Professional Documents
Culture Documents
But what does it mean to love? How do we live it out in daily life? Let us first begin with the question:
What is love. As we know, love is a theological virtue, which means that man cannot attain it on his
own. It is a shear grace from heaven. Saint Thomas Aquinas calls it charity, and describes it as the
"chief" of all the virtues, because it is the umbrella under which all virtue and every gift is born and
sustained. From it flows every gift, grace, and heavenly aid. Love is, in short, the goal and purpose of
every action in every moment of our lives. But what does this mean practically? How does one love in
daily life? One definition which the Church has used to define love is; "to will the good of the other, as
other." In other words, love is primarily an act of the will, which, as pope John Paul II notes, sees the
other as a good in itself rather than an object to be used as a means to an end. Said another way, love is
total self-gift, a giving of oneself to others without expecting anything in return. In its highest form,
love is not only sacrificial, but it is also spousal love. To put it plainly, love is totally other-centered; it
takes no account of cost to self. To love totally, means to be totally forgetful of one's own needs, and to
be constantly in search of doing all that is beneficial for the other's soul, "to will the good of the other,"
that is; to will God, Who is Goodness itself, for the other. This is how we are to live: To govern our
actions so as to spur others to the love of God.
Catechism of the Council of Trent, preface 10: "The whole concern of doctrine and its
teaching must be directed to love...all the works of perfect Christian virtue spring from
love, and have no other objective than to arrive at love."
An Objection: "But if you always give and give, then you will get burnt out. Surely there are limits to
how much we should give of ourselves. After all, we are only human, and need to take some time for
ourselves." This objection warrants some attention, since it seems to be common in our modern
sensible worldview today (even in religious life). And although such sensible advice may be given with
good intentions, Saint Faustina says the devil often comes under the guise of sensible advice (hink of
Peter's advice to Our Lord, which He had to chastise "Get behind me Satan!"). Why is such advice
dangerous? Because hidden within it lies a kernel of egoism, which can grow unchecked if we are not
careful. But what is more, no where in the Gospel does such advice enter. Rather, it is precisely the
opposite that Christ teaches us; that the more we give ourselves away, the more we receive in return,
and likewise the easier it becomes to love. Love frees the soul, giving it wings to fly.
Saint Catherine of Siena: “Those who are willing to lose their own consolation for their
neighbors' welfare receive and gain me and their neighbors...and so they enjoy the
graciousness of my charity at all times."
The trap, however, that many fall into, is in reducing the notion of "self-gift" to merely external works,
such as social justice for example. As a result, such people do get burnt out over time; for one cannot
give what one does not have. People too often rely on their own strength, running from one activity to
the next, and neglect prayer--the one wellspring of infinite grace, vitality, and strength. We forget that
Christ Himself, our model, often spent entire nights in prayer, so that He can be first filled with the love
of the Father before going back out into the world. The foundation of prayer is therefore essential to
love, for we cannot make a supernatural gift of ourselves unless we first possess what is supernatural.
This point must be emphatically stated. If we want love, we must pray. We simply cannot love with
supernatural charity until we first make it our practice to learn from the Master, Love itself, by kneeling
at His feet in humble adoration. If one acts in this way, then love becomes easy. Self-gift becomes easy,
and self-immolation a joy. Rather than getting burnt out over time, love invigorated, wanting to give
more and more of itself. The only pain the soul experiences, says Catherine of Siena, is the pain of the
offense done to God and the harm done to souls, the self-inflicted wounds of sinners--for as Thomas
Aquinas reminds us, "sin is its own punishment." In fact, this is the surest sign that one loves totally:
when the soul finds herself (we speak of the soul in the feminine because that is what the saints have
done) searching out precisely those most difficult to love, those who others avoid, the downcast and the
needy. For love is not content to remain in comfort among friends, but desires to pour itself out on
those "most in need of God's mercy." Suffering then becomes easy for the one who loves. In fact,
Catherine of Siena says that the holier one becomes, the less they suffer!
"Wait. The holier one is, the less they suffer? What about Mother Teresa?"
Yes. As a general rule, this is true. As Saint Catherine confirms;"the more they have scorned pleasure
and been willing to suffer, the more they have lost suffering and gained pleasure." Why? Because as
God tells her,"I will never withdraw from their feelings. No, their spirits always feel my presence
within them, whereas regarding others I come and go...In other words, they can join their spirits with
me in loving affection whenever they will...Every time and place is for them a time and place of
prayer."
