e know
that our aim is to do all things in and through that love."[22]

Yes, our safety is to keep the love of God warm in our hearts. If this
be done, nothing else matters. If we can say, or even have an earnest,
{165} honest desire to say, with the pilgrim in Hilton's parable, "I am
naught, I can do naught, I have naught, and naught do I desire to have,
but only Jesus and His love,"[23] this will be the highest test of our
spiritual progress; and this love of God increases most when not held
down by formal tests and methods. Says St. Bernard, "_Modus diligendi
Deum, est diligere sine modo_"; which saying Augustine Baker
beautifully paraphrases: "The measure and manner of loving God is to
love Him immeasurably and freely, without a prescribed manner."[24]

[1] _Spirit of St. Francis de Sales_, chap. xii.

[2] Gaume, _Manual for Confessors_ (Pusey Translation), p. 179.

[3] Gury, _Compend. Theol. Moral._, II, pp. 278-279.

[4] St. Francis de Sales, _Spiritual Letters_, cxiv.

[5] Ps. xliii, 5-6.

[6] St. Francis de Sales, _Letters to Persons in Religion_, p. 141
(Mackey Trans.). This same Saint warns us against discouragement that
enters under the guise of humility. Speaking of the virtue of
self-mistrust he says: "Your mistrust of self is good, so long as it is
the groundwork of confidence in God; but if it ever should lead you to
being discouraged, disturbed, vexed, or melancholy, then I entreat you,
reject it as the greatest possible temptation, and do not allow your
mind to argue or dally with the anxiety or depression to which you are
disposed. It is a simple and certain truth that God permits those who
seek to serve Him to encounter many difficulties, but also that He
never leaves them to sink under the burthen so long as they trust in
Him. The great thing you must heed is never to let your mind argue in
favour of the temptation to be discouraged, under any pretext whatever,
not even under the plausible pretext of humility."--_Spiritual
Letters_, cii (Lear Edition).

[7] Ezek. xviii, 4.

[8] 1 Cor. xii, 26.

[9] Gen. iv, 9.

[10] For conditions under which doubtful sins should be mentioned in
confession, see Lehmkuhl, II, 317.

[11] St. Francis de Sales, _Spiritual Letters_, xi.

[12] Andrewes, _Sermons_, Vol. V, p. 499.

[13] Gaume, _Manual for Confessors_ (Pusey Trans.), p. 90.

[14] St. Francis de Sales, _Spiritual Letters_, xiii.

[15] Speaking of certain temptations which result