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REV. FATHER VALUY, S.J.
REV. FATHER VALUY, S.J.
AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO PRINTERS TO THE HOLY APOSTOLIC SEE 1908 Nihil Obstat F. THOMAS BERGH, O.S.B., Censor Deputatus. Imprimatur GULIELMUS, A cross Episcopus Arindelensis, Vicarius Generalis. WESTMONASTERII, Die 7 Feb., 1908. TRANSLATOR'S NOTE T HE name of Father Valuy, S.J., is already favourably known to English readers by several translations of his works, which have a large circulation. The following little treatise is taken from one of his works on the Religio
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CHARITY THE PECULIAR VIRTUE OF CHRIST
CHARITY THE PECULIAR VIRTUE OF CHRIST
O UR Divine Saviour shows both by precept and example that His favourite virtue, His own and, in a certain sense, characteristic virtue, was charity. Whether He treated with His ignorant and rude Apostles, with the sick and poor, or with His enemies and sinners, He is always benign, condescending, merciful, affable, patient; in a word, His charity appeared in all its most amiable forms. Oh, how well these titles suit Him!—a King full of clemency, a Lamb full of mildness. How justly could He say,
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FIRST FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH
FIRST FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH
C HARITY towards our neighbour is charity towards God in our neighbour, because, faith assuring us that God is our Father, Jesus Christ our Head, the Holy Ghost our sanctifier, it follows that to love our neighbour—inasmuch as he is the well-beloved child of God, the member of Jesus Christ, and the sanctuary of the Holy Ghost—is to love in a special manner our heavenly Father, His only-begotten Son, together with the Holy Spirit. And because it is scarcely possible for religious to behold their
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SECOND FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH We are members of the same religious family
SECOND FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH We are members of the same religious family
T O love our brethren as ourselves in relation to God, it suffices without doubt to have with them the same faith, the same Sacraments, the same head, the same life, the same immortal hopes, etc. But, besides these, there exist other considerations which lead friendship and fraternity to a higher degree among the members of the same religious Order. All in the novitiate have been cast in the same mould, or, rather, have imbibed the milk of knowledge and piety from the breasts of the same mother.
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THE FAMILY SPIRIT
THE FAMILY SPIRIT
B ASED on the foregoing principles, fraternal charity begets the family spirit—that spirit which forgets itself in thinking only of the common good; which makes particular give way to general interests; which forces oneself to live with all without exception, to live as all without singularity, and to live for all without self-seeking; that spirit which, binding like a Divine cement all parts of the mysterious edifice of religion, uniting all hearts in one and all wills in one, permits the commu
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EGOTISM, OR SELF-SEEKING
EGOTISM, OR SELF-SEEKING
E GOTISM, taking for its motto "Every one for himself," is very much opposed to fraternal charity and the family spirit. It never hesitates, when occasion offers, to sacrifice the common good to its own. It isolates the individuals, makes them concentrated in self, places them in the community, but not of it, makes them strangers amongst their brethren, and tends to justify the words of an impious writer, who calls monasteries "reunions of persons who know not each other, who live without love,
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FIRST CHARACTERISTIC OF FRATERNAL CHARITY
FIRST CHARACTERISTIC OF FRATERNAL CHARITY
" C HARITY, the sister of humility," says St. Paul, "is not puffed up." She cannot live with pride, the disease of a soul full of itself. It willingly prefers others by considering their good qualities and one's own defects, and shows this exteriorly when occasion offers by many sincere proofs. It always looks on others from the most favourable point. Instead of closing the eyes on fifty virtues to find out one fault, without any other profit than to satisfy a natural perverseness and to excuse
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SECOND CHARACTERISTIC
SECOND CHARACTERISTIC
E XTERIOR honour being the effect and sign of interior esteem, charity honours all those whom it esteems superiors, equals, the young and the old. It carefully observes all propriety, and takes into consideration the different circumstances of age, employment, merit, character, birth, and education to make itself all to all. Convinced that God is not unworthy to have well-bred persons in His service, and that religious ought not to respect themselves less than people in the world, it conforms to
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THIRD CHARACTERISTIC
THIRD CHARACTERISTIC
