Fénélon




SELECT WORKS of FENELON





SPIRITUAL LETTERS Oeuvres choisies de Fénelon... Édition de Ch. Lahure et Cie, Tome 4, François de Hachette (Paris), 1862	LETTRES SPIRITUELLES. pp. 186-187



On the sweet consolations that God allows beginners to experience; faithfulness in following the attraction of grace.	Sur les douceurs que Dieu fait éprouver aux commençants; fidélité à suivre l’attrait de la grâce.
Thursday, August 5 (1700).	Jeudi, 5 août (1700).
YOUR last letter, Madam, gave me great pleasure. I see that God enlightens and nourishes you. Take what He gives you; remain at the breast. You have seen saints whom love has instructed without knowledge: there was no work of human hands there. Should we be surprised that love teaches how to love? Those who love sincerely and whom the spirit of God intoxicates with its new wine speak a new language. When one feels what others do not feel, and what one has not yet felt oneself, one expresses it as best one can, and one almost always finds that the expression only half conveys the meaning. If the Church finds that one does not express oneself correctly, one is quite ready to correct oneself, and one shares only docility and simplicity. One is attached neither to the words nor to the thoughts. A soul that loves in the true spirit of detachment does not want to appropriate either its language or its insights. Nothing can be taken away from someone who wants to possess nothing of their own.	Votre dernière lettre, madame, m’a fait un sensible plaisir. Je vois que Dieu vous éclaire et vous nourrit. Prenez ce qu’il vous donne; de- meurez à la mamelle. Vous avez vu des saints que l’amour a instruits sans science : il n’y avoit là aucune œuvre de main d’homme. Faut-il s’étonner que l’amour apprenne à aimer? Ceux qui aiment sincèrement et que l’esprit de Dieu enivre de son vin nouveau parlent une langue nouvelle. Quand on sent ce que les autres ne sentent pas, et qu’on n’a point encore senti soi-même, on l’exprime comme on peut, et on trouve presque toujours que l’expression ne dit la chose qu’à demi. Si l’Eglise trouve qu’on ne s’exprime pas correctement, on est tout prêt à se corriger, et on n’a que docilité, que simplicité en par- tage. On ne tient ni aux termes ni aux pensées. Une âme qui aime dans le véritable esprit de désappropriation ne veut s’approprier ni son lan- gage ni ses lumières. On ne sauroit rien ôter à quiconque ne veut rien avoir de propre.
When you experience an attraction to loving peace, which is hindered by the arrival of the hour when you perform a regulated prayer, continue this peace without scruple for as long as it can last; it will be a very good prayer. If you notice that it fades, and that you are idle or distracted, then take up the rule of prayer to gently lift yourself up again.	Quand vous éprouvez un attrait de paix amoureuse, qui est gêné par - l’arrivée de l’heure où vous faites une oraison réglée, continuez sans scrupule cette paix autant qu’elle pourra durer; elle sera une très- bonne oraison. Si vous apercevez qu’elle tombe, et que vous soyez oisive ou distraite, prenez alors la règle d’oraison pour vous relever doucement.
A miserly attitude towards time is a true imperfection; it is a natural eagerness, and a search for spiritual pleasures: but God uses this imperfection to keep beginners in a greater state of detachment, and in a more frequent separation from everything that is external. Childhood is the time when a person feeds at the breast almost constantly, sometimes even suckling while half-asleep; there are no regular meals: the child is voracious, but he nourishes himself and grows noticeably. The only thing to observe is never to neglect any external duty in order to satisfy this craving.	L’avarice du temps est une vraie imperfection; c’est un empresse- ment naturel, et une recherche des goûts spirituels : mais Dieu se sert de cette imperfection pour tenir les commençants dans un plus grand dégoût, et dans une séparation plus fréquente de tout ce qui est exté- rieur. Le temps de l’enfance est celui où l’homme se nourrit à la ma- melle presque à toutes les heures, il tette même quelquefois étant pres- que endormi; il n’y a point de repas réglés: l’enfant est avide; mais il se nourrit, et croît sensiblement. L’unique chose à observer est de ne manquer jamais à aucun devoir extérieur pour contenter cet attrait.
I am not in a hurry to have the books back; only read them when you have nothing better to do. Perhaps you will not be displeased to reread them at certain times, or at least to review parts of them. These touches of grace, which are so original, are not precisely what one experiences; but it is something from the same source. The actual words of the saints are quite different from the discourses of those who have tried to describe them. Saint Catherine of Genoa is a prodigy of love.	Je ne suis point pressé de ravoir les livres; ne les lisez que quand vous n’avez rien de meilleur à faire. Peut-être ne serez-vous pas fâ- chée de les relire en certains moments, ou du moins d’en revoir des morceaux. Ces traits de grâce, qui sont si originaux, ne sont pas pré- cisément ce qu’on éprouve; mais c’est quelque chose de la même source. Les paroles propres des saints sont bien autres que les discours de ceux qui ont voulu les dépeindre. Sainte Catherine de Gênes est un prodige d’amour.
Brother Lawrence is coarse by nature, and refined by grace. This mixture is endearing and reveals God in him. I saw him; and there is a passage in the book where the author, without mentioning me by name, recounts in a few words an excellent conversation I had with him about death, while he was very ill and very cheerful.	Le frère Laurent est grossier par sa nature, et dé- licat par grâce. Ce mélange est aimable, et montre Dieu en lui. Je l’ai vu; et il y a un endroit du livre où l’auteur, sans me nommer par mon nom, raconte en deux mots une excellente conversation que j’eus avec lui sur la mort, pendant qu’il étoit fort malade et fort gai.
Combat scruples by going to God with unreserved confidence and simplicity.	Combattre les scrupules, en allant à Dieu avec une confiance et une simplicité sans réserve.




