PHILIP NERI AND DE BÊRULLE

wearisome, difficult task, so many hindrances spnmg up, so much opposition ; but after patiently bearing with ally the work was accomplished, and de Bérulle took charge of the Order in France as Superior GeneraL 'fhis however was not to be his great sphère of labour for God. The condition of the Cleigy in France at this time was such as to fill the heart of any devout man like de Bérulle with constematioa Vincent de Paul said that he had found numerous priests whose ignorance was so great that they could not say mass correctly, and did not know the ordinary form of absolution. A Bishop writing at that period was forced to say, " I shudder to think that at this moment there are some seven thousand priests in my diocèse either drunkards or of impure life — ^utterly without vocation;" and another Bishop wrote, "Except the chanoine thèologue belonging to my church, there is not a priest in my diocèse capable of any ecclesiastical office." « " You are a mère priest ! " was a common form of reproach, Abelly says, at that time, and Amelote says that the world held the name to be synonymous with ignorance and debauchery. Such a State of things could not faÙ to press heavily on a man such as de Bérulle ; nor was he one likely to rest satisfied with deploring an evil unless he were also striving to remedy it

' Vie S. Vt de Paul, yoL it p. 11.

Two years after his ordination, de Bérulle was saying his office, when one of those peculiar and unaccountable impressions which most of us hâve experienced some time or other was made upon him as he repeated the words, "Annuntiate inter gentes studia ejus," "O praise the Lord Which dwelleth in Sion; shew the people of His doings." (Ps. ix.ii.) A strong désire was kindled in his mind to see a Company of priests anse whose mission should be to preach and teach the Love of God among ail people, and from that time he kept in view the aim of beginning such a work, discussing it with his most intimate friends, among others a saintly woman, Madlle. de Fontaines-Marans, later a Carmélite nun. Like S. Philip Neri, he did not wish to fomid a new religions Order, nor even a regular Congrégation bound by the three vows. The Congrégation which de Bérulle wished to see at work was to be altogether priestly, and in nowise monastic. The priesthood is not essential to a monk's profession ; but ail members of this Congrégation were to be priests, and theîr Ordination vows alone should bind them, the Bishops should be their superiors. Such, he thought, was the most likely way to achieve his object, — the revival of discipline and spirituality among the dergy of France. The Oiatoiy seemed to fiilôl ail that he desired, and after some years of mature délibération and prayer.

s. PHIUP NERI AND DE BÊRULLE. 4S

a French Congrégation bearing that name, and substantially the same as that of S. Philip Neri, was foundecL'

De BâruUe had neither the wish nor intention of being himself the Superior of his Congr^ation. âdmiring and reverendng Fiands de Sales as he did, and knowing how eamestly he had the refonnation of the Cleigy at heart, he hoped for a time to induce the Bishop of Geneva to be founder and head of the work. But the Bishop was not to be persuaded ; and later on, when certain persons found fault with him for devoting himself to the Order of the Visitation saying that his time would hâve been much better bestowed on training Clergy, he answered that *God's faithful servant, M. de Bérulle, was much fitter for that work than he, and was doing it well," adding, with characteristic humility, '^ I am disposed to leave great undertakings to great men."" He used sometimes to say that if he were to begin wishing to be anybody else rather than himself, he should wish to be M. de BéruUe, and that he would very gladly

^ The first OratcMÎaiis, as founded by S. Philip, were entiiely local— each honse independent of ail other honses, having its own superior and novidate, but de BëruUe's opinions as to the needs of France, and perhaps too the national tendency to centralisation, led him to aller this part of the Italian system, and to concentrate the government of ail French Oratories under one Snperior-GeneraL

> Spirit of S. Francis de Sales, p. 384.

PRIESTLY UFE m FRANCE.

leave his présent condition in order to live under that saintly man's guidance.

De Bénille tried to find other heads for the Congrégation, and was only at last overruled by the Archbishop of Paris, de Retz, to take the responsibility himsel£ At length, on the eve of S. Martin's Day — November ii, 1611 — six priests took possession of a small house, the Maison du Petit Bourbon, in the Faubourg S. Jacques. The foUowing moming Madame Acarie and two other devout women communicated in the new Oratory; the six members spent their moming in prayer, and thenceforward led a community life — but ail their rules and customs were gradually planned and discussed, rather than entered upon at once.

