Little Thoughts

Jean Steinmann, Pascal

2009-01-08T21:52:00.003-05:00

An interesting parallel could be drawn between the night of Pascal and that of Descartes. In his Olympica Descartes wrote the following sentence which is reported by his biographer, Adrien Baillet: “[10th November 1619] Cum plenus forem enthousiasmo et mirabilis scientiae fundamenta reperirem….” And Baillet goes on to describe in detail three dreams which Descartes had on the night of the Feast of St Martin. He felt himself driven by the wind against the wall of a church, heard a clap of thunder “and opening his eyes, he saw many sparks flying all over the room”. Lastly, in a third dream, he found himself reading an anthology of poetry:

This last dream, in which there was nothing that was not gentle and agreeable,
pointed to his own future….But he took the two earlier dreams for warnings
related to his past life, which might not have been so innocent in the sight of
God as in the eyes of men. The impression which remained with him of these
disturbances led him on the following day to reflect on the path he was to
follow. In his perplexity, he turned to God and besought him to make his will
known to him, to enlighten him and guide him in his search for truth.

(Adam-Tannery, Oeuvres de Descartes, vol. X, pp.182-6)

How clearly we perceive in this account all the resemblances and all the differences between Pascal and Descartes, between the two great geniuses who were at once so close and so far from one another.

They were both Christians, both enlightened by God in the course of a November night, but with a light which has neither the same origin nor illumines the same truths. Descartes dreamt; Pascal was awake. When he woke Descartes reflected, while Pascal, who had not slept, read the Bible. If Descartes felt remorse it was before God, whereas Pascal was conscious of having denied and crucified Jesus Christ. Descartes was seeking truth and wanted to discover it on his own. Pascal possessed truth; it was enough for him to remain faithful to it. Descartes left on one side the dogmas of faith; Pascal flung himself into them completely. The two Catholics were separated by the Bible and the Mediator.

--Jean Steinmann, Pascal (Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., New York: 1966), 84-85.

375.

2008-12-17T20:48:00.002-05:00

I have passed a great part of my life believing that there was justice, and in this I was not mistaken; for there is justice according as God has willed to reveal it to us. But I did not take it so, and this is where I made a mistake; for I believed that our justice was essentially just, and that I had that whereby to know and judge of it. But I have so often found my right judgment at fault, that at last I have come to distrust myself and then others. I have seen changes in all nations and men, and thus, after many changes of judgment regarding true justice, I have recognised that our nature was but in continual change, and I have not changed since; and if I changed, I would confirm my opinion.

524 and 525.

2008-11-16T16:29:00.000-05:00

There is no doctrine more appropriate to man than this, which teaches him his double capacity of receiving and of losing grace, because of the double peril to which he is exposed, of despair or of pride.

The philosophers did not prescribe feelings suitable to the two states.
They inspired feelings of pure greatness, and that is not man's state.
They inspired feelings of pure littleness, and that is not man's state.
There must be feelings of humility, not from nature, but from penitence, not to rest in them, but to go on to greatness. There must be feelings of greatness, not from merit, but from grace, and after having passed through humiliation.

195a.

2008-09-27T21:29:00.002-05:00

Before entering into the proofs of the Christian religion, I find it necessary to point out the sinfulness of those men who live in indifference to the search for truth in a matter which is so important to them, and which touches them so nearly.
Of all their errors, this doubtless is the one which most convicts them of foolishness and blindness, and in which it is easiest to confound them by the first glimmerings of common sense and by natural feelings.
For it is not to be doubted that the duration of this life is but a moment; that the state of death is eternal, whatever may be its nature; and that thus all our actions and thoughts must take such different directions, according to the state of that eternity, that it is impossible to take one step with sense and judgement, unless we regulate our course by the truth of that point which ought to be our ultimate end. There is nothing clearer than this; and thus, according to the principles of reason, the conduct of men is wholly unreasonable, if they do not take another course.
On this point, therefore, we condemn those who live without thought of the ultimate end of life, who let themselves be guided by their own inclinations and their own pleasures without reflection and without concern, and, as if they could annihilate eternity by turning away their thought from it, think only of making themselves happy for the moment...

546.

2008-09-20T17:16:00.001-05:00

Without Jesus Christ man must be in vice and misery; with Jesus Christ man is free from vice and misery; in Him is all our virtue and all our happiness. Apart from Him there is but vice, misery, darkness, death, despair.

472.

2008-09-16T16:12:00.001-05:00

Self-will will never be satisfied, though it should have command of all it would; but we are satisfied from the moment we renounce it. Without it we cannot be discontented; with it we cannot be content.

425b.

2008-09-15T16:08:00.000-05:00

What is it, then, that this desire and this inability proclaim to us, but that there was once in man a true happiness of which there now remain to him only the mark and empty trace, which he in vain tries to fill from all his surroundings, seeking from things absent the help he does not obtain in things present? But these are all inadequate, because the infinite abyss can only be filled by an infinite and immutable object, that is to say, only by God Himself.
He only is our true good, and since we have forsaken him, it is a strange thing that there is nothing in nature which has not been serviceable in taking His place; the stars, the heavens, earth, the elements, plants, cabbages, leeks, animals, insects, calves, serpents, fever, pestilence, war, famine, vices, adultery, incest. And since man has lost the true good, everything can appear equally good to him, even his own destruction, though so opposed to God, to reason, and to the whole course of nature.

