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
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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
VocatenosinPATRlA."
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