Source: https://archive.org/details/TheVeryRevFatherPaulOfMoll
Preliminary Remarks by the Author.
We have shown how very busy the Rev.
Father Paul was. From morning till night he received a crowd of
visitors, or went to visit those who called for his assistance. He
heard confessions sometimes until eleven o'clock at night, and as he
could not neglect the divine office, nor the many prayers which he
had promised to his wards, one asked where he found time for his
voluminous correspondence: every day he answered about thirty
letters! Did he sacrifice his night's rest for that purpose? It is
probable.
There is likewise a very great number
of souvenirs or pious pictures, on the back of which he had written
in Flemish charming verses, nearly all treating of the love of God.
Father Paul, a born poet, wrote verses with the most astonishing
facility. There exist a few pious treatises which he had printed,
also some manuscripts treating of the love of God, which he perhaps
intended to publish.
Father Paul has truly been called the
singer of divine love. In his conversations, his letters, his
sermons, everywhere he drew attention to the love of God. This divine
love with which his heart was inflamed seems to have dictated the
following letters, addressed to one of his penitents, an ecstatic.
Most of Father Paul's letters are
headed and closed by a pious expression of love for Jesus. In the
original Flemish we find these words at the head of the letters: "Uyt
liefde tot Jesus," the French equivalent of which is "Par
amour pour Jesus," in English literally "With love for
Jesus." At the end of these letters he writes in Flemish, "Uyt
liefde van Jesus," French, "Par amour de Jesus," which
in literal English means, "With love from Jesus." In the
English pamphlet this distinction has been overlooked; we prefer the
literal translation. Translator's Note.
LETTERS OF FATHER PAUL.
With Love for Jesus!
DEAREST SISTER IN JESUS CHRIST,
I have not been able to reply sooner to
your New Year's greetings. I also wish you a happy and salutary New
Year, a year of love, a heart of love; let all your actions be
love; all your words, love; all your thoughts, love; all your
sensations, love; all that you see, love; all that you hear, love;
all that you desire, love of God.
O love! O infinite love! Yes, I may
well say so, for the love of God is a boundless ocean of love, one
drop of which is sufficient to set man's heart on fire with love.
May I not then say, O love! O infinite
love? The love of God for man is so great that God forgets, so to
say, His infinite justice, in order to be able to show His infinite
love.
May I not then say, O love! O infinite
love? A mother knows how dearly she loves her children, but what
is the love of a mother in comparison with the love of God for us?
Less than nothing.
May I not then say, O love! O infinite
love? Before man was created, God already loved him with so tender a
love that he said, I will give him My flesh.
My blood, My divinity; I shall dwell in
Him with all My perfections, for love of him.
May I not say then, O love! O infinite
love? O my God! O God of infinite love, I thank Thee and I ask of
Thee that I may be able to love Thee ever more and more; that I may
be able to love Thee with a burning love!
I have not been able to reply sooner:
so many letters are waiting for an answer. Do everything for the
love of God; say, "Every thing that I shall do this year, O my
God, I shall do for love of Thee!"
In your sufferings, no matter how
great they may be, do not complain so long as you are able to love.
God of infinite love! give me a heart
of love! I shall ask it for you.
I pray much for you that you may become
more and more inflamed with the love of God.
Here is my name: Praised be Jesus
Christ!
With love for Thee, Jesus.
With Love for Jesus!
DEAREST SISTER IN JESUS CHRIST,
O God, behold my heart in desolation,
Bereft of love, it is in bitterness; My heart so steeped in sadness
and dejection. Fulfil its longing by the gift of love divine.
One sigh of love is of more value
than the whole world, so that for one sigh of the love of God you may
renounce the friendship, the honor, the glory and the riches of the
world. Therefore, never be sad if I do not write to you or speak
to you of love; give one sigh of love for God, and think that you
then possess more than all the world can give you. If you suffer,
think that God, who is infinite love, wills it, and say, O love! O
infinite love!
Live alone with God, that is to say,
live apart from the world, but near to God; reveal to no person the
intimate sentiments of your heart, only to God alone, and show Him
how your heart sighs for His love. Be hidden to men, after the
example of the saints. I shall ask for you much love. Always recall
to yourself the presence of God, burning with a love greater than the
ocean; be convinced that he desires ceaselessly to communicate to you
His love. His burning love, in order that you, also, inflamed with
love, be transformed into His love. Desire as much as possible to
love God more and more. God imparts His love sometimes in peace, and
sometimes also in misfortunes or in sufferings; we must praise and
thank God for all He does, whether it be pleasing to us or not.
Thank God that He has made known to you
His love, yes, that you are able to possess that love, that you are a
child of the love of God.
Be so good as to ask love for me, I
shall also demand the love of God for you.
With love for Jesus, I am . . .
O love! O infinite love of God!
You may write to me always, I shall
reply to you by a short or a long letter, according as it may be
possible for me.
(We have rarely seen Father Paul's
letters dated. )
With Love for Jesus!
SISTER IN JESUS CHRIST,
How astonishing is God in His infinite
love! We ought to cry out ceaselessly with the greatest enthusiasm,
with all our force, with our whole soul, O love! O infinite love! O
astonishing love of God!
When the most beautiful angels
contemplate the sanctity of God, they sing with one voice and with
the greatest astonishment. Holy! Holy! Holy! is the God of all
eternity! And, at sight of that astonishing love, they cry out in the
same manner three times, O infinite and eternal love of God!
A great number of the children of love,
see Jesus in the Holy Sacrament. They have seen Him first in Antwerp.
They see our Lord in the great host exposed at the benediction, and
they see Him differently at the same time; as a shepherd carrying a
lamb on His shoulders or in His arms; in His passion, bleeding; or in
the form of a white dove.
As for myself I have seen Him, Oh! I do
not know how. M. J. has seen Him often already, under different
forms, and she is in ecstasy over it.
They see Jesus distinctly in such a
manner that there can be no doubt.
M. J. and two other young ladies have
seen the same prodigy in Eecloo.
Several persons from Watervliet went to
Eecloo last week, but have seen nothing.
With love from Jesus.
With Love for Jesus!
Sister in Jesus Christ, I prostrate
before the infinite love of Jesus, imploring an ocean of love for
God. I am sad, God alone with His love can console me.
The fear of not going to heaven, you
must consider as a suggestion of the devil. You complain that no one
speaks to you of the love of God and you even dare almost to complain
that I do not write to you of the love of Jesus.
Few persons have had the great
happiness that you have had in being instructed in the love of Jesus.
You are like those who have made their studies to become a priest,
lawyer, or doctor, they know enough in order to follow their
profession. Thus I have taught you of the love of God all that is
necessary, in order to advance unceasingly in love.
The devil will do all in his power in
order to turn you aside from the love of Jesus. Mary, the Mother
of beautiful love, will defend you, all the saints will help you,
and I shall pray for you in order that you may always remain a child
of love, and make great progress in the love of Jesus.
With love from Jesus, Your
humble servant,
D. P.
With Love for Jesus! Dearest
Penitent,
O love! O infinite love of Jesus! O
excess of love! When shall I be able to love Thee enough, when shall
my will be inflamed with love for Thee, O boundless ocean of love?
When shall all my desires be desires of love, so that I may be able
to love Thee and to love nothing else but Thee and Thee alone, O my
God, O infinite love? I shall seek until I shall find Thee, I shall
knock until Thou shalt open for me, I shall pray until Thou shalt
give me an ardent love and shalt suppress in me all other sentiments.
Love surpasses incomparably, both in
value and in beauty, all satisfaction. God, by His nature, is
infinite love, and it is with this infinite love that He loves man so
much.
To understand, or, at least, to get an
idea of His infinite love, think of His infinite perfections. If you
wish to have an idea of the love with which He loves man, see with
what love God loves Mary.
He has given so much to Mary that she
is called the Mother of beautiful love. This great love was granted
to her as Mother of God. Mary being truly our Mother, how could
God love our Mother so much without loving her children? If God
reserved that ardent and great love for Mary, our Mother, this love
would not be fully agreeable to her because Mary, as Mother, would
not be happy to see that her children did not share that true
happiness. What does a mother desire, if not to see her children
share her happiness? God Himself, the infinite Love, has not thought
differently, for see what an incomprehensible love He has for the
children of Mary!
Is it not for the children of Mary that
Jesus suffered so much? It was in order to prove His love for the
children of Mary. Jesus did not suffer for Mary, for she never was
guilty in the eyes of God, she never had to render an account; but,
through sin, her children have made themselves culpable before God,
and it was in order to satisfy for sin that Jesus came. But Jesus
has done much more than was necessary: all that He suffered more, He
endured for the love of man in order to prove to him His love.
Every time you see a crucifix you may
say, O excess of love! Every time Jesus scourged comes into your mind
you may say, O love! O infinite love! When you see Jesus carrying the
cross you may say, O excess of the infinite love of Jesus! God has
given so much love to Mary that she is called with reason the Mother
of beautiful love, and all the children of Mary are equally children
of beautiful love, and those who are not, have rejected that right
through sin. That right lost can be restored through the infinite
merits of Jesus, merits which He has acquired for us in His love for
us.
When then you see Jesus in His
passion, you see Him at the same time in His excess of love. Often
contemplate Jesus enduring outrages, humiliations, mockeries,
derision, and say, O love! O infinite love of Jesus! When you think
of the Most Holy Sacrament, when you receive Jesus or when you make
spiritual communions, or when you adore Jesus, you may say, O
infinite love of Jesus!
Have an ardent desire to be a child of
the love of Jesus. The love of Jesus is a great treasure beyond
comparison.
I wish you a good and happy year, a
year of love, so that you, also, may be a child of beautiful love as
your Mother Mary is the Mother of beautiful love.
With love from Jesus.
With Love for Thee, Jesus!
