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- Herausgeber: anna ruggieri
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
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Abandonment to Divine Providence
Abandonment to Divine Providence
Jean-Pierre de Caussade, SJ
Revised Translation
Edited and with Introduction, Reflections, and Prayers by Mary Mark Wickenhiser, FSP
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Number: 2021950588
CIP Data is available.
ISBN 0-8198-0876-8
ISBN 978-0-8198-0876-9
ISBN ePub 978-0-8198-0877-6
From the Eighth French Edition, translated by Ella McMahon (published in 1887), and from the Tenth Complete French Edition translated by E. J. Strickland (published in 1921).
The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Frontispiece: The Good Shepherd, by Friedrich Olivier, late 18th–19th century.
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 and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
“P” and PAULINE are registered trademarks of the Daughters of St. Paul.
Copyright © 2023, Daughters of St. Paul
Published by Pauline Books & Media, 50 Saint Pauls Avenue, Boston, MA 02130–3491
www.pauline.org
Pauline Books & Media is the publishing house of the Daughters of St. Paul, an international congregation of women religious serving the Church with the communications media.
Dedicated to the memory of Sister Mary Mark Wickenhiser, FSP, editor (1941–2021) who was called home by the Lord when this manuscript was nearing publication.
Sister Anne Eileen Heffernan, FSP, Associate Editor
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Preface from the Original French Edition
Book One
The Nature and Excellence of the Virtue of Holy Abandonment
Chapter I. The holiness of the saints of the Old Testament, Joseph, and Mary herself consisted in fidelity to the will of God
Chapter II. The duties of each moment are shadows that veil God’s will
Chapter III. How much easier holiness becomes when considered from this point of view
Chapter IV. Perfection does not consist in understanding God’s will but in doing it
Chapter V. Reading and other pious exercises sanctify us only insofar as they are channels of God’s will
Chapter VI. The mind and other human faculties are useful only insofar as they are instruments of the divine action
Chapter VII. There is no enduring peace except in obedience to God’s will
Chapter VIII. The perfection of souls and the degree of excellence of different states in life are proportionate to their conformity to the will of God
Chapter IX. The secret of holiness is love for God’s will
Book Two
The Divine Action Works Unceasingly for the Sanctification of Souls
Chapter I. The divine action is everywhere and always, present, but only visible to the eyes of faith
Chapter II. The divine action is visible to the eyes of faith even when it is hidden under appearances repugnant to the senses
Chapter III. Every moment God’s will offers us infinite blessings, which we receive in proportion to our faith and love
Chapter IV. God reveals himself to us in mysterious ways in ordinary events as wonderfully and truly as he did in the great events of history and the Holy Scriptures
Chapter V. The divine action continues to write in our hearts the revelation begun in Holy Scripture, but the characters used in this writing will be visible only on the day of judgment
Chapter VI. Divine love is communicated to us under the veil of creatures, as Jesus communicates himself to us under the veil of the eucharistic species
Chapter VII. The divine action, the work of God, is treated unworthily and disregarded in its daily manifestation by many Christians, as Jesus was mistreated by many people of his time
Chapter VIII. Everything that comes to us at the present moment is most profitable, because it is intended for us personally
Chapter IX. The present moment is a continuous source of holiness
Chapter X. The present moment is the manifestation of God’s name and the coming of his kingdom
Chapter XI. The divine will inspires souls to seek the highest degrees of holiness; they have only to abandon themselves to this divine action
Chapter XII. Only divine activity can make us holy, for it alone forms us according to the divine model of our perfection
Book Three
On the Nature and Excellence of the State of Abandonment
Chapter I. Divine activity in the soul cannot be perceived
Chapter II. The divine action guides souls in whom God lives through every kind of obscurity
Chapter III. The state of abandonment contains in itself pure faith, hope, and charity
Chapter IV. The state of abandonment involves the most heroic generosity
Chapter V. Abandonment with pure faith is more meritorious than exceptional good works
Chapter VI. Abandonment involves submission in all things
Chapter VII. Every soul is called to enjoy the infinite benefits of abandonment