425a.

2008-09-08T17:02:00.003-05:00

Second part. --That man without faith cannot know the true good, nor justice.
All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.
And yet, after such a great number of years, no one without faith has reached the point to which all continually look. All complain, princes and subjects, noblemen and commoners, old and young, strong and weak, learned and ignorant, healthy and sick, of all countries, all times, all ages, and all conditions.
A trial so long, so continuous, and so uniform, should certainly convince us of our inability to reach the good by our own efforts. But example teaches us little. No resemblance is ever so perfect that there is not some slight difference; and hence we expect that our hope will not be deceived on this occasion as before. And thus, while the present never satisfies us, experience dupes us and, from misfortune to misfortune, leads us to death, their eternal crown...

288.

2008-08-26T05:49:00.002-05:00

Instead of complaining that God has hidden Himself, you will give Him thanks for having revealed so much of Himself; and you will also give Him thanks for not having revealed Himself to haughty sages, unworthy to know so holy a God.
Two kinds of people know Him: those who have a humble heart, and who love lowliness, whatever kind of intellect they may have, high or low; and those who have sufficient understanding to see the truth, whatever opposition they may have to it.

381.

2008-08-24T16:20:00.002-05:00

When we are too young, we do not judge well; so, also, when we are too old. If we do not think enough, or if we think too much on any matter, we get obstinate and infatuated about it. If one considers one's work immediately after having done it, one is entirely prepossessed in its favour; by delaying too long, one can no longer enter into the spirit of it. So with pictures seen from too far or too near; there is but one exact point which is the true place wherefrom to look at them: the rest are too near, too far, too high, or too low. Perspective determines that point in the art of painting. But who shall determine it in truth and morality?

George Herbert--Dialogue-Anthem

2008-03-23T12:01:00.001-05:00

CHRISTIAN, DEATH.

Christian: ALAS, poor Death ! where is thy glory ?
Where is thy famous force, thy ancient sting ?

Death: Alas, poor mortal, void of story !
Go spell and read how I have killed thy King.

Chr. Poor Death ! and who was hurt thereby ?
Thy curse being laid on Him makes thee accurst.

Dea. Let losers talk, yet thou shalt die ;
These arms shall crush thee.

Chr. Spare not, do thy worst.
I shall be one day better than before ;
Thou so much worse, that thou shalt be no more.

George Herbert--Good Friday

2008-03-21T14:43:00.002-05:00

O my chief good,
How shall I measure out thy blood
How shall I count what thee befell,
And each grief tell?

Shall I thy woes
Number according to thy foes?
Or, since one star showed thy first breath,
Shall all thy death?

Or shall each leaf,
Which falls in Autumn, score a grief?
Or cannot leaves, but fruit, be sign
Of the true vine?

Then let each hour
Of my whole life one grief devour;
That thy distress through all may run,
And be my sun.

Or rather let
My several sins their sorrows get;
That as each beast his cure doth know,
Each sin may so.

Since blood is fittest, Lord, to write
Thy sorrows in, and bloody fight;
My heart hath store, write there, wherein
One box doth lie both ink and sin:

That when sin spies so many foes,
Thy whips, thy nails, thy wounds, thy woes,
All come to lodge there, sin may say,
No room for me, and fly away.

Sin being gone, O fill the place,
And keep possession with thy grace;
Lest sin take courage and return,
And all the writings blot or burn.

The Sepulchre of Jesus Christ

2008-03-21T10:55:00.000-05:00

Jesus Christ was dead, but seen on the Cross. He was dead, and hidden in the sepulchre.
Jesus Christ was buried by the saints alone.
Jesus Christ worked no miracles at the sepulchre.
Only the saints entered it.
There, not on the Cross, Jesus Christ took a new life.
It is the last mystery of the passion and the redemption.
Jesus Christ had no where to rest on earth but in the sepulchre.
His enemies only ceased to persecute him at the sepulchre.

I consider Jesus Christ in all persons and in ourselves. Jesus Christ as a father in his father, Jesus Christ as a brother in his brethren, Jesus Christ as poor in the poor, Jesus Christ as rich in the rich, JEsus Christ as doctor and priest in priests, Jesus Christ as sovereign in princes, etc. For by his glory he is all that is great, since he is God; and he is by his mortal life all that is miserable and abject. Therefore he has taken this wretched state, to enable him to be in all persons, and the model of all conditions.

The false justice of Pilate only caused the suffering of Jesus Christ; for he caused him to be scourged by his false justice, and then slew him. It would have been better that he had slain him at first. Thus is it with those who are falsely just. They do good works or evil to please the world, and show that they are not altogether of Jesus Christ, for they are ashamed of him. Then at last in great temptations and on great occasions, they slay him.
It seems to me that Jesus Christ after his resurrection allowed his wounds only to be touched: Noli me tangere. We must unite ourselves to his sufferings only.

At the Last Supper he gave himself in communion as one about to die; to the disciples at Emmaus as one risen from the dead; to the whole Church as one ascended into heaven.

