The title Gospel in this instance refers to the New Testaments published

together with the Old Testaments in the Bible. These are the Teachings of
Jesus, as reported through His Disciples long after His death.

Due to the fact that Jesus frequently spoke in parables, it is often difficult to
come to a logical and rational conclusion as to the meaning of His Teachings.
This has given rise to many people, groups or organizations, each leaning
towards their own individual interpretations of the Teachings.

However, the Spiritist Teachings as collected, researched and codified by

Allan Kardec during the second half of the 1800’s were compiled from reliable
communications received from more than a hundred different mediums,
unknown to each other; that were sent to Kardec for his scrutiny. Resulting in
him organising not only this present book, but also four others.

This is the third book codified by Kardec explaining many of the parables from
the New Testaments showing us aspects that are both rational and more logical.
It helps us come to realise why we suffer so many troubles in our lives, including
why we are suffering the effects from moral laxity today. It also explains the
existence of the LAWS OF NATURE that govern the Universe, that are
far greater than Human Laws and that Love, properly understood, is the all-
powerful element for peace and fellowship so preparing more happiness for our
future existence as eternal beings.
Allan Kardec (1804-1869)
 THE GOSPEL
ACCORDING TO
SPIRITISM
Contains explanations of the moral maxims of Christ, accordance with
Spiritism and their application in various circumstances of life.

By

ALLAN KARDEC
(Author of THE SPIRITS’ BOOK)

Unshakeable faith is only

that which can meet reason
face to face in every Human
epoch.

___________________

This English translation was taken from the 3 rd edition of the original French,
as being the one containing all of Allan Kardec's final revisions, published in 1866.
Original title: L’Évangile selon le Spiritisme
First published in France, 1864. Definitive French edition: 1866.

1st Edition in English 1987 - published by the HEADQUARTERS

PUBLISHING CO LTD, London, UK.
2nd Edition 1993 - published by the ALLAN KARDEC Publishing Ltd.,
London, UK
3rd Revised Edition 2003 published by the International Spiritist
Council, Brazil.
4th Final Revision 2019 published by British Union of Spiritist
Societies, www.buss.org.uk

Translated by Janet Duncan

2019 - COPYRIGHT donated to the Allan Kardec Study Group-UK
Centre for Spiritist Teachings, International Spiritist Council, British
Union of Spiritist Societies, Irish Spiritist Federation, Le Mouvement
Spirite Francophone.

ISBN 978-1-9999043-3-3

Cover design by: Konrad Jerzak vel Dobosz.

All rights reserved.

Printed by:
OFICYNA WYDAWNICZA RIVAIL Konrad Jerzak vel Dobosz
Ul. Walbrzyska 11/85
02-739 Warszawa - Poland
www.rivail.pl
Tel: +48 502651666
 INDEX

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE 13

PREFACE 19

INTRODUCTION 21
1. The objective of this work. - 2. The authority of the Spiritist
teachings. The Universal control of the Teachings given by the
Spirits. - 3. Historic facts. - 4. Socrates and Plato, the
forerunners of the Christian idea and Spiritism.

Chapter 1. 51
I HAVE NOT COME TO DESTROY THE LAW
The three revelations: Moses, Christ and Spiritism: 1-7; The
Alliance of science and religion: 8; INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE
SPIRITS: The New Era: 9-11.

Chapter 2. 62
MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD
The future life: 1-3; The kingship of Jesus: 4; A point of view:
5-7; INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: An earthy kingship: 8.

Chapter 3. 69
IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS
The different states of the soul in its spiritual wanderings: 1-2;
The different categories of inhabited worlds: 3-5; Earth's
destiny. The cause of human miseries: 6-7; INSTRUCTIONS FROM
THE SPIRITS: Superior and inferior worlds: 8-12; Worlds of tests
6 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

and atonement: 13-15; Regenerating worlds: 16-18; The

progression of the worlds: 19.

Chapter 4. 81
NO ONE CAN REACH GOD’S KINGDOM
IF THEY ARE NOT BORN AGAIN
Resurrection and reincarnation: 1-17; Reincarnation strengthens
family ties, whereas a single life would destroy them: 18-23;
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: Limits of incarnations: 24;
The need for incarnation: 25-26.

Chapter 5. 95
BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED
The justice of afflictions: 1-3; Causes of present-day afflictions:
4-5; Past causes of afflictions: 6-10; Forgetfulness of the past:
11; Motive for resignation: 12-13; Suicide and madness: 14-17;
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: To suffer well or badly: 18;
Evil and its remedy: 19; Happiness is not of this world: 20;
Losing loved ones. Premature deaths: 21; If they had been a
good person, they would have died: 22; Voluntary torments: 23;
True misfortunes: 24; Melancholy: 25; Voluntary trials. The true
hair shirt: 26; Should we end our neighbour's probation?: 27;
Would it be licit to hasten the death of someone incurably sick
who is suffering?: 28; Sacrificing one's own life: 29-30; Making
one's own suffering useful to others: 31.

Chapter 6. 128
CHRIST THE CONSOLER
The gentle yoke: 1-2; The promised Consoler: 3-4;
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: The advent of the Spirit of
Truth: 5-8.

Chapter 7. 134
BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT
 INDEX 7

How to understand the words ‘poor in spirit’: 1-2; He who exalts

himself shall be debased: 3-6; Mysteries that are hidden from
the learned and prudent: 7-10; INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS:
Pride and humility: 11-12; The mission of the intelligent person
on Earth: 13.

Chapter 8. 149
BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART
Simplicity and pureness of heart: 1-4; Sinning by means of
thought. Adultery: 5-7; True pureness. Unwashed hands: 8-10;
Offences. If your hand is the cause of an offence, cut it off: 11-
17; INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: Let little children come to
me: 18-19; Blessed are those whose eyes are closed: 20-21.

Chapter 9. 162
BLESSED ARE THE MEEK AND THE PEACEMAKERS
Insults and violence: 1-5; INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS:
Affability and mildness: 6; Patience: 7; Obedience and
resignation: 8; Anger: 9-10.

Chapter 10. 170

BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL
Forgive others so God may forgive you: 1-4; Reconciliation
with your adversaries: 5-6; The sacrifice most agreeable to God:
7-8; The speck and the beam in the eye: 9-10; Do not judge
others so as not to be judged. He that is without sin let him cast
the first stone: 11-13; INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: The
pardoning of offences: 14-15; Indulgence: 16-18; Is it permitted
to reprehend others, observe imperfections in others, or divulge
the evil in others?: 19-21.

Chapter 11. 185

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF
8 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

The greatest commandment: 1-4; Give to Caesar that which

belongs to Caesar: 5-7; INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: The
law of love: 8-10; Selfishness: 11-12; Faith and charity: 13;
Charity towards criminals: 14; Should we risk our life for a
criminal?: 15.

Chapter 12. 200

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES
Return evil with goodness: 1-4; Discarnate enemies: 5-6;
Whosoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the
other also: 7-8; INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: Vengeance: 9;
Hatred: 10; Duelling: 11-16.

Chapter 13. 215

DO NOT LET YOUR LEFT HAND KNOW
WHAT YOUR RIGHT HAND IS DOING
Do good without ostentation: 1-3; Hidden misfortune: 4; The
widow's mite: 5-6; Invite the poor and the lame: 7-8;
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: Material charity and moral
charity: 9-10; Beneficence: 11-16; Compassion: 17; Orphans:
18; Beneficence recompensed by ingratitude: 19; Exclusive
benevolence: 20.

Chapter 14. 240

HONOUR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER
Filial devotion: 1-4; Who is my mother and who are my
brothers?: 5-7; Corporeal kinship and spiritual kinship: 8;
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: Children's ingratitude and
family ties: 9.

Chapter 15. 253

WITHOUT CHARITY THERE IS NO SALVATION
What the spirit needs in order to be saved: 1; The parable of the
Good Samaritan: 2-3; The greatest of the commandments: 4-5;
 INDEX 9

The need for charity according to Saint Paul: 6-7; Without the
Church there is no salvation: 8; Without truth there is no
salvation: 9; INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: Without charity
there is no salvation: 10.

Chapter 16. 262

IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO SERVE BOTH
GOD AND MAMMON
The salvation of the rich: 1-2; Preserve yourself from avarice: 3;
Jesus in the house of Zacchaeus: 4; The parable of the bad rich
man: 5; The parable of the talents: 6; The providential utility of
riches: 7; The inequality of riches: 8; INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE
SPIRITS: True property: 9-10; The application of riches: 11-13;
Detachment from earthly possessions: 14; Transmission of
riches: 15.

Chapter 17. 283

BE PERFECT
Characteristics of perfection: 1-2; The good person: 3; Good
Spiritists: 4; The parable of the sower: 5-6; INSTRUCTIONS FROM
THE SPIRITS: Duty: 7; Virtue: 8; Those who are superior and
those who are inferior: 9; The worldly person: 10; Look after
both body and spirit: 11.

Chapter 18. 299

MANY ARE CALLED, BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN
The parable of the wedding feast: 1-2; The narrow door: 3-5;
Not all who say, “Lord! Lord!” will enter into the kingdom of
Heaven: 6-9; Much will be asked of the one who has received
much: 10-12; INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: To those who
have will be given more: 13-15; Christians are recognised by
their works: 16.
10 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

Chapter 19. 312

FAITH TRANSPORTS MOUNTAINS
The power of faith: 1-5; Religious faith. The state of
unshakeable faith: 6-7; The parable of the withered fig tree: 8-
10; INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: Faith, the mother of hope
and charity: 11; Divine faith and human faith: 12.

Chapter 20. 321

WORKERS OF THE LAST HOUR
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: The last shall be the first: 1-3;
The mission of the Spiritists: 4; The workers of the Lord: 5.

Chapter 21. 329

THERE WILL BE FALSE CHRISTS
AND FALSE PROPHETS
A tree is known by its fruits: 1-3; The mission of the prophets:
4; The prodigies of the false prophets: 5; Do not believe all the
spirits: 6-7; INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: The false
prophets: 8; Characteristics of the true prophet: 9; The false
prophets from the spiritual world: 10; Jeremiah and the false
prophets: 11.

Chapter 22. 342

DO NOT SEPARATE WHAT GOD HAS UNITED
The indissolubility of marriage: 1-4; Divorce: 5.

Chapter 23. 346

STRANGE MORAL
Whosoever does not hate their father and mother: 1-3; Abandon
father, mother and children: 4-6; Leave to the dead the care of
burying their dead: 7-8; I have not come to bring peace, but
dissension: 9-18.
 INDEX 11

Chapter 24. 358

DO NOT HIDE THE LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL
The light under a bushel. Why Jesus spoke in parables: 1-7; Do
not keep company with the Gentiles: 8-10; The healthy do not
need a doctor: 11-12; The courage of faith: 13-16; Carry your
cross. He who will save his life, shall lose it: 17-19.

Chapter 25. 368

SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND
Help yourself, then Heaven will come to your aid: 1-5; Behold
the fowls of the air: 6-8; Do not worry about possessing gold: 9-
11.

Chapter 26. 375

FREELY YOU HAVE RECEIVED, FREELY GIVE
The gift of healing: 1-2; Paid prayers: 3-4; The moneychangers
expelled from the Temple: 5-6; Gratuitous mediumship: 7-10.

Chapter 27. 381

ASK AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN
The quality of prayers: 1-4; The effectiveness of prayer: 5-8;
The act of prayer. Transmission of thought: 9-15; Intelligible
prayers: 16-17; Prayers for suffering spirits and the dead: 18-21;
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: How to pray: 22; Happiness
can be found through prayer: 23.

Chapter 28. A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 398

1 - GENERAL PRAYERS 400

The Lord's Prayer: 2-3; Spiritist Meetings: 4-7; For the
Mediums: 8-10.

2 - PRAYERS FOR ONESELF. 413

12 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

To One’s Guardian Angels and Protecting Spirits: 11-14; To

turn away the evil Spirits: 15-17; To ask for a defect to be
corrected: 18-19; To ask for strength to resist temptation: 20-21;
Thanksgiving for a victory over temptation: 22-23; To ask for
advice: 24-25; Afflictions of life: 26-27; Thanksgiving for
obtaining a favour: 28-29; An act of submission and resignation:
30-33; When in imminent danger: 34-35; Thanksgiving for
having escaped a danger: 36-37; At bedtime: 38-39; On sensing
approaching death: 40-41.

3 - PRAYERS FOR OTHERS 429

For someone who is afflicted: 42-43; An act of thanksgiving for
a benefit conceded to someone else: 44-45; For our enemies and
those who wish us ill: 46-47; Thanksgiving for a blessing given
to our enemies: 48-49; For the enemies of Spiritism: 50-52;
Prayer for a child that has just been born: 53-56; For one who
agonizes: 57-58.

4 - PRAYERS FOR THOSE NO LONGER ON EARTH 438

For someone who has just died: 59-61; Those for whom we have
affection: 62-63; For suffering souls who ask for prayers: 64-66;
For an enemy who has died: 67-68; For a criminal: 69-70; For a
suicide: 71-72; For repentant spirits: 73-74; For hardened spirits:
75-76.

5 - PRAYERS FOR THE SICK AND THE OBSESSED 452

For those who are sick: 77-80; For those who are being
obsessed: 81-84.

APPENDIX 460

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF THE SPIRIT

COMMUNICANTS WHOSE MESSAGES ARE
PUBLISHED IN THIS BOOK 460
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
This is no ordinary book. This is not a book that is usually read
from cover to cover, afterwards to be placed on a bookshelf and
forgotten. This is a book for daily use, for moments of trouble,
when we feel in need of orientation and guidance, a bedside book,
a book to be constantly on hand, to take with us in our hand
luggage when we travel. In other words, this is a book offering
something very special to each person who may read and study it.
This book brings peace of mind and comfort in times of
bereavement. It is even a book for those who have only a faint
knowledge or belief in God and Jesus. It can change lives by
bringing tranquillity out of chaos, certainty out of disbelief, as
well as compensation for both material and spiritual losses.
However, most importantly, it brings us the answers to many
questions that we may have been asking, famous questions such as
‘Who and what am I?’ ‘Where did I come from?’ ‘What am I
doing here?’ ‘Where am I going?’ It brings us rational and logical
explanations of such matters as reincarnation, inequality of wealth
in the world, the reasons why we sometimes hate certain people on
sight, and the many disharmonies that exist between husband and
wife, brother and sister, parents and children, and much more.
Probably this book will play its greatest part in helping
humanity towards a better understanding of LIFE and lead towards
spiritual enlightenment when used as readings in Churches and
Study Groups. It can also be of great help in times of personal
stress, grief or when we are at a loss to know what to do next. If
we just lift up our thoughts towards the Heavens - holding the
book in our hands - and after a moment of thought open it
casually; then read wherever our eyes fall upon the page.
Surprisingly we will find it is giving us answers or guidance very
14 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

applicable to the moment in question. Finally, but certainly not the

least of its uses is that it brings us the ‘key’ to Bible parables we
could never fully understand, in everyday language, together with
the deep meanings behind the teachings of Jesus.
This is the third book of the Spiritist Doctrine as codified by
ALLAN KARDEC whose real name was HYPOLITE LÉON DENIZARD
RIVAIL and we offer here a brief biography of this remarkable and
dedicated man.
He was born in Lyon, France on 3rd October 1804 into a family
who for many generations had been either lawyers or magistrates.
He was an intelligent child and was taught high principles of
honour and moral by his parents. At an early age, he showed
strong inclinations towards the sciences and philosophy. When he
was ten years of age, he was sent to the Institute of Pestalozzi at
Yverdon in Switzerland, where he soon acquired the habit of
investigation and learnt the art of freethinking. At the age of
fourteen, he began to give free lessons to schoolmates who were
less advanced. On occasion, Rivail was asked by Pestalozzi to
teach officially in his absence, due to his natural ability in this
field. He became a fervent disciple of Pestalozzi and was much
loved by the great man.
In 1822 at the age of eighteen, Hypolite returned to France. A
year later, he took up residence in Paris and in 1824, he published
his first book entitled: ‘A Theoretical & Practical Arithmetic
Course.’ This was so successful that it continued to be reprinted
till as late as 1876. He had an instinct for methodology and this
was only the beginning, for he was to publish many other books
on varying subjects including ‘A classical Grammar of the French
Language’ (1829). The French University adopted some of these
books and their sale rendered him a sufficient income to live on,
while he continued to give free lessons to school-children. He
taught Chemistry, Mathematics, Astronomy, Physics, Rhetoric,
Comparative Anatomy and Physiology. He spoke fluent Italian
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE 15

and Spanish, had a profound knowledge of German, English and

Dutch, with some knowledge of Latin, Greek and Gaelic. He also
translated a number of books, choosing those that he liked best,
including several by Fénelon, which he translated into German.
He married Amélie Gabrielle Boudet on 6th February 1832. She
was nine years his senior, a writer, teacher of fine arts, a poet and
artist. She was the perfect companion and helper, being dedicated
and uncomplaining. She played an important part in all of her
husband's activities and sustained him through many financial
difficulties encountered during his life, and greatly assisted him in
his teaching.
This extraordinary man could have become renowned and
wealthy through his various talents, but this was not to be. He was
a man with a mission! Between 1848 and 1850, an explosion of
spirit phenomena occurred in America and even more strongly in
Europe. In the last book of the codification ‘Posthumous Works’
published by Amélie after his death, Kardec (As he had become
known) had written, “It was in 1854 that I first heard about Table
turning.” When his good friend Mr Fortier brought him the initial
news of these extraordinary happenings telling him “The tables
also talk!” Kardec's reply to this was, “I will only believe when I
see it and when it can be proved to me that a table has a brain that
can think, plus nerves to feel with and can also become
somnambulic. Until then, allow me to see nothing more than
fantasy in these stories!” He had always been a disbeliever of such
things as ghosts.
After various encounters with his good friend Mr Fortier in
1855, he was finally persuaded to attend a séance and his curiosity
was immediately aroused. He then became a frequent visitor at the
séances held in the house of a certain Mr Baudin. It was in fact
here that he began his studies and research. He was never to
become a medium, but little by little became quite intuitive. On
30th April 1856, a medium in his group received the first
16 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

indications of his mission from Spirit. His wife always

accompanied him to all the meetings and eventually became his
secretary, upholding him in every aspect of his work. He adopted
the ‘nom de plume’ of Allan Kardec at the suggestion of Spirit, so
that the works of the codification should not be confused with his
own works. The first book of the codification (The Spirits' Book)
was first published in 1857. That same year he also began
meetings in his own home. A year later, he founded ‘The Parisian
Society for Spiritist Studies’.
The remaining years of his life were dedicated to his spiritual
work, being the completion of the five main books of the
Codification, and to lecturing on Spiritism and its philosophy. He
also made exhaustive journeys across Europe in order to take the
word to as many places as possible, all of which he completed at
his own expense. In 1867, he briefly met Léon Denis, who after
his death became his disciple, and later published a series of
classic works on Spiritism.
On March 31st, 1869, having just finished drawing up the
Constitution and rules for a new society that he planned to form,
while seated in his usual chair at his study-table in the Rue Sainte
Anne, in the act of tying up a bundle of papers, his busy life was
suddenly brought to an end. The passing from Earth into the
Spiritual World was instantaneous, a peaceful falling asleep - a
fitting end to a life well lived. Although the physical man is no
longer with us, he lives on in Spirit, continuing his work by
inspiring, stimulating and encouraging us to continue our search
for knowledge.
In his Introduction to THE SPIRITS' BOOK, Allan Kardec
expresses his opinion that new ideas need new terms and so he
formulated the words SPIRITIST and SPIRITISM to give a clear
and precise meaning to these Teachings. In his day, the word
Spiritualist, meant the opposite to Materialist, but it did not follow
that a Spiritualist believed in the existence of spirits or the
 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE 17

possibility of communication with the invisible world. He

employed the word Spiritism to stipulate the fundamental
principle of the Spiritist theory, which is the interaction of the
material world with Spirits or the beings of the invisible world. A
Spiritist is one who adheres to these teachings. We continue to use
these terms today, as the ideas they represent become better
understood. Amongst those ideas is the study of the scientific,
philosophical and religious aspects of existence; the ever pressing
need for Humanity to instruct itself, to cast aside all mystery and
superstition and accept responsibility for how we treat our planet
and all the life upon it. Eventually recognising we will be required
to answer for our actions in all aspects.
As life gathers momentum, as the world goes from crisis to
crisis at this time, we are more and more conscious of the reality
of the truths contained in Kardec's books.
As a New Epoch dawns, we are beginning to realise the need
for all humanity to grow towards this knowledge and seek
enlightenment to be prepared. When this time will finally be upon
the world then people will be able to appreciate the greatness of
this man's vision into the future.
However, we must not forget the important fact that in order to
meet the future with confidence we must make adequate
preparations today! Each moment that passes cannot be recovered,
therefore we must make use of every instant to grow spiritually!
To open up our horizons, to broaden our minds, to seek and
cultivate our spirituality! We are Spiritual Beings, we are all
immortal creatures! If we are to one-day find peace and happiness
then we must consider our whole being! While we go on thinking
of ourselves as material people, we are only looking at half of
ourselves and here lies the secret of so many mistakes, so much
unhappiness and so many failures.
18 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

For every person this wider and deeper knowledge of LIFE

carries with it the need for self-analysis, self-correction and self-
improvement. Without these aspects, we are all standing still,
marking time, and going nowhere! If this book helps but one
person to take just a small step forward, then it will have done its
work. God never demands the impossible of any of us. Nor does
He give us burdens for which we have no strength. Therefore, if
we try to make a conscious effort to better ourselves and cultivate
more faith, then we have begun our journey into the future
towards the LIGHT, where one-day victory, peace and joy will be
ours.
London, 2019
** ** ** ** **
Translator’s Acknowledgements
Over the many years and various editions of this special book,
the list of helping hands has been extensive and I never cease to be
thankful and pray for each one. However, for this final edition I
wish to thank Charles Kempf, who has been my right hand helper
for all the many hours of tireless work for pagination and
corrections in order that the book should continue to offer a clear
and inviting design for the reader. In addition, I wish to thank
Konrad Jerzak vel Dobosz for his special inspiration for the cover.
Without the willing and happy collaboration of these two people, I
would not have been able to complete my final task. May God and
Jesus bless them now and always.
Also, I wish to say how much joy this work has brought me
over the years and I can only hope that all who come to read it
may receive comfort and enlightenment, that they be strengthened
and upheld along life’s troubled pathways, just as I have been.
Finally, may all who read, study and try to put these Teachings
into daily practice receive constant blessings and bring them much
spiritual progress.
 PREFACE

The Spirits of the Lord, who are the Virtues of Heaven, move as
does an immense army upon receiving orders from their
commander. They spread out over the face of the Earth and
similar to the stars, which fall one after another from the skies,
are come to illumine pathways and open the eyes of those who
cannot see.
In truth I say unto you the times are come when all things will
be established in their true light, when the darkness shall be
dissipated, the prideful confounded and the just glorified.
The great voices of Heaven reverberate like the sound of
trumpets, and the choirs of Angels assemble. Human beings, we
are inviting you to this divine concert. Take up the harp and lift up
your voices in unison so that, in a sacred chorus, the sound may
extend and re-echo from one extreme of the universe to the other.
Fellow beings, beloved brothers and sisters, we are here beside
you. Love one another and say sincerely from the bottom of your
hearts “Lord! Lord!” In so doing you fulfil the wishes of the
Father who is in Heaven; then you too may enter into the kingdom
of heaven.
THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH

NOTE: The above instructions, which were received by means

of mediumship, are a precise summary of the true character of
Spiritism and the finality of this work. They have been placed as
the Preface for this reason. A. K.
 INTRODUCTION

1. The objective of this work. - 2. The authority of the Spiritist teachings. The
Universal control of the Teachings given by the Spirits. - 3. Historic facts. - 4.
Socrates and Plato, the forerunners of the Christian idea and Spiritism.

1. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS WORK

The Gospel can be divided into five parts: The events in the life
of Christ; the miracles; the prophecies; the words taken by the
Church on which they base their dogmas; and the moral
teachings. The first four have been the object of controversies.
However, the last has remained constantly inviolate. Before this
divine code, even incredulity bows down. This is the common
ground where all cults may be united; this is the flag under which
all may gather whatever their creeds. For it has never been a
matter of religious dispute, which has always and in all places
originated from dogmatism. Moreover, if it had been discussed,
then all cults would have found their own condemnation within it,
seeing that, in the majority, they have held on to the more mystical
rather than the moral part that demands an intimate reform from
each one. Specially prepared for humankind, it constitutes a code
of rules on how to behave in every circumstance of both private
and public life. It offers the basic principles for all social relations
founded on rigid justice. Finally and above all, it is the infallible
route to lasting happiness and the uplifting of a corner of the veil
that hides the future life. This is what forms the exclusive
objective of this work.
Everyone admires the morality of the Gospel; everyone
proclaims its sublimity and the need we have of it. However, of
the many who proclaim their faith, believing what others have said
22 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

or relying on maxims that have become proverbs, few know the

basis and even fewer understand it or are able to deduce the
consequences of it. In many cases, the reason for this is in the
difficulty in understanding the Gospel, which for many is quite
unintelligible. The allegorical form used and the intentional
mysticism of the language make it something we read because we
feel we ought to, because our conscience tells us to or because we
are obliged to. However, we often do so as one would read
prayers, without understanding them and consequently without
taking any benefit from them. In this way, the moral precepts go
unnoticed, scattered here and there between a mass of narrative.
This makes it impossible to get the general idea of the whole or to
take these ideas as specific subjects for reading and meditation.
It is true that various works have already been written
concerning the Gospel morality. Nevertheless, after being put into
modern prose they have lost their primitive simplicity, which at
the same time constituted both their charm and their authenticity.
Many others also deal with the best-known maxims reduced to the
simplest form of a proverb. These then are no more than
aphorisms, deprived of part of their value and interest due to the
lack of accompanying accessories and the circumstances of the
enunciation.
In order to avoid these undesirabilities, we have collected
together in this work all the subjects that go to form a universal
moral code, without distinction as to creed. In these citations, we
have kept all that is useful to the development of these ideas,
putting aside only that which does not pertain directly to the
matter. Apart from this, we have kept scrupulously to the
 INTRODUCTION 23

translations by Sacy1 and to the division of the verses. But instead

of following a chronological order, which would have been
impossible and have made no sense, we have methodically
grouped and classified the various maxims according to their
respective natures so that they follow on, one from the other, as
much as possible. An indication of chapters and verses permit
reference to the original texts whenever desired.
These details refer only to the material side of the work, which
on its own would be of secondary importance. The main objective
was to put these Teachings within easy reach of everyone by
means of clear explanations, especially those passages that until
now have remained obscure. Thus revealing the full consequence
of these Teachings and the manner in which they may be applied
to all lifestyles. This is what we have attempted to do, together
with the help of the Good Spirits who assisted us.
Many points in the Gospel, the Bible1 and the writings of the
sacred authors are in general unintelligible, some even appearing
nonsensical for lack of a key that would help in understanding
their true meaning. This key is to be found in its most complete
form within Spiritism, as those who have already made a serious
study of it can verify, and as many more in the future will come to
recognise. Spiritism can be found throughout ancient times and
repeatedly during the different epochs of humanity. We find
vestiges in many places in the form of writings, in beliefs and in
monuments. This is the reason why at the same time it is opening
new horizons for the future, it is also projecting a no less brilliant
light upon the mysteries of the past.

1
Kardec used Le Maistre de Sacy’s version of the Bible. For this Edition of the
English translation, the traditional King James Version is quoted. Moreover, under
guidance from Spirit some small changes have been made to replace archaic words
with modern language, as being more readily understandable. (Tr.)
24 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

As a compliment to each precept, we have added some well-

chosen instructions from amongst those dictated by Spirits2 in
various countries, through different mediums. If they had been
taken from only one origin they would probably have suffered the
influence either of the person or the ambient, whereas the
diversification of origins proves that the Spirits give teachings
without distinctions and that no one person is specially privileged.3
This work is for the use of everyone. From it we may all
discover the means by which we may apply Christ's moral
teachings to our daily lives and how best to go about it. This
applies very specially to Spiritists. The relationship between
humans and the invisible world has therefore been established on a
permanent basis. Thus the Law of the Gospel, which the Spirits
have taught to all nations, will no longer be a matter of dead words
because each person will be able to understand them. They will
see themselves incessantly compelled to put them into practice
according to counselling from the spiritual guides. These
instructions, coming from the Spirits, are really the voices from

2
In using the word ‘Spirits’ with a capital letter indicates the group of more
advanced Spirits that assisted Kardec throughout the process of revealing the Spiritist
Teachings. (Tr.)
3
It would have been possible, without doubt, to have presented many more
communications from Spirits on each subject, all of which were received in cities and
centres other than those cited. We wished, however, to avoid monotony and useless
repetition so have limited our choice to those that, from their base and form, apply
more adequately within the plan of this work, reserving for future publication those we
have not been able to use here.
With respect to the mediums, we have refrained from naming them. In most cases,
they themselves asked not to be mentioned, so we have made no exceptions. It is also
a fact that the names of these mediums would not add more value to the work of the
Spirits. The mentioning of them by name would only be an incentive to personal
pride, to which serious mediums give no importance. They understand fully that their
part in the work, being merely passive, in no way exalts their personal merit. It would
be foolish to allow oneself to become vain about an intelligent work to which one had
only lent mechanical assistance.
 INTRODUCTION 25

Heaven that have come to enlighten humankind and invite them to

put the Gospel into practice.

2. THE AUTHORITY OF THE SPIRITIST TEACHINGS

The universal control of the teachings as given by the spirits

If the Spiritist Teachings was of a purely human conception it

would offer no more guarantee than the enlightenment of those
who actually conceived it; but no one on Earth could seriously
contemplate the pretension of possessing exclusive and absolute
truth. If the Spirits who made these revelations had manifested to
only one person there would be no guarantee of their origin, since
we would need to believe one person's word alone. Even if we
accepted perfect sincerity on their part, the most they could do
would be to convince their circle of acquaintances. This person
would be able to form a sect, but never be able to form a world
congregation.
God wished the New Revelation to reach humanity by the
quickest and most authentic path, so He entrusted the Spirits to
deliver them from pole to pole, manifesting everywhere without
conferring the exclusive privilege of entrusting these words to
only one individual. A single person might be deceived or could
even deceive him or herself, but this could not happen when
hundreds of people see and hear the same thing. This constitutes a
guarantee for each one and for all. For the rest, it is possible to
make one person disappear, but it is not possible to make everyone
disappear. It is possible to burn books, but you cannot burn Spirits.
Even if all the books were burnt, the base of the Teachings would
still be inexhaustible because it is not to be found on Earth, and it
would reappear in every place so that all might partake of it. If
there is a shortage of people to diffuse it, there will always be
26 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

Spirits whose action reaches everyone, even those whom no

person can reach.
In reality then, the Spirits themselves do the propagating, with
the help of innumerable mediums, disseminating all over the
world. If there had been but one interpreter, however favoured
they might have been, Spiritism would barely be known. To
whatever class the person belonged, that interpreter would have
been the object of caution for many people and not every nation
would have accepted them, whereas Spirits communicate to the
four corners of the Earth, to all peoples, to all sects, to all parties
and everyone accepts them. Spiritism has no nationality and does
not stem from any known cult that might exist; nor is it imposed
by any social class, seeing that any person may receive
instructions from parents, relatives and friends from the beyond.
This is how it had to be accomplished if it was to lead all
humanity towards unity. If it did not maintain itself in neutral
territory, it would nurture dissensions instead of pacifying them.
The force of Spiritism, as well as the cause of its rapid spread,
resides in these universal Teaching. Where the word of one
solitary person, even with the help of the press, would take
centuries to become known, millions of voices are making
themselves heard simultaneously in every corner of the planet. All
are proclaiming the same principles and transmitting them on all
levels, from the scholarly down to the most ignorant, so that no
one is disinherited. This is an advantage that no other teaching has
to offer. Therefore, if Spiritism is the truth, it will not fear the ill
will of humanity, modern revolutions or the physical subversions
of this globe, because nothing can touch the Spirits.
However, this is not the only advantage that comes from this
exceptional situation. It also offers an unattackable guarantee
against all misgivings that might arise from someone's ambition or
through the contradictions of some Spirits. We cannot deny that
 INTRODUCTION 27

these contradictions are obstacles, but they bring their own remedy
with them alongside the malady.
We know that Spirits, due to differences in their various
individual capacities, do not possess all the truth and do not claim
to. It is not given to all to be able to penetrate certain mysteries.
The knowledge of each one is proportional to their purification.
Ordinary spirits know nothing more than humans do, but amongst
them, as amongst men and women, there are those who are
presumptuous and falsely wise, who think they know everything,
but who in fact are ignorant. These are the systematic ones who
take their own ideas to be the truth. In short, it is only highly
evolved Spirits, who are almost completely dematerialised, who
find themselves free from earthly ideas and prejudices. It is also
known that less scrupulous spirits do not hesitate to deceive, by
taking names that do not belong to them, in order to impose their
utopian ideas. Because of all this, and in relation to all that is
outside the exclusive field of moral education, the revelations that
any one medium may receive will have an individual character.
They will be without any stamp of authenticity and should be
considered merely as personal opinions from this or that spirit. It
would be imprudent to accept them or thoughtlessly propagate
them as absolute truths.
The first corroborative test to be undertaken is without doubt
that of reason, to which it is wise to submit, without exception, all
that comes from the spirits. Any theory in evident contradiction to
good sense, rigorous logic or positive facts that have been
previously accepted should be rejected, however apparently
respectable is the name by which it is signed. This test will no
doubt be left incomplete due to the lack of illumination of some
people and the tendency of many to take their own opinions as
judgements of truth. That being the case, what of those who
deposit absolutely no faith in themselves to do? They should seek
what seems to be the majority and take this as a guide. This is the
28 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

way you should proceed when judging what is said by Spirits, who
are the first to offer the means of so doing.
Concordance amongst spiritual Teachings is the best proof of
authenticity. However, it is important that this should happen only
under determined conditions. The least secure method of
concordance is when the actual medium, of his/her own accord,
interrogates many different Spirits about a doubtful point. It is
evident that, if the medium is under an obsessing influence or
dealing with a mystifying Spirit, then that Spirit may say the same
thing under different names. Neither is it an adequate guarantee of
conformity when different mediums at the same centre receive
similar communications, because they may be under the same
influences.
The only sure guarantee for Spirit Teachings is the
concordance that exists between revelations that have been
received spontaneously by large numbers of medium, not known to
each other and located in different places.
It should be understood that we are not referring to those
communications that deal with secondary interests, but those
referring to the basic principles of the Teachings. Experience has
taught us that when a new principle is to be presented, it always
happens spontaneously in different places at the same time in an
identical manner, if not in actual form at least in general content.
On the other hand, if by chance a Spirit formulates an eccentric
doctrine based exclusively on its own ideas and excluding the
truth, you may be sure that this idea will remain confined.
Undoubtedly, it will collapse when confronted with instructions
received from many other places, similar to many examples
already known. This exclusiveness destroyed all the biased
doctrine that sprang up at the time of the initiation of Spiritism,
when each one explained the phenomena according to their own
 INTRODUCTION 29

beliefs, before the Laws that govern the relationship between the
visible and invisible worlds became known.
This is what we have based ourselves upon when formulating a
principle for the Spiritist Teachings. We do not insist on it being
true just because it might be in accordance with our own ideas.
Neither do we have the least desire to uphold ourselves as being
the sole possessor of the whole truth nor have we ever said to
anyone, “Believe in this because it is I who tell you.” We consider
that our own opinion is nothing more than personal, which might
be true or false, as we are no more infallible than anyone else is.
Nor because we were taught a principle that we believe to be true;
it is because it has received the sanction of concordance.
The position in which we find our self in, is that of receiving
communications from almost a thousand serious Spiritual Centres,
scattered over highly diversified areas of this planet. This gives us
the possibility of observing on which principles concordance is
established. Concordance has guided us until today and will go on
guiding us in new fields still to be explored. We have noticed
while studying these communications, coming from France and
outside, that due to the very special nature of the information a
new path is being sought and that the moment has arrived to take a
step forward. These revelations, many times given through veiled
words, have frequently passed unperceived by many who have
received them. Others have thought themselves to be the sole
receivers. Taken in isolation, we would have given them no
importance and it is only coincidence that proves their seriousness.
Later, when these new teachings reach the general public many
will remember having received the same information. The general
movement that we are studying and observing, together with the
assistance of our spiritual Guides, is what helps us to judge
whether it is the correct moment to do something or not.
30 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

This universal verification is the guarantee of the future unity of

Spiritism and will annul all contradictory theories. It is here that
in the future we shall find our criteria for the truth. The cause of
the success of these Teachings as put forth in THE SPIRITS' BOOK
and THE MEDIUMS' BOOK was because everyone had received
confirmation directly from Spirit, of what these books contain.
Whereas if all the Spirits had come to contradict them they would
have received the same fate suffered by others who expounded
imaginary concepts. Not even the support of the press would have
saved them from a shipwreck. On the contrary, deprived as they
were of this support, they nevertheless opened new paths and
made rapid advancement. This is because the Spirits offered their
support and goodwill, which not only compensated but also
surpassed the lack of goodwill on the part of humans. This is what
will happen to all ideas, whether emanating from either humans or
Spirits that cannot withstand this confrontation. This is the final
test whose strength no one can deny.
Suppose it pleased some spirits to dictate a book, under
whatever title, offering contrary information; let us suppose their
intention was hostile, with the object of discrediting the Teachings
and maliciously provoking apocryphal communications. What
influence could these writings exercise if all other Spirits refuted
them? Anyone wishing to launch a doctrine in their own name
should first seek assurance in combined concordance from the
Spirits. There is no comparison between systems devised by only
one person to that of another devised by everyone. What can the
arguments of slanderers, wishing only to belittle, achieve against
the opinion of the masses, if millions of friendly voices from space
make themselves heard in opposition in every corner of the
Universe, as well as in family homes? What happens to the
innumerable publications that have the pretension of destroying
Spiritism? Which of them has as much as caused a hesitation in
its march? Until now, no one has considered the matter from this
 INTRODUCTION 31

point of view without forgetting the most important fact - each one
has been depending on themselves alone, without counting on the
Spirits.
The principle of concordance is also a guarantee against any
alterations to which Spiritism might be subjected by other sects
wishing to take possession of it for their own ends, and so change
it to suit their own ideas. Whosoever tries to divert Spiritism from
its providential objective will never succeed, for the simple reason
that the Spirits, as a universal body, will cause any ideas contrary
to the truth to fall.
From all this stands out the main truth; that is, a person who
wishes to oppose the established and sanctioned ideas could cause
a localised perturbation lasting but a short while, but could never
dominate the whole, not even for a moment and even less into the
future.
We should also like to point out that instructions given by
Spirits on points not yet elucidated by the Spiritist Teachings
should not be considered as law until these instructions have been
duly isolated and proven. Neither should they be accepted except
with all due reserve and under the heading of 'awaiting
confirmation.'
From this, we understand the need for greater prudence before
making any such communications public. If they are deemed fit to
be publicised they should be presented as mere individual
opinions, possibly true, but awaiting confirmation. It will be
necessary to wait for this confirmation before proclaiming it as a
complete truth, unless you wish to be accused of levity or of
thoughtless credulity.
Superior Spirits proceed with extreme wisdom in their
revelations. They never touch on the most important questions,
except gradually, until our intelligence shows itself ready to accept
32 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

a more advanced truth and when circumstances show themselves

to be favourable to a new idea. This is why they did not reveal
everything from the outset and still have not told everything. They
never give themselves to impatience, like some who want to eat
the fruit before it is ripe. It is useless to try to hurry things
forward beyond the time designated by Providence for its
revelation. If you do, serious Spirits will always deny their
assistance. Frivolous spirits however are not in the least
preoccupied with the truth and consequently will give answers to
anything and everything. Therefore, it is in this manner that
whenever a question is premature, contradictory answers will
always be found.
The principles mentioned above have not been formed as the
result of a personal theory; they are consequences that have been
forced upon us from the varying conditions within which Spirit
communication is manifest. It is quite evident that if one spirit
says one thing and thousands of other spirits say something
different, we presume the truth does not lie with the solitary
communicant. For someone to imagine they possess the truth
against all the rest would be quite illogical, be it a person or a
Spirit. Ponderous Spirits, if they do not feel completely or
sufficiently clarified about any subject, never give a definite
answer, but declare they are merely giving their own point of view
and suggest awaiting the necessary confirmation.
However large, beautiful or just an idea may appear, it is
impossible to unite opinions right from the first moment. The
conflicts that arise in this case are the inevitable consequences that
such a movement would cause. They are necessary so that the
truth may be emphasised and the sooner this happens the better, so
that any false ideas may be discarded. Any Spiritist who feels
worried by this situation may be tranquil, as all those isolated
claims will fall before the enormous and discerning force of
universal concordance.
 INTRODUCTION 33

It is not the opinion of any one person that will produce unity,
but the unanimous voices of the Spirits. It will not be any one
person, least of all I, who will destroy the Spiritist orthodoxy,
neither a spirit wishing to impose in any way. This unity will be
accomplished by the universal gathering of Spirits who
communicate throughout the world, by order of God. This is the
essential character of the Spiritist Teachings; this is its force and
its authority. God desired that His Law be set upon an immovable
base and so did not trust these fundamentals to only one fragile
being.
Before such a powerful tribunal, where conspiracy, rivalries,
sects or nations are unknown, all opposition, ambition and those
who seek individual supremacy will fail. We ourselves will fall if
we try to substitute our own ideas for those of God. He alone will
decide all lawful questions, impose silence on disagreement and
give reason to those who have it. Before this imposing accord
from the voices of Heaven, what value has an opinion of a mere
man or woman or that of one Spirit? It makes no more impression
than a drop of water in the ocean and even less than a child's voice
in a tempest.
Universal opinion, like that of a supreme judge, is one that is
pronounced last, being formed from all the individual opinions. If
one of these contains the truth, it merely shows its own relative
weight in the balance. If it is false, it cannot prevail against the
rest. In this immense concourse, all individuality disappears and
this constitutes yet another disappointment for humanity's pride.
This harmonious assemblage is already being formed and
before the turn of this century, we shall see its full brightness
shining forth in such a manner as to dissipate all doubt. The field
is prepared and from now on potent voices will receive the
mission of making them heard in order to congregate humanity
under one banner. However, until this actually happens, all those
34 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

who fluctuate between two opposing points of view can observe in

which way general opinion forms. This will be the correct
indication as to the declaration of the majority of Spirits on the
varying subjects, upon which they communicate, and an even
more accurate sign as to which of the two systems will prevail.
3. HISTORIC FACTS
In order to understand the Gospel better, it is necessary to know
the true meaning of many of the words frequently used, which
bear relation to the customs and the Jewish society of the time.
Some of these words no longer have the same meaning and have
frequently been misinterpreted, which in turn has led to
uncertainty. When the full meanings are explained, it shows the
real sense behind certain maxims that at first sight appear rather
strange.
SAMARITANS - After the division of the ten tribes, Samaria
became the capital of the dissident kingdom of Israel. Destroyed
and rebuilt at various times, under Roman rule it became the
administrative head of Samaria, one of the four divisions of
Palestine. Herod the Great beautified Samaria with sumptuous
monuments, and to gratify Augusto gave it the name of Augusta,
in Greek ‘Sebaste’.
The Samaritans were almost constantly at war with the kings of
Judah. Profound aversion dating from the time of the separation
perpetuated between the two tribes, causing them to avoid any
kind of reciprocal relations. In order to widen the schism, and to
avoid going to Jerusalem for religious festivities, they built
themselves a private temple and adopted some reforms. They only
admitted the Pentateuch, that contained the laws of Moses,
rejecting all other books to which these had been annexed, and
their sacred books were all written in ancient Hebrew characters.
According to Orthodox Jews, they were heretics and consequently
despised, excommunicated and persecuted. The antagonism
 INTRODUCTION 35

between the two nations was founded exclusively upon their

religious divergences, despite the fact that the origin of their belief
was the same. They were the Protestants of their time.
Some Samaritans are still to be found in certain regions of the
Levant, especially near Nablus and in Jaffa. They observe the
laws of Moses more strictly than other Jews and only marry
amongst themselves.
NAZARITES - The name given in olden times to Jews who took
the vow, either temporary or perpetual, to remain in perfect purity.
They promised to observe chastity, abstain from alcoholic drinks
and not to cut their hair. Samson, Samuel and John the Baptist
were Nazarites.
Later on, the Jews gave this name to the first Christians,
alluding to Jesus from Nazareth. This was also the name given to a
heretical sect from the first phase of the Christian epoch and who,
like the Ebonites, from whom they adopted certain principles and
mixed the practice of the Mosaic Law with those of Christian
dogmas. This sect disappeared during the fourth century.
PUBLICANS - In ancient Rome, this was the name given to those
who rented out the collection of public taxes and all kinds of
incomes, either in Rome itself or in other parts of the Empire.
They were like the general collectors and auctioneers of taxes in
the ancient system in France, which still exists in some regions
(1865). The risks they ran made most people close their eyes when
it came to their frequently amounted riches that for some were the
fruits of levies and scandalous gains. Later on the name ‘publican’
was extended to all those who superintended public monies and
their underling agents. Today, this term is employed in a
disparaging way, to denote financiers and agents with very few
scruples. It is said “Greedy as a publican” or “Rich as a publican”
referring to their ill-gotten gains.
36 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

During Roman rule, the question of taxes was what the Jews
found most difficult to accept, causing great irritation amongst
them. Many revolts resulted from this problem, so turning it into a
religious question, as it was considered to be against the Law.
Indeed, a powerful party was formed headed by a certain citizen
named Judah the Guiltier, whose objective was to abolish all
taxes.
The Jews despised the taxes and all those entrusted with
collecting them. Thence sprang up the aversion shown to
publicans of all categories, amongst whom could be found many
people of esteem, but who due to their functions, were despised
together with whoever kept company with them. Prominent Jews
considered it a compromise to have any personal relationship with
these people.
TAX COLLECTORS - These were the lower-class collectors,
entrusted principally with the collection of tolls on entering cities.
Their function was more or less similar to those of customs
officials and the granting of passes. They shared the rejection
suffered by publicans in general. This is the reason why, in the
Bible, we frequently meet the word publican alongside the
expression - sinful people. This did not imply debauchery or
vagrancy but was a term of scorn, a synonym for people who kept
bad company, people unworthy to mix with decent people.
PHARISEES (From the Hebrew Parasch, meaning division or
separation.) Tradition is an important part of Jewish theology. It
consists of a compilation of the successive interpretations given to
the Scriptures that became articles for dogmas. Amongst scholars,
this was the subject for interminable discussions, most of which
were over simple questions as to the meaning of words and their
form, just like theological disputes and subtleties of scholastics in
the Middle Ages. From all this resulted different sects, each one
 INTRODUCTION 37

wishing to have the monopoly of the Truth and consequently

detesting one another, as so often happens.
Among these sects, the most influential were the Pharisees,
whose chief, Hillel, a Jewish doctor born in Babylonia some 180
or 200 years before Jesus Christ. He was the founder of a famous
school where it was taught that faith should be put only in the
Scriptures. The Pharisees were persecuted in various epochs,
especially under Hyrcania4 – who was sovereign pontiff and king
of the Jews – Aristobulus5 and Alexander, who was a king of
Syria. However, Alexander granted them honours and restored
their properties, making it possible for them to reacquire their old
powerful status. This continued until the ruin of Jerusalem in the
year 70 AD., at which time the name disappeared because of the
scattering of the Jews.
The Pharisees took an active part in the religious controversy.
They were faithful practitioners of exterior cults and ceremonies,
full of ardent zeal and proselytism, enemies of innovations,
maintaining great severity of principles. Nevertheless, behind the
cover of punctilious devotion lay dissolute habits, a great deal of
pride and above all an excessive desire to dominate. Religion was
actually a means to an end, rather than an object of sincere faith. It
possessed nothing of virtue beyond outward appearances and
ostentation. Nevertheless, they exercised a great influence over the
people, in whose eyes they were sacred. This is the reason they
were very powerful in Jerusalem.
They believed, or at least made out they believed, in Divine
Providence, the immortality of the soul, eternal punishment and
the resurrection of the dead. (See chap. IV, item 4) Jesus, who
esteemed above all simplicity and the qualities of the heart,

4
Hyrcania I or John Hyrcania was a Sovereign Priest and King of the Jews (134-
104 BC), expanded Judea and took it to independence. (Tr.)
5
King of Judea (67 – 63 BC). He was poisoned by the Pompeian’s. (Tr.)
38 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

showed preference within the Law for the spirit that vitalises, to
the word that kills. Therefore, He applied Himself throughout His
mission to the unmasking of their hypocrisy and because of this he
was considered by them to be their enemy. This is the reason why
the Pharisees, together with the High Priests, incited the people to
eliminate Him.
THE SCRIBES - This name was given in the main, to the
secretaries of the kings in Judea and to scholars certain people
who understood matters relating to the Jewish army. Later it was
applied to those who taught the Law of Moses and interpreted it to
the People. They joined in common cause with the Pharisees,
sharing their principles as well as their aversion to all innovations.
This is why Jesus included them when He launched criticism
against the Pharisees.
SYNAGOGUE (From the Greek Sunagoguê meaning assembly,
congregation.) There was only one temple in Judea, that of
Solomon in Jerusalem, where all the great ceremonies of worship
were held. Every year all the Jews would go there on pilgrimage
for the principal festivals, such as Passover, the Dedication and the
Feast of the Tabernacle. It was on these occasions that Jesus
would also be present. The other cities did not have temples, only
synagogues, buildings where the Jewish people would collect for
their Saturday meetings and public prayers, under the leadership
of their Elders, the scribes, or scholars versed in the Law. It was
due to this fact that Jesus, although He was not a priest, was able
to teach in the synagogues on Saturdays.
Ever since the ruin of Jerusalem and the dispersal of the Jews,
the synagogues in the cities where they went to live became
temples for the celebration of their cults.
SADDUCEES - Another Jewish sect founded about 24 BC whose
name came from Sadoc, its founder. They believed in neither
immortality nor resurrection, nor in good and bad angels.
 INTRODUCTION 39

However, they did believe in God, but they expected nothing after
death, they served Him having in mind only temporary
recompenses that according to them were limited by Divine
Providence. With these thoughts in mind, their main objective in
life was the satisfaction of all physical senses. As to the scriptures,
they followed the texts of the old laws. They would not accept
traditions or any form of interpretation. They put good works and
the pure and simple observance of this law before all outward
practices of worship. They were, as you see, the materialists,
deists and sensualists of their time. This sect had few followers,
but amongst them were some important personages and it became
a political party constantly in opposition to the Pharisees.
ESSENES - They were a Jewish sect founded about the year 150
BC during the time of the Maccabees. Their members lived in
types of monasteries, forming amongst themselves a kind of moral
and religious association. They distinguished themselves by their
pacific ways and austere virtues. They taught the love of God and
of one’s neighbour, the immortality of the soul and believed in the
resurrection. They were celibate, condemned war and slavery, held
all their possessions in common and devoted themselves to
agriculture. Contrary to the Sadducees, who were very sensual and
denied immortality and the Pharisees of rigid external practices
and only apparent virtues, the Essenes never took part in the
disputes that caused antagonism between the other two sects. In
their way of life, they were similar to the first Christians. The
moral principles they professed caused many people to suppose
that Jesus had belonged to their community before He began His
mission. It is certain that He knew them, but there is nothing to
40 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

prove that He was related to them, so all that has been written to
this effect is simply hypothetical.6
THERAPEUTICS (From the Greek thérapeutaï, formed from
thérapeueïn to serve, meaning: servants of God or Healers.)
These were Jewish sectarians and contemporaries of Christ, being
mostly established in Alexandria, in Egypt. Like the Essenes,
whose principles they adopted, they also practised all the virtues.
They were extremely frugal in their eating habits, were celibate,
dedicated to meditation, lived solitary lives and constituted a truly
religious order. Philo, a platonic Jewish philosopher from
Alexandria, was the first to speak of the Therapeutics, whom he
considered as a Jewish sect. Eusebius, Saint Jerome and other
originators of the Church believed them to be Christians. Whether
they were, or whether they were Jewish, the fact remains that, like
the Essenes, they represent a link in the union between the Jewish
and Christian faiths.

4. SOCRATES AND PLATO, THE FORERUNNERS OF THE

CHRISTIAN IDEA AND SPIRITISM
From the mere fact that Jesus knew the Essenes, it is erroneous
to conclude that His teachings were derived from this sect and that
if He had lived in another environment He would have professed
other principles. Great ideas have never appeared suddenly. Those
founded on truth have always had their predecessors, who partially
prepared the path. Later, at the appointed time, God sends
someone who has the mission of resuming, coordinating and
completing those scattered elements and uniting them into a
teaching. In this way, when the idea arrives it finds Spirits

6
‘THE DEATH OF JESUS’, supposedly written by an Essene, is an entirely
apocryphal work whose only objective was to serve one opinion. It carries with it the
proof of its modern origin.
 INTRODUCTION 41

disposed to accept it. This also happened with the Christian idea,
which had been foreseen many centuries previously, before either
Christ or the Essenes, having had Socrates and Plato as its
principle predecessors.
Socrates, like Christ, wrote nothing himself or at least left
nothing written. Just as Christ, he also suffered the death of a
criminal, a victim of fanaticism, because he had dared to attack
existing beliefs and for having put virtue above hypocrisy and the
image of the form, in other words for having combated religious
prejudice. Also in the same manner as Jesus, Whom the Pharisees
accused of corrupting the people by His Teaching, Socrates was
accused by the Pharisees of his time, seeing that they have always
existed in all epochs. They accused him of proclaiming the dogma
of the unity of God, the immortality of the soul and the future life.
Just as the Teachings of Jesus became known only through the
writings of His disciples, so the Teachings of Socrates became
known through his disciple Plato.
For these reasons, we judge it appropriate to offer a brief
summary of the most prominent points of Socrates' teachings in
order to show the concordance with the Christian principles. To
those who consider this parallel a profanity, claiming there can be
no similarity between a pagan doctrine and that of Christ, we
would say that the teachings of Socrates were not pagan because
he objectively combated paganism. As to the teachings of Jesus,
which are complete and pure, they have nothing to lose by this
comparison, as it is impossible to diminish the greatness of
Christ's Divine mission. For the rest we are dealing with a
historical fact that no one can obliterate. Humanity emerges from
‘beneath the bushel’ of its own accord, because it has reached
sufficient maturity to be able to meet truth face to face, and it will
be worse for those who do not wish to see this. The time has
arrived to consider matters in a more ample and evolved manner,
not from the point of view of narrow and diffident interests of
42 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

sects and castes. Moreover, these citations will prove that if

Socrates and Plato presented Christian ideas, they also gave us the
fundamental principles of Spiritism in their writings.

A SUMMARY OF THE TEACHINGS OF SOCRATES AND PLATO

1. A living being is an incarnate soul. Before its incarnation, it
existed in union with primordial types, to ideas of truth, goodness
and beauty. Then separating from them, it incarnates and on
remembering its past, it becomes more or less tormented by the
desire to return to it.
The independence and distinction between the basic principle of
intelligence and those of matter could not be more clearly
expressed. Apart from this, it is also the teachings of pre-
existence, of humanity's vague intuition of another world to which
it aspires, and of leaving the spirit world in order to incarnate,
including its return to the spirit world after death. Finally, it also
expressed the doctrine of the fallen angels.
2. The soul becomes perturbed and confused when it uses the
body in order to consider an object. It becomes dizzy as if
intoxicated because it holds on to things that, by their very nature,
are subject to change. Whereas, when humanity contemplates its
very essence, it directs itself to that which is pure, eternal and
immortal and seeing that its soul is of this nature, it remains
joined to this state as long as it can. The perturbations then cease
because it is joined to that which is immutable and this is the state
of the soul called wisdom.
Thus, people who consider things in a down-to-earth fashion
are only deceiving themselves. To see things in their true
perspective they must look upon them from high up, that is to say
from the spiritual point of view. Those who are in possession of
true wisdom must then isolate the soul from the body in order to
 INTRODUCTION 43

be able to see with the eyes of the Spirit. This is what Spiritism
also teaches. (See Chap. 2, item 5.)
3. While we have our physical body and our soul is immersed in
this corruption, we can never possess the object of our desire,
which is Truth. In fact, the body stirs up thousands of obstacles
due to the necessity we have of caring for it. Moreover, it fills us
with desires, appetites, and doubts, a thousand fancies and foolish
things, in such a way that we find it impossible to be wise, even for
an instant. Nevertheless, if it is not possible to know anything in its
entirety while the soul remains joined to the body, either we shall
never know the truth, or we shall only know it after death. Freed
from the misleading ideas of the body, we hope it will be
permissible to talk with men and women who have been liberated.
So understanding for ourselves the essence of things. This is the
reason why true philosophers prepare themselves for death, as
dying represents nothing to them, and in no way is it to be feared.
Here we have the principles of the faculties of the souls being
obscured by the corporeal organs and the expansion of purified
souls. This does not happen to impure souls. (See HEAVEN &
HELL by ALLAN KARDEC-1st part, Chap. 2; & 2nd part, Chap. 1.)
4. The soul in its impure state finds itself oppressed and is once
again attracted to the visible world by the fear of that which is
invisible and immaterial. It is a mistake then, to say that the
gloomy ghosts sometimes seen around tombs and monuments must
be the souls of those who have left their bodies without being
absolutely pure, and so still conserve part of their material form,
which makes them visible to the human eye. In fact, they are not
good but evil souls, dragging with them the penalties of their first
life, who find themselves forced to wander in such places. They
will continue to wander until their appetites, inherent to the
material form with which they are clad, recalls them to another
44 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

body. Then, beyond doubt, they will return to the same habits that
were the object of their preferences during their first life.
Not only is the principle of reincarnation clearly shown here,
but also the state of those souls who maintain themselves under
the restrictions of matter, as described to us in spiritual
communications. Furthermore, it says that reincarnation in a
material body is the consequence of the impureness of the soul,
whereas the purified soul finds itself exempt from further
reincarnations. This is exactly what Spiritism teaches, only adding
that the soul, having made good resolutions while in the spiritual
world and possessing some acquired knowledge, brings fewer
defects, more virtues and intuitive ideas on being reborn than it
had in the preceding incarnation. In this way, each existence
shows both intellectual and moral progress. (See HEAVEN &
HELL, 2nd part, Examples.)
5. After our death, the genie (daimon, devil), that had been
assigned to us during our life, will take us to a place where all,
who must go to Hades in order to be judged, are gathered. The
souls, after having been in Hades the necessary length of time, are
then returned to this life for long periods and multiple times.
This is the teaching of the Guardian Angels or Protecting
Spirits and of successive reincarnations after intervals of varying
lengths in the spirit world.
6. Devils occupy the space that separates Heaven from Earth;
this constitutes the link that unites the Universe with itself. The
Divinity never enters into direct contact with human beings, which
is done through the mediation of the devils with whom the gods
have dealings, and who occupy themselves with him during both
waking and sleeping.
In ancient times the word ‘daimon’, from which the term evil
was derived, was not used in the bad sense as it is today. Nor was
 INTRODUCTION 45

it used exclusively for evil beings, but for spirits in general.

Within which were included Superior Beings called gods, as well
as the less elevated, the actual devils, who communicated directly
with humans. Spiritism also says that spirits populate space and
that God only communicates with human beings through the
intermediary of pure Spirits, who are entrusted to transmit His
wishes. Spirits can also communicate with human beings during
the sleep state, as well as while awake. If we put the word Spirit in
place of the word devil we have the Spiritist Teachings and by
putting the word Angel, we have the Teachings of Christ.
7. The constant preoccupation of the philosophers (as
understood by Socrates and Plato) is to take great care of the soul,
less with respect to the present life, which lasts but an instant, but
more with respect to eternity. As the soul is immortal, would it not
be more prudent to live our lives bearing this fact in mind?
Both Spiritism and the Christian faith teach the same thing.
8. If the soul is immaterial, then after this life it will have to go
to a world that is equally invisible and immaterial, the same way
as the body decomposes and returns to matter. However, it is very
important to clearly distinguish the pure soul that is truly
immaterial and nourishes itself, as God does, from thoughts and
the sciences; from that of the soul that is more or less stained by
impurities of a material nature. This impedes elevation to all that
is divine and in fact causes it to be retained in its earthly
surroundings.
As we can see, both Socrates and Plato understood perfectly the
different levels of the dematerialised soul. They insisted on the
varieties of situations resulting from its more or less purified
states. What they said though intuition, Spiritism proves by the
numerous examples that it places before us. (See HEAVEN & HELL,
2nd part.)
46 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

9. If death meant the complete dissolution of the person, then

the evil spirits would have much to gain from death, as they would
find themselves at the same time free from body, soul and vices.
Only those who adorn their soul, not with strange ornaments, but
with those that are appropriate, may wait the hour of their return
to the other world with tranquillity.
This is equal to saying that materialism, that proclaims there is
nothing after death, annuls all previous moral responsibility. This
would consequently be inductive to evilness and that evil has
everything to gain from nothingness. Only the person who has
divested themselves of all vice and become enriched with virtues
can await the awakening in the other life with tranquillity. By
means of examples, which are offered to us daily, Spiritism shows
how painful it is for those who are evil to pass over into this other
life. (See HEAVEN & HELL, 2nd part, Chap. 1.)
10. The body retains the well-impressed vestiges of the care it
received, as well as the marks of all accidents suffered. The same
applies to the soul. When it disposes of the body it maintains in
evidence the features of its character, its affections, as well as the
marks that have been left on it by all the various occurrences
during its lifetime. Thus, the worst thing that can happen to a man
or woman is to return to the other world with his or her soul laden
with crimes. You see, Calicles, which neither you nor Pollex, nor
Gorgias, can prove that we should lead a different life that can be
useful when we find ourselves on the other side. From so many
different opinions, the only one that is unshakeable is that it is
better to receive than to commit an injustice. That, above all else,
we must be careful not just to seem like, but also to actually be
men and women of goodness. (Taken from a dialogue between
Socrates and his followers when he was in prison.)
Here we are faced with yet another point of capital importance
which experience has proved to us: that the soul which is not yet
 INTRODUCTION 47

purified retains the ideas, tendencies, character and passions that it

had while on Earth. Is not the maxim - It is better to receive than
to commit an injustice - entirely Christian? Jesus expressed the
same thought when He said, “If someone strikes you on the right
cheek, then offer him the other one as well.” (See Chap. 12, items
7 & 8).
11. One of two things - either death is the absolute destruction
or it is the passing of the soul into another place. If everything is
extinguished, then death would be like one of those infrequent
nights when we do not dream nor have any consciousness of
ourselves. However, if death is but a change of habitation, the
passageway to the place where the dead must meet, what
happiness to find there all those we have known! My greatest
pleasure would be to closely examine the inhabitants of this other
home and to distinguish there, as we do here, which of those who
deem themselves worthy are actually so considered. But it is time
to part, me to my death and you to live. (Socrates to his judges.)
According to Socrates, those who live upon the Earth meet
again after death and recognize each other. Spiritism shows that
relationships continue to the extent that death is not an interruption
nor the cessation of life, but rather an inevitable transformation
without any discontinuity.
If Socrates and Plato had known what Christ was to teach five
hundred years later, and which Spiritism now spreads, they would
have said exactly the same things. However, there is nothing
surprising in this fact, if we consider that all great truths are
eternal and all advanced Spirits had to know them before they
came to Earth in order to be able to deliver them. We may
consider even further that Socrates and Plato, together with all the
other great philosophers of those great times, could have later been
among those chosen to uphold Christ in His Divine Mission, being
chosen precisely because they were more apt to understand His
48 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

sublime teachings. It also appears highly probable that today they

participate in the Host of Spirits charged with teaching humanity
these same truths.
12. Never return one injustice with another, nor harm anyone,
no matter what harm they may have done to us. Few, however,
will admit this principle and those who disagree will, beyond
doubt, do nothing but despise one another.
Is this not the principle of charity, which prescribes that we do
not return evil for evil and that we forgive our enemies?
13. We recognise the tree according to its fruit. Every action
should be qualified by what it produces: to qualify as evil when it
causes evil and as goodness when it produces something that is
good.
The maxim, “It is by the fruits that we know the tree,” is
repeated many times throughout The Gospel.
14. Riches are a great danger. People who love riches do not
love themselves nor what they possess; they love something that is
even more strange than that which they possess. (See Chap. 16.)
15. The most beautiful prayers and the most beautiful sacrifices
mean less to God than a virtuous soul who has struggled to be like
Him. It has been a grave error to think that the gods dispense
more attention to their offerings than to our souls. If that were the
case then the greatest culprits would become favoured. But no, it
is the truly just and upright who, by their words and deeds, fulfil
their duties to the gods and humanity. (See Chap. 10, items 7 & 8.)
16. We call the person who loves their body more than their
soul, depraved. Love is everywhere in Nature and it calls us to use
our intelligence; we even find it in the movements of the planets. It
is love that covers Nature with its richest carpet; it is a decoration
and makes its home where there are flowers and perfumes. It is
 INTRODUCTION 49

also love that gives peace to humanity, calms the seas, silences the
storm and gives sleep to pain.
It is Love that will unite humanity through a fraternal link that
is the consequence of Plato's theory on universal love, as a Law of
Nature. Socrates said, “Love is neither a god nor a mortal, but a
great devil,” that is to say a Great Spirit that presides over
universal love. This proposition was held against him like a crime.
17. Virtue cannot be taught, but comes as a gift from God to
those who possess it.
This is almost the Christian doctrine of grace; but if virtue is a
gift from God, then it is a favour and we may ask why it is not
conceded to all. On the other hand, if it is a gift then there is no
merit on the part of those who possess it. Spiritism is more explicit
in saying that those who possess a virtue have acquired it through
their own efforts during successive lives, by ridding themselves,
little by little, of their imperfections. Grace is a force that God
gives to a well-meaning man or woman so that he or she may
expunge their evilness and so be able to practice Goodness.
18. The natural disposition shown by all is to perceive our
defects far less than we see those of others.
The Gospel says, “You see the speck of sawdust that is in the
eye of your neighbour, but you do not see the plank that is in your
own eye.” (See Chap. 10, items 9 & 10.)
19. If doctors are unsuccessful in treating the majority of
ailments it is because they treat the body without treating the soul.
If the whole is not in good condition, then it is impossible that part
of it should be well.
Spiritism offers the key to the relationship that exists between
the soul and the body, so proving that one of them is constantly
reacting over the other. This idea opens up a new field of Science.
With the possibility of showing the real cause of certain ailments,
50 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

the way of curing them becomes easier. When Science takes into
account the spiritual element in the organism, then failures will be
much less frequent.
20. Right from infancy, humans commit far more evil than
good.
In this sentence, Socrates touches on the grave question of the
predominance of evil on Earth. This question is insoluble without
knowledge of the plurality of worlds and the destiny of our planet
Earth, inhabited as it is by only a fraction of Humanity. Only
Spiritism gives us a solution that is more fully explained in Chaps.
3, 4 & 5.
21. There is wisdom in not believing in that what you know not.
This is directed at those who offer criticism about matters that
are unknown to them, even in basic terms. Plato completes this
thought of Socrates by saying, “In first place, if it is possible, we
must make them more honest in their words; if they are not, we
shall not bother with them, and we shall seek nothing but the truth.
We shall do our best to instruct them, but shall not insult them.”
This is how Spiritism should proceed in relation to those who
contradict, whether in good or bad faith. If Plato were to reappear
today, he would find things almost as they were in his time and he
would be able to use the same words. Socrates would also meet
creatures that would jeer at his belief in spirits and would believe
him to be mad, together with his disciple Plato.
It was for having professed these principles that Socrates saw
himself ridiculed, accused of impiety and condemned to drink
hemlock. So assuredly, these great new truths, by calling up
against themselves interests and preconceptions that hurt, will not
be accepted without a fight or without making martyrs.
 THE GOSPEL
ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM
___________________________________________

CHAPTER 1
I HAVE NOT COME TO DESTROY THE LAW
The three revelations: Moses, Christ and Spiritism. - The Alliance of science
and religion. - INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: The New Era.

1. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets,

I am not come to destroy but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you,
Till heaven and earth pass, not one jot or one tittle, shall in no
wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (MATTHEW 5:17 &
18.)

MOSES
2. There are two distinct parts to the Mosaic Law: the Law of
God as promulgated on Mount Sinai and the civil or disciplinary
law decreed by Moses. The first is invariable; the other, being
appropriate to the customs and character of the people, modifies
itself with time.
52 CHAPTER 1

The Law of God is formulated on the following Ten

Commandments:7
I. - I am the Lord your God, which have brought you out of
the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall
have no other gods before me. You shall not make for
yourself any graven image, or any likeness of any thing
that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath,
nor that is in the waters under the earth. You shall not
bow down yourself to them, nor serve them.8
II. - You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in
vain.
III. - Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it Holy.
IV. - Honour your father and your mother, so that you may
live long in the land the Lord your God will give you.
V. - You shall not kill.
VI. - You shall not commit adultery.
VII. - You shall not steal.
VIII. - You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
IX. - You shall not covet your neighbour's wife.
X. - You shall not covet your neighbour's house, or his
manservant or maidservant, his ox, nor his donkey, or
anything that belongs to your neighbour.

7
All Bible extracts are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE as Authorised by King
James, published 2003, by Thomas Nelson, US. (Translator’s comment.)
8
Allan Kardec thought fit to quote only the first part of this verse (five). We would
therefore call attention to the great significance of this unquoted section that states that
the sins of the fathers will be visited upon the third and fourth generations according to
the original translations, and not the first and second generations as is stated in some
of the recent translations.
In fact, this was a veiled teaching of reincarnation. By the third or fourth
generation the sinner has had time to reincarnate yet again, which logically means that
the one who originally sinned will pay his or her own debts. This is far more in
keeping with God, Who is all loving and merciful, than the suggestion that He would
vent the sins of the fathers on the children who had nothing to do with the matter.
(Translator’s comment.)
 I HAVE NOT COME TO DESTROY THE LAW 53

This Law is for all times and all countries and because of this it
has a divine character. All other laws were decreed by Moses, who
found it necessary to restrain his people through fear due to their
turbulent and undisciplined nature, and to combat the abuses and
prejudices acquired by them during the period of slavery in Egypt.
To give authority to his laws, he had to give them a divine origin,
as did other legislators of primitive peoples. The authority for
Humankind needed to base itself on the authority of God. Only the
idea of a terrible God could impress ignorant peoples in whom the
sentiments of true justice and morality were very little developed.
It is evident that He, Who included amongst His commandments
‘You shall not commit murder or cause damage to your
neighbour’ could not then contradict Himself by making
extermination a duty. The Mosaic Laws themselves thus had an
essentially transitory character.

CHRIST
3. Jesus did not come to destroy the Law, that is to say God's
Law. He came to fulfil and develop it, to show its real meaning
and to adapt it to the degree of advancement of human beings at
that time. That is why we find within the Law the principle of our
duty to God and our fellow beings to be the base of His Teachings.
Regarding the laws devised by Moses, we find that he, on the
contrary, modified them profoundly, both in form and in
substance. While constantly combating the abuses of exterior
practices and false interpretations, he was unable to make the
people go through a more radical reform than that of reducing the
Law to the order: ‘Love God above all things and your neighbour
as yourself,’ adding ‘this is all the law and the prophets’.
By the words, ‘Heaven and Earth will not pass till everything is
fulfilled, even to the last jot,’ Jesus wished to say it was necessary
for God's Law to be completely implemented and practised over
54 CHAPTER 1

all the Earth in all its pureness, with all its amplifications and
consequences. In effect, what use would it have been to
promulgate the Law if it were only to benefit one nation or only a
few people? Humankind, being sons and daughters of God, is
without distinction and so subject to the same solicitude.
4. But the role of Jesus was not simply that of a moralist
legislator, merely offering His word as exclusive authority. It fell
to Him to complete the prophecies, which had announced His
advent, by means of the exceptional nature of His Spirit and His
divine mission. Jesus came to teach human beings that true life is
not the one lived here on Earth, but rather the life lived in Heaven.
He came to show the pathway to this Kingdom, how to be
reconciled with God and to present these facts as part of things to
come which would enable people to fulfil their destiny. However,
He did not explain everything, but limited Himself to offering only
the initial part of the truth on many subjects, saying that people as
yet could not understand the whole truth. Nevertheless, He talked
about all things in implied terms. In order for people to be able to
understand the hidden meaning of His words, it was necessary for
new ideas and knowledge to mature. Thus bringing the
indispensable key, as these things could not appear before the
human spirit had achieved a certain degree of maturity. Science
still had to play an important part in the emergence and
development of these ideas; therefore, it was necessary to give
time for Science to progress.

SPIRITISM
5. Spiritism is the new Science that has come to reveal to
humanity, by means of irrefutable proofs, the existence and nature
of the spiritual world and its relationship with the physical world.
It appears not as something supernatural, but on the contrary, as
one of the living and incessantly active forces of Nature. As the
 I HAVE NOT COME TO DESTROY THE LAW 55

source of an immense number of phenomena, which still today are

not fully understood, and because of this they are relegated to the
world of fantasy and miracles. Christ alluded to this situation on
several occasions and it is the reason why much of what He said
remained unintelligible or has been wrongly interpreted. Spiritism
offers the key by which all can easily be explained.
6. The law of the Old Testament was personified in Moses and
that of the New Testament in Christ. Spiritism is then the third
revelation of God's Law. However, no one personifies it because it
represents teaching given not by Humans, but by the spirits who
are the voices of Heaven, to all parts of the world through the co-
operation of innumerable intermediaries. In a manner of speaking,
it is a collective work formed by all the Spirits who bring
enlightenment to humanity by offering the means of understanding
their world and the destiny that awaits each individual on their
return to the spiritual world.
7. Just as Christ said, “I am not come to destroy the Law but to
fulfil it,” so Spiritism says, “We have not come to destroy the
Christian Law but to carry it out.” It teaches nothing contrary to
what Christ taught. Rather it develops it and explains it in a
manner that can be understood by everyone. It completes what had
previously been known only in its allegoric form. Spiritism has
come at the predicted time to fulfil what Christ announced and to
prepare for the achievement of future things. It is then, the work of
Christ Who, as He also announced, presides over the regeneration
that is now taking place that will prepare for the reign of the
Kingdom of God here on Earth.

THE ALLIANCE OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION

8. Science and religion are the two levers of human
intelligence; one revealing the laws of the material world, the
other revealing those of the moral world. Nevertheless, seeing that
56 CHAPTER 1

these laws have the same principle, which is God, they cannot
contradict themselves. If they contradict one another, it would
stand to reason that one was right and the other wrong. However,
God could not have intended the destruction of His own work.
Therefore, the incompatibility that apparently exists between these
two ideas proves that they have been incorrectly interpreted, due
to excessive exclusiveness on both sides. For this reason, we have
a conflict that has given rise to incredulity and intolerance.
We have now reached a phase upon this planet when the
teachings of Christ must be completed and the intentional veil cast
over some parts of these teachings lifted. A time when Science
must desist in its exclusive materialism, so taking into
consideration the spiritual element; when Religion must cease to
ignore the organic and immutable law of matter, so that both may
become two forces, each leaning on the other and advancing
together in mutual concourse. Then religion, no longer being able
to oppose the overwhelming logic of the facts and no longer
discredited by science, will acquire an unshakeable power because
it will be in agreement with reason.
Science and religion could not come together until this time as
they could only see matters according to their own exclusive
points of view, which in turn caused them to be reciprocally
repelled. Something more was needed to enable them to close the
gap that separated them, something which could unite them. This
missing link is contained in the knowledge of the laws that govern
the spiritual universe and its relationship with the world of matter.
These laws are as immutable as those that govern the movement of
the planets and the existence of all beings. Once this relationship
had been proven by experiments, a new light began to shine and
faith was directed towards reason. On encountering nothing
illogical in faith, then finally reasoning was able to defeat
materialism. However, as in many other matters, there are always
those who remain behind until the general wave of movement
 I HAVE NOT COME TO DESTROY THE LAW 57

towards progress drags them along. If they choose to resist instead

of accompanying this movement they will eventually be crushed.
So, after an elaboration that has lasted for more than eighteen
centuries, a moral revolution is now in progress, operated and
directed by Spirit, as Humanity reaches the climax of its present
potentialities and marches towards a New Era. It is easy to
forecast the consequences, which will cause inevitable changes in
social relations and be impossible to withstand, because they are
determined by God and derived from the Law of Progress that is
one of God’s Laws.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

THE NEW ERA

9. God is unique, and Moses was a Spirit whom He sent on a
mission to make known His presence, not only to the Hebrews but
also to the entire pagan world. The Hebrew peoples were God's
instrument to enable Him to manifest through Moses and the
prophets. The vicissitudes suffered by these peoples were meant to
attract their attention and so help disclose the existence of the
Divinity.
God's commandments, as revealed through Moses, contain the
essence of the most comprehensive Christian morality. However,
the biblical commentaries and annotations restrict their meaning,
because if they had been put into action in all their pureness they
would not have been understood. Nevertheless, these Ten
Commandments have become a brilliant frontispiece and a beacon
destined to light up the pathway which humanity must follow.
The morality taught by Moses was appropriate to the state of
advancement of the people he proposed to regenerate. These
people were semi-barbaric with respect to the perfecting of the
58 CHAPTER 1

soul and would not have understood that God could be worshipped
by other means than a holocaust, or that it is necessary to forgive
one's enemies. From the materialistic, scientific and artistic points
of view, their intelligence was remarkable, but they were morally
backward and would never have been converted by a wholly
spiritual religion. Therefore, it was necessary that they were
offered a semi-materialistic form of religion, as is presented in the
Hebrew faith. The holocausts spoke to their senses at the same
time that the idea of God touched their spirits.
Christ was the initiator of the most pure and sublime morality.
That is to say, the morality of the evangelical Christian will renew
the entire world by bringing together all human beings and turn
them into brothers and sisters. It will cause charity to blossom
forth in all hearts as well as love for one's neighbour, so
establishing a common solidarity between all peoples. Finally,
from this morality, which will transform the whole Earth, the
planet will become the home of Spirits far superior than those that
have inhabit it until now. This is the law of progress, that will be
accomplished and to which nature is submitted. Spiritism is the
lever that God is using to enable humanity to advance.
The time has come in which moral ideas must be developed to
bring about the progress determined by God. These ideas will
follow the same route as that taken by the ideas of liberty, its
predecessor. Do not think however, that these developments will
be effected without a fight. No, in order to reach maturity these
ideas will need discussion and conflicts so they may attract the
attention of the masses. Once achieved, the beauty and sanctity of
this morality will touch all spirits, who will in turn embrace a
science that will give them the key to a future life and open the
doors to eternal happiness. Moses showed humanity the way;
Jesus continued this work; Spiritism will finish it. - AN ISRAELITE
SPIRIT (Mulhouse, 1861).
 I HAVE NOT COME TO DESTROY THE LAW 59

10. Once, in His undying charity, God permitted humankind to

see the truth pierce the darkness. That day was the advent of
Christ. After the living Light had gone, the darkness returned;
having been given the alternatives of truth or obscurity the world
once again lost itself. Then, similar to the prophets of the Old
Testament, the Spirits began speaking and finally gave warning
that the world is trembling on its very foundations and thunder
will resound. Remain steady!
Spiritism is of a divine order as it is based upon the actual Laws
of Nature, and you may be certain that everything of a divine
nature has a great and useful objective. Your world was losing
itself yet again because science, developed at the cost of all that is
moral, was only inducing you to material well being, resulting in
benefit for the Spirits of darkness. Ah, eighteen centuries of blood
and martyrs, and still Christ's reign has not yet come! Christians,
return to the Teacher who wishes to save you! It is easy for those
who believe and who love. Love fills us with indescribable
happiness. Yes, my children, the world is shaking as the Good
Spirits have repeatedly warned. Bend with the wind that
announces the storm, so that you will not be thrown down. That is
to say, prepare yourselves so as not to be like the foolish virgins
who were taken by surprise at the arrival of their husbands!
The revolution that prepares itself is more moral than material.
The Great Spirits, who are divine messengers, instil faith amongst
you so that all who are enlightened and zealous workers may make
their humble voices heard, seeing that all humanity are like grains
of sand, without which there would be no mountains. Thus the
words ‘we are so small' lack significance. To each one their
mission, to each their work. Does not the ant build its republic,
and other imperceptible animals raise continents? The new crusade
has begun! Apostles, not of war, but of universal peace, modern
Saint Bernards, look ahead and march forward! The law of the
worlds is a law of progress. - FÉNELON (Poitiers, 1861).
60 CHAPTER 1

11. Saint Augustine is one of the greatest propagators of

Spiritism. He has manifested himself in almost every part. The
reason for this is found in the life story of this great Christian
philosopher. He belongs to a vigorous phalanx known as Fathers
of the Church, to whom Christianity owes its most solid bases.
Like many others, he was uprooted from Paganism, or rather from
the most profound godlessness, by the splendour of truth. When
suddenly, in the midst of dissipations, he felt a strange vibration in
his soul that called him to himself; and made him understand that
happiness was not to be found in debilitating and escapist
pleasures. Finally, he too had a similar experience to Paul, who
heard saintly voices calling to him on the road to Damascus saying
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” When Saint Augustine
heard his voices, he exclaimed “Dear God! Dear God! Forgive
me! I believe; I am a Christian!” From this moment on, he
became one of the greatest supporters of the Gospel. You may
read the notable confessions left by this eminent Spirit, the
characteristic and prophetic words he uttered after the death of
Saint Monica, “I am convinced that my mother will visit me and
give me advice, revealing to me what awaits us in the future life.”
What great teaching in these words! What resounding foresight of
the teachings that was to come! This is the reason why today,
seeing that the time has come to spread the truth as he predicted,
he has become its ardent disseminator and as it were, multiplied
himself in order to be able to reply to all who call him. - ERASTUS,
disciple of Saint Paul (Paris 1863).
NOTE: Would it be possible for Saint Augustine to demolish
what he himself had built? Surely not, but, just as many others
before him, he now sees with the eyes of spirit what he could not
see while he was a man. In freedom, his soul sees new brightness
and understands what previously had been impossible to
understand. New ideas have revealed to him the true meaning of
certain words. On Earth, he judged things according to the
 I HAVE NOT COME TO DESTROY THE LAW 61

knowledge he possessed at that time. However, ever since he saw

the new light he could appreciate those words more judiciously.
Thus, he had to revise his beliefs regarding incubus and succubus
spirits, as well as the condemnation that he had launched against
the theory of the antipodes. Now that he can see Christianity in its
true light and in all its pureness, it is acceptable that on some
points he thinks differently from when he was alive, which in no
way prohibits him from continuing to be a Christian apostle. He
may even establish himself as a disseminator of Spiritism without
renouncing his faith, because he has seen that which had been
forecast come to pass. Therefore, by proclaiming these Teachings
today, he only leads us towards a more correct and logical
interpretation of the texts. The same also occurs with other Spirits
who find themselves in a similar position.
 CHAPTER 2

MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD

The future life. - The kingship of Jesus. - A point of view. -
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: An earthy kingship.

