AN ENGLISH NUN IN EXILE TRANSLATES

THE SPIRITUAL LETTERS OF

ARCHBISHOP FENELON TO MADAME GUYON

Archbishop Fénelon of Cambrai

Madame Jeanne Marie Bouvières de la Mothe Guyon
 

heart of man never speaks soe
perfectly as when it shows, & presents
itself simply to god. þs exposition
to the divine regard & abandonment
to the whole will of the beloved,
is to say all without any distinct
word. in þe same maner god says
all without speach when he shows
his truth & his love. Love & you hve
said all. leave your self to the infi-
nite Love & you have heard all,
and comprehended all.
  29 Abandonment to þe Sole will
  of God, & disengagementyourfrom all things
elce, is the hapiest of all states, and
the only means to be happy in any state.
 

     Bishop of cambray          131

   24 how to suffer well
~ Suport in peace your interiour
crosses. the exteriour ones without
those of the interiour would not be
crosses: the wud be but continuall
victories, with a flattering hope of
of our invincible force. such crosses
would poison the heart & charm our
self love. to suffer well, one must
suffer as weak and feeling ones weak
ness: one must see one self without
resource within one self: one must
be upon the cross with Jesus Chist
and say as he did: my god, My God, how
have you abandon'd me? O that the
peace of the will in þs dispair of the self

132    Spirit: leters of the

love is precious in his eyes who caus-
-es it in us without showing it to us!
Nourish your self with þs speach of
Saint Augustin, which is soe much
þe more viv Enlivening as it brings
to the heart a totall death of self lo-
-ve: Nihil in me reliquatur mihi
nec quo respiciam ad me ipsum:
let there be nothing left in me of my
self nor where with to cast again one
regard upon my self. doe not hearken
to your imagination, nor to te refflec
tions of a human wisdom. let all fall
and remain in the hands of the beloved,
tis will and his glory which ought to
occupy us.
 

     Bishop of Cambray       133

25 Upon ambition.
~ be a true nothing in all and every
where; but you must add nothing to
this pure nothing. tis upon nothing
that noe hold can be taken. it can
lose nothing. the true nothing never
resists, & it has not a Self to be occupied
about. be then nothing, and nothing
beyond; and you will be all without
thinking of the being. suffer in peace:
abandon your self: goe like abraham,
without knowing where. receive from
men þe Solace & asistance which god
shall give you by them. tis not from þm
but of him by them that you must rec-
eive itthem. mix nothing with aban-

134     Spirit: leters of

donment noe more then with nothing.
that sort of wine ought to be drunk
pure & without mixture: one drop
of water takes from it all its ver
-tue. one loses infinitly desiring
to reserve the least self resource.
Noe reserve I conjure you.
We must love the hand of God which
strikes us, & which destroys us. the
creature was made but to be destroyd
at his good pleasure who made her
for himself. O hapy use of our substance!
our nothing Glorifies the enternall be
-ing as the All of god. May all then
perish which self love would soe fain
conserve! Let us be the Holocaust wch
 

     the Bishop of cambray         135

the fire of Love reduces to ashes. trou-
ble never comes but from self love
Devine love is all peace and aband-
onment. there is but to sufer, to let
fall, to lose, to retain nothing, never
to stop soe much as one moment the
crucifying hand. this non-resista-
nce is greivous to nature: but god
gives it, the beloved sweetens it,
he measures all temptations.
My God, what a hapy thing to perform
ones purgatory in þs world! MNature
would neither have it in þs life nor
in the other. but god prepare it in
this world, and tis we who by our re
sistances make two instead of one.
 

we render this so unprofitable by
not submiting to it, that all is to
be begun again after death. we shud
be even from þs life as the souls of
purgatory quiet & suple. In the hand
of God to abandon ourselves to it,
yeilding to be destroy'd by the reven
ging fire of love. Hapy the soull
that suffers thus.
I love and respect you more, & more
under his hand who crushes you, to
purify you. O how precious is this
state! the more you find your self
empty & deprived of all, the more
you appear to me replenished With
god and the object of his complaisance.
 

   of the Bish: of Cam:    137

When one is fastned upon the cross
with Jesus Christ, one says as he
did O God, My God, how have you ab-
andoned me! but this sensible aban-
donment, which is a kind of dispair
in grosse natura, is the more pure
union of the spirit, and the perfecti
on of love.
What imports it that god deprives us
of sensible or perceived suports and
gusts, provided he dos not let us fall.
the prophet Habacuc was not he well
suported when the Angell transpor-
ted him with soe much impetuosity
from Judea to Babilon, holding him
by one of his hairs! he went without
 

knowing where, & not knowing by
wt suport. He went to feed Daniell
in the lions Den: he was taken up by
the invisible spirit, & by the vertue
of faith. hapy those who goe in this
maner by a path unknown to human
wisdom, & without touching the ground
with their feet.
You have but to suffer & to let yourself
by consumed by litle, & litle, in the
cruscible of love. what is there to
doe? nothing, but never to push back
which des the invisible hand wch des-
troys & new melts all. the farther
one advances, the more one must
yeild to the entire destruction. tis
 

   Bish: of Cambray,       139

necesary that a living heart be
reduced to ashes. we must die and
not see our death: for the death
we shud perceive, would be the -
most dangerous of all lives. You are
dead, says þe apostle, & your life
is hiden with Jesus christ in
god. the death must be hiden to hide
the new life. which this death oper-
ates, one lives noe more but of death
as Saint Augustin speaks, but that one must
be simple & without return to let
this destruction of the Old man be
finish'd! I beg of god to make of you
a holocaust, which the fire of the
Alter may consume without reserve.
                          8

