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SECTION I
The Necessity of Courage
The preceding chapter furnishes us with eyes to
discern our duty, and this chapter will furnish us
with arms or courage to perform it. There are two obstacles to virtue which vigilance and
courage will overcome. The first is the difficulty of
discerning what is good from what is evil; and the
second is the labor of embracing the former and
overcoming the latter, Vigilance meets the first
difficulty; fortitude the second. These two virtues
are indispensable, for without vigilance we are
blind, without courage we are helpless. The
courage of which we are here treating is not the
cardinal virtue of fortitude which calms our fears
and strengthens us in affliction, but is rather a
disposition of the soul which enables us to triumph
over all obstacles to good. For this reason it ever
accompanies virtue, sword in hand to vanquish all her
foes. As the blacksmith requires a hammer to beat
the hard iron and shape it according to his will, so
do we need courage, the spiritual hammer, with which
we overcome the difficulties in the road to virtue
and fashion our souls after our divine Model. Without
this quality we can no more pursue virtue than a
blacksmith can work without his hammer.
For what virtue is there that can be acquired without
effort? Consider them one after another: prayer,
fasting, temperance, obedience, poverty of spirit,
chastity, humility and you will find that all present
some difficulty springing from self-love, the world,
or the devil. Therefore, if you sincerely desire to advance in
virtue, consider the words spoken to Moses, by the
God of all virtue and strength, as directly addressed
to you: "Take this rod in thy hand, wherewith thou
shalt do the signs" that will deliver My people. (Cf.
Ex. 4:17). Be assured that as the rod of Moses
enabled him to effect the glorious deliverance of the
children of Israel, so the rod of courage will enable
you to work no less striking wonders, and to free
yourself from your enemies: the world, the flesh, and
the devil. Keep this rod, therefore, ever in your
hand, for without it you will be utterly helpless.
Avoid, too, an illusion into which beginners in the
spiritual life frequently fall. Having read in
certain books of the ineffable consolations of the
Holy Spirit, and the joys of God's service, they
persuade themselves that the path of virtue is filled
with delights, and therefore, instead of entering it
armed to meet their enemies, they set out as if for a
festival. Truly the love of God is full of sweetness,
but the way which leads to it contains much that is
bitter, for self-love must first be conquered, and
there is nothing harder to nature than to fight
against it and all that it claims. This is the lesson
we should learn from the prophet, who says, "Shake
thyself from the dust, arise, sit up, O Jerusalem."
(Is. 52:2). Shake thyself from the dust of earthly
affections; arise and combat before thou canst sit
and rest. It is also true that God favors with
ineffable consolations souls who faithfully labor for
Him, and renounce the pleasures of the world for
those of Heaven. But this absolute renunciation is
necessary, for while we refuse to sacrifice the joys
of this life we shall seek in vain for the joys of
the Holy Spirit. The manna was given to the children
of Israel only when they had consumed the food which
they brought with them from Egypt. If, then, we do
not arm ourselves with courage, our pursuit of virtue
will be fruitless. Rest is attained only through
labor; victory only through combat; joy only through
tears; and the sweetness of God's love only through
hatred of self. For this reason the Holy Spirit,
throughout the Proverbs of Solomon, so frequently
condemns sloth and negligence and so strongly
commends vigilance and courage as the safeguards of
virtue.
SECTION II
Means of acquiring Courage
Solomon had reason to exclaim: "Who shall find a
valiant woman? Far and from the uttermost coasts is
the price of her." (Prov. 31:10). What, then, shall
we do to acquire courage, which is of such importance
and which is no less difficult than the other
virtues? We must first reflect upon the priceless
merit of courage, for a quality which helps us
acquire all virtues must be inestimable in value. Men are chiefly driven from the practice of virtue by
the difficulties it presents. "The slothful man saith:
There is a lion in the way, and a lioness in the
roads. The fool foldeth his hands together, and
eateth his own flesh, saying: Better is a handful
with rest than both hands full with labor and
vexation of mind." (Prov. 26:13 and Eccles. 4:5-6).