1. Then Pilate entered into the judgement hall again, and called
Jesus, and said to him, Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus
answered, My Kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were
of this world, then would my servant's fight, that I should not be
delivered to the Jews: but now my kingdom is not here.”
Then Pilate said, “So you are king!” Jesus answered, “You say
that I am king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I
came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of
truth listens to me. (JOHN, 18:33, 36 & 37.)

THE FUTURE LIFE

2. With these words, Jesus clearly refers to a future life, which
He presents in all circumstances as the goal to be reached by
Humanity and which should be our greatest preoccupation here on
Earth. All of his maxims refer to this great principle. Indeed,
without a future life, there would be no reason to have the majority
of these moral precepts. This is why those who do not believe in a
future life cannot understand, or think the matter foolish because
they imagine that Jesus was only speaking of the present life.
This dogma can be considered as the basis of Christ’s teaching,
the central pivot. Therefore, it has been placed as the first item in
this work. It must be the point to be most closely looked at, as it is
the only one that justifies the anomalies and irregularities of
earthly life and shows itself to be in accordance with the justice of
God.
 MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD 63

3. The Jews had only very vague ideas regarding a future life.
They believed in angels, whom they considered privileged beings
of the creation; they did not know, however, that men and women
could one day become angels and so participate in the same
happiness. According to them, the observance of God's Law would
bring worldly recompense, the supremacy of their nation, and
victory over their enemies. The public calamities and downfalls
were a punishment for disobedience to these laws. Moses could
say no more than this to those who were mostly shepherds or
ignorant people who needed to be touched, before anything else,
by worldly things. Later, Jesus revealed that there exists another
world where God's justice follows its course. He promises this
world to all those who obey the commandments of God and where
those who are Good find recompense. This is His kingdom, where
He will be found in all His glory and to which He returned when
He left Earth.
However, when adapting His teachings to the conditions of
humanity at that time, Jesus did not consider it convenient to give
them all the truth. For He saw they would only be dazzled by it
and unable to understand, so He limited Himself, in a manner of
speaking, to the presentation of a future life as a principle, as a
Natural Law whose action no one could escape. Therefore, every
Christian firmly believes in a future life. However, the idea that
many people hold is still vague, incomplete, and because of this,
quite false on various points. For the majority of people, it is
nothing more than a belief, void of absolute certainty, so this is
why there are doubts and even incredulity.
Spiritism has come to complete this point, as well as many
others touched on by the teachings of Christ, now that human
beings are sufficiently mature as to be able to learn the truth. With
Spiritism, a future life is no longer an article of faith, a mere
hypothesis. It becomes a material reality, as facts demonstrate,
because those who have described it to us have all been
64 CHAPTER 2

eyewitnesses. So not only is doubt no longer possible but also

anyone of whatever intelligence is able to get an idea of its many
varied aspects; in the same way that we can imagine what a
country we have never visited is like by reading a detailed
description of it. This description of the future life is
circumstantiated to such an extent and the conditions of existence
for those who reside there, be they happy or unhappy, are so
rational that we are bound to agree that it could not be otherwise.
It patently represents the true justice of God.

THE KINGSHIP OF JESUS

4. We can all recognize that the Kingdom of Jesus is not of this
world, but could He not also have a kingdom on Earth? The title
of 'King' does not always imply temporary authority. We give this
title by unanimous consent to anyone who rises to the highest level
of whatever idea dominates the times and influences human
progress. In this way, we frequently use the expression of 'king' or
'prince' for philosophers, artists, poets, writers, etc. In many cases,
this kind of royalty, coming from personal merit or having been
consecrated by posterity, reveals supremacy far greater than that
circling a royal crown. The first is but a toy of the vicissitudes,
whereas the second is imperishable. The generations that follow
the first sometimes have cause to curse, whereas those who follow
the second always bless themselves. The earthly one extinguishes
with life; but the sovereignty of morality continues and maintains
its reign, ruling above all after death. From this aspect then, is not
Jesus a mightier and more powerful King than all the sovereigns
of the Earth? It was with good reason that He said to Pilate: “I am
a King, but my Kingdom is not of this world”.
 MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD 65

A POINT OF VIEW
5. The clear and precise idea that can be formed of a future life
provides an unshakable faith in what is to come. This faith places
enormous consequences upon the moralization of humans because
it completely changes the point of view as to how life on Earth is
regarded. For those who place themselves by means of thought in
the spiritual life, which is undefined, bodily life becomes a mere
temporary stay in an ungrateful country. The vicissitudes and
tribulations of this life become nothing more than incidents, which
can be supported with patience, as they are known to be of short
duration and will be followed by a more amenable state. Death no
longer has terror attached to it; it ceases to be a door opening on to
nothingness and becomes a door that opens to liberation, through
which the exile enters into a well-blessed mansion, and there finds
peace. Knowing that the place where we find ourselves now is
only temporary, and not definite, makes us pay less attention to the
preoccupations of life, resulting in less bitterness and a more
peaceful state of mind.
Simply by doubting the existence of a future life, people direct
all their thoughts to earthly existence. Without any certainty of
what is to come, they give everything to the present. With the
mistaken idea that there is nothing more precious than earthly
things, they behave as a child who can see only its toys and is
prepared to go to any length to obtain the only possessions they
judge to be solid. The loss of even the least of these causes
pungent hurt, be it a mistake, a deception, an unsatisfied ambition,
an injustice to which the person has fallen victim, hurt pride or
vanity just to name a few. These are some of the torments that turn
existence into an eternal agony. So in this manner causing self-
inflicted torture at every step. From the point of view of earthly
life, in whose centre we place ourselves, everything around us
begins to assume vast proportions. The harm that reaches us, as
66 CHAPTER 2

well as the good that touches others, takes on a great importance in

our eyes. It is like the person who, when in the middle of a great
city sees everything on a large scale, but who, when looking down
from a mountain top sees things in only minute form.
This is what happens when we look at life from the point of
view of a future existence. Humanity, just as the stars in space,
loses itself in the great immensity. We begin to see that great and
small things are confounded, like ants on top of an anthill; that
proletarians and potentates are of the same stature. We lament that
so many short-lived creatures give themselves over to so much
labour in order to conquer a place that will do so little to elevate
them, and which they will occupy for so short a space of time.
From this, it follows that the value given to earthly things is
completely in reverse to that which comes from a firm belief in a
future life.
6. If everybody thought in that manner, it could be argued that
everything on Earth would be endangered, because no one would
bother about anything. However, each person instinctively looks
after their own well-being; even if it were known it was only for a
short time people would still do their best. There is no one who,
when finding a thorn in their hand, will not take it out so as not to
suffer. Well then, the desire for comfort forces people to improve
all things, seeing that we are impelled by the instinct of progress
and conservation that are elements of the Laws of Nature.
Therefore, humanity labours not only through necessity, but also
from enjoyment and a sense of duty, so obeying the designs of
Providence that has placed humans on Earth for that purpose. Only
those who occupy themselves with the future can give relative
importance to the present. These people are easily consoled in all
of their failings and misfortunes by thinking of the destiny that
waits.
 MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD 67

Accordingly, God does not condemn all earthly pleasures and

possessions, but only condemns the abuse of these things in
detriment to the soul. All those who take these words of Jesus for
themselves “My Kingdom is not of this world” are guarding
against these abuses.
Those who identify themselves with a future life are as a rich
person who loses a small sum without emotion. Those whose
thoughts are concentrated on earthly things are as the poor man
who loses all he has and so becomes desperate.
7. Spiritism opens up and broadens out the thought process,
offering new horizons. In place of a short-sighted vision
concentrated only on the present, it makes this fleeting moment
passed on Earth the unique and fragile axis of our eternal future.
Spiritism shows us that this life is nothing more than a link in the
magnificently harmonious assembly that is God's work. It also
shows us the solidarity that joins together all the different
existences of one being, of all beings of the same world and all the
beings of all the worlds. It offers the base and the reason for
universal fraternity, whereas the teaching of the creation of the
soul at the birth of the body makes each creature a stranger one to
the other. This solidarity between parts of a whole explains what is
inexplicable when only one of these parts is considered. This
entirety would not have been possible to understand at the time of
Christ, and for this reason, He waited until later to make this
knowledge known.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

AN EARTHLY KINGSHIP
8. Who better than I to understand the truth of these words of
Our Lord, “My Kingdom is not of this world”? When on Earth, I
68 CHAPTER 2

lost myself through pride. Who then can understand the total lack
of value of an earthly kingdom better than I? What was I able to
bring with me of my earthly regality? Nothing! Absolutely
nothing! Moreover, as if to make my lesson more terrible, it did
not even accompany me to my tomb! A queen amongst men, I
thought to enter Heaven as a queen. What a disillusion! What a
humiliation when, instead of being received as a sovereign, I saw
above me, a long way above me, those whom I had judged
insignificant and had despised because they were not of noble
blood. Oh! How I understand now the barrenness of honours and
splendour so eagerly courted on Earth!
In order to win a place in this kingdom, it is necessary to show
abnegation, humility, benevolence and charity in all its most
celestial forms. They do not ask who you are, or what position you
occupied. Instead, they ask what good you have done, how many
tears you dried.
Oh Jesus! You said that Your Kingdom was not of this world
because it is necessary to suffer in order to reach Heaven, and one
cannot reach there by means of the steps to a throne. Only the
most painful paths lead to it. Seek your path then, through briars
and thorns and not amongst the flowers.
Men and women hurry back and forth with the hope of
acquiring earthly possessions as if they would be able to keep
them forever. Here, however, illusions disappear and it is soon
perceived that they had only been chasing shadows. Then it
becomes apparent that the only truly golden possessions, the only
ones that can be made use of in their heavenly home, the only ones
that can offer the possibility of entry, have been despised.
Have pity on those who have not entered into Heaven. Help
them with your prayers, because prayer helps to bring all souls
closer to the Most High; it is what links Heaven and Earth. Do not
forget! - A QUEEN OF FRANCE (Havre, 1863).
 CHAPTER 3

IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE
ARE MANY MANSIONS
The different states of the soul in its spiritual wanderings. - The different
categories of inhabited worlds. - Earth's destiny. - The cause of human
miseries. - INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: Superior and inferior worlds. -
Worlds of tests and atonement. - Regenerating worlds. - The progression of the
worlds.

1. “Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe

also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: If it were
not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for
you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,
and receive you unto myself: that where I am, you may be also.”
(JOHN, 14:1 - 3).

THE DIFFERENT STATES OF THE SOUL IN ITS

SPIRITUAL WANDERINGS
2. The house of the Father is the Universe. The ‘different
mansions’ are the worlds that circulate in infinite space and offer
the spirits who incarnate on them dwelling places corresponding to
their progress.
Apart from the diversity of the different worlds, the words of
Jesus also refer to the fortunate or wretched states of the soul in
the spiritual world. Conforming to whether the soul is more or less
purified and detached from material ties, the ambient in which it
finds itself will vary infinitely in the aspects of things, in the
sensations it feels and in the perceptions it has. While some cannot
leave the ambient where they live, others raise themselves and
travel to other worlds and all over space. While some guilty spirits
70 CHAPTER 3

wander in darkness, there are others who have earned happiness,

and these rejoice in a state of shining brightness, while they
contemplate the sublime spectacle of the great infinity. Finally,
while inferior spirits are tormented by remorse and grief,
frequently isolated without consolation, separated from those who
were the object of their affections and punished by the iron
gauntlet of moral suffering, the just Spirits, together with their
loved ones, enjoy the delights of an indescribable happiness. Also
in that sense, there are many mansions, although they are not
circumscribed or localized.

THE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF INHABITED

WORLDS
3. As a result of teachings from the Spirits, we know that the
conditions of the various worlds differ one from the other with
respect to the degree of elevation or inferiority of their inhabitants.
Amongst these are those inferior to the inhabitants of Earth, both
physically and morally. Then there are some in the same category
and yet others which are more or less superior in every aspect. In
the inferior worlds, existence is all material, passions are
sovereign and morality is almost nil. As souls progress, material
influences diminish to such an extent that in the elevated worlds,
life is by way of saying, all spiritual.
4. On intermediate worlds, good is mixed with evil, one or the
other predominating, according to the degree of advancement of
the majority of the inhabitants in any one locality. Although it is
not possible to make an absolute classification of all the different
worlds, we can at least divide them in general terms by virtue of
the state in which they are in and the destiny they bring with them.
Based on the most predominant features upon each planet, we may
surmise them in a general manner: primitive worlds, destined to
receive the initial incarnations of human souls; worlds of tests and
 IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS 71

atonements, where evil predominates; regenerating worlds, where

souls who still have to atone may absorb new strength by resting
from the fatigue of fighting; happy worlds, where goodness
outweighs evil; celestial or divine worlds the home of purified
spirits, where goodness reigns exclusively. The Earth belongs to
the category of worlds of tests and atonements, being the reason
why humanity lives exposed to so many miseries.
5. Spirits who find themselves incarnated in any world are not
bound to that same world indefinitely, nor do they go through all
the phases of progress needed to achieve perfection in that one
world. When, in one world, they reach the maximum degree of
advancement that world has to offer, they then pass on to a more
elevated one, and so on successively until they reach the state of
purified Spirits. These different worlds are stations where in each
one they find elements for progress they need, in accordance with
their degree of perfection. For the spirits it is a recompense to
ascend to a world of higher elevation, just as it is a punishment to
prolong their stay in a miserable world or to be relegated to
another even unhappier than the one they were forced to leave, due
to persisting in evil.

EARTH'S DESTINY.
THE CAUSE OF HUMAN MISERIES
6. Many are surprised that on Earth there is so much evil, so
many crude passions, so many miseries and every kind of
sickness. From this, they conclude, the human species is a very
miserable one. This judgment comes from the very narrow point
of view of those who emit it, which gives a false idea of the
whole. We must consider, however, that in fact the entirety of
Humanity is not all on Earth, but only a small fraction of the total.
In effect, the human species covers all endowed with a capacity
for reasoning that inhabit the innumerable orbs of the Universe.
72 CHAPTER 3

What then is the mere population of the Earth when compared

with the total population of all the worlds? Much less than that of
a very small village compared to a great empire. The material and
moral situations of terrestrial Humanity are not surprising when
we take into consideration the destiny of the Earth and the nature
of its inhabitants.
7. It would be a great mistake to judge all the inhabitants of a
city by those who inhabit the lowest and most sordid places. In a
hospital we see none but the sick and mutilated; in a prison, we
find gathered together all kinds of vileness, baseness and many
vices; in unhealthy regions, the inhabitants are, for the most part,
pale, puny and sickly. Well then, picture the Earth as a
combination of a suburb, a hospital and an unhealthy place,
because it is all of these put together. Then it can be understood
why afflictions outweigh pleasures, for we do not send those who
are healthy to a hospital, nor do we throw those who have
practised no wrong into houses of correction.
Neither can hospitals and houses of correction be places of
delight. Therefore, in the same way that the total population of a
city is not found in its hospitals and prisons, neither do we find the
entirety of population here on Earth. Just as the sick leave hospital
when they are cured and those who have served their term leave
prison, when a person is cured of all their moral infirmities they
will also leave the Earth environment to go to happier worlds.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

SUPERIOR AND INFERIOR WORLDS

8. In qualifying inferior and superior worlds, there is nothing
absolute. A world is relatively inferior or superior only in relation
 IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS 73

to those other worlds, which may be above or below it on the scale

of progression.
In taking the Earth as a comparison, we may get an idea of what
an inferior world is like by supposing its inhabitants to be similar
to the primitive races or members of the barbaric nations.
Examples are still found amongst us today, these being the
remnants of the primitive state of this planet. In the most
backward worlds, the inhabitants are, to a certain extent,
rudimentary creatures, having human form but devoid of all
beauty. Their instincts have not yet softened to any sentiment of
delicacy or benevolence, nor have they acquired any notions of
justice or injustice. Brute force is the only known law. Without
either industry or inventions, they pass their time in the conquest
of food. However, God does not abandon even one of His
creatures; at the bottom of the darkest intelligence lurks a seed,
sometimes more, sometimes less developed, of a vague intuition
of a Supreme Being. This instinct is enough to make them superior
one from another and to prepare their ascension to a more
complete life. They are not degraded beings, but children who are
growing. Between inferior and elevated levels are innumerable
others. From the pure Spirits, dematerialized and brilliant with
glory, it is impossible to recognize the primitive beings they once
were; just as from the adult, it is difficult to recognize the embryo.
9. In worlds that have reached a superior level, the moral and
material state is very different from that existing on Earth. As
everywhere, the form is always human, but it is more beautiful,
more perfected and above all else, purified. The body possesses
nothing of earthly materiality and consequently is not subject to
the same necessities, sicknesses or deteriorations, which the
predominance of matter provokes. Due to the higher refinements,
the senses are able to capture perceptions that the gross matter of
this world obstructs. The specific lightness of body permits rapid
and easy locomotion. Instead of dragging painfully over the
74 CHAPTER 3

ground the body floats, as it were, above the surface or glides

through the air with no effort apart from that of desire; just as the
angels are depicted as doing, or as the manes on the Elysian fields.
According to their wishes, humans keep the features of their past
migrations and show themselves to their friends as they had
known them, but illuminated by a divine light, transfigured by
interior impressions that are always of an elevated nature. In place
of countenances discoloured and dejected by suffering and
passions, life and intelligence now sparkle with a splendour that
painters have shown through the halo or aureole of the Saints.
Very advanced Spirits suffer only slight resistance to matter,
thus allowing body development to be extremely rapid, making
infancy short and almost non-existent. With the absence of worry
and anguish, life is proportionally longer than on Earth. In
principle, longevity is in proportion to the degree of advancement
of each world. Death in no way conveys any horror of
decomposition. Far from causing terror, it is considered a happy
transformation because there is no doubt as to the future. During
life, the soul, being no longer constricted by compact matter,
expands itself and delights in a lucidity that places it in an almost
constant state of emancipation, allowing completely free
transmission of thought.
10. In blissful worlds relationships between peoples and
individuals are always friendly, never perturbed by ambition to
enslave their neighbour or make war. There are neither masters
nor slaves and none privileged by birth, only moral and
intellectual superiority, establishing all conditions and ultimately
giving supremacy. Authority receives and deserves the respect of
everyone, being given only to those who merit it and thus always
exercised with justice. People do not try to elevate themselves
above one another, but only above themselves by striving for
perfection. Their objective is to ascend to the category of Pure
Spirits. This desire is never a torment but rather a noble ambition
 IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS 75

that induces the person to study ardently in order to become an

equal. In these worlds, all the delicate and elevated sentiments of
human nature find themselves exalted and purified. Hate is
unknown, as are petty jealousies and the covetousness of envy.
The ties of love and unity bind all humanity together so that the
strong help the weak. Through a greater or lesser degree of
intelligence, humanity acquires possessions of a smaller or larger
quantity. However, nobody suffers from want, as no one needs to
make atonement. In short, evil does not exist in these worlds.
11. Evil is still needed on your world in order to make goodness
felt; night in order to be able to admire light; sickness to be able to
appreciate health. In those other worlds, there is no need for these
contrasts. Eternal light, eternal beauty and eternal serenity of the
soul offer proportional eternal happiness, free from the
perturbations caused by the anguish of material life and the
contact with evil, which finds no access into these realms. These
are the things that human spirits find most difficulty in
understanding. Humanity has been sufficiently ingenious as to
paint the torments of hell, but could never imagine the glories of
Heaven. Why not? Because, being inferior, only pain and misery
have been known and the celestial brightness has never been seen,
so one cannot speak of that which is unknown. However,
according as to humanity is raising itself up and cleansing its soul,
horizons are expanding and people begin to compare the goodness
that is in front of them, as well as the evil that lies behind them.
12. Meanwhile, the happy worlds are not privileged orbs, as
God is not partial to any one of His children. To each one He gives
the same rights and the same opportunities wherein to reach these
worlds. He makes each one start at the same point and gives no
one more than another. Even the highest categories are accessible
to all. It only depends on the individual to conquer their place in
them by means of work, so reaching it more quickly or remaining
76 CHAPTER 3

inactive for centuries and centuries in the quagmire of humanity.

(This is a summary of the teachings of all the Superior Spirits.)

WORLDS OF TESTS AND ATONEMENT

13. What more is there to say about worlds of atonement that
you do not already know, since you have only to look at the one in
which you live? The great number of superior intelligences
amongst your inhabitants indicates that the Earth is not a primitive
world, destined to receive beings that have recently left the hand
of the Creator. The innate qualities that they bring with them
constitute proof of their having already lived and achieved a
certain degree of progress. However, the number of vices to which
they are subject also shows their great moral imperfections. This is
why God has placed them in an ungrateful world, in which they
can make atonement through hard work and suffer the miseries of
life until they deserve to ascend to happier planets.
14. Nevertheless, not all the spirits that have incarnated on
Earth came to atone. The races that are called savage were formed
from spirits who had only just left their infancy, and who found
themselves, as it were, on an educational course for development
through contact with more advanced Spirits. Later came the semi-
civilized races, made up of the same spirits as they travelled along
their paths to progress. In general, these are the indigenous races
on Earth, who will raise themselves little by little through the
centuries, some of whom have already managed to reach an
intelligent state equal to those who are more enlightened.
The Spirits who are in atonement are, if we may use the term,
the exotic ones of the Earth. They have already lived in other
worlds where they were excluded for persisting in wickedness, or
for having been the cause of perturbation to the good people in
those worlds. Therefore, they had to be exiled for a time to an
ambient of spirits that are more backward. Thus receiving the
 IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS 77

mission of helping them to advance as they bring with them a

more developed intelligence and the germs of the knowledge they
have acquired. This then is how spirits under punishment are
found amongst the most intelligent races, and why the misfortunes
of life seem so very bitter to them. This is because they have a
greater degree of sensitivity and so are more highly tested by
contrarieties and sorrows than the primitive races, whose moral
sense is still obtuse.
15. Consequently, the Earth offers an example of a world of
atonement and although the variety is infinite, they all have one
thing in common: they all serve as places of exile for those spirits
who rebel against the Law of God. This means that these spirits
have at the same time to fight against the perversity of humankind
and the inclemency of nature that is doubly arduous, but which
will develop the qualities of heart and intelligence simultaneously.
God then, in all His goodness, allows punishment to become
something that will benefit the spirit’s progress. - SAINT
AUGUSTINE (Paris, 1862.)

REGENERATING WORLDS
16. Among the many scintillating stars in the blue canopy of the
sky, there are many worlds like yours, destined by God to serve as
atonement and probation! Nevertheless, although there are some
that are more miserable, there are also others that are happier, like
those of transition, which can be called worlds of regeneration.
Each planetary vortex, moving in space around a common centre,
drags with it its own primitive worlds of exile, probation,
regeneration and happiness. We have spoken to you of worlds
where newly born spirits are placed when they are still ignorant of
both good and evil, but where they have the possibility of
travelling towards God, being in possession of themselves through
free will. We have also revealed to you the fact that ample
78 CHAPTER 3

faculties are given to each soul to enable it to practice the Good.

But alas, there are those who succumb! So then God, Who does
not desire their annihilation, permits that they go to these worlds
where from one incarnation to another they are purified and
regenerated, returning worthy of the glory for which they were
destined.
17. Regenerating worlds serve as transition phases between
those of probation and happiness. The penitent soul rests on them,
finds calm and continues the purifying process. Beyond doubt,
human beings still find themselves subject to the laws that rule
matter; Humanity still experiences sensations and desires, but is
liberated from the ungoverned passions to which you have become
enslaved. They no longer have the pride that silences the heart, the
envy that tortures or the hate that suffocates. The word 'love' is
written on every brow. Perfect equity governs all social
relationships; everyone recognizes God and tries to travel towards
Him, by fulfilling His laws.
However, perfect happiness still does not exist in these worlds,
only the dawning of happiness. Human beings are still made of
flesh and blood and because of this, are subject to vicissitudes
from which only the completely dematerialized beings are
liberated. There are still tests to suffer, although without the
pungent anguish of atonement. Compared to the Earth, these
worlds are very pleasant and many of you would be happy to
inhabit them, because they represent the calm after the storm,
convalescence after cruel sickness. Therefore, being less absorbed
by material things, humans there perceive the future better. They
comprehend the existence of other pleasures, promised by God to
those who show themselves worthy when death has once again
released them from their bodies, in order to bestow upon them the
true life. It is then that, being free, the soul hovers above all the
horizons; no longer the feelings of gross matter, only the sensation
of a pure and celestial perispirit absorbing emanations direct from
 IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS 79

God, in the fragrance of love and charity coming straight from His
breast.
18. But alas! Humanity is still fallible even in these worlds; the
spirit of evil has not completely lost its empire. Not to advance is
to fall back, so if humanity is not firmly placed along the pathway
to righteousness they may return yet again to a world of
atonement, where new and more terrible tests await. So at night, at
the time of prayer and repose, contemplate the full canopy of the
sky and the innumerable spheres that shine over your head. Ask
yourself which ones lead to God and ask Him for one of these
regenerating worlds to open to receive you after your atonement
here on Earth. - SAINT AUGUSTINE (Paris, 1862.)

THE PROGRESSION OF THE WORLDS

19. Progress is a law of nature. All beings of creation animated
or not, have been submitted to this Law through the bounty of
God, Who wishes everything to be exalted and to prosper. Even
actual destruction that appears to be the end of everything, is only
a means of reaching a more perfected state through transformation,
seeing that everything dies only to be reborn again, suffering no
consequence from the annihilation.
At the same time as living beings progress morally, so the
worlds in which they live progress materially. If we were to
accompany a world during its different phases, from the first
instant the atoms destined to its construction began to
agglomerate, we would see it travelling along on a constantly
progressive scale. Although these steps would be imperceptible to
each generation, it would offer its inhabitants a more agreeable
home as the generations pass, according to the manner by which
they themselves advance along their pathway to progress.
Therefore, we find that together with humans, the animals that are
their helpers, the vegetables and the habitations, are all constantly
80 CHAPTER 3

marching along because nothing in Nature remains stationary.

How glorious this idea is and so worthy of the grandeur of the
Creator! It would be paltry and unworthy of His power if, on the
contrary, He concentrated His solicitude and Providence on an
insignificant grain of sand, which is this planet, so restricting
humankind to the few people who inhabit it!
According to this Law, Earth has been in a materially and
morally inferior position to that which it finds itself in today and it
will lift itself up in both these aspects in order to reach a more
elevated degree in the future. The time has now been reached for
one of these periodic transformations, which will move the Earth
upward from a world of atonement to that of a regenerating planet
where humanity will be happy because God's laws will reign. -
SAINT AUGUSTINE (Paris, 1862.)
 CHAPTER 4

NO ONE CAN REACH GOD’S KINGDOM IF

THEY ARE NOT BORN AGAIN
Resurrection and reincarnation. - Reincarnation strengthens family ties,
whereas a single life would destroy them. - INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS:
Limits of incarnations. - The need for incarnation.

1. When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He

asked His disciples saying, whom do men say that I the Son of
Man am? And they said, some say that you are John the Baptist;
some, Elijah; and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He
said to them, but whom do you say I am? And Simon Peter
answered and said, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said to him blessed are you, Simon
Barjona: for the flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but my
Father which is in Heaven! (MATTHEW, 16:13-17; MARK, 8:27-
30)
2. And king Herod heard of him, (for his name was spread
abroad) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the
dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in
him. Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a
prophet, or as one of the prophets. And Herod said, John have I
beheaded; but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he
desired to see Him. (MARK, 6:14-15; LUKE, 9:7-9)
3. (After the transfiguration) And His disciples asked Him, saying,
why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come? And Jesus
answered and said to them, Elijah truly shall first come, and
restore all things. But I say to you, that Elijah is come already,
and they knew him not, but have done to him whatsoever they
wished. Likewise shall also the Son of Man suffer of them. Then
the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the Baptist.
(MATTHEW, 17:10-13; MARK, 9:11-13.)
82 CHAPTER 4

RESURRECTION AND REINCARNATION

4. Reincarnation was part of the Jewish dogmas that were
taught under the name of resurrection. Only the Sadducees, who
believed that everything ended with death, did not accept this idea.
Jewish ideas on this point, as on many others, were not clearly
defined because they had only vague and incomplete notions with
regard to the soul and its connection with the body. They believed
that people could live again without knowing exactly the manner
by which this could happen. They used the name resurrection for
what Spiritism more correctly calls reincarnation. Effectively
resurrection presupposes a return to the same physical body,
whereas science demonstrates that this is materially impossible;
especially when that same body has decomposed and long since
been dispersed and reabsorbed. Reincarnation is the return of a
soul, or spirit, to physical life in another body which has been
newly formed for it, and which has nothing to do with the previous
one. The word 'resurrection' can be applied to Lazarus but not to
Elias, or to the other prophets. If, according to their belief, John
the Baptist was Elias, then the body of John could not have been
the body of Elias because John was seen as a child and his parents
were known. John then could be Elias reincarnated but not
resurrected.
5. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of
the Jews; The same came to Jesus at night, and said to him,
“Rabbi, we know you are a teacher come from God: for no-one
can do these miracles you are doing except God be with him.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Verily, verily, I say to you
except a person be born again, they cannot see the Kingdom of
God.”
Nicodemus said to him, “How can a person be born when they are
old? Can they enter a second time into their mother’s womb and
be born?”
 YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN 83

Jesus answered, “Verily, verily, I say to you, Except a person be

born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom
of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said to you that you
must be born again. The wind blows wherever it pleases and you
hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell where it comes from or
where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemos answered and said to him, “How can these things
be?” - Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you a master of
Israel and do not know these things? Verily, verily, I say to you,
We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and you
receive not our witness. I have told you earthly things, and you
believe not; how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly
things?” (JOHN, 3:1-12).
6. The idea that John had been Elias and that the prophets could
relive again on Earth is found in many passages of the New
Testament, but is most notably quoted in the above extract. (See
verses 1, 2, & 3.) If this were an erroneous belief, Jesus would
have combated it as He did many others. But according to this, He
gave it complete sanction and authority by making it a basic
principle and a necessary condition when He said “No one may
reach the Kingdom of God if he is not born again.” Further
insisting when He added “Do not be surprised when I say it is
necessary to be reborn.”
7. The words, “If a person is not born again of water and of
Spirit,” have been interpreted in the sense of regeneration by
means of the water of Baptism. However, in the original text it
was said simply: “not born of water and of spirit,” whereas in
some translations the words “of spirit” have been substituted by
“Holy Spirit,”9 which does not correspond to the original meaning.

9
The translation by Osterwald is according to the original text. It says: NOT BORN
OF THE WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT. That of Sacy says: OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, and that of
Lamennais: OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
84 CHAPTER 4

This capital point stands out from the first comments that the
Gospels raised and will one day be confirmed beyond all possible
doubt.
8. To enable the real meaning of these words to be reached it is
also necessary to pay attention to the significance of the word
water, which is not used here in its usual sense.
The knowledge of physics was imperfect in ancient times when
it was believed that the Earth had risen out of the water. Therefore,
water was considered to be the exclusive primitive generating
substance. This is why we read in the book of Genesis, “The Spirit
of God moved upon the face of the waters; it floated above the
waters; - Let there be firmament in the midst of the waters; - Let
the waters under the heaven be gathered together into one place,
and let the dry land appear; - Let the waters bring forth abundantly
the moving creatures that have life, and fowl that may fly over the
Earth and under the firmament.”
According then to this belief, water represented the nature of
matter, just as the spirit represented the nature of intelligence. The
words: “If a person is not reborn of the waters and of the Spirit, or
in water and in Spirit,” thus signify, “if a person is not born with
their body and their soul.” These words were originally
understood in this manner.
This interpretation is wholly justified by these other words,
“What is born of the flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is
spirit.” Here Jesus established a clear distinction between body
and spirit. “What is born of the flesh” clearly indicates that only
the body generates from the body and that the spirit is
independent.
9. The words, “The wind blows wherever it pleases and you
hear the sound it makes, but you cannot tell where it comes from
or where it is going.” are referring to the Spirit of God, who gives
 YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN 85

life to whom He wishes, or rather to the soul of a person. The

words “you know not where it comes from or where it goes,”
signifies that we do not know who the spirit had been previously
or who it will be in the future. If the spirit or soul were created at
the same time as the body, we would know where it came from,
because we would know its beginning. Whichever way you look at
this passage, it confirms the principle of the pre-existence of the
soul and subsequently the plurality of existences.
10. And from the days of John the Baptist, until now, the kingdom
of heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force.
For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you
will receive it, this is Elias who was to come. He who has ears, let
him hear. (MATTHEW, 11:12-15.)
11. Even if the teaching of reincarnation as expressed in John
might be interpreted in principle in a purely mystical sense, the
same could not happen with this passage from Matthew, which
does not permit any ambiguity ‘HE is Elias, who was to come’.
Here there is nothing figurative, nothing allegorical, only a
complete affirmation. “Since the time of John the Baptist until
today the kingdom of heaven is seized by violence.” What do these
words mean when John the Baptist was still alive at that moment?
Jesus explains them to us when He says “if you wish to understand
what I am saying, this is Elias who was to come.” Therefore, if
John was Elias, Jesus alluded to the time when John was living
under the name of Elias. “Till the present time the kingdom is
seized by violence,” is another allusion to the violence of the
Mosaic laws, which ordered the extermination of infidels so that
the rest might attain the Promised Land, the Paradise of the
Hebrews. Whereas according to the new law Heaven was to be
won by charity and mildness.
Jesus then added, “He who has ears, let him hear.” These
words are frequently used by Him and tell us that not everyone
was in a condition to understand certain truths.
86 CHAPTER 4

12. Those of your people who were killed will live again. Those
who have been killed around me will be resuscitated. Awaken and
sing praises to God all you who are living in the dust. For the dew
that falls upon you is a dew of light, which will destroy the earth
and the kingdom of the giants.” (ISAIAH, 26:19.)
13. This passage from Isaiah is also explicit, “Your dead will
live again.” If the prophet had wished to speak of a spiritual life, if
he had intended to say that those who had been executed were not
dead spiritually speaking, he would have said ‘They are still
alive,’ and not ‘They will live again.’ In the spiritual sense, these
words would be a contradiction, because they imply an
interruption in the life of the soul. In the sense of moral
regeneration they would be a denial of eternal suffering because
they establish in principle that all those who are dead will one day
come back to life.
14. “But when a man has died once, when his body, separated
from his spirit, has been consumed, what happens to him? Having
died once, can a man live again? In the war in which I find myself
each day of my life, I await my mutation”. (JOB, 14:10 & 14.
Translation taken from Le Maistre de Sacy)
When a man dies, he loses all his strength, expires, afterwards,
where is he? If a man dies, will he live again? Will I wait all the
days of my combat, until there comes some mutation? (Id. Taken
from the Protestant translation of Osterwald.)
When a man is dead, he lives forever: when my days of existence
on Earth have finished, I will wait, seeing that I shall return again.
(Id. Taken from the Greek translation.)10

10
The King James translation (traditional) says: BUT MAN DIETH AND
WASTETH AWAY: YEA, MAN GIVETH UP THE GHOST. AND WHERE IS HE?
IF A MAN DIES, SHALL HE LIVE AGAIN? ALL THE DAYS OF MY
APPOINTED TIME WILL I WAIT, TILL MY CHANGE COME. (Translator’s
addition for comparison – 1987.)
 YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN 87

15. In these three translations, the principle of the plurality of

existences is clearly expressed. Nobody can imagine that Job was
referring to regeneration from baptismal water, which certainly he
had never heard of. ‘Man having died once, can he live again?’
The idea of dying once and reliving implies dying and living many
times. The Greek version is even more explicit, if that is possible.
“When my days of existence on Earth are finished, I will wait, for
I will return again” or return again to Earth. This is so clear, as if
someone were saying: I leave my house, but I will return.
“In the war in which I find myself each day of my life, I await
my mutation.” Here Job evidently was referring to his struggles
against the miseries of life, “I await my mutation” meaning he was
resigned. In the Greek version, I will wait, seems to apply more
preferably to a new existence: “When my existence has ended, I
will wait, seeing that I shall return again.” It is as if after death Job
places himself in the interval that separates one life from another
and says that it is there he will wait until the moment of return.
16. So there is no doubt that under the name of resurrection, the
principle of reincarnation was a fundamental belief of the Jews. A
point which Jesus and the prophets in general confirm. From
which it follows that to deny reincarnation is also to deny the
words of Christ. One day, however, when they have been well
meditated upon, without preconceived ideas, His words will be
recognised as an authority on this point, as well as on many others.
17. From the religious point of view, we add to this authority
the philosophical viewpoint of the proofs resulting from the
observance of the facts. When we try to discover from the effects
what the causes might be, reincarnation becomes an absolute
necessity, an inherent part of humanity, in a word: a Law of
Nature. By its very results, it becomes evident in a material
manner, so to speak, in the same way that a hidden motor reveals
itself by its movement. It is only through reincarnation that human
88 CHAPTER 4

beings can find out where they came from, where they are going
and why they are here on Earth and still be able to justify the
many abnormalities and all the apparent injustices that present
themselves during life.11
Without the principle of the pre-existence of the soul and the
plurality of existences, the maxims of the Gospel in the most part
become unintelligible, which is the reason why they have given
rise to so many contradictory interpretations. This is the only
principle that will restore them to their true and original meaning.

REINCARNATION STRENGTHENS FAMILY TIES,

WHEREAS A SINGLE LIFE WOULD DESTROY THEM
18. Family ties are not destroyed through reincarnation, as some
would believe. On the contrary, they become stronger and closer.
Where as the opposite principal would certainly destroy them.
In space, spirit entities form groups or families bound together
by affection, sympathy towards each other and by similar
inclinations. Happy at being together, these spirits seek each other
out. Incarnate life separates them only for a while, so on returning
to the spiritual world they again reunite as friends who have just
returned from a journey. Frequently they will even follow each
other into the incarnate form, coming here to be united in the same
family or the same circle of friends and acquaintances, in order to
work together for their mutual progress. When some members of
the same spiritual family become incarnate and others not, they
then continue their contact by means of thought. Those who are
free watch over those who are captive. Those who are more
advanced do everything they can for the less advanced, so helping

11
See THE SPIRITS' BOOK, chapters 4 & 5; WHAT IS SPIRITISM, chap. 2, by Allan
Kardec and also LA PLURALITÉ DES EXISTENCES by Pezzani, for further information on
reincarnation.
 YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN 89

them to progress. After each physical existence, all have made

some advancement, even if it is only a step along the path to
progress. As they become less bound by matter, their affections
become more real and more spiritually refined, because they are
not perturbed by selfish or violent passions. This then allows them
to live many lives in the flesh without suffering any loss of mutual
esteem.
It is understood of course that we refer to real affection, soul to
soul, being the only love that survives after the destruction of the
body. Therefore, it follows that those of this world, who join
because of physical attraction, will have no motive to look for
each other in the spirit world. The only lasting relationships are
those linked by spiritual affection, all carnal affections being
extinguished together with the cause that brought them about, in
other words, the physical body. Understand by this that the
physical cause no longer exists in the world of spirits, while the
soul exists eternally. With regard to those who join exclusively out
of interest, they clearly mean nothing to each other. Death
separates them both on Earth and in Heaven.
19. The union and affection, which can exist between relatives,
is an indication of former sympathies that have brought them
together. This is why, when referring to someone whose character,
tastes and inclinations hold no similarity to other members of the
same family, it is customary to say that they do not belong to that
family. When saying this, the truth is being expressed far more
profoundly than suspected. God permits that in certain families
these spirits, who are uncongenial or strangers to each other,
reincarnate with the dual purpose of serving as a test for some
members of that family and as a means of progress for others. In
this manner, due to contact with Good Spirits and the general care
dispensed to them, little by little the evil or wicked spirits get to be
better. Their characters grow milder, their habits become more
refined and aversions are dissipated. This is how the various
90 CHAPTER 4

fusions of different categories of spirits are accomplished, as is

done with different races and peoples on the planet.
20. The fear that some people may have with regard to the
indefinite increase in relationships due to reincarnation is selfish,
proving a lack of love sufficiently ample as to be able to embrace
a large number of people. Does a father who has many children
love them any less than he would if there was only one? Selfish
people may be tranquil because there is no reason for such a fear.
The fact that a person may have had ten incarnations does not
mean that in the spirit world they will find ten fathers, ten
mothers, ten wives and a prodigious number of children and
relatives. There they will encounter only those who had been the
object of their affections, some of whom they would have been
linked to here on Earth in various relationships, or perhaps even
the same ones.
21. Let us now look at the consequences of an anti-
reincarnationist doctrine. By necessity, it annuls all previous
existences of the soul, seeing that under these ideas the soul would
be created together with the body. No previous links would exist
and all would be complete strangers one to another. The father or
mother would be strangers to their children. The relationships
between families would be reduced to mere physical relationships
without any spiritual links whatsoever. Therefore, there would be
no motive at all for anyone to claim the honour of having had
such-and-such a person for his or her ancestor. Whereas with
reincarnation, ancestors and descendants may have known each
other, lived together, loved one another and will reunite later on in
order to increase the links of sympathy even more.
22. All that refers to the past. So now, let us look at the future.
According to one of the fundamental dogmas that come from the
idea of non-reincarnation, the destiny of all souls is irrevocably
determined after only one existence. This fixed and definite idea
 YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN 91

of fate implies the ending of all progress, because when there is

still some form of progress, then there is no definite fate.
Depending on whether we have lived a good or bad life, either we
should go immediately to the home of the blessed or to eternal
hell, we should then be immediately and forever separated,
without hope of ever being united again. In this way fathers,
mothers and children, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters,
and even friends, would never be sure of seeing each other again;
this then means the absolute rupture of all family ties.
However, with the acceptance of reincarnation and
consequential progress, all those who love one another will meet
again on Earth and in space, gravitating together in the direction of
God. If some weaken along the path they will delay their progress
and their happiness, but there will never be a total loss of hope.
Helped, encouraged and sustained by those who love them, they
will one day be able to extricate themselves from the quagmire
into which they have allowed themselves to fall. With
reincarnation there is perpetual solidarity between incarnates and
discarnates constantly consolidating the links of affection.
23. In conclusion, four alternatives present themselves to
humans for their future beyond the tomb: Firstly - nothingness,
according to the materialist doctrine; Secondly - absorption into
the universe, according to the pantheistic idea; Thirdly -
individuality with a fixed and definite destiny, according to the
Church; fourthly - individuality with constant progress according
to the Spiritist Teachings. In the first two alternatives, family ties
are interrupted at the time of death, and no hope exists for these
souls of ever meeting again in the future. With the third
alternative, there is a possibility of meeting again, if each has gone
to the same region, which might be either Heaven or Hell. With
the plurality of existences, which is inseparable from gradual
progression, there is certainty of the continuity of relationships
92 CHAPTER 4

between those who love, and this is what constitutes the true
family.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

LIMITS OF INCARNATIONS
24. What are the limits of incarnation?
In fact, incarnation does not have clearly defined limits, if we
are thinking only of the envelope that constitutes the physical
covering of the spirit, since the materiality of this covering
diminishes in proportion as the spirit purifies itself. In certain
worlds more advanced than Earth, this covering is already less
compact, less heavy, more refined and consequently less subject to
vicissitudes. In worlds of still higher elevation, it is translucent
and almost fluidic. It dematerialises by degrees and finally
becomes absorbed by the perispirit. According to the kind of
world it is taken to live in, the spirit takes on a covering
appropriate to that world.
The perispirit itself also undergoes successive transformations.
It becomes more and more etherealised, until it reaches complete
purification, which is the state of all immaculate Spirits. If special
worlds are destined for more highly advanced Spirits, they do not
remain prisoners there as in the inferior worlds. The special state
of detachment in which they find themselves, allows travel to any
part of the Universe to which they may be called on mission.
If we consider incarnation from the material viewpoint, such as
can be verified here on Earth, we can say that it is limited to
inferior worlds. However, it depends on each spirit to liberate
itself more or less quickly, by working towards purification. We
should also consider that in the discarnate state, that is to say in
the intervals between bodily existences, the situation of each spirit
 YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN 93

depends on the nature of the world to which it is linked by the

degree of advancement it has acquired. Thus, in the spiritual world
we are more or less happy, free or enlightened, according to the
degree of dematerialization achieved. - SAINT LOUIS (Paris, 1859.)

THE NEED FOR INCARNATION

25. Is incarnation a punishment and are guilty spirits bound to
suffer them?
The passing of spirits through corporeal life is necessary in
order that they may fulfil, by means of a material action, the
purpose to which God assigned them. This is necessary for their
own good, as the activity they are obliged to perform will help the
development of their intelligence. Being just, God must distribute
everything in equal parts to all His children. Therefore, it is
established that everyone starts from the same point, with the same
aptitudes, the same obligations to fulfil and having the same
liberty to proceed. Any type of privilege would be an injustice.
Nevertheless, for all spirits incarnation is a transitory state. It is a
task imposed by God at the beginning of life, as a primary
experiment in the use of free will. Those who discharge this task
with zeal pass over the first steps of their initiation quickly, less
painfully, and so are able to reap the fruits of their labour at an
earlier date. Those who, on the contrary, make bad use of the
liberty that God has granted them, delay their progress and
according to the degree of obstinacy demonstrated, may prolong
the need for reincarnating indefinitely, in which case it becomes a
punishment. - SAINT LOUIS (Paris, 1859.)
26. NOTE - A common comparison would make this difference
more easily understandable. The scholar cannot reach superior
studies in science if he has not passed through the series of classes
that lead to that level. These classes, whatever may be the work
demanded, are the means by which the student will reach their
94 CHAPTER 4

objective and are not a punishment that is inflicted. If they are

diligent, they can shorten the path and consequently encounter
fewer thorns. However, this does not happen to the one who is
negligent and lazy, which will oblige them to repeat certain
lessons. It is not the class work that is the punishment, but the
necessity to recommence the same work over again.
This is what happens to humanity on Earth. For the primitive
spirit, who is only at the beginning of their spiritual life,
incarnation is the means by which they can develop their
intelligence. Nevertheless, it is a punishment for an enlightened
person, in whom a moral sense has been broadly developed, to be
obliged to live over again the various phases of a corporeal life
full of anguishes, when they could have arrived at the end of a
need to stay in inferior and unhappy worlds. On the other hand, if
they work actively towards moral progress, they not only shorten
the period of material incarnations, but also they may jump over
the intermediate steps that separate them from the superior worlds.
Is it possible for Spirits to incarnate only once in any one world
and then fulfil their other existences in different worlds? This
would only be possible if every person were at exactly the same
point in both intellectual and moral development. The differences
between them, from the savage to civilised person, show the many
degrees that must be ascended. Besides, an incarnation must have
a useful purpose. However, what of short-lived incarnations of
children who die at a tender age? Have they suffered to no
purpose, for themselves or for others? God, Whose laws are wise,
does nothing that is useless. Through reincarnating on the same
globe, and by being once again in contact with each other, He
wishes these same spirits to have the desire to repair reciprocated
offences. With the help of past relationships, He wishes to
establish family ties on a spiritual basis, founded on the principles
of the natural laws of solidarity, fraternity and equality.
 CHAPTER 5

BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED

The justice of afflictions. - Causes of present-day afflictions. - Past causes of
afflictions. - Forgetfulness of the past. - Motive for resignation. - Suicide and
madness. – INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: To suffer well or badly. - Evil
and its remedy. - Happiness is not of this world. - Losing loved ones.
Premature deaths. - If they had been a good person, they would have died. -
Voluntary torments. True misfortunes - Melancholy. - Voluntary trials. The
true hair shirt. - Should we end our neighbour's probation? - Would it be licit
to hasten the death of someone incurably sick who is suffering? – Sacrificing
one's own life. - Making one's own suffering useful to others.

1. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are those, which do hunger, and thirst after
righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are they, which are
persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the Kingdom of
Heaven. (MATTHEW 5:4, 6 & 10.)
2. And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said, ‘Blessed be
the poor; for yours is the Kingdom of God. Blessed are you who
hunger now: for you shall be filled. Blessed are you that weep
now: for you shall laugh. (LUKE, 6:20 & 21.)
But woe unto you that are rich! For you have received your
consolation. Woe unto you that are full! For you shall hunger.
Woe unto you that laugh now! For you shall mourn and weep.”
(LUKE, 6:24 & 25.)

THE JUSTICE OF AFFLICTIONS

3. The compensation promised by Jesus to the afflicted of this
Earth can only be effected in a future life. Without the certainty of
this future these maxims would be a contradiction; still more, they
would be a decoy. Even with this certainty, it is difficult to
96 CHAPTER 5

understand the convenience of suffering in order to be happy. It is

said that it is to acquire greater merit. Then we ask why do some
suffer more than others do? Why are some born in misery and
others in opulence without having done anything to justify this
situation? Why is it that some never manage to achieve anything,
while for others everything seems to smile? Yet what is even less
understandable is why benefits and misfortunes are divided so
unequally between vice and virtue. Why do we find virtuous
people suffering side by side with the wicked who prosper? Faith
in the future can console and instil patience, but it does not explain
these irregularities, which appear to contradict God's justice.
However, once God's existence has been admitted one cannot
conceive Him as being less than infinitely perfect. He is naturally
all-powerful, all just and all goodness, without which He would
not be God. If He is supremely good and just, then He cannot act
capriciously, nor yet with partiality. The vicissitudes of life derive
from a cause, and as God is just so then that cause must also be
just. We must convince ourselves of this fact. Through the
Teachings of Jesus, God started humanity on the path to find that
cause, and now that people are sufficiently mature as to be able to
understand, He has revealed the cause by means of Spiritism. That
is to say, through the voice of the Spirits.

CAUSES OF PRESENT-DAY AFFLICTIONS

4. The vicissitudes of life are of two kinds, or if you prefer,
stem from two different sources that are important to distinguish.
Some have their cause in present-day life, while others arise
outside this present life.
On going back to the origins of earthly misfortunes, it must be
recognised that many are natural consequences of character and
the behaviour of those who suffer them.
 BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED 97

How many fail through their own fault? How many are the
victims of their own thoughtlessness, of their pride and ambition?
How many destroy themselves through lack of discipline,
misconduct or from not knowing how to limit their desires?
How many disastrous marriages are due to the fact that they
were built on calculated interest or vanity, in which the heart took
no part?
How many disagreements and fatal disputes could have been
avoided with the aid of a little moderation and less susceptibility?
How many illnesses and diseases stem from intemperance and
excesses of all kinds?
How many parents are unhappy with their children because
they did not combat their bad instincts from an early age? From
either weakness or indifference, they allowed the germs of pride,
selfishness and stupid vanity to grow in them, so causing their
hearts to dry and shrivel. Later on, when reaping what they have
sown, they are surprised and afflicted by the lack of gratitude and
the indifference with which they are treated.
We ask each one whose heart has been hurt by vicissitudes or
deceptions, to study their own conscience closely; to go back, step
by step, to the origins of each misfortune which is torturing them.
Like as not they will be able to say ‘if I had done or not done such
and such a thing, I would not be where I am now.’
Who then is responsible for humanities afflictions if not
humanity itself? So then, in a great number of cases we are the
cause of our own misfortunes. Instead of recognising this fact, we
find it easier and less humiliating to our vanity to accuse our bad
luck, providence or even our unlucky star, when in fact our
unlucky star is our own carelessness.
98 CHAPTER 5

When reckoning with the misfortunes of life, suffering of this

nature undoubtedly forms the greatest part of all vicissitudes. Only
when humankind works at bettering itself, both morally and
intellectually, will it be able to avoid this category of suffering.
5. Human law covers various faults and prescribes punishment.
In these cases it is possible for the condemned person to recognise
that they are suffering the consequences of the wrong committed.
However, the law does not or cannot, reach every wrong; it falls
principally upon those who cause damage to society and not upon
those who only cause damage to themselves. God, however, does
not allow any detour from the straight and narrow path to go
unpunished. There is no wrong or infraction of His Law, however
small, that does not carry with it the inevitable consequence that
may be more or less deplorable. From this, it follows that in small
things, as in great matters, humanity is always punished according
to the manner in which it has sinned. The suffering that follows is
always a warning that wrong has been done. This offers
experience and makes people feel the difference between right and
wrong, good and bad, so that in the future these sources of
bitterness may be avoided; but without which there would be no
motive for betterment. If humanity were to be confident of
immunity, it would only delay its own progress and therefore its
future happiness.
Nevertheless, sometimes experience arrives rather late, when
life has already been wasted and become disordered, when
strength is already spent and the person is no longer able to
remedy the wrongdoing. Then the person will frequently say ‘If I
had known then what I know now how many false steps would
have been avoided! If I had to begin again I would act differently,
but now there is no more time!’ Like the lazy worker who says ‘I
have wasted my day’, the person also says, ‘I have wasted my
life!’ Just as the sun rising on a new day allows the worker the
possibility of repaying any lost time, so it is with humanity.
 BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED 99

Because after a period of time in the tomb a new life shines forth
that will enable advantage to be taken from past experience and
good resolutions for the future to be put into practice.

PAST CAUSES OF AFFLICTIONS

6. Although there are misfortunes in life caused principally by
human beings, there are also others that, at least according to
appearance, seem to be completely strange that strike like fate. For
example, the loss of a loved one or the breadwinner of a family.
Still others, like accidents that no amount of foresight could have
prevented. In addition, reverses in fortune that precautions and
judicial counselling could not avoid, natural disasters, infirmities
from birth, especially those that make work or the earning of a
livelihood impossible, like deformities, insanity, idiocy, etc.
Those who are born with restricting conditions like those
mentioned, have done nothing in their present life to deserve such
a sad fate that they could not avoid and are very impotent to
change, leaving them at the mercy of public commiseration. Why
then are there these unhappy beings, when beside them, under the
same roof, in the same family, are others who have been blessed in
every way?
In short, what can be said of children who die at a tender age
and who, during their short life, knew only suffering? These are
problems that as yet no philosophy has been able to find a solution
for, anomalies that no religion has been able to justify and which
appear to be a contradiction of God’s goodness, justice and Divine
Providence. If the hypothesis of the soul being created at the same
time as the body and that of destiny being irrevocably determined
after but a few instants upon Earth were to be verified, this would
indeed be the case. If these creatures had just left the hands of the
Creator, what had caused them to come into the world to face such
misery? How could they have received any recompense or
100 CHAPTER 5

punishment seeing that they had been unable to practice either

good or evil?
Nevertheless, by virtue of the axiom according to which every
effect has a cause, these miseries are effects that have to have a
cause, and if we admit that God is just, then that cause must also
be just. Therefore, as an effect is always preceded by a cause and
if that cause is not to be found in the present life, then it follows it
must come from before this life, that is to say from a preceding
life. On the other hand, God, being unable to punish goodness that
has been done or badness that has not been done, it follows that if
we are being punished then wrong must have been committed. If
that wrong is not of the present life then it must come from a past
existence. This is an alternative that no one can avoid and where
logic determines on which side God's justice lies.
We are not always punished or completely punished in the
present life, but we cannot escape the consequences of our faults
indefinitely. The prospering of evil is only momentary; for if the
person does not atone today then they will atone tomorrow.
Misfortunes, which at first sight appear to be undeserved have
their reason to be. Therefore, those who find themselves in a state
of suffering may always say, “Lord forgive me, for I have sinned.”
7. Sufferings due to causes prior to the present existence, as
well as those originating from present causes, are frequently the
consequences of errors that have been committed. This is to say
that through the action of a rigorously distributive justice, we
come to suffer what we have made others suffer. If we have been
hard and inhumane, we may be treated with harshness and
inhumanity. If we were too full of pride, we may be born in
humble circumstances. If we have been miserly, selfish or made
bad use of our riches, we may find ourselves deprived of the
necessary means of survival. If we have been a bad son or a bad
daughter, we may suffer from the behaviour of our children.
 BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED 101

It is only through the plurality of existences and the destiny of

the planet, as a world of atonement that it now is that we can
explain the abnormalities in the distribution of happiness or
unhappiness amongst good and evil people alike. Nevertheless,
these abnormalities exist only in appearance, due to the fact that
they are considered solely from the point of view of the present. If
we elevate ourselves, by means of thought, in such a way as to see
a succession of existences, we will perceive that to each one is
given what is deserved, after taking into consideration that which
was gained in the spiritual world. Only then does it become
apparent that God's justice is uninterrupted.
Human beings must never forget that they find themselves on
an inferior world to which they are confined due exclusively to
their imperfections. Each time a vicissitude is suffered, they must
remember that if they belonged to a more advanced world these
things would not be happening; that it depends completely on
themselves to see that they never return to this world by working
harder to improve themselves.
8. Tribulations may be imposed on spirits who are ignorant or
who have become hardened, in order to induce them to make a
choice with knowledge of what they are doing. Spirits who are
repentant, wishing to repay the evil they have committed, who
desire to behave better, are free to make their own choices. Such
was the understanding of one spirit who, after having failed to
complete a task, asked to be allowed to repeat it so as not to lose
the benefit of its work. Therefore, tribulations are at the same time
atonements for the past, for which we receive the deserved
retribution, and tests relating to the future we are preparing. We
offer thanks to God Who, in His goodness, helps humans to repay
their debts and does not irrevocably condemn the first fault.
9. However, it is not to be thought that all suffering in this
world denotes the existence of a determined shortcoming. Many
102 CHAPTER 5

times, it is simply an ordeal requested by the spirit that will help it

towards purification and active progress. Therefore, atonement is
always a test, but a test is not always an atonement. Although tests
and atonements are always signs of a relative inferiority, as that
which is perfect needs no testing. Nevertheless, it is possible that a
spirit having reached a certain degree of elevation, and being
desirous of further progress, may request a mission or task to
perform. Depending on whether or not they are victorious, and
according to the difficulty of the requested test, they will be more
or less compensated. These then, are those people who have
naturally good instincts, whose souls are elevated and who possess
inborn sentiments. They apparently bring nothing from their past
existences and who, despite great torments, suffer with true
Christian resignation, asking only that God help them to support
their trials without complaining. On the other hand, we may
consider as atonements those afflictions that provoke complaint
and cause a revolt against God.
Beyond doubt, the suffering that does not provoke complaints
can also be considered as atonement. However, this indicates it
was voluntarily sought rather than imposed. This constitutes a test
of our strength of resolution and a sign of progress.
10. Spirits cannot aspire to complete happiness until they
become pure. Any kind of stain prohibits entrance into the blissful
worlds. It is like passengers on a plagued ship who find
themselves prohibited from entering port until they have
undergone a cleansing. These imperfections are slowly overcome
by means of various corporeal lives. When well supported, the
tribulations help them towards progress. They erase faults and find
purification by means of atonement, which is the remedy that
cleanses the sores and heals the sick person. The more grave the
illness, the more energetic the remedy needs to be. Therefore,
those who suffer greatly must realise that they have much to atone
for and should rejoice in the proximity of the cure. It will depend
 BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED 103

on each one to take every advantage from the suffering by being

resigned and not spoiling things with impatience, seeing that to the
contrary they will have to begin all over again.

FORGETFULNESS OF THE PAST

11. It is useless to object that forgetfulness constitutes a barrier
to the utilisation of experience acquired in past lives. If God
considers it convenient for a veil to be cast over the past, it is
because this will be to our advantage. In fact, remembrance would
be a very great inconvenience. It could, in certain cases, cause a
person great humility or perhaps make them prideful, which would
interfere with their free will. In any case, it would certainly cause
inevitable perturbation in social relationships.
A spirit is frequently reborn in the same ambient where it had
previously lived, establishing once again the same relationships in
order to repay any evil that might have been done. If there was any
recognition of these same people, who perhaps had previously
been hated, it would only serve to rekindle that emotion. In any
case, humiliation would be felt on confronting those who had been
offended.
Therefore, in order that we can improve ourselves, God has
bestowed upon us precisely what we need being that which is
sufficient and nothing more. This being none other than the voice
of conscience and our instinctive tendencies. We are only deprived
us of what would be prejudicial.
On being reborn, a person brings with them what they have
already acquired. They are born exactly the way they have made
themselves. Each life is begun from a new starting point. It matters
little to know what they had been before. If they are being
punished it is because they did something wrong. Actual evil
tendencies indicate what is still to be corrected and it is upon this
104 CHAPTER 5

they should concentrate all their attention; because no trace is left

of what has already been rectified. The good resolutions the
person feels bound to make are the voices of conscience, calling
attention to what is right and what is wrong, so giving strength to
resist temptation.
Moreover, this forgetfulness only occurs during bodily
existence. On returning to the spiritual life, the remembrance of
the past is regained. So it is only temporary, a slight interruption
similar to that which occurs during sleep, but which does not
prevent the remembrance on the subsequent day of what was done
on the previous one.
However, it is not only after death that the spirit may recover
remembrance of their past. It can be said that it is never lost, even
whilst incarnate, as experience demonstrates that during the sleep
state, being a period when the spirit enjoys a certain amount of
liberty, it is conscious of its past acts. It knows why it is suffering
and that it suffers justly. Memory is only extinguished during the
course of exterior existence, in the life of relationships.
Nevertheless, during these partial remembrances, which, if it were
otherwise might cause added suffering and harm social
relationships, the spirit absorbs new strength in these moments of
emancipation, if it knows how to take advantage of them.

MOTIVES FOR RESIGNATION

12. With the words: Blessed are the afflicted for they will be
consoled, Jesus indicates the compensation that awaits those who
suffer and the resignation that leads us to bless suffering as a
prelude to the cure.
These words can also be understood in this manner: that one
should be content to suffer, seeing that the pain of this world is the
payment for past debts that were incurred. Patiently supported
 BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED 105

here on Earth, these pains will save centuries of future suffering.

One should be happy that God is reducing the debt by permitting
payment now, thereby guaranteeing a tranquil future.
The sufferer is like a debtor who owes a large sum and to whom
the creditor says, “If you pay me even a hundredth part of your
debt today, I will exonerate you and you will be free. But if you do
not, then I shall torment you till you pay every last penny.” Would
not the debtor feel happy in supporting all kinds of hardships in
order to be liberated, so paying only a hundredth part of what they
owed? Instead of complaining to the creditor, would they not be
grateful?
This is the meaning of the words, ‘Blessed are the afflicted for
they shall be consoled’. They are happy because they are paying
their debts and because after payment they will be free. However,
if on acquitting themselves on the one side, a person becomes
indebted on the other, they will never find liberation. Therefore,
each new fault only increases the debt, there being not even one
that does not entail a compelling and inevitable punishment. If not
today, then tomorrow; if not in this life, then in another. Amongst
the list of failings, it behoves a person to put the lack of
submission to God's Will in first place. Therefore, if we complain
about our afflictions, if we do not accept them with resignation, or
if we accuse God of being unjust, we contract new debts, which in
turn make us lose the fruits that should have been gathered from
these sufferings. This is why we must begin again from the
beginning, exactly as if after paying part of a debt to a creditor
who has been tormenting us, we then took out another loan.
On entering into the spiritual world, we are like the labourer
who arrives on the day of payment. To some God will say, “Here
is your recompense for the days you have worked.” While to
others, the so-called lucky ones on Earth who have lived in
idleness, or those who have built their happiness on the
106 CHAPTER 5

satisfaction of their own self-esteem and on worldly pleasures, He

will say, “There is nothing more to come: you have already
received your salary on Earth. Go and begin your task again.”
13. We can soften or increase the bitterness of our trials
according to the manner in which we regard earthly life. Our
suffering will be even more depending on how long we imagine it
to be. But those who can see life through a spiritual prism
understand bodily existence at a glance. They see that life is but a
point in eternity; they comprehend the shortness of its duration
and recognise that this painful moment will soon pass. The
certainty of a happier future sustains and animates them and far
from complaining, they offer thanks to God for the pain, which
will permit them to advance. On the other hand, for all those who
see only bodily life before them, the duration seems interminable
and the pain oppresses with all its weight. The result of looking at
life from a spiritual way is a diminishing in importance of all
worldly things. Thus, we feel ourselves compelled to moderate our
desires and to be content with our position without envying others.
This, in turn, enables us to receive weakened impressions of
reverses and deceptions that may be experienced. From these
attitudes comes calmness and resignation, so useful to bodily
health, as well as to the soul; whereas from jealousy, envy and
ambition we voluntarily condemn ourselves to tortures, increased
miseries and anguish during our short existence.

SUICIDE AND MADNESS

14. The calm and resignation that can be acquired regarding the
way terrestrial life is viewed, together with confidence in the
future, give the spirit a serenity that is the best preventive measure
against madness and suicide. To be sure, it is certain that the vast
majority of cases of madness are due to the commotion produced
by vicissitudes that people have not had the strength to support.
 BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED 107

However, if the things of this world were regarded from the point
of view with which the Spiritist Teachings regard them, then all
the reverses and deceptions that in other circumstances would
cause people to become desperate can be received with
indifference, even with happiness. It is evident then that this inner
strength puts us above these happenings, so protecting us from
shocks to the mind, which if it were not for this, would cause
serious disturbance.
15. The same applies to suicide. Leaving aside those that occur
due to drunkenness or madness that can be classified as
unconscious it is certain that in every case the cause is
discontentment, whatever the private motives may be. However,
for those who are sure they will only be unhappy for a day, and
that the days to come will be much better, it is easy to be patient.
People only become desperate when they can see no end to their
suffering. What is a lifetime compared to eternity? Is it not less
than a day? Nevertheless, for those who do not believe in eternity
and judge that everything ends with life, who become dejected,
grief-stricken or heartbroken, death appears to be the only solution
for so much sorrow. Expecting to receive nothing, it seems natural
and even logical to them to shorten their miseries by means of
suicide.
16. Lack of belief, simply doubting as to the future or having
materialistic ideas, are in fact the greatest of all incitements
towards suicide because they cause moral cowardice. Upheld by
the authority of their knowledge, Scientists do their best to prove
to those that will listen or read what they write, that we have
nothing to expect after death. Are they not in fact leading us to
deduce that if we are wretched then the best thing to do is to kill
ourselves? What can they offer as a reason to turn away from this
conclusion? What compensation do they have to offer? What hope
can they give? None at all, except nothingness! From this, we
should conclude that if nothingness were the only heroic remedy,
108 CHAPTER 5

the only prospective, then it would be better to seek it immediately

and not later on, so as to suffer less.
So then, the dissemination of such materialistic doctrines is the
poison that inoculates the idea of suicide into the majority of those
who actually come to commit this act. Therefore, those who
become disciples of such doctrines assume tremendous
responsibilities. With Spiritism, however, this doubt is impossible
and the aspect of life changes completely. For the believer,
existence prolongs itself after the so-called death, although in
many varied conditions. From this belief stems patience and
resignation that naturally leads all thought away from the idea of
suicide. This then is the process that enables us to acquire moral
courage.
17. In the same aspect, Spiritism produces yet another equally
positive result, one that is perhaps even more decisive. It presents
these actual suicides, who inform us of the unhappy situations in
which they find themselves, so proving that no one violates God's
laws with impunity. God prohibits human beings to cut short their
own life. Among suicides, there are those whose suffering, even
when only tempory, are none the less terrible and of such a nature
as to make those who might be considering this act, stop and
reflect before leaving this world sooner than God ordained. The
Spiritist moreover, has various reasons against the idea of suicide.
First, the certainty of a future life in which it is known that
happiness will be in proportion to the misfortunes and the degree
of resignation shown while on Earth. Combined with a certainty
that if they abbreviate their life they will reap the exact opposite to
that desired. By liberating themselves from a trial in this manner,
they will consequently encounter another one far worse in its
place, longer and more terrible, causing them to reflect that it is
not worthwhile to leave this world before the appointed time set
by God. The Spiritist then has various reasons against the idea of
committing suicide; such as the certainty of a future life, during
 BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED 109

which they know they will be that much happier according to how
unhappy, but resigned, they had been while on Earth. They
understand that it is a mistake to imagine that by killing
themselves they will reach heaven more quickly, because suicide
is an obstacle that will prevent them from joining those they love
and hope to meet on the other side. The consequences of all this
will only bring deceptions, and therefore are against their best
interests. From these reasons, the number of people already saved
from suicide is quite considerable. Thus, we may conclude that
when all men and women are Spiritists, conscious suicide will
cease to exist. When comparing the results of materialist doctrines
with those of the Spiritist Teachings, on this one point alone we
are forced to recognise that whereas the logic of the first leads
towards suicide, the logic of the second prevents suicide, which is
a proven fact confirmed by experience.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

TO SUFFER WELL OR BADLY

18. When Christ said, “Blessed are the afflicted, for the
kingdom of heaven belongs to them”, He did not refer to all those
who suffer, seeing that everyone on Earth suffers, whether they are
seated upon thrones or lie upon straw. But alas! So few suffer
well! A mere handful understands that only trials that have been
well supported can lead to the Kingdom of God. Despondency is a
fault, and God will refuse consolation to those who lack courage.
Prayer supports the soul; however, alone it is not enough. It is also
necessary to have a firm belief in the kindness of God as the basis
for deep faith. You have heard it said many times that He does not
put a heavy burden on weak shoulders. The burden is always in
proportion to the strength, just as the recompense depends on the
degree of resignation and courage. The more painful the affliction
110 CHAPTER 5

the greater the recompense. It behoves us then to make ourselves

worthy, and it is for this purpose that life presents itself so full of
tribulations.
The soldier who was not sent to the front is discontent, because
by resting in camp he will never receive promotion. So then, be
like soldiers and do not desire repose, which will only allow the
body to become debilitated and the soul become numbed! Be
content when God sends you into battle because this is not a battle
of the firing line, but the bitterness of life, during which
sometimes there is need for even greater courage than in a bloody
battle. A person who can stand firm before an enemy often
weakens when confronted with the tenacity of moral suffering.
Although there is no reward for this kind of courage on Earth, God
will reserve the laurels of victory and a place of glory for those
who withstand. When facing sufferings or obstacles, if you are
able to place yourself above the situation, by managing to
dominate the impulses of impatience, anger and despair, then you
may say to yourself with just satisfaction, ‘I was the stronger.’
So then, the words ‘blessed are the afflicted’ should be
understood in the following manner: blessed are those who have
occasion to prove their faith, firmness, perseverance and
submission to the Will of God. Because they will have multiplied
a hundred times the happiness they lacked on Earth, for after
labour comes repose. - LACORDAIRE (Havre, 1863.)

EVIL AND ITS REMEDY

19. Is the Earth a place of enjoyment and a paradise of delights?
Does the voice of the prophet no longer re-echo in your ears? Did
He not proclaim there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth for
those who were born into this valley of pain? So then, all who live
here must expect bitter tears and suffering. Nevertheless, no matter
how acute or how deep the pain, lift up your eyes to the heavens
 BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED 111

and offer thanks to the Lord for wishing to test you! ... Oh
humanity! Can you not recognise the power of our Lord except
when He cures the sores of your bodies and crowns your days with
beauty and fortune? Can you not recognise His love except He
adorns you with all the glories, and restores the brilliance and
whiteness? You should imitate the one who was given as an
example. Having reached the final degree of abjection and misery,
while laying upon a dung heap, he said to God, “Lord, I have
known all the delights of opulence and You have reduced me to
the most absolute misery; thank you, thank you, my Lord, for
wishing to test your servant!” How long will your eyes remain
fixed upon the horizon limited by death? When will your soul
finally decide to launch itself beyond the limits of the tomb?
Nevertheless, even if you suffer and cry the whole of this life,
what is that compared to the eternal glory reserved for those who
suffer their trials with faith, love, and resignation? Seek
consolation for your ills in the future, which God will prepare for
you and search for the causes in the past. Moreover, you who have
suffered the most, consider yourselves the blessed of this Earth.
As discarnates, when floating in space, you chose your own
trials, judging yourselves sufficiently strong to support them. Why
then do you complain now? You asked for riches and glory
because you wished to hold fight with temptation and overcome it.
You asked to fight with body and soul against both moral and
physical evil, knowing that the harder the trial the greater and
more glorious the victory. Despite the fact of your body ending up
on a dung heap at death, as long as you have triumphed, it will
release a soul of radiant whiteness purified by the baptism of
atonement and suffering.
What remedy can be prescribed for those attacked by cruel
obsessions and mortifying evils? There is but one infallible way,
through faith that is the appeal to Heaven. If at that moment of
highest poignancy in your suffering you intone hymns to the Lord,
112 CHAPTER 5

then the angel at your bedside will show you the sign of salvation
and the place that you will one day occupy... Faith is the only sure
remedy for suffering. It will always show the infinite horizon
before which the few cloudy days of the present will vanish.
Therefore, do not ask what the remedy is for an ulcer or a sore, for
temptations or trials, but remind yourselves that those who believe
are strengthened through the remedy of faith. Those who doubt its
efficiency, even for an instant, will be punished immediately
because they will quickly feel the pungent anguishes of affliction.
The Lord has put His seal upon all those who believe in Him.
Christ told you that it was possible to move mountains by faith
alone, and I tell you that those who suffer yet have faith to uphold
them, will remain under the protection of the Lord and will suffer
no more. The moments of greatest pain will become the first
happy notes of eternity. The soul will detach itself from the body
in such a manner that, while the latter is still writhing in
convulsions, it will be gliding into the celestial regions, singing
hymns of gratitude and glory to the Lord, together with the angels.
Fortunate are those who suffer and weep! Happy are these souls
because God will heap blessings upon them. - SAINT AUGUSTINE
(Paris, 1863.)

HAPPINESS IS NOT OF THIS WORLD

20. “I am not happy! Happiness was not made for me!” people
from all lifestyles frequently proclaim this fact. This, dear children
proves, better than any possible form of reasoning the truth of the
maxim from the book of Ecclesiastics: “Happiness is not of this
world.” Indeed, not riches, power or even the blossom of youth,
are essential conditions for happiness. Furthermore, not even by
uniting these three elements, so desired by many, can happiness be
assured because we are constantly hearing people of all ages, even
 BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED 113

those from the most privileged classes, bitterly complaining about

the situation in which they find themselves.
Before this fact, it is inconceivable that the militant and
working classes envy, with a great desire, the positions of those
who are apparently favoured by fortune. In this world, despite
what anyone can do, each must face their own part of work and
misery, their quota of suffering and deceptions. From which it is
easy to reach the conclusion that the Earth is a planet of trials and
atonement.
So then, those who preach that the Earth is Humanity's only
home and that it is here during only one existence that people can
reach the highest level of happiness possible to their nature, are
merely deluding themselves and those who listen to them. It has
been demonstrated through multi-secular experiences that only in
exceptional cases can this globe offer the necessary conditions for
complete happiness for any one individual.
In general, it is possible to affirm that happiness is a Utopia,
whose conquest has been striven after by successive generations
without ever having been able to reach their objective. If a sensible
man or woman is a rarity in this world, then the completely happy
person has never been found.
Happiness on Earth consists of something so fleeting for those
who are not guided by ponderation, that but for a year, a month or
a week of complete satisfaction the rest of their existence is a
series of bitter deceptions. In addition, note dear children, that I
refer to those who are considered the lucky ones of the Earth,
those who are the envy of the masses.
Consequently, if the earthly dwelling-place is specifically for
trials and atonement, then we must admit that somewhere there are
more favourable dwelling places; where the human spirit, although
still a prisoner in a material body, may possess the delights of
114 CHAPTER 5

human life in all its fullness. This is the reason why God has
planted those beautiful superior planets in your vortex, towards
which your efforts and tendencies will one day cause you to
gravitate, when you have become sufficiently purified and
perfected.
However, do not deduce from my words that the Earth is
perpetually destined to remain a penitentiary. No, certainly not!
From the progress that has already been achieved, we may readily
infer further progress in the future; from the various social
betterments already obtained new and more fertile improvements.
This is the immense task to be realised by these new Teachings
that the Spirits have revealed to you.
So then, my dear children, may a saintly emulation animate you
and that each one of you may energetically change your ways.
Everyone should dedicate himself or herself to the propagation of
Spiritism that has already begun your own regeneration. It is your
duty to help your brothers and sisters to participate in the rays of
this sacred light. Accordingly set to work, dear children! Let us
hope that within this solemn reunion all hearts may aspire to this
great objective of preparing a world for future generations where
the word happiness is no longer meaningless. - François-Nicolas-
Madeleine, Cardinal MORLOT (Paris, 1863.)

LOSING LOVED ONES - PREMATURE DEATHS

21. When death cuts down a member of your family, carrying
off the youngest before the oldest without discrimination, you are
accustomed to say that God is not just, because He sacrifices one
who is strong and has all their future before them. Thus, leaving
those who have lived many years and are full of deceptions. Also,
because He takes those who are useful and leaves behind those
who are no longer able to work and breaks the heart of a mother
by depriving her of the innocent creature who was her only joy.
 BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED 115

Humans, it is on this point that you must lift yourselves above

commonplace thoughts about life, in order to be able to understand
that goodness is frequently where you judge there to be evil, and
the wisdom of Providence where you think you perceive the blind
fatality of destiny. Why do you evaluate divine justice by your
own ideas? Do you suppose that the Lord of the Worlds applies
justice through mere caprice, in order to inflict cruel punishment?
Nothing happens that has not an intelligent meaning and no matter
what happens there is always a reason for it. If you scrutinise
better all the pain that redounds to you then you would surely find
Divine reason, regenerating reason, wherein you would see the
worthlessness of your interests that consequently, would become
so secondary as to be cast into the last place.
Believe me, in the case of an incarnation of twenty years, death
is preferable to any of the shameful dissipations that bring untold
distress to respectable families, break the hearts of mothers and
cause parents' hair to whiten before their time. Premature death is
frequently a great blessing that God concedes to those who depart,
so preserving them from the miseries of life or the seductions that
possibly occasioned the loss of life. The person who dies in the
flower of youth is not a victim of fate. God judges that it is not
suitable for that person to remain longer on Earth.
What a terrible tragedy, you say, to see cut the thread of life
that was so full of hope! To what hope are you referring? That of
the Earth? Where the one who departed could perhaps have shone
or made their way and become rich? Always there is this restricted
vision that prevents a person from rising above that which is
material. Who can tell what might have been the actual fate of that
life you thought so full of hope? How do you know that it would
not have become saturated with bitterness? Do you then disdain
the hopes offered by the future life, to the point of preferring this
fleeting existence here on Earth? Do you suppose that a high
116 CHAPTER 5

position amongst humans is worth more than an elevated place

amongst the blessed Spirits?
Instead of complaining, rejoice when it pleases God to
withdraw one of His children from this vale of miseries. Would it
not be selfish to wish they continued suffering at your side? Ah!
This is the pain conceived by those lacking in faith, who see death
as an eternal separation! However, those of you who are Spiritists
know that the soul lives better when it is separated from its
material form. Mothers, know that your beloved children are near
you, yes, very near. Their fluidic bodies embrace you, their
thoughts protect you and the remembrances that you keep delight
them with happiness; but your unreasonable pain afflicts them,
because it reveals a lack of faith, so constituting a revolt against
the Will of God.
Those who understand the meaning of spiritual life, listen to the
beatings of your heart calling to these loved ones. If you ask God
to bless them, you will feel great consolation, the kind that will
dry your tears; you will feel magnificent aspirations that will show
you the future that our Supreme Lord has promised. - SAMSON,
ex-member of the Spiritist Society of Paris, (1863.)

IF THEY HAD BEEN A GOOD PERSON THEY WOULD

HAVE DIED
22. When speaking of an evil person who has escaped some
danger, it is customary to say that if they had been a good person
they would have died. Well then, in saying this you are speaking
the truth, because it frequently happens that God bestows a longer
trial on a spirit who is only commencing their path to progress
than He would give a Good Spirit who, by merit of their
worthiness, receives the blessing of the shortest possible period of
atonement. Consequently, whenever you use that aphorism you
unsuspectingly commit a blasphemy.
 BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED 117

If a good person dies, having as neighbour someone who is

considered as evil, it is soon remarked that it would have been
better if the neighbour had died. By saying this, you are
committing a very big mistake, because the one who has departed
had completed his or her tasks and the other, who is left, has
perhaps not even begun. Why should you wish the bad person to
be denied the necessary time to complete their tasks, while
condemning the good person to remain an unnecessary prisoner on
Earth? What would you say about a prisoner that continued to be
held in prison after having served their sentence when another
person, who had no right, was set at liberty? It must be understood
that true liberty for a spirit is the breaking of the ties that keep it
captive within a physical body and that while upon Earth, it is
really a prisoner.
Accustom yourselves then not to censure the things you do not
understand. More especially to believe that God is just in all things
and that on many occasions what appears to be an evil is really a
blessing. Because your faculties are so limited, it is not possible
for you to have a clear vision of the whole, nor can it be felt by
your obtuse senses. However, if you strive to reach beyond your
limited sphere, by means of thought, you will find that the
importance of all material things diminishes according to the
manner in which you are able to lift up your thoughts. In this way,
life presents itself as a mere incident in the infinite course of
spiritual existence, which is the only true life. - FÉNELON (Sens,
1861.)