25 to live in pure abandonment.
~ You know you must cary the cross
and cary it in full darkness. perfect
love neither seeks to see nor feell
tis content to suffer without know
ing if it suffers well. and to love
without knowing if it loves. O that
abandon without any return or sec-
ret fold is pure and worthy of god!
it alone is more destroying then a
thousand, and a thousand austere
vertues, sustain'd by a perceptable
regularity. one would fast like St
Simon Stilite, standing whole ages
upon a pillar: one would spend a
hunderd years in the desert as St
 

     Bish: of cambray       141

Paull hermit, in fine wt would
one not doe of mervelous and worthy
to be writen, sooner then lead a
plain & simple life, which is a to-
tall & continuall death in this sim-
ple, leaving one self to the good plea-
sure of god? liven then of this death;
let it be your only quotidian bread.
I preent you that which I will eat
with you.
Be simple and a litle child. tis in
infancy that unalterable peace
dwells and is proof against all. all
the regularities where a person pos-
ses his vertue are subject to ilusion
and mistakes. tis only those who ne-
 

ver reckon that are subject to noe
miscount. only the soulls dispropri
-ated by the evangelicall abnegation
have no more to lose. only those w°
doe not seek for any light are not de
ceived. tis only litle children who
find in god the wisdom which is not
in the great and wise ones, soe much
admired.
30 to suport abandon, dispoilment
               and Death
~ all contributes to your triall; but
God who loves you, will not permit yu
to be tempted above your strength.
he will make use of the temptation
to advance you. but you must not
 

     Bish: of Cambray        143

curiously look to see in your self
neither your advancement, nor yr
strength, nor the hand of god, which
is not less helping when it renders
it self invisible. tis in hiding it
self that it principaly operates:
for we should never die to ourselves
if he sensibly show'd us that hand
always aplied to help us. in þs case
god would sanctify us in light, in life,
& in spirituall cloathing us with all
spirituall ornaments: but he would
not sanctify us upon the cross, in dark-
ness, in privation, in nakedness, in
privation death. Jesus Christ does
not say: if any one will come after
 

me, he must posses himself, and
revest himself with ornaments, &
be inebriated with consolations
as peter upon thabor, enjoying me
and himself in his perfection, Seing
himself and having full assurance
in seing that he is perfect: but one
the contrary he says, if Anny man
will come after me; this is the
way by which he must walk; let him
renounce himself, take up his
cross & folow me. in the path sur-
-rounded with precipices where he
shall behold nothing but death. St
Paull sais that we would be over-
cloath'd, & that one the contrary we
 

         The Bish: of Cam:          145

must be stript to the most extreme
nakedness, to be afterward revest-
ed with Jesus Christ.
let yourself then be dispoiled even
to þe last ornaments of self love
and to the last veils with which
it endeavours to cover himitself,
afterwards to receive the robe wch
is whitened but in the blood of the
Lamb, and which has noe other pu-
rity but his. A Soull too happy wch
has noe more anything of her own
who has even nothing borow'd noe
more then proper, & who leaves
herself to the beloved being desi-
rous to have noe more beauty but
 

him alone! O Spouse you will be
truly beautiful when there remains
to you noe ornament of your own! you
will be the whole complaisance of
the divine spouse when he alone shall
be all your beauty. then he will love
you without measure, because it
will be only himself that he will
love in you. hear these things & be
lieve them. this food of pure truth
will be at the first bitter in your
mouth & in your entrailles; but
it will nourish your heart, and it
will nourish it with that death wch
is the only life. believe this and
doe not listen to your self. the self
 

          Bish: of cambray           147

is a great seducer: he deceives
more the serpent seducer the Eve,
haply the soull who hearkens in all
simplicity to that which hinders
her from listening to her self and
from being tender to herself.
Why can I not be with you! but god
dos not permit it. what doe I say?
God does it invisibly, and he unites
us a hunderd times more intimatly
in himself, center of all his, then if
were incesantly in the same place.
I am in spirit quite close to you;
I bear with you your cross & all yr
languishment. but if you would
have the Child Jesus cary them
 

with you, let him hide himself
from your eyes, leave him to goe
and come with all freedom. he
will be all powerfull in you if you
are very litle in him. One demands
socour to live & posses one self. and
one needs no more but to expire, &
to be disposes'd of one self without
resource the true sucour is the mor-
-tall blow; tis the stroke of grace.
it is time to die to one self, to the
end the death of Jesus christ may
operate a new life. I would give
mine to take yours from you. and
to make you live, that of God.
 

     the Bishop of Cambray     149

  27 Upon þe dificulty of abandon
  in pure faith to gods imperceptible op-
  eration. ~  What I wish you
above all is that You doe not alter
your grace by looking for it. would
you that death should make you live.
and posses your self in abandonment:
that would be the most manifest
ilusion. you must want all food to
compleat your death. tis a cruelty
and treason to let you breath, & nou
rish you to prolong your agony one
the torture. die: is the only word þt
remains to me for you.
What then have you sought for in þe
way wch god has open'd for you? if
 

you would live, you had but to
nourish yourself with all. but
how many years is there that you
have dedicated your self to the
obscurity of faith, to death, & to
abandonment? was it upon condi-
-tion to doe it in apearance, and to
find a greater security in abandon
it self? if it was soe, you would
have bine very cuning with god.
this would be the height of Illusion.
if one the contrary, you only sought
(as I doubt not but you did) the total
sacrifise of your spirit and will,
why doe you draw back when god
makes you at last find the only
 

