devotions and pious works\nmust do, or they serve our spiritual life but little.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 213\n\nWe have all vowed and sworn to God in holy baptism that we shall\nserve and love Him until death, an obligation from which no priest or\nbishop can ever dispense a Christian. It binds us more firmly than any\noath taken in a human court; to break which, nevertheless, makes us\nliable to the penalties of perjury. How much blacker shall be our per-\njury, if wilfully and deliberately we forswear ourselves to God, by giv-\ning to creatures the hearts and souls that we have vowed to Him.\nWhen our holy father, St. Dominic, was about to die, our brothers\nbesought him to tell them what was the distinguishing spirit of the holy\norder, the spirit that inspired him when he made all our rules. They\nwanted to know the essential reason of those external precepts, all of\nwhich they, like ourselves, knew perfectly well. And he gave them the\nessence of the rule : It is, said he, the love of God, humility and poverty\nboth of spirit and of worldly goods. Thus he would teach us to\nlove God with a whole-hearted love ; that, and only that, is the founda-\ntion of all ; and then to love one another as we love our own selves, being\nsubject to one another in God, in all meekness of behavior; and, further,\nto be totally void of all sense of ownership, whether of ourselves or\nof all things else except God alone, our own will no less than the things\nof this w^orld that may lead us away from God ; all this in order that\nHe may enter into our souls. God had made them in His own image,\nand He wills to take free and entire possession of them, for in that is\nplaced all His content and all His joy.\n\nDear Sisters, this is the whole meaning of our order. And it is\nthe same with all orders, all the rules and discipline, laws and observ-\nances, even of hermitages, as well as of every manner of living devoutly,\nno matter what its form or its name. The better they serve to bring\nGod into His chosen abode, our interior life, the more useful are they\nand the more strictly to be observed. This is the meaning of our vows\nto God; this measures the extent of our guilt if we are unfaithful. If\nw^e fail from this point of view we are forsworn to God ; if we are true,\nthen we have the very essence of our order, just as our holy father, St.\nDominic, taught, and also St. Benedict, St. Augustine, St. Bernard and\nSt. Francis. One and all, their minds were ever preoccupied with this\none essential order, for whose sake all their outward rules were made.\nDear children, I bid you learn this rule w^ell and thoroughly: to love\nGod and to have Him ever in view, and to love all things only in so far\nas they actually help you to that end. Keep this rule, and our Lord will\nkeep with you a great and a perfect festival day.\n\n214 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nWe must keep many rules. We must go to choir to sing and to read\noflQce; this we must do, whether we like it or not. Well, then, let us\ndo this with a festive and joyous soul, rather than with a spiritless\nobservance, dragging ourselves to the task. Let us be faithful to our\n^ rules in order not to forfeit the eternal festival day in Heaven. It is,\nindeed, very true that a man who lives a life free from mortal sin, doing\nnothing wilfully against God's law, will hold fast to the holy faith.\nBut if you would enjoy the happiness of God's festival day in ycnr\ninterior life, then, by way of preparation, you must disencumber your\nsoul of everything that is not God. All true piety of life must have\nthis for its single purpose : That nothing whatsoever shall taste good to\nthy soul but God alone, whether in thinking or in loving. Such is thy\nglorious vocation; for that aloiie has G^d called thee into this order.\nFor that has He called thee away and freed thee from a deceitful,\nwicked world, and drawn thee into this holy penitential life ; because by\nour sins we are by nature children of wrath and of everlasting death\nand damnation. St. Augustiae says : ''Man is formed of ccirupt mate-\nrial, as if he were made of rotten wood and vile earth, and his end is\neternal death.\" Then, for his salvation, there is granted him a life\nof penance, the same to which God has called you, by no merits of yoivrs,\nbut only by His free and loving gift\n\nAnd what is that life of penance in very truth and in its essential\nquality? Nothing else thaii a whol'?-hearted turning away from all\nthat is not God, and an equally sincere turning to all tlipt leads to God\nand means God. The more one answers to that requirement the more\npenance he does and the better. In this spirit, dear children, must you\ngladly thank God that He has called you to this order. Your vocation\nshould fill you with confidence that He will finally bring you to His\nholy company for all eternity; for He has gathered you together here\nout of a deceitful world, that He might make you His own chosen\nfriends and spouses, and introduce you into most intimate union with\nHim. It is the plainest sign that God is present in us, when in our\nearly youth he has visited us by our vocation and touched our young\nhearts with His love. We were by nature inclined to worldly joys,\nand yet we bridled our appetites and passions, we turned away from\nthe world and all created things, and we followed after God. What if\nwe have no great sensible feeling of devotion, nor lively consciousness of\nGod's indwelling presence ! This one fact stands plain : I gladly suffer\npain for His sake. Now, that could not be if God were not with me, in\nhowever hidden a manner it may be.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 215\n\nO, dear children, bend all your energies to make sure of the enjoy-\nment of the Divine festival day in your souls, when God shall manifest\nHimself to your inner perceptions. Let all prayer and work of yours\nminister to preparation for that close, personal possession of God ; for\nin any other way you cannot feel that you possess Him, He who pos-\nsesses God in that true way, him also does God possess, and never does\nHe allow him to leave His holy presence. Is not this a happy lot? Is\nnot this the soul's festival day? Is not our life blessedly happy when\nwe are thus in God and God in us, as well in time as in eternity? May\nGod grant us this. Amen.\n\n216 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nl^^artttg mh Mkthxn^ for (JWinat\n\nSynopsis — The way of Christ is that of His disciples: self-immolation\nand obedience to the Father — This is His teaching; hoiv we hear it\nwith the hearing of the heart — How Christ's word affects the vari-\nous powers of the soul — Hearing His word with an inferior hear-\ning, and the good that may come of it — Bleeding for Christ is hy\nprudent, penitential works hy suffering patiently all of life's ills,\nand hy sadness for Christ's sake at the sight of sin — A joyful\nhloodshedding is granted in the hliss of divine interior union.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR PASSION SUNDAY.\nHe that is of God heareth the words of God. — John viii, 47.\n\nI beg you, my dear children, to give me your close attention, and to\nturn your hearts and minds to this discourse, which will show you your\npresent state of soul, and instruct you what to long for and what to\nstrive after. Our Redeemer says : \"He that is of God heareth the words\nof God. Therefore, you hear them not because you are not of God.\"\nAnd then He added : \"If any man keep My word, he shall not see death\nforever.\"\n\nChildren, this is the time of year when we contemplate the holy pas-\nsion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let none of us now give himself up to\nrest, but rather let him open and read this holy book of Calvary, in\nwhich he will find all comfort and all truth, all knowledge and all gift\nof counsel. Be well assured that whosoever knows how to study the\nprecious book of Christ's passion, is rightly learned and understands all\nbooks whatsoever. And whosoever cannot do so walks in twilight. Let\nour rule and our pattern be the life and death of Jesus Christ, whom\nwe are called on by God to follow. Therefore does St. Paul teach us\nin today's epistle : \"But Christ, being come an High Priest of the good\nthings to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with\nhands, that is, not of this creation ; neither by the blood of goats, or of\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 211\n\ncalves, but by His own blood, entered once into the holies, having\nobtained eternal redemption.\" (Heb. ix, 11-12.) Children, let us\nfollow right after this our High Priest, as vou were exhorted to do yes-\nterday. Let us seek His honor alone in all things, and with all our own\nheart and mind.\n\nOur beloved Lord, our High Priest, has gone before us with both the\nhigher faculties and the lower ones of His nature. With the high\npowers of the Divine nature, to which He was united. He never ceased\nto regard the entire race of mankind and all their words, works and\nthoughts. He never lost sight of any one of the human beings made by\nHis heavenly Father, and all the happenings of their lives, whether\npast, present or to come. He heard the word of God that 1 now speak\nto you. He saw all our faces here, looked into our deepest souls and\nsaw all our thoughts and all our inclinations, with every one of the\ndifferences that characterizes us. And all this, even of the entire race,\ndid He offer up to His Father, from Whom He had received it all, not\nexcepting the very least thing; for in everything without exception He\nsought but the glory of His Father. Now, in this our Lord's return to\nHis Father of all that was His, His true friends should faithfully imi-\ntate Him. They should not make an exception of a single gift; no, not\nthe very least; but they should give back to God for His glory alone,\neven though it may be a painful thing to do, everything whatsoever that\nis theirs, making no reservation at all.\n\nThe other way in which our High Priest has gone before us, is that of\nHis inferior or human faculties. And this is the way of His practicing\nall virtues, especially that of sufferiug so bitterly for sins of which He\nwas wholly guiltless, because He was determined to seek His Father's\nglory. It was for this cause that He patiently bore the persecutions of\nthe Pharisees— men who esteemed themselves righteous. So must all\nof Christ's followers suffer pain, especially those who have sworn and\nvowed to seek Him and serve Him, suffering, as they must, from the\npersecution of those who have fallen away from Him. The followers\nof Christ seek after nothing, keep nothing in view in their conduct, but\nGod. They do not confine themselves to particular ways of serving\nHim, but in every way that is God's, and always as He guides them do\nthey go forward, making no choice for themselves. It is for this reason\nthat they must suffer from those who seek themselves, and will hear of\nno way of serving God except their own chosen way. These do not\nunderstand men who, not in any particular or favorite way, but in any\nway and in all ways whatsoever serve God.\n\n218 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nNotice that our Lord said : \"He that is of God heareth the Word of\nGod.\" St. Gregory comments on this in a lesson of this day's matins,\nbidding every one of us search his conscience as to where he stands and\nto whom he belongs, and whether or not he hears God's Word with the\nhearing of the heart. God commands us to cherish thoughts of our\nheavenly fatherland, and to banish the concupiscence of the flesh, and\nto shun the honors of this world. Hence, insists St. Gregory, each one\nshould examine whether it is his heart that hears and heeds the Word\nof God; for, he says, there are some whose lives are so unworthy, that\nthey are incapable of interiorly understanding God's word, and are\nhardly able to listen to it with their bodily ears.\n\nGod spoke two words for men's hearing: First, the heavenly Father\nspoke His eternal Word in the Godhead itself. How closely the human\nsoul is related to that Word in that life of the soul which extends\nbeyond space and time, no human understanding can grasp. The soul\nof man is exceedingly close to God and kindred to Him in the soul's\ndeepest depths, hidden in that inner and Divine stillness. There it is\nthat the heavenly Father utters His Word, a hundred times quicker\nthan the twinkling of an eye. There that Word is understood, more\nplainly or less, in proportion as the interior ear of the soul is turned\nmore or less intently to listen, in proportion as the soul abides in\ngreater or less interior quiet and union of spirit with the Word.\n\nBut however deeply hidden in the soul that Word may be, it yet\nrises and spreads upward and outward into those powers of the soul\nthat are above the imagination; that is to say, into the will and the\nunderstanding. Therefore might God say that His Word was not His,\nbut ours as well as His. Now, when the will is made aware of the\nWord within the soul, it quickly starts up, but does not know what it\nhas heard. And then it exclaims : I do not know what I should do, or\nwhether I should do anything. But the understanding now comes to\nthe aid of the will, for it also has heard the Word, and it says to the\nwill : Follow me carefully, for I can teach thee and guide thee. And\nthe understanding forthwith teaches the will what to do and what not\nto do. And then the Word is sounded within, deeper and farther;\nnamely, into the soul's power of desire, teaching the soul detachment\nfrom all created things that can hinder God's work in it; teaching\ntemperance in the use of all things innocent ; not in restraint of nature's\nreal necessities, but of superfluities. And then the Word is heard in\nwhat philosophers call the soul's irascible faculty, the faculty by which\n\nof John Tauler, the liluminated Doctor 219\n\na man resents and avoids what is injurious; herein the Word teaches\nus patience and meekness, virtues which more than any others will\ntransform thee into what God would have thee. Search thy soul dili-\ngently as to what effect God's Word has had on thee, first in thy inner-\nmost soul, and then in its different powers. This will be a sign to thee\nas to whether thou art of God or not, as truth itself has spoken : \"He\nthat is of God heareth the W^ords of God. Therefore, you hear them\nnot because you are not of God.\"\n\nHow shall one continue in this Word, that he may always hear it and\nunderstand it? The first way is found in the interior of the soul, where\nit hears the Word in a state raised above time and space. Does the\nsoul there obey the Word with inward detachment of spirit? That is\nthe question. Those noble souls whose external life has been well\ntrained in devout practices, never, as long as body and soul hang\ntogether, consider themselves well enough advanced in virtue. Such\na one the moment he hears the Word spoken within him, must draw in\nto his interior consciousness all his exterior faculties, and, soaring\nabove space and time, he must direct his gaze into eternity. Thus says\nSt. Augustine: \"When a man's interior spirit is turned toward\neternity, forthwith he has nothing to do with time.\"' Even the active\nlife and that of the senses, to such chosen spirits as these, is almost\nwholly raised above this temporal existence, and it is only those who\nhave arrived at this state, who hear the Word and receive it in their\ninterior souls. As to the others, they hear the Word in their less\nspiritual, that is to say, their inferior faculties. Their response is\ngiven by a service of mortification and suffering, totally submissive to\nGod's visitations and good pleasure. Yet be cautious; be not impru-\ndent; thou are not allowed to overburden thyself. But yet bend thy\nback obediently under all afliictions comi-ng from God, whether direct\nor through men, suffering with all willingness, as under His chastening\nhand. Carry all burdens back again to Him. Lay every sorrow at His\nfeet with unfeigned gratitude. Our High Priest has not entered in\nwithout the shedding of blood; He shed His blood for us; nay, He\npoured it all out most generously ; and there are four ways in which we\ncan shed our blood for Him.\n\nThe first is by true penitential works, both of the spirit and of the\nflesh. When a man has departed from God by his disorderly pleasures\nand his indulgence in this world's joys, he must turn back and away\nfrom such things and wean himself from them, turning now to God;\n\n220 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nand this is the essential thing about true penance — a true turning\naway from sin and a true turning back to God. This is, indeed, to shed\none's blood ; and it is hard and bitter in proportion to the joy we have\nhad in creatures while we were turned away from God; our blood is\nnow spilt in the death struggle against sin. As one begins this combat,\nhis body is fair and strong; if his penance is genuine, his blood is\ngradually consumed in God's service, and his body becomes pale, weak\nand crippled.\n\nThe second bloodshedding is in the outward senses ; for these are so\ntamed by penance, that their disorderly use dies out of a man, and\npleasure in such things as are heard or seen quite ceases; a man then\nreadily constrains himself to look and listen for inward joys alone.\nPart of this bloodshedding, is in the persecution God's friends suffer\nfrom those who live without taking God into account, and who pierce\nthem through and through with their ill-treatment. This affliction, if\nthey cannot escape it, they must suffer with all mildness. And now a\nquestion is asked by strong-souled men, at once pious and bold, but\novereager in their own opinion : Should we avoid, should we endeavor to\nescape, any suffering that overtakes us? As to themselves, they never do\nso, for they are not rightly guided and do not know from what and when\nto fly, for their souls are full of impressions which have entered in from\nthe outward world. But the true friend of God knows well what trials\nto fly from and how long to avoid them. For example : As often as my\npresence wounds my neighbor's sensibilities rather than helps to sanc-\ntify him, then I must leave him. How bright an example have we in\nour beloved Lord, as we have several times read in the lessons of this\nweek, as He repeatedly fled from among the Jews and hid Himself !\n\nThe third bloodshedding is a great one. It is that God's friends must\nstand by and behold their God, whom they love better than life itself,\ngrossly dishonored by His creatures, the very souls whom He purchased\nat so dear a price. Sometimes it seems to them — O, what agony ! — that\nthe whole world cares nothing for God or ever thinks of Him, not only\nlaymen, but sometimes even clergymen dishonoring Him. This is a\ntwo-edged sword, and it cuts through their very heart and soul. They\nlove their neighbor most sincerely, and literally as deeply as they love\nthemselves, and here they behold them doing themselves deadly injury\nand caring very little about it. One longs to cry out : If thou art bap-\ntized a thousand times, and if thou wearest a hundred different religious\ngarbs, it all avails thee nothing if thou dost those things that are not\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 221\n\nright. It is cause of the deepest sorrow that holy Church, God's blessed\nflower garden of virtue, is in many lands laid waste by such evil men.\nAnd it is a fortunate thing that so many of God's friends are not father\nconfessors, for their hearts would be broken with the knowledge of this\nmisery.\n\nThe fourth bloodshedding is very delightful. It happens when God,\nthe Supreme and Blessed Good, takes possession of the soul in its inner-\nmost being, withdrawing it from its own self and from all created\nthings and fixing it in Himself most blissfully. Then does a man at\nlast behold the infinite and mosi sweet Good that God is, that no\ncreated being can fully comprehend. Then does he know that all the\npraise and love that is due to the saincs and angels, is as nothing com-\npared to the glory that is due to the Being that is now present to his\nsoul. Ah, when the spirit of a man thus learns the superessential\ninfinity of God, how utterly sinks away out of his sight the pettiness\nof self and of all creatures! Now, at last, he is able to say: I hold'\nback nothing from God. The soul stripped of everything that is not\nGod, is immersed in the abyss of the Godhead ; self-existence is lost and\ngone, as it were, and the soul dwells in God alone, and God, in turn,\nloves and praises the soul and has His delight in it. This blood-\nshedding, — is it not, indeed, delightful when the creature is thus im-\nmersed in God the Creator? That we may all attain to this happy end,\nmay our good God grant us. Amen.\n\n222 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — The sin of disliking spiritual doctrine — Desire of perfection\nis in itself a grade of perfection — Contentment with present spir-\nitual conditions is apt to be sinful — Unrest is often a sign of vig-\norous spiritual health.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR PASSION SUNDAY.\n\nHe that is of God heareth the words of God. — John viii, 47.\n\nDear children, although you may not live up to God's word, yet you\nshould none the less hear it, and then you should speak about it. For\nas long as you continue to love it and wish to possess it, it is in a way\nyours, and you will yet be made eternal partakers of it. We meet with\nthose who turn away from high spiritual doctrine, because they cannot\ncomprehend it, and they think they have no concern with it ; and at\nlast they have an aversion either to speak about it or hear others do so.\nI have no notion of these things, one will say, and it is best that I have\nnothing to say or hear about them, for I am better without them, and\nso I wish to remain ; and then they even try to turn others away from\nhigh spiritual thoughts, as if they, too, had better avoid them. But\nmeanwhile, though pretending to be well satisfied with their own way,\nthey know in their hearts that it is not the best. All this indicates\nplainly that they will never reach their best interior state, nor partake\nof the infinite Good, except God leads them through a season of grief\nand mental trial.\n\nSt. Bernard says : \"O man, dost thou yearn for a noble and holy life,\nand dost thou beg this favor of God ? If thou dost, then persevere faith-\nfully in this state of soul, and thy prayer shall be granted thee a single\nday, yea, even one hour before thy death; and if God does not grant it\nthee in this life, then all the more surely will He do so in eternity in\nunion with Himself.\" Therefore, never give up thy hopes and thy\nprayers because they are not immediately heard and fulfilled or are\nheard only for an occasional moment. And be not disheartened Hecause\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 223\n\nthis holy purpose easily escapes from thy mind. To lose it totally were\na great misfortune, but that shall not, we hope, be thy sad lot. When\nthou hearest God's word cleave fast to it as if for all eternity, resolve\nto keep it and live by it forever and ever, sinking it deep into thy soul.\nIt may happen that thou shalt afterwards quite cease to think of it ; but,\nfor all that, the love of it and the longing to observe it with which thou\ndidst first receive it, shall always shine brightly in God's sight, and in\nHis own good time He will make His word efficacious for thy eternal\nwelfare.\n\nWhat we can actually do may not amount to much, but we can always\ndesire to do great things. A man may not play a great part in act, but\nhe always can have great good will; and whatsoever he would wish to\nbe, supposing that his whole heart and soul and mind are in his wish,\nthat as a matter of fact — in some true way, at least — he actually is.\nWe have little strength to do, much strength to desire to do, and that it\nis that constantly grows within us, and finally goes forth from us into\nthe heart of God. Of course, we do not mean that a man should idlj\"\ndream that he would like to be equal to such or such a saint or angel,\nbut simply this: I long most earnestly to give myself entirely and\nexclusively to God — to God alone. If a man cannot be God's as much\nas he would gladly wish to be, yet let him be as much God's as he can be.\nWhatever a man is, let him be that to God wholly; and what he cannot\nbe to God, let him wish earnestly yet to become, by God and in God.\nAnd it may well happen, that we have God more in this state of priva-\ntion than in some states of possession. Therefore, be thou God's man ;\nwait patiently on God; hold God to thee and in thee and with thee;\nnothing will now ever go wrong with thee.\n\nDo not for a moment suppose that our Lord God will grant thee\nspecial favors, such as perfect spiritual contentment, enlightenment or\nwarmth of love, as He sometimes does in the beginning of conversion.\nThat thought is only a sort of alluring snare, such as the falconer uses\nto capture his hawk. Our Lord deals with His own thus: First, He\nteaches them, and then He lets them work for themselves. Just as He\ncaused Moses to make his tables of the law after the pattern He Him-\nself had set. So God allows a man to stand by himself, and, having\nawakened, enlightened and attracted him, after a time he does so no\nmore; He leaves us now to utilize His graces. We must arouse our own\nslothfulness, awaken our consciences and perceptions, light up the fires\nof energetic action, and serve God diligently at our own cost. While\n\n224 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nchildren are yet quite young their father helps them in everything, giv-\ning them all that they need and turning them out to their play, happy\nand contented and well provided for — all at the father's expense and\ncare. When they are grown, he gives them a share of his property and\nbids them care for themselves; all playtime is now over and done, and\nthey must learn how to become rich men by their own exertions.\n\nGod treats us the same way. The beginning of a devout life is all\njoy and sensible devotion, for He is now alluring us by His gifts.\nHe so manages that we find His will in everything that we do ; His will\ncoincides with ours entirely. But presently all this is changed. Now\nGod insists that we shall give up our own will in spite of ourselves ; in\nfact go against our own will — a very hard and unpleasant task, indeed.\nWe must learn to sufifer ; and, besides, we must grope along in the dark ;\nand, although we are quite willing, yet it is not by our natural will, but\nin spite of it, that we yield all guidance to Him. Thus did our Lord\nprophesy to Peter: \"Amen, amen, I say to thee, when thou wast younger\nthou didst gird thyself, and didst walk where thou wouldst. But when\nthou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hand and another shall\ngird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not.\" (John xxi, 18-19.)\n\nThus in the beginning we fettered ourselves with God's will by the\nhelp of His loving and sweet influences, and we went by His leave\nwhithersoever we would, our will and His being perfectly in harmony.\nAnd now it is altogether different; He will bind us all unwilling and\nlead us whither we do not want to go. Against all our natural incli-\nnations He will lead us by dark paths into Himself. This He will\ncontinue till He has stripped us of our natural will, wholly brought it\nunder subjection and totally consumed it. His purpose is that finally\nto will and not to will shall not any longer be considered by us, nor\ngiving and keeping, nor having and lacking. The end will be to forget\nall things created, and let them go from us and let them stay away from\nus, and, instead, to accept and possess God alone, to have Him alone in\nall joy and sorrow. We become most dear children of God only when\nneither happiness nor misery, pleasure nor pain can keep us back from\nGod. What all this means in the soul cannot be described, but this\nmuch is plain : It is incomparably better than if one were all afire with\ndevotional sentiment, accompanied with a lesser degree of thorough-\ngoing self-renunciation, having more' self -chosen spiritual methods with\npious feelings, and at the same time less true-hearted loyalty to God.\nMay God help us to the better state of His love. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 22S\n\ng^liurt (tixts to I|oltttf00\n\nSynopsis — One is the way of public shame; another is by a call to\nextraordinary penances, accompanied by deep humility — Herein\nis danger of self-righteousness.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR PALM SUNDAY.\n\nIt is expedient for you that one man should die for the people. — John xi, 50.\n\nSt. John adds that Caiaphas spoke not of himself when he said these\nwords, but that he was moved by the Holy Ghost to prophesy ; and you\nwill notice, dear children, that this last prophesying was just before\nour Saviour's death. The chief priests had said : \"What do we, for this\nMan doth many miracles. If we let Him alone so, all will believe in\nHim, and the Romans will come and will take away our place and\nnation.\" Children, let us admire the deep and unspeakable love of\nJesus for us, shown by the wonderful sufferings He endured in all His\npowers of body and of mind, in His inner and in His outer life.\n\nNow, children, many men enquire for the shortest road to the highest\ntruth. Mark well that to answer this our Lord calls three kinds of\nmen to perfection. One kind He calls to suffer public humiliation, in\norder that they may turn to God and maintain entire purity of inten-\ntion; and such as these, if they but accept their lot humbly, will experi-\nence wonderful effects of Divine grace. To our outward senses such\nsouls may seem deserving of condenmation, for appearances are often\nagainst them. But if we do condemn them, we shall only hurt our O'.^-n\nselves.\n\nAnother kind of men God draws to Himself by works of penance.\nBut let us ask, What is true penance? It is, for example, that when a\nman would gladly talk, he yet, for God's sake, keeps silence; and when\nhe would with much pleasure enjoy looking at something or indulging\nany of his other senses, he yet will not allow himself to do it, but, for\nGod's sake, shuts himself away from it. The third kind of men our\nbeloved Lord draws by His own self.\n\nMark this well, children : Every man must die if all shall go well with\nhim. And what \"man\" do we mean bv this? W^e mean a man's own\n\n226 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nwill, his spiritual sense of proprietorship; that is what must die. And\nto what things must a man die? Be assured of this, children : If thou\nhadst suffered all the pains of the martyrs and of the other saints, and\nhadst done the good that all Christendom has done or shall do to the\nend of the world, unless this has entered into thy soul and has done its\nwork within thee, it will profit thee nothing, and thou hast not died to\nthyself; no, nor unless thou hast wholly renounced everything to which\nthou hast cleaved for thy own satisfaction.\n\nAnd what sign shall a man have, that he has thus spiritually and in\nvery truth died? Be it known to thee that if thou wert dead and\nraised to life a thousand times over, and if thou hadst fed daily only on\nrocks and thorns, and been broken on the wheel, yet all this would not\nbe the true sign of dying to self. But rather this, and this alone : If\nthou hast bowed thyself down beneath the infinite mercy of God with\nall humility and self-renunciation, yea, and under the feet of all crea-\ntures, then know for certain that Christ, entirely out of His loving kind-\nness and compassion, has granted thee His gift.\n\nAnd here shines forth Christ's teaching: \"So you also, when you shall\nhave done all these things that are commanded you, say : We are\nunprofitable servants.\" (Luke xvii, 10.) And if it should happen\nthat a man comes to the end and expires fixed fast in his own will,\nthen the Romans shall come and take away his place and nation. For,\nas the Empire of Rome was the greatest power in the world, so is\nspiritual pride the greatest among all the vices, holding possession, as it\ndoes, of the very highest powers of the soul — those that God alone\nshould possess by His grace. It is this terrible enemy, pride, that\ndestroys the whole virtue of a man in all his powers, from the highest\nto the lowest, as the Romans smote and destroyed the Jews.\n\nChildren, be on your guard, for there are many men who seem to be\nsomething wonderful, and who, with all their great knowledge and fame,\ngo astray from this one only way to God. As long as self-guidance and\nself-will rules in us and is not exterminated, it will go right onward in\nits fatal course, till all that Christ has done within our souls is destroyed.\nHow many men are there not — men of fair appearance spiritually, and\nwith whom God in the beginning worked wonders — who have, neverthe-\nless, finally failed? It was because they did not accept this truth in\nsingle-hearted sincerity, but rested upon self, inwardly and outwardly,\nin mind and body. Look at King Solomon as an example of this ; God\nonce spoke familiarly with him. Look at Samson, who received God's\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 227\n\nmessages by a holy angel. And upon both of these fell God's wrath\nand condemnation, because they were not willing to die to themselves\nin spirit and in act, as they ought to have done. They rested and dwelt\non God's gifts for their own self's sake; they took His favors with a\nsense of personal ownership, and with unbridled enjoyment of them;\nand they failed in thankfulness to God. And now how stands it with\nthem in the final judgment of the Most High? Holy Church knows not\nwhether they are saved or lost, and we must blindly leave them to the\ngoodness of God.\n\nAnd now come yet another class — men rich in the treasures of their\nown natural understanding and puffed up with self-importance, and\nthey would boast that they have acquired all spirituality. No, children,\ntheir spirit is false; go not after them. For all that our poor fallen\nnature gives, it exacts again; and what Christ gives, He also exacts\nagain. Yet these men often seem to bear pain more courageously than\nreally spiritual men, to whom they speak and say: God have mercy on\nus ! What an unmortified man art thou ! Thus they mock a man who\nis really mortified in spirit as well as in outward behavior. But some-\ntimes those really good men do not appear mortified, for God grants\nthem, as a sign of their genuine and interior self-denial, the grace of\nbeing cheerful and hopeful toward God and toward all men, good and\nbad ; they are gentle and kindly and happy in their manners. Creatures\ncan neither give nor take, in their case ; for what they long to possess,\nnamely, God's holy will, that they ever have, whether in pain or ease,\nweal or woe. That alone they desire in time and eternity, whether they\nreckon for themselves or think of created things. Children, waste no\ntime with self-righteous men, led only by reason's light. About them\nChrist has taught us: \"Every plant which My heavenly Father hath\nnot planted, shall be rooted up.\" (Matt, xv, 13.) This fate is visited\nupon them because they will not repent and turn to better ways. Thor-\noughly good men, on the other hand, are instructed by the example of\nour Lord in the garden. When His bitter agony came upon him. He\nsweat blood, so great was His anguish of soul; and in this awful pain\nof heart did He continue, till He lovingly gave up His life for us.\nEvery man must do in like manner. He must suffer death in soul and\nbody, in what he does and what he leaves undone. Children, learn our\nSaviour's lesson : It is to give yourselves up to all suffering for His\nsake; it is to be wholly subject to God and to all His creatures, even\nunto death, both in spirit and in body. God grant us this. Amen.\n\n228 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n(EljriBt'B Olleaitatng of tly? Etmpk of tij? Boni\n\nSynopsis — Who are the traffickers — All who deal with God not purely\nout of love — Danger of counting too surely on a recompense for\nvirtue — Beauty of holiness all freed of mercenary motives — Reve-\nlations of Jesus to a soul devoid of selfhood.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR PALM SUNDAY.\n\nAnd Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and\nbought in the temple. — Matt, xxi, 12.\n\nAnd when Jesus had done this He spoke to those who sold doves and\nsaid : ''Take these things away.\" It was His will to cleanse His temple.\nIt was as if He had said : I am the owner of this temple, and I alone\nshall dwell in it and be master of it.\n\nAnd what is this temple in which God alone shall rule with all power\nand according to His own will? It is man's soul, which He has created\nin close resemblance to Himself, according to His word : \"Let us make\nman after Our image and likeness.\" (Gen. i, 26.) And this likeness\nof man's soul to God is so close, that nothing else is to be compared with\nit for close resemblance to Him in Heaven or on earth. This is why\nGod will have our soul free and clear of everything but Himself alone,\nand v/hen that is done He is well pleased to make His abode there alone.\n\nWho were those that bought and sold in the temple, and who are they\nthat do so now? And take notice that I am to speak only of those\nbuyers and sellers in the temple who are good people, and who are never-\ntheless scourged out of His temple by the Lord; not gross sinners or\nsuch as are consciously in a state of mortal sin ; and yet they are buyers\nand sellers. They are souls who, indeed, guard against grievous sins,\nand would do good works for God's glory ; they fast and pray and keep\nvigils and do other good things. But what is their motive? It is that\nGod would in return do good things to them, bestow on them the favors\nthey wish. They are, therefore, self-seekers; they are merchandisers\nwith God, as anyone can see. They give that they may get. They\nmust traffic with our Lord. And meanwhile in all their trading with\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nGod they are self-deceived. For what is there of all they possess and\ntrade with but God has given it to them? God owes them nothing, no\nmatter what they may give Him or do for Him. Whatever they are,\nthey are from God; whatever they have, they have from God, and are\nnothing and have nothing of themselves.\n\nHence I say again, God owes them nothing for all they may do for\nHim or give Him. He has given them all they have willingly out of His\nfree grace, not on account of their works or gifts. They have nothing\nof their own to give Him ; no power of their own bestowal wherewith to\nwork for Him, as Christ says: \"Without Me you can do nothing.\"\n(John XV, 5.) How dull and foolish are such men, to think that they\nreally trade with the Lord ! They perceive the truth of Divine things\nscarcely at all, and hence the Lord scourges them out of His temple.\nLight and darkness can have no fellowship, God in His very essence is\ntruth and light, and when He enters His temple He drives ignorance\nand darkness out of it, revealing Himself in all His brightness. When\ntruth enters in and is recognized, then trafficking must go out; truth\ncan tolerate no trafficking with God. God is not selfish, but in all His\nworks He is free, being directed wholly by perfect love. And thus acts\nevery man who is united to God. In all that he does he is free and\nunselfish, acting purely from love, never asking why and wherefore;\nthat is to say, never seeking his own, but only God and His glory ; and\nin all this God is working in him.\n\nAnd let me insist: As long as a man in all his good works seeks or\ndesires as his controlling motive what God may give him as a recom-\npense, so long is he like the traffickers in the temple. If thou wilt be\nquit and done with all such trafficking, then do all the good that thou\ndost for God's praise alone, and stand as entirely free as if there were\nto be no return made thee. Then thy good deeds become entirely spir-\nitual and Godlike. Then are all traffickers driven out of the temple of\nthy soul. God alone dwells in the soul of a man that in his good works\ntakes Him and Him alone into account. This is then the purifying of\nthe soul from all self-seeking, God and His honor becoming the end and\npurpose of all.\n\nBut this Gospel points out to us a yet higher grade of distinterested-\nness. For there are some who have a pure intention in their well-\ndoing, and yet are hindered from attaining a high state of perfection ;\nnamely, those who keep up a less blameworthy traffic with creatures,\nlike those dealers in doves whose chairs the Lord overthrew in the\n\n230 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ntemple. The traffic in doves was well meant at first, and yet it was\nunseemly ; and it became the occasion of avarice rather than a help to\nthe worship of God in the temple. So it is with some men, who have\nan upright intention and serve God without self-seeking. Yet they still\nyield to a feeling of ownership in their good deeds. They insist on\ndoing them in a certain sense mechanically, and strictly according to\ntime and place and number and routine, and according to specified\nplans, and this hinders their coming to the best spiritual state. They\nshould hold their souls free from all such things, just as our Saviour\nHimself did, and be ever ready to begin anew, without waiting for cer-\ntain times or going to certain places. They should give themselves over\nto the guidance of the heavenly Father just as Christ did; yea, obedient\nto the least intimation of His holy will, determined on one thing only —\nto be perfectly under the loving influence of His fatherly heart. Thu;^\none is led to a life of the truest perfection, unhindered by methods and\narrangements of his own, only anxious to yield instantly, and, as it\nwere, to the beck and nod of God's will ; and in the same spirit to return\nGod's gifts back again into the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ with all\npraise and thanksgiving. Then it comes to pass that all hindrances to\nspiritual progress are taken away; from such a soul even the doves\nand their venders are expelled — all sense of proprietorship whatsoever,\neven that which is least blameworthy, is done away, and a man seeks\nhimself in nothing at all. Our Lord is determined that no one shall\nmake any disturbance in His temple ; He will permit no running about\nhere and there, as St. Matthew tells us. Which means that a spiritual\nman must purify his motives, until they are clear of every obstacle that\nmay divert him from advancing even a single step in perfection.\n\nAnd when this purification of the temple of the soul has been accom-\nplished, and all ignorance and proprietorship are cleansed away, then\n. God's work in it shines so beautiful and so bright that it excels the\nglory of any other of His creations. No beauty can outshine that of such\na soul, save only the uncreated beauty of God Himself, whom it resem-\nbles more than any other creature can. No angel can be like it; not\neven the highest of them ; for, though it have much resemblance to it,\nit is yet not quite like it. For to the progress of an angel there is now, in\na certain sense, a limit fixed as to the beatific vision, whereas this soul\ncan continue to grow more and more perfect as long as it lives in time.\nSuppose a man who is still in this life gifted with the virtue of a certain\nangel ; his freedom and his opportunities are such as to enable him to\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 231\n\nadvance every instant beyond the angel in perfection. God alone is\nfree with uncreated liberty, and so is the soul free, but not in uncreated\nliberty; and herein is there a peculiar resemblance between God and\nthe soul. And when the soul departs this life, it is absorbed in light\nuncreated — in God — then it must attain to union with Him by full\nknowledge of Him. And this, as we have already shown, is begun by\nour Lord Jesus Christ, when He enters the soul and drives out of it the\nbuyers and sellers, and begins intimately to speak to it.\n\nDear children, rest assured that if any one undertakes to speak in the\ntemple — that is, in our soul — except Jesus alone, then does Jesus imme-\ndiately become silent. He no longer feels at home there; indeed, it is\nnow not His home, for it entertains strange guests and holds converse\nwith them. Not only so; but if Jesus is to speak, the soul itself must\nbe silent, and do nothing but listen to Him. The moment it sits still and\nlistens. He begins to speak. What does He say He says, I am : I am\nthe Father's Word. And then in the same Word thus spoken the Father\nHimself speaks, the entire Divine nature is heard — all that is God, all\nthat God's Word is to God's self, perfect in self-knowledge and infinite\nin power. God is infinitely perfect in His utterance to the soul, for the\nW^ord He utters is Himself; it is the Second Divine person of the God-\nhead, of the same nature with the Father.\n\nAnd in speaking this Divine Word God utters all reasonable beings in\ncreated existence, thus forming them like unto His uncreated Word, as\nIt ever dwells within Him. All the brightness of created intelligences,\nis made after the image of the glory of this uncreated Word of Go,!.\nAnd this resemblance consists essentially, in the capability the ereaicd\nsoul has of receiving by Divine grace God's uncreated Word; yea, even\nthe very Word that is God, receiving It as It is in Itself. This was all\nuttered by God, when He divinely spoke His infinite Word in the God-\nhead. Now, one might enquire: Since the Father has thus spoken His\nWord, what does Jesus speak in the soul? Dear children, I answer you\nby recalling what I have already said of the manner of His communica-\ntion : He speaks and reveals His own self, and that includes all (hat\nthe Father has spoken in the Divine act of uttering the Word, all being\nnow addressed to the soul according to its capacity to receive it.\n\nFirst, He reveals the Father's supreme majesty in the soul, in His\nsovereign and immeasurable power. And when the soul feels and per-\nceives this almighty power in God's Son— feels itself made a partaker\nof that power in all virtue and in perfect purification, so that neither\n\n232 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\njoy nor sorrow nor any other created force can unsettle its peace;\nthen in that Divine power it rests, strong against all adversaries, great\nor little.\n\nIn addition to this, the Lord reveals Himself in the soul in infinite\nwisdom — in the very Divine wisdom that He is Himself, that in which\nthe Father knows Himself with His almighty paternity; and, again,\nthe Word that is wisdom itself and is one essence with the Father.\nWhen this wisdom is united to the soul, all doubting and all straying\naway is stopped, and all spiritual darkness vanishes, and the soul is\nplaced in the clear light that is God's self. It is now as the prophet\nsaid: \"In Thy light we shall see light.\" (Ps. xxxv, 10.) That is to\nsay : Lord, all light is seen in the soul in the light that Thou art. Thus\nis God known in the soul by the light that God Himself is. And thus is\nWisdom known by the light of Wisdom Itself; and with it the soul\nknows itself and all things else that it knows. Thus, again, by this\nwisdom is known God's fatherhood in majesty. His essential unchange-\nableness, and His Divine and indivisible unity.\n\nThirdly, Jesus reveals Himself within the soul with infinite love, with\nsweetness and abundance of love welling forth from the Holy Ghost,\nand overflowing into the heart, all docile and receptive of its rich\nstreams. Yes, it is by means of the Love that Jesus is that He reveals\nHimself to the soul and unites it to Himself. It is this sweetness that\ncauses the soul to flow into itself, and then to overflow beyond all crea-\ntures— melted by Divine grace, given power to return again into God\nits first fountain and origin. Then the outward man bows down obe-\ndient to the inward man — obedient unto death; then are both the\ninward and outward faculties at peace with each other in God's service.\nMay God grant us this happy state ; may He expel and destroy all hin-\ndrances in us in both soul and body, so that we may be made one with\nHim in time and in eternity. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 233\n\nSynopsis — His nakedness makes voluntary poverty a divine virtue —\nHis being placed between two thieves shows the splendor of broth-\nerly love — His pity for His enemies tells us of God's mercy to\nsinners — Obedience is taught by His resignation to His fathers\nwill even unto death — Holy friendship is illustrated by His treat-\nment of His mother and St. John — Patience and perseverance are\ninculcated by the nailing of His holy body to the cross — Con-\nstancy in prayer is shown by His ending His life with a sigh of\nprayerful hope.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR GOOD FRIDAY.\nWith Christ I am nailed to the cross. — Gal. ii, 19.\n\nThus speaks the apostle, teaching us that we must never permit the\nsacred passion of our Lord to be absent from our thoughts, but that\nwith deep emotion, sympathy and gratitude, we must ever meditate on it.\nThere is no surer, easier or better way to be freed from our sins and to\nacquire all virtues, graces and joys than this devout practice. Nay,\nthere is no other way to go to God; it is the one only way that all the\nsaints have trodden. 0, how much is to be said on this holy theme, one\nwhich surpasses the angels' powers of understanding: Of how God\nbecame man out of His great love for us, and then for such vile sinners\nhumbled Himself even to the bitter cross !\n\nAnd if the everlasting Lord and God of all, suffered such shame and\nsuch torment for us, should not all who claim to be His friends willingly\nsuffer whatsoever God allots them, whether they be guilty or innocent?\nShould they not esteem themselves honored, thus to be made like Him\nand allowed to follow after Him in this His chosen way of the cross?\nHence the holy apostle St. Peter admonishes us: \"Christ, therefore,\nhaving suffered in the flesh, be you also armed with the same thought.\"\n(I Peter, iv. 1.) And so does our holy and faithful mother, the Church,\ntell us that this thought should never be absent from our hearts. This\n\n234 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nshe does not only by the holy scriptures and in her public worship, but\nalso she would help our weakness with pious pictures and statues of\nour Lord's sufferings. She never ceases to exhort us to praise and\nthank God for His infinite love, most perfectly proved by His blessed\ndeath for our souls. This is also holy Church's reason for giving us\nthe pictures and other representations of her saints. These are offered\nus to make us imitate their holy lives, to help us battle manfully against\nevil, and suffer patient!}' for God's sake, to strengthen us in our faith,\nto arouse our sleeping energies to the faithful service of God. Above\nall these emblems is the figure of Jesus crucified — above all to be prized,\nmost often to be venerated, and interiorly to be contemplated. Let us\nnow study the lessons that our beloved Lord has written upon His cru-\ncified body, and let us print them indelibly in our hearts.\n\nThe first lesson is taught by the nakedness of His body on the cross;\nit is voluntary poverty. So must we learn to be poor for His sake,\nsince He became poor for our sakes. Out of all His rich kingdoms. He\nkept not so much as would serve to cover Him as He hung on the cross.\nHe had said : \"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom\nof Heaven.\"' (Matt, v, 3.) Is not the Kingdom of Heaven a rich treas-\nure to him who is so fortunate as to possess it? And it is a blessed\nlot for more reasons than its riches. Voluntary poverty bestows more\nupon a man than he can desire. What he has contents him ; he is satis-\nfied in his poor estate, so much so that he does not feel himself poor at\nall. The covetous man ever covets to gain yet more, ever dreads to be\nrobbed ; the poor man of Christ is ever thinking that he has more than\nenough. Therefore is he rightly called blessed and happy, because he\nhas all that he desires ; for all he desires is to be poor, and to suffer want\nis his purpose — very willingly and for God's sake. Such men have,\nindeed, learned by heart and in their hearts how to be poor. They have\nalways before their eyes the spectacle of Jesus crucified. His blessed\nhumanity, poor and in want all His days on earth, is printed on their\nheart's tablets. Blessed are these men ; no man can rob them, for they\nown nothing worth stealing. Again they are blessed, because they have\nbeen granted a foretaste of Heaven's blessed freedom, owning all and\nmore than all that is needful even in and by their poverty; for that\ngives them a sweet contentment of mind, to be rewarded after death by\nthe Kingdom of Heaven itself.\n\nThe second lesson of Jesus crucified is perfect brotherly love, for you\nknow that He was hung between two thieves; and this was His own\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 235\n\nchoice, for He desired to bear the penalty of their guilt. How could\nHe ever have better shown that His love was perfect, than by bearing\nthe burden of the guilt of His enemies on His own shoulders, having it\nstruck and cut into all His members? If He had but died for His\nfriends alone, even so it were a mark of mighty love; but that He died\nfor His enemies is a mark of perfect love. In this He teaches us that we\nshould love our enemies, and that we should do so by serving them in all\ntheir necessities. Our Lord would be put to death not only for His\nfriends and for good people ; He would suffer all His bitter passion and\nHis cruel death for the wicked and for His enemies. And if He showed\nsuch love to His very enemies, what, think you, must be His love for His\nfriends, who have so faithfully followed Him? St. Paul tells us : \"When\nas yet we were enemies, according to the time, Christ died for us; much\nrather therefore now, being justified by His blood, shall we be saved\nfrom wrath through Him.\" (Roni. v, 9.)\n\nThe third lesson of Jesus crucified is His overflowing mercy. See\nhow He treated the thief that hung all justly for his crimes alongside of\nHim on the cross, and who had reviled and blasphemed Him. (Matt,\nxxvii, 44.) But when this malefactor repented and begged a grace of\nJesus, He instantly pardoned him, and He granted him a greater boon\nthan he had asked. He said : \"Lord, remember me when Thou comest\ninto Thy kingdom.\" Jesus gladly hearkened to him, and answered :\n\"Amen, I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.\"\nJesus not only thought of him kindly and spoke a good word to him,\nbut He joined the poor wretch very closely to Himself, Who is the true\nand living paradise of eternal joy. And you know how our Lord, as\nsoon as He died, descended in His human soul joined to His Divine\nnature into the Limbus of the just, and announced to all those God-\nfearing souls there the near approach of their eternal happiness. In\nthat happy journey the good thief was our Lord's companion, and his\nparadise was to see Jesus then amid His chosen friends. Was not this\na proof of a heart overflowing with mercy? And if He treated an\nenemy thus, will not His love overflow yet more generously toward His\nfriends? But, besides adoring His mercy, let us be sure to imitate it\nin our conduct toward friends and foes, and especially the latter.\n\nThe fourth lesson learned beneath the cross of Christ is, perfect and\ndevout obedience. Obedience it was that nailed Him to the cross, and\nthat virtue did He especially show when He bowed His head and gave up\nthe ghost. Herein piety and obedience are both shown forth. For it\n\n236 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nwas an act of absolute obedience to His Father, when He accepted death\nand gave up His soul out of His body ; and that He reverently bowed\ndown His head, was a mark of the devout feeling with which His heart\nwas filled. And listen to His last words : \"Father, into Thy hands I\ncommend My spirit.\" (Luke xxiii, 46.) As if to say: Father, I have\nobeyed Thee even unto death, and all of Thy holy will I have com-\npletely accomplished: \"It is consummated\" (John xix, 30) ; and, bow-\ning His sacred head, He gave up the ghost. Learn from this to be not\nonly obedient, but devoutly obedient, as our Lord was. Whatever is\ncommanded us, or advised, or counselled, let us receive it with a\ndevoutly bowed head. Thus will men know that we have gentle hearts\nand a devout spirit in our obedience; for the devotional spirit is always\ngentle and yielding.\n\nLet me tell you what is true piety toward God. It is that one\ninteriorly realizes for whose sake we give up our body and our goods\nin holy obedience — namely, for God's sake. And when one receives\ndirections from a superior, let him say in his own mind : My Lord and\nFather and Eedeemer, I gladly accept this obedience out of love for\nThee ; receive this the submission of my will as a sacrifice to Thy glory.\nAnd let us maintain this devout obedience to the end, even unto death ;\nfor St. Paul teaches what Christ did for us: \"He humbled Himself,\nbecoming obedient unto death.\" (Phil, ii, 8.) We should often medi-\ntate on Christ's obedience, gaining thereby strength to practice obedi-\nence ourselves. For whosoever comes to the end of his life and is not\nfound in a state of holy obedience, cannot hope to share in the merits of\nChrist's obedience on the cross.\n\nThe fifth lesson of Jesus crucified is that of respect and friendship.\nMark well His treatment of His beloved mother. As she stood beneath\nHis cross. He would not allow her to suffer her dreadful sorrow without\nany solace. However sad His own desolation as He hung there. He yet\ndid not forget her. He could not speak much with her, so great was\nHis pain. But the few words He did say, proved to her how boundless\nwas His love and His respect for her. All sweetly did He address her,\nas best He might in His state of torture, being nigh unto death. His\nbodily forces wasting fast away : \"Woman, behold thy son !\" How\nmindful was He of His beloved mother, even amid such bodily torments.\nHe committed her to the care of His beloved disciple St. John, as if He\nwould say : You perceive, dear mother, to what a pass I, thy only Son, am\ncome. I know that My sufferings pierce thy soul with a sharp sword of\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 237\n\nagony, beholding Me hanging here before thy eyes, all dripping with\nblood; but behold John, thy son! Let him comfort thee in My place.\nHow well this teaches us to honor and reverence our father and mother,\nand not only our natural parents, but also our spiritual parents — our\nfathers and mothers in religion ; yea, and our brothers and sisters, too —\nall for the sake of God and in God, just as our Lord has commanded us,\nso that it may be well with us in the land He will give us.\n\nThe sixth lesson of Jesus crucified is the virtue of patience. For our\nLord, in allowing Himself to be nailed fast to the cross, as much as\nsaid to His torturers: Inflict on Me all the sufl'ering you wish; I will\ngladly bear it all. In his whole life He never did anything that merited\nthe least punishment. And yet, now that He is so cruelly treated, He\nis so patient that He has not a single bitter thought, not one word of\nreproach. For what did He say? \"Father, forgive them\"— these men\nwho are torturing Me; ''forgive them, for they know not what they do.\"\nThis teaches us to willingly accept unjust punishment, to patiently\nsuffer wrong, never forgetting how patient the Lord was as He allowed\nHimself to be nailed to the cross. What else does this mean but that we\nshould suffer miseries visited on us rightly or wrongly, with equal and\nentire submission, accepting meekly whatever God permits to happen\nto us.\n\nThe seventh lesson of Christ's cross is steadfast perseverance. Mark\nthat he allowed His feet to be nailed to the cross, as if to say : I will\nstand fast here in My obedience to My Father; I will not move one step\naway ; here stand I till death. Thus should we stand fast in a good life,\nbearing the cross of penance to the end, hands and feet nailed to the\ncross of a dying life, never harboring a single thought except that of\nfollowing Jesus crucified, crucifying all our vices and concupiscences\nwith great good will, and so persisting even unto death. If Jesus finds\nus thus fastened to the cross. He will forgive us every evil thing that we\never did. To stand fast in good— that is our purpose; for if one had\nlived a good life for a thousand years, and afterwards fell away but for\none hour and thus died, then in sj)ite of all his former goodness he would\nbe lost. Therefore, let us persevere with all steadfastness, and, as it\nwere, nailed hands and feet to the cross, even unto the end ; for as we are\nfound at the moment of death so shall we be judged.\n\nThe eighth lesson of Christ's cross is constant prayer, for you know\nthat our Lord, amid all his pains, prayed without ceasing. A certain\nteacher surmises that He recited a hundred and fifty verses of the\n\n238 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\npsalms, a verse for every psalm in the psalter. According to this, He\nbegan with the twenty-first psalm, ''O God, My God, look upon Me ; why\nhast Thou forsaken Me?\" and ending with the sixth verse of the thirtieth\npsalm, ''Into Thy hands I commend My spirit.\" And with these last\nwords He gave up the ghost. Now, just consider that Jesus the Son of\nGod, who was all innocent and guileless, was so desolate in His last\nagony as to exclaim, \"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me !\"\nWhen we consider that, must we poor sinners not shrink in dismay from\nthe thought of our own last agony? What shall we then say to God?\nJesus prayed to His Father thus humbly, and as if He had been a life-\nlong sinner, and He did so to set us an example, so that now and always\nuntil death we should meekly appeal for pardon to our Heavenly\nFather. Such should be our constant prayer, for prayer is always nec-\nessary, and if diligently persevered in, as death comes, when it is most\nnecessary, we can easily turn our heart, with all its emotions and\naffections, perfectly to God. Then shall we be granted deep and humble\nconfidence in God's blessed mercy ; we shall be enabled with this prayer\nto beat off all evil spirits, who will then assail us more fiercely than\never before, in order to bring us to eternal ruin. May God grant that\nthey shall have no power to hurt us. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 289\n\nSum (&oh Bramfi S>oulfl ta l^una^ If\n\nSynopsis — This drawing is essentially inward — Xeed of detachment if\nthis drawing is to be felt — How adversity and suffering should\nturn us towards God's inward draioing, and even more the sense\nof desolation.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR GOOD FRIDAY.\n\nAnd I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself. — John\nxii, 32.\n\nOur Lord Jesus Christ means that He will draw all men to Himself\nwhen He is lifted up; for man has a share of all things in himself — in\ncommon with the stones of the earth he has existence, life with the trees\nand plants, sense with animals, and reason with angels.\n\nBut someone might say, O Christ. Thou eternal truth, I do not feel\nThy drawing, I am not attracted to Thee. St. Augustine answers :\n\"Then pray that thou mayst be drawn to Him.\" The fisherman casts\nhis baited hook that the fish may seize it, and if it does not do so, then\nthe fisherman does not get the fish ; if it does, then the fisherman is\nsure of it and draws it in to the shore. So has God cast his hooks and\nhis nets toward us and all around us; they are His angels and all His\nother creatures, by which He would draw us to Him most gladly by our\neyes and our ears and our hearts. By joyous things he draws us to\nHim, and by painful things as well. Whosoever is not caught and\ndrawn to God has only himself to blame, for he has wilfully avoided\nthe angels' drawing — he will not receive God's baited hook nor enter\nHis net. If he had done so, God would have surely captured him ; we\nhave only to reach a hand toward God, and He will never fail to grasp\nit and draw us to Himself. Suppose you are at the bottom of a deep\nwell and someone comes and lets down a rope to you ; ought you not to\ngrasp it and be saved ?\n\nThe soul is like a feather blown about by the wind ; but if a weight\nis attached to it, it rests idly on the ground. So does a soul freed from\nall weight of sinfulness easily soar aloft to God on the wings of holy\n\n240 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nmeditation. Such a soul is lightened and cleansed of all thoughts about\nbodily things, and set at rest in all stillness of spirit. Its intentions\nand aspirations cleave close to the unchangeable Good that God is.\nGod's praises are unceasingly sounded in that soul. And this happens\nbecause the soul is self-denying in all things, as far as its state of life\nwill allow. Whosoever is for God's sake far removed from love of\nearthly things, becomes transformed, and, like an angel, he is drawn\ndeep into God. And, being so closely joined to Him, then whatever\nhappens to that soul in its outward life is received in God and on\naccount of God — eating or drinking, sleeping or waking, or whatsoever\nelse he does, that man does all for the best honor of God.\n\nA man's highest perfection consists in interior tranquillity, all his\nfaculties drawn in by an indescribably powerful detachment from\ncreated things, producing an angelic state of soul. Such a one is freed\nfrom what is offensively unlike God, and is granted a foretaste of that\nDivine union which he shall enjoy in eternity. Therefore, retire into\nthyself and be at rest from all outward and inward stirring, as far as\nGod's law will allow thee; give thyself up to Him in that state of mind,\nreceiving His communication with thee directly or otherwise, according\nto His good pleasure. And whatever then comes to thee from God,\naccept it in entire self-renunciation, as being wholly from His hand, and\nbe sure to return it back to Him in deep gratitude; receive all as a loan\nfrom Him, for it is His and not thine, and ever so remains. Thus wilt\nthou give God His glory, and thy own nature and heart and mind will\nabide in holy poverty in His sight.\n\nWhen a man is thoroughly detached from all transitory things, and\nis rightly ordered in self-renunciation, he is in the first degree of his\nprogress toward God. The second degree is when his soul is established\nin peace and rest. The third degree is when he receives all things, pleas-\nant or unpleasant, from God's hand in equal contentment of mind and\nis wholly resigned to God. This happens when a man lives in self-for-\ngetfulness, in forgetfulness of all created things, and is lost in God.\nThis degree is the highest perfection of purity of heart.\n\nBut let no man presume to take up this high and holy work of God\nof his own initiative. Rather let him humbly await God's guidance,\nabandoning himself in all peacefulness and in total detachment to the\nDivine influence, whenever and however it may come to him. This will\nbe all that God requires of him — that he stand before Him meekly and\nas a poor sinner, and await in entire self-denial the working of Divine\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 241\n\ngrace in his soul. The man who thus passively yields himself up to\nGod's hidden operations of grace, him will the power of the Almighty\nFather visit, and the light of the only begotten Son will shine within\nhim, and the infinite love of the Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father\nand the Son, will be poured out upon him, and the heavens will rain\ndown on him the dew of divine sweetness, and the earth and all crea-\ntures will minister to his happiness.\n\nThe lowest grade of these men are drawn close into God ; those of the\nhigher grade are illuminated and strengthened; the highest are elevated\ninto union with Him. Yet be it known, that the entrancing joy and the-\nquiet stillness of God's peace is not always perceptible to one's natural\nfaculties; the soul is often placed in a state of poverty of feeling. In\nthat state let one remain content in all self-renunciation, for God reveals,\nHimself only in a supernatural manner. What if a man. who has given\nhimself up entirely to God as the source of all his being and is lost\nentirely in the Divine will— what if he does not always experience the\nsensible emotions of piety and of love ; he is none the less pure of heart,\nnone the less pleasing to God. The more God leaves a man in a state of\nnatural desolation of spirit, the stronger does He establish him in super-\nnatural grace. The more a man is tried by natural feelings of dread\nand of anguish — as long as these are not quite intolerable — the more do\nthese very sufferings become an element of security in his spiritual life\nby nourishing holy humility. They hold him back from ruin; they are\nlike a stout wall built up between him and the danger of losing all the\ngraces that have been granted him. These trials hinder him from rash-\nness and over-security. May God's eternal love, overflowing and ever\nfaithful, thus be given to us. Amen.\n\n242 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nImntt Wxtl} (^ob\n\nSynopsis — Our natural yearning for unity — Multiplicity is a trait of\nfallen nature — Dying to self is followed by rising into union with\nGod — Many ways shown of thus dying and rising again — After\nthat created things may he more safely used — Marvellous effects\non the deeper interior life.\n\nSERMON FOR EASTER SUNDAY: FIRST PART.\n\nThat they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee * * * and\nI in them, and Thou in Me; that they may be made perfect in one. — John xvil,\n21-23.\n\nTo this union St. Paul had attained, for he says : \"And I live, now\nnot I, but Christ liveth in me.\" (Gal. ii, 20.) Let us ask how we, too,\nmay be made one with God. Not otherwise than by losing ourselves\nand forgetting ourselves, and then by being made over again in God by\nGod's spirit. For as long as a man is self-conscious, even though he\nhave God and is even conscious of Him, just so long is He not one, but\ntwo — he has not become one with God: this is multiplicity and not\nperfect unity. In unity a man loses multiplicity. True unity is the\nstate in which a man finds himself solely in One, the One that is called\nand is God. In this state a man has, as it were, lost his selfhood in\nGod ; so that he has no joy in self, no thought of self, no outward life of\nself. Nor does it seem to him that it is his own self that knows and\nloves either God or creatures —all seems done by God. Self is absorbed\nas it were in God.\n\nAll creatures seek after this unity; all multiplicity struggles toward\nit — the universal aim of all life is always this unity. Every creature\ncomes forth from this unity by an immediate creative act, and each one\ntends again to be absorbed in its entire existence into indivisible unity,\naccording to each one's capability. All activity of mind and body, and\nall love, as well as all unrest, has an end and purpose; it all tends\ntoward entire rest; and this rest is to be found nowhere but in the one,\nindivisible unity that is God. All that flows outward is to flow back-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 243\n\nward into its source — God. And when this has happened, and not\nbefore, do we find rest and tranquillity. When all that goes to make\nup a man's being has become lovingly one with God, then all the soul's\ncries are hushed, and the unrest of longing and of acting has ceased.\nNature itself universally craves this unity, and consumes everything,\neven its own life, in its strivings to attain to it; but to true unity can\nnature never come except in God, the only being wholly one. And O\nhow anxious, how uncertain is the soul of man whilst deprived of this\nunion ! How can he abide out of it a single instant ! How can he find\nin himself aught worth knowing or loving as long as he is out of God !\n\nWhat is the best way to enter into God and to be made one with him?\nCertainly there is but one way: To die to self; to totally give up all\nself-seeking, all multiplicity. If thou wilt be made white, thou must\nwash off the black; the less black, the more white. The less thou art\nmultiplied, the more shalt Ihou be single-minded and single-hearted.\nGod does not work in thee rightly and by Himself alone, as long as thou\nart multiplied; His living work in thee must be one. The more the\nsoul's powers are detached from outward things and gathered into one\nin the interior life, all the stronger grows God's action inwardly, and all\nthe diviner and more perfect. This state no man can achieve except\nby dying to himself. The sooner and the more truly and the more\nperfectly he dies to himself, the sooner, the more truly and the more\nperfectly will he find his life made one with God's. Therefore, Christ\ndied a physical death that He might show us the way to die a spiritual\ndeath. That He might rise from the dead into immortality. He must\ndie to mortality. If we would reach a condition of unity, we must die\nto multiplicity; we must die to all mortality, to all self-ownership, to\nall divisibility. Unity has no division; division is lost and so is multi-\nplicity— all made one in unity. Of Christ we read that, \"Kising again\nfrom the dead, He dieth now no more ; death shall no more have domin-\nion over Him.\" (Rom. vi, 9.) Out of death comes life that dies no\nmore. There is no true and undying life in us except the life that comes\nforth from death. If water is to become hot, then cold must die out\nof it. If wood is to be made fire, then the nature of wood must die.\nThe life we seek cannot be in us, it cannot become our very selves, we\ncannot be itself, unless we gain it by first ceasing to be what we are;\nwe acquire this life through death.\n\nIn very truth there is, rightly speaking, but one death and one life.\nHowever many deaths there may seem to be, they all are but one.\n\n244 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nnamely, the death a man dies to his own will, to his sense of proprietor-\nship, to division and multiplicity and activity — in so far as this is pos-\nsible to a creature. And there is one life, and only one, namely, the\none ineffable, incomprehensible, uncreated, essential, divine life.\nToward this life all other life hurries on, is driven forward, streams\nalong, being irresistibly drawn to possess it. The nearer our life comes\nto this essential life, and the more it is likened to it, the more truly do\nwe live, for in this and from this life is all life, and not otherwise.\nAny life that lives apart from this, to it may be said these words:\n\"Thou hast the name of being alive, and thou art dead.\" (Apoc. iii, 1.)\n\nWhosoever will have this Divine life living within him, made most\nessentially and most truly his own, such a one must most essentially\nand most truly die to himself. Whosoever fails to die will fail to live.\nAnd whosoever totally dies to self, such a one is wholly made alive in\nGod and without any separation. And this death has many degrees,\njust as life has. A man, for example, may die a thousand deaths in a\nsingle day, and each is instantly followed by a joyous life in God — death\nis no longer death. This happens perforce, because God cannot refuse\nthe offering of death nor resist its plea for life. And the stronger death\nis and the more complete, so is the life that responds to it all the\nstronger and more integral; just as death is, so shall life be. And as\nlife succeeds to death, so does life prepare a man to die a more perfect\ndeath to himself.\n\nAnd it is thus that a man dies to himself: if he meekly accepts an\ninsult for God's sake, if he curbs his inclination for inner or outward\njoy for the same Divine motive; if in any way whatsoever, in pleasure\nor in pain, he bridles his wayward will for God's sake in words or deeds,\nin labor or rest, in seeing or tasting; if he bears unjust reproof in silence\nand in all patience; if in any of his unmortified tendencies he dies to\nself, he begins to live to God. At first he yields to this holy death of\nselfhood reluctantly and with much pain ; later on he grows used to it,\nand to die to self and to live to God grows into a holy habit. No mat-\nter how small the death an .earnest man dies to himself, it wins him a\ngreat life, and this great life heartens him to die another and a yet\ngreater death. And soon it comes to pass that the most joyous thing\nin life is to die to oneself, far more joyous than any life that is lived for\nself's sake. For life is now found only in death, and light shineth only\nin darkness. In outward things a man may so constantly die to self,\nthat in course of time there is nothing left in him of anv inclination to\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 245\n\nthem that is not dead. Then, Indeed, he hath fought a good fight ; and\njet in his interior life there is much that must die.\n\nWhen one is truly mortified or dead to his selfhood, then all things\nare his and he can use them moderately without danger. Indeed, no\nman has real and reasonable joy in created things, until he has first gone\nforth out of all joy in them for the love of God— until he has died to\nthem and they have died to him. Only after that canst thou turn again\nto their use, without feeling anxiety lest thou misuse them. No man\ntruly loves his father and mother, his sisters and brothers and all his\nother friends, with the love that is in God, until he has first given them\nup and wholly died to them out of love for God ; until that happens they\nare rather enemies to his spiritual welfare than friends. Therefore, our\nLord teaches: \"For I came to set a man at variance against his father,\nand the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against\nher mother-in-law. And a man's enemies shall be thev of his own house-\nhold.\" (Matt. X, 35-36.)\n\nBut it is only a lesser death when one has died to outward things;\nfor when a man has sincerely renounced the world and all its superflui-\nties, and entered upon an interior and divine life, it is an easy matter to\nbe quite dead to external enjoyments. To him the death he has yet to\ndie is hidden. What bitterness can he suffer who is full of the sweet-\nness of a devout life? What battle can he have to fight who has escaped\nfrom the clutches of his enemy, and is journeying safely along the way\nof peace? If a man be truly converted to lead a perfect life inwardly,\nno matter what outward things cross his path, they do not touch his\ninterior life. Mary was turned to Christ in all her inner faculties, and\nhence she sat at His feet unconcerned about the many things that\ntroubled Martha, who complained about her. Mary thought not at all\nof justifying herself — quite other things absorbed her thoughts and her\nfeelings and her love. So does it happen with any soul that is turned\ninward to God and away from all transitory things— turned to God,\nrevealed within him, and by no intermediary, but directly. Whether\nsuch a soul wills it or not, it must forget everything but God. All\nimages of things created are gone; such a man has within him that\nwhich is the original of all things. He is liberated from creatures ; he\nhas no room in his soul for figures and types, and strange happenings\nand contradictions make no impression on him.\n\nSuch men as these St. Paul may have had in view when he said : ''For\nyou are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.\" (Col. iii, 3.)\n\n246 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nBut now it is to be remarked, that they may progress to a yet closer\nunion ; for they are hid icith Christ, and are therefore two and not one\nwith Him. On the other hand, our Lord prayed to His Father thai\n\"they may be one, as Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee.\" As if it were\nnot in what made Father and Son different persons, but rather in what\nmade them one essence, one life, one Divine operation — as if He prayed\nthat this union might be granted us and perfected in us, as far as we are\ncapable of it. Is it not true to say that to bring about this unity with\nGod's being. His life and operation, a thousand times more perfect death\nto self and to creatures must be experienced? If God is to go into the\nsoul, nature must go out totally, even to the last atom ; fire and water\ncannot dwell together in one. He whose life is to be made God's life,\nmust quickly and entirely die to any other life. If a man be already\naverse to the things of this earthly existence, then he more easily dies\nto himself; but whether or not this be so. the man who will have God\nto live within him and be his only support and only comfort, must be\ndead to all transitory things and they dead to him, absolutely stri[)ped\nof their support and void of their comfort. Life has its hiding i)lace\nin death ; consolation has its hiding place in desolation. When the out-\nward man is hushed still, then the inward man begins to live; then does\nhe begin truly to speak his happy words, according to the prophet :\n\"My soul refused to be comforted ; I remembered God and was delighted\nand was exercised, and my spirit swooned away.\" (Ps. Ixxvi, 3-4.)\nThe outward craves the outAvard life in everything. It is true that the\noutward life longs for God's help in some exterior form, as the Psalmist\nsays: \"It is good for me to adhere [that is to say, exteriorly] to my\nGod.\" (Ps. Ixvii, 28.) But even this comfort has a savor of self-\nseeking, and it, too, must die out of the soul.\n\nThe death of self and the union with God that we have been consider-\ning, affects all the powers of the soul, even the most interior ones. The\nwill must efface its symbols and images and rest motionless; the under-\nstanding, including knowledge and memory, and, indeed, all mental\npowers, must set aside, as far as possible, the objects of their activity.\nListen to our Lord's words: \"He that findeth his life, shall lose it;\nand he that shall lose his life for Me, shall find it.\" (Matt, x, 39.) It is\na hard death to the soul, when all natural lights in it and all its facul-\nties go out in darkness; and a yet harder death when even the bright\nrays of light shed by God's own gifts, must be quenched in darkness;\nfor these are not God, and God alone must finally content the soul. All\nthese are, as it were, but a part of God and not God one and indivisible.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 247\n\nBut in truth it is only when all that lives within a man, and all that\ngives him light has died out and gone from him — it is then, and only\nthen, that he finds his real soul — never otherwise. Does he not find it?\nCan you say that in such a state he rather has utterly lost it? No, by\nno means; for freedom of the will yet remains, and responsibility for\nchoosing to act or not to act. Does he not now stand in control of his\nspiritual powers to will and to act, and how to choose? See how our\nSaviour and our model acted in His agony : ''Father ♦ ♦ • not as\nI will, but as Thou wilt.\" (Matt, xxvi, 39.) As if to say: I have no\nwill ; but Thou, Father, shalt have My will, for I am stripped of My\nwill and dead to it, and now in Thy will I am absorbed and restored\nto life.\n\nUnion with God is not action, in the human meaning of the term, nor\nknowing, nor loving with diversity ; for in God all is one and all is rest\nand peace. Knowing and loving, 'bringing forth and being brought\nforth, and all manner of simply human activity, is the product of diver-\nsity. In God, in this One, is all action ended and unified, and we are\nmade one in God through Christ. Amen.\n\n248 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nItttnn With %tih\n\nSynopsis — Self-surrender precedes union with God — The light of God\nshines in souls united to Him — The scene of this union is the\ndepths of the soul — It resembles and partakes of the union of the\nPersons of the Holy Trinity — The high kind of brotherly love it\nproduces.\n\nSERMON FOR EASTER SUNDAY : SECOND PART.\n\nThat they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee * * * and\nI in them, and Thou in Me; that they may be made perfect in one. — John xvii,\n21-23.\n\nHerein our Lord and Saviour teaches that wheu a man has left all\nthings of his outward life, father and mother, and, indeed, all multi-\nplicity totally surrendered for God's sake, then must he turn inward\nand do in like manner in his inward life. He must surrender his soul\nto God in total forgetfulness of whatsoever is native to his inner life,\nhis soul to be dismantled and, as it were, taken to pieces, that it may be\nrebuilt and newly adorned, in a life wherein all images find their proto-\ntypes, namely, in God. If one loves in a human spirit, there is danger\nof one's hating ; if he hopes in that spirit, he can scarcely be entirely hum-\nbled. But if one willingly has nothing even that is lowly, he can scarcely\nbe ambitious of the high things of this life. Let him, then, die to all and\nenter into God in search of the highest. This means, as I have said, that\nGod will dismantle him, and then build and adorn him over again. All\nvirtuous imaginings, may lead to selfish picking and choosing this or that\nway to gain virtue; but when the end is reached, the way is not needed\nand should be forgotten — the end is God. Virtues will never be so\nmuch our own, so true and so deep-seated in us, as when we have been\nstripped of their images and joined in unity with God. It then comes\nto pass that these virtues are not for this or that place or time, nor for\nany manner of self-seeking whatsoever; for they act within us for\nvirtue's own sake and, as it were, by their own holy force. God is the\nessence of all virtues, which without Him are non-existent ; possess Him\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 249\n\n\\¥^^ \\\n\nm holy unity of life, and good is done in thee for the sake of the Supreme\nGood, with no other why or wherefore but that essential Good and\nbecause of it. Thou shalt then love for the sake of love itself be true\nfor the sake of truth itself, righteous for the sake of this supreme\nholiness.\n\nWe ask why Christ did not answer Pilate when he inquired, ''What\nIS truth?\" And the usual explanation is that Pilate was unworthy of\nan answer. So is it here. W^hosoever departs from Divine unity of life\nIS not worthy to know what truth is. Such a one can sav nothincr but\nthis: Truth is truth. He can neither take nor give on sich a subject.\nThe true, the good are indivisible and one in God— simple unity \\\ncreature possesses good; as we say a good angel, a good man, a good\nheaven— all these have good in them, as they have also truth and beln--\nbut It IS not with them as with God, for they have these as a manner of\nexistence, all in place and measure and all with limitation. God has\ngood because He is esential good.\n\nBut if thou wouldst have all the true and the good and all essential\nbeing, thou shalt find them in their fountain and origin, whollv without\nlimitation. Pass over man and angel and Heaven into the indivisible\nand limitless good and true. All else mav but hide God's unitv of\ngoodness and truth from thee, and may become a prison to thee. Unity\nlooks not outward; it covets nothing foreign to itself whether far or\nnear; it is not measurable as broad or long; it is one, it is God, who has\nall good m Himself, and there is none out of Him. It is He who ♦'ive^\nbeing and its good to creatures-not they to Him. Anv spiritual\nmethod, in so far as it is Divine, is not outside of God, for all that is\nindivisible and true and good is in Him.\n\nA man in whom all manner of self-seeking has quite perished away\nand been replaced by love, and who has God in him and is himself in\nGod— whatsoever that man does in and through God is the best\nand done in the most perfect manner. And this perfection is inherent\nin the work and not borrowed from without; it is not from length and\nbreadth, but from the unity of purpose with God; and so little works\nand great ones become in a way equally good in such a state of soul\nfrom the uniform greatness of their origin. Say an Ave Maria with\nGod s holy unity, and it wins as much as a whole psalter less perfectly\nsaid; one step with God is equal to a pilgrimage beyond the seas without\nHim. Great works with upright intention shall be granted great\nreward; but the real worth of a good deed is in the disinterested love\n\n250 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nwith which it is done ; its value is intrinsic. One grain of gold has all\nthe nature of gold that a thousand golden marks have. Therefore, if we\ndesire more than one gold piece, it is because we desire something besides\nthe essence of gold. But as to Divine things, all the good in them is in\ntheir essential nature and not in their quantity, and there is as much\ngood in the least as in the most that we do, when we act entirely united\nto God.\n\nThe external is but a symbol of the internal, as a sign may tell us\nthat there is wine in a cellar; yet there may be wine where no sign is\nhung out, and it is then of none the less worth to its owner. The main\nthing is to have a good will to serve God ; that being made secure, my\nsoul ranges free over the good deeds of all men, including the saints, all\ntheir sufiferings for religion, their alms to the poor. Of these I think\nwith a longing heart to do and to suffer them all for God's sake, and\nthat most gladly — but I lack the opportunity. In God's eyes it is as if\nI had done them all. I fail in none of the merit, if my good will is equal\nto the efifort that would be required for their actual accomplishment.\nAnd as I read of the holy men of the past, and keep my heart fixed on\ntheir marvels of virtue, my good will gives me a share in their merit;\nto God a thousand years are as a day that is passed.\n\nSt. Augustine says: 'Turn into thyself; there alone shalt thou find\nGod.\" And as thou turnest — so we may add — thou turnest in God\nHimself, with whom thou hast been made one. In God is life and all\nthings; and, as St. John tells us, \"He came into His own, and His own\nreceived Him not. But as many as received Him, He gave them power\nto be made the sons of God.\" (John i, 11-12.) Now, God's Son is of\none nature with His Father, and a Godlike man is not by nature, but by\ngrace, one with Him, by Whom he is made Godlike; and if there be any-\nthing in him that is not Godlike, in just so far is he out of God. Truly\nis he God's son, and one with Him after the image of the sonship of the\nonly begotten Son ; so that God out of him acts not, nor does he act out\nof God. And as God does not separate Himself from His only begotten\nSon, so neither does He separate Himself from a Godlike man, unless\nbecause this man has first separated himself from God. A certain\nmaster exclaims: \"I do not envy all the good that God has given to\nHis only begotten Son, because I can by the mystery of grace become\nunified with that same Son, out from Whom, through Whom and in\nWhom are all things — so truly one with Him that no part remains not\nunited.\"\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 231\n\nPhilosophers say that God does nothing out of— that is, outside of—\nHimself. In the same way a man who is truly good and Godlike, does\nall things he does in God, having Him as the only end of all ; yet further,\nwe may say that a Godlike man never thinks of God outside of his own\nself, for when and where and in whatever manner he considers God, he\nfinds himself one with Him.\n\nSince God works all through the man with whom He is one, it follows\nthat not the man, but God, does the works that the man seems to do.\nAs Jesus taught : \"The Father who abideth in Me, He doeth the works.\"\n(John xiv, 10.) To this Godlike man, therefore, his own works are\nvery strange to him, and seem to him as if they were not his own ; he is\nso deeply one with God that it is He who is in him and He who works\nin him, and not the man himself — so does he feel. If this fails and he\nappropriates his works to himself in distinction from God, so does he\ninstantly cease to be enveloped in God's unity.\n\nOur Saviour said : \"I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent\nme\" (John viii, 16); and again: ''Believe you not that I am in the\nFather and the Father in me?\" (John xiv, 11.) Therefore does St.\nAugustine teach: \"God became man that I might become God; He\nbecame the Son of man that I might become the son of God.\" And\nDavid says : \"I have said, you are gods, and all of you sons of the Most\nHigh.\" (Ps. Ixxxi, 6.) What God gave to His only begotten Son made\nman, that is He ready to give to His Son's brethren, each in his place\nand measure. If they refuse to receive it, then God is not to blame;\njust as the sunlight is not to blame if a room is dark at midday— the\nowner of the house has shut the blinds.\n\nThe nature of man which our beloved Lord assumed, is as much mine\nas it is His; although the case is infinitely different in regard to His per-\nson, which is wholly Divine. He took to Himself m.y very nature, and\nthereby He took me to Himself wholly. Now, what remains for my\npart ? That I give myself to Him personally. If I hold back, what can\nHe do about my perversity? Did He not take our nature so fully as to\nbe as truly man as He is truly God's own Son and the Eternal Word?\nHence we must truly say that the virgin's Son is God, precisely as we\nsay the same of the Only Begotten of the Father; and this comes from\nthe unity of person in the Son of Mary and the Son of God. In this\nmanner He has shared with me by grace all that the Father gave Him\nby nature, making it all mine, just as it is all His. But woe to me if,\nhaving been made one with Him by community of our human nature, I\n\n252 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nyet refuse to join with Him in a loving personal union. Do I not know\nthat I am by nature one with all men and as near of kin to them as to\nmy ownself — to the Sultan of Turkey as well as to my next-door neigh-\nbor— one with the wisest and with the simplest, the least and the\ngreatest ? Do I not know that all men stand together and alike one in\nnature? Thus does our Lord stand as near to me as I do to myself;\nand I stand likewise as near to Him as He does to Himself — all this in\nHis human nature. But woe to me if I am far removed from personal\nunion with Him by my own self-love and self-seeking, removed from\nHim and joined to self in His despite ; or, again, if I am by my selfish-\nness removed from a loving union with any man and all men, even if\nthey be a thousand miles distant from me. For all of us men are of one\nnature and should be as one man in love ; we should be one in personal\nunion of love. To all men should my heart be given, and their welfare\nshould be as dear to me as my own, their misfortune as bitter to me as\nmy own. In this way do I go out of myself, if I am true to the unity of\nnature Ood has made among men ; until at last 1 think of my own and\nenjoy my own no more and no less because it is mine, than if it belonged\nto a man whom I have never seen.\n\nBut from this we must not suppose that this common love is to be\nequally distributed over all men ; for, though God loves all equally. He\nyet bestows His favors unequally. First come parents, children,\nfriends and neighbors; begin to bestow thy love on these, and then go\nforth with thy loving service to others as best thou canst. One must\nconsider those committed to his nearest care by Providence, as entitled\nto the perfect and immediate overflowing of love, not exactly because\none is a father and mother and friend, but because God has made them\nsuch. For it might be that God would lead thee away over the seas, to\n•serve with equal love men whom thou hadst before never heard of; love\nis equal within the soul, and shown by God's will unequally in outward\nact. It is the man who has gone out of self in all things, and been\nmade one with God in Christ, who does all this wisely. Being one in\nGod and with God, then it follows that whatsoever all men and angels\nhave of joy and bliss, is also his in God; and whatsoever others may\nhave of badness or punishment, that is not his, but their own, for it is\nnot in God.\n\nIn very truth, in proportion as a man goes out of selfhood does he\nenter into oneness with God. Yet he must not have regard to himself\nin this relation, for the less he regards himself the more does he find\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 253\n\nhimself in God. Whosoever totally gives up self achieves total union\nwithout any doubt. All things now come to him consciously from God,\nand all are alike to Him, whether for joy or sorrow. Hence our\nSaviour's teaching: ''Take up my yoke upon you.\" (Matt, xi, 29.)\nThat means that His will shall always dominate ours and be infinitely\ndearer to us than our own. It was in giving up His will to His Father\nthat Jesus saved us, for nothing is dearer to a man than his own will. ■\nThus it is that a man stands in indifference to all things; it is because\nhe has passed out of self, as if he were become quite as different to him-\nself as to the Sultan of the Turks and had merged his selfhood in God's\nunity. Not, of course, that he is the equal of God, but that in uniting\nhimself to God he has become oblivious to what equality means, so\nabsorbed has he become in the Divine unity. It is unity and not\nequality that he has attained to in God. When emptying himself of\nall self-seeking, he has given himself up to God to be^ne with Him.\nNor does he lose his natural existence; but in all his thoughts and deeds\nhe does not perceive himself or consciously consider himself, but only\nGod. As the prophet says : ''For my heart hath been entlamed, and my\nreins have been changed, and I am brought to nothing, and I knew not.\"\n(Ps. Ixxiii, 21-22.) He knows not how to describe this change of his\nsoul into God's life, for it has no description, no image; all his interior\nrepresentations are covered by the one uncreated being of God taking\nthe place of all. He himself, so it seems to him, knows not, acts notl\nGod knows and acts in him and through him, according to His Divine\nwill and without any obstacles, in a manner above what the soul can\nunderstand. And now it is needful that I should cease to speak on this\nsubject, recalling only our Lord's words, and begging Him to fulfill in\nblissful unity what He said to His Father: \"That thev all may be one\nas Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee * * • and I in them, and\nThou in Me; that they may be made perfect in one.\" Amen.\n\n254 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n01j? i^gr^FB of EntJ?\n\nSynopsis — The first is active love, full of pious exercises and good\nworks — The second is persevering love, shown in Magdalene, who\nwas faithful unto Calvary — The third is the fiery love, and is very\nfervent — The fourth is a penetrating love, which has a peculiar\ngift of understanding God — The fifth is overflowing love, which\ncasts the soul out of itself into the Beloved.\n\nSERMON FOR EASTER MONDAY.\n\nAnd they said one to another : Was not our heart burning within us whilst He\nspoke in the way, and opened to us the scriptures? — Luke xxiv, 32.\n\nDear children, one of these two disciples of our Lord was named\nCleophas, and the other, as some think, was St. Luke, the evangelist,\nwho tells of this apparition of our Lord the evening of the resurrection.\nTheir eyes were held as the Lord appeared to them, and He was dis-\nguised as a pilgrim; they did not recognize Him at first. St. Gregory\nsays that He appeared to them because they loved Him, and that yet He\nconcealed who He was, because they were still doubtful about His resur-\nrection. Hence He upbraided them fo • their incredulity and hardness\nof heart and their want of understai ding, and opened to them the\nhidden meaning of the scriptures. Their faith was mingled with\ndoubt, and yet they had been speakinj.^ affectionately about Him ; and\nwhen He joined in their conversation, His words made their hearts burn\nwithin them.\n\nSt. Dionysius tells us that love has five degrees. The first degree is\nthe active one, and is less closely joined to God than the others. In this\ndegree the soul begins to turn to God and to cherish Him with a kind\nof anxious love. It practices certain devout exercises very earnestly,\nis afraid that it will cool in its ardor, and would seek its beloved and\never follow Him. Its voice is that of Ihe bride: \"In my bed by night\nI sought Him whom my soul loveth.\" (Cant, iii, 1.) But the Bride-\ngroom finds this couch of active love too narrow, and this state is not\naccording to His will. But the soul docs not give Him up ; on the con-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 255\n\ntrary, it seeks to possess Him with mu( h distress of mind, as Zacheus\neagerly climbed a tree in order to behold our Lord Jesus Christ. Such\nan undersized man is every lover of Jesus, when first he turns in all\nseriousness to the love of God. Like Zacheus, he avows himself a great\nsinner, overcomes his shame in a good confession and reveals all his\nwickedness. He says with St. Paul : \"Christ Jesus came into this world\nto save sinners, of whom I am the chief.\" (I Tim. i, 15.) And this\nsinner is enriched with grace, for as in him sin did abound, so now does\ngrace superabound. Let every one aspire to enter this first degree of\nlove, as Zacheus climbed the tree to behold Jesus; let none despair\nbecause his sins are grievous. This is the degree of active love in which\nthe soul diligently practices all sorts of meritorious works, its sins not\nonly being forgiven, but, as St. Augusstine teaches, many great gifts\nbestowed upon it.\n\nThe two disciples who journeyed toward Emmaus, had this sort of\nlove, meanwhile conversing about their beloved Master with afflicted\nhearts. Although every lover of Christ is in this world like a sojourner\nin Egypt, and is bowed down under a heavy burden of fear and of\nanguish, yet he has the privilege of this degree of love. And the\nthought of the eternal life hereafter, now and again fills his soul with\ndeepest joy. Yet there are brief intervals, during which he overflows\nwith spiritual happiness and says with Sarah: ''God hath made a\nlaughter for me; whosoever shall hear of it will laugh with me.\" (Gen.\nxxi, 6.) But presently all is changed and the soul exclaims: \"Woe\nis me, that my sojourning is prolonged!\" (Ps. cxix, 5.) And again\nwith Job : \"Who will grant me, that I :might be according to the months\npast, according to the days in which God kept me, when his lamp shined\nover my head and I walked by His light in darkness? * ♦ ♦ When\nI washed my feet in butter, and the r(tck poured me out rivers of oil ?\"\n(Job. xxix, 2, 3, 6.) What else is the soul's lamp but Divine grace,\nand what is its shining, but the bright rays of that same grace enlighten-\ning our mind? The lamp is over our heads and guides us forward in\nthe darkness, till we pass out of and beyond this first degree, namely,\nthat of active love. We may also compare the soul's faculties of desir-\ning and seeking, to a man's spiritual feet, which are now to carry him\ninto the more interior regions of the spiritual life. The oil that flowed\nfrom the rock, may be taken to mean the tears of sweet joy shed by the\nBoul in its love of God.\n\n256 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nThe second degree of love is perseverance. By this love we continue\nto hold fast and firm to God in joy and sorrow, nay, even when we are\ngroping in darkness ; what we began with, that we keep on even to the\nend, just as Mary Magdalene outstayed all the disciples at the Saviour's\ntomb. And as her perseverance in love was rewarded with the first\napparition of the risen Lord, so shall we be likewise blest if we remain\nsteadfast in His grace. The worth of perseverance and the perfect\ncompleteness of our task of love, was typified in the old testament by\nthe law that no beast that had been deprived of his tail was to be offered\nin sacrifice to God. Joseph's coat, so long as to reach to his feet, had\nthe same signification of steadfastness in our devout exercises of love,\nno matter what our darkness of mind. To the same effect is the word\nof the bride in the Canticle : \"My soul melted when He spoke; I sought\nHim and found Him not; I called, and He did not answer me. The\nkeepers that go about the city found me; they struck me and wounded\nme; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.\" (Cant, v,\n6-7.) The veil is perseverance in love. And then the bride heartens\nherself to renewed seeking for her Beloved : \"T adjure you, O daughters\nof Jerusalem, if you find my Beloved, that you tell Him that I languish\nwith love!\" (Ibid., 8.)\n\nThe third degree of love is fervor, by which the heart receives a grace\nwhich sets it on fire. Thus Job asks: \"Art not thy garments hot when\nthe south wind blows upon earth?\" (Job xxxvii, 17.) Then it is that\nboth of the soul's powers, those of loving and understanding, are\naroused and enflamed. Therefore, Hugo of St. Victor teaches : \"When\nthou dost not seek thy Beloved with ardor, thou remainest apart from\nHis true lovers, dull and heavy.\" And St. Augustine : \"O love, ever\nburning and never extinguished, how late have I come to know thee!\nThou wast within me and I sought thee out of me ; thou wast with me\nand I was not with thee.\" Love, like the burning bush that Moses saw,\nis always burning and never consumed. For however much the lover is\ntormented by his love, he is also comforted by it and well pleasea with\nit, as witness the two disciples : \"Was not our heart burning within us\nwhilst He spoke in the way, and opened to us the scriptures?\" And\nthey partook of the second grade of love, for with strengthened faith\nthey turned back to Jerusalem; and also of the first grade, for they\nshowed the active zeal of love in constraining Christ, whilst they\nthought Him only a pilgrim, to accept their hospitality.\n\nThe fourth grade of love is its penetration. This was granted to the-\npatriarch Jacob: \"I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 257\n\nsaved.\" (Gen. xxxii, 30.) This means that my soul has been granted\nlove's gift of knowledge, by which I know my beloved by love's sweet\nway of understanding, and in the same way I know that I am known by\nHim. This was St. Augustine's petition : \"Lord, help me, that I may\nknow Thee and myself.\" And it was thus that the two disciples knew\nthe Lord after their loving conversation with Him, in the breaking of\nbread. This penetration of love pierces through obstacles, and sheds so\nclear a light as to show forth its own glorious brightness in the soul\nrelieving the lover of many a bitter pain. St. Augustine says in his\nconfessions: -O Lord, when I cling to Thee with all my might, I am\nunburdened of the heavy load that I am to myself; mv life is full of Thee\nand toil and distress are done. O, who will grant me to have Thee dwell\nwithin my heart and so to inebriate me with love that I shall forget all\nmy pains!\" Hugo of St. Victor says: -The fire of love bursts forth in\nflames strong and consuming; it bums until the lover is united to the\nbeloved: 'I found him whom my soul loveth; I held him, and I will not\nlet him go till I bring him into my mother's house and into the cham-\nber of her that bore me.' \" (Cant, iii, 4.) That happens when the\npenetration of love has entered into the deepest depths that can be\nexplored, a state of love beyond what one can understand— love enters\nwithin and understanding remains without.\n\nThe fifth degree is love so overflowing as to obtain a gift beyond even\nthat of penetration, namely, love's freedom. The heart is like a vessel\nof water boiling over in the fire. The fire of love in the heart casts the\nsoul out of Itself, so fierce is its energy-a force all hidden and known\nonly by its mighty effects. In the Book of Job, Elihu said- \"Behold\nmy belly is new wine which wanteth vent, which bursteth the new ves-\nsels\" (Job. XXX, 19), meaning that his soul was overflowing with his\nmessage to Job. And thus the lover in the Canticles : \"My soul melted\nwhen he spoke\" (Cant, v, 6) , as if to say : As molten gold is poured into\nIts mold and takes its shape, so am I melted and poured into and\nshaped by my beloved. Hence St. Paul says: \"For whom He fore-\nknew. He also predestinated to be made conformable to the image of His\nSon.\" (Rom. viii, 29.) And, again, the apostle quotes from Moses:\nOur God IS a consuming fire.\" (Heb. xii, 29.) When at last the soul\n18 thus melted by God and rests at peace in Him, it is united to Him\nand filled with His light. Love, then, gives a man power to sav: All\nthings are common with Him and with me, for I have nothing' of my\nown; we two have but one house, one heritage, one table, one couch.\n\n258 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nBut if any weakness in such a soul happens to intervene between it\nand God, then it is instantly in anguish. Ah, it says, tell ray beloved\nthat I languish with love; for that soul cannot remain separated from\nHim. This painful visitation has happened to the soul because it still\nharbors some remnants of self-love. Yet, in all its pain, the soul is still\nfaithful to its beloved, and this is shown by its diligence in keeping up\nits sweet exercises of devotion to God. Gilbert says: \"Wheresoever\nlove is, there is an active and powerful impulse toward the beloved,\nespecially if it is withdrawn from it.\" The holy prophet Daniel suffered\nfrom this, for \"He was a man of desires\" (Dan. ix, 23) ; his yearning\nfor Divine things made him weak and sick. And the two disciples on\nthe way to Emmaus were likewise greatly distressed, till they had ques-\ntioned the Lord and listened to Him, and finally were made sure of His\nresurrection; and then they were united to Him in the breaking of\nbread. God grant us the same favor. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 259\n\n®I|? (f ualttufi of 2IotJ^\n\nSynopsis— True love is without limits, as universal as Himself — It\nloves God without rivals, God and God alone — It loves Him un-\nceasingly, either hy praises or hy good works — Meantime God\nconstantly rewards such love with the gift of greater desire and\npower of loving— A summary of God's worthiness of our love.\n\nSERMON FOR THURSDAY IN EASTER WEEK.\n\nShe turning, saith to Him : Rabboni (which is to say, Master). — John xx, 16.\n\nWhen Jesus rose from the dead, Marj Magdalene longed with all her\nheart to behold Him. But He appeared to her in the form of a gar-\ndener, and she did not recognize him. Then He said to her: \"Mary!\"\nShe, turning, saith to Him : \"Rabboni !\" (which is to say, Master.)\n\nYou will notice that as long as Mary stood gazing into the empty\ntomb and looked at the angels, Jesus stood behind her and concealed\nHimself from her. This means that our Lord God hides Himself from\nthose who are busied with creatures, absorbed and distressed about\ncreated things. The moment the soul turns away from them and goes\nin search of God, then God reveals Himself. And the meaning of our\nLord's word \"Mary\" is, literally, the star of the sea, or otherwise the\nqueen— queen of the world enlightened by the Holy Spirit, shining like\na star.\n\nWhosoever longs for the sight of God must soar aloft like a star,\nand must have an aversion for all transitory things; he must be much\nenlightened by God if he would behold heavenly sights. Mary recog-\nnized her Lord when He called her name, and she answered instantly,\nRabboni (Master). That was the name she and His other disciples\nusually addressed Him with, for He had approved it: \"You call Me\nMaster and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.\" (John xiii, 13.) He\nis, indeed, the Master of the supreme good, and as such we must love\nHim supremely and above all things. He is the Master of all truth,\nand therefore we must contemplate Him. He is Master of the highest\n\n260 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nperfection, and therefore we must follow Him without ever looking\nbackward.\n\nMaster of the supreme good : such is his true name, and it entitles\nHim to our love above all things. But you might say: God being\ninfinite good and the soul finite, how can the soul love Him or even\nknow him ? Ah, mark well that, although God be infinite good and the\nsoul finite, yet the soul's longing is an abyss without limit ; the human\nsoul can never be content, except with the possession of an infinite good.\nAnd the more the soul longs for God, the more does it yearn for deeper\nlongings; the more we love God, the more we yearn to love Him with\nyet greater intensity. God is a good without the slightest imperfec-\ntion; He is the fountain-head of the living and exhaustless waters of\nlove. The soul is created in the image of God, and even for that reason\nis made capable of knowing and loving Him as He is ; and as Christ is\nthe Master of the supreme good, so must the soul love Him supremely\nand above all things. He is love; out of Him floweth love into us as\nout of an overflowing fountain of life ; the fountain of life is love. For,\nsays St. John : \"He that loveth not, abideth in death.\" (I John iii, 14.)\nChrist, the fountain of love and the master of the highest good, must\nhave our perfect love. It is a characteristic trait of the soul to have a\nlonging to love Him who is God, who is Supreme Good — to love Him\nwithout limits to its love. Him and none other except for His sake, Him\nto love with increasing praise.\n\nWithout limits. As St. Bernard teaches : \"The reason why the soul\nshould love God is God Himself; but the limit of this love is without\nlimits, for God is unlimited good, without count and without end.\" And\nSt. Paul says: \"And this I pray, that your love may more and more\nabound in knowledge and in all understanding.\" (Phil, i, 9.) And St.\nBernard again: \"In loving God there is no other method or distinc-\ntion, than that we should love Him as He has loved us.\" He has loved\nus unto the end in order that we should love Him unto the end, or rather\nwithout end. Hence all through our earthly existence, our desire to love\nGod should constantly increase in our inner life. But bear in mind\nthat, however the inner work of loving God should always grow stronger,\nyet the outward exercise of that love should be regulated with prudence :\nwe should choose such devout practices of love as may not injure our\nspirit.\n\nWe must love Him without rivals — God, and God alone. This means\nthat in that degree in which we love God, no created being shall be\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 261\n\nallowed to enter. Whatever creature we may love, it must be done for\nGod's sake alone ; that love must be some way a love for God and in God ;\nfor God's sake, since God is the origin and only reason of that creature's\nexistence; a love of the creature, yet a love for God, who is the sole\ngood that any creature possesses or may be loved for; in God, because He\nis the only joy that love of any sort can minister to our souls ; and He\nis the term and end of all our love. This is, therefore, how we love\ncreatures in God and God in creatures. Thus did our Saviour teach :\n\"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy\nwhole soul, and with thy whole mind.\" (Matt, xxii, 37.) St. Augus-\ntine says that our Lord by these words means that a man should have\nno idle and empty power in his soul, but all should be occupied with the\nlove of God and filled with Him ; and that whatever the soul cares for in\nits outward life, is to be referred to God's love and be used for God love.\nGod loves the soul; and therefore should the soul love God without a\nrival.\n\nIn the third place, we must love Him with unceasing praise; our love\nmust never be silent, but must forever call upon our beloved and beseech\nHim. St. Gregory said that «ur speaking to God is by the voice of the\nmouth and by the voice of good works, and that the latter has more\npower than the former. Listen to the Psalmist : \"I have labored with\ncrying.\" (Ps. Ixviii, 4.) 'Mt is a trait of lovers,\" says St. Chrysostom,\n''not to be able to conceal their love, nor ever to be silent while with\ntheir beloved, to whom they must entrust their heart's burning affec-\ntions.\" So do God's lovers speak to Him, revealing to Him even their\nfaults; they do this over and over again, because they love Him too\nwell to hide their sins from Him; and because in doing so they are com-\nforted and encouraged. The voice of the lover by outward works is the\nutterance of the inward depths of love. 'The proof of Divine love,\"\nsays St. Gregory, \"is in good works. Wherever love is, love acts; if\nthere is no act, there is no love.\"\n\nKightly did Magdalen exclaim, Master ! For Christ is, indeed, master\nof all good, and therefore He must have our supreme love. But over\nlove our Saviour has a triple sovereignty. For as our sovereign Master\nHe rewards us for nothing but for our love for Him ; he rewards us on\naccount of nothing but His own love for us; and He rewards us with\nnothing but with the gift of His love for us. Every way we look at His\nreward to us it is love.\n\nNow, one can serve God meritoriously with outward works, with\ninward contemplation, and with inward longings. Outward works are\n\n262 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nworthy of reward only when done from motives of inward love, for in\nthemselves they are transitory, and therefore cannot win an eternal\nrecompense. On the other hand, '%ove never falleth away,\" says St.\nPaul. (I Cor. xiii.) Works done apart from love cannot merit eternal\nlife, and hence whosoever loves God separates himself from all that is\nnot God — craving the uncreated good, he despises all created good.\n\nAnd God rewards us on account of nothing but His own love for us,\nand that reward is the gift of Himself; not partly, but wholly Himself,\nfor He loves us with an eternal love. Remember what He said to Abra-\nham : ''Fear not, I am thy protector, and thy reward exceeding great.\"\n(Gen. XV, 1.)\n\nAgain, as we have seen. He rewards us with a gift of love or of loving,\nwhereby a man Clearly and without any medium contemplates God, a\nlove which enables the soul to enjoy God and posses Him everlastingly.\nHence, Christian soul, say to Him with all the fervor of Mary Magda-\nlen, speaking from thy inmost heart : O my Master, Master of all good,\nand my God, draw me to Thee by the love which Thou Thyself art, for\nI crave to possess Thee, Thou infinite good, and to prize Thee above all\nthings.\n\nLet us return to my first affirmation, namely, that God is master of\nthe supreme good, and that we must contemplate Him as such. Thou\nart aware that thou canst contemplate God in His creatures, even\nthough they are made out of nothing, for thou canst learn herein that\nHe is almighty. His infinite wisdom also is apparent in them, as thou\nstudiest their laws of being and the admirable order that prevails in\nthem; and this Divine wisdom is attributed to the Son of God. And\nwhen thou observest the gentleness and affection that exists more or\nless in all of God's creatures, thou mayst learn by them God's loving-\nkindness, which is attributed to the Holy Ghost. And this is what St.\nPaul teaches : \"For the invisible things of Him, from the creation of the\nworld, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made;\nHis eternal power also, and divinity.\" (Rom. i, 20.) Divine grace,\ntoo, gives the soul light to see God : ''and in Thy light we shall see light\"\n(Ps. XXXV, 10), says the Psalmist, meaning God Himself, a light in\nwhich there is no manner of darkness. Finally, we shall see God in the\nlight of glory, knowing Him then without any intermediary, as He is\nin Himself. Truly He is the master of truth, and He gives us all truth.\n\nAnd He is master of perfection, requiring us to give up everything in\narder to follow Him alone. Man finds in God the complete and unified\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nassemblage of all the excellences that creatures have in imperfection\nand only partially. O man, wouldst thou be perfect? then follow God.\nHence our Saviour says: ''If any man come to Me, and hate not his\nfather, and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters,\nyea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.\" (Lukexiv,26.) For\ndoes it not often happen, that one's very parents and brothers and sisters\nand all other creatures become enemies, when he loves them so dearly that\nthey stand in the way of his serving God and his neighbor? Therefore\ndo thou give up all created things and follow after the Master of Per-\nfection, Jesus Christ, Who is blessed forever. May He grant us this\nprivilege by His holy grace. Amen.\n\n264 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — The first call of God is to give up the world, leading the\nsoul from an outward to an inward life — The second call is to be\ntransformed into the living image of Christ hy meditation on Him,\nperfected by Holy Communion — The third call is more rare, and\nis the opening of a door which leads into a state of absolute aban-\ndonment to God — The privileges of this call.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR LOW SUNDAY.\nJesus said to them : Peace be to you. — John xx, 19,\n\n*'Peace be to you !\" exclaimed our beloved Lord, as He appeared to His\ndisciples after His resurrection. All men long for rest and peace by a\nlaw of their very nature. Toward this end are directed all their striv-\nings, all their manifold labors, their devotions and spiritual exercises.\nBut they will never attain to true peace, no, not if they struggled for it\nfor all eternity, except they seek it where alone it can be found, namely,\nin God. What, then, is the way to this true peace, as it is in most\nperfect truth, in God ? We may learn this by the threefold vocation of\nSt. John the Evangelist, for in this way does God call all men to eternal\npeace.\n\nThe first, was when He called St. John from the world and made hira\nan apostle. The second, was when He drew him close to him and made\nhim rest his head on His breast. And the third and most perfect, was on\nholy Pentecost day, when He gave the apostle the Holy Ghost, and\nopened the door to his entrance to perfect love.\n\nSo shalt thou be first called, namely, to give up the world. This means\nto subject all thy lower powers and thy appetites to reason ; to learn to\ntnow thyself thoroughly and remain at home with thyself, watching all\nthy words carefully, lest thou sayest anything different from what thou\nwouldst have others say to thee; also keeping guard over all thy emo-\ntions and scrutinizing them, as to whether or not they come from God,\nand are fit to be directed back again to God; over thy thoughts, never\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 265\n\nharboring evil thoughts or occupied with idle ones, and if they intrude\nthemselves against thy will, struggling manfully against them, and using\nthis conflict as a preparation for better things ; finally over thy works,\nso that in all of them thou hast God alone and His honor in view and\nthe happiness of thy fellow-men. It is in this wise that the Lord calls\nthee from the world and makes thee His apostle; thus dost thou learn\nthe change from being an outward living man to becoming an inward\nliving one. Of such a kind is the beginner in the spiritual life.\n\nThe second call is to repose on Christ's bosom. If thou wilt enjoy\nthis privilege with St. John, thou must be transformed into the holy and\nliving image of our Saviour. It means that thou shalt cultivate very\ndiligently the study of His blessed meekness, His burning love for friends\nand foes, and His wonderful and most self-denying indifference to all\nthings except His Father's will, in all methods, states and ways of life.\n\nConsider His unbounded kindness to all our race, and also His\nblessed poverty. Heaven and earth were His and He owned it all, but\nHe was in it as if He owned nothing of it. Every word He spoke, every-\nthing He did, was for His Father's honor and the happiness of all man-\nkind. Look yet closer upon Him, look deeper into His heart, study\nHim with perfect attention, and then look upon thyself, and behold how\ndifferent thou art from Him; acknowledge thy pettiness. Now it is\nwhen thou has honestly done this that our Lord draws thee to Himself,\nand makes thee rest thy head upon His bOsom. For this end there is\nnothing so useful as the holy sacrament of our Saviour's body and blood.\nAnd thou shalt be also aided by the counsel of one whose soul has been\nenlightened by Divine grace more fully than thine own. Thou shalt\nhereby be so filled with the sweetness of heavenly consolation, that thou\ncanst easily renounce all the sweetness of this world.\n\nThese two calls to God are common enough among men, and many\nsincerely resolve to persevere in them. But it often happens that a\ncertain rashness of temperament hinders them from going forward in\nanswer to the third call of God. For, although St. John reposed on our\nLord's bosom, yet when Christ was seized by His enemies he deserted\nhim and fled away. So let it not be with thee. When temptation tries\nthee, resist all self-seeking, resolutely stand fast by thy Saviour; and,\non the other hand, do not allow any impetuosity of temper to cause thee\nto make a false step. If thou hast done well in these two ways and wilt\nnot allow the love of created things to lead thee astray, God will then\ndraw thee closer to Him. When thou feelest this drawing, let no pious\n\n266 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nmethod or practice of thine own devising hold thee back, but yield thy-\nself without form or image lovingly to Him as an instrument in His\nhands. If He is allowed His way, then in less time than it takes to\nsay a Pater Noster He will sanctify thee, and thereby give honor to Him-\nself— more than thou canst do by a hundred years of thy devotions in\nthe two former ways. But one might at a certain point begin to ask\nhimself : Hast thou not now passed beyond thy former state and come\ninto the higher one? Always answer: No ! For no man can go forward\notherwise than after the pattern of our Lord Jesus Christ. Rather\nask thyself this : Hast thou progressed beyond the spirit of self-love in\nthe pious exercises that thou hast practiced? Diligently examine thy-\nself in this regard, and then accept God's good pleasure as He leads thee\nforward from one devout way to another.\n\nThe third call was when St. John received the Holy Ghost, and the\nheavenly door was opened in his soul. This happens to some in the form\nof an ecstasy, to others simply by absolute abandonment to God. Thus\nspeaks St. Paul: \"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it\nentered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them\nthat love Him.\" (I Cor. ii, 9.) But one must never presume to think\nthat he can reach his highest degree of perfection ; it only happens when\nthe outer man is absorbed in the inner, for only then is a man fully\nmastered by God, and the Divine marvels and riches are revealed in him.\nAnd you must understand, children, that those who are partakers of\nthis privilege, must often lie abed quite enfeebled and helpless, for\nnature cannot endure such a strain ; nay, one has, as it were, died a\npainful death many times over before reaching this state — death within\nand death without ; but a death that means eternal life. Nor does one\nday bring it all about, nor one year of preparation. But be not fright-\nened; for if it takes time and self-denial and purification of heart, it ia\nalso the most perfect way of all.\n\nBy these three processes does a man acquire that purity of heart that\nSt. John had in a superior degree, and of which our Lord taught:\n\"Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.\" (Matt, v, 8.)\nA clean heart is more highly prized by our Lord than anything on earth.\nThat heart is very noble, splendidly adorned with virtue, the golden\ntemple of the Holy Ghost in which God loves to dwell ; it is the oratory\nof the Divine Son in which He intercedes for us with His Father, and\nin which He daily offers His Divine sacrifice. A purified heart is the\nthair of the highest judge; it is the chamber of rest of the holy Trinity;\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 267\n\nthe light of eternal glory shines within it ; it is the secret council hall\nof the three Divine persons; it is the treasure-house of all Divine riches;\nits banquet is a foretaste of the sweetness of everlasting joy in God ; it is\nthe symbol of eternal wisdom ; it is the trysting place of Divine love\nand confidence; it is the dispensation of all the graces of Christ's life\nand passion ; it is the heavenly Father's tabernacle with men ; it is the\nspouse of Christ; it is the trusted friend of the Holy Spirit; it is the\nenvy of the saints above ; it is a beloved sister of the angels ; the expecta-\ntion of the celestial army ; the brother of all good men ; the terror of\nevildoers; the complete victory over temptation; a weapon to resist\nevery assault of the enemy; an assemblage of all good gifts; a treasury\nof all virtues ; an example to all men ; a restoration of all that was ever\nlost.\n\nWho, then, has such a heart as this? He — we have already described\nhim — who is wholly and absolutely content with God and intent on God;\nwho has no taste for anything but God; who fixes his thoughts ever\nand always on God ; to whom all that is not God or has not God for its\ninspiration, is strange and remote and unwelcome; who holds himself\naloof from all intruding forms and images, all joys and sorrows of the\nouter life, as far as he may, and who for this end makes the best of every-\nthing that happens ; for to the clean all things are clean, and to the meek\nand humble of heart nothing is bitter. Amen.\n\n268 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — Prayer of every kind must begin by an act of retirement\ninto God — How vocal prayer is joined with this — An illustration\ndrawn from a church edifice — How we may pray the Father for\nthe Son.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR LOW SUNDAY.\n\nAnd now glorify Thou Me, O Father.— John xvii, 5.\n\nAs our beloved Saviour uttered these words, the evangelist tells us\nthat He lifted up His eyes to Heaven, thus showing us how we should\nraise our eyes and hands and hearts and all our powers upward to\nHeaven, and with Him and in Him and through Him offer our prayers\nto God. The homage that the Son of God paid His heavenly Father\nwas the greatest of His works on earth — an incomprehensible mystery,\nfar surpassing all human understanding, known only to the Holy Ghost.\nSt. Anselm and St. Augustine say that prayer is an ascension of the soul\nin God.\n\nChildren, rich men come to you and give you — as you may be poor and\nneedy and sick — five or six pennies, and agree with you for many genu-\nflections and perhaps a hundred Pater Nosters in return. What the\neternal God thinks of this kind of barter I know not; only this I say:\nWhen you pray, turn away from yourself in all sincerity, lift up your\nsoul above all created things, and turn your thoughts to God alone ; do\nthis in the inmost depths of your being. Sink thy soul into God's\ninfinite spirit, abandoning thyself to Him in all thy faculties, high and\nlow, all thy senses and understanding, in order that thou mayst be\nentirely united to Him; and do this very interiorly. By this kind of\nprayer thou shalt attain to something beyond all methods and practices\nof devotion. And when thou art placed thus with God, then offer all\nthe prayers to which thou art obligated, or that others have asked of\nthee and that God wills thee to offer. And be well assured, that\nas one penny is to a hundred thousand golden marks, so are all\nexternal forms of prayer compared to this prayer of thy inner soul.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 260\n\nFor it is real union with God ; it is the absorption and melting away of\nthe created spirit of man into the uncreated Spirit of God.\n\nChildren, if this kind of prayer may be made in company with prayer\nof the lips and tongue, then join them together without hesitation ; and,\nbesides, thou mayst have promised to ofifer vocal prayers, or thy vows\nmay require thee to do so. But as thou prayest with thy lips, be sure\nto do with thy thoughts what Moses did with his flocks — lead them all\ninto the wilderness. But if any of thy particular methods of prayer\nhinder, or any outward occupations interfere with this interior prayer\nof the spirit, set them all on one side, and I will take the responsibility;\nunless, indeed, these happen to be appointed thee by lawful authority.\nVocal prayer of all kinds is good, just as the straw is good to ripen the\nwheat. Thus Christ taught : \"The true adorers shall adore the Father\nin spirit and in truth.\" (John iv, 23.) It is in the spirit of a man that\nall his outer devotions are perfected; and if that perfecting of the\nexternal prayer by the interior spirit has not yet taken place in thee,\nthen begin diligently to bring it about; for one moment of sincere\nand inward prayer is worth all external devotions whatever that are\ndevoid of it — all that ever were offered from the time of Adam till now.\n\nBehold this church and the many parts that go to make it compelte —\nfoundation and walls and stones — and you know that it is all built for\nthe interior life of prayer, to aid men in offering real and fruitful\nprayer to God ; and if it served not that purpose it might as well in-\nstantly be swept out of existence. Our Lord once said to His Father :\n\"I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.\" (John xvii, 4.)\nAnd He did not refer to His work in time, but rather in eternity, for He\nhad yet much to accomplish in time : He was to suffer and die and rise\nagain from the dead. He meant His work for all time and for all\neternity. It is so with men whose spiritual life is rightly guided; for\ntheir outward work in time is extended in spirit into eternity, namely,\nin God's Spirit, in whom they pray and live and labor, and in whom\nthey have died to themselves. No man can be transformed until he\nceases to be what he has been. If he would pray and work in the Spirit,\nhe must be born again where the Son is born of the Father, namely, in\nthe inmost depths of the Deity ; there he is absorbed, without form and\nimage, his soul, as it were, stripped of forms and images and all meth-\nods. Such a state of prayer obtains all things, and such men pray the\nFather for the Son — that is to say, for the extension of His kingdom ;\njust as before the Son had prayed His Father for them.\n\n270 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nYou ask : How can they pray the Father for the Son ? I answer that\nour Lord taught us to pray that God's name might be hallowed. These\nman, therefore, pray that it may be made known and reverenced every-\nwhere and dearly loved on earth, just as He wills it to be honored in\nHeaven and in all eternity, and that His precious passion and death\nand merits may be made fruitful. And they pray, besides, for all the\nChristian people, and their prayer is always heard. They accept,\nfurthermore, all happenings of life as sent from God, and receive them\nwith all peace of mind ; they feel neither prosperity nor adversity. Joy\nor pain is all the same to them, one as gladly accepted as the other. And\nin this there is great merit.\n\nOur Saviour also prayed : \"That they all may be one, as Thou, Father,\nin Me, and I in Thee.\" (John xvii, 21.) Now, this union is brought\nabout in two ways, for it is external and internal, by intermediate\ninfluences or without them, in spirit and in nature. But this is some-\ntimes erroneously understood, for the Divinity has no accidents; nor\ncan we understand how we are united to It. But this is no wonder;\nfor can we understand how the human body and soul are united? How\ncan the soul act in the hands and feet? If this is incomprehensible, no\nwonder we cannot understand how the human soul is joined into unity\nwith God.\n\nBut we know that those who come to the state we are considering\nact in time and outwardly, and yet their act extends into eternity.\nTheir created life is projected into the uncreated life, their multiplicity\ninto simplicity of being. Amid unrest they enjoy peace, and with deep\nlonging they pass into the depths of God, drawing with them all things\nthat concern them, being thereby made eternally in Him as He would\nknow them and love them to be. This is to come nearer to God than\nordinary prayer can bring the soul — very much nearer. But to this\nstate those cannot attain, whose spiritual life has been developed in\nexercises framed by natural reason alone; nor those who have been\nfoolishly self-guided ; least of all those who have lived in the enjoyments\nof the senses. A venerable spiritual teacher formerly discoursed to\nyou on this subject, and you have misunderstood him, for you took his\nmeaning in a temporal sense, and he was instructing you from the\neternal point of view. Perhaps I have gone beyond bounds ; though as\nGod sees it, it is not so. At any rate, you will forgive me, dear children,\nand I will endeavor to do better in future. God grant that all this\nbe so. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 271\n\nOlljf liintfr of tl)^ Bmi\n\nSynopsis — Turning inward, the soul sometimes finds a wintry land:\nthe heart has really grown cold towards God — Warmth is restored\niy courageous j)enance and fervent prayer — Sometimes the cold\nis hut an illuMon: the soul is being tried hy ivithdrawal of sensi-\nble fervor — This is restored hy patient waiting upon God — Re-\nmarks on the friends and foes of Jesus among the Jews, and in\nour own day.\n\nSERMON FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.\n\nAnd it was tbe feast of the dedication at Jerusalem, and it was winter. And\nJesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch. The Jews therefore came rouad\nabout Him. and said to Him : How long dost Thou hold our souls in suspense?\nIf Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them : I speak to you, and\nyou believe not. * * * My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they\nfollow Me. And I give them life everlasting; and they shall not perish forever,\nand no man shall pluck them out of My hand. — John x, 22-28.\n\nAll this took place in the temple of Solomon, of which the Psalmist\nspoke: \"His place is in peace.\" (Ps. Ixxv, 2.) The name Solomon\nmeans peaceful, and Christ is the eternal Solomon, whose abode can\nbe none else than that of peace, interior peace.\n\nThe temple into which the loving Jesus enters is the purified soul,\nthe soul of the man given up to the interior life. Upon that soul God\nlays more store than on all His other creatures, and is more occupied\nwith it than with all else. In this temple is the feast of dedication,\nnamely, of renewal. And how does this renovation take place, the\nrenewing of that temple in which God so loves to dwell ; yea, rather than\nin any temple of His that was ever built?\n\nWe call anything new whilst it is not long after its beginning; and a\nman is mad'e new when he turns inward, and enters into the temple of\nhis own soul with all his faculties. There he finds God in all His eternal\ntruth, dwelling and acting there very perceptibly — not as the bodily\nsenses perceive, nor even as the mind reasons, nor yet according to what\none may have read or heard. No ; but the Divine action in the soul i«\n\n272 The Sermons eind Spiritual Conferences\n\nperceived by the soul's spiritual power of tasting and experiencing the\nDivine influences, welling up in its depth as out of their own fountain —\nnot introduced from without. A fountain is better than a cistern ; the\nlatter is easily muddied and is liable to dry up; but the fountain ever\nbursts forth fresh and pure, and its water is always its own. Now, in\nthe temple of the soul there is a true feast of dedication — that is to say,\nof renovation, as often as a man enters his interior soul — even a thou-\nsand times a day, if that were possible. And at every dedication there\nis new purity of intention, new light, new grace and new virtues be-\nstowed. O, this turning inward is a beautiful act ; to do it and to do\nit right, all external devotions and all good works serve to assist, receiv-\ning from it in return all their perfection. Indeed, without this interior\nmovement external religious practices are of no great worth. However\nactive one may be in all pious practices, above all other things he should\nconstantly practice this turning inward to his soul's renewal.\n\n\"And it was winter.\" Now, when is it really winter? It is when the\nheart has grown cold ; when it has within it neither grace, nor God, nor\nany Godlike things. Snow and frost are those miserable, pitiable created\nthings which hold the soul fast bound in love of them and pleasure in\ntheir use. They quench the fire of the Holy Ghost there; they freeze\nup the fountains of grace with a dreadful spiritual coldness. They\ndestroy all spiritual comfort and sweet familiarity with God.\n\nBut there is yet another winter. This is suffered by a really God-\nfearing man. He is mindful of God and loves Him, and is careful to\navoid all sin. But God seems to have forsaken him. As far as his feel-\nings go, he is dry, dark and cold, devoid of all heavenly consolation and\nspiritual sweetness. Our Lord Himself suffered this spiritual winter,\nbeing deserted by His heavenly Father and deprived of His help.\nAlthough He was united to the Divine nature, yet His poor human\nnature received no drop of comfort from the Godhead during His\nunspeakably bitter passion — not an instant's consolation in His sorest\nneed. He was the most forsaken and helpless and agonizing of all men.\nNow this is a lesson to His chosen friends. These must with all joy and\nentire good-will endure this state of abandonment in union with Christ.\nFor He is their shepherd; they are privileged to be His sheep; they\nmust suffer patiently in their interior souls, and show all patience in\ntheir outward behavior, in imitation of Jesus Christ. If they are but\noverjoyed to follow Him into this His winter time of desolation, aban-\ndonment by God and all creatures, then will God in actual reality be\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 273\n\npresent with them, and in a manner far more to their advantage than\nif they experienced the brightest possible summer-time of His sensible\nfavor. No one can fully understand all the good that lies hidden in this\nstern trial of desolation of spirit, this dark and frozen spiritual win-\nter— supposing always that one holds his mind steady and firm in\npatient endurance.\n\nThe gospel tells us, further, that \"the Jews came round about\" Jesus.\nThere were among them, as among us, some good and some bad. Now,\nthe word Jew may be taken to mean one who confesses God. And when\nthe soul's powers turn into the interior, down to the very roots of life,\nusing natural and supernatural means of perfection, then the soul con-\nfesses or truly acknowledges God, and does so in a manner full of feel-\ning and spiritual enjoyment. This is an act of faith so true and living\nthat it wins all that is born of faith. Its power is so gi-eat that pro-\nclaiming God in all sincerity absorbs the soul's entire life : Interiorly,\nin the understanding and the will; outwardly, in every external human\nfaculty; in deeds and words, in doing and refusing to do, and in all\nsufferings. A man now feels and knows nothing in act or in contempla-\ntion except the confessing of God in perfect truth. This may have been\nChrist's meaning when He said : \"Every one, therefore, that shall con-\nfess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father Who is in\nHeaven.\" (Matt, x, 32.) Be well assured of this: Whatsoever work\nthou dost in which thou settest before thee any other end but God, in\ndoing that work thou forgettest God. God by His very nature must\nbe the end and object of all things, and of all thoughts and intentions ;\nand if thou placest any other object before thee, it is as if thou didst\ndeny God, for thou givest to a creature what belongs to God alone and\nthat by prerogative of His very nature.\n\nAnd there were bad Jews round about our Lord, hearts full of bitter-\nness, men who could not endure to look on Him or suffer Him for a mo-\nment. They were stony-hearted against Him. Alas, do we not see the\nlike of this among Christians today? We meet with some men who are\nenraged against God's friends; who cannot behold their good deeds\nwithout the bitterest opposition ; who do their utmost to hinder their\ngood works and destroy the good effects of them; who are totally\nopposed to their ways and their lives, and are ever seeking to misin-\nterpret them — in a word, they act toward good Christians as the bad\nJews did toward our Lord. This is a very dangerous state to be in.\nNo sign is as plain of having no part with God and His friends in\n\n274 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\neternity, as when a man has within him no favor for what is good and\npleasing to God in other men's conduct. Therefore did Christ teach:\n\"He that is not with Me is against Me.\" (Matt, xii, 30.) On the other\nhand, it is plainly a sign of God's friendship when men are like the\ngood Jews, who were kind to our Saviour. These praise the virtuous\nlives of fervent Christians in all candor and good will, without false\ninterpretations, full of affection, favor and uprightness of intention — a\ntrue sign that God dwells in their inmost souls, and that they shall\nfinally possess eternal joy. The others are altogether different. Of them\ndid He speak on that same occasion, saying : '*Ye are not of My sheep, for\nMy sheep hear My voice.\"\n\nNow let us ask why our Lord so often calls His friends sheep. Be-\ncause sheep have two qualities that our Lord especially loves, namely,\ninnocence and gentle meekness. We read in the Apocalypse that the\npure and guileless ''follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.\" (Apoc.\nxiv, 4.) The meek and humble of heart are near to God, and they hear\nHis voice ; proud and haughty men never hear it. Wben the wind howls\nand the doors and windows clatter, one can hardly hear the voice of man.\nAs to the voice of God, that fatherly, whispered, secret word, uttered in\nthe inmost depths of thy soul — if thou wilt hear it, thou must be deaf\nto all the roar of the world without, and hush all the voices of thy own\ninner life. Thou must yield thyself up like a meek and gentle little\nsheep, confess thy sins, and, all humbly hushed and quieted, hearken to\nthis voice of God ; it is denied to all who are not thus made like unto\nsheep. It was to His sheep that the Lord spoke, as we read in the les-\nsons of this night's office: \"I will give thee a lovely land, the goodly\ninheritance of the army of the Gentiles. And I said : Thou shalt call\nMe Father and shalt not cease to walk after Me.'' (Jer. iii, 19.) And\nwhat is this lovely land which He has promised His chosen sheep, His\nbeloved friends? That land is their own body. Our bodies are by\nnature full of concupiscence and rebellious, but He enables His friends\nto reduce them to obedience, and they find much joy in compelling them\nto do their will. What was once waste and barren is now become a\nfertile and well-tilled land, in which one sows and reaps in all abun-\ndance.\n\nAnd what is the goodly inheritance? O, it is nothing less than our\nLord Jesus Christ Himself, for He is the heir of His Father and we are\nco-heirs with Him, as St. Paul tells us : \"Heirs, indeed, of God, and joint\nheirs with Christ.\" (Rom. viii. 17.) The Son has received from the\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 27;)\n\nFather all that He is and all that He can do; and into His hand hath\nthe Father given all things. And, in turn, the Son hath given back\nto His Father all that He received from Him, even to the very least,\nseeking the Father's glory alone in all things. And in this we are to\nimitate God's Son. For if He is to be made our inheritance, we must\nrestore to His Father everything without exception that we are and\nthat we have power to do, holding back not a hair's weight of all that\nis ours in our interior or our exterior existence. No matter how it has\ncome to us, direct or indirect, everything must go to Him Who is its\nowner: do thou make no exception whatever. And then seek God\nHimself. Our miserable nature is greedy and selfish, seeking its own\nin everything, and hereby our lovely inheritance is obscured; for to\nappropriate to self what is God's alone, is to debase the Godlike to the\nstate of the creature, and is to obscure the glory of our heavenly\ninheritance.\n\nAnd what does He mean by the words : I will give thee the exercise of\nthe heathen? This means that the soul shall receive God's grace with\nthe humility of a converted pagan. Those converts received grace as\ngrace, having no pious practices to help them, nor any holiness to begin\nwith, and starting without any merits; whereas the Jews were more\nfortunate in having their law and their ceremonies and their good\nworks, and many other helps. The heathen had nothing whatever to\nbuild on but God's grace and mercy alone. Now in that spirit should\nthy devout practices be offered up, trusting to God's great mercy and\nkindness and nothing else.\n\nThou must not place too much confidence in thy own good prepara-\ntions, or take much account of thy worthiness. Many men follow the\nJews in this respect, building on their own methods, and trusting (how-\never secretly and unconsciously it may be) to their own works. And\nif it happens that they miss doing certain pious things, they think\nthat all is lost, and forthwith they lose trust in God and man. By\nsaying this I do not mean that one should give up his devout practices ;\nno, let him do them well and punctually, but without making them —\nrather than God's blessed grace — the foundation of his hopes. Such\nmen depend wholly for their union with God upon the boast that they\nhave worn haircloth and chains, fasted and prayed and watched, been\npoor men for forty years ; and apart from these things they would have\nno solid trust in God. But if a man has done all the good works in the\nworld, then it but gives him the occasion to be detached from them in\n\n276 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nhis soul, and to stand before God as if he had never done a single good\ndeed his whole life long, whether great or small, accepting God's grace\nfor its own sake alone and as a gift of His loving mercy, rejecting every\nthought of trusting in his own personal preparation for it. This is\nwhat we may call the exercise of the heathen. May God help us to what\nHe has promised in the prophecy of Jeremias : \"I will give thee a lovely\nland, the goodly inheritance of the army of the Gentiles. And I said;\nThou shalt call Me Father, and shalt not cease to walk after Me.\"\nAmen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 277\n\nSlj^ JpararUtP B Suligmf ut Agatttfit tl|f Wot\\^\n\nSynopsis — We here mean hy the ivorld our own heart — The Holy\nSpirit loill condemn the hidden wickedness of refusing to avow\nour sinfulness — Also for secret self-righteousness on account of\nour good works — Again, for sitting in judgment upon our neigh-\nbor— // we meekly accept the Paraclete's judgment, He will en-\nlighten us and cleanse us unto perfection — How this is done.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.*\n\nIt is expedient to you that I go; for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to\nyou ; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And when He is come, He will convince\nthe world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment. — John xvi, 7, 8.\n\nChildren, note carefully this teaching, which tells us that if God's\nwell-loved friends and followers shall receive the Holy Ghost, then Jesus\nmust first depart from them. Depart? And how depart? It is noth-\ning less than leaving us in utter abandonment, void of comfort, inca-\npable; so that w^e become dull, heavy, cold and dark in regard to all good\ndeeds. That is what is meant by Christ's going away from us. Whoso-\never is thus placed by God, and shall learn how to take advantage of\nhis state will find it exceedingly profitable, a blessed and a Godlike gift.\nIf he but wisely abandons himself to God's will, then all his multiplicity\nis turned into unity ; in the midst of suffering he finds joy ; he is patient\nof all shame, peaceful amid strife, and he extracts sweetness out of bit-\nterness.\n\nWhen our Lord says that the Holy Ghost at His coming will con-\ndemn the world, He means that He will show us clearly whether or not\nthe world lies concealed in the depths of our soul. If He finds it there.\nHe will expose it, convict it, and condemn it. And what is the world in\nus but its methods and works and images; or again, its comforts and\njoys and sorrows, its fears and hopes and cares? Hence St. Bernard\ntells us : \"With what thou art made joyous or sad, with that thou shalt\nbe judged.\" Children, this is what the Holy Spirit will condemn in\n\n•Tauler left no sermon for the third Sunday after Easter.\n\n278 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nus — that we would never have rest nor peace except when possessed by\nthe miserable and wicked influence of the world. In whatever man\nthis tendency is found unrepressed, that is to say, joy in creatures, in\nthe same man, whether living or dead, is found what our Lord means by\nthe world. And this is, again, a plain sign that in such a soul the Holy\nGhost has not taken up His abode. For Christ has declared that when\nHe comes He will condemn all such things.\n\nHe will also condemn the world for its sins. And what sins? Now\nyou know, children, that the eternal God made all things, and that He\nhath rightly ordered all things to their proper end, just as fire is made to\ngo upward and the stone to fall downward. And in our own nature He\nhas made our eyes to see, our ears to hear, our hands to work, our feet\nto walk, and these and all our members to be obedient to our will,\nwhether hard or easy, bitter or sweet ; yea, even for life or death. And\nthis will power is perversely used by many lovers of this world, who\ngladly give up all their goods and their honor, that they may possess and\nenjoy what ministers to their fleshly indulgence. Now sinners, to\nexcuse their sloth, seem to address the Lord and say : Who is there\nnowadays, Lord, that obeys Thee truly and keeps all Thy command-\nments, who does it willingly and is content in his inmost soul to give\nup all self and all transitory things at Thy behest? Children, this sin\nwill the Holy Ghost punish when He comes; it is the sin of resisting the\nDivine will, stifling God's warning voice within, and doing it over and\nover again — this will He punish, and many a hidden wickedness besides.\nThis judgment produces in the soul a sudden sense of being condemned\nby God, a pain so sharp, a woe so unbearable that it is like the torment\nof hell, a feeling the like of which is almost unknown to the worldly\nminded, or to men who blindly follow their natural instincts. This\nfeeling is the plainest sign that the Holy Ghost is, indeed, present in the\nsoul ; and it gives us a cause of real confidence in God, for it shows the\ntrue state of things. For if a man has committed a thousand sins and\nknows them and sincerely confesses them, it is infinitely better than to\nbe guilty of one single ofifense that he will not avow, that he does not\nadmit to be sinful, and to which he continues to give himself up. O,\ndear children, be assured that any so-called spiritual man who rests\nin total self-content, who is well pleased with his state of soul and his\nmanner of living, is really in great danger and is committing offenses\nperilous to his salvation. He is a self-willed man from whom nothing\ngood can be expected.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 279\n\nAnd then the Holy Ghost will convict and punish us for the sake of\njustice or righteousness. O merciful God, how poor and contemptible is\nour justice in Thy sight ! Therefore, says St. Augustine : \"Woe to all\njustice and woe over again, if God, when He comes, will not judge our\njustice according to His mercy.\" And Isaias says: \"All our justices\nare as the rag of a menstruous woman.\" (Isaias Ixiv, 6.) And our\nI^rd thus taught His well-loved disciples : \"When you shall have done\nall these things that are commanded you, say: We are unprofitable\nservants.\" (Luke xxvii, 10.) What deception is plainer, children,\nthan that by which a man reckons himself to be what in reality he is\nnot. Many a one is so infatuated with his own way of acting, that he\nwill yield to neither God nor man; indeed, such men very carefully\nguard against giving themselves up to God. When the Divine warnings\novertake them, whether coming from God direct or through some inter-\nniediary, they pay no heed to them— unmortified men, pleasing neither\nto God nor to His creatures. But it may happen that the Holy Ghost\nvisits them with the judgment and condemnation of their spiritual\nexercises and methods ; and then such a man confesses his faults in all\nsincerity, learns in his own heart the lessons of self-denial, humility,\nand all other virtues that fit him for eternal happiness.\n\nChildren, the Holy Ghost, as our Lord tells us, will convince the\nworld of judgment. And this applies to any man who, blind to his own\nfaults, sits in judgment upon other men's faults. Our Saviour teaches :\n\"Judge not, that you may not be judged. For with what judgment you\njudge, you shall be judged, and with what measure you mete, it shall be\nmeasured to you again.\" (Matt, vii, 1-2.) Children, it has coiiie to\npass nowadays, that everybody, without exception is wanting in this\nrespect— clergy and laity, bishops, priests, monks, provincials, abbots,\nnobles and common people, these are ever judging and condemning one\nanother, and thereby building up a high wall between themselves and\nGod. Be on your guard against this failing, as you love God and His\neternal bliss. On the contrary, judge and condemn yourselves. That\nwill be of much benefit to you, and will save you from being condemned\nby the eternal God and all His blessed saints.\n\nChildren, never condemn anything whatsoever, unless it is manifestly\nand openly a grievous sin. Bite your tongue till it bleeds rather than\nspeak words in condemnation of others, be it in matters great or small.\nWhat seems evil to thee, do thou silently recommend to God's eternal\njustice. From the practice of judging one's neighbor grows up a habit\n\n280 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nof self-righteousness, pride and contempt for one's neighbor, the seed\nof Satan, by means of which many a heart is defiled. This is a sign\nthat the Holy Ghost is not really present. Who would guide the soul to\nright and timely judgment, as necessity and one's office would require.\nIt sometimes happens that in healing one wound, a man by his violent\ntemper inflicts three or four other wounds. Hard words should not be\nused in correction, but rather those of affection. One should not crush\nanother's heart ; love, all kindly and meek, should be the invariable rule\nin administering correction, whether among clergy or laity. By this\nspirit one keeps his own soul in meekness; he never loses self-control,\nbut knows in all calmness of mind what he is about, whether he be\naddressing many or few; never failing to treat others in all single-\nmindedness as he would be treated by them; setting aside in silence all\nthat does not strictly belong to the duty in hand.\n\nChildren, assume no airs of superior wisdom. Look in all simplicity\ninto your own hearts and study yourselves in body and soul. Go not\nastray after God's deep secrets, such as Divine emanation and Divine\nimmanation, the difference between being and not being, or essence of\nbeing in the soul. Christ has taught that the secret things of God are\nnot for us to know. Hold fast by the faith, the true and simple faith ;\nbelieve in one God and three Divine persons without a multiplicity of\nfine distinctions. Sabellius and Arius had wonderful imaginings about\nthe Trinity, and Solomon and Origen have transmitted to Holy Church\nwonderful disquisitions — and what has been their eternal fate? We\nknow not. Take heed to yourselves; permit no one to answer for you\nexcept yourselves. Have regard to God and His holy will; stick to the\ncalling in which God has placed you, and fulfill it truly and with a\npure intention.\n\nIf you do not know what God's will may be in any matter, then seek\ncounsel of men more enlightened by God's Holy Spirit than you are. If\nnone such are at hand, then go direct to God, and doubt not but that He\nwill give you all needed direction ; stand fast by that. But if even this\nleaves you doubtful, then diligently seek out the way most unpleasant to\nflesh and blood and to which you have the least inclination ; follow that\nto begin with, for God most certainly dwells and His grace increases in\na heart that is dead to self.\n\nNow, children, since God's well-loved disciples cannot receive the\nHoly Ghost until Christ Jesus has in this way departed from them, it\nbehooves us also to willingly prepare ourselves for that departure.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 281\n\nGive up all things for God, and without doubt God will give you Him-\nself in all things. Do that, children; do it earnestly, resting your\nthoughts in the inward life in very truth, and your reward even in this\nworld will be wonderfully great.\n\nOur Saviour also teaches, that when the Holy Ghost comes He will\nteach us all things, even future things. This does not mean that we\nshall be taught beforehand whether the corn harvest will be great or the\nprice high or low ; but that He will teach us all that is necessary for a\nperfect life. He will teach us the secret wisdom of God: that this\nworld is false, our natural lights are misguiding, that the evil spirits are\ncrafty. Children, go forward steadfastly in God's paths and with all\ndiscretion ; look well to the duties of your state of life as being God's\nmerciful vocation— be ever-faithful in this course. Do not act as some\ndo: if God would have them by their vocation cultivate the inner life,\nthey forthwith turn away to the outward life; and if He calls them to\nthe outward life, they turn obstinately to the inward life— spirits hard\nand perverse.\n\nNow, children, it is in this wise that the Holy Ghost teaches us all\ntruth when He comes to us: He reveals to us our sins as they are in\nreality, and He annihilates us in our own eyes; He shows us how to live\npurely and simply for truth and according to truth ; He teaches us how\nto sink down Avith true humility in subjection to God and all of God's\ncreatures. Is not this real knowledge? Does it not embrace in ilself\nall the knowledge and all the wisdom a man needs for perfection and\nhappiness? namely, genuine humility, deep seated in the soul. This is\nvery dififerent from the humility of some men, who humble themselves\nin words, and if you use the very same words about them, they will not\ntolerate it for an instant. This meekness is not well grounded ; there\nis little good back of it, for such people are self-absorbed. Nor can a\nman's life ever amount to anything with our Lord, unless he has real\nand heartfelt humility. May God grant us sincere subjection of soul\nunder His hand and under all His creatures. May He draw us into\nentire conformity to His holy will. May His Holy Spirit come to us\nand possess us with His grace, teaching us all the truth of His holy way\nof life. Amen.\n\n182 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — The wilfully wicked are the first class who reject the Spirit,\nbeing slaves of vice— Good men lessen His influence in their souls\nby using mechanically the outward parts of the confession and\ncommunion, nor fully adverting to the interior graces — Some suf-\nfer themselves to be deluded by fancied visions. — This often comes\nfrom mistaken thoughts about our Lord's humanity — The true\nway of meditating on Christ's humanity.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.\n\nIt is expedient to you that I go ; for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to\nyou. — John xvi, 7.\n\nMark well, dear children, to how high a place a man must be con-\nducted if he shall achieve perfect happiness. That can only come to\npass by his sincerely renouncing all those things that are most pleasing\nto human nature. From all these he must be mortified; he must let\nthem all go, no matter how good and precious they may seem to him,\nnay, even holy and spiritual. The disciples of Christ — were they not\nrequired to give up their Master in His humanit}', so full of grace, so\nholy and so beloved? And this was expedient to them, in order that\nthey might be made capable of receiving the Holy Ghost. Therefore, no\nman shall be fit to receive Divine grace whose heart is in possession of\ncreatures. Three kinds of obstacles in as many kinds of men hinder\nthe coming of the Holy Ghost.\n\nThe first class are wilfully wicked men, having their pleasures in\ncreatures against God's law; far away from God's paths are these. Of\nthese the Psalmist speaks : ''Cursed are they that depart from the way\nof the Lord\" (Ps. cxviii, 21) ; that is to say, go away from God to\ncreatures. And there are others who are really good people, but who\nare anxious about their needs, or who take over much pleasure in out-\nward things. Therefore does our Lord oppose them, saying : \"He that\nloveth his life shall lose it.\" (John xii. 25.) He means carnal love of\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 283\n\nlife; and He immediately adds: ''He that hateth his life in this world,\nkeepeth it into life eternal.\" These latter are the ones who resist and\nsuppress their disorderly appetites.\n\nThe second hindrance of good men to attaining real spirituality, is\nmisunderstanding the seven sacraments, fixing their soul too exclusively\nupon the outward signs therein, and thereby failing to obtain the full\ninward grace; for the holy sacraments are instituted to lead us to single-\nhearted truth. Thus the married life is a sign of the union of the\nDivine and the human natures in Christ, and also represents the espou-\nsals of the soul with God. Hence those who rest wholly upon the out-\nward sign in this sacrament, through their sensual understanding of it\nprevent its helping them to the eternal truth; they do not live rightly in\nthe married state.\n\nAgain, some men lean too much on the outward part of the sacrament\nof penance, on the saying of its prayers and on the confession of sin,\nnot going down into its very truth. To admonish these our Saviour\nsaid ; ''He that is washed, needeth not but to wash his feet, but is clean\nwholly.\" (John xiii, 10.) Which means that when a man has washed\nhis soul once by a good confession, being deeply penitent and honestly\nconfessing all his sins, he need not suppose he must keep on repenting\nhis old sins, already repented of, already confessed. Let him tell his\ndaily venial sins ; let him, as it were, wash his feet from the petty faults\nof life as his conscience reproves him, and thereby he shall be made\nclean wholly.\n\nAnd good men are often burdened by the outward customs they\nobserve in receiving our Lord in holy Communion. They have so many\noutward devotions that these consume their interior fervor. The true\nsacramental state is an interior Idnging for God and an interior union\nwith Him, and not a union in appearance only. Hence some do not\nreceive this sacrament properly, for this and all sacraments lead us to\nGod in all simplicity of truth.\n\nWe' must realize that God is to be rightly adored by all men, in all\nstates of life, and at all times. Now whosoever would rightly adore the\nheavenly Father, must set his soul into solitude, and give himself up to\nhis longing for God, and have steadfast confidence in Him ; and this con-\ndition belongs to the highest part of the soul. When thus placed, the\nspirit of a man rests oblivious to time and to bodily life. St. Paul bids\nU8 ever to rejoice, give thanks to God without ceasing and always to pray.\nTo pray without ceasing is to do all one's works in God's love, mean-\n\n284 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nwhile renouncing all self-gratulation in them, and at the same time to\nbow down humbly before God, and give up our souls freely to His influ-\nence. When these dispositions are united together in the highest fac-\nulties of the soul, then is the soul spiritualized. It then cleaves to God\nwith perfect union of its will. It becomes, as it were, divinized, and\nthen a man begins first to have the right and true adoration of God,\nfor he has attained the end for which he was created.\n\nNow there are some, yes, there are many, who do not adore the Father\nrightly and in truth. For as often as we pray to God on account simply\nof benefiting by creatures, we pray to our own injury. The creature is\nwhat it is — a creature, and can only bring with it bitterness, hurt and\nevil. Men who pray for created things, without any spiritual intention,\nare rightly served when they suffer misery ; they have implicitly prayed\nfor the infliction they now endure. Whosoever seeks God and seeks\nanything else with Him, will not find Him. Whosoever seeks God alone\nin all sincerity, will find Him and all besides that God may give.