Mystics in general. — His own concept, and his place in ascetic Theology. — Reservations on the distinction of the three states of perfection and on the relation of mystical facts with each of them. — Mystics as experience and as science. — Experimental Mystics according to Saint Bonaventure, Gerson, Bona, Saint Francis de Sales. — Last formula. — Diabolical and natural analogies. — Definition of doctrinal or scientific Mystics. — Necessity and usefulness of mystical Theology. — His difficulties. — Plan and division of the work. — Authentic sources. account. — Doctrinal authorities.
We begin to describe the various forms of mystical life and to attach these phenomena to their causes. Above all, we must define the field we will have to go through, and recognize its position in the vast range of sacred sciences.
The Mystic derives its name, as its etymology, from mystery!. Who is initiated into mysteries is a mystic, and the science that deals with mysteries can also be called Mystics?.
1 Muoruxéc, puorproy, from uÿw, close, hide. 2 The word of mystic has originally the acceptance of a qualifier. The idea
But is the mystery, as the vulgar understands, anything that escapes man's investigation? The mystery would then be everywhere: in God, in nature, in man himself; and, if this is the field of Mystics, it will have to be held for the most universal of sciences.
This word, which, in its common sense and in its greater generality, indicates hidden things and difficult to know, has less extensive and more precise meanings in the traditional language. First, it designates truths that are inaccessible to the created understanding, whose formulas God delivers through positive revelation; and, better still, the supernatural, secret relationships, usually invisible to the very consciousness, through which God raises the creature above his sphere, and introduces him into a higher world, whose access is naturally forbidden to him.
On this ineffable encounter, one can consider what God does to speak and give oneself to man, and what man must do to rise up and unite with God.
Christian Theology embraces all these aspects. But, as she deals with the existence of divine revelation, the affirmations it contains and the union of God with souls, with the theoretical aim of coordinating these facts and truths in the body of science, she is purely dogmatic. When she studies this divine condescendence to admire its greatness, beauty, love, and to deduce from it practical rules that raise and set the soul in God, she becomes mystic.
Undoubtedly the theory that methodically examines the confidences and eflusions escaped from God's heart to his creature; which collects, discusses, organizes all
It was intended to be a substantial component of the project. The same transformation took place in similar words, such as dogmatic, ascetic, mechanical, etc.;
the supernatural statements made to man about divine mysteries, presents the essential characters of mystical science. However, this denomination is preferable to the second point of view of Christian Theology, to the one that deals with the return of the soul to God, by the reason that shadows and veils make this journey a continuous mystery, until the final term where shines upon the consciousness on the full day of glory.
Mystic forms therefore one of the branches of theology considered as a whole; and, in keeping with the general lacception that we have just assigned to it, it would embrace all that part of sacred science which sets out the principles and formulates the rules of Christian perfection, that is, the ascension of the soul to God.
Thus, it is understood to be confused with ascetic theology. And yet there is not yet its special and characteristic meaning; for, in its own and narrow sense, Mystics only enumerates one aspect of spiritual life, of all the highest, and which we will specify just now.
Ascetic Theology, Mystical Theology: These denominations are commonly confused, which supposes or leads, by an inevitable consequence, to confusion in the things themselves.
It seems useful to us to unravel them, indicating clearly-
- To Voss, Direct. Myst. Scanameccr, Compend. Not. Gen. 6 p. 24: Non raro subnomine theologicæ mysticæ intelligitur etiam ascesis, sed immerito. Nam ascesis consuetas tantum et tritas perfectionis semitas ostendit; mystica autem adhuc excellentiorem viam demonstrat.
The concept of Mystics will detach lucid, complete and definitive.
To this end, it is necessary to recall that the masters of spiritual life distinguish three successive stages in the ascension of the soul to God, which they call the Ascetic T, and which constitutes the object of ascetic theology. At the first, the Christian works hard to break away from the bonds and habits of sin; he fights against the living temptations, the most powerful of which is in the sense, in order to preserve the charity they threaten to delight him. It is the purgative or militant state whose dominant virtue is fear, and which suits the beginnings.
During the second, the soul, freer on the side of the senses and more mastery of itself, is less busy considering its enemies to fight them, than the eternal goods to which it aspires, and the divine model, Jesus Christ Our Lord, which it must reproduce in order to reach the desired term. Meditation of the divine truths that show it the purpose, makes in the soul a usual illumination that excites it to the work of virtues; and this is why this state is called illuminative or progressive, and has as its own virtues faith and hope, the hope primarily, that is, the firm assurance that God is our end, and that, in order to achieve it, his grace will not be missed.
Finally, charity becomes dominant and unifies with divine goodwill. The soul then thinks less of avoiding hell and winning heaven than of pleasing the Beloved; its usual desire is to escape from all that is not God, to leave even the world and life to enjoy fully and indissolublely God. This is less the effort of the
1 From tooxeiv, exercise, fight.
Lun ls: Re:
travel and combat, as possession, rest and term, which makes this apogee of a one-sided or perfect life, although he does not yet realize the union and perfection consumed of the homeland.
This distinction of the three paths that respond to the beginning, progress and the end of spiritual life is part of the common teaching of theology?; and, according to Fr. Scaramelli ë, it could not be rejected without recklessness, especially after the sanction it received from the Holy See against the invectives of Molinos +.
But here's what's more important to our subject.
At the third stage of perfection, spiritual ascension takes two forms: in the common and ordinary moon, the soul is more active than passive; it produces acts of virtue with full possession of itself, through its own energy aided by supernatural grace.
In the other, the soul is rather passive rather than active: God subjected her to an extraordinary action that no human effort could achieve; he licked, lit, lenflamed, and often let burst upon the senses of the wonderful attestations of his intimate operations.
It is this second face of one-sided life that constitutes
1 S. Tuom. 2.2, q. 183, to. 4: In omniautem humano studio is acciper principalium, medium and terminum; and ideo consequens is quod status spiritualis servitutis et libertatis secundum tria distinctionatur, scilicet secundum principalium ad quod pertinet status incipientium; and medium, ad quod pertinet status proficientium; and terminum, ad quem pertinet status perfectorum.
2 Suarez, of perfect status. 1. 1, ¢. 13, n. 7 t. 15, p. 63: Distinguished solent mystici theologi tres vias, purgaticam, illuminativam and unitivam.
3 Diret. ascet. Tratt. 4, n. 31 p. 46: Nel camino della perfezione si va per tre vie al findi della nostra celete patria: the prima della quali chiamasi purgati, the seconda illuminativa e la terza unitiva; distinzione giusta e convevole ammesa da tutti gli Scrittori ascetici e Dottori mistici, che senza grave temerità non puo disapprovasi.
4 Prop. 26, damn. ab Innoc. XI. Constitut Cælestis Pastor (1687): Tres illæ viæ: purgativa, illuminativa and unitiva is absurdum maximum quod dictum fuerit in Mystica; cum non sit nisi unica via, scilicet interna.
the true mystical theology, according to the general interpretation of the doctors, whether they consider it in its own statement!, or whether they bring it back to passive union? or to infuse contemplation ê, which they declare to be one and the other doing only the same thing with mystical theology. *
However, a few reservations should be formulated here, both on the order and dependence of the three states of perfection, and on the relationship of mystical facts with these various degrees.
The regular walk is that the soul gradually rises to the perfect union through purification and Pillumination. But these laws are nothing absolute, and a miraculous and all-powerful intervention of grace can suddenly carry a soul of the deepest abject morals to the highest peaks of charity, as seen in Saint Mary Magdalene and other famous converts.
A second point, no less important, concerns:
1 Pmpr. To SS. Trinit. Sum, theol. myst. Prolog. t. 4, p.17: Quamwvis ergo specialiter et principaliter sola via unitiva theologistæ mysticæ nomen, quasi: proprieum, obtineat, toti tamen huic opera præfigitur, tum quia sæpissime theologistæ mysticæ suavitas aliis viis, etsi non perenniter, transeunter tamen acrécetur.
2 Benenicr. XIV, De Servor. Dei beatific. 1. 3, ©. 26, n. 6, p- 185: Perfecta hæc mystica unio reperitur regulariter in perfecto contemplativo qui in vita purgativa et illuminativa, id est meditativa, et contemplativa diu exercitatus, ex speciali Dei favore ad infusam contemplativam evectus est.
3 GAUDIR, De natura and statibus perfect. P. 4, sect. 3, ©: 4 p. 430, in-fol. Paris, 1643: Contemplationem propriom esse tertii statuses (scilicet wnionis), licenset in aliis aliquaando inveniatur.
4 Joann. A Jesu Mara, Theol. myst. ©. 2, t. 2, p. 13: Ac ita purgativa and illuminativa (via) activæ (vitæ), unitiva contemplativæ apta consensione response... Ex his ergo quae asseruimus, easy fruitur ad quem charitatis gradum seu status theologia mystica pertineat, cum enim sit cognitio ingenua Dei per unionem elicita, aperte cernimus ad tertium procul dubio status seu yiam, cui familiarisation est contemplatatio, pertinere.
the complete gratuity and the relative rarity of mystical favors that serve as the pinnacle of the unitive life. The grace of God is always free; however, the progressive development of spiritual life through activity, from the purgation of sin to the love of benevolence, is a law of supernatural providence that applies to all who enter and walk in the path of perfection. Those who begin and persevere, after passing through the anguish of fear, will come to the illuminations of hope and the pure ardour of charity.
The same is not true of mystical ways. Unless there is a special vocation, which is neither due nor promised to anyone, one cannot rise to these sublime communications where God, by victorious action of his grace, subjugates the soul to the point of reducing it to a sweet and fruitful passivity. As we shall say later, many, whom God would bring to these heights of the sacred dilection, obstruct it by their fault and resist the first advances of divine goodness; it is no less true that these gifts are purely gratuitous, and that God denies them even to the very faithful ones who have gone through the stages of purgative and enlightenment with generosity, and who grow in pure charity that makes the essence and crowning of perfection.
Finally, one last observation that will allow us to hear what we will have to say in the future is that these various states of perfection are not so distinct that it does not appear in the moon, taken separately, nothing from the other two. In all and in each one one struggles and one keeps the soul in guard against sin, which is the proper thing of purification; one exercises himself to the virtues, and from this exercise results light and progress; one gives up to God to have with him only one life, which is at least the beginning of union. The cara-
cterus clean and distinctive of these different states derives from the dominant form of soul in work of perfection. When struggle and fear prevail, it is still the purgative way; when it is ardent to advance in the virtues and the attraction of hope, one walks in the illuminative way. If charity prevails, then it is the unitary state; but, as long as this mortal life lasts, for great or weak whether perfection is acquired, always there is work of purgation, enlightenment and union!. Similarly, the supernatural phenomena that are the object of Mystics are regularly in the state of the perfect ones and form as the crowning of them. Some even, for example, spiritual marriage, so clearly assume one-sided life that one cannot conceive them in one or the other of the lower degrees of perfection. But many of these divine favors, such as ecstasy, visions, divine touches, can meet, by way of exception, from the first steps or in the simple progress of spiritual life. They are then connected to the general law, as they are, in divine thought, a pressing excitement to move forward in the perfect ways, and the promise that one will soon reach, if one is faithful, the heights where these kinds of graces have as their habitual residence?
1 Suarez, De Orat. 1. €2. 11, n. 4 p. 166: Ex quade declaratione observatoire hos tres status nunquam esse in via ita condistinctos, quin unusquisque illorum aliquid de cæteris participet. Quilibet ergo illorum ab eo quod in ipso prædominatur nomen and rationem accipit. Nam imprimis in hac vita nunquam ad eum gradum perfectionis pervenitur in quo proficere homo non posit et debeat.
2 Suarez, bid. n. 4 p. 165: Ex his autem verbis cum proportione emptyur sequi contemplationem hujus vitae solis viris in vita and sanctitate perfectis possess suitable. Quia contemplatio, aut est perfecta unio cum Deo per amorem, vel est perfectissima Dei intuuitio quae in hac vita esse potest; utraque vero est proprio perfectorum... — n. 10, p. 168: Denique addendum est non esse ita propriom contemplationem virorum perfectorum, quin magna ex parte degustari posit ab imperfectis, imo et ab incipientibus.
Thus Mystics, as a special science, is part of ascetic theology. It embraces the three purgative, illuminating and one-sided ways through which the soul rises to perfection. The one-way path includes a first aspect, ordinary and common, where the sustained human activity of grace prevails, and another, in which man is reduced to passivity through the sovereign action of God t. It is this last aspect, extraordinary, wonderful, where divine charity surpasses, astonishes our conceptions and desires, which constitute Mystics.
To obtain a precise and luminous notion of mystical theology, it must be considered in turn as experience and as science. In the absence of a clear distinction between these two points of view, it is difficult to hear certain statements, the immediate conclusion of which seems to be that this part of sacred theology is closed to anyone who has not received the insignia of contemplation, and that the direction of contemplatives is forbidden to others than contemplatives. By making the share of experience and doctrine in the expressions of doctors, we escape these exorbitant and erroneous conclusions.
In fact, they often call the mystical theology God's supernatural work on the soul, and thus they designate experimental Mystics. At other times they make it a teaching that groups together and formulates in the body of doctrine the facts and laws that interest these supernatural communications: it is then the Doctrinal Mystics or the very science of Mystics.
1 Pricrpp. To SS. Trinrr. Theol. myst. Disc. prom. à. 8, t. 1, p. 27: Quod
in exercitio theologiae mysticæ patiatur anima contemplativa, certum is auctoritate and ratione.
Blessed Hierotheus, of whom St. Denis the Areopagitus spoke with the accent of the greatest admiration, brought together these two aspects of mystical theology: he learned it by study and sighing it by experience; he was SAVEN and PATIENT in this science of divine things.
From a subjective and experimental point of view, mystical theology has been defined in various ways.
Saint Denis, in his book of the divine Names, analysing how the mind rises to the notion of God, describes the science of which he is regarded as the father: "There is a very divine knowledge of God, which is obtained by ignorance, by means of a union superior to intelligence, when the intelligence, withdrawing from all beings and still abandoning itself, unites with the splendors that shine above it, and from every part flooded with clarity, illuminates itself with the inscrutable abhorrent of Wisdom?"
And at the beginning of his MYSTICAL THEOLOGY addressed to Timothy, the Areopagit teaches his disciple about the mystical life and the method to be followed in order to move forward. After an invocation to the Trinity, abhors light and darkness, where holy souls enjoy inaccessible claritys in the senses: "For you, dear Timothy," he said to him?
1 Name. div. ¢. 2, § 9. Migne, Patr. gr.t. Three, collar. 648: where póvov uaxlv, ANA xat maldvy tà lera.
2 Q. 7, §3, col. 871: Is autem divinissima Dei notitia quaæ per nescientiam accipitur, secundum illam, quae supra intellectum est, unionem, quando mens, a rebus omnibus recedens, at demum semetipsam deserens, desuper fulgentibus radiis unitur, quibus inllo inscrutabili sapientiae profundo collustur.
3 Myst. theol.¢. 1. Migne, t. Three, collar. 998: Tu vero, chare Timothy, in mysticis contemplationibus, intenta exercitatione, and sensum relinque and intellectual operations, and sensum and intellictiva omnia, and ea quae sunt and quae non sunt universa; and ad unionem ejus which supra essentiam and scientiam est, quantum fas est, indemonstrabiliter assurgas; si quidem per
MYSTICS 23 exercise constantly to mystical contemplations, abandon the intellectual senses and operations, all sensitive and intelligible, the being and the non-being, and by this universal ignorance raise as much as possible to the union of the One who is above all substance and knowledge. Through this frank, whole and pure ecstasy out of you and everything, stripped and freed from everything, you will rise to the super-substantial splendor of the divine darkness."
Saint Bonaventure, or the author of the MYSTICAL THEOLOGY so often inscribed under his name, calls him "an extension of love in God by the very desire of love!"
Gerson? reproduces this vague and obscure definition, and assigns a few others a little less undecided. According to him, "mystical theology is an anagogic movement, that is to say, which raises the soul in God, through a fervent and pure love"; or "an experimental knowledge of God that one has, in the burning of one-sided love"; or otherwise "a tasty notion of God acquired by the adherence and union of love the most sublime of the affective power with God". He adds the following, which he attributes to Saint Denis, and which is in fact found in substance in this author: "Mystical theology is an unreasonable, insane and insane wisdom, which exceeds all praise." liberam, and absolutetam. and puram tui ipsius a rebus omnibus avotationem, ad supernaturalem illum caliginis divinæ radium, withdrawals omnibus and a cunctis expeditus, eveheris.
1 Theol. myst. Prolog. Live, t. 8, p. 2: Sapientia enim haec quae mystica theologica dicitur, a Paulo apostolo est edocta, a Dionysio Areopagita suo discipulo conscripta, queæ idem est quod extensio amoris in Deum per amoris desiderium.
2 De myst. theol. spec. 28, t. 3 p. 384: Theologist mysticam sic possumus describere: Theologica mystica est extensio animi per amoris desiderium. Aliter sic: Theologica mystica est motio anagogica, hoc est sursum
ductiva in Deum, per amorem fervidum and purum: Aliter sic: Theologist mystica is experimentalis cognitio habita de Deo per amoris unitivi com-
These extreme expressions betray, according to Cardinal Bona!'s judicious remark, the difficulty of circumscribing this delicate and divine operation within precise limits, and of subjecting it to the common rules of dialectics. This is not an ordinary science. If one considers it as a permanent habit, mystical theology, continues this learned author, is not distinguished from wisdom, gift of the Holy Spirit, communicated to the soul at its highest degree; and, as a transitional act, it is nothing other than the fixedness of the spirit in God, admiration of his majesty, the suspension of the soul on the immense and eternal light, a view of the Divinity that transfigures through love and in peace.
As we can see, experimental Mystics is a supernatural elevation of the soul in God through love. That is why St Francis de Sales makes no difference between mystical theology and prayer.
"Do we estimate from quoy in prayer," said this kind doctor?, "what is the subject of our interview? Theotime,
plexum. Aliter sic: Theologica mystica est sapientia, id est sapida notio habita de Deo, dum ei supremus apex affectivæ potentiæ rationalis per amorem conjungitur et unitur. Vel sic per Dionysium, seen from divinis Nominibus: Theologica mystica is irrationalis, and amens, and stulta sapientia, ugly excedens.
1 Via compendii ad Deum, ¢. 3, n. 482, p. 109: Hac via quietis, secessus and abstractionis pervenitur ad mysticam theologiam, ad illam videlicet indoctam sapientiam omni sapientia humana superiorem, qua mens Deum suum sine discursibus agnoscit, and quasi counterctat and sine ratiocinationibus gustat. Is autem mystica theologia secretissima lied cum Deo locutio, etc. etc.... Alias alii definitiones tradunt queæ cum prædictis coincidunt. Res enim abstrusa, ct difficilis, ac prorsus divina certis finibus circumscribi nequit, and dialecticorum regulis concludeddi.
Liquet ex his, theologiam mysticam non ess proprie scientiam, prout scientia est habitus acquisitus. Sed si accipiatur pro actu, nibil aliud est quam ipsa lies in Deum defixio, admiratio majestatis, suspensio animi in lumen immensum ac æternale; ferventissima, quietissima ac transformativa inspectio Deitatis. If vero sumatur pro habitu, makelter idem is ac præstantissimum donum Spiritus sancti quod sapientia nuncupatur; secundum altissimum ejus gradum.
2 Treaty of the Love of God, I. 6, c. Four, collar. 455.
Sas is
wy speaks only of God; for quoy rots to estimate and maintain love, if not the Beloved? And for this reason theoration and mystical theology are only one thing.
"It is called theology, because, as the speculatory theology has God for its object, it also speaks only of God, but with three differences. 40 For this one treats God as God, and this one speaks of him as a sovereignly kind; that is, she looks at the divinity of the supreme Goodness, and this one the supreme goodness of the Deity. 20 The specuculative treats God with men and between men; the mystic speaks of God, with God and in God mesme. 5° The speculator tends to the connoisseurship of God, and the mystic to the love of God; so that this one renders his schoolboys savans, doctes, and theologists; but this one makes his own ardens, affectionate, lovers of God, and Philothées or Theophiles.
"Now it is called mystical, because the conversation is all secret, and says nothing in icelle between God and Love but from heart to heart, by uncommunicable communication to any other than to those who make it. The language of the Amans is so special, that no one hears only themselves. In short, prayer and mystical theology is nothing other than a conservation by which blade speaks in love with God of his very kind kindness, to unite and join in icelle."
It is true that mystical theology, in its narrow sense, is a kind of prayer; but any prayer does not realize mystical theology; it takes this superior prayer which removes the soul from itself to throw it into the depths of divine light ‘, that is, it
1 SCARAMELLI, Dirett. must. Tratt. 4, n. 19, p. 8: Theology mistica esperimentale, secundo il suo atto principale e più proprio, è una notizia pura di Djo che l'anima d ́ordinario riceve nella caligine luminosa, o per
contemplation is necessary, as the mystics t generally teach.
The time has not yet come to propose and discuss this concept. But based on the data we have just collected, mystical theology, from a subjective and experimental point of view, seems to us to be able to be defined: a supernatural and passive attraction from the soul to God, coming from an inner illumination and burning, which prevent reflection, surpass human effort, and may have a wonderful and irresistible resounding on the body.
This concept is substantially in line with most of those brought by mystical authors, except for what we have added from the rejailing of intimate facts about organs. Since these external radiances are the backlash and the extension of mystical operations that are consumed in the soul, is it not appropriate to state them in a complete definition of mystical theology?
It is true that the definition is not yet complete. Next to the experimental divine Mystic rises a hideous counterfeit, which has the prince of darkness as its author.
The demon, who poses as a rival of God and constantly disputes with him souls, monkey in the world divine action and mixes, when he can, his own action with that of
dir meglio, nel chiaro oscuro dscondazione alta contemplazione, insieme, con un amore esperimentale si intimo, che la fa pertere tutta a sè stesa, per unirla e transformarla in Dio.:
t Joann. a Jesu Mama, Theol. myst c. 1, t. 2, p. 5: Same (Dionysius Carthus. )... docet mysticam theologist esse præstantissimum donum Spiritus sancti, quod sapientia nuncupatur. And cam, inter alia nomina, tale= plationem calllari a.
God with such subtlety and perfidy, that it becomes more difficult, at least at the starting point, to discern what is ba that acts.
These two Mystics go, in their development in the opposite direction, one to the full development of good and love, the other to the last excesses of evil and hatred. It is therefore important to recognise from the first steps what will be the outcome of the path where we are moving forward.
That's not all.
Human nature itself has mysterious leaps and bursts in which, without coming out of its sphere, it touches, through the manifestations of good and beautiful, near the divine world; and, through the appearances or the audacity of evil, to the diabolical regions. It is no less necessary to point out these eccentricities of nature, so that they are not confused with truly supernatural productions.
Fool these aspects thus complement the science of Mystics. For, although this word, in its own sense, expresses the divine influences that reduce the soul to a holy and delicious passivity; although satanic intervention is only a contradiction, or, to put it better, the counterpart of divine action, and human phenomena that draw closer to authentically mystical facts can never go beyond a distant analogy and mere similarities, it is no less obvious that the serious and complete study of Mystics embraces all these points of view, and that they must find place in a definition This is an objective consideration of this science.
We now have all the elements of this definition.
From the doctrinal and objective point of view, Mystics can therefore be defined: the science that deals with supernatural phenomena, whether intimate or external, that prepares, accompanies or follows the passive attraction of souls to God and by God, that is, divine contemplation; that coordinates them and justifies them by the authority of Scripture, doctors and reason; distinguishes them from parallel phenomena due to Satan's action, and from purely natural analogous facts; and finally, that traces practical rules for the conduct of souls in these sublime but perilous ascensions.
Thus, the experimental Mystics found, discussed, codified, and by this rational work constituted as a body of science, becomes doctrinal. When contemplatives claim that mystical theology is a science of infusion, that it is a free gift of God, they intend to state the subjective side of these divine experiences. But they do not claim to reject any science acquired and reasoned of these phenomena; for without it one would have only scattered knowledge and as the materials of a science; it is the methodical grouping and discussion of these facts according to suitable principles that make it a science itself.
This scientific Mystics rules and controls experimental Mystics in the Church. It is an axiom of spiritual life, that there is no soul so high and perfect that is not subject to the law of direction; and it is in principles and doctrine, rather than doctrine.
in the facts and experiments, that the directors must seek their lights and base their judgments!.
Fr. Alvarez de Paz? places in two classes those to whom the knowledge of mystical science is useful or necessary: souls raised to these extraordinary states and the directors who lead them.
We do not dispute that contemplative souls cannot find light and comfort in the reading of authors who deal with these matters with competence and authority. It is always very useful for them to learn how many pitfalls and illusions these paths are sown. But, in the end, the last word of these situations is the director of consciousness.
For him, this study becomes an absolute obligationÿ.
1 SCARAMELLI, Tratt. 1, n. 28 p. 42: Ma s的egli è vero che non vi è anima si elevata, che non abbia ne nécessà di dipendere dalla direzione di qualche Padre spirituale; converrà dire che non vi sia Padre spirituale che non abbia bisogno di appigliarsi allo studio della mistica dottrinale, da cui si ricevono tutti quei lumi che sono necessarj ad interere l'opere strordinarie della divina grazia, e si somministrano tutte le regole che sono opportunelle per farne buon uso.
2 De Inquisit. pacis sive studio orat. 1. 5, pars 3, introd., t. 6 p. 541: Nam duæ sunt classes animarum quae hac erudie indigent: altera earum quae ad perfectam and omnino supernaturalem contemplationem subvebuntur, altera earam quae eas gubernant et dirigunt. Illæ egent aliqua hujus sapientiæ cognitione, not timed, not illusas, cum non sint, aut deceptas defleant, vel e contra aliquo dolo adversarii innexæ, ac si non essent, illusæ waudeant: and ut dona quae accepiunt agnosant et pro illis gratias agant, etse ad vitae puritatem his donis correspondenyaccingant. Hæ etiam - egent, quia cum certum sit non paucos utriusque sexus fideles, præsertim
in religiosis congregationibus, ad contemplationem perfectissimam sublimari, rectores and præfecti eorum, non eos, ut oportet, direct, si penitus hanc doctrinam, ignore; and nec per experientiam, nec per speculationem, aliquam ejus notitiam accesseperint.
3 Jos. Lopez EZQUERRA, Lucern. Myst. Proleg. n. 3 p. 4: Quamobrem, sicut animabus necessarium is Magistro ductore proceduree, ita Magistris ~ necessarium est nihil eorum quae in hac via virtutis et perfectionis occrerere
If he is not instructed about these facts and supernatural states, at least enough to know how to doubt and ask for advice, he will mislead instead of driving, he will treat delusions of God's operations in souls; or, too gullible, he will be deceived by hallucinations of sick brains, deceitfulness of ill-intentioned persons, and, worse, the perfidies of Satan.
"There are confessors and spiritual fathers," says St John of the Cross, "who, without the knowledge and experience of these ways, bring to these souls more obstacles than help, like the workers who built the tower of Babel, who, not hearing the tongue of one another, gave materials different from those needed, and in this way could not complete their work."
