The Glories of the Holy Angels
Venerable Henri Boudon, Archdeacon of Evreux
MOTIVE TWELFTH
The Honour of God alone in connected with the Devotion to the Holy Angels.
When a person has said “God,” he has said all. A true lover of this Divine Being can say nothing more, since he knows nothing more. “ What have I in heaven, or on earth,” exclaims such a one, “ but thee, my God ! I care not for
honours, or riches, or pleasures; in Heaven itself, I regard but God alone—He is my only all in all things.” Such was St. Catherine of Genoa; she could not bear the word “ mine;” that is, she could not bear to regard self-interest, even in good things.” “O my God, and my all !” used the humble St. Francis to exclaim; and in repeating these words of love, he frequently passed the days and nights. Pure love can see but God alone—it can attach itself only to God alone. None but the interests of God alone can possibly affect it; all its joy is to see them established—all its regret to see them neglected. A soul who loves in this manner, cares little for the esteem or contempt of creatures, however holy they may be. The contradictions it meets from the servants of God, and the censure heaped on such actions as grace inspires it to perform, give it no concern; on the contrary, as its abandonments increase, its joy becomes more great—its repose more calm—its peace more profound—for its greatest felicity is to be freed from the creature, in order to be wholly occupied with the Creator.
This uncreated Being, God alone, makes all the occupation of the blessed in heaven—and it were but just that he made that of men on earth ; but alas ! they seek their treasure, their delight, elsewhere. Even those who are freed from grosser attachments are not without their petty desires and little interests. A holy soul one day saw in spirit, that, among a thousand, scarcely one hundred love God—and of this number not one almost who loved him purely for his own sake. The angelic nature is most admirable; but it is in and from God alone that it possesses all its excellencies. It is then for God alone that we should honour the blessed Spirits. Holy souls, observing nothing in them but this infinite Majesty, exclaim, transported with joy at the happy discovery, O celestial Spirits! how amiable is your beauty, since it is a reflection of the uncreated beauty of the Divinity ! We indeed should love you, since we see in you but God alone—since you have been always filled with God alone. How could we refuse to love you, since you have always loved and been always loved by love itself!
O my soul ! God wills and ordains that we love his Angels. Let us then regulate our inclinations by his, and make these glorious princes the objects of our love, for God alone ! God alone ! God alone !