Compare not thyself with others, but with me. If thou findest me not in those with whom thou comparest thyself, thou comparest thyself with him that is abominable. If thou findest me there compare thyself to me. But who is it that thou dost compare? Thyself, or me in thee? If it be thyself it is one that is abominable; it it be me thou comparest me to myself. Now I am God in all.
I speak and often counsel thee because thy Guardian can not speak to thee, for I will not that thou shouldest lack a guide.
And perhaps I do so at his prayers, and thus he leads thee without thy seeing it.
Thou wouldest not seek me unless thou didst possess me.
Therefore be not troubled.

Be comforted; it is not from yourself that you must expect it; but on the contrary, expecting nothing from yourself, you must await it.
Pray that ye enter not into temptation. It is dangerous to be tempted, and those alone are tempted who do not pray.
Et tu conversus confirma fratres tuos. But before, conversus Jesus respexit Petrum.
Saint Peter asked permission to strike Malchus, and struck before having the answer; Jesus Christ answered afterwards.

I love poverty because he loved it. I love wealth because it gives the power of helping the miserable. I keep my troth to everyone; rendering not evil to those who do me wrong; but I wish them a lot like mine, in which I receive neither good nor evil from men. I try to be just, true, sincere, and faithful to all men; I have a tender heart for those to whom God has more closely bound me; and whether I am alone or seen of men I place all my actions in the sight of God, who shall judge them, and to whom I have consecrated them all.
Such are my opinions, and each day of my life I bless my Redeemer who has implanted them in me, who has transformed me, a man full of weakness, misery, and lust, of pride and ambition, into a man exempt from these evils, by the power of his grace, to which all the glory is due; since of myself I have only misery and sin.

The Mystery of Jesus (Pt 3)

2008-03-20T10:52:00.004-05:00

I see the depths which are in me of pride, curiosity and lust. There is no relation between me and God, nor Jesus the Christ the Just One. But he has been made sin for me, all thy scourges are fallen upon him. He is more abominable than I, and far from abhorring me he holds himself honoured that I go to him and succour him.
But he has healed himself, and still more will he heal me.
I must add my wounds to his, and join me to him, and he will save me in saving himself.
But this must not be put off to a future day.
Do little things as though they were great, because of the majesty of Jesus Christ who does them in us, and who lives our life; do great things as though they were small and easy, because of his omnipotence.

The Mystery of Jesus (Pt 2)

2008-03-20T10:52:00.001-05:00

Console thyself, thou wouldst not seek me hadst thou not found me.
I thought of thee in mine agony, such drops of blood I shed for thee.
It is tempting me rather than proving thyself, to think if thou wouldest act well in a case which has not occurred, I will act in thee if it occur.
Let my rules guide thy conduct; see how I have led the Virgin and the saints who have let me act in them.
The Father loves all that I do.
Must I ever shed the blood of my humanity and thou give no tears?
Thy conversion is my affair; fear not and pray with confidence as for me.
I am present with thee by my word in the Scriptures, by my Spirit in the Church and by inspiration, by my power in the priest, by my prayer in the faithful.
Physicians will not heal thee, for tho wilt die at last. But it is I who heal thee and make the body immortal.
Suffer chains and bodily servitude, I deliver thee now only from what is spiritual.
I am to thee more a friend than such or such an one, for I have done for thee more than they; they have not borne what I have borne from thee, they have not died for thee as I have done in the time of thine infidelities and thy cruelties, and as I am ready to do and do in my elect and at the Holy Sacrament.
If thou knewest thy sins thou wouldest lose heart.--I shall lose it then O Lord, for on y word I believe their malice.--No, for I by whom thou learnest it can heal thee of them, and what I tell thee is a sign that I will heal thee. As thou dost expiate them, thou wilt know them, and it will be said to thee: "Behold, thy sins are forgiven thee!"
Repent then for thy secret sins, and for the hidden malice of those which thou knowest.
Lord, I give thee all.--
I love thee more ardently than thou hast loved thine uncleanness, ut immundus pro luto.
To me be the glory, not to thee, thou worm of earth.
Ask thy director, when my own words are to thee occasion of evil, or vanity, or curiosity.

The Mystery of Jesus (Pt 1)

2008-03-20T10:26:00.003-05:00

Jesus suffered in his passion the torments which men inflicted on him, but in his agony he suffered torments which he inflicted on himself; turbare semetipsum. This is a suffering from no human, but an almighty hand, and he who bears it must also be almighty.
Jesus sought some comfort at least in his three dearest friends, and they were asleep. he prayed them to watch with him awhile, and they left him with utter carelessness, having so little compassion that it could not hinder their sleeping even for a moment. And thus Jesus was left alone to the wrath of God.
Jesus was without one on the earth not merely to feel and share his suffering, but even to know of it; he and heaven were alone in that knowledge.
Jesus was in a garden, not of delight as the first Adam, in which he destroyed himself and the whole human race; but in one of agony, in which he saved himself and the whole human race.
He suffered this sorrow and this desertion in the horror of night.
I believe that Jesus never complained but on this single occasion, but then he complained as if he could no longer restrain his extreme sorrow. "My soul is sorrowful, even unto death."
Jesus sought companionship and consolation from men. This was the only time in his life, as it seems to me; but he received it not, for his disciples were asleep.
Jesus will be in agony even to the end of the world. We must not sleep during that time.
Jesus in the midst of this universal desertion, even that of his own friends chosen to watch with him, finding them asleep, was vexed because of the danger to which they exposed, not him, but themselves; he warned them of their own safety and of their good, with a heartfelt tenderness for them during their ingratitude, and warned them that the spirit is willing and the flesh weak.
Jesus, finding them still sleeping, unrestrained by any consideration for themselves or for him, had the tenderness not to wake them but to let them sleep on.
Jesus prayed, uncertain of the will of his Father, and feared death; but so soon as he knew it he went forward to offer himself to death: Eamus. Processit. John.
Jesus asked of men, and was not heard.
Jesus, while his disciples slept, wrought their salvation. He has wrought that of each of the just while they slept both in their nothingness before their birth, and in their sins after their birth. He prayed only once that the cup should pass away, and then with submission; but twice that it should come if need were.

