Believe me, dear child, devotion is the sweetest of sweets, the queen of virtues, the perfection of love. If love is the milk of life, devotion is the cream thereof; if love is a fruitful plant, devotion is the blossom; if love is a precious stone, devotion is its brightness; if love is a precious balm, devotion is its perfume, that sweet odor which delights men and causes the angels to rejoice.
Chapter 3
Devotion Is Suitable to Every Vocation and Profession
When God created the world, he commanded each tree to bear fruit after its kind (Gen 1:12); and even so he bids Christians — the living trees of his Church — to bring forth fruits of devotion, each one according to his kind and vocation. A different exercise of devotion is required of each — the noble, the artisan, the servant, the prince, the maiden, and the wife. And furthermore, such practice must be modified according to the strength, the calling, and the duties of each individual.
I ask you, my child, would it be fitting for a bishop to seek to lead the solitary life of a Carthusian? And if the father of a family were as careless in making provision for the future as a Capuchin, if the artisan spent the day in church like a religious, if the religious involved himself in all manner of business on his neighbor’s behalf as a bishop is called upon to do — would not such a devotion be ridiculous, ill-regulated, and intolerable? Nevertheless, this mistake is often made, and the world, which cannot or will not discriminate between real devotion and the indiscretion of those who fancy themselves devout, grumbles and finds fault with devotion, which really has nothing to do with these errors.
No indeed, my child, the devotion which is true hinders nothing, but on the contrary, it perfects everything. That devotion which runs counter to a person’s rightful vocation is, you may be sure, a false devotion. Aristotle says that the bee sucks honey from flowers without damaging them, leaving them as whole and fresh as it found them. But true devotion does better still, for it not only does not hinder any vocation or duty, but it adorns and beautifies it. Throw precious stones into honey, and each will grow more brilliant according to its color. In like manner, everyone fulfills his special calling better when subject to the influence of devotion: family duties are lighter, married love truer, service to our king more faithful, every kind of occupation more acceptable and better performed where that is the guide.
It is an error — nay more, a heresy — to seek to banish the devout life from the soldier’s guardroom, the mechanic’s workshop, the prince’s court, or the domestic hearth. Of course, a purely contemplative devotion, such as is proper to the religious and monastic life, cannot be practiced in these outer vocations, but there are many other kinds of devotion well-suited to lead those whose calling is secular along the paths of perfection. The Old Testament provides examples in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, David, Job, Tobias, Sarah, Rebecca, and Judith. And in the New Testament we read of Saint Joseph, Lydia, and Crispus, who led perfectly devout lives in their trades. We have Saint Anne, Saint Martha, Saint Monica, Aquila, and Priscilla as examples of household devotion; Cornelius, Sebastian, and Maurice among soldiers; Constantine, Helena, Louis, the Blessed Amadaeus,6 and Edward on the throne. And we even find instances of some who fell away in solitude — usually so helpful to perfection — who had led a higher life in the world, which seems so antagonistic to perfection. Saint Gregory dwells on how Lot, who had kept himself pure in the city, fell in his mountain solitude. Be sure that wherever our lot is cast, we may and must aim at the perfect life.
Chapter 4
The Need of a Guide for Those Who Would Enter Upon and Advance in the Devout Life
When Tobias was bidden to go to Rages, he was willing to obey his father, but he objected that he did not know the way. To which Tobit answered, “Seek thee a man which may go with thee” (Tob 5:3). Even so, daughter, I say to you, if you would really tread the paths of the devout life, seek some holy man to guide and conduct you. This is the precept of precepts, says Saint Teresa of Avila — seek as you will, you can never so surely discover God’s will as through the channel of humble obedience so universally taught and practiced by all the saints of old. When the blessed Teresa read of the great penances performed by Catherine of Cordova, she desired exceedingly to imitate them, but her Confessor forbade her, and she was tempted to disobey him. Then God spoke to Teresa, saying, “My child, you are on a good and safe road — true, you see all this penance, but I esteem your obedience as a yet greater virtue.” From then on, Saint Teresa loved the virtue of obedience so much that, in addition to the obedience due to her superiors, she took a vow of special obedience to a pious ecclesiastic, pledging herself to follow his direction and guidance, which proved an inexpressible help to her.
In the same way, before and after Teresa, many pious souls have subjected their will to God’s ministers in order to submit themselves better to him, a practice much commended by Saint Catherine of Siena in her Dialogues. The devout Princess Saint Elizabeth gave an unlimited obedience to the venerable Conrad; and one of the parting counsels given by Saint Louis to his son before he died was, “Confess thyself often — choose a single-minded, worthy confessor, who is able wisely to teach thee how to do that which is needful for thee.”7 “A faithful friend,” we are told in Holy Scripture, “is a strong defense, and he that has found such a one has found a treasure” (cf. Sir 6:14); and again: “A faithful friend is the medicine of life; and they that fear the Lord shall find him” (cf. Sir 6:16). These sacred words refer chiefly, as you see, to the immortal life, as we especially need a faithful friend, who will guide us by his counsel and advice, to guard us against the deceits and snares of the Evil One. This friend will be a storehouse of wisdom to us in our sorrows, trials, and falls; he will be a healing balm to stay and soothe our heart in the time of spiritual sickness; he will shield us from evil and confirm what is good in us; and when we fall through infirmity, he will help turn aside the deadly nature of the evil, and raise us up again.
But who can find such a friend? The wise man answers: “He that fears the Lord” (cf. Sir 6:17) — that is to say, the truly humble soul who earnestly desires to advance in the spiritual life. So, daughter, because it concerns you so closely to set forth on this devout journey under good guidance, pray most earnestly to God to supply you with a guide after his own heart, and never doubt that he will grant you one who is wise and faithful, even should he send you an angel from heaven, as he sent to Tobias.
In truth, your spiritual guide should always be as a heaven-sent angel to you. By this I mean that, when you have found him, you are not to look upon him as an ordinary man, or trust in him or his wisdom as such; but you must look to God, who will help you and speak to you through this man, putting into his heart and mouth whatever is needful to you. So you ought to hearken as though he were an angel come down from heaven to lead you there. Deal with him in all sincerity and faithfulness, and with open heart, manifesting alike your good and your evil, without pretense or dissimulation. Thus, your good will be examined and confirmed, and your evil corrected and remedied. You will be soothed and strengthened in trouble, and moderated and regulated in prosperity. Give your guide a hearty confidence mingled with sacred reverence, so your reverence in no way hinders your confidence, and your confidence in no way lessens your reverence. Trust him with the respect of a daughter for her father; respect him with the confidence of a son in his mother. In a word, such a friendship should be strong and sweet, altogether holy, sacred, divine, and spiritual.
With such an aim, choose one among a thousand, Saint Teresa of Avila says. And I say among ten thousand, for there are fewer than one would think who are capable of this office. He must be full of love,