Dearest Sister in Jesus Christ,
I should wish to write you a long
letter, but I have no time; I must preach the Lenten sermons, preach
at the Masses and teach catechism to the children.
Love! O infinite love of Jesus! I give
Thee my heart, to Thee alone, not once, but throughout eternity.
On the days when you have but little
or no love, do not murmur against Jesus, do not speak to anybody of
it; you can tell it to me. In heaven you will be able to live without
being separated from the love of Jesus, but not so on earth. Only
say, O Jesus of infinite love! I feel, or, I have no love, but be it
according to Your desire, I accept it for love of You and in the hope
that You will grant me more. See, however, I experience the hunger
and thirst for Your love, I long for You as the fish longs for the
water out of which it has been taken; You cannot nor would You
abandon me, You only wish to try me; You act very well, but do not
make me languish without Your love; I make the resolution never to
love anything but You.
I ought to tell you yet much on the
subject of poor sinners, who do not know God or who do not love Him;
I must yet very much exhort you to praise and thank God, but I have
no time.
During the time of Lent often take into
your hand the chalice of bitterness. O love! O infinite love, would
that you could set on fire all hearts!
With Love for the Sacred Heart of
Jesus!
Dearest Penitent,
O love! O excess of the love of Jesus!
I give Thee my heart, to Thee alone, not once, but always, unto
eternity, and with so great a love as no person ever has done. The
excess of the love of God is not contained within the infinite
perfections of God, but that love is found wherever it is possible.
It is found in the souls in purgatory, it is found upon earth. I
cannot say that upon earth, it is less brilliant than in purgatory,
for can we see that love more clearly than in the Holy Sacrament of
infinite love, and in the passion of Jesus?
Jesus allowed Himself to be so horribly
scourged as thereby to become unrecognizable. Jesus, so beautiful,
behold how disfigured He with blood and wounds is now, so that one
cannot recognize Him except by His love: to those who did not know
His love He became completely unrecognizable.
In purgatory, His infinite love is
known, although the souls are not as yet fully satiated with it; but
in heaven, they will be eternally filled with it; love will satiate
them in a manner incomprehensible. There the souls see the infinite
grandeur of God; unceasingly they see and receive continual effusions
of love, resembling the torrents of a boundless ocean of love.
The grandeur of God is
incomprehensible, and it is as if He were great and powerful only to
show His love, to bestow love and to receive the love of man in order
to unite Himself always with man through love.
What is the Holy Sacrament of love
if not a union of the love of God with man? Therefore it is that I
encourage all children of love to the constant practice of
spiritual communion and sighs of love. They unite us
equally to God through love, much less, it is true, than real
Communion, but yet they help to receive Jesus with so much greater
love in Holy Communion.
I desire most ardently that this love
may be known by the hearts of all men that they may be inflamed with
love for God. The incomprehensible and burning love of God
continually fills man, that God may reign in his heart; but mortal
sins constantly push back that love. God Himself says, "I do
not want the death of sinners, but I want them to live that I may
love them, and be united with them through love."
Those who are in the state of grace,
but do not know His love, God loves with an incomprehensible love
because God loves everything that is good; but we shall never
understand the love that God bears towards His children of love, and
how much He desires to unite Himself with them by love.
It is on account of this love for
man that Jesus had the will to suffer, with great patience, all
outrages, contempt, and pain. With what satisfaction can we not
suffer, and desire to suffer to show our love for Jesus!
If it is given you to take part in the
love of Jesus, then take part, also, in His dolorous passion. If
Jesus often comes to console you with His sweet love, take likewise
and joyfully your part of pity for Jesus in His excess of suffering,
as was done by the sorrowing women.
How can one contemplate Jesus in the
excess of His suffering, for the love of man, without being touched
and saying, I want to give my love to Jesus!
I recommend to you again the devotion
to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. O Sacred Heart of Jesus! O Sacred Heart
of Jesus! O ocean of love!
I do not know as yet if the love for
Jesus will make me depart from here. I shall demand for you love for
Jesus.
With love from the Sacred
Heart of Jesus, I am your humble servant in Jesus,
D. P. relig.
With Love for Jesus!
Dearest Sister,
O love! O infinite love of God for man!
How astonishing God is in the love with which He loves man! For all
that you see He has made in His infinite love. Look at the Sacred
Heart of Jesus, and you will hear Jesus tell you, "Behold the
heart that has loved men so much." Look at the Most Holy
Sacrament. What is the Most Holy Sacrament? It is an excess of love.
Look at the holy Face, that holy Face says to you, "O love! O
infinite love of Jesus!" Look at Jesus crucified, and must you
not cry out, "O love! O infinite love of Jesus! Is it possible,
that love can go so far?"
Was His love held up by the cross? Ah,
no, this Jesus with His Sacred Heart, and in the Most Holy Sacrament
and crucified, went to heaven. There He is seated upon a throne of
infinite glory; from there, He pours forth His infinite love into all
the hearts open to His love. Every sigh of love, every desire of
love is a new opening of your heart, allowing the love of God to
penetrate.
Unite yourself to God through love, and
rejoice in such great happiness; thank God for this great benefit,
and be so much the more ardent in the love of God.
I am overburdened with work, it happens
sometimes that I am unable to write more, do not expect it of me.
With love from Jesus, I am.
With Love for Jesus!
Sister in Jesus Christ,
O love! O infinite love of God for man!
One word escapes from my lips and plunges me into the greatest
astonishment, O love! O . . .
It is not given to any man to tell what
the infinite love of God is, not even to make any comparison of it.
All that can be said about it is still nothing.
Imagine all the love of one hundred
thousand mothers for their children. It is nothing in comparison with
the infinite love of God. One may say that a drop of water is a
portion of the ocean; but all the love we can imagine cannot give us
an idea of the least part of the love of God for man.
I wish you would allow me never to say
more than, O love! O infinite love of God! I can hardly say anything
more or anything better, for these words contain all that is
necessary to induce us never to do anything except for the love of
God; they are sufficient to satiate us with the love of God, and make
us desire Him more and more.
When meditation becomes impossible for
you, think of the love of God.
God, the saints and the souls in
purgatory are my sole occupation.
Pray for me and the souls in purgatory,
I will pray for you.
With love from Jesus,
D. Paul, relig.
With Love for Jesus!
Sister in Jesus Christ,
With the grace of God, I must tell you
that nothing occupies my heart more than the love of God. I wish to
love the God of most tender and amiable love, and I cannot desire or
wish anything better to others, yes, to all persons of the world.
For this reason the devil persecutes me
much and, as happens very often in a similar case, the instruments of
which he makes use are the very ones who owe me the greatest
gratitude, thus rendering the humiliation still more painful.
I thank you for your good wishes. I
wish you likewise a beautiful and happy year, a year of love; for
that end I recommend to you three inexhaustible sources of love: —
1. The Most Holy Sacrament.
2. The sorrowful passion of Jesus
Christ.
3. The Sacred Heart of Jesus, there to
establish your dwelling and nourish yourself with the infinite love
of God.
Your humble servant,
O love! O infinite love of
God!
With Love for Jesus!
Sister in Jesus Christ,
Cry out and repeat a thousand times, O
love! O infinite love of God for man! For God is infinite love, and
to man alone He has given a heart of love in order to love God and be
loved of Him. For this reason we ought to have a high regard for all
men; if they are not already children of love, they may become so.
This obliges me to give an impressive
notice to all the children of love; be prudent, for not every one is
as yet a child of love, nor does every one understand what it is to
be a child of love.
For this reason the impossible will be
attempted to hinder the children of love from going where they can
nourish themselves with love. Alas! if one knew the love of God, one
would not act contrary to it. It is my duty to cry out: Do not go to
such and such a place, for love is in danger there. Help me to
nourish the children of love; if they say or do anything against you,
pass on and say: What does it matter? It is a child of love.
With love from Jesus, I
am,
D. Paul, relig.
With Love for Jesus!
Dearest Sister in Jesus Christ,
For the love of Thee, Jesus, I demand
of Thee, I pray Thee, I beseech Thee to inspire me in this writing;
give me to know Thy holy will. O love! O infinite love! I give Thee
my heart, to Thee alone, not once, but continually and for eternity.
We shall never be able to proclaim nor admire worthily the infinite
goodness of God. God is infinitely great and has an incomprehensible
love for miserable man, so inclined to evil and so indifferent
towards God. When a man, the greatest enemy of God, truly
contrite, asks pardon of God by going to confession, the love of God
is so great that He gives Himself at once, soul, body, and divinity,
and wants to love that man, love him always more and more. No matter
how miserable he may be, provided he is no longer in the state of
mortal sin, God loves him with an incomprehensible love.
How can one despise or not love one
whom God loves so tenderly, so paternally? What a great crime to do
evil to one whom God loves so much?
Why is there more joy in heaven over
one sinner who does penance than over ninety-nine just? Because in
heaven they see the joy which the fact of being able to love that man
once more, procures for the heart of the infinite love of God.
The heavenly spirits are absorbed in
the abyss of the infinite love of God, and they see much better than
we are able to understand, what an inexpressible joy it is for the
infinite love of God to be able to love again a man who, by mortal
sin had rejected the love of God.
What can there be more agreeable to
the heart of the infinite love of God than to pray for the conversion
of those who are in the state of mortal sin? To be a child of love,
is to sacrifice oneself to the love of God for the conversion of
sinners.
I rejoice at the one word, the
conversion of sinners! If we had to pray hundreds of years in order
to have a man brought back to the love of God, we would have reason
enough to rejoice on account of it.
God demands now that you be and remain
a true child of love, and that your love grow greater unceasingly.
Ask God that all your actions, from the beginning of your
existence, be actions of love for God, performed in union with the
sorrowful passion of Jesus.
