Francisco de Osuna Quotes

“These graces and favors that God grants us without our knowledge may be referred to by the Holy Spirit in the Canticle when he says to the bride: “How beautiful are you, my love, how beautiful you are! Your eyes are doves' eyes, besides what is hid within.” [110]  As doves' eyes are tearful, the eyes of devout persons, who are accustomed to weep, are compared to them. Such tears come from grace and virtue, especially if they are shed out of desire for our Lord's presence when he is absent; he gives them a secret grace for this of which even they themselves are unaware;”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“there sometimes happens what Gerson, like Dionysius, describes: “The soul draws near to things that are ineffable and unknown and that it does not understand.” Gerson writes elsewhere: “This is certainly what we meant by being in silence and enclosing our spirit within us. This is the thing to be achieved; that for which we labor. Constrain yourself to do it with all the nerves of your affections in solitude, raise yourself above yourself if you can, and if after long efforts you are unable, do not at once relinquish them for a book or conversation, if silence tries you and is wearisome, and you think your quietude useless, hope to overcome this delay, for God would never mock your soul as you imagine; he will not forget to show you pity, if you confidently seek and pray and cry to him.”   Chapter”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“We know that Moses spoke less after God had talked with him than before, and did not wish to speak on divine matters until an aid was given to speak for him.[1043] He thus gave an example to spiritual men who should say little of their consolations from God, and when they are bound to manifest them, should treat of them as though they referred to others let them give examples of such things from the Scriptures to prevent other people from guessing the truth. The holy child Samuel would not tell Heli the priest what God had said to him without much entreaty and persuasion. [1044] King Ezechiel was much to blame for showing the treasures of his palace and God's house to strangers. This warns you to take advice and keep a prudent silence about both your natural graces and those you acquire through contemplation.   The”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“I will not omit to consider, with Augustine, the following verse of this Psalm, in which David states the reason for his joy, saying: “For the sparrow has found herself a house, and the turtle a nest for herself where she may lay her young ones.” This sparrow is the heart I have spoken of, which, as  Augustine notes, must be solitary, as it has to seek God alone and mount to the roof—that is to say, must rise by desire above all things. For the house the roof covers is this world, which the heart must leave behind it, like the Apostle, forgetting it in order to reach the divine dwelling and heavenly converse.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“Bernard acted thus when he complained of himself to our Lord, saying: ' Create in me a clean heart, oh Lord’, for not only is it filled with vain thoughts and defiled with impurity, but even distracted with bitterness, for often when annoyed by some injury done to me, my heart is full of a continuous tumult of feelings. Tossed to and fro I am beset and swayed on every side by the thought of what reprisals I can take for the injury done to me and how to avenge myself. I make endless plans, and my heart is bent solely on paying off my grudges in imagination as I cannot do so in act. I do not see the people around me but contradict the absent. In fancy, I insult and am insulted and reply with even harsher abuse as there is no one to answer me, I devise a quarrel. I think over the plots of the envious and what they might do and what I could do in return, and as it is all factitious, I labor like a litigant without a case. So I pass the day in idleness and the night in cogitation. I am slow in doing useful work because I am wearied with unlawful thoughts, and fight my battles in my memory because I meet with no resistance outside me. At other times the outward actions I have performed revert importunately to my mind, and often their memory torments me more than the act itself, frequently things that I never did or ever wished to do so haunt my thoughts that I almost wish that I had done them. Cleanse me, oh Lord, from my secret sins, for my outward actions cause me to sin gravely in my thoughts, because what I have seen and done is imprinted in my heart, so that a tumult of worldly cares revolves within it even when at rest.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“ACORDING to the Apostle, “in many things we all offend” not only once but many times, for “the just man falls seven times a day”. To the wise it is evident that we offend greatly, for we should not commit even a venial sin for all the world could give us.[748] As we offend greatly and in many ways and things, we need to be constantly corrected. Therefore our Letter bids us to constantly correct our soul, lovingly and without anger.   