ON TRUE AND FALSE VIRTUE
by St. John Marie Vianney,
"By their fruits you shall know them."
—Matt. vii, 16.
SYNOPSIS.—Good and bad Christians known by their works. A false and
superficial virtue will manifest its true nature.
I. A Christian should not be contented with the performance of good
works; he should be careful how to perform them.
II. It is not enough to be virtuous in the eyes of the world; we must be
so in our hearts.
I. Good works must proceed from the heart. St. Gregory. Our actions
should be only the medium to express our intention. Our works must be
perfect, unselfish. Hypocrisy. Jeroboam. The poor widow's mite.
Perseverance.
II. Have you the true virtue? Conclusion.
Jesus Christ could not have given us a plainer or surer mark whereby we might
know the difference between good and bad Christians than by telling us we should
know them, not by their words, but by their works. "A good tree," He says, "can
not bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit." Yes, dear brethren,
those who possess only a false piety, a hypocritical or only a superficial
virtue, will, in spite of all the precautions they may take, be unable to
prevent the true condition of their heart from sometimes manifesting itself
outwardly, either in words or deeds. Nothing, my dear brethren, is so prevalent
as this pretended virtue, or, in other words, this hypocrisy.
So as to give you the right idea of the unhappy state of those poor souls who
will, perhaps, be damned, although doing good, just because they do not good the
right way, I will show you:
I. A good Christian should not be contented to perform good works; he
should know how to perform them properly.
II. It is not enough to be virtuous in the eyes of the world; we must be so
in our hearts.
I.
Now, if you ask me, dear brethren, how can we know whether a virtue is real,
and whether it will lead us to heaven, the answer is: that in order to make an
action pleasing to God, the following conditions must be fulfilled: First, the
action should be sincere and perfect; second, it should be humble and without
selfishness; third, it should be steadfast and enduring: If these conditions are
found in everything you do, then you may be sure that you are working for
heaven.
(1) We have said that an action must be sincere; it is not sufficient that it
shows itself only outwardly. It must come from our hearts, and love of God must
be its prime cause and its beginning, for St. Gregory tells us that everything
which God requires of us should be founded on the love which we owe Him. The
action, therefore, should be nothing more than a sort of medium to express our
intention. Words and actions that do not come from the sincerity of the heart
are no more than hypocrisy in the eyes of God.
We say, further, our virtue should be perfect. That means, it is not
sufficient for us to practise only those certain virtues to which we may be
naturally inclined, but we should embrace them all; that is to say, all virtues
the practise of which is possible for our state. St. Paul says that we should
prepare a superabundant provision of all kinds of good works for our salvation.
(2) We said, also, that our virtue should be humble and free from
selfishness. Jesus Christ tells us that we should never perform our actions in
order that we may be praised by men. If we desire a heavenly reward, then we
must hide the good which God works in us as much as possible, for fear that the
devil of pride may rob us of the merit of those good works. But, perhaps, you
will say, the good that we do, we do really for God, and the world has no
benefit of it. My friend, I am not so sure about it. There are many who deceive
themselves on this point. It might be easy to prove to you that your religion is
largely on the outside only, and not founded in the soul. Tell me, would you
not, rather than not, have people know that you observe all fast days? If you
give money to the poor, or to the Church, would you not like to have this known
by your neighbor? Does not that feeling make hypocrites of us?
The saints did exactly the contrary. And why did they? They knew their
religion, and they sought to humble themselves to obtain the mercy of God. What
poor Christians are those, whose religion is one of mood, of habit, and nothing
else! You will, perhaps, think that these are rather strong words. Yes, without
doubt, they are rather strong, but they are the strict truth. It must be my
endeavor to produce in you a horror of the sin of hypocrisy. How many people,
alas, although they do good works, will be lost because they do not know their
religion thoroughly! Many people say a great many prayers, and even go
frequently to the Sacraments; but they still keep their bad habits, and die in
them, because they strive, at one and the same time, to be friends of God and
friends of sin. Look at that man, who appears to be a good Christian. Just give
him to understand, even if you have the right to do so, that he has wronged some
one; point out his faults to him, or any wrong which he has been guilty of in
his heart, and he will fly into a rage at once, and hate the sight of you.
Hatred and ill-will spring up in his head. Look at another one. You can not have
much of an opinion of his piety, for he answers you haughtily, and will not make
up with those that have offended him.
The following example will show us how severely God punishes false virtue,
which is so great a sin: We read in Holy Scripture that King Jeroboam sent his
wife to meet the prophet Ahias, in order to ask advice about the sickness of his
son, and he made her to disguise herself in the garb of a poor and pious person.
He had recourse to this artifice because he feared that, if his people knew that
he asked advice of the prophets of the true God, they would come to the
conclusion that he had very little confidence in their idols. But he could not
deceive God. When this woman entered the abode of the prophet, the latter cried
out, before even having seen her: "Wife of Jeroboam, why dost thou seek to
appear other than thou art? Approach, hypocrite. I have bad news to give you
from the Lord our God. Bad news, indeed. Listen: The Lord hath commanded me to
tell thee that he will send down all kinds of misfortune upon the house of
Jeroboam; he will annihilate it, even unto the animals; those of his house that
die in the fields will be devoured by dogs. Depart now, wife of Jeroboam. Go and
acquaint thy husband with this. And at the moment when thou settest thy foot
within the city, thy son shall die." Everything occurred just as the prophet had
foretold; not one of Jeroboam's house escaped the vengeance of the Lord. You
see, then, dear brethren, how God punishes this cursed sin of hypocrisy.
