CHAPTER VIL

THE Congrégation of the Oratory was dispersed like others in the Great Révolution, and it was not till 1852 that, after much considération and many prayers, a few eamest priests joined together to renew the work which their predecessors had begun, and which brought them the héritage of so many great names. They came forwaid to dévote themselves to Chrisf s service, taking as their watchword, that their aim was to be the universal good of the chnrch, " Avoir un esprit universel de r Eglise et non limité.^ Speaking of the way in which this aim is to be carried out, a living Oratorian sa3rs : ** How great to the eye of faith, though oft hidden to human sight, is the mission of the shepherds of soûls ! But, at the same time, how awful their responsibility ! What countless difficulties thwart their ministry, what need they hâve to be aided and upheld, lest they sink disheartened by the isolation in which they too often find themselves, beneath the unceasing struggles which they u

So6 PRIESTL Y LTFB IN FRANCE.

must never dare to relax I And what a sacred duty, to a body of priests who are really animated by the Spirit of Christ, to go forth and lighten the burden of 8uch £dthful labourersy and help them to reap a more abundant harvest for the Lord ! Now thîs is precisely what the Oratoiy intends to do. Its constitution is altogether sacerdotal, its members are subject in ail things to episcopal junsdiction, just as the parochial dergy ar^ and their services caa be called for wherever they are wanted; either in preliminaiy éducation preparing kâs for the derical life, or u^ the higher seminaries, training the future ministers à[ our altars more directly for their sacred callii^; os later oo, coming to the assistance of their former pupils either în parochial woric, if called to such by the bishops» or in givii^ Retreats. The houses of the Oiatoiy are ever open to priests who want a few days of retirement and recollection to renew their strength ; in a Word, the Oratorian is in constant contact with his teethren of the parochial clergy, helping those to whom Gkxl has given a désire for so much of the Community life as their circumstances will aUow, by means of spiritual exercises, prayers, conférences, etc., which are ail means ol counteracting that faXal isolation which too often depresses and exhausts the most eneigetic spirits among us.'' ^

' P. A. Perraiid, Esprit du nouvel Orat^in^ p. 39a»

FMESENT TIMES. $^

Mow luealy Père Gratiy, that saintly Osatanaok who bas but so recently passed from among us^ fisU tihat this isoladon was a great flaw in the organisatioa of tbe Clergy of to-day, he ha& tdd us forcibly in bis life of Henri Pecreyve.

" Surely," he says, " were sucb centres of intellectual and moral association more numerous, under tbe blessing of God's Holy Spirit they would do much towards the advancement of the priestly calling. How many faiave men, crushed and saddened by tbeir isolated positions, would find âresh strength in sucb 2L^oint tt appui for tbeir toiL Might not sucb associations fumisb strength, and mutual kindling of love to God and man, for tbe effecting of those mighty enterprises of seal, love, and science of whicb we stand so s(»:ely in need ? Think wbat an enormous power is wielded by industrial association ! How macb UKMre might intellectual association for moral and religions wod^ effect ! Would not sucb united efiRirts bave power to overstep the moral and religions différences whicb sever tbe East, Afiica, and Asia fircHn our Western centres of civilisation ? and might we not thereby look to see tbe barmony of tbe intellectual and religions world establisbed for whicb w€ ail sa gready yeam? M^bt not peace be leilored thereby to tbe human mind, peace to tbe nations of the world? On ail sides we find tbe

3o8 PRIESTLY UFE IN FRANCE.

workmen of Europe stniggling to oiganise a free association among themselTeSy and when the day cornes that God's labouiers do the like, we shall see among them those great works which S. Bernard prophesiedi '^ firmissima vi rectitudinis consistent !"«