If, therefore, the obstacles to virtue discourage us
and turn us from good, what is more necessary for us
than courage? And who will regret any effort to
acquire an aid which will strengthen him to conquer
the kingdom of virtue, and, after it, the kingdom of
Heaven? "From the days of John the Baptist until now
the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the
violent bear it away." (Matt. 11:12). Finally, courage conquers self-love, which gives
place to the love of God, or rather God Himself, "for
he that abideth in charity abideth in God, and God in
him." (1Jn. 4:16). Stimulate your courage,
moreover, by contemplating the fortitude of so many
Christians who cheerfully embraced poverty,
mortification, humiliations, for love of Christ. Many
of them so loved suffering that they sought it as
eagerly as the worldling seeks pleasure, or as the
merchant seeks gain, preferring poverty to riches,
hunger to abundance, labors and the cross to rest and
comfort. The Church daily presents for our
consideration such heroic souls, not only that we may
worthily honor them, but that we may be excited to
imitate them. Consider, too, the greatness of courage, the heroism,
displayed by the martyrs. There is no kind of torture
or suffering which they did not endure. Some were
burned alive; others were torn to pieces by wild
beasts; many had their flesh torn from their bodies
with red-hot pincers; some were cast into caldrons of
boiling oil; others were compelled to walk barefoot
on burning coals, or were tied to the tails of wild
horses and dragged through thickets and briars or
over sharp stones. It would be almost impossible to
enumerate all the tortures invented by the malice of
devils to conquer the courage of the servants of God.
We read of a martyr in Nicodemia who was scourged so
cruelly that every blow brought away a piece of the
flesh, leaving the bones exposed to view, and into
these cruel wounds the executioner poured salt and
vinegar; and, finding that life was not yet extinct,
they laid the mangled body upon a slow fire, turning
it from side to side with iron hooks until the soul
took its flight to God. Read the lives of those brave
soldiers of Christ, and your courage will be
reanimated; you will grow ashamed of the little you
have done for God or your soul. They were human as
well as we are. Their bodies were as sensitive as
ours to sufferings. They had the same God to assist
them; they hoped for the same reward to which we
aspire. If eternal life cost them so much, shall we
refuse to mortify the irregular desires of the flesh
to attain this blessed end? Shall we not have the
courage to fast one day, when we see them almost
dying of hunger? Shall we refuse to remain for a
short time on our knees in prayer, when they
continued to pray for their enemies during long hours
of agony, even when nailed to the cross? Shall we
refuse to resist our inclinations and passions, when
they unhesitantly abandoned their bodies to the
tortures of the executioner! They endured without
murmuring the solitude and suffering of dark prisons,
and shall we refuse our soul a few moments solitude
in prayer each day to amend the past and to prepare
for the future. If they submitted their bodies to the
rack, to the wheel, to fire and the sword, shall we
refuse to chastise ours for the love of Christ? If
these examples do not move you, lift your eyes to the
cross and contemplate Him who hangs there in torments
for love of you. "Think diligently," says the
Apostle, "upon him that endured such opposition, that
you be not wearied, fainting in your minds." (Heb.
12:3). It is a marvelous example in every respect. For if we
consider His sufferings, none could be greater; if we
consider the Victim, none could be more noble; if we
consider the motive, it was the highest degree of
love; for He who was Innocence itself suffered and
died to redeem us from our iniquities. The heavens
were filled with awe at the spectacle; the earth
trembled; the rocks were rent; all nature was moved.
Will man alone be insensible and refuse to imitate
the example which God came on earth to give? Shall we
be so ungrateful, so slothful, so presumptuous as to
wish to win Heaven by a life of luxurious ease when
suffering and labor were the portion of God on earth
and of all His followers? Hear the words in which
St. Paul describes the sufferings of those faithful
servants of Christ, the prophets, the Apostles, the
martyrs, the confessors, the virgins, and all the
saints: "Others had trial of mockeries and stripes,
moreover also of bands and prisons. They were stoned;
they were cut asunder; they were tempted; they were
put to death by the sword; they wandered about in
sheepskins, in goatskins, being in want, distressed,
afflicted: of whom the world was not worthy;
wandering in deserts, in mountains, and in dens, and
in caves of the earth." (Heb. 11:36-38). If such were
the lives of the saints and of Him who was the Saint
of saints, what reason have you to think that you can
reach Heaven by the way of pleasure and amusement? If
you would share their glory, you must participate in
their labors. If you would reign with them in Heaven,
you must suffer with them on earth. May these
considerations reanimate your courage dear Christian,
and stimulate you to follow, as far as your grace
will enable you, such bright examples. We cannot,
therefore, better conclude this work than in the
words of Our Saviour: "If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and
follow me." (Lk. 9:23). In this brief counsel you
will find a summary of His divine doctrine, and the
secret of attaining the perfection taught in the
Gospel. Thus, while the body may be a prey to
hardships and labors, the soul will enjoy a paradise
of peace, and this interior sweetness will enable you
cheerfully to embrace all the sufferings of the
exterior life.
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