,,letters ,,of ,,madam ,,guyon4 ,,being ,,selections ,,of ,,her ,,religious ,,thoughts ,,and ,,experiences1 ,,translated ,,and ,,re-,,arranged ,,from ,,her ,,private ,,correspondence ,by ,p4 ,l4 ,,upham4 ,except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die1 it abideth alone2 but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit4 ,,boston3 ,,henry ,,hoyt1 ,no4 #i ,,cornhill4 ,entered according to ,act of ,congress in the year #aheh1 by ,,henry ,,hoyt1 ,in the ,clerk's ,office of the ,district ,court for the ,district of ,massachusetts4 ,,preface4 ,madam ,guyon's correspondence was very extensive1 occupying five printed volumes4 ,her style of writing is somewhat diffuse4 ,in giving religious advice to many persons1 there would necessarily be frequent repetitions4 ,it has1 therefore1 occurred to the writer1 that a selection and re-arrangement of thoughts1 such as is found in this little volume1 would be more acceptable and useful1 than a literal and full translation of her letters4 ,this selection necessarily involved much re-writing and condensing4 ,great care1 however1 has been taken to reach her true sentiments1 and to give a just relation of her religious experience4 ,in the interesting preface to her letters1 published in #agfg1 the writer remarks3 ,next to the ,holy ,scriptures1 we do not believe there has been given to the world1 any writings1 so valuable as ,madam ,guyon's2 and of all these precious treasures1 her letters are the most rare4 ,all who have received the unction of the ,holy ,one1 whereby they know the truth1 are agreed upon her divine writings4 ,if the writer may be permitted to add her humble testimony1 having enjoyed the privilege of reading her writings in the original for several years1 she would say1 there are no writings1 excepting the ,sacred ,oracles1 from which she has received so much spiritual benefit4 ,it is on this account1 she has endeavored1 with divine assistance1 to portray to others1 ,madam ,guyon's deep religious feelings4 ,may the same spirit of devotion to her ,lord and ,master which she possessed1 rest upon the heart of the reader4 ,happy are they in whose hearts burns the flame of divine love4 ,p4 ,l4 ,,upham4 ,brunswick1 ,me41 ,april1 #aheh4 ,,sketch ,,of ,,her ,,life4 ,jeannie ,marie ,mothe1 the maiden name of ,madam ,guyon1 was born at ,montargis1 in ,france1 ,april #ac1 #afdh4 ,she was married to ,m4 ,j4 ,guyon1 in #affd1 and became the mother of four children4 ,in ,july1 #afgf1 she was separated from her husband by death4 ,madam ,guyon was one of that number1 who1 in advance of the common standard of piety1 are called to be ,reformers2 and on this account1 she suffered great persecutions4 ,she was several times imprisoned4 ,at one time eight months2 and subsequently four years in one of the towers of the celebrated ,bastile4 ,after her release from prison1 she was banished for the remainder of her days to ,blois1 on the river ,loire4 ,at the time of her release from the ,bastile1 she was fifty-four years of age4 ,her sufferings from the cold1 damp walls of the prison1 in winter1 and the confined air in summer1 with other privations and hardships1 greatly impaired her constitution1 and rendered her a sufferer to the close of her days4 ,she died ,june #i1 #agag1 aged sixty-nine years4 ,during her imprisonment1 she wrote her ,autobiography1 which has been translated into ,english4 ,another work of hers1 ,the ,torrents1 has recently been translated1 very happily1 by ,mr4 ,ford4 ,also two essays1 ,method of ,prayer1 and ,concise ,view of the ,way of ,god1 by ,j4 ,w4 ,metcalf4 ,it is not known by the writer1 that her other works have been translated1 with the exception of some of her poems by ,william ,cowper2 and ,the ,life and ,experience of ,madam ,guyon1 in two volumes1 written by my husband4 ,p4 ,l4 ,u4 ,,contents4 #a4 ,,reign ,,of ,,christ ,,in ,,the ,,heart #b4 ,,turn ,,away ,,from ,,self ,,to ,,christ #c4 ,,state ,,of ,,assurance #d4 ,,humility ,,the ,,effect ,,of ,,love #e4 ,,divine ,,communications #f4 ,,joy ,,in ,,persecutions #g4 ,,liberty ,,in ,,christ #h4 ,,melancholy ,,avoided #i4 ,,god',s ,,care ,,of ,,the ,,soul #aj4 ,,power ,,of ,,the ,,adversary #aa4 ,,unction ,,of ,,grace #ab4 ,,spiritual ,,oneness #ac4 ,,vicissitudes ,,in ,,experience #ad4 ,,patience ,,with ,,the ,,faults ,,of ,,others #ae4 ,,how ,,to ,,distinguish ,,the ,,movements ,,of ,,god #af4 ,,state ,,of ,,simplicity #ag4 ,,quenching ,,the ,,spirit #ah4 ,,suffering ,,crucifixion ,,and ,,reductions ,,of ,,self #ai4 ,,reprove ,,in ,,love #bj4 ,,silent ,,operation ,,of ,,grace #ba4 ,,limit ,,not ,,your ,,sphere #bb4 ,,secret ,,of ,,divine ,,operations #bc4 ,,no ,,union ,,with ,,selfish ,,souls #bd4 ,,never ,,yield ,,to ,,discouragement #be4 ,,weaknesses4 ,,imperfections #bf4 ,,state ,,of ,,advancement #bg4 ,,greatness ,,of ,,spiritual ,,poverty #bh4 ,,assistance ,,rendered #bi4 ,,simplicity ,,and ,,power ,,of ,,the ,,word #cj4 ,,forgetfulness ,,of ,,self #ca4 ,,diversity ,,of ,,means ,,of ,,sanctification #cb4 ,,comfort ,,in ,,affliction #cc4 ,,bearing ,,fruit ,,in ,,union ,,with ,,christ #cd4 ,,desolate ,,state #ce4 ,,self-,,abandonment #cf4 ,,no ,,dependence ,,on ,,instruments #cg4 ,,child ,,of ,,god1 ,,soon ,,to ,,die #ch4 ,,union ,,of ,,souls ,,in ,,god #ci4 ,,secret ,,operations ,,of ,,grace #dj4 ,,to ,a ,,young ,,friend #da4 ,,final ,,letter ,,to ,,her ,,spiritual ,,guide #db4 ,,glory ,,of ,,god1 ,,the ,,one ,,desire #dc4 ,,spiritual ,,union ,,and ,,aid #dd4 ,,live ,,in ,,the ,,present #de4 ,,how ,,to ,,administer ,,reproof #df4 ,,bearing ,,the ,,states ,,of ,,christ #dg4 ,,imperfections ,,no ,,hindrance #dh4 ,,death1 ,,resurrection #di4 ,,grace ,,deeply ,,interior #ej4 ,,self-,,renunciation #ea4 ,,unexpected ,,faults #eb4 ,,apostolic ,,state #ec4 ,,painful ,,experience #ed4 ,,ecstasy ,,of ,,the ,,mind ,,and ,,heart #ee4 ,a ,,view ,,of ,,self #ef4 ,,state ,,of ,a ,,soul ,,in ,,union ,,with ,,god #eg4 ,,state ,,of ,,rest ,,in ,,god #eh4 ,,great ,,humiliations #ei4 ,,repose ,,of ,,the ,,soul ,,in ,,god #fj4 ,,power ,,of ,,casting ,,out ,,devils #fa4 ,,state ,,of ,a ,,soul ,,re-,,united ,,to ,,god #fb4 ,,concise ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,interior ,,way ,,selections ,,from ,,her ,,poetry4 #fc4 ,a ,,little ,,bird ,i ,,am #fd4 ,,god ,,everywhere ,,letters ,,of ,,madam ,,guyon4 ,,reign ,,of ,,christ ,,in ,,the ,,heart4 ,i have read your letter1 my dear brother1 with great pleasure4 ,it is my highest happiness to see the reign of ,jesus ,christ extending itself in the hearts of ,god's people4 ,an external religion has too much usurped the place of the religion of the heart4 ,the ancient saints--,abraham1 ,isaac1 ,jacob1 ,enoch1 ,job--lived interiorly with ,god4 ,the reign of ,christ on earth is nothing more nor less than the subjection of the whole soul to himself4 ,alas6 the world are opposed to this reign4 ,many pray1 ,thy will be done on earth as it is in ,heaven1 but they are unwilling to be crucified to the world1 and to their sinful lusts4 ,god designs to bring his children1 naturally rebellious1 through the desert of crucifixions--through the temptations in the wilderness1 into the promised land4 ,but how many rebel1 and choose rather to be bond-slaves in ,egypt1 than suffer the reductions of their sensual appetite4 ,since ,jesus ,christ appeared on earth1 there is a general belief that the kingdoms of this world will ultimately be subject to his dominion4 ,but we may ask1 who hastens his coming1 by now yielding up his own heart to his entire control8 ,our ,lord imposed no rigorous ceremonies on his disciples4 ,he taught them to enter into the closet2 to retire within the heart2 to speak but few words2 to open their hearts1 to receive the descent of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,the holy ,sabbath has not only an external1 but a deeply spiritual meaning4 ,it symbolises the rest of the holy soul1 in union with ,god4 ,oh6 that all ,christians might know the coming of ,jesus ,christ in the soul6 ,might live in ,god1 and ,god in them6 ,god alone knows how much ,i love you4 ,,turn ,,from ,,self ,,to ,,christ ,you are not forgotten1 my dear ,e4 ,god has engraven you on my heart4 ,if you have not consented to the thoughts that have crossed your mind1 do not be afflicted on account of them4 ,the examination and dwelling upon these thoughts1 brings them again to life4 ,be on your guard against everything that entangles you in self4 ,god is a ,father who bears with the innocent faults of his children1 and wipes away the stains they have contracted4 ,the greatest wrong you can do to ,god is to doubt his love4 ,he regards the simplicity and purity of the intention4 ,it is right to cherish great self-distrust1 to realise your weakness and helplessness2 but do not stop here4 ,confide as much more in ,god1 as you hope less from yourself4 ,do not afflict yourself1 because you do not at all times realise a sensible confidence in ,god1 and other consoling1 happy states4 ,walk by faith1 and not by sight1 or positive perception of the good you crave4 ,let us1 my dear ,e41 be closely united1 and walk together2 not according to the way we might choose1 but according to the way ,god chooses for us4 ,i love you tenderly4 ,,assurance4 ,notwithstanding all that is said to me1 my dear ,m41 in opposition to my state1 ,i cannot have one doubt of its reality4 ,there is within me an inward testimony to the truth2 so deep1 that all the world could not shake it4 ,it is the work of ,god upon my heart1 and partakes of his own immutability4 ,it seems to me that all the difficulties of theologians concerning this state1 arise from viewing it1 not in the light of divine truth and power1 but in the light of the creature4 ,it is true1 the creature1 in itself1 is only weakness and sin2 but when it pleases ,god to new-create the soul1 and make it one with himself1 it is then transformed into the likeness of ,christ4 ,who will dare limit the power of ,god8 ,who will say that ,god1 whose love is infinite as it is free1 cannot give such proofs of love as he pleases1 to his creatures8 ,has he not the right to love me as he does8 ,yes1 he loves me1 and his love is infinite4 ,i do not doubt it4 ,and he loves you1 too1 dear ,m41 in the same manner4 ,this is eternal love manifested1--the heart of ,god drawn out1--expressed towards his creature4 ,in this state1 we understand the mutual secrets of the ,lover and the beloved4 ,who will so deny the truth of the ,lord1 as to question this8 ,when ,i hold my beloved in my arms1 in vain does one assert1 ,it is not so1--,i am deceived4 ,i smile inwardly and say1 ,my beloved is mine and ,i am his6 ,if we receive the witness of men1 how much greater is the witness of ,god8 ,,humility ,,the ,,effect ,,of ,,love4 ,i assure you1 you are very dear to me4 ,i rejoice very much in the progress of your soul4 ,when ,i speak of progress1 it is in descending1 not in mounting4 ,as when we charge a vessel1 the more ballast we put in1 the lower it sinks1 so the more love we have in the soul1 the lower we are abased in self4 ,the side of the scales which is elevated1 is empty2 so the soul is elated only when it is void of love4 ,love is our weight1 says ,st4 ,augustine4 ,let us so charge ourselves with the weight of love1 as to bring down self to its just level4 ,let its depths be manifested by our readiness to bear the cross1 the humiliations1 the sufferings1 which are necessary to the purification of the soul4 ,our humiliation is our exaltation4 ,whosoever is least among you shall be the greatest1 says our ,lord4 ,i love you1 my dear child1 in the love of the ,divine ,master1 who so abased himself by love6 ,oh6 what a weight is love1 since it caused so astonishing a fall1 from heaven to earth1--from ,god to man6 ,there is a beautiful passage in the ,imitation of ,christ1 ,love to be unknown4 ,let us die to all but ,god4 ,,divine ,,communications4 ,god communicates himself to pure souls1 and blesses1 through them1 other souls1 who are in a state of receptivity4 ,all these little rills1 which water others1 little compared with the fountain from which they flow1 have no determinate choice of their own1 but are governed by the will of their ,lord and ,master4 ,the nature of ,god is communicative4 ,god would cease to be ,god if he should cease to communicate himself1 by love1 to the pure soul4 ,as the air rushes to a vacuum1 so ,god fills the soul emptied of self4 ,the seven blessed spirits around the throne1 are those angels who approach nearest to ,god1 and to whom he communicates himself the most abundantly4 ,st4 ,john1 perhaps1 was better prepared than any of the apostles to receive the ,word1 incarnate1 dwelling in the soul4 ,on the bosom of ,jesus1--in close affinity with him1--,john learned the heights and depths of divine love4 ,it was on this account our ,lord said to his mother1 seeing the disciple stand by whom he loved1 ,woman behold thy ,son4 ,he knew the loving heart of ,john would give her a place in his own home4 ,god communicates himself to us in proportion as we are prepared to receive him4 ,and in proportion as he diffuses himself in us1 we are transformed in him1 and bear his image4 ,o1 the astonishing depths of ,god's love6 giving himself to souls disappropriated of self1 becoming their end1 and their final principle1 their fulness1 and their all4 ,,joy ,,in ,,persecutions4 ,i am very grateful to you1 my dear sir1 for your sympathy in my apparent ills4 ,god has not permitted that ,i should consider them otherwise than blessings4 ,i trust what appears to destroy the truth will1 in the end1 establish it4 ,those who maintain the inward reign of the ,holy ,spirit will yet suffer many persecutions4 ,there is nothing of any value but the love of ,god1 and the accomplishment of his will4 ,this is pure and substantial happiness4 ,this joy no man taketh from us4 ,it is my only desire to abandon myself into the hands of ,god1 without scruples1 without fears1 without any agitating thoughts4 ,since ,i am there1 ,o ,lord1 how can ,i be otherwise than happy8 ,when divine ,love has enfranchised the soul1 what power can fetter it8 ,how small the world appears to a heart that ,god fills with himself6 ,i love thee1 my ,lord1 not only with a sovereign love1 but it seems to me ,i love thee alone1 and all creatures only for thy sake4 ,thou art so much the