|
Spiritual direction should be numbered among the exterior
means of sanctification. We shall discuss its necessity in general and
also in the different stages of the spiritual life, and then we shall
recall the desired qualities of a director and the duties of the soul
that is being directed.
THE NECESSITY OF DIRECTION
Though it is not an absolutely necessary means for the
sanctification of, souls, direction is the normal means of spiritual
progress. In constituting the Church, Christ willed that the faithful
should be sanctified by submission to the pope and the bishops with
respect to external jurisdiction, and in matters of conscience to
confessors, who point out the means needed in order not to fall back
into sin and to make progress in virtue.
Pope Leo XIII, (1) following Cassian and St. Francis
de Sales, recalls on this subject the fact that St. Paul himself
received a guide from the Lord. When Paul was converted, Jesus did not
at once reveal His designs to him, but sent him to Ananias at Damascus
to learn what he should do.(2)
St. Basil says: "Employ all diligence and use the
greatest circumspection in finding a man who may serve you as a very
sure guide in the work of leading a holy life which you wish to
undertake. Choose one who knows how to show souls of good will the
straight road toward God." (3) He says elsewhere: "To believe that one
does not need counsel is great pride." (4)
St. Jerome writes to Rusticus: "Do not be your own
master and do not set out upon a way that is entirely new for you
without a guide; otherwise you will soon go astray." St. Augustine
also says: "As a blind man cannot follow the good road without a
leader, no one can walk without a guide." (5) No one is a good judge
in his own cause by reason of secret pride which may make him deviate
from the right path.
In his conferences, Cassian says that anyone who
relies on his own judgment will never reach perfection and will not be
able to avoid the snares of the devil.(6) He concludes that the best
means to triumph over the most dangerous temptations is to make them
known to a wise counselor who has the grace of state to enlighten
us.(7) In reality, to manifest them to one who has a right to hear
them often suffices to make them disappear.
St. Bernard says that novices in the religious life
should be lead by a father director who instructs, directs, consoles,
and encourages them.(8) In one of his letters he goes so far as to
say: "He who constitutes himself his own director, becomes the
disciple of a fool" And he adds: "As far as I am concerned, I declare
that it is easier and safer for me to command many others than myself
alone." (9) Our self-love leads us less astray, in truth, in
conducting others than in dealing with ourselves, and if we knew well
how to apply to ourselves what we tell others, we would make far
greater progress.
In the fourteenth century, St. Vincent Ferrer
expressed the same thought in his De vita spirituali (Part II,
chap. I). "Our Lord," he says, "without whom we can do nothing, will
never grant His grace to one who, having at his disposition a man
capable of instructing and directing him, neglects this powerful means
of sanctification, believing that he is sufficient to himself and that
he can by his own powers seek and find the things useful to salvation.
. . . A person having a director whom he obeys completely and
unreservedly will reach his goal much more easily and rapidly than he
could alone, even with the aid of a very keen intellect and learned
books on spiritual matters. . . . In general, all who have reached
perfection, have followed this road of obedience, unless, by a
privilege and singular grace, God Himself instructed some souls that
had no one to direct them."
St. Teresa,(10) St. John of the Cross,(11) and St.
Francis de Sales (12) teach the same doctrine. St. Francis de Sales
says that we cannot judge our own cause impartially by reason of a
complacency that is "so secret and imperceptible as not to be
discovered even by those who are tainted therewith." (13) Likewise a
person who has been in a closed room for a long time does not notice
that the air has become vitiated, whereas one who comes in from
outside notices it immediately.
We understand quite well that we need a guide if we
intend to climb a mountain. He is not less necessary for climbing to
the summit of spiritual perfection, the more so as in this ascent we
must avoid the snares laid by Satan, who wishes to prevent us from
ascending.
St. Alphonsus, in his excellent book, Praxis
confessarii (nos. 121-71), indicates the principal object of
direction: mortification, the manner of receiving the sacraments,
prayer, the practice of virtues, the sanctification of ordinary
actions.
The testimony of all these authorities shows clearly
the general need of direction. We shall obtain a clearer idea of this
necessity by considering the three stages of the interior life, or the
spiritual needs of beginners, of proficients, and of the perfect.
