26. You ask me if it is licit for a man to lessen his own probation? This is equal to other questions such as: is it licit for a drowning man to save himself? Should he take a thorn from his hand? Should he call a doctor when he is ill? The reason behind our trials is to help us to use our intelligence, patience and resignation. It may happen that a man is born into a difficult and painful situation precisely to make him look for the means of alleviating these problems. The merit is in suffering the consequences that cannot be avoided without complaining, in persevering with the fight and in not allowing oneself to become desperate when one is not successful. It is never to be found in negligence, which is more laziness than virtue.

This quite naturally leads to another question: if Jesus said 'Blessed are the afflicted,' can merit be gained by seeking afflictions which could aggravate our trials by means of voluntary suffering? To this we can reply very decidedly: yes, there is great merit in this, provided the suffering and privation are of benefit to others; this is charity through suffering. But not when the suffering and privations are of benefit to the inflictor; this would only be fanatical selfishness.

It is necessary to make a clear distinction in this matter. Regarding yourself personally, be content with the trials and problems which God sends. Do not seek to increase this volume, as it alone may at times be extremely heavy to bear. Accept it without murmuring but with faith; that is all that God asks. Do not weaken your body with useless privations and mortifications that have no objective, because you will need all your strength if you are to fulfill your work here on Earth. To torture and martyr the body voluntarily is to go against God's Law. He has given Man the means to sustain life, so to weaken the body needlessly is true suicide. Use it, but do not abuse it; that is the law. The abuse of the best thing God has given you will bring inevitable consequences as a punishment.

But quite the contrary occurs when Man imposes suffering upon himself in order to alleviate that of others. If you support cold and hunger with the object of offering heat and sustenance to another, thereby causing your body to be affected, you are making a sacrifice which God will bless. When you leave your perfumed homes to go to an infected hovel so as to console, or dirty your hands to treat wounds, or lose sleep so as to hold vigil at the bedside of the sick, who after all are your brothers and sisters in God, or put your health in jeopardy for the purpose of practising good, then it is here that you find your hair shirt, the true and blessed hair shirt. You have not allowed the delights of this world to shrivel your heart, nor have you slept upon the voluptuous breast of riches. Rather you have become a consoling angel to the sadly deserted.

Therefore, what utility is served by those who retire from the world so as to avoid its seductions and live in isolation? Where is the courage to face their problems? They have merely run away from the fight and deserted the combat. If you wish to make a sacrifice, then apply it to your soul and not to your body. Mortify your Spirit and not your flesh; whip your pride, receive humiliations without murmur, scourge yourself of self-love, harden yourself against the pain of insult and slander which is more pungent than physical pain. It is in these things that you find your true hair shirt, whose wounds will be taken into account because they will testify to your courage and submission to God's Will. - A GUARDIAN ANGEL (Paris, 1863).

SHOULD WE END OUR NEIGHBOUR'S PROBATION

27. Should anyone put an end to another's probation when they can, or should God's purpose be respected, so leaving things to take their own course?

We have already said repeatedly that you are upon this planet of atonement for the purpose of concluding your trials, and everything that happens is a consequence of past lives. This is the interest on the debt you must pay. However, in some people this fact provokes reflections which should be combated, due to the disastrous effects that might be caused.

Some people think that by being on Earth for the purpose of atonement all probation must follow its course. Then there are others who will go to the point of believing that not only must nothing be done to alleviate the suffering, but that on the contrary, they should help others to benefit more by making these sufferings more active, more intense. This is a very big mistake. It is quite true that trials must take their course as marked by God, but, and this is the difference, how do we know what God has designed? Do we know to what extent they must reach? What if our merciful Father designated that this or another suffering should only reach a certain point? How do you know whether Divine Providence has placed you, not as an instrument of torture to aggravate the suffering of the culprit, but as the soothing balm of consolation to help heal the wounds? So therefore never say, It is God's justice and must follow its course.' Rather say, 'Let me see what means our merciful Father has put within my reach so that I may lessen the suffering of my brother or sister. Let me see if moral consolations, material help or advice can assist in overcoming these trials with greater energy, patience and resignation. Let me see if God has given me the means of putting an end to this suffering. Perhaps this possibility has been given to me as a test or even an atonement, so that I may allay these troubles and substitute them with peace.

