Francis W. Johnston - The Voice of The Saints: Counsels from the Saints to Bring Comfort and Guidance in Daily Living

THE VOICE OF THE SAINTS

Counsels from the Saints to bring comfort and guidance in daily living

Francis W. Johnston

NIHIL OBSTAT
Antverpi, 2 Martii 1965
FL. VAN DER VEKEN, S.J., libr. cens.

IMPRIMATUR
Antverpi, 2 Martii 1965
C. EYKENS, Vic. Gen.

Copyright 1965 by Burns & Oates, London.

Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 86-50851

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Brief selections may be quoted without permission.

TAN BOOKS
Charlotte, North Carolina

1986

TO

MARY

THE MOTHER OF GOD,

QUEEN OF ALL SAINTS

AND

HELP OF CHRISTIANS

CONTENTS

PREFACE

W HEN we reflect on the doctrine of the Communion of Saints, with its common bond of union binding together all members of the Church in this world and the next, including all honest seekers after God (who may be designated members of the Church by desire), we are at once conscious of the wonderful unity and harmony of Christ's Mystical Body. Through the Communion of Saints there flows ceaselessly from Christ, who is the Head, grace and spiritual riches to all the members of His Mystical Body. We share in all the virtues and merits of the Saints. What belongs to one belongs to all. "Everything good which the Saints ever brought about", explains St Thomas Aquinas, "is imparted to those who live in Charity, because they are all one."

Further consideration of this wonderful Mystery of Faith leads us to the realization that we can even share in the very lives of the Saints. All their hard-won experience gained in surmounting the most stubborn difficulties and frustrations of life, in sustaining an extraordinary variety of trials, in ultimately beating down the most persistent temptationsall this wealth of experience has been handed down by the Saints as a rich legacy for us to assume. Their counsels are the fruit of triumphant living. Together with the shining example of their holy lives, they form a perfect complement to the stream of spiritual riches which we receive from them through the Communion of Saints.

It is the purpose of this book to present the substance of these counsels.

This work lays no claim to being a comprehensive treasury of the wisdom and words of the Saints. Nor does it include all those sayings that have become known for their poetry or facility of expression. These are the teachings of the Saints which, I feel, exercise a powerful influence upon our daily lives, directing us in the most important undertaking we are called upon to performthe fulfilment of our spiritual duties.

When the plan of this work was first conceived, it was immediately evident that a formidable research would be necessary. All the available writings of the Saints that I could come across, including their letters, sermons and sayings, had to be closely scrutinized. The quotations in this book were therefore compiled from an incredible variety of sources. Besides the standard works, which I have acknowledged elsewhere, my sources included countless books and booklets, most of which have been long out of print, old manuscripts, ecclesiastical tomes dating back to the last century, numberless religious magazines, pamphlets and prayer cards, all fed by a steady stream of material from various religious houses in North America and Europe.

It would be impossible therefore to compile an accurate bibliography.

That I was able to accomplish so much is a splendid tribute to the co-operation of many kind helpers.

First, I must express my thanks to the staff of the Vancouver Catholic Library for their generous help in locating many required volumes. Thanks are also due to the Basilian Fathers, Vancouver, for permission to use the facilities of St Mark's Library, University of British Columbia; to Reverend Francis Lawless, C.SS.R., for use of the Redemptorist Fathers' private library in Vancouver, which I found particularly helpful; to the Augustinian Fathers for use of their library at the Monastery of Our Lady of Consolation, Ladner, B.C.; and finally, to the Benedictine Fathers of Westminster Abbey, Mission City, B.C., who gave me much assistance in utilizing the resources of their splendid library and kindly permitted me to reside at the Monastery for the duration of my research there.

I am also indebted to Reverend Francis X. Chang and Reverend J.L. Lemire, S.S.S., of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, B.C., for assistance in research. Also to Miss Patricia Young, the well-known Canadian Catholic author and columnist, and Mr. Andrew F. O'Brien of Cookham, England, for a number of important suggestions which bore directly on the shape of the work while being drafted. Thanks are also due to Mr. T.L.K. White of Reading, England, who supplied me with invaluable material pertaining to the English martyrs, and Mrs. E. Tate, for loan of certain works which I was unable to locate elsewhere.

I also wish to express my appreciation to the many religious Communities in North America and Europe who supplied me with material relative to the Saints of their Orders.

Finally, I am most indebted to Mr. J.V. Coyle, M.A., of the Institute of Lay Theology, San Francisco, who undertook the reading of my manuscript and its revision, and suggested a number of important modifications which I incorporated into the final draft.

F. W. J.

Feast of All Saints,

November 1, 1963.

PROLOGUE

C HRISTIANITY is the profession of the life of Christ. St Gregory Nazianzen (d. 395) .

A CHRISTIAN has a union with Jesus Christ more noble, more intimate and more perfect than the members of a human body have with their head. St John Eudes (1601-80) .

W E too are Christ because we are His members, because we are His Body, because He is our Head, because the whole Christ is Head and Body. St Augustine (354-430) .

B Y nature, each one of us is enclosed in his own personality, but supernaturally, we are all one. We are made one body in Christ, because we are nourished by one flesh. As Christ is indivisible, we are all one in Him.

Therefore, He asked His Father " that they may all be One as We also are One ." St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) .

T HE Christian life is the continuation and completion of the life of Christ in us. We should be so many Christs here on earth, continuing His life and His works, labouring and suffering in a holy and divine manner in the spirit of Jesus. St John Eudes (1601-80) .

L ET us therefore give ourselves to God with a great desire to begin to live thus, and beg Him to destroy in us the life of the world of sin, and to establish His life within us. St John Eudes (1601-80) .

THE CHRISTIAN DUTY

S ANCTIFY yourself and you will sanctify society. St Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) .

How do we fulfil our duties as Christians in the modern world? How do we apply the maxims of the Gospel to the surge of modern life? What are our obligations to society? To our neighbour? To ourself? And above all, to God? Where, in an unhallowed world, do we find a halo?

These fundamental questions pose themselves to each and every one of us. And in reply, the Saints tell us that unless we have a clear understanding of the answers, and moreover, resolve to apply ourselves diligently in the attainment of these answers, which they freely give, we are in effect walking backwards upon the road that leads to Life .