soul of my soul1 and the life of my life1 that ,i have no other life than thine4 ,let all the world forsake me2 my ,lord1 my ,lover lives1 and ,i live in him4 ,this is the deep abyss where ,i hide myself in these many persecutions4 ,o1 abandonment6 blessed abandonment6 ,happy the soul who lives no more in itself1 but in ,god4 ,what can separate my soul from ,god8 ,surely1 none can pluck me from my ,father's hands4 ,all is well1 when the soul is in union with him4 ,,liberty ,,in ,,christ4 ,if the ,son make ye free1 ye shall be free indeed4 ,when the man of sin is destroyed1 and the new man established in the soul1 it finds itself in perfect liberty4 ,as a bird let loose from its cage1 the soul goes forth1 unfettered1 to dwell in the immensity of ,god4 ,the natural selfish life restricts the soul at every point2 and even ,god1 the great ,i am1 is unseen1 or deprived of his glory4 ,when ,paul asked1 ,who shall deliver me from this body of death8 he added1 ,i thank ,god1 through ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4 ,that is1 when by the grace of ,god1 the new man is established in my soul1 ,i shall be delivered4 ,and1 subsequently1 when deliverance came1 he cried out in transport1 ,i live1 and yet not ,i4 ,christ liveth in me6 ,he was now no more occupied of himself1 but let ,jesus ,christ live and act in him2 he was animated by him1 as the body is of the soul4 ,if another soul animated our body1 the body would obey this new soul2 it would become the moving-spring of its operations4 ,thus ,jesus ,christ becomes the life of the new man4 ,and what can be more free1 more enlarged1 than the soul of ,jesus8 ,his nature is divine1 eternal1 boundless4 ,alas6 to what a narrow point does self reduce us6 ,who that looks at the freedom and expansion of the soul1 as it puts on the new man1 ,christ ,jesus1 will not crush the reptile self to the dust1 that the life of ,god may again1 as in its first creation1 animate the soul8 ,this liberty is as the eagles' wings1 of which the prophet speaks1 which carries the soul on high4 ,the dove that lighted on ,jesus1 was an emblem1 not only of innocence1 but of freedom1--of liberty of spirit to soar and dwell in ,god4 ,may it please ,god to give you an experience of this liberty4 ,quit self1 and you will find the freedom and enlargement of the ,all in ,all4 ,,melancholy ,,avoided4 ,i assure you1 my dear ,m41 ,i sympathize deeply in your sufferings2 but ,i entreat you1 give no place to despondency4 ,this is a dangerous temptation1--a refined1 not a gross temptation of the adversary4 ,melancholy contracts and withers the heart1 and renders it unfit to receive the impressions of grace4 ,it magnifies and gives a false coloring to objects1 and thus renders your burdens too heavy to bear4 ,your ill-health and the little consolation you have from friends1 help to nourish this state4 ,god's designs1 regarding you1 and his methods of bringing about these designs1 are infinitely wise4 ,there are two methods of serving little children4 ,one is1 to give them all they want for present pleasure4 ,another is1 to deny them present pleasure for greater good4 ,god is a wise ,father1 and chooses the best way to conduct his children4 ,a sad exterior is more sure to repel than attract to piety4 ,it is necessary to serve ,god1 with a certain joyousness of spirit1 with a freedom and openness1 which renders it manifest that his yoke is easy2 that it is neither a burden nor inconvenience4 ,if you would please ,god1 be useful to others1 and happy yourself1 you must renounce this melancholy disposition4 ,it is better to divert your mind with innocent recreations1 than to nourish melancholy4 ,when ,i was a little child1 a nephew of my father's1 a very godly man1 who ended his days by martyrdom1 said to me1 ,it is better to cherish a desire to please ,god1 than a fear of displeasing him4 ,let the desire to please ,god1 and honor him1 by an exterior all sweet1 all humble1 all cordial and cheerful1 arouse and animate your spirit3 ,for this ,i pray4 ,ever yours4 ,,god',s ,,care ,,of ,,the ,,soul ,,committed ,,to ,,him4 ,o1 that you could realize1 my dear friend1 how much ,god loves you4 ,as a painter draws upon his canvas what image pleases him1 so ,god is now preparing your soul1 by these inward crucifixions1 to draw upon it his own likeness1 ,he cherishes you as the mother her only son4 ,he would have you yield readily to his will1 even as the branches of the tree are moved by the light breath of the wind4 ,in proportion to your abandonment to ,god1 he will take care of you4 ,when you yield readily to his will1 you will be less embarrassed to discern the movements of ,god4 ,you will follow them naturally1 and be led1 as it were1 by the providencies of ,god4 ,god will gently arrest you if you mistake4 ,god has the same right to incline and move the heart as to possess it4 ,when the soul is perfectly yielding1 it loses all its own consistency1 so to speak1 in order to take any moment the shape that ,god gives it2 as water takes all the form of the vases in which it is put1 and also all the colors4 ,let there be no longer any resistance in your mind1 and your heart will soon mingle in the ocean of love2 you will float easily1 and be at rest4 ,,power ,,of ,,the ,,adversary4 ,i am deeply afflicted that so many1 at the present day1 and even some good persons1 allow themselves to be openly seduced by the ,evil ,one4 ,has not our ,lord warned us against false prophets1 and the lying wonders of the last days8 ,all true prophets have spoken in the name of the ,lord--,thus saith the ,lord4 ,nothing gives the enemy greater advantage than the love of extraordinary manifestations4 ,i believe these external movements are a device of the evil one1 to draw away souls from the ,word of ,god1 and from the interior tranquil way of faith4 ,the tendency of all communications from ,god1 is to make the soul die to self4 ,an eminent saint remarks1 that she had often experienced illuminations from the angel of darkness1 more pleasing1 more enticing1 than those that came from ,god4 ,those delusory manifestations1 however1 leave the soul in a disturbed state1 while those that come from ,god humble1 tranquilise and establish the soul in ,him4 ,the most dangerous seductions are those1 which assume the garb of religion and have the semblance of truth4 ,elias appeared alone among four hundred prophets of ,baal4 ,these prophets were much agitated1 attracting great attention1 crying aloud1 etc4 ,when ,elias was told by the angel1 that he would see the ,lord in ,mount ,horeb1 he hid himself in a cave4 ,he saw a great trembling of the earth4 ,god was not there4 ,there came a great whirlwind4 ,god was not there4 ,then there came a little zephyr4 ,god was in the still small voice4 ,the only true and safe revelation1 is the internal revelation of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ in the soul4 ,my sheep hear my voice4 ,this involves no disturbance of our freedom1 of the natural operations of the mind2 but produces a beautiful harmonious action of all the powers of the soul4 ,i beseech you1 my friend1 in the name of the ,lord1 to separate yourself from all these delusions of the adversary4 ,,unction ,,of ,,grace4 ,friday morning1 the #aeth1 ,i suffered very much1 on account of the individual1 whom you know4 ,it seemed to me1 that ,god wished that the all of self in him should be destroyed4 ,i perceived1 that although the troths be uttered1 proceeded from the inward work of the spirit upon his heart1 his reasoning faculty operated so powerfully1 without his perceiving it1 that the effect of these truths was in some degree lost4 ,souls are won more by the unction of grace--by the weapons of love--than by the power of argument4 ,are not the truths you utter1 my friend1 too much elaborated by the intellect1 and polished by the imagination8 ,their effect seems to be lost1 for want of simplicity and directness4 ,they fall pleasantly on the ear1 as a lovely song1 but do not reach and move the heart4 ,there is a lack of unction4 ,are you not always laboring for something new and original1 thus exhibiting your own powers of mind1 rather than the simple truth8 ,receive this suggestion1 and light will be given you upon it4 ,do ,i speak too plainly8 ,to speak the truth1 and the truth only1 is all ,i desire4 ,i have this morning prayed1 rather to be taken out of the world1 than to disguise the truth4 ,i have proclaimed it1 in its purity1 in the great ,congregation1 and it will be seen that ,thou1 ,o ,lord1 hast distilled it in my heart2 or rather1 ,o ,sovereign ,truth1 that ,thou art there thyself1 to manifest thyself plainly1 and that ,thou dost make use of weak things to confound the strong4 ,god is truth and love4 ,in ,him yours4 ,,spiritual ,,oneness4 ,my union with you1 my dear child1 is steadily increasing4 ,i bear you in my heart with a deep and absorbing interest1 and seem anxious to communicate to you the abundant grace poured into my own soul4 ,how close1 how dear is the union of souls1 made one in ,christ6 ,our ,savior beautifully expressed it1 when he said1 ,whosoever shall do the will of my ,father1 the same is my mother1 sister and brother4 ,there is no union more pure1 more strong1 than the union of souls in ,christ6 ,in this manner1 pure as delightful1 the saints in ,heaven possess each other in ,god2--a union which does not interrupt the possession of ,god1 although it is distinct from ,god4 ,let your soul have within it1 a continual ,yes4 ,when the heart is in union with ,god1 there is no ,nay1--it is ,yes1 be it so1 which reverberates through the soul4 ,this ,yes1 this suppleness1 renders the heart agreeable to the heart of the ,spouse4 ,it was thus with ,mary1 the mother of our ,lord1 when the angel messenger came to her1 she replied1 ,behold1 the handmaid of the ,lord1 be it unto me according to thy word4 ,it was thus with the child-like soul of ,samuel1 when he said1 ,speak1 ,lord1 for thy servant heareth4 ,it was thus with our divine ,lord1 ,lo1 ,i come to do thy will4 ,yours in the fellowship of the ,saints4 ,,vicissitudes ,,in ,,experience4 ,as the outgoings of life proceed from the living man1 while we live in ourselves1 we have a strong will and eager desires1 and many fluctuating states4 ,but in proportion as our will passes into the will of ,god1 the desires which are the offspring of the will1 are subjugated1 and the soul is reduced to unity in ,god4 ,as the soul advances in the life of ,god1 its natural or selfish movements decrease2 and it depends less on mere emotional exercises1 and there is really less variation of the emotions4 ,rest assured1 it is the same ,god who causes the scarcity and the abundance1 the rain and the fair weather4 ,the high and low states1 the peaceful and the state of warfare1 are each good in their season4 ,these vicissitudes form and mature the interior1 as the different seasons compose the year4 ,each change in your inward experience1 or external condition1 is a new test1 by which to try your faith and love2 and will be a help towards perfecting your soul1 if you receive it with love and submission4 ,leave yourself therefore in the hands of ,love4 ,love is always the same1 although it causes you often to change your position4 ,he who prefers one state to another1 who loves abundance more than scarcity1 when ,god orders otherwise1 loves the gifts of ,god more than ,god himself4 ,god loves you2 let this thought equalise all states4 ,let him do with us as with the waves of the sea1 and whether he takes us to his bosom1 or casts us upon the sand1 that is1 leaves us to our own barrenness1 all is well4 ,for myself1 ,i am pleased with all the ,lord orders for me4 ,i hold myself ready to suffer1 not only imprisonment but death2 perils everywhere--perils on the land--perils on the sea--among false brethren2 all is good in ,him1 to whom ,i am united forever4 ,,patience ,,with ,,the ,,faults ,,of ,,others4 ,i love you very much1 my dear ,m4 ,if my love could be of any avail1 it would console you1 for ,i feel a greater tenderness and sympathy for you1 than ,i am able to express4 ,i am more certain than ever1 that ,god designs you for himself4 ,live exteriorly with ,n41 as being entirely reconciled4 ,make not too much account of his coldness1 his passionate temper1 his contempt4 ,it is not by these you are to regulate your conduct1 but by a motive more elevated--,god and his glory4 ,let your heart endure his bitterness1 for the love of ,him1 who preferred grief to pleasure4 ,at the same time1 do no violence to your own sacred feelings1 to accommodate yourself to him1 in order to give him a pleasure he cannot appreciate4 ,regard your present condition1 as a means ,god has given you1 to manifest your love to himself1 by a willingness to sacrifice yourself4 ,reject not this cross1 shall ,i not rather say crown1 and let all be accomplished between ,god and your soul1 in such a quiet manner1 that the struggle with your own feelings will not be perceived4 ,while you are bearing this daily cross--this real crucifixion--,i am certain ,god will sustain you1 from the fulness of his love4 ,all is alike good1 when ,god is with us4 ,i love you tenderly4 ,god loves you2 let this make amends for all4 ,in ,him devotedly yours4 ,,how ,,to ,,distinguish ,,the ,,movements ,,of ,,god4 ,you enquire1 how one who desires to follow the movements of ,god's spirit1 may distinguish these movements1 from the natural operations of the mind4 ,there is not1 at all times1 a positive certainty regarding divine movements4 ,if it were so1 we should become infallible as the angels2 that is1 if we were as pure in our intentions4 ,we must walk with ,god1 in entire abandonment and uncertainty1 at the risk of sometimes making mistakes1 which in the infancy of experience is unavoidable4 ,he who wishes for a particular inspiration1 or direction in common matters1 which his own reason and judgment can determine1 is liable to deception4 ,a pure soul acts in simplicity1 and without certainty1 being persuaded that what is good comes from ,god1 and what is not good from self4 ,the greater the simplicity1--the more separate from the mingling of self-activity--the purer are these operations2 because the soul in this state is only a simple instrument1 that the ,word1 which is in her1 moves1 so that it is the ,word which speaks and not herself4 ,this manner of speaking1 relates to matters of importance1 and not to the minute concerns of every-day life4 ,the divine ,word1 in all exigencies1 is found in the soul1 that is wholly consecrated to ,christ4 ,when they bring you before magistrates and kings1 etc41 it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak4 ,this method of divine leading--by the hour and by the moment--leaves the soul always free and unencumbered1 and ready for the slightest breath of the ,lord4 ,this breath1 in the pure soul1 is as the gentle zephyr1 and not as the whirlwind1 which shakes the earth4 ,do not then expect to have anticipated movements1 or movements beforehand from ,god4 ,i have an experience of many years1 that ,god often makes known his will1 only in the time of action4 ,if a pure soul1 wholly sacrificed to ,god1 should undertake something contrary to the will of ,god1 it would feel a slight repugnance1 and desist at once4 ,if one does not feel this repugnance1 let the act be performed in simplicity4 ,a mother who holds her child by a leading-string1 loosens it1 that it may walk2 but if about to make a mis-step1 she draws the string4 ,the repugnance which a holy soul feels to do a thing1 is as when the mother draws the leading-string4 ,,state ,,of ,,simplicity4 ,i experienced recently1 a marked perception of your state1 as one in which ,god took delight1 and upon which he had infinite designs1 regarding himself and his glory4 ,i saw clearly the state to which ,god desired to bring you--the means to be used1 and the obstacles in the way--the mutual sympathy and confidence he required between us--and the openness and freedom of communication necessary for our mutual benefit1 and that we should not hesitate to speak freely of each other's faults4 ,the peculiarity you remark in my experience1 needs some explanation4 ,you say ,i do not seem to be wounded1 nor blame myself when reproved for a fault4 ,to which ,i reply simply1 there is no more of self remaining in me to be wounded4 ,this indifferent state you notice in me1 arises from the state of innocency and infancy in which ,i find myself4 ,our ,lord holds me so far removed from myself1 or from my natural state1 that it is impossible for me to take a painful view of myself4 ,when a fault is committed by me1 it leaves no traces on the soul2 it is as something external1 which is easily removed4 ,do not infer that ,i am blind to my faults4 ,the light of truth is so subtle and penetrating1 that it discovers the slightest fault4 ,souls which are in the natural life1 have real faults1 as a paper written over with ink is strongly marked1 therefore they see and feel them4 ,but souls1 transformed into ,god1 have faults1 as a writing traced on sand when the wind is high1 the wind defacing it as soon as it is traced4 ,this is the economy of divine wisdom1 relating to souls in union and harmony with ,god4 ,oh6 the greatness and simplicity of the way of ,truth6 ,how unlike the world's apprehension of it6 ,,quenching ,,the ,,spirit4 ,desiring to follow closely the divine leading1 ,i expressed to you the other day1 some sentiments you were not able to receive4 ,i perceived at once1 that on account of your resistance1 ,i could say no more4 ,from this experience1 although painful as regards yourself1 ,i learnt the extreme delicacy of the spirit that seeks to aid others2 and the strength of man's freedom to oppose this operation4 ,i realized1 also1 my inability to act of myself2 for1 as soon as the spirit in me was silent1 ,i had nothing to say4 ,i had1 however1 the extreme satisfaction of knowing1 that this good spirit alone conducted me2 and that ,i would not1 in the least degree1 add1 nor diminish from its operations4 ,it was from a knowledge1 gained by experience1 of the extreme delicacy and purity of this divine spirit1 that ,i remarked to you1 the other day1 that if you did not receive the instructions ,i then imparted1 ,i should have nothing farther to communicate to you4 ,o1 how pure and how unlike the impetuous operation of man's spirit1 is this operation of ,god6 ,,suffer ,,the ,,crucifixions ,,and ,,reductions ,,of ,,self4 ,all the graces of the ,christian1 spring from the death of self4 ,let us1 then1 bear patiently the afflictions1 which reduce this overflowing life4 ,there is a suffering in connection with confusions and uncertainties1 very trying to bear4 ,unbounded patience is necessary1 to bear not only with ourselves1 but with others1 whose various tempers and dispositions are not congenial with our own4 ,offences1--wounds of spirit will occur while we live in the flesh4 ,these offences must be borne in silence1 and thus subjugated and controlled by the spirit of grace4 ,by a law of our nature1 we feel1 more or less1 the influence of the spheres in which we move4 ,while we honor1 we think1 the true cross1 the affliction that comes from ,god1 let us remember1 that these instruments1 so disagreeable1 are the true cross that providence daily furnishes us4 ,do not sully the cross and mar its operations1 by your murmurs and reflections4 ,let us welcome any trials1 that teach us what we are1 and lead us to renounce ourselves and find our all in ,god4 ,jesus ,christ says1 ,he who renounces not all that he hath1 cannot be my disciple4 ,of all possessions1 that of ourselves is the most dangerous4 ,please present my cordial regards to your brother4 ,i sympathize deeply in his misfortunes4 ,i use this expression1 in conformity to common usage1 but it does not express the sentiments of my heart4 ,i am convinced that the loss of wealth1 worldly honor1 persecutions1 are the best instruments to unite us to ,jesus ,christ4 ,all evils1 or apparent evils1 are great blessings when they unite us to our ,all in ,all4 ,i pray ,god1 to sustain him4 ,his sufferings only increase my sympathy and love for him in our ,lord4 ,my health is still feeble1 but all is well in the depths of my heart4 ,god is there4 ,,reprove ,,in ,,love4 ,it is important to use great care and sweetness in reproving others4 ,reprove only when alone with the person1 and take not your own time1 but the moment of ,god4 ,as we are not free from faults ourselves1 we must not expect too much from others4 ,be yourself very humble and child-like1 and this character will act sympathetically on others4 ,jesus ,christ was full of sweetness and charity4 ,how patiently did he bear with his imperfect disciples1 even with ,judas1 without anger1 without bitterness1 and even without coldness4 ,how lowly was ,jesus6 ,he did not break the bruised reed4 ,he imparts to his little ones no tyrannic power4 ,they use no violence in dealing with souls1 but say with ,john1 ,behold the ,lamb of ,god1 who taketh away the sins of the world4 ,our ,lord1 rejoiced in spirit1 in an unusual manner1 such as we find nowhere else in ,scripture1 when he said1 ,i thank thee1 ,o ,father1 ,lord of heaven and earth1 because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent1 and revealed them unto babes4 ,how happy are we in the presence of a little child2 how much at ease6 ,it imposes on us no burden of restraint1 of fear1 of management6 ,it is in this childlike disposition of meekness1 of sweetness1 of innocency1 that we should seek to benefit others4 ,in the love of ,jesus1 yours4 ,,silent ,,operation ,,of ,,grace4 ,i perceive1 by your letter1 you are in doubt about the grace which passes interiorly from heart to heart4 ,we notice an illustration of this in the woman who touched our ,lord1 when he said3 ,i perceive that virtue is gone out of me4 ,in a similar manner1 without words1 one heart may communicate grace to another heart1 as ,god imparts grace to the soul4 ,but if the soul is not in a state to receive it1 the grace of the interior is not communicated1 as is expressed in another passage2 ,if they are not children of peace1 your peace will return to you again4 ,this illustrates1 according to my view1 pure interior communications of the grace of ,god1 from heart to heart1 which the soul relishes in silence1 and which silence is often more efficacious than a multitude of words4 ,at our last interviews ,i had an inclination for silence1 but finding in you an aversion to silent communion1 ,i entered into conversation1 but without any interior correspondence on my part1 and1 evidently1 without any benefit to you4 ,god would teach you1 my dear child1 there is a silence of the soul through which he operates1 filling it with the unction of grace1 to be diffused on other hearts who are in a state of receptivity1 often more efficacious than words to replenish the soul4 ,we find this still harmonious action in nature4 ,the sun1 the moon1 and stars1 shine in silence4 ,the voice of ,god is heard in the silence of the soul4 ,the operation of grace is in silence1 as it comes from ,god1 and may it not reach and pass from soul to soul without the noise of words8 ,o1 that all ,christians knew what if means to keep silence before the ,lord6 ,,limit ,,not ,,your ,,sphere4 ,let me urge you1 my child1 to enlarge your heart2 or1 rather1 suffer it to become enlarged by grace4 ,this contraction shuts you up in yourself1 and hinders an agreeable openness which we should ever maintain1 even towards those who have no particular affinity with ourselves4 ,an open1 frank exterior wins confidence4 ,let it not appear1 that you have so much relish for yourself1 as not to think of others4 ,what seems to us a virtue is sometimes regarded by ,god as a fault2 and which we shall so perceive1 when we have clearer light4 ,you seem to mark out for yourself a certain sphere1 and if you go beyond it1 you think you do yourself an injury4 ,thus1 while you have an apparent movement1 you are only describing a circle1 whose centre and circumference is self4 ,i entreat you1 pass beyond the narrow bounds of self2--suffer yourself to be led out of self into the will and way of ,god4 ,thus you will be much more happy and useful4 ,if ,i loved you less1 ,i should be less severe4 ,let ,god be the sovereign ,master over our hearts1 and instruct1 and reprove1 and operate in us1 by himself1 or through others1 as pleases him4 ,adieu4 ,god bless you1 my child4 ,,secret ,,of ,,divine ,,operations ,,upon ,,the ,,soul4 ,do not suppose1 ,dear ,sir1 that you are to be purified by great trials and extraordinary events4 ,all is accomplished in you by the suppleness of your will1--by the state of infancy4 ,it must be so on account of the pride of your natural reason4 ,god conducts the soul in a way opposed to human philosophy4 ,hence the necessity of being reduced to the state of infancy1 and to the subjection of the will4 ,what we call the death of the will1 is the passage of our will into the will of ,god4 ,this change implies not only a change in externals1 but the inward subjection of the desires and sentiments of the heart4 ,here most persons1 who commence the religious life1 stop short4 ,they cannot submit to the interior crucifixion1 which lays prostrate the whole of the natural carnal life1 and consequently there follows a mingling of the spirit of the flesh with grace1 and it is this which produces such monsters in the religious world4 ,do we not read in ,scripture1 that in consequence of the alliance of the sons of ,god with the daughters of men1 giants were born1 who so filled the earth with wickedness1 they drew down a deluge of wrath upon the world8 ,it is from this abominable alliance of the flesh with the spirit1 that all those who appear in the world1 as mighty men1 men of renown1 are produced and sustained4 ,one may be full of the natural life1 while apparently dead to the external things of the world4 ,thus they are dead to inferior things1 and alive in the most essential points--dead in name1 but not in reality4 ,by an authority as gentle as efficacious1 ,god accomplishes his will in us1 when we have surrendered our souls to him4 ,the consent we give to his operations1 and our relish of them1 is sweet and sustaining1 in proportion to the perfection of our abandonment4 ,god does not arrest the soul with violence4 ,he adjusts all things in such a manner1 that we follow him happily1 even across dangerous precipices4 ,so good is this ,divine ,master1 so well does he understand the methods of conducting the soul1 that it runs after him1 and makes haste to walk in the path he orders4 ,suppleness of soul is1 therefore1 of vital consequence to its progress4 ,it is the work of ,god to effect this4 ,happy are the souls1 who yield to his discipline4 ,god renders the soul1 in the commencement1 supple to follow illuminated reason2 afterwards to follow the way of faith4 ,he then conducts the soul by unknown steps1 causing it to enter into the wisdom of ,jesus ,christ which is so different from all its former experience1 that without the testimony of divine filiation1 which remains in the soul in a manner hidden1 and the ease and liberty the soul finds in this unknown way1 it would consider itself as being separated continually from ,god1 being left1 as it were1 to act of itself4 ,human wisdom being here lost1 and the powers of the soul controlled by the wisdom of ,jesus ,christ1 born in the soul1 it increases in its proportions1 even unto the stature of a perfect man in ,christ ,jesus4 ,the soul1 having now passed into ,god1 is in its proper place1 and will be happy1 provided it remains fixed and separate from its former manner of acting4 ,reason may at times oppose with all its strength1 and cause some fears1 some hesitations2 but1 being fixed in ,god1 it is impossible for the soul to change its course2 and1 after the experience of many useless sufferings1 having their origin in self1 it suffers itself to be drawn in the current of love4 ,there is now no more of violence to nature4 ,the soul is in its natural state4 ,the ease and naturalness of this state causes1 at times1 some fear1 some anxiety4 ,it is as much the nature of man1 originally1 and in his new creation in the likeness of ,christ1 to be in ,god1 and to be there in perfect enlargement1 simplicity1 and innocence1 as it is the nature of water to flow in its channel4 ,when man is as he should be1 his state is one of infinite ease and without limitations1 because he is created sovereign1 or master of himself1 and cannot be subjected by anything created1 although he is subjected to ,god1 if that may be called subjection1 which brings the soul into