TWELVE CATHOLIC VIRTUES (2024)

St. Francis de Sales,also, was full of respect and love for this virtue, as he once declaredto a confidential friend, in these words: "I do not know what that poorvirtue of prudence has done to me, that I find so much difficulty inloving it. And if I love it, it is only from necessity, inasmuch as itis the support and guiding light of this life. But the beauty ofsimplicity completely fascinates me. It is true that the Gospelrecommends to us both the simplicity of the dove and the prudence ofthe serpent; but I would give a hundred serpents for one dove. I knowthat both are useful when they are united, but I think that it shouldbe in the proportion observed in compounding some medicines, in which alittle poison is mixed with a quantity of wholesome drugs. Let theworld, then, be angry----let the prudence of the world rage, and thefleshperish; for it is always better to be good and simple, than to besubtle and malicious."

St. Phocas the Martyr was greatly to be admired for his simplicity,according to what Surius relates. He cultivated a little garden, lessto provide food for himself than to supply with vegetables and fruitthose travelers and pilgrims who had heard of his liberality andstopped at his house; for no one ever knocked at his door who was notreceived with great charity and courtesy. This holy man was denouncedfor aiding and abetting Christians, to the governor of the province,who, resolving upon his death, sent soldiers privately in search ofhim with orders to kill him. They arrived one evening at his house, notknowing that it was his, entered it, and with the usual freedom ofsoldiery, demanded food. According to his custom, he received themwillingly and kindly and gave them what little he had. He served them,too, at table, with so much charity and courtesy that they weredelighted and captivated, and said between themselves that they hadnever met such a good-hearted man. And so they were led by his greatsimplicity and candor to ask him with confidence whether he knewanything of a certain Phocas, who helped and harbored Christians, andupon whose death the imperial prefect had resolved. The Saint repliedthat he knew him very well, and that he would willingly point him outto them so that they might go to rest quietly, without furtherinquiry, for on the next day he would show them an easy way ofcapturing him. He then spent the whole night in fervent prayer, andwhen it was day he went to visit the soldiers, and bid them goodmorning with his usual cordiality. They answered by reminding him ofhis promise to deliver up Phocas, whom they were seeking. "Do notdoubt," he returned, "that I will find him for you. Consider that youhave him already in your hands."

"Let us go, then, and take him," they answered.

"There is no need of going," he replied, "for he is here present. I amhe. Do with me what you please." At these words, the soldiers wereamazed and stupefied, both on account of the great charity which he hadwelcomed them and of the ingenuous sincerity with which he revealedhimself to his persecutors, when he could so easily have escapeddeath by fleeing in the night. They gazed at each other in amazement,and neither of them dared to lay hands on one who had been so kind tothem. They were more inclined to give him his life, and to report tothe prefect that after long search they had not been able to discoverPhocas.

"No," said the Saint, "my death would be a less evil than to concoctsuch a fiction, and tell such a falsehood. Execute, then, the order youhave received." So saying, he bared his neck and extended it to thesoldiers, who severed it with one stroke and gave him the gloriouscrown of Martyrdom. This most candid fidelity was so agreeable to Godthat He immediately began, and still continues, to signalize it byillustrious miracles, especially in favor of pilgrims and sailors, towhom----in death as in life----the Saint has been most liberal ofbenefitsand miraculous helps. In recognition of this, a custom came into useamong travelers by sea, of serving to him every day at meals a part ofthe first dish, which was called the portion of St. Phocas. This waseach day bought by one or other of the voyagers, and the pricedeposited in the hands of the captain; and when they came into port,the money was distributed among the poor, in thanksgiving to theirbenefactor for their successful voyage.

2. Simplicity is nothing but anact of charity pure and simple, whichhas but one sole end----that of gaining the love of God. Our soul isthentruly simple, when we have no aim at all but this, in all we do.----St.Francis de Sales St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi once said: "If I thought thatby saying a word, however indifferent, for any other end than the loveof God, I could become a Seraph, I certainly would not say it."

The devil, envying a young monk who was making good progress, appearedone night to his Master of Novices under the form of a good Angel, andinformed him that his disciple was already reprobated and thatwhatever good he did was of no use to him. The Master of Novices wasmuch grieved at this and could not refrain from tears whenever he metthe young man, who one day asked him the reason of his grief. When hetold it, the novice said: "Father, do not grieve for this. If I am tobe damned, I shall be damned; if I am to be saved, I shall be saved. Iserve God not for the Kingdom of Heaven, but for His goodness and lovetowards me, and for the Passion He has suffered for me. If, then, Hechooses to give me His Paradise, He can do it: and if He wishes to giveme Hell, He can indeed do it; I am content that He should do with mewhat pleases Him." The following night, a true Angel appeared to theMaster of Novices and told him the one he had previously seen was adevil, and that his disciple had merited more by his act of resignationthan by all the good life he had hitherto led.

