CHRISTIAN BIOGRAPHIES 
 
 BY 
 
 H. L. SIDNEY LEAR 
 
 CHARLES DE CONDREN, ETC. 
 
CHRISTIAN BIOGRAPHIES 
 
 BY 
 H. L. SIDNEY LEAR 
 
 New and Uniform Editions. Crown 8vo. 3*. 6d. each. 
 
 Madame Louise de France, Daughter of Louis XV., 
 known also as the MOTHER TERESE DE S. AUGUSTIN. 
 
 A Dominican Artist ; a Sketch of the Life of the 
 REV. PERE BESSON, of the Order of St. Dominic. 
 
 Henri Perrey ve. By A. GRATRY, Pretre de 1'Oratoire, 
 
 Professeur de Morale Evangelique a la Sorbonne, et Membre 
 de 1' Academic Fran9aise. Translated, by special permission. 
 With Portrait. 
 
 S. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Prince of Geneva. 
 
 The Revival of Priestly Life in the Seven- 
 teenth Century in France. CHARLES DE CONDREN S. 
 PHILIP NERI and CARDINAL DE BERULLE S. VINCENT 
 DE PAUL SAINT SULPICE and JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 
 
 A Christian Painter of the Nineteenth Cen- 
 tury ; being the life of HIPPOLYTE FLANDRIN. 
 
 Bossuet and his Contemporaries. 
 Fe*nelon, Archbishop of Cambrai. 
 Henri Dominique Lacordaire. A Biographical 
 
 Sketch. With Frontispiece. 
 
 LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 
 LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY 
 
THE 
 
 of &rfe*tl 2Ufe 
 
 IN THE 
 
 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 
 IN FRANCE 
 
 BY 
 
 H. L. SIDNEY LEAR 
 1 1 
 
 AUTHOR OF ' A DOMINICAN ARTIST,' ' LIFE OF S. FRANCIS DE SALES' 
 ETC. ETC. 
 
 NEW IMPRESSION 
 
 LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 
 
 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON 
 
 NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 
 
 1903 
 
TO 
 
 3lo{m 
 
 CHANCELLOR OF SARUM CATHEDRAL 
 AMD PRINCIPAL OF HER THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE 
 
 WHOSE LIFE IS DEVOTJF.U 
 TO THE SUBJECT OF THIS LITTLE BOOK 
 
 IN ENGLAND 
 
 FT IS DEDICATED 
 
 WITH THE WARMEST AFFECTION 
 
 AND GRATITUDE 
 
Preface 
 
 *T"^HE following pages must only be read 
 from the point of view from which they 
 were written i.e. as a mere sketch of one part 
 of a very important period of Church history. 
 They do not in the smallest degree affect to 
 comprehend the great subject placed at their 
 head ; enough if they should lead people to read 
 and study for themselves some parts of a mine 
 of information not readily exhausted. But per- 
 haps in these days, when, so many hearts are 
 depressed by a keen sense of the evils surround- 
 ing Christ's Church in the various shapes of un- 
 belief, misbelief ; and imperfect practice, even 
 where theoretically belief may be sound, some 
 consolation may be gained from seeing how the 
 like clouds hung darkly over their forefathers, 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 and out of what abuses and corruptions God 
 has not failed to bring His Church. Thank 
 God that each carefully studied page of history 
 does but confirm us in our strong unfailing trust 
 in His unfailing Promise, "Lo, I am with you 
 always, even to the end of the world." 
 
 We are all fast hastening on to the individual 
 end of each, as far as this life goes. May His 
 Grace enable us to be faithful in our respective 
 callings, to give up all for His Sake joyfully, to 
 fear no evil, certain that His Arm is round us, 
 His Right Hand succouring us. 
 
 " And then it shall be said in that Day, Lo ! 
 this is our God, we have waited for Him, and 
 He will save us : we have waited for Him, we 
 will be glad and rejoice in His Salvation." Isa. 
 xxv. 9. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER 1 
 
 CHARLES DE CONDREX ...<,v*, i 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 S. PHILIP NERI AND CARDINAL UE BERULLE wt ... 31 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 DE CONDREN'S INNER LIFE AND LETTERS, 51 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM 157 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS 213 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER 252 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PRESENT TIMES 305 
 
 a 2 
 
PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CHARLES DE CONDREN. 
 
 A TIME of great darkness is generally also a time in 
 which some great and dazzling light is seen ; 
 the stars never shine so brightly as in the darkest sky; 
 and when the heaviest clouds of negligence or profli- 
 gacy have lowered with the most seemingly hopeless 
 density over God's Church, He has ever vouchsafed to 
 cause His rainbow to appear, telling those whose 
 hearts are well nigh failing for fear " that there is light 
 in Heaven." So it was in the particular period of 
 French Church History here touched upon. The sky 
 was dark with clouds of unbelief, ignorance, neglect, 
 sensuality, and avarice, enough to scare the bravest 
 heart; and yet through it all there bursts upon our sight 
 a galaxy of light which casts its brightness over the 
 Church to this day, and will cast it so long as history 
 endures. 
 
 A 
 
>* ' * 
 
 2 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Some names, known and loved wherever true hearts 
 beat with love of Christ and His Church, will readily 
 occur to every one's mind in thinking of that period, 
 but amid the "bright particular stars" which shine 
 forth so gloriously in the Church of the latter part of 
 the sixteenth and earlier part of the seventeenth cen- 
 turies, the name of Charles de Condren is probably 
 unknown to many who are familiar with those house- 
 hold objects of love and veneration, S. Francis de Sales, 
 S. Vincent de Paul, or even with the scarcely less 
 revered names of Cardinal du Perron, Cardinal de 
 Berulle, and M. Olier. This is as he himself, the 
 Pere de Condren, would have wished; for the one 
 most striking characteristic of his singularly holy life 
 was its intense humility the real desire to " efface" 
 himself to penetrate his whole existence with the 
 spirit of S. Paul's words, " Not I, but Christ in me." 
 
 " Would have wished " may be said advisedly; for 
 who can for a moment doubt that when the mortal 
 puts on immortality, when the flesh ceases to cumber 
 the spirit with its weakness, when every motion of sin, 
 of pride, or self-consciousness has fallen before that 
 Light in which the freed soui sees light for ever, there 
 can be but one desire even in the humblest heart, i.e. 
 that God may be glorified ; and if His Glory can be 
 promoted by setting forth how His upholding Grace 
 was vouchsafed to any of His children here on earth. 
 
CHARLES DE CONDREN. 
 
 so as to bring them nearer than is common to our Dear 
 Lord's Likeness, would they not now joyfully assent to 
 any such manifestation, re-echoing the cry, "Not unto 
 us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Thy Name give the 
 glory!" 
 
 Lowly as he was, marvellous in his gift of humility, 
 and veritably counting himself all unworthy of any 
 place among those who have done good service to the 
 Church, Pere de Condren can scarcely be overlooked 
 by those who study the history of the Church in the 
 sixteenth century. Foremost themselves in the re- 
 vival of a higher tone among the clergy of France, the 
 Oratorians were so distinctly the progenitors of those 
 great works which as so often occurs in the order of 
 God's Providence subsequently overshadowed their 
 source, that, while acknowledging the services of the 
 Lazarists and Saint Sulpiciens, these latter must be 
 traced backward to the Oratory; and, though not the 
 founder of that Congregation, few members had so 
 important a share in shaping and directing its course 
 as de Condren. The Director of Cardinal de Be'rulle 
 and of Jean Jacques Olier whose great work as foun- 
 der of the Seminary of Saint Sulpice was mainly de 
 Condren's doing left no slight stamp on his times, to 
 say nothing of his influence upon the King of France 
 (Louis XIII.) and his unruly brother Gaston 
 d'Orleans, or what he did as Superior of the Oratory. 
 
PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Yet all the while, as the image of Charles de Condren 
 rises before one, it is still more as the saintly Priest, 
 whose whole life was spent in seeking to imitate the 
 Example of our Blessed Lord, than as the able ecclesi- 
 astic, or wise director, or active superior. There is a 
 singular sense of repose as we dwell upon his history; 
 the turmoil of Church politics certainly not less 
 stirring then than now the manifold engrossments 
 and occupations of his office, literary, spiritual and 
 administrative, never seem to disturb the calm stead- 
 fast bent of his soul, or that clear current of his life 
 which swept onward like a deep river towards the sea, 
 straight for Paradise. There is none of that restless 
 hurry and scattering of power to be traced in de 
 Condren's life, which led one of his noblest descen- 
 dants the modern restorer of the Oratory, Pere 
 Gratry to write : " The world moves on with ever- 
 increasing rapidity, movement becomes intensified in 
 every shape, moral, intellectual, and physical; and 
 beneath this surface movement I fear one discovers 
 that there is a slackening of central impetus we whirl 
 about more, but we advance less. ... It is a univer- 
 sal blot, every living thing finds the difficulty of self- 
 recollection, of gathering itself together, and abiding 
 steadfast at the heart's core. ... It is the degenerarc 
 tamen of Virgil; it is that which S. Bernard has called 
 " evisceratio mentis," the disembowelling of the soul. 
 
CHARLES DE CONDREN. 
 
 . . . Life hurries on, spreads itself far and wide, but 
 the source of life dries up. ... In days of old there 
 were men whose whole life was absorbed in their great 
 Centre God; and who found peace, light and happi- 
 ness therein. To them it furnished the motive power, 
 the life of all things. But in these days where shall we 
 find such calm, deep minds, dwelling in the Invisible, 
 and rapt in heavenly things, ever facing eastwards 
 amid the whirl of life? ... All our strength [as 
 priests] lies in prayer and faith, nourished in our souls 
 by recollection and retirement, by the habit of that 
 interior life which alone fosters holiness, light and 
 love. We shall never become useful ministers of the 
 Gospel by multiplying our surface efforts, or by 
 accumulating good works; that can only be done 
 through the mighty power of a humble heart which 
 leans on God, of a thoughtful soul which drinks deep 
 of Him." 1 
 
 Pere Gratry might well have had his predecessor's 
 life in mind as he wrote these words, for if ever a 
 man's good service sprang from that mighty power, 
 " a humble heart which leans on God, and a thought- 
 ful soul which drinks deep of Him," it was his of 
 whom it has been written, "He was a very marvel in 
 his detachment from creatures and his union with 
 God. His great freedom from creature engrossments 
 1 Life of H. Perreyve, p. 173. 
 
PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 left a clear space for the workings of Divine Light, 
 and he was filled to overflowing with its brightness." 1 
 
 Charles de Condren was born December 15, 1588, 
 at the Chateau de Vauxbuin, near Soissons. His father 
 a soldier held a good position at the Court of 
 Henri IV., and the test and standard of merit in his eyes 
 was military capacity, physical courage and endurance. 
 Apparently Madame de Condren's horizon was less 
 limited ; for before her child's birth, and on his first 
 entrance into the world, she offered him specially to 
 God an offering upon which the future Oratorian 
 looked back gratefully as having influenced his future 
 career in no small degree. 
 
 "I had the blessing," he wrote, "of being dedicated 
 from my birth to God, like the first-born of the Children 
 of Israel, but I had an advantage over them in that 
 the law of substitution has ceased to be, and I am not 
 exempt from myself fulfilling the conditions of my 
 dedication. ... I thank God for this, I do not 
 covet a dispensation I am only too happy to serve 
 perpetually in the Temple of God." But the soldier- 
 father had no intention of making a Levite of his 
 boy ; and, lest nursery caresses and influences 
 should enervate his first formed character, the baby 
 was taken from women's care for all save that which 
 rougher handling scarce could afford ; and, while still 
 
 iiuudon. 
 
CHARLES DE CONDREN. 
 
 in arms, he was carried about by one of his father's 
 soldiers, who amused Charles with warlike play, 
 made military songs his lullaby, and taught him to 
 look upon drums and trumpets, swords and harque- 
 busses, as natural toys. As soon as the boy could 
 walk he was dressed in miniature uniform, and sup- 
 plied with tiny weapons of war. No wonder that the 
 military tendency thus early developed clung to de 
 Condren through life, so that to the end, through all 
 his years of self-devotion in a very different service, it 
 was still hot within him ; and he would smile some- 
 times at his own soldier-like nature. One or two 
 childish feats of courage and prowess, still recorded, 
 gave intense delight to his father; all the more 
 that one in which, by a deftly dealt blow, Charles 
 parried the onslaught of a buffalo in the Pare de 
 Monceau, was witnessed by Henri IV., and the King 
 was not chary of his notice and praise. 
 
 However, M. de Condren had the wisdom not to con- 
 fine his son's education to strictly military matters ; and 
 the natural gift of a remarkably powerful memory, so 
 that he could repeat even difficult things by heart after 
 once reading them and alluding to which he once 
 said that he " thought he had never forgotten any- 
 thing since he was eighteen months old " made his 
 progress rapid and easy. Only one thing more 
 necessary perhaps for a gentleman's complete 
 
PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 education then than now young de Condren could 
 not learn the art of dancing. He was always taken 
 ill when this process was attempted ! and later on, 
 when constrained by his father to take part in Court 
 entertainments, the same result invariably occurred. 
 The future ascetic was also foretold in his childish 
 displeasure with a very pretty portrait which had been 
 taken of him. Conscious of the danger of vanity, he 
 assaulted the picture privately with a big stick, but 
 unfortunately found it altogether beyond the reach of 
 his small arm; whereupon, true to his military training, 
 Charles watched his opportunity, and contriving to 
 shut himself into the room where the offending picture 
 hung, with some arrows he shot at the impromptu 
 target till it was satisfactorily defaced ! Besides these 
 traits little concerning de Condren's childhood is on 
 record, save his strict truthfulness and accuracy. 
 His tutor, M. le Masson, a Canon of Soissons, bears 
 testimony to the purity of his childish life, and adds 
 that his ability and orderly ways made it pleasant 
 to teach him. 
 
 It was an understood thing in the family that 
 Charles was to be a soldier, and when at about the age 
 of twelve he began to feel a powerful drawing to a 
 different career, he foresaw that any change of 
 vocation would be unacceptable to his father. Never- 
 theless a stronger power than the boy could resist led 
 
CHARLES DE CONDREN. 
 
 him on ; the Love of God grew warm in his heart, 
 and with that the spirit of sacrifice, which hence- 
 forward coloured his whole life so deeply, took 
 possession of him. Already he grasped the great 
 doctrine of our Dear Lord's One Perfect Sacrifice ; 
 and out of that grew an intense desire to unite him- 
 self to It in dying daily ; and this he conceived he 
 could best do as a priest, although his high estimate 
 of the dignity of that calling and his own unworthiness 
 thereof became continually more marked. Accord- 
 ing to his own account, a clear voice resounded 
 within him, " I will that thou be a Priest to serve 
 Me and My Church ; " and he then and there pros- 
 trating himself, offered his future life to God, and 
 never henceforward felt the slightest doubt as to the 
 course which lay before him. Consequently hence- 
 forth, while studying diligently, he looked upon all his 
 secular studies as only so many means of preparing 
 himself to serve God better, and the talents, which he 
 could not but recognise in himself, as gifts to be used 
 for His Glory. M. de Condren removed his son after 
 a time from school, wishing him to study at home, 
 and then the ease and rapidity with which he learnt 
 (he is said to have mastered the science of mathe- 
 matics in the most wonderful fashion) enabled him 
 secretly to devote his leisure to theological studies. 
 Sometimes he went out professedly shooting, but as 
 
io PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 soon as he was well away in the woods, and some pre- 
 sentable bag made to avoid exciting suspicion, the 
 young sportsman laid aside his gun, and a volume of 
 the Fathers (S. Augustine was his favourite author) or 
 the Summa of S. Thomas Aquinas was drawn forth, 
 and the rest of his day was spent in study. He had 
 another ingenious device to the same end. With the 
 connivance of his own personal attendant, a German 
 valet, who would do anything his master wished, and 
 who undertook never to let any one save himself 
 make Charles's bed, young de Condren cut away a 
 hollow place in his mattress, and kept his theological 
 books, the sight of which would have given sore 
 offence to his father, therein, gladly cutting short his 
 hours of sleep on behalf of this chosen study. It 
 must have been rather difficult to work hard and pray 
 much in that bustling cheerful family house, always 
 full of company, and with constant interruptions from 
 Court gaieties and the like. But from the time that 
 Charles left school he made recollection and advance 
 in the spiritual life his great aim, and while so doing 
 he learnt to offer the very interruptions which other- 
 wise would have fretted him to God, and thus by 
 patience turned them to his soul's profit instead of 
 hindrance. His sister accidentally took up a sheet of 
 paper some time later, which contained his general 
 confession for the two years and a half elapsed since 
 
CHARLES DE CONDREN. n 
 
 he came home from school, and though on seeing 
 what it contained she immediately put it down; her 
 passing glance shewed her that the first point of her 
 brother's self-examination was recollection of the 
 Presence of God, and that he must have been able 
 to preserve this in a very marked and unusual 
 manner. 
 
 But this sort of thing was not at all what M. de 
 Condren desired. His ambition that his son might 
 win military renown had by no means decreased, and 
 as soon as Charles's studies were considered to be 
 finished, the old soldier prepared to send him to join 
 the army either at Calais, where Devic was in com- 
 mand, under whom Henri IV. had expressed a wish 
 that his young protdgd should serve ; or in Holland, 
 which was supposed just then to be the best school of 
 military discipline. It was a time of sore struggle to 
 the young man, for notwithstanding his strong draw- 
 ings to the priesthood, and his firm belief that it was 
 his vocation, he had no slight inclination for the army; 
 and his own natural tastes, developed as they had been 
 by early training, quite fell in with the course which 
 respect for his father's wishes prompted him to take. 
 
 It was a question only to be solved by much 
 prayer, and in that, accompanied by fasting, de 
 Condren sought for light as to his real and highest 
 duty. His father saw that there were breakers a-head. 
 
12 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 and with kindly consideration he called in the assistance 
 of a relation, M. de Briqueville, Chevalier de Malte, 
 whose personal piety gave him a certain weight with 
 Charles. This gentleman did not fail to urge upon 
 his young cousin the paramount duty of obedience to 
 his father, as well as the probable displeasure of the 
 King if his wishes were lightly set aside. De Condren 
 assented to all this, and moreover he frankly admitted 
 that he had a passionate delight in the calling now 
 urged upon him. He did not refuse active service, 
 only asking that he might be sent to Hungary to fight 
 against the Turks, rather than to Holland or Calais, 
 and adding, " Nevertheless, if I had my choice, I would 
 do neither, for my one sole ambition is to serve God 
 in His Church." 
 
 M. de Condren was greatly irritated when de 
 Briqueville reported his son's views, and for a time he 
 even refused to see Charles, accusing him of cowardice 
 and bigotry. Those were trying days, and the issue 
 seemed doubtful, when an unexpected solution to the 
 difficulty was sent, in the order of God's Providence, in 
 the shape of a severe illness, which ran its course so 
 fiercely that before long the doctors pronounced 
 the case hopeless. Charles had already thoroughly 
 grasped the spirit of sacrifice, which was later on so 
 marked a feature of his character; and seen from that 
 point of view, he was ready to accept life or death, as 
 
CHARLES DE CONDREN. 13 
 
 it pleased his Master to appoint. But when he heard 
 his father's bitter lamentations, and his appeal to God 
 to spare his child, there came upon him a strong im- 
 pulse, which he obeyed, beseeching M. de Condren to 
 make a willing sacrifice, and adding that possibly, if he 
 were to offer his son willingly to the priesthood, God 
 might yet see fit to raise him up to health. 
 
 Greatly touched at this, which to all appearance was 
 a dying request, the old man out of the abundance of 
 his heart offered his child freely, adding, " Since the 
 very thought of our earthly court kills him, perhaps 
 the promise of the Heavenly Courts may revive him;" 
 and from that moment he became as full of hope as 
 he had been of despair. 
 
 The father's hopes were fulfilled, and Charles re- 
 covered ; but for fear his changed prospects should be 
 forgotten with his changed condition, he insisted on 
 putting on a cassock the first time he left his bed, 
 and henceforth there was no further question as to his 
 destination in life. Having once conceded the point, 
 M. de Condren was anxious to promote his son's views 
 heartily, and made no difficulty about sending him to 
 study at the Sorbonne, where Charles was the pupil of 
 Philippe de Gamache and Duval, under whom he 
 speedily distinguished himself. 
 
 His natural ability made his work comparatively 
 easy, and much time was spent by the young student 
 
14 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 in prayer, so that he was looked upon with great re- 
 spect, and some little awe, by his companions, who 
 notwithstanding found plenty to admire in his intel- 
 lectual and physical capabilities. Always subject to 
 severe illness, de Condren was again attacked by a 
 one-and-twenty day fever while studying at the Sor- 
 bonne, A.D. 1609, and when the crisis came he was so 
 reduced that the last Sacraments were administered to 
 him by the Abbd Hubert, afterwards Archbishop of 
 Bourges. He was supposed to be in the last agony, 
 when de Gamache, meeting his class as usual, felt so 
 absorbed in the condition of his favourite pupil, that 
 instead of the intended lecture, he could only speak 
 of the dying youth, on whose earnest life and stedfast 
 preparation for death he dwelt lovingly; and as he 
 himself and his listeners waxed warmer and more full 
 of regrets, he entreated all to lift up their hearts to 
 God, if it might be that He would yet restore de 
 Condren. Together with their professor the whole 
 class knelt in prayer and it was granted the longed- 
 for turn in the malady came, and once more de Con- 
 dren turned back to life from the very edge of the 
 grave. 
 
 According to the rule of the Sorbonne, when de Con- 
 dren had completed his course of theology, at the age 
 of twenty-three, he was sent as professor of philosophy 
 to the University of Paris, and he applied all his energies 
 
CHARLES DE CONDREN. 15 
 
 to fulfilling the task well. He began by carefully 
 writing all his lectures, but the ill health which became 
 increasingly his lot, hindered this greatly, and he was 
 obliged to give up the habit and often to trust to his 
 memory as sole preparation ; but notwithstanding he 
 continued to distinguish himself by the ability with 
 which he lectured. 1 
 
 A prayer was found which he had written for him- 
 self to be used habitually before entering his class- 
 room, in which he asks light and knowledge of God, 
 to enable him to impart them to others, ending 
 with these words, "Shed out Thy Light upon Thy 
 children through me, but may they never impute to me 
 the light, the truth, or any other gifts which are solely 
 Thine ; may they ever keep Thee in Sight as the One 
 
 1 Habitually de Condren looked to God for the words he 
 should say or write for the benefit of others. Thus we find him 
 writing to a certain M. de Silleri, who had asked him for 
 spiritual instructions : " I have set myself to write several times. 
 I have offered your intention to God, and told Him how bound 
 I feel to help you, and have besought grace to do so, very 
 earnestly for several days, but so far He has not been pleased to 
 vouchsafe me anything to say to you. ' We had the sentence of 
 death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in 
 God which raiseth the dead ' (2 Cor. i. 9). I may well apply the 
 Apostle's words to myself, for I have found nought in my own 
 mind save a great void, and the sentence of death. . . I need 
 not marvel that I can do nothing without Christ, since it is my 
 duty to desire nothing save His Will, but I must humble myself 
 because I cannot always find that strength I need in Him." 
 Letters, No. Ixxiv. p. 273, edit. Pin. 
 
1 6 PRIESTLY LIFE TN FRANCE. 
 
 Only Principle of all truth, and help me always to ac- 
 knowledge Thy Light, and my own profound darkness." 
 There were certain rules which de Condren made 
 for himself in this new phase of life, one of which 
 was to watch carefully over his eyes, and not let 
 them habitually wander, and so form an unrecol- 
 lected habit of mind. On arriving at the door of his 
 lecture-room, he used to pause an instant in ejacu- 
 latory prayer, and then making the sign of the 
 Cross, he began his work as in God's Sight. He was 
 on the watch for passing movements of self-satisfaction, 
 vanity or speculative tendency as he taught, diligently 
 checking them ; and one special point in his self-ex- 
 amination had reference to the inner spirit as well as 
 the outer way in which his lecture had been delivered 
 Already de Condren had subjected his daily life to a 
 carefully studied rule, in which the examination of 
 conscience filled an important place. Taking our 
 Saviour's words " Without Me ye can do nothing " 
 as a guide, he examined himself as to whether he 
 had striven to fulfil every duty in Christ's Strength ; 
 how far he had given good heed to the whispered in- 
 spirations of the Holy Spirit ; whether he had given 
 way to his natural impulses, or if self-love had in any- 
 thing prevailed over the Love of God; whether friend- 
 ship or complaisance had induced him to lose sight of 
 his first duty to God ; whether he had resisted God's 
 
CHARLES DE CONDREN. 17 
 
 Holy Will, or been relaxed and cold in devotions, or 
 in his highest aim after a holy life ? All these points 
 were duly weighed, his omissions confessed with con- 
 trition, and a fresh dedication of his whole being 
 made to God. He was wont, later on, to recommend 
 those who are striving after the hidden life to make 
 a brief self-examination three times a day, namely, 
 in the morning looking forward to the duties of 
 the coming hours, and back upon the faults of 
 the day past, so as to guard against their renewal, 
 and specially consecrating all the little details of life 
 to God : and at noon and evening reviewing the 
 past in the same spirit with which Bishop Andrewes 
 says, " Evening is come ; the evening of life is old 
 age." 
 
 He sought to lie down to sleep, making an act of 
 dying to the things of this life, and surrendering his 
 body, soul and spirit to God during the season of 
 helplessness, uniting his own natural rest in intention 
 with the Rest of God and His Saints. His first wak- 
 ing act was to be one of self-oblation ; himself, every 
 faculty and action, offered absolutely in union with 
 God's Will. All through life de Condren looked upon 
 the first thoughts in waking as a most important point 
 of self-watchfulness. 
 
 " Members of the Incarnate Word," (he wrote to 
 a priest under his guidance,) " and pledged to live in 
 
i8 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Him Alone, we should begin that life daily, as we 
 begin our material life anew each day on waking. It 
 is of His Grace that we shake off the bonds of sleep, 
 which is a kind of deathlike void, and begin to serve 
 Him afresh ; and I believe that moment of waking to 
 be a very important one, which gives the tone to our 
 whole day. Beware of letting the natural indolence 
 of your first awakening master you, or indeed any 
 other temptation or passion : we should cultivate the 
 habit of waking up zealous for God's service, striving 
 to fill our hearts with His Presence by the help of 
 some holy thought, so that there may be no room for 
 the world or the devil to enter in, or for our own evil 
 propensities to coil around and hinder our work. 
 While asking God to keep us in His Holy Hands at 
 the beginning of the day, it is well to dedicate our 
 waking to the Unchanging Watchfulness of God. 
 * He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor 
 sleep/ (Ps. cxxi.) Even as God has given us rest as 
 an image of His Eternal Rest, so our wakeful hours 
 are an emblem of His Vigilance, and we should 
 honour Him in both alike. ... It is well too, on first 
 waking, to worship the Word, Who accepted human life 
 in the Incarnation. We should make an act of self- 
 renunciation, and offer ourselves to Him to whatever 
 purpose He will use us ; putting aside all that enslaves 
 us to self or the creature, and seeking to enter into 
 
CHARLES DE CONDREN. 19 
 
 His Mind, forsaking all which He rejected, and striv- 
 ing to drink as deeply of His Spirit as we can." 1 
 
 And again : " The soul should wake to God as 
 promptly as the body wakes to life as soon as the 
 material light gladdens our eyes, the Sun of Righteous- 
 ness should enlighten our hearts. Sleep calms the 
 mind, and prepares it for new beginnings, but directly 
 that sleep has passed away we are specially alive to 
 all manner of impressions, be they for good or evil. 
 A holy thought faithfully grasped then will abide with 
 us through the day's distractions j but if we yield to 
 evil thoughts in our first waking moments, the devil 
 and self-love will conspire to disturb our devotions 
 and hinder us all day long." 
 
 So carefully was de Condren's rule of life framed, 
 that it prescribed that he should dress quickly, fixing 
 his thoughts the while on that fall of man which first 
 led to the need of garments to cover him ; and bear- 
 ing in mind that his cassock was the livery of God, an 
 emblem of the " Coat without seam ; " a warning to 
 enfold his soul as closely in Christ as his body was 
 enfolded by its vesture. 
 
 In like manner de Condren's devotional exercises 
 
 were minutely arranged. Long since he had made 
 
 it a rule to himself never to begin to pray, or 
 
 come into God's Presence, without an act of con 
 
 1 Lettres, IxxviiL 
 
20 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 trition. Of course, he went daily to Mass, and 
 as it has been said, that was his life, his Heaven, his 
 All. 1 He never wearied of repeating that a good 
 Communion implies the reign of God within the soul ; 
 and in later years, when he had to teach his spiri- 
 tual children how best to use this great and precious 
 Gift, he always loved to dwell upon the desire our 
 Dear Lord has that we should come to Him in His 
 own Blessed Sacrament, in order that we may be one 
 with Him that we may dwell in Him, as well as He 
 in us ; urging that men should communicate, not for 
 their own soul's benefit alone, but for His Glory, and 
 to satisfy His exceeding longing after us. 2 In the 
 same way he was always anxious to prevent people 
 testing the fruitfulness of their communions by their 
 conscious delight or consolation therein, or even by 
 more apparently substantial results. Such earnest 
 desire for warmth of feeling and tangible effects has 
 more of self-love in it than the love of God, he used 
 to say. 
 
 De Condren's rule was that when the bell rang for 
 any meal, he made an act of self-oblation, asking that 
 the food he took might be taken for God's Glory, and 
 thanking Him for it so that the natural satisfaction 
 of eating and drinking might be secondary to his 
 Master's service. In society and seasons of recreation 
 
 1 Vie, AbW Pin, p. 71. a Lettres, Ixxvi. Ixxx. &c. 
 
CHARLES DE CONDREN. 21 
 
 one of his strictest rules was never to speak ill of any 
 one, and as far as might be to screen the faults of 
 others. Another rule guarded him against too free 
 intercourse with the world and its foolish tittle tattle, 
 but meanwhile all this secret vigilance did not make 
 him stiff or constrained. His manners were open and 
 attractive, so his contemporary biographer (the Pere 
 Ameiote) says ; his conversation was especially bright 
 and varied, as might be expected of one gifted with 
 such a power of memory ; he was always cheerful, 
 and the centre of cheerfulness to others, and his 
 gentleness and consideration won the hearts of all 
 who knew him. 
 
 When the appointed year of his Professorship ended, 
 de Condren determined on spending that which was 
 to follow in the strictest retirement and preparation 
 for his ordination; and as a preliminary measure 
 he renounced his position as eldest son (his brother 
 was a soldier, as we find by an allusion in one of his 
 letters), 1 signing a formal legal act to that effect, and 
 only consenting to receive a small yearly allowance from 
 his father, a practical form of self-renunciation which 
 touched the elder de Condren's heart deeply, and 
 seemed to make him realise the intensity of his son's 
 vocation more than he had yet done. If he might 
 not give Charles money, at least he might give him 
 1 No. hoocviii. 
 
22 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 the books which, though not equally attractive to the 
 old soldier, he knew to be his son's delight ; but after 
 a time even the costly library thus formed frequently 
 underwent losses, and the books he loved de Condren 
 often sold to relieve the poor. " It is better to let my 
 intellectual craving fast than that the poor should 
 lack bread," he would say. 
 
 The proposed year of solitude and preparation a 
 prolonged Retreat virtually was spent in the country, 
 and at length, September 17, 1614, the great desire 
 of his life was fulfilled, and de Condren received 
 Priest's Orders. This was immediately followed by a 
 retreat of three weeks, with a special view to his First 
 Celebration. Probably its results may be held as 
 expressed in a letter written some time later to a 
 priest under similar circumstances. 
 
 "Take counsel with those about you," he says; 
 " they will, I imagine, find more need to restrain 
 and simplify your mind than to pour in anything 
 fresh. God will fill it the more abundantly in pro- 
 portion to the simple content with which you accept 
 whatever it pleases Him to give you. Always begin 
 your preparation by an act of purification as in 
 the Presence of Jesus Christ (the One Sovereign 
 Priest, and the Fountain Head of all priestly inten- 
 tions) from sin, from self, and from the world the 
 three things which are liable to usurp His place in our 
 
CHARLES DE CONDREN. 23 
 
 hearts, and fill them by excluding Him. After an act 
 of humiliation, of contrition, and of abnegation with 
 respect to these three hindrances, pray that He would 
 Himself cleanse you. It was before the First Celebra- 
 tion that He washed His disciples' feet, and He told 
 S. Peter that except He should wash him he would 
 have no part in Him. We cannot be worthily pre- 
 pared for this Great Sacrifice unless He wash us in His 
 Precious Blood, unless we spiritually cleanse ourselves 
 therein. Then give yourself wholly to Him, to offer 
 up the Sacrifice with His Mind and Intention, in His 
 Name and as His representative. We should seek 
 utterly to efface ourselves in this great act to be merely 
 members of Jesus Christ, offering what He offers, and 
 doing what He does, as though we ourselves were 
 nothing. We can never sufficiently ignore ourselves in 
 this Sacred Office, or say simply enough with Jesus, 
 'This is My Body/ Next, offer Jesus to God's 
 Divine Majesty, as a sin-offering in honour of His 
 Greatness; as a thanksgiving for all His Blessings 
 vouchsafed to His Church and to all creation; as 
 a satisfaction for all offences against that Majesty; 
 as an acknowledgment of the worship due to that 
 Infinite Perfection, to the boundless Love of God, and 
 as an act of reparation for all the insults men heap 
 upon Him. 
 " Further, offer the Lord's Body as comprising the 
 
24 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Church's whole voice in prayer together with your 
 own : Jesus sums up in Himself and is all that we 
 can possibly desire or ask of God, and the best and 
 fullest prayer that we can offer is that Jesus may be 
 perfected in us and in others. In Him is all our 
 grace, and in Him it will be fulfilled with the greatest 
 perfection that we can ask or seek. In Him all the 
 holiest intentions both of the creature and the Creator 
 are combined. 
 
 " Bear in mind too that the Sacrifice which you offer 
 is not merely the Sacrifice of the Son of God it is 
 also the Sacrifice of the Head and the Members, that 
 is to say of the Perfect Redeemer, of Jesus Christ in 
 His Church, which is His fulness; for our Divine 
 Head communicates His Priesthood to His Church, 
 offering Himself with her, teaching her to offer herself 
 with Him. 'We in Him and He in us.' At the 
 Altar you are a partaker, a member with Him and 
 with the Blessed Virgin, with all the Saints in Paradise, 
 and all the faithful yet militant on earth. Hence it 
 beseems you to forget yourself in them, and to offer 
 the Holy Sacrifice in, for, and with them." ' 
 
 Prescribed routine required de Condren next to 
 
 return to the Sorbonne, to take his Doctor's degree, 
 
 and during this sojourn in Paris he made himself 
 
 remarkable by his earnest preaching taking (under 
 
 1 Letters, No. Ixxiv. 
 
CHARLES DE CONDREN. 2J 
 
 obedience, for he always shrank from coming forward 
 voluntarily) an Advent course or " Station " at Saint 
 Nicholas du Chardonneret, the Lent Station at Saint 
 Honore', and the Octave of Corpus Christi at Saint 
 Mddard, and filling up his time though indeed one 
 would not imagine there could have been much to 
 spare by going forth to evangelise and teach among 
 the poor population of the suburbs. 
 
 When the Collegiate forms were all fulfilled, de Con- 
 dren, who had but one aim the total dedication of 
 his life to his Master's service hastened to present 
 himself before Monseigneur Hennequin, Bishop of 
 Soissons, placing himself at his absolute disposition, 
 and asking only to be employed in the humblest 
 offices of the Church, wheresoever he could be of use. 
 So little was this the usual tone of the young clergy of 
 those days, among whom too frequently preferment 
 and profitable office was the great object, that the 
 Bishop received de Condren's declarations as merely 
 a courteous way of asking for a benefice, and while 
 giving him the reception due to his worldly position, 
 expressed his regret that no cure of souls suitable to 
 the young priest's connexions and expectations was at 
 his disposal. Much distressed at being so misunder- 
 stood, de Condren endeavoured to explain that nothing 
 was further from his wishes than to hold any benefice 
 whatever, and that all he asked was to be usefully but 
 
26 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 humbly employed. The good bishop was not a very 
 enthusiastic person probably, and he could not wake 
 up to a perception of the young man's real meaning, 
 so the interview ended by de Condren's taking leave 
 of Monseigneur Hennequin, considerably disappointed, 
 but trusting his future to God's Providence, prepared 
 to do whatever His Will might indicate. To his old 
 tutor, M. le Masson, de Condren remarked that he 
 had hoped to be allotted the post of curate in some 
 country parish, where he would have worked heart 
 and soul, but he supposed he was unworthy of such a 
 post unfit as yet to do any real good to the souls of 
 other men; and he then adopted as his rule, and 
 followed to the end of his life the conviction, " when 
 there seems no opening for any new undertaking 
 which one desires, one should remain quietly where one 
 is, seeking to glorify God to the utmost in the position 
 He assigns one for the time being, until it shall please 
 Him to call one to some fresh work." 
 
 The result of this check to de Condren's ardour was 
 that he spent another year at the Sorbonne, during 
 which, in spite of almost continued ill-health, attended 
 with much real suffering, he worked indefatigably both 
 among the poor and in hospital and prison visiting, so 
 that some of his friends said that practically he was 
 the curate of several parishes instead of one only ! 
 But while resolutely persevering in all this external 
 
CHARLES DE CONDREN. 27 
 
 work, a conviction was day by day deepening in de 
 Condren's heart, that his true vocation was an interior 
 one, and that it was in the Religious life that God 
 meant to claim his service. While refusing no toil 
 which was allotted to him, he treasured times of 
 private study and meditation increasingly, and drank 
 more and more deeply of Patristic theology and Holy 
 Writ, which last he habitually studied on his knees. 
 Naturally too, he frequented religious houses, ponder- 
 ing within himself as to what Order God would have 
 him join. His love of poverty made him seriously 
 think of joining the Franciscans, while the life of 
 prayer and silence led by the Carthusians attracted 
 his fervent spirit with powerful influence. He was in 
 the habit of frequenting their house in Paris, and at 
 times his desire to enter that community became very 
 urgent, and many a day he knelt before the Blessed 
 Sacrament offering himself to God as a follower of S. 
 Bruno if such was His Holy Will. But somehow the 
 answer to his fervent prayers did not lead him on 
 in this direction and a strong conviction was im- 
 pressed on de Condren's mind that it was not in either 
 of these Orders that God required His service. With 
 characteristic humility, he believed this to be because 
 he was unworthy of them, and while giving up any 
 choice in the matter, he continued to offer himself 
 before God for any community He might assign. 
 
28 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 "There are four conditions on which one's mental 
 attitude must be shaped with reference to the work of 
 one's life," he used to say: i. To do all things what- 
 soever for the love of God; 2. To be content to 
 do nothing at all, if it is His Will ; 3. To bear every- 
 thing for Him ; 4. To be content to have nothing to 
 bear if He is pleased to withhold the Cross for a 
 time." 
 
 No wonder if those who watched him took a differ- 
 ent view from his own of de Condren's worth and 
 powers. An official personage came to ask the vener- 
 able Head of the Sorbonne, Andre* Duval, to send de 
 Condren as confessor to a certain convent, implying 
 that it was not necessary to select any one very special 
 for a parcel of women if a priest could hear their 
 confessions and give them absolution, no more was 
 needed ! ' But the old Doctor turned sharply upon 
 his visitor, and assured him that M. de Condren was 
 worthy of a cardinal's hat, and that no ministry could 
 be found in the Church for which his mental capacity 
 and personal holiness would not amply fit him. Nor 
 was this estimate of the young priest's worth confined 
 to those who immediately surrounded him. While he 
 was thus labouring and praying, believing in his 
 
 Even this was not necessarily what every priest could do at 
 that period ; a French Bishop a few years later declared sorrow- 
 fully that the greater number of priests in his diocese did not 
 even know the formula of absolution ! 
 
CHARLES DE CONDREN. 29 
 
 humility that it was because of his own unworthiness 
 that as yet he could not see plainly whither God 
 would have him go, his vocation was being made out 
 for him elsewhere. Pere de BeVulle, Founder of the 
 Oratory in France, had heard of de Condren, had 
 watched him, and was deeply impressed by him, and 
 believing that such a man would do infinite service 
 for God in the Community he was founding, was not 
 only praying himself, but had asked the prayers of a 
 great number of pious people, both Religious and in 
 the world, on behalf of his desire, i.e. that if it was 
 indeed, as he believed, God's Will, de Condren might 
 be led to the Oratory. For three years Pere de 
 Be'rulle had been praying thus, when, as though in 
 answer to his prayers, de Condren being pressed 
 within himself by an urgent desire to come to some 
 definite knowledge as to his vocation, it came into his 
 mind that he would go into retreat at the Oratory, 
 and if possible obtain the privilege of the Pere de 
 Be'rulle' s help during it as his spiritual guide. 
 
 No need to say that this was thankfully afforded, 
 and during the retreat the Father's impressions were 
 daily deepened. It was a season of severe trial at first 
 to de Condren. Dryness and darkness, weariness, 
 interior desolation, a seeming impossibility of seeing 
 his Dear Lord all these and other searching spiritual 
 trials, such as it pleases God sometimes to lay upon 
 
30 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 His chosen servants, came upon the young priest. He 
 found a tender and experienced director in de Be'rulle, 
 and was able himself to say at the most trying moment 
 of the storm : " It is well I need not to wake my 
 Saviour enough that I know Him to be with us in 
 the ship I know that He shares every peril and 
 after all, while He seems to sleep, I know that His 
 Loving Heart wakes for me." 
 
 At the end of a week the darkness passed away. 
 Charles de Condren knelt peaceful, satisfied, in full 
 faith before the altar, his prayers answered, his 
 vocation decided. God had spoken within His 
 servant's heart, and he had no longer any doubt as 
 to whither he was called. 
 
 " Be it unto me according to Thy Word," was his 
 answer, and on June 17, 1617, de Condren entered 
 upon his noviciate, taking the habit of the Congrega- 
 tion of the Oratory on the 25th November following. 1 
 
 1 .Archive*. P. dc I'Oratoire, in. 626. 
 
S. PHILIP NERI AND DE B&RULLE. 31 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 S. PHILIP NERI AND CARDINAL DE B&UJLLE. 
 
 IT was with a view to remedy the existing state of 
 things among the clergy which is illustrated by 
 de Condren's unsatisfactory visit to the Bishop of 
 Soissons, that the Oratory had been founded in France 
 by Pere de Be'rulle. But he was not the first founder 
 of the Congregation. An ignorant, degenerate, too 
 often demoralised clergy, and the abuses which as an 
 inevitable result penetrated all sections of the Church, 
 ecclesiastical and lay, led to the Reformation, which in 
 its turn lowered the standard of sacerdotal dignity and 
 reverence in many quarters. Wars of religion, luxurious 
 courts, apostate priests these and many another blot 
 defiled the Bride of Christ, and as usual, the reaction 
 stirred up the hearts of those who were " faithful unto 
 death," and urged them on in their several ways to do 
 whatever in them lay to counteract the overwhelming 
 floods of misbelief and laxity, and to maintain a 
 body of pure-minded Catholics, ready to give them- 
 selves even to death for Christ's Sake. Of such 
 were Ignatius Loyola, S. Teresa, S. Vincent de Paul, 
 
32 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 S. Francis de Sales, and S. Philip Neri, the first 
 founder of the Oratorians. 
 
 There is something peculiarly attractive in the char- 
 acter of " sweet Father Philip," as it reaches us. He 
 was a Florentine of noble family, born in 1515 ; and 
 even in his boyish days, when he delighted to relieve 
 the monotony of school hours by visiting the celebrated 
 Convent of San Marco in Florence, drinking in holy 
 thoughts and visions from Fra Angelico's marvellous 
 frescoes, he was familiarly known as "il buon Pippo" 
 so pure and earnest were his ways. Sent when 
 eighteen to Naples, in order that he might become 
 partner and heir to a wealthy merchant uncle, Philip 
 gave the world a fair trial for two years, and then, 
 with the same bright cheerfulness which marked all 
 his actions, he severed himself from all his brilliant 
 earthly prospects, and travelled on foot to Rome, 
 begging his bread as he went, " for the love of holy 
 poverty." The ascetic and devout life which he led 
 there, feeding on vegetables and fruit, studying theo- 
 logy with ardour, and yet praying even more than he 
 
 1 Throughout his long life, S. Philip Neri practised an abstin- 
 ence which he would not permit his spiritual children to imitate, 
 He used to say with a smile, that he was " afraid of growing 
 fat 1" but to the other Oratorians he enjoined eating what was set 
 before them, sometimes saying that it was better to take a little 
 more rather than a little less, as those who ruined their health 
 by prolonged insufficient nourishment could very rarely make up 
 the lost ground." Vie de S. P. Neri, AbW Bayle, p. 226. 
 
S. PHILIP NERZ AND DE BERULLE. 33 
 
 studied, was not with a view to preparation for Holy 
 Orders for that Philip held himself all unworthy 
 he only aimed at offering his own body and soul in 
 daily sacrifice to God, and forwarding the purification 
 and sanctification of the world so far as the pure and 
 holy life of each separate individual, lay or ecclesiastic, 
 must do. After a time, finding that his best school 
 was devout meditation and communing with God, he 
 sold his library, all save the Bible and Summa of S. 
 Thomas, and gave the proceeds to the poor. It was 
 at this time that his heart was said to have been so 
 dilated by love of God and man as to have materially 
 altered his physical conformation. " He was so car- 
 ried out of himself by the Love of God, his zeal was 
 so mighty and so vast, that the world itself was too 
 small to fill his heart, while that heart itself was too 
 narrow to contain the immensity of his love." So 
 writes the Eagle of Meaux of S. Philip Neri. 1 
 
 Such a man surely had a special work to do in the 
 Church, and in humility yielding to the call of God 
 and the advice of his spiritual superiors, Philip was 
 ordained Priest in 1551, when aged thirty-six. 
 
 Already a few priests in Rome had joined together 
 
 in a sort of Confraternity, the object of which was 
 
 mutual edification and support. Philip Neri soon 
 
 became one of them, and under guidance he devoted 
 
 Oraison Funfcbre, P. Bourgoing. Bossuet, (Euvres, xii. 649. 
 
34 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FKANCE. 
 
 himself chiefly to the confessional, where nearly all 
 his days, and not tmfrequently a large part of his 
 nights too, were spent. "I do not wish to call any hour 
 my own, or even any moment," he was wont to say. 
 His special gift was in dealing with young men. The 
 natural freshness and beauty of his own mind both 
 attracted him to the young and exercised a singular 
 fascination over them; the playful mirth and poetic 
 grace which bubbled up in his pure and loving heart 
 was such a contrast to the careworn earthly absorption 
 or meretricious worldly gaiety of most men, that they 
 hung around him spell-bound. The grass plot on 
 Monte Janiculo, near to San Onofrio, where S. Philip 
 Neri used to resort with his goodly company of young 
 companions, and where he promoted their games, 
 shared their confidences and wild imaginations, and 
 led them on to the Love of God with the wiles of true 
 human love, may still be seen or might in the Rome 
 we have all known and loved ; that Rome of which 
 one of S. Philip's worthiest descendants, Henri Per- 
 reyve, says, "It is really a dreadful thing to have lived 
 two years running in Rome 1 Henceforward every 
 day brings back anniversaries which plunge one's heart 
 into whole oceans of longings and regrets ! " x 
 
 Lettres, 2nd edit p. 269. " Vous Stes done a Rome? 
 C'est terrible, savez-vous, que d'hnbiter deux annees clc suite 
 a Rome ! Chaque jour ensuite ramcne ces anniversaries quf 
 jettent Tame dans des oceans de regrets et de desirs J r 
 
S. PHILIP NERI AND DE BERULLE. 35 
 
 These outpourings of intimacy and fellowship were 
 not all. The young men who thus gathered round 
 Philip Neri for the pleasure of his society, also 
 gathered round him for instruction, and he was soon 
 obliged to seek a spacious hall to receive all who 
 sought to profit by his teaching. This was informal. 
 They read aloud, they discussed difficulties, they pre- 
 pared little orations Baronius, the celebrated his- 
 torian, brought his historical learning to bear upon the 
 subject in hand, they sang hymns and motets, com- 
 posed and led by Palestrina, who was one of Philip's 
 disciples ; and from these gatherings, and the musical 
 performances he encouraged at them, we derive our 
 name " Oratorio " for the sacred musical dramas, 
 which are now once more beginning to be used as S. 
 Philip Neri used them, not merely for the delectation 
 of musical taste and criticism, but as an expression of, 
 and stimulus to, devotion and fervour. Such was the 
 beginning of the Oratory, and the few priests who first 
 lived together at San Geronimo were its first members. 
 It is amusing to read of learned men going to consult 
 the already famous Baronius, and finding him washing 
 the dishes or preparing the homely meals of the little 
 Congregation 1 for into a Congregation the rapidly 
 
 1 Baronius wrote playfully over the chimney of the kitchen 
 where he displayed his culinary powers, " Cesar Baronius, 
 coquus perpetuus ; " but in mercy to the digestion of his brother 
 Oratorians it is a comfort to know that his office was not perpetual I 
 
36 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 increasing band developed; and in 1575 Pope Gregory 
 XIII. gave them canonical authorisation as such, 
 and assigned them Santa-Maria-in-Vallicelli, as their 
 church. They were then upwards of 130 in number. 
 The spirit of their Congregation was liberty, mutual 
 help, zeal for souls. They had few rules they lived 
 and prayed together, they sought to support and edify 
 one another by good example, to give strength to 
 isolated exertions by companionship and sympathy. 
 They set a perfect fulfilment of the priestly life and 
 office before them as their aim and object, and while 
 neglecting none of the bodily or spiritual necessities 
 to which it behoves Christ's servants to minister, they 
 specially devoted themselves to the spiritual welfare 
 of men and boys seeking to win the young from the 
 snares of sinful pleasure by teaching them the charms 
 of holiness and charity, by making religion lovely and 
 winning in every possible way, by using the gifts God 
 gives to man music, painting, beauty in art and 
 nature of every kind, to draw souls to the Source of 
 all Beauty. Such was the aim of S. Philip and his 
 Congregation of Oratorians : 
 
 ** Omnia vestra in cnritate fiant/ 1 
 
 It was not intended as a new Religious Order. & 
 Philip Neri believed that there were already sufficient 
 Orders '*n existence, and he continually repeated his 
 
.9. PHILIP NERI AND DE BERULLE. 37 
 
 wish that his Congregation should be secular priests, 
 free from vows and special obligations. " His 
 object," writes one of his descendants, " was, above 
 all, to form a congregation in which, amid a licentious 
 corrupt world, men might follow the path which leads 
 to a blessed Eternity, but without leading an austere 
 life, without severe bodily mortifications, without 
 wholly severing themselves from earthly ties ; rather 
 following a moderate line, adopting pious habits, and 
 using earthly things well and wisely. Any one who 
 studies this object as the keynote to the whole will 
 see that it is of the very essence of our Congregation 
 to maintain a happy medium among extremes. Its 
 chief merit is its moderation." x When certain mem- 
 bers of the new Congregation wished to introduce 
 vows, S. Philip, though strongly against any such 
 introduction, referred the question to the Pope, who 
 emphatically decided against them. Not that this 
 implied any excessive liberty. There were certain 
 simple rules which were voluntarily accepted by the 
 members of the Congregation, and thenceforth steadily 
 and conscientiously kept. Such involved the obliga- 
 tion always to seek personal sanctification and the 
 edification of others by diligent exercise of the Chris- 
 tian graces obedience, humility, poverty, simplicity, 
 and charity. Liberty and obedience to rule were 
 * Abbe Bayle, Vie, p. i8& 
 
38 PRIESTL y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 closely and inseparably bound up together, so that 
 when S. Carlo Borromeo visited the Oratory he 
 inquired admiringly of the Founder how he obtained 
 such obedience as he the Cardinal Archbishop never 
 had been able to win from his priests? "I impose 
 but few commands," was the answer; "a Superior's 
 example does more than any words aud rules. The 
 best way of ruling anybody subject to one is to do 
 oneself that which one requires of them. 7 ' He ob- 
 jected to a community of goods in his Congregation, 
 and when certain members thereof brought him a 
 memorial asking to establish it among the Fathers, S. 
 Philip wrote in the margin, "Habeant, possideant." 1 
 
 While inculcating simplicity and frugality, he was 
 also strict as to neatness and personal cleanliness, 
 often quoting S. Bernard, who said that he had 
 " always loved poverty, but dirt never ! " 
 
 The Superior was to be elected every three years, 
 but, by common consent, the Congregation elected 
 their Founder as Superior for life, and he fulfilled the 
 office till two years before his death, when, by reason 
 of his advanced age, he induced his spiritual sons to 
 elect Cesar Baronius in his stead. The celebrated 
 author of the Annales has written at length upon the 
 objects of his Congregation, and the summary of 
 these, as gathered together by a distinguished living 
 1 Vie, p. 192. 
 
