DEUXIÈME PÉRIODE : Trois semaines consacrées à se remplir de Jésus-Christ par la Sainte Vierge
Second period: Three weeks consecrated to absorbing Jesus Christ through the Blessed Virgin
Première semaine (Jours 13 à 19): Connaissance de soi
First week (days 13-19): Self-knowledge
Démarche : Prières, examens/réflexions, actes de renoncement à sa propre volonté, de repentir de ses fautes, de mépris de soi-même… le tout aux pieds de Marie. Car c’est d’elle que nous espérons la lumière dont nous avons besoins pour se connaître soi-même. Et c’est près d’elle que nous serons capable de mesurer l’abîme de nos misères sans désespérer (Et donc, non pas d’abord de me regarder, de me triturer, mais de me laisser regarder, de me mettre sous le regard aimant de Jésus et de Marie.).
Programme: Prayers, examinations, reflection, acts of renunciation of our own will, of contrition for our sins, of contempt of self... all performed at the feet of Mary, for it is from her that we hope for the light we need to know ourselves. It is close to her, that we shall be able to measure the abyss of our miseries without despairing. (And so, do not at the outset focus on yourself and rack yourself but allow Jesus and Mary to look upon you, place yourself under their loving gaze)
« Pendant la première semaine, dit saint L.-M. de Montfort, ils emploieront toutes leurs oraisons et actions de piété à demander la connaissance d’eux-mêmes, et la contrition de leurs péchés : et ils feront tout en esprit d’humilité ».
''During the first week,'' says saint L.-M. de Montfort, ''they will direct all their prayers and pious works towards seeking self-knowledge and sorrow for their sins; they will do all this in a spirit of humility.''
Durant cette semaine, nous regarderons moins l’opposition entre l’esprit de Jésus et le nôtre, que l’état misérable où le péché nous a réduit. D’autre part, la « Vraie dévotion » étant une voie facile, courte, sûre et parfaite pour arriver à l’union avec Notre-Seigneur, but de la vie chrétienne, nous devons savoir que nous n’entrerions pas sérieusement dans cette magnifique voie d’amour surnaturel, si nous n’étions fortement convaincus de notre misère et de notre impuissance. Or, comment y arriver sans la connaissance de nous-mêmes ?
During this period, we shall consider not so much the opposition that exists between the spirit of Jesus and our own, as the miserable to which our sins have reduced us. Moreover, the ''True Devotion'' being an easy, short, sure and perfect way to arrive at union with Our Lord, the aim of Christian life, we should realize that we won't be able to enter seriously upon this wondrous path of supernatural love unless we are firmly persuaded of our own wretchedness and helplessness. But how can we attain this without a knowledge of ourselves?
Readings
Saint Luke - Chapter 17; commentary from Cornelius A Lapide
[1] Et ait ad discipulos suos : Impossibile est ut non veniant scandala : vae autem illi per quem veniunt.
And he said to his disciples: It is impossible that scandals should not come: but woe to him through whom they come.
[2] Utilius est illi si lapis molaris imponatur circa collum ejus, et projiciatur in mare quam ut scandalizet unum de pusillis istis.
It were better for him, that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should scandalize one of these little ones.
[3] Attendite vobis : Si peccaverit in te frater tuus, increpa illum : et si poenitentiam egerit, dimitte illi.
Take heed to yourselves. If thy brother sin against thee, reprove him: and if he do penance, forgive him.
[4] Et si septies in die peccaverit in te, et septies in die conversus fuerit ad te, dicens : Poenitet me, dimitte illi.
And if he sin against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day be converted unto thee, saying, I repent; forgive him.
[5] Et dixerunt apostoli Domino : Adauge nobis fidem.
And the apostles said to the Lord: Increase our faith.
And the Apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith. The Apostles said this, when, from their little faith, they had been unable to cast out the devil from the lunatic. They then asked for greater faith, as appears from the above words compared with those of S. Matt. 17:19, &c., for Christ made the same reply in each place, “If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed you would move mountains.”