Jesus was weary.
Jesus, seeing all his friends asleep and all his enemies wakeful, gave himself over entirely to his Father.
Jesus did not regard in Judas his enmity, but God's order, which he loves and admits, since he calls him friend.
Jesus tore himself away from his disciples to enter into his agony; we must tear ourselves from our nearest and dearest to imitate him.
Jesus being in agony and in the greatest sorrow, let us pray longer...

George Herbert--The Sacrifice (Pt 3)

2008-03-19T10:15:00.000-05:00

Weep not, dear friends, since I for both have wept,
When all My tears were blood, the while you slept:
Your tears for your own fortunes should be kept:
Was ever grief like mine?

The soldiers lead Me to the common hall;
There they deride Me, they abuse Me all:
Yet for twelve heavenly legions I could call:
Was ever grief like mine?

Then with a scarlet robe they Me array;
Which shews My blood to be the only way,
And cordial left to repair man's decay:
Was ever grief like mine?

Then on My head a crown of thorns I wear;
For these are all the grapes Sion doth bear,
Though I My vine planted and watered there:
Was ever grief like mine?

So sits the earth's great curse in Adam's fall
Upon My head: so I remove it all
From the earth unto My brows, and bear the thrall:
Was ever grief like mine?

Then with the reed they gave to Me before,
They strike My head, the Rock from whence all store
Of heavenly blessings issue evermore:
Was ever grief like mine?

They bow their knees to Me, and cry, Hail, King :
Whatever scoffs or scornfulness can bring,
I am the floor, the sink, where they it fling:
Was ever grief like mine?

Yet since man's sceptres are as frail as reeds,
And thorny all their crowns, bloody their weeds;
I, who am Truth, turn into truth their deeds:
Was ever grief like mine?

The soldiers also spit upon that face
Which angels did desire to have the grace,
And prophets once to see, but found no place:
Was ever grief like mine?

Thus trimmed forth they bring Me to the rout,
Who Crucify Him, cry with one strong shout.
God holds His peace at man, and man cries out:
Was ever grief like mine?

They lead Me in once more, and putting then
My own clothes on, they lead Me out again.
Whom devils fly, thus is He tossed of men:
Was ever grief like mine?

And now weary of sport, glad to engross
All spite in one, counting My life their loss,
They carry me to My most bitter cross:
Was ever grief like mine?

My cross I bear Myself, until I faint:
Then Simon bears it for Me by constraint,
The decreed burden of each mortal Saint:
Was ever grief like mine?

O all ye who pass by, behold and see:
Man stole the fruit, but I must climb the tree;
The tree of life to all, but only Me:
Was ever grief like mine?

Lo, here I hang, charged with a world of sin,
The greater world o' the two; for that came in
By words, but this by sorrow I must win:
Was ever grief like mine?

Such sorrow, as if sinful man could feel,
Or feel his part, he would not cease to kneel,
Till all were melted, though he were all steel.
Was ever grief like mine?

But O My God, My God! why leav'st Thou Me,
The Son, in Whom Thou dost delight to be?
My God, My God---------
Never was grief like mine.

Shame tears My soul, My body many a wound;
Sharp nails pierce this, but sharper that confound;
Reproaches, which are free, while I am bound:
Was ever grief like mine?

Now heal Thyself, Physician; now come down.
Alas! I did so, when I left My crown
And Father's smile for you, to feel His frown:
Was ever grief like mine?

In healing not Myself, there doth consist
All that salvation, which ye now resist;
Your safety in My sickness doth subsist:
Was ever grief like mine?

Betwixt two thieves I spend My utmost breath,
As he that for some robbery suffereth.
Alas! what have I stolen from you? death:
Was ever grief like mine?

A King my title is, prefixed on high;
Yet by My subjects I'm condemned to die
A servile death in servile company:
Was ever grief like mine?

They give Me vinegar mingled with gall,
But more with malice: yet, when they did call,
With manna, Angel's food, I fed them all:
Was ever grief like mine?

They part My garments, and by lot dispose
My coat, the type of love, which once cured those
Who sought for help, never malicious foes:
Was ever grief like mine?

Nay, after death their spite shall further go;
For they will pierce My side, I full well know;
That as sin came, so Sacraments might flow:
Was ever grief like mine?

But now I die; now all is finished.
My woe, man's weal: and now I bow My head:
Only let others say, when I am dead,
Never was grief like Mine!

George Herbert--The Sacrifice (Pt 2)

2008-03-18T09:56:00.000-05:00

Then from one ruler to another bound
They lead Me: urging, that it was not sound
What I taught: comments would the text confound.
Was ever grief like mine?

The priests and rulers all false witness seek
'Gainst Him, who seeks not life, but is the meek
And ready Paschal Lamb of this great week:
Was ever grief like mine?