SPLE (	LETT



PASTORAL INSTRUCTION from His Grace the Archbishop of Southern Cambrai on the book entitled: EXPLANATION OF THE MAXIMS OF THE SAINTS	INSTRUCTION PASTORALE de Monseigneur L’Archevêque Dud de Cambrai Sur le livre intitulé: EXPLICATION DES MAXIMES DES SAINTS (pp. 320-321)
Oeuvres complètes : précédées de son histoire littéraire par M. Gosselin. Tome 2 / Fénelon, 1851-1852, Slatkine reprints (Genève) 1971 https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k7727t/f320.item
LXVIII. Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, a Discalced Carmelite, whose life and conduct were described by a clergyman of singular merit in a small book approved by the Archbishop of Paris, spoke as follows:	LXVIII. Le Frère Laurent de la Résurrection , Carme déchaussé , dont un ecclésiastique d’un singulier mérite a décrit les moeurs, dans un petit livre approuvé par M. l’archevêque de Paris, parloit ainsi:
“Since entering religious life (these are his words), I no longer think about virtue or my salvation.”	« Depuis mon entrée en religion ( ce sont ses paroles ) je ne pense plus ni à la vertu ni à mon salut. »
“This brother said that during the great trials he had endured for four years, so great that all the men in the world could never have removed from his mind the thought that he would be damned”	« Ce frère disoit que dans les grandes peines qu’il avoit eues pendant quatre années, si grandes que tous les hommes du monde ne lui auroient jamais pu ôter de l’esprit qu’il seroit damné »
(this is the trouble I have called invincible, and the impression of despair that does not destroy hope),	( voilà le trouble que j’ai appelé invincible, et l’impression du désespoir qui ne détruit point l’espérance ) ,
“he had not changed his initial resolve, but that, without reflecting on what would become of him, and without dwelling on his suffering (as all troubled souls do), he had consoled himself by saying: Let come what may; at least I will perform all my actions for the rest of my life for the love of God; and thus, by forgetting himself, he had willingly chosen to be lost for God, in whom he had found great solace.”	« il n’avoit point changé sa première détermination, mais que , sans réfléchir sur ce qui arriveroit de lui , et sans s’occuper de sa peine ( comme font toutes les ames peinées ) il s’étoit consolé en disant: Arrive ce qui pourra; je ferai du moins toutes mes actions pendant le reste de ma vie pour l’amour de Dieu; et qu’ainsi en s’oubliant soi—même il avoit bien voulu se perdre pour Dieu , dont il s’ étoit bien trouvé.»
These words would be impious if they could not be given the meaning of his simple exclusion of self-interest or natural and mercenary affection, which is the only exclusion marked in my book. We see, therefore, that this is what this holy religious wanted to express.	Ces paroles seroient impies si on ne pouvoit leur donner le sens de sa simple exclusion de l’intérêt propre ou affection naturelle et mercenaire, qui est la seule exclusion marquée dans mon livre. Aussi voyons—nous que c’est ce que ce saint religieux vouloit exprimer.
“He had sometimes wished he could hide from God what he did for His love, so that, receiving no reward for it, he might have the pleasure of doing something purely for God.”	« Il avoit quelquefois désiré de pouvoir cacher à Dieu ce qu’il faisoit pour son amour , afin que , n’en recevant point de récompense, il eût le » plaisir de faire quelque chose purement pour Dieu ‘. »
Did this good brother want to avoid reward and uproot hope from his heart? No, undoubtedly not; but the charity that possessed him, and which led him to perform acts of hope, ordinarily left no room for natural self-love or self-interest in the face of the promised blessings. He also asserted that he	Ce bon frère vouloit-il éviter la récompense et déraciner l’espérance de son coeur? Non sans doute ; mais la charité qui le possédoit, et qui lui faisoit exercer les actes d’espé—rance, ne laissoit d’ordinaire aucune place à l’amour naturel de lui-même ou intérêt propre à la vue des biens promis. Il assuroit encore qu’il

