LIVE JESUS
The Holy Spirit teaches that the lips of the divine spouse, that is the church, resemble a scarlet thread and a honeycomb dripping honey (Song 4:3 and 11) so that everyone may know that all the doctrine which she proclaims consists of sacred love. This love, more sparkling in red than scarlet, because of the blood of the Spouse that inflames it, is sweeter than honey on account of the sweetness of the Beloved who fills her with delights. In the same way, this heavenly Spouse, having decided to begin the promulgation of his Law, sent down a shower of tongues of fire upon the assembly of disciples whom he had appointed for this responsibility. By this means, he made known sufficiently that the preaching of the Gospel was wholly directed to setting hearts on fire.
Imagine beautiful doves touched by the rays of the sun. You will see them change into so many colours, as you shift the point of view from which you look at them, because their feathers are so suited to catch the brilliance. As the sun mingles its clear light with their feathers, a great number of reflections are made which produce a great variety of tints and changes in colours. These colours are so pleasant to the eye that they surpass all other colours, even the enamel of the most beautiful jewels. The colours are so dazzling and so ornately gilded that the gilding makes them even brighter. It was with this in mind that the royal Prophet said to the Israelites: Though your face is darkened with sorrow, yet from now on its colour will be like the wings of a dove, the feathers streaked with rays of silver and gold (Ps 68:13).
The church is in fact enriched with an excellent variety of instructions, sermons, scholarly studies and spiritual books. They are all extraordinarily beautiful and lovable to see. This is because the Sun of justice so wonderfully mingles the rays of his divine wisdom with the tongues of Pastors, which are their feathers, and with their pens which sometimes take the place of the tongues, forming the rich plumage of this mystic dove. But amid all the different colours of the teaching that the Church proclaims, we can see everywhere the beautiful gold of holy love. It shows itself splendidly, gilding all the science of the saints with its extraordinary brilliance and raising it above every science. Everything is of love, in love, for love and from love in holy church.
We know well that all the brightness of the day comes from the sun. Yet we usually say that the sun does not shine, unless it is uncovered and sends its beams to some particular place. Similarly, though all christian doctrine is about holy love, we do not honour the whole of theology indiscriminately with the title of this divine love. It is given only to those parts of theology which study expressly the origin, the nature, the properties and the operations of this holy love.
It is true that numerous writers have dealt very well with this subject. Above all are the ancient Fathers. They served God very lovingly and also spoke divinely of his love. O how good it is to hear St. Paul speaking of the things of heaven which he had learned in heaven itself (2 Cor 12: 4). And how good it is to see persons who were nursed in the bosom of love writing of its holy sweetness! For this reason, even among the Scholastics, those who discussed the most and the best on holy love have also excelled in piety. St. Thomas [Aquinas] has written a treatise on it worthy of St. Thomas. St. Bonaventure and Blessed Denis the Carthusian have made many, very excellent treatises on it under various titles. As for John Gerson, Chancellor of the University of Paris, Sixtus of Siena has this to say about him: “He has so appropriately discussed the fifty qualities of divine love which are indicated here and there in the Song of Songs that it would seem that he alone has properly observed the affections of God’s love." This man was surely very learned, prudent and devout.
But in order that it may be known that this kind of writings are produced more successfully by the devotion of lovers than by the learning of scholars, the Holy Spirit has realized that many women should do wonderfully well with such writings. Who has ever better presented the heavenly passions of holy love than St. Catherine of Genoa, St. Angela of Foligno, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Mechtilde?
In our own time also, many have written about holy love. I have not had the leisure to read their books carefully, but only parts here and there. My intention was to read sufficiently to see if there was still place for this book. Father Louis of Granada, that great doctor of devotion, has placed a Treatise on the Love of God in his Memorial. To say that it is from so good an author is to recommend it enough. Diego Stella, of the Order of St. Francis, has written another with great scope for affections and helpful for prayer. Christopher Fonseca, an Augustinian, has produced a bigger one where he says many good things. Fr. Louis Richeome, of the Society of Jesus, has also published a book under the title of The Art of Loving God by the Creatures.