Then they accuse Me of great blasphemy,
That I did thrust into the Deity,
Who never thought that any robbery:
Was ever grief like mine?

Some said, that I the temple to the floor
In three days razed, and raised as before.
Why, He that built the world can do much more:
Was ever grief like mine?

Then they condemn Me all with that same breath,
Which I do give them daily, unto death.
Thus Adam My first breathing rendereth:
Was ever grief like mine?

They bind, and lead Me unto Herod: he
Sends Me to Pilate. This makes them agree;
But yet their friendship is My enmity.
Was ever grief like mine?

Herod and all his bands so set Me light,
Who teach all hands to war, fingers to fight,
And only am the Lord of hosts and might.
Was ever grief like mine?

Herod in judgment sits, while I do stand;
Examines me with a censorious hand:
I him obey, who all things else command:
Was ever grief like mine?

The Jews accuse Me with despitefulness;
And vying malice with My gentleness,
Pick quarrels with their only happiness:
Was ever grief like mine?

I answer nothing, but with patience prove
If stony hearts will melt with gentle love.
But who does hawk at eagles with a dove?
Was ever grief like mine?

My silence rather doth augment their cry;
My Dove doth back into My bosom fly,
Because the raging waters still are high:
Was ever grief like mine?

Hark how they cry aloud still, Crucify.
It is not fit He live a day, they cry,
Who cannot live less than eternally:
Was ever grief like mine?

Pilate, a stranger, holdeth off; but they,
Mine own dear people, cry, Away, away,
With noises confused frighting the day.
Was ever grief like mine?

Yet still they shout, and cry, and stop their ears,
Putting My life among their sins and fears,
And therefore wish My blood on them and theirs.
Was ever grief like mine?

See how spite cankers things. These words aright
Used, and wished, are the whole world's delight:
But honey is their gall, brightness their night:
Was ever grief like mine?

They choose a murderer, and all agree
In him to do themselves a courtesy;
For it was their own cause who killed Me:
Was ever grief like mine?

And a seditious murderer he was:
But I the Prince of peace; peace that doth pass
All understanding, more than heaven doth glass:
Was ever grief like mine?

Why, Caesar is their only King, not I:
He clave the stony rock, when they were dry;
But surely not their hearts, as I well try.
Was ever grief like mine?

Ah, how they scourge Me! yet My tenderness
Doubles each lash, and yet their bitterness
Winds up My grief to a mysteriousness.
Was ever grief like mine?

They buffet Me, and box Me as they list,
Who grasp the earth and heaven with My fist,
And never yet, whom I would punish, missed:
Was ever grief like mine?

Behold, they spit on Me in scornful wise;
Who by My spittle gave the blind man eyes,
Leaving his blindness to Mine enemies:
Was ever grief like mine?

My face they cover, though it be divine.
As Moses' face was veiled, so is Mine,
Lest on their double-dark souls either shine:
Was ever grief like mine?

Servants and abjects flout Me; they are witty:
Now prophesy who strikes Thee! is their ditty.
So they, in Me, deny themselves all pity:
Was ever grief like mine?

And now I am delivered unto death,
Which each one calls for so with utmost breath,
That he before Me well-nigh suffereth:
Was ever grief like mine?

George Herbert--The Sacrifice (Pt 1)

2008-03-17T08:20:00.003-05:00

O all ye, who pass by, whose eyes and mind
To worldly things are sharp, but to Me blind;
To me, who took eyes that I might you find:
Was ever grief like Mine?

The princes of My people make a head
Against their Maker: they do wish Me dead,
Who cannot wish, except I give them bread:
Was ever grief like Mine?

Without Me each one, who doth now Me brave,
Had to this day been an Egyptian slave.
They use that power against Me, which I gave:
Was ever grief like Mine?

Mine own apostle, who the bag did bear,
Though he had all I had, did not forbear
To sell Me also, and to put Me there:
Was ever grief like Mine?

For thirty pence he did My death devise,
Who at three hundred did the ointment prize,
Not half so sweet as My sweet sacrifice:
Was ever grief like Mine?

Therefore My soul melts, and My heart's dear treasure
Drops blood (the only beads) my words to measure:
O let this cup pass, if it be Thy pleasure:
Was ever grief like Mine?

These drops being tempered with a sinner's tears,
A balsam are for both the hemispheres,
Curing all wounds, but Mine; all, but My fears.
Was ever grief like Mine?

Yet My disciples sleep: I cannot gain
One hour of watching; but their drowsy brain
Comforts not Me, and doth My doctrine stain;
Was ever grief like Mine?

Arise, arise, they come. Look how they run!
Alas! what haste they make to be undone!
How with their lanterns do they seek the Sun!
Was ever grief like Mine?

With clubs and staves they seek Me, as a thief,
Who am the way of truth, the true relief,
Most true to those who are My greatest grief:
Was ever grief like Mine?

Judas, dost thou betray Me with a kiss?
Canst thou find hell about My lips? and miss
Of life, just at the gates of life and bliss?
Was ever grief like Mine?

See, they lay hold on Me, not with the hands
Of faith, but fury; yet at their commands
I suffer binding, Who have loosed their bands:
Was ever grief like Mine?

