Monday, June 05, 2006

A Short Road To Perfection by Cardinal Newman


September 27, 1856
{285} IT is the saying of holy men that, if we wish to be perfect, we have nothing more to do than to perform the ordinary duties of the day well. A short road to perfection—short, not because easy, but because pertinent and intelligible. There are no short ways to perfection, but there are sure ones.
I think this is an instruction which may be of great practical use to persons like ourselves. It is easy to have vague ideas what perfection is, which serve well enough to talk about, when we do not intend to aim at it; but as soon as a person really desires and sets about seeking it himself, he is dissatisfied with anything but what is tangible and clear, and constitutes some sort of direction towards the practice of it.
We must bear in mind what is meant by perfection. It does not mean any extraordinary service, anything out of the way, or especially heroic—not all have the opportunity of heroic acts, of sufferings—but it means what the word perfection ordinarily means. By perfect we mean that which has no flaw in it, that which is complete, that which is consistent, that which is sound—we mean the opposite to imperfect. As we know well what imperfection in {286} religious service means, we know by the contrast what is meant by perfection.
He, then, is perfect who does the work of the day perfectly, and we need not go beyond this to seek for perfection. You need not go out of the round of the day.
I insist on this because I think it will simplify our views, and fix our exertions on a definite aim. If you ask me what you are to do in order to be perfect, I say, first—Do not lie in bed beyond the due time of rising; give your first thoughts to God; make a good visit to the Blessed Sacrament; say the Angelus devoutly; eat and drink to God’s glory; say the Rosary well; be recollected; keep out bad thoughts; make your evening meditation well; examine yourself daily; go to bed in good time, and you are already perfect.

PRAYER BY CARDINAL NEWMAN
O my Lord and Savior, support me in my last hour in the
strong arms of Thy Sacraments and by the fresh fragrance of
Thy consolations. Let the absolving words be said over me,
and the holy oil sign and seal me; and let Thine own Body
be my food, and Thy Blood my sprinkling; and let my sweet
Mother, Mary, breathe on me, and my Angel whisper peace to
me, and my glorious saints and my own dear patrons smile
upon me, that, in them all and through them all, I may
receive the gift of perseverence, and die as I desire to
live, in Thy faith, in Thy Church, in Thy service, and in
Thy love. Amen.

1 Comments:

Blogger Bart said...

Excellent. Keep them coming. Over time, you may want to consider writing an article or essay all your own, which is what I am doing this week. By Friday, I will have an article called, "Undercurrent" published on THA2. I can't wait to see what comments it will generate.
Again, excellent post!

1:18 AM  

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