VOLUNTARY TORMENTS
23. Human beings are incessantly searching for happiness that
always escapes them, because pure happiness does not exist here
on Earth. However, despite the vicissitudes that form an inevitable
procession throughout earthly life, they may at least enjoy relative
118 CHAPTER 5

happiness, if they do not search for it within perishable things that

are subject to the same vicissitudes; that is to say within material
enjoyments, instead of seeking it within the delights of the soul.
The only real happiness in this world comes from having peace of
mind. Instead of which people are constantly seeking all things
that agitate and perturb and, strangely enough, it seems as if they
create many of the problems and torments themselves, on purpose,
when it is up to each one to avoid them.
Are there any worse torments than those created by envy and
jealousy? For those who are envious or jealous, there is no rest;
they suffer a state of perpetual fever. The possessions of others
cause sleepless nights; the success of rivals provokes giddiness; in
their eyes emulation is epitomised in eclipsing those around them;
all their happiness consists in provoking a rage of jealousy in those
as imprudent as themselves. They are indeed poor foolish beings!
Never imagining that perhaps tomorrow they will have to leave
behind all these trifles, being the covetousness that has poisoned
their lives. The words: 'Blessed are the afflicted for they shall be
consoled' certainly do not apply to these people, seeing that their
preoccupations are not those that receive recompense in Heaven.
On the other hand, many torments will be avoided by those who
are content with what they have, who can see things they do not
possess without envy and who do not try to appear better than they
are. These will be constantly rich, since by looking below oneself,
it is always possible to see others with less than we have. These
kinds of people are calm, because they do not create imaginary
necessities for themselves. Is calmness then not happiness in the
midst of life’s turmoil? - FÉNELON (Lyon, 1860.)

TRUE MISFORTUNES
24. Everyone talks about misfortune, everyone has experienced
it and judges they understand its multiple characteristics. I have
 BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED 119

come to tell you that almost everyone is deluded, as real

misfortune is not what the world, that is to say those people who
are unfortunate, believes it to be. They see as misfortune the
unheated stove, the threatening creditor, the empty cradle, tears,
the funeral procession and those following with broken hearts, the
anguish of betrayal, the stripping of pride from those who would
wish to be dressed in the purple, but who can barely hide their
nudity beneath the ragged tatters of their vanity. To all this and
much more, humanity gives the name of misfortune. Yes, it is
misfortune for those who only see the present. However, real
misfortune is in the consequences of these facts, rather than in the
facts themselves. Tell me then, if a happening that at the time was
considered a happy event, but which later caused disastrous
consequences, is not more calamitous than another that initially
caused contrariety, but finally produced benefits? Tell me also, is
a storm that uproots trees but purifies the air and dissipates
unhealthy miasmas that can cause death, not more of a blessing
than unhappiness?
In order to be able to judge, one must first consider the
consequences. Thus in order to more fully appreciate what is
really fortunate or unfortunate for humanity, we must transport
ourselves beyond the vision of this life, for it is only there that the
consequences can begin to be felt. Therefore, everything called
unhappiness according to the short sightedness of human beings
ends with the body, and receives its compensation in the future
life.
I will reveal misfortune to you in yet another light, in the form
of beauty and colour, that is accepted and even earnestly desired
by your poor deluded souls. Pleasure, commotion, unnecessary
agitation and the satisfaction of stupid vanities are the true
misfortunes; causing human beings to ignore their conscience,
prevents the process of thought and leaves them in a dazed state
120 CHAPTER 5

with regard to their future. These unhappinesses, so ardently

sought after, are nothing more than the opium of forgetfulness.
Have hope all you who cry! Tremble all who laugh because
their body is satiated! It is not possible to deceive God or to escape
one's destiny. Afflictions, those creditors more pitiless than the
wolf pack, unloosed by your miseries, are constantly lurking
behind the illusion of repose only to suddenly emerge in the form
of agony and real unhappiness, for all who have allowed their
souls to become flabby through indifference and selfishness.
Therefore, let Spiritism offer enlightenment and establish truth
and error in their real formats that until now have been so
singularly deformed by your blindness! Act like brave soldiers
who, far from running away from peril, prefer the dangerous fight
rather than peace, which will bring them neither glory nor
promotion! What does it matter to the soldier if he loses weapons,
baggage and uniform if he comes out of battle the winner, covered
with glory? What does it matter to those who have faith in the
future, if they leave riches and their physical bodies on the
battlefield of life, provided their soul enters radiantly into the
Celestial Kingdom? - DELPHINE DE GIRARDIN (Paris, 1861.)

MELANCHOLY
25. Do you know why sometimes a vague sadness fills your
heart, leading you to consider that life is bitter? This is because
your spirit, aspiring to happiness and liberty, on finding itself tied
to the physical body that acts like a prison, becomes exhausted
through vain efforts to seek release. On recognising that these
attempts are useless the soul becomes discouraged and as the body
suffers the influence of the spirit, it feels weary, apathetic, full of
despondency and it is then that you judge yourself unhappy.
 BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED 121

Believe me when I tell you to resist these tendencies with all

your strength, as they only weaken your willpower. Aspirations
for a better life are inborn in all humanity, but do not seek them in
this world. Now that God is sending His Spirits to instruct you
about the happiness He has reserved for you, wait with patience
for the time when the liberating angel will come to help you break
away from the ties that hold your spirit captive. Remember, during
your exile here on Earth, you have a mission to fulfil that you do
not even suspect; be it dedicating yourself to your family or
fulfilling the various obligations bestowed upon you by God. If
within the course of this exiled probation, while seeking
exoneration, you feel about to collapse through anxiety,
uneasiness or tribulations, be strong and courageous enough to
support these pressures. Stand up to them with resolution for they
will soon pass. These are the only means by which you can reach
those for whom you pine and who, jubilant at seeing you once
again, will hold out their hands towards you to guide you to
regions inaccessible to earthly afflictions. - FRANÇOIS DE GENÈVE
(Bordeaux.)

VOLUNTARY TRIALS - THE TRUE HAIR SHIRT

26. You ask if it is licit for a person to lessen his or her own
probation. This is equal to another question such as is it licit for
drowning people to save themselves? Should we take a thorn from
our hand? Should we call a doctor when we are ill? The reason
behind our trials is to help us to use our intelligence, patience and
resignation. It may happen that someone is born into a difficult
and painful situation precisely to make them 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.
122 CHAPTER 5

This quite naturally leads to another question: if Jesus said

‘Blessed are the afflicted,’ can merit be gained by seeking
afflictions that could aggravate our trials by means of voluntary
suffering? To this, we can reply very decidedly yes, there is great
merit provided the suffering and privations are of benefit to others;
this is charity through suffering. However, 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 that 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 fulfil your work here on Earth. To torture and martyr the
body voluntarily is to go against God's Law. He has given
humanity 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.
Nevertheless, quite the contrary occurs when people impose
suffering upon themselves in order to alleviate that of others. If
you support cold and hunger in order to offer heat and sustenance
to another, thereby causing your body to be affected, you are
making a sacrifice that God will bless. When you leave your
perfumed homes to go to an infected hovel so as to console; dirty
your hands to treat wounds; lose sleep so as to hold vigil at the
bedside of the sick; who after all are your brothers and sisters in
God; put your health in jeopardy for the purpose of practising the
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
 BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED 123

breast of riches. Rather you have become a consoling angel to the

sadly deserted.
However, you who retire from the world to live in isolation in
order to avoid its seductions, what utility do you serve here on
Earth? Where is the courage to face your problems? You 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, but 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 to conclude 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 that
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 believe that not only should nothing be done, but also
they should help others to benefit 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 how do we
124 CHAPTER 5

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.” On the contrary, rather say, “Let me see what means our
merciful Father has put within my reach so I may lessen the
suffering of my brother or sister.” Let me see if my moral
consolations, my material help or my counselling can help them
overcome this test with more energy, patience and resignation.
Perhaps God has put in my hands a way to stop suffering; perhaps
even He has given me this possibility as a test, or perhaps an
atonement, to deter evil and substitute it with peace.
Therefore, always help each other mutually in your tests and
never consider yourself an instrument of torture. Every person
who has a heart should revolt against such an idea. Especially
Spiritists because they, more than anyone else, understand the
infinite extension of God's Goodness. Every Spiritist should be
convinced that their whole life must be an act of love and
devotion; that whatever they might do to oppose God's wishes,
these wishes will always be fulfilled. Therefore, they should apply
maximum strength to attenuate the bitterness of atonement without
fear, because only God has the right to shorten or prolong a trial,
as He sees fit.
Would it not be immense pride on the part of human beings to
consider that it is right, in a manner of speaking, to turn the knife
in the wound? To increase the dose of poison in the viscera of the
one who is suffering, under the pretext that it is part of their
expiation? Oh! Always consider yourselves as instruments for the
alleviation of pain! To summarise: all are on Earth for atonement
and all, without exception, must strive to lessen the atonement of
 BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED 125

one's fellow beings, which is in accordance with the law of love

and charity. - BERNARDIN, a Protecting Spirit (Bordeaux, 1863.)

WOULD IT BE LICIT TO HASTEN THE DEATH OF

SOMEONE INCURABLY SICK WHO IS SUFFERING?
28. A person is agonising under cruel suffering. Their state is
known to be desperate. Would it be licit to save them a few
instants of anguish by hastening their 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 sure the final hour has arrived.
Has science never been wrong in its predictions?
Of course, there are cases that with good reason, can be
considered desperate. 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
that may be of extreme importance. You do not understand the
reflections that the spirit may have during those last agonising
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.
However, the Spiritist, who knows what happens in the afterlife,
comprehends the value of these last thoughts. Therefore, 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.)
126 CHAPTER 5

SACRIFICING ONE’S OWN LIFE

29. Are those who are tired of life, but who do not wish to
extinguish it by their own hands, guilty if they seek death on a
battlefield with the intention of making their death useful?
Whether people kill themselves, or cause others to kill them, the
intention is always to abbreviate life. Therefore, there is
intentional 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 themselves in their
own eyes. If they seriously wished to serve their country, they
would do their best to stay alive so they might be able to defend it,
rather than seek death, because if they are 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.
However, in seeking death with a premeditated intent by exposing
oneself to risk, even if it were in service, annuls all merit for the
action. - SAINT LOUIS (Paris, 1860.)
30. If someone exposes them self 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.)
 BLESSED ARE THE AFFLICTED 127

MAKING ONE’S OWN SUFFERING USEFUL TO

OTHERS
31. Do not those who accept their 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?
These sufferings may be useful to others both materially and
morally. In a material sense, by the work, privations and sacrifices
they impose upon themselves that can contribute to the material
well being of their fellow companions. 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
people can be induced to resign themselves, so being saved from
despair and its disastrous consequences. - SAINT LOUIS (Paris,
1860.)
 CHAPTER 6

CHRIST THE CONSOLER

The gentle yoke. - The promised Consoler. – INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE
SPIRITS: The advent of the Spirit of Truth.

THE GENTLE YOKE

1. Come unto me, all you that labour and are heavy laden and I
will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I
am meek and lowly in heart: and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (MATTHEW, 11:28 -
30)
2. All sufferings such as miseries, deceptions, physical pain and
loss of loved ones will find consolation from faith in the future
and from confidence in God's justice, all of which Christ came to
teach humanity. On the other hand, for those who expect nothing
after this life or who simply doubt, afflictions will seem heavier to
them, as they do not have any hope of mitigating their bitterness.
This is what prompted Jesus to say, “Come to me all who are
weary and I will give you rest.”
Meanwhile, the assistance and happiness promised to the
afflicted depends on one condition that is found in the law He
taught. His yoke is the observance of this law, but the yoke is light
and the law gentle because it only imposes love and charity as its
obligations.

THE PROMISED CONSOLER

3. “If you love me keep my commandments. And I will pray to the
Father, and He shall give you another Comforter that he may
 CHRIST THE CONSOLER 129

abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world
cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but
you know him: for he dwells with you, and shall be in you. But the
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in
my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to
your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you.” (JOHN, 14:15-
17 & 26.)
4. Jesus promises another Consoler the Spirit of Truth, which
the world did not yet know because it was not sufficiently mature
to be able to understand. This is the Consoler, sent by the Father to
teach humanity all things and to call to mind all that Christ had
said. Therefore, if the Spirit of Truth was to come at a later date to
teach these additional matters, then it was because Christ had not
told everything. But if the Spirit of Truth was to come to remind
us of what Christ had said, that is because it had been forgotten or
not properly understood.
Spiritism has come at the predicted time to fulfil Christ's
promise. Presided over by the Spirit of Truth, it calls humanity to
observe the Law and reveals all manner of things so making
understandable what Jesus had said only in the form of parables.
Christ Himself had given the warning, “Listen, all those who have
ears to hear.” Spiritism has come to open the eyes and ears of
earthly humanity because it speaks without figuration or allegory,
so lifting up the veil that had been intentionally cast upon certain
mysteries. Finally, it has come to bring supreme consolation to the
disinherited of this Earth and to all who suffer, by showing them
the just causes of their suffering and the useful purpose of all pain.
Christ said, “Blessed are the afflicted for they will be
comforted.” But how can anyone feel happy if they do not know
why they suffer? Spiritism shows the cause of suffering to be in
past existences and the destiny of this planet, upon which human
beings make atonement for their past. It explains the object of
suffering by showing it as a salutary process that produces a cure
130 CHAPTER 6

and as a means of purification, both of which guarantee future

happiness. From this, it becomes possible for human beings to
understand that they deserve the suffering and that this is just.
Humans also learn that suffering and pain will help towards
progress and so are able to accept it without complaining, just as a
worker accepts the work that will guarantee their salary. Spiritism
gives an unshakable faith in the future so that they are no longer
troubled by a consuming doubt within their souls. Thus, on being
enabled to see things from a higher level makes the importance of
earthly vicissitudes disappear on the vast and splendid horizon that
Spiritism sets before us. The prospect of the happiness that awaits
gives humans patience, resignation and courage to continue to the
end of their pathway.
In this manner, Spiritism realizes what Jesus said of the
promised consoler, by bringing knowledge of those things that
allow human beings to know where they have come from, where
they are going and why they are on Earth. Thus calling attention to
the true principals of God's Laws and offering consolation through
faith and hope.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

THE ADVENT OF THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH

5. I have come, as I came on another occasion, to those
misguided sons and daughters of Israel, to bring the truth and to
dissipate the darkness. Listen to me! Just as my words in the past
did, so today Spiritism must remind the incredulous that above
them reigns the immutable truth that is the existence of the Good
God, the great God, who causes the plants to germinate and the
waves to rise up. I revealed the Divine Teachings. As a reaper, I
have gathered into sheaves the scattered goodness in the breasts of
human beings and said, “Come unto me, all who are suffering!”
 CHRIST THE CONSOLER 131

However, ungrateful humanity has moved away from the

straight and wide path that leads to the Kingdom of my Father,
becoming lost along the rough and narrow pathways of impiety.
My Father does not wish to annihilate the human race. He wants
the living and the dead, that is to say, those who are dead
according to the flesh because death does not exist, to assist each
other mutually. Listen no more to the voices of the prophets and
apostles, but listen instead to those who no longer live upon the
Earth who proclaim, “Pray and believe! Death is the resurrection
and life is an ordeal you seek, during which the virtues you have
cultivated will grow and develop, even as the cedar tree.”
Those of you, who are weak and know the obscurity of your
own minds, do not deviate from the beacon that divine clemency
has put into your hands to enlighten your pathway and reconduct
you, who are lost children, once again to the bosom of the Father.
I am too much overcome with compassion for your miseries
and by your immense weakness, not to extend a helping hand to
all those who have unhappily been misguided who, while looking
up to Heaven, have fallen into the pit of error. Believe, love, and
meditate on these things that are revealed to you. Do not mix the
chaff with the good seed or the Utopias with the truth.
Spiritists! Love one another, that is the first precept; educate
yourselves is the second. Within Christianity, you will find all the
truths. The errors in which people have become enrooted are all of
human origin. Here from beyond the grave, where you thought
there was nothing, voices call out to you, “Brothers and sisters!
Nothing perishes! Jesus Christ is the victor over all evil; you can
be the victors over impiety.” - THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH (Paris, 1860.)
6. I have come to instruct and console the poor and humble
people who are the disinherited. I have come to tell them to raise
up their resignation to the level of their trials; to weep, for pain
132 CHAPTER 6

was consecrated in the Garden of Olives; but also to have hope,

for the consoling angels will come to them and dry their tears.
Workers, plan your pathway! Recommence the following day
the wearisome labour of the previous one. The work done by your
hands furnishes the body with earthly bread; however, your souls
have not been forgotten. I, the Divine Gardener, cultivate them in
the silence of your thoughts. When the time comes for repose, the
thread of life slips through your fingers and your eyes are closed
to the light, you will feel the surging within and the germination of
My precious seed. Nothing is lost in the Kingdom of our Father.
Your sweat and miseries form the treasure that will make you rich
in the superior spheres, where light substitutes the darkness and
where the most naked of you will perhaps become the most
resplendent.
In truth, I say to you that those who bear their burdens and help
their brothers and sisters are beloved by Me. Instruct yourselves in
the precious Teachings that dissipate the errors of revolt and show
the sublime objectives of human trials. As the wind sweeps the
dust, so the breeze of the spirits dissipates your resentment against
the riches of the world, that is frequently very pitiable, since they
are subject to more dangerous trials than yours. I am with you and
my apostle will instruct you. Therefore, you who are kept captive
by life, drink from the living spring of love and be prepared to
one-day launch yourselves, free and happy, upon the bosom of He
Who created you weak so that you might become perfect. Who
desires that you model your own pliable clay in order to be the
author of your own immortality. - THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH (Paris,
1861.)
7. I am the great doctor of souls and I have come to bring you
the remedy that will cure. The weak, the suffering and the sick are
My favourite children and I am come to save them. Come then to
Me all who suffer or find yourselves oppressed and you will be
 CHRIST THE CONSOLER 133

alleviated and consoled. Do not search for strength and

consolation elsewhere, as the world is impotent to offer them. God
directs a supreme appeal to your hearts by means of Spiritism.
Listen to Him! Eradicate impiety, lies, error and incredulity from
your aching souls. These are like monsters that suck the purest of
your blood and open wounds that are usually mortal. Thus, in the
future, when you have become humble and submissive to the
Creator, you will keep His Divine Laws. Love, pray and be gentle
with the Spirits of the Lord and call unto them sincerely from the
bottom of your hearts. Then He will send His beloved Son to
instruct you and to say these goodly words, “I am come because
you called Me.” - THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH (Bordeaux, 1861.)
8. God consoles the humble and gives strength to the afflicted
when they ask. His power covers the Earth and in every place with
each tear shed, He places a consoling remedy. Abnegation and
resignation are a continuous prayer and contain profound teaching.
Human wisdom resides in these two words. Would that all
suffering spirits could understand this truth, instead of clamouring
against their pain and the moral sufferings that it behoves them to
partake. So, take these words for your motto: devotion and
abnegation. Then you will be strong, as they resume all the
obligations that charity and humility impose. The sentiment of
fulfilled duty will give repose and resignation to your spirit. Then
your heart will beat more steadily, your soul will become more
tranquil and your body will be protected against despondency;
because the body suffers more when the spirit is profoundly
stricken. - THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH (Havre, 1863.)
 CHAPTER 7

BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT

How to understand the words 'poor in spirit.' - He who exalts himself shall be
debased. - Mysteries that are hidden from the learned and prudent. -
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: Pride and humility. - The mission of the
intelligent person on Earth.

HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS ‘POOR IN

SPIRIT’
1. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. (MATTHEW, 5:3)
2. Incredulity has mocked this maxim: Blessed are the poor in
spirit as it has mocked many other things it does not understand.
By the words ‘poor in spirit’, Jesus did not mean those devoid of
intelligence, but those who are humble; in as much as He said that
the kingdom of heaven would be for them and not for the prideful.
People of knowledge and imagination, so called by public
conviction; generally hold such high opinions of themselves and
their superiority that they consider everything divine as being
undeserving of their consideration. By concentrating all their
attention upon themselves, they are then unable to lift up their
eyes to God. This tendency to believe they are superior to
everything and everyone, very frequently leads them to deny
anything that might be above them, even Divinity itself, for fear it
might belittle them. If they condescend to admit its existence, they
then contest one of its most beautiful attributes that is providential
action over things of this world, because they think they alone are
sufficient to govern. Taking the intelligence they possess as a
measure of universal intelligence and judging themselves able to
 BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT 135

understand everything, they are unable to believe in the viability

of that which they do not understand. They consider their
judgement to be the law.
If they refuse to admit the existence of the invisible world and
an extra-human power, it is not because it is beyond their
capability, but because their pride makes them revolt against the
idea of something above which they are unable to place
themselves, that would bring them down from the pedestal upon
which they like to contemplate. Hence, they only have scorn for
everything that does not belong to the visible and tangible world.
They attribute to themselves such imagination and learning that
they cannot believe in things that, according to their way of
thinking, are only good for simple people, taking for poor in spirit
all who take such matters seriously.
However, say what they like, they will inevitably be drawn into
this invisible world they scoff at, together with everyone else. It is
there that their eyes will be opened, so making them realise their
errors. Nevertheless, God being just, He cannot receive those who
have denied His majesty in the same manner as those who submit
to His laws with humility, nor can He give them equal share.
By saying that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are
simple, Jesus shows us that no one will be admitted to this
kingdom without simplicity of heart and humility of spirit. That
the ignorant person who possesses these qualities will be preferred
to a wise person who believes more in themselves than in God. In
all circumstances, Jesus puts humility into the category of virtues
that brings us near to God and pride into the category of vices that
keep us away from God. The reason for this is clear, for to be
humble is an act of submission to God, whereas pride is a revolt
against Him. Therefore, there is far greater value for our future
happiness when people are poor in spirit - in a worldly sense - and
rich in moral qualities.
136 CHAPTER 7

HE WHO EXALTS HIMSELF SHALL BE DEBASED

3. At the same time came the disciples to Jesus, saying, who is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' And Jesus called a little child
to him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say to
you, except you are converted, and become as little children, you
shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever, therefore,
shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the
kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child
in my name receives me. (MATTHEW, 18:1-5.)
4. Then came to him the mother of Zebede’s children with her
sons, worshipping him. And he said to her, What do you want?
She said to him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on
your right hand, and the other on the left, in your kingdom. But
Jesus answered and said, You know not what you are asking. Are
you able to drink from the cup that I shall drink from, and be
baptised with the baptism that I am baptised with? They said to
him, We are able. And he said to them, you shall drink indeed
from my cup, and be baptised with the baptism that I am baptised
with: but to sit at my right hand, and on my left hand is not mine
to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared by my
Father. And when the ten heard it, they were moved with
indignation against the two brothers. Nevertheless, Jesus called
them to him and said, You know that the Princes of the Gentiles
exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise
authority over them. But it shall not be so among you: but
whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And
whoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as
the Son of man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and
to give his life a ransom for many. (MATTHEW, 20:20-28)
5. And it came to pass, as he went into the house of the chief
Pharisee to eat bread on the Sabbath day, that they watched him.
And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he
marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying to them, When
you are invited of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the
 BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT 137

highest room; lest a more honourable man than you be invited by

him; and he that invited you and him come and say to you, Give
this man place; and you begin with shame to take the lowest room.
But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest room; that
when he that invited you cometh, he may say to you, Friend, go up
higher; then you will have worship in the presence of them that sit
at meat with you. For whosoever exalted himself shall be abased;
and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. (LUKE, 14:1 & 7-
11.)
6. These maxims stem from the principle of humility that Jesus
was constantly presenting as an essential condition for the
happiness promised to the chosen of the Lord, which He presented
in this manner, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.” He took a child as a symbol of simplicity of
heart when He said, “The greatest in the kingdom of heaven will
be those who are humble and small as a little child.” That is to
say, those who hold no pretension to superiority or infallibility.
We find the same fundamental idea in the following maxim:
Whoever wants to be first must be your slave and also in this: He
who humbles himself will be exalted and he who exalts himself
will be humbled.
Spiritism confirms this theory through examples when it shows
that those who are great in the spiritual world are those who were
small on Earth. That frequently those who were great and
powerful on Earth find themselves extremely small in the spiritual
world. This is because on dying, people take with them only that
which makes for greatness in Heaven, that which is never lost
being their virtues. All earthly greatness, such as riches, titles,
glory, nobleness of birth, etc., is impossible to take with them. On
reaching the other side, if humans have nothing apart from these
qualities, they find themselves destitute of everything, like
shipwrecked people who loses everything, even to their clothes.
The only item still retained is pride that makes the position even
138 CHAPTER 7

worse, more humiliating, when it is found that those they trod

underfoot on Earth have been raised to places of glory far above.
Spiritism also shows another side of this principle within the
process of successive reincarnations. When those who had raised
themselves to high positions in one life, then find that in a
succeeding existence they are born into lowly conditions, if they
had allowed themselves to be dominated by pride and ambition.
Therefore, do not seek the highest positions on Earth, nor place
yourself above others if you do not wish to be obliged to descend.
On the contrary, seek the most humble and modest positions,
seeing that God will then give you a more elevated place in
heaven if you deserve it.

MYSTERIES ARE HIDDEN FROM

THE LEARNED AND PRUDENT
7. At that time Jesus answered and said: thank thee, O Father,
Lord of Heaven and Earth, because you have hidden these things
from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to little
children. (MATTHEW, 11:25.)
8. It may appear quite singular that Jesus gives thanks to God
for having revealed these things to the meek and humble, who are
the poor in spirit, and for having hidden them from the learned
and prudent, who apparently are more able to understand.
Nevertheless, we must recognise that the former are those who are
submissive, who humble themselves before God and do not
consider themselves superior. The latter are those who are
arrogant and full of pride for their worldly knowledge, judging
themselves prudent because they deny God or who, when they are
not refusing to accept Him, treat Him as an equal despite the fact
that in ancient times ‘learned’ was a synonym for ‘wise’. This is
why God has left them to discover the secrets of the Earth and
 BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT 139

revealed the secrets of Heaven only to the humble, who bow down
before Him.
9. The same thing has happened today with the great truths
revealed by Spiritism. Many of those who are incredulous are
surprised by the fact that the Spirits take so little trouble to
convince them. The reason for this being that it is preferable to
look after those who seek with good faith and humility, rather than
offer enlightenment to those who suppose they already possess it;
who perhaps imagine that God should be very thankful for having
managed to attract their attention by proving His existence to
them.
The power of God manifests itself in all things, from the
smallest to the greatest. He does not hide His light, but rather
disperses it in constant waves to every corner of the Universe; to
such an extent that only those who are blind do not see. God does
not wish their eyes to be opened by force, seeing that they desire
to keep them shut. Their time will come. First, it is necessary that
they feel the anguish of darkness and so recognise it is God and
not mere chance that hurts their pride. In order to overcome this
incredulity, God uses the most convenient means according to
each individual. It is not their incredulity that prescribes what is to
be done, nor is it up to them to say, “If you want to convince me,
then you must do this or that on a certain occasion because this is
what could persuade me.”
Therefore, those who are unbelievers should not be surprised if
neither God nor the Spirits, who execute His wishes, do not submit
to these demands. Instead, they should ask themselves what they
would say if the lowest of their servants tried to impose upon them
in whatever form. God imposes the conditions and does not accept
those who wish to impose conditions on Him. He listens kindly to
those who direct themselves to Him with humility and not to those
who judge themselves greater than He.
140 CHAPTER 7

10. It is often asked if God could not touch these people

personally by means of clearly evident manifestations, before
which even the most obstinate unbeliever would be convinced.
Beyond all doubt He could. In this case, what merit would be
gained and more importantly, what use would it be. Do we not see
people every day who do not bow down even before such
evidence and who say, “Even if I saw I would not believe because
I know it is impossible?” If they deny the truth in such a manner, it
is because their spirits have not yet reached sufficient maturity to
enable them to understand or their hearts able to feel. Pride is the
cataract that covers their vision. What good does it do to show a
light to one who is blind? Rather it is first necessary to cure the
cause of the ill. This is why, just as a skilful doctor, He first
punishes their pride. He will never abandon any of His children
since eventually, their eyes will be opened, but He wishes this to
happen of their own free will. Then defeated by the torments of
incredulity, they will throw themselves into His arms of their own
accord, begging to be forgiven just as did the prodigal son.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

PRIDE AND HUMILITY

11. My dear friends, may the peace of the Lord be with you! I
have come in order to encourage you to follow the good pathway.
Humble Spirits, who in other times inhabited the Earth, have
been commissioned by God to enlighten you. Blessed be the Lord
for the grace that He has granted us of being able to help you
improve. May the Holy Spirit illuminate me, so helping to make
my words understandable and grant me the favour of being able to
put them within reach of all! To you who are incarnate, who are
undergoing trials and searching for the light, I pray that the will of
 BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT 141

God comes to my aid so that I may make His Teachings shine

before your eyes!
Humility is a virtue much forgotten amongst you. Of the many
examples given very few have been followed. However, is it
possible to be charitable to your neighbour without being humble?
Of course not, because this sentiment reduces humankind to the
same level by telling them they are brothers and sisters who
should help one another mutually, which leads them to a state of
Goodness. Without humility, you are merely adorning yourself
with virtues you do not possess, as you use clothes especially to
hide some physical deformity. Remember He who saved us;
remember His humility, which was so great as to put Him above
all the prophets!
Pride is the terrible adversary of humility. If Christ promised
the kingdom of heaven to the very poor, it was because the great
ones on this Earth imagine their titles and riches are recompenses,
conferred upon them due to merit. Therefore, they consider
themselves to be of an essence much purer than that of the poor.
They judge that the titles and riches are due to them, in view of
which, when God takes them away, they accuse Him of injustice.
Oh! What a mockery of God's justice, what blindness! Does God
then distinguish by means of the body? Is not the physical
covering of the poor person just the same as that of the rich
person? Has the Creator made two kinds of humanity? Everything
made by God is wise and great. Therefore, never attribute to Him
those ideas created by your own prideful minds.
Oh! You who are rich! While sleeping beneath your golden
roofs, safe from the cold, are you aware that thousands of your
brothers and sisters, who in God's eyes are worth just as much as
you sleep upon beds of straw? Are not those who go hungry your
equals? I know that your pride revolts at my words. You agree to
give alms, but you will never shake their hands! “Why me!” you
142 CHAPTER 7

will say “I, who am of the noblest blood, one of the great of this
Earth, equal to those miserable wretches covered in rags! This is a
vain Utopia of pseudo-philosophers! If we are equal, why would
God have placed them so low and me so high?” It is true that your
clothes are not alike, but if you undressed what difference would
there be between you and them? Nevertheless, those of noble
blood would say there is a chemical difference. However, until
today no such difference has even been discovered between the
blood of a lord and that of a common person, or that of a master
and that of a slave. Who can guarantee that in the past you too
were not as wretched and unfortunate as he was? That you too did
not beg for alms. Who can say that one-day in the future you will
not beg alms of the one you despise today? Are riches eternal?
When the body extinguishes itself, do they not disappear? After
all, the body is nothing more than the perishable covering of the
spirit! Ah! Cover yourselves with a little humility! Cast your eyes
finally on the reality of the things of this world; on what leads to
greatness on the one hand and humility on the other. Remember
you will not be spared from death, for no one is; nor can your titles
be preserved from its blow that might strike today, tomorrow or at
any hour. If you bury yourself in your pride, then I feel sorry for
you because you will be deserving of pity!
You who are so full of pride! What were you before you
became noble and powerful? Probably you were beneath the
lowest of your servants. Therefore, bow down your haughty
brows, for God can cause you to fall at the exact moment when
you most exalt yourselves. All human beings are equal on the
divine scale of justice; only virtue marks the distinction in the eyes
of God. All spirits come from the same essence and all bodies are
formed from the same matter. Your titles and names modify
nothing. They remain in the tomb and in no way contribute to the
possibility of enjoying the happiness promised to the chosen.
 BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT 143

Their titles of nobleness are based solely upon their humility and
acts of charity.
Poor creature! You are a mother! Your children suffer! They
are cold and hungry while you, bent under the burden of your
cross, go out to humiliate yourself in order to bring them bread!
Oh! I bow down before you! How saintly and noble you are, how
great in my eyes! Pray and wait; happiness still is not of this
world. But God will grant the Kingdom of Heaven to the poor and
oppressed who have confidence in Him.
And you, a young maiden, poor child, thrust into work and
privations. Why do you have such sad thoughts? Why do you cry?
May your eyes be lifted up with serenity and pity to God. He feeds
the small birds. Believe in Him; He will not abandon you. The
sound of parties and the joys of this world make your heart beat
faster. You wish to adorn your hair with flowers and join together
with the fortunate of this world. You say to yourself that, like the
women you see passing by, free of cares and full of laughter, you
too could be rich. Oh! Dear child, do not say such things! If you
only knew how many tears and what unspeakable pain are hidden
beneath those embroidered dresses, and how many sobs are
muffled by the sound of that noisy orchestra, you would prefer
your humble position and pauperism. Maintain yourself pure in
the eyes of God, if you do not want your Guardian Angel to return
to Him, covering its face with its white wings, leaving you to your
remorse on this planet, without a guide, without support, where
you will be lost and where you will be forced to await punishment
in the next world.
All you who suffer injustice from your fellow creatures be
indulgent with the faults of your brothers and sisters, pondering
that you are not exempt from guilt. This is charity and humility. If
you suffer from slander, bow down your head before this trial.
What importance does the slander of this world have for you? If
144 CHAPTER 7

your conduct is pure, cannot God recompense you? Support

courageously the humiliations put upon you by humanity; be
humble and recognise that only God is great and powerful.
Oh dear God! Will it be necessary for Christ to return to Earth a
second time in order to teach His Laws because humanity has
forgotten them? Will He once again have to expel the merchants
from the temple for defiling His house that should have been kept
exclusively for prayer? Ah, who knows? Oh Humanity! If God
granted this grace once more would you not reject Him yet again!
Would you not accuse Him of blasphemy because He would
humble the pride of modern Pharisees! Perhaps it is even possible
that you would make Him follow the road to Golgotha again.
When Moses climbed Mount Sinai to receive God's
commandments, the people of Israel being left to themselves
abandoned the true God. Men and women gave whatever gold
they possessed in order that an idol could be made for them to
worship. Today civilised humanity still behaves in the same way.
Christ bequeathed His Teachings to you, giving examples of all
the virtues, but you have abandoned these examples and precepts.
Each one of you, charged with passions, has made a god in
accordance with your desires; for some, bloody and terrible; for
others, indifferent to the interests of the world. Nevertheless, the
god you have fabricated is still the golden calf which each adapts
to his or her own tastes and ideas.
My friends, my brothers and sisters, awaken! Let the voices of
the Spirits echo in your hearts. Be generous and charitable without
ostentation, that is to say, do Good with humility. Let each one,
little by little, begin to demolish the altars erected to their pride. In
a word, if you are a true Christian you will possess the kingdom of
truth. Do not continue to doubt the goodness of God, when He is
giving so many proofs of this fact. We have come to prepare the
way so that the prophecies may be fulfilled. When the Lord gives
 BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT 145

you a more resounding demonstration of His clemency, may His

celestial messenger find you all gathered together in a great
family. It is hoped that by then, your hearts being gentle and mild,
you will be worthy to hear the divine words He will offer. May the
Chosen One encounter only laurels in His path that have been laid
there by your having returned to goodness, charity and fraternity
amongst all humans. Then will your world become an earthly
Paradise. However, if you remain insensitive to the voices of the
Spirits who have been sent to purify and renew your civilised
society, which although rich in science, is so poor in noble
sentiments, then sadly there will be nothing left for you but tears
and groans of unhappiness. However, that will not happen! You
will return to God the Father, and all of us who have contributed
to the fulfilling of His wishes will join together in singing a hymn
of thanksgiving for His unbounded goodness, to glorify Him
throughout all the coming ages. So be it. - LACORDAIRE
(Constantine, 1863.)
12. Humans, why do you complain about the calamities that
you yourselves have heaped upon your heads? You despise the
saintly and divine morality of Christ; so do not be surprised that
the cup of iniquity should overflow on all sides.
Trouble has become generalised. Who is to blame if not you,
who have unceasingly tried to crush each other? It is impossible to
be happy without mutual benevolence; but how can benevolence
coexist alongside pride? Pride! This is the root of all your troubles.
Apply yourselves therefore to destroying it, if you do not wish
continually to perpetuate these fatal consequences. There is only
one way that offers itself for this purpose, but it is infallible: take
Christ's Law as your invariable rule of conduct, that very same
Law that you have spurned or falsified in its interpretation.
Why do you hold that which shines and enchants the eyes in
higher esteem than that which touches the heart? Why do you
146 CHAPTER 7

make the vice of opulence the object of your adulations, whereas

you are disdainful of true merit when it is obscure? Whenever a
rich debauchee appears, even though they be lost in body and soul,
all doors open, all rush to give them attention; whereas a godly
person who lives by their work is hardly given a greeting! When
the consideration dispensed to others is measured by the gold they
possess or the name they use, what interest can they have in
correcting their defects?
This situation would be very different if the many degrading
and immoral practices that are gilded over were censured by
public opinion, as much as is the failing of poverty. However,
pride shows itself ever indulgent to all who flatter it. You say that
this is the century of cupidity and money. Beyond doubt; but why
allow material necessity to overshadow your good sense and
reason? Why must each one wish to place themselves above their
brother or sister? Society today is suffering the consequences of
this fact.
Never forget that this state of affairs is always a sign of moral
decay and decline. When pride reaches extremes it is an indication
of an imminent fall, for God never fails to punish the arrogant. If
He sometimes allows them to rise, it is only in order to give time
for meditation, and to mend their ways under the blows that come
to strike their pride from time to time, to serve as warnings.
Instead of becoming humble, they rebel. Thus, when the cup is full
God will cause them to descend and according to how high they
have risen, the more terrible will be their fall.
Poor suffering humanity, whose selfishness has corrupted all
pathways, we beg you to renew your courage despite everything.
In His infinite mercy, God has sent you a powerful remedy for all
your ills, an unexpected help for all your miseries. Open your eyes
to the light! Here are the souls of those who no longer live upon
the Earth, who have come to call you to the fulfilment of your
 BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT 147

duties. They will tell you, with the authority of experience, how
the vanities and grandeur of this passing existence become mere
trifles when faced with eternity. There, in the beyond, the greatest
is the one who has been the humblest amongst the most humble in
your world. They will tell you that the ones who have most loved
their fellow beings will be the best loved in Heaven. That the most
powerful on Earth, if they abuse their authority, will be obliged to
obey their own servants. Lastly, humility and charity, who are as
two brothers or sisters, going hand in hand, are the most effective
titles in obtaining grace before He who is Eternal. - ADOLF,
Bishop of Algiers. (Marmande, 1862.)

THE MISSION OF THE INTELLIGENT PERSON

ON EARTH
13. Never be prideful of what you know, because that
knowledge has very restricted limits in the world in which you
live. Even supposing you were a prominent intellectual celebrity
on this planet, still, you would have no right to be proud. If God,
within His designs, causes you to be born in an ambient where you
could develop this intelligence, then it was because He wished you
to use it for the benefit of everyone. You have been given a
mission by the fact of God having placed an instrument in your
hands that can be used to develop the retarded intelligences around
you, and so conduct them to God. Is not the nature of the
instrument an indication as to the purpose for which it should be
used? Does not the hoe, which the gardener gives to his assistant,
show to what use it should be put? What would you say if instead
of working with the hoe, he raised it against his master with a
desire to injure him? You would say it was monstrous, that the
person should be expelled. Well then, is it not the same for the
person who uses their intelligence to destroy the idea of God and
Providence amongst their fellow beings? Does not the person who
148 CHAPTER 7

had been given a hoe to till the soil then raise it against their
master? Have they then the right to receive the promised salary?
On the contrary, do they not deserve to be expelled from the
garden? Do not doubt that they will be! Then they will pass
through many miserable existences full of humiliations until they
finally bow down before Him to whom they owe everything.
Intelligence is rich in future merits, provided it is well
employed. If all men and women who possessed it used it in
conformity with God's wishes, then it would be easy for the Spirits
to perform their task of helping humanity advance. Unhappily,
many have become instruments of pride and perdition against
themselves. Humanity abuses intelligence as it does all the other
faculties. Nevertheless, there is no lack of Teachings to warn of a
powerful Hand that may withdraw what has been granted.
FERDINAND, a Protecting Spirit. (Bordeaux, 1862.)
 CHAPTER 8

BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART

Simplicity and pureness of heart. - Sinning by means of thought. Adultery. -
True pureness. Unwashed hands. - Offences. If your hand is the cause of an
offence, cut it off. - INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: Let little children come
to me. - Blessed are those whose eyes are closed.

SIMPLICITY AND PURENESS OF HEART

1. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they will see God.
(MATTHEW, 5:8.)
2. And they brought young children to Him, that He should touch
them; and His disciples rebuked those that brought them. But
when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said to them,
Suffer the little children to come to me, and forbid them not: for
such is the Kingdom of God. Verily I say to you, Whosoever shall
not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter
therein. And He took them up in his arms, put His hands upon
them, and blessed them. (MARK, 10:13-16).
3. Pureness of heart is inseparable from simplicity and
humbleness. It excludes all ideas of selfishness and pride. This
was why Jesus took infancy as the symbol of purity and
humbleness.
It might appear unjust to make this comparison seeing that the
spirit of a child could be very old, and on being reborn to
corporeal life might bring with it the imperfections that it had not
been able to cast off during previous incarnations. Only a spirit
who has reached perfection can offer an example of true purity.
However, from the point of view of our present life, it offers an
exact comparison because a child, having had no opportunity yet
150 CHAPTER 8

to manifest any perverse tendencies, presents us with an image of

innocence and purity. So it becomes clear that Jesus did not say
the kingdom of heaven was meant for children, but for those who
resemble them.
4. Since the spirit of a child has lived before, why does it not
show itself as it really is right from birth? Everything in God's
work is full of wisdom. A child needs special care, which only a
mother's tenderness can bestow; tenderness that stems from the
frailty and ingenuousness of the child. For a mother, her child is
always an angel and this is the way it must be in order to captivate
concern. She would not be able to offer the same solicitude if, in
place of ingenuousness, she saw virility and adult ideas in the
infantile features, nor if she came to know the past of that
incarnated spirit.
From the moment of birth, ideas gradually take on shape and
impulse according to the development of the organs, from which it
is possible to say that during the first years the spirit is truly a
child because all ideas that form the true character remain
dormant. During this period of dormancy, in which the instincts
are also latent, the spirit is more malleable, more accessible to
impressions that can modify the character and help the spirit to
progress. All of which makes it easier for the parents to educate
the child at this stage.
The spirit then wears a temporary tunic of innocence; so Jesus
was right when, not withstanding the anteriority of the soul, He
takes a child as the symbol of purity and simplicity.

SINNING BY MEANS OF THOUGHT. - ADULTERY

5. You have heard it was said by them of old time, You shall not
commit adultery: but I say to you, That whosoever looks on a
woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already
in his heart. (MATTHEW, 5:27 & 28).
 BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART 151

6. Under no circumstance should the word adultery be accepted

in the exclusive sense to which it is commonly applied, but rather
it should be understood in terms that are more general. Jesus used
it many times in an extensive sense to designate evil, sin and every
type of bad thought. As for example in this passage: “Whosoever
therefore, shall be ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous
and sinful generation, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed,
when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
(MARK, 8:38.)
True pureness is not only in behaviour but also in thought, since
the person who has a pure heart does not even think evil. Jesus
wished to say that He condemned sin even in thought because it is
a sign of impurity.
7. This principle naturally leads to the following question: Do
we suffer any consequence for a bad thought, even if it is not
followed by the actual action?
At this point, it is necessary to make an important distinction.
As the soul advances along its path to evolution and
spiritualisation, it will slowly become enlightened and so little by
little divest itself of its imperfections according to the greater or
lesser goodwill it demonstrates within its freewill. Therefore all
evil thoughts result from the imperfections of the soul. However,
according to the strength of the desire to purify itself, the evil
thought becomes a means of advancement when it is energetically
repelled. This is an indication of a positive action by the soul in
order to extinguish a blemish. In this way, it will not give in to the
temptation to satisfy an evil desire, and having resisted, the soul
feels itself to be stronger and content with the victory.
On the contrary, the person who has made no resolutions will
look for every opportunity to practice evil, and if this is not
achieved it will not be for the wanting, but for the lack of
152 CHAPTER 8

opportunity. This person then will be just as guilty as if he or she

had actually committed evil.
To summarise, the person who does not conceive the idea of
committing evil has already achieved a certain degree of progress.
For the person who feels the urge but constantly repels it, progress
is in the process of realisation. However, for the person who thinks
in terms of evil, taking pleasure in these thoughts, then the evil
still exists in all its strength. In the one, the work has been done,
whereas in the other it is still to be started. But being just, God
takes into account all these gradations when it comes to individual
responsibilities for acts and thoughts.

TRUE PURENESS. UNWASHED HANDS

8. Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were in
Jerusalem, saying, Why do your disciples transgress the tradition
of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
But He answered and said to them, Why do you also transgress
the commandments of God by your tradition? For God
commanded, saying, honour your father and mother; and, he that
curses father and mother, let him die the death. But you say,
Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, it is a gift, by
whatsoever you may be profited by me; and honour not his father
or his mother shall be free. Thus, you have made the
commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.
You hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you saying, These
people draw near to me with their mouth and honour me with
their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they
worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men.
And He called the multitude, and said to them, Hear, and
understand: Not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man; but
that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man. Then came
his disciples, and said to Him, knowest you that the Pharisees
 BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART 153

were offended, after they heard this saying? But He answered

and said, every plant, which my heavenly Father did not plant,
shall be rooted up. Leave them alone: they are blind leaders of the
blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch
(MATTHEW, 15:1-20).
9. And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee invited Him to dine with
him: and he went in and sat down to meat. And when the Pharisee
saw it, he marvelled that He had not first washed before dinner.
And the Lord said to him, Now do you Pharisees make clean the
outside of the cup and the plate; but your inward part is full of
ravening and wickedness. You fools, did not He that made that
which is without make that which is within also? (LUKE 11:37-
40).
10. The Jews had scorned God's true commandments in order to
cling to the practice of regulations established by human beings
and had made the rigid observance of these regulations a matter of
conscience. The original simple substance became lost beneath
complicated forms of ritual, as it was much easier to practice
exterior cult than to effect moral reform, to wash hands instead of
cleansing the heart, thus humanity became deluded, believing they
were exonerated before God by conforming to these practices.
Seeing that the people were taught that God demanded nothing
more of them, they remained the same as they had always been.
Hence the prophet said, “But in vain do they worship me, teaching
for doctrine the commandments of men.”
The verification of this can also be found in the moral
Teachings of Christ, which has ended up in second place and as a
result, many Christians, just like the ancient Jews, consider that
salvation is better guaranteed by means of external practice rather
than by moral practice. It is to these fabricated additions to God's
law that Jesus referred to when He said, “Every tree that my
heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.”
154 CHAPTER 8

The objective of religion is to conduct humanity towards God.

Well, God can only be reached through perfection. Therefore, any
religion that does not make people better than they are now, will
never reach this objective. Everything that a person judges will
support them in committing evil is either false or has had its
principles falsified. Such is the result for all religions where the
form surmounts the base. Belief in the efficiency of exterior
manifestation is invalid if it does not oppose the acts of murder,
adultery, robbery and the causing of slander or damage in
whatever form to whomsoever it may be. These kinds of religions
never create godly men and women, only people who are
superstitious, hypocrites and fanatics.
The mere appearance of pureness is not enough, because above
all else it is necessary to have a pure heart.

OFFENCES. - IF YOUR HAND IS THE CAUSE OF AN

OFFENCE, CUT IT OFF
11. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in
me, it were better for them that a millstone was hanged about
their neck, and that they were drowned in the depth of the sea.
Woe to the world because of offences! For it must needs be that
offences come; but woe to the person by whom the offences come!
Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones; for I say to
you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my
Father that is in heaven. For the Son of man is come to save that
which was lost.
And if your right hand offends you, cut it off, and cast it from you:
for it is profitable for you that one of your members shall perish,
and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. And if your
right eye offends you, pluck it out and cast it from you: for it is
profitable for you that one of your members should perish and not
 BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART 155

that your whole body should be cast into hell. (MATTHEW, 18:6-9;
5:29 &30).
12. In its most usual meaning, the word scandal is any action
that goes extensively against morality or decorum. The offence is
not in the action itself so much as in the repercussion it may cause.
The word always implies a certain amount of commotion and
dispute. Many people are content if they avoid causing a scandal
in public, because this would cause them to suffer a loss of
prestige, so hurting their pride. They do their best to hide their
mistakes, as this is sufficient to quieten their consciences. They
are, as Jesus said: “As white sepulchres which are full of
rottenness, like vessels which are clean without, but dirty within.”
However, in the evangelic sense, the accepted meaning of the
word scandal, used so repeatedly, is very much more generalised
and this is why in certain cases its meaning is not understood. It
becomes not only that which affects the conscience of another
person but also everything that is the result of vice and human
imperfections, as well as every bad reaction from one individual to
another, with or without repercussion. In this case, the scandal is
the effective result of bad morality.
13. Jesus said: It is necessary that offences exist in the world
because, due to the many imperfections of those on Earth,
humanity shows itself inclined to practice evil and because bad
trees only bring forth bad fruits. From these words then, we must
understand that evil is the consequence of humanity's
imperfections and not that there exists an obligation to practice
evil.
14. It is necessary for scandals to come seeing that here on
Earth humanity is making atonement. Human beings are being
punished through contact with their own vices, thus becoming
their own victims, from where they will finally come to
understand the inconvenience of this way of life. When people are
156 CHAPTER 8

tired of suffering due to evil, they will seek a remedy in Goodness.

Therefore, the reactions caused by these failings serve for some as
a punishment and for others as a test. This is how God gets good
out of evil and how humanity itself profits from utilising both bad
and useless things.
15. It could be said then that evil is necessary and that it will
last forever, seeing that if it disappears God would be deprived of
a powerful means of being able to correct the guilty. It could also
be said that it is useless to try to make Humanity better. However,
if we ceased to have culprits then it would be unnecessary to have
any kind of punishment. Let us suppose that Humanity becomes
transformed, so becoming composed only of good men and
women, where no one would think of doing evil to their neighbour
and all would be happy to be Good. This is the condition found on
advanced worlds, where evil has been excluded. This is what will
happen here on Earth, when humanity has made sufficient
progress. However, while some worlds are advancing, others are
forming, populated by primitive spirits which also serve as places
of exile and as places of atonement for those spirits who are
imperfect, rebellious and persistent in evil, who have been
expelled from worlds that have become places of happiness.
16. But woe to that person by whom the offence comes. That is
to say, that evil always being evil, the person who, without
knowing, serves as an instrument of Divine Justice, whose bad
instincts were utilised, commits no less an evil and so deserves
punishment. In this manner, an ungrateful child is a punishment or
trial for the parents, who are forced to suffer from its attitude. This
is because they themselves had been bad children and made their
parents suffer. Therefore, they pay the penalty. Nevertheless, the
circumstances should not be an excuse for the child's behaviour,
who in return will have to pay the penalty through their own
children, or in some other manner.
 BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART 157

17. If your hand is the cause of a scandal, cut it off. This is a

very strong statement and it would be absurd for it to be taken
literally. Therefore, it should be understood that each one must
destroy within themselves everything that might cause a scandal,
meaning evil. This must be done by rooting out every impure
thought and every tendency towards violence, corruption or
depravity. It also means that it is preferable for a person to cut off
a hand rather than use it to commit an evil action; or better still, to
lose one's sight rather than allow one's eyes to conceive bad
thoughts. For those who take the trouble to discover the allegoric
meaning of His words, Jesus never said anything that was absurd.
Nevertheless, many things cannot be understood without the key
to decipher them and this key is offered to us through Spiritism.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

LET LITTLE CHILDREN COME TO ME

18. Christ said: “Let the little children come to me.” Profound
in their simplicity these words do not contain just a call to
children, but also a call to the souls who gravitate in the inferior
regions where misfortune knows no hope. Jesus also calls to the
infantile intellectuality of the adult, to the weak, to those in
slavery, to the depraved and to the wicked. He could teach nothing
to the physically infantile, still bound by matter and submitted to
the yoke of instinct, as these had not yet reached the superior
category of reason or of free will, which is exercised around them
and for their benefit.
Jesus wanted humanity to deliver themselves to Him with
confidence, in the same way that tiny tots, with their special
appeal, win over the hearts of women, who are all mothers. Then
He could submit these souls to His tender and mysterious
influence. He was the flame that brought light to the darkness, that
158 CHAPTER 8

dawn light that announces the sunrise. He was the initiator of

Spiritism, which should attract towards Him not just the children,
but all men and women of goodwill. Vigorous action has begun. It
is no longer a question of instinctive belief and mechanical
obedience; it is necessary for human beings to follow the
intelligent law that shows its universality.
Dearly beloved, the time has come in which, when explained,
all fallacies will become truths. We shall teach the exact meaning
of the parables and show the strong correlation existing between
what was and what is now. In truth, I say to you that these great
spiritual manifestations will open up the horizons, for here is the
messenger that will shine resplendently as the sun upon the
mountaintop. – JOHN THE EVANGELIST (Paris, 1863.)
19. Let the little children come to me, for I have the milk that
will strengthen the weak. Let all those who are fearful, feeble, or
are in need of help and consolation come to me. Let the ignorant
come to me, so that I may enlighten them. Let all who suffer come
to me, together with the afflicted and the unfortunate. I will teach
them the great remedy that will soften their ills, and reveal to them
the secret that will cure their wounds! My friends, what is this
supreme balsam, that possesses such high virtue that it may be
applied to all types of wounds suffered by the heart and heal
them? It is love and charity! If you possess this divine flame, why
are you afraid? Then every moment of your life, you will say
“Dear Father, I pray that your wish be done and not mine. If it is
your pleasure to test me through pain and tribulations blessed be
it, because I know it is for my own good. If it pleases you Lord,
have mercy on this weak creature, giving justifiable happiness to
this heart and blessed be You yet again. But do not allow divine
love to lie sleeping in my soul; make it rise up unceasingly and
present itself at your feet as a witness of my gratitude.”
 BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART 159

If you have love, then you have the most desirable thing on
Earth. You possess a most precious pearl which no occurrence,
nor malice of those who hate and persecute, can take away. If you
have love, you will have placed your treasure where the worms
and rust cannot attack, having extinguished everything capable of
defiling the pureness of your soul. Every day you will feel the
diminishing weight of matter, and like a bird in the sky which no
longer remembers the Earth, you will continually rise up without
ceasing until your soul, full of exhilaration, fills itself with the
elements of the true life in the bosom of the Lord. - A PROTECTING
SPIRIT (Bordeaux, 1861.)

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE EYES ARE CLOSED.12

20. My good friends, why did you call me? Was it because you
wished that I put my hands upon the unhappy sufferer that is
present and cure her? Ah! My God what suffering! She has lost
her sight and darkness envelops her. Poor child! Let her pray and
wait. I do not know how to perform miracles if God does not wish
it. All the cures that I have been able to obtain, that you have been
informed about, can only be attributed to He who is our Father. In
your afflictions always lift up your eyes to Heaven and say with
heart felt sincerity “Heavenly Father, cure me, but cause my sick
soul to cure itself before you cure my body. Let my flesh be
chastised, if this be necessary, so that my soul may rise up to you
with the same whiteness it possessed when You created it.” After
this prayer, my friends, the Good Lord always listens to you; then
you will be given strength, courage and perhaps the cure for which
you have asked, in recompense for your abnegation.

12
This communication was given in response to the appeal of a blind person, in
whose name the Spirit of J. B. VIANNEY, a parish priest of Ars was evoked.
160 CHAPTER 8

However, since I am here in this assembly that deals principally

with study, I will tell you that those who are deprived of their sight
should consider themselves blessed in their atonement. I would
remind you that Christ said it was better to pluck out your eye if it
were evil, and that it was preferable to cast it into the fire rather
than allow it to become the cause of your condemnation. Ah! How
many there are in the world who one day, when they are in
absolute darkness, will curse the time they saw the light! Oh yes,
how happy are those who through atonement find they have been
struck in their sight! Then their eyes will not be the cause of
offence nor of their downfall. They can live the full life of the
soul. They can see more than those whose vision is clear! When
God permits that I open the eyelids of some of these sad sufferers
and restore their sight, then I say to myself “Dear soul, why do
you not wish to know all the delights of the spirit who lives by
love and contemplation? Then you would not ask to see images
that are less pure and gentle than those you glimpse through your
blindness!”
Oh! Blessed are the blind who wish to live with God! More
fortunate than you who are here at this moment, they feel
happiness; it is tangible to them; they see the souls of men and
women, and can rise up with them to the spiritual spheres where
they can perceive what even the predestined of the Earth cannot
manage to see. Our eyes, when open, are always ready to cause the
downfall of the soul; whilst, when shut, they are always ready to
help us rise up in the direction of God. Believe me, my good and
dear friends, on many occasions blindness is the true light of the
heart, whereas sight is frequently the angel of darkness that leads
to death.
Now, a few words directed at you, my poor sufferer. Wait and
be of good faith! If I were to say, “My child, your eyes will open,”
how jubilant you would feel. However, who knows if that joy
would not be the cause of a great loss! Have faith then in the Lord
 BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART 161

who gives us happiness and permits sadness. I will do everything

for you that I am permitted, but on your side, you must pray, and
even more importantly, meditate on all that I have just said.
Before I leave, may all who are here gathered together receive
my blessing. - VIANNEY, parish priest of Ars (Paris, 1863.)
21. REMARKS: When an affliction is not a consequence of acts
committed in this life, then we must look for the cause in a
previous life. Everything that we call a whim of chance is nothing
more than the effect of God's justice. He does not inflict wilful
punishment but desires that every penalty is in accordance with
the misdeed. If in His goodness He has cast a veil over our past
actions, He has also pointed out the way by saying, “Who kills by
the sword shall perish by the sword.” From these words, we
should understand that each creature is always punished according
to the way in which he or she has sinned. If someone suffers the
torment of losing their sight, then it is because their sight was the
cause of their downfall. It might also be that this person was the
cause of someone else losing their sight, perhaps in consequence
of excessive work that had been imposed upon them by the one
who has now lost theirs; perhaps also through ill-treatment, lack of
care, negligence, etc. In these cases, the person responsible always
undergoes the penalty caused by their own actions. On repenting,
they may have chosen this very atonement, thereby applying to
themselves the words of Jesus: “If your eye is the motive for
scandal, then cast it out.”
 CHAPTER 9

BLESSED ARE THE MEEK AND THE

PEACEMAKERS
Insults and violence. - INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: Affability and
mildness. - Patience. - Obedience and resignation. - Anger.

INSULTS AND VIOLENCE

1. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
(MATTHEW, 5:5.)
2. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they will be called children of
God. (MATTHEW, 5:9.)
3. You have heard that it was said by them of old time, You shall
not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the
judgement; but I say to you, That whosoever is angry with his
brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement: and
whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the
council; and whosoever shall say, You fool, shall be in danger of
hell fire. (MATTHEW, 5:21 & 22.)
4. By these maxims, Jesus makes meekness, moderation,
docility, affability and patience the Law. Consequently
condemning violence, anger and all discourteous expressions
towards others. For example, ‘Raca’ was a disdainful expression
amongst the Hebrews meaning a worthless person, and was
accompanied by pronounced spitting and turning the head to one
side. At one point Jesus goes so far as to threaten anyone who says
to another - you are insane - with the fire of hell.
It becomes evident that here as in all circumstances, the
intention aggravates or lessens the offence; but why should a
 BLESSED ARE THE MEEK AND THE PEACEMAKERS 163

simple word become something so grave as to warrant such severe

reproof? This is because every offensive word expresses a
sentiment that is contrary to the laws of love and charity that
preside over all human relationships and between them maintains
cordiality and union. By sustaining hate and animosity, we are
undermining reciprocated benevolence and fraternity. In short, it is
because next to humility before God, charity to your neighbour is
the first law of all Christians.
5. What did Jesus mean by the words “Blessed are the meek, for
they will inherit the Earth,” when He had recommended that
people renounce all worldly possessions, after having promised
those of Heaven?
While awaiting heavenly riches, humanity has need of the Earth
on which to live. Jesus is only recommending that we do not give
more importance to the things of this world rather than to the
former.
By these words, He wishes to say that until now worldly
possessions have been monopolised by those who are violent, to
the detriment of the meek and pacific, who frequently lack even
the necessities of life, while others have a superfluity. Jesus
promises justice will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven, because
the meek will be called God's children. When Humanity submits
itself to the Law of Love and Charity, then selfishness will cease
to exist; the weak and peaceful will no longer be exploited or
crushed by the strong and violent. This will be the condition of the
Earth when this planet becomes a happy world because it has rid
itself of all evil, according to the law of progress and the promise
made by Jesus.
164 CHAPTER 9

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

AFFABILITY AND MILDNESS

6. Benevolence towards one's fellow-creatures, that is the result
of loving your neighbour, manifests itself in the form of affability
and mildness. However, it is not always a good thing to trust in
appearances. Education and worldliness can give a person a thin
veneer of these qualities. There are many whose feigned good
nature is nothing more than an exterior mask, like beautiful clothes
hiding interior deformities! The world is full of such people with a
smile on their lips, but poison in their hearts. They are mild as
long as nothing irritates them, but they bite at the least
provocation. Their tongues are made of gold when speaking face
to face, but change into a poisoned dart when speaking from
behind.
Still, in the category of those showing benign countenances,
there are those domestic tyrants who make their families and
subordinates suffer the weight of their pride and despotism. As if
they are trying to get even for any constraints imposed upon them
elsewhere. Not daring to use their authority on strangers, who
would call them to order, they want at least to be feared by those
who cannot resist them. They are proud to be able to say, ‘I give
the orders here and am obeyed;’ but they never think that they
could also add, ‘And I am detested.’
It is not enough for milk and honey to flow from the lips. If the
heart is never associated with these sentiments then there is only
hypocrisy. Those whose affability and mildness are not mere
pretence are never belied, for they are always the same whether in
society or in privacy. Besides, they know that although it is
possible to deceive people through appearances, no one can
deceive God. - LAZARUS (Paris, 1861.)
 BLESSED ARE THE MEEK AND THE PEACEMAKERS 165

PATIENCE
7. Pain is a blessing sent by God to all His elected; so when you
suffer do not allow yourself to become afflicted; rather bless the
Omnipotent Who, through the pain of this world, has chosen you
to receive glory in Heaven.
Be patient! Because this is also a charity and everyone should
practice this law as taught by Christ, Who is God's Envoy. Charity
given to the poor in the form of alms is the easiest of all. However,
there is another kind of charity that is much more laborious and so
consequently offers higher merit. That is to forgive all those
placed in your pathway by God to act as instruments for your
suffering and to test your patience.
We know very well that life is difficult; being composed of so
many apparently useless, insignificant and valueless things that act
as repeated pinpricks and ends up hurting us. However, if on the
one hand we carefully observe the duties imposed upon us, and on
the other recognise the consolations and compensations received,
then we must admit that the blessings are far more numerous than
the pains. When our eyes are raised up to Heaven, our burdens
appear to be less heavy than when our brow is bowed down to the
earth.
Courage, my friends! Christ is your model. He suffered far
more than any of you and had nothing to offer penitence for,
whereas we must atone for our past and thereby fortify ourselves
for the future. So be patient! Be Christians! This word summarises
everything. - A FRIENDLY SPIRIT (Havre, 1862.)

OBEDIENCE AND RESIGNATION

8. The Teachings of Jesus constantly teaches obedience and
resignation, two virtues that are the companions of mildness and
166 CHAPTER 9

activity, although human beings wrongly confuse them with denial

of sentiment and free will. Obedience is the consent of reason;
resignation is the consent of the heart. Both are active forces since
they carry the burden that has fallen upon them due to foolish
revolt. The coward cannot be resigned, any more than the prideful
and selfish can be obedient. Jesus was the incarnation of these
virtues that were despised by material antiquity. He came to Earth
at a time when Roman society was perishing in the failings of
corruption. He came so that, even in the bosom of depressed
humanity, the triumph of sacrifice and the renouncement of
sensuality would shine forth.
Thus, each epoch is marked with the stamp of the virtue or vice
it has either to save or to lose. The virtue of your generation is
intellectual activity; the vice is moral indifference. I merely use
the word 'activity' because a genius may suddenly rise up and
discover for themselves the horizons that will be seen by the
multitude only at a later date. Whereas activity denotes the reunion
of the endeavours of everyone in order to reach a somewhat less
brilliant conclusion, but one that will confirm the intellectual
elevation of an epoch. Submit yourself then to the impulsion we
have come to give your spirits. Obey the great law of progress that is
the promise of your generation. Woe to the lazy ones, woe to all
those not open to understanding! Woe to them! Because we, who are
the guides of Humanity on the march, shall apply the whip and
subdue the rebellion by means of the double action of brake and
spur. All prideful resistance will have to be overcome sooner or
later. However, blessed be all those who are mild, for they will lend
yielding ears to these teachings. - LAZARUS (Paris, 1863.)

ANGER
9. Pride induces you to judge yourselves to be more than you
are and to repel any comparison that might discredit you. You
 BLESSED ARE THE MEEK AND THE PEACEMAKERS 167

consider yourselves to be so far above your fellow brothers and

sisters, be this in spirit, in social position or even in personal
advantage that even the smallest parallel irritates and annoys you.
What happens then? You give way to anger.
Investigate the origin of these outbursts of passing dementia,
that makes you resemble a savage, by losing your self-possession
and reason; and if you do, then you will almost always be faced
with hurt pride. Perchance, is this not pride that has been hurt by a
contradiction that makes you repel justifiable observations and
angrily reject the wisest counsel? Even impatience originating
from contrarieties and often childish ones at that, comes from the
importance that each individual gives to their own personality,
before which it has been given to understand that everyone should
bow down.
In their frenzy, wrathful people hurl themselves at everything,
from their own savage nature to lifeless objects, breaking them
because they do not obey! Ah! If they could but see themselves at
these moments, looking on in cold blood! Either they would be
afraid of themselves, or they would think themselves simply
ridiculous! Imagine then the impression made on others! Even if it
is merely out of self-respect, it behoves them to make an effort to
overcome this inclination that only makes them into an object of
pity.
If we reflect that anger in no way helps, in fact, it modifies our
health even to putting our lives at risk; then we would recognize
that we are nothing more than our own victims are. Above all,
there is yet another consideration that should restrain us, being that
of the unhappiness this kind of behaviour brings to all those
around us. If we have a heart, would not this anger be a motive for
remorse for having caused those we love to suffer? What a terrible
moral weight upon us if, in an excess of fury, we were to practice
some act that we would deplore for the rest of our life!
168 CHAPTER 9

To summarise, anger does not exclude certain qualities of the

heart, but it stops us from doing any good and may cause us to
practise great evil. This then should be sufficient to induce all
human beings to make the necessary effort in order to dominate
this trait. Moreover, for those who are Spiritists, there is yet
another motive for this solicitation - that of anger being against
charity and Christian humility. - A PROTECTING SPIRIT (Bordeaux,
1863.)
10. Because of the false idea that it is not possible for a person
to reform their own nature, people judge themselves exempt from
even trying to correct their defects. This applies especially to those
defects in which the person willingly takes pleasure, or those that
would take a great deal of perseverance to eradicate. This is why,
for example, an individual who is prone to anger almost always
finds excuses for this temperament. Instead of confessing
themselves guilty, they accuse their organism and in this manner
accuse God for their faults. This is yet one more of the
consequences of pride to be found in the midst of our
imperfections.
Undoubtedly, there are temperaments that lend themselves
more readily than others to violent acts, just as there are muscles
that are more flexible than others, so lending themselves better to
acts of strength. However, do not believe it is here that the primary
cause is to be found, but persuade yourself that a pacific spirit,
even when in an ill-tempered body, will always remain pacific.
Just as much as a violent spirit, even when occupying a lymphatic
body will not be milder, only that the violence will take on another
aspect. In this case, the anger would be more concentrated, just as
in the first case the anger would be more expansive.
Therefore, it is not the body that gives the anger to those who
do not already possess it. Likewise neither does it cause other
vices. All virtues and vices are inherent in the spirit. If this were
 BLESSED ARE THE MEEK AND THE PEACEMAKERS 169

not the case, where would be the merit and responsibility? The
person who is bodily deformed can do nothing to remedy this
situation because the spirit takes no part in it. However, what can
be modified is the actual spirit when it wants to, by means of a
strong desire. Does not experience show us up to what point the
power of desire can take us when we look at the truly miraculous
transformations happening all around us every day? Then let us
convince ourselves that humanity only remains bound by vices
because it so desires! Those who really wish to liberate
themselves can always achieve this end. If it were not so, then the
laws of progress would not be able to exist. – HAHNEMANN (Paris,
1863.)
 CHAPTER 10

BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL

Forgive others so God may forgive you. - Reconciliation with your
adversaries. - The sacrifice most agreeable to God. - The speck and the beam
in the eye. - Do not judge others so as not to be judged. He that is without sin
let him cast the first stone. - INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: The pardoning
of offences. - Indulgence. - Is it permitted to reprehend others, observe
imperfections in others, or divulge the evil in others?

FORGIVE OTHERS SO GOD MAY FORGIVE YOU

1. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
(MATTHEW, 5:7.)
2. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you: But if you forgive not men their trespasses,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (MATTHEW, 6:14
& 15)
3. Moreover, if your brother shall trespass against you, go and
tell him his fault between you and him alone: if he shall hear you,
you have gained your brother. Then came Peter to him, and said,
Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive
him? till seven times? Jesus said to him, I say not seven times: but,
Until seventy times seven. (MATTHEW, 18:15, 21 & 22)
4. Mercy is a complement to mildness because the person who
is not merciful cannot be mild and pacific. Mercy consists of
being able to forget and forgive all offence. Hate and rancour
denotes a spirit without any elevation or magnanimity. Being able
to forget offences is the mark of an elevated soul, which does not
perturb itself with the blows it may be dealt. The one is always
anxious, of a dark susceptibility and full of bitterness, while the
other is calm, full of sweetness and charity.
 BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL 171

Woe to those who say they will never forgive! If humanity

does not already condemn these people, then God will surely
condemn them. What right has a person to demand forgiveness
for their own faults if they are unable to forgive those of others?
Does not Jesus teach that mercy must have no limits when He says
that each one must forgive their brothers and sisters not merely
seven times, but seventy times seven?
However, there are two very different ways of forgiving; the
first is noble, great, truly generous without any second thoughts,
which delicately avoids hurting the self-esteem and susceptibility
of the adversary, even when that same adversary has no
justification for his or her acts. The second on the other hand is
when someone who has been offended, or thinks they have been
offended, imposes humiliating conditions on the supposed
adversary. So making felt the weight of the pardon that can only
cause further irritation instead of calming. Alternatively, where,
upon offering a hand to the offended, this is not done with
benevolence, but rather with ostentation, so that the person may
say to others - look how generous I am! In these circumstances, a
sincere reconciliation is quite impossible for either one. No, here
there is no generosity, only a form of satisfying pride. In every
dispute, the one who shows them self to be more conciliatory, who
demonstrates more disinterest, charity and real greatness of soul
will always attract sympathy from those who are impartial.

RECONCILIATION WITH YOUR ADVERSARIES

5. Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are in the way
with him; or at any time the adversary deliver you to the officer,
and you be cast into prison. Truly, I say to you, You shall by no
means come out from there, till you have paid the uttermost
farthing. (MATTHEW, 5:25 & 26.)
172 CHAPTER 10

6. In the act of pardoning, just as in the general practice of

goodness, there is not only a moral effect but also a material
effect. As is already known, death does not liberate us from our
enemies; vengeful spirits in the afterlife frequently pursue all those
for whom they bear rancour with great hate. From this, we
understand the falsity of the proverb, “The poison dies with the
beast” when it is applied to human beings. The evil spirit waits for
the one they do not like to return to a physical body, where he or
she is captive, in order to more easily torment, hurt interests or
harm affections. The cause of the majority of cases of obsessions
lies within this fact, especially those cases that present some
gravity, such as subjugation and possession. The person who is
either spiritually obsessed or possessed is almost always a victim
of vengeance. The motive will be found in their past lives, in
which the one who is suffering gave cause for this result. God
allows this to happen in order to punish the evil that was originally
committed or, if this is not the case, for the lack of indulgence or
charity through a refusal to grant a pardon. Consequently, from
the point of view of future tranquillity, it is important that each
person make amends for all grievances that may have been caused
to neighbours and that we pardon all our enemies, thereby
eradicating all motives for dissension, as well as all causes for
ulterior animosity before death reaches us. In this manner, it is
quite possible to make a friend in the next world out of an enemy
in this world. At least all those who proceed in this manner put
themselves on the right side of the Law. God will not consent to
anyone who has pardoned being made to suffer from vengeance.
When Jesus recommends that we reconcile ourselves with our
adversaries as soon as possible, this is not merely to pacify any
discords during the actual existence, but principally to avoid their
perpetuation into the future life. Jesus said, “No one can leave this
prison till you have paid the uttermost farthing” that is to say, not
until God's justice has been completely satisfied.
 BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL 173

THE SACRIFICE MOST AGREEABLE TO GOD

7. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there
remember that your brother has something against you; leave
there your gift before the altar, and go your way; first be
reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
(MATTHEW, 5:23 & 24.)
8. With the words “First be reconciled with your brother, then
come and offer your gift,” Jesus teaches that what is most
agreeable to God is the sacrifice of our resentments. That before a
person asks for pardon they should first have pardoned others and
made good any damage caused to their fellow beings. Only then
will the offerings be acceptable to God because they will come
from a heart expunged of all evil thoughts. Jesus explains this in
the material sense of offering gifts because the Jews of those days
offered sacrifices, so it was necessary that His words conform to
the customs of the time. The true Christian however, does not
offer material gifts to God, since all sacrifice has been spiritualised
and with this, the precept has gained even more strength. The
person offers their soul to God and their soul has to be purified.
Thus, upon entering the temple of God, the person should leave all
feelings of hate and animosity outside, including evil thoughts
against their fellow beings. Only in this manner, will the Angels
take the prayers and place them at the feet of the eternal Father.
This is what Jesus was teaching when He said, “Leave then your
gift before the altar and go first and be reconciled with your
brother or sister if you wish to be agreeable to the Lord.”

THE SPECK AND THE BEAM IN THE EYE.

9. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but
consider not the plank in your own eye? Or how will you say to
your brother, Let me pull the speck out of your eye; and, behold, a
beam is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first cast out the beam
174 CHAPTER 10

out of your own eye; and then shall you see clearly to cast out the
speck from your brother’s eye. (MATTHEW, 7:3-5.)
10. One of the imperfections of humanity consists in seeing
wrongdoing in others before seeing it in ourselves. In order to be
able to judge ourselves, it would needs be for people to see
themselves intimately reflected as in a mirror, and in some way
consider the reflection as another person, so then be able to ask the
question, “What would I think if I saw someone doing what I do?”
Beyond all doubt, pride is what induces people to disguise all their
moral and physical faults, even from themselves. Such folly is
essentially against charity, seeing that true charity is always
modest, unadorned and indulgent. Prideful charity is a
contradiction, as these two sentiments neutralise each another.
Therefore, how can someone who is sufficiently conceited as to
believe in the importance of their own personality and the
supremacy of their own qualities, be abnegated at the same time?
That is to say, have sufficient self-denial so as to be able to cause
the goodness in others to stand out, knowing that this would
eclipse themselves. Pride, being the father of many vices, is also
the negation of many virtues. It is found to be the base and motive
for almost all human actions. It was because pride is the principal
obstacle to progress that Jesus tried so hard to combat it.

DO NOT JUDGE OTHERS SO AS NOT TO BE JUDGED.

LET THE ONE THAT IS WITHOUT SIN CAST THE
FIRST STONE
11. Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgement
you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete,
it shall be measured to you again. (MATTHEW, 7:1 & 2.)
12. And the Scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman taken
in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They said to
Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
 BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL 175

Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned:
but what do you say? This they said, tempting Him, that they
might have to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down, and with His
finger wrote on the ground, as though He heard them not. So
when they continued asking Him, He lifted up Himself, and said to
them, he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at
her. And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And
they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience,
went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even to the last: and
Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
When Jesus had lifted up himself, he said to her, Woman, where
are your accusers? has no man condemned thee? She said, No
man, Lord. And Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn thee; go,
and sin no more. (JOHN, 8:3-11.)
13. With the sentence, “If any of you are without sin, let them
be the first to throw a stone at her” Jesus makes indulgence the
first duty towards others because there is no one who does not
need it for themselves. He also teaches that we must never judge
others with more severity than we would wish to be judged, nor
condemn in others that which we condone in ourselves. Before
chastising or condemning someone for a fault, first let us see if
that same censure could be applied to us.
Reproach may be launched against a person for two reasons: to
suppress evil or to discredit the person whose acts are being
criticised. In this last intention, there is absolutely no excuse,
because there exists only malice and slander. The first may be
laudable and even becomes a duty in certain cases, as good may
come from it, and without it the evil in society would never be
restrained. Furthermore, is it not the duty of all humankind to help
every fellow creature towards progress? Therefore it is important
that the principle, “Do not judge others if you have no wish to be
judged,” should not be taken literally as this could be destructive,
whereas the spirit of these words gives life to the concept.
176 CHAPTER 10

It is not possible that Jesus could have prohibited the

overthrowing of evil, seeing that He gives examples of having
done just that Himself, in no uncertain terms. Nevertheless, what
He wished to say was that the right to censure is to be found in the
moral authority of the one who censures. To become guilty of that
which one is condemning in another person is to renounce this
authority, so depriving oneself of the right to restrain.
Furthermore, our inner conscience denies respect and voluntary
submission to any person who, having been invested with some
kind of authority violates the laws and principles of which they
were put in charge. There is no legitimate authority in the eyes of
God but that based on the examples of the goodness it offers.
Likewise, this is what is emphasised by the words of Jesus.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

THE PARDONING OF OFFENCES

14. How many times must I forgive my brother or sister? Not
just seven times, but seventy times seven. Here we have the
teaching of Jesus that should most strike the intelligence and speak
most loudly to our hearts. If these words of mercy were compared
with the prayer He taught to His disciples, that prayer so simple,
so concise, yet so great in its aspirations, you would always
encounter the same thought. Jesus, the pre-eminently just One,
replies to Peter with these words, “You must forgive without limit;
you must forgive each offence as many times as it is done to you.
Your brothers and sisters on Earth must be taught that it is
forgetfulness of self that makes a person invulnerable to attack,
misbehaviours and insults. Your heart must be mild and humble
without measuring out your gentleness; in short, you must do
whatever you wish the Celestial Father to do for you. Is He not
frequently forgiving you? Have you by any chance counted how
 BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL 177

many times His pardon has come down to erase your

shortcomings?”
So pay attention to the reply given by Jesus and, just as Peter
did, apply it to yourself. Forgive freely, use your indulgence, be
charitable and generous, and even be lavish with your love. Give
and the Lord will make restitution; forgive and the Lord will
forgive you; lower your self and the Lord will raise you up;
humble your self and the Lord will take you to sit on His right
hand.
Dearly beloved, go forth to study and comment on these words
that I have spoken on the part of He, Who, from the heights of
celestial splendour is always watching over you. Proceed lovingly
in the thankless task that began more than eighteen centuries ago.
Forgive your fellow beings, as you would wish them to forgive
you. If their acts cause you personal harm, then this is just one
more motive for your indulgence, since the merit of forgiveness is
in proportion to the seriousness of the wrongdoing. You will gain
no merit by overlooking the errors of your fellow beings if they
are nothing more than simple scratches.
Spiritists never forget that the pardoning of wrongdoing must
not be an empty expression, be this either by word or by action.
Since you call yourselves Spiritists, then be so with all fervour.
Forgive all evil that has been done to you and think of nothing
save one thing: the good that you can do. Those who follow this
path must not stray from it even in thought, which is known to
God, seeing that each one is responsible for their thoughts. Take
care, therefore, to expunge from yourselves all rancorous
sentiments. God knows what remains at the bottom of the hearts
of each one of His children. So, happy is he who can sleep at night
saying - I have nothing against my neighbour. - SIMEON
(Bordeaux, 1862.)
178 CHAPTER 10

15. To forgive one's enemies is to ask for forgiveness for

oneself. To forgive one's friends is to give them proof of your
friendship. To be able to forgive offences is to show yourself
better than you were. So then my friends, forgive others in order
that God may forgive you. Since if you are hard, demanding and
inflexible and use severity even against a small offence, how can
you expect God to forget that each day you have an even greater
necessity of indulgence? Oh! Woe to those who say, “I will never
forgive,” for they pronounce their own condemnation! Moreover,
if you searched deeper down inside, perhaps you would find that it
is yourself who is the aggressor. In the fight that began as a
pinprick and ended in rupture, who knows if the first blow was not
cast by you, being the one who let escape harsh words of offence
or perhaps you did not proceed with all the necessary moderation?
Without a doubt, your adversary behaved badly by showing
exceeding susceptibility, but this is yet another reason for being
indulgent, so as not to allow yourself to become deserving of the
tirade that was launched against you. Let us admit, for the
moment, that in a given circumstance you were truly offended.
Who is able to tell if you would not further poison the matter by
means of reprisals, or that you would not cause the situation to
degenerate into a grave quarrel when, in fact, the whole matter
could easily be forgotten? If the prevention of the consequences
of this fact depended on you, and you did nothing to impede them,
then you are truly guilty. Finally, let us admit that you do not
consider yourself to be deserving of any censure; in this case, your
merit would be even greater if you showed yourself to be clement.
Nevertheless, there are two very different ways of forgiving:
one being of the lips and the other of the heart. Many people say
to their adversary “I forgive you” while inwardly rejoicing at the
evil that has returned to them, commenting that they only received
what they deserved. How many others say, “I forgive you,”
hastening to add “But I will never be reconciled, nor do I ever
 BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL 179

want to see you again in this life!” Is this then forgiveness

according to the Gospel? Surely not! True Christian forgiveness
is that which casts a veil over the past. Seeing that God is not
satisfied with appearances alone, this can be the only kind of
forgiveness to be taken into consideration. He listens to the
innermost recesses of our hearts, to our most secret thoughts and is
never satisfied with mere words of pretence. Complete and
absolute forgiveness of all offences is peculiar to great souls,
whereas rancour is always a sign of baseness and inferiority. So
then, do not forget that true pardon is recognisable much more by
its acts than by mere words. - PAUL, the Apostle (Lyon, 1861.)