In one of his early Conférences de Bérulle sets forth the obligation of the Priesthood as of Divine Institution, Le. to aim at the highest standard of perfection, the Example of Christ ; to look upon every priest as the channel of His Grâce and Mind, and therefore bound to set them forth in his life and his whole conduct, seeking above ail else to promote Chrisfs Kingdom among men; and further, the obligation to préserve and conôrm that spécial union with our Dear Lord, which He vouchsafes to His faithful ministers as the veiy centre pomt of ail their strength — ^the essential quality of

s. PHILIP NERI AND DF. BÊRULLE. 47

a power greater than that committed to the Angds of Heaven.

" We miist ever remember,'* he sajrs, ** that one of the offices of our Loid Jésus Christ îs His Eteroal Priesthood^ such as none else can hold j therefore we must always recognise Him as our Founder and Chief; we must refer whatever good we may be enabled to do to Him, as the sacred and abundant Source of ail good." The letters patent of the Congrégation describe the Oratoiy as ^' a Congrégation of priests living together, with the main object of promoting primitive perfection in the priesthood, of teaching the doctrine of Jésus Christ in town and country, undertaking whatsoever ecdesiastical functions their Bishop may assign to them, superintending whatever good works he may commit to their care, and generally doing their best to make a good use of the Grâce of God committed to them in the holy office of the priesthood."

In May 1613, the Oratorians received Pope Paul V.'s Bull solemnly confirming their Congrégation. This Bull expresses that the object of the Congr^ation <<is to be composed of pious priests, specially devoted to fulfilling the duties of the sacerdotal life with the utmost attainable perfection, . . . bound as they are by the dosest ties to Jésus Christ, our High Priest £temal according to the order of Melchisedek, the Chief and Hcad of ail Christian Priesthood." The

name of Oratoiy was to be taken in honour of the Divine Redeemer's prayeis during His earthly sojourn. the members professing a spécial dévotion to the memoiy of His nights and days spent in piayer for mankind. The Congrégation was to live together subject to rule, in a constant spirit of humility, as the servants of the Most High; to be subject tothe Bishops in their ministerial work ; and in cultivating science and leaming, their object was to be less that of seeking thèse for their own sakes than for the use to which such knowledge can be applied in the service of Christ'

The Oratory increased rapidly, branch houses were established in varions quarters, and their numbers increased in 1619, when a considérable part of César de Bus* Congrégation, known as the " Doctrinaires," joined the Oratorians. In their early days they had retained the ordinary preux of Monsieur — soon however they took the title of Father ; and in order to stifle any pride of birth and high name, de Bérulle decided that the Fathers should only be distmguished by their baptismal names. Eventually this could not be continued.

In the early beginnings of the Oratory, Vincent de Paul came to Paris, sent on a political mission from

> "Sacerdotum insuper aliorom ad sacros ordines aspiiantiiioi instmctioni, non drca sdentiam, sed ctrca Qsiim sciendab."

s. PHILIP NERI AND DE BÊRULLE. 49

Rome, and he and de Bérulle first met in the Hospital of la Charité, where both were labouring for God among His sufiering children. S. Vincenfs supernatuial gift of charity had already begun to make itself felty and de Bérulle was anxious to know one whose heart was so akin to his own. They quickly contracted a wann and lasting friendshipy and S. Vincent, who was anxious to escape from the perilous notice and honour which were already gathering round him, as well as from the fiattering proposais of office and position coming from the Court, sought shelter in the Oratory, not with the intention of becoming a member of the Congrégation — ^for though yet unshaped in his mind as to this his friture vocation, S. Vincent felt that God was leading him on towards a definite work, in the same direction with, yet apart from, that of de Bérulle — but as a retreat from the world, and in order to benefit by the spiritual advice and guidance of de Bérulle, who had no small part in developing his plans, and leading him onwards in the great work of his Mission.

For two years S. Vincent remained at the Petit Bourbon in the Faubourg S. Jacques, during which time its Superior-General became confirmed in the opinion that he was destined to a great work for God in tnuning the Cleigy to a higher standard, and though for a while other works took precedence of this in

SL Vincent's career, the first aeeds of the Mission may jottly be Gonsidered as having been sown there. When S. Vincent left the Oratory, it was in compliance with the reqoest of de BéruUe, who wanted to find a fitting successor to François Bourgoing, parish priest of Clichy, then about to join the Orâtoïy. S. Vincent undertook the charge with hésitation and misgivings as to his own fitness for its responsibilities, ^ich for a time he fulfiUed with his usual dévotion and ardour. He rebuilt the church of Clichy, which remains now substantially as he left it"

• Vie S. V. de Paul, AbeUy, U. 24, Collet, L 55.

CHAPTER IIL

DE CONDREN's INKER LIFE AND LETTERS.

SUCH was the Congrégation in which Charles de Condren found bis appointed work, and of which he proved one of the most valuable members. Père de Bénille had not over-estimated the merit of his new associate. At the end of bis first year, de Condren was sent to found a bouse at Nevers; in 1619 another foundation at Langres was committed to his hands; and in 1621 a third at Poitiars. A letter from thence to his former tutor, M. Masson, expresses de Condren's mind as to ail his varions destinations.

** I believe I am to be hère for some months, possibly longer. God is ever3rwhere, and there is no place wbence one cannot see Heaven and work for the Churcb, so that ail abodes alike should be acceptable to those who seek God Only, and aim only to reach Heaven. A Christian is satisfied everywhere, so long as he knows that he bas no eartiily dwellingplace savc wheresoevcr Gkxi sends him to serve Hk

PRIESTLY UFE IN FRANCE.

Oiiiich. So you are content to serve Him at Soissons in prayer and works of charity for soûls ; and I am content for the présent, and for as long as God pleases, to be at Poitiers. We are in absolute peace in the midst of surrounding war, of which however scarce even the rumours reach us j and in truth it does not beseem us to busy ourselves about the news of the day."*

Before long, however, Père de Condren was recalled to Paris, in order that he might be Superior of the Séminaire de Saint Magloire, — ^the first attempt at a, strictly speaking, Theological Collège, having for its spécial object to train and fit men for the office of the Priesthood. This was the first link in the chain of providential drcumstances which led to the foundation of the great work, the Seminaiy of Saint Sulpice, though as yet de Condren and his spiritual son, Jean Jacques Olier, had not been brought together.

The time during which de Condren govemed this new house was one of extrême trial to his own souL That strange struggle which is so often permitted by God's all-wise Love to beset His chosen servants came upon the Father. Once he had been fiill of lîght and joy, conscious of and rejoicing in an abiding quickening sensé of God*s Présence ; but now daikness, diyness, and â deadly oppression banished this happiness. ' Lettres, xdz.

DE CONDREÎTS UFE AND LETTERS. 53

Ail his vast stores of leaming, theological and other, so needftil to his présent work, seemed lost, and a kind of mental paialysîs fettered his thoughts. He might hunt vainly after an idea, or a train of reasoning, the livelong day, for ail his intellectual £Eumlties were numbed. Meanwhile he had to give constant lectures to the students of Saint Magloire, to preach in their chapel (and it had become the fashion for royalty and the Coiut, as well as for the faithfiil generally, to attend the Oratorians' services), and to deal with a multitude of soûls who brought their troubles and perplexities, individual and ecclesiastical, to him.

Père de Condren entreated the Superior, de Bérulle, to allow him to resign the office he felt so unequal to exercise, but in vain. Père de Bérulle, himself so deeply versed in the mysteries of the hidden life, knew well that, amid ail this dryness and désolation and seeming incapacity, a great work was going on both in de Condren's soûl, and through him upon those who listened to his instructions. After this it became a matter of obédience to persévère ; but de Condren said that eveiy tûne he was going to preach he expected utterly to break down, and he habitually offered to God the humiliating failure he felt likely to make.

" I used to go into the pulpit," he said, " with such a total want of mental perceptions, that I had not the

least klea how to begin; and when God Youchaafed me some good thooght, I did not know at ail how ta go on, <nr what to say next"* But nevertheless tfae preacher did not betraj Jthis inwaid distress to hb audîtors. There was never the sli^test incohérence or hésitation to betray his secret disccHnfort, and while himself consdous of nothing but dulness and diyness^ his words conveyed light and.life to the soûls he taught

Other spiritual trials, active as well as passive, were added to thèse which beset his intellectual being, temptations which sometimes are so mysteriously perroitted to beset the pure in heart, and which led him to think himself unworthy to approach the Altar of God. Thèse temptations were hidden in the depths of his own sorrowfuL spirit, but it pleased God to make known to two saintly persons that de Condr^i was thus sufiering, and that his sufferings were wholly free from sin; neither should he abstaîn from celebrating the Blessed Sacrifice because of his conscious unworthiness. The Religions to whom this communication was made imparted it to de Condren, whOy amazed at so minute and detailed a knowledge of his unspoken troubles, such as could come only from a spécial design of God's Providence, accepted the lesson with the utmost humility, and oUiged the per- * Vie, Ameiote, p. 135.

DE CONDREirS UFE AND LETTERS. 55

son in question to give him a faithful account of ail God's message, himself listening to it on his kneet. Fr(Hn that time he fulfilled ail the duties of whkh he still felt 80 unworthy, endeavouring; as he said» to ^suffer in holiness."

UnfcMtunately none of de Condren's published letters are dated, and it is only by the help of internai évidence that one can refer them to their rightful period. It seems probable, however, that it was during this season of spiritual trial that he wrote to one under his direction as follows \ —

'' Be content that God should be God in ail things, and that being to you, as He is, a Jealous God, He should not tolerate any rival Give yourself up to God in Jésus Christ, and to Jésus Christ in union with His own abandonment to His Father ; so that^ divesting yourself oi any désire to live for yourself, or to be anything whatsoever, your sole wish may be that God should dwell in you, and that He may guide you with référence to ail things whatsoever. .... Your being should be wholly absorbed in Him, there must be nothing lefl for the créature, less still for yourself; the consummation of ail things should be for you in Jésus Christ through the Holy Spirit — ^in short, in God — His directing, guidmg, perfecting Hand* You hâve nothing to do save to give yourself up to His Will with respect to you, willing only what

56 PRIESTL Y UFE IN FRANCE.

He willSy desiring only His Glory, until ail things are swallowed up in the unity of that Gloiy." '

After a time thèse distressing trials and temptations were removed, and not unnaturally de Condren's gifts and powers in the guidance of soiUs were found to hâve increased greatly through their sharp discipline. From this time he seems to hâve been endowed with a very remarkable power of reading soûls, and of making God's Ways plain to those who sought to advance in the interior life.

About this time the marriage of Henrietta Maria of France with King Charles I. of England was in contemplation, and Père de BéruUe was chosen by Louis XIII. to go to Rome and negotiate the necessaiy dispensations, after which he was sent to England as the Queen's Confessor, whence, however, Louis XIIL recalled him in three months to assist in certain complicated negotiations conceming the Valtelline. The King was anxious that this chosen counsellor should obtain a Cardinales hat, and in spite of Père de Bérulle's sincère entreaties that he might be excused bearmg this dignity, it was conferred upon him by Pope Urban VIII. in August 1627.

''The Courier who was taking thèse tidings to the Court, then at Saint Germain," (say the Annals of the Congrégation,) "left a note as he passed for our ' Lettres, iv.

General, contaîning the announcement One of our Fathers happened to be with the R. P. General when he read the note. Seeing him after reading it kned down in prayer, firom which he rose with a sorrowful downcast expression, the Father asked ' What is the matter? You seem troubled. Hâve the English taken the Ile de Ré?' The General only answered, 'No, thank God, nothing of that sort has happened/ and without saying anything more he began agaîn to pray, and remamed so occupîed until the arrivai of the Nuncio who brought officiai tidings that he was a CardfaiaL"'

It was in 1625, when the General of the Congrégation began to be so much occupied by extemal duties, that he recalled de Condren from S. Magloire to the Mother House in the Rue Saint Honoré, and to those who knew them both it was no surprise to see the elder man place himself under Père de Condren's direction. He was wont to say of the latter that " he must hâve been bom imbued with the spirit of the Oratory," and he' used to remark that " while the Congrégation obeyed its General, that General obeyed Père de Condren." So great was his vénération for his saintly disciple, that as he passed Père de Condren's room Cardinal de Bérulle would kneel down and kiss the floor where he was wont to tread. * Vie du Père de BéniUe, p. 60.