Let us add, with Scaramelli?, bearing witness to his own experience, that, while the souls called to these sublime ways meet more or less everywhere, the guides who hear and direct them are very rare?
We will not insist on the excise of this study, the main purpose of which is to tell the ineffables of this study.
possunt penitus ignorare, ut in tam diversis eventibus, laboribus, obscuritatibus, temptationibus, and purgationibus, cas ducere, consolari, and proficere valeant.
1 Mounted Carmel, Pref., p. xevr:
Two Diretts. Tr. €4. 1, n. 2, p. 1: Eppure io confesso il vero che questa brama di giovare cobla presente Opera all anime contemplative, mi è stata partorita nel cuore dalle sacre missioni: Conciossiacosachè due cose io ho compreso e quasi toccato con mani col lungo estercizio di questo sacro ministreo. The prima che quasi in ogni luogo si trova qualche anima che Iddio conducte per quest strade strordinarie ad un的 alta perfezione; there setonda, che molto rari sono quei confessori esperti che ben intendono la condutta che Iddio fa di tali anime për lerte vie della contemplazione. E percio o temono giustamente d'imprenterne la cura, o temerariamente la imprendono con loro danno,
ý TEN HET cai
Fe 5 =" ae. ie TS `
TL aa CN Te OS T ar
God's exaltation of his faithful creature, and all that may spring from love and enthusiasm for God from the depths of the human soul, which reveals in delicious firstfruits what will be the radiation of glory and the drunkenness of heaven; but we must not silence how great are his difficulties and his shadows.
The entry of this divine world is so much above the regions where the senses are stirred, and even those where reason is spread, that the senses and reason, while trying to penetrate it, lose capacity and see only darkness. It is a sort of axiom among the masters that mystical theology proceeds, in order to reach its object, by means of elimination and negation. According to St. Denis the Areopagit t, the mystic, in order to meet God and unite with him, must come out of oneself and from the world created, and sink by faith, adoration and love, into the deep darkness of the Being who keeps ever more in himself than he can communicate to the universality of things that begin.
These abstractions, prolonged to the limits of infinity, doubtless raise the mind by bringing it closer and closer to God; but they also plunge it into shadows where it is hard to see clearly his own thought, and through which he runs a great risk of getting lost.
Moreover, under the penalty of not asserting oneself, mystical science must resort to human formulas and create a language in relation to the strange things that it tries to tell.
Let's hear about this Cardinal Bona?. "The height of
1 De Myst. theol. Migne, t. Three, collar. 998. 2 De Discrete. spirit. ad fin. p. 321: Nam celestium donorum sublimitas sæpe excedit vim and meaningem omnium vocum, quas ad marchedos
heavenly gifts often surpasses the strength and meaning of all the terms that men have instituted to express their thoughts, and if anyone wants to open himself to his director, as he must, of these divine impressions, the common language will not suffice to his thought. That is why he must invent new terms and new expressions to make known the singular gifts he has received from God; and fleshly men, not hearing this language, do not fail, with their ordinary haste, to tax him error. This is the grievance that some people articulate against mystical Theology, which they accuse of containing obscure, horrible, unbelieving, unintelligible words, in disagreement with the teachings of philosophers and theologians, and which they mock as having no bearing, if they do not conceal a repetition of the long-declared mistakes of the Beguards and the [lightened. Mystical Theology must have its terms, as all the arts and sciences have. And, since she is totally supernatural, her principle, her end, her means and her ways to reach her end, and similarly her words and her expressions surpass the order and the forces of nature, and the language of human wisdom."
animi conceptus homines institutunt; and if that ea, ut par est, directori pandere velit, lingua cordi unsufficit. Unde necesse est ut nova vocabula novasque phrases fingat, quibus singularia Dei dona sibi concessa manifestit; quas sane voces carnales non percipientes, præcipiti sententi veluti erroneas damnare solent. Traducitur hoc nomine a nonnullis mystica Theologia, ac si voces contineat obscuras, horridas, inauditas, inintelligibiles et a placitis philosophorum ac theologorum dissentientes, quas, vel ludibrio habit tanquam nullius momenti, vel nihil differre putant a erroribus Beguardorum et Illuminatorum dudum damnatis... Habet mystica Theologia suas voces, quas terminos vocant dialectici, sicut omnes artes et scientieæ; et cum sit omnino supernaturalis, ejus principalium, fini and media, motusque tendendi in finem, voces quoque et phrases quibus traditur, naturæ ordinem ac vires, atque humanæ sapientiæ verba transcendant.
From there, therefore, an overabundant source of darkness for anyone who dedicates himself to the study of this divine science.
To these difficulties inherent in the things themselves comes the lack of personal experience in most of those who have to deal with these subjects. Even those who have suffered these supernatural phenomena experience some kind of torture when they want to translate what they have seen or felt. They go through the series of things known to look for the image of what they have seen, and it is hardly if, using comparisons and figures, they can express something of these divine impressions.
To avoid exaggeration, let us say that the difficulty is not always equal. A number of mystical facts, such as ravishing, stigmatizing, suave smells and many other miraculous derogations, fall within the meaning, which can at least see their existence; sensitive visions and positive revelations are subject to the control of ordinary theology and that of reason. But even in these external manifestations that seem to offer nothing unaccessible, error is easy, and the slope that leads to slippery excesses, as attests to the aberrations and turpitudes of false mystics. = In the secret of the soul, darkness is otherwise deep. No one knows himself well; but it can be said that he is made in the depths of every soul of the reserves which she never fully delivers. This is especially true of women, and Saint Teresa mocks herself with as much mind as she is of some confessors who pretended to know women thoroughly for having confessed them two or three times. And yet it is in women, we will later say the reason, that the wonders of the mystic order usually meet.
Whatever these shadows and pitfalls, a careful study, combined with humble and fervent prayer, succeeds in giving these supernatural states sufficient knowledge so that one can surely lead the souls that pass through them, at least sufficient to cause doubt of his own lights and resort to the advice of more experienced and more educated guides. No doubt happy who can unite experience with science; but once again, the science of mystical facts is possible to a great extent without personal experimentation: a deep and careful study, continued and doubled in the very exercise of the priestly ministry, in the presence of the complications and lessons of practice, is the normal way to raise to this knowledge, and to acquire there the prestige of a great and sure authority.
Our purpose, in the publication of this book, was to facilitate this learning of the directors and their initiation to the problems of Mystics, which, in their eyes, carried out with a method of instigation phenomena which affect this order of spiritual life, and to formulate, under the inspiration of the most tried masters, precise rules by which they will surely distinguish the action of God from the artifices of the demon and natural superfetations.
The great difficulty is to draw his walk.
Rieñ, in fact, is more difficult to dispose of the material so diverse, so complex, sometimes so related and often so disparate: Quañd on one side, the light seems to have to be more resplendent by a äutre. More than in any other science, full light can only deliver from it.
MYSTICS 35 seems; but before we get the synthesis, we have to classify details that are supposed to be reciprocally, or so alien to each other, that we don't know how to bring them together and connect them.
Most of Mystique's works are proof of this embarrassing complication, by the diversity of their exposure, the weak evidence of their continuation, and by the darkness that hovers on their general prescription.
We allow ourselves these remarks, not with a purpose of criticism or with the pretension to do better, but rather to warn the reader against too severe a logic, and also in order to reconcile his indulgence in favour of the plan that we are going to propose to him.
We start from this basic data of all methodical teaching, which must be done step by step, from the mere exposure of the facts to the last reason for their origin in the causes they proceed, and first drawing the main part, to better attach to it the secondary dependents.
In accordance with this method, we will begin by exposing the phenomena of the mystical order.
These facts are divided into two classes. Some perform to the most intimate of the soul, in a supernatural, silent, imperceptibly increasing elevation, which bears the glorious name of Contemplation. The autres are distinct, precise acts, mostly external at least by their manifestations, lesque, without indissolubly confounding with the contemplative suspension, usually prepare, accompany or follow it, but can also occur separately.
The contemplation, being the fundamental object of mystical science and like the body of the building, presents itself logically in the first place; the other facts
36 INTRODUCTION which group around or are independent of this main act, then appear. The order to be followed in the enumeration of phenomena is thus determined.
After exposing the multiple aspects of mystical life in the double form we have just indicated, we will have to look for the various causes to which these effects can be attributed.
In principle, the true mystical life emanates from God, and from God alone; but we have said that the demon is attached to Singer God, and that nature presents eccentricities that seem to be close to the supernatural states. In the presence of a fact with mystical characters or appearances, the question inevitably arises: Is this fact divine, evil or only human? And unless Mystics is the world of confusion and traps, there must be signs that can unravel these influences and characterize these situations.
The last part of our book will be dedicated to highlighting these authentic marks of divine action, the nature and extent of the evil interventions, the human anomalies that have some resemblance to the true miracles, and the difference that separates and characterizes these three orders of phenomena. These distinctions will serve as an answer to the free assumptions, to the misleading and often childish interpretations, with the help of which rationalism strives to reduce to natural proportions the mystical facts which it cannot contest the existence.
Our plan is therefore clearly emerging.
It embraces three parts:
The first will include the series of intimate facts, from the announcements of contemplation to its full development.
_ The second will have as its object the phenomena more or less external, distinct from contemplation. The third will deal with the causes of these effects. The increasing clarity of our exposure will hopefully justify the order we have just adopted.
To achieve this plan, to paint in a way in the eyes of these various forms of mystical life, we thought that nothing would be more effective than to show them in action in living and historical narratives. That will not be the least part of our task. Facts can be found everywhere; but to find out who answers countless situations and all hypotheses, we have some right to say it, it is not done without work.
We will borrow all our legends from ACTA SANCTORUM of the Bollandists t. After reading a considerable number of particular stories, we soon convinced ourselves that most have their source or confluence in this vast collection?, the greatest scholarly work that has been undertaken and realized, at least of this kind. And, in order to put more uniformity in the many quotations we had to produce, we thought it preferable to take them, as far as possible, from the same source.
However, when we claim the holy Fathers and the
1 All of our references refer to the recent edition of Mr. Victor Palmé, by the two letters BB, to designate the Bollandists, with indications of the month, the day, the volume, the page and the number.
2 Pope Azexanpre VII: Utilius opus and Ecclesiae Dei gloriosius hectenus nullum editum esse a quoquam nec etiam inchoatum. (Apud PareBrocH, Vita, operabus and virtutibus J. Bollandi BB. Mart. t. 7, p. xxx, n. 76.)
The most famous ecclesiastical writers, our indications immediately refer to their works, although these testimonies are almost always recorded in the immense collection of Bollandists. More importantly, when it comes to traits that these scholars have not spoken of, we refer to the works where we have collected them. Among these books, we will mention the recent publication by the Visitation de Paray-le-Monial on the Life and Works of Blessed Marguerite-Marie Alacoque, and the Life of Venerable Mother Agnes de Langeac, perhaps the richest monument in mystical wonders.
Many of our stories would make the unbeliever smile, if he had to read us. It is not for the unbeliever that we write: with him we would refrain from beginning with mystical confidences; our first som would be to put him in order with common sense and history. It is true, in fact from Mystic, the unbelievers are more numerous than one thinks, and such who makes a high profession of religion and even piety believes to show the strength of his mind and the virility of his faith by laughing, too, at what scandalizes disbelief. For us, we value, with the famous Bollandus!, past master and judge
1 Præfat. gene. in vitas SS. ad Abbatem Lætiensem. $ 4, n. 2 and 3, t 1, p. xxxvin: Inficari tamen non possumus, ais, quin multa in his ridicula narrentur. Ego ita severus non sum ut risu mihi omnibusque hilaritatis indiciis interdicam: nunquam tamen licatet pourer in his Actis quotidie, memini mihi risum ab iis moveri. Ridicula sunt father, quae stolidissimi daemones ad Sanctorum labefactandam in precandi studio aliisque virtutibus constantiam machinati sunt, dubites majori furore an vaffrie; nego tamen ridiculum esse ea narrri. At si cui ita splen salit, prorumpat insane in risum and cachinnos, ut flave. Does existimet tamen a petulantia illa solidum duci argumentum, quo haec valeant Acta convelli, etc... Esto: ridicula haec non vacuumantur, incredibilia certo sunt quam Plurima. What it is? Quia consuetum rerum humanarum modum excedunt. An asseruntur viribus facta humanis? an not a Deo ejusve auxilio? What's wrong? If Livius aut Sallustius haec narrret accidis, crederes, opinor, sed
in the matter, whether there is lightness, presumption and inconvenience to treat as ridiculous or unbelievable everything that is not in human way and measure, and as false everything that seems unimaginable to our way of thinking. In history, we proceed differently: we first see the fact, then we look for the reason; and whether we find it or not, the fact remains.
Let us add that these disdain for Mystics, in those who claim to be believers, show little memory or logic on their part. When we admit the supernatural of Bible accounts as a whole and their details, as is necessary if we are not to believe Christianly, we do not retain the right to recite ourselves, to mock, in the presence of similar or similar facts, and often much less strange, than if we also retain the right to contradict one another. What wonders surpass or even equal those that are read in the Bible about Adam and Eve, about Abraham, Moses, Job, Tobias, most of the Prophets? Why worship for one another, and laugh for the other? Why here more than elsewhere double standards? All we can claim is that the rules of historical criticism are sufficiently applied: the authors we follow seem to us to satisfy these requirements.
The Bollandists, who provide us with most of our stories, make it an open profession, by the pen of their leader, to not include in their acts any document which one might suspect to be fabulous and contorted, or of
dæmonum præstigiis facta diesres. An ergo plus hae, quam supremæ lied immensum numen potest... Quæris unde mihi constet fecisse Deum quidquam quod memoratur; unde tibi conseil non fecisse? auctorem profero qui asserat; habes qui neget? si habes, utrius potiorides? si non habes, et profii fateris possée; vacu ne temerarium sit absque ulla ratione negare esse factum. None of them fled, inquisitive, patrandi miraculi caussa. Unde id nosti? etc.
come from suspicious hands t. If, in the details, there are dangerous assertions from the point of view of doctrine or history, they take care, in the notes following each chapter, to clarify or reject them. We complied with these indications, omitting the line or indicating reservations.
The Life of Mother Agnes, to which we make so many loans, also seems to us to fulfil the conditions of historical confidence. The author, M. de Lantages, who left in the Church of France and in the Society of Saint Sulpice a sweet fragrance of holiness, wrote this story on his knees. By this we can judge the scrupulous care that he had to bring to inquire of facts and to make no progress which seemed to him to conform to the truth? In 1863, Fr.Labbé Lucot re-edited this book, introducing valuable and conscientious additions and annotations. Our excerpts are taken from this last and excellent edition.
For the writings of the Blessed Marguerite-Marie Alacoque, it is mainly of her life written by herself that we have made use, and it is understood what
1 Boczanpus, Præf. gen. § 3, p. xxxvi: Dico igitur, primum nullas esse hoc in opera vitas, quas omnino commentitias posit quis vel levissime suspicari, aliquo semper attesting Martyrologio certave auctoritate. Dein nullas esse, quas probabile sit ulla ex parte ab hereticis aliisque maleferiatis hominibus vitatas.
2 Mr. Faton, Life of M. de Lantages, l. 4, n. 22, p. 205: Although M. de Lantages found a very delicate complexion, and this Life was quite extensive, he always wrote it on his knees, and with such great feelings of religion, that he first grazed in the depths of his heart what he then put in writing the feelings and virtues of this venerable prioress. Since the life of Mother Agnes was filled with very extraordinary events, M. de Lantages, so circumspect and so judicious in prodigy, wanted to ascertain the truth of the facts before; and it is apparent from the count of the authorities on which he relied that neither he nor the vicar-general of Saint-Flour (M. Chomel), wont believed slightly so many wonderful things. It was easy for him to obtain all the necessary documents.
in a time when there were still many people who had had the happiness of conversing with Mother Agnes.
This document is given the recent beatification of its author. "The Church has studied this account with the severity that it brings to this kind of examination, and has solemnly found the authenticity of it!"
The facts we cite therefore deserve to be addressed. However, regardless of the abundance and authenticity of these stories, we should not misunderstand our purpose. This is not a history of the wonders of Mystics that we have undertaken: this work is done in part in the sixty in-folio volumes of Bolland scholars. Our more modest purpose is to group and coordinate these facts into a body of doctrine. Most often we will only mention one or two examples, when there are a thousand of them of the same kind. Moreover, since the principles are independent of any application, among the alleged facts it would encounter materially false, that the doctrine remains out of reach; for, it is important to note, in general, the doctrinal statement relates less to contingent achievements than to the possibility. And when the very concept presents difficulties, we will try to clarify them, not by claiming questionable facts, but by a rigorous discussion of principles. Similarly, if the doctrine were based on the facts, we would then insist on the strength of the testimonies that guarantee its authenticity. But, above all, we wanted to do a theological and doctrinal work.
We therefore had to rely primarily on masters in doctrine and theology. The number will be judged
1 BoucauD, Hist. de la B. Marg.-Marie, ch, 9; 3rd ed., p. 207. D
and the nature of the quotations if we were faithful to them. We simply confess, there is nothing, or almost nothing of us in this book, except the work of conception and the work of realization. Even when we seem to speak on our behalf, it is the voice of the great representatives of the Christian tradition, of the scholastic and mystical theology, which one hears.
The Fathers will often be invoked, especially St Augustine, who raises and clarifies so many problems about God, about the soul and their relationship; and St Gregory the Great, whose science extends to everything, but becomes exceptionally luminous and suave, when it penetrates and exposes the secrets of contemplative life.
Among the mystics whose names reappear frequently, are St. Denis the Areopagitus, the father and the prince of Mystics; St. Bernard, the doctor of unctuous piety, doctor mellifluus; the two great lights of the contemplative school of St.Victor, Hugues and Richard; the seraphic doctor Saint Bonaventure, the pious Gerson, Rickel or Denis the Chartreux, nicknamed the ecstatic doctor, the Seraphic Teresis!, "that the Church almost puts to the rank of doctors, celebrating the sublimitity of its doctrine?" his emulation Saint John of the Cross, the mystical doctor; St. Francis of the Sales, which the Church has just decorated with the title of doctor for the elevation of his teachings and the suavity of his direction; Fr. Alvarez de Paz of the Society of Jesus, whose writings are an inexhaustible mine of the strongest spirituality; Fr. Philip of the Most Holy Trinity, the son and spiritual disciple of Saint Teresus; closer to us, the learned Cardi-
1 We are of those who hold that the true spelling of this name is Teresus and not TueResus, and that the 4, which eventually became traditional among us, is a French superfetation which was point of raison d'être.
2 Bossunt, Instruct. on the weather conditions, l: 9, n.3,t. 6 p. 1892.
née NC CARE. T Case - — P, + DECR + RES a Aay j ' a PU S ' A nes x r D ere
THE MYSTICS 4 RAS AS nal Bona, Pope Benedict XIV, whom his magisterial work on the BEATIFICATION and CaNONISATION of the Saints placed first in the matter of miracles and Mystics; Benedictine Schram, who was appropriated by a faithful translation of the mystical Theology of the Spanish Jesuit Michel Godinez; Fr. Scaramelli, another Italian Jesuit, who has deserved pious souls by drawing them safe rules for common life in his ASCETICAL DIRECTORY; and, for the extraordinary ways, in his MYSTICAL DIREGORY, where one often finds the trace of Joseph Lopez Ezquerra, author of a highly renowned book in Spain and elsewhere, entitled the MYSTICAL LAMP:
If the scholastic theologians appear less numerous, they are widely represented by the very angel of VSchool, Saint Thoras of Aquinas, and by Suarez, in whom, according to the fair praise of Bossuet, one hears the whole School: we use their authority in all encounters.
These are our guides. The texts reproduced at the bottom of the pages will enable the reader to appreciate how faithful we have been. We make only one reservation, that of the whole good faith; on this point we recuse in advance any unfavourable stop, and until mere suspicion.
It may be surprising that we allege so rarely Görres, the learned author of DIVINE, NATURAL AND DIABOLIC MYSTICS. This book, we readily recognize, is a monument of hagiographic science, and there would be ingratitude on our part to conceal that we owe it much. If we almost never invoke the testimony of the famous German writer, here are the reasons.
We could only question the mysteries of contemplation; that it seems to be seen only by their phenotenal and accidental side, and faith in their causality.
FES Ss e aS He
Intimate, vital, truly supernatural; similar to those tourists who admire the outside of the temple without entering it; or who, if they enter it, merely consider the boldness, magnitude, elegance of the outer forms, and do not sí inform about their raison d ́être or their destination, nor the powerful faith that inspired them.
For the facts he tells, he leaves the reader more than once in a painful indecision on the source and value of his stories, and most often he borrows them, as we have done ourselves, to the inexhaustible treasure of the Bollandists. Wherever we have taken it, we have made a law to report the authorities, and as far as we have been able, to reproduce their statements in full. Any other indication became unnecessary.
The accounts follow the interpretations, and on this point Görres, whatever the rightness of his intentions, could only inspire us just mistrust. Wide, sometimes too broad, in the admission of facts, his criticism, always more or less marked by rationalism, seems to take on the task of suppressing or distorting the supernatural. Respectful and easy to excess for the legend, he ignored or misconceived Christian theology, to which he substituted a vague and fanciful psychology, whose preliminary discussion would be infinitely more laborious than, for a calm and judicious mind, traditional demonstrations in honor in Catholic schools. Of the two parts of this book, facts and doctrine, the first received well-deserved praise, with which we almost fully associate. It is not the same for the second, which seems to us not only questionable, but also suspicious: we dare to say it, theology has failed Görres.
Should we be surprised? Görres was a simple layman, taking a very active part in the political agitations of the
MYSTICS France and Germany during the first twenty years of this century, and which took on religion, at least from the point of view of Mystics, only at the age of forty years past. It was a little late for a complete theological initiation. Thus, the impulses of a sincerely converted soul often mix, without his knowledge, the prejudices of a spirit that is too long independent.
The frontispiece of his work: The DIVINE, NATURAL AND DIABOLIC MysriQc contains, in our view, a counter-sense and a mistake. There is no more natural Mystics, than there is supernatural nature, and the demon, whatever its constitutive power and mad ambition, cause and consequence of its fall, cannot exceed its own sphere; whatever it tries, it is only natural, never supernatural. But the first character of Mystics is to be extra-natural; God alone, therefore, can be the author: the true Mystic is essentially divine. Whether there is on the edges of the nature of supernatural appearances, and whether the proud spirit strives to sing the divine, one does not refuse to admit, on condition of holding these manifestations for what they are in reality: in the human world for pure analogies, in the evil world for counterfeits of the true Mystics: reason demands that one apply, not to confuse, but to untangle these things. That's why we called our work: DIVINE MYSTICS DISTINGED FROM DIABOLIC CONTRACTIONS AND HUMAN ANALOGIES.
This is the work undertaken by us with the help of God, and that we submit with a filial and docile heart to the judgment of our mother, the Holy Roman Church.
The Contemplation occupies the first place in the mystical Theology. — Three points of view embrace all matter: the Contemplation in general, its degrees, the purifications that precede it.
The Contemplation forms the fundamental object of mystical theology: the definitions that one brings of one and the other reveal their affinity where concluded to their identity.
Mystical phenomena are, in fact, grouped around contemplation as preliminary, essential, concomitant or subsequent parts of a principal act, and we have already pointed out that the fdits referred to in Part Two of this work are almost all occurring in the very exercise of contemplation. If we treat apart from this suave elevation of the soul in God by God himself, it is to better draw its characters and gradations, ît, Eh
the release of accessories that encircle, if not bring it into full light, at least partially diminish, by the clarity of exposure, the natural darkness that envelops these mysteries of sacred love and steals them from the eyes of humans, especially those who have never experienced their ineffable sweetness.
We are one of those, and we are admitting without a doubt that our work is reduced to the labors and the trial of human study. We have gathered, with the most faithful attention, the statements of the holy souls who have told their own experiences, and the affirmations of the masters who have received, controlled and coordinated these admirable accounts.
Mystical facts meet everywhere; but it is to the masters that we must ask for doctrine, and it is to them primarily that we will address ourselves.
All are unanimous in assigning the general characteristics of contemplation, although they differ in the presentation and discussion of particular points of view. They also agree to recognize in the march of contemplation a series of degrees by which the soul gradually rises up to the perfect union; they divide themselves on the number and nature of these ascensions. Finally, as prerequisites for contemplative prayer, all still point to the purifying trials by which God calls and prepares souls for this delicious trade, or has them at liberty to move from lower degrees to more sublime communications.
These three aspects, namely: contemplation in general, its varying degrees, and the passive purgations that announce, prepare and activate it, summarize all the questions that concern mystical prayer.
The degree of contemplation can only be spoken of after determining its concept, and the study of the
‘Preparatory tests will gain from the last, because it will benefit from the light of the solutions acquired, while, clarified, it would contribute little to enlightening the points of view that will precede it.
We will therefore have to study successively:
1o Contemplation in general;
20 His degrees;
30 The purifications that precede it.
Various acceptances: here it is only theological contemplation, — His definition according to the main mystics. — His two constituent elements, intuition and love. — How it differs from philosophical contemplation, — from simple thought and meditation.
The general overview which opens this first part covers a large number of questions which can be brought back to the following statements: concept and excellence, species, object, causes and effects, duration, subject of the story
This is the first time that we've had a chance to get a chance to get a job. This chapter responds to the first of these statements. I. — The word of contemplation expresses the idea of a
great spectacle that attracts the eyes and absorbs attention. The vastness of the ocean, the brightness and expanse of the heavens, the vast horizons of the mountains, and in general, as well as the remark of Cicero, * all that in nature offers a lure to the admiration of the spirit and satisfies its greed to know.
In a narrower and more precise sense, the
1 Academ. quaest. 1. 2, n. 41: Is animorum ingeniorumque naturale quoddam quasi pabulum:
This is a profound absorption of the mind, determined by the vivid, striking and admiring intuition of the truth.
When this knowledge mixed with admiration for the object of the natural world or when it is confined to speculation, contemplation is purely philosophical. It becomes theological and mystical, when it is exercised over the supernatural and tends less to the consideration of the mind than to the emotional attachment of the heart.
Here we are dealing only with theological contemplation.
Il. — The authors define it in a variety of ways; but from this diversity of statements a clear, precise, complete notion emerges.
The book Pe L-Esprir ET DE L'Améme, long attributed to St Augustine, but by an author after Boèce, gives contemplation of this definition as just as concise: "It's a delicious admiration of the brilliant truth!"
Saint Augustine, who often spoke of contemplation in his writings, defines it in the xth book against Fauste: "A holy drunkenness which removes the soul from the fluidity of temporal things, and which has as principle the intuition of the eternal light of Wisdom?"
The unknown author of the work SCALA CLAUSTRALIUM, or treated by many to the way of prayer, attributed by Saint Bernard, calls contemplation "an elevation and a suspension of the spirit in God, which is a foretaste of the joys of eternal sweetness".
The holy abbot of Clairvaux gives, in the second book of
1 De Spiritu et Anima, ©. 32: Contempliatio is perspicuæ veritatis jucunda admiratio.
2 Contra Faustum Manich. 1. 19 c. 48: Sancta quadam ebrietate alienatæ lied ab infra labentibus temporalibus æternam lucem sapientiæ contueri.
