Extraits des lettres à Mademoiselle de Roannez
The Miracle and the Hidden God
Pascal introduces a verified miracle as a rare occasion where God breaks his usual silence to stir the faith of the believer.
It seems to me that you take enough interest in the miracle for me to write you personally that the Church has finished verifying it, as you'll see from this ruling by M.1 the vicar general.2 There are so few people to whom God makes himself appear through these extraordinary strokes that we should make full use of these occasions, since he only comes out of the secrecy of nature that covers him in order to stir our faith to serve him with all the more ardor as we know him with greater certainty.
The Mystery of the Divine Veil
God intentionally hides himself in nature, the Incarnation, and the Eucharist to preserve the merit of faith and draw souls into solitude.
If God were to reveal himself constantly, there would be no merit in believing in him; and if he never revealed himself, there would be little faith. But he usually hides himself, and only rarely reveals himself to those he wants to draw into his service. This strange secret in which God has withdrawn, impenetrable to human sight, is a powerful lesson to draw us into solitude, far from the eyes of others. He remained hidden under the veil of nature that covers him from us until the Incarnation; and when he had to appear, he hid himself even more by covering himself with humanity. He was far more recognizable when he was invisible than when he made himself visible.3 And finally, when he wanted to fulfill the promise he made to his apostles to remain with human beings until his last coming, he chose to remain among them in the strangest and most obscure secret of all: the species of the Eucharist.✦4 This is the Sacrament that Saint John in the Apocalypse calls a hidden manna; and I believe Isaiah saw him in that state when he said in a spirit of prophecy: "Truly you are a hidden God." That is the final secret in which he can be.5
Seeing Through the Appearances
Just as the literal sense of Scripture and the appearances of bread hide deeper truths, all worldly things act as veils that the Christian must learn to pierce.
The veil of nature that covers God has been pierced by many unbelievers who, as Saint Paul says, recognized an invisible God through visible nature. Heretical Christians have known him through his humanity, and they worship Jesus Christ as both God and man. But to recognize him under the appearance of bread is reserved for Catholics; God only enlightens us to that extent.6 We can add to these considerations the secret of the Spirit of God, which remains hidden in Scripture. For there are two complete senses, the literal and the mystical; and the Jews, stopping at the one, do not even think there is another, and do not think of seeking it—just as the ungodly, seeing natural effects, attribute them to nature without thinking there is another author; and as the Jews, seeing a perfect man in Jesus Christ, did not think to look for another nature there: "We did not think it was he," Isaiah says again; and finally, just as the heretics, seeing the perfect appearances of bread in the Eucharist, do not think to look for another substance there. All things conceal some mystery; all things are veils that cover God. Christians must recognize him in everything. Temporal afflictions cover the eternal goods to which they lead.
A Prayer for Recognition
Pascal concludes by contrasting temporal joys and sorrows with eternal realities, calling for a prayer of thanksgiving for the grace of recognizing God in all things.
Temporary joys hide the eternal evils they cause. Let us pray God to make us recognize and serve him in everything; and let us give him infinite thanks that, having hidden himself in all things for others, he has revealed himself in all things and in so many ways for us.
Read the original Latin
Il me semble que vous prenez assez de part au miracle pour vous mander en particulier que la vérification en est achevée par l’Église, comme vous le verrez par cette sentence de M. le grand vicaire.
Il y a si peu de personnes à qui Dieu se fasse paroître par ces coups extraordinaires, qu’on doit bien profiter de ces occasions, puisqu’il ne sort du secret de la nature qui le couvre que pour exciter notre foi à le servir avec d’autant plus d’ardeur que nous le connoissons avec plus de certitude.
Si Dieu se découvroit continuellement aux hommes, il n’y auroit point de mérite à le croire ; et s’il ne se découvroit jamais, il y auroit peu de foi. Mais il se cache ordinairement, et se découvre rarement à ceux qu’il veut engager dans son service. Cet étrange secret, dans lequel Dieu s’est retiré, impénétrable à la vue des hommes, est une grande leçon pour nous porter à la solitude loin de la vue des hommes. Il est demeuré caché, sous le voile de la nature qui nous le couvre, jusques à l’incarnation ; et quand il a fallu qu’il ait paru, il s’est encore plus caché en se couvrant de l’humanité. Il étoit bien plus reconnoissahle quand il étoit invisible, que non pas quand il s’est rendu visible. Et enfin, quand il a voulu accomplir la promesse qu’il fit à ses apôtres de demeurer avec les hommes jusqu’à son dernier avènement, il a choisi d’y demeurer dans le plus étrange et le plus obscur secret de tous, qui sont les espèces de l’eucharistie. C’est ce sacrement que saint Jean appelle dans l’Apocalypse une manne cachée ; et je crois qu’Isaïe le voyoit en cet état, lorsqu’il dit en esprit de prophétie : « Véritablement tu es un Dieu caché. » C’est là le dernier secret ou il peut être.
Le voile de la nature qui couvre Dieu a été pénétré par plusieurs infidèles, qui, comme dit saint Paul, ont reconnu un Dieu invisible par la nature visible. Les chrétiens hérétiques l’ont connu à travers son humanité, et adorent Jésus-Christ Dieu et homme. Mais de le reconnoître sous des espèces de pain, c’est le propre des seuls catholiques : il n’y a que nous que Dieu éclaire jusque-là. On peut ajouter à ces considérations le secret de l’esprit de Dieu caché encore dans l’Ecriture. Car il y a deux sens parfaits, le littéral et le mystique ; et les juifs s’arrêtant à l’un ne pensent pas seulement qu’il y en ait un autre, et ne songent pas à le chercher ; de même que les impies, voyant les effets naturels, les attribuent à la nature, sans penser qu’il y en ait un autre auteur ; et comme les juifs, voyant un homme parfait en Jésus-Christ, n’ont pas pensé à y chercher une autre nature : « Nous n’avons pas pensé que ce fût lui, » dit encore Isaïe ; et de même enfin que les hérétiques, voyant les apparences parfaites du pain dans l’eucharistie, ne pensent pas à y chercher une autre substance. Toutes choses couvrent quelque mystère ; toutes choses sont des voiles qui couvrent Dieu. Les chrétiens doivent le reconnoitre en tout. Les afflictions temporelles couvrent les biens éternels où elles conduisent.
Les joies temporelles couvrent les maux éternels qu’elles causent. Prions Dieu de nous le faire reconnoître et servir en tout ; et rendons-lui des grâces infinies de ce que s’étant caché en toutes choses pour les autres, il s’est découvert en toutes choses et en tant de manières pour nous.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Matt.28.20 — teaching them to observe everything I commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Notes
- 1 ↩French sentence here means an official ecclesiastical judgment or decree, not a grammatical sentence; rendered as "ruling."
- 2 ↩grand vicaire is the French title for the bishop's vicar general; rendered with the standard English office name rather than a calque.
- 3 ↩Source reading « reconnoissahle » is almost certainly a typo for « reconnoissable » (recognizable); translated from that intended sense.
- 4 ↩« espèces » kept as the technical sacramental term species (the outward appearances of bread and wine under which Christ is present).
- 5 ↩Source « secret ou il peut être » read as « secret où il peut être » (where), the ordinary early-modern orthography/meaning.
- 6 ↩espèces renders the sacramental species/appearances of the Eucharist; kept as 'appearances' for modern readability while preserving Eucharistic specificity.
Lettres à Charlotte de Roannez companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit