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I

CLING TO HIS HANOI

Let Him have His way! Is He not the Father of

Orphans, the Consoler of Widows, the Advocate and

Comforter of all in distress? Can you not hear

Him whisper: "Come unto me, all ye who labor and

are burdened, and I will refresh ye"?



Have Confidence!’’

By

(Rev.) Bruno Hagspiel, S.V. D.

A HANDBOOK OF HOPE

“Have Confidence, for I

have conquered the world/'

John 16:33

“Confido!” “I have confidence/'

(St. Vincent de Paul's last word before dying)

DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
TECHNY, ILL.



i

IMPRIMI POTEST

Techny, 111., die 1 m. Augusti, 1941

Carolus Michel, S.V. D.

Superior Prov.

NIHIL OBSTAT

Chicagiae, die 2 m. August!, 1941

Eduardus M. Burke, J.C.D.

Vic. gen. Cancellarii

IMPRIMATUR

Chicagiae, die 2 m. August!, 1941

Samuel A. Stritch, D.D.

Archiepps. Chic.

igth Printing, November 1949 190,000

OSSCMf^SCf COPYRIGHT, 1941

REV. BRUNO HAGSPIEL, TECHNY, ILL., US. A.



‘‘HAVE CONFIDENCE!”

'Xet not your heart be troubled. You be-

lieve in God, believe also in me" (John 14:1).

With these words Jesus began His last dis-

course after the Last Supper. For years He

had been teaching them how to be His fol-

lowers, how to carry the word of God to

their fellow-men after He would be gone.

And the most important lesson of all would

be this, that they remember always to have

confidence in Him and His teaching after He

had left them.

Hence in this last discourse He struck a

note of encouragement and quiet assurance

which would always linger in their hearts.

It was not necessary for Him this time to

be dramatic and work a miracle such as

quelling the waves and saving their lives in

the storm-tossed boat. On that occasion He

had rebuked them and taught them the same

lesson of reliance on Him: "Why are you

afraid, O ye of little faith?" (Matt. 8:26)
Now He wished to drive home the same

thought, but with the calm and serene words

of a Father and a Teacher.

"I will not leave you orphans, I will come

to you." — "Peace I leave with you, my peace
I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do

I give unto you. Let not your heart be

troubled, nor let it be afraid." — "If the world
hate you, know ye, that it hath hated me be-

fore you." He gives them one promise after

the other—of comfort and peace and His eter-
nal bliss. And then the tender tone of the last

discourse becomes surcharged with the op-

pressive gloom of days to come, when they

5



shall be persecuted and cast out like pariahs:

. . they will put you out of the synagogues:

yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth

you, will think that he doth a service to God/'

Then, watching their downcast faces. He lifts

up their spirits again: "Because I have spoken

these things to you, sorrow hath filled your

heart." But, He continues, a little later, "you

shall lament and weep, but the world shall

rejoice: and you shall be made sorrowful, but

your sorrow shall be turned into joy ... you

now indeed have sorrow; but I will see you

again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your

joy no man shall take from you."

And then in moving accents He ended His

last talk with His disciples: "These things I

have spoken to you, that in me you may have

peace. In the world you shall have distress:

but have confidence, I have overcome the

world."

Today, in the midst of the turmoil and be-

wilderment of modern mechanized civilization,

how sweet to escape from it all and find a

secret source of encouragement and uplift in

these words of the Saviour! The clamor re-

cedes, the dust and discord of the strife abate,

the fury and the pointless fervor of the day's

goals dwindle away . . . and we listen to the

serene assurance of Jesus: "In me you may

have peace. In the world you shall have

distress: but have confidence, I have over-

come the world."

May the Prince of Peace grant you His

peace!

6



Do not hoist the devirs flag: DISCOURAGE-

MENT. Instead, throw this banner to the

breeze: BEGIN AGAIN. This is the only motto

you need to enable you to become a saint.

It will help you past every fault and over

every fall. It should not make you feel bad to

have a series of such discouragements occur

to you as long as you do not yield: does not

St. Vincent de Paul himself state: "One of

the most certain marks that God has great

designs upon a soul is His sending of deso-

lation upon desolation, suffering upon suf-

fering"?

A MESSAGE OF TODAY

The Sufferer of Konnersreuth, Teresa Neu-

mann, has a special message for the people

of today, according to Bishop Sigismund

Waitz, who interviewed the mystic stigmatist.

Says he: "What stands out strikingly is her

message that we must cherish a great con-

fidence towards our Divine Redeemer

Lack of confidence offends Him. Teresa has

received the commission: "Encourage people

to cherish confidence."

It is an echo of the saying of that other

Teresa, the saint, "The infinite mercy of God

pursues men with the very last breath of life."

God gives us all the chance to use our toil

and smarts and discouragements so that they

will help us heavenward.

Our salvation lies all about us, in our daily

trials, our daily routine.

It reminds us of the story of the sailors

drifted from their course who were dying of

7



thirst. They finally sighted another vessel.

They were still many miles from shore and

it appeared their broken rudder would not

bring them close enough to launch a small

boat. ''Water/' they implored the other boat,

"send us water!"

The men on the other boat made signs to

them to drop their buckets in the ocean and

take all they needed, which seemed a cruel

jest. Had they not tried that water some time

ago and found it salty sea-water, sure to kill?

The men in the other boat finally convinced

them, and they dropped their buckets and

brought them up filled with sweet water.

Their boat was in the very mouth of the

mighty Amazon where it emptied into the

ocean.

All about them had been living water

THE TOY OF JESUS

One of the most exquisite passages in the

autobiography of any saint is that in which

the Little Flower tells us of her willingness

to be really all Jesus' own: "I had offered

myself to the Infant Jesus to be His toy, and

I had told Him to use me as a little ball of

no value, which He could throw on the

ground, kick with His feet, let lie in a corner,

or press to His heart, just as He pleased. In

a word, I wanted to entertain the Infant Jesus,

and abandon myself to His childish caprices."

What a marvelous lesson there is here for

us! Don't you think that the Infant Jesus loved

His Toy; and treasured it more than many a

more costly plaything?

8



NOT WITHOUT SOME SORROW

The "Imitation of Christ" (Book III, Chap. 5)

has a passage which ought to be firmly en-

shrined in our memories: "Love is devout

and thankful to God, always trusting and hop-

ing in Him, even when it tasteth not the relish

of God's sweetness, for there is no living in

love without some sorrow. Whosoever is not

ready to suffer all things and to stand re-

signed to the will of His beloved is not

worthy to be called a lover."

In the words of Paul to Timothy (2 Tim.

2:11): "... if we be dead with him we shall

live also with him."

Christianity has been called a religion of

pessimism, since we stress so much the prac-

tice of self-denial and mortification and the

thought of the four last things and seem to

have our eyes always directed towards the

grave.

What so few people outside the faith realize

is that we do not stop with death and the

grave — "O death, where is thy sting, O
grave, where is thy victory?" — but we con-
tinue beyond those mortal terminals. We in-
sist on a final victory for the immortal spirit

of man, beyond life. And through our in-

sistence on this we have bred through the

centuries a race of people with phenomenal

courage based on this belief, so that far from

being pessimists, we are proved to be op-

timists of the first water. For, have we not

conquered FEAR, the brother of pessimism?

How we all need trust today! With the
world engaged in the vastest war ever seen

9



by mankind, men seek anxiously for some-

one on whom to lean, someone whom they
can trust. They have learned by sad experi-

ence that the propaganda mills of their own

leaders turn out lies and deceits; and sooner

or later they realize, wistfully, that they are

indeed like children without a father ... for

have they not turned their backs on their heav-

enly Father? Father Kane, S.J., gives us re-

assuring words: "Trust, and you will learn.

Learn, and you will love. Trust! With the

conflict will come the courage, with the dif-

ficulty will come the help, with the trial will

come the strength." And going far back in

Christian antiquity let us bolster our spirits

with these warm phrases of St. Cyprian: "As

the depth of the chalice of trust varies, so

will the amount of the heavenly water which

God pours into it. The greater our hope, the

greater our hope's realization." And St.

Augustine himself gives us the slogan: "Trust

the past to the mercy of God, the present to

His love, the future to His providence."

The Little Flower of Lisieux gives us many

a cheery word to guide us:

"To suffer and to love is purest of all joys."

And again, "My God, what joy can be

greater than to suffer for Thy love!"

And, finally, "Suffering itself becomes the

greatest of all joys when we seek it as a

precious treasure."

Perhaps you say to yourself: "What have I

done to merit such scourges, such treatment

at the hands of others, such contempt and ill-

judgment?"

10



Pause a moment and read what St. Augus-

tine said about this very state of mind.

'If He who came into this world without

sin did not depart hence without scourges,

how shall they who have lived here in sin

not be deserving of scourges?"

Whenever success in religious life seems

harder than ever to attain, think of the inscrip-

tion set in verse and recorded by the Greek

poet Theodoridas:

"A shipwrecked sailor buried on this coast

bids you set sail.

Full many a gallant ship, when this was lost,

weathered the gale."

You must try and keep on trying even if

your efforts seem not to bring you any nearer

to the height of perfection you desire.

St. Francis Assisi took from nature many of

his lessons to his disciples. Let us imitate

him — therefore, let me urge you to be like
a duck: it dives in the water, comes up and

shakes every drop off in a vigorous reac-

tion Do just that with your difficulties and

worries and you will find that by their very

nature they will fly off your back also.

AN EXCELLENT REASON
FOR YOU

St. Ignatius gives every Religious a very

good reason for keeping up his or her spirits:

"A Religious has no reason to be sad but

much reason to be always happy."

U



Why? Is he not nearer by environment I

than most people? Is he not deliberately plac-

ing himself in the path of the Savior, so as

to meet Him oftener than people out in the

world? Is he not aware of the various favors

which the Lord showers down on His sons in

convents and daughters in Religion to a de-

gree which the outside v/orld does not know?

The Religious is indeed God's own pet . .

.

if he or she only knew it.

Above all: avoid the three D's, is the ad-

vice of a famous spiritual counselor.

These are : The Devil, the Doctor, the

Dumps. And the Dumps, adds the counselor,

are little better than the Devil himself, for a

gloomy soul is the DeviTs plaything.

God is a master sculptor, and sometimes

He uses people as the chisels to round out

our stature, and to erase defects in the con-

structing of the masterwork on which he is

toiling. Perhaps it is a fellow nun whose un-

conscious criticism of us is forever shepherd-

ing us on the way to cure a certain deep-

rooted fault we have; perhaps it is a stray

comment from a friend which hurts deeply

but reaches the spot which else would never

be indicated to our self-pride. If only we

would follow the advice of the "Imitation of

Christ"(III, 17:1): "My child, let me do with

you what I will; I know what is good for

you." Then indeed we would find that we

would develop into real masterpieces from the

Master's hand.

12



Do you expect great things from God --

or little things? We marvel at the saints, pen
haps we even envy them the great favors

which God gave to them. You, too, can ob-

tain favors in just the proportion you expect

them. The greater your importunity, the

greater the gifts you will be granted. "As

we hope in God, so shall we receive." These

are the words of St. Teresa of the Child Jesus,

and surely she knew whereof she spoke.

It is not possible to have too much con-

fidence in God.

Have you lost heart today? Go to the sick

to glean strength for the strife. The beds of

suffering in many a hospital are more valuable

and productive of lasting good than the en-

dowed chairs of all the universities. The ac-

ceptance of suffering gives to many an in-

valid a poise and peace which amazes all

who contact such a sufferer. The mighty les-

son of Christ: "tacere et orare" — to be silent
and pray — is here repeated in miniature
for our benefit. With the Blessed Mother,

such sufferers seem to say: "Be it done unto

me according to Thy word." With St. Teresa,

the heroic, they say: "Lord, not to die, but

to suffer" ... for they have learned from their

sickbed goes forth a greater victory than

from any battlefield. Take these words of

Father Raoul Plus for your own:

"Whatever may be the height to which the

waters of tribulation rise, let us always elevate

our souls higher, like those aquatic plants

which never let themselves become sub-

merged by the tide, but lift their stems to

display their invincible and smiling flowers

above the surface of the current."

13



St. Augustine assures us that only the
|

violent carry away the kingdom of God, and

he tells us how in his own case the battle

lasted for a whole fifteen years.

Now, just think what Christ Himself said:

"Behold, I am with you to the consummation

of the world." Isn't the struggle worth while,

with such a promise to buoy us up?

THE JUST SHALL REJOICE IN
THE LORD

(Ps. 63:11)

If there is any certain mark of the abiding

presence of the Holy Ghost in the soul, if

there is any visible pledge of future happi-

ness destined for man, assuredly it is lightness

of heart and joy of spirit. On some souls the

black clouds of despondency and gloom

never settle, sorrow may touch them with her

sable wings, grief may blanch the hair, and

early care rob the step of its youthful spring;

but the joy which is not of this earth ever

shines upon the brow of such a soul, and the

heavenly peace and calm within shine

brighter through the flood of tears which are

wrung from a sore-stricken heart.

FATHER WILLIAM DOYLE, SJ.

Famous Father Vincent McNabb, in a fore-

word to his excellent book on pain entitled

"The Craft of Suffering" (Burns, Oates and

Washbourne), quotes a poem given him by

a stricken woman, whose words, as he mar-

vels, "flame and sing" because it was from a

cancer-burning throat she sang:

14



"Come down from the Cross, my soul, and
save thyself! . .

.

Beware!

Art thou not crucified with God, who is thy

breath?

Wilt thou not hang as He, while mockers

laugh and stare?

Wilt thou not die His death?

Wilt thou not stay as He with nails and thorns

and thirst?

Wilt thou not choose to conquer faith in His

lone style?

Wilt thou not be with Him, and hold thee

still?

Voices have cried to Him 'Come down!' Ac-

cursed and vain those voices, striving

to beguile!

How heedless, solemn-gray in powerful mass

Christ droops among the echoes as they pass!

O soul, remain with Him, with Him thy doom
fulfill."

ONE THING

you can achieve without effort : failure.

Nothing else.

B. C. FORBES

The mind of the Church is like that of a

solicitous Mother, ever mindful of her chil-

dren's welfare. How better explain this than
by noting that right in the midst of the solemn

hush of Advent she sets aside one Sunday

on which to rejoice, Gaudete Sunday, And

again in Lent, she foregoes all the penitential

atmosphere of the season in order to celebrate

Laetare Sunday, And on such Sundays even

15



the very vestments carry out the symbolism

of joy: they are rose-colored. The very liturgy

carries a daily exhortation: Sursum Corda. . .

.

"Lift up your hearts/' that is, don't relax now

— keep up your efforts and meantime rejoice,
for soon will come the Birthday of Christ, soon

will come the Resurrection, and your expecta-

tions of great joy shall be fulfilled.

STONES IN THE ROAD

A wise man makes the stones in his road
stepping-stones, a coward or weakling lets

himself trip on them.

Pasteur was 46 when he had a paralytic

stroke. His usefulness seemed at an end.

Instead, for 27 years after this misfortune

Pasteur progressed steadily forward in per-

fecting means to reduce suffering throughout

the world.

During this period he perfected the theories

which led to the control of tuberculosis.

Robert Schumann's middle finger became

paralyzed, and his future as a pianist seemed

at an end.

Who among you, however, has not thrilled

to the beautiful melodies which he produced

despite this tragedy?

Milton, with good eyesight, wrote prose in

Latin and in English which is not remembered

very well. Blind, he produced the finest epic

in the English language: "Paradise Lost."

Sir Walter Scott was lame from infancy.

Beethoven was deaf. Prescott was almost-

blind. Stevenson was ill all his life. Dr. John-

son suffered from scrofula. Schubert was af-

flicted with severe chronic headaches. —

16



Make up your own list of such heroes of ad-

versity.

Sorrow is one of the best educators. A
man can see farther and sharper through a

tear than through a telescope. It all depends

on how you apply what you learn.

THE DEAD STILL TEACH US

Walking in an old country graveyard,

"God's Acre" in the fine old Saxon phrase, I

came upon a pair of lines carved into an old

tombstone, which kept me thinking on them

for many a minute.

"The great tests of life reveal character;

it is not until winter comes that we know

the pine is evergreen."

In Carl Sandburg's monumental life of the

Prairie President, Abraham Lincoln, he devotes

a complete chapter to the difficulties that be-

set Lincoln in the black year of 1862.

Page after page simply narrates one obstacle

and problem after another. One slough of

despond is barely avoided when another turns

up. Sometimes a page is devoted to explain-

ing the situation; sometimes Sandburg merely

relates what dilemma or trial confronted the

harassed President.

And there are 85 pages of such closely

printed items. . . . But Lincoln survived them

17



A MAN ON AN ISLAND

Who was a famous man who lived on the
most famous island in fiction?

No, Tm not Professor Quiz.

And I do not mean Napoleon on St. Helena.

I want you to think of Robinson Crusoe.

And now and then to act like him. When-

ever he had an important decision to make,

he would write down two columns of reflec-

tions and reasons why he should and why

he should not do that certain thing. One

column was FOR and the other column was

AGAINST the course to be chosen. After a

while he would look over his thoughts, thus

lined up like soldiers for his inspection, and

the right decision would pop to the front.

Instead of worrying and fretting and "stew-

ing in your own juice" over decisions to be

made, why not try out this homely, rule-of-

thumb method and save yourself time, trouble

and temper?

"Suppose that this here vessel," said the

Skipper with a groan, "should lose 'er bear-

ings, run away and jump*upon a stone? Sup-

pose she'd shiver and go down, when save

ourselves we couldn't?"

The mate replies, "Oh, blow me eyes! Sup-

pose again she shouldn't?"

WALLACE IRWIN

If you would have friends, be one.

ELBERT HUBBARD

Bolivar, the Liberator of South America —
called the Georgo W^^hington of South Amer-

18



ica — founded one country and freed three
others.

He struggled all his life against the worst

possible combinations of enemies at home and

abroad, yet finally defeated mighty Spain, and

set the southern part of the American hemi-

sphere forever free.

To cringing followers who were willing to

give up after his first crushing defeat, he said

sternly, 'The art of victory is to be learned

from defeat." Yet he was human and, when

the world seemed to be allied against him,

knew what it feels like to be on the losing

end. After many successes, his army suffered

a terrible rout at La Puerta, and for Simon

Bolivar and his fortunes it was low-tide

But preserving an undaunted heart he rallied

fresh forces, attacked the enemy in new bat-

tles, and saw the day dawn when no Spanish

flag waved in any place in South America.

Nevertheless, at the end of his brief life,

he was still harassed by gloom and despair

at the slow results emerging from his suc-

cesses. And while hailed as the Liberator

of South America and showered with honors,

he said, darkly, "We have plowed the sea."

Yet despite all, he carried on.

LENGTHEN YOUR STRIDE!

The successful man lengthens his stride

when he discovers the signpost has deceived

him; the failure looks for a place to sit down.

Edison didn't sit down and give up when

his first efforts to find an effective filament

for the carbon incandescent lamp met with

failure. He lengthened his stride! He car-

19



bonized every conceivable thing — fish line,
cardboard, tissue paper, thread. He sent men i

to China, Japan, South America, As’a, Jamaica.

Ceylon and Burma in search of fibers and

grasses to be tested in his laboratory.

Burbank, the plant wizard, is another man

who didn't say quit when obstacles blocked

his way. At one time he personally con-

ducted 6,000 experiments before he found the

solution.

George Westlnghouse was treated as a mild

lunatic by most railroad executives: "Stopping

a train by wind! The man's crazy!" Yet he

persevered and finally sold the air-brake idea!

James Watt built model after model of his

steam engine before he got one that worked

efficiently. Call the roll of all the builders

and you will find that they were men who

lengthened their strides.

Every man gets the wrong road at times.

He comes upon hills, rough going and dan-

gerous detours. What he does when he meets

these obstacles determines his destiny. The

world never hears from those who look for

a place to sit down. Lengthen your stride!

Let your optimism be genuine and healthy.

God said to that great English mystic of the

14th century, Julian of Norwich: "See! I am

God. See! I am in all things. See! I do all

things. See! I never lift my hands off My
works, nor ever shall without end. See! I

lead all things to the end I ordained them

for from without beginning by the same might,

wisdom, and love whereby J made them.

How could anything be amiss?"

20



Do you worry about the future? Does the

road ahead seem dubious?

When Mary and Joseph finally discovered

Jesus in the Temple, instructing the doctors,

they wondered quite a bit. Just what did

their son mean when he said, '"Did you not

know that I must be about my Father's busi-

ness?" The Bible specifically tells us they

did not understand him. They returned in

a group to Nazareth, and Mary "kept all these

words in her heart."

Don't you think she was human and wanted

to know just what the years ahead held for

her and her son? But she had also that

divine wisdom which told her that God had

plans which were not revealed to her. The

day would come, in God's own time, when

he would reveal those plans, but there must

be confident acceptance meantime of what-

ever God willed.

Have you learned Mary's lesson?

AND LAUGH!

Go build of your worries a strong-box.

Have every part strengthened with care;

When as strong as your efforts can make it.

Corral all your troubles right there.

Store in it all thoughts of failure

And each bitter cup that you quaff.

Lock all your heartaches within it.

Then —
sit on the lid —

and — LAUGH !

May the God of peace ... fit you in all good-

ness that you may do His will; doing in you

21



that which is pleasing in His sight, through

Jesus Christ, to whom is glory forever and

ever. Amen. (Heb. 13:20-21)

May He support us all the day long till

the shades lengthen, and the evening comes,

and the busy world is hushed, and the fever

of life is over, and our work is done! Then

in His mercy may He give us a safe lodging,

and a holy rest, and peace at the last!

CARDINAL NEWMAN

P

THE CREDO OF SORROW

I believe, O my God, that by suffering with
resignation, the Passion of Christ is accom-

plished within me.

I believe that every creature in this world

is sorrowing and subject to pain, while await-

ing the day of the Son of God's manifestation.

I believe that we have here no lasting

abode, and we seek another in the world to

come.

I believe that all things tend toward the

good of those who love God.

I believe that those who sow in tears, shall

reap in gladness.

I believe that blessed are they who die in

the Lord.

I believe that our tribulations will work for

us an eternal weight of glory, if we contem-

plate not what is visible, but what is invisible;

for the things that we see are but passing,

while those that we see not are eternal.

I believe that this corruptible body shall

clothe itself with incorruptibility, that our

22



mortal body shall put on immortality, and that

death shall be swallowed up in victory.

I believe that God will wipe away all tears

from the eyes of the just — that death for
them will be no more, neither mourning nor

weeping, and that their sorrow will cease at

last, for all the former things will have passed

away.

I believe that we shall then see God face

to face.

Let us try to recite this "Credo" frequently,

and we will find that joy can be found in the

midst of sorrow if we firmly believe that all

that God does is for our sanctification. God

is always good, even when He asks sacrifices

of us.

A religious ought never to indulge in selfish
moping. Have you stumbled? Rise again

and start anew. Have you lost the chance

to help out one particular soul? Don't let haps

and mishaps of this kind prostrate you. There

are other millions awaiting your prayers or

ministrations. Do your share for them . . . leave

the success or failure of it to God. Worry

is the devil's boiling pot, and you should

not add fuel to it.

Have a little more confidence that the trials

through which you are passing will ultimately

pass.

After all, your grievances are not so bad.

Did you ever consider that Christ voluntar-

ily went through EVERY kind of suffering
imaginable? Your trouble may be physical

or spiritual or mental or financial . . . Christ

23



had every sudh type and condition of grief

and affliction, in a superlative degree.

He suffered at the hands of people: from

Jews and Gentiles, from the rich and the poor,

from rulers and servants, even from His

friends and acquaintances.

He was mocked, repudiated, rejected. He

was lonely. He was misunderstood. He was

an outcast. Considered from the religious

angle, we know He was regarded as an

iconoclast; from the political aspect. He was

a destroyer of the existing system.

When the time came for Him to undergo

the savage punishment of the cross, he was

made to suffer a grievous mental and spir-

itual agony in the Garden of Olives, then

the treachery of an Apostle, and the sinister

midnight questioning of the Jewish leaders;

later came the physical agony of the buffet-

ing and the scourging and the crowning with

thorns: He suffered in every bodily member:

head, hands, feet, face, body. And in every

bodily sense: taste, sight, smell, hearing,

touch, culminating in the desolation on the

cross: "My God, why hast Thou forsaken

Me?" (Mark 15:34)

Did ever man suffer as Christ suffered?

And yet you whimper and whine over your

own petty pains and paltry pricks

A FORMULA

When asked the way to perfection, St.

Alphonsus Liguori replied: "Be happy and

contented; be satisfied with what you have,

and where you are."

24



Often good souls actually have confidence

in God, but let their weak human nature as-

sert itself and dominate their spoken expres-

sion of their situation. They bewail or be-

moan their plight: they seek restlessly for

explanations or solutions.

The best proof to give of complete con-

fidence is to "be silent and pray" — tacere
et orare. As St. Arsenius says, "I have often

repented of having spoken, but never of hav-

ing been silent."

In this we have a marvelous example in

Jesus when standing before Pilate. How re-

markable that all four Evangelists unite in re-

porting this august moment at the tribunal

when Jesus held His peace! Jesus abandoned

Himself unreservedly and completely to God,

knowing that sooner or later His innocence

would be made known to the world. Jesus

was omnipotent. He was omniscient. He was

the living God. "Jesus autem tacebat" (Matt.

26:63). And even Pilate "wondered exceed-

ingly" over the perfect silence of Jesus.

What finer way could the God-man have

chosen to demonstrate His unwavering re-

liance on His heavenly Father?

Through trials our trust in God is refined

until it is a weapon ready for any offensive

against the devil.

Periods of desolation which assail us have

a definite value in the spiritual life, for through

them we learn how solidly we have roots in

divine confidence.

St. Francis Xavier knew well the need of

trust in - the Lord; on the eve of sailing for

the Indies, he declared himself "unafraid — J
25



have not wished to pack fear in my baggage.'*
|

With St. Augustine he realized this was the

proper attitude: **Let us go cast ourselves in-

to His arms. He will take no step backward

that might cause us to fall."

The tide goes out; but the tide comes back

and with redoubled force. God's favor may

appear withdrawn now, but perhaps He is

only planning greater delights for you.

The Quo Vadis Chapel on the Appian Road

leading out of Rome is a perpetual reminder

of how easy it is to lose confidence.

St. Peter had come to the conclusion that

he had failed in his attempt to convert the

Romans.

He, the Prince of the Apostles, left the

city later to be called the Eternal City . .

.

shaking the dust of the imperial capital from

his feet he hastened away from the scene

of his valiant labors for Christ. His trust in

the Lord's direction wavered. Perhaps Rome

was not to be the central city of Christendom.

He was, like Paul, "weary even of life" (2 Cor.

1:8) and felt the tide of men and events was

strong against him.

To him, in this hour of defeat — so runs ihe
legend — appeared Christ. "Quo vadis?"
He queried His Vicar gently. "Whither goest

thou?". .

.

Peter returned. He died a martyr's death,

realizing the truth: "Cast thy care upon the

Lord and he shall sustain thee; he shall not

suffer the just to waver forever" (Ps. 54:23,

24).

Are you weary, O soul? Trust in God, and
"your sorrow shall be turned into joy" (John

16:20).

26



Leave sadness to the devil. A Christian

has only joy for his heritage. Has not St.

John of the Cross assured us that “the soul

of one who serves God always swims in joy,

always keeps holiday, and is always in a

mood for singing"?

Do you find it hard just to continue the

daily struggle? Read these moving words of

Archbishop Goodier:

Jesus from His childhood had the deadliest

of enemies.

Yet He went on.

Jesus was ignored and passed over

For thirty years.

Yet He went on.

Jesus was not quite understood even by

His Mother,

Yet He went on.

Jesus had the very worst interpretations

Put upon His very kindest actions.

Yet He went on.

Jesus had all His words warped, twisted.

Falsely reported, magnified, minimized.

Made to mean the very opposite.

By men set expressly to catch Him,

Yet He went on.

Jesus had no support from those in authority.

Only suspicion, heckling, condemnation.

Yet He went on.

With the people. He failed rather than

succeeded.

Yet He went on.

Succeeded in things that meant nothing.

Yet He went on.

Jesus was criticized about His rights.

Condemned as one who was unorthodox.

Proved wrong out of His own mouth.

Yet He went on.

27



Jesus was worn to death by labor.

Now by excessive loneliness.

Now by the pressure of the crowd.

Yet He went on,

Jesus was sneered at by the great.

Patronized by the learned and old.

Treated by His friends with galling familiarity.

Yet He went on,

Jesus knew very little gratitude.

Yet He went on,

Jesus had none to share His burden.

None with whom He could talk.

Yet He went on,

Jesus was slighted, even laughed to scorn.

When He gave of His very best.

Yet He went on,

Jesus had sententious and wise friends

To tell Him what mistakes He made.

And what He ought to do.

And how He ought to do it.

Yet He went on,

Jesus was deserted by everyone.

Who were scandalized in Him,
Disappointed by Him,

Yet He went on,

Jesus was betrayed

By one He had most trusted.

Betrayed by one of His first priests.

Betrayed for such a paltry price.

Betrayed with a kiss.

Betrayed to a rabble of ruffians.

Yet He went on,

Jesus was denied

By one on whom He most relied.

Yet He went on,

Jesus was hanged as a common malefactor.

Between two other malefactors.

Yet He went on.

28



Jesus endured the sense of utter desertion.

Even by God His Father,

Yet He went on.

Jesus was never without those who hated Him,

Really vindictively hated Him,

Who plotted against Him,
Who maligned Him behind His back,
Who did all they could to ruin Him,

And in the end He knew they would succeed.

Yet He went on.

Jesus saved others. Himself He would not save.

Yet He went on.

Jesus is passed over and contemned

By generation after generation.

Yet He goes on.

As Uncle Remus says: "You can hide the

fire, but what you gwine do wid de smoke?"

Do you get headaches — physical or spir-
itual ones?

Be glad you have headaches: they are help-

ful symptoms that all is not well with you.

They are danger signals that the traffic on

the road is headed for the ditch.

Pain is (medically speaking) a blessing, for

it shows where the body is not functioning

correctly.

Next time you have a headache, don't think

there is something wrong with your brain,

don't just worry and stew and fret over it:

take it for what it is: a beneficent symptom,

and DO something about it. Get the benefit
of the pain; extract honey from the thistle.

In your sphere of life God may choose a

different test of confidence from you than

from your nearest or dearest.

29



When the Divine Word Missionaries were

assigned to the "Wild West" of China, the

remote Province of Kansu, with its desolate

loess formations, its Mohammedan fanatics,

its climatic and political perils, the prelate in

charge of Propaganda in Rome at that time

was famous Cardinal Van Rossum. Well did

he know the dangers and difficulties of the

task awaiting the missionaries. When he laid

the invitation to this assignment before the

Superior General of the Divine Word Mis-

sionaries, the latter almost fainted. He pointed

out that there were not even any roads, and it

would take literally a good month for the mis-

sionaries to reach their mission, traveling on

springless crude carts. The Cardinal said

finally: "Go, if not to spread the gospel,

then at least to bear witness to it" ("Si non

in propagationem fidei saltern in testimonium

fidei"). And for long years the missionaries

do just that: they bear witness to their faith,

with few conversions, little material results,

meager spiritual consolation, scanty recogni-

tion for their tireless labors. Well can they

say, with Evangeline, heroine of Longfellow's

poem, at the end of their life:

"Patience and abnegation of self and devotion

to others —
This is the lesson a life of trial and sorrow

has taught me."

Did you ever stop to think that the star

which guided the Three Kings (surely the

most favored of all paganism before Christ's

birth) did NOT accqmpany them all the way?

Why, then, worry if you seem to have been

retired trom God's favor for a while?

^0



How consolmg to pick tip the Bible and

read at random: ''His truth shall compass thee

with a shield; thou shalt not be afraid of the

terror by night" (Ps. 90:5). Get the habit

of reading the Bible for the cheerful passages;

hunt for them; find them; read them. There

are plenty of them.

Confidence in God is its own reward, and

it brings you inestimable favors from Him.

St. Teresa declared that "it has always been

my experience that a soul possessing great
confidence in God makes greater progress in

one day than other souls in a hundred days."

DONT ASK FOR LITTLE THINGS!
Be good to yourself! Ask God for big

things — if you actually have the hope and
confidence in Him which as a Christian you

should, you will not fail to go to Him for

any favor you need, big OR small. If you
honestly believe that He gives you His own

Body and Blood in the Eucharist each day,

how can you shrink from asking Him for

some petty grace or favor? Have confidence!

Ask Jesus for the big things too!

With St. Therese say: "We can never have

too much confidence in the good God. He

is so mighty, so merciful. We shall receive
from Him quite as much as we hope for."

In my reading I came across a description
of Speyer Cathedral's famous symbolic inter-

pretation of the creed of the Cross.

It is nothing more than a great cross and a

great crown hung from the two ends of a

chain

31



Life, the chain, linking the cross and the

crown. No cross, no crown

ADVANCE UPON YOUR KNEES!

According to Pope Pius XI, of glorious

memory, suffering is the highest form of

prayer. St. Therese, the Little Flower of

Jesus, said that “more souls are saved by

suffering than by preaching.” Bl. Theophane

Venard declared: “Suffering is the coin with

which we purchase heaven.” St. Paul states

that if we are Christ's companions in suffer-

ing, we shall be His companions in glory. “If

we suffer with Him, we shall also be glori-

fied with Him” (Rom. 8:17).

Have confidence, therefore! God would not

let you suffer unless He knew this was the

best way for you to gain heaven.

•

Many years ago I was in Batavia, in the

Netherlands East Indies, and I chanced to stop

before the statue of a famous pioneer in the

marketplace. Under it was the inscription:

“In silentio et spe erat fortitudo ejus;

in laboribus plurimis certavit et vicit.”

Translated roughly this means: “In silence

and in hope was his strength; in countless

labors did he struggle and win.”

It was only after I was at home again that

I chanced to find the origin of this passage.

In Isaias (30:15) we read: “In silence and

in hope shall your strength be." And I re-

flected then how fitting a slogan this was for

all the missionaries laboring in those remote

islands of Oceanica, and indeed through all

32



the world . . . and how apt it was for everyone

who took up the Cross and followed Jesus

no matter what his place in life: ''In silence

and in hope shall their strength be. . . Then,

truly, no matter what enterprises are under-

taken and borne, we shall find ourselves the

victors, for Christ and with Him.

PROPHETS OF PESSIMISM

Heine, the German poet, gloomed over life.

It became an obsession with him. It was a

morbid growth on his mind. He came to the

ultimate decision that "to live means to suffer;

the whole world is one vast hospital and the

physician in it is death."

Voltaire, supreme cynic and skeptic, despite

all the knowledge and accumulated learning

of his scores of years, kept muttering ad-

verse criticism of the universe, cynically as-

serting how he would have bettered the world

if he had been the architect. . .

.

It is true that both men attained a modicum

of fame and recognition, but by their own

confession they were absolutely devoid of

personal happiness.

What a difference between them and the

humblest beggar who accedes to the crosses

heaped on him, embraces such burdens, and

emerges as a St. Benedict de Labre, per-

petually happy on earth and forever immortal

in heaven!

33



^^TEARS, IDLE TEARS^

Women in our own day often refer to a
good movie as one in which they "had a

good cry."

There is a big relief in tears.

It is one of the most human things to read

of in history. It is only when we read of

lesus' weeping, that we realize, awe-struck,

that He was not only God but emphatically

MAN.

He wept on three occasions: when viewing

lerusalem, before Lazarus's grave and alone

in Gethsemane.

No tears are recorded of our Blessed Lady.

Perhaps she heeded her Divine Son's advice

to the women of Jerusalem: "Weep not over

me, but weep for yourselves and for your

children."

There are tears of remorse; of grief; of

genuine sympathy. And there are tears in-

duced by nothing but nervous strains, symp-

toms of undue worry and lack of reliance in

the God that made this universe. The next

time you want to cry, ask yourself just WHY
the tears are starting?

"Happy are the souls which are tempted."

Now who said that? Surely he was all wrong.

Or was he? When I tell you that it was the

statement of none other than St. John Vian-

ney, our beloved little Cure of Ars, you will

know that he was not all wrong. And in-

deed, he goes on to explain himself: "It is;

when the devil foresees that a soul is tending

to union with God that he redoubles his rage..

O blessed unioi^l**
Now when w© in midst of tempta-

34



tions, it may be that we find it hard and we

feel our weakness and are tempted further

— to complain. But since we have Christ's
own assurance that we will not be tempted

beyond "that which you are able/' why not

consider the matter in the same light that a

true knight thinks of some great feat per-

formed for his lady? The greater the obstacle

the stronger one must be to surmount it. Here

is a task for a strong will and a willing heart.

And since God is with us and not against

us. He has given us three weapons with which

to fight the foe. "Prayer to enlighten us. Sac-

raments to strengthen us, and vigilance to

preserve us." Again we must thank the Holy

Cure for reminding us. For, certainly, these

things are treasure we need — prayer, the
Sacraments, vigilance. Yet we would have

much less use for them if we had no tempta-

tions to conquer. Or rather, we would not

truly appreciate them. Who can appreciate
light who has never been afraid in the dark?

Who can appreciate calm weather unless he
has gone through a storm? Who knows so
well the joy of home and father as a prodigal?

"Happy are the souls which are tempted,"

for when the storm is greatest, they need only

put out a hand and call, "Save us, lest we

perish," and they will hear the most precious

of all voices answering them, "Fear not. I

am with you." What more happiness is there

than having with us, in any situation what-

soever, Christ, our Lord?

The dictionary defines bravery as the ability

to encounter danger, pain or misfortune with

courage, and without disposition to yield.

Are you a brave man?

35



MAKE YOUR WORRIES PAY!
Every day you are going to have a certain

amount of what old English writers called

"carking care." Every day, following the law

of averages, you will find so and so many

troubles and trials uprooting your peace of

mind. Have trust in God, and with each re-

newal of your confidence in Him, see how

many extra graces you are gaining, MORE
THAN YOU WOULD HAVE HAD WITHOUT
THOSE WORRIES ASSAILING YOU. Re-

member Archbishop Goodier's memorable

words

:

"Those who face that which is before them

actually, unburdened by the past, undistracted

by the future, these are they who live, who

make the best use of their lives; these are

those who have found the secret of content-

ment. For such there is no day but it can

be lived through, no matter what it may bring,

^bre is no circumstance but it can be put

to the best advantage, no matter how con-

trary and galling."

rt!

^Perhaps you are a Religious.

.
You have taken vows that bind you three-

fold to God. You have tried faithfully to go

ahead on- the road to perfection. You have

overcome temptation after temptation, yet still

they assault you. You pray for relief. You

plead for aid. Your soul becomes spiritually

dry. Your emotions and thoughts, your heart

and your intellect are inclined to cry despair.

You think that to have confidence in a God

who does not heed your prayers is a useless

bargain.

Wait just one moment! Temptations in

36



themselves are nothing. Great saints suf-

fered all their lives from the identical tempta-

tions, never were free from them for years

on end. The secret of their sainthood lies in

this: THEY KEPT ON TRYING. Archbishop
Goodier, who lived many years in missionary

India and had wide experience with the dif-

ficulties encountered by the men under his

charge, writes significantly:

"When temptation is upon us, it is well to

remember that just this trouble, harrowing as

it is, death-dealing to our spiritual peace of

mind as it is, nevertheless brings us closer

to our Lord in His worst moments than does

any other prayer or sacrifice."

Temptations means the devil is at work.

Are you, too, at work — repelling him and
his machinations?

A RECIPE FOR CHRISTMAS, 365
DAYS THE YEAR

Let no pleasure tempt thee, no profit allure

thee, no ambition compel thee, no example

sway thee, no persuasion move thee to do

anything which thou knowest to be evil; so

shalt thou always live jollily, for a good

conscience is a continual Christmas.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Christ, starting His passion in Gethsemane,

sweated blood, suffered untold agony of mind

("my soul is sorrowful even unto death"),

even begged His Father: "Let this chalice pass

from me, yet not my will but Thine be done."

37



Without that agony, and the horrors that
^

led to the last moment on Golgotha, there
’

would have been no Resurrection and no

Ascension.

The way to heaven is often through an

earthly hell.

Do you ever play cards? Even from such

profane amusements a lesson can be learned.

The chances of drawing a good hand in cards

are usually against you; in other words, to

win, oftener than not, it is not so important

to be given excellent cards as in knowing

how to play a bad hand well.

And even gamblers know that, when bad

luck is following their cards, the thing to

do is to keep playing, to "run the bad luck

out" . . . only through perseverance in the

game can they hope to hit a "lucky streak."

And these are in games for earthly stakes!

To remind you of what you are striving

for, read this little poem by Father T.

Burke, C.S.C.:

PERSEVERANCE

Lord, I have tried to walk the narrow way

That leads up Calvary's hill to Thy abode;

Oft have my wandering footsteps gone astray.

Oft has my heart grown faint upon the road;
Still have I struggled through the dismal night.

Hoping the dawn might find me at Thy side;

Though my poor soul is scarlet in Thy sight.

Lord, I have tried.

Lord, I have trod where thorns and briars

grew;

38



Along each stony road my feet have bled;

And when the wasting winds of passion blew,

I sought to follow where Thy footsteps led.

What though I still am plodding in the gloam.

Far from the mountain peak where saints

abide.

Take Thou my hand; for, though Fm far from

home.

Lord, I have tried.

OUR DUTY OF JOY

It is not only our privilege, but also our

duty, to preserve and foster a spirit of joy.

As Christians, we know that God is our lov-

ing Father and, even though He permits suf-

fering to strike and maim, it is always with

a deeply planned and judicious motive, which,

if borne patiently, will increase our ultimate

joy a hundredfold.

Does not suffering help expiate our sins?

Does it not lead many souls directly to God?

Saul had to be stricken to the ground, blinded,

before he could be led to the Faith. Suffering

proves our fidelity to God, makes us test our-

selves before we receive signal proofs of His

favor. And, finally, suffering is the price of

glory, the key which opens the wards of

heaven's locks, and admits us to the eternal

bliss, besides which human joys are but chil-

dren's playthings.

You have a distinct duty to be cheerful al-

ways: both to God, who appears to be inflict-

ing pain and sorrow on you, and to yourself,

that soul which is yearning for sempiternal

happiness. "Jesus," the Little Flower assures

us, "loves the joyous heart, He loves the

ever-smiling soul"

39



"And

their

eyes

were

opened

and

they

knew

Him"

(Luke

24:31)



Some souls get the misconception that they

can serve God only by excessive activity in

His behalf; they place their work ior Him

ahead of everything. How often does God

take such well-meaning individuals into His

school, teaching them that it is not the work

but He that is intended to come first and

foremost in their thoughts! A beautiful little
poem has nestled in the pages of one of my
spiritual books for many years. It fits the

need of such souls perfectly:

SERVICE

I was longing to serve my Master,
And lo — I was laid aside

From the party of busy workers

Who toiled in the field so wide.
They were few — yes, few ii^ number.
And I could not understand

Why I should be kept inactive:
Twas so different from what I had planned.

I was longing to serve my Master,
I knew that the work was great;

To me it was easy to labor

But oh — it was hard to wait;
To lie quite still and be silent.

While the song was borne to my ear
Of the reapers with whom I had mingled

In the work to my heart so dear.

I was longing to serve my Master,
Ah, this was my one fond thought —

For this I was ever pleading

When His footstool in prayer I sought.
And the seasons of sweet communing

Were few and far apart;

Not of Him so much as His service.

Were the thoughts that filled my heart.

41



I was longing to serve my Master,

Pe led to a desert place.

And there as we stopped and rested.

His eyes looked down in my face —
So full of tender reproaching.

They filled me with sad surprise.

Did He think I had grudged my service
And counted it sacrifice?

"Oh, Master, I long to serve Thee,

The time is so short at best —
Let me back to the fields," I pleaded,

"I care not to stay and rest."

I knelt at His feet imploring,

I gazed in His face above.

"My child," He said gently, "your service

Is nothing without your love”

I was longing to serve my Master —
I thought that His greatest care

Was to keep all His workers busy

In reaping the sheaves so fair.

But there in the lonely desert.

Afar from the busy scene.

It dawned on me slowly and sadly

Where the awful mistake had been.

My mind was so full of service,
I had drifted from Him apart.

And He longed for the old confiding —
The union of heart with heart.

I sought and obtained forgiveness.

While my eyes with tears were dim;
And now, though the work is still precious.

The first place is kept for Him,

When giving retreats to Religious I often

tell them to look up and try to digest the last

42



sentence in the last chapter in the first book

of the "Imitation of Christ/' whose authorship

is attributed to Thomas d Kempis, though in

recent years a good case has been made out

for famous Gerard Groote's having been the

author.

This sentence is a precious little thing. I

say without fear of contradiction that you will

progress on the road to perfection only in

the degree that you have mastered its teach-

ing and set it in actual operation.

The sentence? Here it is: "The greater

violence thou offerest to thyself, the greater

progress thou wilt make."

Why let your failures or defeats weigh you
ddwn?

Even in literature the stuff for heroic epics

and classic plays has inevitably been based

on the lives of great failures, not of great

successes. It is when the hero dies after

valiantly striving against fortune that our

heart goes out to him. In real life it is the

same. It is after loan of Arc is burned at the

stake that we hail her as a victor; had she

won along the line and finally driven the Eng-

lish entirely out of France, would we feel so

poignantly for her sake? The Generals of

the Union armies of the U. S. A. during the

Civil War are not remembered with one-half

the glamour that surrounds the name of

Robert E. Lee, the leader of the lost cause of

the defeated Confederacy.

If in the past temptations have beset you,

and you have fallen; if your defeats outnum-

ber your victories ten to one — be not cast
down. "There shall be joy in heaven upon

43



one sinner that doth penance more than upon

ninety-nine just who need not penance" (Luke

15 : 7 ).

Surely in heaven they know properly how

to appraise defeat — and victory.

To some people Christ was a scandal. To

others He was a living folly. To others He

was a charlatan, an impostor, a mountebank.

To how many of us is He actually God?

Let us pursue this thought further.

Do you believe Him to be God? That is,

possessed of omniscience, omnipotence, etc.

Do you? If you do, you also believe that He

is all-merciful, and that He would not harm

you just for the sake of harming you. He

has a purpose in inflicting suffering on you.

He is all-loving, hence the purpose is funda-

mentally all-loving, also. If you actually be-

lieve Him to be all-loving and all-merciful —
in a word, God — then you will treat with
Him as if He were God: that is, yield abso-

lutely to Him, confide in Him, trust His judg-

ment ahead of yours EVERY moment of your

life. Only by such a standard can you test

your belief in His Godhead.

Think it over carefully, and tell me, now

— are you one of the few who actually be-
lieve that Jesus is God? ...

DO’S AND DON’T’S

Don't brood over your woes. Don't pity

yourself. Don't become angry when afflic-

tions rain on you heavily. Don't let a day

pass without smiling to yourself at how un-

important yesterday's troubles were.

44



Do separate the good from the bad — of
the things that bother you. Do study how

you can avoid by mere human foresight sonjp

of the things for which you were blaming

God and His saints. Do propose a plan to

yourself for a calmer acceptance of every-

thing. s

Do, rather than say you will do, anytyjig

that might make the next person feel more

cheerful. In this way you will be laying in

a personal stock of good-cheer.

In the midst of the hushed weeks before

Christmas, the Church sets aside a Sun-

day on which she urges us to rejoice: GAU-

DETE SUNDAY (3rd Sunday of Advent).

In the midst of the preparations for Holy

Week the Church consecrates one Sunday to

joy: LAETARE SUNDAY (4th Sunday of
Lent).

Rose-colored vestments are to be used when

possible. Even in such liturgical details the

Church sees to it that our religion is held up

to us as fundamentally a joyous one.

Do we not have reasons for joy? Are we

not splendid in the sight of God, through

virtue of our baptism? Toy is our secret;

through joy we are always God's children.
- We know that melancholy is the devil's
nurse, and gayety is God's housekeeper. We
know '^Miy Ananias, Azarias and Misael sang

in the burning furnace. We know the secret
of the joy of the saints. We are the children of
God — and the divine right of children is joy.

I have just been checking my schedule of
engagements for the Lenten season.

45



It struck me more clearly than ever before ^

how well disposed is the position of the

feasts.

First comes the Sunday of the Passion.

The gloom of Golgotha is foreshadowed. Then

comes Palm Sunday, and after that day of

exultation, and the triumphal ride through the

streets, and the hosannas, comes the betrayal

and the mockery and the scourging, the

bloody sweat, the death on the cross.

The shouts ''Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"

dwindle away and are stilled.

Then arises the paean or~the alleluias an-

nouncing to the world the eternal triumph

of the greatest worldly failure the world has

ever known, Jesus Christ.

The mourning of Good Friday has given

way to the Easter alleluias.

THE MERRY SAINT OF ROME

St. Philip of Neri has given us the example

of a life based on a cheerful spirit conformable

to God's will. Here are some of the wise

sentences he uttered which give us a clue

to his conduct. Remember them. They are

the wisdom of a saint who liked nothing bet-

ter than to play jokes on his friends

"The true way to make progress in virtue

is to preserve holy joyousness."

"A cheerful mind strengthens the heart and

makes one steadfast in good conduct; hence

the servant of God must always be good-

humored." '-j

"Charity with happiness or charity with

resignation should be our motto always."

"In the spiritual life it is much easier to

lead the cheerful than the sad."

46



Do you not think he fulfilled the definition

of St. Francis de Sales: "A saint who is sor-

rowful is a sorry saint"?

Are you sick, or depressed, or discouraged?

Here is a one-word formula to dissipate the

confusion and the chaos into which you have

fallen:

PRAY!

The golden-tongued St. John Chrysostom

declared prayer to be a "refuge in every

sorrow, a principle of constant pleasure, the

mother of philosophy." And St. Nilus called

it a "charm against sadness and depression

of soul." St. Francis was sure that "spiritual

joy arises from purity of heart and perse-

verance in prayer."

Think once of St. Elizabeth of Thuringia.

On the very night she was expelled from her

castle, she ordered a Te Deum sung in the

Franciscan Church near by.

And Brothers in religion have a fine pre-

cedent to follow in St. Felix of Cantalizio, who

was sure to burst out into a fervent "Deo

gratias!" no matter how unfavorable the oc-

casion or event for himself. His felllow monks

eventually called him Brother Deogratias.

Pray, and you will create a sanctuary with-

in you whither you can retreat from the

world's pursuit.

To those who protest that a life of prayer

and seclusion in a monastery or convent is

a dreary existence, we like to point out the

names chosen in the Middle Ages for the

converts scattered all over Europe. Here you

47



will find one delightful "nickname" after the

other: "Gate of Heaven, Happy Meadow,

Bright Place, The Delights, Joyous Card, Con-

solation, Sanctuary" . . . the list would really

be endless.

Indeed, St. Francis de Sales assures us that

"anxiety and bitterness are the ruin of devo-

tion." And to her sisters in religion, St. Clare

said: "Melancholy is the poison of devotion."

Joy grows through joy ... to make others

happy, is the surest way to insure your own

happiness. And the little joys of life, the

amenities which add culture to any race or

period, abounded in the Ages of Faith, and

in no place more than in the convents and

monasteries.

Far from yielding to the Babylonian malady

(as St. Francis of Assisi called it), we find

those nuns and monks acting on the principle

enunciated centuries later by Blessed Cres-

centia of Kaufbeuren: "We must do as the

bees, which suck only honey out of every-

thing, whereas the spiders extract poison."

If we had a true devotion to the Holy Ghost,

we would be always joyful.

St. Paul placed joy among the fruits of the

Spirit (Gal. 5:22). The very word PARA-

CLETE used by Jesus in speaking of the Holy

Spirit means ADVOCATE or INTERCESSOR
or COMFORTER or CONSOLER or HELPER
... all meaning. He is appointed to restore

us to the joy rightfully ours. The Church

commemorates this in its hymns to Him: "In

fletu solatium" ("In weeping Thou art sol-

ace"); "in aestu temperies" ("In heat Thou

48



art refreshment"). The Holy Spirit is the

LUMEN CORDIUM, the light of hearts — He
soothes our soul in affliction, braces it in

trouble, cheers it in depression. He is the

final proof that while sorrow is the sequel

to sill and is a condition of time, joy is a

condition of eternity.

The God of Joy was a man who died on a

cross betrayed and forsaken by His friends

and disciples, abused, scourged, spit upon,

mocked, considered a failure and an impostor.

The Blessed Virgin is called CAUSA NOS-
TRAE LAETITIAE — cause of our joy — yet
her other name is just as significant: MOTHER
OF SORROWS. She is the Comforter of the

Afflicted, the Queen of Joy, yet her heart was

visited with the seven swords of sorrow

Upon this paradox of sadness and joy is

the Christian faith founded. Christians alone

have the formula of the quintessence of joy

— and a mighty large ingredient in all joy
is sorrow.

Here is an old note I found in my breviary:
"It behooves not the servant of God to be

sad and ill-humored before men. He should,

on the contrary, be always of good cheer.

If you have sinned, go and examine your-

self in your cell and, weeping over your sins

before God, confess your faults \o a priest.

But when you return to your brothers, put

aside your sadness and be cheerful like the

others."

Let us go and do in like manner. With

John Peter de Caussade, let us say: "Come,

my soul, let us pass with head erect over all

49



that happens within us or outside us, remain^

ing always content with God, content with

what He does with us and what He makes us

do."

Every priest knows how much harm and

mischief discouragement does to people. Do

not get discouraged: it may perhaps be the

last key in the bunch that will open the door.

"Can't" is a bad enemy; stick to that sweet

and stubborn friend of man: "I will." The

refusal to look on the dark side of nature and

of life is one of the greatest graces vouchsafed

to those in the religious life. How many

cheery faces are to be found in convents and

monasteries! Why? Happiness is the har-

mony of the soul. The religious knows that,

in the words of the sacred writer, "The steps

of man are guided by the Lord; but who is

the man that understandeth his own way?"

With Blessd Henry Suso, the religious comes

to know that "suffering is a short pain and a

long joy." And in more homely fashion, the

words of the Cure of Ars still are the finest

paraphrase of the Gospel passage about Him

who takes care of the sparrows lest they fall:

"Do not mistrust the providence of God. He

who made your corn to grow will assuredly

enable you to gather it in."

There is a book by the Abbe Tissot called

"The Art of Profiting from Our Faults."

This reflects a great truth. Our woes can

be our wings if we use them properly.

The first voice which we utter is one filled

with crying. Properly used, all that noise

50



one day becomes speech, the audible expres-

sion of our thoughts.

If there had been anything better for

people's souls than suffering, God would

surely have offered it to us. St. Francis

Xavier knew this. He entreated from God the

favor of abundant suffering to enable him

the quicker to gain heaven: "Still more, my

God, still more."

Remember St. Paul's admonition: "Rejoic-

ing in hope. Patient in tribulation. Instant in

prayer" (Rom. 12:12).

And St. James warns us against temptations

that make us feel the struggle is useless: "My

brethren, count it all joy, when you shall fall

into divers temptations; knowing that the try-

ing of your faith worketh patience" (James

1:2-4). And further on, "Blessed is the man

that endureth temptation; for when he hath

been proved, he shall receive the crown of

life, which God hath promised to them that

love Him" (James 1:12).

Father Doyle, S.J., says pertinently some-

place in his spiritual diary that discourage-

ment is the devil's pet walking-stick.

The next time you go strolling along life's

highway use the Christian staff: CHEERFUL-

NESS.

God never promised that we should be free

from trials and temptations.

He did promise us His aid to carry us

through them.

He asks us often to follow His plan, not

ours.

51



We^ canliot understand His plan now . .

.

and so many of us refuse to follow it.

If we had followed His plan, how happy

we would have been in times gone by! If

we start following it today, how happy we

shall be in times to come!

Going through a tunnel we do not mistrust

the engineer. He surely must know the way

out of it. We have no subconscious fear.
Why, then, mistrust God, even if you can-

not see whither the track leads?

Say to yourself with the Apostle: "I can

do all things in Him that strengtheneth me."

It is true that man is born to trouble as sparks

fly upward, but repeat this now and then,

and your heart will be lifted up: "Though I

should walk in the midst of the shadow of

death, I will fear no evils, for Thou, O God,
art with me."

A king placed a heavy stone in the middle
of a road.

People thronged by, stepped over the

boulder, kicked it angrily, murmured, grum-

bled, none removed the stone Finally one

man came along, saw the obstacle, picked it

up to make the way easier for those who

came after him.

Under the stone the king had placed a

purse filled with gold.

How many such hidden blessings did you

spurn in times gone by? God places suffer-

ing in your path to enrich you . . . have you

helped move the stone first?

Even Shakespeare admits someplace that

old age is "crabbed" . . . and it is a frequent

52



experience to find that few people know how

to grow old gracefully and pleasantly.

It is so easy to be morose and crabby.

Some years ago, I went to visit Msgr.

Willmes, formerly pastor of St. Peter's Church

in St. Charles, Mo., who was then retired from

the active pastorate in OTallon, Mo.

I tried to be cheery, knowing how often

elderly people grow soured on life, living

only too much with vain regrets.

But Monsignor fooled me. "Oh," he said

with a twinkle in his eyh, "I admit I am not

any more what I used fo be. I try to keep

spiy and alert My hair is thinning away;
my teeth are dropping out, my hearing is
failing; my eyes are dimniing, and my legs
do not want to carry me much longer.

OTHERWISE I AM O.K."
Isn't this a much better way to look at

things than to tell others your ailments and

headaches? ... I hope to live to be 85, but

if I do, I shall never be an inmate of an old

people's home. Too many of them expend

their time telling one another their ailments,

until all of them have something wrong, men-

tally or physically.

YOUR MIRROR

Life is the mirror of king and slave,

Tis just what we are and do.

Then give to the world the best you have,

and the best will come back to you.

STOP FRETTING

The bird that flutters least is long upon the

wing.

53



“God deliver me from sour-faced saints!"

Teresa of Avila once wrote to a friend. Of

course, she knew very well that there are

no sour-faced saints. There could not be.

Nor did she mean that one must go through

life grinning from ear to ear on fit or unfit

occasions. But in some way or the other one

can always tell when another person has a

true sense of humor though he may never ex-

change more than a glance in all his life. A
man who can laugh at himself is pretty well

fortified against the world, the flesh and the

devil.

We must not, however, make the mistake
of confusing wit with true humor. For al-

most invariably your witty young blade has a

barbed tongue. Wit itself always carries a

sting. But your humorist — ah, there is the
man for you! He is kind. He does not laugh

at you, but with you, and perhaps at himself.

I might almost add to St. Teresa's exclama-

tion “God deliver me from witty saints, too."
For it is scarcely the business of a saintly

person to go about hurting people. A little
thought on this subject may make all the dif-

ference in the world in our lives, so let us

learn the difference between kindly humor,

which indeed may lie close to tears, and

barbed wit, which, from the very nature of

it, robs one of simplicity, a necessity of saint-

liness. “True simplicity is to hurt nobody,"

said Albert the Great, and simplicity is a

saint's boon companion.

“A cheerful temper joined to innocence will

make beauty attractive, knowledge delightful,

and wit good-natured." Mr. Addison of Tat-

54



tier fame, seems to have all but taken those

words right from the gospel.

And not so long ago I was reminded of them

while visiting a sanitarium for tubercular sis-

ters. I must have returned home with as

beaming a face as these gay sufferers had

shown, no matter what their untold agony,

for I was asked: "Why, Father, where have

you been? You seem very happy!" "Well,"

I replied fervently, "I am happy. I have just

returned from Sunnyside, where the patients

were practically turning somersaults in their

beds."

A nervous breakdown usually originates
from brooding over real or fancied wrongs,

overcriticalness of others, darkening of many

precious hours simply through looking for

the gloomy side of things — plus too much
work, and too much living on our nerves,

which includes insufficient sleep and insuf-

ficient food, — or too much sleep, too much
food, too much drink.

Did you ever hear this story about Edwin

Booth, the renowned actor?

It happened one miserable, stormy night

that when it was time for the curtain to rise

upon the first act of his play there was no

audience, save a few rain-spattered fellows

near the back of the theater. The cast was

most discouraging and was all for postponing

the play until a more auspicious evening.

But, "No," said Mr. Booth, who was as dis-

appointed as the rest, "no, we shall go on.

Remember, the King sits in every audience.

55



Play to him," And that night he gave the

best performance of his life for the bedraggled

roisterers in the back row.

A day dr so later he found himself famous.
The King sent for him and made his deed pub-

lic. For among those roisterers who had

sought refuge from the storm in the playhouse

he — the King — had actually been sitting
on the night Booth played his best.

What a lesson for all of us! It is so easy

to do our best under the stimulus of an ap-

plauding crowd, or an admiring friend, or

when we are certain of some material reward.

But when our “playhouse" is empty, and we

play to rows of empty seats — so to speak
— we make a pretty poor showing if indeed
we have the courage to “let the show go on“

at all. Yet that is just the time to remember

that “the King sits in every audience." The

King of heaven and of our hearts always holds

a box-seat in our life-theater, and rain or

shine, good days or bad. He occupies it. And

if we are discouraged or happy, if we would

become famous in His Kingdom and joyful in

our own, let us say on every play-day or

night: “The King sits in every audience.

Play to Him,"

Says the “Beloved" in the “Imitation of

Christ": “He who loveth, flyeth, runneth and

is glad; he is free and not hindered." Are

you out of breath today, from flying, from

running, from good cheer? And whom do

you love? All in God and God in all is the

best recipe for that.

Wherefore, when you find yourself in this

simple and pure filial confidence with our

56



Lord, stay there— without moving yourself to
make sensible acts, either of the understand-

ing or of the will; for this simple love of con-

fidence, and this love-sleep of your spirit in

the arms of the Savior contains by excel-

lence all that you go seeking hither and

thither to satisfy your taste.

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES

Coming down to a hero of today, or a saint

in the making, who is among the army of

shut-ins joyfully serving the Lord, I recently

received this small (or is it big?) heart-lifter

in a letter:

"As I lay here looking down at the parking

lot, something caught my eye. It was a little

child just learning to walk. I watched him

for a long time. He would fall down, then

get up and take a few steps — and fall again.
And so on, while I thought to myself how

easily we grown-ups give up — to worry,
despair and God knows what not. But this

little lad will not be defeated. He will keep

on trying until he masters that job of walking."

Here is just another instance of what our

Blessed Lord meant when He set a little tot

up before the crowd and said: "Except you

become as one of these little ones, ye shall

not enter the kingdom of heaven."

Do you suffer and feel lonely? Is your

heart weary and afraid? Is the burden of

life so heavy you are sure no one ever has

had to bear what you are bearing?

Do you feel it is about time for you to give

up the trust in God that has carried you thus

far? Read Archbishop Goodier's encouraging

words:

57



"Nowhere has Christ our Lord come nearer ^
to us than in His loneliness and ours. No-

where has He shown Himself more human.

Nowhere has He more condoned the cry of

pain, the appeal for some relief; nowhere has

He done more by promise, to nerve us to

endurance. And the truth of His promise,

who that has tried does not know? St. Paul

speaks for such as these, and they echo his

words which have for them a meaning all

their own: 1 am sure that neither death, nor

life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,

nor things present, nor things to come nor

might nor height, nor depth, nor any other

creature shall be able to separate me from

the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our

Lord.'

"

We all like rewards. . .

.

As children, many of us were trained on a

system based partly on good marks, prizes,

praise, approval of various kinds.

To us. His children, God gives rewards.

And when we have confidence in Him, and

show our complete dependence on His will.

He showers us with graces and aids to happi-

ness.

From the time of the Old Testament we

find the injunction to have trust in God writ-

ten again and again in the pages of the Sacred

Books. In Proverbs (3:5, 6) we read: "Have

confidence in the Lord with all thy heart, and

lean not upon thy own prudence. In all thy

ways think on Him, and He will direct thy

steps." Here God Himself expressly states

that by having trust in God, we are making

sure of having Almighty Omnipotence and

58



Almighty Wisdom guide our steps And

two hundred years before Christ, an inspired

writer declared (Eccl. 2:11): "Know ye that

no one hath hoped in the Lord and hath been

confounded." What a wonderful assurance of

ultimately reaching our heavenly goal!

And St. Paul, writing to the Hebrews, urges

them: "Do not therefore lose your confidence,

which hath a great reward."

YOUR BANNER

By being a Christian you automatically fling

to the winds of life's battle a pennon in-

scribed: "I TRUST IN GOD."

Came the day for the Little Flower of Jesus

when she knew she was dying. To those to

whom life is a record of frustrated hopes and

dreary disappointments the end of life seems

a further and complete denial of all that is

worth while.

To the Little Flower it was just another oc-

casion to reveal the secret of her complete

happiness on earth. Said she, "I suffer much,

but I am in an astonishing peace. I am full

of confidence." With world-famous General

Radetzsy she could say: "What God wills, is

my law" . . . and in that serene unshaken
trust, find her promise of heaven.

Our age has lost most of the beauty and

charm that filled the Ages of Faith . .
.
just be-

cause we glory in the loss of faith, in the

absolute trust in a God who knows what is

best for His children. The arch-pagan Goethe,

commenting on the increasing growth of this

spirit even in his own century, said, some-

what wistfully: "Every era in which faith

59



dominates is brilliant, uplifting and productive /

for its contemporaries and for future genera-

tions." What can our times promise to future

ages? Great mechanical achievements; mag-

nificent inventions and ingenious contraptions;

stalv^art adventures into the unknown realm

of science and of exploration . . . medical prog-

ress and alleviation of disease unknown to

former eras; but nowhere that development

of the spirit of confidence and trust in an al-

mighty provider which enables man to have

a divine goal for his short life.

Without faith, self-denial is only a form of

self-torture, such as fakirs employ in mys-

terious India; without faith the sorrows and

griefs of this world would only be borne with-

out any ultimate reason but sheer necessity;

and without faith Christ Himself would have

been the rankest charlatan in history for dis-

cussing man as pessimistically as He did and

then offering him a solution based on implicit

confidence in the Father.

Christ knew how prone to evil is man;

every expression of His proves it. Yet the

very fact that He chose to become our Re-

deemer also proves that He, relying on the

Father, had absolute trust that man could and

would be saved. . .

.

Out of suffering come strong souls. The

Last Day will probably show us a motley

battalion of people, all with one common

characteristic; they are seared and seamed

with scars.

The martyrs will, of course, have their coro-

nation robes of fiery splendor; but many les-

ser souls will have even more regal robes

60



earned with bitterness and sweat and patient

enduring.

It is always those faces which have had

the most teais course down the cheeks, that

seem sweetest and most noble.

FROM THE FAR EAST

come words of wisdom and one of the

noblest of Oriental philosophers to listen to

is Mencius (who lived around 731 Before

Christ) —
"To dwell in the wise house of the world;

to stand in true attitude therein;

to walk in the wide path of men;

in success, to share one's principles with the

people;

in failure, to live them out alone;

to be incorruptible by riches or honors,

unchangeable by poverty,

unmoved by perils or power.

These I call the qualities of a great man."

Have you got faith?

Do you believe?

Don't tell me your fellow man does not

Just think once of all the people who wind

up the alarm clock every night.

At the New York World's Fair several

years ago there was an enlarged X-ray

machine which demonstrated on a life-size

screen the manner in which a human heart

works.

Any individual could step behind the screen

and the spectators could observe every tremor

61



and pulsation of his heart. The demonstrator ^

would frighten, soothe, amuse, horrify the

person, and the audience literally gasped to

note how rapidly the heart responded to the

different reactions and throbbed, now easily

and regularly, now with fierce, almost dai-

monic energy.

The thought came to me: there are certain

cardiac muscles in that heart which, from the

moment they are created in the womb, until

they are stilled in death, are never allowed to

rest one moment. 3,600 times an hour; 86,-

400 times each day, they labor, never once

resting from their appointed task.

If just for one weary moment they decide

to quit their job — we say a man has died.
How many times a day do you allow your

courage to die?

Did you ever stop to reflect how much good

cheer you can bring to your own life through

altruism — doing good to others? Perhaps
this little verse will remind you of this the

next time you feel "'blue":

^^OTHERS”

Lord, help me to live from day to day

In such a self-forgetful way

That even when I kneel to pray

My prayer shall be for others.

Help me in all the work I do

Ever to be sincere and true.

To know that all I do for You

Must needs be done for others.

62



Let self be crucified and slain!

And buried deep! and all in vain

May efforts be to rise again

Unless to live for others.

Others, Lord, just others!

Let this my motto be!

Help me to live for others

That I may live for Thee!

A double-bassoon player went to Toscanini

a few moments before the symphony was to

commence. He complained that his instru-

ment was out of order; that it could not reach

the note of E-flat. The Great Master of Music

bent his head in thought for several moments.

Then he patted the musician on the shoulder.

"That s quite all right," he said; "the note of

E-flat does not appear in your music today."

The Master Conductor knew — better than
any of the men who played under his direc-

tion — the part each had to play. He knew
each instrument's fullest possibility of expres-

sion, also its limitations.

Like the bassoon-player, we all come up

against a despairing note at one time or an-

other in our life — seme sorrow, temptation,
or other affliction which we feel we can't

measure up to. At such a time, we can't do

better than to go with the bassoon-player to

our Master Conductor, He whose Great Sym-

phony is the Music of the Spheres, He whose

instrument we are, and who knows the part

we can play and can't play better than we

do ourselves.

God would no more let us be confronted

with a temptation beyond our powers to "stand

63



up and play our part well" than a Toscanini

would give the violinist's part to the man at

the kettledrums.

In our every temptation and distress v/hen

we get to feeling that it is too much tor us

we must turn, for confidence, to that supreme

assurance given by the Master to the instru-

ment-player — "The note of E-flat does not
appear in your music today."

HOPE

A little while the labor.
Eternal the repose;

A little while the trials
That with this life will close;

And then unending gladness.

And an unfading crown,

A day on whose calm beauty
The sun goes never down.

A little while in exile.
With no abiding place.

And then the Home eternal.

Unveiled the Bridegroom's Face.

Is any cross too heavy

Or any task too hard

That Jesus lays upon thee.

And Jesus will reward?

One night the shadows linger.

And then the morning breaks.

And God's own Hand the burden

From weary shoulders takes;

And thou shalt see His glory.

And hear His words — "Well done!"
The strife forever over.

The battle fought and won.

64



CONSOLING THOUGHTS

Dearest Lord, make me remember, when the

wo: Id is cold and dreary and I know not

where to turn for comfort, that there is al-

ways one bright and cheerful spot — the
sanctuary. When I am in desolation of spirit,

and when all I hold dear to me have passed

away like the summer flowers, when none

are left to love me and care for me, whisper

to my troubled soul that there is one Friend

who dies not. One whose love never changes

— Jesus on the altar. When sorrows thicken
and crush me with their burden, when I look

in vain for comfort, let Thy dear words come

from the tabernacle: "Come to Me, all you

who labor and are heavily burdened, and I

will refresh you." Thy friendship, dearest

Lord, henceforth shall be the dearest treasure

I possess. It shall compensate for the treach-

ery and ingratitude of men. It shall be my
consolation when the wild flowers are grow-

ing over my best-loved ones, and when all
who hold a dear place in my heart are with-
ered and gone. With Thy friendship the

world shall never be dreary and life never

without charm. Would that I could realize

the pure happiness of possessing Thy sym-

pathy! Would that I could feel — when I
am crushed and humbled, when the hope I

have lived for has vanished, when sorrows

and trials that I dare not reveal to any make

my 'Soul sink well nigh unto death; when I

look in vain for some one to understand me,

one who will enter into all my miseries —
make me then remember that there is One

on the altar who knows every fiber of my

heart, every sorrow, every pain peculiar to

65



my own nature, and who deeply sympathizes

with me. Compassionate Jesus! my heart
craves sympathy. To suffer seems nothing

to the bitterness of suffering alone.

THE LONELY HEART TO THE
HEART OF JESUS

Heart of Jesus, I am lonely.

Let me come to Thee awhile.

All my bitter pain will vanish
in the brightness of Thy smile.

Let me cool my burning spirit

in the blood that flowed for me

when Thy Sacred Heart was opened

on the hill of Calvary. .

Thou, most true, wilt never leave me;

Thou wilt ever be the same.

Never ThouTt chide my deep affliction,
never despise my hidden shame,
never frown when others name me,

never wilt Thou bid me go.

Oh! my God! my God! Thou knowest
all my soul s unspoken woe.

When the tears fall thick and heavy

from my fixed and burning eyes,
let Thy Sacred Heart beat kindly,

in Thy radiant home on high.

"List," Thou sayest, "poor soul-tried child

I have willed that this should be;

Bear thy cross a little longer,

then thouTt come and dwell with Me.

"Weil I know the draught is bitter —
I have drunk the same sad cup.

66



In the garden grove of Olives

when I saw no gleam of hope.

Then I loved as thou art loving,

those I loved — ah, where are they?
Child, I found them calmly sleeping,

while my life's blood ebbed away."

From old England, the England of the *

Faith, comes the sound advice in the "Rule

tor Anchoresses" (women hermits). It goes:

"The whole world is God's smithy, in

which He forgeth His elect. Wouldst thou

that God had no fire in His smithy, nor bel-

lows, nor hammers? Fire — that is, shame
and pain; bellows — that is, they who speak
evil of thee; hammers — that is, they who
do thee harm.

Keep up the courage of those about you.

They may be already discouraged when they

come to you — do not let them go away feel-
ing even more depressed. Be like the little

Irish boy who was out walking with the

parish priest when a weary farm-hand asked

the distance to the next town.

"Four miles," replied little Mike.

The farm-hand brightened up and went on

at a brisker pace.

The priest remonstrated.

"Why, Mike," he said, "you know it is

nearer eight miles than four to the next town!"

"Sure, your reverence," explained Mike,

"but the poor fellow was tired, and I wanted

to keep his heart up. If I had told him the

truth, sure and he would be down-hearted in-

lirely."

67



The firebrand of the Church, Savonarola,

speaks impassioned words about the strife

that is living:

''Man's life on earth is a perpetual warfare

—this is especially true of the real Christian,
since he must fight against whatever hinders

his spiritual welfare. He must fight against

the world, the flesh and the devil, and he is

continually fighting. Thus it was with the

Apostles and the Martyrs, and thus it will

be with good Christians; God so desires, in

order to give them greater glory in the life

to come."

And another great Italian writer and mystic

writes: "This alone is thy concern, to fight

manfully, and never, however manifold thy

wounds, to lay down thy arms or to take to

flight." This was Father Lawrence Scupoli

who wrote the immortal "Spiritual Combat"

Our Catholic belief of the Guardian Angel

is a consoling one indeed.

No matter where we are, we believe we

have a guardian angel watching and warding

over us.

Believe this and you abolish many of your

troubles. Iii the words of the old poem:

"To me remains nor place nor time;

my country is in every clime;

I can be calm and free from care

on any shore, since God is there.

"While place we seek or place we shun,

the soul finds happiness in none;

but with a God to guide our way.

Tir equal joy to go or stay.

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"Could I be cast where Thou art not,

that were indeed a dreaful lot;

But regions none remote I call,

secure of finding God in all."

The opening chapters of the Scriptures (the

New Testament) roll by so rapidly we often

miss the complete meaning of many a little

scene.

Simeon did not only act as a symbol of the

Old Testament.

He acted as a prophet of things to come.

He assured Mary her son would be a sign

to be contradicted, and he prophesied that

a sword would pierce her heart.

Symbol of the new faith given us with

the advent of Christ, she endured and suffered

gladly, and silently.

Would you call her a failure?

God permitted even His Mother, Mary, to

suffer in an unendurable way.

Scripture expressly tells us she did not

understand all the things said to her.

God knew too that she would carry all

those words in her heart — for eighteen
years. And even after His death she would

keep pondering them, until her own departure

from this vale of tears.

What cause do you have to be upset, that

things do not seem clear to you?

THY WILL BE DONE!

My God, my Father, while I stray
Far from my home, on life's rough way.

69



0 teach me from my heart to say:
'Thy will, my God, Thy will be done!"

Though dark my path, and sad my lot.

Let me be still and murmur not;

But breathe the prayer divinely taught,

"Thy will, my God, Thy will be done!"

If Thou shouldst call me to resign

What most I prize — it ne'er was mine;
1 only yield Thee what is Thine —
"Thy will, my God, Thy will be done!"

CHARLOTTE ELLIOT

One of America's most colorful statesman,

John Randolph, said once: "Mean spirits, un-

der disappointments, like small beer in thun-

derstorms, always turn sour."

Are you small beer?

Clemenceau, the "Tiger" of France, was

asked for a definition of happiness, and re-

plied briefly: "Not being bothered."

St. Philip Neri was seated at his table when

a student bounced a ball which inadvertently

knocked ink all over the saint's papers.

"It is nothing," the saint waved the matter

away — "let them chop wood on my back if
they wish, provided they offend not God."

Would you rather be Philip, willing to be

cheerful in spite of annoyance, or Clemen-

ceau, who, like the actress Garbo of our own

generation, wanted "to be let alone"?

Who would find heart enough to begin to
live if he dallied with the considerations of

death?

R. L. STEVENSON

70



THIS SIGN^^

On the fuselage or wings of the planes

fighting over Europe these days, observers

note symbols painted.

Some aim at sardonic humor; some portray

a mascot; others stress terror; others have a

crusading touch.

These symbols are the identifying marks of

the various squadrons of the opposing forces.

Men have always had a weakness for sym-

bols. In the early caveman days, a savage

would take a stick and draw a rough idea of

something in his mind — a picture, without
words to amplify it. In time, civilization took

over the process and we had books, printed

and illustrated. But in striking symbols man

will always penetrate quicker to the heart of

his meaning than through the media of all

the classics ever written.