THE DIRECTION OF BEGINNERS
Beginners need wise, firm, and paternal direction for
their formation. In religious orders, this direction is the special
duty of masters and mistresses of novices.
Later its necessity is felt less, except at difficult
periods when some change takes place, or again when an important
decision must be made.
Beginners must evidently be forewarned against
relapses and also against two contradictory defects. Some, who receive
sensible consolations in prayer, confound them with graces of a higher
order and presumptuously wish to cover the ground rapidly, and without
delay to reach the life of union without passing through the
indispensable degrees. (14) They must be reminded of the necessity of
humility and be told that progress toward perfection is the work of a
lifetime. No one can fly before he has wings, and no one begins the
construction of a church with the spires, but with the foundation.
(15) If the end to be obtained is first in the order of intention or
of desire, it is, in reality, last in achievement, and the most modest
means indispensable for reaching it must not be neglected.
Other beginners take a secret pride in austerity, as
the Jansenists did, and practice such excessive exterior
mortifications that they compromise their health. Then, in their
efforts to take care of themselves, they fall into laxity and go from
one extreme to the other. They need to learn the measure of Christian
discretion and must understand that it is not sufficient to have, over
and above a keen sensibility, the three theological virtues, but that
it is necessary also to have between these two domains the moral
virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance, so that
sensibility may gradually become disciplined and these superficial and
passing impulses may not be confounded with the lofty aspirations of
living faith, hope, and charity.
Direction is particularly necessary in this period of
prolonged aridity, in which meditation becomes difficult, and quite
severe temptations against chastity and patience also arise,
accompanied at times by contradictions from without. According to St.
John of the Cross,(16) this trial marks the passage from the purgative
way of beginners to the illuminative way of proficients, but on
condition that the three signs, which a good director can discern, are
found in it. These three signs, which we shall speak of farther on,
are the following: (1) When we find no comfort in the things of God,
and also none in created things. (2) When the memory dwells ordinarily
on God with a keen desire for perfection and the fear of not serving
God. (3) When meditation is not possible and one feels inclined to a
simple gaze on God. At the time of this crisis, which should be in the
nature of a second conversion, it is well to pay close attention to a
good director in order to traverse this difficult period generously
and not to become a retarded soul. Farther on we shall discuss this
subject at greater length.(17)
THE DIRECTION OF PROFICIENTS AND THE PERFECT
The necessity of a guide for certain periods of the
spiritual life of the advanced confirms what we have just said about
its necessity for beginners. We may with profit state this
confirmation here.
Direction may customarily be given more rapidly to
proficients because the proficient has a greater knowledge of the
spiritual life and can briefly explain the point on which he needs
counsel. The director then becomes the witness of the soul's life and
progress; he should be the instrument of the Holy Ghost in order to
make sure that the soul is docile to His inspirations. To do this, the
director should seek to know well the action of the interior Master in
given souls that he may discern in each, as far as is possible, the
good and the bad, the dominant defect to be combated and the special
attraction of grace to be followed.
Recourse should be had to the director especially
during the annual retreat in order to discuss with him in all
frankness what constitutes the basis of the life of the soul, and to
make sure of not falling into the defects of the advanced - hidden
pride and presumption - which may become the source of great
illusions.(18)
The proficient also experiences periods in which he
particularly needs a good guide; especially is this the case when he
has to pass through the trials which mark the entrance into the
unitive way, and which St. John calls the passive purification of the
spirit. This purification appears under various forms that are more or
less accentuated. Generally it is a prolonged privation of sensible
and also spiritual consolations. During this period strong temptations
often arise against faith, hope, and fraternal charity, and even
against the love of God. Evidently if a person is to pass through this
difficult period, the help of a good director is highly desirable in
order not to fall back at this time but rather to make progress. And
he who can direct others during such a trial, would not be able to
direct himself, for here there is no longer "any road traced out in
advance," as St. John of the Cross (19) says; one must follow the
inspiration of the Holy Ghost and not confuse it with something that
might resemble it. At this time, souls given to prayer have a more
special need of an enlightened and experienced director. St. Teresa
felt the need of opening her soul completely to learned men, versed in
the things of the interior life, to make certain of her docility to
the Holy Ghost.(20) The perfect themselves feel the need of this help
to discover the harmony between passivity under the divine action and
the activity which the Lord asks of them in order faithfully to
practice the maxim: "fidelity and abandonment." They feel the need of
direction that they may with profound humility keep alive in their
hearts the love of the cross.
