登陆注册
5237300000162

第162章 Lectures XIV and XV(10)

This was an altogether exceptional favor, rarely accorded even to Saints themselves, and all the more marvelous in that Louis dwelt always in courts and among great folks, where danger and opportunity are so unusually frequent. It is true that Louis from his earliest childhood had shown a natural repugnance for whatever might be impure or unvirginal, and even for relations of any sort whatever between persons of opposite sex. But this made it all the more surprising that he should, especially since this vow, feel it necessary to have recourse to such a number of expedients for protecting against even the shadow of danger the virginity which he had thus consecrated. One might suppose that if any one could have contented himself with the ordinary precautions, prescribed for all Christians, it would assuredly have been he. But no! In the use of preservatives and means of defense, in flight from the most insignificant occasions, from every possibility of peril, just as in the mortification of his flesh, he went farther than the majority of saints. He, who by an extraordinary protection of God's grace was never tempted, measured all his steps as if he were threatened on every side by particular dangers. Thenceforward he never raised his eyes, either when walking in the streets, or when in society. Not only did he avoid all business with females even more scrupulously than before, but he renounced all conversation and every kind of social recreation with them, although his father tried to make him take part; and he commenced only too early to deliver his innocent body to austerities of every kind."[211]

[211] Meschler's Life of Saint Louis of Gonzaga, French translation by Lebrequier, 1891, p. 40.

At the age of twelve, we read of this young man that "if by chance his mother sent one of her maids of honor to him with a message, he never allowed her to come in, but listened to her through the barely opened door, and dismissed her immediately.

He did not like to be alone with his own mother, whether at table or in conversation; and when the rest of the company withdrew, he sought also a pretext for retiring. . . . Several great ladies, relatives of his, he avoided learning to know even by sight; and he made a sort of treaty with his father, engaging promptly and readily to accede to all his wishes, if he might only be excused from all visits to ladies." [212]

[212] Ibid., p. 71.

When he was seventeen years old Louis joined the Jesuit order,[213] against his father's passionate entreaties, for he was heir of a princely house; and when a year later the father died, he took the loss as a "particular attention" to himself on God's part, and wrote letters of stilted good advice, as from a spiritual superior, to his grieving mother. He soon became so good a monk that if any one asked him the number of his brothers and sisters, he had to reflect and count them over before replying. A Father asked him one day if he were never troubled by the thought of his family, to which, "I never think of them except when praying for them," was his only answer. Never was he seen to hold in his hand a flower or anything perfumed, that he might take pleasure in it. On the contrary, in the hospital, he used to seek for whatever was most disgusting, and eagerly snatch the bandages of ulcers, etc., from the hands of his companions.

He avoided worldly talk, and immediately tried to turn every conversation on to pious subjects, or else he remained silent.

He systematically refused to notice his surroundings. Being ordered one day to bring a book from the rector's seat in the refectory, he had to ask where the rector sat, for in the three months he had eaten bread there, so carefully did he guard his eyes that he had not noticed the place. One day, during recess, having looked by chance on one of his companions, he reproached himself as for a grave sin against modesty. He cultivated silence, as preserving from sins of the tongue; and his greatest penance was the limit which his superiors set to his bodily penances. He sought after false accusations and unjust reprimands as opportunities of humility; and such was his obedience that, when a room-mate, having no more paper, asked him for a sheet, he did not feel free to give it to him without first obtaining the permission of the superior, who, as such, stood in the place of God, and transmitted his orders.

[213] In his boyish note-book he praises the monastic life for its freedom from sin, and for the imperishable treasures, which it enables us to store up, "of merit in God's eyes which makes of Him our debtor for all Eternity." Loc. cit., p. 62.

I can find no other sorts of fruit than these of Louis's saintship. He died in 1591, in his twenty-ninth year, and is known in the Church as the patron of all young people. On his festival, the altar in the chapel devoted to him in a certain church in Rome "is embosomed in flowers, arranged with exquisite taste; and a pile of letters may be seen at its foot, written to the Saint by young men and women, and directed to 'Paradiso.'