3 C. 4: Contempliatio is lied in Deum suspensæ elevatio, æternæ dulcedinis gaudia degustans.
the Consciousness, the following notion, vague, too general, and containing nothing proper to mystic contemplation: "It is, he said, a true and certain look of the spirit on something, or an apprehension of the true excluding doubt."
Hugues de Saint-Victor is more explicit, but without achieving sufficient precision. According to him, "Contemplation is a profound and free-minded intuition, which penetrates the things he wants to know on all sides?"
It is true that elsewhere * it simply reproduces the already reported definition of the book of Esprit and AME.
His disciple Richard sees in contemplation "a clear and penetrating look of the spirit, which hangs with admiration at the performances of divine Wisdom".
Gerson, basing these definitions of Saint-Victor's two illustrious mystics in one, brings them back to the following: "Contemplation is an insightful, free and spirit-free look, penetrating from all sides in the spiritual things that he considers, and suspended from divine shows."
The Angelic Doctor ê teaches that contemplation is "a simple view of the truth, ending in an emotional movement?"
Philippe de la Très-Sainte-Trinité stops at the first
1 From Consider. ce. 2: Potest contemplatatio quidem. definiri: Verus certusque intuituus animi de quacumque re, sive apprehensio veri non dubia.
2 Hom. 1 in Eccl. Migne, t. 175, col. 117: Contempliatio is perspicax and liber animi contuitus in res perspiciendas usquequaque diffuseus.
3 Instit. monast. de Anima, 1. 2, c. 24.
4 Benjamin Major, 1. Four cents. 4. Migne, t. 496, Col. 67: Contemplatio is libera lied perspicacia in sapientiæ spectacula cum admiration suspensea.
5 De Myst. theol. speccul. cons. 21, t. Three, collar. 378: Contempliatio is perspicax and liber, id is expeditus animi contuitus in res spirituales perspiciendas, usquequaque diffuseus and in divina spectacula suspensus.
6 Sum. 2. 2. q. 180, a. 3, ad 1: Contempliatio pertinet ad ipsum simplicitem intutum veritatis.
7 Ibid. Ad 3: Contempliatio ad affectum terminatur.
54th part of this definition, and thus we seem to omit an essential element!.
Saint Bonaventure reproduces? the too general notion given by Saint Bernard; but in the opuscule entitled: OF THE SEVEN CHEMINS OF LYETERNITY *, assuming his work, he brings another more extensive one, which makes the whole meaning of contemplation: "It is, he says, an act of intelligence, which, free from all hindrance and cleansed by grace, directs his gaze on the spectacle of eternal things and remains suspended there by admiration."
Alvarez de Paz +, whose authority is so considerable in matters of spirituality, calls contemplation "a free, penetrating and certain intuition of God and heavenly things, which produces admiration, goes to love and proceeds from love".
According to Saint Francis de Salesÿ, "Contemplation is nothing but a love, simple and permanent attention of the mind to divine things."
Cardinal Bona ê, one of the most secure mystics of the penultimate century, the fact consists "in a vision
1 Sum. Theol. myst. P. 1, Tr.1, D. 1, to. 5, t. 2, p: 31: Quod si manc definitionem (D. Thomæ) contemplationi sanctorum aptare velimus, tune contemplationatio dicetur divinæ veritatis intuituus.
2 Centiloquium, leave. 3, sect. 46.
3 Tertio Itin. dist. 2: Contempliatio... is actus intellectus non impediti, gratia sanati, in æterna spectacula directi, cum admiration suspensei.
4 De natura Contemplat. 1. 5, part. €2. 1, t. 6. Ed. Live, p. 482: Contempliatio, ut nobis quidem videtur, is liber, perspicax and certus intuituus Dei ac rerum celestium, admirationeni inferens, in amorem desinens, and ab amore processes.
5 The Treaty of Vamour of God, 6, c. 8.
6 Via compendii ad Deum, ©. 9, n. 4 p. 124. Constititut autem in visione quadam suavi, quieta et amabili veritatis æternæ, quam sine discursuum variate sincere aspicit et penetrat ingenti amore atque admiratione, tanca certitudine et claritate, ut faciem, sicut de Moyse ditit Scriptura, Dei intueri dicatur; non quemadmodum Beati in gloria, sed minoti quodam lumina, caliginoso et fidei innixo, quae ab eo valde perficitur et clarificatur.
Suave, quiet and kind of the eternal Truth, which spirit perceives by a pure glance, without the multiplicity of reasonings; and that it penetrates with great love and equal admiration, with so much certainty and clarity, that it is elevated to the facial intuition of God; not yet to the glory of the blessed, but in a lesser light, yet obscure, and supported by faith, which finds there its perfection and great clarity."
Schram + and Scaramelli? present an absolutely identical definition: ue in terms, except for a single word which does not alter the substance of the statement. Let us still be allowed this quotation, which will be the last: "The mystical contemplatatior," these two authors say, "is an elevation of spirit in God and divine things, with a simple admiring look suavely and ardently in love with divine things."
IT. — From these various statements clearly emerge the constitutive characters of contemplation.
We can bring them back to these two: first, it is a simple intuition of the truth, that is to say, it occurs without prior effort on the part of the mind and without any work of reasoning.
1 Theol. Myst. § 248, t. 1, p. 435. Is autem contemplatatio mystica elevatio lied in Deum and res divinas, per simplicitem intutum admirationis, suaviter and ardentissime rerum divinarum amantem.
2 Diret. Myst. Tratt. 2, ©. 4, n. 34, p. 53. The Contemplazione mistica è un'elevazione di mente in Dio, o nelle cose divine, con uno sguardo semple ammirativo e suavmente amoroso delle cose divine.
3 WELCOME OF Paz, De natura contemplating. 1. 5, part. 2, c. 4, t. 6 p. 483. Is igitur contemplatatio intuituus, sive intuuitio, quoniam, ut Gerson optime tradit, no est opus rationis discurrentis et inquirentis veritatem, sicut meditatio, sed opus intelligentiæ veritatem absque omni discursu simpliciter inspicientis. Intellectus enim humanus in rationem et intelligentiam, non tanquam in dues parties, sed tanquam in due ejusdem potentiae officia dividitur. Ratio is like pedum, quia huc illuccque discurrit, and ad multa and varia ordinate se movet, ut veritatem inveniat. Intelligentia vero is like oculi, quoniam inventam veritatem simpliciter and sine labore respicit and ex illo simpliciti aspectu, which contemplatatio est, incredibilem voluptatem sumit,
intuitive does not stop at a pure vision of understanding; it determines in the will an emotional movement that assigns to this operation of the mind its end and its raison d'être.
Thus freed from any complication of principle, effects and circumstances, contemplation is what Saint Thomas defines it: a simple look at the truth ending in an emotional movement of the heart.
But this loving view of the truth is always accompanied by two effects that contribute to its characterization, one of which comes from knowledge, the other from love: admiration and joy '.
The magnitude and unforeseeableness of the vision, the greatness and majesty of its object throws the soul into astonishment and astonishment. As St Thomas observes, admiration is a kind of fear that grabs us in the presence of something that exceeds our power. This is the cause of the grasping that makes us experience the sight of a sublime truth that surpasses our conceptions.
The encounter of the object by love produces the delight, a sweet and quiet delight. Enjoying, indeed, what else is to possess the object loved without fear of losing it? The soul raised to contemplation experiences the drunkenness celebrated in the hymns, and tastes on the bosom of God even a delicious rest.
These suavities usually burst into the senses and reach the flesh itself, as the psalmist attests, when he says: "My heart and my flesh have braided in the living God." However, as we do
1 RicnarD of SAINT-Victor, Benjamin Major, 1. 4, ©. Four, collar. 63: Proprium itaque is contemplationi jucunditatis suæ spectaculo cum admiratione inhaerree.
2 Sum. 2. 2. q. 180, a. 3, ad 3. Admiratio is species timoris consequens apprehensionem alicujus rei excedentis nostram facultym; unde admiratio est actus consequens contemplationem sublimis veritatis.
3 Psalms. LXXxM, 8.
Let us say more in its place, these effects of love may not exceed the upper part of the soul, and leave the lower parts in desolation and anguish.
Contemplation therefore consists in a simple, loving, admiring and suave intuition of the truth.
IV. — Rigoruously interpreted, this concept also seems to be appropriate and appropriate for philosophical contemplation and supernatural contemplation, and yet it is the last one to be defined here.
To remove any ambiguity, let us insist on the emotional and practical character, which is the end of Christian contemplation, as Albert the Great notes!.
Mystical contemplation, says Suarez?, differs from the common and natural contemplation, in that it is purely speculative, while it is practical both in relation to the contemplating truth and in relation to the intention of the contemplating one. Even when contemplation has as its object the attributes of
1 Deadhær. Deo Lib. t. 21 ad jective, p. Six cents. 9. Animadvertenda is in hocdiferentia inter contemplationem catholicorum fidelium and philosophorum gentilium, quia contemplationatio philosophorum is propter perfectionem contemplatantis, and ideo sistit in intellectu, and ita finis corum in hoc is cognitio intellectus. Sed contemplationatio sanctorum, quae est catholicorum, est propter amorem ipsius scilicet contemplatati Dei; idcirco non sistit in fine ultimo in intellectu per cognitionem, sed transit ad affectionum per amorem., Unde sancti in contemplatione sua habitt amorem Dei tanquam principaliter intentum.
2 De Relig. Tract. 4.1l. 2, ©. 9, n. 8, t. 44, p. 157: Differt hec contemplatatio christiana a communi et philosophica, quod no est mere speculativa, sed debet esse practica, tum ex veritate contemplatata, tum ex intentione operantis... Primumque ita declaro quia contemplatatio haec, etiam sit de Deo
‘ipso, cujus majestatem, bonitatem, aut alia attributea considerat, non sistit in Deo ut intelligibilis est, sed ponderat cum ut est dignus gloria, honor, ete., et nisi ad hocextendatur, non meretur nomen contemplationis quae sit pars mentalis orationis vel ad hoc exercise pertineat. Quia finis hujus contemplationis debet esse unio cum Deo, et ideo necesse est ut non solum specculative, sed etiam practice Deum ipsum contemplatetur, quantum scilicatet Deus ipse practice considerabilis est. Unde etiam ex intentione operaantis, contemplatatio illa dehet esse practica, id est ad veram sanctitatem ordinata.
God, which seems speculative, does not consider God merely as intelligible, but as worthy of honor, praise, love, otherwise it is not true contemplation. Similarly, in the intention of the conterner, the goal to be aimed and attained is, not an exercise of intelligence and knowledge, but union with God and holiness.
To this difference taken from the end, he adds another no less characteristic. Supernatural contemplation, we said, consists in a simple look at the mind, which suspends the exercise of reasoning. This suspension of rational deduction and knowledge by pure intuition, although absolutely possible in the natural order, are very rare facts that only occur from far and far in some men gifted with great power of conception and exceptional capacity of inner concentration, such as Socrates, according to Plato in his Banquet, Plato himself, to the testimony of Xenocrate, and Plotin, if one believes Porphyre his disciple. In the mystical order, on the contrary, this phenomenon frequently reproduces, and it would be difficult to number the souls in whom this sublime mode of prayer is daily and familiar.
Finally, assuming that the natural intuition could operate in a plan of love and action, philosophical contemplation and supernatural contemplation would always be distinguished between them by the principle and the means that realize them, one accomplishing by the simple effort of the natural powers, while the other is the fruit of grace, which enhances man above himself.
In the final analysis, mystical contemplation would therefore be a simple and emotional view, accompanied by admiration and joy, and fulfilling in supernatural clarity 1.
1 See Pair. To SS. TANIT. Sun. Th. Myst. Leave 29, Tract. 4, d. 2.14. 2.
V. — In order for the notion of contemplation to become detached with more sharpness, let us indicate how it differs from mere thought and meditation.
Hugues de Saint-Victor sketches the first this interesting parallel t; Richard, his disciple, takes him back and ends with so much sagacity and happiness that the mystics to come will have nothing to change and very little to add. Saint Francis de Sales?, with his loose mind and rich in comparisons, will still be able to present it under some new faces; but the background will remain the same.
This parallel, here it is in essence:
The object or matter of these three operations of the mind may be the same, but each proceeds in its own way. Another is the thought that sees, another the meditation that searches, another the contemplation that admires. The thought runs and wanders here and there, with no purpose determined. Meditation tends, through obstacles and asperities, towards a precise end and puts it into play to reach all the resources of the mind. The contemplation goes, from a free and easy flight, wherever the door divine impetuousness. Thought snakes and makes a thousand circuits. Meditation works, and,
1 Hom. 1 in Ecclesiasten. Migne, Patr. lat., t. 175, col. 116.
2 Treaty of the Love of God, I. 6, chap. 2, 3, 5 and 6.
3 Ricuarp of Samr-Vicror, Benjamin Major, I. 1 €. 3 and 4. Migne, t. 175, col. 66 and 99. Sciendum itaque est quod unam eamdemque materiam aliter per cogitationem intuemur, aliter per meditationem rimamur, atque aliter per contemplationem miramur. Multum a se invicem haec tria in modo differunt, guamyis quandoque in materia convenient. De una siquidem eademque materia, alter cogitatio, alter meditatio longeque altere acte contemplatio. Cogitatio per devia quaeque lento pede, sine respectu perventionis passim huc illucque vagatur. Meditatio per ardua sæpe et aspera ad directionis finem cum magna animi industria nititur. Contempliatio libero volatu, quocumque eam fert impetus, mira agilitate circumfertur. Cogitatio serpit, meditatio incedit and ut multum currit. Contempliatio autem omnia circumcyclolate and cum voluerit se in summis librat. Cogitatio is sine labore and fructu, in meditatione autem est labor cum fructu, contemplationatio permanet sine labore cum fructu. In cogitatione evagatio, in meditatione Investigatio, in comitm-
_ platione admiratio. Ex imaginatione cogitatio, ex ratione meditatio, ex intelligentia contemplatio. Ecce tria ista, imaginatio, ratio, intelligentia, ete. etc.
At the most, run. Contemplation flies in all directions, and, whenever it wants, hovers and swings like the eagle to the most sublime of the air. Thought is without work and fruit; meditation works with fruit; contemplation fruitifies without work. Thought diverges, meditation seeks, contemplation admires. Thought feeds on imagination, meditation on reasoning, contemplation of intelligence.
And because the reason that disperses fully grasps, in addition to its own object, the lower world of imagination, and that the intelligence also embraces the domain of imagination and that of reason, it follows that contemplation includes eminently all the knowledge provided by thought and meditation, that it extends and radiates from the higher heights to the tiny extremities, without losing anything of its radiance, of its vivacity, of its obviousness, of its certainty.
If the thought is fixed and strives to penetrate into the things that cause its curiosity, it moves on to meditation. And, when meditation has finally met the truth, that it considers it greedily and adheres to it at length in the drunkenness of admiration, meditation itself becomes contemplation.
1 Bona, Via comp. ad Deum, ©. 10, n. 7. Vis intelectiva in quantum est discursiva dicitur ratio; in quantum est simpliciter intuitiva dicitur intellectus: in quantum est divinitatis contemplativa per simplicitem apprehensionem, dictur intelligentia, quod optime Richardus (4 de Contemp. €. 9 observation.
The excellence of contemplation comes from its nature, its object, its origin, its end, its effects. — Contemplative life and active life. — Superity of the first on the second. — Contemplation is not essential to perfection.
I. — Contemplation is the most noble act, the most perfect that it is given to man to accomplish here below.
This excellence is reflected in the very notion of contemplation. It is, we have said, a simple intuition that is consumed by the splendour of divine light, born of Pamour, produces love, and throws the whole man into the drunkenness of admiration and joy.
All the goods of man are there: light, love, bliss. He will be able to meet more meritorious acts in his life, because they will be the fruit of effort and labor; but no other is more noble in itself, more in harmony with his nature and aspirations.
If one considers the object of contemplation, his excellence is even more visible. The main object of this delicious intuition, we will say more fully, is God T, and God is the sovereign good. "I'm my-
1 S. Grec. the Gr., 1. 6. Moral, c. 7. Migne, Patr. lat., t. 75, col. 764. In contemplatione quippe principalpium quod Deus est, quaritur.
T No DER CONTEMPLATION PA
He said to Moses, in him, a vision in which he would reveal himself.
The contemplation still derives from its origin and its purpose an outstanding perfection, having as a starting point and as a point of arrival the queen of virtues, charity. It does indeed proceed, tells us the mystics? and the theologians*, of charity, and it leads to charity. But charity is the par excellence of the soul +, the master virtue that inspires, rules and dominates all virtues, the very foundation of Christian perfection.
The exercise of charity under the rays of divine enlightenment is a foretaste of beatific life, where God, revealing himself face to face, will excite the soul to eternal love through the charm of his beauty and goodness. Heaven, what is anything other than vision and dilectiveness in their fullness? Hence it is easy to conclude that contemplation, which plunges into light and delights in love, becomes for the soul the prelude of glory, at the same time as it is the most effective exciting of its sanctification.
1 Exod. xxxm, 19.
2 SLAVE PAZ, t. 6 p. 482. In amorem desinens and ab amore processes.
3 S. Taom., 2. 2. q. 180, a. 7, ad 4: Vita contemplativa, licate essentialiter consistat-in intellectu, principalium tamen habet in affectionu, in quantum videlicet aliquis ex charitate ad Dei contemplationem incitatur. And who finished respondet principalio, inde is quod etiam terminus and finished vitae contemplativæ habet esse in affectionu.
4 Suarez, l. 2, de Orat., © 9, n. 44: Optimum cenim hujus vitae is Dei charitas, maxime quando est ignita et fervens, ut in contemplatione ex Dei consideratione esse solet.
5 5. Tuom., 2. 2. q. 184, a. 2, ad 2: And ideo secundum charitatem waitur simpliciter perfectio christianæ vitae, sed secundum aka virtutes seeundum quid. And quia id quod is simpliciter is principalissimum and maximum respectu aliorum, inde est'quod perfectio charitatis is principalissima respectu perfectionis quae attenditur secundum alias virtutes.
6 SAY PAZ, 1.5, P. 2, ©. 3, t. 6 p. 494. Contempliatio quidem prægustatio quaedam est et participatio illius summæ beatitudinis quam in cælesti patria anima sperat.
7 RicHarD of Samnr-Vicror. Benjamin Major. l. 4, ©. 1, t. 478, Col. 65. Hæc
Er Er) ol: R EREA
Its effects are no less wonderful. They will be the subject of a more careful and extensive study. Let us now simply point out its most immediate consequence: delectation, a delight that prevails over all the enjoyments of the senses, and the most vivid, the most natural, the most complete that man can feel, the closest to the supreme bliss.
II. — That is why all mystics give preference to contemplative life over active life.
These two lives are distinguished by the diversity of their ends. The purpose of the first is to consider the truth; the purpose of the second is external work, which embraces the practice of moral virtues?, and in particular works of mercy*. One seeks God in
is gone quae electis and perfectis nunquam aufertur. Hoc sane negotium quod nullo fine terminatur. Nam veritatis contemplatatio in hac vita inchoatur, sed in futura jugi perpetuitate celebrate. Per veritatis sane contemplationem, homo and eruditur ad justitiam and consummate ad gloriam... O quam singularis gratia! o singulariter præferenda per quam in præsenti sanctificcamur et in futuro beatificamur.
1S. THOM., 2. 2. q. 180, a. 7. Dicendum quod aliqua contemplatatio potest esse delecstabilis duplicier, Uno modo ratione ipsius operationis quia unicuique delecstabilis operatio sibi conveniens secundum propriom naturam ve] habitum. Contempliatio autem veritatis competit homini secundum suam naturam prout is animal rationale... Alio modo contemplationatio redditor delecstabilis ex parte objecti, in quantum scilicet aliquis rem amatam contemplatur... Quia ergo vita contemplativa præcipue consistit in contemplatione Déi ad quam movet charitas, inde est quod in vita contemplativa non solum est delectatio ratione ipsius contemplationis, sed ratione ipsius divini amoris. And quantum ad utrumque ejus delectatio omnem delectationem. humanam excedit, ete.
2 S. Tuom., 2. 2. q. 484, a. 4. Vita activa and contemplativa distinguishuntur secundum diversa studia hominum intentium ad diversos fines, quorum. unum est consideratio veritatis quae est fini vitae contemplativæ, aliud. autem est exterior operaio ad quam ordinatur vita activa. Manifestum is autem quod in virtutibus moralibus non principaliter quaéritur contemplationatio veritatis, sed ordinantur ad operandum... Unde manifestum is quod relevant moral virtutes essentialiter ad vitam activam.
3 Liber de modo bene vivendi, c. 53, n. 126. (Inter op. S. BERNARD.) — Migne, Patr., t. 484, col. 4277. Inter activam vitam and contemplativam maxima is differentia. Activa vita est panem esurienti dare, verbum sapientiæ proximos docere, errantem. correcte, ad viam humilitatis super-
P darkness of faith and the effort of virtue, the other rest in God through vision and love.
The contemplative life thus removes the soul from the external exercise of charity, much more so because of the bonds and concerns of the century, to apply it to the consideration and love of eternal truths and divine mysteries. Active life, on the contrary, engages in human labors and dedications, and makes it consist of perfection, less to look at and admire the divine truth, than to spend for God in the service of neighbor.
During the journey, these two lives are never so distinct and separated that one can survive without having anything from the other. The conditions of mortality do not allow man to completely abstract from the outside life; and, on the other hand, what would be the value of action and work without regard to God and without prayer?
To be human and Christian, these two lives therefore imply a certain reciprocal mixture.' Each draws its character and its denomination from what dominates it. The almost equal combination of the two elements constitutes the mixed life, where one goes in turn from prayer to action and from action to prayer.
HI. — Although, in the trial, active life forms the common vocation, and contemplation is the part of the small number, it is declared by all the Doctors preferable to that one. bientem reductione, discordantes ad concordiam revocare, infirmos visitare, mortuos sepelire, captivos and in carcere positos redimere; quae singulis quibuscumque expediat dispensare, necessaria unicuique providere, (cf. S. AUG., sir. 104 of verbs, Luke. x, n. 3.)
1 Liber de modo bene vivendi, n. 198, col. 4278: Viri sancti, sicut aliquando egrediantur a secreto contemplationis ad vitam activam, ita rursus ab activa revertuntur ad secretum intimæ contemplationis, ut intus Deum laudent ubi accesseperunt unde foris ad ejus gloriam operantur. Sicut Deus vult aliquado contemplativi egrediantur ad vitam activam ut
aliis proficiant, ita aliquando vult ut nemo eos worried and, sed ut quiescant in secreto contemplationis suavissimæ,
Saint Thomas! expressly teaches this superiority, and motivates it by a set of reasons taken from the various points of view we have just pointed out and several others. They can be brought back to the following three: Contemplation brings to man the goods and enjoyments most in accordance with his nature and destiny; it is, of course, more effective and fruitful for the work of sanctification; it is stable and permanent as eternity.
Many Fathers have seen an image of the two lives we are talking about, in the two sisters whom the patriarch Jacob successively marries. Saint Augustine in particular affirms this spiritual similarity, and develops with a kind of complacency this charming parallel to the xxile book against Fauste the Manichean. Lia, whose name means laborious, with his chassious eyes?, sad, ugly and despised, but fruitful, represents work, tears, the darkness of active life and trial, with the multiplicity of his works and his fruits. Rachel, whose name can be translated the principle seen or intuition of the principle, beautiful, passionately loved, eagerly desired for seven years, mother of two children; who, seeing the first one be born, obtains and dies by giving him the day °, Rachel depicts the contemplative and glorious life where the soul, after the labors of active life, reaches the vision of eternal beauty, simmers of holy dilection, and, lost in the womb of God, ceases to live of his own life.
1 Sum. 2. 2. q. 182, a. 1. Dicendum is ergo quod vita contemplativa simpliciter melior is quam.activa. Quod Philosophus probat octo rationi-
Bus, etc. 2 Gen. xxx, 17.31. 3 Gen. xxx, 17; xxx, 24; xxxV, 18. 4 Contra Faust. Manich. 1. 29, that. 52: Lia interpretatur Laborans, Rachelautem Visum principalium, live Verbum ex quo vietur principalium. Actio ax (3)
Whatever the allegorical meaning of the two wives of Jacob seen by St Augustine, and after him by several doctors, among others by St Gregory the Great! and by St Thomas?, Scripture presents us with another fact whose immediate and literal interpretation gives preference to contemplative life over active life.
This is the memorable scene where St Luke shows us Mary Magdalene sitting at Jesus' feet in the stillness of contemplation, and Martha who shakes, works and complains about her sister's linaction. And the Saviour excuses Mary, saying: "She chose the best part, the part that will not be taken away from her."
What did Mary do? She contemplated. What was Martha doing? It is therefore to contemplation that Our Lord bestows the palm, but without condemning the work and efforts of action.
The Christian tradition is unanimous * to see in the two sisters of Lazarus whom Jesus loved and loved Jesus, the personification of contemplative life and active life, and to interpret the words of the Savior in the sense of preference given to the former over the latter.
"What, indeed," said Saint Gregory, "is ergo humanæ mortalisque vitae in qua.vivimus ex fide, multa laboriosa opera facientes, incerti quo exitu coming from ad utilitatem eorum quibus consulere volumus, ipsa is Lia prior uxor Jacob; ac per hoc et infirmis oculis essez commemoratur... Spes vero æternæ contemplationis Dei, habens certam and delectabilem intelligentiam veritatis, ipsa is Rachel: unde etiam dicitur bona faie et pulchra specie, etc. ete..
De consensu Evangeli. l. 1, ¢. 5: Cum duæ virtutes sint anihæ humanæ, una activa, altera contemplativa;... haæ duæ virtutes in duabus uxoribus Jacob figuratæ intelliguntur, ete.
1 Moral 126, C37, t75; Col 764.
NI OA O K eair A BRG
3 Luke. x, 42. #7
4 Suarez, l. 1 of Variety religionum in genere, ¢. 5, n. 3, Lives, t. 16, p. 456. Ita intelexerunt locum illum Patres Ecclesiae, which pronds tenerunt in illis of abuse sorribüs lias duas vitas esse significatas.
Moral, 1. 6, n. 61. Migne, t 75, col, 764. Quid enim per Mariam quae
Mary listening, sitting, the words of the Lord, if not contemplative life? What is Martha occupied with external services, if not active life? Martha's care is not blamed, but Mary's care is praised, because, if the merits of active life are great, those of contemplative life are preferable. Therefore it is said that Mary's part will not be taken away from her, the operations of active life passing with the body, while the joys of contemplative life find in the very end their full development."
Contemplation places the soul on the object and in the attitude that it must have for eternity. From this point of view, no other occupation can be compared with it.
It is still a wonderful source of sanctification ' and glorification, for the reward of the term is proportional to the merit of trial; but this merit is measured not only by the human effort that accompanies it, but also and primarily by the love that inspires it and the grace that God gives; and grace overabodes in contemplation, as well as love reaches its greatest intensity.
