True poverty consists in having less
than is necessary.
Following are selected
passages from pages 263-276 from The True Spouse of Jesus Christ.
Although he wrote this book particularly for nuns, St. Alphonsus
states in his preface that only a small portion of it is directed
exclusively to them, “and what regards the Christian virtues, will
be found highly useful even for seculars.” In fact he subtitled
the book: The Nun Sanctified by the Virtues of her State.
The first degree of
perfect religious poverty is not to possess anything as one's own.
Hence a religious should regard but as a loan whatever she possesses,
and should be ready to give it up at the first intimation of the
Superior's will. A sister who is afflicted at being deprived of
anything by the Superior shows that she did not retain it with the
true spirit of poverty, or at least that she had some attachment to
it. And if you feel an attachment to anything whatsoever, resolve,
in imitation of that great servant of God, Sister Mary of the Cross,
either to deprive yourself of it, or to bring it to the Superior and
leave it at her disposal. In a word, you must preserve the heart
free from all affection, even for those things you are permitted to
retain.
The second degree of
poverty is, to deprive yourself of whatever is superfluous: for the
smallest superfluity will prevent a perfect union of the soul with
God. You may imagine that a certain sum of money or a certain portion
of property will enable you to relieve the poor or to assist your
companions. But I repeat that it is the nun that has nothing to
give, and not the religious that has the means of distributing alms,
who edifies the Church. St. Thomas says that “it is good to give
your goods to the needy, but it is better to be poor with Christ.”
If you truly desire to be with Jesus Christ, I advise you, not indeed
to be singular, but not to allow any of your companions to surpass
you in poverty. And that you may be among the poorest of your
companions, you must endeavor to be poor in all things, in your
dress, in your furniture, and in your food. In the chronicles of St.
Jerome we read that when Superiors found curiosities in the convent
they immediately cast them into the fire, calling them idols of
religious. The great servant of
God Sister Mary Magdalene Carafa would not keep in her cell paintings
or presents, or even many books. “For reading,” she would say,
“a single book is sufficient and contains more than we can put into
practice.”
The
third degree of poverty requires that you do not complain when you
are in want even of necessaries. The Mother of God once said to one
of her devout servants, a Franciscan nun: “My child, as long as all
your wants are supplied, you are not poor; true poverty consists in
having less than is necessary.” “To desire to be poor,” says
St. Francis de Sales, “and not to feel any of the inconveniences of
want, is to wish for the honor of poverty and advantages of riches.”
On every occasion in which you have to suffer from want have before
your eyes the beautiful sentiment of St. Jane Frances Chantal, who
was accustomed to say, that as the opportunities of practicing
poverty are so rare, we should, whenever they occur, accept them with
gladness.
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| Excellent biography of the saint from TAN Books. |
The
fourth and last degree of poverty requires not only that a religious
be content with what is poor, but also that she prefer and select
what is poorest – the poorest cell, the poorest bed the poorest
clothes, and the poorest food. It will be useful to insert in this
place the beautiful instruction of Father Anthony Torres to a nun who
was one of his penitents. “Since your Spouse esteemed poverty so
highly, you should love it as a treasure; you should practice it in
all things, and glory in it more than in the most splendid ornaments.
Do not allow any nun or lay-sister in the convent to be poorer than
you. Do not possess or seek anything, however necessary it may
appear, without first looking at your naked Spouse on the Cross and
asking His permission.” And dearest sister, since you have left
all things for God, do not, for the sake of any miserable earthly
good, expose your soul to the danger of eternal perdition. Imagine
that God places before you Himself on the one hand and creatures on
the other, and that He speaks to you in the language that He once
addressed to the Venerable Mary Crucified: “Choose between me and
creatures whichsoever will make you happy.” A religious should
have no treasure but God.
As
in all the chapters of his book, St. Alphonsus concludes with a
prayer, which begins “My Jesus in Thee I find all things, out of
Thee I desire nothing. Ah! Draw me entirely to Thee: enkindle in my
heart Thy holy love, by which I desire to see myself entirely
consumed.” He always closes the prayer with some invocation to
Mary. “Mary, my mother, in thy intercession, my hopes are placed.”
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