I. Daughters, I assure those of you whom God does

not lead by the way of contemplation, that, both by
observation and experience, I know that those following
it do not bear a lighter cross than you : but indeed
you would be aghast at the different kinds of trials
God sends them. I know a great deal of both vocations,
and am well aware that the sufferings God inflicts on
contemplatives are of so unbearable a kind that, unless

^ Valladolid edition, ch. xx. ; Escorial, continuation of
ch. xxviii.

CHAP. XVIII.] TRIALS OF CONTEMPLATIVES. II3

He sustained such souls by the manna of divine con-
solations, they would find their pains insupportable.
God guides those He loves by the way of afflictions ;
the dearer they are to Him, the more severe are their
trials. It is incredible that He should hate contempla-
tives, whom He Himself praises and calls His friends, and
absurd to imagine that He would admit self-indulgent and
easy-going people into His friendship ; I feel certain that
God gives by far the heaviest crosses to His favourites.
The road He chooses for them is so uneven and rugged
as to make them fancy that they have lost their way and
that they must turn back again and start afresh. Then
His Majesty is obliged to give them some refreshment *
— water would not be enough, it must be wine ’ : in-
ebriated with this draught from God they become
unconscious of their pain and enabled to sustain it.
Thus one rarely finds true contemplatives who are not
valiant and resolved to suffer. If they are weak, the first
thing our Lord does, is to infuse courage into them, so
that they may fear no trials.® I believe that those who

2 Cant. ii. 4 : “ Introduxit me in cellam vinariam." Concep.
ch. vi. I sqq. Life, ch. xviii. 17.

® Castle, M. v. ch. i. 10 ; ch. ii. ii. Concep. ch. iv. 4-8 ; ch. v.
5 ; ch. vii, 2-5.

^ Psalm xxii. 5 : “ Calix mens inebrians, quam praeclarus est.”

“ Escorial, ch. xxix. Continuation of the same subject. The
trials in store for contemplatives are much heavier than those
borne by persons engaged in the active life. This is consoling
for the latter.

8

114 the way of perfection, [chap. xvnt.

lead the active life, when they see that contemplatives
occasionally receive consolation, imagine that their life
consists of nothing else ; yet perhaps you might not
be able to bear such trials as theirs for a single day.®
Our Lord knows for what everybody is suited, and gives
each one what is best for her soul, for His own glory,
and for the good of her neighbour. As none of you
have chosen your own work, you need have no fear
that it will be labour lost.

2. Pay attention to what I am saying, for we all
have to serve God, and that not for one or two years,
or for ten years either, that we should desert our duties
like cowards. It is well to show our Lord that we are
not defaulters ; we must be like soldiers who receive
their pay whether they fight or no, and so must always
stand at their post, ready to set to work whenever their
captain gives his orders. How much better pay shall
we receive from our King than they get from theirs,
for sometimes the poor fellows die in battle and God
knows what wages they get afterwards ! The captain
reviews his regiment as it stands on service, and knows
the capabilities of each soldier, although not so well as
our heavenly Captain knows ours. He assigns to them
the duties for which they are fit, but if the men were
absent they would receive neither pay nor orders.

3. Therefore, sisters, practise mental prayer, and if
® Castle, M. v. ch. ii. 8 ; M. vi. ch. i. 3 sqq. ; M. vii. ch. iv. 7.

CHAP. XVIII.]

PREPARATION.

II5

you cannot manage that, then vocal prayer, reading, and
the colloquies with God which I will teach you later on.
Never give up your hours of prayer : you do not know
when the Bridegroom will summon you, and you might
share the fate of the foolish virgins.’ Our Lord may
give you some heavier cross, under the guise of divine
consolations. If He does not, be convinced that you
are not meant for contemplation but for the active life.
This will give you an opportunity of gaining merit through
humility. Let such a one believe that she is unworthy
even of the place she holds. Let her cheerfully do what
she IS told, and as I said,® if only her humility is genuine,
blessed is such a servant in the active life, for she will
complain of none but herself, and I would far rather
resemble her than some contemplatives with whom I am
acquainted.

4. Let her leave others to wage their own wars, which
are no easy ones. Though standard-bearers, like officers,
do not actually fight, yet they expose themselves to great
danger and must suffer, in a way, more than the rest of
the men, because they carry the colours, which they
must not relinquish, even though they themselves are
being cut to pieces. In the same way, contemplatives
must uphold the standard of humility, and must bear

’ St. Matt. XXV. 2 : “ Quinque autem ex eis erant fatux, et
quinque prudentes.”

® Ch. xvii. 2.

Il6 THE WAY OF PERFECTION. [CHAP. XVIII.

all the blows aimed at them, without making any
reprisal, for their duty is to suffer as Christ did, bearing
aloft the cross, and never letting it fall, whatever the
danger may be, unless they would prove cowards in
suffering. It is for this they are advanced to their
high and honourable office. Do you suppose the position
given them by the King is an easy one ? For the sake
of some slight distinction they undertake to incur far
more danger than the rest, and if they turn cowards,
the battle will go against their side. Let contemplatives,
then, look to their conduct, for if the standard-bearer
quit his colours the day will be lost : in the same way,

I believe that souls less advanced in religion are much
injured by seeing those they hold as captains and friends of
God act in a way ill suiting their position. The common
soldiers march as they can : if sometimes they withdraw
from the thick of the fray, no one notices them, and they
lose neither their honour nor their lives, but all eyes
are on the standard-bearer, who cannot move without
being seen. His duty is a noble one, and a great honour,
and the King shows him special favour by His choice ;
but he has undertaken a heavy responsibility.