affinity with ,god1 and makes it partaker of his nature4 ,be therefore persuaded1 that ,god uses no violence in dealing with the soul4 ,this commotion in the soul1 arises from the resistance of man's will to divine operations4 ,when the soul is disenfranchised of all that is opposed to the will of ,god2 when it is not arrested either by desires or repugnancies1 it runs without stopping or weariness in the way4 ,this is what is called death1--death to self2 but the soul was never so much alive2 it now lives the true life1 the life of ,god4 ,when the soul becomes one with ,god by the loss of its own will and life1 it has purposes1 and it is important to follow them2 but they are purposes in ,god1 and have in them nothing of self4 ,all that has rapport to self is no more1 and ,god is all4 ,being passed into ,god1 the soul is changed and transformed in him4 ,this is what the mystics call ,resurrection4 ,but the word used in this way1 does not bear its usual signification4 ,to resuscitate is to revive the former life4 ,but in this case1 the will1 or natural life is consumed1 and gives place to the will or life of ,god4 ,thus the ,holy ,spirit operates effectively in the soul1 transforming it into the likeness of the ,son of ,god4 ,now the soul participates in the qualities of ,god1 one of which qualities1 is that of communicating itself to other souls4 ,or rather1 it is as a stream1 which1 being lost in a large river1 follows the course of the river1 communicating itself where the river communicates1 watering where it waters1 drawing into itself all the smaller rivers1 which are destined alike to lose themselves in the great ocean of ,love4 ,these streams have no independent life1 but proceed from1 and flow back into their origin4 ,here is the consummation of souls in oneness1 as ,jesus ,christ has expressed it1--,one in us4 ,there is divine reality in this truth4 ,blessed are those who comprehend it6 ,how many walk side by side along these rivers1 and yet never mingle their waters6 ,and many there are1 also1 who haste with eagerness1 to precipitate themselves into this divine stream1 and flow together1 as the souls of the celestial ones1 in the fulness of divine love4 ,this is not a chimera of the fancy2 it is the wonderful economy of divinity4 ,it is the end and object of the creation of the soul--the end and compass of all the efforts of ,god1 regarding his creatures4 ,here is consummated all the glory1 ,god derives from their existence4 ,all beside are only the means approaching this final end1 this glorious termination1 and absorption of the soul in ,deity4 ,here is the light which ravishes the soul4 ,a light which does not precede1 but follows the soul in its progress2 unfolding more and more1 as a man in a dark cavern1 discovers the concealed places1 only when he has remained in it for some time4 ,this is the pure ,theology in which ,god instructs the angels and the saints4 ,it is the ,theology of ,experience1 that ,god teaches only to his children1 who having abandoned their own wisdom1 he has himself become their wisdom and their life4 ,this is the law of wisdom1 my friend1 for us1--the way of the ,lord in us4 ,in him we are one4 ,,no ,,union ,,with ,,selfish ,,souls4 ,there are some souls which cause me great suffering4 ,these are selfish souls1 full of compromises1 speculations and human arrangements1 and desiring others to accommodate themselves to their humors and inclinations4 ,i find myself unable to administer in the least degree to their self-love2 and when ,i would be a little complaisant1 a ,master1 more powerful than myself1 restrains me4 ,i cannot give such persons any other place in my heart1 than ,god gives them4 ,i cannot adapt myself to their superficial state1 neither respond to their professions of friendship2 these are very repulsive to my feelings4 ,the love which dwells in my heart1 is not a natural love1 but arises from a depth which rejects1 what is not in correspondence with it1 or rather what is not in unison with the heart of ,god4 ,i cannot be with a child without caressing it1 nor with a child-like soul without a tender attachment4 ,i do not regard the exterior1 but the state of the soul2 its affinity and oneness with ,god4 ,the only perfect union1 is the union of souls in ,god2 such as exists in heaven1 and on earth after the resurrection1 life takes effect in the soul4 ,,never ,,yield ,,to ,,discouragement4 ,do not be disheartened1 my friend1 on account of your slow progress4 ,a long martyrdom is sometimes necessary1 in order to purify our souls from the concealed faults of self-love--faults interwoven in our nature1 and strengthened by long indulgence4 ,as you cannot control at once the agitations of nature1 arm yourself with patience1 to accomplish the task little by little2 not in the way of direct effort1 but rather by ceasing from effort1 remaining quiet1 permitting neither gestures nor words to betray your feelings4 ,could we enter into the highest state of grace1 as we enter into a room1 it might be easily accomplished4 ,but alas6 the door is straight1 and there are many deaths to pass2 in a word1 death to self4 ,it is this long martyrdom1 or dying of the old man of sin1 which causes all the pains of the interior life4 ,it is rare to find persons1 who are willing to die entirely to self1 and therefore few reach the highest state of grace4 ,have good courage4 ,it is a great work to draw a large ship from her moorings1 but when she is in the waters1 how easily she rolls6 ,what happiness1 when by perseverance1 you have triumphed over nature1 to find yourself in the abundant waters of grace6 ,i pray ,god to put his own hand to the work4 ,he will4 ,in ,him1 devotedly yours4 ,,weakness ,,and ,,imperfection4 ,i reciprocate your friendship1 madam1 with all my heart4 ,our divine ,master knows how happy ,i am to serve you in any possible way4 ,oh6 madam1 it is better to be feeble1 when ,god leaves us in our weakness1 than to have a strength which is our own4 ,i once thought1 that the pure soul was free from all faults1 but ,i now see otherwise4 ,god clothes his children with frailties1 that they may be humble in their own eyes1 and be concealed from the eyes of the world4 ,the ,tabernacle was covered with the skins of the beasts1 while the ,temple of ,herod was ornamented with gold4 ,let us not afflict ourselves on account of our littleness and infirmities1 since ,god so orders it1 but become as little children4 ,when a little child falls1 it cannot raise itself1 but lets another do for it all that it needs4 ,it does not depend on ourselves to make the presence of ,god more or less sensible4 ,let the desire for a lively sense of this presence1 be crucified to the will of ,god4 ,take what is given you4 ,be as the little child1 who eats and sleeps and grows4 ,god gives you the best nourishment1 although not always the sweetest to the taste4 ,adieu6 my heart sympathises with you4 ,,advancement4 ,during the process of the soul's purification and advancement1 it loses sight not only of itself1 but of all things else2 except ,god2 and even of the distinct apprehension of our ,lord1 in his humanity4 ,that is1 there are no longer distinct1 bounded views and perceptions of ,christ1 the soul becoming identical with ,christ4 ,this is necessary in order to draw the soul into oneness with ,god4 ,let all go in the divine order4 ,when the soul has returned to its end and origin1 and is lost in ,god1 it finds all it lost1 without going out from ,god4 ,when the soul is yet in itself1 it draws all things to itself1 and sees ,god and all creatures in itself4 ,but when the soul is in oneness with ,god1 it carries all creatures with it in ,god1 and sees nothing separate from ,god4 ,seeing all in ,god1 it sees all things in the true light1 as with the eye of ,god4 ,this is what ,david calls1 ,seeing light in thy light4 ,may ,god give you understanding of what ,i say1 and docility and acquiescence in the truths1 which he causes to penetrate your soul4 ,i make no reserves1 but express freely all my thoughts4 ,the least reserve for self1 is as a strong breath against a mirror1 it obstructs the view of ,god4 ,my soul1 it seems to me1 is clear and transparent1 reflecting only what the ,master presents2 and the execution of his will renders the soul always increasingly pure and transparent4 ,may ,god be all in all to you4 ,,greatness ,,of ,,spiritual ,,poverty4 ,do not measure yourself by others1 who may not be led as you are4 ,god chooses to enrich some souls with brilliant gifts1 but he has chosen you1 stripped of all1 in the depths of spiritual poverty4 ,this is the perfect self-renouncement1 without which1 one cannot be the disciple of the ,lord ,jesus4 ,all other states1 however elevated they may be1 are inferior to this pure1 naked state of the soul4 ,it is a state1 which despoils the lover of all he possesses in favor of his ,beloved4 ,it is a state in which the soul is shielded from all inroads of the enemy2 who can reach only what remains of self in the creature1 and not what is enclosed in ,god4 ,god has chosen you for himself alone4 ,you are the sanctuary1 which is open only to the high priest1 in which is contained the ark of the covenant--the essential1 will of ,god--the sacred place1 encompassed by the clouds1 where the glory of ,god appears4 ,oh6 blessed poverty of spirit1 in which state the soul is enriched with the best gifts a ,god can bestow6 ,measure not your advancement by relation to the road passed over1 but by rapport to the end4 ,there yet remains a great road to pass over1 since ,god himself is the way4 ,the more fully you enter into his designs1 the more ,i love you4 ,,assistance ,,rendered ,,by ,,one ,,soul ,,to ,,another4 ,the interest ,i feel in your spiritual welfare1 my dear ,f41 is very great--so deeply absorbing1 that ,i slept but little during the past night1 presenting you in prayer before our ,lord4 ,i have an inward conviction1 that ,god is enriching your heart by my humble instrumentality2 thus1 while he elevates you on one side1 he debases you on the other1 by communicating his grace through so unworthy a channel as myself4 ,the ,spirit has revealed to me your state1 when ,i have received no intelligence from you4 ,god has thus ordered it1 for his own glory2 and when many years hence1 this method of ,god's operations will be better known--the assistance rendered by one soul to another1 without the mediation of the body--the use he has made of this feeble instrument to communicate to you his grace1 will serve to substantiate this divine truth and heavenly mode of operation4 ,there is therefore for you1 a means of interior advancement1 which no distance of place can interrupt4 ,it will be only from lack of correspondence on your part1 that it will be diverted4 ,god desires it1 at least for a time1 until your soul is entirely in union with himself4 ,this method of communication is only a superior fountain discharging itself into another2 or1 as two rivers bearing each other to the same sea4 ,receive then this poor heart in the fulness of ,christ's love1 and believe me1 no one can be more fully united to you than ,i am4 ,,simplicity ,,and ,,power ,,of ,,the ,,word4 ,you enquire1 my friend1 why ,i do not use obscure terms and extraordinary expressions1 in explaining the ,scriptures4 ,my ,lord teaches me1 that while there are no writings so profound as the ,gospels1 there are none so simple4 ,and further1 that simplicity of soul gives simplicity of expression4 ,when we speak of a state beyond our experience1 we do so with difficulty1 and have recourse to learning to aid us1 and use forced expressions4 ,in the natural1 simple expressions of ,scripture1 there are deep sentiments1 adapted to the wants of each soul--to those less and more advanced4 ,the word of ,god enters the centre of the soul2 it has a penetrating quality2 an operative efficiency4 ,no words of man can produce the same effect2 at least1 none but such as come from souls1 who are pure channels of the word of ,god4 ,it is the good pleasure of our ,lord1 to express and reproduce himself upon the self-abandoned soul4 ,who does not admire the profound mystery of the creation of the world1 where ,god produced all things by his word8 ,when ,god created man1 he formed him of the dust of the earth--the lowest form of matter--made of dust1 that he might not rob ,god of his glory6 ,but man thus created1 received the spirit--the breath of the ,word4 ,this dust of the earth became the living breath of ,god4 ,when ,jesus ,christ is formed in the soul1 he imparts not only a clear understanding of the word1 but is himself the ,word1 reproduced in the soul4 ,those only in whom ,christ dwells1 fulfill the word1 or have the word accomplished in them4 ,such only are able fully to interpret the word4 ,it is not learning which best explains the truths of ,god1 but the reproduction of these truths in the life---the experience of them4 ,,forgetfulness ,,of ,,self4 ,i cannot compliment you1 dear sir1 and ,i am persuaded1 that you will expect from me1 only the simplicity of the ,christian4 ,this simplicity leads me to say1 only what our ,lord gives me4 ,you need more of this simplicity4 ,the frequent self-returns you make1 dwelling so much on your unworthiness1 although it may have the appearance of humility1 is only a refined self-love4 ,true simplicity regards ,god alone2 it has its eye fixed upon him1 and is not drawn towards self2 and it is as pleased to say humble as great things4 ,all our uneasy feelings and reflections1 arise from self-love1 whatever appearance of piety they may assume4 ,the lack of simplicity inflicts many wounds4 ,go where we will1 if we remain in ourselves1 we shall carry everywhere our sins and our distresses4 ,if we would live in peace1 we must lose sight of self1 and rest in the infinite and unchangeable ,god4 ,these self-returns have a tendency to establish the soul more and more in itself1 and hinder it from running into its great original4 ,but it is to this1 ,god is calling you4 ,you withhold from ,god the only thing he desires--the possession of your heart4 ,the time is short2 wherefore spend it in the compass and surroundings of self8 ,the single eye sees only ,god4 ,you act as a person who being called before a king1 instead of regarding the king and his benefits1 is occupied only with his own dress and