Various Qualities of True Devotion

True devotion is uniform and invariable. It is a permanent adhering of the heart of God, independent of all the changes incidental to the spiritual life. It remains the same in dryness as in consolation, in privation as in enjoyment, in the trouble of temptations as in the calm of peace, when God seems to forsake it as when He favors it with the most intimate union. However He treats me, says the devout soul, He is always what He is, and merits to be served just the same. My devotion must never change, since He who is its object is Himself unchangeable.

It is simple, and has only one aim. God alone! is its motto. It studies to purify its motives, raising itself above everything in order that it may see only God and His will. There is no keeping one eye on God and another on itself. The devout souls sees itself, but in God and in His good pleasure, which means everything to it.

It is fervent. That is to say, it is always determined to do and to suffer whatever God wishes, cost what it may. For I do not call fervor those passing transports which a sensible grace produces in the soul. Beginners are apt to be deceived by this: they consider that they are then capable of everything, and beg God to put them to the test. But let this sensible grace pass and they soon change their notions and language, and realize their weakness. True fervor resides in the depths of the will, and subsists as long as the will does not yield to tepidity, laxness and weariness, but preserves the same adour, courage and zeal.

It is faithful, and carries its attention and precision to the point of extreme delicacy, yet without scruple or anxiety. It is faithful in little things as in great; in what is of perfection as of obligation; to the least sign as to the most express commandment. Its principle, from which it never departs, is that nothing is little in the service of so great a Master, whose will alone is what gives value to that service. Indeed, we cannot testify to our love better than by acting the moment His pleasure is known, without waiting for an express command.

It is discreet, and always quick to follow the mind of God. It is never inconsiderate, rash or reckless. It loves order and does everything in its proper time and place, and knows just when to be firm or to adapt itself to the weakness of others; when to be exact in its pious exercises or when it should relax temporarily from a spirit of charity. It refuses to pay any attention to the imagination, which is the great stumbling block of most pious persons. It troubles and upsets them, presents them with a thousand fears, causes them to take up a good work and then leave it only half done. It is for ever tempting them to go off at a tangent, to every kind of extravagance, caprice and inconstancy. But in spite of it all, true devotion makes a particular point of despising and dominating the imagination, and so finds a great peace, an evenness of temper which nothing disturbs, and a serenity of soul which extends to the exterior and preserves a gay countenance in the face of the most difficult situations.