"Divine contemplation," we say with Cassien?
verba Domini, residents, audiebat, nisi contemplativa vita, expressur? Quid per Martham exterioribus obsequiis occatam nisi activa vita signatur? Sed Marthæ cura non reprehenditur, Mariæ vero etiam laudatur, quia magna sunt activæ vitae merita, sed contemplativæ potiora. Unde nec auferri unquam Mariæ pars dicitur, quia activæ vitæ opera cum corpore transeunt, contemplativæ autem gaudia melius ex fine convalescunt.
1S. Auc. serm. 43 of Tempore. Una sola contemplatatio Dei is cui merito omnia justificationum merita and universa virtutum studia postponuntur.
2 Coll. 23; ¢. 3: Migne, Patr. lat., t. 49, col. 1246: Una ergo et sola est theoria, id est contemplatatio Dei, cui merito omnia justificationum merita, universa virtitum studia postponuntur... Sed sicut, verbi gratia, stanni metallum quod alicujus utilitatis et gratiæ putabatur, fait, argenti composatione, vilissimum; and rursum, auri composatione, meritum evanescit argenti; arum quoque ipsum gemmarum collatione contemnitur, and ipsarum nihilominus quamvis insignium multitodo gemmarum, unius margaritæ candore superatur; ita et illa omnia merita sanctitatis, quamvis non
is therefore this unique thing which one must precisely prefer to all the merits of justification, to all the efforts of virtue... Just as tin, for example, has its usefulness and its pleasure taken in itself, but has no value nearer to silver; that silver is without radiance compared to gold; that gold loses its price from precious stones, and that the most beautiful stones are not worth a single pearl; so all the merits of holiness, though good and useful for life now and for eternity, nevertheless become, if compared to the fruits of divine contemplation, vile things, and those, so to speak, of which one must undo."
IV. — From the preeminence of contemplative life to active life, it would be wrong to conclude that contemplation is necessary to realize Christian life and perfect £. The number of predestined persons who have had neither grace nor the merits of a sublime prayer is infinitely greater than that of the souls who have enjoyed this favor, and it cannot be doubted that among the saints who have not known or who have received only rarely the grace of contemplation, many nevertheless surpassed in merit and glory of great and famous contemplatives?.
The masters of spiritual life agree on this point. They even believe that there is more safety to walk in the way of common virtues than in the extraordinary elevations of passive prayer. The Supreme Law of
solum ad præsens bona et ubilia sint, verum etiam donum æternitatis acquirant, tamen, si divinæ contemplationis meritis conferantur, vilia, atque, ut ita dinerim, vendibilia censebuntur.
1 Gonxez, Theol Pract. Mystic. 6, e. 16, n. 3. The permanent perfeccion y santidad formal, no consists of contemplacion, sino en la gracia habitual.
2 Gossein, Literary Hist. by Fenelon, 2 App., t. 4 p. 289, n. 46: It is a constant doctrine in Christianity that the contemplative life is not that of the common of the faithful; that this kind of life presupposes in those who embrace it a special vocation; and that, far from being the most perfect of the states, it is well below the apostolic life and the ecclesiastical ministry destined for the exercises of zeal.
perfection is to fulfill God's will in demeaning and in love.
"With humility, mortification, detachment, and other virtues," said Térèse to his daughters, "there is always more confidence, and nothing to fear; and do not be afraid of not achieving perfection as well as the great contemplatives. Saint Martha was holy, although it is not said that she was contemplative. And what more do you want than to be able to look like this blessed woman who deserved to receive Our Lord so many times in his house, to give him food, to serve him, to eat perhaps at his table and even of his dish? If it had been absorbed like the Madeleine, who would have treated the divine Host? [Imagine therefore that this little congregation is the house of St Martha, and that there must be of all things. Let those who are led by the way of active life not murmur to see other dives into contemplative life, forgetful of themselves and of all created things, since they know well that, if they remain silent, the Lord will answer for them!"
Saint Vincent de Paul, in whom Christian common sense is so high, professed and practised in his direction the same principles. He believed, says the historian of his life?, that perfection does not consist in a particular mode of prayer, but in charity, which can be more ardent with a common prayer than with a higher prayer.
Saint Francis de Sales observes, with as much grace as it is right, that a soul may have in its state
1 Path to perfection, chap. 26. 2 ABELLY, Life of Saint Vincent of Paul, 1. 3, ch. 7, 1839, t. 2, p. 231.
3 Treaty of God's Love, 1. 7 c. 3. Imagine that Paul, healthy Denys, healthy Augustine, healthy Bernard, healthy Francis,
Blessed Catherine de Gennes, or Siena, are still in this world and may they sleep of fatigue after several works taken for the love of God.
usually a charity more intense than another in the very act of ecstasy. Similarly, the grace accumulated by the repeated exercises of active life can far exceed that which is received in the effusions of contemplation.
"Let's conclude," says Bossuet! "that it is a mistake to put merit and perfection to be active or passive. It is to God to judge the merit of souls that he promotes his graces, according to the various provisions that he inspires them and according to the degrees of divine love that are known only to him."
Represent yourself, on the other hand, some good soul, but not so sainct as they, which was in union at my very time. I ask you, my dear Theotime, who is more ung, tighter, more attached to God, or those great sanctities that sleep, or that soul that prays? Of course, they are these admirable lovers, for they have more charity, etc.
1 Inst. on the States of prayer, l. 11, n. 13.
The Three Modes of Richard of Saint-Victor. — Supernatural contemplation is acquired or infused, — Cherubic or seraphic, — Unitive or free given, — Imaginary or intellectual,
I. — Richard de Saint-Victor! distinguishes three kinds of contemplation: he calls the first a dilation, the second an elevation, and the third an alienation of the spirit.
The expansion consists in a natural effort of the mind which sharpens its tip and penetrates before in the things it considers, but without exceeding the limits of the industry
Human. The elevation occurs when, at the effort of the intelligence,
1 Benjamin Major, Five, five. Two, collar. 469. Tribusautem modis, ut mihi vidtur, contemplationis qualitéas variatur. Modo enim agitator lied dilatione, modo lied sublevatione, alivando autem lied alienatione. Mentis dilatatio est quando animi acies latius expanditur et vehementius acuuitur, modum tamen humanæ industriae nullautés supergreditur. Mentis sublevatio est quando intelligentiæ vivacitas divinitus radiata humanæ industriae metas transcendit, nec tamen in lies alienationem transit, ita ut supra se sit quod videat et tamen ab assuetis penitus non récedat. Mentis alienatio est quando præsentium memoria lie excedit, et in peregrinum quemdam et humanæ industriae invium animi status divinæ operationis transfiguratione transite.
Hos tres contemplationis modos experiuntur qui sæpe ad summam hujusmodi gratiæ arcem sublevari merentur. Primus arises ex industria humana, tertius ex sola gratia divina; medius autem ex utriusque permixtione, humanæ scilicet industriae and. gratiæ divinæ.
joins the divine irradiation of grace that makes the bounds of pure natural energy pass, so that man is raised above himself, yet still acting in the human way.
There is alienation when the soul loses the feeling of the present things, and when transfigured by the divine operation, it moves to a completely foreign state and inaccessible to the forces of nature.
Of these three ascensiones, the first is the act of human industry, the third is the exclusive work of divine action, the second is the fusion of these two principles: the energy of man and the grace of God.
This is to say that there are first two general species of contemplation, the first purely natural, and the second supernatural; that it takes two different forms: in the one, there is a mixture and an agreement of grace and human work; in the other, it is the divine action that subjugates the soul and reduces it to a delicious and fruitful passivity.
We have already eliminated mere natural contemplation, as a stranger to our purpose; here we are talking only about theological and Christian contemplation. Of the three forms reported by the famous Victorin, therefore, only the last two have to be examined.
II. — The mystics distinguish, in fact, two kinds of contemplation: one which they call acquired, natural, active, ordinary; the other, which they describe as infuse, mystic, passive, extraordinary!
1 Benenicr. XIV, De servorum Dei Beatif. etc., 1. 3, ©. 26, n. 7 t. 3 p. 392. Prænotandum is duplicatem a mysticis speciem contemplationis assignari, acquisitam videlicet, and infusam... Definitur contemplatatio infusa et supernaturalis, seu potius describitur sequentialibus verbis: simplex intelectualis intuituus cum sapida divinorum aliorumque revelatorum, processes a Deo speciali modo applicante intellectum ad intuendum, and voluntatem ad intelligentgendum ea revelata, and competitor ad eos actus per dona
It is important to have a precise notion of these two general species of contemplation, and to see exactly their relationships and differences.
The least perfect of these two forms consists in a simple and admirative look at a truth discussed and elaborated by meditation, but which, under divine enlightenment of grace, suddenly takes such a clear shine, that it suspends the discursive work of the soul, fixes it and absorbs it whole in a delicious feeling of admiration and love.
The other is a divine absorption, unexpected and sudden, alien to any preparation and industry on the part of man, raising the soul to a simple and resplendent intuition, which throws it out of itself in the drunkenness of love and admiration. "Here," said Saint John of the Cross, "God is the chief agent, and communicates to the soul, through supernatural infusion, the knowledge and love of himself, in an eminent degree. The soul receives all these spiritual goods without producing any other acts from its bottom than its consent."
The first mode therefore has as its starting point religious meditation, and although it does not proceed rigorously from the discursive and emotional consideration, it is as the fruit and reward.
That is why this contemplation is said to be acquired or won, not in the sense of rigorous merit, God granting this gift only out of pure liberality to a few souls who exercise and persevere in the work of meditation, but as opposed to the other kind of contemplation, where human industry is for nothing as a direct and effective means, not even as a forthcoming preparation; which makes it call infuse contemplation.
Spiritus sancti, Intellectum and Sapientam, cum magna illustration intellectus. 1 Long flame, 3° v. 3° cant., § 5, p. 373. I
Saint Thomas of Aquinas! describes obviously the contemplation acquired when he puts this difference between lange and man in the point of view of knowledge, that the angel approaches the truth by a pure intuition, while man reaches this simple gaze only by a laborious and successive walk, the last step of which is the contemplation of the truth.
As in meditation man mixes his efforts with divine grace, and this exercise of natural forces extends into the very act of contemplation, which is the fruit and crowning of it, this contemplation is described as natural and active; less to affirm the result of human nature and activity, which, for a little in the admiring and affective fixedness of the soul in God, than to distinguish this inferior contemplation from the divine attraction which prevents all human efforts and reduces the soul to a blissful passivity, which makes it possible for the human to be able to live in the same way. calls supernatural and passive.
Finally, this passage from laborious meditation to simple, gentle and emotional intuition, although gratuitous from God, does not, however, go beyond the regular and providential laws of supernatural progress; that is why several mystics? call this kind of contemplation ordinary, but mainly in the light of infuse and passive contemplation, which God rarely grants to whomever he pleases, and which these authors call extraordinary.
2 Scuram, Theol. myst. § 250, t. 1, p. 439: Contempliatio generalissime dividitur in ordinariam et extraordinariam... (Schol. ) Cardinalis Laurea, Opusc. 4 and 7 of Orat., and alii mystici communiter contemplationem dividunt in acquisitam et infusam, vel in activam et passivam, vel in propria industria habitam et habitam ex gratia, vel in naturalem et supernaturalem. Quia tamen hi termini sunt æquivoci et primo intuitu non satis sani, ideo nostra divisio, ex P. Reguera, Theol. myst. t. 4 p. 788, n. 79, petita, magis placet cum allati mox termini etiam in mente suorum auctorum ad nostram reduceur.
These expressions must not be understood in this sense.
that meditation infallibly leads to contemplation.
many souls practice with constant fervour the exercise of discursive and laborious prayer, and
Yet are never raised to the grace of the tale-
This is the first time that we've had a chance to get a chance to get a job. We're saying it again here, perfection doesn't hold any-
the passivity of prayer, as supported by
Molinos and its adherents!'. Many, said Saint Bernard?, tend to it all their life without ever achieving it, and obtain only after their death these drunkennesses of love.
The two species of contemplation that we have just
define therefore have common that they are l ́une and
The other is a pure, emotional, and delectable intuition, and that they can have the same objects, God sometimes showing in contemplative light the truths on which meditation is based.
But the differences are more notable than the reports. While ordinary contemplation is subject to the slowness of the meditation that precedes and prepares it, infuse contemplation suddenly illuminates, ignites and delights the soul without any natural preparation.
One occurs only in the isolation and calmness of prayer, and has as its object the very subject of meditation. The other seizes and delights indifferently in the oration or
out of prayer, reveals foreign truths and the most
often superior to the thoughts and conceptions of
1 Prop. 68 damn. ab Innoc. XI. — Const. Cœlestis Pastor. — 20: Assere quod in oratione opus is sibi per discursum auxilium iron, and per cogitationes, quando Deus animam non alloquitur, ignorantia est, ete. — 31. Nullus meditativus veras virtutes exerciset internas, me not debent a sensibus cognosci. Opus is virtuous amittere.
2 Serm. 3 from Cireume. t. 2, p. 180. Verum est, ad hanc quidem perfectionem pauci, ni fallor, perveniunt in hac vita... Sed multi tota vita ad hoc tense and pertensive nunquam; quibus tamen, si pie et perseveranter conati sunt, statim ut de corpore exeunt, reddditur quod in hac vita dispensatione est negatum.:
EEE ME, RAT iea RE 7 DT and in 2 Year 3 Due ©
Man. This is why, while it is easy to account for the intuition that is accomplished in the acquired contemplation, the manifestations of mystical contemplation are sometimes so sublime, that they are imenarrable!.
The disproportion of clarity and attraction is an even more characteristic diversity. Passive contemplation outweighs active contemplation through abundance and the brightness of light, resulting in a difference in the
proportionally in emotional movements, grabbing--
We must not forget that we are not going to be able to do anything about it. The first often rekindles the soul until the alienation of the senses and until the suspension of the impregnated inner faculties; the second leaves the use of the bodily organs and the freedom to break the charm which immobilizes in pure and simple intuition of the truth that the mind considers.
III. — The contemplation, either active or passive, is subdivided by a few authors? in cherubic and seraphic.
Contemplation consists in a pure intellectual intuition, ending with the adherence and suavities of Pamour. But we must not forget that it is God who dispenses, according to his wisdom, and light and impulse. He can give, if he wishes, to enlightenment a resplendentness that prevails over the ardours of love, and he can also bring forth, in the emotional part, impetuousness that surpasses the claritys of vision. In the case of the
1 Bona, Via comp. ad Deum, €. 10, n. 2, p. 126. Hæc dividitor in acquisitam and infusam. Acquisitam voco quam proprio industria et exercitatione, sed non sine divina cooperatione et gratia, acquirimus; infusam quae ex sola gratia sive inspiratione divina promanat... Illa longed and difficult, hec facilitated, prompt and suavis. Ila ratiocinativa dicitur, ista experimentalis. Who primam habitent optime de ea upe regulis discurrunt, experientia destituti; qui secundam, minus periti in sermone sunt, sed in usu and experientia excellentissimi.
- What? Gopixez, Practitioner of theol. myst. l. 5, ©. 1, p. 172. — Scnram, t. 4, 8 275, p. 464.
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Heavenly hierarchy, cherubim represent the brilliance of science, and seraphim the fires of love. Therefore, depending on whether illumination or ignition will dominate in contemplation, it will be cherubic or seraphic.
It seems, at first glance, that there must be balance between vision and love; that at least love cannot exceed the proportions of vision.
First of all, it is beyond doubt that love does not always reach the proportions of knowledge, and that between seeing and wanting there are abysses that are often not crossed. In these cases, contemplation is more cherubic than seraphic.
What may seem more surprising is that love extends beyond vision. On this point, it is important to explain well.
Several mystics of great authority claimed that the act of contemplation could be accomplished without prior knowledge and be consumed only in the adherence of the will.
Saint Denis seems to profess this feeling when he exalts the holy darknesss of love and describes mystical wisdom as mad, unreasonable and unthinkable. This is at least that of Saint Bonaventure? or of the author of the MYSTICAL THEOLOGY often inscribed UNDER his name, in particular by Gerson ê, who shares his view on the present question; and one and the other honour the Areopagit. But, to tell the truth, the prince of mystics recognizes a light in these divine darkness where reason
1 Div. Name. € $7.S 1. Migne, Patr. G., t.8, ©. 867. Hanc igitur rationis expertem et amentem atque fatuam sapientiam superlate laudantes, dicamus omnis lied and rationis, omnisque sapientiæ and intelligentiae causam esse.
2 Theol. myst. quaest. ult. Live, t. 8, p. 48. Videtur quod sine cogitatione prævia vel concomitant affectionus per amorem dispositus libere moyeatur in Deum; and primo auctoritate magni Hierarchæ Dionysii, etc.
3 Tract. de Dilucidation Myst. theol. cons. 5.
does not approach!, and therefore cannot be ranked among
Those who admit love without knowledge.
Fr. Alvarez de Paz? agrees with this, although on the other hand he seems to believe possible an emotional supernatural prayer that would not be preceded by any knowledge, and he invokes in support of this feeling the authority of contemplatives, no less competent, according to him, in this matter, than scholastic doctors.
However, taken in all its rigor, the assertion that love occurs without prior knowledge seems to be unacceptable, for love is only an act of will, and the will only moves in the footsteps of intelligence. Most theologians, and even mystics, agree to assert this connection, and look at intellectual vision as the condition of reasonable life.
1 Theol. Myst. c. 1 initio. Migne, t. 5, Col. 997. Summum fastigium, ubi simplicitia and absoluta, and immutabilia theologicia mysteria aperiuntur in
caligine plus quam lucente silenti arcana docentis, quae in obscuritate tene-
bricosissima plus quam clarisime superlucet, ete.
2 Of affect. or. ment. l. 4, part. 3, ©. 8, t. 6 p. 301. Itaque ex Dionysio amorem sine intelligentia aliqua coligere non possumus. At viris spiritualibus ad perfectionem orationis affectivæ proveclis, amorem Dei ardientissimum, sine ulla prævia aut concomitant cognitione, interdum haberi sentimus. And quidem, sicut viris spiritualibus non liket scholasticos doctores despicere, ita nec licet doctoribus scholasticis viros contemplationis dono cumulationos in hac parte contomnere, sed wait audire, and eorum dicta non statim animo obdurato damnare. Hi constant affirming se interdum, sine prævia cognitione, amorem habere and voluntatem suam immediate a Deo, sine ullo actu intellectus, ad amantum excitari, and hoc se per experientiam didicisse, etc... Ego quidem novi aliquem in rebus philosophicis bene versatum et donis divinis et vitae puritate nimis excultum, qui amorem sæpe sibi inesse, absque ulla cognitione non minus evidens quam lucem meridianam putabat.
3 Suarez, De Relig. 1. Two cents. 13, n. 8, p. 178. Igitur assertio posita communior theologorum est.
4 GERSON, De myst. theol. Consider. 10, Col. 426. Præcedit nihilominus and comitatur naturaliter in omni dilectee præsertim elicita and meritoria, cognitio dilecteem, and if not cognitio reflexa, tamen recta. Hæc is traditio omnium tum philosophorum quam theologorum and moralium cum experientialia dicentium per callem Augustini: invisa diligiere possumus, incognita nunguam.
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It seems to us that these various and apparently contradictory statements can be reconciled.
The simple reason is sufficient to demonstrate God's infinity, and as soon as God is recognized as infinite, this knowledge opens an immense field to love. Once in the presence of infinity, whatever the clarity that reveals it, the loving being can exhaust on this object all his ability to love. And if it is assumed that by their obedienceal power to divine action, as the School expresses itself, native faculties are likely to increase indefinitely, it becomes clear that the proportions of love can be anything other than that of knowledge; that the part of the heart, as Hugues de Saint-Victor says!, prevails over that of intelligence, and that the choice will enter where science does not penetrate.
"Although the will cannot naturally love what understanding does not know," says St John of the Cross?, "it can nevertheless supernaturally love God more and more ardently, although knowledge of understanding does not grow: a lesser and less distinct knowledge is sufficient for greater love. That is why many souls love God much more than they know him; and on the contrary, many know him much more than they love him. Jl even often happens that the people who are less enlightened about the greatness of God are inflamed with a more ardent and consuming love, because only faith is enough for them to know God, and then give all their will to divine love, without repainting themselves with speculative and curious knowledge."
But, it will be said, in all that St John affirms of
1 Exposit. in Hierarch. celest. S. Dionys.. 7, Migne, t. 175. More diligitur quam intelligentur, and intrat dilectio and appropinquat ubi scientia foris est. 2 18th Cant., D. 443.
The Cross, the vision always seems mixed with love, and the exclusive mystics want a love without cognitive act. We do not argue that love is never entirely separated from knowledge, and we even think with Suarez! that it is difficult, if not impossible, to see experimentally in itself a similar situation; for, thinking about it, it would be knowing that we love and what we love. But if one remembers that the end of contemplation is to be absorbed into love, one will understand that the feeling of knowledge can be less vivid than that of emotional adherence, and that sometimes it even disappears entirely: in the great transports of love, do one know that one thinks and sees that one loves? Whatever the inseparability of knowledge and love, when love prevails over knowledge, contemplation holds more of the Seraphim than of the Cherubin, and can, because of this character, be called seraphic. From the point of view of appearance, cherubic contemplation precedes seraphic contemplation. For, just as the vision of the mind rationally precedes the movement of the will, so the first phase of contemplative life derives more from the principle that makes it begin than from the one that gives it its consumption. The light first illuminates to warm up. From the first hour of the day the sun flooded the earth with its rays, but it was only in the second half of its race that it made the ardours of its fires felt. IV. — Apart from the forms and divisions of contemplation that we have just mentioned, there are a few others that it is important to make known. 1 De Relig. 1.9, ¢. 43, n. 23 and 24, p. 182: Dico tertio amorem Dei sine prævia cognitione non posé in hac vita experimento cognosci, ideoque nullum esse medium quo talis amor probabiliter suadeatur... Quia so dum amatur Deus
nulla adest update cognitio, ergo nulla tune est experientia, quia experientia dicit cognitionem.
The most general is the one that divides contemplation into one and free of charge given, free of charge. The first sanctifies the subject that receives it, the second is intended for the instruction and utility of the next.
In principle, infuse contemplation is of the order of graces called free given, and the external wonders that accompany it are directed towards the edification of others. That is why sanctifying grace and inner merit are not always united with the mystical phenomena that occur in contemplation, such as visions, words, revelations.
However, let us hurry to say, this separation is rare and in supernatural order constitutes a monstrous anomaly. In general, the grace of union and charity is attached to the gratuitous grace of supernatural enlightenment.
V. — Contemplative illumination is imaginary or intellectual. From there two kinds of contemplation, one of which is carried out by vision or imaginary speech, and the other by vision or intellectual speech.
We do not intend to decide whether there are pure intellectual visions, i.e. that would not be preceded, accompanied or followed by any exercise of imagination. According to Scaramelli!, it is very rare, even in the most sublime contemplation, that visions and intellectual words are accomplished without a mixture of sensitive operation. Philippe de la Très-Sainte-Trinité?
1 Dirett. Myst. Tratt. 2, ©. 17, n. 189, p. 118. Avverta il lettore che ragionando noi... delle visioni puramenti intellettuali, non intendiamo parlare di quel che ne prima, neè dopo hanno alcun accompanimento dimmaginazione, perchè quest rarissime volte si trovano anche nella mente dei più sublimi contemplativi; ma solo di quel a cui non cooperano le immaginazioni, benchè vadano loro avanti, e vengan loro dietro per una certa naturalezza proprio dello stato presente di nostra vita.
2 Theol. Myst P. 2, tr. 3, D: Two, two. 2, t. 2, p. 320.
E arising from the rarity of the fact, indicates and develops the reasons which demonstrate its possibility and existence.
The common law is that these two kinds of divine communications mix and appear simultaneously. When the part of one and the other is notable, contemplation can be called mixed!.
However, although the temperate knowledge of ideal and sensitive is, to speak of it, more human and more in harmony with the present condition of man, the difficulty, so much debated by the scholastics, of pure lintelectuel, is, in our opinion, exaggerated, and has no other reason to be but a subtle psychology that we do not have to discuss here.
1 Boxa, Via compend. ©. 10, n. 2. Mixta nuncupatur quando intellectus contemplatans ab operanatione phantasiæ dependentet.
God and His Attributes.—The Holy Mankind of Jesus Christ.—B. Virgin
Mary and the Saints. — Christian truths and mysteries. — The glorious and militant Church, souls. — Order of these manifestations. — Them.
Three circular, straight and oblique movements of the soul towards Dicu.
I. — Saint Thomas! teaches that the main object of contemplation is the divine truth, and that the creatures, as they bring us to the knowledge of the first cause which is God, are the secondary object.
Suarez? says more expressly that contemplation has God as its first object and that it is exercised secondaryly on the divine things, the creative and providential operations of God, and on all the effects of his power as they contribute to making us know it.
According to this universally accepted principle, therefore, God is
1 Sum. 2. 2. q. 1480, a. 4. Ad vitam contemplativam pertinet aliquid duplicater: uno modo principaliter; alio modo secundario vel dispositive. — Principaliter quidem ad vitam contemplativam pertinet contemplationatio divinæ veritatis, quia ejusmodi contemplationatio est finis totius humanæ vitae... Sed quia per divinos performed in Dei contemplationem manu ducimur, secundum ilud (Rom. 1, 20): Invisibilia Dei per ea quate facta sunt intellecta conspiciuntur, inde est quod etiam contemplationatio divinorum concertium secundario ad vitam contemplativam pertinet, prout scilicet ex hoc manu ducitur homo in Dei cognitionem.
2 De Relig. Tr. 4.1. 2, ©. 9, n. 6 p. 157. Theologica vero contemplationatio solum circa Deum per se primo versatur, et secundario circa res divinas vel opera aut beneficia Dei, vel performed four-fold ad ipsius cognitionem conferunt.
the first and great object of contemplation, and the creatures appear there only to manifest and exalt the different attributes of God, to whom they serve as mirrors and witnesses.
But God can be considered in the mystery of his essence and in the multiplicity of his attributes. He reveals himself to this double view to contemplative souls.
It is a constant teaching among mystics that the sight of the adorable Trinity is the main act of contemplation and as its own object.
This vision occurs to varying degrees. "When contemplative souls," says Schram*, "consider the mystery of the Holy Trinity in the darkness of faith and aiding the light of theology, sometimes they come upon this mystery with a certain light that is clear, warm, resplendent, pacifying and pleasant, which represents its depths with great vivacity."
Sometimes you enter further into these abyss of divine life. Saint Terese tells of herself that she was granted to see how the people of the Holy Trinity are united and distinct in infinite essence.
"Reciting one day," she said, "the Symbol of St.Athanasius, "it was given to me to hear how he wiy had only one God and three people in God, but so clearly that I remained greatly astonished and comforted. This
1 Pump: to SS. Trinit. Sum. Th. Myst: Pats 2, tr. 3, to. 6, t. 2, p. 347. Etsi contemplatatio supernaturalis ad omnia objecta se diffundat ad quae contemplationatio naturalis seipsam extendit, tam in creaturis quam in ipso Creatore, principalius tamen, secundum omnes suos graduated descriptos considerata, mysterium sanctissimæ Trinitatis quasi magis propriom ipsique proportionatum respicit objectum, utpote prorsus supernaturale.
