To become holy a soul must give itself unreservedly to God

St. Jerome says God is jealous of our hearts. He desires to reign alone in our hearts and to have no companions there. There are souls called by God to become Saints, but coming to Him with reserve, and not giving Him their entire love but retaining some affection for earthly things, they will never become holy. To gain all we must give all.

I. St. Philip Neri said that so much of our love as we fix upon creatures we take away from God; and therefore our Saviour, as St. Jerome wrote, is jealous of our hearts. As He Himself has loved us so abundantly He desires to reign alone in our hearts, and to have no companions there who may rob Him of a portion of that love which He desires to have wholly for Himself; and therefore it displeases Him to see us attached to any affection which is not for Him. And does our Saviour ask too much, after having given His own Blood and Life, dying for us upon a Cross? Does He not deserve to be loved by us with all our hearts, and without reserve.

St. John of the Cross said that every attachment to creatures hinders us from belonging wholly to God. Who will give me the wings of a dove, that I may flee away and be at rest? says the Psalmist-(Ps. liv. 7). There are souls called by God to become Saints, but, coming to Him with reserve and not giving Him their whole love but retaining some affection for earthly things, they will never become holy. They fain would fly, but being held down by some attachment, they cannot but remain fixed on earth. We must, therefore, strip ourselves of everything. Every thread, says the same St. John, whether great or small, hinders the soul from flying to God.

St. Gertrude once prayed to the Lord that He would teach her what He would have her to do. The Lord answered: I desire nothing from thee but a devoted heart. And it was this which David sought from God: Create in me a clean heart, O God!-(Ps. 1. 12). O my God, give me a pure heart; a heart emptied and stripped of every earthly affection.

“All for all,” wrote Thomas a Kempis. To gain all, we must give all. To possess God we must leave all that is not God. Then the soul can say to the Lord: “My Jesus, I have left all for Thee; now give Thyself wholly to me.” To attain this we must not cease to beg of God that He would fill us with His holy love. Love is that mighty fire that burns up in our hearts every affection that is not for God.

O my Jesus, my Love, my All! How can I see Thee dying upon a shameful Cross, despised by all, and consumed by anguish, and then seek earthly pleasures and glories? I will be wholly Thine. Forget the offences I have committed against Thee, and receive me. Teach me to know from what things I ought to separate myself, and what I must do to please Thee-all this I desire to do. Give me strength to follow Thy will, and to be faithful to Thee.

II. St. Francis de Sales said that when a house is in flames we throw all the furniture out of the windows; by which he meant that when a soul is inflamed and the Divine love takes possession of it, it has no need of sermons or spiritual directors to detach it from the world; the love of God will itself cleanse the heart and despoil it of every earthly desire.

Holy love is spoken of in the Canticles under the symbol of a cellar of wine: He brought me into the cellar of wine; he set in order charity in me-(Cant. ii. 4). In this blessed cellar souls that are the brides of Christ, inebriated with the wine of holy love, lose all taste for the things of the world, admire God alone, in all things seek God alone, speak only of God, and desire to think only of God; and when they hear others speak of riches, dignities, pleasures, they turn to God and say to Him, with a burning sigh: My God and my All! What of the world, or pleasures, or honours? Be Thou all my joy, all my contentment! St. Teresa wrote, when speaking of the prayer of union with God, that this union consists in dying to all worldly things in order to possess nothing but God.

That a soul may give itself wholly to God, three things are especially necessary: First, the avoidance of all defects, even the very least, accompanied with conquests over our inordinate desires, such as to abstain from observing such and such an object of sight or hearing, from certain little pleasures of sense, from certain witty or unnecessary conversations, and such-like. Secondly, among things which are good the constant choice of those that are the best and the most pleasing to God. Thirdly, the receiving with peace of mind and thanksgiving from the Divine hands, things displeasing to our self-love. Oh, my beloved Redeemer, Thou willest that I should give myself to Thee without reserve, that I may unite myself wholly to Thy Heart. Behold, this day I give myself wholly, and without reserve, to Thee, my Jesus; from Thee I hope for the grace to be faithful even to death. O Mother of God, and my own Mother, Mary, obtain for me the grace of holy perseverance.