O Jesus! my Well-beloved, do You permit
Yourself to be ill-treated so frightfully? Is it to give proofs of
Your love? O Jesus! You have already given sufficient proofs; no
person can ever say that You have not given enough pledges of Your
love. O Jesus! grant me the joy of being able to prevent You being
ill-treated so much.
Holy blood! O blood of love! would that
I could imitate Thee!
I had no time to answer you sooner.
With love from Jesus, I am
. . .
Praised be Jesus Christ!
With Love for Jesus!
Dearest Sister in Jesus Christ,
O love! O infinite love of my God! O
love without beginning and without end, how great you are, how sweet,
how agreeable!
O love of my God! You are great,
because you are infinite; you are sweet, because whoever has tasted
you is famished with love. The more one has of it, the more one
desires; always more and more inflamed with love; never satiated with
love; for the more one tastes of it, the sweeter it is, the more
intense is the desire for love, the ardent love for God.
Love is agreeable, for from the moment
one knows it, one can scarcely love anything else but the love of
God. Therefore, St. Augustine has said, "Lord God, if I had
known Thee sooner, I would have loved Thee sooner." Love is
so agreeable that whoever knows the love of God, scarcely loves
anything but that agreeable love. Why should it not be agreeable to
the heart of man, since God Himself has said, “I shall be all
things to you,” that is to say, all the good we can imagine to
ourselves, such as all sweetness, all harmony.
Does not a son enjoy the riches of a
good father? How agreeable it is for a child to enjoy with his father
his great riches! Which are the riches of God? They are His infinite
perfections, and the ability to be loved by an infinite love, and to
be able to love.
So then, when you have some love for
God, you may esteem yourself happy on account of it, according to the
degree of your love for God, and in that case, you may consider all
other things as nothing, such as riches and pleasures, persecution
and sufferings, outrages and contempt; and suffer all, because then
you have a chance to prove your love for Jesus.
It is easy to show one's love for Jesus
in prosperity and good fortune; but to show a beautiful love in
bitterness [is not as easy] . . . With you it is not as with many
others who seem to have much love as long as everything turns out
according to their wishes, but whose love is all eclipsed in the time
of adversity.
From the moment a man knows God, his
first action is to love Him, to give Him his love, and that need of
loving is so much the greater the better he knows his God.
Never shall one know God well, so
long as one is attached to men and the world: we must not attach
ourselves to them except in so far as they lead us to the knowledge
and love of God.
If Adam had not sinned, love would be
the sole desire of man; but sins have diminished and obscured in man
his desire for the love of God. We may revive that desire by
prayer, by ardent and earnest prayer, by detachment, by a perfect
life, and thus arrive at ardent love for God.
Hence, never become discouraged if it
costs you much to have a little of the love of God; for one sigh
of love is of more value than all
that the world can procure.
With love from Jesus.
Extracts from Letters.
Addressed by the Rev. Father Paul to
a lady of Audenarde.
God is impenetrable. His wisdom is
infinite. Jesus has shown His love for us by incomparable sufferings.
It is the divine will that we show our love for God throughout
everything and in everything, but especially in our sufferings.
In suffering one recognizes true love.
One suffers, but it is for the love of Jesus.
An act of love for God in suffering
causes the astonishment of the angels; an act of love for God in
suffering is formidable to the demon; an act of love for God in
suffering will shine in heaven for all eternity.
If one could understand the value of
an act of love for God in suffering, one would experience the
greatest grief at being obliged to pass a single moment without being
able to make this meritorious act. Happy is he who, in suffering,
makes acts of love!
Madam, I recommend you to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus, you and your whole family. Often say with devotion: O
Sacred Heart of Jesus of infinite love and mercy without end, give me
a heart of love, and give Thy grace to poor sinners, that they may be
enabled to know Thee and love Thee.
I shall commence a novena for you on
Wednesday, and from now on, I shall give you my blessing twice a day,
at half past five in the morning and towards eight in the evening.
You may always write to me, without fear of troubling me.
God is infinitely good and wise. He
shows His goodness towards you by sending you crosses. The more
bitter your pains, the more meritorious they are.
Every cross is a blessing from
heaven, a blessing which surpasses all the happiness of the world. If
one were able to understand the full value of crosses, it would be a
terrible torment to be deprived of them.
I shall pray that God may make you
know the value of crosses, so that you may appreciate them all the
more, and I shall demand for you great patience. Suffer everything,
henceforth, in thanksgiving for this special grace. In heaven you
will see how true is all that I tell you.
Extracts from Letters
of the Rev. Father Paul.
To a member of his family.
I wish you particularly the grace to
see what God is in His infinitive love, in order to love Him with
your whole heart, during your whole life, and to be hereafter united
with Him for all eternity. We cannot comprehend how much God loves
us, and all that He does to show His great love to men: but we
comprehend still less what He will do in heaven for His children of
love.
If it were given you to see one little
ray of His great love, you would never be able to say anything else
but, "O love! O infinite, O beautiful love of God!"
God does not demand of you, in order to
be a child of love, that you should do more than you are able to do,
but all He says to you is, "My child give me your heart!"
And I add thereto, "Do everything for love of Jesus."
Often say, before all your work, "For
love of Thee, Jesus." Often think of the love of God, and
principally of three things wherein He has shown His great love, in
the Most Holy Sacrament, in His sorrowful passion, and in His Sacred
Heart.
When you communicate, recall His great
love, then unite yourself with God through love, give your heart to
God, demand a heart that will love Him always more and more;
above all think of the sorrowful passion of Jesus, principally on
Friday; and when you have to suffer anything, consider with what
love He has suffered, that you also may suffer everything for the
love of Jesus in His Sacred Heart, the source of infinite love.
At my next visit we shall again talk of
the infinite love of God. Love to go to Holy Communion and often
make spiritual communions. Never attach yourself to the world,
but flee from it . . .
The love which God devotes to man, and
that with which he is loved ought to be considered the greatest
treasure He can give us. In order to understand this, it would be
necessary for us to be able to know God, a thing impossible, because
God is infinitely perfect. It is the same with regard to His love,
the more you were to consider the love of God, the more you would
have to say, "O love! O infinite love of God!"
Unite yourself often with God through
love, at your morning and evening prayer, and say, "I shall
do everything for the love of God that all my actions may be acts of
love." Ask for that love through the intercession of Mary.
Suffer and endure everything for the love of Jesus, as Jesus has
suffered everything for love of us.
I wish you an ardent love for God, it
is the richest and most beautiful treasure you can wish or desire.
All other treasures will disappear like smoke; but the treasure of
love shall remain forever in heaven.
Ask God for this beautiful treasure,
for it must come from Him; men cannot procure it for you. For this
reason often ask God for a heart of love that you may love Him ever
more and more, and like a child of love. Add to your morning and
evening prayers, "All that I shall do today, or tonight, I
shall do for the love of God, so that all my actions may be actions
of love. I unite myself today, or tonight, with all the acts of love
made to God, both in heaven and on earth." Say quite often
during the day, when you commence to do something, were it only
moving a chair, opening or shutting a door, or any other action, "For
love of Thee, Jesus."
When you have to suffer anything say,
"I want to suffer it for the love of Jesus, just as Jesus has
suffered all for love of me."
Have a great devotion to the Most Holy
Sacrament of love. Communicate as often as you can, and never say, "I
am not worthy to do so!" Nobody is sufficiently worthy of it,
but the great love of God calls you. Often have a desire of receiving
Jesus.
[Have a great] Devotion to the
sorrowful passion of Jesus.
[Have a great] Devotion to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus.
Everywhere we can find the great
love of God, at home, in the fields, in the street, in the convents,
in good health, in sickness, in adversity, in poverty, everywhere
except in the riches, the honor, the glory and the pleasures of the
world.
I shall ask for you also a share of the
love of God.
Pray much for the souls in purgatory.
Other Extracts from
Letters of the Rev. Father Paul.
The love of God is my desire, my
riches, my joy, and my best food, yes, all!
O God of infinite love! Give me two
wings to fly towards Thee, that I may rest in Thee and be satiated
with Thy beautiful love; a wing of love, to draw me without ceasing
toward Thy beautiful love, and a wing of confidence in order to help
me to perform all my actions, all my steps, all my prayers for the
love of God.
Who shall ever be able to understand
the love, infinitely great, wherewith Thou, O God, lovest man! We
should wish to express, to describe that love; one word only escapes
our powerless lips: O love! O infinite love of God! O sweet love,
sweeter than honey! O ocean of love! inflame my heart with the sacred
fire of Thy holy love!
My name is Love.
O love! O infinite love of Jesus! O
Jesus give me a mouth of love so as to entertain all men with Thy
infinite love! Give me a heart of love so that nothing else may come
forth from it but for Thy beautiful love. Give me eyes of love that I
may see nothing else but Thy love in all things, even in my
sufferings and in everything that goes against me. Give me a taste of
love, that I may taste Thy love in everything I eat and drink. Give
me hands of love that I may write of Thy beautiful love to all the
children of love. Give me feet of love that I may go and entertain
those who suffer, with Thy beautiful love and Thy ignominious and
painful death, so that they may not complain any longer of their
crosses.
O love! O infinite love of God! Thy
love, O my God, is my nourishment, my treasure, my consolation, my
life! I do not need any one but those who speak to me of Thy
beautiful love. O love of Jesus! Thou art my consolation, my all.
Nothing against Thee, everything for Thee!
O love! O infinite love of Jesus!
Thus my name is written.
- I offer up this day (or this night) for the greater glory of God. Everything that I shall do today (or tonight) I shall do for the love of God, that all my actions may be acts of love.
- I unite myself today (or tonight) with all the acts of praise and thanksgiving that are elicited in heaven and on earth.
- I unite myself with all the acts of love that are made by the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
- I unite myself with all the sentiments of pity that ever have been felt and ever will be felt for Jesus in His pains. I make the intention of saying each time when God or His holy name is blasphemed: "My God, be Thou praised and blessed forever and ever! Thy holy name be praised and blessed forever and ever!"