Therefore, always help each other mutually in your respective probations and never consider yourself as an instrument of torture. Every person who has a heart should revolt against such an idea, especially all Spiritists because they, more than anyone else, should understand the infinite extension of God's goodness. All Spiritists should be convinced that their whole lives must be acts of love and devotion, that although they do what they may in trying to oppose God's wishes, these will always be fulfilled. Therefore they can apply maximum strength to attenuate the bitterness of atonement without fear of the consequences, being certain that only God has the right to shorten or prolong a trial, as He sees fit.

Is it not immense pride on the part of mankind to consider that it is right, in a manner of speaking, to turn the knife in the wound or to increase the dose of poison in the viscera of one who is suffering, under the pretext that it is part of the probation? Oh, always consider yourselves as instruments for the alleviation of pain! So to summarize: all are on Earth for atonement but all, without exception, must strive to lessen the atonement of one's fellow beings, which is in accordance with the law of love and charity. - BERNADIN, a Protecting Spirit (Bordeaux, 1863).

28. A man is agonizing under cruel suffering. His state is known to be desperate. Would it be licit to save him a few instants of anguish by hastening his end?

Who has given you the right to prejudge God's purpose? Can He not conduct a person to the very brink of the grave and then withdraw them, in order that they may awaken and recognise the need to change their ideas? Even when a dying person has reached the last extremes no one can be absolutely sure the final hour has arrived. Has science never been wrong in its predictions?

Of course there are cases which, with good reason, can be considered desperate. But even if there is no hope of a definite return to life and health, there always exists the possibility, testified on many occasions, of a sick person recovering their faculties at the last instant. Well then, this is the hour of grace conceded by God which may be of extreme importance. You do not understand the reflections which the Spirit may have during those last agonizing convulsions, nor how a lightning repentance may save them from many torments.

The materialist, who only sees the body and does not take into consideration the Spirit, is not apt to understand these things. But the Spiritist who knows what happens in the after life, comprehends the value of these last thoughts. So mitigate the last sufferings as much as you can, but guard yourself against abbreviating life, be it even for a minute, as this minute can be the means of avoiding many tears in the future. - SAINT LOUIS (Paris, 1860).

29. For he who finds himself tired of life, but who does not wish to extinguish it by his own hands, would he be wrong to seek death on a battlefield with the intention of making his death useful?

Whether a person kills himself or causes another to kill him, the intention is always to cut the thread of existence. Therefore there is intent to commit suicide even if there is no actual fact. The idea that this death would serve some purpose is mere illusion, just a pretext to cover up the act and for the person to excuse himself in his own eyes. If he seriously wished to serve his country, he would do his best to stay alive so he might be able to defend it, rather than seek death, because if he is dead they can no longer be of help. Real devotion consists in not being afraid of death when it is a matter of utility, of facing danger and, when necessary, in sacrificing one's life without thinking about it. But in seeking death with a premeditated intent by exposing oneself to risk, even if it be in service, annuls all merit for the action. - SAINT LOUIS (Paris, 1860).

30. If a person exposes themself to imminent danger in order to save the life of a fellow being, knowing that they will succumb, will this act be considered as suicide?

If there is no intention to seek death in this act, then there is no suicide, only devotion and abnegation, even though there is a certainty of death. But who can be sure? Who can say that Providence has not reserved an unexpected means of salvation at the last moment? Is it not possible even to save one who is before the cannon's mouth? On many occasions it happens that Providence wishes to take a trial of resignation to the extreme limits, in which case an unexpected circumstance will ward off the fatal blow. - SAINT LOUIS (Paris, 1860).

31. Do not those who accept suffering with resignation, because they are submissive to God's wishes and are mindful of their future happiness, work only for their own benefit? Is it not possible for them to make their suffering useful to others?

Materially and morally these sufferings may be useful to others; in a material sense, by the work, privations and sacrifices they impose upon themselves, which can contribute to the material well-being of their fellowmen; in the moral sense, by the example they offer of their submission to God's Will. By showing the strength of the Spiritist faith many unfortunate and wretched persons can be induced to resign themselves, so being saved from despair and its disastrous consequences in the future. - SAINT LOUIS (Paris, 1860).