p. 55Purity of Intention

(St. Alphonsus, “Spouse of Christ,” Chap. XIX.)

Purity of intention consists in performing all our actions through the sole motive of pleasing God. The good or bad intention with which an act is performed makes the act good or bad in the sight of God. “If,” said our Lord, “thy eye be single, thy whole body shall be lightsome. But if thy eye be evil, thy whole body will be darksome” (Mat. vi. 22). If our intention be simple, that is, if we have no other object than to please God, our works are good and resplendent with the light of purity; but if our intention be twofold, that is, if any vicious end enters into our actions, they are sinful. Holy simplicity admits no other end than the pleasure of God. Hence a pure intention is the soul of our actions; it gives them life and renders them pleasing in the sight of God.

The value of an act, according to men, increases in proportion to the time spent in its performance; but, before God, the value of an act increases in proportion to the purity of intention with which it is performed. “For man seeth those things that appear, but the Lord beholdeth the heart” (1 Kings xvi. 7). St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi was wont to say that God rewards our actions in proportion to the purity of our intention of pleasing Him. Of the poor widow who put her two mites into the treasury of the temple, into which others had cast large sums, our Saviour said, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow hath cast in more than all they who have cast into the treasury” (Mark xii. 41). St. Cyprian, explaining this passage, says that by these words our Lord meant that he regards not so much the action that is performed, as the affection and the purity of intention with which it is performed. St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi used to say to her novices, “Never seek yourselves in any of your exercises.” A religious who seeks himself in his actions, by performing them for the sake of praise or self-satisfaction, imitates him who puts the wages of his labor into a bag full of holes. “Take heed,” says our Lord, “that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them” (Mat. vi. 1).

Marks of a Pure Intention. The first mark is, if, when your undertaking has not been successful, you are not disturbed, but remain as tranquil as if you had attained your object. This will certainly be the case, p. 56whenever you have acted only for God; because when you see that He has not wished your efforts to be crowned with success, neither will you wish it; for you know that He demands an account, not of the success or failure of your undertaking, but of the purity of your intention.

The second is, to rejoice at the good done by others, as if it had been done by yourself. He that seeks nothing but the divine glory, cares not whether it is promoted by another or by himself.

The third mark is, not to desire one office more than another, one occupation more than another, but to be content with whatever obedience prescribes; because you then seek in everything only the pleasure of God.

The fourth mark is, not to desire approbation or thanks for your good works, but to remain, even when unduly censured, in the same tranquillity of mind, satisfied with having pleased God, since this was your sole aim.

It is better and safer to act through the motive of doing the will of God, than with the intention of promoting His glory, because we shall thus escape the delusions of self-love. Under the pretence of seeking the glory of God, we often do our own will; but when we endeavor to do the divine will—duly manifested to us—and what is most pleasing to God, we can never err. Let us be persuaded, that the greatest glory we can give to God consists in doing His will. It was thus our Saviour always acted, for He says, “I seek not My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me” (John v. 30); “I do always the things that please Him” (John viii. 29). Hence it was justly said of Him that He did all things well. And, remarks St. John Chrysostom, “if we imitate His example, and succeed in pleasing God, what else need we seek?” Does it appear to you a small thing, that you, a miserable creature, should be able to give pleasure to God?

Let us be persuaded that God does not demand of us great things, but only that we present Him the little we do with a pure intention. St. Augustine says, that if, because you are poor, you have nothing to give to God, your will affords much to give Him, if you offer him what you do through the sole motive of pleasing Him. “No price,” says the Venerable Beatrix of the Incarnation, “can be an equivalent for the smallest action done for God.”

Be careful from the moment you awake in the morning to direct all the actions of the day to God, offering them in union with the actions of our Saviour during His mortal life. Endeavor to renew your intention at least at the beginning of every principal p. 57action, such as your meditations, Communions, hearing Mass, work or study, meals and recreation, saying always, at least mentally, “Lord, in this action I intend not my own pleasure, but only the accomplishment of Thy will.” “Consider,” says St. Eusebius, “that you have lived only those days on which your actions have had the light of purity;” that is, on which your actions have been performed through the sole motive of pleasing God.