What shall we say, then, of the symbols

of suffering bequeathed us by lesus?

He could have given us signs of splendor

to denote which paths we should take . .

.

instead He gave us the cross — "in this sign
shalt thou conquer" — and after this. He
made us see that the reed, weakest symbol

of all, could be more sovereign than a scepter

of gold, and a crown of thorns (most bother-

some of all plants) was held forth for us to

acknowledge as the rarest diadem of the

world. And in the Middle Ages, the Kings

of Lombardy were proud to have worked into

their royal crown one of the nails which

pierced the hands of Jesus, — a nail made
of cheapest metal such as were used to fix

a common criminal on the cross in supreme

punishment.

71



Accept the symbols of your Faith, Chris-

tian, and realize what meanings they fore-

shadow for you.

There is a beautiful song which starts:

"All through the night there's a little

brown bird singing.". .

.

Why not memorize it and remember to sing
or hum it now and then to remind yourself

that even in the nighttime some creatures are

happy? And reflect that in your most de-

pressed moods, you have a right to maintain

your cheerfulness.

Often enough we are so blind to our good

fortune that we overlook possibilities right

under our noses. We are confirmed pessimists
and hence believe that nothing good could

happen to us.

H. C. Hony is an Englishman who recently

took an old family heirloom from the wall

and sent it to be cleaned of dust and grime.

When the cleaners removed the dirt they

were amazed to find the painting was by

Thomas Gainsborough, whose "Blue Boy"

brought the highest price ever paid for a

painting. Mr. Hony was informed that his

painting, formerly considered valueless ex-

cept as a family heirloom, was worth between

a quarter- and a half-million dollars.

There are roughly 518,000 minutes in each

year. Most of those minutes each year are

spent in joy. Happiness fairly crowds our

short span on this earth, if we but realized it.

72



Just how many sad minutes do we suffer

from each year? And are they so bad? . .

.

There comes an ebbtide in every man's life,

just as surely as there comes also a flood-

tide, whether he be beggar or baron.

It is a proof of the immortality of our soul

to know that, in St. Augustine's words, "Thou

hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are

restless until they find rest in Thee."

The search is different for every man. And

the ebb and the flow of life leave us alter-

nately "on top of the world" or lower than

the beasts of the field, who can fortunately

pursue a complacent course, undisturbed by

despondency or ecstasy.

To get to the heights you must ascend from

the plain — and once on the heights, you
must descend ultimately to the plain again.

An example of the strong courage and sub-

mission to the will of God which missionaries

often display is evinced by Bishop Berlioz of

Hakodate.

The Bishop was touring France trying to

raise funds to keep his mission going, when

news reached him of the absolute destruction

of his cathedral in Japan by fire — and this
was the third time that this had happened!

Wouldn't you have shrieked and ranted and

pulled your hair and become hysterical? It

was a blow calculated to prostrate anyone not

of giant confidence in the Lord.

Calmly, the Bishop accepted this buffet.

In a spirit of complete abnegation he said:

"Incensum istud a te benedictum, ascendat

ad te, Domine: et descendat super nos miseri-

73



cordia tua/' "May this incense, blessed by ^

Thee, O Lord, ascend unto Thee; and may
Thy mercy descend upon us."

What a grand sense of humor the Bishop

had! The building, consecrated to divine

worship, had been blessed by God, and now

as it burned, the Bishop offered it up as

patriarchs offered up holocausts in the Old

Testament, unto the greater glory of God!

It reminds one of that peerless story of St.

Lawrence, martyred for the faith in ancient

Rome. His persecutors stretched him out on

a red-hot gridiron, but Lawrence was too much

the Christian to find fault with their methods

. . . until his humor got the better of him.

Then, "Turn me over now," said he, "I am

quite done on this side."

I love the story of St. Joseph of Cupertino,

who, having formed the habit of praying with

men in the fields, came one day to find the

meadows deserted. Disappointed, but nothing

daunted, he called to him the sheep and their

lambs and set earnestly about saying the

Litany of the Saints — or maybe it was of
the Holy Name — admonishing the little
animals to answer him devoutly. Which they

did! "Lord, have mercy on us,” begged St.

Joseph. "Baa!" responded the sheep. "Christ,

hear us," supplicated he. "Baa," answered

the sheep — and so on to the end.
All of which shows us that if we have faith

enough, and simplicity enough, we not only

lift up our own hearts but the hearts of the

world.

74



Did you ever meet a convert? Did you

notice the complete peace and joy which pos*

sessed him? It is as if you chanced across

a man who had finally come into his heritage.

The long years are over, and he is master

of his Father's mansion.

When the man is a scholar such as Cardinal

Newman or a man of culture such as Charles

Stoddard or a figure such as John Moody,

it must have been a real experience to have

met the man, and observe how the gift of

faith rounded him out and made him a com-

plete man. Like Chopin, pressing the cru-

cifix to his lips as he lay on his deathbed,

they can say: "Now I am at the source of

happiness." Like St. Augustine, they can ex-

claim gaily: "My Lord, here smite, pierce

and burn as thou wilt, only in eternity be

merciful." And like St. Ignatius Loyola, they

have come to assess the world in the light

of time without end: "All the honey that can

be gathered from the blossoms of the world

does not contain as much sweetness as the

gall and vinegar of our Saviour."

In his book, "Twelve Years in the Catholic

Church" Stoddard describes his happiness as

a Catholic:

"I also affirm the absence in my heart of
even the shadow of a regret that I took the

step Yet, as I am not likely, as an octoge-

narian, to write anything more about this sub-

ject, I wish, before it is too late, to bear my
testimony to the blessed peace which the

unity, authority, and Sacraments of the holy.

Apostolic Catholic Church have given me, and

still give me."

What a contrast with so many of our Cath-

olics — how little do the latter appreciate the

75



precious gift of the faith, their joyous legacy

of gladness, their magnificent heritage of joy!

How gloomy and sour of face do they go
through life, forgetting that the key to a life

of happiness on earth and of eternal beatitude

in heaven has been placed within their hands,

not earned by them and not, sad to say, treas-

ured by them. A convert is often jeered at
because of overzeal. People smile pityingly

as if to say: Isn't he overdoing it? But he

is the wise man; all others who do not equal

or go beyond his enthusiasm for the creed of

the Cross shall be judged for their lukewarm-

ness by the fervent Heart of Jesus.

St. Benedict Joseph Labre is an example

for us to remember when next we feel that

life is a complete failure, and we begin to

lose our trust.

The urge towards religious perfection was

strong within him, and he tried to be accepted

for studies leading to the priesthood. He was

refused.

Next he tried the Trappists, but was soon

sent away.

He then approached the Carthusians, and

was rejected no fewer than three separate

times over a period of years. He approached

the Trappists again, but they refused to re-

consider their verdict. The Abbey of Sept

Fons finally took him in but sent him away

after only eight months.

Soon after this, Benedict decided his voca-

tion was to be God's pilgrim, traveling to all

the principal shrines in Europe, and living on

what he could beg. For personal appearance

and cleanliness he cared nothing, and his con-

76



lessor admits that, when Benedict came to

confession, he (the confessor) would be com-

pelled to protect himself against vermin.

When Benedict approached the Communion

rail, the rest of the faithful took good care

not to be too close. If Benedict received a

coin more than he deemed necessary for his

own wants, he straightway gave it to the next

beggar. For this he was once soundly

thrashed, the donor thinking Benedict was

mocking him for giving too little. Benedict

said nothing.

The sequel of his apparently futile life?

Within a week of his death Rome, then Italy,

then all Europe, resounded with the cry: "A

saint is dead!'' God loves a cheerful giver

— and Benedict gave his all. Benedict trusted
implicitly in God, and God did not forsake

him.

Some people are literally frightened to

death by the thought of death. It casts a

black pall over their entire short period on

earth.

Have confidence! Death is only the portal

to eternal life. In the Preface of the Black

Mass we read : "vita mutatur non tollitur". .

.

life is changed, not taken away.

Do not be afraid of death. The lesson im-

posed on us in retreats is not to cultivate a

fear of death. Far from it! All the various

comments on death by Catholic clerics from

time immemorial are intended to make us see

life in its proper relation to death, not death

as the ferryman waiting to snatch us forever

away into nothingness.

77



The futility of amassing money . . . treasures,
^

coins, earthly wealth of all kinds, was expert-

ly portrayed for the world in these latter years

when refugees, pouring from the stricken

lands of Europe, retailed their experiences.

Men who had hoarded wealth for a lifetime

were suddenly forced to flee for their lives . .

.

and thought themselves lucky to save them.

Again, even by earthly standards, such wealth

has a most transitory value, for in many dis-

tricts everything is now on a barter base, and

currency is more or less outlawed. Pity the

poor men who thought their riches made them

invulnerable against the knocks and shocks

of this world!

Of course, it is good now and then to ask

ourselves "Cui bono?" To what avail? . .

.

To what avail all the beauty of body, of

raiment, of jewels, of speech, of all the

precious items attributed by man as necessary

to his happiness?

To what avail the dignities and titles and

trappings of poor mortality which decks out

its frailty and perishableness in tissue-thin

figments?

To what avail the pomp and pleasure of

this world ... to what avail the silly vanity

of vanities which men call fame ... to what

avail all the seductions and perfumed allures

which dog humanity in its progress to the

tomb?

But the carillon of life which sounds in our

ears from our infancy until it changes into

the passing-bell has a melody riding higher

than the mere notes it sounds.

If death were ONLY what we have just

described it to be; if life had no ulterior end-

ing but the rotting bones of saint and sinner

78



alike; if the gifts graciously granted to man

during his brief span were given only to be

snatched away — surely, then in all truth
would men be justified in calling life a cruel

jest, and in naming God in their imprecations

as a malign power rejoicing in the whole-

sale misery of millions.

But death is only one episode in life, as re-

vealed through the life and words of our

Saviour.

Death is the window through which we

view vistas of eternal beauty and happiness.

Death is the turning of the page of life's

music hurriedly while we continue the song

of blissful harmony.

Death is the vessel which cuts loose from

the shore of our plague-ridden, feverish life to

sail across quiet seas to the shore of unend-

ing repose.

Death is the door opening one of the many

mansions of the Supreme Father, in which

we shall continue our existence in perfect

peace.

In times gone by, have you feared death?

Have you let the thought of his benign pres-

ence chill your heart? Have you dreaded

death, and cried out in your thoughts at the

awe of him? Have you worried about death

—and allowed your heart and your confidence
in God to falter?

Do not fear death. He is only a guide to

the arms of the Divine Shepherd of Souls, in

whom always have complete and unending
confidence.

79



This booklet ''HAVE CONFIDENCE!" is the

third in a series of five which includes the

following: CHEER UP!; "BE OF GOOD
HEART"; "HAVE CONFIDENCE!"; "TAKE

COURAGE!"; "LIFT UP YOUR HEARTS!"
While CHEER UP! is intended for people in

every walk of life, the succeeding four book-

lets have a special appeal for all those who

desire a more ascetic spiritual approach to

the problem of discouragement and pessimism.

Readers are urged to pass on their copies

of these booklets to their friends and acquaint-

ances — all of us need such encouragement
in our daily lives.

80