S. PHILIP NERI AND DE BERULLE. 39 
 
 member of the Oratoire de France, seems so well 
 fitted to the existing needs of the Church in the 
 nineteenth century also, that it may well be quoted : 
 "To wrestle against the errors which assail faith by 
 seizing their own weapons and turning these against 
 themselves; to set against a false, exclusive, self- 
 seeking science, the most loyally true, the most 
 liberal, the most disinterested learning: never to 
 allow the enemy to pitch his tents and take 
 possession of any point of human intelligence, but 
 apostle-like, to send forth missionaries into every 
 branch of science, shedding upon all the light of 
 revelation, and constraining all to promote the 
 advance of Christ's Kingdom; to accept this per- 
 manent struggle under whatever changing circum- 
 stances may arise in different periods and different 
 stages of civilisation; to become all things to all 
 men, in order to win every mind to the faith, every 
 heart to the Love of Jesus Christ; and, as a necessary 
 consequence, to do battle one while on the platform 
 of Holy Scripture and Biblical exegesis, another while 
 on that of philosophy, history, or natural science ; or 
 again, if need be, to track the winding evolutions of 
 modern thought, refusing to allow antichristian 
 science to confiscate the domain of social and poli- 
 tical science, and monopolise it on behalf of reason, 
 as revolting against faith; and to this end, unremit- 
 
40 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 tingly, never discouraged, never wearied, to go on 
 blending prayer with study, sanctifying labour by 
 meditation; spreading out to reach all wants, anC 
 reducing the discordant notes of mere human learn- 
 ing to the great harmony of the One glorious Gospel 
 of Christ Such is the course which, in his far-seeing 
 solicitude for the interests of truth, S. Philip laid 
 down for the members of the Oratory amidst the im- 
 passioned strifes of the sixteenth century." 1 
 
 It is a course which has been filially pursued by S. 
 Philip's descendants, amid whom occur many names 
 well known to science and literature, worthy of their 
 great predecessors such as Cardinal de Be'rulle, de 
 Condren, Eudes, Bourgoing, Senault, Gault Bishop 
 of Marseilles, Malebranche, Thomassin, Mascaron, 
 Massillon, Houbigant, Gratry, Perreyve, Perraud, and 
 others not to speak of other nationalities. 
 
 S. Philip Neri repeatedly declined a Cardinal's hat, 
 and endeavoured with a persistency difficult to realize 
 for such as ourselves, to shun everything approaching to 
 honour or even any reputation for holiness or wisdom. 
 He died May 26, 1595, at the age of eighty, sur- 
 rounded by his faithful children in the faith. Just 
 twenty years before, Pierre de Be'rulle, destined by God 
 to carry the work of the Oratory into France, was born, 
 on February 4, 1575, one year earlier than S. Vincent 
 L'Oratoire de France, P. Adolphe Perraud, p. 24. 
 
S. PHILIP NERI AND DE BERULLE. 41 
 
 de Paul, who in his turn was to do so great a work 
 among the Clergy of France. De Be'rulle had a strong 
 vocation to the religious life, and being educated by 
 the Jesuit Fathers his director a Carthusian, and his 
 dearest friend, the confidant of all his thoughts and 
 aspirations, a Capucin monk it might have seemed 
 probable that he would have joined one or other of 
 those Orders. But God had other work in store for 
 him, and after making due proof of his vocation in 
 each, de Be'rulle was counselled both by his Carthu- 
 sian director and the Provincial of the Jesuits to 
 wait and see to what destiny God was reserving him, 
 for clearly none of these was his resting-place much 
 as he prized them all; neither these or any other 
 religious Order corresponded entirely to his needs, 
 whether of grace or nature. Ordained in 1599, de 
 Berulle gave himself zealously to the work immediately 
 pressing upon him in Paris. His success among the 
 Huguenots was great, and he made many conversions; 
 so that Cardinal du Perron made one of his telling 
 remarks, so often quoted, " If you want to convince a 
 heretic, bring him to me ; if you want to convert him, 
 take him to M. de Geneve [Francis de Sales] ; but if 
 you want both to convince and convert him at once, 
 take him to M. de Be'rulle ! " 
 
 Henri IV. conceived one of his hearty likings for 
 the young Priest, whose controversial talents interested 
 
PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 him ; and he successively pressed the Bishoprics of 
 Laon, Nantes and Lugon, and the Archbishopric of 
 Lyons upon him. It is always hard for great people to 
 understand a man's indifference to position and wealth, 
 and Henri IV. was not a little perplexed at de 
 Be'rulle's steady refusal of all his offers. " You will 
 not receive what I offer?" the King said petulantly 
 one day, " then I shall get some one else to order you 
 to do so ! " meaning, of course, the Pope. " Sire," 
 de Berulle answered, " if your Majesty presses me 
 thus, I shall be constrained to quit your kingdom." 
 The King turned to Bellegarde, saying, " I have done 
 everything in my power to tempt him and have failed; 
 I don't believe there is another man in the world who 
 would resist so firmly ! " * " As to that man," he used 
 henceforth to say, " he is a very saint, he has never 
 lost his baptismal innocence ! " 
 
 Long before his ordination de Be'rulle had been an 
 intimate friend of Madame Acarie, and had known all 
 her wishes concerning the Carmelites, and her ardent 
 desire to bring the reformed daughters of S. Teresa 
 into France ; and when at last the wise and holy men 
 with whom her counsels were shared decided that the 
 time had come for making the attempt, it was agreed 
 to send M. de Be'rulle to Spain with the object of 
 bringing a colony of Carmelites to Paris. It was a 
 1 Vie S. V. de Paul, Maynard, i. 63. 
 
& PHILIP NERI AND DE BERULLE. 43 
 
 wearisome, difficult task, so many hindrances sprang 
 up, so much opposition ; but after patiently bearing 
 with all, the work was accomplished, and de Be'rulle 
 took charge of the Order in France as Superior 
 General. This however was not to be his great sphere 
 of labour for God. The condition of the Clergy in 
 France at this time was such as to fill the heart of 
 any devout man like de Be'rulle with consternation. 
 Vincent de Paul said that he had found numerous 
 priests whose ignorance was so great that they could 
 not say mass correctly, and did not know the ordinary 
 form of absolution. A Bishop writing at that period 
 was forced to say, " I shudder to think that at this 
 moment there are some seven thousand priests in my 
 diocese either drunkards or of impure life utterly 
 without vocation;" and another Bishop wrote, "Except 
 the chanoine theologue belonging to my church, there is 
 not a priest in my diocese capable of any ecclesiastical 
 office." x " You are a mere priest 1 " was a common 
 form of reproach, Abelly says, at that time, and 
 Amelote says that the world held the name to be 
 synonymous with ignorance and debauchery. Such 
 a state of things could not fail to press heavily on 
 a man such as de Berulle ; nor was he one likely to 
 rest satisfied with deploring an evil unless he were 
 also striving to remedy it. 
 
 1 Vie S. Vt. de Paul, vol. it p. II. 
 
PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Two years after his ordination, de Berulle was say- 
 ing his office, when one of those peculiar and unac- 
 countable impressions which most of us have experi- 
 enced some time or other was made upon him as he 
 repeated the words, "Annuntiate inter gentes studia 
 ejus," "O praise the Lord Which dwelleth in Sion; 
 shew the people of His doings." (Ps. ix.ii.) A 
 strong desire was kindled in his mind to see a com- 
 pany of priests arise whose mission should be to 
 preach and teach the Love of God among all people, 
 and from that time he kept in view the aim of begin- 
 ning such a work, discussing it with his most intimate 
 friends, among others a saintly woman, Madlle. de 
 Fontaines-Marans, later a Carmelite nun. Like S. 
 Philip Neri, he did not wish to found a new religious 
 Order, nor even a regular Congregation bound by the 
 three vows. The Congregation which de Be'rulle 
 wished to see at work was to be altogether priestly, and 
 in nowise monastic. The priesthood is not essen- 
 tial to a monk's profession ; but all members of this 
 Congregation were to be priests, and their Ordination 
 vows alone should bind them, the Bishops should be 
 their superiors. Such, he thought, was the most 
 likely way to achieve his object, the revival of dis- 
 cipline and spirituality among the clergy of France. 
 The Oratory seemed to fulfil all that he desired, and 
 after some years of mature deliberation and prayer, 
 
S. PHILIP NERI AND DE BERULLE. 45 
 
 a French Congregation bearing that name, and sub- 
 stantially the same as that of S. Philip Neri, was 
 founded. 1 
 
 De BeVulle had neither the wish nor intention of 
 being himself the Superior of his Congregation. 
 A-dmiring and reverencing Francis de Sales as he did, 
 and knowing how earnestly he had the reformation of 
 the Clergy at heart, he hoped for a time to induce the 
 Bishop of Geneva to be founder and head of the 
 work. But the Bishop was not to be persuaded ; and 
 later on, when certain persons found fault with hiro 
 for devoting himself to the Order of the Visitation 
 saying that his time would have been much better 
 bestowed on training Clergy, he answered that 
 'God's faithful servant, M. de BeVulle, was much 
 fitter for that work than he, and was doing it well," 
 adding, with characteristic humility, " I am disposed 
 to leave great undertakings to great men." 2 He used 
 sometimes to say that if he were to begin wishing to 
 be anybody else rather than himself, he should wish 
 to be M. de BeVulle, and that he would very gladly 
 
 1 The first Oratorians, as founded by S. Philip, were entirely 
 local each house independent of all other houses, having its 
 own superior and noviciate, but de Berulle's opinions as to the 
 needs of France, and perhaps too the national tendency to cen- 
 tralisation, led him to alter tliis part of the Italian system, and 
 lo concentrate the government of all French Oratories under one 
 Superior-General. 
 
 2 Spirit of S. Francis de Sales, p. 384. 
 
46 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN' FRANCE. 
 
 leave his present condition in order to live under that 
 saintly man's guidance. 
 
 De Be'rulle tried to find other heads for the Congre- 
 gation, and was only at last overruled by the Arch- 
 bishop of Paris, de Retz, to take the responsibility 
 himself. At length, on the eve of S. Martin's Day 
 November n, 1611 six priests took possession 
 of a small house, the Maison du Petit Bourbon, in 
 the Faubourg S. Jacques. The following morning 
 Madame Acarie and two other devout women com- 
 municated in the new Oratory; the six members 
 spent their morning in prayer, and thenceforward led 
 a community life but all their rules and customs 
 were gradually planned and discussed, rather than 
 entered upon at once. 
 
 In one of his early Conferences de Be'rulle sets 
 forth the obligation of the Priesthood as of Divine 
 Institution, i.e. to aim at the highest standard of 
 perfection, the Example of Christ ; to look upon every 
 priest as the channel of His Grace and Mind, and 
 therefore bound to set them forth in his life and his 
 whole conduct, seeking above all else to promote 
 Christ's Kingdom among men; and further, the 
 obligation to preserve and confirm that special 
 union with our Dear Lord, which He vouchsafes 
 to His faithful ministers as the very centre 
 point of all their strength the essential quality of 
 
S. PHILIP NERI AND DE BERULLE. 47 
 
 a power greater than that committed to the Angels of 
 Heaven. 
 
 " We must ever remember," he says, " that one of 
 the offices of our Lord Jesus Christ is His Eternal 
 Priesthood, such as none else can hold j therefore we 
 must always recognise Him as our Founder and Chief; 
 we must refer whatever good we may be enabled to do 
 to Him, as the sacred and abundant Source of all 
 good." The letters patent of the Congregation de- 
 scribe the Oratory as " a Congregation of priests living 
 together, with the main object of promoting primitive 
 perfection in the priesthood, of teaching the doctrine of 
 f esus Christ in town and country, undertaking whatso- 
 ever ecclesiastical functions their Bishop may assign to 
 them, superintending whatever good works he may 
 commit to their care, and generally doing their best to 
 make a good use of the Grace of God committed to 
 them in the holy office of the priesthood." 
 
 In May 1613, the Oratorians received Pope Paul V.'s 
 Bull solemnly confirming their Congregation. This 
 Bull expresses that the object of the Congregation 
 "is to be composed of pious priests, specially devoted 
 to fulfilling the duties of the sacerdotal life with the 
 utmost attainable perfection, . . . bound as they are 
 by the closest ties to Jesus Christ, our High Priest 
 Eternal according to the order of Melchisedek, the 
 Chief and Head of all Christian Priesthood." The 
 
48 PRTESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 name of Oratory was to be taken in honour of the 
 Divine Redeemer's prayers during His earthly sojourn, 
 the members professing a special devotion to the 
 memory of His nights and days spent in prayer for 
 mankind. The Congregation was to live together 
 subject to rule, in a constant spirit of humility, as 
 the servants of the Most High ; to be subject to the 
 Bishops in their ministerial work j and in cultivating 
 science and learning, their object was to be less that 
 of seeking these for their own sakes than for the use 
 to which such knowledge can be applied in the service 
 of Christ. 1 
 
 The Oratory increased rapidly, branch houses were 
 established in various quarters, and their numbers 
 increased in 1619, when a considerable part of Cesar 
 de Bus' Congregation, known as the " Doctrinaires," 
 joined the Oratorians. In their early days they had 
 retained the ordinary prefix of Monsieur soon how- 
 ever they took the title of Father ; and in order to stifle 
 any pride of birth and high name, de Be'rulle decided 
 that the Fathers should only be distinguished by their 
 baptismal names. Eventually this could not be con- 
 tinued. 
 
 In the early beginnings of the Oratory, Vincent de 
 Paul came to Paris, sent on a political mission from 
 
 1 "Sacerdotum insuper aliorum ad sacros ordines aspirantiom 
 instruction!, non circa scientiam, sed circa usuin scientist" 
 
S. PHILIP NERI AND DE BERULLE. 49 
 
 Rome, and he and de Be'rulle first met in the Hospital 
 of la Charite', where both were labouring for God 
 among His suffering children. S. Vincent's super- 
 natural gift of charity had already begun to make 
 itself felt, and de Be'rulle was anxious to know one 
 whose heart was so akin to his own. They quickly 
 contracted a warm and lasting friendship, and S. Vin- 
 cent, who was anxious to escape from the perilous 
 notice and honour which were already gathering round 
 him, as well as from the flattering proposals of office and 
 position coming from the Court, sought shelter in the 
 Oratory, not with the intention of becoming a member 
 of the Congregation for though yet unshaped in his 
 mind as to this his future vocation, S. Vincent felt that 
 God was leading him on towards a definite work, in 
 the same direction with, yet apart from, that of de 
 Be'rulle but as a retreat from the world, and in order 
 to benefit by the spiritual advice and guidance of de 
 Be'rulle, who had no small part in developing his plans, 
 and leading him onwards in the great work of his 
 Mission. 
 
 For two years S. Vincent remained at the Petit 
 Bourbon in the Faubourg S. Jacques, during which 
 time its Superior-General became confirmed in the 
 opinion that he was destined to a great work for God 
 in training the Clergy to a higher standard, and though 
 
 for a while other works took precedence of this in 
 D 
 
50 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 S. Vincent's career, the first seeds of the Mission may 
 justly be considered as having been sown there. 
 When S. Vincent left the Oratory, it was in com- 
 pliance with the request of de Bt5rulle, who wanted to 
 find a fitting successor to Francois Bourgoing, parish 
 priest of Clichy, then about to join the Oratory. S. 
 Vincent undertook the charge with hesitation and 
 misgivings as to his own fitness for its responsibilities, 
 which for a time he fulfilled with his usual devotion 
 and ardour. He rebuilt the church of Clichy, which 
 remains now substantially as he left it. 1 
 
 Vie S. V. de Paul, Abelly, ii. 24, Collet, L 35. 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 51 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 SUCH was the Congregation in which Charles de 
 Condren found his appointed work, and of 
 which he proved one of the most valuable members. 
 Pere de Be'rulle had not over-estimated the merit of 
 his new associate. At the end of his first year, de 
 Condren was sent to found a house at Nevers; in 
 1619 another foundation at Langres was committed to 
 his hands; and in 1621 a third at Poitiers. A letter 
 from thence to his former tutor, M. Masson, expresses 
 de Condren's mind as to all his various destinations. 
 
 " I believe I am to be here for some months, pos- 
 sibly longer. God is everywhere, and there is no 
 place whence one cannot see Heaven and work for 
 the Church, so that all abodes alike should be accept- 
 able to those who seek God Only, and aim only to 
 reach Heaven. A Christian is satisfied everywhere, 
 so long as he knows that he has no earthly dwelling- 
 place save wheresoever God sends him to serve His 
 
52 PRIESTL Y LIFE JN FRANCE. 
 
 Church. So you are content to serve Him at Soissons 
 in prayer and works of charity for souls ; and I am 
 content for the present, and for as long as God pleases, 
 to be at Poitiers. We are in absolute peace in the 
 midst of surrounding war, of which however scarce 
 even the rumours reach us ; and in truth it does not 
 beseem us to busy ourselves about the news of the 
 day." 1 
 
 Before long, however, Pere de Condren was recalled 
 to Paris, in order that he might be Superior of the 
 Sdminaire de Saint Magloire, the first attempt at a, 
 strictly speaking, Theological College, having for its 
 special object to train and fit men for the office of 
 the Priesthood. This was the first link in the chain 
 of providential circumstances which led to the foun- 
 dation of the great work, the Seminary of Saint Sulpice, 
 though as yet de Condren and his spiritual son, Jean 
 Jacques Olier, had not been brought together. 
 
 The time during which de Condren governed this 
 new house was one of extreme trial to his own soul. 
 That strange struggle which is so often permitted by 
 God's all-wise Love to beset His chosen servants came 
 upon the Father. Once he had been full of light and 
 joy, conscious of and rejoicing in an abiding quicken- 
 ing sense of God's Presence ; but now darkness, dry- 
 ness, and a deadly oppression banished this happiness. 
 ' Lettres, xciz. 
 
DE CONDREN' S LIFE AND LETTERS. 53 
 
 All his vast stores of learning, theological and other, 
 so needful to his present work, seemed lost, and a 
 kind of mental paralysis fettered his thoughts. He 
 might hunt vainly after an idea, or a train of reasoning, 
 the livelong day, for all his intellectual faculties were 
 numbed. Meanwhile he had to give constant lectures 
 to the students of Saint Magloire, to preach in their 
 chapel (and it had become the fashion for royalty 
 and the Court, as well as for the faithful generally, to 
 attend the Oratorians' services), and to deal with a 
 multitude of souls who brought their troubles and 
 perplexities, individual and ecclesiastical, to him. 
 
 Pere de Condren entreated the Superior, de Be'rulle, 
 to allow him to resign the office he felt so unequal to 
 exercise, but in vain. Pere de Be'rulle, himself so 
 deeply versed in the mysteries of the hidden life, 
 knew well that, amid all this dryness and desolation 
 and seeming incapacity, a great work was going on 
 both in de Condren's soul, and through him upon 
 those who listened to his instructions. After this it 
 became a matter of obedience to persevere ; but de 
 Condren said that every time he was going to preach 
 he expected utterly to break down, and he habitually 
 offered to God the humiliating failure he felt likely to 
 make. 
 
 " I used to go into the pulpit," he said, " with such 
 a total want of mental perceptions, that I had not the 
 
54 PR1ESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 least idea how to begin ; and when God vouchsafed 
 me some good thought, I did not know at all how to 
 go on, or what to say next." * But nevertheless the 
 preacher did not betray this inward distress to his 
 auditors. There was never the slightest incoherence 
 or hesitation to betray his secret discomfort, and while 
 himself conscious of nothing but dulness and dryness, 
 his words conveyed light and life to the souls he 
 taught. 
 
 Other spiritual trials, active as well as passive, were 
 added to these which beset his intellectual being, 
 temptations which sometimes are so mysteriously per- 
 mitted to beset the pure in heart, and which led him 
 to think himself unworthy to approach the Altar of 
 God. These temptations were hidden in the depths 
 of his own sorrowful spirit, but it pleased God to 
 make known to two saintly persons that de Condren 
 was thus suffering, and that his sufferings were wholly 
 free from sin ; neither should he abstain from cele- 
 brating the Blessed Sacrifice because of his conscious 
 unworthiness. The Religious to whom this communi- 
 cation was made imparted it to de Condren, who, 
 amazed at so minute and detailed a knowledge of his 
 unspoken troubles, such as could come only from a 
 special design of God's Providence, accepted the 
 lesson with the utmost humility, and obliged the per- 
 1 Vie, Amelote, p. 135. 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 55 
 
 son in question to give him a faithful account of all 
 God's message, himself listening to it on his knees. 
 From that time he fulfilled all the duties of which he 
 still felt so unworthy, endeavouring, as he said, to 
 " suffer in holiness." 
 
 Unfortunately none of de Condren's published 
 letters are dated, and it is only by the help of internal 
 evidence that one can refer them to their rightful 
 period. It seems probable, however, that it was 
 during this season of spiritual trial that he wrote to 
 one under his direction as follows : 
 
 " Be content that God should be God in all things, 
 and that being to you, as He is, a Jealous God, He 
 should not tolerate any rival. Give yourself up to 
 God in Jesus Christ, and to Jesus Christ in union 
 with His own abandonment to His Father ; so that, 
 divesting yourself of any desire to live for yourself, or 
 to be anything whatsoever, your sole wish may be 
 that God should dwell in you, and that He may guide 
 
 you with reference to all things whatsoever 
 
 Your being should be wholly absorbed in Him, there 
 must be nothing left for the creature, less still for 
 yourself; the consummation of all things should be 
 for you in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit in 
 short, in God His directing, guiding, perfecting 
 Hand. You have nothing to do save to give yourself 
 up to His Will with respect to you, willing only what 
 
56 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 He wills, desiring only His Glory, until all things are 
 swallowed up in the unity of that Glory." * 
 
 After a time these distressing trials and temptations 
 were removed, and not unnaturally de Condren's gifts 
 and powers in the guidance of souls were found to 
 have increased greatly through their sharp discipline. 
 From this time he seems to have been endowed with 
 a very remarkable power of reading souls, and of 
 making God's Ways plain to those who sought to 
 advance in the interior life. 
 
 About this time the marriage of Henrietta 
 Maria of France with King Charles I. of England 
 was in contemplation, and Pere de Berulle was 
 chosen by Louis XIII. to go to Rome and negotiate 
 the necessary dispensations, after which he was sent 
 to England as the Queen's Confessor, whence, how- 
 ever, Louis XIII. recalled him in three months to 
 assist in certain complicated negotiations concerning 
 the Valtelline. The King was anxious that this 
 chosen counsellor should obtain a Cardinal's hat, and 
 in spite of Pere de BeVulle's sincere entreaties that he 
 might be excused bearing this dignity, it was conferred 
 upon him by Pope Urban VIII. in August 1627. 
 
 "The courier who was taking these tidings to the 
 Court, then at Saint Germain," (say the Annals of 
 the Congregation,) "left a note as he passed for our 
 1 Lettres, iv. 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 57 
 
 General, containing the announcement. One of our 
 Fathers happened to be with the R. P. General when 
 he read the note. Seeing him after reading it kneel 
 down in prayer, from which he rose with a sorrowful 
 downcast expression, the Father asked ' What is the 
 matter? You seem troubled. Have the English 
 taken the He de Re'?' The General only answered, 
 * No, thank God, nothing of that sort has happened ;' 
 and without saying anything more he began again to 
 pray, and remained so occupied until the arrival of 
 the Nuncio who brought official tidings that he was a 
 Cardinal." 1 
 
 It was in 1625, when the General of the Congre- 
 gation began to be so much occupied by external 
 duties, that he recalled de Condren from S. Magloire 
 to the Mother House in the Rue Saint Honore, and 
 to those who knew them both it was no surprise to 
 see the elder man place himself under Pere de 
 Condren's direction. He was wont to say of the latter 
 that " he must have been born imbued with the spirit 
 of the Oratory," and he" used to remark that " while 
 the Congregation obeyed its General, that General 
 obeyed Pere de Condren." So great was his venera- 
 tion for his saintly disciple, that as he passed Pere 
 de Condren's room Cardinal de Berulle would kneel 
 down and kiss the floor where he was wont to tread. 
 1 Vie du Pere de Berulle, p. 60. 
 
58 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 The Father's direction was sought largely. Men of 
 the world, men of science, proud of their own attain- 
 ments, met with a mind fully able to cope with them 
 in the humble Oratorian. His extensive reading, 
 assisted by his marvellous memory, gave him a very 
 unusual command over most subjects, literary, philo- 
 sophical, or scientific, and all his knowledge was held 
 as a trust from God, to be faithfully used in His Ser- 
 vice, for which due account must be rendered here- 
 after. How entirely this was the controlling motive 
 of his mind may be seen in a letter on the subject of 
 study to a friend. 
 
 " I would that we were all holy enough to desire 
 no knowledge save to know Jesus Christ according 
 to S. Paul's words, ' Non judicari me scire aliquid 
 inter vos nisi Jesum Christum, et hunc crucifixum.' x 
 He realised that all the knowledge of this world 
 will perish before the Judgment of God, when 
 nothing will endure save Jesus Christ, and that 
 which has come forth from Him. Men have 
 given birth to their various schools and systems, but 
 all these will perish with them. Latin and Greek 
 came forth from Babel, like other tongues ; they were 
 the offspring of sin, and they will perish when sin is 
 done away with for ever. Even the study of God's 
 
 1 " I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus 
 Christ and Him Crucified." I Cor. ii. 2. 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 59 
 
 Works, the knowledge of His Creation, from Heaven 
 to earth, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop, 
 was owned to be but empty and vain, a mere weari- 
 ness of the spirit, by the Wise King whom it pleased 
 God to enlighten. If we were to be gifted with the 
 like Spirit of Divine Wisdom, we should see it as he 
 did, and it would be a weariness to us to apply to 
 anything save to Jesus Christ, instead of delighting 
 and finding satisfaction in other studies. An excessive 
 devotion to human science is too common a blot 
 among literary people, who therein rather imitate 
 what Solomon called the vanity of vanities than the 
 wiser conclusions he came to under the guidance of 
 the Holy Spirit. But we are Christians by God's 
 Mercy, and more bound than was Solomon to despise 
 the world and its wisdom. We know as he did not 
 that Jesus Christ Alone is the Science of Saints, we 
 are disciples in God's school, wherein we receive 
 Jesus Christ the True Wisdom, and we must learn 
 that all else is vanity and vexation of spirit. 
 
 " I do not say all this with a view to deter you from 
 study, but rather to lead you to study after a Christian 
 fashion, and without losing sight of the pure instinct 
 of the Spirit of God. I say it to prevent you from 
 yielding too far to the vanity of human intellect, or 
 the love of profane literature, which cannot be blame- 
 less in any soul dedicated to God, but which is 
 
60 PR1ESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 specially to be avoided in the case of us who are 
 priests, and who as such are set apart to the Lord. 
 By our priestly consecration we separated ourselves 
 from all profane and even all purely secular interests, 
 in order that we might minister at God's Altar, teach 
 His Wisdom to the world, do His Work in it, stablish 
 His Kingdom, and above all cause Jesus Christ to 
 live in the hearts of our people. We must not with- 
 draw from these holy duties for the sake of any 
 delight whatsoever in secular literature; it would be 
 a distinct damage to our sacred calling. Therefore 
 the first rule you should adopt in your studies is not 
 to let yourself be led away by them, not to seek 
 your greatest happiness in them, not to make them 
 your chief object, not to prefer them to your heavenly 
 birthright, not to look upon them as the most impor- 
 tant kind of knowledge after which you are bound to 
 aspire, since they are but human. On the contrary, 
 you should count the trammels of secular learning as 
 a humiliation which your intellectual being has to 
 endure willingly for the Love and in honour of the 
 Son of God, Who vouchsafed to come on earth and 
 to lay aside His Divine Omniscience in order to use 
 the language and thoughts of men. 1 Such an attitude 
 
 1 Rom. viii. 23. 
 
 " For the thoughts of mortal men are miserable, and our 
 devices are but uncertain. For the corruptible body presseth 
 down the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth clown the 
 
DE CONDREWS LIFE AND LETTERS. 61 
 
 of mind in study with respect to Him Who came 
 among us 'in similitudinem carnis peccati,' will 
 preserve you from danger. 
 
 " Our one first aim will be to serve God Alone, to 
 live in Him solely, to keep apart from earthly things. 
 But if we give ourselves heartily to our Dear Lord, 
 entering into the spirit of His Incarnation, we shall, 
 without losing anything of that original attitude, go 
 forth as He came forth from the Father, and apply 
 ourselves to earthly matters ; hearken to the words of 
 men, albeit shiners, learn their languages and accept 
 rather with patience than with seli-seeking or com- 
 placency such application to secular studies as is 
 needful for God's Glory. But in order to do this in 
 holiness and according to the Mind oi Christ we 
 must give ourselves wholly to Him, and entreat of 
 Him to keep us free from self-esteem, and the 
 other mental infirmities which beset those much given 
 to literary pursuits. 
 
 " Our reverend Father and honoured Founder was 
 always very anxious that since it has pleased God to 
 give our Congregations educational work to do, it 
 
 mind that museth on many things. And hardly do we guess 
 aright at things that are upon earth, and with labour do we find 
 the things that are before us ; but the things that are in Heaven 
 who hath searched out ? And Thy counsel who hath known, 
 except Thou give wisdom, and send Thy Holy Spirit from 
 above ? " Wisdom ix. 14- 18. 
 
62 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 should be done in the Spirit of His Dear Son ; I fee) 
 bound to urge his wishes upon you, and to warn you 
 against allowing your studies ever to diminish aught of 
 that Spirit or of His Grace in you/ 1 " 1 
 
 And again, 
 
 "You will never find any real settled peace so 
 long as you delight in study and science out of 
 mere self-love. Christ cannot endure any ruling 
 motive save His Own pure Love in the hearts He 
 cherishes and guides. While working diligently at 
 the studies which are necessary to your earthly calling, 
 you must inwardly long for the blessedness of the 
 future life, wherein God will be our Light and 
 Knowledge. Study is but a consequence of our fallen 
 life and a humiliation arising out of our fallen nature 
 which has lost its original light. We ought to study 
 in a humble spirit, and nothing that our own under- 
 standing requires or men teach us should usurp God's 
 place in the heart. If you feel that the vain love of 
 science is getting hold of you, turn to God and resolve 
 that He Alone shall be your Light and your Glory 
 the sole Object of your satisfaction and rest. It is of 
 His Mercy that He will not permit your mind to find 
 rest elsewhere than in Him. If He left you to yourself 
 your studies would engross you and distract you from 
 Him, as they have done with many another, without 
 1 Leitres, vi. 
 
DE CO ND REN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 63 
 
 your realising the mischief that was at work. Look 
 upon study as a necessary labour in your present condi- 
 tion, to be borne with in a penitential spirit, the object 
 of which is rather to give God glory than to make you 
 learned. Do not be disturbed if you are beset by the 
 love of learning, although you are striving to be 
 detached from it. Be satisfied to renounce self in 
 the matter from time to time, and for the rest wait 
 in humble patience till God gives you the grace of 
 perfect detachment." * 
 
 Elsewhere, writing to the members of a branch 
 house concerning their duties as students, he says, " If 
 we have Cicero on our lips, at all events let us strive 
 to have Jesus Christ in our heart, and a great zeal for 
 souls in our will. Let us not be filled with the love of 
 profane elegance in literature, but let us therewith 
 combine the love of simplicity and Christian humility. 
 Let Jesus be the God of all the studies in your house. 
 . . . We must not make a mere Parnassus of His 
 house of prayer, His Oratory. Secular studies should 
 be no more than one way of practising charity to us, 
 and we should make these exterior works a means of 
 winning souls, whose salvation is the great desire 
 of the Saviour. True Christian perfection, far from 
 despising such means of benefiting one's neighbour 
 and of glorifying God, seizes them gladly, and turns 
 1 Lett res, No. cvi. 
 
64 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 them to a good purpose, working them earnestly and 
 boldly. But to do this, you must drink deep of this 
 spirit of charity, at its Fountain Head, Jesus Christ 
 in order to be able to carry out such work in 
 the true sense of sacrifice in His Name, and to 
 remain uninjured by the vanity of human intellect 
 in study. 
 
 " Of old heathen poets and philosophers invoked 
 Apollo and the Muses, and verily the Evil One, wor- 
 shipped under such names, inspired them frequently 
 with vanity and licentiousness. But in the school of 
 Jesus we must know no inspiring ' furore* save the 
 fervour of His Love, nor any guiding spirit in our 
 studies save Himself. We must walk by His Light, 
 Who is the God of Truth, and rely upon His Help, 
 the rather that His Love is as boundless as His Ruling 
 Power. Let us work in that Strength, with full 
 confidence and a hearty diligence worthy of Him and 
 His Love, on behalf of those who come to us for 
 instruction. It would be a fault worthy of His 
 Judgment, if we were to be more careless or slothful 
 in the studies which He assigns as our duty, and to 
 which His Holy Spirit calls us, than were heathen 
 men of old in their schools where false gods only 
 were invoked." * 
 
 But while Pere de Condren's learning and wisdom 
 
 1 Lettres, vii. 
 
DR CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 65 
 
 were so great that Cardinal de Bdrulle was wont to 
 write down his sayings on his knees ; and Saint Vin- 
 cent de Paul declared that " there was no one like 
 him non est inventus similis illi; " and Sainte Jeanne 
 de Chantal was heard to say that " if God had sent 
 Francis de Sales to teach men, Pere de Condren seemed 
 fit to teach the Angels ; " * the Oratorian Father him- 
 self was as ready to devote the vast stores of his 
 spiritual mind to the humblest as to the most elevated 
 of souls. 
 
 " God made de Condren expressly for the Saints," 
 wrote Cloysault, " and gifted him with the power of 
 leading them to the highest perfection ; there was no 
 path of holiness too marvellous for his immediate 
 apprehension, and indeed he was so versed in such 
 ways that he used to say he believed there to be as 
 many saints living in our day, though more secretly, 
 as in the primitive times of the Church." 2 
 
 There was all the difference between him and most 
 other men, it has been remarked, that there is between 
 one who relates to you the things he has seen with his 
 own eyes and one who only repeats what he has been 
 told. Naturally this deep personal insight into spiritual 
 things gave him great perception not merely of ordi- 
 nary character, but of the spiritual mind and capacity 
 
 1 Vie de M. Olier, p. 60. a Vie, Abbe" Pin, p. 144. 
 
66 PRIESTL Y LIFE IK FRANCE. 
 
 of those he had to deal with, but so far from relying 
 in any way on this, de Condren was always slow to 
 accept the direction of souls. He held that the One 
 Sole Director is God, and he was unwilling to assume 
 that he was God's chosen delegate in the direction of 
 any individual soul, until much prayer on both sides 
 confirmed the belief that it was so. " They could find 
 endless earnest men every one of whom is fitter than 
 me for the office ; " he was wont to say. But when 
 once the office was undertaken, its duties were most 
 faithfully performed, as a direct trust from God. His 
 great object was to teach his penitents to look from 
 him to Jesus Christ as their real Director, and it was 
 remarked that while Pere de Condren's holiness and 
 gentleness and exceeding sympathy bound his spiritual 
 children to him with the strongest ties, he never 
 yielded to any of the natural affection which so often 
 binds souls together, and the real love which he felt 
 for them was singularly governed by an almost un- 
 earthly detachment. " He loved them," says one of 
 his biographers, (after remarking that de Condren's 
 spiritual children were freer from all natural clingings 
 and attachments to their director than is usual;) " solely 
 in and for God, and thus either their natural affection 
 for him died out for lack of meeting any return, and 
 so they left him, or more frequently it became purified 
 and supernaturalised, similarly to his affection for 
 
DE COND REN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 6j 
 
 them. The result was, that while loving his spiritual 
 children with a boundless love, he was perfectly de- 
 tached from them, and they from him." r 
 
 There is certainly something warmer and more 
 attractive in the winning demonstrative affection shewn 
 by S. Francis de Sales or S. Vincent de Paul for those 
 under their guidance, and human nature somewhat 
 recoils from the process by which de Condren caused 
 his penitents to attain to such exceeding detachment. 
 Possibly the eager, warm-hearted Sainte Jeanne de 
 Chantal had some such thought when she spoke of her 
 own beloved spiritual Father as sent to guide men and 
 women, while Pere de Condren was fit to deal with 
 angels ; and some hearts may feel that warm human 
 affection visibly displayed and felt has helped them 
 the better to draw near, and realize the exceeding 
 vastness of that Love which permits, nay encourages, 
 such an intensely familiar approach from the creature 
 It has created and redeemed. It is impossible to deny 
 that the glowing words of affection which fell from 
 Francis de Sales' pen the moment that he took it up 
 to address a child in the faith, draw one in a more 
 confiding spirit to him than the grave, measured, utterly 
 undemonstrative letters of Pere de Condren, amid 
 which anything like an expression of affection can rarely 
 be found. But S. Paul has said that " there are diver- 
 1 Vie, Pin, p. i 4 l 
 
68 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 sities of gifts, but the same Spirit, differences of ad- 
 ministrations, but the same Lord, diversities of opera- 
 tions, but it is the Same God which worketh all in 
 all " (i Cor. xii. 4) ; and doubtless those souls, which 
 through the seemingly chilling system of the one holy 
 man, yet attained the goal we all seek, will equally 
 give God thanks with those who have been led by a 
 more gentle, humanly attractive system. 
 
 From the same point of view Pere de Condren re- 
 frained scrupulously from giving any direction which 
 seemed to come from himself or his own mind. " It 
 does not pertain to me," he used to say, " to pour 
 anything of my own into a soul. It is a sanctuary 
 wherein God dwells, and whatsoever enters without 
 His orders dishonours and profanes it. It is the ex- 
 clusive right of Jesus Christ to appoint the work of 
 His servants, His right to speak to hearts ; it is the 
 Father's right to teach His children; He converts 
 and renews them as the potter a vessel. He Only 
 makes them new creatures ; He regenerates them by 
 His Spirit and His Word; He gives them ears to 
 hear, and a heart to love. It pertains to the Head to 
 prompt every movement of the members." He often 
 drew attention to the way in which our Lord dealt 
 with souls, tarrying, awaiting the right moment to act 
 upon them, professing His inability as Man to do 
 anything without the Father. And above all, he 
 
DE COND REN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 69 
 
 would do nothing without much prayer. Did some peni- 
 tent, rich or poor, seek Pere de Condren's guidance? 
 on his knees he besought God to shew him whether 
 it was the work intended for him to do, and the peni- 
 tent in like manner was bidden to pray earnestly to be 
 guided by God's Will alone in the matter. The charge 
 once accepted, his system was quiet and slow; he dis 
 liked pushing new practices, suddenly changing re- 
 ligious habits, or forcing minds into channels which 
 might not be best adapted to their special needs. 
 " To be conformable to Jesus Christ," he used to say, 
 " we must lead souls on gradually giving them such 
 instruction and such discipline by degrees as they are 
 able to bear, watching their progress, and regulating 
 our steps by their needs. It was thus that our Lord 
 led His disciples gradually on, until they were ready 
 to receive teaching for which at first they had no 
 capacity. It seems to me that you should from time to 
 time leave the souls you are training almost entirely to 
 God ; " (Pere de Condren is writing to a priest who 
 had asked his advice in dealing with certain persons,) 
 " so that they may learn to find all you have taught 
 them, in Him. We must not look to him that 
 planteth or him that watereth in God's work, but solely 
 to Him that giveth the increase. If it was needful for 
 His Disciples that Christ should go away in order that 
 the Holy Ghost might come upon them, we ought to 
 
70 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 be ready to believe that our personal efforts are not 
 indispensable to those we teach, nay, even that some- 
 times they may be hurtful. All that men can do for 
 souls will be simply injurious to them, unless God 
 bless their efforts ; and we are never really useful to 
 anybody without His Divine Guidance. His Hand 
 Alone heals and succours, and the remedies man 
 applies without reference to Him are never effi- 
 cacious." 
 
 The Queen Mother, Marie de Medicis, applied to 
 Cardinal Be'rulle to recommend a suitable confessor 
 for her younger son, Gaston d'OrMans, who was 
 already a source of trouble and difficulty to her, and 
 whose various escapades were a constant source of 
 offence to his brother Louis XIII. and the imperious 
 Prime Minister, Cardinal Richelieu. The Superior of 
 the Oratorians had no doubt in his own mind as to the 
 man he would select for this delicate office, but know- 
 ing de Condren as he did, the Cardinal hesitated to 
 promise his services rashly; so he only told the Queen 
 that there was a member of his Congregation who 
 was endowed by God with every qualification for the 
 task, but that the only hope of obtaining his good 
 offices lay in God's Grace, and that he must pray for 
 guidance in the matter. Accordingly, with much 
 prayer, Cardinal de Be'rulle sounded Pere de Condren, 
 and found him, as he expected, intensely reluctant to 
 
DE CONDREN' S LIFE AND LETTERS. 71 
 
 accept a post which would necessarily withdraw him 
 in a measure from the retirement he loved so much, 
 and renew those ties to the Court which he hoped 
 were broken for ever. However, being pressed by his 
 superior, and feeling that a priest has no right to evade 
 responsibility however unwelcome, if God lays it on 
 him, the Father did not persist in a refusal, and de 
 Be'rulle informed the Queen that he was prepared to 
 give her "his heart's treasure, Pere de Condren," as her 
 son's director. Nevertheless the latter still hoped to 
 be set aside for some fitter person, (as indeed he 
 esteemed every one fitter than himself,) and when the 
 Duke of Orleans came for the first time to the Oratory 
 to prepare for the approaching festival of Whitsun- 
 tide, not having received any positive instructions 
 on the subject, de Condren left his rooms, and was 
 not to be found anywhere. In vain the Superior 
 caused search to be made, while the young Prince, 
 unaccustomed to be kept waiting, fidgeted and grew 
 impatient ; it was some time before the good Father 
 could be found. At last he was discovered in a quiet 
 nook, absorbed in prayer, and the summons to go and 
 confess the Prince was given. Then at once, feeling 
 that it was God's Will, de Condren obeyed, and went 
 to his unwelcome and difficult task, in which he 
 succeeded, if not in controlling the wild boy, whose 
 turbulence and passionate nature were often made use 
 
72 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 of by political parties to the disturbance of family 
 and national peace, at all events in winning Gaston 
 d'Orle'ans' affection; and on more than one occasion he 
 succeeded in reconciling him and his brother Louis 
 XIII. when probably no one else would have been 
 able to do so much. 
 
 Another notable person who, under God's Blessing, 
 owed his wonderful progress in spiritual things to Pere 
 de Condren, was Gaston de Renty, of whom he 
 himself spoke as a saint De Donadieu, afterwards 
 Bishop of Comminges, was another of his spiritual 
 children, and under his guidance was led to leave the 
 army and devote himself to God's special service. So 
 also was Claude Bertraud, known in his day as " the 
 poor priest," and venerated in France for his peculiar 
 devotion to the service of sinners and criminals. It 
 is told oi this " Christian Diogenes," (as he has been 
 called,) that being once pressed by Cardinal Richelieu 
 to ask some favour for himself, he answered readily by 
 a request that the cart which conveyed condemned 
 criminals to execution might be mended, as at present 
 its shattered condition distracted them from attending 
 to his spiritual instructions by the fear of falling through. 1 
 
 " Monseigneur, je prie votre Eminence d'ordonner qu'on 
 mette de meilleures planches a la charrette dans laquelle je conduis 
 les condamne*s au supplice, afin que la crainte de tomber dans la 
 rue ne les de'tourne pas de recommander leur ames a Dieu." S. 
 V. de Paul, Maynard, i. 65. 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 73 
 
 Claude Bertraud's connexion with de Condren 
 began under peculiar circumstances. He was argu- 
 ing one day with a Huguenot, and fell into straits, 
 for his adversary was cleverer than he, and though 
 Bertraud escaped the difficulty at that moment by 
 adroitly turning his opponent into ridicule, he remained 
 inwardly discomfited, and the sting of the Huguenot's 
 argument lingered in his mind. In his vexation Ber- 
 traud hastened to the Oratory, where he asked the 
 porter to fetch the cleverest man in the house to him. 
 The good lay Brother " was not gifted," as Bertraud 
 says, " with discerning of spirits," so he was a good 
 deal perplexed by the request, but like a wise man he 
 went to the Superior, and the result was that de Con- 
 dren came down to the impatient client When how- 
 ever Bertraud saw a man whom he imagined to be one 
 of the youngest members of the Congregation, he was 
 vexed, and turning to the porter he exclaimed rudely 
 that he wanted " the most capable man in the house." 
 (" Cest leflus capable de c'eans queje cherche 1 ") With 
 his wonted humility de Condren bade the porter fetch 
 some other Father, but meanwhile he entered into con- 
 versation with Bertraud, who was forthwith captivated 
 by him, and speedily saw that the porter was not so 
 far wrong as he had thought. 
 
 "I soon saw," he says, "that this was the man for 
 me. I told my tale, and asked the solution of my 
 
74 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 difficulty. After he had explained this, and armed me 
 with the proper answers to my opponent, he began to 
 speak about the things of God with such light and 
 such power, that all my energies were turned in upon 
 myself; my conscience was roused, I saw my own 
 life in its true light, and felt that I must forsake the 
 irregularities in which it abounded in a word, a great 
 change came over my whole mind. Pere de Condren 
 was used to such things, and soon seeing how it was, 
 he recommended certain devotions and considerations 
 to me for a few days, and then left me to God. I 
 had scarcely left him before I longed to return, and 
 my mind was now filled with a very different anxiety 
 to that which first led me to him. All my jesting was 
 replaced by deep meditation ; my mental vision 
 travelled backwards over my past life, and unable to 
 bear with myself, I returned to the good Father and 
 entreated him to hear my general confession, which 
 he did, and after directing me himself for some time, 
 he finally put me into the hands of a Jesuit Father. 1 
 
 Another man whose spiritual life was formed by 
 Pere de Condren was Pierre Bertaud, who, after devot- 
 ing himself in a most remarkable way to reclaim- 
 ing fallen women from their evil lives, died amid an 
 unusual outpour of heavenly consolations. 
 
 Pere de Condren's Oratorian biographers tell at 
 1 Vie, Pin, p. 204. 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 7S 
 
 some length the history of a certain lady named de la 
 Roche, who, in spite of a devout life and earnest piety, 
 was beset with spiritual troubles, from which none of 
 the holy men whose assistance she sought were able 
 to set her free. Madlle. de la Roche's chief trial lay 
 in a peculiar scruple as to her sins. She felt unable 
 to express the real depths of her faults in words when 
 coming to confession, neither could she excite any 
 sufficient contrition in herself, so that she was tor- 
 mented by a belief that her confessions were invalid. 
 Even when her confessors were altogether satisfied, 
 she was not satisfied herself, and she still maintained 
 that she was unable to speak the truth, and therefore 
 unworthy of absolution. Several good men gave up 
 the attempt to quiet this scrupulous conscience, when 
 fortunately for her, she fell into Pfere de Condren's 
 hands, and he at once saw how to deal with her 
 scruples. In reply to her assertion that she had not 
 made, and could not make a proper confession of her 
 sins, he answered, " It is quite true that you have not 
 expressed yourself well, but the fact is that it is 
 impossible for us to see all the real hideousness of sin 
 in this life ; we shall never know its real horror till we 
 see it in God's own Light. Here it is only by the light 
 of faith that we look upon our faults, and that, while 
 it convinces us of sin, fails to shew us all its true 
 loathsomeness. God gives you a hidden impression 
 
76 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 of the exceeding enormity of sin, but He will not give 
 you a full view of it, or the power of expressing it, 
 until the Day of Judgment It is the same with all 
 matters of faith. God gives us a certain conscious- 
 ness of their greatness and depth, but He gives us no 
 more than our ordinary language wherein to express 
 them. So while your faith gives you a profound con- 
 sciousness of your sins, you must be content to 
 express them in such poor words as you can com- 
 mand. It is enough that both you and I clearly 
 understand that they entirely exceed anything that 
 you can tell me. In faith I judge of them as they 
 seem in God's Sight, and thus your self-accusation is 
 right in our Dear Lord's Eyes, and my judgment of 
 them is true." 
 
 This quieted the penitent's fears, but she still 
 thought herself unworthy to receive absolution. " It 
 is true," Pere de Condren answered, " that your con- 
 fession in itself cannot make you worthy of absolution, 
 and after we have done all that lies in our power, 
 Absolution is still purely the result of His Divine 
 Mercy, not anything that we can require of His 
 Justice. But just as we cannot escape His severity 
 if we are disobedient, so neither does it beseem us to 
 prescribe limits to His Goodness when He vouch- 
 safes to extend it to us. You have confessed your 
 sins according to the ruie given you by our Lord 
 
DE CONDREN' S LIFE AND LETTERS. 77 
 
 Jesus Christ, and now, however unworthy you may be 
 of His grace, it is not fitting that you should pretend 
 to be wiser than He, nor to hinder Him from impart- 
 ing it to you. Keep the conviction of your own un- 
 worthiness, but do not meddle with God's Sovereign 
 Power. Of a truth, if you look only at yourself, you 
 cannot hope for mercy ; but turn your eyes on Him, 
 and whatever you may be, submit yourself entirely to 
 His Will." 1 
 
 The needed cure was wrought after this fashion, 
 and Madlle. de la Roche, freed from scruples, served 
 God fervently for the remainder of her life. In her 
 last illness, Pere de Condren, who had continued 
 to guide her soul, was questioning her as to its condi- 
 tion, and she replied, "I feel that God is very rigorous." 
 He then led her to dwell upon the Holiness of God, 
 and His hatred of that corruption of the flesh which 
 besets us in this life. The dying woman answered, 
 " I adore God in all that He is j " and after a pause 
 she added, " I leave the Being which is present to 
 me, and I take refuge in the Unknown Being of God ;" 
 saying which words she breathed her last. Pere de 
 Condren was so struck with these words that he wished 
 to have them engraved on her tomb. 3 
 
 1 Vie, Pin, p. 156. 
 
 " J'adore tout ce que Dieu est. . . Je me sdpare de 1'Etre 
 present, et me retire dans 1'Etre inconnu de Dieu." 
 
78 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 There was another spiritual case which came into 
 Pere de Condren's hands, of a very different character, 
 a poor servant woman in Picardy, who had always led 
 a saintly life, and whose power of realising the Presence 
 of God, mingled with an intense humility, seemed to 
 ensur^ that which we all so earnestly long for final 
 perseverance. But none may reckon in their own 
 strength on such perseverance, and Barbe (her sur- 
 name is not recorded) fell back, her earnestness 
 slackened, she became less careful in prayer, and her 
 spiritual light grew dim. Aroused from this danger 
 by God's Grace, and thereafter having undergone 
 various spiritual trials, the result of which was a more 
 than ordinarily clear perception of the things of God, 
 Barbe became almost overwhelmed with a sense of 
 the weight of sin around her, and both she and her 
 confessor, the Pere Marin, felt convinced that God 
 had some special designs for her. About this time 
 Barbe was taken to Paris by her employers, and one 
 day, while praying in the church of Saint Magloire, an 
 interior voice as from God told her, that if she asked 
 for the holiest and most spiritually-minded of the 
 Oratorians, he would help and comfort her. She told 
 the lay brother who kept the door what she wanted, 
 and he immediately suggested Pere de Condren. 
 But that Father was absent, and when the Superior- 
 General was fetched, Barbe had an instinct that, in 
 
DE COND REN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 79 
 
 spite of all his sanctity and his goodness to her, he was 
 not the man. Pere de Be'rulle saw this too, and he 
 sent her away, promising that she should soon have the 
 help of a Father " who was infinitely beyond himself 
 in the knowledge of God, and who would assuredly 
 be able to relieve her spiritual wants." 
 
