Page 29 - Demo

may look for happiness from their wealth or their talents; others may rest on the innocence of theirlife, or the severity of their penance, or the amount of their alms, or the fervour of their prayers. Asfor me, Lord, all my confidence is confidence itself. This confidence has never deceived anyone%u2026I am sure, therefore, that I shall be eternally happy, since I firmly hope to be, and because it isfrom you, O God, that I hope for it%u201d. [119]127. In a note of January 1677, after mentioning the assurance he felt regarding his mission,Claude continued: %u201cI have come to know that God wanted me to serve him by obtaining thefulfilment of his desires regarding the devotion that he suggested to a person to whom hecommunicates in confidence, and for whose sake he has desired to make use of my weakness. Ihave already used it to help several persons%u201d. [120]128. It should be recognized that the spirituality of Blessed Claude de La Colombi%u00e8re resulted in afine synthesis of the profound and moving spiritual experience of Saint Margaret Mary and thevivid and concrete form of contemplation found in the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola.At the beginning of the third week of the Exercises, Claude reflected: %u201cTwo things have moved mein a striking way. First, the attitude of Christ towards those who sought to arrest him. His heart isfull of bitter sorrow; every violent passion is unleashed against him and all nature is in turmoil, yetamid all this confusion, all these temptations, his heart remains firmly directed to God. He does nothesitate to take the part that virtue and the highest virtue suggested to him. Second, the attitude ofthat same heart towards Judas who betrayed him, the apostles who cravenly abandoned him, thepriests and the others responsible for the persecution he suffered; none of these things was ableto arouse in him the slightest sentiment of hatred or indignation. I present myself anew to thisheart free of anger, free of bitterness, filled instead with genuine compassion towards its enemies%u201d.[121]SAINT CHARLES DE FOUCAULD AND SAINT THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS129. Saint Charles de Foucauld and Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, without intending to,reshaped certain aspects of devotion to the heart of Christ and thus helped us understand it in aneven more evangelical spirit. Let us now examine how this devotion found expression in their lives.In the following chapter, we will return to them, in order to illustrate the distinctively missionarydimension that each of them brought to the devotion.Iesus Caritas130. In Louye, Charles de Foucauld was accustomed to visit the Blessed Sacrament with hiscousin, Marie de Bondy. One day she showed him an image of the Sacred Heart. [122] His cousinplayed a fundamental role in Charles%u2019s conversion, as he himself acknowledged: %u201cSince God hasmade you the first instrument of his mercies towards me, from you everything else began. Had younot converted me, brought me to Jesus and taught me little by little, letter by letter, all that is holy29