Tbere is a great deal said at the présent time about the éducation of the Clergy. It is felt on ail sides that while doubtless we need that our priesthood should be supplied from ail classes, and that it should no longer be treated as a respectable way of providing for younger sons whose abilities are scarcely sufficient to get on in other professions, stiU that the men who are to corne forward as teachers of Christ's flock must leam diligently themselves. Ignorance, theological or gênerai, cannot hold its own agaînst the tide of unbelief and rationalising inquiry which floods the world. In 1662 Bossuet wrote : '^ Préparation for the priesthood is not, as some men seem to think, a matter of some brief study, it is rather a life-long éducation — it is not a sudden efifort to withdraw from evil, but a confirmed habit of abstinence therefrom ; not a temporary fervour, but a dévotion, robted and established by long practice. Saint Gregoiy of Nazianzen used the striking expression conceming S. Basil, that ^he was a piiest before entering tfae ' Henri Perrejrve, p. 85.

priesthood;' meaning that he had leamt its grâces before receîving its Order." *

And Mgr. Dupanloup wrote in 1850: ^^To bear the weight of the priesthood^ that is to say to dévote himself for his whole life, a man must either be bom great, or become great : — a vulgar heart, a feeble character^ a grovelling mind, an imperfect éducation, will not corne up to the mark. In this day our people require something more of their Clergy, and they are right"

Our times are not given to unquestioning acquiescence in mère assertion, Everything, from the highest to the lowest subjects of faith, history, discipline, is a matter of discussion, criticism, and aigument Men do not receive truth as such simply because it is put before them by authority, and the most remote country curate is liable to be called on to give an answer for the hope that is in him, and to explain the groimds on which he teaches dogma to his people. Consequently, if they mean to serve God to their utmost, His priests must be prepared to meet the world and its arguments with well read, thoughtful, disciplined minds.

"We are passing through a period which is tom asunder in eveiy direction by the most turbulent passions^" says P. Adolphe Penaud* ^'There was

' Œuvres^ edit. Lâchât, yoL xil p. 645. * Oratoire de France^ p. 41^

3ia PRIESTL Y LIFE IN FRANCE.

we must leam to speak their langnage. They hâve shaken off the old tie of a privil^ed dass, and they will only vouchsafe to negotiate the weighty matter <^ salvation with us on the basis of a common right They no longer seek us out; but are we acting up to our standard as the priests of Jésus Christ if we refuse to go to them, to accept the existing state of things, and thus to purchase our right to mînister to troubled minds and to achîng hearts?

'' But this keen appréciation of the times we live in, this délicate capadty for being ail things to ail men without ever ceasing to be one's-sel^ i>. God's Priest; this minute knowledge of the passions, the errors, the intellectual and moral evils of the day, — ail thèse are indispensable éléments of modem ecdesiastical education, without which our ministiy will Êdl to retain its hold over the faithfiil, or to win back the wandering sheep. Our soldiers are being armed with new weaponsy and new machineiy is adapted to the novel practices of modem war and modem tactics ; and in like manner God's servants must be fumished with fitting arms for the novd warfare they hâve to encounter, if they are to contend successfiilly against the passions and weaknesses of the day. Our rising génération of priests must not be content only to seek a spirit of prayer, a habit of sdf-denîal, or pure singleminded faith ; they must seek also the keenest appre-

hension of tbe spécial needs of our tunes. If ever there was cause to wam our younger brethren against that fatal delusion of indolence or inexpérience, which represents the ministry as a peaceful office in which a man may lead a tranquil, easy life, there is such cause now. . . .

'' The priest of this day is oflen cast amid a population hostile to his teaching, mistrustful of his intentions, merciless to his weaknesses, incapable of being won otherwise than by the genuine ascendancy of his own character, combined with indefatigable dévotion and the tenderest charity. We must expect daily, hourly contests — ^we must alwa3rs be able to prove our right to be believed or even tolerated — we must give no loophole for blâme, whether in the pulpit or the confessional, in our daily intercourse with the sick and poor, in our dealings with science and intellect, — down to the most trifling détails of extemal conduct and manners. Sceptical as the âge is conceming our dogmas, it is unflinching in its judgment as to ail that concems the virtue or dignity of a priest; ît will not rest satisfied with commonplace decency in him. With a rigid severity which might indicate a hidden instinct of that faith he has forsaken in practice, the worldly man will not tolerate common worldliness among priests. He is not content with the low secular standard on their behalf ; one might almost say that in