        Bish: of cambray            151

thing you sought for, will you take
yourself back assoon as god would
posses you, & disposses you of your
self? will you thro fear of the sea,
and tempest cast yourself against
the rocks, and suffer shipwreck in
the haven? renounce to all securi
tys: you can never have any but
falce ones. tis the unfaithfull search
of sureties which causes your pain.
far from conducting you to repose,
you resist your grace: how can you
find peace.
I own you must folow what god puts
in the heart: but two things are to
be observed: one is, that the atract
 

of god which inclines the heart
is not found by the nice, & perplex'd
refflections of self love: the other
that alsoe tis not found by such
express motions as to bring with
them the certitude that they are
divine. this refflected certitude
of which the soull would render
account to herself, and upon wch
she wud relye, would destroy the
state of faith, render all death im
posible and imaginary, changing
abandon, & nakedness, into possesion
and propriety without bounds; in
-fine it would be a perpetuall fana
-tisme; for one would imagin one
 

            the Bish: of camb             153

self incesantly inspired of god for
all that one should doe each moment,
there would be no more neither
direction, nor docility, but as much
as the interiour motion, indepen
dant of all exteriour authority, should guide
each one therto. þs would be to
overthrow þe way of faith & death.
all would be light, possesion, life
and certitude in all these things.
tis then to be observ'd that one ought
to folow the motion; but not desire
to assure oneself of it by reflection,
and say to one self to enjoy ones cer
-titude; yes, tis by inspiration þt
I act
 

the motion is but the grace or int-
eriour atract of the holly Ghost, wch
is comon to all the just: but more
nice, more profound, less percepta-
-ble, & more intimate in soulls al-
ready disengaged, and of whose disa-
propriation god is jealous. this
motion brings with it a conscience
very simple, very direct, very rapide,
which sufises to act uprightly, and
to reproach þe soull with her infid-
elity in þe moment she resists to
it. but tis the trace of a fish in þe
water; it is effaced as soon as tis
form'd, & there remains nothing of
it: if you would be hold it, it disa-
 

       the Bish: of Cam:     155

pears to confound your curiosity.
how doe you pretend that god will
let you posess this gift, since he
only grants it to you, to the end you
may posses your self in nothing.
the holly patriarchs, Prophets, and
apostles &c: had besides miracu-
lous things a continuall atract
which push'd them to a continual
death: but they did not make them-
selves judges of their grace, & they
folow'd it simply: it would have es
-caped from them whilst they had
bine reasoning upon it to make þm
selves judges of it. you are our
ancient; but tis your eldership
 

which makes you owe more to god
then all the rest. you are our eldest
Sister; it belongs to you to be the
example of all the others to streng
then them in the paths of darkness
and death. walk then like Abra-
-ham without knowing where. goe
out of your land, which is your heart,
folow þe inspiration of grace: but
doe not seek the certitude of it by
reasoning, if you seek it before yu
act, you make your self Judge of yr
grace instead of being docile unto
it & yeilding your self up to her as
the Apostles did. they were deliv-
-erd up to the grace of god says Saint
 

          Bish: of Cambray          157

Luke in þe Acts. if one the contrary
you seek this certitude after having
acted, tis a vain consolation you
look after thro a return of self love;
instead of going still forward with
simplicity according to the atract
and without looking behind you.
this looking back interupts the
course, delays þe progress, weakens
& blurs þe interiour operation tis
a frequent retaking of oneself,
tis undoing with one hand that wch
one dos with the other. from thence
it comes that one pases soe many
years languishing, doubting, and
turning all round one self.
 

I neither lose the sight of your
long pains, nor of your trialls, nor
of the mistake of those who talk of
your state without knowing it well.
I agree alsoe that tis easier for me
to speak then for you to doe. & that
I fall into all the faults, where I
propose to your not to fall. but infine
we are more endebted to god then
all the others becausegod demands
of us things more advanced; and
perhaps we are proportionably þe
most backward. let us not be dis
couraged; god only desires to see
us faithfull. let us begin again, and
in begining anew we shall soon fi
 

    Spirit let:  B Cam:       159

-nish, let us, let all fall, and
gather up nothing, we shall goe
very fast and in great peace.
32 to avoid distraction, & activity
~ In the name of God, avoid disipa-
tion, be affraid of your imagination
too lively & your gust of the world.
tis not sufficient that you see but
few people; you must also hinder
your vivacity from being too much
excited by any: you must retrench
long conversations, & even in the
shortest your must cut of a certain
activity of spirit which incompa
tible wth recolection. I doe not dem
-and a certain recolection procured
 

by strife and industry which is
not seasonable: I ask of you þe
union of all simple, & from þe fund,
with god which his grace gives us
when we let fall our activity wch
disipates us, & makes us savour
the amusement of creatures, sin-
-cerely unless you are faithfull to
let fall all this activity, which pro-
ceeds both from nature, & custom,
you will insensibly lose all your
interiour; & not withstanding al
your pious intentions you will
find yourself reduced to a devotion
of passing & superficiall sentiments
with great frailties, as a great
 

          Bish: of Cambray     161

mixture of things contrary to yr
ancient grace.
29 Daily Crosses, & deaths,
Let us bear þe cross, þe greatest
is our selves, we shall not be out of
our selves till we look upon our sel-
-ves simply as a neighbor which we
must suport with patience. if we
let our selves die every day of our
life, we should not have much to
dy at the last, and that which
gives us soe much terour afar of
would cause us litle near hand pro-
-vided we doe not exagerate it, by
our perplexed fore-seings of self
love, bear with your self and
 

infantlike consent to be born wth
by others O that the litle deaths
which are daily endured, take
away force from þe great death.
~ Tis Gods will that in the works
he enjoins us, we unite together
two things very proper to make us
die to our selves: one is, to act as
tho all depended upon þe asiduity
of our labour: the other is tobe so
disabuse our selves of our labour
and after tis finish'd, to reckon
there is nothing yet begun. after
we have work'd very well god
pleases himself, to take away all
our work before our eyes, as the
 

           Bish: of Cambray       163

stroke of a broom sweeps away a
cobweb. after wch if he pleaces he
dos the work, we not being able to
say how; for which he had made us
take so much pains seeming unprofi-
table. make then cobwebs, God
will sweep them away, and after
having confounded you, he will we
work alone his own fashion.
I am not astonish'd at your miseri-
-es you deserve þm as long as they sur-
prise you, tis arogantly to expect
something from oneself, when we
wonder to find our selves in fault.
this surprise only proceeds from a re-
mainder of confidence.
 