This seems to contradict conventional wisdom, which sees the Mother Teresa's of the world and
concludes that the holier one is, the more in darkness and dryness they experience. This is a dangerous
misunderstanding of the Dark Night (which, after all, is only a temporary state), one which causes an
irrational fear of holiness. It is important to stress that Mother Teresa had a very unique calling, and not
every saint is called to be a victim soul. Let us remember that God is a good and loving Father, and will
not give us more than we can handle. He wants us to be beacons of light for others, to draw souls to
God. And to do this, we need to be filled with love, joy, and peace, so that we may give love, joy, and
peace to others (are not these three fruits of the Holy Spirit after all?).
"My mind is so full of joy and happiness that I am amazed my soul stays in my body." -
Saint Catherine of Siena
The joy and peace that God gives is so profound, says Saint Catherine, that the soul cannot help but
weep in prayer. In fact, weeping is so common among holy religious, that Saint Catherine devoted an
entire chapter on this subject alone. According to her, there are four stages of tears. In the 4th stage,
"She begins to feel joy and compassion: joy for herself because of this impulse of love, and compassion
for her neighbors. Then her eyes, which want to satisfy her heart, weep in charity for me and her
neighbors with heartfelt love, grieving only for the offense done to me and the harm done to her
neighbors." This is not to say, however, that the saints do not experience trial and hardship. Quite the
contrary. But the trial and hardship will be of no account to them, and will become occasions of growth
and great fruit due to the patience with which it was borne, just as the Apostles rejoiced in all their
trials and persecutions (Acts 5:41, 14:21, Rom 8:18, 2 Corinthians 12:10, etc.). Let us be assured, then,
that holiness is not something to fear, but rather, something to be sought after with great diligence; for
no one on this earth is more happy, joyful, and content than a holy religious. And no one is so gently
offered the choice, if they accept, to be swept to the heights of love by accepting the chalice offered to
them,
"He has offered this chalice to me yet again, and I have accepted it. That is why He does
not spare me." - Padre Pio
Saint Faustina: "O my Jesus, I know that, in order to be useful to souls, one has
to strive for the closest possible union with You, who are Eternal Love... I can
be wholly useful to the Church by my personal sanctity, which throbs with life
in the whole Church, for we all make up one organism in Jesus."
Saint Catherine of Siena: "You cannot arrive at virtue except through knowing
yourself and knowing me. And this knowledge is more perfectly gained in time
of temptation, because then you know that your are nothing, since you have no
power to relieve yourself of the sufferings and troubles you would like to
escape....for the devil is weak and can do nothing of himself, but only as I
permit him. And I give him leave not through hatred but through love, not so
that you may be conquered but that you may conquer and come to perfect
knowledge of yourself and of me, and to prove your virtue--for virtue can only
be tested by its opposite."
Unitive. Once metal has been sufficiently purified in the crucible, it can then be
2. forged into a proper instrument to be wielded by the hands of the Welder. This
second quality is a natural consequence of the first, in that the purification
enables the soul to be united to God. The voids that are created in the fire of purification
can now be filled with grace and sealed with virtue. In this stage, the soul begins to realize
what it once thought was love, was only an imperfect affection. It is now beginning to
understand what true love consists; not in consolations alone, not in transports of the spirit,
nor great works, or ecstasies, but in loving; in spending oneself for others; in giving until it
hurts, without expecting any recompense. It is now discovering the true "secret to
happiness" that so many self-help books attempt to answer; what men have searched the
globe to find. It is a great mystery that has eluded many, and yet it is a profoundly simple
truth in Christianity, that; man can only find himself by giving himself away. As Vatican II
reminds us; "Man cannot find himself except by making a sincere gift of himself" The gaze
of his entire being must turn away from himself completely, and only toward God and His
children in total self-gift. As Saint Therese of Lisieux once said; "I never made more
progress in the spiritual life, as when I began to devote myself to praying for others." And
so, in this stage, the soul is now "finding itself"; it is becoming more what it was created to
be before the fall ("original man"), and its happiness increases beyond its imaginings. Just
as the force of a magnet increases as it draws nearer to iron, so too does the union between
God and the soul increase in like. But now, the soul is still not yet perfect. And so Our Lord
may ask (but does not force) the soul to continue its advance. If the soul complies, she may
begin to experience periods of interior darkness, or nights, where she must learn become
detached not only from creatures and things of this earth, but also spiritual attachments as
well; at times feeling as if a blind man walking in darkness, relying on only blind faith and
obedience as its guide. It is during these periods that the soul makes the greatest progress,
unbeknownst to itself. And once the darkness passes, the soul looks back and sees the great
chasm it crossed, utterly overwhelmed and inflamed with love.