The Father's direction was sought laigely. Men of the worldi men of science, proud oi their own attainmentSy met with a mind fiilly aUe to cope with them in the humble Oratorian. His extensive reading^ assisted by his marvellous memory, gave him a very uxusual command over most subjects, literary^ philosophicaly or scientific, and ail his knowledge was held as a trust from God, to be faithfully used in His Service, ùxc which due account must be rendered her^ after. How entirely this was the controUing motive of his mind may be seen in a letter on the subject of study to a friend.

'^ I would that we were ail holy enough to désire no knowledge save to know Jésus Christ according to S. Paul's words, 'Non judicari me sdre aliquid inter vos nisi Jesum Christum, et hune crudfixum.' ' He realised that ail the knowledge of this world will perish before the Judgment of God, when nothing will endure save Jésus Christ, and that which has come forth fix>m Him. Men hâve given birth to their varions schools and Systems, but ail thèse will perish with them. Latin and Greek came forth from Babel, like other tongues; they were the ofi&pring of sin, and they will perish when sin is done away with for ever. £ven the study àl God'a

' " I determined to know nothing among yon save JesM Christ and Him Cmcified." i Cor. ii. 2.

WorkSy the knowledge <Â His Création, from Heaven to earthy from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyasop^ was owned to be but empty and vain, a mère wearîneas of the spirit, by the Wise King whom it pleased God to enlighten. If we were to be gifted with the like Spirit of Divine Wisdom, we should see it as he did, and it would be a weariness to us to apply to anything save to Jésus Christ, instead of delighting and finding satisfaction in other studies. An excessive dévotion to human science is too common a blot among literaiy people, who therein rather imitate what Solomon called the vanity of vanities than the wiser conclusions he came to under the guidance of the Holy Spirit But we are Christians by God's Mercy, and more bound than was Solomon to despise the w(»rld and its wisdom. We know as he did not that Jésus Christ Alone is tlie Science of Saints, we are disciples in God's school, wherein we receive Jésus Christ the True Wisdom, and we must leam that ail else is vanity and vexation of spirit

*' I do not say ail this with a view to deter you from study, but rather to lead you to study after a Christian fashion, and without losing sight of the pure instinct of the Spirit of God. I say it to prevent you from yielding too far to the vanity of human intellect, or the love of profane literature, which cannot be blameless in any soûl dedicated to God, but which is

6o PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCS.

spedally to be avoided m the case of us who are priests, and who as such are set apart to the Lord By our priestly consécration we separated ourselves from ail profane and even ail purely secular interests, in order that we might minister at God's Altar, teach His Wisdom to the world, do His Work in it, stablish His Elingdomi and above ail cause Jésus Christ to live in the hearts of our people. We must not withdraw from thèse holy duties for the sake of any delight whatsoever in secular literature; it would be a distinct damage to our sacred calling. Therefore the first rule you should adopt in your studies b not to let yourself be led away by them, not to seek your greatest happiness in them, not to make them your chief object, not to prefer them to your heavenly birthright, not to look upon them as the most important kind of knowledge after which you are bound to aspire, since they are but human. On the contrary, you should count the trammels of secular leaming as a humiliation which your intellectual being has to endure willingly for the Love and in honour of the Son of God, Who vouchsafed to come on earth and to lay asîde His Divine Omniscience in order to use the language and thoughts of men.' Such an attitude

' Rom. viiL 23.

'' For the thoughts of mortal men are misérable, and onr devices are but uncertain. For the corruptible body presseth down the soûl, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the

DE CONDREirS LIFE AND LETTERS. 6l

of mind in stady wiih respect to Him Who came among us 'in similitudinem camis peccati,' wiU préserve you firom danger.

