Catholic Caucus: Treatise on Peace of Soul and Inner Happiness Ch 4

Catholictradition.org ^ | Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

[GonzoII]

CHAPTER FOUR

THE NECESSITY OF RELINQUISHING HUMAN CONSOLATIONS IN THE ACQUISITION OF INNER PEACE

THE PATH WHICH LEADS to this heavenly peace is almost unknown to the world. For along that path tribulations and trials are sought with the same avidity that the worldling displays in the pursuit of pleasure. There contempt and derision are pursued as are honors and glory by the ambitious; there as great pains are taken to neglect and be neglected, to forsake and be forsaken, as the children of this world take to be sought for, caressed, and admired by the mighty and the rich. And there holy ambition is known, comforted, and favored by God alone.

The Christian soul, as it travels this path, learns to converse with God alone and to be so strongly fortified by His presence, that it is willing to suffer anything for Him and the promotion of His glory.

There one learns that suffering blots out the sun, and that affliction endured in the proper manner is a treasure laid up for eternity; and there one learns too that to suffer with Jesus Christ is the only ambition of the soul which seeks the glory of resembling Him.

There one is taught that to love ourselves, to follow our own wills, to obey our sensual appetites, and to destroy ourselves are one and the same thing. There one is taught too that our own will is not even to be gratified in what is commendable, until we have submitted it in all simplicity and humility of heart to the will of God; that what He ordains and not what we wish should be the rule of our actions.

Frequently we perform good works from wrong motives, or through indiscreet zeal, which, like the false prophet, appears to be an innocent lamb, when in reality it is a ravenous wolf. The devout soul, however, will discover the illusion from the effects produced. When it finds itself in trouble and anxiety, humility diminished and composure disturbed; when it no longer enjoys peace and tranquillity, and perceives all that has been attained with much time and labor to be lost------then the fact is really fantasy.

We may sometimes fall on the path to inner peace; but this only serves to increase humility which assists us to recover and to watch more strictly over ourselves in the future. Perhaps God permits us to fall in order to root out some secret fault, artfully concealed by our deceitful self-love.

Sometimes, too, the soul may be molested with temptations to sin, but it must not be unduly disturbed on this account; rather must the soul quietly withdraw from such temptations, reinstating itself in its former tranquillity without indulging in an excess of either joy or sorrow.

In a word, all we must do is to keep our souls in purity and peace in the sight of God, knowing by experience that He ordains everything for our ultimate welfare.

[GonzoII]