2 Theol. Myst. n. 277, t. 4 p. 466. In animabus contemplativvis dum mysterium SS. Trinitatis sub fidei umbra, non sine adminiculo lucernæ theologiae empty, tune illis aliquoties supervenit quaædam de hoc mysterio lux clara, calorifica, splendens, pacifica ct jucunda, supremum hoc arca-
num multa cum vivacitate representatives. S His Life; c. 39.
The object of CONTEMPLATIO 85 served me a great deal to better understand the greatness of God and his wonders. Also, when I think of the Most Holy Trinity, or hear of it, it seems to me that I understand how it can be, and I feel a great satisfaction."
We will later say that the contemplative vision of the Trinity regularly belongs to the last stage of mystical life.
Second, contemplation feeds even more frequently from the sight of God's attributes. God, in turn, reveals his simplicity, his greatness, his wisdom, his power, his immensity, his righteousness, his mercy, his bliss. It appears above all as life, as truth, as beauty, as goodness, as holiness, as infinity, as absolute perfection. This last aspect, which forms the distinctive character of God and embraces all his attributes, is the ordinary spectacle of contemplatives.
Saint Bernard! sums up the different ways in which God manifests himself in contemplation: "Those who, together with Mary Magdalene, care only for God, considering what he is in the world, in men and angels, in himself, in the reproved, perceive by this contemplative intuition that God is the providence and government of the world, the liberator and support of men, the sweetness and splendour of angels: in himself, the principle and the end; for the damned, object of terror and horror; admirable in creatures, kind in the
1 Various. serm. 48. De Paupert. volunt. t. 3 p. 95. Hi vero qui cum Maria soli Deo vacant, considerantes quid sit Deus in mundo, quid in hominibus, quid in Angelis, quid in seipso, quid in reprobis, contemplantur quia Deus est mundi rector et gubernator, hominum liberator et adjutor, angelorum sapor et decor, in seipso principalpium et fini, reproborum terrar et horror; in creaturis mirabilis, in hominibus amabilis, in angelis desireabilis, in seipso incomprehensibilis, in reprobis intolerabilis.
= 86 Re Men, desirable in angels, incomprehensible in himself, intolerable in reprobates."
According to the mystics, one rises to the knowledge of God by a double process, namely: by affirmation and by negation, or, as the scholastics express themselves, by position and by ablation, per positionem and per ablationem.
In the first, the spirit affirms from God all that he sees in the creature, adding still infinite. By the second, considering in being created his own character of finite and limited, he concludes, by the very negation of the end and the limit, God, whose essential and fundamental attribute is to be without limits or restrictions, simply to be.
St. Denis the Areopagit is the first who proposed, praised and followed the way of denial as the most direct, effective and perfect way to give the true notion of God. It can be said that it forms the dominant idea of its MYSTICAL THEOLOGY.
Here is how he himself exposes in this passage Pivin Names, already mentioned, but which should be mentioned again:
< There is a very divine knowledge of God, which is obtained by ignorance, by means of a union superior to intelligence, when the spirit, emerging from all beings and devoid of itself, unites itself with the brightness that shines above, and there, immersed in these splendors, illuminates with the inscrutable abhorrence of Wisdom."
The Fathers, scholastic and mystical doctors admitted and explained this definition of Aeropagitis?. Among the Fathers, we will mention in particular St Augustine *
1 Div. Nomic. $7.3. Migne, t. Three, collar. 871.
2 T.S. Puppe. Ternir. Sum. Th. myst. Part 2, Tr. Four, say. 2, t. 2, p. 54. Dionysium, velut thcologiae mysticæ principlem, secuti, tum sancti Patres, tum. doctores mystici et scholastici, hune duplicatem contemplationis modum, per affirmationem scilicet seu positionem, and per negalionem seu remotionem adducunt.
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87 and Saint John Damascene!; among the theologians, the Angelic Doctor? and the Seraphic Doctor °; among the mystics, Gerson * and Alvarez de Paz. The latter, developing a comparison provided by Saint Denis, makes it clear what the process of affirmation and denial, of position and of ablation consists of.
"The image of a king," he said, "can be obtained from two mothers: by painting and by sculpture. The painting proceed by addition, and the sculpture by subtraction. One superimposed on colours, the other cut off from stone or wood, until the image is drawn and finished. Similarly, we form the concept of God by a twofold means. By the first, like painters, we apply to God, like so many colors, the perfections of creatures. That's how we say Dicu is wise, fair, and so on, and we say true, because it's really all that. By the second, as the sculptors do, we cut off from God, like superfluous parts, the same powers we had assigned to him. So we say that God is neither being, nor life, nor wisdom, nor power, nor goodness, nor anything that is not He, and we do not deceive ourselves: God, in reality, is nothing of all these things, in the way we conceive them; therefore, as Saint Denis wisely observed, these statements and denials are not opposed. Where, by
4 DelEidaorth. l A; Ck: Migne, t.-94, 0011799:
2 Sum. theol. 2. 2. q. 8, a. 7, and in 3 s.d. 35, q. 2, a. Two, quaestiune. 2.
Sent MR d 0963.10 0 1 A Space
4 De Simplif. cord. not. 7 t. Three, collar. 459.
De Perf. contemplative. 1. 5, P. 1, app. 3, ©. 3,t. 6 p. 463. Imago alicujus regis duobus modis ficri potest, pictura and sculptura. Ars picturae fingit imaginem addition, ars sculpturae substractione... Ita duobus modis Dei conceptum effermamus. Primo quidem veluti pingendo, cum cei creaturarum perfectiones, quasi colores adscribimus... Secundo, veluti sculpto, qua ratione, omnia quae illi adseripsimus, ab eo quasi particulas super- - fluas removemus.
example, we attribute wisdom to God, we hear that perfection by which God knows and knows all things; and when we deny wisdom in him, it is the limited wisdom as we conceive it."
II. — The false mystics wanted to exclude the holy humanity of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the field of contemplation, as unworthy of the purity and sublimitity of this divine operation. According to the Beguards!, the perfect ones had to refrain from any sign of respect towards the body of the Saviour at the elevation of the host and the chalice during the sacrifice; and to descend from the heights of contemplation to take care of the sacrament of the Eucharist or the mystery of the Passion, was an imperfection.
Molinos? placed among the weaknesses of sensitive love the emotional acts towards the holy humanity of the Redeemer.
This is not the teaching of the true Doctors.
Saint Paul, to whom God had not refused the grace of contemplation, since he himself speaks to us of his visions and revelations °, nevertheless made it a profession to know only one thing: Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ crucified *.
In his example, the Areopagit exalts the mystery of the Incarnation in terms that do not allow to doubt that he placed it among the most worthy objects of supernatural contemplation.
1 Damn. prop. CLEMENTIN. l. 5, title. 3, from hær. €. 3. Quod in elevatione corporis Jesu Christi non debent assurgere, nec eidem reverentiam exhibitione, asserentes quod esset imperfectionis eisdem, si a puritate et altitudine suæ contemplationis tantum descenderent, quod circa ministerium seu sacramentum Eucharistiæ, aut circa Passionem humanitatis Christi, aliqua cogitarent.
2 Prop. 35, ex damn. ab Innoc. XI, 1687: Non debent elicere actus amoris erga B. Virginem, sanctos, aut humanitatem Christi, quia cum ist objecta sensibilia sint, talis is amor erga lla.
3 11 Cor. xn, 1. So gloriari oportet,... veniam autem ad visiones et revelationses.
4 1 Cor. n, 2. Not enim judicavi me scire aliquid inter vos, nisi Jesum Christum, and hune crucifixum.
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"What is most evident in all theology," says 1l! "Jesus clothed in the divinity of our flesh, "cannot be expressed by any word, nor conceived by any intelligence, not even by the first and most august of angels!" And further on °, quoting his master, the very holy Hierotheus: "The divinity of Jesus, the cause and consummation of everything, maintains the agreement of the parties with all...; it defines all principles and orders, and it sits beyond any principle and order... It is unspeakable and ineffable over intelligence, over life, over substance... By falling down out of love for man up to his nature, taking in truth our substance, calling himself man, he the supreme God, Jesus nevertheless kept what surpasses the nature and substance of man, not only because he has associated himself with humanity, without losing anything of his overabundant fullness in this innumerable annihilation, but also, wonder of wonders! because he was supernatural in our
nature and supersubstantial in our substance, having excel-
all things, all ours by us, and all that is above us."
No doubt, these emphatic expressions look at the Divinity, whose infinite perfection saves the human language from any exaggeration; but, as the remark of St. Denis, since the hypostatic union of the Word with human nature, man does not separate himself from God, nor God from man; it is Man-God*.
Cassien in turn points out, among the ordinary objects of
1 From Div. Name. c. 2, § 9. Migne, t. Three, collar. 648.
2 De Div. Name. € 2, § 10. Migne, t. 3.
3 ENVAR PéLace, De Planctu Eccl. Two cents. 52, f. ccxxv, Lyon, 1517. Quod dicunt isti (Beguardi) maledicti, quod caderent a perfectione suæ contemplationis si de carne Christi aut de passione ejus aliquid cogitarent, insanum est manifeste et diabolicæ arrogantiæ, quia videndo corpus Christi empty Deum per fidem et divinatem ejus, quae conjuncta est carni Christi.
the contemplation, the mystery of the Word incarnate. Saint Bernard? proclaims that Christ has come to enlighten our understanding, and has operated so many wonders as to detach our mind from the things of this world, to occupy it constantly with the wonders of his charity, and to make him an inexhaustible treasure of holy thoughts. Saint Teresis? rises with strength against those who would turn away perfect souls - to consider the humanity of Jesus Christ, and declares that, having been herself for some time in this false persuasion, her soul felt the greatest damage.
One can object that these testimonies of Saint Bernard and Saint Teresus concern meditation, and that it is here contemplation.
To this we will answer that the acquired contemplation has the same object as meditation, and that if the meditation of the most perfect souls is exercised on the holy humanity of the Saviour, we do not see why this sacred object would be excluded from contemplation. Moreover the Seraphic Teresus, far from distinguishing between active prayer and contemplation, supposes that the loving consideration of the life or passion of Our Lord can determine ecstasy, which is eminently an act of contemplation.
"This impotence to discur," she says, "makes them believe
E COLLAT. l, C. 15, Migne, Patr. l., t. 49, col. 505. Contempliatio vero Det multifarie concipitur. Nam Deus non sola incomprehensibilis illius substantiæ suæ admiratione cognoscitur, sed etiam... cum postremo dispensationem suæ Incarnationis pro nostra salutee sucepit, ac mirabilia mysteriorum suortum. in cunctis gentibus dilatavit.
2 Serm. 3. In Asc. Di. n. 2, t. 2, p. 297. Christus intellectum illuminate; Spiritus sanctus affectionum purgat. Venit enim Filius Dei, et tot et tanta mirabilia in mundo operatur, ut non immerito intellectum nostram ab omnibus mundanis rebus evocaverit, ut semper cogitemus et nunquam cogitare sufficiamus quia mirabilia fecit. Vere latissimos nobis ad spatiandum intelligentiæ campos dereliquit et torrens cogitationum istarum profundissimus est, which, juxta Prophetam, non posit. transvadari.
T Chåt. inter., 6 Dem., c. T.
# Ibid.
Ool they cannot even think of the sufferings of the Saviour, in what they are mistaken. So, if they don't think about it often, they try to do it; I know that the most sublime prayer will not prevent them. If while they think of a mystery of the life or passion of Our Lord, the divine Master will bring them in, despite them, in ecstasy, at the right hour, that they will yield, etc..."
As for infuse contemplation, it is a fact of experience a thousand times repeated, that Jesus Christ frequently appears there as a man. What is the contemplative that did not see in his transports the divine Crucified, his sacred wounds, his adorable face, his burning heart? These kinds of manifestations are read on every page in the lives of St Francis of Assisi, St Philip of Neri, St Joseph of Copertino, St Brigitte, St Catherine of Siena, St Teresus and so many others.
In dealing in our second part with the apparitions of the Saviour, we will produce many facts, and we will notice in particular that the sacrament of the Eucharist is the ordinary scene of the bodily manifestations of Jesus Christ.
And in what way would the sacred flesh of Man-God and his holy soul repulse contemplation? Blessed ones do not have in heaven, after God's, a sweeter vision. "They first look at the divinity of Jesus Christ," said St.Thomas, "but then they rest on his humanity, and in contemplation of one and the other they find a delight that makes their beatitude."
1 Quodiib. 8, a. 20. Illud ad quod primo waiting sancti is ipse Deus, and eum habent medium cujuslibet cognitionis, and regulam cujuslibet operaatiônis; and sic prius contemplateur divinitatem Christi, quam ejus humanitatem. In utraque tamen contemplanda delectationem inveniunt. Unde dieitur (Joan. x, 9): Ingredient scilicet Beati ad contemplandam divinatem Christi et egredientur ad contemplationem ejus humanitatis et utrobique pascua invenient, id est delectationem.
This is the doctrine professed by the Fathers: St Augustine, St Leo, St Gregory the Great, Cassian 4, St Bernard, and by the most renowned spiritual doctors: Thaulerf, Rusbroch, Louis de Blois ê, Saint John of the Cross, Alvarez de Paz‘, Schram!! and Scaraintel
The only difficulty that one can oppose comes from the expressions and affirmations of some mystics, which seem to indicate that the consideration of the humanity of Jesus Christ is only suitable for beginnings.
It is wrong to claim the authority of the Areopagit who said to Timothy at the beginning of his MYSTICAL THEOLOGY ®: "For you, dear Timothy, practice constantly at mystical shows, leaving aside the intellectual senses and operations, all sensitive and intelligible, all non-being and being, and, through the agnoste, rise above all substance and gnosis as much as possible." Saint Denis describes here the mystical process of raising to the knowledge of God by means of negation, which he calls agnosia or ignorance, and not the complete objective of contemplation. What we have quoted from him on the rank
1 Sermo 55, by Verbis Domini.
2 Serm. 16, from Passione.
Three Morals. 1. 31, €. 49-52. Migne, t. 76, Col. 627.
4/Coll C: 15; Col 505
À Loc. cit. and serm. 7, in Cœn. Dom.
7 Ornatu spirit. nupt. 1. 9, ©. 62, p. 353.
NMS pir C0. From 412.
9 Mounted Carmel, 1. 3, ch. 4.
0 Of Natur contemplating. 15n Part O C nod EST
11 Theol. myst. § 279, t.4, p. 468.
12 Diret. Mist. Tratt.12, C 11, p. 84.
13 Theol. myst. c. 1. Migne, t. Three, collar. 997: Tu vero, chare Timothy, in mysticis contempionionibus intenta exercisee, and sensus relinque, and intellectual operations, and sensitiva and intelligibila omnia, and ea quae sunt and quae non sunt universea, ut ad unionem ejus qui supra essentiam et scientiam est, quantum fas est, indemonstrabiliter assurgas.
RE 4 ROLE and EH. LEARN h
which he assigns to the mystery of Man-God, in Theology, sufficiently contradicts the interpretation of false mystics.
In support of this so-called spiritual axiom, St. Bernard‘, Thauler?, St. John of the Cross, is also mentioned. These authors seem to us to recommend to meditatives and beginners the in-depth, repeated, laborious consideration of the Saviour's sufferings and sacred wounds, while they advise contemplatives to give up to the simple, peaceful and emotional intuition that delights them, without any sensible effort to resist or attract.
Saint Bonaventure seems more explicit in his Meni TATIONS, if the work is of him, for he says that "the contemplation of the humanity of Christ is for the beginnings and imperfectes". But the Seraphic Doctor hears, as St Bernard, who he quotes at length, of the work of meditation, as he explains in the sequel, and he is careful not to forbid this kind of consideration to the perfect: it is rather the pure sight of God, ordinary to contemplatives, which is denied to the beginnings. The only conclusion that can be deduced from this is that the holy humanity of Jesus Christ feeds not less meditation than contemplation, while contemplation also expands into horizons that meditation does not address.
1 Serm. 62, in Cant. t. 3 p. 352.
2 Institute. 35.
3 Mounted Carmel, l. 2, ch. 32, p. 142.
4 Medit. vitae Christi, ¢. 50. Live, t. 12 p. 576. Pro incipientibus et imperfectis est contemplatatio humanitatis Christi quam in hoe libello describo.
5 Ibid. ¢. 51, p. 578. Unde tanquam familiarior non tantum perfectionibus, sed etiam rudibus proponitur intuenda; tum quia in ea (contemplatione) sicut in activa, and a vitiis purgamur and virtutibus imbuimur; unde cum activa concurrit. Cum igitur dicitur quod activa debet præcedere contemplativam, verum est in aliis sublimioribus am generibus, scilicet celestis curiae and majestatis Dei quae tantum perfectis reservantur. And ideo ista de humanitate Christi rectius et proprious meditatio quam contemplationatio nominari debet.
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94 . — We shall say to the apparitions that the
Blessed Virgin Mary, angels and saints inter-
frequently come in contemplative visions.
It is still a false principle of spirituality reproved by the Church, that to want to eliminate the most holy Mother of the Savior and the blessed from pure devotion and contemplative prayer. Strange aberration, let's say with the P. Scaramelli?, to imagine that devotion to the Queen and the happy inhabitants of heaven prevents contemplation! Whether we consider this act in itself or under the conditions that prepare it, the intervention of the glorious Virgin and the saints who contemplate eternal splendors, far from being an obstacle, is, on the contrary, a means fully related to the very nature of this exaltation of the Spirit in God.
Angels form the procession of the King of glory and are his regular intermediaries between him and the lower creatures. That is why theology attributes to them the execution of most of the divine manifestations. It is therefore natural that these heavenly messengers often appear in the supernal visions.
IV. — All Christian truths and the very world of nature, seen from the side of faith, can occupy and fix the gaze of contemplative.
Cassian summarizes, in chapter xve of his first conference °, the main aspects of God or creatures that contemplation can manifest. The blessings of God in the sanctification of the predestined, the wonders of his power and of his providence over the world, his knowledge to which nothing escapes in the present, the past and the future,
1 Prop. 36, ex 68 Mich. Molinos damn. ab Innoc. XI. No one is creatura nec B. Virgo, nec sancti sedere debent in nostro corde, quia solus Deus vuit ilud occare and possesse.
2 Diret. Mist. Tratt. €2. 13, n. 139, p. 99.
3 Migne, Patr. lat., t. 49, col. 505.
D 2 in < a T = it does TG
his ineffable mercy and untiring long-suffering,
free of predestination to his chosen ones and the wisdom of the means that he uses to realize it, his liberality to reward the righteous and the beatitude of which he intoxicates them; the inconceivable work of the Incarnation with the multitude of graces and wonders contained in this mystery; and finally, God even revealing himself in a thousand ways to the clean eyes of the mind, or giving himself to the soul by an inescapable communication: these are, according to Cassian, the ordinary spectacles of contemplatives.
Among these visions, it is worth mentioning, as the most frequent and common, that of the mysteries of life, death and glory of Jesus Christ and his holy Mother.
In dealing with stigma, we will show the divine Crucified associating the most beloved and loving souls, not only with knowledge, but also with the mystical participation of his pains. In addition to this fundamental mystery of Christianity, the Saviour also reveals to them the other public circumstances and the most secret intimacys of his mortal and glorious life. The privileged souls who have received these divine confidences are innumerable. Of those who had the greatest share, Saint Brigitte, Saint Gertrude, Blessed Osanne of Mantua, Saint Elizabeth of Sconauge, can be mentioned. The latter!, in addition to the painful scenes of the Passion, whose view was usual to her, saw the mysteries of the Incarnation, the Nativity, the Epiphany, the Presentation to the temple, with the part of the Most Holy Virgin in each one of them, unfolded in turn.
V. — Another spectacle often revealed to contemplatives is the world of glory and grace.
1 Ecser. BB. 18 June, t. 24 p. 508-516.
To show to the soul the splendors and beatitudes of heaven is to ignite with love and holy desires toward God who communicates with so much kindness and magnificence to his chosen ones. A simple look of contemplation discovers more about the state of the Blessed than one could penetrate for several years of meditation!.
It is enough to open the story of the most famous contemplatives to see how frequent are the manifestations that God makes of glory and bliss, in this luminous and delicious interview that serves as a prelude to him.
There God reveals the state of the traveling souls, the holiness, the trials and triumphs of the militant Church.
The divine life poured out in souls by the still veiled light of faith, and by the intimate and hidden fire of charity, uniting them by a mysterious cementation, as parts of the same body to Jesus Christ, in which this life resides in fullness, and from which it expands on each of its members, as the blood flows from the heart to the ends of the body, to revive them; outside, the beauty, meaning and eloquence of worship, the organization of hierarchy, infallibility and holiness permanently within the general corruption and with the help of infirm instruments and instruments. wretched: after the damage of infinity and the splendors of glory, can we conceive a spectacle more worthy of divine contemplation??
1 WANT Paz, Nat. contemplative. 5, p. €2. 2, t. 6 p. 488: Tertio is perfecta contemplatatio de patriarchia celesti et de bonis illis æternis quae sanctis parata sunt. Hic anima Angelorum naturam, gratiam and gloriam, sanctorum labores pro Deo in hac vita susceptos, sanctitatem and felicitatem; Reginæ sanctorum Mariæ viscera erga genus humanum, altitudinem and opes Matre Dei dignas intuetur, and illam civitatem pacis and perpetuæ claritatis admireur. In ictu oculi plura and majora per contemplationem de illo status Beatorum perspicacius videt quam in multo tempore meditationis antea cognoverat.
2 SAVING PAZ, Ibid., p. 490. Quarto is contemplatatio de statu militantis Eeclesiae. Proponitur ecnim animæ, insolita quadam luce, sanctæ
Finally, this merciful elevation having as its supreme purpose the sanctification of the soul and its total consummation in God, one understands that the illumination also bursts upon the soul itself, to reveal to it its misery, the operations of grace, the wonders of supernatural providence towards it, so that, annihilated, dilated, transported under these divine claritys, it will abandon itself to the lowerings of humility, the impulses of gratitude and the ardour of love!
VI. — After having recognized the objects of contemplation, one may wonder whether there exists in their manifestation a hierarchical order.
God is not bound to any law inflexible in the concession of his gifts; he dispenses them and measures them at his own discretion, according to the purposes of his supernatural providence upon souls. Removing freedom in love is to suppress love itself.
However, without imposing them as a necessity, God follows laws in his mystical relationship with souls. But, because of the gratuitous nature of these gifts, the law is difficult to detach and is not rigorous.
The normal gradation of the acquired contemplation corresponds, in principle, to the very order of meditation, and this order seems to be to consider first the Christian truths which enlighten the mind and regulate practically life; then to study in Jesus Christ the perfect model, then bujus matris nostræ dignitas and sanctitas. Quam ardenter a Deo sponso ejus diligatur, quam potenter ab omni falsitate defenceatur et columna veritatis efficiatur, quam fideliter a temptibus et persecutionibus tyrannorum et haereticorum liberetur, quam tributier sanctis et perfectis viris impleatur, quam misericorditer in filiis rebellibus sciliet in speccatoribus sustineatur, quam infallibiliter in prædestinatis ad præmium vocetur... Alia is ergo facies Ecclesiae cum inadvertanter aspicictur, aut cum per lucem contemplationis vidétur.
1 WATCH Paz, Nat. contempl., p. 490. Contempliatio is of nobismetipsis: in qua innotescit nobis which and quales simus, quid operaturi simus, and quid de benignitate Domini sperare debeamus.
98 to the admiration of God's relative and absolute attributes, and finally of his intimate constitution in the trinity of persons.
= Now the acquired contemplation, usually succeeding to meditation only when it reached its peak, it is God who is the most ordinary objective. But, in fact, the attractions that the Holy Spirit throws into the soul are so diverse, and the divine intervention that moves from reasoning to pure intuition so varied, that it is morally impossible to specify general and constant rules. There are souls who spend their whole lives meditating on a unique subject, the Saviour's Passion, for example, the mystery of the Eucharist, the goodness and wisdom of Providence, such or such Christian virtue. Others, after starting with considerations about God and his attributes, on nature or on speculative truths of religion, come only late to meditate on the sufferings of Man-God, and are astonished at having so little tasted up until then a subject so capable of exciting faith and love.
= The step of infuse contemplation is no less difficult to determine. No doubt the imaginary visions, as less perfect, regularly precede intellectual visions; but in both the same objects may appear, albeit in a different way. There is, however, a point on which the statements of the masters are sufficiently constant, that is, that the manifestation of God as Trinity is reserved for the climax of the mystical ascension.
In summary, according to the doctrine of theologians and mystics, God is the main object of contemplation, and all creatures and truths, as they lead to God, are the secondary object of contemplation; according to the law of human knowledge, the phenomena of the lower order appear before the facts.
of the divine order, and mainly before the mystery of
-the Augustus Trinity, which thus consumes mystical life in the creature, as it is in God the last expression of essential and infinite perfection.
VII. — St. Denis the Areopagit brings intellectual operations back to the ascent to God to the three circular, straight and oblique movements.
These kinds of conceptions and formulas were too well suited to the scholastic method, so that none of them could believe that they were not to be reproduced; we will therefore also quote this famous passage; here it is literally translated!
"The heavenly intelligences move, it is said, circularly, when they unite with the splendors without beginning or end of the good and the good; directly, when, applying to the providence of the inferior beings, they direct everything in a straight line; obliquely, while, coming in aid to the subordinates and remaining firm in their immobility on the very principle that produces it, the beautiful and the good, they turn around this center without ever stopping.
1 Name. div. ¢. 4, §§ 8 and 9, Migne, t. 3, c). 703 and sqq. Divinæ mentes dicuntur moveri circulariter quidem, dum principalio fineque carentibus, pulchri bonique splendoribus uniuntur; direct autem quando ad inferiorum providentiam procedunt, recte omnia directionndo; oblique vero, dum inferioribus consultentes in eodem statu perpetuo manent, circa bonum and pulchrum ejusdem status causam, semper severs versents. Animi autem motus orbicularis est ejus ab extraneis in semetipsum introitus, spiritaliumque ipsius facultyatum unimoda inflexio, quae quasi in circulato fixum et ab omni errore liberum motum ei tributit, et a multis rebus extraneis ipsum convertt ac colligit, primum ad se, deinde quasi jam unius modi performem, conjunctis uno modo facultatibus conjungit, atque ita demum ad pulchrum et bonum manuducit, quod supra omnia quae sunt et unum et idem, et sine principali and sine fine est. — Oblique vero cietur animus, quando pro captu suo notionibus divinis illus illutur, non spiritali quidem unito modo, sed cogitando et discurrendo quasi permixtis fluxisque actionibus. — Directe vero movetur quando, non ad seipsum ingreditor, neque singulari motu spiritali fertur, nam his motus circularis est, ut dixi, sed ad ea quae ipsi vicina sunt progreditor, et a rebus externis, non seucus ac signis quibus-
- dam varis ac multiplicibus, ad simplicites et unitas contemplationes revoises eatur:
"The soul also has a circular movement through which, external things, it folds itself, collects in unity its spiritual faculties, to lock itself in a circle where it cannot be lost, and, free from the external multiplicity, gathered in itself, concentrates its powers in a perfect unity, and thus reaches the beautiful and the good, above all beings, one and the same, without beginning and without end.
