St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was the encouragement of all around her, animating them by her exhortations, and displaying a bright example of every virtue. The following extracts from her writings will serve to show the style and spirit of the instructions which she gave to those under her direction.
Heavenly Maxims of Mother Seton, delivered to her spiritual daughters as the means of conducting them to the heights of Christian perfection:
OF THE INTERIOR LIFE
"You must be in right earnest, or you will do little or nothing. First, it requires a constant guard over our senses. What sort of interior life would you lead, if, every time the door opens, or if anyone passes you, you must look up? If you must hear what is said, though it does not concern you? or, if you remain silent and in your modest attention to your duty, what would be your interior life if you let your thoughts wander from God? I once heard a silent person say that she was listening to everything around her and making her Judas reflections on all that was said or done, and another that she delighted in silence, because she could be thinking of her dear people. But you know better than that. Still, I will tell you what is my own great help. I once read or heard that an interior life meant but the continuation of our Saviour's life in us; that the great object of all his mysteries was to merit us the grace of this interior life and communicate it to us, it being the end of his mission to lead us into that sweet land of promise, — a life of constant union with Himself. And what was the first rule of our dear Saviour's life? You know it was to do His Father's will. Well, then, the first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner He wills it; and thirdly, to do it because it is His will. I know what His will is by those who direct me; whatever they bid me do, if it is ever so small in itself, is the will of God for me. Then, do it in the manner He wills it — not sewing an old thing as if it was new, or a new thing as if it was old; not fretting because the oven is too hot, or in a fuss because it is too cold. You understand: not flying and driving because you are bur ried, nor creeping like a snail because no one pushes you. Our dear Saviour was never in extremes. The third object is to do this will because God wills it — that is, to be ready to quit at any moment, and to do any thing else we may be called to."
THE VIRTUE OF WALKING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD:
"You know how apt your mind is to wander, and how easily you are led away by sensible objects. You will never receive any lively impressions of grace until you overcome this dissipation of mind. If you are ever so fervent at your prayers, or desire ever so much to be good, it will be all like putting hartshorn in a bottle and leaving the cork out: what will it be worth? So, all the prayers, readings, and good talk you love so much will be to little purpose unless you place a sentinel at the door of your heart and mind. You often lose in ten minutes by your dissipation of mind more than you had gained a whole day by mortification. See your dear Saviour alone in the midst of your soul; like a shepherd, He calls for all the powers of your soul, all the affections of your heart, to come around Him like His own little flock. But how they are scattered about. See, He holds a paper in His dear hand: what is written on it? 'Speak little, My child; pray much; cherish no attachment; keep close to Me; let everything that passes pass; mind nothing but what is eternal. I never take My eyes off of you night or day: how can you forget Me so often?'"
BEING FAITHFUL IN CORRESPONDING TO THE GRACE OF GOD ACTING WITH PURITY OF INTENTION:
"Not a single grace is given you but was bought with the blood of Jesus, your compassionate Saviour. Not one grace is given but might, by your fidelity to it, become for you an eternal treasure. Not one grace is given you but you must give an account of it in your hour of death and judgment.
"St. Augustin says: 'Our least action, when done for God, is precious to Him, while the greatest actions without this pure intention are worthless and contemptible in His eyes.' With what a lively, cheerful heart we go to work, even when the thing we are to do displeases poor nature, if only grace cries out courageously, 'It is all for you, my God!' You know every step we take all day long is a step of nature or a step of grace; or, as our blessed St. Francis de Sales says, we are always obeying our bad Mary or our good Mary; — our bad Mary, who is the daughter of Eve, or our good Mary, daughter of the Blessed Virgin, who solicits us to follow her dear Mother's holy example and do every thing for the glory of God. And think how great is our blindness and misery when, for want of directing our intentions to this end, we lose the merit of all we do, instead of gathering up heavenly treasures and weaving our bright crown for eternity. 'Alas!' says St. Augustin, 'why, for the short time we have to live, are we not busy in gaining our rewards? When so rich a harvest is before us, why do we not gather it?' All is in our hands, if we will but use it. We suffer and toil through our days; and after all our labor, instead of coming before God loaded with merits, we will stand empty-handed in his presence, and have nothing to offer but our useless regrets and bitter remorse, when both will be unavailing. You have been many times told that to avoid this sad evil we must take care not to do our actions as through custom and without motive; not to do them through vanity or pride; not to do them through human respect or self-love, which tries to poison all we do."
"The rule given us for securing the heavenly practice of pure intention is to be careful of our morning offering, which seals the whole day: since Fenelon says, that after it is made fully and sincerely, if we should forget to renew it from hour to hour (as good souls commonly do) and not retract it by any act of our will (if no mortal sin comes in the way) our first good offering secures all we do for the day. What a comfort that is! Yet do not neglect to renew your offering from time to time, when you can think of it— especially our principal actions— uniting them to those of our dear Saviour, and reviewing them now and then; for it often happens that we begin well, but suffer many miseries of nature to slip in before we finish."
