CHAPITRE IX.
Virtue Born from Within
True virtue is not a mask but a natural fruit of the soul's deep union with God in prayer.
1. 2. On Virtue. All kinds of virtues come solidly with God and through the ground in this degree of prayer of the heart.1 3. And that with ease. 1. This is the short and sure way to acquire virtue. Since God is the source of all virtue, to possess God is to possess all virtue; the closer you come to this possession, the more you possess virtue in an eminent degree. Moreover, I say that any virtue that is not given from within is a mask of virtue, and like a garment that is taken off and barely lasts. But the virtue communicated through the ground is essential, true, and lasting virtue: (a) The beauty of the King's daughter comes from within.2 And of all souls, none practice it more strongly than these, even though they don't think of virtue in particular. (a) Psalm 44 verse 14
The Fruits of Divine Union
Union with God leads the soul to a holy detachment, a hunger for suffering, and a profound self-forgetfulness.
God, to whom they remain united, makes them practice every kind: he allows them nothing; he doesn't even permit them a small pleasure.3 2. How these loving souls hunger for suffering! How many austerities would they take on if they were left to act on their own desires? They think only of what can please their Beloved; and they begin to neglect themselves and to love themselves less. The more they love their God, the more they hate themselves, and the more they feel disgust for created things.
The Simplicity of Love
The reform of the Church and the life of the soul depend entirely on the simplicity of love.
3. If only this method could be learned—a method so simple that it suits everyone, from the most unrefined and ignorant to the most learned—how easily the whole Church of God would be reformed! You only need love. Love, and do what you will (St. Augustine). For when we love well, we cannot want to do anything that could displease the Beloved.
Read the original French
1. 2. De la Vertu. Toutes sortes de vertus viennent solidement avec Dieu & par le fond dans ce degré d’Oraison du cœur.
3. Et cela avec facilité.
1. C’EST là le moyen court & assuré d’acquérir la vertu ; parce que Dieu étant le principe de toute vertu, c’est posséder toute vertu que de posséder Dieu ; & plus on s’approche de cette possession, plus on a la vertu en degré éminent.
De plus, je dis, que toute vertu qui n’est point donnée par le dedans, est un masque de vertu, & comme un vêtement qui s’ôte & ne dure gueres. Mais la vertu communiquée par le fond, est la vertu essentielle, véritable, & permanente : (a) La beauté de la fille du Roi vient du dedans. Et de toutes les ames il n’y en a point qui la pratiquent plus fortement que celles-ci ; quoiqu’elles ne pensent pas à la vertu en particulier.
(a) Ps. 44. v. 14.
Dieu à qui elles se tiennent unies, leur en fait pratiquer de toutes sortes : il ne leur souffre rien, il ne leur permet pas un petit plaisir.
2. Quelle faim ces ames amoureuses n’ont-elles pas de la souffrance ? A combien d’austérités se livreroient-elles si on les laissoit agir selon leurs désirs ?
Elles ne pensent qu’à ce qui peut plaire à leur Bien-aimé ; & elles commencent à se négliger elles-mêmes & à se moins aimer. Plus elles aiment leur Dieu, plus elles se haïssent, & plus elles ont de dégoût des créatures.
3. O si on pouvoit apprendre cette méthode, si facile, qu’elle est propre pour tous, pour les plus grossiers & ignorans comme pour les plus doctes, combien aisément toute l’Eglise de Dieu seroit-elle réformée ?
Il ne faut qu’AIMER. Aimez, & faites ce que vous voudrez ; ( S. August. ) Car lorsque l’on aime bien, on ne peut vouloir rien faire qui puisse déplaire au Bien-aimé.
Notes
Moyen court et très facile de faire oraison companion
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