- I consign myself today (or tonight), body and soul, into Thy hands.
- I unite myself with all the acts of adoration and love that are made in the Most Holy Sacrament of infinite love.
During the day make frequent spiritual
communions, when entering or leaving the church, when retiring and in
other circumstances.
Unite yourself often with God by
ejaculatory prayers, and elevate your heart to God. Think often of
the passion of Jesus, and suffer everything for the love of Jesus,
the same as Jesus suffered everything through love for you.
As often as I shall recite seven Our
Fathers and seven Hail Marys, I resolve to say, "In honor of the
drops of blood shed for us by Jesus! and to obtain the graces which
Jesus has attached thereto, and to complete the number thereof."
When going out I say at the door,
"Through love for Thee, Jesus!" And when I am alone I
recite five Our Fathers and five Hail Marys for the conversion of
sinners, and the six Our Fathers, six Hail Marys and six Glory be to
the Father etc., connected with the blue scapular, and I consign the
indulgences into the hands of Mary.
Letter of Rev. Father
Paul.
To a working woman of Thielt.
O love! O infinite love of God! How
astonishing, beautiful and amiable is God in His love! O God of
infinite love! I ask Thee for the grace to be able to write to
Mathilde of Thy love.
Exclaim then anew with myself and with
all the children of love, and also with Sister Luitgarde, "O
love! O infinite love of God! Give me a heart to love Thee, O my God!
and to love Thee with an immense love."
A sigh of love for God, brought forth
with devotion, is of more value than the whole world; the world will
perish completely, but the sigh of love for God is for eternity. If
it were given you to heave [to raise up], with devotion, but one sigh
of love for God in your whole life, you would still be obliged to
say, "An eternity even were too short to thank God for it
sufficiently."
Offer your sufferings to God for the
love of Jesus, as Jesus has suffered all for the love of us.
I hope you will not die yet; but if God
wills it, die with love for Jesus, the same as Jesus has died with
love for us: be then without fear.
You are still able to say, "I
want to suffer everything for the love of Jesus, as Jesus has
suffered everything for love of us, in order to obtain the pardon and
expiation of my sins, and to be able, at once after my death, to
unite myself with Jesus through love and for all eternity."
Sister Luitgarde may read this letter
and I will have her admitted among the children of the beautiful love
of Jesus.
With love from Jesus,
D. Paul relig.
A Few Recent Favors
Obtained through the Intercession of Father Paul.
San Antonio, Tex. The St. Benedict's
Medal that had touched Father Paul's relic and which you sent to the
sick lady, has done wonderful work here; but the good lady had to
part with it, to save the life of a dying man, who had not approached
the sacraments since he made his first Holy Communion. After it was
placed on his neck and dipped into water for him to bathe in, he
immediately became better. There was a lady here who had not been to
confession or Mass for twenty years. Some one gave her a St.
Benedict's Medal to put on last Tuesday and on Saturday she went to
confession.
Ohio. A priest writes: Father Paul's
life is one of the most interesting lives I ever read. Through his
intercession I have received some marked favors recently. The
devotion to St. Benedict and Father Paul is rapidly increasing in
this parish. Spiritual and temporal favors have been granted through
their intercession. A wonderful, religious spirit is manifesting
itself all about the parish. I have received great blessings through
the intercession of Father Paul during the past year and I wish to
show my gratitude by distributing a few copies of his life.
Mt. Vernon, Ohio. A Protestant lady
came to me two weeks ago. She had a large, angry looking lump on the
upper eyelid. I told her to go to the doctor at once; but she did not
like the idea. So I said: I will give you a Medal of St. Benedict, to
use on your eye and to wear on your neck. Last Thursday she sent me
word that the evening before, as she was sitting before the
grate-fire the lump fell off in her lap. She was so thankful and
intends to wear the Medal all her life. I feel sure of her
conversion. As she wanted to read something about the Saint that
cured her, I gave her the life of Father Paul to read.
Detroit, Mich. I asked the intercession
of Father Paul of Moll in a very serious matter and I promised to
have a holy Mass said in his honor for the repose of the poor souls,
if my request were granted. I am more than grateful to say that my
prayer was indeed heard in a very extraordinary manner. It goes to
show, how great is the power of the saintly monk.
San Francisco. Father Paul of Moll has
been a good Father to me in the past year, he has obtained for me a
number of favors, one special great one, the cure in a serious
illness.
Sacred Heart Convent, N. Dak. I will
mention to Father Paul's honor what he did for us. Last November I
fell and broke my shoulder in three places; the physicians said I
could never use that arm again; I made two novenas to St. Benedict
and Father Paul. Now I have the use of this same arm (right one) as I
had before the accident.
Iowa. Another priest from Iowa writes:
— Father Paul has been a striking revelation to me. I have read the
wonderful book twice and am treasuring up the heavenly light that
shines in it and the divine wisdom of his sayings. When the world at
large will know completely of Father Paul, he will become a new St.
Anthony of Padua and countless blessings he will obtain for those who
call upon him in their distress.
Missouri. A Redemptorist Father writes:
— Our aged Father. . . . has great confidence in the intercession
of Father Paul of Moll. Whenever he suffered from a pain in his head,
he invoked Father Paul and was at once relieved. Later on he invoked
him, when suffering from a long-standing, intermittent pain in the
left side. He was suddenly cured after invoking him and the pain has
not returned since.
Newport, Ky. Our one year old baby took
very sick with bronchitis, then pneumonia, then inward convulsions.
His heart got very bad. His temperature at times would be over 103.
He took vomiting and diarrhea. He was indeed a very sick baby.
Besides our doctor we had a specialist. We prayed to the Sacred
Heart, to the Blessed Virgin and to St. Anthony. The nurse was a
Protestant. At night she would read the book of Father Paul of Moll
for pastime. One evening the nurse said, "Why don't you make a
novena?" I said, "My goodness, Ida, I have prayed so much,
let God's will be done!" However, she insisted on starting a
novena that night; she would help us pray. A queer remark for a
Protestant. We started a novena that night to Father Paul of Moll and
on the tenth day the baby was pronounced out of danger.
SAYINGS OF FATHER PAUL.
Preliminary Remarks.
A conversation with the Rev. Father was
always a real treat to his intimate friends. His advice and counsels
were given with surprising precision and appropriateness.
The Rev. Father showed himself well
informed on all subjects, and solved the most difficult questions in
a few words. He gave his friends instructions on a multitude of
subjects, God, the angels, the saints, religion, the future life,
human sciences, art, everything in fact, as though he possessed
infused knowledge and wisdom.
What pleasant and consoling
remembrances! But, also, what a pity that all his precious
communications were not at once written down for future reference!
We have recalled to mind, and gathered
up some of these sayings and conversations, and the brief specimens
which we give will, we hope, induce all the friends of Father Paul to
record likewise their own personal recollections concerning this
matter.
Sayings of Father Paul.
Father Paul attributed the wonders
which he worked to the intervention of his holy Father Benedict.
"As for me," he would say, "I
am only the doorkeeper of St. Benedict."
They say that St. Benedict is minister
of heaven. We must often speak to him."
St. Benedict is our Father, he is
obliged to take care of us."
I have no need of any one, the Blessed
Virgin and St. Benedict are sufficient for me."
Some one reminded Father Paul that,
according to tradition, people obtained all that they demanded from a
certain saint on his feast day.
"Every day," he replied, "is
the feast of St. Benedict."
A friend from Oostcamp once complained
of a pain in his eyes, and said he had consulted a physician.
"All right!" replied Father
Paul; "but have you already addressed St. Benedict? He is the
best physician."
To show the great power of the medal of
St. Benedict, Father Paul maintained that one medal was sufficient to
put out a conflagration.
The death of a young lady brought
sorrow to a numerous family. They spoke of it to Father Paul who
showed himself deeply effected and said, —
"A medal of St. Benedict would
have cured her."
"Lightning and the noise of
thunder have always been the cause of terror to me. When it thunders
I tremble like a leaf," said a man from the country to Father
Paul.
"Here is a medal of St. Benedict,"
he replied; "Wear it around your neck, you will not be afraid
any more, and will have nothing to fear from lightning."
In the beginning of his residence at
Steenbrugge, Father Paul said to his friends, "St. Benedict is
not well enough known."
When I have a visit to make, I do not
trust to myself for what I have to say, and I do not get my speeches
ready; but I pray to the Holy Spirit to enlighten me, and aid me."
"Parents in heaven intercede
unceasingly with God in behalf of their children on earth."
"By their prayers and good works,
children augment the accidental glory of their parents who are in
heaven."
"The souls in purgatory are aware
of the discord of the members of their families on earth, and this
knowledge increases their sufferings."
Speaking of the soul of a lady
deceased, Father Paul said, "She remained only one hour in
purgatory, and she did not stay there any longer because she brought
up her children so well." He added that by a special privilege,
this lady had undergone the hour of her purgatory on the chair in
which she had expired [i.e., through her suffering before death].
A lady having died after a long and
painful sickness her daughter went to Steenbrugge and asked Father
Paul if he thought that her mother went straight to heaven, after so
many sufferings.
"Madam," he replied, "Your
mother would be already in heaven, if she had not spoiled her
children so much. She is still in purgatory pray hard for her."
"A good means of avoiding a long
stay in purgatory is to die entirely resigned to the holy will of
God,"
A lady had met her death in a terrible
railway collision near Ghent. Father Paul said that her soul had gone
straight to heaven because, at the last moment, the lady cried out,
"Lord, may Thy will be done."
A person from the village of Ursel
complained to Father Paul that an ecstatic had told her that her
father, who had died a short time before, was in purgatory.