'^ Our one first aim will be to serve God Alone^ to live in Him solely, to keep apart from earthly things. But if we give ourselves heartily to our Dear Lord, entering into the spirit of His Incarnation, we shall, without losing anything of that original attitude, go forth as He came forth from the Father, and apply ourselves to earthly matters ; hearken to the words of men, albeit sinners, leam their langm^es and accept rather with patience than with seli-seeking or complacençy such application to secular studies as is needful for God's Glory. But in order to do this in holiness and according to the Mind oi Christ we must give ourselves wholly to Him, and entreat of Him to keep us free firom self-esteem, and the other mental infirmities which beset those much given to literary pursuits.

" Our révérend Father and honoured Founder was always very anxious that since it has pleased God to give our Congrégations educational work to do, it

mind that mnseth on many things. And hardly do we gaess aright at things that are upon earth, and with labour do we find the things that are before us ; but the things that are in Heaven who hath searched ont? And Thy oonnsel who hath known, exoept Thon give wiadom, and send Thy Holy Spiiit from above?" Wisdom iz. i4-i&

«2 PRIESTL Y LIFE m FÈANCÈ.

ihould be done in the SfMrit of His Dear Son; I feel bound to urge his wishes upon you, and to wam you against allowing your studies ever to diminish kô^ ci that Spirit or of His Grâce în you,'"»

Andagain, —

"You will never find any real settled peace so long as you ddight in study and science out of mère self-love. Christ cannot endure any ruling motive save His Own pure Love in the hearts He cherishes and guides. While working diligently at the studies which are necessary to your earthly calling, you must inwardly long for the blessedness of the future life, wherein God will be our Light and Klnowledge. Study is but a conséquence of our fallen life and a humiliation arising out of our fallen nature which has lost its original light We ought to study in a humble spkit, and nothing that our own understanding requires or men teach us should usurp God's •place in the heart. If you feel that the vain love of science is getting hold of you, tum to God and résolve that He Alone shall be your Light and your Glory — the sole Object of your satisfaction and rest It is of His Mercy that He will not permit your mind to find rest elsewhere than in Him. If He left you to yourself your studies would engross you and distract you from Him, as they hâve done with many another, without * Lettres, vL

DE CONDRBirS LlFÈ AND LBTTERS. 63

four realising the mischief that was at work. Look ap<m study as a necessary labour in your présent condition, to be borne with in a penitential spirit, the object of idiich is rather to give God glory than to make you leamed. Do not be disturbed if you are beset by the love of leaming, although you are striying to be detached ârom it Be satisfied to renounce self in die matter from time to time, and for the rest wait in humble patience till God gives you the grâce of perfect detachment" *

Ëlsewhere, writing to the members of a branch house conceming their duties as students, he sa3rs, " If we hâve Cicero on our lips, at ail events let us strive to hâve Jésus Christ in our heart, and a great zeal for sûuls in our will. Let us not be filled with the love of pro&ne élégance in literature, but let us therewith combine the love of simplicity and Christian humility. Let Jésus be the God of ail the studies in your house. . . . We must not make a mère Pamassus of His house of prayer, His Oratory. Secular studies should be no more than one way of practising charity to us, and we ^ould make thèse exterior works a means of winning soûls, whose salvation is the great désire <Â the Saviour. True Christian perfection, far from despising such means of benefiting one's neighbour «ad of glorifying God, seizes them gladly, and tums * Lettres, Na cvL

them to a good puipose, working them eamesUy and boldly. But to do this, you must drink deep of this spirit of charity, at its Fountain Head, Jésus Christ — ^in order to be able to cany out such work in the true sensé of sacrifice — in His Name, and to remain uninjured by the vanity of human intellect in study.

'' Of old heathen poets and philosophera invoked ApoUo and the Muses, and verily the Evil One, worshipped under such names, inspired them frequently with vanity and licentîousness. But in the school of Jésus we must know no inspiring ^furore^ save the fervour of His Love, nor any guiding spirit in our studies save Himsel£ We must walk by His Light, Who is the God of Truth, and rely upon His Hdp, the rather that His Love is as boundless as His Ruling Power. Let us work in that Strength, with fiill confidence and a hearty diligence worthy of Him and His Love, on behalf of those who come to us for instruction. It would be a fault worthy of His Judgment, if we were to be more careless or slothfiil in the studies which He assigns as om* duty, and to which His Holy Spirit calls us, than were heathen men of old in their schools where false gods only were invoked." »

But while Père de Condren's leaming and wisdom

' Lettres, vii.