30 to conceal nothing, as of Dist
-ractions, & drinesses
~ You canot tell me things too
simply. be not in pain for the thoughts
of vanity which importune you, in
relation to the dispositions of your
heart which you explicate unto
me. God will not permit the ven
-om of pride to corupt that which yu
doe of necesity to goe directly un-
to him. moreover there is always
less to be pleased wth & to be proud of
then cause of being humbled, and
confounded in the things one is
obliged to say of one self, one must
relate with simplicity the good
 

       Bish: of Cam:      163 [bis]

like the bad, to the end the pers-
on in wm one confides may know
all, as a physician, & may give re-
medies proportionable to the ne-
cesity. the question is not what
you feell against your will, nor the
thoughts which present themselves
to your mind, nor the unvoluntary
distractions which tire you in yr
prayer: tis suficient, that your
will dos never consent to be distrac-
ted, that is to sayt that your dont
have always an upright, & sincere
intention to make prayer, & to let
fall the distractions assoon as you
perceive them, in this state dis-
 

-tractions will only doe you good:
then will fatigue, humble, and
accustom you, to live of bread dry
and black in the house of god; you
will remain faithfull to love and
serve god, & to unite your self to
him in prayer without tasting
in it the sensible consolations, wch
one often seeks there more then
himself. Ilusion is to be feared
when a person seeks god, but with
a tasted pleasure. this pleasure
may flatter self love, but when a
soull remains united to god, in þe
darknesses of pure faith, and in
the drinesses of distractions, she
 
 

        the Bish: of Cambray      165

folows him carying the cross for his
love, when sweetnesses come rec-
ceive them to manage your weak-
ness, when god weans you from them,
as a child is wean'd from the breast
to be nourished with bread, you must
content your self without this sen-
sible sweetness to love god in an
humble & mortified state. take
heed when in þs state that you
doe not draw back from your comu-
nions, prayer, & comunion, will
walk an equall pace, without plea-
sure, but with a pure fidelity. God
is never soe well served, as when
we serve him, (as I may say) at our
 

cost, without having any sensi-
-ble profit of it, upon the spot.
31 Upon tepidity disgusts,
  interiour silence.
I doe not wonder at your tepidity.
one is not always in fervour, god
dos not permit it to be continuall:
tis good to feell by inequalities þt
it is a gift of god, wch he bestows, &
withdraws as he pleases. if we were
in fervour without cease, we shud
feell neither crosses, nor our weak-
-ness, temptations would not be
such in reality, tis necesary we
be tried by the interiour revolt
of our corupted nature and that
 
 

         the Bish: of Cam:         167

our love be purified by our dis-
gusts, we are never so much gods
as when we stick to him noe more
by sensible pleasure, but remain-
ing faithfull, by a will quite naked,
being fastned one the cross. the ex-
teriour pains, would not be true
pains, if we were exempt from þe
interiour ones. suffer then patient-
ly your disgusts, and they will be
more profitable to you, then a gust
accompanied with a confidence in
your state, disgust sufferd by a faith
full will is a good penance, it hum
bles, makes one diffident of one
 

self, causes the soull to feell her
frailty, & compels her to have more
frequent recourse unto god. behold
great benefits. þs unvoluntary
terpidity, & þs propension to seek
all which may flatter self love, ought
not to hinder you from comunion.
You would run after a sensible
gust of god, which is neither his
love, nor prayer. take this gust
when god gives it you, & when he
dos not, love, & endeavour to make
prayer as if þs gust did not faill
you, tis to have god to expect him.
one the other side you doe well, not
 

           the Bish: of Cam:        169

to ask of god gusts & consolations,
but as much as he shall please to
give them you, if god will sanctify
you by the privation of these sensi-
bilities, you ought to conform your
self to this mercifull designes, &
suport drinisses: they will be most
profitable by humbling you, and
making you die to your self; which
is the work of god.
Your pains come only from your -
self: you cause them by hearkening
to Your self, tis a niceness, and a
sensibility of self love, which you
nourish in your heart, by tendring
 

your self, upon your self. instead
of bearing faithfuly the cross, and
fulfiling your duties carying this
burthen of others to help them to
suport it, and to redress those per-
-sons God has confided unto you;
you shut your self up within your
self, only employ'd witho your
discouragment. Hope in god; he
will uphold you, & render you use
full unto others provided you doe
not doubt of his help, & that you
doe not spare your self in this
labour.
take care you doe not interupt yr
prayer: you would doe your self
 

     the Bish: of cambray    171

infinite preiudice. the silence
wch you speak of is excelent as
often as you find your self drawn
unto it. leave it to employ you
self in more distinct verities wn
you can easily & with gust: but
fear not þs silence when it opera
tes in you in a more faithfull attenti
on to god for the rest of the day.
remain free with god in the best
maner you can, provided your will
be united to him, & that you in all
things seek to perform his will, at
the cost of your own.
32 to declare ones interiour pains
~ I am not at all surprised at your
 

pains tis naturall that you shud
feell them. they only ought to
serve to make you feell you un
powerfulness, & to make you have
knowlbe humble recourse to god.
when you feell your hert overcome
by the pain. be not ashamed to dis
-cover your weakness, & demand
asistance in þs presing necesity,
be simple, & ingenuous to tell it.
this practis will acustom you to
simplicity, Humility & dependence..
it will very much destroy self love
which lives only upon disembling
to cary a good face, when tis in
despair. one the other side seek
 

