On February 15th, we celebrated the liturgical memorial of St Claude de la Colombière. This Jesuit priest was the confessor of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, the French Visitation sister and mystic who greatly promoted the Sacred Heart of Jesus’ devotion in its modern form. It was thanks to his support and commitment that St Margaret Mary’s superior also believed, thus initiating successfully the propagation of the devotion to the Sacred heart.
St Claude de la Colombière helps us understand that holiness is not only attainable but it is far simpler than we ever have imagined before. When he joined the Jesuits in the 17th century de la Colombière let the Ignatian spirituality shape him, and his complete immersion in the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius permitted him to get closer to Christ. As Pope John Paul II rightly pointed out in his canonization’s homily, the secret of de la Colombière’s holiness was precisely his deep, personal friendship with Jesus Christ.
Fr. Claude forged his spirituality in the school of the Exercises. We still have his impressive journal. He dedicated himself first of all to “meditating a great deal on the life of Jesus” (Ibid., n. 33). Contemplating Christ allowed him to live in familiarity with him so as to belong to him totally: “I see that I absolutely must belong to him” (ibid., n. 71).
Fr Claude was intelligent enough to meditate on Jesus’ life as much as he could in order that his personal life be transformed into Christ’s. The consequences for such a simple exercise are enormous.
His intimate personal friendship with Christ helped Fr Claude to be calm in every stormy situation in his life. In those turbulent moments he knew that if Jesus was his friend nothing would harm him. St John Paul II told us: He attained the perfect freedom of one who gives himself unreservedly to the will of God: “I have a free heart”, he said (ibid., n. 12): trials or sacrifices he accepted, “thinking that God only expects these things of us out of friendship” (ibid., n. 38). His whole taste for friendship led him to respond to God’s friendship with a loving zeal renewed each day.
I want now to mention some fruits of this great friendship he had with Christ. These spiritual teachings are literally spiritual gems for you and me that encourage, help and strengthen our relationship with the Friend of friends, Jesus Christ. For Fr Claude, Mary’s intercessory power is undisputed. He said: Among my devotions to the Blessed Virgin, I resolved never to ask God for anything in any prayer that was not through the intercession of Mary. In spiritual life, as in the material one, Fr Claude makes us aware of the fact that no pain no gain. He said: God’s plans are only realized at the cost of great sacrifices.
However, even if there are sacrifices to be made nothing is impossible for the people whom God loves and they love him back. He said: Nothing is impossible for those who love God and are loved by Him. De la Colombière saw love for God as the vehicle through everything is beautifully done. He said: Love for God makes everything tender. For this French Jesuit, real virtue lies in bearing the situation patiently and in aligning oneself to God’s will. He advised: True virtue consists in suffering everything patiently, especially our own spiritual weaknesses, and in being in complete conformity with God’s will in everything that happens.
In Fr Claude’s view, God’s forgiveness has the capacity of turning everything into grace, including one’s own sins. He said: Even if one has committed many faults, it is possible to profit from them by entrusting them to God’s forgiveness. Authentic penance has within it the capacity of cleaning us from what keeps us afar from God’s love as well as the love of neighbour. He said: Penance is a virtue that leads us to work to eliminate from our life everything that separates us from the love of God and the love of our neighbour.
Apostolic virtues help us be helpful to our neighbour but also to preserve them whilst serving people in need. Hence, this can be possible through praying for their use as well as for their preservation. Fr Claude said: It is necessary to pray to obtain the apostolic virtues, it is necessary to pray to make them useful to our neighbour, it is necessary to pray not to lose them in the service of others. Penance is all about internal attitude, in other words if the heart has really been open to God’s saving grace. He said: Many confuse penance exclusively with external acts of atonement; however, penance is a whole interior attitude.
The final gift St Claude de la Colombière gives us is the three words which characterised his spiritual journey, namely: patience, love, presence of God. He said: I wish I could write in every corner of your house, but especially in your heart, these three words: Patience, love, presence of God.
Let us now make this act of Confidence in God with St Claude de la Colombière:
My God, I’m so persuaded that You watch over all who hope in You and nothing can be lacking to those who await from You all things, that I have determined to live from now on without any concern, letting go and giving You all of my anxieties. I will sleep and rest in peace because You, O Lord, and only You, have secured my hope.
Men can deprive me of possessions and reputation; illnesses can take away my strength and means to serve You; I myself can lose Your grace because of sin; but I will not lose my hope; I will conserve it until the last instant of my life and all the efforts from demons trying to take it away from me will be useless. I will sleep and rest in peace.
May others expect happiness in their richness and talents; some may lean on the innocence of their lives, or the rigor of their penitence, or above all on the amount of their good works, or the fervor of their prayers. As for myself Lord, all my confidence is my confidence itself. Because You Lord, only You have secured my hope.
No one has been deceived by this confidence. No one who has waited in the Lord has been frustrated in their confidence. Therefore, I am sure that I will be eternally happy because I firmly hope to be; and because You, Oh, My God, are in Whom I expect all. In You I hope Lord, and never will I be confused.
I know very well . . . too well that I am fragile and inconstant, I know well the power of temptations against the most firm virtue; I have seen the stars fall from heaven and columns from the firmament; but none of this can frighten me. As long as I maintain firm my hope, I will be conserved from all calamities; and I am sure to hope always, because I hope the same in this unchanging hope.
In conclusion, I am sure that I cannot hope in excess in You and that I will receive all that I would have hoped for in You. Therefore, I know You will sustain me on the most rapid and slippery slopes, that You will strengthen me against the assaults and make my weakness triumph over the most tremendous enemies.
I hope You will always love me and I will love you without interruption; to take once and for all my hope as far as it can reach. I hope in You and only in You! Oh, My Creator! In time and for all eternity. Amen.