W HY should we cling so obstinately to our own way of seeing and doing? Do not many ways and means serve the same ends provided they be employed wisely and perseveringly? Some have succeeded by their methods, and I by mine—a proof that success is reached through many ways, and that it is not by disputing it is obtained, nor by giving scandal to those we should edify, nor, perhaps, by compromising the good work in which we are employed. The four animals mentioned by Ezekiel joined their wings, we
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FOURTH CHARACTERISTIC
FOURTH CHARACTERISTIC
T HEY who are animated by charity support patiently and in silence, in sentiments of humility and sweetness, as if they had neither eyes nor ears, the difficult, odd, and most inconstant humours of others, although they may find it very difficult at times to do so. No matter how regular and perfect we may be, we have always need of compassion and indulgence for others. To be borne with, we must bear with others; to be loved, we must love; to be helped, we must help; to be joyful ourselves, we mu
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FIFTH CHARACTERISTIC
FIFTH CHARACTERISTIC
C HARITY is generous; it does everything it can. When even it can do little, it wishes to be able to do more. It never lets slip an opportunity of comforting, helping, and taking the most painful part, after the example of its Divine Model, Who came to serve, not to be served. One religious, seemingly in pain, seeks comfort; another desires some book, instrument, etc.; a third bends under a burden; while a fourth is afflicted. In all these cases charity comes to the aid by consoling the one, pro
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SIXTH CHARACTERISTIC
SIXTH CHARACTERISTIC
A S the soul in the human body establishes all its members as sharers equally in joys and griefs, so charity in the religious community places everything in common content, affliction, material goods driving out of existence the words mine and thine. It lavishes kind words and consolations on all who suffer in any way through ill-humour, sickness, want of success, etc.; it rejoices when they are successful, honoured, and trusted, or endowed with gifts of nature or grace, felicitates them on thei
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SEVENTH CHARACTERISTIC
SEVENTH CHARACTERISTIC
W E must pardon and do good for evil, as God has pardoned us and rendered good for evil in Jesus Christ. It is vain to trample the violet, as it never resists, and he who crushes it only becomes aware of the fact by the sweetness of its perfume. This is the image of charity. It always strives to throw its mantle over the evil doings of others, persuading itself that they were the effects of surprise, inadvertence, or at most very slight malice. If an explanation is necessary, it is the first to
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EIGHTH CHARACTERISTIC
EIGHTH CHARACTERISTIC
T ELL-TALES, nasty names, cold answers, lies, mockery, harsh words, etc., are all contrary to charity. St. John Chrysostom says: "When anyone loads you with injuries, close your mouth, because if you open it you will only cause a tempest. When in a room between two open doors through which a violent wind rushes and throws things in disorder, if you close one door the violence of the wind is checked and order is restored. So it is when you are attacked by anyone with a bad tongue. Your mouth and
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NINTH CHARACTERISTIC
NINTH CHARACTERISTIC
C HARITY lavishes care on the sick and infirm, on the old, on guests and new-comers. It requires that we visit those who are ill, to cheer and console them, to foresee their wants, and thereby to spare them the pain or humiliation of asking for anything. Bossuet says: "Esteem the sick, love them, respect and honour them, as being consecrated by the unction of the Cross and marked with the character of a suffering Jesus." Charity pays honour to the aged in every respect, coincides with their sent
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TENTH CHARACTERISTIC
TENTH CHARACTERISTIC
" W E do not remember often enough our dear dead, our departed brethren," says St. Francis de Sales, "and the proof of it is that we speak so little of them. We try to change the discourse as if it were hurtful. We let the dead bury their dead. Their memory perishes with us like the sound of the funeral knell, without thinking that a friendship which perishes with death is not true. It is a sign of piety to speak of their virtues as it urges us to imitate them." In communities distinguished for
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ELEVENTH CHARACTERISTIC
ELEVENTH CHARACTERISTIC
R ELIGIOUS who have the family spirit wish to know everything which concerns the well-being of the different houses. They willingly take their pens to contribute to the edification and satisfy the lawful curiosity of their brethren. They bless God when they hear good news, and grieve at bad news, losses by death, and, above all, scandalous losses of vocation. Those who would concentrate all their thoughts on their own work, as if all other work counted for nothing or merited no attention, who wo
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TWELFTH CHARACTERISTIC
TWELFTH CHARACTERISTIC
