Teach them how to cultivate a delicate conscience. I have often been surprised to find how little consciousness there is, even among those whom we hope to be Christians, and here we see the reason: their conscience has never been cultivated. They have so mistreated their conscience, and resisted it so often that it is blunted, and does not act. The usefulness of a Christian depends largely on the culture he knows to give to his conscience. New converts must be taught to keep their conscience as delicate as the eye of the eye. They must watch over their conduct and their motives; their motives must be so pure and their conduct so selfless that the conscience is neither hurt nor stifled. They must maintain the habit of listening to it so that it is always ready to make a rigorous stop on any occasion. It is amazing to see how much awareness can be developed by an appropriate process. By paying sufficient attention to it, it can become so pure and powerful that it will always be in unison with the Word of God. Present to such a Christian a duty or an act of renunciation, or a trial to endure, and show him only the Word of God, and he will obey without objection. In a few months the new converts can have a conscience so delicately balanced, that the weight of a pen is enough to tip the scales. Just tell them, "Thus saith the Lord," and they will always be ready to act.

New converts must be taught to pray incessantly, that is, to always watch over their minds, and to keep the spirit of prayer at all times, whatever happens. For lack of good directions on this point, many new converts decline, and soon live very far from God. For example, it happens that a new convert falls into some sin, and feels unable to pray. Instead of overcoming this feeling, he experiences such distress that he expects the acute moment of pain to have passed. Instead of going immediately to Jesus Christ in the midst of his agony, confessing his fault with all his heart, to obtain forgiveness and to taste peace again, he expects that the intensity of his feelings has diminished ; and then his repentance, if he repents, is cold and superficial. Beloved, never act so ; but when your conscience urges you, go to Christ, confess your sin entirely, and spread your heart before God.

Jeremy Sourdril