“had always been guided by love, without any self-interest, without caring whether he would be damned or saved;… that he had experienced great mental anguish, firmly believing that he was damned; that all the men in the world could not have dislodged this opinion from him.”	« sétoit toujours gouverné par amour ,sans aucun intérêt, sans se soucier s’il seroit damné ou s’il seroit sauvé 2;.... qu’il avoit eu une très—grande peine d’esprit , croyant certainement qu’il étoit damné; que tous les hommes du monde ne lui auroient pu ôter cette opinion .»
When he said that he firmly believed it, he was mistaken, like those who suffer from scruples; he imagined that he believed it. He added that	Quand il disoit qu’il croyoit certainement, il se trompoit, comme les scrupuleux; il s’imaginoit croire. Il ajoutoit que
“since then he had thought neither of paradise nor of hell; that his whole life was nothing but debauchery and continuous revelry.”	« depuis il ne songeoit ni à paradis , ni à enfer; que toute sa vie n’étoit qu’un libertinage et. une réjouissance continuelle. »
I have never encountered such strong language. But I can only praise the prelate who authorized such naive expressions, in which innocence, the disinterestedness of love, and the joy of the Holy Spirit shine forth. The author of the book says:	Je n’ai jamais éprouvé des termes si forts. Mais je ne puis que louer le prélat qui a autorisé des expressions si naïves où éclatent l’innocence, le désintéressement de l’amour et la joie du Saint—Esprit. L’auteur du livre dit
“This is how Brother Lawrence began with what is most perfect, by giving up everything for God, and doing everything for the love of Him. He thought neither of paradise nor of hell.”	« C’est ainsi que rère Laurent a commencé par ce qu’il y ade plus parfait, en quittant tout pour Dieu , et en faisant tout pour l’amour de lui. Il ne pensoit ni à paradis ni à enfer. »




