Abandonment to Divine Providence

by Jean Pierre de Caussade

French writer JEAN PIERRE DE CAUSSADE (1675-1751) believed that the present moment is holy and that people should abandon themselves to present, a stance that is it stark contrast to the Catholic focus on the future and life after death. For de Caussade, living in the moment meant having a complete trust and faith in God, for God's will defined and guided all things. The practical advice contained in his guidebook for the faithful was originally a series of letters written for the Nuns of the Visitation of Nancy, meant to help them navigate the confusing and difficult work of spiritual enlightenment, and comes together here in two distinct parts, one for the theoretical foundations of abandoning oneself to the present moment and one with practical advice on how to live such a life. Though a departure from the standard Christian perspective, Abandonment to Divine Providence remains a deeply spiritual work with a message that many Christians may find freeing and inspiring.

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Paperback, 404 pages

Published April 15th 2007 by Cosimo Classics (first published 1861)

tags: religion, spirituality, christianity, theology, christian, classics, faith, nonfiction, catholic, prayer

Book Quotes

“If the work of our sanctification presents, apparently, the most insurmountable difficulties, it is because we do not know how to form a just idea of it. In reality sanctity can be reduced to one single practice, fidelity to the duties appointed by God. Now this fidelity is equally within each one's power whether in its active practice, or passive exercise. The active practice of fidelity consists in accomplishing the duties which devolve upon us whether imposed by the general laws of God and of the Church, or by the particular state that we may have embraced. Its passive exercise consists in the loving acceptance of all that God sends us at each moment.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

“Ésta es, pues, la regla, el método, la ley, la vía pura, sencilla y segura de esta alma: una ley invariable, que está vigente en todo tiempo, lugar y circunstancia de vida. Es una línea recta, por la que el alma camina valiente y fielmente, sin desviarse a derecha o a izquierda, y sin ocuparse de otra cosa. Y todo lo que vaya más allá de esto es recibido por ella pasivamente y realizado en el abandono. Es decir, es activa en todo lo que viene prescrito por el deber presente, y es, en cambio, pasiva y abandonada en todo lo demás, en lo que no hace nada por sí misma, sino acoger en paz la moción divina. No hay camino espiritual que sea más seguro que esta sencilla vía, ni que sea tan claro y fácil, tan amable y tan libre de errores e ilusiones.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

topics: Abandono, Aquí Y Ahora, Discernimiento, Espiritualidad, Ley, Mociones, Pasividad, Presente, Rectitud, Sencillez

“O my God! how much I long to be the missionary of Your holy will, and to teach all men that there is nothing more easy, more attainable, more within reach, and in the power of everyone, than sanctity. How I wish that I could make them understand that just as the good and the bad thief had the same things to do and to suffer; so also two persons, one of whom is worldly and the other leading an interior and wholly spiritual life have, neither of them, anything different to do or to suffer; but that one is sanctified and attains eternal happiness by submission to Your holy will in those very things by which the other is damned because he does them to please himself, or endures them with reluctance and rebellion. This proves that it is only the heart that is different. Oh! all you that read this, it will cost you no more than to do what you are doing, to suffer what you are suffering, only act and suffer in a holy manner. It is the heart that must be changed. When I say heart, I mean will. Sanctity, then, consists in willing all that God wills for us. Yes! sanctity of heart is a simple “fiat,” a conformity of will with the will of God. What could be more easy, and who could refuse to love a will so kind and so good? Let us love it then, and this love alone will make everything in us divine.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

“SECTION XI.--The Strength of Simplicity. The soul in the state of abandonment knows how to see God even in the proud who oppose His action. All creatures, good or evil, reveal Him to it. __________________________________________________________________ The whole practice of the simple soul is in the accomplishment of the will of God. This it respects even in those unruly actions by which the proud attempt to depreciate it. The proud soul despises one in whose sight it is as nothing, who beholds only God in it, and in all its actions. Often it imagines that the modesty of the simple soul is a mark of appreciation for itself; when, all the time, it is only a sign of that loving fear of God and of His holy will as shown to it in the person of the proud. No, poor fool, the simple soul fears you not at all. You excite its compassion; it is answering God when you think it is speaking to you: it is with Him that it believes it has to do; it regards you only as one of His slaves, or rather as a mask with which He disguises Himself. Therefore the more you take a high tone, the lower you become in its estimation; and when you think to take it by surprise, it surprises you. Your wiles and violence are just favours from Heaven. The proud soul cannot comprehend itself, but the simple soul, with the light of faith, can very clearly see through it. The finding of the divine action in all that occurs at each moment, in and around us, is true science, a continuous revelation of truth, and an unceasingly renewed intercourse with God. It is a rejoicing with the Spouse, not in secret, nor by stealth, in the cellar, or the vineyard, but openly, and in public, without any human respect. It is a fund of peace, of joy, of love, and of satisfaction with God who is seen, known, or rather, believed in, living and operating in the most perfect manner in everything that happens. It is the beginning of eternal happiness not yet perfectly realised and tasted, except in an incomplete and hidden manner. The Holy Spirit, who arranges all the pieces on the board of life, will, by this fruitful and continual presence of His action, say at the hour of death, "fiat lux," "let there be light" (Gen. i, 14), and then will be seen the treasures which faith hides in this abyss of peace and contentment with God, and which will be found in those things that have been every moment done, or suffered for Him. When God gives Himself thus, all that is common becomes wonderful; and it is on this account that nothing seems to be so, because this way is, in itself, extraordinary. Consequently it is unnecessary to make it full of strange and unsuitable marvels. It is, in itself, a miracle, a revelation, a constant joy even with the prevalence of minor faults. But it is a miracle which, while rendering all common and sensible things wonderful, has nothing in itself that is sensibly marvellous.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