 Accordingly, soon after she saw Pere de Condren, 
 and immediately felt that his was the guidance God had 
 promised her. He seemed to comprehend her mental 
 position at once, and one of the first means he took 
 for removing her troubles and strengthening her soul 
 was to give her the privilege of daily communion. 
 When Barbe returned to Compiegne, Pfere de Condren 
 wrote to P. Marin concerning his charge as follows : 
 
 " Dear Reverend Father, May the peace of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ be with you always. 
 
 " I thank Him humbly for granting me the privi- 
 lege of your letters, and of your prayers, as promised 
 me through this worthy soul, who has been trained up 
 by you. 
 
 " I feel incapable of really judging the state either 
 of this soul or any other. All I can do is to be the 
 channel of God's Grace and of His Holy Spirit to 
 her, so far as may be. But it seems to me that she 
 has been given by God to her Crucified Lord, in 
 order that she may suffer and be crucified in spirit 
 with Him, and enter deeply into the Sacrifice which 
 
80 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 He offered on the Cross to His Father. All I should 
 desire, if I may presume to express a wish where 
 God is working, would be that it might please Him 
 to sustain her more under her sufferings, so that she 
 might yield less beneath her infirmities, and that her 
 painful condition might be more hidden under the 
 Strength of Jesus Christ, Who bore a whole world of 
 sorrows and an inconceivable weight of sufferings, 
 without ceasing for one moment to fulfil every claim 
 of God or man. I think it would be well for Barbe 
 to communicate once every month in honour of the 
 Strength and of the Holiness of our Suffering Lord. 
 By His Strength He endured His grievous pangs with- 
 out yielding to them and without any weak demonstra- 
 tion. By His Holiness, He cleaved so wholly to God, 
 with such perfect detachment from all things, from 
 Himself and His Own Sufferings, that they could 
 not in the smallest degree mar the perfect union of 
 His Manhood with God. I trust it may please God 
 to grant Barbe this grace at all events she should 
 ask it, out of obedience, to the end that her sufferings 
 may be more hidden, and that she may do her work 
 in spite of them, foregoing neither her rightful em- 
 ployment nor that interior Cross which she is con- 
 strained to bear. Our Dear Lord in His Childhood t 
 and Infancy both served and suffered in His parents 
 house ; for He bore His Cross even then by anticipa- 
 
DE CONDREWS LIFE AND LETTERS. 81 
 
 tion. Treading in His Steps, Barbe should love both 
 her cross and the duties to which her condition as a 
 servant bind her ; and she ought to ask God, if such 
 be His Will, that she may lose nothing of either the 
 one or the other. If it be otherwise, however, she 
 must not fret, but accept willingly the greater or less 
 degree of grace which it may please Him to give her. 
 
 "Moreover, I hope it may please our Dear Lord to 
 purge out through His Holy Spirit all that remains 
 of self-love and self-complacency in her, so that she 
 may receive His graces in a less earthly spirit At 
 present it seems to me that her natural mind and her 
 senses are too much concerned. . . . We rarely 
 receive God's gifts altogether in the same spirit with 
 which He gives them nature is too apt to claim 
 her part, and to sully that which came in the first 
 instance pure from God. She should pray that God 
 would burn up whatever yet lingers in her of the old 
 Adam, of self and natural impurity ; and she should 
 desire above all things to have all and do all for 
 God's Sake Only. 
 
 " We ought to be ready to lose all things, so that we 
 may find ourselves in God to be nought ourselves, 
 that He may be All to die to all, even those things 
 which He has been pleased to give us, so that He 
 only may live in us through His Own gifts to 
 possess nothing of ourselves, that He may possess 
 
 F 
 
82 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 all things. We must accept a living death, if it be 
 His Will, or the most utter inward desolation and 
 suffering. We ought even to pray Him to keep us 
 in such a state of death, if thereby He lives in us ; of 
 inward poverty and privation wherein He possesses us 
 wholly, and wherein the creature ceases to have any 
 part in us, leaving God to be our sole Possessor. 
 The whole spirit of the Cross of Jesus lies in poverty 
 and suffering, and its only rightful limit is when by 
 death the Christian makes his final sacrifice to God, 
 Who is his End and his Perfection. We may truly 
 say that souls which God has consecrated to Christ 
 Crucified must dwell in an atmosphere of poverty 
 and suffering, must perpetually die to self; must 
 aspire only to sacrifice themselves to God, and to 
 find their consummation in Him Who is the Fulness 
 of their longing and their love a longing which 
 makes them desire that He may be all in all to them 
 omnia in omnibus, the Apostle says; and con- 
 sequently they themselves are nothing." ' 
 
 The earliest biographer of Pere de Condren, Pere 
 Amelote, himself an Oratorian, heard all this woman's 
 history from the Father, and from her own confessor, 
 Pere Marin, and he says that she obtained all these 
 graces to the full, and that de Condren said he had 
 never known any one so deeply versed in Christ 
 ' Lettres, x. 
 
DE CONDREWS LIFE AND LETTERS. 83 
 
 Crucified as she was. He used to go year by year to 
 Compiegne to see Barbe as long as she lived, and 
 watched over the work she was doing by her prayers 
 and example. On one occasion he foretold to Pere 
 Marin that this would be his last visit, and that Barbe 
 would not live much longer. The prediction was 
 fulfilled. She had done the work appointed by her 
 Heavenly Master, and she departed from this life 
 bearing great sufferings with a marvellous patience, 
 and receiving equally abundant consolations. 
 
 Some of Pere de Condren's spiritual letters are very 
 striking in their uncompromising clearness and depth, 
 if a certain lack of warmth of expression makes them 
 seem rather chilling to ardent temperaments. Thus, 
 to one who asked him for some instructions concerning 
 the rule of life already given by another director, he 
 says : 
 
 " This rule appears to me very well framed, and I 
 can neither add to it or take anything away; all I can 
 do is to make some few suggestions as to the way you 
 should seek the needful grace to observe it This 
 good Father has given you a law, as Moses of old 
 gave to the world, but you must needs seek from 
 Jesus Christ the spirit and grace which God will give 
 you in order that you may fulfil it. For although you 
 do not suppose yourself capable of so doing, and 
 though you are convinced that every good thing 
 
PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 comes from the Father of Light, as S. James says, 
 nevertheless you are not sufficiently confirmed in the 
 full knowledge of your own bondage to the law of sin, 
 of your uselessness, your incapacity, your unworthi- 
 ness to serve God, your utter insufficiency and 
 poverty, your urgent need of Jesus Christ and His 
 Grace. Your soul does not yearn enough after its 
 Redeemer; you do not lean sufficiently on His Merits, 
 or look enough to His Grace. 
 
 " God has permitted you to work hard in trying to 
 observe your rule, without making much progress 
 toward the perfection at which you aim, in order that 
 by experience you may see things as they are, and that 
 your own faults may teach you to seek elsewhere than 
 in yourself for power to serve God and overcome sin. 
 It was not God's Will to send His Son into the world, 
 until He had been waited for during four thousand 
 years until the world had tried for two thousand years 
 and found by experience its own powerlessness to 
 keep the Law, or to free itself from sin, as likewise 
 the need it had of a stronger Spirit to resist evil and 
 seek good. And thereby He teaches us that, in order 
 to receive His Grace, we must fully acknowledge our 
 own wretchedness. I pray Him that He would give 
 you a vivid perception that you are a child of Adam, 
 conceived and born in sin, a slave of Satan, incapable 
 of all supernatural good, or of shunning natural evil ; 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 85 
 
 and that there is no way of salvation save by renouncing 
 Adam and all that we inherit from him, renouncing 
 self and self-reliance, giving ourselves wholly to the 
 Son of God, and receiving the Spirit of His Grace. 
 
 " Apply your heart with full and firm faith to the 
 study of Our Dear Lord's words, which tell you that 
 you cannot be free, except 'the Son shall make you 
 free' (S. John viii. 36). And again, * without Him 
 ye can do nothing ' (xv. 5). And S. Paul says that 
 ' we are not sufficient to think anything as of ourselves, 
 but our sufficiency is of God ' (2 Cor. iii. 5). Nor 
 does this merely arise because of the nothingness of 
 the creature, but from that subjection to sin which 
 comes through Adam, and which hinders the life- 
 spring within us. He was a slave, and therefore his 
 children could not be free, neither could he restore to 
 them the grace and friendship of God, of which sin 
 had despoiled him. By God's just judgment we bear 
 ' the yoke of iniquity,' which in Holy Scripture is 
 also called ' the reign of death,' which keeps us from 
 those free good works and perfection suitable to God's 
 children, and sullies all our deeds, making them in- 
 capable of deserving Eternal Life. 
 
 " Remembering all this, you should at least once 
 every day confess your wretchedness to God as seen 
 with His Eyes, and renounce the works of Adam and 
 of self. Renounce your own self-will, and whatever 
 
86 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 you may imagine is in your own power. By nature you 
 have nought save incapacity for any real supernatural 
 good thing, and if you think otherwise you are mistaken 
 it is a mere presumptuous illusion, the result of self- 
 conceit. If we would have any real power to do right, 
 we must seek it by putting self aside, and by living in 
 the Spirit and the Strength of Jesus Christ. 
 
 "After this renunciation, adore Jesus Christ, give 
 yourself unreservedly to Him, ask Him to accept you 
 wholly. Resolve to make over to Him whatever you 
 fancy is your own, come out of yourself, and cast your 
 whole being upon Him, offer up your will, your in- 
 tentions and inclinations, seek to lose them all in 
 His. Ask Him of His great Mercy to draw you from 
 out yourself. Strive to be lost in His Goodness, His 
 Life, His Tenderness, His Love, and that not for 
 your own selfish sake, but for His Glory. Ask 
 nothing but that His Strength may be made perfect 
 in your weakness. 
 
 " Do not be disturbed by the idea that I mean to 
 impose all these prayers upon you daily in the precise 
 form that I have set before you. You should rather 
 be guided by the way in which it may please the 
 Lord to draw you, from day to day. ... As to the 
 resolutions you are wont to form in meditation, hence- 
 forth join to them an act of self-abandonment to the 
 Son of God for their accomplishment Thus, if you 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 87 
 
 are making a resolution to be humble, say, *I give 
 myself to Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, in order that I 
 may enter into the spirit of Thy Humility, that it may 
 lower my pride. I offer to Thee whatever occasions 
 for humility may present themselves ; I renounce 
 whatever of self may hinder me from entering into the 
 Grace of Thy Humility/ You can do the like with 
 all the other graces or good intentions which you 
 seek to offer to God, and thus they will have their 
 foundation laid in Our Lord Jesus Christ, and be con- 
 firmed through God's Grace and Mercy, instead of 
 depending on that hollow reed, yourself. When we 
 offer our good intentions to God, it ought to be with 
 a firm conviction that we are both incapable and 
 unworthy of offering any service to His Majesty, 
 realising that, if we had our deserts, He would not 
 allow us to pretend to offer anything to Him. We 
 must be convinced that it is only through His Good- 
 ness, and the Precious Blood of His Son, that He 
 endures us. How great is our unworthiness, which 
 needed that Blood to purchase for us even a desire 
 to serve His Father, or the right of offering ourselves 
 to Him ! 
 
 " We ought not to marvel, when we fail in our good 
 resolutions, for we are sinners, and God does not owe 
 us His Grace. ' I know,' says S. Paul, ' that in me 
 dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me. 
 
88 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 but how to perform that which is good I find not 
 (Rom. vii. 18). Our weakness is so great that it is 
 not enough that God inspire us with the thought of 
 what is right, He must needs supply the will and 
 resolution to do it ; and even then, unless He vouch- 
 safes us grace to fulfil that will, nothing will come of 
 it Further yet, He must uphold us to the end, and 
 grant us final perseverance. 
 
 "We must desire and ask His Grace, but we must be 
 content with what He gives, and adore His All-Wise 
 Judgment. When we fall, we must not be discouraged, 
 but humbling ourselves, we must persevere more re- 
 solutely, and thank Him for bearing with us, and for 
 giving us the wish to serve Him. If after much toil 
 and labour God vouchsafes us one good thought only, 
 we ought to acknowledge that it is more than we 
 deserve, and accept it as more than sufficient com- 
 pensation for all our efforts." 1 
 
 To a person living in the world, Pere de Condren 
 writes, 
 
 " I pray Jesus Christ to give you His Grace, His 
 Blessing and Peace. 
 
 "Although I am backward in writing, I do not fail to 
 offer the needs of your soul to God, or to pray that 
 He would rekindle and cause to live anew in you the 
 graces of your calling. 
 
 1 Lett res. LiL 
 
DE CONDREWS LIFE AND LETTERS. " 89 
 
 "Give yourself up to Jesus Christ and His Holy Will 
 in a faithful spirit, without any clinging to your own 
 thoughts and feelings, and without dwelling on what 
 goes on within you. There is all the more need for 
 us not to make any capital of the qualities we imagine 
 ourselves to possess, inasmuch as often when we are 
 pleasantly conscious of having very humble thoughts, 
 we find them promptly followed by very vain actions ; 
 and in like manner mere thoughts of our love to God 
 are apt to be followed by acts of very decided self- 
 love. 
 
 "If we give way to a ready belief in what we see or 
 feel in ourselves, we shall easily fancy ourselves filled 
 with God's Grace, when really we are only full of our- 
 selves, and of our own lights. We cannot see or 
 understand the mystery of our natural, animal life, 
 and dare we presume to fancy that we can see or 
 understand the spiritual, supernatural life by which 
 God's Grace dwells in our souls ! Let us beware of 
 such foolish presumption, and never pretend to in- 
 vestigate the secret motions of grace within our souls. 
 Remember S. Paul's words, ' Happy is he that con- 
 demneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth ' 
 (Rom. xiv. 22). 
 
 " Our aim must be to live the simple life of faith, 
 ruling our conduct by our duties, not by our feelings. 
 If these are bad, God forbids us to dwell upon them 
 
90 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 in any way ; and if they are good, we should use them 
 as so many means for leading us to God, not dwelling 
 upon them save in a spirit of humility. The real 
 necessity for us in the spiritual life is that we should 
 be busy in doing, not in looking about to see whether 
 we are doing or not. And above all things we must 
 walk before God in truth, with a single mind. To 
 you in your present state, this is of the utmost import- 
 ance, so that you may faithfully follow the grace of 
 your vocation, simply and heartily obeying that which 
 is laid upon you as from God, without stumbling at 
 what seems to you suitable or the reverse. This is 
 the only way by which you will attain perfectly to a 
 spirit of obedience, which is so far beyond your natural 
 thoughts and feelings. 
 
 * Neglect no opportunities of drawing nearer to God 
 which your calling may afford, and remember that the 
 most trifling incidents of life affect our salvation ; the 
 smallest actions done for God tend to our sanctifica- 
 tion. The Son of God tells us that it is so, when He 
 tells us that God numbers the very hairs of our heads, 
 and that without Him not one of them shall perish. 
 How great is His Love, which so largely rewards the 
 little we do after all, and that little only through His 
 Grace ! He lays a loving obligation on us to have 
 confident recourse to Him every day and every hour 
 of our lives, wheresoever we may be, and in truth it 
 
DE CONDREWS LIFE AND LETTERS. 91 
 
 would be faithless not to believe in His continual Will 
 to do us good. But we must not forget that the good 
 He wills to work for us is in keeping with His Own 
 Greatness and Worth, not moulded upon our self-love 
 and our petty imaginations. 
 
 " I pray our Lord Jesus Christ to give you grace to 
 enter into the spirit of these things, and that you may 
 be as humble and obedient as in my prayers I am 
 constrained to ask that you may be. In His love I 
 remain," 1 &c. 
 
 To another person Pere de Condren writes : 
 
 " As to the first of your questions, you must strive to 
 maintain a spirit of love for God's Will, and of fear 
 lest you do your own will. For although we may be 
 unworthy to do His Will, or to know it perfectly, 
 nevertheless it is always well to renounce our own 
 will for love of Him : and thus if we may not presume 
 to think that we are following His Will, at least we 
 have the comfort of feeling that we are not following 
 our own will. The first step towards fulfilling His 
 Will is to be free from clinging to our own, and if we 
 can get so far as to hate or even to fear our own will, 
 we shall not be very far from that of God. 
 
 "It is a holy practice, while waiting to know what is 
 God's Will, to subject ourselves to that of others for 
 love of Him, and to seek that light and guidance from 
 1 Letties, Ixiii. 
 
92 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 another which we have not in ourselves. This is a 
 matter on which I cannot fully explain myself in 
 writing I hope to have the opportunity of speaking 
 with you concerning it. 
 
 "With reference to your second question, my answer 
 is, you must persevere in your resolutions when once 
 made, unless you have plain proof that you are bound 
 to do otherwise. You should try to do what you have 
 undertaken to God's Glory, and in the Spirit of Jesus 
 Christ, without any further discussion, and without 
 admitting any thoughts of vacillation. You have 
 every reason to hope that when you were seeking to 
 know God's Will as to your conduct, He gave you 
 sufficient light for your right guidance, and these after- 
 thoughts only tend to make you weak and vacillating 
 in His Service, and therefore you must reject them as 
 temptations. 
 
 " As to the third point, concerning your prayer, you 
 know that God's Light often shines amid darkness. 
 There is a great difference between that Divine Light 
 which is invisible and incomprehensible to us, and 
 which, inasmuch as it is Divine, is rather acceptable to 
 God than the cause of conscious satisfaction to one's 
 self, and the natural light which is satisfactory to 
 self a satisfaction which might only tend to foster self- 
 conceit, and so still further estrange us from God's 
 Light. We had better be without such a treacherous 
 
DE CON DREWS LIFE AND LETTERS. 93 
 
 light as this latter, and wait with closed eyes till it 
 pleases God to give us His Own Light wait in 
 patience, in pure faith and simple love. In short, we 
 ought neither to wish for darkness or light, but for 
 God Only, and we must seek Him in His Own Way, 
 as He opens it to us, without self-pleasing or impa- 
 tience." 1 
 
 A penitent had written in trouble about her medita- 
 tion, which was so dry that she felt as though it were 
 time wasted, and she was tempted to give up trying. 
 
 " Do not give up meditation, however difficult you 
 may find it," Pere de Condren replies. " If it pleases 
 God to make it a penance to you, you will not be 
 losing time. Moreover, surely He deserves that we 
 should take some trouble in seeking intercourse with 
 Him, if indeed it can be wearisome to pass a short 
 time in His Presence. The ordinary courtesies of 
 life constrain you often to give up your time to 
 society which is not agreeable, and will you grudge 
 that to God which you give freely to people who are 
 indifferent or displeasing to you, merely out of com- 
 pliance with what custom exacts ? 
 
 "The difficulties which you experience in prayer 
 come from three principal causes: first, because God 
 is seeking to draw you by the spirit of faith, and to 
 wean you from your own selfish thoughts and feel- 
 
 T,ettres. bum. 
 
94 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 ings ; the result of which is that, losing your voluntary 
 action, you imagine all to be lost, even God Himself. 
 Then is the time for you to feel that you must wor- 
 ship God after His Own Mind, and not after yours ; 
 what are our thoughts and our mind before the 
 Majesty of His Presence ! Every earthly creature is 
 thrown into the shade before His Infinite Greatness, 
 and we must lose ourselves to find Him, we must be 
 willing to leave the world of thought we know in 
 order to enter into the unknown realms of His 
 Spirit. 
 
 "The second cause of your difficulty lies in the 
 activity and restlessness of your nature, which is too 
 much disposed to fight against what troubles it. Do 
 not attempt so much ; abide rather in humble adora- 
 tion, realizing that it is a great thing for God to en- 
 dure you in His Presence, that you are only too happy 
 to be able to lose time if it be so, for His Service, 
 that you can offer that part of your day as a sacrifice 
 to Him. It is no small thing to be able even to give 
 up your time to God in His Presence. 
 
 " Your third difficulty arises because God wills that 
 you should, so to say, do penance before Him and in 
 His Presence. You must unite your will with His, 
 and the more you do this, and the more you enter 
 into His Plans, the less you will feel disturbed by your 
 troubles the love of penitence, and a reverent sub- 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 95 
 
 mission to God's appointments, will make you not 
 merely bear them, but accept them willingly. Con- 
 sider what you are, and what God is ; reflect upon 
 the shortness of this life and the Eternity of that 
 which is to come ; the little that you have hitherto 
 done, the uselessness of that little, and of all that 
 Jesus Christ has done for you, and thus kindle your 
 heart to greater love of God. It is only during this 
 life that you can in any sense dispose of yourself. 
 Render to God the time He grants you now, and He 
 will give you a blessed Eternity." l 
 
 On the same subject, Meditation, Pere de Condren 
 writes : " I should advise you once in every week to 
 take the Most Holy Trinity as the subject of your 
 meditation, adoring that Holiness, compared with 
 which none can be- accounted holy. Adore the 
 Power, the Goodness, the Justice, the Mercy, the 
 Eternity, the Immensity, the Infinity, and the other 
 boundless Perfections of the Blessed Trinity, pausing 
 on whichever God may most draw you to consider. 
 Give yourself unreservedly to the Most Holy Trinity, 
 ask that God's Name may be hallowed, His Kingdom 
 come, His Will be done, and ask Him to help you to 
 do it. 
 
 " Secondly, Consider how the Three Divine Persons 
 1 Lettres, Ixxix. 
 
96 PKIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 are one in thought, in will, in love, in life, in Being; 
 ever One though Three, in perpetual and perfect 
 union, in perfect rest and fruition. Neither man nor 
 angels can in any way be compared to this. Kindle 
 your heart to love and adore this Divine Fellowship; 
 ask grace to honour It duly. Seek a blessing on 
 yourself and on the Church. 
 
 "Thirdly, Adore the Blessed Trinity as having 
 created all things, as having given you the power 
 to use your own faculties and the things around you. 
 Make a most humble thanksgiving, and entreat grace 
 to use all as He would have you do. Give yourself 
 up to follow any holy aspirations God may grant you. 
 
 " Once in the week too, I advise you to meditate on 
 the Second Coming of the Son of God, once on the 
 Passion, and once on the life of the Blessed Virgin. 
 You will also find it very helpful to meditate once a 
 week on Death, Judgment, Heaven and HelL I need 
 not suggest the considerations which these subjects 
 will supply. You can also take such subjects as the 
 services for the week bring before you, or such as 
 yonr personal circumstances or inclinations may 
 suggest 
 
 " Further, and indeed above all things, do not let 
 yourself grow disheartened, or be cast down, by 
 depression or scruples. Keep to your rule as con- 
 cerns confession, and make it, without shewing your 
 
DE COND REN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 97 
 
 confessor how difficult it is to you, or shew it as little 
 as may be. Give yourself up to God in your con- 
 fession; tell what you remember of your faults in a 
 spirit of humility and contrition, and if you grow con- 
 fused, and do not know how to go on, stop at once, 
 mentioning some of your ordinary faults of infirmity 
 for instance, 'I accuse myself of my want of true 
 penitence, of the time I have frittered and wasted, of 
 my lack of humility/ and the like. When you feel 
 unable to make a beginning, accuse yourself of your 
 misspent time, your want of resignation and of energy 
 and courage in obeying God, and of your many 
 unperceived faults, and then go on with what you 
 remember. It is enough that you go to confession 
 once a week, though you 'communicate three times. 
 If you feel any special need to disburden your mind 
 you might go again in the week, but never more, and 
 not that habitually. I do not think it would be well 
 under your present circumstances for you to com- 
 municate through whole Octaves, it would attract too 
 much attention, but you might add one or two com- 
 munions at such seasons. 
 
 " As to your inward troubles and fears, do not be 
 disturbed. They are a trial in which you must trust in 
 God, and abide faithful to Him. Though you may 
 fancy that your will has yielded, it is not so, and amid 
 the weariness of the contest, you are no judge. Con- 
 
98 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 sequently you must be very constant to the rule given 
 you, namely unless you are so sure that you could 
 swear to having yielded freely for five minutes to an 
 evil thought, you are not to make it a subject of con- 
 fession, but rest satisfied with heartily renouncing it 
 before our Lord in heart and word, or by some 
 external act, such as kissing the ground, or making the 
 sign of the Cross ; and you are not to abstain from 
 Communion. You ought to abide quietly and con- 
 tentedly in this prescribed rule; while you obey it you 
 are right with God and with your conscience, and it is 
 not your business to sit in judgment on your own soul, 
 so long as you strive to serve God humbly according 
 to the instructions you receive in His Name. 
 
 " Let your Communions be very humble. Make 
 them not for yourself but for God's Glory, for His Hon- 
 our on earth, for the good of the Church and the souls 
 He loves. You are one in the Body of our Dear Lord, 
 of His Mother, of all the Saints, and as such you must 
 work with them. You must strive to enter into their 
 mind, and seek to live their life. Cast off self to do 
 this, and by degrees you will do it more readily. Let 
 it be done cheerfully, and with a full dedication to 
 God" 1 
 
 Writing to one who complained of his inward per- 
 plexities, Pere de Condren says : 
 1 Lcttres, Ixxx. 
 
DE CONDREWS LTFE AND LETTERS. 99 
 
 " May our Lord Jesus Christ be ever with you, and 
 vouchsafe you the strength and support which you 
 need in His service. Give yourself to Him con- 
 fidently, and rest assured that all the little cares which 
 trouble you will turn to your salvation. If you can 
 help it, try not to heed them ; accustoming yourself to 
 perform every action in that measure of grace and 
 strength which God wills to give you, rather than 
 dwelling upon the hindrances with which you are 
 tempted, and which will vanish as soon as you cease 
 to need them. We are nothing and can do nothing 
 of ourselves, and consequently it is a favour from God 
 when He permits you to realise your own powerless- 
 ness and your absolute need of His Help in your 
 most ordinary actions. You should thank Him for so 
 doing, and rejoice that you are constrained by your 
 own poverty to do all things through the abundance of 
 His riches. 
 
 " Be quite sure that since God permits the tempta- 
 tion, He will also supply help, and as it is His Will 
 that you stand in special need of Him, He is sure not 
 to fail you. His Word is true, and it tells us that He 
 is ever with His children in the hour of trial and will 
 not suffer them to be tempted above that they are 
 able; that we can do all things to which we are 
 called, in the strength of His Spirit. Therefore it 
 behoves you to give yourself up to Him in perfect 
 
TOO PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANC K. 
 
 confidence, and so to fulfil all your duties, whether 
 towards God or man, towards the public as an official, 
 or towards your own family, as freely and fully as if 
 you had the most vivid consciousness of that uphold- 
 ing Grace ; and that because faith gives us so much 
 more certain assurance than even our own sense and 
 experience can give. I would far rather know by 
 God's own Promise that His Help is ever present, 
 and that He wills me to live by His Holy Spirit, and 
 be led by His Grace, than merely to feel it to be so, 
 and realise His Guiding Hand by my own conscious- 
 ness. My own feeling and experience might be 
 deceived, and might mislead me, but God is Infallible, 
 and where He speaks, our reason and senses have no 
 further claim to be heard. The purer His Grace, the 
 less it becomes mingled with our senses; the more 
 Divine, the more incomprehensible it should suffice 
 us to believe, and to act in that strength without 
 aiming at an earthly appreciation thereof. 
 
 "As to your Communions, do not fail to commu- 
 nicate on Festivals, Sundays, and Thursdays, and 
 from time to time, when no festival occurs during the 
 week, on Saturday. Under your present inconvenient 
 circumstances, if your communions have to be dimin- 
 ished, accept the privation in union with the many 
 privations borne in this world by the Son of God and 
 His blessed Mother; borne, as these chiefly were, 
 
DB CONDREWS LIFE AND LETTERS. ' itol 
 
 because they would not rise beyond the ordinary 
 level of those around them. In the same spirit of 
 reverence for that state of privation, you might some- 
 times profitably deprive yourself of something, but it 
 must be done in complete secrecy, and without being 
 known to the world, or God would not have His part 
 therein. 
 
 " I am very glad that you are satisfied with 
 M. A., 1 and to hear of her goodness and her useful- 
 ness among the poor. If you had not told me what 
 she does, I should have known nothing about it, for 
 she does not tell me when she writes. Still, if there 
 should be any threat of plague or other epidemic, you 
 must forbid her to go into it at once. But so far as 
 the wounded and ordinary sick are concerned, it is a 
 good work to minister to them, and God will reward 
 both her for doing it, and you for allowing her to do 
 so, and for taking pleasure in her good works. 
 
 " I am most affectionately and always yours." 2 . . . 
 
 The same lesson of preferring faith to feeling is 
 continually pressed home in his letters. It is forcibly 
 expressed again as follows to a friend : 
 
 "May our Lord Jesus Christ be your Life, your 
 
 Guide, and your Strength, in all your ways, and in all 
 
 the works He may be pleased to commit to you. 
 
 Never pause to dwell on whatever you feel in yourself 
 
 1 His wile. * Lettres, No. Ixxxi. 
 
* Di PKILSTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 of weakness or of strength, of light or of darkness, but 
 live on in that simple faith, of which the apostle speaks 
 when he says, 'the just shall live by faith,' without 
 squandering your energies in analyzing feelings and 
 the like. Do not imagine yourself to be weak because 
 you feel weak, or strong because you feel strong. 
 S. Peter believed himself to be strong, but was weak 
 when the Son of God warned him that ' the spirit is 
 ready but the flesh is weak;' and S. Paul believed 
 himself to be weak, though he was strong when 
 he said, ' when I am weak then am I strong ' (2 Cor. 
 xii. 10). 
 
 " God sees and judges us truly, but as to our feelings 
 and judgments concerning ourselves, the only thing 
 we can be sure of in them is, that we ought not to 
 trust to them. However weak we may feel, we ought 
 firmly to believe that His Divine Grace will suffice us 
 for life and holiness, and remembering this we should 
 go boldly at whatsoever He sets before us or calls us 
 to do, and in like manner, however vigorous or fervent 
 we may feel, we must remember S. Peter's words, 
 'nolitc percgrinari in fervor ej* but walk in that faith 
 which promises us that we can do all things in Him 
 Who strengtheneth us. Amid his manifold tribula- 
 
 ' i S. Peter iv. 12. The English does not convey quite the 
 same meaning as the words quoted by de Condren from the 
 Vulgate. 
 
DE CONbREWS LIFE AND LETTERS. 103 
 
 tions S. Paul appealed to God, and the answer he 
 received was that we have nought in us save death; 
 we live under its sentence; of ourselves we have only 
 condemnation, helplessness, inutility, in order that 
 all our trust may be in Him Which raiseth the dead. 
 ' We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we 
 should not trust in ourselves, but in God Which raiseth 
 the dead, Who delivered us from so great a death, 
 and doth deliver, in Whom we trust that He will yet 
 deliver us' (2 Cor. i. 9, 10). Study the whole of 
 this passage ; it will comfort you. Give yourself up to 
 Him Which raiseth the dead, so that through His 
 Divine Grace you may be able to fulfil all your duties, 
 both those which come upon you from without, and 
 those which God's Providence has laid upon you 
 within your family and yourself. Pray for me." 1 
 
 Again, to one suffering under temptation, he 
 writes, 
 
 " I have read your letter very carefully. Of a truth 
 it kindles my pity, not so much because of the mag- 
 nitude of your trouble, as because you find it so diffi- 
 cult to use a remedy, which in itself is most easy and 
 acceptable. For what can be more desirable than to 
 live in our Lord ; what more to be wished than that 
 you might be drawn from these vexing thoughts of 
 temptation, to be engrossed with so holy and attractive 
 LeUies, No. Ixxxiii, 
 
104 PRIES 'TL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 an object ? And what can be more annoying than to 
 be distracted from peaceful happy thoughts of our 
 Dear Lord, and find ourselves plunged in troubles and 
 worries which disperse such slender devotional powers 
 as we may possess, and make our service of God so 
 difficult ? You know so well by experience that no- 
 thing relieves you so much as opening your heart to 
 some one who loves you ; why ? except that in so 
 doing you cease to dwell and brood over yourself and 
 that which hinders you ? But most assuredly no one 
 loves your soul half so much as our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 He is All-Powerful to help you. No one else can 
 help you, save through Him, but He can help you 
 alone ; and be quite sure that if you pour out your 
 heart and commune with Him, you will find wonderful 
 relief. I can quite believe that at first you will find 
 some difficulty, and that your mind will relapse into 
 the train of thought which is most habitual to it you 
 have acquired a habit, your mind has got a warp 
 which cannot be overcome all at once, but by degrees 
 you will succeed with God's Grace. He will not fail 
 to bear the heaviest weight of your trouble, and to 
 draw you gently to Him. Let Him do His Will; 
 let yourself be drawn ; and when you feel that you 
 have fallen into your old troubles, make a vigorous 
 effort to rouse yourself by fixing your mind on some 
 good thought. Picture Him as stretching out His 
 
DE CONDREWS LIFE AND LETTERS. IO$ 
 
 Arms to you, offering you His Help, calling you to 
 hold converse with Him ; and longing, far beyond 
 anything you can imagine, that you should dwell in 
 Him and He in you. You have a thousand individual 
 reasons for believing all this as concerns yourself, 
 independently of what He has done for the whole 
 world by His Incarnation, His Labour, His Passion. 
 I want you rather to dwell on what you have seen 
 and felt yourself. You have often confessed to me 
 and indeed we may both say the same, that our 
 Lord has done more for you in certain ways than you 
 would wish ; that He has given you greater grace and 
 power to mortify your natural self, than you would 
 have chosen if left to yourself. Surely here is a proof 
 that our Dear Lord cares more for your welfare than 
 you do yourself. I realise this in myself too well not 
 to be sure that it is so with you and many others. 
 Besides, how many mercies He has dealt to you, 
 which you little recked of ! All the evil we do not 
 commit, all the temptations to which we do not con- 
 sent, or which never visit us ; all our holy thoughts 
 and good intentions, all our longings after that which 
 is right, are so many witnesses of His Loving Kind- 
 ness towards us ; for faith teaches us that without 
 Him we can do nothing. How could He help you 
 thus unless He cared for you? Surely all this not 
 merely proves, but must press home to your heart, 
 
!o6 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 that our Lord cares for you, and that He cares for 
 you more than you care for yourself. If sometimes 
 thoughts of an opposite kind beset you, drive them 
 away as presumptuous, unreal, and harmful. They 
 are but some of the lies which tempt those who give 
 heed to them ; they generally come before the mind 
 when it is troubled by some temptation, just as 
 dazzling sparks flit before a man's eyes under the 
 influence of a stunning blow. Judge any such mis- 
 givings as you would judge of such lights, arising 
 from a mere accident, and deceitful accordingly. 
 
 " Remember how often you make mistakes as to 
 your fellow-men, and how many unfair hasty judgments 
 you make concerning them. Well then, be sure that it 
 is not concerning your neighbours only that we come 
 to hasty conclusions we do the same with respect to 
 God Himself, and that not unfrequently, because we 
 do not sufficiently submit our minds to His direction. 
 So too we make mistakes with respect to ourselves, 
 one while judging ourselves as better, another time as 
 worse than we really are, owing to the very scanty 
 knowledge which we really possess of ourselves and 
 of God's Grace working in us. But indeed, our 
 faulty judgment is too recognised a fact to need more 
 words. Only bear in mind how often it has misled 
 you, and beware of it. Open the eyes of your mind, 
 and be sure that unless our Lord cared for you, 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 107 
 
 He would not sustain your life, He would not pre- 
 serve you from the Evil One; He would not have 
 given me the power or the will to help you. There 
 is no love save that which comes from the Son of 
 God; if then you believe that your relations, your 
 friends, your confessors that I myself care for you, 
 you must own that He has taught us to do so, and 
 therefore that He cares for you, and cares far more 
 than I or the best of friends or relations can do. I 
 know that you believe all this, and I am not urging it 
 in order to make you believe, but rather because I 
 want you to bring it to bear upon your mistaken 
 feelings, and so measure their deceptive character 
 fairly. 
 
 "I had almost forgotten to answer you concerning 
 the austerities you have a mind to practise. But I 
 should reckon the thought to be a delusion of the Evil 
 One, if by austerities you mean fasting, or anything 
 calculated to diminish your bodily strength, which 
 is already very insufficient ; indeed, your temptations 
 arise partly from physical weakness, and to add to 
 that would be a sure way of increasing those tempta- 
 tions. In imposing very little of penance upon you, 
 I had in view that your ailments would partly supply 
 what was lacking, and an exact obedience to your 
 rules do the rest. If I could have given you strength 
 of body and mind instead of any penance, I would 
 
roS PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 gladly have done so, for knowing how feebly you 
 observe the obligations which already bind you, I do 
 not think it well to lay anything fresh upon you. 
 As you think your malady so serious, you certainly 
 ought not to seek any further penitential practices, 
 especially what might make you worse, and lessen 
 your power of bearing it, and of keeping your rule. 
 Believe me, your penance henceforth is to bear your 
 malady in patience, offering it to our Lord in peni- 
 tence, and as an atonement for your faults. 
 
 " By your malady, I mean all that you suffer, espe- 
 cially your temptations and your spiritual difficulties. 
 Pray, then, get rid of this injudicious desire for austeri- 
 ties, and devote yourself to the Humanity of our 
 Lord, as I said before. Use Da Ponte as a founda- 
 tion for your meditations on that Sacred Humanity, 
 and keep the results in mind all through the day, 
 above all when any temptation tries you. Take one 
 subject every morning, and think it over as often as 
 you are able through the day. This does not require 
 any lengthy meditation. I mean you to keep your mind 
 filled with a loving remembrance of the Divine Man- 
 hood, as seen in whatever mystery you have chosen 
 for consideration. This is the way to overcome 
 temptation, humbling yourself in His Holy Presence, 
 and confessing that in Him lies all your strength; 
 but I would never have you argue with your tempta- 
 
DE CONDREWS LIFE AND LETTERS. 109 
 
 tions. Indeed, I desire you never even to listen to 
 them, under any pretext, but rather turn aside in acts 
 of adoration, humiliation, love, or what you will, 
 towards our Lord. This I believe to be what is 
 necessary for you. Make continuous efforts always to 
 represent our Saviour to yourself as Loving, full of 
 compassion, bearing your cross and beckoning you to 
 Him. Never dwell on the thought of Him as your 
 Judge, or under any severe aspect \ so long as we live 
 and can repent, He is our Advocate. Do not torture 
 yourself needlessly. Avoid terrifying subjects of 
 meditation ; let your soul feed upon your Dear Lord, 
 in Whom Alone you will find the true remedy for all 
 your temptations, the thought of His Love for you. 
 Shun dwelling upon yourself and your own offences 
 as you would shun hell. Nobody should ever dwell 
 on these save in humiliation, and in love to the Lord, 
 Who has refrained from their immediate chastisement 
 and has waited for the culprit's repentance. Look 
 upon yourself certainly as a sinner of a truth there 
 are many Saints now in Heaven who have been 
 sinners. That should be enough for you." 
 
 On the same subject : 
 
 " The temptations which you are bearing are not 
 intended to overwhelm you, but to humble you, to 
 teach you patience, and to constrain you to seek God, 
 more than hitherto. These are the three uses to 
 
/ ro PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 which you should turn your trials, instead of the dis- 
 couragement and depression to which you seem to be 
 giving way. I recommend you, in order to gather 
 more strength under your troubles from the Lord, to 
 ask leave to spend a quarter of an hour daily before 
 the Blessed Sacrament, in honour of His Forty Days 
 in the wilderness, when He vouchsafed to be tempted 
 for our sake. If your health will not admit of this 
 extra devotion, you can take it out of your usual time 
 of meditation. Try therein to adore the Son of God, 
 and intreat Him to take charge of your soul when 
 under temptation, claim His All-powerful Help, con- 
 fessing your own helplessness, and then give yourself 
 up wholly to Him, for what can hell itself do against 
 His Grace? Be at peace under the shelter of His 
 Wings. The Apostle tells the Romans that there is 
 no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus 
 (Rom. viii. i). Strive to be in Christ Jesus then, so 
 that temptation and the power of sin may have no 
 hold upon you. You will be in Him if you renounce 
 yourself, sin and all else, in order to be solely His, 
 giving yourself sincerely to Him. I beseech Him of 
 His Grace to grant you this in the spirit of faith it 
 is your true remedy. 
 
 " In the next place, humble yourself as the greatest 
 sinner in the world ; the vilest not only in your house, 
 but in all the earth ; as deserving to be given up to 
 
DE CONDREtfS LIFE AND LETTERS. in 
 
 your sins, as meriting nothing save the evil thoughts 
 which beset you. For in truth, if God were strictly 
 just both to you and me, we should have nothing 
 better than such thoughts as those of the lost, among 
 whom we deserve to be. 
 
 " Thirdly, accept from God's Hand all the distress 
 which these temptations cause you as a punishment 
 for your past sins, and in honour of the Sufferings of 
 the Son of God in His Life and His Death, asking 
 Him to enable you to do this sincerely. If your 
 mind should be so disturbed that you cannot repress 
 its temptations, make these acts aloud, or use some 
 other vocal prayers to the same end. Be very care- 
 ful in all your confessions, to offer the shame of your 
 faults in honour of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who vouch- 
 safed to bear the shame of sins which He had not 
 committed on the Cross. I believe, indeed I am 
 sure, that you think yourself faulty in many things 
 without such being really the case but till we meet, 
 I can give you no better counsel than this. So do 
 not be weary of bearing the reproach of sin with our 
 Dear Lord, He on His Cross and you in confession, 
 as far as your confessors allow for the more you can 
 humble yourself in confession, the greater will be 
 your strength in temptation. 
 
 " Take delight in your work as far as obedience and 
 your bodilv strength permit of, but in beginning each 
 
1 12 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 action offer it, by some short mental aspiration, in 
 honour of Christ Crucified. You should leave to Him 
 the care of your salvation, while your part is to do or 
 bear, for His Sake, whatever comes to hand ; so doing 
 you may rest satisfied that He will not forsake you. 
 
 " I give you as large a share as I can of my prayers 
 and devotions, and I ask our Dear Lord to give you 
 more and more effectually than I can do. I ask to 
 share in your spiritual troubles, a portion which I 
 count as more precious than anything which I can 
 give you. S. Paul says that it is a great thing to 
 suffer for God's Sake a dignity which the world 
 knows not, because it is not of the world. May you 
 receive its blessing on earth, and its crown in 
 Heaven." 
 
 The two following letters are singularly adapted to 
 help that class of minds who are inclined to confuse 
 temptation and sin, and to feel miserable and guilty 
 because they are sorely tempted, though all the time 
 they are earnestly resisting the temptations. 
 
 " I beseech our Lord Jesus Christ to be with you 
 in the perfection of His Holy Love, and in that 
 blessed union to work out His Own Glory and your 
 salvation, as indeed I trust He will do of His Infinite 
 Mercy. 
 
 " There are one or two things I would say to you. 
 1 Lettres, No. xci. 
 
DE COND KEN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 113 
 
 And first, the state of temptation in which your mind 
 is will not destroy your soul j I tell you so as a message 
 from God. Therefore you must patiently bear with 
 these thoughts of despair or reprobation, and not 
 believe in them. God permits the lying spirit to tor- 
 ment you with such thoughts in order that you may 
 ' sorrow to repentance and salvation,' as S. Paul says 
 (2 Cor. vii. 10). Next, I want to say, you may ask 
 God to deliver you from these troubles, if it is His 
 Will, but you should not be too eager about obtaining 
 deliverance or peace of mind, nor ask it too urgently. 
 Rather resign yourself to God's Holy Will ; cling to 
 the Cross of Christ with a patient heart, entreat Him to 
 uphold you in this path of sorrow and humiliation, and 
 be content if He wills to keep you in it all your life. 
 
 " Lastly, as a rule, the sins of thought of which you 
 believe yourself guilty are not sins ; they are rather 
 the result of a wile of the Evil One, who disturbs your 
 mind, and makes you imagine that you are entertaining 
 thoughts, which in fact you are only enduring for His 
 Sake Who bore our sins, without committing any of them 
 or being touched by their guilt Be sure that God, 
 looking on you lovingly, as following in His Dear Son's 
 Footsteps, is often pitying and blessing you when you 
 condemn yourself most severely. Not that I would 
 have you cease to know yourself to be sinful, or 
 to humble and confess yourself. The hidden judg- 
 
i 14 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 ment of God to which I allude does not exempt you 
 from the duties of penitence ; it leaves the cross and 
 burden of sin, without the malice thereof, through the 
 Merits of the Son of God, Who bore our griefs and 
 carried our sorrows, as the Prophet Isaiah and S. 
 Paul tell us, only without spot or stain of sin. At the 
 same time let your words in confession be few and 
 simple ; diffuseness and dwelling on such things have 
 an unfortunate tendency to renew their attacks. You 
 say that you often cannot remember these temptations 
 in confession probably that is because God conceals 
 them from your mind, which is inclined to dwell over- 
 much upon them. Be sincere and simple in confes- 
 sion, and when it is made do not begin tormenting 
 yourself as to how it has been done." 1 
 
 "There is no reason to be disheartened by the 
 distressing state of mind you are in just now. It is 
 rather a reason to have more earnest recourse to God, 
 Who is the strength of the weak, and Who has pro- 
 mised His Help in every time of need. I am con- 
 vinced that you are not guilty of the faults you imagine 
 owing to your mental condition so do not be troubled 
 or give up your ordinary devotions, and keep to 
 your rules as to confession. Thus, do not confess 
 yourself guilty of consenting to these evil suggestions 
 unless you are sure that you gave way to them deliber- 
 * Lcttres, No. xciL 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 115 
 
 ately for a quarter of an hour. While I am satisfied 
 that even when you think you have consented to them 
 you are rather under a delusion than really guilty, still 
 I would rather counsel you to subject yourself to a 
 considerable extent to the humiliation of confession 
 such humiliation is one of the fruits which God 
 causes to grow from out temptation. 
 
 "Of course you should not justify yourself, but 
 rather accuse yourself before God, and only make use 
 of what I say in order to avoid being discouraged ; 
 we must always humble ourselves before God. Still, 
 as the tendency of these temptations is not so much 
 to make you offend Him, as to harass yourself with 
 scruples, and as you are disposed to give way to an 
 unreasonable distress, it is better for you not to dwell 
 upon your temptations or confess them, unless you 
 have distinctly parleyed with them as before said. 
 Neither would I have you tire yourself out with acts 
 of resistance. One of the objects of the Enemy is to 
 injure your health and weaken you so that you may 
 be a still easier prey. You can see how incapable your 
 increased headaches make you. Therefore, while your 
 faith in God's Help grows stronger, it is not desirable 
 that you add to your external acts of devotion towards 
 Him. When temptation arises, offer yourself to your 
 Lord and His Glory, by bearing whatsoever He will, 
 with a firm faith that He will help you better than 
 
1 16 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 man or Angel, however loving, for God is Love itself; 
 and with full confidence that He is as well able to 
 lead you through darkness as light, through temptation 
 as through peace and tranquillity. 
 
 " We are apt to condemn ourselves at the very 
 moment when most justified of God ; and when we 
 are best satisfied with ourselves perhaps He condemns 
 us. You may not be able to find comfort in doing 
 as I bid you, but nevertheless persevere. If one feels 
 unable to make an interior act before God, it is well 
 to make it verbally, and as I have often told you, to 
 do that in a spirit of faith which we are not able to do 
 as a matter of feeling. Besides, when you have fulfilled 
 your duty to God, you ought to turn from your troubles, 
 and put aside these excessive fears which cramp and 
 weaken your spiritual life, rather giving yourself up to 
 your Lord, Who Alone can save you. You know well 
 enough that you cannot save yourself all you can do 
 is to weary yourself in vain, and make yourself ill." x 
 
 Many of Pere de Condren's letters are eminently 
 practical, and enter with minute detail into the 
 spiritual life, e.g. the following on self-examination : 
 
 " We ought to make three daily self-examinations, 
 of which the chief is that in the evening, which 
 should be made before the Son of God as a con- 
 fession. Three things are to be attended to in this. 
 1 Lettres, No. ixxxvi. 
 
DE CONDREWS LIFE AND LETTERS. 117 
 
 " First, that we adore the Son of God in His 
 capacity of Judge, because He it is that will judge 
 us, and we must not wait till death to meet Him as 
 such. Love and faithfulness constrain us to do now 
 what then we shall have to do as a necessity there- 
 fore let us lay bare our conscience to Him now and 
 await His Judgment. 
 
 " Secondly, we must adore Hirr> as Priest for He 
 is not only our Judge, but our High Priest, to Whom 
 we are bound to confess our sins and give account 
 for the day past. To this end we must ask the aid 
 of His Light, that we may see plainly wherein we 
 have displeased Him during the day; for our own 
 light is insufficient to shew us all the faults we 
 have committed, above all, in the supernatural life. 
 There are many reasons for earnestly asking this 
 Light, one of the foremost being our blindness 
 to our own faults, which faults our self-love conceals, 
 our ignorance omits, and our weakness extenuates. 
 Having asked this light, the next thing is to make 
 a general review of the day's actions, looking at 
 our omissions rather from our Dear Lord's point 
 of view than from our own. It is well to observe 
 that, in making this review, we ought not to dwell 
 specially upon our good works, even in thanksgiving. 
 There are always blemishes in them, and we have no 
 right to judge them to be wholly good for the 
 
1 18 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Church herself has no commission to make any such 
 individual judgments before the Second Coming of 
 the Son of God. At the same time, in order to 
 avoid ingratitude, we should thank God for His 
 Infinite Grace and Goodness as given to each one 
 of us. 
 
 "Next, we should make an act of contrition, or 
 sorrow for sin, because it is displeasing to God. Then 
 give ourselves absolutely to Jesus Christ, for the 
 coming night especially, and for the morrow and our 
 whole life, that He may fulfil all His Holy Will in us, 
 and do with us what He pleases, so that we may be 
 tools in His Hand to obey and serve Him perfectly. 
 If, during such self-examination, we feel perplexed 
 after having done all that lies in our power, it is well 
 to ask our Guardian Angel to adore the Son of God 
 as our Judge, and to be our accuser before Him, so 
 that nothing may be left unsaid or unforgiven. 
 
 " The morning examination should be no less care- 
 fully made than this at night, since while one helps to 
 correct our past faults, the other warns and forearms 
 us against those into which we are liable to fall. God 
 has given us memory to deal with the past, and fore- 
 sight for the future. To us it appertains to use both 
 rightly; our memory to give God Glory, and strive to 
 destroy the work of sin in us ; foresight to consider 
 how we can spend the day now beginning better than 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 119 
 
 its predecessors, so that each day may tend to raise 
 the whole tone of our life. 
 
 "In this examination we must again adore our 
 Lord as the very Principle of our life and actions, 
 since without Him we can do nothing that is good or 
 acceptable to God. In this capacity there are three 
 points to be considered : 
 
 " I. His dominion and right over whatever we do. 
 Everything is His, our days, our minutes, and all our 
 powers, our body and all its members, our actions 
 and labours ; for we have nothing save through His 
 Favour ; and, ' Ye are not your own,' S. Paul says. 
 
 "II. The light, guidance and direction He will 
 give us. Since all our actions are His, He will guide 
 us to fulfil His intention and desire. And 
 
 " III. The grace, strength and power, with which 
 He will enable us to do all perfectly through Himself. 
 'I can do all things through Christ which strength- 
 eneth me,' S. Paul says. 
 
 " Now, in order to do all this faithfully, we must 
 begin by giving ourselves to our Dear Lord, and 
 dedicate all our most trifling duties to Him ; we must 
 renounce all self-guidance for His only; we must ask 
 grace and strength from Him to fulfil His Will. 
 Then we must glance over the duties of the day, 
 with a view to fulfilling them better and more earnestly, 
 and it is well to do the same with respect to our devo- 
 
1 20 PRIESTL Y LIFE 1A T FRANCE. 
 
 tional exercises. It is well, too, briefly to foresee such 
 occasions of falling as may be likely to arise, so as to 
 prepare ourselves to meet them, and be armed with 
 remedies, beseeching our Lord that we fall not. 
 