\n\nMany good men are hindered from their perfection, because they rest\nin a deluded spirit upon the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, by\nwhich means they give themselves up too much to visions. They see\nin spirit angels or men, or the humanity of Christ ; and they believe the\nwords the}' think are spoken to them, assuring them that they are God's\nfavorites, or that certain persons have committed sins or practiced\nvirtues, or that God is going to do something by their means. By all of\nwhich they are often deceived, for whatsoever God does, He does by His\ngoodness; he has no need of creatures. Hence our Lord said to His\ndisciples: \"It is expedient to you that I go.\" This was because He\nwould lead them to higher perfection. Even His humanity was a\nhindrance to them, because they cleaved to it with inordinate pleasure.\nThey must follow God in all their ways, and His humanity should lead\nthem to His Godhead. Christ said : \"I am the way, and the truth, and\nthe life. No man cometh to the Father but by Me.\" (John xiv, 6.)\nHence those men are much mistaken who flatter themselves that they\ncan do anything good of themselves. Jesus Himself said : \"From God\nI proceeded and came; for I came not of Myself.\" (John viii, 42.)\n\nW^e must adore the humanity of Christ only on account of its union\nwith the Godhead. The man Christ is truly God, and God is truly man.\nLet us not concern ourselves with any creature; let us be absorbed in\nGod, in our Lord Jesus Christ, who alone is our way to the Father.\nAnd yet even where we have entered mentally upon the way of truth\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 285\n\nthat Christ is, even yet, I sa}-, we are not perfectl}- happy, although we\nhave caught sight of Divine truth. For as a matter of fact, when we\nonly contemplate an object we are not yet made one with it, nor can\nthis take place while it remains in our understanding associated with\nanything else. Because where there is only one, then only one is seen ;\nand hence we cannot see God except in blindness, nor know Him except\nin unknowing. \"No soul can come to God,\" says St. Augustine, \"except\nit goes to Him without creatures, and tastes Him as an incomparable\nsweetness.\"\n\nBecause the soul is a creature, therefore must it give itself up and go\nout of itself in the moment of contemplation ; yea, even give up for the\nmoment the contemplation of all the angels and saints. These are all\nbut creatures, and taken in themselves can only interfere with the\nsoul's Divine union. When the soul stands free and in need of nothing\nwhatsoever, then it can come to God, as it were, resembling Himself;\nfor nothing helps union so well as resemblance. As soon as the soul\ntakes on the Divine colors, as it may be expressed, so soon does God\ngrant Himself to the soul's powers, and then the soul grows in a Divine\nresemblance, and is, if we dare say so, tinted and shaded with the\ncolors of the Divinity. The image is in the soul's powers, the resem-\nblance is in its virtues, the Divine coloring is in the union. And thus\nwhat we may call God-coloring becomes so intimate, that the soul seems\nno longer to act in the form of a creature, but in the divinely colored\nform of its union with God. And while the soul is in a state of contem-\nplation of God and has grown into this yet closer union with Him., and\nafter He is yet more deeply poured into the soul's depths and has drawn\nit wholly to Himself, then it happens that there remains no power in the\nsoul to know what sort of a being it is now to consider itself to be;\nyet meanwhile God holds it in its place as a creature. Thus it is that\nthe light of grace expels from thee the light of nature; for the higher\nthe soul is elevated in the knowledge that the light of grace gives, the\ndarker grows the light of nature. If the soul will know the very truth,\nlet it consider whether or not it be withdrawn from all things, whether or\nnot it is lost to itself, loves God with real love, and is not hindered from\nHim by anything whatsoever; and finally whether or not He alone\nlives within it. If the soul can answer rightly to all this, then it has\nlost Christ, as His mother Mary lost Him in the temple, as He tarried\nin the school of His Father'^'s highest doctrine, and seemed no longer to\nthink of even His mother — only to find Him again, as she did, in greater\n\n286 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\njoy. Thus it is with that noble soul that goes to school to the Godhead,\nthere to learn what God is in relation to the humanity of Christ. There,\ntoo, it learns to know the most adorable will of God. That man is most\nperfectly God's man, who does all and loves all and wills all in the\nwill of His heavenly Father. That we may all come to this happy\nstate and be freed from every hindrance thereto, may God grant us.\nAmen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 2S7\n\nliifg Prayer ia V!tl|out Jl^rutt\n\nHynopsis — The first and greatest gift we should ask is love; and then\nguidance as to how to pray; after that we should calmly but\nclosely look into our good thoughts — Prayer is made fruitless by\ndisordered interior affections — Before Ood's love comes in all\nother love must go out, or be ready to be sanctified — Interior re-\nsentments hinder good prayer, and often stifle even the graces of\nHoly Communion — Discouragement after faults is a serious hin-\ndrance to fruitful prayer — The example of the prayer of Lazarus,\nthe beggar.\n\nSERMON FOR THE ROGATION DAYS.\n\nWhich of you shall have a friend, aud shall go to him at midnight, and shall\nsay to him : Friend, lend me three loaves ; because a friend of mine Is come off\nhis jouruej' to me, and I have not what to set before him. And he from within\nshould answer, and say : Trouble me not, the door is now shut, and my children\nare with me in bed ; I cannot rise and give to thee. Yet if he shall continue knock-\ning. I say to you, although he will not rise and give to him because he is his\nfriend ; yet, because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he\nneedeth. — Luke xi. .5-9.\n\nThis is part of our Lord's teaching about how we should pray. And he\ninunediately adds: \"And I say to you : At«k. and it shall be given you;\nseek, and you shall find ; knock, aud it shall be opened to you. For every\none that asketh, receiveth ; and he that seeketh, findeth ; and to him that\nknocketh. it shall be opened.\" Now let us consider the difference\nbetween asking, seeking and knocking. Asking means the turning of\na really interior man to God, begging some favor with deep sincerity.\nSeeking is praying for something because we have a particularly earnest\nlonging to posses it more than other things. Knocking means con\nstancy in one's petition, never giving up till one has obtained what he\nasks for.\n\nVenerable Bede explains this teaching thus : \"The friend spoken of by\nour Lord is the soul of man, which, having strayed away into distant\nand foreign lands of unspiritual thoughts, returns again and again to\nitself hungry and thirsty after all good, and finds nothing granted to it.\nThen that soul turns to its friend, namely. God, and, standing before\n\n288 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nHis door, prays and knocks, begging three loaves of Him, meaning the\nknowledge of the Holy Trinity. He that is within excuses Himself, and\nsays that He has gone to bed and so have His servants; and these\nservants mean God's appointed teachers, who are absorbed with Him\nin a state of holy contemplation. But the soul, standing without at the\ndoor, perseveres, and it continues to knock, until He that is within at\nlast arises and gives him what he desires.\" He gives him His answer\nby means of teachers, or by directly teaching him without any interme-\ndiary. And this is why Christ said : \"Ask, and it shall be given you ;\nseek, and you shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened to you.\"\n\nHere we may remark God's unspeakable goodness; for He grants us\ngladly just for the asking, and He earnestly bids us ask, exhorts us to\ndo so, and teaches us how. But His gifts are not granted to the sloth-\nful, but to earnest askers and to those who persevere in their petitions.\n\nAnd what shall we ask? Love. When one sets himself to pray,\nwhen he calls home his wandering thoughts and banishes all distrac-\ntions, then let him with genuine humility cast himself at God's feet and\ncrave love as an alms from the Divine charity ; let him knock at the door\nof his Father's heart, and beg as a gift the bread of love. If one had\nall the food in the world except bread, his meals would be tasteless and\nunprofitable. So is it with regard to all things without Divine love.\n\nAgain, let a man beg God's guidance as to how he shall pray. Ask\nof God that prayer that pleases Him best, that kind of interior exercise\nthat will serve thy soul's best interests. After having done that, accept\nwhatsoever devout thoughts come before thee, whether they be of the\nGodhead simply, of the blessed Trinity, or of the sufferings and the\nwounds of our Lord.\n\nKemember that all are not able to pray wholly with spiritual acts of\nthe mind, for many must pray with words. Dear child, pray to our\nLord as thou canst, with all possible pious and Divine words, and thou\nShalt find thy heart and mind enraptured with joy. And pray to thy\nheavenly Father, that through the merits of His only begotten Son He\nwill present His own blessed self to thy soul as the object of thy worship,\nin whatever manner is most pleasing to Him. Then when thou findest\nany manner or method of praying very productive of devotion and most\npleasing to thee, stick to that — whether it be the sorrowful thought of\nthy sins, or anything else whatsoever. Our T^ord's way for us to ^eek\nand to find, is seeking and finding the grace to do His will and to best\nserve our neighbor. Knock at that door with all persistence: he that\nperseveres shall be granted the crown.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 289\n\nOur Saviour says : \"And which of you, if he ask his father bread, will\nhe give him a stone? Or a fish — will he for a fish give him a serpent?\nOr if he shall ask an egg, will be reach him a scropion? If you then,\nbeing evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more\nwill your Father in Heaven give the good spirit to them that ask Him ?\"\n(Luke xi, 11-13.) Now, the gift of a fish may be taken to mean confi-\ndence in God, and the gift of an egg may signify living faith.\n\nBut if truth itself says, ''Ask and you shall receive,\" how does it hap-\npen that so many men are asking their lives long and the living bread is\nnever given them? And yet we know that God is unspeakably kind and\na thousand times more ready to grant than man is to receive His favors.\nThey utter the same devout prayers every day — Pater Nosters, the psal-\nter, and other prayers taught us by the Holy Spirit, and yet they are not\nheard. There must be some great cause for this, and it is a wonderful\nthing. Children, I will reveal it to you : Your inmost hearts, your love\nand your intention are all in the possession of some alien alTection.\nWhatever it may be that you expend your love upon, the living or the\ndead, yourself or your kindred, that holds possession of your heart, it\noccupies the place that true Divine love should occupy, that love which\nis God's bread of life. Pray and ask as you like, and as much as you\nlike, and it is all in vain. Hence Hugo of St. Victor teaches : \"That a\nman can live without some love or other is as impossible as thai he can\nlive without a soul.\"\n\nLet each one study carefully his own case. Remember that before\none love can come in, the other love must go out. See to it at once, says\nSt. Augustine, that thou art filled with the right love. Men come with\ntheir worldly hearts to God, hearts preoccupied in their inmost depths,\nand when they pray and ask, the heavenly bread is not given them. Is\nthis God's fault? If they get a stone instead of bread, is it not their\nown stony heart, dry and cold, from which all devotion and grace are\nabsent? They read many good books, and they enjoy them, but what\nthey read does not open the springs of grace in their souls. As a man\ndoes his daily task of work and sleeps and wakes and works again and\nover again, so does he pray, and all in the same routine spirit; and he\nthinks that that is enough. Meanwhile his heart is as hard as a mill-\nstone, and is not any more capable of being softened or broken. If you\nhappen to propose anything to him that he does not like, whether to do\nor not to do, you soon find that you are beating upon a heart of stone.\nDear child, beware of this hardness of spirit. And have little to say to\nsuch a man ; deliver thy message in one word and lly from him ; let it\n\n290 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nbe our Lord's: Yea, yea, or no, no. Take care lest such a one cast\nhis stone at thy head — avoid it, be on thy guard, never answer hiia with\nhard words, shut thy lips tight and raise thy heart to God : Do this, I\nbeseech thee, and do it for God's sake. Always be like a meek and\ngentle lamb in dealing with those who oppose thee. Be silent, be\npatient, keep a close watch on thy feelings. Stoniness of soul often lies\nhidden for a long time, until in some way or other one becomes con-\nscious of it.\n\nLet me assure you that when I find these men harboring hidden hate\nand resentment and refusing to give it up, I will not allow them to\nreceive the Lord's body. There are many who go to confession for\ntwenty or thirty years, and never do it rightly, nor are every rightly\nabsorbed, and yet always afterwards receive the blessed Sacrament —\na most distressing, a most terrible thing. The Pope himself, who has\nthe highest power in Christendom, could not validly absolve such men.\nThe oftener they receive holy communion, and the more they pray and\ndo good works, the harder and stonier grow their hearts, and the blinder\nand duller do they become; they fancy that all is well with them, for\nthey are trusting to the outward good deeds they do. Better do no\ngood thing, than to approach our Lord in communion without quitting\ntheir sinful state and curing the cause of it. Be sure of this : God will\nnever allow such conduct to go unpunished ; He will visit it with penal-\nties, not only for the soul's pain, but also for the body's — they will\nreceive a serpent instead of a fish.\n\nChildren, another bad trait in these men is their tendency to rash\njudgment. The serpent instills his poison into them, and they spit it\nout upon their neighbor by making little of his good deeds and by\ndestroying his reputation, their evil work extending in all directions.\nThey never consider their own state of sin, but watch and count their\nneighbor's sins, often playing their snake-like part by injecting their\npoison secretly. Be on your guard against this; judge yourselves, and\njudge nobody else.\n\nAnd, again, such men have received a scorpion instead of an egg;\nthat is to say, they are deluded about themselves and cultivate a false\nconfidence in their supposed virtue ; and they despise others. Why, they\nask, shall not I get on as well as such and such others? Do not I pray,\nand read pious books, and sing pious hymns, and live as well as they do?\nJust as the scorpion shows no venom with his mouth, and yet stings with\nhis tail. Such is the case with those whose confidence is misplaced and\nfalsely grounded. And what happens when they begin to realize that\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 291\n\nthey are wrong? They fall into despair, and they are stung with death's\npoisonous sting, and are lost eternally.\n\nChildren, this comes from the dreadful failure to take true account of\nwhat is going on in the interior of the soul, and what offenses against\nGod we have committed. Children, it is for this reason that somo sins\nare reserved for absolution to the Pope, some to specially appointed con-\nfessors and to bishops. This is by no means done foolishly, but that men\nmay learn the difference between various kinds of sins, think of them\nmore intelligently, and thereby have greater sorrow for them and guard\nmore carefully against committingthem. Children, did you but know\nhow horrible a sin it is to drink the precious blood of Christ our God-\nblood poured out for love of us— while the soul is in this wicked state,\nyou would be ready to expire with grief. It is for this reason that in\nsome monasteries it is the rule to receive communion only once in three\nweeks, so that each one may have full time rightly to prepare for this\ngreat banquet, and that it may have full opportunity to complete its\ngood results within him. But as to you, you should stimulate your\nhearts to ardent longings to receive holy communion, and establish a\ncustom of often doing so. Pray to our Lord that He take this prepara-\ntion of thy soul into His own hands. Live kindly disposed toward all\nbe inclined to the interior life, be humble to all men, and be detached\nfrom created things.\n\nA certain master was once asked, how it pleased him that certain\npersons wished to receive our Lord oftener than was the custom in their\ncommunity. He answered: \"May our Lord God be praised, and may\nwe rejoice in our hearts that there are any who long and yearn after God\nin this manner; the inmates of whatever monastery that has them,\nshould most earnestly help them to enjoy this privilege.\" But such ai\nthese should carefully abstain from thinking that those who act differ-\nently are worse than they are. For others there are who often abstain\nfrom motives of humility, deeming themselves unworthv of so high a\nfavor. And if it should happen that anyone sits in judgment on thee,\nand, as it were, throws stones of condemnation at thee in the shape of\nhard words, let this be to thee as if it came direct upon thee from God\nHimself.\n\nAnd there are other stones : As when a man is sincerelv detached\nfrom this world and longs for God with all his heart, and yet his soul\nremains hard and dry,.cold and dull.If thou art thus afflicted, then I bid\nthee stand carefully on thy guard, suffer this spiritual dryness patiently,\nand willingly continue in it. Take heed lest thou seek a solace for it in\n\n292 The Sermons and Sfiiritual Conferences\n\nsome alien comfort, which, indeed, can only result in interior disorder.\nStay at home in thy desolate heart. Attack thy faults, condemn thyself\nseverely for them with resolute courage, chastise thyself hard. And if\nthis judgment of God rests on thee a whole year long, all the better.\nKeep on stoning thy guilty self in God's presence.\n\nAnd just the same shouldst thou do immediately that thou art con-\nscious of having committed some fault. Confess it to God without any\ndelay. And if this defect escapes thy mind when thou dost make thy\nconfession to the priest, be sure that thy sincere repentance more than\ncompensates for this lapse of memory, for the sacrament of confession\nis given to Holy Church primarily for the remission of mortal sins; and\none should not be distressed with doubts in any venial matters. It\nmay be that thou shalt imagine that the devout exercises of thy voca-\ntion hinder thy spiritual progress ; such exercises, I mean, as assisting\nin choir, and the usual works done by obedience to rule. But this is a\ndelusion. Be by no means diverted from keeping thy rule, for disorder\nin this respect would be the real hindrance to thy progress. If thou\nshouldst yield to this error, it would show that the actual cause of thy\ntrouble is that thy love of God is not disinterested, that thy resolutions\nhave not been made with purity of intention, and that thou art in reality\npreoccupied with alien things, and art become thy own real hindrance.\n\nJesus once said: \"I am the door. By Me, if any man enter in, he\nshall be saved.\" (John x, 9.) Now it is on three parts of this door\nthat a man must knock if he would be surely let in. First, he must\nknock at our Lord Jesus Christ's heart, which is invitingly offered him,\nand which was cut in two after His death. And when he enters in, let\nhim do so with profound reverence, avowing his utter poverty, his abso-\nlute nothingness ; let him take pattern by poor Lazarus who lay at the\nrich man's door; let him crave the crumbs that fall from the table of\nGod's grace. The grace that will be granted thee will change thee into\na divinely supernatural being.\n\nThe second knock must be on the holy wounds in our Redeemer's\nblessed hands, wounds ever open to thee. This knock is to obtain real\nGodlike knowledge, which will be like His wounded hands guiding thee\nand lifting thee upwards. Then knock on the door of His holy feet,\nbegging the gift of true Divine love, whereby thou shalt be united to\nHim, sunk into Him, enclosed within Him. That we may all pray thus,\nasking and seeking and knocking, and that we may all be called within,\nmay God grant us. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 293\n\n991^11 (HlirtHt l|ibratliB Mm\n\nSynopsis — Both by outward authority and interior voices Christ re-\nproaches us for our shortcomings — Slowness to believe Him im-\nplicitly is one fault: nien believe unthout relishing the truth —\nThis arises from ill-Ordered affection for created things — Another\nfault is preferring the outer to the inner ways of serving Ood —\nDisdain of weaker brethren is also offensive to Him — Richard\nof St. Victor's four degrees of love.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF THE ASCENSION.\n\nAt length He appeared to the eleven as they were at table ; and He upbraided\nthem with their incredulity and hardness of heart, because they did not believe\nthem who had seen Him after He was risen again. — Mark xvi, 14.\n\nThis reproach of our dear Lord is spoken every day, and it is directed\nagainst men of all conditions who have hard and unbelieving hearts.\nBut it is especially meant for members of approved religious orders, or\nothers in like state of life. The message sometimes comes to them from\nour Lord through His appointed teachers, sometimes by the inner voice\nof conscience, if men would but hearken to it. All pereons in this state\nof life well deserve to be reproached, if they are hard of heart and\nunready to believe, for it is a favor exceptionally great that they should\nbe called by God to so high a spiritual vocation; it is something for\nwhich they should thank God sincerely and love Him fervently.\n\nOur Saviour upbraids these men for their hardness of heart and in-\ncredulity, but they receive His reproof ungraciously. Would that they\nacknowledged their fault ; then they would be open to good advice. St.\nJames teaches: \"Faith without works is dead.\" (James ii, 26.) If\nthey, in answer, quote our Lord : \"He that believeth and is baptized\nshall be saved\" (Mark xvi, 16), and add that they make professions of\ntheir faith with their mouth, they are silenced by St. Paul : \"Know you\nnot that all we who are baptized in Christ Jesus are baptized in His\ndeath?\" (Rom. vi, 3.) And St. Augustine teaches : \"That is not true\nfaith which stops at the mouth alone, and does not go on to God with\n\n294 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nliving love and good works.\" Our lack of faith clearly appears if any-\nthing suits us better than God, or if we cannot truly say : Thou art my\nGod, and nothing is well with me except in Thee. These men have, in\nfact, fallen off from a real and living faith; and this is true of them,\nthough they have the name of spiritual men and have been under God's\ninfluence, even supernaturally, sleeping or waking, and have been\nadmonished by Him in their inmost soul.\n\nIt is an awful thing that when our Lord has upbraided them for\nhardness of heart and has called out unto them, they yet do not relish\nDivine things. They have no taste for their prayers and spiritual prac-\ntices, whereas other things give them great pleasure. Their hearts are\nsoft to many things, but are stony enough to God. Of such as these —\nif God will save them — the Lord spoke by His prophet: \"And ) will\ntake away the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart\nof flesh.\" (Ezech. xi, 19.)\n\nAnd let us ask what makes these men's hearts hard? Why are they\nso dry and cold about all good works, or only do them by a sort of out-\nward observance? It is because their heart cherishes something that\nis not God, and continues in that state in spite of our Lord's admoni-\ntion. Of this He spoke by Jeremias : \"Be astonished, O ye heavens, at\nthis, and ye gates thereof be very desolate, saith the Lord. For My\npeople have done two evils. They have forsaken Me, the fountain of\nliving water, and have digged to themselves cisterns — broken cisterns,\nthat can hold no water.\" ( Jer. ii, 12-13.) What comes into the cistern\nof their heart is foul and dirty rain water. They have nothing of God\nin their hearts, and that is the great evil that God, through the prophet,\nlaments in the sight of Heaven and earth.\n\nAnd of what people does he complain? Alas, it is of His own people,\nmen in spiritual states of life. These are the ones who have forsaken\nthe fountain of living water that God is. In their interior they have\nlittle left of light and life. They remain in their external observances\nand methods, clinging to the outward part and not at all penetrating to\nthe inner meaning, from which alone all good must spring forth. And\neven their external conformity slips away from them as soon as it ceases\nto please. At best, all their spirituality consists in their observances,\nand these they have undertaken according to their own way of thinking.\nThey never turn to the interior life ; for that they have no thirst, and\nin their souls its waters do not spring up. If they go through their\noutward routine, they are content and all is well with them, in their\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 295\n\nown opinion. They are satisfied with their broken cistern; its waters\nare good enough for them, but God is not sweet to them, and they drink\nnot from His living waters. They lie down at night, they rise in the\nmorning, always following their old-established devotional customs — in\nthem they rest, for with them they are pleased. The Lord says of them\nby the prophet that they have done unchastely and have become unclean,\nbecause they have forsaken Him, the fountain of living water, and\ndigged to themselves broken cisterns. The foulness of these cisterns is\nin their adhering to external practices without the inward spirit —\ninward, indeed, are found only pride, self-will and stiff-neckedness.\n\nAs to their neighbor, they have no love nor any kindly feelings for\nhim, and they speak injurious words, uttering them against him regard-\nless of circumstances of time and place. Many of them would, indeed,\nhelp their neighbor, but it is with rash zeal; like one who, in striving to\nput out the fire in his neighbor's house, sets fire to and burns his own —\nhe has enough of destructive zeal in him to burn two or three houses\nif he had the opportunity. If some poor, afflicted soul comes to them,\nthey call him a bad man or a silly creature. Ah, you are good cisterns,\nindeed ! If your desert waste of hearts flowed with living waters, you\nwould make no distinction of persons. There would be no belittling of\nothers, nor harsh judgments, nor oppressive treatment, if God's love\nwere in your souls. And in all these cisterns the muddy waters arc ever\ngrowing more foul.\n\nIt sometimes happens that these cisterns are men of cultivated minds,\nspeaking high things, having fine intelligence. As those just treated of\nare self-satisfied with their outward appearance of good works, so are\nthese proud of their noble words and their elevated thoughts. What,\nthink you, will be their fate when the storm of wrath overtakes them\nand sweeps them away, them and all their vain conceits — these miser-\nable plagues of humanity? Then will be heard such lamentation as is\nalmost incredible; and it will come from men who made a parade of\nexternal holiness in works and words, and within were void of all living\nvirtue, cisterns into which all filth had been cast. One blow from\nSatan's axe and the ruin is complete; all is scattered abroad, not a drop\nof good is found within, and the outward show is broken to pieces.\n\nChildren, you will one day remember what I have said to you, though\nit be only in the other world. I know perfectly well that this false show\nof virtue is common enough among all those men who, though in devout\nstates of life, cling to external virtue only, blindly practicing the out-\n\n296 The Sermons and Spii'itual Conferences\n\nward good without the inward spirit. And I know that many Chris-\ntiana living in the world in the state of matrimony, as well as many\nwidows, far surpass in virtue such pretended spiritual men. May God\nin His mercy convert them in their last hours. And if He does, then\ndoubtless they will suffer an incredibly severe and prolonged purgatory,\nfar removed from the joy of God's presence. I beseech you for the love\nof God, children, to examine your soul's interior motives with every\npossible vigilance. Be kind and gentle, be subject to God and to every\ncreature, for of you does God complain to earth and Heaven and all His\ncreation. To Heaven — that means all good and heavenly hearts; for\nevery good man is God's paradise. The wicked come close to Heaven\nand never enter in. The greatest torment of the damned, is the cer-\ntainty that they shall never enter Heaven.\n\nOur Lord says to the soul through His prophet : \"Thou hast prosti-\ntuted thyself to many lovers ; nevertheless return to Me, saith the Lord,\nand I will receive thee.\" (Jer. iii, 1.) This means: Come to Me, O\nsoul, and I will pour into thee the living waters of holy sorrow — if thou\nwilt only come to Me in whole-hearted sincerity. Adore the boundless\nand unspeakable mercy of God. See how gladly He helps us, if we are\nbut willing to be helped, how affectionately He receives us, if we will\nbut return to Him. But the Lord has said to those who will not\nreturn : \"Therefore will I yet contend in judgment with you\" (Jer. ii, 9) .\nIs not that to be a fearful contention; and do we not know who will\nget the upper hand ? Take care lest He does not at the last say to thee\nthat thou art not of His sheep. For His sheep hear His voice, and the\nvoice of strangers they hear not nor go after them.\n\nAjid what is the \"prostitution with many lovers\" of which the Lord\nspeaks? Taken in a spiritual sense, it means — if it be no worse —\ndelivering one's soul up to a sort of devotional sensuality, being quite\nseduced by the sweetness in the external forms and figures of religion.\nFor the sake of all this does the soul depart from that chaste service of\nGod, which alone is sincere because it is interior.\n\nBut return to Me, He says, and I will give you living water. This\nHe tells of in two places in the gospel : \"If any man thirst, let him come\nto Me, and drink. He that believeth in Me, as the scripture saith:\nOut of his belly shall flow rivers of living water\" (John vii, 37, 38) ; and\nagain to the woman at the well : \"He that shall drink of the water that\nI shall give him, shall not thirst forever;\" He had previously said to\nher : \"If thou didst know the gift of God, and who He is that saith to\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 297\n\nthee : Give me to drink ; thou perhaps wouldst have asked of Him, and\nHe would have given thee living water\" (John iv, 10, and 13, 14) . And\nnow when the woman asked Him for this water. He refused her. And\nHe showed her why, by revealing to her His knowledge of her living in\nunlawful union with a certain man. As if to say : Before I give thee\nthe waters of Divine grace, cleanse the cistern of thy soul from sin,\nstudy thy wickedness, and come to Me and confess thy sin humbly and\ncompletely — only then shall the waters of life be thine. When He told\nher that she had lived unlawfully with five men, it was as if He spoke\nof the five senses, which the sinful soul uses for forbidden purposes.\nThis makes it unworthy of the living springs of God's love. As thus:\nBe converted from thy disorderly life, return to Me, and I will receive\nthee.\n\nThe Lord spoke thus by the prophet: \"My Beloved had a vineyard\non a hill in a fruitful place. And he fenced it in, and picked the stones\nout of it, and planted it with the choicest vines, and built a tower in the\nmidst thereof, and set up a wine-press therein; and He looked that it\ntahould bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes\" (Isaias\nv, 1, 2). God addressed this to the people of Israel, but it applies to\nall people to the end of the world. To every unfaithful soul He says :\nThou hast become bitter to Me; I planted thee a vineyard of choicest\nvines, and from them only sour wine has come forth — bad deeds are the\nresult of all my care for thee. And therefore I will contend in judg-\nment with thee — unless thou art converted to Me and ask for the living\nwaters of My love.\n\nRichard of St. Victor, a great master of spiritual doctrine, speaks of\nthis living water as being four degrees of love. The first degree is\nwounded love. God wounds the soul with a stroke c f true love, and it\nis thus He grants it the living waters of grace. And then the soul in\nturn wounds God with its stroke of love. For the Lord thus speaks to\nthe bride in the Canticles: \"Thou hast wounded My heart, My sister.\nMy spouse, thou hast wounded My heart with one of thy eyes, and with\none hair of thy neck\" (Cant, iv, 9). Here the word eye means an eager\nglance of the intelligence, resting on God and on Him alone ; and the\nword hair means pure and unalloyed love. And it is thus that God\nmay be said to be wounded.\n\nThe second degree is captive love, as it is described by the prophet:\n\"I will draw them by the cords of Adam\" (Osee xi, 4).\n\nThe third is a fainting love, described by the words of the bride in\nthe Canticles: \"I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my\n\n298 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nbeloved, that you tell Him that I languish with love\" (Cant, v, 8) . The\nfourth degree is a devouring love: \"My soul hath fainted after Thy\nsalvation ; and in Thy word I have very much hoped\" (Ps. cxviii, 81) .\n\nTo illustrate wounded love, I ask you to consider a merchant sailing\nabout in a ship, his heart all wounded with desire of profit; here and\nthere and everywhere he gathers his cargo till his ship is filled. Thus\nacts the soul : it gathers into itself all imaginations of its beloved, and\nis filled with thoughts of Him, is absorbed in devout practices in honor\nof the beloved one. And thus laden, the ship of the soul starts home-\nward— a strong ship and able to withstand the storm. The wind that\nwafts the ship is love, driving it home into the Godhead, all prosperously\nand according to its longing desires. The rudder is deep down in the\nocean that is God.\n\nBut the wound in the soul is ever aching — the more God is granted to\nthe soul the more the soul longs for Him. What seems perfect love\nturns out not so; it creates new powers of loving and receiving and\nenjoying God, new emptiness to be filled ; new wounds of love are ever\nopening. And now the second degree of love begins. The Lord cuts\nin twain the cable by which He drew the ship onward. That is to say,\nhe casts the soul adrift and leaves it to the mercy of the storm, break-\ning the rudder and the oars and all that could steady it — leaving, in a\nword, a man imprisoned helplessly in love, yet abandoned seemingly by\nGod, wholly unable to guide or help himself. And this is captive love.\nIn the first degree He is like a knight sorely wounded in battle, and yet\nable to escape. But if he is too helpless to escape, then he is made a\nprisoner and is no longer his own master. And thus it is with love's\ncaptive in the second degree. He has no control over either thought or\naction : all this he must perforce yield up to the control of the beloved\nwith no other law but love. May God grant us true love. May He\nenable us to give up all our own cisterns, so that into our souls the\nwaters of true love may be generously poured. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 299\n\nSynopsis — Inordinate love of creatures is the first, which is ended only\nafter remorse and painful penance — The second is the lamentable\ncaptivity of good men hy self-love, self-interested motives and self-\nindulgence — The third affects bright minds, dazzled and often\nperverted hy intellectual self-conceit — The going astray aftei'\nthe sweetness of devotion is another and a pitiful enslavement —\nThe fifth is the delusion that increase in holiness is due to one's\nown exertions, not attributing both our activity and our power\nof suffering to Ood's grace alone.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF THE ASCENSION.\nAscending on high, He led captivity captive. — Eph, iv, 8.\n\nThere are five kinds of captivity in this life, and they are very hard ;\nbut Christ has taken us out of them all, if He has spiritually ascended in\nour souls.\n\nThe first is our enslavement to creatures, whether living or dead,\nunless our captivity to them be on God's account. This arises from\nhuman love, a very intimate power of our nature on account of our\nkinship to one another. The injury done us is quite beyond descrip-\ntion, and is twofold. One class know themselves to be involved in it,\ndread it, suffer deep pain of mind, offer hard resistance and suffer\nkeenly; all this is a good sign that they are not abandoned by God.\nGod leaves such a soul in its misery day and night, whether eating or\ndrinking. But when its ears are not shut to Him, soon a happier state\nis reached.\n\nThe other class of men are in this hurtful captivity of attachment to\ncreatures, and abide in it with all security of feeling, wholly deaf and\nblind to their misery. They live on quite free from anxiety, and must\nhave themselves reckoned as pious men. They do many good things,\nsing and read piously, or keep the rule of silence; they serve and pray\nmuch. Their purpose, however, by all this is that they may be approved\nas devout souls by their fellows, and may have some feeling of being\n\nSOO The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nright with God. How dangerous a state : for all the time it is the evil\none who guides them, keeping them in captivity. And, besides, their\nnatural vagaries mislead them, and they are assailed by grievous temp-\ntations. It were better for a man in this state that he quit praying as\nhe does, for he prays for what is against his own best interests — far\nbetter that he sank into oppression of soul and woe and sorrow. This\nwould much sooner lead him to a release from his deadly captivity ; for\nhe is under the power of Satan, and is in danger of dying so and being\neternally lost.\n\nThe second captivity is that of men who have, indeed, been released\nfrom the slavish love of creatures and external things, but have then\nfallen into the slavery of self-love. And it is marvelous how virtuous\nthis seems, and how complacently they regard it. No one reproves\nthem for it, least of all do they reproach themselves. They are arrayed\nin seeming beauty of virtue — not a word can be said against them.\nAnd yet they seek themselves in everything — self-love guides them to\nseek their own personal advantage, enjoyment, consolation and honor.\nThey are so deep sunk in self that they seek self in everything, even in\nGod. Getting to the bottom of this evil, what shall we find in a state\nso false and yet so well-seeming? How hard it is to help men so self-\nindulgent, and yet so full of reasons and methods — how can they be\nfreed from captivity? Who can help one who is piously absorbed in\nmere nature? Surely none but God alone. Such a man finds a thou-\nsand things necessary — his needs are everywhere and about everything,\nand his health is so delicate. Touch anything of his, his room, a\nfriend, his goods, his honor, interfere in the least with his comfort, and\nhe offends God with a furious outburst of passionate words or even\ndeeds, sometimes by detraction and calumny. He is no longer a man —\nhe is rather a snarling dog, a savage wolf. How lamentable is the\ncaptivity of self-love !\n\nThe third captivity is that of the intelligence, and some men are\nsorely injured by it. Whatsoever their brains can produce turns to\ntheir hurt. They glory in learning, in knowledge of doctrine, in their\nbright understanding, and their talent for speaking. It all lifts them\nup high and honorable — but it never changes for the better their mode\nof living, nor leads to good works. Even the sweet image of our Lord\nthey view only from reason's standpoint. If they attempt to discourse\nin the supernatural spirit, it is in strong contrast with what is the real\nspirit. Their mind, compared to the spiritual mind, is like a candle\n\nof John Tanler, the Illuminated Doctor 301\n\ncompared to the noonday sun — so much less is natural light than Divine\nlight. The former shines forth outwardly in pride, self-assurance,\nseeking the applause of men, judging others. The Divinely enlightened\nreason, on the contrary, is full of real truth, tramples all self-seeking\nunder foot. A true man rates himself the least of all, the meanest and\nfeeblest and blindest. And this is plain fact, for what else is man face\nto face with God ? And such a man looks ever inward and away from\nthe outer world, seeking God in his inmost soul, in which he is begotten\nto God, and into which he is ever ready to hasten with all si>eed. A\nDivinely enlightened man sinks down deep in search of the root of life\nfrom which he has sprung. And his quest is full of energy. Hence the\ngreat difference between those who live up to the scripture and those\nwho just read it. These latter seek praise for their knowledge of it,\nand at the same time they despise those who live up to its maxims.\nThey consider such souls foolish, even perverse. They go so far as to\ncurse them, scorn them and condemn them outright. Those who actually\nlive according to the teaching of the scripture deem themselves sin-\nners, and as to the others, they have a kindly, merciful feeling for them.\nAnd as the lives of these two classes are so different, so also is their\nend different : one class finds life and the other death. This is accord-\ning to St. Paul: ''For the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life\" (II\nCor. iii, 6).\n\nThe fourth captivity is sweetness of devotion, and many men go\nastray in this, yielding up to it and sticking fast in it. It seems a great\ngood thing; but it is only poor human nature cleaving to its own self in\nmuch joy, meanwhile dreaming that it cleaves to God. Hence let us\ncarefully distinguish between God and self in all our spiritual feelings.\nHere is a test: when the sweet feeling of devotion passes away, dost\nthou feel unhappy, unrestful and distressed? Dost thou find thyself\nless faithful and willing in God's work? If so, then it is plain that\nGod was not the cause of thy sensible pleasure in His service. Forty\nyears of sensible devotion may suddenly end, and thou shalt be in danger\nof gravely falling away from God. And if a man had the highest degree\nof these natural feelings in his religious practices, and died in thera, God\nalone knows whether or not he would be saved — he might, indeed, be\nlost.\n\nThe fifth captivity is self-will. By this I mean the state of a man who\nis set on having his own way, and that in Divine things, nay, even as to\nGod Himself. If by an act of my own will I could be freed from the\n\n302 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nguilt of mj sins, and be adorned with all virtue and perfection, it would\nseem to be folly in me not to exert my will to this end. But a moment's\nthought makes me exclaim : No, Lord, no ; not by my grace or gift or\nwill, but by Thine alone; and, O Lord, if it were not Thy will, I had\nrather feel the want of Thy grace according to Thy will (if it be lawful\nto say so), than possess it according to my own. And by cultivating\nthis sense of abandonment to God, a man gains more by far, than ever\nhe could acquire from God or His creatures by virtue of his own will.\nHumble and voluntary subjection to the sense of deprivation, in a true\nspirit of detachment from one's own will, this is infinitely more profit-\nable than any efforts inspired by one's own will. I had much rather see\na man really detached from his own will and having no great show of\nreligious works, than one less detached from self-choice and abounding\nin high and showy works of virtue.\n\nWhile our Lord lived with His disciples, they so deeply and blindly\nloved His humanity, that it hindered their attaining to His divinity.\nHence He said to them: \"It is expedient to you that I go; for if I go\nnot, the Paraclete will not come to you (John xvi, 7). And He must\nremain with them forty days longer, before He could win their entire\nsouls to a heavenly state, and bear them with Himself upward to God;\nand even then they must wait ten more days before the Holy Ghost was\nsent them. What those ten days were to them, so many years must be\nto us; for since they were to be our foundation, their preparation was\nto ours as a day is to a year.\n\nLet a man do what he pleases, he shall never have true peace, he shall\nnever be essentially a heavenly man, until he has passed the equivalent\nof those forty days between the Lord's resurrection and His ascen-\nsion— until he has finished, as it were, his forty years of preparation.\nHe can never be what God would have him to be, before God's allotted\ntime is passed and over. Such a one has much to do with men by neces-\nsity of nature, driven now this way and again that way, nature often\nruling every motive; and yet he thinks that God is his motive — and this\nmay be called his forty years' probation. This again is followed by ten\nyears more of waitiog — like the additional ten days' waiting of the\nLord's disciples — before the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, is received;\nthat Spirit that teaches the soul all things. When the disciples at last\nwere given the Holy Spirit, it was after they had resigned life's dearest\ntreasures for Jesus' sake. They had made the best preparation; they\nloved God above all tilings; He had carried their hearts and souls with\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 303\n\nHim into Heaven. This preparation having all been completed by their\nlast ten days of patient waiting, the Holy Ghost came down upon them.\nThey were assembled together in deep seclusion, and thus they waited.\nSo must we be, as we end, so to speak, our forty years of preparation,\nhaving meanwhile overcome depraved nature, and celebrated the festival\nof our heavenly transformation. Even after that, we must wait ten\nyears longer. We must have a maturity of preparation equal to fifty\nyears of self-renunciation, ere we shall receive the Holy Ghost in the\nmost perfect manner, so that He may teach us all truth. During that\nfinal period of probation, natural defects are at last quite overcome,\nand the soul enters upon a Godlike existence. A man turns inward, and\nsinks into God, being blended with the one, pure, Divine Good. The\nlight of his life is now returned into the Divine flame from which is first\nflashed forth. When this overflow of the soul into God is perfect, then\nall its debt of sin is fully paid, were it as heavy as that of all sinful\nmen put together from the beginning of the world. Then all the grace\nand joy destined for the soul is granted to it. Then, in fine, the soul is\nmade Godlike. Such men as these are the pillars of the world, the\nmainstay of the Church. May God grant us some share of this happi-\nness. Amen.\n\n304 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — The road to heaven is shown us in the whole life and pas-\nsion of Christ — Christ draws us upward after Him like a magnet\n— The force of this dravAng differs greatly among men — The end\nof the drawing upward is hard, being the ascent of the Mount of\nOlives, that is the place of sadness and toil.\n\nTHIRD SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF THE ASCENSION.\n\nAnd the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up Into heaven. —\nMark xvi, 19.\n\nThe most blessed Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord, after He had\nsat with His disciples on Mount Olivet, and had chided them for their\nincredulity and hardness of heart, ascended out of their sight into\nHeaven.\n\nAh, children, what think you were the thoughts in the hearts of those\ndisciples, who loved their Lord so well? Must they not all have felt a\nbitter pain of heart after His departure? Indeed they had loved Him\nwell, and we know that where one's treasure is, there is his heart also.\nJesus Christ carries away with Him in His glorious ascension, the hearts\nand senses and all the faculties of His chosen friends. Never again can\nthey feel at home in this world. All their goings and comings and all\ntheir life is now in Heaven — all is now with God. Dear children, how\ncan it be otherwise? Must not the members be with the head? And\nour Head has this day most affectionately gone before us to prepare a\nplace for us. Hence we can but echo the words of the bride in the\nCanticles: \"Draw me after Thee\" (Cant, i, 3). Who can prevent us\nfollowing our Head, Jesus Christ? He Himself has said : \"I ascend to\nMy Father and to your Father\" (John xx, 17). His principle of life,\nHis final end. His eternal bliss, are all made one with ours in Him. We\nhave come forth from the same origin as He, we are associated to Him\nin the end and purpose of His life — if we will but fit ourselves rightly\nfor this high destiny.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\n• Consider, children, that Jesus Christ has gone before us into the\nblessedness of His heavenly Father. Now if we would follow Him\neflfectivelj, we must mark carefully the path He trod. And we find that\nfor thirty years he laid out the journey to Heaven by enduring misery,\npoverty, shame, and finally the bitterness of death itself. Behold then\nthe road we have to travel if we would join Him in Heaven ! If all\nteachers were dead, if all books were burnt, the story of His life alone\nis doctrine enough for us. He is Himself the way, and there is no\nother. Let us press on after Him in this His path \"'to the blissful end\nthat awaits us; let us go forward with all our streogtli. As the magnet\ndraws iron to it, so does Jesus Christ draw after Himself all hearts that\nHe touches. And furthermore, as the iron itself receives the magnet's\npower of attraction, and is moved and lifted up and joined to the mag-\nnet in spite of its own nature, so it is with souls touched bv the magnet\nof the eternal Son of God. Such men no longer feel the force of their\nown love, or joy, or consolation: they are drawn out of themselves\nupward to God. They forget the laws of their own nature, and follow\nthe touch of God. And this they do all the more readily and perfectly,\naccording as they are more deeply influenced by the Divine attraction.\n\nSo, then, let each one of us put himself to the test, as to whether or\nnot he has been touched by God. Men who are not reaDy drawn by\nGod's magnet, start up with various fine methods and systems of devo-\ntion, lacking the interior spirit. They fancy they will gain great\nresults, and before they are^aware, it all comes to naught. For you\nmust know that they soon fall back into their old wavs, giving them-\nselves up to natural joys and the love of created things'. They act like\ngood-for-nothing hounds in a hunt, which care nothing for the game\nor whither it runs; they only follow the good hounds lazily along until\nthey are distanced; and then they go astray and are lost. \" I sav to thee\nin all sincerity : it may be but a little half hour during which thou dost\ngrievously neglect thy duty, or cleavest to thy forbidden pleasures\nAnd in that short interval the game has escaped thee, thou art not\namong those who have a share in its capture. Those who may be com-\npared to the good and faithful hounds are God's true servants These\ntrack the game and fiercely pursue it through fire and water, till thev\novertake and capture it. So do good men act who dulv appreciate the\nDivine object they are striving after-they never giVe up till they\nhave possessed themselves of it, they are hindered bv neither the toys\nnor sorrows of this life. The others are wholly inactive, they rest sing-\n\n306 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ngishly idle; and if they so continue till death, then they are in peril of\nremaining so after death and through God's eternity.\n\nChildren, if a man is not moved by God, he must not lay the blame\non Him. Yet sometimes one says : Almighty God does not influence me\nto good as He does this one or that one. Such talk is false. God\ntouches, influences and admonishes all men, and will bring all men, as\nfar as they will allow Him, to happiness. But His gifts. His admoni-\ntions and His touches, are received by men very diversely. When He\nvisits some, bringing His precious favors with Him, He finds their souls\noccupied before Him by other gifts, and in a state of uncleanness. What\ncan He then do but turn back from us, since our souls are fixed upon\nand love a rival lover? So then He carries His gifts to another soul,\nwho has kept its heart free and clean from love of all created things.\nThus it is that the cause and the guilt of our eternal misery is in our-\nselves and not in God. What utter folly is ours, thus idly to dally with\nthe poor creatures of this life, regardless of the presence of the infinite\nGod — doing ourselves thereby an eternal injury.\n\nHow shall we escape from this infatuation with natural joys? In no\nbetter and surer way than by quickly and courageously turning to God,\nand practicing prayer in an earnest and devoted spirit. Not otherwise\ncan we win a steadfast heart and obtain great confidence in God's\nboundless mercy, as being all our hope of salvation. Add to this a\ndetermined purpose to be absolutely subject to God's will in all things,\nin doing and not doing, in things spiritual and things natural.\n\nAgain, children, remark that the spot from which Jesus Christ, the\nSon of God, ascended into Heaven was the Mount of Olives, and this\nmay be made a threefold lesson of light. First, the Mount is raised\nabove the earth east of Jerusalem, and is lit up by the rising of the sun ;\nlater in the morning, the brightness of the sun is reflected back on the\nMount from the shining pinnacles of the temple; finally, the Mount's\nfruit, oil, is the food of light in our lamps. So is it with the soul in\nwhich God's ascension sweetly takes place without any intermediary.\nIt must be elevated above earthly and transitory things if it will be\nresplendent with God^s threefold light, namely the Divine Trinity\nshining and acting within it just as God wills.\n\nAgain, this Mount lay between Jerusalem and Bethania, and, chil-\ndren, be assured that whosoever would follow after Jesus Christ, must\nclimb up this Mount, no matter how bitter the toil may be. For there is\nno hill in all this wide world so sweet and so beautiful — give to its\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nclimbing all your hard pain and labor. Children, every follower of our\nLord Jesus Christ must say good-by to his natural joys; for there is\nmany a one who would gladly follow God, if it cost no toil or pain and\ncaused him no bitterness. Many a one would gladly be on top of the\nMount that is so near Jerusalem, the city of peace, if he could be there\nwithout overcoming difficulties. In truth it is in themselves that such\nmen seek for peace and consolation and happiness ; and nothng comes\nof it all. Yet, as they idly tarry on the Bethania side they are miser-\nable, for there they find only obedience to others and suffering. Of one\nof these the Psalmist speaks as having an abode in \"The vale of tears,\nin the place which he hath set\" (Ps. Ixxxiii, 6).\n\nChildren, be sure that whosoever does not struggle up this Mount, will\nalways remain spiritually sterile and will amount to nothing. A devout\nman should keep his longing eyes fixed on his soul's spouse, Jesus Christ,\nascended now so far above him and so hidden and unknown. Realize\nfully, that the deeper the touch of God in thy soul, the more surely is\none side of thy life a vale of tears. If this served no other purpose, it\nwould in thy direst need preserve thee from the sinfulness that lies con-\ncealed in thy poor human nature — those tendencies which hinder many\na one from turning wholly to God. God's grace can and should rule\nin us continuously. And so it does, when one without ceasing makes\nsacrifices to God of all things whatsoever that may lead him away from\nGod. These weaknesses too often prevail in the soul of man, where\nGod alone should hold undisputed sway. And conquering them is win-\nning up the side of the Mount of Olives that is toward Bethania.\n\nChildren, whosoever looks deep into his soul begins to draw near\nJerusalem. And it were well that he should watch the different influ-\nences of God and of nature, in all that he does or does not. It were\ngood that he nerved himself to suffer more bravely all sorrow and pain,\nand not weakly yield to nature in such visitations. WTien he seems for-\nsaken by God, and stands in all bitterness and desolation of spirit,\noppressed from within and from without, then let him diligently call\nto mind God's goodness. And in times of spiritual joy, let him antici-\npate sorrow; as the Wise Man says: \"In the day of good things be not\nunmindful of evils\" (Eccli. xi, 27).\n\nChildren, both sides of the Mount must be in our souls together. For\nif the word Jerusalem means a city of peace, yet in that city was God's\nSon Jesus Christ put to death. Our peaceful city must be the scene of\nmany a suffering, for thou must without doubt suffer greatly, and in all\n\n308 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\npeacefulness die totally to self : there is no escape. Ascend, therefore,\nhigh up into God's holy will, sincerely deny thyself in all things both of\nspirit and flesh. Thou must fall into the hands of, as it were, the mali-\ncious Jews, who will torture and scourge thee, and drive thee out from\namong them as a base and wicked man, condemn thee to the worst pun-\nishments they can think of, and put thee to death in the minds of all\nmen, as far as they can do so. I say to thee that in thy inmost soul\nthou must die the death, if the eternal God shall become thy only life.\nAa it happened to Jesus Christ, that when He was put to death the\nJews thought their crime was a great honor to God, so shall it happen\nin thy case. All who despise thee and condemn thee and torment thee,\nwill think that in doing so they have greatly served God. Ah, beloveii\nchildren, how happy of heart shall such a man be, when he thus dwells\nin Jerusalem the city of peace, full of peace indeed, even in the midst of\nthis dire unrest ; for in his soul's depths the essential peace of God is\nborn to Him, coming out of God's own abyss of truth and love.\n\nChildren, on this Mount grows the olive tree; and therein we cau\nperceive what true religious devotion is. Real devotion is an interior\nclnging to God Himself, with a soul entirely ready to possess all things\nand to think of all things just as God does. A devout man is one who is\nin all things fast bound to God in his will and in his understanding.\nSuch a soul is indeed a sweet olive tree to our heavenly Father and to\nall His elect. Hast thou this in thy inner life? This devout spirit must\never and again be renewed by the fire of Divine love; and it must be\naided by earnest searching in the soul's depths, lest something that is\nnot God in all truth, shall be hiding there. Therein must be nothing\ndeceptive; for it is nature that sometimes inspires us when we think\nthat all is being done for God. And this, also, is too often the case with\nmen, both in communities and in the world : they do not think and love\nwholly and absolutely according to God, but rather according to self,\nwhether in matters spiritual or corporal. Few are to be found who\nserve God for His own sake alone, having regard neither to consolations\nnor joys — no object but God alone, not even (if it were permissible or\npossible) His holy grace in time and eternity, but just simply God's\nown self alone. That we may thus ascend with the Son of God, and rise\nhigh above this land of exile, far above all creatures ; that we may pos-\nsess eternal life with Him — may God the Father, and the Son, and the\nHoly Ghost mercifully grant us. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 309\n\n^tm Wt MxttitBB to Qlljrifit in lUnttBt anii ftuffprtng\n\nSynopsis — Entire self-renunciation is needed for Chris fs discipleship\n— Unrest of soul, borne patiently, shows our fidelity — Eoio one\nmay inordinately cleave to spiritual sweetness; its use and abuse\n— How an entirely detached soul stands between earth and heaven,\nhis higher faculties resting calm in God, and his lower ones busy\nwith Ood's external works.\n\nFOURTH SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF THE ASCENSION.\n\nYou shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria. —\nActs i, a\n\nDear children, since our Head, Jesus Christ, has ascended into\nHeaven, it is both possible and proper that we His members should\nascend thither after Him. We should neither seek nor desire comfort\nor joy in this unstable life of ours, nor put up with any delay here. To\nfollow Him always, to desire Him with a yearning heart and without\nresting, to love Him, to keep Him in view in everything, to urge others\nto follow fast after Him who with such bitter suffering led the way filled\nwith love for their eternal happiness — all this should be our task.\n\nIt was necessary that Christ should die, and in that manner return\nto the glory of His heavenly Father. Let us ever follow our beloved\nCaptain, Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. He has unfurled the\nbanner of bitter pain, and borne it faithfully forward with heroic\npatience. With like patience should all His chosen friends grasp and\nhold aloft that holy standard of suffering, each one to the very best of\nhis power. Wouldst thou be a true follower of God's eternal Son?\nThen humbly take up thy cross of pain, and suffer gladly for the sake\nof God, no matter whence may come thy sorrow, whether it be merited\nor unmerited, interior or exterior. And by this means thou shalt joy-\nfully ascend to the Son of God and into eternal life.\n\nBeloved children, you know that in our times many a man serves the\nworld for the sake of its petty honor and fame. For this end he gives\nup all comfort of body and all his worldly goods, journeying often into\n\n310 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\na strange land to fight in battle in order to win glory and gain. In\nlike manner must a man act if he would be a true follower of Jesus\nChrist the eternal Son of God. He must renounce everything for His\nsake, and he must do it freely and joyfully. All comfort and conven-\nience of life must be given up and all honors, if he would come to union\nwith the very truth and essence of life that God Himself is. For if\nthere is any single member of the whole body that is not joined with the\nhead, it is a rotten member and must be cut off.\n\nChrist our Lord said to His disciples : \"You shall be witnesses unto\nMe in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the utter-\nmost part of the earth.\" Now Jerusalem, the city of peace, was to\nJesus Christ also a city of unrest, for in that city of peace He had\nreceived inhuman torment and suffered a cruel death, all for the love of\nmen. In that same kind of city shall we be witnesses unto Jesus\nChrist, not by words alone, but by works, by our life, by our imitation of\nHim to the uttermost of our ability.\n\nYou all know, children, that all would gladly bear witness to our\nLord in peace, if only everything went on as they willed. They would\ngladly be holy, if devotional exercises were never distasteful and\nGod's work was always easy. They would gladly proclaim God, if it\nwere to be done always in sweetness and consolation, never amid power-\nful temptations or deep interior darkness. But when such men find\nthemselves in interior desolation, and are at the same time outwardly\nforsaken, then they turn back to their old ways : they are not witnesses\nof God in very truth. All men seek peace in their relations of life;\nbut, my dear children, we must die to this kind of seeking after peace,\nand go forth out of it. We must seek for peace in another way, namely,\nin the midst of unrest, and that with all earnestness ; that peace alone\ncan give us a supernatural, holy and Divine life. That peace alone gen-\nerates in us true and Divine peace, always abiding, ever enduring within\nus. Any other peace causes thee self-deception. But if thou canst\nbe willing to seek joy in sorrow, steadfast peace in unrest, single-\nmindedness amid multiplicity, comfort in bitterness, then veritably\nthou shalt be made a worthy witness of God. Jesus Christ promised\nHis chosen followers peace, both before His death and after His resur-\nrection. Yet as long as they lived they never found outward peace.\nBut they none the less really found peace amid all their troubles, and\nthey got it from all the unpeaceful men they met, essential peace. They\nstood immovably peaceful in all pain and pleasure. From death they\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 311\n\nreceived life; they rejoiced when they were hated and judged and con-\ndemned to death. And thus they became true witnesses of God.\n\nThere are many men whose souls and bodies are so saturated with\nDivine sweetness, that it seems to flow through their very veins and\nmarrow. But when suffering comes, and when they are left in dark-\nness, when they seem forsaken by God and creatures both interiorly and\nexternally, then they are at a loss to know what to do with themselves ;\nnothing good can be made of them. Dear children, when the tempest\nstrikes men's souls, that is to say when interior abandonment oppresses\nthem, and when opposition and temptations assail them from without ;\nwhen the world, the flesh and the devil conspire against them — which-\never one of them can stand up against all this with genuine patience,\nwill find true peace. He will find essential peace in all trouble, a peace\nthat no creature can take from him. And whosoever does not tread\nthis path shall never attain to true peace.\n\nOur Lord also said to His apostles : \"You shall be witnesses unto Me\nin Judea.\" Judea may be taken to mean first confessing and second\npraising God. Children, we must be God's witnesses in such wise that we\nfollow after our beloved Lord in all our works, ways and intentions\nsteadfastly, without any intermission, and not because things go well\nwith us, nor because of our spiritual consolations and devotional senti-\nments. While we enjoy these feelings, we flatter ourselves that we are\nright with God, and we imagine that we cannot yearn enough after Him,\nnor ever be satisfied with Him. But when the shock of spiritual adver-\nsity strikes us, then we do not know what to think of our former state,\nor of how we now stand with God. And this shows that formerly the\ninterior foundation was not God alone.\n\nSweet feelings of devotion were the unstable basis on which our confi-\ndence in God was built — not just God alone, God in all joy and all\nsorrow. God's true witnesses ever rest fast and firm on God alone and\non His most adorable will, come weal, come woe. God gives or God\ntakes away — ^they remain always in peace, resting wholly on God, not\nat all on their own devotional contrivances. When all seems prosper-\nous, and when they feel as if they could do mighty things for God, they\nnevertheless do not build upon that; distrust of self and real lowliness\nof spirit possess their souls. God often deprives them of all comfort,\nand He does so because He is true to their better spiritual interests.\nAnd so it happens frequently that such men can accomplish nothing.\nIf they would gladly keep holy vigil, they fall asleep in spite of them-\n\n312 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nselves; they try to fast, and cannot help but eat; they crave repose,\nand they are forced into the very opposite. All this happens because God\nwould withdraw from them all support but Himself alone. On Him\nsimply and solely must they rest, themselves being annihilated in all\nthings of soul and body, their souls dropping deep down into pure single-\nhearted faith in God. For as worldly men do themselves harm by their\nexcessive enjoyment of the pleasures of the senses and of their temporal\ngoods and honors, so do spiritual men hurt themselves by excessive joy\nin God's spiritual gifts, whether in good works or in the sweetness of\ndevotion. They rest with inordinate joy in God's ever-flowing spiritual\nfavors, instead of resting simply on the only true foundation, namely\nGod's own self, held and possessed in true poverty of spirit.\n\nJudea also may be taken to mean the praise of God. Ah, children, if\na man could but be guided to praise the eternal God in all things no\nmatter whence they come, interior or exterior, for him or against him,\nthen, indeed, would he be journeying along the right road. And if a\nman would but offer all things up to God with thanksgiving, then would\nhe become a true witness of God. Therefore, dear child, render back\ninto God's deep being all that has thence come forth to thee; do this\ninvariably; and never tarry in thine own self, which is mere nothing-\nness. Rather restore thyself habitually to thy source and origin, namely\nthe abyss of God's love. Out of this thy act, be well assured, shall\ncome forth a noble praise of God; from this will be granted thee a\nfruitful harvest of virtue. The blossom and the fruit are one, for herein\nGod is in God and light in light. All that is outward thou shalt give\nto God, as created things affect thee in joy or sorrow; and all inward\nthings, too, of whatever kind the}' may be, and thyself along with them.\n\nChrist also said : \"You shall be witnesses of Me in Samaria,\" and that\nname may be considered to mean union with God. This refers to the\ntruest witness that man can bear to God in this life, namely when he is\nmost perfectjly united to Him. Then, as it were, there slips away from\nhim his own spirit, and all creatures seem gone : in the Divine unity all\nmultiplicity vanishes away. The highest powers of the soul are now\ndrawn up to Heaven, where God the Holy Spirit dwells in God the\nFather and God the Son, in the Divine unity. The soul now finds its\nhighest bliss in very truth, enjoying God with a delightful sweetness,\ndrawing after it, too, its lower powers, as far as this is possible in our\nmortal life. And, absorbed into the Divine abyss of being, the soul need\ndo nothing more than humbly abandon itself to enjoy all the gifts of\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 813\n\nGod's grace; for dow it beholds them in God, and is entirely without\nself -consciousness concerning them.\n\nAfter this, again, the soul is led into yet another heaven in the Divine\nbeing, in which it loses itself and sinks into God. No man can tell what\nhappens there to the soul in the possession of God and in His enjoy-\nment— neither tell, nor think, nor even understand. How can the soul\ntell or understand what has come upon it, while it was meted out of\nitself and absorbed in the Divine abyss, knowing nothing, seeing noth-\ning, feeling nothing but only the pure, simple being of God? But after\nthat experience, dear children, you may be sure that a man can look into\nthe very essence of all his devotional exercises, even the littlest of them.\nAnd he can plainly discover all imperfections in his use of them, find\nout why they do not profit him, and how they may be freshened anew\nand made more fruitful.\n\nThus does the faithful and detached soul stand between Heaven and\nearth. With the higher faculties of his being he dwells always in God\nhis Lord, elevated high above self and all things else ; and with his lower\nfaculties he is placed under foot of all things, sunk down in deep\nhumility, not otherwise than if he were a mere beginner in the spiritual\nlife. He can content himself in the lowest order of devout practices,\nfor he is ashamed of nothing that is good, however contemptible it may\nseem to others. He keeps true peace with all creatures in spirit and in\nact, in joy and sorrow. Such a man is in very truth a witness of our\nLord Jesus Christ, who first came down from Heaven, and ascended\nagain into the Heaven of Heavens. And all who would dwell there must\nbecome one with Him, that in Him and with Him and through Him\nthey may ascend to Heaven.\n\nWhatsoever man shall earnestly endeavor after this end, and shall\nbid farewell to all the joys and pains of creatures, shall not go astray in\nhis conscience. He shall not have a silly head; he shall not be found\ngadding about asking foolish questions, wasting his time and following\ndelusions. May God make us His true witnesses in things spiritual and\nthings natural; may He raise us up to Heaven with His eternal Son;\nmay He grant us all this as He is God the Father, and God the Son, and\nGod the Holy Ghost. Amen.\n\n314 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nQ[l|( lExrl^mtgp of MMiixm tot Hvih^B in tl^^ Mmr Hitt\n\nSynopsis — It is the enthronement of high motives in place of ignoble\nones — The Judas within us is our self-appropriation of God's gifts\n— Our Matthias is the heartfelt and universal attribution back\nto Ood of all His favors, especially spiritual ones.\n\nFIFTH SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF THE ASCENSION.\n\nIn those days Peter, rising up in the midst of the brethren, said, eta — Acts\ni, 15-26.\n\nOn the return of our Lord's disciples to Jerusalem after His ascension\ninto Heaven, Peter addressed them about choosing someone to take the\nplace of Judas, who had fallen away. Two disciples, Joseph, called the\nJust, and Matthias, were then set apart, and the latter was selected to\nhold that high place of an apostle, and to become a witness of Jesus\nChrist.\n\nMark well, beloved children, that the disciples came to Jerusalem,\nwhich in our previous discourse today we have called a place of holy\npeace, and also a place of unrest. And we have explained how no one\ncan come to true peace except in two ways — he must gain peace through\nconflict, as well as joy through sorrow; and he must learn to possess\nabundance through suffering want. The disciples returned to Mount\nSion. And so must we go upward with all our powers and all our mind\nto the eternal festival of God, rising high over all lower and created\nexistence, leaving all things as Abraham did, when he left his servant\nand his ass behind, and took his son up the mount of vision to sacrifice\nhim. This upgoing is led by the will, which commands all the faculties\nof man as a prince in his kingdom and a father in his house. This\nprince, our will, should always command a man to go upward above all\ncreated things.\n\nThe disciples went to the cenaculum, which may be taken to mean a\nbanquet hall, for coena means a supper. Now after supper there is no\nother meal that day, nor is there any real labor done; repose now has\nits place — a fact carefully to be noted. For as the disciples abide in the\nbanquet hall, their minds and all their faculties should be at rest : the\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 315\n\nsoul's labors should know their end, for now, indeed, there is no longer\nany meal nor any labor, namely in God, in Whom there is everlasting\nrepose. The man who forces his attention toward anything whatsoever\nit may be, does not mean the supreme good, God. He is not waiting in\nexpectancy of receiving the Holy Ghost\n\nWhen one's soul is in the cenaculum, then Peter rises up ; and Peter\nmay be taken to mean a man who confesses God. His purpose is to\nchoose a true witness to take the vacant place of Judas, for it much dis-\ntressed Peter that Judas was a thief and a traitor. And so we, too,\nhave a Judas within us, namely, our miserable tendency to appropriate\nto ourselves by theft and treason all the good that God by His free gift\nworks within us. This Judas-like trait in us would cause us to unjustly\nassume ownership of God's work in us. Now that distresses the sense of\nright in us, which confesses God, inclining us to choose another state of\nsoul to take the place of the Judas-like one which is to be expelled from\nwithin us. Lots are cast between Joseph, who was called and really was\na just man, and Matthias. Joseph was also called Barsabas, which may\nbe taken to mean obedient. Against him is placed Matthias, and he may\nbe taken to mean a man who is little in the sight of God. And upon\nwhich of these two did the choice fall, in order to fill this holy apostolic\nvacancy? Not upon obedient and just Joseph, with all his merit, but it\nfell upon him who was little before God. Ah, children, this quality out-\nweighed justice and obedience, great as may be the merit of these vir-\ntues. The little and the humble surpass all others in worth. And such\na man it was that was chosen.\n\nAnd wilt thou reach the highest perfection by the shortest way?\nWilt thou be chosen God's disciple, and be made in the highest degree\nHis true witness? Then thou must confess thyself before the face of\nGod the least and the littlest of all mankind, and sincerely hold thyself\nto be so. Then and not till then will the lot fall upon thee. Let all thy\ndiligence be exerted, that thou mayst be considered little and mayst be\ndespised. Then shalt thou be raised to the greatest place, and be set\nnearest to God, and given the most honorable position God can bestow,\nnamely a place among the apostles. To this thou canst never come\nexcept by thorough-going belittling of self.\n\nAnd this must be no mere apparent humility, or one of imagination,\nfor that delusion is but a sister of pride, and a mere play-acting of\nhumility. In this condition pride is very deep-rooted; and the soul has\noften the very reverse of a real sentiment of littleness before God, nor\n\nS16 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ndoes it really desire to be an object of contempt to both God and man.\nNow, children, the man who is fully determined to make of himself real\nnothingness before God, has entered on the truest preparation for receiv-\ning the Holy Ghost. He has begun to tread the shortest path to God,\nand God's grace will meet him and conduct him forward. That we may\nthus be made ready for the Holy Ghost, and that we may finally receive\nHim in all reality, may God grant. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 317\n\nSynopsis— The sweetness of God's grace should lead us to watchfulness\nin prayer — Like the habit of using drugs is the intoxication of\nspiritual intemperance— The prayer of thanksgiving is an anti-\ndote to this gluttony— Some instructions about mingling good\nthoughts vnth good vocal prayers.\n\nSEKMON FOR THE SUNDAY AFTER THE ASCENSION.\n\nBe prudent, therefore, and watch in prayers. — I Feter iv, 7.\n\nLet every man now prepare for the approaching feast of the Holj\nGhost, that he may receive Him with the best possible dispositions,\nkeeping only God in view. Let each one search his whole way of life\nwith all care, considering his interior soul, and whether anything dwells\ntherein that is not God. This preparation will consist of four disposi-\ntions : detachment, self-renunciation, the interior spirit, and union with\nGod.\n\nA man should also be practiced outwardly in the natural virtues, and\nhis lower spiritual powers in moral virtues. Then the Holy Ghost should\nbe placed in possession of one's higher spiritual powers, to adorn them\nwith the theological virtues. All this should be done with discretion\nand in right order in every respect. We shouJd carefully examine i\"\nanything has found place in our life that is not entirely for God; and if\nso, then it should be at once condemned and reformed. We should imi-\ntate the farmer in the month of March ; as the sun gains power he prunes\nbis trees and he digs his ground and works his farm with great industry.\nSo should we industriously dig up the ground of our soul and find out\nwhat is underneath the surface; we should prune the tree of our out-\nward life of the senses, and we should clean out all weeds, as well as sub-\nject our lower powers to the higher ones. W^e must cut out the seven\ncapital sins by the very roots. Pride should be exterminated inwardly\nand outwardly ; and all avarice and hate and envy ; all foul lust in body\nand soul, in heart and senses, in spirit and act must be totally expelled ;\nno sloth of any kind must be allowed to lurk in the soul : all these evili\n\n318 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nmust be cut away and totally rooted out. As yet the soul remains cold\nand hard, for although the sun grows warmer, it is yet far from sum-\nmer's clear and genial light. But soon all is changed. The Divine sun\nbegins to do its heavenly work in the well-prepared garden of the soul.\n\nWhen, therefore, the genial sun of God's grace begins to shine brightly\nupon this well-cultivated garden, all the soul's inner and outer faculties\nbeing fully prepared, all its higher and lower tendencies directed to-\nwards Heaven, then indeed the sweet flowers of May begin to bloom,\nand all the welcome gifts of summertime. The eternal God causes the\nsoul to blossom forth and to produce good fruit of virtue ; and the joy\nin that soul no tongue can tell. For now the Holy Ghost is there, and\nHis brightness shines directly upon the soul, yea, into its inmost depths.\nWell may He now be called the true Comforter, since His influence is\nso delicious. O how great a joy ! O how rich a feast, the sweet odors\nof whose nourishing food excite the soul's deepest longing! These are\ngranted in every plenty of enjoyment to the rightly prepared soul by the\ngentle Spirit of God. One drop of this Divine comfort is worth more\nthan all the joys of created things put together; and it overpowers and\nquenches all longing for them whatsoever.\n\nWhen a man feels this action of the Divine Comforter so wonderfully\ngreat and so unexpected, he would gladly sink down into its depths and\nrest and slumber in it forever. He feels like St. Peter at the Lord's\nTransfiguration ;it is good for him to be there, and he would set up three\ntabernacles of joy out of one drop of the happiness now granted him,\nand there dwell forever. But such is not our Lord's will. When Peter\nsaid \"It is good for us to be here,\" he was far from that degree in the\nspiritual life that his Lord would lead him to. So it is with souls in this\nstage : they think they have got all when they are in this brilliant sun-\nshine of God's favor, and they would like to lie down and bask in it\nforever. And all the souls who actually do so, remain stationary in\ntheir career. They amount to nothing unless they rise up and go for-\nward.\n\nTo some of these it happens that they slip do^-n into unlawful liberty.\nTheir poor human nature turns inward and regards itself with self-\ncomplacency, a weakness toward which we are above all other things\ninclined. It is with them as with sick persons who trust too much to\nmedicines. I have heard physicians say that men, finding relief in\ndrugs, trust to them entirely and not at all to their natural forces, and\nthat this breeds indolence. If a man is doubtful of all help from others,\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 319\n\nthen he energetically sets to work to help himself. Remark, children,\nhow this poisonous longing for ease and convenience, penetrates every-\nwhere in our natural life. And it is a thousand times worse in our\nspiritual life. When this very unusual joy is felt, the soul forthwith\ncounts upon being sure to keep it. Earnest and faithful labor is now\nthought unnecessary; a soft lethargy possesses the spirit — no more\nactivity of virtue, no more zealous toil, all is to be rest and peace. And\nthis is Satan's chance. He comes to this soul, thus indolently reclining,\nand he insinuates into it a false sweetness, hoping to hold it fast in this\nwrong state of rest.\n\nWhat shall we do, then? Shall we run away from this happiness?\nNo, by no means. But, receiving it with much gratitude, we must\nhumbly return it again into God's hands praising Him in all sincerity,\nas we nevertheless protest ourselves to be wholly unworthy of such a\nfavor. We should act like a young and robust traveler, but poor and\nhungry and thirsty as he starts on his journey. If he goes forward\nfour miles and can only manage to get a meal to eat, he springs forward\nblithely and makes ten miles more. So let us do, when God feeds us\nwith His sweet food of spiritual joy. Whatever good things such a\nman formerly did, he does more and better things now, loves God more,\npraises and thanks Him more. He is more upright, his heart is full of\na more burning love, and thereby he becomes worthy of the gift of a yet\ndeeper interior comfort. Just as we may fancy a man going to the\nPope and giving him a florin, and receiving in return a hundred thou-\nsand, and getting the same exchange every time he gave a florin : so is\nthe exchange between God and a rightly guided soul. As often as he\ngoes to God in all love and gratitude and humility, so often does God\nmeet him on the instant with gifts and graces a thousandfold more\nprecious than before. Thus it is that sweetness of devotion is made a\nhelp to us, and leads to greater good : we must use our spiritual gifts\nand not enjoy them. It is like riding in a wagon : we are there for the\ngood of the journey and for the progress made, and not for the enjoyment\nof the wagon's soft seat. So let it be with God's gifts; draw the good\nout of them, leaving to God the joy. Hence St. Peter's warning to us to\nbe sober and watchful ; not to sink into the slumber of sensual pleasure,\na state in which the soul is but half alive and is incapable of activity.\nThe sober-minded man works right on courageously and intelligently:\n\"Be sober and watch : because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,\ngoeth about seeking whom he may devour; whom resist ye strong in\nfaith\" (I Peter V, 8).\n\n320 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nAnd again the Apostle bids ns be \"prudent and watch in prayers,'^\nthat is, not to be so dull as to rest in anything that is not God ; to keep\nthe light of piety brightly burning ; to keep a vigilant outlook over our-\nselves ; always to long for God alone. It was on this account that our\nSaviour's disciples must give up the bodily presence of their Master, if\nthey would receive the Holy Ghost. \"If I go not,\" said He, \"the Para-\nclete will not come to you\" (John xvi, 7). These loving disciples were\nso possessed of the visible presence of the Lord, that heart, soul, senses\nand faculties were entirely absorbed — inner and outer life all taken up»\nThis condition must be changed, if they were to arrive at the true,\nspiritual, interior comfort of God — they must be cut off from the out-\nward presence, no matter how bitter the stroke. Otherwise they should\nhave remained in the lowest spiritual degree, that of the sensible life\nof religion. When they rose above the senses, it was to enter the\nreligious life of the highest powers of the soul, every way nobler and\nmore delightful.\n\nAfter that the soul enters further into its own deep interior, the very\nhidden shrine of God's presence within it. Divine sweetness is there\nand there only quite at home, there fully and essentially experienced.\nAnd there alone is the soul wide awake and watchful.\n\nThe apostle bids us be sober, watchful and prayerful, for our \"adver-\nsary the devil goeth about like a roaring lion.\" What prayer does he\nmean? That of the mouth ? Reading the Psalms over and over? All\nthat is truly prayer, but he means a yet higher prayer. It is the prayer\nour Lord meant when He said : \"The true adorers shall adore the Father\nin spirit and in truth\" (John iv, 23). Saints and Divines teach us that\nprayer is the elevation of the soul to God. If thy prayer by word of\nmouth serves this purpose, well and good. But even so : if my clothing\nserves me, all the same it is not my own self. Thus does all prayer of\nthe mouth serve true prayer ; but in itself and taken alone it is not true\nprayer. For by true prayer the heart and soul of a man must go direct\nto God, and that is the esential thing. True prayer is this and nothing\nbesides : a man's mind is totally subjected to God in loving desire and\ngenuine humility.\n\nClergymen and members of orders are indeed especially bound at cer-\ntain times to recite vocal prayers. But none of these prayers are so\ndevout and lovely as the sacred prayer taught us by the supreme master\nof prayer Himself, namely the Pater Noster. That prayer approaches\nthe nearest of all vocal prayer to the truest, the most essential. This\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor ' 321\n\nprayer of spirit we lift up incessantly toward Heaven, and it lifts the\nsoul with it straight up to God. And it is equally true to say, that the\nsoul penetrates into its own most sacred and interior depths, where\nalone it may form a union with God. Thus St. Augustine says : \"The\nsoul has within itself a hidden abyss, and the things of time and of this\nworld have no place therein, but only what is high above them and\nabove all that concerns the body and its activities.\" In these heavenly\nabysses the soul finds all its sweetness, and there is the eternal abode of\nall Divine joys. In them the soul is still, fixed in God, cut off from crea-\ntures, and drawn into uncreated bliss. There is God Himself, acting,\ndwelling, ruling, granting the soul an incomparable Divine life. Into\nthis life the soul melts away — into the infinite light and fire of love that\nGod is by essence and by nature. Back and forth into this relation\nwith God does such a man pass in prayer, as he pleads for every necessity\nof all Christendom, his holy petitions, his deep yearnings ever guided by\nGod Himself. Thus does he pray for his friends on earth, even sinners,\nand for the souls in purgatory. The needs of every soul in holy Church\nare not beyond his help by counsel as well as by prayer. And yet such\nfavored spirits do not always pray exactly for this or that particular\nperson or object. But with a certain kind of wide-sweeping universal\nand yet most simple prayer do they embrace all souls of men, just as I\nstand here and behold with one glance all of you sitting before me. They\nsee all in the same Divine abyss, God's love, as in a Divine contemplation,\nand in the fire of Divine love — viewing thus as with one glance the neces-\nsities of all Christians. They may seem to themselves to be in and out\nof God in their soul's movements, and yet they are ever in Him, deep in\nthe calm of fathomless love : therein is their life and being, therein all\ntheir life's activity. Nothing is to be discovered in them under any\nand all circumstances but a Divine existence; whether doing things or\nleaving them undone, everything tells of God. These are noble souls,\nnecessary for holy Church, sanctifying and consoling all men, giving\nhonor to God. Wherever they may be, God dwells in them and they in\nHim. May God help us to the methods and the devotion leading to\nsuch an end. Amen.\n\n322 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nPre|iaritt0 to l&tmnt tij? l^ol^ C6I|0Ht\n\nSynopsis — The only right preparation is cutting off attachments to\nearthly things — This is the more nobly done in the higher powers\nof the soul by deep longings for Ood, and Him alone — Scruples\nand foolish misgivings are a hindrance — But reasonable self -sus-\npecting is most useful — Example of the serpent changing his skin.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF PENTECOST.\nBe prudent, therefore. — I Peter It, 7.\n\nHoly Church at this time celebrates the sending of the Holy Ghost\nupon the apostles, who received Him in a most interior manner. It\nwas necessary for our sakes that they should make such a beginning of\na new existence, for we are by their means to receive the same Divine\ngift. And it was good that they should be comforted, for they had\nlanguished comfortless and forsaken within and without. And it\nfinally came to pass, that as long as they continued in this life the\ndisciples constantly grew into deeper union with the Holy Ghost. So\nshould every true friend of God celebrate this lovely festival every day he\nlives — yes, every day and every hour should he receive the Holy Ghost in\nhis soul. The whole task of his life is to prepare a loving welcome for\nHim. And His coming again and again continuously fits the soul better\nand better for His ever-renewed entrance. As Pentecost day was the\nfestival of the Holy Ghost's being sent to the disciples, so is every day\nof the year a Pentecost day to each Christian. If he will but thoroughly\nprepare his soul, the Divine Spirit will enter in with all His graces and\ngifts.\n\nAnd now, Children, here is our dear apostle St. Peter to teach us what\nthat preparation is. He says to us : \"Be prudent, therefore.\" And\nthis does not only mean wisdom, but experience also, by which a man\nknows how to do a thing all the better, because he has made trial of\ndoing it over and over again. The apostle means that we should have\nthe habitual knowledge and the foresight which come from practice,\nand that in all our spiritual affairs. He means that we shall thereby\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nbe made able to understand clearly the difference between God and\ncreatures on all occasions.\n\nChildren, the men who rightly comprehend this preparation, and who\nunderstand the noblest manner of receiving the Holy Ghost, are those\nwho cut off all things but God, who are made entirely empty, and thus\nattain to the interior life and Divine unity: these are rightly prepared\nfor the Holy Ghost j p p cu\n\nAnd what is this true and genuine detachment? It is voluntary\nseparation from all that is not simply and purely God. It is the search-\ning of the soul with careful scrutiny, to discover if there is even the\nleast thing, though it be in its inmost depths, that is not simply God.\nIt is constantly enquiring whether or not God and God alone is had\nin view in all things done or omitted. And when anything is found\nthat savors aught else than God alone, it means cutting it off absolutely.\nAnd this preparation is the task not only of men whose lives are very\nholy and interior, but of every good man whatsoever.\n\nChildren, we meet with good men, well versed in excellent religious\nexercises, who yet know nothing whatever of the interior life Yet\nthese are bounden to search out all that may interfere with God's reign\nm their souls, and instantly to cut it off. This much detachment every\none must certainly have; otherwise he cannot receive the Holy Ghost and\nHis Divine gifts. It is taking God into account in all things, separating\nourself from all that is not God.\n\nBut men differ much in way of this separation, and in their waiting\nfor God's Spirit. Some receive Him in the way of the senses and of\ndevotional feeling; others, more nobly, by way of the soul's highest\nfaculties and in the reason, far removed from sensible emotions; others\nagain, while partaking of both these ways, receive the Holy Spirit in\nthe hidden recesses of their soul, in that secret Kingdom of God where\nthe sweet vision of the Holy Trinity is enshrined : and this is the noblest\nway of all. Ah, children, how gladly does the Holy Ghost make such\na soul as that His chosen abode, and how divinely are His gifts imparted\nthere. As often as that man but glances intelligently into his interior\nlife, so often does he renew his union with the Holy Spirit, each instant\nreceiving new favors. Nothing more is needed than that he maintain\nhis earnest purpose to be ever turned toward God alone, in all wisdom\nand in all detachment of spirit. He scrutinizes all his doings and all\nhis ways and words and works, eager to detect whatever may not have\nGod alone for its meaning, instantly correcting himself when necessary\n\n324 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nBy the Holy Spirit's light of grace, he guides his steps in all the moral\nvirtues — such as humility, mildness, gentleness, silence and piety;\nwatching his motives lest any of these good acts should be done for\nother intention than God only. And the natural virtues of prudence,\njustice, fortitude and temperance, are all under this same Divine light,\nas he performs their holy acts. This is indeed the good ordering of a\nman, a divine ordering, the establishing of purely Divine motives, all\nthings arranged in God, all done for God's sake.\n\nWhen the Holy Ghost finds that a man has done his part in this field\nof the natural virtues. He pours into the natural light of the soul His\nsupernatural illumination, and with it the grace of the supernatural\nvirtues — Divine faith, and hope, and love. Now he is enlightened ; now\nhe becomes a virtuous man indeed, a Godlike man in his state of disen-\ngagement from created things. But as to this, one must act with pru-\ndence, for it often happens that what appears to be God's action, is,\nwhen more closely considered, found to be not so, and hence one must be\non one's guard.\n\nAnd furthermore it sometimes happens that a man who has entirely\ngiven himself up to God, yet fancies with much anguish of mind that\nhe has not done so sincerely. He then thinks that all the good he ever\ndid is lost and wasted. Peace has now fled from his soul, all is trouble\nand woe. Children, this anguish frequently comes from natural bodily\ncauses ; or, again, it is due to bad weather acting on the nerves ; or it is\nthe influence of the evil one, who would gladly distress the soul of so good\na man. And such an unfavorable condition one must meet in all quiet-\nness of mind and meekness of spirit.\n\nSome would oppose it with violence, storm against it with forceful\nmeasures, and by such means make fools of themselves. They run\nabout to learned doctors and to devout servants of God begging advice.\nBut they are asking for what they cannot have : no one can give them\nrelief. Children, when this interior storm strikes a man, he should\ndo as one does when overtaken by a storm of wind, rain and hail — he\nshould take shelter under a roof till the storm passes over. Is a man\nconscious that he desires nothing whatever but God? Then when this\ntrial assails him, let him humbly bow to it, let him patiently suffer in all\nabandonment to God, in all painful detachment of spirit, and wait upon\nGod in his deep affliction, his soul all calm and gentle. Who can tell in\nwhat manner the loving God will come to him and grant him His pre-\ncious favors? Dear soul, remain under the sheltering roof of God's will\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 325\n\nin patient meekness, and this is more pleasing to Him a hundred times,\nthan sweet spiritual joys in practicing virtue — thy stormy sorrows\nbravely borne are more welcome to Him than the beautiful sunshine and\nthe bright blossoms of fair-weather virtue. In this anguish of spirit, a\nman cannot lose his upright intention so easily as when he revels in con-\nsolations and the sweetness of devotion. Among these nature can\nreadily insinuate lower motives, and the taint of spiritual self-indul-\ngence may unconsciously stain the soul. God's gifts are not God's self.\nOur joy must be in God alone, not in His gifts.\n\nChildren, human nature is ever greedy, ever selfish. We hinder God's\nwork in us, we destroy his glorious gifts after they are granted us,\nbecause we allow selfishness to appropriate what is not our own, yield-\ning to the poisonous influences inherited from original sin. Our nature\nlooks to self in everything. St. Thomas teaches that by this infection\nof nature, man is inclined to love himself more than anything else, even\nthe angels, nay, even more than God — not that God created us thus per-\nverse, but it has all resulted from the original turning away from God\nin the fall of Adam. And this evil tendency is rooted so deep in us, that\nits traces baflSe the search of all the wise men in the world. All the\nindustry of man cannot correct this innate weakness of both his inner\nand outer life. It often happens, that when we fancied God alone was\nour motive, it turned out that it was only the poisonous influences of\nnature that guided us — we were but seeking self in everything. St. Paul\nwas a true prophet when he said : \"In the last days, shall come danger-\nous times. Men shall be lovers of themselves\" (II Tim. iii, 1, 2). This\nis manifestly the case in these times; for the world is full of misery\nbecause men, both of the world and of the clerical state — how pitiful a\nspectacle ! — are both openly and secretly striving to defraud one another.\nAnd father confessors are sometimes privy to this, by condoning it by\nmeans of their novel and pagan interpretations of holy scripture. Chil-\ndren, if any of you fall under my accusations in this matter, I beg him\nto amend at once, if he would come to God. O if one could but give up\nself in his outer and inner life, in spirit and in nature, it were a precious\ngain ! It would be a small price to pay if he gave up gold and silver and\ncastles and farms for this end. Even in our interior spirit and in our\ndevotions, nay, in our closest approach to God, nature secretly insinu-\nates selfishness, so great is the deordination of self-love; and herein\nGod's way of having us act, is rightly given us by St. Peter : \"Be ye pru-\ndent, therefore.\"\n\n326 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nOur Lord Jesus Christ also admonishes us how to be wise: \"Be ye\ntherefore wise as serpents\" (Matt, x, 16) . Remark how the eternal Son\nof God has given us this very humble comparison, to teach us the wisdom\nof His Father, and His Own unspeakably glorious wisdom. As He was\nHimself always very humble, so is His teaching very simple. Now you\nshould know the wisdom of the serpent in this : when it finds its skin\ngrown old, it selects a place where two stones are close together, and by\ngoing between them it draws off the old skin, and soon is furnished with\na new one. So must a man get rid of his old skin, that is whatsoever he\npossesses by nature, no matter how great or how precious — all that is\nnot purely God he must lay aside. To accomplish this he must pass\nbetween two Divine stones, one being the eternal Godhead, which is\ntruth itself; and the other is the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who\nis the way and the truth. Between these must be drawn a man's very\nlife in its essence and its action, including all his virtues, both natural\nor moral. Of this stone that Christ is, St. Paul speaks : \"Jesus Christ\nbeing the chief corner-stone\" (Eph. ii, 20). And thou mayst be sure,\nthat if thou dost not truly strip thyself thus most humbly between these\nstones, then nothing will avail thee, even if thou wert as wise as Solomon\nand as strong as Samson. Lose thyself in Christ's poverty, in His obedi-\nence, in His love, drawing all thy transgressions off of thy soul in detach-\nment of spirit ; and then take upon thee all His virtues, His doctrine,\nand His life. By this means will a man receive the seven gifts of the\nHoly Ghost, and more especially the three Divine virtues of faith, hope\nand charity, all perfection, and all truth, interior peace and joy in the\nHoly Ghost.\n\nFrom this detachment is born kindness, and also separation from all\nworldly things; so that one now receives freely from God's hands and\nwith entire thankfulness, joy or sorrow, or whatever else may befall him\nin the inner life or the outer : everything helps him to eternal happiness.\nSuch a man has the grace to feel, that whatever happens him has been\neternally foreseen by his heavenly Father, and in the very way it does\nhappen, and, viewing all things as God does, he rests in peace of mind,\nno matter what occurs. This peace of soul is gained only in the practice\nof real detachment, and in solicitude of spirit ; in that school and in no\nother can it be acquired. Let a man seek it in all sincerity, and it will\nsoon be his, and become a virtue rooted in the depths of his being.\n\nAll that I have preached to you in this sermon is addressed to noble-\nhearted men ; let such bear these rules continually in mind, and in word\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor ^7\n\nand work carry them out practically; then they will find it all quite\npossible for them to do. The result will be that they will keep God\nbefore them as their single motive, stripping themselves of all hin-\ndrances to grace by means of our corner-stone, Jesus Christ, who liveth\nand reigneth eternally with God the Father, God the Son, and God the\nHoly Ghost. Amen.\n\n328 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nC6itmt0 (6o5 finliutJifrfli ttb^rtg in t\\^t dual\n\nSynopsis — Seeming abandonment by God is often the prelude of high\nperfection — // we but let Eirn, Ood does the work of preparation\nHimself in the soul — Signs of this are dullness and self-disgust, de-\nspondency arising from self-contempt and a feeling of total empti-\nness of good — Delusions resulting from the first joys of diviiie\nunion: self -appropriation of divine gifts, silly excess of spiritual\nenjoyment, forgetfulness of inborn weakness — On return to their\ngood sense, these souls honor God by wisdom of speech, and by\ncharity of act, and by invincible patience.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF PENTECOST.\n\nAnd they were all filled with the Iloly Ghost, and they began to speak • * •\nthe wonderful works of God. — Acts 11, 4, 11.\n\nBeloved children, this is the day on which the precious treasure of\nDivine love, lost so sadly in the garden of Eden by Adam's disobedience,\nwas restored to us. The whole race of man had fallen into eternal death,\nliad lost the sevenfold gifts of the Divine Comforter, and lay under the\nwrath of God in the bands of everlasting servitude. Jesus Christ broke\nthese bands on Good Friday, as He was bound fast in death to His cross.\nHe made perfect peace between His Father and mankind; and today\nHe confirms that reconciliation. He restores the lost treasures of grace\nin the Holy Ghost. Our hearts and souls and senses are incapable of\nunderstanding the superabundant wealth of love that is in our Saviour,\nand which overflowed the souls of His disciples when they received the\nHoly Ghost. It was like a downpour of rain which overflows the\nBtreams and fertilizes the valleys and fields. And as with the disciples\nthen, so in all ages and without any intermission ever since then ; the\nHoly Ghost overflows the inmost hearts of men with His graces, if only\nHe finds those inner depths ready and open to receive His gifts. And\nnow suppose that this our land were like Palestine in the days of Elias,\nwhen for three years and six months the earth was parched with drouth\nand no man could sow or reap, and that then there should come a sweet\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 329\n\nplentiful rain, quickening the fields with new life — and one single man's\nfarm were left dry: would not he and all his friends cry out with\nmisery? In the same way, a man who feels himself parched with spir-\nitual drouth in heart and soul about interior things and external things\nof religion, empty and loveless, entirely void of the overflowing comfort\nof the Holy Spirit — shall that man not mourn over his state of abandon-\nment? Let us then consider what is to be done in order to obtain the\nHoly Ghost.\n\nThe first and most important preparation must be made by the Holy\nGhost Himself, making ready a proper place for His abode ; and that He\ndoes by two acts. One is to empty the soul, the other is afterwards to\nfill it. The emptying is the greatest preparation, for the more the soul\nis emptied of human attachment, the more receptive of God's Spirit\ndoes it become. If thou wouldst fill a cup with some liquid, thou must\nfirst empty it of any other liquid that may be in it. Of two different\nmaterials, one cannot be perfectly itself if it is to be blended with the\nother. If fire is to come in, water must first go out, for these elements are\nnaturally opposed. Well then, if God is to come into the soul, creatures\nmust first go out — all that is not God must go out. Thus, again, the\nanimal instincts must yield place to the dictates of reason, if these shall\nhold sway. Thus, therefore, a man must surrender himself captive, be\nempty, detached, and ready. Nay, even this state of detachment itself —\nas far as any honor shall be due to it — must be surrendered to God in\ntotal self-annihilation ; otherwise a man will prevent the highest activity\nof the Holy Ghost within him. But to go to this extent no one now-\nadays seems willing.\n\nBut when this emptying of the soul has been done, at once the Holy\nGhost does His second work : He gratifies the soul's capacity to receive\nHim. Yes; if thou art truly detached thou shalt receive abundantly,\nand if thou art but partially detached, thou shalt receive but partially.\nThou must be totally emptied of self-will, self-love, self-opinion. Con-\nsider that if Heaven itself stood open before thee, thou wouldst not dare\nto enter in, until thou hadst known if God would have thee do so — such\nmust be thy detachment from self. This is the state and this alone, in\nwhich the soul must be if the Holy Ghost is to be given to it unto perfect\nfullness.\n\nAh, children, when a man feels himself dull, hard and slow, being\noppressed by nature ; when peace is gone ; when he is become quite help-\nless ; then let him detach his soul's affections from everything, yield him-\n\n330 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nself up entirely to God, suffer these trials and all other evils patiently,\nand he will have obtained real poverty of spirit; and then the Holy\nGhost will soon fill the empty void. Into such a soul He pours all His\nriches, overflowing with His presence the whole man both inward and\noutward, enriching the highest faculties and the lowest. In this the\nman's own part is to allow himself to be prepared by the Holy Ghost,\nand to make room for Him as He begins His Divine work. Few men\ndo this, even of those whose vocation calls for it, and who show outward\nsigns of spirituality. There is a widespread state of delusion and self-\nhood in such matters. This is owing to our acting in self-chosen ways,\nfull of self-assurance. Nobody seems willing to yield simply up to the\nHoly Spirit's action; everybody must have his own plan of spiritual\nlife — such is the rule in our perilous times. Let thy only rule be to\nallow the Holy Ghost unhindered liberty in thy soul. He will thereupon\nso possess thee with His Divine influence, that even in thy outward con-\nduct every word and work shall be according to His will — all in due\norder and quiet. As to thy interior life. He will turn thee inward to\nachieve great spiritual things, even though thou shalt be hardly aware\nof His action. For just as the soul acts in the body, so does the Holy\nGhost act in our innermost life, all without our easily perceiving it, until\nwe turn again and bend our mental powers deep into those recesses of\nthe soul in which the Divine Guest has taken up His abode.\n\nAnd then a man is apt to become foolish. When he sees these great\nthings of God in his heart, he appropriates them to himself. It is as if\na great painter had begun a masterpiece and some fool should come\nalong and meddle with it and quite destroy its beauty. Thus do we act\nwhen we meddle with God's work in our souls. This is done by the\ninordinate joy to which we give ourselves up, as we perceive how God is\ndoing His holy work within us, for, indeed, that joy exceeds all other joys\nknown to this life. But by means of this self-appropriation, God's work\nis destroyed. It is very true that as long as a man does not fall into\nmortal sin the Holy Ghost is not driven out, but his soul may meanwhile\nbe far removed from self-renunciation.\n\nSometimes a man will be under the delusion that his inner life is all\nof God, and as a matter of fact it is all his own self, his own self-suffi-\nciency. A man may receive high spiritual gifts, even revelations and\nknowledge of secret things, and yet it may remain very doubtful as to\nwhat will become of him in the end — it is quite possible for him to be\neternally lost from the consequences of his self-appropriation of these\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 331\n\nsupernatural things. Children, spiritual matters are not as you fancy.\nA man must go out of himself and stay out of himself, if the Holy Spirit\nshall have His way with him according to His supreme and infinite dig-\nnity: beware of placing obstacles in His way. If thou hast, however,\nmade this mistake, it is not necessary for thee to run off at once and\nannoy thy father confessor with matters so hard to explain. Turn imme-\ndiately into thy own heart's deep chambers, confess thy faults humbly to\nGod there, and He will place His Divine hand on thy head and heal thee.\n\nThus said our Lord : \"They shall lay their hands upon the sick, and\nthey shall recover\" (Mark xvi, 18). And again He says: \"They shall\ncast out devils.\" God will thus grant thee power to detect the devil's\ndeceits and to escape them — a reward for thy soul's self-renunciation.\n\"They shall take up serpents,\" meaning an interior man's patience in\nbearing with snake-like men, with their overbearing manners and their\nusurped authority. These may sting and wound God's servants in their\nlowermost faculties, but they cannot touch the higher powers of their\nsouls — be of good courage and never let them distress thee. Our Saviour\nsays also : \"If they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.\"\nDoes not this mean suflfering from bad men, in whom everything turns to\npoison? They make the worst of everything, spinning around all that\ncomes near them a poisonous web of wickedness. If it should happen\nthat thou art desirous of receiving the fulness of the Holy Spirit, and\nthat on that account thy sister should assail thee with her scolding\ntongue, then if thou wilt only accept this patiently for God's sake, be cer-\ntain that this is the work of the Holy Ghost. If thou wilt only be silent\nand bear with thyself sweetly, be sure that it is a preparation for the\ncoming of the Holy Ghost. It hurts thy outward self, but it cannot\ninjure thy interior self.\n\nChildren, would you be always happy, always at your best ? Then hold\nfast to these two little points : Empty yourselves totally of all created\nthings, including your own self, maintaining a well-ordered inner and\nouter life, so that the work of the Holy Ghost may be unhindered in you.\nSecondly, accept every happening of your existence, whether in the soul\nor in the outer life, as coming directly from God's hand: come from\nwhere it may, be it what it will, look upon it as given you to help you\nmake ready for His great gifts and for no other purpose whatsoever,\nknowing that only by trial and hardship, whether coming from the evil\none or from unruly men, you can attain the supernatural and marvelous\nperfection to which God has called you.\n\n332 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nOur Redeemer also said of His apostles : \"They shall speak with new\ntongues\" (Mark xvi, 17). This means that a man must cripple his\ntongue — that is to say, he must restrain his natural tendency to talk.\nChildren, learn how to guard your tongue, learn that art before every\nother art. Habitually take care what you say, or you will never amount\nto anything with God. See to it that your words are all to God's honor,\nor to your neighbor's good, or to your own peace of mind. Converse with\nGod without ceasing. St. Bernard says : \"I condemn and detest talking\nmuch with men; but we can never talk too much with God.\" Thank\nGod loudly with your tongue, and praise Him continually. Tf thou hadst\nonly this to thank Him for — that He has patiently borne with thee to\nthis hour and silently suffered thy disorderly conduct before His face,\nthou oughtest to demand new tongues of Him to give Him proper thanks,\neven if He never led thee onward to the complete fulfilment of His holy\ndesigns with thee. And among yourselves, as often as you meet together\ntalk about God and about a virtuous life. This does not mean disputa-\ntions about the Deity or any other such things, nor does it mean subtle\nreasoning of any kind ; for that will only help to damn your soul and the\nsouls of those you draw into such controversies. But converse about\nGod and virtue, out of a heart full of God and of virtue. Avoid subtle\nand disputatious men, who are the serpents of whom we were lately dis-\ncoursing. They are externalized men; thou must not draw them into\nthy sacred interior life. By their means the evil one may manage to\nentrap thee, taking advantage of thy weaker tendencies.\n\nBesides this, the Holy Ghost works His supernatural ends according\nto the good natural tendencies He finds in thee. As God's work grows\nin thee. He will draw under His influence both thy soul and body. When\nHe finds a good and willing natural disposition, He works along its lines.\nJust as a copious rain produces a good harvest, so does God will that His\ngifts shall not be unfruitful — He developa all natural powers of soul and\nbody, so that He may in due order act by their means for thy sanctifica-\ntion. But all this is on condition that God finds thee in true poverty of\nspirit. Hence thou must cast out of thy soul whatever thou hast cher-\nished there that is not the effect of the action of the Holy Ghost; all\nhardness of heart, suspicious rash judgments — of all such things thou\nmust be entirely emptied. But thou shouldst bear in mind that what-\never happens to thee against thy will can do thee no harm.\n\nAgain, do not suppose that thou shouldst wait inertly for the Holy\nGhost, ceasing to perform thy usual external works of religion, ceasing\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 333\n\nto observe thy rule of life, such as singing and reading thy prayers,\nserving thy neighbor, and doing works of charity. No, it is not thus\nthat we must wait for the Holy Spirit — supinely letting everything\nslip away from us. The man who loves God and serves Him gladly,\nwill do all things out of love, to the praise of God, for the sake of good\norder, in a becoming manner, according as God has arranged by His\nProvidence. Let everything be done by thee in a kindly spirit, in all\ngentleness and self-denial, resolved to be at peace with thyself and\nwith thy neighbor. It is not the work that hinders thee ; no, but rather\nit is thy spirit of disorder in doing the work that hinders thy spiritual\nprogress. Set that right, and keep God alone in view in all thy activity.\nLook carefully into thyself very often; take heed to what thy mind is\noccupied with ; admit no confusion of motives there, whether about joy\nor sorrow; guard carefully thy external behavior. By these means\nthou Shalt abide in contentment in all thy doings; the Holy Ghost will\ncome to thee and fill thy soul. He will dwell within thee. If thou wilt\nbut hearken to His teaching, He will work miracles within thee. To\nthat happy state may God help us all. Amet^\n\n334 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — The scene and circumstances of the coming of the Holy\nOhost — The first gift is Divine fear, which is a supernatural in-\nstinct of seeking safety from danger — The^i comes the gift of\npiety, which is a Divine trustfulness in God amid all inward dis-\nturbances and outward calamities — The third is the gift of knowl-\nedge, hy which we learn how to place reason in supreme control\nover sense and God over all — The fourth is fortitude, by which a\na man does wonderful things and overcomes horrible obstacles to\nholiness — Counsel is a gift revealing our defects in their naked de-\nformity, and showing us how to overcome them — Understanding\nand wisdom are the perfect gifts, and place the soul in close but\nindescribable union with God.\n\nTHIRD SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF PENTECOST.\n\nAnd they were all filled with the Holy Ghost— Acts 11, 4.\n\nThis is the blessed day on which the Holy Ghost was sent down upon\nthe Lord's holy disciples, and upon all who were united to them in\nGod's love. Today was restored to us by God's mercy that precious\ngift of grace, first lost to us in Eden through the evil counsel of Satan\nand human weakness. The outward manner of this high gift was\nwonderful, to say nothing of the hidden marvels enclosed in the apostles'\nsouls, for this is incomprehensible to all reason and sense. The Holy\nSpirit is so immeasurable and so lovable a boon, that His infinite great-\nness totally surpasses all our powers of understanding by means of\nfigures and mental conceptions. A little grain of dust compared to the\nwhole bulk of the world, even this is more than all our power of think-\ning and imagining, compared to the task of understanding the Holy\nGhost. And all creatures together are infinitely less than our least\nthoughts of the Holy Spirit. Therefore it is that wheresoever He shall\ntake up His abode, He must Himself make ready all things for His\nreception. God's own deep abyss must be God's place of welcome, and\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 335\n\nthat even in His creatures. The house in which the disciples were\ngathered was filled with God — ''and It filled the whole house where they\nwere sitting\" (Acts ii, 2). Be sure of this: into whatsoever soul God\ncomes, He fills every corner of it, according as it is receptive of Him.\n\nThe disciples were all filled with the Holy Ghost. This brings us to\nthe consideration of their condition at the time; and it is that of all of\nGod's followers when they are to receive Him. We find that they were\nall shut in and assembled together in one place, and that they sat in all\nstillness, when they received the Holy Ghost. And so with us. This\nbeloved Spirit of God is given to each one of us, as often and as much as\nwe are shut off from all creatures and turned wholly to God. The very\ninstant this happens in a man, the Holy Ghost comes to him with all\nHis graces, and He fills every desire; He takes possession of the very\nbeing and essence of the soul. And, on the other hand, the very instant\nthe soul turns away from God — that is to say deliberately — and gives\nitself to creatures apart from God, having its own self and not God in\nview, that very instant the Holy Ghost takes His departure from the\nsoul with all His treasures.\n\n\"And filled the whole House\" where the disciples were sitting. And\nherein we may understand holy Church to be meant, which is indeed\nGod's house; and in another sense it may mean each man among us. For\neach one should be a temple and dwelling place of God, well beloved by\nthe Holy Ghost as being His chosen shrine. And as in every house there\nare many different living rooms, so in a man there are many senses,\npowers and activities, into all of which the Holy Ghost comes with His\ngifts. And the moment He enters in He lights up a man's soul inte-\nriorly with His brightness. He excites him to the practice of virtue.\nThis entrance of God into the soul and His interior working is not\nalways perceived, although He is thus present in all good men. If one\nwould plainly feel that holy presence and taste God's sweetness, he must\ngather all his faculties together into one place, as it were; he must shut\nhimself away from all outward things, and give himself up in all still-\nness to His Divine Guest. Then will he feel Him in all his soul's activi-\nties, all the more in proportion to the increase of his fervor in turning\nwholly to Him, hour by hour adding to his first impulse of devoted\nallegiance.\n\nThe disciples of God were shut in out of fear of the Jews. O merciful\nGod, how much more necessary a thousand times is it not for us in these\ndays, to take flight and to be shut in and separated from the wicked\n\n336 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nJews whom we meet at every corner of our life, and who fill all our\nhouses. Ah, beloved children, beware of these hateful Jews, that is to\nsay the men who would rob you of God, of confidence in God, and of the\ndelightful communion of your soul with the Holy Ghost. The Jews of\nold could do no more against the apostles than take away the life of\ntheir bodies, but the men of the wretched world of today can deprive\nyou of eternal life, rob you of your soul and of God. Fly from these\nJews, shut yourselves safely away from them, put an end to your dan-\ngerous companionship with them, beware of dallying with them, whether\nby words or deeds ; for God's honor and praise is not with them. And\nif you fail in this, be sure that you will lose the Holy Ghost and forfeit\nall His gifts.\n\nBut someone might say : No, sir, this intercourse with men does me\nno harm, because I mean no evil in it. And I must recreate myself and\nenjoy some little relaxation. But O my God, how is it that Thou, the\nsweetest and the only good, Thou eternal and infinite joy — how is it that\nThou hast no sweetness to our taste, while we can find peace and happi-\nness in the enjoyment of miserable, perishing creatures, full of darkness\nand destruction, O man, how canst thou prefer the joy of creatures to\nthat of God, and drive from thy heart the blessed Spirit that made thee,\nand is and must be thy truest consolation ?\n\nBut, dear children, fly not the company of good men, those who long\nfor God's love alone, and who keep Him ever in mind with deep sincerity.\nWhen such as these are engaged with outward things, they nevertheless\nremain preoccupied with their interior life, where they are always priv-\nileged to enjoy the peace and happiness of the Holy Ghost.\n\nThe disciples of God were all assembled together; and this teaches\nus to gather in to our hearts all our mental faculties and all our bodily\nsenses, so that the Holy Ghost may constantly act upon them, producing,\nas He is sure to do, wonderful fruits of grace, when place and time are\nfound appropriate.\n\nThe disciples of God were seated when they received the Holy Ghost.\nSo must thou in very truth sit down submissive to God's will in all\nevents, whether joyful or sad, doing or not doing. And this is a neces-\nsary requirement on the part of God from all who would become spirit-\nual men. For what is meant by spirituality, except to be intimately\nunited to God in one will? All Christians who would be saved are\nbound to this — to will nothing against God's will.\n\nAnd now one might enquire whether all men in the ecclesiastical\nstate are bound to become perfect. They are bound, answers St. Thomas,\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 337\n\nto live and strive always toward perfection. You must understand that\nthe Holy Ghost imparts seven gifts, through which He does seven works\nin the soul. By three of them He prepares a man for high and true\nperfection ; by the other four, He finishes His interior and external work,\ngranting the highest and most splendid achievement of all perfection.\n\nThe first gift is Divine fear, which is the certain entrance way to per-\nfection even the highest. The gift of fear is like a solid wall of resist-\nance against all transgressions and all hindrances. Holy fear causes\none to flee from deadly snares, as well as to escape falling into the deep\npit. The soul becomes like a bird that the hunter would entrap, but\nwhich flies swiftly away into safety. As God gives this instinct of\nsafety to His inanimate creatures, so does He bestow His blessed gift of\nfear upon us, to enable us to escape whatever would hinder us from\nunion with Him, This noble gift guards us from the world, from the\nevil spirit and from our own weakness — from every manner of means by\nwhich we may forfeit our peace of soul. Whatever man has really given\nplace to the Holy Ghost within him, quickly flees from danger ; and he\nmakes no terms with evil, nor holds any middle place between what is\nfor God and what is against Him, that is to say in what involves mortal\nsin. And in all this, the gift of fear is, as the prophet taught, the\nbeginning of wisdom.\n\nAfter the gift of fear comes that of piety, a gentle endowment, which\nleads the soul far in advance on the journey toward union with sovereign\ntruth. This gift takes from a man all depressing influences that might\nresult from fear, lifting him out of his heaviness of spirit, so that he\nmay have Divine trustfulness in all that may occur, both in inward\nfeelings and outward happenings. Piety cures spiritual weariness,\nremedies obstinacy, and softens bitterness against one's self. And it\nmakes one kindly toward one's neighbor in word and deed, very peace-\nful in outward behavior : and as to rashness, that the Spirit of God by\nthis gift banishes totally away.\n\nThe third gift follows after, elevating the soul yet higher — the gift of\nknowledge. These gifts lap over one another and partake more or less\nof one another, but each in turn places the soul nearer to God. Dear\nchildren, in God a man is enabled by this gift to hearken to the Holy\nGhost's interior voice warning him and guiding him, according to the\nwords of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ : ''When He, the Spirit of Truth,\nis come, He will teach you all truth\" (John xvi, 13) ; that is to say, all\nthings that we need to know. The warning of God is like this: O man,.\n\n338 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nbeware of doing that, for such and such evil results may follow. Or\nagain : Do not say that ; go not that way. These are prohibitions. But\nGod also bids us do things : Act in such and such a way ; give up this and\nundertake that. All these things are the gentle leadings of the Holy\nSpirit. He would have our souls possess the mastery over our bodies\nin all things, ruling them with a noble spiritual supremacy. He would\nhave our bodies live a worthy life, by practicing virtue and in steadfast\nindustry. He would have us suffer disgrace patiently. He would draw\nevery single one of us to Himself, that He may elevate us to a thousand-\nfold more perfect union, banishing inordinate fear.\n\nThey who are faithful to this gift of knowledge, God leads to the\nfourth gift, Divine fortitude. O children, how noble and how very\nsuperior a gift of God is this, for it lifts us high above our human\nweakness. This was the force in the holy martyrs, as they cheerfully\nsuflfered death through God's assistance. Fortitude makes a man great-\nhearted. He feels able to perfectly accomplish everything for God, to\nsuffer everything for His sake, as St. Paul said : '*I can do all things in\nHim who strengtheneth me\" (Phil, iv, 13). To such a man neither fire\nnor water nor death itself has any terrors ; as St. Paul again teaches :\n\"For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor principalities, nor pow-\ners, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor\ndepth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love\nof God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord\" (Rom. viii, 38, 39). With\nthis gift a man becomes so strong, that he goes far beyond abstaining\nfrom mortal sins ; he would rather die than deliberately commit even a\nsingle venial sin. And this is a doctrine taught us by our dear saints ;\nfor if all will admit that we should give up life rather than wilfully\ncommit a mortal sin, the saints, in addition to this by example and teach-\ning, lead us to abhor venial sin.\n\nWith the gift of fortitude the soul can do wonderful things. You\nmust know, dear children, that when the Spirit of God comes into our\nsouls, He always brings great joy, bright light, sweet consolation, for\nHe is called and He is the Comforter. And now what too often hap-\npens? When the silly man feels this happiness, he appropriates it to\nhimself in a state of self-satisfaotion. He diverts his mind away from\nGod to the enjoyment of God's gifts. Quite the contrary is the way of\nthe wise Christian. He ever reverts to the origin of his joy, restores all\nGod's gifts back to God with clear-minded self-renunciation. Not this\nor that particular one ; but all without exception that he is and has he\nrefers straight back to God alone.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 339\n\nUpon this follows the Divine gift of counsel, the fifth in order. Ah,\nhow great is the need of God's counsel now; for it will be as if He had\ntaken away all that He had given before, showing a man in naked reality\nwhat he is and what he can do ! But He will instruct him how he should\nbear himself in this sore trial of self-knowledge, A man is now left\ndestitute ; of God he knows nothing — so it appears to him, — ^ha5 nothing\nof His grace, is wholly deprived of comfort. Whatever he had before is\ngone — gone, at least, out of his knowledge, snatched away and vanished.\nHe stands desolate, at a loss what to do or whither to tarn. The gift\nof counsel is now of essential necessity, if he would behave as God would\nhave him, and yield himself up to God's holy will, dying to self, standing\nin utter abandonment to his heavenly Father, giving himself cheerfully\nup to the awful secret judgment of God, by which he has been despoiled —\nso he thinks — of those graces which were once his perfect salvation and\njoy and comfort. This gift is no less a grace than to be content to be\nrobbed of one's very self — this utter abandonment to God's will, this\nsinking down into the abyss of the Divine sovereignty. Nor is it enough\nto be willing to accept this fate for a week or a month of dark suffering,\nbut for a long thousand years, if God so wills it — nay (if such a thing\nwere possible consistently with loving God), to accept the eternal pains\nof hell, if God so willed, so that one might at last be wholly conformed\nto the Divine decree.\n\nDear children, here is a grade of self-renunciation above all others.\nCompared to this, the giving up of a thousand worlds is nothing; or the\noffering of their lives that the blessed martyrs made, for they had God's\ncomfort in their souls, so that they could laugh at tortures and could die\njoyously. But there is no torture to compare with the loss of God that\nis now felt by the soul undergoing this trial. And, besides, all the\nmisery that the soul had previously endured with patience, all the temp-\ntations it had previously overcome, all the faults it had rooted out — all\nthis together now returns upon it and assails it, and that with a violence\nfar greater than when the soul was struggling out of a state of sinful-\nness. Now let a man suffer meekly, now let him give up to God's will,\nand that for as long a time as God pleases. Sometimes a good soul will\nbe so self-weary as to find solitude an unbearable agony — not for one\nhour can he be alone. For relief he turns now to this solace and again\nto that, and ever in vain : his only recourse is to struggle meekly through\nit all and yield himself up to God. Why, think you, did the Lord say to\nSt. Peter, that a man should forgive his enemy seventy times seven\n\n340 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ntimes? except because He knows our weakness, and would instruct us\nthat as often as we turn again to Him repenting and confessing, so often\nwill He pardon us. How great a boon is it, for a sinner to be taught\nwhat it means to fall away from God and then to return to Him again.\nDear children, in this trial as in all things else, one must resign himself\ninto God's hands, and be guided by His gift of counsel, lifting himself\nhigh above all created existence, and becoming united to the origin and\nessence that is God's will.\n\nDear children, by the three first gifts of the Holy Spirit — fear of God,\npiety toward God, and God's science or knowledge — a man is made good\nand holy; but by those of fortitude and counsel he becomes heavenly, and\nas it were Divine. It is by these, in truth, that God sets a man in ever-\nlasting life. After enduring the agony we have described, the soul\nendures no other agony whether in earth or hell. It is impossible that\nthe eternal God would ever give that soul up, any more than He would\ngive Himself up, for the soul has yielded itself totally to the Divine will.\nThat soul has placed itself safely in the one only origin of all things,\nand if all the suffering in this world fell upon it, it would regard it not\nat all, it would experience no manner of harm, nay, it would even turn it\ninto joy — such a soul seems to be in Heaven itself. That man's conver-\nsation is in that blessed home of his soul, into which he has, as it were,\nplaced one foot ; and now he has only to draw the other one after it in\norder to be wholly in life eternal. He is in direct communication with\neverlasting joy, which, indeed, has already begun in his soul.\n\nAnd now come the last two gifts, understanding and wisdom, which\nlead a man directly into the abyss of God's being, and in a manner far\nabove any other means. The way of these gifts is understood by God\nalone, for they grant a savor of His own essential wisdom. When the\nsoul is given them, it is forthwith lost to its own consciousness. Self is\nabsorbed in God. A man can think of nothing of his own, neither\nworks, nor feelings, nor knowledge, nor life. All this has been absorbed\nand centered in one simple infinite good, to which it is joined in the\nunspeakable depths of God, joined in essential unity. What God has\nin Himself by nature, that He now imparts to the soul by grace, the\nDivine being, unnamed and without form or manner of existence that\nwe can express. And now everything that is done in that soul God\nHimself does, acting, knowing, loving, praising, enjoying; all of which\nthe soul has and does as if it were passive instrument of God's activity.\nOne can no more speak of this state clearly than he can speak clearly\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 341\n\nof the Divine life itself. To men and angels it is far too high for expres-\nsion. The created mind is incapable of understanding God's life,\nwhether in Himself in His natural activity, or in these favored souls,\nwhen it is a gift of grace.\n\nAnd thus it is that the Holy Ghost leads those who prepare their souls\nfor Him, who long to be filled with Him, who would entertain Him as\ntheir Divine Guest, who would yield themselves freely and loyally to\nHis guidance. How glad and more than glad should we not be to\nextend Him this welcome, giving up for His dear sake ourselves and\nall things else. That is what the disciples did when He was granted\nthem on the feast we today celebrate; that is what is done daily and\nhourly by all who make themselves ready for His coming. May God the\nFather, and God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, grant us the privilege\nof this noblest way of union with the Holy Spirit. Amen.\n\n342 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — The sheepfold is God's heart — The sheep are all saints and\nangels — The thieves are those who try to enter, trusting to their\nown natural good qualities — The rohhers are the envious and\nbackbiters — Every man who would enter Ood's heart must try\nhimself by these tests.\n\nFOURTH SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF PENTECOST.\n\nAmen, amen, I say to you : He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,\nbut climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber. — John x, 1.\n\nOur Lord teaches in the same chapter that He is Himself the door of\nthe sheep. And what is the sheepfold ? It is the Divine Father's heart ;\nof this our beloved Lord is the door, ever opening to admit us, ever clos-\ning to keep us in. For we know that till our Saviour came, the door of\nGod's heart was shut against us. In that sheepfold is the assemblage\nof all the saints. The shepherd is the Eternal Word, the door is the\nhumanity of Christ, the sheep in this beautiful house of the shepherd\nare the souls of men, and, we may add, that this is the dwelling place\nof all angelic natures. The Good Shepherd, the Eternal Word, has\nshown all reasonable creatures the road to the Divine sheepfold. And\nwho is the doorkeeper? The Holy Ghost, as Saints Ambrose and Jerome\nteach: \"All truth that is ever known or ever spoken comes from the\nHoly Ghost.\" As to how the Holy Ghost instructs our hearts, inclines\nthem, incessantly compels and enraptures them, that is known by those\nwho have entered deeply into their own interior life.\n\nAh, how sweetly does the fatherly heart of God shut to the door when\nwe have entered in, how generously does He lavish upon us the hidden\nriches of His house of love. No one can fully understand how ready and\nas it were thirsty God is thus to receive our souls, meeting us every\ninstant halfway and with all eagerness as we advance toward Him. O\nchildren, how does it happen that we hold back, and that we refuse this\ngracious invitation, that we do it so often and for such frivolous reasons?\nWe read in Scripture that when King Assuerus invited Vasti, his queen,\nto a royal banquet, she refused to come; and then the king detested her\n\nof John Tanler, the Illuminated Doctor 343\n\nand cast her off forever, and chose another queen in her place. Ah,\nchildren, how many invitations of God Himself have we not refused;\nfor they come to us directly from Him in our hearts, and again through\nthe medium of creatures. God would have us to be with Himself, and\nwe refuse and insist on being joined to others.\n\nNow the Holy Spirit, the Gatekeeper of the Sheepfold, calleth His\nown sheep by name. Some refuse to hear Him and go away, but others\nhear His sweet voice gladly, and follow Him faithfully, turning neither\nto the right nor left and following no other. He leads onward, and they\nfollow loyally after Him into the fatherly heart, into their peaceful\nhome, passing through the door of the Eternal Word in His beloved\nhumanity. True sheep of God are these; no alien shepherds do they\nfollow; only God and His honor do such souls regard, guided absolutely\nby the Divine will — true sheep of the one Good Shepherd. Our Saviour\nsays that He knows them and they know Him and recognize His voice,\nthe voice that calls them to the door that opens into everlasting life;\nfor He is the way, the truth and the life. Whosoever com^th to the\nFather must go through the door that Jesus is. To strive to enter any\nother way is to be a thief and a robber.\n\nAnd who, dear children, are the thieves? All who would enter into\nGod's sheepfold trusting to their natural good qualities ; those who do\nnot keep God alone in mind and heart in humble self-denial, nor follow\nthe lovely form of Jesus Christ in entire disengagement of spirit ; those\nwho will not acknowledge themselves worthy of rejection — all these\nmen enter in by the wrong door. And who else is the thief? The bad\nman who seeks out other men to corrupt them, the treacherous man of\nthe evil eye. It is the selfish man, wholly consumed with self-love, who\nwould appropriate to himself everything, grasping after what is God's\nand his neighbors. This evil trait drives the soul to appropriate all to\nitself, and then selfishly to seek to enjoy the comfort of God's generous\ngifts, harboring ambitious thoughts of being holy. And this evil state\nis fastened on the soul, unless it be sternly resisted, and self-denial be\npracticed in all inward and outward things. For it is ever against\nnature for a man to be content with op])ressiou, to be glad to die to\nhis own will, and to make that the starting point. Self-interest is always\nthe hidden thief in our hearts, stealing from the eternal God His due\nhonor, and from ourselves the truth of God and our everlasting perfec-\ntion. This spiritual thief within us, dear children, does more harm to\nmen than those criminals who are hanged for stealing our natural goods.\n\n344 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nTherefore I warn you against this secret thief ; as you value your eternal\nwelfare resist self-love, lest it steal from you the fruit of Heaven's joy.\n\nSo much for the thieves. And now, dear children, let us ask who are\nthe wicked robbers. They are rash judgments of our neighbor. Some\nmen — and you find them in all states of life — are full of the spirit of\nrash judgment ; so much so that their condemnation of others prevents\nthem from knowing and condemning themselves. Such a one inwardly\nexclaims : That man talks too much, that other talks too little ; this one\nis overbusy, that one is too idle ; one has committed that fault, another\nthis fault. And thus injurious reflections are multiplied as well as\nheavy condemnations, and at last a pitiable and sinful state of interior\nuncharity results. This inner contempt for one's neighbor often breaks\nout in ugly words, and characterizes the whole outward demeaner. It\nspreads the deadly infection to other men, slaying souls right and left.\nAh, thou poor, blind creature; why dost thou not sit in judgment on\nthyself? What canst thou know of the heart of thy neighbor, or the\nway God is leading him with His loving favors, or of the inspirations\nand drawings of the eternal God in his inner life? What! Wilt thou,\npoor wretch that thou art, sit in judgment on these secret things, known\nto God's eye alone? Wilt thou thus presume to decide about what is\nwholly God's work, to meddle with it and destroy it? Repent of this\nbefore God and His saints and angels, repent sincerely, for all judg-\nment is God's alone.\n\nThis death-stroke of evil judging works great harm in religious com-\nmunities. It is a pitiful thing that such uncharitable spirits should\nforget our Lord's words : \"Judge not, that you may not be judged. For\nwith what judgment you judge, you shall be judged; and with what\nmeasure you mete, it shall be measured to you again\" (Matt, vii, 1, 2).\nOne must never condemn anything except mortal sin. If it happens\nthat a man must pass judgment because he holds an oflSce, then the\nHoly Ghost judges and punishes through him, and he therefore should\nact with Divine gentleness, lest in curing one wound he inflict ten others.\nDivine love, brotherly charity, a meek and gentle heart — these are the\nright dispositions for a judge. Without these, a religious superior\ngropes in darkness and soon wanders away from the truth. Ever\nand always should we first sit in judgment on ourselves. As long as\nthou livest thou hast hanging about thy neck a sack full of thy own\nsins, calling out constantly for judgment. As to judgment and punish-\nment of thy neighbor, leave that to himself and his God, if thou wouldst\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 345\n\nmake sure of entering into the fold of eternal life. For I say to thee in\nall truth, that as many judgments as thou visitest on others, so many\nshall be visited on thyself.\n\nDear children, when a man turns inward, he discovers in his soul these\ntwo enemies, the thief of self-appropriation of God's graces, and the\nrobber of rash judgment against his neighbor. These hidden enemies\nsteal and destroy the treasures of God's grace, and lay waste His inte-\nrior kingdom. Let a man turn one enemy upon the other. Let him\nforce the robber of rash judgment to exercise true judgment upon the\nthief of spiritual self-conceit, and then follows what often happens:\nboth suffer death, the robber and the thief destroy each other. O chil-\ndren, happy is the soul in which this happens. Blessed is the life of a\nman when nature's fierce tendency to condemn, is turned upon its greedy\nself to inflict punishment for appropriation of Divine gifts. Then he\nrests meekly under God's judgment, in his own case and in that of all\nothers; then he soon finds himself at the door that is Jesus Christ our\nLord; then the beloved Doorkeeper, the Holy Ghost, opens wide the\nportals of eternal life, and introduces the soul into the deep abyss of the\nFather's love, into and out of which it passes, always enjoying rich\npastures of grace.\n\nThat soul sinks with unspeakable joy into the Deity, comes forth\nagain with equal joy by union with the blessed humanity of Christ, ful-\nfilling the w^ord of our Saviour spoken through His prophet concerning\nHis sheep : \"I will feed them in the most fruitful pastures, and their\npastures shall be in the high mountains of Israel ; there shall they rest\non the green grass (Ezechiel xxxiv, 14). Then shall the soul's work\nand rest be made one. May that be our blessed lot, by the help of God.\nAmen.\n\n346 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n2Ii|f KpaBtltB Vtfuxt l^tnUtOBt\n\nSynopsis — Deserted hy the world, the Apostles turned inward to Qod\n— They went hack to the city, recalling the tea^ching of Jesus —\nThey fearfully examined their souls and bitterly repented of their\nsins — They grew in hope, and confidently awaited the Holy Spirit\n— Reasons why He had not been granted them \"before.\n\nFIFTH SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF PENTECOST.\nThen they returned to Jerusalem. — Acts I, 12.\n\nWhen the eternal Son of God had finished the work His Father had\nsent Him to accomplish, and His bodily presence had been taken away\nfrom His disciples, they returned from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem.\n\nAnd there they did six things. First, seeing themselves deserted by\nthe whole world, seeing, too, that all Heaven's joy and consolation had\nbeen taken away from them, they turned inward. They withdrew their\nthoughts from all outward things, for this world was now wholly dead\nto them, and with it all the joy of transitory things.\n\nSecondly, they resolved on self-renunciation. Now they had as leave\ndie as live. As long as God's will were done and His honor saved, they\ncared not what might happen to them. Hence it was that they went\nback into the city, a place full of their enemies, because they had been\nso commanded by the Lord, there to await what His will had in store\nfor them. This they did, although not without great fear.\n\nThirdly, they called to mind the sweet and holy teaching of Jesus by\nword and by example ; and how stupidly they had received it all ; how\nunworthy they had been to hear His words and to look upon Him ; and\nbow feebly they had responded to His loving care. Recognizing all this,\nthey confessed it before God with bitter sorrow of heart, and upbraided\nthemselves with interior reproaches.\n\nFourthly, they now remembered how their beloved Master had in all\nthings practiced self-sacrifice; that in His whole life He never was a\nself-seeker. They recalled, too, His words : \"If any man will come after\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 347\n\nMe, let him deny himself\" (Matt, xv, 24). Upon this they inspected\ntheir own souls, and they owned that they were very far from true\ndenial of self, and that they had copied Christ's example only in a\nnatural way. They became aware that fear and other natural motives\nhad not been displaced by higher ones. They sorrowfully confessed all\nthis, and accused themselves bitterly, and despised themselves heartily.\n\nFifthly, they rose out of this humble state of mind, this candid avowal\nof dullness of soul and of disorderly inclinations, and they turned with\nsincere longings to their beloved Master. From the depths of their heart\nthey implored Him to forgive their great imperfections, to cure all cow-\nardice within them, to correct all the self-seeking of their perverted\nnature, and to utterly strip them of anything that could lead them\nastray from a true life, establishing in them the rule of His blessed\nhumanity. All this they did with most hearty sincerity; otherwise, I\ndo not believe that they would have received the Holy Ghost.\n\nSixthly, they aroused within their souls a gentle sentiment of confi-\ndence, recalling the word of their Master that He would bring them\nhelp and would comfort them. Although they saw themselves forsaken\nand opposed by all, and in the sorest necessity, yet were they full of a\ngreat confidence in their faithful Master and Lord. They were sure\nthat He would not abandon them, even though they felt some misgivings\non account of their unworthiness, and their lack of disengagement from\nworldly things.\n\nAnd now you might ask this question : Since the disciples were dead\nto the world, and since they sincerely longed that all shortcomings of\nnature might be remedied by the Divine light, why was the Holy Ghost\nnot given them immediately after the Lord's ascension ? I answer that\nwe cannot believe that the Holy Spirit was withheld from them during\nthe interval between the ascension and Pentecost, and ve may be sure\nthat they received Him; but only in a preparatory sort of way. They\nwere to receive Him in far greater fullness at Pentecost. The more they\nadvanced in self-knowledge and self-annihilation, so much the more\nplentifully was He imparted to them. He was delayed till Pentecost\nas to the fullnes of His graces, because they were not as yet entirely\nemptied of self. Then it was that their souls were perfectly ready for\nHim because entirely disengaged from other claimants. Only then;\nthat is to say when God's Spirit was poured into them and the Divine\npower finished the work of preparation: that preparation had been\ngoing on beforehand, but only then was it completed. God now was\n\n348 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nin their souls content with Himself as He possessed them. And this\nwe will more fully explain in the next sermon. St. Gregory speaks of\nthe disciples and of souls similar to them, when he says : \"In proportion\nas the Divine power grows within us, so does our own spirit lose its\nstrength ; and thus do we increase wholly in God, as we decrease wholly\nin ourself.\" May this holy gift be granted us by the Father, and the\nSon, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 849\n\n2U|F firatoUtg of % ^ti\\^ (Sl^oat\n\nSynopsis — The first drawing is through creatures, giving proofs of His\nexistence— • Secret and interior touches of consolation or of chas-\ntisement are a second attraction — The third is a drawing to a very\nclose emhrace of love — This is followed by entire self-renunciation,\nsometimes in joy, more often in sorrow — Another drawing is into\na state of interior prayer without images or forms — The other\ndrawings perfect all these and add new heavenly joys to the soul.\n\nSIXTH SERMON FOR PENTECOST.\n\nNo man can come to Me except the Father, who hath sent Me, draw him. — John\nTl, 44.\n\nThese words apply to our Saviour's disciples after the ascension, for\nthey were very wretched. They lay, as it were, imprisoned in the deep\ndungeon of their sinfulness, bound by their own inclinations as by fet-\nters of iron. Conscious at last of their own powerlessness, they now cry\nout pitifully to the eternal Father. For St. Luke tells us that they were\npersevering with one mind in prayer — prayer to be set free from their\nheavy chains, to be released from their dark dungeon. And God their\nFather heard their fervent prayer. He struck off their chains, He drew\nthem forth from prison, and set them in the Divine school of the Holy\nGhost, in which they were to be filled with all truth. The cords with\nwhich He drew them forth were six in number.\n\nThe first is that He turned upon them His eyes of compassion. Nor\nwas this in the way of His ordinary mercy, but with particular mercy\nfor them. God draws men to Himself by created things, through which\nHe reveals His existence in the created light of their souls. St. Thomas\nteaches that some of the heathen saw God's presence as He dwelt in the\ncreated world about them, which showed Him as its Creator and Master,\nso that men should pay Him honor in every part of the world. Thus\nGod draws men through His creatures, thereby giving them proofs of\nHis existence.\n\n350 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nIn addition to this, God manifests Himself to the soul of man by His\nsecret word of truth within them. St. Augustine says : \"The heathen\nhave discoursed of certain truths that they know from the everlasting\nlaw of God, and not from their own natural knowledge.\" Such is the\ncase with all men who utter truth, as St. Ambrose teaches : \"Whatsoever\nis true, no matter by whom it may be spoken, comes from the Holy\nGhost.\" Hence it happens that when the soul is deeply recollected, it\noften becomes sensitive to the words of eternal truth, a state that some-\ntimes comes upon us in the night time toward morning. This influence\nmay be either in the nature of a caress from God or of a chastisement.\n\nYet again God influences the soul when a man gives himself entirely\nup to Him, waiting solely upon God's blessed will, truly disengaged\nfrom love of self and of all created things. Then the eternal Father,\nfinding his creature's will offering no manner of resistance, draws him\nin a way that causes his soul to adhere to Him in an especially affection-\nate manner. This drawing is called a union, an embracing. Its gift is\nthe possession of the Supreme Good, Who made Heaven and earth and\nall things for our sake. Who came on earth and humbled Himself to the\ndeath of the cross. It is because man is dearer to God than all Heaven's\nglory or that of earth, that He seeks to possess him, and that He desires\nto guide him in all his ways. This attraction for man it was that turned\nGod's gracious glances upon Christ's disciples, this is the reason of all\nthe joys and sorrows with which He visited them. All was to fit them to\nrespond to His drawing of their souls. And when at last the disciples\nallowed God to manage them after His own will, they answered His\ndrawing perfectly. This will appear better as we go on.\n\nOne might enquire : Why did God prepare the disciples for this priv-\nilege and does not thus prepare me and other men, at least in this won-\nderfully special manner? I answer that there are two reasons. One is\nGod's free choice, by which He prefers some men rather than others for\nthe bestowal of His most familiar love, just as a king by his royal free-\ndom of choice, calls to his privy council certain of his nobles rather than\nothers. Another reason is that some men correspond better with God's\ninvitation and more diligently co-operate with it than others do, using\nevery means at hand, overcoming all obstacles. This extraordinary\nDivine drawing was given to our dear disciples, because they prepared\nfor it by most hearty prayers for pardon. They lamented most sincerely\ntheir former dullness of heart, and their unworthy lives while their\nbeloved Master had been with them. They painfully called to mind His\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 351\n\nholy life and bitter death, His boundless love for them, His giving up\nall that man holds dear for their sakes ; and they despised their own stu-\npidity and ingratitude. Then they set a watch over themselves, aban-\ndoned themselves wholly into God's hands, cut themselves loose from all\nattachments as far as they were able, and begged God's help to fully\ncomplete their disengagement from earthly things. And in that frame\nof mind they humbly waited on God's blessed will. This explains why\nthey were so specially favored.\n\nOne might object that the disciples could not thus prepare for God by\ntheir own power, for it is written : \"Without Me you can do nothing\"\n(John XV, 5) ; it is God who has led them through these degrees of prep-\naration, and drawn their wills to Him. In answer I say that it is true\nthat without God's general sanctifying influence we can do no good\nthing, and that without the Holy Spirit's particular influence we can\ntake no single step in advance. And yet it also stands true that we have\nour part to perform, for it is certain that we can resist the Holy Ghost\nand cling to self in spite of Him. God does not sanctify a man without\nhis own free will. Our eyes cannot see without light shining; and yet\nwhen the light beams we must open our eyes, or we shall not see, in spite\nof our having the light. No matter how brightly the sun shines, if I\nbandage my eyes with a thick cloth, it shines not for me ; in spite of all\nthe sunshine I do not see. Thus, therefore, when the eternal Father\ncast His light upon the disciples, they stripped off all bandages, and set\naside as far as they could all things else that intervened between them\nand Him. Then God did His work, and drew them to Him with a special\nattraction. This was the work of the beloved Son of God, the guide of\nall hearts. He pierced every obstacle with His light. He banished every\nhindrance to the full enlightenment of their souls.\n\nThe second drawing is now to be considered. By it the heavenly\nFather enabled them to answer His first attraction in a spirit of entire\nand permanent self-renunciation. This He had taught them by His\nbeloved Son : \"Do not possess gold, nor silver, nor money in your\npurses ; nor scrip for your journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor a staff\"\n(Matt. X, 9, 10). Anyone can see, that to obey this a strong drawing\naway from all bodily comfort is needed. It is a call to enter the school\nof eternal light, which teaches us to cast our heart's affections high\nabove even the third heaven, to say nothing of all the things of time.\nBesides this, they must give no place whatever in their souls to any sense\n■of proprietorship ; and, joined to this, they are to cultivate a spirit of\n\n352 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nrepose, withdrawing into the unchanging tranquillity of the secret\ndepths of their hearts, far from the storm, that is to say, the imperfec-\ntions, of the outward life. There they become, as it were, partakers of\nthat light eternal that is God — a light clear and steadfast, different\nfrom the light of the sun and moon, which alternates with darkness.\nThus did the disciples need to be released from the narrowness and the\ndegradation and the unrest that is essential to created things, and to be\nfreed from all bodily fetters. St. Jerome says : \"As it is impossible that\na stone can have the wisdom of an angel, so is it impossible that God can\ncommunicate Himself in time or in the things of time.\"\n\nAnd now occurs a question. Since God draws some men to Him\nby means of joy and others by means of sorrow, by which of these did He\ndraw the disciples? The answer is found in considering their life. It\nwas passed in our Saviour's company in much hardship, ending in great\nshame and distress. So they were drawn to God more by sorrow than\nby joy. And especially after their Master's cruel death were they in a\nstate of bitter suffering, until they had become entirely detached. And\nthus, by the special favor of their heavenly Father, they were made fit\nto receive the Holy Spirit by the way of suffering. The drawing through\nsorrow is a safer way than that through joy. And it is in this sense\nthat St. Gregory understands the psalmist : \"A thousand shall fall at\nthy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand\" (Ps. xc, 7) ; meaning that\na thousand helpers shall fail thee in time of sorrow and persecution,\nbut ten thousand in time of joy and prosperity.\n\nAnd the way to God through sorrow is more like Christ's way in all\nHis life, and in His death. It is, besides, a better sign of God's love,\nfor it is written : \"Such as I love, I rebuke and chastise\" ( Apoc. iii, 19) .\nIt is, indeed, true that the disciples enjoyed a close familiar companion-\nship with the Divine Master, but it was embittered by the knowledge\nthat for every gift they got they must suffer the death of all self-love.\nAnd as fast as God relieved them of one suffering he sent them another\njust as hard — for God is always accustomed to thus treat his beloved\nfriends. The disciples found this to be the case, and so must they keep\non suffering to the end, according as their heavenly Father arranged for\nthem. Until at last their sorrow was turned into joy, and they were\nglad to suffer for the name of Jesus.\n\nThe third drawing of the heavenly Father, had the effect of freeing the\ndisciples from thinking of the humanity of Christ under gross bodily\nforms. God granted them deliverance from this and all other kinds of\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 353\n\nsuch mental images in their union with Him, just as if He had but now\nnewly created their spiritual existence. This was necessary, if they\nwere to enter the glorious school of the Holy Spirit. Four reasons may\nbe given for this. The first is that truth and love — for about these is all\nteaching imparted — can, strictly speaking, have no images. Can any\npainter in the world picture truth and love, whether in the inner or\nouter order of existence? Whatever form comes forth into our minds\nfrom love is not the form of love's own self; and the same is to be said\nabout images of truth. The second reason is that truth and love are\nnot, in this high school, taught by the external images and figures found\nin books. For now the truth is imparted interiorly ; it is spoken with-\nout words or figures or forms of any created kind, which, indeed, are not\naccording to truth's essential nature. Therefore did the humble St.\nFrancis exhort his brothers in his rule, that they should not busy\nthemselves much with books and writings. If they were unlettered, let\nthem not be too anxious to learn to read, but rather be absorbed above\nall things in striving after the spirit of God, and with pure hearts pray\nfor His holy operation in their souls.\n\nThirdly, one is to renounce such images and forms in the mind, be-\ncause in the holy school of God, wisdom is learned by humility, speech\nby silence, life by death, knowledge by forgetting. Jolni slej)t when he\ngazed upon the fountain head of eternal wisdom. When Paul in his\ntrance looked upon eternal truth, he knew not whether his soul were\nin the body or out of the body. In like manner must the souls of the\ndisciples be imageless, if they would have places in such a school.\nFourthly, when the mind is occupied with images, these run through\nthe imagination in the order and succession of time. N<^'v that is not\nthe way with the Holy Spirit's highest school, wherein not images nor\nintervals of time, but the touch of God, quicker than a flash, moves the\nsoul and enlightens it. St. Gregory says : \"The Holy Ghost is a marvel-\nous master workman. He takes up His abode in a fisherman and makes\nhim a preacher ; He takes up His abode in a cruel persecutor and makes\nhim a teacher of nations; He takes up His abode in a publican and\nmakes him an evangelist.\" W^ho is like this master workman? To\nteach everything that He pleases He requires no time — a single touch\nand all is taught the soul — nothing more is necessary.\n\nNow trom these four reasons, it is plain that the disciples' souls must\nbe drawn away from forms and images. And yet in this drawing, they\ndid not see all that St. Paul did when he was rapt into the third heaven ;\n\n354 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nfor, as St. Augustine thinks, Paul and Moses on the mount saw the\nDivine Essence direct and without any intermediation. This was not\ngranted to the disciples, because they still were conscious of being in\ntheir bodies. And yet in their inmost souls they were so flooded with\nDivine light, that they experienced essentially the same as St. Paul did,\nsome more completely than others.\n\nThe fourth drawing was that whereby the heavenly Father drew the\ndisciples out of themselves. He emptied them of self and self-seeking,\nso that they stood in entire freedom from self-enthrallment, and were\nwholly disengaged from self-interest. All complaint now ceased among\nthem, and all anguish and pain was dead. Herein was perfected most\nhighly the first drawing, in which they were started toward perfect\nDivine union, and of which we have already treated. For now the\neternal Father shall not meet with any resistance from their natural\ninclinations in His designs for their sanctification. This drawing is to\ngive God His place as master in their souls, a free and undivided and\nmost loving supremacy. From it they shall learn His perfections and\nbe made like unto Him. No wonder that they must be drawn out of\nand away from self, for selfhood is wholly inconsistent with Divine lib-\nerty, love and nobility.\n\nAnd now one might inquire: Did the disciples' natural life now die\nwithin them, since all forms and images were drawn out of their minds?\nIs nature now entirely dead? The answer is, no, nature is not now dead\nwithin them. Nay, in this their self-renunciation they are more truly\nnatural than ever before. For whatsoever the Lord of nature operates in\nhis creature, that is to be judged most perfectly natural, and resistance\nto it is resistance to nature. Thus says St. Augustine : \"That the rod\nwas turned into a serpent in the Old Testament was not against nature,\nbecause it was done by the will of God.\" And so I say, that inasmuch\nas the disciples yielded themselves wholly to God's will, they were in the\nhighest degree natural. Their nature did not die, but it was elevated\ninto the right order of existence. As to mental images and forms, they\nstill had them no less than before, but they did not direct them upon\nselfish ends nor any otherwise than according to God's will. When I\nsaid that they were emptied of all images, my meaning was, that these\nforms in the soul were now like a candle in the light of the noonday sun.