“Pero ¿de qué pan se alimenta la fe de María y de José, cuál es el sacramento de todos sus momentos sagrados? ¿Qué se descubre bajo la apariencia común de los acontecimientos que los llenan? Lo que allí sucede es visible, es lo que ordinariamente vemos en todos los hombres; pero lo invisible que la fe allí descubre y reconoce es nada menos que el mismo Dios realizando obras grandes. Dios se revela a los pequeños en las cosas más pequeñas; y los grandes, que solo miran la apariencia, no le reconocen, no lo descubren ni aun en las grandes.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

topics: Abandono, Acontecimientos, Dios, Espiritualidad, Fe, Humildad, Invisible, Sencillez, Virgen María

“Es un tesoro que está en todas partes, y que se ofrece a nosotros en todo tiempo y lugar. Sí, la acción divina inunda el universo, penetra y envuelve todas las criaturas, y en cualquier parte que estén ellas, ella está, las adelanta, las acompaña, las sigue. Lo único que hay que hacer es dejar llevar por su impulso”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

topics: Abandono, Dejarse Llevar, Dios, Espiritualidad, Fermento Antievolutivo, Tesoro, Tiempo, Universo

“It is certain that God always gives what is necessary to those souls who fear Him. The gifts He bestows on them are not always the most apparent to the senses, nor the most agreeable, nor the most sought after, but the most necessary and solid; all the more so, usually, in being less felt and more mortifying to self-love; for that which helps us most powerfully to live to God is what best enables us to die to self.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

“The high road to all perfection is pointed out in the "Our Father." "Fiat voluntas tua." Say this with your lips as well as you can; and still more perfectly in your heart, and be assured that, with this interior disposition nothing is wanting to you, nor ever will be. Learn by this to find repose in no matter what difficulties and troubles, because all will come right when God pleases, and according to our desires, if He should will it so, or permit it.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

“It is the will of God which guides souls along paths which it alone knows.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

“There is absolutely nothing that gives us more peace or does more to make us holy than obeying the will of God.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

“There is not a single person who cannot easily reach the highest degree of perfection by performing every duty, no matter how commonplace, with eager love.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

“We must be active in all that the present moment demands of us, but in everything else remain passive and abandoned and do nothing but peacefully wait the promptings of God.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

“We should run too great a risk of losing everything by our vain imaginations if God were to give us, at once, all the perfection we desired. The inordinate love of our own excellence would carry us to as high a flight as Lucifer, but only like him, to fall into the abyss of pride. God, who knows our weakness in this respect, allows us to grovel like worms in the mud of our imperfections, until He finds us capable of being raised without feeling any foolish self-satisfaction, or any contempt of others.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

“Libres, por su situación, de casi todas las obligaciones exteriores, estas almas son poco aptas para el trato mundano o para los negocios, lo mismo que para las reflexiones o conductas complicadas. No es fácil servirse de ellas para nada, y más bien dan la imagen de personas débiles de cuerpo y de espíritu, de imaginación y de pasiones. No se les ocurre nada, no piensan en nada, no preven nada, no se toman a pecho nada. Son, por decirlo así, muy bastas, y no se ve en ellas el adorno que la cultura, el estudio y la reflexión dan al hombre. Se ve en ellas lo que la naturaleza muestra en los niños que no han recibido aún formación alguna de sus maestros. Son en ellas patentes ciertos pequeños defectos, de los que no son más culpables que esos niños sin formación, pero que chocan más vistos en ellas que en éstos. Y es que Dios despoja a estas almas de todo, menos de la inocencia, para que no tengan nada sino a Él mismo.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

topics: Abandono, Debilidad, Espiritualidad, Inocencia, Niños, Sencillez

“El mundo, que ignora este misterio, y que sólo juzga por las apariencias, no encuentra en estas almas absolutamente nada de lo que él le agrada y estima. Las rechaza y desprecia. Más aún, vienen a hacerse piedras de escándalo para todos. Cuanto más se las conoce, menos se entienden y más oposición suscitan. En realidad, no se sabe qué decir o pensar de ellas. Hay algo, sin embargo, no se sabe qué, que habla a su favor. Pero en lugar de seguir este instinto, o al menos en lugar de suspender el juicio, se prefiere seguir la malignidad. Y así se espía sus acciones con mala intención, y lo mismo que los fariseos reprobaban las maneras de Jesús, se mira a estas almas con prejuicios negativos, que todo lo hacen parecer ridículo o culpable.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

topics: Abandono, Apariencias, Desprecio, Espiritualidad, Fariseos, Juzgar, Prejuicios, Rechazo, Sencillez