"It then has an oblique movement, in that it is enlightened, according to its ability, of divine notions, not through intuition and unity, but through reasoning and deductive work, and as through the effect of complex and transient operations.
"Finally, it has a direct movement, not as it comes in itself and walks with an intuitive look, for as I said, there would be circular movement; but as it gravitates towards what is surrounding it, and as external objects, like various and multiple symbols, it rises to simple contemplations and one."
Saint Thomas! and all the spiritual authors have gathered this interpretation of the great mystic, and have applied the
1 Sum. 2. 2. q. 180, a. 6. Operatio intellectus in qua contemplationatio essentialiter consistit, motus dictur, secundum quod motus est actus perfecti. Quia vero per sensibilia in cognitionem intelligibilium devenimus, operations autem sensibiles sine motu non fiunt; inde est quod etiam operationses intelligibiles quasi motus quidam describuntur, and secundum similitudinem diversorum motuum earum differentia assignatur. In motibus autem corporalibus perfectiores and primi sunt local; and ideo sub eorum similitudine potissimæ operationses intelligentes describuntur. Quorum quidem sunt tres differentiæ: nam quidam est circularis, secundum quem aliquid movetur uniformiter circa idem centrum. Alius autem is rectus, secundum quem aliquid procedure ab uno ad aliud. Tertius autem is obliqus quasi compositus ex utroque. And ideo in operationibus intelligibilibus, id quod simpliciter babet uniformitatem attributeur motui circulari, operaatio item intelligibilis secundum quam processitur de uno ad aliud attributeur motui recto: operatio item intelligences habens aliquid uniformis simul cum processu ad diversa attributeur motui obliquo.
triple movement of which he speaks to the three modes by which the soul climbs the scale of contemplation.
In the circular movement, the soul moves around God through a very pure, delicious, uniform love movement, as around a unique center that lurks and delights her.
Through the right movement, the soul moves from the contemplation of creatures to the admiration of God, in whom it attaches itself and restes in love.
The movement obliques her from the vision of God to that of creatures, so that she returns to her first intuition, with a repetition of admiring and loving intoxication.
The first movement is especially suitable for infuse contemplation, although it may meet temporarily in the acquired contemplation.
Rather, the second characterizes the acquired contemplation, because it is held by the discursive walking of Ja meditation.
The third, oblique, can meet in one and the other contemplation.
Two principles: God and man. — Contemplation of man in contemplation either passive or active. — We can desire, ask and hope for contemplation acquired. — Is there any presumption to claim also to infuse contemplation?
l. — The two principles that enter into action in contemplation are God and man. In order to accurately assign the share of one and the other, the various meanings contained under this word of cause must be understood.
Taken in general, causality can mean preparation, even remote, or immediate and efficient influence. The real cause is always efficient. The remote preparation is either negative or positive, depending on whether it merely removes obstacles or whether it provides direct and effective assistance.
It is no less important to distinguish between the storytelling and the storytelling.
1 Le Gaupier, De Natura et statibus perfectionis, P. 1, sect. €3. 3, inf. p. 130. Igitur causa ejus efficiens duplex est, Deus et homo, ita tamen
ut Deus ipse pene omnia his efficiency; at, plerumque homo tam parum influat ut vidéatur..., potius sse passive tantum habere.
These; k 2 x >
Infuse plation and ordinary contemplation; for the way to arrive at one is not that which leads to the other.
These distinctions made, let us seek to what extent God and man are involved in contemplative operations.
The man's share being negative or at the most preparatory, let's start with man.
I. — In passive contemplation, man's action is reduced to removing obstacles.
The first and greatest of these obstacles is sin. Although contemplation, as enlightenment of the spirit, belongs to the order of graces freely given, and as such can absolutely meet in sinners, the general law is that this favor is granted only to sanctified souls. "The wisdom," says the Scripture, "will not enter into a soul that is delivered to evil, and shall not dwell in a body that is subject to sin." Contemplation, which is like an outpouring of divine wisdom, repels the darkness and contradictions of moral evil.
Another obstacle is attaching to creatures. "If there are so few contemplatives," says the author of the Imirarion?, "they are in small numbers those who know how to separate themselves from perishable and created things, and, without this universal release, the mind cannot rise up or fix itself to divine things."
The escape from sin and the mortification of the passions that precipitate us to the sensitive goods get by the practice of moral virtues. That's why Saint Thomas *
1 Sap.1, 4.
2 From Imit. Christi, 1.3, ©. 31, n. 4. Oportet igitur omnem supertransire creaturam and seipsum perfecte desere ac in excessu lied stare and empty te omnium conditorem cum creaturis nil common habere. And nisi quis ab omnibus creaturis fuerit expeditus, non potrit liberte intendere divinis, Ideo enim pauci inveniuntur contemplativi, quia pauci sciunt se a perituris et creaturis ad plenum sequestrate.
- What? Sum. 2. 2. q. 180, a. 2. Disposable subject moral virtutes relevantad vitam contemplativam. Impeditor enim actus contemplationis in quo Essen-
signals them as provisions that prepare for contemplative life. A purified soul, master of the flesh, who abhors everything that defiles and obscures, is a living tabernacle where God can descend and shine. Effective charity has been prepared to the drunkenness of affective charity, which is the sharing of contemplation: as it emerges from the creature it draws closer to God, and by pushing the earth from its feet it rises up to heaven.
But holiness, however sublime it may be, is never but a purely negative condition, which gives no right or assurance to achieve infuse contemplation. Here everything depends on God, and his liberality can replace in an instant this distant preparation that comes from man.
At the moment when she receives the grace of supernatural contemplation, therefore, Pasme is in one of these two situations. Or, already prepared by the practice of moral virtues and united to God by charity, she is invited to pass from laborious life to the rest of contemplation; or, again in the abimas of sin, in the bonds of creatures, she is suddenly taken away and raised by the mercy and almighty power of God, from hatred or lukewarmness, to the transport of love. These sudden transitions are rare, but they meet. üaliter consistit vita contemplativa, and per vehemementiam passionum per quam abstrahitur intentio animæ ab intelligibilibus ad sensibilia, and per tumultus exteriores. Virtutes autem morals impediunt vehementiam passionum and sedan exteriorum occupationum tumultus. And ideo virtutes moral dispositive ad vitam contemplativam relevant.
1 WANT Paz, l. 5, P. 1, app. 1 €. 4, t. 6 p. 396. Duobus modis solet animus ad contemplationis gratiam perveniree: altero per solam Dei gratiam, altero per divinam gratiam excitingem and adjuvantem hominis propriom industriam. Who first illo modo perveniunt, dicuntur pertrahi vel rapi; who secundo, dicuntur introduci... milla, cælestis sponsus non aliener quam magnus animam apripit et resistentem interdum ad divina sustollit; in hac, ut magister docet, et quid ipsa facere debeat, ut ascendant solerter præscribit. In illa non semel nullam ex parte animæ preparationem exspectat; sed ad ostentationem potentieæ et misericordiee prorsus imparatam et in oppositum conantem, ut observation in Paulo, immensa caritate nobilitat; in ista puritatem and
= 10 The law is that of gradual and meritorious preparation; and, by this point of view, infuse contemplation is close to the acquired contemplation, where man's share is greater, as indicated by the qualifiers of acquired, active, natural, which serve to designate and distinguish it. °
In the latter, in fact, not only does man rule out what prevents or delays the soul's adherence to God, he can still settle down to the simple intuition by a calm and generous virtue that cleanses, softens and raises the soul, and also by yielding to the emotional and admirative movements that arise from meditation and prelude to contemplation.
The arrangements that prepare and support contemplative prayer can be reduced to six.
The first is a knowledge, at least general and confused, of contemplation, and the will to surrender to it as soon as God deigns to introduce it. To determine the soul to the effort and immolation that this elevation imposes, it is good to consider its excellence, its fruits and its sweetness t.
The purity of the heart is even more effective and important to dispose of contemplative life. This purity includes the absence, not only of any serious sin, but also of any slight fault?
non exiguam virtutem animæ postulate, ut luce illa supernaturali divinæ sapientiæ perfundat. Illa prima ratione trahuntur pauci, imo et rari, non quidem ut in salebra suorum vitiorum hæreant, sed ut brevius et efficacius atque felicius perfectionem consequantur; hac ducuntur et vocantur multi, ut seipsos ex divina gratia preparantes munere contemplatandi donentur.
1 T.S.-Triniré Pnuppe, Sum. Th. myst P. 2, Tr. 1, D. 1, to. 3, t. 2, p. 18. Prima igitur dispositio ad vitam contemplativam is cognitio saltem confoundeda and generalis ipsius. Unde qui cam aggreditur debet ejus naturam, proprietates et faciles mirabiles aliquo modo præcognoscere, tum ut absolute velit, tum quia nibil volitum quin præcognitum, etc. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et. et.
2 PLEASE PAZ, I. 5, P. 1, app. 1, c. 3, t. 6 p. 399. Contempliatio volatus est, and volatus in coelum: peccatum pondus est quo anima deprimitur
deliberate. The smallest fetu who penetrates where is sufficient to disturb the sight and prevent the clear vision of the external objects; likewise any deliberate stain obscures the eye of the soul and becomes an obstacle to the intuition of divine things'. That is why the Savior recommended purity of heart to those who want to see God?
The third provision is a continuous mortification of passions, which establishes in full and serene possession of itself the upper part of the soul where contemplation is consumed °.
Another provision that precedes and also accompanies contemplative life is the constant exercise of moral virtues. Before receiving the extraordinary impulses of God's spirit, the soul must be fully subject to the laws of reason, and this empire is exercised and obtained by moral virtues.'
and inclintatur ad terram. Abjiciendum is laid down mens tua ex societe corporis, satis ad terram prona, adres celestes efferatur. Nec whores hec de majoribus peccatis diici, quoque quibus non resistimus, gratiæ contemplationis obstitunt. Soli enim mundi et puri ad Dei amplexus admittuntur; qui vero habitent quod lugeant, prius in inferiori loco collocantur ut a sui plagis curentur.
1 SCARAMELLI, Dirett. Mist. tr. €2. 21 n. 237, p. 186. The terza disposizione è la purità del cuore e la mondezza della coscienza, non solo da ogni peccato grave, ma anche de ogni colpa leggiera e mancamento volontario; perchè siccome ogni piccola macchia che entri nell'occhio basta ad intorbidargli la vista, sicche non posa più con chiarezza mirare gli oggetti, cosi ogni macchia di colpa volontariamente contractta è bastevole ad offuscare locchio della mente, onde non posa in contemplazione vedere le divine perfezioni.
2 Matth. v, 8.
3? T.S.-Triniré, Sum. Myst. 21. Quinta dispositio est continuata mortificatio et austeritas vitae tam in victu quam in vestitu; unde contemplatatio et mortificatio quasi duæ sunt sorores dilectissimæ se mutio concomitant et se invicem adducentes... Cujus ratio est quia pars superior non est sui perfecte composure ac divinis mysteriis contemplinandis libera niisi partem inferiorem sibi perfecte subjectam habeat.
4 T.S.-Triniré Panir. Ibid., p. 20. Quarta dispositio, partim prævia and antecedens, partim simultanea and concomitans, is quod vir contemplativus virtute morals acquired and se earum exercitio semper occupied.
MAN'S PART 107 The fifth condition is loneliness!. As long as the soul remains spread over creatures, it is as if out of itself, and it is within, to the most intimate of the being, that enlightenment and contemplative fixedness occur; that is where the divine appointment is. For this universal release and internal concentration, retirement and silence are absolutely necessary.
But to withdraw from the external things to give up in one's own mind to all the divagations, is to move from a noisy and captivating world to another even more tumultuous and more fascinate. The recollection is real only as much as it is inner, as it separates us from existing creatures and imaginary ghosts, to put ourselves alone before God. So the usual practice of God's presence is the most serious preparation for the merciful and gratuitous encounter of contemplation?
HI. — Since man brings a certain positive contribution in active contemplation, he is therefore allowed to aspire to this kind of prayer, and even to ask for grace from God as a very effective way of advancing in perfection, provided that he subordinates his desire and prayer to the good will of God and to the greatest usefulness of his soul.
1 Paruæpe de la T.-S.-Trinréé, Sum. Myst. 22. Sexta dispositio is Silentium and recessus. Difficult namque potest anima seipsam interius colligee, so, turbis hominum miscens, negotiis sæcularibus implicet. Ad contemplationem autem interna collectio lied necessario requiritur ut sic, ab omnibus aliis libera, soli Deo contemplando vacet in recessu, etc.
2 Ib. p. 23. Suppositis his conditionibus ad facile acviter acquirendam contemplationem opus est ut qui ad eam aspirint studio comparandæ præsentiæ Dei sedulo vacet, et incipiens hoc studium Deum presentem ubique, sibique unitum intime, mentali consideratione proponat, etc.
3 Scuram, § 255, t. 1, p. 446. Cum ergo contemplationatio tantum bonum sit, sanctum and Expediens is omnibus, cum spiritus prudentia ad eam aspirinre.
4 ScHraM, $ 256, t. 4 p. 448. Orare and contemplationem a Deo petere expedit et sanctum est.
But we must not be delusional: it is a completely free divine action that raises to contemplation, even ordinary, and not the natural and human effort, that same one and the common grace accompany el sanctified. At the bottom, there is man in this ascension only the acts of virtue that precede and dispose of it, and the free consent that accepts and maintains it!.
Nothing prevents, if one wants, from looking at active contemplation as the fruit and reward of meditation, on the condition that one will see there, not a rigorous merit, but simply a merit of convenience, a merit of congruo, as the theologians say. Despite the most ardent desires, the most fervent prayer and the very holiness of life, one may not obtain the grace of contemplation °.
It is therefore to be lost that to set a time when, at meditation, must succeed contemplation. It all depends here on the pure will of God. Some receive these divine favors at the beginning, others after many years; more, not less raised in perfection and aspired to obtain them, never succeed, as did St Bernard's remark. The man only has to settle down
1 S. Tuom. 2. 2. q. 180, a. 2, ad 1. Causæ autem moventes non intrent essentiam rei, sed disponunt et perficiunt rem. Unde non sequitur quod virtutes morals essentialiter pertinant ad vitam contemplativam.
2 SCHRAM, $258, t. 1, p. 449. Quemadmodum contemplationem wisherare ac petere possumus, ita et illam, saltem ordinariam, meeri valemus, no condigno, sed de congruo.
3 SCARAMELLI, Dir. Mist. Tr. Two cents. 21 n. 230, p. 133. Dico che posta anche qualonque buona disposizione, con cui uomo spirituale siasi preparato alla celete contemplazione, pure non gli è di rigore dovuta... Neppure in questo modo è sicura di otternerla, perchè tanto Iddio rimane con le mani libre, per compartirgliela o no, come più gli agrada.
4 Scuram, § 265. Schol.t. 2, p. 456. Quare audiendi non sunt si qui reperiuntur qui dictant pro transitu ad contemplationem sufficere quod quis meditationi per duos annos, aut quartet, vel sex menses vacaverit.
5 Serm. 3, from Circuma. t. 2, p. 180. Multi tota vita ad hoc tense, and nunquam pertensive.
SE MN AN PRES AE EEN à ver he
4 z ž And
RAA TRS z o ~ ee,
by the constant practice of virtues and by an entire docility to grace: God comes whenever he wants!.
Saint Térèse, while urging her daughters to make themselves worthy, through the work of virtues and fidelity to meditation, to be raised to the sweetness of contemplation, warns them that trying to achieve it through natural efforts is to waste his time and his sorrow. "If the spring that produces this water does not cause it to spring, it is of little use for us to get tired; all our meditations, all our eagerness, all our tears will not give it to us." God alone pours it out on whom he wants, and often even when the soul least thinks about it."
IV. — This is particularly true of infuse and extraordinary prayer. To reach it by the human industry, even assisted by the common grace, is both childish and dangerous. It is, says Alvarez de Paz, as if we were trying to fly without wings, or if, because we want rain, we were trying to bring water down from the sky on earth. We may well desire meditation,
1 SCARAMELLI, Tratt. €2. 6, n. 67, p. 68. Contemplazione, o sia infusa o acquisita, è un favore straordinario in cui Iddio non ha voluto star sottoposto nè a' regole, è a leggi; la vuol dare a chi gli pare, e como e quanto gli piace, secondo gli altissimi finite della sua provvidenza.
2 Inside castle. 4th Dem., c. 2, ad finem.
8 Lib. 5, Part. 2, c. 13, t. 6 p. 537. In negotio ergo perfectæ contemplationis bonum est ejus desiderium et Deo grata ejus postulatio, vana tamen est ridicula intellectus et voluntatis applicatio, quasi tu velis intellectum in uno fixum tenere, et te ad modum contemplationium in illo uno suspendere. In quo hoc genus orationis a meditatione et ab aliis secernitur; quod meditationem possumus quidem desiderare et ad eam habendam conatum adhibere: at in contemplationem, desiderium bonum est, conatus superfluousus.
Duabuse similitudinibus fiet id manifestum... Sic igitur meditatio veluti ambulatio est, aut syllabus, aut etiam saltus, quo te parum a terra leves; est veluti aquae extractio ex whoro vel ex flumina: ad hoc vires habes gratiæ tuam naturam juvantes. Conatum adhibes, is... At contemplatatio perfecta, qua Deus intellectum sine discursu in uno fixum tenet, and elevatione suspensionis admiratione et delectatione sublevat, and amore non tam afficit quam succendit, volatus est, pluvia de cælo padens est. Hæc desiderabis, hæc postulabis...; sed si ipse alas non dederit, si pluviam non misérit, in vanum conaberis perfecte contemplari.
110 and, through our efforts, realize it: but for contemplation, we cannot go beyond desire and prayer. It is in vain that the soul will want to suspend the course of reasoning, fix the mind's gaze on a single object, produce in it the drunkenness of love and the stillness of admiration; it will result only in sterile fatigue or in the fatal illusions. The illuminations that would result from these attempts must be considered suspicious: they can hardly come from the prestige of the mind of lies or from the heating of the brain.
But is it permissible, at least, to desire and ask for the grace of supernatural contemplation?
Fr. Philip of the Most Holy Trinity openly pronounces himself for the affirmative and goes so far as to say that all those who have the concern for virtue and perfection must aspire to these divine communications, because of the goods they bring to the soul that receives them, to others and to the whole Church!
Alvarez de Paz distinguishes in contemplation the intimate grace of elevation and adherence to God, and the external graces that accompany this union, such as ecstasy, stigma, apparitions. Humility defends, according to him, to desire and ask for those external favors which attach themselves to contemplation; and making an effort to achieve it would be superb and inept. Moreover, when granted, one must strive to withdraw from it with prudence and humility, and ask God to lead to heaven by the royal way of faith and the cross. But, for the suspension
1 Sum. Th. Mr. P. Two leaflets. 3, D. 1, a. 4, t. 2, p. 299. Tantum bonum- est contemplatatio supernaturalis, tam eminentem continet honestatem. tam magnam affert utilitatem, and tam excessivam iis communicative delectationem qui jus jus jus occupant exercitio, ut plane ridiculum foret negare quod teneantur omnes ad illam aspirare, qui secundum virtutem honoreste volunt vivre, in via perfectionis utility proficere ac deliciis spiritus abundare.. Quid utilius contemplatione supernaturali tum animæ contemplativæ, tum aliis, tum ipsi Ecclesiae?
supernatural in God through simple intuition, admiration and love, this scholar writer believes that she is worthy of all our vows and that we can humbly pray to God to grant her to us, if he judges send him for our salvation and for his glory. There is a very powerful way of perfection here, and if we must be eager for the end itself, why could we not be able to be the way that leads to it!?
The spiritual authors agree to teach that it is not necessary to desire or to ask for the external and miraculous phenomena of the mystical states, unless it is driven by an extraordinary impulse of the Holy Spirit?, as has been seen in some rare servants of God, for example, in the Blessed Osanne of Mantua, who, through desires and prayers, obtains stigma, with the help of the spiritual authors,
1L. 5, Part. 2, c. 13, t. 6 p. 536. Nunc de perfecta. contemplatione dicamus. Hocautem nomine duo possumus intelligente. Primo quidem illa singularia dona contemplationis nomine comprehensa, quibus solet Dominus aliquas pias animas cumulationare, ut sunt ecstasy, raptus, apparitions corporeæ vel imaginariae, and cætera hujusmodi. Hæc vero desiderare non liket nec postulare, and mullo minus ad ea conari, quod essay superbum atque ridiculum. Imo potius si talia incideret, debet homo be careful and humiliate subtrahere, Dominumque rogare ut via regia eum in coelum ducat.
Secundo nomine perfectæ contemplationis intelligitur illa simplex et discursu carens cognitio Dei, a dono sapientiæ profecta, lie elevationem, suspensionem, admirationem and delectationem inducens, and ardentissimum amorem accessens. Ad hancautem animæ perfectionem vocatæ, and not mediocri usu mortificationis, and studio virtuitis et communis orationis ornatæ, deberent se per majorem puritatem etper ea quae supra sunt scripta disponere; posunt item ipsam ardent desirere, et humiliter postulare, si sibi expedit, cur no? Hæc is instrumentum effectivecissimum assequendæ perfectionis: hujus vero possumus esse cupidi quae finis; cur non illius quae medium est ad finem? etc. etc.
2 Scuram, Theol. myst. § 260, p. 450. Contempliatio extraordinaria cum suis favoreurbus raptuum, visionum, etc., per-se loquendo non est desideranda, nec a Deo petenda, sed ad summum per Accidens et raro quando impulsus Dei extraordinarius ad hoc impellit.
3 F. Sycvesrre, BB. 48 Jun. t. 24 p. 579, n. 102: Quare impetrata corona, jam fidens animi, rursus ad implorandas in singulos dies universes ejus scars, hac tamen lege ut omnes homines laterent.
the express reservation which his humility put in it, that they would not be visible; likewise in the venerable Gertrude d'Oosten!, who, after having received these sacred prints, afraid of the contest which was being held around her to admire this prodigy, asks that they disappear; and, when they were withdrawn from her, pushed by love, begs, but in vain, that they be returned to her.
But this is the exception. The history of the holy souls who have enjoyed these favors attests, on the contrary, that they have desired and asked to be delivered from it?, desiring only one thing, union with the sovereign Good through charity, and fearing above all the gifts that expose to the terrible dilatations of self-love and the illusions of lying angel.
Unitive contemplation is less perilous, and it is the source of so many graces, it has so much efficiency in detaching creatures and uniting with God; in a word, it achieves spiritual perfection with so much speed and power, that souls concerned with achieving it cannot sigh towards this incomparable good, provided, however, that they will aim only at the grace of union and not at the wonderful effects that can accompany it.
But this is man's infirmity, which it is difficult to understand.
1 BB. 6 Jan. t. 1, p. 351, n. 19: Exaudivit autem Dominus orationem virginis et abstulit illi gratiam quinque vulnerum... Post hoc tanto fervore ferebatur ad prædictam gratiam resumendam, ut desiderio desideraret et prorumperet in hane callem, vel similimam: O so dulcissus sponsus meus Jesus Christus rursum dignaretur conferre gratiam quinque vulnerum!
2 Life of B. Marcurrre-Mariw, written by herself. — Life and works, t. 2, p. 374. And I was complaining to him: "And what!" I said to him, "My Sovereign Master! Why don't you leave me in the com- "mune of the daughters of Saint Mary?" Did you take me to your holy house to lose me? Give these extraordinary gräces to "selected souls who will have more correspondence and glorify you more" than I, who only make you resist. I want nothing but your
love and your cross, and that is enough for me to be a good nun, who is all I desire."
to take away what is flattering nature and take only what is bringing to God. Any elevation becomes an opportunity for vain complacency. Thus, several authors observe that, even to consider only the one-sided virtue of supernatural contemplation, it is rarely expedient to aspire to these extraordinary ascensions, and that they should be asked only in a hurry by an inner attraction of the Holy Spirit!
It seems, indeed, that there is some presumption to ambition these insignias of supernatural order. To look only at good and utility, why could one not desire and also ask for the most sublime communications of grace, yet these kinds of aspiration and prayers rarely meet in the saints themselves. They reputate themselves rather worthy of all abandonments and all punishments, and the spontaneous cry of their souls is the humble word of St Peter: "Away from me, Lord, because I am only a sinner."
That is why we will conclude, with Fr. Scaramelliÿ, that although it is lawful to desire and even to ask for a good end the ascension of infuse contemplation, it may be more perfect and more certain to consider it unworthy and to stand indifferent under the hand of God, without neglecting to put oneself in the proper dispositions to receive these favors, please God to do them to us.
1 Scnram, t. 1, p. 451, § 261. Contempliatio extraordinaria nonnisi raro expedit et sine speciali divino instinctu non est petenda.
2 Luke v, 8.
3 Dirett. mist. Tr. 3, C. 32, n. 284, p. 248.
The contemplative vocation. Natural dispositions. — Supernatural call; his signs. — One must yield to divine attraction after washing subject to the control of the direction. — In intermittances, meditation resumes its course. — Divine action in the very act of contemplation and in each of its elements: suspension, admiration and Pamour.
I. — Man can be disposed, to a certain extent that we have just determined, to contemplation; but it is God who calls him and reduces him, by an all-powerful action of his grace, to this blessed passivity. The divine virtue is thus manifested by the vocation to contemplative life and the admirative absorption which constitutes the very act of contemplation.
Nature cannot give contemplative vocation; at most it confers favorable provisions, and so to speak, sympathetic to divine action. An open mind, of a peaceful and loving complexion, is, of course, more suitable for the elevation and passivity of contemplation than another having little penetration, of a turbulent mood, worried and hard. Without being an absolute law, it is one of the harmonies of supernatural providence to associate the
GOD'S PART =: © -= M grace and nature. The heavy and stupid minds tend to descend rather than ascend. The melancholic ones who allow themselves to be dominated by anxiety are naturally concentrated and meditative; but if they know how to contain themselves in silence and peace, the sadness even relieves them from the creatures and disposes them to contemplative fixedness. The ardent, active, impetuous temperaments go to action and movement; those who are mild and emotional are more proper to rest, admiration and love of contemplation?.
From there, the advice that St.Gregoire? gives to the active and anxious minds to engage in labor in order to be less self-sufficient; and to the peaceful souls, not to engage in immoderate occupations where they could find nothing but trouble and fatigue. To some the external activity is suitable, to others the silent and contemplative life.
But grace supplanted from nature and corrects it, and God, who measures virtue to effort, takes less account
1 Suarez, from Relig. 1.2, ©. 11, n. 9, p. 168: Quamvis divina gratia superare posit quasi naturalem subjecti incapacitatem, ordinaria vero illi se accomodat, et ideo, in hujusmodi contemplationis usu, ratio etiam naturalis complexionis et capacitis habenda est.
2 ALvaREZ DE Paz, L-5, P. 1, app. 4, ©. 2, t. 6 p. 397. Who enim sunt naturæ worried and dura, and cordis ad exteriora propensi, ita orationi meñtali vacent ut majorem temporis partem in bonis activæ vitae operabus independent. At illi qui naturam quietam, and placidam, and lullem outti sunt, solent ab eo qui suaviter omnia disponit ad contemplationem admitti.