All My disciples fly; fear puts a bar
Betwixt My friends and Me. They leave the star
That brought the wise men of the East from far:
Was ever grief like Mine?

.....

On the Passion of Love (excerpt)

2007-11-26T10:50:00.000-05:00

What transport do we not feel in moulding all our actions in view of pleasing the person whom we infinitely esteem! We study each day to find the means of revealing ourselves, and thus employ as much time as if we were holding converse with the one whom we love. The eyes kindle and grow dim at the same moment, and although we do not see plainly that the one who causes this disorder takes heed of it, we still have the satisfaction of feeling all these emotions for a person who deserves them so well. We would gladly have a hundred tongues to make it known; for as we cannot make use of words, we are obliged to confine ourselves to the eloquence of action...

The first effect of love is to inspire a profound respect; we have veneration for what we love. It is very just; we see nothing in the world so great as this...

Edward Henry Bickersteth

2007-11-16T12:00:00.000-05:00

Till he come! O let the words
Linger on the trembling chords;
Let the little while between
In their golden light be seen;
Let us think how heav'n and home
Lie beyond that "Till he come."

When the weary ones we love
Enter on their rest above,
Seems the earth so poor and vast,
All our life joy overcast?
Hush, be ev'ry murmur dumb:
It is only till he come.

Clouds and conflicts round us press:
Would we have one sorrow less?
All the sharpness of the cross,
All that tells the world is loss,
Death and darkness, and the tomb,
Only whisper "Till he come."

See, the feast of love is spread,
Drink the wine, and break the bread:
Sweet memorials, till the Lord
Call us round his heav'nly board;
Some from earth, from glory some,
Severed only till he come.

--Edward Henry Bickersteth, 1862

VI.

2007-11-10T16:51:00.000-05:00

Perfect, O my God, the good impulses that thou givest me. Be their end as thou art their principle. Crown thy own gifts, for I recognize that they are from thee. Yes, my God, and far from pretending that my prayers may have some merit that forces thee to accord them of necessity, I humbly acknowledge that, having given to created things my heart, which thou hadst formed only for thyself, and not for the world, nor for myself, I can expect no grace except from thy mercy, since I have nothing in me that can oblige thee to it, and since all the natural impulses of my heart, whether tending towards created things, or towards myself, can only irritat thee. I, therefore, render thee thanks, my God, for the good impulses which thou givest me, and for the very one that thou hast given me to render thanks for them.

424.

2007-10-23T17:34:00.000-05:00

It is the heart which perceives God, and not the reason. That is what faith is: God perceived by the heart, not by the reason.

12.

2007-10-09T19:46:00.000-05:00

Order. Men despise religion. They hate it and are afraid it may be true. The cure for this is first to show that religion is not contrary to reason, but worthy of reverence and respect.
Next make it attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show that it is.
Worthy of reverence because it really understands human nature.
Attractive because it promises true good.

7.

2007-10-08T19:39:00.000-05:00

Letter showing the usefulness of proofs, by the Machine. Faith is different from proof. One is human and the other a gift of God. The just shall live by faith. This is the faith that God himself puts into our hearts, often using proof as the instrument. Faith cometh by hearing. But this faith is in our hearts, and makes us say not 'Scio' ['I know'] but 'Credo' ['I believe'].

308.

2007-09-21T10:59:00.000-05:00

The infinite distance between body and mind symbolizes the infinitely more infinite distance between mind and charity, for charity is supernatural.
All the splendour of greatness lacks lustre for those engaged in pursuits of the mind.
The greatness of intellectual people is not visible to kings, rich men, captains, who are all great in a carnal sense.
The greatness of wisdom, which is nothing if it does not come from God, is not visible to carnal or intellectual people. They are three orders differing in kind.
Great geniuses have their power, their splendour, their greatness, their victory and their lustre, and do not need carnal greatness, which has no relevance for them. They are recognized not with the eyes but with the mind, and that is enough.
Saints have their power, their splendour, their victory, their lustre, and do not need either carnal or intellectual greatness, which has no relevance for them, for it neither adds nor takes away anything. They are recognized by God and the angels, and not by bodies or by curious minds. God is enough for them.
Archimedes in obscurity would still be revered. He fought no battles visible to the eyes, but enriched every mind with his discoveries. How splendidly he shone in the minds of men!
Jesus without wealth or any outward show of knowledge has his own order of holiness. He made no discoveries; he did not reign, but he was humble, patient, thrice holy to God, terrible to devils, and without sin. With what great pomp and marvellously magnificent array he came in the eyes of the heart, which perceive wisdom!
It would have been pointless for Archimedes to play the prince in his mathematical books, prince though he was.
It would have been pointless for Our Lord Jesus Christ to come as a king with splendour in his reign of holiness, but he truly came in splendour in his own order.
It is quite absurd to be shocked at the lowliness of Jesus, as if his lowliness was of the same order as the greatness he came to reveal.
If we consider his greatness in his life, his passion, his obscurity, his death, in the way he chose his disciples, in their desertion, in his secret resurrection and all the rest, we shall see that it is so great that we have no reason to be shocked at a lowliness which has nothing to do with it.
But there are some some who are only capable of admiring carnal greatness, as if there were no such thing as greatness of the mind. And others who only admire greatness of the mind, as if there were not infinitely higher greatness in wisdom.
All bodies, the firmament, the stars, the earth and its kingdoms are not worth the least of minds, for it knows them all and itself too, while bodies know nothing.
All bodies together and all minds together and all their products are not worth the least impulse of charity. This is of an infinitely superior order.
Out of all bodies together we could not succeed in creating one little thought. It is impossible, and of a different order. Out of all bodies and minds we could not extract one impulse of true charity. It is impossible, and of a different, supernatural, order.