\nThe candle shines as much as ever, but its beams are mingled and lost\nin the sun's rays, which are now the means of distributing the candle's\nlight. Thus do the mental images and the whole nature of the apostles,\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 3«5\n\nwork through the illumination ' of the Divine light. They use that\nDivine light, and are made thereby truer to nature and have more forms\nand images than ever before.\n\nThe fifth drawing now took place. By it the heavenly Father, finding\nthe souls of His disciples in all freedom of spirit and entirely set at\nliberty from self and created things, drew them into a proportionately\nclose union with Himself. God had obtained His way and purpose\nwith them, for He could have asked no more from them than entire self-\nsurrender. And on their part, all their aspirations for the possession\nof God were now fulfilled. Nor was it that the Holy Ghost gave them\nHimself alone, but that God the Father and God the Son gave them-\nselves also in the fulness of the indivisible Godhead. For when we\nattribute love to the Holy Ghost (as we do wisdom to the Son), so we\nmust remember that in the distinction of the Divine persons it is proper\nto infinite love to unite the Father and the Son in the one Godhead.\n\nAnd now you might enquire, as to whether or not God drew all the\ndisciples to Himself in the same degree of love, and endowed them with\nthe same degree of holiness, since they were all equally absorbed in Him\nand given up to Him. I answer that although all of them were equally\ndetached in spirit, nevertheless they turned to God with different\ndegrees of love and with varying ardor. It was with them as with the\nangels who remained true to God; they differed one from another in\nthe greatness of their love, and God gave Himself in different degrees\nto them, although each and all partook of His union. Thus were God's\ngifts granted to all the disciples, but not in equal distribution. The\nbeloved disciple John, for example, inasmuch as he gazed mor© pro-\nfoundly into the Godhead, was the more richly gifted. But w© must\nremark that God is wholly free in the granting of His favors, and\nbestows them just as He wills, and for no other reason than his Own will.\nAnd we must bear in mind, that God gave Himself personally to the\ndisciples not only on Pentecost, but on many other occasions. For\nRichard of St. Victor and other teachers inform us, that as often as\nsanctifying grace is given us, so often is the person of the Holy Ghost\nimparted. Therefore they had received Him personally many times\nbefore, but they had not then been entirely detached from creaturs, nor\nhad they received the fullness of His gifts. And in this sense it was that\nthey received Him for the first time on Pentecost.\n\nThe sixth drawing of the disciples into the Holy Ghost's high school,\nwaa a peculiar enlightenment of mind. By this grace the most secret\n\n356 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nmeaning of holy scripture was imparted to them, and the truth of God\nwas revealed nakedly to them, and that in a way wholly incompre-\nhensible to all the doctors in the schools. God's greatness was first\npresented to their souls, implanting deep within them the gift of filial\nfear, there to remain till the end of their lives. Besides this, they were\ntaught a universal power to do good, joined to a deep insight into God's\nbeing — the gift of fortitude. In addition, they were shown how to keep\nnot only God's commandments, but also how to observe the counsels of\nChrist — the gift of counsel. Joined to these was the gift of piety, the\nenjoyment of the sweet familiarity of sons with their father, in their\nunion with God. To this, again, was added a penetrating knowledge of\nGod's creatures and all their mutual distinctions, with power to detect\nthe difference between God's supernatural light and that of our natural\nreason — the gift of science. God also taught them to compare their\npresent spiritual state with former conditions, granting them thereby\nthe gift of understanding. Finally He bestowed the gift of wisdom,\nand with it gave them a most precious union with Himself, and a man-\nner of life altogether Divine. This was what God taught in His high\nschool of the Holy Ghost, namely His seven spiritual gifts; just as He\nteaches us in the school of nature His seven natural sciences, and in that\nof holy faith, the seven sacraments.\n\nYou might enquire whether or not the disciples, being thus taught in\nthe sublime school of the Holy Ghost, learned all the knowledge learned\nin natural and human schools. I answer yes, in so far as human art\nand science conduces to God's glory and to man's eternal welfare : they\nwere taught it all, from the course of the stars down to the simplest\nknowledge. But otherwise not; whatever does not benefit the soul they\nwere not taught, nor did that leave them less happy, less perfect. Thus\nsays St. Augustine: \"How miserable is the man who knows all things\nand knows not God; and how blessed is he who knows God, and knows\nnothing at all about anything else.\" Whosoever knows God and all\nthings else, is not at all happier from knowing what is not God : God\nalone it is that makes him happy. May God help us to this happy state ;\nmay He thus draw us to Himself, and thus cause His light of truth\nto shine in our interior souls. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 357\n\nJCnoming (Bah\n\nSynopsis — God is known by our resemblances to Him — These are in\nour virtues — And He is knoivn by contrast, when we consider our\nsins and our evil tendencies, which are directly contrary to Him —\nHoiv our knowledge of Clod is increased by trials and contradic-\ntions, meekly born for His sake.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR TRINITY SUNDAY.\n\nAmen, auien, I say to thee, that we speak what we kuow, and we testify what\nwe have seen. — John iii, 11.\n\nDear children, this is the happy day when we celebrate the glorious\nfeast of the blessed Trinity. And you should know that all our other\nfestivals are to be valued on account of what we commemorate today,\njust as the blossonis of a tree are esteemed for the sake of its fruit. I\nknow not what words to choose to fitly show its gi*eatness, for it sur-\npasses our power of expression, telling as it does of the reward of all our\nlabors and giving them their perfect ending. As a seraph surpasses a\nbeast in intelligence, so do the lessons of this day go beyond human\nreason. Therefore, St. Dionysius said : '^Whatsoever a man says about\nthe holy Trinity seems to be empty of truth, even like to a lie, for no man\ncan in the least degree understand this Divine mystery.\" How then can\none discourse about it, without saying things which in one's ignorance\nare. as it were, untruths?\n\nDear children, foolish men talk of the holy Trinity as if they had pene-\ntrated its mystery — a gift denied to all created beings. Let it be other-\nwise with you. Talk little of this sublime theme, as St. Paul admon-\nishes us. Leave study of it and discourse about it to great doctors, who,\nhowever, can but stammer about it. Yet they must treat of it for the\npurposes of holy Church in refuting the errors of heretics. But such\nlearned discoursing is not your privilege.\n\nIn my text Christ says: \"We speak what we know, and we testify\nwhat we have seen.\" Applying this to the knowledge of the holy Trin-\nity, dear children, then only Christ alone has seen it and known it. As\nto us here below, we can know nothing of it except through the witness-\n\n358 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ning of our Lord Jesus Christ. And He is a witness in two ways, one by\nsimilarity, the other by difference or contrast, namely in His lower and\nin His higher powers. If we lack either of these witnessings of His, we\nshall fail to reach a true knowledge. These two ways are like two sis-\nters inseparably joined in their lives. It is not as if the knowledge in\nthe lower faculties goes in advance and that in the higher follows\nafter, but they must work together, inseparably associated. By this\nmeans the mind finds itself made ready for the knowledge to be gained\nby contrast, on account of already possessing the knowledge gained by\nsimilarities; and then vice versa. It is thus, too, one gains joy by sor-\nrow, sorrow by joy ; he gains honor by disgrace, comfort by misery. Dear\nchildren, these relationships cannot be achieved by the powers of our\npoor fallen nature, or in our outward life alone. But by the aid of\nDivine grace one may essentially reach the mutual effect of like upon\nunlike.\n\nBut nature must suffer many a bitter death, death inward and out-\nward, before the soul stands absolutely indifferent to joy or sorrow.\nAh, what fervent thanks do we owe to God for these many deaths, by\ndying which we gain possession of a glorious and Divine life — if we\nwould only realize the gift of God. Children, we should carefully watch\nour souls, and. yearn and long for, and sincerely pray for this death,\nwhich grants us so perfect a life. For by its means the enlightened\nspirit is indifferent to pain or pleasure, truly balancing like and unlike,\nincapable of disturbance by any happening whatsoever ; hate or love of\nmen, consolation and misery, being to such a soul, one in no wise differ-\nent from the other.\n\nWe find many men, both of the clergy and the laity, who would gladly\nbe perfect followers of Christ if all things were pleasant, if they met\nwith no contradictions. But when opposition is met, inwardly or\noutwardly or from their fellow-men, then they turn off from God. And\nyet trouble would be much better for them, and more useful, than peace.\nTribulation leads to the essence of truth and is its fruit, and peace is but\nits flower. Peace is serviceable to tribulation which it precedes, helping\nus to bear trouble. But only in the midst of tribulation is God born\ninto our lives, all in a hidden manner. Hence must a man stand indif-\nferent between the favorable and unfavorable circumstances of life.\nBut alas, nowadays nobody wants to follow God on this road nor love\nHim in adversity — many would on this account almost hate Him and\nforsake Him.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 359\n\nThese are by no means true witnesses of our Lord Jesus Christ, for\nHe is truly typified by that brazen serpent which Moses hung up before\nthe people, and upon which all must gaze if they were to be restored\nto health. Let us always look earnestly upon this symbol, and bear true\nwitness to Him in all poverty of spirit and boundless self-denial. We\nshould suffer all trials and all opposition with burning zeal, whether\nthey afflict our inner souls or oppress us from without, coming from the\nevil one, from our corrupt inclinations, or from our neighbor.\n\nAnd let me say in all truth, that if every trial were done and over,\nall contradictions passed and opposition overcome, then we should\nmost earnestly invite them back again. For by suffering them again\nthey might cleanse us from the rust that they had left after them. A\ntrue and enlightened man needs to suffer from the feelings and the ten-\ndencies to sin that lurk in his flesh and blood, in order to know himself\nthoroughly, and to hate his weakness and sinfulness. A great sinner,\nwho stands amid his sinful inclinations, is sure to fall and is lost. A\nperfect man, on the contrary, strujiftling with his natural weakneses, is\nonly made the purer, and from this painful conflict passes into eternal\nlife. The bad man knows nothing of the steadfast resistance of virtue\nagainst vice, gladly if painfully maintained by a good man to the very\nend.\n\nAnd now, children, let me ask why there is such a difference between\nthese two men. both whose souls are nevertheless occupied with the\nforms and images of sin. I answer that they have an essentially differ-\nent way of acting. The devout man suffers these imaginations for\nGod's sake — God is exclusively his thought and his support ; from God\nhe accepts the sweet and bitter of life, giving himsell up to God wholly.\nThe wicked man makes no account of God, and falls wilfully into sin;\nhe would do so without any temptation. No matter how God would treat\nhim, he would never be content. If he had his way, his whole life would\nconsist in having much of everything without price or labor, and this\nstate of mind is in the end his death. Therefore, dear children, if you\nseek God purely, and love Him in all your ways, nothing whatsoever\ncan hurt you — if all the devils in hell pour all their malice and unclean-\nness through your soul and body and your flesh and blood, and if the\nwicked world joins all its baseness and filthiness to that flood of evil_,\nas long as it all happens against your will, and if you had rather die than\ncommit a single sin against God, then all this wickedness can do you not\na hair's weight of harm, even though your temptation lasted ten years\n\n360 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nand longer. Naj, the very contrary. For this trial would undoubtedly\nmerit a great reward, and would prepare your soul for incalculable\ngood both here and hereafter. God works miracles in the life of such a\nman — a steadfast soul, that never falls away from the Divine friend-\nship in word or work.\n\nTherefore the Son of God teaches us in the gospel : \"Unless a man be\nborn again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the King-\ndom of God\" (John iii, 5). By the word ghost or spirit one may mean\nthe joys of life, and by the word water, its sorrows. The ugly external\naspect of adversity disguises its noble interior advantages. Be assured,\nchildren, that whosoever will persevere in patient suffering, to him will\nbe unveiled a clear view of the unspeakably precious qualities to be\nfound in suffering. This revelation is to be gained only by one who\naccepts adversity with a loving spirit, loving, that is to say, to suffer\npain more than to enjoy pleasure, yea, even in all things and under all\ncircumstances. The clearer the value of afflictions is understood, the\ndeeper is the inner joy found in outward suffering. To this was Lucifer\nwilfully blind — he would be established in joy without passing through\nsorrow. And therefore did he lose all joy and was buried in unspeakable\nand eternal sorrow. But the good angels, faithful and true, were will-\ning to suffer the sorrowful trial God imposed on them, and forthwith\nthey were absorbed in the unspeakable joy of God.\n\nAh, children, how sweet is the fruit grown upon this soil — a spirit\nfully enlightened about adversity, and pervaded with Divine love. Such\na man, entirely melted into God's will to receive all trials, is presently\ngiven a spiritual power far above his nature and rooted in the Divine\nlife. He is cleansed from the imperfections of his inner and outer exist-\nence ; he grows well accustomed to self-denial ; and he is finally absorbed\nmost sweetly in the Divinity. When a man does his own utmost, reach\ning the highest possible point of his striving, then does God's infinitude\ntake up the work. In the innermost spirit of such a man the Divine\nlight begins to gleam, and with it is imparted a supernatural force.\nFinally the soul is drawn out of itself into thoughts of God wholly\n5)eyond power of expression — a preparation on earth for the eternal hap-\npiness of Heaven. This is the work of God's power, a turning inward\nnot to be told in words, not to be conceived in the mind. Although\nthe soul is so far advanced beyond the previous time of suffering, yet\nthat patient endurance has served to win it the grace of interior union.\nThe steadfast uprightness of intention, the will all pliant to God's\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 361\n\ninfluence, the deep longings for God, all, words and works offered for\nGod, every pang of pain meekly borne for God's sake — this has all served\nto prepare the devout soul for the inward reception of God's heavenly\nvisitation.\n\nChildren, this turning toward God is not the gift of angels or saints,\nmuch less of any earthly benefactor, but comes forth direct from the\ndeepest heart of God Himself; by Him granted, by Him to be perfected.\nInto the Divine obscurity the soul enters, to be there joined to God in a\nDivine stillness. And now all sense of what is pleasant or unpleasant\nin life is quite lost, nay the soul's very identity seems gone, and its\nknowledge of God is so elevated, that it seems as if it were not knowl-\nedge, but just a perfect union.\n\nYou should know, children, that to find this happy lot, a man must\ndie to all created things. Joy and sorrow, whether in body or mind, or\nin flesh and blood, must be indifferent to him. He must love God alone.\nHe must diligently cultivate the interior virtues with a view to suffering\ngladly all adversity. He must behave himself very virtuously, be fond\nof a hidden life, never complain, never seek outward comfort — very dif-\nferent from those who have made little progress in virtue, who know\nlittle of God in their interior souls. Really good men fly from all the mul-\ntiplicity of external human existence, are ever removing hindrances to\nvirtue, offer up everything to God, and by this manner of life are brought\nto that blessed and ever-adorable Trinity of which I am wholly unworthy\nto speak, or even to have any knowledge. That such a grace may be\ngranted to us, help us, O God the Father, and God the Son, and God the\nHoly Ghost. Amen.\n\n302 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nJJIye UrUiit^ mh Hit Jnt^rinr HXft\n\nSynopsis — Definitions of the Trinit'if — Inner perception of the mys-\ntery— Witness of a pagan writer — How a detached soul is taught\nthe divine generation interiorly — And also the divine procession\n— The imparting of the gifts of the Holy Ohost in this experience\n— Practical suggestions.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR TRINITY SUNDAY.\n\nAmen, amen I say to thee, that we speak what we know, and we testify what\nwe have seen, and you receive not oiir testimony. If I have spoken to you\nearthly things, and you believe not; how will you believe if I shall speak to\nyou heavenly things. — John iii : 11, 12.\n\nWe read these words in the Gospel of this feast of the Holy\nTrinity, the most glorious feast of the year, the end and perfection of\nall others ; just as the beginning and course and term of all creatures,\nespecially reasonable creatures, is in God one and triune. We are at\na loss for words to tell the glory of the Holy Trinity, and yet words\nmust be used to endeavor to describe this overpowering mystery of\nthe Godhead. To rightly discourse on this theme, is as impossible as\nto reach from earth to heaven; for as a needle point is compared to\nthe bulk of the earth and sky, so, only a thousand times less, is all\nhuman speech and thought compared to the Trinity.\n\nIt is beyond all comprehension how God, who is so simply one in\nHis essence, is yet with this essential unity three fold in personality.\nAnd, again, the distinction of the persons: how the Father begets\nHis Son, and how the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the\nSon, and yet remains in Himself, self-conscious ; how the Father utters\nHis eternal Word, and from the knowledge going forth therefrom\nthere proceeds an inexpressible love which is the Holy Ghost; how\nthis outflowing is also in turn an inflowing into inexpressible perfec-\ntion of the deity's essential unity — all this is absolutely beyond our\npower to comprehend. So is the Father what the Son is and what the\n\nof John Tauler, the Illiuninated Doctor 353\n\nHolj Ghost is in power, wisdom and love; and the Son and the Holy\nGhost with the Father are all. one; and yet is there great distinction\nbetween the persons, though one in nature mutually and formlessly\ninflowing and outflowing.\n\nMany wondrous words may be uttered about this divine unity in\ndistinction, but all must yet remain unspoken and uncomprehended,\nfor it is better to feel this mystery than to speak of it. Nor is it\npleasant to discourse about the Holy Trinity or even to listen to others\ndiscoursing, no matter from what source the words may be drawn,\nfor every one is unequal to the task. The mystery is a strange thing\nto us and far removed from us, deeply hidden, incapable of under-\nstanding even by the minds of angels. Men in high places must treat\nof it in order to defend it; let them do so, whilst we on our part shall\nbe content to believe. St. Thomas says: \"Let no man go beyond the\nteaching of the doctors of the Church; these have been disciples of the\nHoly Trinity in their lives, and therefore has the Holy Spirit guided\nthem in their teachings.\" To feel the Holy Trinity is the sweetest\nexperience; to err concerning it, is the worst calamity. Therefore\nrefrain from disputation and hold your faith in all simplicity, giving\nyour souls up to God, longing to have Him bom within your souls, not\nafter the manner of human reason, but in the essential depths of your\nbeing.\n\nWe shall experience the divine Trinity within us in proportion as\nwe are conformed to it in all truth and reality. The resemblance to\nGod is in our souls certainly by nature, though of course in no such\nnoble manner as the resemblance of the divine persons one to another\nHence we need to cherish the determination to consider the divine image\nwithin us most attentively, the glory of which no man can rightly\ndescribe. For God is here formed in us in a formless way: truly is it\nformless, though spiritual writers often strive to picture this divine\nimage to us by many forms and comparisons. All teachers say that\nHe is in the highest faculties of our soul, memory, understanding and\nwill, by means of which we are made rightly conscious of the Trinity.\nYet all this is but in the lowest grade of perception of God's presence,\nfor It is merely in the natural exercise of the soul's powers. St.\nThomas gives us a plainer description: \"The perfection of this divine\nimage is rather in its operation in the soul and in the activity of its\npowers— the active memory, active understanding, active love.\" So\n\n364 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nfar St. Thomas. Other doctors go much farther. They say it is in\nthe most secret recesses of the soul that God is most essentially to\nbe known, in which He acts, and exists, and enjoys His own divine\nlife. And while that state continues a man can no more separate\nhimself from God than from his own self. This union is rooted in the\ndepths; and therein has the soul by grace a participation of all that\nGod has by nature. As the soul yields itself to God, so is grace born\nin the highest degree within its interior life — there and in no other\npart.\n\nThe pagan writer Proclus says: \"As long as a man is concerned\nwith images of things beneath him, so long is it impossible for him to\nfathom the depths of his being.\" It seems to some of us a sort of\ndelusion that men should think there is such an inner depth to our\nsoul. Wilt thou realize its actual existence? Then renounce all\nmultiplicity and observe thy inner life intelligently. Wilt thou have\na yet clearer knowledge? Then renounce even thy reason's observa-\ntion of the interior life — for reason's activity is beneath thee — and\nbecome one with the One. The same Proclus considers this state as\na silent, insensible, slumbering and divine perception. Children, how\ngreat a shame it is that this heathen philosopher attained to such\nknowledge, while we Christians are so far from it and are so unequal\nto acquiring it. But our Lord teaches: ''The Kingdom of God is\nwithin you\"(Luke xvii:21) — namely, in those interior depths, tran-\nscending all the operations of the mental faculties — there it is guaran-\nteed by God's grace. But we do not search it out, as this day's gospel\ntells us: \"We speak what we know, and we testify what we have\nseen, and you receive not our testimony.\" Alas, how can a brutish,\nsensual man, ever absorbed in outward things, accept this testimony\nof an interior life wholly incredible to him. Thus spoke the Lord by\nHis prophet: \"As the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are My\nways exalted above your ways and so are My thoughts above your\nthoughts\" (Isaias lv:9). And thus our Savior reproached the Jews\nin this day's Gospel \"If I have spoken to you earthly things, and you\nbelieve not; how will you believe if I shall speak to you heavenly\nthings?\"\n\nFormerly, children, I spoke to you of the wounds of love, and you\ntold me that you did not know what I was saying — and that was a\ndiscourse about earthly things: how then can you now understand\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 365\n\nme, since our subject is the divine work in our interior soul? Your\nlife is wholly given up to outward occupation, all absorbed in the\nactivity of the senses, and this testimony of mine is not about that.\nOur testimony is truly found in the depths of the soul, all formless.\nThere it is that the heavenly Father generates His only begotten Son\nswifter a thousand times than the twinkling of an eye. It is done\nin the swiftness of eternity, in an eternal newness of life, and in the\nunspeakable glory of the divinity. Whosoever would experience this,\nlet him turn himself inward, abstract himself from all outward works,\nsuspend the activity of his faculties, and exclude from his imagination\nall that it has drawn from the outer world. Then let him melt away\ninto the depths. And now the fatherly power of God will come and\ncall the soul through His only begotten Son. And as the Son is\nbegotten of the Father and returns again into the Father, so shall the\nsoul of this man be born of the Father in the Son, return into the\nFather with the Son, and be made one with Him. It is thus that the\nLord would have us call Him our Father, and never cease to follow\nafter Him as He mounts upwards; as if to say: This day have I\nbegotten thee by My Son and in My Son. And at the same time the\nHoly Ghost is poured into the inmost depths of the heart with un-\nspeakable love and joy, bestowing His heavenly gifts of justice and\nof knowledge.\n\nA man then becomes most righteous and most gentle, and his knowl-\nedge of the path he must tread becomes entirely clear. But this\nsupposes that all virtues have already been acquired, for the gifts now\nimparted lead the soul into a state of perfection beyond that of the\nordinary virtues. Then follow the passive virtues which work\ntogether, namely, counsel and fortitude, to which are added the con-\ntemplative gifts. These are fear, which holds fast in all carefulness\nthe graces granted by the Holy Ghost; and understanding and\nwisdom — the two highest — which give the taste of God's truth to the\nsoul. Children, the enemy of mankind antagonizes a man of that\nkind more than all other men in the world.\n\nEspecially is he combatted by the more subtle demons, and hence\nhe is in special need of the gift of knowledge.\n\nChildren, a moment of this divine influence is better for the soul\nthan all the outward works a man can do. And the prayers of such a\nman united so deeply to God, when offered for his friends living and\n\n366 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ndead, are of more avail than the reading of a hundred thousand\npBalters by an ordinary Christian.\n\nThis is the true witnessing of the Holy Ghost within us that we\nare the Sons of God, as in this day's epistle it is spoken of. In this\nthy inner heaven there are three witnesses, the Father, the Word, and\nthe Spirit, testifying to thee most truly that thou art God's child,\nand brightly illuminating thy soul's depths. This in turn reveals\nthy own self to thee with all thy defects in deed or omission, and that\nwhether thou wiliest or not. All thy life is hereby manifested to\nthee if thou wilt but advert to it. If thou shalt heed this interior\nwitnessing and be guided by it in thy outer and inner conduct, then\nshalt thou be exempt from the adverse testimony of the last day. If\nin word and work and life thou dost reject this hidden witnessing,\nthen at the end of all it shall be thy condemnation, and thine the blame\nfor it, not God's, for not God only but also thy own self shall be thy\njudge.\n\nTherefore, dear children, keep a watchful eye upon your interior\nlife, recognize God's witness there, and it will be a joy to you. Hast\nthou overcome thy external weaknesses? Then hasten home to thy\ninterior soul. There thou shalt find thy real self — there more than\nin thy outward life, or in thy outward methods and devotions. We\nread in the Lives of the Fathers of the Desert that once a devout\nmarried man retired into a forest to escape the obstacles to his per-\nfection, and that his wife in like manner went into a solitude. And\nsoon this good man had two hundred brethren living under him and\nshe had many women with her. This shows the value of single-\nminded and hidden retirement, a state of soul in which the senses with\ntheir methods are no longer in control.\n\nBut you might say: I am a help to interior souls, and I would\ngladly aid all those who are touched interiorly by God and have seen\nthe divine light. And I answer that whatsoever external minded\nperson forces good souls to accept his rude external methods in place\nof the interior ones, subjects himself to a terrible condemnation, for\nhe thus hinders God's work more than the pagans and Jews did of old.\nTherefore, ye hard and censorious spirits, take heed to yourselves, with\nyour bitter words and your scornful manner, how you meddle with\nthese good souls.\n\nAnd now, dear child, wouldst thou attain to the union of thy 80«1\nwith the Holy Spirit, then must thou diligently do three things. One\n\nof John Tauler, the Illxuninated Doctor 367\n\nis to keep God and His honor in view in all that thou dost and in all\nthat happens to thee, and make no account of thyself. The second is\nto hold a vigilant watch over thyself in all thy doings, keeping at home\nto thyself in thy thoughts, and recognizing thy utter nothingness;\nmeanwhile cautiously observing thy surroundings. Thirdly, meddle\nnot with what does not concern thee; what is not committed to thee,\nlet it take care of itself — what is good, let it alone, what seems evil,\ntrouble not thyself about it. Turn into thy interior life and therein\nabide, listening to the fatherly voice that there is calling to thee. If\none were thus absorbed in the interior life, a great wealth of gifts\nwould be bestowed on him, and he would be so enlightened that even\npriests would receive instruction from him.\n\nDear child, if thou wouldst forget all that has so far been said to\nthee in this discourse, yet hold fast to two thoughts. One is that thou\nshouldst be a little, insignificant thing in thy own estimation, and not\nin words but in the deep sincerity of thy soul, not in outward show\nbut in the very truth of thy conviction. The other is that thou\nshouldst love God; and this should be not in the way of sentiment and\nfeeling so much as essentially, and in the deepest interior life of divine\nlove. Nor should this be simply an advertence to God in thy outward\nconduct, as we commonly understand when we speak of good inten-\ntion. No, it is more than that. It is having God for one's end in one's\nvery soul ; just as a man racing towards a goal fixes his eye upon it ;\nor one shooting at a mark never for an instant loses sight of it. That\nwe may all obtain this interior spirit, that we may all totally annihi-\nlate self and find instead the Holy Trinity within ourselves, we pray\nthe same Holy Trinity graciously to grant us. Amen.\n\n368 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n®n Hfnlg CCommutttnn\n\nSynopsis — God's goodness shown in the real presence — The process of\nassimilation between God and man — The hitter taste and the\nsweet nourishment — The inner change from the human into the\ndivine — Tlie good of frequent communion — Advice about prepara-\ntion.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI.\n\nFor My flesh is meat indeed. — John vi : 56.\n\nThis is a most blessed day, on which we venerate the precious body\nof our Lord Jesus Christ. Although the Sacrament of the Altar is\nhonored every day of the year, and has a special festival on Maunday\nThursday, yet our holy mother, the Church, sets this day apart that\nwe may do particular honor to our Lord in the blessed Sacrament,\nthereby renewing our devotion to Jesus really present with us. Thus\nhas holy Church done her part ; and she has met with hearty response\nfrom her children, who honor our Lord in the blessed Sacrament by\ncarrying Him in procession from one church to another, with splendid\nand costly ornaments, the sound of church bells and of organs and of\nloud musical chants.\n\nChildren, all this is good, because it helps the interior praise of Christ\nin our souls — everything even the littlest may be made to serve that\nend. Let us gladly do reverence to God every way we can think of —\nthe humblest little earth worm, had it but the use of reason, would\nwillingly lift up its head to God and then bow down in all reverence\nto Him. But as to man, he has a high degree of praise to offer, for he\nhas the privilege to love and honor God out of the depths of a heart\nendowed with intelligence ; and this far surpasses all that he can ever\ndo without this in the external order of religion.\n\nAnd he can reach a yet higher grade of praise, namely, by having so\nfull a knowledge of God's greatness and of his own littleness, that he\nfeels that he cannot praise Him enough — a veneration of God exceed-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 3159\n\ning all speech, song, memory and understanding. A certain master\nteaches, that the man who discourses most beautifully of God, is the\none who from his knowledge of the interior riches of God, can be\ncontent to remain silent about Ilim. Once a certain doctor praised\nGod with many words, and another doctor bade him hold his peace,\nsaying: ''Thou blasphemest God.\" And both were right. It is a\nwonderful thing, that the unspeakable Goodness is so great that no\none can rightly praise it. Right praise of God is infinitely beyond the\ntwo degrees we have mentioned, and exceeds all words and methods of\nveneration. Let a man be absorbed in God, blending selfhood into\nGod, until in this man's soul it is God who praises Himself and\nreturns thanks to Himself; and whosoever reaches this state, it can\nhardly be supposed that God will permit him to fall away from Him.\nOur Lord says : \"My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink\nindeed,\" and He adds: ''He that eatheth My flesh and drinketh My\nblood, abideth in Me and I in him.\" Behold our Lord's fathomless\nhumility, in that He is silent about His infinite greatness, and speaks\nonly of the least of His attributes. His greatness is His adorable\nGodhead, and yet he speaks only of His flesh and His blood. Yet in\nthe Holy Communion His blessed soul and His divine nature are also\npresent. His amazing and unspeakable love for us is shown in that\nHe was not content to make Himself our brother and assume our poor\nhuman nature. No, He became man that man might become God-\nnay more: He insists that He shall become our food. Of this St.\nAugustine speaks: \"No nation is so great as the Christian people,\nnor any to whom God has come so close as to us: we feed upon our\nGod.\" How wonderful a love is His, to invent this way of union.\nThis love overwhelms us; it should wound every heart of man with its\noverpowering greatness. No act in our material existence is so close\nto us, or enters so intimately into our bodily life, as eating and drinks\ning. And this is the reason why our Savior chose this marvellous\nway of being brought into the closest and most interior union with us.\nLet us consider the processes of taking bodily food ; it may seem a\ngross thing, but it serves to illustrate the Holy Communion. St.\nBernard says: \"When we eat this food, we ourselves are eaten.\"\nWhen we take food we first chew it, then it passes into the stomach\nand is changed in the heat of our organs of digestion, which separate\nthe coarser and useless portions from the good parts; sometimes out\n\n370 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nof a whole pound of food only a small portion really serves for oar\nnourishment, and the rest is rejected, the good part passing through\nthree processes of digestion. When the bodily powers have done their\nwork, a higher force comes from the soul, making flesh and blood, and\ndistributes the food into the head and the heart and every member,\nfilling the veins with blood. It is thus with us and our Lord's body and\nblood, only differently in this: whereas our bodily food is changed\ninto ourselves, on the contrary when we receive our Lord's body and\nblood we are changed into Him. Thus did He say to St. Augustine:\n\"I shall not be changed into thee, but thou shalt be changed into Me.\"\nWhosoever receives this divine food worthily, it penetrates the veins\nof his most interior existence.\n\nLet us explain St. Bernard's saying: \"When we eat this food, we\nourselves are eaten.\" For then God feasts upon us; as He enters He\nscourges us for our sins, which He, reveals plainly to us — His divine\npresence scourges our conscience. As one turns his food over aad\nover again in his mouth and continually bites it, so is a man cast back\nand forth under God's scourging, namely, in anguish, dread and sor-\nrow about his sins. Dear child, gladly endure this biting of God's\npresence in thee, let Him eat thee and chew thee to pieces, seek not to\nescape His chastisement, and offer Him the deep sighs of thy heart : Oh,\nLord, have mercy on me a poor sinner ; and meantime keep close within\nthyself. Be sure that all this is more for thy profit than much pious\nreading or praying if these should take thee out of thyself. But be\non thy guard lest the evil one cunningly afflict thee with excessive\nsadness about thy sins ; for he would gladly sow in thy heart the seed\nof bitter sorrow. Our Lord sows the seed of a sorrow that is sweet\nand good.\n\nAfter the chastisement comes a gentle softening of one's soul, loving\ntrust, divine confidence, holy hope: it is now that God is absorbing\nand, as it were, swallowing thee. And just as well-cooked food when\nit is chewed, softly and gently sinks into the stomach, so shall it be\nwith thee in Communion when thy conscience has been prepared. But\nthou must give thyself up to our Lord with all trust, and then shalt\nthou be gently absorbed in Him. If we have followed St. Paul's\ndirections about the Eucharist: \"Let a man prove himself, and so let\nhim eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice\" (I Cor. xi:28), then\nour Lord will consume us as we consume our food. This is done by\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 371\n\nrenounoing all our selfhood, and destroying out of our lives all attach-\nment to created things. The more carefully food is masticated the\nmore it becomes unlike its former self. Thou shalt find out if thou\nart absorbed into God as His food, if thou are so changed as to find\nnothing in thyself except Him, and findest thyself nowhere else but\nin Him. For does He not say : \"He that eateth My flesh and drinketh\nMy blood abideth in Me and I in him.\" Therefore must thou be\nstripped of thy old self, as it were, by the divine mastication of thy\nsoul — ^just as thou dost change thy food by chewing it. If anything\nwill be turned into what it is not, surely it must cease to be what it\nis — when wood is turned into fire it is perforce no longer wood. If\nthou shalt be changed, as it were, into God thou must cease to be\nthyself.\n\nAgain, our Lord says: \"He that eatheth Me, the same shall live by\nMe.\" Hence, if thou wouldst gain the life of Jesus, thou must receive\nthe blessed Sacrament often, for thereby the old Adam within thee\nshall be wholly destroyed. As the forces of nature fill our veins with\nthe strength that is in our food, making it one thing with ourselves,\nso shall the divine food entirely change thee into itself. Thou shalt\nknow if this is done, if after receiving this Sacrament thou feelest\nthy heart wholly detached from whatever is not God. And this new\nlife within thee will work outwardly and be manifested in thy conduct\nand actions and conversation. This adorable Sacrament separates\nall that is bad, profitless and superfluous, casting it all out of the soul ;\nand then God enters into all one's life, love, thought, intention, making\nall newer, cleaner and more divine.\n\nThis Sacrament cures a man's inner blindness and gives him to\nknow himself, teaching him how to turn away from self and all created\nthings. Thus says the wise man : \"With the bread of life and under-\nstanding, she shall feed him\" (Eccli. xv:3). This divine food so\nchanges a man into itself, that his whole life is regulated by God. He\nis led by God, he is changed by God, through this food. Therefore, if\na man goes to Communion and still remains empty of heart, vain and\narrogant, his demeanor frivolous, if he be yet addicted to fine clothes,\nfond of amusements — if, I say, he wilfully adheres to these defects,\nthen his going to Communion is a perilous thing. Better a thousand\ntimes that he stayed away. He goes to confession, indeed, but he does\nnot give up the occasions of sin. Not the Pope himself can forgive the\n\n372 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nsins of an impenitent man ; yet such a one goes to the altar along with\nthe rest.\n\nPrudent confessors will tell each one how often he should receive\nCommunion, some every week, others every month ; and these should\nbe able to spend a week before and after each Communion very piously.\nYea, yea, and nay, nay, should be their guileless rule of life, besides\nmuch moderation at their morning and evening meals. Others, again,\nmay receive Communion at the great festivals, and some at Easter.\nThese will do little enough if they spend all Lent in preparation. And\nsome, alas, should never approach the holy table as long as they have\nno grief for their sins nor any firm purpose of amendment of life —\nsuch a one would make himself guilty of the body and blood of our\nLord Jesus Christ.\n\nChildren, you know not how serious a matter this is, for some seem\nto think going to Communion a sort of recreation. But I assure you\nthat it is a matter of life and death as to what diligence one exercises\nin preparing for this Sacrament. Any man who neglects the teaching\nof the Church's ministry in this matter of preparing for Communion^\nfalls into a state of the greatest possible danger. There is a class,\nbesides, who will go to Comunion weekly, often actuated by no spirit\nof devotion nor moved by any divine impulse, but rather out of mere\ncustom, or because they see others going. No, no — let none yield\nto such a tendency. If, however, a man would approach the altar\nweekly out of gladness of heart towards God, and with reverent fear,\nand in order to strengthen his soul against damnation — by no means\nto put on airs of perfection — a man, in fact, who is of good life and\ncarefully guarded against the occasions of sin, then let him do it,\nafter obtaining the counsel of his father confessor. Let me tell you\nthis: if I found a man who had been a vile sinner, and who now has\ngiven up his vices and turned to God with all his heart, I had rather\ngive him Communion every day for half a year, than do so a single\ntime to a half-hearted and lukewarm man. For 1 believe that thereby\nI should drive the world out of my poor penitent's heart.\n\nI have shown you the reasons why the holy Sacrament does these\ntepid men so little good — men who once had some trace of God in\nthem, and who now after Communion remain cold-hearted. One rea-\nson is a secret sin, a deed of inner or outer wickedness. Perhaps it\nis the sin of unguarded speech. The harm thereby done is often\nincalculable — attend to that, for God's sake, or you will come to-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 373\n\nnothing. Another reason is going to Communion not out of real love\nbut from custom.\n\nNow there are some customs that are really good, such as that of\nstaying home in one's interior self after Communion, the lack of\nwhich does much harm, and hinders the realizing of the good effects\nof this heavenly food. The immediate fruits of Communion are per-\nceptible for three or four days, if one will but advert devoutly to them.\nDwelling with one's interior self sweetly and happily, one will not fail\nto experience them, no matter in what circumstances he may be placed\nor in what company, as long as he avoids as much as possible what\nhinders his soul's solitude. Be sure that if thou keepest faithfully to\nthyself, the holy Sacrament will keep thee company and work its way\nin thee, changing thee into a noble being. Any priest whatsoever will\nserve thee for receiving this Sacrament, and it may happen to be better\nfor thee than for himself. And every time thou hearest mass thou\nshouldst cherish a longing for Communion, a practice which tends to\ntrain one's thoughts towards God. And may God grant us that we\nmay all worthily receive this adorable Sacrament. Amen.\n\n374 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ng!jB)}OBttuitt0 for ^oi^ (Somitmntiin\n\nSynopsis — The four requisites according to St. Dionysius: freedom\nfrom sin, the virtues of Christ, devoted to divine things, and peace-\nfully disposed — How the onslaughts of Satan may he made a help\n— And the persecutions of men — Preference of divine visitations\nover self-chosen austerities — Daily communion — Spiritual com-\nmunion— The holy inner silence that should follow communion —\nHow to use this Sacrament in periods of inner desolation.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI.\n\nHe that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me and I in him.\n— John vi, 57.\n\nDear children, rightly to praise the holy and adorable Sacrament is\nbeyond the power of the tongues and hearts of men, and yet to that\nend are our devotions now directed, for in it is concentrated all our\nJoy, all our hopes of salvation. Let us avail ourselves of St. Bernard's\nwords (although they may seem somewhat coarse to us), as, by com-\nparison with bodily food, he tells of the qualities of this heavenly\nnourishment — of the chewing and the swallowing, the digestion and\nthe assimilating of the Son of God. Proud men and subtle minds may\nnot be pleased with such figures of speech, but a humble spirit always\nloves simple ways of explaining divine things. Thus says our Lord:\n\"I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou\nhast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed\nthem to little ones\" (Matt. xi:25).\n\nDear children, we must view this glorious gift of God with both\nenlightened reason and ardent love. How humble is our Lord, to thus\ngive Himself to us under such lowly appearances as bread and wine,\nso that all may partake of Him just as they do of their ordinary food.\nThis can mean nothing else than His purpose to press in so close to\nUS, to sink so deep within us, to be so entirely made one with us as\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 375,\n\npossibly could be — made one with us with all His gifts and graces.\nHe might, indeed, have chosen to come to us with greater outward\nsplendor, as He does sometimes miraculously appear in Communion,\naccording to St. Hildegrade. He was once seen by a sister of our\norder with her bodily eyes, lighting up priest and altar with indescrib-\nable splendor, surrounded by His glorious angels, whilst He imparted\nto her soul the most beautiful sentiments. But in this era of grace\nnothing is more precious to us than receiving this adorable Sacrament\ndevoutly and humbly. Nor is there anything more frightful than\nCommunion received unworthily or without preparation. Hence,\nsays our beloved St. Dionysius : \"Four things are necesary for receiv-\ning the holy Sacrament: first, to be free from all sin; second, to be\nclothed with the virtues of our Lord Jesus Christ ; third, to be eman-\ncipated from self and given over to God ; fourth, to be God's temple.\"\n\nAs to being free from sin : that means clear knowledge of one's sins,\nthen Sacramental confession of them and acceptance and performance\nof the penance imposed according to the rules of holy Church. After\nthat let a man interiorly sigh for a perfect knowledge of his sinfulness,\na spiritual exercise of far more benefit than vacantly reciting vocal\nprayers. In addition to this one must have a firm purpose of amend-\nment, including a determination to avoid all occasions of sin in the\nfuture. These dispositions being posessed, one's soul is set free from\nsin. The second is to possess the virtues of our Lord Jesus Christ,\nnamely, mildness, obedience, purity of intention, patience, gentleness\nand mercy, readiness to be silent, and love for all men, friends and\nenemies, good and bad, for the sake of God. The third is emancipa-\ntion from self and subjection to God. This means that having become\npossessed of the virtues of Christ, one cultivates peacefulness of soul\nin God's inner presence. Then it is that one experiences the meaning\nof our Lord's words: \"He that eatheth My flesh and drinketh My\nblood abideth in Me and I in him.\" One should with carefulness\npreserve this peace, allowing himself never to be disturbed by any\nword or deed, for it must not be mistaken for any natural state of\nrestfulness, but rather the inward peace that belongs to God's Spirit\nalone, extending to all sorrow and joy, all things natural and spiritual.\nFor in so far as a man is in God truly, just so securely is he placed in\nquietness of soul ; and in so far as he is out of God, so is he in unrest,\nAnd when he has thus entered essentially upon peace, he becomes the\ntemple of God in very truth, for the abode of God is in peace. Thereby\n\n378 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ndoes he attain to the fourth holy state spoken of by St. Dionysius, in\nwhich God inspires all this man's works, he being now only God's\ninstrument for both his interior and exterior activity.\n\nBut let us again consider St. Bernard's words about receiving our\nLord in holy Communion : \"As we have eaten Him, in like manner\nshall we be eaten by Him.\" Now by the word eating he means — as we\nhave already said — the punishment and, as it were, the biting which\nthe Lord inflicts on our conscience, and which He causes all created\nthings to inflict upon it. Herein does a man find himself hunted like\na wild animal that the emperor's huntsmen pursue, in order that their\nmaster can capture him. We know that the emperor is better pleased\nto have the animal resist so that the hounds shall bite and tear him,\nrather than if he meekly submitted. Dear children, the eternal God\nis the divine monarch who will possess Himself of our hunted souls,\nand, as it were, feed upon them. His dogs are the evil spirits, who\npursue and bite the soul with many unclean temptations. Again they\nassail the soul with pride, avarice and various other evil suggestions;\nnow from one side, again from another, striving to throw him into\ndespondency and excessive sadness. I say to thee, stand thy ground.\nNothing of this can hurt thee. If thou shalt ever succeed in the\nspiritual life thou must thus be hunted.\n\nBut besides the evil spirits, this world and thy fellowmen will hunt\nthee with their injurious words and their false accusations. And yet\nfurther thy own imperfection, thy tendency to yield to corrupt nature,\nwill assail thee. And thus is a man hunted and driven by everything\nthat is bad, if he is ever going to acquire patience by true humility\nand mildness in all things of soul and body. Meanwhile he must culti-\nvate a merciful and forgiving feeling for those dreadful men who have\nthus persecuted him, scofl'ed at him, tortured him, despised him, and\nmaligned him to others as a wicked man. Let him now cry out from\na heart all full of love: O eternal Lord and God of all creatures! Have\npity upon them and upon me. Thus pray to God. Also be on thy\nguard by thy very soul lest thou endeavor to escape from thy trials —\nas if by running away from thy hunters across hedges and through the\nwoods: our wild animal keeps to the straight, smooth road that lies\nbefore him, nor does he bite back at his hunters nor bellow at them.\n\nNow the heavenly Father has His hunting hounds everywhere — in\nconvents and monasteries, in our homes and in cities, and in the\n\ncf John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 377\n\nforests; and you may be certain that all chosen friends of God are\ngoing to be sorely hunted by all created things. As the hart is driven\nby the hunters, tormented with thirst, so must thou be driven on till\nthou findest thy refuge in God. To make us thirst for God alone in\ntime and in eternity — that is the divine purpose in allowing us men\nto be thus hunted, each one according to his special circumstances of\nlife. Go forward, then, in all humility, patience and mildness, for\nwithout doubt thou shalt at last come to our Savior's sweet fountains,\nwhich will refresh thee beyond the power of words to describe. Once\nthou hast truly gained His refuge, thou shalt attain the highest perfec-\ntion, and then will How into thy spirit all those noble virtues of which\nwe have already treated, humility, merciful sympathy, divine love\nfor God and thy neighbor.\n\nAh, dear children, how sad it is that the universal virtue of love of\nGod is quenched out of the world, gone from all states of life. If we\ncould find a man pui'suing the course of divine love, we ought to revere\nliiin above all others, no matter what his condition in life. All crea-\ntures should do him service, for he has gained the eternal inheritance\nof the heavenly Father. And yet God sometimes withdraws His\ncomfort from these elect souls, because He thereby advances them\nstill further in virtue; they must yet again be willing to be hunted\nby all creatures, suffering in silence and in self-abnegation, com-\nplaining by no word or action.\n\ni^uch an immolation of the soul to God is more pleasing to Him, and\nis more valued b^' all choice spirits, than any kind of self-chosen\nmeans of perfection, such as fasting, vigils, reciting prayers — yea, or\na thousand strokes of the discipline every day, although it all be done\nfor God's sake. The reason is because the trials sent by God work\ntheir good effects in the inner depths of thy soul — and there it is that\nGod must be united to thee in very truth. Stand this test bravely,\nand God will make thee worthy to partake of His heavenly nourish-\nment in holy Communion as often as thy soul desirest, were it even as\noften as every day. For the High Priest of eternal truth would thus\npermit, since He has at heart in everything He does for thee thy wel-\nfare for time and for eternity.\n\nHow perilous a thing for a man to approach this holy table unpre-\npared and unworthy, especially if he be absorbed in the love of crea-\ntures living or dead, and unwilling freely to give them up for the love\nof God. How different is it with the soul that gladly gives up every\n\n378 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ncreature of God for God's own sake, as far as he is conscious of loving\nthem and realizes that God would wean him from them. Such a one,\nentirely resigned to God's chastening hand, wholly willing to be\nhunted by God and by all created things, is furnished with the great\nvirtue of holy patience. If thou art such a one, then the oftener thou\nreceivest Christ the better for thee.\n\nArt thou conscious that God's work of purification is increasing\nwithin thee, and that thy soul is being softened to its influences and\nhumbled beneath God's hand in real detachment? Dost thou perceive\nan increase of the love of God in thee? Dost thou also perceive the\nlessening and the quenching of thy desires after earthly things, with an\nincrease of childlike and reverent fear of God? Are these thy disposi-\ntions in very truth? Then the wide world does not possess a more\nprofitable thing for thy soul than to receive the body and blood of our\ndear Lord Jesus Christ. Dost thou inquire how often ? St. Ambrose,\nin commenting on the words, \"Give us this day our daily bread,\" takes\nthem to mean daily Communion. But where shall we find a priest so\nkind as to allow us to be daily communicants? But be not distressed\nif thy priest, dear child, shall refuse thee this privilege. Earnestly\nendeavor to maintain thy detachment of spirit, keep thy soul in quiet\npeace, fall back upon the thought of thy own nothingness, and mean-\nwhile do not doubt but that the Lord will grant thee in compensation\nspiritual gifts greater, perhaps, than those which thou wouldst have\nreceived in the holy Sacrament. Eat and drink of Him spiritually\nand in the Holy Ghost, for even then His words will be true: \"He\nthat eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me and I in\nhim.\" This kind of dwelling in Him is one of the degrees of holiness\ngranted by this Sacrament.\n\nAnd there are yet two more degrees, both of them higher and more\nglorious than any we have yet spoken of. By one we receive graces\nof both knowledge and feeling, bestowing on us the emptying of self\nunto its annihilation. The other is feeling without knowledge, an\noppression of spirit bom of this annihilation ; for in proportion as\nselfhood possesses us, just in that degree must our anguish be bitter\nand sore.\n\nThus does St. Bernard teach us, when he says that we must be con-\nsumed as food by God in our process of detachment. For as food\nsuflfers a change into something not itself, so must we, if we would be\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 379\n\ntruly united to God. All our preferences and our activities and our\nacquisitiveness and selfhood must be destroyed. Nothing less than\nthis can happen to us, for two rival existences cannot be united into\none, of that we may be sure. If heat enters in cold must go out. If\nGod enters in all created life that is not sanctified must go out, and all\ncreated proprietorship. If God really acts in thee, thou must rest in\na passive state, all thy powers being stripped of their own activity,\ntheir own initiative, placed in self-renunciation and, as it were\nresting in their own nothingness. The more perfect is that sense of\nthy own nothingness, the truer and the more essential is thy union\nwith God. See the annihilation of self that happened to the adorable\nsoul of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ. If it were possible (as it is\nnot) that any man could show the same in his soul, his union with God\nwould be the same.\n\nIf God shall truly speak within thy soul, then all thy soul's powers\nmust sit in silence. This is not a case of doing but of undoing. If\nbodily food shall be changed into the natural man, it must be first\nannihilated out of its own self and be made totally unlike itself, as if\nit had never been the food that once it was. If this be true of the food\nof our natural life, it is a thousand times more true of the food of\nour spiritual life. But, dear children, I must tell you that hurt is\nherein done by the interference of the human reason, which too often\ninsists on having a share in this divine work, wanting to know all\nabout it, and refusing to be willingly undone by God. Be on your\nguard against this; I warn you for God's sake and for the sake of your\neternal welfare. And if frequently receiving the holy Sacrament be\nan aid to thee in yielding willingly to God, thou mayst receive it, even\ntwo or three times a week. But do not run to it over eagerly, espe-\ncially when thou art conscious that God is interiorly leading thee to\nthe degree of self-renunciation proper for the best effects of Com-\nmunion.\n\nDear child, thou must know that a soul so placed feels an intolerable\ninward woe in its self-destitution, so that the whole earth seems too\nnarrow for it, until it is at loss to know what ails it, so bitter is the\noppression upon it, for God seems gone from it never to return. It\nis all caused by the self-surrender to God: it is a dreadful thing to\nwish not to die and yet be compelled truly to die to oneself. In this\nstate St. Paul's words about the holy Sacrament are applicable to\n\n380 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nthe soul itself: \"As often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the\nchalice, you shall show the death of the Lord until He come\" (I Cor.\nxi: 26). This showing of the Lord's death is not simply in words tell-\ning of the actual fact of His decease — that is no difficult thing. No ;\nit is rather to show the Lord's death in the dying of the soul to itself\nby the power of His death. And this is hindered by three things, all\nof which thou must overcome. One is clinging too selfishly to the\nadorable Sacrament; the second, clinging in the same spirit to God's\nword; and the third, over-attachment to thy own chosen devotional\npractices. For in truth everything that might be a help to thee in\nordinary circumstances may during this trial be turned into a\nhindrance. Ah, dear child, if in this thy time of anguish thou wouldst\nbut make up thy mind willingly to suffer, and positively resist the\ntendency to break away from the visitation of God, that would avail\nthee more than all that thou couldst possibly do. And that is just the\ntrouble; for many a one runs about from one counsellor to another,\nvainly seeking comfort, and therefore remains uncomforted by the\neternal truth. Stand fast and be patient, and the very essence of that\neternal truth will be born within thee.\n\nOne cannot express the harm that is done souls by yielding to\nnature's weakness, and seeking, while in this process of purification, to\nbe relieved from the inner distress that accompanies it. Reason rises\nup within thee and demands an object for its activity ; and it says to\nthee: Alas, what art thou about? Hast thou no end in life? Thou\nart neglecting thyself in everything. And then thou fanciest that\nthou must say prayers; and forthwith the evil spirit says: What art\nthou doing here? Thou art wasting thy time; thou shouldst be en-\ngaged in some good work ; get up at once and set to work. After that\ncome rude men with their favorite pious devices, and these say to thee :\nMy dear man, what art thou about? Thou shouldst go to Church\nand listen to God's word. Now let me remind thee that all these are\nGod's hunting dogs, and thou thyself art a hunting dog teasing and\nbarking at thyself along with them, and saying to thyself: What ails\nthee to be wandering about this way? — thou shouldst receive the holy\nCommunion.\n\nNow children, while one is thus interiorly tried he should not ex-\npect to be relieved by the holy Sacrament. If thou camest to me for\nadvice about going to Communion while thus suffering, I should cross-\nquestion thee to discover whether it were God moving thee thereto, or\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 381\n\nonly an impulse of nature, or the force of pious custom. If nature or\ncustom guided thee, then I would refuse to allow thee to receive Com-\nmunion, unless, indeed, thou wert reduced to a state of misery simply\nunbearable. Then, indeed, once or twice a week thou mightst receive\nCommunion ; but not to relieve thee of thy distress — rather to\nstrengthen thee in bearing it.\n\nGod's generation within thee shall never take place — be sure of\nthat — until thou hast passed through this agony. Whatever gives\nthee relief, that same and not God is born in thee. Be sure that thy\ndistressed nature had rather journey to Kome than patiently suffer\nthis trial to the bitter end — a trial of far greater advantage than any\nother possible gift; for it is better to suffer than to labor. And some-\ntimes this poor man calls to mind his former sweetness of devotion at\nCommunion and while hearing the word of God, and afflicted nature\nwould gladly enjoy that comfort again. But it has been withdrawn,\nand to that withdrawal the soul must submit in its inmost depths,\nin misery, in death — yea, a death more bitter to nature than any other\ndeath.\n\nBut, dear children, thou must not misunderstand me, as if I had\nforbidden thee the Sacrament and the word of God. Thou art aware\nthat in the first two degrees nothing is more profitable to a blessed,\na divine life than Communion and sermons — these stand above all else.\nOnly this : in the present degree of God's dealing with the soul, every-\nthing that ordinarily helps the soul is liable to become a hindrance.\nFor in seeking help the soul, as it were, turns its back on God and\nseems to say to Him : I will not go by Thy guidance, but I will go by\nmy own — and that is to our Lord as if He were crucified again ; for His\nadorable will cannot now be effectuated in that soul-. Alas, that this\nincalculable benefit should be lost to that soul, simply because it will\nnot yield itself up to suffer the want of all comfort in body and in\nspirit.\n\nAnd now let us consider these words of St. Bernard : \"I am eaten by\nGod when I am transformed by Him ; I am made one with Him when I\nam conformed to Him.\" And we exclaim : O blessed Father, when\nshall this sorowful state of soul have an end? — with all its undoing,\nand anguish, and pain. But O how noble an end that shall be, when\nat last the soul is made over again and new-formed in God, united\nto God. St. Paul teaches us this, having himself learned it in the\nschool of God, in the third heaven: \"But we all, beholding the glory of\n\n382 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nthe Lord with open face, are transformed into the same image from\nglory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord\" (II CJor. iii: 18). Therein\ndoes God's Spirit draw a man into Himself, changing him into Him-\nself. We have already recalled that St. Augnstine heard God speaking\nto him: \"Thou shalt be changed into Me, not I into thee.\" As to\nhow this change takes place the man himself is made aware, but not\nby any manifold way of knowing, but rather in a very simple way,\nbeyond words to describe.\n\nYou should also know that there are men who are only in the first\ndegree of those who follow devout practices, and to whom, neverthe-\nless, the new forming of soul is granted. It comes as in a flash of\nsupernatural light, sometimes once or twice a week. It is granted\nwholly according to God's merciful will, for it is something that can-\nnot be merited. Sometimes it comes with clear knowledge, at other\ntimes without knowledge and in darkness. Such a man is left in a\nstate of soul all wounded by love. But those of whom we treated\nabove are fettered by love, being conformed to love and drawn into it,\nand one can better feel this condition than describe it. This class\nis made up of men wholly self-abandoned, perfectly well ordered — far\nbeyond spiritual men who lack this divinely established degree of\nholiness. May God prepare us all for this detachment of spirit. May\nGod the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost perfect His great\nwork within us, removing all hindrances. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 383\n\nail|f ii^tttt^ mh fflnrtly of l^alg (ttommuninn\n\nSynopsis — Difficulty of explaining so divine a gift — It is knoton only\nto very detached spirits — Various comparisons to help understand\nthis — The elimination of defectiveness natural and acquired —\nHeretical exaggerations — Delusions of certain imperfect communi-\ncants— Marvellous results of careful preparation for communion —\nDaily communion according to 8t. Augustine — Striking comment\non a passage from St. Thomas.\n\nTHIRD SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI.\n\nHe that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath everlasting life, and I\nwill raise him up in the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood\nis drink indeed. — John vi : 55,56.\n\nThe more a man receives from God the more is he a debtor; the\ngreater is his debt of thanks and praise, honor and service to God. All\ndevout practises lead to God and prepare the way for Him, so that a\nman may at last come to God and be in Him. and herein is the holy\nSacrament both the end and the reward, for it gives us God without\nintermediary. It unites a man to God directly, in simple unity — the\nmost adorable and superessentially divine of all gifts, far surpassing all\nothers. The celebration of Holy Thursday is, therefore, not enough for\nus, for Easter Sunday comes too soon afterwards. Hence has holy\nChurch remedied this difficulty by calling us to celebrate this festival\nof Corpus Christi with all possible thankfulness, praise and love.\n\n\"My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.\" If under-\nstood as an outward ceremony, this Sacrament is but drinking and\neating wine and bread ; and thus one knowfe nothing of the unspeakable\nsweetness, the heavenly fruit, hidden in the Sacrament. The food of\nour bodies is dead matter, and gets its life from the man who eats it,\nwho thereby gives it a noble destiny. But this sacramental food is\nliving bread; it is the very essence of life, and all who are fed by it\nreceive from it everlasting life — as our Lord teaches : \"He that eateth\n\n384 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nMy flesh and drinketh My blood, hath everlasting life.\" And as He\nspoke these words, many of His friends went away from Him; they\ndid not understand what He meant. \"This saying is hard, and who can\nbear it,\" they said. They understood Him only in the outward way\nof the senses, and that was why they left Him, whereas in truth this\ngift is far above the senses, for the food that is given and the giver\nof the food are one.\n\nThree things may here be considered. One is the pre-eminent dignity\nof this food; the second, its inestimable worth to all who worthily\nreceive it; the third has reference to the preparation one should make\nfor this divine banquet. Now in speaking of all this, as God's grace\nguides me, I am at a loss for words, or even thoughts ; for this marvel-\nous Sacrament surpasses all grasp of human reason, aye even angelic\nthoughts. Dear children, only a perfectly detached man, one given\nover wholly to the interior life, can rightly understand and inwardlv\ntaste the meaning of the holy Sacrament. But even he could not frame\nright words for its description, for sense and reason are wholly at\nfault in its contemplation. And yet, alas, we find not a few seemingly\nspiritual persons, who, from childhood to old age, rest in themselves;\nthey are engaged in multiform religious activity, and yet know nothing\nof the real nature of this precious treasure, never enjoy the real taste\nof this holy food, however often they may partake of it. It can not\nbe otherwise with them, because they receive the Sacrament absorbed\nin the life of the outward senses.\n\nWhosoever would know the dignity of this marvelous banquet, must\nbe a man detached and set free from created things, and given up to\nthe interior life. But this must not be misunderstood. I do not mean\nthat one must literally separate himself from his state of life in order\nrightly to communicate, nor adopt aay peculiar ways and customs.\nSome think that when they cannot do the like of that they must give\nover, and therefore they turn away from Communion. Do not thou\nact thus, dear child; do not imagine that this supreme good of our\nlife cannot be fully thine, .because thou livest in a secular state of\nlife. Only be earnest, only be diligent and thou shalt possess God in\nthis Sacrament without at all interfering with the duties and cus-\ntoms of thy state of life. Thou must, indeed, acquire a true knowledge\nof thyself; thou must keep a strong guard over multiplicity in all\nthy doings, methods, devotions, for these should be mainly engaged\nwith the interior life. Seek God earnestly in thy soul's depths; for\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 335\n\nthis end leave on one side, as far as possible, certain very external\ndevout practices, gathering together inwardly thy outer senses and\nthy soul's powers, all deep sunken in the soul.\n\nChildren, for me rightly to speak of and you rightly to understand\nthe dignity of this Sacrament is not possible. We could not under-\nstand the dignity of Adam as he stood in Paradise, even while as yet\nunendowed with grace, but only full of the sweetness and beauty of\nguileness nature. How then can our poor little minds comprehend\nwhat takes place in the inmost depths of the soul, as it becomes united\nto this living food, changing man into its divine self. The human soul\nbecomes like a drop of water lost and mingled in a cask of wine; like\na pane of glass with the sunshine pouring through it; like the body\nunited to the soul and made into one man, one being with it.\n\nBy this union our spirit is elevated above all its natural weakness\nand is cleansed and illuminated. It is raised above its natural forces.\nIt is penetrated with God. It is led away from itself in a divine man-\nner, and experiences within itself the divine generation, losing mean-\nwhile its native incompatibility with God; and it is brought to\ndivine unity. Compare this union to that of fire and wood. First the\ndampness and greenness is consumed, and gradually the wood grows\nhotter and hotter till it is made like unto fire; as the fire approaches\nnearer and nearer so does the resemblance increase, until in one short\nhour the fire has absorbed the substance of the wood. The diflference\nbetween the fire and the wood is gone, for the wood has become fire—\nthe two are not simply alike, they are the same thing. So does this\nspiritual food draw out of the soul and consume all difference, chang-\ning difference into resemblance, and changing resemblance into unity.\nThat happens to an enlightened spirit, losing likeness and difference in\nunity with God. The fire of divine love has absorbed all the soul's\nfoulness, all its unresemblance to God. In partaking of this food the\nsoul is absorbed and lost in the Godhead. It is as St. Augustine\nheard our blessed Lord say: \"I am the food of the full-grown; purify\nthyself and eat Me; thou shalt not change Me into Thee, but thou shalt\nbe changed into Me.\"\n\nO children, before this shall happen nature must die many a death.\nBy many a wild and desert way does God lead the soul as He teaches\nIt to die. But, O children, what a noble life is bom of this death-\nnoble and Joyous and fruitful. O how precious a thing it is to be able\nthus to die. You know well enough how our bodily food must die to\n\n386 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nitself and be undone before it is absorbed into our nature and united\nto us, undergoing, so to speak, many, a death in the process, ere it enters\nour vitals and receives a new existence, entering into our heart and\nliver and the organs of the senses, into close union even with the\nreason in the brain. At the end it is so unlike its former self that the\nsharpest eye could not perceive any resemblance, nor could the sub-\ntlest mind detect it. We know it to be the same food in substance,\nbut we cannot perceive it to be so with our senses. Much less can we\nunderstand how in this Sacrament our soul is unmade and then\nremade and absorbed into divine union, itself being lost so entirely\nas to escape our power of understanding it.\n\nFoolish men understand this in a fleshly way, affirming that they\nare changed into divine nature; and that is a heresy, false and wicked.\nFor after the very highest union of our soul with God, closest and\nmost intimate, the divine nature and essence is removed to a height\nfar beyond us, higher than all height. That is a divine eminence unto\nwhich no creature can ever attain. I^t us not be too curious about the\nunion of the soul with God in the holy Sacrament. Even the marvel-\nlous change of bodily food into our physical system is beyond the keen-\nest search of our mind, so noble is human nature. And wilt thou\nintrude upon the hidden ways and deepest mysteries of the union of\nthe Sacrament with a holy soul, superior as this is to its dull and cum-\nbersome body? That union is a fathomless mystery. Give up thy\ndisputations about it, for it is removed far from thy reach, being\nhidden in the depths of the illuminated soul and in God.\n\nIt happens to some, that if they experience the sweetness of devotion\ntwo or three times a day at their prayers, they are sure that all goes\nwell with them. No, children, no — they are immeasurably far from\nwhat they fancy. We are all too ready to involve our souls in the\nexcessive sweetness of the grosser kinds of spiritual joy, and that is\nevil in God's sight He is not pleased that we should be content with\nthe trifles of the spiritual life. Nothing is so pleasing to God as to\ngive us His own very self, and that in the best and highest way.\nTherefore we should go forward beyond every gift. We should strive\nright onward with all our senses, powers, longings — with all our\nheart — directly to God Himself. We should be content with nothing\nless than God, and not simply in sensible mental forma, but in a way\nthat is supernatural. This leads us into the divine depths, for one\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor j87\n\ncan never attain to so deep a place in God bnt that a deeper depth\nopens out before him.\n\nO children, many men do themselves incalculable hurt by tarryinir\na^id their senses' life and in prayer using only the lowest facultiw\nof their souls. Nothing, therefore, comes of their spirituality: any\nmore than bodily food helps head and heart and bodily members when\nIt lodges imdigested in the stomach. The food must change its nature\nor no good comes of it. We shall never secure the real good of this\nblessed food, to eat which God has invited us, until our whole interior\nlife, with Its powers highest and lowest, shall be conformed to God and\nde ivered over to Him, far beyond natural effort, with single-hearted\nfaith living m good works, and full of the practice of virtue\n\nFor our faith must not be a mere pretence, but must be shown forth\nki our life. And when God sees that a man can do no more, then He\nHimself comes and works in a hidden way that nature knows nothing\nof, leading the soul beyond and above its natural ways. These aidB\nf i^ .wu \"\"^^ aproaches the adorable Sacrament best prepared,\nand with the most devout sentiments. To such a one God truly gives\nHimself m a personal manner and esentially. All who long with lov-\ning hearts to attain the highest perfection, should keep themselves\nwell disposed often to partake of this living bread. Whosoever feels\nwithm himself an increase of divine love, nor yields to any disregard\nor belittling of spiritual things, the oftener such a one commmiicates\nthe more profitable it is. St. Augustine plainly shows this. \"Whoso-\never feels the love of God growing within him, and at special times\nknows himself to be not unworthy to receive the Sacrament, why\nshould he not be made worthy to receive it every day?\" Worthiness\ndoes not ever come from human effort or deserving, but purely from\nthe grace and merits of our Lord Jesus Christ flowing from God into\nour souls. And if this happens once a year, or monthly or weekly,\nwhy shal It not happen daily, as long as a man yearns for it, and do4\nhis part to obtain it? > v/^\n\nnL^^'Z l^\"\" '^.^'*'' ^' \"\"\"^^ \"\"^^ *^^° ^'^ ^«^ ^ interior man to\nattain his best spiritual state. I make bold to counsel all my friends,\nthat If God's fear does not lessen within them, and if God's love grows^\nwithin them, then let them come often to Communion. Nothing pre-\npares fuel for the fire so well as to bring it close up to the fire. Wet-\nness and hardness gradually yield to the heat as the closeness of\n\n388 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ncontact continues, until at last the fuel is like the fire, and then it is\nactually turned into fire — all in proportion as the fuel is apt and pre-\npared. No man is so soaked with sin, so hard and perverse, so inclined\nto the wickedness of the world or of creatures, but that this fire will\ncommunicate its heat to him, melt his stony heart, and make him a\ngodly man — supposing he receives Communion with true devotion,\ndoes all his part in preparation, and will keep his place close to the\ndivine warmth.\n\nAnd as to preparation, none is better than what God Himself gives.\nSuppose that to-morrow is to be some high festival ; how better can I\nprepare to celebrate it than to receive to-day, with all devotion, the\neternal and all-merciful God in holy Communion? How better can I\nhonor God than by offering God His own very self? How better can\nI give a new life to my imperfect and unspiritual nature, how better\nbaptize anew, as it were, my old corrupt nature, than to receive God's\ntrue and only Son, His living divine flesh, His all cleansing blood. His\nHoly Spirit, His all-loving heart and His sweet human nature, even\nthe Holy Trinity itself, and all that God is and has and may do?\nHow can God refuse the least to one to whom He has promised to give\nthe greatest? What gift is too great for Him to give who has given\nHimself wholly, and yet wills to give Himself again. God's purpose is\nnot gained by the mere outward granting of the Sacrament. But\nrather in that He shall be with this child of the human race according\nto His word: \"My delights are to be with the children of men\" (Prov.\nviii: 31). And by this is meant men of loving hearts and souls. All\nthis have I spoken to you by the grace of God ; but what follows is the\nbest that I have found in the writings of the masters.\n\nSt. Thomas says: \"All the graces which our Savior Jesus Christ in\nHis humanity brought to the whole world, these brings He to each par-\nticular man with His holy body and blood. And He grants all the\nfruit of His death, resurrection and ascension, together with the glory\nand blessedness of His holy body and blood, soul and divinity.\" St.\nThomas thus embraces in his teaching about holy Communion the\ngranting of every grace that one may imagine. Take a commonplace\ncomparison, for worldly-minded men view things only after the man-\nner of the senses. Suppose a mighty monarch to whom belonged all\nthe riches, dominion, beauty and pleasures of all mankind taken\ntogether, his every heart's desire gratified perfectly; suppose him to\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 389\n\ntake a man who was the outcast of the human race, covered with the\nscabs of leprosy, offensive with foulest odors, blind and crippled, and\nto join him to himself, and that he should make the union absolute,\nso that he poured into this miserable man his own glorious heart, head,\nhands, feet and whole being, inner and outer, poured himself thus\nwholly into this man's body, so that the body and the members that\nwere the monarch's have now become the unfortunate man's own body\nand members: — would not this be a great and marvelous act of love?\nBut a thousand times greater, incomprehensibly greater, is the loving\nunion that God gives us in the holy Sacrament. And now it remains\nfor us to discourse of the fruit of this holy Sacrament. That we may\nwell succeed in that task, let us beg our beloved Lord to remedy our\ndeficiencies by His blessed grace. Amen.\n\n390 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n(SllF Jrutt 0f Ifulg (Hommmtuin\n\nSynopsis — The purification of the heart and life of the worthy re-\ncipient— Grades of worthiness — Advantages of spiritual commu/n-\nion to highly devout souls — Venial sins: ihe many hindrancm\nthey place in the way of the fruitfulness of comm/union — A dis-\nquisition on venial sins, deliberate and indeliberate, with special\nreference to communion — Interior spiritual self-indulgence is the\nfault of spiritual m^n — Ood's painful way of curing this fault —\nEffect of communion in relieving souls in purgatory.\n\nFOURTH SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTL\n\nFor My fl^sh is meat Indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. — John vi, 56.\n\nYesterday I spoke of the dignity of the holy Sacrament (thcwgh,\nindeed, no one can worthily do so) ; of its benefits; and finally of the\npreparation we should make to receive it. If this be too high for ub,\nyet the words of St. Thomas, which I quoted, in some measure aid us —\nthat all the glory, grace and happiness that our Lord Jesus Christ\nbrought to the world with His humanity, living, suffering, dead, risen\nagain and ascending into heaven, that all of this He bestows on every\nsingle man witk His holy body and blood. There is no imaginable\ngrace not embraced in this divine gift. Think as deep or as high or aa\ninteriorly as thou mayst in thy devotions, whatever thou framest by thy\nown powers Is all nothing compared to the holy Sacrament. Other\ndevotioHs may be indeed divine, but this one is the divinity itself.\nHere the illuminated man is changed into God, as St. Augustine was\ntaught by our Lord : \"Not I into thee, but thou into Me.\"\n\nWhat is thy pious purpose? Wilt tho« overcome thy failings, win\ngrace, acquire virtue, consolation, love? Thou shalt find all here, if\nthou seekest rightly. If a man had lived a hundred years, and had\ncommitted a hundred mortal sins every day, and if God should but\ngive him a true conversion from sin, and if with that disposition he\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 391\n\nshould go to holy Communion, then it would be but a little thing for\nour Lord to forgive him all his sins in the twinkling of an eye with\nthis blessed gift of the Sacrament — as easy as to blow a grain of dust\nfrom off His hand. Yes, and the conversion thus wrought could be\nso eflQcacious that every penalty and penance due to the man's sins\nshould be at once remitted, and he should be made entirely holy.\n\nIn the city of Cologne there is a good custom of receiving the\nblessed Sacrament quite often, but it is done with much ditference of\ndispositions. Some receive it sacramentally, indeed, but not spirit-\nually nor happily, and these do so in a state of mortal sin, as did\nJndas. Others receive it both sacramentally and spiritually in their\nsouls, and yet gain little comfort, grace or fruit, for they are stained\nwith many venial sins, and communicate without preparation and in-\ndevoutly. A third class receive it with great and holy fruit and\nincalculable advantage to their souls. A fourth class receive it spir-\nitually without actual sacramental communion — good and clean\nheai;ted souls full of holy desires for Communion, more so, perhaps,\nthan those who receive sacramentally. One may do that a hundred\ntimes a day, if he is a good man, and in any place, be he sick or well,\nwhereas once a day is all he could receive it sacramentally. This\nspiritual Communion, if made with deep desire, secures incalculable\nfruit of divine grace. Many a man, receiving this Sacrament in his\nsoul, will enjoy it in life eternal — supposing him to be free from grave\nsin. But not so if the priceless treasures of holy Communion are to\nhim not in the depths of his soul, but are matters of outward observ-\nance, his life meanwhile being lukewarm, being full of venial sins,\nand graceless. Then is the soul cold and barren and grace inoperative,\non account of these hindrances.\n\nWhat then are the hindrances which do men such a harm, prevent-\ning this treasury of the riches of earth and heaven from benefiting\nthem? — a misery that we daily behold around us. Mark well that it\nis all venial sin daily committed. This it is that cools the warmth of\nlove, dissipates the heart's affections, lessens devotion, expels the\nconsolation of the Holy Ghost, and makes God a strange thing to the\nsoul. Venial sins do not destroy the grace of God, but this harm they\ndo: they lay the soul open to dangerous occasions of losing His grace\nand to perilous tendencies to mortal sin. And these sins are of two\nkinds.\n\n392 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nOne kind of venial sin is obstinate and continued yielding to affec-\ntion for created things — affection that has not God for its motive.\nLove for creatures for their own sake, satisfaction in their possession\nand joy in them, hinder the effects of Communion. Children, all sensi-\nble pleasures in created things enjoyed wholly apart from God are\nvenial sins ; and these sometimes are so gross that ten years and more\nof the fires of purgatory will not atone for them, if one dies without\nhaving done proper penance. Of course this means that such affection\nfor creatures is for their own sakes, whereby they usurp the place of\nGod in our heart, hindering His supremacy and His action there.\nHence the need of closely observing our interior life, marking all dis-\norderly inclinations and joys, watching our self-satisfaction in what\nwe have or what we do.\n\nAh, children, how sad a state of transgression is this. And how\ncommonly do we meet men in all states of life, eagerly gathering\ntogether all they can of this world's goods, going beyond all meas-\nure. No one has enough, everyone is planning to get more. They\nbuild great houses, adorn them foolishly and furnish them with rare\nthmgs, consulting only their worldly taste, amassing silver table serv-\nice, rich bodily ornaments, and then luxuriously feasting. Pleasure is\nfheir universal aim, and venial sins are their regular habit. Their\nonly pain is that they have so little of what they covet. They run\nafter company and recreations and all sorts of frivolity, neither seek-\ning God nor thinking of Him, and of course never finding Him. Ah,\nchildren, how close are these to mortal sm and its pitiable ruin. Ere\nthey think of it they fall into it and are sunk into its depths.\n\nVenial sins, therefore, dear children, are the standard obstacles that\nprevent men from receivng the graces of the body and blood of our\nLord Jesus Christ. Yet amid all this each one has his own particular\ndevotions, meantime refusmg to give up his dangerous practices. In\nCommunion they feel neither God's presence nor enjoy His consolation.\nThey leave that on one side, clinging to their own consolation, namely,\nthe love of the creature. And yet sometimes they spend forty of fifty\nyears with a show of spirituality. They do not realize what their\nstate is, but it is a serious question as to whether or not they are\nsaved; for to the very end their hearts are entangled with created\nthings. And they are full of excuses: I must have such and such a\nthing, they say ; or, that will do me no harm ; and again : this is not\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 393\n\nsinful. They thus create their own hindrances to grace, until the\nevil goes so far that they have no conscience left about it. These pow-\nerful obstacles are built up like a wall against the action of God upon\nthe soul. And yet the soul is often unconscious of them. Such a\nsoul may do what it pleases to better its condition : so long as it is\nfilled with the love of created things, so long does God turn away\nfrom it.\n\nBesides this first kind of obstacles, namely, wilful venial sins, there\nis the other kind yet to consider. These are venial sins of weakness.\nThere are men who are by no means enslaved by love of created\nthings, who are ever ready to renounce what they are made aware is\nnot according to God, whether it be affection for friends or for the\ngoods of this life, and who are nevertheless not careful enough. They\nare not suflSciently guarded against their natural weaknesses. They\ndo not readily enough repress anger, or it may be pride, sloth, frivol-\nous talk. Nor do they search earnestly after the causes of these\ndefects, such as excessive talk, excessive mirth, lack of restraint of\nappetite at table, too great absorption in wordly occupations. If such\nvenial sins are due to ill health, or happen in moments of forgetfulness,\nthe obstacle to grace is less serious than when they are more deliberate.\n\nIf these faults occur the day itself of Communion or the day before,\nthe harm is all the greater, hindering union with God, distracting the\nmind, weakening confidence, making the soul unresponsive to the\nlight and the sweetness of the Sacrament. If the faults were done\nyesterday and without wilfulness, and I sincerely deplore them to-day\nat my Communion, they do not hurt me so much as if they happened\nto-day, for the bitterness of my sorrow cleanses off the rust of my\ntransgressions, at least in great part. It is different when one frivol-\nously yields to distractions the very day of Communion, chats and\ngossips freely, is over occupied with secular affairs ; this adds obstacle\nto obstacle and is a serious harm. But yet in such a case one should\nnot omit his Communion, for he does not sin in receiving, and his\nweakness is a matter of regret to hina.\n\nNature, again, puts an obstacle to grace by yielding to excessive\nsleep or eating. One should hardly eat a mouthful without question-\ning his soul about excess. Children, the soul into which God shall\nenter by holy Communion must be entirely detached, or the divine\ninfluence, the divine generosity, is hindered in its secret work.\n\n394 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nBut if honest self-denying men are dnll and sleepy against their will,\nnature demanding much more rest than they like to yield, in such\ncase they need not struggle against it.\n\nAgain, there are hindrances of a hidden kind which beset spiritual\nmen. These are spiritual self-seeking, indulgence in sensible consola-\ntions and in devotional feelings. Some, if they do not experience these\nemotions, will not receive Communion. They unconsciously crave for\nsomething besides God. But God often intervenes and draws these\nmen to Him forceably by outward painful visitations, and so violently\nthat it seems as if He were striking them with a sledge hammer. Or,\nperhaps, inwardly He cures them by an anguish so dreadful that it is\nlike the agony of hell. And if they are not thus visited, then will\ntheir purgatory be dreadful hereafter. They too often remain to the\nend of their days thus imperfectly disposed.\n\nOthers are good souls who are fuH of blind fear. If they do not\nfeel a veritable fire of love within them or experience some great\nmovement of God, they abstain from Communion, even though they are\nnot aware of any real reason for it. And so they remain, making no\nprogress.\n\nBut the ones who best receive the blessed fruit of the holy Sacra-\nment, are they whose souls are cleansed of all sin and whose intention\nis wholly pure, who rest entirely upon God's mercy. To them it is\nall one if God gives or takes; they trust Him ever the same in abun-\ndance or in want. In holy Communion God is bom in them and they\nare bom in God. If they find any obstacle to God's grace, whether\nit be in their inner or their outer life, they are not distressed; they\ninstantly reject and turn away from it. They recognize God's will in\neverything. They dwell upon Him and not upon His gifts — upon His\nvery self alone. All that they have they accept from Him, and to Him\nthey refer it all back again. Marvellously does the holy Sacrament\ndo its work in men like these, flooding their souls with blessed light,\nand giving them the shortest road to perfection. A man may reach\nsuch an earnestness of devotion in communicating, that if he were to\ndepart this life immediately afterwards, instead of attaining to the\nlowest choir of the blessed — to which he was destined — ^he would by\nthis Communion be granted entrance into the second, perhaps into\nthe third or fourth choir. Nay, by frequent Communion in such dispo-\nsitions he would be made worthy of the highest choir, surpassing the\nseraphs and all the angelic natures. But of this he must not think,\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 395\n\nnor desire any such lot, but only long to do the blessed will of God\nand advance His honor.\n\nThe miracles of grace wrought by this Sacrament in a truly mor-\ntified spirit, are beyond the comprehension of angels, for it is now\nelevated above itself, drawn into God in its interior life, and closely\nunited to Him. And if it happens that such a man is unable to receive\n(Communion, he humbly resigns himself ; he daily communicates spirit-\nually, and this he does whether he can hear mass or not. Ah, chil-\ndren, what wonders of grace will not God work within us if we will but\nbe converted sincerely to Him. We shall find all good things in His\nSacrament, and heaven will be established in our souls. But, alas,\nwe do not do our part. Dissipation of mind goes beyond all limits.\nWe may go to a sermon and hear its lessons — and presently we forget\nall about it — wandering about from one preacher to another, like silly\nwomen, unstable of mind, to-day glad and to-morrow sorrowful.\n\nI have been in a certain country, where the people are so manly and\nturn to God so earnestly and steadfastly, that the word of God pro-\nduces more practical fruit among them in one year than here in\nCJologne in ten. There among that lovely people do we see marvels of\ndivine grace. Some countries breed only eflfeminate characters : no\nmatter what one may do for them, nothing comes of it. You do not\nfind it pleasant to hear such things said about you; but, children, we\nmust become men. We must make a free and vigorous start away\nfrom created things, and go forward to God. We must have God in\nmind in all our life as the final end — God, and not creatures. We\nmust live in Him, not in self nor in creatures. How lamentable it is\nthat the blessed grace of God is ignored among us: it is enough to\nbreak one's heart to think of it. Alas, even in many convents, it is\nwhat is the latest news that interests souls, filling them with foolish\nthoughts. There are those, to be sure, who gladly hear about divine\nthings, but the others condemn them for it. Children, depart from\nthem, and have nothing to do with their pretended piety. Hide your-\nselves away and wait upon the will of God. When that appears,\nfollow it faithfully.\n\nAnd if you are seeking to know the divine will, let me give you some\ngood advice. WTien the question comes as to doing or net doing, then\nenter into yourself and earnestly consider. And bear in mind that\nthe safest course is to choose what is most opposed to nature. What-\never nature is fondest of, that is the most unsafe. The more you liv*\n\n390 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nin natnre and in its pleasure, the less do yon live in God and in His\nwill. The less of nature, the more of God. The more you live in the\nSpirit, the less you live in nature.\n\nSuch is my teaching about this Holy Sacrament. It is but a small\npart of what one should say of its worth and its holiness. It is God's\nhonor, it is the joy of the blessed, it is the reformation of mankind,\nthe conversion of sinners, the release of souls from purgatory.\n\nIt is related that once a friend of God had a vision. A soul ap-\npeared to him clothed in a burning flame, and said to him: \"These\nintolerable pains, the agony of which words cannot tell, I suffer in\npunishment for having received the blessed Sacrament of our Lord\nJesus Christ without due preparation.\" And the soul then added:\n\"If thou wilt receive our Lord's body and blood once for me that will\nhelp me.\" The good man did this, and the next day the soul appeared\nto him again shining as bright as the sun ; it announced that it had\nbeen freed from all its imbearable pains and taken up into eternal\nhappiness. May God grant us thus to receive holy Communion, and\nto live a life in accordance with its graces. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the lUiuninated Doctor 397\n\nJforrtafiUja 0f ^tunm\n\nSynopsis — TJie first is granted to those who turn away from the ban-\nquet of worldly joy — This is not always accompanied hy devotional\nstoeetness — the second is holy Communion — A doctrinal expla-\nnation— The various benefits of mass and communion — How these\nare hindered hy venial sins, and also hy neglect of spiritual exer-\ncises— They are made permanent hy detachment and self-ahase-\nment.\n\nSERMON FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.*\n\nA certain man made a great supper and Invited many. And he sent his\nservant at the hour of supper to say to them that were invited, that they should\ncome, for now all things were ready. And they began all at once to make excuse.\nThe first said to him : I have bought a farm, and I must needs go out to see it :\nI pray thee, hold me excused. And another said : I have bought five yoke of\noxen, and I go to try them : I pray thee, hold me excused. And another said : I\nhave married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. . . . But I say unto you\nthat none of these men that were invited, shall taste of my supper. — Luke xiv,\n16-24.\n\nSt. Gregory says that we may understand this supper, to which we\nare all invited, as a most interior self-knowledge, a most clear knowl-\nedge of that inmost depth of our soul which is God's kingdom. And\nalso the very taste of how it is that God dwells and works there,\nexperiencing the same knowledge and love. In another sense, this\nsupper means the holy Sacrament. In yet another meaning it is\neternal happiness, which is the true supper of our souls, and compared\nwith which all banquets of soul or body which the whole worid could\nset before us, would be no more than a single morsel of bread.\n\nWhatsoever man would come to this last-named glorious supper,\nmust diligently take into account the other two. For devout writers\ntell us that whosoever attains to the banquet of eternal life in heaven,\nmust have had a foretaste of it in this life. But inasmuch as the\nforetaste is different in different men, so very truly shall the enjoyment\n\n•No sermon of Tauler's for the First Sunday after Trinity Is extant.\n\n398 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nbe. And jet during some good men's whole liyes, Qod withholds all\nsavor of eternal joy, granting never a drop of sweetness until they\narrive at the very end. But these may be a thousand degrees higher\nthan others who have enjoyed much devotional sweetness. A man\nmay be granted supernatural revelations, and yet these may be of no\nprofit to him; while one who never had such privileges, may be placed\nmuch nearer to God in the celestial banquet. God measures His gifts\nwith love's measure; He gives to each what is best for him. And if\nany one will taste of this sweetness in his deepest life, he must turn\nhis heart away from all that is not God.\n\nThe second supper is that of the holy Sacrament, bringing such\ngrace and joy as no words can explain. And we should be all the\nmore gratified for it because it is a holy feast that we can &i}oj\nevery day.\n\nOne might enquire how it happens to be necessary that we should\ndaily renew in the Eucharist the commemoration of our Lord's death,\nsince on Good Friday our Lord was offered up once for all, and for all\nthe world, and, if it were needed, for a thousand sinful worlds besides.\nThe answer is that our Savior devised this blessed way of daily renew-\ning His death, out of pity for our human weakness and our daily\nnecessity. He would give us His adorable sacrifice of Cavalry newly\noflfered up every day for the sins and miseries of mankind. It is thus\nthat St. Thomas teaches : \"All the fruitfulness, all the benefit that God\ngranted us the day He died, is found every day in every mass that is\ncelebrated; and all this grace is received by every man each time he\nworthily receives the Lord's body and blood.\"\n\nThis holy Sacrament banishes sin. It puts sin to death, and causes\na man to grow strong in a virtuous life, imparting new graces. It\nsafeguards him from future dangers, and from the snares of the enemy,\nsnares incessantly being laid for us. Without its strong help one may\neasily fall, either by inner or outer sinfulness. Besides this, the holy\nSacrament is a great grace when offered for the souls in purgatory;\nmany souls would suffer there till the last day were it not for holy\nmass, especially when offered by very devout priests. This blessed\nobservance works wonders in purgatory, especially during this part of\nthe year. Each one should assist at mass with deep longings of spirit,\noniting his fervent intention with every mass offered in the whole\nworld, especially remembering those who are dear to him, whether\nliving or dead. We thus feel ourselves present not only at the masi\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 300\n\nbeing celebrated before us, but at all the masses being said in the whole\nworld. I strongly counsel any interior man to hear mass every day,\n\nWhat is the reason that so many who receive this holy Sacrament,\nfull of graces as it is, show little or no sign of improvement, even\nthough they remain in the state of grace? The blame is their own.\nThey take no diligent account of their venial sins; they do not look\non themselv^ with disfavor. These defects hinder the influence of\ngrace. A man must scrutinize his life closely and watch his conduct\nstrictly, and take measures to stop any habitual venial sins. Espe-\ncially should he guard against idle words — and all word^ are idle\nthat are not spoken thoughfully. This he should do to the best of his\nability.\n\nAnother obstacle to the practical working of the grace of holy Com-\nmunion, is when one interrupts and omits his regular and daily devo-\ntional practices. Many a one has no steady religious observance, runs\nafter every distraction, will not wait with a recollected spirit for God's\ngrace to work within him. But it must be remembered that the graces\nof this Sacrament often become active in a willing soul only after two\nor three days have passed.\n\n^Tiosoever will experience these benefits, must journey out of the\nland of Egypt and out of the land of darkness, ere he can eat the bread\nof heaven, whose sweetness is proportioned to our heart's desires.\nThe bread of heaven was not given to the chosen people, as long as the\nflour lasted that they had brought with them out of Egypt. But\nwhen that was gone, the manna came to them, full of every sweetness\ntheir hearts desired. So it happens to us.\n\nWhen we have gone forth out of Egypt, out of the world and its ways,\nand when we have become spiritualized, we are fed with heavenly\ngraces — but not before: not while we feast on the bread of nature and\nof creatures, that is to say, our evil and imperfect tendencies. For\nwhile that is the case we can never interiorly enjoy the divine nourish-\nment of the Sacrament. All who would interiorly receive the fruits of\nCJommunion will not allow the world, creatures or their own weakness\nto cleave to their souls. They will not approach the Sacrament trust-\ning to their own perfection, but rather to strengthen their weakness.\nThey feel as weak as a man reduced so low by illness that his life is\ndespaired of — who, if he were able, would purchase the medicine\nneeded for his recovery with an immense amount of gold and jewels.\n\n400 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nThe wise Christian does not receive Communion for the joy of it, but\nout of dire necessiay, so that his very life may be preserved. In no\nother spirit should we receive Communion, than to strengthen our\nweakness and save ourselves from death, that is to say, from the love\nof created things. With some it is as if you poured water on fire —\nsuch is the effect of their conduct after Communion. For after re-\nceiving it they open their soul to the images, the fooleries of the world,\nwhich absorb it in thoughts of outward things. These cool the\nwarmth of love. The soul is incapacitated to receive the graces of the\nSacrament. It is incapable of waiting in recollection the . action of\nGod upon the soul.\n\nBut when one is in a frame of mind to give up attachment to crea-\ntures, then it sometimes happens that the enemy says to him: This\nis foolish; thou canst not keep this up. Then this deluded soul does\nwhat the people of Israel did. As Moses led them forth out of Egypt,\nthey looked backwards and saw their pursuers coming with their six\nhundred chariots, and they exclaimed : ''Why wouldst thou do this, to\nlead us out of Egypt? . . . For it is much better to serve the\nEgyptians than to die in the wilderness\" (Exod. xiv:12). Thus act\nthese fainthearted men, men of little faith. As they hear the enemy\ncoming on, hear the noise of his many chariots, as it were, rolling over\nthe stones, feel the attacks of temptation, they begin to think: O,\nthis is all foolishness; it is much better to be back in Egypt, in the\nworld, busy with creatures, full of their love, rather than to lose it all.\nThus it is with many a man who trusts not God. Fall at the feet of\nour Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, and beseech Him to plead for you\nwith His eternal Father, that He may bestow on you great confidence\nin Him.\n\nWe shall draw lessons from the third supper when we come to con-\nsider it, and meanwhile may God help us thereto. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 40i\n\nSynopsis— Our inborn frailty and our evilful pride reveal the need of\nhumility—Look inward, look outward, and we behold only our\nsins and our tendency to sin— Difference between humility and\ndespondency-Loving God: how natural it scem^, and yet hoio\neasily hindered— From humanity and love springs the divine\nvirtue of hope— An exhortation to earnestness and courage, spring-\ning from love and hope— Detachment, inwardly practiced, is en-\ntire obedience— Many reasons for praising this high virtue— De-\ntachment also shown by patience.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\nBe ye humbled therefore under th€ mighty hand of God, that He may exalt\nyou in the time of visitation. Casting all your care upon Him, for He hath 'i\ncare of you. Be sober and watch; because your adversary, the devil as \\\nroaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist ve\nstrong in faith : knowing that the same afflliction befalls your brethren who aiA\nin the world But the God of all grace, who has called us into H?s eternal\nglory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will Himself Se^t you\nand confirm you, and establish you. To Him be glory and empire tor e^r and\never. Amen.— I Pet. v, 6-11. i '^ lur ever ana\n\nDear children, this is the teaching of St. Peter's very instructive\nepistle, giving us a perfect doctrine, by means of which we can com-\nplete all that holy Church has done for us the entire year past, with\nwhich, if we take it seriously, we shall find it to coincide perfectly.\n\n\"Be humbled,\" he says, \"under the mighty hand of God,\" in which\nwe see the essence, life and wo»k that a man must have in all his\ndevout practices. It consists in three things, all most essential, so\nthat if any one of them be lacking, the essence, life and work of our\npiety comes to naught. The first is that we must be humble. Humil-\nity is the solid foundation on which the whole structure is to be built,\nif it is going to be worth anything in the sight of God. Whatever a\nman builds without this foundation falls down. The second thin«^\n\n*®2 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nis true and divine love for God and our neighbor. The third is genuine\ndetachment from all things. With these three things a man reaches\nthe perfection of a true and godlike life.\n\nDear children, God has by His grace implanted in us the beautiful\nvirtue of humility, knowing how greatly we stand in need of it. In\nthis he does us a great favor, for He thereby places in our souls a\ndivine spark much closer to our nature than we may imagine. If\nhumility seems an alien thing to us that is to be blamed on pride. If\nhuman nature be rightly ordered, we find matter for humility within\nus without fail. We cannot expel it from its place there, for as we\nlook into ourselves we find two great causes for it. One is our natural\nfrailty. Every man can see how miserably needy he is, how many\nthings he lacks, and how all that he gets fails to satisfy him. Noth-\ning is better known than the inborn deficiencies of the natural man,\nand that just as every man comes from nothing, so all ends in nothing-\nness— all of which furnishes material for humility. The other reason\nfor humility is our sinful frailty, something perfectly plain to anyone\nwho searches his interior. He finds in himself a bottomless depth of\nnatural depravity. Unless God guarded him constantly by his mer-\nciful graces, how unspeakably ready would he not be to commit sin,\neven to fall into mortal sin, and to be condemned therefor to eternally\nsuffer in hell among all the devils. Tell me, dear children, is not this a\ngreat cause for true humility? Thus our own nature inclines us to\nthe practice of this holy virtue. Looking inward, looking outward, we\nfind there is nothing good in us, nor of ourselves can we do any good.\n\nThe second virtue is true love of God, and this has God rooted in\nour nature; for by a law of our nature every man must love. Even\nhumility is not an interior growth, but comes from without, whereas\nlove is inborn, as Venerable Bede teaches : \"As it is impossible to live\nwithout a soul, so it is impossible to live without love.\" If a man,\ntherefore, is naturally rightly ordered he must love God more than\nhimself or all creatures. It is a pitiful thing that man should pervert\n80 noble a trait, turning deliberately away from God, his creator and\nthe creator of all things, and inclining towards creatures.\n\nThe third virtue is prudence or discretion, which belongs to reason\nitself. Mark well, children, that every act of man that is not guided\nby discretion comes to naught, and is not pleasing to God. Therefore\ndoes St. Peter say in this epistle : \"Be sober and watch.\" This means\nthat discretion should soberly guide our whole life, our words and\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 403\n\nworks, eating and sleeping and watching — let discretion direct all men\nin all states of life in all their conduct.\n\nDear children, let us return to the first virtue, humility: \"Be ye\nhumbled, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt\nyou in the time of visitation.\" Ah, dear children, when the time of\nvisitation comes and God does not find us humble, it will be an evil\nthing for us without doubt; for \"God resisteth the proud, and giveth\ngrace to the humble\" (James iv: 6). Therefore, the greater our humil-\nity, the greater the grace of God. If He finds us proud. He will\ncrush us down ; if He finds us lowly minded. He will undoubtedly\nraise us up. The mighty hand of God is wise and good, aye, it is\nkindly and loving: \"Casting all your care upon God, for He careth for\nyou.\" If this loving watch of God over us were his only favor, His\ndaily care for all our spiritual and bodily needs the only gift he were\nto give us; if His loving intervention against our heartache and all\nmisery were His single benefit to us, it alone ought to be enough in our\neyes to inspire a return of love. It should cause us ceaselessly to\nadore His Providence, to direct all our longings towards Him alone,\nand to enkindle in our hearts a deep love of His holy will in ordering\nour life.\n\nAgain, dear children, does St. Peter speak: \"Be sober and watch,\nbecause your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seek-\ning whom he may devour. Whom resist ye, strong in faith.\" Now\nwhen the lion roars, all the beasts of the forest fall to the ground\nwith terror, and he comes and tears them to pieces. And in like man-\nner, when the evil spirit comes roaring upon poor, weak men, they\ninstantly fall down helpless, and he comes and tears them to pieces.\nBut St. Peter bids us be bold and vigilant, and bravely to withstand\nthe assaults of the demon with the weapons of holy faith. One should\nact like the garrison of a beleaguered city which knows that the\nenemy's army is superior in number. On whatever side the ramparts\nare weakest, there is concentrated the strongest defense — or the city\nand its defenders and treasures are lost. So must each one of ub care-\nfully mark the weakest side of his character, for there without doubt\nthe evil one will deliver his fiercest attack — that is to say, where he\nfinds the greatest tendency to vice.\n\nSometimes the devil's readiest temptation is to despondency. He\nshows a man his native frailty and his sinfulness, and tries to make\ntim heavy-hearted on that account. And then he, as it were, roan\n\n404 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nin his ear : Art thou so foolish as to spend thy life in anguish and in\npenance? No! No! Live in joy. Enjoy thy carnal pleasures.\nAlmighty God will give thee time for penance at the end of life. Have\nthy own will, enjoy creatures whilst thou art young and strong; when\nold age comes, then shalt thou become pious and serve God. Ah, dear\nchildren, what treacherous counsel is this. Be on your guard. Dili-\ngently watch while it is day, for soon eternal darkness will enshroud\nyou. Regulate your life by no such false confidence, but rather by a\nwise understanding of what is a really God-guided life. And let there\nbe no turning back. See to it that God alone shall rule you. For it\nis our Lord Jesus Christ Himself who says: ''Every plant which My\nheavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up\" (Matt, xv: 13)\n\nLook into this matter, dear children, very carefully, for the evil one\nlays many a snare for you. One will say in time of temptation: O\nGod, would that I had a father confessor in this my great distress ; I\nwish I knew how I now stand with our dear Lord. Now, children, I\nknow about this case, and I say to you, do not annoy your father\nconfessor. Keep up good courage. Evil thoughts have come? Then\nlet them come and let them go. Be at peace; think no more about it,\nbut turn thy heart straight to God. Make no parley with thy tempta-\ntion, but just let it alone. By debating about it in thy mind, thou\nshalt sufifer more misery than the demon himself has caused thee>\nAll this trouble comes from excessive despondency, which may end by\nhis suggesting despair, and saying: Everything thou dost is vain and\nuseless — thou art lost forever.\n\nThe thing to do in such a case is to cast \"all care upon God\" and\nrest in Him, Turn to the eternal God with unshaken trust in His\ngoodness and mercy. Do as mariners do when threatened with ship-\nwreck— cast thy anchor deep down to the bottom of God's love and\ngrace. Place thy confidence firmly in God our Lord. If it comes even\nto the end of life, and a man in deep distress shall but anchor all his\nhopes in God and die in that mind, it is truly a happy and a holy\ndeath.\n\nChildren, be well assured that a really godly man must dwell in the\npractice of divine hope just as much as in any other of the divine\nvirtues; and that is a great help to him when at last he comes to meet\ndeath. But this must not be a false and deceitful confidence in God,\ntrusting in which a man presumes to lead a sinful life ; for whosoever\ntrusts in God and on the strength of that lives wickedly, sins against\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 405\n\nthe Holy Ghost. The confidence in God that I mean springs from the\ndepths of true humility and love. It is based on consciousness of one's\nhelplessness; it is a most reasonable recogfnition of the need of God's\nhelp; it is part of a true and full and joyful conversion to God; for\nwhosoever gives himself up to God loves and trusts God sincerely.\nShalt thou not trust Him who has already done thee so many favors?\nBefore thou wast created God foresaw thy weakness; knew that thou\nwouldst sin, foresaw in His divine wisdom how it was that he would\nredeem all mankind from sin, namely, by the bitter death of our be-\nloved, innocent Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nTherefore, dear children, turn away from sin with all earnestness.\nI say to you that any man under temptation, who does not courage-\nously resist, but stands halting and hesitating, not turning from sin\nwith his whole heart for the sake of God, such a man the evil one\npursues with the object of dragging him down into everlasting damna-\ntion. Dost thou really wish to overcome the demon? Then do thy\npart manfully, fly from sin, and say in thy inmost soul : O Eternal\nGod, come to my help with Thy divine grace, for I am firmly resolved\nnever to commit mortal sin. Thus by thy good will and by thy resolute\npurpose, thou shalt overcome the evil spirit and put him shamefully\nto flight.\n\nChildren, you should know what a disgraceful thing it is for a man\nendowed with reason to allow himself to be vanquished by the devil,\nto be led into greivious sin and to forfeit the grace of God. A man\ngifted with reason who gives up to the evil one, is like a well-armed\nsoldier who runs away from a fly. Think of the powerful weapons\nwith which we can withstand the devil — our holy faith, the blessed\nSacrament, God's holy word, the glorious example of the saints and\nof all good men, the prayers of holy Church, and more besides — all\nstrong weapons against the demon. He has no greater force against\nthese arms than a fly has against a big bear. Let but a man bravely\nresist, and he never can be overcome. Therefore turn away from thy\nsins and cheerfully and manfully fight thy battle. See to it carefully\nthat thou goest not into the next world without having fought and\nconquered the devil, nor without having sincerely repented of thy sins;\nfor then thou shalt be the scoflf of all those evil spirits, who will eter-\nnally torment thee. It will be a deeper pain to thee then that thorn\nhast followed the devil than any other misery connected with thy sins.\n\n406 The Sermons and Spiritual Confer^ices\n\nFnthermore, a man must examine his inmost soul, lest there should\nbe aught there but just simply God and His eternal glory. For, alas,\nthere are many men in all states of life who make a show of a good\nlife, as if fancying that they can deceive the eteraal God. No, not so;\nbut in reality thou deceivest thyself, and thou losest the precious time\nof grace. Thou art so guilty before God that He permits the evil spirits\nto have power over thee, so that they will not let thee do any good\nwork. Take heed, dear children, whilst it is day, lest the time of dark-\nness overtake you, and the grace of God be withdrawn from you.\nSearch deep into your hearts; have God there and only God, making\nhim your only aim in life, whether consciously or unconsciously.\n\nSuch is not the way of men who follow not after God. Creatures\nare their object in life. And if they find sorrow for sin beginning to\nstir their hearts, they run away from it ; they go into another country\nor city, they start new ways of wickedness, and thus they leap into ever-\nlasting death. Or acting otherwise, such a one is caught in a panic\nand adopts a life of poverty, or enters a monastery. Others, again,\nobtain a securer refuge by entering an approved order, even one\nstrictly enclosed.\n\nNow it may happen that some have entered an order from motives\nnot divine; but finding themselves there they say: Dear Lord, I thank\nThee eternally that I am here, and I will ever remain here, to love Thee\nand serve Thee. Blessed are all those who persevere in this holy state\ntill death, for without doubt they will be saved. The least little work\nAere done in holy obedience, is nobler in God's eyes and more worthy\nof reward than many great works performed by one's own will. I\ndeclare to you in all truth, that no lovelier offering can be made to the\nAlmighty God than a truly humble and obedient heart. In a single\ninstant a man can, by means of obedience and giving up of his own will\nto God, be made bo humble that he will be led directly to God — more\ndirectly than if he spent ten years in practicing high devotions. Take\nan example: suppose a man so full of God's grace that God con-\nstantly dwelt with him, and was as personally present as He will be\nin heaven ; and suppose him now to be required to pay a real obedience\nto God by some external act of charity. Such a one would humbly\n•ay to God : O beloved God, let me go out of Thy presence and follow\nThy holy will in obedience; and this would please God more than to\nsee that man enter eternal life surrounded by all the angels of heaven.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 407\n\nChildren, this example is straight against all the religious men who\ngo by their own will, and who do not quickly respond to God's will\nmanifested to them in obedience. There are such men in communis\nties ; they lay out their devotions and other good works for themselves.\nWhen obedience would draw them out to the active labors of their\norder, then is shown how little liberty of spirit they have — self-\nconceited men, with a god to rule them who is a divinity of their own\nappointment. A man truly obedient is always obedient, cheerfully\ndropping everything, even prayers and meditations, at the voice of\nlawful authority. If God is really in his heart, then does he offer\nhimself in all meekness to the disposal of his superiors. It is this that\nleads him to union with God; without this he will lack God's favor.\nObedience is that very noble virtue which is more pleasing to God than\nany of the others, even when we obey in matters which are in then)-\nHelves of little moment. The eternal Son of God was for our sakes\nmade obedient to His heavenly Father, in His coming down from the\nGodhead to our poor human nature, and then in the embracing of His\nholy cross; finally in His cruel and bitter death. Therefore must we\none and all be obedient men, in all divine things and human things,\ninteriorly and exteriorly, without murmuring or contradiction — if\nGod shall do His work of love unhindered and continuously within\nonr sonls.\n\nYet this doctrine is directly opposed to the practice of those pious\nmen who obey unwillingly. These make interpretations and excuses\nin order to avoid this beloved virtue, and they cleave to their own\ncustomary opinions. They insist on having their own way. I de-\nclare to yon that such conduct separates yon from God, from His\ngraces, from the sweetness of His love — all this you will lack as long\nas you persist in a self-willed course.\n\nTherefore, child, when thou beginnest a good work, humbly approach\nthe fountain of divine grace, and crave that thou mayst begin and end\nit wholly to the praise and honor of God, sinking deep within thy soul\ntill thou art fully conscious of thy own nothingness when without\nGod's grace. In the quiet of that interior life, search out very humbly\nwhat is God's all lovely will— rest upon that without further running\nabout for motives. This is a better way than taking the whole world\ninto thy counsel with a dissipated spirit. Any man who is conscious\nof having true humility of heart and real love of God, together with\ndiscretion, in such a man's soul God does a work greater than words\ncan describe.\n\n408 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSt. Peter teaches us that we suffer the same as do our brethren in\nthe world. And, children, I say to you that we must suffer, whether\nwe turn this side to escape or that side — we must suffer. We must\nbe willing to suffer or go straight against God. Now there are many\nyoung people who risk life and limb in the service of the world, and\nwhose whole reward is to pamper their wretched bodies, food for\nworms as they are, and commit their souls to the devil. Such are the\nonly wages the world pays to its hirelings. How different with you.\nYou gladly serve God and suffer for His sake, and He will give you as\nyour wages His own very self, together with the kingdom of heaven\nand everlasting life. O how gladly should you, His chosen friends,\n.suffer for Him, since for your sake He suffered shame, poverty, and all\nmisery. Since the head of the human race, God's eternal Son Jesus\nChrist, has thus suffered, surely we His members ought to blush for\nshame that we are not always glad to suffer. Who in this world has\never endured the blasphemy, disgrace and shame that befell Jesus\nChrist God's eternal Son? He, indeed, would continue thus to\nsuffer for us were it now possible for Him to do so. Daily and often\nin the day is He crucified in spirit by men's curses; constantly is He\nrejected and cast out, His wounds opened again and His innocent\nand precious blood poured out by every mortal sin that is committed.\nThink of the sacrilege, the blasphemy that is done Him by unworthy\nCommunions, foul sinners taking Him into their filthy souls, all full of\ndeadly sensuality. Could such a wretch feel the wickedness of that\nprofanation of God, his horror would be worse than that of Judas.\nFor these men confess the Godhead of Jesus Christ, acknowledging\nHim to be their God and their creator, whereas this divinity of our\nSavior was not known to Judas. If God's true friends could feel a\npain equal to the guilt of this sacrilege, a pain of a bodily kind as well\nas the spiritual grief of a loving heart, their very bones would be\npierced to the marrow, and their souls would be wounded to their\nvery depths. If they could turn away from God this foul indignity\nby offering up their own lives, then death would be to them far more\njoyous than life.\n\nSuch then, dear children, is St. Peter's teaching of the right and\nthe sure way: humility must be the foundation within us and with-\nout. Upon that, again, we build the house of the love of God, and we\nadorn it with the virtue of discretion. And all this God brings about\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 409\n\nby His days of visitation. Hence I declare to you, children, that those\nwho set out toward perfection by ways of high reasoning — not travel-\ning by this humble road of St. Peter — every one of them will fall into\nthe pit of hell : for the higher the mountain the deeper the valley.\nMay God grant that we shall be found resting on the right foundation.\nMay God grant us to go forward by the threefold virtues of humility,\nlove of God and discretion. Amen.\n\n410 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nttynopais — First, coarse men, wholly and openly regardless of divine\nthings — Their ways described — How timid confessors may he in-\nvolved in their guilt — The second class are hypocrites-^These are\noften self-deluded — Our Lord's anatJiema on this class — The tJUrd\nclass are spiritual sluggards — These ever seek the easiest way, and\nnever escape, falling sooner or later — They sin against the light,\nand dy ingratitude — They are formalists in religious things, and\nexcessively resent correction — The fourth cla^s are penitent tin-\nners — Marks of the validity of this happy and lovely state — Rules\nfor their guidance.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER\n\nTRINITY.\n\nNow the publicans and sinners drew nigh unto Him to hear Him. ABd the\nPharisees and the scribes murmured, saying : This Man receiveth sinners, and\neateth with them. And He spoke to them this parable, saying: What man of\nyou that hath a hundred sheep, and if he shall lose one of them, doth he not\nleave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go after that which was lost till he find\nit? And when he hath found It, lay it upon his shoulders, rejoicing; and\ncoming home, call together his friends and neighbors, saying to them : Rejoic*\nwith me, because I have found ray sheep which was lost. — Luke xv, 1-6.\n\nDear children, we are sinners and sinfully inclined, and, as St.\nJohn teaches: \"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,\nand the truth is not in us\" (I John i: 8).\n\nAnd I will speak of four kinds of sinners. The first are coarse,\nworldly men, who lead a frivolous and proud life, forgetful of God,\nwithout the fear of God, regardless of divine things, a cause of sin to\nothers. They neither seek nor love God, nor will they hear or learn\nanything of Him, for they are sunk in mortal sm all their days. If\nthey happen to be present at mass, they are ready to spring up and be\naway — ^it is all too long for them. As to the divine honor, they arc\nwholly unconcerned about it, or about the practice of virtue. They\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 411\n\nmay, indeed, receive our Lord in Communion at Easter, yet it is for\nappearance sake, and without the purpose to give up their evil ways;\nthey intend to go on with their sinful course. Such a man had better\nreceive into his body a hundred thousand devils, rather than receive\nour Lord as Judas did; he is guilty of the body and blood of our Lord\nJesus Christ\n\nDear children, if we fully knew the peril in which such a man\nstands, it would wither up our very souls. If he knew it himself— the\ntorment and horror, the awful doom and the dreadful agony that\nawaits him in his eternal punishment, his reason could not endure the\nthought. Some of them, as they reach the end of their days, and\nbecome aware of this misery, fall into despair, and they die distrusting\nGod, being lost eternally. When such a one on his death-bed speaks\nout the anguish and horror of his soul, his friends say: He is raving.\nAnd hereby, in God's mercy, others may be warned against a bad life.\nHow much better had it been if these sinners had had faithful father\nconfessors, who, knowing how badly disposed they were, had refused\nto allow them to go to Communion, and had warned them of their\ndanger: courageous teachers and confessors are most necessary for\nthese stony-hearted sinners.\n\nThe second class are also great sinners. But they keep up an ap-\npearance of piety. They practice devout exercises, do good works and\nset a good example. But they are hypocrites, and they have the spirit\nof Pharisees. They are full of self-will and self-love, proud, unmorti-\nfied and quarrelsome. These are secretly great sinners, quite unre-\nstrained in their vices; they care for God and love God not at all— they\nare absorbed in self-love. Their road is a perilous one, indeed, for they\nare enemies of God. By the very good things they do with the delu-\nsion that these practices are leading them to God, they are really led\nonly the farther away from Him. Their works have a show of virtue\nindeed, and are accompanied by outward signs and professions of\nhumility, but they gain their authors great harm. But such men arc\ncorrupted by self-love and their motive is pride. We cannot be with-\nout uneasiness concerning them, for they are self-flatterers. Mean-\nwhile they are harsh in their judgment of others, and our Lord's\ncondemnation of the Pharisees falls upon them. They have no\npatience with those who will not adopt their ways, being tainted with\nspiritual pride, full of self-love-sins that of old thrust the highest\n\n412 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nangels down into the deepest hell. Avoid this spirit as you would\neternal death. Judge no man but yourself. Even if you see anything\nthat is plainly evil, excuse it as best you may. The Good Shepherd\nleft the ninety-nine sheep to go in search of one that was lost. As to\nthe perverse men we have been considering, it is of them that the Lord\nspeaks in the Gospel: \"Amen, I say to you, I know you not\" (Matt.\nxxv:12).\n\nThe third class of sinners are the cold-hearted and slothful. Holy\nbaptism was given them by God that they might have grace to avoid\nmortal sin, according to His laws in holy Church. But they have\nrejected this grace. They have no earnestness for God or divine\nthings. They may sing hymns and recite prayers with their fellow\nChristians, but it is only like turning over the leaves of the book ; they\nhave neither savor nor grace in these devotions — ^but much love and\npleasure in creatures. To the utmost of their ability they seek for the\nenjoyment of created things, exciting all their energies to that end,\ngladly, habitually. This is seen in their manners, words, deeds\nclothes, and in the letters they write. Their conduct is without re-\nstraint, their conversation is idle chatter. Yet they fancy that they\nwould not willingly commit mortal sin, especially of the grosser kind.\nGod knows full well the state of these souls — would that they feared\nHim. They are like men with foul stomachs, belching forth offensive\nodors, incapable of digesting good food, or knowing the taste of it.\nSuch souls find good actions bitter to their taste; they are like preg-\nnant women craving unwholesome food. Their souls are surfeited\nwith the joys of creatures, spoiled for the taste of divine food.\n\nSpiritual teachers say: \"The raw material of nature hungers and\nthirsts after its proper form.\" At first there is the mere unformed\nmatter, then an animal form, finally the human form. This hungers\nand thirsts after an imniortal, reasonable and godlike- form, which\ncan never know rest till it is made over again with that form which\nperfects all others, namely, the uncreated and everlasting Word of\nthe heavenly Father. Every soul has a spark of light within it, or\nrather a thirst within it, which even God, who can do all things, can-\nnot quench except by giving the soul Himself — if He gave the soul all\nthat earth and heaven contains, it would not be content without Him-\nself; and that thirst for God is implanted in the soul's very nature.\nIt is this longing for God that these perverse men destroy in their\nsouls. They gape with wide-open mouths after transitory things, as if\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 413\n\nthey could be fed by the wind. Their taste is spoiled, they are filled\nwith creatures — they draw nigh to eternal death. Dear children, what\ndo you suppose such men will do as their end approaches? Then they\nwill begin to realize that they have perverted their natural nobility\nof soul, injured themselves essentially, and rejected the priceless\ngood that was offered them. Ah, children, one cannot describe the\nmisery of their last hours.\n\nYou know, children, that all that we have has been received from\nGod — the goods of nature and of grace and of Providence, all inner\ngifts and outer ones. And all are bestowed on us that we might offer\nthem again to God with gratitude, love and praise. Now a soul that\nthus pays God His due, with difficulty accounts for the favors of a\nsingle day. What then of the incalculable debt of a whole life? Look\ninto it, calculate the last farthing that we owe God : how much, think\nyou, would it all amount to? See to it that your fate shall not be that\nof the foolish virgins, of whom it is not certain that they were guilty\nof greivous sin, but only that they were found unready for the coming\nof the bridegroom. Indeed, they would have made ready, for they had\nsome sort of good will, but it was too late. And so they were shut out,\nand they heard the words: ''Amen, I say to you, I know you not'^\n(Matt. XXV : 12). Alas, it was not as they had hoped. No, no. Men\nare blind who fancy that they can trifle with the sacred passion of our\nLord Jesus Christ with impunity, and with His precious blood. No,\nchildren, such cannot be the case.\n\nThey may say that they are in a holy order, are surrounded with\ndecent companions, and are occupied with prayers and pious reading.\nYes; but it is all without love, devoid of the true devotional spirit,\nwith distracted hearts, cold and blind. They also go to confession,\nbut only with words, lacking hearty good will ; and in the same state\nthey receive holy Communion. It is like inviting a king into one's\nhouse, and then lodging him in a filthy pig sty— it were a thousand\ntimes better not to go to Communion at all in such a state. And if\nany friends warn them of their danger, they laugh at them, and call\nthem teachers of novelties. Such is their treatment of men who are\npained at their evil course, and would set them on the right road— they\ntreat them worse than Jews and pagans. Be sure that if they\npersevere wilfully and knowingly in their wickednesses, they will never\nsee the face of God. They say that they would not wilfully commit\nsin. But (I answer) dost thou think it no sin that thou givest only\n\n414 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nlip-service and religious formalism to God who died for thee, and that\nthou bestowest on creatures thy free and loving service? God cares\nnot three beans for such an offering as thou givest Him. Thou art\nindeed the sheep that the Lord had lost — thou hast gone astray from\nHis flock. Perhaps God will give thee the grace of repentance on thj\ndeath-bed, though this cannot be counted on. But even so, thou shalt\nhave merited a terrible purgatory, lasting, perhaps, till the day of\njudgment. And then, finally, thou shalt be placed in an obscure\ncomer of heaven, far distant from the special friends of God. Now\nsuch men rate themselves anything but sinners. Outwardly blameless,\nthey would come close to our Lord ; and inwardly their hearts are alien\nto Him.\n\nThe fourth class are happy and lovely sinners, for they are penitents.\nIt is true that in former times they fell deeply, more deeply, perhaps,\nand into greater mortal sins than all the other sinners of whom we\nhave been discoursing, I care not for that, for now they have with\nutmost sincerity come close in to our Lord. They have turned away\nabsolutely from all that is not simply God. Him alone they love, and\nabove all things. To Him they yield instantly in all happenings of\nlife, no matter what. God will never reckon with these men's sins.\nHe will never know their offenses again : they are wholly turned away\nfrom them, and so is God. Now what is the method and the mark\nof such men ? It is that of a man who with absolute sincerity and in\nhis inmost heart loves God and Him alone, and holds Him in view in\nall His life and work. He is conscious of a will most ready to do or\nnot to do everything just as God wills. He searches the way God\nwould lead him, whether directly or by His representatives, and that\nway he gladly takes, wholly detached from self-will.\n\nThe gospel tells us that the Lord went in search of the lost sheep.\nHow are we to understand this search? It is thus: God seeks and\nsearches for a humble, gentle and poor-minded soul, one that is de-\ntached from earthly things and rests indifferent — though that does\nnot mean a sluggard who sits down idly with- his mantle over his\nhead. I bid you prepare for God's seeking by learning humility, by\nsuffering every kind of oppression. Now if anybody seeks anything\nearnestly, it is not in one little comer only, but in every comer and\nplace till he finds it. And so God seeks thee — let Him find thee every-\nwhere He may look. In all circumstances of thy life. Whatever shame\ncomes on thee, know that that is the place in which God is looking\n\nof John Taulcr, the Illuminated Doctor 4U\n\nfor a gentle and meek soul; therefore suffer thyself to be consttrntlj\ntrodden under foot, until thou hast well learned thy lesson of meek-\nness. God is looking for a poor man ; therefore if anyone will take\nfrom thee thy money, thy property or thy friends, let him do so, that\nthou mayst be found poor by God, who is looking for thee in just such a\nstate. Let thy inner life answer true to God's searching, in purity and\nin poverty, in all enlightenment and detachment of spirit, after no\nmatter what struggles and combats. In every occurrence of life God\nseeks thee. What happens thee from friends or from foes, nay from\nthy very mother or sister — no matter how it comes or from whom,\nall whatsoever that comes to thee prepares thee for God's searching\nand finding.\n\nDear children, if one had a putrified wound, he would allow himself\nto be cut very cruelly and would suffer much pain, so that greater\npain should not befall him — he would not spare himself until the cor-\nruption were cut away, so that he might recover his health. So must\nyou suffer what God inflicts upon you, in order that your soul be healed\neternally. When unforseen adversity comes upon you, say: Welcome,\ndear and trusted friend; welcome even though thy coming is all unex-\npected. Let us bow humbly down to such visitations. Be sure that\nGod, who would make thee a self-denying man, will try thee in every-\nthing. God does not seek men exercised in great and peculiar devo-\ntions, any more than He looks for large horses or strong oxen. Nor\ndoes He look for men of mighty outward activity. No, He seeks only\nhumble, gentle-minded and mortified men, men who are glad to be\nsought by God, and whom God finds as a shepherd finds peaceful\nsheep.\n\nWilt thou become the Lord's sheep? Then cultivate a peaceful\nspirit, no matter what may happen to thee. Do thy best, and then\nrest without anxiety as to how things will turn out Remain quiet\nin mind, and recommend all to God our Lord. Place thyself in His\nhands in a heavenly spirit, even in thy imperfections, aa long as thou\nart displeased with thyself and turned away from danger. Be not\nover-distressed at thy faults, argue not with thyself about them, for\nthat is a serious obstacle to thy progress. And let this peaceful\ncondition extend over God's gifts. The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh\naway. Let thy mind be equal and balanced towards God in joy and in\n■orrow, in things sweet and bitter, in true and perfect peace.\n\n416 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nChildren, such is the lovely sheep, sought after and found by the\nLord. He is very different from that proud-hearted sheep that says:\nWe are the ones who have gained such and such a prize, who have\ntravelled to this place and to that; but who and what are you? What\ncan you do? And other such proud words they speak, striking about\nthem right and left like an unbroken colt. Ah, children, beware of\nstriking about your neighbors with an unbridled tongue. The Lord\nleft ninety-nine sheep; aye, and He would leave ninety-nine hundred\narrogant and self-willed men in the wilderness, where there is little\npasture, that is to say, little fruit of a good life; because such is the\nstate of these men.\n\nBut when He had found the lost sheep, He laid it on His shoulders,\nand coming home He said to His friends and neighbors : \"Kejoice with\nMe, because I have found My sheep which was lost.\" Friends and\nneighbors, that means the whole company of the angels and saints in\nheaven, and all His friends on earth, and their joy is exceeding great.\nBut the joy of this sheep himself is inexpressibly great, for it sinks\ndown into God's inmost being. And when the Divine Shepherd takes\nthe beloved sheep on His shoulders, it is thereby placed between the\nShepherd's head and body — that is to say, it is brought into touch\nwith both our Lord's all-holy humanity and His eternal divinity. The\nholy humanity is the soul's stepping place, whereby it goes into the\nLord's divinity. The Lord's humanity is united and blended with\nHis sheep, and leads it on in all its works. Heretofore the soul did\nall its work with itself and by itself; and now God draws it so close\nto Him, that He works in all and by all its activities — speaking and\neating and going is all done in God. This soul lives and moves in\nGod. This sheep of God goes forth from the humanity to the divinity,\nand back again from the divinity to the humanity, always finding\ngood pasture. Its joy and its content, even in this life, is unspeakably\ngreat, and above all joy of all creatures put together. This is the one\npenitent sinner, over whom the Lord said that the angels rejoiced\nmore than over many just ones; for, in fact, God's honor is greatly\nadvanced by his repentance. He is the sinner who has in very truth\ncome nigh unto God. May God the Father, and God the Son, and\nGod the Holy Ghost grant us the grace thus to be sought after, and as\nGod's true sheep thus to be found. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 417\n\nSynopsis — Qualities of sound spirituality — The inteiior and exterior\nvirtues compared — The inner confusion that sometimes Resets be-\nginners and the good effects of it — Self -abasement and resignation\nto Ood's will overcome all inner troubles and outward afflictions —\nHow cleansing and elevation of motives leads the soul to contem-\nplative joys.\n\nTHIRD SERMON FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\nWbat woman having ten groats, if she lose one groat, doth not light a candle,\nand sweep the house, and seek diligently until she find it? — Luke xv, 8.\n\nOur last discourse was about our Lord's seeking and finding the lost\nsheep. Children, however you may manage it, you must become like\na sheep in meekness, in silence, in all self denial and patience, and in\nsubjection to all creatures. It is thus that thou shalt submit to God's\nseeking for thee and finding thee, when and how He will, directly by\nHimself, indirectly by thy fellowmen, whether friends or foes, by His\ncreatures in heaven or on earth. Sometimes by very hard words He\nwill search thee out, and thou must be still, not answering Him, no\nmatter in what plight thou art placed. Imitate our Lord Jesus Christ,\nthat meek lamb, who, when He was led before His judges, opened not\nHis mouth. Men blinded by pride, men who for forty years have\nstood on their own self-love, will revile thee and call thee a dumb beast;\nnever mind them, suffer what they inflict on thee. I declare to thee\nthat when men persecute thee it is nothing else than God's visitation :\nhold thy peace and let them afflict thee. Follow the example of our\nLord, that innocent and suffering lamb. Follow Him in His suffering\ntill thou art brought to His infinite Godhead; there shall be thy place\nof perfect pasture. Self-willed men would have thee answer back, and\nnot allow thyself to be oppressed. Not so; but do thou take Jesus\nChrist as thy pattern. That thou must do if thou shalt become holy.\n\n418 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nAnd now thou must know there is something yet higher placed before\nthee, if thou dost aspire to greater perfection.\n\nOur text tells us of a woman who lost a piece of money, and then lit\na candle and looked for it. Consider the woman as the Godhead, the\ncandle as our Savior's humanity, the groat as our soul. The groat\nmust have three things, wanting any of which it is not good money;\nthe right material, right weight, right form or stamp. Its material\nmust be gold or silver. Ah, children, applying this figure of speech to\nthe soul — ^how wonderful is the substance of our soul, far beyond our\ncomprehension. And its weight : the soul if spiritual and has no weight,\nyet does it outweigh all earth and heaven, for God is contained in the\nsoul, which thus weighs as much as God. And it is stamped, is this\nspirit of ours, with the very Godhead itself, which, indeed, has quite\nabsorbed it. But this thou must attain to by coming much closer in\nthy life to God, quite otherwise than outward acting men. Thou must\npass beyond the mere outward forms and observances of both active\nand passive life. Notice that the woman of this gospel lit a candle,\nand then turned her house upside down looking for her lost coin.\nNow it is the eternal wisdom that lights a candle in our soul, and its\nlight is true divine love — it must be lighted in thy heart, and it\nmust burn brightly in thy heart.\n\nDear children, you know not what love is. You feel great sensible\ndevotion and spiritual sweetness, and that you call love. No, by no\nmeans; love is the burning and destroying of self, real self-denial, stead-\nfast yearniug for God in a spirit of abandonment to Him, the soul\nmelted into God in a persevering state of resignation to Him ; such is\nlove, and such is the lighting of God's candle in the soul.\n\nThen the woman turned her house upside down, looking for her piece\nof money. And how does this correspond with God's treatment o' the\nsoul? His searching of the soul is both active, in making it act; and\npassive, in making it suffer His act. In the active searching, God\ncauses the soul itself to work; in the passive. He Himself does the\nsearching. The first is in the external order, the second in the interior\nlife; and the interior is as high above the external as heaven is above\nthe earth. The active and outward life is in external devout practices\nand good works, according to God's guidance and the suggestion of\nGod's friends. This is especially seen in the practice of virtue, such as\nhumility, meekness, silence, self-denial.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 419\n\nThe other is far above this, namely, our entering into, our soul's\ninmost depths in search of God, according to His own words : ''Lo, the\nkingdom of God is within you\" (Luke xvii: 21). Whosoever would'find\nGod and all His kingdom, all His essence and nature, let him seek Him\nwhere He is. It is in the deepest depths of the soul that God is nighest\nto it, much nearer to it there than is the soul to its own self. I^t a\nman enter that house, leaving outside all that is self, all that belongs\nto the life of the senses in forms and images and imagination ; yea, he\nmust in a manner transcend even his reason and all its ways and all\nIts activity. When a man thus enters his interior house in search ol\nGod, he finds it all turned upside down, for God it is that is seeking\nhim; and God acts like a man who throws one thing this side and\nanother that side looking for what he has lost. This is what happens\nm the interior life when a man seeks God there, for there he finds God\nseeking him.\n\nAnd now I will say something that not every one can understand •\nthough I always speak good plain German; but onlv those can noiv\nunderstand me who have had some previous experience of such matters\nFor you must know that this turning inwards is not to last for only\nawhile, to be followed by turning back again to busy oneself with\ncreated things. No, by no means. For when one goes deep into his\nheart in search of God and thus finds God in search of him, and when\nall his interior life is thereby thrown into confusion, then it happens\nthat all his pious practices seem set at nought, and the spiritual li-hts\nheretofore granted him seem to have gone quite out. And vet-^up-\nposing that nature could endure it-if a man could be thus^dav and\nnight thrown into confusion by God's seeking for him seventy-seven\ntimes over, it would profit him more than any favor that had ever been\ngranted him. He would hereby be advanced farther in perfection, than\nby all the good deeds and good purposes he ever could do or think ol\n<loing:- -happy is he who is rightly guided in this, for evervthing will\nsoon become plain and easy to him. As often as he wills he can elevate •\nhis soul far above all created things.\n\nThe trouble is that poor human nature is so tenacious of its own\nthat It cleaves obstinately to it. Like uneven .ground, nature requires\na sharp, heavy harrow to level it down ; but when once leveled, even a\nfeather duster will finish the work. So is the soul of some men full of\nlumps and clods, all crude, and quite unsubmissive to God. A sharp\nharrow must tear across it, that is to say, many temptations and much\n\n420 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nBuflfering, so that it may learn to be resigned to the divine actioii.\nDevout and self-denying men go straight against self always, and are\nmore quickly and easily transformed — are regenerated in a blessed\nmanner. They strip off and cast away all that nature loves, and they\nstand before God truly poor in spirit, truly submissive, blindly led by\nCiod in all His own chosen ways. Ah, child, when thou allowest thyself\nthus to be sought after by God, and thy house turned upside down,\nthen art thou indeed found by Him, as the piece of money was found\nby the woman in the Gospel. And thou shalt be led far beyond thy\nown good works and self-chosen devotions, beyond all this world can\ndo for thee, whether inwardly or outwardly. And this was what our\nLord guaranteed when He said: \"If any man will come after Me,\nlet him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me\"\n(Luke ix : 23). So must a man renounce all that hinders true spiritual\nprogress.\n\nBut when an unmortified man encounters severe trials and tempta-\ntions, and when the sharp harrow cuts him deep, then he thinks all\nis lost. He is tormented with doubts, he is haunted with terrors. He\nsays: Alas, O Lord, all light is gone, all grace is withdrawn, and all\nis lost. And yet I say to thee that if thou wert but a well-practiced\nand really self-denying man, thou wouldst know that thou never hadst\nbeen in so good a state as now. When the Lord is searching for thee\nin thy soul, then thou shouldst be well contented. Does He demand\nof thee to be dark, cold, destitute? Yield lovingly to Him. Ah, dear\nchildren, how do you suppose God is going to deal with a soul He\nleads in this way? He will elevate it above all creatures. Beloved\nsoul, fortunate soul, fear nothing. As to those who do not aspire to\nthis high state, I bid them not to lose courage, for there are many\nmen who support life well enough, and who yet have no better food\nthau bread and water.\n\nBut the woman's piece of money must have its proper weight, and\nalso be rightly coined and stamped. The weight means the sinking\nof the soul down into the abyss of God's being, out of which it first\ncame forth. This includes its stainless purity when it has become\nentirely detached from creatures, all emancipated and uncontaminated,\nhaving in itself but one image — not only that by which it is made\nlike God in its nature, but also an image which is a gift of grace,\neven the uncreated God Himself in His very essence, in which God\nloves it, knows it, enjoys it and is active within it. Here it is, then,\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor ^1\n\nthat the soul is as it were colored with the divine color, being in a\nmanner by grace what God is by nature. And if it could see itself\nin this state of union and absorption in God, it would value itself\nm a sort of a way as it values God; or, better said, it would see itself\nclothed with God, shining in God's colors, and living in God's being.\nAll this is, of course, not by nature, but by grace. God and the soul\nare one in this union of grace — not simply the union of nature.\n\nIf, on the contrary, one could behold a soul in its real essence, a\nsoul that had wilfully given up its entire love to the service and\nenjoyment of created things, and in them was clothed, by them colored,\nit would certainly behold something no less insufferably horrible than\nthe demon himself. It would be a sight to wither one up with terror.\nYet this is what a lost soul will behold in itself for all eternity. But\nthe souls in Heaven will be seen by God as if He beheld Himself, so\nclose will be their union with Him, drawing all their blessedness\nfrom Him, and beholding their glory as if it were His. O how happy\nare they who permit themselves to be sought and found by God, to\nbe led into Him, to be made one with Him— happy beyond words to\ntell or mind to conceive. Whosoever will come to this glorious end\nmust carefully follow the way we have pointed out; therein he cannot\ngo astray. If he will not undertake it, if he will rest absorbed in the\njoys of his senses and in creatures, then he must eternally be excluded\nfrom this blessed lot. May God the Father, and the Son, and the\nHoly Ghost, grant us thus to be sought after and thus to be found.\nAmen.\n\n422 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nIfiatitntt m\\t\\} Mtxi mtli PatUnre tottI| (Boh\n\nSynopsis — A merciful man is a favorite with God — The cure of harshly\njudging our neighbor is just judgment of ourselves — The relation\nof thinking and speaking in dealing vnth others — Why God seems\nover-severe in His interior visitations — Rules for the use of bodily\nmortifications during interior trials — Joy and sadness, how they\nalternate in the soul favored by God — The worst desolation of\nspirit must be met by patience, and that alone.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\nBe ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and\nyou shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. For-\ngive, and you shall be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given to you ; good\nmeasure and pres&ed down and shaken together and running over shall they\ngive into your bosom. For with the same measure that you shaU mete withal,\nit shall be measured to you again. — Luke vi, 36-38.\n\nIn this Gospel two things are taught us by our Lord — one to be\ndone, the other to be omitted, namely, to be merciful and not to judge\nothers. Children, yesterday I instructed you how dangerous a thing\nit is and how distressing to sit in judgment on our neighbor, a sin\nto be most carefully guarded against, for the lips of truth itself tell\nus: \"With the same measure you shall mete withal, it shall be\nmeasured to you again.\" Art thou very merciful? Thou shalt be\nvery mercifully dealt with. Little merciful? Little mercy shalt thou\nreceive. Not merciful at all? Thou shalt receive no mercy at all.\nThis mercy one must cultivate in his interior soul, cherishing a deep-\nseated pity for his neighbor in his time of suffering, whether his pain\nbe inner or outer, heartily praying God to grant him comfort. Canst\nthou give him bodily assistance? Do so generously, helping him with\ngood advice and with material aid, as well with words as with works,\nas far as lies in thy power. Canst thou do little? Do that at least\nwith a pitiful heart and with kindly words, and herein thou shalt\nhave done thy part, and mayst expect to meet a merciful God.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 423\n\nNow as to the other lesson: \"Judge not, and you shall not be\njudged.\" Children, the amount of harm done by this vice is amazing —\nit is simply lamentable. Do all the good works of outward religion\nthou pleasest, the devil laughs at them all if thou art addicted to this\njudging of others. No man should set himself up as his neighbor's\njudge without first sitting in judgment on himself. It is a miserable\ncase of blindness of heart, that a man should insist upon another\nbeing subject to his will and pleasure, and meantime with all his\nendeavors he is unable to behave himself as he ought to, or even as\nhe would wish to. One should not rate his neighbor's fault greviously,\nif he would have God rate his own fault mercifully; or in case he\ncannot help knowing his neighbor is bad, let him not be eager to\njudge him.\n\nIf we would adopt the right plan, it is to take the beam out of our\nown eye before noticing the mote in our brother's eye. Look at home;\nstudy thy own defects and no one else's. If it happens that thou art\nappointed judge over another by thy office, then administer justice\naffectionately and mildly, with gentle looks and kind words, as St.\nGregory admonishes us. To priests especially, set, as they are, to be\njudges in Holy Church, it is strictly forbidden to punish with severity,\nbearing in mind their own accountability to God and to men. Beat\nin mind that thy own life and works are one day to pass under God's\njudgment; and take heed to thy sentence on thy neighbor lest God\nshall in turn pronounce against thee an awful sentence. Injurious\ngossiping is so common that it is a lamentable evil, men thereby losin-\nGod's grace and their eternal happiness. Think three times^ before\nthou openest thy mouth to speak once, so that thy words mav be for\nGod's honor and thy neighbor's good, conducive to thy own \"^interior\nand exterior peace. Do you know why the holy founders of religious\norders have prohibited talking so strictly everywhere in convents\nexcept in one single place, and allowing it there only after special\npermission? It is because incalculable injury results from talking\nfar more than it is possible to reckon. '\n\nThis Gospel speaks also of giving good measure. Now, the measure\nis a man's own soul. God is measured by our soul, if we will only\nhave It so. Ah, dear children, that is indeed a noble measure. But it\nIS too often sadly in need of cleansing, that it may be a fit receptacle\nfor Him, for the foul things of this life pollute it. Wilt thou turn to\nGod in holy prayer? Then must thou give thy soul to Him in pawn\n\n424 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nand with such sincerity as no longer to have control over thyself.\nHow can God enter in when the love of created things is the door-\nkeeper and holds Him back? If thou prayest without sincerity it is\nall tasteless to thee, it wearies thee, and thy soul presently runnest\naway after distractions. Dear child, redeem thy soul from the pawn\nshop of creatures, by love, by intention, by occupation; then God\nshall enter in and creatures shall go out. Hold thyself free from vain\noccupations. Fire does not burn upwards so naturally, nor birds fly\ninto the air so lightly, as a really detached soul ascends to God. If\nwe would be absorbed in the depths of the Godhead, the least that we\ncan do is to go down into our own depths to begin with. Sunk down\nwith real humility, we then come forth bearing all our sins and imper-\nfections, and we lay them sorrowfully at the door of God's mercy, that\nHe may melt them away and destroy them. As to what virtues and\ngraces we may happen to find in our soul's depths, these also let us\noffer at the gates of His loving kindness, so that He may melt and\nabsorb them into His gentle love.\n\nAnd when thou hast with all thy might cut off the love of creatures\nand all entanglement with them, then thou must do more: thou must\nhinder even the thoughts and images of creatures from lodging in thy\nsoul. If thou dost not at first succeed well in this, nevertheless keep\nup a constant endeavor, abandon thyself to God, stay at home with\nthyself, plead most humbly with Him : O dear Lord, have pity on me.\nLord, come to my help. Lord, I beg Thee to force Thyself into my soul.\nAnd stand fast to that practice, begin no other, for I have no manner\nof doubt but that thy trouble will thereby right itself. I have noticed\nhow silver is mined. The ore is pounded fine and all mixed with water,\nand then the water is poured through it and finally drawn off with\nrthe dust and dirt, leaving the precious metal behind, which pays all\nthe expense of this process and gives great profit besides. So must\nAt be with the dust and dirt of all foul images in thy mind, which are\nithere against thy will. The waters of sorrow and suffering will finally\ncleanse them all out and away from thee, amply repaying thee for\nthy patience, and leaving great gain to thee. Our Lord will say to\nthee: O well-beloved man, thou art an honor to Me, and I praise\nthee for having been mindful of My passion and borne the weight of\nMy heavy cross with Me; for in struggling with thy imperfections\nthou hast taken part in My sufferings. Behold, I shall now be thy\nreward exceeding great.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 425\n\nBut if thou wouldst become an interior man, thou must give God\nan overflowing measure. Whatever outward thing hinders thy inward\nrecollection must be given up. Study thyself. Carefully scrutinize\nthy conduct, affections, intentions, words, works, clothing, adornments,\nfriends, property, honors, lodging, pleasure, manners. Look into thy\nwhole life. Find out every single thing that hinders God's dwelling\nwithin thee; relentlessly cut it all off. For this is an absolute con-\ndition of thy becoming an interior man. So must thou also study over\nthose of thy external religious exercises that are of the more showy\nkind — stop any of them that may interfere with thy interior spirit.\nAnd dost thou ask why I do not recommend thee severe fasts and\nvigils? I answer that these are of great help in the spiritual life it\none has the necessary strength. But if one is of weak bodily consti-\ntution, or if he has a weak head (in this country men have very weak\nheads), and finds that watching and fasting injures and may destroy\nhis health, then let him dispense with these practices, and when a fast\nday comes obtain dispensation from his father confessor, or if he is\nnot accessible, let him presume on his permission and tell him of it\nas soon as possible. Holy Church does not mean that we should\ndestroy our health by obeying her law of fasting. Dear children, my\nwhole teaching is very simple: whatsoever hinders thee from the\nshortest road to perfection, get rid of it— whether it be in thy soul or\nin thy outward life, and no matter what name it may go by. Follow\nthis rule steadily, and, dear children, be assured that you will become\nperfect souls.\n\nYet further, our Lord requires a measure pressed down and shaken\ntogether. Dear children, mind what I am going to say. When one\nhas systematically taken up this way, when he has cut off all hin-\ndrances to his spiritual life, then it happens that many wonderful\nsweetnesses come to him, pouring through both his soul and body a\njoy far above any known to this earth. Then what follows? After\n«ome time has passed all this joy suddenly vanishes away. It seems\nto a man that he has gained nothing at all by his mortification and\nhis love of God — the measure — that is to say, his soul — ^is pressed\ndown so hard into its own very self, that all pleasure in life is quite\ngone out of it. Now, if one will attain to true peace, he must yield\nhimself up to this spiritual destitution; he must make nothing of it;\nhe must in all single-heartedness resign himself to the holy will of God,\nand suffer this oppression of spirit in all patience ; yea, even if it were\nto endure to the end of the world.