 " The mid-day examination differs from that made 
 at night, wherein we come before our Lord as Judge; 
 for in this we honour Him as the Head of Which we 
 are members, as our Life-Giver, the Ruling Spirit of 
 all we do. In the evening examination we should go 
 into our sins against God's Law ; in this at mid-day 
 examining what faults we have committed in that 
 inner life, and in our Christian vocation, which calls 
 for so great watchfulness. We must see whether all 
 our actions have been done in a right spirit, whether 
 they have been guided by His Holy Will, whether we 
 have acted up to the inspirations God has given us, 
 specially in the particular points which we feel that 
 He sets before us in our way, as also what have been 
 our shortcomings in those respects. It is well to take 
 some two or three points week by week, such as self- 
 abnegation and renunciation, and dependence on 
 God's Holy Spirit going on the next week to what 
 we most need in order to meditate well, and so on. 
 
 " In all this consider the misuse we make of those 
 tendencies to good which Jesus Christ has given us, 
 how we reject His inspirations and fail to second His 
 impulses. Again, our misuse of His mysteries, not 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 121 
 
 honouring Him in them as we ought, although we need 
 diligently to study them with a view to obtain special 
 graces, and to imitate His Virtues. And thirdly, our 
 negligence in not making a worthy and sufficient use 
 of our Dear Lord ; we ought to live in and by Him, a 
 life altogether above our nature and our natural powers; 
 nothing ought to seem hard or impossible to be 
 done for Him, inasmuch as He gives us His Grace 
 and His Holy Spirit so abundantly to help us in what- 
 ever we do. Let all these points of misused grace be 
 duly considered in your self-examination." * 
 
 On the subject of Holy Communion, Pere de Con- 
 dren writes: 
 
 "We must come to it, first, in order that Jesus 
 Christ may be All in us that He should be, and that 
 we may cease to be all that we are, losing ourselves in 
 Him. Secondly, we must come to it in order that 
 He may destroy whatever in us is contrary to God the 
 Father the old Adam and his sorrowful heritage, the 
 reign of sin and Satan, and the cruel tyranny of self- 
 love; and so coming we must ask of -the Divine 
 Humanity to put forth the Right Hand of His Justice, 
 to crucify the old man in us and to confirm the 
 Kingdom of the Adorable Trinity. Our imperfec- 
 tions should lead us to seek Communion, as the one 
 sovereign remedy for their healing. 
 1 Lettres, No. Ixxxiii. 
 
122 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 11 Thirdly, the very gifts and graces which it has 
 pleased our Lord to give us should urge us to Com- 
 munion, so that we should not imagine them to be 
 our own, or use them according to our own blind 
 self-love, but leave Him absolute control over 
 them, and let Him use them after His Own good 
 pleasure. 
 
 " We ought to come to Holy Communion, in obedi- 
 ence to our Dear Lord's Will that we should dwell in 
 Him and He in us ; in order to root out our natural 
 life and will, and to become what He is, i.e. life, 
 truth, love and holiness to God. Moreover we ought 
 to come to it out of obedience to His desire that 
 we should be His members, in whom He may 
 dwell to the honour and glory of His Father in 
 Heaven. 
 
 " While our own spiritual usefulness may rightly be a 
 motive for frequent Communion, it ought not to be 
 our foremost intention, since it is neither the best, the 
 most urgent, or the most imperative. First of all we 
 owe obedience to our Lord's desire to receive and 
 to possess us for Holy Communion not only gives 
 Jesus Christ to us, it also gives us to Him, even as He 
 Himself says, whoso receiveth Him abideth in Him. 
 Now this desire of His to receive us is as wide as His 
 Love; as the rights which His Merits and His Mercy 
 give Him over us. Therefore it becomes a grievous 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 123 
 
 want of faithfulness to disappoint His gracious desires, 
 when we have no necessary hindrance from Holy Com- 
 munion. 
 
 " S. Paul tells us that we are the Fulness of Jesus 
 Christ, Who takes us into Himself and grows in us as 
 the members of His Body. This may be illustrated 
 by the soul of a child, which does not grow by any 
 increase of substance, but by an ever-increasing 
 accession of light which enlarges its horizon, its 
 relative position towards others, and its own sphere 
 of action, in proportion as the child's body is de- 
 veloped, and becomes capable of serving the opera- 
 tions of the soul. In like manner with Communion 
 Our Lord fills us therein with Himself, and develops 
 His own Life in us, and we do Him wrong in abstain- 
 ing from Communion, unless rightfully withheld from 
 it, and for due cause. 
 
 " Then again, the Son of God is not content with 
 being offered to His Father in one place only, He 
 wills to be so offered in many, and although His 
 Sacrifice is One and unchangeable in reality, He 
 wills it to be continually renewed to His Father's 
 Glory in a certain sense. And the soul which 
 receives Him in Holy Communion is really an altar 
 on which Jesus Christ lies and whereon He is con- 
 tinually offered to God, not only in will and intention, 
 which may be done without receiving Him sacra 
 
124 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 mentally, but in very truth and act And be sure 
 that it is more pleasing to Jesus Christ and more to 
 God's Glory to be thus offered in the souls He loves 
 than on all the Altars in Christendom. 
 
 "There are sundry other reasons why we should 
 communicate for God's Sole Glory. . . . You can- 
 not give yourself too often to Him ; without Him we 
 have no power to cast off the yoke of self, and the 
 sin which dwelleth in us will yield to none save Him- 
 self, and therefore I cannot approve of your dimin- 
 ishing your Communions. Even if you can seek His 
 Help without that Sacrament which He instituted on 
 purpose to give Himself to you, you are infinitely 
 more sure to find Him in the means which He has 
 appointed for uniting Himself to you, and for working 
 with you in that which you have to do for God. 
 Surely we are bound to seek Him in the way wherein 
 He wills to be found, and to unite ourselves to Him 
 in order to serve God more faithfully and purely, for 
 of a truth we are very weak without Him. So too, 
 we must go to Him to be strengthened against the 
 power of sin, and the inclinations of the old man in 
 us, which can never be subdued without Him. We 
 have only too great experience of our own weakness ; 
 we need truly to seek Jesus where He is, and to unite 
 ourselves to Him in order to do that which without 
 Him we cannot do; just as a man who has to move 
 
DE CONDREWS LIFE AND LETTERS. 125 
 
 a weight beyond his strength goes to seek another to 
 help him. 
 
 " So long as we come to Holy Communion with a 
 full feeling of our own weakness, and with that insight 
 which faith gives of our need of His Strength to fight 
 against sin, self, the world, and whatever is contrary to 
 God's Will, we cannot come too often. No indeed, 
 he cannot come too often who is led by the sense of 
 his own helplessness and weakness in serving God 
 there to seek strength and grace in Jesus Christ to do 
 better. Frequent Communion is only to be feared 
 when one is secretly influenced in coming to it by a 
 good opinion of one's-self, or by a lurking impression 
 that one is better than others because one com- 
 municates more frequently. Then indeed hidden 
 vanity and spiritual pride rule us and cause us to mis- 
 use the Blessed Sacrament. But if one is not seek- 
 ing any mere self-satisfaction, if one communicates 
 only to serve God, and to win strength against sin 
 and selfishness, with a view to praise and obey God 
 better, not from any rest in one's own goodness, then 
 one need not be afraid to approach Him very fre- 
 quently in Holy Communion. May our Dear Lord 
 guide you in this as in all else." x 
 
 To one who was overwhelmed with weariness and 
 intolerance of self, Pere de Condren writes : 
 1 Letlres, Nos. Ixxvi. and Ixxvii. 
 
126 PR1ESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 " Judging by your letters I think you are giving 
 way overmuch to sadness, and that you are not using 
 it rightly to God's Glory and the good of your own 
 soul So far from being a hindrance to your spiritual 
 progress, it would be a means of giving God glory, if 
 you gave yourself up to Him as you might do. When 
 He created you, He knew perfectly that He had 
 made you subject to this weakness He did it in 
 order to help you to turn away from and reject self, in 
 order to constrain you to seek all your rest in Him, in 
 order that this very inward trial should be borne for 
 His Glory. Keep in mind that God will call you to 
 account for the use you have made of it. Resolve 
 then to give yourself to God and to bear it patiently 
 and without fretting, so long as He pleases. One 
 must learn to bear with one's-self before one is able to 
 bear the Cross of Christ. He bore the prospective 
 weight of all men, their sorrows, their sadness, their 
 weariness ; and He bore it so faithfully that He would 
 not lay aside the smallest part thereof ; so persever- 
 ingly that He never gave Himself a moment's relief 
 during His earthly Life. Do you in likewise be 
 faithful and persevering in bearing that share of His 
 Cross which is laid on you, I mean your own 
 wretchedness, and do not be disheartened, for it is 
 one of the ways given you in which to serve and 
 honour God on earth, and to bear your part in your 
 
DE COND REN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 127 
 
 Saviour's Cross. Give yourself up to the power of 
 His Grace, so that you may do it perfectly. It is 
 only for this life that we have to suffer, and the 
 reward of that suffering is eternal. Meanwhile do not 
 neglect seeking such relief as will tend to distract 
 your mind duly. Take care of your own health, and 
 of your wife's ; and oblige her to attend to it her- 
 self. 
 
 " Do not give way to depression, but resign your- 
 self to our Dear Lord with the object of bearing the 
 discomforts and petty contradictions of this life 
 bravely. It appertains to God's Holy Spirit to make 
 you welcome them, whereas it is characteristic of 
 self-love to be grievously depressed by them. We 
 must not wish to have our own will carried out in this 
 world, or to find our satisfaction therein, but rather 
 we must be content to die to all our own ways and 
 wishes, to all that is of the old Adam. When any 
 circumstances of our life tend that way as for the most 
 part all that is trying does we ought to be glad at 
 heart, and bless God for helping us by casting us down 
 in the flesh that He may build us up in the Spirit 
 Remember what the Apostle S. James says 'My 
 brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers 
 temptations ' (i. 2). Love and joy, according to the 
 Spirit of God, always take the shape of the Cross and 
 of suffering for God in this life j even as fleshly love 
 
128 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 and joy take that of the enjoyment of and rest in 
 creatures. Do not seek a remedy for your depression 
 in love of the world or satisfaction of the senses ; the 
 remedy would be worse than the disease, but seek it 
 in God, striving not merely to love and praise Him, 
 but to love and praise Him with a real interior joy. 
 Do not give up any of your religious practices, and 
 remember me in your prayers." 1 
 
 To a sick friend he writes : 
 
 "May our Lord Jesus Christ ever live in you, in 
 Heaven to His Glory, in earth to do His work ! I 
 beseech Him not merely to control the whole use you 
 make of your life, but also that He would preserve 
 and sustain it by His vivifying powers, so that it may 
 be wholly His, wholly dependent upon Him ; that 
 He may not merely be the principle of a supernatural 
 life of grace in you, but likewise the principle of your 
 natural life which He preserves. He will be the sole 
 principle of our future life to all eternity, in virtue of 
 that Resurrection to which He will call us. While 
 here on earth our being is sin-soiled, and He can have 
 no part in sin, but inasmuch as we belong primarily to 
 God the Father as our Creator, His Beloved Son 
 preserves and sustains our life, subject as it is to sin, 
 in order that we may become more wholly His, and 
 that He may acquire continually fresh claims upon us, 
 1 Lett res, Nos. Ixxxvii. Ixxxviii. 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 129 
 
 Sometimes even He vouchsafes to renew that life, as in 
 Lazarus, who owed his earthly life to the Son of God 
 deriving not merely his spiritual but his temporal 
 existence from Him, and being thereby bound to our 
 Dear Lord by a very special tie. I pray that you 
 may be made to share in the mind with which Lazarus 
 must have received this renewed life from the Son of 
 God, and in which he must have spent the remainder 
 of his days in close union and dependence on Him. 
 
 " It seems to me that one of the uses to which you 
 should put your sickness, is the longing to be more 
 entirely Christ's, and less your own. But do not ne- 
 glect the means which God vouchsafes to use for our 
 restoration to health, through His Dear Son's Blessing. 
 We are bound to receive them with thanksgiving, even 
 as S. Paul says we are bound to receive our daily food 
 (i Tim. iv. 3). Accept willingly the humiliation of 
 having to take so much care of your body, and do not 
 seek to be better thought of by any one than God 
 chooses you to be. But do not occupy yourself with 
 dwelling on your own condition, or the moral cause of 
 your sufferings. Perhaps it is not as you think, or if 
 it be, God if He wills can repair the ill effect of your 
 faults. Accept humiliation freely, and do not desire 
 anything of any one save from a supernatural point of 
 view, and through the Merits of Jesus Christ ; for to 
 wish only that men may be to us whatever God would 
 I 
 
1 30 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 have them, will always be the true road to peace and 
 happiness for those souls which cleave to God in humi- 
 lity and patience. They know that He holds the hearts 
 alike of bad and good in His Hand ; that He can 
 equally work His Will by means of devils or angels ; 
 that He continually feeds His friends by means of His 
 enemies His lambs by the help of very wolves. And 
 so they are at peace in His Hand. We too shall find 
 peace of heart and mind, beyond all we can imagine, 
 if we seek nothing save that His Holy Will be done 
 in all things." x 
 
 Speaking of the ruling motives of the Christian's 
 life, Pere de Condren says : 
 
 " The first point at which to aim in all our actions, 
 that they may be really Christian, is self-renunciation, 
 as S. Paul says, 'Ye are not your own, for ye are 
 bought with a price' (i Cor. vi. 19, 20); and again, 
 ' He died for all, that they which live should not hence- 
 forth live unto themselves, but unto Him Which died 
 for them and rose again' (2 Cor. v. 15). So we should 
 die to self through grace and the virtue of Christ's 
 Death. He must live in us, and our one object in 
 the world should be to do His Work therein. 
 
 " The second point is a like renunciation of all that 
 is of self or our own mind, in order to enter into the 
 Mind of Christ and to do His work through His Spirit, 
 1 Lett res, No. xi. 
 
DE CONDREWS LIFE AND LETTERS. 131 
 
 Which Alone can enable us to effect it. And this must 
 be done very heartily, with a strong conviction that 
 God will enable us to do it, and that Jesus Christ 
 works continually with us, to vivify and renew us in 
 it. Even when we may not be conscious that we are 
 upheld by this supernatural strength, we need not 
 question it, for being altogether divine, it is impercep- 
 tible to the senses, and can only be realised by faith. 
 
 " The third point is total renunciation of every aim 
 in our work save God. Jesus Christ Himself, Whose 
 members we are, and in Whose Spirit we seek to live, 
 had none other. Not that this hinders us from regu- 
 lating our actions by sundry rules having application 
 to what may seem other objects. Thus obedience is 
 regulated by the will of those set over us, but the end 
 which we set before us is God. Bodily nourishment 
 ought to be regulated according to our needs, but the 
 end for which we take it should be God ; so that when 
 we sustain the body, it should not be for our own 
 earthly sakes, but for the Glory of God, Who is our 
 Fulness, our Satiety, our Eternal Food. So again with 
 respect to conversation, which should be regulated by 
 charity and Christian courtesy ; but its end should be 
 to honour God, and Jesus Christ communing with 
 men. In short, God ought to be the Sole End of all 
 we do, not self. Hence you will draw one deduction, 
 i.e. that the rule on which all your life is to be framed 
 
132 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 must be that you give yourself wholly to Jesus Christ, 
 to do and suffer whatsoever comes before you for and 
 in Him, and to His Glory and that of His Father. 
 May He cause you to share largely in the fulness of 
 His life." 1 
 
 To one who asked guidance as to the right use of 
 time, Pere de Condren replies : 
 
 " Our whole life ought to be shaped according to 
 the light and truth of faith, and the precepts of Chris- 
 tianity, so that it may be as God would have it. We 
 see how men of the world conduct themselves ac- 
 cording to their worldly experience, ruling their ways 
 with a view to the customs and opinions of society ; 
 how philosophers boast of ruling their life according 
 to the light of reason ; and how the sensualist 
 follows the leadings of the flesh and self-indulgence ; 
 surely it befits the Christian to be ruled by his faith, 
 which leads him to seek a far higher standard than 
 mere reason or nature can ever do. From this point 
 of view I would suggest three truths which shew how 
 important it is that we should daily make a right and 
 holy use of our time. 
 
 " First then, God is the Creator of all things, and 
 
 therein of Time. We ought to accept time as His 
 
 Gift, and use it to His Glory, for 'the Lord hath made 
 
 all things for Himself (Prov. xvi. 4), and He gives 
 
 Lettres, No. Ixii. 
 
DE COND REN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 133 
 
 us time only that we may employ it in His Service. 
 We all feel bound to use a gift according to the in- 
 tention of the giver ; if some one gives me a hun- 
 dred crowns for the poor, I cannot use that money 
 otherwise than in alms. So God gives us time, not 
 that we may fritter it away in useless pursuits, or 
 misspend it in evil actions which offend Him ; but 
 that we may employ it in good works to promote 
 His Glory. Let us always keep this intention in 
 mind, and our time will be better and more carefully 
 spent than it too often is at present. 
 
 "The second truth I would commend to your 
 thoughts is that we have not a single moment of time 
 which is not won for us by Jesus Christ, and by 
 His Death. 
 
 " God had said, * In the day thou eatest of it ' 
 (the forbidden fruit), * thou shalt surely die ' (Gen. 
 ii. 17); and had He heeded nothing save strict 
 justice, sinful man had died without any time for 
 repentance. Such a sentence was carried out upon 
 the offending angels they died their spiritual death 
 immediately after they had sinned ; but God spared 
 man in virtue of the Merits of His Son, Who should 
 come on earth to suffer and die for him. Therefore 
 every hour which we have had hitherto, or are to 
 have yet, we owe to Jesus Christ, not one moment 
 of time since Adam's fall but has been bought for 
 
134 PR1ESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 man by the Redemption, at the price of our Saviour's 
 Sufferings and Death. Consequently we owe Him 
 that which He has bought for us at so great a price, 
 and surely it behoves us to use the time He has 
 won for us in a way worthy of His Labours, His 
 Pains, His Cross, His Blood, and His Death. If 
 we waste and misuse it, we are wasting that Precious 
 Blood by which He gained it for us, and we shall 
 have to give account for that time to God the Father. 
 And therefore we ought to strive to use every 
 moment of time as perfectly as we possibly can, 
 remembering the price at which it has been bought. 
 Think of the lost how do you imagine they would 
 use their time if God were to grant them again one 
 single hour of all those they have misused, and 
 meanwhile we . . . ? 
 
 " The third truth I would have you ponder is that 
 God's Holy Spirit was sent among men to help them 
 to use time rightly. We cannot use it well without 
 His Grace, we cannot lead a supernatural life apart 
 from Him. In consequence of sin, we may use time to 
 our eternal condemnation ; by nature we shall use it to 
 earthly purposes, but we cannot use it according to the 
 Will of Christ Jesus, save by the Holy Spirit of God. 
 And therefore we ought continually and fervently to 
 invoke that Holy Spirit, asking His Grace to use 
 our time in union with His Intentions and Will Con- 
 
DE COND REN'S LI1-E AND LETTERS. 135 
 
 tinually through the day, we ought to refer to Him 
 for guidance in the right use of our time ; seeking to 
 know how He would have us employ the actual hour 
 now passing, and asking His aid not only to know, 
 but to do His Will. ... As members of Christ our 
 standard should be a high one. ... To this end, 
 strive to unite your worship to the acts of devotion 
 practised by the Son of God when on earth. Think 
 what a condescension, what a humiliation this life of 
 time, this subjection to hours and minutes, was to 
 Him Who is Lord of Eternity ; to Him Who even 
 then was Lord of that Glorious Eternity as much as 
 He is now ! Filled with this thought, let us adore 
 Him in His voluntary subjection to our earthly bond- 
 age of time. 
 
 "The Fathers say that by vouchsafing to be baptized, 
 Jesus Christ sanctified the waters of our Baptism; 
 surely even so when He vouchsafed to be subject 
 to our human laws of time, He sanctified it, and laid 
 upon us the obligation to use it after a Christian 
 fashion. Some brief devotion to His earthly life of 
 time will help us in this our best method of entering 
 into the things of God is by adoration 
 
 " Next, we must make God the End of all we do, and 
 seek His Glory only. If Jesus Christ has won time 
 for us, we must in return strive so to use it in all our 
 actions after a manner worthy of His Cross and 
 
136 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Passion and to do that we must have God ever 
 before us in all our intentions. . . . When on earth, 
 Jesus said, ' I can of mine own self do nothing. . . . 
 I seek not mine own Will, but the Will of the Father 
 which hath sent Me ' (John v. 30), and we should 
 strive to be of that mind throughout life, in whatever 
 
 time brings us to do or bear In Jesus Christ 
 
 nothing is mean or vile everything becomes great 
 and noble, and so in His Church nothing done for 
 Him can be contemptible or low ; every action is 
 refined and sanctified under the influence of the Holy 
 Spirit, in the power of Whose Grace we ought to per- 
 form every action. 
 
 " But for the practical use of all these suggestions, 
 one thing is indispensable as the groundwork ; and 
 that is total renunciation of self-seeking in our use of 
 time, and in all we do. Otherwise while we think we 
 are studying for God's Sake and His Glory, self-com- 
 placency or natural curiosity will intermingle, spoil 
 the purity of our intention, and turn aside our aim. 
 There is but one remedy to give ourselves up ab- 
 solutely to accept God's Hand ruling and guiding us." 
 Tending to the same point, another letter says : 
 "The principal occupation one created by God 
 should have in this world is to glorify Him, and 
 nothing should be allowed to divert us from this : it 
 1 Lettres, Nos. Ixv. IxvL 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 137 
 
 ought to be so absolutely our ruling thought that we 
 may even turn the hindrances we meet with to the same 
 end. 
 
 " Obviously our own anxieties tend to distract us, 
 and therefore we ought to strive to make His Glory a 
 more prominent object even than our own salvation. 
 We ought to strive to be led solely by a spirit of 
 faith, content with the light it gives, and always being 
 more intent on doing than on stopping to see if we are 
 doing. 
 
 " It is well, too, to give more heed to others than 
 to one's-self, and to be content to serve God according 
 to the instructions He gives through those He sets over 
 us. You will do well to work for one hour daily 
 in honour of the New Life of Jesus Christ raised from 
 the dead. So, too, work for half an hour daily in 
 honour of the Blessed Virgin, and of her hidden life in 
 Christ strive every day to fulfil some lowly task in 
 honour of Jesus Christ making Himself the Servant of 
 Man. Try to be less occupied with yourself and your 
 own sufferings, and to bear them all in Him for God. 
 You can pray something to this effect : ' I put aside all 
 that I am I cleave to all that God is I will bear all 
 that troubles me for His Glory,' " &C. 1 
 
 Pere de Condren's asceticism was by no means in- 
 discriminating, as the following advice, volunteered to 
 1 Lettres, No. Ixxiii. 
 
138 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 one whom he thought likely to observe Lent after a 
 somewhat self-willed fashion, proves : 
 
 "As Lent approaches, and hearing from you that 
 you are not well, I feel obliged to write and urge you 
 to submit to the advice given you about your food 
 
 while you are weak. I have written to M. M to 
 
 ask him to give you his advice, which you must 
 conscientiously follow, and be scrupulously particular 
 in doing so. The Evil One deadens the conscience 
 of many who are quite able to observe this public pen- 
 ance (of Lent) which God has laid upon His Church 
 from the earliest times, and leads them to neglect 
 it; but on the other hand he tempts others who are 
 incapable of a strict observance thereof, and causes 
 them to injure their health, which is altogether con- 
 trary to the intention of God and His Church. We 
 are just as much bound to submit to God when He 
 requires us to deal charitably with ourselves as when 
 He requires anything else of us. 
 
 " I think I have before now warned you that you 
 are liable to an habitual temptation to injure yourself. 
 I have noticed the consequences several times, and it 
 seems to me that you are not sufficiently docile to the 
 advice which has been given you on this score. One 
 plain proof of this is the evident secret annoyance 
 you feel when anything is said which interferes with 
 your own views on the matter. Everybody has some 
 
DE CONDREWS LIFE AND LETTERS. 139 
 
 special trial in this life ; no one is free from struggle, 
 and the holiest people are sometimes the most sorely 
 tempted. It seems to me that by God's Mercy you 
 are not tempted to sin against Him or against your 
 neighbour, whose interests you are generally more 
 disposed to serve than your own. God has been 
 pleased to shield you from these attacks of the Enemy, 
 so he turns them all on you yourself, and the repug- 
 nance you shew to the needful remedy almost makes 
 me fear that he might succeed in his object, if it were 
 not that I have still stronger hope in the help God's 
 Mercy will send you. But you must mistrust his 
 snares, for indeed it seems to me that you have a 
 decided difficulty to face in all that concerns yourself, 
 and that you are too much disposed to give way both 
 in what concerns your temporal affairs and your health. 
 Be on your guard, and strive to banish the malicious 
 enemy, who after getting a hold upon you in matters 
 of health and general affairs of life, will go on to what 
 is more dangerous, and more directly affecting your 
 salvation. The enemy does everything with a view 
 to our final perdition, which is his real object. 
 
 " I am going on a long journey, and may not be in 
 Paris again before the summer, and I feel it my duty 
 to give you this warning before I go. Offer yourself 
 to our Lord ; ask His Grace to follow His Guidance 
 in all things, and that you may yield in nothing to His 
 
140 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 enemies. Let yourself have full part in His Charity, 
 as well as others. This is all the more necessary for 
 you that you are under the influence of a distinct 
 temptation to neglect your health, and that it is dis- 
 agreeable to you to have to overcome it. Look back 
 over your past conduct in all sincerity, and I hope 
 you will perceive somewhat of this ; but even if you 
 do not, you cannot be wrong in deferring to the 
 advice of your friends. I shall not cease to offer you 
 diligently to God, indeed the further I am from you 
 the more carefully I shall do so. I commend myself 
 to your prayers." 1 
 
 He could comfort the afflicted too, if not with the 
 overflowing tenderness which characterises S. Francis 
 de Sales' letters of consolation, yet with no cold 
 apprehension of their needs : 
 
 "May the Grace, the Blessing, and the Peace of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ be granted you always. I pray 
 Him, at this holy season wherein He deigned to rise 
 to a new Life, that He would grant you renewed life 
 and strength, not only to the mind, but to your body 
 also, so that you may be the better able to minister 
 to those souls He has committed to your care. 
 
 " I have often felt great compassion for what I have 
 heard of your sufferings; my consolation is in the 
 thought that the same Lord Who vouchsafed to be 
 1 Lettres, No. evil 
 
DE CONDREATS LIFE AND LETTERS. 141 
 
 cruciiied out of love for you, is leading you on to His 
 Glory, and chooses to fit you for His Bosom by the 
 way of the Cross; as also, that the Spirit of God, 
 Whose perfect work, the Apostle tells us, is patience, 
 is perfecting you more and more. The Son of God 
 would not stay His Sorrows or His Patience by con- 
 solation, or by anything short of that Sacrifice which 
 put an end at once to His earthly Life and His Cross, 
 and gave Him to the Father. So He wills that God 
 should be the end of every Christian's cross and 
 patience, and we ought not to desire to be free from 
 pain and suffering in this life by putting aside sorrow 
 or crosses, but by the putting aside of self, by leaving 
 all else to cleave to Him, I doubt not but that God 
 is in this manner the end of your Cross, and that as 
 He has upheld you by His Spirit of patience, He will 
 receive you in His own right time. I pray you, 
 remember me in your prayers." x 
 
 To a mother who had just lost her child he writes : 
 
 " If I could leave town at the present moment I 
 
 would have come to you, not that I could be of any 
 
 use to your little one, but to comfort you, and help 
 
 you to bear his loss without grieving, overmuch. It 
 
 is better that God's Will be wrought for the child 
 
 than ours; it is more profitable for him. Life were 
 
 far more perilous to him than death ; for death is to 
 
 1 Lettres, No. xc. 
 
142 PRIES7L Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 your boy an entrance into Paradise and life eternal, 
 whereas a longer sojourn upon earth might have 
 perilled his salvation. Of a truth I love the dear 
 little fellow, but I love him in God ; I would choose 
 rather his welfare than our satisfaction, God's good 
 pleasure before our wishes." x 
 
 And to a father who had lost two sons he writes : 
 "God is shewing you that when He committed 
 these two children to you, it was not so much that you 
 might bring them up in His Fear, as that you might 
 offer them as two innocent hostages to His Glory. In 
 so doing, He has given them perfect happiness ; they 
 have known God before they knew anything of the 
 world, or of themselves. You would have had the 
 responsibility of their education, and now, calling 
 them to reign with Him, God has given them the 
 power of guiding and raising you, and they will be as 
 two guardian Angels who, watching over all your life, 
 with the help of God and His Holy Spirit, will lead 
 you to Himself. The saints help us on our way not 
 merely by their prayers, but likewise by their influence 
 and inspirations, and by a silent supernatural com- 
 munication to our souls of their own light and love 
 of God. They have a mighty power with God. Our 
 Dear Lord told S. John that they who overcome 
 should sit with Him on His Throne and eat of the 
 1 Lettres, No. xriv. 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 143 
 
 tree of life in the midst of the Paradise of God. It 
 should be a great consolation, a great honour to you 
 to have two children so blessed. Faith should over- 
 come earthly sorrow, and change your father's tears 
 into joy at the thought of their glory, and of the bless- 
 ing they may be to you and yours." x 
 
 One touching note we find, written on the occasion 
 of the death of an Oratorian, Pere de Lorme, to his 
 father : 
 
 " If it had pleased God to grant the prayers of our 
 Congregation, and to restore your son's health," (he 
 says,) " I might have written to rejoice with you, but 
 now I write to give account of him whom you trusted 
 to us. ... With all submission to God, Who has 
 willed it thus, we are sorely grieved; for while we may 
 not refuse God anything, there are some sacrifices 
 which we cannot make without sharp pain, and where- 
 in our tears are acceptable to Him. We are con- 
 strained to be willing that He should take your son 
 from our love to His Own, and that having moulded 
 Him awhile by His Grace, and brought him to that 
 spiritual perfection which He required, He should 
 call him to eternal joy in His Bosom. 
 
 "Your son's illness has been a long one, and it has 
 called forth all the more his graces, and set a rare 
 example before the Congregation, for he bore it all 
 1 Lettres, No. xcv. 
 
144 PR1ESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 so well that it was as the crown to his edifying 
 life. 
 
 "'Let patience have her perfect work,' says the 
 Apostle S. James. Patience brings about perfection. 
 Your son was carefully tended during his illness, 
 and the doctors have testified their affection for your 
 name by their assiduous care of him. But God has 
 not willed to prosper their remedies, because He saw 
 well rather to satisfy His own Love and His desire 
 to take your son to Himself. The most skilled science 
 could not withstand God's intentions, nor human 
 help suffice to delay him in this world of sadness, 
 when the Lord called him to eternal happiness. 
 In the ordinary course of nature he \vould have 
 ministered to you, and offered you to God, but since 
 it has pleased God that he who was your child in 
 this life should become as your elder brother in the 
 life of glory, you must lay aside the father's feeling, 
 and conceive a new kind of love, which looks upon 
 him who was your son as now your protector as a 
 new guardian angel watching over your family. His 
 death was so saintly, that we can have no other 
 thought." 1 
 
 A few short lines addressed to one dying will 
 serve to shew his mind concerning death : 
 
 "If I looked upon this life as a great good, or on 
 1 Lettres, No. xcvi. 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 145 
 
 death as a great evil, I should be inconsolable at 
 hearing of your state. But inasmuch as life is but a 
 very dangerous journey which we are thankful to see 
 end in a safe arrival with God ; as death is the end 
 of sin, the perfecting of a Christian's life, the accom- 
 plishment of his sacrifice, the beginning of his 
 triumph, his entrance into glory, the hour when God 
 takes him down from his cross to live in His Bosom 
 for ever blessed; remembering all this, I cannot pity 
 you, and all my sorrow turns into the one prayer 
 which I am moved to make continually, that God 
 will be ever with you. He will fill you with holier 
 thoughts than anything I can suggest, and now that 
 your whole mind must be fixed on God Who is so 
 very near to you, I do not suppose you will care very 
 much for my letters. Nevertheless, in compliance 
 with M. N.'s letter, I will suggest to your mind three 
 considerations concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 Who is the model of all perfection in life and 
 death. First, He readily left all to go to His 
 Father, all His works being done in Him. Next, 
 He bore all the exceeding bitterness of His Cup 
 willingly for His Father's Glory. And last, far from 
 murmuring or being absorbed in His sufferings, 
 He offered Himself with His whole Will to God. 
 And it is our duty to strive to enter into all His 
 ways and to abide therein with Him. May He 
 
146 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 give you grace to do so. I ask it with my whole 
 heart." 1 
 
 Concerning the sacrament of marriage, Pere de 
 Condren writes : 
 
 "It is less understood, more profaned, and more 
 hard to be perfectly observed than any other. But 
 as every Christian is bound to aim at perfection in 
 his own calling, it is important to know wherein 
 that of marriage lies ; its special dignity arising from 
 the end to which it was instituted. Now this end is 
 to set before us the union of Jesus Christ with His 
 Bride the Church, the most perfect of all unions on 
 earth, of which this sacrament is the type. 
 
 " Perfection of the marriage state, then, consists in 
 setting forth as clearly as is possible to men this sacred 
 union ; so that by their intentions, actions, and use of 
 marriage, the husband and wife may prove their inten- 
 tion of fulfilling our Lord Jesus Christ's objects in this 
 Sacrament, which are spiritual, not earthly. To this 
 end, they should ponder the extreme purity of Christ's 
 union with His Church, and inasmuch as to equal that 
 is beyond the power of mere mortals, they should 
 adore it humbly, and pray that our Dear Lord would 
 grant them His Holy Spirit, so that they may be able 
 to attain a part in the holy objects and intentions 
 which He sets before them in this Sacrament It were 
 1 Lettres, No. Ixvii. 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 147 
 
 well, before approaching it, to read attentively and 
 devoutly meditate both the office and ritual which the 
 Church appoints to be used, so as to realize what 
 is promised and undertaken. It is a pious prac- 
 tice to bid our Dear Lord and His Mother to the 
 wedding, in memory of their presence at Cana of 
 Galilee ; as also S. Joseph, bearing in mind the rever- 
 ence and decorum which is incumbent on all the 
 guests. Too often the holiness of this Sacrament is 
 violated by what passes on these occasions; by a 
 license which savours more of paganism than Chris- 
 tianity, and which must avert the blessing God would 
 impart to greater purity and reverence. You must not 
 fail to offer to God the children He may please to give 
 you, with a full resolution of devoting them to be 
 faithful subjects of His Kingdom; and it would be a 
 very suitable devotion at such a time to dedicate 
 yourself specially to serve Christ and His Church, in 
 honour of that blessed union between Him and His 
 Bride of which this Sacrament is the type. Above all, 
 ask of Him that you may enter upon the state of mat- 
 rimony with no other intention than that of pleasing 
 Him, remembering that in Baptism you renounced the 
 flesh and became a new creature ; that therein you put 
 on Christ Jesus; you died to the old Adam; you 
 came forth to live with Christ Risen, you were made 
 a member of Christ Glorified, Who sitteth on the 
 
148 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Father's Right Hand. Let husband and wife dwell 
 together, therefore, as Christians should, and let Jesus 
 Christ, Who gave His Blood and His Life for His 
 Church, be the model of your married life." * 
 
 One letter of Pere de Condren, addressed to a reli- 
 gious who was disturbed at having to change his con- 
 vent, expresses what was his own practice as well as 
 precept in obeying all and any of God's calls : 
 
 " It matters little," he says, " where we are/for God 
 is everywhere, and His Dear Son sends His Holy Spirit 
 and His Church into every part of the world ; and as 
 everywhere we have free access to Heaven, so too our 
 Lord and His Saints can and will help us whitherso- 
 ever we may be. But it does matter very considerably 
 that we be wheresoever God wills us to be. Before 
 the Incarnation, God's people received His messages 
 by means of angels, who told them where God would 
 have them dwell ; but now, since God vouchsafed to 
 become Man, He has appointed men to be the minis- 
 ters of His Will towards their fellow-men ; and we are 
 bound to receive God's Orders from their lips with 
 even greater reverence than the Patriarchs of old from 
 those of His angels, because God, Who took upon 
 Him the form not of an angel but of man, wills that 
 His message be spoken to us not by angels but by 
 men. 
 
 1 Lettres, No. JT. 
 
DE CONDREA'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 149 
 
 " I write thus with reference to your new abode, in 
 order to induce you, out of reverence for the Mystery 
 of the Incarnation, the Source of all your grace, to 
 accept it willingly, as also to change it again for any 
 other which your superiors may appoint. We have 
 no right to any dwelling-place whatever on earth, save 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has given us pos- 
 session, or, more strictly speaking, the use of that 
 which He won for us by His Blood ; and this because 
 sin, without His Redeeming Grace, would cast us 
 forthwith into hell as our only abode. This truth 
 ought to make us very faithful in accepting whatever 
 abode He may allot to us, inasmuch as we owe any 
 habitation whatsoever which we possess solely to Him 
 and His Merits. I am writing on S. Paul's Day, which 
 reminds me how he, who was carried up into Paradise, 
 yet came back, in submission to God's Will, to preach, 
 labour, and at last die in this world ; leaving God, so 
 to say, for God; after a fashion imitating our Lord, 
 Who came forth from the Bosom of the Father into 
 the world, as He Himself says. Now you quit neither 
 God nor Paradise, but you come from the Convent 
 of the Incarnation, and that very Mystery should 
 strengthen you to do it in a spirit of adoration of Him 
 Who left the Bosom of the Father to bear His Cross 
 on earth. Each time that you communicate, He is 
 sent to you by the Father, the Holy Spirit brings Him 
 
r 50 PRIESTL V LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 to you, and He gives Himself to you, and comes to 
 dwell in a very poor and worthless dwelling, unworthy 
 to be compared to that which He leaves. Neverthe- 
 less in His Mercy He chooses to come and abide with 
 you. Apply this thought to your change of abode, 
 and accept it in honour thereof. I think it will be 
 profitable to you, for God ever returns a hundredfold 
 whatsoever we give up for Him. 
 
 "It may seem to you that you are losing your 
 wonted spiritual help in quitting Paris, but God will 
 not suffer you to be deprived of it. Our Lord was 
 more helpful to His Apostles through His Absence 
 than through His Presence, as He had told them 
 would be the case. I hope by His Grace that you 
 will receive more spiritual aid from your House in 
 Paris in your absence than you would by being there, 
 since you leave it for God's Sake. You are with the 
 Prioress, if no longer in the same town, yet in the 
 Same Lord, if you are faithful to Him. You are with 
 her in the same Holy Spirit, in whose Heart and Love 
 our Tx)rd has placed His Church ; and you are with 
 her in the Same God, in Whose Bosom dwell the 
 Blessed Virgin and all the Saints all, in short, who 
 are born of Him. In that Home you dwell as a 
 Christian, elsewhere you have nought save what is of 
 sin, which must sooner or later be taken from you, 
 and which therefore you should wish yourself to leave. 
 
DE COND REN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 151 
 
 As the child of Adam you are in banishment in this 
 world, and just now Dieppe is the place of your exile, 
 whither God has driven you, as of old He drove your 
 father Adam forth from Paradise. But as the child 
 of God, Jerusalem is your home, and therein you are 
 only separated from your Sisters in Paris by that 
 which you are bound to despise and reject, by that 
 which has not yet put on the new man, by that which 
 ' waits for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our 
 body,' as S. Paul says (Rom. viii. 23). I think this 
 ought to be a great consolation to you. You and 
 your Sisters in Paris were the children of God, but 
 the children of Adam likewise ; now you have left 
 that part of the union which belonged to Adam, but 
 you are still united with them inasmuch as you both 
 belong to God. So your mission to Dieppe has only 
 separated you in that which it was well to quit, leav- 
 ing whole and intact that which both you and they 
 would wish to keep in this world and in the next, even 
 more earnestly than your very life itself. . . . God 
 is everywhere He sends forth His Holy Spirit in all 
 lands. There is no place from whence we may not 
 have access to Him through His Son, and whereso- 
 ever we may be, Jesus Christ and His Saints help and 
 succour us. God's commands, formerly transmitted 
 to men through the Angels, have now a no less claim to 
 our reverence when they come through our fellow-men, 
 
152 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 because the Word has vouchsafed to unite Himself 
 to man, and to make the members of His Body chan- 
 nels and interpreters of His Will to their brethren. 
 We have no right to any dwelling-place save through 
 His Mercy, and therefore whatever place He may 
 assign us ought to be thankfully accepted by us. If 
 God's Own Son did not refuse to leave the Father and 
 come into the world, surely there is no home we 
 should hesitate to leave in honour of His Incarnation 
 and of His Sojourn in Judaea. Think too how He 
 comes to us in the Holy Sacrament in order to prove 
 His Love for us, and remembering that, how can we 
 hesitate to go wherever we are called out of love 
 for Him? Whatever loss we think to find by a 
 change of abode will be more than compensated, if 
 we offer it as a freewill sacrifice; and the Unity of 
 Jesus Christ, which cannot be broken or hindered by 
 any distance, will prevent our being really deprived of 
 the spiritual blessings we seem to leave. Doubtless 
 removals involve a separation from friends, but it is 
 only a separation which concerns the flesh, to which 
 as Christians we ought to be dead. In the Spirit, we 
 are one with them in the Spiritual Jerusalem, which 
 extends over the whole earth nay more, we are so 
 welded and bound together, that we are but one 
 body in Jesus Christ." 1 
 
 1 Lettres, Nos. xcvii. xcviii. 
 
DE COND REN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 153 
 
 There is one letter of de Condren's on a subject 
 of considerable importance, which nevertheless is not 
 often treated of in spiritual correspondence, namely, 
 the disposition of property; and at the risk of too 
 extended quotation from the Oratorian's writings, this 
 letter to a friend concerning his will and its import- 
 ance must be given. 
 
 "The best way, as it seems to me, of making one's last 
 will and testament," he says, " is to spend an hour in 
 meditation before God, giving account to Him of 
 ourselves, and of those external and internal gifts 
 with which He has endowed us; humbly pondering 
 what use we have made of them, and how far it has 
 been in conformity with His Holy Will, and with the 
 perfect disposition of life and all earthly things of our 
 Dear Lord. I forgot to say that it is very profitable 
 to begin such a meditation, as though one had but 
 another day to live, so as to press home the import- 
 ance of not delaying to fulfil all our last duties 
 towards God ; for fear lest time should fail, and we 
 find ourselves deficient before Him, when it is too 
 late to remedy the neglect. This consideration would 
 oblige us to take suitable time for examining what 
 God's Will is as to the final disposition of ourselves 
 and our possessions, for surrendering them heartily 
 to Him, and for realising those ultimate objects and 
 intentions for His Glory, which we ought to have with 
 
154 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 respect to the good things we owe solely to His 
 liberality. 
 
 " Next, we should give God thanks for these His 
 gifts, rejoicing in the Goodness which has sent them 
 to us, sorrowing over the misuse we have made of 
 them, and willing absolutely to restore them to Him. 
 It is well to linger somewhat over these acts of 
 gratitude, joining our spirit of thanksgiving to that 
 of angels and archangels, and desiring Eternity more 
 for His Glory than our own blessedness. We may 
 well desire that our spirit of thankfulness should not 
 end with this earthly life, or be buried in our coffin, 
 and, therefore, we may well try to express it in acts 
 of lasting gratitude which will survive us." (Pere 
 de Condren then suggests certain pious bequests, 
 observing that these had better be as free as possible, 
 and without a view to personal exaltation, going on 
 to say,) " It is well to be content to be forgotten our- 
 selves, so that God Alone may dwell in men's hearts. 
 We are apt to be too much engrossed with self, and 
 to want to fill that share of interest and consideration 
 in the minds of others which appertains to God Only. 
 But it is good to seek rather that in this as in all else 
 they 'be filled with the Fulness of God' Alone, 
 (Eph. iii. 19.) Souls are temples which ought to be 
 filled with His Sole Majesty, and hearts dedicated to 
 Him should know no rival, lest that rival become an 
 
DE CONDREN'S LIFE AND LETTERS. 155 
 
 idol. ... Let us be content to hide ourselves in 
 God, until at our Lord Jesus Christ's Last Coming all 
 things are revealed. Let us freely give Him this 
 world and all that is in it, if He will but give us 
 Heaven. The day will come when He will shew that 
 those who have been most prominently seen in His 
 works have not always done the most; and sometimes 
 they who are least worthy receive most credit in this 
 life, because in His Wisdom He does not choose that 
 His faithful servants should run the risk of having 
 their reward here. 
 
 " At the hour of death it behoves us to have a spirit 
 of death, not of life : and as to our memory among 
 our brethren, since our bodies must of necessity be 
 humbly laid beneath the feet of men, it does not be- 
 seem us to strive to erect statues to our memory in 
 their hearts ; knowing as we do, that if they knew all 
 our faults they would rather abhor us, and only think 
 of us in pity, and for the sake of the humiliations and 
 sufferings of Jesus Christ. 
 
 " I have dwelt somewhat lengthily on the temptation 
 to create a lasting memory and reputation for one's-self 
 by means of a will, because a man's will is really only 
 a preparation for death, and an act which ought to be 
 done in a spirit of humility and repentance j con- 
 sequently to turn it into mere vainglory is really 
 wrong. A man should make his will in the same 
 
1 56 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 spirit in which he wishes to die ; that is, in a spirit of 
 detachment from the world, of humble penitence, and 
 of self-oblation to God. One's will is a sort of con- 
 clusion to one's life, the final disposition of that over 
 which we have control, and consequently it ought to 
 be a perfecting of one's life, after which nothing 
 remains to be done save to die well. A man would 
 do well to remember when making his will that death 
 is a penalty involving all he is and all he possesses ; 
 he should think of Jesus Christ giving up Himself 
 before His Passion as a perpetual Sacrifice to His 
 Father, and so strive to sanctify whatever God has 
 given him for God. Our bodies must return to the 
 dust whence they came forth our souls must be left 
 to God, but while we have the power of offering them 
 voluntarily to Him, we should do so ; and as to our 
 property, let us adore Him Who gave it, and Who, 
 while calling us to enter upon a better inheritance, 
 will require due account as to how we have used what 
 He has given us. ... Therefore see what you can 
 do to minister to the wants of the Church, the Bride 
 and Heiress of Christ. . . ." ' 
 
 1 Lettres, No. buov. 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 157 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 
 
 WHILE de Condren was absorbed in what more 
 specially concerned the inner life, study, the 
 direction of souls, and the daily intensifying of his 
 own personal advance in the Unitive way, de Be'rulle 
 was following the latter object by a different path. 
 Political labours and negotiations thickened round 
 him, royal favours were heaped upon him public 
 opinion pointed him out as the rival of Cardinal 
 Richelieu, whose enmity was speedily kindled in con- 
 sequence. But de Berulle did not aim at the position 
 of a world-famed statesman, nor even when appointed 
 Counsellor of State and President of the Council of 
 Regency (as he was in the year 1628), did these 
 worldly honours turn his thoughts aside from that 
 which had always been his one first thought. Nor 
 were the scarcely less fascinating lures of science more 
 successful. Prominently concerned in all that was 
 stirring in the world of intellect, the patron of and 
 first to discover Descartes' genius as well as that of 
 
158 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 other scientific men none of these things really filled 
 his mind. Perfectly aware that his health was break- 
 ing, the Cardinal continued to toil wearily and pain- 
 fully at his public duties, both political and those 
 which concerned the congregation, but meanwhile 
 he was preparing to lay them all aside, and give in 
 his last account to God. As early as April 1629, he 
 made a general confession to Pere de Condren in 
 preparation for death, and he was repeatedly heard 
 to express an earnest desire, if it might be, to die 
 while actually celebrating the Blessed Sacrifice of 
 the Eucharist. 
 
 Towards the end of September he went to Fon- 
 tainebleau, where the King required his presence 
 concerning a mission to Gaston d'Orleans, who, as 
 usual, was in trouble. On the 27th the Cardinal 
 returned to Paris so ill that he was unable to get to 
 the Mother House, and remained that night at Saint 
 Magloire. A day or two of rapidly increasing weak- 
 ness followed, during which de BeVulle could not be 
 induced to give up any part of his office ; but on 
 October 2nd, while celebrating with much effort, he 
 fainted away at the end of the Gospel. Directly that 
 he came round, however, he insisted on continuing 
 the service, and broke down finally just before the 
 Consecration, while saying the words " Hanc igitur 
 i cm" The Oratorian Fathers placed their 
 
THE OR A TORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 159 
 
 General in an arm-chair, and gave him the Viaticum 
 and Extreme Unction ; during the few minutes of 
 needful preparation he was heard to cry out, " Where 
 is He ? Let me see Him ! Let me adore Him ! Let 
 me receive Him 1" Almost directly after receiving the 
 last Sacraments de Berulle passed from this life, at the 
 age of fifty-four. 
 
 Although up to the time of his death Cardinal de 
 Be'rulle had not framed Constitutions for the Con- 
 gregation, or provided for many external details, 1 he 
 had done much towards the development of its 
 internal life, and to enable it to meet the needs of the 
 day. From first to last his leading idea was "the 
 close connexion of the new Congregation with the 
 Priesthood ; its special union with the Incarnate 
 Word above all in His Divine Priesthood, wherein 
 He is chiefly seen as adoring the Father, and medi- 
 ating between God and man." 2 The various existing 
 Religious Orders, he said, were founded by men, and 
 have some special evangelic counsel as their main 
 object the Franciscans poverty, the Carthusians 
 solitude, the Jesuits obedience; but the Priesthood 
 owns no Founder save Our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 therefore it is pledged to seek all evangelic perfec- 
 tion, not to select and pursue one point alone. Too 
 often the priests of God have forgotten and lowered 
 1 L'Oratoire, Pre Perraud, p. 164. 2 Ibid. p. 81. 
 
i6o PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 this their high standard, and Cardinal de Bundle's 
 object in founding the Oratory was to bring them back 
 as far as possible to it. " The aim of the Congrega- 
 tion is to strive after the perfection of the Priesthood." 
 Doubtless, he said, this should be the aim of each 
 several priest, but united action is ever more powerful 
 than the best-intentioned efforts of individuals can be, 
 and the advantages of a Community life to those who 
 are seeking to attain a high standard is very great. 
 
 " A common social life," de BeVulle says, " is most 
 essential to the perfection of the ecclesiastical state 
 of life, for solitude is injurious not merely to the 
 weak, but also to those who need many things to 
 promote their work which a Community affords, such 
 as participation of labour, readiness to be found at all 
 times by the people, constant co-operation alike in 
 their functions in the Church and in those works of 
 charity which claim their care. 
 
 " In addition to all this assistance given by a common 
 life to the external work of the sacred ministry, it is 
 a great help to those whom God calls to Christian 
 perfection to subject themselves to the guidance of 
 a Congregation, which shelters them from many 
 hindrances, and assists them by example, by con- 
 ferences, and many like means which are unattainable 
 to individuals." 1 
 
 * Rfcglemcnts de 1'Oratoire, Preface. 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 161 
 
 De B&ulle held that the priesthood is no less 
 bound to seek after the highest perfection than those 
 who have formally taken the Religious vows, and 
 therefore he would not have his priests bound by 
 more than their Ordination Vows ; they were to aim 
 at the Counsels of Perfection in virtue of that total 
 self-dedication, which he looked upon as the very 
 essence of sacerdotal life. " His intense love for the 
 Church," says Bossuet, " kindled in him the desire of 
 forming a Company which he would inspire with no 
 other mind than that of the Church ; to which he 
 would give no rules save her Canons, no superiors 
 save her Bishops, no possessions save her Charity, no 
 vows save those of Baptism and Holy Orders. Therein 
 holy liberty becomes a holy bondage ; men obey 
 without being dependent ; they govern without com- 
 manding ; authority finds all its strength in gentleness, 
 and respect needs not to be upheld by fear. Love, 
 banishing fear, works miracles, and without any further 
 yoke than its own sweet self, knows not only how to 
 subject, but to annihilate self-will. Here, in order to 
 form true priests, they are led to the Source of all 
 Truth ; they have the Holy Scriptures in their hand, 
 perpetually seeking its letter in study, its spirit in 
 prayer, its depth in retreat, its efficacy in practice, its 
 end in charity the true end of all, ' Christiani 
 L 
 
1 62 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 nominis thesaurus* the one treasure of Christianity, 
 as says Tertullian." 1 
 
 Pere de Be'rulle enlarges on his idea of the perfec- 
 tion set before the Priesthood in the following terms: 
 
 "Inasmuch as all the members of this Congrega- 
 tion are bound by their calling to seek this perfection, 
 their life should be perfect, submissive, regulated, 
 social, edifying, and laborious. 
 
