Wanting No Share in Comfort
IT IS not hard to spurn human consolation when we have the divine. It is, however, a very great
thing indeed to be able to live without either divine or human comforting and for the honor of God
willingly to endure this exile of heart, not to seek oneself in anything, and to think nothing of one’s
own merit.
Does it matter much, if at the coming of grace, you are cheerful and devout? This is an hour
desired by all, for he whom the grace of God sustains travels easily enough. What wonder if he
feel no burden when borne up by the Almighty and led on by the Supreme Guide! For we are always
glad to have something to comfort us, and only with difficulty does a man divest himself of self.
The holy martyr, Lawrence, with his priest, conquered the world because he despised everything
in it that seemed pleasing to him, and for love of Christ patiently suffered the great high priest of
God, Sixtus, whom he loved dearly, to be taken from him. Thus, by his love for the Creator he
overcame the love of man, and chose instead of human consolation the good pleasure of God. So
you, too, must learn to part with an intimate and much-needed friend for the love of God. Do not
take it to heart when you are deserted by a friend, knowing that in the end we must all be parted
from one another.
A man must fight long and bravely against himself before he learns to master himself fully and
to direct all his affections toward God. When he trusts in himself, he easily takes to human
consolation. The true lover of Christ, however, who sincerely pursues virtue, does not fall back
upon consolations nor seek such pleasures of sense, but prefers severe trials and hard labors for the
sake of Christ.
When, therefore, spiritual consolation is given by God, receive it gratefully, but understand that
it is His gift and not your meriting. Do not exult, do not be overjoyed, do not be presumptuous, but
be the humbler for the gift, more careful and wary in all your actions, for this hour will pass and
temptation will come in its wake.
When consolation is taken away, do not at once despair but wait humbly and patiently for the
heavenly visit, since God can restore to you more abundant solace.
This is neither new nor strange to one who knows God’s ways, for such change of fortune often
visited the great saints and prophets of old. Thus there was one who, when grace was with him,
declared: “In my prosperity I said: ‘I shall never be moved.’” But when grace was taken away, he
adds what he experienced in himself: “Thou didst hide Thy face, and I was troubled.” Meanwhile
he does not despair; rather he prays more earnestly to the Lord, saying: “To Thee, O Lord, will I
cry; and I will make supplication to my God.” At length, he receives the fruit of his prayer, and
testifying that he was heard, says “The Lord hath heard, and hath had mercy on me: the Lord became
my helper.” And how was he helped? “Thou hast turned,” he says, “my mourning into joy, and
hast surrounded me with gladness.”
If this is the case with great saints, we who are weak and poor ought not to despair because we
are fervent at times and at other times cold, for the spirit comes and goes according to His will. Of
this the blessed Job declared: “Thou visitest him early in the morning, and Thou provest him
suddenly.
In what can I hope, then, or in whom ought I trust, save only in the great mercy of God and the
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hope of heavenly grace? For though I have with me good men, devout brethren, faithful friends,
holy books, beautiful treatises, sweet songs and hymns, all these help and please but little when I
am abandoned by grace and left to my poverty. At such times there is no better remedy than patience
and resignation of self to the will of God.
I have never met a man so religious and devout that he has not experienced at some time a
withdrawal of grace and felt a lessening of fervor. No saint was so sublimely rapt and enlightened
as not to be tempted before and after. He, indeed, is not worthy of the sublime contemplation of
God who has not been tried by some tribulation for the sake of God. For temptation is usually the
sign preceding the consolation that is to follow, and heavenly consolation is promised to all those
proved by temptation. “To him that overcometh,” says Christ, “I will give to eat of the Tree of
Life.”17 Divine consolation, then, is given in order to make a man braver in enduring adversity, and
temptation follows in order that he may not pride himself on the good he has done.
The devil does not sleep, nor is the flesh yet dead; therefore, you must never cease your
preparation for battle, because on the right and on the left are enemies who never rest.