INDULGENCE
16. Spiritists, today we wish to speak of indulgence, that sweet
fraternal sentiment that everyone should harbour towards their
fellow beings, but which in fact is so little used.
Indulgence does not see the defects of others, or if it does, it
avoids speaking of them or divulging them. On the contrary, it
seeks to hide them with the object of becoming the sole possessor
of this knowledge, and if malevolence discovers it, then
indulgence will always have a ready and plausible excuse.
However, we do not mean those excuses that only have the
appearance of lessening the failing, while in fact making it more
evident, with perfidious intention.
Indulgence will never occupy itself with the evil actions of
others unless it is to offer help. Nevertheless, even in this case, it
will take care to lessen the fault as much as possible. It will never
make shocking observations, nor offer censure, but only give
advice and even then usually in a veiled manner. When you
criticise, what consequences should be deduced from your words?
When you criticise what consequences should be deduced from
your words? That you who censures are not guilty of that which is
180 CHAPTER 10

being reproved; so that you may be worth more than the culprit.
Oh! Humanity! When will you judge first your own hearts,
thoughts and actions, without occupying yourselves with what
your brothers and sisters are doing? When will you have stern
eyes only for yourselves?
So then, be severe with yourselves, but indulgent with others.
Remind yourself of He, who judges in the last instant, who sees
the innermost movements of each heart, consequently forgiving
many times the failings that you censure or often condemning that
which you condone, because He knows the motive behind all
actions. Remember also that those who clamour in loud voices for
others to be excommunicated, have perhaps themselves committed
those very same faults, if not even greater ones.
Therefore my friends, always be indulgent, seeing that
indulgence attracts the like, calms and uplifts; whereas inclemency
only disanimates and drives away all calm and causes irritation -
JOSEPH, a Protecting Spirit. (Bordeaux, 1863.)
17. Always be indulgent with regard to the faults of others
whatever these may be. Do not judge with severity any actions
but your own. Then the Lord will be indulgent towards you,
according to the manner in which you have shown it to others.
Uphold the strong: stimulating them to perseverance. Fortify
the weak by showing them the goodness of God, who takes into
consideration even the smallest degree of repentance. Show to all
the angel of penitence, stretching out white wings over the
shortcomings of humanity, veiling them from the eyes of He who
cannot tolerate that which is impure. Let all understand the
infinite mercy of the Father, never forgetting to say to Him,
through thought and above all through actions: “Forgive us our
sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” Understand well the
meaning of these sublime words, wherein not only is the literal
sense admirable, but most of all the teachings enclosed therein.
 BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL 181

What is it you are asking the Lord for when you implore His
pardon? Is it only the oblivion of your offences? Then you would
be left with nothing. If God limited Himself to merely forgetting
your shortcomings, it is true He would not punish, but neither
would He recompense. A recompense cannot be offered for good
that was not done and even less for evil that has been done,
although this evil may have been forgotten. When you ask God to
pardon your transgressions, you are in fact asking for the favour of
His grace so as not to fall into relapse, to not fail again; together
with the necessary strength to be able to turn into other pathways,
such as submission and love, to which you should then join
repentance and reparation.
When you forgive your fellow beings, do not be content merely
to extend a veil of oblivion over the failings, seeing that in most
cases this veil is quite transparent in your eyes. Instead,
simultaneously sweep away the failings with forgiveness and love.
Do for all your brothers and sisters what you would have the
Celestial Father do for you. That is to say, substitute anger that
only defiles, with love that purifies. Preach as Jesus taught us, by
exemplifying active and ceaseless charity. Preach as He did
during all the time He remained visible to physical eyes on this
planet. Preach as He continues to do unceasingly since He
became visible only to the eyes of spirit. Follow His divine
Example! Walk in His footsteps, for they will conduct you to a
refuge offering rest after the fight. Carry all your crosses as He
did, painfully, but with courage and go up to your Calvary upon
whose peak you will find glorification - JOHN, Bishop of
Bordeaux (1862).
18. Dear friends, be severe with yourselves, but ever indulgent
with the weaknesses of others. This is the practice of saintly
charity; alas, observed by so few! All have evil tendencies to
overcome, defects to correct and bad habits to modify. Everyone
has a burden, more or less heavy that must be got rid of in order to
182 CHAPTER 10

be able to ascend to the summit of the mountain called Progress.

Why then have you shown yourself to be so clairvoyant with
regard to your neighbour and yet so blind with regard to yourself?
When will you cease to see the small speck that troubles your
brother’s eye and instead, pay attention to the beam in your own
eye that is blinding you and causing you to go from one fall to
another? Believe what your spiritual brothers are telling you!
Every person sufficiently full of pride as to judge themselves
superior in matters of virtue and merit are both foolish and guilty;
therefore, they will suffer castigation by God on their day of
judgement. The true character of charity is always modesty and
humility, that consists in not seeing the defects of others, or at
least only superficially, but rather in striving to cause their
goodness and virtues to predominate. Although the human heart is
an abyss of corruption, there too is always the embryo of good
sentiments, hidden away in its innermost folds, being the seeds of
good sentiments that are in fact the living spark of the spiritual
essence.
Spiritism! This blessed Doctrine of consolation! Happy are
those who know about it and take profit from the edifying
Teachings coming from the Spirits of the Lord! For these people
their pathway is illuminated and along their way they are able to
read these words that will indicate how it is possible to reach their
objective: by practicing charity, charity from the heart, charity to
your neighbours and to yourselves. Meaning charity from the
heart, charity to your neighbour and to yourself. In short, charity
towards every living creature and above all, love for God, because
love for God summarises all the obligations and because it is
impossible to really love God without practising charity. Therefore
He has made it the Law for all creatures. - DUFETRE, Bishop of
Nevers (Bordeaux).
 BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL 183

IS IT PERMITTED TO REPREHEND OTHERS, OBSERVE

IMPERFECTIONS IN OTHERS OR DIVULGE THE EVIL
IN OTHERS?
19. As no one is perfect, does it follow that no one has the right
to reprehend his or her neighbour?
This is certainly not the right conclusion to arrive at, seeing that
each one must work for the progress of everyone and above all,
especially for those who have been placed in your care. However,
for this very reason, it should be done with moderation, in order to
obtain a useful end, and not as is so often the case, for the mere
pleasure of reviling. In this last case, reprehension would be
wickedness; whereas in the first instance, it is a duty demanded by
charity that must be accomplished with all possible care. For the
rest: the censure that someone makes of another should also be
directed at themselves, seeking to find if they too were not
deserving of the same reprimand. - SAINT LOUIS (Paris, 1860.)
20. Is it reprehensible to make note of the imperfections of
others when this cannot result in any benefit for them, seeing that
it will not be disclosed to them?
Everything depends on the intention. For sure, it is not
forbidden to see evil where it exists. It would be really
inconvenient to see only good in all places. This illusion would
prejudice progress. The mistake would be in making the
observation result in detriment to your neighbour, so discrediting
them before general opinion without any need. It would be
equally reprehensible to do this simply in order to give vent to a
sentiment of spite and the satisfaction of catching others at fault.
However, the complete opposite occurs when, on extending a veil
over an evil so that the public does not see it, the person who
noted the defect observes and studies it in order to discipline him
or herself to avoid what has been reproved in another.
184 CHAPTER 10

Incidentally, is not this observation of benefit to the moralists?

How else can human defects be pictured if the models are not first
studied? - SAINT LOUIS (Paris, 1860).
21. Are there cases when it is right to disclose the evil in
others?
This is a very delicate question. In order to be able to reach a
conclusion, it is necessary to appeal to a true understanding of
charity. If a person's imperfections only cause prejudice to
themselves then there can be nothing useful in disclosing these
facts. If however, it might cause harm to others, then it is
preferable to attend to the interests of the majority. According to
the circumstances, it may become a duty to expose hypocrisy and
lies, because it is better that one person fall rather than many
become their victims. In this case, it is necessary to weight the
total sum of the advantages and disadvantages. - SAINT LOUIS
(Paris, 1860).
 CHAPTER 11

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF

The greatest commandment. Do to others, as we would have them do to us.
The parable of the creditors and debtors. - Give to Caesar that which belongs
to Caesar. - INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: The law of love. - Selfishness. -
Faith and charity. - Charity towards criminals. - Should we risk our life for a
criminal?

THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT

1. But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the
Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of
them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him,
and saying. Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said to him, You should love the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is
the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, You
should love your neighbour as yourself. On these two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (MATTHEW,
22:34-40.)
2. Therefore all things, whatsoever, you would that men should do
to you, do you even so to them: for this is the Law and the
Prophets. (MATTHEW, 7:12.)
And as you would that men should do to you, do you also to them
likewise. (LUKE, 6:31.)
3. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened to a certain king,
which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun
to reckon, one was brought to him, which owed him ten thousand
talents. But forasmuch he had not to pay, his lord commanded him
to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and
payment to be made. The servant, therefore, fell down and
186 CHAPTER 11

worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will
pay you all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with
compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the
same servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants,
which owed him a hundred pence: and laid hands on him, and
took him by the throat, saying, Pay what you owe. And his fellow
servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have
patience with me, and I will pay you all. And he would not: but
went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So
when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very
sorry, and came and told to their lord all that was done. Then his
lord, after he had called him, said to him, Oh you wicked servant,
I forgave you all that debt, because you desired me: Shouldn't not
you also have had compassion on your fellow servant, even as I
had pity on you? And his lord was angry, and delivered him to
the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due to him. So
likewise shall my heavenly Father do also to you, if you from your
hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
(MATTHEW, 18:23-35.)
4. “To love your neighbour as yourself; to do to others as you
would have them do to you,” expresses the most complete form of
charity, because it summarises all of humanities obligations
towards their fellow beings. We can find no guide to take as an
example that is more guaranteed, in this respect, than that we
should do to others what we would have them do to us. What
right have we to demand that they behave in any better manner,
that they be more benevolent or more devoted to us than we are to
them? The practice of these maxims leads to the destruction of
selfishness. When they have been adopted as a rule of conduct
and as the base of all institutions, then humanity will understand
true fraternity, and so make it possible for peace and justice to
reign on this planet. There will be no more hate or dissensions,
but only union, concordance and mutual benevolence.
 LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF 187

GIVE TO CAESAR THAT WHICH BELONGS TO

CAESAR
5. Then went the Pharisees, and took council how they might
entangle him in his talk. And they sent out to him their disciples
with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that you are true,
and teaches the way of God in truth, neither care you for any
man: for you regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore,
What do you think? Is it lawful to give tribute to Cesar, or not?
But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why do you temp
me, you hypocrites? Show me the tribute money. And they brought
him a penny. And he said to them, Whose is this image and
superscription? They say to him, Cesar’s. Then he said to them,
Render therefore to Cesar the things that are Cesar’s: and to God
the things that are God’s. When they heard these words, they
marvelled, and left him, and went their way. (MATTHEW, 22:15-
22; MARK, 12:13-17.)
6. The question that was asked of Jesus was motivated by the
fact that the Jews, who abominated the tribute imposed on them by
the Romans, had made the payment of this tribute a religious
question. Numerous parties had been set up against this tax.
Therefore, this payment constituted a point of irritation amongst
them at that time. If this had not been the case, there would have
been no point in the question they asked Jesus “Is it licit for us to
pay or not pay this tribute to Caesar?” There had been a trap set
by this question because according to the reply, those who had set
it expected it to go against either the Roman authority or the
dissident Jews. But Jesus, “who understood their malice,” got
round this difficulty and gave them a lesson in justice by saying
that to each one should be given what was due to them. (See
Introduction, under the sub-title: The Publicans.)
7. However, we should not understand the words: “Give to
Caesar what belongs to Caesar,” in a restrictive or absolute
manner. As in everything that Jesus taught, this is a general
188 CHAPTER 11

principle that has been summarised into a practical and more

customary form, taken from a certain circumstance. This principle
is the consequence of the other one, in which we should do to
others, as we would have them do to us. It condemns every kind
of moral or material damage that might be caused to another, as
well as all disregard for their interests. It prescribes respect for the
rights of each person, as each one desires to be respected. It
extends as well to the fulfilment of our obligations towards our
family, society and authority, just as much as for individuals in
general.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

THE LAW OF LOVE

8. Love summarises the complete Teachings of Jesus, because it
is the finest sentiment that exists. At their origin, human beings
only have instincts; after some advancement and the onset of
corruption, they have sensations; when people become instructed
and more purified they develop sentiments. The most delicate
apex of sentiment is love, not in the vulgar sense of the word, but
that inner sun that condenses and reconciles all aspirations and
superhuman revelations at its ardent focal point. The law of love
substitutes the personality with the harmonising of all beings;
thereby extinguishing social miseries. Blessed is the one who,
having surpassed the state of being human, loves with an ample
love all suffering fellow beings! Blessed are those who love
because they know not the miseries of either body or soul. Their
step is light and they live as if transported outside of themselves.
When Jesus pronounced that divine word - love, it made the
people tremble and thus the martyrs, inebriated with hope,
descended into the amphitheatres.
 LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF 189

In its turn, Spiritism has come to pronounce the second word in

the divine alphabet. Pay attention, because the word
‘reincarnation’ lifts up the tombstones from empty graves and
triumphing over death, reveals to astonished people its intellectual
patrimony. No longer are people conducted to their death, but
rather to the conquest of their own being, already becoming
elevated and transfigured. Blood has redeemed the Spirit and
today the Spirit has to liberate humans from matter.
I have said that in their origin human beings only had instincts.
Those in whom instincts predominate are still nearer the starting
point than their goal. In order to advance towards this goal, each
person must overcome their instincts, that is to say, perfect their
sentiments. Instincts are the germination and the embryos of
sentiments. They bring progress with them, just as the acorn
contains within itself the oak tree, the less advanced creatures are
those who, after emerging little by little from their chrysalises,
continue to maintain themselves slaves to their instincts. The
spirit needs to be cultivated as you would a pasture. All the riches
of the future depend on the present labour employed, which will
earn much more than earthly goods, for it will offer glorious
elevation. Thus, having understood the law of love that joins all
creatures, you will seek to find within it the sweetest delights of
the soul that are the preludes to celestial happiness. - LAZARUS
(Paris, 1862).
9. Love is of a divine essence and everyone, from the first to the
last, has a spark of this sacred fire in the bottom of their hearts. It
is a many times proven fact that both men and women, however
vile, base or criminal, are known to devote ardent affection to
living creatures or objects. This sentiment is resistant to every
attempt to diminish it and has frequently even been known to
reach sublime proportions.
190 CHAPTER 11

I have purposely said that affection is given to living creatures

and some objects, because amongst you are individuals whose
hearts are overflowing with love, but who nevertheless expend a
wealth of this sentiment upon animals, plants and even material
things. These people are a kind of misanthrope who, while
complaining to themselves about humanity in general and resisting
the natural inclinations of their souls, which is to seek sympathy
and affection from those around them, reduce the law of love to
the condition of instinct. Nevertheless, no matter what is done,
they will not succeed in suffocating the living seed that God
deposits within every heart at the moment of creation. This seed
will develop and grow, together with morality and intelligence.
Although frequently repressed by selfishness, it will become the
origin of saintly virtues that will produce sincere and lasting
affections, which in turn will help in crossing the rugged and arid
pathways of human existence.
There are those who repudiate reincarnation, believing that
others will participate in the affections and sympathies of which
they are jealous. My poor brothers and sisters! Your affections
have made you selfish and your love has become restricted to the
intimate circle of your friends and relatives, so that you are
indifferent to all others. Well then, so that you may practise the
law of love as God intended, it is necessary that you learn step-by-
step to love all your fellow beings without distinction. The task
will be long and difficult, but it will be fulfilled because God so
desires. The law of love is the first and most important precept of
the new Teachings, because one day it will destroy all selfishness,
under whatever form it may present itself, seeing that apart from
personal selfishness there is also that of the family, the clan and
nationality. Jesus told us to “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
Nowadays, what is the limit with regard to your neighbour? Is it
the family, the sect, or the nation? No, it is nothing less than the
whole of humanity. In the superior spheres and planets,
 LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF 191

reciprocated love harmonises and directs the advanced Spirits that

inhabit them. Your planet, which is shortly destined to make
appreciable progress, will see its inhabitants practising this
sublime law, which is a reflection of Divinity, in virtue of the
social transformation through which it will soon pass.
The effects that the law of love will bring are the moral
betterment of the human race and happiness during terrestrial life.
The most rebellious and corrupt will reform themselves when they
see the resulting benefits stemming from the practise of the
precept, “Do not do to others that which you would not wish done
to you; on the contrary, do to others all the good that it is within
your power to do.”
Do not believe then in the sterility and hardening of the human
heart. For even against its own will it must give way to true love.
It is a magnet that is impossible to resist. Contact with true love
revives and fertilises the seed that is latent in every heart. Being a
globe of probation and exile, the Earth will then be purified by this
sacred fire. Then you will see practised upon its surface the acts
of charity, humility, patience, devotion, abnegation, resignation
and sacrifice, all of which are the offspring of true love. So, do not
tire of listening to the words of John the Evangelist. As perhaps
you know, when sickness and old age forced him to stop teaching,
he limited himself to simply repeating these gentle words, “My
children, you must love one another.”
Beloved brethren, make good use of these lessons because
although it is difficult to put them into practice, the soul will reap
great benefit from them. Believe me when I tell you to love one
another and make the sublime effort that I ask of you, then you
will soon see the Earth transformed into a Paradise, where the
souls of the just may come for repose. - FÉNELON (Bordeaux,
1861.)
192 CHAPTER 11

10. Esteemed co-disciples, the Spirits who are here present say
to you through my intermediary: “Love with all your hearts so that
in turn you too may be loved.” This thought is so completely just
that we find within it everything that can console and alleviate the
trials of each day. Better still, by putting this wisdom into practice
you will so elevate yourselves above all materiality, that you will
become spiritualised even before you leave this earthly body. As
the study of spiritual matters has developed your understanding of
the future, of one thing you can be sure, you are progressing in the
direction of God and will see fulfilled all the promises that
correspond to the aspirations of your soul. This is why it is
necessary to elevate oneself as high as possible, so we may be able
to judge ourselves without the constraint of matter. It is also, why
we must never condemn our neighbour without first directing our
thoughts to God.
To love, in the most profound sense of the word, is to be loyal,
honest, conscientious and do to others what we would have them
do to us. It is to search around oneself and search for the inner
meaning behind all the pain afflicting your fellow creatures, so as
to be better able to offer some relief. In addition, consider the
great human family as your own, because at some future date this
family will re-encounter itself in other more advanced worlds,
together with other spirits who, like you, are also God's children
destined to infinite elevation. Thus, you cannot deny your fellow
human beings what God has liberally granted you seeing that, on
your side, you should be happy that they give you what you need.
Therefore, always have a word of comfort and hope for all who
suffer so that you may be wholly just and loving.
Believe that the wise saying, “Love greatly so as to be greatly
loved”, will open up the way. These words are revolutionary and
follow a pathway that is sure and invariable. Those of you who
listen to them have already made some progress; you are much
better than you were a hundred years ago. You have changed so
 LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF 193

much for your own good, that now you can willingly accept a host
of new ideas on liberty and fraternity that before you would have
rejected. Moreover, without a doubt in another hundred years or
so, you will accept just as easily those ideas which now you are
unable to get into your minds.
Today, when the Spiritist Movement has taken such big steps
forward, see how quickly the ideas of justice and renovation,
which are a constant in the Spiritist Teachings, are largely
accepted by the intelligent world. This is due to the fact that these
ideas correspond to all that is divine within each one of us. This
has come about because we were prepared by a rich and fertile
sowing during the last century, when the seeds of great ideas
regarding progress were implanted in the bosom of earthly society.
Moreover, as everything is linked together under the direction of
the Most High, all lessons received and accepted will be contained
within the constant universal interchange of love for one's fellow
beings. Thanks to Him, all incarnate spirits, being better able to
appreciate and judge things, will join hands with those from every
corner of this planet. Everyone will come together to understand
and love each other, to destroy all injustices and all causes of
misunderstandings amongst peoples.
The great concept of renewal through Spiritism, so well
presented in The Spirits' Book, will produce the prodigious
miracles of the forthcoming century and lead to the harmonising
of all the material and spiritual interests of Humanity. This will be
brought about through a fuller understanding of the maxim: “Love
greatly, so as to be greatly loved.” - SAMSON, an ex-member of the
Spiritist Society of Paris, 1863.

SELFISHNESS
11. Selfishness, that plague of all Humanity, is hindering moral
progress and must disappear from the face of the Earth. It has
194 CHAPTER 11

been reserved for Spiritism to make this planet ascend in the

hierarchy of the worlds. Therefore, selfishness is the target at
which all believers should point their arms and towards which all
strength and courage should be directed. I say ‘courage’ because
this will be greatly needed by each individual if they are to
triumph over themselves, rather than triumph over others. So, let
each one use all their strength to combat their own selfishness,
being certain that this monstrous devourer of all intellects, this
offspring of pride, is the cause of all the miseries found in this
world. It is a denial of charity and consequently the greatest
obstacle to human happiness.
Jesus gave us an example of charity and Pontius Pilate gave us
an example of selfishness. While the first, the Just One, was about
to traverse the holy stations of His martyrdom, the second was
washing his hands and saying, “What does it matter to me!” He
even said to the Jews “This is a just man, so why do you want to
crucify Him?” Nevertheless, he allowed them to continue to
conduct Jesus to His execution.
Due to the antagonism between charity and selfishness, that
leprous invasion of the human heart, Christianity has still not
completely discharged its entire mission. It is to you, who are the
new apostles of the faith, that the superior Spirits are giving
guidance. It is upon you that rest the responsibility and the duty of
eradicating this evil, so as to give Christianity its full force. This
will then allow it to clear the way of all obstacles that impede its
progress. Expel selfishness from the Earth so it may ascend in the
scale of the worlds, seeing that the time has arrived for Humanity
to vest its virile raiments; and for this to happen, it is first
necessary that selfishness be expelled from all hearts. -
EMMANUEL (Paris, 1861.)
12. If human beings loved one another mutually then charity
would be better practised. However, for this to happen it is
 LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF 195

necessary to remove the armoured plate that covers your hearts, in

order to become sensitive to the sufferings of others. Severity and
rigidity kills all good sentiments. Christ never avoided anyone,
nor did He repel those who came in search of Him, whoever they
might be. He helped the adulterous woman and the criminal,
never fearing that His reputation might suffer as a consequence.
When will you take Him as your model for all your actions? If
charity reigned on Earth then evil could not prevail; it would fade
away in shame; it would hide, seeing that wherever it went it
would feel out of place. Then evil would simply disappear; be
quite sure of this!
Begin by giving examples yourself; be charitable to all, without
distinction and make an effort not to heed those who look on you
with disdain. Leave the task of doing justice to God, to the One
who every day in His kingdom separates the wheat from the chaff.
Selfishness is a denial of charity. Moreover, without charity,
there will be no rest for human society. I go even further and say
there will be no safety. With selfishness and pride, both of which
go hand in hand, life will always be a race in which the most
cunning will be the winners. It would be a fight of interests in
which the most saintly affections would be trodden underfoot, and
where not even sacred family ties would be deserving of respect. -
PASCAL (Sens, 1862.)

FAITH AND CHARITY

13. My beloved children, but a short while ago I told you that
charity without faith is not enough to maintain social order
amongst people capable of making them happy. I could have said
that charity without faith is not possible. In fact, generous
impulses can present themselves even amongst those of no
religion at all. Nevertheless, unadorned charity, which can only be
practised with abnegation and the constant sacrifice of all selfish
196 CHAPTER 11

interests, can only be inspired by faith. Nothing but faith can give
humanity the courage and perseverance needed to carry the cross
of terrestrial life.
Yes, my children, it is useless for a person who is always eager
for pleasure to try to delude themselves as to their destiny on
Earth. They pretend that they are justified in occupying
themselves exclusively with their own pleasure. Beyond doubt,
God created us to be happy in eternity; meanwhile, earthly life
must serve solely for moral improvement that is more readily
obtained with the help of physical organs and the material world.
Without taking into account the ordinary vicissitudes of life and
the diversities of tastes, the inclinations and the necessities,
exercising yourselves in the acts of charity is also a means of
improvement. In effect, only by dint of mutual concessions and
sacrifices can harmony be preserved between so many different
elements.
Nevertheless, you would be right to affirm that humanity was
intended to be happy in this world, as long as this was sought not
in material pleasures, but in goodness. The history of Christianity
tells of martyrs going happily to their execution. Today in your
society, there is no longer a need for Christians to face the
holocaust of martyrdom or the sacrifice of life, only and
exclusively the sacrifice of selfishness, pride and vanity. You will
triumph only if you are inspired by charity and sustained by faith.
- A PROTECTING SPIRIT (Krakow, 1861.)

CHARITY TOWARDS CRIMINALS

14. True charity constitutes one of the sublime teachings that
God has given the world. Complete fraternity should exist
amongst all true followers of His teachings. Those who are
unfortunate and wretched, by this we mean criminals, should be
loved as God's creatures, which they are. Pardon and mercy will
 LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF 197

be given to them, just as much as to you, if they repent of all

offences committed against His law. Consider yourselves more
reprehensible and guiltier than those to whom you deny pardon
and commiseration because, as often as not, they do not know God
as you do, consequently less will be asked of them than is asked of
you.
Do not judge! Oh! Never make a complete judgement, my
friends! In as much as the verdict you pronounce will be applied
even more severely to yourselves, so you will need indulgence for
those sins you so unceasingly incur. Are you ignorant of the fact
that there are many actions considered as crimes in the eyes of
God, who symbolises pureness, which the world does not deem
even as small offences?
True charity does not consist only in giving alms, nor even in
the consoling words you may add to your donation. No, this is not
the only thing that God demands of you. Sublime charity, as
taught by Jesus, also consists of the constant use of benevolence in
all things pertaining to your neighbour. This sublime virtue can
also be used in your relationships with those to whom the giving
of alms would have no utility, but to whom a few words of
consolation, encouragement and love would raise them up to the
Lord.
We repeat yet again that the time approaches when a great
fraternity will reign upon this planet, in which all humanity will
obey the laws of Christ. These laws will offer both restraints and
hopes, and will conduct all souls to the happy realms. Love one
another then, as sons and daughters of the same Father. Never
establish differences between those who are unhappy, nor despise
any living creature, seeing that God desires everyone to be equal.
God permits great criminals to be found amongst you so that they
may serve as a lesson. In the near future, when humankind finds
itself submitted to the true laws of God, there will no longer be
198 CHAPTER 11

any need for these lessons, because all impure and rebellious
spirits will have been relegated to inferior worlds in accordance
with their inclinations.
Your duty is to help those of whom I have spoken with your
prayers; that is true charity. It is not your place to say to a
criminal, “You are despicable and should be purged from the face
of the Earth. The death penalty is much too good for the likes of
you.” No! This is not the way to talk! Take note of the model on
whom we should base ourselves - Jesus. What would He have
said if He found one of those unfortunates at His side? He would
have wept over them, considered them to be sick and therefore
deserving of pity, and would then have extended a helping hand.
In fact, you cannot as yet do the same thing. But at least you can
pray for them and help their spirits during the time they still have
to pass on Earth. Perhaps they will be touched by repentance if
you pray with all your faith. They are our neighbours just as much
as the best of humanity. Their souls, having strayed and become
rebellious, were created as was your own, to be perfected. Help
them then to get out of their quagmire and pray for them. -
ELIZABETH OF FRANCE (Havre, 1862.)

SHOULD WE RISK OUR LIFE FOR THAT OF A

CRIMINAL?
15. Someone’s life is in danger and in order to save them,
another person must put their life at risk. However, it is known
that the person in danger is a criminal and that, if they escape,
they may commit other crimes. Despite these facts, should
someone risk their life in order to save that of the criminal?
This is a very grave question and can naturally present itself to
a Spiritist. I will reply in accordance with my moral progress,
since what you wish to know is whether we should expose our life
for the sake of a criminal. Devotion is blind; just as enemy
 LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF 199

soldiers are rescued, so we should also rescue enemies of society

or in short, criminals. Do you suppose that in such a case it is only
death hurrying to snatch away this unhappy person? Perhaps it is
all their past life. Indeed, imagine that in those rapid instants, in
which the last breath of life is being swept away, the lost person
returns to their past or rather it looms before them. Perchance
death is coming too soon and the thought of reincarnation may
seem terrible to them. So rush forward to help! Those of you who
have been enlightened by the knowledge of the Science of
Spiritism, should be the first to offer aid. Snatch this person from
their condemnation and who knows but that they, who would have
died with blasphemy on their lips, may throw themselves into your
arms. In any case, do not stop to ask if they would or would not,
just save them, since by this act you are obeying the voice in your
heart that tells you, “You can save them, so then do so!” -
LAMENNAIS (Paris, 1862.)
 CHAPTER 12

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

Return evil with goodness. - Discarnate enemies. - Whosoever shall smite you
on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. -
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: Vengeance. - Hatred. - Duelling.

RETURN EVIL WITH GOODNESS

1. You have heard that it has been said, You shall love your
neighbour, and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven:
for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends
rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love them which love
you, what reward have you? do not even the Publicans the same?
And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than
others? do not even the publicans so? For I say to you, That
except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and the Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the
kingdom of heaven. (MATTHEW, 5:43-47, 20.)
2. For if you love them which love you, what thank have you? for
sinners also love those who love them. And if you do good to them
which do good to you, what thank have you? for sinners also do
even the same. And if you lend to them of whom you hope to
receive, what thank have you? for sinners also lend to sinners, to
receive as much again. But love you your enemies, and do good,
and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be
great, and you shall be the children of the Highest; for he is kind
to the unthankful and to the evil. Be you therefore merciful, as
your Father also is merciful. (LUKE, 6:32-36.)
 LOVE YOUR ENEMIES 201

3. If the principle of charity is to love one's neighbours, then to

love one's enemies is the most sublime application of this same
principle, seeing that the possession of this virtue represents one of
the greatest victories that can be achieved against selfishness and
pride.
However, there is usually a misunderstanding in relation to the
meaning of the word love in this situation. When He spoke, Jesus
did not mean that each one of us should have the same tenderness
for an enemy as would be felt for a brother, sister or friend.
Tenderness presupposes confidence; well, no one can deposit
confidence in another person knowing that they bear malice; no
one can show effusive friendship knowing that the other person is
likely to abuse the situation. Between people who have no
confidence in each other, there cannot be the same manifestations
of sympathy that exist between those who share the same ideas. In
short, no one can have the same pleasure when they are with an
enemy, as they would feel when in the company of a friend.
The diversity of feelings in these two very different
circumstances is the result of a physical law that is the assimilation
and repulsion of vibrations. An evil thought produces a vibratory
current that causes an unpleasant impression. A good thought
encompasses us with a very agreeable emanation. This is the
reason for the different sensations that are experienced on the
approximation of a friend or an enemy. So then, to love one's
enemy cannot signify that there should be no difference between
the affection for an enemy and that for a friend. If this precept
seems difficult to put into practice, even impossible, this is only
because it was falsely understood that Jesus had told us to give
both friends and enemies an equal place in our hearts. Seeing that
the restrictions of the human language obliges us to use the same
term to express different shades of a sentiment, it is then necessary
to establish these differences according to the various cases.
202 CHAPTER 12

Therefore, to love one's enemies does not mean showing

affection that would not be within our nature, as contact with an
enemy makes our heart beat in an entirely different manner to the
way it beats on contact with a friend. Therefore, to love one's
enemy means we should not hate, nor bear rancour against them,
nor desire vengeance. We should forgive all the evil they have
caused, without hidden thoughts and without conditions. It also
means to not put obstacles in the way of reconciliation and to wish
them well, instead of bad things. It is to feel joy, instead of regret,
at the good things that may come their way; to help them
whenever possible, to abstain from words or acts and everything
that might prejudice them. Finally, it means to always return
goodness for evil without any intention to humiliate. Whoever can
proceed in this manner fulfils the conditions of the commandment:
Love your enemies.
4. To those who are incredulous, loving an enemy is a contra
sense. For those to whom the present life is everything, an enemy
is someone noxious, who perturbs their rest and from whom, as is
thought, only death can bring liberation. This is the reason for
desiring vengeance. These people are not interested in forgiving
unless it is to satisfy their pride before the world. In certain other
cases, the act of pardon seems to them to be a weakness to which
they will not stoop. Even if they do not reap vengeance, they will
certainly retain rancour and evil desires against the other person.
For the believer, and above all for the Spiritist, the way of
looking at this situation is very different, because their vision
extends over the past and into the future, between which the
present life is nothing more than a point in time. It is known that
due to the peculiar destiny of this planet, meetings with evil and
perverse people are to be expected. The wickedness to be faced is
all part of the ordeals to be supported. From this elevated point of
view, vicissitudes are easier to bear, less bitter, whether they
originate from other fellow beings or from things. If they do not
 LOVE YOUR ENEMIES 203

complain about their trials, neither should they complain about

those who serve as instruments. If instead of bemoaning, they
were to thank God for being put to the test, they should also thank
the hand that offers them the opportunity to demonstrate their
patience and resignation. This idea will naturally dispose them
towards forgiveness. They also know that apart from this, the
more generous they are the more they become elevated in their
own eyes, so putting themselves beyond the reach of their
enemies' darts.
The person who occupies an elevated place in this world does
not feel offended by the insults of those whom they consider their
inferiors. The same happens in the moral world to those who
elevate themselves above materialistic Humanity. They understand
that hate and rancour only degrade and lower them. In order to be
superior to their adversary, their soul must be larger, nobler and
more generous than that of their adversary.

DISCARNATE ENEMIES
5. The Spiritist has still other motives for being indulgent
towards their enemies. In the first place, they know that evil is not
the permanent condition of human beings. This occurs due to a
temporary state of imperfection and just as children correct
themselves of their defects, so the evil man or woman will one day
recognise their errors and gradually become good people.
It is also known that death only relieves them from the material
presence of their enemy, because this enemy can continue to
pursue them with hate even after leaving the Earth. So that
vengeance fails in its objective, as it has the contrary effect of
causing even more irritation that is capable of continuing on from
one existence to another. It is up to Spiritism to prove through
experience and the law which governs relationships, between the
visible and invisible worlds, that the expression: extinguish hate
204 CHAPTER 12

with blood is radically wrong and that in fact blood only feeds hate
even in the after-life. It is therefore up to the Spiritist Teachings to
offer a positive reason for this fact, together with a practical
motive for forgiveness and for Christ's commandment: Love your
enemies. There is no heart so perverse that it will refuse, even
though reluctantly, to show itself to be sensitive to good
behaviour. Through good behaviour, it is possible to take away all
pretexts for retaliation and who knows, even make a friend out of
an enemy before and after death. Through bad behaviour, a person
only succeeds in irritating their enemy, who then becomes the
instrument that God's Justice will use to serve as a punishment for
those who are unable to forgive.
6. It is therefore, always possible to find enemies amongst both
incarnates and discarnates. Our enemies in the invisible world
manifest themselves and their malice by means of spiritual
obsessions and subjugations, as can be frequently seen. These
situations represent one kind of trial that just as in all other types
of trials helps in the process of advancement. For this reason, the
sufferer should accept them with a certain amount of resignation.
These happenings are also a consequence of the inferior nature of
this globe, for if there were no evil people on this planet, then
there would not be any evil spirits around it either. Hence, if we
are to be benevolent with our incarnate enemies, we should also
treat those of them who are discarnate in a like manner.
In days gone by it was the custom to make bloody sacrifices of
innocent victims, in order to appease the hellish gods who were
none other than evil spirits. These fiendish gods followed on after
the devils, who are the same thing. Spiritism shows us that these
devils are merely the souls of perverse men and women, who have
not yet disposed of their material instincts and that no one can
succeed in appeasing them, except by sacrificing the hate that
exists; that is to say, by being charitable towards them. This has
the effect of not only stopping them in their evil practices, but also
 LOVE YOUR ENEMIES 205

of recovering them and bringing them back to the path of

goodness, thus contributing to their salvation. In this way, the
maxim ‘Love your enemies,’ is not circumscribed to the Earth
ambient and the present life, but rather forms part of the great
universal laws of solidarity and fraternity.

WHOEVER SHALL SMITE YOU ON YOUR RIGHT

CHEEK TURN TO HIM THE OTHER ALSO
7. You have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a
tooth for a tooth; But I say to you, That you resist not evil; but
whosoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the
other also. And if any man will sue you at the law, and take away
your coat, let him have your cloak also. And whosoever shall
compel you to go a mile, go with him two. Give to him that asks
you, and from him that would borrow from you, turn not away.
(MATTHEW, 5:38-42.)
8. The prejudices of the world with respect to what is
commonly called 'a point of honour' produce the kind of sombre
susceptibility that is born of pride and the glorification of one's
own personality. This in turn often leads humans to return an
injury or offence with another. Those whose moral sense is still
embedded in worldly passions take this for justice. That was why
the Law of Moses prescribed an ‘eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth’ in accordance with the epoch in which he lived. When
Christ came, He said, “Return goodness for evil” and added “Do
not resist the evil that they wish to do to you. If someone shall
smite you on your cheek, present him the other also.” To the
proud, this teaching seems cowardly because they do not
understand that it takes more courage to support an insult than it
does to take vengeance. This is always because their vision does
not go beyond the present. Should we then take this precept at its
face value? No, not more than the other, which tells us to pluck
out our eye when it is the cause of offence? If left to its ultimate
206 CHAPTER 12

consequences, it would mean the condemnation of all restraint,

even legal restraint, so leaving an open field for those who are
evil, who would find themselves free from any kind of fear. If no
breaks were put on their acts of aggression then very quickly the
good would become their victims. The very instinct of self-
preservation, being one of the Laws of Nature, prevents anyone
from offering themselves for assassination.
By enunciating that maxim, Jesus did not mean that self-
defence is forbidden, but rather that He condemned vengeance.
Telling us to offer the other cheek when one has been injured is
merely another way of saying we must not repay evil with evil;
that a person should humbly accept everything that serves as a
means of weakening their pride, because there is greater glory in
receiving an offence than in being the offender; in patiently
suffering an injustice, than practising it and better to be deceived,
than being the deceiver or to be ruined rather than be the one who
causes the ruin. It is, at the same time, also the condemnation of
all duelling, which in fact is nothing more than a manifestation of
pride. Only faith in the future life and the Justice of God, who
never allows evil to go unpunished, can give a person the
necessary strength to be able to patiently support the blows dealt
to either their interests or their self-respect. This is why we are
constantly repeating: Look to the future; the more you lift up your
thoughts above material life, the less the things of this world will
hurt you.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

VENGEANCE
9. Vengeance is one of the last relics of the barbaric customs
that tend to disappear from the human race. Like the duel, it is one
of the last vestiges of the savage habits under which humanity was
 LOVE YOUR ENEMIES 207

struggling at the outset of the Christian era. This is why vengeance

constitutes a sure indication of the backward state of people who
lend themselves to it and of the spirits who still inspire them.
Accordingly, my friends, this sentiment should never vibrate in the
heart of anyone who proclaims to be a Spiritist. You know full
well that to avenge oneself is so much against Christ's precept,
‘Forgive your enemies’, that the person who refuses to forgive not
only is not a Spiritist but certainly is not even a Christian.
Vengeance is an even more ruinous inspiration as you well know,
when its companions are assiduous in falseness and baseness.
Indeed, those who deliver themselves to this fatal and blind
passion, almost never seek vengeance openly. When they are the
stronger, they fall savagely upon those they call the enemy, seeing
that the mere presence of these people inflames their spite, anger
and hate. However, in most cases they assume a hypocritical
attitude, concealing the evil sentiments that animate them deep in
their hearts. They take secret pathways, following their
unsuspecting enemy in the shadows, awaiting an opportunity to
strike without danger to themselves. While hiding from their
enemy they constantly spy on them, preparing a hateful trap and
when the occasion is propitious, they put the poison in the cup.
When their hatred does not reach such extremes, they attack the
victim through their honour and affections. Nor do they hesitate in
the use of slander and perfidious insinuation ably spread on all
sides, that increases along the way. Consequently, when the one
who is being persecuted presents themselves in those places where
the whispers of the persecutor have passed, they are astonished to
receive a cold reception instead of friendly and benevolent faces
from those who had previously welcomed them. They are even
more surprised when instead of outstretched hands even these are
refused. Finally, they feel defeated when even their greatest
friends and closest relatives withdraw and avoid them. Ah! The
coward who seeks vengeance in this manner is a hundred times
208 CHAPTER 12

more guilty than the one who confronts their enemy and insults
them face to face.
So then, let us do away with these primitive customs! Let us
dispense with these procedures from bygone days! Every Spiritist
who still lays claim to the right to seek vengeance is no longer
worthy to take part in the phalanx who holds as their motto:
Without charity, there is no salvation! But no, I can no longer
detain myself on the thought that a member of this great Spiritist
family would be capable, in the future, of giving in to the impulse
of vengeance, instead of forgiveness. - JULES OLIVIER (Paris,
1862.)

HATRED
10. Love one another and you will be happy. Above all else,
take to heart the need to love all those who inspire you with
indifference, hate, and scorn. Christ, whom you should consider as
your model, gave an example of this kind of devotion. Missionary
of Love that He was, He loved so much as to give His very blood
and life for Love. It is a painful sacrifice to love those who insult
and torment us, but it is exactly this sacrifice that makes you
superior to them. If you were to hate them, as they hate you, then
you are worth no more than they are. To love them is the
Immaculate Host you offer to God on the altar of your hearts that
will envelop you in its aroma, as if it were a sweet perfume. If the
law of love demands that each one love all their brothers and
sisters without distinction, it does not mean that the heart will be
protected against evil conduct. On the contrary, it is the most
anguishing of trials that I know full well, having experienced this
same torture during my last earthly existence. Nevertheless, God is
always present and punishes in this life or the next all who violate
the law of love. My dear children do not forget that love draws us
 LOVE YOUR ENEMIES 209

near to God and hate drives us away from Him. - FÉNELON

(Bordeaux, 1861.)

DUELLING
11. A person is only truly great if, when considering life as a
journey that leads to a determined point, they take little heed of the
roughness of the way and do not allow their footsteps to turn aside
from the straight and narrow path. With their gaze firmly set on
the distant point to be reached, it is of no importance to them that
briars and thorns threaten to scratch, these do not impede their
progress. To devote one's time to avenging an affront is to recoil
before life's ordeals and is always a crime in the eyes of God. If
you were not beguiled, as indeed you are by your prejudices, you
would see duelling as being a supremely ridiculous madness.
It is a crime to commit homicide by duelling, as even your own
laws recognise. No one has the right, under any circumstances, to
make an attempt against the life of a fellow creature. This is a
crime in the eyes of God, who has traced the line of conduct
required to be followed. In this case, more than in any other
circumstance, you are your own judge. Remember, you will be
pardoned only in as much as you are able to pardon others.
Through the act of pardoning, you draw near to the Lord, since
clemency is akin to strength. As long as one drop of human blood
flows upon the Earth, drawn by human hands, the true Kingdom of
God, wherein will reign peace and love that will banish animosity,
discord and wars forever, will not have been implanted on this
planet. When this happens, the word 'duel' will exist in your
language only as a distant and vague remembrance of a past that is
gone. Then no other antagonism will exist amongst humanity,
apart from the noble rivalry of righteousness. - ADOLF, Bishop of
Algiers (Marmande, 1861.)
210 CHAPTER 12

12. No doubt, in certain cases, duelling may constitute a test of

physical courage and disdain for life. However, unquestionably it
is a proof of moral cowardice, just like suicide. The suicide does
not have the courage to face the vicissitudes of life, whereas the
duellist cannot support offences. Was it not Christ who said there
is more honour and courage in presenting the left check to the
person who hit you on the right, than in avenging an offence? Did
He not say to Peter, in the Garden of Olives, “Put away your
sword because the one who kills with the sword shall also perish
by the sword?” In so saying, did He not condemn forever the act
of duelling? In fact, my children, what kind of courage comes
from a violent disposition, from a bloody and wrathful
temperament that bellows at the slightest offence? What greatness
can be found in a person who, at the least insult, believes that only
blood can repair the damage? Let this person tremble! For, from
the bottom of their conscience a voice will persist in saying:
“Cain! Cain! What have you done to your fellow being?” They
will answer that it was necessary to spill blood in order to save
their honour. Then the voice will answer, “In the few minutes that
remain to you of your earthly life, you thought only to save your
honour before humankind, but you never thought to save it before
God!” Poor wretch! How much blood will Christ demand of you
for all the violence He has received? Was it not enough that you
injured Him with thorns and lances? That you placed upon Him an
infamous garment and that in the middle of His atrocious agony,
you made Him listen to the mockery and derision that was
showered upon Him. How many reparations has He asked of you
for your many offences? The last cry of the Shepherd was a
supplication to God in favour of His torturers! Oh! Be like Him!
Forgive and pray for those who offend you.
Friends, remember the precept ‘Love one another.’ Then for
every blow received through hatred, you will be able to reply with
a smile; for every affront you will offer forgiveness. Without a
 LOVE YOUR ENEMIES 211

doubt, the world will rise up in fury and treat you like a coward.
So, lift your head up high and show you are not afraid to have
your brow covered by thorns just as Christ had. That your hand
does not wish to be an accomplice to an assassination, authorised
by false ideas of honour, that is nevertheless nothing more than
pride and self-conceit. When God created humankind, did He
bestow the right of life and death one over the other? No, this
right was given only to Nature, for the purpose of reconstruction
and reorganisation, whereas you are not permitted to dispose even
of yourselves. The duellist then, just as the suicide, will be found
to be marked by blood when they come before God. For both of
these, the Supreme Judge will reserve long and harsh penalties. If
this same Judge has threatened all who call their fellow beings by
the name of ‘Raca’, how much more severe will be the
punishment for those who reach His presence with the blood of
their brothers and sisters on their hands! - SAINT AUGUSTINE
(Paris, 1862.)
13. The duel, once called God's Justice, is one of the most
barbaric customs persisting in some human societies. What would
you say, however, if you saw two adversaries being plunged into
boiling water, or being submitted to the contact of red-hot iron in
order to put an end to their dispute? The one who is right being the
one who best suffers the test? Would you not classify these
customs as being unreasonable and senseless? Well, duelling is
far worse than all of these because the dextrous duellist commits
murder, practised in cold blood with all due premeditation, since
they are certain of the efficiency of the blow to be dealt. For the
adversary, who is almost sure to succumb by virtue of their
weakness and inability, it is suicide committed after cold
reflection. I know that on many occasions the person has sought to
avoid the consequences of the criminal alternative by placing the
responsibility for the act upon chance. Is this not going back,
under another name, to the ideas from the Middle Ages of God's
212 CHAPTER 12

Judgement? We remind you that in those times humanity was

infinitely less guilty. Certainly, the use of the words ‘God's
Judgement’ reveals a very naive faith. However, it was
nevertheless some small degree of faith in the Justice of God, Who
could never allow the innocent to succumb. Whereas a duel resorts
to brute force to such an extent that frequently the one who was
offended is the one who succumbs.
Oh, senseless conceit, foolish vanity and insane pride! When
will you be substituted by Christian charity, by a love of one's
fellow creatures and by humility, all of which were prescribed and
exemplified by Christ? This will only happen when human beings
cease to be dominated by these monstrous preconceptions that the
laws are impotent to repress because it is not enough to prohibit
evil. For this to occur it is necessary for the source of goodness
and the horror of evil to live jointly in the hearts of all humanity. -
A PROTECTING SPIRIT (Bordeaux, 1861.)
14. You frequently ask, “What will people say about me, if I
refuse to make the reparation that is being demanded of me, or if I
do not complain about those who offend me?” Those of you who
are foolish or are backward, will censure you. However, those who
have been enlightened by intellectual and moral progress will say
that you have proceeded with true wisdom. Let us reflect then for
a moment. Due to a word, sometimes said without thinking or a
wish to offend coming from one of your fellow beings, your pride
is hurt, so you then reply scathingly and there stems a provocation.
Before the decisive moment arrives ask yourself if you are
behaving like a Christian. What debt will you owe to society if
you rob it of one of its members? Think of the remorse of having
deprived a woman of her husband, a mother of her child or the
children of their mother or father and with this their means of
sustenance! For sure, the one who offended owes recompense.
Nevertheless, is it not more honourable to give this spontaneously,
thus recognising one's errors, rather than to endanger the life of the
 LOVE YOUR ENEMIES 213

one who has the right to complain? As to the one offended, it so

happens that sometimes, because they feel gravely injured or that
someone dear to them has been insulted, it is not only self-respect
that is at stake, but also that their heart has been hurt and is
suffering. So apart from it being stupid to risk one's life by
throwing yourself against a wretch who is capable of infamy, we
ask that if the person dies, does the insult or whatever it was, cease
to exist? Is it not true that when blood is spilt it leaves an even
deeper impression of a fact that, if false, will fall of its own accord
and if true would be better buried in silence? Then nothing more is
left than the quenching of thirst for vengeance! Alas! An unhappy
satisfaction that usually gives way, even in this life, to pungent
remorse! When it is the one that was offended who succumbs,
where is the retribution?
When charity finally becomes the general rule of conduct for
humanity, all acts and words will be confined to this maxim “Do
not do to others that which you would not wish done to yourself.”
When this happens all cause for dissensions will disappear and
with this all duels and wars, which are only duels between nations
- FRANÇOIS XAVIER (Bordeaux, 1861).
15. A worldly person, a happy person, because of an offensive
word possibly something slight, throws away their life that came
from God or throws away the life of a fellow being, which also
belongs to God. This person is a hundred times guiltier than the
scoundrel who, driven by covetousness and sometimes by
necessity, enters into a residence with the intent to rob and kills all
those who oppose their intentions. In this case, we are usually
dealing with a person of little education having an imperfect
notion of good and evil. Whereas as a rule, the duellist belongs to
the more cultured class. The one kills with brutality, while the
other kills with method and refinement, in view of which society
forgives them. I would even add that the duellist is guiltier than
the scoundrel who, on giving way to a desire for vengeance, kills
214 CHAPTER 12

in a moment of exasperation. The duellist, however, does not have

the excuse of a frenzy of passion, because between the moment of
insult and retribution there has been time for reflection. They act
coldly, with premeditation, studying and calculating everything so
that they may be more certain of killing their opponent. It is true
they also expose their own life, which is what rehabilitates them in
the eyes of the public, as they see only an act of courage and
disregard for life. But is there any courage on the part of someone
who is sure of themselves? The duel, reminiscent of barbarous
times in which the right of the strongest was law, will disappear as
a result of a better appreciation of what a point of honour really
means, and according to the extent that people deposit living faith
in a future life. - AUGUSTINE (Bordeaux. 1861).
16. REMARKS: Nowadays duelling is becoming very rare
indeed, but if occasionally a painful example still occurs, the
number is greatly diminished compared with days gone by. Many
years ago, a person could not leave their house without
anticipating an encounter and always took the necessary
precautions. A characteristic sign of people and their habits in
those days was the habitual presence either ostensible or hidden,
of arms for both attack and defence. The abolition of this custom
will demonstrate the softening of habits. It is interesting to follow
this gradation from the epoch in which a gentleman only rode out
covered with armour plate, to the times when a sword at the waist
was more an ornament or blazon, than a weapon of aggression.
Another indication of the modification from those customs is that
formerly these combats were held in the middle of a public
thoroughfare before a mob; whereas in times that are more recent
they were held in secret. Nowadays, death is something that is
causing some emotion. But in other times no one took any notice
of it. Spiritism will obliterate the last traces of barbarism, by
instilling in humanity a sense of charity and fraternity.
 CHAPTER 13

DO NOT LET YOUR LEFT HAND KNOW

WHAT YOUR RIGHT HAND IS DOING
Do good without ostentation. - Hidden misfortune. - The widow's mite. -
Invite the poor and the lame. Give without thought of recompense. -
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: Material charity and moral charity. -
Beneficence. - Compassion. - Orphans. - Beneficence recompensed by
ingratitude. - Exclusive benevolence.

DO GOOD WITHOUT OSTENTATION

1. Take heed that you do not your alms before men, to be seen of
them; otherwise, you have no reward of your Father that is in
heaven. Therefore, when you do your alms, do not sound a
trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in
the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say to you,
they have their reward. But when you give alms, let not your left
hand know what your right hand does: That your alms may be in
secret: and your Father which sees in secret himself shall reward
you openly. (MATTHEW, 6:1-4.)
2. When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes
followed him. And, behold, there came a leper (1) and worshipped
him, saying, Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean. And Jesus
put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be you clean.
And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him,
See you tell no man; but go your way, show yourself to the priest,
and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.
(MATTHEW, 8:1-4.)
3. There is great merit in doing good without ostentation.
However, it is of even greater merit to hide the hand that gives.
This is the indisputable mark of great moral superiority, since in
216 CHAPTER 13 - DO NOT LET YOUR LEFT HAND

order to regard things from a higher level than the multitude, it is

necessary to be able to disregard the present life and identify
oneself with the future life. In a word, to place oneself above
humanity, to renounce the satisfaction that comes with recognition
from fellow beings and await God’s approval. Those who prefer
the approval of humans prove they put more faith in them than in
God and value the present life more than the future life. If they say
anything to the contrary, then they act as if they do not believe in
what they themselves are saying.
How many there are who only give with the expectancy that the
one who has received will shout it to all sides! How many there
are who publicly give large sums of money but who, nevertheless,
would not give a penny if the fact were to be hidden! This is why
Jesus declared “Those who do good ostensibly have already
received their recompense.” Indeed, those who seek their
glorification on Earth through the good they do have already paid
themselves. God owes them nothing; the only thing left to receive
is punishment for their pride.
Let not your right hand know what your left-hand does is an
image that admirably characterises modest beneficence.
Nevertheless, if there is true modesty, then there is also false
modesty that is a mere imitation. There are certain people who
hide the hand that gives, but take great care to leave a small piece
showing, while they look about them to see if anyone has seen
them trying to hide it. This is shameful, a parody of Christ's
maxim! If humans despise prideful benefactors, what then must
they be before God? These also have already received their
recompense on Earth. They have been seen and they are satisfied
by this fact. That is all they will have.
So then, what recompense can there be for a person who causes
the benefits they have given to weigh heavily on the shoulders of
the receiver and then demands recognition at all costs? What of
 KNOW WHAT YOUR RIGHT HAND IS DOING 217

that person if they make their position felt by extolling the cost of
the sacrifice they made for them? Oh! Here there is not even
earthly recompense, seeing that this person finds they are even
deprived of the pleasing satisfaction of hearing their name blessed.
This is the first punishment for their pride, because instead of
rising up to Heaven, the tears they dried in benefit of their own
pride will fall back upon the heart of the afflicted person and cause
it to ulcerate. From the good that was practised there will be no
reward because it was deplored and all benefit that is deplored is
counterfeit and without value.
Beneficence practised without ostentation is doubly
meritorious. Apart from material charity, there is also moral
charity, seeing that this protects the susceptibility of the
beneficiary, so enabling them to receive a benefit without feeling
resentment or a loss of self-esteem. This safeguards human dignity
because accepting a job is very different to receiving alms.
However, depending on the manner by which it is rendered,
converting work into alms can also humiliate the receiver, and
there is always pride and evil in humiliating another. True charity
is delicate and inventive in disguising a benefit, avoiding even a
simple appearance that might cause hurt, given that all moral
friction increases suffering originating from necessity. The giver
of true charity will always find tender, affectionate words that will
place the receiver at ease, especially when they are in the presence
of their benefactor, seeing that prideful charity can crush the
receiver. Real generosity assumes total sublimation when the
benefactor finds a way to invert their positions, thus becoming the
one indebted. This then is what is meant by the words “Let not
your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”
218 CHAPTER 13 - DO NOT LET YOUR LEFT HAND

HIDDEN MISFORTUNES
4. During great calamities, charity is filled with emotion and
generous impulses are seen on all sides in the repairing of
disasters. However, apart from general disasters, there are millions
of private catastrophes that go unnoticed, because there are those
who lie on beds of suffering without complaining. These discreet
and hidden misfortunes are the ones which true generosity knows
how to discover, without waiting for those in need to ask for help.
Who is that woman with the distinctive air, simply dressed,
although well cared for, who is accompanied by an equally
modestly dressed young girl? They enter a sordid-looking house
where the woman is obviously well known because they are
greeted with respect as they enter. Where is she going? Up to the
garret where a mother lies surrounded by her many children. On
their arrival, happiness bursts forth upon the thin faces because the
woman has come to soothe their pain. She has brought everything
they need, tempered with gentle and consoling words that allows
her protégés, who are not professional beggars, to accept these
benefits without blushing. The father is in hospital and while he is
there the mother is unable to provide the necessities of life. By the
grace of this good woman, these poor children will no longer feel
cold and hungry; they will go to school well-clothed and, for the
smaller ones, the mother's breasts that feed them will not go dry. If
any member of this family falls sick, this good woman will not
refuse the material care they may need. From their house, she will
go on to the hospital to take the father some comforts and put his
mind at rest as to his family. At the corner of the road, a carriage
awaits and inside is a store of everything destined for her various
protégés, for one after the other they all receive visits. She never
asks what their religion is or what their opinions are, because she
considers them her brothers and sisters and children of God, as are
all men and women. When she has finished her rounds, she can
 KNOW WHAT YOUR RIGHT HAND IS DOING 219

say to herself, “I have begun my day well.” What is her name?

Where does she come from? No one knows. To all those unhappy
people she has given a name that indicates nothing. Nevertheless,
she is the personification of a consoling angel. Each night a host of
blessings rise up to the heavens in her name from Catholics, Jews
and Protestants alike.
Why such modest clothing? So as not to insult their misery with
her luxury. Why does she take her daughter? So that she too may
learn how to practise beneficence, for the young girl also wishes to
be charitable. However, the mother says to her “What can you
give, my daughter, when you have nothing of your own? If I give
you something of mine to give away, what merit will that be for
you? In that case it is really I who am giving, so what good would
that bring you? That would not be just, so when I visit the sick
you will help me treat them. To offer care to someone is to give
something of yourself. Do you not think that is sufficient to start
with? Well then, nothing could be simpler; you can begin by
learning how to make useful articles and clothes for the children.
In this manner, you will be giving of yourself.” When she is a true
Christian, this is how a mother should prepare her children to
practise those virtues that Christ taught. Is she a Spiritist? What
does that matter!
In her own home, she is a woman of the world because her
position demands it of her. Those about her know nothing of what
she is doing, as she does not wish for any approval other than that
which comes from God and her own conscience. However, one
day an unexpected circumstance brought one of her protégés to her
door, selling hand-made articles. When the woman saw her, she
recognised her benefactor. The lady told her “Be silent! – saying
to her - Tell no one.” - Jesus also spoke in this manner.
220 CHAPTER 13 - DO NOT LET YOUR LEFT HAND

THE WIDOW'S MITE

5. Jesus sat over against the treasury and beheld how the people
cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in
much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two
mites, which makes a farthing. And he called to his disciples, and
said to them, Verily I say to you, That this poor widow has cast in
more, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they
did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all
that she had, even all her living. (MARK, 12:41-44; LUKE, 21:1-4.)
6. Many people lament the fact that they are unable to do all the
good they would like to do due to lack of financial resources. They
would like to be rich in order, so they say, to be able to make good
use of those funds. Their intention is no doubt laudable and in
some cases even sincere. However, in the vast majority of cases is
this desire totally disinterested? Will there not be those who,
whilst wishing to do good to others, would also appreciate being
able to begin by doing good to themselves? Are there not those
who would like to be in a position to offer themselves a few more
pleasures or the enjoyment of something superfluous they lack,
after which they would be quite ready to offer the poor what is left
over? These hidden thoughts, perhaps concealed even from
themselves, could nevertheless be found deep in their hearts if
they searched. These second thoughts annul all merit for the
intention, seeing that true charity thinks of others before it thinks
of self. The sublimity of charity would be for each one to seek
within their own work the necessary resources they lack to be able
to realise their generous intentions, such as by means of
employing their strength, intelligence and aptitudes. In so doing,
they would be offering the kind of sacrifice most pleasing to the
Lord. Unhappily the majority live out their lives dreaming of ways
and means of easily and quickly acquiring riches for themselves
without any effort. Perhaps by running after foolish fancies like
the discovery of buried treasure, or some favourable random
 KNOW WHAT YOUR RIGHT HAND IS DOING 221

chance, or even the possibility of receiving an unexpected

inheritance, etc. What can be said then about those who expect to
find spiritual helpers to second their attainment of these
objectives? Certainly, they do not know or understand the sacred
finalities of Spiritism and even less of the mission of the spirits
whom God permits to communicate with incarnate beings. Hence,
they are punished by deceptions. (See THE MEDIUM'S BOOK items
294 & 295.)
Those whose intentions are exempt from personal interest must
console themselves with the knowledge that it is impossible to do
all the good they would wish to do. They should remember the
mite of the poor, taken from meagre resources causing deprivation
that weighs more on God's scales than the gold of the rich, who
give without depriving themselves of anything. The satisfaction of
the former would truly be great if they could help all the destitute
on a large scale. But if this is denied them, then they must submit
to this fact and limit themselves to what is possible. Furthermore,
can tears be dried only with money? Should we remain inactive
because we have no money? All those who sincerely wish to be of
use to their fellow beings can find thousands of ways of helping. If
you look for them they will appear, if not in one way then in
another, because there is no one who, having full command of
their faculties cannot help someone by offering consolation,
minimising both physical and moral suffering or by doing
something useful. While money may be lacking, do we all not
have time, work and hours of repose to spare that we can offer to
help others? This too is the alms of the poor, the widow's mite.

INVITE THE POOR AND THE LAME - GIVE WITHOUT

THOUGHT OF RECOMPENSE
7. Then said he also to him that bade him, When you make a
dinner or a supper, call not your friends, nor your brethren,
222 CHAPTER 13 - DO NOT LET YOUR LEFT HAND

neither your kinsmen, nor your rich neighbours; lest they also
invite you again, and a recompense is made to you. But when you
make a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And
you will be blessed; for they cannot recompense you: for you shall
be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. And when one of
them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said to him,
Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. (LUKE,
14:12-15.)
8. Jesus said, “When we give a banquet, do not invite your
friends, but instead invite the poor and the maimed instead.” In
their literal sense, these words appear to be absurd. However, if
we understand their spiritual essence they are in fact sublime. It is
not possible that Jesus intended us to invite the maimed and the
beggars from the streets to unite around our table instead of
friends! His language was almost always figurative as the people
of those times were not capable of understanding delicate shades
of thought. Therefore, it was necessary for Him to use strong
words that could produce colourful images. But the essence of
His thought is revealed is this sentence, “And you shall be blessed,
for they cannot recompense you.” This means that we should not
do good for a calculated reward, but only for the pleasure to be felt
in so doing. Using a striking comparison, Jesus says invite the
poor to your feast because you know they cannot recompense you.
By the use of the word ‘banquet’ we should understand not the
actual repast, but a participation in the abundance enjoyed
generally.
However, these words can also be applied in a more literal
sense. How many people invite to their table only those who, as is
said, will honour them or return the invitation? On the other hand,
there are others who find satisfaction in receiving friends and
relatives less fortunate than themselves. How many amongst you
have people like this in your family? In this way, a great service
can sometimes be done without it showing. These people put the
 KNOW WHAT YOUR RIGHT HAND IS DOING 223

teachings of Jesus into practice without recruiting the blind and

the maimed only if they do so with benevolence, without
ostentation and if they know how to dissimulate the benefit by
means of sincere cordiality.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

MATERIAL CHARITY AND MORAL CHARITY

9. “Love one another and do to others what we would wish
done to us.” All that is religion and moral is contained in these two
precepts. If they were observed in this world, then everyone would
be happy and there would be no more hate or resentment. I go
even further and say there would be no more poverty because all
the poor people would be fed from the superfluity of the rich.
Neither would poor women be seen dragging wretched children
along the dark and sombre streets where I lived during my last
incarnation.
Those among you who are rich, think on this a while! Help all
those who are less fortunate to the best of your abilities. Give, in
order that one-day God may recompense the good you have done.
So that on leaving your terrestrial body behind, you may encounter
a host of grateful spirits who will receive you at the threshold to a
happier world.
Oh! If you could but know the joy felt when, on reaching the
world beyond, I found those whom I had been given to serve in
my last existence!
Therefore, love your neighbours; love them as you would love
yourself, because you now know that by repelling even one
wretched person it is always possible that perhaps you are sending
away a brother or sister, father or mother or friends from other
224 CHAPTER 13 - DO NOT LET YOUR LEFT HAND

times. If this happens to be the case, imagine your despair when

you recognise them again on reaching the spiritual world!
I wish you to understand exactly what moral charity really is. It
is something that all can practise and that materially speaking
costs nothing, but which is most difficult to exercise. Moral
charity then comprises of giving support to all our fellow beings
and is least done in this inferior world where you now find
yourselves incarnated. Believe me, there is great merit in keeping
quiet while another, perhaps less intelligent, is speaking. This is
but one kind of moral charity. To play deaf when mocking words
escape the lips of someone accustomed to deride or to ignore the
disdainful smiles of those who are receiving you when they quite
wrongly suppose themselves to be far above you, constitutes
merit. However, in fact, it will quite often be found that in the
spiritual world, the only real life, these same people are far below
you. The merit to be gained in these situations is not due to
humility, but to charity, in as much as to ignore bad behaviour is a
moral charity.
Nevertheless, this kind of charity must not be allowed to hinder
the other kind already mentioned. Therefore, be especially careful
never to despise your fellow beings. You must never forget, but
always remember everything I have told you; that if you repel a
poor or needy person you may perhaps be repelling a spirit who
was once dear to you, who temporarily finds him or herself in an
inferior position to you. I have found here one of the destitute
from Earth whom happily I had been able to help several times
and from whom, in my turn, I must now implore help.
Remember that Jesus said that we are all brothers and sisters.
Always think of this before repelling a beggar or even someone
with a contagious disease, like leprosy. Goodbye. Think of those
who suffer and pray for them. - SISTER ROSALIE (Paris, 1860.)
 KNOW WHAT YOUR RIGHT HAND IS DOING 225

10. My dear friends, I have heard many of you asking

yourselves “How can I practise charity if I am frequently without
the necessities of life?”
My friends, there are thousands of ways of practising charity.
You may do this by means of thought, by words or actions and by
praying for the unfortunate who have been abandoned and who die
without having lived to any purpose. A prayer from your heart will
alleviate their suffering. Also, through giving good advice to your
daily companions, as well as to those who are desperate. You can
say to those for whom privations have caused embitterment, that
has led them to blaspheme against God, “I was like you. I too
suffered and felt wretched, but I believed in Spiritism and now I
am happy.” To those who are old who say, “It is useless, now I am
at the end of my journey I will die as I have lived.” you must tell
them, “God shows equal justice to all. Remember the workers of
the last hour.” To the children who are preparing to succumb to
evil temptations you must say, “God is looking at you, my
children.” Never get tired of repeating these gentle words to them.
One day they will germinate in these childlike minds and instead
of becoming vagabonds, you will have made real men and women
out of them. This too is charity.
Others amongst you may say “Pooh! We are so numerous here
on Earth that God cannot possibly see each one of us.” Listen
carefully, my friends. When you are on the top of a mountain, do
you not see the millions of grains of sand that cover it? Well then,
that is how God sees you. He allows you your free will, just as He
permits the grains of sand to move with the winds that disperse
them. Except for one thing, in His infinite mercy, God has put a
vigilant spark in the bottom of your hearts that is called your
conscience. Listen to it because it will give you good advice.
Sometimes you manage to numb it by setting the spirit of evil
against it. Then it is silent. Nevertheless, you can be sure that as
soon as you begin to have even a shadow of remorse, your poor
226 CHAPTER 13 - DO NOT LET YOUR LEFT HAND

rejected conscience will again make itself heard. So listen to it, ask
it questions, and frequently you will find yourself consoled by the
counsel you have received.
My friends, to every new regiment the general always offer a
banner. To you, I offer this maxim of Christ as your watchword,
“Love one another.” Observe this precept, let everyone unite under
this banner and you will find happiness and consolation. - A
PROTECTING SPIRIT (Lyon, 1860.)

BENEFICENCE
11. Beneficence my friends, in this world gives you happiness
of the heart, being the purest and sweetest delight that neither
remorse nor indifference can perturb. Oh! If only you could
understand something of the greatness and enjoyment which
encompasses the generosity of beauteous souls! It is a sentiment
that makes people look at each other as they would look at
themselves and gladly disrobe in order to clothe a fellow creature
in need! If only you could have as your single occupation that of
making others happy! What worldly feats can be compared to
those celebrated when both men and women, as Divine
representatives, have taken happiness to families who have known
only bitterness and vicissitudes. They see mortified faces suddenly
glow with hope because without any bread these unfortunate
parents only heard their children, who were ignorant of the fact
that to live is to suffer, crying out unceasingly with clenched fists
the words that were as daggers penetrating the maternal hearts,
“I'm hungry!” Oh! You must understand then the joyous
impressions of those who see happiness born again, where but a
moment before there had been nothing but despair. You must
understand the obligations that you owe to your brothers and
sisters! Go! Go then to meet misfortune! Go and offer help! Offer
help especially against hidden miseries that are the most painful of
 KNOW WHAT YOUR RIGHT HAND IS DOING 227

all! Dearly beloved brethren, go recalling these words of our

Saviour, “When you clothe any one of these little ones, remember
it is Me that you clothe!”
Charity! That sublime word that synthesises all the virtues, it is
you who will conduct all the peoples of the world towards
happiness. It is only by practicing the act of charity that infinite
delights can be created for each one in the future. Yet even while
you remain exiled on Earth, it will be your consolation, a foretaste
of the joys to be possessed later, when you find yourselves united
in the bosom of the God of love. It was you, divine Virtue, that
enabled me to experience the only moments of satisfaction I was
to enjoy while on Earth. I hope my incarnate brothers and sisters
on this planet will believe these amicable words when I say it is
within charity that you must seek peace of heart, contentment of
the soul and the remedy for life's afflictions. Oh! When you are on
the point of accusing God, first cast your eyes down and you will
see all the miseries waiting to be alleviated, the poor children
without families, the old without even a friendly hand to close
their eyes when death claims them! How much good there is
waiting to be done! Oh! Do not complain! On the contrary, offer
thanks to God and lavish handfuls of sympathy, understanding and
money on all who, disinherited from worldly possessions, languish
in suffering and isolation. You will reap sweet happiness in the
world and later... Only God knows! - ADOLF, Bishop of Algiers
(Bordeaux, 1861.)
12. Be good and charitable, that is the key to Heaven that you
hold in your hands. The entirety of eternal happiness is contained
in this maxim: Love one another. The soul cannot elevate itself to
the high spiritual realms except by devotion to one's fellow
creatures; it will not find happiness and consolation except in
charitable impulses. Be good and sustain your brothers and sisters;
root out that horrible ulcer known as selfishness. In fulfilling this
duty, the pathway to eternal happiness will open up before you.
228 CHAPTER 13 - DO NOT LET YOUR LEFT HAND

Besides, who amongst you has not yet felt their heart beat with
jubilation and inner joy at the narration of an act of wonderful
dedication or some truly charitable act? If you only seek the
pleasure to be felt from a good deed, then you will remain forever
on the pathway to spiritual advancement. Good examples are not
wanting; what is rare is simply goodwill. Take note that history
keeps pious remembrance of a multitude of good men and women.
Did Christ not tell you everything concerning the virtues of
charity and love? Why then do you leave His divine Teaching
aside? Why do you close your ears to His divine words and your
hearts to His gentle maxims? I wish you would demonstrate more
interest and more faith in the reading of the New Testament.
However, as you despise this book, considering it to be a
compilation of hollow words, a closed letter, this admirable code
has been forgotten. All your ills stem from your voluntary
abandonment of this résumé of the Divine Laws. Read the
scintillating pages of the devotion shown by Jesus and meditate
upon them!
Those of you who are strong, prepare yourselves; those who are
weak, make your gentleness and faith into your arms. Let us be
more persuasive and more constant in the dissemination of your
new Teachings. It is only to give you encouragement, to stimulate
your zeal and your virtues, that God has given permission for this
manifestation. But if you so wished, God's help and your own
free-will would be sufficient for all your needs, because spiritual
manifestations are only produced for those whose eyes are closed
and those with troubled hearts.
Charity is the fundamental virtue that will have to support the
entire earthly structure of terrestrial virtues. Without this
anchorage, there would be no others. Without charity, there would
be no hope of a better life and no interest in moral guidelines.
Without charity, there is no faith, because faith is nothing more
 KNOW WHAT YOUR RIGHT HAND IS DOING 229

than pure luminosity that makes a charitable soul become brilliant

with light.
In all worlds, charity is the eternal anchor of salvation, the most
pure emanation that comes directly from the Creator, part of His
own virtue, given by Him to all creatures. How can we despise
this supreme generosity? What heart knowing this is so perverse
as to suppress and expel this divine sentiment? What child of God
is so evil as to rebel against the sweet caress of charity?
I do not presume to speak of what I did, because spirits also
have the power of their works and their modesty. Nevertheless, I
believe that the work I began during my earthly life is the kind of
work that will contribute most to the alleviation of our fellow
beings. I frequently see spirits who, having asked, are given the
work of continuing my task as their mission in life. I see them,
these generous and beloved brothers and sisters, in their pious and
divine ministry practising these virtues that I recommend, with a
joy that can only be derived from a life of dedication and sacrifice.
It is my immeasurable good fortune to see how their condition is
honoured, how they are protected and esteemed in the mission
they perform. Therefore, fellow beings of good and strong
willpower, unite yourselves so that you may continue the work of
expanding the diffusion of charity. You will find your reward in
the very exercise of this virtue and there are no bounds as to the
spiritual happiness that may be felt, even in the present life. So be
united, and love one another according to the Teachings of Christ.
So be it! - SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL (Paris, 1858.)
13. They call me Charity and I follow the principal path that
leads to God. Accompany me, since I am the goal for all to aim at.
This morning I went on my habitual rounds and now I come
with great anguish in my heart to say to you: Oh! My friends!
How many miseries and tears! So much must be done to dry all
those tears and put to rights all those miseries! In vain, I tried to
230 CHAPTER 13 - DO NOT LET YOUR LEFT HAND

console some of the poor mothers by whispering in their ears,

“Courage! There are good souls watching over you and you will
not be abandoned, have patience! God exists! He loves you; you
are His chosen ones!” They seemed to hear me and turned their
startled eyes in my direction. I could read from the appearance of
their bodies, that terrible oppressor of the spirit, that they were
hungry. Even if my words brought a little serenity to their hearts,
it was no comfort for their stomachs. I repeated, “Courage!
Courage!” Then one poor mother, still very young and with a
small child, held it up with outstretched arms as if asking me for
protection for that small creature, who found only insufficient
nourishment in those sterile breasts.
Elsewhere, my friends, I saw destitute old people who, being
without work, found themselves without shelter becoming victims
to all manner of sufferings and hardships. Being ashamed of their
misery and never having begged, they found themselves lacking in
courage to implore pity from passers-by. With my heart bursting
with compassion I, who possess nothing, have turned to begging
for them. Therefore, I go from place to place in order to stimulate
beneficence and inspire good thoughts in generous and
compassionate hearts. This is why I am come here to tell you that
hereabouts there are those who are wretched, in whose hovels is
no bread, whose stoves are without fuel and whose beds are
without blankets. I do not tell you what you must do. I leave this
initiative to your kind hearts. If I were to tell you how to proceed,
you would gain no credit for your good deeds. I say only that I am
Charity and I extend my hands towards you through those of your
suffering brothers and sisters.
However, if I ask, I also give and give generously. I am inviting
you to a great banquet wherein I will furnish a tree upon which all
will be satiated! See how beautiful it is, how full of flowers and
fruits! Go! Go! Gather all the fruits of this magnificent tree that is
called beneficence. Then, in place of the foliage and fruit you have
 KNOW WHAT YOUR RIGHT HAND IS DOING 231

taken away, I will fasten to it all the good deeds you have
practised. Then I will take this tree to God and He will load it
again, in as much as beneficence is inexhaustible. Accompany me
then, my friends, so that I may count you amongst those who
follow my banner! Do not fear, for I will conduct you along the
pathway to salvation, for I am Charity. - CARITA, martyred in
Rome. (Lyon, 1861.)
14. There are various ways of practising charity, which many of
you confuse with the giving of alms. However, there is
considerable difference between the two. Alms, my friends, are
sometimes useful because they can bring alleviation to those who
are poor. However, this is almost always humiliating, not only for
the giver, but also for the receiver. On the other hand, charity joins
the benefactor to the one who is receiving the benefit because it
can be disguised in so many ways! It is possible to be charitable
even to friends and relations, simply by being indulgent to one
another, by mutually forgiving all weaknesses and by taking care
not to hurt anyone's self-respect. You, who are Spiritists, can be
charitable in the manner in which you behave towards others who
think differently from you, by inducing those who are less
enlightened to believe without shocking them, without attacking
their own convictions. You can also attract them lovingly to our
meetings, so they may listen to us and so that we may know how
to discover a way into their hearts. All this is just one aspect of
charity.
Listen now to what is meant by charity towards the poor, those
disinherited of this world, who will be recompensed by God if
they are able to accept their miseries without complaint. This
depends upon you and the way in which you offer help. You will
understand what I mean by the following example.
Several times each week, I go to watch a meeting of women of
all ages. For us you know, they are all sisters. What do they do?
232 CHAPTER 13 - DO NOT LET YOUR LEFT HAND

They work quickly, very quickly with their agile fingers. I see how
radiant are their faces and note how their hearts all beat in unison.
What is the purpose of all this work? It is because winter
approaches, which will be very hard for those who are poor.
During the summer, those busy ants could not put by all the
necessary provisions and most of their utensils have been pawned.
The needy mothers are anxious and frequently weep thinking of
their children who will go cold and hungry during the long winter!
Poor unfortunate women, be patient, for God has inspired others
wealthier than yourselves, who have joined together to make
clothes! One of these days, when the Earth is covered with snow
and you are complaining and accusing God of being unjust, which
is what you always do and say every time you suffer, then you will
see someone appear. The good workers who have established
themselves as labourers for the poor will have sent them. Yes, it is
for you that they work like that and your complaints will be
transformed into blessings because, in the hearts of those who are
unhappy, love follows close behind hate.
As these workers need encouragement, communications from
the Good Spirits come from all sides. The men folk also take part
in this society, bringing their help in the form of readings, which
are pleasing to all. As recompense for the enthusiasm of everyone
and of certain individuals in particular, we, the spirits, promise to
bring these hard-working labourers good customers, who will pay
in the form of blessings, that after all is the only currency
acceptable in Heaven. We also assure them without fear of
contradiction that this currency will never be lacking for any one
of these workers. - CARITA (Lyon, 1861.)
15. My dear friends, every day I hear some of those amongst
you say, “I am poor, so I cannot offer any charity,” and yet each
day I see that you lack indulgence towards your fellow beings.
You forgive nothing and set yourselves up as very severe judges,
without even asking if you would like the same done to you. Is
 KNOW WHAT YOUR RIGHT HAND IS DOING 233

indulgence not a charity? You, who can do nothing more than

offer the charity of indulgence, do at least that, but do it grandly.
Referring to material charity, I would like to tell you a story from
the other world.
Two men having just died, God was heard to say that while
these men had been alive all their good deeds were to be deposited
in two separate sacks and that on their death the sacks would be
weighed. When each of them reached their last hours, God sent
word for them to bring their two sacks. One was crammed full,
voluminous and resounding with the metal it contained. The other
was so small and thin that it was possible to see through the cloth
the few coins it contained. Each man recognised the sack that
belonged to him, “This one is mine. I was always poor. Ah! I had
almost nothing to give.” Nevertheless, what a surprise when they
were put on the scales, because the voluminous one became light
in weight and the small one showed itself to be heavy; so much so
that it raised the first sack high into the air! Then God spoke to the
rich man saying, “It is true that you gave much, but you did so
from ostentation and to see your name on view in all the temples
of pride. Furthermore, in giving you deprived yourself of nothing.
Go to the left and be satisfied that the alms you gave count for
something, however small.” Then God spoke to the poor man
saying, “You gave very little, my friend, but each one of your
coins that are on the scales, represents a privation for you. Even if
you did not distribute alms, you were charitable and the best thing
is that you did it naturally, without preoccupying yourself whether
it would be put into your account. You were indulgent and did not
judge your neighbours; on the contrary, you found excuses for all
their actions. Go to the right and you will receive your
recompense.” - A PROTECTING SPIRIT (Lyon, 1861).
16. Could not the rich and happy woman, who does not have to
occupy her time with household duties, dedicate some of the hours
of her day to useful work in aid of her fellow beings? Could she
234 CHAPTER 13 - DO NOT LET YOUR LEFT HAND

not buy clothes from the money that is left over from her
pleasures, for those less fortunate than herself, who shiver with the
cold? Could she not make thick warm clothing with her delicate
hands, or help a mother-to-be clothe her unborn child? If her own
child goes without some ribbons and lace, at least a poor child will
have something to keep it warm. By working for the poor and the
needy, you are working in the vineyard of the Lord.
And you, a poor labourer, who have nothing superfluous, but
being full of love for your fellow brothers and sisters, also wish to
give something from the little you have. Give then a few hours of
your time, which is the only treasure you possess. Make and sell
some of those elegant handicrafts that tempt those who are happy,
that you can perhaps make in your evenings. Then you too can
play your part in assisting your brothers and sisters in need.
Perhaps you will have a few ribbons less, but you will be giving
shoes to the barefoot.
And you, women who have vowed your lives to God, continue
to work with your undertakings. But take care that these
achievements are not for the exclusive adornment of your chapels,
to call attention to your abilities and your patience! Work, my
daughters, so that the product of your undertakings are destined to
help your brothers and sisters before God. The poor are His dearly
beloved children; to work for them is to glorify Him. Be unto them
the providence that says ‘God gives sustenance unto the birds of
the sky.’ Exchange the gold and silver threads with which you
embroider, for food and clothes for those who have none. Do this
and your work will be blessed.
All those able to produce should give! Give your talents,
inspirations and hearts and God will bless you. Poets and literary
people, who are only read by those who are worldly in order to
satisfy their leisure, dedicate some of the product of your works to
help the needy! Painters, sculptors, artists of all kinds! May you
 KNOW WHAT YOUR RIGHT HAND IS DOING 235

too use intelligence to benefit your fellow beings, for your glory
will be no less and some of your sufferings will be avoided.
Everyone can give! Whatever your social standing you will
always find something to share with another. From whatever it is
that God has bestowed upon you, a part of what He has awarded is
owed to those who lack the necessities of life seeing that, in their
place, you would wish others to share with you. Perhaps your
earthly treasures will be a little less. Nevertheless, your heavenly
treasures will likewise be increased. It is there, in Heaven, that
you will reap a hundredfold of all that you have sown as benefits
to others in this world. - JOHN (Bordeaux, 1861.)