[6] Dixit autem Dominus : Si habueritis fidem sicut granum sinapis, dicetis huic arbori moro : Eradicare, et transplantare in mare, et obediet vobis.
And the Lord said: If you had faith like to a grain of mustard seed, you might say to this mulberry tree, Be thou rooted up, and be thou transplanted into the sea: and it would obey you.
If ye had faith. “This indeed,” says S. Chrysostom, “is small in quantity but great in power. He means that the least portion of faith can do great things.” And Bede, “Perfect faith is a grain of mustard seed: in appearance it is small, in the heart it is fervent.”
You would say unto this sycamine tree (a mulberry tree (moro) close at hand, to which Christ pointed). Be thou rooted up and be thou cast into the sea, and it would have obeyed you.—For mulberry tree, Matt. 17:20 has mountain. Christ therefore said both. It is called the mulberry tree allegorically, as if μώρος (foolish); that is by antithesis, because it is the wisest of trees; not putting forth its leaves till the frost is over, lest they should be cut off. The mulberry signifies the gospel of the cross of Christ, which to the Gentiles appears foolishness, but to the faithful is “the power of God and the wisdom of God,” 1 Cor. 1:24. Hence S. Augustine (Lib. 11, Quæst. Evan.: quæst. 39):
“Let
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| Mulberry flowers |
JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/)
[CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
So too Bede. “The mulberry tree,” he says, “by the blood colour of the fruit and shoots, is the gospel of the cross of Christ, which, through the faith of the Apostles, when it was held as it were in the stem of its kind, was rooted up from the Jews, and planted in the sea of the Gentiles.” The Gloss adds, “The leaves of the mulberry, offered to the serpent, bring death upon him, as the word of the cross destroys all hurtful and venomous things
Miloslav Bahna [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]
The devil also, from the white flower of his angelic nature and power, when cast out by his reddening wickedness, grew horrible from the foul odour of sin. Behold Christ saying to the mulberry tree, ‘Be thou rooted up and cast into the sea;’ when He cast the Legion out of the man, He permitted them to enter into the swine which, being driven by the spirit of the devils, cast themselves into the sea.”
Hear also S. Chrysostom in the Catena: “As the mulberry feeds worms (silk-worms) which spin silk from its leaves, so does the devil, from thoughts springing from those leaves, nourish in us an undying worm; but faith has power to root this tree out of our souls, and to plunge it into hell.”
Lastly, the Arabic for the mulberry has “sycamine,” or “sycamore,” of which, chap. 19:4. Christ, moreover, exalts the power of faith, that He might implant in the Apostles an additional desire of increasing its keenness, and of praying for its gift to them; for He who gave to men the mind and desire of praying, wished also to increase the faith of those who prayed. Hence He subsequently increased their faith, especially when He sent the Holy Spirit upon them at Pentecost. Hence too, by the strength of their excelling faith, they wrought so great wonders and miracles, converting the whole world; and, lest they should grow proud of such deeds, and become vainglorious, Christ, by the following Parable, teaches them to be humble-minded, and to say, “we are unprofitable servants.”
[7] Quis autem vestrum habens servum arantem aut pascentem, qui regresso de agro dicat illi : Statim transi, recumbe :
But which of you having a servant ploughing, or feeding cattle, will say to him, when he is come from the field: Immediately go, sit down to meat:
But who is there of you, having a servant ploughing or keeping sheep. Christ represses the vainglory of the Apostles, lest, when by their exalted faith they had performed wonderful and stupendous acts, they might glory in them and not ascribe to God, whose it is, the honour. “He,” says Euthymius, “who attains the result, plucks up the effect of boasting. The servant was not a slave as the heretics say, but one who was hired, and who, in addition to the service agreed upon or ordered by his master, might perform another for him to which he was not bound.” Here observe that the heretics abuse this passage to the opposing of good works, but wrongly. For this servant, as clearly appears, truly deserved the daily payment due to him by agreement, but did not deserve that his master should render him thanks; for masters are not accustomed to bestow thanks upon those whom they pay for their labour. Thanks are only given to assistance rendered gratuitously and without payment. We who are the servants of God, through the works ordered by Him, if we offer them, merit eternal life, as the hired servant who has laboured throughout the day deserves his daily payment. Mark 9:41; Matt. 10:41; Apoc. 11:18. For although our works, as far as they are ours, are of little or no value, yet so far as they flow from the grace of Christ, and are therefore the works of Christ, our head, they are of great worth and desert, and do merit, as such, eternal glory; for grace is the seed of glory: especially as God, of His immeasurable goodness, has been pleased to promise to them, as done by the grace of Christ, eternal glory.