3. The office of simplicity isto make us go straight to God, withoutregard to human respect or our own interests. It leads us to tellthings candidly and just as they exist in our hearts. It leads us toact simply, without admixture of hypocrisy and artifice----and,finally,keeps us at a distance from every kind of deceit anddouble-dealing.----St. Vincent de Paul

This Saint always held it as of the utmost importance to have God ashis only object in all he did; neither could he bear that those underhis charge should swerve in the least from this aim. When one of themwas publicly accused of having done something from human respect, hereprimanded him severely, saying that it would be better to be throwninto the fire with feet and hands tied than to work to please men.Answering a letter from one of his priests, he writes thus: "You writeto me that when you speak highly of a certain person in your letters,it would be well forhis friends to know it, that he may come to know it too. What thoughtsfor you to have! Where is the simplicity of a missionary, who oughtalways look directly to God? If you do not see good in certain persons,do not speak of it; but if you find it, speak of it to honor God inthem, since from Him all good proceeds. Our Lord reproved one whocalled Him good, because he did not call Him so with a good intention.With how much greater reason might you be blamed, if you praise sinfulmen to please them, and to gain their favor, or for any other earthlyand imperfect motive? Remember that duplicity does not please God, andthat to be truly simple, we ought to have no aim but Himself."

As to his own language, it was candid and simple, and so far from allevasion and craftiness that no one could ever fear being deceived byhim. He also avoided high-flown compliments, which, as they areusually united with dissimulation, are not in conformity with the rulesof Christian simplicity. Therefore he conversed with all simply andcordially, omitting useless demonstrations, as he desired also that hispriests should do.

The venerable Sister Crucifixa possessed most remarkable candor andsincerity, by which she showed her hatred of all dissimulation andduplicity. The slightest untruth never escaped from her lips, either inthe way of civility or of jest, although at recreation she would oftenemploy irony or other diverting forms of expression to enliven theconversation.

St. Charles Borromeo showed plainly that he was full of this holyvirtue on several occasions, especially in the election of Pius V asPope. As his uncle, Pius IV, had always disliked St. Charles, there wasevery reason to believe that the nephew would be opposed, or at leastnot very friendly, to him so that he might be taxed with want ofprudence in giving power that would be likely to be used for his ownruin. Nevertheless, having before his eyes only the glory of God andthe greater good of the Church and paying noregard to his private interests, he brought about his election. But Godtook care of him and caused him to be much favored and esteemed by PiusV. In his speech, St. Charles was extremely candid and utterly opposedto all artifice and duplicity, and he wished those of hishousehold to be the same, as he once said to one of them who, intalking of a certain affair, allowed these words to escape him: "I willtell you sincerely what I think about it." The Saint interrupted himquickly, saying: "Then you do not always speak sincerely! Now, be surethat he cannot be my friend, who does not speak always with sincerity,and say with his lips what he means in his heart."

4. God loves the simple andconverses with them willingly andcommunicates to them the understanding of His truths, because Hedisposes of these at His pleasure. He does not deal thus with lofty andsubtle spirits.----St. Francis de Sales

St. Vincent de Paul was of the same opinion, the truth of which, hesaid, experience daily confirms; for it is but too clear that thespirit of religion is not ordinarily to be found so much among the wiseand prudent of the world as among the poor and simple, who are enrichedby God with a living and practical faith, which makes them believe andappreciate the words of eternal life. So they are usually seen tosuffer their diseases, their poverty and all their trials with morepatience and resignation than others.

St. Ambrose, in the funeral oration which he pronounced over hisbrother, St. Satirus, greatly exalts among his other virtues hischildlike simplicity, "which," he says, "shone in him like a mirror, sothat he could not have failed to please God; for He, as a completelysimple being, loves what is simple, and hates and punishes alladulteration."

It is related in regard to St. Gertrude that the Lord onceappeared toa holy soul and said, "Know that there is not a soul in the world whichis nearer and more closely united to Me by simplicity, than that ofGertrude, and so there is none to which I feel Myself so much drawn
as to hers."

5. True simplicity is like thatof children, who think, speak and actcandidly and without craftiness. They believe whatever is told them;they have no care or thought for themselves, especially when with theirparents; they cling to them, without going to seek their ownsatisfactions and consolations, which they take in good faith and enjoywith simplicity, without any curiosity about their causes andeffects.----St. Francis de Sales St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi resembled in her behavior asimple girl,acting without craftiness, and with great candor and simplicity ofheart----accompanied, however, with prudence and such gravity as madeherloved and respected by all.