This author is so amiable in his person and in his excellent writings that without doubt he is even more so when writing about love itself. Fr. John of Jesus Maria, a discalced Carmelite, has composed a booklet which is also called The Art of Loving God and is much appreciated. The great and famous Cardinal Bellarmine has also recently published a small booklet entitled The Ladder for Ascending to God by the Creatures. It cannot be but wonderful, coming from that very learned hand and very devout heart who has written so much and so learnedly for the good of the church.
I want to say nothing of the Exhortation from that river of eloquence [Bishop Camus] which from now on will flow through all France by means of the large number and variety of his sermons and excellent writings.
My soul contracted with his a close spiritual consanguinity when by the imposition of my hands he received the sacred character of the episcopal order for the happiness of the diocese of Belley and the honour of the church. Besides, a thousand ties of a sincere friendship bind us together. Hence I am not permitted to speak in praise of his works. Among them, this Exhortation to the Love of God was one of the first fruits of the matchless intellectual wealth that everyone admires in him.
We also see a great and magnificent Palace which Rev. Fr. Laurence of Paris, a Capuchin preacher, is building in honour of the love of God. When finished it will be a complete course on the science of loving well.
Finally, Blessed Teresa of Jesus [of Avila] has written so well about the sacred movements of holy love in all the books that she has left. One is amazed to see so much eloquence with such great humility and so much firmness of mind with such great simplicity. Her very learned ignorance makes the knowledge of many learned persons appear very ignorant. After long and difficult studies, they are put to shame at not being able to understand what she has so happily written about the practice of holy love. In this way, God raises the throne of his power on the stage of our weakness making use of what is weak to shame the strong (1 Cor 1: 27).
My dear Reader, this Treatise which I am offering you follows far behind all these excellent books, without hope of being able to catch up with them. But I have great confidence in the favour of the two heavenly lovers [Our Lady and St. Joseph: see Dedicatory Prayer] to whom I dedicate it. It will be of help to you in some way. You will find in it many inspiring reflections which you would not so easily find elsewhere, just as you would find elsewhere many beautiful things which are not here. It even seems to me that my purpose is not the same as that of others, except in general, in so far as we all aim at the glory of holy love. But this you will see as you read it.
In fact, I have only thought of describing very simply, artlessly, and still more with frankness the history of the birth, of the progress, of the decay, of the operations, properties, advantages and excellences of divine love. If, besides this, you find other things, they are only superfluous matters which it is almost impossible to avoid for anyone who, like me, writes amidst numerous distractions. Nevertheless, I believe that there will be nothing that will not be in some way useful. Nature herself, who is such a wise workwoman, wanting to produce grapes, produces at the same time, as if by a prudent inadvertence, such an abundance of leaves and branches that there are few vines which in their season have not to be pruned of leaves and buds.
Writers are often treated too harshly. Judgements are passed against them in haste. Very often this is done with greater insolence than their imprudence in hastening to publish their writings. Hasty criticism puts greatly in danger the conscience of the judges and the innocence of the accused. Many write foolishly and many criticize excessively. The kindness of readers makes reading sweet and profitable. My dear reader, to make you more favourable, I shall give you here an explanation of some points which might otherwise put you in bad humour.
Some people will perhaps think that I have said too much, that there was no need to carry the discussion to its roots. But I think that holy love is a plant, like the one we call Angelica, whose root is no less fragrant and health-giving than the stalk and the leaves. The first four Books and some chapters from the others could, without doubt, have been left out to the liking of those who only seek the practice of holy love. But all of it will be profitable to them if they consider it devoutly. Nevertheless, many may perhaps find it bad not to see here the whole of what belongs to the treatise of holy love. In truth, I have taken into account the state of the minds of this age as I should; it is very important that we consider in what age we are are writing.