 "Perfect in intention seeking God, not self, Heaven, 
 not earth, desiring nothing save to possess Jesus, and 
 to serve Him and His blessed Mother, putting aside 
 all other claims as though they were not : 
 
 " Submissive m practice and functions, acting accord- 
 ing to the will of others : 
 
 " Regulatedvd exact observance, obeying rules for the 
 love of God and not constrainedly : 
 
 " Social in humility and gentleness, and in kindly for- 
 bearance towards one another, ' alter alterius onera 
 portate. . . . Non qucz sua sunt singuli considerantes ; ' 
 
 " Edifying others by modesty, by a humble spirit and 
 holy conversation : 
 
 " Laborious externally, through constant occupation 
 and work, and internally through a hidden life ever 
 seeking God." 
 
 De Be'rulle goes on to press the fact that these 
 
 1 Oraison Funibre du Pire Bourgoing, Bossuet, CEuvres, edit 
 Lachat, vol. xii. p, 646. 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 163 
 
 obligations depend, not upon religious vows, but upon 
 sacerdotal consecration : 
 
 " To which manner of life priests are called by the 
 Life of the Son of God, which they are bound to set 
 forth in their own, inasmuch as our part is to live and 
 move in Jesus, through Whom Alone we are called. 
 
 "The perfect life contemplates and adores His Divine 
 Life: 
 
 " The life of submission has reference to His sub- 
 jection to the abjection of our human nature in every 
 stage from infancy to death : 
 
 " The life of ride has reference to the way in which 
 His Life was subjected not only to the Father's Will, 
 but to the ordinary course of natural things : 
 
 " Social life to His Life among the Apostles, with 
 the Blessed Virgin and S. Joseph, etc. : 
 
 " The life of edification and labour to His Labours on 
 earth and His Cross. 
 
 "The real link which binds this Congregation is 
 Charity, and the aim of those who form it is to seek 
 after evangelical perfection thereby, not by any solemn 
 vows. Consequently their life, which ought to be 
 specially interior, is hi externals ordinary ; and their 
 attention is rather fixed on practical holiness, on 
 Jesus Christ and His Church, on their duties, their 
 responsibilities towards souls, than on ceremonies and 
 external observances, which however are not to be 
 
164 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 neglected, but shaped according to the external life of 
 the Community." x 
 
 Thus while other Orders devoted themselves 
 specially to preaching, education, or contemplation, 
 the Oratory contemplated the organisation of the 
 secular priest's life, whatever might be his individual 
 vocation. 
 
 " If you are capable of study," wrote Pere Amelote 
 (the friend and biographer of de Condren), "the 
 Oratory will provide you with quiet, with books, and 
 with pulpits from whence to teach. If you seek re- 
 tirement, it offers you solitude as well as more busy 
 positions ; if you yearn after a life of penitence, you 
 will find men among us as ascetic as the Carthusians 
 themselves ; or if you are consumed by zeal for 
 God's service, our Society offers you a choice of 
 missions and cures. Do you delight in music and 
 splendid ritual ? You can follow such. In a word, 
 the Oratory charitably moulds herself to every Com- 
 munity without becoming identical with any, inas- 
 much as it is not separated from the Bishops, and 
 is bound to all natural superiors." * 
 
 The Constitutions of the Oratory were not finally 
 framed till Pere de Condren's Generalship, but they 
 may as well be referred to here, for their spirit 
 
 Reglements, quoted by Pere Perraud, p. 90. 
 Vie de Condren, ii. p. c. viii. 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 165 
 
 was altogether that of Cardinal de Be'rulle, and his 
 successor's great aim was to act in all things according 
 to his mind. 
 
 The Congregation was to be itself the source of and 
 to exercise all authority, an authority the ministration 
 of which it delegated to the Superior and certain 
 assistants, but with the right reserved of questioning 
 and examining their government by means of a 
 General Assembly held every three years. 
 
 A living Oratorian makes some interesting comments 
 on this Government, as being pre-eminently constitu- 
 tional. 
 
 "It is curious," Pere Adolphe Perraud says, "to 
 study its mechanism by the light of the period in 
 which it was framed and carried out. It was in that 
 early part of the seventeenth century, when on all 
 sides power was becoming more centralised, the 
 exercise of authority more direct, the share of govern- 
 ment to which inferiors were admitted smaller; 
 when Richelieu's system was paving the way for that 
 of Louis XIV., on the eve of the day when France 
 was so dazzled with glory as to forgive the * Grand 
 Roi' for presuming to say, ' rEtat, c'est moi. J It was 
 at the beginning of that long period of a hundred and 
 seventy-five years during which the national represen- 
 tation of the Etats gentraux was to be altogether 
 suspended, and when, from 1614 to 1789, France was 
 
1 66 PR IE STL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 never to be permitted by her rulers to make herself 
 heard, to protest against the fatal wars into which she 
 was dragged, to complain of the taxes which crushed, 
 or to control by means of her representatives the 
 financial ruin which was being wrought for her. It 
 was in such times as these that the founders of the 
 Oratory developed a Constitution in which the rights 
 of all were so carefully guarded, which obliged supe- 
 riors to consider the opinions of their inferiors, which 
 called upon authority to render a periodical account 
 of its acts, and to be set aside in due course before a 
 higher power, namely, that of the Congregation itself 
 as represented by its deputies. 
 
 " One might marvel less at this ample liberty were 
 we contemplating one of those Religious Orders which 
 were founded in the Middle Ages, contemporary with 
 a condition of things in which the modern system of 
 administrative centralisation was unknown. In those 
 days the system of assemblies and elections was 
 found in full vigour in conventual life, both among 
 men and women, long before it was dreamt of in civil 
 society, 1 and the modem declaimers who think to 
 
 1 After analysing the Constitutions which S. Dominic gave to 
 his Order of preachers, Lacordaire says : " Such were the Con- 
 stitutions which a Christian man of the thirteenth century gave to 
 other Christian men, and assuredly all modem charters have a 
 strangely despotic savour compared with this. Thousands of 
 ttered all over the face of the earth, lived during six 
 
 n sa 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 167 
 
 display their wisdom by denouncing the despotism 
 and lack of liberty and progress of the Church, would 
 be amazed, were they to read the Constitutions of 
 Clteaux, or S. Dominic, to find that these calumniated 
 cloisters were so many small states governed by 
 magistrates of their own choosing, and uniting practi- 
 cally the most heroic obedience with the noblest and 
 most real liberty/' 1 
 
 The Oratory was governed by a triennial Assembly 
 of deputies one of whom represented every twelve 
 members such membership requiring a man to be 
 in Priest's Orders, and to have been three years and 
 three months in the Society. This Assembly elected 
 all officers and reviewed all acts. The Superior 
 General was to be re-elected every three years, 
 according to S. Philip Neri, but during de Be'rulle's 
 life no measures were taken to rule this point in 
 France, and the first Assembly under de Condren 
 decided that the Superior should hold office for life 
 " in honour of the Everlasting Priesthood of Jesus 
 Christ" 
 
 The practical rule of life of Cardinal de Be'rulle's 
 Congregation was simple. The hours kept in the 
 
 hundred years under this regime, peaceful and united the most 
 industrious, the most obedient, the freest of men." (Memoire 
 pour le Retablissement des Freres Precheurs, c. ii.) 
 1 L'Oratoire, p. 93. 
 
168 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 seventeenth century were everywhere early, and the 
 Oratorians adopted as implying no great austerity 
 the same time for rising shortly after given by S. 
 Vincent de Paul to his Sisters of Charity 4 A.M., 
 nine o'clock P.M. being the hour of going to bed. 
 The first act of the day was an hour's meditation. 
 Those who were in their novitiate spent the rest of it 
 in offices, study of Holy Scripture a portion of 
 which was to be learnt by heart daily and of 
 theology; due heed to exercise and recreation being 
 taken. The Fathers who had completed their novi- 
 tiate found no lack of employment in the exercise of 
 their priestly functions, education, and the various 
 intellectual works to which their respective capacities 
 called them. There was no severe asceticism among 
 them the ordinary rules of the Church were sup- 
 plemented by some few days of special observance, 
 and silence was kept on the evenings of Friday and 
 Saturday in memory of our Lord's Seasons of retire- 
 ment even from the Blessed Virgin and His Apostles, 
 as well as on all fast days, and when the Blessed 
 Sacrament was exposed. More stress was laid by 
 their pious Founder on the spirit than on the actual 
 form of the Oratorian life. "The whole object and 
 mind of this institution," he wrote, 1 "is special love 
 and honour to Jesus Christ in His Eternal Priest- 
 1 Esprit de 1'Oratoire. 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 169 
 
 hood, the Founder of all priesthood; and to maintain 
 this spirit duly we must recognise Jesus as the 
 Founder and Ruler of our life. So too we must 
 give Him all and more than the reverence and sub- 
 mission which religious Orders are wont to pay to 
 their founders, recognising none other save Himself, 
 but that without failing in obedience to such things as 
 may be enjoined in His Name and His Authority by 
 those who are His representatives." 
 
 This devotion to our Lord ought to imply : 
 "A great union of our mind with the Mind of 
 Jesus, which must rule us inwardly, and bear fruit 
 externally: 
 
 " Great zeal for His Honour, as the object of our 
 life: 
 
 " Renunciation of the world and of self, as the cross 
 we are called on to bear for His Glory : 
 " Perfect imitation of His Life and Ways: 
 " Diligent co-operation with His intentions and 
 works, ever remembering that the order of nature 
 may subsist without our labour, but not so the order 
 of grace which is committed to us : 
 
 " Great respect and devotion to His Church : 
 " Earnest efforts to advance His Kingdom upon 
 earth. 
 
 " In short, so to live as to be filled with Him, seek- 
 ing none save Him, despising all else, desiring that 
 
1 70 PR IE STL Y LIFE IN FRA NCR. 
 
 He may even now be All in all to us through Grace, 
 as hereafter He will be in Glory." 
 
 Every act was to be offered in this sense to our 
 Lord. On first waking, the Oratorian was to adore 
 His Incarnation ; dressing, he was to remember how 
 he had " put on Christ" in Baptism ; his cassock was 
 to remind him of the Lamb dumb before His shearers, 
 and so forth. " Time," de Be'rulle wrote, " is a pos- 
 session bought for us by the Son of God, in order that 
 by means of it we may acquire nothing less than God 
 Himself. And Priests are more bound than other 
 men to use it for this end, inasmuch as it is their part 
 so to employ time, that they may win not only their 
 own blessed eternity, but that of other men." 
 
 As near an approach to continual meditation on the 
 High Priesthood of Christ as human imperfection 
 admits of should be the source from whence His 
 chosen servants must drink life and strength for their 
 weighty office. From daily meditation upon the Life 
 and Words of the Son of God there will inevitably 
 result : 
 
 " Acts <ti Adoration, inasmuch as every action of the 
 Son of God is Divine : 
 
 " Of Self-dedication, for Christ has bought us by His 
 ever priceless act; and meditating on any of His 
 words, acts, or thoughts, we should renew our gift of 
 ourselves in thanksgiving for that special thing : 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 171 
 
 " Of Thanksgiving) for that He came on earth for 
 us ; His life and whatsoever He did being all for us : 
 
 " Of Love. All He did was Love for us, and we 
 are bound to answer Him in love, renouncing all mere 
 earthly love for His sake : 
 
 " Of Zeal, seeking that He may be known and loved 
 of all men, that His Love may bear due fruit : 
 
 " Of Petition. His actions are the source of all 
 Good Gifts, and we must ask all we need through 
 them." 
 
 There is one very touching and beautiful admoni- 
 tion given by Cardinal de Be'rulle to the members of 
 his Congregation, namely, that their petitions should 
 be, not personal and selfish, but general ; that they 
 ask, not that their own needs only may be supplied, 
 but that whatever they pray for be for their neighbours, 
 their community, the whole Church, seeking God's 
 Glory in all. If you feel cold and languid in prayer, 
 if routine chills your energies, and the spirit of devo- 
 tion grows slack and formal within you, it will be 
 rekindled by dwelling on the universality of the Love 
 of Jesus Christ You, as a Priest, will remind your- 
 self that the salvation of a soul, the salvation of your 
 flock, may hang upon the earnestness of your prayer ; 
 that with you it rests to rescue this soul from tempta- 
 tion or that other from despair ; to cast down Satan's 
 triumphs and stablish the Kingdom of Christ Such 
 
1 72 PR IE STL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 thoughts as these will surely revive the slackening 
 warmth of a man's heart, and enable him to cast him- 
 self with fresh fervour before that Loving Saviour Who 
 has said, " Whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, it 
 shall be given unto you." 
 
 Cardinal de Be'rulle also recommended the practice 
 on which de Condren, as we have already seen, laid 
 so much stress, the " examen de prevoyance? or fore- 
 casting the duties and probable temptations and trials 
 of the coming day, so as to meet them forearmed, and 
 strengthened by prayer and self-humiliation. 
 
 Needless to say how important a feature in each 
 priestly life he esteemed the Blessed Sacrifice of the 
 Altar. De BeYulle's death was but the final act of his 
 life, through which the Holy Eucharist was ever his 
 chief desire, his stay and consolation. " Those holy 
 souls who endure life and long for death," he wrote, 1 
 " who count this world as an exile, find their consola- 
 tion in the Eucharist, and that because they grow in 
 the Love of God through the Divine virtue of that 
 celestial manna, a privilege peculiar to this life ; be- 
 cause their King and Saviour vouchsafes therein to be 
 really present with them ; and because by it He has 
 given them the means of offering a worthy homage to 
 His Heavenly Father. The Blessed Sacrament is the 
 Manna of our desert, the Paschal Lamb of our exile, our 
 1 Discours de TEucharistie. 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 173 
 
 Food till we reach the Mount Horeb, the Victim of 
 propitiation to us, our praise-offering, our one perfect 
 price by which we obtain all things from the Father." 
 With respect to all intellectual labour (and the 
 Oratorians have numbered no ordinary intellects 
 among them) their Founder still insisted on the 
 precept already quoted from their original institu- 
 tion, that knowledge is not to be sought for itself 
 alone, but that it may be used to set forward the 
 Kingdom of Christ and the salvation of souls: 
 
 "NON TAM CIRCA SCIENTIAM QUAM CIRCA USUM 
 SCIENTLE." 
 
 Cardinal de Bundle's instructions to his Congrega- 
 tion on the right use of intellectual study are founded 
 on the words of Holy Scripture ; " the Lord is a God of 
 knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed " (i Sam. 
 2, 3), or as it is in the Vulgate, " Deus scientiarum 
 Dominus est, et ipsi prseparantur cogitationes." He 
 enjoins them to ponder well over these words, and 
 not to defraud God of that which is His, by assuming 
 any powers of mind or intellectual capacity to be 
 their own gifts nay, it is a very sacrilege for a man 
 to attribute the beauty, or force, or depth of his con- 
 ception and ideas to himself, all coming from Him 
 Who breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life, 
 Who is "the Father of Spirits" (Heb. xii. 9), and 
 "the Father of lights" (James i. 17). "How/ 7 the 
 
174 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Cardinal asks, "shall we glory in our petty know- 
 ledge of such small earthly things, and not rather lose 
 ourselves in the contemplation and hope of the glori- 
 ous things which await us ? What are we ? What do 
 we know ? A handful of dust, knowing somewhat of 
 earthly science and human language, and even that 
 but imperfectly and uncertainly. But supposing such 
 knowledge to be carried to the greatest perfection, 
 what is it in comparison with the speech and the 
 knowledge of angels, still more with that of God? 
 We are called to greater things ; we are called to know 
 not this world, but the Author of the world, to live an 
 endless life in Him. Surely it is no small dignity to 
 live hi God, to share His Eternal happiness ! yet that 
 is our life, and for ever let us never rest satisfied in 
 anything short of that." 
 
 De Be'rulle warns his Congregation against the 
 perils which beset the studious and intellectual; 
 presumption, arrogance, vanity; quoting S. Bernard's 
 saying, that " some men learn in order to know, and 
 that is curiosity: others to be known, and that is 
 vanity : while others learn in order to edification, and 
 that is charity." "Alii sciunt ut sdant, ft est curiositas; 
 alii sciunt ut sciantur, et est vanitas ; alii sciunt ut 
 (zdificent) et est caritas" (In Cant 36). 
 
 Recreation times were to be watchfully used ; a few 
 moments' prayer were to precede them, and the ejacu- 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 175 
 
 lation, " The Word was made Flesh and dwelt among 
 us," in order that His Miiid and Conversation among 
 men might be remembered as the model of that of 
 His servants, a habit which de Be'rulle said would 
 cause their intercourse to be after S. Paul's precept, 
 and "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things 
 are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever 
 things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatso- 
 ever things are of good report " (Phil. iv. 8), would be 
 the groundwork of their intercourse. 
 
 In treating of the special duties of superiors, Pere de 
 Be'rulle says, " Our work is to become holy even as 
 He is Holy, and through His Holy Spirit to learn how 
 to promote the sanctification of others by our example 
 and by our labours. All are bound to work for this 
 end perseveringly and faithfully, giving all our best 
 efforts, our longings and prayers, in a word, using 
 every gift of nature and of grace which we may 
 possess thereto. Each one of us is bound to do this, 
 though after divers manners each according to his 
 power and according to the work assigned him some 
 in prayer, others in labour; some in ruling prudently, 
 others in accepting direction meekly, for to rule well 
 and be ruled well is a special gift from God, Who 
 gives wisdom to some and docility to others to the 
 one authority, and to the other obedience imparting 
 His Grace alike to various conditions, giving some- 
 
176 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 times indeed a more abundant grace to those who are 
 ruled than to those who rule. Thus His secret 
 counsels should mould us all in humility and mutual 
 respect superiors revering the hidden grace in those 
 who are subject to them, and these again deferring to 
 God's Authority as represented by their superiors all 
 the while being bound together in the unity of the 
 One Spirit, Which worketh amid the 'diversities of 
 gifts/" 
 
 Superiors are warned to consider their duties under 
 five heads : 
 
 I. What they owe to God : 
 
 II. What they owe to themselves : 
 
 III. What they owe to their neighbour : 
 
 IV. What they owe to those under them : 
 
 V. What they owe to our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 " Whose Blood we apply, Whose Spirit we impart, in 
 Whose Power we act, for Whose Glory we work." 
 
 The Superior will continually lift up his heart to 
 God as the Father of Light, and will study to preserve 
 a ceaseless dependence upon that Power Which is the 
 source and strength of all human power. He will 
 strive to act solely as God's Instrument. With respect 
 to himself, he will be diligent "in abnegation of 
 earthly things, in seeking after Heavenly things ; in 
 patience towards that which concerns others, in 
 enduring his responsibilities rather as a cross to be 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 177 
 
 borne than with any delight or satisfaction in them, 
 watching that he himself and those under him be 
 ruled by the Apostle's precept, "If we live in the 
 Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Gal. v. 25). 
 As regards his neighbour, the Superior is to be 
 all charity, patience, kindness, solicitude, edification. 
 Once a week he is to read over passages from S. Paul, 
 which he is to recall and practise many times a day : 
 "Charity suffereth long, and is kind, . . . vaunteth 
 not itself seeketh not her own is not easily pro- 
 voked, . . . beareth all things, . . . hopeth all things, 
 endureth all things" (i Cor. xiii. 4-7). "We are 
 unto God a sweet savour ot Christ" (2 Cor. ii. 15). 
 And with respect to his responsibilities, the Superior 
 is rather to maintain them as God's Will than to 
 shrink under the burden. All his functions must be 
 performed with authority and charity duly blended: 
 he will give but few commands, and will rather lead 
 those subject to him to do their duty by the force of 
 example, of love, and of prayer ; continually keeping 
 in mind that he holds his authority not for the sake of 
 authority, but for love's sake, and that inasmuch as 
 all his authority comes from One Who is both Lord of 
 all and Lamb of God, it had need be guided more 
 by gentleness and humility than by power more in 
 patience than in strength. In the same spirit of 
 humility the Superior was not to despise any details 
 II 
 
1 78 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 of his office, however small. " Moreover," as the 
 Cardinal says, " everything that refers to God is great, 
 and there is nothing little in God's House." Accord- 
 ingly the Superior of the Oratorians was from time to 
 time to superintend personally every household detail, 
 however humble or distasteful. 
 
 With respect to the faults of those under him, de 
 BeVulle says, 
 
 " I. He will humble himself in other men's faults, 
 bearing in mind that he would commit greater faults 
 than theirs if God left him to himself. 
 
 " II. He will impute their faults to himself in God's 
 Sight, inasmuch as his lack of wisdom, of charity, or 
 of good example may have led to them. 
 
 " III. He will bear in mind that God seeks to 
 train and perfect him through the shortcomings of 
 others. 
 
 u IV. He will strive to foresee and avert faults by 
 his prudence in preventing occasions of falling ; he 
 will bear them with patience, restrain them by 
 example, amend them by love, correct them, but ' in 
 the spirit of love,' not that of rule; and he will beware 
 of the false zeal which is a temptation to some 
 superiors, rather cultivating the utmost gentleness and 
 patience in honour and imitation of the Son of God, 
 Who bore so tenderly and patiently with the roughness 
 and ignorance of His Apostles." 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 179 
 
 But who is sufficient for these things? Surely 
 nothing short of a very continual recollection and 
 sense of God's Presence can enable a man so to " lose 
 himself, that he may find himself in God"? So 
 thought Cardinal de BeYulle, for he goes on to say, 
 " The works of God must be done in the Spirit of 
 God ; the works of light in the Spirit of Light ; the 
 works of Grace by the help of Grace, and not by the 
 mere darkness of nature and our earthly mind. When 
 God created the world, He made the light first, and 
 in that light all His other works, and He ' saw ' or 
 examined everything that He had made by \\.\ 
 according to which example we should view and 
 review our actions, not to encourage self satisfaction, 
 but to rule them more and more after the counsels ot 
 perfection and our Dear Lord's intentions. We need 
 to recollect ourselves, hour by hour, so as to acquire 
 a holy habit of always living and acting as in God's 
 Presence. It is well, in addition to our ordinary 
 religious exercises, that the Superior should daily give 
 a short time to self-examination as regards his office, 
 studying wherein he can do more to promote both his 
 own perfection and that of others." 
 
 The Superior's motto was to be, " Thy Kingdom 
 come. Even so come, Lord Jesus !" 
 
 Such being the requirements for the General of 
 the Oratorians, it was not unnatural that the Congrc- 
 
i8o -PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 gation, immediately after Cardinal de Berulle's death, 
 should have fixed upon de Condren as his worthiest 
 successor. At that moment the latter was at Nancy, 
 acting as mediator between Louis XIII. and his trouble- 
 some brother, Gaston d'Orldans. The Queen Mother 
 had opposed the Duke of Organs' marriage with a 
 daughter of the Duke de Nevers, and the spoiled 
 boy had plunged into every kind of wild excess in his 
 disappointment. After a while he took refuge with 
 the Duke of Lorraine, whence it was important to 
 Richelieu's policy to recall him, and Pere de Condren, 
 who had more influence over the wayward prince than 
 any one else, was sent upon the ungrateful embassy. 
 He succeeded first in persuading the Duke to leave 
 Lorraine and return to his own country, and after a 
 time, in spite of Richelieu who rather fomented than 
 appeased the personal difference between the King and 
 the Duke de Condren brought about a reconciliation 
 and a meeting between the royal brothers. It was 
 however during the earlier stage of these negotiations 
 that the Oratorians in Paris, fearing some intervention 
 from the high hand of Cardinal Richelieu, hastened 
 to elect their General without summoning deputies 
 from their provincial houses. De Condren wrote 
 from Nancy, earnestly deprecating this proceeding as 
 informal and dangerous, but before his letter arrived 
 the Congregation assembled and he himself was 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 181 
 
 elected. On receiving due intimation of this election, 
 de Condren wrote as follows : 
 
 " Very dear and reverend Fathers, May the grace 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ be ever with you. Were I 
 to consider nought save what I owe to you, I should 
 reproach myself for my delay in answering your letter. 
 But considering the importance of the subject, I hope 
 you will not blame me for having taken a few days 
 for turning to God, and seeking His Guidance in 
 coming to a determination. 
 
 " I have had to struggle against my reason before 
 I could resign myself to your election. Experience 
 of my own incapacity and infirmity, the great drawing 
 to retirement which God has given me, specially since 
 the death of our reverend Father, my intention of 
 spending the remainder of my days at the Feet of our 
 Dear Lord, and the very love I bear in my soul 
 towards the Congregation, all led me to wish that it 
 should have some other Superior. In all sincerity, 
 this last difficulty has been the greatest. I knew that 
 the late Cardinal de Berulle, our beloved Father and 
 Founder, always hoped that when he was gone God 
 would look mercifully upon the Congregation, and 
 lead it on to higher degrees of grace, and this we must 
 all desire. . . . Since his death I have felt much fear, 
 many longings. ... I have prayed for God's Mercy, 
 and that He would give us a Superior after His Own 
 
1 82 PRIES TL Y LIFE IN FRA NCE. 
 
 Heart ; that He would guide your thoughts and acts 
 by His Holy Spirit of counsel." 
 
 After dwelling at some length on the excellences 
 of the late Cardinal, and regretting that the Congrega- 
 tion had not profited to a greater extent by his teach- 
 ing and example, de Condren continues : 
 
 " I was praying that my own unworthiness might 
 not be any hindrance to God's Grace among us, 
 when the tidings of your election came greatly to my 
 surprise and dismay ; and now my prayer is that I be 
 no hindrance to the Congregation. . . . There are 
 many things which make me fear, but I will not doubt 
 God's Aid. I will glory in my infirmities, so that His 
 Grace alone may abound in me. My joy shall be 
 that I am nothing, Jesus Christ All in all to you. I 
 resign myself to His Power, in the hope that He Who 
 has begun the work will fulfil it, inasmuch as I feel 
 bound to yield to your choice. I do this the more 
 readily that practically the Generalship of the Con- 
 gregation implies a general servitude, and that I am 
 thereby obliged to serve you all, and to belong more 
 to each one of you than to myself. It is an adminis- 
 tration which constrains me to be all things to all 
 men within our Company ; to share the duties of each, 
 to bear the cross of all, to take my part in their 
 troubles, since it is God's Will that every one should 
 bear His Cross. I pray Him to give me grace to 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 183 
 
 carry mine, even such as He lays upon me, and 
 that I may willingly accept my share in that of others. 
 It will always be a great joy to me to bear anything 
 for any among you. ' Yea, and if I be offered upon 
 the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and do 
 rejoice with you all ' (Phil. ii. 17). 
 
 " I give myself unreservedly to God for you, and to 
 you for God. Let this letter abide in witness against 
 me if I ever fail, even as Moses caused the Book of 
 the Law to be put aside in the Ark of the Covenant 
 as a witness between Joshua and the people of Israel. 
 I am and shall be all my life and with my whole 
 affection so I ask of our Dear Lord and His holy 
 Mother the very humble, obedient and faithful 
 servant of each one of you, 
 
 " CHARLES DE CONDREN, 
 "Pr. de 1'Or.de J&us. 1 
 
 "NANCY, November^ 1629." 
 
 Writing to a great personage, a devoted friend of 
 the Order, in reply to congratulations on his appoint- 
 ment, the new General says : 
 
 " I do not hold, sir, that the Generalship is an 
 advantage, or a means of power, as the world thinks. 
 If one looks at it from a Christian's point of view it is 
 but a general bondage which constrains me to serve 
 every member of the Congregation, to be more at 
 1 Lettres, No. xxxv. 
 
184 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FKANCE. 
 
 their disposal than at my own, and to bear their 
 Cross. And the power seemingly committed to me is 
 not meant to subject any one whatsoever to me, but 
 to subject all those entrusted to me to God, His 
 Guidance and His Kingdom. It means that I should 
 subject myself to God in each one of them, and to 
 them in Him, so that practically if before I had any 
 liberty or right over myself, it is taken away by this 
 Superiorship, and transferred to those to whom I am 
 given and subjected by God." 1 
 
 One of Pere de Condren's first acts, August 1631, 
 was to call a General Assembly of the Congrega- 
 tion, which now twenty years after its foundation 
 numbered 71 houses; and as a deputy was elected for 
 every ten priests, and fifty-five deputies attended the 
 Assembly, the Congregation must have consisted of 
 550 members. 
 
 After passing various acts which established and 
 confirmed the Society, Pere de Condren took ad- 
 vantage of the opportunity to humble himself before 
 the Assembly, asking forgiveness for the imperfections 
 with which he had fulfilled his office as Superior, and 
 requesting to be allowed to resign it, and that then 
 and there another General should be chosen. As 
 might be expected, the Assembly replied to this by 
 " approving, confirming and ratifying " his election as 
 1 Lettres, No. xxxvi. 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 185 
 
 positively as it was possible to do, and the official 
 acts say that " this was accepted after some persistent 
 refusal, at the urgent entreaty of the Assembly." 
 
 A letter written to one of the Fathers, who ap- 
 parently shrank from a post of responsibility, gives so 
 clear a picture of de Condren's own mind on this 
 subject, that we may read his acquiescence in his 
 appointment by its light. 
 
 " May our Lord Jesus Christ live ever in you by 
 His Holy Spirit, according to His Heavenly Will. 
 
 " He will be your Strength and your Guide in the 
 office which you bear with Him and for love of Him, 
 and so far as He sees it to be for your soul's good 
 He will also be your Consolation. With Him nothing 
 should be difficult or disagreeable, for He is All- 
 sufficient, and nothing is more in the spirit of true 
 charity, or fulfils its aim more perfectly, than forgetful- 
 ness of our own interests and our personal inclinations 
 in the work which our vocation sets before us for the 
 Love of Jesus ; as also nothing tends more to the 
 perfecting of our faith than to turn a deaf ear to 
 all thoughts concerning our own sufficiency or in- 
 sufficiency. Supposing one to possess every possible 
 human and angelic virtue, what could one do without 
 Jesus Christ ? Nothing, emphatically nothing. With- 
 out Him we cannot turn our own capabilities, or 
 Angels' ministrations, or man's works, no, not even 
 
186 PRTESTL Y LIFE TN FRANCE. 
 
 God's Own Gifts, to any good account; for He has 
 said, * Without Me ye can do nothing/ And if we 
 attempt to use any of these things without Him, the 
 result will be self-love and wilfiilness, which can only 
 tend to our condemnation. 
 
 " But, on the other hand, whatever insufficiency we 
 may feel in ourselves, through Jesus Christ we can do 
 whatsoever God would ask of us : * I can do all things 
 through Him Which strengthened me.' No indeed, 
 we can never be so incapable but that Jesus Christ 
 will fulfil in us and with us all the duties of our 
 vocation. S. Peter was less prepared to be chief of 
 the Apostles when the Son of God called him than 
 you are for your office : whence we see that an un- 
 learned fisherman could become Head of the Church, 
 the rock on which Christ's Church is built, that 
 Church which was to enlighten the world and convert 
 the greatest of human intellects, through Jesus Christ 
 I should be much more afraid of committing the 
 guidance of our members to you, if you believed in 
 your own capability : in that case I might with good 
 reason fear that you would sink in helpless confusion. 
 He does not love to see His servants presuming on 
 their own strength. But inasmuch as you are con- 
 scious of your own insufficiency, I feel that I need 
 only ask a more lively faith in His Sufficiency for 
 you : only need say in S. Peter's words * Grace and 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 187 
 
 peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge 
 of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as His 
 divine power hath given unto us all things that per- 
 tain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of 
 Him that hath called us to glory and virtue; . . . 
 you giving all diligence, add to your virtue faith' 
 (2 Peter i. 2-5). 
 
 " It is great ignorance of Jesus Christ not to know 
 that it is through Him that God's Grace is given to 
 us, and that in that Grace, not any that is our own, 
 we can carry on His work, nor would God have us 
 lean on any other strength. Give yourself up then to 
 Him in order that you may attain to that strength. 
 Do not dwell on what power of your own you may 
 think to possess; but rather fix your mind on what 
 God requires of you. David was punished for reckon- 
 ing up the people, that is, for trusting to his own 
 strength. We must think of nothing save what God 
 requires of us. 
 
 " And when we feel as though we were ready for 
 chat, whatsoever it may be, we must not stop short in 
 any good intention or disposition which we may feel 
 in ourselves; rather we must give ourselves freely to 
 the Son of God, purposing to do whatever our duty 
 is, in Him, and through His Grace; firmly believing 
 that without Him we can but misuse even that grace, 
 whereas with Him we can do all things whatsoever 
 
i88 PR1ESTL Y LIFE IN FKANCE. 
 
 He may require of us. Look upon your obligations 
 as the secret indications of His Will there can be 
 none better ; and instead of taking measure of your 
 own virtues, adore His Grace set forth in you. The 
 soul which adores Jesus Christ working in itself will 
 never sink down discouraged, because that soul will 
 undertake every duty in His Power and Strength, 
 and will see the Lord in every chain and tie. So, 
 too, the soul which does not pause to dwell upon its 
 own sufficiency or insufficiency, but places itself 
 wholly in His Hands to do whatsoever He may 
 require, need never fear to go astray while doing 
 His work ; that soul's confidence is too deeply 
 rooted. ' I will glory of the things which concern 
 mine infirmities ' (2 Cor. xi. 30). 
 
 " And I, for my part, will glory in that you cannot 
 fulfil the duties of your office without Jesus Christ. 
 It is a guarantee to me, a glory to the Congregation, 
 and an untold gain to the community under you, 
 that Jesus Christ Alone is your Light, your Coun- 
 sellor, your Strength. The less of self in what you 
 do the more of His Grace there will be; the less 
 you see cause for trusting in yourself the more 
 entirely you will lean on Him, and the more simply 
 you will do His work. Yes, be sure if you are 
 nothing, He will be everything ; for He never fails 
 us when we are ' about His business/ and all 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 189 
 
 that is lacking on our side He supplies tenfold on 
 His. 
 
 " Go on then in mistrust of yourself, but be strong 
 in the faith and grace of Jesus Christ, and do not 
 give us cause to say to you as our Lord said to S. 
 Peter, ' O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou 
 doubt?' I hope soon to see you, and then we will 
 take counsel together concerning your own doings 
 and those of your community. I am most heartily 
 yours," etc. 
 
 " . . . . Give yourself up to Jesus Christ without 
 self-contemplation, without heeding your own state 
 of mind or condition, without wishing to be or to 
 have anything whatsoever, without being disturbed 
 by what goes on within you. Leave it to Him to 
 work in you exactly as He may see fit. Do you 
 cease to be anything, that He may be everything. 
 Seek in such a spirit to obtain to that 'glorious 
 liberty of the children of God' of which S. Paul 
 speaks (Rom. viii. 21)."' 
 
 What he preached, Pere de Condren practised, 
 and for the next few years his labours were very 
 abundant ; his principle in all, after that so forcibly 
 expressed above of dependence upon the Lord, 
 being that of acting with and submitting to the 
 Bishops. " Our Congregation," he said at this time, 
 1 Lettres, Nos. xii. and xiii. 
 
190 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 "is so entirely formed under the Bishops' hands, 
 that it cannot work heartily or hope for God's 
 Blessing without this union, which we hold to be the 
 very source of our life and strength. Of a truth, the 
 Bishops being the pastors whom God has set ovei 
 His Church, ... we are bound to see the Son oi 
 God in them, and to cleave to Him through them. 
 And that all the more because our Society is specially 
 founded in the love and grace of our Lord's Eternal 
 Priesthood, and that we aim at the fullest attainment 
 of the spirit thereof, seeking to love, honour and 
 adhere to it as our chief object and source of 
 inspiration." 1 
 
 The Bishops of the Church of France accepted this 
 loyalty in the same spirit with which it was offered, 
 and there was a greater demand for the Oratorian 
 Fathers on behalf of every kind of Church work than 
 their numbers, though so considerable, could supply. 
 Missions, schools, and above all training the Clergy 
 themselves to a higher tone and practice, were Pere 
 de Condren's chief objects. Some few of his letters 
 to the Fathers remain, which all set forth the same 
 calm, trustful, unselfish spirit, which he pressed so 
 earnestly on others. Thus, to the Superior of a pro- 
 vincial house, he writes, 
 
 " Do not be disturbed because of some little diffi- 
 * Pfcre Amelote, ii. p. 294. 
 
THE OR A TORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 191 
 
 culties with the members of your Community as re- 
 gards yourself. Think rather that it is much to be 
 wished that men should only be wanting towards us. 
 If they find it hard to submit to God, and do not 
 accept His Guidance without murmuring, how can 
 we hope to make our rule more acceptable than His ? 
 It is a mistake to foster such a delusion. Nevertheless 
 be assured that we are not indifferent to your diffi- 
 culties, and we will do whatever lies in our power to 
 make your charge bearable, but the existing state of 
 the Congregation renders it impossible to satisfy you 
 as fully as we should desire. The Church was in a 
 far more harassed condition when the Son of God 
 left it to His Apostles, but at the same time He left 
 them His Spirit and a great love of the Cross. If 
 our vocation .met with no trials, no cross, no need for 
 patience, we might well mistrust it, and fear lest we 
 had no part in Jesus Christ Crucified. 
 
 " The Apostle says that we are called to be partakers 
 of the Sufferings of Jesus Christ, but nevertheless, if 
 we duly weigh our little griefs, we shall often find 
 them to be rather the result of our own imperfections 
 than a share in the Cross of the Son of God ; we shall 
 realise too that they are so trivial that we may well 
 be ashamed to call them crosses. My dear Father, 
 we must imitate God and His Son, and rule lovingly 
 mose who resist government, not failing to take care 
 
PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 of those who will not take care of themselves I 
 mean of their own souls. I pray you go on tending 
 God's House in this spirit, and watch over souls. May 
 He bless you. Give me a place in your prayers." 1 
 
 What a gentle wise mind the following letter to a 
 Father, who was unwilling to take the responsibility 
 of a Community, shews : 
 
 "We had thought to give you as Superior one 
 whom our Good Master has just taken from us ; and 
 now we are asking Him to supply another after His 
 own Heart. He can raise up children unto Abraham 
 of the stones, which is what we cannot do of our- 
 selves ; and so not having any Father to dispose ot 
 who is altogether fit for this office, we pray to Him, 
 Who fits and moulds those whom He vouchsafes to 
 use. To seek no further, He could make a good 
 Superior of you yourself if He willed it, but He 
 seems pleased rather to grant your prayers to the 
 contrary than mine to that effect For my own part, 
 I give way to the wish with which He inspires you, 
 and will not attempt to do it violence. Nevertheless, 
 until such time as we can find him who is designed 
 of God to be the Head of your House, I pray you to 
 take charge of it you may rely that it shall not be 
 for long. 
 
 ' Tell those members of your House who want 
 1 Lettres, No. xxxviiL 
 
THE OR A TORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 193 
 
 more retirement, that we must not look upon the 
 Congregation as a place of mere selfish retreat, where 
 each man may seek his own personal satisfaction, but 
 rather as a place for devotion, holiness, and work for 
 Jesus Christ, in all of which we are bound to follow 
 Him bearing His Cross : the first rule of our Family 
 is to be found in the words * Deny thyself, take up 
 thy Cross, and follow me,' and whosoever seeks any- 
 thing else, is mistaken." 1 
 
 Again, to a Father who was suffering from ill- 
 health and consequent depression, Pere de Condren 
 writes : 
 
 "... I see from your letter that your ailments are 
 severe, and do not allow of your doing as much as 
 another might be able to do ; but they will never be 
 greater than the indulgence of the Congregation. It 
 will help you to bear with yourself we shall duly 
 prize your patience and goodness. I have always 
 thought that those suffering members who edify the 
 Congregation by their holiness, and who bear their 
 trials patiently according to their Rules and the devout 
 spirit which is therein inculcated, are more useful and 
 ought to be dearer to us than those who preach, 
 teach, or otherwise serve, without a like dutiful heed 
 to their Rule, and that because the great treasure of 
 the Congregation lies in the grace, the piety, the 
 
 'Lettres, No. xl. 
 
 N 
 
194 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 modesty of her members, wherein truly they attain to 
 the Mind of Christ. The most useful among us are 
 those who help to preserve this treasure, while those 
 who do otherwise are more hurtful than helpful, what- 
 ever outside show they may make to the contrary. 
 
 "If you can make up your mind to work in this 
 spirit for the Congregation, your maladies will be 
 profitable both to you and to us, and we will give 
 special orders that all possible help be given you. I 
 will make it my personal business to do so, and I feel 
 sure that our Fathers will not fail to answer to the 
 appeal. But if you find it too hard to do this, as your 
 letter seems to imply, we will still do our very best 
 for you with the most affectionate solicitude, in what- 
 soever position you may assume in the Congregation, 
 or even out of it. Meanwhile we will pray our Dear 
 Lord to guide you rightly. If you can make up your 
 mind to patience and obedience, it will be far the 
 best thing for you, but whatever you may do, I shall 
 be always, yours heartily, P. DE CONDREN."' 
 
 A contest among certain members of the Congre- 
 gation for priority of rank called forth the following 
 words of moderate but firm rebuke : 
 
 "The question raised among the three persons 
 mentioned in your letter proves too plainly that they 
 1 Lettres, No. xli. 
 
THE OK A TORY AND 2TS SYSTEM. 195 
 
 have as yet made but little progress in the school of 
 Jesus Christ. When the Disciples were guilty of dis- 
 puting who should have the pre-eminence, they were 
 still untaught in the lessons of His Humility, and had 
 not fully received the outpourings of His Grace. But 
 we who are so ready to speak of the Spirit of Jesus, 
 and who are called by His Grace to His Church to 
 spread abroad the sweet odour of His Humility 
 among men we are utterly without excuse if we foster 
 any such unworthy feelings j we ought to blush at any 
 symptom thereof. 
 
 " When our Assemblies appointed the due place of 
 each among us, it was not with a view to any personal 
 exultation, but only to that of the priesthood ; neither 
 was it with a view to pride and vanity, which we 
 rather seek wholly to uproot : but the object was to 
 regulate the zealous humility which would lead every 
 one to seek the lowliest place, and which consequently 
 might result in confusion and disorder. If these three 
 men who are at issue, were striving who should 
 humble himself most for the love of Jesus Christ in 
 His Humiliation, I should say, in the spirit of our 
 Assemblies, that nothing save the priesthood is to be 
 considered among us. For save this dignity, which 
 our Lord wills to maintain its honour and holiness, 
 no gifts but are to be possessed in humility ; and the 
 most holy and most perfect gifts which can be attained 
 
196 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 through His Grace are only to humble us and keep 
 us prostrate before Him, until He has judged them at 
 the Last Great Day. If we judge them ourselves, or 
 esteem them highly, or take to ourselves the glory 
 thereof, we are guilty of an encroachment upon His 
 Divine Judgment, which He will not overlook we 
 thereby forestall His Sentence, and become unworthy 
 of His Favour, for which we ought to wait and hope 
 humbly. 
 
 " In accordance with this principle, which is binding 
 on all Christians, and which has been accepted by 
 our Assembly, I can only, when called on to decide 
 this difference, condemn all three partakers in it, as 
 having offended against the mind and intention of 
 our Congregation, which requires humility, not pride 
 in her members. You say that I have certain powers 
 to order matters of this kind, but my power is only 
 intended to be used ' to edification, not to destruc- 
 tion* (2 Cor. xiii. io)j as indeed every power com- 
 mitted to us by God is for the advancement of grace, 
 not of self-will I am bound to use it to the uproot- 
 ing, not the encouragement, of pride in His children. 
 If any of our members seek to take the lowest place 
 at the Gospel Feast, we may fairly say to him in 
 Christ's own words, ' Friend, come up higher,' if it 
 seems expedient so to do, but it is otherwise with 
 those who affect the pre-eminence. To such it were 
 
THE OR A TOR Y AND ITS S YSTEM. 1 9 7 
 
 more fitly said * Give place, and take the lowest 
 room,' since they are so entirely wanting hi the 
 mind and disposition of our Society. All such we 
 would send to learn of S. Paul what was ' the Mind 
 which was in Christ Jesus, Who, being in the Form of 
 God, made Himself of no reputation,' and ' thought 
 it no robbery,' no indignity to His Godhead, to bear 
 with, nay to seek out, all the humiliations of human 
 life. 
 
 " If we are kindled by the same spirit we shall in due 
 time be exalted with Him, but if not we have little 
 right to claim an abundant share in His Glory. I 
 beg those three persons who have had thoughts so 
 opposed to the Christian, still more to the priestly 
 mind, to repent heartily, and to spend a week in 
 special devotion to the Humiliations of Jesus Christ, 
 so that He may grant them a better mind. I would 
 have them consider well that they are Christians and 
 Priests, and that they ought to esteem these more 
 highly than any other rank." l 
 
 To a Missionary the Superior writes the following 
 brief words of encouragement : 
 
 " I thank our Dear Saviour with all my soul for 
 
 the blessing He is giving to your preaching in your 
 
 mission. We are far from worthy of such grace, but 
 
 we can adore and admire His Grandeur and Power, 
 
 1 Lettres, No. xliiL 
 
198 PR1ESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Which deign to carry out His Work by means of us 
 unworthy sinners. The workman's glory is to succeed 
 with frail tools. God's Word is holy even in a sinner's 
 mouth, and it retains its efficacy therein ; but it will 
 produce still greater results when those who bear it 
 to others lose all sight of themselves, and speak 
 solely in Him and in His Holy Spirit. Let this be 
 your aim. Woe to that Gospel preacher who seeks 
 to be heard for his own sake ! The crown and glory 
 of Gospel truth is only for such as seek that Christ 
 be listened to in their words, and who lose themselves 
 in their message, like the ministering Angels, or the 
 holy Apostles, who rejoiced to be despised of men, 
 so long as they might see God Only, and that He was 
 filling their hearts and minds." x 
 
 To a Priest of the Oratory who had yielded to the 
 infirmities of temper, the Superior says : 
 
 " I entreat you to live the most edifying life that 
 you can in the House where you are. I am very 
 sorry for what has happened; you owe our Dear 
 Lord much greater patience than this. Remember 
 that you are a child of the Cross, and that were you 
 even crucified, you ought to abide in silence and 
 patience. I quite believe that you may have had 
 reasons for what you did, but I cannot think that they 
 were in accordance with Christ Crucified. I have 
 ' Lettres, No. xlv. 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 199 
 
 not yet been fully informed as to what took place ; 
 but knowing you better than the others, I feel con- 
 strained to speak to you and entreat you to take up 
 the Cross, and learn its patience. Our greatest gain 
 in this world is to suffer ; and our greatest loss is to 
 cause suffering to others : the first is the lot of God's 
 children, and the last of the devil's children. May 
 God shield both you and me from having any part 
 in so terrible a lot. Be assured that all my life I 
 shall be yours," 1 &c. 
 
 Perhaps, in our busy days of perpetual over-work 
 and over-strain, Pere de Condren's words to one of 
 his Mission Fathers, whose zeal abounded, may find 
 their aim among ourselves : 
 
 "... I thank our Dear Lord," he says, " with all 
 my heart, for the success He has given you in your 
 Mission ; it is a proof that He accepts your service 
 in that kind of work. But nevertheless, my dear 
 Father, do not forget that if our visiting and our outer 
 work is to be really Christian it must not be con- 
 tinued. The Son of God frequently went apart Alone 
 with His Father, one while amid the mountains, 
 another time in the desert, and yet He had not the 
 same need that we have to renew His inner life in 
 the Spirit of God, or to repair the waste made by 
 time and exterior work a reparation essential to him 
 1 Lettres, No. xlvii. 
 
200 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 who would talk with God and live under His Guid- 
 ance; He intended thereby to teach us what we 
 ought to do; He is not only the Founder of all 
 Evangelical Mission work, He is also the Rule and 
 perfection of all its detail. 
 
 " He said, * As the Father sendeth Me, even so 
 send I you.' That charity which He left to us, 
 and which ought to be the very life of all true Mis- 
 sions, has reference first of all to God rather than to 
 the people, and passes on to them by means of the 
 love we win from Him. And therefore, from time to 
 time, we need to give ourselves up to Him Alone, He 
 being our God, and requiring that our love be fixed 
 on Him before and above all else ; remembering that 
 our chief homage is due to Him, that He is the 
 Beginning and the End of all our spiritual work; 
 that we must gather from Him that which we are 
 going to give out again for His Glory ; that we must 
 return it to Him when the object is attained. It was 
 thus that Jesus Christ ever did with respect to the 
 Father. He never did anything on earth * but what 
 He saw the Father do' (John v. 19). He lived and 
 acted in Him Only, referring all to Him, finally 
 giving Himself up for the Kingdom and Glory of His 
 Father. Such is our example, and so, dear Father, I 
 would have you make it your rule, after having been 
 at work, to reserve a suitable time for retreat and rest 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 201 
 
 with God; for He ought to be our Rest in this 
 world as well as in the next From the very creation 
 He willed that man's rest should be consecrated to 
 Himself, and He still wills it so." 1 
 
 Pere de Condren's letters to his Fathers engaged in 
 Missions are full of minute details, which shew that 
 nothing escaped his watchful vigilance: the trifling 
 oppositions, the storms raised, " not fierce enough to 
 be attributed to the Evil One ;" a the coldness of those 
 who ought to be fervent in God's work; the petty 
 jealousies of others; the various individual prejudices 
 which must inevitably come in the way of all such 
 efforts for dealing with souls; the occasional failure 
 even of a missionary himself, find their respective 
 notice. Careful arrangements as to the places where 
 Missions should be held, watchirig for the openings 
 God may give, cautions to the Mission Fathers to 
 carry on their own work "without entering into 
 any party feelings; . . . following S. Paul's teach- 
 ing, ' that there be no divisions among you, but that 
 ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and 
 in the same judgment' (i Cor. i. 10); shunning all 
 that tends to a breach of Christian love and sim- 
 plicity;" warnings to keep the Lord's Example ever 
 before them, and so work on at their Father's business 
 " with few words, and giving little heed to the contra- 
 1 Lettres, No. xlix. a Ibid. No. liv. 
 
202 PKIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 dictions of men ;" such are the chief substance of the 
 General's correspondence. He specially charges his 
 Fathers to be very careful how they proceed in fresh 
 places, where hitherto their work has not been 
 known. " New things are ever apt to give offence. 
 Confidence only comes with knowledge and habit, 
 and if you go too fast you will only bring down 
 opposition upon your work. In a year's time you 
 will meet with general commendation for the very 
 things which at this moment would raise a perfect 
 storm, if suggested. You see God wills that His 
 Work should spread and wax strong in secret, in 
 humility, ignored or misunderstood of men." 
 
 He was never weary of pressing upon those under 
 him the importance of working without any view to 
 an earthly reward, whether such comes through the 
 applause of men, or even that of conscious satisfaction 
 in the success of work well done. 
 
 "This family of the Son of God [the Oratory] 
 needs good and faithful servants, who will ever bear 
 in mind that their Head was Crucified because of 
 His good works, and that while serving Him they 
 must seek to offer themselves with Him a sacrifice to 
 His Father ; they must immolate themselves in His 
 Spirit of patience on the altar of human contradiction 
 and persecution, doing what is right without expect- 
 ing any satisfaction or gratitude from men. Real 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 203 
 
 Christian work is too God-like to have its reward in 
 this world, and those men who do not renounce self 
 even in this respect have not attained to the true 
 Spirit of God. If we were holier we should encounter 
 still more opposition from the world, and if we lived 
 according to the perfect holiness of Jesus Christ the 
 men of our times would no more tolerate us than they 
 tolerated Him there would be nothing about us that 
 would in any way meet and satisfy the views and spirit 
 of the world. . . . 
 