“Y a esto se junta que estas pobres almas se ven a sí mismas como inferiores. Unidas simplemente a Dios por la fe y el amor, todo lo sensible que ven en sí mismas les parece un desorden. Y eso les previene aún más contra sí mismas, cuando se comparan con quien pasan por santos, personas bien capaces de sujetarse a reglas y métodos, que en toda su personas y sus acciones dan un testimonio de vida ordenada. Entonces, la vista de sí mismas les llena de confusión y les resulta insoportable. De ahí nacen así, del fondo de su corazón, suspiros y gemidos amargos, que no expresan sino ese exceso de dolor y de aflicción que les abruma. Acordémonos de que Jesús era Dios y hombre al mismo tiempo; él estaba aniquilado como hombre, y como Dios, lleno de gloria. Estas almas, sin participar de su gloria, sienten sólo esas aniquilaciones que en ellas producen sus tristes y dolorosas apariencias. A los ojos del mundo vienen a ser lo que era Jesús a los ojos de Herodes y de su corte.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

topics: Abandono, Almas, Ansiedad, Autoestima, Confusión, Descontrol, Dolor, Espiritualidad, Fe, Tristeza

“What a festival and never-ending feast is ours! God ceaselessly gives himself and is received with no pomp and circumstance, but hidden beneath all that is weak and foolish and worthless.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

“Ahora bien, si alguno se sale de la costumbre común, enseguida se le abruma con normas, reglas y métodos. Y si él no pasa por ello, y no acepta lo que el arte de la piedad ha establecido, o si no lo observa con constancia, la cosa es clara: todos temen por él, y su camino resulta claramente sospechoso. Ahora bien, ¿no es cosa sabida que todas las prácticas, por buenas y santas que sean, no son, después de todo, sino caminos que conducen a la unión con Dios? ¿Para que, pues, ha de ejercitarse en ellas aquél que no está ya en el camino, sino en la meta? Los pasados métodos han perdido para ella toda su utilidad, y no son más que un camino ya recorrido, que quedó atrás. Exigirle, pues, al alma que vuelva a adoptar aquellos métodos o que continúe siguiéndolos, equivale a pretender que abandone el término al que llegó, para volver al camino que a él le condujo.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

topics: Abandono, Camino, Dios, Espiritualidad, Métodos, Reglas, Santidad, Teología

“The realization that God is active in all that happens at every moment is the deepest knowledge we can have in this life of the things of God. It is a continuous revelation, an endlessly renewed traffic with God; the bridegroom is enjoyed without any stealth or secrecy, not in the wine cellar or the vineyard but openly and freely and fearing no one. It is peace, joy, love and a feeling of being at ease with God who is seen and known—or, rather, believed—to be present and always active in the most faultless way in every happening. It is a foretaste of paradise, which is, in this life, only sensed imperfectly through a veil of shadows, but when it comes to the moment of our death, the Holy Spirit, who secretly moves all the pieces on the board of life by his continual and fruitful activity, will say: “Let there be light.” Then we shall behold all the riches which faith alone knew were hidden in those depths of peace and contentment with God, who is with us all the time and by our side in all we do and suffer.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

“each circumstance is as a stone towards the construction of the heavenly Jerusalem, and all helps to build a dwelling for us in that marvellous city.”

― Jean Pierre de Caussade

Jean Pierre de Caussade

Jean Pierre de Caussade S.J. was a French Catholic Jesuit writer known for his work Abandonment to Divine Providence (also translated as The Sacrament of the Present Moment) and his posthumously-published letters of instruction to the Nuns of the Visitation at Nancy, where he spiritual director from 1733-1740, although he continued to write the sisters after leaving Nancy.

While he is best known for his work with the sisters, he also spent years as preacher in southern and central France, as a college rector (at Perpignan and at Albi) and as the director of theological students at the Jesuit house in Toulouse. Caussade is remembered for, among other things, his belief that the present moment is a sacrament from God and that self-abandonment to it and its needs is a holy state - a belief which, at first glance, would appear to be heretical relative to Catholic dogma. In fact, because of this fear (especially with the Church's condemnation of the Quietiest movement), Caussade's instructions to the sisters were kept unpublished until 1861, and even then they were edited to protect them from charges of Quietism. A more authoritative version of these notes was published only in 1966. It is clear in his writings that he is aware of the Quietists and that he rejects their perspective.

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