THE DIFFICULTIES THAT STAND IN THE WAY OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE:
"You wish so much to be good and to please our dear Lord, that you will not be tired if I tell you what the spiritual guide says of the obstacles to our interior life. The first is, the little knowledge we have of ourselves and of our faults; for, as by an interior life we wish to be united to our Lord, a pure heart must be prepared, in which He may reign as king in His own kingdom. Self-love does not like to hear it, but our heart is very corrupt, and we must do continual violence to our bad nature to keep it in order. Our love of God is always opposed by our self-love; our love of one another by the miserable pride and pretension which creates jealousy, rash judgment, and the pitiful dislikes and impatience which so often trouble us and wound charity. Curiosity, too, which keeps us engaged in what is doing and saying, brings home many a foolish companion for our thoughts, to break the silence and peace our Lord desires to find in us. Who that reflect on their own nature can doubt of its corruption and misery? You know how unwilling we are to deny ourselves, how unwilling to be reproved or contradicted, how trifling a thing will make us sad, how we delight to be commended, while, with a sort of natural cruelty, we see blame and fault in others which we are scarcely willing to excuse. How should we live an interior life until some of our natural rubbish is removed? how [will we] walk valiantly with our Saviour, dragging our foolish attachments after us, and ready to faint if the least weight of His cross presses on us? The less sensible we are of our misery the greater our evil is, for an immortified soul cannot bear to hear the truth nor to be reproved even for its evident faults; so it remains buried in its dark ness, and the enemy tries to double its blindness, while, sick and weak, it scarcely struggles against its imperfections, much less thinks of entering the sanctuary of an interior life. How is it that many of us keep the rule as to the letter of it, and also look pious enough? there is no want of good-will nor idleness indulged; and in a house where it would seem so easy to become saints, you would say, 'What is the matter? why are we not saints? why is there so little progress in perfection, or rather, why are so many tepid, heavy, discouraged, and going along more like slaves in a workhouse than children in their own home and the house of their Father?' Why? Because we do not watch over our interior, do not watch the impulse of nature and grace in our actions, nor avoid the occasions of the habitual faults we live in, when it is in our power, or keep a good guard on ourselves when it is not. Frequent indulgence of useless thoughts, inconsiderate words, expressions of natural feeling, and changes of temper, all stand at variance with our sweet interior life, and stop the operations of grace, too often, indeed, even to grieving the Divine Spirit and sending him away. One immortified passion, a single bad habit not corrected, a natural attachment, though innocent as to appearances, will stand like a big stone at the door of our heart, and prevent us for whole years from advancing in the kingdom of our Lord. For how can such imperfection and miseries produce a spiritual harvest, any more than a laborer, throwing his grain in hard and dry earth covered with thorns and weeds, could expect to reap his produce? Will you, too, shut your heart to grace? You can make so fair a beginning now; if you only go to work courageously, you will so soon gather the fruits of your care; but if you do not, your soul, unfaithful to its beautiful grace, will grow weaker and weaker, and drag life along like a sad slavery, instead of a prelude to the joys of eternity, which it really should be in our blessed condition, when our very pains and trials are but gems for our crown, if we use them in the beautiful spirit of our rule. One particular point you must attend to: as soon as you have committed a fault, make your quick act of contrition for it, for fear it draw you into another, as one weight pulls another after it. Make your sincere acts of contrition by a loving and sorrowful turn of your heart to our dear Saviour; and then, instead of pondering on the fault, try to think no more about it, only to guard agtinst repeating it, or to say Paters and Aves in penance for it while you work. Every day must bring its trials : why, then, should we be troubled and surprised? Young people especially should fight cheerfully, since our Lord has so kindly called you in the morning of your days, and not exposed you to the anguish and remorse we feel after so many years of sin. It moves my very soul to see you young ones taken and sheltered by our dear Lord; and yet you often look ungrateful. Can you expect to go to heaven for nothing? Did not our dear Saviour track the whole way to it with his tears and blood? and yet you start at every little pain!"
"The gate of heaven is very low; the humble only can enter it; the path to it is very narrow, and beset with our bad habits, our evil inclinations and deceiving passions; they all unite together to draw us aside, and, unless we are always on the watch, we soon go astray. You think it very hard to lead a life of such restraint, unless you keep your eye of faith always open. Perseverance is a great grace. To go on gaining and advancing every day, we must be resolute, and bear and suffer what our blessed forerunners did. Which of them gained heaven without a combat? Which way did they get there, and by what road? Some of them came out of caves and deserts in which they had lived buried from the world and the enemies of God; others from prisons and dungeons — glorious confessors of the faith; others covered with their blood, which they shed for it. We are inheritors of this faith, but are not tried as they were. What are our real trials? By what name shall we call them? One cuts herself out a cross of pride, another of causeless discontent, another of restless impatience or peevish fretfulness; but is the whole any better than children's play, if looked at with the common eye of reason, much more the pure eye of faith? Yet we know certainly that our God calls us to a holy life — that He gives us every grace, every abundant grace; and, though we are so weak of ourselves, this grace is able to carry us through every obstacle and difficulty; but we want courage to keep the continual watch over nature, and therefore, year after year, with our thousand graces, multiplied resolutions, and fair promises, we run around in a circle of miseries and imperfections, and, after a long time in the service of God, come nearly to the point from whence we set out, and perhaps with even less ardor for penance and mortification than when we began our consecration to Him. You are now in your first set-out: be above the vain fears of nature and efforts of your enemy. You are children of eternity: your immortal crown awaits you, and the best of Fathers waits there to reward your duty and love. You may sow here indeed in tears, but you may be sure there to reap in joy."
Source: Life of Mrs. Eliza A. Seton, foundress and first superior of the Sisters or Daughters of Charity in the United States of America by Charles Ignatius White, pp. 322-328.
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