I quote Holy Scripture sometimes in words that are different from those of the ordinary edition [Vulgate]. My dear Reader, for God’s sake do not therefore do me the wrong of thinking that I wish to set aside that edition. Not at all! For I know that the Holy Spirit has authorized it through the Sacred Council of Trent. Therefore, all of us ought to accept it. In fact, I use the other versions only in the service of this one, when they explain and confirm its true sense. For example, what the heavenly Spouse says to his spouse, you have wounded my heart (Song 4:9) is greatly clarified by another version: you have taken away my heart, or you have snatched away and ravished my heart. What Our Lord said, Blessed are the poor in spirit (Mt 5:3) is expressed more fully by the Greek, Blessed are the beggars in spirit; and so with other passages.
I have often quoted the sacred Psalmist in verse. I did this to recreate your mind and on account of the ease with which I could do it, making use of the beautiful translation by Philip Desportes, Abbot of Tiron. Sometimes I did not follow it. Surely I did not presume that I could write better poetry than this famous poet. (I would be greatly impertinent if, never having given thought to writing of this kind, I should pretend to be successful in it at an age and in a condition of life that would oblige me to give it up in case I had ever been engaged in it). In some places which could be understood in different ways, I have not followed his verse because I did not want to follow his meaning. For instance, in Psalm 132[1] he has understood a Latin word in it to mean the fringes of the garment which I thought ought to be taken for the collar. So that is how I have translated it.
I have said nothing which I have not learned from others. But it is impossible for me to remember from whom I have received each thing in particular. I assure you that, had I taken from any author lengthy and remarkable passages, I would make it a matter of conscience to give him the honour he deserved. Now, to remove a suspicion which could come to your mind against my sincerity in this matter, I point out to you that Chapter 13 of Book 7 is taken from a sermon which I preached in 1602 at St John-en-Greve, in Paris, on the Assumption of Our Lady.
I have not always indicated the sequence of the chapters. But if you are careful you will easily find the links of their connection. In this and in many other things I have taken great care to spare my own free time and your patience. When I got the Introduction to the Devout Life published, the Archbishop of Vienne, Mgr. Peter de Villars, did me the favour of writing to give me his opinion of it. He wrote in terms so favourable to that little book and to me, that I will never dare to repeat them. He exhorted me to use as much of my leisure as I could for similar writings. Among the many good counsels he favoured me with, one was that I should always keep my chapters short as far as the subject would allow.
Travellers, he said, knowing that there is a beautiful garden twenty or twenty-five paces out of their way, readily turn aside so short a distance to go and see it. This they would not do if they knew it was a longer distance from their route. So also, those who know that the end of a chapter is no great distance from its beginning willingly begin to read it. This they would not do, even though the subjects were delightful, if a long time was needed to complete the reading. Therefore, I had good reason to follow my preference in this regard since it was agreeable to this great personage. He was one of the most saintly prelates and most learned doctors that the church has had in our time. When he honoured me with his letter, he was the most senior of all the doctors of the faculty of Paris.
Not long ago, a great servant of God informed me that by addressing my advice to Philothea, in the Introduction to the Devout Life, I prevented many men from profiting by it. They did not consider that advice given to a woman was worthy of being read by a man. I marvelled that men could be found who, in order to appear to be men, show themselves to be in fact so little men. I ask you to consider, my dear reader, whether devotion is not as much for men as for women. Also whether we ought not to read with equal attention and reverence the second Letter of St. John, addressed to the holy lady Electa, as the third directed to Gaius. Moreover, whether thousands of letters and excellent treatises by the ancient Fathers of the Church should be held as useless for men since they were addressed to holy women of those times. But, besides this, it is the soul which aspires to devotion that I call Philothea, and men have souls as well as women.