DB CONDREirS LIFE AND LETTERS. 65

were so great that Cardinal de Bénille was wont to Write down his sayings on his knees ; and Saint Vincent de Paul declared that " diere was no one like Mm — non est inventifs similis illi; " and Sainte Jeanne de Chantai was heard to say that '* if God had sent Francis de Sales to teach men, Père de Condren seemed fit to teach the Angels ; " * the Oratorian Father himself was as ready to dévote the vast stores of his spiritual mind to the humblest as to the most elevated of soûls.

" God made de Condren expressly for the Saints," wrote Cloysault, " and gifted him with the power of leading them to the highest perfection ; there was no path of holiness too marvellous for his immédiate appréhension, and indeed he was so versed in such wa3rs that he used to say he believed there to be as many saints living in our day, though more secretly, as in the primitive times of the Church."'

There was ail the différence between him and most other men, it has been remarked, that there is between one who relates to you the things he has seen with his own eyes and one who only repeats what he has been told. Naturally this deep personal insight into spiritual things gave him great perception not merely of ordinary character, but of the spiritual mind and capacity

> Tie de M. OUer, p. 6a 'Vie, Abbé Pin, p. 144-

66 PRIESTL Y LIFE m FRANCE.

of those be had to deal with, but so far from relyîng in any way on this, de Condren was always slow to accept the direction of soûls. He held that the One Sole Director is God, and he was unwilling to assume that he was God's chosen delegate in the direction of any individual soûl, until much prayer on both sides confirmed the belief that it was so. " They could find endless eamest men every one of whom is fitter than me for the office ; " he was wont to say. But when once the office was undertaken, its duties were most faithfuUy performed, as a direct trust from God. His great object was to teacb his pénitents to look from him to Jésus Christ as their real Director, and it was remarked that while Père de Condren's holiness and gentleness and exceeding sympathy bound his spiritual children to him with the strongest ties, he never yielded to any of the natural affection which so often binds soûls together, and the real love which he felt for them was singularly govemed by an almost unearthly detachment " He loved them," says one of his biographers, (afrer remarking that de Condren's spiritual children were freer from ail natural clingings and attachments to their director than is usual;) ** solely in and for God, and thus either their natural affection for him died out for lack of meeting any retum, and so they left him, or more frequently it became purified and supernaturalised, similarly to his affection for

DE CONDREirS LIFE AND LETTERS. 67

them. The resuit was, that while loving his spiritual children with a boundless love, he was perfectJy detached from them, and they from him." '

There is certainly something warmer and more attractive in the winning démonstrative affection shewn by S. Francis de Sales or S. Vincent de Paul for those under their guîdance, and human nature somewhat recoils from the process by which de Condren caused his pénitents to attaiu to such exceeding detachment Possibly the eager, warm-hearted Sainte Jeanne de Chantai had some such thought when she spoke of her own beloved spiritual Father as sent to guide men and women, while Père de Condren was fit to deal with angels ; and some hearts may feel that warm human affection visibly displayed and felt has helped them the better to draw near, and realize the exceeding vastness of that Love which permits, nay encourages, such an intensely familiar approach from the créature It has created and redeemed. It is impossible to deny that the glowing words of affection which fell from Francis de Sales' pen the moment that he took it up to address a child in the faith, draw one in a more confiding spirit to him than the grave, measured, utterly undemonstrative letters of Père de Condren, amid which an3rthing like an expression of affection can rarely be fottud* But S. Paul has said that '' there are diver- * Vie, Pin, p. 143.

sides of giftSy but the same Spirit, différences of administrationsy but the same Lord, diversities of operations, but it is the Same God which worketh ail in ail " (i Cor. xii. 4) ; and doubtless those soûls, which through the seemingly chilling System of the one holy man, yet attained the goal we ail seek, will equally give God thanks with those who hâve been led by a more gentle, humanly attractive s)rstem.