Man should correct himself in two ways. The first and most necessary is to withdraw from evil to good as we are bound to do, for if fraternal correction is binding on a Christian, much more so is the correction of his own soul, with which he is in closer relation. Regarding this correction from evil to good, the wise man says: “The perverse are hard to be corrected.” [749]   One whose good habits are perverted and become evil requires more time to reform than he took to go wrong. For if he gave way to some vice for a year, he will need to practice the contrary virtue for two years in order to change his bad habits for good ones. Hence the sage declares that the perverse are hard to correct, for not only must they uproot the vice but must plant the virtue in its place and wait until it flourishes as the vice did.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“Let the chief aim of all your tears and prayers and sacrifices and whatever good works you may perform be to induce God to send you his holy grace to make you pleasing to his Majesty, and then ask him for what you most need in order to serve him better.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“The first class of men are those who have begun to build a house without finishing it. These are such as have entered the house of the religious Order they prefer and have, as it were, built it for themselves by choosing it, but by the non-observance of the minor practices proper to beginners, they have not finished the building. These people are unsuitable for the conflict of recollection, because as one of the saints declares: “He must not ask for greater perfection who despises the leaser.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“The chief characteristic of this spiritual exercise is to recollect the heart. This is the highest effect left by grace received by this means in the soul, from which it casts out all superfluous cares and idle thoughts which distract men and drive them outside themselves. Recollection brings them back and calms and pacifies them.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“It is a resurrection to spiritual life wherein power is given to the just over the heaven of his soul and the earth of his body, it is a constant reverence towards God by which we stand in holy fear before him, it is a tree bearing roses of virtues, it is the kingdom of God which we must gain by violence and by art, for we have it within us and daily pray for it, it is a royal priesthood by which, having the mastery over ourselves, we may offer ourselves to God. It is a silence in the heaven of our soul, though brief, and not lasting as the devout man desires; it is a service that we render to God alone, adoring solely his Majesty; it is a seat we hold ready for him that he may stay in our interior house; it is a tent for the wanderer in the desert; it is a strong watch-tower of our defense, from which we must keep guard on heavenly matters, and a golden vessel for the manna in the ark of our heart;”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“I wrote that the sails are our desires that must be perfectly pure and clean, since the port we seek is the knowledge of God, which none can attain save the pure in heart.[291] Hence it is written of the ship of Tyre:  “Fine broidered linen . . . was woven for your sail.” [292]  The mast is the love of God, which the same prophet declares was made of cedar and incorruptible, as the soul should never fail in the practice of any exercise; the cedar must come from Libanus, which means ‘beatitude’, for infused charity is perfect love. To this mast must be fastened the ropes of peace and harmony with God, ourselves, and our neighbor, which in Holy Scripture are called ‘the bands of love.’ [293]  The mariner's compass is faith, by which the rudder must be directed, and the helm is prudence. The compass points to the North, for faith must rule us and raise us to contemplation between the two is discretion, which is very necessary. The pilot is good counsel: he must be guided by the mariner's chart, that is, the Holy Scriptures, if he wishes to avoid mistakes. The sounding-line is prudence, by which we must measure what is to be done if we wish to succeed: the pilot, or sage counsel, must plumb the water over which we sail, that is, our restless life.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“The tree of life is the spiritual wisdom and consolation of contemplation of which the wise man says:  “She is a tree of life to them that lay hold on her: and he that shall retain her is blessed.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“God enters the soul better when it is closed to all but Him, to whom it renders itself wholly with a fervent longing that is taught by no knowledge gained from any creatures, for it is above them all.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“According to those who write on this virtue, the meek live in a noble quietude of mind, and are not easily perturbed. They are sober and temperate, control their anger, are not impetuous but very placid; they are gentle and never speak bitterly; courteous and not rough-mannered. They are good-hearted, not malicious, suspect no harm, always return good for evil, are healthy and un-corrupted, for those who are by nature meek are naturally healthy, not only, in soul but even in body. They are neither provoked nor do they provoke others to evil; they do not hinder people nor are they hindered: they bear no grudges and are generally self-possessed: are not readily annoyed and usually give place to evil. They overlook many offences; are easily corrected; do not resist though they are struck and wounded; are neither cruel nor melancholy but always cheerful;[175] they are extremely docile and sincere, simple and thoroughly straightforward: their face is open and they are full of kindness and patience.