Nevertheless, to imitate on this occasion the great Apostle [St. Paul], who considers himself a debtor to everyone (Rom l:14), I have changed the form of address in this Treatise and speak to Theotimus. If it should happen that there are women (and such unreasonableness would be more tolerable in them) who did not want to read instructions given to a man, I implore them to accept that the Theotimus to whom I speak is the human heart wanting to grow in the love of God; and women have hearts as well as men.
Hence, this Treatise is written to help a person, already devout, to make further progress. For this, I have been forced to say many things somewhat less known commonly and which will therefore appear more obscure than they are. The depths of science are always somewhat hard to sound. There are few divers who want to and are able to go down and gather the pearls and other precious stones from the depths of the ocean. If you have the courage to plunge into this writing, it will indeed happen to you as to the divers. Pliny says, “While in the deepest caves of the sea they see clearly there the light of the sun." You will find in the most difficult parts of this discussion a good and loveable light. As I do not wish to follow those who despise books treating of a certain supereminently perfect life, so I do not speak of such a supereminence. I can neither condemn those authors, nor can I authorize critics of a doctrine that I do not understand.
I have touched on a great many points of theology but not in a spirit of controversy. I have put forward simply not what I learnt long ago in disputations, but what attention to the service of people and my twenty-four years spent in holy preaching have made me think would be conducive to the glory of the Gospel and the church.
Some important persons from various places have informed me that certain little books have been published simply under the first letters of the names of their authors which are the same as mine. This made some think that they were my work. It seems to have caused a little scandal to those who supposed that I have given up my simplicity to puff up my style with pompous words, my argument with worldly ideas and my ideas with the artificiality of lofty eloquence. Let me tell you, my dear reader, that those who engrave or cut precious stones, having their sight tired by keeping it continually fixed upon the small lines of their work, are glad to keep before them some beautiful emerald that, by looking at it from time to time, they may be recreated with its greenness and restore their weakened sight to its natural condition. In the same way, amid the various matters of business that my office [as Bishop] brings me constantly, I always have little projects of some treatise of piety, which I consider when I can to relax and refresh my mind.
However, I do not profess to be a writer. My dull mind and the condition of my life, subject to service and open to the needs of many, does not allow me to be one. That is why I have written very little and published even less. Following the advice and wishes of my friends, I am now going to tell you what I have published. I do this so that you may not bestow praise for the work of another on one who deserves none for his own.
Nineteen years ago, I happened to be in Thonon, a small town on the lake of Geneva, at that time being converted little by little to the catholic faith. The [Calvanist] minister, hostile to the church, was proclaiming everywhere that the catholic doctrine of the real presence of our Saviour’s body in the Eucharist was destroying the Creed and the analogy of faith. (He was quite pleased to use this word, “analogy", not understood by his hearers, in order to appear very learned). Because of this, the other catholic preachers with whom I was there, entrusted me with writing something in refutation of such nonsense. I did what to me seemed suitable. I prepared a short Meditation on the Apostles’ Creed to confirm the truth. All the copies were distributed in this diocese. But I do not find any of them here now.
Soon after this, his Highness [the Duke of Savoy] came over the mountains. He found that the districts of Chablais, Gaillard and Ternier, which are close to Geneva, were half prepared to accept the holy catholic faith. It had been uprooted from there by the misfortunes of wars and rebellions nearly seventy years before. The Duke decided to reestablish its exercise in all the parishes and to abolish that of heresy. On one side, there were great obstacles to this blessing from considerations which are called reasons of state. Besides, many persons, as yet not well instructed in the truth, resisted this much desired re-establishment. His Excellency overcame the first difficulty by the invincible constancy of his zeal for the holy religion, and the second by an extraordinary gentleness and prudence. He called together the chief and most obstinate, and appealed to them with an eloquence very lovingly persuasive. Almost all of them were conquered by the sweet violence of his fatherly love towards them. They cast at his feet the weapons of their obstinacy and their souls into the hands of holy church.