    Bishop of cambray   173

to amuse your self wth all the
things which may sweeten your
solitude & arm you against tedious
ness without pasionating you, or disi-
-pating you with the gust of the wo-
rld. if you should keep them upon
your heart these your pains they would
encrease and swell continually, &
would surmount you at last. the
falce courage of self love would
cause you infinit evills. the ven
-om which strikes in is mortall:
that wch comes out dos no great
harm. one must not be ashamed
of the stink which comes out of þe
 

wound of the heart. I doe not
in þe least stop at certain words
which escape from you, & which þe
excessivness of the pain, makes
you say contrary to the fund of yr
true will. tis sufficient that these
salyes makes you feel learn that
you are weak & that you consent
to see your weakness, & to let it
be seen by others.
33 Upon þe same subject, & how to
converse with God
~ Nothing is better then to tell all.
One opens ones heart, one cures
ones pains, in not keeping them:
and one uses one self to simplicity
 

      Bishop of Cambray  175

and dependence: for one reserves
only the things, Upon which one
is afraid to subject one self: infine
one humbles one self; ffor nothing
is more humbling then to manif-
est the secret folds of the heart
to discover all ones miseries; but
nothing draws so much benediction.
Not that we must make to our sel
-ves a method and rule. to relaxe
with a scurpulous exactitude all
that we think of: we should never
have done, & one would be always
in perplexity & uneasiness, for fear
of forgeting something. tis sufficient
to reserve nothing thro want of
 

simplicity & by an evill shame of
self love, w° would never let it
self be seen but In its finest colours
tis enuff that yu have noe designe,
not to say all according to the oc-
-casions: after that one says less
or more without scruple as the
occasions & thoughs are offer'd.
though I am much employ'd & often
perhaès very dry, þs simplicity of
grace will never weary me: on
the contrary it will augment my
Wisdom, & my Zeall. tis not ques-
-tion of feeling but of wiling, the
sentiment very often dos not de-
pend upon us. God expresly takes
 

      Bishop of Cambray      177

it from us, to make us feel
our poverty, & to use us to the cross
by the interiour aridity, and to
purify us, in holding us fastned
unto him without þs sensible con-
solation. afterwards he gives us
back þs solace from time, to time
to compasionate our weakness.
be with god; not in a tyed up con
-versation, as with those people
one visits in ceremony, & to whom
one makes studied & measured
compliments; but as with a good
freind, who constrains you in noth-
-ing & whom you doe not constrain
neither. one sees one another
 

one speaks to each other, one
listens, one is silent, one is con-
-tented to be together without
any mutual discourse: the two
hearts repose themselves, to see þm
selves in each other, to make but one
heart: they doe not measure wt
they say, they have noe care to
insinuate nothing or to forethink
any thing; all is said by simple sen-
-timent, & without order; they neither
reserve, nor turn, nor fas Compose
any thing: they are as contented
the day they have spoke litle, as
that they had much to say. One is
never in þs maner, but imperfectly
 

         Bishop of Cambray      179

with þe best friends: but wth god
one is perfectly soe when one does not
wrap one self upp in the subtilities
of ones self love, you must not goe
to make visits to god, to render him
a passing duty; you must remain
wth him in þe privacy of domesticks
or to say beter, of children. be wth
him as your daughter is with you:
this is the means not to be tired.
Make triall of þs simplicity, and
Give me news of it.
34 Profit of Crosses & Faults &ctra
~ I hold to wt you say, which is þt
you continually resist you the will of
god. the impresion he gives you is
 

to be employ'd about him, but
the refflections of your self love
occupy you only about your self.
since you know that you should
be more in repose, if you did not
without cease try by your endeav-
-ours & striving to atain to an ele
-vated prayer, & shine in devotion
why doe you not seek þs repose?
be content to folow god, & doe pre-
-tend that God shud folow your gust
to flater you. Make prayer like
the Grosest beginers, & the most
imperfect if need be: accomodate
your self to gods atract & to your
necesity. tis true one must not be
 

        Bish: of Cambray             181

troubled for feeling in one self
the corupted motions of self love
it does not depend upon us not to f
feell them, but we must give noe
maner of consent unto them by
the will, & let fall these unvolun-
tary sentiments by turning one self
imediatly simply towards god.
this conduct provided, you must
comunicate, & you must even com-
-unicate to be able to hold it. if
you should wait for comunion till
you were perfect, you would never
have neither comunion nor perfec-
-tion: for we become perfect but by
comunicating, & one must eat
 

the bread descended from heaven
to arive by little, & little, to a life
wholy celestiall.
as for your crosses, you must take
them as the penance for your sins,
and as the exercise of death to yr
self wch will lead you to perfection.
O that crosses are good! O what
need have we of them! wt should
we doe wthout crosses! we should
be given up to our selves, & be in-
-tosticated with self love. tis need
-full that we have crosses, & even
faults which god permits for to
humble us, we must put all to pro-
-fit; avoid faults in the occasion,
 