"I became angry with this girl,"
she said, "because my father was an excellent Christian and died
completely resigned to the will of God, I cannot believe that his
soul is still in purgatory!"
Father Paul sweetly replied, "Why
do you refuse to believe what this ecstatic girl asserts? Of course,
you are not obliged to do so. Your father was very good, but are you
quite certain that he died entirely resigned to the will of God? . .
. For the rest, do not be so anxious; it is not sure that your father
has to suffer in purgatory. A great many souls endure no other
suffering than the delay of their admission to heaven; and to many of
them permission is given to hover in the church before the Most Holy
Sacrament."
"In order to go straight to
heaven, one must make a close acquaintance with the Queen of Heaven."
A young girl from the country asked
Father Paul to say a Mass for the success of a certain affair.
"Rather have that Mass said for the repose of the soul of your
mother who is deep down in purgatory," he replied.
Father Paul used to relate that the
soul of a sister appeared to him and said, "Oh, my father!
purgatory is more terrible than you have described!"
"The cold which certain souls
endure in purgatory is as terrible as fire."
A subscriber to an irreligious journal
having died at Saint-Michel, his wife would not give up the paper,
although she refrained from reading it.
Father Paul maintained for certain that
the widow would have to remain long in purgatory, for having
tolerated the introduction of a journal of that kind into her house.
"There are souls condemned to stay
in purgatory till the end of the world."
Father Paul often asserted that the
souls in purgatory who were delivered by his prayers came to thank
him.
Sometimes, at the request of the
relatives of those that had died, Father Paul told them how long the
souls of these departed ones had to stay in purgatory. But usually he
avoided letting them know when they were delivered, because, as a
rule, he said, the friends then cease to pray for their souls, and
yet the prayers offered up for them increase their accidental
happiness in heaven.
He also said that a great number of
suffering souls continually came to him to ask his prayers for their
deliverance, and that at night, his bed was surrounded by suffering
souls.
In the confessional Father Paul said to
one of his penitents, "If you were to die now, you would have
three days of purgatory, and I could diminish your punishment by only
one day."
"None of my near relatives are any
longer in purgatory."
Father Paul said to a Carmelite nun,
"You can avoid passing through purgatory, if you carefully
observe the Rule of your Order."
Father Paul said that he gave himself
the discipline every day for the following intentions: —
1. The
perseverance of the just.
2. The conversion
of sinners.
3. The holy
Church.
4. The souls in
purgatory.
5. The happiness
of his friends and benefactors. He used to say that a great many
suffering souls would then appear to him and cry out, "For me,
if you please! For me! For me!"
"On each of her feasts, the
Blessed Virgin descends into purgatory, consoles all the suffering
souls, and delivers many of them."
A Beguine from Antwerp having died
suddenly, her servant was deeply grieved. As Father Paul was visiting
a lady acquaintance of his, she spoke to him of the servant's grief.
"Oh!" said the Father, "She
ought not to be sad, her old mistress will be in purgatory only for
eight days, and she does not suffer there."
A merchant was on the point of having
recourse to a banker, but he thought it best to consult Father Paul
first.
"For my part," he replied, "I
would rather address myself to the souls in purgatory than the
banker, for these souls are always grateful when we pray for their
release, and they then obtain from God all we ask and even more."
Father Paul was always on the lookout
for an opportunity of enrolling members in the Confraternity of the
Blue Scapular, and advised the new members to gain every day, as far
as possible, all the plenary indulgences applicable to the suffering
souls.
The members of this Confraternity can
gain a great number of plenary indulgences for the souls in
purgatory, as often as they recite six Our Fathers, Hail Marys and
Glory be to the Father, etc., and this without the necessity of
approaching the sacraments.
At Termonde, in 1894, a man was the
victim of a terrible accident which cost his life. Father Paul spoke
of this unhappy case as follows: "He had no religion and never
went to church, but his soul is not lost because, at the last moment,
he offered up his life in expiation of his sins. All the same, he
will stay a long time in purgatory."
A lady from Antwerp writes: "Very
often we had the happiness of having the good and saintly Father Paul
at our house. During the evenings, in the intimacy of a holy
friendship, he would entertain us with pious topics, and when he
spoke to us of the love of God, it was with the burning words of a
seraph, he would go on repeating: —
"O love of God! Love so little
known! so little loved! Who can describe the love of God for us? No,
the love of all the mothers united to the love of all the angels and
saints is only an atom compared to His divine love!"
"When he spoke to us of the
passion of our Savior he shed abundant tears, and his face was, as it
were, transfigured.
"He told us once that his sermons
had been criticized because he never failed to speak of the love that
God has for us.
"And then," he said, "I
took some notice of these remarks; but God gave me to understand that
I had not done right, and He commanded me to speak, at each sermon or
conference, of His great love for man."
The souls in purgatory had a great
comforter in Father Paul. "One day," he told us, "I
was very sick in my cell, and leaning with my elbow on the back of my
chair, I heard quite close to me, groans and lamentations. I turned
around and beheld a soul enveloped in flames and completely tied up
with chains. This soul asked me to remember her in my prayers, and
especially in the holy sacrifice of the Mass. I said to her, "Pray
for me; I shall pray for you." At that very instant the soul
disappeared and I found myself cured. Shortly afterwards this soul
was released and came to thank me."
Father Paul related one of his visions
to a person from Knesselaere in the following manner: —
"The Blessed Virgin appeared to
me, holding the Divine Infant in her arms; he was crying bitterly and
did not cease to complain. I asked Mary what was the cause of the
sorrows of the little Jesus, and she replied, 'it is because priests
do not remind the faithful sufficiently of the love of God for man,
and of the passion of our Savior.'
"Thereupon I promised to treat of
these two subjects in my next sermon, and immediately the sadness of
the Infant Jesus was changed into great joy. He threw His little arms
round the neck of His Mother, and embraced her tenderly."
A lady acquaintance from Knesselaere
paid a visit to Father Paul and found him very ill, his head, and
left arm and leg were much swollen. Father Paul explained the cause
of his condition in these terms: —
"I had great pains in my head and
suffered so intensely from them that I complained to Jesus. He
replied to me, 'How insignificant your sufferings are, compared with
the martyrdom I suffered, when crowned with thorns!'
"Then I asked Him that I might
experience the pain of only one of those thorns and, at the same
instant, the torture became so great that I fainted."
From a letter to the Mother Superior of
a convent: "it is by love that one can overcome the All
powerful God; He is so sensitive to love that He can refuse us
nothing."
Extracts from Letters
from Father Paul.
To a Lady in Knesselaere.
"God is astonishing in His love.
The more we love Him, the more He loves us. He pays us back in
tenfold love, the love which we have for Him."
"Man will be all the more glorious
in heaven, the greater his love for God has been on earth."
"The love of God is as beautiful
for men who love Him, as it is terrible to the demons and the
damned."
"The more a man loves God, the
more beautiful he grows in the eyes of God."
"God being infinite love, we
can always love Him more and more."
"O love! O infinite love! O
eternal love! O sweet love of God!"
"Man finds his greatest
consolation in faithfully keeping the commandments of God and the
holy Church, and in having a great devotion to Mary."
Father Paul once said to a person in
Antwerp, "I never cease saying, 'O love! O great love! O
infinite love of God!' If men knew how pleasing this is to God, they
would repeat it without ceasing; several persons have become saints
in this way."
Father Paul once said to a lay sister,
a penitent of his: "When you enter the church in the morning it
will be like a burning furnace; fire everywhere, the fire of the love
of God to welcome you. You will not see this fire, but the whole
church will be full of it."
"A sigh of love for God is worth
more than a whole year of penance" (penance performed habitually
or in our own will).
"God will not ask, 'Have you done
much?' but, 'Have you worked for the love of God?' Quantity is not
sufficient, it is quality that is necessary."
"On rising in the morning, many
persons offer to God all the actions of the day saying, 'All for the
glory of God!' But they should say, 'All for the love and glory of
God!' because love surpasses all."
Very early one morning. Father Paul
seeing a peasant who had come a long distance through a terrific
snowstorm, to hear Mass in the church at Steenbrugge, said to him:
"If you could see the immense merits which your courage has
procured for you, you would be astonished, and you might yet increase
them in a measure incredible, by saying,
"All for the love of Jesus.'"
To a servant girl in Antwerp Father
Paul said, "Before eating, sleeping, opening or closing a
door, or any other action, always have the intention of doing all for
the love of Jesus. In this way you will continually reap a rich
harvest for heaven."
"The devil can promise everything,
but can give nothing."
"Humility renders men great in the
eyes of God."
"When making the Way of the Cross,
try to have compassion for the sufferings of Christ; for all those
who took part in His sorrows became saints as, for example, Simon of
Cyrene, Veronica, the good thief, the holy women and so many others."
"The power of the demons and their
allies among men is not very terrible, because their activity is
quickly rendered sterile by want of harmony in their camp, where the
troops always end by fighting among themselves."
"The devil cannot go any farther
than the length of his chain will allow." (In Flemish: De duvel
kan toch maer loopen zoo verre alz zijin keten lang is.)
"The devil becomes still more
active at the approach of great festivals; and you will observe that
then, especially, he stirs up dissensions in families."
"When a demon suggests a bad
thought, it is easy to resist the temptation; but if one does not
immediately repel it, a second demon comes at once to help the first.
Afterwards, in proportion as resistance is delayed, still other
demons come and combine their efforts, and when one has to battle
against seven devils all at once, it is very difficult not to
succumb."
To pregnant women, Father Paul gave the
advice to go to the priest and ask him to recite over them the
prayers appointed for that purpose in the ritual, so as to guard
themselves, as well as the children to be born, against all possible
misfortune.
"It is before and at the moment of
birth that the Evil One is most intent upon doing mischief to human
beings, and consequently there is some risk in not having recourse to
the special prayers of the Church."