B E edified at the sight of your brethren's virtues, and edify them by your own. In other words, be alternately disciple and master. Profit by the labours of others, and make them profit by your own. Receive from all, in order to be able to give to all. Borrow humility from one, obedience from another, union with God, and the practice of mortification from others. By charity we store up in ourselves the gifts of grace enjoyed by every member of the community, in order to dispense them to all by
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EXTENT AND DELICACY OF GOD'S CHARITY FOR MEN
EXTENT AND DELICACY OF GOD'S CHARITY FOR MEN
I N order to excite ourselves to fraternal charity, let us try and picture that of God for us. After having had us present in His thoughts from all eternity, He has called us from nothingness to life. He Himself formed man's body, and, animating it with a breath, enclosed in it an immortal soul, created to His own image. Scarcely arrived on the threshold of life, we found an officer from His court an angel deputed to protect, accompany, and conduct us in triumph to our heavenly inheritance. What
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EXTENT AND DELICACY OF THE CHARITY OF JESUS CHRIST DURING HIS MORTAL LIFE
EXTENT AND DELICACY OF THE CHARITY OF JESUS CHRIST DURING HIS MORTAL LIFE
L ET us now admire the charity of our Divine Saviour while on earth. If wine was wanting at a feast; if fishermen laboured in vain during the night; if a vast crowd knew not where to procure food in the desert; if unfortunate persons were possessed by devils or deprived of the use of their limbs; if death deprived a father of his daughter, or a widow of an only son, Jesus was there to supply what was wanting, to give back what was lost, or to sweeten all their griefs. Sometimes He forestalled th
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FIRST PRESERVATIVE
FIRST PRESERVATIVE
T O meditate on what the Holy Scripture says of it: "Place, O Lord, a guard before my mouth" (Ps. cxl.)—a vigilant sentinel, well armed, to watch, and, if necessary, to arrest in the passing out any unbecoming word—"and a door before my lips," which, being tightly closed, will never let an un charitable dart escape. "Shut in your ears with a hedge of thorns," to counteract the tongue, which would pour into them the poison of uncharitableness, "and refuse to listen to the wicked tongue." "Put bef
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SECOND PRESERVATIVE
SECOND PRESERVATIVE
S T. BONAVENTURE relates that St. Francis of Assisi said to his religious one day: "Uncharitable conversation is worse than the assassin, because it kills souls and becomes intoxicated with their blood. It is worse than the mad dog, because it tears out and drags on all sides the living entrails of the neighbour. It is worse than the unclean animal, because it wallows in the filth of vices and makes its favourite pasture there. It is worse than Cham, because it exposes everywhere the nasty spots
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THIRD PRESERVATIVE
THIRD PRESERVATIVE
T HIS must be done especially in five circumstances: (1) At the change of Superiors. Do not criticize the outgoing Superior nor flatter the new one. (2) When you replace another religious. Never by word or act cast any blame on him. Inexperience, or a desire to introduce new customs, sometimes causes this to be done. (3) When you are getting old. Because then we are apt to think— erroneously, of course—that the young members growing up are incapable of fulfilling duties once accomplished by ours
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FOURTH PRESERVATIVE
FOURTH PRESERVATIVE
T HERE are six sorts of religious who wound fraternal charity more or less fatally, (1) Those who say to you, "Such a one said so-and-so about you." These are the sowers of discord, whom God Almighty declares He has in abomination. Their tongues have three fangs more terrible than a viper. "With one blow," says St. Bernard, "they kill three persons—themselves, the listeners, and the absent." (2) Those who, obscuring and perverting this amiable virtue, possess the infernal secret of transforming
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FIFTH PRESERVATIVE
FIFTH PRESERVATIVE
G REAT care must be taken never to repeat anything at visits or in letters which might compromise the honour of the community or any of its members. Never utter a word or write a syllable which might in the least degree diminish the esteem or lower the merit of anyone. Every well-reared person knows that little family secrets must be kept under lock and key. St. Jane Frances de Chantal writes: "To mention rashly outside the community without great necessity the faults of religious would be great
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SIXTH PRESERVATIVE
SIXTH PRESERVATIVE
I N communications made to Superiors say the exact truth, and for a good purpose. Do not speak into other ears that which, strictly speaking, should only be told to the local Superior or Superior-General. With the exception of extraordinary cases, or when it refers to a bad habit or something otherwise irremediable, there is generally little charity and less prudence in telling the Superior-General of something blameable which has occurred. Do not reveal, even before a Superior, confidences whic
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SEVENTH PRESERVATIVE
SEVENTH PRESERVATIVE