[8] et non dicat ei : Para quod coenem, et praecinge te, et ministra mihi donec manducem, et bibam, et post haec tu manducabis, et bibes?
And will not rather say to him: Make ready my supper, and gird thyself, and serve me, whilst I eat and drink, and afterwards thou shalt eat and drink?
[9] Numquid gratiam habet servo illi, quia fecit quae ei imperaverat?
Doth he thank that servant, for doing the things which he commanded him?
And will not rather say unto him. That is, I suppose, because he does not owe thanks to his servants. “For it is incumbent upon such an one to do his master’s will,” says Theophylact. “So there is laid upon us,” as Bede says, “the necessity of doing all things that God has commanded, and by fresh diligence, of always increasing our former services.” The meaning is, as S. Ambrose says, “As we not only do not say to our servant, Take thy repose (recumbe), but require of him a further service, and give him no thanks, so neither does the Lord permit in us one only work, for all while living ought to work always. Acknowledge we ourselves therefore to be servants, lending very many acts of obedience on interest. Nor should we exalt ourselves, because we are called the sons of God. Grace is to be acknowledged, but nature is not to be passed over (ignoranda), nor should we boast ourselves, if we have served well in that which we ought to do. The sun obeys, the moon submits, the angels serve.”
[10] non puto. Sic et vos cum feceritis omnia quae praecepta sunt vobis, dicite : Servi inutiles sumus : quod debuimus facere, fecimus.
I think not. So you also, when you shall have done all these things that are commanded you, say: We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which we ought to do.
Even so ye also. “Woe unto us if we do it not,” says S. Bernard in his fourth sermon on Psalm 15. So the Apostle, 1 Cor. 9:16, “Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel,” because God has commanded me to do so.
The heretics object, “Christ here calls His faithful, useless servants, therefore by their merits they deserve nothing, nay, they do nothing good, because they contribute nothing useful.” I answer, Their first premiss is false, for Christ does not call His own servants unprofitable, nay, in Matt. 25:23, He says, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” &c. But He warns each one of the faithful to call himself unprofitable, to the avoidance of vainglory, and to the greater increase of humility and equally so of their merit, as say SS. Ambrose, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Bede, and others, passim; and that, in a sense not false and pretended but true and sincere. Because the faithful servant, in merely fulfilling the precepts of God, does nothing peculiar or remarkable, but only that which by the law of God he ought to do, and to which he was bound under the penalty of sin. He therefore both is, and is called, unprofitable, because he has fulfilled the commandments alone, but has omitted the counsels and works of supererogation, as Christ Himself explains: “All things that are commanded,” and “what we ought to do we have done.” He therefore gains only the ordinary reward of such observance of His commands; but to that exceptional glory, and crown, and aureole of the observance of the Evangelical counsels he does not attain; as says S. Paul, whose words I will shortly cite. Again, says S. Chrysostom, “When we say, with humility, we are unprofitable servants,” Christ says, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
S. Bernard again, in his treatise de Prœcept et Dispens., thus explains the matter, “We are unprofitable servants, we have done what we ought;” i.e. If you are content with the mere precept and traditions of the law, and do not give yourselves up to the counsels and persuasions of perfection, you are free indeed from debt, but you are not praiseworthy for merit; you have escaped punishment, you have not gained the crown.
It is this which S. Paul, when preaching the Gospel freely, and when he might have required food from the faithful, 1 Cor. 9:15, calls his glory.