     Spirit: Let. B. Camb:      183

and make use of them to conf-
-ound one self as soon as they
are comited: We must cary the
crosses with faith & look upon them
as most wholesome remedies.
Dread Haughtiness: be diffident
of that wch the world calls good
pride: tis a hunderd times more
dangerous then þe most foolish. þe
most subtill poison is the most mor
-tall. be then mild, patient, com-
-pasionate to the weakneses of oth-
ers, incapable of all mockery, or
critique. Charity believes all
the good she may believe, and su-
-ports all the evill she canot hind-
 

-der seing in her neigbor. but
to be thus dead to the world, one
must live to god: & þs interiour
life can be obtain'd but in prayer.
Silence & the presence of god are
the nourishment of the soull
35 Evangelicall renunciation
~ I have received your Last leter
by it I perceive that God dos you
great favours; for he enlightens
you, & persues you very much: it
belongs to you to corespond therto.
the more he gives, the more he
demands, & the more he requires
the more tis just we should give
him. you see he withdraws his
 

          Bish: of Cambray           185

consolatons, & the atract of recol-
-lection as soon as you let yourself
goe to the enjoying of creatures w°
disipate you. Judge therby of gods
Jealousy, & of that wch you ought
to have against your self to be noe
more your own, & to give your self
wholy to him wthout reserve.
You have good reaspm to believe þt
the self abnegation, which is requ-
ired in the Gosple, consists in the
sacrifise of all our thoughts, and of
all the motions of our heart. the
self to wch we must renounce is
not a certain I know not what
 

or a Phantom in the Air; tis our
understanding which thinks, tis
our will, wch wills according to its
one fashion, by self love: to re-
-establishe the true order of god.
we must renounce to this corupt
self, by thinking nor wiling but
according to the impresion of þe
spirit of grace.
this is the state where god com-
-unicates himself familiarly.
as soon as one goes out of this
state, one resists the spirit of
god, & one contristates it, and
one renders one self unworthy
of his comerce. tis by mercy that
 

     the Bish: of Cambray     187

God rebukes you, & makes you -
feell his privation when you turn
your self towards creatures.
tis because he will reproach yu
with your fault, & humbling you
for it, would corect you of it, and
to render you more cautious for
the future. then you must come
back Humbly, & patiently to him.
never vex yourself? that it is your
stumbling block: but reckon that
silence, recolection, simplicity,
and flight from the world are
for you, that wch the nurses -
breast is for the infant.
 

36 The instinct of the fund, pres:
of god, Inocent diversions.
I believe you may ought to be in
repose for your prayer: it apears
good to me; You have but to cont-
-tinue it with confidence in him
from wm it proceeds, & wm you
are in it.
as for wt you call instinct, tis a
secret seed of love, & of the pres-
-ence of god, which you must have
care to nourish, because tis þt
which nourishes all þe rest in your
hert. the maner of cultivating þs
instinct is wholy simple. you
must (first) avoid disipation wch
 

      the Bish: of Cambray    189

would weaken it: (2) folow it by
the return to silence, & recolecti-
-on as often as this fund awakes
and makes you perceive your dis-
-traction: (3) yeild to þs instinct in ma
king the Sacrifices it demands in
each occasion, to make you die to
your self.
We must not think that the pres-
-ence of god is imaginary unless it
gives us great lights to say fine things.
this presence is never more reall
& more mercifull then when it
teaches us to be silent, to humble
ourselves, not to hearken to our
 

our self love, & to remain with
litleness & fidelity, in the Darkness &†
of faith. this intimate gust of
self renunciation, & of litleness,
is much more profitable, then
resplendant lights, & lively sen-
-timents.
As for that sensible presence of
god which yo have less then here-
tofore, it dos not depend of you.
god gives it & takes it as he pleases.
tis sufficient that you doe not
fall into a voluntary disipation.
there is amusements of passion &
of vanity which disipate, & cause
some distance between god & us.
there are other amusements wch

† obscurities, vertically in margin
 

      the Bishop of Cambray       191

one takes but by simplicity, & in þe
order of god, to divert one self, to
employ þe activity of the imagina-
whilst the heart has a more inti-
mate occupation. one many amuse
one self wth this second sort in those
times of the day, wherein one could
not continue prayer wthout being
tired; then tis a half prayer, wch
is sometimes worth as much as the
even þe prayer that one makes
expresly.
37 of interiour sentiments good & bad
~ You must think of repairing
the disorder of wch you complain, in
your interiour. the maners too
 

naturall of others revives all þt
is too naturall in us, they make us
goe out of a certain center of the
life of grace: but we must re'enter
into it with simplicity and difficence
of one self. hardness, injustice,
& deceit, are found in our heart as
to sentiments. then when we find
ourselves with persons who show
our self love, but tis sufficient þt
our will dos not folow þs inclina-
tion. we must profit of our deff-
ects by an entire diffidence of our
heart.
I am very glad that you find in
you noe ressource to suport the
 

          the bishop of Cam:          193

kind of life you have undertaken.
I should fear all for you if you find
yourself confirm'd in the good, and if
you promis'd to yourself perseve-
-rance in it: but I hope all when
I see that you sincerely dispair of
your self. O that one is weak wn
one believes one self strong. O that
one is strong in god, when one finds
one is weak in oneself! the senti-
-ment does not depend of you: alsoe
love is not in the sentiment. tis
the will which depends of you & wch
demands. the will must be folow'd
by action: but often god does not re
quire great Work works of us
 

Regulate ones family, put ord-
er to ones affairs, bring up ones
children, bear ones crosses, leave
the vain joys of the world, flater
ones pride in nothing, repress ones
naturall haughtiness, labour to
become simple, ingenious, litle,
silent, recolected, accustome one
self to a life hiden wth Jesus christ
in god: these are the works with
which god is contented.
You say you would have crosses to
expiate your sins & to prove your
love to god, content your self with
the present crosses; before you
seek for others bear these well:
 