463.

2007-09-05T15:44:00.000-05:00

It is a remarkable fact that no canonical author has ever used nature to prove God. They all try to make people believe in him. David, Solomon, etc., never said: 'There is no such thing as a vacuum, therefore God exists.' They must have been cleverer than the cleverest of their successors, all of whom have used proofs from nature. This is very noteworthy.

429.

2007-08-29T17:15:00.001-05:00

This is what I see and what troubles me. I look around in every direction and all I see is darkness. Nature has nothing to offer me that does not give rise to doubt and anxiety. If I saw no sign there of a Divinity I should decide on a negative solution: if I saw signs of a Creator everywhere I should peacefully settle down in the faith. But, seeing too much to deny and not enough to affirm, I am in a pitiful state, where I have wished a hundred times over that, if there is a God supporting nature, she should unequivocally proclaim him, and that, if the signs in nature are deceptive, they should be completely erased; that nature should say everything or nothing so that I could see what course I ought to follow. Instead of that, in the state in which I am, not knowing what I am nor what I ought to do, I know neither my condition nor my duty. My whole heart strains to know what the true good is in order to pursue it: no price would be too high to pay for eternity.

38.

2007-08-26T17:48:00.000-05:00

Too much and too little wine.
Do not give him any, he cannot find the truth. Give him too much; the same thing.

445.

2007-08-20T17:15:00.001-05:00

What are we to conclude from all our darkness but our unworthiness?

446.

2007-08-20T17:13:00.000-05:00

If there were no obscurity man would not feel his corruption: if there were no light man could not hope for a cure. Thus it is not only right but useful for us that God should be partly concealed and partly revealed, since it is equally dangerous for man to know God without knowing his own wretchedness as to know his wretchedness without knowing God.

Etienne Gilson

2007-08-12T18:51:00.000-05:00

"There is more than one excuse for being a Descartes, but there is no excuse whatever for being a Cartesian."
Etienne Gilson, The Unity of Philosophical Experience

414.

2007-08-12T18:48:00.000-05:00

Wretchedness. The only thing that consoles us for our miseries is diversion. And yet it is the greatest of our miseries. For it is that above all which prevents us thinking about ourselves and leads us imperceptibly to destruction. But for that we should be bored, and boredom would drive us to seek some more solid means of escape, but diversion passes our time and brings us imperceptibly to our death.

412.

2007-08-12T18:46:00.000-05:00

Men are so inevitably mad that not to be mad would be to give a mad twist to madness.

175.

2007-08-02T13:47:00.000-05:00

One of the ways in which the damned will be confounded is that they will see themselves condemned by their own reason, by which they claimed to condemn the Christian religion.

131 (selection).

2007-06-28T19:34:00.001-05:00

What then is man to do in this state of affairs? Is he to doubt everything, to doubt whether he is awake, whether he is being pinched or burned? Is he to doubt whether he is doubting, to doubt whether he exists?
No one can go that far, and I maintain that a perfectly genuine sceptic has never existed. Nature backs up helpless reason and stops it going so wildly astray.
Is he, on the other hand, to say that he is the certain possessor of truth, when at the slightest pressure he fails to prove his claim and is compelled to loose his grasp?
What sort of freak then is man! How novel, how monstrous, how chaotic, how paradoxical, how prodigious! Judge of all things, feeble earthworm, repository of truth, sewer of doubt and error, the glory and refuse of the universe!
Who will unravel such a tangle? This is certainly beyond dogmatism and skepticism, beyond all human philosophy. Man transcends man.

378.

2007-06-15T14:31:00.000-05:00

'If I had seen a miracle,' they say, 'I should be converted.' How can they be positive that they would do what they know nothing about? They imagine that such a conversion consists in a worship of God conducted, as they picture it, like some exchange or conversation. True conversion consists in self-annihilation before the universal being whom we have so often vexed and who is perfectly entitled to destroy us at any moment, in recognizing that we can do nothing without him and that we have deserved nothing but his disfavour. It consists in knowing that there is an irreconcilable opposition between God and us, and that without a mediator there can be no exchange.

427 (selections I).

2007-05-21T20:55:00.000-05:00

I can feel nothing but compassion for those who sincerely lament their doubt, who regard it as the ultimate misfortune, and who, sparing no effort to escape from it, make their search their principal and most serious business.
But as for those who spend their lives without a thought for this final end of life and who, solely because they do not find within themselves the light of conviction, neglect to look elsewhere, and to examine thoroughly whether this opinion is one of those which people accept out of credulous simplicity or one of those which, though obscure in themselves, none the less have a most solid and unshakeable foundation: as for them, I view them very differently.
This negligence in a matter where they themselves, their eternity, their all are at stake, fills me more with irritation than pity; it astounds and appals me; it seems quite monstrous to me. I do not say this prompted by the pious zeal of spiritual devotion. I mean on the contrary that we ought to have this feeling from principles of human interest and self-esteem. For that we need only see what the least enlightened see.

427 (selections II).