Allow me, my dear reader, I beg of you, to say this word in passing. We can praise many valuable actions of this great Prince in which I see the proof of his indescribable valour and military skill. These have made him now admired through all Europe. Yet for myself, I cannot extol sufficiently the re-establishment of the holy faith in the three districts I have just mentioned. I have seen in it so many marks of piety, joined to such a great variety of acts of prudence, patience, magnanimity, justice and meekness. I seemed to see in this one little incident, as if in a very small version, all that is praised in princes who in times past have served, with extraordinary zeal, the glory of God and of the church. The stage was small, but the actions great. A craftsman of olden times was admired not so much for the large objects he made as for his ivory ship. It had all its equipment yet was so tiny that the wings of a bee could cover it. So also, I esteem more what this great Prince did at that time in this small corner of his State than I do his many more brilliant actions which many extol to the heavens.
It was at this time that the victorious emblems of the Cross were set up again along all the roads and public places of those areas. A short time before, one [a wayside crucifix] had been set up with great solemnity at Annemasse, close to Geneva. A certain [Calvinist] minister wrote a small treatise condemning the honour given to it. As it contained fierce and spiteful abuse, it was thought proper that it be given an answer. Mgr.Claude de Granier, my predecessor, who is remembered as a blessing, gave me the responsibility according to the power he had over me. 1 considered him not just as my Bishop but as a holy servant of God. Hence 1 wrote the reply, under the title Defence of the Standard of the Cross. I dedicated it to his Highness, partly to testify to him my most humble submission and partly to give some thanks for the care he took of the church in these parts.
Not long ago, this Defence has been reprinted under the monstrous title Panthalogy [Compendium], or Treasury, of the Cross. I never thought of this title. In truth, I am not a man of study, leisure or memory to be able to collect in a single book such a large number of splendid passages so that it can have the title of Treasury or Compendium. I have a horror of these arrogant frontispieces:
That architect shows folly, after all,
Who builds his front door larger than his hall.
In the year 1602 was celebrated in Paris, where I was, the funeral of that greathearted prince, Philip Emmanuel of Lorraine, Duke of Mercoeur. He had performed so many noble exploits against the Turks in Hungary that the whole of Christianity should have come together to honour his memory. But above all his widow, the Lady Mary of Luxembourg, did for her part all that her fortitude and her love for the deceased inspired her to make his funeral solemn. Since my father, my grandfather and my great grandfather were brought up as pages to the most illustrious and the most excellent princes of Martigues, her father and his predecessors, she regarded me as an hereditary servant of her family and chose me to preach the funeral oration at that great celebration. There were present not only several Cardinals and prelates but also a great many princes, princesses, marshals of France, knights of the Order of the Holy Spirit, and even the Court of Parliament in a body. So I prepared this funeral oration and delivered it in this great assembly in the cathedral church of Paris. As it contained an accurate summary of the deceased prince’s heroic deeds, I gladly had it printed; also it was the wish of the widow-princess, whose wish was to me a command. I dedicated this document to her Ladyship the Duchess of Vendome. She was still a girl then. Although a very young princess, she already showed signs of that excellent virtue and piety which now shine so brightly in her. These are indeed worthy of the upbringing and education received from such a devout and pious mother.
While this funeral oration was being printed, I came to know that I had been made a Bishop. So I came back here at once for my consecration and to take up residence. At first there was pointed out to me the need of instructing Confessors on a few important points. For that purpose wrote twenty-five Instructions. I got them printed so as to circulate them more easily among those to whom I had directed them. Since then they have been reprinted in various places.