From the same point of view Père de Condren refrained scrupulously from giving any direction which seemed to come from himself or his own mind. '^ It does not pertain to me," he used to say, " to pour anything of my own into a soûl. It is a sanctuary wherein God dwells, and whatsoever enters without His orders dishonours and profanes it It is the exclusive right of Jésus Christ to appoint the work of His servants, His right to speak to hearts; it is the Father's right to teach His children; — He couverts and renews them as the potter a vesseL He Only makes them new créatures ; He régénérâtes them by His Spirit and His Word; He gives them ears to hear, and a heart to love. It pertains to the Head to prompt every movement of the members." He often drew attention to the way in which our Lord dealt with soûls, tarrying, awaiting the right moment to act upon them, professing His inability as Man to do anything without the Father. And above ail, he

woulddonothmgwithoutmuchprayer. Didsomepenitenty rich or poor, seek Père de Condren's guidance? — on hîs knees he besought God to shew him whether it was the work intended for him to do, and the pénitent in like manner was bidden to pray eamestly to be guided by God's Will alone in the matter. The charge once accepted, his System was quiet and slow; he dis liked pushing new practices, suddenly changing religions habits, or forcmg mînds into channels which might not be best adapted to their spécial needs. " To be conformable to Jésus Christ,** he used to say, " we must lead soûls on gradually — giving them such instruction and such discipline by degrees as they are able to bear, — ^watching their progress, and regulating our steps by their needs. It was thus that our Lord led His disciples gradually on, until they were ready to receive teaching for which at first they had no capacity. It seems to me that you should from time to time leave the soûls you are training almost entirely to God ; ** — (Père de Condren is writing to a priest who had asked his advice in dealing with certain persons,) — " so that they may learn to find ail you hâve taught them, in Him. We must not look to him that planteth or him that watereth in God's work, but solely to Him that giveth the increase. If it was needfiil for His Disciples that Christ should go away in order that the Holy Ghost might come upon them, we ought to

be readj to believe that our personal efforts are not indispensable to those we teach, nay, even that sometimes they may be hurtfiiL AU that men can do for soûls will be simply injurions to them, unless God bless their efforts ; and we are never really usefiil to anybody without His Divine Guidante. His Hand Alone heals and succours, and the remédies man applies without référence to Him are never efficacious."

The Queen Mother, Marie de Medicis, applied to Cardinal Bérulle to recommend a suitable confessor for her younger son, Gaston d'Orléans, who was ahready a source of trouble and difficulty to her, and whose various escapades were a constant source of offence to his brother Louis XIII. and the imperious Prime Minister, Cardinal Richelieu. The Superior of the Oratorians had no doubt in his own mind as to the man he would sélect for this délicate office, but knowing de Condren as he did, the Cardinal hesitated to promise his services rashly; so he only told the Queen that there was a member of his Congrégation who was endowed by God with every qualification for the task, but that the only hope of obtaining his good offices lay in God's Grâce, and that he must pray for guidance in the matter. Accordingly, with much prayer, Cardinal de BéruUe sounded Père de Condren, and found him, as he expected, intensely reluctant to

DE CONDREirS LIFE AND LETTERS. 71

accept a post which would necessarily withdraw him in a measure from the retirement he loved so much^ and renew those ties to the Court which he hoped were broken for ever. However, being pressed by hîs superior, and feeling that a priest has no right to évade responsibility however unwelcome, if God lays it on hîm, the Father did not persist in a refusai, and de Bérulle informed the Queen that he was prepared to giveher "his heart's treasure, Père de Condren,** asher son's director. Nevertheless the latter stiU hoped to be set aside for some fitter person, (as indeed he esteemed eveiy one fitter than himself,) and when the Duke of Orléans came for the first time to the Oratory to prépare for the approachmg festival of Whitsuntide, not having received any positive instructions on the subject, de Condren left his rooms, and was not to be found anjnvhere. In vain the Superior caused search to be made, while the young Prince, unaccustomed to be kept waiting, fidgeted and grew impatient ; it was some time before the good Father could be found. At last he was discovered in a quiet nook, absorbed in prayer, and the summons to go and confess the Prince was given. Then at once, feeling that it was God's Will, de Condren obeyed, and went to his unwelcome and difficult task, in which he succeeded, — ^if not in controlling the wild boy, whose turbulence and passionate nature were often made use

of by politîcal parties to the disturbance of family

and national peace, at ail events in winning Gaston

d'Orléans' affection; and on more than one occasion he

succeeded in reconciling him and his brother Louis