Chapter VIII. All the riches of grace are the fruit of purity of heart and perfect self-abandonment
Book Four
The Duties of Those Souls Called by God to the State of Abandonment
Chapter I. God himself guides souls who wholly abandon themselves to him
Chapter II. To reach the state of abandonment the soul must divest itself of all created things
Chapter III. The state of abandonment calls for activity on our part
Chapter IV. For a soul of goodwill God does all
Chapter V. While valuing all the workings of divine grace, the soul should focus only on those of the present moment
Chapter VI. For souls in this state, the duty of the present moment is the only rule
Chapter VII. The docile soul will not seek to learn by what road God is conducting it
Chapter VIII. The effects of total abandonment are marvelous
Book Five
Trials Connected with the State of Abandonment
Chapter I. Persons noted for wisdom and piety may subject the soul to unreasonable expectations
Chapter II. The soul whom God raises to this state may be allowed to experience exterior defects and seemingly little worth
Chapter III. The soul may suffer interior humiliations
Chapter IV. The soul may suffer from self-doubt regarding its love of God and obedience to his will
Chapter V. For the submissive soul, trials will bear abundant fruit
Book Six
God’s Paternal Care Surrounds Souls Wholly Abandoned to Him
Chapter I. The less the soul in this state feels the help it receives from God, the more effectively does he sustain it
Chapter II. The more God seems to withdraw light from souls abandoned to his direction, the more safely he guides them
Chapter III. The hardships that God permits to afflict the soul are loving stratagems in which the soul will one day rejoice
Chapter IV. The more God seems to take from souls wholly abandoned to him, the more generous he is to them
Chapter V. The less that faithful souls are capable of defending themselves, the more powerfully does God defend them
Chapter VI. Instead of resisting its enemies, the soul abandoned to the will of God finds them to be useful aides
Chapter VII. Souls who abandon themselves to God have no need to justify themselves by word or deed, for the divine action amply justifies them
Chapter VIII. God gives life to those abandoned to him by using means that seem to lead only to death
Chapter IX. To souls who walk in the way of abandonment, love takes the place of all else
Chapter X. Faithful souls find more light and strength in submitting to the will of God than do souls who resist his will because of their pride
Chapter XI. Souls abandoned to God learn to recognize his will even in proud souls who resist him: all creatures, whether good or evil, reveal God to them
Chapter XII. To faithful souls God assures a glorious victory over the powers of the world and of hell
Appendices
Appendix I. To Acquire Peace of Heart
Jean-Joseph Surin, SJ
Appendix II. On Perfect Abandonment
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
Appendix III. An Easy Method to Practice the Prayer of Faith and the Simple Presence of God
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
Appendix IV. Loving Union of Our Will with the Will of God
Saint Francis de Sales
Appendix V. Prayers
Suscipe Saint Ignatius Loyola
Act of Abandonment Saint Jane Frances de Chantal
Act of Confidence in God Saint Claude de la Colombière, SJ
Act of Surrender to the Will of God Saint Joseph Pignatelli, SJ
Prayer of Surrender Venerable Catherine McAuley
Prayer of Abandonment Saint Charles de Foucauld
Foreword
Some years ago, aware that I could not read all the spiritual books presented to me, I decided to privilege the classics. I read Saints Thérèse, John of the Cross, Francis de Sales, John Henry Newman, Teresa of Avila, Bonaventure, and others. I read Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love and Brother Lawrence’s The Practice of the Presence of God. The day came when I took up Jean-Pierre de Caussade’s Abandonment to Divine Providence—and loved it.
Since then, I return to it often. Some passages I have copied, highlighted, underlined, and learned by heart. Among them, a question and its answer: “What do you desire, you souls seeking perfection?” That is to say, do you desire holiness? To respond fully to Jesus? And do you hesitate to aim so high? “Give free reign to your aspirations; place no limit on your desires. Expand your hearts to reach the infinite.” Yes, listen to me! Let your heart demand the infinite.
“The divine action,” Caussade writes, “is everywhere and always present, but only visible to the eyes of faith.” He continues, “If we could penetrate the veil that hides it, and if we were vigilant and attentive, God would reveal himself, and we would recognize his action in everything happening to us.” I love this vision of the spiritual life: eyes open in the most “ordinary” activities of the day to see and rejoice in God’s active presence to us.