2007-05-21T20:51:00.000-05:00

One needs no great sublimity of soul to realize that in this life there is no true and solid satisfaction, that all our pleasures are mere vanity, that our affections are infinite, and finally that death which threatens us at every moment must in a few years infallibly face us with the inescapable and appalling alternative of being annihilated or wretched throughout eternity.
Nothing could be more real, or more dreadful than that. Let us put on as bold a face as we like: that is the end awaiting the world's most illustrious life. Let us ponder these things, and then say whether it is not beyond doubt that the only good thing in this life is the hope of another life, that we become happy only as we come nearer to it, and that, just as no more unhappiness awaits those who have been quite certain of eternity, so there is no happiness for those who have no inkling of it.
It is therefore quite certainly a great evil to have such doubts, but it is at least an indispensable obligation to seek when one does thus doubt; so the doubter who does not seek is at the same time very unhappy and very wrong.

427 (selections III).

2007-05-21T20:48:00.000-05:00

Now what advantage is it to us to hear someone say he has shaken off the yoke, that he does not believe that there is a God watching over his actions, that he considers himself sole master of his behaviour, and that he proposes to account for it to no one but himself? Does he think that by so doing he has henceforth won our full confidence, and made us expect from him consolation, counsel and assistance in all life's needs? Do they think that they have given us great pleasure by telling us that they hold our soul to be no more than wind or smoke, and saying it moreover in tones of pride and satisfaction? Is this then something to be said gaily? Is it not on the contrary something to be said sadly, as being the saddest thing in the world?

427 (selections IV).

2007-05-21T20:45:00.000-05:00

There is no surer sign of extreme weakness than the failure to recognize the unhappy state of a man without God; there is no surer sign of an evil heart than failure to desire that the eternal promises be true; nothing is more cowardly than to brazen it out with God. Let them then leave such impiety to those ill-bred enough to be really capable of it; let them at least be decent people if they cannot be Christians; let them, in short, acknowledge that there are only two classes of persons who can be called reasonable: those who serve God with all their heart because they know him and those who seek him with all their heart because they do not know him.

908.

2007-05-13T17:43:00.001-05:00

Some fear to lose [God], others to find him.

152.

2007-05-12T17:32:00.000-05:00

Between us and heaven or hell there is only life half-way, the most fragile thing in the world.

449. (selections)

2007-05-09T20:48:00.000-05:00

It teaches men then these two truths alike: that there is a God, of whom men are capable, and that there is a corruption in nature which makes them unworthy. It is of equal importance to men to know each of these points: and it is equally dangerous for man to know God without knowing his own wretchedness as to know his own wretchedness without knowing the Redeemer who can cure him. Knowing only one of these points leads either to the arrogance of the philosophers, who have known God but not their own wretchedness, or to the despair of the atheists, who know their own wretchedness without knowing their Redeemer.
And thus, as it is equally necessary for man to know these two points, so it is equally merciful of God to have let us know them. The Christian religion does so, and it consists indeed of this.

II.

2007-05-09T15:30:00.000-05:00

Thou gavest me health to serve thee, and I made a profane use of it. Thou sendest me sickness now to correct me: suffer not that I use it to irritate thee by my impatience. I made a bad use of my health, and thou hast justly punished me for it. Suffer not that I make a bad use of my punishment. And since the corruption of my nature is such that it renders thy favors pernicious to me, grant, O my God! that thy all-powerful grace may render thy chastisements salutary. If my heart was full of affection for the world while it retained its vigor, destroy this vigor for my salvation; and render me incapable of enjoying the world, either through weakness of body or through zeal of charity, that I may enjoy but thee alone.

I.

2007-05-08T18:38:00.000-05:00

LORD, whose spirit is so good and so gentle in all things, and who art so merciful that not only the prosperity but the very disgrace that happens to thy elect is the effect of thy mercy, grant me the favor not to act towards me as towards a heathen in the condition to which thy justice has reduced me: that like a true Christian I may recognize thee for my Father and my God, in whatever condition I may find myself, since the change of my condition brings none to thine; as thou art always the same, however subject I may be to change, and as thou art none the less God when thou afflictest and punishest, than when thou comfortest and showest indulgence.

GK Chesterton

2007-04-25T07:45:00.000-05:00

The softening of the brain which ultimately overtook him was not a physical accident. If Nietzsche had not ended in imbecility, Nietzscheism would end in imbecility. Thinking in isolation and with pride ends in being an idiot. Every man who will not have softening of the heart must at last have softening of the brain.
--Chesterton, Orthodoxy, chapter 3

430

2007-04-24T12:18:00.000-05:00

The greatness and the wretchedness of man are so evident that the true religion must necessarily teach us both that there is in man some great source of greatness, and a great source of wretchedness. It must then give us a reason for these astonishing contradictions.

In order to make man happy, it must prove to him that there is a God; that we ought to love Him; that our true happiness is to be in Him, and our sole evil to be separated from Him; it must recognize that we are full of darkness which hinders us from knowing and loving Him; and that thus, as our duties compel us to love God, and our lusts turn us away from Him, we are full of righteousness. It must give us an explanation of our opposition to God and to our own good. It must teach us the remedies for these infirmities, and the means of obtaining these remedies. Let us therefore examine all the religions of the world, and see if there be any other than the Christian which is sufficient for this purpose.