5. My daughters, as we do not understand our own
needs nor what to ask for, let us leave all to our Lord,®

^ “ Love, Who dost love me more than I can love myself,
or than I can conceive, why do I wish for more than Thou
dost will to give me ? . . . Perhaps what my soul fancies

CHAP. XVIII.] VIRTUES.. II7

Who knows us better than we know ourselves. A lowly
heart is content with what is given it, yet there are
people who ask for favours from God as a matter of simple
justice.^® What humility ! Therefore He Who knows
all things, rightly abstains from granting these gifts to
such persons, seeing them unfit to drink of His chalice. “
The best sign that any one has made progress is that she
thinks herself the last of all and proves it by her be-
haviour, and that she aims at the well-being and good
of others, in all that she does. This is the true test —
not sweetness in prayer, ecstasies, visions, and other
divine favours of the same kind. The value of these
latter we cannot estimate rightly until the next life,
but the former are current coin, a constant revenue and
a perpetual inheritance, not mere part-payments which,
when acquitted, cease — I speak of great humility and
mortification, and implicit obedience which will not

would be its gain, might be its ruin. If I ask Thee to free
me from a cross by which Thou seekest to mortify me,
what do I ask of Thee, O my God ? If I entreat Thee to
send me such a trial perhaps it may be beyond my patience,
which is too weak to bear the heavy burden : or if I were to
endure it, but were wanting in humility, I might fancy that I
had performed some great deed, while Thou, O my God, didst
do it all ” {Excl. xvi. 1-3).

Castle, M. iii. ch. i. 1 1 ; M, iv. ch. ii, 8 ; M. vi. ch. ix, 13-19.
Life, ch. xii. 2, 5 ; ch. xxxix. 21-23.

St. Matt. XX. 22 : “ Potestis bibere calicem ? ”

Castle, M. v. ch. iii. 7, 8.

Life, Prologue, p. 2 ; ch. iv. 2. Castle, Preface.

Il8 THE WAY OF PERFECTION. [CHAP. XVIII.

disobey one tittle of the orders given by the Prioress,
but submits to them as to the commands of God, of
Whom she is the representative.^^

6. Obedience is of the greatest importance : she who
is lacking in it is not a nun at all : I will say no more
about this, as I am speaking to nuns (who are good re-
ligious, I believe, or at least desire to be so). But as
obedience is most essential I mention it lest you might
forget this. I cannot understand what any one is doing
in a monastery if, after she has made a vow of obedience,
she does not fulfil it as perfectly as possible.^® I can
assure her, that while she fails in this, she will never
reach contemplation, nor even lead the active life well :

When St. Teresa was journeying to make a foundation
she always put her companions under obedience to some re-
ligious who was with them, or, if there were none, to the priest
who accompanied them, and though, on account of her office
and dignity she had so much claim to exact obedience, yet
she was the first to obey. So dearly did she love this virtue
that, when she conferred on one of her nuns the post of Prioress
to a new foundation, she, who had herself held that position for
so many years, immediately rendered obedience and subjected
herself, not as foundress, but as one of the last members of the
house, and asked permission for everything she did. She behaved
in the same manner when staying at convents of nuns of other
Orders, submitting at once to the Superior as if she had been
one of her community. {Yepes, bk. ii. ch, xxxvi.)

St. Teresa was prompt in her obedience. One day, during
prayer-time in choir, she happened to make a slight noise. The
Prioress said : “ Whoever made that disturbance must go away.”
And the Saint withdrew in silence. (Deposition of Sister Frances
of Jesus. Fuente, vol. vi. 290, n. 9.)

CHAP. XVIII.] DANGERS. II9

of this I am certain. Those who have not undertaken
this obligation, but who wish to be contemplatives, must,
if they would walk in safety, resolutely submit their
will to an experienced confessor. It is a well-known fact
that they will thus make more progress in a year than
they would otherwise have done in a very long time !
Much has been written on this subject ; however, as it
does not concern you I will not enlarge upon it.

7. These, then, are the virtues that I wish you, my
daughters, to possess, and to strive to obtain, and of
which you should feel a holy envy. You must not be
distressed if you do not experience these other devotional
feelings which are unreliable. Although, in other people’s
case, it may come from God, yet in yours He might permit
it to be an illusion of the devil, who would mislead you
as he has misled many others, particularly women.
Why run into danger in serving our Lord, when there
are so many secure ways of doing so ? Who wants you
to incur such risk ? There is need for much insistence
on this point, for we are weak by nature, though God
will strengthen those He calls to be contemplatives. I
am glad to have given this advice to other persons : it
will also animate those called to the contemplative life
to the practice of humility. If you think you do not
require it, perhaps it may serve to amuse you. May
our Lord give us light to follow Him in all things and
we shall have nothing to fear.

120

THE WAY OF PERFECTION. [CHAP. XIX.