Example 5 - Prince OURAN.

— A suffering Spirit presented himself giving the name of Ouran, a Russian prince of former times.

Will you give us some particulars about your situation?

A. Oh! happy are the humble of heart, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven! Pray for me.

Happy are the humble of heart who choose a modest position in order to fulfill the trial.

All you whom envy devours, you do not know the state to which one of those who on Earth are considered happy has been reduced; you do not gauge the fire that burns him nor the sacrifices imposed by wealth when one wishes through it to obtain salvation!

May the Lord permit me, a proud despot, to expiate the crimes derived from my pride among those very ones whom I oppressed with my tyranny!

Pride! Let the word be repeated constantly so that it may never be forgotten that it is the source of all the sufferings that overwhelm us.

Yes, I abused the power and favors at my disposal; I was hard and cruel toward my inferiors, who had to bow to all my caprices, to satisfy all my depravities.

I wanted nobility, fortune, honors, and I succumbed under a weight superior to my own forces.

The Spirits who succumb are generally led to allege a commitment superior to their own forces, which is still a remnant of pride and a means of excusing themselves to themselves, not resigning themselves to their own weakness.

God gives no one more than he can bear; he does not require of the nascent tree the fruits given by the developed trunk.

Moreover, the Spirits have freedom; what they lack is will, and this depends on them exclusively; 11 with strength of will there are no insuperable vicious tendencies; but, when a vice pleases us, it is natural that we make no efforts to master it. Thus, only to ourselves should we attribute the respective consequences.

You are conscious of your faults, and that is already a step toward regeneration.

A. This consciousness is still a suffering.

For many Spirits suffering is an almost material effect, seeing that, held to the humanity of their last incarnation, they neither experience nor apprehend the moral sensations.

Freed from matter, the moral sentiment increased, for me, by all that the cruel physical sensations had of the horrible.

Do you discern a term to your sufferings?

A. I know that they will not be eternal, but I do not glimpse their end, it being rather necessary for me to begin the trial anew.

And do you hope to do so soon?

A. I do not yet know.

Do you remember your antecedents? I ask you this question in order to instruct myself.

A. Your guides are there, and they know what you need.

I lived in the time of Marcus Aurelius. Powerful then, I succumbed to pride, the cause of all falls.

After an erraticity of centuries, I wished to experience an obscure existence.

A poor student, I begged for bread, but pride possessed me always: the Spirit had gained in knowledge, but not in virtue.

An ambitious scholar, I sold my conscience to the highest bidder, serving all vengeances, all hatreds. I felt myself guilty, but the thirst for glory and riches strangled the voice of conscience. The expiation was still long and cruel.

I wished, in short, in my last incarnation, to begin anew a life of luxury and power, with the aim of mastering the stumbling blocks, without heeding counsel. It was still pride leading me to trust more in myself than in the counsel of the protecting friends who always watch over us. You know the result of this last attempt.

Today, at last, I understand and await the mercy of the Lord. I lay at his feet my shattered pride and ask him to burden me with the heaviest tribute of humility, for with the aid of his grace the weight will seem light to me.

Pray with me and for me: pray also that this diabolical fire may not devour the instincts that direct you toward God.

Brethren in suffering, may my example profit you, and never forget that pride is the enemy of happiness. It is from it that emanate all the evils that assail Humanity and pursue it even into the celestial regions.”

— The guide of the medium: — You conceived doubts about the identity of this Spirit, because his language seemed to you in disagreement with the state of suffering indicating inferiority.

Dispel such doubts, because you have received a serious communication. However much he suffers, this Spirit has intelligence cultivated enough to express himself in such a manner.

What he lacked was only humility, without which no Spirit can come to God. That humility he has now conquered, and we hope that, with perseverance, he will emerge triumphant from a new trial.

Our heavenly Father is most just in his wisdom and takes into account the efforts of the creature to master the evil instincts.

Each victory over yourselves is a degree cleared on that ladder which has one extremity on Earth and the other at the feet of the supreme Judge.

Climb by those degrees resolutely, because the ascent is all the gentler the firmer the will.

Look always upward in order to encourage yourselves, because woe to him who stops and turns back. Vertigo soon overtakes him, he is frightened by the void surrounding him, he loses heart and says: — why walk further, if I have done so little of it and so much remains to me? No, my friends, do not turn back.

Pride is incorporated in man; well then! turn it to account in the strength and the courage to complete your ascent. Employ it still in mastering the weaknesses and scale the summit of the eternal mountain.