propoition m ke n^ectt the sapcmateral chinwter 0I tKe priesdjminîoii, to be aeems jetkmf of the pmUfs penonal dqinxtf of lîie. We mof mAttA msf wUi Mgr. <fOrléaiit, tbat ^ ndgar betiti, ïaà^ t^^L^^^^f^^ groretiÎBg œmdSy impecfect ednoidotty' wiU aot «iffice for the task which in the exîsting state of things is hii upon the Cletgy» and that he wfao wonld a^et it thcmMigUj neede to be either 'bom gceat or become great'''

Surely it bdiofes those idio aie diaiged with die éducation of die Oei^gy to foim and cuUîrabe diis. greatness of mind in those men who are pi:q>aring for the priesthood. Tliey mnst teadi otur yoiing men to aim at tenfokl courage, a tenfcM q>int of 6dth and sacrifice ; to be leal apostolic teachere, humble^ chan tat4e, ever ready to dévote themselves to God's Woik ; but meanfidiile they mnst leam to ondeistand and see that sodal System amid wfaidi they wiU hare to woik in iti true colours; tiiey must become «oquaîntod with its dangers as well as its advanta^^ ; its weak as weil as its strong side, so as to leam how to make a good use of the one, without betng diriieartcaed by the other; in 8h<Mt, die veiy difficulties of tbe âge nrast be brought to bear upon them, so as to fonn osefoi servants of the Chivdi, intelligent feEow-workoMBi of Him WssQ is the Unchangtng Eing of every a^e.

Men must realize that though the gzoundwork af

PRESENT TIMEX 315

thdr nûnisterial labour k neoessariiy the same in every âge, ils snpenstnicture must be modified and adapted to the actual wants, Ûyt peculiaritîes, tiie spécial inperfectionsy the ^nritual cravû^ of the time in whidi ît bas pleased God to caU diem to work.

'' The Goq^l we preach in the nineteenth centuiy is thesameastfaatofthethirdyOrthetwelfth," ithasbeea well said; ^but it cannot be preached in the same manner; and an Italian and an j^glish sermon, akhough preached on one subject and in time contemporaneous, will of necessity difier in method of composition, in st3rle, in manner of deliveiy." ' The same maj be said of other parts of a priesfs work. Probably there is not 80 mudi différence now in good eamest preaching as there was in the early days oi the OratcMy, when a laboured bombastic style, overflowing with classiod qnotations and allusions, witfa conceits and quips of ail kinds, prevailed so laigely. S. Francis de Sales was one oi the foremost to make a more in this direction, and he bas told us how his father used to lament over the simplicity of his sermons : *^ In my time it was very d^erent; sermons were much rarer, but goodness knows what real preachments thi^ were 1 so studied, 80 leamedl more Latin smd Greek in one than you stick into a doz^i !"'

* L'Oratoire Moderne, P. Perraad, p. 423.

* Sjttrit of S. Fnacis de Sales, p. ^jS.

3i6 PRIBSTL Y UFE IN FRANCE.

Cardinal de BéruUe put forward veiy eamestly before the men whom he had trained for their priestly fimctionSy that there could be no good or profitable preaching without much preparatoiy prayer, above ail else, and he urged them to make the subjects on whîch they were about to preach part of their daily méditation. Next to this he insisted upon constant study of Holy Scripture, and the Fathers of the Churchy as models of simplidty and dignity of style. One of his Congrégation, whose expérience was great, wrote a book of counseb to preachers,' which in many respects are as applicable to the présent day as to his own.