          Bishop of Cambray       196

hearken neither to your gusts
nor to yr repugnances; keep your
self in this generall disposition
of dependance without reserve
of the spirit of grace in all occas-
ions. this is the continuall death
to oneself. doe not refuse anny
thing to god, & prevent upon no-
-thing for the things one which yu
doe not as yet see his will. each
day will bring its crosses, & its
sacrifices. when god would make
you pass into another state, he
will insensibly prepare you for
it. I shall wilingly be your instru-
ment of death by þs dependance
 

of grace. I wish god may conti-
-nualy persue all life of self love
in you.
38 to receive equally from god
tranquility, or driness in prayer
~ You ought not to be in pain for
the tranquility which god gives
you in prayer. when it comes yu
must take it without any scruple:
it would be to resist god, if under
pretext of Humility & of penance
you should reject this atract of grace.
to occupy your self with your mis
-eries. the sight of them will come
back sufficiently in due time, but
when you find a propension and a
 

         Spirit let: of B. Cam:    198

facility to be in a sweet presence
of god, nothing is soe good as to
remain therin, you confess that
out of þs tranquility in gods pre-
-sence you doe not know what pra-
-yer is. take care then not to goe
out by your own choice of a dis-
position, out of which you say
your prayer is lost.
One the other side: when a cert-
-tain sweetness fails you in that
state, doe not imagin that all is
lost. God only takes that pleasure
from you, to wean you by litle &
litle as a child, & to use you to
eat dry bread instead of milk.
                       11
 

the Child must be wean'd though
it cryes;: for tis better to let it
cry & wean it, to give it stronger
nourishment, & make it grow. the
privation of this sensible sweet-
-ness dos not destroy prayer one
the contrary it purifies it. tis
having god without god, as you -
said yesterday, that is to say, god
alone, without his gifts which ren-
-der his presence sweet, sensible,
and consolating: tis even god in
a state of more pure faith: tis
god conceal'd, but still god: tis god
who tries your love: no more god
charming our gust, and sparing
 

        Bish: of Cambray          200

our weakness. One must experi-
-ence þe change of these two states
not to be tyed to one, nor discour
-aged in the other, we must be
disengaged from the one, and re-
-main firm in the other; we must
be indiferent for both, and not
not alter in these changes. we
must be assured we canot give our
selves the consolating gust: tis
god alone w° gives it how and
when he pleases. we ought to
let our selves be deprived of it
& sacrifise to god his gifts wn
he withdraws them, as a faith-
full spouse lets herself patient
 

ly be deprived of the Jewells, &
caresses of her spouse, to conf-
-orm herself to his will. tis -
much more perfect to hold fast
to god when he humbles & strips
as when he tries us, then to hold
fast to him, when he enriches,
charms, & caresses us.
leave your faults: tis sufficient
to see them when that light is
offerd. & not to spare your self
in their corection. your tempta-
-tions will turn to profit. the true
union with god, which is a simple
and humble love, diminishes les
Diminishes imperfections. remain
 

          Bish: of Cambray         202

then united to god, & suffer all
he gives of crosses and traills
39 Why God makes us perceive
& feell our deformities.
~ You rejoice thro Jealousy for at þe
deffects of M. whome you suport
most impatiently: you are more
shocked at his good qualities, then
at his faults. all this is very ugly
& very shamefull. this is what
comes out of your hert, so full it
is: this is what god makes you
feell, to teach you contempt of
your self, & never to reckon up-
-on the goodness of your own heart.
yr self love is in dispair when
 

one the one side you feell within
your self a jealousy so lively &
soe base. & when on the other side
you feell nothing but distraction,
aridity, tediousness, & disgust for
god. but the work of god is wrought
in us, but in dispossesing us of our
selves by force of taking away all
resource of confidence, & complai-
sance from self love, you would
feell your self good, upright, strong
and incapable of all evill. if you
found yr self soe, you would be þe
worse by how much you thought yr
self assured of being well. We must
find see our selves poor, feell our
 

            Bish: of Cambray       204

selves corupted & unjust, find in
one self nothing but misery, have
it in horour, despair of one self,
hope no more but in god, and sup-
-ort oneself wth an humble pati-
-ence void of flatery. as to the
rest, as these are but unvolunta-
-ry sentiments tis sufficient the will
dos not consent to them. by that
you will draw from them the prof-
-it of Humiliation without having
the infidelity of adhering to such
corupted sentiments.
doe not cease from communicating
Comunion is the remedy for soulls
 

who are tempted, who would
live of Jesus christ notwithstan-
ding all þe repugnance of self love.
Comunicate & labour to corect
your self. live of Jesus christ
and live for him. the most capit-
all point for you is not force, but
litleness. let your self then be made
litle, reserve nothing thro cour-
age & by human wisdom. learn to
suport others by the nesesity you
are reduced to in bearing with yr
self, but experience will
show you, þt tis a self love cloudy,
vexatious, & contradicting wch
 

    the Bishop of Cam:    206

posseses you. I hope that here-
after you will think noe more of
posessing your self, and that yu
will leave your self to be posesed
by god.
           40 Diversity of sentiments
  in prayer & how to conduct one
  self therin.
~ is to be suposed that a great
deal of imagination, feelings, &
even sensibilities of self love is
mixt with our prayer. from þnce
it proceeds that we are charm'd
when our imagination gives us
fine images, & sentiments of plea-
-sure, and that we are discourag-
 

-ed as soon as these images and
flatering sentiments fails us. but
this confidence in the good time
and this discouragment in the bad
are but pure Illusion. one should
neither be elevated when prayer
is sweet, nor dejected, wn it becoms
dry & obscure, the fund of prayer
remains always the same provided
one has always the same will to
be united to god, without raising
oneself for sensible gifts, nor being
cast down at their privation. God
by these sensible gifts sometimes
eases of our imagination, he aids
our spirit, he sustains our will
 