COMPASSION
17. Compassion is the virtue that draws you closer to the
angels. It is a sister to charity, which also conducts you to God.
Ah! Allow your hearts to be moved by compassion before the
spectacle of the miseries and sufferings of your fellow human
beings. Your tears will act as a balm on their wounds, and when
shed out of sympathy will restore their hope and resignation. Oh!
What sweetness is to be felt! Nevertheless, it is true that this same
sweetness has a certain bitterness about it because it springs up
alongside misery. However, it does not have the acrid flavour of
worldly pleasures, nor does it bring with it the pungent deceptions
of emptiness that these pleasures leave behind. The enveloping
gentle penetration of this sentiment fills the soul with joy.
Compassion and pity, when deeply felt, are acts of loving; love is
devotion; devotion is the forgetfulness of self and it is this,
combined with abnegation in favour of those less fortunate than
we are that is the height of virtue. It was that virtue which the
Divine Messiah practised throughout His entire life and which He
taught in His saintly and sublime teachings. When these teachings
are fully restored to their original pureness and when humanity
236 CHAPTER 13 - DO NOT LET YOUR LEFT HAND

submits to them, then the world will become a happy place

wherein will reign harmony, peace and love.
The most appropriate sentiment for making you progress, by
dominating your selfishness and pride, that predisposes the soul
towards humility, beneficence and the loving of one another, is
compassion! This is the same compassion that moves deep inside
when you lay eyes on the suffering of your fellow beings that
impels you to extend a helping hand and brings tears of sympathy
to your eyes. Accordingly, never stifle this celestial emotion
within your heart. Do not proceed as do those who are hard and
selfish, who turn aside from the afflicted because the sight of their
miseries perturbs their cheerful lives for an instant. Be fearful of
remaining indifferent when you could be of help. Tranquillity,
bought at the expense of a guilty indifference, is like the
tranquillity of the Dead Sea, at the bottom of which lies a vast
hidden mass of putrid slime and corruption.
However, compassion is far removed from causing disturbance
and inconvenience, of which the selfish person is so afraid.
Nevertheless, on contact with the misfortunes and miseries of
another person the soul, rebounding upon itself, experiences a
natural and profound anguish that beyond doubt vibrates
throughout the whole being and causes it to be painfully affected.
Nevertheless, the compensation is great when compassion suffices
to give courage and hope to an unhappy brother or sister who is
moved by a friendly handshake. Whereupon they turn to you
affectionately with tear-filled eyes, perhaps from emotion and
gratitude, even before they raise these same eyes to Heaven in
thanks for having sent someone to console and sustain them in
their hour of need. Compassion then, is the melancholic but
celestial precursor of charity, being the first of all the virtues that
she has as a sister and whose benefits she prepares and ennobles. -
MICHAEL (Bordeaux, 1862.)
 KNOW WHAT YOUR RIGHT HAND IS DOING 237

ORPHANS
18. Brothers and sisters, love the orphans. If you only knew
how sad it is to be abandoned, especially in infancy! God permits
there to be orphans so that we may be motivated to be their
parents. What an act of divine charity it is to protect a creature that
has been sadly abandoned, to stop them from being hungry and
cold and administer to their soul, so they may not fall prey to vice!
When someone offers a helping hand to an abandoned being, they
are agreeable to God because they have understood and practised
His law. Meditate on the possibility that frequently the child you
are helping maybe someone who was very dear to you in a past
incarnation. If they were able to recognise you, it would no longer
be an act of charity but a simple obligation. In this way my
friends, every sufferer is your brother or sister and so has a right to
your kindness. However, not the kind of charity that hurts feelings,
nor yet the kind of alms that burns the hand that receives it, for
unfortunately help is frequently accompanied by bitterness! How
many times these sufferers would rather have refused if it were not
for the fact of sickness or death being their only other option. So,
give with delicacy and together with any benefits you may offer,
also give the most precious benefit of all, that of a kindly word, a
loving gesture and a friendly smile. Avoid being patronising,
which only turns the dagger in the already bleeding heart.
Consider that by doing good, you are working for your own
benefit as well as for others. – A FAMILY SPIRIT (Paris, 1860.)

BENEFICENCE RECOMPENSED BY INGRATITUDE

19. What should be thought of those who, having received
ingratitude in payment for benefits given, cease to practice
goodness, to avoid contact with more people that are ungrateful?
238 CHAPTER 13 - DO NOT LET YOUR LEFT HAND

There is far more selfishness in these people than charity,

seeing that they do good only for the purpose of receiving
demonstrations of acknowledgement and consequently do not do
so disinterestedly. The only act of goodness acceptable to God is
the one done with complete disinterest. There is also pride in these
people, since those who behave in this manner take pleasure in the
humbleness shown by the receivers of the benefits, when they
come to lay before them the testimony of their gratitude. Those
who seek reward on Earth for the good they have done will not
then receive it in Heaven. However, God will esteem all who do
not seek their rewards here on Earth.
You should always help the weak, although knowing
beforehand that you will receive no thanks for your help. You can
always be sure that if the person to whom you did a service
forgets, God will take this even more into account than if the
beneficiary had paid their debt. If God permits that sometimes you
are paid with ingratitude, this is only to test your perseverance in
the practice of goodness.
Who knows but that a momentarily forgotten benefit will not
produce good fruits in the future? You can be sure it is a seed that
will germinate with time. Unfortunately, we never see anything
but the present! We work for ourselves and never for others. The
receiving of benefits will finally soften even the most torpid heart;
these may be forgotten in this world, but after having disposed of
its outer garment, the spirit who has received will remember this
fact and this remembrance will be their punishment. That spirit
will deplore its ingratitude and desire to make reparation by
paying the debt in a future life, frequently seeking an existence of
dedication to its benefactor. In this way, without even suspecting,
you will have contributed to the moral advancement of that spirit.
You will come to recognise the truth in the words ‘a benefit is
never lost.’ Besides which you will also have worked for yourself,
 KNOW WHAT YOUR RIGHT HAND IS DOING 239

since you will have earned merit for having done good without
self-interest and without becoming disanimated by deceptions.
Ah! My friends, if you knew of all the ties that link your
present life with those of past existences! If you could see the
immense number of relationships that join us, one to the other, for
the purpose of mutual progress! Then you would admire even
more the wisdom and goodness of the Lord, Who allows us to
relive so as to be able, one day, to reach Him. - A PROTECTING
GUIDE (Sens, 1862.)

EXCLUSIVE BENEVOLENCE
20. Is it right to practise beneficence exclusively amongst
people of the same opinions, beliefs or political parties?
No, because it is exactly the idea of sects and parties that must
be abolished, for all human beings are brothers and sisters. True
Christians only see their human companions as brothers and
sisters, never enquiring as to beliefs or opinions before offering
help. Would a Christian be obeying the precepts of Jesus Christ,
Who tells us to love even our enemies, if they were to repel an
unfortunate person just because they professed a different belief?
So, always help without asking anyone to give an account of their
conscience, because, if they are enemies of religion, this is just the
way to make them come to love it, whereas by repelling them you
only make them hate religion. - SAINT LOUIS (Paris, 1860.)
 CHAPTER 14

HONOUR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR

MOTHER
Filial devotion. - Who is my mother and who are my brothers? Corporeal
kinship and spiritual kinship. – INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: Children's
ingratitude and family ties.

1. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, Do not

kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour
your father and mother. (MARK, 10:19; LUKE, 18:20; MATTHEW,
19:18 &19.)
2. Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be
long upon the land which the Lord your God gives to you.
(Decalogue, Exodus, 20:12)

FILIAL DEVOTION
3. The commandment, ‘Honour your father and your mother’ is
an inference from the general laws of charity and love towards our
neighbours, seeing that those who do not love their mother and
father cannot then love their fellow beings. However, with regard
to parents, here the word honour contains an extra obligation,
which is filial devotion. God wishes to show us that respect,
esteem, obedience, caring, submission and deference should be
joined to love. All these put together involve an obligation for
each person to carry out what is demanded by charity with regard
to one's neighbour, which implies an even more rigorous duty
towards parents. This duty naturally extends itself to those who
take the place of a mother or father and whose merit is much
greater because their devotion has nothing of obligation. God will
rigorously punish all violations of this commandment.
 HONOUR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER 241

To honour your mother and father consists in not only showing

respect, but also helping them in their needs, offering them rest in
their old age and surrounding them with care, just as they did for
us during our infancy.
Above all, it is necessary to demonstrate true filial devotion to
destitute parents. Do you think this commandment is being kept by
those who, believing they are doing a great deal of good, offer
only the strictest necessities to their parents, so as to avoid them
dying from hunger, while they deprive themselves of nothing?
Alternatively, when so as not to leave them unsheltered, they
relegate them to the worst rooms in the house, while reserving the
best and most comfortable for themselves? The parents are even
fortunate when this is not done with ill will, or when they are
obliged to pay heavily for the rest of their lives by being forced to
do all the domestic cleaning! Is it that old and feeble parents must
be servants for their children who are younger and stronger? Did
their mother make them pay for her milk when they were babies?
Did she count the sleepless nights she had when they were ill or
the steps she had to take in order to guarantee they lacked for
nothing? No, children do not owe their parents only the strictest
necessities; they also owe them, according to their possibilities, all
those little extras, like thoughtfulness and loving care, which are
nothing more than interest on what they themselves received,
being payment of a sacred debt. This then is the only filial
devotion that pleases God.
Alas for those who forget what they owe to those who sustained
them in their hour of weakness, who, with the giving of a physical
life, also gave them moral life and many times imposed upon
themselves great privations in order to guarantee the well-being of
their children! Woe unto all those who are ungrateful, for they will
be punished with ingratitude and abandonment; they will be hurt
in their dearest affections, sometimes even in the present life, but
242 CHAPTER 14

certainly in a future one, wherein they will suffer themselves what

they have made others suffer!
It is true that some parents neglect their duty and are not all
they should be to their children. However, it is only God who has
the competence to punish, not the children. These are not able to
judge because they have perhaps deserved their parents’
behaviour. The law of charity demands that evil is paid with
goodness and that we be indulgent with the imperfections of
others. Moreover, it is required that we should not speak against
our neighbour, that we forget and forgive all grievances and that
we love even our enemies. Therefore, how much greater must be
our obligations when related to our parents! Regarding children in
matters relating to their parents, they too should take as a rule of
conduct all those principles of Jesus concerning our fellow beings.
They must be made aware that all reprehensible behaviour towards
strangers is even more reprehensible when related to parents; that
what might be only a small offence in the first case, may be
considered as a serious crime in the second, because here the
offence of lack of charity is joined to that of ingratitude.
4. God said to honour your father and your mother so that you
may live a long time in the land that the Lord your God shall give
you. Why did He promise earthly life as recompense and not
heavenly life? The explanation lies in the words: ‘that God shall
give you’ which, having been omitted in the modern formula of
the Decalogue’s, has altered the meaning. First, in order to be able
to understand clearly, we must go back to the situation and the
ideas existing amongst the Hebrews at that time. They still knew
nothing of a future life, as they were unable to see anything
beyond the physical. They had then to be impressed more by what
they saw, than by what they could not see. So God spoke to them
in a language well within their reach of understanding, as one
would expect to do with a child, to put them into a perspective that
could satisfy them. At that time, they were still in the desert; the
 HONOUR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER 243

land to be given by God was the Promised Land and the object of
their aspirations. They wished for nothing more and God said that
they would live there for a long time. That is to say, they would
possess the land for a long time if they kept His commandments.
Now, by the time of the advent of Jesus, they had more
advanced ideas. The time had come for them to receive less
material nourishment and Jesus Himself began to teach about
spiritual life by saying: “My kingdom is not of this world; it is
there and not here on Earth that you will receive recompense for
all the good you have practised.” With these words, the Promised
Land ceased to be material and became a spiritual homeland. That
is why, when He called their attention to the commandment
‘Honour your father and your mother,’ it was not this world that is
promised, but Heaven. (See chapters 2 & 3.)

WHO IS MY MOTHER AND WHO ARE MY

BROTHERS?
5. And the multitude came together again, so that they could not
so much as eat bread. And when his friends heard of it, they went
out to lay hands on him: for they said, He is beside himself.
There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing
without, sent to him, calling him. And the multitude sat about him,
and they said to him, Behold, your mother and your brethren
without seek for you. And he answered them, saying, Who is my
mother, or my brethren? And he looked round about on them
which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my
brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my
brother, and my sister, and mother. (MARK, 3:20-21 & 31-35;
MATTHEW, 12:46-50.)
6. Some of the words used by Jesus appear to be quite
extraordinary when compared with His goodness, kindness and
unalterable benevolence. Those who are incredulous never cease
to find an argument in this fact, alleging that He contradicted
244 CHAPTER 14

Himself. However, it is undeniable that His teachings has as its

basic principle and foundation stone the Laws of Charity and
Love. Well then, is it possible that He would destroy on the one
side what He had built on the other? Therefore, we arrive at the
following precise conclusion: that if certain propositions made by
Jesus are in contradictions to this basic principle, then these words
attributed to Him have either been wrongly reproduced, wrongly
understood or were never pronounced by Him.
7. Understandably, it causes great amazement that in this
passage Jesus showed so much indifference towards His relatives
and in a way even repudiated His mother.
With regard to His brothers, we know they did not greatly
esteem Him. Being spirits of little evolution, they did not
understand His mission; they thought Him to be eccentric in His
ways and His teaching did not even touch them, to the extent that
not one of them became His disciple. It was said that they shared,
at least up to a point, the same preconceptions as His enemies. In
short, it is a known fact that whenever He appeared in the family
He was received more as a stranger than as a brother. John tells us
quite clearly that they did not believe in Him. (See John 7:5.)
Concerning His mother, no one can deny the tenderness and
affection He devoted to her. However, it is equally our obligation
to agree that she did not fully understand her son's mission, since it
was noticed that she never followed His teachings, nor did she
testify for Him as did John the Baptist. Her predominating feature
was maternal solicitude. Nevertheless, to suppose that He denied
His mother is not to know His character. Such an idea could not
have found refuge in someone who said ‘honour your father and
your mother.’ Then it is necessary to find another meaning for His
words, which were usually enveloped in a mist of allegoric form.
 HONOUR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER 245

Never losing an opportunity to teach, Jesus took advantage of

the moment and the arrival of His family to show clearly the
difference that exists between bodily kinship and spiritual kinship.

CORPOREAL KINSHIP AND SPIRITUAL KINSHIP

8. Blood ties do not necessarily create bonds between spirits.
The body comes from the body, but the spirit does not proceed
from the spirit since the spirit already existed before the formation
of the body. The parents do not create the spirit of the child; they
do nothing more than supply the material wrapping; although it is
their duty to help the intellectual and moral development of their
child in order to further its progress.
Those incarnated in the same family, especially as close
relations, are as often as not, congenial spirits linked by past
relationships, which express themselves during their earthly lives
by their reciprocated affections. However, it can also happen that
they are complete strangers to each other, or they may be distant
from each other due to past aversions, which while on Earth are
translated into mutual antagonisms that serve as probation. The
real family ties are not those of blood then, but those of mutual
sympathy and the communion of ideas that hold spirits together
before, during and after their incarnations. From this, it follows
that two people born of different parents may be more like
brothers or sisters, than if they were of the same blood. They can
attract each other, search for each other and so feel happy together.
Whereas two blood brothers may be repelled by each other, as is
frequently seen. This is a moral problem that only Spiritism can
resolve through the explanation of the plurality of existences. (See
chapter 4, item 13.)
Therefore, we see there are two kinds of families: the families
with spiritual ties and the families with bodily ties. In the first
case, these ties are durable and strengthen with purification,
246 CHAPTER 14

perpetuating in the spiritual worlds by means of the various

migrations of the soul. In the second case, the ties are as fragile as
the material body, extinguishing with time and in many cases
dissolving morally, even in the actual existence. This was what
Jesus was trying to make comprehensible when He said to His
disciples “Here is my mother and my brothers by spiritual ties,
because all those who do the bidding of My Father, who is in
Heaven, are my brothers, my sisters and my mother.”
The hostility felt by His blood brothers is clearly expressed in
this narrative from Saint Mark, when it says that they intended to
lay their hands on Jesus, under the pretext that He had lost His
spirit, or gone out of His mind. On being informed of their arrival
and knowing the sentiments they harboured against Him it was
only natural for Jesus, speaking in spiritual terms, to refer to His
disciples as His brothers and sisters. Although His mother was
accompanying His brothers, Jesus generalised the teachings,
which in no way implies He intended to declare that His mother,
according to the physical body, was nothing to Him in spirit nor
that she deserved only indifference, as He proved on many
occasions.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

CHILDREN'S INGRATITUDE AND FAMILY TIES

9. Ingratitude is one of the most immediate fruits of selfishness
and always causes revolt in honest hearts. However, the
ingratitude of children towards their parents shows an even more
hateful trait of character. It is especially this point of view we are
going to consider, so we may analyse the causes and effects of this
attitude. In this case, as in all others, Spiritism offers
enlightenment on one of the greatest problems of the human heart.
 HONOUR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER 247

When a spirit leaves the Earth plane, it takes with it all the
passions and all the virtues inherent in its nature, going on to
improve itself in the spirit world or to remain stationary until it
desires to receive enlightenment. Accordingly, many spirits return
to the spiritual world full of hate and violence, as well as full of
insatiable desires for vengeance. Nevertheless, there are always
some amongst them who are more advanced and so able to
perceive a faint glimmer of truth, enabling them to appreciate the
disastrous consequences of these passions, which in turn induces
them to make good resolutions for the future. These spirits
understand that in order to reach God there is only one password:
Charity. However, there can be no charity without being able to
forget affronts and insults. Neither can there be any charity if there
is no forgiveness or if the heart is filled with hate.
Then, by unprecedented efforts, these spirits manage to observe
those they had hated while on Earth. However, on seeing them
again, animosity is once more aroused in their hearts, causing
revolt at the idea of forgiving them and even more at the thought
of any personal renouncement. Above all, they are revolted at the
thought of loving those who had destroyed their worldly
possessions, their honour or perhaps even their family.
Meanwhile, the hearts of these unhappy spirits continue to be
disturbed and upset; they hesitate and waver, agitated by
contrasting sentiments. If their good resolutions predominate, then
they pray to God and implore the Good Spirits to give them
strength at this the most decisive moment of their ordeal.
Finally, after years of meditation and prayer, the spirit takes the
opportunity of a physical body that is, as yet, merely a project
within the family of the one who is detested. This spirit then asks
the Spirits designated to transmit orders, for permission to fulfil
here on Earth the destiny of that body which is about to be formed.
What then will be this spirit's behaviour within the chosen family?
That will depend on the greater or less degree of persistence
248 CHAPTER 14

towards the good resolutions made by that spirit. The incessant

contact with those it hates constitutes a terrible test, under which it
may frequently succumb if its desire to win is not sufficiently
strong. In this manner, and according to whether or not the good
resolutions predominate, the spirit will be either a friend or enemy
to those it was called to live amongst. This is the explanation for
the hates and instinctive repulsions often noted between certain
children that appear to be inexplicable. In fact, there is nothing in
the present life that could have caused such antipathy. In order to
find the cause, it would be necessary to look back into the past.
Oh! Spiritists! You must understand the great part that
Humanity plays! You must understand that when a body is
produced, the soul that incarnates in it has come from space in
order to progress. So acquaint yourselves with your duties and put
all your love into bringing this soul nearer to God. This is the
mission with which you have been entrusted and for which you
will receive just recompense if you fulfil your trust faithfully. The
care and education given by you will help in its improvement and
future well-being. Remember that God will ask of every mother
and father: What have you done with the child entrusted to your
care? If through any fault of yours it has remained backwards,
then as punishment, you will have to watch it amongst the
suffering spirits, when it depended on you to help it towards
happiness. Then, you yourselves, assailed by remorse, will ask that
it be permitted for you to remedy your errors. You will request for
yourself and your child another incarnation in which you will
surround that spirit with better care and in which, being full of
gratitude, this spirit will then reciprocate by loving you.
So then, do not reject the child who repels its mother or who is
ungrateful; for it is not mere chance that has made it like that and
then it was given to you. An imperfect intuition of the past is
revealed by these attitudes and from this, we can deduce that one
or the other harbours great hate or has been mortally offended; that
 HONOUR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER 249

one or the other has come to pardon or to atone. Mothers!

Embrace the child who causes vexation and say: One of us is
guilty! Make yourselves worthy of the Divine enjoyment that God
has associated with maternity by teaching your children that they
are on Earth in order to perfect themselves, to love and to bless
others. Oh! But there are many among you who have actually
maintained and developed these innate bad traits, acquired in past
lives, due to blameworthy weaknesses or through negligence,
instead of eliminating them by means of a good education! Later
on, with hearts that are lacerated by the ingratitude of your
children, you will begin your atonement, even in this life.
Nevertheless, your task is not as difficult as it may seem. It
does not require the wisdom of the world; both an ignorant or wise
person may discharge this duty and Spiritism will help you to do
just that, by giving you the possibility of knowing the causes of
the imperfections in the human heart.
Coming from past existences, these good or evil instincts will
manifest themselves from early childhood and it is necessary that
parents study them. All badness originates from selfishness and
pride. So be on the lookout for the least sign that will reveal the
existence of such vices and take care to combat them, without
waiting for them to take deep root. Do as the good gardener does:
Cut off all defective shoots as soon as they appear on the tree. If
you allow selfishness and pride to develop, do not be surprised if
later on you are repaid by ingratitude. When parents have done
everything possible for the moral advancement of their children,
even if they have not been successful, then they have nothing with
which to reproach themselves and their consciences may remain
tranquil. For the natural anguish resulting from the
unproductiveness of their efforts, God reserves a great and
immense consolation. This is the certainty that it is only a brief
delay, that it will be given to them to conclude in another
existence the work that has already begun and one day their
250 CHAPTER 14

ungrateful child will recompense them with love. (See chapter 13,
item 19.)
God does not give a trial superior to the strength of the person
who has asked for it. He only permits those tests that can be
fulfilled. Therefore, if this does not happen, it is not for lack of
possibilities, but for lack of willpower. In effect, how many there
are who instead of resisting their bad tendencies, actually revel in
them. It is for these people that are reserved weeping and cries of
anguish in future existences. Nevertheless, we should wonder at
God's unbounded Goodness because He never shuts the door to
repentance. The day will come when the culprit, tired of suffering
and their pride finally humbled, will perceive that God is holding
out His hands to receive the prodigal child who throws itself at His
feet. Now listen well to what I am about to tell you - the harshest
trials are almost always the indication of the end to suffering and
to a certain perfecting of the spirit, as long as they are accepted
with all thought focused on God. These are in fact supreme
moments during which above all else, it behoves the spirit not to
cause failure due to constant complaining, or the fruits of the trial
will be lost, so making it necessary to begin again from the
beginning. Instead of complaining, thank God for the opportunity
He has given you to triumph, so that He may bestow the prize of
victory upon you. Then when you leave the vortex of this earthly
world, to enter into the world of spirit, you will be acclaimed as a
soldier returning triumphant from the fray.
Of all the trials that exist, the hardest to bear are those that
affect the heart. A person who is able to support misery and
material privation with courage, frequently succumbs under the
weight of domestic bitterness, goaded on by the ingratitude of
members of the family. Oh, what a terribly pungent anguish this
is! Nevertheless, in these circumstances what can more effectively
renew moral courage than the knowledge of the causes of the evil?
Even if there are protracted lacerations, it is certain that there are
 HONOUR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER 251

no eternal despairs, because it is not possible for God to wish that

any one of His creatures suffer indefinitely. What can be more
comforting and more animating than the idea that the abbreviation
of suffering depends on each effort made to destroy the evil within
ourselves, which is the cause of all of our miseries. In order to be
able to do this, it is necessary that we do not confine our vision
exclusively to this planet, nor to only a single existence. Humanity
must lift itself up so that it becomes possible to see the infinity of
both the past and the future. When this happens, then God's
everlasting justice becomes apparent and you will be able to wait
patiently, because all that had previously appeared to be absolute
monstrosity on this planet will have become explainable. The
various wounds that you have received will appear as mere
scratches. In this rapid glance cast over the whole scene, all family
ties will present themselves in their true light. You will no longer
see only the fragile material ties that join various members of a
family together, but also the lasting ties of the spirit that penetrate
and consolidate with the process of purification, instead of being
broken by the effect of reincarnation.
Families are formed by groupings of spirits who are induced to
gather together because of their affinities, moral progress and
affections. During their terrestrial migrations, these same spirits
seek each other out in order to group themselves as they do in
space, so giving origin to united and homogeneous families. If
during their peregrinations it so happens they are temporarily
separated, then they will meet again later on, happy for the new
progress that has been accomplished. As they are not allowed to
work exclusively for their own benefit, God permits that less
advanced spirits incarnate amongst them in order that these may
receive good advice and examples that will help them. Sometimes
these spirits cause perturbation in the midst of the others, which
serves as both a trial and a task to be fulfilled. Therefore, always
receive these perturbed spirits as your brothers and sisters; help
252 CHAPTER 14

them and afterwards, when once again they are in the spiritual
world, the family will be able to congratulate itself for having
saved an outcast, who in their turn may save others. - SAINT
AUGUSTINE (Paris, 1862.)
 CHAPTER 15

WITHOUT CHARITY THERE IS NO

SALVATION
What the spirit needs in order to be saved. - The parable of the Good
Samaritan. - The greatest of the commandments. – The need for charity
according to Saint Paul. - Without the Church there is no salvation. - Without
truth there is no salvation. - INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: Without charity
there is no salvation.

WHAT THE SPIRIT NEEDS IN ORDER TO BE SAVED -

THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN
1. When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy
angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall
separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep
from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but
the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say to the them on his right hand, Come, you
who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world: For I was hungry, and you
gave me meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a
stranger, and you took me in: Naked, and you clothed me: I was
sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when did we
see you hungry, and fed you? or thirsty, and gave you drink?
When did we see you a stranger, and took you in? or naked and
clothed you? Or when did we see you sick, or in prison, and came
to you? And the King shall answer and say to them, Verily I say to
you, Inasmuch you have done it to one of the least of these my
brethren, you have done it to me.
254 CHAPTER 15

Then shall he say also to them on the left hand, Depart from me,
you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels: For I was hungered, and you gave me no meat: I was
thirsty, and you gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and you took
me not in: and you clothed me not: sick, and you visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we you
hungered, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison,
and did not minister to you? Then shall he answer them, saying,
Verily I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least
of these, you did it not to me. And these shall go away into
everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
(MATTHEW, 25:31-46.)
2. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him,
saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said to
him, What is written in the law? how do you read this? And
answering he said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with
all your mind and your neighbour as yourself. And he said to him,
You have answered right; this do and you shall live.
But he, willing to justify himself, said to Jesus, and who is my
neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down
from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped
him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him
half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that
way` and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And
likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on
him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as
he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had
compassion on him. And went to him, and bound up his wounds,
pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and
brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day
when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the
host, and said to him, Take care of him, and whatsoever you spend
more, when I come again, I will repay you.
 WITHOUT CHARITY THERE IS NO SALVATION 255

Which now of these three, think you, was neighbour to him that
fell among thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him.
Then said Jesus to him, Go, and do likewise. (LUKE, 10:25-37.)
3. All the moral Teachings of Christ are resumed in the need for
charity and humility; that is to say, in the two virtues that are
contrary to selfishness and pride. In all of His Teaching, Jesus
indicates these two virtues as being the ones that lead to eternal
happiness. He said that the poor in spirit, that is to say the humble,
were blessed because the kingdom of heaven would be theirs;
blessed are those who have pure hearts; blessed are the gentle and
the peacemakers; blessed are the merciful. He also taught the need
to love one's neighbour as oneself, to do to others as we would
have them do to us, to love our enemies, to forgive all offences if
we wish to receive forgiveness, to do Good without ostentation
and to judge ourselves before we judge others. So then, charity
and humility are the two things that Jesus never ceased to
recommend and for which He stands as an example. He also never
ceased to combat pride and selfishness. Nor did He limit Himself
to the mere recommending of charity, but put it in very clear and
explicit terms as being the only condition for future happiness.
With respect to the description given by Jesus of the Final
Judgement, we must separate, as in many other cases, that which
is only form or allegory. The people to whom Jesus was speaking,
being unable to totally understand spiritual questions, made it
necessary for Him to offer them material images that would both
shock and impress. Therefore, in order for them to be able to
understand what was being said, Jesus was obliged to keep closely
to the form of the ideas of those times. Nevertheless, He always
reserved for the future the real interpretation of His words and
those points that at the time were unable to be clearly explained.
But alongside the accessory or figurative parts of this explanation,
there is one dominant feature: that of the happiness reserved for
the just and the unhappiness awaiting those who are evil.
256 CHAPTER 15

According to that supreme judgement, what then are the

considerations for the sentence? On what grounds will the
indictment be based? Does the judge perhaps ask if the person
under interrogation has fulfilled this or that formality, if they have
more or less observed this or that external practice? No, he will
ask but one question, “Has charity been practised?” Then make the
pronouncement, “Go to the right all who have helped their
brothers and sisters. Go to the left all those who have been
unyielding.” Is it asked, by chance, what is the orthodoxy of their
faith? Is any distinction made between those who believe in this or
that manner? No, because Jesus places the Samaritan, considered
by some to be a heretic, who practised love towards his fellow
creature, above any orthodoxy that lacks charity. So do not
consider charity to be merely one of the conditions for salvation.
Instead, consider it the only condition. If there were others to be
met, then Jesus would have mentioned them. Since He put charity
in first place, it is because it implicitly embraces all the other
virtues such as humility, kindness, benevolence, indulgence,
justice, etc., and because it is the absolute negation of pride and
selfishness.

THE GREATEST OF THE COMMANDMENTS

4. But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the
Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of
them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him,
and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in law?
Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the
first and great commandment, And the second is like it, Thou shall
love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets. (MATTHEW, 22:34-40.)
5. Charity and humility, such is the path to salvation.
Selfishness and pride are the paths to ruin. This principle is
 WITHOUT CHARITY THERE IS NO SALVATION 257

formulated on the following precise terms, “Love your God with

all your soul and your neighbour as yourself; all the law and the
prophets are contained in these two commandments.” And so
there would be no mistake in the understanding of the meaning of
the love for God and for our neighbour, He then added, “And there
is a second commandment, similar to the first.” This means that it
is not possible to love God without loving your neighbour, or to
love your neighbour without loving God. Straightaway, all that
you do against your neighbour, you also do against God.
Therefore, it is not possible to love God without practising charity
towards one's neighbour. All of humanity’s obligations are
resumed in the maxim: without charity there is no salvation.

THE NEED FOR CHARITY ACCORDING TO SAINT

PAUL
6. Thou I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not
charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And
though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries,
and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could
remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And
though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give
my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profits me nothing.
Charity suffers long, and is kind; charity envies not; charity
boasts not of itself, is not puffed up. Does not behave itself
unseemly (badly), seeks not her own interests, is not easily
provoked, thinks no evil; Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in
the truth; Bears all things, believes all things, hopes for all things,
endures all things. And now remains faith, hope and charity, these
three; but the greatest of these is charity. (SAINT PAUL, I
Corinthians, 13:1-7 & 13.)
7. Saint Paul profoundly understood this great truth, which
says: ‘When I have learned the language of the Angels; when I
have the gift of prophecy, when I can penetrate all the mysteries;
258 CHAPTER 15

when I have all the faith that is possible, even to the point of
transporting mountains, if I do not have charity, then I am nothing.
Within these three virtues: faith, hope and charity, the most
superior of these is charity.’ In this manner and without any
possible doubt, Paul places charity even above faith. This is
because charity is within the reach of everybody, from the
ignorant to the wise person, from the rich to the poor; it is also
quite independent of any particular belief.
He does even more: he defines true charity by showing it as
being not only beneficence, but also a collective of all the qualities
of the heart in terms of goodness and benevolence towards all of
our fellow beings.

WITHOUT THE CHURCH THERE IS NO SALVATION -

WITHOUT TRUTH THERE IS NO SALVATION
8. The maxim - without charity there is no salvation - stands
upon a universal principle and opens the door to supreme
happiness for all of God's children. Whereas the dogma - without
the church there is no salvation – does not rest upon a
fundamental faith in God and the immortality of the soul that is a
belief common to all religions, but on a special faith, on particular
dogmas that are exclusive and absolute. Far from uniting God's
children, it separates them. Instead of inciting them to love their
brothers and sisters it feeds upon and sanctions the irritations
between various sectarians of different cults, who reciprocally
consider each other to be eternally damned, despite the fact that
these same sectarians may be relations or friends. Therefore, by
despising the great law of equality in the presence of the tomb, it
separates people one from another, even in the area of repose.
Whereas the maxim - without charity there is no salvation -
consecrates the principle of equality before God and the freedom
of conscience. By taking this as a norm, all men and women
 WITHOUT CHARITY THERE IS NO SALVATION 259

become brothers and sisters, whatever their way of worshipping

the Creator, they hold up their hands and pray for each other.
However, with the dogma - without the church there is no
salvation - they excommunicate and persecute each other
reciprocally, living as enemies. The father does not ask after his
son or the son after his father, nor a friend after his friend, since
they consider themselves mutually condemned without possible
remission. Therefore, it is a dogma that is essentially against the
teaching of Christ and the Evangelic Laws.
9. Without truth there is no salvation is equal to without the
church there is no salvation, being equally exclusive, since there
is no one sect existing that does not claim to hold the privilege of
truth. Which person can boast of being in possession of all the
truth when our sphere of knowledge is constantly enlarging and
ideas are being rectified every day? The absolute truth is the
patrimony of only the most elevated category of Spirits. Earthly
humanity cannot allege the possession of it because it is not given
to earthly humanity to know everything. It is only permissible to
aspire to relative truth, which is proportionate to the level of
progress. If God had made the possession of truth an express and
absolute condition for future happiness, He would have
pronounced a verdict of general condemnation. Whereas charity,
even in its most ample form, may be practised by all. Spiritism, in
accordance with the Gospel, admits the possibility of salvation for
every person, independent of any beliefs, granted that God's laws
are observed. It does not say that without Spiritism there is no
salvation, just as it does not intend to teach all the truth as yet. Nor
does it say that without truth there is no salvation because this
maxim, instead of uniting, would only separate and perpetuate
antagonisms.
260 CHAPTER 15

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

WITHOUT CHARITY THERE IS NO SALVATION

10. My children, within the sentence: Without charity there is
no salvation, is enclosed the destiny of humanity, both here on
Earth and in Heaven. Because on Earth, beneath the shadow of
this banner all may live in peace; in Heaven because those who
have practised it will find grace in God's eyes. This phrase is the
celestial beacon, the luminous column, which will guide humanity
in life's desert, putting all on the right pathway to the Promised
Land. It shines in Heaven as a saintly halo on the brows of the
chosen ones. On Earth, it is engraved in the hearts of those to
whom Jesus said, “Go to the right and receive the blessing of My
Father.” You will recognise them by the aroma of charity that
spreads around them. Nothing can indicate with more exactitude,
nor summarise so well humanity’s obligations than this divine
maxim. Spiritism could not prove its origin better than present it
as its rule, because it is a reflection of the purest Christianity.
Humanity will never go astray if it takes this as its guide.
Therefore, my dear friends, dedicate yourselves to understanding
the deep meaning behind these words and the consequences of
their application. Then discover for yourselves all the many ways
in which they may be applied. Submit all your activities to be
administered by charity and your conscience will respond. Not
only will it cause you to avoid practising evil, but it will also make
you practise goodness, in as much as a dormant virtue is not
enough; it is necessary to possess an active virtue. Therefore, in
order to do Good there is always the need for the action of
willpower, whereas in order to avoid practising evil it is sufficient
to be inert or unconcerned.
Friends, give thanks to God for having permitted you to enjoy
the enlightenment of Spiritism. Not that those who possess this
 WITHOUT CHARITY THERE IS NO SALVATION 261

enlightenment are the only ones who will be saved, but because it
helps you to understand the Teachings of Christ, so making you
into better Christians. Therefore, make every effort so that your
fellow beings, when observing you, are induced to recognise that
the true Spiritist and the true Christian are one and the same.
Seeing that all those who practise charity are the disciples of
Jesus, without putting any embargo on whatever sect they may
follow. - PAUL, the Apostle. (Paris, 1860.)
 CHAPTER 16

IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO SERVE BOTH GOD

AND MAMMON
The salvation of the rich. - Preserve yourself from avarice. - Jesus in the house
of Zacchaeus. - The parable of the bad rich man. - The parable of the talents. -
The providential utility of riches. Trials of riches and misery. - The inequality
of riches. - INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: True property. - The application
of riches. - Detachment from earthly possessions. - Transmission of riches.

THE SALVATION OF THE RICH

1. No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the
one, and love the other; or else he will become attached to the
one, and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and
Mammon. (LUKE, 16:13.)
2. And a man came to Jesus and said, Good Master, what good
thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And He said to him,
Why callest me good? there is none good but One, that is God. but
if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. He said to
him, Which? Jesus said, Do no murder, do not commit adultery,
do not steal, do not give false testimony, honour your father and
mother, and love your neighbour as yourself.
The young man said to him, All these things have I kept from my
youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said to him, If you wish to be
perfect, go and sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you
will have treasure in Heaven: and come and follow me.
But when the young man heard that saying, he went away
sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus to His
disciples, verily I say to you, that a rich man shall hardly enter
into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, It is easier for
a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO SERVE BOTH GOD AND MAMMON 263

enter into the Kingdom of God.13 (MATTHEW, 19:16-24. This

same text is also repeated by LUKE, 18:18-25, & by MARK, 10:17-
25.)

PRESERVE YOURSELF FROM AVARICE

3. And one of the company said to him, Master, speak to my
brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said to
him, Man, who made me judge or a divider over you? And he said
to them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness; for a man’s life
consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.
And he spoke a parable to them, saying, The ground of a certain
rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself,
saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow
my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns,
and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my
goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have much goods laid
up for many years; take your ease, eat drink and be merry. But
God said to him, you fool, this night your soul shall be required of
you: then whose shall those things be, which you have provided?
So is he that lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards
God. (LUKE, 12:13-21.)

JESUS IN THE HOUSE OF ZACCHAEUS

4. And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And, behold,
there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among
the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he
was: and he could not for the press, because he was little of
stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to
see him: for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the

13
In the Hebrew language there exists the same word meaning both a camel and a
cord. In the translation of the Bible the first meaning was quoted, but it is possible that
Jesus used the other meaning, namely a cord. This would at least appear to be more
normal.
264 CHAPTER 16

place, he looked up, and saw him, and said to him, Zacchaeus,
make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at your
house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him
joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he
was gone to be a guest with a man that is a sinner. (See the
‘INTRODUCTION’, under the heading - PUBLICANS.)
And Zacchaeus stood, and said to the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half
of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from
any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus
said to him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch
as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to
seek and to save that which was lost. And Zacchaeus stood before
Jesus and said, “Look, Lord, I will give half of my goods to the
poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false
accusation, I will restore him fourfold. And Jesus said to him, This
day salvation is come to this house, for this man is also a son of
Abraham. For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that
which was lost. (LUKE, 19:1-10.)

THE PARABLE OF THE BAD RICH MAN

5. There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and
fine linen, and lived sumptuously every day. And there was a
beggar named Lazarus, who was laid at his gate, covered with
sores, desiring to be fed with the crumbs, which fell from the rich
man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it
came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels
to be beside Abraham. The rich man also died, and was buried;
And in hell, and he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and saw
Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and
said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that
he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I
am tormented in this flame.
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO SERVE BOTH GOD AND MAMMON 265

But Abraham said, ‘My son, remember that you in your lifetime
received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but
now he is comforted and you are tormented.’
And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed,
so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither
can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Then he said, I pray you therefore, father, that you would send
him to my father's house: for I have five brethren; that he may
testify to them, so they will not also come into this place of
torment. Abraham said to him, They have Moses and the prophets,
let them hear them. And he said, No, father Abraham; but if one
went to them from the dead they will repent. And he said to him,
If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be
persuaded, though one rose from the dead. (LUKE, 16:19-31.)

THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS

6. For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far
country, who called his own servants, and delivered into them his
goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to
another one; to every man according to his several abilities; and
straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five
talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five
talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained
another two. But he that had received one went and digged in the
earth, and hid his lord's money. After a long time the lord of those
servants returned and reckoned with them. And so he that had
received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying,
Lord, you delivered to me five talents: behold, I have gained
beside them five talents more. His lord said to him, Well done, you
good and faithful servant: you have been faithful over a few
things, so I will make you ruler over many things: enter into the
joy of your lord. He also that had received two talents came and
said, Lord, you delivered to me two talents. I have gained two
other talents besides them. His lord said to him, Well done, good
266 CHAPTER 16

and faithful servant; You have been faithful over a few things, so I
will make you ruler over many things: enter into the joy of your
lord. Then he which had received the one talent came and said,
Lord, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not
sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was
afraid, and went and hid your talent in the earth: lo, here you
have that is yours. His lord answered and said to him, You wicked
and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I sowed not, and
gathered where I have not scattered seed: You should therefore
have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I
should have received mine own with interest. Take therefore the
talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents. For to
everyone that has shall be given, and he shall have abundance:
but from him that has not, shall be taken away even what he has.
And cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall
be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (MATTHEW, 25:14-30.)

THE PROVIDENTIAL UTILITY OF RICHES -

TRIALS OF RICHES AND MISERY
7. If riches were meant to constitute an absolute obstacle to
salvation for all who possess them, as might be inferred from
certain words supposedly uttered by Jesus, when these are
interpreted in a literal fashion instead of in their spiritual meaning,
then God, who conceded them, would have placed an instrument
of ruination in the hands of certain people against which they
could not appeal. But this idea is quite repugnant to all reason.
However, it is beyond doubt that from the destruction it causes,
the temptations it provokes and the fascination it holds, we may
deduce that riches constitute a very dangerous trial, even more
dangerous than that of misery. It is the greatest provoker of pride,
selfishness and sensuality. It is the strongest tie that holds humans
to Earth and distracts them from thoughts of Heaven. On many
occasions, it produces such a state of dizziness that those who go
from misery to wealth completely forget their first condition. They
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO SERVE BOTH GOD AND MAMMON 267

also quickly forget those who had shared this state with them,
even those who had helped them and become insensitive, selfish
and futile people. Nevertheless, from the fact that riches make the
journey difficult, it does not follow that it becomes impossible.
Nor that it cannot become a means of salvation for those who
know how to utilise it, just as certain poisons may restore health
when employed in the correct quantities and used with
discernment.
Jesus told the young man who inquired how he could obtain
eternal life, that he should dispose of all his worldly goods and
follow Him. However, this did not mean that Jesus was
establishing an absolute principle that everyone should get rid of
everything they possess, nor that this is the only price to be paid
for salvation. It was meant to show that attachment to worldly
goods was an obstacle to salvation. The young man in this case
had judged himself to be released from further struggle because he
had observed certain commandments and therefore he refused the
idea of abandoning all the worldly goods he possessed. His desire
to obtain eternal life did not run to the extreme of acquiring it
through this sacrifice.
What Jesus proposed to him was a decisive test destined to
uncover the depths of his thoughts. Beyond doubt, he could be a
perfectly honest person in the eyes of the world, never causing
harm to anyone, never cursing his neighbours, never being vain,
futile or prideful and always honouring his mother and father. Still
he did not possess true charity, because his virtues did not go as
far as abnegation. This is what Jesus wished to demonstrate by
applying the principle: Without charity there is no salvation.
In the strict acceptance of these words, the result would be the
abolition of riches due to their being detrimental to future
happiness and the cause of a great deal of the evil on Earth. For
the rest, it would be the condemnation of all work as being the
268 CHAPTER 16

means of gain. This would be an absurd consequence that would

only convey humankind back to a primitive existence and be in
complete contradiction to the Law of Progress which is one of
God's laws.
If riches were the cause of much evil, if they aggravate so many
evil passions, if they really provoked so many crimes, it is not the
riches themselves that we should blame, but humankind who
misuses them as it does all of God's gifts. It is through ill usage
that humanity constantly turns what could be most useful into
something pernicious. This is a consequence of the inferior state of
earthly life. If riches could only produce wrongdoing and
mischief, then God would not have placed them upon Earth. It is
up to humanity to make them produce Good and even if they are
not a direct element of moral progress, then beyond doubt they are
a powerful element in intellectual progress.
Indeed, all humanity has the mission of working for the
material betterment of this planet. It is up to everyone to reclaim
it, to make it salubrious and to make arrangements so that one day
the planet may receive all the population that its area can and
should contain. To be able to feed this larger population, it will
become imperative to increase production. If the production of one
country is insufficient, then it will be brought in from outside. This
is why relationships between nations become a vital requirement;
but in order to accomplish this it also becomes necessary to
destroy all the obstacles that separate these countries, so that
intercommunication can be rapid. For this work, which has already
taken centuries to accomplish, it has been essential to extract
materials from the very entrails of the Earth. Science was sought
for the means of executing these tasks with more speed and safety.
In order to accomplish this there is need for resources; this
necessity then brought about the creation of riches, just as it had
provoked the discovery of science. These activities also imposed
the need to amplify and develop intelligence, which until that time
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO SERVE BOTH GOD AND MAMMON 269

had been used primarily for the satisfaction of material necessities.

Moreover, it will be the same intelligence that will later help
humanity understand all the great moral truths. Seeing that riches
are the primary means of executing these tasks, without which
there would be no more great works, no activity, no stimulation or
research, it is with good reason that riches are considered as an
element of progress.

THE INEQUALITY OF RICHES

8. The inequality of riches is one of the problems that humanity
will go on trying to resolve without success, as long as only the
present life is considered. The first question that presents itself is
this: why are we all not equally rich? For the simple reason we are
not all equally intelligent, active and industrious enough to
acquire it, nor sober and provident enough to keep it. Besides, it is
a mathematically demonstrable fact that riches, if equally divided,
would give a minimum and insufficient portion to each one. Thus,
supposing this division was actually made, in a short time this
equilibrium would be undone by the diversity of characters and
aptitudes. Also, supposing it to be possible and lasting, each one
would have merely sufficient to live on, resulting in the
annihilation of all great works, that contribute towards progress
and the well being of humanity. Finally, if it were conceded that
each person was given the indispensable, then there would no
longer be any incentive to impel people to make great discoveries
or to found useful enterprises. Therefore, if God has concentrated
riches in certain places, it is because from there it can be poured
out in sufficient quantities, according to needs.
Having accepted this fact, we then ask why God has conceded
riches to people who are incapable of making them bear fruit for
the good of all. Here we have yet another proof of the wisdom and
goodness of God. By giving Humanity free will, He wishes that
270 CHAPTER 16

the position of being able to distinguish right from wrong be

reached through individual experience and that the practice of
Good be solely the result of effort and choice. Humans should not
be fatally led towards either Goodness or evil, thus turning them
into passive and irresponsible instruments, as are animals. Wealth
is a means of being able to test one's morality. However, as it is
also a powerful means of action towards progress, God does not
wish it to remain unproductive over long periods of time, so He
unceasingly displaces it. Each one possesses it eventually, so that
they may drill themselves in utilising it and demonstrate what uses
they have learnt to put it to. Nevertheless, it is materially
impossible for all to possess it at the same time, as it happens that
if everyone had riches, then no one would work, which would
result in the improvement of the planet being compromised. Each
one then has a turn in possessing it. In this manner, those who do
not have it today, have already had it or will have it at some future
time. Likewise, those who have it now, perhaps will not have it
tomorrow. There are rich and poor because God, being just,
prescribes work to each one in turn. For those who are suffering
poverty, it is a test of patience and resignation; for others riches
are a test in charity and abnegation.
It is with good reason that the very bad use to which some
people put their riches are to be deplored, as are the ignoble
passions provoked by their greed. This makes us ask if God is just
to give riches to such persons. It is certain that if human beings
had only one life to live, nothing could justify such a division of
worldly wealth. However, if we keep in sight not only the present
life, but also the assemblage of existences, we would see that
everything is justly balanced. From this point of view, the poor
person lacks a motive with which to accuse providence, just as
they have no motive to be envious of the rich who, in their turn
also lack a motive to glorify themselves for what they possess. On
the other hand, if the application of riches is abused, it will not be
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO SERVE BOTH GOD AND MAMMON 271

by means of decrees or sumptuary laws that the wrongdoing will

be remedied. The laws can temporarily change the exterior, but it
cannot succeed in changing the heart. Hence, these laws would be
of fleeting duration and would then be followed by more
unrestrained reactions. The origin of evil lies in pride and
selfishness; therefore, all manner of abuses will cease when the
Law of Charity governs humanity.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

TRUE PROPERTY
9. The only true property that human beings can own is that
which may be taken with them on leaving this world. What is
found on arrival on Earth and that which is left behind on parting,
is enjoyed only while staying incarnate. Therefore, as humanity is
forced to abandon all worldly possessions, it can be inferred that it
has no real ownership of riches, only their temporary usage. What
then constitutes true property? Nothing that is for the use of the
body, but everything that is for the use of the soul: intelligence,
knowledge and moral qualities. This is what we bring and take
with us, that no one can take away from us, being far more use in
the next world than in this one. It is up to each person to be richer
on departure than they were on arrival in this world, seeing that
their future position will depend solely on what qualities have
been gained in the present life. When someone travels to a distant
country, they take as part of their luggage only those things that
will be useful to them in that place; they do not worry about the
things that will be of no use. Proceed in a like manner in relation
to your future life and provide yourselves with all that can be of
use to you there.
The traveller who arrives at a hostel is only given a good room
if they are able to pay for it. Those who have very little resources
272 CHAPTER 16

are forced to make do with something less agreeable. When they

have nothing that belongs to them, they must sleep on straw. The
same applies to a person on arrival in the world of the Spirits, for
it will depend entirely on what they own as to where they will go.
Nor will payment be made in terms of gold. No one will be asked
what they had had on Earth, or what position they had occupied,
nor even if they were a pauper or a prince. Instead, they will be
asked, “What have you brought with you?” No possessions or
titles will be evaluated, only the total sum of virtues possessed.
Well now, looked at from this aspect, it is possible that the simple
worker will be far richer than the prince. In vain may the latter
allege that before leaving the Earth their entrance into the next
world was paid for in gold. The only reply being: No one may buy
a place here; it must be conquered by means of doing Good to
others. Earthly money may buy land, houses or palaces, but in our
world, everything is paid for by means of the qualities of the soul.
Are you rich in these qualities? Then you are welcome and may go
to one of the high places where all kinds of happiness awaits.
However, if you are poor in these qualities then you must go to the
low places, where you will be treated according to what you
possess. - PASCAL (Geneva, 1860.)
10. Earthly goods belong to God, Who distributes them in
accordance with His wishes. Humans are nothing more than the
usufructuary, a relatively honest and intelligent administrator of
these properties. They belong so little to the individual person, that
God frequently annuls all such provisions, so that the riches
escape from even those who considered themselves to hold the
best entitlement.
You would say perhaps, this is understandable when related to
inherited property, but not to that acquired by work. Undoubtedly,
if there were such a thing as legitimate riches, then it would apply
to the latter, when honestly gained. However, a property is only
legitimately acquired when during its acquisition there has been
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO SERVE BOTH GOD AND MAMMON 273

no harm done to anyone. An account will have to be given right

down to the last cent of all ill-gotten gains, that is to say gains that
may have injured someone. From the fact that a person may owe
the acquiring of riches to themselves, does it follow that upon
dying any advantage may be gained from this circumstance? Are
not the precautions they may have taken to transfer these riches to
descendants frequently useless? If God does not desire them to be
transmitted, then nothing can prevail against His wishes. Can
someone use and abuse what they own during their lifetime
without needing to give an account? No. On permitting the
acquisition, it is to be supposed that God had in mind to
recompense the person during the actual existence for their effort,
courage and perseverance. If however, it was used exclusively for
the satisfaction of their senses or their pride; or if they became the
cause of failure in their hands, it would have been better not to
have received them, seeing that what is gained on the one hand is
lost on the other, so annulling all merit for the work. On leaving
the Earth, God will say that the recompense has already been
received. - M. A PROTECTING SPIRIT (Brussels, 1861.)

THE APPLICATION OF RICHES

11. It is not possible to serve both God and Mammon. Those of
you who are dominated by the love of gold, who would sell your
very souls in order to possess treasure, do not forget this reminder,
because these things permit you to elevate yourselves above other
men and women, so allowing you to enjoy passions that make you
their slaves. No, it is not possible to serve both God and
Mammon! So then, if you feel your soul to be dominated by the
lust of the flesh, make haste to rid yourself of this yoke that
tyrannises you, in as much as God, who is just and strict, will say
to you, “What did you do with the property I entrusted to you,
unfaithful steward? This powerful motive for good works has been
used exclusively for your own personal satisfaction!”
274 CHAPTER 16

What then is the best way to employ riches? If you look for the
answer in the words “Love one another”, you will find the
solution, for here lies the secret of the best way to employ riches.
Those who love their neighbour already have a line of action
delineated for them in these words; because the application that
most pleases God is charity. Not that cold and selfish charity that
consists in distributing only that which is superfluous from their
golden existence, but rather that charity full of love, that seeks out
misfortune and helps raise it up without causing humiliation. You,
who are rich, give what you have in excess! But do even more,
give something of what is necessary to you, because what you
consider necessary is, in reality, also superfluous, but give wisely.
Do not reject those who weep because you may be afraid of being
duped, but find the underlying cause of the matter. In the first
place, seek to alleviate; secondly seek information and then see if
the possibility of work, counselling or even offering affection,
would not be more efficient than the mere giving of alms. Spread
all around you with affluence, your love for God, for work and for
your neighbour. Place your riches on a secure base, being that of
good works, and you will be guaranteed great profit. The riches of
intelligence should serve you just as do those of wealth. Therefore,
disperse around you the benefits of education and scatter the
treasure of your love over your brothers and sisters that they may
bear fruits. - CHEVERUS (Bordeaux, 1861.)
12. When I consider the brevity of life, I am painfully
impressed by the incessant preoccupation placed on material well
being, that has become the main objective in life. Whereas you
place so little significance and give so little time and often none, to
your moral perfectioning. Nevertheless, this is what is essential
and what counts towards eternity. From the amount of effort put
into material welfare it would appear we are dealing with a
question of the utmost importance for humanity. When in reality
it will be found that in the majority of cases, this same work is
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO SERVE BOTH GOD AND MAMMON 275

nothing other than an attempt to satisfy exaggerated needs and

vanities or is a surrender to excesses. What grief, sorrow and
torments you cause yourselves! What sleepless nights, just to
increase what is often a more than sufficient wealth! At the height
of blindness, it is not infrequent to see those whose immoderate
love of wealth and pleasures allows them to be subjected to
arduous and tiring work; while they boast of the life of sacrifice
and merit they lead, as if they were working for others and not for
themselves! What fools you are! Do you really believe that the
care and effort expended will be taken into consideration when, on
the one hand, you are motivated by selfishness, cupidity and pride
and on the other hand you neglect your future and the duties that
fraternal solidarity imposes on all who reap the advantages that
society has to offer? You have thought only of your physical
bodies! Your own well being and pleasures have been the
exclusive object of your selfish solicitude. For the sake of the
body that perishes, you have despised the spirit that will live
forever. This is why that spoiled and flattered lord becomes your
tyrant; it dominates your spirit, thus making you its slave. Can this
possibly be the objective for which God granted you life? - A
PROTECTING SPIRIT (Krakow, 1861.)
13. Seeing that humans are both administrators and trustees for
the wealth that is placed in their hands by God, it will therefore be
indispensable to render a strict account of the uses it has been put
to, by virtue of their free will. Bad usage consists of it being used
exclusively for personal satisfaction; good usage, on the contrary,
is whenever this results in benefit to others. Each person's merit is
in the degree of sacrifice they impose upon themselves.
Beneficence is just one way of employing riches; it can be used to
alleviate misery, appease hunger and offer shelter and warmth to
those who have none. Nevertheless, an equally imperious
obligation that is also very noteworthy, is that of preventing
misery. This, above all else, is the mission of the great fortunes; a
276 CHAPTER 16

mission to be fulfilled through the many kinds of work for which

it can be used. Neither does the good resulting from these works
cease to exist because those who work in this manner take
legitimate benefit from it; seeing that it develops intelligence and
ennobles the dignity of humankind by allowing the satisfaction of
being able to say that they earn their means of sustenance; whereas
the receiving of alms only humiliates and degrades. Riches, that
are concentrated in one hand, should be like a spring of running
water that spreads fertility and well-being wherever it goes. Oh
you who are wealthy! Employ your riches according to the wishes
of God, Who would be the first to quench your thirst at this
blessed spring! Even in this present life, you could reap
unequalled happiness for the soul, instead of the material pleasures
of selfishness that only produce a sensation of emptiness in the
heart. Your name would be blessed on Earth and when you leave
it, the Lord our God would say to you as was said in the parable of
the talents, “Good and faithful servant, enter into the happiness of
your God.” In this parable the servant who buried the money that
was entrusted to him, represents those who are miserly and in
whose hands riches remain unproductive. Meanwhile, if Jesus
spoke principally of alms it was because in those days, in the
country where He lived, the kinds of work in the arts and industry
where riches could be usefully employed were not yet known. So
then, to all who are able to give, be it much or little, I would say
this: give money only when necessary, but as often as possible
convert it into wages, so that the person who receives is not
ashamed. - FÉNELON (Algiers, 1860.)

DETACHMENT FROM EARTHLY POSSESSIONS

14. My brothers, sisters and friends, I am come to offer you my
contribution to help you advance fearlessly along the pathway to
improvement into which you are entering. We are all indebted one
to the other. Therefore, it is only possible to achieve regeneration
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO SERVE BOTH GOD AND MAMMON 277

by means of a sincere and fraternal union between Spirits and

incarnate beings.
Attachment to earthly possessions constitutes one of the
strongest obstacles to both moral and spiritual advancement.
Through this attachment, all faculties for loving are destroyed, as
they are only devoted to material things. Let us be honest with
each other: do riches bring unmixed happiness? When your safes
are full of money, is there not still an emptiness in your hearts? At
the bottom of this basket of flowers is there not a viper? I
understand the satisfaction that is experienced and quite justifiably
so, when by means of honourable and assiduous work a fortune
has been gained. Nevertheless, from this same satisfaction, that is
very natural and has God's approval, to the attachment that absorbs
all other sentiments and paralyses the impulses felt by the heart,
there is a large gap. As large as the distance that separates
exaggerated extravagance from that of sordid covetousness, two
vices between which God has placed charity, that saintly and
cleansing virtue that teaches the rich person to give without
ostentation, so that the poor may receive without being debased.
Whether the fortune has come to you from your family, or
whether you have earned it by working, there is something you
should never forget, which is that everything proceeds from God
and everything refers us to Him. Nothing belongs to you on this
Earth, not even your own physical body. Death strips you of it
even as it does of all earthly possessions. You are merely trustees
and not the owners, so do not delude yourselves. God has only lent
these things to you and they must be returned. What is more, they
have been lent to you under the condition that at least the surplus
should go to those who lack what is necessary.
One of your friends lends you a certain sum of money.
However lacking in honesty you may be, you make a point of
scrupulously restituting what was lent and are grateful to that
278 CHAPTER 16

person. Well then, this is the exact position of all who are rich.
God is the Celestial Friend who lends you riches, wishing nothing
more for Himself than love and recognition for the loan. However,
He does demand that in turn the rich person gives to the poor who,
just as much as they, are His sons and daughters.
Ardent and demented greed are aroused in your hearts by the
possessions that God has entrusted to you. Have you ever stopped
to think that when you allow yourselves to become immoderately
attached to a perishable fortune, which is just as transitory as
yourselves, that one day you will have to account to God for what
was done with what came from Him? Have you forgotten that
through riches you assume a sacred mission to administer charity
here on Earth, to be its intelligent distributors? Hence, when what
was entrusted to you is used only for your own benefit, does it not
follow that you are unfaithful trustees? What then will be the
result of this voluntary forgetfulness of duty? Inflexible and
inexhaustible death will tear away the veil under which you have
been hiding, so forcing you to give an account to Him Who has
been forgotten and Who, at that moment stands before you as
Judge.
It is useless to try to delude yourselves while on Earth by
covering up, under the name of virtue, what is usually nothing
more than selfishness. It is useless to call that which is only greed
and cupidity by the name of economy and foresight, or to call that
which is only prodigality for your own advantage, by the name of
generosity. For example, a father abstains from practising charity,
economises and accumulates wealth so that, as he puts it, he may
leave his children the greatest possible amount of property in order
to avoid their ever-knowing misery. This is very just and fatherly,
I agree, and no one can censure him for this. However, is it always
the only motive behind his action? Does he not frequently feel
bound by his own conscience to justify this personal attachment
for earthly possessions, both in his own eyes and those of the
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO SERVE BOTH GOD AND MAMMON 279

world? Even if paternal love were the only motive, is that reason
enough to forget his brothers and sisters before God? When he has
a surplus, will he leave his children in misery if they have a little
less? In this manner, is he not giving them a lesson in selfishness
and hardening their hearts? Will it not cause their love for their
neighbours to wither away? Mothers and fathers, you are
labouring under a grave error if you believe this is the way to gain
affection from your children. By teaching them to be selfish with
others, you are only teaching them to be selfish with you too.
It is common to hear it said, from someone who has worked
very hard and accumulated wealth with the sweat of their brow,
that the value of money is better appreciated when it has been
worked for. This is very true. Well then! The person who declares
they know the full value of money should practise charity; their
merit will then be greater than the one who, being born to
abundance, is ignorant of toil and work. Also, if this same person,
who remembers their own sufferings and endeavours, is selfish
and unmerciful to the poor they will be more guilty than the other,
since the more each one knows for themselves the hidden pains of
misery, the greater tendency there should be to help others.
Unhappily, in people who possess riches there is always a
sentiment as strong as their attachment for the riches: that is pride.
Not infrequently, the newly rich can be heard making someone,
who asked for assistance, dizzy with tales of their success and
abilities; instead of helping them they end by saying, “Do as I
did.” According to this prideful person's way of thinking, God's
goodness does not even enter into the matter of their having
obtained the riches. The merit for having obtained them is theirs
alone. Their pride has blinded their eyes and deafened their ears.
Despite their intelligence and aptitudes, they still do not
understand that with only one word God can cast them.
280 CHAPTER 16

The squandering of riches is not a demonstration of detachment

from earthly possessions, it is merely carelessness and
indifference. As trustees of these possessions, human beings have
no right to dissipate them, neither have they the right to confiscate
them for their own benefit. Extravagance is not generosity; rather
it is frequently a type of selfishness. Someone who spends money
by the handful in order to satisfy a fantasy, will perhaps not give
even a penny to someone in need. Detachment from worldly
possessions consists in appreciating them according to their just
value. This means in knowing how to make use of them for the
benefit of others and not exclusively in self-benefit, in not
sacrificing all interest in a future life for them and in being able to
lose them without a murmur in case it pleases God to take them
away. If due to unforeseeable circumstances, you become as Job,
then say as he did: “Lord, You have given and You have taken
away. Let Your Will be done.” This is true detachment. Above all
else be submissive and trust He, Who, having given and taken
away, may once again restitute what was taken. Resist
desanimation and desperation with all your courage, as these
paralyse your strength. When God causes you to suffer a blow,
never forget that alongside the most painful trial He always places
a consolation. Above all, ponder the point that there are
possessions infinitely more precious than those to be found on
Earth and this thought will help you towards detachment. The less
attachment you have for something means the less sensitive you
will be to its loss. The person who holds on to earthly possessions
is like a child, who sees only the moment. Whereas the one who is
able to detach themselves is like an adult, who sees the more
important things in life because they understand the prophetic
words of the Saviour: “My kingdom is not of this world.”
The Lord orders no one to dispose of what they possess, since
this would condemn them to voluntary pauperism, seeing that this
would turn them into social encumbrances. To proceed in this
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO SERVE BOTH GOD AND MAMMON 281

manner is to misunderstand the true meaning of detachment from

worldly possessions. In fact, this is a selfishness of another kind,
because it means that the individuals exempt themselves from the
responsibility that riches have placed on all who possess them.
God gives riches to those He considers apt to administer them for
the benefit of others. The rich person is given a mission that can
be beautified by him and be personally profitable. To reject riches
when God has bestowed them is to renounce the benefits of the
goodness it can do, when administered with good judgement. By
knowing how to do without them, when you do not have them,
knowing how to employ them usefully when you receive them,
and by knowing how to sacrifice them when necessary, you are
proceeding according to God's wishes. Well then, let those into
whose hands has come what in the world is called a goodly
fortune, say: “My Lord, you have entrusted me with a new
mission; give me the strength to fulfil it according to your
wishes.”
My friends, here you have what I wished to teach about
detachment from worldly possession. I would summarise what I
have written by saying: Know how to be content with only a little.
If you are poor, do not envy the rich, because riches are not
necessarily happiness. If you are rich, then do not forget that these
riches at your disposal are only entrusted to you; that you will
have to justify the use to which you put them, just as you would
have to give an account of an investment for which you are
responsible. Do not be an unfaithful trustee, utilising it only for the
satisfaction of your own pride and sensuality. Do not think you
have the right to dispose of a loan as if it were a gift, exclusively
for your own benefit. If you do not know how to make restitution
then you do not have the right of request. Remember that the
person who gives to the poor is settling a debt contracted with
God. - LACORDAIRE (Constantine, 1863.)
282 CHAPTER 16

TRANSMISSION OF RICHES
15. Does the principle, according to which human beings are
merely trustees of a fortune that God has permitted them to enjoy
during their lifetime, take away the right to transmit it to their
descendants?
After their death a person has a perfect right to transmit what
they enjoyed during their lifetime, because the effect of this right
is always subordinate to the Will of God, Who can, when He
deems fit, prevent those descendants from enjoying what was
transferred to them. This is the reason why many apparently solid
fortunes collapse. A person’s wish then becomes impotent when
they desire to maintain their fortune in the hands of descendants.
However, this does not take away the right to transfer the loan
received from God, seeing that God can always take it away when
He judges it opportune. – SAINT LOUIS. (Paris, 1860.)
 CHAPTER 17

BE PERFECT
Characteristics of perfection. - The good person. - Good Spiritists. - The
parable of the sower. - INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: Duty. - Virtue. -
Those who are superior and those who are inferior. - The worldly person. -
Look after both body and spirit.

CHARACTERISTICS OF PERFECTION
1. But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you,
do good to those who hate you, and pray for them that despitefully
use you, and persecute you. For if you love them which love you,
what reward have you? Do not even the Publicans the same? And
if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others?
Do not even the Publicans? So be you therefore perfect, as your
Father that is in Heaven is perfect. (MATTHEW, 5:44 & 46-48.)
2. Since God possesses infinite perfection in all things, the
proposition, “Be perfect as your Celestial Father is perfect,” if
taken literally would presuppose the possibility of attaining
absolute perfection. If it were given to humans to be as perfect as
their Creator, then they would become His equal, which is
inadmissible, but the people to whom Jesus spoke did not
understand this nuance, which caused Him to limit Himself to the
presentation of a model and tell them that they must strive to reach
it.
Those words then must be understood in the sense of relative
perfection, that which humanity is capable of achieving and that
most nearly approaches the Divinity. What does this perfection
consist of? Jesus said, “In loving one's enemies, in doing Good to
those who hate us, in praying for those who persecute us.” In this
284 CHAPTER 17

way, He shows that the essence of perfection is Charity in its most

ample form because it implies the practice of all the other virtues.
In fact, by observing the results of all the vices and even of
simple defects, it can be recognised that there is not one that does
not more or less disfigure the sentiment of charity. This is because
all of them have their beginnings in selfishness and pride, which
are the negation of it. This is due to the fact that everything that
over-stimulates our self-esteem destroys, or at least weakens, the
elements of true charity which are: benevolence, indulgence,
abnegation and devotion. Love for one's fellow creatures, when
extended to a love for one's enemies, cannot be allied to any defect
that is against charity. Therefore, for this reason, it is always an
indication of a greater or lesser moral superiority. From this, it
follows that the degree of perfection is in direct relation to the
extent of this love. It was for this reason that Jesus, after having
given His Disciples the rules of charity and all that they contain of
what is most sublime, then said to them, “Be perfect, as your
Celestial Father is perfect.”

THE GOOD PERSON

3. The truly good person is one who complies with the laws of
justice, love and charity in their highest degree of purity. If they
examine their conscience concerning their own actions they will
ask themselves if they have violated those laws, or if they have
practised any evil and if they have done all the Good that was
possible. Yet again, they will ask themselves if they have
voluntarily disregarded any occasion to be useful, or if anyone has
any complaint to make against them, and finally if they have done
to others everything that they would wish done to themselves.
They deposit their faith in God, in His goodness, in His justice
and His wisdom. They know that without His permission nothing
 BE PERFECT 285

can happen. Therefore, they submit themselves to His will in all

things.
They have faith in the future, which is the reason to put spiritual
possessions before those of a temporary nature.
They know that all the vicissitudes of life, all pain and all
deceptions are trials or atonements and accept them without
murmuring.
Possessing the sentiments of charity and love for their
neighbours, they do Good for the sake of goodness, without
waiting for payment of any kind. They repay evil with goodness,
take up the defence of the weak against the strong and always
sacrifice their own interests in the name of justice.
These people encounter satisfaction in the benefits they are able
to spread, the service they are able to render, the happiness they
promote, the tears they are able to dry and the consolation they
offer to those who are afflicted. Their first impulse is always to
think of others before thinking of themselves and to look after
those interests before looking after their own interests. On the
other hand, the selfish person always calculates the benefits and
losses arising from any generous action.
The Good person is always Good, humane and benevolent with
everyone, without distinction as to race or creed, because they see
all men and women as brothers and sisters.
They respect all sincere convictions in others and never launch
reprobation against those who think otherwise.
In all life’s circumstances, they are guided by a desire to be
charitable. This is because they know that those who prejudice
others with evil words, injure them with their pride, disregard their
susceptibilities, or do not draw back at the thought of causing
suffering or a contrariety, however small, especially when it could
286 CHAPTER 17

be avoided, lack the sense of obligation to love one's neighbour

and therefore do not deserve the clemency of the Lord.
They do not harbour rancour or hatred, nor yet desire
vengeance. Instead, they follow the example of Jesus by forgiving
and forgetting all offences, only remembering the benefits
received, because they know that we ourselves will only be
forgiven in as much as we are able to forgive others.
They are indulgent with the weaknesses of others because they
know that they also need indulgence, remembering that Christ
said, “Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone.”
They do not take pleasure in looking for defects in others, nor
in calling attention to them. If necessity obliges them to do so,
then they always try to look for the good qualities so as to lessen
the bad ones.
Good people study their own imperfections and work
unceasingly to combat them, using all their strength so that
tomorrow they will be able to say they are just a little better than
they were the day before.
They never try to emphasise the importance of their own spirit
or their talents at the expense of others. On the contrary, they take
every opportunity to highlight in others whatever these people
may have that is useful and positive.
They are not conceited about their riches or of any personal
advantage, knowing that everything that has been given to them
may be taken away. They use, but do not abuse, the possessions
that have been conceded to them, because they are only a
depository, for which they will be required to give a full account.
They know that the most detrimental employment these riches can
be put to, is the satisfaction of their own passions.
If then, by social order, a person has been placed in a position
of command over their fellow beings, they treat them with
 BE PERFECT 287

kindness and benevolence, because before God all men and

women are equal. They use their authority to lift up the morale of
these people and never crush them with their pride. Likewise, they
avoid everything that might make a subordinate position painful.
On the part of those who are subordinate, let it be understood
that the duties that go with this position should be clearly
appreciated and conscientiously fulfilled. (See chapter 17 - item
9.)
Finally, a good person is always one who respects the rights of
their fellow beings as assured by the laws of nature, in the same
way they would wish their own to be respected.
These are not all the qualities that distinguish a good person,
but anyone who tries hard to possess those that we have just
mentioned, are already travelling along the pathway that leads to
all the others.

GOOD SPIRITISTS
4. Spiritism, when thoroughly understood and above all when
deeply and sincerely felt, leads to the results already expounded
that characterise a true Spiritist just as much as a true Christian,
for they are one and the same. Spiritism does not institute any new
morals; it only makes it easier for everyone to understand and
practice Christ's morals by giving an unshakable and enlightened
faith to those who are in doubt or who waver.
Meanwhile, many of those who believe in the spiritual
manifestations do not understand their consequences or the far-
reaching moral effects; or if they do understand, they do not apply
them to themselves. To what is this attributed? Is it due to some
failing in the clarity of the Teachings? No, seeing it contains no
allegories or forms that could lead to false interpretations. Clarity
is its very essence and this is its strength because it touches human
288 CHAPTER 17

intelligence directly. There is no mystery and those who are

initiated are not in possession of any secrets hidden from ordinary
people.
So then, is it indispensable to possess outstanding intelligence
in order to understand? No, in as much as there are people of
notable capacities who do not understand, whereas there are many
of ordinary intelligence, even young people, who grasp the
meaning of even the most delicate points with remarkable
precision. This proves that the so-called material part of Science
only requires eyes to be able to observe. The essential part
demands a certain degree of sensitivity that can be called maturity
in the moral sense; a maturity that is independent of age or level of
education, that in a special sense is inherent to the development of
the incarnate soul.
In some people, material ties are still too strong for them to be
able to release themselves from earthly things. A kind of mist
surrounding them does not allow them to have a vision of the
Infinite, resulting in the fact of them not being able to break away
from old tendencies or habits because they cannot see that there
exists something better than what they already have. They believe
in spirits as a simple fact. However, this modifies none or very
few of their instinctive tendencies. In a word, they perceive
nothing more than a small ray of light insufficient to guide them or
offer profound aspirations that would make it possible for them to
overcome their inclinations. The phenomenon touches them more
than the morality, that seems to be hackneyed and monotonous.
They ask only that the spirits unceasingly initiate new mysteries,
without asking themselves if they have become worthy of
penetrating the hidden secrets of the Creator. These then are the
imperfect spirits, some of whom have remained stationary in time
or have turned away from the faith held by companions, due to
their having drawn back before the necessity of self-reform.
Perhaps they have kept sympathy with those who share the same
 BE PERFECT 289

weaknesses or prejudices. Nevertheless, the acceptance of the

fundamental principles of the Teachings is the first step, from
which it will be easier for them to take the second step in another
existence.
The person who can justifiably be classified as a true and
sincere Spiritist is to be found on a superior level of moral
progress. The spirit of this person almost completely dominates
their physical body, so giving them a clearer perception of the
future. The principles of the Teachings, that leave many
untouched, cause them to feel deep inner vibrations. In short, their
heart is moved and this is what makes their faith unshakeable. It is
like a musician who is touched by just a few chords, whereas
another person hears only sounds. The true Spiritist, can be
recognised by their moral transformation and by the efforts they
employ in order to dominate their bad instincts. While one is
content with a limited horizon, the other, who understands that
better things exist, makes every effort towards their spiritual
progress and always manages to do this, when their desire is
strong and true.

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER

5. That same day went Jesus out of the house and sat by the sea
side. And great multitudes gathered about Him, so that He went
into a ship, and sat: and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, a
sower went forth to sow: And when he sowed, some seeds fell by
the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them. Some fell
upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith
they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when
the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no
roots, they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the
thorns sprang up, and choked them. But others fell into good
ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some
290 CHAPTER 17

sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who has ears to hear, let him hear.
(MATTHEW, 13:1-9.)
Hear you therefore the parable of the sower. When any one hears
the word of the kingdom, and understands it not, then the wicked
one comes and snatches away that which was sown in his heart.
This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that
received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heard the
word, and straight way with joy received it: Yet has he not in
himself, but stays only for a while: for when tribulation or
persecution arises because of the word, by and by he is offended.
He also that received seed among the thorns is he that hears the
word: and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches
chokes the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he that received
seed into good ground is he that hears the word, and understands
it; which also bears fruit, and brings forth some a hundred times,
some sixty, some thirty. (MATTHEW, 13:18-23.)
6. The Parable of the Sower truly represents the various ways in
which we may make use of the teachings from the New
Testament. There are so many people for whom these teachings
are nothing more than dead words that can be compared to seeds
that fall on stony ground and produce no fruits at all.
This parable brings us a no less justifiable application of the
different categories of Spiritists. Do we not find symbolised in it
those who are only attracted to material phenomena, from which
they are unable to learn anything because they only see it as an
object of curiosity? Does it not show us those who seek the
brilliance of spirit communication merely to interest themselves as
long as it satisfies their imagination and who, after listening to the
messages, continue to be just as cold and indifferent as they were
before? Then there are those who consider the advice very good
and admire it, but only apply it to others and never to themselves.
Finally, there are those for whom the Teachings are as seeds that
fall on good soil and produce fruits.
 BE PERFECT 291

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

DUTY
7. Duty is the moral obligation of each person, firstly to
themselves and then immediately afterwards to others. Duty is the
law of life. It is encountered in the smallest details as well as in the
most elevated acts. Now, I wish to speak only of moral duty and
not of that duty which refers to the professions.
Within the order of sentiments, duty is very difficult to fulfil
because it finds itself in antagonism with the seductions of
interests and of the heart. Its victories have no witnesses and its
failures suffer no repressions. The intimate duty of human beings
is left to their free will. The pressure of their conscience, this
guardian of interior integrity, alerts and sustains people, but shows
itself frequently impotent against the deceptions of passion. The
duty of the heart, when faithfully observed, elevates people, but
how can we define it with exactitude? Where does duty begin?
Where does it end? Duty begins exactly at the point where the
happiness or tranquillity of our neighbour is threatened and
therefore terminates at the limit we would not wish to be passed in
relation to ourselves.
God has created all human beings equal in relation to pain;
whether small or great, ignorant or educated; everyone suffers
from the same motives, so that each one may judge in clear
conscience the evil that can be done. With regard to goodness in
its infinite variety of expressions, the criterion is not the same.
Equality in the face of suffering is God's sublime providence. He
desires that none of His children, instructed through their common
experiences, should practise evil with the excuse of not knowing its
effects.
292 CHAPTER 17

Duty is a practical summary of all moral speculations; it is the

bravery of the soul that faces the anguishes of battle. It is austere
and mild, ready to adapt itself to the most diverse complications
while maintaining inflexibility before temptations. The person
who fulfils their duty loves God more than their fellow beings and
loves their fellow beings more than themselves. They are at the
same time judge and slave in their own cause.
Duty is the most beautiful laurel of reason and is born of it as a
child is born of its mother. Human beings should love duty, not
because it protects them from the evils of life, from which
humanity cannot escape, but because it transmits vigour to the soul
necessary for its development.
Duty grows and irradiates under a constantly more elevated
form in each of the superior stages of human existence. A person's
moral obligations towards God never cease. They must reflect the
eternal virtues that do not accept imperfect outlines because He
wishes the grandeur of His work to always be resplendent in His
own eyes. - LAZARUS (Paris, 1863.)