SPLE (	LETT



LETTERS from Mr. de Cambrai to Mr. de Paris concerning his Pastoral Instruction of October 27, 1697, First Letter	LETTRES de M. de CAMBRAI A.M. de Paris Sur son Instruction Pastorals du 27 octobre 1697, Première Lettre (pp. 480-481)
Oeuvres complètes : précédées de son histoire littéraire par M. Gosselin. Tome 2 / Fénelon, 1851-1852, Slatkine reprints (Genève) 1971 https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k7727t/f320.item
XXXI. But let us come to the book written by your order, under your eyes, in your house, by your vicar general, who had your principal confidence for so many years.	XXXI. Mais venons au livre fait par votre ordre, sous vos yeux, dans votre maison, par votre grand-vicaire qui avoit votre principale confiance depuis tant d’années.
You said of this book:	Vous avez dit de ce livre :
“We recommend its reading to all persons who wish to acquire true piety.”	« Nous en re commandons la lecture à toutes les personnes qui désirent acquérir une véritable piété a. »
Be here, Monseigneur, the judge in your own case; weigh in the balance of the sanctuary, on the one hand my expressions, and on the other those of this book, which you have made your own by proposing it as a rule of perfection to all pious souls. You reproach me with an invincible persuasion. But did not Brother Lawrence say, that	Soyez ici , Monseigneur, le juge en votre propre cause; pesez au poids du sanctuaire, d’un côté mes expressions, et de l’autre celles de ce livre, que vous avez rendu vôtre, en le proposant comme règle de perfection à toutes les ames pieuses. Vous me reprochez une persuasion invincible. Mais le frère Laurent ne disoit-il pas’, « que
“the great pains he had during four years had been so great that all the men in the world could not have removed from his mind that he would be damned, etc.?”	« les grandes peines qu’il avoit pendant quatre années avoient été si grandes, que tous les hommes du monde ne ». lui auroient pu ôter de l’esprit qu’il seroit damné, etc.? »
Is not a persuasion that all the men in the world cannot remove, and that one cannot remove oneself by listening to all the men in the world, invincible? The author adds that this brother	La persuasion que tous les hommes du monde ne peuvent ôter, et qu’on ne peut s’ôter soi-même en écoutant tous les hommes du monde , n’est-elle pas invincible? L’auteur ajoute que ce frère «
“had not changed his first determination; but that without reflecting on what would happen to him,”	« n’avoit point changé sa première détermination; mais que sans réfléchir sur ce qui arriveroit de lui , »
What an expression! What, no reflection for four years on his salvation, which he believed lost, nor on his eternal damnation, which he supposed certain. How would this passage appear to you, Monseigneur, if you read it in my book?	Quelle expression! quoi , aucune réflexion pendant quatre années sur son salut, qu’il croyoit perdu, ni sur sa réprobation éternelle qu’il supposoit certaine. Comment vous paroitroit cet endroit, Monseigneur, si vous le lisiez dans mon livre?
“and without dwelling on his suffering as afflicted souls do, he had consoled himself by saying: Let come what may.”	« et sans s’occuper de sa peine comme font les ames peinées, il s’étoit consolé en disant : Arrive ce qui pourra.»
Is this the consolation that is proposed as a model to all persons who wish to acquire true piety?	Est-ce là la consolation qu’on propose pour modèle à toutes les personnes qui désirent acquérir une véritable piété?
If they believe they are going astray, becoming lax, hardening their hearts, falling into damnation, are they advised to console themselves instead of groaning, and are they exhorted to say: Let come what may? The good brother added:	Si elles croient s’égarer, se relâcher, s’endurcir, tomber dans la réprobation, leur conseille-t-on de se consoler au lieu de gémir, et les exhorte-t-on à dire : Arrive ce qui pourra? Le bon frère ajoutoit :
“At least I will perform all my actions for the rest of my life for the love of God.”	« Je ferai du moins toutes mes actions pendant le reste de ma ». vie pour l’amour de Dieu.
Thus, forgetting himself, he had willingly chosen to lose himself for God, and he had found himself well off as a result.	Ainsi , en s’oubliant soi-même , il avoit bien voulu se perdre pour Dieu , dont il s’étoit bien trouvé. »
What do these words mean? He had willingly chosen to lose himself for God? To willingly lose oneself for God, when one believes one will be damned, is that not acquiescing to one’s damnation? Did I speak in this way? Did I not take care to say precisely the opposite? This acquiescence of Brother Lawrence to his eternal damnation seems further confirmed by what follows.	Que veulent dire ces paroles? Il avoit bien voulu se perdre pour Dieu? Vouloir bien se perdre pour Dieu, quand on a dans l’esprit qu’on sera damné, n’est-ce pas acquiescer à sa damnation? Ai je parlé ainsi? N’ai-je pas pris soin de dire précisément tout le contraire? Cet acquiescement du frère Laurent à sa perte éternelle semble encore confirmé par les choses qui suivent.
“He had,” says the author, “always governed himself by love without any other interest, without caring whether he would be damned or saved; certainly believing that he was damned.”	“ «Il s’étoit, dit l’auteur, toujours gouverné par amour sans aucun autre intérêt, sans se soucier .s’il seroit damné , ou s’il seroit sauvé; croyant certainement qu’il étoit damné’.»
Here is a very certain belief in his damnation, about which he did not care. Not caring about something one believes to be certainly lost is equivalent to not desiring it; for one would desire it, however little one cared about it. He therefore no longer desired his salvation, it will be said, since he did not care about it, even though he believed its loss to be absolutely certain. Have I ever said that a soul absolutely convinced of its damnation could not care about its salvation?	Voilà une croyance très-certaine de sa damnation , dont il ne se soucioit point. Ne se soucier point d’une chose qu’on croit certainement perdue, c’est ne la point désirer; car on la désireroit, si peu qu’on s’en souciât. Il ne désiroit donc plus son salut, dira-t-on, puisqu’il ne s’en soucioit point, quoiqu’il en crût très-certainement la perte. Ai-je jamais dit qu’une ame très-certainement persuadée de sa damnation pouvoit ne se soucier point de son salut?
Have I approved of this disposition for any fleeting occasion? Yet, Your Grace, you present Brother Lawrence as a model for pious souls, who for four years did not care about his salvation, believing himself to be absolutely damned, and who throughout his long life in religion	Ai-je approuvé cette disposition pour aucune occasion passagère? Cependant, Monseigneur, vous donnez pour modèle aux ames pieuses le frère Laurent, qui a été pendant quatre ans, sans se soucier de son salut, se croyant très-certainement damné, et qui dans tout le cours de sa longue vie en religion
“always governed himself by love, without any other interest, without caring whether he would be damned or saved.”	« s’est toujours gouverné par amour, sans aucun autre intérêt, sans se soucier s’il seroit damné, ou s’il seroit sauvé. »
This disposition had been fixed in him for about forty years. The author assures us that he thought neither of paradise nor of hell, and he presents this disposition as the most eminent perfection.	Cette disposition étoit fixe en lui depuis environ quarante ans. L’auteur assure qu’il né songeoit ni à paradis ni d enfer, et il donne cette disposition comme la perfection la plus éminente.