         Bish: of Cambray    208

weak & ready to yeild. he alsoe
frequently withdraws these succ-
-ours to hinder us from apropria-
-ting them to our selves with a vain
confidence, & to accustom us to
his presence notwithstanding dis-
-tractions, & aridities. prayer
is never so pure as when tis con-
-tinued by fidelity, without pleas-
ure or gust.
it is true if this presence is faci-
-litated to you, but the methodi-
-call consideration of some per-
ticular truths, you must aply
your self unto these verities to

209     Spirit: leters of

nourish your heart, but if they
doe not serve to facilitate to þe
presence of god, & if it be only
a scrupulous perplexity, it would
but puzle & entangle you to lis-
ten to yourself.
It does not depend of you to disip-
ate unvoluntary distractions,
irksomness & disgust & obscurities,
that which depends of you by the
help of gods grace is patience in
this tediousness, & a quiet return
to the presence of god when you
perceive þe surprisall of distrac-
-tions, & fidelity to remain fast-
ned to god without pleasure by
 

    Spirit leters of the     210

a will dry, & naked.
let fall the thoughts of vain com-
-plaisance as well as those of dejec-
-tion, & still goe one your way. the
tempter only seeks to stop you: and
by not stoping you will overcome þe
temptation in a simple and quiet
maner.
    41 Come back to god by prayer &
   leaving all other projects.
~ What ever it costs you, set yr
self again to prayer, & comunion.
you have dry'd up your heart by yr
vivacity in desiring an affair wth
out knowing if it was gods will. þs
is the source of all yr evil. you hve
 

pased infinit time, in the infid-
elity of forming projects which
were cobwebs, a breath of wind
disipates them. you have insen-
sibly withdrawn yrself from god;
& god has retired from you. you -
must return to him, and abandon
all unto him without reserve. you
will have peace but in this aband-
-onment. leave all your designes:
god will doe with them wt he pleases.
when even they should succeed by
human ways god would not bless þm:
but if you sacrifise them entirely to
him, he will turn all according to
his counsells of mercy, whether
 

        Bish: of Cambray      212

it be that he dos wt you have desi-
-red, or that he never doe it. the
esentiall point is to begin prayer
again wt ever aridity, distraction,
or tediousness, you experience in
it at the first, you well deserve to
be rebuked by god, after having ne
glected him so long a time, for
creatures. þs patience will draw
him to aproach unto you.
  42 the maner of serving god
I much rejoice to find by yours
that you are in obedience, and in
the peace of god which is inseper-
-able from it. God will ever care
 

of all, & you must only seek his
will, be fastned to him alone:
you will find in him, all that shall
be acording to his true spirit.
remember that the way of faith
and disengagement you have soe
much desir'd to folow, is solid but
in as much as it unties us from
persons, books, helps, in a word
from all that which is not god &
his will, the graces you have re-
-ceived would render you very
faulty, if you obstinate your-
self in a thing wch of it should
preserve us, from all obstinacy.
Obey then like a little child. I ask
 

            Bish: of Cambray             214

of you but what I desire for my self.
I should believe I was a divell,
& not a priest, if I have not the will
to be as simple, docill, & litle, as
I conjure you to be. Obey then,
once again. show that the just
are (as þe scripture says) A nat
-ion of Obedience, & Love, be sil-
lent as much as you can. this sil-
-ence ought not to be a disimula-
-tion: it must be recolection, difi-
-dence in your self, renouncing to
your own lights, & docility for those
of others. remember þt you are
wanting to god, as often as you
 

hesitate to sacrifise unto him
all the consolations you are dep-
rived of. the service of god cons-
-ists neither in fine words, not in
sensible affections, fine imagina-
-tions nor great thoughts, but in
good works, in being silent, obeying,
constraining one self, renouncing
to ones gust as well as to ones will
in all occasions even the most
difficult, not to be discouraged
nor yet flater one self, to embra-
-ce the cross, & reckon that god
is found only by it; behold Madam
the truth of gods reigne within us.
þs is the adoration in spirit and
 

     Bishop of Cambray     216

verity. Observe your Rule tis
the pure Gospell for you: heark-
-en to your superiours; they are
for you God himself.
 Are you in þe world to seek your
own content? Jesus christ, says
St Paull, would not please him-
self; ah who are you then to desire
it? you seek the will of god: and
when you can fulfill it better than
when you deny your own? Prayer
is only solid in as much as tis death
to one self, to ones gusts, & even to
ones perfection in as much as we
look upon it as our proper excel-
-lency, and not as the pure will

217       Spirit: leters of

of god: all is done for you pro
-vided you obey, & cary others
to doe the same. when you have
any repugnances, open your heart
simply not to be managed, nor
flaterd, but that you may have
noe reserve. afterwards hear-
-ken noe more to your self. repug
-nances come from self will, and
being tyed to our own sence. we
must bend to all, & even crush
& bruise oneself till we become
suple in all senses, for your faults
I am not surprised at them; but
I thank god for that you know þm
without either flatering or dejec-
 

          Bishop of Cam:       218

ting your self. take always -
new courage, & never cause desi-
ring to overcome yourself. but
doe it without trouble, eagerness,
nor confidence in your self. pro
-fit by the humiliation of your faults
and the experience of your infid-
-elity, without growing tired or
being negligent in labouring for
amendment.
Doe not in þe desert wish for the
Onions of egipt. þe daily manna
will suply all the necesities of yr
heart, & you have but to walk in
the spirit of faith towards the