One day Father Paul was seen with a
large wound on his forehead. He explained that it was the effect of a
blow which the devil had given him.
Father Paul said that one day, after
hearing a man's confession, he was forcibly lifted up by the devil to
the ceiling of the confessional; at the same time he heard a voice
crying out to him, "I am. ..." (giving here the full name
of a certain person).
Father Paul once said to a friend, "I
have just seen our Savior and immediately afterwards there flied past
me a large troop of men on horseback, all clad in armour, like
cavaliers of the Middle Ages: they were so many demons! When anything
good happens, the devil at once interferes."
There was a talk in the presence of
Father Paul of sorcerers and sorceresses, of diabolical Sabbath
meetings and interferences of evil spirits. Asked to express his
opinion, Father Paul said, "in our days the action of the evil
spirit is less to be feared than formerly. His power diminishes with
the ever increasing number of priests; for the almost continual
offering of the holy sacrifice of the Mass victoriously neutralizes
the efforts of Satan."
During a storm that was accompanied by
vivid flashes of lightning and the deafening crash of thunder, Father
Paul said; "At the last judgment the sentence pronounced against
the reprobates will crash like this over their heads, but with a
noise a thousand times more terrible."
A young lady writes, "One day at
Steenbrugge, Father Paul exhorted me to pray daily in union with the
anguish of Jesus crucified and the sorrows of Mary at the foot of the
cross. The Rev. Father said that he did it also, and to these prayers
he attributed the great number of sinners who came to confession to
him; and for that reason the devil had vowed a special hatred against
him."
"One night," he added, "the
devil came to my cell and leaped on my neck with an indescribable
rage, in order to strangle me."
"But, Father!" I exclaimed,
"how did you get rid of him?"
"Oh, well, my child, I invoked
Jesus in His love and said, 'O love! O infinite love! O ocean of
love! How great was your goodness for men to allow Yourself to be
tempted in the desert by Satan!' And immediately the devil fled,
grumbling in a horrible manner and filling my cell with a
pestilential odor. He often comes to torment me."
Father Paul told a sister in Antwerp
that the devil gave him volleys of blows, and in a thousand different
ways, often handled him very roughly.
"But one must not complain of it,"
he added, "for if you knew how beautiful heaven is, you would
ask to suffer everything in order to get there."
He told her also that the Blessed
Virgin appeared to him very frequently; and when he spoke of heaven
which, he said, he saw in ecstasy, he would never come to an end.
To another person Father Paul said that
on a certain Christmas night, he had never seen the heaven of the
elect look so beautiful as on that occasion.
"Last night," Father Paul
said to a farmer, "the devil lifted me violently from my bed and
threw me rudely on the floor." "Although I am not naturally
timid," the farmer replied, "I assure you that, in a
similar case, I would tremble in all my limbs. And were you not
afraid?"
"Not at all," Father Paul
answered, "what we ought to fear far more is the world where
devils swarm, and where the devil reigns supreme."
"It is useless to seek perfection
among men; perfection is found in heaven alone."
"In the case of ecstatics, if they
give into the slightest thought of pride, the devil at once
interferes with their actions."
Someone complained to Father Paul about
an ecstatic. "Then do not believe," he said, "that
these saintly souls have no faults. No saint in this world is exempt
from faults."
"The devil cannot endure humility;
it is his great enemy; as soon as he perceives its presence anywhere,
he becomes helpless and runs away."
"A good way of finding out for
sure whether an apparition is diabolical, is to ask the blessing of
the being that has appeared; for the devil has no power to impart a
blessing."
During a conversation in which Father
Paul spoke of the great power of holy water which, through ignorance,
is not sufficiently appreciated, some one said to him: —
"Once when I had warts on my hand,
a friend assured me that an excellent means of getting rid of them
was to plunge these warts into holy water and then make the sign of
the cross with that hand. He said I should do this once a day for
three days in succession. I followed his advice and the warts
disappeared. This remedy received the approval of the Rev. Father.
Father Paul was not pleased to see
people enter the church without taking holy water. To a gentleman who
did not stop to bless himself he said,
"Take holy water; there at least,
the devil is not present."
October 14, 1881, a furious hurricane
swept over a building in course of construction, belonging to the
Marais Congregation in Bruges. The building was completely overturned
so that hardly a stone remained upon a stone. The roof was taken off
by one blast, then the solid walls of the grand building were
entirely overthrown. This catastrophe astonished even the contractors
and builders, and the architect when informed of this misfortune, was
so terribly shocked that he died soon after. Father Paul explained
the cause of the disaster in these words: —
"This is quickly done. Satan
places a demon against each stone and at the first signal, the whole
collapses!" The Rev. Father also recommended that one or several
medals of St. Benedict be placed within the material of the new
building, in order to protect it.
During one winter there was continual
bad weather. Now, with the least blast of wind one or more panes of
glass were broken in a convent, situated not far from the monastery
of Steenbrugge; the glazier alone enjoyed the benefit of these
mishaps.
The proper thing to do in this case was
to complain to Father Paul; people had to live at a great distance in
order not to have recourse to him in every vexatious circumstance. So
the sisters went to Father Paul and he said, "I saw a demon in
your garden; it is he who makes use of the wind to break your
windows. Here is a medal, fasten it to your door on the inside, and
fear no more." From that time forward the glazier lost his job
of putting in new windows at the convent.
"The Liberals are the devil's
sorcerers: they will cut a droll figure once when they arrive in the
other world."
"The Nihilists of Russia are a
scourge, like the grasshoppers: the more that are imprisoned, the
more come."
"Socialism here is but a passing
wind. The Jews have their paradise on earth."
"People complain of socialism, but
it will spread a great deal more, and this, because people do not
sufficiently venerate the Most Holy Sacrament."
On the morning after the elections for
the legislature, by which the late "liberal" ministry in
Belgium was defeated, Father Paul said, "The liberal party has
lived. Now there are but two parties, the Catholics and the
Socialists."
"The perfections of God are
infinite. In heaven the saints will see the divine perfections
succeed each other without ceasing: every moment a new perfection
will be revealed to them, and so it will be through all eternity."
A country girl having told Father Paul
that she had been warned against the book known as "The Prayers
of St. Gertrude," he replied that it was a great mistake and
added, "Of all prayer books, this is the most beautiful."
"If it were permitted to one of
the elect to live again in this world, he would submit with joy to
all the sufferings that men have ever endured here below, in order to
add to his merits that which he would acquire by the recital of one
Ave Maria."
Father Paul related the following
vision to a young lady of Knesselaere: —
"I am in the habit of reciting
daily the rosary of our Lady of the Seven Dolors; but one day, when I
was on a journey, I unwillingly omitted this pious exercise. The
following night the Blessed Virgin appeared to me, her heart pierced
with the seven dolors; her eyes were bathed in tears, nor did she
utter a word. Having made the sign of the cross, I set out at once to
say my rosary, and noticed that the Blessed Virgin joined her hands.
Having finished the meditation and prayers of the first group of
seven beads, one of the seven dolors of Mary emitted a celestial
light. And as I recited the following groups of seven beads, the
other six dolors were also illumined with the same splendor.
"Having finally recited three Hail
Marys in memory of the tears of the Blessed Virgin, I saw the tears
of Mary dissolving into a heavenly smile; the divine Mother greeted
me, blessed me and disappeared."
A person living in Thielt reports the
following stories as told by Father Paul: —
"'One evening, in 1895, after our
spiritual exercises, I was walking through the cloister in the abbey,
reciting, according to my custom, three Hail Marys in honor of our
Lady to obtain her maternal blessing, when all at once I saw this
good Mother clothed in a robe of dazzling white. She approached and
made a little cross with her thumb on my forehead. The emotion which
I felt is indescribable, and if the apparition had lasted two minutes
longer, Father Paul would be no more of this world; for I would not
have been able to support this brilliancy any longer.'
"After Father Paul had told me the
above, he fell into an ecstasy which lasted about five minutes."
Here are two other visions related by
Father Paul to the same person: —
"One day while I knelt in
adoration before the Most Holy Sacrament exposed, I saw Jesus
standing before me. He wore a white garment, and was of dazzling
beauty."
Again: "A very pious young girl
was saying the rosary in our church, in honor of the nine choirs of
angels. I saw above her head nine silver strings which continually
moved up and down. This symbolized the joy felt by the angels of the
nine choirs at the homage which was paid to them."
"Father Paul loved to propagate
this devotion to the nine choirs of angels."
From a young lady of Heusden (Ghent) we
heard the following story:
"At a visit to Father Paul, in
1895, he said to me,
"If I were to tell you something,
would you believe me?"
"Yes, Father."
"The Blessed Virgin appeared to
me, and before disappearing she placed her hand upon my shoulder."
"He also said to me, 'There are
souls in the fire of purgatory who ask your prayers for their
deliverance. You knew these persons well, and now they are forgotten
by their children.'"
"He also told me that my father is
in heaven."
In the confessional, Father Paul said
to a friend from Oostcamp: —
"From the time of the Ascension of
our Lord, the most Blessed Virgin communicated every day and by a
special privilege, the host remained intact within her up to the
moment of the next Communion, so that Mary always guarded, in her
interior, the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ; and thus was
able to keep up a continual conversation with her Divine Son."
Father Paul said to a person from
Oostcamp, "In an ecstasy, a saint has seen the body of St.
Joseph preserved intact in a tomb, the site of which is yet unknown.
The more the glorious Spouse of the most Blessed Virgin is honored,
the sooner will the finding of his body take place, which will be a
day of great joy for the Church."
"At the time when the Church is
most persecuted, God raises up in the world the greatest number of
saints."
To a Trappist lay brother Father Paul
once said, "a single act of humility is worth more than
fasting a hundred years on water and bread; for humility always
remains a virtue, whilst fasting is often accompanied with pride."