But this book is cherished above all because it offers a simple path to peace amid the worries and burdens of life: “Allow God to act and abandon yourself to him.” This is the abandonment to God’s loving Providence highlighted in the title. Over the years, I have seen people undergoing great trials find peace through the reading of this book. I warmly recommend it to all, but perhaps above all to those in time of burden, pain, and anxiety: “Allow God to act and abandon yourself to him.”
I am grateful to Pauline Books and Media for this new and enhanced edition of a loved classic. The text draws upon the best of earlier translations, includes the preface of the original editor, and offers additional reflections and prayers. Whether you are new to Abandonment to Divine Providence or wish to return to it, this edition will answer your need. May this book bless you as it has so many others, and may it bring peace to your heart.
Timothy M. Gallagher, OMV
St. Ignatius Chair of Spiritual Formation, St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, Denver
Introduction
God reveals his will for us through the joys, hardships, pains, and sufferings we encounter as we go about the duties of our ordinary, everyday lives. Extreme penances, countless rote prayers, and complex spiritual practices are of little value in our pursuit of holiness unless we are attentive to the gift of the present moment. God offers us peace of mind and heart in every circumstance of life if we surrender our will to him and place our trust in his plan for us, a plan designed for each of us, personally.
The spiritual doctrine of Jean-Pierre de Caussade, simple and clear, offers those who read and reflect on his words straightforward advice in their search for holiness of life: trustful surrender in every duty and event, for it is in these that God is secretly at work for our good. In other words, God has a reason for allowing things to happen; we may not understand God’s wisdom, but we can always trust his divine will.
The message within these pages, intended to inspire and convince, is similar to a musical score composed of variations of the same theme. While the topic is examined under various aspects, the core melody appears throughout: all will be well if we live in the present moment and give ourselves over into the loving hands of our provident God.
Caussade was not among the famed French spiritual writers of his day and never knew he wrote the work entitled Abandonment to Divine Providence. Only the basic facts of his life are known: he was born in 1675, entered the Jesuits in Toulouse when he was eighteen, was ordained a priest in 1704, and made his final vows in 1708. His assignments took him to many towns in southern France, where he taught in the local universities. After returning to Toulouse, where he obtained his doctorate in theology, he was sent as an itinerant preacher and confessor to various cities and towns in southern and central France.
It was in the city of Nancy in 1729, while Caussade was traveling in the province of Lorraine, that he first encountered the nuns of the Visitation Order. He became the confessor and spiritual director for the community and remained there for about a year before he was sent as spiritual director to the seminary in Albi. Two years later, Caussade was back in Nancy and in charge of the Jesuit Retreat House, where he remained for about six years. During this time he gave frequent conferences to the Visitation nuns, and after he had moved on to other assignments he assumed the role of spiritual director for several of them through letters and correspondence. We owe a debt of gratitude to the nuns of the monastery who preserved the notes of his conferences and his letters of spiritual guidance. Caussade died in 1751.
About 110 years after Caussade’s death, the collection of conference and retreat notes along with the letters that had been preserved by the Visitation nuns were given to a Jesuit scholar, writer, and editor, Father Henri Ramière. Ramière studied the material carefully, recognized the importance of Caussade’s spiritual insights, and arranged the work into a comprehensive treatise that we know as Abandonment to Divine Providence. Today, this work is considered one of the world’s great spiritual classics.
This present edition is closely based on translations of the eighth and tenth French editions; it attempts to use an inclusive style without diminishing the depth of the message. While Caussade’s conferences were originally directed to women religious, the substance of his spiritual insights can benefit all Christians who are seeking a path to holiness. The central work comprises six books containing short essays as chapters. Reflections and prayers have been added at the end of each chapter to offer today’s reader a life-application for further meditation and deeper prayer. Also noteworthy are the following inclusions from the eighth French edition: the preface by Father Henri Ramière, SJ, and appendices highlighting helpful methods and prayers to guide the reader in the practice of abandonment. These latter have been selected from the works of saints and spiritual writers of the time. The present edition has been further enriched with additional prayers of abandonment by well-known spiritual writers.