 "For my own part, I must needs humble myself 
 because I have hitherto had to suffer so little ; in 
 very truth I believe that had I been better, men 
 would have looked less favourably on me. . . . 
 Just now you are happier than I have been in this 
 respect ; I thank God on your behalf, and above all 
 for that He gives you grace to profit by it. 
 
 " The wicked thief was lost though his cross was 
 so close to Jesus Christ, and unless we cleave closely 
 to Him, unless we are upheld by Grace and enabled 
 to offer ourselves together with Him, the Cross will 
 not save us rather we shall deserve punishment 
 because we have not used it rightly. Contradiction 
 and affliction are common enough in this world, but 
 a full and right use of them is more rare than one 
 might be disposed to imagine; to receive and use 
 them in a loving Christian spirit and in the Patience 
 
204 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 of Christ is altogether a gift of grace, which we may 
 well crave earnestly, although it is for the most part 
 little esteemed of men Let us offer our- 
 selves to Him in all the trifling contradictions we are 
 called on to bear; let us see them with loving eyes, 
 as a cup of blessing which our Father offers us to 
 drink for His good pleasure. And if the flesh 
 murmur, let us say with the Son of God, * Get thee 
 behind me, Satan ; the cup which my Father hath 
 given me, shall I not drink it ? ' A common fault, 
 but a very serious one among Christians, is that 
 they reject the reality of that Cross which they are 
 so ready to adore in painting and sculpture. But if 
 we only love the Image, our love, be sure, is only 
 imaginary too. 
 
 " If we are weak in our undertaking, Jesus Christ 
 vouchsafes to be the Angel strengthening us. Wor- 
 ship the fulness of His love with all your might, and 
 give yourself up wholly to the guidance of His Spirit. 
 Herein, indeed, you are better off than He was, for 
 whereas only an Angel was sent to comfort Him, He 
 wills Himself to be your Strength. Gather yourself 
 together then, and strive to prize the Cross aright, and 
 then resolve fervently to bear it with Him in whatso- 
 ever shape He may offer it to you. Seek to attain 
 a resolute will to bear it in well-doing, although all 
 your good works seem downed with thorns. Ik- 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 205 
 
 content that God should reserve all their satisfaction, 
 all their reward, all their glory, for Paradise ; leave 
 Him to hide them beneath the shadow of His Holy 
 Spirit as long as He will, so long as you bear all 
 things in the strength of the Saviour's Love even 
 towards those who cause you most suffering ; so long 
 as you offer yourself to Him for their sake." 1 
 
 In the same spirit of self-abnegation which enabled 
 Pere de Condren almost to rejoice in calumny, he 
 answers a friend who had written in great indigna- 
 tion at the false reports spread concerning him and 
 his work : 
 
 " You dwell too much upon what is said concern- 
 ing your friends. We have much more need to 
 be troubled at the offences which are continually 
 committed against God, than at anything which 
 can be said or done with respect to ourselves ; and 
 when we are so sensitive to these, it is a sign that our 
 love for Him is cold, and that we cling too closely 
 to self and the things which so disturb us. We 
 must strive to purify our hearts before God, and to 
 transform every thought into love for Him, while we 
 marvel that He suffers so many even to blaspheme Him, 
 and that so many even among professing Christians 
 murmur against His rule. Surely, if we dwell on this 
 thought, we shall worship His Patience, and the 
 1 Lettres, No. bdv. 
 
206 PR IE STL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 wondrous way in which He overlooks man's com- 
 plaints, continuing to pour out His Love upon 
 him. It were well if we strove rather to rest in His 
 Divine Government, and so not to fret so much, or 
 to set our hearts on converting those to us whom He 
 does not convert to us, perhaps not even to Himself. 
 We have much more real reason to fear lest we be 
 too well off in this world ; too much respected, too 
 much praised. Hitherto we have not had any great 
 share of our Lord's Cross to carry perhaps we may 
 be more favoured in future. We ought to count any 
 prospect thereof as a great grace, and if we really 
 believe the Gospel, we shall look upon persecution as 
 one of the beatitudes. . . . 
 
 " When we have altogether rooted blasphemy from 
 out the world, and restrained all men from speaking 
 evil of God and His Son Jesus Christ; when we 
 have brought the whole world to fulfil their duty 
 towards His Divine Majesty, then there may be 
 nothing left to do, but to restrain men from sinning 
 against ourselves, and perhaps it will be time then to 
 see about it. But meanwhile such efforts would be 
 mistimed; our whole care must be given now to 
 prevent offences against God, and let us rejoice if 
 men's malice be levelled rather at us than at God. 
 One result thereof should be to make us look within 
 and be more filled with humility, since how shall 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 207 
 
 we presume to resent persecution, knowing as we do 
 that if we are not guilty of that which is imputed to 
 us, at all events we have committed many other 
 faults? Jesus Christ Alone had a full and perfect 
 right to justify Himself; and we must strive by peni- 
 tence, by humility, by love, to purify our hearts of 
 self-love, and to win as large a share as may be in 
 the Innocence of Christ Crucified, rejoicing through 
 love of His Cross to be persecuted, not blamelessly in- 
 deed, like Him, but according to our strength. Better 
 so, than not at all. Let us spend this life in patience 
 and humility, seeking only to love and serve God." 1 
 
 One more letter must be quoted here, in which, 
 writing to an Oratorian, Pere de Condren dwells upon 
 the " liberty of the children of God," in words which 
 seem to be a summary of his own inner life : 
 
 " First of all," he says, " I want to warn you, if 
 need be to entreat you, to remember that it is your 
 duty really and effectively to take care of your health ; 
 not merely to think or speak of doing so. ... Be 
 resigned to God in all things, and thus your soul will 
 find rest. Shun all anxiety of mind, and all constraint 
 in spiritual things. Just as we ought to seek to sub- 
 ject the flesh to the spirit, i.e. all that is not born of 
 the Spirit of God (for ' that which is born of the flesh 
 is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit') 
 1 Lettres, No. Ixix. 
 
208 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 (John iii. 6), even so ought we to seek that liberty of 
 soul which S. Paul calls * the glorious liberty of the 
 children of God' (Rom. viii. 21). His children, so 
 the Apostle teaches us, are not subject to the things 
 of this world either through l love ' or fear but willing 
 only with their whole heart to do Him honour, 
 whether by doing or suffering, their minds are always 
 in perfect freedom towards Him and superior to every 
 obstacle. They know how to turn their very hin- 
 drances into means of better serving and glorifying 
 God ; accepting all such freely, and turning them to 
 account by offering them up to Him. They know 
 that the one thing most acceptable to God is the 
 sacrifice of the will: so they resign themselves 
 wholly to Him, and are as ready to serve Him after 
 one way as another. Then- real desire is to leave all 
 choice to God, accepting His choice with an absolute 
 and loving submission; as ready to receive those 
 hindrances which His Supreme Will permits as to 
 work unhindered when He wills it, for what they 
 believe to be His greater Glory. After all, His real 
 Glory is, that we obey Him out of love. Oh ! be sure 
 that it is a great secret of Christian life to be wholly 
 God's without clinging to any earthly thing, without 
 choosing any way of our own for serving Him, but 
 abiding in simple readiness always to use every cir- 
 cumstance and event which His Providence may send 
 
FHE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 209 
 
 to His Glory. To do this the will must be resolutely 
 set towards Him, and we must be fully persuaded that 
 nothing can happen to us which is not destined to 
 help us onward, if we cleave wholly to His Guiding 
 Hand ; nothing but what may be a means of honour- 
 ing Him, in act, if it be something to do ; in suffer- 
 ing, if it be something to be borne j in severance, if 
 it be something to be given up ; in prosecuting, if 
 it be something to be persevered in, as some holy 
 thought or grace. May our Lord mould all our 
 hearts to this, and may we let Him mould us as He 
 will."' 
 
 Three years of experience served, as might be ex- 
 pected, to confirm the Congregation in the wisdom of 
 the selection they had made of a Superior ; but when 
 another Assembly was held in 1634, they were thrown 
 into great dismay at the prospect of losing him. 
 Without making any allusion to his intentions, Pere 
 de Condren carried on the work of the Assembly till 
 the last day of its session, when, without telling any 
 one whatsoever where he was going, he borrowed a 
 friend's horses and took a roundabout road to a very 
 quiet house belonging to the Congregation, and con- 
 cealed himself there, as he hoped effectually, until 
 another Superior should be elected. 
 
 The Assembly, finding that their President did not 
 1 Lettres, No. Ixix. 
 O 
 
2 1 o PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 appear, voted the Bishop of Saint Malo, who was 
 present as Honorary Assessor, to the chair; and just 
 as this was done, the secretary presented a letter 
 directed in Pere de Condren's handwriting to the 
 Assembly. The first step the Assembly took was 
 to decide by acclamation that this letter should not 
 be opened, foreseeing, as every one did, its pur- 
 port. 
 
 The letter was in fact a touchingly humble entreaty 
 to be relieved of his office as General ; " not," as he 
 said, " to avoid the trouble, which is not great ; not 
 that I do not love the Congregation, or that I have 
 any complaint to make against any one far from it, 
 I ask pardon of all who have any complaint against 
 me ; nor that I am wanting in submission to your will 
 I would fain live in obedience all my life. But you 
 know that he who in his innermost conscience feels 
 himself unworthy and incapable of an ecclesiastical 
 office ought not to yield when elected. And my only 
 reason for departing is to give you time to decide on 
 another Superior. I am going to one of our houses 
 (I dare not say which), till such time as you shall have 
 given to the Congregation and to me a Superior- 
 General. Then I shall hasten to ask his blessing, 
 and tender my obedience." 1 At the same time 
 de Condren wrote privately to one of the Fathers, 
 
 ' Lett res, No. xxxiii. 
 
THE ORATORY AND ITS SYSTEM. 211 
 
 entreating his co-operation, and reiterating his convic- 
 tion that it was for the good of the Congregation that 
 he should retire. 
 
 The Assembly wrote an answer to the letter they 
 had not read, purporting that let Pere de Condren go 
 where he would, their General he should be so long 
 as he lived; and having signed this document unani- 
 mously, the Fathers separated. Three days were 
 spent in seeking the fugitive, but at last he was found, 
 and then his very humility prevented any further 
 contest. De Condren read the Assembly's docu- 
 ment, and observing that it was in real love to the 
 Congregation he had wished to give it a better Head, 
 he returned to Paris with his captors, and meekly 
 resumed his office, though to the last he maintained 
 that he was incapable and unworthy of it Once 
 more de Condren attempted to retire from office. 
 This was when the Assembly of 1638 was held. But 
 his design was frustrated on all sides. Hoping to 
 gain help from Cardinal Richelieu, he appealed to 
 him for support, and was thrust back with the assur- 
 ance, that if he resigned his present office he should 
 immediately be appointed to an Archbishopric ! while 
 his confessor, after hearing a general confession made 
 with a view to his retirement, positively assured 
 him that he would be acting against God's Will if he 
 persisted, and even went so far as to threaten to 
 
212 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FKANCE. 
 
 refuse absolution unless de Condren gave up his 
 intention. 
 
 The remainder, therefore, of his life until January 
 7, 1641 Charles de Condren spent at the Head of 
 his Congregation. 
 
VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS. 213 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARIST3. 
 
 THE Oratory had set a great stone rolling, and 
 although, in the order of God's Providence, it 
 came to pass that after a comparatively short time the 
 great work of training and spiritualising the Clergy in 
 France passed out of the hands of the Oratorian 
 Fathers, the work begun by Cardinal de Be'rulle was 
 carried on in two great branches, both of which sprang 
 from the parent vine of the Oratory. One man sows, 
 and another reaps the increase ; so it ever has been, 
 so probably it ever will be, in God's natural as well 
 as His spiritual Kingdom, and who among His chosen 
 servants but would ever be ready to cry out with 
 David, " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto 
 Thy Name give the Glory !" or with S. John Baptist, 
 " He must increase, but I must decrease " ? And if, 
 as we humbly venture to hope and believe, the life of 
 Paradise will see a great ingathering of those who 
 have loved and toiled together for Christ here, no fear 
 lest there should be any rivalry, any grudging as to 
 
214 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 who has done the work, so long as He, the Dear 
 Lord, the precious Master and Saviour of East and 
 West, of Oratorian and Lazarist, of Philip Neri, Pierre 
 de Be'rulle, Vincent de Paul, Jean Jacques Olier, 
 ay, and of many another saintly soul whose name 
 may be scarce remembered, or even forgotten alto- 
 gether of men so long as He and His Holy Name 
 are glorified. 
 
 Probably among the numbers who are familiar with 
 the name of S. Vincent de Paul, and who justly look 
 upon him as the great Apostle of his day, few know 
 how close his connexion with the Oratory and de 
 Be'rulle was. 
 
 The two men were born within a year of one 
 another, de Be'rulle, as has been already said, February 
 4, 1575, and Vincent de Paul, April 24, 1576. There 
 was little resemblance in their early history. S. Vin- 
 cent was the son of peasant parents inhabiting the 
 hamlet of Rauquines, near Dax, on the edge of the 
 Landes. His childhood was spent, David-like, keep- 
 ing the sheep, and the oak tree whose hollow trunk 
 was his oratory and shelter, has for many years been an 
 object of reverent interest to Western Christendom. 
 His first simple education was given by the Cordeliers 
 of Dax, and while teaching others in order to supply 
 funds for his own maintenance, he continued to 
 study at Toulouse, where he took his degree, being 
 
S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS. 215 
 
 ordained priest, September 23, 1600, by the Bishop 
 of Pe'rigueux the See of Dax being at that period 
 vacant. The tale of Vincent de Paul's voyage to 
 Narbonne during which the vessel he was in was 
 captured by a Turkish brigantine, and all on board 
 carried to Tunis, where they were sold as slaves is 
 well known. From his personal experience of the 
 fearful sufferings, mental and bodily, which all such 
 Christian captives underwent, sprang one of S. Vin- 
 cent's great works, the Mission to Barbary, in which 
 he toiled unremittingly for the relief of the numerous 
 slaves of every nation who were continually cap- 
 tured and brought into the markets of Tunis and 
 Algiers. 
 
 Having been released, Vincent found his way to 
 Rome, and thence he was sent on a political mission 
 to Paris, where he had various conferences with the 
 King, Henri IV. It was this visit to Paris which led 
 to his first acquaintance with Cardinal de BeVulle, and 
 its important consequences. Vincent's special errand 
 accomplished, he remained in Paris, occupying a 
 lodging in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, close to the 
 hospital called la Charitd, at that time the principal 
 work of the kind in Paris, and which consequently 
 drew around it most of those whose minds were work- 
 ing out the problem how best to relieve Christ's suffer- 
 ing poor. Here, as before mentioned, ministering 
 
216 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 both to the souls and bodies of the sick, Vincent 
 found a congenial task, and it was here that he and 
 de Be'rulle came across one another. The latter 
 heard various rumours concerning a humble priest 
 who went about in the hospital doing the work of 
 a good angel, and with pious curiosity seeking him 
 out, he found Vincent de Paul A close friendship 
 between two such choice souls was the natural result, 
 and when suffering under a prolonged season of 
 spiritual trial and temptation, Vincent sought refuge 
 in the Oratory, and laid open his whole heart to de 
 Be'rulle. His past life, his present fears, his hopes 
 and aspirations for the future, were all submitted to 
 the clear guidance of the Oratorian Superior, whose 
 quick perceptions did not fail to perceive that God 
 intended great things to be done by this holy man, 
 and far from pressing him to join his own Congrega- 
 tion, de Be'rulle told Vincent plainly that he was 
 destined to found a new Congregation of his own, 
 which should work with a similar object, though after 
 a somewhat different plan. 
 
 During the two years thus spent in the Orator}', 
 Vincent worked out in his own "mind more and more 
 the thought which travailed in him of the fearful 
 ignorance and neglected spiritual condition of the 
 country people generally ; and the desire to meet it 
 witli some special remedy grew stronger and stronger 
 
S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS. 217 
 
 in his heart. It has been already said, how at de 
 Be'rulle's request, he took charge of the parish of 
 Clichy, when Frangois Bourgoing, the Curd thereof, 
 joined the Oratorians ; and it was again in compliance 
 with his advice that Vincent left Clichy at the end of a 
 year to fill the post of tutor in the noble house of Gondi, 
 descendants of the celebrated Due de Retz. At 
 this time 1613 de Gondi was Archbishop of Paris 
 (as indeed three of the family were in succession); 
 and it was in the household of another son of the 
 soldier of Moncontour, Philip Emanuel who although 
 a courtier and a warrior was also a deeply religious 
 man, (ending his life indeed as a priest of the Oratory) 
 that Vincent spent the next twelve years of his life. 
 Madame de Gondi Marguerite de Silly was one of 
 those "ftmmes fortes" which that brilliant period of 
 French society produced, and husband and wife agree- 
 ing in their anxiety to train up their children as good 
 Christians, they applied to Cardinal de Be'rulle for a 
 suitable tutor from among his Oratorian Fathers; 
 but he, having his own views concerning Vincent 
 de Paul, sent him to fill the post It seemed 
 a strange way of promoting that work among the 
 country people, towards which Vincent's special 
 attraction lay, and he marvelled himself at the call, 
 only complying out of obedience ; but " it was God's 
 doing" (c'est Dieu qui a fait cela), he used to say 
 
2i8 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 himself in after-life, and the result proved that de 
 BeVulle's judgment was good. The veneration with 
 which Madame de Gondi soon learned to regard Vin- 
 cent, led to her placing herself under his direction, 
 again at de Be'rulle's desire for the lowly priest held 
 himself unworthy of the charge and he found in her 
 an active fellow-labourer in the work he already had 
 begun to do among the country people on the large 
 estates of the family. S. Vincent used to say that the 
 first sermon of the Mission was preached on a certain 
 Conversion of S. Paul at Folleville, in consequence of 
 a seemingly trifling event which occurred there. He 
 was summoned one day to hear the last confession of 
 a dying man, a peasant, well to do, and reckoned as 
 a good liver among his neighbours ; but beneath the 
 decent exterior there lay a festering sin, long concealed 
 through false shame. Fulfilling his ministry as Vin- 
 cent did, after no mere perfunctory fashion, he soon 
 saw how matters stood, and led the penitent to make 
 a general confession, to his own intense relief and 
 thankfulness. The strong expressions of gratitude 
 used by this man to Madame de Gondi, and his con- 
 viction that but for Vincent's wise handling his soul 
 would have been lost, while to the world without he 
 seemed all right, had so strong effect upon her, that 
 she cried out in despair at the thought of the many 
 souls whose spiritual state must be even worse than 
 
S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS. 219 
 
 his, and implored Vincent to preach in the parish 
 church on the subject of general confessions, and how 
 to make them, which he did with most encouraging 
 results. So great a movement and awakening followed 
 among the people round about, that Vincent was 
 obliged to call in the aid of two Jesuit Fathers from 
 Amiens to supply their needs. Henceforth the Con- 
 version of S. Paul has always been observed among 
 his spiritual children as practically the birthday of the 
 Mission. 
 
 It would take up too much space here to dwell 
 upon S. Vincent's other works while in the de Gondi 
 family. He attempted once to leave it in 1619, when 
 he undertook the parish of Chatillon in the diocese of 
 Lyons, again at Pere de Berulle's suggestion ; but 
 Madame de Gondi succeeded in persuading the latter 
 to urge his return, not however before he had left 
 his stamp on this new sphere of labour, in the first 
 beginnings of the Confreries de la Charite whence 
 sprung at a later period the " Societe* de Saint Vincent 
 de Paul," which has done so great a work in Modern 
 Europe, and with which the name of Fre'deric Ozanam 
 is so closely connected. 
 
 Philip Emanuel de Gondi held the office of 
 General of the Galleys, and Vincent soon learnt by 
 personal experience what a miserably neglected con- 
 dition the convicts who filled them were in. This he 
 
220 PR1ESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 represented to the General in strong language, warn- 
 ing him that he would have to give account to God 
 for it, and thence arose the work generally known as 
 the " (Euvre des Galeres." Both this and the missions 
 to Barbary and Algiers, with their martyr heroes, 
 Louis Gue'rin, the le Vachers, Noueli, Pierre Borguny, 
 and Barreau, can only be alluded to here. While all 
 other openings that presented themselves for promot- 
 ing God's service were eagerly seized on by Vincent 
 de Paul, he never lost sight of that work to which he 
 believed himself to be specially called, i.e. mission 
 work at home. The Congregation of Missionaries, of 
 which the first seed was sown, as before said, on the 
 Conversion of S. Paul, was to take more definite 
 shape while Vincent was in the house of de Gondi. 
 Those slender beginnings had stimulated Madame de 
 Condi's pious enthusiasm, and in the year 1617 she 
 proposed giving 16,000 livres to some community on 
 condition that they would hold missions every five 
 years on the estates belonging to her family, and 
 Vincent tried unsuccessfully to induce either the 
 Jesuits or Oratorians to take it up. For seven years 
 this went on, and then the de Gondis asked why 
 Vincent himself should not found the work they 
 craved for, and seconding their wishes, their brother 
 the Archbishop offered the old College des Bons 
 Enfants, now vacant, to the proposed new Society. 
 
S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS. 221 
 
 This was accepted, and in April 1624, the "Com- 
 pany, Congregation or Confraternity of Mission Fathers 
 or Priests," and Antoine Portail, Vincent's first dis- 
 ciple, went to live at the Bons Enfants j he himself 
 remaining with Madame de Gondi until her death, 
 which followed in June 1625. Then, after doing his 
 best to comfort the bereaved husband, he joined 
 Portail ; and so humble was the beginning of the 
 since mighty Order of the Lazarists, that when Vin- 
 cent and his colleague went forth on their earliest 
 missions, they could not even afford to employ any 
 one to keep the house, but were wont to lock the 
 door and leave the keys with a neighbour ! In Sep- 
 tember 1626 two more priests joined them, and the 
 document incorporating himself and his three com- 
 panions, signed by all four, is preserved among the 
 archives of Saint Lazare, as the original act constitut- 
 ing the Congregation. It was so far only that Vincent 
 de Paul's beloved friend and director saw the be- 
 ginning of the work which de Be'rulle's prophetic mind 
 believed would develop into something far greater. 
 He died in October 1629, and it was not till 1630 
 that the first steps were taken which led to the 
 establishment of Vincent and his company in the 
 ancient foundation known as the Le'proserie de Saint 
 Lazare. 
 This house was served in 1630 by eight regular 
 
222 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Canons of Saint Victor, under Adrien le Bon ; but 
 leprosy had ceased to be a prevalent disease in 
 France, there were scarcely any patients in the 
 hospital, and le Bon was utterly dissatisfied, and most 
 anxious to turn his house to better account. Having 
 heard of "a company of Missionaries, who gave 
 themselves up to the poor under one M. Vincent," 
 he went to see them in company with M. Lestocq, the 
 Cure* of Saint Laurent, and convinced of the reality of 
 their work, he at once offered the Priory of Saint 
 Lazare to Vincent de Paul. Not unnaturally, he 
 expected the offer to be received with eager satis- 
 faction, but to le Bon's surprise and disappointment, 
 the holy man at the Bons Enfants remained silent 
 and as one overwhelmed, and on being pressed to 
 reply, he answered that the proposal was too much 
 above his aims. "We are but a few poor priests, 
 leading the simplest of lives, and aiming at nothing 
 greater than to minister among the country folk," 
 he said, and so he declined the offer. 
 
 Le Bon was only made more anxious that Vin- 
 cent should accept it, by this absence of all self- 
 interest, and he insisted on waiting six months for an 
 answer. But at the end of that time he still met with 
 a persistent refusal. " We are too few," Vincent said 
 " we are but a new-born Community, and these humble 
 quarters are sufficient for us. I dread the publicity 
 
S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS. 223 
 
 and talk which would follow on such a step. We are 
 unworthy of such promotion ; leave us in the obscu- 
 rity which suits us best." Le Bon continued to urge the 
 greater service which might be done for God, and while 
 he was pleading the dinner-bell rang, and he went into 
 the refectory with the little Community. Their sim- 
 plicity and devotion struck him more and more, and 
 he determined to leave no stone unturned to effect his 
 object. During the next six months he and the Cure* 
 of Saint Laurent perfectly besieged Vincent with their 
 arguments, and the latter went so far as to tell him 
 that he was resisting God's Holy Spirit, and would 
 have to answer to Him for rejecting so favourable an 
 opportunity of establishing a work destined to pro- 
 mote His Glory and the good of many souls. " I 
 would fain have taken the good Father of the Mis- 
 sionaries on my back, and have carried him forcibly 
 to Saint Lazare," the Abb Lestocq said, in recount- 
 ing the prolonged struggle ; " hoping that the beauty 
 of the spot and its many advantages might overcome 
 him; but he was invulnerable to such charms, and 
 during the whole eighteen months' discussion he never 
 once went near the place." 
 
 At length, in despair, Le Bon entreated Vincent de 
 Paul to refer the matter to some friend on whose judg- 
 ment he could rely, and to his great satisfaction Vincent 
 consented Andre Duval, his director and ordinary 
 
224 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 confessor, was mentioned, and he promised to abide 
 by this venerable Doctor's judgment As might be 
 expected, Duval sided entirely with Le Bon, and Vin- 
 cent succumbed. After discussing and clearing away 
 certain difficulties arising out of points of discipline 
 and the like, a concordat was signed January 7, 1632, 
 between Adrien Le Bon and the few remaining reli- 
 gious of Saint Lazare, and Vincent de Paul and his 
 little company of priests. The former was to remain 
 there during his life, and his brethren were to receive 
 a certain annuity from the funds of Saint Lazare 
 guaranteed to them by Philip Emanuel de Gondi, the 
 former General of Galleys, now a humble Oratorian 
 Father. The Archbishop of Paris confirmed the 
 arrangement, subject to certain conditions, among 
 which were, that the Mission Fathers should continue 
 to receive lepers if necessary, that they should carry 
 out their Missionary work in all the villages and ham- 
 lets of his diocese, as also that they should receive his 
 Candidates for Ordination for a fortnight's spiritual 
 retreat at every Ember season ; indicating by this last 
 stipulation how valuable he felt their teaching and ex- 
 ample to be to the rising generation of the Priesthood. 
 The King and the civil authorities of Paris likewise 
 ratified the transfer, and on January 8, 1632, Vincent de 
 Paul took possession of Saint Lazare, the Archbishop 
 himself installing him. 
 
VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS. 225 
 
 The way was not yet altogether smooth. The Prior 
 of Saint Victor questioned Le Bon's right to hand over 
 the hospital to the Mission Father, and instituted a 
 lawsuit against Vincent, concerning which the charac- 
 teristic trait is recorded of him, that while his cause 
 was pleading at the Palais de Justice, Vincent remained 
 kneeling in the Sainte Chapelle hard by, asking not for 
 success, but simply that God would do as seemed best 
 to Him, and grant to His servant a contented heart 
 whichever way the cause might be decided. There 
 was no doubt as to the legal question, and this hin- 
 drance was soon cleared away. The Pope's sanction 
 was also given, but Urban VIII. died before his Bull 
 was promulgated, and the official approval of Rome 
 was not given till twenty years later by Alexander VII., 
 and not then without trouble, as Pope Urban's Bull 
 accepted the Missionary Fathers as secular priests, 
 whereas during the interval they had become a Re- 
 gular Order, and considerable opposition was raised 
 to them on this score. 
 
 During the last century a strong feeling against 
 formal religious vows had sprung forth; and pro- 
 bably the line taken by the Oratorians, and their 
 influence over the spiritual mind of their period, had 
 tended to confirm this. M. Olier, the founder of 
 Saint Sulpice of whom more shortly had followed 
 the Oratorian view in this matter; S. Francis de 
 
226 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Sales' original intention, when founding the Visitation, 
 had been that his daughters should only take the 
 simple, as opposed to the formal Religious vows. 
 Probably during his earlier years, while Vincent de 
 Paul's mind was receiving its impression from his 
 beloved friend and guide, de Be'rulle, he imbibed this 
 opinion ; and at this period, although he was anxious 
 that his Congregation should be subject to a formal 
 Rule, instead of the " simple" vows, which at present 
 they renewed every two or three years, at the same 
 time he did not wish them to pass from the ranks of 
 Secular Clergy. He always maintained that the 
 works to which his Congregation were specially 
 destined were incompatible with a technical "reli- 
 gious life;" and, above all, he held that the education 
 of the Secular Clergy, which he considered its most 
 important office, positively required instructors out of 
 their own body, similia similibus* With this object 
 in view, he decided that his Missionaries should be 
 called Monsieur, not Father ; that they should retain 
 their family names, and wear the ordinary garb of 
 secular priests, in a word, that the only visible dis- 
 tinction between them and the Secular Clergy should 
 be their more abundant zeal in the exercise of their 
 Apostolic functions. Instead of a novitiate for those 
 who wished to join the Congregation, he established 
 1 Vie de S. V. de Paul, Maynard, voL i. p. 391. 
 
S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS. 227 
 
 what he called an interior seminary (seminaire interne) 
 as distinguished from the existing externes or diocesan 
 seminaries. 
 
 Those who became members of the Congregation 
 were required the first year to express their deliberate 
 intention of remaining in it for life ; x the second year 
 they took a simple vow of " stability ;" i.e. an en- 
 gagement to work all their lives at the objects of the 
 institution ; and this was to be renewed at the end 
 of eight or ten years, as the Superior might judge 
 advisable. As to the three vows poverty, obedience, 
 and chastity, for the present he was content with a 
 solemn excommunication to be pronounced on such 
 as should belie them, once every year in Chapter. 
 The first Assembly General, small in number, was 
 held October 13, 1642, when Vincent de Paul 
 resigned the office of Superior, and hastened to a 
 small chapel adjoining the Church of Saint Lazare, 
 leaving his Congregation to elect a new Head. De- 
 puties came to request his return, but he only 
 replied, " I am no longer Superior, choose an- 
 other." 
 
 Thereupon the whole Assembly came to the rescue, 
 and after some brief discussion, they solemnly and 
 unanimously elected him for life. Vincent bowed to 
 
 i "Le bon propos de vivre et de mourir dans la Mission." 
 Vie de S. V. Paul, Maynard, vol. i. p. 387. 
 
228 PR1ESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 the decision, saying, "Brothers, pray for me. It is the 
 greatest act of obedience the Company can exact." 
 
 For some years the question of formulating vows 
 continued a matter of discussion and perplexity, Vin- 
 cent de Paul feeling that certain restraints were neces- 
 sary for the Congregation, while yet he was reluctant 
 to give up its position among the Secular Clergy. 
 Ultimately a form was decided on, which was pro- 
 nounced and subscribed by Vincent and his Company, 
 
 January 25, 1656, to this effect: "I, N , an 
 
 unworthy Priest of the Congregation of the Mission, 
 in the presence of the B. Virgin and all the Company 
 of Heaven, vow before God poverty, chastity, and 
 obedience to our Superior and his successors, accord- 
 ing to the rules and constitutions of our Institution. 
 Further, I vow to labour all my life in the said Con- 
 gregation for the salvation of the country poor, with 
 the help of God's All-powerful Grace, which thereto I 
 invoke." 1 
 
 Thus another great work, destined to raise the 
 tone of the Secular Clergy, had sprung forth from the 
 
 1 " Ego, N , indignus sacerdos Congregationis Missionis, 
 
 coram beatissima Virgine et curia coelesti uni versa, bono Deo 
 paupertatem, castitatem, et superior! nostro ejusque successor!- 
 bus obedientiam, juxta instituti nostri regulas seu consiitutiones, 
 VOTCO me praeterea pauperum rusticanorum salut! toto vitae tern- 
 pore in dicta Congregatione vacaturum, ejusdem Dei omnipo- 
 tcntis gratia adjuvante, quern ob hoc suppliciter invoctx " 
 
S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS. 229 
 
 mustard seed originally sown by S. Philip Neri. 
 Nor yet, although, as so often occurs in God's pro- 
 vidential order the branch waxed powerful, and 
 overshadowed the parent stock should the Church 
 forget that she owes the development of S. Vincent 
 de Paul's Missionary Company, and the blessed work 
 of the Lazarist Fathers, spread as it has been over 
 the whole face of the world, to the lowly House 
 of the Petit Bourbon, and the spiritual counsels of 
 its wise head, Cardinal de Berulle. 
 
 Among the many points in which Vincent de Paul 
 followed de Berulle's mind, one cannot but be 
 struck with the slowness both exhibited in framing 
 permanent rules and constitutions, until time and 
 experience shewed what would really work best for 
 the objects of the new Company. We have seen 
 how de Berulle died, leaving the stamp of his mind, 
 and his tradition indeed, in his rapidly increasing 
 Congregation, but with its Constitution yet to be 
 framed ; and in the same way Vincent de Paul con- 
 tinued to be the living rule of his Company, until, at 
 eighty-two years of age, he felt that it behoved him to 
 leave a written record of their Founder's mind, to his 
 already numerous, and since then vastly increased 
 family. He had been diligently pondering the 
 matter through all those long years; he had consulted 
 the ablest Canonists in Rome, the most profound 
 
230 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 theologians of la Sorbonne. the best lawyers, the 
 most practical, and the most spiritual members of the 
 Company ; but, following the Example of his Master, 
 he believed it wiser first "to do" and then "to 
 teach." So that when at last the Company received 
 its rules and regulations, there was nothing new, 
 nothing which practice and experience had not 
 already made familiar and acceptable. 
 
 They are written in Latin, and formularised in 
 twelve chapters. 
 
 The first sets forth the triple object of the Con- 
 gregation, i.e. (i) the spiritual perfection of the mem- 
 bers ; (2) evangelising the poor, specially the country 
 poor; (3) training clergy in the knowledge and 
 graces essential to their office. It consists of clergy 
 and laity. The duties of the former following the 
 example of Jesus Christ and His Disciples are, to 
 go forth among the towns and hamlets, teaching and 
 catechising, hearing general confessions, reconciling 
 differences, restraining contentions; further, they are 
 to establish the Confrerie de la Charite when able, 
 to conduct Seminaries, and to afford Retreats and 
 Conferences to the Clergy generally. The lay mem- 
 bers are to assist their priestly brethren in their 
 various functions, and to co-operate in prayer, peni- 
 tence and good example. Both alike are to remem- 
 ber that they can only attain their object by "put 
 
S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS. 231 
 
 ting on the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ," which 
 takes form in the evangelic precepts in His poverty, 
 purity, obedience His compassion for the sick, His 
 humility, in His daily instruction to His disciples, His 
 intercourse with men, His habits of devotion, His 
 mission and labours among the people. 
 
 The next ten chapters are an expansion of this 
 summary. The Congregation is always to seek spiri- 
 tual rather than temporal objects, the good of souls 
 before that of the body, God's Glory before the praise 
 of man ; it is to accept poverty, infamy, torture and 
 death itself, rather than " separate from the Love of 
 Jesus Christ;" it is always to seek God's Will, 
 shunning all evil and seeking that which is good, 
 voluntarily choosing that which is hardest in things 
 indifferent, receiving joys and sufferings with a like 
 gratitude from God's Hand, blending the harmlessness 
 of a dove with the wisdom of the serpent, and exercis- 
 ing that Christlike gentleness which "possesses the 
 earth," that humility which wins Heaven ; and therein 
 esteeming itself worthy of contempt, willing to be 
 lightly esteemed, seeking to hide whatever it has of 
 God, or at least referring all the praise to God; 
 renouncing self-will, and private judgment, sensual 
 indulgence, excessive family affection, attachment to 
 office, place or person, and all individual peculiari- 
 ties in manners or dress, way of teaching, preach- 
 
232 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 ing or directing, even in religious exercises ; loving 
 all enemies and seeking to do them good. While 
 obeying all the Evangelical precepts, the Congrega- 
 tion is specially to cultivate simplicity, humility, 
 gentleness, mortification and zeal. These five graces 
 are to be as the very soul of the Company, its chief 
 motive power. Yet, at the same time, inasmuch as 
 Jesus Christ overthrew Satan and established His 
 Kingdom chiefly through poverty, chastity and obe- 
 dience, the Congregation is diligently to imitate His 
 Example : in poverty, possessing all property in 
 common, no one disposing of anything as an indi- 
 vidual ; all their appliances, whether of furniture or 
 food, are to be humble, nothing under lock and key, 
 and this poverty is to influence even their wishes ; and 
 specially the members of the Congregation are to 
 remember that it is perilous to desire ecclesiastical 
 place or dignity. Purity is to be watchfully guarded, 
 temperance and diligence practised as its mainstays, 
 and S. Vincent's sons are to avoid all appearance of 
 evil, remembering that even a suspicion hinders the 
 work of their ministry. Obedience includes the pre- 
 cept to " ask nothing and accept all things." Those 
 who visit the sick are to behold their Lord Himself in 
 every sick man. The Missionaries are to be exter- 
 nally remarkable for nothing save their modest de- 
 meanour ; among themselves they are to be friendly 
 
S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZAR1STS. 233 
 
 and even-tempered, avoiding special likings and aver- 
 sions ; their intercourse should chiefly be with respect 
 to religious or literary matters suitable to their voca- 
 tion, and they should avoid discussing politics or the 
 like. As a wise speech is cultivated by silence, they 
 are to be careful in obeying their rule of silence. 
 With respect to the outer world they are to imitate 
 their Great Example, Who was the Light of the world ; 
 as God's servants they are not to cumber themselves 
 with worldly affairs, not even with extra good works, 
 save by permission ; they are not to bring strangers to 
 the House, or to take meals without, except when 
 authorised to do so. 
 
 Spiritual exercises are to be diligently practised 
 an hour's meditation daily, daily Celebration or assist- 
 ing at Mass, daily reading of Holy Scripture and some 
 spiritual book, self-examination twice every day, the 
 Office said in common, a brief visit to the Blessed 
 Sacrament on going out and coming in, an act of 
 adoration on leaving the room and returning to it, 
 reading aloud at meals, weekly confession and con- 
 ference, spiritual direction and manifestation of con- 
 science every three months, a special penitential 
 exercise on Fridays and certain other days, an annual 
 Retreat and review of past life : such rules comprise 
 the simple spiritual system which has trained so many 
 holy priests for their Master's Service. 
 
234 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 The preference to Mission work before all else is to 
 be an invariable principle with the Congregation, and 
 even the training of Clergy is to be secondary to that. 
 All the Missionaries are to strive to make God's Glory 
 their one single aim, and to shun all that savours of 
 mere self-satisfaction or love of praise, and they are 
 all carefully to avoid the perils which beset them in 
 the shape of languor and indolence on one side, and 
 of indiscreet zeal on the other. 1 It was at one of the 
 customary Friday evening conferences, May 17, 
 1658, that Vincent de Paul gave this rule, finally 
 drawn up, to his Congregation, explaining in simple 
 words how the various parts had gradually grown into 
 shape, without deliberate framing, and rather as a 
 matter of experience than of foresight. After his 
 discourse, the venerable Founder gave a copy of the 
 Rule to each member of the Community, beginning 
 with Antoine Portail, his first colleague in the work. 
 Each Missionary knelt to receive the book, kissing 
 the beloved hand which gave it, and to each Vincent 
 spoke some little word of special kindness, ending 
 with " May God bless you." When this was done, 
 Almeras asked his blessing in the name of the 
 Company kneeling around. Vincent was so infirm 
 that he needed to be supported on either side before 
 
 1 This summary of S. Vincent's Rules is taken from the AbW 
 Maynard's Vie de S. V. de Paul, vol. i. p. 400. 
 
S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS. 235 
 
 he could kneel down himself, and then after a few 
 words of fervent prayer, he pronounced the solemn 
 Blessing in the Name of the Holy Trinity. 
 
 The end was not very far off. Rather more than 
 another year was granted of the beloved Father's 
 presence, but it was a season of great and varied 
 suffering to himself, though also one of continued 
 work. It was September 27, 1659, at 4 A.M., the 
 hour at which for so many long years Vincent had daily 
 begun his work for God's Service, that he passed to his 
 rest ; " faithful to his rule, only this time his devotions 
 were to be entered on in God's Own Presence." 
 
 Before passing from S. Vincent's share in the great 
 work of raising the Priesthood to a higher tone of life 
 and doctrine, a few words more must be said on one 
 part of his work which has been already alluded to, 
 that of Retreats for those about to be ordained. One 
 of the French Bishops on whose mind the demoralised 
 condition of the Clergy preyed most heavily, was 
 Mgr. Potier, Bishop of Beauvais. He was intimate 
 with most of the men of his period who were feeling 
 after better things, among others with the Abbe* Bour- 
 doise, also a disciple of de Be'rulle, who had founded a 
 small community with a view to promote the better 
 education and higher tone of the Clergy, under the 
 inspiration he himself had gained during a Retreat at 
 the Oratory in 1611. 
 
236 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Discussing the subject with Bourdoise and Vincent 
 de Paul, sometimes well-nigh with despair, they urged 
 the importance of beginning at an earlier step : they 
 pleaded that it was little short of impossible to 
 materially alter the existing priesthood, and that a 
 hardened priest is rarely converted, but they were pre- 
 pared to seek a remedy amid the rising generation, 
 among the aspirants to the priesthood. " Admit none 
 to Holy Orders," Vincent said, " save such as have 
 the requisite knowledge, and give token of a real voca- 
 tion ; and let those who have such a vocation have 
 the longest possible preparation, and be trained as far 
 as may be for their sacred calling." 
 
 Mgr. Potier felt the wisdom of this advice, but how 
 was it to be carried out ? He pondered the matter 
 continually, and at last one day he told Vincent de 
 Paul that for the present all he saw possible was to 
 collect all his own candidates for Holy Orders in his 
 own house for a few days at least before their ordina- 
 tion, and to teach them as much as could be got into 
 that space of time, hoping to rouse them to a sense of 
 the weighty task upon which they were entering ; he 
 went on to ask Vincent to draw up a plan for this 
 retreat and a systematic course of instruction, and 
 further asked him to spend a fortnight or three weeks 
 at Beauvais before the next ordination, to carry it out. 
 This was done Duchesne and Messier, two doctors 
 
& VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS. 237 
 
 of the Facult^ de Paris, were also present to assist ; 
 the Bishop examined the Ordinands, and opened the 
 Retreat himself, and the whole thing was conducted 
 according to Vincent's plan, which proved so satisfac- 
 tory that it continued to be the model of all future 
 similar retreats. Vincent de Paul himself gave a series 
 of meditations on the Commandments, which was so 
 practical and awakening, that the whole body of 
 listeners, including Duchesne, made their general con- 
 fession in consequence to the conductor. 
 
 This led to a rule made by the Archbishop of Paris, 
 that all Ordinands in his Diocese should prepare for 
 the laying on of hands by a ten days' Retreat, and as 
 has been already said, when confirming the grant of 
 Saint Lazare to the Missionaries, Archbishop de Gondi 
 made it a condition that they should thus receive and 
 prepare his ordination candidates. The result of 
 this plan was most satisfactory, and in the present day 
 .all Ordinands' retreats hi France are moulded upon 
 S. Vincent de Paul's first system. 
 
 The young men who came to the Bons Enfants or 
 to Saint Lazare were cared for and ministered to by 
 the good Missionaries themselves; two instructions 
 were given daily those of the morning being devoted 
 to moral theology, the higher administration of the 
 Sacraments ; the qualifications and preparation neces- 
 sary for the priesthood as confessors and guides of 
 
238 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 souls, and the various kindred topics branching out 
 from these great subjects. In the evening, instructions 
 were given on meditation and mental prayer; on 
 priestly vocation, its signs, and how to correspond 
 thereto, on the obligations of God's ministers, and the 
 details of their arduous and laborious life. Of course 
 the time was too short to exhaust these weighty topics, 
 but in order to make the best possible use of that 
 time, after each instruction the Ordinands broke up into 
 classes of twelve or thirteen, each under a Mission 
 Priest, who examined them in its subject, promoted 
 discussion thereof among themselves, and assisted 
 each man to profit by it. The men were also instructed 
 in the practical performance of the various sacred 
 offices on which they were about to enter the reci- 
 tation of public services, and administration of cere- 
 monies. They were further moved to close this season 
 of solemn preparation with a general confession, and 
 they were not dismissed till the day after their ordina- 
 tion, after a high Mass and a Thanksgiving Com- 
 munion. 
 
 Vincent de Paul used to say that there could be no 
 higher work possible than training good priests ; and 
 he encouraged those whose hearts failed them before 
 the difficulties and disappointments inevitable in such 
 an undertaking, by the thought that our Lord Himself 
 only trained twelve Apostles, and one out of those 
 
S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS. 239 
 
 fell away. He was never weary of asking all good 
 Christians men and women, religious and secular 
 to pray for the Clergy, especially all those about to 
 be ordained in the Ember Weeks. A humble man, 
 going about his usual work, yet from time to time 
 lifting up his heart in prayer, may do much to forward 
 the Church's life, he said. Speaking of this one day 
 in a Conference, S. Vincent began to quote the Psalm, 
 " Desiderium pauperum exaudivit Dominus :" and 
 not being able to continue the quotation he turned in 
 his simple way to his listeners, saying, "Who will help 
 me?" whereupon some one immediately finished 
 the verse, " preparationem cordis eorum audivit auris 
 tua." 1 "God bless you, sir!" Vincent replied (it 
 was his usual way of expressing thanks) ; and he went 
 on with his subject. 
 
 The example of humility and piety witnessed by 
 those who were so happy as to make their Ordination 
 Retreat at Saint Lazare, must have been almost as 
 instructive as any words. It is recorded that on one 
 occasion the venerable Founder himself was found 
 cleaning the boots of a candidate who had been 
 neglected by the servant whose proper work it was ! 
 
 "What the eye sees goes more straightly to the 
 
 1 Ps ix. 17, Vulgate; x. 19, English version: "Lord, Thou 
 hast heard the desire of the poor, Thou preparest their heart, 
 and Thine Ear hearkeneth thereto." 
 
240 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 heart than what the ear hears," S. Vincent wrote, 
 "and we believe more unquestioningly therein . . . 
 There is a somewhat indescribable in the exterior of 
 God's own servants, a something lowly, recollected, 
 devout, which springs from their inward grace, and 
 which reacts upon the souls of those who are brought 
 in contact with them. There are men among us so 
 full of God that it is impossible to look at them without 
 being touched by the sense of it" 
 
 Thank God that what S. Vincent said then, we can 
 yet say among ourselves, and his words will bring 
 tender loving thoughts to many a mind among us, of 
 purity of life and exquisite holiness bearing its outward 
 impress, so that all beholding have felt that him on 
 whom they looked "had been with Jesus" (Acts 
 iv. 13). 
 
 S. Vincent used to tell his priests that even if they 
 had no visible gifts for teaching the Ordinands who 
 came among them, they had a mighty power of indirect 
 influence by their example, by their own diligent aim 
 at perfection, which ever reflects itself on all around. 
 And in the same spirit he used to exhort them to give 
 great heed to the reverence with which they performed 
 all offices and ceremonies, avoiding anything like 
 unseemly hurry, inattention, or carelessness as they 
 would avoid more overt sin. Among the numbers 
 of men who passed through these Retreats there were 
 
S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZAR1STS. 241 
 
 of course some of considerable talent and intellectual 
 attainment, who were not to be reached by any mere 
 display of knowledge or eloquence. " You will not 
 win them by saying fine things," Vincent used to 
 tell his priests; "they know more than we do 
 nothing we can tell them that such men have not 
 heard or read before : but it is what they see that will 
 help their souls." 
 
 He always urged the conductors of the Retreats 
 to give heed to simplicity in the outward expres- 
 sion, and purity in the inward intention of all 
 they said : to deal familiarly with subjects which 
 need bringing home to the heart, and to enter into 
 careful and close detail, avoiding mere generalities, 
 always aiming at a clear definite impression to be 
 left on the listener's mind in each instruction. 
 These counsels he invariably gave to all who took 
 part in this important work, and there were many 
 besides the Missionaries; Bishops and doctors 
 the most learned and eloquent that France could 
 furnish, rejoiced in taking their share in the efforts 
 made for the edification of their younger brethren. 
 Among those who were so trained, many great names 
 occur, of whom one at least must be singled out 
 for mention Bossuet The future Bishop of Meaux 
 made his Ordination Retreat at Saint Lazare in the 
 Lent of 1652, and in 1659 and 1660 he conducted 
 Q 
 
242 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 that retreat for his successors by which he had himself 
 gained so much. 1 
 
 There was still another step to be taken on behalf 
 of the Clergy, and with a view to the higher tone and 
 standard to be aimed at for them. The beneficial 
 effects of the Ordinand's retreat were necessarily 
 variable. Some men would be permanently im- 
 pressed, the whole future tenor of their lives would 
 be influenced by those solemn seasons ; but this 
 could hardly be anticipated of the mass, the lack of 
 a sufficiently fixed purpose, indolence, self-indulgence, 
 evil example, and the snares of the world, would 
 efface or weaken those impressions in many minds. 
 Something must be done to keep up those pious 
 influences, if any really permanent results were to be 
 expected among the mass of Clergy. Vincent de 
 Paul and his missionaries were accustomed to gather 
 together the priests of that particular neighbourhood 
 in which they were about to hold a mission, and to 
 discuss with them various practical questions concern- 
 ing the best way of teaching the children of their flocks, 
 of hearing confessions, of preaching, and the like. 
 But this was only a partial way of meeting the want. 
 A more extended means thereto was soon suggested by 
 a young ecclesiastic (his name is not on record) who had 
 
 1 Bossuet also conducted Ordination Retreats at Saint Lazare 
 in 1663 and 1666, after the Founder's death. 
 
S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS. 243 
 
 himself profited by his Ordination Retreat, and who 
 was anxious, on his own account and that of others, to 
 keep up the good work then begun. He proposed to 
 Vincent to establish periodical gatherings at Saint 
 Lazare of Clergy who were anxious to keep alive and 
 increase the good impressions they had received, and 
 who felt that mutual encouragement and conference 
 concerning the duties of their calling would strengthen 
 their hands and quicken their spiritual life. From this 
 movement arose the "Conferences Ecclesiastiques " 
 of the Lazarists. Vincent de Paul began by selecting 
 a few of the young clergy who had continued under 
 his direction after their Ordination, and proving them 
 by intrusting a mission to the workmen employed in 
 building the Church of the Visitation to their care. 
 He watched over this Mission himself with a special 
 object, and then, satisfied with his men, he proposed 
 first to each separately, and then to them all collec- 
 tively, to unite in a society with the view of strength- 
 ening and raising their spiritual life. 
 
 The system was soon organised. The Superior of 
 the Mission was to be director of the Conferences a 
 prefect, two assistants, and a secretary completed the 
 official staff. There was to be a conference every 
 Tuesday at 2 p.m. ; held during part of the year at 
 Saint Lazare, during the rest at the Bons Enfants. 
 Later on there were conferences at both places. 
 