“This is how,” he said, “Brother Lawrence began with what is most perfect, by giving up everything for God, and doing everything for the love of Him; he thought neither of paradise nor of hell.”	« C’est ainsi, dit-il, que le frère Laurent a commencé par ce qu’il y a de plus parfait., en quittant tout pour Dieu, et en faisant tout pour l’amour de lui; il ne pens.oit ni à paradis ni à enfer. »
It will be said that this brother was ignorant, and that he expressed himself very poorly. But it will be answered that the author of the book should have added corrections to his expressions; and that you should have made him add them when you authorized the book. The question was whether this brother had retained Christian hope and the desire for salvation. A great archbishop and a venerable priest vouched for his expressions, saying of Brother Lawrence that he believed himself to be most certainly damned, without caring whether he was or not, and that this disposition is what is most perfect. The corrections that my book is full of were not included in this part of the book. It was never said that Brother Lawrence’s conviction was only apparent, and not deeply felt; nor that it was only an involuntary impression of despair; nor that in this apparent conviction he still desired the promises; nor that he did not believe himself abandoned by God; nor that he sincerely desired His mercies, and that he learned from his spiritual director that it is never permissible to believe oneself reprobate.	On dira que ce frère étoit ignorant , et qu’il s’est très-mal expliqué. Mais on répondra que l’auteur du livre devoit mettre des correctifs à ses expressions; et que vous deviez les lui faire mettre en autorisant le livre. Il s’agissoit de savoir si ce frère avoit conservé l’espérance chrétienne et le désir du salut. Un grand ar—chevêque et un prêtre vénérable se sont rendus garans de ses expressions, en disant du frère Laurent qu’il se croyoit très-certainement damné, sans se soucier s’il l’étoit ou non , et que cette disposition est ce qu’il y a de plus parfait. On n’a point mis dans cet endroit du livre les correctifs dont le mien est rempli. On n’a jamais dit que la persuasion du frère Laurent n’étoit qu’apparente, et point intime ; ni que c’étoit seulement une impression involontaire de désespoir; ni que dans cette persuasion apparente il désiroit toujours les promesses ; ni qu’il ne se croyoit point abandonné de Dieu; ni qu’il dési—roit sincèrement ses miséricordes, et qu’il appre-noit de son directeur qu’il n’est jamais permis de se eroire réprouvé.
If you say, Your Grace, that this brother’s conviction was only apparent, and not from the depths of his conscience, you will be right. But to explain Brother Lawrence, you will be reduced to using the corrections that are already included in my book. You will also be asked whether these corrections are natural enough for Brother Lawrence. The author says, “believing certainly that he was damned.” To say “believing certainly” means more than an apparent belief.	Si vous dites, Monseigneur, que la persuasion de ce frère n’étoit qu’apparente, et non du fond intime de la conscience , vous aurez raison. Mais vous serez réduit , pour expliquer le frère Laurent, à employer les correctifs qui sont déjà posés dans mon livre. On vous demandera encore , si ces correctifs, sont assez naturels pour le frère Laurent. L’auteur dit , croyant certainement qu’il etoit damné. Qui dit croire certainement, dit plus qu’une croyance apparente.
When Brother Lawrence does not care whether he will be damned or saved; when he is willing to be lost for God; when he says, “Let come what may,” he expresses an unrestricted consent, and this consent can only apply to the thing he is talking about, which is his reprobation, which he assumes to be certain. He can only be excused by the restriction of self-interest, of which he never said a single word, but which good faith and the use of spiritual books require us to understand everywhere.	Quand le frère Laurent ne se soucie point s’il sera damné ou s’il sera sauvé; quand il veut bien se perdre pour Dieu ; quand il dit , Arrive ce qui pourra , il exprime un consentement sans restriction, et ce consentement ne peut tomber que sur la chose dont il parle , qui est sa réprobation, qu’il suppose certaine. On ne peut l’excuser que par la restriction de l’intérêt propre, dont il n’a jamais dit un seul mot, mais que la bonne foi et l’usage des livres spirituels demande qu’on sous-entende partout.
It is not a question of saying, as has recently been written, that Brother Lawrence did penance for so many years to achieve his salvation. This answer does not even address the difficulty. Brother Lawrence, it will be replied, could have done penance like many others, and still be under an illusion. The question concerns his doctrine and his inner acts, and not his outward practices. Moreover, the only way to answer me was to show, from the book, that Brother Lawrence was not detached from his self-interest regarding eternity; for it is on the term “self-interest” that I insist. If Brother Lawrence had no self-interest in his eternity for so many years, not even when he believed with absolute certainty that he would be damned, then one can sacrifice this self-interest, which Brother Lawrence never had in his heart, even though he was so perfect:	Il ne s’agit pas de dire , comme on l’a écrit depuis peu, que le frère Laurent a fait pénitence pendant tant d’années pour faire son salut. Cette réponse ne touche pas seulement la difficulté. Le frère Laurent, répliquera-t-on, pou-voit faire pénitence comme beaucoup d’autres, et être dans l’illusion. Il est question de sa doc—trine et de ses actes intérieurs , et non de ses pratiques extérieures. De plus l’unique manière de me répondre , c’étoit de montrer , par le livre , que le frère Laurent n’a point été détaché de son intérêt propre sur l’éternité; car c’est sur le terme d’intérêt propre que j’insiste. Si le frère Laurent n’a eu pendant tant d’années aucun intérêt propre sur son éternité, non pas même lorsqu’il croyoit très—certainement être damné; on peut sacrifier ce propre intérêt, que le frère Laurent n’a jamais eu dans le coeur , quoiqu’il fût si parfait:
Only this term “self-interest” can justify the life of Brother Lawrence, the author who wrote it, and the prelate who approved it. It is clear that all of Brother Lawrence’s sentiments are limited to not seeking this self-interest or mercenary spirit in salvation; that it is solely on this point that he is willing to be lost, and that he does not care whether he will be saved or damned. Therefore, nothing would be more unjust than a rigorous critique of the expressions of this soul transported by the love of God. But this key, which explains and vindicates the work you have praised so highly, is not explicitly stated in the book itself, and must be borrowed from mine.	Il n’y a que ce terme d’intérêt qui puisse justifier la vie du frère Laurent, l’auteur qui l’a écrite, et le prélat qui l’a approuvée. On voit bien que tous les sentimens du frère Laurent se bornent à ne chercher point ce propre intérêt ou esprit mercenaire dans le salut ; que c’est uniquement là dessus qu’il veut bien se perdre, et qu’il ne se soucie point s’il sera sauvé ou damné. Aussi rien ne seroit plus injuste que la critique rigoureuse des expressions de cette ame transportée de l’amour de Dieu. Mais cette clef , qui explique et qui sauve l’ouvrage que vous avez approuvé avec éloge, n’est point en termes formels dans le livre même, et il faut l’emprunter du mien.