appearance4 ,god wishes to disarrange you--to destroy self2 and you wish to preserve what he would destroy4 ,be more afraid of self than of the evil one4 ,it is the spirit of ,satan to exalt self above ,god1 and this spirit is fostered by these continual returns you make upon your own doings and misdoings1 which leaves no place in your mind for the occupation of ,god4 ,,diversity ,,of ,,means ,,of ,,sanctification4 ,although there are impenetrable mysteries in ,god's dealings with souls1 in order to promote their sanctification1 it is true that each soul1 aside from the ordinary means1 common to all1 has a specific training1 and this method of the divine order can alone accomplish the work4 ,the means that sanctifies another may not sanctify you4 ,you1 my friend1 will not be led by great crosses and severe sufferings1 but in the way of helpless infancy4 ,the child-like1 yielding soul is necessary for you2 therefore ,god has chosen a child1 myself1 to be your helper4 ,forget yourself as the man to whom many eyes are turned1 and become the little1 helpless one1 who cannot take care of itself1 but lets another care for it4 ,the pride1 presumption and vanity1 of the natural man1 must give place to the littleness and simplicity of the child4 ,says our ,saviour1 ,except ye be converted1 and become as little children1 ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven4 ,o1 when shall we learn that it is littleness1 and not greatness1 that ,god requires of his child6 ,god has given me a maternal yearning for your soul4 ,i sympathize deeply in your wants and burdens4 ,be assured1 the eyes of the ,god of ,love are upon you4 ,i entreat you1 yield to the influences which are in operation to restore your soul to ,god4 ,i can offer no apology for my letter2 for in all things1 ,i obey my ,lord4 ,,comfort ,,in ,,affliction4 ,i assure you1 ,dear ,sir1 ,i sympathize deeply in your afflictions4 ,with all my heart ,i present you before our ,lord4 ,i have prayed1 and still pray1 that if you are called to participate in the sufferings of ,jesus ,christ1 you may partake also of his patience and submission4 ,you will find the ,lord at all times near your heart1 when you seek him by a simple and sincere desire to do and suffer his will4 ,he will be your support and consolation in this time of trouble1 if you go to him1 not with fear and agitation of spirit1 but with calm1 confiding love4 ,jesus said to the blind man1 whose eyes he anointed with clay1 ,go wash in the waters of ,siloam--waters soft and tranquil4 ,o1 that you might experience the abiding peace which ,christ gives4 ,o1 that you might become reduced to the simplicity of the little child6 ,it is the child who approaches the nearest to ,jesus ,christ4 ,it is the child whom he takes in his arms and carries in his bosom4 ,o1 how lovely1 how attractive1 is child-like simplicity6 ,may the sufferings you are now experiencing1 render you1 child-like and submissive to all the will of your ,father4 ,my ill health forbids my writing more fully4 ,god loves you1 and you are very dear to me in him4 ,amen4 ,jesus1 help4 ,,bearing ,,fruit ,,in ,,union ,,with ,,christ4 ,god has united my soul to yours in the oneness of his own nature1 and when all the obstructions on your part are removed1 you will realize this same divine union4 ,we have many masters1 as said ,st4 ,paul1 but only one ,father in ,christ4 ,this ,father unites himself to us by the impartation of his own nature1 and from this communication1 of himself to the soul1 proceeds our spiritual paternity2 or the power by which we communicate to others what we receive from him4 ,we are not always sensible how this power1 or aid we render others1 is imparted4 ,in some individuals it is more manifest than in others4 ,it always adapts itself to the subject who receives it4 ,all the gifts and graces of the spirit are either more sensible and apparent1 or more spiritual and inward1 according to the power of receptivity in the individual4 ,it seems to me that when ,i am with you1 there is only a simple1 imperceptible transmission from my soul to yours4 ,you do not perceive any marked results1 and they are not great1 because you are not in a state to receive much1 and often interrupt me by speaking1 which causes in me a vacillation of grace4 ,if we were together some considerable time without distraction1 you would perceive more marked results4 ,it is the desire of ,god that there should be1 between us1 perfect interchange of thoughts1 of hearts1 of souls2--a flux and reflux1 such as there will be when souls are new-created in ,christ ,jesus4 ,at present1 my soul in rotation to yours1 is as a river which enters into the sea1 to draw and invite the smaller river to lose itself also in the sea4 ,this truth1--the fruitfulness of souls who are in ,god1 whereby they communicate grace1--however much it is rejected1 is1 nevertheless1 a truth4 ,this flux and reflux of communication1 like the ebbing and flowing of the great ocean-current1 is the secret of the heavenly hierarchy1 and makes a communication from superior orders to inferior1--and of equality1 between angels of the same order4 ,during all eternity1 the communication of ,god the ,father1 and the ,son1 to angels and saints1 and their reciprocal communication to each other1 will be a well-spring of blessedness4 ,the design of ,god1 in the creation of men1 has been to associate to himself living beings1 to whom he could communicate himself4 ,he could create nothing greater than likenesses of himself4 ,all the splendor of angels and saints1 is but light reflected from ,god4 ,god could not see himself reflected in saints1 without their participating of these two qualities1 fruitfulness and reciprocal communication4 ,in this life all perfection consists1 in that which makes the consummation of this same perfection in heaven1 ,no one can be perfect1 if he is not perfect as the ,father in heaven is perfect2 that is1 partaking of his nature4 ,jesus ,christ is the ,father of souls2 his generation1 or the souls that are begotten of him1 are eternal in their nature as he is4 ,the figure1 giving us his flesh to eat1 is the nourishment he gives the soul in communication with himself2 or himself reproduced1 or begotten in us4 ,the eternal ,word is the essential1 undying life of the soul4 ,,desolate ,,state4 ,believe me1 dear madam1 ,i take a deep interest in your spiritual welfare1 and ,i earnestly hope your confidence in ,god will not fail1 on account of your present desolate state4 ,as the winter plunges still deeper the roots of the trees in the earth1 so the wintry state of the soul plunges it deeper in humiliation4 ,remember the confidence of ,job1 ,although he slay me1 ,i will trust in him4 ,although stripped of all consolation1 and left in the desolation of nothingness1 you may yet rejoice in ,god--out of1 and separate from1 self4 ,let the earth be stripped of her foliage2 let neither flowers nor fruit appear2 yet ,god is1 therefore you may be happy4 ,the mother loves to sacrifice herself for her child1 and finds her life in what affords it happiness2 thus die to self1 in relation to ,god4 ,when your weaknesses rise up before you1 when you would weep over some error in judgment1 or some unguarded expression1 do as the little child1 who having fallen into the mud1 carries its hands to its mother1 who cheerfully wipes them1 and consoles him after the fall4 ,can you not believe ,god loves you1 as much as you love the little one enfolded in your arms8 ,does he not say1 ,a mother may forget1 yet ,i will never forget thee6 ,the discovery of your weakness and emptiness1 is an evidence of ,god's love2 and while it is ground for humiliation1 it is also of thanksgiving4 ,when it pleases ,god to fill this void with his grace1 it is cause of thankfulness2 but if we realized at all times this fullness1 we should be in danger of appropriating the grace of ,god to ourselves4 ,thus1 our times of desolation are necessary1 and we should accept them joyfully1 as a portion of the bread our father gives us4 ,yours in tender sympathy4 ,,self-,,abandonment4 ,the death of self is not accomplished at once4 ,it is for some time a living death4 ,its opposite1 spiritual life1 is represented by ,ezekiel's vision of the dry bones4 ,first1 the bones were rejoined2 afterwards covered with sinews2 then the flesh appeared2 and finally1 the spirit of the ,lord animated them4 ,when the soul begins to incline towards ,god1 it finds many obstructions2 but in proportion as we yield to the will of ,god1 these obstructions are removed4 ,the following simile will help to illustrate my idea4 ,the rivers empty themselves into the sea2 before they lose themselves there4 ,wave by wave following its course1 seems to urge onward the river1 to lose itself in the sea4 ,god imparts to the soul some waves of pure love1 to urge on the soul to himself2 but as the river does not lose itself in the sea1 until its own waters are exhausted1 so the soul reaches ,god1 and loses itself in ,god1 only when the means of supply from self are at an end4 ,as the waves1 which are precipitated into the sea1 roll many times before they are lost in the sea1 so the soul undergoes many changes1 before it is received into ,god4 ,the results of self-crucifixion are happy1 because ,god then becomes all to the soul4 ,we lose self1 and substitute ,god in its place4 ,we take away the finite1 and receive the ,infinite4 ,this is blessed4 ,,no ,,dependence ,,on ,,instruments4 ,what shall ,i say regarding the state in which you find yourself1 in relation to me8 ,i have no movement either to promote our re-union1 or hinder it4 ,let ,god direct4 ,are you leaning upon him1 or upon the creature8 ,if on the creature1 it is a bruised reed1 which will fail you4 ,god sometimes makes use of instruments1 whom he finds it necessary afterwards to reject4 ,if he designs to remove me from you1 can ,i have any wish to retain you8 ,god forbid4 ,he may design this separation1 to make you die to any confidence in the creature4 ,he may no longer design to use me for your benefit4 ,i might have mingled my own impurity1 with his pure light flowing through me4 ,if ,god permit me to err1 it is on account of my pride4 ,i have never given you any assurance of my infallibility4 ,what am ,i but an erring creature8 ,leave me1 leave me1 and unite yourself only to ,god1 who will never mislead you4 ,means are good1 only in the order of ,god4 ,they injure us1 if we rest in them4 ,if ,god remove me from you1 acquiesce in his will1 with a devotion worthy of a child of ,god4 ,be humble1 and courageous enough to own your fault1 in leaning on an arm of flesh4 ,men of the world may be obstinate1 but the child of ,god should be supple4 ,whatever separation there may be between us1 believe me1 you will always be dear to me in our dear ,lord4 ,i hope1 when you are lost in him1 you will find this little drop of water1 7myself7 in the same great ocean of love4 ,,child ,,of ,,god ,,soon ,,to ,,die4 ,i have had a presentiment that you would not survive this illness4 ,i lose in you the most faithful1 and the only friend on whom ,i could rely1 in the persecutions which threaten me4 ,i feel my loss1 but rejoice in your happiness1 ,i could envy you4 ,death only lends a helping hand to rend away the veil1 which hides infinite beauties4 ,our ,lord has strongly cemented our souls4 ,may the benediction of the divine ,master rest upon you4 ,go1 blessed soul1 and receive the recompense prepared for all those1 who are wholly the ,lord's4 ,go1 we separate in the name of the ,lord2 ,i cannot say a last adieu1 for we shall be forever united in him4 ,i hope1 in the goodness of ,god1 to be present with you in heart and spirit1 at the time of your departure1 and to receive with you1 the divine ,master who is waiting for you4 ,be my ambassador in the courts above1 and say to him ,i love him4 ,,union ,,of ,,souls ,,in ,,god4 ,the assurance you give me of the union of your soul with mine1 is a great consolation4 ,it is a union to which my heart fully responds1 not in a way of emotional transport1 but in the depths of peace2 there is nothing of nature in it4 ,it is a union in ,jesus ,christ4 ,we are one in a sense of our lost condition1 and one in self-abandonment4 ,oh6 blessed oneness with ,christ1 where all evils perish2 and there remains only the casualties inseparable from the state of humanity4 ,how wonderful is this operation--the sacred mingling of a poor creature with its ,god1 where all the evils of our fallen nature1 are removed from the depths of the soul1 and the soul1 in its elemental being is lost in its original6 ,there all the little ones are united in ,him1--these little drops of water reassembled in the divine ocean6 ,how swiftly do the streams embrace each other1 and flow into one channel1 when the obstructions are removed6 ,when souls become pure in ,jesus ,christ1 they flow into one another with the same rapidity4 ,purity of soul consists in an entire separation from self1 and re-union with ,god4 ,the soul can return to self2 it has the power1 and therefore is not infallible4 ,our union1 my dear friend1 is independent of the relish or disrelish of all created things and events4 ,you could not be separated from me without being separated from ,god2 for it seems to me1 that ,i am one with him1 and inseparable1 and you are the same2 and thus1 we are one in ,him1 and one with each other4 ,ever yours1 in the heart of ,jesus4 ,,secret ,,operations ,,of ,,grace4 ,my heart has been tenderly united to you1 during all my bodily sufferings4 ,in proportion as the outward man has been reduced1 ,god seems to be more the life of my soul4 ,although the operations of ,god upon your soul may be less marked than formerly1 they are no less real4 ,there is a secret fire in your heart1 which burns continually1 although imperceptibly4 ,this keen and continual operation enfeebles you1 because it consumes so rapidly the more sensible and marked operations of the soul4 ,this is1 ,i apprehend1 your ordinary state2 with occasionally the unction of the oil of grace poured upon the concealed fire1 to give you a sweet and clear manifestation of the loving presence of ,god4 ,you bear two marked results of the divine presence--interior recollection1 and a continual amen in your heart2 a true and just response to all ,god's dealings with your soul4 ,i