The venerable Sister Maria Crucifixa was truly remarkable for thisvirtue. Though gifted with heavenly illumination, she appearedprecisely like a simple little girl, without a vestige of artfulness.She told everything candidly and as it seemed to her, and she thoughtothers did the same; for she could not believe that a Christian wouldbe capable of telling lies. Some examples will show this more clearly.

On account of the opinion generally entertained of her sanctity, agreat number of letters came to her from many places. She believed thatthis was owing to the high standing of the convent, and that hercompanions received as many; but she was much surprised to notice thatthey were not kept as busy in writing answers as she was. To satisfyherself about the matter, she went around asking them if they receivedmany letters; and they, to favor her simplicity, answered, withpolite exaggeration, that they received ever so many. "Why, then, doyou not write?" she replied. "I will bring you the inkstand so that youcan answer them." She went for the inkstand and a pen, and gave them toher companions; but seeing that they could not restrain their laughter,she was unable to understand what the joke was, and remained muchpuzzled.
Having received from Cardinal Tommasi, her brother, whooften wrote to her, a letter in which he signed himself "a wretch,"according to the frequent custom of the time, she would answer neitherthat one, nor many others that he afterwards wrote. Being asked thereason, she replied that she did not wish to keep up a correspondencewith wretches; and it required no little trouble to induce her towrite.

But in another pretty incident the Lord was pleased to show howacceptable to Him was her simplicity. A linnet was given to her, whichshe named Fiorisco. She loved it very much, not only for its beautifulvoice, but for the virtues which she said were shown in its actions. Ithappened once that she wished to pullout two of its feathers, to makea little pen to draw a certain design for an approaching Festival.She thought the linnet was rather unwilling to give them to her, andshe was somewhat disedified by his want of devotion. A short time aftera young canary, taking his first flight, rested on the cage of thelinnet, which held him by one of his feet with his beak and began topull out his feathers with his claws. Seeing what was going on, shehurried to the rescue, and exclaimed, "Ah, Fiorisco! We are growingworse and worse! Is this the way to observe charity?" Then turning tothe image of the Virgin, she protested that in this bird she lovednothing except God, but that he had done very wrong that day, and shewished that he might be suitably punished. At these words, the linnet,as if he foresaw the coming punishment, stopped singing, and spent therest of the day in a melancholy manner in a corner of the cage, withhis feathers ruffled up. When evening came, a noise was heard from thecage, where poor Fiorisco was struggling grievously, with mournfulcries. The servant of God hastened to the scene and saw the devil, inthe form of an ugly crow, attacking her bird. Crying aloud "SantaMaria," she put him to flight; but she found that her linnet had lost awing, which had been torn off at the shoulder, and fell on the groundbefore her eyes; and the injured bird seemed on the point of drawinghis last breath. She was grieved at the sight and prayed to the Lord,asking, as He did not desire the death of a sinner, but his conversionand life, that He would grant that her Fiorisco, though he had beenpunished, might not die. Nor was the prayer in vain; for after she hadtaken the bird in her hand and caressed it a little, it suddenlyrecovered its usual strength and appeared with a new wing, fullyprovided with bones and flesh and skin, in nothing different from thefirst, except that the feathers were handsomer.

St. Vincent de Paul said one day that from the time he had givenhimself to the service of God, he had never done anything which hewould not have been willing to do in the public squares; for heperformed every action with a vivid recollection of the presence ofGod, Whom he feared more than men.

In the Lives of the Fathers it is narrated that a person asked a holyabbot how he ought to act when, in regulating the conduct or affairsof others, he was in doubt whether he should say or do certain things.The Saint replied: "Before saying or doing those things, reflect asto what your own feelings would be if someone else should say or dothem to you. And if you find that you would feel displeasure orresentment, use that same moderation and charity which you would desireto have practiced towards you. In such cases this is my rule."

Itwas the usual custom of St. Vincent de Paul to regard his owninterests as if they belonged to others, and those of others as hisown, as may be seen in various incidents of his life. It will besufficient to mention two. Some of his relatives, who had been summonedbefore a high tribunal on a grave charge, asked him for letters whichmight exert an influence in their favor. But he, through zeal forjustice, would not interfere in the matter. On the other hand, whensome of his friends wished to interceed with the judges on theirbehalf, he entreated them not to expose themselves to the danger ofhindering the course of justice, but rather to wait until theirinnocence was made certain----just as he would have done in any othersimilar case. In the conferences which he had with members of hisCongregation, when any business affecting others was underconsideration, he would often say: "Let us keep our eyes open toothers' interests as to our own, and let us take care to deal uprightlyand honorably with all." Here surely was a man who did not allowhimselfto be carried away by natural inclinations, either in his own affairsor those of others!

And yet, we do not read that he evercomplained of not being able to remain retired and absorbed in God,although he certainly desired it as much as anyone. Nor can any reasonbe assigned for this, except that all his care was to please God, andnot himself.