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127.1
First Point
From
his youth Saint Peter Celestine was drawn to solitude. He therefore
withdrew to a lonely mountain where he lived for three years, macerating
his body in order to resist the temptations that bothered him. His
macerations were carried to such an excess that when he slept he used a
stone for a pillow. Silence was his element; a daily use of the discipline
was his recreation; his belt was an iron chain. So assiduously did he give
himself to prayer that this became his main exercise. Thus, seclusion,
mortification, and prayer were the means this saint used to sanctify
himself.
You too can easily use these means to go to God, since these
exercises are the usual practices you have in your Institute. Be faithful
to them, and be convinced that you will do good for souls only in
proportion to the love you have for these three things and your practice
of them.
127.2
Second Point
The
outstanding holiness of this great servant of God was the reason why the
cardinals, in his absence, chose him to govern the Church. As soon as the
saint heard of this, he took to flight, but he was later obliged to accept
this dignity. However, he maintained a religious humility in the midst of
it. All he had to ride on was an ass. Once crowned as pope, he did not
give up any of his austerities, and even in his elevated position
preserved the same spirit of seclusion. This is how a person must act in
the world, if he wants to save himself there and maintain himself in
piety.
In your work you are obliged to have some contact with the world.
Take care not to acquire its spirit; maintain your reserve and a certain
air of self-control which will help you avoid being corrupted; this will
edify your neighbor and inspire piety in those whose education has been
entrusted to you.
127.3 Third Point
This
saint had accepted the papacy with reluctance and felt completely out of
place in that role. He thought only of his place of solitude and
constantly longed for the seclusion there. He felt nothing but distaste
for the pomp of the Roman court; his duty as sovereign pontiff, which
obliged him to attend constantly to external business, put him into a
situation totally opposed to the inclination for solitude that he had had
from his childhood. This led him to request permission from the cardinals
to withdraw and resign the dignity of sovereign pontiff.
Although it is by the will of God that you exercise the external
functions of your work, and although you find therein the means of
sanctifying yourself, these duties should not make you lose the spirit and
the love of seclusion. Devote yourself to your work, then, in such a way
that as soon as you are no longer needed there, you return home as to your
place of refuge, and find all your consolation in assiduity and
application at your spiritual exercises.
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