We have here only touched on the direction of
proficients in order to indicate that, if it is necessary for them,
with far greater reason is it necessary for beginners.(21)
THE QUALITIES OF THE DIRECTOR AND THE DUTIES OF THE
ONE BEING DIRECTED
St. Francis de Sales says on the subject of a
director: "He must be a man of charity, learning, and prudence; if
anyone of these three qualities be wanting in him, there is danger."
(22) St. Teresa expresses the same opinion.(23)
His charity ought to be disinterested and to incline
him, not to draw hearts to himself but to lead them to God. On this
point, Tauler is exacting and says that certain directors who draw
souls to themselves are like hunting dogs that eat the hare instead of
bringing it back to their master. Whereupon the hunter whips them
soundly. The director's charitable kindness should not be weakness; it
should be firm and fearless in speaking the truth in order to lead
souls effectively to goodness. Neither should he lose his time in
useless conversations or letters, but go straight to the point for the
good of the soul.
In addition, he should have a knowledge of the
spiritual life, be penetrated with the teachings of the great masters
of the interior life, and be a good psychologist. (24)
That the director may be the instrument of the Holy
Ghost, he ought prudently to discern in souls the dominant defect to
be avoided and the supernatural attraction to be followed. For this
purpose, he must pray for light, especially in difficult cases, and,
if he is humble, he will receive the graces of state. He will see that
he must stimulate some and moderate the ardor of others, teaching the
latter not to confound sentimentality with love, which proves itself
by works.
When he directs generous souls, his prudence must
avoid two dangers: that of wishing to lead all pious souls
indiscriminately and rapidly to give themselves to contemplative
prayer, and that of imagining that it is useless to concern oneself
with this question. Here a person must advance neither too slowly nor
too rapidly, but must examine whether there exist in the soul the three signs which we have
pointed out, following the teaching of St. John of the Cross and
several other great masters, in order to pass from discursive
meditation to contemplation. Before these appear, it is well and
sufficient to remind souls that they must be docile to the
inspirations of the interior Master, as they are manifestly
conformable to their vocation.
The duties of the directed soul spring obviously from
what we have just said; the person who is being directed ought to
respect his director as the representative of God, and to avoid two
extremes opposed to respect for a director: sharp criticisms and
excessive familiarity. This respect should be accompanied by a simple
yet entirelyspiritual filial affection, which excludes petty jealousy
and the desire to be specially loved.(25)
The person who is being directed should also have
filial confidence in his director and great openness of heart towards
him. As St. Francis de Sales so well explains it: "Open your heart to
him with all sincerity and fidelity, manifesting clearly and
explicitly the state of your conscience without fiction or
dissimulation." (26)
Lastly, he must be very docile in following the
counsel given;
otherwise he would be following his own will rather than that of God.
It is not forbidden to explain that there is serious difficulty in
putting such or such advice into practice; but after such explanation,
he must subordinate his judgment to that of the director. Strictly
speaking, the director may be mistaken; but the person under his
direction will not be mistaken in obeying him, unless he advises
something contrary to faith and morals. In that event a change of
director is imperative.
Not without grave reason, however, should anyone
change his director or confessor. The change should certainly not be
made because of inconstancy, pride, false shame, or curiosity. But
this may be done if a person perceives that his director's views are
too natural and that his affection is excessively sensible, and that
he has not the requisite learning, prudence, and discretion.
Except in these cases, a person should keep as far as
possible a certain continuity in direction that there may truly be
continuity in it and perseverance on the right road. We should not
give up a good guide because he reproves us for our good. It may be
well to recall what St. Louis used to say to his son: "Go to
confession frequently; choose virtuous and learned confessors who know
how to instruct you in what you ought to do or avoid, and give your
confessors leave to reprove and admonish you freely." Such a statement
gives evidence of good, holy, and strong affection without any
admixture of sentimentality, which is an affectation of sentiment.
Under these conditions, the director will be able to
be the instrument of the Holy Ghost to control His action in us, and
to make us ever more docile to divine inspirations. Thus we will truly
advance along the narrow way, which becomes broader and broader as we
draw near to the infinite goodness of God to which it leads.
|