Saint Faustina
"On the First Friday of the month, before Communion, I saw a large ciborium
filled with sacred hosts. A hand placed the ciborium in front of me, and I took it
in my hands. There were a thousand living hosts inside. Then I heard a voice,
These are hosts which have been received by the souls for whom you have
obtained the grace of true conversion during this Lent." (Diary, p640)
Saint Teresa of the Andes
"We [religious] are co-redeemers of the world. And souls are not redeemed
without the cross."
Saint Catherine of Siena
"Never cease offering me the incense of fragrant prayers for the salvation of
souls, for I want to be merciful to the world. With your prayers and sweat and
tears I will wash the face of my bride, holy Church."
In a vision given to Saint Faustina, we observe that it is the daily sacrifices made by religious
communities that sustain the world in existence, acting as a shield blunting the sword of God's justice
upon the world;
Saint Faustina
"During the renewal of the vows, I saw the Lord Jesus on the Epistle side (of the altar),
wearing a white garment with a golden belt and holding a terrible sword in His hand. This
lasted until the moment when the sisters began to renew their vows. Then I saw a
resplendence beyond compare and, in front of this brilliance, a white cloud in the shape of a
scale. Then Jesus approached and put the sword on one side of the scale, and it fell heavily
towards the ground until it was about to touch it. Just then the sisters finished renewing
their vows. Then I saw Angels who took something from each of the sisters and placed it in
a golden vessel on the other side of the scale, it immediately out weighed and raised up the
side on which the sword had been laid. At that moment, a flame issued forth from the
thurible, and it reached all the way to the brilliance. Then I heard a voice coming from the
brilliance: "Put the sword back in its place; the sacrifice is greater."
No words can describe the image this vision paints. And what makes the sacrifice of religious life so
great? Again, "humble, constant prayer." This is the most distinguishing feature of a thriving
community. If it's prayer is humble, then one has found a gem to behold. Is such a gem not worth
diligently searching for in one's discernment? As Our Lady revealed to Venerable Mary of Agreda, if
the saints in heaven were able to feel regret, they would lament over not making better use of their time
on earth. Let us then take advantage of this great gift of life, recalling the profound love Our Lord has
for us. All He asks of us is our love, and if we are willing, a little sacrifice. Such a small price for such
indescribable rewards!
Jesus to Saint Faustina: "For the sake of your love, I withhold the just chastisements, which
mankind has deserved. A single act of pure love pleases Me more than a thousand imperfect
prayers. One of your sighs of love atones for many offenses with which the godless
overwhelm Me. The smallest act of virtue has unlimited value in My eyes because of your
great love for Me. In a soul that lives on My love alone, I reign as in heaven. I watch over it
day and night. In it I find My happiness; My ear is attentive to each request of its heart;
often I anticipate its requests. O child, especially beloved by Me, apple of My eye, rest a
moment near My Heart and taste of the love in which you will delight for all eternity. But
child, you are not yet in your homeland; so go, fortified by My grace, and fight for My
kingdom in human souls; fight as a king's child would; and remember that the days of your
exile will pass quickly, and with them the possibility of earning merit for heaven. I expect
from you, My child, a great number of souls who will glorify My mercy for all eternity. My
child, that you may answer My call worthily, receive Me daily in Holy Communion. It will
give you strength'..."
Padre Pio
Saint Faustina
"Your great trust in Me forces me to continuously grant you graces. You have great and
incomprehensible rights over My Heart, for you are a daughter of complete trust."
Saint Faustina
"[Jesus says;] Distrust on the part of souls is tearing at My insides. The distrust of a chosen
soul causes Me even greater pain; despite My inexhaustible love for them they do not trust
Me. Even My death is not enough for them. Woe to the soul that abuses these gifts."
Padre Pio
"O what precious moments these are. It is a happiness that the Lord gives me to relish
almost always in moments of affliction. At these moments, more than ever, when the whole
world troubles and weighs on me, I desire nothing other than to love and to suffer. Yes my
father, even in the midst of so much suffering I am happy because it seems as if my heart is
beating with Jesus' heart."