太子爷小说网 > 英语电子书 > lectures14+15 >

第5节

lectures14+15-第5节

小说: lectures14+15 字数: 每页4000字

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!






exclaims:  〃to be loved by a noble; elevated; distinguished



being; to be loved with fidelity; with devotionwhat



enchantment! But to be loved by God! and loved by him to



distraction 'aime jusqu'a la folie'!Margaret melted away with



love at the thought of such a thing。  Like Saint Philip of Neri



in former times; or like Saint Francis Xavier; she said to God: 



'Hold back; O my God; these torrents which overwhelm me; or else



enlarge my capacity for their reception。〃'202'







'202' Bougaud:  Hist。 de la bienheureuse Marguerite Marie; Paris;



1894; p。 145。















The most signal proofs of God's love which Margaret Mary received



were her hallucinations of sight; touch; and hearing; and the



most signal in turn of these were the revelations of Christ's



sacred heart; 〃surrounded with rays more brilliant than the Sun;



and transparent like a crystal。  The wound which he received on



the cross visibly appeared upon it。  There was a crown of thorns



round about this divine Heart; and a cross above it。〃  At the



same time Christ's voice told her that; unable longer to contain



the flames of his love for mankind; he had chosen her by a



miracle to spread the knowledge of them。  He thereupon took out



her mortal heart; placed it inside of his own and inflamed it;



and then replaced it in her breast; adding:  〃Hitherto thou hast



taken the name of my slave; hereafter thou shalt be called the



well…beloved disciple of my Sacred Heart。〃







In a later vision the Saviour revealed to her in detail the



〃great design〃 which he wished to establish through her



instrumentality。  〃I ask of thee to bring it about that every



first Friday after the week of holy Sacrament shall be made into



a special holy day for honoring my Heart by a general communion



and by services intended to make honorable amends for the



indignities which it has received。  And I promise thee that my



Heart will dilate to shed with abundance the influences of its



love upon all those who pay to it these honors; or who bring it



about that others do the same。〃







〃This revelation;〃 says Mgr。 Bougaud; 〃is unquestionably the most



important of all the revelations which have illumined the Church



since that of the Incarnation and of the Lord's Supper。 。 。 。 



After the Eucharist; the supreme effort of the Sacred



Heart。〃'203'  Well; what were its good fruits for Margaret Mary's



life?  Apparently little else but sufferings and prayers and



absences of mind and swoons and ecstasies。  She became



increasingly useless about the convent; her absorption in



Christ's love







〃which grew upon her daily; rendering her more and more incapable



of attending to external duties。  They tried her in the



infirmary; but without much success; although her kindness; zeal;



and devotion were without bounds; and her charity rose to acts of



such a heroism that our readers would not bear the recital of



them。  They tried her in the kitchen; but were forced to give it



up as hopelesseverything dropped out of her hands。  The



admirable humility with which she made amends for her clumsiness



could not prevent this from being prejudicial to the order and



regularity which must always reign in a community。 They put her



in the school; where the little girls cherished her; and cut



pieces out of her clothes 'for relics' as if she were already a



saint; but where she was too absorbed inwardly to pay the



necessary attention。  Poor dear sister; even less after her



visions than before them was she a denizen of earth; and they had



to leave her in her heaven。〃'204'







'203' Bougaud:  Hist。 de la bienheureuse Marguerite Marie;



Paris; 1894; pp。 365; 241。







'204' Bougaud:  Op。 cit。; p。 267。















Poor dear sister; indeed! Amiable and good; but so feeble of



intellectual outlook that it would be too much to ask of us; with



our Protestant and modern education; to feel anything but



indulgent pity for the kind of saintship which she embodies。  A



lower example still of theopathic saintliness is that of Saint



Gertrude; a Benedictine nun of the thirteenth century; whose



〃Revelations;〃 a well…known mystical authority; consist mainly of



proofs of Christ's partiality for her undeserving person。 



Assurances of his love; intimacies and caresses and compliments



of the most absurd and puerile sort; addressed by Christ to



Gertrude as an individual; form the tissue of this paltry…minded



recital。'205' In reading such a narrative; we realize the gap



between the thirteenth and the twentieth century; and we feel



that saintliness of character may yield almost absolutely



worthless fruits if it be associated with such inferior



intellectual sympathies。  What with science; idealism; and



democracy; our own imagination has grown to need a God of an



entirely different temperament from that Being interested



exclusively in dealing out personal favors; with whom our



ancestors were so contented。  Smitten as we are with the vision



of social righteousness; a God indifferent to everything but



adulation; and full of partiality for his individual favorites;



lacks an essential element of largeness; and even the best



professional sainthood of former centuries; pent in as it is to



such a conception; seems to us curiously shallow and unedifying。







'205' Examples:  〃Suffering from a headache; she sought; for the



glory of God; to relieve herself by holding certain odoriferous



substances in her mouth; when the Lord appeared to her to lean



over towards her lovingly; and to find comfort Himself in these



odors。  After having gently breathed them in; He arose; and said



with a gratified air to the Saints; as if contented with what He



had done: 'see the new present which my betrothed has given Me!'







〃One day; at chapel; she heard supernaturally sung the words



'Sanctus; Sanctus; Sanctus。' The son of God leaning towards her



like a sweet lover; and giving to her soul the softest kiss; said



to her at the second Sanctus:  'In this Sanctus addressed to my



person; receive with this kiss all the sanctity of my divinity



and of my humanity; and let it be to thee a sufficient



preparation for approaching the communion table。' And the next



following Sunday; while she was thanking God for this favor;



behold the Son of God; more beauteous than thousands of angels;



takes her in His arms as if He were proud of her and presents her



to God the Father; in that perfection of sanctity with which He



had dowered her。  And the Father took such delight in this soul



thus presented by His only son; that; as if unable longer to



restrain Himself; He gave her; and the Holy Ghost gave her also;



the sanctity attributed to each by His own Sanctusand thus she



remained endowed with the plenary fullness of the blessing of



Sanctity; bestowed on her by Omnipotence; by Wisdom; and by



Love。〃  Revelations de Sainte Gertrude; Paris; 1898; i。 44; 186。















Take Saint Teresa; for example; one of the ablest women; in many



respects; of whose life we have the record。  She had a powerful



intellect of the practical order。  She wrote admirable



descriptive psychology; possessed a will equal to any emergency;



great talent for politics and business; a buoyant disposition;



and a first…rate literary style。  She was tenaciously aspiring;



and put her whole life at the service of her religious ideals。 



Yet so paltry were these; according to our present way of



thinking; that (although I know that others have been moved



differently) I confess that my only feeling in reading her has



been pity that so much vitality of soul should have found such



poor employment。







In spite of the sufferings which she endured; there is a curious



flavor of superficiality about her genius。  A Birmingham



anthropologist; Dr。 Jordan; has divided the human race into two



types; whom he calls 〃shrews〃 and 〃nonshrews〃 respectively。'206'



The shrew…type is defined as possessing an 〃active unimpassioned



temperament。〃  In other words; shrews are the 〃motors;〃 rather



than the 〃sensories;〃'207' and their expressions are as a rule



more energetic than the feelings which appear to prompt them。 



Saint Teresa; paradoxical as such a judgment may sound; was a



typical shrew; in this sense of the term。  The bustle of her



style; as well as of her life; proves it。  Not only must she



receive unheard…of personal favors and spiritual graces from her



Saviour; but she must immediately writ

返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0

你可能喜欢的