Three Morals. 1. 6, e. 37. Migne, t. 75, col. 761: Sed inter bæc magnopere sawnum est quia valde inter se diversæ sunt conspersiones animorum. Nonnulli namque hominum ita otiosæ lied sunt ut si eos labor occupationis excipiat, in ipsa operaris inchoatione succumbant; and nonnulli ita worried sunt ut si vacationem laboris habuuerint, gravius laborent, quia tanto deteriores cordis tumultus tolerant, quantum cis licentius ad cogitationes vacat. Unde necesse est ut nec quieta mens ad exercitationem se immoderati operaris dilatet, nec enquirea ad studium contemplationis angustet. Sæpe enim qui contemplarari Deum quieti potenti, occupationibus pressi
Thisderunt; and sæpe who occupied bene humanis usibus lived, gladio suæ quietis extincti sunt.
vicious inclinations that of the resistance they are opposed to. Therefore, the desire and hope to achieve contemplation should not be absolutely forbidden to impetuous and active souls.' Wisdom undoubtedly requires that, unless there is a pronounced attraction, these souls do not engage in a state where they would irrevocably be dedicated to contemplative life?; for man must behave according to the data of rational and Christian prudence, while God takes counsel only of himself, of his will and of his love. Native provisions are, at most, only negative conditions to which supernatural grace can substitute and derogate. It all depends here on the divine call.
II. — This extranatural vocation, the only real and decisive one, consists in an inner attraction, pressing and suave, which fixes the soul in God and suspends in it the discursive life.
Saint John of the Cross, whose doctrine on this point has become common, brings to three the marks of Ja contemplative vocation.
Textually, we can quote:
"There are three signs. The first is when one recognizes that one can no longer meditate, nor use the imagination, not absolutely in its operations
1 Dionys. Ricuel. 1 of Contempl. Art. 23: If who naturalize worried in status perfectionis fuerunt constituti, no, propter naturalem indebilitatem, debent totaliter a contemplatione cessare, sed per gratiam emendationis ac reformationis suorum defectuum Deum incapaciter exorare, and sibi ipsis bonam violentiam facere, intendendo soludini et quieti, orationi et meditationi, donec naturalem ineptitudinem gratiæ extraeat incretum.
2 SCARAMELLI, Dirett. Mist. Tratt. 2, ©. 21 n. 232, p. 134. Se poi vedrà il dirttore che la persona di sua natura fervida e enquirea non sia tenuta per obbligo, o d'instituteo, o di particulare sua vocaazione ad applicarsi alla celeste contemplazione, potrà prescribe a tempo determinato da da da da drsi ogni giorno alla meditazione di qualche massima di fede, etc.
3 Scuram, § 270, t. 4 p. 460. Discerniculum fundamental pro transitu rite faciendo a meditatione ad contemplationem sumendum est a speciali
Dei vocation and inspiration. 4 Mounted Carmel, 1. 2, ch. 13, p. 71.
natural, but in respect of God in supernatural contemplation; when one finds no taste or food in the soul as before, but rather suffers from the aridity in things where one used to nourish the senses, and where one drew from the sue and spiritual pasture. However, while the spiritual man can reason by meditating and tasting some inner sweets, he must not renounce meditation, if not perhaps when his soul has settled in perfect tranquillity.
"The second is when the spiritual man feels no desire to apply the imagination to particular things, inner or outer. I do not speak, however, of the misguidedness of this faculty which is so stolen, that at the very time of the most severe recollection it goes on all sides; but I only mean that the soul no longer takes pleasure in employing imagination in other things.
"The third sign, which is the most certain of all, is when the soul pleases to remain alone in its substance, to pay loving attention to God, without taking care of any particular consideration, and to enjoy great inner peace and deep rest; without making any developed, extended or formal act, either of memory, of understanding or of the will; for it is then penetrated by a knowledge of the general and affectionate God without conceiving anything particular, and it stands attached to it by the gentle transport of a peaceful and free love from any other object.
"The spiritual man must surely notice in himself these three signs, in order to resolve to let himself be led from meditation to extraordinary contemplation. The former is not alone enough to make him make this change. The difficulty or impotence he would have to operate by imagination and meditate on divine things,
118.__ could come from its distractions and neglect. That is why it is necessary that he still discovers in himself the second sign, which consists of not feeling any desire to think of other things alien or distant from his object, which is God. In fact, when misguided minds and warmth prevent a person from fixing his imagination and understanding in heavenly things, he wears himself.incontinent and clings to different objects, which distance him from the contemplation of God.
"It's not enough to be convinced that we have the first and the second brand, we have to have the third one. For, although it was persuaded by his own experience that one could neither talk nor meditate, nor would one have any desire to think of other objects, it could come, however, from melancholy or from some other mood that would fill the brain or heart, and that would so suspend the operation of the senses, that one would not want to apply to meditation, and that one would only like to remain in this pleasant transport or in this sweet slumber. It is therefore about having the third sign, that is to say, to be in a position to make a loving attention to the Lord with great inner tranquillity."
The fixedness of the soul in God, accompanied by a great disgust of creatures and a sort of impotence to meditate, are, according to St John of the Cross, signs of the call to contemplation. Suspension in God, which is only the introduction and initiation to contemplation, is the main condition that determines the other two. If the meditation is interrupted, it is that the mind adheres, by a simple glance, to the divine truth, and if the heart feels nothing but disgust for perishable things, it is that it rests suavely on the eternal and infinite Good.
Therefore, one should not think that one is called to contemplative prayer unless one is grasped by the thought of God without
GOD'S PART can be able to talk, and as in a happy impotence to get out of this simple and loving intuition. This is the feeling of the most renowned mystical authors!.
To the signs that we have just indicated, we must add another one that makes it even more certain to judge whether the attraction to contemplation derives from God: is it that the soul that is experiencing it has been purified by the passive trials that we will talk about later?
These marks are particularly characteristic of infuse prayer; but they are also suitable, albeit with less obvious, for active contemplation, since the soul reaches this elevation, not by his efforts, but by the effect of the divine attraction which second them, and that contemplation begins only when meditation is suspended.
II. — As soon as the soul is warned by the difficulty of meditating and by its affectionate concentration in God, which his goodness invites him to the feast of contemplation, it must yield and give up without resistance to the action of grace.
"We must receive the gifts of God in the way that he makes them," said St John of the Cross, "in order to preserve them. Hence it is seen that if the soul did not leave its first habit of reasoning in meditation, it would receive very little benefit from God, who would then only do it with great reserve. For they are supernaturally infused into the soul; so it cannot receive them in a small, tight, imperfect and disproportionate way to such great gifts."
These words require serious attention. They come back to saying that God directs everyone his way, and that he
1 Bossuer, Mystici in tuto, €. 8-12.
2 SCHRAM, § 273, t. 1, p. 461. Nisi interiori et exteriori mortificatione ac profectu in bios Dei purificata fuerit, pro peccatis satisfecerit... vix inspiratio divina rapiens ad contemplationem supponi potest, nisi in casu raro et extraordinario.
3 Long flame, 3° cant., 3° V., $6, p. 373,
120 staggered in this direction the means of achieving the end. Refusing to enter the path in which God calls us is certainly exposing oneself to a reduction of graces, perhaps even compromising the decisive grace of salvation. To remain in the exercise of meditation, when God proposes to raise up to contemplation, would be, not humility, but a pusillanimity and laziness that would deprive the soul of the most precious goods and cause him inestimable damage."
This attraction and the signs which attest to it must, whatever their obvious nature, be subject to the supervision of a wise and experienced director. Indispensable to all points and conditions of spiritual life?, direction is absolute necessity and special in mystical life, because of the illusions to which souls are exposed in these extraordinary states. * To relate to an inner persuasion that seems to give full certainty is to stray and abandon oneself defenceless to the spirit of lies.
1 SCHRAM, $271, p. 460: When it comes to finding a speciali vocation, illi obtemperandum is, and per viam contemplationis illi ut specialissimæ gratiæ cooperandum. Cum enim, per se loquendo, via orationis per contemplationem multo sit perfectior quam per meditationem, and Deus per illam spiritum movere velit, non humilitas, sed pusillanimitas et pigritia foret vocationi divinæ, non sine magno lucro cessante et damno forsan emergente, repugnare.
2 Jean de la Crorx, Sent. spir. 6 and 7. The soul that walks alone and without director in the spiritual ways is like a burning coal, but separated from the others, which, instead of simmering more, is completely extinguished. He who goes alone and without guidance and falls alone on his way remains alone in his fall, and he shows that he does little of his soul, since he dares to trust himself.
3 , l. 2, P. 1.0. 4,t.5, p. 301. Ususautem alienæ doctrinæ ct auditio magistri spiritualis non est omnibus æque necessaria. Incipients enim it indigent maxim... At spiritu jam provecti et dono orationis cumulationati non tam a frequenti ductoris communicatione dependent, liquet non omnino debeant sine ductore vivre. Si vero supernaturalia experiantur ct a communi modo orandi ad singularem subleventur, magistrum adeant
ex cujus consilio ea quae sibi communicator examine; alicqui periculis se multarum fraud exponent.
It is not enough to have a director to whom one opens himself with all the aspirations and all the internal movements; he must be able to hear and lead those who resort to his lights; if he does not know and experience the mystical ways, he cannot give advice to the souls whom God wants to introduce! In such cases, simple common sense requires that it return and that it relates to other more skilled ones.
"Not all directors are usually so consumed in this science, that they can direct all kinds of souls in all kinds of states. There are even such bounded ones, that they imagine that God will not lead a soul to a perfection more complete than the one where they find it... So those who are not sufficiently enlightened in these divine ways must find good that the souls who have submitted to their direction consult others; they must receive them pleasantly when they return; they must even advise them to take other spiritual fathers when they no longer profit under their direction."
IV. — The call to contemplation does not entail the subsequent exclusion of meditation.
The grace of contemplation is never so continuous in this life that it totally suspends the discursive consideration: it is a decided point against the exaggerations of pure love, so beautifully repaired by the pious and immortal archbishop of Cambrai.
1 Gomez, Practice of the Th. M., 1. 6, c. 17, n. 2, p. 261. The unica regla es buscar un maestro voitido en estas materias, ete.
2 S. Jean de la Croix, Long flame, 3° cant., 3° v., § 11, p. 378.
3 RicuarDp of Samrt-Vicror, Benjamin minor, ¢. 76. Migne, t. 196, Col. 55. Rarum valde in hune montem ascendere; sed multo rarius in ejus vertice stare and ibi moram facere; rarissimumautem ibi habitare et mente requiescere... O felicem that potuit in hune montem ascendere and lie requirescere! O quam magnum! © quam rarum!... And whodem magnum is ascendere and stare; majus tamen is possessed habitare, possesse requirescere. As-
cendere and stare is virtutis; uninhabited and requiescere is felicitatis. 4 Explanation of the Maximes of the Saints, 16° prop. condemned. by Inno-
Saint John of the Cross teaches him pie hour. ‘One
may ask, he says!, if those that God begins to intro-
In the supernatural contemplation, we must no longer repeat ordinary meditation, nor the discourses, nor the other operations of their powers. It is said that the doctrine we have explained so far must not be understood in such a way that those who begin to enjoy this loving knowledge must never use meditation or try to return. In these beginnings, they do not have such a perfect habit of this loving knowledge that they can, when they want, do their deeds or establish themselves there and stay there constantly. They are not so far from meditation as they still did not have the power to meditate as they meditated before, and to reason sometimes to discover new truths."
It is therefore especially in the beginnings that contemplation undergoes intermittances that force to resume meditation?.
No matter how painful this change may seem, as soon as the supernatural attraction ceases, Passus must return to common prayer, where she will find, if not the joys of contemplative prayer, at least no less precious graces and often superior merits °.
One hundred and XII: Datur status contemplationis adeo sublimis adeoque perfectæ, ut fiat habitualis: ita ut, quoties anima actu orat, sua oratio sit contemplativa, non discursiva. A non amplius indiget repeat ad meditationem up to actus methodicos.
1 Mounted Carmel, 1. 2, ch. 15, p. 78.
25. Laurent Jusriex, De discipline and perf. vilæ monast. €. 18. While in hoc amoris tripudio, scilicet contemplatione, immortal is, wheniu perseverat affectionus; quo deficiente aut tepescente, ad interposita meditationis studia redeundum est.
3 Ste Térèse, Inner Castle, 6° dem., ch. 9, ad finem: As for what is worth more, Our Lord does not make it dependent on these kinds of graces, since there are several holy people who have never received any, and others, who are not holy, who have received any.
We a Ne 7
In addition to these alternatives, which almost all day accompany the first attempts of contemplative life, more considerable suspensions occur.
= Sometimes God withdraws the grace from contemplation of a _ definitive way, either to punish the infidelity of the soul that had received it, or because, in his purposes, he wanted to grant only by passing, in order to speed up the walk in perfection, and also to better attest the gratuitousness of his gifts.
Generally, deprivation is only temporary, and it can have for light faults that God wants to punish, the test of fidelity and excitement to a greater love, a secret warning to better appreciate this benefit and to preserve it by a deep humility, a release that the body needs, or even the passive test that has more sublime ascension t.
V. — God is therefore the true cause of the contemplative vocation: His influence in the Covenant itself of contemplation is neither less widespread nor less manifest. In order to convince ourselves of this, it is sufficient to examine all aspects of this operation.
Contemplation, we said, is a loving and admiring suspension of the spirit on an object supernaturally manifested.
Admiration can be seen as an effect of vision, as we will say in the next chapter. There is therefore only the two essential elements of contemplation.
1 Voss, Compend. ScaramEellr, Direct. Myst. P. 4, 1.4, €. 3 p. 460. Principal fine cur Deus aliquoties contemplationem tam acquisitam quam infusam animæ subtrahit, sunt: primo, ut amplius purget animam et ad sublimiorem disponat contemplationem; secundo, ut punitat eam ob levem quemdam defectum; tertio, ut fidelitatis et constantiæ experimentum sumat; quarto, ut eam humilem servet et demissam; quinto, ut contemplationem pretiosiorem et cariorem reddat.
a simple look at the truth ending in love.
But this suspensive intuition and love attachment immediately emanate from God and belong to the order of extraordinary and free graces.
Even in the acquired contemplation, the common grace is not enough to determine in the mind that vision that suspends reasoning and sometimes absorbs all the powers of the soul; it requires a special and gratuitous gift that God gives to whomever he wants. If one imputes this elevation and fixedness of understanding to the increasing but ordinary claritys of the faith, it must also be admitted that the light and warmth of this virtue, reached to a certain degree, regularly leads to the admiring suspension of contemplation, which contradicts both the experience and the doctrine of the masters.
It is a fact sanctioned by the teaching of the doctors, that one can have a burning and active faith, without for this one achieving contemplation; and that divine Villumination of contemplation sometimes meets, at least temporarily, in souls whose belief is weak, languishing, even extinct!
From the point of view of logic, it would be better to maintain that the intuitive fixedness that occurs as a result of meditation is a natural consequence of the concentration of the mind, rather than to see there a regular and normal progress of faith. But then contemplation, which is the climax of spiritual life and as the prelude of heaven, would no longer be heard from the simple gaze that stops the course of reasoning, but from an operation of nature: false and inadmissible interpretation. That if one wants to talk about the ligature of powers that accompanies illumination, one can admit, with Suarez?, that it is a natural effect
1 Bossuer, Mystici in tuto, n. 45 and sqq. 2 De Relig. Tract. 4, 12e 45,028 t O
Uidir is
A PRINTER LT, TO D Men PEAR A nn PE E RTE M ee in mL true us rite
of vision and love, as we will say again in dealing with ecstasy; but the vision that causes this suspension must be held to be a free and extraordinary supernatural, which escapes the laws of common grace.
More importantly, the infuse contemplation implies a supernatural and gratuitous intervention of God. Here man is passive and has no other initiative than that of being able to escape from divine action before she fully subjugated milk. God alone is the effective and complete cause of this inner enlightenment which lifts the soul out of the natural circle of its understanding, if not by the realities that are shown to it, at least by the light that surrounds them and manifests them.
In contemplation, love is to knowledge what the end is to the means. If therefore the first element is supernatural, the second element will be supernatural too, the means and the end being essentially of the same order.
Another reasoning provides the same conclusion. Contemplative love is the result of the natural strength of the will, or that of the regular course of grace, or a purely gratuitous effect of divine liberality. The first hypothesis robs Christian contemplation of any supernatural character. The second, as we have already observed in speaking of the vision, contradicts experience and authority: that souls reach perfect charity without having experienced this divine attraction!This is consistent with the constant and unanimous statements of Christian doctors on the possibility of perfection through the common ways of work and meditation. But the emotional adherence to contemplation is the result of a non-common and ordinary grace.
However, the character of gratuitousness is more prominent in infuse contemplation than in active contemplation. In it, the soul is predisposed to movements
128 — emotional by careful study of meditation and by the exercise of virtues, and the heat that lukewarms under the rays of contemplation seems to be a natural continuation of the momentum that precedes it. In this one, on the contrary, the soul is suddenly seized by divine illumination, which fatally determines the suspension and admiration of the mind, but may not penetrate to the heart, leave it cold and meek, so that it meets, like other graces, in sinners. These cases are rare, very rare; but neither their possibility nor their existence can be challenged, ‘ at least as temporary visions that reach only understanding.
By all we have just said, we see what God's part in contemplation is, either acquired or infuse. In one and the other, especially in the second, it is God who calls, subjugates and transforms: he asks man only to let himself be defeated.
t Joannes a Jesu Mar, Theol. myst. €. 3, t. 2, p. 15. Divinam contemplationem sine supernaturali dono Dei nemini concedi; cæterum contingere nonnullis in peccato mortali underlyingibus beata mater Teresia credit; quod rationi consentaneum est. — Cf. Bossurt, Mystici in tuto, €. 15.
t 4 Jr S ee S
; _ Inseparable effects of the act of contemplation. — The elevation and su-
The fruit of contemplation: peace, purification, humility, strength and patience, hunger and thirst for justice, detachment and contempt for created things, desire and impatience to be with God.
I. — Spiritual authors have exalted the effects of contemplation. We will try, without going from the general point of view, to group them together and describe them as precisely as the matter involves; for it is difficult to submit to a complete analysis and to "regular generalization of the results in themselves varied and complex, and which the most renowned authors in Mystics, from whom we must collect them, have exposed with a diversity that still complicates the work.
However, they seem to fit in two distinct parts, depending on whether they appear in the very act of contemplation, or whether they are fruits of holiness that arise from this happy encounter between God and the soul.
The effects of the first kind include elevation and
1 See St. Teresis, Passim, mainly in the Int. - S. John of the Cross, Passim. — ALVAREZ DE Paz, de Nat. cont. I. Five, five. 6 and 7, t. 6, p-512 and sq. — Because. a SS. TRIN. Sum. Th. Mr. P.2, Tract. 1, D. 4, a. 6.
— SCARAMELLI, Dirett. Tratt. €2. 20, p. 128. — Scnram, t. 4.8 296, 313, 317.320, p. 494.
128 F the suspension of mind, admiration and delight. These are more properties than influences of contemplation: for this supernatural trade cannot be established without the spirit being raised and suspended in God, without him experiencing, to a varying extent, the tressations of admiration and joy. If we detach them from the pure notion of contemplative act, it is that they seem to us to be the result of the simple and emotional look, which, in our view, constitutes the essential part of contemplation.
II.—Contemplation has the first effect of raising the soul in God.
All prayer is an ascension to God. ' But the one we are talking about is quick, instantaneous, suave, sublime; it has nothing to do with the slowness, the effort, the short views of common prayer. It leaves on the earth and in the darkness of traveling life; it lifts up to heaven, and serves as a prelude to the vision of the homeland.
This elevation seems to precede the intuitive look, and if so, it should be seen as the cause or condition, not as a consequence of contemplative intuition. But if we look carefully at the play of soul operations in this encounter with God, we will see that it begins with light, and that this illumination has the immediate purpose of captivating the soul and attracting it to the very object from which light bursts.
The suspension is only the continued elevation and the continuation of the training of the soul under the luminous fascination.
1 ALYAREZZ DE Paz, l. 5, Part. €2. 7 t. 6 p. 518. Omnis oratio diffinitur quod sit elevatio lied in Deum; sed in modo hujus elevationis inter communm orationem et contemplationem magnum diserimen est. Nam in communicatione, men Cum labore se elevate; in contemplatione cum mira suavitate se efferri sinit. In illa discursibus quasi gressibus quibusdam per clivum rerum spiritualium ascendit; in ista, brevissime and quasi in ictu oculi supra verticem montis se positam viśet... In illa, anima quasi in terra manet and oculos in coeælum attollit, in ista, veluti in cælum adminttitur and in eo suum nestum ac mansionem ponit.
From 1429 it is a fixedness, an absorbing attention to the object of the vision, and a more or less complete forgetfulness of all things inferior t.
This suave absorption can have a dual cause: the splendors of light or the ardours of devotion?. The first captures and fixes intelligence; the second attracts, subjugates and ignites the heart.
II. — Awesomeness follows the suspension, and according to St.Thomas, results from an unexpected knowledge that exceeds our ability.
When this impotence comes only from the suddenness and novelty of the spectacle, admiration ceases as soon as the mind has become master of the vision. But if the object is manifested or the clarity that surrounds it surpasses the intellectual forces of the subject, admiration perseveres as long as the vision itself.
Although ignorance is the cause of admiration, the admiration of the mind falls rather on what it grasps rather than on what escapes it, and it is all the more profound, as light floods and dazzles the understanding of brighter splendors. The vision takes on its proportions of what is seen and what is seen: what is seen to be fixed and nourished the mind; what it sees increases, by erasing the limits, the greatness and the vastness of what it can see.
1 WANT Paz, l. 5, P.2,c. 8, p. 520. Elevationem hac sequitur in contemplatione lie suspensio: quae nihil aliud est quam quam quaedam perfectissima ad id quod contemplatamur attentio, and rerum omnium inferiorum oblvio.
2 Voss, Compend. SCARAMELLI, p. 130. Causæ istius suspensionis sunt lux divina, quae objectum cum claritate representans, mentem non solum in eo defigit, sed and immobilem servat, and amor qui omnes animæ vires ita circa objectum amatum colligit ut tota in illo immergatur.
SCARAMELLI, Dirett. Mist. Tratt. €2. 20, p. 128.
3 ALVARE OF Paz, Nat.Cont. 1. Five, five. 9, p. 522. Sicut suspensio sequitur elevationem lied, ita and admiratio, ut mihi quidem videtur, suspensionem sequitur.
4 Sum. 2. 2. q. 180, a. 3, ad 3: Admiratio is species timoris consequens
apprehensionem alicujus rei excedentis nostram facultatem. Unde admiratio is actus consecuns contemplationem sublimis veritatis.
This explains what takes place in the one aiplinon
As he sets himself on the contemplated truth and enters it further, the spirit discovers increasing depths where he simmers; in his effort to probe them from his gaze, he puts himself as if out of him; and, feeling defeated, he cannot defend himself from an instinctive tremor in front of the immensity that dominates him. The habit, and better still, the full knowledge of the object, gives him the possession of himself and the calm of the vision. At the beginning of the contemplative life, in fact, admiration is more lively and frequent; it then decreases and can stop almost entirely, at least in ordinary visions; for it is those who so surpass human capacity and created, that they always throw in the astonishment.
Philip of the Most Holy Trinity, believes that admiration ceases in perfect contemplation. We will discuss later if, at its peak, contemplation excludes ecstatic seizure. But let us observe here, with Alvarez de Paz?, that the high contemplation, where God reveals himself in his splendour, cannot fail to produce on the soul this delight
1 Theol. myst. P. 2, Tr. 2, D. 1, to. 1, t. 2, p. 285: Quidam prædictæ contemplationis supernaturalis descriptioni volunt addere quod talis cognitio sit cum admiration suspensea, sed tamen hujusmodi admiratio et suspensio non ita sunt regulares aut etiam frequentes quod debeant expressi, imo perfectæ contemplationi non convenient; quod sic decclaratur. Admiratio came from ex ignorantia. Tamdiu siquidem aliquid miramur quamdiu causam ejus ignoramus. Quinso vero causa cognoscitur, admiratio cessat; suspensioautem sequitur admirationem, and admiration sublata, tollitur suspensio. When igitur mens in principalipo revelatas sibi divinas veritates intuetur, talibus non asseta and novitate quodammodo perterrita, Dei majestatem admiratur and admiration suspendur. Sed postquam fuerit prædictus favoreurbus assueta, cessat admiratio et suspensio, quia, ut communiter dicitur, ab assuetis non fait passio. Quod and ipsa probatur experientia, cte.
2 Lib, 5, €. 9, p. 523. Illam autem ortam ex magnitudine rerum quae ostensintur, and ex perfectione lucis immissæ, omnes, etiam in contemplatione nimis exercitati, habitent. Tanta is enim magnitudo rerum celestium, ut, si perfecte cognoscantur, non posunt alienate quam excellentissima and admiration dignissima cogitari.
which Saint Bernard calls the admiration of the Majesty. You don't get used to such shows. As the Church sings, the angels and the blessed of heaven are eternally in the trembling of admiration; more importantly, is this trembling taking place in the contemplative vision.
There are obviously degrees in this surprise of the soul. Excessly carried, it is a stupor that makes her silent and takes away from her, as to the queen of Saba before Solomon, the feeling of herself. But the admiration that arises from contemplation goes to love, and that is why, as soon as the spirit regains enough freedom, it bursts into thanksgiving, praise, passionate expressions of tenderness and devotion, thus doubling the momentum of the soul towards truth and making it flourish and as if it melts, through a delicious flow, on the object of vision.
IV. — It is understood that this expansion of the soul is sovereignly delectable. So all mystics teach that the delight is inseparable from contemplative intuition. According to St.Thomas, * this enjoyment is derived from admiration, not by the ignorance that accompanies it, but, on the contrary, by the desire to know that it sharpens and leads the mind to new knowledge, or at least that gives it the hope to achieve it.
1 From Considerat. 1. 5, ©. 14, n. 32. Prima and maxima contemplatio is admiredatio Majestatis.
2 Præf. Miss. Tremunt Potestates.
3 [IT Reg. x, 4 and 5.
4 , Nat.Cont. 1. 5, ©. 9, p. 524. Sunt autem admirationis performed mirabiles. Interdum enim stupor progreditor in gratiarum actionem..., aliquaando in affection amoris et intimæ devotionis... Mediaautem admiration solet contemplationatio suavisimam voluptatem secum involvere.
8 Sum. 1. 2. q. 32, a. 8. Admiratio is causa delectationis in quantum habet adjunctam spem consequendi cognitionem ejus quod scire desiderat. And propter hoc omnia desiderabilia sunt delectabilia.
6 Jbid. ad 1. Admiratio no is delectabilis in quantum habet ignorantiam, sed in quantum habet desiderium addiscendi causam, and in quantum aliquid novum addiscit admirers.