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“The third word bids us to be silent interiorly, saying nothing, not even  “speaking lofty things” as Samuel's mother counseled,[165] for the Lord is the God of knowledge and prefers that men should pray to him dumbly and in spirit and in truth, rather than by speech.[166] In fact, the more silently we beseech him, the more favorably does he listen and answer, as in the case of Moses. The latter said nothing, but prayed mutely, yet the Lord answered as though he had been importuned: “Why do you cry to me?” [167] That God grants the prayers of those who are silent about their longings in his presence is shown in the case of Zachary, who while he was dumb begot  John (whose name means ‘grace’), and did not utter a word until the child was born, though afterwards he spoke better than ever before, having become a great prophet. [168]”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“To understand why the angels praise God as fervently when he condemns as when he saves a man, you must know that there are two chief reasons for blessing him which include all others. The first is his mercy, the second his justice. If he saves a soul, the angels praise him for his mercy; if he condemns it, they bless him for his justice. Thus, for diverse reasons, they thank him equally for all he does.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“Men never resemble the angels more closely than when they thank and bless God in all things, for it is the special duty of the angels to praise him for his heavenly works,”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“according to the Apostle, the highest virtue is to praise our Lord in the midst of perils and miseries, ever saying: “Blessed be God; I know that I suffer less than I deserve; these evils are light as compared with my sins; they are nothing to what my guilt demands.”[102]  “This is the spirit of the good Christian; he, bearing his cross, follows the Savior, nothing daunted nor discouraged by his ills. He who gives thanks to God and the Father by the Mediator between God and man refers them to Jesus Christ, since we can only come to the Father through him.” The above is quoted from Jerome.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“Think this matter over: you will own its truth if you consider your vanity and laxity, which engenders in you such diffidence in spiritual things that you doubt whether they exist or are only a mockery, and to read or speak of them, seems tedious or child's play. Believe me, all this conies from the laxity, unrestraint, or dissipation of mind, for as the wise man says: “He that walks sincerely walks confidently but he that perverts his ways shall be obvious.” [53] Evidently, the more you withdraw from cares and imaginations, the more sincere your mind will be, and, as experience shows, the greater will be your confidence in divine truths: but if you pervert your ways of conduct, you will be like the youth to whom Solomon speaks, who was erring from the right path: “A young man according to his way.” [54]”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“Be warned, brother: solder your heart and adorn it; join the pieces, which are your cares, so that with all your faculties you may draw near to God. Cover the vase of your heart lest the dust of idle thoughts should fall into it.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“No one pours liquid into a cracked and broken vase which can hold nothing. Your heart is divided into as many pieces representing the cares you hold: each care is a broken piece; and do you think that God will pour his grace into such a useless vessel? Ask the wise man, who says: “The heart of a fool is like a broken vessel, and not all wisdom shall it hold.” [47]   God instills this devout and very sweet wisdom of which we speak into the hearts of the righteous, the golden vessels and cups from which he drinks our good desires, symbolized by the goblets from which King Solomon drank which were all gold. A golden vase cannot easily be broken, neither can the heart of the just be divided between different interests without urgent necessity. However, the hearts of unreflecting men are like the ill-baked clay vessels which David was given in the desert when persecuted by Absalom.[48] This clay vessel is broken because the man's exterior and worldly actions are not referred to God nor performed purely for his sake, but some are done to please men, others by the inspiration of the devil, others for pleasure or vainglory, so that his heart being divided, cannot retain the grace of devotion or the sweetness of the heavenly liquor.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“If, in order to sleep you stop all noise and occupation, and shut yourself up alone, forgetting all the affairs of this World, you must do the same before you pray, turning your mind wholly to spiritual matters.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“Remember that your Lord watches you ceaselessly, therefore, either from fear or shame or that you may please him, never leave off prayer. Recall to mind passages of Holy Scripture relating to perseverance, chiefly our Lord's words: “Pray without ceasing”. Think how he often prayed the whole night apart from his disciples to teach us the benefit of solitude for the soul that sits in loneliness and rises above itself.