“I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire,
that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment that thou
mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do
not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that
thou mayest see.”— Rev. iii. 18.

This English translation originally appeared in “Spiritual Progress or Instructions in the Divine Life of the Soul from the French of Fenelon and Madame Guyon”; (1853; ed James W. Metcalf.

1. TRUE prayer is only another name for the love of God. Its excellence does not consist in the multitude of our words; for our Father knoweth what things we have need of before we ask Him. The true prayer is that of the heart, and the heart prays only for what it desires. To pray, then is to desire — but to desire what God would have us desire. He who asks what he does not from the bottom of his heart desire, is mistaken in thinking that he prays. Let him spend days in reciting prayers, in meditation or in inciting himself to pious exercises, he prays not once truly, if he really desire not the things he pretends to ask.

2. O! how few there are who pray! for how few are they who desire what is truly good! Crosses, external and internal humiliation, renouncement of our own wills, the death of self and the establishment of God’s throne upon the ruins of self love, these are indeed good; not to desire these, is not to pray; to desire them seriously, soberly, constantly, and with reference to all the details of life, this is true prayer; not to desire them, and yet to suppose we pray, is an illusion like that of the wretched who dream themselves happy. Alas! how many souls full of self, and of an imaginary desire for perfection in the midst of hosts of voluntary imperfections, have never yet uttered this true prayer of the heart! It is in reference to this that St. Augustine says: He that loveth little, prayeth little; he that loveth much, prayeth much.

3. On the other hand, that heart in which the true love of God and true desire exist, never ceases to pray. Love, hid in the bottom of the soul, prays without ceasing, even when the mind is drawn another way. God continually beholds the desire which He has himself implanted in the soul, though it may at times be unconscious of its existence; his heart is touched by it; it ceaselessly attracts his mercies; it is that Spirit which, according to St. Paul, helpeth our infirmities and maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Rom. viii. 26.)

4. Love desires of God that he would give us what we need, and that He would have less regard to our frailty than to the purity of our intentions. It even covers over our trifling defects, and purifies us like a consuming fire; “He maketh intercession for the Saints, according to the will of God. (Rom. viii. 27.) For “we know not what we should pray for as we ought,” and, in our ignorance, frequently request what would be injurious; we should like fervor of devotion, distinct sensible joys and apparent perfections, which would serve to nourish within us the life of self and a confidence in our own strength; but love leads us on, abandons us to all the operations of grace, puts us entirely at the disposal of God’s will, and thus prepares us for all his secret designs.

5. Then we will all things and yet nothing. What God gives, is precisely what we should have desired to ask; for we will whatever He wills and only that. Thus, this state contains all prayer: it is a work of the heart which includes all desire. The Spirit prays within us for those very things which the Spirit himself wills to give us. Even when we are occupied with outward things, and our thoughts drawn off by the providential engagements of our position, we still carry within us a constantly burning fire, which not only cannot be extinguished, but nourishes a secret prayer, and is like a lamp continually lighted before the throne of God, “I sleep but my heart waketh.” (Sol. Song v. 2.) “Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh, shall find watching.” (Luke xii. 37.)

6. There are two principal points of attention necessary for the preservation of this constant spirit of prayer which unites us with God: we must continually seek to cherish it, and we must avoid everything that tends to make us lose it.

