ON THE ANNIHILATION OF SELF.
Fr. Jean Grou, S.J. “I am before Thee as one that is not.” — PSALMS. WHEN we are spoken to of dying to ourselves, of annihilating ourselves, when we are told that that is the foundation of Christian morality, and that in it consists the adoration of God in spirit and in truth, we do […]
ON THE HUMAN “7.” (Ego.)
Fr. Jean Grou, S.J. GOD alone has the right properly to say I, and to look at everything as it regards Himself, to be Himself the rule, the measure, and the center of all things; because God alone exists of Himself, and everything else exists only by His will, and for Him, has no value […]
ON WHAT OUR CONDUCT SHOULD BE WITH REGARD TO TEMPTATIONS.
Fr. Jean Grou, S.J. AFTER having spoken of the usefulness and even the necessity of temptations, we must now say something about the manner in which we ought to act when the temptations come. This matter, which is quite practical, is not one of the least essential in the spiritual life. Whole treatises have been […]
ON TEMPTATIONS.
Fr. Jean Grou, S.J. “Because you were pleasing to God, it was needful that you should be tried by temptation.” — The Angel Raphael to Tobias. THOSE who have given themselves up to the spiritual life have no difficulty in persuading themselves that they are pleasing to God, when He makes them feel the sweetness […]
ON THE HUMAN HEART.
Fr. Jean Grou, S.J. ” The heart is perverse above all things, and unsearchable: who can know it?” — JEREMIAS. BY these words, “the human heart,” we mean that depth of malignity, of perversity, and of self- love, which is in every one of us, and the venom of which extends over all our actions, […]
ON THE WORLD.
Fr. Jean Grou, S.J. WHAT is the world? And what ought the world to be to a Christian? These are two most interesting questions for anyone who wishes to belong entirely to God, and to assure his own salvation. What is the world? It is the enemy of Jesus Christ, and it is the enemy […]
ON THE LOVE OF OUR NEIGHBOR.
Fr. Jean Grou, S.J. “A NEW commandment I give unto you, that you love one another, as I have loved you,” said our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The precept of love for our neighbor belonging to the natural law, and being as old as the world itself, in what sense does Jesus Christ call […]
ON THE SPIRIT OF FAITH.
Fr. Jean Grou, S.J. To understand what the spirit of faith really is, we, must know that when a soul has given itself entirely to God, God first of all inspires that soul with the greatest confidence in Him, the greatest faith in His words and promises, and the most utter resignation to His guidance; […]
ON THE DIRECTOR.
Fr. Jean Grou, S.J. WE ought not to draw a distinction between the director and the confessor, any more than we draw a distinction between the physician who cures an illness and him who prescribes a rule for preserving health. The confessor hears the acknowledgment of our sins, and absolves us from the guilt of […]
ON THE PROFIT WE OUGHT TO DERIVE FROM OUR FAULTS.
Fr. Jean Grou, S.J. THE subject I am now going to treat of is one of the most important in the spiritual life. It is quite certain that, in the designs of God, the faults into which He permits us to fall ought to serve for our sanctification, and that it only depends upon us […]