realise a very close union with you4 ,this union is not in the emotions1 and not in the will of man1 but in the will of ,god4 ,it is a union1 from which ,i could no more separate myself1 than from ,god2 it is a fulfillment of the prayer of our ,lord1 that they may be one1 as we are one4 ,it is a union which death cannot interrupt1 but will substantiate more and more fully in ,god4 ,ever yours1 in our ,lord4 ,,to ,a ,,young ,,friend4 ,you are very dear to me1 my child4 ,do not think ,i have forgotten you4 ,god alone can render you happy4 ,give yourself wholly to him1 never more to take yourself back4 ,love him with all your heart4 ,retire often within the closet of your heart to commune with ,god4 ,do not pray to him in a constrained and formal manner1 but all simple and natural4 ,god loves better the affectionate language of the heart1 than1 the cold and discursive thoughts of the intellect4 ,the prayer of love softens the heart4 ,do not shrink from your ordinary duties4 ,we are often more united to ,god1 in our daily avocations1 than in retirement4 ,the reason is1 our good ,father holds us more closely1 when we are most exposed to temptations4 ,endeavor to maintain1 at all times1 harmony and oneness with ,god4 ,you have only to abandon yourself wholly to divine love1 and perform all the duties that devolve upon you4 ,do not be restive1 and thus mar ,god's beautiful design and operation upon your soul4 ,place in his bosom of rest1 all your inquietudes1 and allow him to carry you1 as a little child is borne by its mother4 ,this little one has only to regard1 lovingly1 the smiles of its tender mother4 ,god will give you a wise discernment as to food and drink1 and all the pleasures of life4 ,he calls us to a temperate life1 but not to a life too austere4 ,we should avoid the too much and the too little in eating and drinking4 ,i pray our divine ,lord1 to enlighten1 strengthen and comfort your heart4 ,,letter ,,to ,,her ,,spiritual ,,guide4 ,the state in which ,i find myself1 my ,father1 takes away from me entirely1 the liberty to address you any longer as my ,spiritual ,guide4 ,i realize so great a detachment from all things1 that there remains in me only a triumphant1 dominant love1 which acknowledges no master but ,love4 ,it is my experience1 that the closer the union of the soul with ,god1 the more it is separated from all dependence on the creature4 ,i find also1 that the secret operations of divine love upon the soul1 cannot be expressed4 ,these operations do not consist in sweet and flattering expressions1 neither in consolations1 in the ordinary way1 but in the discovery of mysterious truths2 truths1 which give so profound a knowledge of ,god1 that the soul can find no language to give expression to these views4 ,to speak1 and to act1 is the same thing with ,god4 ,he spake1 and it was done4 ,when the divine ,word operates in the soul1 without any obstruction1 the soul becomes what this ,word wills it should become4 ,when ,mary ,magdalene was made whole1 it was no more ,mary ,magdalene1 but ,jesus ,christ1 who lived in her4 ,st4 ,paul says1 ,i live1 yet not ,i1 ,christ liveth in me4 ,in the same manner1 the ,word is incorporated into my soul4 ,some time since1 there was given me a view of the ,states of ,mary1 the mother of our ,lord4 ,i was alone in my chamber1 and my soul was completely filled with divine love4 ,the divine ,word seemed to say within me1 ,i will show thee the chief work of my hands1--a perfect nothing in itself1--the heart of ,mary4 ,in this manner was conveyed to me1 the inexpressible love of ,god for men--his operation in pure souls4 ,it was shown me1 that her silence and acquiescence in the will of ,god2 her entire self-crucifixion and hidden life were worthy of imitation2 and that this same love which had operated so powerfully upon this soul1 emptied of self1 desired to draw other souls also to her states1 and to make an effusion of the same grace and love in them1 as in her4 ,o divine love6 how great are thy wonders1 how marvellous thy operations on human hearts6 ,my soul is lost in the depths of thy secret wonders6 ,silence1 silence--only silence6 ,i write to you1 my ,father1 for the last time1 to bid you a final adieu4 ,i can no longer listen to any other teachings1 than this divine ,word of eternal ,truth1 which is spoken in the depths of my heart4 ,but however far separated from you1 in the relation of ,director1 you are very near and dear in the affections of my heart2 in that pure love1 which is alone the operation of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,,glory ,,of ,,god ,,the ,,one ,,desire4 ,what have we to desire in heaven and on earth1 only the glory of ,god8 ,but it is necessary to desire the glory of ,god as he desires it4 ,he who has absolute power over the heart of man1 has a plan of operations2 he does all things in their time2 he waits until the hour is come4 ,in coming into the world1 our ,lord could have converted the world at once1 and destroyed all its vices2 but the economy of his wisdom did not so direct4 ,when ,i hear our ,lord say1 ,mine hour is not yet come1 and wishing neither to advance nor retard1 for a moment1 the hour that his ,father had appointed1 ,i am plunged into my nothingness4 ,we are only instruments in his hands1 which he may lay aside1 or use according to his good pleasure4 ,we should be so dead to self1 as to be indifferent1 whether he makes use of us or not4 ,remain1 therefore1 my dear friend1 in the hand of ,god4 ,let him accomplish in you1 and by you1 all his good pleasure1 whether to cast down1 or build up4 ,god knows how much ,i love you4 ,,spiritual ,,union ,,and ,,aid4 ,spiritual union1 is a state of the soul very clear in my perception1 although ,i may not be able to give you a definite impression of this state4 ,in order to benefit you1 it became necessary for me to enter into your state1 to have an experimental knowledge1 an endurance and suffering of the same state4 ,by this experience ,i have been brought into closer relation to ,god1 partaking more fully of the ,christ-like nature by being rendered capable of bearing the infirmities of others4 ,and ,i have had1 also1 a clearer idea of that quality of ,god1 whereby he multiplies holy souls1 by the communication of himself4 ,in this experience1 the soul appears to be in ,god1 and ,god in her1 as first cause1 drawing and penetrating the soul nearest to himself1 and by penetration1 in this soul1 drawing1 through her instrumentality1 many other ,souls4 ,although1 by these powerful rays the soul itself may seem to penetrate and draw other souls1 yet it is ,god who draws them by his efficiency2 and he communicates this efficiency1 most powerfully1 to those in closest contact with himself4 ,so pure and transparent is this soul1 that there seems to be no space between the first ,mover and the souls moved by the agent or instrumentality4 ,there is a difference between the ray and the body of the sun1 although it is difficult to separate the ray from the sun4 ,it is the divine ray1 which is transmitted through this soul1 as the natural ray through the medium of the atmosphere4 ,these same rays1 transmitted through many souls1 and from soul to soul1 unite them in one common centre1 and thus the bond of filiation is complete in ,god4 ,i may not express myself so as to be understood4 ,may your light supply1 what is wanting in clearness of expression4 ,,live ,,in ,,the ,,present4 ,do not expect1 my dear ,e41 that the will of ,god will be made apparent to you in any extraordinary way4 ,the most remarkable events occur naturally4 ,it was by an order of the ,emperor1 that ,joseph1 being of the house and lineage of ,david1 went to be taxed at ,bethlehem1 where the holy child ,jesus was born4 ,the fountain of water was near to ,hagar1 when she laid down the child to die with thirst4 ,behold ,god1 my friend1 in the present arrangement of his providence for you1 and submit wisely to passing events4 ,he sees the end from the beginning1 and plans wisely for his children4 ,o1 how good to submit our limited view to his far sight1 reaching through time and eternity6 ,remember1 the present moment comes to you1 as the moment of ,god4 ,use it for his glory1 and every succeeding moment4 ,thus the present becomes the eternal moment1 for which we must render account to ,god4 ,may ,god be ,all in ,all to us in every passing moment1 now and forever4 ,,how ,,to ,,administer ,,reproof4 ,a single word1 spoken in the spirit of ,christ1 with humility and sweetness1 will have more weight1 in correcting others1 than many words uttered in our own spirit4 ,the reason is this3 when passion mingles with correction1 although the truth may be spoken1 ,jesus ,christ does not coperate with us4 ,therefore1 the person is not corrected by what we say1 but1 being opposed to the manner of correction1 is more confirmed in the evil4 ,in proportion as ,jesus ,christ speaks by us1 without us1 or without the minglings of self1 his word is efficacious1 and turns the heart of the person to whom we speak1 to receive what we say4 ,i know there are some who resist1 knowingly1 his word1 but our passionate zeal does not correct them4 ,it is important to wait the moment of ,god to collect others4 ,we may see real faults1 but the person may not be in a state to profit by being told their faults4 ,it is not wise to give more than one can receive4 ,this is what ,i call preceding the light1--the light shines so far in advance of the person1 that it does not benefit him4 ,our ,lord said to his apostles1 ,i have many things to say to you1 but you cannot bear them now4 ,the prophet says1 the ,lord carries his children in his arms1 as a nurse4 ,a nurse could wish that the child could walk alone1 but she waits in patience the time4 ,let us do the same1 and never discourage the weak4 ,let us not destroy the good grain with the tares4 ,who does not admire the long suffering patience of ,god8 ,and ,i may add to ,st4 ,paul's words1 all unworthy as ,i am1 and of those who admire it1 how few imitate it6 ,if those to whom ,god has given so much grace1 have so many faults themselves1 with how much patience should they bear with those who are less favored4 ,,bearing ,,the ,,states ,,of ,,christ4 ,during my late severe illness1 a strong impression rested on my mind1 that ,i was called to participate in the last sufferings of ,jesus ,christ4 ,the language of my heart was1 ,i am ready1 ,o1 ,father1 to suffer all thy will6 ,in thus yielding my heart1 as ,abraham when called to sacrifice his beloved ,isaac1 ,i realized a new bond of alliance with ,christ1 and these words1 ,i will betroth thee unto me forever1 was the voice of the ,bridegroom to my soul4 ,when ,paul said1 ,i bear in my body the marks of the ,lord ,jesus1 he did not refer to any external marks in the flesh1 but to bearing the states of ,jesus ,christ4 ,in ,david are expressed all the states of ,christ1 with the difference only there is between the type and the original4 ,job was an eminent instance of being reduced to nothingness1 and also of exaltation by the favor of ,god4 ,those who pass through the furnace1 and suffer with ,christ1 are prepared to wear the white robe1 which adorns the bride1 the ,lamb's wife4 ,their souls become the dwelling-place of the ,most ,high4 ,are not those beautiful subterranean palaces1 which we read of in fable1 and which are reached after crossing deep caverns1 and so hidden that none can find them1 only those to whom the secret is revealed1 representative of the interior palace of the soul1 where the ,lord inhabits4 ,the king's daughter is all glorious within4 ,,our ,,imperfections ,,should ,,not ,,hinder ,,our ,,labors ,,for ,,others4 ,although ,i am so weak and unworthy in myself1 ,god uses me for the good of others4 ,the many defects of our temperament1 should not hinder our labors in behalf of others4 ,these faults have nothing to do with the grace1 which operates effectively on the souls for whom we labor4 ,god reveals himself1 through the fathers and mothers in ,israel1 and thus increases confidence in them2 while1 at the same time1 their weaknesses forbid placing too much dependence on them4 ,although our ,lord acquaints us with his designs regarding others1 and the aid we may render them1 yet this should not give us the least desire to aid them1 only in the order of his providence4 ,neither should we be arrested in his work1 although the souls we aid repulse the effort4 ,god will make good the results in due time4 ,it implies great death to self1 never to put our hand selfishly to the work of the ,lord1 as it does1 also1 never to go a step out of the path in which he leads us4 ,when we mingle self1 we retard1 rather than advance1 his work4 ,nature is so corrupt that it deeply infests spiritual things1 and so subtle as to conceal itself under all artifices4 ,i do not know why ,i have written you thus4 ,god knows1 and that is sufficient4 ,,death1 ,,resurrection4 ,this is no time to be disheartened4 ,when the sinful lusts rebel1 leave them to their disorderly cravings4 ,let them cry1 as a child from whom we take away a dangerous yet pleasing toy4 ,strengthen yourself for crosses and humiliations4 ,you will soon be made alive in ,jesus ,christ4 ,the extraordinary peace you have tasted1 is the commencement of the resurrection-life4 ,this peace is not invariable1 because the new life is given little by little1 yet1 ,i assure you1 it will soon fill your whole soul4 ,as ,god has rapidly advanced inward death1 and caused you to run1 with a giant step1 in the way of self-crucifixion1 and this1 notwithstanding all the oppositions of the carnal man1 he will also thus rapidly advance the resurrection4 ,the loss1 of all things of the earthly life1 which follows the resuscitated life1 will be deep and extended4 ,the death and burial which precede the resurrection1 cannot compare with that total loss1 which follows the resuscitated life4 ,this is something different1 and in a new state4 ,you will arise from the sepulchre1 as the ,spouse of the ,beloved4 ,all is consumed in myself1 not in the ordinary way1 but in a total loss2 so that there remains nothing which can be named or known4 ,it seems to me1 the death of self is carried almost to infinity1 it makes so many unknown steps4 ,since this morning1 this unworthy creature experiences a still greater reduction of self