Father Libermann on Practical Union with God IF THE SPIRIT OF GOD FILLS THE SOUL in every instant of life, every phase of our conduct is marked by the supernatural. In conforming to the will of God the smallest detail is carried out with the same perfection as are important things-the most insignificant and indifferent acts are sanctified without any special reflection or preoccupation, by the holy dispositions which rule all our conduct. A SOUL UNITED TO GOD IN THIS WAY abandons little by little the errors that spring from an obstinate attachment to one's own views. Its judgments are freed from the control of purely natural influences, and therefore from prejudice and impulsiveness. The soul acquires lights that are strong and practical, that is, a certain discernment in the things of God both for its own guidance for the direction of souls as also for the works of God which it will have to perform. SUCH A SOUL FORMS CORRECT JUDGMENTS of persons, things and circumstances in accordance with the mind of God: "The spiritual man judges all things." It is not a light as clear as that found in fervent meditation but rather a practical sense of things divine. It discerns their value and their diverse nuances by a kind of instinct, a calm insight which proceeds from divine grace. ENTIRE ABANDONMENT TO THE ACTION OF GRACE renders the soul docile and flexible before the holy will of God, which the soul's faith and love discern in all that happens. The soul, filled with strength, is discouraged or disheartened by nothing. Nothing can agitate it to excess since it is indifferent to the things of this world. Misfortunes, contradictions, sufferings and humiliations, even death itself, cannot disquiet it. WHAT IS MOST REMARKABLE is that in the midst of sufferings and afflictions the soul so disposed experiences in its contact with creatures a greater serenity and cheerfulness of heart. It is a quiet and restrained gladness and still, one that is very real and sweeter than that which springs from the gratification of nature. The soul may indeed be afflicted in its natural sensibilities, but at the same time it is humbly and lovingly submissive and fully abandoned to the holy will of God. Its gladness resides in the profoundest depths of the soul, at the very source and root of its life. Very Rev. Pierre Schouver, Spiritan Superior General, greets parishioners after mass.