\n\n426 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nBut, O children, how unbearable is this oppression. The whole world\nis too narrow for that poor soul's misery. He seems to be withering\nup with this pain, the pain of losing a heavenly light so sweet and bo\nperfectly happy. Well, there are some who fail, who will not be\npatient under this trial ; for they are too deeply attached to their own\nspiritual joys. This lack of patience comes from two causes. One is\nthat the soul is not essentially and at bottom dead to self. The other\ncause is that God is not absolutely trusted. Dear child, stand fast in\nthy confidence in God, stand fast in holy fear and in humility; for\nGod will, without fail, release thee from thy sorrow. Lift up thy\nhands to God, to the very essence of God, thinking of nothing less\nthan the infinite God. Do not act like one who receives a jewel from\na friend, and forthwith becomes so absorbed in its beauty, and so vain\nof wearing it as to forget the giver. Hold thyself towards whatever\nmay minister to thy joy like a man asleep — be awake only to God\nHimself. Whether thy joy be natural or supernatural, cleave not to\nit. Press thy measure down in all humility till it reaches thy own\nnothingness, holding fast to God's blessed will in all detachment of\nspirit. You know that our Lord's disciples were required to give up\nHis blessed bodily presence among them, that presence so consoling\nand so divine. They were required to make that sacrifice in order to\nbe transformed into new beings. So says St. Paul : \"Brethren, I do\nnot count myself to have apprehended. But one thing I do : forgetting\nthe things that are behind, and stretching forth myself to those that\nare before, I press towards the mark, to the prize of the supernal\nvocation of God in Christ Jesus\" (Phil, iii: 13-14).\n\nBut now our poor man seems hemmed in by high walls, denied\nrelief or rest anywhere. Dear child, give up to God, try not to escape,\nall will yet be well with thee. Have no desire except that God's will\nbe done in thee — let Him aflSict thee as long as He pleases and in\nwhatever manner. When our Lord perceives thy fidelity in the midst\nof misery and suffering — for on that everything depends — then will\nHe come to thee with His overflowing measure of relief, namely, the\ngift of Himself. He will pour Himself into thy soul. Himself who is\nessentially all joy and all good, immersing thee in the abyss of the\ndeity. He pours Himself out to thee, yet He remains filled with gifts\nto impart them continually to thee. Thy soul will be filled with Him\nas a cup is filled with the exhaustless waters of the ocean, filled\nbeyond all that thou has ever desired.\n\nof John Taulcr, the Illuminated Doctor 427\n\nWhen King Assuerus beheld his Queen Esther standing pale and\nfrightened before him, he reached her his golden sceptre, rose up from\nhis throne and embraced and kissed her, and then promised her to\ngrant her wish, were it for half of his kingdom. So will God the\nFather treat the faithful soul bowed down before Him, blanched with\nfear, stricken with grief, totally desolate. He will, as it were, reach\nto it His divine sceptre of power and joy, and embracing it most\nlovingly, He will make room for it on His throne, instantly relieving\nit of all its misery. And now what wonders are wrought in that soul.\nThe gift of the diviue sceptre is the only begotten Son, and the kiss of\nlove is the unspeakable sweetness of the Holy Ghost, making the soul\nqueen of earth and heaven, sharing God's own royal sway, imparting to\nit by grace a share of the divinity that is His by nature. This over-\nflowing measure of divine favor makes such souls as receive it the\nhighest glory of all God's creatures. Without the presence of these\nelect souls amid the Christian people, the world would not survive one\nhour, for their deeds are much greater in God's sight than those of all\nthe rest of the world put together, because it is in God Himself that\nthey do them. As far as God is above creatures so far are His works\nin these souls above the works of all other men — ^yea, they are above\nthe comprehension of men and angels. Here, then, is the truest peace\nand joy, that of which St. Paul said that it surpassed all under-\nstanding.\n\nDear children, to take lot and part with God is not so dreadful a\nthing as you have fancied. Whosoever treads this road steadfastly\nwill at last come happily to the end of all his troubles ; and whosoever\ngoes not by this road will not arrive at the ever-living truth. He may\nattain to the knowledge of spiritual things that is gained by the\nstrivings of human reason, but this is as far different from the divine\nreality as shining brass is different from precious gold. Such knowl-\nedge gives forth a deceitful appearance, but the living truth must be\nsought and found only as I have explained to you. The man that\nwould plant his vineyard on the shady side of a high mountain where\nthe sun never shines would be a fool, as would be the man who looked\nfor the sun with his back turned to it. And among a hundred men,\nmen, too, who would be thought good, you will find hardly one who\nsquarely and honestly turns his face to the light of the living truth\nThat God is. May God grant us the grace to turn ourselves full and\ndirect towards the truth, so that we may be given good measure, full\nto overflowing. Amen.\n\n428 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n(6mn^ (gob (go0iii Mtnanxt\n\nSynopsis — This l)egins with an ordinary good Christian life — Sincerely\ndone, it is all that Ood requires of many souls — Others are called\nto many additional works of religion 'and penance and a higher de-\ngree of virtue — These shall te judged \"by their inner fidelity rather\nthan hy their outward conformity — Ifor does this mean a barren\nintellectuality of religion, hut deeply-lying simplicity of intention\n— Various comparisons — the supremacy of loving Ood in a career\nof perfection.\n\nSECOND SEEMON FOE THE FOUETH SUNDAY AFTEE\n\nTEINITY.\n\nBe ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and\nyou shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not condemned. For-\ngive, and you shall be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given to you; good meas-\nure and pressed down and shaken together and running over shall they give\ninto your bosoms. For with the same measure that you shall mete withal, It\nshall be measured to you again. — Luke vi, 36-38.\n\nChildren, it is a pitiable thing how alien to some men's hearts is\nthe beautiful virtue of mercy. Every man is bound to be merciful to\nhis neighbor in all his needs, and that not only in temporal matters ;\nfor he is bound to have a pitiful heart for his moral and spiritual\ndefects. But, alas, everybody strikes at his neighbor with his con-\ndemnation. If any misfortune happens him we add the weight of our\naccusation, attributing the basest motives we can think of. Blessed\nbe God that He does not do the like. What untold misery comes from\nan evil tongue, which hurries in with its condemnations without a\nmoment's consideration. I beg thee, my dear man, for the sake of thy\neternal welfare, to pause awhile, and come to an understanding with\nthyself, carefully weighing both thy thoughts and thy words about\nthy neighbor. It is a shameful thing and almost blasphemous, thought-\nlessly to sit in judgment on thy neighbor, and to launch against him\ninjurious words, spiritually murdering him in the minds of thy hearers.\n\nof John .Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nHence those words of Christ : \"Judge not, that you may not be judged.\nFor with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged; and\nwith what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again'*\n(Matt. vii:l-2).\n\nAnd now, children, let us consider the Lord's words: \"With the\nsame measure that you shall mete, it shall be measui-ed to you again.\"\nDevout teachers understand four kinds of measures here — good, full,\npressed down, and flowing over. The first means a pious Christian\nlife with God's grace, ending in eternal life. The full measure means\nGod's gift to us of a glorified body at the last day. The measure\npressed down means the blessed companionship granted us among\nGod's saints and angels in everlasting bliss. And the overflowing\nmeasure is our possession of God Himself in perfect happiness and\nin the fulness of every desire.\n\nSuch are God's measures to us. And now let us inquire what are\nour measures to God, given by that power of loving which we call\nthe will, by which we weigh out all our words and works and life —\nthe will, to whose properties we cannot add nor take away. And let\nus ever bear in mind that with what measure we mete here in this life,\nit shall be measured to us again in life eternal.\n\nFirst, what is our good measure? It is a hearty turning to God,\nwith a sincere purpose to observe God's commandments and those of\nholy Church; that we hold fast to the true faith; that we devoutly\nreceive the sacraments ; that we interiorly detest our sins and totally\ngive them up; that we live a life of penance, trusting securely in\nGod's mercy and grace. Alas! It seems as if nobody at all gives\nGod this good measure nowadays, nor lives in His holy fear. But\nwhosoever does follow this true Christian life will without doubt\nenter into eternal joy. And it is the indispensable rule of our religion\nfor all and every one. There are men from whom God requires no\nmore; it is their good measure. And it may, therefore, happen that\nsome upright souls who thus conform to God in this life, shall go\nstraight to Heaven, escaping all purgatory. And yet it is the very\nlowest degree of the divine service.\n\nOther men God invites to a much higher degree; and these may,\nnevertheless, have their purgatory, because before their death they\nhave not perfectly conformed to the will of God in their case — and\ntheir pains shall be great beyond expression. But that being done\nand over, they will be raised very high above the others in Heaven,\n\n430 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nfor they originally had the courage to undertake a far more spiritual\ncareer, although death interrupted their progress in perfection.\n\nAnd what is our full measure? It refers to those whom God calls\nto a life of holy observances, many prayers and kneelings, and much\nfasting, and other such devout practices. They give God a full measure,\nif they will but cultivate an interior spirit of real fervor together\nwith their outward piety, seeking God within their soul and finding\nHis kingdom there. This life is as different from the other two\nkinds as running is different from sitting.\n\nAh, dear children, how happy is the man whose outward piety is\nno obstacle to his interior progress in perfection — happy, indeed, and\nholy, for two good things are better than one. If, therefore, thou\nperceivest that any outward observance hinders thy inward recollec-\ntion, give up the outward and concentrate thy soul upon the interior\nlife with all thy might. This pleases God better. Do as we priests\ndo in our monasteries at Easter and Pentecost; for then our vocal\nprayers are greatly shortened, in order that the holy interior spirit\nof these festivals may be the better enjoyed. Thus do you, when God\ninvites you to the high festival of His inner visitation, so that leaving\noff some of your external devotions, you may be the more intently\nengaged with Him in your soul's inmost depths — there He will accom-\nplish His dearest will with you. In such case thou mayest confine\nthyself to those outward exercises of religion that are required of thee,\nJis, for example, by the rule of thy order, and boldly cut off all the\nrest — suposing them to impede thy interior recollection. I declare to\nthee that this interior life is most divine, most sweet, most fruitful of\nvirtue, if thou wilt but hold steadfastly to it. To this end turn to\naccount the best aid thou canst have. And that is to contemplate the\nblessed life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Study His bitter death and\ncount His blessed wounds streaming with His precious blood. Or\nmeditate even on the eternal Godhead itself and the holy Trinity,\nGod's eternal wisdom, infinite power, and His merciful goodness to\nthyself and to all mankind in life and in death.\n\nWhichever of these divine subjects arouses most thy pious senti-\nments, turn inwards and ponder it, full of humility and gratitude,\nsinking deep into the divine abyss, and there awaiting God's coming.\nNow this method, if followed faithfully, produces more aptitude for\nreceiving God than all outward devotions whatsoever, for the interior\nlife is far better than the exterior. All exterior virtues draw their\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 431\n\nworth from the interior life of the soul. A drop of the interior spirit\nwill sanctify a whole cask of external exercises.\n\nBut it sometimes happens that men can think deeply of our Lora\nin their interior soul, but yet are spiritually superficial — like a wide\nstretch of water of scarcely a fingers depth. Now, the reason is that\nthey are deficient in real humility, and they lack a universal love\nfor their fellowmen. Says St. Augustine: \"The blessedness of one's\nlife consists not in the length of time given to pious exercises, nor in\ndoing many good works; but it consists in the greatness of love.\"\nTake an example from poor farm laborers. They raise the best ot\nwheat and of wine, but not for their own benefit — they eat only brown\nbread and drink only water. Such is the case with men who do good\nworks without deep interior dispositions.\n\nLet us now consider the measure that is pressed down and over-\nfiowing. This means superabundant charity, drawing into a great\nheart all good works, all painful trials, all that is good in the whole\nworld, whether done by God's servants or by Hfs enemies. A man of\nthis degree of love is more truly the proprietor of the good works of\nothers than they are themselves — as long as those persons are lacking\nin such high charity — so strong is the attraction of love. Consider the\nmany recitations of the divine office, the many masses offered, the\nmany sacrifices made for God — the good of all this is more theirs who\nhave this great heart of love than the ones who actually did all these\nholy things — supposing them not to have this same fulness of divine\nlove. For I assure you that God will not acknowledge any good\nworks of which He is not both the beginning and the end; according\nto St. Paul: \"And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the\n]»oor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not\ncharity, it profiteth me nothing\" (I Cor. xiii: 3).\n\nThe love of God is a virtue above all virtues, drawing into the\nbosom of love all the good deeds done by the grace of God in heaven\nand earth. The evil that is in a man is his own ; all the good he has\nis to be attributed to divine love. As the grain that is poured into\na measure is all pressed together and held into one mass by the sides\nof the measure, so does love press together into unity all the saints\nand angels in Heaven and all their merits, as well as all the pains\nsuffered on earth for God, — which but for love we should have\nneglected and lost. Hence the teaching of certain holy commentators\nof Scripture: \"In everlasting life so deep a love shall the elect have\n\n432 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nfor one another, that if one sees another gifted with greater joy and\nhigher contemplation than himself, this will be to him as mnch hap-\npiness as if he himself had merited it and were now enjoying it.\"\n\nIn proportion to one's share of this overflowing love in this life, so\nshall be his enjoyment of it in the life to come. Hence it is that the\nevil one hates these men. And he tempts such a one by insinuating\na sense of self -righteousness, and by inducing dislike for his neighbor.\nThe devil leads him to sit in judgment on his neighbor's conduct, to\nrate his good works and his devotions as hypocritical. If he consents\nto this uncharity, he has fallen from his holy state of love. He con-\ndemns otherB right and left, and his tengue shoots out poisoned arrows\nthat wound the souls of men un*o eternal death. And by the same\nstroke of false and rash judgment, thou hast stripped thyself of all\nthe merits and virtues thou hadst gathered by thy overflowing measure\nof love. Thou art now distracted and distressed, peace has fled away\nfrom thy soul, and thou art come into a very dangerous state. O, I\ncounsel thee in all fidelity, that thou guard thy tongue most vigilantly,\nif thou wouldst continue to be called and to be a friend of God.\n\nIt often happens that the evil spirit will cause thee to dislike a good\npious Christian, and if thou yieldest to this and speakest it out, then\nGod withdraws from thee thy share of that man's graces in the prac-\ntice of virtue, as well as thy part in the enjoyment of His own holy\nlove. As the prophet spoke of the oil of consecration flowing down\nfrom the head of Aaron even upon his beard, so does God's love in a\nholy man's soul flow out upon all who love Him — it is the overflowing\nof God's love and all the virtues that belong to it. Whosoever shuts\nout any one from the spirit of universal love, is himself deprived of\nhis own share of God's love. See to it carefully, dear children, that\nyou cling fast to this divine virtue; hold all mankind in good favor;\nbe sure to avoid contention ; profane not that temple of God that every\nman is, a temple consecrated by the Supreme Pope and Father of\nChristendom, namely, God; take care lest you fall under the ban of\nthe eternal God.\n\nAlas, that our poor human nature should be so turned against true\nbrotherly love. If one happens to see his neighbor fall into mortal\nsin, he lets him lie there and perhaps says the worst things about him.\nLook carefully to your own faults. How do you stand before God in\nreference to love? And learn diligently the fear of God while you\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 433\n\nare in this life; for beyond this life all is over with you, and you can\nneither gain nor lose any degree of virtue — tears of blood shed for\nyou (were it possible) by our Blessed Lady and all the saints will\nthen be of no avail. But now God is steadfastly patient; He is ever\nready to grant us more than we are ready to ask Him. Meanwhile\nthe love of God is never idle: labor and suffer cheerfully for His sake,\nand the superabundant fulness of the measure will be given thee, so\nfull and rich and abundant and sweet, that it will spread everywhere\nover thy life and fill every corner of thy soul.\n\nAnd now God comes and touches with His finger the well filled\nvessel of his graces, and immediately it overflows and is poured back\nagain into the divine being out of which all its treasures originally\ncame. The soul now is united to God without intermediary and\nloses itself in Him — will, knowledge, love all overflow into God and\nare lost in Him and made one with him. The eternal God loves Him —\nself in this soul, all of whose works are done by Him. But this flow\nand overflow of God into the soul cannot be limited to itself alone,\nwhich most longingly petitions our Lord, and says: Ah, dear Lord,\nhave mercy on all mankind, and forgive them their sins; and\nespecially have pity on all those who once did good deeds and\nthen fell away from Thy grace; give them, beloved Lord, the crumbs\nthat fall from Thy table; convert them from their sinful ways and\nsave them through the fires of purgatory; give them the well-filled\nmeasure of thy grace, that by Thy merits they may be saved.\n\nThese elect souls thus turn back again into God's bosom all their\ngifts whatsoever, their own selves included, and all created things.\nThey embrace within their souls all that happens in holy Chruch\neverywhere in the world, offering all up in a happy, humble and self-\ndenying spirit to the eternal heavenly Father, for themselves and for\nall men whether bad or good. Their love bars out nobody still Hving\nin this time of grace, for they constantly join themselves in spirit\nto the whole human race. And if we in our days did not have among\nus men of this godlike character, our lot would be an evil one indeed.\nTherefore let us pray the merciful God that we may be granted this\noverflowing measure of His love. Amen.\n\n434 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nPragrr, Voral attb mental\n\nSynopsis — Elevation of the thoughts and affections to Ood is the es-\nsence of prayer — This involves thoroughgoing detachment from\ncreated things — Hoto even good works may hinder prayer if done\nout of order or from defective motives — True prayer makes the\n\ni ^ctive and passive life one — Examples drawn from our Lord's life.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\nDearly beloved : be ye all of one mind. — I Peter ill, 8.\n\nIn this Sunday's epistle St. Peter bids us be all ol one mind, and\nthat is chiefly fulfilled in prayer, which is the most necessary, and\ndelightful, and fruitful, and honorable .work that we can perform\nin this life. Now I would have you clearly to know what prayer is,\nand what its essence is, what its method is, and in what place we\nought to pray.\n\nWhat is prayer and what is its essence? The essence of prayer\nis the going up of the soul into God, as spiritual writers define it.\nAnd what is the place in which one should pray? It is in the spirit\nitself, as our Lord taught us. As to how we should pray, I will briefly\nexplain. When any good man starts to pray, he should gather back\ninto himself the life of his senses, and he should inspect his soul to\nfind whether or not it be really turned to God. This method of pray-\ning a man can practice in the highest degree of recollection, or the\nlowest, or midway between these two. Let a man carefully note what\nform of praying arouses his soul most effectually to a devout feeling —\nand that let him use. But whosoever would acquire a prayer that\nis genuine and that God will surely attend to, must turn away from\ntransitory things, and from outward things, and from all that is not\nof the things of God. He must relentlessly cut off everything that\ndoes not mean God to him truly and in its very cause, whether\nfriends or joys or the vanities and ornaments and apparel of this\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 435\n\nlife. He must sever the bonds of disorderly aflfection that hold him\noutwardly or inwardly, in words or behavior, to any created thing.\nSuch is the preparation for the true practice of prayer. The soul\nmust cleave to God alone; a man must turn his face towards God\never present in his inmost soul; he must meekly and affectionately\ncleave to God.\n\nChildren, everything we have little and great comes from God, and\nback again to God must it go, to be given with an undivided heart.\nSo, too, we must collect together and offer to God all the powers of\nour soul and body. Such is the right meithod of prayer. Never\nimagine that noisy mouth-praying, hurried recitations of the Psalms,\nthe heart meanwhile inattentive and straying off, is true prayer.\nSo-called prayers and socalled good works may sometimes even hinder\nthe soul from real praying; do not hesitate to give them up no matter\nhow good they seem, or what people may say, if they distract thee\nfrom God— excepting, of course, the divine office and the devout exer-\ncises prescribed by holy Church.\n\nIt sometimes happens that a community is obligated to certain long\nvocal prayers, and that a member feels that hereby he is hindered\nfrom inward recollection : what should he do? He should both observe\nthe outward obligation and take proper means to preserve interior\nrecollection. While joining outwardly with his brethren, he should\nbridle all his faculties and senses, and he should turn his mind inward\nto God's blessed presence, making interior acts of conformity to the\ndivine will, into which he should sink himself and all created things\never deeper and deeper. Thus does he faithfully perform every task\nimposed on him, begging God to show forth His honor and praise\nin those persons who have been commended to his prayers .-—this is a\nbetter prayer than if he had a thousand mouths to pray with. Prayer\nm the spirit immeasurably exceeds in value prayer that is outward\nAll other prayer pays tribute to this. Thus the Father would have\nmen pray; and when any prayer serves not this kind, then delay not\nto let it go. It is like the building of a church with which a hundred\nmen are occupied in many different sorts of work, some makmg mortar,\nothers laying stone; but it is all for one single purpose— to build a\nhouse of prayer. So let everything be made to help you in acquiring\na true interior method of prayer. When this true prayer of the spirit\nIS established, then all that helped to this happy result is perfected,\n\n436 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nextending far beyond the results of external methods, which, besides,\nare now blended with the interior spirit, one kind of prayer being no\nmanner of hindrance to the other.\n\nIt behooves a thoroughly converted and enlightened man that his\nlife of act and his life of joy should be made one, as they are one in\nGod in their uttermost development, interfering with each other not\nin the least degree. God's act is in the divine persons and His joy\nwe attribute to His most simple essence. The heavenly Father, as He\nis distinctly Father, is pure act, by which He begets in divine self-\nknowledge His beloved Son, and from the inefifable embrace of Father\nand Son the Holy Ghost proceeds, — He is their mutual joy and love.\nAnd this is the essential act of the divine persons. To the most simple\nessence of God is attributed the divine joy, and thus in act and in\njoy God is one, as in persons and in essence God is three in one.\nAnd all creatures, being made like unto God, are created to act; even\nthe sun and stars and all other lifeless creatures. But far above these\nare angels and men, each active according to its laws of being. Not\na little dower or leaf but is acted on by the heavenly bodies, and by\nGod Himself. And shall not noble man, made in God's likeness,\nresemble Him in activity? As man is formed after God's image in\nhis soul's powers and in his soul's essence, must he not have a much\nhigher activity than reasonless creatures like stars and planets?\nThere must be a close resemblance to God both in man's activity and\nin his contemplation; and this resemblance must be seen both in his\nhigher and lower powers. And man's activity is characterized by its\nobject, whether that be God or creatures. And whatsoever man makeft\nall the objects of his activity heavenly and divine, turning his back\nresolutely on all transitory things, that man makes the life and activity\nof his soul wholly divine.\n\nThe glorious soul of our Lord Jesus Christ was ever turned towards\nthe Godhead, as far as His higher faculties were concerned. This was\nalways so from the first moment of His incarnation, just as much as\nit is now in the bliss of Heaven. But as to His lower powers, these\nwere constantly moving in His life of work and suflfering, at the same\ntime that the higher ones were rapt into union with the divine nature.\nEven when He hung dying on the cross, His soul was with God in its\nmore spiritual powers, essentially the same as it is with Him now.\nSo must we be, if we will imitate Him : we must keep God deep and\npeaceful in our heart, while in our ordinary occupations we are\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 437\n\nengaged with many different things. O, children, the man who neglects\nthis interior privilege, and allows his nobler spiritual powers to lie\nidle, lives in constant danger. He wastes precious years of life, he\nmerits an intolerable purgatory, and his eternal reward will be the\nleast possible. He will feel in Heaven like a coarse rustic creature,\nwho finds himself suddenly thrust into the presence of the King sur-\nrounded by his court. As to a self-conceited man whose life is all\nexternal, he will be unfit even to behold the happy place in which\nGod's friends will eternally dwell. And what of those sluggards who\nare far worse, who live without God both inwardly and outwardly?\nThe evil spirits eagerly assail them with temptations and lay snares\nin their path.\n\nI^t us return to our former statement, that man's likeness to God\nis in his power of combining interior restful joy with exterior activity;\nand that means the interior man's unalterable adherence to God in his\ndeepest consciousness, pure and perfect. This is a state quite different\nfrom the outward methods of serving God, as different as running and\nsitting down. The interior state is a perception of God's presence,\njoined to the happiness of His possession. And it is from this that\nan interior man goes forth to his outward activity as necessity or as\nthe good of himself or others may require — and again returns into the\nsame divine centre and source. Thus does the interior life supervise\nthe exterior life. A master workman, for example, has many servants\nunder him, all of whom do the work that he lays out for them and in\nthe way he points out, while he himself does no work, and does not\noften go into the workshop, though he gives his men the rule and\nform of their work; they call him the master workman, as if he\nalone did all that they do, on account of his showing them how to\nwork and what to work. It is all his from his command over\nthem and his planning, for it is in carrying out his plans that their\nwork consists. So in the interior life the master workman set over the\nexterior life; it is from his interior that a man enlightened by God\nconstantly guides his external faculties in their activity. In the depths\nof his soul he is immersed in God, in whom he is absorbed in joy;\nthere he remains free and unhindered by his external activity. And\nevery external work down to the least and smallest, is in the service\nof the interior. It is precisely so in the ordering of the spiritual\nbody of Christ, namely, holy Church, of which our Lord Jesus Christ\nis the head. Or, again, in a man's body and its many members — the\n\n438 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\neye sees all the other members and yet sees not itself. Mouth, hands\nand feet, and the other members, all have their peculiar offices, but\nare not for themselves, but for the whole body, under direction of the\nhead. And so, too, in our Christian religious life, every act, even\ndown to carrying a candle and ringing a bell, is done to serve the\ninterior work of God in the soul.\n\nAnd the unity between the different members of holy Church should\nbe so close, that one should no more harm the others than he harms\nhimself. If I find any member of this body of Christ worthier than\nI am, I must hold him dearer to me than I hold myself, just as a\nman's hand and arm protect the head and heart more carefully than\nthey do tbemselves. So should be the instinctive love of God's mem-\nbers one for another, esteeming them according as their devout life\nand their virtue make them more precious to our divine Head. And\nwhatever my neighbor would wish to have, or not have, should concern\nme just as if it were my own desire. If I love the good that is in him\nmore than he loves it himself, then that good is more mine than his.\nIf he has any evil thing, that remains wholly his own, whereas the\ngood that I love in him is rightly mine as well as his. That St. Paul\nwas rapt in ecstacy was granted by God to him and not to me. But\nif in this rapture of St. Paul I adore the will of God, then I had\nrather that the rapture was his than mine — and yet in loving it in\nhim it all becomes truly mine. That and every other holy thing that\nGod did in him is made mine, just as if it happened to me, supposing\nthat I truly love it in him. And this would be true of me in relation\nto any man, even if he were beyond the sea, nay, even if he were my\nenemy. Thus strict is this coworking of God's spiritual body; and\nthus I am made rich with all the spiritual goods of God's friends on\nearth and in Heaven in God who is the head of all, all flowing from\nHead and members, from God and angels and saints, into me. This\nis because I am joined to this divine Head and to all His members\nby love, being made and formed like unto Him and them, and yet in\nthem separated from myself and made unlike unto myself. But, alas,\nwe sometimes seem to love God and His holy will, whereas as a\nmatter of fact it is our own selves that we love or some of our\npossessions: sometimes what looks like gold is not worth as much\nas copper. But when a man has sincerely gone out of self and is\ndetached from all his own belongings, has become truly poor in spirit,\nthen to him all earthly things whatsoever are equal — he stands indif-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nferent to them. Oh, children, an equal love for joy or sorrow is a\nrare thing to find among the generality of people.\n\nIt remains to describe the three degrees of perfection accessible to\nmen. The first degree of an interior life, leading to God's high truth,\nis when a man turns inward in search of the marvellous evidences\nand the ineffable gifts of the hidden deity, and this results in a\nstate of soul called jubilation. The second degree is destitution of\nspirit, in which the soul experiences a special drawing of God amid\na terrible process of stripping and deprivation. The third is a tran-\nscending movement of the creature into a God-like form, uniting the\ncreated spirit with the uncreated deity; this may be named essential\ntransformation. Of those who attain to this last degree, we can hardly\nbelieve that they will ever fall away from God.\n\nTo the first degree we attain by meditating on the evidences of\ndmne love everywhere found in earth and Heaven. O how much has\nGod favored us among all His creatures. The whole world blooms\nwith the beauty of God, Who overwhelms all creation with His gifts\nfor our sakes. How tenderly has He not sought us out, invited us\nand admonished us and waited long and patiently for us. For us He\nbecame man, suffered and died, offering His blessed soul and body to\nHis Father for our sakes; and to how indescribably close a friendship\nhas He not invited us. How long has the Holy Trinity waited for us,\nthat we might share the divine joy eternally. Let a man but* deeply\nponder all this, and the interior rush of heavenly joy will overpower\nhim, and his poor body will be too weak to endure the strain. It\noften happens that during the stress of this feeling, the blood will\nburst its veins and pour from the mouth; in other cases one is\naffected with serious illness.\n\nThus is this man granted a powerful influx of sweetness from oui\nLord, as he is embraced in entire and sensible union with Him. Thus\ndoes God forcibly draw a man out of himself and correct all dissimi-\nlarity. Let no man meddle with these gentle souls, nor impose on\nthem their commonplace outward observances— be not guilty of such\na thing. Nor need the Prior be disturbed if such a brother leaves\nthe choir during recitation of office, for he cannot do otherwise, and\nhe IS not a vain creature who must be watched and corrected. Once\nour Lord offered a special friend of His to give him this kiss of\njubilation. But he answered and said : \"Beloved Lord, I do not desire\nit; for it would make me beside myself with joy, so that I should be\n\n440 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\na useless creature: how could I pray for the poor souls in purgatory\nand help them to Heaven, or for poor sinners who are but just now\ndeparted this life? And how could I pray for poor sinners yet in\nthis life and who will not pray for themselves? For God haa willed\nto help them only through our prayers in this time of His grace.\" Ah,\nchildren, how great love was this, that a soul would deny itself these\nheavenly joys for the sake of helping others.\n\nThe second degree is when God has drawn a man far away from\ncreated things. He is no longer a child to be fed with the dainties\nof spiritual sweetness, but he must be content to eat the hard rye\nbread of tribulation, as becomes a man; for a man he is now grown\nto be. Hard and strong food it is that this man needs — not the\nbaby's bread and milk. Before him lies a desert road, dark and lonely,\nand as God leads him through it. He deprives him of all the solaces\nand joys that He ever gave him. The poor man is so confused that\nhe knows nothing of God — he does not know whether there is a God\nabove him or not. Woe is upon him deep and heavy, and the wide\nworld is too narrow for him. And while he feels not and rightly\nknows not God, neither does he feel at home with created things. He\nseems to himself penned in between two steep walls, a sword before\nhim, a spear behind him. What shall he do? He dare not go forward,\nhe dare not go backward. He can but sit down disconsolate and\nexclaim : All hail to Thee, O pure and bitter pain, may God bless thee,\nfor thou art full of all graces. If hell could be added to this purgatory\nof his, it would be — so it seems to him — a softening of his pain. To\nlove so deeply and yet to be deprived of the supreme Good that one\nloves — such is his torment. Talk to him as thou pleasest of the com-\nforting things of religion; it is as if thou offerest a hvmgry man a\nstone to eat : — and how mcuh less comfort shall he have in all creatures.\nThe greater his spiritual sweetness was before, the greater is now the\nmisery of his deprivation. O now behave thyself well, thou favored\nsoul, for the Lord is surely nigh unto thee, holding thee fast by the\nlink of living faith ; be sure that all will yet be well with thee. But,\nalas, this poor soul is in anguish so deep, that he no more can believe\nthat all will yet be well with him than he can believe that darkness\nshall be turned into light.\n\nThis trial prepares a man for God's higher work in him more than\nall the devotions and pious practices that can be thought of. And\nwhen our Lord finds him well enough purified by hanging upon this\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 441\n\ncross of insufferable agony, He then comes to him to introduce him\nto the third degree. Immediately He removes the bandage from his\neyes and reveals to him the truth. Forth bursts the bright sunshine,\nlifting and dispersing every cloud; every sorrow vanishes away — he\nseems to himself to be a man risen from the dead. The Lord leads\nhim back into his own soul, there to behold every anguish gone, every\nwound healed. For now out of a human he is led into a divine way\nof living, free from pain, fast fixed in security of spirit. Whatsoever\nhe now is and does, that is God in him and that does God in him,\nbeing made by grace what God Himself essentially is by nature — as\nfar as this may be. He feels lost to himself in God; he can find self\nnowhere; he knows nought but the simple essence of God.\n\nChildren, to be truly placed in this state, is to begin by being rooted\nin the deepest depths of humility and self-abnegation, a depth beyond\nour power to comprehend, for it involves a most perfect knowledge of\none's own nothingness. It is the deepest immersion of the soul in\nhumility; and the deeper the sinking the higher the rising, for deep\nand high are all in God. But if a man in this state should waver\nfrom the straight path, if he should resist God and strike about him,\nif he should return to self as a foundation, if he should depart out of\nthis high festival and return into self-complacency, that would be like\nthe fall of Lucifer. Herein consists the good of the single-minded\nprayer of which we began by treating, and which brings us into union\nwith God. May the blessed Trinity grant us entrance into that single-\nminded prayer. Amen.\n\n442 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n3Ft0ljtti3 in Bttp WntttB\n\nSynopsis — Christ's net is a man's thoughts — TTie fish He catches are\nholy desires and deeds and doctrines — To these are added useful\njoys and sorrows — How ordinary good Christians are also helped\n— A true test: What gives us pleasure or pain — When Christ\nhas a good catch our net breaks — This is the destruction of self-\nhood.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER\n\nTRINITY.\n\nAnd going into one of the ships that was Simon's, He desired him to draw\nback a little from the land. And sitting, He taught the multitudes out of the\nship. Now when He had ceased to speak, he said to Simon: Launch out into\nthe deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon, answering, said\nto Him : Master, we have labored all the night, and have taken nothing ; but\nat Thy word I will let down the net. And when they had done this, they\nenclosed a very great multitude of fishes, and their net broke. And they\nbeckoned to their partners that were in the other ship, that they should come\nand help them. And they came and filled both the ships, sa that they were\nalmost sinking: which, when Simon Peter saw, he fell down at Jesus' knees,\nsaying: Depart from me because I am a sinful man, O Lord.— Luke v, 3-10.\n\nThe ship that our Lord commanded to be launched out into the\ndeep may be taken to mean the interior life of our soul. It journeys\nover the dangerous sea of this sorrowful world, which is so subject to\nchanges from storm to calm, from joy to sorrow. It makes one's heart\nwither away with fear, when one realizes the dangers that beset those\nwhose hearts are entrusted to the custody of the world's stormy ocean.\nHow it will be with you in eternity, that you think little about, but\nyou voyage along blindly, concerned wholly with your bodily apparel\nand adornment and nourishment, totally forgetful of the awful judg-\nment that awaits you — when? You know not; it may be even today\nor tomorrow. O if you but realized the danger of clinging to the\nworld, the danger that besets all who do not with deepest sincerity\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nadhere to God, or at least remain among the lowest grade •\nfriends. Not long since it was revealed to one of God's frienr\ndreadful shall be the fate of such worldlings. Ah, whosoevei\nknew this could scarcely bear the shock of it — it would seem impc\nof belief. Let all those to whom this applies remember the w.\nnow given them.\n\nLet us come to our subject. \"Launch out into the deep,\" our\nsaid. This may mean to us that the supreme need of a spiritual\nis that his soul, with all its thought and love, shall and must be dr\naway from everything that is not God. Whosoever would not\nwrecked and drowned in the stormy sea of this life must be eleva\nabove all creatures. St. Peter said: ''Master, we have labored all .\nnight, and have taken nothing.\" This was well and truly said; t\nall who are preoccupied with outward things labor in the night ac\ntake nothing. Then said our Lord: \"Let down your nets for\ndraught,\" and forthwith they caught so many fish that the nets we.\nbreaking. This all happened before our Lord's resurrection ; for aftt\nthat, the Gospel tells us (John xxi:6), that when He bade them k\ndown their nets, they did not break, though they caught a grea\nmultitude of fish.\n\nChildren, what may here be meant by the net? It may mean a\nman's thoughts, — the net that he casts out to gather into his mind\nwhat will inflame it with holy desires, holy deeds and teachings,\nespecially the divine life and passion of Jesus. Holy meditation fills\nthe soul with Christ, all our mental powers and our senses being\ntransformed by love and joy in Him, so that sometimes one cannot\nhide it, but must break forth into loud songs of jubilation.\n\nThis launching out into the deep is, however, but the first degree;\nand to be made a truly mortified man, or as Dionysius says, a God-like\nman, one must be guided to a yet profounder depth of divine influence.\nThis means that all those things wherewith the lower faculties of the\nsoul are occupied, must fall away and be lost to it — even holy thoughts\nand imaginations, joy and jubilation, all, in fact, that God had granted,\nnow must seem out of place and something to be excluded from the\nsoul. Such things have lost their savor and the soul can no longer\nbe content with them. But here is the dreadful misery; for they are\ngone and there is nothing to take their place. The poor man craves\nsomething in their stead and is wholly unable to possess it — he is\nimprisoned within the walls of a narrow cell, and is overpower**^\n\nThe Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n;nguish. Now indeed is the ship of his soul tossed upon the\n\n3a of spiritual want, and he seems entirely abandoned by God.\n\ntrial and opposition that man ever suffered is become his lot.\n\nraves of a tempest of anguish break mercilessly over his little\n\nar child, I say to thee: Be not affrighted, for thy ship is too\nanchored to be wrecked by any storm. That just man Job says:\ner darkness I hope for light again\" (Job xvii: 12). Rest tran-\nly in thy own soul, depart not from thyself, be patient to the end.\nae men, finding themselves, in this painful destitution, run away\nm it ; but it is a hurtful thing to try to escape this suffering. Nor\n3s this attempt to fly give them relief— the teachers to whom they\nrry their complaints help them not at all, and they but wander\nirther away from joy. Stand thy ground. Be sure that after dark-\n•ss comes light — await patiently the sunlight of the dawn. If thou\nilt but wait, thy birth into God is nigh at hand. He says to thee :\niave confidence in Me, for no trial is ever imposed upon a soul, but\nhat he shall be granted a new spiritual birth if he bears himself\n•ravely. It is for the sake of this that every tribulation from Me or\nfrom My creatures is sent to thee. But if thou permittest any creature\nwhatsoever to interfere with this trial, be sure that it will prevent\nthe divine regeneration within thee — and how great an injury is this.\nIf thy soul be anchored fast to the rock of Christ, then what St Paul\nsaid becomes true of thee: \"For I am sure that neither death, nor\nlife, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor\nthings to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,\nshall be ever able to separate us from the love of God, which is in\nChrist Jesus our Lord\" (Rom. viii: 38-39). The more all devils and\nmen conspire against thee or assail thee, the higher do they lift thy\nsoul unto God.\n\nChildren, the man who yields his soul patiently to this oppressive\nsorrow, gives up more of self and takes on more of God than would\nbe possible by a whole world of external devout exercises. Therefore,\nlook nowhere for any help, neither from within nor from without.\nLet thy wounds bleed, seek no solace for them — God will Burely relieve\nthee in His own time if thou wilt but commit thyself to Him absolutely.\nChildren, this is the nearest way to the divine birth within the soul,\nwhich illumines it with God's unhindered light. It sometimes happens\n'^^'^*- qn outward living man suffers an outward misfortune, such as a\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 445\n\ncase of backbiting or other injustice, and now he clamors and protests\nincessantly, and he feels such an agony that he is tired of life. How\ndifferent the case of our truly interior man. He never complains of\nhis afflictions, whose sorrow yields him finally a harvest of joy. What\nis so sweet to him as entire surrender to God? Every pain that comes\nis to him nothing less than a visit from God Himself.\n\nChildren, would you have a true sign of what you really are in\nGod's sight? Ask yourself what it is that gives you pleasure or pain?\nArt thou filled with God? Then the ship of thy soul cannot be\nendangered by the storms of created things. On such a man God be-\nstows the priceless jewel of inward joy, which no other man can\ncomprehend — the firm possession of divine peace. Many a time the\nstorm of temptation beats fiercely on the little baniue, threatening to\nsink it to the bottom — it can never disturb the interior tranquility,\nhowever much the outward man is moved.\n\nAs to those good souls who have never experienced this degree of\nperfection, I say to you, be not disturbed. There are fishermen who\nare rich and those who are poor, far more of the latter. And no\nmatter how simple or lowly may be thy devotional life, if thou dost\nfollow it with deep sincerity of heart, and if thou longest to be made\na higher lover of God, rest in that with all confidence; allow nothing\nto interfere, keep God before thy eyes in all thy conduct — thou mayst\nbe quite sure that the deep quiet of soul we have been considering\nshall yet be thine, if it should even be postponed to the hour of thy\ndeath.\n\nAnd yet after all, this true friend of God has with his great peace\nof soul a mixture of unrest — a breaking of the net. For he is distressed\nthat he cannot be so much to God as he would wish; and also that\nGod is not yet quite perfectly enjoyed by him. We read of a holy\nman who lived in a forest for forty years, and he always went on hands\nand feet for God's sake, never feeling a moment of divine consolation.\nNow there can be no doubt but that he really had more comfort from\nGod than a thousand others; but not enough to satisfy him, for he\ncould only enjoy that divine consolation which was of the very highest\ndegree. In that degree there is granted an essential peace, of which\nit is written: \"Seek after peace and pursue it (Psalm xxxi: 15) — the\npeace that passeth all understanding, the unnamed and unnamable\nturning of the soul to God, which is answered by the unnamed and\n\n^6 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nunnamable turning of God to the soul, all that God is to all that the\nsoul is. Then does God utter His divine word of peace, and the soul\nexclaims: \"I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me, for He\nwill speak peace unto His people, and unto His saints, and unto them\nthat are converted unto the heart\" (Psalm lxxxiv:9). St, Dionysius\nsays of these men that they are formed in God. To them did St. Paul\nspeak: \"That being rooted and founded in charity, you may be able\nto comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and\nheight, and depth\" (Eph. iii: 18). Children, the height and the depth\nrevealed to these men neither reason nor sense can understand: — it\npasses beyond them into the abyss of the deity. But only to those\nwhose external life is wholly purified, whose interior souls are fully\nenlightened — only to men whose dwelling place is within does God\nreveal this priceless boon; souls to whom heaven and earth and all\nthings in them are as nothing except for God, for they themselves are\nto God a heavenly rest and peace.\n\nOur Lord sat in the ship and taught the people. And so does God\nsit in these men's souls and rests there, and through them does He\nteach the whole world. But be sure of this : the net of this soul must\nbe broken when it is drawn into this deep place. Though you must\nnot imagine that I myself claim to have arrived at this degree. True,\nno man should teach that of which he has not had some living experi-\nence, or what at least he does not love, and meditate on, and to acquire\nwhich he places no hindrance.\n\nAs to the breaking of the net, it cannot do otherwise than break,\nso great is the multitude of the fishes: — that is to say, poor human\nnature is too weak to abide the strain of so much heavenly joy. Hence-\nforth this man shall never know a day of sound health. St. Hilde-\ngarde teaches this very well : \"God's dwelling place is not in a strong\nand healthy body.\" And St. Paul: \"For power is made perfect in\ninfirmity\" (II Cor. xii:9). But this weakness does not come from\nthe Godhead upon and into the soul, which is more than the feeble\nsevere external mortifications can bear, but from the excessive outpour-\nings of bodily forces. God has drawn this soul so deep into Himself\nthat it is, as it were, brightened with the divine brilliancy. It is\nBuperessentially new formed in God, who now works this man's work\nHimself. If one could see that soul thus new formed in God, he\nwould imagine that he behold God himself, though the transforma-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 447\n\ntion into God be but the work of grace. God lives in him, and He is\nthe principle of all his acts ; God rejoices in him as in Himself. God's\nglory is bound up in such souls: with them He haa launched the ship\ninto the deep, cast forth the net, and taken a great multitude of fishes.\nBut what is the breaking of the net? When the ship is at the deep\nplace of God and the net is cast for a draught, the number of fishes\ncaught is so great that the ship is about to sink and the net is broken —\nthat is to say all self, and all ownership is broken and torn to pieces.\nIf anything is to become what it is not, then it must first cease to be\nwhat it is. Therefore in this case soul and body are, in a certain sense,\nsunk down into this deep sea and totally immersed. The soul loses\nits natural activity, and also those devout practices which are seated\nin the use of the natural faculties. Sunk in this divine depths, a man\nhas no longer any pious exercises, or vocal prayers. Then a man can\nbut do as St. Peter did, when falling at the feet of Jesus he said those\nfoolish words: \"Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.\"\nPious observances and prayers are gone from him, and perforce he\nmust drop down into his original nothingness, and be a very little\nthing before God's face. Furthermore, everything that he ever received\nfrom God seems stripped away from his soul and restored to the giver ;\nseeming as if it all never had been possessed by him, becoming to\nhim so much nothingness. And it seems to him that by this process,\ncreated nothingness is absorbed in a way wholly incomprehensible;\nit is in reality the abyss of man's being assumed into unity with the\nabyss of God's being. Thus teaches the Psalmist: \"Deep calleth unto\ndeep\" (Ps. xli:8). The divine being takes up this soul, the human\nspirit is lost in God's spirit — sunk in the fathomless ocean of the\nGodhead. Then does such a man become wholly virtuous, uniformly\nkind, and godly; his manners are sweet and cheerful and he is very\ncompanionable with everybody; nor shall any fault ever be found in\nhim. To all men he is friendly and trusts all, is very pitiful to all,\nnever stern or exacting — we find it hard to believe that such a man\ncould ever fall away from God's lore. God grant that all of us may\nobtain this grace. Amen.\n\n448 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n3nUt\\wc (SbtiUntt to (6oh\n\nSynopsis — St. Peter a type of obedient souls — Inspirations — Apparent\nconflict between inner and outer loyalty — Refinement of soul re-\nsulting from inner conformity to Ood — Sorrows of this state — TJie\nfolly of resting on anything but a loving interior obedience.\n\nTHIRD SERMON FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n(The text is the same as in the preceding sermon.)\n\nThe ship in which the Lord sat, from which He preached, which\nHe ordered launched into deep water, into which the great draught\nof fishes was taken — this ship is Peter's. He stands for a man always\nand sincerely obedient, in whose soul the Lord loves to sit and to take\nHis rest, a soul that has left all things and followed Him into its own\ninmost depths. No man can do this easily, and therefore does the\nLord often admonish us amid our outward good works to turn inward\nto Him. Whosoever disregards this warning and clings to his own\nwill and his self-chosen devotional customs, is not obedient to God\nNot so was Simon ; he was obedient to God with a supreme obedience.\nAnd supposing a sister in choir singing God's praises, and that He\nshould warn her that this hindered her interior advertence to Him,\nthen (if this could lawfully be done) she should give up the singing\nand obediently turn inwards to God. If the singing and the interior\nadvertance could go together, that were indeed better still.\n\nChildren, do you know how hurtful it is to resist the inspirations\nof God's grace? If you did, your heart would quake with terror.\nAnd yet it is only from God's boundless mercy that It happens that\nthose who, having failed to reach the high perfection God called them\nto, are yet afterwards permitted to attain it by way of suffering.\nAgain falling short of that, they will feel the pain of it at the hour\nof death more than less favored ones, and will suffer a great purgatory\nafterwards. Yet, after all, they will attain a higher place in heaven\nthan those who were called to a lower degree.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 449\n\nThus in the deep soul of an obedient man does God sit and teach\nthe good doctrine and the wondrous grace of His love. Notice that\nin one of the miraculous draughts of fishes, our Lord bade Peter \"draw\nout a little from the land.\" This betokens that in the lowest degree\nof perfection, a noble- hearted man must draw his affections away from\ntransitory things, and give up all pleasure in creatures. Whosoever\nshall possess God must have a steadfast endeavor in seeking Him.\nNever must it happen that a good work undertaken today shall be\ngiven up tomorrow. No; if he will reach his best, a man must con-\nstantly persevere in his devout exercises— not living for God alone\ntoday and for natural ends tomorrow. And this it is that frightens\npeople— they say that it is intolerable and dreadful, and that they\ncannot hold out so long; and then they turn awav to eniov their\nnatural inclinations as they did before— to take up with all that is\nnot God. The net is broken, the fish all escape. Children, no matter\nhow good our works may be in themselves, if we do not keep God alone\nin mind while doing them, then there is a certain taint of simony in\nthem. For what is simony? It is buying spiritual things with earthly\nthings ; and it is one of the greatest of sins. So, therefore, when one\ndoes spiritual things, with the view and purpose of an earthly kind,\nthat is a sort of spiritual simony.\n\nNow we read in the gospel that the apostles mended their nets.\nAnd so must we, when we have broken them by sin; and this we do\nby a sincere return to God. Or another example: when we would\nmake a crooked piece of wood straight, we bend it back and fasten\nit there. So must an external, animal kind of a man treat his natural\ntendencies, bending himself back forcibly upright to God. He must\nbe rid totally of all things in mind and body that do not entirely mean\nGod, bowing down his will absolutely in subjection to God. 0, after\nthat, give thyself up to the merciful God. In deep humility say to\nhim : Beloved Lord, I have labored all the night and have taken noth-\ning. And is it not true, that the time thou spendest working without\nGod is black night? Dullness and sleepiness of soul is the fate of\nthose who work in that spiritual night, their nature all incapacitated\nfor good. The external minded man shall thus be overworked m\nhands and feet and back. But from this sad state let him return\nagain to God in his inmost soul.\n\nChildren, our Savior said to St. Peter : \"Launch out into the deep.\"\nThat means: Elevate thy soul, and consider the deep things of God.\n\n450 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nPass with thy mental powers over all things of time and earth, for\nwith these God will not deal in thy case, they are too puny for Him.\nThe lower powers of man cannot grasp God, they are too coarse for\nhis infinitely elevated nature. Therefore place thy life in thy highest\npowers, far above the things of time, for there sits God and from them\nas from Simon's boat He teaches in very truth. His teaching is the\nBuperessential divine Word, in Whom and with Whom are all things\nmade that are made. Keceive this teaching in all gentle meeknss,\nfor whosoever does so, elevated in spirit above time and into eternity,\nto him shall the divine Word be uttered. He shall be enlightened by\nHim in a wisdom beyond all that man can comprehend. The kingdom\nof God thus established in the soul is ineffable and overwhelming in\nits glory.\n\nBut now when our Lord is thus born into the soul by the utterance\nof the divine Word, and when it is thus faithfully received, it sometimes\nhappens that God sends a hard trial. That poor, weak human soul\nis broken like a net, and the ship seems on the point of sinking: — the\nsoul thinks that all is lost. But let it not go outward for help of any\nkind whatsoever, but rather imitate St. Peter, who beckoned to his\npartners, and especially to St. John, to come to his aid — that is to\nsay use thy own discretion, now enlightened by heavenly wisdom.\nEemember that when the uncreated light that is God rises in the soul,\nthen the created light must give place. The created light must g^row\ndim in proportion as the uncreated light increases in brightness —\njust as the clear light of the sun causes the light of candles to pale\nbefore it. Be but patient; for when a man at last fully enjoys this\ndivine light, even for a few moments, his peace and joy are far above\naught that this world can ever give. And yet so far this glorious\nspiritual sweetness is but in the lowest powers of the soul.\n\nAt the other miraculous draught of fishes, our Lord said : \"Cast the\nnet on the right side of the ship, and you shall find. They cast there-\nfor; and now they were not able to draw it, for the multitude of\nfishes ♦ ♦ ♦ • Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land,\nfull of great fishes, one hundred and fifty-three. And although there\nwere so many, the net was not broken\" (John xxi:6-ll). All this\nhappened after our Lord's death. And when He had before this asked\nthem if they had anything to eat, they answered that they had not.\nThis shows that when a man will be highly favored by God, he must\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 451\n\nbe entirely destitute. Then it is that he can say as Peter did : Lord,\nin thy name I will cast the net. It is in the Word of God that a man\nis granted power high above those lowest faculties of his nature, being\nchanged from human to divine ways and forms, as St. Paul teaches:\n\"But we all beholding the glory of the Lord with open face, are trans-\nformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of\nthe Lord\" (II Cor. iii:18). Ere a man shall be granted this, our\nLord must be born in him, must die, and rise again. And such a man\nalways says to the Lord what the disciples said, when He asked them\nif they had anything: he answers, No. Thus are placed all who\nstand in the truest poverty of soul, and in total self-denial : they have\nnothing: they desire nothing. Nothing pleases them save God alone.\nThey seek nothing whatever of their own. Often enough do they labor\nthroughout the night and take nothing — in the night of abandonment\nof all things, destitution and desolation of soul. As far as they can\nperceive it or feel it, there is neither light nor joy in their souls. But\nthey rest in this darkenss in true resignation, as if (should such a\nthing be possible) God had required of them to sufifer this desolation\nand inner destitution for all eternity. They freely yield to God's will\nin this in their interior spirit, and never think of receiving any reward\nfor doing so. Ah, children, that is indeed a poor man, and yet the\nwhole world is his. He has nothing but God's will at heart, he thinks\nof nothing but how to make God's will eflfectual in all his under-\ntakings. Nevertheless, he is full of humility, for he answers to our\nLord's admonition : \"When you shall have done all things that are\ncommanded you, say: We are unprofitable servants; we have done\nthat which we ought to do\" (Luke xvii:10). Now an unprofitable\nservant does unprofitable work, and that is how God would have us\nconsider our work.\n\nScarcely anyone wants to be God's unprofitable servant. Each one\nwants to feel that what he has done is worth something, and on that\nfeeling he builds. No, my child; build on nothing but thy own utter\nnothingness. And in that spirit sink in deep humility down into the\nabyss of the divine will, giving thyself up to Him to do with thee\nwhatsoever He may wish. Say with St. Peter: \"Depart from me,\nfor I am a sinful man, O Lord.\" Fall back constantly on thy own\nlittleness, powerlessness, and ignorance, thereby passing over into\nthe high nobility of God's will. Allow no other thought to influence\nthee; hold thyself poor and miserable in the divine will.\n\n452 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nWith such men as these, if they but turn their thoughts inward as\nlong a time as it takes to hear one mass, all their affairs are rightly\nordered, all their labors are done in great peace, their life with other\nmen is very kindly, and it is full of virtue; and they are entirely\nresigned to God. They have cast their net on the right side, they\nhave drawn into their hearts the love that is in the bleeding wounds\nof Jesus. May God help us thus to strive and thus to succeed. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 453\n\nSynopsis— Remarks on the worth of the soul — The heginmng of perfec-\ntion is genuine repentance— Plain marks of this— Need of taking\nOod and God alone into account— Next comes confession, which\nmust he very searching, and made in a lively spirit of faith in that\n\nSacrament — Then indifference to all earthly things has place To\n\nthis is joined liberty of spirit in the use of devotional exercises—\nThe finishing touch is disinterested love of God.\n\nSERMON FOR THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\nAnd the pasch of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And\nHe found in the temple them that sold oxen and sheep and doves and the\nchangers of money sitting. And when He had made, as it were, a scourge of\nlittle cords, He drove them all out of the temple, the sheep also and the oxen\nand the money of the changers he poured out, and the tables He overthrew And\nto them that sold doves He said: Take these things hence, and make not th^\nhouse of My Father a house of traffic— John il, 13-16.\n\nAh, children, mark well in these words the dignity of the human\nsoul, which is in all truth the house and dwelling place of God, and\nGod had rather live in it than in any place in earth or heaven. The\nsoul has more that is Godlike in it than the heavens, or than any\ntemple built with hands, or any other of His creations. For in the\nsoul of man is God's heart with all His love and trust and joy. And\nin the creation of all His other creatures, God has sought nothing\nelse than the honor and dignity and happiness of our soul.\n\nSince God dwells in our soul with all His love, so is He more\nproperly present there than in the heavens or in any material temple.\nFor God does all His work in the soul and for the soul— He gives it\nto the soul. And there it is that God the Father generates His only\nbegotten Son, precisely as He does in the bosom of eternity. One\nmight ask what we mean by this saying: God is born in the soul.\nDoes it mean the likeness of God, or something divine? No, it is\nneither the image of God nor anything merely like Him: it is the\n\n454 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nvery same Father generating and the very same divine Son bom of\nthe Father before all ages. It is the blessed divine Word, the second\nperson of the Holy Trinity. Him does the Father beget in the soul,\nand for the soul is He begotten and to the soul given by the Father;\nand herein consists the soul's dignity.\n\nThus spoke our Lord: \"Take these things hence\" — not this or that\nthing, but all these things — \"and make not the house of My Father\na house of traffic.\" Mark well, that whatsoever is born in thy soul\nwhich has not God for its cause, or which is not an image of God,\nexisting entirely for His praise and honor, is for thee an object of\ntraffic in God's house. By this means thou dost bargain with God\nabout the blessed birth of His Son within thee. This applies to\neverything whatsoever to which thou givest thy heart or about which\nthou engagest thy mind. This is the reason why God cannot be born\nwithin thy soul. It may be this world's goods, it may be relatives\nand friends or other created things that intrude their images into\nthy soul : they are born within thee if thou acceptest them with\npleasure. Be sure that this means barter and traffic of the eternal\nSon of God, whom the heavenly Father will never manifest in thee\nas His eternal Word until all these things of barter and traffic are\ntaken out.\n\nI have three things to say, about how a man shall cleanse the\ninmost depths of his soul, tearing out all hindrances by the roots:\nor otherwise expressed, how to banish the traffickers from the temple\nof the soul, leaving it in peace, never to return again. For as God\nlives thou must make sure of that.\n\nThe first is a safe and free conscience. What does that mean? It\nmeans a conscience untroubled and cleansed. If one's soul be dis-\nturbed, or if it be misdirected by attachment to creatures, if it be\nevil on account of sinful practices, then it must be cleansed by true\nrepentance. And what is true repentance? Is it that one feels bad\nand moans and weeps? No, O no. For many a time it happens that\nconvivial and dissipated and sinful men moan and weep, and yet\nhave no true repentance, while others on the contrary weep not at\nall, and yet these are genuinely penitent. Every creature, if but true\nto its nature, loves God more than self — ^but not the sinner; he loves\nhimself more than God. This he proves by seeking his pleasure in\ncreatures, no matter how much pain this may be to God. When a\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor • 455\n\nman loves himself above all things, then is he ever looking for what\nseems pleasant to him, ever avoiding what seems hurtful to him.\nHence when it happens that a sinful man realizes that he has lost\neternal life and is in danger of being caught and imprisoned in the\neternal pains of hell, then he has indeed sorrow, but it is a sorrow\nas different from true repentance as earth from heaven. It is to self\nthat this sorrow ministers and not to God. Therefore it helps not\nthe sinner, and it may even remove him farther yet from grace, for\nhe is seeking for grace where it is not.\n\nHe that will find grace must look for it where it is, namely in God,\nin God alone, not in creatures nor any imagination of them. Sorrow\nand pain for thy sins on account of the harm they do thyself obtains\nno grace, for herein thou restest in self and created things. However\ngood thy work may be, if thy intention is drawn from created things\nand not from God alone in all loyalty of spirit, no grace can result\nto thee. Grace is in God and not in creatures. But when in any\nwork the praise and honor of God is had in mind, God takes that work\nup as His own. Thus it is said : \"Amen I say to you, as long as you\ndid it to one of these My least brethren, you did it to me''\n(Matt. XXV : 40).\n\nDear children, think how sweet a life is that in which a man prac-\ntices in time and towards creatures a virtue that God will assume in\neternity as if it had been actually done to Himself. Of this meaning\nare the words: \"He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of My eye\"^\n(Zach. ii:8). Therefore think not only on the poor man who standi\nbefore thee but on the person of God, who takes to Himself all that\nthou dost to him, whether good or evil. Hence when a man has God\nin mind, so shall his heart be drawn into God and made one with\nHim, being drawn away from all creatures — and this is where grace\nis and not with creatures; with whom if thy heart is joined in false\nlove and imaginations, thou shalt find no grace.\n\nAnd now, dear child, note another good thought. Wouldst thou\nknow whom thou servest, and who is going to reward thee? Mark\nwell for whom thy work is done, and what thou hast in mind as the\nreason of thy work. That will show thee whom thou servest. As to\nthis all the teachers in the world can tell thee nothing, for thyself\nalone knowest it. Others know the outside of thy works and they may\nthink them good; but on whose account they are done, thou alone\n\n456 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ncanst tell for thou alone dost know. Therefore I have elsewhere\nwritten : \"The man who gets with his works anywhere else than in God\nalone, gets where no grace is, for grace is in God.\" Not alone with\nGod is the decision as to whether or not thou shalt have grace, but\nwith thyself also; for just as thou standest true and loving to God\nshalt thou have grace, and just as much grace as thou thyself dost\nwill. If thou lovest God, then thou sufferest, laborest, avoidest sin\nin Him and through Him as much as thou wiliest. Such is the man\nwho finds grace, and has right sorrow for his sins — it is one who is\nsorry for them out of love and fidelity, sorry that he has angered and\ndishonored so sweet and good a God. If there were neither hell nor\nheaven, still he ought to be none the less grieved that he had ever\nrebelled against God. This is true sorrow, even though one may shed\nno tears in it.\n\nAnd after that one must make his confession. And what is a true\nconfession? When a man tells all that he knows himself to be guilty\nof nor wilfully keeps back anything: then he has rightly confessed,\nand he should trust with entire security that all his sins are forgiven\nhim. It is more to God's honor that He should forgive sins than that\nHe should punish them. One must also believe in the powers of the\nfather confessor, according to our Lord's words : \"T\\Tiose sins you\nshall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain,\nthey are retained\" (John xx:23). And His other words: \"Amen I\nsay to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also\nin heaven ; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed\nalso in heaven\" (Matt. xviii:18). I tell you in all sincerity that if\nany man confesses his sins, and afterwards feels remorse about these\nsame sins, it were far better than he trust God, believe firmly in the\npower of his father confessor, and not tell the sins again — far better\nthat than tell them over again out of nervousness. Understand this\nbesides: thou beholdest our blessed Lord's body in the church, thou\nknowest full well it is He, thou art ready to go to thy death rather\nthan to doubt it. Now who hath told thee this? The man who hath\nseen it with his eyes does not live: God alone has said it, and by the\npower of His word has enclosed Himself in the Sacrament under the\nappearance of bread. And out of the same mouth of God has come\nforth the word of the forgiveness of sins in confession. Therefore do\nnot simply believe but plainly know it — as clearly as thou knowest\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 457\n\nanything ; for nothing is so true as the word of God, as our Lord says :\n''Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass\naway\" (Luke xxi:33). In this certainty of the plain truth of God\ndoes a man after confession obtain deep peace of couscience. Nor\ndoes this confidence rest upon any work of his own, as such, but\nentirely upon the promise of God. And when he thus trusts God, then\ndoes God on His part stand true to what was said in the absolution\nof the priest, namely that he will be saved.\n\nFurthermore, see to it earnestly that thou standest indifferent as\nto all earthly things; and that will give thee continual peace of soul.\nBut does it mean that I must be literally indifferent about everything?\nBy no means, dear child, for therein thou mightest go astray. For\nwho can doubt but that, considering works in their intrinsic value,\nit is better to pray than cook, to think of God than spin, to be in\nchurch than on the streets? If one does not agree to this he is a\nheretic. But thou shalt stand indifferent by not taking things out\nof their rightful relation to other things. And thus: is it right that\nthou shouldest now be in church at thy prayers? Then gather\ntogether all thy thoughts and lift thy soul upwards to God. But does\nit behoove thee to be now engaged at some other work, such as cooking\nor spinning — is this God's will? Even as thou wert recollected in\nchurch at thy prayers, so be thou now absorbed in thy present work\nfor His sake. We meet with those who are full of God's love — as\nthey think — when they do honorable work in all peace and in a high\nstation of life. But if it happens that they must quit this work and\ndrop down lower, then they seem to dismiss God from their souls,\nuntil they can return to their self-chosen occupation.\n\nBe sure that as long as thou couplest God inseparably with thy\nparticular devotions or any other circumstances of life, thou shalt\nnot have true peace, no, nor shalt thou have God himself. Thou\nmayst think otherwise, but in very truth thou hast not sought nor\nfound God but thyself and thy own ways. Such persons hurry oflP\nto church in the early morning, as if God were not to be found in\ntheir homes nor upon the streets in the duties of their state of life.\nSuch a hurrying to church to the neglect of home duties, is an injury\nto thyself, nor wilt thou therein find God. This is why some do not\nfind peace of heart, do not really find God, now in doing a good work,\nnow in saying a prayer to God or to a saint — hurrying and hurrying\nin a rush of devotions, one of as little profit to them as the other.\n\n458 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nOne should in all his good works, keep his mind directed so straight\nto God, that the figure of the work almost slips out of his mind, and\nthe thought of God remains there alone. This is the way to seek and\nfind grace in every work. Though thou be a woman at home engaged\nin thy humble household duties, thou shalt find God there if thou\ngive thy mind to Him. Day and night God in His holy wisdom stead-\nfastly waits upon thee, to draw thee to Himself when He finds thee\nready, no matter what thy situation, regardless of thy ways of devo-\ntion. Thou little knowest when and where God will meet thee. Stand\nin God's sight indifferent to all things; whatsoever happens to thee,\nlook for God in it, and know that this is all the best for thee. Fear\nnot that thou art guilty of any remissness in this; for that cannot be\nif thou art doing God's will, — ^in all things and ways and states make\nsure of belonging to God, at least in thy intention and purpose.\nHerein alone is peace and content; apart from this, never. And unless\na man seeks God in all things, he will not find him in any single\nthing. Make this a test and apply it to thyself.\n\nNor should one too anxiously inquire just by what means he has\narrived at God. If one is journeying to Kome, he should not tarry\nto study about the smoothness of the road here and its crookedness\nthere, now over plains and again over hills ; if he acts thus he will be\nforever on the journey. So must a man go straight forward to God\nin all his devotional exercises, little worrying about this method or\nthat as long as they lead him onward. And in this spirit of indifference\nthere is joy upon joy. Thou mayst ask how one may attain to it. I\nanswer : By denying thyself. Seek thyself in nothing. Seek God and\nHis honor, that alone, that in all things. Scrutinize thyself strictly\non this point, and then this virtue will be thine — otherwise not. It\nrests with thyself; for who but thy own self can tell whether thou ha«t\nGod in view or thyself in thy conduct and thy thoughts? That man\nhas peace of soul who stands indifferent; and he stands indifferent\nwho seeks not his own.\n\nBesides this, a man must, in a certain way, stand indifferent\nbetween God's justice and His mercy. Now there are people who\ngreatly long for God's mercy and love it, but have great fear of His\njustice. But tell me, dear child, what has His justice done to thee?^\nDost thou not know that what God does out of mercy He also does out\nof justice? — and what is done from justice is done from mercy ?^\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 459\n\nJustice constrains God to be merciful to us, because He is our Father\nand we are His children. He needs must love us out of justice and\nshow us favor — and indeed He ever does. And this is how one should\nlove and long for God's mercy, so that He may exercise justice towards\nus, according to His adorable will, to His honor and glory.\n\nBut to be able thus to think and love, one must be stripped and\nemptied of all self-will. We must seek the all lovely will of God and\nthat alone, accepting lovingly whatever it pleases Him to do with us\nand with all creatures. When the will of God thus tastes good to us,\nthen whatsoever His justice does is, we might almost say, as pleasing\nto our souls as whatsoever His mercy does, whether it be to ourselves or\nto others. To a man who rightly loves God, everything is welcome, be\nit pain or pleasure, be it to himself or others, for it all comes from\nGod's will. Ask thyself always: Is this God's will? Then do I set\naside my own will in its favor. For thus do we daily pray to God:\n\"Thy will be done !\" Which means that it is our will that God's will\nmay be done in all things. Let us be glad of His will working in our\nwill and in all the works He does in us, whether they are the fruit of\nHis mercy or of His justice. If this feeling were deep-seated in us and\nmade truly our own, happy should we be. That this may be granted\nus, we pray God's merciful justice and His just mercy. Amen.\n\n460 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSll|0 Mu^ 050 (&fttn t0 CommmtUitt\n\nSynopsis — Some should communicate often who dread to do so because\nthey feel no longing — Only dad living men should remain aivay —\nBitter sorrow for sin is God's call to communion — Meditation on\nChrist's passion is a stimulant to frequent communion — All must\nhe on their guard against the admixture of natural motives.\n\nSERMON FOR THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\nBut let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of\nthe chalice. For he that eateth and drinlveth unworthily, eateth and drinketh\nJudgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. — I Cor. xi, 28-29.\n\nThe meaning of this teaching of St. Paul is that one should study\nhimself well, with a view to choosing the right devotional practice\nto prepare his heart for partaking of this adorable food. For it is\ngood for some, who have no great interior longing for the Sacrament,\nnevertheless often to receive it, so that they may thereby keep their\ndaily lives well ordered and have grace to maintain their good\nresolutions against sinning. Even more than this: one should not\nomit Communion even if sometimes he feels unprepared, and is wholly\nwithout conscious longing for it.\n\nOnly those should abstain who live according to their own will and\ndo not stop sinning, being overbearing and self-willed, full of back-\nbiting and rash judgments, restless and impatient and abusive,\naddicted to fleshy pleasures, and fettered with other such defects. As\nto whether or not such persons should never receive Communion at all,\nI leave to their own decision, though I would advise them against it,\nbeing of opinion that they do themselves more harm than good thereby.\nThe oftener they communicate the worse they grow interiorly and the\nfarther they stray from virtue ; for they have no notion of true detach-\nment of spirit; they have never so much as begun to live after the life\nand example of Christ, though they have doubtless sometimes thought\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 461\n\nof doing so, especially when the passion of our Lord is offered for\ntheir meditation. If it happens that the passion moves their hearts\nto devotional feelings, they consider that they have gained something\ngreat. Ah, no. This is only the lowest step ; and, in fact, the feeling\nsoon passes away. This feeling about the blessed life and sufferings\nof Christ must settle into real imitation, before any actual good shall\ncome to them, — ^into real self-denial, dying to all wickedness, whether\nof soul or body. Until that happens all resolutions and all outward\ndevotional practices are vain ; they will all be swept away by the first\ntemptations.\n\nMark well how you may receive this Sacrament with fruit. Thou\nshouldst eat this heavenly bread with eagerness; that is to say, with\ngreat desire and savor in thy inmost soul. What if outwardly thou\ndost feel dull and all unfit to receive: that amounts to nothing, as\nlong as thy will is upright to avoid all that is sinful, as far as thou\nknowest, against God's honor and virtuous living, whether thy feelings\nrespond to this resolve or not. When one avoids all occasions of sin,\nand meanwhile practices the ordinary virtues of a Christian life, let\nhim approach the Sacrament with all joy. His inner soul is not\ndevoid of great sincerity, though the outward man is heavy and\nimdevotional — for this inconvenience lies only in our poor human\nnature. Any amount of sensible devotion is of little worth, if the\ninterior will is not upright.\n\nDraw a lesson from the paschal supper of the Israelites, who ate\nthe lamb with bitter lettuce. This means that thy soul should taste\nthe bitterness of sorrow for thy sins when approaching the holy table.\nThou shalt obtain this by arousing thy sympathy for Christ in His\npassion by means of meditation ; also by making atonement to God's\ninjured honor by leading a life of strenuous penance. This begins by\nabstemiousness in eating and drinking, wearing coarse clothes, sleeping\non a hard bed, keeping holy vigils, and the like. When thou hast thus\nfollowed Christ in His outward life, thou shalt be ready to imitate\nHim in His interior suffering. He said: \"My soul is sorrowful even\nunto death\" (Matt, xxvi: 38). So shalt thou feel the interior woe of\nGod's Son, in cutting off entirely all tendency to sensual pleasure, in\ntotal suppression of concupiscence, in treading self-will absolutely\nunder foot, in entirely giving up self-conceit. Child, this is what it\nmeans rightly to meditate on Christ's passion and to bewail His death.\nWithout this, other devotional exercises are worthless.\n\n462 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nMany seemingly good men have fine appearing and ostentations\nvirtues, which, however, rest not in essential excellence, but in their\nown feelings. As a matter of fact, they never get down into their\ninterior life — their whole trust is in outward virtuous acts. Some\nhave a very strong sensible devotion; they are much moved by oup\nLord's passion, which they meditate from beginning to end day by\nday with a great feeling of sweetness, the like of which other people\ndo not have. But this is by no means the inner mortification, the\nhumble self-renouncement or the universal love that they should have.\nThey are not at all given up to meekness, or to purity of heart. ^Tien\nthe test of self-abnegation is applied to them, their shortcomings are\ndiscovered, however honestly they may have imagined themielvee\nhumble and single-hearted during their meditations. Ah, no. The\npurity of virtue comes from other kinds of devotional exercises, namely,\nthe examination and cleansing of all one's thoughts, and the steadfast\nresistance to whatever is not conducive to spiritual progress.\n\nAlong with this let a man meditate on Christ's passion, and study\nHis words and works with the Holy Scriptures before him; then let\nhim follow a good order of devout living; and finally let him free\nhimself from useless and disturbing cares. This is the method of\nacquiring purity of heart and of thought. Towards that should one\nearnestly strive — against every evil intention, every sinful desire.\nIjet him be grieved intensely at the danger or the very thought ol\nsin, and steadfastly set himself against it.\n\nWhen one has attained this cleanness of spirit, whatever bad thing\nhe sees or hears he takes no evil out of it, he forms no judgment\nabout it, for to the pure all things are pure. It is not easy to provoke\nsuch a man to anger, and he spreads an air of peacefulness around\nhim, even in the company of the quarrelsome. He is of use to all,\nof hurt to none, whether in things great or things little. In such a\npurified soul the Blessed Sacrament works wonders, for in such an\ninterior condition the foundations of virtues are solidly laid; not in\nshowy pious observances, or susceptibility to pious feelings when\nreceiving Communion — in which and in other such things many\npeople put their trust.\n\nThese go often to Confession and Communion, thinking themselves\nentirely worthy to do so, saying they cannot do without it. Yet they\nrest upon merely natural motives. They are even deluded with the\n\nof John Taulcr, the Illuminated Doctor 463\n\nnotion that they cannot lose God's friendship; and this arises from\ntheir feelings of devotion. But meanwhile they are greatly enraged\nagainst those who would admonish them to go to Communion less\noften, or who find fault with their peculiar devotions. They despiae\nothers, they sit in judgment on their neighbors and make little ol\nthem, and they slander them. As to those to whom they lawfully owe\nobedience, they will scarcely look at them or listen to a word from\nthem if they interfere with the practices which they deem so holy.\nLet it be quite different with us. May God grant us to receive Com-\nmunion in a holy and happy state of true penance, inner and outer,\nand with great purity of heart and mind. Amen.\n\n464 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n®l|f 3ttfiptratuitt0 of ®rarf\n\nSynopsis — This discourse treats of souls who have gone beyond ordi-\nnary Christian virtue — God's guidance is always both inward and\noutward — Different kinds of imperfect souls — Self-will the princi-\npal hindrance to divine inspiration — Ifext comes the hurt done\nby spiritual vanity — How good works react on the interior favor-\nably— Disinterestedness, obedience, humility and holy fear are\nsafeguards against delusion.\n\nSERMON FOR THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\nFor whosover are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. — Rom.\nviil. 14.\n\nAll works of all men, done now and until the end of the world, if\ndone without the grace of God, are simply nothing, even though they\nbe the greatest deeds of history — all of them put together are nothing,\nin comparison with the least work that God does in man by His grace.\nAs much as God is better than man, so much better are His works\nthan man's works.\n\nThe Holy Ghost often admonishes us in our inmost souls, or by\nthe voice of His authorized teachers, saying: Wilt thou give thyself\nup to Me? Wilt thou follow Me alone? If thou wilt, I will lead thee\nby the right road. I will work within thee, and thou thyself shalt\nwork. O children, it is sad that there is scarcely anyone who knows\nthis. Everyone rests in his own guidance, chooses his own methods,\nblindly follows external ways, content with self-approval, thereby\nhindering the gracious influence of the Holy Ghost, neither under-\nstanding nor even hearing His voice, giving no place to His guidance.\nHence the need of my telling you, that there is no better way to catch\nthe tones of God's whisper in you than to rest still and attentively\nlisten. When God speaks all things must keep silence. If God shall\nrightly work in us, needs must we give Him room to work, and rest\npassive under His action. Two cannot do the same work in us at\nthe same time ; one must stop while the other acts.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 465\n\nBut do not mistake me. I do not mean that young, ardent, inex-\nperienced souls should refrain from good works, waiting for interior\nguidance. By no means; for these greatly need to follow many good\npious customs and do many good works, both in the inner life and the\nouter. But I refer to souls further advanced, who long sincerely to\nbecome God's most perfect children; the methods of these must be\nfar differeut from those of beginners.\n\nTake the world all around, we find that men are for the most part\nenemies of God. There are some who are friends of God under com-\npulsion; you must drive them to serve Him; what they do is not\ninspired by love, but by fear — graceless, loveless men, who pray or\nattend Mass because you force them. Then there are some common-\nplace and mercenary creatures who serve God because they have an\noflSce and a stipend; were they not sure of their pay they would quit\nHis service and drop back among God's open enemies. For all of\nthese God has no regard ; as far as their service of Him goes, it does\nnot make them His beloved children. They may do many outwardly\ngood deeds, but He takes no account of this, for He is not chosen as\nthe motive of their works, but rather they are themselves.\n\nTake another class, that are really God's children, though not the\nmost loved by Him. I mean those who in their outer and inner life\nact according to their own spiritual methods, and do their own\nchosen works, and aspire to nothing higher. These souls are content\nwith the bark of the tree of life — they will not climb into its branches\nafter its fruit. Their own waj's please them well ; they love God\nindeed, but in their own chosen ways of piety. And God loves them,\ntoo, for they are His children, though not the best loved, for they\nrest in self-chosen ways of religion. Meantime they have no real\npeace, and they will yet be made perfect.\n\nThe best loved children, who are they? St. Paul tells us in our\ntext: \"Whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons\nof God.\" How God leads them, St. Augustine tells: \"God's action\nin man is twofold. The one is that God's spirit always admonishes\nhim, drives him forward, allures him on, so that he may lead a well-\nordered life. This He does in the souls of all who wait upon Him\nwho give Him place, and who will follow Him. The others are those\nwhom He leads suddenly beyond and above all methods and wajs,\nplacing them in a much higher degree, pointing them to an end far\nbeyond their own power to reach: and these are God's best loved\n\n466 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nchildren.\" But many will not trust themselves to this divine action;\nthey constantly insist on following ways of their own choosing. They\nact like a shipmaster carrying a costly cargo across a stormy sea,\nand steering a wrong course through many dangers and with painful\ntoil, the salt water now and then breaking over the ship and injuring\nthe cargo. Supposing him to meet a skilful mariner, who says to\nhim: Let me guide thee and I will lead thee to a calm and sunny\nsea, with smooth sailing and a safe harbor for thy ship and cargo;\nwho would not gladly welcome such a pilot? Well, and what sea can\nbe more perilous to cross than that of this world of ours? But the\nship in which we are sailing is the life of our senses, which is carried\nfar out of its right course by our following our own lights and ways,\ncausing us infinite labor as we wander amid banks of fog — namely,\nour ignorance and self-conceit. The enemy of souls casts foul and\ncorrupting thoughts into our minds, like the salt water of the ocean\nsoaking into a precious cargo — these are temptations to be vain of\nour own ways of devotion, feelings of pride, self-will, self-complacency,\nself-indulgence, and, again, of despondency. If one feels he has yielded\nto these suggestions, he cleanses his soul by going to Confession —\ntoo often only to fall back again into dissipation of mind. 0 turn\ninward and sincerely study thy soul's sickness, bemoaning thy\nmisery to God and avowing to Him thy guilt. And if thou art con-\nscious of grave sin, seek thy father confessor again. Then will the\nHoly Ghost come and say: Beloved child, if thou wilt but trust Me\nand follow Me, I will lead thee by a beautiful and a safe way. O who\nwould not entrust himself to the guidance of such a counselor?\nHappy the man who gives up self-guidance and resigns himself wholly\nto that of God's Spirit. But, alas, many a poor man will not, but\nprefers his own devices and rests in his own outward methods of\nsanctification.\n\nBut I must not be misunderstood: it is necessary to practice\napproved devotional methods having an interior influence, but not\nwith a feeling of proprietorship. Rather should one do these good\nthings with a disengaged spirit, awaiting the manifestation of God's\nwill about them, guarding against self-approval, avoiding rationalizing\non such matters. One's soul may be compared to an orchard full ol\nfruit, but the apples fall from the trees unripe, for they are worm\neaten, and thus the worms crawl out of them and injure the good\nvegetables growing on the ground. Meanwhile the worm-eaten apples\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 467\n\nseem just as good as sound ones, until you pick them up; then they\nare found to be all rotten. So do our souls look with their fair\nseeming vain-glorious devotions — till we examine them closely, and\namong many we shall hardly find one or two that are worthy of God —\ngood observances in themselves, but the heart of them is fatally\ninjured by defective motives. And this applies to both the active and\nthe contemplative life- -all one does may be no better than worm-eaten\nfruit, fatally injured by self choosing and by vain observance. For\nas to contemplation, do we not read the following in St. Paul? \"And\nlest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me, there was given\nnie a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me\" (II Cor. xii : 7) .\nSo might it be needful to thee, even if thou hadst the gift of prophecy,\nand did great signs and wonders, healed the sick, possessed the key of\nthe future — all may be worm-eaten and rotten, if thou dost not stand\nwatchfully on thy guard.\n\nAnd now let us explain the lowest and grossest case of empty-\nhearted religious custom. Suppose a man giving alms, and that he\nbegins by being careful that God alone shall know of this good act ol\n<harity; but after awhile he cherishes a sort of longing for human\npraise, for he is not quite content to be without it: — now this is a\nworm-eaten apple. Thus it is that one may have selfish motives in\nwishing that people should praise their good deeds. They put windows\nand altars in churches with their names marked on them — \"they have\nreceived their reward.\" They defend themselves by saying they wish\nmen to pray for them. Alms pure and simple, known to God alone,\nin whose bosom it is all hidden, were of more benefit to their souls\nthan if they built great churches before men's eyes and all the people\nprayed for them. God would easily make up to them what men\nmight have petitioned for them, did they entrust their good work to\nHim alone in all confidence.\n\nAlms out of a heart wholly disengaged from men and from created\nthings, are themselves a better prayer to God than the petitions of\nadmiring multitudes. Many a man for lack of this perfectly pure\nintention destroys the merit of his good works, sometimes all through\nhis life ; whether they serve God or men, in vigils, and fasts, and alms\ndeeds, they calculate what return they shall get, either from God (in\na mercenary spirit) or their fellowmen — that is all they think of.\nIf these works filled the whole world, they are no better than worm-\neaten apples. Accept this doctrine, not from me, but from truth itself:\n\n468 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n'Take heed that you do not your justice befoi*e men, to be seen by\nthem: otherwise you shall not have a reward of your Father who is\nin Heaven. Therefore when tliou dost an almsdeed, sound not a\ntrumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in\nthe streets. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. But\nwhen thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand\ndoth; that thy alms may be in secret, and thy Father, who seeth in\nsecret, will repay thee.\" And he continues: \"When thou shalt pray,\nenter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father\nin secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee\"\n(Matt. vi:l-6). Children, take heed to these words, which are not\nmine, but those of everlasting truth ; let each one look to God and to\nHim alone in all the good that he undertakes to do.\n\nNow, there are four preservatives against the worm that destroys\nthe fruit of good works. The first is that a man should do all his\nworks of the interior and exterior life, not for himself, but for God\nalone, thinking of God and loving God while he is doing them. Does\nhe find them sweet to do? \\Yell and good. Does he find them bitter?\nHe yet perseveres to do them, for he never chose them for his own\njoy, but for God's.\n\nThe second preservative is an immeasureable depth of obedience\nunder God, yea and under all mankind from the lowest to the highest.\nAn example of this is in the life of the great doctor of the Church, St.\nThomas, who made not the least difficulty of humbly accompanying\nan overbearing brother with a lantern along the streets of the city.\nBe subject to every human being for God's sake. Thou shouldst in all\nsincerity esteem any man better than thyself; thou shouldst never\nwithstand anyone, but yield gently and humbly to all.\n\nThe third is humility, so that a man shall in all sincerity rest upon\nhis nothingness, realizing that it is the only thing he can claim\nproperly as his own, everything besides being not his own. Let him\nconsider as an evil thing whatsoever he has or does on his own account,\nincluding his own self. Once as I was in choir alongside of a holy\nbrother of ours,- who was a man to whom God had granted many signs\nof sanctity, and whose holy life was full of marvels of grace — this\nbrother whispered to me from the bottom of his heart: \"Brother,\nbelieve what I tell thee — I am the greatest and foulest sinner in the\nwhole world.\" Let every one of us say the same in all sincerity. For\nI say to you, that if God has bestowed upon the worst sinner the graces\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 469\n\nHe has granted me, be would have become a great saint. And a man\nwho is thus grounded in humility is wholly incapable of sitting in\njudgment upon his neighbor, about no matter what affair. If he sees\nwhat is plainly bad, he forthwith turns his attention to the considera-\ntion of his own defects.\n\nThe fourth preservative is that one shall stand in constant dread\nof the secret judgment of God, not indeed as one who yields to despair,\nbut rather as one deeply anxious lest he shall arouse a friend's anger.\nNow as to these preservatives, St. Bernard says: \"Whosoever does\nnot rest securely upon these, let him do all the good deeds in the world,\nand they are all worm-eaten fruit.\"\n\nIn the garden of holy Church there grow many and wonderful trees,\nall full of good fruit; that is to say, many humble-hearted men: on\nthem alone hangs God's true fruit of virtue. Others are there bearing\nworm-eaten fruit, fair and red to look at, fairer sometimes than the\nsound fruit: but wait till a stormy wind blows, wait till the time of\ntrial comes : down they fall, and soon they are rotten and spreading\nrottenness around them.\n\nThese are self-indulgent and unmortified men. They vainly trust\nto their own showy good works, often seeming to do more of them\nthan the truly good souls. They are absorbed in the practice of\ndevotions that have not been prescribed by holy Church, and upon\nthese, with all their grand show of piety, they rest as upon their life's\nfoundation. Meanwhile the weather is calm, their souls are in peace,\nlliey bask in the sunshine of their pious observances, they seem to\nexcel God's true servants in virtue. But presently the storm arises,\nthey are assailed by those temptations against the faith common in\nour time, and presently they are overthrown — and then the worms of\ndoubt and error creep out of their hearts into the hearts of other\nmen, uninstructed and simple-minded, whom they ruin with their\nfalse maxims of liberty and their other false teaching. They have been\nall along treading a broad yet hidden road of destruction, because\nthey give up to their own inborn unsanctified tendencies. They never\nentered upon the narrow but true path of sincere self-denial; they\nwould not give up self; they were determined to yield to corrupt\nnature.\n\nBut let us not go too far from our subject in pursuit of these worm-\neaten souls. \"Whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the\nsons of God,\" namely, those who perseveringly watch for the will of\n\n470 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nGod to follow it, who are docile to His inspirations, who obey His\ninterior admonitions. In this way of God they must now and then\ncross a desert place all full of woe. If they bravely venture into it,,\ntrusting loyally to God's Spirit, what a happy lot theirs shall be»\nLet them but turn inward to their soul's life and keep careful account\nof it. What wonders of God's working are there, surpassing all sense\nand all understanding. Let such a man give but one year to this holy\ninterior life and to nothing else, and never was a year better spent.\nNay, if God but grant him in that whole year only a single momentary\nglimpse of the action of His Spirit in the soul's depths, that momentary\nrevelation will give more worth to the year than all the good works\nhe could have crowded into it by immense self activity. He that works\nwith God can lose nothing, and in this holy matter one indeed worka^\nwith God.\n\nWhat! Shall we doubt that God is nobler than His creature? So\nis His work nobler than His creature's work. With such a man all\noutward activity not strictly of God's appointment falls away, for\nhe ever has activity enough within his soul. Herein is found perfect\nsecurity, herein is perfect joy. Alas, that men will not credit this.\nThey cannot comprehend it. In truth it pertains only to perfect souls\nwho are deep rooted in God in all simplicity of heart. As to lower\ngrades of good men, let them be rightly engaged, as indeed they ought\nto be, in every kind of good works of the active life, lest they lapse\ninto guilty slothfulness.\n\nBelieve me, children, \"Every plant which My heavenly Father hath\nnot planted shall be rooted up\" (Matt, xv: 13). Now can you under-\nstand how deeply God loves a man who gives Him full room in his soul\nfor His divine work, by which work God is blessed in His own life?\nIt is a love above all love that God bestows on him, and passes all\nunderstanding. For such a man is loved with the love wherewith\nthe heavenly Father loves His only begotten Son. No wonder, I say^\nthen, that this spiritual way leads the soul into the abyss of the deity.\n\nThe disciples of Dionysius once asked him how it happened that\nTimothy surpassed them all so greatly in holiness, although they did\nall the good works that he did. Their master answered: \"Timothy\nis a man who permits God to work within him.\" This takes place in\na living faith in God, which is unspeakably above all the works that\nby outward act a man can do. But to follow this method what is\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 471\n\nbefore all else needed, is to sink down into a deep self-renunciation,\nby which a man never sees himself in God's work, but sees God alone,\nleaves himself wholly to God to work His way in him, reserving only\nwhat is really his own, namely, his nothingness. If such a man\nshould at last make any account of himself, that were indeed a lament-\nable fall and a dangerous one. May He who alone can give holiness\nand perfect it, grant us the grace to yield ever to His will. Amen.\n\n4T2 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n/S'ynopsts — The littlest work of a meinber of Christ's body partakes of\nthe dignity of the Head — Each one should do all his works for the\nsake of all his brethren — Searching for God among little duties —\nThe farmer in a trance, flail in hand — How to obtain heavenly\nguidance in small affairs.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE TENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.*\n\nThere are diversities of operations, but the same Lord, who worketh all in all,\nand the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man unto profit. To one,\nindeed, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom ; and to another, the word of\nknowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another faith in the same Spirit.\n. But all these things one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to\neveryone according as He will. — I Cor. xii, 6-11.\n\nHere the apostle names a variety of gifts, but which are all the\nwork of the same Holy Ghost. In the days of the apostles, the Holy\nChost wrought wonderful things among His friends for the proof of\nthe Christian faith, including prophecies ; and His final work was the\nmartyrdom of the apostles and their disciples. Miraculous signs are\nnot needed in our days, although it must be confessed that living\nChristian faith is as little evident in some among us as in pagans\nand Jews.\n\nLet us consider this teaching — that there are diversities of work in\nGod's service, and yet that one and the same Spirit is in them all.\nChildren, look at the human body, with all its different members and\nsenses, each part having its separate office. Not any sense or member\nusurps the office of any other, or acts otherwise than as God has\nordained for it. So are we all members of the same body, and of this\nbody Christ is the head. Now, the eye in the body of holy Church,\nthat is her teachers. It is an office that does not concern you, for we\nordinary Christians must note carefully what our place is, the office\nto which eur Lord has called us, and in the performance of whose\n\n*No sermon of Tauler's for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity Is extant.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 473\n\nduties we are firmly joined to the Head, our Lord, by means of His\nholy grace. For no matter how insignificant the work may seem, il\nit be that of a member of Christ's body, then it is done by the grace\nof the Holy Ghost to the profit of men's souls.\n\nWell, then, we live among the lowest members. One can spin,\nanother can make shoes, some being skilful at one trade, others at\nanother. And these are all graces that are made active by the opera-\ntion of the Spirit of God. If I were not a priest, and were only a\nbrother in a community, I should consider it a great thing to be able\nto make shoes, and I would be very glad to earn my bread by the\nlabor of my hands. Children, the foot or hand should not wish to be\nthe eye, but each should fulfill the office assigned by God; for however\nlowly that may seem, it could not be done by the other members.\nThus our sisters do their part, as, for example, in piously chanting\nthe psalms. St. Augustine says: \"God is a most simple being; and\njet He works in a most manifold way, being all things in each single\nthing, and one in all of them together.\" Every least little work of\nours comes to us as a duty from God and each has its particular grace.\nLet us do it gladly for the sake of all our brethren, who cannot do\nit as appropriately as we. Thus do we all mutually exchange grace\nfor grace. Believe me, the man who does not pray nor work for his\nneighbor's sake shall have much to answer for before God, when, as\nthe Gosjjel tells us, it will be said to him: \"Give an account of thy\nstewardship\" (Luke xvi: 2). And each of us is appointed as a steward\nto do a certain work for God, and to render account of the same.\n\nHow does it happen, then, that so many complain that their occu-\npation in life hinders their serving God? God makes no limitations\nto His seiwice, and how, then, does it happen that thy conscience is\nafflicted at having to do what He appoints for thee? Dear children,\nmake up your minds that it is. not your occupation, but your own\nill-regulated way of performing it that disturbs your interior peace.\nDo thy duty rightly; have God alone in view; be disengaged from all\nself-conceit and self-love; look not to what is pleasant or unpleasant\nas thy end in doing or not doing; fear nothing and desire nothing\nbut God ; seek no profit, think of no joy in thy work ; regard nothing\nexcept what is wholly for God's honor: — act this way, and it is\nimpossible that thou shouldst feel distress of conscience in thy usual\noccupations. It is a shame for any spiritual man to have it said of\nhim, that he is disorderly in doing his daily round of duty, for one\n\n474 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nKoon perceives this defect — the work is not done in God, nor is it\ndone to the benefit of his neighbor.\n\nBy this slovenly carelessness thou makest manifest that it is not\nfor and in God thou art laboring; and herein is shown the cause of\nthy unrest of soul. Our Lord did not reprove Martha on account of\nher work, for that was holy ; he chided her for her excessive solicitude.\nA man should practice approved spiritual exercises, attend to his\nbounden duty, and then cast all his care upon God, attending mean-\nwhile to his obligations diligently and in all calmness of mini. And\nhe should be careful to remain at home in his own spirit, looking\noften there in search of God, with inward intentness and very devoutly,\nmeanwhile carefully attending to every call of duty in his external\nlife. And, besides, he should carefully watch for the inspirations ol\nthe Holy Ghost, whether to action or to suffering for God's sake.\nBy this means he does or he leaves undone according to the guidance\nof the Holy Ghost, now resting quiet and again pushing onward:\nsuch is the way to fulfil thy part in life in all Godliness and peace.\n\nIf there is any poor, old, feeble, helpless creature, do thou run\nquickly to his help. One should outdo the other in this work of\ncharity, thus bearing one another's burdens. If thou failest in this,\nbe sure that God will bestow the privilege upon another with all the\naccompanying graces, leaving thee empty. Dost thou feel a special\njoy in any work? Be on thy guard carefully — do the work for God\nalone, be not carried away by thy feelings. Here, then, children, is\nthe way to acquire virtue, and a very necessary way, if thou wouldst\ncome to God. Do not dream that by counselling quiet waiting for\nGod, I mean that thou art to sit down idle till God shall come and\ninfuse virtue into thy soul.\n\nPut no trust in immature virtue, unearned virtue. If a man claims\nthat the Father and the Son and the. Holy Ghost have taken up their\nabode within him, there is nothing in what he says, unless he has\nattained to this state by devout exercises of religion, interior as well\nas exterior, the same that we have been considering. A farmer stands\nand threshes his grain with his flail uplifted, and suddenly falls into\na trance; now the flail will fall on him and strike him, unless an\nangel from Heaven shall catch it. So with you. None like to thresh,\nall would wish to be entranced — all the members of the body would\nbe the eye, all for the contemplative and none for the active life.\nNow this is a sign of stupidity. I knew a man who was a very dear\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 475\n\nfriend of God, and who was a ploughman all the days of his life —\nmore than forty years, and, indeed, he is the same yet. Well, he once\nasked our Lord whether or not he should give up his labor and spend\nhis time in church. The Lord said to him: \"No, thou shalt eat thy\nbread in the sweat of thy face, and in that service thou shalt do\nhonor to My precious blood.\" And yet everyone, each following his\nown pious method, should daily and nightly retire apart and sink\ndown into the depths of his soul, choosing therefor a proper time\nand place. Those who are so far advanced as to go to God direct\nand without the images of the imagination, should follow their method ;\nothers in turn are helped by a different one ; for we cannot all be eyes\nin the Lord's body. Each one for himself must thus pray just as God\nordains; and in deep love and quiet peace. Whosoever serves God\nas He wills, to him shall God respond according to that man's own\nwill. But if one serves God according to his own will, him shall God\ntreat, not as he would wish to be treated, but as God in His justice\ndeems best.\n\nChildren, it is in this self-departure, this going forth from selfwill,\nthat the essential peace of the soul is born within us, which means\nthe acquisition of well-seasoned virtue. Believe me that essential\npeace never comes otherwise — it is false to assert such a thing. Out-\nwardly practiced and inwardly cherished virtue produces peace of\nsoul ; though it is to be said that the peace that arises from the more\ninterior exercises of religion is a treasure that no man can rob you of.\nMen wise in their own conceit will bid you do this and do that to\nbecome perfect — and it is all a set of observances of their own con-\ntrivance. Such men have sometimes been forty years in religion, and\nto this day they do not appreciate their state of life. They are far\nbolder in devotional things than I would dare to be.\n\nMy vocation is that of a teacher of the people. And yet when I\nhear confessions and ask my penitents how this is and how that,\nhaving in view their spiritual direction, at the last I am often unable\nto form a judgment about them. Then I pray to our Lord for light;\nand if He does not grant it to me, I can but say: Dear children, you\nmust yourselves pray for the divine guidance, and it will certainly be\ngranted you. Not so the rash men of whom I have been speaking;\nthey praise or they condemn quickly, each of them according to his\nown chosen standard, and strive to fasten on others their own\nfavorite devotional customs. And by this means many a plant in our\n\n476 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nLord's garden is worm-eaten in the bud. They say to you : Your\nway is a novelty and we do not approve of it, it is full of the spirit\nof innovation; and meanwhile God's ways are wholly unknown to\nthem. Ah, strange things may be expected from men of that kind.\n\nNow says St. Paul : \"But all these things the same Spirit worketh,\ndividing to everyone according as He will.\" Children, to what kind\nof men, think you, does God give the knowledge of the divisions He\nmakes among men? Who are they that have the judgment and dis-\ncernment of different spirits in men? Be sure that they who have\nthis gift are well exercised in the ways of God. The trials of flesh\nand blood are familiar to them, for they have suffered them in the\nseverest form. The enemy of souls has gone through them, aye, and\nthey have gone through him. Bone and marrow have been searched\nthrough and through, and all their souls have been perfected — such\nare the men to whom God grants the discernment of spirits. If they\nwill but turn their attention to any souls and consider them, they at\nonce discover whether or not their spirit is of God; and they can\ndecide what is the right step to be taken in the road of perfection,\nor what it is that stands in the way. Meanwhile let us lament how\ntrifling a thing it is that causes us to turn out of the straight road\nto everlasting truth, doing ourselves a grievous and eternal harm —\nfor God and His love are eternal, and if we neglect His love on earth\nit will never be ours in the life to come. May God help us to do His\nwork in all truth, and just as His Holy Spirit shall guide us, each\none according to his particular inspirations. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 477\n\n^itttwn mh S^^irobatuin\n\nSynopsis — To abide in self-approval is to court reprobation — Also to\nserve God in a spirit of buying and selling — Dreadful fate of a\ncertain unworthy monk — An elect soul keeps God ever in view — A\nplain sign of election is feeling spiritual misery on account of\nbodily plenty — Again, readiness to hear God's word in a humble\nmood.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE TENTH SUNDAY AFTER\n\nTRINITY.\n\nAnd when He drew near, seeing the city, He wept over it, saying: If thou\nalso hadst known and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace; but\nnow they are hidden from thy eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, and thy\nenemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten\nthee on every side, and beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in\nthee ; and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone ; because thou hast\nnot known the time of thy visitation. And entering into the temple, He began to\ncast out them that sold things, and them that bought Saying to them : It Is\nwritten : My house is the house of prayer. But you have made it a den of\nthieves. — Luke xix, 41-46.\n\nThe city over which our Lord now weeps is Christendom. This is\nthe first meaning of this Gospel; the second is that He weeps over\nworldly hearts, and well may He weep, for we may all weep and\nnever weep enough over those who know not and who will not be\nwarned of the time of their visitation. Jerusalem was in joy and\npeace when Christ wept over the city. And so are all these men who\nlive in the life of the senses. They are full of joy and peace as long\nas they have this world's goods, power, friends, relatives, honors,\neverything to their hearts' content, living as if these were to be theirs\nfor all eternity. Meanwhile they keep up a show of religion, confession,\nand prayer, and dream they are safe. If you say anything to the\ncontrary, you are lost to them. They abide in self-righteousness and\nin perfect security. But mark what comes after this state of security :\ntheir enemy shall come upon them, and leave not a stone upon a stone.\n\n478 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nThe time of God's visitation is at hand. As they approach death, the\nfiend enwraps them in a mantle of despair, they know not which way\nto fly, not a thought of God's goodness can enter their souls. No\nwonder. God has never been there, they never built on Him, took\nlittle account of Him — they were ever absorbed in transitory pleasures\nand the joys of the senses. When the evil one has knocked away that\nfoundation, then down falls the peace that was built thereon. Now\nfollows an unbearable tumult of soul, unbearable and everlasting, over\nwhich all men might weep and wither up with terror ; yea, they might\nwell shed tears of blood over such a calamity. Good reason had Christ\nto weep over these souls, saying: \"If thou also hadst known, and\nthat in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace?' And St. John\nwrites: \"All that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh,\nand the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life\" (I John\nii: 16). How shall God judge such a soul after death? Would that\nHe might give you to know the terrors of that future tumult of soul\nwhich shall never be followed by peace ; which not my words but those\nof St. Gregory describe in this day's homily.\n\nThen our Lord entered into the temple and drove out the buyers\njmd sellers, saying: You have made My house a den of thieves. He\nmeans the soul of man, which is more properly the temple of God\nthan ail material temples in the world. St. Paul says: \"Know you\nnot that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God\ndwelleth within you? If any man violate the temple of God, him\nshall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which you are\"\n(ICor.iii: 16-17). Now when our Lord would enter into this His\ntemple. He finds it a den of thieves and murderers, and a place of\ntraflSc. For what is buying and selling? It is when, for example, a\nman gives the corn which he has for the wine which he has not.\nNow, a man has nothing that is really his own, except his free will.\nAnd it is by bartering away his free will in exchange for the perishable\nthings of this world that he plies his traflSc : no matter what he gets\nin return, he always gives away his free will — seeking joy in food\nand drink, in raiment and jewels, both for his own pleasure and for\nthe admiration of other men. Alas, the day of reckoning is sure to\n<rome. And then they cry out, O blessed Lord, have pity on me! It\nwas not a sensual love but a spiritual love I indulged in; we must\nhave our relaxations. Dear children, make no mistake. This is really\nthe traflSc thou earnest on whilst thou canst barter away thy free\nwill. And as time goes on, God is removed farther and farther away\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nfrom thee, and grows stranger and stranger. St Bernard Bays-\n'Dmne consolation is of so sensitive and delicate a nature, that it\ncannot abide the company of any other consolation.\" One will perhaps\nexclaim: O Lord, we are in the religious state, members of a holy\norder. I answer: If thou hadst upon thee all the holy habits thou\n^ouldst choose, unless thou dost act up to what these rightly mean,\nthey will do thee no manner of good.\n\nIt happened once that a man committed a crime, and then he entered\na monastery, wholly unrepentant and unconfessed. Having received\nthe holy habit, he came to his death-and the devil cut him to pieces\nand carried him off, body and soul, but leaving the holy habit after\nhim. And they that belong to orders should be for that reason all\nthe more holy than the ordinary traffickers of this world. Alas how\nvast a subject is this for our meditation, if we did but search it to the\nbottom. For everybody seems full of his own will, full, full full '\nHow few strong characters do we meet with, men who subject'them-\nselves wholly to God; indeed, the majority of those who act thus are\npoor, humble women. All seek their o;vn, all are self-willed Ah if\nthey would but traffic with God, and give Him their free wills, that\nwould indeed be a prosperous venture. And what is the net profit\nof their worldly barter? Nothing but disturbance of mind. Yet these\nhalf-hearted Christians are all the better off for their pain upon pain\nof heart, if they but knew it, for by means of this distress of conscience\nthey will at last be saved; whereas those who are content with their\n«tate of infidelity to God are in great peril of final loss. St. Augustine\nspeaks thus of the half-hearted: \"Ill-regulated spirits provide a mar-\ntyrdom for themselves, and lay on their souls an oppressive burden;\nthey feel deep unrest and yet know not what ails them.\" The trouble\nIs that their temple is a place of traffic; they will not give up self-love.\nSometimes one will give up relatives and friends, his goods and his\ninheritance ; but he will not give up self. And all is then in vain He\nmust be to himself as utterly stripped of all things as when he came\nnaked from God. This is true, even though one must have many cares\nfor himself, like eating and drinking, seeing and hearing, all of which\nleave their memories in the soul. What then? A man must in all\nthese things keep God in view; he must seek God in all he does, m all\nhe leaves undone. As long as he acts that way, he may disregard his\nmemories and the images of his imagination. He keeps the temple\nof his soul clean from traffic. He is not entangled by these intrusions\nof outward things.\n\n480 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nThe bride in the Canticles says that their bed is full of flowers, that\nis to say, the soul in friendship with God is full of heavenly flowers,,\nof thoughts and images of divine love and of Heaven. Ah, if thy\ntemple were only totally empty, cleansed of all trafficking, all imagina-\ntions, then would it indeed be the temple of God— never until then,\nno matter what thou mayst do to it Peace and joy would then possess\nrhy heart; nothing whatever could lead thee astray; all that now\nannoys thee and even fills thee with anguish would vanish away. The\nLord commanded Ezechiel to dig his way through the wall into the\ntemple, and to behold the many abominations there, and the foul\nimages therein to be found — painted by the keepers of the temple\nthemselves. And thus it is with the recollections and the imaginations\nof men ; they themselves paint them upon their souls.\n\nHerein may one distinguish between the elect and the rejirobate.\nThe former cannot enjoy full peace in inordinate use of created things,\neven if they do for awhile lose themselves and go astray in them. They\nfeel the tooth of remorse constantly gnawing their conscience, sorrow\nand dread haunt them even in their evil hours; and this is the work\nof the Holy Ghost, as it is written : \"The Spirit Himself asketh for us\nwith unspeakable groanings\" (Rom. viii: 26). They come at last to\nsincere repentance, weeping over their wayward and disorderly life,\nand thus they are saved. This is true even though years may pass\nbefore they return to God. What an inestimable grace is this; and\nhe who is granted it may well thank God for the warnings vouchsafed\nhim, and the interior inspirations that stirred him to repentance. But,\nalas, with others it turns out differently. There are some to whom it\navails not to give private warnings or public discourses — nay, there\nare whole countries that seem to be averted from God.\n\nTherefore do I warn you to hear God's message, while yet it is\naddressed to you : profit well by it. Admit the word of God into thy\nunderstanding, for it is too little understood. It is a blameworthy\nthing that God's warning remains in the ear and does not reach the\nheart, for that is filled already ; it is all encumbered and overlaid with\nthings of sense. Make room for God's word ; drive out of your hearts\nthe joys you take in created things; expel the imaginations and\nmemories of this world — otherwise you cannot understand what God\nmeans.\n\nWhen one preaches a truth of God today, and preaches the self -same\ntruth again tomorrow, his hearers will receive it attentively and with\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 481\n\njoy, because it is a property of divine truth, that as fast as we learn\none lesson in it God makes our hearts ready for another. It is full of\nundiscovered beauty and instruction, all of which we never can per-\nfectly comprehend. And this ever-increasing power of understanding\nGod's word, is granted especially to those who come to hear it with\nsouls' detached from earthly things. As to the others, much is lost\nto them, and much is not rightly understood. The truth of God reaches\ntheir ears and forms figures in their fanc}' — not much more. This is\non account of the preoccupation of their souls by worldly thoughts. If\nthese thoughts, these traflSckers, were but driven out of that temple\nof God, it would be transformed into a house of prayer, in which God\nwould love to dwell. And presently we shall discourse upon the prayer\nthat should be offered therein. Meanwhile, may God grant us the\ngrace to drive out all traffickers, and make our souls acceptable to Him.\nAmen.\n\n482 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — A notahle hindrance is despondency over past sinfulness—\nAnother is lack of sensible devotion — Yet another is discourage-\nment over venial defects — Frequent communion as a reparation\nfor the wickedness of the whole race of man — Our helps 'are all\nkinds of interior tendencies towards God — Externally, brotherly\nlove is second to none — Disregard of men's opinion of us is a de-\ncided aid — An exhortation to frequent communion.\n\nSERMON FOR THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\nTwo men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other ia\npublican. — Luke xviii, 10. »\n\nLet us take the temple here spoken of to mean the soul of man in\nits very depths. There, indeed, does the Holy Trinity love to dwell.\nHe loves to inspire the soul's activity, making it the place of His joy,\nthe treasury of His gifts. For the soul is made in the image and like-\nness of the Triune God. Here then is the temple into which a man\nmust enter to pray. And if he prays right he does so as two men ; one\nthe inward man and the other the outward man. What the outward\nman prays for is of little or no value. And let me tell you, my dear\nsisters, that if you would have help to pray and to make real progress\nin prayer, there is nothing better than the blessed body and blood of\nour Lord Jesus Christ. Receive this at proper intervals and you will\nfind yourself renewed, yes, newly born, in your spiritual life. That\nprivilege is yours. Thank God for it with special fervor, and make\ngood use of it in preference to any other spiritual help. Human nature\nis weak and much inclined to evil. We need great assistance if we\nshall be able to withdraw from evil; no help can compare with this\ndivine nourishment. In the Lord's parable, one of the men praying in\nthe temple was a Pharisee. The other was a publican ; that is to say,\na notorious sinner. He stood afar off, not daring to lift his eyes to\nheaven, and he said : \"O God, be merciful to me a sinner.\" All went\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 483\n\nwell with him in this prayer. I only wish that I could in all reality do\nas he did, ever gazing down into my nothingness ; that is the best way\nto pray, and the most useful. Prayer made in that spirit leads a man\nto God, straight and without intermediation, for when God, appealed\nto on the score of His mercy, comes to the soul. He comes with His\ndivine essence. His own very self.\n\nBut some enter on prayer with the spirit of this poor sinner,\nacknowledging indeed their wickedness, but in their humility they\nwould fly from the face of God and from the Holy Sacrament — ^they\ndare not receive Communion. Not so, not so, my dear sisters. All\nthe more eagerly should you go to Communion, so that the strength\nof your sins may fall away from you, saying to our Lord: O come\nquick, Lord, ere that my soul shall die in its sins. Let me assure you,\nthat if I should find a man inspired with that publican's spirit, deeply\nand most humbly conscious of his sinful state, and who would gladly\nbe good but much overcome with this praiseworthy fear, yet anxious\nstill to follow God's blessed will and renounce the love of created\nthings with all his might, I say that to such a one I would give the\nconsolation of receiving our Lord's body and blood the very next day ;\nand the prudence of this I am prepared to prove from holy scripture.\nWhen we received holy baptism and were dedicated to God, we received\nfull right to Holy Communion ; that right all creatures together cannot\nstrip us of — except our own selves by refusing to be contrite for our\nsins.\n\nDear sisters, one need not have great sensible devotion in order to\nworthily receive Communion, nor need one have done great outward\ngood works. It is enough if one be free from mortal sin, humbly stand\nin fear of God, and confess his unworthiness ; all this is indeed neces-\nsary and it is at the same time very beneficial. If one will live free\nfrom mortal sin, then there is great need that he be fed by this divine\nfood. It elevates us high towards the summit of the spiritual life.\nInstead of avoiding Communion because thou hast been sinful, rather\nshouldst thou hasten to receive it, as long as thou dost sorrowfully\nconfess thy wickedness. For from this grace comes strength, holiness,\nconsolation and sweetness. Of course thou shouldst not condemn\nthose who do not go often to Communion, any more than sit in judg-\nment on poor penitent sinners who do go. St. Augustine says: ''Con-\ndemn no man on any account whatsoever, unless, indeed, Holy Church\n\n484 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nhas already condemned him for his proud spirit and his open wicked-\nness, and for being obstinately given up to his sinful practices.\" As\nto whether any one receives unworthily, that is not our affair; they\nhave their superiors who will certainly attend to that. Condemn not,\ndear children, lest you become like the proud Pharisee, who sat in\njudgment on the poor sinner who stood below him in the temple —\nbeware of that as you would of the eternal loss of your soul. Mean-\ntime be not over anxious as to whether or not your past sins will be\nheld against you; rather be anxious to avoid the sin of judging your\nneighbor.\n\nOnce it happened that I was with some brothers of our order who\nobserved our rule with special strictness, and I was very desirous of\ndoing as they did. But our Lord willed otherwise, for my health was\ntoo feeble to allow me to do so. This led me to suppose that God fore-\nsaw I should have fallen into Pharisaism if I had been permitted these\nausterities ; I should have been given over to self complacency. Our\nLord is so faithful to us, that sometimes he allows a man of God to fall\ninto occasional notable faults of a venial nature his whole life long,\nbecause thereby he is constantly forced to enter into his soul and learn\nhis own nothingness in all humility. Hence one should not refrain\nfrom Communion on account of such defects. Let him meekly exclaim :\nLord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof or into\nmy heart; yet I implore thee to enter there out of regard for the over-\nflowing riches of Thy merits and Thy boundless mercies. I am in sore\nneed of contrition, charity and other graces, and all these are plentiful\nin Thee, in whom we find all virtue, all aspiration for good.\n\nChildren, the awful state of sin in which God found mankind in the\ntime of our Father St. Dominic, and which almost provoked Him to\nonce more destroy the world in His wrath, seems to be returned upon\nthe race in our day. What will happen to us we know not; but we\nmust seek anxiously for some means of obtaining God's blessed mercy.\nAnd no means is better than for each of us to renounce and cast away\nall created things, turn inwardly to God, and invite ourselves to our\nLord in the Sacrament of His body and blood. Dear sisters, adopt\nthat holy method, observing due order, cultivating the right spirit.\nIf you detect yourselves in faults, still cherish within you a hearty\npurpose to live according to God, regret your defects sincerely, avoid\nall dangerous occasions.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 485\n\nIn the holy order of which you and I are members, and in which God\ncalls us away from a perilous world, we ought to wait on Him and\nHim alone with the utmost fidelity of heart. Dear children, often\nponder your holy vocation, mark carefully what progress you are\nmaking, and what example of virtue you are setting to others. All men\nshould behold in your lives the fruit of your Communions, as well\nas the diligent observance of the holy rule. I do not mean to urge\nany unreasonable austerity, as that any aged and feeble sister should\nfast and toil and watch beyond her power of endurance ; but all things\nto be done with discretion. Children, if you are thus fervent, the\ngraces of Holy Communion will be inestimably great in you.\n\nFuthermore, let all your words be sweet, kind and peaceful. What\nif hard words are spoken to you ; suflfer this meekly for the love of God,\nsubmissive to all men. To bitter words answer thou nothing but a few\nkindly sentences, spoken with a cheerful countenance.\n\nLook closely to your interior. Have no joy in the possession of any\nthing whatsoever, or in its use. Make no effort to please self, or to win\nthe favor of others. Be attached neither to clothing, ornaments nor\nbooks ; no, nor to any particular companionship. Whatsoever is really\nneedful for your wants God will provide for you through your\nsuperiors.\n\nYou ought to have great love for one another, should be subject one\nto another in all affection, abhoring overbearing manners, or anything\nthat may in the least degree estrange sisterly affections, or disturb\ninterior peace of mind. Be zealous for good works in the community,\nexhorting the sisters most affectionately and emulating one another.\nLend a hand and a heart to help the weak and aged sisters, antici-\npating and relieving their necessities in all cheerfulness and love.\nAnd let this be done not only for members of your own community,\nbut for all other persons whom you can induce to accept your good\noffices. ''For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you\nhave? Do not even the publicans this? And if you salute your\nbrother only, what do you more? Do not also the heathens this?\"\n(Matt. v:46, 47).\n\nBut suppose that you should be ridiculed for doing good deeds, or\nfor some devout practice? Answer never a word, make no sort of\ncomplaint. Meanwhile, strictly observe your holy silence in choir and\nin all other places in which it is prescribed. In choir, you should assist\n\n486 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nwith deep reverence, for you know that our Savior's blessed body is\nreally present there. Cast down your eyes in holy adoration before\nthe face of your eternal King. If a simple maiden stood in the presence\nof a great queen the object of her monarch's special attention, would\nshe not observe all proper decorum? Thus shalt thou recollect all thy\npowers of soul and body as thou standest before thy divine Bridegroom,\none of His chosen spouses, for He gazes steadfastly upon thee, looking\ninto the secret recesses of thy soul. O, dear sisters, most devoutly\nspend your time in choir, singing and reading your holy office there\nwith deep devotion and a recollected soul. Nor need you be disturbed\nin conscience if sometimies your attention wanders, for the law of the\noffice is kept if you pronounce the words; and meanwhile be sure to\nbring back your wandering mind to your holy work as soon as possible.\nOne's conscience is clear if one does not wilfully yield to distracting\nthoughts.\n\nThe gospel says: \"Wherefore, by their fruits you shall know them''\n(Matt, vii: 20). And in your case, it must be by the outward appear-\ning fruits of virtue that you shall know yourselves as God's servants,\nand be known by others. To be equal to this test, no one is too feeble\nin body or too old, if they will but cherish mutual charity and practice\npatience and mildness of manner. These virtues one can have if he be\nbedridden. But, again, you shall be known by your interior fruits of\ngrace — forfeiting no opportunity to love God, and totally disengaged\nfrom all that is not God. Be glad to pass your time alone with God,\nunited to Him, passive under His influence. Ascend the tree of Christ's\nholy cross and passion, and hide in His glorious wounds — nay, go up-\nward still, and be absorbed in the infinite Godhead itself. This is tbe\nway of the Good Shepherd, who leadeth His sheep back and forth\nthrough rich pastures. Thus in your Communions shall the adorable\nSacrament give you the fruits of a holy life, and you shall make steady\nprogress in grace.\n\nIt may be that some good souls will, out of reverence, receive Com-\nmunion less often than thou dost, and this is also good; again there\nmay be others who do not at all approve thy going to Communion often,\nand these will chide thee for thy boldness, or even visit thee with pen-\nances. But what then? I say to thee, bear this infliction with all\nmeekness. Hardly any good thing can be done in this life without\ncreating some trouble. It is indeed good that thou shouldst now and\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 437\n\nthen give up Communion in a spirit of unfeigned humility; and yet\nIt IS much better for thee (if thou canst) rather to receive it in a spirit\nof holy love. The sick man needs the physician-here is One whose\nvery presence is itself thy cure. Humble fear thou must not be with-\nout; which means that thou holdst up thy sins before thy soul's\nsorrowful gaze. That is a sign that this adorable Sacrament has\nworked its ends within thee. But when the medicine has driven out\nthe disease, then comes the time to nourish the patient with good\nfood-he IS going to be restored to health, and that soul is sound and\nwell before whose eyes its sins stand out plain and clear. Another\ngood sign IS the sincere longing to lead a good life and obey God's\nlaw; and if one is thus minded-not in fickleness or presumption,\nbut because he has expelled all vice from his soul-then in this case\nalso let him in all confidence approach the holy table. The more\nfruitful will his Communion be in proportion to the intensity of his\nsorrow for his sins.\n\nIt may occasionally happen that some of our sisters may have little\nor no time for thanksgiving immediately after Communion, being\ncalled away by community duty, or service in the choir. Let them not\nbe anywise disturbed on that account-the Holy Sacrament will none\nthe less do its work of grace in your soul if you be well prepared.\nMeanwhile our Lord can wait for your thanksgiving; give Him some\ntime after dinner, even after vespers or compline, and that will please\nMim just as well as if done in the morning.\n\nA word about venial sins and imperfections, faults that we cannot\nhope ever to be quite free from in this life. In case some of these escape\nyour mind at confession, be not disturbed-confess them sorowfully\nto God; and even at confession, it is enough that one touch upon such\nthings in a general way, rather than overtax one's father confessor\nAs far as real obligation goes, it is only mortal sins that one is bound\nto tell in confession. Venial sins may be remitted by saying an Our\nFather, or using holy water, or by a genuflexion, supposing always that\none s heart is truly penitent for them. But suppose-you may ask-\nthat we have no sorrow for our sins? I answer: Canst thou not desire\nto have S01.0W? If one is sorry that he is not sorry for his sins, then he\nIS truly sorry. He that aspires after holy ambition is really ambitious\nto serve God. He that loves to be able to love God already loves God\n\nBut incomparably the most precious virtue is practical, active love' of\nC.od. This comes to our heart from meditating on all the good which\n\n4S8 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nGod has done us and all mankind, and rendering sincere thanks for the\nsame. Concentrate all thy powers upon thoughts of the good things\nGod has done thee, whether in joy or in sorrow, throughout thy entire\nlife. Place all this over against thy pettiness, thy meanness, thy total\nunworthiness — and then invite all men and angels and all other crea-\ntures to join with thee in praising and thanking God, for thou shalt\nfind thyself unequal to the task. Embrace in one single view all the\nmembers of Holy Church, both living and dead, and bid them all join\nwith thee in this interior thank offering to God. Often repeat this\nflight of thy mind and heart to God, and fill it with real sentiments of\nlove. Whatsoever a man has received from God, let him retain no part\nof it for himself, but return it wholly to the divine giver by frequent\nand most fervent thanksgiving. And put a stop to all questionings and\nall thy disputes, as to whether or not this or that interior feeling be\nfrom God; fall back constantly upon thy poverty of soul and thy\nessential nothingness. Leave God's part to God, and as to thyself,\nconsider thy origin, and imitate our Lord Jesus Christ in His constant\nelevation of His soul to His father. The man who follows Christ best\nis the best man.\n\nWhat if one's attention be sometimes relaxed; what if one's soul be\nnow and then preoccupied with creatures ; bow down humbly and beg\nGod's pardon ; then lift thy soul again to the heavenly Father. Do\nthis and do all else in union with and in thoughts about the life and\npassion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus it will be best done in God's\nsight. Call to mind the feeling of the woman in the gospel : \"If I shall\ntouch only His garment I shall be healed\" (Matt. ix:21). And she\ntouched the hem of His garment and was healed. Now we may con-\nsider His garment to mean His Holy Communion, and the hem of it\nany drop of His precious blood. Thou mayst think thyself so vile as\nto be unworthy to touch Him, but if thou shalt only have the courage\nto do so, without doubt thou shalt be healed of thy spiritual infirmity —\nand this touching of Him means approaching Holy Communion. But\nas to thy preparation, what is before all else most useful is falling back\nliumbly on thy own nothingness.\n\nIf one has attained even to the very highest point of perfection, then,\neven then has he the very greatest need to sink the roots of humility\ndeep down in the depths of his soul. The higher the tree, the deeper\nmust be the roots. All the height of our perfection springs from the\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 489\n\ndepth of our humility. Hence we see that when that notorious sinner,\nthe publican, was so deeply humbled that he dared not so much as raise\nhis eyes to heaven, then it was that he was raised up high in God's\nfavor, and went home to his house justified. May we be humbled in\nlike manner as was this scandalous but penitent sinner— truly hum-\nbled, and thereby fully restored to God's favor. May this be merci-\nfully granted us by God the Father, and God the Son, and God the\nHoly Ghost. Amen,\n\n4:90 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis— The sanctification of the saints of the old law was wholly\nhy patience and hope — An insistence on the need of suffering, and,\ntherefore, of patience, to live and die well — Sneering God's judg-\nment meekly is the highest form of patience — Fatuity of seeking\nhuman comfort amid divine inflictions — Endurance of God's de-\nlays is a nohle virtue.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER\n\nTRINITY.\n\nFor the letter killeth, but the spirit quickeneth.— II Cor. ill. 6.\n\nAmong God's friends there are two kinds of people, who may be\ncompared respectively to the old and new testaments. You know that\nuntil Christ came men obeyed the old law with its ceremonies and\ncustoms, and by these they were made pleasing to God; after Christ\nwe are to be saved by the new law and its usages. The old testament\nwas introductory to the new, and was its image, preparing men's\nsouls — if they but rightly viewed it — for the new dispensation, as\nevery such thing must be announced beforehand and men made ready\nfor its reception. The old testament imposed many heavy burdens,\nsevere penalties for sin, and gave very stern manifestations of God's\nrighteousness, together with only a dim and distant view of redemp-\ntion. The gates of heaven were shut for five thousand years, during\nwhich men, with all their painful good works, could not enter into\neternal life. Their waiting was tedious enough, ere the new testament\nwas vouchsafed them, with peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. And now\nmy lesson to you is this: Some such preparation must each one of us\nmake if he would in all security attain to the privileges of God's new\ndispensation; one must first be practiced in the trials of the ancient\ncovenant. A man must bear a heavy load of sorrow ; he must humbly\nbow down under the mighty hand of God ; he must endure pains from\nwithout and pains within; he must suffer all kinds of hardships,\nwhether he be innocent or guilty.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 492\n\nChildren, the case is quite different from what I fear you suppose—\nstand fast by God's teaching, if you would act prudently, and if, as I\ntrust, you have received the grace of God. If you wouM come to the\nnew testament, you must endure the old. Mistrust in all lowliness of\nheart any consolation that is offered you, inwardly or outwardly, for\nby the way of pleasure no man can come to the kingdom of heaven.\nHe must enter there by the way of bitter pain and much tribulation—\nturn him which way he pleases, so it must be. Before thou enjoyest\nthe holy sacraments, divine illuminations, sweet sentiments of devo-\ntion, to say nothing of human comfort, bow down the old man that is\nin thee beneath the toilsome yoke of God's ancient covenant, with its\nburdens and humiliations and self-renunciation. And rememeber that\nin very truth His yoke is sweet and His burden is light. Dear children,\nI exhort you by the servitude of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,\nthat you keep that token of His suffering before your eyes, ever carry-\ning it manfully forward, enshrining it in your souls, glad of its heavy\nweight, embracing it with total abandonment of all things else,\naccording as God wills and has willed for you from all eternity— this\nI exhort you from the bottom of my heart. May God lend you cour-\nage in all your future pains, desolations, disgrace, and calumny.\nThus shall you have the old Adam conquered within you under the\nancient covenant, till Jesus Christ shall be born in your souls in His\nnew dispensation of peace and joy. The patriarchs must wait thou-\nsands of years, sighing and yearning; but in very truth, children, if you\nwill but have their spirit of patient self-renunciation, your time of\nwaiting shall not be a single year long. If you had a quartan fever\nfor a year or for two years, you must perforce endure it to the end ;\nand so must you endure your suffering in preparation for Christ's\ncoming.\n\nAnother trial under the old dispensation were the judgments God\nvisited upon His people; and this represents our interior pains, our\nsuffering from the gnawing of remorse. Some men strive to escape this\nby multiplying their confessions, little realizing that a thousand con-\nfessions of mortal sins are of no avail for solacing the pain of remorse,\nunless they be accompanied by proper works of penance. Confession\nbeing thus made, we can in all humility accept the feeling of remorse\nthat still lingers, full sure of God's pardon.\n\nOthers, again, would still their reproaches of conscience by asking\nmany questions of learned men, hoping thereby for some new comfort\n\n492 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nto their souls. Spare yourselves the trouble; run here and run there\nyour whole life long, it is all in vain. Your solace must come from\nwithin or not at all. Await it patiently in thy interior soul. I could\n\ntell you, dear children, of the holiest man in all inward and outward\nvirtue that I ever saw ; and he was a man who never heard more than\n\nfour or five sermons all his life. But the sermon that was preached\nto him by the voice of conscience, that he marked well, and it was\nenough to guide him how to live and how to die.\n\nAs to the common run of people, let them go here and there and\nlisten to all sorts of preaching, lest they should fall into unbelief ; but\nas to you who aspire to be perfect in God's service, hear good preach-\ning indeed, but turn yourseves inward to God ; for if you would acquire\ntrue spirituality you must give up running about and you must stay\nat home in your own souls; many words make no man perfect. Love\nGod from the depths of your heart and your neighbor as yourself, and\nall the rest will take care of itself. What you see of good in others\nlet it be good in your eyes ; what you see bad, judge it not nor question\nabout it. Long to possess God with your whole heart, as did the\nfathers under the old law ; seek what in very truth you ought to seek ;\nas to the rest, leave it all to God's blessed will.\n\nThe third characteristic of the old dispensation was a dim hope\ntowards a distant redemption ; for the gates of heaven were fast shut,\nand no prophet could exactly tell when redemption would come. And\nso must we resign ourselves humbly to await God's time and place in\nperfect humility, for such is God's will with each of us; and He will\ncome and be born in us in a perfect life at last and without fail. But\nwhen? Leave that to Him. Some would arrive at perfection in their\nyouth; some fix their old age as the time; some even at the point of\ndeath. Leave all that to His adorable will, only be true to Him from\nday to day. And to thus submit to Him, thou needest no special kind\nof spiritual exercise. Learn the commandments of God and keep them ;\nlearn the articles of the Christian faith and believe them; all that\nremains is that thou shouldst place thyself at God's disposal in all\nthings whatsoever. Do these simple things, and there is no manner of\ndoubt but that Christ will be born in thee in due time to a perfect new\ntestament of peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Thou shalt be granted\nthe grace of an angel's life of gentleness and wisdom. That is indeed\na splendid gift; and yet a better one is the life more than angelic\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 493\n\nwhich the Spirit will work within thee, quite surpassing human under-\nstanding. But by this way of patient endurance must it come to thee\nand none other. One may dream that he understands all this plainly,\nand then starts with self-formed plans of devotion to achieve this\nresult, and such a man surely fails. He can only succeed by treading\nthe plain way of mortification ; succeed he surely will by that way.\n\nIn the old law the Levites carried the ark of God; but in the new\nlaw, as we have described it, the ark of God carries the Levites; that\nis to say, our souls. Whosoever will not submit humbly in this life to\nGod's judgments, that man without doubt will fall under God's judg-\nments in eternity. Try what expedient thou mayst, thou must give\nthyself up to suffering under God. Do that, and then God carries thee\nforward through all thy pain and trouble; God it is who, as it were,\nbends His shoulders under thy burden with thee, and helps thee to\nbear it. Meanwhile, to those who are submissive to God, no burden is\nunbearable, no misery intolerable. Alas for us if we would do other-\nwise, and would go forward alone in our weakness bearing our heavy\nload. In that case sufiFer we must, labor we must, but all without God.\nNow may God grant us the grace to carry our burden manfully and\nwith Him. Amen.\n\n494 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSptrttual HtnfntBB\n\nSynopsis — In what degree Satan is responsible for our dullness of\nspirit — The unresponsiveness to God that afflicts worldlings; and\neven hurts spiritual persons — St. Gregory's remarkatle teaching\non this point — Thanksgiving is a sign of attentiveness to divine\n(falls — God's inward word in relation to the Seven Gifts of the\nHoly Ghost.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER\n\nTRINITY.\n\nAnd they bring to Him one deaf and dumb ; and they besought Him that He\nwould lay His hand upon him. And taking him from the multitude apart, He\nput His fingers into his ears, and spitting, He touched his tongue. And looking\nup to heaven, He groaned, and said to him : Ephpheta, which is. Be thou\nopened. And immediately his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue\nwas loosed, and he spoke right. . . . He hath done all things well ; He hath\nmade both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. — Mark viii, 32.\n\nWe are to inquire to-day into man's spiritual deafness. Since our\nfirst parents lent a willing ear to the voice of Satan, we are all deaf to\nthe voice of the eternal Word of God within our souls. And yet we\nknow full well that this divine Word is indescribably close to our\nsouls, closer than our own thoughts, or our very nature to our con-\nscious existence. Within our inmost souls dwells that divine Word,\nand He addresses us without ceasing. Man hears Him not, for he is\nafflicted with great deafness. Nor is this a blameless state of deafness,\nfor we are like one to whom something is spoken, and who stops his ears\nlest he shall hear what it is. We are worse ; we have done this so much\nthat at last we have lost knowledge of ourselves, and are become dumb,\nthat is to say, wholly stupid. Ask a worldly man about his interior\nlife, and he is dumb — he knows not if there be any such a life. And\nthe cause of it is that the enemy has crept into that soul, which haa\nhearkened to him, and thus has become deaf and dumb.\n\nNow how does Satan insinuate himself into the soul? Thou shalt\ndetect him in all blameworthy conduct ; his guidance is in all the deceit\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 495\n\nof this world, all inordinate love of created things, such as honors and\nriches, relatives and friends, and also self love in all its forms. Under\ncover of any of these does he insinuate himself into thy soul, for he is\never on the watch to take advantage of thy inclination to evil. Some-\ntimes he urges thee to shun a certain pain that thou shouldst manfully\nbear; again, to seek forbidden joys, whispering inwardly in thy ear,\nshowing pictures before the eyes of thy soul, all that thou mayst shut\neyes and ears and soul to the eternal Word. If we but instantly turn\naway from the enemy's allurements, his temptations are easily over-\ncome. If, on the contrary, one dallies with the tempter, gazes upon\nhis pictures, listens to his suggestions, then is he nigh to destruction;\nthe temptation is grown very heavy. Eesist instantly, turn from him\ninstantly, and thou art close to a victory. Soon thy deafness shall be\ncured, and thou shalt hear the inner voice of the eternal Word.\n\nThis deafness afflicts not only people living in the world but also\nthose called to a spiritual life, but who permit their souls to be occu-\npied by love and enjoyment of created things. This is well known to\nthe devil, who tells them things calculated to gratify their inclinations.\nSome are made deaf by their infatuation for their self-chosen devotional\ncustoms and outward observances, which link them strongly to crea-\ntures in a spirit of proprietorship. The clatter of all this hinders the\nsoul from hearing the inner voice of the eternal Word. We know well,\nof course, that we must have approved spiritual exercises and follow\nthem earnestly; and yet without a feeling of proprietorship. Such are\ndevout prayers to God as well as holy meditation, by means of which\nour sluggish nature is aroused; we are heartened to our work, and we\nare drawn inward to the Spirit; but never with an obstinate sense of\nownership, and always looking inward to God in the depths of our\nsouls. We should not imitate some men, who persist to their very\ndeaths in certain external pious practices and use them in a wholly\nexternized spirit, never seeking to go beyond this. If God wishes to\nspeak to them, the ears of their souls are always preoccupied by other\nvoices. Children, there are so many cases of this sort of spiritual deaf-\nness, that at the end of all things we shall be amazed at the revelation\nof it.\n\nNow God's word is never spoken in any man's ears of whom it may\nnot be said \"If any one love Me, he will keep My word\" (John xiv: 23).\nSt. Gregory explains this: \"Wouldst thou know if thou lovest God?\n\n496 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nTake note of thy conduct when thou art tried. What dost thou do\nwhen pain comes on thee, or contradiction, or any other distress from\nround about thee? And how dost thou bear thyself in time of interior\ndistress, when thy mental anguish is so sharp that thou knowest\nnot whither to turn for relief? What is thy bearing in sudden storma\nof adversity; when beset with difficulties all unforeseen? If thou\nshalt rest quiet in these visitations, thy soul resting in peace, without\nany outburst of impatience, with no fault of word or act or even\nmotion, then without doubt thou lovest God truly.\" On the heart that\ntruly loves, neither outward pain nor pleasure can make any impres-\nsion. One may give to thee, one may take from thee, if only thy\nBeloved abide with thee, it is all one to thee, and thou restest in\ninterior peace. Thy outward man weeps — that thou canst not help;\nthe inner man rests content with God's holy will. But if, alas, thou\ncanst not stand this test, then art thou deaf — the divine Word will not\nbe heard by thee.\n\nAnother test : art thou full of thanksgiving to God for the manifold\nfavors He has conferred on thee, and on all mankind, and on all crea-\ntures in earth and heaven and never ceases to confer? And art thou\nespecially thankful for the unspeakable gift of His Son's holy human-\nity? Again, thy universal spiritual exercise should be sincere love\nof all mankind, not only the members of thy own community, but all\npriests and monks and nuns and sisters, and all humanity besides,\nof whatever state or condition ; and this love should be active, and by\nno means confined in practice to thy own community, as far as lies in\nthy power. This universal love is of inestimable benefit; for whoso-\never are real enlightened friends of God, their hearts are melted with\naffection for all men living and dead. Had we no such lovers of man-\nkind among us, our lot would be evil indeed. Futhermore, thou\nshouldst also show thy love by outward works, by making gifts, by\nspeaking words of comfort and counsel, in so far as thy own real neces-\nsities will permit. And if thou art unable to give outward help, at\nleast excite thy heart to say in all truth, that thou wouldst do so if it\nwere within thy power. Here then are thy plain signs for true love,\nand they will show that thy heart is not deaf.\n\nAnd now comes our Lord to a man deaf and dumb, and He spirit-\nually putteth His finger in his ears, and anoints his tongue with His\nholy spittal, and immediately the man's soul can hear and can speak.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 497\n\nO children, wonderful words might be said of this act of our Lord ; we\ncontent ourselves with naming the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, which\nthus enter the soul and are granted when it hearkens to God in very\ntruth.\n\nFirst is the spirit of fear, which is given us that we may renounce\nall self-will, all self-conceit. It teaches us to fly from every evil thing.\nAfter that is granted the gift of piety, making us tender-hearted, hin-\ndering all rash judgment, rendering us yielding and kindly towards\nall. The third touch of the Lord's finger is the gift of knowledge, giving\nus an interior lesson of divine experience, and guiding us to know the\ninner ways of union with God's holy will. The fourth is divine forti-\ntude, by which the soul is so strengthened as to be able easily to suffer\nall pain for God's sake, and courageously to undertake all heavy\ntasks in His honor. The fifth is holy counsel, making all who receive\nit lovable men, and acceptable guides to others. And now come two\ntouches of the divine finger that are deep and strong, namely, under-\nstanding and wisdom; but as to these, one can more easily feel the\nworth of them than he can describe them. May God grant that our\nears may thus be opened to His truth, and that we may ever hearken\nto His eternal Word. Amen.\n\n498 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — The double vision of man, outward for created things, in-\nward for divine things — How self-will blinds the soul — Differences\nbetween seeing and understanding; especially when considering\nGod in the incarnation of His Son — How one's meditation on even\nChrist's passion may lack true insight.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER\n\nTRINITY.\n\nBlessed are the eyes that see the things that you see. — Luke x, 23-37.\n\nOn one occasion our Lord, gazing upon his disciples, said : \"I confess\nto Tliee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid\nthese things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to\nlittle ones\" (Matt, xi: 25). This is appropriate to our text, which was\naddressed to those same disciples : '\"Blessed are the eyes that see the\nthings that you see. For I say to you that many prophets and kings\nhave desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them;\nand to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them.\"\nThen the holy narrative proceeds: \"And behold a certain lawyer stood\nup, tempting Him, and saying: Master, what must I do to possess\neternal life? But He said to him : What is written in the law? How\nreadest thou? He, answering, said: Thou shalt love the Lord thy\nGod with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy\nstrength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself. And\nHe said to him : Thou hast answered right. This do, and thou shalt\nlive.\"\n\nNow let us consider our text: \"Blessed are the eyes that see the\nthings that you see.\" A man has two sets of eyes, interior and exterior.\nIt were a hard lot if a man had no interior eyes; he would be like a\nl)east had he only exterior eyes. And let me ask, dear children, how\ndoes it happen that the blessed interior eyes of a man, namely, his\nglorious reason, are blinded, are in a state of pitiful darkness, seeing\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 4Q9\n\nno light? This comes from the thick covering that is drawn over\nthem, namely, the love of created things, whether love of self or of\nother creatures. In this state men receive our Lord's sacred body\nand blood, and the oftener they do so the blinder they become. It is\nas if a thick skin had gone over their eyes. Children, what do you\nthink can be the reason that so many men cannot enter in and\nexamine the inner life of their own souls? It is because a veil is\ndrawn over their interior eyes as thick as an ox's horn. Men shut\ntheir souls up so close that they keep both God and themselves\nentirely outside— they shut their spirits up with thick, coarse, black\nhides, as heavy as the skin of a bear were it even forty or fifty folds\nin thickness. And what do I mean by these hides? Everything to\nwhich thou devotest thy will ; all that thou givest thy love to, whether\nthou doest it by words or works, by favor or disfavor, arrogance,\nobstinacy or frivolity; in a word, pleasure in anything whatsoever\nwithout God.\n\nThese are the dark blinds over the eyes of men's souls. But the\nmoment a man feels pained at this lamentable state, and humbly\nconfesses it to God, determined to do his best to remedy it, presently\nGod guides him to good counsel, and the obstacles to spiritual sight\nfall off. But with some men no counsel avails, and then their darkness\ngrows yet more dense. They will not forsake their idols, but, like\nRachel, they hide them away and «it upon them. Their minds are\nfilled with the forms of the created things they love; these blind\ntheir eyes; the voices of the world deafen their ears. And when\nreason is thus deaf and blind, it cannot be saved.\n\n\"Blessed are the eyes that see the things that you see.