Secondly, Even S. Paul himself, the other Apostles, and the Religious, in observing not only the precepts but also the counsels of Christ, can truly say, “We are unprofitable servants: we have done what we ought to do.” Firstly, because we owe to God our souls, our bodies, our lives, and all that we have, which, whatever good we do, we can never pay back. This debt is infinite and manifold, but it is especially fourfold.
First, there is the debt of creation, for as we were created out of nothing by God, the whole that we are we owe to God our Creator. Thus Plato in his Phædo, “Man is one of the possessions of God.” “Behold,” says S. Bernard on “Our Fourfold Debt,” “He is at the door who made the heavens and the earth. He is thy Creator, and thou art His creature: thou art the end of His work.”
The second is the debt of emption and redemption, for Christ redeemed us from death and hell at the price of His own blood. We are therefore slaves of purchase, nay, “the purchased servants of Christ,” 1 Cor. 6:20. S. Bernard, in the sermon already cited: “Firstly, we owe all our lives to Christ Jesus, for He laid down His life for us, and endured bitter torments, that we might not have to undergo eternal ones.” He sums up thus: “When I give to Him all that I am, all that I can do, is not this as a star to the sun, a drop to the river, a stone to the mountain, a grain to the heap? “So in his tract, De Deo dilig.: “If I owe my whole self for my first creation, what shall I add for my second, and that brought about as it was? For a second creation is not effected as easily as a first. He who made me once and only by a word, in creating me a second time spoke many words and did wonderful things and endured hard things, and not only hard but even undeserved things. In the first creation He gave me to myself, in the second He gave Himself to me, and when He gave Himself to me He restored me to myself. Given, then, and restored, I owe myself for myself, and I have a double debt. What reward shall I give to God for Himself, for if I were to weigh myself a thousand times, what am I to God?”
The third debt is, that renouncing Satan in our baptism we have given ourselves wholly over to the obedience of Christ; He in regenerating us in Himself has made us new men, and divine, who are the Temple of God and of the Holy Ghost.
The fourth is that He is our beginning and final end, and He to whom we ought to direct all our actions. For He has promised us the happiness of heaven, and everlasting glory, which is nothing else than the vision and fruition of God. See Jerome (Platus, Book I., On the Grace of a Religious State, chapters iii. iv.), where he recounts seven titles of our service, on account of which we are not of our own right, but are God’s and Christ’s.
To these add that we are unprofitable servants in respect of God; for, to God, who is immense, most rich, and most blessed, we can add no good thing. Hence S. Augustine on Psalm xxxix.: “He possesses thee that thou mayest possess Him. Thou wilt be His land, Thou wilt be His house. He possesses thee, He is possessed by thee, that He may profit thee. Canst thou profit Him in any way? For I said to the Lord, ‘Thou art my God, therefore shall I want no good thing.’ ”
Again, we are unprofitable, because we sin in many things, and many of our words are infected by negligence or vainglory or some other fault. In addition to this, our actions, if looked upon with strictness, as they proceed from men, are without value to the meriting of the grace and glory of God: according to the Apostle, Rom. 8:18. So S. Augustine, whose words I will shortly produce. Lastly, all our actions derive the dignity of worth and merit from the grace and promise of God, and are useful to ourselves, not to Him. Hence the Arabic reads, “We are indeed useless servants, for we have done that which was our interest to do.” So Euthymius, S. Cyril in the Catena, and others.
And thus did those monks of the Alps to whom S. Bernard wrote his 152d Epistle; “You account yourselves unprofitable, and you have been found to be humble. To act rightly, and yet to think themselves without value, is found in few, and therefore many admire it. This I say, this assuredly makes you, from illustrious, even more illustrious; from holy, more holy; and wherever this report is published it fills all things with the odour of sweetness;” for, as the same author says in his 42d Sermon on Canticles, “Humility, like the ointment of spikenard, scatters its sweet scent, growing warm in love, flourishing in devotion, smelling pleasantly to the senses of others.”