Moreover, I must tell you that it is not the size and greatness of deeds
which give them merit, but the pure intention with which they are undertaken.
The Gospel gives us a beautiful example of this. The Evangelist St. Mark relates
that Jesus Christ, on entering the temple one day, beheld how the people cast
money into the receptacle for offering, and He saw that many that were rich cast
in much. Then He saw how a poor widow approached the receptacle humbly, and cast
in two mites. Thereupon, Jesus Christ, calling His disciples, said to them:
"Behold, many persons have cast considerable alms into the almsbox and see there
also a poor widow who has only cast in two mites. What do you think of this
difference? To judge by appearances, you think, perhaps, that the gifts of the
rich have more merit; but I tell you that this widow has cast in more than all
of them; for the rich cast in of their abundance, but she of her want hath cast
in all she had. Most of the rich sought glory before men, and to be thought
better than they were, while this widow hath given to please God alone." A
beautiful example, dear brethren, which teaches us with what pure intentions and
with what humility we should perform all our actions, if we desire to be
rewarded for them. Certainly, God does not forbid us to perform our works before
men, but He desires that they should be done for His sake alone, and not for the
sake of the glory of the world.
(3) We have said, the third necessary condition for true virtue is
perseverance. We must not be satisfied to do good for a certain length of time,
such as to pray for a while, to mortify ourselves at times, to renounce our
self-will, to bear with the weaknesses of others, to combat the temptations of
the devil, to bear patiently contempt and calumnies, to watch over the movements
of our hearts. No, dear brethren, we must persevere until death if we wish to be
saved. St. Paul says that we must be firm and steadfast in the service of God,
and that we should work at the salvation of our souls every day of our lives,
knowing well that our labor will not be rewarded unless we persevere until the
end. He says: "Neither riches nor poverty, neither health nor sickness, should
induce us to neglect the salvation of our soul, and to separate ourselves from
God: for we know that God will only crown that virtue which perseveres until
death."
We see this in a remarkable manner in the Apocalypse in the person of a
Bishop, who led such a holy life that God Himself lavished praises upon him: "I
know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear
evil men; and thou hast tried them who say they are apostles and are not, and
hast found them liars; and thou hast patience, and hast borne for my name, and
hast not failed. But this I have against thee: that thou hast become negligent
in the practise of these virtues. Be mindful, therefore, from whence thou art
fallen, and do penance as thou didst before, or else I shall reject thee, and
punish thee." Tell me, dear brethren, should not we be seized with fear when we
hear how God menaced even a Bishop who had been negligent? Alas, what has become
of us ever since our conversion! Instead of making progress daily, what
tepidity, what indifference, is ours! No, God can not bear this perpetual
inconstancy with which we turn from virtue to vice, and from vice to virtue
again. Tell me, dear brethren, is this not your manner of living, too? Is your
life anything else but an intermingling of sins and virtues? Do you not confess
your sins, and the following day commit the same faults again? Or, maybe, even
on the same day? How many there are who, for a certain length of time, seem to
love God with all their strength, and then again forsake Him! What is it that
you find so hard and difficult in the service of God that you are so soon
discouraged, and return again to the world? And yet, at the moment when God
allowed you to know your condition, you sighed, and you perceived how much you
had deceived yourself! The reason of this misfortune is because Satan is angry
at having lost you, and he works till he gets you back again, and hopes to hold
you forever. How many faithless persons are there who have forsaken their
religion, and yet they bear the name of Christians!
II.
Now, you will ask, how can we know if we have virtue in our hearts, that
virtue which remains ever true to itself? Now, listen, dear brethren, and you
will perceive whether you have that virtue on account of which God will receive
you into heaven. A person who is truly virtuous does not waver in the least; he
is like a rock beaten by the storm in the midst of the sea. Whether you are
blamed, or calumniated, or mocked at, or regarded as a hypocrite, or treated as
a prude, none of these things should be capable of robbing you of your peace of
soul. You should be just as well disposed toward your enemies as if they had
spoken well of you. You should not fail to show them kindness, although they
have spoken badly of you. You should say your prayers, go to Confession and Holy
Communion, and attend Holy Mass, with disregard of anything the world may say.
Our virtue, also, to be true should be steadfast. That is to say, we must be
just as resigned to the will of God and zealous under crosses and ill-fortune,
as at the time when nothing disagreeable comes in our way. This is how the
saints acted. Look at the great multitude of the martyrs who endured everything
that the frenzy of a tyrant could think of, and who, far from neglecting God,
were, on the contrary, drawn closer to Him. Neither torments nor persecutions
inflicted upon them caused them to waver.
Let us, then, conclude, dear brethren, by remembering that our virtue must
have its source in the heart, in order to be fruitful and pleasing to God. We
must hide our good works. We should also be well on our guard so as to neglect
nothing in the service of God; on the contrary, we should grow and increase in
the knowledge and love of God. In this way the saints assured themselves of
eternal bliss, the blessing which I wish you all. Amen.
SYNOPSIS.—Good and bad Christians known by their works. A false and
superficial virtue will manifest its true nature.
- I. A Christian should not be contented with the performance of good
works; he should be careful how to perform them.
II. It is not enough to be virtuous in the eyes of the world; we must be so in our hearts.
I. Good works must proceed from the heart. St. Gregory. Our actions
should be only the medium to express our intention. Our works must be
perfect, unselfish. Hypocrisy. Jeroboam. The poor widow's mite.
Perseverance.
II. Have you the true virtue? Conclusion.
II. It is not enough to be virtuous in the eyes of the world; we must be so in our hearts.
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