Rev. Fr. R. P. Quadrupani - Light and Peace: Instructions for Devout Souls to Dispel Their Doubts and Allay Their Fears

Nihil Obstat:	F. G. Holweck Censor Librorum St. Louis, June 11, 1904
Imprimatur:		Joannes J. Glennon Archbishop of St. Louis June 11, 1904

Originally published in English by B. Herder Book Company. Reprinted by B. Herder Book Company in 1957.

Copyright 1980 by TAN Books, an Imprint of Saint Benedict Press, LLC.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 79-67860

ISBN: 978-0-89555-133-7

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.

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

TAN Books
Charlotte, North Carolina
2010

Translators Preface

T HESE Instructions for Pious Souls, now published in English under the title Light and Peace, were written in 1795 by the illustrious and saintly Barnabite, Padre Quadrupani. They contain a summary of spiritual guidance for earnest Christians in the ordinary duties of life in the world. The author had formed his own spirituality on the model presented by the life and teaching of St. Francis de Sales, and in this little book he reflects the wisdom, prudence and sweetness of that gentleman Saint.

The work has passed through uncounted editions in its original Italian, and through a large number of editions in both the French and the German translations. An English translation was published many years ago, but besides its present rarity, its many imperfections warrant the belief that a new rendition will not be unwelcome. The translator has, moreover, been encouraged by the persuasion that the maxims of Father Quadrupani are specially adapted to the American character. Unlike many foreign religious works, whose spirituality often fails to touch the Anglo-Saxon temperament, this authors teaching is decidedly practical and practicable, and appeals in every way to the common sense and fits in with the busy, matteroffact life of the average American Catholic.

The present translation has been made from the twentieth French edition and has been collated with the thirty-second edition of the original Italian published at Naples in 1818. The many recommendations from the Episcopacy of France prefixed to the French translation are here omitted, as the Introduction by the Most Reverend Archbishop of Philadelphia is abundant testimony to the doctrinal solidity of the work.

I. M. OR.

OVERBROOK, PA.

Introduction

G ODS attributes being infinite and our intellects limited and also darkened by the fall, we see these attributes only in part and as afar off and through a glass. In contemplating His awful sanctity, we are overwhelmed with fear and forget His ineffable mercy. Our views are also greatly influenced by our natural temperaments, whether joyous or sad, and change with our environments and moods.

As the blue firmament is ever the same, so is the great God Himselfthe King of Ages immortal and invisible, without change or shadow of vicissitude. But as the clouds that hang as veils of the sanctuary are movable and variegated, now dark and gloomy and again brilliant in silver or gold, now opening into vistas of the firmament above and again closing in darkness, except when arrows of light pierce them and show their outlines, so are we variable and inconstant and need spiritual direction adapted to our peculiar wants. The naturally joyous, hopeful and sometimes presumptuous, need that wholesome fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom. The constitutionally severe, scrupulous and almost despairing, need to remember Gods tender paternal character and to learn that His mercies are above all His works. To such souls this little book must prove invaluable. Its theology is sound, as the various episcopal approbations testify. Hence its statements can be entirely trusted. The fact that it has passed through twenty editions in French is sufficient evidence of its appreciation in that country. May it continue its holy mission of light and consolation and joy in this country and act like the angelic messenger to Peter in prison, liberating the soul from the chains of doubt and despondency, illuminating her by the light of Gods holy truth and bringing her out of the darksome prison into the company of the confiding, prayerful, joyous saints of God.

P. J. RYAN

Contents

Part I

Exterior Practices

Chapter 1

Spiritual Direction

For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Ghost.

(Mark 13:11)

1. It is absolutely true that in matters of conscience obedience to a spiritual director is obedience to God, for Christ has said to His ministers on earth: He that heareth you, heareth Me. ( Luke 10:16).

2. A soul possessed of this spirit of obedience can not be lost: a soul devoid of this spirit can not be saved. (Philip Neri).

3. St. Bernard says there is no need for the devil to tempt those who ignore obedience and permit themselves to be guided by their own light and deterred by their fears, for they act the devils part towards themselves.

4. Do not fear that your director may be mistaken in what he prescribes for your guidance, or that he does not fully understand the state of your conscience because you did not explain it clearly enough to him. Such doubts cause obedience to be eluded or postponed and thus frustrate the designs of God in placing you under the direction of a prudent guide. It was the priests duty to have questioned you further had he not fully understood you, and that he did not do so is a positive proof that he knew enough to enable him to pronounce a safe judgment. God has promised His special help to those who represent Him in the direction of souls. Is not this assurance enough to induce you to obey with promptness and simplicity as the Holy Scripture commands?

5. God does not show the state of our souls as clearly to us as He does to him who is to guide us in His place. You should be quite satisfied, then, if your director tells you the course you follow is the right one and that the mercy and grace of your Heavenly Father are guiding you in it. You should believe and obey him in this as in all else, for as St. John of the Cross tells us, it betrays pride and lack of faith not to put entire confidence in what our confessor says.

6. Spiritual obedience is most needful for a Christian. Ignore, therefore, the groundless suspicion that you sin by obeying, and walk confidently in this path exempt from danger. You sometimes fear, says St. Bonaventure, that in obeying you act against the dictates of your conscience, whereas, on the contrary, far from incurring guilt, you really increase your merit before God.

7. We should allow obedience to regulate not only our exterior actions but likewise our mind and our will. Hence do not be satisfied with performing the works it prescribes, but let your thoughts and desires be also molded according to its direction. In fact, it is in this interior submission that the merit of spiritual obedience essentially consists.

8. Obedience should be simple and prompt, without reservation or disquietude. Simple, because you ought not to argue about it, but decide by the one thought: I must obey; prompt, for it is God whom you obey; without reservation, because obedience extends to everything that does not violate Gods law; without disquietude, because in obeying God you cannot go astray: this thought should be sufficient to drive away all fear of doing or of having done wrong.