EJECUCIÓN Y LIQUIDACIÓN Artículo 183. Régimen jurídico

All obstacles to the supernatural life are obstacles to a life of union with Mary. One of these especially deserves our attention here, namely, haste. Haste is not one of those disordered tendencies of the soul, such as pride, jealousy, ambition, to which we attach ourselves by reason of the pleasure they cause. Haste is rather a physical defect, caused by nervousness to which we are in no wise attached, in which we find no pleasure, and which, on the contrary, we would sincerely like to be rid of. And so, many sincere, good people do not bother to struggle systematically against this defect, satisfied as they are on occasion to bemoan the inconvenience it causes. Yet, if we wish to reach perfection, particularly that of close union with Mary, we must learn to check haste at all times.

Haste prevents every natural and supernatural activity from producing its full effect. In regard to natural activity the inconveniences of haste are universally recognized. Almost every language has one or two proverbs which point up the harmful effects of haste, or which counsel calm and peace.1 _A

person in a hurry performs a multitude of useless movements, grows tired, spoils his work, and is often obliged to do it over completely.

From the spiritual viewpoint the damage caused by haste is still more disastrous. Whoever is precipitate is subject to incessant distractions; only the calm man is able to keep the eye of the soul fixed upon supernatural realities. Hence, the

1 In English: “Haste makes waste.” In French: “Hâtez-vous lentement,” a translation of the Latin: “Festina lente.” In German: “Eile mit Weile,” has the same meaning; and “Erst wägs, dann wag’s,” is the equivalent of the English, “First weigh, then dare.” In Italian: “Chi va piano va sano va lontano”—“He who goes moderately goes securely and goes far.” In Spanish: “Con alma y calma,” with spirit and calm. “Viste me despacio que estoy de prisa”—“Dress me slowly, because I am in a hurry.” In Polish: “What is done through haste is done for the devil.”

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impetuous person hardly knows what intimate contact with God is. Such a person is rarely directed by the Holy Spirit who speaks softly and is inaudible amid agitation. Consequently, that person never arrives at perfect charity; for haste is the work of nature, and it can insinuate itself into even the holiest actions. The hasty person does not have constancy in that generosity which makes saints. He might be very generous by temperament and at certain moments may be capable of heroic acts, but he will be generous only intermittently. Any action accomplished with all possible perfection paves the way for the performance of the following action with even greater perfection, and the constancy inherent in this manner of proceeding results in marked progress within a short time. Such progress is possible only to the soul that possesses itself in peace. The hasty person follows up one generous action with at least some negligent ones; he never builds upon his advances and so never makes lasting progress. The reason that there are not more saints among devout souls is less perhaps because of a want of generosity than because of a lack of calm and peace of soul.

Haste prevents full fruitfulness in apostolic enterprises. The impetuous person is in a hurry to execute an idea as soon as it presents itself, and is in just as much of a hurry to abandon it; he speaks before he thinks, acts imprudently, and compromises the success of the finest work.

Tranquillity, though not a virtue, is the indispensable condition of holiness and of full apostolic fruitfulness. It is difficult to imagine a genuine saint acting impetuously. “The spirit of God is very active,” said Father Chaminade, “but it is not precipitate.”1 _{Mother de Trenquelleon, cofoundress of the}

Daughters of Mary, wrote of Father Chaminade to one of her daughters: “See how Father Chaminade acts: he does not hurry, he is always calm, and yet he accomplishes much, because grace does much in him.”2

Haste causes the same havoc to union with Mary that it causes to spiritual life in general.

For the hurried man there is no intimate union with Mary in spiritual exercises. He forgets to place himself in her presence before praying or meditating. Or, after placing himself in her presence, he soon forgets about the sentiment, which is only superficial anyhow.

For him there is no intimate union with her in his ordinary occupations. He begins them automatically without thinking of offering them to her, and during his work he is too absorbed to raise his eyes to her.