VIRTUE
8. At its highest level, virtue is a combination of all those
essential qualities that constitute a good person. Namely to be
good, charitable, hard working, sober and modest. Unfortunately,
these virtues are usually accompanied by slight moral failures that
tarnish and weaken them. The person who calls attention to their
virtues is not virtuous because they lack the principle quality that
is modesty; but they possess the vice in greatest opposition to
modesty that is pride. A virtue that is really deserving of this name
does not like to exhibit itself. We must pay attention in order to be
aware of its presence; it hides in the shadows and runs away from
public admiration. Saint Vincent de Paul was virtuous. The
dignified curate of Ars was virtuous, as are a great many others
 BE PERFECT 293

who are little known in this world, but are known to God. All of
these good people were ignorant of the fact that they were
virtuous. They allowed themselves to be carried along by their
saintly inspirations, practising goodness with absolute
disinterestedness and complete forgetfulness of self.
It is to this virtue well understood and practised that I call you,
my children; it is to this really Christian and spiritual virtue that I
invite you to commit yourselves. Remove from your hearts the
sentiments of pride, vanity and self-love that always tarnish the
most beautiful of these qualities. Do not imitate those people who
offer themselves as models, who blow their own trumpets about
their own qualities for all who are tolerant enough to listen. This
ostentatious virtue usually hides a mass of wickedness and hateful
weaknesses.
In principle, people who exalt themselves, who erect statues to
their own virtues by this very fact annul all the merits they might
effectively have had. Furthermore, what can be said of those
whose only value is in appearing to be what they are not? You
must clearly understand that whoever does something good, has a
feeling of intimate satisfaction in the bottom of their hearts.
However, from the moment that satisfaction is exteriorised to
provoke praise it degenerates into self-love.
Oh, all of you whom the Spiritist faith has reanimated and
warmed with its rays, who knows just how far away from
perfection humanity finds itself, you will never deliver yourselves
over to this failing! Virtue is a blessing that I desire for all sincere
Spiritists, but with this warning: It is better to have fewer virtues
and to be modest, than to have many virtues and be proud. It was
because of pride that various groupings of humanities throughout
the ages have successively lost themselves. It will be through
humility that they will one day redeem themselves. - FRANÇOIS-
NICOLAS-MADELEINE (Paris, 1863.)
294 CHAPTER 17

THOSE WHO ARE SUPERIOR AND

THOSE WHO ARE INFERIOR
9. Just like riches, authority is delegated; and those who have
received it will be required to give an account of what they have
done with it. Do not believe that it has been given for the futile
pleasure of command, nor even less as a right or property, as is
falsely thought by the majority of powerful people on Earth.
Besides, God is constantly proving that it is neither the one nor the
other, since He takes it away whenever it pleases Him. If it were a
privilege inherent to the person who exercised it, it would be
inalienable. However, no one can say that something belongs to
them when it may be taken away without their consent. God
confers authority with the title of mission or test as He sees fit and
takes it back in the same manner.
Whoever is a trustee of authority, whatever its extent may be,
from the master over his servants to a sovereign over his peoples,
it must never be forgotten that such people have souls in their
charge. They will have to answer for both the good and bad
directives given to those subordinates. The misdemeanours they
may commit and the vices to which they may succumb in
consequence of the directives received, or the bad examples they
are given will all revert to those in command. Just as in the same
way the fruits of the solicitudes offered in conducting these
subordinates towards goodness, will also revert to those in
authority. Every person on Earth has either a small or a great
mission and whatever form it may take, it is always given towards
goodness. Therefore, to turn it away from its purpose is to fail in
the execution of the task.
Just as God asks those who are rich, “What was done with the
fortune you had in your hands that should have been a source for
spreading fruitfulness all around you?” He will also inquire of
those who have some authority, “What have you done with your
 BE PERFECT 295

authority? What evils have you avoided? What progress have you
made? If I gave you subordinates, it was not so that you could turn
them into slaves for your desires or docile instruments for your
whims or your greed. I made you strong and entrusted to you those
who were weak, so that you could protect them and help them to
climb up towards me.”
The superior person, who keeps Christ's words, despises none
of their subordinates. They know that social distinctions do not
exist before God. Spiritism teaches us that if these people are
obeying that superior person today, perhaps they had already
given that person orders in the past, or may give them in the
future. Then that superior person will be treated in the same
manner as when they were under them.
If the superior has duties to be fulfilled, the subaltern also has
duties on their side that are no less sacred. If this person is also a
Spiritist, their conscience will tell them, in no uncertain terms, that
they are not exempt from fulfilling these duties, even when their
superior does not fulfil theirs. This is because they know that you
do not repay evil with evil and that the failings of some do not
authorise others to fail likewise. If they suffer in their position,
they will comment that beyond doubt they deserve it because
perhaps they had abused the authority they had been given at some
other time, so now they are feeling the disadvantages they had
made others suffer. If they are obliged to support this situation, for
lack of a better one, then Spiritism teaches them to be resigned; as
a test in humility that is necessary for their advancement. Their
beliefs guide them in their conduct, leading them to proceed as
they would like their subordinates to behave, if they were the
superiors. For this reason, they are more scrupulous in the
fulfilment of their obligations as they come to understand that all
negligence in the work that has been confided to them, would
cause a loss to the one who pays them and to whom they owe their
time and effort. In a word, this person is guided by their sense of
296 CHAPTER 17

duty that their faith has instilled in them and the certainty that all
turning aside from the straight and narrow pathway will be a debt
incurred, that sooner or later must be repaid. - FRANÇOIS-
NICOLAS-MADELEINE. Cardinal MORLOT (Paris, 1863.)

THE WORLDLY PERSON

10. A sentiment of pity should always animate the hearts of
those who gather together under the eye of the Lord, imploring the
assistance of the Good Spirits. Therefore, purify your hearts! Do
not allow yourselves to be perturbed by futile and mundane
thoughts. Lift up your spirits towards those you are calling to so
they, having encountered favourable dispositions in you, may
launch a profusion of seeds that should germinate in all hearts and
produce the fruits of charity and justice.
Do not think, however, that in constantly urging you to pray
and meditate we wish you to lead the life of a mystic, or that you
should maintain yourselves outside the laws of the society in
which you are condemned to reside. No. You must dwell with the
people of your time in the manner in which they live. Sacrifice
necessities and even the frivolities of the day, but sacrifice them
with a pure sentiment that can sanctify them.
You are called upon to be in contact with spirits of diverse
natures and opposite characters; do not enter into conflict with any
with whom you may find yourself. Always be happy and content,
with the happiness that comes from a clear conscience and the
contentment of one who will inherit Heaven and is counting the
days until they receive their inheritance.
Virtue does not consist in having a severe and gloomy
appearance, or in repelling the pleasures that the human condition
permits. It is sufficient to refer all your acts to God, who gave you
your life. It is enough that at the commencement and at the end of
 BE PERFECT 297

each task, you lift up your thoughts to the Creator, asking Him
with a heartfelt impulse for His protection in order to execute the
work, or His blessing on its termination. On doing anything at all,
take your thoughts up to that Supreme Source. Do nothing without
first thinking of God, so that this thought may come to purify and
sanctify your acts.
Perfection, as Christ said, can only to be found in the practice of
unlimited charity, since the duties of charity cover all social
positions, from the lowliest to the most elevated. The person who
lives a life of isolation by choice will have no means of exercising
charity. It is only by being in contact with one's fellow creatures,
in painful battle, that we are able to find occasion to practise it.
People who live in isolation are therefore entirely deprived of the
most powerful means of perfecting themselves. In only having to
think of oneself, life becomes that of a selfish person. (See chapter
5 - item 26.)
However, do not imagine that in order to be in constant contact
with us and live under the watchful eye of God, you must wear a
hair shirt and cover yourselves with ashes. No, no, and yet again
no! Be happy within the picture of human needs, but in this
happiness never allow a thought or an act that could offend God,
or cause a shadow to fall upon the face of those who love you or
direct you. God is love and He blesses all who sanctify their own.
- A PROTECTING SPIRIT (Bordeaux, 1863.)

LOOK AFTER BOTH BODY AND SPIRIT

11. Does spiritual perfection depend on the mortification of the
body? In order to resolve this question, I will base myself on
elementary principles and begin by demonstrating the need to take
care of the body which, according to the alternatives of health and
sickness, has a very important influence upon the soul because we
must consider it a prisoner of the flesh. In order that this prisoner
298 CHAPTER 17

can live, move and even have an illusion of liberty, the body must
be sound, of good disposition and vigorous. Let us then make a
comparison. Let us suppose that both are in perfect condition;
what then should be done to maintain the balance between their
aptitudes and their necessities that are so very different? A battle
seems to be inevitable between these two and it is not easy to find
the secret of how to reach a balance.
In this case, two systems are confronting each other. That of the
ascetics who wish to bring down the body, and that of the
materialist who wishes to diminish the soul. Resulting in two
forms of violence, each one almost as foolish as the other.
Alongside these two enormous groupings, look at the indifferent
multitudes that are without either conviction or passion, who love
with tepidness and are economic with their pleasure. Where then is
wisdom? Where then is the science of living? Nowhere at all! This
great problem would have remained unsolved if Spiritism had not
come to help the researchers and demonstrate to them the
relationship that exists between the body and the soul, and to tell
them that as they are both reciprocally necessary, it is
indispensable that both are looked after.
So then, love your soul and also look after your body, which is
the instrument of the soul. To pay no attention to these needs that
Nature itself indicates, is to ignore God's Laws. Do not castigate
your body due to failings that your free will can induce you to
commit and for which it is just as responsible as is the badly
driven vehicle for the accidents it causes. Perchance, will you be
more perfect if by tormenting your body you do not become less
selfish, less prideful and more charitable towards your
neighbours? No, perfection is not to be found in this manner, but
exclusively in the reformation to which you submit your spirit.
Discipline it, subjugate it and mortify it. This is the way to make it
more docile to God's will and is the one and only way that leads to
perfection - GEORGES, A PROTECTING SPIRIT. (Paris, 1863.)
 CHAPTER 18

MANY ARE CALLED, BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN

The parable of the wedding feast. - The narrow door - Not all who say, “Lord!
Lord!” will enter into the kingdom of Heaven. - Much will be asked of the one
who has received much. - INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: To those who
have will be given more. - Christians are recognised by their works.

THE PARABLE OF THE WEDDING FEAST

1. And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables, and
said, The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, which made a
marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that
were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again he
sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden,
Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings, are
killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage. But they
made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to
his merchandise; And the remnant took his servants, and ill-
treated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard
thereof, he was angry: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed
those murderers, and burned up their city.
Then said he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which
were bidden were not worthy. Go you therefore into the highways,
and as many as you can find, invite them to the marriage. So the
servants went out into the highways, and gathered together as
many as they found, both good and bad: and the wedding was
furnished with guests.
When the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man
which had not on a wedding garment: And he said to him, Friend,
how come you in hither not having a wedding garment? And he
was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand
300 CHAPTER 18

and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness;
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called,
but few are chosen. (MATTHEW, 22:1-14.)
2. Those who are incredulous laugh at this parable that seems to
them to be childishly ingenuous, because they are unable to
understand there could be so many difficulties in going to
participate in a wedding feast. Even more so, that the guests would
resist the invitation to such a point as to massacre those who had
been sent to invite them by the master of the house. “Parables” say
the incredulous, “beyond doubt are figurative, but nevertheless it
is not necessary to ultra-pass the limits of plausibility.”
The same may be said about allegories or ingenious fables if
their respective outer coverings are not removed to find their
hidden meaning. Jesus composed His allegories from the most
common of everyday occurrences and customs and then adapted
these to the characters of the people to whom He spoke. The vast
majority of these allegories had as their objective the penetration
into the minds of the masses the idea of a spiritual life. Many
appear to be unintelligible merely because those who listen do not
look at them from this point of view.
In this parable, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a
feast, where everything is happiness and good fortune. When
referring to the first guests to be invited He alludes to the
Hebrews, who were the earliest peoples to be called by God to
know His law. Those sent by the king are the prophets who came
to advise them to follow the road of true happiness. However, their
words were barely listened to and their warnings were
disregarded; many were massacred, like those in the parable. The
guests who declined the invitation with excuses of having to look
after their pastures and their businesses symbolise those worldly
people who, being absorbed in terrestrial matters, remain
indifferent to the things of heaven.
 MANY ARE CALLED, BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN 301

It was the common belief amongst the Jews of those times that
their nation had to achieve supremacy over all other nations. In
effect, was it not God who had promised Abraham that his
posterity would cover the face of the Earth? However, as always,
they paid attention only to form and not to the substance, believing
it meant actual material domination.
Before the coming of Christ all peoples, with the exception of
the Hebrew’s, were idol worshippers and polytheistics. If a few
people, superior to the vast majority, conceived the idea of a
unique God that idea remained only as a personal belief. Nowhere
was it received as a fundamental idea, except perhaps by a few
initiates who hid their knowledge under a veil of mystery,
impenetrable to the masses. The Hebrew’s were the first to
publicly practise monotheism and it was to them that God
transmitted His Law. Firstly through Moses and later through
Jesus. From this tiny focal point, the light that was destined to
spread throughout the whole world went forth to triumph over
paganism and to give Abraham a spiritual posterity “as numerous
as the stars that fill the skies.” Nevertheless, having completely
abandoned idol worship, the Jews scorned the moral law and
persisted in the practice of an external cult that was easier. Evil
came to a head and the nation was destroyed, enslaved and divided
into sects; incredulity had reached even the sanctuary. It was at
this point that Jesus appeared, having been sent to call them to
keep the Law and to open up the new horizons of a future life.
Having been the first to be invited to the great banquet of
universal faith, they rejected the words of the Celestial Messiah
and sacrificed Him. In this manner, they lost the rewards that
should have been reaped from their own initiatives.
However, it would be unjust to accuse the entire population for
this state of affairs. The responsibility rests primarily with the
Pharisees and Sadducees, who sacrificed the nation through the
pride and fanaticism of some and the incredulity of others.
302 CHAPTER 18

Therefore, it is these above all the rest, whom Jesus identified

among those guests who refused to appear at the wedding feast.
He then added that on seeing their refusal, the master of the house
told his servants to go out into the highways and gather all those
they could find, good and bad alike. In this manner Jesus was
saying that the Word would be preached to all the other peoples,
pagans and idol worshippers and that these on accepting it would
be admitted to the feast in place of the initial guests.
Nevertheless, it is not enough to be invited; it is not enough to
say you are a Christian or to sit at the table in order to take part in
the celestial banquet. Before all else, it is essential as an express
condition, to be clothed in the nuptial tunic; that is to say, to be
pure of heart and comply with the spirit of the Law. However,
although all the law is contained in the words ‘without charity
there is no salvation,’ amongst all those who hear the divine Word
there are so few who keep it and make good use of it! So few
become worthy to enter into the kingdom of heaven! This is why
Jesus said: “Many are called, but few are chosen.”

THE NARROW DOOR

3. Enter you in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is
the way, that leads to destruction, and many there are which go
through there. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way,
which leads to life, and few there are that find it. (MATTHEW,
7:13-14.)
4. Then one said to Him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And
he said to them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say
to you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able. When once the
master of the house is risen up, and shut the door, and you begin
to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord,
open to us; and He will answer and say to you, I know you not
whence you are come from: Then shall you begin to say, We have
eaten and drunk in Your presence, and You have taught in our
 MANY ARE CALLED, BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN 303

streets. But He will say, I tell you, I know you not, or from whence
come; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. There will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you shall see Abraham, and
Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the Kingdom of God,
and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east,
and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and
shall sit down at the feast in the Kingdom of God. And, behold,
there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall
be last. (LUKE, 13:23-30.)
5. Wide is the door to damnation, because evil passions are
numerous and the vast majority follow this pathway. That of
salvation is narrow, because each person is obliged to exert great
control over themselves in order to dominate their evil tendencies,
if they wish to pass through and this is something that few are
resigned enough to do. It complements the maxim ‘Many are
called, but few are chosen.’
This then is the present situation of Earth’s population, because
as the Earth is a world of atonement, evil is the predominating
factor. When the planet has been transformed, then the pathway to
goodness will be the one most frequently followed. Therefore,
these words should be understood in a relative manner and not as
an absolute. If this were to be the permanent state of humanity
then God would have condemned the great majority of His
creatures to damnation, which is an inadmissible supposition since
we recognise that God is all justice and all kindness.
What crimes have human beings committed to deserve such an
unhappy state of affairs, in the present and in the future? Why is
everything here on Earth so degraded, if the soul has had no
previous existence? Why are there so many obstacles placed
before each one? Why is the gateway so narrow as to allow only a
few to enter, if the destiny of the soul is permanently determined
immediately after death? With only one existence, humans would
always be at odds with themselves and with God's justice.
304 CHAPTER 18

However, with the pre-existence of the soul and the plurality of

worlds, the horizons spread out and enlightenment comes to even
the most obscure points of faith. Then the present and the future
become linked to the past, so it is possible to understand the depth,
truth and wisdom of the maxims of Christ.

NOT ALL WHO SAY, “LORD! LORD!” WILL ENTER

INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
6. Not every one that says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father, which
is in Heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we
not prophesied in your name? and in Your name have cast out
devils? and in Your name done many wonderful works? And then
will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that
work iniquity. (MATTHEW, 7:21-23.)
7. Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them,
I will liken him to a wise man, which built his house upon a rock,
and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon the house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a
rock. And everyone that hears these sayings of mine, and does
them not, shall be likened to a foolish man, who built his house
upon sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the
winds blew, and beat upon the house and it fell: and great was the
fall of it. (MATTHEW, 7:24-27, and similarly in LUKE, 6:46-49.)
8. Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least
commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the
least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach
them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
(MATTHEW, 5:19.)
9. All who recognise the mission of Jesus say, “Lord! Lord!”
But of what use is it to call Him ‘Teacher’ or ‘Lord’ when you do
not follow His precepts? Are they Christians then, those who
honour Him with exterior acts of devotion, while at the same time
 MANY ARE CALLED, BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN 305

yielding to pride, selfishness, greed and all the passions? Are they
then His disciples, those who pass their days in prayer, yet show
themselves no better, nor more charitable, nor more indulgent
towards their fellow beings? No, seeing that just as the Pharisees
they have a prayer on their lips but not in their hearts. They can
impress people with their manner, but not God. In vain they can
say to Jesus, “Lord! Do we not prophesy, that is to say, do we not
teach in Your name? Do we not expel demons in Your name? Do
we not eat and drink with You?” Nevertheless, He will reply to
them saying, “I know not who you are; go away from me, you
who commit iniquity, you who deny by your acts what you say
with your lips; who slander your neighbour, who rob widows and
commit adultery. Go away from me, you whose hearts distil hate
and bile, who spill the blood of your brothers and sisters in My
name; who cause tears to flow instead of drying them. For you
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, seeing that God's
Kingdom is for those who are gentle, humble and charitable. Do
not expect to bend God's justice by the multiplicity of your words
or by the amount of your kneeling. The only pathway that is open,
wherein you may find grace in His sight, is by the sincere practice
of the law of love and charity.”
These words of Jesus are eternal, because they are the truth.
They constitute not only a safe conduct to celestial life, but also a
pledge of peace, tranquillity and the stability of earthly things.
This is why all human institutions, be they political, social or
religious that rely on these words will always remain steadfast as
the house built upon a rock. Human beings will retain them
because in them will be found happiness. However, those who
violate these words will be as the house built upon sand, which the
wind of renewal and the river of progress will sweep away.
306 CHAPTER 18

MUCH WILL BE ASKED OF THE ONE WHO HAS

RECEIVED MUCH
10. And that servant, who knew his lord’s will, and prepare not
himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with
many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy
of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For to whomsoever
much is given, of him they will ask the more. (LUKE, 12:47 & 48.)
11. And Jesus said, For judgement I am come into this world, that
they, which see not, might see; and that they which see might be
made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him
heard these words, and said to him, Are we blind also? Jesus said
to them, If you were blind, you should have no sin: but now you
say, We see; therefore your sin remains. (JOHN, 9:39-41.)
12. These maxims find their application especially in the
teachings of the Spirits. Whoever knows Christ's precepts, but
does not keep them are certainly guilty. Although the Gospel that
contains them is only taught within Christian denominations, even
amongst these there are many who do not read them! Even
amongst those who do read them, there are many who do not
understand them! The result of this is that the words of Jesus
remain lost to the majority of humanity.
When teaching, the Spirits reproduce these maxims in many
varied formats. In developing and commenting on them, so as to
bring them within the understanding of all, they have the
particularity of never being circumscribed. Every person, be they
learned or illiterate, believer or incredulous, Christian or not, is
able to receive them, because the Spirits communicate in all
places. No one who receives them, either directly or through an
intermediary, can allege ignorance; neither can they excuse
themselves through lack of instruction, nor because of allegorical
obscurity. Therefore, those who do not take advantage of these
maxims to better themselves; who admire them only as something
 MANY ARE CALLED, BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN 307

curious or interesting, without allowing their hearts to be touched;

who do not become less futile, less prideful, less selfish, less
attached to material things or who become no better towards their
neighbour, will be all the more guilty in proportion to the number
of ways open to them to acquire knowledge of the truth.
Mediums that receive good communications are even more
censurable if they continue to persist in evil, because they
frequently write their own condemnation. In addition, if it were
not for their being so blinded by pride, they would recognise that
the Spirits are actually speaking to them. Instead of taking the
lessons they receive, or those they read about written by others for
themselves, their only preoccupation is in applying these lessons
to others. In this manner, they confirm these words of Jesus, “You
see the speck in the eye of your neighbour, but do not see the
beam that is in yours.” (See chapter 10 - item 9.)
In the sentence, “If you had been blind, you would not have
sinned,” Jesus wished to show that culpability is according to how
enlightened a person may or may not be. Thus, the Pharisees, who
maintained the pretence of being the most enlightened peoples of
their nation, showed themselves to be guiltier before God than
those who were ignorant. The same applies today.
Much will be asked of Spiritists, because they have received
much; on the other hand, to those who have taken every advantage
of their learning, much will be given. Therefore, the first thought
of all sincere Spiritists should be to find out if, in the counselling
received from the Spirits, there is not something that applies to
them.
Spiritism will multiply the number of those who are called;
likewise, through growing faith the proportion of those who are
chosen will also be multiplied.
308 CHAPTER 18

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

TO THOSE WHO HAVE WILL BE GIVEN MORE

13. And the disciples came, and said to him, Why do you speak to
them in parables? He answered and said to them, Because it is
given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but
to them it is not given. For whosoever has, to him shall be given,
and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever has not, from
him shall be taken away even that he has. Therefore speak I to
them in parables: because they seeing see not: and hearing they
hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the
prophecy of Esaias, which says, By hearing you shall hear, and
shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not
perceive. (MATTHEW, 13:10-14.)
14. And He said to them, Take care what you hear: with what
measure you use, it will be measured to you: and to you that hear
shall more be given. From he that has, to him shall be given: and
he that has not, from him shall be taken that which he has.
(MARK, 4:24 & 25.)
15. “It shall be given to who already has, and to who has not it
shall be taken away.” Let us meditate on these great teachings that
have so often seemed paradoxical. Those who have received
signify those who understand the meaning of the divine Word.
They have received it solely because they have tried to be worthy
of it and because the Lord, in His merciful love, animates the
efforts of those who are inclined towards goodness. By their
unceasing perseverance, their efforts attract the blessings of God
that act like a magnet calling to itself progressive betterment. It is
these copious blessings that make them strong enough to scale the
sacred mountain on whose pinnacle is found rest after labour.
“It will be taken from the one that has nothing or has very
little.” This is to be understood as a figurative antithesis. God does
 MANY ARE CALLED, BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN 309

not retract the good He has conceded. Blind and deaf humanity!
Use your intelligence and your hearts; see with the eyes of your
spirit; listen by means of your soul and do not interpret so coarsely
and unjustly the words of He, Who makes the justice of God shine
resplendently before your eyes. It is not God who takes away from
the one who has but little, but that spirit itself who, by being
wasteful and careless, does not know how to conserve, increase
and bring to fulfilment the mite which had been given to that
heart.
The one who does not cultivate the field, which the labour of
their father had gained with his work and left for their inheritance,
will see it covered with weeds and parasites. Is it then their father
who took away the harvest they did not prepare? If through lack of
care they allowed the seedlings destined to produce the crop to
wither, is it the father they should accuse for their having
produced nothing? No, certainly not! Instead of accusing the one
who had done all the preparing and criticise their donation, they
should complain to the real author of their miseries. Then with
repentance and a desire to be industrious, they should put
themselves to work courageously to reclaim the soil by sheer
willpower. They should dig deeply, with the help of repentance
and hope and confidently sow good seeds that they have separated
from the bad, watering them with love and charity. Then God, the
God of love and charity, will give to those who have already
received. They will see their efforts crowned with success and one
grain will produce a hundred and another a thousand. Courage,
workers! Take up your harrows and your ploughs; work with your
hearts; tear out the weeds; sow the good seed that the Lord has
given and the dew of love will cause the fruits of charity to grow. -
A FRIENDLY SPIRIT. (Bordeaux, 1862.)
310 CHAPTER 18

CHRISTIANS ARE RECOGNISED BY THEIR WORKS

16. “Not all of those who say: Lord! Lord! will enter into
Heaven, but only those who do the Will of my Father, who is in
Heaven.”
Listen to these words of the Master, all those who reject the
Spiritist Teachings as the work of the devil. Open your ears
because the moment to listen has arrived.
Is it sufficient to be working for the Master, to be His faithful
servant? Is it enough to say ‘I am a Christian’ for anyone to be a
follower of Christ? Search for the true Christians and you will
recognise them by their works. “A good tree cannot give forth bad
fruits or a bad tree good fruits.” “Every tree that does not give
forth good fruits will be cut down and cast into the fire.” These are
the words of the Master. Disciples of Christ understand them well!
What kind of fruits should be given by the tree of Christianity that
is a mighty tree, whose leafy branches cover part of the world with
shade, but does not yet cover all who should gather round it? The
fruits of the Tree of Life are the fruits of life, of hope and of faith.
Christianity, as it has done for many centuries, continues to preach
these divine virtues. It uses all its strength to distribute its fruits,
but so few pick them! The Tree is always good, but the gardeners
are bad. They have tried to mould it to their own ideas, to prune it
in accordance to their necessities. They have cut it, diminished it
and mutilated it. Its sterile branches do not produce bad fruits,
because they produce nothing anymore. The thirsty travellers, who
stops under its branches looking for the fruits of hope that are
capable of restoring strength and courage, sees only bare branches
foretelling a coming storm. In vain they seek for the fruits of life,
from the Tree of Life. Only dry leaves fall at their feet because the
hands of humanity have so tampered with it that it has become
scorched.
 MANY ARE CALLED, BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN 311

My dearly beloved, open then your hearts and ears. Cultivate

the Tree of Life, whose fruits give eternal life. The One who
planted it incites you to treat it with love, and even yet you will
see it give an abundance of its divine fruits. Conserve it just as it
was when Christ gave it to you. Do not mutilate it; it wants to cast
its immense shade over the Universe, so do not cut its branches.
Its tasty fruits will fall abundantly to satiate the hungry travellers
who wishes to reach the end of their journey. Do not gather these
fruits in order to keep them and then leave them to rot, so they are
of no use to anyone. “Many are called, but few are chosen.” There
are those who monopolize the Bread of Life, just as there are those
who monopolize material bread; do not be one of them. The Tree
that gives good fruit must give to everyone. Go then and seek
those who are hungry, lead them under the leafy branches of the
Tree of Life and share with them the shelter it offers. “You cannot
collect grapes from amongst the thorns.” My friends, turn away
from those who call to you in order to show you the thorns of the
way; instead, follow those who will lead you under the shade of
the Tree of Life.
The Divine Saviour, the just par excellence spoke, and His
words will never die, “Not all who say: Lord! Lord! will enter into
the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the Will of my
Father who is in heaven.”
May the Lord of blessings bless you; may the God of Light
illuminate you; may the Tree of Life offer you abundant fruits!
Believe and pray. – SIMEON. (Bordeaux, 1863.)
 CHAPTER 19

FAITH TRANSPORTS MOUNTAINS

The power of faith. - Religious faith. The state of unshakeable faith. - The
parable of the withered fig tree. - INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: Faith, the
mother of hope and charity. - Divine faith and human faith.

THE POWER OF FAITH

1. And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a
certain man, kneeling down to him, saying, Lord, have mercy on
my son for he is a lunatic, and sore vexed: for many times he falls
into the fire, and many times into the water. And I brought him to
your disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered
and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be
with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him here to me. And
Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child
was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus in
private and said, Why could we not cast him out? And Jesus said
to them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say to you, If you
have faith the size of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain,
Remove from here to there; and it will remove; and nothing shall
be impossible for you. (MATTHEW, 17:14-20.)
2. In considering ourselves, it is certain that confidence in our
own strength gives us the capacity to carry out material things,
that we would not be able to do if we doubted ourselves. However,
here we wish to deal exclusively with the moral sense of these
words. The mountains that faith can transport are the difficulties,
the resistances, the ill will; in fact, all those things that humans
have to face, even when we refer to the best things. The
prejudices, routines, material interests, selfishness, the blindness
of fanaticism and prideful passions are but a few of the mountains
 FAITH TRANSPORTS MOUNTAINS 313

that block the way of those who work for the progress of
Humanity. Robust faith gives perseverance, energy and resources
that allow us to overcome these obstacles, be they large or small.
Wavering faith only results in uncertainty and is the kind of
hesitancy that our adversaries take advantage of; this kind of faith
does not even try to find a means to win because it does not
believe in the possibility of victory.
3. Another acceptation of the term gives us to understand that
faith is the confidence we have in the realisation of something, the
certainty of attaining a specific end. It gives us a kind of lucidness
that permits us to know in our minds the goal we wish to reach
and the means of getting there. So those who have faith go
forward in a manner of speaking, with absolute security. In either
of these cases, faith can give rise to the realisation of great things.
Faith that is real and sincere is always calm; it permits a
patience that knows how to wait, because having its foundation in
intelligence and an understanding of life, it is certain of reaching
the objective it aspires to. Vacillating faith feels its own weakness;
when its interest is aroused, it becomes frenzied and thinks it can
supply the force it lacks by using violence. Calmness during the
struggle is always a sign of strength and confidence, whereas on
the contrary violence denotes weakness and self-doubt.
4. It behoves us not to confuse faith with presumption. True
faith is linked to humility; those who have it deposit more
confidence in God than in themselves, as they know they are but
simple instruments of Divine Purpose and can do nothing without
God. This is the reason why the Good Spirits come to their aid.
Presumption is more pride than faith, and pride is always punished
sooner or later by the deceptions and frustrations inflicted upon it.
5. The power of faith receives a direct and special magnetic
application; through its intermediary, the person acts under the
influence of these fluids, being universal agents, modifying their
314 CHAPTER 19

qualities and giving them, in a manner of speaking, irresistible

impulsion. From this, it follows that whoever joins a normally
great fluidic power to that of ardent faith can, solely by the
strength of their willpower directed towards goodness, operate
those singular phenomena of healing and other occurrences known
in olden times as miracles. This is because they are nothing more
than the consequences of a Law of Nature. This is the reason for
Jesus saying to His apostles that if they did not cure it was because
they had no faith.

RELIGIOUS FAITH. THE STATE OF UNSHAKABLE

FAITH
6. From the religious point of view, faith consists of a belief in
the special dogmas that constitute the various religions. All of
them have their articles of faith. From this aspect, faith may be
either blind or rationalised. Blind faith examines nothing and
accepts without verification both truth and falsehood, and at each
step clashes with evidence and reason. Taken to the extreme, it
produces fanaticism. While sitting upon error, sooner or later it
collapses. The only faith that is based on truth guarantees the
future because it has nothing to fear from the progress of
enlightenment, seeing that what is true in obscurity is also true in
daylight. Each religion claims to have possession of the exclusive
truth. However, for someone to proclaim blind faith on a point of
belief is to confess themselves impotent to demonstrate that they
are right.
7. It is commonly said that faith cannot be prescribed, from
which many people declare it is not their fault if they have no
faith. Beyond doubt, faith cannot be prescribed, and what is even
more certain, it cannot be imposed. No, it cannot be prescribed but
only acquired, and there is no one who is prevented from
possessing it, even amongst those who are most refractory. We are
 FAITH TRANSPORTS MOUNTAINS 315

speaking of basic spiritual truths and not of any particular belief. It

is not the part of faith to seek these people out, but they
themselves who should go and seek faith, and if they search with
sincerity, they are bound to find it. You can be sure that those who
say, “There is nothing I should like more than to believe, but I
cannot,” only say this with their lips and not with their hearts,
seeing that while they are saying it they close their ears. However,
the proof is all around them, so why do they refuse to see? On the
part of some it is indifference; of others the fear of being forced to
change their habits. Nevertheless, in the majority, there is pride
that refuses to recognise the existence of a superior force, because
they would then have to bow down before it.
In certain people faith appears to be inborn, a spark being
enough to cause it to unfold. This ease of assimilation of spiritual
truths is an evident sign of previous progress. On the contrary, in
others, there is a difficulty of assimilation that is a no less evident
sign of their backward natures. The first already believe and
understand, having brought with them on being reborn the
intuition of what they know. Their education is complete. The
second still has everything to learn; their education is still to come.
Nevertheless, come it will, and if it is not completed in this
existence then it will be in another.
The resistance of the unbeliever, we must agree, is usually due
less to himself than to the manner in which things have been put to
him. Faith needs a base, one that gives a complete understanding
of what we are asked to accept. In order to believe it is not enough
to see, but above all else, it is necessary to understand. Blind faith
is no longer of this century, so much so, that it is exactly blind
dogmatic faith that produces the greatest number of unbelievers
today, because it tries to impose itself, demanding the abdication
of the most precious prerogatives of humankind, which are
rationalisation and free-will. It is principally against this kind of
faith that the unbeliever rebels, so showing that it is true to say
316 CHAPTER 19

faith cannot be prescribed. Due to the non-acceptance of any

proofs, blind faith leaves the spirit with a feeling of emptiness that
gives birth to doubt. Rationalised faith, when based on facts and
logic, leaves no doubts. Then the person believes because they are
certain, and no one can be certain unless they understand. This is
why they are unshakeable because unshakeable faith is that which
can stand face to face with reason in all epochs of humanity.
This is the result to which Spiritism conducts us, as long as it
does not encounter systematic and preconceived opposition, so
triumphing against incredulity.

THE PARABLE OF THE WITHERED FIG TREE

8. And on the morrow as they were come from Bethany, he was
hungry: and seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if
perhaps he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it,
he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And
Jesus answered and said to it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter
for ever. And his disciples heard it. And in the morning, as they
passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter
calling to remembrance said to him, Master, behold, the fig tree
which you cursed is withered away. And Jesus answering said to
them, “Have faith in God. For truly I say to you, That whosoever
shall say to this mountain, Be you removed, and be you cast into
the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that
those things which he says shall come to pass, he shall have
whatsoever he says. (MARK, 11:12-14 & 20-23.)
9. The fig tree that dried-up is a symbol of those people
appearing to have a tendency towards goodness, but who in reality
produce nothing worthwhile. They are like the preachers who
show more brilliance than substance. Whose words have a
superficial varnish to them in order to please the ear, but which on
close examination reveal nothing substantial for the heart, and
 FAITH TRANSPORTS MOUNTAINS 317

after having listened to them we ask ourselves of what benefit they

have been.
It also symbolizes all those who can be useful but are not; of all
utopias, empty orders and doctrines without solid bases. What is
most lacking in the majority of cases is true faith, productive faith,
the kind of faith that moves the fibers of the heart, in a word, the
faith that moves mountains. These people are as trees covered in
leaves but devoid of fruit. This is why Jesus condemns them to
sterility, for the day will come when they will find themselves dry,
even to the roots. This is to say that all orders and doctrines, which
have produced no good for Humanity, will be reduced to nothing.
That all people who are deliberately purposeless or idle, because
they have not put into action the resources they have brought with
them, will be treated as the fig tree that dried up.
10. Mediums are the interpreters of the Spirits; supplying the
physical organs through which they may transmit their
instructions. Here is the reason why they are endowed with
faculties for this purpose. In these present days of social renewal,
they have a very special incumbency. They are like trees that are
destined to supply spiritual sustenance to their brothers and sisters.
Their numbers multiply so there may be an abundance of
nutriment. They are everywhere, in all countries, in all social
classes, amongst rich and poor, great and small, so that no place
may be without them to demonstrate to humans that all are called.
However, if they turn away from the providential objective for
which this precious faculty was conceded; if they employ it for
futile or prejudicial things; if they put it to the service of mundane
interests; if the fruits are bad instead of being good; if they refuse
to utilise it for the benefit of others; if they take no benefit from it
for themselves, thereby becoming better people, then they are like
the sterile fig tree. God will take away the gift that has become
useless in their hands, that seed from which they did not know
318 CHAPTER 19

how to bring forth fruit, and will allow them to fall into the hands
of evil Spirits.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

FAITH, THE MOTHER OF HOPE AND CHARITY

11. In order to be profitable, faith must be active; it must not
become benumbed. Mother of all the virtues that lead to God, it
has a duty to attentively keep watch over the development of all of
its children.
Hope and charity are the consequences of faith; these three
virtues form an inseparable trinity. Is it not faith that helps us to
have hope in the realisation of God's promises? If there were no
faith what would there be to hope for? Is it not faith that gives
love? If you do not have faith, what would be your worth and what
quality would your love have?
Faith, that divine inspiration from God that awakens all those
noble instincts that lead humans towards goodness, is the base of
all regeneration. Therefore, it is necessary that this base be strong
and durable, as even the smallest doubt will cause it to tremble,
and what then of the edifice constructed upon it. Consequently,
this edifice must be raised upon immovable foundations. Your
faith must be stronger than the sophisms and mockery of the
incredulous, seeing that faith which cannot stand up to ridicule is
not true faith.
Sincere faith is gripping and contagious; it communicates itself
to those who have none or who do not even desire it. It finds
persuasive words that touch the soul, whereas apparent faith only
uses high-sounding words that leave those who listen cold and
indifferent. Preach through the firmness of your hope, so they may
 FAITH TRANSPORTS MOUNTAINS 319

see the confidence that fortifies and puts you in condition to

confront all life's vicissitudes.
So then, have faith with all that it contains of beauty and
goodness, with its pureness and rationality. Do not accept a faith
that cannot be substantiated. Love God knowing why you love
Him. Believe in His promises knowing why you believe in them.
Follow our counsel convinced of the end to which we direct you,
and the ways by which we take you in order to achieve it. Believe
and wait, without losing heart; miracles are the works of faith. -
JOSEPH, A PROTECTING SPIRIT (Bordeaux, 1862.)

DIVINE FAITH AND HUMAN FAITH

12. In human beings, faith is the inherent sentiment of their
future destiny. It is the source, in a latent state, of the
consciousness they have of the immense faculties implanted in
their inner-self, that it is their duty to make blossom forth and
grow by the action of their will.
Until now, faith has not been understood, except from the
religious sense because Christ extolled it as a powerful lever and
because He has been seen only as the head of a religion. But
Christ, who performed material miracles, demonstrated through
these same miracles, what humans can do when they have faith;
that is to say when they have the will to wish and the certainty that
such willpower can obtain results. By following the example of
Jesus, the apostles also obtained miracles. Well then, what were
these miracles except natural causes that were unknown by
humans at that time? But today have mostly been explained and
will be completely understood through the study of Spiritism and
magnetism.
Faith is both human and divine according to how people apply
their faculties to satisfy their earthly needs or for their heavenly
320 CHAPTER 19

and future aspirations. Individuals of genius, who launch

themselves upon accomplishments of some great enterprise,
triumph if they have faith, because they feel within themselves
they can and must reach it. This certainty of accomplishment
provides them with immense power. The morally good person
who, believing in their heavenly future, wishing to fill their life
with noble and beautiful actions and being sure of the happiness
that awaits them, draws the necessary strength from their faith,
thereby accomplishing miracles of charity, devotion and
selflessness. Finally, there are no evil tendencies that cannot be
overcome with faith.
Magnetism is one of the greatest proofs of the power of faith
put into action. It is through faith that magnetism heals and
produces remarkable phenomena that previously were regarded as
miracles.
We repeat: Faith is both human and divine. If all incarnates
were fully convinced of the forces they bring within themselves,
and if they wanted to utilize their will power to put it to serve
these forces, they would be able to accomplish that which, till
today, are still called prodigies, but which nevertheless are nothing
more than the development of human faculties. - A PROTECTING
SPIRIT. (Paris, 1863.)
 CHAPTER 20

WORKERS OF THE LAST HOUR

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: The last shall be the first. - The mission of
the Spiritists. - The workers of the Lord.

1. For the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a householder,

which went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his
vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny
a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the
third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. And
said to them: Go you also into the vineyard, and whatever is right
I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about
the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh
hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and said to
them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’ They said to him,
Because no man has hired us. He said to them, ‘Go also into the
vineyard, and whatsoever is right, that shall you receive.
So when the evening came, the lord of the vineyard said to his
steward, ‘Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning
from the last to the first. And when they came that were hired
about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But
when the first came, they supposed that they should have received
more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when
they had received it, they murmured against the good man of the
house, Saying, ‘These last have worked but one hour, and you
have made them equal to us, which have borne the burden and the
heat of the day.’
But he answered one of them and said, Friend, I do you no wrong:
did you not agree with me for a penny? Take what yours is and go
your way. I will give to this last, even as to you. Is it not lawful
for me to do what I will with my own? Is your eye evil, because I
am good?
322 CHAPTER 20

So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many are called
but few chosen. (MATTHEW, 20:1-16. See also the Parable of the
Wedding Feast, Chapter 18, item 1.)

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

THE LAST SHALL BE THE FIRST

2. The worker of the last hour has a right to his wages;
nevertheless, it is important that his lateness is not due to either
laziness or reluctance, but to the fact that, although willing to
work, he had been patiently waiting for someone to employ him.
He has a right to his wages because since dawn, he has waited
anxiously for someone who would finally offer work; he was hard
working, it was only that he lacked the opportunity.
However, if he had refused to work at any time during the day,
or if he had said, “Wait a while, rest is very agreeable to me; when
the last hour sounds then I will think about the day's wages. What
need have I to be bothered by an employer I have no regard for
and do not even know? The later the better.” This person, my
friends, would not have received the wages of a worker, but of
laziness.
What would you say then of someone who, instead of
remaining inactive, utilized those hours destined for the day's
labour to practice culpable acts? Who blasphemed against God,
spilt the blood of their brothers and sisters, launched perturbation
amongst families and ruined those who trusted in him by abusing
their innocence. Someone who, in short, satiated themselves with
all the ignominies of human nature? What would become of this
person? Is it enough for them to say at the last hour: Sir, I have
used my time badly. Take me on till the end of the day so I do
some work, although it will be very little of what was my share
 WORKERS OF THE LAST HOUR 323

and give me the wages of a good worker? No, no! The Master
would say, “I have no work for you at present. You squandered
away your time; you forgot what you had learnt; you can no
longer work in my vineyard. Consequently, you must recommence
your learning and when you are better disposed come again to me
and I will throw open my vast fields to you, where you may work
at any time of the day.”
Good Spiritists, my dearly beloved, you are all workers of the
last hour. The one who says, “I began work at dawn and will only
finish at nightfall,” is very conceited. All of you came when you
were called - some a little earlier, some a little later - to this
incarnation whose shackles you now carry. For how many
centuries has the Lord called you to His vineyard without you
wishing to enter it? Here is the moment to pocket your wages, so
put to good use the time that is left and never forget that your
existence, however long it may appear to be, is nothing but a
fleeting moment in the immensity of time that forms eternity. -
CONSTANTINE, A PROTECTING SPIRIT (Bordeaux, 1863.)
3. Jesus liked the simplicity of symbols and in His virile
language, the workers who arrived at the first hour were the
prophets. Moses and all the initiates, who have marked the steps of
progress that continued to be signposted throughout the ages by
the apostles, the martyrs, the founders of the Church, the wise
men, the philosophers and finally by the Spiritists. These, who are
the last to come, were announced and prophesied from the dawn
of the advent of the Messiah and they will receive the same
recompense or, I should say, a larger recompense. Being the last to
arrive, Spiritists take advantage of all the intellectual labours of
their predecessors, because humans must inherit from humans and
because human work and the subsequent results are collective:
God blesses solidarity. Moreover, many who relive today, or who
will relive tomorrow, are terminating work begun previously.
More than one patriarch, more than one prophet, more than one
324 CHAPTER 20

disciple of Christ is to be found amongst these; nevertheless, more

enlightened, more advanced, working now not at the base but at
the summit of the edifice. These then will receive wages according
to the value of the undertaking.
The beautiful teaching of reincarnation is perpetual and needs
spiritual affiliation. A spirit, when called upon to give an account
of its earthly mandate, sees for itself the continuity of an
interrupted task that is always resumed. It sees, feels and
intuitively grasps the thoughts of its predecessors. It begins the
lesson anew matured by experience, to advance yet further. All of
them, the workers of the first and last hours, with their eyes fully
open to the profound justice of God, murmur no more, they simply
adore.
This is but one of the real meanings of this parable that holds,
just as do all those given by Jesus when speaking to the people,
the rudiments of the future. It also shows us, in all forms and from
all aspects, the revelation of the magnificent unity that harmonises
all things in the Universe, and the solidarity that joins all present
beings to the past and to the future. - HENRI HEINE (Paris, 1863.)

THE MISSION OF THE SPIRITISTS

4. Do you not already hear the noise of the tempest that will
sweep away the Old World and destroy all the iniquities of this
planet? Ah, praise the Lord, all those who have put their faith in
His sovereign justice. Who, as new apostles of the belief revealed
by the superior prophetical voices, go forth to preach the new
teachings of reincarnation and the elevation of spirits, according
to whether they have fulfilled their missions well or badly and
how they supported their terrestrial trials.
Forget your fears! The tongues of fire are above your heads.
Oh, true adepts of Spiritism; you are God's chosen ones! Go forth
 WORKERS OF THE LAST HOUR 325

and preach the Divine Word. The time has come when you should
sacrifice your habits, your work and your futile occupations to its
dissemination. Go forth and preach! The elevated Spirits are with
you. You will most certainly speak to those who do not wish to
hear the Voice of God, because this Voice calls them unceasingly
to abnegation. You will preach disinterestedness to those who are
avaricious, abstinence to the dissolute, gentleness to domestic
tyrants and despots! Lost words, I know, but it does not matter. It
is necessary that you irrigate the land to be sown with the sweat of
your labour, seeing that it will not come to fruit or produce except
under the repeated blows of the evangelical hoe and plough. Go
forth and preach!
Yes, all of you, men and women of good faith, who are
conscious of your inferiority before the many worlds scattered in
infinite space! Launch yourselves into the crusade against injustice
and iniquity. Go forth and ostracise the worship of the golden calf,
which spreads more and more each day. Go forth because God
guides you! Simple and ignorant humanity, your tongues will be
freed and you will speak as no orator speaks. Go forth then and
preach, for those of the population who are heedful will happily
take in your words of consolation, fraternity, hope and peace.
What matter the ambushes rigged against you along the way!
Only wolves fall into wolf traps, since the Shepherd will know
how to defend His sheep from the sacrificial butchers.
Go forth those who, great before God and more blessed than
Saint Thomas, believe without demanding to see and accept the
fact of mediumship even when they have not managed to obtain it
for themselves. Go then, for the Spirit of God is guiding you.
March forward, magnificent phalanx of faith! Before you, the
great battalions of unbelievers will dissipate, just as does the
morning dew at the first rays of the sun.
326 CHAPTER 20

“Faith is the virtue that moves mountains,” said Jesus.

However, heavier than the greatest mountain are the impurities
and all the vices that derive from them, which lie deposited in the
hearts of all Humanity. So then, depart full of courage to remove
this mountain of iniquities that future generations should know as
a legend, in the same way that you know only very imperfectly of
the times that preceded pagan civilisation.
Yes, moral and philosophical upheavals will be produced at all
points of the globe, as the hour approaches when the Divine Light
will spread itself over both worlds.
Go forth then and take the Divine words to the great who will
despise them, to the learned who will demand proof and to the
humble and simple people who will accept them. It will be
principally amongst these last, who are martyrs to work, that
earthly trial, that you will find faith and fervour. Go then, for
these people will receive the saintly consolations that you have to
offer with hymns of gratitude and praise to the Lord. Moreover,
bowing down before Him, they will offer up thanks for the
afflictions they are destined to suffer here upon the Earth.
Gather together your courage and decision and go forward like
an imposing phalanx! Set to work! The plough is ready, the soil
awaits; now is the time to work!
Go forth and thank God for the glorious task He has entrusted
to you! However, be watchful because amongst those who are
called to Spiritism, many will loose their way! Therefore, pay
attention to the pathway and always seek the truth.
A question – If amongst those called to Spiritism many will go
astray, by what signs may we recognise those who are on the good
path?
Reply - You will recognise them by the principles of true
charity they will teach and practice. You will recognise them by
 WORKERS OF THE LAST HOUR 327

the number of afflicted they console, by the love for their

neighbours and their abnegation and personal disinterestedness.
Finally, you will recognise them by the victories achieved from
the application of these principles, because God wishes His Laws
to triumph. Those who follow His Laws are the chosen ones who
will prevail. But He will destroy those who falsify the spirit of
these Laws to satisfy their own vanity and ambition. - ERASTUS -
the medium's Guardian Angel. (Paris, 1863.)

THE WORKERS OF THE LORD

5. The time approaches when those things that have been
announced for the transformation of Humanity will be fulfilled.
All those who have worked in the field of the Lord with disinterest
and no other motive than charity will be blessed! Their days of
work will be paid a hundred times more than was expected.
Blessed are those who have said to their fellow beings, “Brothers
and sisters, let us work together and unite our efforts so that when
the Lord arrives He will find His work finished.” For the Lord will
say to them, “Come unto me, you who have been good servants,
you who knew how to silence your rivalries and discords, so that
no harm should come to the work!” But woe to those who, through
their dissensions, have held back the time of the harvest, because
the tempest will come and they will be taken away in the
turbulence! They will cry, “Have mercy! Have mercy!” However,
the Lord will say to them, “How can you implore mercy when you
had none for your fellow men and women, refusing to offer them a
helping hand and trampling on the weak instead of upholding
them? How can you beseech mercy when you sought your
recompense in earthly pleasures and the satisfaction of your pride?
You have already received your recompense, just as you wished.
There is nothing more you can ask for; the celestial rewards are for
those who have not looked for earthly compensations.”
328 CHAPTER 20

At this moment, God is preparing a census of His faithful

servants. He has already taken note of those whose devotion is
only apparent, so that they may not usurp the wages of the
courageous servants. This is because those who do not draw back
from the task are the ones to whom He entrusted the most difficult
positions in the great work of regeneration by means of Spiritism.
These words will be fulfilled, “The first shall be the last and the
last shall be the first in the kingdom of heaven.” - THE SPIRIT OF
TRUTH (Paris, 1862.)
 CHAPTER 21

THERE WILL BE FALSE CHRISTS AND FALSE

PROPHETS
A tree is known by its fruits. - The mission of the prophets. - The prodigies of
the false prophets. - Do not believe all the spirits. - INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE
SPIRITS: The false prophets. - Characteristics of the true prophet. - The false
prophets from the spiritual world. - Jeremiah and the false prophets.

A TREE IS KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS

1. For a good tree brings not forth corrupt fruit: neither does a
corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his
own fruit. For of thorns people do not gather figs, nor of a
bramble bush do they gather grapes. A good man out of the good
treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil
man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is
evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (LUKE,
6:43-45)
2. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know
them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of
thistles? Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit: but a
corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every
tree that does not bring forth good fruit is cut down, and cast into
the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you will know them.”
(MATTHEW, 7:15-20.)
3. Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in my
name, saying, ‘I am Christ’: and shall deceive many.
330 CHAPTER 21

And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And
because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold.
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Then if anyone shall say to you, “Lo, here is Christ, or there He
is!” believe it not. For there shall arise false Christ’s, and false
prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders: insomuch that,
if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (MATTHEW,
24:4, 5, 11-13, 23 & 24. Also, found in MARK, 13:5, 6, 21 & 22.)

THE MISSION OF THE PROPHETS

4. The gift of revealing the future is generally attributed to the
prophets so that the words prophecy and prediction have become
synonymous. In the evangelical sense, the word prophet has a
much wider significance. This name is given to all those sent by
God with the mission to instruct humankind and to reveal both that
which is hidden and the mysteries of spiritual life. Therefore, a
person may be a prophet without making any predictions. This
was the idea understood by the Jews at the time of Jesus. This is
why when they took Him before the high priest Caiaphas, the
scribes and elders who were there spat upon Him, and hit Him
with their fists saying, “Christ, prophesy to us and tell us who hit
you.” Nevertheless, it has happened that there have been prophets
who could see into the future, either through intuition or through
providential revelations, so they could transmit these warnings to
humans. Due to the fact of these predictions having been fulfilled,
the gift of predicting the future came to be considered one of the
attributes of being a prophet.

THE PRODIGIES OF THE FALSE PROPHETS

5. “For there will arise false Christ’s and false prophets, and
they will perform great prodigies and amazing things so that, if
this were possible, they should deceive even the very elect.” These
 THERE WILL BE FALSE CHRISTS AND FALSE PROPHETS 331

words give us the true meaning of the term prodigy. In theological

interpretation, prodigies and miracles are exceptional phenomena
outside the Laws of Nature. As the Laws of Nature are the
exclusive work of God, beyond all doubt He can annul them if He
so pleases. Nevertheless, simple good sense tells us that it is not
possible that He would give those who are perverse and inferior,
power equal to His own, nor even less the right to undo what He
Himself has done. Jesus would never have sanctioned such a
principle. Moreover, according to the sense attributed to these
words, if the spirit of evil had the power to perform prodigies such
as these, then even those who were chosen would be deceived.
Then the result of being able to do what God does would mean
that prodigies and miracles would not be the exclusive privilege of
God's messengers, which would prove nothing. There would then
be no means of distinguishing the miracles of the saints from those
of the devil. Therefore, it is necessary that we look for a more
rational meaning to these words.
To the ignorant masses, all phenomena whose cause is
unknown are thought of as supernatural, marvellous or
miraculous. Once the cause is found, it is recognised that the
phenomenon, however extraordinary, is nothing more than the
application of one of the Laws of Nature. In this manner, the circle
of supernatural facts becomes restricted as scientific knowledge
widens. Humans in all epochs have exploited certain knowledge
they possess for the sake of ambition, self-interest and a desire to
dominate; seeking the prestige of possessing supposedly
superhuman powers or to lay claim to divine missions. These then
are the false christs and false prophets. The diffusion of
knowledge in these matters will annihilate their credibility,
resulting in diminishing their numbers in proportion to the rate at
which humanity enlightens itself. The fact of being able to
perform what some like to call prodigies in no way constitutes a
sign of a divine mission, seeing that it may result from acquired
332 CHAPTER 21

knowledge within the reach of everyone, or from special organic

faculties that either the worthy or ignoble are able to possess. The
true prophets are recognisable by characteristics that are more
serious and exclusively moral.

DO NOT BELIEVE ALL THE SPIRITS

6. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits
whether they are come from God: because many false prophets
are gone out into the world.” (JOHN, 1st Epistle, chap. 4:1)
7. Far from sanctioning the false christs and false prophets - as
some people take pleasure in saying - spiritual phenomena comes,
on the contrary, to deal them a deathblow. Do not ask Spiritism for
prodigies or miracles, since it formally declares it does not
perform them. In the same manner that physics, chemistry,
astronomy and geology reveal the laws of the material world, so
Spiritism reveals other previously unknown laws that govern the
relationships existing between the physical and spiritual worlds,
laws that just as much as those of science are Laws of Nature. By
giving an explanation for certain types of phenomena, that until
now had remained inexplicable, it destroys all that remains of the
miraculous. Consequently, those who feel tempted to exploit these
phenomena for personal gain, by pretending to be messengers
from God, will not be allowed to abuse the credulity of the public
for long, but will be quickly unmasked. Moreover, as has already
been said, these phenomena alone prove nothing. Its moral effects
prove every mission, and not everyone can produce these. One of
the results of the development of the Spiritist science is that
through research into the causes of certain of these manifestations,
many mysteries are explained. Only those who prefer darkness
rather than light have every interest in combating this progress. But
the truth is like the sun that dissipates even the densest fog.
 THERE WILL BE FALSE CHRISTS AND FALSE PROPHETS 333

Spiritism also reveals another far more dangerous aspect of

false christs and false prophets, that is to be found not amongst
incarnates, but amongst the discarnates. These are the deceiving,
hypocritical, prideful and falsely wise spirits, who on passing from
Earth into their spiritual wanderings, have adopted venerated
names as masks under which to hide, in order to facilitate the
acceptance of the most strange and absurd ideas. Before
mediumistic relationships were understood, they acted less
conspicuously, by means of inspiration, unconscious mediumship
either heard or spoken. There is a considerable number of
communicants who in various epochs, and above all in recent
times, have presented themselves as some of the old prophets, as
Christ, as the Virgin Mary and even God. John warns against these
spirits by saying “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the
spirits whether they are from God, because many false prophets
are gone out into the world.” Spiritism offers us the means of
testing them when it shows us the characteristics by which we may
recognise the Good Spirits, who are always moral, never
material.14 It is particularly to the manner by which the Good may
be distinguished from the bad that these words of Jesus may be
applied. “It is by the fruits that you know the quality of the tree. A
bad tree cannot produce good fruits.” Spirits are judged by the
quality of their works, just as a tree is judged by its fruits.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

THE FALSE PROPHETS

8. Where it is said, “Christ is here,” do not go. On the contrary,
be on guard because the false prophets there will be numerous. Do

14
See the manner by which Spirits can be identified in THE MEDIUM'S BOOK -
second part, chapter 24 and subsequent chapters.
334 CHAPTER 21

you not see that the leaves of the fig tree are fading? Do you not
see that its multiple shoots are awaiting the time of coming into
flower? Did not Jesus say to you: know the tree by its fruits? Then
if the fruit is bitter you already know that the tree is evil; however,
if the fruits are sweet and healthy you can say that nothing pure
can come from a rotten stump.
My brethren, this then is how you should judge; you should
examine the works. Signs of such a mission should accompany
those who say they are invested with divine powers. That is to say,
they should possess to the highest degree all the eternal Christian
virtues that are charity, love, tolerance and goodness, that will
conciliate all hearts. If in support of their works they also present
the equivalent acts, then you may say: These really are true
messengers of God.
Nevertheless, be mistrustful of honeyed words; be mistrustful
of the Scribes and Pharisees who pray in public places clothed in
long tunics. Mistrust all those who lay claim to a monopoly of the
truth!
No, no, Christ is not amongst these, seeing that those He sends
to propagate His sacred Teachings and regenerate His people will,
above all, follow His example by being gentle and humble of
heart. Those who have to save humanity that is running towards
damnation will, by their examples and counselling, be essentially
modest and humble. Run away from all who show even an atom of
pride, as you would run away from an infectious disease that is apt
to contaminate everything it touches. Remember that every person
bears the stamp on their brow, and even more especially in their
actions, of their spiritual progress or their decadence.
Therefore, my beloved children go forth and advance, without
ulterior thoughts or hidden thoughts, along the blessed route that
you have accepted. Go forth, always go forth without fear; turn
aside with great care from all that may impede your march
 THERE WILL BE FALSE CHRISTS AND FALSE PROPHETS 335

towards the eternal objective. Travellers, it is only for a while

longer that you will be in the shadows and suffer the pains of
atonement if you open your heart to these sweet Teachings, which
will reveal to you the Eternal Laws and satisfy every aspiration of
your soul with regard to the unknown. You may already give
embodiment to the fleeting sylph you see passing by in your
dreams and which, being short-lived, only enchants your spirit,
without touching your heart. My beloved ones, now death has
disappeared to give place to the radiant angel you know, the angel
of re-encounter and reunion! Now, having faithfully fulfilled the
task placed upon you by the Creator, you have nothing more to
fear from His justice, since He is the Father and always forgives
those of His children who have strayed when they cry out for
mercy. Accordingly, continue to advance unceasingly! Let your
slogan be progress, continuous progress in all things until finally
you reach the happy termination of your journey, where you will
find awaiting all who have proceeded. - LOUIS (Bordeaux, 1861.)

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TRUE PROPHET

9. Mistrust the false prophets. This recommendation is useful in
all epochs, but above all in times of transition, such as now when a
transformation of humanity is occurring, because a multitude of
those who are ambitious and scheming will promote themselves as
reformers and messiahs. We should be on guard against these
impostors and it is the duty of all honest people to unmask them.
You may well ask how they can be identified. Here then are their
characteristics:
The command of an army is only entrusted to a capable general
who is capable of leading it. Do you believe that God is less
prudent than human beings? You may be sure that He only
consigns important missions to those He knows are capable of
fulfilling them, seeing that great missions are heavy burdens that
336 CHAPTER 21

crush those who are lacking in sufficient strength to carry them. In

all things the teacher must know more than the disciple. In order to
lead humanity to advance, both morally and intellectually, we
must have people of superior intelligence and morality. This is
why Spirits who are already advanced, having passed their tests in
other existences, are always chosen for these missions, because if
they were not superior to the ambient in which they are required to
act, their effect would be nullified.
Having said that, we must conclude that the true missionary of
God must justify their mission through superiority, virtues,
greatness, results and by the moralising influence of their work.
We may also take into consideration yet another consequence that
if, due to their character, their virtues or their intelligence, they
show themselves to be less than the part they purport to represent,
or the personality whose name they have opted to represent, then
they are nothing more than storytellers of low character, who
cannot even imitate their chosen model.
Another consideration is that, in the greater part, true
missionaries of God are ignorant of the fact. They fulfil the
mission to which they were called by the strength of character they
possess, seconded by occult forces that inspire and direct them,
even against their will, but without premeditation. In a word - the
true prophet is revealed by their actions and is discovered by
others, whereas the false prophets declare themselves as
messengers of God. The first is humble and modest; the second is
full of pride, speaks with arrogance and as do all those who lie,
appear to always be afraid of not being believed.
Some of these impostors have already been seen passing
themselves off as apostles of Christ, others as Christ Himself and
to the disgrace of all humanity, they have encountered those
sufficiently credulous as to believe in their baseness. However, a
simple pondering is enough to open the eyes of even the most
 THERE WILL BE FALSE CHRISTS AND FALSE PROPHETS 337

blind in this matter. That is to say, that if Christ were to

reincarnate on Earth, He would come with all His power and all
His virtues; unless one admits that He had degenerated, which
would be absurd. Well, in the same manner, if we were to take
away even one of God's attributes, we would no longer have God.
So likewise, if we take away even one of Christ's virtues, we
would no longer have Christ. The question is, do those who
purport to be Christ have all of His virtues? Observe them,
scrutinise their ideas and actions. You will recognise that apart
from anything else, they lack the distinctive qualities of Christ that
are charity and humility, while abounding in all those that Christ
does not possess, such as covetousness and pride. Furthermore,
take note that at this moment in various countries, there are many
supposed Christs, just as there are many Elijah’s, Saint Johns or
Saint Peters and clearly it is impossible for them all to be true.
You may be sure they are only creatures who exploit the credulity
of others and who find it convenient to live at the expense of those
who listen to them.
So then, mistrust the false prophets, especially at a time of
renewal such as the present, because there will be many impostors
who say they are from God. They try to satisfy their vanity here on
Earth, but a terrible justice will befall them, of that you may be
sure. - ERASTUS (Paris 1862.)

THE FALSE PROPHETS FROM THE SPIRITUAL

WORLD
10. False prophets are not found solely amongst incarnates.
They are also to be found in even greater numbers amongst the
prideful spirits who, by appearing to be all love and charity, sow
disunion and hold back the work of emancipating humanity by
infiltrating their absurd doctrines, after having gained a medium's
acceptance of them. In order to fascinate those they desire to
338 CHAPTER 21

delude, to give more weight to their theories, they appropriate

without scruples those names that humankind pronounces only
with great respect.
These Spirits scatter a tumult of antagonism amongst groups,
impelling them to isolate themselves from all others and to look
upon each other with suspicion. This situation alone is enough to
unmask them, since by so proceeding they are the first to offer a
clear denial of who they claim to be. Blind therefore are those who
allow themselves to fall for so great a hoax.
However, there are many other ways by which they may be
recognised. Spirits of this particular category to which they say
they belong, have to be not only very good, but also eminently
rational. Well then, put all their doctrines to the test of reason and
good sense, and then see what you have left. You will agree with
me that every time a spirit indicates things of an utopian, childish,
impracticable or ridiculous nature; or formulates a dogma that the
most rudimentary notions of science contradict, as a solution for
the problems of Humanity; or as a means of achieving their
transformation, then these ideas can only come from a very
ignorant or lying spirit.
On the other hand, you may be sure that if an individual does
not always appreciate the truth, it is appreciated by the good sense
of the masses, which constitutes yet one more criterion. If two
principles contradict each other, we can find the measure of value
inherent in both by verifying which of the two generates a greater
echo and sympathy. Apart from the fact that it would be illogical
to admit to oneself that any doctrine, whose number of adepts
progressively diminishes, is more truthful than that of another
whose followers continually increase. In desiring that the truth
reach everyone, God has not confined it to a narrow circle, but has
made it appear in all places, so that the light shines in all places
alongside the darkness.
 THERE WILL BE FALSE CHRISTS AND FALSE PROPHETS 339

Do not hesitate, even for a moment, in repelling all those spirits

who present themselves as exclusive counsellors, preaching
separation and isolation. They are usually vain and mediocre
spirits, who seek to impose upon and dictate to weak and
credulous people by lavishing exaggerated praise upon them, with
the aim of fascinating them and thus hold them under their
domination. Generally, these kind of spirits, who are eager for
power, continue to look for victims to tyrannise even after death.
In general, mistrust all communications that have a mystical and
singular character or those that prescribe eccentric acts and
ceremonies. In all of these cases, there is always a legitimate
motive for suspicion.
Equally, you may be sure that when a truth is to be revealed to
humankind it is, by way of saying, instantly communicated to all
serious groups who have at their disposal serious mediums, not
only to one group at the exclusion of all others. No mediums are
perfect if they became obsessed, and there is manifest obsession
when they are accustomed to receive communication from only
one specific spirit, however elevated that spirit pretends to be.
Consequently, every medium or any group who believes they are
privileged because of the communications they alone obtain,
especially when they are subject to practices bordering on
superstition, will undoubtedly find themselves caught up in a well-
characterised situation of spiritual obsession. Above all, this will
surely be the situation when the dominating spirit communicator
swaggers under a name which both incarnates and discarnates
alike honour and respect, and would not normally allow
reputations to be compromised in this manner.
It is incontestable that, by submitting all the facts, phenomena
and communications received from spirits to the crucible of
reason, it becomes easy to reject the errors and absurdities. A
single medium may become fascinated or a single group deluded,
but a strict control from other groups, from acquired science, the
340 CHAPTER 21

elevated quality of the directors of groups, the quality of the

communications received by the principal mediums, together with
logic and, whenever possible, the verification of authenticity of the
most serious spirit communicators, it is possible to quickly render
justice to all falsehoods and trickery from any band of astutely
mystifying or evil spirits. - ERASTUS, a disciple of Saint Paul
(Paris, 1862.)
(See the Introduction – item 2 headed The Universal
Verification of the Teachings of the Spirits. Also, consult THE
MEDIUMS' BOOK by Allan Kardec, Second Part - Chapter 23 -
OBSESSION.)

JEREMIAH AND THE FALSE PROPHETS

11. This is what the Lord of Hosts said, “Do not listen to the
words of the prophets that are prophesying to you; they make you
vain: They speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the
mouth of the Lord. They say also to them that despise me, ‘The
Lord said,’ you will have peace; And they say to every one that
walks after the imagination of his own heart, ‘No evil will come to
you.’ For who has stood in the council of the Lord, and has
perceived and heard his word? Who has marked his word, and
heard it? I have not sent these prophets, yet they run: I have not
spoken to them, yet they prophesied. I have heard what the
prophets say who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have
dreamed! I have dreamed!’ How long shall this be in the hearts of
the prophets that prophecy lies? Yes, they are prophets of the
deceit of their own heart. And when this people, or a prophet, or a
priest, shall ask you, saying, What is the burden of the Lord? You
shall then say to them, What burden? I will even forsake you said
the Lord.” (JEREMIAH, 23:16 – 18; 21; 25 & 26; 33)
My friends, I wish to talk to you about this passage from the
prophet Jeremiah. Speaking through him, God had said, “It is the
 THERE WILL BE FALSE CHRISTS AND FALSE PROPHETS 341

vision of their own hearts that makes them speak.” These words
clearly indicate that already in those times the charlatans and the
impassioned abused the gift of prophecy and exploited it. They
consequently abused the simple and almost blind faith of the
people by predicting, for money, good and agreeable things. This
kind of fraud was very widespread within the Jewish nation.
Therefore, it is easy to understand that the poor people, in their
ignorance, had no possible means of distinguishing the good from
the bad. They were always more or less duped by the pseudo-
prophets, who were nothing more than impostors and fanatics.
There is nothing more significant than these words, “I have not
sent these prophets yet they run, I have not spoken to them yet
they prophesy.”
Further on it says, “I heard these prophets who prophesy lies in
My Name, saying, ‘I have dreamed! I have dreamed!’” This is one
of the ways they used to explain the confidences they were
supposedly given. The masses, being credulous, did not think to
dispute the truth of these dreams and visions. They thought it quite
natural and frequently invited these ‘prophets’ to speak.
After the words of the prophet, listen to the wise counsel of the
Apostle John, when he said, “Do not believe all the spirits. First,
test them to see if they come from God.” This is because among
those who are invisible there are also those who take pleasure in
deluding, if they have the chance. The deluded ones are, as we can
see, the mediums who do not take the necessary precautions.
Beyond all doubt, it is unquestionably one of the greatest obstacles
against which many fail, especially when they are new to
Spiritism. For them, it is a test from which they will be able to
extricate themselves only by using much prudence. Therefore,
before anything else, learn to distinguish the Good Spirits from the
bad spirits so that you, in your turn, may not become a false
prophet. - LUOZ, a Protecting Spirit (Carlsruhe, 1861.)
 CHAPTER 22

DO NOT SEPARATE WHAT GOD HAS UNITED

The indissolubility of marriage. - Divorce.

THE INDISSOLUBILITY OF MARRIAGE

1. The Pharisees also came to him, tempting Him, and saying to
him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
And he answered and said to them, Have you not read, that he
which made them at the beginning, made them male and female,
And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and
shall cleave to his wife: and the two of them will be one flesh?
Wherefore they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore
God has joined together, let no man separate. They say to him,
Why did Moses then command to give a written divorcement, and
to put her away? He said to them, Moses because of the hardness
of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the
beginning it was not so. And I say to you, Whosoever shall put
away his wife, except it is for adultery, and marries another,
commits adultery: and whoever marries her which is put away
does commit adultery. (MATTHEW, 19:3-9.)
2. The only things that are immutable are those that stem from
God. Everything that is the work of humans is subject to change.
The Laws of Nature are the same at all times and in all countries.
Human laws change according to the times, places and intellectual
progress. In marriage, what is of a Divine Order is the union of the
sexes, so that the substitution of those who die may be put into
effect. However, the conditions that regulate this union are so
human in design that in the whole world there are not, even in
Christendom, two countries where these laws are exactly identical,
and none where in the course of time they do not suffer changes.
 DO NOT SEPARATE WHAT GOD HAS UNITED 343

The result of this is that according to civil law, what is legitimate

in one country at a certain time is considered to be adultery in
another country and at another time. This is because civil law has
as its objective the regulation of the interests of families, interests
that vary according to customs and local necessities. In this
manner for example, in certain countries a religious marriage is
the only legitimate one; in others, it is also necessary to have a
civil marriage and finally, there are yet other places where a civil
marriage is sufficient on its own.
3. But in the union of the sexes, apart from the divine physical
law common to all living creatures, there is another Divine Law,
which is immutable, as are all of God's laws, one that is
exclusively moral, which is the Law of Love. God wishes all
beings to unite themselves not only through the ties of the flesh
but also through those of the soul. This is so that the mutual
affection of the spouses is transmitted to the offspring, and that it
should be two and not just one to love them, look after them and
help them to progress. Is the law of love taken into consideration
in ordinary conditions within marriage? Not in the least. The
mutual sentiments of two beings who are attracted one to the other
through reciprocated sentiments are not consulted, seeing that in
the majority of cases this sentiment is severed. What is looked for
is not the satisfaction of the heart, but that of pride, vanity and
cupidity; in a word, all material interests. When everything goes
well according to these interests, it is said to be a marriage of
convenience; when the pockets are well lined, it is said that the
spouses are equally harmonised and should be very happy.
However, no civil laws or the obligations that these laws
determine can replace the law of love. If this law does not preside
over the union, it frequently happens that those who were forcibly
united separate themselves. The oath that was sworn at the foot of
the altar, when pronounced as a banal formula, then becomes a
perjury. It is for this reason that we have unhappy marriages,
344 CHAPTER 22

which end up becoming criminal. This is a double disgrace that

could have been avoided if, on establishing the conditions for that
marriage the law of love, that is the only law sanctioning the union
in the eyes of God, had not been abstracted. When God said, “And
they two shall be one flesh,” and when Jesus said, “What God has
joined together let no man put apart,” these words should be
understood as a reference to the union according to God's
immutable law and not according to the mutable laws of humanity.
4. So then, is civil law superfluous? Should we go back to
matrimony according to Nature? Certainly not! Civil law has the
object of regulating social relationships and family interests in
accordance with the requirements of civilisation. Therefore, it is
useful and necessary, but variable. It should be provident, because
civilized people cannot live as savages. However, there is nothing,
absolutely nothing, that prevents it being an inference of God's
law. All obstacles against the execution of this Divine Law stem
from prejudices and not from civil law. These prejudices, even if
they are still alive, have lost much of their predominance amongst
the enlightened peoples of this world. They will gradually
disappear with moral progress, which in fact will open the eyes of
humankind to countless evils, to failings and even to crimes that
result from unions that had been contracted purely on the basis of
material interest. One-day people will ask if it is really more
humane, more charitable and more moral to join together two
beings when they are unable to live together or to restore their
liberty; or whether the prospect of an indissoluble prison will
increase the number of irregular unions.

DIVORCE
5. Divorce is a human law whose objective is to legally separate
those who are in fact already separated. It is not against God's law
since it only reforms what humans have done and is only
 DO NOT SEPARATE WHAT GOD HAS UNITED 345

applicable in cases in which Divine Law was not taken into

account. If it were contrary to God's law, then the Church would
be forced to consider as betrayers of a trust, those of its heads
who, by their own authority and in the name of religion, have
imposed it on more than one occasion. In these cases, divorce
would have been a double betrayal of a trust, because it only had
worldly interests in view and not the satisfaction of the law of
love.
However, even Jesus did not sanction the absolute
indissolubility of marriage when he said, “It was because of the
hardness of your hearts that Moses permitted you to repudiate
your women.” This signifies that ever since the time of Moses,
when mutual affection was not the only motive for matrimony,
separation could become necessary. Nevertheless, he added that:
“In the beginning, it was not like this,” meaning that at the origin
of humanity, when people had not yet been perverted by pride and
selfishness but lived according to God's laws, the unions were
based on sympathy and not ambition or vanity. Therefore, there
was no desire to repudiate.
Jesus goes even further to specify a case in which repudiation
can happen, being that of adultery. Well, adultery cannot exist
where there is sincere reciprocated affection. It is true that He
prohibited a man to marry a repudiated woman. But here we must
take into consideration the customs and character of the people in
those times, when the Mosaic Law prescribed stoning to death.
When wishing to abolish one barbaric custom, it was necessary to
find a substitute penalty, that was found in the disgrace that would
come from the prohibition of a second marriage. It was to a certain
extent one civil law being substituted by another. Nevertheless,
like all laws of this nature, it would pass through the test of time.
 CHAPTER 23

STRANGE MORAL
Whosoever does not hate their father and mother. - Abandon father, mother
and children. - Leave to the dead the care of burying their dead. - I have not
come to bring peace, but dissension.

WHOSOEVER DOES NOT HATE THEIR FATHER AND

MOTHER
1. And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned and
said to them, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and
mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and yes, his own life
also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever does not carry his
cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. So likewise,
whosoever he be of you that forsakes not all that he has, he cannot
be my disciple.” (LUKE, 14:25-27 &33.)
2. He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of
me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy
of me. (MATTHEW, 10:37.)
3. Although very rare, certain words attributed to Christ, make a
singular contrast to his habitual manner of speaking, so much so
that we instinctively repel their literal sense without causing the
sublimity of His Teachings to suffer damage. Written after His
death, since none of the Evangelists wrote while He was alive, it is
licit to believe that in cases like these the depths of His thoughts
were not well expressed. In addition, which is no less possible, the
original sense while having been passed from one language to
another has consequently suffered some alteration. It is sufficient
that a small error committed only the once, for those who copy it
 STRANGE MORAL 347

continue to repeat it, as frequently happens in the relating of

historical facts.
The term hates in this phrase from Luke: if any man comes to
me and hates not his father and his mother and wife and children
– should be understood by the light of this hypothesis. It would not
occur to anyone to attribute these words to Jesus. So then, it would
be superfluous to discuss it or even less to try to justify it. For this,
it would be necessary first to know if He had actually pronounced
these words and if He had, whether, in the idiom in which they
had been expressed, the word in question had the same meaning as
it does in our language. In this passage from John, “He who hates
his life, in this world, will conserve himself for the eternal life,”
there is no doubt that Jesus did not attach the same meaning to
these words as we do.
The Hebraic language was not rich in expressions and
contained many words that had varied meanings. Such a one, for
example, is that used in Genesis to describe the phases of creation.
It also served simultaneously to express a given period of time and
the period of a day. Later on, from this situation came the
translation into the term a day and the belief that the world was
created in a period that lasted six times twenty-four hours. Another
was the word used to designate both camel and a rope since the
ropes were made from camel hair. This is why they translated the
348 CHAPTER 23

word into the term ‘camel’ in the allegory of the eye of the needle.
(See Luke, Chapter 16:2)15
Furthermore, it behoves us to pay attention to the customs and
character of the various peoples, that have a very great influence
over the particular nature of their language. Without this
knowledge, the true meaning of certain words frequently escapes
us. The same term when passed from one language to another may
gain either more or less strength according to the idea it provokes.
In one it may involve insult and blasphemy, while in another it
may totally lack importance. Even in the same language, some
words lose their value and meaning with time. For this reason, a
rigorously literal translation does not always express the exact
thought, so in order to maintain this exactitude, it is sometimes
necessary to use other equivalent words rather than corresponding
terms or even use paraphrases.
These comments will be found especially applicable in the
interpretation of the blessed Scriptures and in particular those of
the Gospels. If the nature of the environment in which Jesus lived
is not taken into account we shall be exposed to
misunderstandings as to the meaning of certain expressions and
certain facts, because of the habit we have of likening others to
ourselves. In any case, it behoves us to divest the term hate of its

15
Non odit in Latin, Kaï or miseï in Greek do not mean hate, but rather to love less.
What the Greek verb miseïn indicates is expressed even better by the Hebrew verb,
which would have been used by Jesus. This verb does not only signify hate, but also to
love less, to not love as much as, or to not love the same as someone else. In the Syrian
dialect, which it is said was used more frequently by Jesus; this meaning is even better
accentuated. It is in this sense that GENESIS (Chapter 29:30 & 31) says: “And Jacob
loved Raquel more than Lia, and Jehovah seeing that Lia was hated…” It is evident
that the true meaning here is that she was loved less. This is how it should be
translated. In many other passages in Hebrew and, above all in Syrian, the same verb
is used in the sense of to not love as much as another, which makes it contradictory to
translate it into hate, this having another clearly defined meaning. The text of
Matthew, however, puts the matter quite clearly. (Note by M. Pezzani.)
 STRANGE MORAL 349

modern meaning, as this is contrary to the true message of the

Teachings of Jesus. (See also chapter 14, item 5 and subsequent
items.)

ABANDON FATHER, MOTHER AND CHILDREN

4. “And everyone that has forsaken their houses, or brothers or
sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my
sake, shall receive a hundred times as much and shall inherit
everlasting life.” (MATTHEW, 19:29.)
5. Then Peter said, “See, we have left all and followed You.” And
he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, There is no man that has left
house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the
kingdom of God's sake. Who shall not receive vastly more in this
present life, and in the world to come life everlasting.” (LUKE,
18:28-30.)
6. And another also said, “Lord, I will follow you; but let me first
go home and say them farewell, which are at home at my house.”
And Jesus said to him, No man, having put his hand to the plough,
and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (LUKE, 9:61 &
62.)
Without arguing about words, we should look for the thought
behind them, which is evidently, “that the interests of the future
life should take precedence over all other interests and human
considerations,” because this thought is in accordance with the
essence of the Teachings as taught by Jesus, whereas the idea of
renouncing one's family would be a frank denial of these
Teachings.
Moreover, do we not have these maxims in mind when we
consider the sacrifice of our interests and family affections for
those of our homeland? Do we, by chance, censure those who
leave parents, brothers and sisters, wives and children in order to
fight for their country? On the contrary, do they not gain in merit
350 CHAPTER 23

for having given up homes and families in order to fulfil their

duty? This then is because there are some duties that are greater
than others. Does not the law impose that the daughter leaves her
parents in order to follow her husband? The world is full of
thousands of cases in which painful separation is necessary.
Nevertheless, affections are not broken because of this. These
temporary separations do not diminish either the respect or the
solicitude that children owe to their parents, nor the affection of
these parents for their children. Therefore, we see that even if we
take these words literally, with the exception of the word hate,
they would not be any contradiction to the commandment that
prescribes that every person should honour their mother and
father. Nor even a contradiction of parental affections and
certainly not if they were understood in their spiritual meaning.
These words then had the finality of showing through
overstatement how imperious is the duty of occupying oneself
with the future life. Besides, they would have been less shocking
for a people in an epoch in which, because of their customs,
family ties were not as strong as they are within a society that is
morally more advanced. These ties, always weak in primitive
peoples, fortify themselves with the development of sensitivity
and a sense of morality. Separation is necessary for progress
because without it families and races would become degenerate if
there were no intermingling of different strains. This is a Law of
Nature and is as much in the interest of moral progress as it is for
physical progress.
Here things are considered purely from the earthly point of
view. Spiritism makes us look higher, by showing us that the true
ties of affection are not of the flesh, but of the spirit and that these
ties do not break with separation, or even through the death of the
physical body. In fact, they become more robust in the spiritual
life by means of the cleansing of the spirit. This knowledge is a
consoling truth from which great strength can be gained by all
 STRANGE MORAL 351

humans to help them bear the vicissitudes of life. (See chapter 4,

item 18 and chapter 14, item 8.)

