SADNESS IS ALMOST ALWAYS USELESS AND EVEN CONTRARY TO THE SERVICE OF HOLY LOVE
One cannot graft the branch of an oak tree on a pear tree. It is because these two trees are of a nature contrary to one another. Nor certainly can anger, rage or despair be grafted on charity. At least it would be very difficult. We have seen about anger when studying about zeal.[1] As for despair, unless it is reduced to the just distrust of ourselves, or to the awareness we ought to have of the emptiness, weakness and inconstancy of worldly favours, support and promises, I do not see what service divine love can obtain from it.
Concerning sadness how can it be of profit to holy charity, since joy is ranked next to charity among the fruits of the Holy Spirit? Nevertheless, the great Apostle [St Paul] has this to say, the sorrow that is according to God works penance unto salvation which is lasting; but the sorrow of the world works death (2 Cor 7:10). There is then a sorrow according to God which is used either by sinners in penance, or by the good in compassion for the temporal misfortunes of their neighbour, or by the perfect in deploring, bemoaning and condoling the spiritual calamities of people. Thus David, St. Peter and Mary Magdalene wept for their sins; Hagar wept seeing her son almost dead of thirst; Jeremiah wept over the destruction of Jerusalem; Our Lord wept over the Jews; and his great Apostle [St Paul] sighing says these words, Many walk, of whom I have told you often and now tell you weeping, that they are enemies of the Cross of Jesus Christ (Phil 3:18).
There is then a sorrow of this world which proceeds likewise from three causes:
1. It comes sometimes from the infernal enemy who by a thousand sad, melancholy and disturbing suggestions clouds the understanding, weakens the will and disturbs the whole soul. A thick mist fills the head and the chest with phlegm, making breathing difficult and disorienting the traveller. Similarly, the evil spirit fills the human spirit with sad thoughts and deprives it of the facility of aspiring to God. Moreover, it is given an extreme disgust and discouragement in order to bring it to despair and damnation. It is said that there is a fish called the sea-toad, nicknamed the sea-devil. It stirs up and spreads about the mud, clouding the water around it, in order to stay there as in ambush. As soon as it sees any poor little fishes, it pounces on them to catch and devour them. From this perhaps come the common expression “to fish in troubled waters."
It is the same with the devil of hell as with the sea-devil. He prepares his ambushes in sadness. He then troubles the soul with a multitude of disturbing thoughts cast here and there in the understanding. Next he pounces on the affections overwhelming them with distrust, jealousies, dislikes, envies, needless concern about past sins. Finally, he provides a large number of empty, bitter and melancholy subtleties [of the imagination] so that every kind of reasonable and consoling thought may be rejected.
2. On other occasions, sadness comes from one’s natural disposition, when the melancholic humour predominates in us. This sadness is in fact not sinful in itself. But our enemy [the devil] makes great use of it in plotting and preparing a thousand temptations in our souls. Spiders hardly ever spin their webs except when the weather is dull and the skies cloudy. Similarly the evil spirit does not find as much ease in spreading the nets of his suggestions among people who are gentle, friendly, and cheerful as he does among those who are gloomy, sad and melancholic. These sad people he easily disturbs with vexations, suspicions, hatreds, grumbling, criticism, envies, spiritual laziness and spiritual numbness.
3. Lastly, there is a sadness which the various occurrences of our life bring us. What manner ofjoy shall be mine, said Tobias, who see not the light of heaven? (Tob 5:12) Jacob too was sad on receiving news of the death of his son, Joseph (Gen 37: 34-35) and David when his son, Absalom, died (2 Sam 18:33). This sadness is common to the good and the bad. But to the good it is moderated by their acceptance of, and submission to, God’s will. It can be seen in Tobias who gave thanks to the Divine Majesty for all the adversities that came upon him. It can be seen in Job who blessed the name of the Lord in his troubles (Job 1:21). It can be seen in Daniel who changed his sorrows into prayerful songs (Dan 9). This sadness, on the contrary, is an ordinary thing for worldly people and turns into regrets, despair and spiritual sluggishness. Like apes and monkeys, they are always bad-tempered, sad and irritable at the waning of the moon. But at the new moon they leap, dance and play their monkey tricks. The worldlyminded person is disagreeable, uncivil, bitter and gloomy when lacking temporal prosperity. When having all he wants, he is almost always boastful, elated and insolent.
The sadness of true repentance, should indeed not so much be called sadness as displeasure, or awareness and detestation of evil. It is a sadness that is never troubled or worried. A sadness that does not dull the mind but makes it active, alert and attentive. A sadness that does not weigh the heart down but raises it up by prayer and hope, causing in it movements of the fervour of devotion. A sadness that in the depths of its bitterness produces always the sweetness of an incomparable consolation, following the maxim of the great St. Augustine: “Let the penitent sorrow always, yet always rejoice in his sorrow," As Cassian says, “The sadness which gives rise to solid penitence, and that desirable repentance of which one never repents, is obedient, courteous, humble, cheerful, charming, patient since it is a child of charity. Extending over every pain of body and contrition of spirit, it is in a certain way joyful, enlivened and strengthened by the hope of doing better. It holds all the sweetness of courtesy and forbearance, containing in itself the fruits of the Holy Spirit which the holy Apostle [St. Paul] enumerates: Now the fruits of the Holy Spirit are charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faith, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5:22-23)."
Such is true repentance and such is right sadness, which indeed is not really sad or gloomy. It is only attentive and earnest to detest, reject and hinder the evil of sin for the past and for the future. We also see often repentances that are very eager, troubled, impatient, tearful, bitter, full of sighs, restless, very sour and gloomy. These in the end turn out to be fruitless and not followed by any true amendment. This is because they do not come from the true motives of the virtue of penitence, but from selfish and natural love.
The sorrow of the world works death, says the Apostle (2 Cor 7:10). Therefore, Theotimus, it is necessary that we carefully avoid and reject it as much as we can. If it is from nature, we must repulse it by opposing its movements. We must turn it aside by the practices suitable to that purpose. We must use remedies and live a way of life which doctors themselves consider appropriate. If it comes from temptation, we must open our heart sincerely to our spiritual father who will point out to us the means of overcoming it, as we said in Part IV, chapter 14 of the Introduction to the Devout Life. If it arises from circumstances, we should follow the teaching of The Love of God, Book 8, chapters 4 and 5. There we shall see how welcome tribulations are to the children of God, and how the greatness of our hopes for eternal life must make all the passing events of the temporal life almost unworthy of thinking about.
For the rest, amid all the sadness that may come upon us, we must use the authority of the superior will to do all that can be done in favour of divine love. Indeed there are actions which depend so much on the bodily disposition and constitution that it is not in our power to do them just as we would like. A person subject to sadness is not able to keep eyes, words or face in the same grace and sweetness as he would if he were free of this bad humour. But he is well able, even without this grace, to speak gracious, kind and courteous words. Moreover, in spite of his inclination and guided by reason he can do what is proper as regards words and works of charity, friendliness and courtesy. One can be excused for not being always cheerful for no one is master of cheerfulness so as to be cheerful at will. But no one is excusable for not being at all times pleasant, agreeable and considerate. This is always in the power of our will. All we need to do is to be determined to rise above the contrary humour and inclination.
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[1] TLG, Bk X, Ch.15-16
END OF BOOK ELEVEN