The practice of the Christian virtues - 8

VII. — PURITY OF INTENTION

Purity of intention consists in doing everything with the sole view of pleasing God. The good or bad intention with which an action is performed renders it good or bad before God. St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi says: God rewards actions according to the amount of purity of intention with which they are done." Let us examine how this virtue can be practised.

In the first place, in all our devotional exercises, let us seek God and not ourselves: if we seek our own satisfaction we cannot expect to receive any reward from God. And this holds good for all spiritual works. How many labour and exhaust themselves in preaching, hearing confessions, serving at the altar, and in doing other pious works; and because in these they seek themselves and not God, they lose all! When we seek neither approbation nor thanks from others for what we do, it is a sign that we work for God's sake: as also when we are not vexed when the good we undertake does not succeed; or when we rejoice as much at the good that is done by others, as if it had been done by ourselves. Further, whenever we have done some good in order to please God, and are praised for it, let us not torment ourselves in endeavouring to drive away vain-glory; it is enough to say: "To God be the honour and glory." And let us never omit any good action which may be edifying to our neighbour, through fear of vain-glory. Our Lord wishes us to do good even before others, that it may be profitable to them. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matt. v. 16). Therefore when you do good, have first the intention of pleasing God; and secondly, that also of giving good example to your neighbour.

In the second place, in our bodily actions; whether we work, eat, drink, or amuse ourselves with propriety, let us do all in order to please God. Purity of intention may be called a heavenly alchemy which changes iron into gold. By which is meant, that the most trivial and ordinary actions done to please God become acts of Divine love. St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi used to say: "A person who performs all his actions with a pure intention will go straight to Paradise." A holy hermit, before putting his hand to any work, used to raise his eyes to Heaven and keep them fixed there for a short time; and when asked what he was doing, he answered: "I am taking my aim, so that I may not miss the mark." Let us also do in like manner: before beginning any action, let us make sure of our aim, and say "Lord, I do this to please Thee."

VIII. — RULES FOR AVOIDING TEPIDITY

Souls that make no account of venial sins, and give themselves up to tepidity, without a thought of freeing themselves from it, live in great danger. We do not here speak of those venial sins that are committed through mere frailty, such as useless or idle words, interior disquietudes, and negligence in small matters; but we speak of venial sins committed with full deliberation, above all when they are habitual. St. Teresa writes thus: "From all deliberate sin, howsoever small it may be, O Lord, deliver us!" Venerable Alvarez used to say: "Those little backbitings, dislikes, culpable curiosity, acts of impatience and intemperance, do not indeed kill the soul, but they so weaken it, that when any great temptation attacks it unexpectedly, it will not have strength enough to resist, and will consequently fall." So that as on the one hand deliberate venial sins weaken the soul, so on the other they deprive us of the Divine assistance; for it is but just that God should be sparing with those who are sparing towards Him: He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly (2 Cor. ix. 6). And this is what a soul that has received special graces from God has the most reason to fear, especially if such faults spring from some passionate attachment, as of ambition, or avarice, or of aversion, or inordinate affection towards any person. It happens not unfrequently to souls that are in bondage to some passion, as it does to gamblers, who, after losing many times, risk all on a final throw and so finish by losing everything. In what a miserable state is that soul which is the slave of some passion. Passion blinds us, and lets us no longer see what we are doing. Let us now see what we have to do, in order to be able to deliver ourselves from the wretched state of tepidity.

It is necessary in the first place to have a firm desire to get out of this state. The good desire lightens our labour, and gives us strength to go forward. And let us rest assured that he who makes no progress in the way of God will always be going back; and he will go back so far that at last he will fall over some precipice. Secondly, let us try to find out the predominant fault to which we are most attached, whether it be anger, ambition, an inordinate affection to persons or things. A resolute will overcomes all with the help of God. Thirdly, we must avoid the occasion, otherwise all our resolutions will fall to the ground. And lastly, we must above all be diffident of our own strength, and pray continually with all confidence to God, begging Him to help us in the danger in which we are, and to deliver us from those temptations by which we shall fall into sin; which is the meaning of the petition, "Lead us not into temptation." He who prays obtains: Ask, and you shall receive (Jo. xvi. 24). This is God's promise, and can never fail; therefore we must always pray, always pray; and let us never leave off repeating: "My God, help me, and help me at once!"