" My first counsel if you want to preach well" (hc sa)rs) " is to pray well : my second to pray well : my third, fourth, and tenth is still pray much to God. Hâve but one aim in your sermons — God's Glory and the salvation of soûls. Read Holy Scripture again and again diligently. Your calling in the pulpit is solely to preach God's Word, as our Lord Jésus Christ, Whose deputed oflScer you are, would do; — ^therefore ail mère secular imagery and profane science must be banished. One single passage fix)m the Holy Bible has more weight with Christian minds than a hundred human reasonings, — do not fear to preach it * pure and undefiled.' If you need anjrthing * Avis aux Jeunes Prédicateurs, P. Le Jenne;

more^ I should say read chiefly S. Augustme, S. Chiysostom, the Summa of S. Thomas, and the lives of the Saints. When you are writing a sennon, always consider how far it is calculated to be useful to a mechanicy or a servant girl; but above ail, aim at making it what no one can hear without some profit ; — ^it may be that among those who hear you there will be some one person who will hear no other sermon in the whole year than yours, and who may be converted if you speak to his heart Eloquence and studied emphasis may help to persuade men, but I cannot recommend you to use well-rounded periods and artifidal points. That is not the way in which the Son of God preached. If you hâve to speak against heresy, let it be done with respect, compassion, tendemess and love; conceding ail that you possibly can concède» consistently with truth. Above ail, abstain from reproach, invective, or contemptuous words."

The Oratorians continued to inculcate simplicity and a devotional, loving tone as the real wày to make preaching profitable. Another book on the subject, attributed for a time to Massillon (himself an Oratorian), but acknowledged afterwards as the work of Père Gaichiez, gives some very eamest practical instructions to the Cleigy : —

*'' The chief study of every preacher should be the

PRIESTL Y UFR IN FRANCE,

Bible,'' he WKfB.^ '' He must seek to luiderstairà k by tiie h^ of prayer, and to lîve ap toits teacfaîi^ in his daily ooufse. He mttst meditate contimnlly on it, seek l^ht as to its mysteries, leam it l^ heas^ become thocot^hly famîKar with its ha^uage^ and moold fa» own upoo its expressions. S. Chrysostom, S. Avgn^e, S. Gregory, and S. Bctnard are tbe great nodds foi: preacfaers, and one shoold never cease drawing water from thèse wells. A mère rhetoridan or sophîst may preach fais own imaginations^ bot a troe preacher will prefer to use the thoughts of the Fathers. Religion is not a new thing he bas to make, — be bas received it, and he deals out to other men that wlûch he has received

^ It isnot enough that a preadierbemerd^a wortby man, he must be a devont man — il is eamestness whidi teadies most to those that bear. That ^rii^ fit» an inner appréciation of the tfaings of God; but a dry cold heart will give out nought save lifdess, powerkss words. If possible it woukl be a good thing never to write sermons except in those happy mcHOoents when, after {Huyerflil study, a man's heart is foll of glowing warmdi. Then ail bis expressions flow from a sanctiûed source, and God uses such devout woikers to grave His kw vû^xl men^s hearts, — an unsanctiiîed hand will not impress His tnie im- ' Maximes sur le Ministère de la Chaive.

preasioDt. There is bo bett^ meaa» of coUivatiDg talent^ however gr«aty than \sf piayar. Tke Fathers of the Cbmch^ beavily bardaued as tkey were with responstble <Aces^ pcayed mnch and preached olten.

^ living apart firom the worid i& ictkemeiitv leaming detachment from self thnMi^ humîlity and iiK)rtification, uplifted bj piayer and contemplation, a true prcacber finds hb chief delight in studying and practising God's Word. At the altar he pleads the inteiMts of his people before God, that he may the better plead God's interests with the peoj^e in the jo^t He is as the angels of Jacob's dream keefÂng op a mysterious intercocirse between heaven and earài. He clasps the Cross to his inmost heart, ready if need be to bear ontward witness to it, even to the death.

'^ Above ail dse, the preachefs duty is to make men know aad love the Lord Jesns Christ Therein lies the whole of our life's religion, — ail things dépend on oor One Mediator. In preaching sometimes men dwell higely on God the Creator» His Providence, His Goodness» His Justice» while they do n<^ give snfficient prominence to God our Redeemer. ....