than ever before4 ,die1 live2 lose yourself1 and find yourself again2 then you will have experience of this state4 ,,grace ,,deeply ,,interior4 ,while you perceive nothing sensible1 or apparent1 in your religious state1 there is1 at the same time1 evidence to others of a hidden spring of life within your soul4 ,god does not give you the sweet rain which1 falling1 clothes all the surface of the soul with verdure1 but he gives you the deep well-spring1 by which means you live and flourish1 and produce1 not herbs and flowers1 which are born and die in the same day1 but substantial fruits1 ripening for eternity4 ,david said1 the life of man upon the earth is as grass1 which groweth up in the morning1 and withers in the evening4 ,this refers to the natural life1 but it is also true of the selfish life of man4 ,it flourishes in the morning of the spiritual life1 but no sooner does the sun of righteousness arise in his warmth1 than this life withers and is cut down4 ,the righteous are as a tree planted by the rivers of water1 whose leaf is always green4 ,this is because the roots are well watered by the deep-flowing current4 ,god never ceases to operate in your heart4 ,the calm1 resigned state of your soul is proof of this4 ,take good care of your health4 ,do not labor beyond your strength4 ,god will abundantly reward you for your labors of love in behalf of others4 ,these are labors he never fails to recompense4 ,i pray ,god1 my dear ,f41 to preserve you for his work4 ,i have many things to say1 but ,i forbear4 ,your time is precious4 ,,self-,,renunciation4 ,god designs you1 my friend1 for himself1 but he will lead you by a way1 entirely opposed to what you have marked out4 ,he does this in order to destroy your self-love4 ,this is accomplished only by the overthrow of all your purposes1 preconceived views1 natural reason and sagacity4 ,self-love has many hiding-places4 ,god alone can search them out4 ,you seek the honor that cometh from man1 and love to occupy a high position4 ,god wishes to reduce you to littleness1 and poverty of spirit4 ,believe me1 dear sir1 you will grow in grace1 not by knowledge acquired from books2 not from reasonings upon divine truths1 but by an efflux from ,god4 ,this efflux will reach and fill your soul1 in proportion as you are emptied of self4 ,you are so much occupied of yourself in speaking1 reading and writing1 that you give no place to ,god4 ,make room1 and ,god will come in4 ,you speak of your many cares4 ,if you will give yourself wholly to ,god1 these cares will be greatly diminished4 ,god will think for you1 and arrange by his ,providence1 what you cannot effect by long years of planning4 ,in the name of ,god1 ,i entreat you to renounce your own wisdom1 your self-leadings1 and yield up yourself to ,god4 ,let ,him become your wisdom4 ,you ,will then find the place of rest1 you so much need4 ,may you read this letter1 with dependence on the ,spirit1 which has dictated it1 and without regard to the instrument1 and your heart will testify to the truth of what ,i have written4 ,take courage1 and be persuaded that if ,god destroys the natural life1 it is only to give you himself4 ,endeavor to be nothing1 that ,god may be all4 ,when void1 ,god himself fills the space4 ,,unexpected ,,faults4 ,yesterday1 after ,i left the parlor1 ,i uttered some words hastily1 and suffered very much in consequence2 a suffering not like the pangs of penitence ,i formerly experienced1 but more subtle and interior2 and the soul was more acquiescent4 ,whether it was the words ,i uttered too precipitately1 or the reflections that followed1 which caused this suffering1 ,i could not determine4 ,a part of myself seemed to be thrown out of ,god1 as we see the ocean reject certain things1 which it receives again more deeply into its bosom4 ,thus ,i seemed to myself to be rejected1 and without any power to make the least movement to return1 and without even a regret that ,i was rejected4 ,i was willing to remain where ,god placed me1 until the moment he received me again to himself4 ,if ,i should afflict myself on account of this experience1 which was new and unexpected1 ,i believe it would be wrong1 and sully still more the soul4 ,the depths of my soul remain unchanged--fixed in ,god4 ,he removes the impurity1 that has exteriorly sullied it1 and holds the soul still his own4 ,,apostolic ,,state4 ,i have read your letter1 my dear ,f41 with great pleasure4 ,the true ,apostolic state is to become all things to all men2 that is1 to impart to each one spiritually1 according to his necessities4 ,only those who are reduced to littleness and simplicity1 have this power of communicating grace4 ,they have also the ability to sympathise deeply in the states of others2 of bearing in some measure their burdens1 and are sometimes in great heaviness on their account4 ,this communication of grace and aid1 is not necessarily restricted to the personal presence of the individual4 ,we may be absent in body1 yet present in spirit1 after the manner of ,god's operations2 and as the angelic powers communicate to us4 ,it is only by the enlightening of ,god's ,spirit1 that we realise the state of those to whom we are spiritually united4 ,unity of souls is experienced1 not only with those in the body1 who have affinity with ourselves1 but also with those out of the body4 ,i realise with the holy prophet ,david1 a correspondence and unity1 which renders our souls one in ,god4 ,you will experience this unity with the saints more fully1 when all perception of self is taken away4 ,st4 ,paul says1 ,ye are come to an innumerable company of angels--to the spirits of just men made perfect4 ,david was in the ,old ,testament1 what ,paul was in the ,new4 ,they were both deeply interior ,christians4 ,the ,apostles1 after having received the ,holy ,ghost1 spake all languages4 ,this has also a spiritual meaning4 ,they communicated grace1 according to the necessities of each one4 ,this is speaking the word--the efficacious word1 which replenishes the soul4 ,this nourishing1 life-giving word is represented by the manna1 and the reality is found in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 who is himself the bread of life in the soul4 ,amen1 ,jesus6 ,,painful ,,experience4 ,to-day my health is better1 and ,i find myself able to reply to your letter4 ,let the view of yourself that ,god gives you1 be accepted1 whether it relates to your fallen condition in general1 or to particular faults2 but add nothing to this view by your own reflections4 ,these continual reflex acts of the mind1 do not help you2 they do not remove the faults4 ,i am not surprised1 that you find in yourself so many evils2 evils which render you almost insupportable to yourself4 ,when ,god accomplishes the work of purification1 he removes all that is opposed to the divine inflowing life4 ,these evils of your nature1 which are now apparent1 and which were deeply concealed1 are perceived by you1 only because they are passing out from their hiding-places4 ,all persons do not have so deep a knowledge of themselves2 therefore do not suffer so much1 because all are not destined to so profound a death and burial while in the body4 ,be silent1 and drink the bitter cup4 ,these humiliations will endure until your state is in some degree perfected2 after which they will become more and more slight1 and only at intervals1 until the death and burial is consummated4 ,,ecstacy ,,of ,,the ,,mind1 ,,and ,,the ,,will ,,or ,,heart4--,,the ,,difference4 ,the intellectual part of man can be in some degree united to ,god2 but the soul loses itself in ,god1 only by the loss of the will and by love4 ,this loss of the will is the true ecstasy1 which is a permanent state1 and is effected without any violence to nature4 ,when love is the controlling exercise1 the will follows1 and the soul is reduced to unity2 as in the natural exercise of love1 the stronger the love1 the greater the submission of the soul to the object beloved4 ,sacred love does not bind parts1 but draws it fully1 until it is absorbed wholly in this divine oneness4 ,the mind may tend towards its divine object1 with ardor1 but the will not concurring1 causes dissonance and swooning1 or impetuous transports4 ,i call this momentary ecstasy2 it cannot long endure without separating the soul from the body4 ,the difference between these two states is1 as that of water1 retained in the air by a machine1 and of a river1 running naturally into the sea1 as ordered by the grand ,architect of the universe4 ,love1 which carries the will in its train1 changes the whole man2 this is the divine1 the true ecstasy4 ,this is what is called transformation1 and loss of the soul in ,god4 ,it is certain1 however1 that the creature always remains a being distinct from ,god4 ,a ,,view ,,of ,,self4 ,the activity of the natural selfish life1 is the greatest obstacle to your progress4 ,allow of nothing which gives sustenance to this life4 ,be on your guard against applause4 ,applaud not yourself when you have done well4 ,admit no reflections in regard to the good you have accomplished1 so that all that nourishes self-complacency may die4 ,possess your soul in peace as much as possible2 not by effort1 but by ceasing from effort2 by letting go everything that troubles you4 ,be quiet1 that you may settle1 as we leave water to settle when agitated4 ,when you discover your errors and sins1 do not stop1 under whatever good pretext1 to remedy them4 ,rather abandon yourself at once to ,god1 that he may destroy1 in you1 all that its displeasing to him4 ,i assure you1 you are not capable of yourself1 to correct the least fault4 ,your only remedy is abandonment to ,god1 and remaining quiet in his hands4 ,if you discovered the depth of inward corruption in your heart1 your courage would fail6 ,on this account1 ,god conceals from us1 in part1 the view of our sins1 and discovers them to us1 only as he destroys them4 ,rest assured1 ,god loves you4 ,he will take care of you4 ,have faith in his love and mercy4 ,you will see farther by and by4 ,when you are in trouble1 do not fail to write me4 ,have good courage1 and all will be well4 ,you are very dear to me in our ,lord4 ,,state ,,of ,a ,,soul ,,in ,,union ,,with ,,god4 ,although1 in the latter part of my life1 ,i do not perceive those marked states of abandonment and submission1 neither of interior sorrows1 such as ,i formerly experienced1 this does not prove that these distinct states no longer exist2 but the soul having become more fully established in ,god1 it makes less account of them1 or is less affected by external impressions4 ,as pure flowing water leaves no trace where it passes1 so these distinct states leave no durable impression4 ,the soul seems to have lost its own qualities of resistance and aversion1 and runs1 without ceasing into its ,original4 ,it is on this account ,i cannot write so fully of my states of mind as formerly4 ,my soul1 in its depths1 rests in ,god4 ,my peace1 says ,christ1 ,i give unto you4 ,i pray for the church2 ,i mourn at times that ,god is so little known and loved2 but these feelings are transient1 and the soul is ready to take any impression that ,god gives it4 ,while it seems to have no consistency of its own1 so to speak1 it adapts itself to the state of others with wonderful facility4 ,sometimes even relating amusing stories1 to children1 and to those who cannot be entertained in any other way4 ,the soul1 in this state of union with ,god1 is sometimes permitted to foretell things to come1 which appear very obscure to man1 but which are1 nevertheless1 infallibly true1 because proceeding from ,god4 ,the knowledge of the event1 and its full explanation1 will come in the fulness of time4 ,the soul is ready for anything2 ready for nothing4 ,all that is true comes from ,god2 what is not true1 from the creature4 ,the soul does not seek to justify itself1 nor produce humiliation1 but passes on1 disregarding self1 and absorbed in ,god4 ,,state ,,of ,,rest ,,in ,,god4 ,if ,i do not reply to you1 ,dear ,sir1 as soon as you might expect1 it is because ,i hold myself in reserve1 until ,i have a movement to write1 and not from any want of regard to you4 ,relative to the distinct1 voluntary acts of resignation1 renouncement1 it would be difficult1 in my present state1 to make such acts1 because such acts would seem to imply something of self-appropriation still remaining2 whereas1 ,i have given to my ,sovereign1 all that ,i am2 and as far as ,i know1 ,i have nothing more to give him4 ,my soul is at rest in his will4 ,it is the same in regard to prayer1 or petitions4 ,the soul having a very simple method of prayer1 all other prayer seems foreign to it4 ,when it would make a request1 and as soon as the soul knows distinctly what it demands1 there is something which goes before to accomplish it1 without the utterance of words4 ,when the soul utters words1 or makes petitions1 if the spirit accompanying approves1 the prayer is made with ease4 ,if the spirit do not coperate1 the words are uttered with difficulty1 or not at all4 ,god takes the place of self in the soul1 and there prays for things agreeable to his will4 ,this is a state of the soul1 in which it has no desire to originate prayer1 but loves to be silent in the presence of ,god4 ,this is an experience more satisfactory than ,i am able to express4 ,o1 that all the earth knew what it means to keep silence before the ,lord6 ,,great ,,humiliations4 ,i have a clear discernment of your state4 ,it seems to me1 ,i see it in some measure as ,god sees it2 that is1 in the pure light of truth1--the reasons why you suffer1 and the blessed results of these sufferings4 ,i have known that the period of discipline would be long1 and very long1 because you suffer not only on your own account1 but also for the benefit of others4 ,god destines you to accomplish great things for his glory1 and exterior humiliations in your case not being suited to his designs1 he makes use of concealed humiliations1 known only to yourself and ,god4 ,i will repeat to you the words addressed by our ,lord to ,st4 ,paul4 ,my grace is sufficient for thee2 my strength is made perfect in weakness4 ,it will be in companionship with humiliations1 that you will be saved from falling into sin and error1 and be prepared to be come a vessel fit for the ,master's use4 ,you will experience from time to