244 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Certain rules were drawn up. The applicants were 
 to be formally admitted when satisfactory proof was 
 given as to their conduct and doctrine, and after pre- 
 paration by going through a retreat and making a 
 general confession. All members had a simple rale 
 of life to keep, a fixed hour for rising, at least half an 
 hour's meditation, hearing or celebrating Mass, daily 
 reading of the Holy Scriptures on their knees, more 
 or less study, according to their circumstances, self- 
 examination, and a yearly retreat ; rules which, with- 
 out being burdensome, were likely to keep men in a 
 habit of self-discipline, both outward and interior. 
 All members who were not lawfully hindered (in 
 which case they were to give notice of the same to the 
 Prefect) were bound to attend the Tuesday meetings, 
 to which all Bishops had a right of admission, but 
 other clergy not members were seldom admitted. 
 These meetings began with the Vent Creator^ after 
 which the subject appointed was discussed. These 
 subjects were classed under certain heads, the graces 
 general to all Christians, the duties peculiar to the 
 Clergy administration of Sacraments, sacred services, 
 ritual, etc., and the special duties of particular eccle- 
 siastical offices, such as grand vicaire, dean, cure*, 
 etc. No one was to speak for more than a quarter of 
 an hour. Any special subject, such as a mission about 
 to be undertaken, a difficult case of conscience, or 
 
S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS. 245 
 
 similar matters, on which any priest wished to consult 
 his brethren, might be brought forward. Towards the 
 close, the director or any Bishop present gave a brief 
 exhortation, and after the subject proposed for the 
 next conference had been announced, the members 
 separated. Most of the leading men in Paris joined 
 this union, and it proved the source of supply to many 
 of the most important ecclesiastical appointments. 
 The members undertook various spiritual works, 
 missions to the different hospitals, missions in Paris 
 itself, as well as in various large towns, which the 
 Lazarists themselves did not undertake. Among 
 these the mission of Metz was prominent, a place fear- 
 fully neglected during the disgraceful episcopate (if 
 so it can be called) of Henri de Bourbon, natural son 
 of Henri IV. and Madame de Verneuil, on whom the 
 see was conferred when he was six years old, and 
 who was never ordained ! Bossuet was Archdeacon 
 of Metz, and after a visit paid there by the Court in 
 1658, he succeeded in exciting an earnest desire in 
 the heart of Anne of Austria to do something for the 
 spiritual benefit of the place. Finding that the 
 Lazarists did not undertake town missions, the Queen 
 asked if the Conference could not do the work, and 
 accordingly at the next Tuesday meeting it was pro- 
 posed, and the members decided on accepting it, and 
 were warmly aided in every way by Bossuet, who 
 
246 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 succeeded in establishing a permanent foundation of 
 Lazarists in Metz, to carry on the improvement of the 
 priesthood, 1 and missionary action upon the surround- 
 ing country. 
 
 The Conferences lasted in their original form until 
 the Great Revolution, and more or less they have 
 been revived in France since that tide of evil rolled 
 back. 
 
 There is one more of S. Vincent de Paul's works 
 which must be mentioned here, although not ex- 
 clusively confined to the Clergy; since unquestionably 
 it was another useful engine in raising the tone of 
 ecclesiastical life in France. This was a great under- 
 taking, no less a matter than throwing open the gates 
 of Saint Lazare to all, whatever might be their station 
 or means, for spiritual retreat. Priests who could not 
 join the Conferences, Clergy from all parts, laymen of 
 every age and position, devoted Christians who sought 
 to confirm their devout life, sinners touched with 
 grace and anxious to turn to God all were welcomed 
 within the hospitable walls of Saint Lazare, to the 
 enormous increase both of labour and expense to the 
 missionaries. Hitherto retreats had been almost ex- 
 clusively used among religious, or at most among 
 ecclesiastics, but now whoever would might profit by 
 
 1 "A I'avanceraent de 1'etat eccl&iastique." Archives, Imp. 
 M. M. 535-539- 
 
S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS. 247 
 
 this, one of the very most helpful practices of the spiri- 
 tual life. Careful training was given to the priests, 
 whose business it was to conduct the retreats and 
 direct the exerdtanis y as they were called. Sometimes 
 the retreat was given to a number of persons at once ; 
 in other cases, individuals kept their solitary retreat 
 at Saint Lazare. Vincent de Paul drew up a most 
 minute directory for the guidance of his priests in this 
 pious labour. They were to adapt themselves most 
 carefully to the needs of each exerdtant, putting aside 
 all personal views and objects, never seeking to force 
 their own opinions, never assuming a tone of authority 
 or dictation. Patience and forbearance, encourage 
 ment, entreaty, these were to be their method of 
 treatment. There is a touching quaintness in the 
 instructions to the conductor how he is to enter the 
 exerdtanfs room, "with modest cheerfulness and 
 cheerful modesty," and the suggestions made of plea- 
 sant little speeches ; how he is to explain the time- 
 table to any one coming into retreat for the first time, 
 and the meaning and object of its practices, helping 
 the exerdtant as to his meditations and spiritual read- 
 ing, according to his needs as priest or layman, well 
 read or ignorant; and before leaving him for the 
 first night, the director of his retreat is to make sure 
 that nothing needful to the exerdtanfs material com- 
 fort is wanting, that he has pen, ink, and paper, books, 
 
248 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 light, even S. Vincent specially notifies coverings 
 to his bed, and a nightcap ! 
 
 It was in vain that the comptroller of the household 
 represented from time to time his incapability of 
 meeting the enormous additional expense of all these 
 guests. " My dear brother, they want to save their 
 souls," was usually the answer ; and if the said official 
 in his ire ventured to reply that a great many came 
 who apparently did not succeed in this pious inten- 
 tion, the Superior would reply, "But surely it is a 
 great thing if some few only are saved ! And how are 
 you to tell which is which ?" One day, after being 
 beset on all sides, from within and from without, with 
 remonstrances as to his too free hospitality, S. Vin- 
 cent declared that he would restrain it, and in order 
 to be sure that this was properly done, he would him- 
 self be doorkeeper, and only admit such applicants as 
 were unquestionably not to be rejected. Of course 
 he refused nobody, and when night came there were 
 more guests than usual ! A brother came to tell the 
 Superior that not a room remained free. " Very 
 well, take mine then ! " was the only answer he 
 received. 
 
 Bishops established retreats in their dioceses on all 
 sides, and it is recorded that priests who came to them 
 reluctantly went forth to lead a new life, often ex- 
 claiming, " Had I known sooner what was required to 
 
S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZARISTS. 249 
 
 undertake the office rightly, I should not have entered 
 Holy Orders so carelessly as I did !" 
 
 The last work undertaken by Vincent de Paul for 
 this great object of training a more spiritually-minded 
 clergy was the establishment of his Seminaire interne, 
 where young men were to be educated for the priest- 
 hood rather than specially trained as a novitiate for 
 the Missionary Congregation. Perhaps it was in the 
 natural order of things that S. Vincent should lay less 
 stress on intellectual cultivation than de Be'rulle or de 
 Condren had done in training priests ; but at the same 
 time he was very far from despising science and learn- 
 ing, although he prized humility far above either. 
 " The desire for knowledge is good," he wrote to a 
 priest (July 18, 1659), "so long as it is in modera- 
 tion. Remember S. Paul's warning words. Medi- 
 ocrity will suffice, and that which goes beyond it is 
 sometimes more to be feared than desired by Gospel 
 labourers, because there is danger lest such should 
 lead to a man being puffed up, inclined to shew off, 
 to take credit to himself, and to neglect simple 
 familiar duties, which all the while are the most useful. 
 For this reason our Lord chose disciples who were no 
 more than competent for such duties. If we labour to 
 save souls in the Lord's own Spirit, He will give us 
 the light and grace we need for success. If you are 
 willing to know nothing save Jesus Christ Crucified, to 
 
50 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 live only in His Life, you need not doubt but that He 
 Himself will give you wisdom and success." And he 
 used to warn his younger brethren that no science 
 could be really beneficial to mankind apart from piety. 
 " I would crave for you all," he said, u the wisdom of 
 Saint Thomas, but only on condition that with it you 
 had the Angelic Doctor's humility. Pride causes wise 
 men to fall, even as it made the Angels fall, and know- 
 ledge without humility has always been hurtful to the 
 Church. . . . The pettiest little demon in hell knows 
 more, probably, than the most subtle philosopher and 
 the wisest theologian on earth. . . . Make good use 
 of your youth to learn how best to serve your neigh- 
 bour. Do not lose time, for the work is urgent and 
 far exceeds the supply of labourers. Our country- 
 people are being lost for want of teaching, and the 
 greater part of the earth is still sunk in the darkness 
 of unbelief. Study diligently then, strive to be 
 learned, but without losing the grace of humility." 
 
 Gradually S. Vincent de Paul became more in 
 favour of colleges, where young men nearly ready 
 for Holy Orders might receive one or two years' 
 definite preparation for their sacred calling, than of 
 establishments intended for younger persons ; and up 
 to the time of the Revolution the Lazariste Fathers 
 counted fifty-three grands Stminaires, and nine pctits 
 y as the latter are called. 
 
S. VINCENT DE PAUL AND THE LAZAPISTS. 251 
 
 Thus the work of revival grew in France among her 
 Clergy, men's hearts were turned to God, and if the 
 great storm of Revolution was slowly gathering over 
 the land, so too the strength with which the Church 
 of Christ should meet that fearful storm was being 
 gathered in also, and when the evil day came at last, 
 the work of Oratorians and Lazarists was a very bul- 
 wark of the Faith. There was another great work 
 besides, also springing forth from the same source, 
 which has had no small share in maintaining Christ's 
 Kingdom amid the terrible assaults which have been 
 made upon it that of Saint Sulpice, 
 
252 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ST. SULPTCE AND JEAN JACQUES OLTER. 
 
 CLOSELY linked with the names of S. Vincent 
 V^x de Paul and Pere de Condren, as God's instru- 
 ments for the spiritual reformation of the Church and 
 Clergy in France, is that of Jean Jacques Olier, the 
 Founder of the Seminary of Saint Sulpice. He was 
 the youngest son of Jacques Olier de Verneuil, Secre- 
 tary and Maitre des Requites to Henri IV., and was 
 born Sept. 20, 1608, at which time his parents were 
 living in Paris; but Henri IV. was murdered in 1610, 
 and a few years later Louis XIII. appointed M. Olier to 
 the post of Intendant, or Governor of Lyons, and here 
 he and his family became intimate with S. Francis de 
 Sales. They had always thought that Jean Jacques 
 displayed a vocation for the priesthood, and though 
 judging by after events Madame Olier thought at least 
 as much of the worldly side of the matter, and of tem- 
 poral dignities for her son, as of a higher aim, still 
 they were disturbed by the very impetuous wilful 
 nature of the lad, which from time to time roused 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 253 
 
 serious doubts in their minds as to his fitness for the 
 sacred calling. At last Madame Olier took an oppor- 
 tunity of laying her misgivings before the venerable 
 Bishop of Geneva, and asking his opinion. He pro- 
 mised to weigh the matter well, and accordingly one 
 Thursday after Mass had been said in the Chapel of 
 the Visitation, when Madame Olier brought her chil- 
 dren to S. Francis, " he received them with all fatherly 
 kindness, kissed them, and as he spoke with the like 
 goodness to all, the mother told that great prelate that 
 Jean Jacques, the youngest, was not a good boy, but 
 refractory, and so unruly in his ways that he often put 
 her and his father very much out. Whereupon the 
 Saint, to console this dolorous mother, answered, ' H6 1 
 Madame, a little patience ! Do not be afflicted, for 
 God is training up a great servant of the Church in 
 the person of this dear child ;' and putting his hands 
 on the boy's head, he kissed him tenderly, and gave 
 him his blessing." 1 
 
 S. Francis, moreover, promised to take her son, 
 when, as he proposed, he should retire to his quiet 
 hermitage on the Lake of Annecy, and train Jean him- 
 self for his sacred calling ; but very soon after this the 
 venerable Bishop was given a more perfect rest from 
 the many cares of his busy diocese, and this promise 
 could not be fulfilled. Young Olier grew up a vigor- 
 'ViedeM. Olier, pt. i. 8. 
 
254 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 ous hearty schoolboy, yet with a deep-seated religious 
 feeling ; for he used to say himself in after life that if 
 he had done anything really wrong he never could 
 get on with his lessons, or remember what he had 
 learnt by heart, until he had confessed it. His father 
 being appointed Conseiller d'Etat, returned to Paris, 
 and young Olier's education was carried on in the 
 University of that city and at the Sorbonne. He dis- 
 tinguished himself, and his father looked forward to a 
 brilliant worldly career for him, which according to the 
 views of those days was not at all incompatible with 
 the ecclesiastical profession. Accordingly he obtained 
 the Priory of la Trinite' de Clisson in the Diocese of 
 Nantes, and the Abbey of Notre Dame de PeT^rac in 
 that of Saint Flour, for his son, and at eighteen the 
 handsome schoolboy, for he was scarcely more, took 
 possession of his Abbey, to which was shortly added 
 the Priory of Bazainville in the Diocese of Chartres, 
 and the title of Chanoine Comte in the Chapter of 
 Saint Julien de Brioude ! 
 
 With the same object in view, his parents were 
 anxious that he should display his natural gifts of elo- 
 quence, and although not in Holy Orders, his title of 
 Abbot was a qualification as preacher. So he was 
 handed about, making a great display in sundry of the 
 most famed Parisian pulpits, to the great delight of 
 his mother, who drank in all the pretty things that 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 255 
 
 were said about her son greedily. He says himself 
 that she was highly pleased with him when she saw 
 him prized and flattered by the world, preaching with 
 entrain and gentillesse, fine fashionable sermons, full 
 of vanity, bristling with eloquent and fanciful conceits, 
 so long as he said nothing that could offend the world 
 and its ways! All the more likely, as at the same 
 time young Olier mingled freely with the said world 
 and its pleasures; and his parents were in nowise 
 reluctant to afford him the means of doing so. They 
 gave him a liveried suite, two handsome carriages, and 
 promoted his success in society to the utmost. 
 
 Nevertheless there came a day when the mother at 
 least opened her eyes to the danger she had helped 
 to gather round her son, and to desire his conversion 
 earnestly. Such a manner of life was too common 
 among the upper ranks of the Clergy at that period 
 to excite any astonishment save among the few; but a 
 few there were who shuddered at the frightful desecra- 
 tion of holy things which prevailed all around, and 
 from 
 
 ... " Many a hidden dell, 
 From many a rural nook, unthought of there, 
 Arose for that proud world the saints' prevailing prayer." 
 
 Nor were such intercessions confined to the "rural 
 nooks." A poor woman, by name Marie Rousseau, 
 widow of a wine-seller, was constant in prayer for a 
 
256 PRIES 'TL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 revival of faith and holiness among the Clergy, and spe- 
 cially for those of the Faubourg Saint Germain, wherein 
 she dwelt, and which (as S. Vincent de Paul's history 
 and that of the Mission conducted there by the mem 
 bers of his Conference shew) was one of the very worst 
 parts of Paris. One day, meeting Jean Jacques Olier 
 and some other young ecclesiastics whose lives were 
 more fashionable than sacerdotal, Marie Rousseau ad- 
 dressed them, exclaiming that they cost her many a 
 weary hour in praying for their conversion, but that 
 she hoped some day God would grant her prayers ! 
 To this circumstance M. Olier attributed his first 
 awakening to the perils of his present life. He broke 
 away from his social bonds, but for the time being it 
 was only a transfer of worldly eagerness to a different 
 channel. A new ambition seized him to distinguish 
 himself at the Sorbonne in Hebrew, and he hastened 
 to Rome, where he expected to find greater opportuni- 
 ties of studying this language than in Paris. But an 
 acute inflammation of the eyes, which for a time even 
 threatened total loss of sight, put an end to his pro- 
 ject, and this malady was followed by a severe fever 
 which seized him while on a pilgrimage to Loretto. 
 These shocks, and God's merciful deliverance from 
 both, fairly roused J. J. Olier from his spiritual torpor ; 
 and he was seriously contemplating entering upon the 
 religious life in some Italian convent, when his father 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 257 
 
 died, and Madame Olier urgently recalled her son to 
 France. In spite of her better self, Madame Olier 
 was an intensely ambitious mother. She had suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining high office for her two lay sons, 
 and she was anxious that her priestly son should not 
 fare worse than his brothers. Accordingly she had 
 obtained the promise of a Chaplaincy to the King for 
 him, which she hoped would be the first-fruits of 
 greater dignities, and she was eager, her son says, that 
 he should be known in the world, and become con- 
 spicuous at Court. She wanted him to attract people 
 to her house, and meant to shine in the reflected credit 
 of her child. Accordingly, when Madame Olier found 
 that he resolutely persevered in a perfectly different 
 line, forsaking the Court and all worldly society, and 
 giving himself up to the poor, the sick, and the 
 ignorant, she was indignant, and looked upon hin? 
 as a disgrace to the family. Her motherly affection 
 seemed to be all gone, and she became positively un- 
 kind to him, so that sometimes he used in sadness of 
 heart to turn into Notre Dame, and kneeling down 
 before the statue of the Blessed Virgin, would cry out, 
 " Be my Mother, since my own mother casts me out !" 
 Meanwhile, another saintly person was led by God to 
 pray fervently for Jean Jacques Olier, though she had 
 never seen him. This was the Prioress of the Dominican 
 Convent at Langeac, not far from Pe'brac. This holy 
 R 
 
258 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 woman, like most other really earnest people, felt that 
 the only hope for reforming the laity lay in a reformed 
 Clergy, and her prayers and intercessions were per- 
 petual on behalf of the Church. One day, when the 
 spiritual desolation of her country was weighing more 
 heavily than usual on her heart, the Mere Agnes 
 prayed, Elijah-like, that she might leave this sin- 
 stricken, weary world ; when within her soul the Lord 
 Himself seemed to say, " I have need of thee yet to 
 help a soul which is destined to set forward My Glory:" 
 and not long after, in the same way, it was revealed 
 to her that the Abbot of Pel^rac was the person 
 indicated. 
 
 She had then never heard his name, but for three 
 years the Mere Agnes persevered in prayers and 
 mortifications on his behalf without any further know- 
 ledge of the object of her intercessions. The Abbe* 
 Olier had an instinctive consciousness that powerful 
 spiritual influences were drawing him, but he knew not 
 whence they came, and he was meditating an entrance 
 into the Carthusian Order, with a view of labouring 
 for life for the salvation of souls, when a remarkable 
 dream altogether altered his plans. His own account 
 of it is as follows : 
 
 " The Mere Agnes was praying for me without my 
 knowing it, and I was very much troubled as to my 
 vocation. I had no director then; I did not even 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 259 
 
 feel my need of one, but I thought of becoming a 
 Carthusian. I had cut myself off to the best of my 
 ability from what was sinful in my life, and just then 
 a worthy Cure', who had ministered to me for a time, 
 was dying, and I went to see him. Knowing that 
 there was nothing he cared for more sincerely than 
 my salvation, I begged him, that the first thing he 
 asked of God on entering into His more immediate 
 Presence might be on my behalf, namely, grace for 
 me to know clearly in what way He would have me 
 serve Him ? Two nights running, soon after, it pleased 
 God that in my sleep I saw Heaven's gates opened, 
 and S. Gregory sitting on a throne, with S. Ambrose 
 on another below. Lower still there was an empty 
 cure, and lower still a number of Carthusian monks. 
 Perhaps, I thought, this means that it is God's Will 
 that I should serve in the ranks of the Clergy, wherein 
 those two great men ministered, filling the post of 
 parish priest, which may be a more necessary duty 
 than that of a Carthusian ; and I may be intended to 
 work with an order of priests and cure's whose 
 mission is to help on and sanctify the Clergy." 
 
 From this time M. Olier felt a decided distaste to 
 the idea of joining the Carthusians, though his respect 
 for the Order, and his pleasure in joining their offices 
 and striving to imbibe their spirit, was as strong as 
 ever. He now determined on taking Holy Orders ; 
 
260 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 and so doing, he was one of the first set of candidates 
 who made their Ordination Retreat at the College 
 des Bons Enfants, under S. Vincent de Paul, whom 
 he accepted thenceforth as his confessor and spiritual 
 guide. After working as a missionary in the country 
 for a year, under Vincent's orders, Olier returned to 
 the Bons Enfants for his Priest's Orders, but here he 
 was so overwhelmed by a sense of the awful respon- 
 sibility of the Priesthood, and of his own insufficiency 
 for it, that but for Vincent de Paul's authority he 
 would have shrunk back from being ordained. He 
 spent three months in a preparatory Retreat, and on 
 March 21, 1633, the future founder of Saint Sulpice 
 was admitted to Priest's Orders. He was one of 
 the young priests who first gathered round S. Vincent 
 as the nucleus of the Conferences de Saint Lazare, and 
 before long he went with several other members to 
 evangelize the parishes belonging to his own Abbey of 
 PetMcac. During a ten days' Retreat which he made in 
 preparation for this Mission, Jean Jacques Olier twice 
 saw, while praying, the figure of a Dominicaness, who 
 said, " I weep for thee." He told his director of the 
 vision, but neither of them knew at all who the nun could 
 be ; and he proceeded into Auvergne on his mission. 
 During this mission, Olier often heard mention made 
 of the exceeding saintliness of the Prioress of Langeac, 
 and as soon as his missionary labours allowed time, 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 261 
 
 he went to see her; but it was only after several 
 fruitless attempts that he succeeded in obtaining an 
 interview with the Mere Agnes, when he at once 
 beheld in her the nun of his visions, and she recog- 
 nised the object of her persevering prayers. From 
 that time one of those close spiritual friendships which 
 it sometimes pleases God to call forth between two 
 souls, and to bless with such wondrous fruit, arose, 
 and lasted during the Prioress's brief life. Well versed 
 in the Religious life, she counselled him in the reform 
 of his own Abbey, which M. Olier undertook at once, 
 but in the teeth of violent opposition fostered by his 
 own mother, who saw that her son was thereby 
 throwing away, what were in her eyes, the good things 
 of this world ! And while the Mere Agnes helped 
 M. Olier not a little by her devotion and her deep 
 insight into the hidden life, he led her on into a 
 clearer, brighter, more cheerful perception of the things 
 of God than she had hitherto enjoyed. 
 
 It was not for long. Those members of the Com- 
 munity of Pdbrac who did not wish to be reformed 
 attacked their Abbot vehemently, and he was sum- 
 moned to appear before Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld 
 on the matter. Pere de Condren, General of the 
 Oratorians, wrote to urge his immediate presence in 
 Paris, and the two friends who had been so touchingly 
 drawn together parted, never to meet again in this 
 
262 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 world. At their last interview Mere Agnes gave M. 
 Olier her own crucifix, taking a final leave of him, 
 and almost immediately afterwards fell ill and died ; 
 writing just before her death to the Pere de Condren, 
 whom she knew intimately, to commend M. Olier to 
 his special spiritual affection and guidance. 
 
 M. Olier was hearing confessions in the Church of 
 Saint Paul on All Saints' Day 1634, when the tidings of 
 Mere Agnes's death reached him. " Much touched," 
 he says, " I knelt at once before the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment, to pour out my sorrow to our Dear Lord, Who 
 had taken away this great help to my soul ; . . . and 
 soon my tears were stayed, and I felt unable to grieve 
 any longer : for indeed at that time I was still foolish 
 enough to believe that one must grieve at such losses, 
 and that it was a token of respect and affection to 
 those who were gone a very worldly notion forsooth, 
 as if the saints who go hence were not infinitely 
 gainers by their departure !" 
 
 This was a new stage in M. Oiler's spiritual life. 
 Hitherto Vincent de Paul, doubtless with good 
 reasons, had advised him to retain his carriage and 
 horses, and a certain amount of retinue and conven- 
 tional habits. But Mere Agnes's love of poverty over- 
 ruled this, and M. Olier gave up everything except 
 the services of one servant, who was only retained by 
 S. Vincent's express command. 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 263 
 
 The important business for which Pere de Condren 
 urged M. Oner's presence in Paris was a proposal to 
 raise him to the episcopate, a Bishop who had become 
 aware of his great zeal and earnestness having applied 
 to the King for Oner's appointment as his coadjutor 
 and successor. He was not adverse to the idea, and 
 S. Vincent de Paul would at once have encouraged 
 him to accept it, but it was not God's Will He had 
 other work in store for His servant 
 
 The matter was decided in this wise. Nothing 
 particular had come of Mere Agnes's dying request to 
 Pere de Condren, of which M. Olier probably knew 
 nothing, and for some months he continued as before 
 under Vincent de Paul's guidance ; but he was un- 
 settled and disturbed in his mind. He felt that God 
 had special designs for him, but he could not read 
 them ; and apparently Vincent himself felt that there 
 was something he knew not how to deal with in his 
 penitent's mind, for he failed to quiet or comfort him. 
 Then Olier went into Retreat, hoping therein, face to 
 face with God, to find the rest he needed ; and even 
 so it was. While struggling with the fear of having 
 committed a grievous sin (he does not say what it 
 was), suddenly an irresistible voice whispered within 
 him, " Pere de Condren would give you peace :" and 
 from that moment he was at rest. Most assuredly, 
 that most humble of saintly men, S. Vincent de Paul, 
 
264 PR1ESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 would be the last to feel injured or grieved at one of 
 his penitents finding more help from another than 
 himself, and he gladly assented to Olier's seeking the 
 same source whence he had himself derived so much 
 strength at an earlier period within the Oratory. 
 
 Apparently it pleased God to give Pere de Condren 
 plainer light as to His designs for Olier, as from the 
 first he resolutely opposed the idea of a bishopric, 
 whereas S. Vincent de Paul encouraged it "God 
 has other intentions for you," de Condren said ; " they 
 are not so brilliant or so conspicuous as the episcopate, 
 but they will make you more useful to the Church." 
 From this time Olier put himself entirely under Pere 
 de Condren's spiritual direction, without ceasing to 
 maintain the warmest friendship and most constant 
 intercourse with Vincent de Paul ; and although that 
 holy man was never again his director, M. Olier did 
 not cease to consult him in all the important questions 
 which arose during his life : and when the younger 
 priest died, at the comparatively early age of forty- 
 eight, the venerable Saint stood beside his dying bed, 
 and ministered to him to the last. 
 
 Meanwhile Pere de Condren used every effort to pre- 
 pare the young priest, whom he believed destined to 
 a great work for the Church, rightly to fulfil that des- 
 tiny. An ever-increasing knowledge of the importance, 
 the responsibilities, and the duties of the priesthood, 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 265 
 
 was what both set before them ; and Olier's admira- 
 tion for the saintly life of his teacher made him an apt 
 pupil. He writes of Pere de Condren as fulfilling more 
 than any one he ever knew the Apostle's description 
 of holiness Christ living in the man, so that it was 
 no longer himself, but Christ in him that served on 
 earth. 
 
 The Oratorian's chief aim now was so to train his 
 disciples to the highest views of the priesthood as to 
 make them capable of training others, and for the 
 present he counselled M. Olier to persevere in mission 
 work. A Retreat which he made under de Condren 
 before returning for this purpose to Auvergne, had a 
 lasting influence upon him. "My second director," 
 he writes, " began by giving me up more to the Spirit 
 of God than the first had done. He left me very 
 much to myself in my Retreat, not even giving me 
 subjects for the four meditations of an hour each which 
 I made daily, and only coming to see me once ; his 
 occupations hindering him from coming into the 
 country often. And now I began consciously to realise 
 the guidance oi God's Holy Spirit, and the wonderful 
 care He took of me. I remember how I learnt 
 then for the first time, and to my great astonishment, 
 that Jesus Christ is really Present to our souls. When 
 my director came to me I was glad to be taught and 
 enlightened concerning this truth. 'It is even so/ 
 
266 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 he said, 'Our Lord is really Present to our souls. 
 Christum habitare per fidem in cordibus vestris. Per 
 fidem, that is, faith is the foundation of His Indwelling, 
 and it is formed by His Holy Spirit, donee formetur 
 Christus in vobis' And he said further to me, ' Now 
 henceforth you must perform all your works in union 
 with the Son of God, either by feeling, intention, or 
 faith. If you have a conscious feeling of His Presence, 
 unite yourself to Him through feeling. If you have 
 none of that, unite yourself to Him in intention, that 
 is to say, try to work with the same mind and intention 
 as He had ; and if you cannot do this, then unite 
 yourself to Him in faith, that is to say, make a spiritual 
 offering of all you do in union with His works, thus 
 offering those as well as your own to God.'" 
 
 This teaching henceforth became the foundation of 
 M. Olier's own spiritual life, and the key-stone of all 
 his efforts to lead others to the perfection of the priest- 
 hood at Saint Sulpice. 1 
 
 At this time M. Olier was firmly persuaded that he 
 had not physical strength for mission work ; indeed, his 
 
 1 M. Olier gave the Saint Sulpiciens a short prayer which 
 Pere de Condren had given him, and which has continued in 
 daily use, night and morning, among them : " Venez, Seigneur 
 Je*sus, et vivez en votre serviteur dans la plenitude de votre 
 force, dans la perfection de vos voies, dans la saintet^ de votre 
 Esprit, et domincz sur toute puissance ennemie dans la vertu dc 
 votre Esprit, et la gloire de votre Pere." 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 267 
 
 doctors had said as much. But his health grew visibly 
 stronger, and, like other obstacles, he triumphed over 
 this, in spite of most exhausting toil, and a hardness 
 and roughness of life which must have been more 
 trying to a man nurtured so long in luxury than to 
 many a fellow-labourer. Whatever time was not filled 
 up by the arduous toils of the Mission (one of his 
 coadjutors says) was spent in prayer, and when inter- 
 rupted by a summons to meals, M. Olier might be 
 heard ejaculating "Amor meus crucifixus est " (" Jesus, 
 my love is crucified ! ") in a tone which penetrated all 
 hearts. 
 
 In a letter written during this Mission to Vincent 
 de Paul and the priests of the Conference, pleading 
 for more workers, M. Olier says : " Do not refuse such 
 help to Jesus : it is too great an honour to work under 
 Him, to set forward the salvation of souls, and His 
 Glory therein, which will last for all eternity. ... Go 
 on in this blessed work there is nothing like it on 
 earth. O Paris ! Paris ! you and your trifling distract 
 men who might convert several worlds ! " In another 
 letter, describing a subsequent mission in Auvergne, 
 M. Olier says that though they were but a body of six 
 priests, they had heard more than two thousand general 
 confessions. The country-people from long distances 
 brought provisions for two or three days, and slept as 
 they might in barns and sheds, where they might be 
 
268 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 heard talking over what they had heard, and singing 
 the hymns they had been taught. He made great 
 efforts to induce the local clergy to rouse themselves 
 and assist the Missioners, and that most successfully ; 
 for many cathedral dignitaries and priors of con- 
 vents joined them, and went about helping to preach 
 and catechise. M. Olier says that he could not help 
 attributing this in a great measure to the persevering 
 prayers of the Mere Agnes; and he adds that Pere de 
 Condren used often to say that he believed the whole 
 results of a sermon or instruction were often owing to 
 prayer, it might be the prayers of some poor, 
 unlearned woman in the congregation. 
 
 Eighteen months of such work, however, proved too 
 much for the Missioner's strength. His own account 
 of his illness is too touching to pass over. " I had 
 been saying to one of my friends that I wanted 
 nothing but a fortnight's illness to be sure that God 
 had accepted our work ; and so it fell out, that on the 
 very last day of our last Mission that of De la Motte- 
 Canillac as I was returning home, I felt in a very un- 
 wonted state of peace, free from all cares, although 
 hitherto I had been surrounded with anxieties. It 
 seemed as if crosses were a very strength and stay to 
 my soul, without which I was weak; and now I felt 
 quite overwhelmed at their apparent absence. It was 
 not to be for long ; for just as I arrived at Langeac, 
 
SAINT SVLPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OL1ER. 269 
 
 and was entering the church of the monastery where 
 the blessed Sister Agnes had lived and died she who 
 had foretold so many crosses to me I was seized 
 with a most violent headache, which was the begin- 
 ning of a severe illness. Directly that I was seized 
 with the pain, I felt inwardly drawn to make a vow to 
 Mgr. de Geneve for restoration to health, and I felt 
 somehow sure of it at once. I remember that, 
 although half unconscious, I felt as though some 
 voice within had blessed me and assured me that I 
 should not die ; and I called my dear friend M. de 
 Foix and said, ' I shall not die ; go and fetch the 
 Blessed Sacrament from the convent church.' We 
 were then in the Aumonier's room, and as it was two 
 o'clock in the night, he could not have procured that 
 Blessing for me elsewhere. Meanwhile the pain 
 became so intense that the doctors gave me up, and 
 exhausting all their remedies, they tried one which 
 threw me into a sort of apoplexy. During this time 
 they tried to confess me, but I could only give broken 
 answers, and soon lost all power of speech. The 
 doctors struck their lancets deep into my shoulders 
 without my seeming to feel anything, and believ- 
 ing that my last hour was come, they administered 
 the Extreme Unction. I just remember then that 
 although I had lost speech and hearing, I answered 
 at the Name of Jesus, as also to that of the Blessed 
 
270 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Virgin, whom I called my maman like a child, for I 
 had no command of my reason then. . . . 
 
 " This illness was a proof to me of the Saviour's Pro- 
 mise that He will give a hundredfold to those who 
 have forsaken or sacrificed anything for Him. Being 
 thus in extremis, in a lonely place far away from my 
 family, God willed to succour me with His Providence, 
 and to give me every possible earthly assistance. It 
 so happened that that very day, two first-rate phy- 
 sicians came to Langeac, as if on purpose for me, one 
 without any summons from a place two hundred miles 
 off, the other had been sent for to see the little daugh- 
 ter of th* seigneur de la ville. The impossibility of 
 getting to my own abbey was a fresh sign of God's 
 Providence, because I remained close to these good 
 doctors ; and instead of the mother, sister, and two 
 brothers whom I had left, I found numberless people 
 who shewed more than mother's and brothers' love 
 for me all they did was done out of such pure, disin- 
 terested charity, that it seemed as though God only 
 were ministering to me. My own family were far off, 
 but I had the family of God my Father round, and 
 they provided for all my wants with such abundance 
 and profusion, that our Lord not only fulfilled in my 
 favour the prophecy, that they who forsake flesh and 
 blood for His Sake shall receive a hundredfold, but in 
 exchange for those I had left, He gave me far holier 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 271 
 
 ties people who were able to do far more for me than 
 my own relations especially my friends, 1 who minis- 
 tered continually to me, and were more than brothers 
 to me. . . . 
 
 " During this time my sister, who was in Paris, and 
 who was greatly opposed, like the rest of my relations, 
 to my work, died in the midst of her family without 
 being assisted by any one, forsaken of all her friends. 
 Surely this might be a proof to all my family that 
 there is no profit in serving the world, which forsakes 
 one in extremity, while on the other hand there is 
 everything to gain in serving God, Who uses even 
 men of the world in spite of themselves for the service 
 of His children. 
 
 " I had gone to those wild parts against the will of 
 my relations, but now God sent my mother and my 
 youngest brother to me. On hearing of my illness, 
 my mother set out, meaning to take me back to Paris 
 in her carriage ; for in my great weakness I could not 
 have sat a horse. But she found me cured, and in 
 order to shew her Who had watched over me while I 
 was serving Him, I let her see some three or four 
 hundred poor people, who followed me out of the 
 town ; and then she saw how they loved me, and how 
 their prayers and entreaties had won my cure. Poor 
 
 i His brother Missioners, M. de Foix, M. Meyster, and M. de 
 PerrocheL 
 
272 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 things, in their astonishment at my recovery, they all 
 kept saying, ' He was gone to Paradise, but he has 
 come back !' Not all the wealth and position of ray 
 family could have obtained my cure, as the prayers of 
 these poor people did. Thanks be to God, Who never 
 fails to preserve them that are His, however weak and 
 needy of a truth . we never lose anything by serving 
 Him!" 1 
 
 On his return to Paris, M. Olier was warmly 
 received by the religious world generally, as well as 
 by Vincent de Paul, who embracing him, said, " I do 
 not know what you do to bring it about, but assuredly 
 God's Blessing follows you wherever you go." He 
 continued working thus, reforming several large con- 
 vents, and giving everywhere the rule of his own life 
 " Plaire & Dieu" (" to please God,") as the watch- 
 word of a holy life. 
 
 Apparently it was at this time that M. Olier became 
 intimate with the Pere Bourdoise, already mentioned 
 as working in the cause of ecclesiastical education and 
 reform. He seems to have been very rough and un- 
 complimentary in his language, and somewhat exact- 
 ing in his standard of ecclesiastical fitness; for he 
 rebuked M. Olier and his companions de Foix and de 
 Ferrier, as wanting in external clerical simplicity, and 
 he is said to have taxed S. Vincent de Paul with 
 ' Vie, P t. i p. 86. 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 273 
 
 timidity and cowardice, so far as to have called him a 
 poule mouittUI* Nevertheless his advice on various 
 points connected with the subject which was so close 
 to both their hearts proved very valuable to M. 
 Olier, and he and his companions always looked 
 upon the Pere Bourdoise as their master in clerical 
 life. 
 
 Again M. Olier was on the point of receiving the 
 episcopate, and again Pere de Condren interfered. 
 The Bishop of Chalons, like all other true pastors, 
 mourned over the deplorable condition of his diocese ; 
 and believing that nothing would tend so much to its 
 reformation as a good Training College for the Clergy, 
 he applied to Cardinal Richelieu for M. Olier as his 
 coadjutor. Louis XIII. at once confirmed the appoint- 
 ment, and the brevet was actually sent to M. Olier ; 
 who however referred the question to Pere de Condren, 
 and was again told that God had other designs for 
 him : whereupon he immediately declined the office. 
 
 Cardinal Richelieu pressed the appointment, and it 
 was only after a personal interview with the Missioner 
 that he could believe in an ecclesiastic of that day 
 deliberately refusing such an office, which held out 
 the additional attraction of making its holder a pair 
 de France. The disappointment of Madame Olier on 
 this occasion knew no bounds. However lightly her 
 1 Vie de M. Olier, pt i. p. 99. 
 
274 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 son might esteem such worldly dignities, they had the 
 highest possible attraction for her, and her mortifica- 
 tion took vent in the most bitter reproaches and 
 almost estrangement from her son. He was not living 
 under her roof at this time. Guided by de Condren's 
 advice, M. Olier and his friends were living at Saint- 
 Maur-des-Fosses, near Paris, preparing for their great 
 work, and leading a community life, with M. Amelote 
 as their Superior. M. Olier was an object of general 
 esteem and admiration his personal advantages, his 
 successful work, his resolute indifference to high 
 worldly office, all tended to make him a great name, 
 and he suffered acutely from the temptations of pride 
 and vanity which beset him. He says that he felt 
 himself entangled in a very network of self-conceit 
 and human respect ; and " when I came to that part 
 of my confessions," he says naively, " I was in despair! 
 Sometimes, walking alone in our garden after meals, I 
 was so tormented by these ideas, that with tears I 
 used to cry out, ' When shall I find the Divine Life, 
 and live to God Only ! ' " 
 
 His earnest prayers to be made humble were an- 
 swered as God is wont to answer the sincere prayers 
 of His children in a way M. Olier did not look for, 
 and through bitter suffering. A complete mental 
 paralysis seemed to come upon him. He lost all 
 powers of memory and apprehension ; he could not 
 
SAINT SULP1CE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER, 275 
 
 understand what he heard, or express his own thoughts ; 
 sometimes when he tried to write, he did not succeed 
 in producing two or three legible lines after some hours' 
 work. Whatever he undertook failed a thick cloud 
 had passed over all his faculties, natural and super- 
 natural. Of these last, he says (writing about that 
 dark season) : " I had looked upon them (supernatural 
 gifts) as personal acquisitions, and their withdrawal 
 left me in a strange state of darkness and dryness 
 without any sense of God in me, full of ebullitions of 
 pride and self-love, hedged in with human respect, 
 sensitively anxious as to what the world would think 
 of me. These notions gave me no rest, and were the 
 greater cross that I seemed to yield to them. From 
 the bottom of my soul I longed to do nothing save 
 for God, but nevertheless I felt as if I did everything 
 for myself. So, too, I had fancied that the blessings 
 attendant on my ministry were personal, and God in 
 His Goodness withdrew them, in order to make me 
 realise what I was without His Help, and Whose were 
 these gifts which I had fondly thought to be my own. 
 Thus, when I had to speak or expound some passage 
 of Holy Scripture, I did it so confusedly and badly, 
 in such incorrect words, as to prove that there was no 
 spark of heavenly fire in me. 
 
 " Hearing confessions, I knew not what to say to my 
 penitents ; I was as one forsaken of God. I felt so 
 
2 76 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRA NCR. 
 
 sorry for the people who came to me that I used to 
 ejaculate mentally, ' Poor souls ! you know not whom 
 you seek ! What a misfortune I am to you 1 ' When I 
 was called on to preach I had neither ideas or words 
 at command; and though I continued stedfast in 
 prayer, no ray of light gladdened me in it. I felt 
 nought save darkness, dryness, impossibility of look- 
 ing up to God ; and so I thought all I had rejoiced in 
 before was but an illusion, and my worst trouble of 
 all was that I had no grounds to believe that God 
 loved me. One day Pere de Condren was assuring me 
 that all this was but trial and temptation. ' Would 
 to God,' I answered, 'that these were only trials, 
 even if they lasted to all eternity; so long as I am not 
 abhorred of God, I should not mind.' And my big 
 tears fell fast" 
 
 Every kind of external humiliation was added to 
 these severe inward trials the whole world, relations, 
 friends, attendants, great and small, every one seemed 
 to despise and reject him. His refusal of the Bishop- 
 ric of Chalons was turned against him as though he 
 were deficient in intellect to lose such an office the 
 King, the Cardinal, the Chancellor, the Bishops, all 
 his relations and friends, spoke contemptuously of 
 him stranger still, his fellow-labourers changed their 
 high opinion of his merits, and began to look down 
 upon him as foolish and devoid of God's guiding 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 277 
 
 Spirit. They restrained him from his ordinary work, 
 forbade him to preach or teach, or to hear confessions 
 save in case of absolute necessity ; they attributed his 
 extreme depression to regrets at having been hindered 
 accepting the bishopric, and the Superior of their little 
 community, Amelote, told him that he was good for 
 nothing, and had better go away and hide himself! 
 
 Truly his prayer that the high esteem and perilous 
 good opinion men had of him might be averted had 
 received a bitter answer ! Even Pere de Condren, in 
 whom poor M. Olier rested more than in any other 
 human being, appeared to his troubled mind to forsake 
 him, although evidently that saintly man, who had 
 himself gone through spiritual trials and knew their 
 signification, looked upon these which beset his 
 spiritual son as only a part of God's training to make 
 him fitter for the great work. De Condren's life was 
 drawing to a close ; and on the very last occasion that 
 M. Olier visited him, after dwelling upon the Angel of 
 the Apocalypse, and urging devotion to the Blessed 
 Sacrament as that specially incumbent on the priest- 
 hood, he concluded by saying very earnestly, " Take 
 the Infant Jesus for your Director" words which 
 impressed M. Olier all the more forcibly, that he had 
 already given himself up to the special guidance of 
 the Child Jesus, feeling drawn above all else to the 
 sweet helplessness and tender patience of the Saviour's 
 
278 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Infancy, in his own mental and physical weakness 
 and incapacity. 
 
 They never met again. De Condren had by this 
 time worked out his ideas concerning the education of 
 the Clergy, and intended committing them to writing, 
 a proceeding which he had delayed, not from indo- 
 lence, but, as it would appear, from a desire to give 
 prolonged thought and consideration to the matter. 
 Now his illness advanced in rapid strides upon him, 
 and when Marie Rousseau (that devout widow whose 
 influence was so marked and peculiar among all these 
 learned holy men) came to see him, and he spoke of 
 beginning to write, she told him at once that it was 
 too late. Pere de Condren accepted her assertion 
 calmly, and resolved to impart his thoughts verbally 
 instead to M. du Ferrier, the disciple who was nearest 
 at hand, and who was asking instruction on certain 
 points. " We will leave these matters for the present," 
 de Condren said ; " I have other things to speak of, 
 but it is late now : come to-morrow at eight o'clock." 
 
 Accordingly, the next morning, the venerable Father 
 entered at length into his views, and set forth his 
 belief that, however valuable missions might be, their 
 value was comparatively lost if the impressions made 
 therein were not followed up by competent handling 
 of the people on the part of the local Clergy ; express- 
 ing a strong opinion that if any real work of reform.i 
 
SAINT SULPICE -AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 279 
 
 tion was to be effected in the Church, it must be 
 by deepening the religious life of the priesthood, 
 and training the younger members thereof. M. du 
 Ferrier alleged the many difficulties which were looked 
 upon as well-nigh insurmountable, but the vener- 
 able Oratorian dismissed them all, only requiring 
 that those received into the Seminaries he wished to 
 see established should not be mere boys, but young 
 men, with character so sufficiently formed that a short 
 time might give evidence as to their vocation and the 
 probable good result of training them. 
 
 De Condren was still talking earnestly when his 
 attendant lay brother came to summon him to say 
 Mass. He bade him wait At eleven Frere Martin 
 returned, and was rather urgent with his superior. 
 Du Ferrier, knowing his master's usually exact 
 habits, was surprised to hear him say, "Brother, if 
 you knew what I am doing, you would not hurry 
 me; this is even more important than what you 
 want of me." And he went on talking till mid- 
 day, when he broke off, saying, " Poor Frere Martin, 
 he will be quite vexed we will leave the rest till 
 to-morrow morning." So saying, the General of the 
 Oratory went to say Mass, and M. du Ferrier never 
 saw him again. The next morning he was suffering 
 from such acute inflammation of the lungs that he 
 was unable to speak, and during the week for which 
 
2 8c PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 his life was prolonged, anything like continued con- 
 versation was impossible. Du Ferrier of course com- 
 municated all that had passed between him and their 
 venerated director to the other priests of the little 
 Company; and foreseeing that there would be no 
 farther opportunity of any verbal intercourse, he sent 
 a little note on the evening of Epiphany (the last 
 night of Pere de Condren's life), entreating that if God 
 called their Father to Himself, he would pray that his 
 mind and lights concerning the most important sub- 
 ject might be inherited by some one amongst them. 
 
 Meanwhile Pere de Condren's last hour drew near. 
 In his intense humility he wished to make his 
 last general confession before the whole community, 
 and this being refused to him, he begged the Father 
 who confessed him to make no secret of his sins, and 
 earnestly entreated every one to forgive his short- 
 comings and failings. There was a great stir in the 
 religious world when it was known that the General 
 of the Oratorians lay dying, and his wayward penitent, 
 Gaston, Duke of Orleans, came, in real sorrow of heart, 
 to the bedside of his venerable director to hear some 
 few parting words of earnest exhortation. Pere de 
 Condren accepted all remedies patiently, only some- 
 times he said, " It is a misfortune to be a Superior, if 
 more is to be done for him than for others." " Pray 
 that God will this day convert the greatest of sinners," 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 281 
 
 he said of hitnself to the Father who was ministering 
 to him. After receiving Extreme Unction, he gave 
 his last blessing to the assembled community : " Veni 
 Domine Jesu, et vive in hisfamulis Tuis in plenitudine 
 virtutis Tiuz, et dominare adversce potestati^ qui vivis ft 
 regnas in secula seculorum" 
 
 He was constantly making acts of contrition and 
 hope, through the pains of death, which were severe. 
 "Manus Domini tetigit me/" 1 he exclaimed shortly 
 before the last. Just at the end, when sorely over- 
 whelmed with a bitterness which those around likened 
 to our Lord's last Agony on the Cross, he cried out, 
 "Domine, propitiaberis peccato meo, multum est enim/" s 
 
 Pere de Saint Pe', who stood by, said, "Father, give 
 yourself up to God." Whereupon, with a clear strong 
 voice, the dying man replied, " My God, I commit 
 my soul into Thy Hands ! " and so saying he ex- 
 pired, January 7, 1641. 
 
 Du Ferrier's little note had been received the night 
 before, but no reply was sent, or indeed expected. 
 The day after Pere de Condren's burial, however, M. 
 Meyster one of the small band he was training for 
 his great work saw him in a vision, and received 
 communications as to that work, which exactly fitted 
 
 * "The Hand of God hath touched me." Job xix. 21. 
 2 Vulgate, Psa. xxiv. n, English version, xxv. 10: "For 
 Thy Name's Sake, Lord, be merciful unto my sin; for it is great" 
 
282 PRIES 'TL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 in with those already given to du Ferrier, beginning 
 in fact where Pere de Condren's spoken instructions 
 had ended j and M. Olier himself was likewise per- 
 mitted to see his beloved spiritual Father in vision, 
 who repeated our Lord's words, " Confidite, ego via 
 mundum? 
 
 At the time of Pere de Condren's death, M. Olier 
 was still suffering under the spiritual trials already men- 
 tioned, and this fresh grief might have been expected 
 to increase his misery, but he accepted it with the 
 most absolute resignation, as may be seen from a 
 letter written at this time to a nun in one of the com- 
 munities he had reformed 
 
 " Of a truth, my dear daughter," he says, " if we are 
 to be overwhelmed at every change and chance, we 
 should know but little peace in this world. I will tell 
 you what has happened to me my father and master 
 has been taken from me by the Divine Will, which is 
 our dearest Master, alike in giving and taking away, in 
 dryness or in the sweetest joys. He was a man who 
 helped me greatly in reaching towards God, which is 
 what I crave and delight in most. He led me to try 
 and be useful to you, and recommended your House 
 to my care. He has taught me so many good and 
 holy things ! Well, my Sister, but is not God's Will 
 worth as much to me as even this holy man, who had 
 nothing in himself save through that Holy Will? 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 283 
 
 Cannot He make up for all that He takes away ? and 
 cannot He do now above that which it pleased Him 
 for a while to do through another ? My very dear 
 daughter, let us adore the Will of Jesus, let us adore 
 our Dearest Master ; He turns the thorniest paths to 
 our sanctification." 
 
 It was not till late in that same year that M. Olier 
 was gradually delivered from his spiritual trials ; by 
 which time the little Community had moved to 
 Chartres, where they hoped to begin a Seminary for 
 priests. But the plan entirely failed there, and the 
 members were scattered about, and differences of 
 opinion and plan not as to the main object, but as 
 to its execution threatened to extinguish the whole 
 concern. Just as they were in this doubtful position, 
 one of the number, M. Picote', went to Vaugirard, on 
 the outskirts of Paris, to help a devout lady, a former 
 spiritual child of Francis de Sales, who had established 
 a Community for the object of educating the peasant 
 children around. Madame de Villeneuve, like other 
 pious people, longed for better things among the 
 Clergy, and had prayed for yeais that God would 
 prosper the work of Seminaries ; and when M. Picotd 
 told her of the failure at Chartres, she suggested that 
 perhaps God would have His servants try to establish 
 the work at Vaugirard ? At first M. Picote altogether 
 put aside the idea, but it gradually approved itself to 
 
284 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 his mind, enough to make him write about it to his 
 brethren; and after many objections raised by all, 
 especially by M. Olier, it pleased God to make the 
 latter (while in Retreat expressly with the object of 
 ascertaining His Will) see clearly that it was there 
 God would have them go. Accordingly, a very small, 
 poor house was taken in the village, and they began 
 their new life, without any servant, depending upon 
 Madame de Villeneuve, who used to send them some 
 potage and bouilli daily for their dinner, and " a little 
 roast mutton " at night for supper as their only food. 
 They put themselves under the direction of the 
 Superior of the Benedictines of Saint Maur a very 
 holy man ; and M. Olier further consulted S. Vincent 
 de Paul, the Pere Saint Jure, Pere Bataille, a Bene- 
 dictine, and other persons of eminent wisdom and 
 saintliness, as to their course. M. Bourdoise, too, 
 entered with great ardour into their plans. "Oh, 
 what a great thing it would be," he wrote to them, 
 " if we could find even three priests full enough of 
 love for Christ's Church to follow the leading of God's 
 Holy Spirit, and make a stand against the world and 
 its ways ! three priests who, when they are shewn what 
 He through His Church has ordered, do not forthwith 
 answer, * It is not the custom we do not so what 
 would be said? it is inconvenient the world would be 
 offended people would laugh at us let us be content 
 
SAINT SULP2CE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 285 
 
 to take things as we find them, and not set up to be 
 wiser than those who went before us ! ' " Nor must 
 Marie Rousseau be overlooked. This woman, in 
 spite of her humble condition in life, filled a very 
 remarkable position among the more devout part of 
 society at that time. " She is a light and a counsellor 
 to many of the most illustrious as well as the holiest 
 people in Paris," M. Olier wrote. And after enu- 
 merating princesses and duchesses, the Duchesse of 
 Orleans, the Princesse de Conde', and others, he adds, 
 "And apostolic men and missionaries are glad to 
 learn God's Ways from her mouth. The Pere Eudes, 
 the greatest preacher of our day, often consults her, 
 and so did Pbre de Condren. She has been the coun- 
 sellor of M. du Coudray, raised up of God for our 
 Eastern Missions ; " and so he goes on with a long 
 list of the good works which were forwarded by Marie 
 Rousseau's prayers and counsels. All through M. 
 Olier's troubles she had never questioned for a 
 moment but that they were trials intended to lead him 
 to greater heights of grace, and now she urged some 
 of those who had taken a different view of the case to 
 come to Vaugirard, and see what he was doing. All 
 his mental gifts had returned, his preaching, speak- 
 ing, whatever he undertook, was admirably done. It 
 chanced that the Cure of Vaugirard was called away, 
 and he left his parish in charge of the little Company, 
 
286 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 who worked it admirably. Priests began to flock in 
 some men of note, such as M. de Bassancourt, and M. 
 de Gondrin, who in two years' time became coadjutor 
 of Sens. They were soon twenty in number, and M. 
 Olier was unanimously chosen as Superior, and thus 
 at last the work which de Condren had looked upon 
 as his " principal vocation " was fairly begun in spite 
 of difficulties and hindrances. But M. Olier was not 
 destined to remain at Vaugirard. 
 