"Never has there been so much
faith as at the present day."
Some one remarked to the Rev. Father
that our generation was not so good as the preceding one. "You
cannot say that!" he replied.
"When God works miracles in our
favor, He is pleased most often to produce them in a manner which
seems quite natural."
"Every communication coming from
the Father of Lights is made in clear and very concise terms, leaving
no place for doubt or double meaning."
Once when Father Paul was sick, he
said, "I cannot ask for my recovery, but others can ask it for
me. I can ask everything for others."
Speaking of certain persons whose
faithful friendship for himself he praised highly, Father Paul gave
the assurance that these friends would never suffer any misfortunes.
"During the consecration of the
three Masses on Christmas I obtain everything I asked for."
"In order to be heard, it is
not always sufficient only to pray oneself, one should also ask the
prayers of others."
The Mother Superior of a convent
complained to Father Paul that he came so seldom to help the
community with his counsels.
"I am so often in the midst of you
without your seeing me," the Rev. Father replied.
The following extract we copied from
the letter of Father Paul, addressed from Termonde, Aug. 30, 1894, to
a person in Ghent whom he had visited that day: —
"I arrived home safe, without
seeing or hearing anything on the way. While you were still looking
at me, I was already at home."
Are not these lines calculated to
suggest the idea of bilocation?
"It is better to make novenas in
the morning than in the evening."
Father Paul advised a countryman to
make a novena to St. Benedict.
"I shall have to wait a few days,"
he replied, "for I have commenced a novena to St. Joseph."
"Nothing prevents you from making
the two novenas at the same time, in heaven, there is no jealousy
among the saints."
Father Paul blamed those very much, who
habitually spent part of the night in work or in pleasure. He said:
"The night belongs to God."
Father Paul sometimes made use of
pleasantries in order to make people remember his advice. He asked a
farmer who went to him to confession, "Until what hour do you
stay out in the evening?"
"That depends; when I amuse
myself, I do not come home till eleven or midnight."
"How many commandments of God are
there?"
"Ten."
"There you see! If it were good
not to come home till eleven, there would be eleven commandments . .
. Believe me, go to bed at ten, and you will feel much better for
it."
In the presence of Father Paul, some
one made fun of an absent person who was very scrupulous.
"Scrupulosity," he said, "is
one of the saddest maladies. Be very careful not to make fun of
scrupulous persons, for you may one day become scrupulous yourself."
A very scrupulous person asked for a
way out of her scruples. Father Paul laughingly replied, "Well,
then, don't be scrupulous any longer!"
"The good God is not pleased with
scrupulous people."
"It is the saints who have to
endure the greatest temptations in this world."
The good and saintly Father Paul loved
cheerful dispositions. "You will see," he said to some
religious, "That in convents and everywhere the persons who are
sad are always the least to be recommended. They keep their eyes cast
down and give themselves the air of a "Saint-don't-touch-me;"
being full of restlessness, nothing gives them pleasure. Always the
last where duty calls, they go there without fervor, but with their
false air of habitual compunction. Whilst with persons who are always
gay and full of joy, work becomes easy and brings forth good and
salutary results."
Father Paul opposed making vows. "This
often causes trouble later on," he said, "it is preferable
to say, 'I resolve to do this or that.'"
A friend asked for prayers to obtain a
certain favor. Father Paul replied, "I shall ask for what you
demand when Our Lord comes."
Regarding these divine visits Father
Paul once said to another friend, in a most suggestive tone of voice,
"Have you read how familiarly St. Mechtild conversed with our
Lord?"
"The remedy for cancer exists, but
is not yet known."
"The physicians know the streets,
the places and the houses of the human body quite well, but they do
not know their inhabitants."
"When I have to take medicine, I
never fail first to dip a medal of St. Benedict into it."
One day in summer, when the Rev. Father
was in the garden with his friends, some one cut off a few small
branches of a fruit tree and said jokingly, "The tree won't
complain of it, it does not feel these cuts."
"You know nothing about it,"
replied Father Paul in a very suggestive tone.
"Must then everything that has
life on earth be subject to the law of suffering?"
"Very often those who retain the
goods of others die without making restitution."
"If a sinner were, for a single
moment, to see the state of his soul, he would at once die of
fright."
To a lady whom he had cured, Father
Paul said, "Will you be kind enough to induce all your friends
and acquaintances who are sick to come to see me? I shall cure them
all!"
"I can obtain nothing for those
who have the habit of blaspheming."
Father Paul said that he gave his
blessing to his friends three times every day.
"All those who shall have suffered
on my account will be associated with me in my glory."
"People will publish the good
which I have done, but will be silent as to what I have suffered. .
."
"Only at the last judgment will it
be known how much I have suffered," Father Paul said to a
friend.
"The simplicity of the just is
turned into ridicule," says St. Gregory, and so it was with the
good and saintly Father Paul. He was conscious of the raillery, at
times very bitter, of which certain people made him.
Expressions of this sort have appeared
strange to some readers of the First Edition, and appear to be little
in accord with the humility of a saint. But history furnishes many
examples of similar expressions from the lips of canonized saints. To
cite but one example, the numerous authors who during many centuries
have written the life of St. Godelieve of Ghistelles unanimously
mention this prediction of the illustrious martyr: "A day will
come when I shall be raised above all the women of Flanders,"
How often have not the saintly souls of this world been, as it were,
the mouth-pieces of God? And have not the prophets of the Old
Testament been the inspired and docile instruments of which the
Almighty made use in order to announce and foretell to the nations
His immutable and eternal decrees?
The object, and most probably he also
foresaw the injuries which would be heaped on his memory by some of
his implacable enemies. Be that as it may, his friends love to recall
a very suggestive remark of his, — "My friends will be the
last to laugh, and nothing will prevent them from laughing forever."
The good and saintly Father Paul was
often calumniated and persecuted. He remarked one day to a friend, —
"Those who dig a pit for me, will
themselves fall into a deeper one."
About the year 1888, Father Paul said
to a person at Watervliet, that God had decided to punish the whole
world with terrible chastisements; but that finally He had spared
mankind, in answer to the prayers and penances of one single
religious.
Father Paul did not tell the name of
this religious.
In the confessional, an ecstatic said
to Father Paul that in a dream she had seen the Rev. Father's soul
carried to heaven by angels and there placed near the choir of
angels. He replied simply, "Yes indeed, my place is there."
Then he asked, "Do you know your place in heaven?"
"No."
"Well, I know it."
We may here remark that other ecstatics
of our country likewise say that the Rev. Father Paul has a high
place in heaven, and that he is a very powerful protector. But the
Church alone has the authority to confirm these assertions.
To a friend Father Paul said, "Oh!
we all know our places in heaven!"
"It is wrong to imagine heaven as
a place whose inhabitants enjoy the same happiness. Heaven is a
dwelling place where every work of charity, ("werk van liefde,")
enjoys an eternal recompense."
In the confessional. Father Paul said
to a servant girl from Thielt at the very beginning, "I know
everything that you are going to confess, but, nevertheless, you have
to tell it yourself."
As an ecstatic was making her
confession to Father Paul, he interrupted her, saying, "Do you
not see our Lord?"
"No."
"But I see Him, He is at your
side."
To an ecstatic Father Paul said, "You
will not work any miracles during your life-time, but you will after
your death."
A short time before his departure from
Steenbrugge, on a Sunday at Mass, Father Paul addressed the
congregation from the pulpit as follows: —
"I shall not stay here much
longer. Let all those who are suffering, or whose hearts are
suffering, come to see me; I shall help them all!"
To one of his penitents Father Paul
said, "Always obey me blindly, I shall be your guide during my
life and after my death."
One day this same person said to the
Rev. Father that, if he died, she would deserve to be pitied very
much.
"On the contrary," he
replied, "it will be so much better for you, when I am in
heaven; for then you may ask me continually and my power will be
still greater."
To a poor working girl of Thielt Father
Paul said, I will protect you all my life, and much more so after my
death."
To another poor woman he said, "I
will give you a loaf of bread which will never get mouldy, and a cup
which will never be drained."
As Father Paul was visiting the wife of
a blacksmith in Steenbrugge whose child was about to be buried, he
said to her, —
"If I had been allowed to come,
your child would not have died."
After a day of consultation, Father
Paul was on the point of leaving Antwerp when some one spoke to him
of a mother whose child was sick. He replied, "it is a great
pity that this child was not brought to me, for all the sick children
that came today have been cured."
Surprise was once expressed in the
presence of Father Paul at the great number of children he cured.
"It is not surprising at all,"
he said, "these children have not yet done evil."
Married couples who were desolate
because they had no children, also applied for help. But in order to
have their wishes granted, the Rev. Father insisted that these
couples should come to him in person and ask his prayers.
A friend of Father Paul failed to
obtain a good photograph of an artistic object. Having lost patience,
he wrote to the Rev. Father and received the following reply: —
"If you think that the devil is
interfering in this matter, put a medal on the object that is to be
photographed, and all will go well."
Do not forget to attach a medal to your
easel, said Father Paul to an artist painter.
While Father Paul was visiting a
chateau in the neighborhood of Bruges, he was informed that a friend
had met with a railway accident. Father Paul remarked,
"This gentleman had a medal of St.
Benedict in his pocket-book: if he had worn it about his neck, he
would not have had this accident."
A friend having demanded the prayers of
Father Paul for a relative living in Paris, the Father gave him a
medal to be sent and earnestly advised him to tell the patient not to
put the medal in his pocket-book, but wear it around his neck, as
also his scapular, as that was the only proper way of doing to
experience the effect of blessed objects.
The friend found out later that the
patient in Paris carried his scapular in his pocket-book.
Father Paul strongly disapproved of the
manner in which blessed objects, such as scapulars and medals, are
sometimes worn around the neck in a covering completely closed. He
said that the covering should be open at the lower end; and when he
was asked, why this should be so, he simply replied, "That is a
mystery."