A CT with the greatest reserve in doubtful cases where grave suspicions, difficult to be cleared up, rest on a religious superior or inferior, as the case may be. The ears of the Superior are sacred, and it is unworthy profanation to pour into them false or exaggerated reports. To infect the Superior's ears is a greater crime than to poison the drinking fountain or to steal a treasure, because the only treasure of religious is the esteem of their Superior, and the pure water which refreshes thei
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EIGHTH PRESERVATIVE
EIGHTH PRESERVATIVE
W HEN you see charity wounded by an equal call him to order. If to say or do anything scandalous is the first sin forbidden by charity, not to stop, when you can, him who speaks or acts badly ought to be considered the second. When the discourse degenerates, represent Jesus Christ entering suddenly into the midst of the company, and saying, as He did formerly to the disciples of Emmaus: "What discourse hold you among yourselves, and why are you sad?" Recall also these words of the Psalmist: "You
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NINTH PRESERVATIVE
NINTH PRESERVATIVE
W HEN we see charity wounded by persons worthy of respect, keep silent, in order to show your regret, or relate something to the advantage of the absent. If necessary, withdraw. It is related in the life of Sister Margaret, of the Blessed Sacrament of the Carmelite Order, that when a discourse against charity took place in the house she saw a smoke arise of such suffocating odour that she nearly fainted, and fled immediately to her Divine Master for pardon. St. Jerome, writing to Nepotian on thi
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TENTH PRESERVATIVE
TENTH PRESERVATIVE
A FTER having heard uncharitable words, observe the following precautions given by the Saints: 1. Repeat nothing. 2. Believe all the good you hear, but believe only the bad you see. Malice does the contrary. It demands proofs for good reports, but believes bad reports on the slightest grounds. Out of every thousand reports one can scarcely be found accurate in all its details. When, as a rule of prudence, Superiors are told to believe only half of what they hear, to consider the other half, and
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ELEVENTH PRESERVATIVE
ELEVENTH PRESERVATIVE
E XPEL every doubt, every thought, likely to diminish esteem. They amuse themselves with a most dangerous game who always gather up vague thoughts of the past, rumours without foundation, conjectures in which passion has the greatest share, and thus form in their minds characters of their brethren—adding always, never subtracting—and by dint of the high idea they have of their own ability conclude that all their judgments are true, and thus become fixed in their bad habit. St. Bernard, comparing
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MEANS TO SUPPORT THE EVIL THOUGHTS AND TONGUES OF OTHERS
MEANS TO SUPPORT THE EVIL THOUGHTS AND TONGUES OF OTHERS
W HAT must be done in those painful moments when, being the victim of a painful calumny, the object of suspicion, the butt of domestic persecution, we are tempted to believe that charity is banished from the community, and so to banish it from our own heart? Recall the words of St. John of the Cross. "Imagine," says he, "that your brethren are so many sculptors armed with mallets and chisels, and that you have been placed before them as a block of marble destined in the mind of God to become a s
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SECOND MEANS TO BEAR WITH OTHERS
SECOND MEANS TO BEAR WITH OTHERS
R ECALL the words of our Lord to Blessed Margaret Mary: "With the intention of perfecting thee by patience I will increase thy sensibility and repugnance, so that thou wilt find occasions of humiliation and suffering even in the smallest and most indifferent things." What would be considered, when we were in the world, as the prick of a needle, we look upon in religion as the blow of a sword. What we looked upon in our own house as light as a feather, becomes in community life as heavy as a rock
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CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
P OVERTY, chastity, obedience, and charity—such are the virtues suitable and characteristic of the religious. In this little treatise we have endeavoured to trace the features of the last. In every community we can distinguish two sorts of religious— those who mount and those who descend—those whose face is towards the path of perfection, and those who have turned their back to it. Perhaps amongst these latter some have only one more step to abandon it altogether. Now we mount or descend, procee
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THE PRACTICE OF FRATERNAL CHARITY (FATHER FABER)
THE PRACTICE OF FRATERNAL CHARITY (FATHER FABER)
1. O FTEN reflect on some good point in each of your brethren. 2. Reflect on the opposite faults in yourself. 3. Do this most in the case of those whom we are most inclined to criticize. 4. Never claim rights or even let ourselves feel that we have them, as this spirit is most fatal both to obedience and charity. 5. Charitable thoughts are the only security of charitable deeds and words. They save us from surprises, especially from surprises of temper. 6. Never have an aversion for another, much
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