In order to cherish it, we should pursue a regulated course of reading; we must have appointed seasons of secret prayer, and frequent states of recollection during the day; we should make use of retirement when we feel the need of it, or when it is advised by those of greater experience, and unite in the ordinances appropriate to our condition.

We should greatly fear and be exceedingly cautious to avoid all things that have a tendency to make us lose this state of prayer. Thus we should decline those worldly occupations and associates which dissipate the mind, pleasures which excite the passions, and everything calculated to awaken the love of the world and those old inclinations that have caused us so much trouble.

There is an infinity of detail in these two heads; general directions only can be given, because each individual case presents features peculiar to itself.

7. We should choose those works for reading which instruct us in our duty and in our faults; which, while they point out the greatness of God, teach us what is our duty to Him, and how very far we are from performing it; not those barren productions which melt and sentimentalize the heart; the tree must bear fruit; we can only judge of the life of the root by its fecundity.

8. The first effect of a sincere love is an earnest desire to know all that we ought to do to gratify the object of our affection. Any other desire is a proof that we love ourselves under a pretence of loving God; that we are seeking an empty and deceitful consolation in Him; that we would use God as an instrument for our pleasure, instead of sacrificing that for his glory. God forbid that his children should so love Him! Cost what it may, we must both know and do without reservation what he requires of us.

9. Seasons of secret prayer must be regulated by the leisure, the disposition, the condition, and the inward impulse of each individual.

Meditation is not prayer, but it is its necessary foundation; it brings to mind the truths which God has revealed. We should be conversant not only with all the mysteries of Jesus Christ, and the truths of his Gospel, but also with everything they ought to operate in us for our regeneration; we should be colored and penetrated by them as wool is by the dye.

10. So familiar should they become to us, that, in consequence of seeing them at all times and ever near to us, we may acquire the habit of forming no judgment except in their light; that they may be to us our only guide in matters of practice, as the rays of the sun are our only light in matters of perception.

When these truths are once, as it were, incorporated in us, then it is that our praying begins to be real and fruitful. Up to that point it was but the shadow; we thought we had penetrated to the inmost recesses of the gospel, when we had barely set foot upon the vestibule — all our most tender and lively feelings, all our firmest resolutions, all our clearest and farthest views, were but the rough and shapeless mass from which God would hew in us his likeness.

11. When his celestial rays begin to shine within us, then we see in the true light; then there is no truth to which we do not instantaneously assent, as we admit, without any process of reasoning, the splendor of the sun, the moment we behold his rising beams. Our union with God must be the result of our faithfulness in doing and suffering all his will.

12. Our meditations should become every day deeper and more interior. I say deeper, because by frequent and humble meditation upon God’s truth, we penetrate farther and farther in search of new treasures; and more interior, because as we sink more and more to enter into these truths, they also descend to penetrate the very substance of our souls. Then it is that a simple word goes farther than whole sermons.

13. The very things which had been, fruitlessly and coldly, heard a hundred times before, now nourish the soul with a hidden manna, having an infinite variety of flavors for days in succession. Let us beware, too, of ceasing to meditate upon truths which have heretofore been blessed to us, so long as there remains any nourishment in them, so long as they yet yield us anything; it is a certain sign that we still need their ministration; we derive instruction from them without receiving any precise or distinct impression; there is an indescribable something in them, which helps us more than all our reasonings. We behold a truth, we love it and repose upon it; it strengthens the soul and detaches us from ourselves; let us dwell upon it in peace as long as possible.

14. As to the manner of meditating, it should not be subtle, nor composed of long reasonings; simple and natural reflections derived immediately from the subject of our thoughts are all that is required.

We need take but a few truths; meditate upon these without hurry, without effort, and without seeking for far-fetched reflections.

Every truth should be considered with reference to its practical bearing. To receive it without employing all means to put it faithfully in practice at whatever cost, is to desire “to hold the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom. i. 18); it is a resistance to the truth impressed upon us, and of course, to the Holy Spirit. This is the most terrible of all unfaithfulness.

15. As to a method in prayer, each one must be guided by his own experience. Those who find themselves profited in using a strict method, need not depart from it, while those who cannot so confine themselves, may make use of their own mode, without ceasing to respect that which has been useful to many, and which so many pious and experienced persons have highly recommended. A method is intended to assist; if it be found to embarrass, instead of assisting, the sooner it is discarded the better.

16. The most natural mode, at first, is to take a book, and to cease reading whenever we feel so inclined by the passage upon which we are engaged, and, whenever that no longer ministers to our interior nourishment, to begin again. As a general rule, those truths which we highly relish, and which shed a degree of practical light upon the things which we are required to give up for God, are leadings of Divine Grace, which we should follow without hesitation. The Spirit bloweth where it listeth, (John iii. 8,) and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Cor. iii. 17.)