When Father Paul visited some farmers
in Oostcamp, a young lady who was sick asked him to cure her.
"Make use of your medal of St.
Benedict and you will get well."
"I don't know where it is. . . "
"What? don't you wear the medal?
And I, a religious, would not dare to be without the cross and the
medal about my neck; and you, a simple lay person, do not wear it!"
When we arrive up there, St. Peter will
ask, "Have you suffered much on earth? If you have, enter; if
not, there is no room for you here."
A young girl from Scheepsdaele
complained to Father Paul that she had very little time for her
devotions, and even the few prayers she did say were said with many
distractions.
"Oh! in that case," Father
Paul replied, "you can remedy the matter by saying, in the
evening, 'May all my imperfections of this day be changed into
perfections!'"
A good country woman from Lichtervelde
went to Steenbrugge to see Father Paul. He said to her, "You
find it very difficult to pray, don't you?" "Yes, Father!"
Well, then, look here: when you wish to
pray, place your hand on your heart and say, 'Good Jesus, You know
very well what that means!' That is enough, for it says everything.
"When you say the Our Father, say
it with the intention of obtaining the highest place in heaven."
A servant girl said to Father Paul, "I
am sometimes afraid of going mad."
"No, no!" the Rev. Father
replied, "you will never go mad: you are not proud enough."
Father Paul did not read any
newspapers. "What's the use," he said. "What they
print today is denied tomorrow." And showing his crucifix, he
said, "This is my newspaper."
Without the murderous attack of which
he was the victim, the President of the French Republic, Carnot,
would never have been converted.'"
A young girl inquired if the
misfortunes that befell her family were divine punishments.
"No," replied Father Paul,
"they are trials which the good God sends you in order to
make you a little more like Him." Thereupon the girl asked
what would become of her.
"An angel in heaven," he
said.
To a friend from Oostcamp he once said,
"Ik weet alles regtstreeks van onzen Lieven Heer." "I
get all my information directly from our dear Lord."
Conversing with some friends. Father
Paul asked them what they would do to protect themselves against a
mad dog. After every one had declared his plan. Father Paul, in his
turn said, "As for me, I would take a medal of St. Benedict in
my hand, and would pass on quietly, without troubling myself: the mad
dog would not come near."
We may remark here that at the
celebrated basilica of St. Hubert, in Luxemburg, which is frequented
by people bitten by mad beasts, medals of St. Benedict are
distributed.
Apropos of the great St. Hubert is it
not strange to see of late so many people of Belgium and the north of
France, when bitten by dogs, have recourse to the Pasteur treatment
which does not guarantee a cure? Numerous cases prove that. Whereas
the experience of twelve centuries conclusively shows that the cure
("la taille") at St. Hubert works infallibly!
A young man having told Father Paul
that he had been sent in ridicule a sarcastic caricature, because,
when invited to a feast on a fast day, he had abstained from
forbidden meats, the Rev. Father replied that this derision would
merit for him and his family great honor in the other world.
Entering a convent. Father Paul asked
the Mother Superior, "Have you already thanked the good God for
all the pains which He has sent you? . . . No? Well, then, I shall do
so for you."
A young man wrote to Termonde, asking
that his mother be cured. Father Paul replied: "in answer to the
prayer which I have offered, your mother ought to be completely
restored by this time."
Here is another proof of the goodness
and patience of Father Paul. Speaking of a family in Antwerp, he
confided to a friend that these good people consulted him in all
their affairs, and added, "They would not change a nail in their
house without asking me if I approved of the change."
When Father Paul refused to be
interested in an affair, it was a bad sign. Whilst the Count of
Chambord was still living, a visitor spoke to him of that pretender
to the throne of France, hoping to receive some light as to his
chances of success. Father Paul coldly remarked, "I do not
occupy myself with this matter."
The New Year's letters which Father
Paul sent to his friends always contained, under the guise of good
wishes, real seasonable gifts; for all the good things he wished were
realized. To give but one example. Writing to business people in
Contich, Father Paul said, "I wish you the payment of all bills
outstanding." These people had, in fact, debtors of long
standing, but had given up all hope of ever receiving payment.
However, soon after receiving the good wishes of Father Paul, the old
debts were unexpectedly paid.
A religious was preaching a retreat at
Thielt, and a servant girl had been present at the opening sermon in
which the preacher said that the souls going to heaven were as few in
number as the leaves that remain on the trees in winter. This remark
caused so great a displeasure to the woman that she stayed away from
the rest of the sermons. When she mentioned this occurrence later on
to Father Paul, he said,
"You did right, for in making such
a statement the preacher outraged the infinite goodness of God."
Father Paul was an excellent patron of
the post office. The number of letters which he answered is
incredible. There are many friends of the Rev. Father who have saved
three, four or five hundred of his letters. Generally, a letter of
the Rev. Father contained from twenty to thirty small lines written
in a style as concise as it was familiar. He made use of odds and
ends of all kind of paper, seldom using an entire letter sheet, and
wrote standing; or, as he himself once told the sisters in a convent,
he would kneel on the floor on one knee and write upon the other. . .
A friend seeing him overwhelmed with
business, offered to act as his secretary.
"Impossible!" Father Paul
replied, "it is a question here of heavenly affairs."
A young man who wished to marry a
Parisian, asked Father Paul if he considered her a suitable choice
from a religious and moral point of view. The Father replied, "T'
is eerste klasse voor Parijs." "It is first class for
Paris."
A young man besought Father Paul to
tell him who the person was that he ought to marry. "The good
God never tells that beforehand," he replied.
A rich young lady was praised very much
for her great devotion to good works. Father Paul simply remarked,
"Zy moet wel!" "It is her duty!"
It was one of the dearest wishes of the
good and saintly Father Paul to crown the series of his works by the
foundation of a beautiful Abbey at Antwerp. All the necessary means
had been abundantly provided, and his numerous friends of that
wealthy commercial metropolis hoped to see him soon establish his
residence in their midst; they already calculated the immense good
which the presence of the celebrated Benedictine would procure for
their city. But a determined opposition on the part of the secular
clergy caused the failure of that beautiful project. Father Paul
resigned himself with humility, although, as he himself said, he
could have overthrown all opposition by one word.
As a matter of fact; speaking of this
project to his friends from Antwerp, the Rev. Father told them that
all he needed to do, was to apply directly to the Pope, Leo XIII. He
added:—
"I know His Holiness, and he knows
me. . . . The Pope is a saint."
Speaking once, in detail, of facts
referring to the first centuries of the Christian era, and wishing to
impress upon his hearers how he came to know these facts, Father Paul
said, "This is not difficult; for God, there is neither past or
future, everything is present to Him."
Father Paul generally declined to
answer useless requests or those that were too worldly. He related
one day that he received a letter from America with a request for
prayers that the writer might win a big prize in a lottery. The
letter remained unanswered.
Father Paul said to a friend from
Oostcamp, "It has never happened to me that I prayed for a
recruit who recommended himself to me, without having obtained for
him freedom from military service."
A friend wrote to the Rev. Father
asking him to obtain a good Dumber for a recruit. Father Paul replied
that the person must himself ask him for it.
But sometimes a request made through a
third party was favorably received.
Speaking of France, Father Paul said
that this country was going to be purified by great chastisements. In
Flemish, "Dat nest moet gezuiverd worden."
Speaking of the end of the world,
Father Paul said, "I think that our Lord came to redeem mankind
in the middle of time."
If this opinion is prophetic, the world
would yet exist for about two thousand years.
In his prophecies which have already
been fulfilled. Father Paul most frequently employed this expression
"I think that...."
"The Bible," Father Paul
said, "contains no error, but. . . men know nothing."
To preachers he said, "It is
necessary to return to the simplicity of the Gospel."
"There are no two angels alike in
heaven. How great then must the power of God be to have been able to
create, in a single instant all these innumerable legions of heavenly
spirits!"
In Antwerp, Father Paul said of a young
girl who was recommended to him in her sickness, "I can do
nothing for her because she consults a fortune-teller."
As Father Paul was once quizzed about
the lamentable state of his old hat, he remarked with a smile, "I
put up with this one, in order to have a fine one in the other
world."
During a visit paid by Father Paul to
some good friends of his, a young man inadvertently overturned a
beautiful porcelain vase which broke into a hundred pieces. At the
very moment Father Paul said to the young man in a low voice, "Ask
now that the vase be restored to its former state."
But as the attention of the young man
was turned elsewhere he neglected the Father's obliging invitation.
Later on, when they recalled the words of the good religious, they
regretted very much not to have seized the occasion of seeing the
performance of a miracle.
A young lady visiting Father Paul was
invited by him to go to the church, saying that she would see our
Lord in person in the sacred host which was exposed. But as she did
not take his suggestion seriously, she replied that she had no need
of seeing such a wonder, in order to believe in the Real Presence.
"Very well," Father Paul
said, "Your faith causes me great joy."
After the death of the Rev. Father,
this young lady, hearing of the great number of persons who had
received a like invitation from Father Paul and had actually seen our
Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, cried out with most keen regret, "Oh
I if I had only known!"
"When I distribute Holy
Communion," Father Paul said to a friend from Oostcamp, "it
is the Infant Jesus in person, that I see in the host."
On the day of his death. Father Paul,
literally exhausted, was hardly able to reply by a feeble sign to the
questions that were put to him.
A lay-brother said to him, "When
you are in heaven, ask that I may join you soon." Making a
supreme effort, the good Father found strength enough to reply
slowly, "You cannot demand such a thing."
"But at least," the
lay-brother said, "Will you demand that I may be near you in
heaven?"
"Yes."
Father Paul once said, I have been
persecuted during my life... and I will still be persecuted after my
death!"
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