time1 a return of these humiliating states1 and when you may think they have entirely passed away1 they will suddenly revive4 ,but the greater your humiliation1 the more ,god will use you to perform his most excellent works4 ,in this state of entire self-reduction and humiliation1 your words will be clothed with power4 ,i am come1 says our ,lord1 to bring fire on the earth4 ,o martyr of ,pure ,love1--a sacrifice for the good of others1 what if the fires be already kindled in your bosom1 shrink not6 ,if you were less to ,god1 he might spare you4 ,do not hesitate to speak to me of your sufferings1 because it appears to you useless4 ,it is not so4 ,if you speak of them in simplicity1 your heart will be relieved1 and strengthened4 ,i know how to sympathise with you4 ,god bless you4 ,,repose ,,of ,,the ,,soul ,,is ,,god4 ,having given up myself wholly to ,god1 and loving ,him far better than myself1 how can ,i find any opposition to his good pleasure8 ,how can ,i do otherwise than yield to one ,i love better than myself8 ,how can a soul withdraw from the dominion of a ,sovereign1 that it loves with the whole heart8 ,what can separate us from the love of ,god1 in ,christ ,jesus8 ,although1 while we remain in this life1 there is a possibility of sinning1 and of separation from ,god1 and it is true1 that the soul remains in oneness with ,him1 only by the continuance of his mercy1 and that if he should leave it1 it would immediately fall into sin1 yet ,i cannot have the least fear1 that my ,god will leave me1 or that ,i shall ever separate myself in any degree from his love4 ,the creature can take no glory to itself1 to whatever state it may arrive4 ,o that you might comprehend what ,i cannot express--the sense ,i have of the goodness of ,god1 to keep what is his own6 ,how jealous1 how watchful he is over the soul6 ,god seems so truly all things to me1 that ,i seem to see nothing1 to love nothing1 relish nothing1 only what he causes me to see1 love and relish in himself4 ,i am only capable of loving and submitting to him1 so much is he my life4 ,i believe ,god blindfold1 without questioning or reasoning4 ,god is2 this is sufficient4 ,how immense is the freedom of the soul in him6 ,o may you not doubt1 that when all of self is taken away from the creature1 there remains only ,god4 ,o ,god1 can ,i have any self-interest1 or appropriate aught as mine8 ,in what can ,i take it8 ,how strange the thought6 how far removed from the possession of ,god6 ,i am lost4 ,god is4 ,,power ,,of ,,casting ,,out ,,evil ,,spirits4 ,although for many years1 profound truths have been revealed to me1 and ,god has manifested his power through me1 in an extraordinary manner1 my state has invariably been one of infancy1 simplicity and candor4 ,god's grace has rendered me equally willing to lie concealed1 or to execute his will more publicly4 ,during seven years1 without my knowing how it was accomplished1 as soon as ,i have approached some persons1 possessed by demons1 the evil spirits have departed4 ,i have realised simply a desire to relieve them1 and this desire1 or prayer1 has been answered in a way unknown to myself4 ,of myself1 ,i have no goodness nor power at all4 ,i have only the capacity of a child--of letting myself be used by ,god1 as pleases ,him4 ,my life appears natural4 ,i am encompassed with infirmities4 ,my health is greatly impaired4 ,my infirmities are a balance-wheel1 a counterpoise to exaltation4 ,yet life is ever flowing1 without any thought of the means of sustaining it1 as we live in the air1 without thinking of the air we breathe4 ,,state ,,of ,a ,,soul ,,re-,,united ,,to ,,god4 ,in reply to your enquiry1 my dear children1 concerning my state1 ,i would say1 that exteriorly1 ,i am open1 simple1 childlike4 ,my interior resembles a drop of water1 mingling and lost in the ocean1 and no more discerning itself1--the sea not only surrounding1 but absorbing it4 ,in this divine immensity1 the soul discerns and enjoys all objects in ,god4 ,all is darkness and obscurity in respect to itself2 all is light on the part of ,god4 ,thus1 ,god is all to me4 ,this has been my state more than thirty years1 although in latter years ,i have realized greater depths in these experiences4 ,think of the bottomless sea2 what is thrown therein1 continues sinking1 without ever reaching the end4 ,thus divine love is the weight of the soul1 that sinks it deeper and deeper in ,god4 ,god is ,love1 and he who dwells in love1 dwells in ,god1 and ,god in him4 ,o immensity6 ,jesus ,christ1 the embodiment of truth and love1 has explained the ,scriptures by fulfilling them4 ,so when the soul has passed into ,god1 the ,word is fulfilled in the soul1 as it was in ,christ4 ,o ,love6 thou art thyself the pure1 naked1 simple truth1 which is expressed1 not by me1 but by thyself1 through me4 ,amen4 ,,concise ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,interior ,,way4 ,the soul seeks ,god in faith not by the reasonings of the mind and labored efforts1 but by the drawings of love2 to which inclinations ,god responds1 and instructs the soul1 which co-operates actively4 ,god then puts the soul in a passive state1 where he accomplishes all1 causing great progress1 first by way of enjoyment1 then by privation1 and finally by pure ,love4 ,what do we understand by the ,interior way8 ,it is to seek the kingdom of ,god within us4 ,luke #ag1 #ba4 ,we find this kingdom only where ,god has placed it1 within the soul4 ,it becomes necessary1 then1 to withdraw the eyes of the soul from external landmarks and observations1 which man1 in the pride of reason1 has located around it1 and rest the eye in faith1 on the ,word of the ,lord1--,seek and ye shall find4 ,this seeking1 involves an interior activity of the soul2 a desire1 a determination1 and searching after what is hidden4 ,when the soul has thus earnestly sought the kingdom of ,god within1 this kingdom is developed little by little4 ,interior recollection becomes less difficult1 and the presence of ,god more perceptible and agreeable4 ,formerly it was supposed1 that the presence of ,god was only the thought of ,god1 and that it was necessary to force the mind--to concentrate the thoughts with violence to find ,god4 ,this is true in some sense1 but1 as the soul cannot long endure this tension1 and as the kingdom of ,god is not found in the external vestments of the soul1 but in its depths1 this labor is of little avail4 ,so little progress is made1 the soul becomes discouraged1 and the evil one1 who fears nothing so much as the reign of ,god in the soul1 makes an effort to draw the soul to externalities4 ,in order to accomplish this object1 he takes two methods1 either by excessive labors1 persuading the soul that this is the way to find ,god1 and thus choking the internal process of the interior life1 or1 by this tension of the mind1 of which ,i have spoken4 ,neither of these methods open in the soul1 the interior way4 ,you reply1 how1 then1 is this life accomplished8 ,i answer1 ,god1 seeing the heart of him who seeks him within1 draws near to him1 and teaches him a just moderation in all things2 and1 by this retrenchment of all excess in externals1 the soul begins to perceive the peaceful kingdom4 ,it realizes within itself a guide1 who provides for its necessities1 according to divine laws1 who takes away the burdens that sin imposes2 a guide who does not foster corrupt nature1 nor forbid innocent pleasures4 ,when the soul begins to perceive this kingdom1 and that the ,king himself is manifested in some degree1 it thus communes1 7and we may call this the second step71 ,o1 my ,beloved1 ,i have sought thee with all the strength of my heart1 in the place where thou hast taught me to seek thee1 and ,i have there found thee6 ,days and nights have ,i passed in seeking thee4 ,all the desires of my heart go after thee4 ,but now ,i have found thee4 ,i pray thee to reign as ,sovereign1 to establish thine empire in my soul4 ,i will do thy will alone4 ,i will resign to thee all the right ,i have to myself2 all that thou1 by thy goodness1 hast given to me4 ,at this stage of progress1 the soul ceases from self4 ,its work is to regard1 lovingly1 the operation of ,god1 without a desire either to advance it1 or place any obstacle in the way of its progress4 ,the soul has been active1 in the first stage1 to destroy1 with all its power1 that which might hinder the kingdom of ,god within2 and this was a great effort2 for habit had rendered interior recollection very difficult1 and the powers of the soul did not easily reunite themselves in one centre4 ,now the soul seeks no longer to combat the obstacles1 which hindered its return within1 but lets ,god combat and act in the soul4 ,saying1 it is time ,o1 ,lord1 that thou shouldst take possession of thy kingdom6 ,do so1 ,i pray thee1 exclusively4 ,i desire1 on my part1 only to observe thine operation4 ,this commencement of the reign of ,god1 and of the passive way1 is very highly relished by the soul4 ,the soul passes days1 and even years1 separated from creature enjoyments without weariness4 ,it advances very much more by this way1 in little time1 than by all the efforts of many years4 ,it is not without faults and imperfections1 but divine love diminishes them little by little1 or does not permit the soul to become disturbed by them1 lest it become discouraged and its love hindered4 ,this state is called passive love4 ,the soul sees no cause to fear2 it supposes that all the work is done1 and that it has only to pass into eternity1 and to enjoy this good ,sovereign1 who already gives himself to the soul in so much fulness4 ,but in the onward progress of the soul1 it becomes no longer doubtful1 whether the soul is to remain in the passive enjoyment of ,god and his communications4 ,the soul begins to feel a drawing1 to let ,god not only be all things in the soul1 but there to reign separate from the soul's enjoyment of his gifts4 ,the soul now experiences what is called1 by the author of the ,imitation of ,christ1 the exile of the heart4 ,it hears a voice in the depth of the soul1 or1 rather1 has an impression1 that ,god reigns there alone4 ,this exile is at first very painful1 for it is important to notice1 that1 from the commencement of seeking ,god in the depth of the soul to the possession of him1 there are many trials1 temptations1 sorrows4 ,every successive state is marked by a purifying process4 ,persons often mistake1 and take the first purification for the last4 ,when ,god reigns alone in the soul1 separate from the action of self1 and self is destroyed1 it is beyond any previous state4 ,when the soul has ceased from its own selfish operations1 and the man of sin is exterminated1 its defects become more apparent1 because ,god wishes it to comprehend what it is by itself1 and what it would be without him4 ,the soul is thus afflicted1 believing it has lost the virtues1 acquired with so much care1 and seems to have faults that it had not before perceived4 ,it says1 with the spouse in the ,canticles1 ,i have washed my feet1 how shall ,i sully them8 ,you do not perceive1 ,o1 soul beloved1 that you do not sully them in going to open to the spouse1 and that if you contract some slight impurity1 he will remove it so perfectly1 that you will become more beautiful4 ,in the mean time1 it is not the desire of the spouse to become beautiful in her own eyes1 but to see only the beauty of her ,lover4 ,when the soul is faithful in this state1 and really desires to die to itself1 she is pleased only with the beauty of her ,beloved1 and says his beauty shall be my beauty4 ,but it is necessary to advance beyond this1 for1 after being despoiled of her beauty1 it would be a selfishness much greater to appropriate to herself1 the beauty of her ,beloved4 ,his beauty must remain untarnished1 unappropriated by her2 she must leave him all1 and remain in her nothing1 for the nothing is her proper place4 ,this is ,perfect ,love1 which regards ,god alone4 ,,selections ,,from ,,her ,,poetry4 ,a ,,little ,,bird ,i ,,am4 ,a little bird ,i am1 ,shut from the fields of air2 ,and in my cage ,i sit and sing ,to ,him who placed me there2 ,well pleased a prisoner to be1 ,because1 my ,god1 it pleases thee4 ,nought have ,i else to do2 ,i sing the whole day long2 ,and ,he1 whom most ,i love to please1 ,doth listen to my song2 ,he caught and bound my wandering wing1 ,but still he bends to hear me sing4 ,thou hast an ear to hear2 ,a heart to love and bless2 ,and1 though my notes were e'er so rude1 ,thou wouldst not hear the less2 ,because though knowest as they fall1 ,that ,love1 sweet ,love1 inspires them all4 ,my cage confines me round1 ,abroad ,i cannot fly2 ,but1 though my wing is closely bound1 ,my heart's at liberty4 ,my prison walls cannot control ,the flight1 the freedom of the soul4 ,oh6 it is good to soar1 ,these bolts and bars above1 ,to ,him whose purpose ,i adore1 ,whose ,providence ,i love2 ,and in thy mighty will to find ,the joy1 the freedom of the mind4 ,,god ,,everywhere1 ,,to ,,the ,,soul ,,that ,,loves ,,him4 ,oh6 ,thou by long experience tried1 ,near whom no grief can long abide2 ,my ,lord6 how full of sweet content1 ,i pass my years of banishment4 ,all scenes alike engaging prove1 ,to souls impressed with sacred love2 ,where'er they dwell1 they dwell in ,thee1 ,in ,heaven1 in earth1 or on the sea4 ,to me remains nor place nor time1 ,my country is in every clime1 ,i can be calm and free from care ,on any shore1 since ,god is there4 ,while place we seek1 or place we shun1 ,the soul finds happiness in none2 ,but with a ,god to guide our way1 ',tis equal joy to go or stay4 ,could ,i be cast where ,thou art not1 ,that were indeed a dreadful lot2 ,but regions none remote ,i call1 ,secure of finding ,god in all4 ,my country1 ,lord1 art ,thou alone2 ,no other can ,i claim or own2 ,the point where all my wishes meet1 ,my law1 my love2 life's only sweet4 ,i love my ,god1 but with no love of mine1 ,for ,i have none to give2 ,i love thee1 ,lord2 but all the love is thine1 ,for by thy life ,i live4 ,i am as nothing1 and rejoice to be ,emptied1 and lost1 and swallowed up in thee4 ,thou1 ,lord1 alone1 art all thy children need1 ,and there is none beside2 ,from thee the streams of blessedness proceed2 ,in thee the bless'd abide4 ,fountain of life1 and all-abounding grace1 ,our source1 our centre1 and our dwelling-place4