LEAVE TO THE DEAD THE CARE OF BURYING THEIR

DEAD
7. And he said to another Follow me. But he said, Lord, allow me
first to go and bury my father. Jesus said to him, Let the dead
bury their dead, but go you and preach the kingdom of God.
(LUKE, 9:59 & 60.)
8. What can the words ‘Let the dead bury their dead’ mean?
The previous considerations show primarily that in the
circumstances in which they were spoken, they could not have
contained a censure for the person that considered it a devotional
duty of children to bury their father. Therefore, we have a more
profound meaning here that can only be perceived with a more
complete knowledge of spiritual life.
Life in the spiritual world is in effect the real life, the normal
life of a spirit. Terrestrial existence, being transitory and passing,
is a kind of death when compared to the splendours and activity of
the spiritual life. The body is nothing more than a gross covering
that temporarily clothes the spirit. It is a true fetter that secures it
to the soil and from which the spirit feels happy to be liberated.
The respect given to the dead is not inspired by matter but is due
to the remembrance that the absent spirit imbues. It is similar to
someone who bestows an object that belonged to them and which
they handled, that is kept as a remembrance by those who had
affection for the person. This is what the person could not
understand. So Jesus taught that person by saying: Do not worry
about the body, but think first of the spirit; go and teach about
God's Kingdom; go and tell humanity that their homeland is not to
be found upon the Earth but in Heaven, because true life only
exists there.
352 CHAPTER 23

I HAVE NOT COME TO BRING PEACE, BUT

DISSENSION
9. Think not that I have come to bring peace on Earth. I came not
to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at
variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother,
and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s
enemies will be those of his own household. (MATTHEW, 10:34-
36.)
10. “I am come to send fire on the Earth: and what will I, if it be
already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptised with; and
how am I anxious till it be accomplished! Do you suppose I am
come to give peace to the Earth? I tell you No; but rather
division: for from henceforth there shall be five in one house,
divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall
be divided against the son, and the son against the father: the
mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the
mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the
daughter in law against her mother in law.” (LUKE, 12:49-53.)
11. Could it really be possible that Jesus, the personification of
gentleness and goodness, who never ceases to preach the need to
love our neighbours, could have said, “I come not to bring peace,
but the sword; to separate the son from the father, the husband
from his wife? I am come to set fire to the Earth and am in a hurry
for this to happen?” Are not these words in flagrant contradiction
to his Teachings? Is it not blasphemy to attribute to Him the
language of a bloody and devastating conqueror? No, there is no
blasphemy nor contradiction in these words because it was He
who pronounced them and they are a testimony to His great
wisdom. It is only that they are a little ambiguous and the form
does not express the thought with exactitude, thus giving rise to
misunderstanding as to their true meaning. Taken literally, they
have a tendency to transform His mission that was all peaceful,
into one of perturbation and discord, which is absurd and good
 STRANGE MORAL 353

sense repels this, seeing that Jesus could not contradict Himself.
(See chapter 19, item 6)
12. Every new idea inevitably encounters opposition and there
is not one that is implanted without a fight. Well, in these cases the
resistance is always in proportion to the importance of the
foreseen results because the greater these are, the more numerous
are the interests that are affected. If it is notoriously false, if it is
taken as inconsequential, then no one becomes alarmed. Everyone
lets it go, being certain that it lacks vitality. However, if it is true,
if it is placed on a solid base, if it appears to have a future, then a
secret presentiment alerts its antagonists to the fact that it
constitutes a danger for them and to the order of things to whose
maintenance they are pledged. Then they throw themselves against
it and its adepts.
Therefore, we can measure the importance and the results of a
new idea by the amount of emotion its appearance causes, by the
violence of the opposition it provokes, as well as by the degree
and persistence of the anger of its adversaries.
13. Jesus came to proclaim Teachings that would undermine the
very base of the abuses upon which the Pharisees, the Scribes and
the Priests all lived. Accordingly, they sacrificed Him, believing
that by killing the man they would kill the idea. Nevertheless, this
idea survived because it was the truth. It has augmented itself
because it corresponds to God's design. Although born in a small
and obscure hamlet in Judaea, it went and planted its standard in
the very capital of the pagan world. This was right in the face of
its fiercest enemies, who had the greatest interest in combating it
because it was subverting century old beliefs to which they were
attached, much more for personal interest than from conviction.
Terrible battles awaited there for the Apostles and the victims
were innumerable. However, the idea always grew and triumphed
because, being the truth, it rose above those that had proceeded.
354 CHAPTER 23

14. It is worth noting that Christianity sprang up when

Paganism had already entered into a decline and was struggling
against the light of reason. It was practised only as a matter of
form as faith had disappeared; only personal interest sustained it.
Now those who are moved by interest are persistent and never
give way to evidence. They become more and more irritated as the
counter-arguments become more decisive and demonstrate more
clearly their beliefs. These people know very well they are wrong,
but this does not deter them, as true faith is not yet a part of their
soul. What they most fear is the light that will give sight to those
who are blind. The errors are to their advantage, so they hold on to
them and defend them.
Did not Socrates also teach a doctrine very similar to that of
Christ? Why then did it not prevail amongst one of the most
intelligent peoples on the planet at that time? This was because the
time was not yet ripe. He sowed on land that had not been
ploughed. Paganism was still not worn out. Christ received His
mission at the propitious moment. It is true that a great deal was
still lacking for humanity of that epoch to enable them to reach the
level of Christian ideas. Nevertheless, there was a general aptitude
amongst them that permitted the assimilation of this knowledge
because of the beginning of a sense of emptiness that the common
beliefs did nothing to fill. Socrates and Plato opened up the way
and prepared the spirits of the people. (See the INTRODUCTION,
item 4, SOCRATES & PLATO, the forerunners of Christian ideas and
of Spiritism.)
15. Unfortunately, the adepts of the new Teachings were unable
to agree as to the interpretation of the words of Jesus, whose
meaning was frequently hidden by allegory and figures of speech.
Because of this, numerous sects were quick to flourish, each
claiming to possess the exclusive truth and even eighteen centuries
have not been sufficient for them to come to an agreement.
However, they forgot the most important of the divine precepts
 STRANGE MORAL 355

that Jesus placed as the cornerstone of His edifice as an express

condition for salvation. These are charity, fraternity and love for
one's neighbour. Whereupon, these sects launched curses at each
other and cast themselves one upon the other, the strongest
crushing the weakest, drowning themselves in blood and
annihilating themselves by torture and fire. After having
conquered Paganism, these Christians, who had been the
persecuted, became the persecutors. Fire and steel were used to
implant the Cross of the Shepherd, despite its being unblemished
in both worlds. It is a confirmed fact that religious wars have been
the cruellest and produced more victims than all the political wars
put together. In no other warfare are so many acts of atrocity or
barbarism practised.
Is this the fault of Christ’s Teachings? Clearly not, as it
formally condemns all violence. Did Jesus ever tell His disciples
to go out and kill or commit massacres or burn those who did not
believe? No! On the contrary, He always said that all peoples are
brothers and sisters, that God is supremely merciful, that we must
love our neighbours and our enemies and do Good to those who
persecute us. He also said, “All those who kill by the sword would
perish by the sword.” Therefore, the responsibility does not lie
with the Teachings of Jesus, but rather with those who have
falsely interpreted it and turned it into an instrument for the
satisfaction of their own passions. It belongs to those people who
have despised the words “My Kingdom is not of this world.”
In His profound wisdom, Jesus had foreseen what would
happen, but these things were inevitable because they are inherent
in the inferior nature of Humanity that cannot be transformed
suddenly. It was necessary for Christianity to go through this long
and cruel test during all these centuries in order to show its
strength; seeing that despite all the evil committed in its name it
has remained pure and uncontaminated. This has never been
disputed. The blame has always fallen upon those who have
356 CHAPTER 23

abused it. At every act of intolerance, it has always been said that
if Christianity had been better understood and more widely
practised this would never have happened.
16. When Jesus declared, “Think not that I am come to bring
peace on Earth, but division,” His thought behind this statement
was as follows: “Do not believe that My Teachings will be
established pacifically; they will bring bloody battles wherein My
name will be used as a pretext because Humanity will not have
understood Me or will not have wanted to understand. Brothers
and sisters, separated by their respective beliefs, will unsheathe
their swords one against the other and division will reign within
the breast of families whose members do not share the same
beliefs. I have come to launch fire upon the Earth to purge it of
errors and prejudices, just as you put fire to a field in order to
destroy the weeds. I am in a hurry for the fire to start so the
purification may be that much quicker, seeing that truth will come
forth triumphantly from this conflict. War will be succeeded by
peace, hate between two parties by universal brotherhood and the
darkness of fanaticism by the clarity of enlightened faith. Then
when the field is prepared, I will send a Comforter, the Spirit of
Truth that will re-establish all things. This is to say that by
understanding the meaning of My words the more enlightened
people will finally comprehend and so put an end to the killing of
brother-by-brother and sister-by-sister, which has disunited all the
children of the same Father. Finally then, being tired of combat
that has brought no result, only desolation and perturbation even
into the hearts of families, people will recognise where their true
interests lie in relation to this world and the next. They will see on
which side are to be found the friends or enemies of their
tranquillity. Then all will put themselves under the same banner
which is that of charity and all things will re-establish themselves
on Earth in accordance with truth and the principles which I have
taught.”
 STRANGE MORAL 357

17. Spiritism has come at the appointed time to realise the

promises made by Christ. However, this cannot be done without
first destroying all abuse. Just as happened with Jesus, Spiritism is
faced with pride, selfishness, ambition, greed and blind fanaticism
that when taken to their last defences, will try to block the
pathway causing hindrance and persecutions. Therefore, it too has
to do battle. However, the time of battles and bloody outrages is
passing, so that those to be suffered from now on will be of a
moral nature and even these are nearing the end. The first lasted
for centuries, but these will last but a few years. Because instead
of breaking forth in only one place at a time, the light will now
shine from all points of the globe and will quickly open the eyes of
those who are still blind.
18. These words of Jesus should be understood as referring to
the wrath that His Teachings would provoke, the momentary
conflicts that it will create, to the fights it will have to endure
before it is established, just as happened to the Hebrews before
they entered into the Promised Land. Neither should it be
understood as inferring a predetermined design on His part to sow
disorder and conflict. Evil comes from human beings, never from
Jesus. He was like the doctor who comes to cure, but whose
medicine provokes a beneficial crisis in those who are sick.
 CHAPTER 24

DO NOT HIDE THE LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL

The light under a bushel. Why Jesus spoke in parables. - Do not keep company
with the Gentiles. - The healthy do not need a doctor. - The courage of faith. -
Carry your cross. He who will save his life, shall lose it.

THE LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL - WHY JESUS SPOKE

IN PARABLES
1. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on
a candlestick; and it gives light to all that are in the house.
(MATTHEW, 5:15.)
2. No man when he has lighted a candle, covers it with a vessel, or
puts it under a bed; but sets it on a candlestick, that they which
enter in may see the light. For nothing is secret, that shall not be
made manifest; neither anything hid, that shall not be known and
made public. (LUKE, 8:16 & 17.)
3. And the disciples came, and said to him, Why do you speak to
them in parables? He answered and said to them, Because it is
given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but
to them it is not given. Therefore speak I to them in parables:
because they seeing, see not; and hearing they hear not, neither
do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of
Esaias, which said, By hearing you shall hear, and shall not
understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive. For
this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of
hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they
should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should
understand with their heart, and should be convinced, and I
should heal them. (MATTHEW, 13:10-11; 13-15)
 DO NOT HIDE THE LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL 359

4. It appears strange to hear Jesus say that the light should not
be covered up when He constantly hid the meaning of His words
under the veil of allegories, that are not understood by everyone.
However, He explains this when He tells His disciples that He
speaks in parables because the people are not ready to understand
certain things, “They see, they listen, but do not understand.
Therefore, it would be useless to tell them everything at this time.
Nevertheless, I have told you, because it has been given to you to
understand these mysteries.” So He treated the people as you
would children whose ideas had not yet developed. In this manner,
we come to comprehend the real meaning of the words, “Neither
do we light a candle and then put it under a bushel, but on a
candlestick so that it gives light to all that are in the house.” This
sentence does not mean that we should reveal all things, without
due consideration as to the convenience of this revelation. All
teaching should be proportional according to the intelligence of
those to be taught, because there are certain people for whom a too
brilliant light would only blind, without enlightening them in any
way.
The same thing can happen to humanity in general, as can
happen to an individual. The generations have their infancy, their
youth and their maturity. Each thing must come at the right
moment; seeds when sown out of season will not germinate.
However, what prudence holds back momentarily, sooner or later
will be discovered. When the correct degree of development has
been reached people will seek the living light for themselves as
they feel obscurity weighing upon them. God has given humans
intelligence to understand and to be guided amongst the things of
the Earth and of Heaven, therefore, people will seek to rationalise
their faith. It is at this point that we must not put the candle under
a bushel, seeing that without the light of reason faith becomes
weak. (See chapter 19, item 7.)
360 CHAPTER 24

5. Then if Providence, in its wise precaution, only reveals the

truth gradually, it is always obvious that these truths are only
disclosed in proportion as Humanity shows itself sufficiently
mature to receive them. Providence holds them in reserve and not
under a bushel. However, as human beings enter into possession
of maturity, they almost always hide them from the masses with
the intention of dominating the people. These are the ones who
truly place the candle under a bushel. This is why every religion
has its mysteries whose examination is prohibited. However, as
these religions began to become outdated, so science and
intelligence have advanced and broken through the veil of
mystery. Having become adult, the masses wished to penetrate to
the bottom of these matters and remove from their faith that which
was contrary to their observations.
Absolute mysteries cannot exist. Jesus was right when He said
that there was no secret that would not come to be known.
Everything that is hidden will be discovered one day. What people
still do not comprehend will be revealed in succession in more
advanced worlds, when they have reached purification. Here on
Earth they still find themselves in a thick fog.
6. We ask ourselves what advantage can be gained from these
multitude of parables whose meaning remains hidden. It must be
noted that Jesus only expressed Himself in parables in matters that
were rather abstract in the Teachings. But having declared that
humility and charity to one's neighbour were the basic conditions
for salvation, everything He said in this respect is completely
clear, explicit and without any ambiguities. This is as it should be
because this is a rule of conduct, a rule that everyone has to
comprehend in order to observe. This was the essential point for
the ignorant masses to whom He said only, “This is what you need
to do in order to reach Heaven.” On other matters, He only
disclosed His thoughts to His disciples. This was because they
were more advanced both morally and intellectually, so that Jesus
 DO NOT HIDE THE LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL 361

could initiate them in the knowledge of more abstract truths. This

is also why He said, ‘to those who already have, even more will be
given.’ (See chapter 18, item 15.)
Nevertheless, even with the apostles, He was not precise on
many points, the complete understanding in these areas being
reserved for later times. It was these multiple parts that caused so
many diverse interpretations, until science on the one hand and
Spiritism on the other, revealed the new Laws of Nature so
making the real meaning perceptible.
7. Today, Spiritism projects its light over an immense number
of obscure points. However, it does not do this without due
consideration. When the Spirits give their Teachings, they conduct
themselves with admirable prudence. They consider gradually, one
by one, the various known parts of the Teachings, leaving other
parts to be revealed only when it would be opportune to bring
them forth from obscurity. If they had presented the complete
Teachings right from the first moment, fewer people would have
shown themselves disposed to accept them. Those who were not
prepared would have become frightened by them, so that
consequently the dissemination would have suffered. If the Spirits
have still not told everything outright, it is not because there are
mysteries within the Teachings that only the privileged few may
penetrate; nor is it because they have hidden the candle under a
bushel, but because each piece of knowledge must come at the
most opportune moment. This gives time for each idea to mature
and spread before presenting another and for events to prepare the
way for the acceptance of new ideas.

DO NOT KEEP COMPANY WITH THE GENTILES

8. These twelve Jesus sent out, and commanded them, saying, “Go
not into the way of the Gentiles and into any city of the
Samaritans go not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of
362 CHAPTER 24

Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, saying, The kingdom of

heaven is at hand.” (MATTHEW, 10:5-7.)
9. On many occasions, Jesus shows us that His vision was not
confined just to the Jewish people but rather embraced all
Humanity. Moreover, if He told His apostles not to go to the
Pagans, it was not that He disdained conversing with them. This
would not have been at all charitable. Rather it was that the Jews,
who already believed in one God and were waiting for a Messiah,
were already prepared through the Laws of Moses and the
Prophets to accept His Word. With the Pagans, where even the
base was lacking, there would have been everything to do and the
apostles were not yet sufficiently enlightened for so difficult a
task. This is why He said to them, “Go rather to the lost sheep of
Israel,” that is to say, go and sow in lands that are already cleared.
Jesus knew that the conversion of the Gentiles would happen at a
later date. Indeed, later on, the apostles did go to plant a cross in
the very heart of Paganism.
10. These words can also be applied to the adepts and
disseminators of Spiritism. The systematically incredulous, the
obstinate mockers and the profit-seeking adversaries are today
what the Gentiles were to the apostles. So to follow their example,
go first to make converts amongst those of goodwill, those who
desire enlightenment, where a fertile seed may be found and where
there are many. Do not waste time with those who do not want to
see or hear, where they resist even more out of pride and the
greater importance that is put on their conversion. It is better to
open the eyes of a hundred blind people, who wish to see clearly,
than of only one person who takes pleasure in darkness. By
proceeding in this manner it is possible to increase in greater
numbers those who will uphold the cause. Leaving some people
undisturbed is not a case of showing indifference, but simply good
sense. The time will come when they will have been persuaded by
public opinion and by hearing the same information being
 DO NOT HIDE THE LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL 363

constantly repeated all around them. Then they will think they
have accepted the ideas voluntarily, by their own impulse and not
under pressure from others. Furthermore, ideas are similar to
seeds, they cannot germinate before the appropriate time or in land
that has not been previously prepared. Therefore, it is better to
wait for the right time and first cultivate those that are starting to
germinate, in order that the later germinating ones do not abort by
virtue of a too intensive cultivation.
At the time of Jesus and because of the narrow-minded and
materialistic ideas in vogue, everything was localised and
circumscribed. The house of Israel was but a small nation; the
Gentiles being other small nations around them. Today ideas have
been universalised and spiritualised. The new light is the privilege
of no particular nation; no barriers exist for it; the focus point is in
all places and all humans are brothers and sisters. The Gentiles are
no longer a people but an opinion that is accepted in all places and
over which truth will triumph little by little, just as Christianity
triumphed over Paganism. These opinions are no longer combated
with weapons of war, but with the force of ideas.

THE HEALTHY DO NOT NEED A DOCTOR

11. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at dinner in the house,
behold, many Publicans and sinners came and sat down with Him
and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His
disciples, Why does your Master eat with Publicans and sinners?
But when Jesus heard that, He said to them, They that be whole
need not a physician, but they that are sick. (MATTHEW, 9:10-12.)
12. Jesus addressed Himself most especially to those who were
poor and deprived, as they had the greatest need for consolation;
and also the blind, who were humble and of good faith, because
they asked Him to enlighten them. He did not address Himself to
those who were proud or who believed they had all the knowledge
364 CHAPTER 24

they needed and wished for no more. (See the INTRODUCTION:

items entitled PUBLICANS and THE TAX COLLECTORS.)
These words and many others, find their most fitting
application within Spiritism. There are those who are sometimes
surprised that mediumship is given to people of little worth and
capable of its misuse. They say that it seems that such a precious
faculty should be given exclusively to those who are most
deserving of it.
Before anything else, let us say that mediumship stems from a
certain organic predisposition and therefore anyone may be gifted
with this ability, in the same way that we are gifted to see, hear
and speak. Moreover, there is nothing that people cannot abuse by
means of their free will. If God had only conceded speech, for
example to those incapable of speaking ill, then there would be
more dumb people than those able to speak. God has given human
beings various faculties together with the liberty to use them.
However, He also punishes those who abuse them.
If the possibility of communicating with spirits had only been
given to the most worthy, who would dare to make such a claim?
Furthermore, where is the boundary between worthiness and
unworthiness? Mediumship is conferred without distinction so that
the Spirits can bring enlightenment to all walks of life, to all
classes of people, to rich and poor alike, to those who are honest
so they may be fortified in their goodness and also to the corrupt
so they may be corrected. Are these not the sick who need a
doctor? Why then would God, Who does not wish for the death of
sinners, deprive them of the help that can pull them out of the
mire? The Good Spirits come to their help and the personal advice
that is received is of a nature that will impress them in a manner
more striking than if it had been received indirectly. God, in His
goodness, wishing to spare them the work of having to go out and
get help from afar, puts the light straight into their hands. Are they
 DO NOT HIDE THE LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL 365

not even more guilty for failing to notice this fact? Can they
excuse themselves by claiming ignorance, when their own
condemnation has been written, seen, heard and spoken by
themselves? If they do not take advantage of this, then they will be
punished by means of the loss or perversion of the faculty that was
bestowed. In this case, evil spirits will take hold, obsessing and
deceiving them. Nevertheless, this will not lessen the receiving of
real afflictions with which God punishes His unworthy servants
whose hearts are hardened by pride and selfishness.
Mediumship does not necessarily imply habitual relations with
Superior Spirits. It is merely an aptitude to serve as an instrument,
which may be more or less useful to spirits in general. So then, a
good medium is not one who communicates with ease, but one
who is agreeable to the Good Spirits and who is helped only by
them. It is solely in this sense that the excellence of moral qualities
becomes the all-powerful influence in mediumship.

THE COURAGE OF FAITH

13. Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him will I
confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever
shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father
which is in Heaven. (MATTHEW, 10:32 & 33.)
14. For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of
him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He shall come in His
own glory, and that of His Father's, and of the holy angels.
(LUKE, 9:26.)
15. To have the courage of one's belief has always been held in
great esteem by humankind because there is merit in facing
dangers, persecutions, contradictions and even simple sarcasm, to
which all those who openly proclaim their ideas are almost always
exposed, especially when those ideas are not to the general liking.
Here as in everything, the merit is in proportion to the
366 CHAPTER 24

circumstances and the importance of the result. There is always a

weakness in drawing back from the consequences entailed by
opinions and in denying them. However, there are some cases in
which this constitutes an act of cowardice as great as the one
committed by fleeing from the moment of battle.
Jesus denounced this kind of cowardice from the particular
point of view of His Teachings by saying that if anyone were
ashamed of His words then He too would be ashamed of them.
That He would disown the person who repudiated Him and would
only acknowledge before the Father, Who is in Heaven, those who
publicly acknowledge Him. In other words, those who are afraid
to confess themselves to be disciples of truth are not worthy to be
admitted into the kingdom of truth. In this way they will lose the
advantages of their faith, because it is a selfish faith that they keep
for themselves, hiding it for fear of the prejudice they may come
to suffer in the world. Meanwhile, those who put truth above all
material interests and openly proclaim it are working both for their
own future and for that of others.
16. This is how it will be for the followers of Spiritism because
the Teaching they profess is nothing more than the development
and application of the Gospel. Christ's words were also directed at
them. They plant on Earth what will be harvested in the spiritual
world and it is there that they will gather the fruits of their courage
and weakness.

CARRY YOUR CROSS -

HE WHO WILL SAVE HIS LIFE SHALL LOSE IT
17. Blessed are you, when men hate you, when they separate you
from their company, and reproach you, and cast out your name as
evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice on that day, and leap for
joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like
manner did their fathers to the prophets. (LUKE, 6:22 & 23.)
 DO NOT HIDE THE LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL 367

18. And when He had called the people to Him, with His disciples
also, He said to them, “Whosoever shall come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever
shall save his life, shall lose it: but whosoever shall lose his life
for my sake and the Gospel's, the same shall save it.” For what
shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his
own soul? (MARK, 8:34-36. Also LUKE, 9:23-25; MATTHEW,
10:39; JOHN 12:24 & 25.)
19. Jesus said, “Rejoice when people hate and persecute you for
My sake, seeing that you will be rewarded in Heaven.” These
words should be understood in the following manner: Consider
yourself blessed when there are fellow beings who, by their ill-will
towards you, give you the opportunity to prove the sincerity of
your faith, seeing that the evil they do to you will only result in
your benefit. Lament their blindness and do not curse them.
Then He added, “Take up your cross, all those who wish to
follow Me.” By which He meant that you must courageously
support the trials and tribulations that your faith may bring about.
Whereas any person who wishes to save their life and their
property by renouncing Christ will lose all the advantages of
Heaven. While those who lose everything in this world, even their
life for the sake of truth, these will receive a prize for courage,
perseverance and abnegation in the future life. Meanwhile, to
those who have sacrificed the heavenly benefits for earthly
pleasures, God will say, “You have already received your
recompense.”
 CHAPTER 25

SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND

Help yourself, then Heaven will come to your aid. - Behold the fowls of the
air. – Do not worry about possessing gold.

HELP YOURSELF, THEN HEAVEN WILL COME TO

YOUR AID
1. Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock,
and it shall be opened to you: For everyone that asks receives;
and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he
give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If
you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more shall your Father which is in Heaven, give good
things to them that ask Him? (MATTHEW, 7:7-11.)
2. From an earthly point of view the maxim ‘Seek and you will
find’, is the same as that other one ‘Help yourself and the heavens
will come to your aid’. This is the base of the Law of Work and
consequently the Law of Progress, since progress is the child of
work, seeing that this puts into action the forces of intelligence.
During humankind's infancy, people only used their intelligence
for seeking food as a means of protection against the climate and
for defending themselves from their enemies. However, God has
given them something more than He gave to animals, which is an
incessant desire to better themselves. It is this desire that impels
them to seek out the best ways of improving their position in life,
which duly leads them to make discoveries, to invent things and to
perfect the sciences, because it is science that gives them what
they lack. Through their research, their intelligence heightens and
 SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND 369

their morals gradually become purified. The needs of the body

give way to those of the spirit. After material nourishment,
humans need spiritual nourishment. This is how they pass from
savagery to a state of civilisation.
However, the amount of progress achieved by each person
during a single lifetime is very small indeed, in most cases even
imperceptible. How then could humanity progress without pre-
existence and the re-existence of the soul? If the souls who daily
leave the Earth were never to return, then humanity would be
constantly renewing itself with primitive elements, having
everything still to do and learn. There would then be no reason
why humans should be more advanced today than they were
during the first epochs of the world because at each birth all
intellectual work would have to recommence. On the other hand,
by returning with the degree of progress realised and acquiring
something more each time, the soul then gradually passes from the
barbaric state to that of materialistic civilisation and then on to
one of moral civilisation. (See chapter 4, item 17.)
3. If God had exempted humans from bodily work, their limbs
would have withered. If He had exempted them from intellectual
work, then their spirit would have remained in a state of infancy or
mere animal instinct. This is why He made work a necessity by
saying: Seek and you will find; work and you will produce. In this
way you are the product of your own work; you receive the merit
of it and the recompense in accordance with what you have done.
4. It is by virtue of this principle that the Spirits do not help in
sparing humans beings the work of research, by bringing them
discoveries and inventions prepared and ready for use. Nor in such
a way that they would have nothing to do, except accept what was
put into their hands, without any inconvenience whatsoever, not
even to bend down and pick it up nor yet to think about it. If
things were like that, then the laziest could enrich themselves and
370 CHAPTER 25

the most ignorant could become wise at the cost of no effort and
both would have merits attributed to them for things they had not
done. No, the Spirits do not come to exempt humanity from the
Law of Work, but to show them the goal to be reached and the
pathway that leads there, by saying: walk and you will get there.
You will find stones under your feet; look and then move them
away. We will give you the necessary strength if you care to
utilise it. (See THE MEDIUMS' BOOK, (1) chapter 26, item 291
onwards.)
5. From the moral point of view, these words of Jesus signify:
ask for the light that will show the way and it will be given; ask
for strength to resist evil and you will receive it; ask for the
assistance of the Good Spirits and they will come to guide you just
as did the Angel of Tobias. Ask for good counsel and it will never
be refused; knock on our door and it will be open to you; but ask
with sincerity, faith, fervour and confidence; present yourself
humbly and not with arrogance, without which you will be
abandoned to your own strengths and you will fall as a just
punishment for your pride.
This then is the meaning of the words: Seek and you will find;
knock and it will be opened.

BEHOLD THE FOWLS OF THE AIR

6. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and
rust do corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But
lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor
rust do corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what you
shall eat, or what you shall drink: nor yet for your body, what you
shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body more
than clothing?
 SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND 371

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap,
nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are
you not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought
can add one cubit to his stature?
And why take thought for clothes? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow; they do not work, neither do they spin, And yet I
say to you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed
like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the
field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he
not much more clothe you, Oh you of little faith!
Therefore, take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What
shall we drink? or Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all
these things do the Gentiles seek;) for your heavenly Father
knows that you have need of all these things.
But seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness: and all
these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought
for tomorrow: for tomorrow shall take thought for the things of
itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. (MATTHEW,
6:19-21 & 25-34.)
7. In a literal translation, these words would be a denial of all
providence of all work and consequently of all progress. With this
kind of principle, humanity would be limited to waiting passively,
while all physical and intellectual strengths remained inactive. If
such were the normal conditions on Earth then human beings
would never have left the primitive state. If this condition were to
become law today then it would only remain to live in total
idleness. This could not have been the thought of Jesus, since this
would be a contradiction of what He had said on other occasions
and it would also contradict the Laws of Nature. God created
humans without clothes or shelter, but He gave them intelligence
so as to be able to make them. (See chapter 14, item 6 & chapter
25, item 2.)
372 CHAPTER 25

Therefore, these words must not be seen as anything more than

the poetical allegory of Providence that never abandons those who
put their confidence in it, but wishes that all work in their turn. If
Providence does not always come in the form of material help,
then it inspires those ideas from which is found the means of
getting out of difficulty. (See chapter 27, item 8.)
God understands our necessities and provides for them when it
is necessary. Nevertheless, humans are insatiable in their desires
and do not always know how to be content with what they have.
Possessing what is necessary is not enough for them; they want
what is superfluous. Then Providence leaves them to themselves.
Many times they become unhappy through their own fault and for
having paid no attention to the voice of their conscience which had
warned them. In these cases the Lord lets them suffer the
consequences, so it may serve as a lesson for the future. (See
chapter 5, item 4.)
8. The Earth will produce sufficient to feed all of its inhabitants,
when people discover how to administer the benefits that it offers,
according to the Laws of Justice, Charity and Love for one's
neighbour. When fraternity reigns amongst all peoples, as it does
amongst the provinces of any country, then the momentary
superfluity of the one will overcome the insufficiency of another
and everyone will have what is necessary. Then the rich person
will consider themselves as someone who possesses a great
number of seeds; if they scatter them, they will produce a
thousand fold for that person and enough for others as well.
However, if they eat all the seeds by themselves, or waste them or
allow the surplus they left to be lost, nothing will have been
produced and there will not be enough for everyone. If they hoard
the seeds in their barns, then the maggots will devour them. This is
why Jesus said, “Do not accumulate treasures on Earth because
they are perishable; but accumulate them in Heaven where they
are eternal.” In other words, do not give material possessions more
 SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND 373

importance than the spiritual ones and know how to sacrifice the
former for the latter. (See chapter 16, item 7 onwards.)
Charity and fraternity cannot be decreed by law. If they are not
in the heart, then selfishness will always stifle them. It is up to
Spiritism to see that they penetrate the heart.

DO NOT WORRY ABOUT POSSESSING GOLD

9. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses. Nor
script for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet
staves: for the worker is worthy of his meat.
10. And into whatsoever city or town you shall enter, enquire who
in it is worthy; and there abide till you leave. And when you go
into a house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace
come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.
And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when
you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
Truly I say to you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom
and Gomorrah in the day of judgement, than for that city.
(MATTHEW, 10:9-15.)
11. These words that Jesus directed to His apostles when He
sent them to announce the Good News for the first time were
nothing unusual in those days. They were in accordance with the
patriarchal customs of the Orient, where the traveller was always
made welcome in the tent. But then in those days travellers were
very rare indeed. Among modern peoples, the development of
travel has created new customs. Very distant lands, where the
great movement has not yet penetrated, are the only places to
conserve the customs of ancient times. If Jesus were to return
today, He could no longer tell his apostles to put themselves on the
road without provisions.
Apart from their actual meaning, these words hold a very
profound moral sense. In proffering them, Jesus was teaching His
374 CHAPTER 25

disciples to have confidence in Providence. What is more, by

having nothing, they could not cause covetousness amongst those
who received them. This was the way to distinguish those who
were selfish from those who were charitable. This is why He told
them to “Find out who is worthy to put you up,” or rather who is
sufficiently generous to clothe a traveller who has nothing with
which to pay. These are the people who will be worthy to receive
your words and who will be recognisable by their charity.
With regard to those who cared neither to receive them nor to
listen to them, did He tell His disciples that they should curse
them, that they should impose the teachings upon them or that
they should use violence and force to convert them? No, He
simply told them to go away and seek others who were willing to
listen.
Today Spiritism says the same thing to its followers. Do not
violate any consciences. Do not force anyone to leave their faith in
order to adopt yours. Do not excommunicate those who do not
think as you do. Welcome all who come to join you and leave in
peace all those who are repelled by your ideas. Remind yourselves
of the words of Christ. In other times the heavens were taken over
by violence, but today they are taken over by mildness. (See
chapter 4, items 10 & 11.)
 CHAPTER 26

FREELY YOU HAVE RECEIVED, FREELY

GIVE
The gift of healing. - Paid prayers. - The moneychangers expelled from the
Temple. - Gratuitous mediumship.

THE GIFT OF HEALING

1. “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out
devils: freely you have received, freely give.” (MATTHEW, 10:8.)
2. Jesus told His disciples “Give for free what has been received
gratuitously.” With this recommendation, He prescribes that no
one should be charged for something for which nothing had been
paid. Now, what the disciples had received gratuitously was the
faculty of healing those who were sick and that of casting out
devils, that is to say evil spirits. God had given them this faculty
gratis for the alleviation of those who suffer and as a means of
propagating the faith. Then Jesus recommended that they should
not turn this into an object of commercialisation, neither
speculation nor a means of livelihood.

PAID PRAYERS
3. Then in the audience of all the people he said to his disciples,
Beware of the Scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and
love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the
synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts. Which devour widow’s
houses, and for a show make long prayers: the same shall receive
greater damnation. (LUKE, 20:45-47); also MARK, 12:38-40 and
MATTHEW, 23:14.)
376 CHAPTER 26

4. Jesus also said, Do not charge for your prayers, nor do as the
Scribes who ‘on the pretext of long prayers, devoured the homes
of widows, that is to say, they took possession of their fortunes. A
prayer is an act of charity, an ecstasy of the heart. To charge
someone for the prayers we direct to God in their name is to
transform oneself into a paid intermediary. Then prayer becomes a
mere formula whose price is in proportion to the length of time it
lasts. Moreover, only one of the following can be true: either God
measures or does not measure His blessings by the number of
words used in a prayer. If words are necessary in large numbers,
why then are so few said or even none, for those who cannot pay?
This is a lack of charity. If one word is sufficient then an excess of
words is useless. How then can we charge for prayers? This would
be a corrupt practice.
God does not sell His benefits; He concedes them. How then
can someone who is not even an agent, who cannot guarantee
results, charge for a request that may produce no results? It is not
possible that God could make an act of clemency, kindness and
justice, requested from His infinite mercy, subject to the payment
of a sum of money and that if the sum were not paid or was
insufficient, then the justice, kindness and clemency would be
withdrawn. Reason, good sense and logic tell us it is impossible
that God, Who is absolute perfection, would delegate to imperfect
beings the right to establish a price for His justice. God's Justice is
like the Sun: it exists for all, rich and poor alike. Just as it is
considered immoral to trade with the favours of any earthly
sovereign, could it then be licit to commercialise those of the
Sovereign of the Universe?
Paid prayers present yet another inconvenience, which is that
the one who buys them judges themselves in most cases to be
relieved from the need to pray. They consider themselves
exonerated since they gave their money. We know that Spirits are
touched by the fervour of the thoughts of those who are interested
 FREELY YOU HAVE RECEIVED, FREELY GIVE 377

in them, but what fervour can be felt by one who arranges a third
party to pray for them on payment of money? What kind of
fervour has this third party when they delegate the task to another
and that one to yet another and so on? Does this not reduce the
effectiveness of prayer to the value of a particular currency?

THE MONEYCHANGERS EXPELLED FROM THE

TEMPLE
5. “And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple,
and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple,
and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of
them that sold doves; and would not suffer that any man should
carry any vessel through the temple. And He taught, saying to
them, is it not written: My house shall be called of all nations the
house of prayer? but you have made it a den of thieves. And the
scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might
destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people were
astonished at his doctrine.” (MARK, 11:15-18; and MATTHEW,
21:12 & 13.)
6. Jesus expelled the merchants from the temple. With this act,
He condemned the trading of sacred things in any form
whatsoever. God does not sell His blessings, nor His pardon or the
right of entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, no one
has the right to stipulate a price for such things.

GRATUITOUS MEDIUMSHIP
7. Modern Mediums - since the apostles also possessed
mediumship - have equally received this faculty gratis from God:
this being interpreters of the Spirits for the instruction of
humankind, to show them the pathway of goodness and
conducting them along by means of faith and not to sell words that
do not belong to them, seeing that they are not fruits of their
378 CHAPTER 26

conception, of their research or of their personal work. God wants

the light to reach everyone. He does not want the poorest to be
disinherited of it so they can say: they have no faith because they
could not afford to pay for it; or that they did not have the
consolation of receiving encouragement and testimony of affection
from those they weep for, because they are too poor. This is why
mediumship is not a privilege and is to be found in all places. To
make someone pay for it is to turn it away from its providential
objective.
8. Those who understand the conditions in which Good Spirits
communicate and the feeling of repugnance they have towards
everything that shows selfish interest, know how little it takes to
drive them away. These people could never accept that Superior
Spirits are at the disposal of the first who comes along and evokes
them at so much per session. Simple good sense rejects such an
idea. Would it not also be a profanity to evoke for money those we
respect or those who are dear to us? Beyond doubt,
communications can be obtained in this manner, but who can
guarantee their sincerity? Spirits of a frivolous, deceitful, mocking
nature and all the bank of inferior spirits, who are not at all
scrupulous, always come running ready to reply to whatever is
asked, with no regard for the truth. Those who desire serious
communications should, before all else, ask with seriousness and
following this should inform themselves of the nature of the
sympathies the medium may have with the beings from the spirit
world. Therefore, the first conditions necessary to attract the
benevolence of the Good Spirits are humility, devotion,
abnegation and total disinterest, both moral and material.
9. Besides the moral question, an effective consideration also
presents itself that is no less important. This refers to the actual
nature of the faculty itself. Serious mediumship cannot be and
never ever will be a profession. Not just because it would be
morally discredited and rapidly become mere fortune telling, but
 FREELY YOU HAVE RECEIVED, FREELY GIVE 379

because there is a material obstacle in opposition. Mediumship is a

faculty that is unstable, elusive and variable, whose permanency
no one can count upon. It is a very uncertain source for anyone
wishing to exploit it and it can fail at the moment it is most
needed. A talent acquired by study and work is another matter and
it is for this very reason a skill that can be legitimately used to
advantage. However, mediumship is neither an art nor a skill;
therefore, it cannot become a profession. It only exists through the
co-operation of spirits. If they are absent, there is no mediumship.
The aptitude can exist, but the exercise of it would be annulled. In
addition, there is not a single medium in the world who can
guarantee obtaining a spiritual phenomenon at any given moment.
So then, to exploit mediumship is to make use of something that
does not belong to that person. To state the contrary is to deceive
the person being charged. What is more, it is not they themselves
whom the exploiter commands, but rather the concourse of spirits,
the souls of the dead, whose co-operation they put a price on. This
idea causes instinctive repugnance. It was because of the
trafficking and the exploitation by charlatans that degenerated into
abuse, together with ignorance, incredulity and superstition that
motivated Moses to prohibit it. Modern Spiritism, understanding
the serious nature of this question, has completely discredited its
exploitation, so elevating this faculty to the category of a mission.
(See THE MEDIUMS' BOOK, 2nd part, chapter 28 and HEAVEN AND
HELL, 1st part, chapter 11.)
10. Mediumship is something sacred, which should be practised
in a saintly and religious manner, and if there is one type of
mediumship that requires this condition even more absolutely than
others do, it is that of healing.16 Doctors give the fruits of their

16
In Spiritism the word HEALING is understood to mean restorative work carried
out by Good Spirits using someone, possibly a medium, as their instrument or channel.
(Translator's note.)
380 CHAPTER 26

study, which were often gained at the cost of painful sacrifices.

Magnetisers give their own fluids, sometimes even their health. A
price can be put upon these. However, a curing medium
retransmits healing fluids from the Good Spirits. Consequently,
they have no right to sell them. Jesus and His apostles, although
poor, did not charge for the cures they obtained.
Therefore, those who lack the necessary means of financial
support can seek funds wherever they like, excepting within
mediumship; only dedicating their spare time to this work, after
material needs have been satisfied. The Spirits will take into
consideration all devotion and sacrifices; whereas they will turn
away from any person who expects to turn them into a springboard
from where they can gain fame or fortune.
 CHAPTER 27

ASK AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN

The quality of prayers. - The effectiveness of prayer. - The act of prayer.
Transmission of thought. - Intelligible prayers. - Prayers for suffering spirits
and the dead. - INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS: How to pray. - Happiness
can be found through prayer.

THE QUALITY OF PRAYERS

1. And when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for
they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of
the streets, that they may be seen of men. Truly I say to you, They
have received their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into
your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father
which is in secret: and your Father which sees in secret shall
reward you openly.
But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for
they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not
you therefore like them: for your Father knows what things you
have need of, before you ask him. (MATTHEW, 6:5-8.)
2. And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything
against any: that your Father also which is in Heaven may forgive
you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your
Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. (MARK, 11:25
& 26.)
3. And he spoke this parable to certain which trusted in
themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: some
that believed themselves to be righteous and so despised others:
Two men went up into the temple to pray. the one a Pharisee and
the other a Publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself,
God, I thank you that I am not as other men are, possess. And the
382 CHAPTER 27

Publican, standing far off, would not lift up so much as his eyes to
heaven, but beat upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a
sinner! I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other: for every one that exalts himself shall be abased;
and he that humbled himself shall be exalted. (LUKE, 18:9-14.)
4. Jesus clearly defined the quality of prayer. He said that when
you pray you should not make yourself conspicuous, but rather
pray in secret. Do not prolong your prayers because it is not by the
multiplicity of the words that you will be heard, but by their
sincerity. Before praying, if you have anything against another,
forgive them, seeing that prayer is not pleasing to God if it does
not come from a heart cleansed of all sentiments that are contrary
to charity. Finally, pray with humility, as did the publican, and not
with pride as did the Pharisee. Look at your defects, not at your
qualities and if you compare yourself to others, look for what is
bad in yourself. (See Chapter 10, items 7 & 8.)

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PRAYER

5. Therefore I say to you, what things so ever you desire, when

you pray, believe that you will receive them, and you will have
them. (MARK 11:24.)
6. There are those who contest the effectiveness of prayer,
because as God knows all our needs, it is useless to enumerate
them to Him. Those who think this, then add that seeing
everything in the Universe is linked together by eternal laws our
petitions cannot change God's decrees.
Beyond all doubt, there are natural and immutable laws that
cannot be annulled at the caprice of each individual, but from this
fact to the belief that all circumstances in life are submitted to
fatality is a long step indeed. If it were like that, then humankind
would be mere passive instruments without free will or initiative.
In this hypothesis, it would only remain for people to bow down
 ASK AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN 383

their heads in submission before all occurrences, without making

any effort to avoid them or try to ward off dangers. God did not
grant reason and intelligence to human beings for them not to use
them, willpower not to desire things, or activity for people to
remain inactive. As everyone is free to act one way or the other,
for themselves and towards others, the consequences depend on
what each one does or does not do. By each one's initiative, there
are events that forcibly escape fatality and yet do not destroy the
harmony of the universal laws, just as the quickening or slowing
down of the pendulum of a clock does not annul the law of
movement upon which the mechanism is based. God then can
accede to certain petitions without destroying the immunity of
those laws that govern the whole, as consent is always dependent
on His will.
7. From the maxim: “Whatever you ask for through prayer will
be granted,” it would be illogical to conclude that one can receive
just by asking and unjust to accuse Providence if a request made is
not conceded, because it is known what is best for our own good.
This is what happens to a prudent father, who refuses to give his
son certain things that would be against his own interests.
Generally, human beings only see the present moment.
Meanwhile, if the suffering is useful to our future happiness, then
God will let us suffer, just as a surgeon allows the patient to suffer
an operation that will cure him.
What God will grant if we direct ourselves to Him with
confidence, is courage, patience and resignation. What He will
also grant are the means of resolving situations with the help of
ideas suggested to us by Good Spirits at God's instigation,
whereby we retain the merit for the decisions taken. God helps all
those who help themselves according to the maxim, “Help
yourself and the heavens will come to your aid.” Nevertheless, He
does not help those who wait for outside assistance without using
their own faculties. However, in most cases what people desire is
384 CHAPTER 27

to be helped by miracles without using any effort of their own.

(See Chapter 25, item 1 and following items.)
8. Let us take an example. Someone is lost in a desert. Thirst is
torturing them terribly. Fainting, the person falls to the ground.
They ask God to help them and wait. No angels will come to give
them water. However, what does happen is that a Good Spirit
suggests the idea of picking themselves up and taking one of the
paths to be seen in front of them. By pure mechanical movement,
uniting what is left of their strength the person gets up and
discovers not far away a stream. On sighting this, they gain
courage. If the person has faith, they exclaim, “Thank you, dear
God, for the idea you inspired and for the strength you gave me.”
If they are without any faith, they will say, “What a good idea I
had. How lucky I was to take the right-hand path and not the one
on the left! Chance sometimes serves one admirably! I must
congratulate myself for my courage and for not being defeated!”
Nevertheless, you may ask why the Good Spirit did not say
clearly: “Follow that path and you will find what you need.” Why
did this Spirit not show itself, guide them and sustain them in their
lack of animation? In that way, the person would have been
convinced of the intervention of Providence. Firstly, to teach them
that people must help themselves and make use of their strength.
Secondly, because that person doubted His existence. God put the
confidence the person had in Him to the test, as well as testing
their submission to His will. This person was in the situation of a
child, who falls down and because someone is with them starts to
cry and waits to be picked up. If the same child saw no one they
would make the effort and get up by themselves.
If the Angel who accompanied Tobias had said, “I am sent by
God to guide you on your journey and preserve you from all
danger,” then Tobias could claim no merit. In entrusting himself to
 ASK AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN 385

his companion he would not even have had to think. This is why
the Angel only made himself known after the return.

THE ACT OF PRAYER - TRANSMISSION OF THOUGHT

9. Prayer is an invocation. It is by means of thought that human
beings enter into communication with the being to whom they
direct themselves. This may be for the purpose of asking for
something, giving thanks or as a glorification. We may pray for
ourselves or for others, for the living or for the dead. Those spirits
who are charged with the execution of His will hear prayers
addressed to God. All those addressed to Good Spirits are referred
to God. When someone prays to beings other than God, these
serve as mediators or intercessors because nothing can happen
without God's wishes.
10. Spiritism makes the act of prayer understandable by
explaining how thought is transmitted, either when the Spirit to
whom we are praying comes to our aid or when our thoughts rise
up to this being. In order to understand what happens in this
circumstance, it is necessary to consider all incarnate and
discarnate beings as immersed in the Universal Cosmic Fluid
which occupies space, just as we on Earth are immersed in the
atmosphere of this planet. This fluid receives an impulse from the
will; this is the vehicle for thought, just as air is the vehicle for
sound, with the difference that the vibrations of air are
circumscribed, whereas those of the Universal Cosmic Fluid
extend infinitely. So when a thought is directed at someone, either
on Earth or in space, from an incarnate to a discarnate being, or
vice-versa, a fluidic current is established between them that
transmits the thought from one to the other just as air transmits
sound.
The energy contained in this current remains proportional to the
force behind the thought and the desire. This then is how Good
386 CHAPTER 27

Spirits can hear the prayers directed to them wherever they may
be. It is also how Spirits communicate amongst themselves, how
they transmit their inspirations to us, and how contacts between
incarnates are established at a distance.
This explanation has in mind principally those people who do
not understand the utility of completely mystical prayer. It is not
meant to seemingly materialise prayer, but rather to make its effect
intelligible by showing it can have direct and effective results.
However, this does not make it any less subordinate to God's
wishes; He is the Supreme Judge of all things and it is only
through His wishes that the action of prayer can become effective.
11. It is through prayer that humans obtain the assistance of the
Good Spirits, who come to sustain them in their good resolutions
and inspire wholesome ideas. In this manner, they acquire the
necessary moral strength to be able to surmount difficulties and
come back to the straight and narrow path, should they at any time
stray from it. By these means, they can also turn away the evil
they attract through their faults. For example, a person loses their
health due to excesses and so leads a life of suffering until the
termination of their days. Has this person the right to complain if
they do not obtain the cure they so desired? No, because they
could have found the strength to resist temptation, through the act
of prayer.
12. The evils of life can be divided into two parts, one being
those that cannot be avoided and the other being the tribulations of
which they themselves are the principal cause, due to carelessness
and excesses. (See chapter 5, item 4.) Then we would see that the
number in the second group far exceeds those in the first.
Therefore, it is evident that humans are the author of the greater
part of their own afflictions and that these could be avoided if they
always behaved with prudence and wisdom.
 ASK AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN 387

It is no less certain that these miseries are the result of our

infractions against God's Law and that if we duly observed these
Laws we would be completely happy. If we did not exceed the
limit of what is necessary for the satisfaction of our needs, we
would not have the sicknesses that are provoked as consequences
of these excesses. Neither would we experience the vicissitudes
that derive from them. If we put a limit on our ambitions, we
would not have to fear ruin. If we did not desire to raise ourselves
higher than we are able, we would not have to be afraid of falling.
If we practised the Law of Charity we would not slander, be
jealous or envious and we would avoid arguments and fights. If
we did no evil to anyone, we would not need to fear revenge, etc.
Let us admit that humans can do nothing with respect to other
ills and that any amount of prayer is useless in ridding us of them.
However, would it not mean a great deal to have the possibility of
exempting ourselves from those ills that stem from our own
behaviour? Here it is easy to conceive the action played by prayer,
which aims at attracting wholesome inspirations from the Good
Spirits and in asking them for strength to resist our bad thoughts,
whose realisation could be disastrous for us. In this case, what
prayers do is not remove the wrong from us, but turn us away
from our bad thoughts that cause us harm. Although prayer does
not prevent the fulfilling of God's laws, nor does it suspend the
course of the Laws of Nature, it stops us from infringing these
laws by guiding our free will. However, within these hidden
influences our free will is maintained. Therefore, each person
finds themselves in the position of someone who requests good
counselling and then puts them into practice; but always
maintaining the liberty to follow them or not. God desires it to be
like this, so that people can have the responsibility for their
actions, thereby leaving them merit for their choice between good
and evil. This is what humans can always be sure of obtaining if
388 CHAPTER 27

they ask fervently. This is the kind of situation where, above all,
the words “Ask and it shall be given” can be applied.
Could not the effects of prayer, even when reduced to these
proportions, bring immense results? It has been reserved for
Spiritism to prove its action through the revelation of the
relationship existing between the physical and spiritual worlds.
However, its effects are not limited just to these results.
All spirits recommend that we pray. To renounce prayer is to
ignore the benevolence of God and to reject for oneself His
assistance and for others the good that can be done.
13. On attending to any request that may be addressed to Him,
God frequently has in mind to recompense the intention, devotion
and faith of the one who prays. This is why the prayers of a good
person have greater merit in God's eyes and are always more
effective. The corrupt and evil person cannot pray with the same
fervour and confidence that can only come from a sentiment of
true piety. From a selfish heart or one who prays only from the
lips, there come only words, but never a charitable impulse that is
what gives force to prayer. This is so clearly understood that
instinctively, when requesting a prayer from someone else,
preference is given to a person we feel is agreeable to God,
because their prayer will be more readily heard.
14. As prayer exercises a type of magnetic action, it could be
supposed that its effect would depend on fluidic power. However,
this is not so. To be precise, spirits exercise this action on humans
to overcome any insufficiency in those who pray, either by direct
influence in His name, or by giving the person momentarily an
exceptional force when they judge them deserving of this grace, or
when it can be useful to them.
The person who does not consider themselves sufficiently good
as to exercise a wholesome influence, should not refrain from
 ASK AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN 389

praying for the good of another because of a mistaken belief of

being unworthy to be heard. The consciousness of their own
inferiority constitutes a test in humility, which is always pleasing
to God. Who then takes into account the charitable intention that
animated that person. Fervour and confidence in God are the first
steps in the return to goodness, for which the Good Spirits feel
blessed in being able to offer stimulation. Prayer is repelled only
from the prideful, who deposit faith in their own power and merits,
believing it possible to superimpose themselves upon the Will of
the Eternal Father.
15. The power of prayer lies in the thought and does not depend
on words, the place or the moment in which it is proffered.
Therefore, it is possible to pray in all places, at any time, alone or
with others. The influence of a place or time is only felt according
to the circumstances that favour the meditation. Communal prayer
has a more powerful action when all who are praying join
together in a heartfelt thought and envisage the same objective,
since it is as if many beseeched together in one voice. However, it
will do no good for a large number of people to gather together for
prayer, if each one acts in isolation, on their own account. A
hundred people can pray selfishly, whereas two or three joined by
the same aspirations, praying like true brothers and sisters in
Christ, will give more power to their prayer than would the
hundred selfish people. (See chapter 28, items 4 & 5.)

INTELLIGIBLE PRAYERS
16. Therefore, if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be to
him that speaks a barbarian, and he that speaks shall be a
barbarian to me. For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit
prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. Else when you shall
bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupies the room of the
unlearned say Amen at your giving of thanks, seeing he does not
understand what you are saying? For you are truly giving thanks
390 CHAPTER 27

well, but the other is not uplifted. (PAUL, I Corinthians, 14:11, 14,
16 & 17.)
17. Prayer only has value through the thought to which it is
united. Therefore, it is impossible to join any thought to something
that is not understood, since what is not understood cannot touch
the heart. For the great majority of human beings prayers that are
said in an unknown language are nothing more than a
conglomeration of words that say nothing to the spirit. In order for
prayer to touch, it is necessary for each word to awaken an idea
and when the words are not understood they are unable to do this.
It would be merely a simple formula, whose virtue depended on
the greater or lesser number of times it was repeated. Many pray
from duty, others from obedience to habit; this is why they judge
themselves to be exonerated from their duty after having prayed a
determined prayer a sufficient number of times, in a certain order.
God reads what passes deep in our hearts. He scrutinises our
thoughts and our sincerity. Therefore, in judging Him to be more
sensitive to the format rather than the depth, is to discredit Him.
(See chapter 28, item 2.)

PRAYERS FOR SUFFERING SPIRITS AND THE DEAD

18. Suffering spirits ask for prayers and these are useful to
them, because on recognising that someone thinks of them they
feel comforted and less unhappy. However, prayer has a more
direct action on them by reanimating them and instilling in them a
desire to elevate themselves through repentance or by making
amends and can turn them away from bad thoughts. It is in this
sense that prayers cannot only alleviate, but can also shorten their
suffering. (See HEAVEN & HELL, the second part – Examples.)
19. Some people do not accept the offering of prayers for the
dead, as according to their belief, the soul has only two
alternatives - to be saved or to be eternally condemned to suffering
 ASK AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN 391

- which would result in prayer being useless in either case.

Without discussing the merits of this belief, let us admit for a
moment the reality of eternal unpardonable penitence, which our
prayers are impotent to interrupt. We ask if, even in this
hypothesis, it would be logical, charitable or Christian to refuse
prayer for the reprobate. However impotent these might be in
liberating them, would these prayers not be a demonstration of
pity, capable of softening their suffering? On Earth, when a person
is condemned to perpetual prison, even if there was not a
minimum chance of obtaining a pardon, is it forbidden for a
charitable person to help alleviate the weight of the sentence
through prayer? When an incurable disease attacks someone, there
being no hope of a cure, should we abandon the person without
offering some kind of relief? Remind yourselves that amongst the
wicked you may find someone who has been dear to you, perhaps
a friend, a father or a mother, a son or a daughter. Then ask
yourself if, because of your belief that there is no possibility of a
pardon, would you refuse a glass of water to mitigate their thirst?
Or a balsam that would heal their wounds? Would you not do for
them what you would do for one condemned to the galleys?
Would you not give them proof of your love and console them?
No, this idea would not be Christian. A belief that hardens the
heart cannot conform to the existence of a God Who, amongst
many duties, puts that of loving one's neighbour in first place.
The non-existence of eternal punishment does not imply a
denial of temporary penalty, given that it is not possible for God in
His justice to confound good with evil. In this case, to deny the
efficiency of prayer would be to deny the efficacy of consolation,
encouragement and good advice. This would be equal to denying
the strength we absorb from the moral assistance received from
those who wish us well.
20. Others base their ideas on a more misleading reason: that of
the immutability of Divine decree. God, they say, cannot modify
392 CHAPTER 27

His decisions just when asked by one of His creatures, because if

this were so then nothing on Earth would have stability. Therefore,
humans cannot ask God for anything; it only rests for humankind
to submit and adore Him.
In this idea, there is a false interpretation of the principle of the
immutability of Divine Law or, better still, an ignorance of this
Law with regard to future penalties. This Law is revealed by the
Spirits of the Lord at this time, now that humanity is sufficiently
mature to understand what, within the faith, conforms to or is
contrary to the Divine attributes.
According to the doctrine of the absolute eternity of all
punishment, the remorse and repentance of the culprit are not
taken into account. All desire to better oneself is useless, for they
are condemned to remain eternally evil. However, if they were
condemned for a determined period of time, then the punishment
would cease when that time had expired. But who can say that by
then their sentiments have improved? Who can say, as shown by
many who have been condemned on Earth, that on leaving prison
they will no longer be as bad as before? In the first case, it would
be keeping a person under the pain of punishment after they had
become good; in the second, it would be the granting of amnesty
to one who continues to be guilty. God's law is more provident
than that; being always just, impartial and merciful, it places no
fixed duration for punishment, whatever the case may be. This law
can be resumed in the following manner:
21. Human beings always suffer the consequences of their
errors. There is no infraction of God's Laws that does not have its
punishment.
The severity of the penalty is proportional to the gravity of the
offence.
 ASK AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN 393

The duration of the penalty for an error is indeterminate, being

subordinate to the repentance of the culprit and their return to
goodness; the penalty lasts as long as the evil. It will be perpetual
if the persistence in doing evil is also perpetual; it is of short
duration if repentance comes quickly.
From the moment the culprit cries for mercy, God listens and
sends hope. However, the simple fact of remorse for the evil done
is not enough; it is necessary that reparation is made. This then is
why the guilty party is submitted to new tests wherein they can, by
their own will, do Good in reparation for the evil that was done.
In this manner, humans are constantly choosing their own
destiny. They may shorten their anguish, or prolong it indefinitely.
Happiness or unhappiness depends on their will to do Good.
This is the Law, the immutable Law that conforms to the
goodness and justice of God.
In this manner, the guilty and unhappy spirit can always save
itself because God's Law establishes the condition by which this
becomes possible. What the spirit is lacking in most cases is the
willpower, the strength and the courage. Nevertheless, through our
prayers, we can inspire this willpower. We can uphold the sufferer
and encourage them and through our counselling we can give
them the enlightenment they lack. Thus instead of asking God to
annul His law, we turn ourselves into instruments for the
execution of His Law of Love and Charity. In this manner, He
allows us to participate, so giving us proof of His infinite charity.
(See HEAVEN & HELL, 1st part, chapters: 4, 7 & 8.)
394 CHAPTER 27

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

HOW TO PRAY
22. The first duty of all human beings, the first act that should
mark the return to activity each day, is prayer. Most people pray,
but only a very few really know how to pray! Of what importance
to God are sentences that are mechanically linked together from
habit, a duty to perform that weighs as heavily as any other duty?
The prayers of a Christian, of a Spiritist, or of whatever cult,
must be made as soon as the spirit returns to the physical body.
They should be raised up to the feet of the Divine Majesty with
humility and profundity, in an impulse of gratitude for all the
many benefits received until that day; for the night just past during
which it was permitted, although without knowing, to get close to
friends and guides so as to be able to absorb new strength and
more perseverance through this contact. You should lift yourself
up humbly to the feet of the Lord, to offer up your weaknesses,
plead for help, indulgence and mercy. This prayer should be
profound because it is your soul that should raise itself up to the
Creator and in doing so, it should become transfigured, as was
Jesus on the mount when He showed the radiant splendour of His
hope and love.
Your prayer should include a request for His blessings upon
those things you need, but let it be for things you really need.
Therefore, it is useless to ask the Lord to shorten your tests and
trials, or to give you happiness and riches. Preferably, ask for
more precious items, such as patience, resignation and faith. Do
not say, as many do, “It is not worth praying because God does not
answer my prayers.” In most cases, what do you ask Him for?
Have you ever remembered to ask Him to help you with your own
moral betterment? Oh no! Seldom have you done this. What you
 ASK AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN 395

most remember to ask for is success in all your Earthly projects

and then you complain that God does not bother about anyone and
that if He did there would not be so many injustices! How foolish!
How ungrateful! If you search deep into your conscience you
would almost always find the motive for your suffering. So then,
before all else: ask that you may become a better person and you
will see that you are showered with consolations and blessings.
(See chapter 5, item 4)
You should pray constantly, without any need to seek your
chapel or fall on your knees in public. Daily prayer is the
fulfilment of your duty, without any exception of any kind
whatsoever. Is it not an act of love towards God when you help
your brothers and sisters in any moral or physical need? It is an act
of gratitude to lift up your thoughts to Him, when something
happy occurs, when you avoid an accident or even when some
simple triviality grazes your soul. So do not forget to say, “Blessed
be my Father in Heaven!” Is it not an act of contrition to humble
yourself before the Supreme Judge when you feel yourself
weakening? Even though it is only by means of a fleeting thought,
so as to say, “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned (from pride,
selfishness or lack of charity); give me the strength not to fail
again and courage to make reparation for my fault!”
This is quite apart from regular morning and evening prayer and
those for sacred days. As you see, prayer can be for all moments
without interrupting your activities. On the contrary, in this
manner it sanctifies them. You can be sure that just one of these
thoughts, if sent from the heart, is listened to by our Celestial
Father, even more so than those long repetitious prayers said out
of habit and almost always without any determined motive behind
them, only because the habitual hour is calling you mechanically.
– V. MONOD. (Bordeaux, 1862.)
396 CHAPTER 27

HAPPINESS CAN BE FOUND THROUGH PRAYER

23. Come-hither all those who wish to believe! The Celestial
Spirits are come to announce great things! My children, God is
opening up His treasures to distribute them for our benefit. Oh,
incredulous humanity! If only you knew what a great benefit faith
is to our hearts and how it induces the soul to repentance and
prayer! Prayer! Ah! How touching are the words that fall from the
lips of one who prays! Prayer is the Divine Dew that lessens the
excessive heat of our passions. Favourite daughter of faith, it leads
us along the pathway that takes us to God. In moments of
reclusion and solitude, you will find yourselves together with the
Lord. For you, the mysteries disappear because He reveals them to
you. Apostles of thought, life is meant for you. Your soul liberates
itself from matter and launches itself into the infinite and etheric
worlds that poor humanity does not know.
March forward! Press on along the path of prayer and you will
hear the voices of the Angels! What harmony! We no longer hear
the confused noises and strident sounds of the Earth; only the
sound of the lyres of the Archangels, the soft and gentle voices of
the Seraphim that is more delicate than the morning breeze that
plays among the foliage of the woodlands. Amongst what delights
you will walk! Your earthly language cannot express such bliss; so
quickly does it enter into all your pores, so alive and refreshing is
the spring from which you are able to drink through prayer! Sweet
voices and inebriating perfumes are what the soul hears and
breathes when you launch yourself into prayer, into those
unknown and inhabited spheres! All aspirations are divine when
liberated from carnal desires. You too can pray, as did Jesus, while
carrying His Cross from Golgotha to Calvary. So take up your
burden and you will feel sweet emotions that will pass through
your soul, even though you bear the weight of some infamous
 ASK AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN 397

cross. He was going to die in order to live the Celestial Life in the
House of His Father. - SAINT AUGUSTINE. (Paris, 1861.)
 CHAPTER 28

A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS

PREAMBLE
1. The Spirits have always said, “The form means nothing but
the thought is everything. Say your prayers in accordance with
your convictions and in the manner which is most agreeable to
you, since a good thought is worth more than numerous words
which do not touch the heart.”
The Spirits do not prescribe an absolute formula for prayers.
When they do it is merely to help us form our ideas and above all,
to call our attention to certain principles of the Spiritist Teachings.
On the other hand, perhaps it is to offer guidance to those who
find it difficult to express their ideas, because there are some who
believe they have not prayed properly if they have not been able to
formulate their thoughts well.
The collection of prayers contained in this chapter is a selection
of some that the Spirits have dictated on several occasions.
Beyond doubt, they could have dictated other prayers, in different
terms, appropriate to various ideas and special cases. Nevertheless,
the style is of little importance if the thought is essentially the
same. The object of prayer is to elevate our soul to God. The
diversity of forms should not establish any difference between
those who believe in Him and even less between the adepts of
Spiritism, because God accepts all of them when they are sincere.
Therefore, you should not think of this collection of prayers as
absolute formulas, but rather as a varied selection of those
received from the Spirits. It is a way of applying the moral
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 399

principles as taught by Christ that have been developed in this

book; a complement to their writings based on our duties before
God and our neighbour, in which we are again reminded of all the
principles of the Spiritist Teachings.
Spiritism recognises the prayers of all cults as being good, as
long as they come from the heart and not just from the lips. It does
not impose them, nor does it condemn them. God is far too great,
according to the Spiritist Teachings, to consider repelling a voice
that implores or which sings His praises, just because it is not done
in this or that manner. Anyone who wants to launch anathema
against any prayers that are not within their own formulas will
prove they know nothing of the greatness of God. To believe that
He has some kind of attachment to a certain formula is to attribute
to Him the smallness and the passions of humanity.
According to Saint Paul, one of the essential conditions of
prayer (See chapter 27, item 16) is that it be understandable, so as
to move our spirit. For this to happen it is not enough that it be
said in a language understood by the person who is praying; since
there are prayers spoken in everyday language that say little more
to our thoughts than they would in a foreign language. For this
reason, they do not touch our hearts. The over abundance of
words and the mysticism of the language frequently suffocate the
few ideas they may contain.
The principal quality of a prayer is clarity. It should be simple
and concise, without useless phraseology or an excess of
adjectives, which are nothing more than decoration. Each word
should be of value in expressing an idea and in touching a fibre of
the soul. In short, it should cause you to reflect. This is the only
way in which it can reach its objective, since in any other manner
it is nothing but a noise. However, in most cases it can be seen
with what distraction and inconstancy they are said. We see lips
that move, but by the expression on the faces and by the sound of
400 CHAPTER 28

the voices, we can verify that it is only mechanical, a solely

exterior act, to which the soul remains indifferent.
The prayers in this collection are divided into five categories, as
follows: 1) General Prayers. 2) Prayers for oneself. 3) Prayers for
the living. 4) Prayers for the dead. 5) Special prayers for the sick
and the spiritually obsessed.
With the objective of calling special attention to the aims of the
various prayers and making their meaning more comprehensive,
they are preceded by preliminary comments explaining the
motives behind each one, entitled Preface.

1 - GENERAL PRAYERS

THE LORD'S PRAYER

2. PREFACE. - The Spirits recommended that we begin this
anthology with the Lord’s Prayer, not simply as a prayer, but also
as a symbol. Of all the prayers, this one is considered the most
important because it came from Jesus Himself (See Matthew, 6:9-
13.) and because it can substitute all others, according to the
intention and the thoughts that are joined to it. It is the most
concisely perfect model, a truly sublime work of art in its
simplicity. With effect, in its much-reduced form, it manages to
summarise all of duties of humans before God, before ourselves
and before our neighbour. It includes a mark of faith, an act of
adoration and submission, a request for those things necessary to
terrestrial life and the principle of charity. Whoever says this
prayer for another asks for them what they would ask for
themselves.
Nevertheless, because of its shortness, the deep meaning of
some of its words escapes most people. This is usually because
they say them without thinking of the meaning of each of the
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 401

phrases. They say them just like a mechanical formula, whose

efficiency is proportional to the number of times it is repeated.
This number is usually cabalistic: three, seven or nine, in view of
the ancient superstitious belief in the power of numbers and of
their practical use in magic.
In order to fill the void often felt by the shortness of this prayer,
the Spirits have recommended and helped us to add a commentary
to each of the phrases that increase their meaning and shows the
best way to make use of each one. In accordance with individual
circumstances and the time at your disposal at any given moment,
you can say the Lord's Prayer in its simple form or in the more
developed way.
3. PRAYER:
(1) Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name!
Lord, we believe in you, because everything about us reveals
Your goodness and Your power. The harmony of the Universe is
proof of wisdom, prudence and a foresight that surpasses all
human faculties. The Name of a Being Who is supremely great
and wise is written on all the works of Creation, from the humble
grass and the smallest insect up to the stars and planets in space.
On all sides, we see proof of a paternal solicitude. Blind then is the
person who does not recognise Your works. Prideful is the one
who does not worship You, and ungrateful is the one who does not
give thanks to You.
(2) May Your kingdom come!
Lord, you gave humanity laws full of wisdom, which would
make them happy if only they observed them. With these laws,
justice and peace could be established and all could help each
other instead of causing mutual harm as they do. The strong
should uphold the weak instead of crushing them. The evils that
are born of abuses and excesses of all kinds could be avoided. All
402 CHAPTER 28

the miseries of this world stem from the violation of Your laws,
because there is not one infraction that does not bring its fatal
consequences.
You gave the animals an instinct that traces the limits of their
necessities and to which they respond mechanically. However, to
humanity as well as instinct, You also gave intelligence and
reason. Still more, You gave the liberty to keep or to violate those
of Your laws that concern each one personally, or rather the
faculty to choose between good and evil, so that we have the merit
and the responsibility for our actions.
No one can protest ignorance of Your laws, because in Your
paternal providence You desired that they be recorded in the
consciousness of each one, without distinction as to cults or
nationality. In this manner, those who violate them do so because
they despise You.
The day will come when according to Your promise all will
practise these laws. Then incredulity will have disappeared; all
will recognise in You the Supreme Lord of all things and the reign
of Your laws will herald Your reign here on Earth.
Lord, deign to hasten the accession of Your reign by giving
Humanity the necessary enlightenment that will conduct them
along the pathway of truth!
(3) May Your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven!
If submission is the duty of a son towards his father, of the
inferior towards his superior, how much greater is that of a being
towards their Creator! By the words: 'Your will be done, Lord,' it
is for us to observe Your laws and to submit ourselves without
lamentations to all Your divine designs. Humankind will become
submissive when they understand You are the source of all
wisdom and that without You we can do nothing. Then they will
do Your bidding on Earth as do Your elected ones in Heaven.
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 403

(4) Give us this day our daily bread!

Give us the necessary food for the maintenance of our physical
strength and give us spiritual nourishment for the development of
our spirits.
The animals find their pastures, but humans depend on their
own activities and their mental resources to produce their food
because You gave them freedom.
You have said “You will earn your bread by the sweat of your
brow,” and with these words You made work an obligation. That
makes us exercise our intelligence in the search for the means to
provide our necessities and to attend to our well-being: some by
their material work, others by their intellectual work. Without
work, humanity would remain stationary and could not aspire to
the happiness of the Superior Spirits.
Please help those of goodwill, who depend on You for what is
necessary; but not, however, those who take pleasure in being lazy
and like to receive all things without any effort, nor those who
seek superfluity. (See chapter 25.)
How many succumb through their own fault, through
negligence, through being improvident, through ambition, or
through not being content with what You have given them! These
are the authors of their own misfortune and do not have the right
to complain, since they are punished according to the manner in
which they have sinned. Nevertheless, You will not abandon even
these, because You are infinitely merciful and will extend a
providential hand to them, if they return to You with sincerity, like
the prodigal son. (See chapter 5, item 4.)
Before lamenting our bad luck, we ask ourselves if it is not our
own fault at each misfortune that befalls us; we try to verify if we
could have avoided it. We repeat to ourselves that God has given
404 CHAPTER 28

us intelligence to be able to resolve every difficult situation and

that we must put this intelligence to good use.
Seeing that humans are subject to the law of labour here on
Earth, give us the courage and the strength to fulfil this law. Give
us also prudence and moderation so that we may not lose its fruits.
Give us our daily bread Lord, or rather the means of acquiring
our necessities through work, because no one has the right to ask
for superfluity.
If we are unable to work, we will have confidence in Your
divine providence.
If it is within Your design to test us with great privation, despite
our efforts, we accept this as a just expiation for the faults that we
have committed in this life or in a previous one. We know that
You are just, and that there are no undeserved penalties since You
never punish without a motive.
Dear Lord, preserve us from envying those who have what we
have not, or those who have superfluous things at their disposal,
when we are wanting in what is necessary. Forgive them, Lord, if
they forget the law of charity and love towards one's neighbour,
which You taught. (See chapter 16, item 8.)
Withdraw also from our spirit any idea of denying the existence
of Your justice, when we see evil prosper and the unhappiness that
sometimes befalls a good person. Thanks to this new
enlightenment given to us, we know that Your justice never fails,
nor does it make exceptions. The material prosperity of an evil
person is as fragile as their bodily existence and they will
experience terrible reverses; whereas life will be eternal bliss for
those who suffer with resignation. (See chapter 5, items 7, 9, 12 &
18.)
(5) Forgive our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. -
Forgive our offences, as we forgive those who offend us.
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 405

Lord, each one of our infractions against Your laws is an

offence committed against You. It is a debt contracted, which
sooner or later will have to be paid. We implore Your infinite
mercy, subject to our promise to employ every effort not to incur
further debts.
You made charity an express law for everyone; but charity does
not only consist of helping our fellow beings in their needs, but
also in forgetting and forgiving offences. With what right do we
demand Your indulgence, if we lack charity towards those who
have given us motive for complaint?
Lord, give us the strength to stifle within ourselves all
resentment, hate and rancour. Do not let death surprise us with a
desire for vengeance in our hearts. If You approve of our being
taken from this world today, help us to be able to present ourselves
completely cleansed of animosity, just like Christ, Whose last
words were in favour of His tormentors. (See chap. 10.)
The persecutions that those who are evil inflict upon us
constitute part of our earthly tests. We should accept them without
a murmur, as we should accept all tests without cursing those who,
by their wrongdoing, open a pathway to eternal happiness for us.
Because You told us through the intermediary of Jesus that
“Blessed be those who suffer for the sake of justice!”
Consequently, blessed is the hand that injures or humiliates us,
because the mortifications of the body strengthen our soul, and we
shall then be raised up from our humiliations. (See chapter 12,
item 4.)
Blessed be Your name Lord, because You have taught us that
our destiny is not irrevocably fixed after death. We will find in
other existences the means by which we may make atonement and
repay all our past debts. Thus, we will be able to realise in a new
life, all those things to help our progress that we were unable to do
in this one. (See chap. 4; chap. 5, item 5.)
406 CHAPTER 28

In this manner, all the apparent irregularities of life are finally

explained. The light is cast over our past and our future, as a
brilliant sign of Your supreme justice and of Your infinite
goodness.
(6) Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from all evil.17
Lord, give us the necessary strength to resist all suggestions
coming from the evil spirits, who will try to divert us from the
path of goodness by inspiring us with evil thoughts.
Nevertheless, we too are imperfect spirits incarnated on Earth to
expiate our sins and better ourselves. The cause of evil lies deep
within our own souls, and the evil Spirits do nothing more than
take advantage of our inferior tendencies to tempt us.
Each imperfection is an open door to their influences; whereas
they become powerless and give up any attempt against perfect
beings. Everything we do to send them away will be useless, as
long as we do not put up a decided and unbreakable decision to
practice goodness, together with a total renunciation of all evil.
Therefore, it is against ourselves that our efforts must be directed.
Then the evil spirits will leave us naturally, since evil attracts
them; whereas goodness repels them. (See further on in this
chapter: Prayers for the obsessed.)
Lord, uphold us in our weaknesses; inspire us through the
voices of our Guardian Angels and the Good Spirits with a desire
to correct our imperfections, so that we may prevent access to our
soul by evil Spirits. (See further on, item 11.)

17
There are some translations of the Bible that say: do not induce us to temptation
(et nos inducas in tentationem). This sentence gives us to understand that temptation
stems from God, Who voluntarily impels people towards evil. This is a blasphemous
idea that puts God on an equal basis with Satan. Therefore, it could not have been in
the mind of Jesus. Actually, it is in accordance with the popular idea that exists about
the part played by Devils. (See HEAVEN & HELL, 1st part, chapter 9 - THE DEVILS.)
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 407

Evil is not Your work Lord, because the source of all goodness
cannot engender any badness. It is we ourselves who create it
when we infringe Your laws, and through the ill use we make of
the liberty You concede us. When humanity has learned to keep
Your laws, then evil will disappear from Earth; just as it has
already disappeared from more advanced worlds.
Evil does not constitute a fatal necessity for anybody and only
appears to be irresistible to those who take pleasure in it.
Therefore, if we have a desire to practise evil, we can also have a
desire to practise goodness. For this reason, dear God, we beg
Your assistance and that of the Good Spirits so we may resist
temptation.
(7) So be it!
Dear God, may the realisation of our desires be pleasing to You
and may we bow down before Your infinite wisdom. In all things
that we are unable to understand, may Your blessed will be done
and not ours, since You only desire our improvement and know
what is best for us.
We offer You this prayer, dear Lord, not only for ourselves, but
also for all suffering creatures, both incarnate and discarnate, for
our friends and our enemies, for all those who ask for our help and
especially for X... (Name). We beseech Your mercy and blessings
for all.
NOTE: Here you can offer thanks to God for all that has been
conceded to you and formulate any requests you may have, either
for yourself or for others. (See further on, prayers Nos. 26 & 27.)

SPIRITIST MEETINGS
4. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.” (MATTHEW, 18:20.)
408 CHAPTER 28

5. PREFACE - In order to be gathered together in the name of

Jesus, our material presence alone is not enough. It is also
indispensable to be assembled in the spiritual sense, by means of a
communion of intentions and thoughts towards goodness. In this
way, Jesus, that is to say either He or those Pure Spirits, who are
His representatives, will be found in your midst. Spiritism enables
us to understand the way the spirits can be among us. This is by
means of their fluidic or spiritual body; and if they should make
themselves visible, they do so with an appearance that allows us to
recognise them. The more elevated in the spiritual hierarchy the
greater is their power of radiation, so that on possessing the gift of
ubiquity, they may be present in various places simultaneously. In
order to achieve this it requires merely the emission of a thought.
With these words, Jesus wished to show the effect of union and
fraternity. It is not the greater or lesser number of people that
attract the Spirits, but the sentiment of charity, which animates
them reciprocally. If it depended on numbers, He would have said
some ten or twenty instead of two or three people. For this
purpose, two people are enough. However, if these two people
pray separately, even if they direct themselves to Jesus, there will
be no communion of thought between them, especially if they are
not motivated by a mutual sentiment of benevolence. If they are
animated by mutual prejudice, hate, jealous or envy, then the
fluidic currents of their thoughts will repel each other, instead of
uniting them in a harmonious impulse of sympathy. Then they will
not be united in the name of Jesus. In that case, Jesus will only be
the pretext for that meeting and not the true motive. (See chapter
27, item 9.)
This does not mean to say that Jesus will not listen to just one
person. However, if He did not say “I will attend anyone who calls
me” it is because He demands, above all else, the love for one's
neighbour, from which it is possible to give greater proof in a
group than in isolation, and because all personalised sentiment
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 409

denies it. It follows then, that in a large meeting, if two or three

people joined themselves through their hearts in a sentiment of
true charity, while all the others remained isolated concentrating
their ideas on selfish and worldly things, Jesus would be with the
first group and not with the rest. It is not then the simultaneity of
the words, the songs or the exterior acts, that constitute the
gathering together in the name of Jesus. Rather it is the
communion of thoughts according to the true spirit of charity, of
which He is the personification. (See chap. 10, items 7 & 8, and
chap. 27, items 2 & 4.)
This should be the character of all serious Spiritist meetings, in
which the assistance of the Good Spirits is earnestly desired.
6. PRAYER (For the commencement of a meeting.) - We beseech
You, O Lord God, the All Powerful, to send us the Good Spirits to
help us and take away all those who may induce us towards error;
give us the necessary light so that we may distinguish truth from
falsity.
Equally, remove the evil Spirits, either incarnate or discarnate,
who may try to launch discord amongst us, and so turn us away
from charity and love for our neighbours. If some of these Spirits
try to enter our ambient, do not allow them access to any of our
hearts.
Good Spirits, who see fit to come to teach us, make us yielding
to their counselling; turn us away from all thoughts of selfishness,
pride, jealousy or envy. Inspire us to be indulgent and benevolent
towards our fellow beings, be they friends or enemies, present or
absent. In short, through the sentiments with which we are
animated, make us recognise your beneficial influence.
To the mediums You choose as transmitters of Your Teaching,
give them awareness of their mandate and the seriousness of the
410 CHAPTER 28

act they are about to practise, so they may fulfil this task with the
necessary dedication and meditation.
If at our meeting, there are any people present driven by
sentiments other than those of goodness, open their eyes to the
light and forgive them Lord, as we forgive them, for any evil
intentions they may harbour.
We ask especially that the Spirit of X..., (Name) who is our
spiritual Guide, may be present and watch over us.
7. PRAYER (For the closing of a meeting.) - We give thanks to
the Good Spirits who came to communicate with us. We implore
them to help us put into practise the instructions they have given
and that on leaving this ambient, they may help us to feel
strengthened for the practise of goodness and love towards our
fellow beings.
We also desire that Your teachings help all those Spirits who
are suffering, ignorant or corrupt, who have participated in our
meeting and for whom we implore God's mercy.