May all who are searching for peace of mind and heart, those searching for meaning in a world suffering from spiritual emptiness, find in these pages guidance, comfort, and hope in their quest for inner peace.
Mary Mark Wickenhiser, FSP
Editor
Preface from the Original French Edition
On the Foundation and True Nature of the Virtue of Abandonment
Every truth, however clear, becomes error the moment it is lessened or exaggerated; all food for the soul, however salutary it may be, when wrongly applied, becomes a fatal poison.
The virtue of abandonment does not escape this danger; the holier and more profitable it is in itself, the more serious are the dangers we risk by misunderstanding its just limits.
These dangers, unfortunately, are not mere possibilities. The seventeenth century witnessed the birth of a heresy—that of the Quietists—which, while claiming to teach its followers perfect abandonment to God, led them into grave disorders. For a time this sect caused confusion in the very capital of Catholicism, putting forth such false teaching that François Fénelon himself, while scorning the practical consequences drawn from the teaching of the Quietists, was temporarily misled by their false appearance of perfection.
To preserve Father Caussade’s readers from these dangers, we think it well to add to these writings a concise description of the rules that should guide us in this matter. By the light of the principles furnished by reason and faith, we should have no difficulty in determining the proper limits that should mark our abandonment to Divine Providence; and it will be easy for us afterward to clarify the points in our author’s doctrine that might be wrongly interpreted.
I.
In his letters Father Caussade very clearly explains the two principles that form the basis of the virtue of abandonment.
First principle: In both the material world and the moral world, nothing is done, nothing happens that God has not foreseen from all eternity, and that he has not willed or at least permitted.
Second principle: God can will nothing, can permit nothing, except in view of the end he proposed to himself in creating the world—that is, in view of his glory and the glory of Jesus Christ, his only Son.
To these two principles laid down by our author we add a third, which completes the clarification of this whole subject: As long as humans live on earth, God desires to be glorified through the happiness of these privileged creatures; consequently, in God’s designs the interest of humanity’s sanctification and happiness is inseparable from the interest of the divine glory.
If we do not lose sight of these principles, which no Christian can question, we shall understand that our confidence in the Providence of our Father in heaven cannot be too great, too absolute, too childlike. If nothing happens but what he permits, and if he can permit nothing except what is for our happiness, then we need fear nothing other than not being adequately submissive to God. As long as we keep ourselves united with him and walk according to his designs, even if all creatures were to turn against us, they could not harm us. Those who rely on God become, through this very reliance, as powerful and as invincible as God, and created powers can no more prevail against them than against God himself.
This confidence in the fatherly Providence of God cannot exempt us from doing everything in our power to accomplish his designs, but after having done all that depends on our own efforts, we should abandon ourselves completely to God for the rest.
However, since not all these things enter into the designs of Divine Providence in the same way, neither should our abandonment in their regard be practiced in the same manner: the rules we should follow in the practice of this virtue should be founded on the nature of the objects that call it forth. We shall indicate the principal ones.
A. Among all the dispositions to which our abandonment can be applied, there are first those regarding events that depend solely on God, where human liberty has no part either in producing or averting them. These include, for example, certain adversities and occurrences as a result of the weather, certain accidents impossible to foresee, or certain natural imperfections of body or soul.
In regard to these realities, whether past, present, or future, it is evident that our abandonment cannot be too absolute.
There is nothing to do here but to lovingly endure all that God sends us, to accept in advance all that he may send us in the future. Resistance would be useless and only serve to make us unhappy. On the other hand, loving and frequently renewed acceptance would make these unavoidable misfortunes very meritorious. And, oh, the marvels of God’s goodness! Our abandonment will not only sanctify and sustain us in real trials; it will enable us to draw great merit from trials to which we shall never be subjected! For if we lovingly accept these trials when they present themselves to our mind as probable, or simply possible, then this willing acceptance, this fiat uttered in the depths of our heart, cannot fail to please God and be very useful to our soul. In this regard, therefore, the practice of abandonment can be very sanctifying, because it changes not only real but even purely imaginary trials into means of sanctification.
B. There are other sufferings that come to us through the sinfulness of creatures: persecution, slander, ill-treatment, neglect, injustice, and offenses of every kind. What are we to do when we find ourselves exposed to these?