\" Any man\nin his senses can see that the creatures that possess our hearts are\nin themselves merely nothing, and yet they are capable of giving us\njoy of a certain kind. But why cannot we understand the joy that\nGod will give us, since it is from God that created things have all\ncome forth? The knowledge and appreciation of this would make our\neyes blessed, if we would but see it, for we in our day see more than\nour Lord's disciples at that moment were able to see. They saw\ntheir Master indeed; but He was then a poor, rejected and much\nsuffering man, whereas we know Him now, in the light of holy faith,\nas a majestic being, God and Lord of earth and heaven. Could we\nbut duly appreciate what our eyes thus behold, eternally blessed\nwould those eyes be.\n\n500 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nDear children, the great masters dispute with one another as to\nwhich is greater, knowledge or love. But as to us, we shall rather\nchoose for our discussion matters of eternal life: — when we come to\nthat, we shall behold all things in very truth. Our Lord says : \"But\none thing is necessary\" (Luke x: 42). And what is that one thing\nnecessary? It is that thou shouldst know thy own nothingness;\nrecognize this as thy only real self; fully understand as thou dost\ndepend on thyself who thou art. For that one thing necessary has our\nLord suffered such agony of soul that He sweat blood. It was because\nthou wouldst not learn this one thing, that he cried out on the cross:\n\"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?\" (Mark xv: 34).\nWhy should the one thing necessary for our salvation be given up\nby us? Dear child, I bid thee to dismiss from thy mind all that I\nand all other instructors have taught thee, all work and all contem-\nplation, and study henceforth only this one thing necessary — to know\nthy own nothingness. For our Lord said: ''Mary hath chosen the\nbetter part\" (Luke x: 42). In very truth, didst thou but gain only\nthis part, thou shouldst have, not a part, but the whole of heavenly\nwisdom. This sense of our nothingness is not what some men conceit\nthemselves to know and teach. They feign a deep humility as thej\nspeak of it, but in their soul's inmost depths they cherish a notion\nof themselves as high as the steeple of the Cathedral. They would be\ngreat before men's eyes, and they deceive men, and most of all them-\nselves, by a pretense of humility. Dear child, if thou findest thyself\nclinging fast to some devout practice, meanwhile unmindful of thy\nnothingness, then I say to thee it were better to give over this busy\nmethod of thine, and turn inward to the thoughts of thy helpless\nnothingness.\n\nBut let us now consider the outward man. Ask thyself : What art\nthou, and whence art thou? Thy bodily substance is made up of such\nfoul matter, that it is offensive to thy very self as well as to all others.\nAnd what shall thy body become? A sack of un cleanliness, emiting\na most intolerable stench, turning the costliest food into the worst\nfilth. Yet this fuel for the everlasting fire of hell, is what many a one\ndevotes his whole life to pampering. A dead corpse? It is an unbear-\nable horror to the very ones who once loved it best — it is more\ndisgusting than a dead dog. It would seem as if God had set\neverything against the comfort of oup bodily life, the air and the sun\nand all the elements. Now we are freezing with cold, again scorched\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 501\n\nwith heat; now it pours down rain, again we are smothered with\nsnow ; there is hunger and thirst, there are pleasures and pains ; beasts\nand insects and worms assail and molest us, and many other such\nplagues; and it is impossible for thee to escape them.\n\nLook at the wild animals, how happily they are placed compared\nto thee. Their garments grow upon them naturally, and they arc\nalways comfortable whether it be cold or hot. As for thee, it is from\nthem that thou must borrow thy clothing; thus art thou poorer than\nthey. All thy pleasure depends on their gifts to thee, and yet thou\nart proud! Is not this an unspeakable blindness of heart? The cattle\nare quite content with what God gives them of clothing, beds, shelter,\nfood and, drink. And now consider thy marvellous misery, that thou\nsinnest not seldom by excessive enjoyment of these things that the\ncattle furnish thee. In former times the saints wept because they\nwere compelled to eat; and they laughed when they had to die.\n\nYet further consider thy nothingness in the miseries of thy nature.\nDost thou gladly pray, and watch, and fast, and weep? By no means\ncanst thou do it. What thou wouldst wish to do, that thou doest not;\nand what thou wishest not to do, that thou nevertheless must do.\nWhat miseries are thine from thy many amazing temptations; and\nwhat sms does not God threaten to allow thee to commit. Dost thou\nnever think of this? O that thou didst but learn the lesson of this\nthy nothingness, the one thing necessary to know. To be sure, the\nfact that God thus leaves thee in peril of sin is only for thy best good,\nso that thou shouldst take counsel of thy nothingness — better for thee,\nperhaps, than if thou shouldst stand high, and wert lifted up among\ngreat things.\n\nMen will come to thee with overbearing manners and hard words,\ntelling thee high-sounding and subtle things of the intellect, as if they\nthought they were Christ's apostles. Dear child, get away from them\nand sink into thy inmost soul, into thy nothingness, and let these\nmen talk on like the ringing of the bells in a church steeple. Nay,\nif all the devils in hell were turned loose upon thee, and all other\ncreatures with them— it will all help thee wonderfully, if thou wilt\nbut turn inward to the study of thy nothingness: that is \"the best\npart.\"\n\nBut thou mightst say to me : Brother, I meditate all day long on\nChrist's passion. His sufferings in Pilate's hall and before Herod,—\n\n502 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nand all the rest. Dear child, let me instruct thee. Thou must see\nin thy Savior not only His humanity; thou must look upon Him as\nthe infinite God, who made heaven and earth and all things by His\nword only, and by the same word could annihilate them — God whose\ngreatness is above all knowledge: and who yet became as nothing\nfor the sake of His miserable creatures. Then shame thyself, thou\npoor mortal man, that thou hast given thyself up to pride and vanity.\nBow down beneath the cross of the God-man. Bend thy proud head\nand ask for Christ's crown of thorns, and take up thy journey to\nCalvary. Do this in all manner of ways interior and exterior,\ncultivating constantly a sense of thy littleness. Since thy great God\nhas for thy sake annihilated Himself so far as to be judged and\ncondemned by His own creatures, crucified and put to death, so must\nthou most patiently sufifer thy little pains in all meekness, ever\ndv/elling upon the picture of thy Savior's sufferings and sinking it\ninto thy mind.\n\nBut men do not follow this way; rather they think of our Lord's\npassion with a blinded love; and it is a love which does not bear\nfruit in good works ; it does not result in their renouncing pride and\nworldly honors. Nor are they led to foreswear bodily pleasures ; they\nare the same after their meditations as tTiey were before. Alas, how\nlittle fruit is borne by that sweetest of spiritual exercises — meditation\non the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ — if we are to judge by men's\nmorals. Let it be far different in thy case, dear child. After so holy\na devotion thou shouldst feel so deeply ashamed as to wonder that\nthe earth could endure thee and that it did not open to swallow\nthee up. Eemember that there are thousands now in hell who perhaps\nwere far less sinful than thou. Had God favored them as He has thee,\nthey would have served Him far better than thou hast; yet has He\nspared thee and eternally condemned them. Often think of such\ntruths. Never taste a morsel of food or drink a drop of water but\nwith holy fear and deep humility. Use all the comforts of life wholly\nfor thy mere necessities, by no means for thy pleasure.\n\nAnd then come forward some men full of high argumentation about\nthe spiritual life ; they talk as if they had scaled high heaven in their\nwisdom, but in reality they have not moved a step beyond their own\npoor self, of whose nothingness they are quite ignorant. To argu-\nmentative truth they have attained, but to living truth, which rightly\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 503\n\nis the only truth, no man comes except by the way of his own nothing-\nness. Going apart from this way of truth one can but arrive at\nmisfortune, and then remain stationary among shadows. O children,\nthe day will come when such souls will wish they never had any show\nof spirituality or heard a word about it, or won a great name among\nmen. They will wish that they had followed the cattle in the fields\nand eaten their bread in the sweat of their face. For then must they\nrender account of every gift God gave them — a just and terrible God,\nthough now so gentle, now allowing His mercy to be so shamefully\nabused. Yet if one but realizes now this future reckoning, let him\nnot fall into despair, for these thoughts are sent him that he may\nsubject himself absolutely .under God and under all creatures in a\nspirit of entire self-renunciation. Meanwhile beware of a false and\nboastful humility. Our Lord says: \"Unless you be converted, and\nbecome as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of\nHeaven\" (Matt, xviii: 3). Let us be as unconscious of our humility\nas little babes, nor ever make it a subject of our thouglits. The Lord\nsays: \"Sufifer little children to come unto Me\" (Matt, xix: 14).\n\nThe earth is the least of all the elements, and in its littleness it\nhas fled far away from the heavens; and yet the vast celestial spheres,\nsun, moon and stars, pursue the earth with their kindly and mighty\ninfluence, producing on its lowly bosom most useful fruits. Where\nthe valley is deepest the waters do most plentifully flow down, and\nthe lowly valleys are thus more productive than the proud hills. It\nis so in the spiritual life: the soul sunken into the deepest depths of\nhumility attracts the best gifts of the divine abyss of love. \"Deep\ncalleth on deep\" (Ps. xli: 8), exclaims the Psalmist. The created\nabyss, with its boundless knowledge of its own nothingness, calleth\ninto itself the uncreated abyss that is the infinite God, and thus is it\nmade one with Him; in which union the soul knows God, and yet\nas St. Dionysius says, knows Him as like nothing that it ever knew\nbefore; for God is nothing like the things that man knows or can\never express. Herein the spirit of a man is truly humbled and self-\nabandoned. So that if it pleased God to annihilate him (if such a\nthought were possible or were permitted), he would gladly be annihi-\nlated— for he knows nothing, loves nothing, enjoys nothing, but the\nOne. Children, blessed, indeed, are the eyes that thus see, as our Lord\nsays in the text. May God grant us thus to contemplate our own\nnothingness. Amen.\n\n504 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — First is revealed to the soul its own dignity — This consists\nin its close kinship with God — Another revelation is the difference\nbetween the spiritual man and the animal man — Yet another is\nthe perception of the marvellous mutual action of knowing and\nloving God here and hereafter — Finally, the revelation of God\nHimself in the remotest interior of the soul — The teaching of\nAlbertus Magnus on this gift to the soul.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER\n\nTRINITY.\n\nBlessed are the eyes that see the things that you see. — Luke x, 23.\n\nHere we have a teaching that is the purest truth, showing us where\nthe highest blessedness of eternal life is to be found. And we read\nthat a scribe came and tempted our Lord with his questioning, and\nyet our Lord received him and answered him very mildly, referring\nhim to the witness of Holy Scripture; Now every man under the old\nlaw who would be right, must have had one of three witnesses to\napprove him. The first testimony might come from God by special\nrevelation ; the second out of the depths of his own living soul in the\nlight of natural reason ; and the third was that of Holy Scripture.\nDut this man who questioned our Lord had but one witness; to this\nour Lord referred him when He said to him : \"What is written in the\nlaw? How readest thou?\" And he answered that the law commanded\nus to love God above all things, and our neighbor as ourself. He had\nindeed answered truly; he also believed that he had fulfilled that\ncommandment, and upon this he prided himself.\n\nDear children, two meanings are to be found in the words, \"Blessed\nare the eyes that see the things that you see.\" One is the blessedness\nof the interior contemplation of our soul's dignity in its kinship with\nGod, which brings to a loving heart a most blessed grace and joy. Of\n\nof John Tauler, the illuminated Doctor 505\n\nthis dignity of our soul, which is seated in its essential inner life,\nmany masters, new and old, have treated, as Albertus Magnus, Master\nDietrich, and Master Eckhart. Some teachers speak of it as a spark\nof divine fire, others as the inmost depths of the soul, others again as\nthe crown of the soul, or as its origin and source of life. Albertus,\nhowever, calls it an interior image, in which the blessed Trinity is\nmanifested to the soul. This divine spark, say others, flies upward\nso high in the soul, that the understanding cannot follow it, for it is\never passing again upward into the divine centre which is its uncreated\nsource. But you must know, dear children, that these masters have\nexperienced in their minds and in their lives the things they herein\ntreat of; and, furthermore, they have drawn this doctrine from the\ngreatest saints and doctors of holy Church. Even certain teachers\nbefore our Lord's birth, as Plato, Aristotle and Proclus, have also\ndiligently studied this subject. As to our devout Christian masters,\nthis close kinship with God has much inflamed their fervor and that\nof their disciples, and contributed to their eternal salvation, causing\nin them a sudden conversion of their souls to God. Whereas the false\ndoctrines on this subject have worked eternal harm to souls.\n\nDear children, let us now carefully examine this road to eternal\nbliss. It is the way of unfeigned humility, and entire renunciation of\nf.elf. It makes nothing of self, nothing of all that one can have or\ncan do. For if a man having this way perceives good in himself, at\nonce he knows it as God's and not man's. To this basis of life must\nthou come, if thy eyes shall be blessed. This is the rule that Jesus\nChrist the Son of God gave to His elect, saying: ''Learn of Me,\nbecause I am meek and humble of heart\" (Matt, xi: 29). Gentleness\nand humility are two sisters who are inseparably associated in life's\njourney. To the humble our Heavenly Father hath manifested the\nsecrets of His high wisdom, and concealed them from the great ones\nof this world. This meekness of soul it is that we are to understand\nas the perfect truth in which is hidden the essence of all felicity.\n\nIn this same Gospel our Lord says: \"Many prophets and kings\nhave desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them.\"\nDear children, by the term prophets, we may understand those men\nwho glory in their natural reason, its arguments and its subtleties.\nThe eyes of such as these are not blessed. By the term kings, we may\nunderstand men of strong character and seeming holiness, powerful\nspeakers, full of self-chosen good works, abounding in fasts and\n\n506 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nprayers and vigils which they make much of, meanwhile making little\nof other ways of serving God. This spirit of self-praise is not the eye\nthat is called blessed. These men desire to see, but they do not see,\nbecause they are fixed fast in their own self-will. Children, it is by\nself-will that the harm is done; that is the very foundation of all\nhindrance to God's work in us; for the will is the eye of the soul.\nConsider that when the outward eye is blindfolded it cannot see at all.\nAnd the eye must be entirely unstained with any color whatsoever if\nit shall be able to distinguish all colors. So must our interior eye,\nthe will, be entirely cleared of all desires to have and not to have,\nif it shall be the blessed eye destined to see the eternal things of God.\nJn worldly men the colors that stain the soul's eye are coarse and\nmaterial. But spiritual men also are afflicted with their own peculiar\nself-deceptions.\n\nEach man, though he be but one person, is, nevertheless, three men\nin one. First he is just the external being, animal, living in his\nsenses; the second is the interior man, whose life is in his reasoning\nfaculties; the third is the man, that is, the soul, in its highest part,\nthat part which we call the spirit: and all these three are one and\nthe same man. Now in this threefold man God should reign supreme.\nChildren, the will must entirely abdicate its supremacy to God,\naccording to our Lord's word : \"J came down from Heaven, not to do\nMy will, but the will of Him that sent Me\" (John vi: 38). How plain\nit is, that as long as thou standest upon thy own will thou art forfeit\nof the divine blessedness of tliy eves, for blessedness is found only in\nunfeigned renunciation of one's own will. This is bom of that lowli-\nness of spirit in which self-will is lost and gone. Self-will is the pillar\non which rests the whole structure of a deordinated life : knock down\nthat support, and every roof and wall of imperfection falls to the\nground. And the less value a man puts on himself, the less self-will\nhas he.\n\nLet us consider the love that is theirs who have blessed eyes-\nlove with the whole heart, the whole soul, all the powers and all\nThe mind. There is much controversy among the masters as to\nwhether one's love or one's imderstanding be the higher faculty — and\nthat question we leave on one side, being full sure that of the two\nlove is, at any rate, the more meritorious and useful : for love joyfully\nenters in where knowledge must needs remain without. Love requires\nno subtle knowledge of things, but a clear, living. Christian faith.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 507\n\nLet us consider the form of love, its matter, and its end or purpose.\nAs to the form of love, that is just love's own self; its matter is our\nboul and its powers, or, in other terms, our heart, whose work in\nlove is to love in all ; and the end and i)urpose of love is to love God\ndirectly and without any intermediation. Finally, the essence of love\nis simply to love, for love loves for the sake of love. A furthei^\nexplanation is given by Kichard of St. Victor: \"Love in its lowest\ndegree proceeds from the heart and from its thoughts ; also from the\nBoul, in its enjoyments and content; and from the soul's powers, in\ntheir resistance to and suppression of all that is opposed to love.\"\nBut all this is not the love that we are to consider.\n\nAlbertus Magnus comments on this Gospel as follows: \"To love\nGod with all our heart means to love Him with a free and ready will\nin such wise that we are practically well exercised in love.\" It often\nhappens that a man will have a love for something, and against that\nlove his reason in the exercise of its freedom will revolt. And many\nanother time it happens that reason constrains a man to love some-\nthing, to which he has no manner of attraction. But love, to be at\nits best, should go forth instinctively from a free and a holy hearty\nneeding as little help from the warnings and the considerings and\nthe ponderings of human reason, as is possible in this changeful life\nof ours.\n\nThe words, \"With all thy soul,-' mean a love full of satisfaction and\ncontentment in loving God, with entire freedom of will, engaging\nevery element of the soul's life, embracing the inward man and the\noutward : this love comes from the soul's knowledge of truth.\n\nThe words, \"And with all thy strength,\" mean that a man subdues\nto the service of this love of God all his animal powers and all his\nlife of the senses. Such a man controls for God's love all his bodily\nexistence, just as an archer strings the bow to shoot his arrow. This\nis the fulness of love, and it is the highest degree.\n\nTo love God \"with all thy mind\" is a love which embraces all the\nothers, as a measure contains what is to be measured out, fixing the\nshape and the weight and the distribution. St. Augultine says : \"An\nact does not become an acquired virtue until it gains a certain form,\nso that a man is grown used to it, does it as easily and with as much\npleasure as if it had become part of his very nature.\" And that state\nof virtue arises from a foundation of humble love.\n\n608 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nMark well that one's mind is in itself something much higher than\nthe mental faculties, which draw all their force from the mind, belong\nto it, and flow ont from it — the mind itself being beyond measure\nabove in its own powers. For its being is simple, essential and uniform.\nThe learned tell us that the mind or the spirit is always in action,\nwhether one be sleeping or waking, conscious of act or unconscious.\nNow, that spirit of ours has a constant longing for God, ever gazing\ntowards Him, ever longing to love Him and enjoy Him. Exactly how\nthat is, we need not now discuss. Furthermore, the spirit of man\nbeholds God, if it but will it, in itself; for although it be a created\nbeing, it is yet made to resemble the uncreated God. Proclus, a\nheathen writer, calls this a sleep, a quiet and divine rest, saying: \"It\nis a secret search of one for one, and is a state too high to be com-\nprehended.\" When the soul turns towards this supernaturally, then\nit becomes God-like, leading a divine life. As a man goes forth to\noutward things, he cannot know, he cannot even believe that this state\nof the spirit can be; yet it really is. The human spirit is planted in\nsuch soil and has such a life in it, that it is drawn powerfully to\nitself; it is a peculiar property of the spirit to be bent and inclined\ninwards to its own deepest depths, in search of its own origin. This\ntendency is never quenched, no, not in hell itself, whose worst pain\nis that the soul must forever endure the activity of this tendency.\nIf a man will but hearken to reason, that will guide all his lower\npowers and will subject them to its mastery, rejecting whatever is\nagainst reason as something alien to its nature. Keason thus raises\na man above the influence of his senses, and there he rests free from\nall disturbance. When the interference of the lower faculties is thus\nhindered in the Christian soul, it sees its own essence and its power\nin an intellectual image of Him to whom it owes its origin. Blessed\nare the eyes that come to this sight; blessed the soul that clings to\nthis holy state essentially, and sinks into it. St. Dionysius teaches\nthat the forms and images of the imagination can in this state have\nno influence over us.\n\nAlbertus Magnus tells of six excellences of this high state. It is\nmost wonderful: the man to whom this spiritual insight is granted\ncan never again be amazed by wonderful or miraculous happenings.\nIt is the very highest : no spiritual state is superior to it. It is most\npurely spiritual: there is no manner of admixture of the material\nworld. It is the most secure: its safety is its own and is very\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 50^\n\nperfect, borrowing security from none other. It is inseparably joined\nto the spirit: it cannot be influenced by fleshly lusts or temptations.\nIt is the least hindered state: for in it the spirit walks in the\nbrightest light, in which it feels at home and which has grown to\nbe, as it were, a habit of its nature; no task of God's appointment\ncan now be burdensome. It is also the most enduring state: it\nencounters no opposition, because it is not rooted in the soul's\nsensitive existence.\n\nThis is called a state of eternal beatitude, and for three reasons.\nFirst, it is the image of God divinely imparted to the soul. Second,\nthe soul is immersed in the deity. Third, the spirit enjoys God as if\nin His very substance. Hence it is called tlie action of God in the\nsoul. All these wonderful things of the soul's unchangeable bliss,\nspoken of by Albertus, are not as it were in any state that may be\ncalled human activity, but rather an essential indwelling of the spirit,,\nliving with God in its own depths, in a way superior to that of this\nlife; for in this life all things change, and unhappiness is bom of\nactivity. To such a man a mishap may occur in his outward life, bu^\nit cannot affect the essence of his happiness in his union with God.\nNow when our Savior said : \"Blessed are the eyes that see what you\nhave seen,\" he meant this blessedness.\n\nChildren, to attain to this sort of ecstacy or rapture, one must\ncarefully choose his times and his circumstances, namely, qmet hours,\nsolitude, and recollection. Therefore is the night a favorable time,\nfor it is long and still. Whereas if one waits till morning, he must\nprovide various things, and run about here and there, and thus\ninterior detachment is broken in upon. The devil takes advantage\nof this, perhaps, to snatch from thee thy opportunity— it may never\ncome again to thee, but be given to another who will make better\nuse of it. Dear child, if God gave thee an earthly kingdom, he\nwould give thee with it what was necessary for thee in order to\npossess and govern it. As to this kingdom of blessedness, He gives\nthee all that is needed for thy possessing it; but the misery of it\nis that thou wilt not procure solitude and recollection to that end.\n\nNo one, not even the Pope or holy Church, would wish to disturb\nsuch men as these, but rather be glad to leave them wholly to God,\nand this we could prove from the history of the greatest saints.\nDavid calls this state of soul a spiritual slumber; St. Paul, a peace-\n\n510 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nthat surpasses all understanding; St. John, a stillness lasting half\nan hour. St. Dionysius and St. Gregory, as well as many other\ngreat saints, have written to the same effect. Let us give to such\nfavored souls all careful attention, and leave them to follow God's\nguidance. St. Augustine says: \"When God would work, let us care-\nfully attend to His work, and observe it.\" Let us bear in mind that\nthe Lord's yoke is sweet and His burden light. Now, a yoke is\nsomething drawn over one's head and fastened to his neck. So has\nGod in all sweetness yoked and assumed control over these favored\nsouls, placing a light burden upon them, and leading them by his\nsweet yoke whithersoever He will. If thou art thyself thus honored,\nand if thou feelest a sudden stroke fall upon thee, be still, God is\nfastening his burden of blessedness upon thee. If anyone says that\nthou hast lost thy senses, be still, answer not: it is thus that God\nis making thee ready for His blessedness. And, meanwhile, if thou\nhast to endure something, yet thou are not going to be beheaded, as\nwere the holy marytrs. May the merciful God prepare us to follow\nHis lead, until our eyes shall behold His blessedness. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 511\n\n3n Wi\\dt Wag a f ^rfrrt Mm \\b Stk? (&oh\n\nSynopsis — God communicates to man His own invisibility — This should\nmake us prefer the hidden life of pnayer — Another resemblance is\nto God's opposition to worldliness — Study of Christ's passion per-\nfects this resemblance — God would also give us His unchangeable-\nness — This is assimilated by the steadfastness of holy living — Be-\nsides these, God would endow us with universal holiness, springing\nfrom love.\n\nSERMON FOK THE FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\nAnd put on the new man, who according to God. is created in justice and\nholiness of truth. — Eph. iv, 24.\n\nWalk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the tests of the flesh. For the\nflesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. — Gal. v, 16, 17.\n\nDear children, if we would walk in the spirit, we must steadfastly\nturn away from all sin, and from inordinate love of creatures ; and we\nmust lovingly turn to God with all the powers of our soul in per-\nsevering prayer. To this we must add detachment of spirit, and well-\nchosen devout exercises. By these means we shall bring the flesh into\nsubjection to the spirit, \"and put on the new man, who according to\nGod is created in justice and holiness of truth.\"\n\nChildren, you should know the dignity of your soul. And although\nevery creature of God belongs to Him, yet none other so particularly\nas our soul. God made use of no other creature to create us, but freely\nand directly did He make us, taking counsel alone of His goodness,\nand forming us after His own image and likeness. We are more Hia\nthan we are any others of His creatures. His image and likeness is\nsunk so deep in us that it can never be effaced — not even in souls\ncondemned eternally to hell. And, as inwardly we are in God's like-\nness, so also outwardly we should show forth God's likeness, being in\nour life conformed to His holiness.\n\nThis likeness should follow four attributes of God. The first is that\nOod is invisible, for we know that no man can see God and live. We\n\n512 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ncopy God in this when we come to a spiritual life; for then whatever\noutward form our life may take, no man need be harmed by what he\n8ees in us.\n\nDear children, St. Paul writes that by Christ the world was crucified\nto him, and he to the world (Gal. vi : 14) ; which means that the world\nwith all its joys and luxuries and lusts was exceedingly painful to the\nApostle; he longed for all this infinitely less than for the gallows of\nthe cross. And what meant he by saying that he was a cross to the\nworld? He meant that he was such a man in morals and in manners,\nand in the whole man that he showed himself to be, that the world\ncared for him as little as it cared for the cross. Now it is in this that\nthe, perfection of spiritual men consists ; if thou standest there, thou\nart in the way of perfection. But, alas, although there are many among\nus to whom indeed the world is a cross, for they do not desire it, do we\non the other hand find one man in a thousand so perfect as not to\ndesire to please the world? Nor am I now speaking of those who\nfollow sinful courses. No, dear children, no, by no means. But I say\nsimply this : The man who can truly affirm with St. Paul : I am a cross\nto the world, must have reached that point of perfection as to show\nplainly in all he does and in every trait of his character that he cares\nnot to please anybody except God ; never dreams of winning anybody's\nfavor except God's alone. He indeed it is that can say : I am the\nworld's cross. I range myself against it in everything whatsoever, in\nmy interior dislike for it, in my outward opposition to it, and to that\ndegree that it no more desires me than it covets the gallows of the cross.\n\nThe second way in which our soul is shown to be like to God is that\nwe are conformed to His unchangeableness. Thus must we be wholly\nsteadfast in a good life. We must give ourselves over to Him perma-\nnently. Let the whole world be turned upside down, we cannot be\nshaken loose from Him, never thrown off into sin, not separated from\nHim in any manner whatsoever. Ah, dear children, to the man who is\nthus fast fixed in God, all changes are alike, fortune or misfortune,\npoverty or wealth, joy or sorrow. O how like unto God the creator,\nis the soul that stands immovable in Him who gives motion to all\ncreated things.\n\nThe third resemblance to God is that the perfect soul is the image\nand likeness of all virtue. We know that in God there is the image of\nall things created, namely in His eternal and only begotten Son our\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 513\n\nLord Jesus Christ — an image not like that in the creature, but the\nliving image as God is in God, without beginning and without end.\nSo must a perfect man assemble in his soul the living image of all\nvirtues that he sees around him as they shine forth in the lives of good\nmen and women of all conditions. From one and from another he\nlearns different virtues and acquires various kinds of holiness; this\none teaches him humility, that one patience, a third mortification;\ngood order and discipline, devotion, spiritual motives, truthfulness,\naffectionateness, cleanness of life, obedience. His soul is a treasure\nhouse of virtues, gathered in from all directions. It is a picture gallery\nfull of masterpieces of virtue, which he copies in his daily life. And\nthus never is anything seen in him but holy living.\n\nThe fourth trait of his likeness to God is that he is good ; he shows\nforth the divine goodness. God is the fountain head from which all\ngoodness flows. All the goodness in this world taken together and\njoined in one is called and is good, because it is a single drop of\nGod's goodness, a drop He has permitted us to enjoy. Hence, dear\nchildren, must we cleave close to this infinite source of all good, if\nwe would feel the power of good in our lives — the nearer the source the\npurer and the sweeter the waters of goodness and grace and holiness.\n\nWhen we give up the world, that is to say, sin, we draw nigh to the\nflowing spring of divine grace. The man who totally shuts out what-\nsoever is the world or cleaves to the world, he it is that may be said to\nleave the world; self-will, self-love, self-opinionatedness, these must\none and all be shut out. This done, a man must then give himself up\nto God, body and goods and liberty, keeping back nothing of self or for\nself. This is what it means to be a really good and pious man. He\nmust surrender his will in subjection to another man's will, and keep\nobedience even to his death. He must hand over his goods to another\nman's ownership, holding nothing back for his own even secret posses-\nsion. His soul, he must plainly manifest to another, to be by him directed\nin all things whatsoever. Children, whosoever honestly does all this,\nand thus goes forth from self in soul and body, and draws nigh to the\nfountain head of all good and all grace — O how plentifully shall the\nliving waters flow into him, fructifying his soul unto all virtue. Then\ndoes that man arrive at essential blessedness; he is like unto God\nindeed, and \"according to God is created in justice and holiness of\ntruth.\" God grant that this may be our happy destiny. Amen.\n\n514 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — Gentleness is the ideal virtue for dealings imth our neighbor\n— This is made up of affection towards all men for God's sake and\nhumility in our own regard — A universal ideal is found in Jesus\ncrucified — The mingled sweetness and meekness resulting from the\nstudy of Calvary — How rightly guided pMyer ministers to an un-\nderstanding of Christ's pission — Prudent mortification is pioduc-\ntive of an ideal wisdom in spiritual matters — Observations on the\nremoter and rarer ideals revealed in contemplation.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER\n\nTRINITY.\n\nIf we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be made\n•lesirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another. Brethren,\nif a man be overtaken in any fault, you who are spiritual, instruct such a one hi\nthe spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye\none another's burdens; and so you shall fulfill the law of Christ. For if any man\nthink himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But\nlet everyone prove his own work, and so he shall have glory in himself only,\nand not in another. For everyone shall bear his own burden. — Gal. v, 25, 26;\nand vi, 1-5.\n\nAll these words of St. Paul are full of wisdom, but especially the first\nones : \"If we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit,\" that is, in the\nHoly Ghost. For as our soul is the life of our body, so is the Holy\nGhost the life of our soul. Now there are three ways in which we\nshould walk in the Spirit. The first is in outward conduct as to our-\nself and our neighbor; the second way is after the likeness of our Lord;\nand the third is a way without any likeness.\n\nSt. Paul tells us how to walk according to the first way : \"Let us not\nbe made desirous of vain glory,\" for worldly-minded men diligently\noccupy day and night in vainglorious thoughts. One can easily see\nhow the Holy Ghost does not come into them. They are not members\nof God, but are separated from Him; He has no part in them. Then\nthere are other men who, under an appearance of spirituality, carry\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 515\n\nworldly hearts within them, and are desirous of vainglory in every-\nthing— clothing, company, relatives and much besides. The longer they\nthus continue, the worse is their state. The Holy Ghost comes not into\nthem, and their state is a more perilous one than they imagine. Vain-\nglory is seeking anything in order to be honored and loved by other\nmen. And this taint insinuates itself into all our good religious\ncustoms, into our conversation and manners, and into our good\nworks, and this to such a degree that it behooves us all to be on our\nguard against it, praying God to save us from it ; for of ourselves we are\npowerless to resist it.\n\nAnd we should walk circumspectly towards our neighbor. We should\nnot quarrel with him, nor in anywise annoy him, nor circumvert him,\nnor treat him harshly. On the contrary, we should bear ourselves\ntowards our neighbor in the spirit of meekness. Consider thy own self,\nand meddle not with thy neighbor. Some there are who assail others\nwith abusive language and scornful bearing, often enough about trifling\nthings. Look to thyself in this, for where such conduct is there the\nHoly Ghost is not.\n\n\"Bear ye one another's burdens,\" and that will make us all one body\nin Jesus Christ. Superiors should instruct their subjects in all kindli-\nness of spirit, and admonish them lovingly. Our holy Father St-\nDominic was of so mild a spirit, joined to so deep an earnestness, that\nno matter how perverse any subject of his might be, he never failed to\nconvert him. St. Paul teaches us how a gentle spirit can by his\npatience soften a hard man — \"in the spirit of meekness.\" Let each\nof us thus deal with our neighbor, guarding ourselves carefully, lest we\ndestroy God's temple, that is to say, our neighbor's soul, and thereby\nfall under God's curse.\n\nNow let us consider the second way of walking according to the\nSpirit, namely, after the sweet pattern of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let\nus set His life before us like a mirror, and conform to it to the utmost\nof our ability. Look at Him ; see how patient He is, how kind, gentle\nand faithful to us; see how candid He is, how truthful; and O how\noverflowing with love His whole life long. Take all this to thyself after\nthe manner of prayer and meditation, praying Him with the deepest\nfervor of thy heart that He would help thee to follow along this way\nin the footsteps of His virtues, bearing in mind that thou hast no\npower of thy own to do this, but recommending thyself with every\n\n516 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nearnestness to His boundless goodness. Set thyself and thy Redeemer\ntogether before thy eyes, and see how unlike these two are to each\nother. Consider how strange to thee is this way of salvation, namely,\nthe imitation of Jesus Christ. Offer to the heavenly Father His divine\nimage, His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, as a substitute for thyself,\nwho art unlike God in all things. Eemind the heavenly Father of His\nSon's innocent thoughts, and words, and works; His bitter passion\nand death — all for thy guilty soul and those of all mankind living and\ndead.\n\nDear children, our Lord is so good! And whosoever would stand\nwith Him in His goodness has but to beg Him for virtues as for favors,\nand all will be granted him. He is easily moved by our petitions, He\nhears His friends most gladly. Even our purgatory. He readily remits it\nall, if we but turn to Him with our heart's deepest fervor. Then all\nour transgressions are pardoned, and the years that were wasted are\nquickly atoned for. But this transformation God alone can give, God\nalone can perfect. A man must pray for it day by day with love and\nhumility. He will know that it is at hand, when he is interiorly\nadmonished that he must now give up all hindrances to God's action\nwithin him, and then he has but to wait.\n\nChildren, the prayer of the spirit pierces the heavens, for in this the\nsoul follows in the steps of our Lord Jesus Christ; upon that rests all\nthat I can teach, or all other teachers, namely, imitation of Christ.\nSt. Peter writes : \"Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example\nthat thou shouldst follow His steps\" (I Peter ii: 21). No man can go\nso high as to reach beyond our Lord's footsteps. The higher one\nascends the plainer are Christ's footsteps, who trod that way in His\nlife and death and in His glory.\n\nHere come virgins from the market place and sit them down con-\ntent, as if the entering of this religious house was their perfection.\nNo, it is by no means so ; the way is not so short as that. They must,\nso St. Paul says, crucify their flesh with its vices and concupiscences.\nThey complain of difficulties — they fall asleep at their prayers. But\nwhat wonder if they do? And they complain again that they have no\nsweetness of devotion. What! Wilt thou seek for sweet feelings\nforgetful of the awful bitterness of thy Savior's passion and death?\nThy slothfulness sets thee far off from His footsteps, for in all thy\ndoings and devotions thou seekest only thyself. Seek nothing of pleas-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 517\n\nure, not in any mental state nor in its images. Prostrate thyself\nhumbly before the remembrance of His life and death, and carefully\nconsider thy own nothingness. The lower thou sinkest thyself the\nhigher thou shalt stand, for they that humble themselves shall be\nexalted. Set thy nothingness in contrast with God's infinite majesty,\nand then consider how He became, as it were, nothing for thy sake and\nthrough thy sinfulness; and do not again imagine that thy corrupt\nnature has yet been overcome. The war against it thou must bravely\nbegin and carry on to victory, for victory will not fly down from\nheaven into thy bosom.\n\nThere are some men so given over to life's pleasures, that God must\ndeprive them of their means of enjoyment by main force. If they were\nbut detached in spirit, even riches and honors might well be theirs,\nfor they would still advance in perfection. But what costs nothing\nis worth nothing. Young and hearty and unmortified natures, living\na life of flesh and blood, complain of hindrances to their spiritual life\nin their occupations and in distractions. All that may be true, for the\nreason that thou hast not as yet wisely chosen thy way. It must be\nanother way from thy present one, if thou art going to arrive at per-\nfection. Such souls are of the race of Simon of Gyrene, who carried\nthe cross of Christ by compulsion and not from love. One should\nunder all circumstances offer to carry the holy cross of Christ out of\nlove ; he should constantly place himself at the disposal of Jesus cruci-\nfied. Art thou retiring to sleep ? Lay thee down on the cross of Christ,\nand pray and yearn that the blessed bosom of the crucified may be thy\nbed. His sweet heart thy pillow, His holy arms thy covering. Those\nwide open arms should be thy refuge in all thy necessities of soul and\nbody, and well will they shield thee from harm. Art thou sitting\ndown to eat? Dip every morsel in His holy wounds. When our sisters\nsing their psalms, they should place each holy canticle in His blessed\nwounds, considering what those wounds mean to us. So shouldst\nthou identify Him with thyself and thyself with Him in thy thoughts.\nWhat simple talk is this, that men boast that they recite the Lord's\nprayer, and meanwhile fail to follow His example, fail to enter into\nthe Lord's spirit.\n\nThe third way of perfection is imagelese — a high, short, darksome\nand sorrowful way is this, my children. Job speaks of it: \"To a man\nwhose way is hidden, and God hath surrounded him with darkness'^\n\n518 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n(Job iii:21). Here it is that women are strengthened to be men and\nall men who here refuse to follow God are brought to naught. O how\ndark is this way. For all that had been granted the soul in the other\nways of perfection is now — so the soul feels — quite stripped of it.\nWhither it should turn for relief it knows not, and so it stands in the\nway in deep oppression of spirit encompassed by darkness, for light\nseems departed from it. St. Gregory says: \"Many walk in darkness\nin this life, thinking to be saved and ending in eternal death.\" But\nthese are in the darkness of sin. The darkness we are considering is\nthe road to eternal life. And this unknown and darksome way we\nmust be willing to follow, rather than the broad road that leads to\ndestruction, against which we are warned in the Gospel. This is God's\nlittle path to paradise, and it lies between knowledge and ignorance;\none must keep it in as plain sight as an archer does his target.\n\nWe must stop neither at ignorance nor at knowledge in treading this\nroad, but keep on steadfastly guided by a simple faith. We must avoid\nboth over security and despondency, trusting entirely to holy hope.\nSo too we must avoid both false peace of soul and indolence of body,\npressing onward under the guide of true self-renunciation. Excessive\nfear and rash presumption must both be avoided, the soul being led\non by unfeigned humility. But, dear children, remember that this\nnarrow path can be understood only by knowledge of one's inmost soul.\nAs to our outer senses and the soul's lesser powers, they are useful\nto inform us of the circumstancees of life that surround us, for it is a\nshame for a man to know many things and not to know himself.\n\nBy sticking to this road one is safeguarded against this terrible\nfate spoken of by St. Gregory. But one can go astray by knowledge\nwhen it generates pride, and by ignorance when that degenerates into\nsilliness. But a humble sinking down into entire detachment of spirit,\nis a safeguard against any misfortune that may befall us — sinking\ndown into thy own nothingness, with absorbtion in thy holy faith\nJoined to living confidence in God. This saves one from those foul\ntemptations to discouragement, a vice that has stagnated many spirits,\nand made them give up all progress, thinking it impossible to finally\nsucceed. No, dear children ; never allow yourselves to be driven back-\nwards ; press onward with love and with yearning of heart ; lean confi-\ndently on thy good and faithful God. When natural goodness exists\n*nd grace is added, then one strides forward swiftly. I myself am\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 519\n\nacquainted with several young people of about twenty-five years of age,\nof noble birth and living in the married state, who have followed this\nway and attained to perfection. But it happens that when good young\nsouls of a poor condition in life would advance to God in this way,\nand therein are awaiting God's guidance, they are often driven out\nof it by others, and are forced to go to work to earn bread — and thereby\nit may happen that great spiritual advantages are forfeited. Mean-\nwhile, it is a perilous thing to be associated with those who follow this\nspirit and to be made responsible for their guidance, because they may\nvery easily go astray.\n\nChildren, three things are to be considered about this. The first is\nthat it is God who does all these souls' work, just in so far as they\nallow Him, and in these things they are of course good and praise-\nworthy. The second is this : If one is turned to God with all his spirit-\nual life, cooperating with Him in love and in every purpose, just so\nfar is such a soul good. Thirdly, if that man yields to self-content and\nthus gives up to his natural sense of proprietorship, then everything\ngoes wrong with him, his darkness grows deeper and it lasts longer.\nThis darkness casts the natural man into unrest and anguish of soul,\nfor he is placed helplessly between enjoyment of the images of his imag-\nination and deprivation and absence of them. All the sad things we\nhave already spoken of happen to him, and he has no savor of any\nspiritual joy left to him. What he would enjoy he cannot have, seek\nit however eagerly he may; and thus he remains in deep desolation\nand constraint of spirit.\n\nThis state of suffering drives many a one away from home on pil-\ngrimages to Aix-la-Chapelle or to Rome; sends many into monasteries.\nBut the more eagerly they search for relief the less they get of it.\nOthers give up the struggle and go back to the lower spiritual methods\nof imaginative forms in their prayer; they have not the courage to\nsuffer patiently to the end, but fall out of the narrow and rough way.\nBut O children, how blessed are those noble spirits that persevere to\nthe end in this painful darkness; they are God's best beloved. But\ntheir poor nature suffers many a death agony before all their task i.s\ndone. Once a hermit living in a forest had a novice, who asked him\nwhat he should do for his perfection. The holy father said : \"Go into\nthy cell and sit there crying out with the Psalmist: 'My tears have\nbeen my bread day and night, whilst it is said to me daily. Where is\n\n520 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nthj God V \" Children, never leave the footsteps of Christ. What is\nthe good of devising ways and means of relief, if one will not keep to\nthis narrow road ? And he sure that thy perseverance in this shall not\nbe in vain.\n\nFor what is the end? The Lord will come to thee at the appointed\nhour, and He will instantaneously manifest the hidden treasure of His\nlove, the bright shining light of His truth heretofore covered from thy\neyes. In thy innermost soul shalt thou know why and how thy God\nhas led thee through darkness to light; thou shalt be fully repaid for\nthy steadfast fidelity to His guidance. Then more fully than ever\nbefore shalt thou be granted the gift of deep humility, the boon of entire\nself renunciation. The more profound has been thy sorrow, the richer\nshall be the gifts of the interior life now bestowed upon thee, and over-\nflowing into all thy works in a most supernatural way. May we all\nhave courage to follow God in this darksome way to the end; may He\nbring us all forth into everlasting light. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 521\n\nQlruBttng (^oh\n\nSynopsis — Greed for this world's goods a universal vice: the blindness\nand folly of it — Seeking for God's kingdom within us — Relation of\noutward good works to this inner quest — How improvidence is to\n\"be guarded against — The final result is the proper union of out-\nward and inward religion.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER\n\nTRINITY.\n\nNo man can serve two masters .... Consider the lilies of the field, how\nthey grow ; they labor not, neither do they spin. But I say to you, that not even\nSolomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. And if the grass of the\nfield, which is today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, God doth so clothe, how\nmuch more you, and ye of little faith? Be not solicitous, therefore, saying what\nshall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed. For after\nall these things do the heathen seek. For your Father knoweth that you have n\need of all these things. Seek ye, therafore, first the kingdom of God, and His\njustice, and all these things shall be added unto you. — Matt, vi, 24-33.\n\nThis is our Lord's teaching that we cannot serve both God and\nmammon, but must hate the one and love the other. You will find\na wonderful doctrine taught here, if you study it attentively. Our\nSavior teaches us as plain as our Pater Noster, in very simple terms,\nand with beautiful comparisons. He bids us set aside all anxiety\nabout transitory things. In this same gospel He says: \"Which of\nyou by taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?\" You\nknow full well, children, men's shortcomings in this respect, many\na hidden sin of distrust of providence being committed; and that\nthe capital sin of avarice is also committed. These sins work,\nperhaps, more secret harm among men than any others. Let each\none of us consider whether or not in his thoughts and his works he\nis overanxious to provide for his temporal wants, sometimes even to\nthe injury of his neighbor. A full consideration of this — where\nwould it end? How strange that we cannot trust everything to God,\nwho rules absolutely over all things in heaven and earth. We act\n\n522 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nas if we were to live on earth for all eternity. If one but learned\nthe lesson of this gospel, he would be shocked to think that\nhe so selfishly seeks his own advantage against all his fellowmen;\nall his words, works and thoughts being devoted to his own honor,\nor pleasure, or gain exclusively; and that even in the things which\npertain to God's service. Children, this failing is so deep-rooted in\nmany men that every corner of their soul is filled with greed for the\nperishable goods of this world, their soul being bent and twisted by\nit, like the poor crippled woman in the gospel, who was bent down\nto the ground by an evil spirit.\n\nPoor blinded souls! Why will you not trust God, not in outward\nshow but in all sincerity. Has He not delivered you from the infec-\ntion of the solicitude of this treacherous world? Think of all He\nhas done for you in the eternal things of heaven: and will He not\nprovide you with the petty necessities of this life? Is it not lament-\nable, that a man pretending to be spiritual, should be absorbed in\noutward occupations — his petty little work, his little garments, and\nhis trifling engagements? Until at last he can scarcely ever come\nto God or enter into his own heart: and indeed is quite content to\nforego all thoughts of eternal things, if only his temporal affairs go\non prosperously. These men, though they have the outward show\nof spirituality, are yet as much immersed in their miserable little\ndoings, as are men in the great world with affairs of high importance.\nSo our Lord bids us seek His kingdom first and its justice, and after\nthat all these temporal things will be given us. He does not so much\nas call them gifts, for they seem to him too trifling to merit so good\na name. I can but be silent about the widespread evil of this foolish\nand most useless anxiety over temporal necessities, straight against\nthe ordering of Gods' good providence. St. Peter says: \"Casting\nall your care upon Him, for He hath a care of you\" (I Peter v:7).\n\nCarefulness about worldly things does a threefold harm: it blinds\nthe judgment; it quenches the fire of love, deadening spiritual earnest-\nness; and it hides the interior way to God. It is like a malarious\nvapor which chokes a man's breathing. Such is the influence of\nearthly solicitude, which without doubt springs from the vice of\navarice.\n\nLet each one of you, dear children, look carefully to himself as\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 523\n\nlong as he remains in this life, setting himself to seek God's Kingdom\ndeep down in his own soul. There it lies hidden, there it will be\nfound, there it will yield you its riches. I say to you emphatically,\nthat whatever spiritual things you neglect now for the sake of\ntemporal advantage, you shall lack in eternity. This earnest devot^d-\nness involves a hard struggle; one must fight manfully against self-\ninterest, against the evil spirit, and against the world. Many a\nsinful tendency must be overcome ere you shall find God's Kingdom;\nand this is not to be achieved in a day. It comes with hard striving\nand patient labor; it involves the withdrawal of our affections from\ntransitory things, and the suppression of all anxiety about tliem.\nThat a man shall seek his own interest, is a trait rooted deep In our\nanimal nature. Yea, even in his dealings with God will he insist\non having consolation of spirit and sweetness of feeling — he must\nalways crave some compensation. He will, for example, join the\npleasures of human companionship with the possession of the King-\ndom of God. But we must learn to suffer in the spirit of faith in\nChrist; after that, God will gladly fill us with His gifts.\n\nTherefore do good works ; exercise thyself in the practice of virtue ;\nGod will in due time reward thee. But meanwhile carefully avoid\njudging thy neighbor, and never esteem thyself his better. Children,\nsuppress all this naturial tendency to self-seeking. Avoid doing\nspiritual things for petty temporal compensation, because this smacks\nof simony, which is a sin against God's justice, and therefore con-\ndemned by holy Church. God is by His very nature the end and\nobject of all things that exist. Why, then, shouldst thou make some\ncontemptible created thing the end and object of thy virtuous works?\n\nChildren, seek God's kingdom and His justice, and make this the\nfoundation principle of your religious life — seek God alone in His\nkingdom, the object we long for and pray for in our Pater Noster.\nO how powerful a prayer that is; but you do not know how much\nthis petition in it means : \"Thy kingtom come.\" It is really a prayer\nto obtain possession of God's own self, for the kingdom of God is God\nHimself, reigning in all created things. In that kingdom God is our\nFather (as we begin the Pater Noster), full of fatherly fidelity and\nfatherly power. If He finds our souls ready, then (as the Pater Koster\nproceeds) He makes His name known, hallowed and lovingly adored\nin our interior life. And then follows the coming of His holy kingdom.\n\n524 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nin us, He guiding us, and doing His work of justice within us. So,\ntoo, His will is done in us as it is in Heaven, that is to say, as it is\ndone in Himself. Alas, children, how often do we give up our will\nto God's in this His interior kingdom only to take it back again, and\nuse it against God's will. Rise up and restore God thy will, bind\nthyself fast and firm to God's will in true self-renunciation, trusting\nfor thy care to His fatherly providence. Can He not do all things?\nHast thou not often proved His loving care of thee? Trust Him,\ntherefore, most confidently, seeking His justice and His kingdom\nevery day and hour thou livest.\n\nThe righteousness of God consists in seeking Him interiorly and\nclinging faithfully to Him, having Him ever in mind in what thou\ndost, and giving Thyself over to His guidance. The soul that does\nall this is ruled by God, and from it all inordinate anxiety about\ncreated things falls away.\n\nI do not mean to say that one should be improvident; we must\nnot tempt God. You must exercise prudent foresight for all proper\nprovision for yourself, as well as for others confided to your care.\nYou should also be in a position to do acts of kindness to your\nneighbor in a spirit of common charity, all things being ordered\ndiscreetly. But whatsoever you do or strive to do, conversing with\nothers, eating and drinking, sleeping and waking — in all things\nwhatsoever, keep God in view and God alone, and not your own\ninterests. In this way a noble spirit will go through this mortal\nlife clean of all sordid avarice, passing amid creatures in real detach-\nment, enslaved to none, looking forward to his heavenly country, ever\nconsidering His heavenly Father, from whose bosom He came forth\nat his creation.\n\nYou might object, that if God does not abandon those who put their\ntrust in Him, how does it happen that He often permits good and\nfaithful servants of His to sufifer painful want? Albertus Magnus\ngives three reasons to account for this. The first Is, that God may\ntest a man's trust in Him, so that it may become sincere and steadfast.\nMany a one does God allow to suffer want that He may perfectly\nteach him the virtue of detachment. And then He in due time comes\nto his help, that he may love his Heavenly Father more tenderly,\nand pour out his soul in gratitude to Him. In all this he is drawn\nnearer to God. The second reason is for the sake of penance; for by\nsuffering in this life with a devout resignation to the divine will, a\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 525\n\nman lessens his purgatory hereafter. And the third reason is that\nperhaps these servants of God are called on to suffer as an eternal\nreproach to evil men, who, though well able to assist them, yet\nculpably refuse to do so.\n\nDear child, seek this kingdom, for it is nothing less than God's\nown self. When attachment to creatures ceases, then the will of God\nis done on earth as it is in heaven. The will of God in heaven is the\nsame as His will in His divine Son. If thou wilt thyself become God's\nkingdom and be ruled wholly by Him, then desire nothing, intend noth-\ning but God's will. Then shall God be in thy soul, the eternal King\nseated on His throne and gloriously reigning.\n\nThis kingdom is in the deepest depths of the spirit. A man is first\npracticed in all good outward exercises of piety, and then he retires\ninto the interior life of his intelligence, and becomes, as it were, the\nunion of two different men, one the man of the religious life of the\nsenses, the other of that of the intelligence. Thus being now made a\ntwofold man, he penetrates yet deeper into his spirit, into the secret\nrecesses; there it is that he finds the divine image enshrined. Now he\nis engulfed in the abyss of the deity, in which he was foreknown,\nby God in the eternity before his creation. When God finds a man\nthus turned to Him in all self-renunciation. He responds by embracing\nhim in His infinite, paternal bosom. God takes the soul thus aban**-\ndoned to Him, and new forms its created life, as if He transformed\nit into the uncreated life, making it one with Himself. If that\nsoul could but see its own being as it now really is, it would see itself\nso invested with the divine dignity that it might for a moment think\nit saw God Himself — it would even seem to behold all the words and\nworks of itself and of all other souls.\n\nAnd what shall be the sign that thou art coming into this inner\nKingdom of God to partake of this divine nobility? When all solic-\nitude about temporal things has fallen away from thy soul ; for our\nLord tells us that it is in this that we seek the Kingdom of God and\nHis justice— the giving up of all care and anxiety into the hands\nof the all faithful heavenly Father. We know that we can never love\nGod too much, and, just the same, we can never trust Him too confi-\ndently, as long as our trust is rightly guided.\n\nSt. Paul bids us be \"Careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the\nbond of peace (Eph. iv:3). And here indeed is a kind of solicitude\n\n526 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\neach one should anxiously cultivate, for interior peace is to be vigi-\nlantly guarded. In that peace of the Spirit everything is included —\nGod and His justice and His kingdom. This peace a man must never\nforfeit, come what will, adversity or prosperity, honors or shame. And\nwhat is this peace? It is the love of an undivided heart for each and\nall of the members of the human race; just as God loves Himself; a\nlove after the sweet example of our Lord Jesus Christ, considering\nhow that love did its task, suffering Himself alone more than all the\nsaints put together. Our Savior was all His days more desolate than\nany man ever was, and he ended His life by the bitterest death any\nman ever died. And yet in all this the higher faculties of our Lord's\nsoul were as happy as they are now in heaven. The men who imitate\nHim most closely in outer abandonment and in interior desolation, and\nwho stand their ground courageously, wholly deprived of help — ^these\nare the ones who find the inner kingdom of God of which we have\nbeen discoursing. God's justice is found in following Christ's foot-\nsteps in poverty and desolation of spirit. That we may thus seek and\nfind, let us lay aside all anxiety. God's Son has said : \"Whosoever will\nsave his life, shall lose it\" (Mark viii: 35). Our way lies in self-denial,\nand that means that a man shall essentially go out from all that he is\ninwardly and outwardly. May God grant us this grace. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 527\n\nSII|^ Sfm^ttBinttia of tf|( &0ul\n\nSynopsis — The curious double and even triple self in man — Breadth of\nsoul is the state of recollection — Depth of soul is self-annihilation\nfor the sake of our fellowmen — Height of soul is holy thanksgiving.\nHow the outtoard man serves the inward in the growth of the soul\n— Christ's example in His agony in the garden.\n\nTHIRD SERMON FOR THE FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER\n\nTRINITY\n\nFor this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of\nWhom all paternity in heaven and earth is named, that HHe would grant you\naccording to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened by His Spirit with might\nunto the inward man. That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts: that\nbeing rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend, with all\nthe saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth. To know\nalso the charity of Christ, which surpasseth all knowledge, that you may be\nfilled unto all the fulness of God.— Eph. lii, 14-20.\n\nChildren, these words are so rich in meaning that there is no\nneed of our searching through authors to expound them. When\nSt. Paul wrote this epistle he was a prisoner, and he wished that\nhis friends should not be distressed on his account. Let me say\nthat if I were myself a prisoner, surely this would be an affliction\nto my favorite children, and their sympathy would make them all\nthe more dear to me. And from his prison, St. Paul pointed out\nto his disciples the road to self-renunciation, and bade them not be\ndistressed about anything whatsoever. Some men suffer more\nkeenly from their friends' misfortunes than from their own, and\nthey would say that there is no fault in that; and yet there is\nfault in every distress of mind. St. Paul would teach us entire\nresignation and equality of mind under all burdens, all gifts and\nall graces that God gives us. Trouble of mind is a great obstacle,\nstagnating spiritual life, clouding its light, and quenching the fire\nof love. Hence the apostle elsewhere teaches: \"Rejoice in the Lord\nalways; again I say rejoice\" (Phil. iv:4).\n\nWhen he says \"I bow my knees,\" he means not only the outward\n\n528 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nact, but especially the inward prostration. What is inward is a\nthousand times wider and broader, deeper and longer than what is\noutward. Our outward support is our knees and feet, and these we\ntake from under us when we outwardly genuflect. So should one act\ninteriorly towards God. All that he is and all that he can do he should\nbend down humbly under the mighty hand of God, thereby owning to\nhis natural and his guilty nothingness; by nature we are nothing\nand by our sins our nothingness is full of guilt. With this double\nnothingness let us lie prostrate at God's feet, in all subjectiocn to Him,\nin nudity of spirit and in self-renunciation ; for these three are like\nthree sisters covered with the same garment; and the name of that\ngarment is humility. A man should stand in a well-balanced equality\nof mind between pleasure and pain, possessing and lacking, hard and\neasy; and he should receive everything from God and nothing from\ncreatures.\n\nIn every man there are three men. The first man is guided to the\nsubjugation of the outward senses, as far as possible, under the sway\nof reason, drawing them inward and restraining their outward activ-\nity. Then appears the second man, standing in all detachment of\nspirit, greedy of nothing, resting his thoughts upon his own nothing-\nness, making God his lord and master, and wholly submissive to Him.\nThe third man is now before us, emancipated from servitude, free to\nenter deep into the uncreated source of his life as he was predestined\nin God's mind in eternity, his spirit in full detachment joined to God\nwithout forms or images. In this state God grants him ''the riches\nof His glory\"; and he is richly gifted with graces, which perceptibly\nstrengthen all his powers, high and low; \"strengthened by His Spirit\nwith might into the inward man.\"\n\nSt. Paul says: \"That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts.\"\nThis dwelling, therefore, refers to our holy faith, in which men greatly\ndiffer one from another. For when one man says: I believe in\nGod the Father Almighty, he may have an interior faith in God in a\nmore sensible and appreciable way than some other men. Yet if a\nsix-year-old child and a professor from Paris make the same act of\nfaith, it is indeed the same faith in both of them, yet very differently\nunderstood by each. So does an interior man have his faith in a\nclear light, all plain and distinct. But in the soul of the third and\nhighest kind of man, just awhile ago spoken of, this knowledge is\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 52^\n\n•darkness, without distinctness and above the need of it, superior\nto forms and images, in a certain singleness and simplicity of knowl-\nedge— enjoying holy faith in all sweetness.\n\n\"That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts.\" Ck)mpare Christ\nto a healing salve. Now, when God finds a man turned submissively to\nHim, into the innermost soul of that man does God pour this healing\nointment that is Christ, and it is in this sense that He dwells within\nour hearts. Then that heart is made so sweet and gentle and supple\nthat all hardness and stiffness are quite gone from it. Abandonment\nto God, nudity of spirit, and freedom from all desire — when these\nthree virtues are deep in a man's heart, then the unction that is\nChrist soaks down into all its recesses, making it mild and gentle.\nHe, himself, longs to be turned into a healing salve for the saving of\nmen. His love of God has the \"breadth and length\" to embrace all\nmankind. St. Paul became a Jew to the Jews and a pagan to the\npagans, that he might gain them all; our Saviour ate and drank and\nconsorted with sinners to gain them. And so would this man gladly\nbe ranked with all classes of men to save them.\n\nThe same healing ointment penetrates the soul with a universal\nbrotherly love; none are excluded, because God loves all, whether\ngood or bad. That soul is \"rooted and founded in charity\"; and the\ndeeper a tree's roots, the higher and broader are its branches. Alas!\nhow many showy trees are fallen low; how many fine-appearing blos-\nsoms have been torn off and scattered by the stormy wind of tempta-\ntion. Our Saviour teaches : \"Every plant which my Heavenly Father\nhath not planted shall be rooted up\" (Matt, xv, 13). See to it \"that\nbeing rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend,\nwith all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and\ndepth.\"\n\nChildren, to have breadth in God is to realize His presence at all\ntimes and in all our doings, as St. Augustine says : \"O man, thou\ncanst not escape His presence. If thou turnest thy back on His coun-\ntenance, all friendly and smiling, thou shalt face Him stern and\nangry.\" This breadth as it is in God is infinite, and if we bring it into\nour souls, it becomes universal love. If you say that it is half quenched\nin this life, and can only be at best a lovely participation, I answer\nno, dear child. It is universal, it is as broad as the earth; for it\nembraces all mankind, and the soul would give all it has and its own\n\n530 The Sermons and Spiritvial Conferences\n\nvery self to all men. Such souls easily act up to this love, as did our\nholy Father St. Dominic, who once sold himself into slavery at a\ncheap price, and gave the money to relieve a poor man's dire necessity.\nIn that sort of love let us work, and as far as possible embrace all\nmen in its beneficence.\n\nAnd the length — that is in God's eternity, having no past nor present\nand without any change, as the saints now enjoy God in heaven, and\nknow and love all that God enjoys. Thus let us co-operate unceasingly\nwith Him in our daily course of life, as long as we remain here below.\n\nThe depth that is in God is an abyss that no created mind can\nfathom. But this we can do: we can attain to a fathomless annihila-\ntion of self, insomuch as we judge ourselves to be nothing and to\nmerit nothing. Then the soul goes out to all blinded and malicious\nsinners, and suffers for them a most painful grief, melted with pity\nfor their dreadful blindness. This depth of love is so immeasurable, that\nit carries the loving soul down to the depth of hell, and if God would\naccept the exchange (which indeed it cannot think) it would feel like\nemptying hell of all the damned and taking their place there alone\nforever. To be sure no one should so pray, nor ever think, for it is\nagainst God's decree. But love and humility have inebriated this soul,\ntill it resembles Moses, who prayed to God for the Israelites : \"Either\nforgive them this trespass, or if Thou do not, strike me out of the book\nthat Thou hast written\" (Exod. xxii, 31, 32). This depth of love is\nborn of God's unfathomable love, which neither angels nor men can\never reach or even comprehend, for, children, it is too far above us.\n\nThe height that is in God is this : He can do all things, and yet He\ncannot make any creature so noble, as to enable it by its nature to\nreach His own divine height, even though such a creature were far\nabove all seraphs and cherubim. The highest possible created nature\nis inmieasurably below God, for it is created and God is uncreated and\nis wholly self existent. But the favored souls we have been speaking of\nattain God's height in a kind of way, namely by their spirit soaring high\ntowards God in great thanksgiving and elevation of soul ; and because\nGod has become so great to them and so high, that all that is not God\nseems nothing in comparison, according to the prophet: \"Man shall\n•come to a deep heart, and God shall be exalted\" (Ps. Ixiii, 7).\n\nI declare to you, that the man who rates any created thing great and\nbigh, even though he rates it less than God, to such a one God cannot\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 53I\n\nbe known in His full height and grandeur. When a man has been\ngranted full uaion with God, his spirit is so elevated in thanksgiving\nand love, and God has become to him so adorable that nothing whatever\nin this life can have any savor of sweetness for him, nothing less than\nGod. All created beings taken together, are seen in His eyes to be less\nm comparison with God than absolute non-existence is in comparison\nwith the angels of heaven. God's super essential height of being draws\nthe soul so high above itself in love and thanksgiving and praise that\nall possible honor done to godly angels and saints is not to be at all\nconsidered; the soul has a loving ambition to transcend them all and\nrender God praise that shall be worthy of Him. As a great heap of\ncoals make a mighty fire whose flame leaps up on high, so is the soul\nnow wafted up above all its thoughts, imaginations and activities\nbeyond all its faculties, noblest and lowest, away above all its own\npossibilities and strength, far above all creatures, into the height of the\nsuper essential Godhead. In this elevation of spirit, the soul has its\nown interior depths manifested in a marvellously clear light, and is\nplaced in union with God's inaccessible height and measureless depth\nand breadth and length.\n\nHerein is fulfilled St. Paul's word: \"That you may be able to com-\nprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and\nheight, and depth,\" namely in the Godhead. Children, if it happens\nthat any man comes to this state without the three virtues of self\nabandonment, purity of heart, and freedom from desire, then let him\nat least be securely habited in deep and true humility and enter into\nthe monastery of love. And any man who enters this state without\ndue preparation in the exercises of a devout life, shall surely fall to\nthe ground. But if thou hast entered in furnished with the above\nnamed virtues, then thou shalt hold thy place; for if thou ever shalt\nlose It, it must be by self-seeking and lack of detachment of spirit.\n\nChildren, here precious graces are granted, and the seed of them\nIS sown in this soil, and springs up. It is written: \"In Me is all grace\nof the way and of the truth; in Me is all hope of life and of virtue\nCome over to Me, all you that desire Me, and be filled with My fruits\"\n(Eccli. xxiv, 25, 26). To attain to this a man must go beyond all\ncreatures; and hence it happens that this new birth is shown to some\nwho nevertheless do not experience it. But any man who directs all\nhis spiritual exercises to acquiring genuine self-renunciation, to him\n\n532 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nthis birth will be granted, in case he steadfastly continues onward.\nLet me tell you, children, that I sometimes meet with this in young\npeople. But in those who undertake it when advanced in years, it is\nusually a failure, because they stand upon their own will, adhere to\ntheir old devotions with self will; they are hard in their judgments\n©f others; in a word, they are lacking in the necessary foundation of\ngentleness and humility. This beautiful virtue has more interior force\nthan self-denial, which belongs rather to our outward life.\n\nTo men absorbed in external works, the interior experiences we\nhave been treating of must remain hidden; their souls are too coarse\nduly to appreciate such things as God's infinite being dwelling in the\nsoul. Many a one who fancies that he has reached a high point of\ninterior spirituality, has as a matter of fact never reached even its\nlowest degree. God draws men inward to this sanctification by self-\nrenunciation and purity of intention; and upon learning this, many\nmen drive Him away from them as if He were the evil one, holding\nobstinately to their self-will and self-indulgence. All the fruits of\ngrace are as if struck by a mildew and are destroyed. For no matter\nhow high thou comest, the three sister virtues of abandonment to God,\npurity of intention and self-denial, grouped and held together by\nhumility, must be and continue with thee if thou shalt hold thy place.\nWhen the evil spirit comes to thee looking for his own, and finds thee\nattached to created things, that gives him his opportunity.\n\nAnd now what shall I say of how to gain this blessed spiritual\nstate, which outward living men wish not to have, for they are not\nwilling to withdraw from the clatter of externalized spirituality?\nDear child, listen to my counsel : If thou recitest an approved prayer\nonce with thy lips, recite it twice besides with a loving interior spirit,\nand let no one hinder thee in this method. Whatever may be the noise\nof thy outward devotions, that may not count for much. Meanwhile\ndo not talk about thy interior experiences; but outwardly submit\nthyself to everyone in sincere humility. Thy outward man should\nalways wait on the inward man as a servant on his master, doing his\nbidding to the utmost of his power. Such is not the way with those\nwho are exclusively occupied with the external things of religion, and\nwho would constrain others to follow the same course, making a great\nnoise about it. For thy part, dear child, be silent ; and be patient with\nsuch persons. Abandonment to God, purity of motive, and self-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\ndenial— hast thou these lovely virtues? Then let the whole world be\nin an uproar round about thee the livelong day, and sit thee down\nquietly; for nothing can do thee harm. If any disturbance or inter-\nference injures thy health, quietly withdraw out of reach.\n\nChildren, when I find any one led by God in this way, I counsel\nhim as God gives me light. And if somebody curses and swears at me\nfor doing so, I cannot help it — let him curse and swear. In this\nrespect the sisters of our order have a good custom. For whenever\none of them feels called to this state of recollection, the others are\nglad, and she is granted leave to follow her interior attraction. They\nall feel that such a case is placed beyond their interference. And\nthis is a lovely condition in a community, and one established by the\nHoly Ghost Himself.\n\nDear child, dwell always in the monastery of these three virtues, so\noften named, and beware of those hateful step-sisters, self-indulgence\nand self-love — nay, set upon them fiercely and cut off their heads.\nThese evil tendencies would drive you to be continually asking\nprivileges, now to leave the house to hear a sermon, again to go to\nchurch to visit the blessed sacrament — anything to enjoy some relaxa-\ntion from solitude and recollection. He that hath ears to hear, let\nhim hear!\n\nFinally St. Paul bids us : \"Know also the charity of Christ, which\nsurpasseth all knowledge.\" This is that knowledge with which our\nLord overcame the devil by His bitter death and thereby redeemed\nus. And yet in that He became the most utterly forsaken of all men\non the face of the earth, and at the same time the most perfectly\nacceptable to His Father that He possibly could be. Did He not\nexclaim: *'My God! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken me?\" (Mark\nXV, 34), being more utterly abandoned by His Father than any saint\nhas ever been. Before this He had felt this abandonment during His\nagony and bloody sweat in the garden, although in the highest part\nof His soul He was joined to the Godhead as truly as He is today in\nheaven. This is the knowledge and, as it were, the skill Christ would\nteach us, surpassing all other, namely that one should be stripped\nof all consolation; and becoming miserable, being wholly without\nsupport, should abide in total self-renunciation, in imitation of our\nLord Jesus Christ. Whosoever does this becomes most pleasing to\nthe heavenly Father.\n\n534 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nGod rules and reigns in snch a soul. In its innermost depths essen-\ntial peace is born: if thou hast been granted it, let neither man nor\nangels nor devils ever take it from thee. And yet thou must continue\nto hold thy outward man in check, wholly subjecting him to thy\ninward man, and continually suppressing and grieving him, never\ntrusting him, never crediting him, lest he place any hindrance to the\nprogress of thy spirit by his various devices, most especially by his\nsinful inclinations. To be sure, as long as we are in this life we\ncannot be wholly without comfort; but place thy reason in supreme\ncontrol of thy appetites, that all satisfaction of natural cravings may\nbe taken in God and through God, and to this end constantly pray for\nGod's guidance in such things. Our Lord always strengthens those\nwho frequently beg His aid, enlightens them with His wisdom, and\nperfects their work by His goodness. May God help us to follow St.\nPaul's blessed counsels in such wise that we may attain to the posses-\nsion of essential truth. Amen.\n\nofjohn Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nSynopsis-Remarks on the vocation to a devout life-Beginners are\nabsorbed m keeping the comnmndments-How the love of one's\nneighbor weighs heavy in the balance of newly formed piety-\nProficients are led into the Emngelical counsels-How this voca-\ncation IS related to religious orders-Penalty for rejecting this vo-\ncation^The perfect are totally absorbed in imitation interiorly\nand exteriorly of the life and passion of Christ-Remarks on the\ndifferent states of souls in purgatory.\n\nFIKST SERMON FOR THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY\nAFTER TRINITY.\n\nsupporting one another ircharufcarefulT?./^^.^\"^^^^^ ^'^^ P«\"«°^^'\n\nthe'^'v^rtL'T/wV^ '\" '' '' '^°^^'^^^' '^^ \"^^'^-^ \"--^^^^ Of\ntne vocation in which you are called:\" First who has p-iIIpH „c.\n\nTlLTmZfT' \"'^•^°\"\" \"\"-^ «<\"\"'--' -- butt can\n\nreacner says All that God ever did, all that He now does is only t„\nbrmg the soul of man to hear the divine call, and to lovr^i »^er»\n\nSoTrt' R \"k\"' \"\" °\"'' '''\"'' \"^- \" '« '« \"»'»■' with His tTne\nSon to be His brother and His co-heir. He is the highest amonrffis\nbrethren; He is by nature the Heavenly Father's heir; and God cf^ls\n\n536 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nus to be His Son's co-heirs by grace. Hence our vocation or calling.\nWe are invited to follow His example and to pattern on His character;\nfor He is the way we must tread, the truth to guide us in our journey,\nthe life that shall be our end. All this according to our ability, yet\nnot in mere good will, but in a victim's life and patient suffering.\n\nThird, what is the voice that calls us, and how is it uttered? God's\nvoice is manifold. In our soul's depths God calls us by His inspira-\ntions, warnings and admonitions day and night, and sometimes with\nsevere inner visitations. Outwardly He calls us by every happening of\nlife, now in joy, again in sadness. These are all strong voices of God\ncalling us to Him. O, if a man will but be led by these sweet divine\ntones, he will not need God's harsher measures.\n\nThe fourth is that a worthy following of God's vocation is to go\nonward in all patience, and humility, and mildness.\n\nGod calls three sorts of men, beginners, proficients, and the perfect.\nLet none of us repine on account of the place he is given, for God is\nthe Lord, and He allots to every one his right degree; and He wills\nthat all of us shall be conformed to His only begotten Son. Some\nthings are commanded, some forbidden. The highest commandment\nis to love God above all things. Many a one says he does this, and\nmeanwhile will not give up certain things that stand in the way of\nhis love of God, and in which he has more joy than in God ; this shows\nhow he loves God.\n\nAnother commandment is : Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,\nnamely, desiring him to enjoy the same good fortune that thou de-\nsirest for thyself. Thou shalt honor thy father and mother; and this\nprecept includes all who are placed over thee. Thou shalt not take\nGod's name in vain. Thou shalt keep Sundays holy and all feast\ndays. Such are the commandments we must observe if we would be\nsaved.\n\nWhat is forbidden is this: Thou shalt do thy neighbor no injury,\nin body, goods, or reputation, neither by words or works; nor shalt\nthou covet anything that is his; and thou shalt commit no impurity.\nThere are still other commandments, but they are all included in\nthese.\n\nNow be well assured, children, that any man who goes straight\nalong this way, and is obedient in the true faith to the holy Christian\nchurch, leading an orderly life, such a one is in the lowest class of\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 537\n\nthose who hear the vocation of God and obey it. He is sure to come\nfinally to God, after the fires of purgatory have cleansed him of all\ndefects in the divine service.\n\nThe second degree, that of the proficient, is the practise of the\nevangelical counsels, and is much higher than the first, being the way\nof chastity, poverty and obedience. That we may follow this vocation\nrightly and perfectly, holy Church, guided by the Spirit of God, has\nformed various orders and communities, well adapted to aid us to\nthis end, and they are provided with appropriate rules. When men\nand women undertake the obligations of this state of life, and then\nviolate them, holy Church sits in judgment on them. But if one feels\ncalled to this life of the counsels outside of an order and without its\nobligations, and then rejects the call (as when a woman has made a\nprivate vow of chastity and yet gets married), such a one holy Church\ndoes not call before her public tribunal, but leaves that case to God's\nsecret judgment in the tribunal of confession. But as to those living\nin community, it is a gross perversity if, having an appearance of high\nspirituality, they yet have only a worldly heart in their bosoms. It\nis of these that St. Augustine speaks: \"Cursed is the man who goes\nastray in the way of the Lord.\" This is God's way; He has called\nthese souls to walk in it according to His evangelical counsels. Let\nevery one having this vocation take heed to himself how he walks in\nit; let him take heed lest he shall be found at the marriage feast\nwithout a wedding garment, and be thrust forth into the outer\ndarkness.\n\nEach one should consider interiorly and settle in his mind what is his\nvocation from God. Otherwise, thou shalt today try one way of life,\nand tomorrow want to change it and try another, according as thou\nseest and hearest things round about thee. Know thy own place\nwell, and pay no attention to any other, for it concerns thee not.\nWhat is one man's meat is another man's poison. Look to thyself\ncarefully; let nothing cause thee to neglect thyself. I declare to you\nthat there are many men living in the world with wife and children,\nsitting in the shop and making shoes, having only God in mind and\nheart and the decent support of their family; and there are many\npoor peasants who earn their daily bread with hard toil, thinking\nonly of God: and it may well happen that these souls, following their\nhumble calling in all simplicity of heart, shall fare better at the last\n\n538 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nday than many members of orders, who are not true to their vocation.\nThese simple laymen stand in fear of God, their souls are poor and\nhumble, and they go steadfastly forward in their divine vocation.\nAnd thou, lifted up so much higher, see to it that thou be not self-\nblinded; diligently meditate on the vocation wherein God hath called\nthee, follow it straight on, go not astray in it.\n\nThe third and highest vocation is the imitation of the blessed ex-\nample of our Lord Jesus Christ in all respect*, actively, passively, and\nin contemplation, with purest motives, in entire detachment of spirit,\nthereby attaining the loftiest point of perfection. Search your hearts\nand discover how near to this divine pattern you have come. Only in\nour innermost souls is our essential life to be found, and here is\nwhere we are to be entirely conformed to Christ. It is about entering\nthis state that Jeremias speaks: \"Thou shalt call Me Father and\nShalt not cease to walk after Me\" (Jer. iii, 19). And as Laban said\nto Abraham's servant: \"Come in, thou blessed of the Lord, why\nstandest thou without?\" (Gen. xxiv, 31), so can I say to a soul\nfaithful to this call : Thou art a blessed man, true to God's vocation,\nfirst by obeying His commandments, then in following the counsels of\nHis gospel, and now in walking after the example of our Lord in all\nhumility and patience, as St. Paul teaches. Such a one must go deep\ninto the interior, sometimes by means of forms and images, at other\ntimes in the stillness of his spirit without any forms or any works,\n\"careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, one body\nand one spirit\" in the new forming of the created spirit by the un-\ncreated Spirit. Now the spirit of man is all the more newly formed,\nin proportion as he has walked the more exactly in the adorable foot-\nsteps of our Lord, in all patience, humility and mildness The careful-\nness with which one keeps the unity of the Spirit, that is to be\nmeasured by the diligence of one's inward faculties, daily and hourly\nobserving one's thoughts and . affections ; and meanwhile outwardly\npractising zealously all the virtues of one's state of life. Sometimes\none should exercise himself in works of holy charity as opportunity\noffers ; again he will be drawn backward into very interior prayer with\nthe images of a devout imagination; and sometimes his soul will be\nengaged with God without any figures of his imagination. St. Anselm\nsays: \"Draw thy soul away from the multiplicity of external things,\nand fall asleep to the stormy thoughts of thy mind : sit down and rest\nand be lifted up above thyself.\" When this silent peace is established\n\nof John Taulcr, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nin the soul, then comes the Lord as He did to Ellas, \"in the whistling\nof a gentle air\" (III Kings xix, 12). In this the Lord only castg a\nglance into the soul's depths. But when such a man becomes aware of\nHis presence, then, like Queen Esther in the presence of King Assue-\nrus, his spirit faints away within him. And yet the soul's mantle ia\nstill drawn over its face as it follows the divine presence in an ecstacy.\nIt was thus that Esther sank down before the King, who then raised\nher up again. When the Spirit enters this man's soul, all support is\ndrawn away, all that was his own has gone from him, and he sinks\ninto his own nothingness in all things and in all ways. And were he\nnot upheld in the mighty arms of God, he would— so it seems to him—\nvanish out of existence. This man now deems himself less than all\ncreatures, more miserable than any— corrupt as a corpse, beastly, void\nof reason or sense, yea, worse even than Satan himself. The King,\nperceiving that the soul is thus emptied of self, then takes it and raises\nit up and gives it His kiss of love. And this is due to the soul's lowli-\nness—the lower its self estimate the higher its elevation. Then God\nand the spirit exchange ineffable greetings, and both are made as one;\nfor God's sovereignty looks downward with especial favor into the\ndeep valley of humility.\n\nPresently this happens: when the soul has attained to so high a\nstate of blessedness, the evil one comes and assails it with tempta-\ntion to spiritual pride. Besides, it may be that God will allow the\nsoul to fall into some venial fault, as for example wilful anger; and\nthis is permitted to cause the soul to sink yet deeper into the con-\nsciousness of its own nothingness, whereupon God can elevate to a yet\nhigher degree of union. Or perhaps it happens that bitter, reproach-\nful words are spoken against that man in the presence of others, and\nGod allows him to be overwhelmed with anguish and shame on that\naccount. If this has happened to thee, be not shocked: thou hast\nlearned a new and a better lesson of thy own nothingness— all goes\nwell; thou Shalt now walk more worthily in the way of ''the unity of\nthe Spirit in the bond of peace.\" Whatever man thus walks, following\nthe example of our Lord Jesus Christ in all mildness and humility\naccording to his lot in life, in him shall God's peace be born, a peace\nthat passes all understanding; and a light has dawned in that soul's\nlife that will shine within it for all eternity. May the eternal God\nhelp us all to this holy state. Amen.\n\n540 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — Patience a very interior virtue — Meekness closely allied to\npatience — Peace with Ood is won ty absolute abandonment to Him\n— This is sometimes an exceedingly hard trial.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\nAs a prisoner in the Lord, I beseech you that you walk worthily of the voca-\ntion in which you are called, with all humility and mildness, with patience,\nsupporting one another in charity, careful to keep the unity of the Spirit In\nthe bond of peace. One body and one Spirit, as you are called in one hope of\nyour calling. — Eph. iv, 1-5.\n\nThese holy words should be constantly before every man's eyes.\nWe should never forget the apostle's admonition to realize the sanctity\nof our vocation, and we should be true to it in all humility, mildness,\nand patience, meanwhile bearing with one another's shortcomings in ali\nbrotherly love. I exhort all of you by the love you bear to God, to\ncultivate these virtues with great earnestness; for all good works\ndepend on them, even those attached to receiving the adorable sacra-\nment; namely, humility, mildness, patience and brotherly love.\n\nBut one will never acquire them except by suffering contraJictions.\nIf a man meditates on how humble he would be if he were oppressed,\nand if he imagines how patient he would be if he were persecuted —\nthat amounts to nothing, it easily drops out of the soul, it is artificial\nvirtue. But when one is actually shamed and dishonored by works\nand deeds, and forthwith in all affection and meekness looks about\nto do some special favor to the one who has injured him: and when\nin return for his gentle kindness his enemy spits in his face, and yet\nhe continues to serve him — this is indeed meekness. Meekness and\npatience must be won by hard fighting; for how am I to be patient if\nno man reviles me? And as patience mostly concerns our bearing\noutward injuries, so is meekness rooted mainly in interior self denial.\nSuppose that I am proclaimed a lying teacher, and that I am covered\nwith reproach and shame and my teaching condemned as false, and a\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 541\n\nfriend of mine should be deeply pained at this; should not bis sym-\npathy seem to me like doing me a wrong? For does he not seek\nto lessen my good fortune in having the opportunity to practise\npatience? I ought not to love him the better for his condolence but\nrather the less. How unworthy a Christian should I not be, if I were\nnot willing to walk in the footsteps of my Lord and God, whose whole\nlife and teaching was so shamefully falsified and brought to nought in\nthe hearts of men. Hence my earnest entreaty to you that you should\nsuffer gently and patiently all shame, and tribulation, and all painful\ninflictions of what kind soever, bearing with one another's faults in\nuniversal love.\n\nNow St. Paul says: Be \"careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in\nthe bond of peace.\" And the virtues we have been praising are a true\nbond, binding all into oneness of spirit in holy peace. And how shall\nwe attain to oneness with God's spirit? The exercises of religion for\nthat end are best placed in the later hours of the night when the\nwinter season prolongs the 'time of darkness. Go to thy rest early in\nthe evening, if thou wilt seriously endeavor after this holy state, so\nthat being refreshed with sleep thou mayst be able to rise after mid-\nnight, search thy innermost motives in holy prayer, making manifest\nto thy conscience every love thou dost cherish, revealing to thyself\nevery habit of thy mind; and then directing all thy life into con-\nformity with the life of our Lord. And if thou findest no special\ngrace in this, then in God's name, renounce once more all sense of\nownership in thy spiritual practices, and devote thyself earnestly to\nmeditating on the passion and death of our Lord, adoring His precious\nblood and His sacred wounds. By this shall one endeavor to arouse\nhis love, and herein shallihis inner life be made manifest to him; for as\na great heap of coals or wood blazes up into a great fire, so shall this\npious practice inflame one's heart. But let a man soon dispense with\nthe figures of his imagination, and with fiery love penetrate through\nthe middle ground of his spirit into its hidden interior. Such a man\nnow works not but God works within him, God alone, in whose hands\nhe rests passive. And yet his former good pious practices still profit-\nably linger in his soul, and light shines upon him from our Lord'a\npassion ; he feels the bitterness of sorrow for his sins ; he prays as\nbefore for the living and the dead; but all this must now be cast deep\ninto God in great nudity and singleness of spirit. And when the rays\nof divine light have broken a way into this soul, thus all noble, almost\n\n542 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\npassive under God, then comes essential Truth, namely, God, and\ndraws the spirit into Himself. And His beams are swift as lightning,\nyea, swift as angels' flights between earth and heaven, whose speed is\nabove that of the lightning. Nor does even this rightly tell how\nswift and bright are the rays of God's love and truth in the soul's inner\nlife, winning and absorbing the soul, which must refer all back again\nto God, and be at one with Him.\n\nHere is indeed the true adorer, that adores God in spirit and in\ntruth (John iv, 23). Here true peace is born, and those virtues that\nlead to it, of which we have been discoursing, and now a struggle\ncommences. For poor human nature is so wasted and weakened as to\nseem to have lost itself. Then the soul feels like saying to itself : God\nhave mercy on thee, what has become of thy good pious practices?\nWhy is thy psalm singing silenced? This poor man would have some-\nthing, know something, love something of created existence; and ere\nthese three somethings have faded from his mind, his natural forces are\nexhausted. All this does not happen in a day; the long combat must\nbe patiently fought out; the soul must exert continually an eager\nzeal for its sanctification and gradually grow accustomed to conflict;\nand so win its new spiritual strength ; until at last it becomes like the\nsaints, happy and triumphant in its trials: \"Afflicted in few things, in\nmany they shall be well rewarded\" (Wis. iii, 5). And, as St. Bernard\ntells us, when nature is at last put totally to de^th, the soul shall\naddress our Lord words of tenderest love: O love, only love of my\nheart! Would that I were worthy of a place among Thy best loved\nand could embrace Thee fast and firm in my soul's embrace, and\nThou me in Thy deepest Spirit, and that I might never lose Thee\nmore! — words uttered from the innermost consciousness of the heart.\n\nDear children, turn to God with all your heart, and do it in any\napproved way whatsoever, for the way that is given thee by God's\nprovidence, that is the way that leads to Him. Whatever devotion\nattracts thee, follow it faithfully, noting carefully beforehand whatso-\never gives thee the most grace. Be sure that a single sweep of thy mind\nupon the wings of love, into the wounds of Christ, is worth more to\nGod than all bell ringing and organ playing and fine singing and\ngorgeous vestments in the world. Dear children, if you will but tuni\nto God earnestly, and with your inmost soul, then will your tempta-\ntions cease, and with them will cease your scrupulous pestering of your\nfather confessor. All will soon be well ordered by your more interior\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\ndevotional spirit, which gives a clear knowledge of our imperfections\nand a humble avowal of them to God; so that when one goes to con-\nfession, one can hardly think of anything to tell. May God help us to\nall this, so that we may devoutly follow our Lord in the practise of\nvirtue. Amen.\n\n544 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — Spiritual self-interest is the root of Pharisaism — The differ-\nent grades of this vice — Warnings about sensible devotion — St.\nBernard's three qmlities of love: sweet, toise and strong — Unselfish\nlove embodies these qualities — How this is perfect in a very super-\nnatural decree of self-annihilation.\n\nSEKMON FOR THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\nAnd behold a certain lawyer stood up tempting Him, and saying: Master,\nwhat must I do to possess eternal life? But He said to Him: What is written\nin the law? how readeth thou? He answering, said: Thou shalt love the Lord\nthy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy\nstrength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And He said\nto Him : Thou has answered right ; this do and thou shalt live. — Lulie x, 25-28.\n\nChildren, our Lord's questioner thought not of God or of eternal life\nfor his purpose in asking was treacherous. O how comes it that such\na Pharisaical spirit prevails among men, that in word and work they\nregard outward things exclusively; as long as an outward show of\npiety is observed, they go on with all liberty in their greed for money\nand honors and pleasures of all sorts. Now everything that men do\nfor the sake of show, all that they would have held for great and\nwonderful, such works God makes no account of, no matter how high\nthey may seem. Who caused this or that work to be done? That\nquestion decides whose the work is.\n\nThe inward pharisaism is this : No matter what a Pharisee does he\nalways has himself in view. Some spiritual men are thus infected,\neven though they are not aware of it ; for thinking that they do things\nfor God's honor, yet — if only you could read their hearts — they do\nthem out of self love; and this includes even their prayers. This\nfundamental fault is deeper in some than in others; but once made\nhabitual, it is seldom entirely overcome. Men ostentatiously do great\nthings; they endeavor to gain indulgences, they beat their breasts,\nthey pray before pious pictures, here they kneel and there they run in\ntheir showy devotions; and throughout it all they do not consider\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 545\n\nGod ; for their love and their purpose is not given to God but is bent\ndownward to creatures. Created things minister to them; these are\ntheir joy, a joy wilfully and knowingly received. Their own inward\nand outward comfort and profit is the end they have in view. This is\nnot according to this gospel : \"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with\nthy whole heart;'' and therefore God makes no account of it.\n\nThen we find other men who are a little better; they are cured of\nthis delusion, and they have turned away from earthly things as much\nas they can. But their pious methods smack too much of the life of\nthe senses, and their souls are absorbed too much in gross mental\npictures of Christ's holy humanity, the scenes of His birth, the events\nof His life, sufferings and death. All this is in their soul in a manner\nfar too material. These feelings journey through the soul as a ship\nupon the waters of the Khine. This is called by preachers a fleshly love\nof God, but I would prefer to call it a sensible love — a love dominantly\nof the senses, thinking only of our Lord as known by the senses, and\nviewing Him thus from head to foot. These men draw from their\ndevotions a pleasurable love rather than a divine love, and it must\nbe reckoned as savoring of the pharisaical. Such men's souls dwell\nmore intently on the things they do than on the end for which they\nshould do them. Spiritual contentment — that instead of God, is what\nthey strive after. It is not the essential but the accidental, not the goal\nbut the way to it, not the inner meaning but the outer act, that engages\ntheir mind : and God has the least possible to do with their religious\nexistence. Natural love and divine love seem so much alike, that we\ncannot easily distinguish one from the other. It were better for such\na man to have no devotional sweetness, if he could but manage to do\nall his pious actions without it. In this way he would learn to read\nhis own heart far more truly. And yet, although the way of sensible\ndevotion is thus by no means the most perfect, nevertheless would to\nGod that we had more men willing to follow even that low method.\n\nChildren, St. Bernard, speaking of the love that is commanded us,\nsays that it is threefold : a sweet love, a wise love, and a strong love ;\nwhich I can explain by a comparison. The first is a wooden statue'\ngilded all over, the second a silver statue gilded all over, and the third\nis a statue of solid gold : the wooden one is sweet love, the silver one is\nwise love, the gold one is strong love.\n\nNow if the wooden statue is well made and finely gilded, every\nparticle of it being well hidden with gold leaf, we prize it highly; but\n\n546 The Sennons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nwhen the gold begins to peel off and the poor wood shows out we would\nfaardly give twelve pennies for it. So it is with out devotional sweet-\nness in good works and prayer; it is the fine appearing gold leaf; peel\nit off, and our religious life is of small value to us, however much\nit may once have delighted our natural sensibility. But by means of\nsensible devotion God leads and entices a man onward to a better love,\nwhich is gradually developed in the soul amid these sweet sentiments,\nuntil at last He extinguishes the natural enjoyments which have min-\ngled with pure love. Let us not cast away sensible devotion; let u^\nreceive it with all reverence and humility. But we should ascribe to\nour pettiness and meanness that the Lord must thus allure us onward\nfrom the religion of imagination to that which is so far above it,\nthrough outward to inward things, even unto His own divine self in the\ndepths of our souls, where He would establish His Kingdom of ever-\nlasting truth. We meet with many who have much sensible joy in\ntheir devotion, and whose interior hearts are shut in as tight as a\nmountain of iron — nothing can come forth from them. This is due\nto want of proper spiritual training. Their souls rest upon the forms\nand maps of the mind ; they are unconscious of that light of eternal\ntruth that shines in their inmost souls: — they never penetrate those\nholy depths. But no man can serve two masters, namely, his senses\nand his spirit.\n\nThen we must consider St. Bernard's second kind of love, which he\ncalls wise love. This is seated in the reason; and it is wonderfully\nelevated above the first kind. We have likened it to the silver gilt\nstatue, which is intrinsically very precious, and if it were a large\nstatue might be the chie? adornment of a church. So is this wise love,\nseated as it is in the understanding, a precious thing and exceedingly\nlovely. Now mark how thou mayst attain to it. Thou must turn thy\nspirit to eternal things. As thou hast been wont to dwell on sensible\nimages in the mind, as, for example, mental pictures of our Lord's life,\nconsider now the eternal meaning of each and all of the events of His\nlife. Think on the eternal birth of the infinite Word of God in the\nbosom of the Father; how He was born to us and yet remained with\nthe Father; consider how the Holy Ghost proceeded in unspeakable\nlove from the Father and the Son ; and consider the divine life of the\nblessed Trinity, one only God in three distinct persons. Draw into\nthat divine sanctuary thy own nothingness, and thy manifold dis-\ntracted life ; look deep into the hidden recesses of the Eternal God-head ;\n\nof John Tauler, the lUiuninated Doctor 547\n\nthink that to Him there is no past and no future, but only an ever-\nlasting present, possessing in an infinite way all things whatsoever,\nembracing them in the divine unchangeableness. Place all this in con-\ntrast with thy own variableness in this life of fleeting time, with thy\nchangeable and fluctuating spirit. Thus it will happen that thy\nsensible love will be elevated above its forms and images in a state of\nself-renunciation and will approach to a wise love of the understand-\ning, thereby using these lower forms as helps to pass through and\nbeyond into a higher state of holiness.\n\nChildren, this wise love leads a man's spirit so far beyond these alien\nfigures of outward things, that he presently is in a state of forgetful-\nness of them. In his first state, it was a laborious task to turn away\nfrom worldly things, and now they drop out of his mind of their own\nweight. He despises them and feels a downright aversion for them and\nfor all that is not rightly ordered in his affections. This grace raises\nthe mind above all transitory things far more effectually than strenu-\nous external observances: one is now more entirely regenerated. His\nsoul gazes into the divine obscurity; for God the infinitely incompre-\nhensible, is dark to the created understanding, just as the noon day\nsun, if looked at directly, dazzles and blinds the human eye by its very\nbrightness.\n\nDionysius says: \"God is above every name, or existence, or figure\nthat man can attribute to Him : He is superessentially above all\nthings.\" As soon, then, as a man is granted to know something of\nwhat God essentially is, the knowledge sinks him downwards: it melts\nand dissolves him into his own nothingness. And the clearer, the\nmore nakedly, God's infinitude beams upon him, the better he under-\nstands his own littleness, his very nothingness. It follows that the\nreality of this inner divine illumination cannot be known in any\nmental forms and figures, nor by any action of tiie mental faculties;\nit can only be verified in the inmost essence of the spirit, and in the\nsinking of the spirit downiward into the sense of its own utter noth-\ningness.\n\nThis is against the error of those overbold spirits, who are led\nastray by false inner illumination. They imagine that they have found\nthe infinite truth, and they are puffed up with self-complacency. Their\nheads are turned with their false mortification; they dishonor our\nLord by their evil treatment of other men, whom they deny to hav«\nreached a state of prayer which is beyond that of the figures of the\n\n548 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nimagination. You may be sure that a really devout man never thinks\nhimself too good to practice the least act of piety, however simple and\neven contemptible it may seem to proud spirits. And when he does\narrive at a state where he feels he can rightly dispense with certain\nordinary devotional practises, he by no means despises them — he loves\nthem as much as ever he did when he followed them : in fact he rates\nhimself below all things, and deems that he has attained to no per-\nfection. It is men of a different spirit, men of a proud spirit, who come\nto you with their heads in the air, and who, if they hear some wild\nsermon that has neither dovout method nor living truth in it, proclaim\nit the highest doctrine ever taught. As to the living truth of God, all\nplain and simple, for that they have no taste whatever. As a matter of\nfact these souls are stagnated; they bask in their own natural light,\nparading idly about. They have never broken through their weakness,\nbeing regardless of the lessons of our Lord's adorable life. They have\nnever subdued nature by the practise of virtue: the true way of love\nis unknown to them. They trust to a false inward recollection which\nflatters their natural pride, and which blinds them to the deep rooted\ndefects of their spirit, inducing a counterfeit state of repose. This\nevil is very obstinate, and we may well pray a merciful God to pity it\nand reform it.\n\nIn these, our evil days, I would be loath to make men miserable by\nmy complaints, for it is well nigh a hopeless task to wean them from\ntheir almost universal self love. But this I will aflfirm: If any one\nwill attain to this degree of wise love, he must practise self-denial, he\nmust make little of himself, and he must exactly follow the gospel of\nour Lord Jesus Christ. Such a man falls into no false state of recol-\nlection, nor is he infected with a false spirit of liberty — he cares noth-\ning at all for himself. And that is the reason why he is very dear\nto God.\n\nWe are now to consider the third degree, namely, the strong love,\nas St. Bernard calls it. We have compared this essential love to a\nstatue of pure and solid gold. Now some of this pure love all must\nhave: if any man feels his soul totally devoid of it, his state is a\nperilous one, and he may well weep day and night. This gold is so\nbrightly polished that it dazzles the eye: — one can hardly gaze straight\nat it, for it is the brightness of God shining upon the soul: He is\npresent there. The spirit is too weak to endure this brightness, which\nthreatens to melt it away into its original helplessness. And the\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 549\n\nspirit has no relief but to be lifted into the divine being, and lose\nall knowledge of self-existence. This peculiar divine presence is simply\noverpowering. Then the soul does as Elias the prophet did in God's\npresence in the mouth of his cave. The soul wraps its mantle of help-\nlessness about its eyes in an ecstacy; all mental activity seems still.\nGod appears to assume every act and thought and affection. In this\nstrong love the spirit is immersed in its Beloved, as a litle drop of\nwater in the deep sea. The spirit is made one with God almost as the\nair with the sunlight at midday. But how all this is, can be better\nknown by experience than told by words.\n\nAnd what afterwards remains in the spirit? Only a sense of utter\nself-annihilation, total giving up of all proprietorship in will and in\nmind and in life. The soul sinks to the bottom: and if it could sink\nyet lower into actual nothingness, this it would (if such a thought\nwere lawful or possible) be overjoyed to do out of love and out of\nhumility. This self-annihilation comes into existence as if newly born\nwithin the soul. Such a man deems himself unworthy to be a man, to\nenter a church, to look at a crucifix : he is persuaded that he is worse\nthan the evil one. But never before were our Saviour's sufferings\nso well loved, never did that man love His Lord's blessed humanity so\ndevotedly. It seems to him that now for the first time in his life he\nhas begun to love. And, indeed, he seems only to be beginning to\npractise virtue, and rightly to go through spiritual exercises. All such\nthings from least to greatest, he now performs in a spirit essentially\nsincere. Indeed, as God is present to Him in everything, so the sim-\nplest and the highest acts of piety are now all alike. The highest\nheavens — as the soul now plainly understands — work with the lowest\nearth in God's undivided unity of purpose; the highest works at its\nbest when it fructifies the lowest. So the soul perceives clearly, that\nGod's mightiest influence is displayed in sanctifying man's deepest\nlowliness of humility.\n\nAs the sun absorbs unto itself the moist vapoij of the deep hidden\nvalleys, so God seems to absorb this soul into Himself. It is drawn into\nGod and thinks and feels as if it were now even as God ; and presently\nit sinks down back again into itself, and thinks and feels as if it were\neven less than man. The soul is like an iron vessel half full of water\nset over a hot fire : it boils up and down and sometimes boils over the\nsides: taken off the fire, the water sinks down silently to the bottom.\nThus does the fire of this strong love affect the spirit, lifting it up into\n\n550 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nGod, the overflowing point, as if it were about to be thrown out of\nitself into divine oblivion ; and then it drops back into the consciusness\nof its own nothingness.\n\nThis strong, free love has three qualities. The first is that it forcibly\nlifts the spirit up and casts it into union with Him who is its beloved,\nfar above the working of its faculties of knowing and remembering,\nand beyond the reach of understanding and the action of the senses.\nThe second is that it sinks the soul down into a fathomless sense of its\nown nothingness, in a state of humiliation wholly incomprehensible,\nso that it seems to have lost its place and name in all existence. The\nthird quality is, that this strong love marvellously changes a man's\nsoul into a most peaceful state of contentment; he is entirely restful\nno matter what happens; he stirs about only very little, remaining\ntranquil in his place, awaiting the Lord's will to lead him hither or\nthither. He has become like a servant standing beside his master\nsitting at table, looking quietly for a signal, ready to do or not to do,\njust as he is bidden.\n\nYet after all this great progress, it is quite possible that the evil one\nwill assail him, and even with the most violent temptations. But in\nvain : these but offer him occasion for an immeasurable increase of love.\nHe stands as firm as a rock, he yields not a single step. When ail this\nis gone through with, the spirit stands like a newly ordained priest\nbefore the altar : all that he is, all that he has, all that he does is holy.\nIn his daily conduct he has, as it were, the blessed body or the Lord\nin his keeping, to lift it up and to set it down where he will. And yet\nhis humility ever abides with him. He dare not say a Pater Noster,\nwithout humbly prefacing it with the words holy Church bids her\npriests utter in the mass: \"Admonished by Thy saving precepts, and\nfollowing Thy divine institution, we make bold to say : Pater Noster.\"\nThe soul's littleness is ever before its eyes in contrast with the Father's\nsovereign holiness, which it contemplates and petitions with fear and\ntrembling. Indeed, children, every one of us should thus acknowledge\nthat it is a marvellous thing that his weakness and misery should\ndare to address God and call Him Father.\n\nAnd now what is yet wanting to this man thus transformed in God?\nThis condition is waiting, namely, a soul full of God, a body full of\npain. And when that state comes upon him, God looks often into\nhim, casting a lightning flash of love into the inmost depths. Then all\npain seems too little to that soul. And another effect of these quick\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 55j\n\nvisits of the Holj Ghost, is that in them the soul is taught what it must\nnow do, for what intention it must suffer pain, or what it shall proclaim\nm Its preaching. Maj God, who is true and essential love, grant us\nthus to love in this life, grant too that the divine light may shine thus\nwithin us. Amen.\n\n552 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nS^itrtual of Spirit\n\nSynopsis — Lying, anger and stealing briefly considered — The higher\nand loicer faculties of the human spirit described — How God\nunites our spirit to His own for our renewal — Times and other cir-\ncumstances which favor the process of this union — Outwfird good\nworks, how related to this inward process — The relation of out-\ntoard suffering to it.\n\nSERMON FOR THE EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\nBe renewed in the spirit of your mind ; and put on the new man. who, accord-\ning to God, is created in justice, and holiness of truth. Wherefore, putting away\nlying, speak ye the truth, every man with his neighbor: for we are members\none of another. Be angry, and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your\nanger. Give not place to the devil. He that stole, let him now steal no more,\nbut rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that\nhe may have something to give to him that sufifereth need. — Eph. iv, 23-28.\n\nThe epistle of St. Paul, read at mass today, is full of meaning and\nrich in doctrine. Particularly should we hearken to the apostle's ad-\nmonition : \"Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.\" And he tells us\nthings to do and things to avoid. Three things especially must we\navoid, namely, lying, anger, and stealing: these three must first be\ngone from us ere we shall be renewed in God.\n\nAnd what is lying? Saying something or showing some sign con-\ntrary to one's mind: the heart and the mouth are thus against each\nother. And there are some men who make a show of spirituality, and\nyet their hearts are anything but spiritual, being altogether worldly\nand possessed by love of created things. I am not speaking so much of\nmen placed in a worldly state of life; I speak of worldly hearted men\nin a higher spiritual state of life, and yet who enjoy their fill of worldly\npleasures, not being loyal to God. Even such things as dress and\nornaments engage their affections rather than God. But if you tell\nthem this, they blaze up in anger, they instantly find false excuses:\nthey are (so they say) young and they must enjoy themselves; or\nthey do thus and so that God may be all the better served. And all\nthis is a foul lie. Is God better served by introducing things into thy\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 553\n\naffections that lead thee away from Him? Shall not the blessed God\nmake thee happier than miserable creatures? It is all a base lie.\n\nThen there are other liars, men who do certain good spiritual works,\nbut who even in their piety ever keep themselves in mind more than\nGod. Some of them will be thirty or forty years in this state, and\nnever find themselves out. Nor is this ignorance guileless, for they\nshould have searched their motives. They should have carefully con-\nsidered whether it was self-interest or God's glory that actuated them —\nthe reward of heaven alone, or God's honor. Children, it needs an\nearnest endeavor to clearly unveil one's motives. Day and night must\none study himself, imagining himself in various ways, investigating\ndeeply what it is that presses him on in his pious deeds. And in all\nthis he must direct every motive, he must expend every force directlv\nfor God and God alone. Then one tells no lie in externally leading a\ndevout life. Every good work that is diverted from God is a lie. Every\ngood thing I do that is not done for God is idol worship.\n\nAnd St. Paul forbids anger, hereby quoting from the Psalmist: \"Be\nangry, and sin not.\" This means that we must bridle our irascible\nfaculty, constantly mistrusting it. Meanwhile, when we feel an aver-\nsion against what is not for God, we must show it only by our efforts\nto change it for the better, if that be within our power. But we meet\nwith men who seek to change other men for the better, and in doing\nso make themselves worse. These are hotheaded men, bitter minded\nmen, full of scornful words, threatening gestures, and black looks,\nenemies of their own peace as well as that of others. Such a one ex-\ncuses himself by saying: \"I have a bad temper.\" But why should thy\nneighbor suffer on that account-? If thy temper is bad, take pity on\nthyself as well as on thy neighbor and bridle thy irritability. If thou\ncanst not restrain thy temper, then be silent. It is a great achieve-\nment, to be ''angry and sin not.'' Wilt thou put out the fire in thy\nneighbor's house and meanwhile let thy own house burn down? Thou\ntriest to heal thy neighbor's trifling wound, and givest him two or three\nheavy ones in the process.\n\nSt. Paul says : \"Let not the sun go down upon your anger.\" This\nmeans that if you have quarreled with your neighbor, you should do\nyour best to be reconciled to him before sunset that very day. And he\nmeans, too, that the sun of Christian prudence should not be obscured\nby angry passions. Be sure of one thing, dear children, by disobedi-\nence to this precept and by thereby gravely injuring your neighbor, you\nlose God's love and forfeit all the graces vou have received.\n\n554 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nAnd the apostle says : \"He that stole, let him steal no more.\" Steal-\ning is unjustly taking and keeping what does not belong to us, and it\nmay refer both to spiritual and material things. Spiritual men steal\nby appropriating in many ways to their own use and profit what be-\nlongs to God alone, using spiritual offices and emoluments differently\nfrom what God wills. They interpose themselves between God and\nwhat belongs to Him alone. Let no one presume to do this. Let every\none accept the emoluments of a clerical office with real fear of heart,^\nfor not only may God be offended by self-interested conduct in office,\nbut such a transgressor is liable to be disgracefully deprived of hi^\noffice. For myself, I will confess that now for these many years, I\nhave not been able to consider myself worthy to be called a son of our\nfather, St. Dominic or a preacher in his order.\n\nStealing may also be connected with accepting alms, which is a\nmatter very easily disquieting to an enlightened conscience. One\nshould carefully consider why he accepts them and how he has merited\nthem. It is true, children, that both the old and new testament allow\nme to accept alms on account of my priesthood, (for he that serves\nthe altar should live by the altar) ; and yet I dread them. If at the\nbeginning I had known as much as I do now, I had rather have chosen\nto be supported by my family inheritance than by alms.\n\nSt. Paul says : \"Be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind.\" A man's\nspirit has various names, according to its activities, and according to\none's point of view in considering it. Sometimes our spirit is called\na soul, inasmuch as it gives life to the body, dwelling in every limb,\nand imparting all movement. Sometimes it is distinctively named the\nspirit; and in this sense it has a close kinship with God, who dwells in\nit by ineffable union. For God is a spirit and the soul is a spirit sprung\nfrom the divine Spirit. And our spirit is ever inclined to contemplate\nGod's spirit, and to return again to union with its divine origin : this\ntendency of return to God is never absent from our soul. Sometimes\nour spirit is called the mind, a beautiful being indeed, the assemblage\nof all the faculties of will, memory and understanding. And above\nand beyond the working of these faculties, it has an interior and essen-\ntial object; namely, God. For if the mind be but rightly directed to\nGod, all its other activity is rightly ordered; and when it is directed\naway from God, all goes wrong with it, whether one is aware of this\nor not. The mind is also said to be the soul's depths, in which the\nholy Trinity lies hidden in its true form ; and in this the mind is noble\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 555\n\nbeyond power of words to describe. Sometimes the spirit is called the\ncenter or crown of the soul : and as God can have no name that rightly\ntells of Him, neither can this inner sanctuary of God be rightly named.\nWhosoever can behold how God dwells in the soul's deepest depths, is\nmade blessed by the sight. But this kinship of God and the nearness\nof God to the soul is too wonderful for man to presume to discourse\nof it.\n\n\"Be rtoewed in the spirit of your mind.\" Now we have said that\nthe spirit is superior to the mental faculties, for they are to it but a\ndrop of wine compared to a whole cask; and it is in this supreme\nspirit that the apostle bids us to be renewed. This is accomplished\nby an energetic penetration into the inner life, associated with a prac-\ntical and very direct love of God, viewing all things in Him only. It is\nan attribute of the spirit — considered apart from its faculties — that it\nis able to adhere to God steadfastly and without intermission; while\nthe faculties can have no uninterrupted union with God. And the\nrenewal of a man must be effected in his spirit. God is a spirit un-\ncreated, and hence it must be man's created spirit that shall be united\nto Him, man being elevated to Him and absorbed in Him in a wholly\npurified spirit. Before creation man was in the divine Spirit in\nEternity, as God foresaw his existence; and now in his created life it\nmust be by the spirit that he shall be united again to God.\n\nThe learned ask this: If a man wilfully gives himself up to things\nthat pass away, does not his spirit pass away with them? And com-\nmonly they answer yes, as long as he thus remains. But a great\nteacher says : \"As soon as a man returns again to God with his spirit\nand with his whole will, and directs his spirit into God's spirit as He\ndwells in eternity, so shall all his spirit's dignity be restored to him,\nand that instantaneously — all that was lost is recovered.\" A thousand\nperversions of the spirit may thus be remedied over and over agaiur in\nthis work of God's love, ending in a true renewing of the spirit and\nreunion with God. And to this reunion may be applied the Psalmist's\nwords: \"This day have I [newly] begotten thee,\" (Ps. ii, 7). When\nthe spirit is thus mingled with God's being and melted into Him in its\ninnermost life, it is re-formed and renewed. And that transformation\nof human spirit is perfected in God's spirit, in proportion to the fidelity\nand purity of intention with which the soul has persevered in this\nkind of spiritual life, ever keeping God in view. And as the air ie so\nlighted up with the sun's rays that one cannot distinguish air from\n\n556 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nlight, so it is in the union of the spirit of man with the Spirit of God.\n\"Who can ever behold this union, so far transcending all natural\nunion — this union all divine, in which the human spirit is immersed in\nthe abyss of its infinite origin ? If a conmaon man could see the human\nsoul thus united to God's spirit, he would without doubt think that he\nsaw God Himself. Never did eagle fly towards the sun in the sky so\nswift as does the soul of man fly to God, in this renewing of the spirit\nof his mind. And yet in this flight the soul goes onward into a divine\nobscurity, as Job says : \"To a man whose way is hidden, and God hath\nsurrounded him with darkness\" (Job iii, 23). He knows now the deep\nthings of God that are far above all that may be described; nameless\nand formless is this knowledge of God and super essential.\n\nChildren, that turning to God is the essential one; and the stillness\nof night is the most favorable time for effecting it. When one has had\na sound sleep before matins, let him then abstract all his senses and\npowers as if stealing them, and right after matins let him sink them\naway from him and place himself beyond all the forms and images of\nthese faculties, and lift himself above their activity. But let him not\nin his littleness aspire to that supernal obscurity of which a certain\nsaint said: \"God is darkness to the sharpest eyes and in the clearest\nlight because in His essence He is unknowable in any human fashion.\"\nAbandon thyself in all singleness of mind to God, and ask no further\nquestions, thinking God and living God — that alone. Cast everything\nupon the unknown God, even thy failings and thy sins; give him\ncharge of all thy affairs in a very practical spirit of love, placing all in\nthe obscure, and divine will. Beyond this, such a man must think of\nnothing, desire nothing, neither devotional methods, nor tranquility,\nnor activity, nor anything whatsoever, but only to be given over entirely\nto the will of God.\n\nAnd now suppose that while a man be thus engaged in this blessed\ninterior occupation God guides him to give it up, and to do an outward\ngood work, as to visit a sick person. In that case let him do it with\nmuch joy. If I were one of those favored men, and God called me out\nof this deep recollection of spirit to preach, it might well happen that\nGod would be especially present with me in my busy work, in which,\nperhaps, he would de me more favor than in the highest contemplation.\nTherefore, after some hours of the night and early morning have been\ngiven to this interior absorption in God, then as the day opens and\nGod's will places thee in outward labors, do them gladly and in all\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 557\n\npeace of soul. If thou meanwhile keepest God's presence in mind, thou\nmayst perhaps receive more graces than in the still prayer of the night.\n\nSt. Paul bids us labor with our hands, for the maintenance of our-\nselves and our neighbor. Now the truly poor in spirit are the men\nwe have been considering; for they deny themselves the bliss of con-\ntemplation, for their neighbors' sake, following God's will in either\nthe quiet of recollection or the active care of others. But young and\neager souls need to give God much longer time in the interior life;\nfor otherwise when they go forth to outward cares they will be in\ndanger of remaining outside altogether. And if one has no savor\nof God's deep interior working, let him stand his ground patiently in\nfaith; in this state of pain and desolation he will advance more in\nperfection than in outward exercises of religion.\n\nChildren, you cannot conceive what great progress such a soul\nmakes, a progress extending into every thought, word and act, even the\nmost trifling. All that he does is meritorious. To these men long\nlife on earth is a great boon ; for every day advances them in the renew-\ning of their spirit, if they are faithful in all points as I have explained.\nTo be sure they are not conscious of their blessed state, and live in\ngreat simplicity of spirit and suffer much. This is because nature\nmight easily be inflated with pride, and so God hides the work of love\nHe is doing in them. Sometimes, however, God selects a deeply humble\nspirit to whom He manifests it all. Alas, those who can bear this are\nfew in number ; for the more a thoroughly humble soul learns of God's\nlove for him, so much the more does he refer it all to God's honor; the\ndeeper does he sink into his interior depths, and the less he attributes\nanything to himself.\n\nIt is mostly in enduring sufferings that such men make progress, for\nour Lord tries them in every possible manner. And they are sorely\ntried by all those who are associated with them. If, for example,\nthere are one or two of these holy souls in a community, all the others\nturn upon them and by words and deeds afflict them, as if they were\nbeating them with strokes of a hammer. Of old the heathen and the\nJews martyred the Christians ; but now, poor child, thou shalt be mar-\ntyred by those who seem very holy, and who do more good works than\nthou dost. They say to thee that thou hast gone wrong; that they have\nheard and studied much and know much, and that thou knowest noth-\ning; the like of this they say to thee, till thou canst not tell whither to\nturn or what to try for thy relief. All this cuts thee to the marrow :\n\n558 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nand now is the time to be on thy guard, and to suffer in silence, yield-\ning meekly to all. Say interiorly : Beloved Lord : Thou knowest well,\nthat I mean nothing but Thee in all I am, or do, or suffer. The fault-\nfinders would sit in judgment on these interior souls, and force them\nto stiff uniformity with the common practices of devotion. But this\nis not to be done, for it is not possible, and everyone must be allowed\nliberty to follow his own special calling from God.\n\nAnd so must we all be renewed in holiness of truth, and in justice.\nHoliness and justice that is our own, children, is all nothing but lack\nof justice, spiritual uncleanness, a nameless thing before God's eyes.\nChildren, it must all be according to God's justice that we shall be\nmade holy, not in our self-chosen ways or words or anything else of\nours, but all of Him and in Him. May we sink deep into Him and be\npoured out into Him. And may He grant that we shall all be found\nrenewed in Him in all truth. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 559\n\nAttiring tl|^ Vtxht fat tlje »ribrgr0om\n\nSynopsis — Our soul is called to nuptial union with God — First comes\nthe souVs cleansing from even the pettiest sin — Then it must re-\nnounce favorite devotions, if Ood calls for this — A very interior\nsense of abandonment to God's tcill next must follow — All this is\naccompanied hy the ordinary virtues of its state of life.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER\n\nTRINITY.\n\nFeast of St. Cordula, Virgin and Martyr.\n\nThe kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who made a marriage for his\nson. — Matt, xxii, 3.\n\nThis is the feast of the holy virgin, St. Cordula. Left by God to\nher own feebleness, she sank below all into the lowest place, and over-\ncome with fear of men, she would have escaped from martyrdom by\nflight. But God, by her interior suffering, gave her the highest degree\nof sanctity, surpassing all her companions. All the tortures that St.\nUrsula and her virgins endured, wounds and scourgings and death, she\nsuffered interiorly, for she was martyred in her heart and spirit: she\nmay be said to have died the death of each and all of those martyrs,\ndying indeed many deaths for each of their single deaths. And then\nfinally she delivered herself up to the power of her enemies, and fell\nby their sword.\n\nChildren, children, let ijs wonder at the marvellous fidelity of God\nto us, let us be amazed at the hidden ways by which He leads us to\nHimself, manifesting to our souls the deepest secrets by means the most\nastonishing. God leaves a man to himself amid frightful temptations,\noppressed with every dire calamity, abandoned to poor human weak-\nness. But if one will only recognize God's guidance in this visitation\nand follow Him obediently, he will thereby attain to a degree of holiness\na thousand times higher than if he had had no bitter conflict to sustain.\nLet him but earnestly cleave to God in all trustfulness, never despair-\n\n560 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ning of His help, never indulging in unlawful liberty of action; and\nthen no temptation can be so vile or so strong as to do him harm.\n\nIn this Gospel we read of a king setting a supper for his son's mar-\nriage, and inviting many guests. Now the king is the heavenly Father,\nthe bridegroom is our Lord Jesus Christ, and the bride is your soul and\nmine. We are all invited, all things are ready for the union of God\nwith our soul, that bride He loves so tenderly. This union is so\nsweet, so close, so interior, so conlBding, so affectionate, as to surpass\nall comprehension. The loftiest professor of the university of Paris\nwith all his science, could never understand this : — would he prepare to\nlecture on this, he must first of all rest dumb and amazed; and the\nmore he would desire to speak of it the less should he find that he\nunderstood it. Not only does natural light fail in this, but all the\nriches of grace are incapable of describing God's union with the soul ;\nfor all angels and saints would lack words to tell what they know of it.\nIt is only a simple hearted soul, wholly given up to God in deep humil-\nity—only such a one can experience something of this spiritual es-\npousals, and that in the inmost recesses of his soul's life. Even he can-\nnot comprehend it, least of all describe it, for it far transcends all\ncreated intelligence.\n\nThis bride of God, our soul, we must now get ready. We must wash\nit clean, we must array it in new garments, adorn it with all splendor :\nas to the old clothes and ornaments, these must we throw away, even\nif they happen to be good. What the washing means is purifying the\nsoul from sins and imperfections. The stripping off of the old clothing,\nthat means purging out the corrupt tendencies of our fallen nature,\nevery evil habit and natural weakness. The new garments, these are\nthe new virtues that we shall acquire in a heavenly newness of life,\nformed on the model of Christ. But one might enquire about his former\ndevout practices, — must these be all cast aside? — as being good clothes\nindeed, but not good enough for these high espousals? Is it right to\nsay (what I will not say) that one must now be dispensed from prac-\ntising these ordinary virtues, as not being good enough raiment for the\nheavenly nuptials? To that I answer yes and no. For no man dare say\nthat he shall be above practising any virtues, or loving them. And yet\nit is also true, that whilst the soul is rapt into ecstactic union with\nGod, he is not engaged in the practise of any particular moral virtue,\nfor example, that of patience or pity. But the moment he returns to an\nordinary state of consciousness, then he has to practise all virtues,\naccording to time, place and opportunity.\n\nofjohn Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 5g|\n\nAiiothei- way we can say that one is unclothed of his virtues, namelv\nby turning them all over to God in entire self-renunciation. One nuiv\nlong to have the grace to practise acts of much holiness- to be so\npoor, for instance, as not to know where he shall find the next nioht's\nshelter; to be so enlightened as to know all God's truth; to feel\" the\ndeepest confidence in God; and to enjoy divine consolations; or to be\nlike this or that holy friend. From all this must one be unclothed, and\nm all nakedness of abandonment to God's good pleasure, stand ab-\nsolutely subject to His will, absorbed entirely in obedience to the divine\nchoice in all such matters. For however desirable thev mav be in\nthemselves and however intrinsically good, there is a depiivity 'lurking\nin our nature which tends to pervert all the good that comes to us\nIt IS like good food spoiled by the filthy dish it is served in, or good\nwme soured by a foul cask. Our loving, faithful Bridegroom knows\nthis, our weakness, full well; and sometimes He allows us to fail\nmiserably by this self choice of virtues, so that we may learn first of\nall to correct this evil tendency. Unclothing of virtue (understood\nin this sense), often results in acquiring higher virtue more quickly\nthan would be the case in assuming the practise of great good thin-s\nprematurely. \"\n\nAh, children, whosoever has any self-knowledge and learns his own\nincapacity, gives up self-guidance and follows God in whatever method\nand by whatever way He points out. Such a one comes through pros-\nperously and quickly. Let him accept whatever befalls him as sent\nhim by God's appointment, whether in his outer or his inner life; let\nhim submit to the divine judgment upon him and to all divine happen-\nings with deep thankfulness of heart. This wav may seem very\nstrange to thee, and yet thou shalt thus be more splendidly' clothed with\nvirtue than by the highest appearing good works, if thou dost them\nby thy own choice, dreaming that great results shall follow The soul\nhas, as It were, said to God: O my Lord, I greatly wish to manage\nor myself, and I long to enjoy interior peace, and am desirous to be\nlike tins one and that one. But He answers : No, child, it mu.st be\notherwise with thee; thou must be stripped; thou must be thrown\nback on thy nothingness, and learn what is hidden in thv own soul •\nstay at home with thyself. ^\n\nI once «^l^ed a man of very high sanctity, what it was that most\ncommonly absorbed h.s spiritual endeavors. He answered- \"Consider-\ning my sins; and by that occupation I come to mv God \" In that he\n\n562 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nwas entirely right. Let God and all God's creatures sit in judgment\nupon thee for thy sins ; then sit in judgment on thyself; and God will no\nlonger judge thee; as St. Paul teaches. But this must be in thy soul\nwithout any explanations and interpretations but in all sincerity. It\nmust not be a feigned humility, for that is a sister of pride. And it\nmust be deep seated in thy soul, not a sudden tempest of zeal for per-\nfection; there must be no head breaking recklessness. It is a quiet,\ngentle, resigned submission to God, in all humble fear of His sovereign\nmajesty.\n\nTherefore do thou lay open to God's eyes thy deep seated evil inclina-\ntions in most hearty prayer in thy inmost spirit. Freedom from these\nthou must seek wholly from Him. Whatever running about for help\nthou dost will amount to nothing. Following after this leader or\nthat — that is all foolishness. They may be all very good men ; but inas-\nmuch as men differ from one another, so do their ways to God differ.\nWhat is life to one is death to another. According to a man's mental\ncharacteristics, and according to his other natural traits, so are his\ngraces alotted by God. Therefore do not look about thee at men's\nmethods and observances to pick and choose what suits thee; nor at\ntheir peculiar virtues. But everywhere observe such things as their\nmildness and their humility as something to imitate. However, thou\nshouldst follow their methods and their observances, if thy vocation\nmakes it incumbent on thee. Always and above all things bear in mind\nthy vocation and thy state of life, and go forward along that road.\nIf thou wilt but advert carefully to that, thou shalt soon find what thou\nart looking for in the nature of external guidance, and shalt know it as\nplain as thy right hand.\n\nBut alas, thou dost not remain at home in thy own heart ; thou dost\nnot seek God's leadership faithfully and loyally in thy interior. Thou\nlookest for everything on the outside, and that is why thou remainest\nunknowing both of self and of God. Twenty or thirty years of life is\npassed as in one leap, and what is the outcome? Thou mayest have\nled a life of seeming holiness, but as a mater of fact, thou art no closer\nto God at the end than at the beginning. What a misery is this!\nDig down for the roots of thy vices and strike those roots dead; nor\nshould this be the destruction of thy nature. Whosoever does not\nfollow this course, will lose in one hour the store of virtue that he has\ngathered by perhaps a year of hard striving by outward words and\nworks — spoiled by being tainted by the growth upwards of the roots\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 563\n\nof imperfection, unknown and undestroyed, hidden in the depths of the\nsoul. As long as a multiplicity of self-assumed pious practices holds\npossession of thy will, these are on thy soul, which is the Lord's spouse,\nlike very unacceptable garments. While they enwrap thee He can-\nnot clothe thee with the splendid raiment of His love, as He so\nardently desires to do. Make account of no spiritual exercises and\nno good works except as they are in some plain way His divine will. If\nI had followed all the approved spiritual methods I should be a dead\nman long ago. Keep God's will in view; love God's will ardently;\nhave nothing of thy own will in view, nor of thy own spiritual pleasure\nor gain; pray to God enchained in the prison of the divine darkness\nand unknowingness, of deep retirement of spirit in the hidden depths;\nthen let Him guide thee by whatsoever methods or spiritual exercises\nHe will. Thus it is that He will array thee in the most lovely bridal\nrobes that eye has ever seen. And thy soul shall chant a bridal canticle\nmore ravishing than ever hath been heard or heart ever enjoyed. May\nthe loving Bridegroom grant that all this shall be our happy lot.\nAmen.\n\n^^^ The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nEa^ttig ll|? Ak? in tl)r l&ootB of SmpnUttwn\n\n^Synopsis—The depths of our evil tendencies little understood— True\nChristians are never without anxiety concerning hidden iceak-\nnesses— These often take the form of excuses— Also slwun hy self-\nimll in choosing devotions— Rules for alternating prayer and icork.\nWhy inner joy should always be suspected— Danger of indulging a\ncritical spirit.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE NINETEENTH SUNDAY\nAFTER TRINITY.\n\nBehold, I have prepared My dinner. — Matt, xxii, 4.\n\nAfter speaking yesterday of how God pre])ared His Son's marriage\nfeast, I am now to furtlier explain how the bride, that is to say our soul,\nis to be unclothed of all its old garments so that it may be adorned with\nnew ones. We shall consider how God gives and takes all things,\narranges and adjusts all things, for the purpose of this unclothing of\nHis beloved bride so that he may newly array her with appropriate and\ndivine nuptial robes. It is much more necessary to attend to this\nunclothing than to the reclothing of our souls, for the unclothing Js\nas far as our part extends. We may not doubt but that God will do\nHis part perfectly in the reclothing, once the soul is fitted for it.\n\nI must further explain my teaching that the root of our imp(-rfec\ntions must be dug out. For when one has weeded his garden, there\nmay remain unnoticed a root or two deep set in the ground, wl.idi\nwill spring up with the good seed and spoil the crop. By this I mean\nthat the deep lying defects of our soul, which too often get little notice,\nare not destroyed, and are only touched on the surface by our con-\nfessions. Over these the plow of good spiritual exercises passes leav-\ning the evil tendencies still there, rooted in our nature. It may be\nsecret pride, or some subtle form of impurity, or some deep aversion\nfor others joined with scorn and envy. These spring up in due time\namid apparently admirable virtues, defiling the fruit of a good life.\n\nBe sure that what ever else God does or intends for us. He insists\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 565\n\nperemptorily, that we shall uncover these harmful roots of sin and cast\nthem forth from the soul. For as long as they are there, thou shalt\nhave no rest: they Avill spring up again when thou least expectest.\nSuch was plainly the case with many even of the fathers of the\ndesert, who having lived in solitude for thirty or forty years in all holy\nexercises without destroying the roots of vicious inclinations, finally\nwere ruined. Be watchful, children. The enemy may sleep long and\nsound, but he is liable to attack you suddenly, whether by pride, or\nself love, or inordinate love of creatures. Search your interior soul\ndiligently: and if you find these root-weaknesses, destroy them relent-\nlessly by humility and self-condemnation, appealing to God very\nfervently for His assistance. Follow this course; and rely wholly\non God, for the cause is entirely His own ; persistently persevere.\nFor some, as soon as they find relief in their prayers, give over their\nefforts at purification of heart. For thy part, never be without anxiety\nconcerning these obstinate evil tendencies; never fall into self-trust.\nThe man who is on his guard about his interior weaknesses, is never\ncaught unprepared; when the storm of temptation breaks upon him, he\ninstantly takes refuge in God, who is to him like a safe harbor within\nhis soul. Those who are careless in this matter, are, when overtaken\nby death, in an awful state of misery. Thej' have Avilfully cherished\nsinful inclinations, and are now justly condemned to purgatory.\n\nWhat if this painful search and this hard repression of nature does\nafflict thee? Does it not reveal thee to thyself plainly and honestly?\nAnd the pain that thou sufferest will .serve thee for thy purgatory.\nDear children, there is no blemish of the soul so trifling (for I speak\nnot now of gross sinfulness), but that it may be a serious obstacle to\nGod's divine work in thee, if thou cl ingest to it wilfully. And it will\ncause thee more suffering in purgatory than the martyrs endured\ntaking them all together. Thou mayest easily languish thirty or forty\nyears there for such faults: is it not better to suffer for a brief period\nhere in all patience and humility? — to say nothing of the wonderful\nincrease of eternal joy to be thus obtained.\n\nThe king said: \"Tell them that were invited: Behold, I have pre-\npared my dinner; my beeves and fatlings are killed, and all things\nare ready.\" You know how the invited guests refused to come, offering\nvarious excuses. And some even laid hands on the king's servants,\nbeat them, and put them to death. So that at last it happened that\nthough many were called but few were chosen. Dear children, the\n\n566 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nlike of this is all too common among us in different classes of people,\nboth secular and religious; for when God calls to perfection, objections\nand excuses are everywhere heard on the score of worldly occupations\nand even of mere slothfulness. It puzzles the brain to calculate the\nmarvellous excess indulged in as to clothing and food and furniture.\nIn many cases not a tenth part of what is provided is really necessary.\nYet this miserable age of ours leads straight (m to eternity ; and it is\nas true today as ever before, that what keeps soul and body together\nshould content us. A man should be willing to perish with want,\nrather than to wallow in such gross excesses.\n\nChildren, lay it to heart that God has called you away from this\nwretched world to His faithful service. Let us relentlessly cut off\nall that is not of real necessity, let us avoid every sort of multiplicity\nand all idleness whatsoever. Turn inward and harken to the call of\nGod in your various vocations, one to the contemplative state of life,\nanother to that of active charity or religion, and a third to that state\nwhich is far above both, namely the quiet stillness of the spirit in\nunion with God in divine obscurity. And even these last God some-\ntimes calls to outward activity but in due time returning them again\nto their interior repose, just as He wills. For if when God calls me to\nHis outward work and I turn inward, then the inner life avails me\nnothing ; and if He would lead me inward and I yet go outward, then\nmy outward labor for Him comes to naught. Stay at home with\nthyself, therefore, intently listening for God's call : there can be no\ndoubt but that He will sound it plainly in thy soul's ears. Whither-\nsoever it may direct thee, there shouldst thou go and nowhere elst.\n\nWhen one is called to the inner life of stillness and divine darkness,\nand then insists on never resuming outward works of charity — an\nunfaithfulness too common nowadays — much harm ensues. A man\nmust under all circumstances do those works of charity that Provi-\ndence has assigned to him. He must leave the interior, in a spirit of\nself-denial, not choosing this or that state or work according to his\nnatural disposition, as many, alas, are accustomed to do. All must be\ndone from motives of unmixed love of God's will, and in real detach-\nment from self. A really detached spirit is keen enough to detect\ndanger of injurious multiplicity of mind in devoting himself to\nexternal duties; no one knows so well what multiplicity is. Hence\nhe avoids what is dangerous to his recollection, even though it be\nthe companionship of ordinary good people; for their conversation is\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nonly too often light and trivial and concerning an infinity of affairs.\nTurn thou away from all this, and enter into thyself as soon as possible,\nlest thy soul shall swarm with a multiplicity of useless forms and\nimages.\n\nOnce thy work of external charity be done, then hasten inward\nagain. And if entire recollection be not granted thee immediately,\nthen occupy thy mind with deep thoughts of God's unspeakable good-\nness, such as His overflowing bounty in giving us His divine Son's\nblessed humanity, and in our Saviour's life, passion and death; as well\nas the glorious virtues of God's saints. Thus may one be absorbed\nvery profitably in God, in all love and gratitude. Presently this lights\nup one's soul, revealing one's faults, and it moves one to deep sorrow.\nAll this is good and spiritually stimulating. But better still is interior\nquiet— as much better as the interior is better than the exterior life.\nAnd one greatly errs if he would disturb this restful calm by introduc-\ning forms and figures of the imagination — in the same way as one\nwould cripple necessary works of charity by over much of the restful\nspirit.\n\nAnd now a caution : Sometimes men's heads are turned with the\nfavors of the inward rest, and self-gratulation results; true poverty\nof spirit is forfeited, and the soul enjoys the sweetness of divine grace\nwith the gluttony of a bear devouring honey. The inner of joy con-\ntemplation should have no place in us except as a way to the love of\nGod and God alone. One should seek naught of self, clinging only to\nthe divine honor, lest one's fate should be that of the wicked servant\nin the gospel, who having appropriated his master's goods to his own\nuse, was stripped both of them and of his own, and then put to death.\n\nFrom this right relation of the inward and outward spiritual life,\nis born interior peace amid the silence and obscurity of God's presence\nin the spirit. About this, much is said in both the old and new Tes-\ntaments, as, for example, how Moses was led by God into darkness;\nand in the Book of Kings, how God was not in the stormy wind but in\nthe whistling of a gentle air ; and as we read in the book of Wisdom :\n\"While all things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst\nof her course. Thy almighty Word leaped down from heaven\" (Wisdom\nxviii, 14, 15). All our spiritual exercises, all our good works, should\nserve this holy silence of the spirit, our attention never wandering from\nit, every effort bent on deepening it.\n\nBut some confuse this supernatural quiet of soul with mere natural\n\nThe Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ninterior peace. Be on your guard ; stand in sincere fear of God, be hum-\nble, making nothing of self, suspecting self love in all things, flying inces-\nsantly to God's protection. True, this course means a sharp anguish\nof soul; it is painful in the extreme to be tormented with unceasing\nyearnings after self-renunciation and simplicity: but it is the anguish\nof purgatory, whose cleansing fires are thus endured before their time.\n\nPerhaps one may not be able to withdraw his mind from the multi\nplicity and distraction caused by external works of charity as quickly\nas he would like. But that should not distress him. If all is done for\nGod's sake, He will shortly abate the hindrance it would otherwise\ncause : God needs no long time to work His purpose in our soul. Turn\nquickly inward as soon as occasion serves. When thou hast estab\nlished the Unnamable in thy soul's depths, all that may be named will\nbe gathered to it, for all must respond to the divine summons within\nthee. If entire recollection is slow in coming, then exercise thyself\nbriefly and regularly in the interior ways already treated of, till the\ngreater gift of quiet in God shall be granted thee. If a man will but\nreject self and place God as the only object of thought and act, without\ndoubt God will guide him in whatsoever way he treads.\n\nNow, when simple hearted men hear all this, they directly resolve to\nmake a beginning, and to do it strictly in this manner: always to\nbegin, over and over again to begin, such is their whole ambition, such\ntheir life. But men of a critical spirit act otherwise : they take what\nis taught them in their own meaning of it, and carry it out after their\nown natural devices and methods. But when death is approaching\nthey find their souls void of God, and are in much distress. They have\nnot, to be sure, departed from holy faith, they are not in a state of\nmortal sin, but they are to be cast into purgatory to atone for grave\nvenial sins: either that or the eternal tiies of hell, if they have unhap-\nl)ily died in mortal sin.\n\nWhen our Lord says that His beeves are killed. He may be taken to\nmean outward works of religion; when He says His fatlings are killed,\nwe can apply the term to interior works, namely holy contemplation;\nand the wedding sup}:er itself, represents the interior quiet of spirit,\nwhich the soul enjoys in God as God does in Himself. Finally God\nthe King \"went in to see the guests, and He saw there a man that had\nnot on a wedding garment. And He saith to him : Friend, how earnest\nthou in hither not having on a wedding garment? But he was silent.\nThen the King said: Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 569\n\nexterior darkness.\" The wedding garment is divine love and a divine\nintention in all things. This excludes all other love, either for self or\nfor any creature: God alone absorbs it wholly. Now we meet with\nmen who claim to possess this love and this purity of purpose: they\nhave heard it explained, they have read of it in books, they know the\nmeaning of it. But this is true only of their reasoning powers, for\nthey have not worked it out in act. They possess it in knowledge and\nnot in essence. It is not in their soul's depths that this love abides-\nall love for God alone, every purpose for God alone ; no, what they have\nis self love in disguise. For as a matter of fact what they have in\nview and what they love is God's gifts and not God alone. Hence the\nquestion : ''Friend, how camest thou in hither not having on a wedding\ngarment\" of real love? A man should indeed use all of God's gifts, but\nhe must not rest upon them with joy. but only on God alone. Hence\nthe King's words : \"Bind him hands and feet,\" that is to say fetter all\nthe powers of his soul, and cast him for a further trial in God's cleans-\ning processes, amid darkness and weeping and gnashing of teeth.\nTherefore, dear children, think of God alone amid all His gifts, love\nHim alone, lest your fate should be the same. May God grant us His\ntrue light to this end. Anicn.\n\n570 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — In dealing with temptations the cardinal rule is trust in\nGod — NoMlity of God's call to conflict — How God grants us favors\nthrough and amid temptations — And principally hy bestowing hu-\nmility— Temptations that are peculiar to the devils — Spiritual\npride is the worst of all — Eow a certain kind of divine faith resists\nthis.\n\nSERMON FOR THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\nFinally, brethren, be strengthened in the Lord, and in the might of HH\npower. Put ye on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against\nthe deceits of the devil. For our wrestling is not against the rulers of the\nworld of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places. There-\nfore take unto you the armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil\nday, and to stand in all things perfect. — Eph. vl, 10-13\n\nYesterday we spoke of the stripping of the soul of all things in\npreparation for the coming of the Bridegroom, who will then reclothe\nit with the true wedding garment. But this seems an awful task ; the\nsoul thinks it can never be done, and naturally falls into grievous\ndoubt. And St. Paul's encouraging words are therefore applicable:\n\"Be strengthened in the Lord, and in the might of His power.\" As\nif to say: What thou canst not do by thyself, thou canst do by Him.\nRely no more on thyself, but absolutely on Him. Rest all thy activity\non Him as on a foundation ; and thou canst then do all things. Look\nfor success in His sovereignty, His power. His holy humanity. He\nwill do all things for thee, if thou thus cleavest to Him in deepest sin-\ncerity and in all steadfastness. Draw all thy force from His hidden\nmight, for His almighty power is secret and silent. But some take a\nperverse view of this. They act as if they themselves were God; they\nmake no account of any power but what they personally possess, and\nthis delusion extends to both the interior life and the exterior. They\nresent the exercise of authority of every sort over them, both of Church\nand state, and meanwhile they strive by every means to rule over one\nanother. But you may be sure that God will not always be silent nor\nhide His power.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nSt. Paul says further : \"Put ye on the armor of God,\" which is at\nwarning that we have a battle to fight. But do you know what that\narmor is? It is the splendid nuptial robe of the bride, made for her\nand given to her by her Spouse. And how noble a conflict is this, thus\nto be fought in the Bridegroom's armor. But just what are these holy\nrobes? Our Lord tells us: \"Learn of me, because I am meek and\nhumble of heart\" (Matt, xi, 29). Thus armed, now let the soul prac-\ntise itself in that most necessary of all the arts, how to fight and to\novercome in the Lord's battle. It is in temptation that we have our\nconflict for God, and the victory is that a man learns who and what he\nis All the great ones of the earth who have been vanquished in life's\ncombat, failed only from lack of this art of holy warfare. They some-\ntimes have done great things for as long as thirty or forty years; thev\nseemed to be wonderfully virtuous; but when assailed by violent temp-\ntations, they were overcome because they lacked meekness and humility\nof heart, and they did not know their own weakness.\n\nIt is amid temptations that we discover our own miserable weak-\nness. This knowledge taken alone is worth more to us than practising\nvirtue without it. Just in proportion as grace is necessary to us, so\nare temptations necessary. In temptation virtues are rightly begun\nin us, and in the same are they perfected. And this is a necessary con-\ndition if virtue is to sink deep into our being. No matter what may be\none's vocation, whether to the contemplative or the active state, it is all\none : he must needs be sorely tempted if he is to become perfect. A\ngreat spiritual teacher says: \"As little can a man be preserved from\ndegeneracy without temptation, as meat can be saved from rottenness\nwithout salt.\" God communicates Himself to us through the virtues\nand through the sacraments ; and He can do the same through tempta-\ntions. Little spots are cleansed away by them ; and imperfections are\ndug out by the roots; by them holy humility is generated and the deep\nfear of God. By these trials God admonishes us to constantly fly to\nHim for help, and to entrust the battle to His direction.\n\nO beloved children, put on this noble armor of God, and without\ndoubt you will conquer in your battle with temptations. Only be\nhumble and mild, only subject yourselves under God and all creatures,\nand neither man nor devil can ever vanquish you. Let all of God's\nenemies conspire together to overthrow you, you will put them all to\nflight. And any man who lacks this armor of humility, will never be\nvictorious. Wrath and pride, the vices opposed to meekness and\n\n572 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nhumility, are born of self-love and self-opinionatedness, as is also\nself will. The really humble man has no self will nor obstinate opin-\nions: he is detached from his own will, is poor in spirit, and has God\nfor his master and his support and his aim and purpose in all things.\n\nO children, be humbled under the mighty hand of God and He will\nexalt you. Yield thyself meekly to be condemned by God to do penance,\nand let all His creatures condemn thee; nay condemn thy own self.