FOR THE MEDIUMS

8. “In the last days God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit on all
people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, young men will
see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my
servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those
days, and they will prophesy.” (Acts, 2: 17 & 18.)
9. PREFACE - God wishes that the light shines for everyone and
that the voices of the Spirits penetrate to all parts so that all may
obtain proof of immortality. It is with this objective in mind that
the Spirits manifest themselves in all parts of the Globe, and that
mediumship is revealing itself in people of all ages and all
conditions, in men and in women, in children and in old people.
This is one of the signs that the predicted times have arrived.
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 411

In order to know the things of the visible world and discover

the secrets of material Nature, God has given humans bodily
vision, the senses and special instruments. With a telescope their
eyes reach into the vastness of space, with the microscope they
discover the world of infinite minuteness. To be able to penetrate
the invisible world He has given them the faculty of mediumship.
Mediums are the interpreters who have undertaken to transmit
to all human beings the teachings of the Spirits; or rather, they are
the material instruments that the Spirits avail themselves of, so as
to be able to express themselves intelligently to human beings.
They fulfil a sacred mission, seeing that the aim is to open up the
horizons of eternal life.
The Spirits come to instruct humans as to their destiny, so that
they may be led towards the path of goodness, and not to save
them from material work, which must be fulfilled in this world for
their advancement; not for the furthering of their ambition and
covetousness. This is something that must be clearly understood
by mediums so that they will not make bad use of their faculty.
Those who fully understand the seriousness of the mandate with
which they have been entrusted will carry out this duty religiously.
Their conscience will condemn them if by any sacrilegious act
they transform themselves into a distraction or amusement, for
themselves or for others, those faculties that were given to them
for a serious purpose, which is that of placing them in
communication with Beings from beyond the grave.
As interpreters of the Spirit’s Teachings, mediums should play
a very important part in the moral transformation that is in
progress. The services they are able to offer will be in accordance
with the correctness of the guidance they have given to their
faculty, because those who follow an incorrect pathway cause
more harm than good to Spiritism. More than one person will
delay their progress due to the unfortunate impression these
412 CHAPTER 28

mediums produce. Therefore, all mediums will have to give an

account of the use to which they put their faculty, which was given
to them for the purpose of doing Good to their fellow beings.
The medium who desires to be constantly helped by Good
Spirits will have to work hard towards self-betterment. Those who
wish their faculty to grow and be enriched, must therefore enrich
themselves morally and abstain from all that can turn them aside
from its providential purpose.
If sometimes Good Spirits make use of an imperfect medium, it
is in order to give Good advice, with which they try to make them
take the road to goodness. If, however, they meet hardened hearts
and their advice is not listened to they will leave and the field will
then be open for the evil Spirits. (See chap. 24, items 11 & 12.)
Experience has proved that for those who do not take advantage
of the advice received from the Good Spirits, communications that
initially showed some brilliance will, little by little, degenerate and
finally fall into error, either in the wording or by becoming
ridiculous, which are incontestable signs of the retreat of the Good
Spirits.
To obtain the assistance of the Good Spirits and to remove
lying and frivolous ones, must be the aim to which all serious
mediums should join forces. Without which mediumship becomes
a sterile faculty, even capable of causing detriment to the one that
possesses it, since it can degenerate into a dangerous obsession or
attachment.
Any medium who understands their duty and is not proud of a
faculty that does not belong to them, seeing that it may be taken
away, will always attribute the good things they receive to God. If
their communications receive praise, they will not become vain
because they know that they are independent of their personal
merit. They will give thanks to God for having allowed the Good
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 413

Spirits to manifest through their intermediary. If there is occasion

for criticism, they are never offended because the communications
are not their own work. On the contrary, they recognise in their
inner selves that they were not able to be good instruments and do
not possess all the necessary qualities that would obstruct
interference from backward sprits. Therefore, take care to acquire
these qualities and implore, by means of prayer, that your strength
does not fail.
10. PRAYER -Almighty God, permit the Good Spirits to come
and help me in the communication that is being solicited. Protect
me from the presumption of judging myself to be safe from evil
Spirits; from the pride that may induce me to err with respect to
the value of what I receive; from all sentiments that are the
opposite of charity towards other mediums. If I fall into error,
inspire someone to alert me of this fact. Give me the humility that
will enable me to accept any deserved criticism and to recognise
that the advice the Good Spirits wish to give through me is not
only addressed to others, but primarily to me.
If I become proud of the faculty whose bestowal You approved
or if I am tempted to abuse it in whatever form, I ask You to take
it back rather than it is permitted to stray from its providential
objective that is for the good of all and also my own moral
betterment.

2 - PRAYERS FOR ONESELF.

TO ONE’S GUARDIAN ANGELS AND PROTECTING

SPIRITS
11. PREFACE - From the moment of birth, everyone has a Good
Spirit linked to them who constantly protects. At our side, this
Spirit carries out the mission of a father to his child, which is that
414 CHAPTER 28

of conducting us along the path to goodness and progress

throughout the various tests of life. It feels happy when we
respond to its solicitude and suffers when it sees us succumb.
Its name is not important because it is not known on Earth. So
then, we call it by the name of Guardian Angel or our Good Spirit.
We could also call it under the name of one of the superior Spirits
with whom we feel a special sympathy.
Apart from this Guardian Angel, who is always a Superior
Spirit, we have other Spirit protectors, who although slightly less
elevated, are just as good and generous. These are the Spirits of
friends or relatives, even people we have not known in the present
life. They help us with their advice and quite often intervene in the
happenings of our life.
Sympathetic Spirits are those who are linked to us through
certain similarities of taste and tendency. They may be either good
or evil, according to the nature of our inclinations that have
attracted them towards us.
The seductive spirits endeavour to turn us aside from the path
of goodness by suggesting bad thoughts to us. They take
advantage of our weaknesses, as if these were so many open doors
that give them access to our soul. Some of them hold on to us as if
we were their prey, but they withdraw when they recognise
themselves impotent to fight against our will.
God has given us a principal and superior guide as our
Guardian Angel and family Spirits as secondary guides. However,
it is a mistake to believe that we inevitably have a evil element at
our side to counter-balance the good influences we receive. Evil
spirits seek us voluntarily as long as they can dominate us due to
our weaknesses or our negligence in following the inspirations
from the Good Spirits. Therefore, it is we ourselves that attract
them. The result is we are never without the assistance of Good
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 415

Sprits, but the withdrawal of the evil spirits depends entirely on

ourselves. Due to their imperfections, human beings are the
primary cause of all the miseries that afflict them, and are
frequently their own evil spirit. (See chapter 5, item 4.)
A prayer to Guardian Angels and protecting Spirits should have
as its objective the solicitation of their intercession with God, to
ask for strength to resist evil suggestions and help in all of life's
necessities.
12. PRAYER - Wise and benevolent Spirits, messengers of God,
whose mission is to help human beings and conduct them towards
goodness. Uphold me in life's tests, give me the strength to suffer
without complaining; turn away from me all evil thoughts and do
not allow me to give access to any bad spirits who may try to
induce me to evil. Clarify my conscience with respect to my
defects, and take away the veil of pride from my eyes, which can
prevent my seeing them and admitting them to myself.
Most especially to X… (Name), my Guardian Angel, who
watches over me, and all the rest of the protecting Spirits who take
an interest in me, I beg you to help me to become worthy of your
protection. You know my needs; may they be attended to,
according to the Will of God.
13. PRAYER (Another one) - Dear God, allow the Good Spirits
who accompany me to help me when I am in difficulty and uphold
me when I falter. Lord, may they inspire me with faith, hope and
charity. May they be a point of support, an inspiration and a
testimony of Your mercy. In short, may I always encounter in
them the strength that I lack for the tests of life, the strength to
resist all evil suggestions, the faith that saves and the love that
consoles.
14. PRAYER (Another one) - Beloved Spirits and Guardian
Angels, who God in His infinite mercy has permitted to assist
416 CHAPTER 28

humanity, be my protector during all of life's tests! Give me the

necessary strength, courage and resignation. Inspire me towards
all that is good, and restrain me from the downward incline to evil.
May your sweet influences fill my soul, so helping me to feel that
a devoted friend, who can see my suffering and who participates
in all my joys, is by my side.
Moreover, you, my Good Angel, never abandon me because I
need all of your protection to be able to support with faith and love
the tests that God has sent me.

TO TURN AWAY THE EVIL SPIRITS

15. “Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you
make clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are
full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First cleanse
the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will be clean.
Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you are
like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside,
but on the inside are full of dead people’s bones, and everything
unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to other
people as righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy
and wickedness.” (MATTHEW, 23:25-28.)
16. PREFACE - Evil spirits are only found where they can satisfy
their perversity. In order to turn them away it is not enough to ask
them to go, nor even to order them to go. It is imperative that
people eliminate from within themselves that which is attracting
them. Evil spirits discover the ulcers of the soul, the same way that
flies discover those of the body. In this manner then, as you would
cleanse a wound in order to avoid maggots, cleanse also your soul
of all its impurities, to avoid the proximity of evil spirits. We live
in a world that teems with these spirits, so the good qualities in the
heart do not always make them abandon their attempts on us.
Nevertheless, these qualities give us strength to resist them.
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 417

17. PRAYER - In the name of God the All Powerful, may the
evil Spirits turn away from me and may the Good Spirits defend
me from them!
Wicked spirits, who inspire vile thoughts in people; deceiving
and lying spirits, who delude people; mocking spirits, who amuse
yourselves with human incredulity, I repel you with all the
strength within my soul and close my ears to your suggestions.
Nevertheless, I also implore that God's mercy be upon you.
Good Spirits, who undertook to accompany me, give me the
necessary strength to resist the influence of evil spirits and the
necessary enlightenment so as not to become a victim of their
intrigues. Safeguard me from pride and presumption, turn aside all
thoughts of jealousy, hate, badness, and all sentiments contrary to
charity from my heart, which are all as open doors to the evil
spirits.

TO ASK FOR A DEFECT TO BE CORRECTED

18. PREFACE - Our bad instincts result from the imperfections
of our spirit and not from our physical organism. If this were not
so then human beings would be exempt from all responsibility.
Our betterment depends on ourselves, because every person who
has all his or her faculties has always the liberty to do or not to do.
To practice what is good the only requirement is will power. (See
chap. 15, item 10 and chap. 19, item 12.)
19. PRAYER - Dear Lord, You gave me the necessary
intelligence to be able to distinguish right from wrong. Thus, on
recognizing something to be wrong, I am guilty if I do not struggle
to resist the temptation.
Preserve me from pride, which can prevent me from perceiving
my defects and from evil spirits, who can incite me to continue in
doing wrong.
418 CHAPTER 28

Amongst my imperfections I recognize that I am specially

inclined to ..., if I am unable to resist, it is because I have already
acquired the habit of giving in to it.
You did not create me guilty because You are just, but with
equal aptitude for good or for evil. If I have preferred the evil
road, it was because of my free will. But for the same reason that I
had the liberty to do wrong, I also have the liberty to do Good and
therefore to change my pathway.
My present defects are the remains of the imperfections I
brought from my past existences. This is my original sin, from
which I may liberate myself through the action of my free will
with help from the Good Spirits.
Good Spirits who protect me, and above all you, my Guardian
Angel, give me the strength to resist evil suggestions and so be
victorious in this battle.
These defects are the barriers that separate us from God, and
each defect surmounted is a step further along the pathway of
progress, which will draw me nearer to Him.
The Lord, in His infinite mercy, thought fit to concede me this
present life so that it would serve for my advancement. Good
Spirits help me to take advantage of this opportunity so that I may
not lose it. When it pleases God to remove me from it, help me to
leave it in a better condition than on entering. (See chap. 5, item 5
& chap. 17, item 3.)

TO ASK FOR STRENGTH TO RESIST TEMPTATION

20. PREFACE - Every bad thought can have two origins: our
own spiritual imperfection or the action of a harmful influence. In
the last case, we have the indication of a weakness that exposes us
to these influences, and it is for this reason that our soul is
imperfect. The one who fails cannot offer as an excuse the
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 419

influence of a strange spirit, seeing that this spirit would not have
led them into wrongdoing if they were inaccessible to seduction.
When we have a bad thought, we can suppose it was an evil
spirit that suggested the evil. But we have complete liberty to
accede or resist, just as if we were facing a living person. At the
same time, we should make a mental picture of our Guardian
Angel, or protecting Spirit, who from its side combats within us
the bad influences, and anxiously awaits the decision we are going
to make. Our hesitation in acting upon the evil suggestions is due
to the voice of our Good Spirit, who makes it heard through our
conscience.
One recognises a thought is bad when it draws away from
charity, which is the base of all true morality; or when it comes
based on pride, vanity and selfishness; or when its realisation may
cause harm to another person. In short, when we are induced by
our thoughts to do to others what we would not like someone to do
to us. (See chap. 28, item 15 & chap. 15 item 10.)
21. PRAYER - All-Powerful Lord, do not let me succumb to the
temptation to fall into error! Benevolent Spirits who protect me,
turn this bad thought away from me and give me the strength to
resist this evil. If I succumb, then I will deserve to expiate my
failing in this same life and in the next, because I am free to make
my choice.

THANKSGIVING FOR A VICTORY OVER

TEMPTATION
22. PREFACE - Those who resist temptation owe this fact to the
assistance given by the Good Spirits, whose voice they listened to.
So, you should thank God and you’re Guardian Angel for their
help.
420 CHAPTER 28

23. PRAYER - Dear God, I thank You for having permitted me

to be victorious in the battle that I sustained against evil. Allow
this victory to give me strength to resist new temptations.
And you, my Guardian Angel, receive my thanks for the
assistance you gave. Allow that my submission to your counsel
makes me worthy to receive your protection once again.

TO ASK FOR ADVICE

24. PREFACE - When we are unsure about something we have to
do, before anything else we should ask ourselves the following
questions:
1. Will what I am hesitating about cause harm to anyone?
2. Will it be useful to anyone?
3. If someone did this to me, would I be pleased?
If what we think of doing is of interest only to ourselves, then it
is permissible to weigh the personal advantages or disadvantages
that might arise.
If it concerns others and if, in doing Good for one person, it
redounds in badness for another, it is also equally necessary to
weigh the advantages and disadvantages before deciding whether
to act or refrain.
Finally, even when dealing with the best things it is necessary
to consider the opportunity and the circumstances being offered.
In as much as something that is good in itself can give bad results
when put into the wrong hands, or if it is not directed with
prudence and circumspection. Before putting it into effect, it is
best to consult our strength of will and the possible means of
execution.
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 421

In any case, we can always solicit the assistance of our

Protecting Spirits, remembering this wise maxim: When in doubt,
do nothing. (See chap. 28, item 38.)
25. PRAYER - In the name of God the All-Powerful, in my
uncertainty, I call upon the Good Spirits who protect me, to inspire
me to make the best decisions. Lead my thoughts always towards
goodness and protect me from the influences of those who tempt
me to stray.

AFFLICTIONS OF LIFE
26. PREFACE - We can ask God for earthly favours and He will
concede them to us when they have a serious purpose. However,
seeing that we judge their utility from our own point of view and
as immediate necessities, we do not always recognise the bad side
of what we ask for. God, Who can see things in a better
perspective and only desires the best for us, may refuse what we
request. Just as a father would refuse his child what he knew
would be prejudicial for him. If what we request is refused, we
should not be disappointed. On the contrary, we should think that
to be deprived of our wish is a test or expiation, and that our
recompense will be in proportion to the degree of resignation we
show. (See chap. 27, item 6 & chap. 2, items 5-7.)
27. PRAYER -God Omnipotent, Who sees all our miseries,
please deign to hear the supplication we direct to You at this
moment. If my request is inconsiderate, forgive me. If it is just and
convenient, according to the way You see things, may the Good
Spirits who execute Your wishes come to my aid and help me to
realise my request.
Whichever way it may be, Lord, let Your will be done! If my
request is not answered, it will be because it is Your wish that I am
tested, and I submit without complaint. Help me not to become
422 CHAPTER 28

disanimated and that neither my faith nor my resignation be

shaken. (Then formulate your request.)

THANKSGIVING FOR OBTAINING A FAVOUR

28. PREFACE - We should not consider as happy events only
those that are of great importance. Frequently, things that are
apparently insignificant are those that most influence our destiny.
People easily forget the goodness received, preferring to
remember only the afflictions. If we were to register day-by-day
the many benefits we receive, without even having asked for them,
we would be greatly surprised to perceive there are so very many
that we have swept from our minds and would feel ashamed of our
ingratitude.
On lifting up our soul to God each night, we should remember
in our innermost self the many favours that He has granted us
during the day and offer thanks for them. But most especially, at
the moment we receive the effects of His goodness and protection,
we should spontaneously bear witness to our gratitude. For this, it
is enough that we direct a thought attributing the benefit to Him,
without even interrupting our work.
Benefits from God are not limited to material things. We should
also thank Him for the ideas and happy inspirations we receive.
Whereas the selfish person attributes all of these things to their
own personal merits, and the incredulous person to mere chance,
the one who has faith renders thanks to God and the Good Spirits.
Long sentences are not necessary for this purpose. “Thank you,
dear God, for the inspiration of that good thought”, says more
than a long prayer. The spontaneous impulse that made us attribute
to God the good that had happened, bears witness of an act of
thanksgiving and humility, which will attract the sympathy of the
Good Spirits. (See chap. 27, items 7 & 8.)
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 423

29. PRAYER - Beloved Lord of infinite goodness, may Your

name be blessed for the benefits conceded to me! I would be
unworthy if I were to attribute these happenings to mere chance or
to my own merit.
Good Spirits, who execute God's wishes, I thank you and most
especially my Guardian Angel. Turn away from me all idea of
being proud of what I have received and help me to make use of it
exclusively for the Good. Most of all, I thank …

AN ACT OF SUBMISSION AND RESIGNATION

30. PREFACE - When we are suffering an affliction, if we look
for the cause, we will frequently find it in our own imprudence,
thoughtlessness or in some past action. In these cases, we have to
attribute the suffering to ourselves. If the cause of an affliction
cannot be found to stem in any way from our own actions, then we
are dealing with a test in this life, or atonement for an error
committed in a previous one. In this case, by the nature of the
expiation we can know the nature of the error, as we are always
punished in the same manner as our sin. (See chap. 5, items 4, 6 &
subsequent items.)
In general, we can only see the evil that is present in our
afflictions. We do not see the favourable consequences they may
have later on. Goodness is frequently the outcome of a past evil,
just as the cure for illness results from the painful methods used to
obtain it. In any case, we must submit to the will of God and
courageously support the tribulations of life if we want them to
count in our favour. These words of Christ could then be applied
to us: “Blessed are those who suffer”. (See chap. 5, item 18.)
31. PRAYER - Dear Lord, Your justice is supreme. Therefore, all
suffering in this world must have a just cause and be of use. I
accept the affliction which I am undergoing, or which I have just
424 CHAPTER 28

suffered, as atonement for my past errors and as a test for the

future. Good Spirits who protect me, give me the necessary
strength to support this without complaining. Help me to look at it
as a providential warning; may it enrich my experience, reduce my
pride, and diminish my ambition, stupid vanity and selfishness. In
short, may it contribute to my progress.
32. PRAYER (Another one.) - Dear God, I feel the need to ask
You for the necessary strength to support the test that You have
sent me. Allow my spirit to be enlightened, with the necessary
understanding, so that I can appreciate the full extent of a love that
afflicts because it desires to save. Dear God I submit myself with
resignation, but I am so weak I fear I will succumb if you do not
uphold me. Do not abandon me, Lord, because without You I am
nothing.
33. PRAYER (Another one.) - I lift up my eyes to You, Eternal
Father, and feel fortified. You are my strength! Dear Lord, do not
abandon me! I am crushed under the weight of my iniquities! Help
me! You know the weakness of my flesh! Please, do not cease to
watch over me!
I am being devoured by an ardent thirst! Make the spring of
living water burst forth to quench this thirst. May my lips open
only to sing Your praises and not to complain about my
afflictions! I am weak; Lord, but Your love will sustain me.
Eternal Father, only You are great, only You are the reason and
the purpose of my life! Blessed be Your Name even if You make
me suffer, because You are the Lord and I am an unfaithful
servant. I bow down before You without complaint because only
You are great, only You are the aim of all our lives!
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 425

WHEN IN IMMINENT DANGER

34. PREFACE - Through the dangers we face, God reminds us of
our weaknesses, and the fragility of our existence. He shows us
that our life is in His hands, and that it is held only by a thread,
which may break when we least expect it to happen. From this
point of view, privilege does not exist for anyone because the
same alternatives are to be found for both great and small alike.
If we look at the nature and the consequences of danger, we
will see in most cases that these consequences, if they are verified,
will have been a punishment for a misdeed or for an unfulfilled
duty.
35. PRAYER - Almighty God, and you who are my Guardian
Angel, help me! If I must succumb, may God's Will be done. If I
am to be saved, may the rest of my life be given to repay the evil I
have done, for which I am truly repentant.

THANKSGIVING FOR HAVING ESCAPED A DANGER

36. PREFACE - By the danger we have been through, God shows
us that from one moment to another we may be called to give
account for the way in which we have utilised our present life.
This is to alert us to the fact that we should examine ourselves and
mend our ways.
37. PRAYER - Dear God! Dear Guardian Angel! I thank you for
the help I received during the danger that threatened me. May this
danger be a warning to me and enlighten me with respect to my
errors that have brought me this peril. I understand, Lord, that my
life is in Your hands and that You may take it away when You see
fit. Inspire me then, through the Good Spirits who protect me, with
the idea of how best to take advantage of the time You grant to me
in this world!
426 CHAPTER 28

Guardian Angel! Uphold me in my decision to correct my faults

and to do all the good that is within my power, so that I may arrive
in the spiritual world with fewer imperfections, whenever it
pleases God to call me!

AT BEDTIME
38. PREFACE - The body reposes during sleep, but the spirit
needs no repose. While the physical senses are in a torpid state,
the soul partly frees itself from the body and enters into the
enjoyment of its spiritual faculties. Sleep has been given to human
beings to enable them to repair both their organic and moral
strengths. While the body recuperates the spent energies that have
been used during the waking state, the spirit fortifies itself
amongst other spirits. From all it sees, all it perceives, and from
the advice it is given, it takes the ideas that occur to it afterwards,
in the form of intuitions. This is the temporary return of the exile
to its true world, a moment of liberty that is conceded to the
prisoner.
However, as sometimes happens with a perverse prisoner, the
spirit does not always take advantage of these moments of liberty
for the purpose of progress. If it has bad instincts, instead of
seeking the company of the Good Spirits, it seeks out those who
are like itself and visits places where it may give vent to its
tendencies.
So then, the person who is convinced of this fact will lift up
their thoughts to God before they go to sleep. They will ask for
advice from the Good Spirits and from all whose memory is dear
to them, so they may go to join them for the brief moments of
liberty conceded to them. On awakening, they feel fortified against
evil and are more courageous when faced with adversities.
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 427

39. PRAYER - Lord, for a few short instants my soul will be

together with other spirits. May the Good Spirits come and give
me counsel. Guardian Angel, please help me to keep a lasting and
beneficial impression of this encounter on awakening!

ON SENSING APPROACHING DEATH

40. PREFACE - During our lifetime having had faith in the
future, together with the elevation of our thoughts towards our
future destiny, helps in the process of a rapid liberation of the
spirit, because this weakens the links that tie it to the material
body. So much so that quite frequently, even before the physical
body has expired, the soul has already launched itself into the
great immensity, because it is impatient to be free. On the
contrary, the person who has concentrated on all that is material
finds these ties more difficult to break and the separation more
painful and difficult, and upon awakening in the after-life they are
full of anxiety and perturbation.
41. PRAYER - Dear God, I believe in You and Your infinite
kindness. Therefore, I cannot believe that You have given human
beings intelligence that allows us to gain knowledge of You and
an aspiration for the future, just to plunge us into nothingness.
I believe that my body is only a perishable covering for my soul
and that when I cease to live, I will awaken in the world of the
spirits.
Almighty God, I feel the ties that hold my soul to my body are
breaking and that in a short while I will have to account for the use
I have put to the life that I am about to leave.
I will experience the consequences of the good and the bad I
have practised. There will be no possibility of illusions, no
subterfuge. My past will unfold before me and I will be judged
according to my works.
428 CHAPTER 28

I will take nothing of earthly possessions with me such as

honours, riches, satisfactions of vanity or pride; in short,
everything that belongs to the body will remain in this world.
Even the smallest particle of these things will not accompany me,
nor would they be of any use to me in the spiritual world. I will
take only what belongs to my soul, that is the good and bad
qualities I possess, to be weighed on the balance of strict justice. I
know that the judgement will be even more severe according to
the number of times I refused the opportunities that were given to
me to practise good, in proportion to the position I held on Earth.
(See chap. 16, item 9.)
Merciful God, may the sincerity of my repentance enable it to
reach You! May You see fit to cast Your cloak of indulgence over
me!
If You see fit to prolong my present existence, may I utilise that
time to make good, as far as I am able, all the evil that I have
done. But if my hour has come, I take with me the consoling
thought that I will be permitted to redeem myself by means of new
tests, so that one day I may deserve the happiness of the elected
ones.
If it is not given to me to enjoy such perfect happiness
immediately, known only to those who are pre-eminently just, I
know I am not denied hope eternally. Eventually I will reach my
goal, according to the amount of effort I make.
I know that the Good Spirits and my Guardian Angel are near
and will receive me; soon I shall see them, just as they see me. I
know too, that if I deserve it, I will meet again all those I have
loved here on Earth, and that those I leave behind will later come
to join me. One day we shall all be united forever and, until that
time comes, I will be able to visit them.
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 429

I know too, that I will re-encounter those I have offended. May

they forgive me for whatever they have to reproach me for, such
as my pride, my hardness and my injustices, so that their presence
will not overwhelm me with shame!
I forgive all those who have either done or tried to do me harm;
I hold no rancour against them and beg You, dear God, to forgive
them.
Lord, give me strength to leave all the material pleasures of this
world without regret. They are as nothing compared to the healthy
and pure delights of the world into which I am about to enter.
Where for those who are just, there are no more torments or
miseries. Only the guilty suffer, but even these always have the
consolation of hope.
To you Good Spirits, and you my Guardian Angel, I implore
you not to allow me to fail at this supreme moment. If I should
waver, then cause the Divine Light to shine in my eyes, so my
faith may be reanimated.
NOTE: See Item 5 - Prayers for the sick and obsessed. (Further
on.)

3 - PRAYERS FOR OTHERS

FOR SOMEONE WHO IS AFFLICTED

42. PREFACE - If it is in the interest of the afflicted person to
continue their test or trial, then any request made will not shorten
it. However, it would be a lack of charity to abandon this person,
alleging that our prayers would not be heard. Apart from this, even
if the test is not interrupted, they may obtain some degree of
consolation that will lessen their suffering. What is really useful
for someone who is suffering a test, is courage and resignation.
Without these, whatever they are going through will bring them no
430 CHAPTER 28

results, resulting in their having to go through it all again.

Therefore, with this objective in mind we should be asking the
Good Spirits to help them, by lifting their morale through
counselling and encouragement, or even by helping them in a
material way, if this is possible. In such cases, prayer can have a
decisive effect by directing a fluidic current towards them with the
intention of fortifying their morale. (See chap. 5, items 5 & 27;
chap. 27, item 6 & 10.)
43. PRAYER - Dear God of infinite goodness, may it please You
to soften the bitter situation in which X... (Name) is in, if this is
according to Your will.
Good Spirits, in the name of Almighty God, I beseech you to
help X… (Name) in their affliction. If it is not in their interest to
be spared this suffering, make them understand that it is necessary
for their progress. Give X… (Name) confidence in God and the
future, which will make them less bitter. Also, give them strength
so that they do not give in to despair, which will make them lose
the fruits of this suffering and make their future even more
painful. Conduct my thoughts to … (Name) to help them maintain
their courage.

AN ACT OF THANKSGIVING FOR A BENEFIT

CONCEDED TO SOMEONE ELSE
44. PREFACE - Those who are not dominated by selfishness will
rejoice over the Good that comes to their neighbour, even if they
did not make a solicitation by means of prayer.
45. PRAYER - Dear God, thank You for the happiness conceded
to X... (Name). Good Spirits, help them to see that this benefit is
the consequence of God's goodness. If the Good received
constitutes a test, please inspire this person with thoughts of how
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 431

to make the best use of it and not become conceited, so it does not
rebound to their detriment in the future.
And you, the Good Spirit who protects me and desires my
happiness, turn aside from me all sentiments of jealousy or envy.

FOR OUR ENEMIES AND THOSE WHO WISH US ILL

46. PREFACE - Jesus said, “Love even your enemies”. This
maxim shows all that is most sublime in Christian charity. But in
saying this, Jesus did not mean we should have the same
tenderness for an enemy as we have for a friend. With these
words, He teaches us to pardon offences, to pardon all evil done to
us and to repay all evil with goodness. Apart from the worth that
this conduct has in God's eyes, it also serves to show people the
nature of true superiority. (See chap. 12, items 3 & 4.)
47. PRAYER - Dear God, forgive X... (Name) the evil they have
done and still desire to do to me, as I wish You to forgive me for
any offences I have committed against this person. If You placed
this person in my pathway as a trail, let Your Will be done.
Turn me away, dear Lord, from the idea of cursing them and
any other wicked sentiments against them. Never allow me to
rejoice at any misfortune that may beset them, so that I may not
blemish my soul with thoughts that are not worthy of a Christian.
Lord, may Your mercy extend to him/her and induce him/her to
harbour better sentiments towards me!
Good Spirits induce me to forget all evil and remember only the
Good. May neither hate, rancour, nor the desire to pay back evil
with evil enter into my heart, since sentiments of hate and
vengeance belong to bad Spirits, be they incarnate or discarnate!
On the contrary, may I be prepared to extend a friendly hand to
this person, so repaying evil with goodness and helping them, if
this is within my reach.
432 CHAPTER 28

In order to prove the sincerity of my words, I beg You to give

me the opportunity to be useful to this person. But above all, dear
God, prevent me from doing this out of pride and ostentation,
oppressing them with humiliating generosity that would only
cause me to lose the fruits of my action. Because in that case, I
would deserve the words of Christ when He said, “You have
already received your recompense.” (See chap. 13, items 1 &
subsequent.)

THANKSGIVING FOR A BLESSING GIVEN TO OUR

ENEMIES
48. PREFACE - To not desire evil towards your enemies is to be
only partly charitable. True charity consists in wishing them well
and in feeling happy about the good that comes to them. (See
chap. 12, items 7 & 8.)
49. PRAYER - Dear God, in Your justice you saw fit to make
X… (Name) happy, and on his/her behalf I thank You, despite the
evil he/she has done or tried to do to me. If he/she seeks to use this
benefit to humiliate me, I accept this as a test of my capacity to be
charitable.
Good Spirits who protect me, do not let me feel grievous
because of this. Turn away from me all jealousy and envy, which
only degrades. On the contrary, inspire me with the generosity that
elevates. Humiliation comes from evil and not from goodness, and
we know that eventually justice will be done to each one
according to their works.

FOR THE ENEMIES OF SPIRITISM

50. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for
they will be filled.
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 433

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people
insult you, and persecute you and falsely say all manner of evil
against you, because of me. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for
great is your reward in heaven, because they also persecuted the
prophets sent before you. (MATTHEW, 5:6 & 10-12.)
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the
soul. Rather, be afraid of those who can loose both soul and body
in hell. (MATTHEW, 10:28.)
51. PREFACE - Of all the liberties, the most inviolable is that of
thought, which includes the liberty of conscience. To cast a curse
against those who do not think as we do, is to demand that liberty
for ourselves but refuse it to others. This is a violation of the first
commandment of Jesus, which is that of charity and love towards
one's neighbour. To persecute others for the beliefs they profess is
to attack the most sacred right of human beings, which is to
believe whatever they want and to worship God as they see fit. To
compel others to practise exterior acts similar to those we
ourselves practise is to show that we are more attached to the form
than the essence and to appearances rather than conviction. Forced
renouncement will never produce faith. It can only make
hypocrites. It is an abuse of material power, which does not prove
the truth. Truth is sure of itself; it convinces and does not
persecute, because there is no need.
Spiritism is an opinion, a belief; even if it were a religion, why
should its adepts not have the liberty to call themselves Spiritists,
as do Catholics, Jews and Protestants or the participants of this or
that philosophical doctrine, of this or that economic order? A
belief is either true or false. If it is false, it will fall by itself, seeing
that error cannot stand up against truth when intelligences are
enlightened. If it is true then persecution cannot make it become
false.
434 CHAPTER 28

Persecution is the baptism of all new ideas that are great and
just. It grows with the development and importance of the idea.
The fury and wrath of its enemies are in direct proportion to the
fear it instils in them. This is the reason why Christianity was
persecuted in the past and why Spiritism is today. However, with
the difference that the former was persecuted by the pagans and
the latter by Christians. It is true that the time of bloody
persecutions is now past; nevertheless, if today they no longer kill
the body, then they torture the soul; attacking it even in its most
intimate sentiments, in its most dearest affections. Families are
divided, exciting mothers against daughters, wives against
husbands. Even physical violence is not absent, the body being
attacked through the lack of material necessities by taking people
away from their means of livelihood, thereby attacking the
believer through hunger. (See chap. 23, items & subsequent.)
Spiritists, do not be upset by the blows that are hurled at you.
They are the proof that you have the truth. If this were not so, they
would leave you in peace and not attack you. It is a test of your
faith, since it is through your courage, resignation and
perseverance that God will recognise you as being one of His
faithful servants. He is even now making note, to be able to give to
each one the part that rests with them according to their works.
Following the example of the first Christians, carry your cross
with dignity. Believe in the words of Christ when He said,
“Blessed are those who suffer persecution for the love of justice,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Do not be afraid of those who
kill the body, for they cannot kill the soul.” He also said, “Love
your enemies; do Good to those who do evil to you and pray for
those who persecute you.” Show yourselves to be His true
disciples and that His teachings are all Good by doing what He
said and did.
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 435

The persecutions will not last for long. Wait with patience for
the coming of the dawn, since the morning star is already
appearing on the horizon. (See chap. 24, items 13 & subsequent.)
52. PRAYER - Almighty God, You have said to us through the
lips of Jesus, Your Messiah, “Blessed are those who suffer
persecution for the love of justice; forgive your enemies; pray for
those who persecute you.” In addition, He gave us an example of
this by praying for His tormentors.
Following this example, dear God, we beg Your mercy for
those who despise Your most sacred precepts, which are the only
ones capable of bringing peace to this world and the next. As
Christ said, we also say “Forgive them, Father, for they know not
what they do.”
Give us strength to support with patience and resignation their
mockery, insults, slander and persecutions, as a test of our faith
and humility. Free us from all ideas of reprisal, seeing that the
hour of justice comes to all, and we await it submitting ourselves
to Your holy Will.

PRAYER FOR A CHILD THAT HAS JUST BEEN BORN

53. PREFACE - Only after passing through the tests that are
offered by physical life, can spirits reach perfection. Those who
are in an errant state await God's permission to return to an
existence which can offer them progress, either by the expiation of
their faults, by means of the vicissitudes to which they will be
subjected, or by the undertaking of a mission that will benefit
humanity. Their advancement and future happiness will be in
proportion to the manner in which they employ the time given to
them on Earth. The duty of guiding their first steps and of leading
them towards goodness is up to their parents, who will have to
give an account to God for the degree of fulfilment they gave to
436 CHAPTER 28

this mandate. It was to help them that God made paternal and filial
love a Law of Nature, a law that can never be transgressed with
impunity.
54. PRAYER (To be said by the parents.) - Dear Spirit, who has
incarnated in the body of our child, we bid you welcome. We
thank You, Almighty God, for the blessing of this child.
We know that this is a trust You have deposited in us and for
which one-day we will have to give an account. If he/she belongs
to the new generation of spirits who are to inhabit the Earth, we
thank you Lord for this blessing! If it is an imperfect spirit, it is
our duty to help him/her progress towards goodness by means of
counselling and good examples. If he/she falls prey to evil through
our fault, we shall be responsible for this, seeing that we will have
failed in our mission.
Lord, uphold us in this task and give us the necessary strength
and willpower to be able to fulfil it to the best of our ability. If this
child has come to test us, may Your will be done, Lord!
Good Spirits, who have watched over this birth and will
accompany this child during the course of his/her new existence,
do not abandon him/her. Turn away from him/her all the evil
spirits who will try to tempt him/her into badness. Give this being
strength to resist all their suggestions, and courage to suffer with
patience and resignation the tests that await here on Earth. (See
chap. 14, item 9.)
55. PRAYER (Another one.) - Dear God, You have entrusted me
with the destiny of one of Your spirits; therefore, Lord, make me
worthy of this task. Grant me Your protection and illuminate my
intelligence, so that I may perceive right from the beginning the
tendencies of this child it is my duty to prepare for ascension to
Your peace.
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 437

56. PRAYER (Another one.) - God of infinite goodness, since

You have seen fit to permit the spirit of this child to come once
again, to undergo earthy trials destined to make it progress, give it
enlightenment enough so that it may learn to know You, love You
and worship You. Through Your omnipotence may this soul
regenerate itself from the source of Your Divine Teachings. That,
under the protection of its Guardian Angel, its intelligence may
develop, amplify and lead it to aspire to move closer to You. May
the science of Spiritism be a brilliant light that illuminates it
throughout the many choices of life. Finally, may it learn to
appreciate the full extent of Your love, which puts us to the test so
that we may purify ourselves.
Lord, cast a paternal eye over this family to which You have
entrusted this soul, so that it may learn to understand the
importance of its mission. May the seeds of goodness within this
child germinate until such time as, by its own aspirations, it
elevates itself to You.
O Lord, may it please You to answer this humble prayer, in the
name of and by the worthiness of He who said, “Let the little
children come to me, because the kingdom of heaven is for those
who resemble them.”

FOR ONE WHO AGONIZES

57. PREFACE - Agonising is the prelude to the separation of the
soul from the body. It can be said that at this moment the person
has one foot on Earth and the other in the next world. Sometimes
this phase is painful for those who are deeply attached to worldly
things, who live more for the possessions of this world than those
of the next, or whose conscience is agitated by regrets and
remorse. On the other hand, for those whose thoughts seek the
infinite and who are able to disengage themselves from matter, it
is less difficult to break the links that tie them to the Earth and
438 CHAPTER 28

there is nothing of pain in these last moments. Only a thin thread

links their physical body to their soul, while in the first case there
are thick roots that hold them prisoner. In every case, prayer
exercises a powerful action in the work of separation. (See
HEAVEN & HELL - 2nd part, Chap. 1 – “The Passing.”)
58. PRAYER - Merciful and Omnipotent God, here is a soul who
is about to leave its terrestrial covering in order to return to the
spiritual world, which is the real homeland. May it be given to
them to make this passing in peace and may You extend Your
mercy to them.
Good Spirits, who have accompanied this person on Earth, do
not abandon them at this supreme moment. Give them strength to
support the last sufferings that they need to pass through in this
world, for the good of their future advancement. Inspire them to
use any last glimmerings of intelligence or any fleeting awareness
they may have, to the consecration of repentance for any faults.
Allow my thoughts to act in such a way to help them achieve
this separation with less difficulty, and may this soul take the
consolation of hope with it at the moment of departure from this
Earth.

4 - PRAYERS FOR THOSE NO LONGER ON

EARTH

FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS JUST DIED

59. PREFACE - Prayers for those who have just left the Earth are
not for the exclusive purpose of showing our sympathy. They also
have the effect of helping to release them from their Earthly ties,
and in this manner shorten the period of perturbation which
frequently follows the separation, so allowing a more peaceful
awakening on the other side. Nevertheless, in this case, as in all
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 439

other circumstances, the efficacy depends on the sincerity of the

thought, and not on the quantity of words offered with more or
less solemnity, in which very frequently the heart does not
participate.
Prayers that truly come from the heart encounter a resonance in
the spirit to whom they are directed, whose ideas are still in a state
of confusion; as if they were friendly voices come to awaken them
from sleep. (See chap. 27, item 10.)
60. PRAYER - Almighty God, may Your mercy be shown to the
soul of X... (name), whom You have just called back from Earth.
We beg and implore that the trials suffered here may be counted in
their favour and that our prayers may soften and shorten the
penalties still to be suffered in the spiritual form!
Good Spirits, who came to fetch this soul, and most especially
their Guardian Angel, help them to free themselves from matter.
Give them light and a consciousness of themselves so that they
may quickly leave the state of perturbation, inherent in the passing
from the body back to the spiritual life. Inspire repentance in their
spirit for all errors and faults committed and a desire to obtain
permission to remedy them, to quicken their advancement in the
direction of the life of those who are eternally blessed.
Moreover, you X... (name), who have just entered into the
world of the sprits, we wish to say that despite this fact, you are
still with us; you hear and see us, since you have merely left the
perishable physical body, which will quickly be reduced to dust.
You have left the gross envelope that is subject to vicissitudes
and death, now retaining only your etheric body that is
imperishable and inaccessible to material suffering. If you no
longer live through a physical body, you live instead through your
spirit, and the spiritual life is free from those miseries that afflict
humanity.
440 CHAPTER 28

You no longer have over your eyes the veil that hides the
splendours of the future existence. Now you may contemplate new
marvels, while we remain bathed in darkness.
You may travel through space and visit the worlds with all
liberty, while we still painfully drag ourselves about here on Earth,
prisoners in our material bodies that are like heavy armour.
Infinite horizons stretch before you, and on seeing their
grandeur you will understand the vanity of terrestrial desires,
worldly aspirations and the futility of the so-called joys to which
humankind delivers itself.
For humanity, death is nothing more than a separation from
matter, lasting but a few instants. From this place of exile in which
we continue to live according to the Will of God, with the duties
we still have to fulfil in this world, we will continue to follow you
in thought until the moment when it is permitted for us to join you
once again, just as now you are reunited with those who preceded
you.
We cannot go to where you are, but you may come to us. Then
come to those who love you; help them in life’s trials and watch
over those who are dear to you. Protect them as much as you are
able; lessen the bitterness of your absence by suggesting to them
the thought that now you are happier and that one day, for certain,
we will again be reunited in a better world.
In the place where you are now, all earthly resentments should
be extinguished. You must hold yourself inaccessible to them
now, for the sake of your future happiness! Therefore, forgive all
those who may have behaved badly towards you, just as those
against whom mistakes were committed now forgive you.
NOTE - To this prayer, which applies to everyone, can be added
some special words according to the intimate circumstances of the
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 441

family, the relationship to the deceased with the one who is

praying or the social position of the departed.
When dealing with a child, Spiritism teaches us that we are not
referring to a spirit that had been recently created, but to one that
had already lived other lives and might even be well advanced. If
this last existence has been a short one, then it is because it was
needed to complete a test or trial, or as a test for the parents. (See
Chap. 5, item 21.)
61. PRAYER18(Another one.) - All-Powerful Lord, may Your
mercy extend over all those brothers and sisters who have just left
the Earth! May Your light shine upon them! Remove them from
darkness! Open their eyes and ears! May the Good Spirits
surround them and let them hear Your words of hope and peace!
Lord, even though we are not worthy, we implore Your
merciful indulgence for X… (name) recently recalled from exile.
Make their return that of a prodigal son/daughter. Forget, dear
Lord, the faults they may have committed and remember only the
good they have done. We know Your justice is immutable, but
Your love is immense. We beseech You therefore, to attenuate
Your justice through the fountain of goodness that emanates from
You!
May the light shine brightly before your eyes, dear X… (name)
who has just left the Earth! May the Good Spirits come to be near
you, to surround you and help you to break your earthly chains!
Now you can understand and see the grandeur of God. So submit
yourself without complaint to His justice; moreover, never despair
of His mercy. My dear brother/sister may a profound examination
of your past open the doors to the future, by making you
understand the errors you have left behind, as well as the work that

18
This prayer was dictated to a medium from Bordeaux at the moment when an
unknown funeral procession was passing by their residence.
442 CHAPTER 28

waits, so you may remedy them! May God forgive you and may
the Good Spirits uphold and animate you! Your brothers and
sisters on Earth will pray for you, and ask that you pray for them.

THOSE FOR WHOM WE HAVE AFFECTION

62. PREFACE - The idea of nothingness is very terrible! Those
who believe that the voice of a friend who weeps for someone is
lost in a vacuum, without encountering the least sign of response
are to be pitied! Those who think everything dies with the body
can never have known a pure and saintly affection. They believe
that the being, who enlightened their world with vast intelligence,
is a mere combination of matter that is extinguished forever, just
as a flame. That, of a dearly loved person such as a father, mother
or adored child, nothing remains but a handful of dust that the
wind will inevitably disperse.
How can anyone who has a heart remain indifferent to this
idea? Why are they not frozen with terror at the thought of
absolute annihilation? How can they not even show a wish that
this was untrue? Has not reason been sufficient for them to be able
to dissipate their doubts? Well then, Spiritism has come to dispel
all uncertainty as to the future, by means of the material proof of
survival of the soul and the existence of beings in the beyond that
it gives! This is happening to such an extent, that on all sides these
proofs are being received with joy. Confidence is reborn, because
humans now know that terrestrial existence is only a brief passage
leading to a better life, that work done in this world is not lost and
that really true affections are not destroyed beyond hope. (See
chap. 4, item 18 & chap. 5, item 21.)
63. PRAYER - Dear Lord, may You deign to favourably receive
this prayer in the name of X... (name). Help them perceive the
divine lights that will make their pathway to eternal happiness
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 443

easier. Permit the Good Spirits to take them my words and

thoughts.
You, who were so dear to me in this world, listen to my voice
that calls to offer anew my pledge of affection. God allowed you
to be liberated before me and I cannot complain about this without
being selfish, because this would be equal to a wish that you be
still subject to the sufferings of physical life. So wait with
resignation for the moment of our reunion in this happier world,
where you have preceded me.
I know that this separation is only temporary, and that however
long it may appear to be, its duration is nothing compared to the
blessed eternity that God has promised to His chosen ones. May
His Goodness preserve me from doing whatever it might be that
could delay this longed for moment, so that I may be saved from
the pain of not encountering you when I leave my earthly
captivity.
Oh, how sweet and consoling is the certainty that there is
nothing between us but a material veil that hides you from my
sight! That you can even be here at my side, hear me speaking as
of old, or perhaps even better than then; that you do not forget me
as I do not forget you; that our thoughts are constantly
intermingling and your thoughts accompany me and uphold me.
May the peace of the Lord be with you.

FOR SUFFERING SOULS WHO ASK FOR PRAYERS

64. PREFACE - To understand the relief that prayer can give to
suffering spirits, it is necessary to remember by what manner this
is achieved, as has been previously explained. (See chap. 27, items
9, 18 & subsequent.) Those who are convinced of this fact will be
able to pray with greater fervour because of the certainty that they
do not do so in vain.
444 CHAPTER 28

65. PRAYER - God of clemency and mercy, may Your goodness

extend to all the spirits we have recommended to You in our
prayers, especially the spirit of X... (name).
Good Spirits, whose only occupation is to do Good, intercede
together with me for their relief. Make a ray of hope shine before
their eyes and enlighten them as to the imperfections that maintain
them distant from the homes of the blessed. Open their hearts to
repentance and the desire to cleanse themselves, so they may
accelerate their advancement. Make them understand it is by their
own efforts that they may shorten the duration of their trials.
May God, in all His goodness, give them the necessary strength
to persevere with their Good resolutions!
May these words, infused with benevolence, soften their trials,
so showing them that there are those on Earth who sympathise and
wish them happiness.
66. PRAYER (Another.) - We ask, Lord, that You shower the
blessing of Your love and mercy on all who suffer, be they
wandering spirits or incarnates. Have pity for their weaknesses.
You made us fallible, but gave us the capacity to resist evil and
conquer it. May Your mercy extend to all those who are not able
to resist their evil tendencies and continue to drag themselves
along evil pathways. May the Good Spirits surround them. May
Your light shine in their eyes, so that attracted by the life-giving
warmth of this light, they may come to prostrate themselves at Your
feet, humbly, repentant and submissive.
Merciful Father, we also ask for those of our brothers and
sisters who have not had the strength to resist their earthly trials.
Lord, You gave us a burden to carry, to be laid only at Your feet.
However, our weaknesses are great and our courage fails us
sometimes during the course of the journey. Have pity on those
indolent servants who have abandoned the work before the time.
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 445

May Your justice spare them and allow the Good Spirits to take
them some relief, consolation and hope for the future. The
prospect of pardon strengthens the soul; Lord, show this pardon to
those guilty ones who are in despair and thus, being upheld by this
hope, allow them to absorb enough strength from the actual
immensity of their failings and sufferings so they may be able to
redeem the past and prepare themselves for the conquest of the
future.

FOR AN ENEMY WHO HAS DIED

67. PREFACE - Charity towards our enemies should accompany
them into the Beyond. We need to understand that the evil they did
was a test for us, which would be useful to our state of
advancement, if we knew how to take advantage of it. It could
have been even more beneficial to us than purely material
afflictions, by the fact of our having had the opportunity of
combining together courage, resignation, charity and the forgetting
of offences. (See chap. 10, item 6, & chap. 12, items 5 & 6.)
68. PRAYER - Lord, it pleased You to call the soul of X...
(name) before You called me. I forgive him/her the evil he/she did
and the bad intentions nurtured towards me. May he /she repent
for it now that he/she is no longer under the illusions of this world.
Dear God, may Your mercy descend upon X… (name), and
turn away from me any idea I might have of rejoicing at their
death. If I am in debt towards them for any reason, may they
forgive me, as I forgive those misdemeanours committed against
me.

FOR A CRIMINAL
69. PREFACE - If the efficiency of prayer were proportional to
its length, then the longest ones would be reserved for the guiltiest,
446 CHAPTER 28

because they are in more need than those who have lived saintly
lives. To refuse prayer for criminals is to lack charity towards
them and to be unaware of the mercy of God. To believe they
would be useless because they have committed this or that grave
crime would be to prejudge the Almighty's justice. (See chap. 11,
item 14.)
70. PRAYER - Lord, God of Mercy, do not repudiate this
criminal who has just left this Earth! Human justice has
condemned this person, but this does not exempt them from Your
justice, if their heart has not been touched by remorse.
Take away the blindfold that hides the gravity of their faults!
May their repentance deserve Your kindly treatment and soften the
sufferings of their soul. Perhaps our prayers and the intercession of
the Good Spirits can also help and offer them hope and
consolation. Inspire in them the wish to make amends for their
actions in another existence, and give them strength so as not to
succumb under the new struggles they will undertake!
Lord, have pity on this person!

FOR A SUICIDE
71. PREFACE - A person never has the right to dispose of their
own life, since only God can retrieve them from captivity on
Earth, when He judges it opportune. Nevertheless, Divine justice
may soften the rigours in accordance with the circumstances;
however, reserving all severity towards the person who wished to
evade the trials of life. The suicide is like a prisoner who escapes
from prison before they have served their sentence who, when
recaptured, is treated with greater severity. The same happens with
a suicide who imagines they are escaping from the miseries of the
moment, only to plunge into even greater misfortunes. (See chap.
5, item 14 onwards.)
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 447

72. PRAYER - We know, Lord, the destiny that awaits those who
violate Your law, by voluntarily abbreviating their days.
Nevertheless, we also know that Your mercy is infinite. So please
condescend to extend this mercy to the soul of X… (name). May
our prayers and Your commiseration lessen the harshness of the
sufferings they are experiencing for not having had the courage to
await the end of their trials.
Good Spirits, whose mission it is to help those who are
wretched, take this spirit under your protection; inspire them to
regret the error committed. May your assistance give them
strength to support with greater resignation the new trials through
which X… (name) will now have to pass in order to make
reparation. Turn this person away from the evil spirits, capable of
once again impelling them towards that same act and so
prolonging their suffering by making them lose the fruits of future
expiations.
We also direct ourselves to you, whose unhappiness is the
motive for our prayers, to offer a wish that our commiseration may
diminish the bitterness and help to create within you the hope for a
better future. Your future lies in your hands, believe in the
goodness of God, Whose bosom opens to accept all repentance
and only remains closed to hardened hearts.

FOR REPENTANT SPIRITS

73. PREFACE - It would be unjust to include in the category of
evil spirits the suffering and repentant ones who ask for prayers.
They may have been bad; nevertheless, they no longer are, since
they recognised the error of their ways and deplore them; now
they are only unhappy. Some of them have even begun to enjoy
relative happiness.
448 CHAPTER 28

74. PRAYER - God of Mercy, who accepts the sincere

repentance of the sinner, be they incarnate or discarnate, here is a
spirit who took pleasure in evil, but who now recognises its errors
and is entering into the Good pathway. Condescend, Lord, to
receive it like a prodigal child and forgive it.
Good Spirits, whose voices this person did not listen to, from
now on they are wishing to hear; permit them to glimpse the
happiness of the elected ones of the Lord, so that they may persist
in their desire to purify themselves in order to be able to reach
You. Uphold them in all their Good intentions and give them the
necessary strength to resist their bad instincts.
To the repentant spirit of X... (name) we offer our
congratulations for the inner changes that you have made and we
thank the Good Spirits who have helped you to do this.
If you previously took pleasure in evil, it was because you did
not understand how sweet the enjoyment of doing Good is; also
because you felt too lowly to be able to manage to change.
Nevertheless, from the moment you placed your first step on the
path of Goodness a new light shone in your eyes. Then you began
to enjoy an unknown happiness and hope entered your heart. This
is because God always hears the prayer of a sinner who repents;
He never spurns anyone who seeks His help.
To be once again completely within God's grace, you must
apply yourself from now on to not only never again committing
evil, but to doing Good and above all else, to repair the evil that
you have done. Then you will satisfy God's justice; each Good
action you practise will wash away one of your past mistakes.
The first step has been taken; so now, as you continue to
advance along this pathway the easier and more agreeable it will
become. Persevere then, so one day you will have the glory of
being counted amongst the Good and happy Spirits.
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 449

FOR HARDENED SPIRITS

75. PREFACE - Bad spirits are those who have not yet been
touched by repentance, who take pleasure in evil and feel no
remorse. They are insensitive to reprimands, repel prayer and
frequently blaspheme against God's name. They are the hardened
souls, who after death seek vengeance upon incarnates for the
suffering they had endured. They persecute all those they had
hated during their life, by either spiritually obsessing them or by
exercising all kinds of harmful influences over them. (See chap.
10, item 6, and chap. 12, items 5 & 6.)
There are two distinct categories of perverse spirits: those who
are plainly evil and those who are hypocrites. It is infinitely easier
to bring the first back to goodness than the second. The first, more
often than not, have brutal and coarse natures, just as is seen in
human beings. They practise evil more from instinct than from
calculation and do not seek to appear better than they are.
However, there is in them a latent germ that needs to open up,
which is usually achieved by means of perseverance, firm
benevolence, counselling, reasoning and prayer. It has been
noticed that in ‘automatic-writing’ these spirits have difficulty in
writing the name of God, which is a sign of an instinctive fear, an
intimate voice of conscience that tells them they are unworthy. It
is at this point they are ready to convert themselves and we can be
optimistic for them; we only need to find the vulnerable point in
their hearts.
Hypocritical spirits are almost always very intelligent.
However, they do not have a grain of sensitivity in their hearts;
nothing touches them. They only simulate good sentiments to gain
confidences. They are happy when they encounter those who are
foolish enough to accept them as saintly spirits, because then they
can control them as they wish. The name of God, far from
inspiring the least tremor of fear, serves them as a mask to cover
450 CHAPTER 28

their vileness. In both the invisible and visible worlds, the

hypocrites are the most dangerous, because they act in the
shadows, without anyone suspecting. They appear to have faith,
but it is only apparent and never sincere.
76. PRAYER - Lord, may it please You to cast a kindly glance
over the imperfect spirits who find themselves in the obscurity of
ignorance and so do not know You, especially the spirit of X…
(name).
Good Spirits, help us to make this person understand that by
inducing people towards evil, by spiritually obsessing them and
tormenting them, they only prolong their own sufferings. Make the
example of the happiness You enjoy into an encouragement for
them.
Dear spirit, who still takes pleasure in the practise of evil, listen
to the prayer we offer for you; it should convince you we only
wish to help you, although you do us harm.
You are unhappy, because it is not possible to be happy while
practising evil. So why do you remain in suffering when the
possibility of avoiding it depends on yourself? Look at the Good
Spirits surrounding you at this moment and see how blessed they
are! Would it not be more agreeable for you to enjoy the same
happiness?
You say that for you this is impossible; but nothing is
impossible for the one who truly desires something. God gave
you, as He did all His creatures, the liberty to choose between
good or evil, happiness or wretchedness; no one is condemned to
practise evil. Just as you have the will to do evil, you may also
find the will to do the Good and so be happy.
Cast your eyes back towards God. Direct your thoughts for an
instant to Him and a ray of divine light will illuminate you. Say
these simple words together with us: Dear God, I repent, forgive
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 451

me! Try to repent and do the Good instead of doing evil things,
and you will soon see His mercy descending upon you and an
indescribable feeling of well-being will substitute the anguish you
are experiencing.
Once you have taken the first step along the pathway to
Goodness the rest will be easy to follow. You will understand then
what a long period of happiness you have lost through your own
fault. Nevertheless, a radiant future full of hope will open before
you and make you forget your miserable past, full of perturbation
and moral tortures, which would be a hell for you if they were to
last for eternity. The day will come when these tortures will be
such that you will desire to make them cease at any price.
Nevertheless, the longer you leave it the more difficult this will be.
Do not believe that you will always remain in your present
state; no, this is impossible. You have two prospects before you: to
suffer even more than you have suffered until now, or to be
blessed as are the Good Spirits who surround you. The first is
inevitable if you persist in being obstinate, when a simple effort on
your part would be sufficient to take you out of the bad situation in
which you find yourself. Therefore, hurry, seeing that each day
you delay is a lost day of happiness!
Good Spirits, permit these words to echo in the mind of this
backward soul, so they may be helped to approach God. We ask
this in the name of Jesus Christ, Who has such great power over
evil spirits.
452 CHAPTER 28

5 - PRAYERS FOR THE SICK AND THE

OBSESSED

FOR THOSE WHO ARE SICK

77. PREFACE - Sicknesses belongs to the tests and vicissitudes
of earthly life. It is inherent in the grossness of our material nature
and in the inferiority of the world we inhabit. Passions and
excesses of all kinds create unhealthy conditions in our organism
that are sometimes transmitted by heredity. In worlds that are
more advanced in both their physical and moral aspects, the
human organism being more purified and less material, is no
longer subject to the same infirmities, and the body is not secretly
undermined by the corrosives of passions (See chap. 3, item 9).
We must therefore resign ourselves to the consequences of the
ambient in which our inferiority places us, until we deserve to pass
on to a higher plane. However, while we are waiting, this does not
prevent us from doing whatever we can to improve our present
situation. But if despite our best efforts we do not manage this,
then Spiritism teaches us to support our passing miseries with
resignation.
If God had not wished that in certain cases bodily sufferings be
dissipated and softened, He would not have put the possibility of
cure within our reach. His solicitude in this respect, being in
conformity with the instinct of self-preservation, indicates that it is
our duty to seek out these means and apply them.
Apart from ordinary medication elaborated by Science,
magnetism allows us to know the power of fluidic action and
Spiritism reveals another powerful force in the mediumship of
healing and the influence of prayer. (See chap. 26 - on healing
mediumship.)
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 453

78. PRAYER (To be said by the sick person) - Lord, You are all
justice. The sickness You saw fit to send me must be deserved,
because You never impose suffering without just cause. Therefore,
I entrust my cure to Your infinite mercy. If it pleases You to
restore my health, may Your Name be blessed! If on the contrary
it is necessary for me to suffer more, may You be blessed just the
same. I submit without complaint to Your wise purpose, since
what You do can only be for the Good of Your creatures.
Dear God, let this infirmity be a timely warning to me that will
cause me to meditate upon myself. I accept it as an expiation for
my past, as a test of my faith and a submission to Your blessed
will. (See prayer in item No. 40.)
79. PRAYER (For the sick person) - Dear God, Your designs are
impenetrable and in Your wisdom, You have sent this affliction to
X… (name). I implore You Lord, to cast a glance of compassion
over their suffering and if You see fit, to terminate them.
Good Spirits, you who are ministers of the Almighty, I beseech
you to second my request to alleviate their sufferings. Direct my
thought so that a balsam may be poured over their body and
consolation poured into their soul.
Inspire them with patience and submission to God's will. Give
X… (name) enough strength to support the pain with Christian
resignation, so that the fruits of this test may not be lost. (See the
prayer in item No. 57.)
80. PRAYER (To be said by the Healing Medium) - Dear God, if
it pleases You to use me as an instrument, although I am
unworthy, may I cure this infirmity if You so desire, because I
have faith in You. But I know I can do nothing alone. Permit the
Good Spirits to concentrate their beneficial fluids in me, so that I
may transmit them to this sick person, and free me from all
thought of pride and selfishness that might alter its pureness.
454 CHAPTER 28

FOR THOSE WHO ARE BEING OBSESSED

81. PREFACE - Spiritual obsession is the persistent action that an
inferior or evil spirit exercises over an individual. It may present
many varied characteristics, from a simple moral influence with
no perceptible exterior sign, to a complete organic and mental
perturbation. It may obstruct all mediumship faculties. In
‘automatic-writing’, this may be displayed through the insistence
of only one Spirit communicating, to the exclusion of all other
spirits.
Evil spirits constantly encircle the Earth, due to the moral
inferiority of its inhabitants. Their malevolent action forms part of
the afflictions that face humanity. Spiritual obsessions, just as
much as infirmities and all life's tribulations, should be considered
as tests or atonements and accepted as such.
In the same manner that sicknesses are the result of our physical
imperfections that make the body accessible to pernicious exterior
influences, obsession is always the result of moral imperfections
that allow access to influences from evil spirits. Physical causes
pit themselves against physical forces; a moral cause must always
be opposed by a moral force. In order to prevent sicknesses we
fortify our bodies; to protect ourselves from obsession it is necessary
to fortify the soul. This means that the disturbed person must work
for their own moral betterment, which is frequently sufficient to free
them from the obsessor without resorting to help from others.
However, if an obsession degenerates into subjugation and apparent
possession, then the help of other people becomes indispensable,
because not infrequently the patient loses both their will power and
their free will.
Obsession usually manifests a desire for vengeance by a spirit.
This is frequently rooted in the relationship they had with this
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 455

person in a previous life. (See chap. 10, item 6 and chap. 12, items
5 & 6.)
In the case of a very serious obsession, the person being
obsessed is enveloped and impregnated by pernicious fluids that
repels and neutralises the action of healthy fluids. Therefore, it is
very important to free the person from these vaporous negative
fluids. However, similar negative fluids cannot eliminate evil
fluids. Therefore, it is necessary to expel the evil substances with
the help of healthier fluids by applying a similar action to that
exercised by a Healer in the case of sickness. This produces an
effect of mechanical action and reaction. However, this is not
sufficient in itself, because it is also necessary and very important
to act directly upon the actual intelligent spiritual being. This can
only be done by someone with greater authority than the
perturbing spiritual entity. The greater the moral superiority of this
person, the greater will be their authority.
Nevertheless, this is not all that is required in order to guarantee
liberation from the obsessing spirit. It is also necessary to induce
the perverse spirit to renounce their evil intentions, to awaken
repentance in them and a desire to do Good. This can be done
through skilfully directed counselling, given during private
meetings organised specially for this purpose, with the objective
of offering moral education to this spirit. Then it may be possible
to have the double satisfaction of liberating an incarnate person
and converting an imperfect spirit.
This task is made easier when the obsessed person,
understanding their situation, joins in with the prayers and adds
their cooperation in the form of a desire for recuperation. The
same does not happen when, being seduced by the obsessing
spirit, the person remains deluded as to the qualities of the entity
that dominates them, even taking pleasure in the errors this spirit
induces them to commit. In this case, instead of helping, the
456 CHAPTER 28

person repels all assistance offered. This is what happens in cases

of fascination, which are infinitely more rebellious to treat than
even the most violent case of subjugation. (See The Mediums'
Book – Second Part, Chap. 23.)
In all cases of obsession, prayer is the most powerful means of
help for anyone assisting in this process and acting upon the
obsessing spirit.
82. PRAYER (To be said by the person being obsessed) - Dear
God, permit the Good Spirits to liberate me from the malefic spirit
that has linked itself to me. If this spirit is seeking vengeance
because of wrongs I might have practised against them in another
existence, then you have permitted this, Lord, and I suffer for my
own faults. May my repentance make me deserving of Your
pardon and my liberation! But whatever the motive, I beseech
Your mercy for my persecutor. Lord, help it to find the pathway to
progress that will turn it away from the practise of evil. May I, on
my part, repay evil with goodness, so inducing it to better
sentiments.
Dear God, I also know that it is my own imperfections that
make me accessible to the influences of imperfect spirits. Give me
the necessary enlightenment so I may recognise these
imperfections, and above all remove the pride in me that makes
me blind to my own defects.
How great must be my unworthiness, to have allowed an evil
spirit to dominate me!
Dear God, may this blow to my vanity be a lesson for the
future. May it fortify the resolution I have made to cleanse myself
by means of the practise of goodness, charity and humility, so that
from now on I may put up a barrier against all evil influences.
Lord, give me strength to support this test with patience and
resignation. I understand that, just as with all other tests, it will aid
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 457

my progress if I do not spoil the fruits by complaining. Since it

offers me an opportunity to demonstrate my submission and
practise charity towards an unhappy brother/sister by forgiving
any evil they may have done to me. (See chap. 12, items 5 & 6;
chap. 28, item 15 and subsequent, also items 46 & 47.)
83. PRAYER (For the obsessed person)19 - Almighty God, may
it please You to give me the power to liberate X… (name) from
the influence of the spirit that is obsessing them. If it is Your wish
to put an end to this test, concede me the grace of speaking to this
spirit with the necessary authority.
Good Spirits, may you help me, and you, their Guardian Angel,
may you give me your assistance; help me to free this sufferer
from the impure fluids that envelop them.
In the name of Almighty God, I urge the evil spirit that
torments this person to withdraw!
84. PRAYER (For the obsessing spirit) - Lord of infinite
goodness, I implore Your mercy for the spirit who is obsessing
X… (name) Help it to see the Divine Light so that it may
recognise the falsity of the path it follows. Good Spirits, help me
make it understand that it has everything to lose by the practise of
evil, and everything to gain by the practise of goodness.
To the spirit who is tormenting X… (name), listen to me since I
speak to you in the name of God!
If you would but reflect, you would understand that evil could
never outdo goodness and that it is not possible to be stronger than
God and the Good Spirits.
They could have protected X... (name) from your attacks. If this
was not done, it is because they had to go through this test.

19
The Counsellor undertaking the task of liberating the obsessed person can offer
this prayer. (Translators note.)
458 CHAPTER 28

However, when this test reaches its end, then all action against
your victim will be blocked. The evil that you have done, instead
of causing harm, will have contributed towards their progress and
happiness. In this manner, you will have employed your
wickedness to no avail and it will rebound upon yourself.
God, Who is all-powerful, and the Superior Spirits who are His
delegates, being more powerful than you, are capable of putting an
end to this obsession, and your tenacity will fail before this
supreme authority. Nevertheless, because He is in fact the Good,
He wants to leave you the merit for having ceased of your own
free will. This is a respite that is being offered to you; if you do
not take advantage of it, you will suffer deplorable consequences.
Great punishment and cruel suffering will await you! You will be
forced to plead for mercy and for prayers from your victim, who
has already forgiven you and prays for you, which constitutes a
great merit in the eyes of God and will hasten their liberation.
So, reflect while there is still time, seeing that God's justice will
fall upon you as it does on all rebellious spirits. Consider that the
evil you do now necessarily has a limit, whereas, if you persist in
being obstinate, you will only increase the extension of your own
sufferings.
When you were upon Earth, did you ever consider it stupid to
sacrifice a great goodness for a small momentary satisfaction? It is
the same now you are a spirit. What will you gain from what you
are doing? The misguided pleasure of tormenting someone does
not stop you being wretched, even if you refuse to admit it,
leaving you even more unhappy.
On the other hand, see what you are missing! Look at the Good
Spirits around you and tell me if their lot is not preferable to
yours. The happiness they enjoy can also be yours, whenever you
like. What do you have to do for this? Pray to God and instead of
doing evil, practice the Good. I know that you cannot transform
 A COLLECTION OF SPIRITIST PRAYERS 459

yourself immediately, but God does not demand the impossible;

He only asks for your Good will. Try to follow this advice and we
will help you. Make an effort so that very soon we may offer up in
your name the prayer for those who are repentant (No. 73), and no
longer rank you amongst the evil spirits as you await the time
when you can be counted among the Good Spirits. (See also No.
75 - Prayers for Hardened Spirits).
COMMENTS: The cure for grave obsessions requires much
patience, perseverance and devotion. It also demands tact and
ability in order to direct those who are frequently perverse,
hardened and astute towards Goodness, since there are those who
are extremely rebellious. In the vast majority of cases, we must be
guided by the circumstances. Nevertheless, whatever the
characteristics of the disturbed spirit, it is an incontestable fact that
nothing is obtained by either constraint or threats: All influence
resides in moral superiority. Another truth, equally well proven by
experience, as well as by logic, is the complete ineffectiveness of
exorcism, formulas, sacramental words, amulets, talismans,
exterior practises or any kind of material symbols.
Prolonged spiritual obsession may cause pathological disorders,
which frequently demand simultaneous or consecutive treatments,
be these magnetic and/or medical, in order to be able to restore
organic health. When the causes have been destroyed, it remains
for the effects to be remedied. (See The Mediums' Book, 2nd part,
Chap. 23 – “Obsession” - also ‘Revue Spirite’, February and
March, 1864 & April, 1865 - examples of cures for obsession.)
 APPENDIX

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF SOME OF THE

SPIRIT COMMUNICANTS WHOSE MESSAGES ARE
PUBLISHED IN THIS BOOK

ERASTUS (A disciple of Paul) - Treasurer of Corinth, he was

a disciple of Paul of Tarsus, having accompanied him on his
mission to Ephesus. He is cited in the book of Acts, 19:22. – “So
he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him,
Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a
season.” In the book of Romans, 16:23. – “Gaius mine host, and of
the whole church, salutes you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city
salutes you and Quartus a brother.” In 2 Timothy, 4:20. – “Erastus
abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.”
FÉNELON, François de Salignac de la Mothe - A French
prelate born in 1651 who discarnated in 1715. He belonged to a
family famous in the field of arms and diplomacy. An ordained
Priest, he dedicated himself to his ministry. His works are entitled
“The Fables,” “Dialogue with the dead” and “Telemaco”. This last
book fell out of favour due to the question of Quietism that was a
doctrine preached by Madame Guyon. Fénelon defended
Quietism, whereas Bossuet condemned it. Later on he was
condemned by the Pope, so becoming just a simple priest again.
He left many literary works, mostly on matters of politics, religion
and education.
GIRARDIN, Delfina de - To be exact her maiden name was
Delphine Gay. She published many poetical works under the name
of Delphine Gay. In 1827, when she was twenty-three, she found
 BIOGRAPHIES 461

herself acclaimed in the Capitolian when journeying through Italy.

On marrying Emile de Girardin, a politician and a man of letters,
she became Mrs Emile de Girardin. After her marriage, she
published various poems and romances. She was most certainty a
great inspirational medium. On 6th September 1853, she
disembarked on the Isle of Jersey for the purpose of spending a
short time with the family of Victor Hugo, where she held
numerous mediumship sessions by means of the ‘talking-tables’.
HAHNEMANN, Samuel-Chrétien-Fréderic - Of German origin
he was born in Meissen on 10th April 1755. Graduating in
Medicine from Erland University in 1779, he exercised his
profession until 1789, when he abandoned his medical practice
due to a great dissatisfaction with the total lack of guidance at that
time in the administration of remedies. He finally discovered
Homeopathy about 1790, and continued to research and
experiment in this area, managing to survive by translating books.
In 1796, he presented his discovery to the world in the form of a
monograph, going on to practise his newly found discovery. As
Homeopathy was very rational it soon became a success, which
caused him to suffer persecution from his ex-colleagues, and so
was given protection by the reigning duke of Anhalt-Cohen, where
he went to live in 1821. Nevertheless, the hate followed him, the
local doctors incited the people against him and on one occasion,
his house was stoned. Despite this, he continued to live there and
became rich and greatly sought after for his treatments. In 1835,
he moved to Paris and in 1843, returned to the spiritual world at
the age of eight-eight. He was laid to rest in the Montmartre
Cemetery. In 1900, his mortal remains were transferred, by
members of the International Homeopathic Congress, to a
monument erected by his disciples in the Père Lachaise Cemetery.
On the same day and time President Mackinley, of the United
States of America, inaugurated a statue to Hahnemann in
462 APPENDIX

Washington that had cost American Homeopathic doctors seventy

thousand dollars.
HEINE, Henri - He was a German poet born in Düsseldorf in
1797, discarnating in Paris in 1856. He was the author of poems of
a painfully melancholic nature (Intermezzo, Sketches of a Journey
and Song, Essays on Modern German Literature, The Romantic
School and Germany) all written with sparkling brilliance but
tainted with profound scepticism.
JOHN THE EVANGELIST - The Apostle of Jesus Christ,
son of Zebedee and brother to the Apostle James. He was the
author of the fourth Gospel and three epistles. While exiled on the
Greek island of Patmos he received the ‘Apocalypse’ through the
means of mediumship. He lived almost one hundred years.
Together with the Apostles Peter and James the Elder, he was
invariably called upon by Jesus to witness the most important
events that occurred during His mission.
LACORDAIRE, Jean-Baptiste-Henri - This is the Priest
Lacordaire referred to in the Revue Spirite, the Spiritist magazine
initiated by Allan Kardec in 1858. He also had a brother of some
note, Jean-Thédore Lacordaire who was a naturalist, teacher and
journalist, born in 1801. It is certain that we are dealing with the
first brother, born in 1802 who discarnated in 1861. He was a
Dominican, a brilliant preacher and disciple of Lamennais, with
whom he broke off relations in 1834. He was vicar of Notre-Dame
and after five years of retreat entered the Dominican Order in
1839. He was a member of the French Academy, his principle
works being two very different lectures: ‘The Life of Saint
Domingos’ and ‘Considerations on the Philosophical System of
M. de Lamennais’.
LAMENNAIS, Félicité Robert de - Born in Saint-Malo in
1782, he discarnated in Paris in 1854. He was ordained a priest in
1816. The following year he published 'Essays on religious
 BIOGRAPHIES 463

indifference and its bearing on political and civil order’, which

was a translation of ‘Imitation of Jesus Christ’ and ‘Modern
Slavery’. He founded the newspaper ‘L'Avenir’ (The Future) in
which he extolled the alliance of the Church with Liberty. Pope
Gregory XVI denied his authority to hold such opinions in a
circular letter entitled ‘Mirari Vos’ (Looking at Ourselves).
Following this he published 'Words of a Believer', which was
condemned in the circular ‘Singulari nos’. Nevertheless, he
continued writing without interruption: ‘The Book of the People’,
‘An Outline of a Philosophy’, etc. In 1840, he was condemned to
prison. In 1848, he was elected to the National Assembly. He
asked that he be buried amongst the poor.
MORLOT, François Nicolas Madeleine - A French prelate and
Archbishop of Paris and a Cardinal. Born in 1795, he discarnated
in 1862.
PAUL, THE APOSTLE - Born in the flourishing town of
Tarsus in Cilicia, possibly in the year 10 or 12 of this epoch. He
was martyred in Rome in the year 67 AD. Nicknamed ‘The
Apostle of the Gentiles’, he was one of the most outstanding
disseminators of Christian ideas, taking the words of Jesus Christ
to the great centres of population of that time, these being Antioch,
Athens, Ephesus, Corinth, Macedonia, Jerusalem and Rome. He
wrote a great number of Epistles that are contained in the book of
‘The Acts of the Apostles’ where many elucidative descriptions of
his Apostleship and his incomparable activities in favour of the
birth of Christianity are also to be found. His original name was
Saul that was later changed to Paul after at the event on the road to
Damascus. Although he was not one of the Apostles of Jesus, he
deserves the title of Apostle due to the magnificent tasks that he
accomplished.
PASCAL, Blaise - A French geometrician, physicist,
philosopher and writer, born in Clermont-Ferrand, France in June
464 APPENDIX

1623, he discarnated in Paris in 1662. When he was eleven years

old he composed a treatise on sound; at twelve he discovered the
thirty-second theorem of the first book of Euclid. At sixteen, he
wrote his “Essay on Conics.” At nineteen, in order to help the
mathematical work of his father, he conceived his machine for
mathematics that took him ten years. He also wrote works on
space and calculations of possibility. After a period spent living a
worldly life, he then returned to religion and dedicated himself to
the production of works of a metaphysical and spiritual nature. He
was in fact one of the great exponents of religious and
philosophical thought of his time.
SAINT AUGUSTINE, (Aurelius Augustinus, 354-430 AD) -
Bishop of Hipona, he was a theologist, philosopher, moralist and
dialectician. After a disturbed boyhood, the Spirit of the
enlightened Ambrose attracted him to a religious life. On the
insistence of his mother, Monica, he left Africa to go to Italy
hoping to seek a more promising career in the Roman Empire. He
wrote many sermons, helped the poor and, during the second part
of his life, maintained the firm objective of serving the Church and
Christ. He became the most celebrated of all the doctors of the
Catholic Church. He sought to harmonise the doctrine of Plato
with the Catholic dogmas and intelligence with faith. His chief
works were “The City of God”, “Confessions” and a treatise on
grace.
SAINT LOUIS (Louis IX) - A King of France, he lived from
1215 until 1270. He began his reign under the tutorage of his
mother, Blanche de Castille. He took part in the seventh and
eighth Crusades and discarnated as a victim of a plague on
disembarking in Cartages. He was a good and pious man. He was
canonised by the Catholic Church in 1297. He is constantly cited
in the ‘Revue Spirite’ thanks to the numerous communications
received from his Spirit.
 BIOGRAPHIES 465

SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL (1576-1660) - He was a French

priest celebrated for his acts of charity. He was the instigator of
crèches and hospitals of charity. When war and famine devastated
the provinces of Lorraine, Picardie and Champagne, this apostle of
charity gave all he had in order to minimise the hardships of the
population of those regions.
VIANNEY, Jean Marie Baptiste - Lived from 1786 until 1859.
While on Earth, he was the Vicar of Ars. During his life, he gained
great popularity due to the numerous cures he managed to realise,
as well as the brotherly attention he dispensed to the sick of
whatever nature, who sought him out in his obscure village. He
protected his parish through the sheer force of mediumship
phenomena, for which he was the intermediary and which the
people saw as authentic miracles. His fame caused the other
priests to feel inferior, even though his parish was considered one
where ‘there was not even place to rest one's head’. They said,
“He is an illiterate who was ordained out of commiseration and
charity. He does not know even three words of Latin and nothing
of theology, who dares to offer confession to the multitudes and
frequently treats complex and dangerous cases” and with these
accusations they prohibited his followers from visiting him. The
Abbot of Borjon wrote to him, “Dear Vicar, when you have as
little theology as you have, you should be reluctant to enter into a
confessionary”. - On receiving this letter, the Vicar of Ars broke
into sobs and exclaimed, “It is true!” On replying to this critic, he
pondered, “My very venerable brother, I have so much reason to
love you! You are the only one who knows me well. Please help
me to obtain the grace that I have been requesting for so long.
Then on being substituted in my position in whose exercise I do
not consider myself worthy due to my great ignorance, I might
retire to some small village where I can weep over my poor life.”
466 APPENDIX

(Permission to include the translation of these brief biographical

sketches in this book was kindly given by the SPIRITIST
FEDERATION OF THE STATE OF SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL, as taken from
their publication (1982) of ‘O EVANGELHO SEGUNDO O
ESPIRITISMO’.)
The title Gospel in this instance refers to the New Testaments published
together with the Old Testaments in the Bible. These are the Teachings of
Jesus, as reported through His Disciples long after His death.

Due to the fact that Jesus frequently spoke in parables, it is often difficult to
come to a logical and rational conclusion as to the meaning of His Teachings.
This has given rise to many people, groups or organizations, each leaning
towards their own individual interpretations of the Teachings.

However, the Spiritist Teachings as collected, researched and codified by

Allan Kardec during the second half of the 1800’s were compiled from reliable
communications received from more than a hundred different mediums,
unknown to each other; that were sent to Kardec for his scrutiny. Resulting in
him organising not only this present book, but also four others.

This is the third book codified by Kardec explaining many of the parables from
the New Testaments showing us aspects that are both rational and more logical.
It helps us come to realise why we suffer so many troubles in our lives, including
why we are suffering the effects from moral laxity today. It also explains the
existence of the LAWS OF NATURE that govern the Universe, that are
far greater than Human Laws and that Love, properly understood, is the all-
powerful element for peace and fellowship so preparing more happiness for our
future existence as eternal beings.