For him there can be no intimate union of will. He cannot stop for a moment to consider the intentions of Mary to act according to her will. For him consultation with Mary is impossible: either he will not submit his ideas to her or he will not wait for her response.

For him there is no intimate union of sentiments. It costs him too much to spend a moment in telling his feelings to his mother. Besides, he is too agitated to enjoy the profound peace of her company.

How can we overcome this deadly defect? There are natural and supernatural ways. Here we shall consider only the Marian means, namely, the imitation of Mary and recourse to her.

In general, we should imitate her modesty—her bearing, her manner of walking, speaking, and working. She certainly must have done much work without ever hurrying.

We should contemplate her, recollected and absorbed in the thought of God whose tabernacle she is, and who dwells in us also. Modesty establishes peace.

We should also imitate her spirit of order. Without the least doubt, there was perfect order and neatness in the home at Nazareth. We lack order because we are too much in a hurry to

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place objects where they belong. Like modesty, order establishes peace.

Before each action, we should recollect ourselves for a moment close to our Mother, to see how, with her, we can give the greatest possible joy to Jesus. We should not yield to that feverish impulse which prompts us to begin something before receiving her approval. No matter how holy the action, we must not throw ourselves blindly into it, but we should talk about it for a moment with our heavenly councilor. Was there ever a holier proposition than the one which Gabriel brought to Mary in God’s name? Notice how calmly she deliberates and how simply she replies: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word.” Then only does she rise without delay to bring divine joy to the house of her cousin.

During the action, at the natural divisions, we should look at her, pronounce her name, and renew ourselves in the disposition of acting peacefully with her for Jesus’ sake.

Should we feel hurried, we can perhaps pause a moment to re-establish our serenity close to Mary. Generally, however, this is not the most effective tactic; the interruption will vex us, nervousness will drive us on despite ourselves. A quick glance at Mary to see how she would act in our place to cause Jesus pleasure is sufficient. And then on with the action, a bit more slowly perhaps, in order to fix our whole attention on what we are doing. But it should be a calm, loving attention. There is no valid pretext for not giving our whole attention to the action in hand; the less time we have, the more important it is to possess ourselves entirely and not to lose an instant.1 _{As soon as we feel}

that our soul is in full possession of itself and acting again in the name of Mary, we go faster and do more useful work than we would without taking time out.

Consider this remark in the spiritual notebook of a very busy priest:

When I have many urgent jobs I am tempted to cast only a distracted glance toward Mary, instead of trying to act in her name. I have found this a bad business. When I deliberately try to be Mary doing the good pleasure of her Son, I am perfect master of myself and I soon can go ahead with my work more perfectly than when I do not have the time to begin in her name. Especially when I have little time I ought to say: Be careful; you have so much to do; let her take over so that you will be able to do it all.

Here is the experience of another busy person:

It is unbelievable how working with Mary makes a task easier. That is what I ask her every day before work which taxes my capacity. Then I am not discouraged; I know that I will achieve my purpose. . . .

My days are full. On that account I do not omit my religious practices. One day at Mass I recovered my calm by asking the Blessed Virgin for hers. That was revolutionary. After Mass I was a changed man, and since that time I always ask her to work with me.

There are circumstances when our nerves are so agitated that the means mentioned above do not meet the need. In such a case, whenever possible we should find something else on which our nervous energy can spend itself. That restores the feverish pace of our activity to a regular rhythm. We may report our haste to the Blessed Virgin and with her we can then smile at our senseless hurry. At least interiorly we may hum a soothing melody to our Lady or to our Lord. We may transport ourselves to the heights of heaven, where the noise of this earth does not reach, where we can unite our voice to that

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of the Blessed Virgin and the angels, chanting slowly, solemnly, and in a profound sentiment of abasement: Gloria Patri et Filio

et Spiritui sancto, sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper et in saecula saeculorum, Amen!

A final suggestion sums up all the others: We should aim always at “doing what we are doing,” under the direction of Mary. Age quod agis, Maria duce!