Certainly we cannot condone the offenses against God that accompany such happenings; on the contrary, we should deplore and despise them, not because they wound our self-love but because they offend God and compromise the salvation of the offending souls.
In what concerns ourselves, on the other hand, we should regard as a blessing that which is an evil. To do so, we need only recall the principles previously stated: not to look only at the creature who is the immediate cause of our sufferings, but to raise our eyes higher and behold God, who has permitted them with only our happiness in view. This thought will suffice to dispel the bitterness and distress that would take possession of our hearts if we were to look merely at ourselves as victims of injustice.
In regard to the effects of an injustice already executed and irreparable, we have only to resign ourselves as lovingly as possible and carefully gather its precious fruits. It is often not difficult to understand the spiritual fruits God destines for us in exposing us to temporal evils: to detach us from creatures; to deliver us from intemperate affections, from our pride, from our indifference. These are true sicknesses of the soul, frequently all the more dangerous because they are less perceptible. The heavenly Physician wishes to cure us of such ills, using the rancor of another as a sharp instrument. Since we do not hesitate to endure much greater sufferings to be delivered from bodily infirmities, let us gratefully accept the spiritual health—infinitely more precious—that God offers us, however disagreeable the instrument through which he gives it to us.
If it is in our power to avert the consequences of evil and injustice, and if we consider it necessary to take certain measures toward the goal of our true interest and the interest of the divine glory, let us do so without deviating from the practice of the virtue of abandonment. Let us entrust the success of our efforts to God and be ready to accept failure if God judges it more suitable to his designs and more profitable to our souls. We are so blind that we always have reason to fear being deceived, but God cannot be deceived, and we can be certain that what he determines will be best. Therefore, we cannot do better than to abandon the result of our efforts to him with full confidence.
C. But should this abandonment extend equally to our rash behavior, our faults, and every kind of annoyance that might arise as a result?
It is important to differentiate two things, which self-love tends to confuse. In the fault itself we must separate what is blameworthy from what is humiliating. Likewise in its consequences we must distinguish between what is detrimental to the divine glory and what is inflicted on our self-love. Clearly, we could never despise our fault too much, nor regret too deeply the injury done to the divine glory. But as for our humiliation and the confusion inflicted on our self-love, we should rejoice and accept it with complete abandonment. This kind of sacrifice is undoubtedly best suited to destroy the secret fibers of self-love in us and to help us make rapid progress in virtue. To souls who have achieved a certain degree of constancy and detachment, exterior humiliations are small. When we have learned the vanity of human glory, we can easily endure the sting of contempt. However, we might still interweave such exterior detachment with great attachment to our own self-esteem and approval and a wholly egotistical desire for perfection. In this case, self-love, by changing its object, would only become more subtle and more dangerous. To extinguish it there is no remedy more effective than the humiliation resulting from our faults. Thus, we can never strive too earnestly to apply the practice of abandonment to this humiliation, at the same time laboring to correct our faults themselves.
What we say of past faults applies equally to future faults. Well understood, the practice of abandonment should deliver us from that impatience that makes us wish to reach the summit of perfection immediately and only serves to turn us from the sole path that leads to perfection. This path is humility, and the impatience we are faulting is only another form of pride. Let us make every effort to correct our faults but let us be resigned to not seeing them all disappear in a day. With the most childlike confidence, let us sincerely ask God to grant us the essential grace that will completely free us from ourselves, to make us live only in him; but with an equally filial abandonment let us leave to him the day and hour in which this grace will be given us.
With still greater reason we should abandon to God the degree of sanctity that we shall attain on earth, the extraordinary graces that will accompany this sanctity here below, and the glory with which it will be crowned in heaven. Insofar as it depends on us, we should leave nothing un-done to increase this holiness and glory, so as not to fall short of the degree God has marked for us. But if we are to earnestly devote ourselves to realizing God’s designs, we must not desire to have them other than they are. If our love for God is what it should be, we will thank him for having granted other souls favors that he has not given us, and we will praise him no less for our poverty than for our riches.
D. Should our abandonment go even further? Should we, in view of the possibility of our damnation, resign ourselves to it and make the complete and absolute sacrifice of all our own interests to God?