\nGladly suffer oppression; practise self-renunciation in all things and\nturn constantly to God: do all this, and without the least doubt it will\nturn out well with thee in thy temptations. But O children, where\nshall we find meekness among men? If any one hears a single sharp\nword, he answers back hotly with ten; immediately evil passions are\naroused, and men are suddenly snarling at one another and biting one\nanother like dogs. Meekness? It has vanished away from their souls.\nThou shouldst rather be glad to suffer from men, having found out thy\nunworthiness to receive any other treatment, remembering besides that\nvirtue is born and is strengthened only by such trials. When one assails\nthee bitterly, quickly turn inward, and hold thyself for nothing; look\non thyself as worse than thy assailant thinks thee. And, besides, thou\nshalt thereby cure his scorn of thee by thy meekness, curing his wounds\nand suffering none thyself. To overcome all these weaknesses, children,\npractice deep, earnest prayer in your inmost spirit, and stand fast\nin the truth unto the end.\n\nOnce Peter the Deacon, a disciple of St. Gregory the Great, said to\nhis master: ''This is a hard saying — that a man must be always en\ngaged in conflict.\" St. Gregory answered him: \"It is not hard; nor\nis the victory doubtful, if a man will but place the combat and the\nvictory entirely in the hands of God, receiving all assaults in that\nspirit arrayed meanwhile in the armor of humility and meekness.\"\nSuch a man does not strike back, but he quickly turns inward and\ngrasps the buckler of holy faith, and receives all the strokes of his\nenemies on that.\n\n('lad in this armor, we are ''able to stand against the deceits of\nthe devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood.\" Let all\nmen who practise severe bodily mortifications, but fail to mortify the\nkinship to the demon that lurks in the bottom of our souls, lay these\nwords to heart. What evil thing has their poor flesh done? These\nmen would break through a stone wall by casting themselves against it\nhead first. Kill your vices and not your body.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 573\n\nSt. Paul says that our wrestling is \"against principalities and\npowers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness.\" He means\nthe devils; but he also means the human princes of this world. These\nshould be the very best of men, but, alas, they are the very horses that\nthe demons bestride, causing them to spread disturbance everywhere,\nand to oppress the people. They live in pride, they usurp power, they\nare in many ways wicked men, as is plain to be seen over the whole\nearth. \"Against the rulers of the world of this darkness,\" adds the\napostle. What awful darkness overspreads the Christian world, envel-\noping both clergy and laity. We can measure its thickness by the fact\nthat Jews and pagans, with all their blindness of heart, live up to\ntheir law and their natural reason far better than we Christians observe\nthe gospel of Christ, the teachings of holy faith, and the example of\nthe saints. Our souls are blinded by vice, we are full of vanity, and\nwe are preoccupied with thoughts of created things. We do not sin-\ncerely love God nor regard God in our daily conduct. In the end\nwe shall be judged and condemned along with the benighted and\ninfidel nations.\n\nThere are those who have given up this darkness, turning away from\nall selfseeking and walking into the true light of God. They are im-\nmersed in their origin — God ; they are melted into Him amid the deep\nstillness of all their mental faculties. It is the holy darkness of the\ndivine solitude that they have sought and found, transcending all\nintelligence. They are cast away so far from self, that in their\nunion with God they have lost self and all things else, and are conscious\nnow of nothing at all but only God, in whom they are wholly absorbed.\nAnd because they are thus placed, all goes well with them; they do not\ngo astray. Coming out of this state, however, and resuming their\nordinary activity of mind, they sometimes do not comprehend how\nit all happened, for it is beyond and above reason's grasp.\n\nAnd then demons enter this paradise, the most cunning of them all\nand the most malignant. Well do they know that these godlike men\nwill enjoy the places in heaven that they forfeited; hence they hate\nthem most bitterly, and they give them no rest from temptation. Among\nother evil thoughts, they suggest to them that they are actually God\nHimself: for to yield to this illusion were the deadliest calamity of all.\nNow let the soul raise the shield of holy faith and hold it firmly,\nexclaiming: there is but one God; there can be but one God: who is\nlike unto God? Upon these acts of true faith as upon an impenetrable;\nshield, the soul receives the fiery darts of the enemy.\n\n574 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nThe apostle continues: \"And take unto you the helmet of salva-\ntion;\" \" having your loins girt about with truth;\" \"having on the\nbreastplate of justice,\" which is made up of all the virtues welded\ntogether; and take in your hand \"the sword of the Spirit, which is the\nword of God\" (Eph. vi, 12-17). Thus armed and shielded, go forth\ngladly to the conflict with your enemies, to overthrow them and to\nconfound their treason and rebellion against God, that you may\n\"stand in all things perfect.\" Thus are we to fight in what St. Paul\ncalls \"the evil day.\" We must all prepare for the evil days of the\njudgment of God, when the pillars of the world shall be moved from\ntheir place, and all things be overthrown and cast away. Then those\nwho have built on this deep and hidden foundation of truth and of\nGod, stand in security, liberated from all slavery to self or to other\ncreatures, victorious over all enemies.\n\nInto the inner sanctuary of their spirit these souls daily enter, draw-\ning in with them all whom God has committed to their care; nor need\nthese latter fancy that they are forgotten by such holy souls. No, O,\nno ! All whom they love enter into God with themselves, yea, and they\ndraw in all Christendom, fast bound to them in interior love. And they\nbring them out again into their external life, expending on them\ntreasures of love in works of charity — to return with them back again\ninto the abyss of divine love. All that comes to such souls in their\nouter life, they draw inward and place with God, retaining nothing\nfor self — all is for God alone. Such souls are the strong walls of God's\nChurch; had we them not, all would go ill with us; be well assured of\nthat.\n\nTherefore, dearest children, grasp firmly the shield of holy faith,\nwield manfully \"the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.\"\nAnd what if you should be stricken down? let it be but for an instant;\nrise up quickly and fight on bravely. Kenew the battle a thousand\ntimes over, and stand your ground to the very end, when eternal salva-\ntion shall be your victory. God grant us all that victory. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 575\n\nSynopsis — The truest lesson of life is how best to love — Love works up-\nwUrd and downward in our soul — Love's relation to keeping the\ncommandments — It gives favors without hope of return — When,\ndirected to God love begins with self-condemnation — It then pro-\nceeds to entire abandonment to God's guidance — What hinders\nlove is any form of selfishness — Before this is fully cured painful\ntrials must be endured — The more mystical states of love.\n\nSERMON FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\nFor God Is my witness, how I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.\nAnd this I pray, that your charity may more and more abound in knowledge,\nraid in all understanding: that you may approve the better things, that you may\nbe sincere and without offense unto the day of Christ. Filled with the fruit of\njustice through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. — Phil. 1, 8-11.\n\nNotice with what earnestness St. Paul calls God to witness, of his\ndeep love for his digciples. Had we a return of such love to the apostle\nand our benefactors generally, it would greatly stimulate us to show\nourselves worthy of our friends' aflfection for us, if for no higher motive\nthan to satisfy their longing for our perfection. And when St. Paul\nsays: \"I pray that your charity may more and more abound,\" he\nmeans that it should greatly increase till it overflows and passes beyond\nevery lower motive, and becomes love in all things perfect.\n\nWhat is the best lesson we can ever learn? Is it not how to possess\nthe greatest love and the best? God demands not great intelligence,\nnor profound penetration of mind, nor magnificent methods of spiritu-\nality, for all good spiritual practises obtain their merit from love.\nBut what God requires of us is only love, for, as St. Paul tells us, love\n\"is the bond of perfection\" (Col. iii, 14). As to greatness of intellect\nand force of character, these are common to us and pagans and Jews;\nsplendid achievements are common to the just and the unjust. It is\nonly the possession of love that divides the false hearts from the true.\n\"God is charity: and he that abideth in charity, abideth in God, and\nGod in him\" (I John iv, 16). Therefore before all arts have the art\n\n576 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nof loving. Inasmuch as God hath first loved us with an unspeakable\nlove, so shall we love Him in return, as St. Augustine teaches. And let\nour love never cease, never even lessen, but always grow stronger. By\nlove a man merits love ; and the more a man loves the more is he made\ncapable of loving.\n\nNow the working of love is both inner and outer. The outer love\nis given to our neighbor, and the inner is given to God direct. For this\nlatter love a man needs knowledge, as St, Paul says: \"That your\ncharity may more and more abound in knowledge, and in all under-\nstanding.\" We must not be content with good love; the apostle\nexhorts us to win the very best — he wishes that we may overflow with\nlove. Knowledge is one of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and goes before\nlove as a handmaiden before her mistress to do her service. Now true\ndivine love thou must have interiorly, and it shall be a mark to thee\nthat thou hast it, if thou hast exteriorly a love for thy neighbor. For\nthou lovest God not, unless thou findest that thy heart loves thy neigh-\nbor ; as it is written : \"He that loveth not his brother, whom he seeth,\nhow can he love God, whom he seeth not?\" (I John iv, 20).\n\nUpon love depend all of God's commandments and both the old and\nnew testaments, — that thou shalt love God, and shalt love thy neigh-\nbor as thyself. Thou shalt have common joy with him in his good\nfortune, common sorrow with him in his ill fortune, \"one heart and one\nsoul\" (Acts iv, 32) with him, as was the case among the whole multi-\ntude of the faithful in the time of the apostles, when all things were\nin common. And if thou canst not exhibit this community of feeling\noutwardly from lack of means, thou must yet cherish it in thy deepest\nsoul, very unfeignedly, not half-heartedly, very intelligently — \"in all\nunderstanding\" — and with a ready good will to do what lies within thy\npower. And when thou canst do no more for thy neighbor, thou canst\nat least say a kindly or a gentle word to him out of a full heart.\n\nAnd thy love must extend even to a perverse neighbor. Thou must\nlovingly and patiently suffer his wickedness. Do not fall upou him\nwith hard words, but mercifully bear his defects. Remember that often\nenough men are not bad from rooted and habitual malice, but from\nunwariness, or from dullness of mind ; or, as St. Gregory tells us, from\nGod's allowing them to fall into sinfulness so that they may be deeply\nhumiliated and thereby learn their own guilty weakness. As to those\nwho are not habitual but only occasional sinners, these thou mayest\neasily and quickly lead to consider their sad state, to acknowledge their\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 577\n\nwickedness, and to do penance. The others obstinately cling to their\nvices, and even justify themselves. But all of them must thou bear\nwith affectionately, and thereby prove the sincerity of thy love. If\nthou quickly sittest in judgment on thy sinful neighbor, that is a true\nsign that the love of God has withered up in thy soul : and some are as\nhasty in judging others as a man in leaping a stone wall. ±>e on thy\nguard against rash judgment; if things look bad, cover thy face with\nthy mantel, and blind thy eyes to the faults of others. Examine thyself\nvery closely, and hold court over thy own shortcomings. Every thing\nis going wrong, children, because no one will bear patiently with his\nneighbor?' faults for love's sake, and because no one will pity his\nneighbor's weakness, little considering how much of evil in men i«\ndue to feebleness of character, lack of good sense, or momentary un-\nguardedness.\n\nThus must our brotherly love \"more and more abound,\" and must\nbe directed to all mankind as practically as lies in our power. And\nhereby shall we discover the genuineness of the love that is turned\ninwards towards God, the source and origin of our being. The\nknowledge and understanding in love mentioned by the apostle, is\nfound in the orderly relation between these two loves, the inward and\nthe outward: for the interior love in pregnant of the exterior love,\nwhich is continually being born of it : this is the kinship between\nthe two.\n\nWhen a man wishes to love God, he looks inward, and then he finds\nthat he has a loveless and a graceless heart towards God. But he\nknows he must love God with all his heart: therefore he rises up in\nfierce condemnation of himself and he loudly laments his depravity.\nHe in spirit sinks himself deep into hell, or at least into a terrific purga-\ntory; and every conceivable misfortune seems to him to be due to him;\nand as a matter of fact, God sometimes sends much adversity upon him.\nNow in very truth this is all just; a man must indeed launch this\ncondemnation against himself. But what shall we do, we poor little\nworms, crawling about in the dust of the earth? As soon as we feel\nthis deep humiliation, let us say this: O merciful God, have pity oil\nme; save me and help me; inflict such and such judgments on me, so\nthat in spite of all the fires of purgatory, I may at last attain to the\nkingdom of heaven. Well, we know that without some purgatory, few\nsaints have entered heaven, and- yet if one should pray thus to be\nfavored, I do not condemn him for it. But I say that he who has true\n\n578 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nlove for God, will, while he judges himself harshly and knows full well\nhis own defects, yet lovingly sinks down into the abyss of God's being;\nhe will give himself up entirely to God's good pleasure, and this act he\nwill accompany with a perfect abdication of all will of his own.\n\nLove of God when it is true, causes total self-renunciation and the\ngiving up of all self-will. Thus prepared, let a man fall at God's feet\nand beg Him to sit in judgment on him in love, so that God's holiness\nmay be given him, and God's will be done in him and in all creatures,\naccording to His eternal decrees, whether it may condemn him to pur-\ngatory or not, — how soon, how long, how bitter : Lord, let all be ordered\naccording to Thy will ; be I much or little in Thy sight, near to Thee\nor far away, let all be done to me as Thou wiliest. Thus must thou be\nglad that God's holiness shall be vindicated upon thy littleness; and if\nthou seest a holy man treated differently from thee, and God's majesty\nis shown by this one's virtue, rejoice in his good fortune as if it were\nthine own. Children, this is indeed true love.\n\nO, if one has committed all the sins in the world, and now coming\nto the end of his life is granted such a conversion, and has thus given\nhimself up to God's will absolutely and in perfect love, he will go\nstraight to heaven. But no man can bestow this grace in thee, for it\nis God's gift alone. And as there can be no better death than one\nblessed with this love, so there can be no more blessed life than one\nspent in such a love, always more and more abounding in it, the lover\nfinally absorbed in the Beloved.\n\nBut sins and temptations stand opposed to this love. As to tempta-\ntions, these are, taken in themselves, not sinful, being only incidental\nto our fallen nature's evil tendencies. We must not desire them, nor\ninduce them. But as to the pain they bring in resisting them, that\nwe should welcome, lovingly placing our shoulders under this heavA'\nburden. Would God have thee fight temptations till the day of judg-\nment? Make up thy mind to do so gladly — do it out of love of suffering,\nand to the praise and honor of God. Every thing that one is thus called\non to suffer, let him accept it as from God. And if the merit of it be\ngiven not to thyself but rather to some poor Jew or heathen whom thou\nhast never seen, given him for his soul's salvation, then shouldst thou\nthank God for it most sincerely, and be glad of it as if it were all\nbestowed on thyself.\n\nAnother enjoyment of love, is the sensible presence of the Beloved,\nand the sweetness of devotion overflowing the heart. But suppose a\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 579\n\nman had all of that joy in every possible fulness he could desire, and\nthat it was now revealed to him that God would empty his soul of it\nall, and give it to his deadliest enemy, what then? He must be glad of\nit, and give it over with his heart's best love. Once I heard a great\nfriend of God say this : \"I cannot do otherwise ; I am under constraint\nto more heartily wish my neighbor to go to heaven than myself.\" And\nthat is what I call love.\n\nAnd there are many other objects of a loving heart's desire. One\nwould be glad of the gift of divine peace; he would be glad of a state\nof life poorer than any orphan in the whole world. But I say to thee,\nleave on one side thy own plans and devices ; let love do thy planning,\nand do thou simply go out of thyself and all that is thine in loving\nabandonment to thy Beloved, resting in humility and detachment of\nspirit.\n\nOne must have love abounding \"more and more in knowledge, and in\nall understanding;\" and that does not mean simply a good way or\ndegree of loving but the very best. In knowledge indeed : for the prince\nof this world has everywhere planted weeds among the roses, so that\nthe weeds often choke the roses to death, or at least greatly stunt their\ngrowth. One must get away from dangerous company ; separations are\ninevitable, whether we speak of persons in communities or those who\nremain outside. And this does not mean that God's friends should\nbecome little sects among ordinary people in the world, and separated\nfrom them. No ; but they should be only separated from others by their\nlove of God and their virtuous lives.\n\nThe love so far treated of is the lower powers of the soul, and by it\nnature is granted the enjoyment of many sweet spiritual morsels and\nmany drinks of the wine of Cyprus. Such was the privilege of the\ndisciples, whilst our Lord was personally present with them. But at\nlast He said: \"It is expedient to you that I go\" (John xvi, 7). That\nis to say : If you would enjoy Me in the noblest manner, then you must\ngive Me up. For be assured, children, that this love in abandonment is\nas much higher than the other as heaven is higher than earth. And\nunto this love the apostles were now introduced. 0 how much happier\nis the lot of those who are granted this love. Love like this consists\nonly in denying, not at all in agreeing; it is not possessing God in the\nway the apostles had possessed Him in their Master's presence, but\npossessing Him in the want of Him.\n\nThis is a kind of not knowing that is a superessential knowledge,\n\n580 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nlifted far above reasoning — superessential and super-wise. But when\nthis process of elevating love is going forward, the soul that endures it\nstruggles like an infant being weaned; cowardly nature, flying from\nGod's face into the hidden corners of the soul is all forlorn and\nsupremely disturbed. For nature is wholly unequal to this trial. To\nsuch desolation is the soul reduced, that it dare not look at itself, it\nseems to itself to have ceased to think, ceased to desire. Nor is the soul\nable to offer this agony to God — so at least it feels — and it can but cling\nto a state of apparently absolute unknowingness. And yet that soul\nloves; it renounces self for love ; it dies to all objects of love that it had\nin those introductory steps we have already considered, assuming in this\nobscurity a higher love. In very truth, it is God who is now at work in\nthe soul ; it is He who loves Himself there, and is the only object of love.\nAs to the soul, there is now nothing for it but self-renunciation, and\nenduring that process of new formation which is taking place in the\ndivine obscurity, as we find it described in St. Dionysius. Poor human\nnature is now led in a very different way from the former one; it is the\nway of perfect denudation of self.\n\nAnd this is not only in the interior life, but it extends to outward\nthings also — all support, all consolation is withdrawn. Even the sacra-\nments are often directly refused to such a soul, or they are somehow\nwithheld, and this is done by God's own ordering. Before this visitation\nI would have given such a one hol^'^ communion every day — and at\npresent would by no means do so, for God wills otherwise. The soul\nmust now tread another path, leading upward in deep darkness. That\nspirit must rest in God's Spirit in a hidden stillness as if absorbed in\nGod.\n\nLight at last shines in that darkness, but it is seen only when the soul\nfinds itself in complete single-minded resignation of self to God. And\nin that state, all multiplicity is unified. This is the day of Jesus Christ\nspoken of by St. Paul. Now for the first time is Christ rightly received\nwith all the fruits of His passion and death. It is His day bright and\nclear, in all purification. Not that there is to Him any increase of the\nfruits of His passion and death ; but in us the gain is wonderfully great,\nbecause we have Him in this high and noble state of holiness in a way\nfar above forms and images of the mind ; in a hidden way, most interior\nand most divine.\n\nAnd our Lord offers an instructive illustration of this state. Before\nHis death He allowed himself to be touched by Mary Magdalene, His\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 581\n\nfeet washed, His head anointed. Not so after His death : \"Jesus saith\nto her: Do not touch Me, for I am not yet ascended to My Father\"\n(John XX, 17). Thus in the lower spiritual state, He allows Himself\nto be touched, washed, anointed by the soul He loves, to that soul's\nintense joy. But in the higher spiritual degree it is not so : He is now\nknown to the soul only as He is in the bosom of His Father — He is\nascended, He has disappeared with all that He is. This is what the\nsoul finds in Christ ; true day.\n\nThis was foreshown in the generation of the Son by the Father in the\ndivine life, and the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and\nthe Son in ever fruitful love. This is indeed the true day, in which true\nlove is born in its proper way and fitting nobility of birth, all in Jesus\nChrist; as St. Gregory has described it. On this state a great teacher\nof our order thus speaks: \"The light of Jesus Christ shines in our\ninterior soul clearer than the sun in the heavens, and His light is from\nthe interior outward, and not from the exterior inward.\" Children,\nthere is herein experienced a wonderful increase of holiness, passing all\ncalculation. It goes on not day by day, but every hour and every in-\nstant. But one in this state must watch himself very carefully, and he\nmust labor diligently to stand his ground. That we shall do so, all of us\nwho are true friends of God earnestly hope, namely, that we \"may more\nand more abound\" in holy love. May God, who is true love, help us to\nall this. Amen.\n\n582 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — Sketch of a true conversion — It carries the heart upward\nthrough the gifts of the Holy Ghost — A false conversion is always\ntainted with self-trust — The downward course of this soul plainly\ntraced from apparently high spirituality to open wickedness — This\ncontrasted with the life of a truly converted man.\n\nFIKST SERMON FOR THE TWENTY THIRD SUNDAY\nAFTER TRINITY.*\n\nWho hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us\ninto the kingdom of the Son of His love. — Col. i, 13.\n\nDear children, love of God is the beginning, middle, and end of all\nTirtue. For its sake must all that we do be done, all that we leave\nundone be left undone, all that we suffer be suffered. What we do for\nthe sake of love, be it ever so little, is great before God; what we do\nwithout love, however great it may appear to us, it appears quite\notherwise to God. Therefore we should bend all our energies to grow\nmore and more in the love of God and of our neighbor. There is our\nblessedness placed and nowhere else. We should beg the Holy Ghost,\nwho is essential love, that He would light up His love within us, and\nmake it penetrate our sinful nature with its power; for His ''love is\nstrong as death\" (Cant, viii, 6). And now pay attention, children,\nto this : if divine love shall spring up and flourish in any man's soul, he\nmust mark certain steps or degrees upward, and those he must little\nby little learn to climb. This he must do if he would reach the height\nof divine love. In all the degrees of love — and the Holy Ghost has\nmany, — \"love is strong as death.\" That means that if love shall\nrightly stand in a man's soul, then he must suffer much ere he can\ngain possession of it. And this is true in turn of acquiring each par-\nticular grade of love.\n\nThe first degree of love that God gives His friends is divine fear.\nIt is the first gift of the Holy Ghost, all whose gifts are love, for He\nis essential love. This gift brings a man to the point at which tie\n\n♦We have no sermon of Tauler's for the Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 5S3\n\nloathes all his sin againt God's commandments and the precepts of\nholy Church. Now this fear stays with a man to the very end of his\nlife. It is mixed with bitterness, for doing penance is a bitter task to\nbeginners.\n\nBut when God sees that a man is willing to be converted to Him\nno matter how painful it may be, and that he goes on steadfastly, then\nHe takes pity on him. After he has atoned for his sins with some\nbitterness of suflfering, God puts honey in his mouth; he grants him\na kindly and merciful disposition, a sweetness of charity towards\nothers. This is a new grade of love, and is called piety, or kindly\nlove. It makes a man's penitential works so sweet, that they no\nlonger are a burden to him. He is now able to observe God's com-\nmandments and those of holy Church without any opposition of\nnature; he lives a life of happiness.\n\nAnd when God sees this joyous courage, this willing devotion and\nlove, and when He sees that this man is humble and by no means\nthinks that he has become perfect, He grants him the gift of knowledge\nin his love. This is the third love ; by means of which a man is given\nto understand that he must turn inward to his intelligence, and that\nthere he must overcome the tendencies and desires that incline him\nto sin. And now he encounters a hard task, for he is made aware nf\nwhat is meant by anguish of soul. Be sure that love is sweet, but the\nordeal of gaining it is a hard one: \"love is strong as death.\"\n\nIt happens that some men, when they discover this pain of heart,\ncoming both from without in the battle with their sins and from within\nin the mortification of their evil tendencies, they act right. They\nrenounce everything whatsoever that is wrong inward and outward;\nthey die to all that they should give up, cutting it totally off. They\ncan be induced by nobody to give up this fight. They regard not their\nown pleasure nor anything else, resting not till they have found God\nin all things. In this conflict they need stronger help from God than\nin any former one, and also good advice from men as well as God's\ninterior guidance. They fail not to receive this exterior assistance,\nfor God never forsakes any one whose good will is given Him. His\nprovidence provides all the outward aids that are needful for their\nincrease in virtue; for the work is His, and it behoves Him to perfect\nit. If we pray to Him and trust in Him — being now brought to a\nstand still in our progress as far as we can see, — then it is that in\nreality we are climbing higher in our movement towards Him.\n\n584 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nWhen God's light beams in the understanding, then does the soul\nturn to Him in yet greater knowledge, which God grants with divine\nsavor. Nor does the soul attribute this to itself; it gives God the\nglory in all its service of Him and in all its virtues, and it offers itself\nto God without any choice. Occasionally, however, God withdraws\nall His light and all His sweetness: the soul finds itself devoid of\nunderstanding, and, as it seems to it, even of grace. There is no taste\nin anything. It can hardly realize that it ever felt God's love. It\nnow feels altogether forsaken, and can only throw itself in blind\nfaith upon God's mercy, waiting sadly and patiently, till God brings\nabout a change.\n\nAnd now it is necessary that one should not complain to men of his\nanguish, unless a little to one's superiors and that only to show con-\nfidence in them, and submissiveness to the authorities of holy Church.\nAnd a man must continue to follow all his spiritual exercises as if\nthey were as sweet as ever to him. Holy Job says: \"If we have\nreceived good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive\nevil?\" (Job ii, 10). This visitation the soul accepts as a punishment\nfor its sins. By this hard way does the Holy Ghost lead upwards the\nsoul He loves.\n\nBut all ways are good that are approved or permitted by holy\nChurch, when followed with an upright intention. Hence let no man\ncondemn the external works of religion saying that they are not the\nbest ; for a loving heart and a right intention make men holy in what-\never good work they do. It is not the outward character of the work\nthat measures it holiness, but the will of him that does it. Further:\nwhen one cannot do a good work, and yet has a loving desire to do it,\nGod is content with this good will, however late we may be in making\na practical beginning.\n\nBe assured that whosoever has no such love as this, will go astray.\nSoon his conscience will be blinded, his sins will give him no remorse,\nand he will grow lukewarm and then cold in his devotional practises.\nHe at last disregards lesser sins, is quite content with his perilous\nstate ; he is guided by the wisdom of the flesh and by his sensual appe-\ntites. If he holds a place over others, he neglects to chide them for\nminor offences, and tolerates their shortcomings out of false tender-\nness for their weakness. He yields to them that he may not displease\nthem; he allows them unlawful relaxations and pleasures, in order\nto win and hold their favor. Thus does the fear of God recede from\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 585\n\nthat heart. Meanwhile he is praised as a man of discretion: for he\nhas sought men's praise, and he has found popularity. He really\nbelieves that he is as good as his friends rate him ; his conscience is at\npeace; he even increases certain outward penances bcause they win\nhim men's approval. But knowledge of the true state of his soul he\nhas none. He has quite forgotten that he is obligated to die to his\ndisorderly inclinations. And he finds the thoughts of God and holy\nthings very tiresome. He is zealous for those external works that gaiu\nhim applause, because all that he does is for men's praise. They call\nhim a good man, and he believes them to be right. He feels quite\nsecure of coming to a happy end. He dreads the hidden life and avoids\nit, for it distresses him with its sharp interior reprimand, and he will\nnot give up his high name for holiness. Thus he falls into a treacher-\nous calm of spirit, neglects thanking God for His favors, and fails to\ndo penance for his sins.\n\nFinally he lapses into a state of self-trust; he relies upon his pen-\nance in the past, he meditates on his good works and exaggerates their\nworth; and this is his comfort if any one finds fault with him for his\noccasional transgressions, or if his popularity begins to wane. Vanity\ngrows stronger in him every day, outward relaxations are indulged in.\nEven in God's service he is full of vanity; and he does penitential\nworks to be seen of men. But these become wearisome after a while,\npious exercises grow irksome; until at last he gives them all up, and\nfalls back on doing some good works of religion or charity to safe-\nguard his reputation.\n\nAnd now arise against him those powerful temptations that used to\noverthrow him before he undertook a pious life, and conscience is\ngnawed with remorse. For relief, he can but practise some external\npenances, which avail him but little. He must enter into the depths\nof his soul; he must learn to know the evil tendencies there wholly\nuncorrected; he must completely reverse his ways of living, and devote\nhimself to the transformation of his motives of conduct. If he does\nnot follow that way, he falls back into his early sinfulness and soon is\nsunk in sensuality. He excuses himself: his temptations are irresist-\nible— this is his language to his own conscience ; he is sickly ; he must\nspare himself and must have some relaxation. And all this time he\nmanages to keep up his good name, he does pious things out of habit,\nhe performs some works of penance.\n\nYou notice how clearly he gives reasons and makes excuses. But in\n\n586 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nreality, he has lost the clear knowledge of the difference between\nvirtue and vice. And this is why his soul is not anxious nor his sorrow\nfor sin sincere, nor even his confessions really valid. The man who\nperforms good works of penance, seeking thereby to be praised by men,\nis a man whose conscience is blinded. Let him go on teaching and\nguiding others, let him be busy with works of zeal and piety, it is all\nprofitless to himself and of no great good to others. But suppose that\nthe reproaches of his conscience grow loud and threatening? Suppose\nconscience thunders at him that he is in an evil state, and his soul's\nsalvation is in peril ? What then ? He hushes these voices by quoting\nscripture, perverting its meaning to his own purposes. Soon he is\nquieted ; and he returns to his former perilous condition.\n\nBut what if Scripture passages assail him in turn and disquiet him,\nor God's light, granted him in prayer with interior thereatenings,\nshows him his danger? What if his self-sufficiency is thus rudely\nbroken in on, and conscience again begins to clamor that he is not\nwhat he ought to be? What if, in addition to these warnings, certain\ndeadly temptations to impurity attack him, or to envy, or to sloth?\nAll in vain. He soothes his soul by saying that these are all sent him\nby God that he may earn more crowns in heaven. With this poor\nthought he struggles with his inner foes. But his false wisdom deserts\nhim and he is left helpless. He indulges in bodily relaxations, lives\nin luxury, sleeps and eats and drinks and recreates himself almost like\nan ordinary worldling, avoiding, however, any external mortal sin.\n\nThen his temptations grow stronger than ever before, and he is\nfinally vanquished, falling in many ways, even before he is himself\nfully aware of it. And now he is in anguish lest he shall lose his good\nname. Interiorly, his conscience is so bad that devout practises can\nno longer please him ; rather they disgust him. To follow divine\nservice is intolerable unless associated with some pecuniary profit or\nbodily comfort.\n\nThis man has now come to that pass, that he must lapse into a life\nof open sinfulness, or God must grant him a new grace of conversion.\nGod must now teach him to understand the admonitions of conscience\nbetter than he did before. It is because he would not barken to God's\ninterior warnings, that his present awful state has come upon him.\nAnd he must have a new conversion, or fall into a state of undisguised\nwickedness. But that very fall is often God's chosen means. Open\nshame brings such men to their senses and back to God's friendship —\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 587\n\nthat, or very grievous bodily suffering and the worst kind of interior\nmisery are necessary to restore these souls to God's trust and love.\n\nGod reveals to them their sinfulness; He imparts the grace of con-\nfidence in His mercy; that of courage to begin their spiritual life over\nagain; to correct all evil conduct and repress evil tendencies. It is\nnot now the contempt of men that they dread — no, they are only full\nof shame on account of their misdeeds against God, which He now\ngrants them to know in all their naked wickedness; and these holy\ninspirations they by no means resist.\n\nThose who do resist them, return again to their evil ways ; conscience\nindeed makes them miserable, and yet they yield to their weaknesses\nand they keep on doing so. These follow after the things of the flesh\nand after worldly goods, seemingly happy enough, for God gives them\nup to their own devices. But you know, for I have often taught it to\nyou, that before God finally abandons them. He sends them very many\nwarnings, both interior admonitions and external reminders. If they\nbut willed it, they could easily enough be saved.\n\nAnd how is it with the sincere soul that barkens to God's warnings?\nHe is first of all shamed and grieved for his wicked ingratitude to-\nwards God. He is absorbed in the consciousness of his sinful state\nHe is amazed to discover how far he had gone astray in his interior\nsoul, even in the motives of his good works, and how he actually dis-\npleased God while seeming to serve Him, so infected with vanity and\nhuman respect had been all his conduct. Full of thankfulness for his\npresent graces, he is yet at a loss to find a penance great enough to\natone for his past bad conduct. But he humbly goes back to the\nbeginning; he acts as if he were a child new born to holy Church. He\nlearns how to fast and watch in all prudence; he is submissive in his\nchoice of devotions, and very humble, guided by the Church's rules and\nthe duties of his state of life.\n\nMeanwhile he studies the life and example of Jesus Christ most\nthoroughly, and with all his might he endeavors to imitate Him,\npatiently reading of Him in holy Scripture, in all things obedient to\nconscience and the directions of his spiritual adviser. To the best of\nhis ability he conforms his spirit to that of Christ. He learns to die\nto every evil inner tendency, and to totally abstain from all outward\ndefects; his daily task is to learn this lesson better and better. One\ndanger he dreads above all others : — tepidity in fulfilling the spiritual\nduties of his state of life; for he knows that that was the original\n\n588 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ncause of all his delusions and sins. From these has God saved him as\nfrom a deep pit, for to save himself he was wholly powerless. He thanks\nGod that this grace was granted him in preference to so many\nothers.\n\nNor does this change remain a secret. On the contrary, the penitent\nsoul manifests its new life by many signs: — love cannot remain idle.\nSo does this man's love of God now come into notice ; he does not spare\nhimself; he gives himself up to all approved penitential practises, yet\nstriving to hide them from the eyes of others. As time goes on, he is\nbound steadfast, for he vows to God that to the end of his days he will\nnever again fall into lukewarmness. And his love is a prudent one, not\nstriving to destroy nature but rather the sinfulness that rules nature\nand corrupts the soul : this he is determined totally to destroy.\n\nAnd his love has a quality of freedom— freedom from creatures : he\nwill tolerate no creature near God in the love of his soul but insists\non having all things adjusted to God and His will. Again, his love is\na speaking love; for his soul cannot be silent, but addresses all and\nexhorts all who are out of God's friendship. Furthermore this love\nis full of longing or yearning, distressed because with all its zeal for\nGod's honor, it knows not how it can win souls to His allegiance.\n\nThen comes to him a burning love, tending to drive the soul beyond\nall bounds of moderation in its zeal : — nay, even a foolish love, despis-\ning the praise of men, and doing things for God that seem to them silly.\nYet again, it may happen that there is granted him a love that is all\nsweetness of joy in the depths of the heart.\n\nLast of all is given that love which is unitive; it comes from intimate\nunion with God here and hereafter; this may well be the love spoken\nof by the Bridegroom: \"Love is strong as death\" (Cant, viii, 6). To\nattain to this divine love, one must love very painfully, and hence the\ncomparison with that greatest of pains, death. But can a man ever\nserve this fleeting world or sin without great suffering? Wherefore\nthen shall he not willingly suffer to obtain divine love, which never\npasses, and never grows less in its sweetness? May God grant us to\nwin this His love, and never to perish in everlasting death. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 589\n\n(gnln AUin^\n\nSynopsis — Love true or false shown hy inner motives — Also love selfish\nor disinterested — Love is tested dy adversity — Also by seeming\nabandonment by God — TJie keenest pain is needed to show the best\nlove — All other virtues flow out of love.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY\nAFTER TRINITY.\n\nI sleep, and my heart watcheth. — Cant, v, 2.\n\nThe more that a loving soul is loved by God, the more restless does\nit become. It is a trait of love never to be content to be inactive.\nLove does a great work in a man; and if it does not work it is not\nlove. The noblest part of a man is his heart, and of this, love takes\npossession. That heart will know no rest until it loves God and\nhonors and thanks and praises Him perfectly. Such is its joy; for\nloving the Beloved is dearer to it than its own self.\n\nNow it is necessary to distinguish between true love and false love.\nThis is shown by the three traits of a true living and growing love.\nThese are observed in the will, in the intention, and in the desires of\nthe soul. For a man must will and intend, and desire nothing whatso-\never, interiorly or exteriorly, except that he love God purely and exclu-\nsively. He must refer all that he has, all that he does, to God alone;\nand for the reason that God is good, and that out of His goodness He\nmade us and redeemed us by His blood. And he must thank God for\nthe many other good things He has done us and daily continues to do\nus, yea, and will forever continue to do us — which spirit of thanksgiv-\ning is a yet better gift. Behold how love can have no rest or respite,\nbut incessantly goes on, watching every chance to thank God and to\npraise Him, wishing to respond to His love for us, in however feeble a\nmanner.\n\nBut this is not all. Our loving servitor will not only always keep God\nin view and love Him, but all creatures will be dear to him for God's\nsake. Besides, for God's sake he suffers all kinds of oppression and oppo-\n\n590 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nsition. He forsakes all irregularities of life and conduct for God's ever-\nlasting honor ; himself alone he never seeks under any pretext, whether\nin matters temporal or external. And by temporal things, we mean\nall desires likely to lead to sinful pleasures ; for by nature, a man holds\nbeautiful things dear and those that attract the senses, or in any\nwise minister joy to us. Mark well, that a loving soul is bounden to\novercome all this with an eager zeal. The need of doing so is soon\nlearned, if one will but carefully consider his life in the activity of the\nbodily senses, and in what things his affections are likely to go beyond\nhis control.\n\nThe lover of Christ who aspires to be perfect, must differ from begin-\nners in this holy love. For beginners many spiritual comforts are\nlawful, such as sweetnesses of devotion, and a smooth course of spiritual\nexperience. Not so the more perfect soul ; for he must seek nothing for\nself, no, not even what comes to him in spiritual guise. Pure love\naccepts nothing whatsoever for self alone; it will rest in no interior\njoy, nor cleave to any spiritual comfort. For this would be to put\none's trust more in God's gifts than in God Himself, which is straight\nagainst upright and clean and perfect love. And it is because some\nmen fail to practise this rightly ordered love, that God often withdraws\nthese same gifts from them. Their souls are presently left dry, they\ncan no longer think of God or spiritual things, and a miserable dull-\nness settles upon them. This happens in order that they shall learn to\nfly to God in perfect abandonment of all spiritual joy, serve Him alone\nin faith, hope, and love, putting self to death. They must learn to\nsuffer the loss of all spiritual taste. They must rely upon God's self\nalone, resting wholly in His goodness, thinking only of His boundless\nmercy; for out of that comes forth His gift of virtue to us and our\npower to accept it.\n\nIt is also a quality of purified love, that a soul shall have as faithful\na love for God in this state of desolation as in the time of sensible grace.\nIf this be not the case, then it is manifest that one sets greater store by\nthe gift of God than by God Himself: this is to commit gluttony with\nGod's grace. It is, to be sure, for our own gain that we are practising\nself-denial of joy in God's gifts ; but nevertheless this must be without\nconsciousness of self-interest. We must seek God's graces, His sweet\nness. His goodness, for an end beyond themselves, namely, to arrive by\ntheir means at the possession of the interior, spiritual good that is\nGod's very self. He dwells in our inmost soul; and once we have\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 591\n\ngained Him there, we can come forth to the outward life of truest\nvirtue, practising it in a spirit of detachment. Thus it is that one\nfirst gains possession of God,\n\nYet we must not forget that a good man may lawfully desire devo-\ntional sweetness, according to his needs, or for God's honor, or to fit\nhim the better for the salvation of other men's souls; for these gifts\nmake one more zealous for virtue. That is a motive of reasonable self\nlove; and a reasonable enjoyment of any good thing, spiritual or\nbodily is not to be blamed.\n\nYou must also know that for a beginner in the way of love it is\nlawful to seek for devotional sweetness, so that he may the sooner die\nto all the sweetness of sin. He thus learns how good and sweet it is to\nseek God and Him alone, to cleave to Jesus alone, to renounce all the\nvanity of this earthly life, and all its sinful desires. Thus does he\nlearn to relish God in his devout practises. But when God has thus\ngifted these souls with spiritual joy, after a while He lessens it; and\nthen the time has come to enter on the way we have herein previously\ntreated of. For while men still hanker after the devotional sentiments\nwhich are withdrawn from them, treating them as they do, as if they\nwere the truest spiritual good, they can never attain to what is in\nvery deed the truest spiritual good. Nor can they in that way advance\na single step in true virtue. They are under self-deception; they do\nnot really know themselves nor their sinfulness; they cannot appreciate\nwhat is or what is not permitted them ; nor can they detect and resist\nthe temptations incident to the spiriual life. Wih some of these souls\nthe end is falling helplessly into grave sins. Now all this concerns\nthose transitory spiritual favors, which pure and watchful love of God\nmust not allow itself to seek after.\n\nListen to this: pure love must not over eagerly seek after certain\neternal good things, such as the glory which shall be the heavenly\nreward of our good works. It is unbecoming pure love of God, it is un-\nbecoming perfect virtue, to seek anything for itself but God alone. It\nloves and desires everything, all work, all rest, all suffering, with a\nsingle mind for God's glory. God gives heaven. He takes heaven away ;\nHe saves. He damns: pure love has nothing to do with all this, only\nhoping to be saved. Pure love has God's honor at heart and God's will :\nHe knows best what to will and to do. Whatsoever He wills, that He\nloves, and His love is the best love. Yea, this loving soul, if it stand\nright in this case, would not cease to love God, to advance His glory.\n\n592 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nto practise His highest virtues, even if it thought (if such a thing\nwere permitted or possible, which it is not), that He would condemn\nit to hell, there to punish its vices, never to forgive its sins. This\nthought (however practically impossible), would but stimulate it to\ngreater virtue, for it seeks itself in nothing, it thinks only of God's\neternal glory in all things : such a one thus rightly observes God's first\nand greatest commandment.\n\nThe contrary is the case with beginners, for their love is that of the\nhireling, and is mixed with anxious thoughts about the future, saying :\nIf I could hope for no reward for my labors and penances, I would not\ndo them. To beginners this is allowed, but not to genuine lovers.\nGod's first commandment says that we must love God above all things,\neven above ourself. Whosoever will acquire this love, let him search\nhis inner soul, let him scrutinize his outward conduct. In whatsoever\nthought, word or deed he finds himself falling short of this pure love,\nlet him heartily set about his improvement. Let him aspire constantly\nto attain to love true and pure. In due time thou shalt have good fruit,\nthou shalt practise many virtues. Act otherwise, and thou shalt re-\nmain in thy defective love until God brings thee out of it, and leads\nthee to watchful and living love, lest thou fallest asleep in guilty\nignorance. God guide us to true love. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 593\n\nSynopsis — Christ's dwelling is His school — Its lessons are hard but yet\nsweet — Every creature yearns for this teaching — Discontent with\ncreated things is the divine beginning of the lesson of life — Kind\nfeelings towards men is\\another divine teaching — How Elias found\nGod in the whistling of a gentle breeze.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FEAST OF ST. ANDREW, THE APOSTLE.\n\nThe next day John stood, and two ol his disciples. And beholding Jesus walk-\ning, he saith : Behold the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak,\nand they followed Jesus. And Jesus turning, and seeing them following Him,\nsaith to them: What seek you? Who said to Him: Rabbi (which is to say, be-\ning interpreted, Master), where dwellest Thou? He saith to them: Come and\nsee. — John i. 35-39.\n\nThree things are taught us by these words. First, the overflowing\nwisdom of Christ as our teacher; second, the infinite dwelling place of\nGod's being, the foundation of all being; third, the confidence we\nshould feel in God's invitation to seek Him in spirit, in the dwelling\nplace of His Godhead — \"Come and see,\" — that we may learn wisdom\nat wisdom's fountain head, namely, the school of the most holy Trinity.\nTherefore does the Lord say. Come, O soul, and dwell with Me and in\nMe : come and see in order that thou mayst learn ; I will enclose thee\nwithin the depths of My divine heart as in My dwelling, in which thou\nshalt contemplate and learn all thy eternal good.\n\nAnd now consider this Master's school. Ah, my Master, (so speaks\nthe soul) teach me how to escape the fate of the five foolish virgins.\nHe answers : Learn of Me to be meek and humble of heart, as I once\ntaught St. Andrew and My other disciples. Then the soul says : But,\nLord, this teaching is too hard; for the cares of life, and also anger\nand contention, disturb my heart, so that I lose meekness of spirit.\nAnd our Master, Christ insists: ''What doth it profit a man if he\ngain the whole world, and sufifer the loss of his own soul?\" (Matt, xvi,\n26). It is from thoughts of thy self-interest that all thy pain of heart\nsprings, thy tedium in spiritual exercises, thy dullness of soul : this is\n\n594 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nwhy thou losest meekness of spirit; this is why the Spirit of Christ,\nthough overflowing with sweetness cannot pour comfort or joy into thy\nsoul. His kindness cannot bear with thy bitterness, for He is sweeter\nthan honey. Only a man that will not be beguiled by false consolations\nof men shall receive the sweetness of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, dear\nchild, begin manfully, follow this Master faithfully, sink down under\nHis eyes to the lowly virtue of humility, saying in thy heart: Lord,\nI am the puniest little creature that ever Thou didst create. Place thy-\nself thus in meekness of spirit, and thou shalt duly appreciate that God\nis a short word but a long meaning. Diligently pursue this devout\npractise; for if thou wilt do so and not give it up, thou shalt soon be\nmade aware of a wisdom hitherto quite hidden from thee.\n\nThe second teaching is about the way the soul is drawn towards the\ndwelling of the divine being, our Master. The longing for this is felt\nby all creatures. They desire their own existence only that they may\nfind the being of God. All the activity of nature is nothing else than\na search and an asking: Where is the dwelling of God? Without\nthis the heavens and the earth would not stand. And now, dear child,\nwhy dost thou go outside thyself in this search, seeking God in the\nstrange lands of perishable things? Thou shalt not find Him there.\nThey all deny thee, and beckon thee to go back and away, saying : We\nare not God. St. Augustine says : ''Lift up thy soul above thyself into\neternal things, for God is there.\"\n\nAnd mark well that God may thus be found in many ways, all vari-\nously teaching the soul about Him. First, the soul finds God its\ncreator dwelling in holy fear, in the heights of penance and of sorrow\nfor sin. By penance a man freely breaks his obstinate will into sub-\njection under God's will. Learn herein to give up everything great\nand little, to do hard penances, to chastise thyself for having yielded\nto thy unbridled will. The more the soul is practised in this, the more\ndoes it find. God in itself and itself in God. Thus speaks the lover —\n\"I will go to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense\"\n(Cant, iv, G). It is in that place of bitterness that God speaks to His\nbeloved. It is the high place of an elevated spirit, which has changed\nall self satisfaction and treacherous sweetness into feelings of sharp\nregret for sin. It now finds only bitterness in whatsoever is not accord-\ning to God's will. Then God speaks deep in the spouse's spirit: \"Thou\nart all fair, O My love, and there is not a spot in thee\" (Cant, iv, 7).\n\nBut if anyone lives according to his own will and pleasure, he finds\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 595\n\nGod indeed, but not as does the faithful soul ; for God is ever against\nhim in all his works. All that he does hurts him. He may practise\nbodily works of piety, but they are of little help, unless the rebellious\nwill has first been subdued. One psalm sung by a man who can\nconquer his own will is many psalms sung: — that is to say, the least\nwork that such a man does, is more acceptable to God than the greatest\nwork of a self-willed man.\n\nFurthermore, we find God's dwelling in the wilderness, in the burn\ning bush: there did Moses find Him. The burning bush means that\nkind of a spirit in a man which withdraws him from all creatures, and\nwhich lives only in the remoteness of solitude, in the loftiness of the\neternal Godhead. As the divine essense embraces the three distinct\npersons of the holy Trinity, so has this spirit embraced God within its\nthree powers by the fires of divine grace, as if they were like the\nflames of the burning bush encircling and enwrapping God with three\nbranches all flowering with flames.\n\nThe soul now grows in fire and light, it waxes strong in every\nvirtue, never a day passes without steady progress; until at last it\nbeholds God in the heavenly Sion with the vision of an angel. Be sure\nthat as thou findest God, thou shalt find a divine method of prayer and\na divine power of virtue within thy own self, ever more today than\nyesterday. But whosoever would thus find God, must suppress all\nanimal tendencies, and must go forward with Moses guided by right\nreason and the light of holy prudence : flesh and blood shall not possess\nthe kingdom of God. I believe, dear children, that all your venial sins\nare the sudden uprisings due to the intrusion of outward things into\nyour heart, causing now acts and again words uttered and done before\nyou can turn on them the light of holy prudence.\n\nAnd, again, God is found dwelling in the mountain within the cloud,\nwhere His finger wrote on stone the glory and the light of His com-\nmandments. The mountain is the lofty spirit in a man, and the great-\nhearted soul in him. He can find no content in his works or rest in his\nendeavors, except when he can see stamped plain upon them the mark\nof God's will. Then it is that the human soul does not only a human\nwork after human ways, but a divine work according to the divinely\nprescribed way of God's will. Thus does the soul sanctify the body's\nwork, whose work again is made the soul's work. And thus the work\nof God's will -is made one with that of the soul's will. Now may the\nsoul say with St. Paul : **I live, now not I, but Christ liveth with me\"\n\n596 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n(Gal. ii, 20). As if the apostle said: I work, now not I, but the\npower of the divine essence worketh in me. All this takes place within\nthe cloud, and the everlasting splendor of the divine light: for all\ncreated light is as dark night when compared to the divine day.\n\nGod is also found in the cave, with the prophet Elias, to whom the\nLord came in the desert: \"He requested for his soul that he might\ndie * * * And he cast himself down, and slept in the shadow of\nthe Juniper tree. And behold an angel of the Lord touched him, and\nsaid to him : Arise and eat. He looked, and behold there was at his\nhead an ash cake, and a vessel of water. And he ate and drank, and he\nfell asleep again. * ♦ * And he walked in the strength of that\nfood forty days and forty nights, unto the mount of God, Horeb. And\nwhen he was come hither, he abode in a cave\" (III Kings xix, 4-9) : and\nthere it was that he found God. But not in the \"great strong wind,\noverthrowing mountains, and breaking the rocks in pieces ;\" nor in the\nearthquake and the fire that came afterwards, but in \"the whistling of a\ngentle air:\" in that gentle air Elias found God.\n\nThe prophet Daniel saw in a vision the turbulent hearts of worldly\nmen tormented as the sea in a tempest : tossed about with foolish fears\nand hopes, joys and sorrows. These fears and hopes are what blind\nmen's eyes, those eyes of the spirit with which they must seek and\nfind God. The stormy wind also means bitterness of heart against\nour fellow Christians, by which rocks are split asunder, that is to say\nthe noble hearts of good men are broken and their peace of soul de-\nstroyed. Dear children, suppress all such stormy feelings against\nothers; watch your unmortified nature closely and hold it down in\nsubjection, lest it break away from you like a team of wild horses.\nIt is an awful sight to see men endowed by God with reason's light,\nand gifted by him with loving dispositions, act so uncharitably. God\nhas given you the power of taming wild beasts, and will you uot\nlook at your own wildness and tame it down to reason's guidance? It\nis a shame to us before God our creator, that we are often more savage\nthan the lions and bears of the forest. This is to live at war with our\nown nature ; it is as if the light of God's countenance had never shined\nupon us (Ps. iv, 7). I say to you in all truth, that for whatever harm\nwe work by these stormy passions God will exact heavy reckoning,\nwhether the ruin be worked on ourselves — as often enough happens, —\nor upon our neighbor, who besides being injured, is frequently deprived\nof many graces by the sin of anger we have caused in him : for this\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 597\n\nwe shall be held accountable. We have our excuses; as for example:\nwe are now sorry that it happened ; we are naturally hot tempered ; we\nwere provoked to do it. And this is all false self-justification, for\nnature will never learn without hard discipline how to die to itself,\nand must constantly be repressed. Let us act quite otherwise; let us\nturn to God with deeply earnest prayer, very humble self-renunciation.\nThen we shall find that this evil tendency can never overcome us.\n\nWe read that the prophet Elias did not find God in the fire that\nfollowed the earthquake. Fire is a thing that never says: — Enough!\nThis figure of fire may signify a heart that can never get enough of\nthis world's goods or of God's earthly gifts. That heart ever burns\nto amass more and more of those things that are not Godlike nor\npure — it constantly bums with the desire of consolations and other\ntransitory things, in which it places all its love and joy — a plain sign\nthat God's spirit is not within it. And in this class I include those\nspiritual persons who repine in misfortune, as if God had never done\nthem any good thing. They seem to exclaim: Why did God create\nme, since I am stripped of every enjoyable spiritual thing? They little\ndream that by this deprivation God has saved them from many a fatal\nfall, withdrawing them with special favor from a sinful world. Nor do\nthey realize that if they would but live up to the standard of their\nholy state of life, they might well become the solid pillars of the whole\nChristian Church. I say to thee, dear child, that it is these ungrate-\nful thoughts of thine that dry up the sweet streams of God's grace in\nits very fountain head. I implore thee by the everlasting love of God\nnot easily to be moved from the holy path which in my heart's fervor\nI have shown thee — as God is my witness. If anyone of a different\nspirit teach thee a contrary way, I affirm before God that is only to\nthy Joss; as St. Paul says to the Galatians: \"If any one preach to you\na gospel, besides that which you have received, let him be anathema\"\n(Gal i, 9).\n\nThere came at last to Elias the \"whistling of a gentle air,\" like the\nsweet breath of May : God came in that gentle air. This may mean to\nus that gentle spirit which lives a sweet spiritual life, following God's\nwords with holy thoughts and speech, by which the yearning soul com-\npanies with God without loud outcry or noise of any kind. God enters\nthe soul with a gentle whisper of love; He comes with the happiness\nof a shining light, steadily beaming in the spirit. Of this happiness\nthe souls who are easily allured by the alien forms and images of\n\n598 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nthe mind are not worthy, caused as these are by the intruding words\nof men — aye or even of fallen angels, as St. Paul said to the Gala-\ntians: — allured from the right spiritual way into which God had led\nthem.\n\nThe right minded soul is like the bride in the Canticles, who bade the\nnorth wind to give peace to the south wind: \"Come, O south wind,\nblow through my garden, and let the aromatical spices thereof flow\"\n(Cant, iv, 16). The north wind is the rush of created things into the\nsoul's garden, sowing seeds of evil in the imagination. Says Jeremias :\n\"From the north shall an evil break forth upon all the inhabitants of\nthe land\" (Jer. i, 14) ; an evil wind, withering all the spiritual fruits\nof God's graces. The soul becomes an intolerable burden to itself\nwhen it has lost all savor of interior sweetness. Hence, from amid the\ndesolation of the north wind of earthly thoughts, the spirit cries out :\n\"Come, O south wind, blow through my garden.\" This life-giving\nbreath of God spreads a sweet perfume through all the fruits of the\nsoul's life, the sweet perfume of God.\n\nFinally, the soul will find God dwelling above the angels. For al-\nthough these are by nature above us men, yet we must soar above them\nif we find God. The soul finds God in the Eternal Father, by lifting\nall its works above self, as the Eternal Word is joined to the\nFather. Thus did the high gazing soul of St. John the Evangelist see\nGod, as he wrote: \"In the beginning was the Word\" (John i, 1).\nThus, again St. Andrew asks very yearningly — and the loving soul\nasks with him: — \"Master, where dwellest Thou?\" St. John answers:\n\"In the beginning was the Word.\" Therefore the soul does not find\nGod in any words that do not introduce our spirit into the beginning.\nWe must penetrate beyond all that is beneath God, and transcend all\nthat is not God, and earnestly seek that beginning from which we have\ncome forth : there alone is our dwelling place, and our place of refuge\nin eternal bliss. But this can only take place by a quick turning away\nfrom creatures to the contemplation of the divine essence, and to union\nwith Him.\n\nJesus said to the two disciples: \"Come and see.\" Come: turn\naway from all things which entangle you with inordinate affection,\nwhich hinder your interior peace; for you must be emptied of all\nactivity, all understanding, all life of the senses. Come and see: that\nis to say turn to Me that you may know the purity of God your Lord,\nto which entire purity of existence your spirit must be joined; the\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nspirit that shall comprehend the divine hiddenness must indeed be\nentirely purified. In this way must a man be cut oflf from everything\nthat he feels to be his. St Dionysius speaks to Timothy \"Ah dear\nfriend, we must no longer hear the sweet, comforting words of our\nbeloved master Paul, at least with our outward hearing, but we must\ngive up everything, and go naked to God.\" This we cannot do, however\nexcept with darkened eyes, and with our senses inwardly drawn upward\nto heaven, and until we come far above all knowledge into hidden\nunity with God. May He help us all to this. Amen\n\n600 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nBe altng il|0ttf Btig tultli (Sob\n\nSynopsis — No parleying toith the tempter — Eis suggestions not to be\nmet dy arguing hut hy praying — No peace nor even truce with bod-\nily treachery — Upright treatment of God means a steadfast striv-\ning after recollection — Curious illustration from Albertus Magnus.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FEAST OF ST. BARBARA, OR FOR THAT\n\nOF ANY VIRGIN.\n\nBehold my beloved speaketh to me : Arise, make haste, My love, My dove, My\nbeautiful one, and come. — Cant. 11, 10.\n\nIf any one would know whether or not he is a chosen friend, a\nl)eloved spouse of our Lord, let him mark well the signs I will give:\nif he has them, then without doubt he is the elect of God.\n\nThe first is, that he is at peace with our Lord in such a way that no\n■created thing can give him interior contentment. The psalmist says :\n\"His place is in peace\" (Ps. Ixxv, 3). The chosen bride of Christ must\nhave renounced all things. Things may come and go round that soul :\ndivine peace reigns within it. It feels itself able by Him and through\nHim to renounce all.\n\nThou mayst ask: with whom must I have peace? I answer, with\nthe world, with the evil one, and with thy own flesh. And how ? With\nthe world, because thou carest not what the world may do to thee,\ngive thee, or take from thee: herewith comes perfect patience. Peace\nwith or rather from the evil one. To that a man can scarcely ever\ncome, for the demon strives against him always; he meddles with all\nour doing and our not doing, for he would hinder us. Now a man can\nin no way resist the fiery darts of the evil one so efficaciously, as with\ninterior, fervent prayer. This fights fire with fire, and drives the\ndevil out headlong, with all his deceits. Therefore, as soon as one is\naware of the demon's attempts to disturb his peace of soul, let him give\nhimself up instantly to earnest prayer, and pay no heed to the tempta-\ntions that assail him : nothing worse can happen to Satan. Hereby is\nthe soul freed from his hindrance. It is related that the devil once\ncried out to St. Bartholomew : \"Ah, thou burnest me with thy prayer.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 601\n\nand thou hast bound me with fiery bands.\" The third peace is with thy\nown self. Alas, how can that be? I answer that thou must subject thy\nbody to thy spirit in all things whatsoever. Thou must have the\nmastery over thyself, so that thy bodily appetites shall in no wise be\na hindrance to thee in anything that God requires of thee. So acted\nthe blessed saints of God. They had such a mastery over their bodies,\nand had so trained them to obedience, that when the spirit willed to\ngo forward the body sprang out of the way instantly, as if the soul\nsaid: Away with thee, and give me place: for so it is related of the\nhumble St. Francis.\n\nBut if a man shall obtain this mastery over his body, three things\nare needed. The first is to mortify thy body in eating, drinking, sleep-\ning and lodging. Watch it carefully, and when thou seest it evilly\ninclined put a bridle on it, and scourge it with a sharp discipline. The\nsecond is this: thou must wean thyself from all thirst for worldly\naffairs and cares of whatever kind. Let the dead bury their dead, and\ndo thou follow after God. Have thy friends died? Or are they come\nto thee— or gone from thee? Hast thou gained honors? Hast thou\nbeen given riches? If thou rejoicest or if thou mournest over such\nthings, then thou hast not gained the mastery. A certain saint says :\n\"What thou rejoicest over, what thou mournest over, about the same\nShalt thou be judged.\" St. Paul says : \"If we be dead with Christ,\nwe believe that we shall live also together with Christ\" (Eom. vi, 8).\nA dead man cares not whether thou praisest or revilest him, whether\nthou givest him or takest away from him. A dead or a dying man will\nnot give thee a penny for all gold and jewels, or all possible glory, joy,\nor friends. Once there came to an old father of the desert an own\nbrother of his, and said to him : \"Dear brother, I am iu great straits,\nfor my wagon, containing valuable goods, has fallen into the water;\nhelp me to draw it out ;\" and he wept pitifully and begged earnestly.\nThe old hermit said : \"Ask thy brother that still lives in the world to\nhelp thee.\" But he answered : \"That brother is dead for a year past.\"\nAnd the hermit replied : \"So am I dead this twenty years back.\" And\nhe let him go, and concerned himself no further about his losses.\n\nThe third necessary thing is to cultivate an upright spirit in God,\nthat is to say a continual sense of God's presence, and realization of\nHis sovereign majesty. In very truth, if thou wilt have the creator\nthou must surrender the creature— it cannot be otherwise. The less of\ncreatures, the more of the creator. Is not that an advantageous ex-\n\n602 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nchange? Thus says St. Augustine : \"The man who is not content with\npossessing God, is indeed all too avaricious; what canst thou desire that\nthou mayst not find in Him? Think of anything that heart can desire,\nthou shalt find it a thousand fold in Him — love, confidence, truth, con-\nsolation, unbroken recollectedness, all this is supremely in Him, sur-\npassing all measure and manner. Desirest thou beauty? He is the\nall beautiful. Eiches? He is a divine treasury. Power? He is\nalmighty. All thou mayst think of having is to be had in Him in simple\nperfection. The infinite, and Eternal God.\" Therefore expel every\nthought of creatures with all the comfort they may give thee. Say\nthis: Away from me! Thou are not what I seek, or love, or think\nabout. Say this to all honors, riches, pleasures, friendships. Away\nwith all of you out of my soul; fly away and be gone, for I care not\nat all for you.\n\nHow does it happen that God is so strange to thee? Why does His\nblessed presence pass so quickly out of thy thoughts? There can be no\nother reason than that thy spirit is not free and empty; thou art en-\ncumbered with created things, and thy soul is full of their images.\nSays St. Bernard: \"Contemplation is nothing else than the soul's\ncleaving to God in forgetfulness of transitory things.\" And St. Augus-\ntine: \"Whosoever is free from earthly thoughts, cleaves to the things\nof God.\" And he says again : \"O good Jesus, my soul longs unspeak-\nably for Thy love. I beg that I may be rapt away into contemplation\nof Thee ; that I may be absorbed in Thy cross, and in the holy sweetness\nof Thy humanity, so that I may withstand the vanity of this world and\nits allurements. I long to be lifted up into heaven, to comprehend\nthe holy mystery of the God-head ; I beg to increase in spiritual gifts,\nso that I may contemplate Thy divine Trinity; that I may see Thy\ndivine will in all my works; and that I may be bound to Thee in Thy\nown bands of love. And if it happens that I am now and then dropped\ndown to the first or second degree, grant that I may not have too much\nlabor to rise upward again; and that when I see and hear earthly\nthings, I may not dwell in them but instantly die to them, and live\nto Thee alone.\"\n\nBe sure that if thou wert emptied of thoughts and images of\ncreatures, thou couldst have God present to thy mind without inter-\nmission : He could not keep Himself away from thee ; neither earth\nnor heaven could hold Him back, if He found thee emptied to receive\nHim. He has sworn it, He must keep His word. He must fill thy soul\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nwith Himself. But so long as creatures linger in thy soul, do what\nthou wilt, thou must make up thy mind to lack God. That thou de-\nprivest Him of thyself and thy love, is a little thing; but O how great\na thing does He hold back from thee, namely His own infinite, divine\nself. It once happened that a beautiful white woman gave birth to a\nchild that was as black as a Moor, and this great misfortune was told\nto Master Albertus Magnus. Master Albertus searched about her\nhouse, and he found a picture of a Moor that this woman had gazed\nintently upon while pregnant with her child. \"Woman,\" said he, \"I\nhave found the father of thy child.\" He proved he was right; for he\ntook a hen, and he placed it and kept it before the picture of a hawk ;\nand when the hen had hatched out her chickens, they all were formed\nlike the hawk. Thus from divine pictures in the mind, all our actions\nare born divine; and from the pictures of creatures, all are formed\nafter this pattern.\n\nThe fourth is this : thou shalt keep thy senses strictly under yoke,\nand hold a stiff restraint upon them. Thou shalt see things as if thou\nsawest them not. Thou shalt never open eye or ear to any vain sight\nor sound; thou shalt never open thy mouth except to benefit thy neigh-\nbor. Thou Shalt keep hand and foot and every member in strict control,\nand securely guarded, so that nothing whatever may happen except\nwhat is according to God. Says St. Augustine : \"May I die and may\nI not die.\" This means that we shall crush to death the depravity of\nnature and of the senses, so that we may enjoy the true life of the soul\nin God. Thus it is that God gains the mastery over us; and, without\ndoubt, that gives us the mastery over ourselves. May God grant us\nthis favor. Amen.\n\n604 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — dross tendencies to he hewn off ty heavy strokes — More\nrefined ones to he cut off as if with a razor — Always search for the\nroots of vice — Recollection is a test of true spirituality — Alternat-\ning thoughts hetween ChHst's passion and His father's attributes.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FEAST OF OUR LADY'S CONCEPTION.\n\nCome over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits. — EJccIi.\nxxiv, 26.\n\nThese words are applied by holy Church to our blessed Lady. Her\ndignity can in no wise be expressed in words, for it surpasses all\nhuman sense. Now as to our theme today, I have before this spoken\nof the means and methods of beginners in the way of truth, then about\nthose of proficients, and finally of how a perfect man may reach the\ngoal towards which he strives.\n\nThe beginner needs to cut off all gross sinfulness, such as impurity,\nenvy, wrath and pride; also all worldly vanity, all silly amusements,\nall joy in creatures animate or inanimate. In one word, unless a man\nshall with a determined spirit and with his whole heart turn to God, so\nthat he shall love Him in the depths of his soul and have Him in mind\nabove all things whatsoever, and unless he shall be found thus minded\nat the end of his days, he shall never come to God. This must be his\nway and none other. All is profitless otherwise, even though a man\nhad all knowledge, spoke with angels' tongues, gave all his goods to\nthe poor and his body to be burned; as St. Paul teaches us (I Cor.\nxiii). Now how can men who wilfully enjoy creatures have their\nhearts turned to God? for they introduce creatures into the place that\nGod has reserved for His own dwelling. What does God care for what\na man does, as long as He is robbed of his heart and his love? What\ncares He for the chaff if another gets the grain?\n\nThese coarse vices are to be cut off as a man shears away his\ntangled beard with a sharp shears. After that, let him sharpen up\nhis razor very keen and shave his soul clean and pure, so that no\nevil word or evil joy shall be left. What follows is meditation on the\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 605\n\nsecret judgments of God, for no one knows how it stands with him\nbefore God's face, favorably or unfavorably. Being thus shorn of\nvices and humbled and terrified in God's sight, it behooves him to go\non further and search for the secret evil tendencies of his fallen nature;\nfor these linger on from force of habit. They are full of excuses ; some-\ntimes they would parade even as virtues; for pride can put on a false\nshow; and often enough a defect we think that we have overcome\nstill lies hidden beneath. Vanity of dress takes the name of neatness ;\nsensual indulgence in eating and drinking is tolerated as a necessity ;\nfierce anger and rash judgment are called zeal and keenness of judg-\nment; utter sloth is named bodily weakness. Children, beware of self-\ndeceit about these things; for if you are herein misled by self-conceit\nand high theories, your end will be evil. Then the devil will come, and\nhe will carry you away with him, though you may have thought that\nall has been well with you.\n\nEspecially is there danger in hidden pride, masquerading in the\nguise of humility, but full of the vanity of intellect and learning.\nIn very truth men thus affected are training under Lucifer's standard,^\nand the higher they are in their own conceit, the lower in all reality\nhave they fallen down. Children, bear in mind that this is not a\nmatter of trifling importance. If you were shut up day and night in\na hot room you would think it a hardship : what shall be the misery\nof many years in purgatory, or alas! the eternal woes of hell. Chil-\ndren, turn inward ; for the Kingdom of God is within you. Diligently\nstudy out your place in God's judgment hall. Examine into the roots\nof vice, find out the whole truth about your old evil habits. If a man\ncontinues in sinful courses one or two years, so deep do the roots of\nvice sink into his nature even in that brief period, that he can scarcely\ndig them out with all the zeal he can command. Young people should\nbe especially careful to hinder this deep rooting of sin in them. Let\nthem begin at once to examine and to root out these tendencies, for\nnow the task is not a hard one. Especially should one do four things\nwith all diligence against four kinds of poisonous evil weeds.\n\nThe first of these are pleasures of the senses. One can hardly\ndescribe how greatly these hinder our progress. Good, well-meaning\nmen, longing to be perfect, begin by absorption in devotional joy of a.\nsensible kind; they do not strive for the simple truth of spirituality.\nThey do not look inward; their interior life is a closed book to them..\nTheir inner soul is to them a foreign country a thousand miles offw\n\n606 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nExternal practises usurp the place of the interior life and are to them\nall in all. They mistake their own selves, and know not where they\nare in God's sight-\nThen comes the discipline of the irascible faculty, which is too often\nvery disorderly. One's anger should be directed exclusively against\nwhat is opposed to God in oneself. This faculty is a very noble one\nin itself, but is easily led astray by a false self-righteousness. One\nlongs to govern others, to direct the good works and the devotions of\nothers; and in doing so he deceives himself and others by an appear-\nance of zeal. He is full of hard words and angry looks, and he has\nbullying manners.\n\nThe third harm is done by a misuse of the understanding, and this\nhinders many a one's progress. For some rely too much on natural\nreason, losing thereby the reasonable, living and essential truth. Un-\nless a man shall confess this essential truth he cannot profit by it.\nA man fancies he has full knowledge, whereas his soul suffers from\ndelusions, — the truth of things is far off. Such a one loses the precious\njewel of deep seated humility, content with a false show of virtue,\nself-deceived and deceiving others.\n\nThe fourth obstacle to progress is pleasure in interior devotional\nsentiments, and this is an injury that many suffer from. They mistake\njoy in God's gifts for joy in God's own love. They think sweetness of\ndevotion is God's own self. When this sweetness goes, their zeal for\nperfection goes. Children, take heed to this; many a thing seems to\ncome from God's love, which in reality is but natural feeling, or caused\nby external devotional happenings. We are often much more influ-\nenced by spiritual self-satisfaction than we fancy. Such feelings are\ndue to natural emotional excitability, natural fear of hell or hopes of\nheaven. Be sure, children, that whosoever does not keep God upper-\nmost in his heart's purposes shall not have Him for his end and his\nreward. Children, these four hindrances must be removed; we must\ngo to work with an iron resolve to cut them totally away; we must\nconsider to that end the stern judgment of God that awaits us and\nHis immovable justice in inflicting chastisement.\n\nBut when these great outward hindrances have been shorn away,\nthere yet remain in our inner-nature the roots of former bad habits,\nthe forms and images of evil ; these we must banish from the mind by\nthe sweet form and image of our Lord Jesus Christ. The poisoned\narrow must be extracted by sinking deep down beneath it the dart of\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 607\n\nChrist's love. This love we must cultivate in our inmost souls with\ngreat devotion, so that our unworthiness may be lessened. If God\ngives healing properties to herbs and minerals for bodily cure, what\npower, think you, shall not the Son of God have for healing all the\nsoul's ills? And this healing is applied by the thought of His blessed\nsufferings and death. As a man can do nothing by himself alone, so\nmust he take refuge with the passion of Christ in holy prayer. Let\nhim prostrate himself at the feet of the heavenly Father, and implore\nHis aid through the merits of His well beloved Son. Let him dwell\nupon each point of the Lord's agony and death, begging at every step\nthe Father's pity: for without Christ we can do nothing. This prac-\ntise should become habitual : Christ's passion should never be absent\nfrom our heart, and no thoughts alien to it should ever enter there.\n\nAfter that, a man should lift his very spirit on high to the company\nof the glorious God-head, gazing upon Him with humble fear and\nunspeakable longings. When one has thus placed his darkened and\nignorant soul with God, the words of the book of Job come true in\nhim : \"When a spirit passed before me, the hair of my flesh stood up\"\n(Job iv, 15). Then follows a great interior movement of the soul.\nThe clearer the Spirit is seen as it passes over and the truer it is\ndiscerned, so much the quicker is the change wrought in the soul,. and\nthe deeper and stronger and more perfect; and the more plainly does\nthe soul learn its own shortcomings. Then comes the Lord in a sudden\nflash shining in the innermost regions of the soul, making himself the\nmaster workman in the work of perfection. To Him does the soul\nturn over the task, hailing His glorious presence, and then sinking\npassive and silent into His arms, all its powers hushed. It seems to\nfind even its own good thoughts a hindrance, so exclusive is God's\ncontrol : the soul's part is simply to let God act alone. But when\nafterwards this close embrace has ceased to be felt so vividly, and the\nsoul is left again to itself, then it must return to its usual exercises of\ndevotion and follow them with all diligence.\n\nThus it is that one should sometimes work and sometimes .rest,\naccording as God guides him ; or according as he judges that activity\nor quiet leads him nearer to God. If a man cannot enjoy the quiet of\ninterior recollection, then let him exercise himself in meditation and\nother practices. That \"being rooted and founded in charity, you may\nbe able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and\nlength, and height, and depth\" (Eph. iii, 17, 18).\n\n608 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nTo attain the perfection of this, children, is impossible. But we\nmust yearn for it with an upright intention and deep love. Our spirit\nshould soar upward towards the height of God in His super-essential\nbeing, leaving beneath us all earthly, sensible things; confessing that\nGod who has all might, is nevertheless unable to create any being so\nnoble as to comprehend fully with its natural understanding the\nessence of the divinity. So too is the depth of the divine abyss inac-\ncessible to our reason, and yet we can sink far down within it by a\nboundless lowliness of spirit. It was thus that our blessed Lady in\nher colloquy with the angel was silent about all the gifts God had\npoured into her soul, and named only her unfathomable depth of\nhumility as having drawn Him to her: \"My spirit hath rejoiced in\nGod my Saviour. Because He hath regarded the humility of His\nhandmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me\nblessed\" (Luke i, 47-48).\n\nBy the breadth of God we may understand universal love; for God\npours out His love upon men in all places and lands, in all their\ngood ways and works. In every part of the universe nothing is so\nclose at hand as God; nothing is so universal as God; nothing is so\nnigh to our innermost soul as God. If one will but seek Him, he will\nfind Him day and night in the holy sacrament, in every friend of God,\nin every one of His creatures. Imitate this divine breadth with great\ndiligence and interior zeal ; disencumber thyself of all things else but\nGod. Give thyself up with all thy soul's powers to God's presence\nwithin thee. By this shalt thou win great freedom of spirit, and very\nhigh graces will be granted thee, lifting thee over all created forms\nand images and all created things. St. Gregory speaks of this: \"If\nwe would understand the invisible things of God, then must we trans-\ncend visible things.\"\n\nThe length that is of God is His eternity, having no before and\nafter, for He is a tranquil unchangeableness. In Him all things past\nand future are eternally present in the divine unvarying self-contem-\nplation. This shall a man imitate by fixing his spirit steadfastly on\nGod, renouncing for His sake all love, all sorrow, all created things\nwhatsoever, so that he may rest trustfully in God alone, confiding to\nHim all guidance. In this manner shall the invitation, \"Come over\nto Me, all ye that desire Me, to be filled with My fruits,\" be accepted,\nand the divine generation take place in our souls. It was divinely\ndone in our beloved and blessed Lady, to whom all men, even the\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nthat we shall be filled w«h Te g ^ ' k^'\"\" \"J*\"t' \"\"'^ ^\"^ ^\"\"t\nSon. Amen ^ \"' ''*' \"'\"(•'erhood of the divine\n\n610 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nA Sgtng Ctff\n\nSynopsis — Murmurs against the severity of the gospel refuted — Cold-\nheartedness towards one's fellowmen is a hindrance to perfect love\nof God — Some condemn their neighbor in proportion to their own\nfancied perfection in loving God — Another hindrance is interior\ngluttonous joy in sensible devotion — God's favors divert the soul\nfrom God's self — Childish folly of this fault — How a wise soul\ncounts on mdngled joy and sorrow — Example of Christ's passion.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FEAST OF ST. STEPHEN.\n\nAmen, amen I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground\ndie, itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. — John\nxii, 24, 25.\n\nWe understand by the grain of wheat our Lord Jesus Christ Him-\nself, Who by His death brought much fruit to all mankind, if men will\nbut reign with Him, and if above all they are willing to live a dying life\nafter His example. That love may indeed be called a dying love, by\nwhich a man for the love of God renouncing all gratification of the\nsenses, all pleasures of nature, finally gives up his own will. As\noften as he dies to pleasure, so often does he offer his death to God,\nand receives living fruit in return. In so far as a man dies to himself\nand goes away from himself, so far does he enter into our Lord God,\nwho is life.\n\nMark well, children, how this dying life is divided into three degrees.\nThe first degree is made up of those who are moved by fear of hell\nand hope of heaven, mingled with some love of God : their aim is to\navoid mortal sin. The love of God can rarely do its work in their souls\nexcept by meditation on hell or heaven. As to dying to natural and\nworldly joys, they are shocked at the very thought of it, nor do they\ndream of manfully assaulting their natural defects. They have little\nfaith in the tender sentiments that tiow from entire detachment from\ncreatures: they only think of saving their skin from the whip of\npenance and mortification. They are self-seekers and self-lovers, look-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor qh\n\nIng everywhere for fleshly gratification and the vanities of the world,\nfrightened at all bodily discomfort. Their dread even of sin comes\nfrom fear of hell fire together with the desire of enjoying heaven.\nBeing young in God's love, they appreciate it only as a joyful love,\nespecially as a gift whereby they shall escape hell and gain heaven!\nDo they meditate with much sympathy on our Lord's passion? Are\nthey grateful to Him for His bitter death and their redemption? All\nthis is much rather from the emotional thoughts about His bodily\nsufferings for their sakes, than from real appreciation that by his death\nhe practised the highest perfection of all virtues: they dwell little upon\nHis deep humility, intense love, and agony of sympathy for our sad\nlot, all in the highest degree of excellence, all to the perfect glory and\npraise of His Father.\n\nSuch people would begin to die to self, were they not so full of self-\nlove : they cannot yet appreciate what is meant by being content with\nGod alone, and to give oneself up totally to Him. Although they be-\nlieve that God does all things for the best, they yet feel great bitterness\nin resigning themselves to His Providence; and they deem it hard that\nJesus Christ should have suffered so much and should lead His follow-\ners along the same sad way of suffering. After a while they may really\nbegin to lead a dying life, but even then they are not inclined to\nfollow it to perfection; they addict themselves zealously to fasting,\nwatching and other things painful to nature, little knowing what per-\npection means. They believe that God most esteems what is thus\noutwardly painful. When they find that they can suffer all this will-\ningly, they fancy that they have attained to the highest degree of\nperfection. Presently they sit in judgment on all other men. They\ncondemn other men who are really far more perfect than they are-^\nbecause they do not practise external austerities, calling them rude\nnames, saying that they know nothing of the spiritual life. Be sure to\nagree with them, or they will say you have got a false spirituality—\neverybody must agree with them or suffer condemnation. Meanwhile\nall that they do, all that they are, is theirs in a selfish pride of owner-\nship : this it is that hinders their entire submission to our Lord in a\nuniversal love.\n\nAnd they fail in brotherly love. They do not love all men, good and\nbad. Their hearts are divided, loving some and failing to love others.\nThis causes interior unrest. In fact they are essentially self-seekers:\nself is their thought and self is their love. Toward their fellow Chris-\n\n612 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ntians they are spiritually very stingy, appropriating all prayer and all\ndevotions to their personal needs. If they do pray for others, they\nrate it as something wonderful and worthy of the highest reward. In\nshort, as they enter but little into their own interior life, and have\nbut little light about their own inerior state, their progress in the love\nof God and of their neighbor is very slight. They are so involved in\ninordinate love of self and created things, that they ever stop short at\nself, and are never united to any one in the bonds of wise and Chris-\ntian affection.\n\nThat divine love for God and men which they should cherish fails\nthem. They may seem to obey God's law and to be submissive to holy\nChurch, but the law of love they do not hold to. Necessity and fear,\nthese inspire their actions rather than deep rooted love. And since\nthey are inwardly untrue to God, so can they not confide in Him.\nTheir consciousness of imperfect motives — which God causes in their\nsouls — hinders their love of Him. Hence their life-long distress, for\nthey are full of dread, agitation, and pitiable misery. On the one hand\nthey gaze at eternal happiness, and they dread that they will never\nhave it; on the other hand, hell yawns open, and they tremble lest\nthey shall go there. Nor can all their pious devotions drive out this\nterror of hell, so long as they have not died to self. The greater their\nself love, the greater their terror of hell. And yet if God our Lord does\nnot give them their own way, they complain against Him; and they\nweep and sigh at any little contradiction. They spend hours in silly\ntalk, are fond of fabulous legends, and they make their own sorrows a\ntopic of endless conversation. They act and talk as if they had been\nunjustly dealt with by heaven. They reckon their works, however\ntrifling in reality, to be of great actual merit, and take for granted\nGod owes them a high regard. But if later on our Lord will enlighten\nthem, they will see that they have been like some silly fool, who prizes\nhis walking stick, as much as a noble Knight does his splendid costly\nsword.\n\nAll these men stand on the lowest step of the dying life. And if\nthey do not further mortify themselves, do not better learn what is\nmeant by a dying life, then it is to be feared that they will slip back\nfrom even this lowest place. May God guard them from this greater\nfolly and wickedness. But now to save them God grants them great\nspiritual joy, and by this they are heartened to endure all the severity\nof penitential works. But when this comes they again dream that they\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 613\n\nhave reached perfection. Once more they begin to condemn their\nneighbor, and set about forcing everybody to do as they do themselves—\nso high a point of self-conceit have they reached. Again God visits\nthem in His mercy, for He would lead them out of their delusion, show\nthem just what they are in very truth. He allows the evil one to\npicture to them the sweetness of sin. Forthwith they are tormented\nwith sinful inclinations, whose grasp upon their thoughts they cannot\nshake off. Horror of the pains of hell drives them, to yet greater\nexternal works of penance, and these in turn are a grievous burden,\nand involve intolerable toil. They are at war with self; they know\nnot where to turn for relief; and they begin to see, although but from\na distance, that they have been following a mistaken course of spiritual\nconduct. Now must God come once more to their help in His blessed\nmercy. He inspires them to plead humbly for His aid. Presently they\nare guided by truer principles, and are granted relief in the rightly-\ndirected practise of good works and in a well-ordered life, but espe-\ncially by properly made meditation on the passion of our Lord Jesus\nChrist.\n\nThe second degree of the dying life of the grain of wheat, is that\nof those interior touches and tastes of grace as urge a man onward to\ndie more and more to self. In this state he longs with all his soul's\npowers to advance in perfection. . But what if this sweet interior\ndrawing begins to fail him? He knows that he is yet far from per-\nfection., but, alas, he is not content to sit down and wait in all\npoverty of spirit. He falls into a kind of mistrust of God; he thinks\nGod has forgotten him; he says that God will no longer help him\nalong the road to perfection. He continually debates with himself\nabout doing this or leaving off that, hoping thereby for some relief. If\nour Lord shows him a kindly face, then he feels right with God- he\ninstantly feels so rich that he dreams he will never again be poor If\nhe is only free from trials, he enjoys God as if he were His particular\nfavorite:— God is now going to stand by him in all tribulation and\nto enrich him with all virtues.\n\nBut our loving Lord knows how easily he may fall and how deeply,\nif he IS left to this self-assurance. Our Lord knows that to lead him\nout of his present state of imperfection— and how gladly would He\ndo It!— is to withdraw His perceptible and sensible favors from him\nfor a time. That soul is too deeply involved in self love, in admiration\nof his own perfections, in the thought of his wisdom and holiness and\n\nG14 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nvirtue. Therefore does our Lord fetch him down again into interior\ndestitution, mistrust of self, and humble confession that he amounts to\nnothing and is wholly unworthy of God's favors.\n\nThen it is that for the first time he perceives that the blessed God\nhad very rightly deprived him of sensible graces, for he had thought\nhimself to be something: how clearly he now sees that he is nothing.\nHe had always sought honor among his friends, and if his good\nname were assailed he had always fought for it. He prized his good\nname as a man does his well-loved wife. If anyone said a word\nagainst him, he looked on him as an impugner of the known truth.\nHe longed to be praised for holiness as a plant yearns for the summer\nshowers. He seemed to think that men's praises came from true and\nvirtuous hearts and were messages from God. He had wandered so\nfar away from truth, that to find it he never looked into himself. No\nmatter how plain his defects, he esteemed himself actually to be what\nmen said he was — he knew no other way of rating himself,\n\nNow it is to be noted, that any man who will shake off this gross\ndelusion, who will rise out of this unmortified state, must consider\nthree things. First, has he earnestly labored to accept willingly all\npunishments inflicted on him, all backbiting, all disgrace — to gladly\nsuffer it all for the sake of advancing in virtue? Has he bowed down\nhumbly under all such crosses? Second, how much has he praised\nand thanked God for all this shame, tribulation and punishment?\nHow kindly has he borne with his persecutors, how much real friend-\nship has he shown them, how much affection has he had in his inmost\nsoul for those who have done him harm? Third, has he in all sincerity\nand with a thankful heart, prayed to God for the welfare of his tor-\nmentors? If he has failed in these three tests, if he knows his soul\nto be void of these sentiments, if he feels hard and bitter in his trials,\nthen he may be entirely sure that he lives a false life. He is still de-\npendent on the praises of men for his peace of soul. He still lingers\nin a state of spiritual pride and immortification — he has not yet\nattained to the second degree of the dying life.\n\nBut see how our good God has the heart of a tender mother, full of\npity for her wayward child; or, again, how like a skilful physician,\nwho cures an unwilling patient by the hard medicine of letting him\nsuffer bitter pain, till he gives up and accepts the treatment needed\nfor perfect recovery. So does God often allow such a man to fall, so\nthat he may at last learn and confess his own helplessness. Now there\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 615\n\ncome against him temptations of flesh and of spirit, the like of which\nhe never had before. He had thought himself a good man leading a\nspiritual life — and now he knows not what he is. It is out of mercy\nto him that God darkens his understanding : he had overmuch trusted\nin self-guidance. At every step he treads on sharp thorns of sinful\ninclinations. Finally he concludes that he is a reprobate from the face\nof God. Now he cries out to God ; now he wails and weeps many tears.\nO God, he exclaims, \"Why hast Thou forgotten me? And why go I\nmourning, whilst my enemy afflicteth me?\" (Ps. xli, 10).\n\nWhen at last from the sole of his feet to the top of his head, he is\ntormented; when he is overwhelmed with his vileness in comparison\nwith God's holiness; when he is stricken with awful terror at finding\nout his rebellousness against God : then he is beside himself with the\nsense of his unworthiness. Misery rushes upon him and overthrows\nhim. The result is that he finally yields to his divine guide; he gives\nhimself up to suffer whatever God may inflict on him. He laments his\nsad lot with many tears, borrowing the words of holy scripture, and\nconfesses that his sins outnumber the sands of the seashore; that he is\nunw^orthy to raise his eye toward heaven ; that the wrath of the Ma^t\nHigh is enkindled against him. If it happens that his tears are dried\nup, it is only to suffer a more interior anguish. On the one hand he\nlongs to be trampled under foot of all men and totally to die to self;\nand yet he feels a secret uprising of very arrogant pride, and longs to\nassert himself over all. This inner conflict is exceedingly bitter. And\nhe now so despises himself that be is tempted to think that it would be\nno dishonor to God if he killed himself. I am really of opinion that\nthis trial sometimes enfeebles a man's mental faculties ; and that he had\nrather suffer death than endure it any longer — if such were not against\nGod's honor. Nevertheless all this time he feels that God's grace is\nyet within him. And he feels confident that in all his strange sorrows\nand joys and in all that may happen to him in future, he does not and\nwill not, deliberately sin against God.\n\nSometimes the grace of tears is again accorded him, and he cries out\nto God : \"Arise, why sleepest thou, O Lord ? Arise, and cast us not\noff to the end\" (Ps. xliii, 23). He asks God why He has dried up the\nfountains of His mercy. He invokes all the blessed angels and saints\nof heaven and appeals to them for pity. To the heavens he cries out:\nWhy are you turned to brass against me? And to the earth: Why\nart thou hard as iron against me? He calls on the very stones to be\n\n616 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nsoftened towards him and to pity him. He exclaims: Am I become\nthe accursed mountain of Gilboa, that neither the dew nor rain of\nheavenly comfort shall ever again fall upon me? And has it come to\npass that only my single wickedness shall be able to vanquish the\ninvincible loving kindness of God? Has He whose property is always\nto show mercy and to forgive, closed His heart against me, me alone\nof all sinners in the world?\n\nNow thus it is that God's work goes on in this second degree of the\ndying life, cleansing the soul thoroughly, leading it round and round\nthrough fire and water. It lasts until all self-importance is driven\nout of the remotest corners of the spirit. The soul at last is fully\ndisgraced in its own eyes. It condemns itself with all sincerity. It\nfalls so low in its own esteem as never again to be able to return to\nself-delusion. It now frankly confesses its own feebleness, past and\npresent. Whatever good anyone may say of it, or whatever graces\nGod may grant it, it will never again claim any merit. One thing\nalone will it say of itself: I am a man all full of faults. Then has\nsuch a man reached the height of this degree, and stands not far from\nthe door of a great grace — the bridal chamber of the heavenly Spouse,\nwho is our Lord Jesus Christ. When the day of his death comes\nhe will receive a joyous welcome from our Lord. But to reach this\ndegree of the dying life, as we have seen, is a severe ordeal.\n\nWe know that little trees sink short roots into the earth : we mean by\nthis that souls little in their own eyes, really humble hearts, are not\nmuch attached to this world's life; their thoughts and desires are\nrooted deep in heaven. These readily give up to God's decree of a dying\nlife. Not so the prouder spirits, the tall trees deep rooted in love of\nthis world. They hold on fast and long to their attachments to transi-\ntory things. Such is the case with men who are the great ones of the\nearth. Many a battle must they fight against God and always lose,\nmany a death must they die to self, ere they come to this degree of\nthe dying life. All usurpation of God's rights, all excess of spirit must\nbe broken up, and they must languish long in the depths of painful\nhumiliation. At last the time comes when the Holy Ghost finds the\nway cleared along which He shall draw the soul to Himself; as we\nhave above described.\n\nThe third degree of the dying life of the grain of wheat, belongs\nonly to those chosen souls who with earnest purpose struggle stead-\nfastly forward towards perfection. Their life is one of mingled joy\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor qu\n\nand trouble. The Holy Ghost pursues them with two sorts of trouble\nand two sorts of joy, and these are always before their eyes. The first\nmisery is an interior suffering. It is an overwhelming sorrow of heart\nfelt in union with the holy Trinity, at the sight of the unspeakable\nwickedness of mankind, and especially the malice of bad Christians\nsunk in mortal sin. The other interior anguish is sympathy with the\ngrief of soul that Jesus Christ endured in his human nature, a share\nof which IS granted to them by our Lord. The first of the joys such\na soul experiences in this degree of the dying life, is a clear contempla-\ntive knowledge of Christ, and an overpowering enjoyment of Him •\ninto this state the Holy Ghost lifts the soul, in order to give it a fore-\ntaste of all the perfect bliss that it hopes to possess with Christ in\neternal life. The second joy is a participation in the happiness Christ\nenjoys as a man, and which the soul hopes to possess perfectly in\nheaven as a member of Christ and coheir of his bliss. Now although\nthis man cannot comprehend the abyss of God's being, nevertheless he\nIS absorbed in its joys. For he knows full well His unspeakable mercies\nm all their supremacy; and he feels that it is good for him to be over-\nwhelmed with the mystery of God and not to be able to comprehend\nHis majesty. He is glad in his dying to self to bow down in lowly\nreverence under God.\n\nTo this state a man can never come, except when his will has been\nmade one with God in entire self-denial, in perfect self-abnegation\nSelf-love in every form and all self-will are vanquished by the inpour-\nmg of the Holy Ghost. And this conquest is so perfect that the Holy\nGhost Himself appears to have become this man's will and to be made\nhis power of loving; he can resemble himself and love himself no loncrer\nYea, even heaven is now longed for purely for the honor of God, and\nbecause Christ has merited it for him : God will give it to him as to\none of his children. In this degree of the dying life a man loves all\nthings in right order: God over all, then the blessed humanity of\nChrist, after that the beloved mother of Christ, and then every one of\nthe saints in his own grade of holiness, all according to the divine gifts\nAnd as this glorious company enters his mind, he sits down in the\nlowest place at the Bridegroom's marriage feast; but when the King\nwho had invited him enters and sees him there. He says to him-\n\"Friend, go up higher\" (Luke xiv, 10).\n\nAnd now this happens: he is endowed with a new life, he is en-\nlightened with new brightness. He manifestly beholds the secret of\n\n618 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nhis own miserable weakness ; he clearly sees that he himself alone is to\nblame for his former wickedness; neither nature, nor the world, nor\nthe devil can be rightly accused for his sins. He now freely confesses\nto God, that all his very painful trials and temptations were given him\nonly out of God's great love for him, in order that in overcoming them\nhe might do honor to God and win more crowns in heaven. He further\nsees and confesses that God had led him along that sorrowful way\nonly that he might at last have no joy in sinning, and that the causes\nof his baseness might be totally done away, and that he should not\nfall again. And, besides, he now recognizes and owns a deeper wicked-\nness: namely, that after his conversion he had often felt in a hidden\nway pained at the thought that he should never again be allowed the\njoy of sinning. This fills his very life with anguish and repentance,\nrealizing that he is still tainted with some remains of his former weak-\nnesses. But even so he can and does feel very happy, knowing that\nGod's goodness so perfectly meets his necessities and remedies them ;\nand that on account of this alternating distress and happiness, his\nlife may be called in very truth a dying life; that it is conformed to\nthe life of our Lord Jesus Christ, who from beginning to end of His\nsojourn on earth experienced an incessant change of sorrow and joy.\nIt was the Son of God's sorrow, that He came down upon this earth\nfrom the heavenly throne; His joy, that He was not separated from the\nglory of His Father. Sorrow, that He was the Son of Man ; joy, that\nHe was and still remained the Son of God. Sorrow, that He took\nthe form of a slave. Joy, that He was and remained the sovereign\nLord of all. Sorrow, that in His humanity He was subject to death\nand did actually die on the cross. Joy, that He was superior to death\nin His God-head. Sorrow, that He was born of a mortal mother. Joy,\nin His eternal generation, in the bosom of God. Sorrow, that He was\nof time. Joy, that He was before all time and eternal. Sorrow, that\nbeing the divine Word He was yet made flesh and dwelt amongst us.\nJoy, that He was in the beginning with God and was God. Sorrow,\nthat like a common sinner He was baptized by John in the Jordan.\nJoy, that the heavenly Father's voice proclaimed Him His beloved Son\nin whom He was well pleased. Sorrow, that He was tempted by the\ndevil. Joy, that angels came and ministered to Him. Sorrow, that\nHe often suffered hunger and thirst. Joy, that He is Himself the\nfood of men and angels. Sorrow, that He was often wearied with\nlabor. Joy, that He is the sweet repose of all loving hearts and all\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 619\n\nhappy spirits. Sorrow, that His holy life and death shall be fruitless\nto so many men. Joy, that He shall be the eternal bliss of His friends.\nSorrow, that He must beg a drink of water from the Samaritan woman\nat the well. Joy, that He gave the same woman living water to drink\nthat she might never thirst again. Sorrow, that He must journey\nacross the water in a ship. Joy, that when He willed it He walked\nover the waves dryshod. Sorrow, that with Martha and Mary He wept\nover Lazarus dead. Joy, that He waked Lazarus from the dead and\nrestored him to his sisters. Sorrow, that He was fastened to a cross\nwith nails. Joy, that from the cross he promised paradise to a robber.\nSorrow, that He was tortured with thirst on the cross. Joy, that by\nHis dying thirst He saved His elect from eternal thirst. Sorrow, that\nhe cried: ''My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?\" (Matt,\nxxvii, 46). Joy, that with this cry of desolation He should comfort\nall sorrowful men. Sorrow, that He gave up the ghost and died and\nthan was buried. Joy, that on the third day He rose again from the\ndead with a body all glorified.\n\nThus was the whole life of Jesus from the crib to the cross mingled\nof sorrow and joy. And this very life of His He has left as a legacy to\nHis followers in this world, to all who would choose to lead a dying\nlife; so that thereby they might ever be mindful of Him, and walk from\nthe cradle to the grave as He walked. May God grant us that privi-\nlege. Amen.\n\n620 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nBtlt ^tctptwn anb 3ta Hoot\n\nSynopsis — Remarks on Mary's dignity as Mother of God — Desire to en-\njoy Ood and creatures at the same time is the cause of all self-de-\nceit— It is increased hy delusions about the privileges of one's order\n— Comparison between the tree and the graft — Rules for choosing a\nfather confessor.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FEAST OF OUR LADY'S NATIVITY.\n\nCome over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits. — EcclL\nxxlv, 20.\n\nThis is the blessed day in which our Lady, purified and sanctified in\nher mother's womb, was born into this world. In her has been restored\nto us what was defaced and lost in the garden of Eden, namely the\nhuman soul in all its perfection, made by the heavenly Father after\nHis own image and likeness. She was destined to cooperate with the\neternal Father in the restoration of all the members of His family to\ntheir original justice. Out of His boundless mercy would God use\nher, to aid us to rise again from the everlasting death of sin, into\nwhich we, as far as it was possible for us to do it, had fallen.\n\n\"Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my\nfruits ;\" that is to say, the graces that followed my birth ; such are the\nFather's words put by holy Church into Mary's mouth, and she would\nherself in turn apply them to the birth of the eternal Son in the bosom\nof His Father, and then to that of the same Son, born of her womb\ninto this world : she would invite us to come over to her and be filled\nwith the fruits of that birth. All (as if to say) who desire me, let\nthem desire the birth of my son with joyous love, and in due time\nthey will be granted the privilege of enjoying it. Thus shall your\nsoul be stimulated to a deeper longing. As St. Augustine says : \"Lord,\nThou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are without peace till\nthey rest finally in Thee.\" This unrest of soul should every man have\nwithout ceasing; but our souls are quieted with alien births, namely\njoy in earthly things and in the senses. We grow content with the\npossession of created things, animate and inanimate, such as friendship\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 621\n\nand companionship, clothing and food — anything that ministers to our\npleasures. These joys are born in us, and creatures hold the place of\nfather to us. As long as this is with our knowledge and consent, God\nwill not enter: the divine generation shall not be experienced by a\nsoul preoccupied with human pleasures. It may be a mean and\ntrifling thing that thou lovest: it is none the less enough to rob thee\nof the unspeakably precious good and perfect consolation of the divine\nbirth within thy soul.\n\nNow men will object and say that they have no love for God and\nno longing for Him. I answer, look within thee for the cause of this,\nfor there alone shalt thou find it — nobody knows that so well as\nthyself. Do not ask me but ask thy own self wherefore thou hast\nneither love nor desire. Thou wouldst possess God and creatures\ntogether, and that is impossible. Joy in God and joy in creatures — if\nthou weepest blood thou canst not obtain these two at one and the\nsame time. The trouble is want of perception of what creature comfort\nis really necessary in this life, or what use of creatures one can law-\nfully have in God and for God;— such things as the proper satisfac-\ntion of hunger and thirst, rest after toil, and the repose of sleep.\nWhen these are sought from inordinate appetite rather than from real\nnecessity of nature, they are a hindrance to the birth of God within\nthe soul. I do not say that all sense of pleasure is inordinate, for in\nsatisfying the needs of nature, one cannot extinguish all feelings of\nenjoyment, for pleasure and necessary refreshment are inseparable.\n\nBut if a man wishes to place no hindrance to the divine birth, if he\nwould cultivate an increase in his longing for God, let him keep a sharp\nwatch on all pleasurable emotions of the senses. The less these are,\nthe greater his progress; the more the coldness of heart goes out, the\nmore the warmth of love comes in. Nor does this mean that a man\nshould sink into slothful and slovenly habits, or have a stupid weak-\nness of character. Some degenerate into this state, blindly following\na routine of pious observance with little care and attention. Nor\nshould one pester his father confessor about many of these weaknesses\nand self-indulgences, to which he wilfully adheres: the father confessor\nhas no power to help him unless he fully co-operates himself. If thou\ngoest to confession ten times a day, it will be all the same — ^back again\nShalt thou fall into defects of this kind. The fault lies in thy wilful\nadherance to these failings. As long as thou obstinately cleavest to\ncreatures so long art thou shut out from beholding the face of God.\n\n622 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nThis is the teaching of holy scripture, and especially of the Gospel\nof Christ. Thou shalt love God above all things, says the first and\ngreatest commandment; and our Lord tells us that unless we give\nup all that we possess for His sake, we are not worthy of Him. And\nagain He warns us that not all who call out Lord! Lord! shall enter\nthe kingdom of heaven, but only they who do His Father's will. Do\nyou think that God will give His kingdom to those miserable creatures\nwho have rejected His Son's most precious blood and shamed His holy\nlife? Never believe it. If you but knew how hard God will judge\nsuch men your souls would wither up with terror. God has given His\nonly begotten Son to be their way to Him : He is the end. He alone ;\nand do you think He will allow Himself to be despised? Never\ndream of such a thing.\n\nAnd never dream that thy holy order is going to take the place of the\nholiness thou shouldst thyself personally possess. My habit and cowl,\nmy holy cloister and the holy company of my brethren — all that does\nnot sanctify me: there must be in me a holy, a mortified and a recol-\nlected spirit before I can be called a holy man. That I often cry out\nLord! Lord! — that I say many prayers, read many pious books, have\nmuch sacred knowledge and show outward holiness — no! no! There\nmust be much more in me besides this. And now if thou errest in this\nmatter, the blame is thine and not mine, for I have warned thee against\nthe worldly heart and thy proud spirit, against thy vainglory and\nthy pretence of spirituality. Thou shalt be proved at last as a graft\nupon a tree — the fruit is according to the graft and not according to\nthe tree. So it is not thy order but thyself that must stand the final\ntest. Thus all thy good works are false before God if thy inner life\nbe not true. For the divine birth is experienced in all thy powers,\nboth inner and outer. In this sense the book of Job teaches : \"In the\nhorror of a vision by night, when deep sleep is wont to hold men, fear\nseized upon me, and trembling, and all my bones were affrighted: and\nwhen a spirit passed before me, the hair of my flesh stood up\" (Job\niv, 13-15). The horror of the vision by night is the anguish that is\nsure to follow attachment to created things, shaking one's bones with\ndread of the divine wrath ; the passing of a spirit before the soul is the\nvisitation and the judgment of God.\n\nThere are two movements of the spirit taught in the Gospel, one\nbeing that of God's Spirit into us, the other that of our spirit into\nGod. This two-fold movement must end in God's dominating the soul.\n\nof John Taulcr, the Illuminated Doctor 623\n\nIf wood shall become fire, it must cease to be wood; if the seed becomes\na tree, it ceases to be a seed. If God's Spirit shall move into ours in\nthe fulness of His generation, then the creature must languish in us.\nIn this sense St. Gregory speaks: \"The words of the book of Job,\n'the hair of my flesh stood up,' may be illustrated by the cutting off\nof the hair of the Levites in the old law. As the hair grows on the\nhead and face of a man, so grows his attachment to created things\nin the lower and higher faculties of his mind, being rooted in his\nformer customs; and these must be shorn entirely off with the sharp\nshears of holy zeal for virtue.\" Sharpen that shears on the hard grind\nstone of God's judgment, before which not so much as an idle word\nshall escape condemnation. The littlest distraction that is wilfully\nentertained, must be burnt away with an unbearable purgatory, ere\none can come before God's face. But what happens when these matted\nand filthy locks are sheared off? They instantly begin to grow out\nagain, and we must be ever ready with the shears of mortification again\nto cut them back. How wise then are those, who are so earnest that\nthe instant any unworthy thought arises they repress it with iron\nresolution. This seems hard at first, but as time goes on and one is\nfaithful and true, habit makes it very easy: what once took a heavy\nstroke to remove can now be blown away with a light breath of recol-\nlection.\n\nAs to one's love for his neighbor, that must be practical. And it\nmust be universal, directed not to this or that particular person, but\nto all mankind, including no less the wicked than the virtuous, the\npoor as well as the rich. It is this that we learn of our blessed Lady's\nfather and mother, Saints Joachim and Anna. For it is related that\nthey divided their goods into three parts, giving one to support God's\nworship in the temple, another in alms to the poor, and the third they\nused for their own support. Be sure that the soul of a covetous man\nis a cesspool of all uncleanness. A true man must easily part with the\nmean things of this mortal life of ours. Says our Lord: \"Give and\nit shall be given to you. • ♦ ♦ For with the same measure that you\nshall mete withal, it shall be measured to you again\" (Luke vi, 38).\n\nThe shears must also be used upon an inward growth. For there are\nmen whose souls are covered with a growth of attachments to certain\npious exercises, not alone for God's sake but mainly out of the joy\nthey have in them. The deeper parts of their souls they know nothing\nof; they do not dream but that they are detached and mortified men,\n\n624 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nfor they do not know themselves. It were great good fortune if such\na one had a true friend of God, to whose direction he would gladly\nsubject himself, and who would show him the right way of God's\nSpirit. But to guide such a one no short acquaintance with him is\nnecessary. Such a guide may well be sought over twenty miles of\ntown and country, in order to obtain one with sufficient piety, wisdom\nand experience. Of course any father confessor of ordinary sound\njudgment will serve a good purpose, for often does the Holy Ghost\nspeak through our confessors' mouths, even when they are but simple\nmen and hardly realize the purport of the instruction; for their office\nis by divine appointment. To them we must be submissive, we must\nnever live according to our own lights and guidance. For when our\nblessed Lady was a little child, did she not obey implicity her old\nfather and mother? Was she not under the direction of the priests in\nthe temple? And in after times, was she not subject to St. Joseph?\nAnd at the end she lived under the protection of St. John, to whose\ncare our Lord had confided her. Let us now pray her to take us in\nturn under her guardianship, on this the day of her nativity; and\nlet us beg her intercession that we may be born again with the birth\nof her divine Son. God help us to all these favors. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 625\n\nifflgattral Prag^r\n\nSynopsis — Remarks on the qualities of ordinary prayer — Higher states\nof prayer granted only to mortified souls — And the demon singles\nthem out for his fiercest assaults — How the highest prayer is dmid\ndeep mental silence — The vision of Elias illustrates this — Invar-\niable effect is humility and love of suffering.\n\nSERMON FOK THE FEAST OF OUR LADY^S VISITATION, OR\nFOR THE OCTAVE OF HER NATIVITY.\n\nCome over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruit?. — Eccll.\nxxiv, 26.\n\nOf our blessed Lady St. Bernard writes: \"We cannot praise her\nenough, and yet we must be silent on account of the surpassing glory\nof her virtues.\" And he elsewhere says, addressing her : \"However\nlofty thy place in thy kinship with the deity, yet forget not thy\nkinship with our poor humanity : enter not so deep into the abyss of\nthe divine nature as to become unmindful of the weakness of our\nhuman nature, which thou in thy day hast so well experienced.\" And\nthere are many other praises of Mary by St. Bernard and other saints.\n\nNow as relates to our Lady's patronage there are two classes of\nsouls. One class prays not to her because, as they say, they cannot\npray at all : or rather all their prayer is a sort of vain abandonment\nto God that He may deal with them and with all that concerns them\naccording to His good pleasure. The other class earnestly and con-\ntinually pray to our Lady and to the other saints, seeking their inter-\ncession in all their necessities. Now both these classes of souls may\neasily go astray. The first class are wrong in not fulfilling the com-\nmands of holy Church, which require them to pray. Our Lord him-\nself taught us to pray, and left us a beautiful form of prayer: He\nHimself continually prayed to His Father. Such persons offer as\nexcuse that their prayers have not been heard — and this shows their\nfoolishness; for they would have been heard if they had asked no\nhurtful gift. Some things the Lord will not grant, no matter how\nearnestly we beg Him. St. Gregory writes : \"God desires us to pray\n\n626 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nto Him. Hence be sure that He will often allow us to suffer want, so\nthat we may be excited to pray to Him.\" Then God helps us because\nour loving trust in Him has been stimulated; and our soul is com-\nforted by receiving help from Him.\n\nThe others may also easily go wrong, because they pray with un-\nmortified spirits. They would have every things succeed with them\njust only because they pray: they do not leave the disposal of their\naffairs to God. Now they should indeed pray, but with real submission\nto God's will — let Him do as He pleases in all circumstances and\nabout all things. You will remember how we lately said, that begin-\nners must cut off as if with a sharp shears all foul sins; that thos^\nmore advanced should exterminate their foul inclinations to sin; and\nthat those who seem to be even more perfect, should shave off the\nslightest tendencies to evil.\n\nAs to these latter, the beautiful souls who have disengaged themselves\nfrom all love of created things, and turned to God with all their heart\nto love and serve Him alone, — these the evil spirit assails with tempta-\ntions so terrible as to affright any worldling who could appreciate\nthem. Worldlings, to be sure, have their temptations, but in a differ-\nway, for they arise from their own unmortified nature, from the\nhumors of their flesh and blood all tainted with sin. And how shall\nsuch a one escape? By striking down his corrupt nature, and stead-\nfastly resisting the evil one, and casting him forth: so he is defeated\nand gives over exciting this man's sensuality. But a perfect man has\ndone all this long ago. He is already a mortified soul. His temptation\ndoes not come from within, but from without, except the demon may\nfind some remnants of sinful inclination within him, as for example\na tendency to anger. Upon this the evil one fastens, here he concen-\ntrates his cunning and his f;uile. The demon as it were throws a burr\nupon him, then several more burrs, some front and others back, and so\non till he is all covered with burrs, that is to say with temptations.\nIf he is inclined to anger, the evil one suggests wrathful thoughts,\nirritating recollections, until at last the poor man roars with rage as\nif he were actually beating somebody. Could he but steady himself\nfor a moment, and prostrate himself in spirit before God in deep\nhumility imploring His assistance, and mentally turn towards his ene-\nmies and set his soul to be reconciled and at peace, nor offer any\nexcuses or palliations for his angry outburst, but sink down meekly\ninto his own nothingness — if he could but do this, then, children, his\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 627\n\ndefects should be instantly forgiven, and should disappear from before\nGod's face like snow before the sun ; the demon would vanish away\nempty handed. If he can have access to his father confessor, all this\nwill be much facilitated. ^S^Tiatsoever man acts thus wisely, will gain\nground by his trial and be prepared to go higher up in the divine favor.\nNow I will speak of something that does not concern evervbody ; and\nfrom speaking of which we poor, weak men naturally shrink,'and indeed\nfrom even hearing about it, for it is high doctrine, especially to those\nwho never lived according to it. Yet even those who are familiar with\nit cannot rightly explain it. The book of Job says: \"A spirit passed\nbefore me, and the hair of my flesh stood up\" (Job iv, 15) . St. Gregory\nunderstands this to mean the apparition of our Lord's sacred hu-\nmanity, the word spirit signifying His divinity, which is hidden from\nall creatures. He understands the same of the vision of Elias: 'A\ngreat and strong wind before the Lord, overthrowing the mountain's,\nand breaking the rocks in pieces: the Lord is not in the wind; and\nafter the wind an earthquake: the Lord is not in the earthquake; and\nafter the earthquake a fire : the Lord is not in the fire ; and after the\nfire, the whistling of a gentle air. And when Elias heard it, he covered\nhis face with his mantle\" (III Kings, 11-13). The Lord was thus in\n\"the whistling of a gentle air;\" and children, the overthrowing of the\nmountains, the earthquake and the fire, these were all but preparations\nfor the Lord. St. Gregory says: \"The high mountain means proud,\nlofty souls ; the hard rocks, mean unmortified spirits and self-conceited\nmen, fast fixed in self-chosen spiritual ways, doing great things indeed,\nbut all with a sense of personal proprietorship.\" When the Lord would\ncome to such men as these, he sends an earthquake beforehand, turning\neverything within them upside down. But, alas, those who profit by\nthis visitation are not many. The reason is that men cling to transitory\nthings, and this is rooted in their dogged resistance to God : they rest\nin that, and in gratification of the senses.\n\nIn some, however, the Lord works His way, with greater or less\nsuccess; and as His visitations are repeated, it seems to such a man\na hundred times over— I have met many a one of them— as if he were at\nthe point of death. Once such a man, dreading day and night that in\nhis agony his life was about to be wrenched away from him, begged our\nLord to tell him what to do and whether it was right for him to accept\nsuch a visitation at the peril of his life. Our Lord answered him:\nCanst thou not inwardly dare and suffer what I outwardly suffered in\n\n628 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nsuch inconceivable pain, in hands and feet and in all my body and\nlimbs? Children, some men will not endure this trial: they will not\nrest at home in patience; they turn outward and run hither and\nthither in search of rest; and they never find it, for they must enter\ndeep into their own souls and there abide in resignation. Alas, what\ndo they suppose is the meaning of this death, which so fills them with\nterror? It is very wonderful. Children, if a man were as spotless as a\nbabe fresh from the waters of baptism, and never guilty of any sin\nwhatever, yet if he will attain to the truth of God's holiness by the\nshortest way, he must undergo this very turmoil of soul, this utter\nself-renunciation, or he will fall behind and remain there.\n\nAfter the earthquake came the fire, and the Lord was not in the fire.\nChildren, this means fiery love, devouring one's blood and marrow, and\nmaking one as it were beside himself. A certain man was so inwardly\nconsumed with this ardent love, and indeed so strongly affected even\noutwardly, that he felt he would never amount to anything again —\nhe would soon be entirely burnt up with the heat of his feelings.\nAnother one whom I knew could no longer sleep from the burning\nsentiments of his soul. Only when he could lie down in the snow of\na winter's day could he fall asleep — and presently the heat of his\nbody melted the snow into a wide pool of water around him. Behold,\nchildren, how this fiery love in the spirit spreads its heat into the\nbody : and yet in nothing of all this did the Lord come.\n\nAfter that came a sweet, silent air, a soft breathing of the wind like\na whisper: in that came the Lord. Children, what think you was this?\n— coming after the swift and strong wind, the earthquake, and the\nfire, and all the upheavals of poor human nature in body and soul. O\nwhat a wonderful thing must that be, to have such a preparation, and\nto introduce the entrance of our Lord. Be sure that unless the Lord\nhad supported that man's natural forces with supernatural strength,\nthen would he have sunk beneath the marvellous joy of the Lord's\ncoming, even had he the might of a hundred men together. And yet\nthis coming of the Lord is only a glimpse of Him. For only a glimpse\nwas granted to Elias, and it was so dazzling that the prophet covered\nhis head with his mantle. The cave of Elias may represent our impa-\ntience ; but the door of the cave, is the grace of beholding God ; and the\ncovering of the eyes with the mantle, is to teach us that however fleet-\ning may be the sight of God granted to the soul in this condition, it\nyet overwhelms it — nature cannot endure it. Children, the Lord God\nis there in very, truth, and His presence i? sweeter than honey and the\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 629\n\nhoneycomb. It bears the soul away beyond the life of the senses,\nbeyond even that of its own powers, — far away into the divine depths.\nAs weak eyes cannot bear the sunlight, a thousand times less able is\nweak human nature to bear the sweetness of this experience. Dear\nchildren, whatever one may say of this, or even think about it, is wholly\nunlike the truth : it is as if I were to point to a heap of black coals and\nexclaim : Behold the bright sun that shines through all the universe.\nChildren, it is in this manifestation that essential peace is born in the\nsoul, that peace that surpasses every other peace.\n\nThe Spirit spoken of in the book of Job was the person of the Son\nof God ; and the Lord that came to the prophet in the whispering of a\ngentle air, that was the Holy Ghost. And St. Gregory notices that:\n^'Whereas He came to the prophet in the whisper of a gentle air. He\ncame to the disciples on Pentecost day in the rushing of a mighty wind.\nAnd this is the reason : the disciples received Him for the outward life\nand benefit of the whole christian people, and hence He came to them\nin a public manner, striking and captivating the senses; but this was\nnot necessary in the prophet's case, for to His spirit alone He was sent.\"\nBlessed is the man who was born to enjoy this great favor, if it be only\nfor a single instant before his death. Yet you must understand that\nhowever high this privilege may be, it is w^holly unequal to the sweet-\nness that the soul will enjoy in eternal life hereafter — ^yes, it is no more\nthan the littlest drop of water compared to the bottomless ocean.\n\nAnd now how fares it with these interior souls, thus favored with\nnewly discovered joys? They sink down into their own nothingness in\na manner quite indescribable; they would be annihilated a hundred\ntimes over, (if they could be allowed so to think) for God's praise and\nglory, so strong is their sense of His majesty, so great is their love of\nHis goodness. For the more they are interiorly taught of His dignity,\nthe more do they recognize their own littleness, their very nothingness.\nBy this sense of their own unworthiness they are so wholly stripped\nof self-hood, that if God willed to deprive them of their present sweet-\nness of consolation, they would not repine, nay, they would fly from it\ninstantly. And if they freely and deliberately wished to retain it\nagainst God's will, that would be a fault in them, and they might easily\nmerit purgatory for it: all is not quite right with a soul thus selfishly\nyielding to spiritual joy.\n\nThe faculty of love in man thirsts for sufifering for the sake of the\nbeloved, however much one's reason may revolt against it. And hence\nthese favored souls have a burning desire to suffer. The greatest joy\n\n630 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nthat God can give them is the privilege of imitating Christ in His\npassion, and that in the worst blasphemies, the direst shame, and the\nmost dreadful agony that He endured. They thirst for the cross of\nChrist: beneath that beloved cross they constantly stand, longing for\nits sorrows and pains with most interior love, for it is their lover's\ngibbet. In their souls, every day is the feast of the holy cross in very\ndeed, so sweet to them is a share in Christ's crucifixion. The gracious\nform of Jesus crucified is imprinted deep on their inmost soul ; in\nglorious splendor does it shine within them. St. Paul was rapt into\nthe third heaven, and yet what was his glory? He tells us: ''God\nforbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ\"\n(Gal. vi, 14). And thus speaks the holy man Job: \"My soul rather\nchooseth hanging, and my bones death\" (Job vii, 15). Of all the\nfavors God had bestowed on him, this was the one he chose in prefer-\nence to the others. To the soul that we have been considering, hanging\non the cross is indeed the extremity of pain, but yet it is preferred to\nevery other lot, because its beloved God has hung on the cross for its\nsake. And the soul's longing for suffering is now granted : God casts\nupon it the most awful darkness of woe, the most terrible sense of\nabandonment.\n\nWhen this happens, how fares it with the soul's power of loving,\nbeing thus ablaze with dreadful fiery love, and yet wholly deprived of\nall perceptable consolation? The power of loving is now chided by the\npower of reasoning in this wise: Behold, thou lover, and consider the\nheritage of love bestowed on thee by thy Beloved : — thou art a soul\nfilled with God and a body and all natural faculties filled with pain.\nAnd this is the very truth. And as love burns hotter and more pain-\nfully, so does this heritage become more welcome and its banquet taste\nsweeter. It is the heritage promised of old by the prophets to the\nfriends of God. The more lovingly the heritage of suffering is cherished\nby the lover, the more blissful and glorious shall be the eternal heritage\nhereafter. It is what the holy martyrs longed for with sighs of love.\nAnd the favored souls we are considering seem to themselves only now\nto begin to live; and they feel like beginners in the life of perfection.\nAlas that this most delightful, exceptional and perfect good gift is so\nlittle known. Alas, that it is so commonly neglected, and that men\nprefer to it the miserable enjoyments of this wretched world. May\nGod pity such folly, and may we ever lament it. May God direct us in\nthis, His chosen path of perfection, and bring us straight to the end.\nAmen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 631\n\n(BIirtBttan Purity\n\nSynopsis—Unchaste tendencies considered— Temptations arising from\ncarelessness— Self-denial a safeguard— The secret springs of iin-\nchastity — Occasions arising from spiritual relationships— Precau-\ntions in dealing with the other sex.\n\nSEKMON FOR THE FEAST OF ST. AGNES, VIEGIN\nAND MARTYR.\n\nThe virgin thinljeth on the things of the Lord, that she mav be holv both in\nbody and in spirit.— I Cor. vil. 34.\n\nTwo things are becoming to virgins, to be clean of body and clean of\nsoul. To be unspotted in fleshly things, to be temperate in satisfying all\nbodily needs, as eating and drinking, sleeping and waking; to be of few\nwords, modest in bearing, avoiding vain company and amusements,\nhumble in outward demeanor, busy with all womanly work, diligent in\npenitential exercises, zealous for every kind of outward chastity; all\nthis is what is meant by \"holy in body.\" If any virgin dreams of safe-\nguarding her chastity or perfecting it in any other way, she is under a\ndelusion. For outward occasions of sin must be met and overcome hy\noutward as well as inward safeguards; otherwise the excesses of the\nbodily life will sully the purity of the spirit. Yet it is plain enough,\nthat whosoever would tame the flesh with the flesh, will not have much\nsuccess: hence we shall leave the consideration of bodily purity for\nthat of the spirit, and study how it is saved or lost, a matter which it\nbehooves every spiritual person to attentively consider .\n\nPurity of spirit consists of a conscience clear and unspotted, accom-\npanied with humility. A humble conscience is a pure mind and a clean\nheart. A pure mind is gained by using the holy scriptures; for these\nfurnish one with good meditations. Let the heart be busied with holy\nthoughts and it will soon be delivered from vain ones. You may be\nsure of this: the man who devotes himself to meditating the holy\nscriptures, will be saved from falling into gross irapuritv. Thus it was\nwith St. Jerome, who says : \"Love the reading of the holy scriptures, and\n\n632 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nthou shalt uot love thy fleshly inclinations — thou shalt rather despise\nthem.\" A man gains a clean heart when he banishes all desire of inor-\ndinate pleasure in creatures, especially in men and women. On the\nother hand even a really pious man, may in a single unguarded moment\nbecome so disturbed and so weakened by disorderly human affection,\nas to suffer from evil thoughts for a long time. Therefore the occa-\nsions of fleshly thoughts must be avoided, under penalty of being\nharmed by them. This is human nature's weakest spot; this is the\ndeep rooted taint of our natural concupiscence. A man must all the\ndays of his life struggle against this enemy — alas that so many men\nseem oblivious to this, rashly and thoughtlessly acting as if they had\ngained the victory over the flesh finally and forever.\n\nNo, no, dear child: if thou hast won a thousand battles over thy\nunclean tendencies, lay no store by that. As long as soul and body\nhang together, thou shalt have no freedom guaranteed thee against\nunchaste temptations. After a hundred years of victory, of a sudden\nthy trial will come upon thee. Many a good, pure heart is at last\nmisled and ruined, without being able to clearly know how it came\nabout. Nor did the stain come from some outward evil deed suddenly\ndone; no, not from open fleshly unchastity — although that is some-\ntimes the case. But usually the fall is brought about by gradually\nyielding to sinful desires. They get a footing, because the soul has\npreviously given entrance to affection for transitory things and in-\ndulged in bodily relaxations; these have darkened the understanding\nand led to forgetfulness of the rules of prudence. The interior spirit of\npiety is weakened, and so the fall happens. Then follows a hellish state\nof despondency, with the sharp bite of the tooth of conscience to get rid\nof. It is in this mood that a man, broken spirited and desperate, walks\nstraight into the gate of hell and is buried in eternal darkness: — like\none about to be executed for crime, and who loses all sense and reason\nin abject terror of death.\n\nThis is the road of the unguarded spirit. But sometimes a fall into\nimpurity is permitted by God, because that alone will ground a man\nin true humility. Such a one is thereby fully taught his own miserable\nweakness; and, besides, he thus learns how to have pity on the weak-\nness of other men. This is of special good to those who must subject\ntheir intellectual pride to God's sovereign majesty, and attain to naked\npoverty of spirit. To these it is necessary — and to them more than to\nall others — to be guarded against the company of persons of the oppo-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 633\n\nsite sex. The enemy of souls, who never sleeps, and whose cunning is\never ready, will allow no opportunity to escape him.\n\nWhen men would cultivate an interior spirit of self-denial, entering\ninto themselves in all singleness of heart, they should earnestly en-\ndeavor to subdue totally all evil suggestions. Let them subject all\ntheir faculties absolutely to God, resisting His grace in no manner\nwhatsoever, giving up every remnant of self-proprietorship in all their\nworks and thoughts: their aim must be that God's will shall prevail\nvnthin them without the least opposition. Be assured that a man may\narrive at such single hearted devotion to God, at such peace of soul,\nand even of body, that he shall be almost totally unconscious of the op-\nposition of his lower nature. His peaceful conscience scourges him no\nmore. He has, besides, lost the shamefacedness of our degraded nature,\n80 that he is now returned to the happy ignorance of childhood, which\ndoes all things that nature requires, unconscious of evil tendencies.\nAn innocent little child feels no need of caution in such things, for it\nhas no knowledge of evil. But as knowledge increases with growth\nof years, so does evil inclination and the possibility of sin. And a man\nwho has long led a life of self-denial and recollection may recover the\nsimple modesty of childhood. He has overcome — so it seems, and is, at\nleast for a while — the sensuality of nature to that degree, that he no\nlonger feels a temptation of any kind against chastity, no, not even\nan unclean feeling in his sleep. Deadly occasions overtake him, and\ndo him not the least injury : from every danger he goes forth free and\nuntainted. It may come to pass that he will consider himself no more\nsubject to sensual emotions than a dead corpse: it is possible that\ncorrupt nature may — so it seems at least — be really dead. But let no\nman, no woman trust to the continuance of this condition, no matter\nhow lofty may seem their purity. No matter how perfectly holy one\nmay be — holy in very truth, — if he dallies with dangerous occasions,\nhe does it at his peril. No matter how entirely dead his passions may\nseem, if he does not fly from dangerous association with others, his\nheart will be wounded with sensual pleasure; he will presently be dis-\nturbed with gross inclinations towards one or other favorite companion.\n\nMark well, dear children, how all this comes about, how the net of\ntemptation gradually enwraps such a soul. First of all a pious man\ncherishes love for individuals on account of their graces; he is affec-\ntionately drawn to them because of their spirituality. Now this comes\nfrom a secret pleasure of heart; it seems to be a wholly spiritual feel-\n\n634 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ning; it is something to thank God for; one is grateful to the object of\none's affection for a new spiritual influence — as it seems to be. And if\nthis sentiment is not forthwith banished from the soul with horror, the\nmost deplorable results may follow. One slips into the notion that he\nmay show these good persons some outward marks of special affection.\nSpecial kindness of manner is cultivated, words of affection are used\nand tender glances are exchanged with overfamiliar smiles and laugh-\nter. Then follows yet more dangerous and still closer familiarity,\nincluding the usual signs of mere carnal love; and now the heart is\nindeed wounded with inordinate love. If this inner hurt be not healed\nby immediate withdrawal from danger, a yet deeper wound is inflicted.\nLust of the spirit is changed into lust of the flesh — the devil's snare will\nhardly fail of its victim. Sensual inclinations are likely to be followed\nby yet worse things. That poor soul will not easily escape the deadly\npenalty of trifling with danger.\n\nOne may indeed thus gradually fall into mortal sin without being\naware of it ; he may soon commit the worst sins of thought, making\nlittle resistence to his temptations. Behold, dear children, how even a\nreally good man may commit all sorts of sins, if he does not avoid\ndangerous occasions — yea, even if he has reached the highest degree of\nperfect virtue. If he will not fly from danger, he stands in the same\nI>eril as he did before he began his life of perfection. He is fully in as\nmuch danger now as ever he was ; never had he so great need of caution\nas he has now. No man dare count on being exempt from temptation.\nHowever holy he may be, he dare not say that he need not guard most\ncarefully against eternal loss. He must stand watchfully on his guard\nas long as he breathes the breath of life.\n\nSpiritual writers tell us of three snares laid for the feet of spiritual\nmen. The first is the favor and flattery of men. The second is partiality\nfor one's kindred, as brothers and sisters. The third is self-righteousness,\nby which one relies confidently on his long practise of virtue : and this\ncauses him to be careless of danger. Furthermore, a kind of inordinate\nand sensual friendship grows up between persons, and then slips down\ninto what is called particular friendship. It is a natural mutual love ;\nthey must have their recreation together, and are full of exchanges of\nfriendliness, enquiries after each other's welfare, and the like. This\nwill end wrong, be sure of that; and commonly enough very wickedly\nindeed, to the heavy burdening and misery of the conscience, especially\nwhen the parties to it are of different sexes. No right conscience can\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 635\n\ntolerate such a relationship for a moment. From it the greatest evils\nvery often result and the deadliest shame :^-dark suspicious, envy,\nanguish of soul, entire loss of interior peace. Hence the urgent duty\nof all whose office requires it, to admonish the parties to such particular\nfriendships (especially if of different sexes), to immediately give up\neach other's company. This discipline is necessary for a superior's\npeace of conscience, as well as for the good of the persons concerned ;\nand it will put an end to any further heartburn and temptation.\n\nIf any man will be saved from such or any other sins, let him follow\nSt. Bonaventure's counsel; let him sit with persons of the other sex\nand act and talk, always as if everybody were looking on and listening;\nthen he will do and say nothing improper. His demeanor will be the\nsame with one as with another. And he must allow no creature any\nspecial love under whatsoever name, lest his evil passions be thereby\nenkindled. He must show marks of particular friendship to no one\nwhatsoever, above all to persons of the opposite sex. He must not\nindulge in affectionate interviews with them, no, not even on pretext of\nspiritual conference. He must hold a grave demeanor, deal with them\nwith few words, and hasten his departure from their company at the\nearliest possible moment.\n\nAnd now, dear children, seeing that devout persons may, as I have\nexplained, easily fall into impurity by such dangerous occasions, what\nmust be the case with ordinary imperfect souls? We have seen how\ngood souls become demorilized by over-confidence; words, works and\nthoughts at last are all unclean, because what led to sinfulness was not\nresolutely shunned ; because they would not die to themselves, nor give\nup superfluities, pleasures, softness of living; and because they began\nto indulge their appetites. They finally fell by outward occasions.\nIf this be the fate of an incautious good man, what shall be the ruin of\na careless ordinary Christian? — self-willed, regardless of every pre-\ncaution, dull and unwilling in every devout practise. Of these does\nthe Lord speak by the prophet : *'I am the Lord who search the heart,\nand prove the reins : who give to every one according to his way, and\naccording to the fruit of his devices\" (Jer. xvii, 10). May God have\nmercy on us poor sinners, and may He save us from these snares of\nimpurity. May we appear before His face chaste and clean of soul and\nbody, with a conscience undefiled, free from vain thoughts and cleansed\nfrom evil desires, resting in no created thing but in God alone, loving\nHim alone and above all things. God grant us this boon. Amen.\n\n636 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — Total freedom from vain glory is the first requisite — Kindly\nmanners are needed — Love of suffering follows necessarily — Busy\nindustry is demanded — The last and most necessary quality is keep-\ning God alone in her intention.\n\nSEKMON FOR THE FEAST OF ST. AGATHA, VIRGIN\nAND MARTYR.\n\nThe kingdom of this world and all its pomp I have despised for love of my\nLord Jesus Christ. — From the Roman Ritual.\n\nThe Church sings these words in the holy ofifiice today in the name\nof every bride of Christ, who has given herself up to His service to\npersevere in the same forever. Take notice, dear children, what pecu-\nliar qualities she should show who would be pleasing to God, be accepted\nby Him, and led to His eternal espousals, consummating a perpetual\nunion between Him and her soul.\n\nAnd be it observed that a virgin is not well pleasing to God, unless\nshe despises the kingdom of this world and all its pomp. That means\nthat she sets a watchful guard against pride, vain glory, and the favor\nof men. This extends not only to personal adornment, but over every-\nthing else whatsoever of this fleeting life of ours. She must give all\nthis up for the honor of God. And the same is to be said of spiritual\npride, interior vain glory; and also the outward show of piety, the\nparade of devout words (given forth by a worldly heart), selfish joy of\nheart over spiritual gifts or graces, and all sorts of spiritual self-satis-\nfaction. Such diflSculties as these do the virgins of Christ encounter,\nand that in many various ways. One can hardly exaggerate the hurt\nthat is done these guileless hearts, and how by all these means the evil\none endeavors to mislead them.\n\nAnother good trait is watchful guard against a different kind of\npride. This is an overbearing manner towards others, arrogance, and\nboasting, assuming to be wise, putting on airs of prudence. And if\nshe happens to be reproved for her faults, or anywise despised and\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 637\n\nilltreated, she defends herself hotly, instead of meekly submitting to\ncorrection and showing real humility in word and deed, while giving\nwelcome to all efforts to correct her.\n\nA third good trait is this. It is not enough for her to know and to\navoid her faults. She must give herself up to suffer willingly all that\ndistresses her, laboring in God's vineyard in all patience, preparing for\nher Spouse a deeply humbled heart, in which He alone shall be\nallowed to rest. God's rest is indeed in the heart of a virgin self-\nabased, very meek, subjected unto God and all men even unto death, if\nsuch were God's will. This self-abnegation from the inmost heart, wins\nfrom God all that the soul stands in need of, and very much more.\nGod meets such a soul half way, bringing all His graces. He ennobles\nit with every dignity granted to His holy ones.\n\nThe fourth trait of a true virgin, is that she shall gladly be despised\nand punished and disgraced in this life, and undergo much ill treat-\nment, just as the Canaanitish woman endured what she seemed to\nsuffer from Christ. The like treatment He gives to all His elect\nspirits even unto our own times. If He has a special love for anyone,\nand if He would infuse into him special graces, then does He scourge\nhim hard in his inner soul ; and even outwardly He permits him to be\ntrampled under the feet of all men. Evil things are uttered against\nhim, false and intolerable charges are made against him. When this\nhappens to Christ's virgin, let her revile her own self with the utmost\nsincerity, let her bow down in true humility, let her esteem her sad\nlot a real boon from God, of which she is by no means worthy, thank-\ning Him for a gift that shows she is one of His favorites.\n\nThe fifth trait is a yet deeper humility. Christ's true virgin should\ndespise herself in truest sincerity, suffer every adversity with absolute\npatience, submit to every one's caprice, and never under any circum-\nstance utter the least complaint. We meet with virgins who speak\nevil of themselves with fine words, saying: O I am only a poor sinner.\nBut let anyone else dare to say that to them. This reveals half a\nheart of pride. A virgin with half-hearted humility is shown in being\nInstantly provoked by even a single little word of contempt and\nbeginning to defend herself. She cannot endure being made light of : —\nand yet she insists on being considered a humble virgin. No, my dear\nchild; all the contempt thou dost outwardly show for thyself is mani-\nfestly without any real foundation of humility, if thou are not willing\nto be shamed by thy equals, or better still, by one who is thy inferior.\n\nC38 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nThat goes through the marrow; that will show whether or not thou\nhast genuine humility and patience.\n\nThe sixth trait, is that Christ's virgin does not idle away her time —\nshe is not careless of duty or of pious exercises. With much devotion,\nand with all the yearning of her heart, she meditates on the passion of\nher Beloved. She loves His holy wounds. Nothing pleases her better\nthan to pass her time in studying the life of Jesus Christ, for whose\nsake she has given up all things: no occupation seems to her more\nuseful. Again, it is peculiar to the virgins of Christ, that they are\ndiligent in labor all the days of their life; outward and inward occu-\npations absorb them, all being done for the honor of God. They\nincessantly offer prayers for the salvation of all mankind; nay, they\noffer themselves up as a sacrifice to God for the sins of the common\nmass of the people, good and bad together. And it may happen that\nGod will have His virgin spouse in a state of interior desolation ; all\nlove for God seems gone, for every sort of joy has vanished away ; not\na particle of devotional feeling remains ; the soul is void, miserable and\nabandoned. If in that state the virgin persist in serving God with\nher old fervor, full of faith, entirely resigned to her sorrow of heart,\nthen indeed will God be honored in her, then is He well pleased\nwith her.\n\nThe seventh trait of a true virgin of Christ is in the quality of her\nintention. She should see God and mean God in all she does, in all\nshe leaves undone. Let her disengage her soul from all outward\nthings. When she does good works, let her feel as if she had done\nnothing; and let her think of all good works, as if she were not con-\ncerned in them but only in God. Such a virgin of Christ longs to\nsuffer all the shame and scandal of all men, that God's glory may be\nadvanced: for herself she craves neither authority nor honors. She\ncan in no possible way be puffed up with self-conceit, for the Holy\nGhost reigns in her. Such persons are sometimes compelled to govern\nothers; in which case they rule with much affection and with true\nmeekness. They fulfil Christ's words: \"He that will be first among\nyou, shall be your servant\" (Matt, xx, 27).\n\nThe eighth good quality of a virgin of Christ, is that she constantly\nstrives against all love and desire of transitory things, and all worldly\nhonor. But it happens that when such desires grow weak in her\nheart, then is she first assailed with spiritual pride. This is a power-\nful sense of self-approval, often coupled with longing for the praise\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 639\n\nof others — so strong indeed that God alone can expel it from the\nheart. No matter how holy any one may be, he must reckon on hard\nfighting to the end of life, and especially must he be prepared to resist\nspiritual pride. Now, although in Christ's true virgin no place is\nusually found for pride, avarice, hate or envy, yet will she now and\nthen be assailed with temptation to sloth, to the vice of gluttony, and\neven to impurity. These vices are rooted in our flesh, and are sure to\nrise up to tempt us, if they are not wholly overcome. But such tempta-\ntions are of great profit to Christ's virgin ; for this ardent lover of God\nenjoys nothing but suffering, and shame, and all that is painful to her\ninteriorly or exteriorly, and this out of tender affection for Christ.\nThese afflictions she covets above all contemplation, before all interior\nsweetness. When called on to endure some evil thing for Christ's\nsake, she is better satisfied than if she received all the pleasure that\ncreatures can minister. On this account the movements of the lower\nappetites cannot drive her into sin — she can now conceive of no joy in\nsuch things, for her will is to suffer, her desire is to be afflicted for\nChrist's sake, and meanwhile always to make herself acceptable to\nGod, her divine Spouse. May God help us to gain and to hold all\nthese traits of a true virgin of Christ. Amen.\n\n640 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\niBarg*a piar? tn tl^t Jttrarnatton\n\nSynopsis — God's love best shown in the conception of His Son in Mary's\nwomb — The interior virtues of Mary — Eer purity of tody and soul\n— Eer humility — Eow her soul experienced a mystical generation\nof God's Son — Close application of this event to our own interior\nlife.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FEAST OF THE ANNUNCIATION OF OUR\n\nBLESSED LADY.\n\nHail full of grace, the Lord is with thee. — Luke 1, 28.\n\nIn this feast we celebrate the eternal and overflowing love of God,\nthe Lord of lords and the Master of all, by which He had mercy on\nus poor men, sinful and condemned, brands of hell fire. As St. Paul\nsays: ''Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be\nequal with God: but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant,\nbeing made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. He\nhumbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of\nthe cross\" (Phil, ii, 6-8). Of such a love as this can no man rightly\ndiscourse, nor can we praise and thank God enough for it. It surpasses\nthe power of angelic and human reason to comprehend it — that our\nGod and our supreme Judge should become our Father, our Brother,\nand our Spouse. He has taken our debt and our condemnation on\nHimself; He has redeemed us by His bitter death; He has made us\nHis children, giving us eternal life; He has restored us to our first high\nplace of honor; yea more than that: He has made us like unto the\nangels themselves, even granting us a heavenly righteousness and a\ndivine kinship, even nearer to God than that of the highest of the\nangels.\n\n0 God, all perfect Good! Who can hold back his deepest love in\nreturn for this great love of Thine — his deepest love and praise with\nall his powers of soul and body. And this Thy work of our redemption\nhas made Thee lovable to us above all things — a work unimagined and\nunexampled, a humility without limit, a grace so wonderful and so\nunmerited, a gift without recall. This work of Thine quickly excites\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 641\n\nour love, sweetly draws our will, binds us to Thee gladly and firmly in\nall our desires. But oh! sweetest Jesus, what shall we give Thee in\nreturn for this gift, so great, so divine? Thou didst give me in my\ncreation a soul, and that soul I ruined by sin ; Thou dost now restore\nit to me, making me doubly indebted to Thee for its possession. And\nthat Thou hast pledged Thy soul in the place of mine, dearest Lord\nJesus, what shall I give Thee in return for that favor? Alas, if I gave\nmy poor soul a thousand times over for Thy sake, how could that\ncompare with Thy giving Thyself up to death for me, my Lord and\nmy God?\n\nDear children, although we can never fuMy recompense this great\nlove, yet we should earnestly apply ourselves to make at least some\npartial return by giving ourselves to Jesus, ourselves with all we are\nand all that we can do; as did His most beloved mother, the Blessed\nVirgin, out of a heart most perfectly true to Him. Therefore I will\nshow you some illustrations of how we may rightly serve our Lord,\nhelping you to become as it were spiritually our Saviour's mother,\nGod granting us the grace to generate and to bring forth His divine\nSon. And although your holiness is too little to enable you to com-\nprehend perfectly the mind of the angel when he said to Mary : \"Hail,\nfull of grace,\" yet you can gain some plain notion of how' well pre-\npared the Blessed Virgin was for the conception of the Son of God in\nher womb.\n\nAccording to her name, Mary was rapt into God and made one spirit\nwith Him in the three powers of her soul. And she was all moved and!\nguided by Him, being absorbed in His blessed will, intenselv devoted\nto His honor— moved and guided by Him as a tool in the hand of a\nworkman. She was poor in spirit. She was lifted up to God from a\nfathomless humility. She was self-annihilated, willess, passive, and\nwithout any longing except for God. And it was by reason of this\nstate of her soul that God found an entrance to her in soul and body.\nShe was clean of spirit ; for she did not cleave to any gifts of God, nor\ndid she use them for her joy. She was clean of soul : she felt no attrac-\ntion towards any created thing, but her soul was adorned with alF\nvirtues. She was clean of heart and pure of body : she was never moved\nto sin, being like the shining angels of heaven. Although she was the\nfairest among women, yet never could any man look upon her with bad\ndesires, and this was on account of her angelic purity. She was an\ninterior spirit: her sweet affectionate yearnings were all upward to-\n\n642 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nwards God, and the outgushing waves of the divine love poured down\nfrom the Holy Trinity into her soul. She was deeply recollected : all\nthe powers of her soul were constantly employed in God's praises. She\nwas a faithful heart: her heart was enflamed with love's fiery long-\nings to be lost in the incomprehensible abyss of the Godhead.\n\nThus had she found her Beloved. She had penetrated the sovereign\nmajesty with her sweetness; she had wounded the eternal wisdom\nwith her comeliness; she had drawn to herself the eternal goodness\nwith her love. Thus had God been poured into her with all His\nInfinitude of being, and thus had He placed her over all His Kingdom.\nShe did not live her own self, but she lived only to Him who is the life\nof all the living. All her beginning and ending, all her doing and not\ndoing, was in God, and was full of purely divine intention. For she\nwas ever united to God, turning away from His holy presence never\na single instant. Hence no creature left any impression on her soul or\never entered there, for like the angels she saw all things singly in God.\nGod alone did she find in her soul's depths, in its essence, in the inmost\nrecesses of her spirit. Hence she was not turned outward with her\nsoul's powers, looking for high things and multiplicity. She has ever\nturned inward in all single-mindedness — away from self and towards\nGod, as God was towards her and in her. She was most perfectly and\nwith all her faculties turned to her origin. Poor, clean, interior.\nGodlike, more a creature of heaven than of earth was Mary. In her\nspirit she was the paradise of God, God's heaven in her soul, God's\npalace in her body. God's light shone through and through her.