505 part iv: meditations for weekly retreats you have taken away all; take charity away from a man, and you have left nothing.”245 Charity is the soul, light, and life of religious Institutes and of any human association; consequently, he who injures charity seems to injure life, to extinguish light, and to deprive the soul of life. It happens thus, because the lack of charity in one member simultaneously injures the whole body. It can be seen in human body: if only one finger is injured by septic iron, the poison, creeping little by little throughout the whole hand, would take over the whole body and all of its limbs will feel the wound of its injured part. By means of charity, one body of a religious order is formed from individual persons; its members: the Superiors, peers, and inferiors. Now, hatred is contrary to charity. Hatred is more poisonous than any poison, deadlier than any pestilence. Christ gravely exhorts us to avoid it, when He says: “leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Mt 5:24). Oh, how most justly and appropriately the Savior commands it! For hewho does not have love for his neighbor is unworthy of God’s love. It is thanks to this love, that God wants to reconcile to us, do us good, and be merciful to us. Therefore, whatever evil you did against this most excellent and most admirable virtue, whatever offence, even very mild, you have committed, atone for it as soon as possible. And firmly believe that nobody can find the way to the heavenly region and inheritance who is not led and accompanied by charity: because the way to and gate of the heavenly dwelling was found and opened by Charity, namely: by Christ. 2. Seriously consider what damages the violation of charity brings about and of what goods it robs us. That dreadful example of the presbyter Sapricius teaches you about this. When he refused to be reconciled with the subdeacon 245 The author of this saying is not known. St. Stanislaus himself expressed a similar idea: “Each of you should keep in mind that the soul of his Institute is love, and to the extent that he withdraws from love, he withdraws from life” (RL, p. 60 (Ch. II, § 4)).
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