 The frightful condition of the Faubourg Saint 
 Germain, both moral and spiritual, has been already 
 alluded to, as also the Mission held there by the 
 priests of the Conference de Saint Lazare ; but it was 
 an illustration of what all these holy men de Beguile, 
 de Condren, Vincent de Paul, M. Olier, etc. etc., 
 had ever said, that no Mission can have more than 
 a passing influence, where there is not a steady con- 
 sistent work kept up by the local Clergy. The parish 
 of Saint Sulpice which was at that period of a vast 
 extent, all subject to the jurisdiction, both civil and 
 ecclesiastical, of the Abbe' of Saint Germain is 
 described by all who speak of it as the very sink of 
 Paris, for its utter irreligion and immorality, and the 
 Mission seemed to the Cur^ M. de Fiesque merely 
 to have stirred up and brought to light the hopeless- 
 ness of the evil. In utter despair he determined to 
 resign his post, and knowing M. Olier, and seeing 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 287 
 
 how well he was supported by his company of priests, 
 M. de Fiesque urged upon him to undertake the 
 charge. At first the request was utterly rejected, but 
 it was pressed by many whose opinion had great 
 weight with M. Olier, S. Vincent de Paul, Pere 
 Tarrisse, M. Bourdoise, and Marie Rousseau among 
 others, and at length he felt himself that it was a 
 call from God, and once seeing that, he undertook 
 the heavy burden cheerfully and gladly. Three points 
 he set before himself as his work the instruction and 
 sanctification of the people, the sanctification of the 
 Clergy, and the training of young men for Holy 
 Orders. "I feel such boundless longings for the 
 salvation of all men," he wrote, " and to infuse the 
 zeal for God's Love and Glory into all hearts ; I think 
 what it would be to send forth a thousand disciples to 
 carry abroad the Love of Jesus Christ, and to do 
 honour to the Blessed Sacrament on all sides ; and 
 then when I reflect that this charge offered me may 
 set all this forward, I am overcome with happiness, 
 and I desire nothing save to glorify my Master." 
 
 M. Olier's family took a different view of the matter. 
 It was even worse than his rejection of the Bishopric 
 of Chalons ; they looked upon his taking the office of 
 an obscure parish priest as a degradation to their 
 house, and his mother and eldest brother came to 
 Vaugirard and used every means in their power, 
 
288 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 coaxing and reviling alternately, to dissuade him from 
 the step ; and finding all in vain, his mother refused 
 to see him again. 
 
 M. Olier went at once into Retreat as a preparation 
 for the new undertaking, and on the Assumption 1642 
 he and his fellow-workers and their Seminary took 
 possession of Saint Sulpice ; the King, Cardinal 
 Richelieu, the Princesse de Conde', the Duchesse 
 d'Aiguillon, and numberless other great personages, 
 testifying their hearty interest in the work, which 
 must have tended to modify Madame Olier's views as 
 to the loss of social position she thought her son was 
 incurring. Indeed, these great ladies, with several 
 others, went to see the irate mother, and strove to 
 appease her wounded vanity by the interest they 
 testified in her son's noble work for the Church. 
 
 Saint Sulpice was no bed of roses. M. Olier and 
 his Community (which ere long numbered fifty priests) 
 devoted themselves not only to the active work of 
 evangelizing the depraved wilderness which the parish 
 presented, but they also studied in every way to make 
 their own lives forward that work. In order to avert 
 the possibility of scandal, no women were allowed to 
 enter the Seminary; all funds were common, each 
 member of the Community receiving food and raiment, 
 but no one appropriating anything, whether revenue 
 or offerings, to himself. "It pertains to me," M. 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 289 
 
 Olier wrote, " to receive with one hand, and give with 
 the other to afford the rich an opportunity of giving 
 to our Dear Lord through His Members, but to take 
 nothing from the parish for myself appropriating part 
 of that which comes in to the poor, part to the main- 
 tenance of superannuated Clergy, and the rest to the 
 wants of the Community." Nothing could be simpler 
 than the fare provided for these last ; nevertheless M. 
 Bourdoise used to laugh at his friend for accustoming 
 men who were intended to go forth as poor country 
 curates to a manner of living far more plentiful than they 
 would hereafter get in their village curacies. M. Olier 
 wished all to wear the plainest dress possible ; his own 
 cassock was made of coarse serge, and he would not 
 have any of their surplices trimmed with lace a 
 custom which has prevailed at Saint Sulpice to the 
 present day. The rules of the house were simple ; but 
 M. Olier laid great stress on their being faithfully 
 kept ; and without absolute necessity no one was to 
 miss keeping the Canonical Hours, or the morning 
 meditation. He divided the huge parish into eight 
 districts, over each of which a priest presided, who in 
 his turn was aided by ten or twelve more, working 
 under his direction. In every street some devout 
 layman was to assist the Clergy, keep a list of the 
 parishioners, report cases of sickness, and the like. 
 Those who were dangerously ill were to be visited 
 
 T 
 
290 PRIES TL Y LIFE IN FRA NCR. 
 
 daily, and others less seriously sick were never to be 
 left more than two days without care, and the oppor- 
 tunity used for giving some religious help. Certain 
 priests were intrusted with the administration of the 
 sick, others were to attend to the Sacraments of 
 Baptism and Matrimony, giving heed that no one was 
 neglected in those matters ; others were always ready 
 to hear Confessions. Every day after the principal 
 meal, all difficulties and cases of conscience were laid 
 before the Superior, and if he could not resolve them, 
 he used to send some member to the Sorbonne to ask 
 counsel, and the answer was made known in the 
 evening after supper. Such questions were con- 
 tinually arising, and the discussions and investigations 
 consequent upon them proved a most valuable part 
 of the training for the Community. M. Olier shared 
 in everything with the rest, refusing to accept any 
 privileges as Superior, save those of harder work and 
 more anxiety than any one else ; and with this inten- 
 tion he took a vow "to serve all Christians 01 by 
 which he devoted his time, his property, himself, 
 wholly to others ; adding to this yet another vow 
 " In all things to seek the more perfect way." 
 
 One point of parochial labour to which M. Olier 
 devoted special attention was teaching and catechis- 
 ing the children, whose deplorable ignorance bade fair 
 1 "servitude 4 tous les Chretiens." 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 291 
 
 to produce another generation of no better morals 
 than their parents. He also arranged classes and 
 instructions for domestic servants, a much neglected 
 section of society; besides various others to meet the 
 wants of all ranks and ages ; and he set himself to 
 stem, in every conceivable way, the tide of profligacy 
 which ran strong on all sides taking urgent measures 
 among the rest to hinder the habit of duelling, which 
 was carried at that period to an inconceivable extent 
 in Paris. 
 
 On all sides the great work of Saint Sulpice was a 
 matter of discussion and admiration. Statesmen and 
 Bishops were found consulting its founder, who at this 
 time was only thirty-four years of age, although his 
 wisdom in spiritual things led men of double his years 
 to turn to him for counsel. But he was not self-reliant, 
 and one of his constant objects was to draw other men 
 whom he knew to be stronger than himself, as theolo- 
 gians, controversialists, or preachers, into his society, 
 and thus to strengthen his hands. He knew, too, how 
 to use the help of good laymen ; and indeed it cannot 
 but strike one as a secret of M. Oner's success, that 
 he was so quick in turning whatever came to hand to 
 good account For instance, finding that a sale of 
 bad books and charms went on close to the church 
 doors, he lost no time in setting up a rival library of 
 good books, and to this day a certain bookseller is 
 
292 PKIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 privileged to keep his bookstall against the walls of 
 Saint Sulpice, though whether the Clergy still superin- 
 tend and revise its contents we know not. 
 
 Again, coming suddenly one day upon a large 
 assembly of people surrounding a juggler, who was 
 carrying on sundry unseemly buffooneries, the Curd 
 of Saint Sulpice (whose powers of preaching were 
 attractive, if not specially learned) stationed himself 
 at a little distance, and began to address the mob, 
 who soon forsook the juggler to hearken, and before 
 long, fascinated by his earnest and vigorous words, 
 the whole assemblage was gathered round him. 
 
 A Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament tended 
 greatly to promote earnestness and devotion, and it is 
 a characteristic anecdote of the times and persons, that 
 one Thursday, at the weekly meeting of the Confra- 
 ternity, when M. Olier was rebuking the upper classes 
 for their irregularity in adoration of the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment, Charlotte de Montmorenci, Princesse de Condd, 
 stood up and said humbly, " Monsieur, I neglected it 
 on Saturday, for I went to see the Queen instead;" 1 
 to which M. Olier replied, "It would have been more 
 to your credit, Madame, if you had come to the 
 Court of the King of Kings." 
 
 S. Vincent de Paul's Confrene de la Charitd had 
 
 i " Monsieur, j'y ai manque samedi, e'tant alle*e faire ma cour 
 a la Reine." Vie, pt. ii. p. 194. 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 293 
 
 once begun to work in the parish, but had almost died 
 out M. Olier re-established it, as well as Sisters of 
 Charity, to minister among the poor and sick. 
 
 The old Church soon proved much too small for 
 me worshippers, and on February 20, 1646, the Queen 
 Mother, Anne of Austria, laid the first stone of the 
 new Saint Sulpice, built by the great architect of his 
 day, Gamard ; and in spite of all the troubles of the 
 Fronde, and various local disturbances raised up by 
 the more profligate part of the parish, who found their 
 profits hindered, the work went on bravely. It would 
 be tedious to describe in detail all the different plans 
 and works which M. Olier set on foot for the benefit 
 of his large parish, some of which, called forth by the 
 pressing necessities of the day, in consequence of the 
 civil wars of the Fronde, were temporary only. It 
 can scarcely be a matter of wonder that such ceaseless 
 and anxious labours should have told upon any man's 
 health. M. Olier had always believed that God only 
 intended him to work the parish of Saint Sulpice for 
 ten years, and had often said so to his intimate 
 associates. One day early in the year 1652, one oi 
 these remarked to him that it was almost ten years 
 since he entered the parish, and that there was no 
 probability either that he would or could leave it at 
 present. "All that will be as it pleases God," was 
 the answer; "we have only to leave ourselves and 
 
294 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 everything wholly to Him, without any thought of self, 
 and He will do as seems best to Him." 
 
 M. Olier knew even then that his health was fail- 
 ing he was already under medical treatment; but 
 the one most needful remedy rest he was not taking. 
 In June, however, he succumbed to a severe fever, 
 and on the 2oth of the month the doctors declared 
 that he could not live twenty-four hours. On being 
 told this, M. Olier forthwith signed a document by 
 which he resigned his cure unconditionally to the 
 Abbot of Saint Germain, who (as has been said 
 already) had supreme jurisdiction over it ; and he 
 also made his will. This time, however, it pleased 
 God to restore his health, not however until one of 
 his fellow-labourers, M. de Bretonvilliers, had been 
 appointed Curd of Saint Sulpice. 
 
 That he left it himself without any vainglorious 
 satisfaction in the great work he had done may be 
 gathered from a circumstance recorded a few months 
 later. When passing through Lyons, M. Olier went to 
 the Church of the Feuillants, and having taken his place 
 in the first vacant confessional, he was seen to make 
 his confession with such tokens of visible sorrow and 
 contrition, in the shape of tears and sighs, that the 
 lookers on supposed him to be some specially notorious 
 sinner graciously moved to penitence ! 
 
 In the year 1645, M. Olier had begun to build a 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 295 
 
 college, which was a necessity under the circumstance 
 of his rapidly increasing community. Various troubles 
 had beset him in the process among others a violent 
 e'meute kindled by the profligate people whose trade 
 he had so greatly destroyed. It is a curious bit of 
 contemporary history, illustrative of the times, to find 
 a body of three hundred of the notoriously bad women 
 living in the parish going first to the Luxembourg, 
 and afterwards to the House of Parliament itself, to 
 protest against their reformer ! They were altogether 
 repulsed, it is true ; but M. Olier lived through stormy 
 days at that period, and for long he was obliged to 
 have a guard of soldiers posted in the Community 
 house to keep off the rabble. The Bishop of Rodez 
 had attempted just after this to induce M. Olier to let 
 him resign his see in his, M. Oner's, favour; and, as on 
 similar occasions, refusing to decide for himself, M. 
 Olier had referred the decision to his Superior, the 
 Abbot of Saint Germain, who, though originally 
 opposed to the Seminary, now came entirely round, 
 and entreated its founder to persevere. The Seminary 
 was officially confirmed as an ecclesiastical community 
 hi October 1645, and this new building was entrusted 
 to Jacques le Mercier, architect of the Palais Royal 
 and of part of the Louvre ; the chapel was painted 
 by le Brun. The keynote to the whole inner fabric 
 was " Now I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth hi me;" 
 
296 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 and in harmony with this, the Hidden Life of Our 
 Lord was made the special object of a weekly minor 
 as of a yearly great festival. " If you can arouse the 
 hidden life in our priests," M. Olier was wont to say, 
 " we shall do;" and he continually quoted S. Ambrose: 
 ** Omnia Christus est nobis, signaculum in fronte, ut 
 semper confiteamur : signaculum in corde, ut semper 
 diligamus : signaculum inbrachio, ut semper operemur" 
 " PER Christum, CUM Christo, IN Christo." 
 
 Some of the members wanted to put the inscription 
 " Collegium Apostolicum " over the entrance, but M. 
 Olier observed that if they put anything it ought only 
 to be "Seminaire de Saint Sulpice," the name by 
 which the work was known. " But," he added, " I 
 would rather put nothing, and let the institution be 
 known more by its results than by its name. I would 
 ask our Lord to let the thing speak for itself, and that 
 our disciples may be known by their manner of life, 
 by their conversation, and their work for love of God 
 and of His Church, so that it may be fitly said of our 
 House, * Nomen habet quod vivat' " 
 
 Once a year he appointed a day on which all the 
 Community publicly renewed their ecclesiastical vows, 
 some Bishop, if possible, presiding at the ceremony. 
 Out of affection for the memory of la Mere Agnes, to 
 whom M. Olier always considered that he owed his 
 vocation, he asked to be admitted into the Third 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 297 
 
 Order of Dominicans, which was gladly granted him 
 shortly before he resigned the parochial charge of 
 Saint Sulpice. 
 
 From that time all his time and thoughts were given 
 to the work which had so long been foremost in his 
 heart training the Clergy; and his success was as- 
 suredly great. As the Bishop of Nevers remarked: 
 " The external building is fine, but the inward build- 
 ing up of ecclesiastical life is far finer, and instead of 
 saying with the Apostle, ' Behold what manner of 
 stones are here!' we might well exclaim, 'Behold 
 what manner of men are here !' Freedom from world- 
 liness, fraternal charity, lowliness and readiness for the 
 humblest occupations, obedience and punctuality, are 
 among the special characteristics of the Saint Sul- 
 piciens, as mentioned by contemporary writers. M. 
 Olier's personal influence with the Se'minaristes must 
 have been great. Many who came thinking themselves 
 nearly ready for ordination, learnt to take a higher, 
 truer view of the priesthood, and required to be urged 
 and encouraged to proceed when the time came. Not 
 all the students were young men. A certain M. de 
 Seve, formerly President aux enqu&es to the Parlia- 
 ment of Paris, came at sixty to be trained, and seems to 
 have been mortified at being kept back from Holy 
 Orders longer than he expected, in spite of his persever- 
 ing exertions to prepare. A letter from M. Olier, 
 
298 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 written with a view to console this worthy man, con- 
 cludes thus : " Humble yourself utterly before God, 
 be patient, and listen quietly to your Master's Voice, 
 saying to you as to His disciples, ' In your patience 
 possess ye your souls.' He will speak soon, but wait 
 till He does ; and from the bottom of your heart 
 which knows how far you are from the perfection of 
 those Orders to which you aspire tremble lest you 
 approach them before He sees you confirmed in His 
 Ways. All the future blessing and well-being of your 
 life depends upon the spirit in which you go up for 
 Ordination, and your obedience to your Divine Mas- 
 ter's Law. He does not accept the service of any one 
 who thrusts himself forward, who does not wait His 
 Call reverently, humbly, and patiently." 
 
 One is glad to learn that M. de Seve in due time 
 obtained his object and proved a valuable, earnest 
 priest. 
 
 M. Olier pressed the importance of study with great 
 urgency on his disciples, especially such as imme- 
 diately concerned their office. " In the Confessional," 
 he said, " you are called upon suddenly, and without 
 time for consultation or reference, to give decisions 
 on the most important of questions, decisions against 
 which there is no appeal, and which will influence 
 your fellow-men through all eternity. In the pulpit 
 you have to deal alike with the learned and the 
 
SAINT SULP1CE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 299 
 
 ignorant, to maintain Gospel truth, to combat against 
 vice, to resist the force of public opinion, to refute 
 and expose heresy, so that the simplest can understand 
 you; all of which necessarily requires a more than 
 ordinary amount of knowledge deeper and fuller 
 than that men commonly acquire of a stronger, more 
 practical character." Day by day more men flocked 
 in to obtain such teaching, and before long Seminaries 
 were started on all sides, all of which M. Olier was 
 glad to promote by sending members of his Society to 
 start them, though he did not wish to take them per- 
 manently into the hands of that Society. He always 
 maintained that Saint Sulpice could do more good by 
 training priests who should return to their own dio- 
 ceses, and themselves found and govern similar insti- 
 tutions. Wherever he went, he was beset with 
 requests on behalf of Bishops or towns wanting to 
 train Clergy, and Seminaries at Rodez, Limoges, 
 Nantes, Aix, and many more, soon arose. 
 
 On two or three different occasions, after resigning 
 his parochial charge, the missionary spirit rose so 
 strongly in M. Olier, that in spite of his failing health 
 he would fain have gone to China with Pere de 
 Rhodes, who however, believing that the Founder of 
 Saint Sulpice was in his right place, declined to take 
 him, a refusal which M. Olier attributed to his own un- 
 worthiness. He was offered the Bishopric of Babylon, 
 
300 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 tvith a view to the Persian Missions, but the Saint 
 Sulpiciens unanimously declared that he must not 
 leave them. The final vesult of all this was the estab- 
 lishment of the Se'minaire des Missions Etrangeres. 
 M. Olier was also actively concerned in North 
 American Missions, and a great promoter of the 
 spiritual welfare of the French colonists. 
 
 This active life, spent so entirely in his Master's 
 service, was however fast drawing to a close. M. 
 Olier had never been really well since the illness 
 which immediately led to the resignation of his 
 parochial charge, and one malady after another laid 
 hold of him with unrelenting tenacity. His doctors 
 sent him to various places for change of air, or mineral 
 waters, but a stroke of paralysis came, and deprived 
 him of the use of his left side. This occurred at 
 Peray, near Corbeil. He was removed as soon as it 
 'was practicable to Paris, and during the long illness 
 that ensued, his remarkable cheerfulness and calmness 
 impressed S. Vincent de Paul so strongly that he could 
 not refrain from commenting on it to those who 
 watched over the sick man. Yet some portion of the 
 spiritual trials which had so harassed him formerly 
 came again upon M. Olier, with this remarkable 
 feature however, that now, even when most dry and 
 powerless, as it seemed, he was always completely like 
 his former self, overflowing with rich spiritual and 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 301 
 
 mental stores when any one came to consult him. Some 
 one noticed this to him, and the answer given, with a 
 smile, was that he seemed now to have two heads, 
 one his own, which was in a sorry state the other 
 one provided by God for his neighbour's service. The 
 Queen came to see him, and after his departure one 
 of his attendant priests, who feared that he was no 
 longer equal to the occasion, asked something con- 
 cerning the interview? "God gave me some little 
 matters to satisfy her with," was the answer. 
 
 Frequently M. Olier could neither read nor meditate, 
 nor do anything to lighten the wearisomeness of his 
 confinement, and just then it was that interior dryness 
 would press heaviest. But he would only say, " Our 
 Dear Lord will not have me find pleasure in anything. 
 I must be satisfied, and submit willingly to His com- 
 mands." It is touching to hear of his delight in a 
 little tame bird, which would sit on his table and pick 
 up crumbs, but one day the window was left care- 
 lessly open, and the bird flew away ! 
 
 The doctors wished him to take the Eaux de Bour- 
 bon, and though not expecting any benefit himself, he 
 obeyed, travelling thither by slow stages. There was 
 some difficulty in arranging the journey so as to rest 
 in hotels near to a church, and it was suggested that 
 during the journey he should abstain from receiving 
 Holy Communion. " Nay," the sick man exclaimed, 
 
302 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 " take what else you will away, but leave me that, the 
 one only comfort I have." 
 
 M. Olier felt that his end was at hand; and he 
 wished once more to visit Notre Dame du Puy, and 
 Langeac, where his still well-loved friend the Mere 
 Agnes rested. At the latter place he said, smiling, to 
 the Prioress, pointing to the stick by help of which he 
 walked painfully : " You see what I am brought to, 
 ma mere ; it is all thanks to la Mere Agnes /" meaning 
 that she had foretold the many crosses which, in God's 
 mercy and love, were to lead him heavenwards. 
 
 As death drew nearer those around were struck 
 with his increasing delight in dwelling on the Re- 
 surrection, a mystery which had always had a peculiar 
 attraction for him. He asked for a picture represent- 
 ing it, and feeble as he was, one day he remained for 
 an hour on his knees before this picture. His nurse 
 remonstrated at length, and was permitted to lift him 
 back to his arm-chair ; but M. Olier exclaimed, " Who 
 could ever grow weary while thinking of that mystery!" 
 From time to time he was heard murmuring to him- 
 self, " Ah, sweet Eternity, not far off now ! " He re- 
 frained from talking much of his coming death, seeing 
 that it distressed his brethren, but on Ash-Wednesday 
 1657, he said to M. de Breton villiers, "Let us make 
 ready, for we shall soon have to part Easter will 
 bring the parting." He then named M. de Breton- 
 
SAINT SULPICE AND JEAN JACQUES OLIER. 303 
 
 villiers as his successor, and henceforward daily con- 
 ferred at length with him concerning the working of 
 their Seminaries. To the last he continued such 
 ministrations as he was able to perform. A lady of 
 high rank, long his penitent, asked him to fix the time 
 most convenient to himself for hearing her confession. 
 "It must be before Easter," he replied; and it was 
 observed that as another person for whom he had 
 a great regard left his room, he gave her his blessing 
 unperceived by her. On Monday in Holy Week, 
 March 26th, he had another slight stroke, without 
 losing his consciousness, but henceforth he ceased to 
 notice anything save that which had reference to God. 
 On Easter Eve some one asked M. Olier to remember 
 him when he entered upon the blessedness of the 
 Saints, using some expressions of praise which roused 
 the patient's humility. " You grieve me very much," 
 he said earnestly. During Easter Day he had frequent 
 attacks of unconsciousness, and the power of speech 
 was entirely gone, but at intervals he was able to make 
 signs of affection to his friends, and his countenance 
 was beautifully calm. On Easter Monday, S. Vincent 
 de Paul came to see him as usual, and remained 
 beside his seemingly unconscious friend until he 
 drew his last breath towards the evening. This was 
 April 2, 1657. 
 
 The great work of revival among the Clergy in 
 
304 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 France had now reached its climax, and if the more 
 conspicuous share rests with the Lazarists and the 
 Saint Sulpiciens, in whose hands the small seed grew 
 to a mighty tree, we cannot forget that the seed itself 
 was planted and watered by their brethren, the Ora- 
 torians, and especially by their faithful friends, Pierre 
 de Be'rulle and Charles de Condren. It was a 
 favourite maxim of the latter that " a man should 
 only love his own Congregation relatively to the whole 
 body of the Church ; " i.e. that no narrow party spirit 
 savouring of " I am of Paul, and I of Apollos," should 
 mar the breadth which says of all, " I am of Christ." 
 Oratorians, Lazarists, and Seminarists all alike sought 
 one end the Glory of God ; all combined, each after 
 his own gift, to set it forth. Surely all, drawing round 
 the Great White Throne hereafter, with the countless 
 souls their loving labour has gathered in, will join ID 
 the same song of triumph, " Salvation is of our God 
 Which ?itteth upon the Throne, and of the Lamb ! " 
 
PRESENT TIMES. 305 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PRESENT TIMES. 
 
 THE Congregation of the Oratory was dispersed 
 like others in the Great Revolution, and it was 
 not till 1852 that, after much consideration and many 
 prayers, a few earnest priests joined together to renew 
 the work which their predecessors had begun, and 
 which brought them the heritage of so many great 
 names. They came forward to devote themselves to 
 Christ's service, taking as their watchword, that their 
 aim was to be the universal good of the church, 
 " Avoir un esprit universel de rEglise et non limiti? 
 Speaking of the way in which this aim is to be carried 
 out, a living Oratorian says : " How great to the eye 
 of faith, though oft hidden to human sight, is the 
 mission of the shepherds of souls ! But, at the same 
 time, how awful their responsibility ! What countless 
 difficulties thwart their ministry, what need they have 
 to be aided and upheld, lest they sink disheartened 
 by the isolation in which they too often find them- 
 selves, beneath the unceasing struggles which they 
 u 
 
306 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 must never dare to relax 1 And what a sacred duty, 
 to a body of priests who are really animated by the 
 Spirit of Christ, to go forth and lighten the burden of 
 such faithful labourers, and help them to reap a more 
 abundant harvest for the Lord ! Now this is precisely 
 what the Oratory intends to do. Its constitution is 
 altogether sacerdotal, its members are subject in all 
 things to episcopal jurisdiction, just as the parochial 
 clergy are, and their services can be called for 
 wherever they are wanted ; either in preliminary edu- 
 cation preparing lads for the clerical life, or in the 
 higher seminaries, training the future ministers of our 
 altars more directly for their sacred calling; or later on, 
 coming to the assistance of their former pupils either 
 in parochial work, if called to such by the bishops, or 
 in giving Retreats. The houses of the Oratory are 
 ever open to priests who want a few days of retire- 
 ment and recollection to renew their strength ; in a 
 word, the Oratorian is in constant contact with his 
 brethren of the parochial clergy, helping those to 
 whom God has given a desire for so much of the 
 Community life as their circumstances will allow, by 
 means of spiritual exercises, prayers, conferences, etc., 
 which are all means 01 counteracting that fatal isola- 
 tion which too often depresses and exhausts the most 
 energetic spirits among us." * 
 
 1 P. A. Perraud, Esprit du nouvel Oratoire, p. 392. 
 
PRESENT TIMES. 307 
 
 How keenly Pere Gratry, that saintly Oratorian 
 who has but so recently passed from among us, felt 
 that this isolation was a great flaw in the organisation 
 of the Clergy of to-day, he has told us forcibly in his 
 life of Henri Perreyve. 
 
 " Surely," he says, " were such centres of intellec- 
 tual and moral association more numerous, under the 
 blessing of God's Holy Spirit they would do much 
 towards the advancement of the priestly calling. 
 How many brave men, crushed and saddened by 
 their isolated positions, would find fresh strength in 
 such a point cfappui for their toil Might not such 
 associations furnish strength, and mutual kindling of 
 love to God and man, for the effecting of those mighty 
 enterprises of zeal, love, and science of which we 
 stand so sorely in need ? Think what an enormous 
 power is wielded by industrial association ! How 
 much more might intellectual association for moral 
 and religious work effect ! Would not such united 
 efforts have power to overstep the moral and religious 
 differences which sever the East, Africa, and Asia 
 from our Western centres of civilisation ? and might 
 we not thereby look to see the harmony of the 
 intellectual and religious world established for which 
 we all so greatly yearn? Might not peace be re- 
 stored thereby to the human mind, peace to the 
 nations of the world? On all sides we find the 
 
308 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 workmen of Europe struggling to organise a free 
 association among themselves, and when the day 
 comes that God's labourers do the like, we shall 
 see among them those great works which S. Ber- 
 nard prophesied, " firmissima vi rectitudinis consis- 
 tent!" 1 
 
 There is a great deal said at the present time 
 about the education of the Clergy. It is felt on all 
 sides that while doubtless we need that our priesthood 
 should be supplied from all classes, and that it should 
 no longer be treated as a respectable way of providing 
 for younger sons whose abilities are scarcely sufficient 
 to get on in other professions, still that the men who 
 are to come forward as teachers of Christ's flock 
 must learn diligently themselves. Ignorance, theo- 
 logical or general, cannot hold its own against the 
 tide of unbelief and rationalising inquiry which floods 
 the world. In 1662 Bossuet wrote : "Preparation for 
 the priesthood is not, as some men seem to think, a 
 matter of some brief study, it is rather a life-long 
 education it is not a sudden effort to withdraw from 
 evil, but a confirmed habit of abstinence therefrom ; 
 not a temporary fervour, but a devotion, rooted and 
 established by long practice. Saint Gregory of 
 Nazianzen used the striking expression concerning 
 S. Basil, that 'he was a priest before entering the 
 1 Henri Perreyve, p. 85. 
 
PRESENT TIMES. 309 
 
 priesthood;' meaning that he had learnt its graces 
 before receiving its Order." * 
 
 And Mgr. Dupanloup wrote in 1850: "To bear 
 the weight of the priesthood, that is to say to devote 
 himself for his whole life, a man must either be born 
 great, or become great : a vulgar heart, a feeble char- 
 acter, a grovelling mind, an imperfect education, will 
 not come up to the mark. In this day our people require 
 something more of their Clergy, and they are right" 
 
 Our times are not given to unquestioning acquies- 
 cence in mere assertion. Everything, from the highest 
 to the lowest subjects of faith, history, discipline, is a 
 matter of discussion, criticism, and argument. Men 
 do not receive truth as such simply because it is put 
 before them by authority, and the most remote 
 country curate is liable to be called on to give an 
 answer for the hope that is in him, and to explain the 
 grounds on which he teaches dogma to his people. 
 Consequently, if they mean to serve God to their 
 utmost, His priests must be prepared to meet the 
 world and its arguments with well read, thoughtful, 
 disciplined minds. 
 
 "We are passing through a period which is torn 
 asunder in every direction by the most turbulent 
 passions," says P. Adolphe Perraud. 3 "There was 
 
 1 CEuvres, edit. Lachat, vol. xii. p. 645. 
 a Oratoire de France, p. 4161 
 
310 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 a time when the priest's position and influence in 
 society were accepted as a matter of course, but now 
 everything is subjected to doubt and criticism, above 
 all, whatever concerns the rights, teaching, and govern- 
 ment of the Church. The humblest parish priest 
 must expect to encounter self-elected esprits forts, and 
 many on all sides reject the authority of his ministry. 
 Men have been told too often that they have no 
 superiors that all are equals, and they will not 
 accept the superiority of the sanctuary any more than 
 that of heraldry or position. 
 
 " If then, recognising this fact, and in spite of pre- 
 judice and estrangement, we yet would fain do good 
 among men, and set forward the salvation of souls, it 
 is obvious that we must seek elsewhere that authori- 
 tative prestige without which our words will be fruit- 
 less, our ministry ineffective. There may have been 
 passing seasons of perversion and failure, but as a 
 whole the Church has assuredly ever striven to be all 
 things to all men, that she may win them to Christ. 
 She has found the way of adapting herself to every 
 
 need But at the present time, fresh from the 
 
 storm of revolution which casts men upon an unknown 
 future, without guide or restraint, is it not evident that 
 the Priesthood has new duties to fulfil, and that the 
 necessity of the actual moment imposes a higher 
 standard of duty than before on all priests who are 
 worthy of the name ? 
 
PRESENT TIMES. 311 
 
 "Everywhere, always, under all conditions, the priest 
 must be a man of prayer and self-sacrifice. He is 
 called to be a living commentary on the Gospel before 
 the eyes of all men, and the Gospel sets before all eyes 
 wisdom and justice only. The primary duties of the 
 Priesthood are fixed, independent of all the changes 
 and chances of social revolutions. And therefore the 
 groundwork of all clerical education lies in Holy 
 Scripture and the earliest tradition. . The first laws of 
 our apostolic ministry have not changed since the time 
 when Andrew and Peter, James and John, left their 
 nets to become fishers of men ; and we still seek the 
 first rules of ecclesiastical perfection among those 
 primitive Fathers and first Councils, which breathe 
 the very purest and healthiest spirit of Christianity. 
 
 " But if, above all and before all, the priest is called 
 upon to be a man of Eternity, as God's representative, 
 he must most assuredly also be a man of Time, seeing 
 that his mission is to heal and enlighten the men of 
 his own day. If our Lord Jesus Christ had become 
 Incarnate in the present day, or if He had selected 
 any other country rather than Judea for the scene of 
 His Incarnation, He would we cannot doubt it 
 have adopted the garb and spoken the language of the 
 people among whom He manifested Himself. Even 
 so, if we would be understood by our contemporaries, 
 and cany the words of everlasting life to their hearts, 
 
312 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 we must learn to speak their language. They have 
 shaken off the old tie of a privileged class, and they 
 will only vouchsafe to negotiate the weighty matter of 
 salvation with us on the basis of a common right. 
 They no longer seek us out ; but are we acting up to 
 our standard as the priests of Jesus Christ if we refuse 
 to go to them, to accept the existing state of things, 
 and thus to purchase our right to minister to troubled 
 minds and to aching hearts ? 
 
 " But this keen appreciation of the times we live in, 
 this delicate capacity for being all things to all men 
 without ever ceasing to be one's-self, i.e. God's Priest; 
 this minute knowledge of the passions, the errors, the 
 intellectual and moral evils of the day, all these are 
 indispensable elements of modern ecclesiastical educa- 
 tion, without which our ministry will fail to retain its 
 hold over the faithful, or to win back the wandering 
 sheep. Our soldiers are being armed with new 
 weapons, and new machinery is adapted to the novel 
 practices of modern war and modern tactics ; and in 
 like manner God's servants must be furnished with 
 fitting arms for the novel warfare they have to en- 
 counter, if they are to contend successfully against the 
 passions and weaknesses of the day. Our rising gene- 
 ration of priests must not be content only to seek a 
 spirit of prayer, a habit of self-denial, or pure single- 
 minded faith ; they must seek also the keenest appre- 
 
PRESENT TIMES. 313 
 
 hension of the special needs of our times. If ever 
 there was cause to warn our younger brethren against 
 that fatal delusion of indolence or inexperience, which 
 represents the ministry as a peaceful office in which a 
 man may lead a tranquil, easy life, there is such cause 
 now. . . . 
 
 " The priest of this day is often cast amid a popu- 
 lation hostile to his teaching, mistrustful of his inten- 
 tions, merciless to his weaknesses, incapable of being 
 won otherwise than by the genuine ascendancy of his 
 own character, combined with indefatigable devotion 
 and the tenderest charity. We must expect daily, 
 hourly contests we must always be able to prove our 
 right to be believed or even tolerated we must give 
 no loophole for blame, whether in the pulpit or the 
 confessional, in our daily intercourse with the sick 
 and poor, in our dealings with science and intellect, 
 down to the most trifling details of external conduct 
 and manners. Sceptical as the age is concerning our 
 dogmas, it is unflinching in its judgment as to all that 
 concerns the virtue or dignity of a priest ; it will not 
 rest satisfied with commonplace decency in him. With 
 a rigid severity which might indicate a hidden instinct 
 of that faith he has forsaken in practice, the worldly 
 man will not tolerate common worldliness among 
 priests. He is not content with the low secular stan- 
 dard on their behalf; one might almost say that in 
 
314 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 proportion as he rejects the supernatural character of 
 the priestly mission, so he seems jealous of the priest's 
 personal dignity of life. We may indeed say with 
 Mgr. d'Orldans, that ' vulgar hearts, feeble characters, 
 grovelling minds, imperfect education,' will not suffice 
 for the task which in the existing state of things is laid 
 upon the Clergy, and that he who would meet it 
 thoroughly needs to be either ' born great or become 
 great" 1 ' 
 
 Surely it behoves those who are charged with the 
 education of the Clergy to form and cultivate this 
 greatness of mind in those men who are preparing for 
 the priesthood. They must teach our young men to 
 aim at tenfold courage, a tenfold spirit of faith and 
 sacrifice ; to be real apostolic teachers, humble, chari- 
 table, ever ready to devote themselves to God's Work ; 
 but meanwhile they must learn to understand and see 
 that social system amid which they will have to work 
 in its true colours; they must become acquainted 
 with its dangers as well as its advantages ; its weak as 
 well as its strong side, so as to learn how to make a 
 good use of the one, without being disheartened by 
 the other; in short, the very difficulties of the age 
 must be brought to bear upon them, so as to form useful 
 servants of the Church, intelligent fellow-workmen 
 of Him Who is the Unchanging King of every age. 
 
 Men must realize that though the groundwork of 
 
PRESENT TIMES. 315 
 
 their ministerial labour is necessarily the same in every 
 age, its superstructure must be modified and adapted 
 to the actual wants, the peculiarities, the special imper- 
 fections, the spiritual cravings of the time in which it 
 has pleased God to call them to work. 
 
 " The Gospel we preach in the nineteenth century is 
 the same as that of the third, or the twelfth," it has been 
 well said; "but it cannot be preached in the same 
 manner; and an Italian and an English sermon, 
 although preached on one subject and in time contem- 
 poraneous, will of necessity differ in method of compo- 
 sition, in style, in manner of delivery." 1 The same may 
 be said of other parts of a priest's work. Probably there 
 is not so much difference now in good earnest preach- 
 ing as there was in the early days of the Oratory, when 
 a laboured bombastic style, overflowing with classical 
 quotations and allusions, with conceits and quips of 
 all kinds, prevailed so largely. S. Francis de Sales 
 was one of the foremost to make a move in this direc- 
 tion, and he has told us how his father used to lament 
 over the simplicity of his sermons : " In my time it 
 was very different; sermons were much rarer, but 
 goodness knows what real preachments they were ! so 
 studied, so learned ! more Latin and Greek in one 
 than you stick into a dozen !" 2 
 
 1 L'Oratoire Moderne, P. Perraud, p. 423. 
 8 Spirit of S. Francis de Sales, p. 328. 
 
316 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Cardinal de Bdrulle put forward very earnestly be- 
 fore the men whom he had trained for their priestly 
 functions, that there could be no good or profitable 
 preaching without much preparatory prayer, above all 
 else, and he urged them to make the subjects on 
 which they were about to preach part of their daily 
 meditation. Next to this he insisted upon constant 
 study of Holy Scripture, and the Fathers of the 
 Church, as models of simplicity and dignity of style. 
 One of his Congregation, whose experience was great, 
 wrote a book of counsels to preachers, 1 which in 
 many respects are as applicable to the present day as 
 to his own. 
 
 " My first counsel if you want to preach well " (he 
 says) " is to pray well : my second to pray well : my 
 third, fourth, and tenth is still pray much to God. 
 Have but one aim in your sermons God's Glory 
 and the salvation of souls. Read Holy Scripture 
 again and again diligently. Your calling in the 
 pulpit is solely to preach God's Word, as our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, Whose deputed officer you are, would 
 do ; therefore all mere secular imagery and profane 
 science must be banished. One single passage from 
 the Holy Bible has more weight with Christian minds 
 than a hundred human reasonings, do not fear to 
 preach it ' pure and undefiled.' If you need anything 
 1 Avis aux Jeunes Pr&licateurs, P. Le J eune. 
 
PRESENT TIMES. 317 
 
 more, I should say read chiefly S. Augustine, S. Chry- 
 sostom, the Summa of S. Thomas, and the Lives of 
 the Saints. When you are writing a sermon, always 
 consider how far it is calculated to be useful to a 
 mechanic, or a servant girl; but above all, aim at 
 making it what no one can hear without some profit ; 
 it may be that among those who hear you there will 
 be some one person who will hear no other sermon in 
 the whole year than yours, and who may be converted 
 if you speak to his heart. Eloquence and studied 
 emphasis may help to persuade men, but I cannot 
 recommend you to use well-rounded periods and 
 artificial points. That is not the way in which the 
 Son of God preached. If you have to speak against 
 heresy, let it be done with respect, compassion, ten- 
 derness and love; conceding all that you possibly 
 can concede, consistently with truth. Above all, 
 abstain from reproach, invective, or contemptuous 
 words." 
 
 The Oratorians continued to inculcate simplicity 
 and a devotional, loving tone as the real way to make 
 preaching profitable. Another book on the subject, 
 attributed for a time to Massillon (himself an Ora- 
 torian), but acknowledged afterwards as the work of 
 Pere Gaichiez, gives some very earnest practical in- 
 structions to the Clergy : 
 
 " The chief study of every preacher should be the 
 
3i8 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 Bible," he says. 1 " He must seek to understand it 
 by the help of prayer, and to live up to its teaching in 
 his daily course. He must meditate continually on 
 it, seek light as to its mysteries, learn it by heart, be- 
 come thoroughly familiar with its language, and mould 
 his own upon its expressions. S. Chrysostom, S. 
 Augustine, S. Gregory, and S. Bernard are the great 
 models for preachers, and one should never cease 
 drawing water from these wells. A mere rhetorician 
 or sophist may preach his own imaginations, but a 
 true preacher will prefer to use the thoughts of the 
 Fathers. Religion is not a new thing he has to make, 
 he has received it, and he deals out to other men 
 that which he has received. 
 
 " It is not enough that a preacher be merely a worthy 
 man, he must be a devout man it is earnestness 
 which teaches most to those that hear. That springs 
 from an inner appreciation of the things of God ; but 
 a dry cold heart will give out nought save lifeless, 
 powerless words. If possible it would be a good 
 thing never to write sermons except in those happy 
 moments when, after prayerful study, a man's heart 
 is full of glowing warmth. Then all his expressions 
 flow from a sanctified source, and God uses such de- 
 vout workers to grave His law upon men's hearts, 
 an unsanctified hand will not impress His true im- 
 
 ' Maximes sur le Minist&re de la Clmire. 
 
PRESENT TIMES. 319 
 
 pressions. There is no better means of cultivating 
 talent, however great, than by prayer. The Fathers 
 of the Church, heavily burdened as they were with 
 responsible offices, prayed much and preached often. 
 
 " Living apart from the world in retirement, learning 
 detachment from self through hunrility and mortifica- 
 tion, uplifted by prayer and contemplation, a true 
 preacher finds his chief delight in studying and 
 practising God's Word. At the altar he pleads the 
 interests of his people before God, that he may the 
 better plead God's interests with the people in the 
 jmlpit. He is as the angels of Jacob's dream keeping 
 up a mysterious intercourse between heaven and earth. 
 He clasps the Cross to his inmost heart, ready if need 
 be to bear outward witness to it, even to the death. 
 
 " Above all else, the preacher's duty is to make men 
 know and love the Lord Jesus Christ. Therein lies 
 the whole of our life's religion, all things depend on 
 our One Mediator. In preaching sometimes men 
 dwell largely on God the Creator, His Providence, 
 His Goodness, His Justice, while they do not give 
 sufficient prominence to God our Redeemer. .... 
 
 "It is presumption to suppose thatyou canbe listened 
 to for more than an ordinary length of time, without 
 wearying your hearers. They have a certain stock of 
 patience, and beyond that you should not try them. 
 A full vessel can hold no more, and if you persist in 
 
320 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 pouring in, it only causes waste. Men go away from 
 an overlong sermon with the same sort of weariness 
 and discomfort as is caused by a bad dream. It is 
 always better to cut down rather than add to a 
 sermon ; and your constant aim should be brevity. 
 True eloquence depends far more on the high tone 
 than on the cleverness of your thoughts, and a noble 
 soul is a better source of inspiration than a sharp 
 wit 
 
 " The best tribute to a sermon is thoughtful silence 
 on the part of your hearers when they are dismissed. 
 He who would move others must himself be moved. 
 The burning wood which warms us is consumed it- 
 self. That which is false or unreal can never be truly 
 touching. Thus imagination does not speak with a 
 heartfelt tone. ... It beseems the dignity of the pul- 
 pit to speak with purity, precision, elevation. That 
 which has been well thought out should be happily 
 expressed. An ill set diamond loses half its beauty. 
 But a wise preacher cuts off all embellishment which 
 interferes with his true aim. Our husbandmen root up 
 the flowers which spring amid the corn, for they 
 damage the harvest in spite of their beauty ; and the 
 gardener prunes away the over-abundant leafage, which 
 would hinder his fruit from ripening. . . . 
 
 " There is a certain seemliness of style as well as of 
 manner and appearance. It is expected of a preacher 
 
PRESENT TIMES. 321 
 
 that he should speak as a man of God. A sermon is 
 not mere conversation or club oratory ; when you 
 preach you speak TO the people, and OF God. Do 
 not venture upon newly-coined words, or indulge in a 
 fantastically antiquated diction. Your speech should 
 be like your life, modest, pure, single-hearted : simple 
 enough to be understood by all, without failing in 
 dignity. Of old, all Grecian orators were prone to 
 quote Homeric expressions. Homer was the type of 
 Greek eloquence ; and even so a Christian preacher 
 should mould his words as well as his thoughts upon 
 Holy Scripture, so as to give a dignified and reverent 
 tone to his style. God's ambassador ought to speak 
 the language of God 
 
 " It is not the applause of men, not even the 
 success of a sermon, which makes the preacher 
 acceptable to God : it is his own earnest labour 
 joined to a humble estimate of his own talent and 
 poweV' 
 
 Bossuet's biographers tell us that that great preacher 
 never went into the pulpit without having knelt in the 
 deepest self-humiliation before his crucifix, seeking 
 the light of God's Holy Spirit ; and marvellous as were 
 his facility and eloquence, he was singularly devoid of 
 self-confidence, resting solely on the strength and in- 
 spiration to be won through prayer and study of Holy 
 Scripture. Surely such had need be the habit of mind 
 x 
 
322 PRIESTLY LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 and practice of preachers in our times as much as in the 
 seventeenth or eighteenth century ; and there is great 
 truth in what a living author says : "Simplicity, warmth, 
 earnestness these ought to be now, if ever, the 
 characteristics of our apostolic preaching. Of late par- 
 liamentary debates have accustomed men to require 
 close reasoning and conclusive evidence. They want 
 to go straight to facts, and are impatient of the lengthy 
 involutions which were the glory of bygone rheto- 
 ricians. Now-a-days neither speaker or hearers have 
 leisure to linger thus on the threshold of a subject. 
 Every one is speeding on, all around us is haste, and 
 if we have the opportunity of commanding men's 
 attention for a few brief moments amid their bewilder- 
 ing preoccupations, we owe it to their immortal souls 
 and to our own ministry not to waste those scarce and 
 precious seasons. Simplicity, precision, clearness, a 
 distinct and lucid setting forth of doctrine, holding in 
 horror all mere phraseology, all empty rhetoric, such 
 should be the main features in our earthly rendering of 
 our Divine message. But we must combine strength 
 with our other qualities, and that because in these 
 days perhaps there is no greater hindrance to the 
 Kingdom of God than the weakness and slackness of 
 convictions which we find everywhere. And this 
 strength is only to be won by continual meditation on 
 Holy Scripture : there it is that we can gather up 
 
PRESENT TIMES. 323 
 
 God's own strength. ' Ibi abscondita est fortitude efus ' ' 
 (Hab. iii. 5)." 
 
 And assuredly, too, there is no less need now than 
 in the days of S. Philip Neri, of S. Vincent de Paul, 
 or of M. Olier, to gather together the young men of 
 all classes and destinations, whose lot is for the most 
 part cast among manifold temptations, different it may 
 be in kind, but no less perilous than those which beset 
 their forerunners of the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- 
 turies. If our Clergy are to gather in souls for the Great 
 Harvest, must they not strive to gather our young men 
 and boys around them, to attract them by higher and 
 more intellectual pleasures from the grosser forms of 
 self-indulgence, to supply them with social enjoyments 
 free from debasing influences, to direct and share 
 their reading and inquiry, to watch over their faith, 
 and to arm them against the delusions of rationalistic 
 self-conceit and " vain science falsely so called." 
 Truly these are not the days for the pastors of the 
 flock to sit down satisfied with looking at any one side 
 of their vast and endless task ! But if our Clergy are 
 to be ready to cope with the learned unbeliever and 
 the scientific rationalist, surely we need that some 
 among them should be able, by means of Religious 
 Communities and Brotherhoods, to give themselves up 
 to deeper and more scientific study than the parish 
 1 L'Oratoire Moderne, p. 434. 
 
324 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 priest, once launched upon the endless and necessary 
 cares of his flock, can possibly seek. " Formerly " 
 (so wrote the present Archbishop of Paris, Mgr. 
 Guibert, then Bishop of Viviers) " the most learned 
 men of the day were found among the Clergy ; men 
 whose daily occupations admitted of profound study, 
 or who, members of religious corporations, were able 
 to give themselves up to literary work, which was 
 made easy to them by the treasures they possessed in 
 their libraries and scientific collections. But where 
 shall we find priests now who do or can give their 
 lives to this department of God's service?** 
 
 Modern science aims above all things at getting rid 
 of the supernatural, and, as a modern writer says, "we 
 must develop an altogether new system of intellectual 
 perceptions." ' In order to meet this need, the French 
 Clergy have been urged by their rulers to extend the 
 range of their studies, and to prepare themselves to 
 grapple with the foe on his own ground. The Council 
 of Paris in 1849 pressed strongly on the Clergy that 
 nothing could be more fatal to their right influence 
 than ignorance or incapacity to deal with general 
 subjects. 
 
 " It is an absolutely indispensable necessity," so 
 writes Balme's, "for the Clergy to be educated up to 
 the level of their times, so as not to permit error to 
 * M. Littre. 
 
PRESENT TIMES. 325 
 
 wield weapons which are wanting to truth. We can- 
 not press the importance of this duty too earnestly on 
 the ministers of religion. Let them indeed live a life 
 apart from the world in its purity and simplicity, 
 but let them beware of living apart from the in- 
 tellectual movement going on around them; let them 
 grasp firm hold of the truth that there is no antagonism 
 between an enlightened intelligence and an upright 
 heart; that science is not the enemy of virtue, and 
 that the Clergy may keep their eyes fully open to the 
 intellectual progress of the times without sullying 
 themselves with the corruption which too often besets 
 that progress. 
 
 " The man whose office it is to teach the weightiest of 
 all truths to others ought not to be estranged from 
 any form of knowledge. As it behoves him to be the 
 example of all personal goodness in his moral life, 
 so ought he to wield the sceptre of intelligence." * 
 
 S. Francis de Sales used to say that ignorance was 
 almost as bad as malice in a priest, and that know- 
 ledge was a kind of eighth sacrament of the Church. 
 
 " They are really righteous," says S. Gregory, " who 
 are furnished forth by the love of the Country above to 
 meet all the ills of the present life ; " a and it is in that 
 Country only that we may dare to hope for an end to 
 
 1 Melanges Religieux et Philosophiques. 
 3 Morals, bk. v. xvii. 
 
326 PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE. 
 
 the Church's woes and struggles. In our time, as in 
 the times of the holy men gone before us, we need to 
 raise the cry 
 
 " Our foes press on from every side, 
 Thine Aid supply, Thy Strength bestow ; " 
 
 and with them to pray, 
 
 " To Thy Great Name be endless praiv. 
 
 Immortal Godhead, One in Three ! 
 O grant us endless length of days 
 In our true Native Land with Thee. 
 Amen." 
 
 The bright shining lights set before us by the Father 
 of us all, " lest we should faint or stray," are doubtless 
 now pleading for the Church before His Face, as once 
 Ihey prayed and toiled for it here ; and gladdened by 
 the thought, let us dwell lovingly and thankfully on 
 their examples, and say, in the words of the All Saints' 
 
 Hymn, 
 
 "Exules 
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