\nBetween her soul and God there was union without a medium.\n\nNow consider that God would be born of this holy virgin in three\nways, in her spirit, in her soul, and in her body. And she was not so\nblessed by the birth in her body as by that in her spirit, as St. Augus-\ntine says ; and as our Lord in the gospel answered the woman who said :\n''Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the paps that gave Thee\nsuck.\" But He said : \"Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word\nof God, and keep it\" (Luke xi, 27, 28). Therefore had she first con-\nceived and brought forth God in her spirit. By her purity she pleased\nGod well ; by her humility she prepared Him a fit dwelling place ; by\nher love did she constrain God to descend into the depths of her spirit,\na place all restful in the quiet silence of perfect detachment from\ncreated things. There did God unite her spirit to His, there did He\nutter to her His hidden Word, begetting His only begotten with un-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 643\n\nspeakable joy and love. This is the eternal generation in Mary; this\nis the obscure night of the spirit wherein the darkness of the human\nintelligence receives the dawning of the uncreated brightness. Because\nwhere the divine light shines, no created light can remain, for the\nnight is changed into day. That means that the created light of the\nsoul is changed into the uncreated light of eternity. Thus it hap-\npened that Mary gave over her spirit into the uncreated being of the\nGodhead, and her soul sank away into the depths of humility.\n\nAnd now she drew down into her soul the all-lovely sweet streams\nof the light of eternal wisdom; for as the Father brought forth His\nonly begotten Son in her soul, He in turn new-formed her in Himself.\nThe Father willed that she should consent that His only begotten Son\nshould assume human nature, and should be born of her in bodily\nform by the act of the Holy Ghost. From this she shrunk away out of\nunfeigned humility, and she answered Him fearfully in her spirit:\nHeavenly Father, I am not worthy. O I had rather be the handmaid\nof that mother of God's Son. But God willed that she herself should be\nthat mother, and so insisted. Then did she sink into deep self-abase-\nment; and she was given to understand that she was chosen indeed\nfor that high motherhood — God must have her and no one else for His\nmother. Instantly she was encircled and enshrined in the light of the\nholy Trinity, and penetrated through and through with the divine\nglory; the arrows of divine love pierced her soul to its inmost depths;\nand thus was she made willing to be the mother of God.\n\nAt the same moment as she was thus absorbed in the Holy Ghost,\nthe angel Gabriel stood before her and greeted her: \"Hail, full of\ngrace, the Lord is with thee\" (Luke i, 28). But she was troubled at\nthese great words, both on account of her true humility, and because\nshe was yet entranced in God. But when she said: ''Behold the\nhandmaid of the Lord,\" then the Holy Ghost took from the virginal\nheart of Mary her purest blood, all on fire with the flames of divine\nlove, and with it He created the perfect body and members of Jesus;\nand then He created His pure and perfect soul ; and He joined body\nand soul together in Mary's womb. Then at the same instant the\nperson of the Son of God, the Eternal Word, the splendor of the\nFather's glory, out of merciful love for us and for our eternal blessed-\nness, joined this body and soul to Himself in unity of person. Thus\n\"the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us\" (John i, 14).\n\nNow this is the third generation of God in the body of Mary, with-\n\n644 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nout any injury to her virginal integrity. Thus she became the daughter\nof the Father, the mother of the Son, the spouse of the Holy Ghost,\nthe queen of heaven, the empress of the world and of all created things,\nthe mother and intercessor of all mankind who desire her aid. Mary's\nwomb is the temple of God and His sweet place of repose as a Bride-\ngroom in His bride chamber, rejoicing with joy in the virginal body of\nHis mother as in a sweet garden full of fragrant flowers, namely every\nkind of virtues and graces.\n\nBy means of these virtues, therefore, has God changed the heaven of\nthe blessed Trinity into streams of honied sweetness and poured them\nover all of us poor sinners. She has made the sun of justice to shine\nupon us. She has reversed the curse of Eve. She has crushed the\nhead of the hellish serpent. This second Eve has restored by her\nChild all that had been lost and ruined by the sin of the first Eve, and\nshe has procured us much heavenly riches of grace beside. This\nis the beautiful star that was to rise out of Jacob, as foretold by Moses,\nwhich was to shed its beams over the whole world. Therefore says\nSt. Bernard: \"In all thy needs, lift thy eyes to this star; call on Mary,\nand thou canst not despair; follow Mary, and thou canst not go astray.\nBy the strength of her Son she will hold thee fast and firm lest thou\nshouldst fall; she will defend thee lest thou be hurt; she will bring\nthee to her Son. She has power indeed, for almighty God is her\nChild; she has the good will, for she is most merciful. ^Mio can doubt\nbut that this Child shall honor His mother. Who can doubt that she,\nin whose bosom He who is all essential love, who is the God of love\nHimself, has found His happy dwelling place, shall be overflowing\nwith love for us.\"\n\nWhosoever would go very deep into God, his origin, and would be\nmade more and more conscious of God's indwelling, fixed in God\nin his soul's life as the rays are fixed in the sun, — such a one must\nfollow the example of our blessed Lady. Let him study her inner and\nouter bearing towards God, and soon he will receive great help from\nher in his own soul and body. Let him first turn himself away from\nall transitory things, and gathering together his soul's powers, let him\ntransfer them into God who dwells within him, deep in the inmost\ndepths of his spirit. There it is that his soul's three highest powers\nare centred, and there he will be made one spirit with God ; there will\nhe be moved and guided by God. His memory will be made fruitful of\ngood, his understanding illuminated, his will set on fire with divine\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 645\n\nlove. To him God shall be Himself a food of the spirit, a life to the\nsoul, a guard and defence to the body. Thus turned inward and united\nto God in our higher powers, we shall be made poor in spirit, clean in\nspirit, clean in soul and body, all our faculties working towards God\nin our interior life. Every work shall begin and end in God, all for\nGod's sake alone, as we have shown was the case with Mary, God's\nmother.\n\nIn order that God may have our soul's powers docile in all things,\nthey must be void of attachment to creatures, and rightly ordered\ntowards Him, all will, all desires directed to Him alone. Thus shall\na man be absorbed into the solitude of the Godhead, far above all his\nsoul's powers; his being shall be sunk deep into the divine oneness.\nTherein can the divine birth be accomplished in us without hindrance ;\nand by means of the overflowing and exceeding great gifts of God\nin the spirit, even the very body shall be made partaker of its blissful\nprivilege.\n\nThat we may be blessed in this life and saved in the next, let\nus beg the intercession of the beloved mother of God ; as St. Bernard\nprays: ''Through thee, O thou first finder of divine grace, must we\ngain access to thy Son, thou mother of life and blessedness : so that for\nthy sake He may receive us, who by thy means was given to us. Thy\npurity must pay the debt of our excesses, thy humility — so pleasing\nto Him — must win His pardon for our vain glory; thy superabundant\nlove must overflow on our sins and hide them from His eyes; thy mar-\nvellous fruitfulness must lend us a plentiful store of merits. O tb'.u\nart our chosen queen, our mediatrix and intercessor; thou wilt com-\nmend us to thy Son, nay thou wilt answer for us before Him. O thou\nblessed mother, we beseech thee through the grace which thou hast\nfound with God, through the high place of election thou hast merited,\nthrough the mercy that was born of thee, — we beseech thee to obtain\nthat He, who by thy means condescended to share our weakness and\nmisery, may grant us the privilege to share His blissful glory — Jesus\nChrist our Lord, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, praised and\nblessed forevermore.\" Amen.\n\n646 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ng>]?lf gf tif lattun\n\nSynopsis — Temptations are permitted to reveal to us our evil tendencies\n— From the inward search we quickly pass to the study of our out-\nward conduct — Need of a recollected spirit for these tasks — And of\nfrequent meditation — On Christ's passion — Deeper penetration of\nsoul comes in mystical prayer — Danger of deception.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF THE NATIVITY OF\nST. JOHN THE BAPTIST.\n\nJohn is his name. — Luke i, 63.\n\nThis is the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, and scarcely\nany saint is more highly honored than he who baptized the Son of\nGod. The name John means one who is in grace. Children, we have\nrecently considered how one must prepare his soul for God's grace.\n\nThere are two human miseries to be reckoned with. One is our\ninclination to sin. This is planted in nature itself ever since the fall of\nour first parents. Against this we must always strive, turning away\nwith all our might from whatever is opposed to God's will. The other\nmisery arises from the first one: it is all the sorrow and pain of our\nearthly existence. Now this misery we must accept willingly and\nbear cheerfully. It is placed as a duty upon us by God that we follow\nafter our Lord Jesus Christ, who for our sins suffered the greatest\nmisery His whole life long.\n\nGod often allows men to be oppressed with the first misery, that of\nsinful inclinations, in order that in their dire necessity they may find\nthemselves out. This trial teaches them joyfully to enter the way of\npenance, and patiently to suffer all the misery that may happen to\nthem. Children, it is a blessed privilege thus to accept suffering, for\nthereby one discovers his weakness and helplessness, yea even his noth-\ningness before God. Ah, the man who should learn to walk in this\npath, and who should devote himself to no other practise than gazing\ndown into his own helpless nothingness — in that same man would\nGod's grace truly be born. Dear children, man has nothing of his\nown; everything he claims as his is absolutely God's, whether it be\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 647\n\ngreat or little: all comes from God, nothing from man except the\nspoiling of God's gifts inwardly and outwardly. If you say there is\naught in man, then it must be non-existence. This thought must never\nbe absent from our heart: the wisdom of gazing down into one's own\nnothingness and understanding one's innate tendency, — as far as we\nare free to act, — to do all kinds of evil. Self-knowledge should be the\naim of our busiest efforts. We should get to the bottom of our nature,\nstudy our purposes, our preoccupations, our joys. We should go over\nthe garden of the soul searching diligently for weeds. That done, the\nmost interior meaning of our life must be made God and nothing else.\n\nAnd then thou must ponder thy outward conduct: words, works,\nmanners and behaviour, clothes, companions, all must be scrutinized.\nLament before God every shortcoming of thine each day thou livest,\nbreathing sighs of sincere inward sorrow for thy faults and weaknesses.\nThis secures thy forgiveness; but make sure that thy grief is deep\nwithin thy soul — a most profitable thing. Such were the interior sighs\nof the apostles towards God, not only for their own sins, but indeed\nfor those of all men. When God grants a man the taste of eternity\nif only for an instant, there bursts forth from his heart's cave a deep\ngroan of sorrow. Nor does this feeling rest wholly within, for it works\nforth into the outward senses, which are thus made the public altar of\nthe most high God, on which are sacrificed the goats and the oxen of\nsin atonement. Thus does one offer his outward, bodily flesh and blood\nas a recompense to God, for the immolation of His divine Son's flesh\nand blood on Calvary.\n\nIn this deep search for his sinfulness, one must cast himself down at\nGod's feet in all humility. He must implore His mercy, full of hope that\nGod will lift from him the weight of his guilt. Thus John, that is to\nsay grace, is born unto us in the home of humility; for the lower we\nsink the higher we shall rise. Of this St. Bernard speaks: \"All the\ndevotional practises that one may do outwardly, are nothing in com-\nparison with passing through the hidden valley of humiliation. In this\nvalley meekness grows, as well as self-abandonment, quiet of soul and\nkindness: through it lies the straight and the true road. WTiosoever\ntreads it not goes astray, no matter how many external good works\nhe may do. These without real humility avail nothing with God;\nindeed they rather arouse His wrath than gain His favor.\"\n\nChildren, let us consider the gospel of this feast. Zachary was a\nhigh priest whose wife was barren, and this was a grief to them. Once\n\n648 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nas he entered the holy of holies, the people remaining without, — sud-\ndenly the angel Gabriel stood before him at the altar, and announced\nthat his wife should bring forth a son, and that he should call his\nname John, which means grace is in him. But Zachary hesitated to\nbelieve this message, and therefore the angel struck him dumb, so to\nremain till the promise was fulfilled.\n\nNow the name Zacharias means the remembrance of God. The God\nthinking man it is that shall be a priest, and shall enter the holy of\nholies, whereas the rest of the people shall remain outside. Mark the\nessential thing in this priest, and also his oflSce. The oflBce of Christian\npriests is to oflfer up the only begotten Son of God to His heavenly\nFather for the salvation of the people. Now I fear that not all priests\nare perfect — and that is indeed manifestly the case. They stand before\nthe people personating the Christian religion, and yet some of them are\nbetter fitted to lead men astray than to assist them; they rather\nenkindle God's wrath than placate it. But they do perform their\npriestly office as representing the holy Christian church, and it is done\nsacramentally; nor can any but members of the male sex validly do it.\nThey consecrate and offer up the holy body of our Lord Jesus Christ,\nw^hich none but men in priests' orders can do; for sacrifice is pecu-\nliarly a priestly office. As to the spiritual offering of God's Son to His\nFather, that can be dcme in the soul's interior shrine by women as\nwell as by men, by night as well as by day. And it is this that we shall\nmean when we ask how one should enter into the holy of holies, leav-\ning the common kind of people without.\n\nOne must enter in alone; with a deeply recollected spirit must one\nenter into one's own soul, leaving outside all sensible life. Thus minded\nshall one offer to the heavenly Father a welcome sacrifice, namely His\nbeloved Son, with all His holy words, works, life and passion. This\noffering the soul makes for every desire of the heart, and into that\noffering it draws very affectionately all mankind : — all poor sinners\nand all good Christians in this life and all who are imprisoned in pur-\ngatory. Children, this is a mighty act of religion. Albertus Magnus\nthus tells of the high priests' function : \"He entered the holy of holies\nbearing fire and the blood of a red calf, and with the blood he sprinkled\nall the golden vessels there. Then he made a bundle of sweet smelling\nherbs, and he laid it on the burning coals, and as it burnt it filled\nthe room with a fragrant cloud of smoke. And it was in that cloud\nthat God came and spoke to him.\"\n\nof John Tauler, thvi Illuminated Doctor 649\n\nChildren, this high priest may be taken as a figure to show forth\nthe interior man. He enters the sanctuary of his soul, bearing with\nhim the precious and thrice glorious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ;\nand he bears fire with him, too; namely ardent love. And he sprinkles\nall the golden vessels there with that sacred blood; namely all souls\nof men in the state of grace, or who shall ever be in that state. And he\nalso comforts with his offering all the poor souls in purgatory, sadly\nwaiting for their release. Children, you cannot imagine how sweet and\nlovely a work this is. And meanwhile this man does not forget himself ;\nhe offers himself up to God's fatherly heart, and enters into entire\nagreement with the heavenly Father's will that He may do with him as\nHe pleases, in time and in eternity.\n\nNow some may object : if we turn thus inwards, it will happen that\nthe figure of Jesus crucified will drop out of our mind. Dear children,\nI answer no. When you turn into the soul's depths, you enter the place\nwhere alone grace is born in very truth ; and in that grace will appear\nthe life and passion of our Lord, all full of love, all simply seen, and\nas plainly known as if His passion were taking place right before your\neyes. Nor is it there seen in multiplicity, but as if I saw all of you in\none simple all embracing form as of a single person — so will the events\nof Christ's life and death appear. One glimpse of this kind of know-\nledge of our Lord, is more useful to thee, than if thou shouldst spend\nfive months in thinking about Him other ways. Now during this sort\nof priestly function, where a man enters alone into his soul's holy of\nholies and stands with all his faculties lifted up in recollection, speak-\ning no word — in that act of spiritual priesthood the angel of God,\nGabriel, is presently seen standing beside the altar gazing upon the per-\nfection of the soul's offering. You may take the angel's name to mean\nthe power of God, for he bears to that sacrificial soul the power to do\nall things in our Lord.\n\nThen this spiritual priest makes a bundle of sweet smelling herbs,\nand burns them with fire, and out of the vapor of that fire God speaks\nto him. These are the collection of his holy virtues, especially such\nones as mildness and humility. For if a man has not virtues to gather\nup and offer to God, virtues of the highest or lowest or middling degree,\nsuch a one's whole life is false and worthless. The fire that is en-\nkindled in those virtues is the flame of love. From it rises the vapor\nand the darkness of rapture of the spirit, lasting perhaps not half an\nAve Maria; and during that time God takes away thy senses and the\n\n650 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nnatural use of thy reason. Then it is that God speaks to thee in very\ntruth, as it is written: \"While all things were in quiet silence, and\nthe night was in the midst of her course, Thy almighty Word leapt\ndown from heaven from Thy royal throne\" (Wisd. xviii, 14, 15). And\nthe book of Job says : \"Now there was a word spoken to me in private,\nand my ears by stealth as it were received the veins of its whisper*^\n(Job iv, 12). To the soul this is the announcement of a birth, in which,\nas in John's case, many souls shall rejoice. From Elizabeth the barren\nwife of Zachary shall the child be born : meaning a divine fulfillment\nof the promise of a miracle of love, a happy birth accomplished by the\ndivine omnipotence.\n\nAnd yet all this takes place in the lowest powers of the soul. And it\nhappens sometimes, that men of mere natural intellectuality turn in-\nwards to the natural depths of the reasoning powers with only reason's\nnative light. They can be absorbed in an inner state of thought void of\nall forms and images; but they hold this place of light with all self-\nproprietorship, and treat it as if it were God Himself: but it is mere\nhuman nature after all. Yet in this there is more joy than in all plea-\nsures of the senses. But when such high spirits are herein self-con-\ntained, and when they hold it all with obstinate self-will, it makes\nthem the wickedest of mankind, and the most dangerous. How can\none discover this? By the following signs: they have not attained to\nthis transcendent interior absorption by the way of practising virtue;\nthey have not followed the pious exercises of a holy Christian life,\nincluding the mortification of irregular appetites. They make little\nor nothing of such things, for they trust wholly to their false disen-\ngagement and quiet of spirit. This they have not strived after with inner\nand outer practical charity. They have arrived at the dismissal of\ninner forms and images prematurely, and without due actual prac-\ntise of virtue. And now the devil intervenes; he fills them with false\nlight and deceitful sweetness. He so misleads them that often they\nare eternally lost. Studying their dominant natural tendencies, such\nas pride, avarice or lust, the evil one draws them on to ruin by such\nmeans.\n\nYet they will call this interior light and their sweetness of senti-\nment, God's own self — it is only the work of the devil. Why cannot\nthey perceive this? Because they are passionately attached, in all\nselfishness of enjoyment, to these interior emotions. This explains the\nunholy freedom with which they follow their natural inclinations.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 651\n\nSuch men should be shunned more than the demon himself. Outwardly\nthey so much resemble good men that they are not easily detected.\nBut really right-spirited men show this difference: they have come to\ntheir interior peace by the road of common virtue. Humility, the\nfear of God, detachment from creatures, and mildness of manner: —\nall this marks their progress. They ever stand in holy fear; they\nfeel that they dare not trust themselves in anything; a weight of\nsorrow for sin oppresses them ; they incessantly turn to God for help.\nOn the contrary, those who boast that they are free, are audacious\nspirits and inclined to quarrel. Whosoever associates with them,\npresently encounters bitterness and contention, and overbearing man-\nners. They are too proud to endure contempt or anywise to be made\nlittle of. O what marvels of horror shall be seen in the next life, where\nmen who now seem so good, shall be hemmed in straitly, and shall\nabide in everlasting burning. Beware, beware of this fate, I em-\nplore you.\n\nAh, children, turn inwardly to God, where truth is born to you, and\nwhere many great joys are granted you, and through you to all of\nGod's Christian people. Then you shall not be racked with doubt as\nto whether or not you stand right with God, for you shall have this\nplain test, the choice of the straight or the crooked road to God. If\nyou have trod the plain, sure road of virtuous conduct, that will be\nyour guarantee of God's friendship, whether your perfection be in the\nlowest or the highest or the middle state of spiritual proficiency. And\nwhen God's joy is born in your soul, its sweetness will exceed the power\nof words to tell.\n\nDear children, no one can lead these souls astray without first entic-\ning them from their interior recollectedness and throwing them into\nmultiplicity : they should be left alone with God. The Lord says in the\nCanticles: ''I adjure you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes\nand the harts of the fields, that you stir not up, nor make the beloved\nto awake, till she please\" (Cant, ii, 7). Nor should they seek counsel\nfrom those who do not understand God's ways in such things, for that\nkind of men may easily misdirect them ; it is quite possible that thereby\nthey may lose their state of interior union for many years together.\nThey must keep their souls in strict custody, for they are like new\nwine in active ferment ; so strong are the emotions of joy within them\nthat they overcome nature, and sometimes to such a degree that blood\nbursts from nose and mouth. But this is in the life of the senses and is\nin the lower degree of union.\n\n652 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nThe angel Gabriel said of John: \"He shall drink no wine nor strong\ndrink\" (Luke i, 15). This may be taken to mean, that in whomsoever\nthis birth of God shall be accomplished, he may be led into higher\ndegrees of holiness, and again into yet higher; for there are good and\nbetter and best ways with God. Those in the best way shall not drink\naught that may make them drunk — that is to say their heads shall not\nbe turned by the joys granted them; they shall not enjoy them with\nspiritual gluttony, either in contemplation or in action.\n\nOn the contrary, they shall be removed into a way that is narrow,\ndark and comfortless: a time comes when God seems lost and gone\nfrom them. Therein they find themselves in a state of intolerable\noppression of spirit: nor can they possibly extricate themselves.\nWhichever way they turn, they find only deepest misery, their soul is\ndesolate, obscure and disconsolate, for God is veiled from their gaze.\nTo this state they must give themselves up. They must abandon them-\nselves to the Lord, being resigned to remain upon this road as long as\nit shall please Him. And this they must do with as much willingness\nas if they felt no manner of anguish, and suffered no pain at all. It\nis a condition of intolerable anguish of spirit, and immense and\nfruitless longing for God — and yet of perfect resignation. This is in\ntruth the perfect conversion, for which the most essentially perfect\nreward is reserved. Lesser degrees merit a less essential reward.\n\nTherefore does St. Thomas teach, that great external works of\nreligion — no matter how wonderful — never merit, taken simply in\nthemselves and as good works, more than an accidental, that is to say\na less essential reward. But when a man's spirit turns inward to\nGod's spirit, inward to the inmost depths, stripped in all things of\nwhat is accidental, seeking God purely and simply, transcending all\nworks and ways and methods, all reason and thought, (a state called\nby St. Dionysius love unreasoning and unsensible) — when a man has\nthus placed himself before God, his state may rightly be termed an\nessential conversion. It must be granted an essential reward. That\nreward is God Himself.\n\nThere is another conversion that may be called essential, but only\nin an ordinary and external meaning of the term. That is any con-\nversion that keeps God in view with all sincerity, and only God — God\nfor His own sake, God in Himself. But the other above-mentioned\none consists in an interior presence of the soul with God, who is form-\nless as the soul is comfortless. It is a supersubstantial drawing of the\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 653\n\ncreated spirit of man into the uncreated spirit of God. Oh if a man\ncould thus be drawn into God but once in his whole life, how fortunate\nfor him it would be. Such a man, so docile to God, so true to God\namid all his desolation of spirit, He must reward with nought else\nthan His own very self. He draws him into the divine abyss of His\nown happiness. That man's spirit is so immersed in God and satur-\nated with the deity, that he loses all multiplicity in the divine unity.\nThese are the chosen spirits whose every work on earth is divinized;\nand they are vouchsafed a foretaste of their eternal paradise. Upon\nthem as a house upon its foundation stands holy Church ; if they w^ere\nnot in Christendom, Christendom could not stand. The fact of their\nvery existence among us, that they simply are, is of more honor and\nof greater benefit to holy Church than a whole world of action by other\nChristians. It is of them that the Lord speaks: \"He that toucheth\nyou, toucheth the apple of My eye\" (Zach. ii, 8). Therefore, children,\nbe careful not to meddle with them. May God grant us to attain to\nthis holy state and even by the shortest way, if this may be to His\npraise and glory. Amen.\n\n654 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — Need of looking inward rather than outward for the light of\nGod — Corrupt nature loves created light — The first effect of divine\nlight is to reveal the difference between the Creator and the creor\nture — The second effect is a clear perception of Ood's love in\nChrist — Several different kinds of love generated by the light of\nGod.\n\nSECOND SEKMON FOE THE FEAST OF THE NATIVITY OF\nST. JOHN THE BAPTIST.\n\nThis man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all men\nmight believe through him. — John i, 7.\n\nOur holy mother the Church devotes this week to honoring St. John\nthe Baptist. But if we praise with words, that amounts to little, for\nour Lord Jesus Christ has worthily praised him, as we read : '*What\nwent you out into the desert to see? A man clothed in soft garments?\nBehold they that are colthed in soft garments, are in the houses of\nkings. But what went you out to see? A prophet? Yea, I tell you,\nand more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written : Be-\nhold I send My angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before\nThee\" (Matt, xi, 7-10). Thus does Jesus praise John. And John also\nsaid of himself: \"I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness,\nmake straight the way of the Lord\" (John i,23). Our Lord said on\nanother occasion that he was a burning and a shining light. And our\n^eyt soys that he came to bear witness of the light.\n\nUpon these last words we shall now discourse ; for the light he tells\nus of is light essential, incomprehensible, and glorious above all other\nlight. It shines in the most interior regions of the soul's life. But it\nhappens that when this light begins to shine upon the soul and to\nstir it into life, the soul often makes a false step. It should wait\npatiently in the innermost interior; but instead of doing that, it all\ntoo readily turns outward and thereby reverses the right order. It\nwill insist on running into outward religious ways, now this one\nand now that. Therefore the testimony of the light is given in vain,\non account of the absorption of the soul in outward pious works.\n\nof John Taulcr, the Illuminated Doctor 655\n\n\"He came into His own, and His own received Him not.\" The soul\nis here described as in opposition to the light. This is a yet worse\ncondition, for it means downright antagonism to the light, arising\nfrom worldly heartedness. Men guilty of this are like the Pharisees,\nof whom John said that they were the brood of vipers. They called them-\nselves children of Abraham, and yet they were opposed to all who loved\nGod's true light. Ah, that is a perilous position to be in. Such men\nhang on to the light of truth and to the holy faith by but a single\nthread.\n\nNow we must realize that nature is spoiled and diseased, and of\nitself can do little. Therefore has God given us an aid more than\nnatural, namely the light of grace. This is a supernatural created\nlight, lifting the soul upwards high above itself, bestowing upon our\nnature all the assistance it stands in need of. There is, besides, an\nuncreated light which is called the light of glory and which beams in\nheaven alone— a divine light, yea God himself. For if we ever shall\nknow God, it must be through God and with God— God through God ;\nas the prophet says: -In Thy light we shall see light\" (Ps. xxxv, 10)!\n\nNow God is the all essential and perfect light. He is the light that\nlighteneth every man that cometh into this world, shining upon all,\ngood and bad, as the sun shines upon all creation. If men are blind\nto it, that is their misery. If a man were in a dark room, and could\nopen a window wide enough to let his head be thrust out into the\nsunlight, he would be in the light. So may men open their souls and\nbe presently in God's light.\n\nLet us take notice of the first thing one should do, rightly to receive\nthe witness of the divine light. As this light begins to beam in the\nlowest powers of his soul, and when it also beams in its higher facul-\nties, a man should cut himself off from all transitory things. The\nlowest faculties are the concupiscible and the irascible. By the latter\none rejects pain. The concupiscible power is the appetite for pleasure,\nand is shown in one's enjoyment of the company of his fellow men, or\nof personal adornment, or any other common relaxation of life. As\nfar as necessity goes, God fully allows this appetite to be gratified.\nBut beyond that, it is the wilderness in which God's voice sounds loud\nand strong, calling for detachment from all pleasures of soul and body.\n\nIn the irascible appetite, a man must be endowed with fortitude and\nperseverence, standing against all aversions to unpleasant things like\n\n656 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\na mountain of iron. That fits him to accept the testimony of the light.\nHe must not be a reed shaken by the wind, nor a man clothed in soft\ngarments, ministering to his fleshly comfort. We meet with men who\nare ashamed of a self-denying course of conduct; they are moved by\nwhat people say or do as a reed is tossed about by the wind — a sar-\ncastic word, or some petty inconvenience. Ah, dear man, what harm\ncan a scolding word do thee? Knowest thou not that the evil spirit\ntakes advantage of thy unsteadiness? — that it is he who sways thee to\nthe right or left, and throws thee into deep pain by trifles, or lifts\nthee into inordinate joy by the same? Ah, but thou art a silly man.\n\nAnd God gives this testimony of the light in our higher faculties,\nnamely in our reason or understanding, and in our will, or power of\nloving. Now the light in the understanding is indeed a prophet's gift\nto us ; for a prophet is one who sees deep and far. But if the soul be\nlighted up with this supernatural ray, it has the farsightedness of a\nprophet. If one then hears some mysterious thing, the voice from the\ninterior of the understanding witnesses to him of its right meaning.\n\nBut our Lord said of John that he was more than a prophet. And\nthat has reference to a part of the soul wherein our natural understand-\ning cannot enter. There it is that (if we are entirely illuminated) we\nsee light in light; that is to say, though the interior brightness of the\nsoul we behold most perfect light ; we behold the divine light of grace\nshining amid the created light of our reason. This is at first in an\nunknown way, and as it were unconsciously. This divine depth is\nimmeasurably beyond the power of the natural faculties to reach. For\nthe breadth of spiritual insight is now become so divine, that there\nis neither mental figure nor form, nor any such thing as relation of one\nplace to another, but a fathomless abyss. The soul seems to be so\nstill as to be an empty voiceless void; and again its voices are like\nthose of many waters, and threaten to swallow up all existence. This\nabyss is God's chosen dwelling place, far more so that in all creatures,\nyea even more than in heaven.\n\nWhosoever comes into these depths finds God most truly, and he\nfinds himself most simply and in God. From these depths God is\nnever absent. To such a man God is present indeed ; to him the sense\nof eternity is most real, as if he touched and tasted it, and the division\nbetween things past and things to come is lost in the divine present.\nInto these holy depths no natural light can penetrate, for God is the\nlight in His chosen abode. WTien this divine abyss is revealed to the\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 657\n\nBoul, it experiences ^nd knows that not all the creatures that ever lived\ncan fill its void, can satisfy its yearnings. God alone can fill that\nvoid with His divine immensity. This is the abyss of the human soul\nthat belongs to the divine abyss, as is written : \"Deep calleth on\ndeep\" (Ps. xli, 8). Whosoever shall earnestly consider this inner\ndepth of his spirit, will soon perceive the divine light dawning therein,\nwhich will finally flood his soul's powers, both the higher and the lower\nones, drawing and leading him to his source and origin. But he must\nclosely adhere to an inner solitariness, and he must listen intently\nfor the tones of God's voice sounding in this wilderness, leading him\naway into deeper and deeper solitude.\n\nAnd O how waste and barren of creatures is this wilderness, into\nwhich never an ordinary thought can come, no not one. All those\nmany learned disquisitions on the most holy Trinity — not a single\none of them can enter into this most spiritual union with God, so\nintimate and interior, so far removed from human activity, having no\nken of place or count of time, simple and indivisible. Whosoever has\ntruly reached this state, to him it feels as if he had been there with\nGod from all eternity, as if he were one with the eternal presence\nnow within Him; and 3'et as if he had been there but one little instant,\nwhich seems to generate an eternity of being.\n\nThe shining of the light is a witness to the spirit, of how it had\nbeen in God's purpose eternally before creation as God's image in God.\nAs St. John teaches: \"In Him was life, and the life was the light\nof men'' (John i, 4) ; and all that was made by Him was one life. Thus\nthe soul learns of the mystery of how in its created life it is the same\nas it was in the divine idea and purpose before creation and eternally.\n\nSo long as a man has not reached the state of purification which\nGod willed for him while he was yet uncreated and existed only in\nthe divine idea, he cannot return again into God. Every inclination\nto self, every attachment to creatures, every atom of self-satisfaction\neverything that may stain the inmost soul with self, must vanish\naway. Every inordinate pleasure of soul or body, whether felt in the\nunderstanding or in the will, must be gone — it must be washed away\nas being an ugly spot on the spirit's cleanliness: otherwise a man\ncannot return again into his origin in God.\n\nNor is purification alone sufficient: the spirit must besides be new\nformed in the light of grace. Whosoever earnestly strives after this\ntransformation, and is a man rightly converted to the interior life,\n\n658 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nto him a great boon may be granted : even in thi% earthly life he may\nbe granted a glimpse of a perfect transformation. And this is true,\nalthough it is also true that no one can come to God nor know Him\nas He is except in eternity in the uncreated light that is God's own\nself; for the prophet says: ''In Thy light we shall see light\" (Ps.\nXXXV, 10). But whosoever often turns to God in the inmost depths of\nhis soul and can make himself at home there, to him many blessed\nrays of light will be granted. More and more clearly will he see what\nGod is, more manifestly than he beholds the sun in the heavens with\nhis bodily eyes.\n\nThis deepest region of the spirit was in a manner known to some of\nthe Gentiles of old; and as they searched its depths, the knowledge\ncaused them to despise all transitory things. Such great philosophers\nas Proclus and Plato gave a clear account of it to guide others who\nknew it not. Therefore St. Augustine says that Plato has proclaimed\nthe first part of St. John's gospel, \"'In the beginning was the Word,\"\nas far as \"There was a man sent from God.\" But all this the philoso-\npher taught with words of hidden meaning. The same philosopher\ngained some knowledge of the most holy Trinity. Children, all such\nthings came from the deep recesses of the soul, in which such men as\nPlato lived, and whose stores of wisdom they had access to. Is it not\na shame and a scandal that we who are Christians, and who have such\nheavenly aid, we, who are in God's grace, who enjoy holy faith and\nhave the blessed sacrament, is it not a shame that we should run about\nlike blind hens, knowing neither our own selves nor the deep things of\nGod within our souls?\n\nThe cause is that we scatter our hearts' love abroad in multiplicity ;\nand that in religious matters we are absorbed too greatly in what\nappeals to the senses. We go by self-chosen ways, and these engage\nus and hinder us from entering inward towards God. But, dear chil-\ndren, in case one happens to be inapt for deep spiritual things, let him\nat any rate be faithful to ordinary devotional practices. If one may\nnot offer the wine of Cyprus, let him at least bring gifts of some sort\nto God, even if they are cheap and common. It is the empty and the\nidle spirit that the evil one overcomes. And certainly one can always\nrecite the five decades of the rosary with profit.\n\nThe testimony of the light is also in the other higher faculty of the\nsoul, that of loving. During this week, in the churches, we have sung\nof John, that \"he was a burning and a shining light.\" Now a lamp has\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 659\n\nboth light and heat. Thou mayst feel its heat without seeing the light.\nAnd if the light be in a lantern, thou canst see it only through the\nglass or horn. Ah, children, mark well the meaning of this light and\nheat. It means the wounded heart of love — that love that would lead\nthee into that same deep foundation place of thy soul of which we have\nbeen speaking, that thou mayst there be ravished with love, and there\nexcite thy ardent desire of God as if thou went bending thy bow and\ndrawing thy arrow to hit the mark in the very centre.\n\nIt also means that imprisoned love of the heart which is enchained\nin this deep and secret chamber of the spirit. There must thou sur-\nrender thyself to love, for thou hast no longer control over thyself;\nneither conscious thought, nor exercise of the faculties, nor ordinary\npractise of virtue now has place. And if love happens to leave thee\nfree for a moment's thought or act, thou soon longest to be again\nhappily enchained; but then thou must wrestle with love, implore its\nconstraining embrace and compel it back to thee. If thou canst not\nframe right words, at least utter deep inner longings, as did St. Au-\ngustine : \"Lord, thou hast commanded me to love Thee with my whole\nheart, and my whole soul, with all my mind and all my strength. Give\nme what thou commandest from me. Teach me to love Thee and com-\nmand me what Thou wilt.\" If while in that state thou are so stupid\nas not to be able to think even thus much, at any rate, speak the words\nmechanically with thy mouth. But, children, this humble way is not\ntheirs who, as before explained, enter on a false inner peace, before being\nwell practised in virtue, acting and feeling as if all now were done and\nover in the work of perfection. These have not the love we speak of.\n\nAfter this comes languishing love, and then what is called frantic\nor foolish love. And now alas, children, it strangely seems to this poor,\nman as if divine love were all vanished and mere natural reason were\nplaced in control. He seems never to have been so keen in worldly\nwisdom as now, in such matters as buying and selling and all active\naffairs : and meantime he is foolish and distraught. One in this period\nof love, which I have called frantic or raving, may be compared to\na blindfolded man with a lantern. He knows he has bright love of God\nwithin him, but he feels no manner of joy in it, though it runs riot in\nall his soul's powers. 0 how he longs for love's joy, for a feeling of\nlove — but he cannot have it; and so he is foolish in his ways, and\nalmost raves. Love devours the marrow of his bones, and yet gives him\nno comfort. If thou comest to this test of love, I beg thee to beware)\n\n660 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nbe not frantic. Do not seek solace in excessive outward penances,\nwhich destroy thy natural forces. Let love alone to do its terrible work\nin thee. Thou darest not shrink from this holy ordeal ; follow on sub-\nmissively, even through storm and tempest, until God's plan is accom-\nplished in thee.\n\nNow some may object and say, that they will make sure of avoiding\nthis stormy trial of love: its shame is more than they can bear, it is\nincompatible with their state of life. Children, I answer that when\nthis folly of divine love comes upon you, human ways must give place.\nThen in due time comes our Lord and speaks His word in thy soul,\npiercing it through and through — Oh, it is a word worth a hundred\nthousand spoken by men. St. Dionysius says: \"When the eternal\nword is uttered in the soul's depths, the soul being ready prepared for\nit and sensitive to the divine whisper in all its meaning, capable of\nassimiliating its meaning not in part but in all its fulness : then is the\nsoul's most interior self made one with the same divine Word.\" Nor\ndoes a man in this union lose his essentially created life. This union\ndid our Lord speak of: \"That they all may be one, as Thou, Father,\nin Me, and I in Thee; that they also may be one in Us\" (John xvii, 21).\nAnd so did He speak to St. Augustine: \"Thou shalt be changed into\nMe.\" But to this state of union can no man come, except by the way\nof this foolish degree of love.\n\nSt. John the Baptist said: \"I am the voice of one crying in the\nwilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.\" This way is in the\npractise of virtue. This road is very level. Again he says, that he is\nto prepare the Lord's paths. Now these footpaths are not so level as\nthe open and public road of the Lord, and they are harder to find and\nto keep. Whosoever would go to the Lord in his deeper consciosness\nby the short cut through the fields, must make up his mind to suffer\nmuch ; and furthermore he may easily go astray ; yet this way is indeed\nmuch shorter than that of the open and common highway. If one\nwill but study his deeper soul carefully, his journey will be safer. Let\nhim be absorbed in his own faults to correct them, in God's guidance to\nfollow it, diflScult though it may seem, and dark and strange. Whoso-\never behaves thus shall not be overwhelmed when opposition comes, nor\naltogether oppressed with anguish of soul. Nor shall he break out into\nthe defects to which men are liable in this journey. But God will now\nlead and again drive him forward, until he has reached the depths of\nthe interior life.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 661\n\nIn this manner let a man smooth the way of the Lord in his spirit's\nrelation to God and God to him. The difficulties are serious, and they\nare unexpected and hidden. Many souls for the sake of relief are\nmisled into outward exercises of religion and charitable good works —\nholy in themselves, but unless imposed by duty, they are not now oppor-\ntune. To go deeper into the interior spirit is now the task, and for\nthis one should not go outward. That is like a man starting for\nKome and taking the road to Holland : the faster he walks the farther\nhe is from his journey's end. So does a man act who travels into\nexternal devotions instead of absorbing himself in interior medita-\ntion : — if he is to attain a deep state of peace and recollection he must\ndevote himself to his interior life. Perhaps after growing old in this\nmisdirected way, these souls at last turn into the right one. But\nthen they are weak and nerveless, and their heads cannot stand the\nstress of love's storm in the final trial.\n\nAnd when love's storm does break on a man's spirit, then, children,\nlet him not stop to think fretfully on his past sins or anxiously ques-\ntion about his humility or about anything else except this: am I\nrightly responsive to God's love as it does its work in me here and\nnow? For now a man must battle with love while suffering coldness\nof heart and from a sense of total abandonment. Oh, let him give up to\nlove in all fidelity of heart, stript of everything that is not purely\nlove of God, his soul destitute and miserable for love's sake. Have\ndeep and constant longings for God's love; have firm trust in God;\nkeep thyself true to love and firm in love. In due time thou shalt\nbe granted in one hour as many graces as in another way thou wouldst\nacquire in a lifetime.\n\nEspecially cherish firm trust in God's love: if that weakens, thy\nlonging for God sinks away, and the hidden love is soon quenched\nwithin thee. Be sure that if thou dost lack this sign, namely con-\nfidence in love's final rescue of thy distressed soul, then all other signs\ntogether are deceitful — thou must totally fail. This is the testimony\nof the true light. The demon will leave all else, if only he can unsettle\nthy confidence. He will even leave thee a treacherous show of love\nitself, if only thou wilt give up 1±.is true witness of genuine love, —\nconfidence in God's love during the time of desolation of spirit.\n\nIf one now questions as to whether or not he has true love, let him\nsearch deep in his soul and ever deeper, and light will be granted\nhim to know how he stands towards this degree of love. All the harm\n\nThe Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nthat can befall thee is in this : thou canst not fathom thy inmost soul,\nor perhaps thou wilt not. Once thou enterest there, God's grace awaits\nthee, admonishing thee incessantly to keep up a courageous spirit\nabout thy standing with Him. But many a one resists this inner\nvoice and keeps on doing so until he at last becomes unworthy of it\nand it ceases to be heard, and that forever. The cause of this mis-\nfortune is nothing else than self-trust. But if one be only humbly\nsubmissive to the divine guidance, it will finally lead him into such a\ndivine union, that he shall enjoy in this life somewhat of the bliss\nproper only to life eternal. May God grant that this shall happen\nto us all. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 663\n\nSynopsis — A kind heart is made letter ty seeing other people's sins —\nPraying for a faulty brother is often a better favor than chiding\nhim — Many rules for guidance of superiors in administering cor-\nrection— The strict rule that fraternal correction should be pre-\nceded by self-correction — Need of great gentleness of manner.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FEAST OF ST. TIMOTHY.\n\nPreach the word ; be instant in season, out of season : reprove, entreat, rebuke\nin all patience and doctrine. — II Tim. iv, 2.\n\nThus does St. Paul instruct his beloved disciple St. Timothy, whom\nhe had set over men to rule them in Christ's name. And the apostle's\nwords apply to all who hold office, including father confessors.\n\nFirst, they are to discipline open sinners, if they may hope to\nreform them, especially those who are committed to their pastoral\ncare. Furthermore, many good books tell how pastors should teach\ntheir people, and correct and admonish them, each according to his\nneeds; especially St. Gregory's Liber Pastoralis.\n\nBut we should more attentively consider the second point, which\napplies the apostle's injunction, given elsewhere, to all men, and even\ndirects us to admonish ourselves in a very interior spirit. It incul-\ncates that any one who aspires to be an interior man shall keep his\neyes off other men's conduct, and especially shall not sit in judgment\non their sins, lest he fall into bitterness of spirit and rash judgment..\nOh, children, this fault does a lamentable amount of harm in men's-\nsouls. For the love of God turn away from rash judgment of your\nneighbor, and keep your keen eyes fixed wholly on your own life. Now\nyou may have committed sins in your past life, and indeed you may\nhave your faults at the present time. Be sure that one reason why\nGod has permitted these, is that when you see the like things done by\nyour neighbor, you may be stung with remorse for your own bad\nconduct, led to deeper penance, and be more entirely reformed : mean-\nwhile praying for your poor neighbor that God may change him as He\nhas done you.\n\n664 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nIn this way is a kindly lieart made better by other people's sins.\nOf course this supposes a close guard against uncharitable thoughts.\nIt is a bad heart that sits in judgment on a sinful neighbor. The sins\nof others sink him deeper by adding uncharity to his other vices,\ncausing him to make the worst of any bad act he sees. A good man\nhas true love for and faithful trust in his fellow man. His gentle\nheart makes him think other men blameless in their lives. If he\ncannot help noticing wicked things in his neighbors' conduct, he man-\nages to believe that they are not as bad as they look; that however\nugly they seem his poor neighbor may have meant well ; or that bad as\nthese deeds are, God allowed that man to do them to admonish him of\nhis weakness, and thereby to save him from more fatal falls.\n\nThe sight of other men's sins, makes a good man anxious to die to\nhimself in holy penance for his own and his neighbors' sake both;\nmakes him realize better God's constant presence, and His great pa-\ntience with sinners. All this helps one's neighbor, for it is an offering\nto God ; it often serves a better purpose than admonitions and punish-\nment, even though these be lovingly administered. Sometimes a man\nfancies that he corrects his neighbor out of charity, but it is not really\nso. And I say to thee, dear child, that if thou wilt but conquer thyself\nby patience and by peace of soul, establishing thereby purity of heart\nwithin thee, thou shalt have overcome all thy enemies. This is a\nhigher victory than to subdue the whole world with the scripture's\nbest wisdom, losing mastery of thyself meanwhile by injurious thoughts\nagainst thy neighbor, for the Lord says : \"Why seest thou the mote\nthat is in thy brother's eye ; and seest not the beam that is in thy own\neye?\" (Matt, vii, 3).\n\nAs to prohibition of judging others, we of course except those whose\noffice in holy Church requires them to judge. And these must pru-\ndently examine persons and cases; they must avoid an overbearing\nmanner, hot words, or anything that provokes resistance or unneces-\nsarily troubles hearts. Their discipline is intended by God for the\nreformation of their subjects. Alas, superiors fail in this often and\nseriously, and instead of bettering the lives of their wayward subjects,\nthey but fill them with bitterness, and turn their hearts yet further\naway. If one should but guide his subjects into the fear of God with\nmildness, how different would be the results. The guilty ones would\nplainly see that the sole purpose of their superior was their soul's\nwelfare, they would receive correction peacefully and would much\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 6G5\n\nsooner be reformed. But they plainly see that the superior's motive ia\nhis own honor or profit. They submit as to mere force, and in their \"\nhearts they remain more rebellious than ever. Many superiors fancy\nthat they are actuated by zeal for virtue in their administration of\ndiscipline; but as a matter of fact they are driven on by their angry\nmoods. They think it is hatred of sin that stirs them, and in reality it\nis hatred of the man who committed the sin.\n\nI beg thee to closely examine thy heart and find out whether or not\ntrue charity dwells there, kindly feelings towards those whom thou\nhast so bitterly pained by thy correction. I fear that instead of true\nzeal for right order, it is only violent impatience that controls thee:\nI am speaking especially of those superiors who have little interior\nlife, and have not yet tasted the sweetness of divine love in their souls :\nthese are the ones who storm at their subjects, and agonize them with\nsour looks and cutting words. The soul that knows nothing of God's\ninterior sweetness of love, cannot command prudent ways and kindly\nwords in correcting others. How to deal with delinquents, is a lesson\nto be learned only from genuine love of God.\n\nWhosoever feels called on by his oflice to correct others, should bear\nin mind how easily God may be dishonored by faulty exercise of this\nduty, and how easily souls may therein be injured. Let him use\nkindly words, let him cultivate gentle manners and a patient bearing:\nso that weak spirits may plainly see that the one only object in view is\ntheir happiness. It may happen that God will allow thy subjects to\nrevile thee and heap dishonor on thee. Take no notice of this, and\nnever repay it with any sort of discipline, as far as is consistent with\nthe common good. If thou actest otherwise, it is likely that thou\nthyself shalt become sorely embittered; and, besides, it is likely that\nthou canst never make any good out of thy subjects. The worse thou\nart treated by any one, the more sweetly shouldst thou feel and act\ntowards him, in all patience, and with friendly words. Such trials\nns these are commonly sent by God as His hardest test of superiors, by\nwhich they shall either win or lose the merit of martyrdom. Be\never eager to suffer such things; for meekness, and forgiveness of\nInjuries are the best virtues of superiors.\n\nThey should avoid flattery. They should shun all partiality in\nthought or conduct, holding all their subjects equally dear to their\nhearts, as a true mother does her children. But if any difference may\nbe allowed, then they should love with the deepest affection and treat\n\n666 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nwith the greatest confidence, those who are weakest in character; and\n-this they should, with prudent safeguards, manage to show. Mean-\nwhile they should lift up their hearts to God, and ever earnestly en-\ntreat Him to keep watch and ward over their subjects, and that He\nmay save themselves from all self-love. Again, they should, as far as\nis at all possible, do first themselves the tasks they impose on their\nsubjects. For all goes well when superiors are manifestly full of love\nand of virtue: — God then guides the community and helps it. The\nsuperior's example constrains subjects to do right, even if these are\nhostile in spirit and inclined to evil doing.\n\nAs to those who hold no office over others and are simply members\nof the community, it behooves them secretly to sit in judgment over\nthemselves and condemn themselves and nobody else. They should\nrefrain strictly from judging anyone else, or criticising the order and\narrangement of the community affairs. As a rule, a man goes astray\nfrom truth in such judgments, things being quite otherwise than he\nsupposed : sad experience often proves this. There is a motto that says,\nthat that man has true wisdom who finds good in everything. May\nGod help us to this state of brotherly love. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 667\n\nOlutttng off &upf rfluttUB\n\nSynopsis — This means almost the whole of our part in the work of\nperfection — How it applies to shunning persons as well as things —\nSeparation and solitiide are the sum total of the negative side of\nperfection — Attachments breed unrest and falsehood — Tfie folly\nof a half-hearted spirit in spiritual conduct — A good description\nof perseverance — Tlie penitential aspect of detachment.\n\nSEKMON FOR THE FEAST OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE.\n\nMartha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things ; but\none tiling is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be\ntaken away from her. — Luke x, 41, 42.\n\nDear devout children of God, I greet you in our blessed Lord Jesus\nChrist and in His coming, which shall be to you fruitful of eternal\nlife. I have this day gathered into one discourse that divine doctrine\nthat is the straightest way to eternal happiness. Amen.\n\nDearly beloved, earnestly observe your own hearts and their fail-\nings; and at the same time take careful account of the Divine inspira-\ntions sent you. Be not deluded by the attractions of transitory\nthings, nor the evil tendencies of your own nature. Would you be-\ncome the best loved friends and followers of our dear Lord Jesus\nChrist? Then you must wholly cut off from you all perishable things\nwhose use does not lead you to God. You must dispense with their\nuse except in cases of real necessity. You must rest upon God alone\nin all circumstances of life, quite cut off from reliance on created\nthings. As to your fellow-men, you must likewise cut off all unneces-\nsary communication with them, whether in deeds or words; and\nespecially must you be averse to the human and natural pleasure of\ntheir company. You are to banish from your soul the images of\ncreatures, and stand free of natural joy in them, or even conscious-\nness— as far as duty allows — of their existence. This was what the\nBlessed Mary Magdalene did; this is what our Lord praised in her.\nAll this being done on thy part, the Lord can do His part within thee,\n\n668 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nHis supernatural work after His own holy will. He can inflame\nthee with His burning love; He can overflow thy soul with Divine\ngrace. He will meanwhile impart to thee heavenly prudence, giving\nthee all guidance necessary to bring thee to sit at His feet and con-\ntemplate Him as Mary did.\n\nBe assured of this, dear children, that if we only knew it, all out-\nward superfluity in things and in works has power to blind our soul's\neyes to true perception of God's inspirations and our own transgres-\nsions. Even when these external things engage us from motives of\ndivine love and are far from being bad, they are often the less per-\nfect ways to God. For did not our Lord Jesus Christ praise Mary\nMagdalene for her total detachment when He said that she had chosen\nthe best part? And did He not rebuke Martha for being careful and\ntroubled about even important outward service? And yet she was\nengaged with ardent love in the very seemly duty of providing for\nthe comfort of Himself and His dear disciples, Wouldst thou, there-\nfire, have God's special consolations, and wouldst thou understand\nHis high spiritual doctrine, so full of fruit, so very needful; and\nwouldst thou be provided by Him with all things necessary for body\nand soul? Then must thou cut off all superfluities. Thou must dis-\npense with what is not truly necessary in thy every day life, both\ninner and outer, guided herein by the voice of God in thy conscience.\n\nAbove all must we shun all those persons whose memory dwells\nwith us, whose image interposes between us and God. And it mat-\nters not how holy they may be; if dealing with them halts us on the\nway to God, then they must be given up. In that case they are not\ntruly our friends or helpers in acquiring real loyalty to God, whether\nthey be religious or secular or even father confessors.\n\nOne never finds God so perfectly, so fruitfully, as in separation and\nsolitude. So did the Blessed Mother of God find Him, St. John the\nBaptist. St. Mary Magdalene, the other saints of Christ, and the pa-\ntriarchs of old. They fled from the world and the company of men.\nThey shook off the cares of human society, and then withdrew into\nwastes and forests the most remote they could find. Ah, children,\namusements and company and conversation and all unnecessary deal-\ning with creatures, lead to a sad old age, even when such intercourse\nis well intended and all seems innocent enough. The reason is that\nwhen our heart is full of the images of these things — :ill alien to our\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 669\n\nend as they are, and unnecessary to our real happiness — then God\nmust remain outside. He cannot enter our souls thus preoccupied,\nany more than one can pour sweet wine into a vessel full of filthy\nashes. Alas, turn where you will in this poor life of ours, you will\nfind in all outward things, in all human companionship, nothing but\nfalsehood and unrest. A man dreams he will find comfort and relaxa-\ntion of mind, and he ends in wholly losing inner comfort; he is robbed\nof that peace of heart which he had gathered by long-continued self-\ndenial and recollection. We become encumbered with all sorts of\nsuperfluities, we become addicted to petty lying, and we waste prec-\nious hours of time. Our hearts are cooled towards God, love is\nquenched, conscience is gnawed with remorse, and we are made im-\npatient and easily provoked to bitter anger.\n\nOh the misery of not being able to understand this truth : that neither\ncomfort nor peace, neither true joy nor veritable relaxation of mind\ncan be anywhere found except in God alone. If we did but turn to\nHim in whole-hearted fervor and waited on Him with gentle patience\n— as did the souls of the ancient fathers in limbo for thousands of\nyears — how happy would be our lot; though our waiting can be at\nmost only for the short space of our natural life. He will grant us\nHis sweet comfort in due time, however unworthy we may be of it.\nHe hiiles Himself for a little while, but that if for our best advantage\nso that He may inflame our love the more later on, and lead us to\nhigher perfection. Whatsoever is for our spiritual advantage He\nneither will nor can withhold from us, whether it be external favors or\ninterior graces ; and He best knows what we stand in need of.\n\nAlas, how pitiful it is that we so foolishly allow trifling things to\nhinder us, even to hurt us. We fancy that our fine discourses, full of\neloquent things about God, will be pleasing to Him, forgetting how ex-\nceedingly simple was His own address to His well-loved disciples. Or,\nagain, we fancy that with noisy and showy works — eating up our prec-\nious time — we may serve God rightly and best help our neighbor. Others\nare not even as good as that ; they idly gad about among pious people,\nmaking useless visits, and filling their souls with images that obscure\nthe all-lovely figure of our Lord Jesus Christ. We fail to remember\nthat even our Lord's most holy presence in bodily form had become a\nhindrance to His disciples, as He said : \"If I go not, the Paraclete\nwill not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you\" (John xvi, 7).\n\n670 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nAnother delusion is that we can possess and enjoy with all feeling of\nproprietorship many things in this life without spiritual hurt — tem-\nporal goods, favorite company, amusements, friends in the world and\nthose in religion, relatives; not recalling that He Himself chose to be\ndisgraced, a wretched outcast, and destitute of all things. And listen\nto His doctrine : \"Every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters,\nor father, or mother, or wife or children, or lands for My name sake\nshall receive an hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting\" (Matt.\nxix, 29). And in another place: \"If any man come to Me, and hate\nnot his father and mother, and wife and children, yea, and his own\nlife also, he cannot be My disciple\" (Luke xiv, 26). Ah, if we did but\nlook deep into our Lord's blesed doctrine, many a one of us would\nfind that their whole life had gone wrong, and that they have been\nliving amid dreams and delusions.\n\nIf we shall ever attain to true Divine peace, if we shall be united\nwholly to God, then all comfort from transitory things must cease, as\nwell as all recreation from them. Keasonable necessity must be the\nexclusive rule in their use; all beyond that, whether for solace of mind\nor pleasure of body, must be given up. Whatsoever thing lodges\nthougts in our mind diverting us from God, must be renounced. God\ninsists on being our heart's only guest. He will tolerate no rival\nthere. Divine tenderness must have the field entirely to itself.\n\nAh, children, honor the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, and prize\nHis infinite merits. Consider the shortness of this miserable life; learn\nthe deceitfulness of this poor, evil world. Consider the danger of men's\ncompany, no matter what appearance of spirituality it may have.\nRemember that the last hour of life may sound at any moment; that\ndeath is surely creeping onward to snatch us away. Consider all\nthis and turn your hearts earnestly to hearken to God's inspirations.\nDo this, and in one hour God will take charge of you, teach you more\ntruly and sweetly in one hour than all men together in a thousand\nyears. Dear children, make good use of the precious hours of this\nlife; let no creature lead you astray, give your confidence to none, lest\nyou forfeit your eternal salvation. If we lose our worldly goods we\ncan recover them again, and at any rate they serve us no purpose\nexcept this side of death. But it may happen that in one fatal hour\nwe shall lose what, once lost, can never be recovered — the glory of\neternal life.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 67 j\n\nI tell you in all sincerity that I foroode the evil fate of many among\nus. They trust in creatures, for they cleave to them. Their souls are\nfilled with thoughts of them and affection for them. They race here\nand there after idle stories to hear or to tell. They are crippled spirit-\nually with a heavy weight of superfluities. Thanks be to God's bound-\nless mercy that He often holds us back from gross, deadly sins. But\nthink how perilous a state is that of tepidity-coldhearted, stupid,\nstuck fast and motionless on the road to perfection. For this we must\nat last endure a bitter purgatory.\n\nWe are like a miserable jackass; his only song is his loud discordant\nbray; his only movement is his slow, dragging pace; his only food is\ncoarse hay-all this is the joy and sweetnes of his life, and meanwhile\nhe IS bitterly cursed and cruelly beaten. In his favor it must be said\nthat he deserves far better treatment; but not so the reasonable and\nchristian spirit that grovels along in his cowardly imperfections\nNow this besides: if we would not cut off our attachment to creatures\nfor God's love and our own eternal happiness, then we might do it\nwisely for a selfish reason, namely, the sweet peace of heart that it\ngives us during this life. God's love sets us free from manv an inner\npang, and soothes away many an oppression of spirit.\n\nThis is not our highest motive, and yet a most reasonable one\nThe man who busies himself with all sorts of earthly things who\nwould set every wrong thing right, who meddles with other people's\naffairs, who resists when attacked and attacks when angered— such\na man is full of unrest. He goes astray; he reaps trouble on all\nhands. And if the whole world leaves him in peace he none the less\ndevours himself with irritation and discontent. If we want peace we\nmust commit all our affairs into God's hands with childlike confi-\ndence. In all our works of soul and body let Him be the master\nworkman, planning and doing as He wills; that brings full peace\nand brings it surely. Is not He a better workman and a wiser one\nthan I am? Does not He know what is best for mv outward wel-\nfare and for my soul's estate? And He undertakes this care of us\nthe moment He finds us doing and thinking and speaking all things\nsolely for His praise and glory. That is our part, that and nothing\nmore. Neither for our bodily welfare nor our interior happiness need\nwe make any provision, except to give ourselves up to Him with\ndeepest sincerity of heart and real humility. From time to time\n\n672 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nHe will show us ways and means of acting wisely in all our affairs,\nboth spiritual and temporal. Does He not know what we need?\nAnd will He not provide for us perfectly, if we will only place all our\ntrust in Him?\n\nThe misery is that we insist on ruling ourselves and all our affairs,\nand our guide is self-love. We trust usually to mere natural light.\nWe act as if we thought ourselves wiser than the very fountain of\nall wisdom. What is it that deeply concerns us? It is some trouble\nto be shaken off; some person to be quit of, because he annoys us; to\nhave this or that office; to enter a certain society — one or other of\nsuch things as these we fasten on as the best thing in the world. If\nwe only knew ourselves thoroughly well, we should find traces of\nthe evil spirit in all this. He is misleading us; he is gradually win-\nning control of us by taking advantage of our unsteadiness.\n\nSteady perseverance is that virtue which gathers other virtues into\none; hence the evil spirit does his best with all of us to throw us off\none good purpose onto another. His aim is to make us unstable.\nIf we knew our own hearts better we should discover that it is self-\nseeking that inspires our life; or that we unconsciously, perhaps, are\nstriving to at once be rid of some cross that God would have us carry\na while longer. But this must not be. Our beloved Lord will have\nHis chosen ones constantly crucified. He brings this about in many\nstrange and secret ways, but always acting out of His merciful love.\nHe will not allow created things to make us happy, for He is deter-\nmined that the enemy of souls shall never gain mastery over us. Our\nLord crucifies one man in this way and another in that. He causes\none to suffer more, another less, according as He perceives our neces-\nsities, our readiness for certain graces, and our progress in perfec-\ntion. Hence we must suffer as submissively under one infliction as\nunder another, according as God may bring it about.\n\nMeantime we should not rashly draw conclusions from the occur-\nrences of our life, as if God's will was this or that; let us wait till\nHis designs are maturely developed, or seek and follow the guidance\nof His devout friends. In all this we tread the road of real peace.\nIt sometimes happens that in running away from a slight suffering\nwe run straight into a very serious one.\n\nWould to God that we were not so silly. Did we but appreciate\nhow closely a little anguish of soul joins us to God and sinks us\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 673\n\ninto God, we should sufifer willingly enough. Did we but know how\nquickly the cross of Christ drives out the* evil one, we should run many\na mile to meet and embrace it. If we knew the precious worth of\nsuffering, we should sincerely thank those who any way oppress\nus. Therefore must we anxiously seek out the way of the cross, glad\nand thankful when we find it; yes, happy to find several crosses at\nonce to carry for Christ's sake. What did the holy Apostle St. An-\ndrew do? When he came in sight of the cross on which he was to\ndie he overflowed with joy. It was an ecstacy to him to feel that in\nhis death he was so much to resemble his divine Master. Christ was\ncrucified for us all. What, then, shall be our best joy but to bear Him\ncompany. Ah, what a wonderful and eternal reward of glory may\nwe not earn in this poor, fleeting life of ours in this matter of suffer-\ning, if we will but gladly give ourselves up to God's guidance. It is\nevery way a noble thing to sufi'er; it is fruitful of joy here and eter-\nnal joy hereafter; it makes men like God, and that is why He will\nnot dispense His friends from suffering. Rather than allow His elect\nsouls to be without the heavenly benefits of suffering God would\ncreate new sufferings out of nothing; He would set over us the whole\nuniverse of dead and senseless things, to painfully exercise us in the\nvirtues that lead to eternal joy.\n\nBut, alas, we are unworthy of such precious favors; we are un-\nreceptive of such gifts, and unregardful of our opportunities. Nay,\nwe incessantly run away from sufferings. Especially are we unwilling\nto suffer from one another; we cannot tolerate the least annoyance\nby words or deeds. If any man attacks us, forthwith we strike back ;\namong our adversaries we are like savage dogs. Interiorly we are\nfull of bitterness ; right or wrong we defend ourselves vehemently and\nwith burning words. We will not bear to be put down by anybody\nwhatsoever. O misery, misery, how wild is our nature, how utterly\nunmortified, and how very foolish. We ought to deem ourselves\nunworthy of so high a principle as suffering in common with Christ.\nBesides, do we not know this to be needful for our perfection? We\nshould accept trouble and annoyance as gifts from heaven, receive\nthem in real thankfulness, and humble ourselves silently and meekly\nbeneath the blows that are dealt us, imitating the wise and prudent\nand constant patriarch Job.\n\nAnother sentiment that should inspire us is that of penance. We\n\n674 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nshould gladly suffer all inflictions as a chastisement well merited by\nour sins. No matter how ill treated we may be we should feel that\nthe pain falls far short of what we have deserved. This brings us\ninto a state of true peace. This fits us to exhort and lead our neigh-\nbor to the practice of virtue. And this way is far more profitable to\nus, far more conducive to God's honor, than all manner of self-chosen\ndevotional or penitential exercises.\n\nSurely, dear children, if all teachers were dead and buried, and if\nall books were burnt, we should have learning enough and wisdom\nenough in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever virtue we may\nlack let us but fix our eyes on Him and study Him earnestly, and\nwe shall abound with grace; how He has gone before us in all patience\nand mildness, enduring every conceivable opposition from men and\ndevils, in abandonment and desolation, in disgrace and shame and\ndestitution, in the bitterest pains and griefs. O let us often look at\nourselves in this wonderful mirror, for that will strengthen us cheer-\nfully to endure every infliction without and anguish within. This\ntells us how to overcome temptations and patiently bear misfortunes,\nno matter from where or from whom they may come. This study of\nJesus crucified makes toil and pain easy to bear.\n\nAnd this shows us how to take good out of all the events of life.\nFor if we would enter the harbor of peace in God we must diligently\nlearn to turn everything to a good use. This custom gives us, besides,\na natural tranquility of mind, and saves us from the world's unrest —\nbearing ourselves mildly and gently towards all, whether rough men\nor smooth. Serving God faithfully, we must expect to be often mis-\ntreated by our fellows, and so be ready to make all allowances for\nthem. We shall constantly be tempted to say of one that he talks too\nmuch, and of another that he is too silent; one displeases us because\nhe goes too slow, and another because he goes too fast. People's man-\nners offer many occasions for our falling into interior defects against\ncharity and justice. All this we must strenuously resist, never allow-\ning such thoughts to get a hold upon us. We may be too weak to\nquite exclude them from our hearts, but we must at least totally re-\npress every outbreak of impatient words correcting nobody whatso-\never. Nor is it right to make people's manners and ways and words\ntopics of conversation, neither with one or many companions, no\nmatter what compulsion may be put upon us. There is certainly much\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 675\n\nmerit in such charitable conduct, besides the advantage of a peaceful\nsoul and the happy facility of bearing adversity.\n\nOur beloved Lord Jesus Christ taught that doctrine well and truly\nby His example. Consider how gently He treated Judas and all His\nother tormentors. He showed them every sign of affection, well as\nHe knew their deadly hate. He could easily have punished them;\nyet He was the most innocent Lamb of God among them. To be\nsure, no man can reach that degree of perfection, or say that he is\nwithout sin. Let any of us but examine his conscience sincerely and\nhe finds many faults to lay to his own charge — too many to allow\nof his presuming to administer punishment to others. And that is\ntrue of my own poor self, whose faults you are well aware of. Learn\nby my faults to guess at your own, and humbly to acknowledge them.\n\nLay to heart the words you have heard from me. I assure you, as\nGod sees me, that I have studied you all out of the book of my own\ntransgressions. My purpose has not been to preach doctrine to you,\nfor I am in need of your teaching rather than you of mine. But I\nhave given you a brotherly warning, that if any man will not live\na recollected life he will become a failure. Any man who does not\ncultivate entire purity of motive, namely, God alone, and who is not\nrooted in real humility, shall not be able to offer stout resistance to\ntemptations, nor can he hope to attain to perfection in truth. Better\nis voluntary and spontaneous poverty than all worldly gods; better\nis union with God than the empire of the earth and the heavens,\neven if God filled them with riches for you to give to the poor. And\nnow may God's everlasting peace be with you in time and in eternity.\nAmen.\n\n676 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — Corrupt nature demands self-guidance — God claims our alle-\ngiance, painful tut necessary — Is God my only motive? this is the\nsupreme question — Trust God hlindly and exclusively — Thds can\nonly 6e learned in the interior life — The secret insinuations of self-\nlove are to he detected and rejected.\n\nSEEMON FOE THE FEAST OF ST. LAWEENCE, MAETYE.\n\nIf any man minister to Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there also\nshall My minister be.— John xii, 26.\n\nThere is rich meaning in these words. One could write a whole\nbook on each of them. Here we shall only explain what kind of a\nman Christ's true minister is, serving God in truth and following\nHim wherever He leads. God does not lead His minister in one way,\none work, one manner of devout living; He leads him where He i»\nHimself, namely, into all ways, works and manners of devout life.\nGod is in all things; He is the only and supreme Good. And hence\na man does not minister to God rightly, who cannot serve Him except\nin his own self-chosen way, whether it be in choir or in certain ways\nof praying — all according to his own choice. If such a man cannot\nserve God as he chooses, or if God would lead him to some other\nway, he turns his back on Him, and then he pours himself out on this\nthing and that which interests him. Such a man is not God's min-\nister, for he has turned away from God. One can be God's minister\nonly if he follows God in all places, and in all works and ways of\npiety. For in all these God is; His minister must simply and solely\nfollow nim in his choice of them; Him alone must ho keep in mind\nand serve in all his conduct. God is not in any man who herein fails.\nSuch a one becomes involved in multiplicity, his spirit is externized;\nand besides the self-injury he does, he is a disturbing element to the\npeople about him in whatever place he may be, and in whatever way\nhe may be occupied.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 6T7\n\nWhat is the cause of this state? It is this: God is not within\nthy soul. Thou hast, indeed, a fictitious God within thee, but essen-\ntially it is not God. Hence as soon as thou hast interrupted thy de-\nvotions the Divine presence is gone from thee; this shows that thou\nart not truly God's minister. The other reason is that a man empties\nhis soul out on the external things of the senses and cleaves to them.\nIf any man would be freed from multiplicity, he ought to let things\nof the senses flow on past him. If he must be concerned with them\nout of duty, it should be as one who stops for a little while to attend\nto something in which he is by no means deeply interested, and then\nhurries away; nor should he touch such matters except out of neces-\nsity. He has no inner converse with them; he is empty and free of\ncreatures, giving them no time nor place to engage him, except when\nGod's interests are plainly involved. It is exactly as if he said: I\nseek nothing, I mean nothing, I pursue nothing but God alone. What-\nsoever crosses my path I say God bless you to it, and go on my way\nto God.\n\nWhat worse harm can hell and devils do to me than hinder my\nloving Him for whom all creatures continually yearn? Let a man\npress onward with all his might to God through everyone of his\nlife's happenings; let him make no great matter of what occurs to\nhim, whether sweet or bitter. Let it all flow away behind you; med-\ndle with it no more, for it has ceased to concern you; follow God\nwith all your best reason. Thus may one attend to every external\nduty without externizing himself; thus does God remain present to\nhis mind amid a multiplicity of affairs, while he remains safe from\nthe effects of that multiplicity. That happy state comes only from\nrefusing to fasten one's spirit upon anything whatsoever except God\nalone. Go not forward or backward or sideways; take no account\nof pleasure or profit, men's favor or their disfavor, but simply and\nsolely consider God.\n\nIf thou shouldst unwittingly fail in this, and some motive that is\nnot God should for a moment control thee, rise up again very quickly\nwith an act of thy reason ; turn the good ship into the right course\nby the rudder of holy discretion. If God's servitor begins his work\nwith an upright intention, and so continues it, then no matter what\nfeeling of multiplicity he may experience, it will not essentially hurt\nhim; it will not be enough to mislead him. God may not be present\n\n678 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nto his understanding, but without doubt He dwells at home with him\nin his more inward spirit. If he makes sure to commit no deliberate\nfaults, nor to cleave wilfully to creatures, let not his outward occu-\npations or any occurrences whatsoever disturb his peace of soul. In\ncase his devotional exercises or his external duties do disturb his\npeace, that plainly shows that he has failed in interior recollection,\nand has not done his task rightly; he has not based his doing and\nhis not doing exclusively upon God.\n\nWhen a man becomes aware that God is not his only motive, then\nhe must strive with all his might to make Him so. He must cast\nout all else but God, of whatever name or nature it may be. Other-\nwise he is like a man shot with an arrow, and which he will not allow\nto be extracted because of the pain that it will cause — meantime his\nflesh swells and putrifies. So in very truth is it with thy soul. If\nanything that is not God, or not on account of God, holds place there,\nbe sure that God will not abide in thee. If thou wilt not suffer the\nfirst sharp pain of detachment from creatures, then the later pain will\nbe much worse, misery upon misery increasing beyond all comprehen-\nsion. The spirit of a man must go to God clean and empty of crea-\ntures. It must stand ready for the word and beck of God, as if to\nsay: Dear Lord, if I could but give Thee joy in all my good works\nand in all my dealings with men, to that task I would humbly devote\nmyself. Another thing is this: Whenever opportunity serves, one\nmust fly from multiplicity and gladly choose to turn inwardly to soli-\ntude with all his faculties.\n\nA man must serve God not as he himself wills, but according to\nthe blessed will of God, and this rule extends to everything, both of\nthe outer and the inner life. When one has not God as his interior\nguest he goes onward with uncertain step, as the Scripture says:\n\"Woe to him that is alone, for when he falleth he hath none to lift\nhim up\" (Eccles. iv, 10). But if a man be on his guard, and if his\nsoul is like a well-garrisoned fortress, then the enemy assaults him\nin vain. God is our soul's garrison; keep Him with you securely,\nalways realize His holy presence. When one thus possesses God he\nstands in need of little else; any little provision of this world's com-\nfort suffices him; nor is he disturbed by contradictions in his labors,\nor opposition from the men around him. If God be felt within the\nsoul, it makes more progress in virtue under external difficulties than\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor gjg\n\nwhen all is favorable. But, of course, nature feels this unpleasantly,\nand one stands his ground only with an efifort; especially does he\nneed constant recollection of the spirit in God.\n\nThe best state of things for us is not prosperity; then everything\ngoes on of itself, and very smoothly. How can one tell if he be in\nreality a true minister of Christ if he suffers no adversity for Him?\nBut thou mayest ask: Suppose a man fails in fidelity under stress\nof adversity? Let him rise up again quickly, acknowledge his misery\nand nothingness before God, and renew his spirit of recollection-\nall this the sooner the better. But do not dwell too long on thv\nfaults, discussing sadly how this happened or how that; such a prac-\ntice is indiscreet. Hast thou been unequal to duty? Then how ^halt\nthou be made equal to it but by secretly entering deep into God*^\nHow Shalt thou better run away from death than by running into\nLife? Life eternal and essential. Is there any better way to be\nwarmed than to come near the fire? Lay all thy cares upon God,\nand He will arrange everything for the best. For thy part trust\nHim implicitly and in everything that concerns thee; that done ac-\ncept all the happenings of thy life in peace of mind, and make the\nbest of them.\n\nBut if a man will not trust God nor abandon himself to Him if\nhe insists on striving and straining and worrying, God often permits\nhim to fall into deep misery and want. This is to show him how\nfar he can go under self-guidance. But if a man sincerely turns all\ncare over to God, then does God better manage his affairs \\han could\nall creatures together. Oh, God is full of grace; He is the fountain\nhead of wisdom; and whoever seeks his guidance with sincere trust-\nfulness will undoubtedly obtain it. We cannot love God too much-\nwe cannot confide in Him too blindly-supposing our intention to b^\nentirely upright and our fidelity unfeigned.\n\nNow how shall this way of Hfe be learned? How shall we acquire\ntrust in God, all peaceful and joyful, extending over all our devotion^\nall our good works, felt in every place and under all conditions'^\nThis can only be learned in the interior life; it comes to us from con-\nstantly turning into the inmost depths of our spirit. For this end\none needs holy leisure, some freedom from external duties, fit places\nand times for retirement. It is in interior recollection that thi^\npeculiar virtue of trust in God is planted and grows, puts forth\n\n680 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nbranches and bears fruit. In ttiis inner detachment a man is given\nto know God's ways and means; and the more he dwells thus alone\nwith Him the clearer and truer does his knowledge grow. And when\nthis guidance fails then it is plain that the spirit of recollection has\nnot been fostered ; proper hours and sufficient time and fit places have\nnot been set apart for God's intimate communion; His guidance has\nnot been honestly sought.\n\nYou should know, children, that some men, while outwardly spirit-\nual, are in reality devoted to their own self-chosen spiritual ways, and\non that account their lives pass along and away without their know-\ning how they stand with God. And they finally grow to be content\nwith this state, calling it resignation. But, as a matter of fact, it\nis nothing but gross spiritual negligence. Into this slothful empti-\nness of soul other defects insinuate themselves; God's holy rights in\nthe soul are usurped by self-love or other love of creatures. For it\nis as impossible not to have some love or other in one's soul as to\nexist without any soul at all. Whether one is or is not quite aware\nof this sad state, it often enough exists; and one goes along blindly,\ntrusting to a certain sort of spirituality, certain devout practices and\ngood works, but with no real spiritual fruit. Such a man thinks he\nstands on solid ground, bcause he never investigates the foundation\nof things in his inner spirit. At last he comes to the end and passes\ninto eternity. He has not trodden the way that is Christ, who says:\n\"I am the way, and the truth and the life\" (John xiv, 6). Whosoever\nwalks not in that way goes astray. It is a deadly shame that a man\nwill study and learn many things, and himself he will neither know\nnor want to know.\n\nDear children, no man should remain in doubt about his interior\nlife ; he should know it positively — not merely by surmise, but actually\n— how deep God dwells in his heart, and how strong is his own yearn-\ning for God. If he is void of this holy wisdom, then let him seek it\nfrom devout and instructed men. Not fancies and surmises, but some-\nthing like certainty should possess his mind about his standing with\nGod. Let him realize that what he neglects now he shall never make\nup for hereafter, where the Blessed Virgin and all the Saints could\nnot win him a hair's weight of merit; no, not with tears of blood.\nThey themselves, in their lifetime, were ever ready; they responded\ninstantly to the heavenly Bridegroom and entered into the wedding\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 681\n\nfeast with all joj. The others waited too long, and when the cry\nwas heard, \"Lo, the Bridegroom cometh!\" their lamps were not\ntrimmed, and they came too late; and He answered their call and\ntheir knocking with an oath : \"Amen, I say to you, I know you not\"\n(Matt. XXV, 12). They were not His own; they were not in the ranks\nof His familiar friends gathered now close around him.\n\nSt. Augustine says: ''Nothing is so certain as death, nothing is\n80 uncertain as the hour of death, or the place or circumstances\nof death. Who knows the time, who knows the manner of his de-\nparture?\" Hence, nothing is so necessary as that we shall be well\nprepared; that we shall be sure we are well prepared, not trusting\nto fancies or surmises. It is to that end that we are here in our\ntime of probation ; it is not for the sake of good works alone, but for\nthe sake of that truly instructed mind from which the good works\nspring as the fruit is generated by the tree.\n\nLet all our pious exercises have that aim— more knowledge of God's\ninterior ways, and a nearer approach to union with Him. What-\nsoever man has broken away from his life's externalism, and is ele-\nvated in spirit above the things of time, and has ordered his ways ac-\ncording to God's intimate guidance, the same cannot be involved in\nmultiplicity. Whatsoever touches him cannot lay hold on him, nor\ndistract his thoughts and affections from his inner life. The more\na man's spirit is joined to God the more quiet-minded he is\nthe better ordered is his life, the less likely to be worried by his re-\nsponsibilities. Here is a sign of a right-minded man: that all his\nwork and rest shall be motived and done in such a manner as shall\nwin his approval afterwards when he is in his better spiritual con-\ndition. So that when his dead body shall be buried in the earth his\nsoul may instantly be united to the infinite Godhead. It is for this\nend alone that God has placed us in this life; and if we fail to attain\nit now we fail forever.\n\nWhose image and superscription is stamped on the coin? To him,\nwhether God or a creature, the tribute must be paid without fail.'\nLook often, therefore, into thy deeper thoughts, and read the super-\nscription on them: that is to say, who or what is thy best beloved?\nWhom dost thou have mostly in view in thy purposes? What, for the\nmost part, solaces thee and rejoices thee and stirs thy affections?\nThou art, perhaps, really inclined towards God and heavenly things.\n\n682 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nlovest the company of God's friends, art pleased with public divine\nservice, thy mind, will, words and behavior given to God. But ask\nthyself if thy motive be not thy own advantage, thy honor among\nreligious persons, thy comfort and convenience, thy friendships, alas,\nperhaps, even thy pecuniary advantage. Is it not all this, or part\nof it, that draws thee and holds thee, rather than divine things con-\nsidered in themselves? If any man will discreetly question his soul\nabout these matters, he will obtain true knowledge of himself. That\nwill give him humble confidence that he really knows himself; sur-\nmises and guesses and uncertainties are done. If there is anything in\nthy deeper spirit that is not simply and purely God or has not God\nfor its origin, whether it be thy own self or anything else, great or\nlittle, then thou hast not God within thee — supposing, of course, that\nthis be wilful and deliberate. Thou mayst weep an ocean of tears,\nthat helps nothing; thou must give thy spirit up wholly to God, or\ndo without Him in time and eternity.\n\nO, children, what ails these poor men, that, having open eyes, they\nyet will not see? They are not alarmed at the cunning self-deceptions\nof our fallen nature, its secret tendencies to selfhood, its constant re-\nturn to self, its steadfast regard to self alone in all communication\nwith creatures, and even in the service of God. A man must hasten\nforward without stopping. Time is short, and whatsoever has to do\nwith God, even the smallest of His afifairs, is of greater weight than\nall this earth's treasures put together. Therefore, set to work\nearnestly, both inwardly and outwardly, to make everything point to\nGod, and to God alone. Pray for a heart quite disengaged, so that\nGod may work His blessed will within thee. May He help us to that\nfreedom and detachment of spirit. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 683\n\nWatrlytng for SxlmhB unh ^ntmwB\n\nSynopsis— Watching is a universal religious obligation — For souls as-\npiring to perfection, it is needed especially in regard to interior\ndefects — These range from hidden lusts to foolish delusions of\nspirit — God sharpens the gaze of faithful souls — A icatchful spirit\nis constantly rewarded with precious graces.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FEAST OF ST. AUGUSTINE.\n\nWatch ye, therefore, because you know not what hour your Lord will come. —\nMatt, xxiv, 42.\n\nThe evil spirit strives with all his might and all his cunning to\nlead us astray into eternal loss. He watches for an unguarded hour,\nyea, even a thoughtless moment, to destroy us. As a robber watches\nfor a window left open through forgetfulness, so does the prowling\ndemon take note of our omitting our daily devotions, or performing\nthem sluggishly; then he slips into our soul's house and steals our\ntreasure. Therefore, carefully close your windows; that is to say, be\nwide awake and on your guard against temptations. Hold all your\nsoul's powers well together in recollection; watch incessantly. As\nsoon as thou art conscious of a proud thought or stubborn self-will\nor self-conceit, be sure that the enemy of souls is at hand hoping to\ncarry off a rich booty of thy spiritual goods.\n\nChildren, there are those in this world who practice fine devotions,\nhold high names and bear great fame as religious men, but who are\nfull of self-approval; and this has so far cut down their merit that\nin the life to come they will be very thankful to have a place among\nrude Christians of no name and wholly ignorant, poor peasants, but\nhumble servants of God. And there are poor, simple creatures whom\nnobody notices, without learning and without showy good works,\nbut yet sunk down before God in real humility, who will be placed\nso high that many a pretentious and self-satisfied Christian will\nhardly be able to see them. Watch, therefore, with a wakeful spirit.\nKeep your soul's eyes wide open. Look to divine truth only in all\n\n684 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nyour thoughts, words and deeds; yea, even in your virtuous actions;\nabound in patient suffering; ever glance warily around, both in your\noutward and your inward progress towards perfection.\n\nChildren, you little dream how perilous is your state of natural\nweakness, and how deep a stain your miserable sins leave on your\nsoul. You little appreciate the inestimable favors God ever stands\nready to grant you, and which you fail to get by reason of your\nsupineness. Let me ask: Do you appreciate what it means to pass\nincessantly under the eye of God, searching your inmost soul? Do\nyou realize that all your evil comes from your not living and acting\nin God's truth? How we sinners should wither aw^ay with fear and\nshame as we read: '\"The just man shall scarcely be saved\" (I Peter\niv, 18). St. Augustine explains this as follows: \"Woe, and again\nwoe, to all our righteousness if God will not judge us according to\nHis mercy.\" Hence, if you but understood the deadly danger of all\nwho, in practicing religion, think of anything but God alone, your\nhuman weakness could not stand it. Thus does the holy man Job\nspeak: \"I have sinned: what shall I do to Thee, O keeper of men?\nWhy hast Thou set me opposite to Thee, and I am become burdensome\nto myself?\" (Job vii, 20).\n\nThe Lord bids us watch for Him, our loins girded, burning lamps\nin our hands, awaiting His coming to the marriage feast. Of this\nwatching I have just now discoursed to you. But you must observe\nthree points. The girding of the loins may be like binding a man\nwith a rope, so that he can be drawn about against his will, as you\nwould lead a well-broken horse, keeping him on the safe road, pulling\nhim back from the edge of a pit. The loins may mean the lusts of\nour sensual nature, which we break under the discipline of reason,\nhold together in bondage, never allowing them free play. The second\npoint is to have lighted lamps in your hands. And this means the\nsweet zeal of burning charity, both felt within and active without.\nThat lamp must never leave your hand; you must do works of affec-\ntion on every possible occasion, and with all eagerness, but especially\namong your nearest brethren. The third point is waiting for your\nLord's coming to His marriage feast: \"Blessed are those servants\nwhom the Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching. Amen, I say\nto you, that He will gird Himself and make them sit down to meat,\nand, passing, will minister to them\" (Luke xii, 37).\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 685\n\nThis marriage feast is in the inmost soul of a man, the place in\nwhich God's blessed image is set up. The nearness of the soul to God\nand God to the soul there, the wonders He works in that inner sanc-\ntuary, the sweetness of the joy He dispenses there — all this passes\nsense or reason to understand. Men usually know nothing of this\ncelestial banquet, except those who have diverted their hearts' desires\nfrom all created things, and have resolved with eternal steadfastness\nto be content with God alone. The rest of men, whose satisfaction is\nfound in themselves and in what they own, who rest on creatures\nwhether alive or dead, who do this wilfully and deliberately — with\nthem has God nothing to do in this spiritual union.\n\nUpon these tardy and slothful souls the enemy fixes his eye. Seeing\ntheir Lord is long in coming, he insinuates some treacherous joy\ninto their hearts, hoping that they will be absorbed in it. Dear child,\nbe not deceived by this. Be resigned to wait for thy Lord : \"And if\nHe shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and\nfind them so watching, blessed are those servants\" (Luke xii, 38).\nThen will He sit them down to serve them; that is to say. He will\ngive them a foretaste of the everlasting marriage feast. And while\nthey patiently wait He will secretly visit their souls with comfort,\nlest the tedium of delay should overcome them — He imparts some\ndrops of the sweetness of His own love to strengthen theirs.\n\nSt. Gregory comments on these words of the Psalmist: \"Lo, I\nhave gone far off flying away; and I abode in the wilderness'' (Ps.\nliv, 8). \"When,\" says he, \"an interior man has waited on God, and\nwhen he has yet again waited, then let him still further wait and\nwithdraw himself from all things and enter into the wilderness.\"\nThis wilderness consists in giving up all the multiplicity of one's out-\nward powers ; but more than that, it includes the renouncing as much\nas possible the multiplicity in the interior powers of the soul, namely,\nthe images of the mind, the forms and figures of the imagination,\nthe multiplicity of the thoughts. Thus removed from forms and\nfigures, a man's interior life is lived in solitude. Now this is painful\nto human nature. But when one has endured the pain patiently and\nlived through the strain and stress upon his mind, at last the Lord\ncomes to him — that Master whom he has so lovingly waited for. In\nan hour he dreamed not of the Lord is with him. Sudden as the wink-\ning of an eye is His coming to reward his beloved's faithful waiting.\n\n686 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nBut when this has happened, and has endured I know not how\nlong, what follows? Then the Lord would elevate him yet higher in\nHis love. And with that purpose He strikes him down again, and\noppresses him with a tedium of waiting more dreary than before.\nHe thus withdraws His conscious presence lest the soul should cleave\nwith proud self-complacency ta the interior sweetness (already\ngranted.\n\nIt is for him that Jeremias speaks: \"I sat alone, because Thou\nhast filled me with threats\" (Jer. xv, 17). What does that mean,\nbut that after a man has entered into his quiet rest of soul the Lord\ncomes and threatens him terrifically, as if with both hands.. One\nhand casts over him a thick inner darkness in his sad, solitary jour-\nney; he knows nothing now; he has nothing; and he feels that all\ncalamity has come upon him. Especially, sins and temptations seem\nto overwhelm him — pride and impurity and denial of the faith and\nall else that he dreamed he had got rid of forever. As this awful\nhand of God is raised in threat against him, these direful temptations\nare upon him. The other hand is the portent of eternal loss. God\nseems to be ready to arraign him for his sins, and to condemn him\nto the deepest hell. O how these two awful hands crush this poor\nman's soul. And yet all this cruel trial is intended by God to purge\nthat soul of the venom of pride. Children, in those who bow down\nhumbly beneath these two threatening hands all evil love is quenched ;\nin a single instant it is cured more perfectly than by many years of\nexternal religious exercises.\n\nNow, when one has thus journeyed into the prophet's solitude and\npatiently dwelt there, at least a partial relief comes at last. The\nstorms of passion are stilled, the forms and figures of distracting\nthoughts are wiped away. Then God, accompanied by His holy\nangels, enters the wilderness and finds the soul, and in an instant of\ntime endows him with a gift of active love. Some noble mission of\nlove is committed to him, perhaps an affair of deep moment for all\nChristendom, for the living or the dead — in one quick flash is this\ngiven to him. Then it is as if our Lord said to him : Thou needst\nsay no word to Me; I well know what thou dost desire — and then He\ngrants that man what he wishes. This is the one who fulfils the\nwords: \"The true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in\ntruth\" (John iv, 23). But yet the demon is allowed to tempt him;\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 687\n\nand he now once more casts into his mind thoughts of woe and suf-\nfering. Let him pay no heed to these. If he is not regardful of them,\nthen the evil one must go his way shamefaced and empty-handed;\nand that soul remains much benefited by Satan's onslaught.\n\nIn some countries men are met with who have a false detachment\nof spirit. These quit doing all good works whatsoever. They even\navoid good thoughts; and they boast that they have attained to free-\ndom of spirit. They refuse to join in devout exercises, and they will\nnot practice virtue; they have got beyond all that. But in reality\nthere is an imp of Satan seated in such a soul, who hinders all in-\nterior or exterior means of disturbing these misguided spirits and\ngetting them out of their delusion. He keeps them restful in thought\nand act, so that he may finally lead them into eternal unrest; this is\nthe secret of their spurious quiet of soul. Just men have no such de-\nceitful calm. They practice religious exercises as God, by interior\ninspirations or by His lawful representatives, leads them, both in-\nterior and exterior devotions. They sufifer God to guide them in all\ntheir trials and darkness of spirit ; nor do they for a moment presume\nto think that they have arrived at a state of spiritual quiet. And\nyet they are not really in unrest. They journey along a narrow path\nbetween rest and unrest, between hope and unreasonable fear, be-\ntween the sense of security and that of distrust. When they are\nvouchsafed a momentary glimpse of true peace, of real confidence, of\nspiritual freedom, instantly do they cast this gift into the abyss of\nGod's being; nor do they cleave to it with afifection.\n\nChildren, the men who are in this narrow road should, before all\nthings, tread in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ. The stricter\nthey observe this the more perfectly detached will they become. Then\nin due time God's hands shall cease to threaten; these are now become\nopen hands, beckoning with all love; and presently our Lord's hands\nand arms and heart will embrace them most tenderly, and lift them\nupwards high above all created things. Now falls away every thought\nof natural existence, and it wearies them to so much as think of any-\nthing that is not purely and simply God.\n\nThen the Lord turns their eyes back on the narrow, dark and toil-\nsome road they have travelled, and instructs them fully in its mean-\ning. After that no man can hurt them, and they are well repaid for\nall their misery.\n\n688 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nTo those who glory in a false freedom all this is not right. They\npresume upon a counterfeit detachment of spirit. They will some-\ntimes continue in this delusion for forty years or more, doing great\nworks meanwhile, and following in all things their self-chosen spirit-\nual methods. They will not walk in the narrow path; for in a great\nmultitude there will, perhaps, be scarcely one or two willing to do it.\nAnd all the others will look on these with disapproval, trying them\nsorely, and thereby unwittingly helping them in their hard task. If\none of these favored souls does the least thing amiss, the others chide\nhim very severely. Dear child, if that be thy misfortune, bear it\npatiently. If a bitter answer escapes thee, do not be disheartened.\nEnter into thyself, confess thy fault, and bear the reproach of con-\nscience manfully. Keep still and thank God that thou hast the grace\nto own thy defect. And it is consoling to know that if thou hadst\nbeen very patient under reproof it might have been the occasion of\na greater sin, namely, that of spiritual pride. Humble thyself and go\non thy way. Everything, be it straight or crooked, will prepare thee\nfor God's coming. All things will work together for thy good, if thou\nwilt but be watchful over thyself. Whosoever thus waits for the\nLord with watchful eyes, as did St. Augustine, him will the Lord\nsit down at His heavenly banquet, and He will serve him with all\njoy. May God grant this to happen to all of us. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 689\n\nSIl|f g^u^ir? marg of t\\}t (ttnuaa of fflljrtBl\n\nSynopsis — Jesus crucified rules mankind from His cross — This means\nthe law of sacrifice in our lives — Some reflections on Holy Com-\nmunion— How the love of Christ leads us to crucify our flesh.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF\n\nTHE HOLY CROSS.\n\nAnd I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things unto Myself. —\nJohn xii, 32.\n\nToday we celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, on which\nour Lord Jesus Christ, the salvation of the whole world, suffered and\ndied out of love for us. By the Cross of Christ we are born again\ninto that high nobility in which God first created us. Let us love it\nwell in this new birth of love, for its dignity cannot be expressed in\nwords. Said our Lord : \"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,\nwill draw all things unto Myself.\" He means our hearts' love; He\nwould draw our hearts away from all joy in creatures, draw them to\nHimself. He would draw us away from proud self-complacency, and\nfrom attachment to things of the senses. He would be lifted up in\nour hearts and be made great and powerful there. Wheresoever God\nis great there all creatures are little. In Him all transitory things are\nas nothing at all.\n\nThis blessed cross is nothing else but Christ crucified, who is\nexalted high above all saints and angels, all bliss and happiness of\nall creatures taken together. And as His rightful place is the highest,\nso will He dwell within us elevated to the highest place, the most\ninterior, the most receptive place in our spirit. By that means He\nwill draw the lowest powers of our nature into submission to the\nhighest, and both highest and lowest He will draw into union with.\nHimself. If we will but yield to Him in this, then will He draw us-\nout of ourselves and into Himself, into His highest and most interior\nlife. And that must needs be. For if I shall be drawn into His life,\nI must of necessity receive Him into mine ; as much of mine, so much\nof His. Such is the even trade between Him and me.\n\n690 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nBut, alas, how much is this holy cross forgotten. How very gener-\nally is the interior ground of our hearts shut against it; it is barred\nout by love of created things. Love for created things rule souls in\nour day, souls of men in the world, and those even in more spiritual\nstates of life. Many hearts are lost to God by loving creatures, the\nblindest love and the direst misfortune in the world. If we could\nbut appreciate God's anger over this when men's souls are arraigned\nin His court, we should wither away with fear. But men go so far\nas to make jokes about this, doing it sometimes habitually. Disre-\ngard of eternal penalties is deemed a mark of honor — a misery over\nwhich God's saints in heaven, were such a thing possible, would weep\ntears of blood. The wounds of Christ would bleed afresh over so\nawful a deed as shutting out Christ's cross from our souls, for whose\nwelfare He lived His Divine life on earth and suffered His cruel death.\nMay God pity us all.\n\nChildren, this is no invention of mine, for you know that all holy\nScripture holds up the supremacy of Christ's cross. Says the Gospel :\n\"No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and\nlove the other, or he will sustain the one and despise the other. You\ncannot serve God and mammon\" (Matt, vi, 24). And again does\nOhrist teach : \"If thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out and cast\nit from thee\" (Matt, v, 29). And about fixing our heart on worldly\ngoods. He says : \"Where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also\" (Matt.\nvi, 21). St. Augustine comments on this: \"Dost thou love the earth?\nThen thou art of the earth earthly; for thy soul is more truly present\nwith what it loves than it is present with the body to which it gives\nlife.\" And St. Paul teaches : \"If I speak with the tongues of men and\nof angels * * * and if I should distribute all my goods to feed\nthe poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not\ncharity, it profiteth me nothing\" (I Cor. xiii, 1-3).\n\nNow, my dear children, be very thankful to God for the wonderful\nprivilege of receiving the body and blood of the Lord in Holy Com-\nmunion, a favor often granted you as members of your order. For this\nbrings you very close to the cross of Jesus crucified. Often receive\nour Lord. I trust with all my heart and soul that this devout prac-\ntice of frequent communion shall not be discontinued in these danger-\nous times. Nature cannot stand alone ; either it must fall lamentably,\nor with all its powers cling to God for support. And do not suppose\nthat this is a question of perfection ; no, but rather of preservation from\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor g92\n\nour Innate weakness, and salvation from eternal loss. Our Lord teaches\nthat the well need not a physician, but the sick. And this need of vital\nhelp IS seen in our times far and wide, and even among persons con-\nsecrated to God.\n\nBut let no one sit in judgment on those who are not perfect in their\ngood works If these observe the rules of their holy order as far as\nthey are able, that is enough, so long as they have a good will to do\nal the rest, and are lawfully dispensed from stricter observance It\ntakes no great learning for this much. Let them cheerfully comply\nwith their rule as far as they can, meanwhile keeping their eyes wide\nopen against all deadly dangers. To this end let even our younger\nmembers often and gladly approach Holy Communion. I will answer\nfor the older ones. They have communicated often and fervently in\nformer years when times were not so wicked. They have been de-\nvoted y attached to our order and lovingly obeyed its rules. They\n\n7t nffi . r'vJ''^ \"\"P '^\"'^ P'\"\"' '\"\"'''\"^ ^^ fortnightly communion.\nIt sufficed for their perfection in better days than these. But the de-\ngeneracy of our younger people calls for a yet more frequent use of\nHoly Communion on their part, in order to overcome their evil incli-\nnations. We need more help of divine grace and more frequent Com-\nmunion nowadays, if we would keep our footing in the higher ways of\nperfection. Alas, everything seems sinking down into the pit of beastly\nlust and sensual enjoyment.\n\n„ I \"\"\" \"\"f '\"\"=\"• P«'-'e'=tion of you than that you love your holy\norder, and that you resolve to keep its sacred rules to the best of your\nability Observe strict silence iu every place and time prescribed, but\nespeaally at table and in choir. Be on your guard against the ea^t\nfamiUanty with any who may lead you away from God-the older\nmembers for he sake of edification and recollection, the younger ones\nou account of natural frailty. Do this with deep sincerity, and God\nw.ll grant you His own familiar company, and then it will be easy\nenough to fiy from ail that may sully the purity of your heart I as\nsure you that the intolerable evils that have fallen on certain monas-\n\nioTanr-f :r\\'T ''T'' \"' ^\"'^ ™'^ ^\"-^ dangerous arc\n\nnL ^,1 f ™'\"\"'°' \" ^\"' \"\"\"S *\"«■\" t° \"«<>■• destruction.\n\nDear children, if in your spiritual life you do not feel sweetness\n\nof devotion, M that not distress you. What is worth more than all\n\ntaste of sweetness is to do what good lies in your power, and to be in-\n\ntenorly detached from earthly things. Bitterness of soul suffered for\n\n692 Tbe Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nGod's sake will bring you nearer to Him in living truth than all man-\nner of sensible devotion. Our Lord cried out on the cross : \"My God !\nMy God! why hast Thou forsaken Me?\" (Matt, xxvii, 46). And in\nthe agony in the garden He exclaimed to His Father: \"Not what I\nwill, but what Thou wilt.\" (Mark, xiv, 36). Will you, dear children,\nbe afraid to follow Him? Listen to Him again: \"If any man will\ncome after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and fol-\nlow Me.\" (Luke ix, 23).\n\nChildren, the cross means Christ crucified. He must be born in us,\nand in all our soul's powers, will, memory and understanding; yes,\nand even in our outward life of the five senses must Christ crucified\nbe given full mastery. St. Paul teaches : \"They that are Christ's, have\ncrucified their fiesh with the vices and concupiscences\" (Gal. v, 24).\nThat means the taming of our unruly sensual tendencies under the\ndominion of Christ crucified. And our irascible tendencies must also\nbe subjugated. We must easily give up to others, and that in all law-\nful things whatsoever. We must easily believe others are right and\nourselves wrong. We must abhor strife, and become kindly-mannered\nand good-natured, silent under insult, and as easily led by our neigh-\nbor as a feather is wafted by the wind.\n\nIf thou art in a gathering of men, and seest the others chattering\nand noisy, dear child, learn a lesson of silence from that, turn into\nthy own thoughts and sit still. If a man would learn a trade how\nis he going to do it if he will not let himself be taught?. If thou un-\ndertakest a fencing bout, thou shalt be worsted and suffer hurt unless\nthou dost practice beforehand under a master. Thus, also, in the Lord's\nwarfare we learn how to win the victory over ourselves by suffering\ncontradictions. As to the two interior faculties, the understanding\nand the will, the powers of knowing and of loving, the cross of Jesus\ncrucified must be taken up and carried in them most manfully, that\nthe all-loving Eedeemer may be borne in our inmost spirit.\n\nThus it is that we are to be born again in God, to be made the fruit\nof His spirit. St. Peter says: \"As new-bom babes, desire the rational\nmilk without guile\" (I. Peter ii, 2). If thus you live to God, every\nday of yours is a day of the dedication of God's living temple; all\nyour sins will be forgiven by this new birth in Christ crucified. May\nGod help us to His Son's blessed cross, that we may be nailed to it\nand hang upon it, and that by it we may be constantly born into new-\nness of life. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 693\n\n3nt^H0r Olnirifixiott\n\nSynopsis — Christ crucified draws all our being inward to Himself — The\ninterior life is a sweet and bitter crucifixion, followed by resurrec-\ntion— Tfie hard truth that not in joy but in pain we are joined to\nGod — Wartiing against despondency.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF\n\nTHE HOLY CROSS.\n\nAnd I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself. —\nJohn xii, 32.\n\nThis is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, whose dignity\npasBes the power of words to tell, by which all glory of time and eter-\nnity is given us ; for when we think of the cross we call to mind Him\nwho died upon it. On this day religious communities with all solemn-\nity pay high honor to the Cross, and, when their rule requires it, they\nbegin today a season of fasting — a practice profitable, not only to\nthem, but to all others who may be able to observe it.\n\nWe recall today how a Christian Emperor recovered the true cross\nfrom a heathen King, and how he began to bear it with royal pomp\ninto Jerusalem. But his pomp was not suitable to that symbol of pain\nand sorrow, and, therefore, God miraculously closed the gate of the\ncity against him, and stationed an angel there to bar him out, who\nsaid to him : \"Thou comest here carrying the cross with majestic\nsplendor, whereas He who died upon it was driven out of this city in\nshame and ruin, bearing it on His bruised shoulders and walking pain-\nfully along barefoot.\" Upon hearing these words the Emperor quickly\ngot down from his horse, stripped oflf his precious robes, even to his\nshirt, laid aside his glittering crown and took off his shoes; then in\nthat poor plight, shouldering the holy cross, he started forward. The\ngates flew open before him, and he entered the city and set the cross\nup in its place, and many miracles were wrought by it on the blind\nand lame and sick.\n\n694 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nOur Lord said : \"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw\nall things to Myself.\" Man is what is meant by all things, for, as St.\nGregory says, man has in him all forms of matter and of life. Now\nwe meet with men who have found the cross, for God has drawn them\nto it and to Himself with many sorts of pains, and with various pious\nexercises. But these sufferings must not only be found by us — as\nwas the material cross of Christ by that Emperor — but they must be\nexalted in the soul and made supreme there. If a man will but enter\ninto himself he will find the cross twenty times a day. Painful things\nare always happening, and these crucify him, if he will but have it\nso. But it is quite possible that he does not exalt these crosses to\ntheir proper height; he does not make right use of them. We should\nlift up the full weight of the cross of life in God; that is to say, we\nshould accept all our own pains and troubles, inner and outer, both\nthose of the soul and those of the body, with hearty and cheerful will-\ningness. It is thus that a man is drawn into God ; for, as Christ says,\nit is when He is lifted up that He will draw all things to Himself.\n\nAgain do we find men who bear the cross, indeed, but it is in the\nway of outward piety, following too mechanically the routine of their\norder, in choir, at holy reading, in the refectory. A little honor is, in-\ndeed, done our Lord in this way of the outward life. But, dear chil-\ndren, do you think that God has created you to be his little singing\nbirds? No, but He would have you to be His special friends, and the\nspouses of His Holy Spirit. Yes, you carry Christ's cross outwardly,\nbut you are careful to keep it out of your interior life, and you lay it\naside and take a rest from it whenever you can. Such as these carry\nthe cross, not with our Lord, but with Simon the Cyrenian, who was\nforced to carry it. But after all, even this is good. They do carry\nChrist's cross ; it guards them from many defects, it helps them against\ngross frivolity of mind, and it saves them many a pang in purgatory,\nperhaps even from the eternal pains of hell.\n\n\"I will draw all things to Myself,\" says our dear Lord. Now, if\none will draw things, he first gathers them together. And so our Lord,\nwhen He is going to draw us, gathers our senses, our words and works,\nour thoughts and intentions, our imaginations and our longings, our\nunderstanding, our will and our love — all these he attracts towards\nHim. And when they are well assembled together He absorbs them\ninto Himself, and away from all alien attractions. For be sure of this :\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 695\n\nif thou shalt be drawn to Christ, then all that thou cleavest to must be\ncut off, all and every satisfaction whatsoever, interior and exterior.\nThis detachment is, indeed, a heavy task, all the heavier in proportion\nto how strong the attachment was. For all joy and love thou hast\nin created things, call it by what name thou pleasest, however holy\nand godly it may seem to thee — all must be stripped ofif thee, as the\nroyal robes were stripped from that Emperor, if thou art to be drawn\nto God and exalted on His holy cross.\n\nThis is the first degree, and it concerns a man's outward life.\nShould he, however, wish to raise the cross in his interior life, then\nhe must needs give up all interior joy. He must renounce all attach-\nment to the joys of his spirit, even such as flow from the practice of\nvirtue. Learned men dispute as to whether or not a man may law-\nfully enjoy the pleasure of virtue as such, maintaining that we can\nonly have the profit of a virtuous act, and must reserve all our joy\nfor God Himself, and for Him alone. Yet it must be said that one\ncannot practice virtue without feeling some joy in it; but this must\nbe without any sense of ownership.\n\nChildren, what do you think joy or satisfaction really is? Is it\nthat a man can fast, watch, pray, keep the rule of his order? But I\ntell you that our Lord, when He would have me keep my order's rule\nin the right spirit, will deprive me of joy in doing all this. What do.\nyou suppose God means by sending dry times into your observance-\nof the rule? Seldom is one day like another. Now I am full of\ndevotion ; yesterday I was empty and barren. At one time I am at-\ntentive to prayer; at another my mind is overrun with all sorts of\"\ndistractions. Dear children, this is the cross of Christ. Accept theser\ndreary changes from His hand in all patience, and they will become\na lovely cross to your souls. If thou wilt but offer them all up to\nGod in total resignation of spirit, and thank Him sincerely for them,\nthou shalt by their means be drawn close to Christ crucified and ex-\nalted with Him, magnifying God in all the happenings of thy life.\n\nThe Son of Man must be lifted up on the cross. Many among us,\ndear children, are clean of heart, but they fail in this: they are too\nhungry for the sweet feelings of religion. They would have their\nminds full of emotional happiness. Dear child, give over all that.\nAttend diligently to real disengagement of spirit. Be afraid of in-\nterior sweetness; look on thyself as unworthy of such favors. Love\n\n696 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nthe cross that is found in trial and temptation; love it better than\nthe sweet flowers of pious emotion. Make up thy mind that thou,\nlike everyone else, must bear the cross. Our Lord said to the two dis-\nciples on the road to Emmaus: \"Ought not Christ to have suffered\nthese things, and so to enter into His glory?\" (Luke xxiv, 26). Can\nit be otherwise with thee, His disciple? Now, therefore, if any bright\nlight illumines thy inner soul, or any great sweetness refreshes its\ntaste, let not the enjoyment of that gain control over thee. Stop\nnot with it so long as to ask : What is this gift of God? But quickly\nfall back on thy own nothingness and do no otherwise.\n\nOur Lord said: \"If any man will come after Me, let him deny\nhimself and take up his cross daily and follow Me\" (Luke ix, 23).\nIt is not with prosperity, but with the cross that a man follows God.\nWhen St. Andrew saw his cross he cried out: \"All hail to thee, thou\nmost lovely cross. Long have I craved with all my heart to have\nthee. Lift me up from among men and place me with my Master,\"\nTo be made like-minded with that apostle is not the work of a day\nor two. Thou must set thyself to constantly search thy soul and\novercome thyself in all things. Thou must also keep strict account\nof thy sins and imperfections. What if thou art weak and fallest\nseventy times a day. Never give up; rise again each time and go\nforward courageously. Keturn to God so quickly and so sincerely\nthat thy sins are pardoned thee even before thou hast time to tell\nthem in confession. Let not thy sinful tendencies affright three.\nMany a fault of thine is permitted by God, not so much to hurt\nthee as to help thee. For does it not cause thee to own to thyself\nthat thou art but nothingness? Does not the shame of it lead thee\nto mortification and detachment? Carefully avoid all despondency.\nWhen a man knows that he has a good will, that he is glad to obey\nOod, then no matter how weak he may be let him be full of courage.\nNo one in this life is free from sin as our Blessed Lady was. There-\nfore, be content to strive manfully, to suffer patiently, to bear thy\ncross in union with Christ. St. Paul says: \"We know that to them\nthat love God all things work together unto God.\" (Rom. viii, 28) ;\nand the gloss says that this includes even our sins. Be silent; fly\nto God; consider thy nothingness; stay at home in thy own interior\nlife, nor need thou run to thy father confessor after every little de-\nfect. St. Matthew, all unprepared and all un instructed as he was.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 697\n\nyet rose up the moment he was called and followed the Lord. And\nif thou catchest thyself in some fault, do not make too much ado\nabout it. Let Divine truth itself guide thee about it, and be thou\nfaithful in all peace of soul. Nothing can condemn thee eternally\nif thou dost not mortally turn away trpm God and wilfully give thy\naffection to creatures. All thy faults may be turned to good ac-\ncount by humbling thee, if thou wilt but keep God in thy mind and\nin thy heart.\n\nBut let me warn you frankly. If you allow creatures to absorb\nyou, and that wilfully, and if you seek dangerous occasions of sin,\ntherein is your damnation. And if God does afterwards give you\nthe grace of true repentance (but upon this you dare not reckon),\nyou shall, at all events, suffer an awful purgatory — if you but knew\nhow bitter, you would wither away with fright. And if in that state\nof mortal sin you receive Holy Communion, it is as if you took a\nsweet, delicate little child and cast him into a filthy cesspool. Thus\ndo you treat the Son of the living God, who gave Himself for your\nsalvation. And, furthermore, your confessions will be sacrilegious\nif you are not resolved to avoid the proximate occasions of mortal\nsin— a calamity from which the Pope and all his cardinals could\nnot save you ; for your sorrow is vain, and you become guilty of the\nbody and blood of the Lord.\n\nI have already quoted our Lord's words: \"If any man will come\nafter Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow\nMe.\" Many a devout Christian takes this doctrine of self-abnegation\nso seriously that words cannot express how hard they are driven\nonward to every sort of self-denial, and how deeply they long for\nthe cross. And very rightly, too. What costs little is worth little.\n\"And this I say: He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly\"\n(II. Cor. ix, 6). So says St. Paul. And our Lord: \"With what\nmeasure you mete it shall be measured to you again\" (Matt, vii, 2).\n\nBut, dear children, what is the good of my exhorting you to take\nup the cross if you will still obstinately cling to your old ways of ex-\nternal devotions? Thou must give thyself up; thou must die to\nthyself in thy interior. The Lord has said: Follow me. And, in-\ndeed, the servant always follows his master; he does not go before\nhim. Nor are things arranged to suit the servant's will, but the\nLord's. This applies to the inner no less than to the outer life. We\n\n698 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nneed no higher learning than duly to understand what it means to\nbe a servant of God interiorily — to give all our mental energies to\ndo our Master's will in all things.\n\nChild, the grain of wheat must die before it can bring forth fruit;\nso must thou in all sincerity die to thy own will : A man must go\nout and away from his own will. If he then gives himself up inter-\niorly to God it is with him as if he had not possessed any will of his\nown. Once a devout nun stood singing in choir, and in her heart she\nsang as follows: \"Lord, this time is now thine and mine, but if I\nturn inwards to thee, then this time is thine and not mine.\"\n\nIf one is going to give himself to God, he must do so by unlimited\nrenunciation of his own will. Every man is, as it were, three men;\nthe animal man, living according to his senses; the reasonable man\nguided by his understanding; and finally the Godlike man, or\nthe man formed on God's pattern. This is the highest man, and it is\nthe interior man. Into this interior manhood must we turn our\nthoughts, with it must we lie prostrated at God's feet in the abyss\nof His diety, delivered over to Him bound hand and foot, quite gone\nout of ourselves. The two lower natures we must trample under\nfoot. In view of this it is that St. Bernard speaks : \"We must with-\ndraw the animal man from the things that he possesses with love.\nHow hard a cross that is you know full well.\" And he continues:\n\"It is not a whit less hard to draw the outward man back into the\ninward man; to change from a life of visible things to one of things\ninvisible, deep in the recesses of the soul.\" And St. Bernard is in\nthis justified by St. Augustine. All the afflictions of the two lower\norders of life, which seem to hinder our turning inward to the highest\norder, if we did but accept them as crosses and offer them lovingly to\nGod, instead of hindering us will help us to our inner perfection:\nand this includes all trials of the mind as well as pains of the body.\nWe should readily leave them behind us, and diverting our souls\nfrom Ihem, turn quickly to God in our highest spirit.\n\nThus did Abraham. When he went up the mount of vision to\nsacrifice his son, he left his servant and the ass at the foot. Our\nanimal nature is but a beast, our natural understanding is but a\nservant; these serve us to bring us to the mount of vision and of sacri-\nfice. Let them both remain below, while we go up alone with our son,\nnamely our interior spirit. Ascending to the summit we shall there\noffer our best and highest gift, our very spirit itself, to God. Give\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 699\n\nthyself up instantly to God. Enter into His hidden depths, and there\ngive Him the hidden life of thy soul. As the Psalmist says to God:\n\"Thou Shalt hide them in the secret of Thy face (Ps, xxx, 21). In\nthis secret union with God, the created spirit has returned again\ninto conformity with its uncreated type, as it existed in the Divine\nplan in eternity, though yet remaining in its own created existence:\nand nevertheless it is in God, because in the Divine abyss all things\nare as it were in God, When a man reaches this state, says Proclus,\nall that may affect his outer nature, as poverty and pain, he no longer\nadverts to. As the Psalmist again says: \"Thou shalt hide them in\nthe secret of Thy face,\" and then adds: \"From the disturbance of\nmen\" (Ps. xxx, 21). These souls now follow our Lord in His union\nwith the Father, as He said: \"In that day you shall know that I am\nin the Father, and you in Me, and I in you\" (John xiv, 20).\n\nThat we may all thus be drawn to our Lord, God grant us in His\nmercy. As Christ crucified would draw all things to Himself, may\nHe draw us; and may He exalt us with the exaltation of His cross,\nplacing us in the holy heights of His true love. May all this be granted\nus by Him who has gone before us bearing His cross and ours, and\non it has died for us. Amen.\n\n\"^00 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — Perfection summarized is union toith Jesus crucified^-Need\nof adjusting our motives to those of Calvary — Lessons drawn from\nthe four parts of the cross are humility, purity of heart, love of God\nand of neighbor — How the cross attracts even hard sinners.\n\nTHIRD SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF\n\nTHE HOLY CROSS.\n\nI was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress tree ou Mount Sion.—\nEccles. xxiv, 17.\n\nThis is the feast of that glorious cross, whose praises no words can\nrightly express. Let us apply our text to the cross's lessons.\n\nOn Mount Libanus grows the incense, whose fragrant vapor typifies\na spiritual offering of great excellence made by man to God. They\nsay that the smoke of burning cedar wood cures the poison of snake\nbite, as the cross of Christ cleanses our souls of the devil's venom.\nCypress wood, they tell us, is that medicine which stops vomiting,\nand helps a sick man to retain good food in his stomach. Even so,\nif a man will but take and keep within his soul the cross of Christ,\nthe sweet and nourishing food of God's word will abide in him. All\nthe teachings of God's holy servants and prophets will feed his soul,\nnot a morsel of the Divine food being lost; and it will strengthen him\nunto eternal life : this is the effect of one's loving Christ's cross. And\nthe cross has a sweet fragrance of its own besides, very attractive and\nvery strengthening, a sweetness surpassing all other, a power to win\nabove all other. As the Lord said of His exaltation: ''And I, if I\nbe lifted up from earth, will draw all things to Myself\" (John xii, 32).\nAs He was Himself attracted to the cross, so fondly drawn to it that\nHe must be hung high upon its arms, so would He draw all men to\nit with the same power, namely the power of humility, and of patience,\nand of love. Just as He suffered, so must we in like manner suffer,\neach one imitating Him to the best of his ability; so that we shall in\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 701\n\nspirit be apprehended and bound with Him, condemned and put to\ndeath with Jesus crucified.\n\nOur Lord Jesus Christ was stripped naked when He was crucified.\nNot a stitch of clothing was left on His body, and right before His\ndying eves his garments were gambled for. Now I know as sure as\nthere is a God, that if thou shalt come to thy best spiritual state, thou\nmust be stripped naked of every single thing that is not God — not\na thing must remain to thee. And then all that thou hadst must be\nmade a joke and a game of before thy eyes and counted as nothing\nworth, and thy fellow men must reckon thee to be a fool. The Lord\nsaid : \"If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take\nup his cross daily, and follow Me\" (Luke ix, 23).\n\nAnd again He said: \"If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou\nhast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven :\nand come follow Me\" (Matt, xix, 21) ; that is to say, follow Him in\nthe way of the cross. And this is the practical lesson of the feast of\nthe exaltation of the holy cross. We read in the Apocalypse, of the\ndreadful plagues that God shall send before the day of judgment, but\nthe exact time is not written, and we are still expecting them. But\nan ancient prophet tells us how men may be saved from these horrors.\nGod said to His destroying angel : \"Go through the midst of the\ncity, through the midst of Jerusalem, and mark Thou upon the fore-\nheads of the men that sigh, and mourn for all the abominations that\nare committed in the midst thereof\" (Ezech. ix, 4). And these men\nwere to be spared. Now this, mark Thou, was the last letter of the\nHebrew alphabet, and was made thus — T, like a cross: the men saved\nwere thus marked with a cross, and the rest were destroyed. The\nword cross means to us pain. God spared the men who had suffered\npain and sighed and mourned for His sake. He did not command\nthe angel to spare the learned, nor contemplatives, nor actively zealous\nmen ; no, it was only patiently suffering men who were to be spared.\nOur Lord did not say to mankind : Whosoever will follow Me, let\nHim become a contemplative; by no means; but let him take up his\ncross of daily suffering and follow Me.\n\nA word more about the cross. The man who takes up the cross of\nChrist perfectly is the best man on earth. No plague can ever strike\nhim. He shall suffer no purgatory. Nor, all things considered, is\nthere any great pain in the cross. But alas, we have come to this:\nnobody nowadays thinks that he can endure any pain at all. People\n\n702 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nare grown weak-spirited and delicate-natured. The diligence and\nearnestness of former times has almost disappeared, the fire of love is\nquenched. Men will not tolerate the least discomfort. If we could\nfind some new way of perfection involving no manner of suffering,\nwe might preach and propegate it with success. In our day men\nlove only themselves.\n\nYet the cross may not be what people think it is. It is not neces-\nsarily fasting, or watching, or going on pilgrimages, or great alms\ngiving, or total poverty. All these serve a good purpose, indeed. Do\nthy share of them faithfully according as thy state of life and thy\nopportunities suggest. But remember that no man is too weak of body,\nor too old, or too stupid, but that he may yet take up Christ's glorious\ncross and journey with Him to eternal life.\n\nThe cross is framed of four pieces, one upward, another downward,\nand two sidewise. The upward piece is true Divine love. The left\narm is deep humility : to this a man is nailed by genuine self abasement\nand renunciation of all things belonging to him. This is a better\nvirtue than pretentious belittling of self, which may easily be mixed\nwith secret pride. The right arm of the cross, is true, interior purity\nof heart. By this one is nailed fast in entire voluntary absence of\nwhatever can stain the soul with the least fleck of creature love inner\nor outer. The lower part is what holds the feet fast nailed in holy\nobedience, true and perfect: it means quick and entire abandonment\nof every sense of proprietorship in thy own will. These four beams\nare fastened together in the midst into one cross, and it is done by\nthis strong bolt: Fiat voluntas tua — Thy will be done. This makes\nfour pieces one cross. That bolt is a true and perfect surrender of\none's freedom to God.\n\nNow notice first about the left hand — humility. With St. Augustine,\nwe consider a man humble who gladly accepts suffering for God's sake,\nand willingly continues in it. Again, a humble man must be reduced\nto nothing in his own eyes, likewise in those of his fellowmen. He\nmust go forth naked out of all his belongings, out of all that he is.\nLet men throw dice, if they please, over his very clothing ; and let them\ndespise him and make sport of him — it is all welcome to him, because\nhe is nailed to the cross with Christ crucified. Thy whole life must\nbe despised ; thou must be regarded as an imbecile ; thy opinions must\nbe turned on thee. And when thou sufferest all this and are direfully\nrailed at, thou must not answer back a single word; thou must feel\nashamed to say a syllable in thy own defence. Thou must never say:\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 703\n\nThe man who accuses me is a liar; or this: Thou dost me an in-\njustice. But rather shalt thou love to keep silence, and to think within\nthee: Ah this is a favor; I am unworthy to suffer all this; my accusers\nare good and noble men : God does me unmerited honor in this vis-\nitation : And thou shalt bend thy back and patiently bear thy burden.\n\nThe right hand, (to apply our figures of speech in a variety of ways),\nis disengagement and purity of heart. By this a man is nailed to the\ncross by willing destitution of all things that are not God, all that\nmay put a spot on the soul's brightness, all joys of the senses. The\nlower piece is holy obedience, to which we are nailed securely by entire\nsubmission to all our superiors in holy Church. This obedience is\ndriven home by the nail of detachment from self-will in everything\nwhatsoever. The cross's centre, is our going forth out of selfhood;\nit is resignation under no matter what affliction God or man may lay\nupon us; suffering willingly for Christ's sake; and cheerfully ready\nfor the cross at all times.\n\nPerhaps thou mayst protest: Alas, sir, I cannot do this, I am too\nweak. But I answer thee: In thy soul there are two wills, a higher\nand a lower, as Christ had His Divine and human wills. Now thy\nlower will wants always to be free from suffering; but the higher\none says with Christ to His Father: \"Not what I will but what Thou\nwilt\" (Mark xiv, 36).\n\nThe head of the cross is the love of God. Thus the soul rises upward\nwithout any interruption from God or man, looking to God in a state\nof entire abandonment, and saying: \"My God, why hast thou forsaken\nMe?\" (Matt, xxvii, 46). Mayst thou also utter those words with Christ\ncrucified. Our Saviour's head as He hung dying was without any sup-\nport, and in His desolate abandonment. His love gave forth those words.\nOnce a good man asked our Lord, why it was that He allowed His\nfriends to suffer so dreadfully. Our Lord answered : \"Man is always\ninclined to harmful satisfaction of the senses; and therefore I restrain\nhim and hinder him in this, so that I alone may become his satis-\nfaction.\" The head of Christ, which here may mean love, hung down\nhelplessly, having no support; and that is the universal lot of good men.\n\nChildren, turn which way you will, you must carry your cross and\nhang upon it. To be a good man desirous of coming to God, always\nmeans suffering. Some cross or other he must have. If he runs away\nfrom one, he will run into another. The man was never born who\ncould preach well enough to disprove that proposition ; you cannot\nescape suffering. Fly this way or that, try this thing or that, suffer\n\n704 The Sermons and Spiritued Conferences\n\nyou must, there is no escape. It may indeed happen that God will\nnow and then place His own shoulders under thy burden, and lift\nits heavier end off of thine; thou wilt sigh with relief, and think thy-\nself at last totally free. But presently God withdraws His aid, and\nthen the weight again crushes bitterly down upon thee with intol-\nerable oppression. Now Christ suffered all this before us in the\nseverest possible pain; and He has drawn after Him in this trial all\nthose whom He most dearly loves. His cross is Elias's fiery chariot,\nbearing our prophet upwards to heaven, and from it He casts forth\nHis prophet's mantel on Eliseus, His disciple. Our Lord does this for\nus from His cross.\n\nTake an example. A certain sister of our order had often longed\nto behold our Lord as a little child, and once during her devotions\nHe appeared to her in that form. But the Divine Child was wrapped\nin a thorny robe. That she might embrace Him, she had to brave\nthe sharp points of many thorns and to suffer bitter pain from them.\nThus was she taught, that if any one would enjoy our Lord in close\nembrace, he must be willing to suffer sharp, piercing pain.\n\nBut someone might object : If I am only pure and innocent, all\nthis teaching might profit me better; but my sins are too great that\nI should merit any such favors on account of suffering. But I answer:\nA man who has repented of very grievous sins, may gain extraordinary\nmerit from suffering, and that in several different ways : — nay, his\nmerit may possibly be greater than that of one who had always been\ninnocent. He may be compared to one who would make a great leap :\nthe farther he would leap the farther backwards he goes to get space\nfor a long run before springing into the air. So any man who goes\nfar back from God's face, that is to say retires into deep humiliation\nof spirit on account of his sins, will on that account spring forward\ninto God with all the greater force. The more relentlessly one de-\ngrades himself in his own eyes — not simply with words, but most\ntruthfully in his deepest soul and because he has been a vile sinner, —\nthe more powerful will be his impulse of love; the more perfectly will\nhe become absorbed in God.\n\nThat we may permit ourselves thus to be drawn to Jesus crucified,\nmay He mercifully grant us. And may He enable us to give up will-\ningly all created things for His sake. May He who suffered and died\non the cross, exalted high in the air for our sakes so that He might\ndraw all things to Himself — may Jesus crucified exalt us into His\ncompany by giving us the grace of holy suffering. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 795\n\n(gttiiitjg % All\n\nSynopsis-Hoio striking is St. Matthew's example-Sense of ownership\nmust le excluded from all dealings with God— We lare not to he\ndiscouraged ly occasional or invohmtary faults against this diffi-\ncult olligation—On the more hidden and painful detachments of\nperfect souls— Christ's passion the school of all self-renunciation.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FEAST OF ST. MATTHEW, APOSTLE AND\n\nEVANGELIST.\n\nM^tf il^V''''^^ ^\"^ ^'™' ^''\"'''^ ^^^- ^'^\"'^ ^^ \"\"'^^^ \"J^ ^°^^ followed Him.-\n\nThis blessed apostle St. Matthew is a moving example to all men\nHe was at first a great sinner, as scripture tells us, and afterwards he\nbecame one of the greatest friends of God. Our Lord spoke to him;\nand as he heard the words they sank deep down into his soul • he\ninstantly rose up, left all things, and followed Him. Everything de-\npends on our doing like St. Matthew, following God in all truth.\n\nBut that means forsaking everything whatsoever that is not God\nand that has gained a foothold in one's soul. For God is a lover of\nhearts; He is not content with anything else; no gift of outward\nthings will satisfy Him. He is concerned with the interior life of\na man; He would have a man cultivate an inner inclination to all\nthat IS virtuous, all that is Divine. God is in the interior life- He\nIS more truly there in one minute of recollection than in hours of\nwordy prayers, or in singing loud enough to echo through the whole\nearth, or in any amount of fasting and vigils, if these are done with\nlittle interior spirit.\n\nOur Lord said: ^Tollow me,\" and to obey Him means six things,\nthree in the lower and three in the higher faculties. In the lower\nthere must be humility, gentleness, and patience. The other thre^\nvirtues left are high above all our powers, being supernatural: faith\nhope and charity. He says: Follow. We do this, in one way, after\nHis own example, namely, by thanksgiving and praise to His Father\n\n706 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nIn another way we come closer to Him, transcending all methods, and\nyielding to a certain interior quiet. In this state our spirit is turned\ninward, and simply waits for God, letting Him do His will just as it\nmay please Him. We meet men with whom all seems to go well in\noutward religious exercises, as prayer, fasting and vigils. But they\nhave so absorbing a joy in these practices that God is not much\nreckoned with — at least directly — sometimes is quite forgotten ; and\nthen He withdraws Himself. The reason is because these men make\nthemselves the object of their devotion, cherishing a sense of ownership\nof spiritual things in great self contentment. They forget that every\ngood thing is God's and not anything is their own.\n\nOne may inquire how he shall be able to separate a good thing from\nthe joy there is in it. I answer by a comparison. In the old law the\npriest was forbidden to eat the fat of the sacrifice; that was com-\nmanded to be burnt as an offering to God. But yet the fat that was in\nthe intestines of the victim he was allowed to eat. Now we may com-\npare the sweetness of all external devotions and good work to the out-\nside fat of the victim. These sensible joys we must cast into the fire\nof love, and burn them in God's honor : He has appropriated them to\nHimself. But yet a certain sense of satisfaction inherent to these\ngood works by the necessity of the case and by their very nature, these\nemotions one may enjoy in a single-hearted way, though without any\nself complacency.\n\nNow let us apply to ourselves the spirit in which St. Matthew left\nall things and followed Jesus. The man who gives up everything,\nand includes himself in this renunciation, must follow the Lord in His\noutward life in all virtuous practices, and in universal love. As to\nthe interior life, he must follow Jesus with sincere self abandonment,\nembracing a real freedom of spirit about all devotional practices,\nwhether inner or outer. And listen to what I have to say about myself.\nFrom God I have received the gift of Divine grace; from holy Church\nI have received my holy order of St. Dominic, my habit and cowl;\nand from her also comes my holy priesthood; and so I am appointed\nto preach and to hear confessions. Now if it should happen that the\npope and holy Church, from whom I have received all these privileges,\nshould ys far as possible deprive me of them, then if I were a truly de-\ntached man, I would humbly accept the deprivation nor so much as ask\nwhy it had been done. I would put on a rough gray coat — if I could get\none, — and go my way. And if I could no longer live with my brothers\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 707\n\nin the monastery, than I should submit to go out of it. If I were\nstripped even of my priestly functions and of my power to hear con-\nfessions, and also to preach, I should say this : In God's name I give it\nall up ; they gave me these privileges, they have taken them away from\nme, as they had the power to do : I will not presume to ask them why\nthey have done so. I do not wish, indeed, to be called a heretic, nor\nwould I like to be excommunicated. Well, then, if I had the grace\nto bear my trial in that spirit, I should in truth be a detached man,\nresigned to God's will. But take a different case, suppose someone\nnot invested with lawful authority should try to rob me of these gifts,\nI should rather suffer death than submit to it; and yet in resisting\nwith due moderation I should remain a man really detached and re-\nsigned to God's will. And should holy Church deprive me of the sacra-\nment outwardly, I must yield with all submissiveness ; but to hinder\nme from spiritual communion, that can no one do. Whatsoever the\nChurch has given us, she can take away, and to her rule we must bow\nwithout the least murmuring or contradiction.\n\nSo much for disengagement of spirit in outward things. But we\nshould go yet farther in resignation of proprietorship in inward things.\nWhat have we that God has not given us? Hence all that He gave\nus must be yielded up to Him again in sincere detachment just as if\nwe never had received it. Dear people, you whose souls are occupied\nwith devout forms and figures and thoughts, whose time is employed\nin the ordinary methods and good works of religion — I am not now\naddressing you, do not apply my words to yourselves. No ; I am now\nspeaking to those led by God in special ways of interior darkness, who\nhave been guided into that narrow path trodden by only a few. Their\nway is very different from that of others, both in doing and refraining\nfrom doing certain things.\n\nOne must hold his spiritual gifts in his soul's powers without any\nfeeling of ownership. Indeed, God's work in such a soul is in a region\nabove the soul's powers. Let it rate all things as nothing except for\nGod's sake alone. But meanwhile all men are naturally formed to\npossess, to know, and to will ; and this is operative in the acitvity of the\npowers of nature. In this you must recall the six things I already\nnamed. In the lower faculties are humility, gentleness and patience;\nin the higher, faith, hope or confidence in God, and charity. And when\nGod leads thy soul to close union with Him, He sends faith to despoil\nthee of thy reason, and of all knowing, and to make thee mentally\n\n708 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nblind. And when this happens to thee, thou must deny thyself thy\nuse of reason, and of knowing, and of mental vision. And after this\ncomes hope and robs thee of all natural confidence. Finally charity\nspoils thy soul, thy will, of all sense of ownership.\n\nAnd these three high virtues pass from the superior faculties of the\nsoul into the inferior ones, and they are projected into the virtues\ndwelling there, humility, mildness and patience. Humility vanishes\naway into a blank feeling of one's very nothingness, losing even its\nname. This meek grace had already robbed the will of the pride of\nselfish ownership; but now all things are become alike to the soul be-\ncause all are reduced to nothingness in the soul's esteem. One no\nlonger seems conscious of being virtuous ; virtue loses its name, and its\nvery being is lost in the one supreme virtue, love. All things are had\nin even minded peace. As to patience, love so rules the soul that its\nthirst for suffering seems but love, and patience is known no more by\nits own name.\n\nDear children, amid all this state of detachment one may commit\nfaults. A fit of anger may seize one, and an ugly word may escape\none; but this should not discourage thee. God allows this in order\nto sink thee yet deeper in thy own nothingness, causing thee to know\nhow unworthy thou art of receiving even a good thought from God.\nUpon one thing everything depends, namely, a bottomless sense of thy\nown perfect nothingness. As to the spiritual exercises of persons thus\nplaced, they are not the ordinary outward devotions, nor ordinary\nmethods of prayer with forms and figures in the imagination. Let\nthose who have not reached so far diligently cultivate all these, and\nGod will forgive them their sins, and lead them through purgatory to\nthe kingdom of heaven. You must know that it is not by self-chosen\npious practices that one arrives at the more perfect state we have been\nconsidering, no, nor even to be made servants of the servants of these\nfavored souls. If such chosen ones are only well advised, they are above\nmeasure fortunate; and yet it is as perilous a state as that of the wild-\nest men in the world, for it places souls on a darksome road ; as Job\nsays: '*A man whose way is hidden, and God hath surrounded Him\nwith darkness\" (Job iii, 23). In that desert road all depends on a\nman walking in a state of entire self-abasement, detached from every\nthing that may possibly arise before him. To such a soul our Lord\nwould say : Follow me — come onward through and past all things :\nwhatsoever thou seest is not Myself — forward! follow Me, never stop.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 709\n\nThen the soul may ask : Lord, who art Thou, that I must follow after\nThee in this dark, wild and gloomy road? And Jesus may answer:\nI am Man and God, and far more God than thou canst understand.\nAnd O how happy for that soul, if it can but respond to the Lord:\nThou art God, and I am nothing and less than nothing. For in truth\nthe infinite and unnamed God can have no other place or state to work\nHis will in, than in the depths of a soul that confesses itself to be\nnothing.\n\nPhilosophers tell us that when a new form of existence enters a sub-\nstance the old form must needs be destroyed ; as when in the mother's\nwomb mere matter gives place to the animal form, and then in God's\ndue time the animal form receives the rational soul, forming the\nhuman nature— quality, quantity, shape, color, and the like, all being\nassimilated to the new form, fc^o I affirm of the transformation of\nthe soul by this superesseutial process: all its forms must needs, in a\n.sense, yield place to God, such as the powers of knowing, willing, act-\ning, feeling, self proprietorship. When St. Paul at the gate of Damas-\ncus was struck blind, he saw God. When Elias covered his head with\nhis mantle, the Lord appeared to him.\n\nAnd now all rocks shall be rent asunder: all that the spirit rested\non, is shattered and torn away. And when all natural forms and con-\nditions are gone, the very same instant the soul is transformed. There-\nfore must thou ever keep on and go forward. The heavenly Father\nsays : \"Thou shalt call Me Father and shalt not cease to walk after Me\"\n(Jer. iii, 19). As if to say: On and on must thou go, deeper and\ndeeper into the unnamed and unknown abyss, nearer and nearer to\nMe : far above all methods, and all figures of the mind, thy soul stripped\nnaked, thy mental faculties lost in Me. Into this lost state of soul\nno ray of light ever flashes but only one; and this lights up and reveals\nthe all sufficient being of God— one in essense, one in life, above all.\nA man may say of this rapture that he is so absorbed in God, that\nin himself he is devoid of consciousness, of love, and of spirit. But\nthis is not to be understood to mean the effacement of one's natural\nindividuality, but tells of the transformation which the Spirit of God\nworks in the created spirit out of His own free goodness; and it tells\nof the created spirit's bottomless feeling of being lost in God, and its\nimmeasurable disengagement from all that is not God. Of this state\nwe may also say that in it the soul learns to know God, to love Him\nand enjoy Him in a transcendent manner, for now there remains to it\n\n710 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nnothing at all but one life, one being, one act — God. But if it should\nhappen that a soul thus favored, should bear itself with undue free-\ndom and should follow after any false guidance, it would be in the\nmost perilous condition possible in this life.\n\nThe way and method to reach this happy state, is the study and\nimitation of the life and passion and death of our blessed Lord. For\nHe is the way that we must walk, He is the truth that lights up the\nway. He is the life that we must attain to live. He is also the door ; and\nHe tells us that whosoever enters unto God through any other door is\na thief and a robber. Through this blessed door, then, all must enter,\nbreaking down nature's resistence in the steadfast practise of virtue,\nespecially humility, mildness and patience. Be sure that anyone who\nfancies that he has come to perfection without treading this road,\nis under a delusion. From such persons God is far removed, and they\nare blind and self-blinded.\n\nAs to those who have sincerely trodden in our Lord's footsteps and\nobtained this state of perfection, the authorities of holy Church from\nthe pope down, feel no uneasiness about them, nor need they. For\nthey obey all laws out of love. As St. Paul says : \"If you are led by\nthe Spirit, you are not under the law\" (Gal. v,18). Life is never weary\nto such souls, for tedium never oppresses them. The same cannot be\nsaid of any world-lovers, for their love palls on them. Whereas in\nthese heavenly lovers, their very existence has in the superior powers\nof the soul, been lifted above time and its weary changes. And even\nin their inferior faculties their life is full of freedom, for they are\ndetached from affection for all things: they have come into a land of\nessential peace. From God they accept instinctively all that happens\nto them, and in the same spirit they offer up all to Him again, and\nso they abide in sweet tranquility of mind. And this is true of them\neven while their outward man is much disturbed and sorely pained.\nO what happy men are these. Wherever they a^-e found, they should\nbe honored by all. But I fear that such Divine seed is but thinly\nsowed among us. Let us beseech our Lord to grant us the grace to\nfollow Him in this manner, and that we may acquire these high priv-\nileges. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor '^^l\n\nSynopsis — The angels are actively engaged in our lehalf — How dear to\nus should he our guardian angels— Bote the diffrrmt choirs of\nangels are engaged with different states and classes of men.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FEAST OF ST. MICHAEL AND ALL HOLY\n\nANGELS.\n\nTheir angels in heaven always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.—\nMatt, xviii, 10.\n\nThis is the blessed feast of the holy angels, and we have seen how it\narose from the apparition of St. Michael on Mount Gargano. With\nwhat words one may rightly tell of these holy spirits, I do not know,\nfor they have no bodily form, no hands or feet or outward appearance.\nHow can we so much as imagine them? — least of all describe them. Nor\nis it any wonder we know so little of them, for what do we know of\nour own souls, by which we are constituted human beings? Why\nwonder, then, that we cannot understand these transcendent angelic\nbeings, whose nobility so far excells all human excellence. Hence\nit is not of their essential being that we can speak, but only of their\nwork with us. Now their activity among and with us, is conditioned\non this : they ever behold us in the mirror of the Godhead, each one of\nus in his own distinct form and essence. As God acts universally upon\nus and without distinction of this one or that one, because He is the\ninfinite God, so do the angels act upon each of us separately. God's\nactivity in us is infinitely more noble, and is exclusively His own ; their's\nis in cooperation with His, as the rays of the sun in the sky distribute\nits light throughout the earth. Or, again, as the stars give us the\nreflexion of the sun's light, so do the angels bear the Divine brightness\nto our souls.\n\nThe angels are divided into three hierarchies, and each of these into\nthree choirs. Each hierarchy has its own peculiar office in God's\nwork with us, and its special relation to the three lives we lead: first,\nthe outward bodily life of the senses ; second, the interior life of intel-\nligence, our reason ; third, the high, Godlike, most hidden and interior\n\n712 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nman. All of these together are one and the same man, over whom\nthe angels have custody. Each of us has his own special angel, given\nhim in baptism, the angel guardian. He is always with us, sleeping or\nwaking, working or resting, whether we are bad or good. O, if we\nhad nothing else to thank God for, how deeply should we love Him\nfor binding each one of us so fast and firm to such glorious being as\nan angel of heaven. But, be it remembered, every man has also his\nparticular devil, ever actively scheming against his welfare, just as\nthe angel strives for his salvation. And let me say this: if a man\nwere only wise and diligent, the devil's warfare would serve him\nbetter than the angel's care, for without a battle there is no victory.\n\nAs to the hierarchies, the lowest is called that of the Angels, pure\nand simple, who serve us in our outward life, warning, guiding, and\nhelping in the way of virtue and peace with sleepless zeal. Without\nthis guardianship, what calamity, think you, would not fall upon man-\nkind. We should be exposed helplessly to the plots of the malignant\ndemons. Against these the good Angels ever assist us.\n\nAbove the Angels are the Archangels, and these are like angelic\npriests, for their office is to help us to profit by the sacraments of holy\nChurch, especially by the worthy reception of Holy Communion. Above\nthese again stand the order of blessed spirits called the Virtues, ever\nurging us onward in the practice of various kinds of natural and\nmoral virtues; and in addition to that, they win us by their secret in-\nfluence to the practice of the holier virtues of faith, hope and love,\nHappy are the men who obey their sweet whispers, and who live in\nfamiliar friendship with them. To such men the practise of virtue\ngrows so easy and its fruit so delicious as to become, as it were, a\npart of their very nature. Children, against these good men, the\nfiends who have fallen from this order of the Virtues, level their\nfiercest strokes. All their cunning devices are set to work to hinder\ntheir salvation ; for they, if they but persevere to the end, will be\ngiven the places in that rank of heavenly spirits from which those\ndemons themselves have fallen. The maliginty of these evil spirits\nis inevitably great, and it works incessantly. We must stand our\nwatch against them with sleepless vigilence; for often times their\ndeadliest scheming takes the form of something good. Especially do\nthey strive to divide and scatter our affections away from God, and\nto waste them upon a multiplicity of created things. Often enough,\nwhen one has reached a state of moderate virtue, the demons will do\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 713\n\ntheir utmost to hinder him from advancing to that further state of\nperfection which God would have him reach. This is a very dangerous\ncondition to him, and the devil is well aware of it : in our times there\nare more souls thus halted, while God calls them to go forward,\nthan at any previous time. St. Bernard says: \"In the way of God,\nto stand still is to go backward.