Three or four years later I published the Introduction to the Devout Life. In its Preface I have indicated why and how it was brought out. Regarding that I have nothing to say to you, my dear reader, except the following. This little book has generally had a gracious and kind welcome, even from the most serious-minded prelates and theologians in the church. Yet it did not escape the harsh condemnation of some. They not only criticized me but roughly ridiculed me in public. This was because I tell Philothea that dancing is an action indifferent [neither morally good nor morally bad] in itself; and those witty stories have a place in recreation. I am aware of the quality of these critics and I praise their intention, which I think was good. However, I should have liked them to please consider that the first statement is drawn from the common authentic teaching of the saintliest and most well-informed theologians. Also that I was writing for people who live in the world and at court. Further, I had carefully insisted on the very great [moral] danger attached to dancing. Moreover, the second statement, regarding witty stories, is not mine but that of St. Louis, that wonderful king, a teacher well worth following in the art of rightly guiding courtiers to a devout life. I believe that if my critics had kept this in mind, their charity and discretion would never have allowed their zeal, rigid and austere though it were, to arm their indignation against me.
So, my dear Reader, I implore you to be gentle and kind to me in reading this Treatise. You may find the style a little (though I am sure it will be only a very little) different from that which I used in writing to Philothea and both of them quite different from my style in The Defence of the Cross. Know that in nineteen years one learns and unlearns many things; that the language of war differs from that of peace; and that we speak in one way to young apprentices and in another to experienced fellow-craftsmen.
Here I speak for sure to those who have made progress in devotion. I must tell you that we have in this town a Congregation of young women and widows [the Visitation Order]. They have left the world and live together in God’s service, under the protection of his most holy Mother. Their purity and piety of spirit have often given me great consolations. So I have tried to return the same to them frequently by the distribution of the holy word which I proclaimed to them in public sermons as well as in spiritual talks. It was done almost always in the presence of several men religious and lay people of great piety. This meant that many times I had to discuss the finer points of devotion, going beyond what I had said to Philothea. I owe a large part of what I am now telling you to this happy community. The one who is the Mother and presides there [St. Jane de Chantal] knew that I was writing on this subject and that I would not be able to complete the task without God’s very special help and their continual urging. She took constant care to pray, and get others to pray, for this intention. She insisted, in her saintly way, that I gather all the small scraps of free time which she thought could be spared, here and there, from the crowd of my hindrances, to use them for the book. Because of my regard for this person, which God knows, she had no little power to inspire me at this time.
It is indeed a long time ago that I planned to write about holy love. But this plan is not at all comparable to what this occasion has made me produce. I make known to you my circumstances in all simplicity and good faith, in imitation of the Ancients. I do this so that you may know that I write only as I get the chance and opportunity and that you may be more favourable to me. It is said among the non-believers that Phidias never represented anything as perfectly as the gods, nor Apelles as he did Alexander. One is not always equally successful. If I fall short in this Treatise, my dear reader, let your goodwill make up for it and God will bless your reading.
For this purpose, I have dedicated this book to the Mother of Fair Love and to the Father of cordial love, as I dedicated the Introduction to the divine Child who is the Saviour of lovers and the love of the saved. In truth, women while they are strong and able to give birth to their children with ease, commonly choose godparents from among their friends in this world. But when their feebleness and indisposition make their deliveries difficult and dangerous, they invoke the saints of heaven and vow to have their children held by some poor person or by some devout person, in the name of St. Joseph, of St.Francis of Assisi, of St. Francis of Paula, of St. Nicholas or some other saint who could obtain from God their safe delivery and that the child be born alive. In the same way, before I became Bishop, having more leisure and less fear for my writing, I dedicated my small books to princes of the earth. But now, weighed down with my office and having a thousand difficulties in writing, I consecrate all to the princes of heaven that they may obtain for me the light I need. Also, that if such be God’s will, these writings may have a birth fruitful and profitable to many.
Thus, my dear reader, may God bless you and enrich you with his holy love. Meanwhile, with my whole heart I submit always my writings, my words and my actions to the correction of the most Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church, knowing that she is the pillar and ground oftruth (1 Tim 3:15) about which she can neither be deceived nor deceive, and that “no one can have God for Father who will not have this church for Mother."
Annecy, the day of the most loving Apostles,
St. Peter and St. Paul, 1616.
PRAISED BE GOD
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[1] Ps 133 in NRSV