Possess silence, brother, as a strong wall. For silence will enable thee to subdue the uprisings of passion, for thou fightest from a height while they lie beneath thy feet. Therefore, possess silence, in the fear of God, and no weapons of the enemy shall harm thee. For silence joined to the fear of God is a fiery chariot which bears its possessor up to heaven. This doth urge upon thee the prophet Elias who, loving silence together with the fear of God, was taken up into heaven. silence, whereby the monk advances in perfection; ladder reaching to heaven; way of the kingdom of heaven. silence, mother of compunction, mirror of sins, in which man sees his transgressions. silence which hinderest not tears, mother of meekness, companion of humility. silence, spouse of humility and enlightenment of the mind. silence, searcher of thoughts and promoter of discernment. silence, mother of all good, support of temperance, and obstacle to gluttony.

In the name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary. Dearest sons in sweet Jesus Christ. Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, writes to you in his precious blood, with a desire to see her sons obedient unto death, learning of the spotless Lamb who was obedient to the Father, even unto the, shameful death of the cross. Consider that he is the way and the rule which you and all creatures must follow. Put him before you and look at him with the eye of your mind; see how obedient he is, the Word of God made flesh. He does not shrink from the heavy burden put upon him by the Father. On the contrary, he shoulders it and runs with great desire. He made this clear at supper on Holy Thursday when he said, ‘With desire I have desired to feast with you before I die’. That is to say, he intended to keep the paschal feast, fulfilling the will of his Father, and his own obedience.

Joy', wrote G. K. Chesterton on the last page of Orthodoxy, ‘is the gigantic secret of the Christian'. One of the greatest possessors of this secret was that gentle and genial bishop, St Francis de Sales. ‘God is the God of joy', he wrote; ‘the spirit of joy is the true spirit of devotion'.

The worldly connotation of devotion is a dismal one. The opening chapters of the Introduction to the Devout Life were intended to dispel that erroneous opinion. The way of the soul to God should be one of joy; indeed it can only be one of joy, for sadness and melancholy are diametrically opposed to the happiness that comes from drawing near to God. ‘I cannot conceive', Francis wrote to a saddened soul, ‘how you can let your heart be filled with such deep sorrow, considering you are a child of God, entrusted to his loving kindness, and consecrated to his love'.

The subject matter of this essay, in so far as it is concerned with what is called the Obediential Potency, naturally finds no exact place within a course of philosophy properly so-called, when later the student proceeds into formal theology, the divine science, it is customarily assumed that the matter has been already sufficiently studied in the preliminaries to theology. It finds its right place within the Science of fundamental theology, or Apologetics, which deals with the Praeambula Fidei, the motives of credibility and similar material. Sometimes, however, its central importance fails to receive adequate attention, and its essential significance, while not being entirely overlooked, rarely obtains the emphasis which is its due. The following pages are intended briefly to co-relate it with the growth of divine action in the soul, and to suggest that the endowment of divine grace progressively proceeds in correspondence with the development of the obediential capacity.

The psalm just sung, dear brethren, is a short one, and its meaning is quite plain. I say this to put you at ease; there is nothing heavy here. However, just because the matter is so straightforward we must be as attentive and alert as we can. The spiritual meaning underlying the open sense, that is what we want to get at, as far as God gives us grace to do so. God's voice—use whatever medium he will— is always God's voice, and none other can please him. Thus, would we please him, when we speak it must be he speaking through us. 2.

A psalm of praise—such is the inscription: few words, but big with meaning: may they lay such seeds within your hearts as to yield a big harvest and fill a storehouse of good grain for the Lord. The psalm urges us to rejoice in the Lord—that is its bidding: and, because the seeds of blessing have been scattered everywhere, the psalm demands world-wide jubilation, not simply from one isolated corner of the world, or one household or one community.

Religious life is the genuine and wholehearted dedication of man to the love and service of God. In taking vows of religion there is implied a recognition and realisation of the infinitely great and good God, the fountain and source of all goodness, together with an appreciation of our Lord's love in dwelling among us and planning to have certain creatures associated with him for his own great ends and the vast needs of souls. Thus to dedicate our life to God in the following of Christ is not a decision man makes entirely of himself, no matter how much he may be enamoured with the ideal. ‘It was not you that chose me, it was I that chose you’ (Jn. 15, 16), our Lord told the apostles, thereby signifying that it is for God to choose whomsoever he will. Yet although the initial choice of invitation is from God, it is for us to accept, to acknowledge that call, that divine beckoning. When he has chosen us, we in turn must choose him and choose him alone, choose him to the exclusion of all else.

Acentenary of a special work of reparation falls in this year, 1948. It is carried on by contemplative nuns who seek by adoration to make reparation for blasphemy and for the neglect of God. The Blessed Sacrament is exposed day and night in their chapels. All the round of the clock the Sisters come in turn, two at least at a time, to pray in silence for an hour. They seek union with the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, offering through it, and with it, praise and love, and supplication for sinners.