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“Blessed will you be if you persevere in the exercise you have chosen and follow your vocation, not wandering to and fro and changing your mind. If you fluctuate too much you will be like a plant that does not thrive because it is often transplanted. Do not be negligent or renounce what you have begun; then you will abide in your calling as the Apostle advises, not passing from house to house, but remaining in one, as our Lord bade his disciples.[1229]”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“Those are mistaken who think time spent in prayer is lost if they do not receive the dew of devotion at once. I say to such people that if they do their best and keep up a steady war of resistance against their wandering thoughts and their despondency at failing to get rid of them or obtaining peace, they gain greater merit very often than if they felt devotion at once without any struggle, because they are serving God at their own expense at the cost of more effort and suffering. However, anyone who wishes to undertake this exercise should spend much time on it, to set aside all care about his own or other people's business, and force himself to remain for a long while in one place, whether he receives consolations or not.   Yet”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“The proud never doubt that they are zealous and vigilant on their own behalf, like the insolent Aman who wished for honor and respect on all sides. Now they, desiring this from love of their own dignity, do not unite themselves wholly to God, but seek themselves in all things. This must be strictly avoided by him who serves God; he should repeat after the prophet: “The zeal of your house has eaten me up.” [1182]   Sometimes we are the dwelling-place of God, of ourselves, of the devil, and of the vices that exist in our heart. Now we must not be zealous to guard it for anything but for God's dwelling-place, sorrowing more for having offended him than for the punishment due to us. If we are zealous regarding ourselves for any other reason, we err greatly by a wrong use of the divine gift and deserve the execution of God's threat:  “My jealousy shall depart from you, and I will rejoice, and be angry no more.” [1183] The Lord deprives us of the zeal that brought about better things when he sees that we seek them, not for his sake, but for our own.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“Our Lord bade us not to speak much in our prayer, for he knows what we need before we ask for it, since he is the God of all knowledge.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“Man bears within himself a witness of all his faults, which he must acknowledge with sorrow either here or before God's judgment seat, for as the sage says, ‘our conscience knows we have said and even done what harmed others,[1135] and knows it, not in order to conceal it, but to bear witness against us. Yet with all this, there are men who stop God's voice and stifle the remonstrance of conscience, not permitting it to speak; or rather, treat it with such contempt that it is hoarse with shouting. They listen to it no more than if they were mill-stones, and live in perfect peace and repose. Not that their understanding is at rest or ceases to keep alight the spark that burns their conscience when they err, but they keep it submerged, sunk deep in the well of evil customs. There they hide the light and cover it by adding sin after sin with an easy heart. Concerning such men Holy Scripture says that some who are wicked, feel as secure as though they had followed justice.   This is a wrongful peace of the perverse, who not through ignorance, but through malice, will not face their evil state. [1136] When conscience reproves them, they force it to rebound as the hard ground makes a ball bounce back, without listening to a word it says. Such men lose their reason as though they were drunk; they hearken neither to God, to their conscience, their good angel, a preacher, nor a wise counselor. They say: “I shall have peace, and will walk on in the injustice of my heart: and the drunken may consume the thirsty.” [1137]   In”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“Some people persecute others in order to obtain their office and to injure their good name, thinking to increase their own, yet with all this, they feign to be religious.   Even if this happens to you, if you are good no harm can result to you, for no one can take God from you, and to take away anything else is to relieve you of trouble. But you must be cautious and commit no open fault, for these people will load you with bitter reproaches if you reveal any want of virtue. They will so rave and fulminate against you that they will seem rather to be persecuting than correcting you. But like a good knight, fear them not, for the accusers you think are your enemies are your advisers and are very useful in God's house. They are like the smith's file, which wears off the superfluity of other things while spoiling itself.”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet

“You imagine that you have enemies, though no one wishes you ill; you take to yourself a remark that was not meant for you; the speaker was not thinking of you, but you conjecture that the arrow was aimed at yourself. You have wounded yourself with children's weapons, with words of little meaning. You are so touchy and sensitive that people dare not speak to you, lest you should feel wounded when not attacked and complain without reason. Do not be so sensitive , be wide-minded; remember how Saul heard what was said against him and pretended not to know, letting it pass, and afterwards, when he could have avenged himself, despised reprisals.[1114]”
― Francisco De Osuna, Third Spiritual Alphabet