S. Augustine indeed, for useless servants (inutiles) reads super-vacui, men at leisure, who after their labour look for repose; that eternal reward and glory which far surpass and exceed all their toil. “Nothing remains for us to do: we have finished our trial, there awaits us a crown of righteousness. We may say all things of that ineffable perfruition, and the more all things can be said the less can anything be said worthily; for it is the light of the illuminator, the repose of the toiler, the country of the returned wanderer, the food of the needy, the crown of the conqueror, whatever the temporal goods of unbelievers the holiness of the sons of God will find others more true, and such as will remain in the Creator to all eternity.” Hence the conclusion of Theophylact, “If when we have done all things, we ought not even then to have any lofty thoughts; how deeply do we sin when we do not perform the greatest part of the commandments of God, and yet are praised not the less.”
De Imitatione Christi
Depuis longtemps je me nourrissais de «la pure farine» contenue dans l'Imitation, c'était le seul livre qui me fît du bien, car je n'avais pas encore trouvé les trésors cachés dans l'Evangile. Je savais par coeur presque tous les chapitres de ma chère Imitation, ce petit livre ne me quittait jamais ; en été, je le portais dans ma poche, en hiver, dans mon manchon, aussi était-il devenu traditionnel ; chez ma Tante on s'en amusait beaucoup et l'ouvrant au hasard, on me faisait réciter le chapitre qui se trouvait devant les yeux.
For a long time I nourished my spiritual life with the "fine flour" contained in the Imitation of Christ. It was the only book which did me good, for I had not yet discovered the treasures hidden in the Holy Gospels. I knew by heart nearly every chapter in my beloved 'Imitation'. The little volume never left my side. In summer, I kept it in my pocket; in winter, it was in my muff. My aunt used to love turning to a page at random and asking me to recite by heart the chapter she had chanced upon.From Chapter V of the Autobiography of a Soul, by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. See here on our sister blog and here for copies of her manuscripts.
Liber Tértius
De intérna consolatióne
Book 3 - On inward consolation
Cap. 47. Quod ómnia grávia pro ætérna vita sunt toleránda
Chapter XLVII - That all troubles are to be endured for the sake of eternal life
1. Fili, non te frangant labóres quos assumpsísti propter me, nec tribulatiónes te dejíciant usquequáque : sed mea promíssio in omni evéntu te róboret, et consolétur. Ego suffíciens sum ad reddéndum supra omnem modum et mensúram. Non diu hic laborábis, nec semper graváberis dolóribus. Exspécta paulísper, et vidébis célerem finem malórum. Véniet una hora, quando cessábit omnis labor et tumúltus. Módicum est et breve omne, quod transit cum témpore.
1. My Son, let not the labours which thou hast undertaken for Me break thee down, nor let tribulations cast thee down in any wise, but let my promise strengthen and comfort thee in every event. I am sufficient to reward thee above all measure and extent. Not long shalt thou labour here, nor always be weighed down with sorrows. Wait yet a little while, and thou shalt see a speedy end of thine evils. An hour shall come when all labour and confusion shall cease. Little and short is all that passeth away with time.
Latin vocab
frangō, frēgī, frāctus, 3, a.: to break; crush, grind; dishearten, discourage; baffle; weaken, impair, ruin, destroygravaberis: 2nd pers sing fut indic passive, from grăvo, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a. gravis.To charge with a load, to load, burden, weigh down, oppress
modum: modus , ī, m.: a method; mode, manner, way; a measure, of song, measure, strain, note; bound, limit, end
paulisper (paull-), adv. paulumper, for a little while, for a short time
roboret: 3rd pers sing pres subj active, from rōbŏro, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a. id., to make strong; to strengthen, invigorate, confirm
usque quāque adv (less correctly as one word, usquequaque), in every thing, on every occasion
Prayers for the first week
Litany of the Holy Ghost (pre-published as pre-published as a post on 16 November).
Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Litany of Loreto): (pre-published as a post on 16 November).
Ave Maris Stella
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
Ad Jesum per Mariam
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