^'It ispresumption to suppose thatyou canbe listened to for mtore than an ordinary length of time, without wearying your hearers. They hâve a certain stock of patiencc^and beyond that yoa should not tiy them. A fî^l vessel can hoM no more» axMl tf you persist in

3» PRIESTL Y UFE IN FRANCE.

pouring in, it only causes waste. Men go away from an overlong sermon with the same sort of weariness and discomfort as is cansed by a bad dream. It is always better to eut down rather than add to a sermon \ and your constant aim should be brevity. True éloquence dépends far more on the high tone than on the clevemess of your thoughts, and a noble soûl is a better source of inspiration than a shaip wit

'^ The best tribute to a sermon is thoughtful silence on the part of your hearers when they are dismissed. He who would move others must himself be moved. The buming wood which warms us is consumed îtsel£ That which is Êdse or unreal can never be truly touching. Thus imagination does not speak with a heartfelt tone. . . . It beseems the dignity of the pulpit to speak with purity, précision, élévation. That which has been well thought out should be happily expressed. An ill set diamond loses half its beauty. But a wise preacher cuts off ail embellishment which interfères with his true aim. Our husbandmen root up the flowers which spring amid the corn, for they damage the harvest in spite of theîr beauty ; and the gardener prunes away the over-abundant lea^e, which would hinder his fruit from ripening. . . .

'' There is a certain seemliness oi style as well as of manner and appearance It is expected of a preacher

tbat he should speak as a man of God. A sermon is not mère conversation or club oratory; when you preach you speak to the people, and of God. Do not venture upon newly-coined words, or indulge in a fantastically antiquated diction. Your speech should be like your life, modest, pure, single-hearted ; simple enough to be understood by ail, without failing in dignity. Of old, ail Grecian orators were prone to quote Homeric expressions. Homer was the type of Greek éloquence ; and even so a Christian preacher should mould his words as well as his thoughts upon Holy Scripture, so as to give a dignified and révèrent tone to his style. God's ambassador ought to speak the language of God. . . • •

"It îs not the applause of men, not even the success of a sermon, which makes the preacher acceptable to God : it is his own eamest labour joined to a humble estimate of his own talent and powér."

Bossaet's biographers tell us that that great preacher never went into the pulpit without having knelt in the deepest self-humiliation before his crucifix, seeking the light of God's Holy Spirit ; and marvellous as were his fecility and éloquence, he was smgularly devoid of self-confidence, resting solely on the strength and inspiration to be won through prayer and study of Holy Scripture. Surely such had need be the habit of minô

and practice of preachers in our tîmes as much as in the seventeenth or eighteenth centuiy ; and there is great truth in what a living author sajrs : ''Simplicity, warmth, eamestness — thèse ought to be ndw, if ever, the characteristics of our apostolic f^reaching. Of laie parliamentary debates hâve accustomed men to reqtûre close reasoning and conclusive évidence. They want to go straight to facts, and are impatient oî the lengthy involutions which were the glory of bygone rhetoricians. Now-a-days neither speaker or hearers hâve leisure to linger thus on the threshoM of a subject Every one is speeding on, ail around us is haste, and if we hâve the opportimity of commanding men's attention for a few brief moments amid their bewildering préoccupations, we owe it to their immortal soûls and to our own ministry not to waste those scarce and precious seasons. Simplidty, précision, dearaess, a distinct and ludd setting forth of doctrine, — ^holding in horror ail mère phraseology, ail empty rhetoric, — such should be the main features in our earthly rendaing of our Divine message. But we must combine strength with our other qualities, and that because in thèse days perhaps there is no greater hindtance to the SjDgdom of God than the weakness and slackness of convictions which we find everywhere. And this êtrength is only to be won by continuai méditation on Holy Scripture : there it is that we can gather up

God's own strength. ^ Ibi abscondita estfartitudo efus ' < (Hab. iii. 5)."

