lso much
which is dangerous. The dreamy luxury of indulging one's thoughts and
ranging at ease through the whole spirit-world is so captivating, and
when frequently indulged in acquires such power over us, that we
cease to be free men. The power to control your thoughts and feelings
and to fix them on what object you choose is of the last necessity,
as it is the highest aim of spiritual culture. Be careful that you do
not mistake a mental habit into which you have fallen for the
guidance of the All-wise. Is it not the very sacrifice you are
appointed to make, to overcome this spiritual luxury and to become
able to do that which is disagreeable? Where is the sacrifice in
following what the natural tendencies and fixed habits of our mind
dispose us to do? What victory have you acquired, what power to
conquer in the struggle for sanctity do you possess, when you cannot
so far control your thoughts and feelings as to be able to apply
yourself to studies which you feel are necessary? Here is your
warfare. You have not won the victory till you have become as able to
drudge at Latin or Greek as to give up worldly wealth, pleasures,
honors, or distinctions.

"But, my dear Isaac, you cannot gain this victory alone, nor by mere
private meditation and prayer. You can obtain it only through the
grace of God, and the grace of God only through its appointed
channels. You are wrong. You do not begin right. Do you really
believe the Gospel? Do you really believe the Holy Catholic Church?
If so, you must put yourself under the direction of the Church. I
have commenced my preparations for uniting myself with the Catholic
Church. I do not as yet belong to the family of Christ. I feel it. I
can be an alien no longer, and without the Church I know, by my own
past experience, that I cannot attain to purity and sanctity of life.
I need the counsels, the aids, the chastisements, and the
consolations of the Church. It is the appointed medium of salvation,
and how can we hope for any good except through it? Our first
business is to submit to it, that we may receive a maternal blessing.
Then we may start fair.

"You doubtless feel a repugnance to joining the Church. But we ought
not to be ashamed of Christ; and the Church opens a sphere for you,
and you especially. You are not to dream your life away. Your
devotion must be regulated and directed by the discipline of the
Church. You know that there is a large Roman Catholic population in
our c