In the course of time the proportion of reflections and reasonings will diminish, and that of tender feelings, affecting views and desires, will increase as we become sufficiently instructed and convinced by the Holy Spirit. The heart is satisfied, nourished, warmed, set on fire; a word only will give it employment for a long time.

17. Finally, increase of prayer is indicated by an increase of simplicity and steadiness in our views, a great multitude of objects and considerations being no longer necessary. Our intercourse with God resembles that with a friend; at first, there are a thousand things to be told, and as many to be asked; but after a time, these diminish, while the pleasure of being together does not. Everything has been said, but the satisfaction of seeing each other, of feeling that one is near the other, of reposing in the enjoyment of a pure and sweet friendship, can be felt without conversation; the silence is eloquent and mutually understood. Each feels that the other is in perfect sympathy with him, and that their two hearts are incessantly poured one into the other, and constitute but one.

18. Thus it is that in prayer, our communion with God becomes a simple and familiar union, far beyond the need of words. But let it be remembered that God himself must alone institute this prayer within us; nothing would be more rash nor more dangerous, than to dare to attempt it of ourselves. We must suffer ourselves to be led step by step, by some one conversant with the ways of God, who may lay the immovable foundations of correct teaching, and of the complete death of self in everything.

19. As regards retirement and attending upon ordinances, we must be governed by the advice of some one in whom we have confidence. Our own necessities, the effect produced upon us, and many other circumstances, are to be taken into consideration.

20. Our leisure and our needs must regulate our retirements; our needs, because it is with the soul as with the body; when we can no longer work without nourishment, we must take it; we shall otherwise be in danger of fainting. Our leisure, because, this absolute necessity of food excepted, we must attend to duty before we seek enjoyment in spiritual exercises. The man who has public duties and spends the time appropriate to them in meditating in retirement, would miss of God while he was seeking to be united to Him. True union with God is to do his will without ceasing, in spite of all our natural disinclination and in every duty of life, however disagreeable or mortifying.

21. As precautions against wanderings we must avoid close and intimate intercourse with those who are not pious, especially when we have been before led astray by their infectious maxims. They will open our wounds afresh: they have a secret correspondence deep in our souls; there is there a soft and insinuating counsellor who is always ready to blind and deceive us.

22. Would you judge of a man? says the Holy Spirit. (Prov. xiii. 20.) Observe who are his companions. How can he who loves God, and who loves nothing except in and for God, enjoy the intimate companionship of those who neither love, nor know God, and who look upon love to Him as a weakness? Can a heart full of God and sensible of its own frailty, ever rest, and be at ease with those who have no feelings in common with it, but are ever seeking to rob it of its treasure? Their delights, and the pleasures of which Faith is the source, are incompatible.

23. I am well aware that we cannot, nay, that we ought not to break with those friends to whom we are bound by esteem of their natural amiability, by their services, by the tie of sincere friendship, or by the regard consequent upon mutual good offices. Friends whom we have treated with a certain familiarity and confidence, would be wounded to the quick, were we to separate from them entirely; we must gently and imperceptibly diminish our intercourse with them, without abruptly declaring our alteration of sentiment; we may see them in private, distinguish them from our less intimate friends, and confide to them those matters in which their integrity and friendship enable them to give us good advice, and to think with us, although our reasons for so thinking are more pure and elevated than theirs. In short, we may continue to serve them, and to manifest all the attentions of a cordial friendship, without suffering our hearts to be embarrassed by them.

24. How perilous is our state without this precaution! If we do not, from the first, boldly adopt all measures to render our piety entirely free and independent of our unregenerate friends, it is threatened with a speedy downfall. If a man surrounded by such companions be of a yielding disposition and inflammable passions, it is certain that his friends, even the best-intentioned ones, will lead him astray. They may be good, honest, faithful, and possessed of all those qualities which render friendship perfect in the eye of the world; but, for him, they are infected, and their amiability only increases the danger. Those who have not this estimable character, should be sacrificed at once; blessed are we, when a sacrifice that ought to cost us so little, may avail to give us so precious a security for our eternal salvation!

25. Not only, then, should we be exceedingly careful whom we will see, but we must also reserve the necessary time that we may see God alone in prayer. Those who have stations of importance to fill, have generally so many indispensable duties to perform, that without the greatest care in the management of their time, none will be left to be alone with God. If they have ever so little inclination for dissipation, the hours that belong to God and their neighbor disappear altogether.

We must be firm in observing our rules. This strictness seems excessive, but without it everything falls into confusion; we become dissipated, relaxed and lose strength; we insensibly separate from God, surrender ourselves to all our pleasures, and only then begin to perceive that we have wandered, when it is almost hopeless to think of endeavoring to return.

Prayer, prayer! this is our only safety. “Blessed be God which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.” (Ps. lxvi: 20.) And to be faithful in prayer it is indispensable that we should dispose all the employments of the day, with a regularity nothing can disturb.

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