And assuredly, too, there is no less need now than in the days of S. Philip Neri, of S. Vincent de Paul, or of M. Olier, to gather together the young men of ail das9es and destinations, whose lot is for the most part cast among manifold temptations, différent it may be in kind, but no less perilous than those which beset their forerunners of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. IfourClergy are to gather in soûls for the Great Harvest, must they not strive to gather our young men and boys around them, to attract them by higher and more intellectual pleasures from the grosser forms of «elf-indulgence, to supply them with social enjoyments free from debasing influences, to direct and share their reading and inquiry, to watch over their faith, and to arm them against the delusions of rationalistic self-conceit and "vain science falsely so called." Truly thèse are not the days for the pastors of the flock to sit down satisfied with looking at any one side of their vast and endless task ! But if our Clergy are to be ready to cope with the leamed unbeliever and the sdentific rationalist, surely we need that some among them should be able, by means of Religions Communities and Brotherhoods, to give themselves up to deeper and more scientific study than the pansh ' L'Oratoire Moderne^ p. 434.

324 PRIESTL Y UFE IN FRANCE.

priest, once launched upon the endless and necessaij cares of his flock, can possibly seek. " Fonnerly " (so wrote the présent Archbîshop of Paris, Mgr. Guibert, then Bishop of Viviers) '' the most leamed men of the day were found among the Clergy ; men whose daily occupations admitted of profound study, or who, members of religions corporations, were able to give themselves up to literary work, whidi was made easy to them by the treasures they possessed in their libraries and scientific collections. But where shall we find priests now who do or can give their lives to this department of God's service ?**

Modem science aims above ail things at gettmg rid of the supematural, and, as a modem writer says, ''we must develop an altogether new S3rstem of inteUectual perceptions." ' In order to meet this need, the French Clergy hâve been urged by their ralers to extend the range of their studies, and to prépare theniselves tx> grapple with the foe on his own ground. The Coundl of Paris in 1849 pressed strongly on the Clergy that nothing could be more fatal to their right influence than ignorance or incapadty to deal with gênerai subjects.

''It is an absolutely indispensable necessity," so writes Balmés, "for the Cleigy to be educated up to the level of their times, so as not to permit error to ' M. Littre.

wield weapons which are wantîng to truth. We cannot press the importance of this duty toc eamestly on the ministers of religion. Let them indeed live a life apart firom the world in its purity and simplicity» — but let them beware of living apart firom the intellectual movement going on around them; let them grasp firm hold of the truth that there is no antagonism between an enlightened intelligence and an upright heart; that science is not the enemy of virtue^ and that the Clergy may keep their eyes fully open to the intellectual progress of the times without sullying themselves with the corruption which too often besets that progress.

'' The man whose office it is to teach the weightiest of ail truths to others ought not to be estranged from any form of knowledge. As it behoves him to be the example of ail personal goodness in his moral life^ so ought he to wield the sceptre of intelligence."*

S. Francis de Sales used to say that ignorance was almost as bad as malice in a priest, and that knowledge was a kind of eighth sacrament of the Church.

" They are really righteous," says S. Gregoiy, " who are fumished forth by the love of the Country abovc to meet ail the ills of the présent life ;" * and it is in that Country only that we may dare to hope for an end to

' MéUnges Religieux et Philosophiques. * Morals, bk. t. xviL

the Church's woes and stniggles. In our time, as in the times (tf the holy men gone before us^ we need to raise the ciy —

** Our focs press on from every ride, Thine Aid siq>pl3r, Thy Stien^h bestevr ; **

and with them to pray, —

** To Thy Great Name be endleas prai^-t, Inmaortal Godhead, One in Three !

O grant us endless length of dayt In our trne Native Land with Thee

The bright shmmg lights set before us by the Father of us ail, '^ lest we should faint or stray/' are doubtless now pleading for the Church before His Face, as once Ihey prayed and toîled for it hère ; and gladdened by the though^ let us dwell lovingly and thankfully on their examplesy and say, in the words of the Ali Sainte

Hymn, —

"Exules Vocate nos in PATRIA."

Edinbargfa : Printed by T. and A. COMTABLB.

THIâ BOOK IS Dim ON THE IiAB7 DATE 8TAMPED BEIiOW