They are supposed to be burnt unread except by San Luigi, who must find singular petitions in these pretty little missives, tied up now with a green ribbon, expressive of hope, now with a red one, emblematic of love," etc.[214]

[214] Mademoiselle Mori, a novel quoted in Hare's Walks in Rome, 1900, i. 55.

I cannot resist the temptation to quote from Starbuck's book, p.

388, another case of purification by elimination. It runs as follows:--

"The signs of abnormality which sanctified persons show are of frequent occurrence. They get out of tune with other people; often they will have nothing to do with churches, which they regard as worldly; they become hypercritical towards others; they grow careless of their social, political, and financial obligations. As an instance of this type may be mentioned a woman of sixty-eight of whom the writer made a special study.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 辽东行部志

    辽东行部志

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 人生的法则:你的心,决定你的世界

    人生的法则:你的心,决定你的世界

    本书通过对圣经的解读,揭示了通往美好生活的心灵法则,你的心决定你的世界,它告诉我们如何摆脱消极思维模式,建立积极的思维模式:拥有只看到真善美一面的“独眼”,不断发现生活中的美善,这样的人生便会无敌!相信这本书一定会使你的心态、生活发生重大改变。
  • 篮坛大金刚

    篮坛大金刚

    当龙金刚冒充“金刚”在纽约帝国大厦塔尖“打飞机”的时候,没有人知道他其实原本只想成为一名武者
  • 相和歌辞·采莲曲

    相和歌辞·采莲曲

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 综漫之玄幻神豪

    综漫之玄幻神豪

    当一个人有了天大的机遇,他自然就会变强。但当这个机遇大到他无法承受的时候呢?他会变得孤独,空虚。那时他会做什么呢?斗罗大陆,斗破苍穹,神印王座……接下来还有很多就不一一赘述了。我会慢慢写的。
  • 少年成长必读名著第三辑:小公子

    少年成长必读名著第三辑:小公子

    这世界上最美好的东西,莫过于同情和怜悯。无论怎样顽劣和冷酷的人,终究抵挡不住深切的信赖和纯洁的爱情。《小公子》曾被翻译成几十个国家的文字,在全世界的父母亲及少年、少女们的心里燃起过灿烂的火光。也很多次被搬上舞台,拍成电影,博得了众多喝彩和赞誉。
  • 漫威世界里的亚索

    漫威世界里的亚索

    当我还是个孩子的时候,哥哥问我:“风在躲,还是在追?”死亡如风,常伴吾身。长路漫漫,唯剑作伴。少年化身快乐风男行走在漫威世界里。..................开了一个群,感情趣的可以加:695335125
  • GREAT EXPECTATIONS

    GREAT EXPECTATIONS

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 凤御天下:谋取帝心

    凤御天下:谋取帝心

    祸国妖女,人人得而诛之。她为报国恨家仇,掀起满城风雨,将帝王玩弄于股掌之中。他贵为西斐太子,以统一天下为抱负,却将她收入囊中,百般宠溺。一曲上邪,她与他北齐茶谷里沉沦。世人皆斥她为祸害,他毅然替她挡去所有诽谤,护在身后。时光缱绻如画,一切如过往云烟,情谊悄然流逝。流年一纸,她披上一袭火红嫁衣,转身投入他人怀里。运筹帷幄,他终是坐拥了天下,却渐渐地遗失了自己的心。究竟是谁为了谁负了年华逆了乾坤,又是谁为了谁蹉跎了岁月抛弃了天下。
  • 从小李飞刀开始

    从小李飞刀开始

    (新书已上传,求收藏。)江湖里有什么?有悲天悯人例不虚发小李飞刀、有五百年来出手最干净利落的大盗萧十一郎、有会灵犀一指四条眉毛的陆小凤。当然,还少不了美人与烈酒。夏云墨在老家找到了一本古书,当翻开古书的时候,他来到了小说中的世界。一切,从小李飞刀开始。(本书,无限流)