\"\n\nIn this state of stagnation are all those worldly hearts, who say:\nWe do as many good works as others do, and that amply suffices for\nus ; indeed, we are better than those who pretend to greater perfection ;\nand we will continue in the good ways of those who have gone before\nus. But when some great trial comes upon these men, then shall we\nhear their lamentations: it will be shown that they were not as good as\nthey thought they were. The evil spirits will work their fiendish will\nupon them, and at last lead them away without resistance. The con-\ntrary will be the case with fervent spirits, who have hearkened to the\ncounsel of these good Angels. When their trials are passed and gone,\nthey will be found all purified and made holy by them ; they will be,\nas it were, on terms of familiar friendship with those bright spirits,\nwho will continue to conduct them towards a happy end.\n\nOf the other and superior orders in the hierarchy of blessed spirits,\nwe are told that they are given custody over men's intelligence, by\nwhich we are raised above all other bodily creatures, and are\nmade like the Angels themselves. They are called the Powers,\nthe Principalities, and the Dominations. These principally as-\nsist those men who have made some progress in virtue, aiding\nthem to self mastery, as well over ,the senses and the outward\nlife as over interior faculties of the soul. By their aid a man\ncan rightly guide his thoughts, and words and deeds, attaining\na noble freedom from our naturally vicious inclinations. Thus\nit is related of St. Francis, that he was given such a mastery over his\nexternal nature that when he made up his mind to do any good work,\nhis body seemed instantly to respond and to say : Behold Me before\nthee, ready to obey. These men are as it were the princes of this world,\nfor they are free from nature's corrupt constraint and subject to no\nweakness, ruling all movements of their inner and their outer nature\naccording to God.\n\nAnd when the evil spirits see these souls thus full of power for good,\nthey are devoured with incredible hate; they cannot bear the thought\nthat these shall take the places in heaven they themselves have forfeited.\n\n714 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nOne can hardly imagine the violence of the temptations they launch\nagainst them, the like of which commonplace worldlings have never\nknown. But when these souls are almost driven mad with their trials,\nthen come the angelic Princes, members of the choir of the Princi-\npalities, and rescue them from their enemies: thus the victory is won.\nAfter that the fiend molests them no more. The demon's pride is now\nfatally hurt, and he dreads another conflict with so powerful a foe.\nAnd then a mighty angel of that choir called the Powers, becomes\nactive in such a soul. By his means a man's reason becomes so strong,\nthat he is able to detect the treacherous purposes of the demons, as\nSt. Paul says that neither the mighty ones of this world nor those of\nhell itself could ever overcome him. After this comes the third hierarchy\nto do their holy work in the innermost soul, where man is transformed\nand new made in God.\n\nOf these the first choir is called the Thrones, the second the Cherubim,\nthe third the Seraphim. The first makes a man's inner spirit a royal\nthrone for God. There He rests and dwells and rules with Divine joy ;\nthere He judges and rewards this soul, and guides all its activity, both\ninterior and exterior. Now does such a man become so immovably\nfixed in his freedom from evil, that scarcely anything is so hard or\nso enticing, so sweet or so bitter, as to be able to disturb him. As St.\nPaul says: \"I am sure that neither death nor life — nor any other\ncreature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is\nin Christ Jesus our Lord\" (Rom. viii, 38, 39). A hundred deaths could\nnot move such a soul from God. He is like a man on the point of\ndeath, to whom all honor and shame are alike indififerent, for he is\nnow turned to the other life. So is this interior man always turned\nwith a life and death determination, towards God enthroned in the\nremotest chamber of his spirit. Peace of soul possesses him under all\nhappenings, for he has the Prince of peace within him ; as David said\nof God: \"His place is in peace\" (Ps. Ixxv, 2). Dear child, may God\ngrant thee this place of peace in thy soul, and may His holy angel help\nthee to guard it securely from all disturbance. Be silent, avoid men,\nsuffer patiently, and sit down in peace. In all confidence remain at\nhome with thyself, seldom go abroad, keep careful watch over thy\nthoughts, shrink away from contentions and disturbances; watch Him\nwho is enthroned within thee all powerful, all glorious. Never let\nthere be the least interruption to His peaceful sway over thee.\n\nAnd after this the Cherubim take up their part, which is to pour\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 715\n\na brilliant light into the soul, casting as it were with quick flashes the\ntints of the Divine beauty upon that soul. By these Divine gleams of\nheavenly splendor, the soul is so penetrated with the light of wisdom,\nthat were it necessary it could instruct the whole race of mankind with\nthe brightest teaching. And this enlightenment is given in flashes,\never growing quicker, truer, more splendid, and more certain.\n\nFinally come the burning Seraphim with their blazing fire of love. In\nan instant these set the soul's depths on fire. Then does a man's love\nblaze out so wide and so hot, that it enwraps and includes in itself all\nthings whatsoever. He feels as if he would set fire to all men and to\nall things and consume them with his love — and this feeling comes to\nhim instantaneously. And it is so vehement a fire that he would him-\nself love to be burnt up with love.\n\nAll this happens in the inmost depths of the enlightened soul. But\nyet it is exhibited in both the interior and exterior faculties. These\nare now Divinely ordered. Such a man is so far detached from affection\nfor earthly things, so virtuous, peaceful and quiet, that not the least\nim.perfection can be noticed in any of his words or acts. And mean-\nwhile he reckons himself as nothing at all. All these marvels of grace,\nof angelic inter-position in his spirit, seem to him no more his own than\nif they had been operated in another man a thousand miles distant.\nHe cherishes no attachment whatsoever for all that God does in him\nor can do — only to God is he given over, and to Him wholly and entirely.\nHe places himself last of all in the entire race of mankind. These souls\nare the very heaven in which the Divine Spirit dwells, as our text says -.\n\"Their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father who is in\nheaven.'' May God grant us all the grace to reach this holy state.\nAmen.\n\n716 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nf?iniojisis — The multitude who heard the Sermon on the Mount is typi-\ncal of heaven — Poverty leads the holy throng — Involuntary pov-\nei'ty, a state dear to our Lord — Voluntary poverty includes a deep\nlove for the poor — The other beatitudes considered in detail.\n\nFIRST SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS.\n\nAnd seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain, and when He was set\ndown, His disciples came unto Him. And opening His mouth, He taught them\nsaying: Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. —\nMatt. V, 1-3.\n\nThus it was that our Lord taught us the eight Beatitudes. The moun-\ntain into which Jesus went up, may be considered as His own Divine\nbeatitude, by which He is one with His Father. There followed Him\na great multitude of all His beloved saints, whose solemnity we this day\ncelebrate. And how variously did all these follow Him, each one accord-\ning to his different calling from God. It behooves us to do likewise,\neveryone of us observing closely what his vocation from God may be,\nand therein to abide in peace.\n\nLet us honor these great servants of God with all earnestness. And\nnow what is the best honor we can do them? It is to cultivate entire\ndetachment of spirit from all created things; and then to sink deep\ninto the heart of God as they did, and to be lost there. That is their\nbeatitude ; no other can be ours. This sentiment is the best celebration\nof their holy feast.\n\nLet us closely study this holy multitude, assembled on God's moun-\ntain, each one placed and ranked as God has differently drawn and\nappointed him. First came the ancient Fathers of the old law, who\nspent their lives in ardent sighings for the coming of the Redeemer.\nThey were filled with God's hope and love ; and not only outwardly but\ninwardly they were disengaged from all things that were not God.\nWith great charity did they share all their possessions with God's\nchosen people. They were deeply concerned lest any fault should stain\nthat race, out of which was to spring forth the Saviour of the world.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 717\n\nThey lived without any proprietorship of their own flesh, which\nwas dedicated to the birth of the Messiah. Of this race it is read today\nin the Apocalypse, that out of each of its twelve tribes, twelve thousand\nwere signed with God's special favor; and after these followed on a\nmultitude so great that no man could number them.\n\nAfter them came the glorious company of the holy apostles, called\nby our Lord to a far higher perfection. Not only by secret longings,\nbut in actual possession did these have the Redeemer. They were with\nHim in true poverty of spirit and of body; indeed they attained the\nhighest degree of holy poverty that a man can ever reach.\n\nThen came Christ's martyrs, a vast multitude of heroic souls. They\nnot only gave up all things for His sake, but they gave up their very\nlives, just when and where and how God willed.\n\nThen came the great army of holy confessors of Christ's faith, who\nhad variously followed Him in many a sacred calling. Some of them\nwere hermits, and spent their lives in solitude, far removed from all\nmen. There they sat still and hearkened to what God. the eternal\nWord, spoke within them, dwelling in deserts, in caves and in forests.\nOthers again passed their lives in the state of holy orders, as God pro-\nvided for them. These labored in holy church in preaching God's word\nto her children, in writing about Divine things, hearing confessions,\nteaching, governing congregations; all done with ready good will as\nGod guided them, in true submission to Him, and detachment of spirit\nfrom both themselves and all things else that are not God.\n\nThen there followed the Lord the great choir of the pure and spot-\nless virgins, chaste in soul as well as body. O how lovely a thing is\nthat — to be found at death as clean as an angel of God. to be clothed in\nthat robe of virgin whiteness that our Lord and His holy mother prized\nabove all other adornment. Whosoever is granted this privilege, may\nlaugh to scorn all the troubles of life. As long as he holds fast to this\npriceless pearl, no pain that is known to man can reach his heart.\nBut thus to retain holy chastity, one must make ready to fight a hard\nbattle. He must suffer many a pang from the rebellion of his senses\nand the foolishness of this world, besides the plots of the devils. But\nbe well assured that such striving every way brightens the purity of\na chaste soul with renewed splendor. Dear child, keep a close guard\nover thyself, arid often call to mind the wondrous reward of chastity\nin the company of Christ's holy virgins.\n\nAfter these the great multitude of the Christian people follow our\n\n718 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nLord, men and women who have lived in the world and been occupied\nin the common walks of life. These were upheld and saved by the\nprayers and ministration of the closer friends of God; and ere they\ncome into the Father's kingdom, they must for the most part be puri-\nfied in purgatory. As we celebrate the perfectly sanctified souls in\nthis festival of All Saints, so tomorrow we shall commemorate the\nsouls not yet perfectly sanctified, namely those in purgatory. And\nwe should realize that for one earthly self satisfaction, one venial sin,\nwe shall suffer sharper pains than were endured by all the martyrs\nwhom today we honor. This needs must be, as we can see if we con-\nsider what it is to stand against the infinite God even in the smallest\nmatter.\n\nNow all these beautiful groupings of holy men and women, form\nthe great multitude that have followed Christ to the mount of His\nBeatitudes. And having them gathered about Him, He opened His\nDivine mouth and He proclaimed His eight Beatitudes. Let us say\na few words about each of them. First: \"Blessed are the poor in\nspirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\" This virtue is given the\nfirst place, because it is a capital or head virtue, and a beginning of\nall perfection. Children, whatever way you look at Christian perfec-\ntion, the inmost soul of a man must, to begin with, be free, and un-\nencumbered, and therefore destitute. If God is to do His work in\nthy soul, it must be stript of all ownership. That is a foregone con-\nclusion, if God is to make thy soul His own.\n\nOne kind of poverty is to be poor against one's will. Persons who\nare thus poor may have their faults, but let no man judge them\nharshly, for our Lord overlooks their defects all the more graciously\non account of their poverty.\n\nThe second kind is spoken of by St. Thomas. Herein man loves\npoverty and practises it according to his lights, because he knows\nthat it ministers to his freedom of spirit and detachment; but yet he\nretains his own necessary goods. Many a one is only the more elevated\nin spirit if he is placed so as not always to feel want, rather than if\nhe must daily struggle for life's comforts. When one lawfully pos-\nsesses the goods of this world, offering thanks to God for the same,\nhe is sometimes more pleasing to God, than if he must look out con-\nstantly for his bare support. But in case one finds his ownership of\ngoods absorbing his mind and becoming inordinate, hindering the prac-\ntice of such virtues as meekness, temperance, humility, disengagement\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 719\n\nof spirit, then he should give up his goods and should join those men\nwho practise outward poverty.\n\nThe third kind of poverty is that in which God is so dear to a man,\nthat none of this world's goods can hinder his love for Him. More:\neverything in the world helps him to love God. St. Paul says: \"We\nknow that to them that love God, all things work together unto good\"\n(Kom. viii, 28). Such a soul is untouched by anything that is not\nsimply God, his whole spirit being immune from the love of earthly\ngoods, remaining under all circumstances poor and detached. The\napostle tells of this kind of spirit: '\"As having nothing, and possessing\nall things\" (II Cor. vi, 10). Such a man may own the treasures of\na kingdom without harm to his inward spirit.\n\nThe fourth kind is a deep love to be poor, with the motive of being\nin the company of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ in His state of desti-\ntution. This poverty is embraced out of unfeigned desire to have a\nsoul unencumbered of all that is not God, interiorly and exteriorly.\nIt helps the return of our spirit into God its origin by detaching it\nfrom all creatures. It makes it harder for any sudden danger to fetch\nus down, for it clears the spiritual perceptions, and smooths the way\nto our turning inwards to God. Children, this is the purest poverty.\nFor the highest dignity of poverty is this : it facilitates our soul's\nflight to the heart of God ; or will increase the beatitude of the soul in\neternity.\n\nAnd now let us consider the second Beatitude: \"Blessed are the\nmeek, for they shall posses the land.\" This lifts us a grade higher in\nbeatitude. True poverty, indeed, frees us from certain hindrances:\nbut this blessed meekness goes deeper, and banishes from our hearts\nall bitterness, wrath, and untruthfulness. For it is written : \"All\nthings are clean to the clean\" (Titus i, 15). To the gentle minded,\nbitterness is unknown, and this comes from the solid foundation of\ngoodness in him, which makes all things good.\n\nDear child, in former times the pagans tortured God's friends, but\nnowadays good appearing Christians persecute those who would closely\nfollow Christ. Ah yes, these thy neighbors inflict deep wounds upon\nthee. If thou wouldst serve God perfectly men say to thee: Thou\nart raving to do such things, thou are guilty of singularity, thou art\na deceiver. Then comes meekness to thee and leads thee back into\nthyself; and now thou acceptest all this as from God and not from\nman. And then thou restest peaceful, and sayest to thyself: What\n\n720 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nharm can men do thee, if thou remainest a faithful friend of God?\nThus does the soul that is meek possess the land, namely interior\npeace; that heritage remains his no matter what befalls him. If\nthou shalt act otherwise, then thou failest in virtue and losest thy\npeace, and art no better than a snarling dog in thy quarrelsome\nresistence to God's visitations.\n\nThe third Beatitude is, \"Blessed are they that mourn, for they\nshall be comforted.\" And who are the mourners? In one sense they\nare those who have any suffering whatever to endure. In another\nsense, they are those who mourn and weep in sorrow for their sins.\nYet again it is those faithful friends of God who have done true\npenance, and have already bewailed their sins and been entirely\npardoned. They need not weep any more for their own sins, but they\ndo weep bitterly for the sins and imperfections of their fellowmen. We\nread that once our holy Father St. Dominic asked one of his com-\npanions why he was weeping so bitterly. \"Dear Father,\" said he, \"it is\non account of my sins.\" Then the saint answered : \"No, dear son,\nweep not for them, I pray thee, for they are pardoned and all pen-\nance done for them. But I beg thee to weep now for the sins of those\nwho will not weep themselves for their wickedness.\" God's true\nfriends weep over men's blindness of heart, and over the miserable\nsinfulness of the whole world. When we see the threat of God's wrath\nupon us, in fire and flood and storms and darkness and famine, then\ndo we weep and mourn before God's face, day and night imploring\nHim to spare us. And so he holds back His hand and gives us space\nfor repentence. But if we do not use this respite well. He visits us\nwith yet greater plagues. The dark cloud of God's judgment hangs over\nus, but God's servants keep it back with their tears. But be sure that\nif we do not repent, the Divine wrath will break forth against us with\nsuch fury as will make us dread that the day of judgment is at hand.\nThose who now rest in the false peace of sin, will then feel the heavy\nhand of justice. They easily omit hearing mass ; they readily neglect\nhearing God's word — these Divine things are growing very strange to\nthem, as one of them goes here and another there in his guilty ways.\nBut others there are, whom the faithful God will find true to Him.\nThese weep and mourn for their sinful brethren.\n\nThe fourth Beatitude is, \"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst\nafter justice.\" Children, this is a virtue that few men have possessed\nin such measure, as that all their hunger and thirst and desire was\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 721\n\nafter God's justice and nothing whatsoever besides. That would mean\nlonging for neither the favor nor disfavor of men, neither for my\nprofit nor that of my friends, caring neither for praise nor blame-\nonly for God. Such a man as that is well worthy our admiration,\nfor whosoever has reached so high a degree as to care only for God's\nrighteousness, nor can enjoy the thought of anything else except God\nalone, may indeed be called blessed.\n\nThe fifth Beatitude is '^Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain\nmercy.\" Of mercy it is written : \"The Lord is sweet to all, and His\ntender mercies are over all His works\" (Ps. cxliv, 9). Therefore is a\ntruly merciful man a Godlike man, for mercy is born of Divine love\nand kindness. Hence it happens that real friends of God are more\nmerciful than other men, and are more trustful and patient with sin-\nners than those who love God less than they do. Mercy springs from\nthat mutual love that men should have one for another. At the last\nday our Lord will demand an account of this brotherly love, and if\nwe cannot show that we have had it He will withhold His mercy from\nus. He will say nothing about all other perfections, and will found\nHis sentence on this question alone : Were you merciful to your fellow-\nmen? Nor does this virtue consist alone in giving gifts. No, it\nextends to a merciful regard of all the faults our neighbor commits,.\nand patient endurance of all the injuries He may inflict on us. Who-\nsoever does not feel a loving sympathy for his neighbor's misery, who-\nsoever does not overlook his faults with kindly feelings— such a man\nmay well forbode that the Lord will not show him mercy, for with the\nmeasure with which thou metest it shall be measured again to thyself\nwithal. See to it, that thou dost not condemn thy neighbor, lest thou\nthyself Shalt be condemned eternally.\n\nThe sixth Beatitude is : \"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall\nbe called the children of God.\" Men of truly peaceful hearts are\nindeed blessed men. No man can take their peace away, either in time\nor eternity. For all their will has gone out from them into God's\nwill, in joy or sadness, in weal and woe, for time and eternity. All\ntheir doings are according to God's ways and not men's, for they are\nguided supernaturally, Divinely. They are baptized in the power of\nthe Father, in the wisdom of the Son, and in the sweet love of the\nHoly Ghost, and this Divine influence has penetrated so deep, that\ntheir peace is beyond man's reach to disturb. The tranquility of the\nblessed Trinity has so entirely sanctified them, that they could order\n\n722 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nand rule the whole land with their peaceful wisdom; for the eternal\nwisdom has filled them with its light. And they are just as full of\nlove. Gladly would they overflow upon their fellow men in great\nfloods of love and of peace, expending their inner and outer life entirely\nfor their welfare. Touch them how you please, peace and love come\nforth upon you. These hearts are indeed the peacemakers of mankind,\nhaving that peace which passeth all understanding. Well may they be\ncalled the children of God. For the fountain of peace that is Christ's\nbecause He is by nature the Son of God, that same is theirs by the\nparticipation of grace, for they are truly begotten in the heart of God.\nNor can any such peace as theirs be otherwise obtained, than by a\nmost interior union with God. This Beatitude can not be gained by\nself chosen methods of piety of an outward description.\n\nThe seventh Beatitude is : \"Blessed are the clean of heart, for they\nshall see God.\" What is a clean heart? It is a heart free from the\nentanglement of creatures; a heart whose depths God finds empty of\nall love, naked of all attachments to creatures. These clean souls will\ntruly see God. Purity of heart is stained, when a man willfully seeks\nsatisfaction in created things and rests in them. In whatever degree\na man finds content in creatures, in the same does he cut himself off\nfrom God. And the efl'ect is such darkening of his soul's vision as to\nhinder his seeing and finding God in the interior life. Outward con-\nditions of chastity aid the soul's interior cleanliness, as St .Paul says:\n\"He that is without a wife, is solicitous for the things that belong to\nthe Lord, how he may please God\" (I Cor. vii, 32). As with bodily\nchastity, so with purity of heart. As the former is sullied by un-\nguarded mingling with outward company, so is the Godlike integrity\nof the spirit, soiled and even destroyed by wilful contact with what\nbears not the stamp of God. The soul's eyes become darkened, so that\nit cannot recognize the Divine source of all purity within its depths.\nIt requires a soul all cleansed from worldly and fleshly satisfaction to\nenable one to flow back without ceasing into God, our creator and our\nbeginning. Cleanness of heart is a most admirable virtue, inasmuch\nas it prepares the human spirit to be the spouse of God, and fixes all\nits desires upon Him alone.\n\nThe eighth Beatitude is: \"Blessed are they that suffer persecution\nfor justice's sake, for their's is the kingdom of heaven.\" No man\ncan fully explain, or indeed understand, what an amount of good lies\nhidden in suffering. Our faithful God, who has set apart His chosen\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 723\n\nones for close union with Himself, when He sees that their life is not\nconducive to that, visits them with quick and terrible suffering. By\nthat means, whether they will or not, they must partake of his beatitude\nAnd that is a trait of fidelity in God that we should be exceedingly\nthankful for. That T must suflfer is a favor from God that I am unwor-\nthy of. And it causes a great hope to rise in my heart that God has a\nspecial love for me, for it makes me like His Divine Son, abd compels\nme to imitate Him. St, Bernard says: \"It is a far greater honor to\nsuflfer slight pain with holy patience, than to perform many good works\nfor God.\" And St. Thomas says : \"There is no pain so slight, whether\nin our interior or exterior life, but that in suffering it patiently we\naiay image forth the adorable passion of our Lord Jesus Christ; and\nin every suffering we endure, we can, if we will, obtain a share of the\nmerits of Jesus crucified.\" %\n\nBut I must speak of a nobler kind of suffering, and a sort that\nbrings us yet closer to God, than even these wonderfully beneficial\npains and deprivations. I mean sufifering from the direct act of God\nin our inner life. As high as God is above creatures, so is this pain\ngreater than any that man can inflict on us. It is the pain of being\ncompared with God's greatness and holiness now fully revealed. We\nshould love Him dearly for securing our eternal beatitude by suffering\ndirect from His own self. Our beatitude thus becomes God's work\nand not ours ; we have but to accept Him and yield to Him.\n\nBy nature a man is better fitted to suffer than to act, to accept than\nto give. Every gift of God makes our longing for all His gifts a thou-\nsandfold greater, if we will but passively sit still and wait for God's\naction in us, giving Him all room in our souls to continue and com-\nplete His blessed work. For God's is most pure act, and the soul, on\nthe contrary, in this supernatural relation to Him, is purely passive. If\na man will but rest tranquil under God's action, only accepting and\nlonging and nothing more, God will perfect His plans upon him, and\nimpart to him His marvelous beatitude. May God grant us to be still,\npatient, and passive under His hand, and to experience the fulness of\nHis loving influence. Amen.\n\n724 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n3nUrwt (HUnnixntBB\n\nl^ynopsis — The pain of holy purification — Uniridled passion described\n— How virtue succeeds vice in the purifying process — Vigilance,\ncourage and patience the virtues principally needed for gaining\npurity of heart.\n\nSECOND SEEMON FOE THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS.\nBlessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God. — Matt, v, 8.\n\nDear children, be assured of this : all who would be well pleasing to\nGod, must be free from every spot and blemish, or God will not accept\nthem, rather does He leave them to their devious wanderings. A man\nshould aspire not only to be quit of his sins, but to lead a life of detach-\nment from creatures, and this with the purpose of giving Himself\nwholly to God's service. This cleanness of heart is indispensable if one\nwould hearken to God's loving inspirations in his soul. Now, if this\nbe needful for the present life, so is it for a high place of glory in the\nnext life.\n\nTo have us clean of heart in this sense is the end God has in view\nin giving us His graces. The first effect of these is to set one to examin-\ning his conscience diligently, and then to the banishing from his life\nevery sinful thing by means of earnest mortification of the outer senses\nand the inner weaknesses. And what is meant by a good conscience?\nIt is a very peaceful spirit, making little of self, humbly devoted to\nGod's will, eager for His honor. It causes one to stand indifferent\nas to all giving and getting, quite without choice, except that the soul\ncraves to enjoy that beatific state in which God's will shall be done\nin it without resistance.\n\nBut ere the soul arrives at this state of freedom and of peaceful\ndetachment, it must be heavily oppressed with sorrow, and hence God\nscourges it with inward pain. First comes a burning knowledge of\nthe malice of its mortal sins. It bewails them with deep sincerity and\ngreat pain, and hates and avoids all wickedness with steadfast cour-\nage, including all dangerous occasions of sin. During all this the soul\neagerly yearns to be clean of heart, and never again wilfully to trans-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 725\n\ngress God's law. After that the soul begins to practice works of pen-\nance, setting itself relentlessly to mortify sensuality in every way,\nrefraining itself even from lawful pleasures, as in eating and drinking,\nvisiting and conversing, rest and work. All this it does to advance\nin perfection, following the gospel counsels of poverty, chastity and\nobedience. In due time a great change is seen. Whereas once the\nsoul found its joy in self indulgence, the very thought of such things\nnow causes it pain. Thus it is that the heart is made clean of the\nleast stains of venial sin, while formerly it thought it sufficient to\nguard against gross mortal sins.\n\nAnd now the spirit would conquer the body, and the lower nature\nresents that, for it means a heavy bodily discipline and the retrench-\nment of its accustomed pleasures. The brutish nature of a man repines\nat this, and may not easily and patiently yield to reason's sway : the\nperverted lower spirit revolts. Naturally one does not brook restraint\nin his indulgence of the life of the senses. He craves to idly gossip and\nchatter with his friends and hates holy silence; he would have liberty\nto complain ; he must have leave to boast. Whatsoever he does not like,\nhe resents accepting. If he has aversion for anyone he insults him;\nthe instant he is pained he flies into a passion ; he follows his prejudices\nblindly ; what is sweet to him is good, what is bitter is bad ; if he praises\nanyone, all must echo him ; and if he condemns anyone, none dare praise\nhim.\n\nNow against all this one strives manfully, if he would become clean\nof heart. First he studies it all over very carefully, playing well the\npart of self-observation. He would know above all else what sort of a\nman he is, and what power he has over his natural forces. But the\ncleansing of his heart he finds to be a heavy task. Oppression of spirit\nhe will not endure, nor inward shame : he must force these upon himself\nviolently. But one thing he has: much contrition and real humility\nbefore God; and even to his fellows he owns his miserable weakness.\nYet, thus far he has hardly learned the real meaning of Christian\nmortification; and he may easily make a misstep, for in his nature's\ndepths his evil propensities still lie hidden. They drive him towards\noutward sins, which he can hardly keep away from. And now his great-\nest need is the practice of the outward virtues, following the pattern\nof our Lord Jesus Christ; and ever and everywhere to shun the dan-\ngerous occasions of sin.\n\nAfter some progress has been made in this heavy fight against the\n\n726 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ngrosser vices, a man gradually acquires a spiritual tone of life in his\npractise of virtue. His part is now to practise most fervent prayer,\nspringing out of a heart weary with the struggle against sin. A. sure\nresult is far deeper contrition than before. He is overwhelmed with\nshame, as God gives him a clearer knowledge of his former depravity.\nHe begins more easily to accept pains and miseries and contradictions\nand disgrace, as being a fit offering to God in atonement for his wicked-\nness. Love soon begins to take the ruling place, and with it comes\nthe virtue of detachment from created things, together with firmer\nfaith and more lively hope in Christ Jesus. He will now have nothing\nof his own, lest the sense of ownership should stain the purity of his\nmotives in the least degree. Self hatred often quite posesses him, and\nby that humble condition of soul he is hindered from judging others.\nThe instant he is conscious of temptation, he shuts and locks all his\nsenses ; he avoids every danger lest he should give the enemy the least\nadvantage.\n\nSoon he begins to cleave to God with all his heart, and would think\nof nothing else. Come what may against him, he is ready with holy\npatience, and waits meekly till God comes to his relief, for he will by\nno means loosen himself from the cross by seeking either mental or bod-\nily solace. Along with this there comes to him much docility of spirit.\nHe seeks and easily follows good counsel ; and he obeys his superiors\nbecause he is submissive to God. He looks straight at the duty of the\nmoment; is it to do some good work? He straightway does it. Is it\nto patiently resist temptation? He resolutely does so. And he thanks\nGod for all that comes and goes. If he suffers want, he learns to utter\nno complaint except, perhaps, very humbly to God. He boasts of noth-\ning, is self complacent over nothing — God and God alone is his joy, and\nthat above all things To Him he offers thanks for sweet and bitter\ngifts with equal fervor. As to his imperfect brethren, he has no pride\nover them, but much kind heartednes for their weakness. He shuns\noutward silliness, and puts a rein on his tendency to excessive mer-\nriment.\n\nHe dreads a spirit of routine in performing spiritual exercises,\nand hates lukewarmness of spirit. Nor will he gluttonize in the sweet-\nness of sensible devotion. With him, that alone is good which is close\nto God. Watch and ward is his motto in dealing with himself. It\ncomes at last to this : he cannot help belittling himself in his own\nmind. If he advises against any defect, he leads the way in shunning\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 727\n\nit, and especially every form of self-will. He busily labors to raise\nthe house of perfection on the solid foundation of self abasement, in\nwhich he offers himself to God, bearing in his soul and body the life,\npassion and death of Jesus Christ. On no creature will he place the\nleast reliance, but only on God. O how he longs to love God more\nardently ; how ambitious he is to be a true lover of God, clean hearted,\nclearly guided by Divine truth towards his eternal beatitude. God\ngrant us all to come to that blessed state. Amen.\n\n728 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nf[?rfrrti0n t\\}t l^tnri of (6rtnt l^rltt\n\nSynopsis — The first practical rule for acquiring perfection is loving\nimitation of Christ's life and passion — This involves daily medita-\ntion on His vx>rds and deeds — The need of an interior spirit in this\nexercise — The second rule is rigid fidelity to the routine of a pious\nlife — This must he based on principle — Peace and joy resulting\ntherefrom.\n\nSEKMON FOR THE FEAST OF ST. CATHERINE, VIRGIN AND\n\nMARTYR.\n\nWho, when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way, and sold all\nthat he had, and bought it. — Matt, xiii, 46.\n\nWe may understand this parable as referring to a Christian virgin,\nwho, for the sake of safely keeping holy chastity, has given up all\nthings. Or, again, the virgin of Christ has found the pearl of great\nprice in His sacred passion, and in that passion she has followed\nHim, renouncing for His sake all natural and worldly pleasure.\n\nThe shortest way to serve God perfectly is found in two things:\nthe first is faithful observance of the common religious practises of\nholy Church, including a life of obedience, poverty, chastity, and the\nother pious practices handed down by the fathers. This course dis-\nciplines our outward conduct and trains us to the acquisition of\nvirtue.\n\nThe other is imitation of Christ in His passion. Once a day we\nshould meditate diligently on His life, sufferings and death, conform-\ning ourselves as strictly as possible to them as to our model. Especially\nshould we note the various happenings of our life, receiving them as\nfrom God's hand, and studying His meaning in sending them, so that\nwe may thus the better give ourselves up to Him and follow His guid-\nance. A careful consideration of what daily occurs reveals God's\ngreat mercy in dealing with us. Not a day passes but He would lead\nus higher up towards Himself, conforming us more and more nearly\nto the image of His Divine Son in all He gives us to do and to suffer.\nMeanwhile a man should direct his intention strictly to God's honor\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 729\n\nin every act of the day or night. He should, besides, suppress the\ninordinate activity of his senses, having in near view the quenching\nof all love of worldly things. May not all this truly be called a pearl\nof great price— doing all these holy things after pious meditation on\nChrist's passion?\n\nThe suflferings of Christ are the brightest jewels that can adorn a\nvirgin's soul. The thought of Jesus crucified, of God's Son dead,\nburied and gloriously risen again, is a treasure worth all this world's\ngoods; and when it has become habitual in the soul, it is worthy of\nthe most heartfelt thanksgiving. By pondering the sufferings of\nChrist, evil inclinations are restrained, foul imaginations are banished,\nour own mortal weakness is shown to us, and deep rooted humility\nacquired. Soon the soul gains the grace of heartfelt compassion for\nour Lord in His crucifixion, and of deep sympathy for all men in\ntheir woes and miseries. On the other hand, if one fails thus to study\nour Redeemer's life and death, he will not learn to know himself ; and\nsuch a one usually sticks fast in external exercises of religion, which\nhis cowardice hinders of interior sweetness.\n\nOne of the fruits of meditation on Christ's passion, is the grace of\nreadily offering our own sufferings to God in all singlemindedness,\nand without self deception. God Himself takes charge of such souls,\nand especially does He teach them the virtue of true mortification,\nhelping them to recover from their petty defects. He draws them\nfrom loving creatures to loving Him; and He gives them the grace\nof discernment to know in advance what to do and what to avoid to\nmake progress in His love. How faithfully do they confide in Him.\nHow well do they understand the folly of trusting themselves. Thus\nminded they make bold to believe that they are not under deception,\nfor well they know, that whosoever trusts self is surely deceived.\n\nA yet further grace is the discernment of the various movements\nof grace and of nature, as they form our motives of conduct — a very\nneedful wisdom. For many an apparently faithful Christian, good\nin outward religious practices, yet harbors self-complacency in his in-\nmost soul.\n\nGood virgins cherish the sound and commonly received principles of\nthe spiritual life as held in holy Church and taught in the scriptures ;\nto these they adhere with all their might, full of inner faith and outer\nprofession. And their spirit is ever an interior one. They cleave\ndirectly to God. To Him and not to men do they look for relief from\n\n730 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ntheir difficulties. But it happens that if one would turn away from\nmen to God, he is likely to sutfer persecution and be visited with\nshame. In such a case our good virgin bears her burden silently and\ncheerfully, ever and again returning to meditation on Christ's life and\npassion, never failing to receive strength from on high to stay at home\nin her own heart, even though she be despised for her choice of this\ndevout custom. But she does not yield to pride. She does all with\na holy fear, ever blushing with shame as she stands before God, as\nbeing unworthy of so rare a mortification as suffering the charge of\nhypocricy, and of being called a fool for Christ's sake. But in her\nconscience God witnesses to her guilelessness. And she is very thank-\nful that God's love makes her so happy interiorly.\n\nThe enemy can hardly disturb the peace of such a soul, because her\nglance is always turned upon her own self. And she is not guided by\nthe light of natural reason, or by men's talk, and lays no hope upon\ngood outward appearances, or upon sweet feelings, as if these things\ncould mark her union with God, whereas they too often are snares\nof the evil one. On the contrary, she always falls back on honest\nself knowledge, approved spiritual practises, and seeking union with\nGod with all her might. And when her external exercises are over,\nand her bodily senses are relieved from strain, her soul does not cease\nquietly and spontaneously adverting to God's presence, offering Him\nthanks for his favors, beseeching His aid against all that may divert\nher from His love. Such souls humbly beg God to pardon them their\npast sins, simply because they are displeasing to Him — not alone to\nescape hell and obtain heaven, — begging Him to do with them whatso-\never will best advance His glory here and hereafter. They by no\nmeans pray God that their sins may not displease Him, but that He\nwill forgive them, so that they may not be hindered of His graces, by\nwhich they shall be taught to advance in virtue — not even to be re-\nlieved of punishment, for that they leave to God, as far as they may\nrightly do so. To this happy state do men arrive, who persevere in\nmeditation upon the passion of Christ.\n\nBut alas, how few spiritual men reach thus far; for most of them\nrest in the external things of religion, not turning earnestly inward to\nGod. Therefore is there such a difference between man and man.\nThe problem is to reconcile a life of active religious work with the cul-\ntivation of the interior spirit. There are souls who will not rest\nsatisfied with external works of religion unless they can at the same\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 731\n\ntime diligently labor interiorly for advancement in virtue. To these\nit is a hard trial to be associated with men who exclusively give them-\nselves up to outward religious cares. Misunderstandings naturally\narise; and the externized souls often cause the more interior spirits a\ngreat deal of suffering. But when the latter understand that this\narises from ignorance and not malice, they can bear it with better\npatience. They will be the means of leading many others into the\nbetter ways of the spiritual life, if they will but go deeper and deeper\ninto self knowledge and Divine love.\n\nWhosoever does not go out of self love before he enters the depths\nof the spiritual life, will go astray before he knows it. One easily slips\nback into self indulgence, and presently he stops short in his spiritual\nprogress. If God still endures his service of the senses. He is never-\ntheless not satisfied with it, for all the fruit of holiness above spoken\nof Js lacking in them, and in those whom they might have led onwards,\nif they had themselves been turned inwardly to God. Few ever re-\ncover from this extemalism. How much better it is to give up entirely\nto God's all lovely will— better for God's honor, better for the good\nof souls, many of whom for lack of wise guidance constantly provoke\nGod's anger and mislead their fellowmen.\n\nThus is the pearl of great price fruitful of interior sweetness, in\nself knowledge, in love, and in all holy practises. And yet one must\ngo deeper down for the best fruits, namely below sweetness into a\ncertain bitterness of self abandonment, choosing sufferings from mo-\ntives of love, and manfully dying to one's own selfish sense of proprie-\ntorship. The freer a soul is from love of self and love of joy, the safer\nit is from the snares of the enemy, the more exempted from the\nanxieties of this world, nay, the more secure from danger of hell, even\nof purgatory.\n\nBy constant self-renunciation, practised for God's love, one may be\nso safeguarded by grace as to be scarcely able to fall into sin. At\nfirst the soul enters a way of sweetness, practising many virtues. But\nthere remains a higher and holier degree requiring, however, heavier\nlabor, deadlier grief of conscience, and more painful inflictions from\nGod . Let all this be borne patiently, with sincere faith in God's love\nand confident trust in His purposes, and He will not be found wanting\nto the soul. A man will be tempted to think God has forsaken him,\nso keen shall be his anguish of soul thinking of God's majesty, remem-\nbering his own sinfulness. But he must stand fast in holy hope, giv-\n\nThe Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ning himself to God to do with him what He wills, in time and eternity.\nBehold, then, what comes from devont meditation on our Savior's\npassion. In the end a yet greater perfection is granted, when a man\nIS made one spirit with God. May we all find this pearl of great price\nand with it may God grant us every good gift. Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 733\n\nIJntu ^txi^ iCntiF Slottta ua tc t\\\\t Q^lfttt BtttittP Jp? raona\n\nSynopsis — Love begins iy keeping God's commandments- — As love de-\ncomes purer it instinctively adores the will of the Eternal Father\nas its inspiration — Then the wisdom of God's only begotten Son is\nfelt — The peaceful submission of the soul to Christ as its Master\nand reward — How union with the Father is perfected by that with\nthe Son — Union vnth God the Holy Ghost is a clearer perception\nof divine truth and love — This is joined with the loftier graces of\ncontemplation.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FEAST OF ALL THE HOLY APOSTLES.\n\nIf you love Me, keep My commandments. — John xlv, 15.\n\nSt. John tells us that Jesus \"Having loved His own who were in the\nworld, He loved them unto the end\" (John xiii, 1). And many a proof\nhad He given of this His tender love; but He especially showed His love\nfor His disciples at the last supper. Then it was that He reminded them\nof the great debt of love they owed Him, which they could only rightly\npay by observing His commandments. And He promised them to pray\nHis heavenly Father to send them another Comforter, \"That He may\nabide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot\nreceive, because it seeth Him not, nor knoweth Him\" (John xiv,\n16, 17).\n\nTherefore, dear children, I will once again speak to you of holy\nlove, to discourse about which is always a sweet task and very com-\nforting ; and far sweeter yet is it to taste its savor. Our God bids His\nlovers hold Him dear to them by keeping His commandments, and He\ntells us that whosoever keeps them not, does not love Him. It is mani-\nfest, therefore, that God hates the man who lives in sin. On this sad\ntheme I will not discourse; but I will speak according to my lights\nabout the man who serves God with the highest kind of love.\n\nWhosoever would love God must keep His commandments. That\nmeans that they must be subject to God's will. They dare no longer\nhave any will of their own, but only God's. They must say in all\ntruth: \"Not My will, but Thine be done\" (Luke xxii, 42). God's\n\n734 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nwill is good love, and good love knows nothing of self-love, and loves\nonly the will of the beloved. Three points are here to be considered:\nFirst, a watchful guard of the outward senses, shutting up close and\nfast those five doors of the soul, lest inordinate desires should arise,\nenter in, and gain force. In this way must one be vigilant, lest interior\nhurt is done by means of the outward senses.\n\nThe second is mortification of interior self complacency. By this\none readily gives up his own chosen practises of piety and manner of\nlife when God's will so indicates. He guards against self will in\nsuch matters. He stands firmly opposed to hell's five gates, namely :\nperverse self will, self complacency, spiritual pride, self flattery, and\nself conceit.\n\nThe third is placed in the motives of one's daily life. A man in\nall his deeds and words and thoughts, in all that concerns himself, his\nneighbor and God, should be actuated purely and simply by love. In\nthis he makes a living sacrifice of himself to God, standing in perfect\nawe of the Almighty before all mankind. And this can be done in a\ngrade of love so marvelously high as to pass the power of words to ex-\npress; to be understood it must be experienced, transcending as it does\nall nature's powers. The soul goes beyond itself into the freedom of\nthe Spirit that is given it, and therein it is united to the heavenly\nFather. This is accomplished with a sense of self abandonment for\nGod's greater praise. The soul is entirely subjected to God, immersed\nin the Divine abyss, praying Him meanwhile to make it fruitful in His\nservice, according to His eternal good pleasure. And the soul also\nprays Him to perfect it and every creature He has made, so that His\nall lovely will may be done in everything without exception. Again,\nthe soul, as it is become an example of God's mercy, now offers itself to\nbe made an example of the Divine Justice. But it does not wish that\nits works shall deserve damnation. And in this way it prays God for\nthe perfecting of his holy will.\n\nFrom the Father the soul goes onward to the Son, the eternal Wis-\ndom, subjecting itself to Him in all simplicity, as being nothing, know-\ning nothing, feeling nothing — as far as its powers go — as to what it\nshall do or not do for God's praise and to carry out His blessed will.\nOnly does the soul pray Him to perfect His will in itself and all\ncreatures with His Divine wisdom, just as is best for His praise and\nglory and most fruitful of good for mankind. In all this the soul pays\nno regard to itself, but all to God.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 735\n\nAnd now, peacefully content in all things, the soul is established in\nunfeigned simplicity, waiting God's action, trusting without doubt that\nHe will assume control of it and do His will in it. Then whatsoever\nhappens to it, that the soul accepts as from His hand and to His praise.\nThis is the soul's firm foundation. If it stands in doubt about God's\nwill in particular cases, it follows whatever course it believes nearest\nto it. And if it is forced by circumstances to follow its own judgment,\nthat often seems to be unwise and to contradict sound reason. Not\nwilling to act thus, it can only give up again to God, trusting confi-\ndently that He will finally guide it. And now God is exalted in the\nsoul in His sovereign wisdom, and the soul itself is proportionately\nsunk down before Him in the littleness of its understanding. And this\nstate abides in the soul even while engaged in the most petty duties of\ndaily life. Thus is it united to God's wisdom in much simplicity, and\nattains to the immensity of the deity, amid the darkness of His un-\nknown being, in which He dwells elevated incomprehensibly high above\nall created life. He is a simple being, to whom the created human\nfaculties cannot attain, but to whom they may be united through the\nwork of grace, namely, supernatural faith, hope and charity.\n\nAnd when this has all been completed, the loving soul goes onward\nto the Holy Ghost, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. To\nHim the soul subjects itself so perfectly that it is raised above all\ncreated things, and almost transcending faith and hope, it enters into\nGod by love. This degree of love is more precious than all gifts ; by it\nthe soul is absorbed so deep into the uncreated life as to surpass com-\nprehension, for the closeness of union and the Divine freedom there\nattained is unspeakable. And, if one may be allowed to say so, the\nsoul in its union with God is now a faint resemblance even of the\nhumanity of Christ. Ko longer does it hesitate from timidity, but\ntakes up its company with Christ more lovingly and freely than ever\nbefore.\n\nWTien such a soul w^ould obtain a favor from the Father, it takes\nChrist with it, especially in holy communion ; and it thus offers itself\nto the eternal Father in union with the Son. Particularly does it then\npray for the fruitful life of holy Church, saying with Christ on the\ncross: \"Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit\" (Luke xxiii,\n46). Again and again does the soul thus pray. It is as if it said : O\nLord, rule freely over me, as Thy Father ruled over Thee; help me to\npray, that the will of the most holy Trinity may be done in me; and\n\n736 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nmay it be perfected in my miserable imperfection, as once it was in\nThy glorious perfection; and permit me to be one with Thee for the\nwelfare of holy Church. O Lord, once Thou didst suffer, and thus didst\nThou redeem the world; and now Thou canst no longer suffer. But I\ncan suffer in Thy stead. Therefore, spare me not, as Thy Father spared\nThee not. My heart is ready for all that pleasest Thee in time and in\neternity. Lord, Thou knowest in what manner I can most rightfully\nthank Thee, and how I can be most helpful to mankind : order my life\nto that end, I beseech Thee. Thus it is that this soul gives itself over\nto God, that the Divine honor may in it and by it be advanced. But\nere the soul attains to the degree of perfection in which such an obla-\ntion of self can be made, it must journey over many a desert road, and\ndie many an unheard-of painful death.\n\nTo this third way does God elevate those who have trodden the two\nfirst ways. God comes to these loving ones and leads them Himself,\nteaching them the higher path, and uniting them to Himself in the\nmanner we have described. But alas and alas, that so few men now-\nadays are really spiritual-minded. It is due to the fact that they are\nnot willing to go this way of God and be made fruitful for other men's\nsalvation. But any man who will turn to God's commandment of love\nthus to keep it, such a one will do more good than any ten other men,\nwho would indeed serve God but yet turn unguardedly towards the\nworld; who do not rest in patient waiting and are not single-minded\ntowards God. They are absorbed in the active and external service\nof religion, rather than in the interior work of love, as we have ex-\nplained it. For we have shown how a man awakes from the sleep of\ndarkness into the true light of God.\n\nBut what if this new grace were held out to us, and we should wil-\nfully fail to grasp it? It will escape us in a way that we shall not be\nable to understand. Therefore, let us one and all implore God in sim-\nplicity of heart and deep humility, for help to abase ourselves and\ndespise ourselves, reckoning ourselves the lowest, basest, most con-\ntemptible and worthless creatures that ever lived. Let us beg Him to\ninspire all who meet us with contempt for us, that they may revile us,\nwag their heads at us and despise us. Let us beg Him to so manifest\nour misery to His mute, inanimate creatures, that even they will rise\nup and condemn us — anything, everything to teach us how to die to our\nown will. By this prayer we may obtain grace to shake off all sense\nof proprietorship inner and outer, and learn how to immolate ourselves\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 737\n\ntotally to the Divine honor, to do God's good pleasure in all thing«,\ngiving over to Him mastery of all we possess, not excepting our own\npersonal selves, not excepting anything at all of time and eternity.\nMay God help us to do this, and to do it not out of self-approval, but\nonly from an ardent desire to please Him. Amen.\n\nr38 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — True spirituality craves the martyr's crown — All of God's\ndrawings to virtue point to heroism — Need of a resolute purpose to\nsuffer in union with the King of martyrs — Heaven forecast and\ndescribed — Curious explanation of the marvels of the apostolic era.\n\nSEKMON FOE THE FEAST OF MANY HOLY MARTYKS.\n\nGod, our heavenly Father, honored these holy martyrs with special\nglory ; they were transformed into the close likeness of His only begot-\nten Son. He pressed to their lips that bitter but precious chalice which\nHis Son drained to the dregs. For these martyrs suffered death for\nthe name of Jesus Christ. Therefore it is that this day we sing the\npraises of these dauntless warriors of Christ and favorite friends of\nGod.\n\nNow take notice that there are two kinds of martyrdom . One is out-\nward martyrdom by the sword ; the other is inward martyrdom by the\nstroke of dying love. And we read of St. Martin, that although un-\ntouched by the outward sword, he was yet not deprived of the glory of\nmartyrdom. Here let us realize that a Christian man should experi-\nence the sufferings of Christ our God, seeking after them in due and\nproper penance for his sins in a dying life; thus does he become a\nfriend of God. But these sufferings come to us in two ways.\n\nThe first suffering of a dying life is outward, by withstanding all\nconcupiscence and sinfulness. St. Paul says : \"They that are Christ's\nhave crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences\" (Gal. v,\n24). The other suffering is interior. It consists in an oppression of\nspirit ; God deprives the soul of all sensible or perceptible joy in His\nservice, and dries it up totally. In this trial men are usually found\nwanting; and yet by this means are they most effectually forced to\nturn to God. Some think that all is lost if they cannot enjoy high\nillumination in their thoughts, and are lacking sweet feelings of devo-\ntion. But this is a trait of beginners, and is set aside by those who\naspire to the best form of love; for these make little of sensible devo-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 739\n\ntion. It is a good preparation, to be sure, to something nobler, but\ntaken in itself, our sensible feeling of religion is not of much worth.\n\nAlas, true lovers of God are not many. Men will follow Christ only\nin sweetness. This sort of love may be called wounded love, and God,\nseeing that men's hearts will not be otherwise drawn to Him, imparts\nto them the sensible sweetness of devotion they feel in His service.\nGradually, however, He leads them to that love which is called the\nimprisoned or the captive love; and then they cannot escape Him.\nAfter that there is the degree of love called the raving, or frantic, or\nfoolish love. In this state of love souls are granted great strength.\nWell are they compensated by their graces for the loss of all things;\neasily do they endure men's contempt and derision. Whatsoever suffer-\ning God permits, they instantly offer it to God in the deep abyss of the\nGodhead. With perfect trustfulness they say : O God, whether Thou\nwilt save me or damn me, may Thy will be done (if one could possibly\nor lawfully say this of his future state) : all power and all love is in\nThee. Now when a man has reached this love, he has won the prize to\ngain which God started him forth. But as to how and by what pro-\ncesses this is brought about, that is God's secret.\n\nIt is to attract each soul to Himself that God bestows His gifts so\naffectionately, serves us with His graces so tenderly. For He would\nhave us offer back these gifts and graces to Him in all detachment of\nspirit, and without reluctance or parleying. When He grants great\nspiritual sweetness, it is to induce us to self-renunciation. And when\nHe leads us from sweetness to aridity, it is to place us in a higher\ngrade of the spiritual life. He takes away, seemingly, everything He\nhas given us. Our soul seems to stand miserably poor, and all outside\nof God. The purpose of this is to force us to make a beginning of the\nnoblest self-denial, to force us to rest upon no created thing whatsoever,\nbut only upon God. Now there are two ways of arriving at God's true\nlove.\n\nThe first is the way of joy in Divine grace. O how happy one is in\nthe holy exercises of religion. And God causes that in order that we\nmay contrast spiritual joys with fleshly ones. These last are now\nquenched in the former. A man sells himself to God for these spiritual\nsweetnesses. He despises bodily pleasures, and he shows this so plainly\nthat his friends wonder at the sight of it. For we read of many saints,\nthat when they were first drawn hard to God, they fled from the com-\nforts of life so suddenly and so violently that men were amazed. This\nis doubtless the work of the Holy Ghost, whose love is strong as death.\n\n740 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nThe second way is that of spiritual sorrow and suffering. And now\nall these joys we have been speaking of are snatched away. And it is\nprecisely in this trial that the spiritual strength of our martyr is gener-\nated— in utter aridity, barrenness of devotional feeling. Meanwhile\nyou must know that amid all this sorrow of heart and in this spiritual\nvacuum, souls continue to hold God very dear, and to purpose and\npractice virtue no less than before this visitation. But they are sorely\nembarrassed, and know not which way to turn for relief, for God seems\nto them to have quite given them up. They can but stand fast in faith,\nhope, and charity, in a very thick darkness of soul. As to sinning, oh!\nno matter what might come upon them, they are firmly resolved never\nto sin, for they ever bear in their bosom a deeply humbled heart, over-\nflowing with contrition. When they see the signs of God's grace in\nother men, they are cut deep with pain ; but they blame only themselves\nfor not being equally favored, accusing themselves of wanting in fidel-\nity. And when they strive to obtain grace by diligence and zeal in\ngood works, they only grow dryer within. A stone is not dryer or\nharder than their heart feels.\n\nSometimes all patience seems to vanish away from them. Forebod-\nings of the future haunt them ; their sadness steadily increases in bit-\nterness. And presently they accuse themselves of envying others the\ngraces they enjoy; and that brings sorrow upon sorrow. By all these\ntribulations they are utterly worn out, and know not what they shall\ndo. They would not willingly fail in fidelity to God and in the prac-\ntice of virtue, and yet they feel unequal to any good work. They dread\nlest they have aroused God's anger by their impatience; they fear that\nthey have been guilty of the awful sin of despair — and that pains them\nintensely; for they really hate sin because it is rebellion against God.\nThis feeling of intense aversion to sin heartens them somewhat, for\nthey know that they would not wilfully provoke the Divine wrath. But\nat last they fall back upon mere patience and arrive at peace, even\nthough continuing under heavy depression of spirit. They resign them-\nselves to suffer on until it pleases God to give them a change ; for they\nnow perceive that they cannot do otherwise than blindly trust God.\nAnd this is the way God teaches detachment from all things and sub-\nmission to Him. And presently a change comes over them ; these souls\nnow appear more like others who have great sweetness of devotion ; but\nin various respects they are far nobler spirits. For their way is more\nlike that of Christ, whose life was full of suffering.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 741\n\nSuch a man thinks himself the poorest of the poor in spiritual gifts.\nBut in God's sight he is very rich. Such souls are the farthest away\nfrom God, to their own seeming, but as He sees them they are the near-\nest. To themselves they are God's outcasts, and to Him they are the\nchosen ones. They rate themselves the most untrue to Him, and He\nknows them to be His most steadfast friends, most reliable to resist His\ndishonor, most eager to advance His glory; for they suffer only for His\nsake.\n\nOn account of this interior poverty they are open to severe tempta-\ntions, but to these they will in no manner give place. Yet they cause\nthem much mental torture — worse indeed than the agony of death.\nThis is especially the case when they scruple that they have yielded to\nthe tempter. They would gladly overcome their petty imperfections;\nthey long to practice good works; and they find themselves powerless\nto do either. The pains of hell itself seem less to them than the torture\nthis causes, this and their other interior tribulations. But it all arises\nfrom their great fidelity to God, for meanwhile their heart's trust is\never His, but they are not able to realize this. They reckon themselves\nas the basest sinners in the world; in God's eyes they are the most\nspotless.\n\nOne thing in them displeases God, namely, that they make so much\nof this their sad condition. To punish them. He now and then allows\nthem to show imj^atience with others, or to commit some petty imper-\nfection against pure love. If they were entirely faithful, God would\nnot thus visit them ; they would then simply make their sorrows their\nonly peace. In that case their progress would outstrip that of all\nother men. This advantage they lose by yielding to excessive despond-\nency.\n\nThis fault of theirs comes from their inadvertence to the wonderful\nfruit that must result from God's discipline. Or perhaps from some\nhidden lack of self-abandonment, some weakness of resolve to suffer on\nand on to the end — they forebode that the term of their sorrows will be\nlonger than they can endure. They should understand that this lack\nof patience only prolongs the agony, and lessens the benefit to be\ngained. What alone can shorten their trials is patient and gentle en-\ndurance, simply giving themselves over to sorrow for God's love. The\nmore simply they do this, the nobler shall be their triumph, the brighter\ntheir final illumination.\n\nFor if a man will but tread this darksome way faithfully, a bright\n\n742 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nlight at last will burst upon him, flooding his inmost soul with the\nsplendor of eternal truth. Thus before God — however different he may\nseem to men — he will have reached the purest state of love. He will\nhave given up self and all things else for God's sake alone. He is now\nmade, as it were, one love with God. That love no man or any other\nbeing but himself can deprive him of or anywise disturb. To will or\nnot to will is now, as it seems to him, all one in his soul's life, for God\nand all God's elect have taken up their abode in him.\n\nYet more is to be said of this blissful state, for it leads to a happy\ndeath. O, my soul, consider over and over again, the unspeakable\nbliss of heaven; of a soul that looks directly upon the face of God,\nthe infinitely lovely God; think of the joy of possessing the sovereign\ngood that God is. In Him is found all joy, power, beauty, all that is\nholy, all that our heart can desire. Think of possessing God witJi\neverlasting security — being very closely united to God; joined to\nHim, never to be again separated. O, how supremely blissful will be\nthe sight and presence of the most holy Trinity; how sweet the com-\npany of Mary, our beloved Lord's holy mother, with all the heavenly\nchoirs of the angels, with all the ancient patriarchs and prophets,\nthe apostles and the martyrs, the confessors and the virgins, and all\nthe saints. How glorious to dwell forever in that company, so\nmutually affectionate, and ever rapt in the divine love. The greatest\nof the saints in that loving family, would, if it were possible, gladly\nshare his joy with the least, as the least would gladly add his share\nof glory to that enjoyed by the greatest. So shall the souls whose\nproving we have been considering, having been tried and found faith-\nful, receive in this life a foretaste of these overwhelming joys.\n\nO how foolish are the men who turn their backs on eternal happiness,\nfor the sake of fleshly joys on the passing good things and honors of\nthis world. Study this matter, O my soul, whilst thou art in the way\nof grace and probation. Do good works. See to it, lest thou dosi\nforfeit everlasting happiness. Hasten on to a life of virtue. Let\nno toil dishearten thee, but labor steadily during the short span of\nthy earthly existence, and with real fidelity to God, that thou mayst\ngain an eternal good, an eternal joy. Let there be nothing so dear\nto thee that thou shalt allow it to hinder thy gaining the eternal\nfriendship of God. Canst thou not plainly see, that all possible pain,\nadversity and misery of this life is as nothing, if we but keep in mind\nthe joys of eternal life? Think of all the glorious saints of God, and\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nhow they all obtained their paradise by an upright Christian life,\nSet them before thy eyes; imitate their virtues, so that thou mayst\nbe made a sharer of their glory. O my soul, consider the joys and th«\nhonors of the heavenly Jerusalem, and its gracious loving citizens.\nAll of them have journeyed thither along this road of Christian\nvirtue and self denial, passing out of this valley of tears into its open\ngates of everlasting joy. , \\.., ,\n\nThere are five signs of God's favor attached to the lives of mortified\nmen, as our Lord teaches. The first is that they cast out devils in\nthe name of Christ. All men who have confessed their mortal sins\nwith true contrition, can enjoy that prerogative, for they have expelled\nthe demon from their own souls. The second is that they shall speak\nwith new tongues. Such is the privilege in a certain sense of all who\nrenounce sinful and idle words, and speak good and useful ones; and\nof all those who preach the word of God, who read the holy gospels,\nwho recite devout prayers, who admonish and correct sinners, and\nwho instruct the ignorant. The third sign is that they can take up\nserpents and not be hurt by them. This is enjoyed by all who banish\nbad thoughts from their souls, and withstand them manfully. The\nfourth sign is that they can drink any deadly thing, and it shall not\nhurt them This is fulfilled in those who patiently sufifer persecution\nand contempt of men for justice sake. The fifth and last sign is that\nfaithful souls can lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover\nThe like of that do all good men, who forgive their enemies out of\nwhole hearted kindness, no matter what harm has been done them;\nand also those who give alms to the poor. Of all those who show\nthese signs, as given in the holy gospel, one can safely say that they\ntruly belong to God's faithful friends, and that if they but persevere,\nthey will be taken up to Christ in eternal life. God grant all of us\nthat happy lot. Amen.\n\n744 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nl|om to iRttt WtttvpttdlnnB\n\nSynopsis — Temptations are allowed for our advancement in virtue —\nThe various kinds of temptations and how to deal with each of\nthem — How they cure a tendency to misuse sensible devotion — A\nsorely tempted man is well taught the supreme virtue of humility\n— Explanation of the more subtle interior trials — The dread of\nsinning — how it may be utilized.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FEAST OF A HOLY MARTYR.\nBlessed is the man that endureth temptation. — James i, 12.\n\nThe holy man Job tells us that our life on this earth is a state of\nwarfare. Indeed the saints often speak of life as a long series of temp-\ntations; when one goes another comes. The reason of this is our\nLord's purpose that we should go onward, and should bring forth the\nfruit of victory, moving ever forward on God's road and conquering in\nHis name. From temptation we can extract the hidden joy of the spirit,\nas the bees do honey from thorn bushes and weeds. Solomon says : \"What\ndoth he know that hath not been tried?\" (Eccli. xxxiv, 9). And the\niholy doctor, St. Bernard, enlarges upon that teaching. There are more\nthan a thousand passages of Holy Scripture showing the good uses of\ntemptations. It is a special sign of God's favor over a man, if he has\nfought a good fight and come forth victorious. To such a one the\ncrown is given, as it was to our martyr, of whom Holy Church sings\ntoday, that he was blessed because he had endured temptation, had\nwon the victory and had received the crown of life reserved for those\nwhom God loves.\n\n. One kind of temptation is that of the external senses. By this a\nman is tempted to place his joy in men, whether friends, relatives or\nothers. It leads to anxious care in personal adornment, as clothing\nand jewelry; or in fine books, elegant and luxurious dwellings, deli-\ncate food and drink. These cleave to him as a burr to a dog. Some\ntimes a man will be far from these temptations, but assailed by yet\nmore unusual ones, being tormented with impure thoughts. But,\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 745\n\nhowever foul the temptations may be, they can do us no harm, except\nas St. Gregory teaches, we are careless of resisting them. We should\nturn quickly away from them.\n\nThe other kind of temptation is interior, and would set up an alien\nrule in the kingdom of the mind. The activity of soul and that of\nbody are mingled together. Our inward turning to God in this life\nis closely joined to our outward tendencies, and this gives rise to\ntemptations. Scripture says that Satan can transform himself into\nan angel of light; and that takes place in his temptations while our\nsoul is absorbed in contemplating God.\n\nNow notice further, dear children, how St. John divides all sin into\nthree classes : \"For all that is in the world, is the concupiscence\nof the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life*'\n(I John ii, 16). And as these rule in the world, so do they seek to\nrule in our flesh; and then to reign in our interior life by assuming a\nspiritual appearance. Outward sins are plain enough, if one will\nbut see them. But sins of the interior life are more hidden. They\ntake on a disguise of spirituality so cunning that a man is on the\npoint of falling before he is aware of any danger.\n\nAnd I ask you to observe that there is a certain kind of spiritual\nunchastity, which name we give to spiritual self indulgence. I mean\nthe excessive pleasure one takes in interior sweet feelings of devotion.\nThe one who yields to that temptation, insists on having unbroken\ninterior peace of soul; he resents being corrected or admonished\nfor his faults; he neglects his ordinary duties in order to attend\nto his own particular devotions. All this is due to the sensible sweet-\nness he enjoys in his spiritual exercises. When that fails, he is\nutterly unhappy, irritable, impatient of the most trifling annoyance.\nHe loudly complains of the terrible temptations he suffers from.\nAnd this is all nothing else but absence of sensible devotion. St.\nBernard says: \"Our Lord, in His mercy, often grants interior sweet-\nness to souls quite unworthy of it, in order that He may the better\ndraw them to His love. On the contrary, He often withholds it from\nnobler souls, who are truly deserving of it, being long practised in\nsolid virtue.\" Yes, sometimes He deprives such souls of devotional\njoys their whole life long, so that in the life to come they may receive\nall the greater reward. And, indeed, our spiritual fruit is not in\nsuch things, nor our highest gratitude; but, rather in interior trust\nin God, firm loyalty to Him, entire absence of self-seeking, whether\n\n746 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nin pain or pleasure. Our true felicity lies in a constant offer of\nourselves to God as His poor, humble servitors, glad to minister to\nHis will at our own cost, and so to do, if it were lawful to say such\na thing, for all eternity.\n\nAnd yet, one may be allowed to pray to God for sensible sweetness\nof devotion, in case he happens to be a young and weak beginner in\nthe spiritual life; for our kind heavenly Father may by that means\ninduce him to a stronger service and gradually strengthen him In\nHis love. But mark the danger. It is quite possible that we may\nvalue this sweet tranquillity of soul over much, even loving the gift —\nhowever unconsciously — more than the Giver. Anyway, we should\nnever forget that these tender feelings are not of our earning — they\nare God's mere gifts to us. We may, besides, fall into spiritual\ngluttony^ in their enjoyment. This is plain and gross disloyalty ta\nGod our Savior, Who won all these favors for us by His own life-\nlong self-denial, and who has merited better treatment at our hands.\n\nSpiritual gluttony is a temptation to ever crave more favor from\nGod than is necessary in our earthly pilgrimage. Now what more should\na pilgrim take with him on his journey than what he would bring\nback home again. Believe me, it is an open stain on our outward state\nof poverty as religious men, to seek to have more bodily comfon\nthan is necessary for us. And the same kind of a stain is fixed on\nour inward poverty of spirit, ^es, a much uglier spot, if we long for\nmore spiritual comfort than is necessary. Ah, which of us men has\never been so poor as Jesus Christ? He gave up all heavenly riches and\ntook a life of the greatest earthly distitution, and was finally aban-\ndoned by all creatures, and even cast helplessly back on Himself by\nHis divine Father — as He complained from His cross: \"My God, My\nGod, why hast Thou forsaken Me?\" (Matt, xxvii, 46). Now all this^\nwas for our instruction; He would teach us to cherish spiritual\ndestitution of all things.\n\nBut thou mayst answer: Alas, I could bear it better if it was not\nall my own fault; I could bear it more patiently but for my former\nneglect. I am myself the cause of all my trouble. But I answer:\nDo not let that thought distress thee. Knowest thou not what the\nwise man says? \"A just man shall fall seven times\" (Prov. xxiv, 16).\nAnd dost thou dream that thou shalt always stand? Yes, I agree that\nit is all thy own fault, and that thou dost richly deserve this desola-\ntion of spirit. But yet it is all for the best that thou shouldst trust\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 747\n\nour good God for pardon. He knows thy weakness full well, and will\nforgive thee thy imperfections seventy times seven times a day : better\nwait on His loving kindness than reproach thyself in so mean-spirited\na way. Oh child, hast thou fallen? Then rise up again. Go to thy\nFather with childlike confidence, and say humbly with the prodigal\nson, \"Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee ; I am not\nworthy to be called Thy son ; make me as one of Thy hired servants\"^\n(Luke XV, 18, 19). Thinkest thou that God would treat thee other-\nwise than the father in the parable treated his son? Mercy is God's-\nmost precious treasure, and it will be a small thin§ for Him to for-\ngive thee, if thou wilt but put thy trust in Him. His hand is not\nshortened that He should not save thee. Therefore, be on thy guard\nagainst spiritual avarice, for the poorer in spirit thou standest in\nGod's presence the more acceptable shalt thou be, and the more richlj\nwill He endow thee with His gifts.\n\nSpiritual pride is that vice by which a man is not ashamed of his-\nsins, excusing himself and sparing himself in everything, never being\nwilling to submit. It often happens that such a man uses abusive\nand injurious language to exculpate himself, and even falsehood.\nThose men forget that if plain truth will not help a man, lies are of\nlittle use. A simple man, humbly submissive under God's will, is in-\nfinitely better than one with some pretence to virtue, but full of in-\nterior pride, and swaggering about with arrogant manners. Tell me,,\ndear child, what is all our righteousness? Let the prophet Isaias:\nanswer: \"We are all become as one unclean, and all our justices as\nthe rag of a menstruous woman\" (Isaias Ixiv, 6).\n\nAnd when were we really just in God's sight? If God our Lord\nwould but show us our deservings, we must needs confess our guilt\nin His sight, and own that all our virtue is due to His grace. Many\na time does our Lord favor a weak and wayward soul because it casts\nitself humbly at His feet and craves his mercy. God demands that\nevery knee shall bend before Him, and strictly exacts thanksgiving-\nfor all the virtues we possess. And be it remembered that spiritual\npride is often a very secretly-hidden vice ; and this accounts for much\nof the harm it does. Whosoever, on the other hand, carefully guards\nagainst spiritual gluttony, avarice and pride, will be held fast in God's\ntrue way, and his interior life will not go astray.\n\nTo this end three rules will help. First, that he should remember\nthat any interior difficulties and contradictions which discipline our\n\n748 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nspirits into the likeness of our Savior's humility, which tend to form\nus after the manner of Christ's saints, — that we should be sure that\nsuch trials are not due to depraved nature, nor are they the sugges-\ntions of the evil spirit. All such trials undoubtedly come from God.\nAs He is the supreme God, nothing but good can come from Him, and\nwhatsoever results from His interposition can only be good. All life\nflows back to its fountain head, and all existence rejoices in its re-\nturn to its Divine origin. But mark well that whatsoever distorts\nour likeness to God in Christ is due to an evil cause, either our per-\nverted nature or 'the wicked demons. These are ever bent on draw-\ning us away from God. The same is to be said of every influence that\nmakes for separation from Christ, as He says: \"He that is not with\nMe is against Me, and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth.\"(Luke\nxi, 23). Now this rule is useful against the first spiritual evil I spoke\nof, namely, spiritual excess or gluttony in enjoying devout feelings.\n\nThe second rule is this: Whatever inner tendency or happening\nforces a man nearer to his own heart to observe it; whatever concen-\ntrates and unifies the spirit of a man into greater simplicity; what-\never tends to increase his loving trustfulness in God's fatherly care,\ndiverting him from thoughts of his own works and feelings; this is\nall, without doubt, from God. So that when a man stands before God\nconfessedly a sinner and a beggar, thinking nothing of how good he\nmay seem in men's eyes; when a man finds himself out, and plainly\navows to God and to himself that he is devoid of virtue; when he\nrates himself as a poor, lost, good-for-nothing, empty-hearted creature,\nwho can be cleansed by God alone and by Him alone filled with virtue ;\nwhen he cleaves to God in utter self-abandonment, avowing his total\npowerlessness to help himself: — when a man is conscious of this in-\nterior state, let him be quite sure that it is entirely the work of God.\nNone but God can drive a soul inward to learn and acknowledge its\nown utter destitution. Depraved nature and the evil one would rob\na man of all his spiritual goods, all his graces or virtues; and their\nopportunity is when a man does not know himself, and when he thinks\nhe has virtues that he really has not. Then he is open to the con-\ndemnation found in the Apocalypse: \"Because thou sayest: I am\nrich and made wealthy, and have need of nothing; and knowest not\nthat thou are wretched and miserable, and poor and blind, and naked\"\n(Apoc. iii, 17). And this has a mixture of spiritual avarice, mingled\nwith the leaven of spiritual gluttony.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 749\n\nThe third rule is this: Whatever makes a man little in his own\neyes; whatever humiliates him under the mighty hand of God and\nunder all creatures in sincere lowliness of spirit; whatever makes\nhim long to be downtrodden and made nothing of: all that without\ndoubt is from God. For, inasmuch as Lucifer and his rebel angels\nwere swollen with pride and presumption, and were for that cause\nbanished from heaven, so, on the contrary, shall we be led into heaven,\nbecause of our sincere humility; as of the three holy kings it is\nwritten : \"They went back another way into their own country\"\n(Matt, ii, 12).\n\nAccording to each one's essential being does he act, and after the\npattern of his own nature would he form all others whom he can in-\nfluence. Now the evil spirit is besotted with self-love; pride and\neflfrontery are permanently hardened into his intelligence and will.\n-Not to obtain heaven itself would he humble himself to God; no, not\nfor a single instant. And all proud spirits tend to become like the\ndemon. From him they have learned to prize their own opinion\nabove the sense and reason of all mankind. Hence their constant\nquarrelsomeness, hence their fierce insistence on their own views and\ntheir own will. And hence their incessant unrest, evil thoughts about\nothers, and violations of brotherly love. They will suffer correction\nfrom no man, they are so stifif-necked. They even disregard the warn-\nings that Divine Providence sends them, and they despise the admo-\nnitions of their best friends. God characterized them plainly, when\ncondemning hypocrites in the words of Isaias the Prophet: \"I have\nspread my hands all the day to an unbelieving people, who walk in\na way that is not good, after their own thoughts\" (Isaias Ixv, 2).\n\nFurthermore, our dear Lord is Himself all meekness and humility,\nand toward these virtues he is constantly drawing all willing souls.\nYet think of his greatness. His being is the cause of all things and\ntheir beginning and essence. He is the life of the living, the resurrec-\ntion of the dead, the restorer of souls ruined by their own sinfulness.\nHe recalls the wandering. He upholds the falling. Of those that stand\nHe is the strong support, of those that journey onward to heaven He\nis the safe guide. He is the dawn of day to every enlightened spirit,\nthe manifestation of all heavenly secrets, the first beginning of all\nour beginnings of eternal life. And He is the infinite and incompre-\nhensible and unnameable God. And, nevertheless, He is the meek\nand lowly Jesus.\n\n750 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nLet us praise His mysterious divinity with silent awe, and never\nmore praise aught but what honors Him. Let us reverently salute\nthe first rays of His Divine light in our souls, turning our spirits to\nHim to reflect His brightness as burnished mirrors. Always, amidst\nall our love, should we cultivate a fearful awe of Him, according to\nthe words of God to Moses sanctifying Mt. Sinai: \"Everyone that\ntoucheth the mount, dying he shall die. ♦ * » Whether it be beast\nor man, he shall not live\" (Exod. xix, 12, 13). That is to say, let\nnot our beastly nature presume to come nigh to God's holy mountain\nin our souls; let all that is animal within us sit down outside the\nbounds in the lowest place. And when we are thus properly humble-\nminded, the Lord will call us up higher, saying: \"Friend, go up\nhigher\" (Luke xiv, 10).\n\nAnd then, not by his own power, but drawn and elevated by God's\ngrace, a man ascends to divine union, his life of the senses entirely\ncleansed, his soul lighted up with heaven's splendor. By this means\nof holy humility, silence, patient waiting, does a man attain to God;\nand by this means more effectually than by a more active spirit in\noutward exercises of religion. The divine nature of Christ is the\npower that would draw to God all spirits, all hearts that follow His\nexample and daily unite themselves to Him in holy love. Richard\nof St. Victor says: \"I am to receive Christ, not only as He is cruci-\nfied on Calvary, but also as He is transfigured in glory on Mount\nTabor. But to receive Him thus glorified T must have His duly ap-\npointed witnesses, Peter and James and John, Moses and Elias.\"\nThat is to say, when Christ comes to us in deep anguish of heart we\nmay instantly trust that it is truly our Redeemer. But if He is man-\nifested to us in interior contemplation, amid the light of glory within\nour soul's Mount Tabor, then must we pause. We must have wit-\nnesses and external approval; we must take precautions, lest we\nshould indulge to excess in this feast of light, and thereby commit\nspiritual gluttony. As a man can eat more sweet things than he can\ndigest, so may we abuse the gifts that God generously bestows in\nour interior life. We must incessantly humiliate ourselves in His\nsight; we must never forget the danger of spiritual pride. The vir-\ntues of humility, meekness, obedience are the witnesses approving our\nfree enjoyment of the transfigured Christ in our inmost souls. Against\nthese guardians of truth and peace no false angel can ever prevail.\nGod grant us this happy lot. • Amen.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 751\n\nt^ynopsis — Love of a great name the ruin of many, and why — Serving\nmen at Qod's expense — How hitter disappointments attend the\nlove of men's praise — Vainglory as a substitute for recollected-\nness of spirit.\n\nSERMON FOR THE FEAST OF A HOLY BISHOP, CONFESSOR.\n\nAnd in My name shall his horn be exalted. — Ps. Ixxxviil, 25.\n\nSelf-glory and proud boasting is, as you know, my dear children,\nthe sin most offensive to God. It is giving to a man's own self the\nglory that belongs to God alone. God cannot endure that His crea-\nture shall usurp to his own honor the good repute that is granted him\nonly for the divine honor, and for the spiritual benefit of other men.\nAnd how plainly do God's servants show their appreciation of this,\nas did the holy prelate whose feast we celebrate today. He sought\nhis own glory in nothing, God's glory in everything. Hence holy\nChurch chants his praises in today's office: \"In My name shall his\nhorn be exalted\" — that is to say, his glory in heaven and on earth.\nAs if God should say of him : His name shall not be his glory, for he\nnever cared for that, as he cared but for me alone; therefore he shall\nbe exalted even in My name and with My glory.\n\nAnd in another place the Psalmist says: \"For His name alone is\nexalted\" (Ps. cxlviii, 13). Now, nothing is more hateful to God, noth-\ning goes straighter against Him than ambition to acquire a great\nname. In many men this sin is hidden deep in their souls, and they\nlittle realize their perilous plight. Men in high places demand, as of\npersonal right, that all should bow down to them; and woe to any-\none who says or does anything at all likely to lessen their public\nhonor. Of the secret pride from which this springs David speaks:\n\"Who can understand sins? From my secret ones cleanse me, O Lord\"\n(Ps. xviii, 13). Which means in some cases: Cleanse me from the\nsecret desire of a great name. Again we read : \"Let not the foot of\npride come to me\" (Ps. xxxv, 12) . Which means the fi,rst steps or inclina-\ntions towards pride; for in the earliest movements of the heart are\n\n752 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nthe causes of all iniquity. I say to thee, that if thou wilt not re-\nnounce thy love of an honorable name, thou canst not find God in\nwhatsoever thou doest, no matter how good it all may be in itself.\nSt. Chrysostom says: \"Forsake thy great name, and thou shalt\neasily be superior to all the sorrows and sufferings of life.\" If God\ncould but obtain from penitent sinners self-abasement in the same\ndegree as they formerly had pride and self-complacency, He would\nobtain from them all that He desires. Every chastisement that God\nvisits on a man is for the purpose of lowering him in his own self-\nesteem. And when ordinary correction fails, then will God often\nallow His friends to sufifer public shame, even to a most pitiful degree\nof degradation, in order that they may be disenchanted with self.\n\nMark this well : When a man is overpraised by others, when more\nvirtue is ascribed to him than is really his in God's sight (for He\nalone knows all man's shortcomings), then if God would advance\nhim in perfection, He wrecks and ruins this fair fame and turns it\ninto evil repute. For this stolen spiritual treasure must be given\nup in shame and ridicule in this life, if one shall come safely through\nto eternal life. But if a man's great name does not puff him up,\nthen it will help his spiritual state; let him but keep a clean heart,\nguard well the grace of God, and stand humbly and fearfully before\nHim, avowing his innate sinfulness. Let him hold himself merely\nas God's steward of all the gifts and graces he possesses, nor rate\nhimself in the least degree a more deserving man that he was before\nhis elevation to his office. This he should administer with a single-\nhearted purpose to honor God and holy Church, and advance his\nneighbors' salvation. Herein is much merit in God's eyes, much profit\nfor men. When such a man hears the praises of the worldly-minded,\nit affects Him no more than if he were in any common state of life.\nAnd if he were suddenly turned out of office it would be all one to\nhim, for he holds his spirit indifferent to all things whatsoever in\nthis life.\n\nDear children, another kind of great name, and one that is a deadly\ndanger, is the reputation for holiness. Make sure that you dread\nand avoid this most sincerely. The man that does not live up to the\nreputation he holds among his fellows, who rejoices in a fair fame\nof virtue that he does not actually possess, must pay the penalty of\nbitter shame and disgrace here or hereafter, and all the more pain-\nfully in proportion to the esteem he shall have enjoyed.\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 753\n\nBut sometimes a good man may be distressed lest his motives in\ndoing good are tainted by love of human praise. He may dread lest\nmen's applause, rather than holy obedience, inspires him. But if\nhe has an upright intention, let him not be troubled, only keep him-\nself upright in conscience while doing all his good works, repressing\nTainglorious thoughts as best he may; for we must never cease doing\ngood on account of scruples.\n\nBut all depends on the intention, for if that is not upright, virtu-\nous acts are not meritorious. If one's name is highly lauded, and\nhis intention is meanwhile to please men, he is easily made proud;\nsoon he is overbearing in his manners; he will not do anything good\nunless it attracts attention ; his main object is always to be noticed\nand praised by men. He parades pious ways of talking and of acting;\nnor will he be content with anything less than the first place in the\nopinion of his fellows.\n\nThe sign of this vice is principally that such men do not win their\nfame with the people because they advance them in the virtues of\ndivine faith and hope and love. It is soon noticed that their reliance\nis not upon the love of God. Men begin to mistrust that they are true\nservants of God, and soon their high repute is lost. Then they begin\nto be anxious about themselves. They lose confidence in God's love\nand fall into a very dangerous frame of mind. Ask them to do some\ngood act which they fear they are not equal to, and they will refuse\nyou : they dread that God will unveil their feebleness and they will\nbe exposed to contempt. All that holy Scripture teaches of trusting\nGod cannot induce them to risk the danger of exposure of their lack\nof virtue — a dozen preachers could not persuade them to it. And so\nthey rest in their obstinacy and pride, and become quarrelsome. They\nfind it impossible to live peaceably even with kindly-natured people.\nOnly a new, strong, very attractive light of grace can change them,\ncan teach them self-denial, instruct them in love for all those with\nwhom they must live. So they continue in bitterness of spirit toward\ntheir neighbor. Brotherly love — the very thought of it is painful to\nthem, and all the gentle and affectionate virtues are hateful to them.\nNow they dream of obtaining relief by entering an order, separating\nthemselves from men by solemn vows, thinking they will never again\nsee and hear what may annoy them. But no, dear children. That is not\nthe road to peace. In the monastery such men are only the more unset-\ntled; they are a prey to envious thoughts, rash judgment, community\n\n754 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\ngossip, and other such evils — they are all the worse for being greatly\nwithdrawn from men's company. For the evil one sits on his throne\nin their bad hearts, and until he is driven out by true repentance,\npeace cannot enter in.\n\nIf they will have peace, let them turn inward and study their souls.\nLet them cleanse their thoughts of pride and self-complacency. Let\nthem, as far as is seemly, communicate their false interior state to\nothers, that they may be rated for what they really are, shameful sin-\nners, worthless creatures. And let them persevere in this painful\nexercise till they have purged their whole being of their passion for\nhuman praise. Then and not before will they gain the sweet gift of\npeace, then and not before will they be fit for the good works to which\ntheir calling obliges them.\n\nThey sometimes fancy that a mechanical use of confession will serve\nthem for peace of soul. But if I allowed them hours and hours of\nconfession daily, it would not relieve them; they would still be tossed\nabout with trouble of mind, and would be hateful to their neighbor.\nThe more they go to confession without true sorrow and deep humility,\nthe more occasions of sin will the evil spirit throw in their way —\nanger, envy, hate, trouble-mindedness, despondency, mistrust of self\nand of all others. Often they live in thoughts of the past. They beguile\ntheir minds with vain memories of what happened twenty or thirty\nyears before, rather than with the will of God at the present moment.\nAnd all this misery must they continue to suffer, until they learn their\nown weakness and humbly confess it, giving up wholly and finally\ntheir love of men's praise, and their absorption in outward appear-\nances of virtue.\n\nBut they may say : We must set the people a good example and not\nscandalize anybody. But I answer that if you would set the people\na good example, then acquire virtue and give the people edification;\ngive them to kn^w what in very truth you are; show out real Chris-\ntian good qualities, and let these be at least the commonplace virtues\nof kindliness, patience, promptness to serve them, receiving ill-treat-\nment good-naturedly: better this than a pretense of virtues you do\nnot possess.\n\nAh, children, these men were neglected in their training. They\nwere not subjected to ridicule by their superiors, they were not\nthwarted by them. They were allowed to see how pleasing they were\nto the people, being praised no matter what they did. That hardened\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 755\n\nthem into habitual love of praise, and soon without that motive they\nwould do scarcely anything. The result is that now one must pray\nand weep to get them to do their ordinary tasks— a most pitiable\nspectacle. Of these the Lord says: \"Amen I say to you, they have\nreceived their reward\" (Matt, vi, 2). Alas that men are found who\nwill praise them and thereby gratify their vanity, a sin like murder\nin God's sight, misleading these soft-natured creatures. Naturally\ninclined to serve God, they are perverted by ill-considered compliments,\nand finally degenerate into obstinate self-love. This state may lead\nto the eternal death of the soul and exclusion from God and His saints\nin heaven. Such indiscreet praise is often given from selfish motives,\nto win their favor, to profit by the service of these defective charac-\nters in worldly affairs.\n\nAh, children, longing for worldly advantages means turning away\nfrom heavenly things; and this continues until it too often happens\nthat both one and the other are forfeited. Seek first whatever is\nneedful for eternal life, and God will provide for your temporal\nneeds, and that in sufficient abundance. Yet for some small temporal\ngain we mislead soft-natured souls with our fulsome praises. We\nthereby instill vain glory into them, a vice ever leading one to resist\nGod, ever hurtful to grace, laying men open to the demon's fierce\nassaults. A man fully possessed of this form of pride may become\ncapable of any sin, even the most inhuman. The foulest depravity\nsprings from this devilish root of evil. And if this root be planted\nin early youth, it strikes so deep into our nature that in later life\ninfinite pains are necessary to pluck it out.\n\nHence we should admonish our young brothers and sisters against\nthe influence of men's praise. Bid them act wholly for God's glory.\nWho for love of us and to save us humbled Himself even unto the\ndeath of the cross. He has granted us strength, knowledge and many\ngraces wherewith to win eternal happiness. Children, these begin-\nners in the spiritual life had best be made little of, corrected with\nkindness, and exercised in the ways of holy humility : they may thus\nbe made holy men. By lavish praise they are ruined ; later on they\nare too much hardened in habits of self-complacency to suffer cor-\nrection.\n\nAt last it happens that if one does not flatter such men they are\nbitterly discontented; they think that they are hated; they are dis-\nsatisfied with their superiors and father confessors and are evil-\n\n756 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nminded about them; they are sunk in despondency; and they are full\nof suspicions. They say that nobody cares for them or wants them\nto do anything of importance. They boast of the great things they\nhave done, and of how great use they have been to others; and all\nthis they whisper around to those who will listen to them. Dear chil-\ndren, see the eflfects of flattery upon a certain class of simple charac-\nters. It finally imperils their eternal salvation. It prevents genuine\nbrotherly love, and plain, honest obedience to superiors. If these are\nlacking, of what account are fasts, vigils, disciplines, reading and\nsinging prayers, genuflexions, and all other bodily exercises of re-\nligion? These are all good; but with them we must have true hu-\nmility; we must acquire real self-abasement and mortification; we\nmust establish a fixed intention to do all and everything for God's\nhonor and our neighbor's good, and for that alone.\n\nFurthermore, consider that once a man sincerely disregards a great\nname, longs ever to be hidden, covets humiliations,- is quite willing to\nbe despised and to be ranked the lowest of all, then will God begin to\ndo great things with him and through him. When a man never seeks\nhonor, name or position, when he is well content that nobody praises\nhim, and really feels better when he is last and least, then I say that\nbefore God he is just as he ought to be. If such a man happens to\nbe given a high place, the flattery that is offered him does him no\nharm; and the honors that are done him only help him the better\nto serve the people. But yet the praises of men afflict his humble\nspirit very keenly, and his pain thereat is one degree of that interior\ndeath that he must experience in becoming united with God. It will\nclarify his soul more and more brightly, until God's light shall shine\nmore perfectly in him — a state of soul not easily understood except\nby one who has gone along this path of self-abnegation.\n\nHow happy a lot is this; and how lamentable the state of those\nwho have failed to secure it, having given up their lives to men's\npraises. Everyone of us should be on his guard against vain glory.\nAnd we should be ready and quick to enter the dark road of humility,\nto which God would draw us. The true man lives only upon faith\nand hope in God. He says in all sincerity : Lord, I will serve Thee\nin this darksome way; and I confidently trust that what lies before\nme in this marvelous experience on which I am entering is no delu-\nsion; and I give myself up to be guided passively by Thee forever.\nSometimes faith, hope and love all fall away from him — as far as he\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 757\n\ncan feel : but his good will, his upright intention remains firm and\nfast within him, and that suffices him. Sometimes his lower natural\nfaculties, and even his understanding, are, according to his percep-\ntion, wholly emptied of love. But meanwhile love of God is hidden\nsafe and secure in the higher part of the spirit. And as long as he\nretains some feeling of loyalty to God in real self-abandonment —\neven in spite of the emptiness of nature and of his understanding —\nand as long as he is content to be thus forsaken by God, and as long\nas he harbors no thought of despair, nor seeks to relieve his interior\npains by any sort of bodily self-indulgence: — then he may be sure\nthat all is well with him. But if he seeks relief in the solace of the\nenjoyment of the senses, or if he plunges for solace into active labors —\neven those of a good and spiritual kind — for the stated purpose of\nescaping the interior oppression that God has imposed on him (the\nfeeling that he has no faith, nor hope, nor love), then he has made a\nfalse step. He has snapped the tie of painful love that boumd him to\nGod, and all unconsciously he is likely to fall into a lower degree of\nthe spiritual life. But if he will only stand his ground, true to God\nthough God seems to have abandoned him, then is he intimately bound\nto God in the highest degree of love, however little he may be\naware of it.\n\nAnd when the darksome time is past and gone, then the soul is\nfound cleansed in its very depths of all sense of proprietorship. Now\nhe brings forth abundant fruit to God in the practice of virtue, and\nhe finds a sweet rest in God, and knows God in all things. Then,\ntoo, is his zeal for souls very fruitful of his neighbor's salvation. This\nis easier felt than described, for without having experienced it one\ncan never fully understand what it is to love God in truth. May we\nhave grace to exalt the name of God above all things and not exalt\nour own. May God grant us the grace of true self-renunciation, and\nteach us how to make little of ourselves. Amen.\n\n758 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\n®lf? MxBtukt of (Uttrntng ©uttuarh SnBttnli of Jttmarb\n\nSynopsis — How some practice devotion without keeping the command-\nments— The strange desire to he holy hy external practices alone —\nDoing pious things vnthout taking God into account — That many\nreally good souls are partially addicted to formalism.\n\nSERMON FOR A FEAST OF MANY HOLY CONFESSORS.\nThe light of thy body is thy eye. — Lvke xi, 34.\n\nDear children, today we celebrate the memory of holy confessors\nof the faith of Christ. By their heroic Christian virtues they have\nspread abroad the glory of Jesus Christ. And this they did not only\nby splendid examples of all virtues, but by interior self-abandonment\nin mind and spirit and heart, being dead to the life of the senses.\nThey were ever eager and diligent in serving God, and their eye wa»\nsingle to do His will.\n\nNow, you have noticed in these times that there are many who\nkeep up a show of spirituality, and who busy themselves with inordi-\nnate zeal in spiritual exercises of many kinds, and yet they do not\nwork that change in their lives that they had hoped for. They fast\nand they watch over night, they say many prayers, they often go to\nconfession and holy communion, they practice meditation on the\nblessed passion of Jesus Christ, they do many charitable works, they\ngo in search of indulgences — these and many other such holy things\nthey do, and yet their lives are not changed. They do not keep God's\ncommandments; they do not practice Christian virtue. They have\nwasted their strength out of God; they have not received His ap-\nproval ; little profit has come from it all to their souls ; and they still\nstand in danger of eternal loss. And what is the reason? Their in-\ntention has been fatally defective, and in this: they have turned out-\nward in their religious life, and not inward.\n\nThey do not know themselves. How, therefore, can they tell how\nto manage themselves and increase in virtue? Hence, instead of in-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 759\n\ncreasing in virtue, they are just as apt to decrease. They are under\nthe delusion that they amount to something, and, as a matter of fact,\nthey amount to nothing at all in God's sight ; and, therefore, they are\ntrying to serve God without knowing what they are about. They\nimagine that they are seeking God, but such is not at all the case.\nAnd now as they go on in this wise, following their own fancies and\ngiven over to self-contented indulgence of the senses, it is no wonder\nthat they grow no better for the good practices of religion they have\nfollowed. The older they grow the more irritable and impatient they\nare; the more oblivious to their evil words and their defective works.\nAnd yet these all dream that they are high up in the spiritual world.\n\nIt all comes from serving God because of the natural joy that there\nis in it, and out of an excessive desire to be something holy. They\ngive themselves to good works for the feeling of devotion they find,\nand often exceed their ability. Then they change from one pious\npractice to another, thinking that one helps and another hinders, all\ndone without foresight or prudence, with a vague notion of some in-\nward gain of virtue. While it tastes sweet it is good ; when the taste\nis gone they declare it does not help them. Therefore are they un-\nstable and hold to nothing long. While thus they run about, be sure\nthey cannot lay a solid foundation of spirituality. Ask them if they\nmean only to please God. They answer. Yes, and they mean to tell\nthe truth, but they are deceived.\n\nOf course, nobody wants to serve the devil; who is so base as de-\nliberately to choose the evil one for his master? And jet not a few\nof these persons do his will without knowing it. As long as a man\nundertakes to serve God by external works alone he has not yet begun\nto serve Him in truth, and in the right devotional spirit. The foun-\ndation of a perfect Christian life is not in external devotions and\ngood works alone, however much these may help; but rt is far rather\nin interior good works, by means of which sins are avoided and\nvirtues are brought to life.\n\nAnd I say this in addition : We find people in monasteries who\nlay the whole stress of their life in the order on external and bodily\nexercises. And there are men living in the world who afflict their\nbody with fasting and other mortifications, and who are doubtless\ngood men, giving alms with the hand, but this is all done without\nreference to the foundation of almsgiving in their heart. They do\nnot advert to the strict duty of cleansing their life from sin. With\n\n760 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nall those noble, good and religious works of theirs they are still hot-\ntempered, envious, arrogant, given to backbiting and ever seeking\npraise for their virtues. And persons with these blemishes are in\nsome places all too common in the various conditions of life. I\naflSrm that these souls are entangled in the meshes of the evil one,\nand are subject to gross self-deception.\n\nThey think that they can be made righteous by external works\nalone, and be by them alone eternally saved. But that can never be;\nGod must have the heart besides. They may be compared to gilded\nstatues; outside they look like solid gold, and in reality they are\nstone or wood. In the gospel Christ compares men to sepulchres,\nbeautiful on the outside, and within filled with dead men's bones.\nTherefore do I insist that there is no merit in fasting, saying prayers\nand doing other such outward works of religion, unless the spirit of\na man is chastened and cleansed of wickedness.\n\nIt is seldom enough, alas, that men live as they ought, and jet\nthere is nothing impossible in it, if one will only exert himself a lit-\ntle. Whatever rule is required will not be accepted and followed;\nwhat is not required, that is embraced, and great spiritual bliss is\nexpected from it. So it happens that men take up heavy burdens,\nand labor long and hard to find God, and seldom come to Him in\nthe degree of union they ought to have gained. Herein lies the fail-\nure; herein do men try to do the impossible. What they could do\neasily enough, what, in fact, no one could hinder their doing, that\nthey will not do — they find no manner of joy in the right and simple\nway to God. But they rejoice in attempting the impossible. In\nwhatever direction overdeveloped spiritual emotion points — espe-\ncially when it affects the bodily senses — by that way they press on-\nward, little knowing what they are about, though they may talk\nwisely concerning spiritual things. If they would stay close in the\ntrue road to Christian perfection, they would soon know how to speak\nand to act intelligently. Nor is their going astray due to lack of\nknowledge. No, for their conscience reproaches them for their re-\nmissness. If they did all that they understood was right, whether it\n«eie litle or great, God would acquit them of blame; for He would\nthen ask no more from them, otherwise He would give them more light.\n\nFinally, dear children, be well assured, if any man will be made\ndifferent by grace from what he is by nature, he must bestir himself\ntp seek God in his inmost heart, to mean God in everything, and to\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 761\n\nlove God and not self. That is the righteousness required of every\nChristian ; that is genuine devotion. For what do I mean by genuine\ndevotion? Some think it 'is sweet emotionalism. So it sometimes is,\nbut not always; for often enough one has such sweetness from natural\ncauses. This leads many astray. True devotion is a willing sub-\nmission to God's service ; and it belongs to true spirituality that every\nman should at least once during each day or night enter into himself\nand diligently take account of his thoughts, words and actions, going\nover the whole day's life; and thus will he fully become informed of\nhis sins and weaknesses.\n\nIt can hardly happen but that he has done something amiss. If he\nhas not, then let him call to mind and sincerely repent of his previous\ntransgressions. Furthermore, a man should earnestly set to work to\ncleanse out the folly and sinfulness of the past still lurking within\nhim. He must then hold fast to God's commandments and keep them\nfaithfully. And men in religious life should know that they are more\nstrictly held to observe the commandments than ordinary laymen.\n\nYet, again, every man should associate himself, and that gladly,\nwith the active religious life of the holy Christian Church, and if he\nbe a religious, he should do so according to the rule of his order or\ncongregation. These solid Christian ways are of more worth than\nall self-chosen practices of fasting, vigils, labors and the like — all\nvery good in themselves, all of much help to beginners in the spiritual\ncareer, but taken alone they are not true and fundamental spirituality.\nFor we meet with many well practiced in such things, and who none\nthe less stick fast in plain faults — they are self-willed, disobedient,\nproud and bad tempered. May God grant us grace to acquire true\ndevotion. Amen.\n\n762 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nSynopsis — Five introductory external virtues: Temperance, modesty of\ndemeanor, love of retirement, industry, openness of character — Self-\nabnegation as opposed to pride of vocation — That many lay people\nlead saintly lives — A humble soul is ever amazed at God's goodness\nto it — Patience waits on God with confidence in spite of many signs\nof His disfavor — Earnestness is best shown by uniform regularity\nin the ordinary practices of devotion.\n\nSERMON FOR A FEAST OF MANY HOLY VIRGINS.\nAnd five of them were foolish, and five wise. — Matt, xxv, 2.\n\nThus does our dear Lord compare the kingdom of heaven to two\nvery different kinds of souls, the foolish ones, who live according to\nthe flesh, yielding to its temptations ; and the wise, who shun all such\ndangers, and who live according to the spirit. The wise virgins re-\nfrain themselves from all those things against which the foolish ones\ntake no precautions whatsoever.\n\nAs to governing our outward life, five things are to be practiced, if\nwe would be like the wise virgins. The first is temperance. We must\npractice moderation in eating and drinking, and in providing for all\nother necessities of nature, so that while provision is made for what\nis needed, we shall not pamper our dangerous appetites.\n\nThe second is simplicity and modesty ; let our clothing be plain and\nordinary, our bearing manly and open, our conduct every way mod-\nest and retiring.\n\nThe third is avoiding vain company, especially those whose talk is\nlight. And we must be attentive to all our duties.\n\nThe fourth is to live by the labor of our hands, never to be idle;\nfor idleness is the open door of all impurity.\n\nThe fifth point is diligently to restrain every sense and member, so\nas to escape the temptations incident to our daily life; to resist them\nstrenuously, and never to yield to them. To this end nothing is better\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 763\n\nthan the candid manifestation of our temptations to some holy man,\ndone fully and humbly, so that we may get and keep his counsel for\nthe prudent chastisement of our flesh and for interior offerings of\nprayer to God.\n\nAll who do not thus govern their outward life are to be reckoned\nas foolish virgins before God. But it behooves the wise virgins to\nfurthermore adorn their interior souls for their Bridegroom ; and the\nfoundation of all this is humility of heart. They should consider\nthemselves God's sisters because they do His will; and they should\nnot sit in judgment on those who serve God in the married state.\nThey should not strive to please anybody with their virtuous practices\nexcept God alone; for that would make them like the Pharisees. Vir-\nginity is not a commandment of God, but humility is. A proud virgin\nis a thousand times worse in God's sight than a meek housewife. A\nvirgin dare not hate anyone, and must love everybody; she dare not\nthink highly of herself, but ever must stand before God in fear and\ntrembling. As sins begin secretly to germinate in the soul and to be\npleasing to it, in the same degree does love cool and virtue wane.\nVirgins follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth only if they main-\ntain chastity and humility; but if they yield to pride, or if they are\nstained with grosser sins, then will pious married people be alotted\nplaces far higher than they.\n\nVirginity has its origin in God Himself, and from Him have the\nangels learned it, for in heaven is it found, and there it remains till\nthe resurrection at the last day. In heaven there is no marrying nor\ngiving in marriage, but human souls there are like the angels of God,\nwith Whom they have celebrated everlasting espousals. Virgins in\nthis life are exempt from all fleshly bands, and bound only to God in\norder that they may bring forth eternal fruit. They are endued with\ngreat power against the devil. They sing the new canticle before the\nthrone, which none else can sing. In these His chosen daughters hjis\nGod set His throne, and it is His delight to dwell with them; but\nthat is conditioned on their living an interior life of humility, meek-\nness, self-renunciation, their hearts born again to God in holy love.\n\nTo God's love can no man ever come except through humility, which\nis a gift of God more precious than all earthly treasure.s. Humility\nestablishes the heart in true peace, for no man is restless or quarrel-\nsome except first he breaks away from humility. If a man be but truly\nhumble, and so remains, he never will sin again. The reason why\n\n764 The Sermons and Spiritucd Conferences\n\nMary could not sin was because she was truly humble; and where\nGod finds a humble soul, He does great things to it. St. Augustine\nsays: \"Whosoever is the humblest man on earth, the same is the\ngreatest saint.\"\n\nThe signs of a humble man are these : He always begins by consid-\nering himself; and he at once acknowledges himself unworthy of\nevery good gift. He accounts it an amazing thing and an injustice\nthat God should think of him at all ; that God should have made him\na man ; that He should continue to feed him and care for him. And\nyet he unceasingly thanks God for all those gifts with very deep hu-\nmility. He exalts himself in nothing whatsoever, nor praises nor\nplumes himself. On the contrary, if he is conscious of virtue, he con'-\nsiders this wholly as God's gift, and holds himself only the more\ndeeply involved in indebtedness to God on that account. God, in fact,\nis his last and only intention in everything, and the meaning of every\nact he does.\n\nA wise virgin shall by no means set two purposes for any of her\nacts, meaning God for one purpose and some transitory end for the\nother. If we prize anything, it must be ever in subordination to the\nlove we have for God; it must help us to love God and to come to\nGod: thus acts the wise virgin and not differently. One must hold\nthe Lord more dear than any of the messengers He sends forth — we\nmean the gifts He bestows.\n\nA wise virgin esteems herself no more for her virtues than if she\nnever had been born. Whatever favors God bestows on her with\nthem He bestows Himself, and the gifts are for the purpose of His\nown unhindered action within her soul. For that end only God would\nmake her perfect ; nor can He ever cease to do so as long as she yields\nHim place, and her heart is loyal to Him, and suffers His guidance\nwithout any mixture of self-love. A humble man deems himself un-\nworthy of whatever place he has, and of whatever company he is in.\n\nHe ever seeks the lowest place; he wants the meanest and least\nshare of everything; and this feeling of his embraces everything, ex-\ntends to all the affairs of life. He complains of his sufferings to no-\nbody. He dares not complain against God in the sorest distress, not\neven when it grows so bad as to be intolerable; he accepts everything\nfrom the hand of God. Nor does he fret against any creature that\ntroubles him, no matter how base may be kis enemy. If he is unjustly\naccused, he cannot lay the blame on others, for he is persuaded that\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 765\n\nall such things are done by God's ordering, and that all is arranged\nfor his best perfection. Thus it is that the wise virgins live, and thus\nin all contentment do they die.\n\nBehold the shortest road to God, and to the bright company of the\nwise virgins who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. How dif-\nferent with the foolish virgins, though they are quite unconscious of\nit. Whosoever would live truly in God must be made a fool in his\nowTi eyes and in those of everybody else. Whosoever would make\nsure of saving his soul, must give up and lose all the vain honors of\nthis life. Whosoever would acquire humble charity of heart, uinst\nlearn three lessons — self-renunciation, patience and love.\n\nBy self-renunciation we not only give up great sins, whether of the\nouter or inner kind, but in the interior life we renounce all joy of\nownership in spiritual gifts. In our fasts, vigils, prayers and holy\nreadings; in our devout feelings and pious thoughts; in our flashes\nof interior illumination ; in our hunger and thirst for the rewards\nof eternal life; in our holy communions, jubilees, visions and contem-\nplations:— in all these things of the spirit we must practice self-\nrenunciation. One must come to be persuaded, that of all the con-\ntemptible men in the world he is the most contemptible, the coldest,\nthe least pleasing to God, the most shiftless and negligent in religious\nduty. And yet meanwhile he must diligently perform all his spiritual\ntasks, nor ever pretend that he is exempt from any duty. Thus does\na man come to account himself as nothing. Self-will and self-conceit\nare lost and gone, as well as all self-praise for good works.\n\nThe deeper a man's sincerity in all this the more truly is he humble,\nand the straighter is his path to God's own self. For God is in the\nabyss of our humility; there it is that the soul obtains possession of\nHim, there God unites the soul to Him. And now such a man is\nchanged in God till he becomes, as it were, another man altogether.\nThis is the work of the Holy Spirit, who now lives in him and rules\nhim.\n\nThe second lesson is patience, for humility has need of patience.\nA man must suffer with as peaceful a mind as possible all kinds of\nridicule. Pleasant things or unpleasant, good fortune or ill-fortune,\ncontempt, belittling, losing or gaining — all must be received with\nequal balance of mind. And this must be so, even when one is per-\nsuaded that things are all wrong, that these troubles hinder his\nvirtue, that they destroy his happiness. Give yourselves up to all\n\nThe Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nsuffering with the best grace of patience you can command, single-\nminded for God's will, trusting Him implicitly, no matter how little\nyou can understand God's ways. Great fruit of humility comes from\nall this. Self-complacency and self-conceit will in this manner be\nwholly rooted out. You will learn to make the best of everything —\nif you can only learn patiently to suffer. If you sometimes think that\nharm is being done you in things temporal or spiritual, be sure of a\ncompensation a hundred fold in God, and a great increase in solid\nvirtue, if you will only humbly and patiently endure.\n\nThe third lesson is love, which serves greatly to increase humility.\nFor never is love so nobly active as in giving up our own and in suffer-\ning. It is indeed true that love greatly increases when one receives\nGod in unity of will with Him; but it is also true that God comes\ndown into the self-abased soul, bringing with Him all that He is.\nThen and there does the loving soul embrace Him, then and there is\nit absorbed into Him, lost in Him, returned again to its Divine source\nof life. In that union is the soul assured, as far as may be in this\nlife, that it will enjoy God forever hereafter. True humility is essen-\ntial for this happy lot — the contemplation of God to the greatest\ndegree permitted here below.\n\nThree things are needed for this. The first is that a man shall have\na pure intention, set and determined to desire nothing but God, to\nhold nothing dear but God, and Him alone to please and to love.\nBehold, these are they who contemplate Him rightly in this life.\n\nThe second is that we view God's action upon us with the eyes of\nself-denying love, sunk down deep in our lowly opinion of ourselves\nand full of love; carefully repressing all feelings of elation should God\nmanifest hidden mysteries to us.\n\nThe third is great earnestness in performing our spiritual exer-\ncises, elevating our thoughts to God in whatever way we are led:\nsometimes in meditating on the Lord's humanity, again on His\ndivinity, or on the blessed Trinity; or pondering the life and passion\nof Jesus Christ, the virtues of our dear mother Mary, or those of\nother saints. Every sentence of holy Scripture contains a divine\nmeaning, did we but strive to find it. Thus will a man obtain from\nGod what God wills him to have, if he cultivates those three virtues,\nnamely, purity of intention, readiness to suffer while waiting on God\nin all meekness, and diligence in spiritual exercises. To this end a\nsound bodily constitution helps, a strong brain and a well-balanced\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor jqj\n\nmind, together with a penetrating judgment; and thus with God's\ngrace one may advance rapidly in the spiritual life.\n\nAll virtues and all religious good works depend on these six points:\nFirst, true humility; second, patience in suffering; third, self-renun-\nciation in all things; fourth, unfeigned love; fifth, to keep God in view\nin everything we do; sixth, earnestness in our spiritual exercises. And\nmay God help us to be wise virgins. Amen.\n\n768 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nifummt Nature ^tpmrtth nnh Bunttxiih\n\nSynopsis — Fallen nature seeks perishable joys, sanctified nature the\npossession of God Himself — The one craves outward life, the other\nhidden life — Nature prefers mercenary motives in religious activ-\nity, grace demands disinterested ones.\n\nFIKST SERMON FOR THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEDICA-\nTION OF A CHURCH.\n\nThis day I must abide In thy house. — Luke xix, 5.\n\nDear children, we are celebrating the anniversary of the dedication\nof the mother church of the diocese, the great cathedral, and this solem-\nnity was observed yesterday in many places in this city of Cologne.\nAs I said yesterday, so say I today: all the devotions and outward\nobservances of holy Church point inward to men's souls. There it is\nthat in the best reality a temple is dedicated to God, and there should\nconstantly take place a Divine renewal of our life. All external rites\ncall us away to perfect interior festivities with God, call us, admonish\nus, and prepare us. Church dedication means giving to God a new\ntemple, and so must we do in our souls, our nature denying itself,\nand curing itself of all attachments, as, for example, those we cherish\nfor friends and relatives. All must be given up that comes from our\noutward natural life, and all that ministers natural joy to our senses\nand faculties in every way and work. To this end bodily mortifica-\ntions serve, such as the various fasts and vigils we are able to endure.\nBut, children, you are not aware of how cunningly nature seeks her\nown good, and how often she causes one to enjoy pleasures where he\nhad only thought of serving some necessity.\n\nThe reasonable man must earnestly set to work to master the animal\nman that is in him. But at the outset of this, one feels deep pain,\nhe begins to discipline his disorderly appetites, as in eating and drink-\ning, seeing and hearing, talking and acting. Children, if this hostile\nattitude of our nature were but fully set right by the death of animal\npleasure, it would be a sweet odor of sacrifice before God. As the\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor\n\nApostle says: \"For we are the good odor of Christ unto God\"\n(II. Cor. ii, 15). When these hindrances of thy corrupt nature are\nremoved, then may it be said of thee : \"Who maketh the clouds thy\nchariot, who walketh upon the wings of the winds\" (Ps. ciii, 3).\nThe meaning is, that when one is set free from earthly ends and pur-\nposes by real mortification, then does God come into close company\nwith him and give three wings, as it were, on which he may be said\nto fly— the wings of the dove, the wings of the eagle, and the wings\nof the wind.\n\nThe wings of the dove mean the holiness of those purified men who\nlive in simplicity of heart, devoid of suspiciousness, free from rash\njudgment, kind, quiet natured, keeping the meekness of Christ ever\nbefore their eyes. Our Lord guides their dove-like flight ever upward,\nsanctifying their desires and filling them with His gentle spirit. The\nwings of the eagle carry souls so high that ordinary mortals can\nscarcely follow them with their eyes. They are interior spirits, soar-\ning aloft in wisdom and in love, bearing with them all their outward\nand inward faculties, passing beyond the harmful reach of the life of\nthe senses. And the souls that have Christ's wings of the wind are\nyet more spiritual. The wind is very swift, and blows thou knowest\nnot whence or whither. And so there are souls who are the most\nperfect in all spiritual things, transformed in God in the mysterious\nways of the hidden life, exceeding sense and reason to understand.\nSuch a soul wings its way back to the fountain head of its existence,\nGod, its created life merged in the uncreated, its light joined to and,\nas it were, extinguished in the infinite light that is God: for all\ncreated light compared to Him is but darkness. When the sun rises\nin the morning the stars that shone so brightly are now obscured into\ndarkness: so does God's light extinguish all natural light when He\nshines in the deeper depths of the human soul— an overwhelming flood\nof divine brightness, wholly impossible to comprehend. Compared\nto God's brightness, all created intelligence is like the eyes of a little\nbird compared to the great fiery globe of the sun in the heavens.\nLook, if thou darest, straight at the sun at noonday, and presently\nits blazing disc is a dark spot in thy troubled eye. Thus it is with\nour soul's eyes and the brightness of God's spirit. A heathen king\nsaid: ''God is darkness in the soul after all light has shone; a man\nknows Him in the unknowingness of his spirit.\" It is a shame to us\nthat a heathen, and a heathen king besides, should understand this.\nWhat are we Christians about?\n\n\"^^0 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nWe read in the Gospel of this feast of the dedication of a church,\nthat Zachaeus, the publican, was anxious to behold our Lord, but could\nnot on account of the crowd, for he was short of stature. What, then,\ndid he do? He climbed up a sycamore tree. So must we do. We\nlong to behold the Being who has created such a disturbance in our\nsouls, but we are too short of stature ; that is to say, too petty, mean,\nand cowardly. What then? We shall climb up above our pettiness,\nand rise high over our imperfections by mortification of the life of the\nsenses, repression of our depraved natural inclinations. Let us be-\ncome interior men, for among such does God walk in familiar com-\npanionship.\n\nBut thus to repress nature is utter folly to the wise ones of this\nworld — a man is a mere idiot in their eyes if he leads a hard life in\norder to come closer to God and to see Him : and these are men who\nown and read a hundred marks' worth of learned books. They think\npious men are utter fools. But, children, I say to you in all truth,\nthat is the foolishness that God honors, as our Savior taught: \"I\nconfess to Thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because Thou\nhast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed\nthem to little ones. Yea, Father, for so it hath seemed good in Thy\nsight\" (Luke x, 21).\n\nMany grateful revelations were granted St. Hildegarde illustrat-\ning this high spiritual flight; they are shown in some pictures in her\nbook, copies of two of which are in our Sisters' refectory. One shows\nwhat the fear of God is— a blue-mantled figure all covered with eyes,\nand yet without head or face. But this is not fear in its common\nmeaning, it being rather a careful self-searching in the light of God's\njustice, our soul scrutinizing with a thousand eyes, as it were, all\nour words and works and thoughts. The figure has no face and head,\nto show self-forgetfulness, total indiflference to human love or hate,\npraise or blame. Nor has it any hands; and this shows detachment\nfrom all selfishness whatsoever.\n\nThe other picture is a form clothed in a white garment, with blue\nfringes, standing barefoot, hands uplifted, but without any head.\nAbove it God is represented iu pure gold. His being streaming down\nupon the figure so as to take the place of its head. This picture rep-\nresents entire poverty of spirit. God is that soul's only head; the\nwhiteness of the garment is single-heartedness towards God, together\nwith total self-renunciation. The bareness of the feet means follow-\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 77X\n\ning Christ in strict imitation of His detachment The blue fringes\nmean steadfastness in well doing unto the end. The uplifted hands\nmean perfect readiness to accept and to do God's will in all things,\nwhether in acting or in suffering.\n\nOne may compare this to the sycamore tree, or that elevation of\nspirit above worldly things so necessary if one would see God in time\nand eternity.\n\nThe Lord hurried Zachaeus down from the tree, saying • \"This day\nI must abide in thy house.\" That is, go down very low and learn\nthy own nothingnes in being and in doing; it is thus I must have\nthy soul prepared for My coming. And in truth, whilst one is still\nup m the tree, although he sees God's everlasting truth, yet it is not\nwith perfect clearness; his nature, with its inclinations, is still stru-,\ngling against grace; he is not arrived at entire self-abasement. B^e\nwell assured that whatsoever nature does is always stained with\nsome faults-it cannot be entirely perfect. Hence men whose spirit-\nuality IS of mingled nature and grace, God calls down from their syca-\nmore tree into a state of more thorough self-renunciation. And our\nSavior said: ''This day I must abide in thy house.\" This day means\nthe day of eternity, and tells the promise of salvation-which may\nGod grant to all of us. Amen.\n\n772 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nJattI? aa a Prarttral MtmB of g>anrtt$ratuin\n\nSynopsis — Preliminary observations on Christ expelling the traffickers\nfrom the temple — True faith not always the sign of a truly faithful\nsoul — Sign of a living faith: when on&s inner knowledge is brighter\nthan one's outward profession possibly can be — A perfect Chris-\ntian's heart is a chronicle of Ood's truth in words of love — The\nprayer of faith.\n\nSECOND SERMON FOR THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE\nDEDICATION OF A CHURCH.\n\nMy house shall be called the house o f prayer. — Matt, xxi, 13.\n\nOur Lord would show us how it may be brought about that our\ninterior soul shall be made a house of prayer, for man is essentially\nGod's holy temple. But first of all the traflSckers must be driven out ;\nthis means the alien forms and pictures of our imagination, as well\nas enjoyment of created things, and self-will. To this is added the\ncleansing of the soul, which must be washed with the tears of pen-\nance in God's love. Then is the temple clean. Now, temples are not\nholy because they are houses made of fine material and beautiful\ndesign, here, there or in Rome or elsewhere, for they are made holy\nby God. And of all temples, that of our soul is God's favorite temple,\nfor there God dwells in all truth, if room only be given Him, and if\nwhatsoever is incompatible with His presence is removed.\n\nBut what sort of dwelling for God shall that soul be, which, ere\nIt gives one thought to God often gives forty thoughts to other things?\nAnd this indicates who are the traflSckers in God's house, and how\nthey happen to be there. Whosoever wilfully lives in the enjoyment\nof creatures, the same is a trafficker in the house of God. There can\nbe no manner of doubt, therefore, that any man who would have God\ndwell in Him and work His divine work in him, must put away all\nthat stands between him and God; he must drive out of his soul all\npleasure in created things that God is not the cause of. If any one\nwould say that ten hurtful human friendships are not worse than a\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 773\n\nsingle one, he would talk foolishly; any child would know better.\nTherefore, the fewer hindrances to God we have to expel the easier\nour task will be. But yet mark this : Ten imperfections that a man\nknows and acknowledges to be such, are less dangerous than a single\none that he will not own to be a fault, and that he obstinately cleaves\nto. Therefore, cultivate humble fear about your hidden faults. For\nwhen thou liest prostrate before the merciful God in all lowliness of\nspirit, owning frankly to thy imperfections, then art thou well ad-\nvised. A man who is full of excuses can never be rightly guided.\nAvoid that spirit as you would eternal death. Thou mayst come\nacross the holiest man in the world, and likely enough thou wilt find\nhim weeping bitterly for his sins ; and if thou askest him if he has not\nwept enough during so many years of penance, he will answer thee\nthat it is not a thousandth part of the tears that are due to God for\nhis wickedness, and that he is now only beginning to weep. If this\nbe the mind of wise and holy men, shouldst not thou look carefully\nto thyself? You may ask me if I mean to teach that one should weep\nall the time. I answer yes and no, according to God's guidance of\ndifferent souls. Only this I maintain — no man should imagine at any\ntime that he has completely done all the penance that is due to God\nfor his sins.\n\nBut when thou hast driven the traflSckers out, when thou art come\nso far as not to permit joy in creatures to abide in thy soul, what\nthen? Why this: Thou must keep a strict guard on thyself. For\nthese vile traffickers soon will try to creep back again, once more to\nbegin their huckstering; and then they must be driven out a second\ntime. But observe that if they linger within thee — these earthly ten-\ndencies— and if that be straight against thy will, they cannot harm\nthee. But whether their intrusion be long or short, out at last must\nthey go through the same door they came in. Yet more: All the\nfoul and evil things that they may have left behind them — thoughts,\nfeelings, weaknesses — if they be the accumulation of even twenty\nyears, all must be cast out along with what caused them.\n\n\"My house shall be called the house of prayer.\" Xow, to prayer\nbelongs devotion, a word which means devoted to God or vowed to\nGod, an interior binding to God joined to a great longing for eternity.\nWhen thou art thus bound, thus vowed to God, thou hast devotion\nwheresoever thou art, whatsoever may be thy good work. It needs\nnot always to be celebrating jubilees to have devotion ; or to feel great\n\n774 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nspiritual sweetness. All this is but incidental ; for the essence of\ndevotion is in totally giving oneself to God interiorly, or being united\nto Him, or bound to Him, That brings one very close to Him. Devo-\ntion thus understood is like a battering ram ; it hammers down the\nwalls of God's kingdom and opens a wide passage for the soul to\nenter in.\n\nSt. Hilary names three means of gaining entrance into God's in-\nterior kingdom. The first is true faith; the second an intelligent\nknowledge of God; the third, interior, devout prayer. And now what\nis faith ? I make boldi to say that not all the Christian people are\nfaithful Christians. You know that the churchyard is full of the\ndead and the church building full of the living; so in holy Church\nthere are many that seem to be alive, but are really dead, for their\nfaith is not a living faith. And what is a living faith? Nothing else\nbut a living taste for God and for all that savors of God. A man may\nhear and read things that belong to our holy faith, as about our\nLord's divinity or humanity, or the blessed Trinity. But he has a\nliving faith within him, if interiorly he knows that God is, and when\nthat is interiorly more plain to him than all his teachers can say;\nand this because he lives and dwells in the interior kingdom. There\ndoes this life of faith pour forth its living waters from its own foun-\ntain head.\n\nAnother kind of Christians — and, alas, they are not few — hang on\nindeed to the life of faith; but its light is easily obscured in their\nsouls. If sunlight were a living creature and a cloud were another,\nthen the latter could destroy the life of the former. So may the life\nof faith, already weak enough, be devoured by the cloud of sinfulness\nin a Christian's soul. But when one is strong in the faith with the\nliving strength of knowledge and love of God, then if clouds of sin\nhappen to overhang that soul — for all men are liable to sin — soon\nthe sunshine of Divine life breaks through those sin-threatening\nclouds and disperses them : the soul quickly recovers its former sense\nof living faith. The life within such men has struck deep roots, its\nfruit soon reappears: in plain words the soul quickly flies from sin.\nMeanwhile the others, those of weaker faith, lie where they fall. If\nthey enter into themselves they find themselves a dead dog, dead and\nreeking with corruption. Drag that dead carcass of a soul away out\nof our sight — we might say : it is lifeless and coid, it is empty of\nGod and of all that belongs to God. Whatever means God is heavy\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 775\n\nand dull to that soul. Or there may be a faint spark of life left;\nthe sinner may feebly cling to Christian faith. In that case the soul\nshall be finally saved if it will but enter into real and living faith by\ntrue repentance. But it may easily happen that such a man shall\nfall away totally and finally. By and of himself he has no ways or\nmeans of returning to God, for he lives in outward things alone;\nspiritual things are vain and tasteless to him and his own interior\ncondition strange and unknown.\n\nThose souls who abide in the life that is within, know well of the\ninterior movements of God and of His truth. As to what befalls\nthem in the outer life, that also makes for God, ever newly awakening\ntheir inner life, now with holy purposes, now with deeper love, again\nwith praise and thanksgiving to God. This life is within them and\nnone other. They live in a divine interior kingdom. They savor\nGod in everything— a state of soul that must remain hidden from all\nwho have not been granted its privileges.\n\nSt. Hilary's second road into the interior kingdom of God is an\nintelligent knowledge of God. That is found in a man of living faith-\nhe has not far to seek for it, for it manifests itself to him. Entering,\nas he does, by the right door, the light of this knowledge beams full\nupon him— he does not intrude himself by any forbidden passage, and\ntherefore it must be said to him : \"Lo, the kingdom of God is within\nyou\" (Luke xvii, 21). He finds the truth in a degree of brightness\nunknown to all who are not familiarly at home in this interior\ndwelling. He finds a knowledge here above all thought and reason\nand understanding, as St. Dionysius writes : \"It is light in light, the\nsoul's light in uncreated light.\" The great teachers of the University\nof Paris read great books, and turn over the leaves with much joy.\nThat is very good; but those devout men we have been speaking of\nread in a true living book in which every word is a living force. They\nturn over earth and heaven as a man turns over the leaves of a book,\nand therein they read the wonderful works of God. They advance\nto the knowledge of the different orders of the blessed angels of\nheaven. They penetrate into the eternal life of the blessed Trinity,\nhow the Father eternally begets the Son our Lord Jesus Christ, how\nthe Son everlastingly rejoices in the bosom of the Father, how the\nHoly Ghost proceeds from both the Father and the Son, how the holy\nTrinity pours itself forth into all blessed spirits, and how these al)\nreturn into their origin and fountain head. This is the beatitude of\n\n776 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nwhich our Lord spoke : \"Now this is eternal life : That they may\nknow Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent\"\n(John xvii, 3). Such is the life in God's living temple, the noble and\nglorious entertainment of all God's chosen friends. Here dwells the\nDivine High Priest in His own palace, for here is the true presence\nof God, in which all good is centred and where all pain vanishes away.\nWhosoever has experienced this, knows it well and knows nothing\nelse. It is a knowledge unknown to all the masters of worldly science.\nWhatsoever man best acquires it in this life and goes deepest into its\nsecrets is found closest to God, and shall be made the happiest.\n\nSt. Hilary's third road to the kingdom of living faith is prayer.\nIt is the elevation of the soul to God. In a stricter sense, it is the\nturning inward of the created spirit to union with the uncreated\nSpirit of God. By this means the spirit of a man shall be moved and\nguided by the essence of the Godhead. Such men are the true adorers,\nwho \"adore the Father in spirit and in truth\" (John iv, 23). And\nour Savior adds: \"For the Father also seeketh such to adore Him\"\n(ibid.). What they seek in their prayers they find — they receive\nwhat they ask. And in this prayer there is finding and there is losing.\nHow losing, and what is lost? Even the temple now is lost — the\nman's spirit and all the life of it that we have been describing are\nlost. What has become of it all? It has all flowed back into God\nand is now embraced by His being and absorbed in Him. The human\nsoul is made one spirit with God, as our beloved St. Paul tells us:\n\"He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit\" (I. Cor. vi, 17). What\nall that is, and how all that is done, is more easily felt than told : all\ndiscourse about it is as unequal to its reality as a needle point is to\nthe great heavens above us. May God grant us the grace one day\nto experience it — God the Father, and God the Son, and God the\nHoly Ghost. Amen.\n\nTWO USEFUL INSTKUCTIONS ABOUT CONFESSION.\n\nChildren, I counsel you, and I admonish and implore you, to learn\nhow to confess all your sins interiorly to God, and to acknowledge\nyourselves guilty before Him with the utmost sincerity. Ponder over\nyour sins very deliberately before His eyes and with much love; but\ndo not make your outward confession to the priest too long, nor dwell\ntoo particularly upon the fine distinctions between different venial\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 777\n\nsins. There is little profit in such a practice, and it robs your father\nconfessor of his valuable time, annoying and perhaps distressing him.\nChildren, by such minuteness of confession your sins will not stop,\nand, as I have elsewhere taught you, your father confessor has no\npower over sins which you have not made up your mind to quit.\n\nTurn into yourself; arouse your memory; work inside your soul.\nFor the outward telling of your sins brings little fruit if not joined\nto interior repentance, especially when there is (as in this case) no\nquestion of mortal sins, but of venial sins. Such superfluous telling\nof sins is often the sign of a man all too careless in the work of\ninterior confession. If the interior confession of venial faults be done\nrightly, these defects are so obliterated from one's conscience that he\ncan scarcely recall or describe them with any particularity ; but that\npresupposes that he has dealt with God about them with deep sin-\ncerity. And now you understand that all this has reference only to\nvenial sins.\n\nAs to mortal sins, O may God preserve you from them. Children,\nit is every way necessary that a man should keep a strict watch over\nhis interior life. He may be said to have many skins drawn over his\nsoul, hiding its true state from him. We meet with men who. though\nthey know many things, do not know themselves — there are thirty or\nforty interior disguises hiding some men's souls from their own knowl-\nedge, one disguise beneath the other, each of them as hard as the hide\nof an ox. And these self-deceptions hinder one's getting away from\nand keeping out of mortal sin : for they cannot be stripped off by con-\nfession alone, as you might suppose they could, but only by interior\nsorrow. And just what are they? Everything that thou hast in thee,\nor meanest, or enjoyest, whose true end and object is not God. These\nare all a man's false gods — evil images harbored in the mind, self-will,\nself-indulgence in the life of the senses. A man hides these from him-\nthese as Rachel hid and sat upon her father's idols in her tent. To\nthese are joined presumption, boastfulness, and spiritual sloth in\nDivine things. These are all interior disguises. I do not say that they\nare all matter for confession to a priest, but I do say that they must\nbe seriously taken account of and humbly confessed to God. If a man\nwill but prostrate himself at God's feet and acknowledge himself\nguilty of these things, all will be well; he will then begin to turn\naway from them to the best of his ability, and our Lord's help will\nnot be wantins:. Amen.\n\n778 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nII.\n\nOne may confess his venial sins to his father confessor with words\nsuch as these, according to each one's particular failings: I have been\nguilty of proud and useless thoughts in reciting my office and in my\nprayers instead of giving careful attention. I have been negligent; I\nhave broken silence without necessity at times and in places not per-\nmitted; I have spoken scoffingly, hastily and imprudently; I have\nbeen silly in my language, restless and uneasy in my conduct, un-\nguarded in my manners; thoughtless of God's will: forgetful of the\nholy rule in and out of choir ; I have been disobedient and ungrateful ;\nI have not loved God and praised Him as I ought ; I have not attended .\nto His interior admonitions; I have not given my brethren a good\nexample; and I accuse myself in general of having not duly observed\npoverty, chastity, obedience, and the holy rule according to my vows,\nas well as of* all other of my sins and imperfections.\n\nAnd thou mayst beg of God the granting of an indulgence as fol-\nlows : Dear Lord, if it were possible for me to do so, I would seek to\ngain this indulgence by journeying through frost and snow, through\nrain and cold. But that is not in my power to do; nor can I do more\nthan humbly implore Thee to grant me this indulgence as Thy generous\nalms. I beg Thee to make me a sharer in all the holy devotions in Thy\nChurch everywhere, giving me a plenary indulgence from all my sins^\nby the most precious blood flowing from Thy Divine wounds, the\nsource and fountain head of all Thy graces. Dear children, say that\nprayer with sincere faith and deep confidence in God. and thou shalt\nbe raised above all the miseries of this world.\n\nOX THE ATTKIBUTES OF GOD.\n\nMoses said to his people : '-Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one\nLord\" (Dent, vi, 4). So can we make much progress by meditating\non the dififerent attributes of God and His various names, as we apply\nthem to His Divine being; but meanwhile we ought to sink down into\nour own nothingness. I have already explained, that after one has\nduly meditated on our dear Lord's birth, life, passion and death, he\nshould then elevate his spirit above time and fix it upon the eternal\nways and being of God.\n\nIn considering the Divine attributes, one may, as it were, mirror\n\nof John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor 779\n\nGod in his soul, and consider Him as a pure being and the essence of\nall beings, and yet He is nothing of all things as we understand them.\nBut all that is, and all that is being and has being and is good, in all\nthat God is. St. Augustine says: \"Seest thou a good man, a good\nangel, the good heaven? Abstract man, angel, heaven; and that which\nremains, that is to say, the essence of good, that is God ; for He is all\nin all things, and yet far above all things. All creatures have indeed\ngood in them, have indeed love; but they are not the good, they are\nnot the love, but God alone is the essence of good, of love, and of all\nthat one can name.\" Then let a man compare himself with this essen-\ntial good, and exerting all the powers of his soul let him contemplate\nit and become absorbed in it, so that his own nothingness may be\nmerged in God and renewed in His Divine essence, which is alone\nthe being and the action and the life that is in all things.\n\nLet a man contemplate the attribute of the simplicity, the absolute\noneness of being, and he will see God as the final end of simplicity,\nin whom all multiplicity is made unity and simplified in unity of\nessence. Again, God's essence is His action. God's knowledge, love,\njustice, mercy, righteousness are all one. Enter therein, drawing\nwith thee thy own incomprehensible multiplicity, which He will make\nsimple in His own most simple essence.\n\nLet a man contemplate God's unspeakable hidd'enness. He is hidden\nin all things; as Isaias says: \"Verily, Thou are a hidden God\"\n(Isaias xlv, 15). To everything he is nearer than it is to itself. He\nis in the depths of the soul, hidden there from all sense and unknown.\nPenetrate there and enter into union with Him with all thy powers,\ntranscending over all the thoughts of thy external existence; for thy\nexternal existence is as far from thy real self and from thy interior\nexistence as is any beast, which lives only in its bodily senses, and\nknows and understands and feels nothing besides. Hide thyself away\nin this hiddenness of God, away from all creatures and all that is\nalien to essential being. But this does not take place by the way of\nimages and forms in the mind; no, nor by the use of the understand-\ning, but in an essential way, all the soul's powers and aspirations\nbeing lifted above the life of sense into the way of perception.\n\nThen let a man contemplate the solitude of God, in which never a\nword in the essence or in the essential way is spoken. All in God is\nsilent, secret and solitary — nothing but simply God, and never has\nentered there anything alien to God, whether it be creature, or form.\n\n780 The Sermons and Spiritual Conferences\n\nor image. God meant this solitariness when He spoke by the prophet :\n\"I will lead her into the wilderness; and I will speak to her heart\"\n(Osee ii, 14). This wilderness is His silent, solitary Godhead, into\nwhich in time and eternity He leads all who will be attentive to His\ninterior inspirations. Into this still Godhead introduce thy own vain\nand waste soul, which is a wilderness full of a rank growth of weeds\nand empty of useful fruit, a wilderness given up to the wild beasts\nthat are thy senses and faculties.\n\nThen contemplate the Divine darkness; for by reason of His un-\nspeakable brilliancy, God is darkness to all created understanding,\nwhether of men or angels, as the noonday sun is darkness to the\nunprotected eye that gazes straight upon it. The created light of the\nmind of man or angel compared to God's mind is as the eyes of a little\nbird compared to the sun in the sky. When any created spirit looks\nfull upon God, it must instantly close its eyes and rest in blindness\nand, as it were, unknowingness. Into this brightness of Divine light\nintroduce thy fathomless darkness, devoid as it is of all true light.\nGive over thy darkness to the abyss of the Divine darkness, which\nalone knows Itself, and in the degree it knows Itself is unknown to\nall else. But this abyss, this unknown and unnamed, is divinely bliss-\nful, and it ravishes the soul's love more than all that it can know else\nin the eternal beatitude of the Divine essence.\n\nINDEX\n\nNOTE — The reader should bear in mind, that nearly all of Taulor's Sermons\ndeal with Christian and religious perfection, and with the various degrees of\nmental prayer. Therefore, the following and kindred subjects will be found\ntreated of nearly everywhere: Poverty, chastity, obedience, purity of heart,\nmortification, humility, the passion of Christ, the divine attributes, meditation\nand contemplative prayer in every degree and aspect, sensible devotion, aridity,\nspiritual direction, guidance of the Holy Spirit, and all the rules for the interior\nlife.\n\nA Pages.\n\nAbandonment to God and the Passion 532\n\nAbandonment, in general 12. 29, 40. 199, 208, 330\n\nAdvent 51\n\nAlms 554\n\nAll Saints 717-724\n\nAngels, The 712-716\n\nAnger 553. 607, 627\n\nAridity ( see Desolation )\n\nAvarice, Spiritual 522\n\nB\n\nBaptism, Vows of 213\n\nBeatitudes, The Eight, in general 717-724\n\nBeginners in Perfection 535\n\nBrotherly Love as a Beatitude 722\n\nBrotherly Love and Contemplation 598\n\nBrotherly Love When Universal 496\n\nBrotherly Love, in general. 56, 97, 141, 168, 234, 251, 290, 326, 422, 432, 576. 598, 675\n\nCensoriousness 273. 290\n\nChastity 142. 181. 632-636\n\nCloister, Virtues of 44-46, 213\n\nCommandments of God 536\n\nCommunion, Holy, in general 72, 265, 291, 392-394, 365-396, 397-400. 460-463\n\nCommunion. Holy, False Opinions About 386\n\nCommunion. Holy. Frequent 371-391. 482-489\n\nConfession, Practical Instruction for 777-779\n\nConfession and Humility 491\n\nContemplation 78, 90, 185, 285. 312. 318. 549, 554\n\nContemplation and Brotherly Love 598, 613\n\nContemplation and Contrition 561\n\nContemplation and Good Works 556\n\nContemplation, Grades of 596. 628-631\n\nContemplation, Natural 651\n\nContemplation. False 187, 547\n\nContrition and Contemplation 561\n\nConversation and Brotherly Love 675\n\nConversion, Interior 137\n\nConversion, True and False 172-175, 582-589\n\nCorrection. Fraternal 664-667\n\nCounsels, Efvangelical 537\n\nCounsel. The Gift of 339\n\nINDEX— Continued\n\nPages.\n\nDesolation of Spirit, in general 105, 117, 126-127, 197. 271-272, 292, 310\n\n339, 426, 616\n\nDesolation of Spirit a Marli of Divine Favor. 496\n\nDesolation of Spirit and Perseverance 404\n\nDesolation of Spirit in Higher Grades of Prayer 538\n\nDetachment and Contemplation 617\n\nDetachment and Purity of Heart 668\n\nDetachment as a Hidden Virtue 42, 706-711\n\nDetachment, in general 11, 57, 62, 103, 146, 199, 299, 323. 325, 343, 378\n\nDevils, The 712-716\n\nDevotion, Sensible 58, 106, 126, 128, 134, 153, 224, 301, 311, 319, 330, 386? 592\n\nDistractions in Prayer 288\n\nDirection, Spiritual 55, 280, 366, 435, 622, 625\n\nDisinterested Love 160, 228\n\nE\n\nEaster 242, 248\n\nEcstasy (see Rapture)\n\nEpiphany, The .96, 101, 103. 107\n\nEspousals, The Divine 37 560\n\nEucharist, The ( see Communion ) .'\n\nEvangelical Counsels, The 537\n\nExamen \\ 55\n\nExternalism (see Formalism)\n\nFaith and Perfection 773-777\n\nFaith and Reason 10, 113 227\n\nFaith and the Eucharist .' 387\n\nFaith and the Higher Prayer 518\n\nFaith as Against Sight 499\n\nFaith as a Quality of Prayer 528\n\nFaith, in general 273 293\n\nFasting .............\". . .' 425\n\nFear of God, The 99. 135, 168, 173-176\n\nFear, The Gift of 337\n\nFidelity in Little Things 472-476\n\nFormalism 138, 153, 165, 172, 175, 195, 204, 413,\" 466, 759-762\n\nFormalism, Holy .' 763-768\n\nFortitude, The Gift of 338\n\nFraternal Charity (see Brotherly Love)\n\nFraternal Correction 664-667\n\nFriendship 236\n\nG\n\nGeneration of the Word Interiorly 73-75\n\nGifts of the Holy Ghost. The 334.\" 355, 3^5. 497\n\nHeaven 304\n\nHeaven, Foretastes of 397\n\nHell ..!...!'.!.!!!!*.!!. 508\n\nHoly Ghost, The Gifts of the 497\n\nHoly Ghost, The Guidance of the 676-683\n\nHope 222, 426, 492\n\nINDEX^Continued\n\nPages.\n\nHope aud Perseverance 404\n\nHope as a Quality of Prayer 521\n\nHope During Interior Difficulties 697\n\nHumanity of Christ. 284, 285\n\nHuman Respect (see Humility)\n\nHumility Amid Temptations 571, 647\n\nHumility and Christ's Passion 501, 702\n\nHumility and Confession 491\n\nHumility and Worldliness 514\n\nHumility as a Beatitude 720\n\nHumility. Its Ranii Among Virtues 401\n\nHumility, in general 13. 17, 31, 36, 85, 97, 98, 132. 140. 149, 165, 167, 182, 184,\n\n200, 207, 226, 274-279. 300. 315. 344. 539, 540, 752-758\nHypocrisy 411, 544\n\nIncarnation. Christ's 641-646\n\nImpurity (see Chastity)\n\nIndustry 639\n\nInspirations of Grace 464\n\nInterior Life. A Sketch of the 283\n\nInterior Life, in general 54. 271, 283, 323, 3(>4, 466\n\nInterior Spirit. The 266. 305\n\nJ\n\nJohn the Baptist. St 655\n\nE\n\nKnowledge, The Gift of 337, 356\n\nLayman's Perfection 428, 457, 537\n\nLiberty of Spirit 114, 134, 154, 158. 624\n\nLove, Brotherly (see Brotherly Love)\n\nLove of God. The 56, 168, 176, 251, 297\n\nLove of God, a Measure of all Virtue 431\n\nLove of God. Disinterested 160. 178, 186, 193, 458\n\nLove of God, Growth in 56\n\nLove of God, Degrees of the 254, 507\n\nLove of God, Essential Marks of the 545\n\nLove of God in Relation to the Trinity 734-738\n\nLove of God, Natural and Supernatural 187\n\nLove of God, Qualities of the 260\n\nLove of God, Tests of True and False 590-593\n\nLukewarmness (see Tepidity)\n\nLying 552\n\nMary and the Incarnation 641-646\n\nMary, The Dignity of 621, 626\n\nMartyrdom 739-744\n\nMeditation, How to Make 162\n\nMeekness (see Humility)\n\nMercy of God, The 235\n\nMortal Sin 51. 83. 173, 278. 410\n\nMortification 18, 97. 104. 122, 156. 165. 181, 243, 244, 282, 502\n\nMysticism (see Contemplation)\n\nINDEX— Continued\n\nPages.\nN\n\nNatural Contemplation 651\n\nNatural Virtues 317, 354, 464\n\nNew Year's Day 83\n\nObedience 99. 191, 235\n\nObedience an Aid to Prayer 468\n\nObedience, Unwilling 407\n\nObstinacy, a Hindrance to Perfection 495\n\nObstinacy in Sinning 166\n\nOrders, Religious 537\n\nPassive Love of God 161. 123, ISO\n\nPassive Virtues, The 87, 117, 118\n\nPassion of Christ, The 162, 164, 168, 191, 216, 233, 292, 408\n\nPassion of Christ, The, and Abandonment to God 533\n\nPassion of Christ, The, and Contemplation 631\n\nPassion of Christ, The, and Humility 501, 702\n\nPassion of Christ, The, and Mortification 502\n\nPassion of Christ, The, as a Rule of Life 690-693\n\nPatience 33, 53, 147, 164, 178, 193, 204, 217, 237, 309. 360. 422\n\nPatience as a Beatitude 721, 723\n\nPatience Crowned with Perfection 739-744\n\nPatience, Productive of Peace 540\n\nPatience Related to Hope and Love 490\n\nPatience, The Place of, in Christian Perfection 694-700\n\nPatience Under Interior Trials 519\n\nPatience with God 119. 130, 212\n\nPeace, a Result of Prayer 540\n\nPenances 133, 167, 214, 219, 225\n\nPenance, The Sacrament of 203, 297, 455, 777-779\n\nPerfection 55, 63, 168, 240, 242, 262, 315. 729-733\n\nPerfection and Purity of Heart 668. 676\n\nPerfection, A Scheme of 366\n\nPerfection Gained by Patience 739-744\n\nPerfection in the World 428, 537\n\nPerfection, Progress in 152\n\nPerfection, Short Cuts to 225\n\nPerfection, The Degrees of 171, 443. 453\n\nPerfection, The Desire of 222, 271\n\nPerfection, The Interior Process of 216. 218\n\nPerfection, The Rudiments of 192\n\nPerfection, The Way of 96\n\nPerseverance 139. 237, 512\n\nPerseverance as a Linking of Virtues 673\n\nPerseverance in Love 256\n\nPerseverance in Prayer 194\n\nPharisaism 544\n\nPoverty 133, 234\n\nPoverty as a Beatitude 719\n\nPrayer 268, 287, 317, 434\n\nPrayer and an Active Life 437, 566\n\nPrayer and Faith 519, 528\n\nPrayer and Hope 521\n\nPrayer, Distractions in 288, 435\n\nINDEX— Conhnued\n\nPages.\n\nPrayer for Perfection 51g\n\nPrayer of Contemplation \\({{ yog-GSi\n\nPrayer of Quiet '.'.■.'.'.\".'.*.'.!'\". .Ts! 90 185\n\nPrayer. Unitive 549 554\n\nPrayer, Vocal .2()8 288 320\n\nPrayer, Vocal, How Related to Mental .......' . 532\n\nPrayer, Why Unanswered 524\n\nPreaching ( see Sermons )\n\nPride ( see Humility )\n\nPriesthood, The 649\n\nProvidence, Trust in 501\n\nPrudence hi? 32'>\n\nPrudence and Brotherly Love 515\n\nPurgatory 176\n\nPurity of Heart G8, 110, 102, 114, 115. 157, 193, 207. 228, 239. 329 350 639\n\nPurity of Heart a Short Cut to Perfection \"... ' 6<58-676\n\nPurity of Heart as a Beatitude 703\n\nPurity of Heart Compared with Formalism 759-76'>\n\nPurity of Heart, The Degrees of .725-7'>8\n\nQ\n\nQuiet, The Prayei- of (see Prayer, Contemplation)\n\nRaptures .V)9. 710\n\nRash Judgment fjC^\n\nRationalism, Spiritual .!....!. 506\n\nReason and Faith .10 19 113 19*; '>'^7\n\nRecollection 57, 69, 77, 84, 86. 107, 120, 133. m 224,' 231.' .303\n\nRepentance ' ^33' jgy\n\nResignation 42 104. 178\n\nResurrection, Christ's .\"..24'' 248\n\nS\n\nSaints. All 717-724\n\nSensible Devotion 58, 106, 126, 134, 153, 224. 301. 311 319. 330. 386\n\nSermons ' qq 149\n\nSermons, How to Hear .^3\n\nSermons, The Qualities of Good . . 14 .31\n\nSermons Useful for Perfection 492\n\n^I'ence '.283i 332. 33.5 \" 352. 369\n\nSimplicity 61 J82\n\nSin (see Mortal Sin, Venial Sin)\n\nSolitude '.'.'.'.'.'.'.['.[ .'335.' 352. 369\n\nSoul, The Beauty of the 401\n\nSoul. The Dignity of the isOS. 5lV 5'>7\n\nSpiritual Direction (see Direction)\n\nSuperiors, The Virtues and Failings of 665\n\nT\n\nTemptations 570-574. 601\n\nTemptations and How to Meet Them 745-751\n\nTemptations and Humility 647\n\nTemptations and Tepidity 686\n\nTemptations to Anger 627\n\nTemptations to Impurity 632-636\n\nINDEX— Continued\n\nPages.\n\nTepidity 177, 272\n\nTepidity and Temptations 686\n\nThanliSgiving 134, 171, 208, 274. 312\n\nThanliSgiving in the Higher Kind of Prayer 531\n\nTheft 554\n\nThief, The Bad 164\n\nThief, the Good 167\n\nTrinity, The Holy 67, 87, 128. 357. 362\n\nTrinity, The Holy, and the Degrees of Love : 734-738\n\nU\n\nUnderstanding, The Gift of '. 34«\n\nUnitive Prayer (see Contemplation)\n\nVainglory (see Humility)\n\nVenial Sins 125, 177\n\nVenial Sins and Holy Communion 392-394\n\nVirginity 637-640\n\nVirginity and Humility 764\n\nVirtues, The Natural 317, 354\n\nVocation 406, 535, 764\n\nVows, The Religious 94, 95\n\nVows of Baptism, The • • • . 213\n\nW\n\nWatching ^^2?^\n\nWisdom, The Gift of 340\n\nWorldliness 277, 289. 294\n\nIN COMPLIANCE WITH CURRENT\n\nCOPYRIGHT LAW\n\nOCKER & TRAPP INC.\n\nAND\n\nPRINCETON UNIVERSITY\n\nPRODUCED THIS REPLACEMENT VOLUME\n\nON WEYERHAEUSER COUGAR OPAQUE NATURAL PAPER,\n\nTHAT MEETS ANSI/NISO STANDARDS Z39.48-1992\n\nTO REPLACE THE IRREPARABLY\n\nDETERIORATED ORIGINAL 2000\n\nPrinceton Theological Seminary Libraries\n\n1 1012 01234 6021\n\nDATE DUE\n\n-^\n\n■■■^^'^^^\n\nGAYLORD\n\nPRINTED IN us A",
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