However, the heavenly pleasure that results from contemplation has yet another more effective cause, it is Pamour. Love beatifies the soul and throws it into suaves transports, delivering it the object of its life. And, when the communication of life is supernatural and superabundant, these transports are more intoxicating and ineffable. Richard de Saint-Victor compares the soul in this state to a young girl surprised by drunkenness, who no longer has the strength to support herself, and, in his excess, loses sight of everything that surrounds him; explaining by this comparison the allegory of the Holy Songs who represent us the sacred bride intoxicated with delights and supported by his beloved?. To express how much is alive the pure and divine voluptuousness that contemplation spreads in the soul, mystics make it a foretaste of the joys of heaven, and one of them*, in particular, calls it the arrhes of eternal bliss. "It is so great," said Richard de Saint-Victor +, "that no natural enjoyment can be compared to it, and that it disgusts, on the contrary, the soul of all the external primers of pleasure and vanity."
This delight can be purely spiritual. It does not then exceed the innermost of the soul, and it is the will that tastes these sweets alone, sometimes in the very middle of the dry-
1 Benjamin Major, l. 5, ©. 16. Migne, pass. 488. Nullo tempore dilecto suo vehementius innilitur quam cum spiritualibus deliciis anima sancta effluere videtur. Cogitemus modo puellam quamdam teneram et delicatam, utpote in multa deliciarum tributia educatam, sed et mullo vino jam madidam, utpote in cellam vinariam introductam ct torrente voluptatis potatam, and quasi præ nimia teneritudine vix possess incedera, and præ nimia ebrietate viam quam tenere debeat nullo modo possess discernere.
2 Cant. vm, 5. Quæ is ist queæ ascendit de deserto, deliciis trifluens et innixa super dilectum suum?
3 Op. S. Bervard, De Intern. domo, cap. ult. Quasdam arrhas illius plenitudinis accipit (anima) ubi sempiternæ contemplationi perpetuo inhærcbit.
4 Benjamin Major, ¢. 18: Vultis autem au dire quam delicatam efficere consuevit? Pene supra id quod credi posit, inquantum denic and nulla external delectatio posit ei aliquatenés sapare, nec aliqua hujus mundi gloria aliquid consolationis afferre, ete.
THE EFFECTS l Suses and the most desolating aridities of the lower part. But the laws of human organization bring spiritual joy to the body, like all other inner feelings, and it is only through a plan of his supernatural providence that God sometimes dilates the secret depths of the soul without appearing to be outside.
Sensitive manifestations take on the various forms of spiritual joy and devotion, which we will describe in more detail in the second part of this book, such as jubilation, tears, ecstasy; or those of mystical transports, which we will have to discuss in dealing with the degrees of contemplation. What we have said and what we will say later is exempt from extending further on these influences that the soul intoxicated by love brings back to the body.
V. — We bring back to the following the fruits that mystics attribute to contemplation: peace, purification, humility, strength and patience, hunger and thirst for justice, detachment and contempt for created things, desire and impatience to be God.
The first good born of contemplation is peace.
Saint Augustine defines peace, tranquillity of order?. In order to have peace, we must come and rest in order, two conditions which are always fulfilled in the union of the two.
1 , €. 10, p. 527. Sed hec delectatio ex contemplatione proveniens, ut cum aliis docet Dionysius Richelius (1 de Contempl. art. 12), duplex east. Altera mere spiritualis et in anima se continens, altera sensibilis et in corpus se diffundens. Illam primam voluntas gustat, licate interdum portio inferior ariditatem, aut dolorem, aut worriedudinem sentimentat...; secundam vero delectationem ex illa prima manantem sensus et appetitus corporeus percipit secundum illud (Ps. xxx, 3): Cor meum and caro mea exullaverunt in Deum vivum. Certum is cnim quia strong action animæ redundant in corpus.
2 Civ. Dei, 1. 19, €. 13: Pax omnium rerum, tranquillitas ordinis.
aue 5 Smiles The soul meets the truth there, which ends its life, and finds on its bosom the appeasement of its desires. ' God manifests himself to the soul, seizes his two master powers, intelligence and will, and, by fixing them upon himself, establishes them in the essential order. Once on the object of his life, the being has nothing to be desired, except to possess it forever. Contemplation therefore brings with it the two elements of perfect peace, the brilliant view of truth and full inner satiety?.
Its second effect is a growing purification of the soul,
We are not currently talking about the trials that prepare for contemplation, but only about the effects that accompany or follow it.
Contemplation is a light that floods the soul and shows it two extremes, the holiness of God and his own misery. Under this divine enlightenment, the soul aspires to an unrelenting movement to an entire purification that makes cease this contrast of its ugliness and infinite beauty; and, restored to active life, it multiplys its atonements to erase all that makes spot in it, and to extract from its bottom to the last fibers of sin.
But contemplation is not only a light that enlightens and reveals, it is still a burning fire. To cut down a forest, said Fr. Scaramelli5, you can use iron or fire. The use of iron requires more time and fatigue and leaves the roots to stand, which does not
18, Laurent Jusnniex, Inst. de caste conn. €. 25. Transcendit ad veritatem co altius quo intuetur clarius suaviusque degustat. Magna tune mens potitur pace and gaudi jucundissimo: nam quod sitibundo quaercbat affectionu invenit in inshell requiescit.
2 Ricuarp de Samt- Vicror, Annot. in Ps. xxx. Migne, pass. 273. Pace itaque sua tune veraciter mens humana perfruitur, quando in id quod interius de divina dulcedine sentit tota resolvitur. Hæcautem pax, ut plena sit, in duobus consistit: in contemplatione videlicet veritatis ct satietate internæ suavitatis. Ab uno inchoatur ct ex alio perficitur.
3 Dirett. Mist. Tratt. 2, c. 20, n. 295, n. 131.
Not long to push back. If, on the contrary, the fire is set on it, it will soon be reduced to ashes, and there will be no more than seed. Iron is the work of meditation; fire is the ardour of contemplation: a comparison that makes clear how much more effective it is than that in removing from our soul the branches and roots of our passions.
From the enlightenment and contemplative adherence still arises humility, the moral virtue that brings the creature closer to God, by making him recognize, confess and love the truth. Humility is, in fact, according to Saint Bernard t, the virtue that makes man, knowing what he is, stand as a vile man in his own eyes.
Contemplation produces, as naturally in soul, this knowledge and arrangement. The closer one gets to God, the more clearly one sees that everything emanates from his power and goodness, that the creature is itself a nothingness worthy of all forgetfulness, and the sinner an even more vile nothingness, which calls for contempt and punishment. This view is all the more profound and persuasive, as the light that produces it is brighter, higher, wider. In contemplation, it takes on the proportions of evidence, and evidence that believes with contemplation itself, so that the higher the soul rises in the light, the more it must tend to be subdued?, if it is faithful to truth, order and justice.
Contemplation brings with it the grace of this fidelity inasmuch as it unites soul to God in the Covenant itself which constitutes it, and, after this act, in that
1 De grad. humiliate. ©. 1. Humilitas is virtus qua homo verissima sui cognitione sibi vilescit. -
2 SCARAMELLI, Dirett. Mist. Tratt. 3, ¢©. 20, n. 223, p. 131. è è è più alto il grado della contemplazione a cui un á anima è sublimata, tanto è più basso el concetto che clla forma di sè, @ tanto è più maggiore il dispregio che di sè concepisce.
136 of the impression it exerts on the mind and the grace of accession which it leaves to the will.
That is why true contemplatives are as eager for demeaning and abjections as worldly men are for honor and glory. The memory of what they have seen of God, and of all that is not God, the now ineffaçable feeling of their nothingness and misery, brings them to annihilate before the divine Majesty and the eyes of every creature t. This sincere effort destroys in them the selfish and personal life, the remains of their own judgment and wisdom?, makes them of perfect docility and self-denial, and in fact in the hands of God passive instruments, ready, for his love and for his glory, to all laborers and to all immolations.
The strength and patience are, in fact, inseparable from humility in the favored soul from the lights of contemplation; the feeling of its profound indignity convinces it that it deserves more contradictions, pain and contempt than it can occur. But Pamour contributes no less to soaking the contemplative soul strongly, to communicating to him an indomitable energy and untiring patience.
Love attaches to the object loved and resists all the shocks that threaten this union. When one has tasted how sweet the Lord is, one no longer wants to separate himself from his goodness, and one comes, as the Apostle è, to defy every creature to break the knot of divine charity; as
1 Voss, Comp. SCARAMELLI, p. 133. Quum enim anima post divinum istud commercium ad se revertitur, celesti luce illuminata, clare cognoscit suum nihilum, suas miserias, imperfections and debilitates; and quantum magis Dco per contemplationem appropinquat, tanto se ipsam minorem et miserabiliorem cognoscit. Quæ cognitio meditatione et ratiocinationibus non acquiritur, sed luce divinæ contemplationis tantum procreatur.
2 PLEASE PAZ, I. 5, P. 2, ©. 6 p. 515. Contempliatio propriom judicium and propriom voluntatem abnegat.
3 Rom. vm, 35-39.
He ‘is put his joy and his glory in tribulations and sufferings, because they give rise to the witness of love, because, by purifying, they make more and more worthy of love?
Finally, love for Jesus Christ crucified, after God the main object of contemplation, ignites a holy desire to become conform to this divine model, to participate in his mind and work of reparation.
The hunger and thirst for justice, which Our Lord is among the laborious beatitudes of virtue, also find in contemplation a wonderful increase.
To love righteousness is to love God, and the interview of contemplation lights in the heart the flame of divine love. God reveals himself and communicates himself to the soul, but not in the fullness and indissolubility of glory; he shows himself and gives himself a moment to then hide his gaze and feeling. This fleeting vision and contact arouse the desires of the soul, which is becoming increasingly hungry and altered by the divine truth. By understanding, through what she has seen, the price of grace that is a pledge of God's eternal possession, she multiplies with a holy greed the acts of virtue, which call and increase in her this grace.
As she receives and assimilates this heavenly food, her hunger and thirst repeat, for it is the own
4 Gal. vi, 14. I Cor. vu, 4.
2 WANT Paz, De Nat. cont. l. Five, five. 6 p. 517. Ipsaautum contemplationatio tribulations and quaeque adversa libenter sustinet. Gratum quippe is pro amato and magna facere and adversa perferre. Pro magno quaque habetur aliquas sustinere molestias ut suavitas illa ex Dei aspectu et amore percepta concrescat. And anima quae summopere mundidiam, ut pulchrior et gratior sit, quaerit, non potest non Tribulationem amare qua magis ac magis mundatur.
3 S. Leon. Serm. in feast. omn. Sanct. Nihil aliud is diligere Deum quam. amare justitiam.
of wisdom to make the hunger of those who eat, and to make the thirst of those who drink at its source more ardent!
The natural backlash of this momentum towards God is detachment and contempt of created things.
The same light that reveals the greatness of God and the price of eternal goods reveals with the same obviousness the nothing of creatures and the frivolity of what passes. Similarly, the movement that raises up and makes adhere to God detachs so much of the lower things. Every contemplative soul instinctively utters the cry of Saint Ignatius: "How vile the earth is when I look at the sky!" It emerges from the bonds that hold the human multitude captive, both because she sees it as an servitude and a peril, and because she discovers its vanity and desolation?
Thus, this release is carried out without effort, by an irresistible attraction of the heart in the opposite direction, and by the only brightness of Pévet which imposes on Fémin the law of contempt. The higher you go, the farther you go from the lower regions; and the more the ascental force prevails over the resistances, the faster, easier, and delicious the ascent. The grace of contemplation has a wonderful, incomparable virtue to free from the tyranny of creatures and break their fascination?.
One last fruit from contemplation, which is
1 Ec. xxiv, 29: Who edunate me adhuc escurient, and who ambunt me, adhuc sit.
2 Own of T.S.-Trnmé, Pars 1, Tract. 1, D. 1, a. 6.6. 2, p- 36. Who enim contemplationis suavitate fruitur, mentem ab omnibus temporalibus bonis, tanquam inferioribus et indignis, warns, maxime dum eadem contemplatione illustritus advertit ea interiori lie collectioni totaliter esse incompossibilia.
35. Bervard, Medit. 7, ad fin. Nil tamen in hac vita dulcius Setit nil avidius AET nil it mentem amore mundi separat, nil sic animam ontra temptem roborate, nil hominem ita-excitat et adjuvat ad omne opus bonum et ad omnem laborem quam gratia contemplationis.
TON i
x > 3 to to to to
There I am, is a blessed and immutable life.
Under this luminous and attractive action, soul tends to
God of an irresistible movement; all that is not _ God is disgust and boredom to him; God is the unique term of
his aspirations. But God does not appear, even in the
contemplative splendors, that half veiled, rarely, stealthily, like a quick flash in a long
Night. Each new appearance ignites the desires of
Pasm, and every disappearance brings back an indefinable torment. What can she desire in these alternatives, except that light and love are no longer interrorapus, and that her union with the God whom she loves become total, constant, irrevocable!?
Thus the contemplation takes hold first of all of the soul, the pupil and staring in God, thrilling with admiration, joy and love. For its part, the soul, suavely illuminated and dominated, rests on the truth that fascinates and calms it, plunges itself as in a cleansing bath within the light that lindens, forgets every creature, forgets about it
herself, and out of it heaping with holy desires, hungry
of grace and justice, eager to die and live forever in love.
1 Parcmæp. a 55. Train. Part one, Tract. 1, D. 1, to. 6, t. 2, p. 38: Sequitur enim necessario quod qui Deum cognoscit et amat, ad ejus visionem, possessionem, ac fruitionem vehementi et jugi desiderio anhelet.
Considered in general, contemplation can last a long time. — As an act, it lasts little. — Precise time. — Interruptions and repetitions.
I. — Contemplation, taken in itself and in all its operations, can last a long time. This is reflected in the nature of its object and in the provisions of the subject.
The object is the divine, the immutable, the eternal. He cannot fail or fail the eye that contemplates him, and, by the multiplicity and depth of his aspects, he is inexhaustible.
The subject, in turn, can for a long time support his gaze on divine things: a soul that sees, in fact, is, of itself, incorruptible and immortal, and, by the upper part of itself, has a connatural affinity with all intellectual vision, he finds there his development and his rest; and what responds to nature and is nothing incorruptible is, by this very way, likely to be prolonged.
Moreover, contemplative operations, taken in themselves, are not subject to the suspensions and releases required by organic life. We will soon see, however, that contemplation has an effect on the body that prevents its duration.
THE DURATION
This is the teaching of St Thomas! followed by mystics? and theologians.
This doctrine is necessary, however, provided that it is understood, as well as the Suarez fact, of the contemplative life with all its operations, and not of the contemplative act or of this simple and uniform intuition which suspends the successive work of reasoning, and fixes the will in an affective adherence to truth.
IL. — Indeed, the Covenant itself of contemplation does not have a long duration. It is whole, we have just said, in pure intuition and in the admiring and loving suspension of the soul on the object of the vision. This is what the Angelic Doctor calls the summit or the apogee of contemplation, and he declares that, considered at this climax, it cannot sustain itself for long {.
Saint Gregory the Great is one of the first doctors who clearly taught P instability of contemplative adhesion during the present life.
, faithfully
1 Sum. 2. 2. q. 180, a. 8. Aliquod potest diuturnum duplicate: Uno modo, secundum suam naturam, alio modo, quoad nos. Secundum se quidem, Manifestum est quod vita contemplativa diutturna est duplicier: uno modo eo quod versatur circa incorruptibilia et immobilia; alio modo, quia non habet contrarium: delectationi enim quae est insubstantando, nihil est contrarium. Sed quoad nos etiam, vita contemplativa diutturna est, tum quia competit nobis secundum actionem incorruptibilis parties animae, scilicet secundum intellectum, unde potest post hane vitam durare: tum etiam in operabus contemplativæ corporaliter non laboramus, unde magis in hujusmodi operabus persevere possumus.
2 SLAVE PAZ, 1. 5, P. €2. 11, p. 527. — Pnr. a SS. Trix. Part 2, Trach MA D ta V6" p34.
3 De Relig. 1. €2. 10, n. 10 and 11, p. 163. Verumtamen aliud is loqui de vita contemplativa cum omnibus actionibus lied, quas ineludit, aliud de proprissima contemplatione, quae consistit in illo uniformi et simpliciti intuitu quem Dionysius waxularem motum callavit. Priori modo recte intelligentur vitam contemplativam esse diuturnam... At vero de proprio actu contemplationis, no is possibile bomini in hac vita diu in illa actione durare.
4 Sum. 2. 2. q. 180, a. 8, ad 2. Nulla actio potest diu durare in suj summo Summum autem contemplationis est ut attingat ad uniformitatem divinæ contemplationis, ut dicit Dionysius.
Comparing the saints to the grasshoppers that are spoken of
to the book of Job, which walketh on their legs,
sometimes rise with the help of their wings and move forward by
As he leaps, he sees in their slow and successive walk an image of meditation and active life; and that of contemplation, in the rapid and short elevation through flight and jumps. Just as these insects, in their impulses, remain little time in lair, but fall almost immediately on their feet, so soul quickly descends from the sublimitity of contemplation °.
Higher, in this same work of his Morales, the scholar Pontife affirms the impossibility for Pspirit to maintain himself for a long time in the contemplative suspension, and he assigns for reason the linfirmity of the flesh, that the brilliance of light dazzles and that his own weight bows towards the earth ê.
These assertions, Suarez actually makes the remark #,
1 xxxix, 20: Numquid instilabis cum quasi locustas?
Two Morals. 1. 31, €. 25, n. 49, t. 76, Col. 600. Ita nimirum sunt sancti viri; who, dum superna appetunt, primum quidem activæ vitae bonis operabus innituntur, and tunc demum se ad sublimia per contemplationis saltum volando hang. Crura figunt, and alas exerunt, which recte agendo se Stabiliunt, and ad alta vivendo sublevantur. Who in hac vita positi, diu in divina contemplatione manere non possunt, sed, quasi locustarum more, a saltu quem dederant in pedibus suis se excipiunt, dum post contemplationum sublimia ad necessaria activæ vitae revertuntur.
Three Morals. 1. Five, five. 39, n. 57 and ©. 33, n. 58, t. 75, col. 711. Sed cum mens in contemplatione suspenditur, cum carnis angustias superans, per speculationis vim de libertate aliquid intimæ securitatis rimatur, stare diu super semetipsam non potest; quia etsi hanc spiritus ad summa evehit, caro tamen ipso adhuc corruptionis suæ pondere deorsum prem. Unde and subditur: And cum Spiritus presents me, traniret, inhorruerunt pili carnis meæ. (Job iv, 15.) — Nobis præsentibus, spiritus transit quando invisibilia cognoscimus; and tamen hec non solid, sed raptim vidémus. Neque enim in suavitate contemplationis intimæ diu mens figitur, quia ad semetipsam ipsa immensitate luminis reverberata revocatur. Cumque internam dulcedinem degustat, amore æstuat, ire super semetipsam nititur; sed ad infirmitatis suæ tenebras fracta relabitur, etc. -
4 De Relig. 1. 2, e. 10, n. 14, p. 463: Is autem considerrandum non negare Gregorium absolute vitam contemplativam esse possesse diutturnam aut diutturniorem activa, sed docere non possesse esse semper uniformem and
Who
EEA SEEN E di
will not absolutely dispute that contemplative life, as a whole, can last for a long time;
they concern only intuitive and above-
mind, which cannot always be kept whole and uniform. The man's organization opposes it. This is indeed the case.
current harmonious dependence between soul and soul
body, that they cooperate in each of their operations, the body living only by soul, and the soul associating the body, by feeling, with its life of thought and love. Any derogation from this law seems to compromise the union between the two parties that make man, and by dividing them, throws them into violence and malaise.
Indeed the theft of contemplation removes the soul from the region of the senses, suspends in it all discursive work and absorbs by a simple view of an invisible and supernatural higher world. The sensitive party suffers extreme violence, less by the effort it exerts than by the neglect to which it is subjected.
With the malaise of abstention, contemplation further imposes on the body fatigue of work. There is no contradiction here, as movement and rest take place from various points of view.
While, on the one hand, the soul absorbed by the divine vision leaves the external senses in linaction, it continues to preside over vital functions and exert its influence on the whole body. And this puram, ut sic dicam, sed necessario interrumpendam esse propter corporis infirmitatem et gravitatem, ideoque necessarium esse bonam actionem intermiscere, ne inutili otio et negligentia torpeamus.
1 Suarez, Religion. l. 2, ©. 10, n. 12 p. 164. Quia ad hane contemplationem necesse is sensus relinquere et omnia quae sub sensus cadunt, imo et discursum omnem suspendere, et in simpliciti intuitu lies circa rem altissimam et summe spiritualem occpari, quod non fit sine magna violentia
corporis and sensuum omnium and elevando se supra se se; ideoque difficillumum is in hujusmodi actione durare.
the intimate operations of the soul on the envelope that it animates is all the more resounding, as life is agitating within, more intense and more impetuous. As always, intellectual activity affects the brain, and affectionate impulses echo the heart, mainly when drunkenness bursts out. One can judge by what happens in the ecstasy, where the body reflects with admirable vivacity lulumination and interior transport. If, after these upheavals, the organization finds itself without fatigue, it is simply a miraculous effect.
It would therefore take a kind of continuous miracle for body forces to suffice for the prolonged emotions of contemplative life. Ge prodigy, moreover, which takes place in the delights, does not also occur at all degrees of mystical prayer, which sometimes makes it necessary a suspension of contemplation!, as we have already pointed out in one of the previous chapters.
Thus the body obstructs the continuity of contemplative abstraction, either because of the part it takes, or mainly because of the one refused to it; for a being is less violent by the excess of action, when it conforms to its nature, than by the very suspension of the movement that makes its life.
The still traveling soul itself has difficulty maintaining itself for a long time in the intensity of action and elevation where contemplation the door. When it reaches its peak, any movement tends to come down and slow down?, to resume its race under a new impulse.
1 WANT Paz, l. 5, P. €2. 12 p. 831. Abscondit enim se Dominus et lucem contemplationis subtrahit vel ut defectus leves castiget..., vel ut infirmitati corporis condescendat.
2 S. Tuomas, 2. 2. Qf. 180, a. 8, ad 2: Nulla actio potest diu durare in sui summo.
II. — The suspensive adherence of contemplation lasts little; but what is the precise time of its duration?
Saint Térèse said of the prayer of quietness, which was granted to him from his first year of religion, that "this union lasted very little; I don't even know, she added, if it was the time of a Ave Mariat." And elsewhere, speaking of mind flight: "It is worth noting," she said, at least in my opinion, "that this suspension of all powers never lasts long; it is a lot when it goes up to half an hour, and I don't think it's going to last so long?"
Before Saint Teresus, the unknown author of the book , falsely attributed to Saint Bernard, applies to contemplation what is said, in Revelation*, of the mysterious silence that occurred in heaven, for about half an hour, after the opening of the seventh seal?.
Suarez *, as well as most theologians and mystics, invokes this testimony and that of Saint Gregory, to establish the short duration of contemplation. Bossuet, in particular, maintained these traditional claims in his struggle against false mystics. After quoting Saint Teresus, he again alleged the authority of St Augustine, St Gregory, St Bernard, St Thomas and others whom he did not name, and he con-
1 His Life, chap. 14.
2 Ibid., chap. 18.
4 Lib. ad Soorem, De modo bene vivendi, 53, n. 129. (Inter op. S. Bern. Migne, Pat. lat., t. 184, Col. 1278.) Cœlum quippe is anima justi... Cum ergo quies contemplativæ vitae agiteur in mente, Silentium fit in coelo, id est in anima; quia strepitus terrenarum rerum atque operationum cessat in cogitatione. Sed quia contemplativa vita in hoc mundo non potest esse perfecta, nequaquam hora integra factum Silentium dictur in cælo, sed quasi hora media.
5 De Religion. 1. 2, ©. 40, n. 11, p. 164. Ubi per dimidiam vel quasi dimidiam horam, brevissimam hujus actionis perseverantim significat.
shouted with them that the time of extraordinary divine Voperation is very short!.
However some authors grant Fier Philippe de la Très-Sainte-Trimité assigns, not half an hour, but an hour, as the extreme limit which is not usually exceeded °.
Alvarez de Paz, while admitting as a general rule that contemplation is of short duration, except for extraordinary cases that meet more than once in the lives of the saints. The divine overabundance makes easy what is impossible to the forces of nature, and even what exceeds the conditions of ordinary grace. ă
Suarez * makes the same remark, and rightly observes
1 Mystici in tuto, P. 1, ¢. 7, n. 14. Quo loco sua experimenta tradit ( sancta Teresia): nobis vero sufficit eos actus ess rapidos et celeres; quod sanctus quoque Augustinus, Gregorius, Bernardus, Thomas aliique semper indictant. Argumento sunt divinæ extraordinariæ operationis illa momenta brevissima.
2 Theol. myst. P. 2, Tract. 1, D. 1, to. 6, t. 5, p. 35: Verum tamen est quod contemplatio non potest diu in suo summo durare pro stat mortalis vitae, quia présentis vitae necessitaes et occupationes mentem worried, and ab intimo sui secessu ad exteriora revocant; unde, quamvis in tam perfecto actu, saltem ordinarie, vix per horam perseveret, and potest tamen in aliis actibus contemplationis perseverare.
3 De grad. contemplative. 1. 5, P. 2, ©. 11, p. 528, 529: Sed ad perfectam contemplationem redeamus. And in ea quidem, if solum juvemur communibus auxiliis quibus orantes juvari solent, certum is mentem mullo tempore durare non possessione... Hæc communia sunt; sed si anima extraordinariis auxiliis sublevetur, non minus certum is diu possesse in contemplatione perfectissima perrare and una simpliciti intuitione unoque amoris divini actu suspendi. Id relatione aliquorum virorum probatissimæ virtutis agnovimus, which constant aiunt per unam aut preres diei aut noctis horas se infecta Dei unione et invariabili Dei notione et amore, cum indicibili suavitate persistre. Id in sanctorum historiis legimus, nam aliquorum contemplationatio ita describitur ut hoc sonare videatur. Talis eratilla magni Antonii, etc... Id tandem de divina erga suos carissimos benignitate præsumimus, qui potest et vult intelligentias corum, non quidem: contra naturam movere, sed supra naturam perficere... Quod ergo natura denegat, gratia donat; and quod homo communi subsidio non obtinet, singularibus auxiliis assequitur,
4 De Orat. €. 10, n. 13, p. 164. Verum is tamen totum hoc negotium ex divina gratia maxime pendere, cui nihil impassibile est; nos autem explicamus in quod vidtur esse naturæ consentaneum, ae proinde ordinarium;
that everything depends on divine liberality, and, therefore,
_ that the last word is to experience.
Exceptions, however, do not invalidate the law, and it can be admitted in principle that contemplation is of short duration, and that it rarely exceeds half an hour.
IV. — The weight of mortality therefore does not allow the soul to maintain itself for a long time in the passive adhesion which suspends. any discursive act; but contemplation, for a moment interrupted, can soon resume, under the charm of a new attraction, in such a way that it seems to constitute, despite the succession and variety of acts, a single operation. According to Saint Gregory, Pasme delighted in God, as the locusts he compares her to, rises up for a moment, falls on herself to soon resume his flight and fall again.
Thus contemplation slows down and rekindles, according to the spirit of God. These repeated repetitions, in which intervals the soul finds itself only completely, like a person who awakens half under the external excitement, and returns to his sleep,
perhaps give the most plausible explanation of the long delights of so many saints for several hours,
whole days, even weeks. Cassien?
quia gratia se accomodat naturæ, quod etiam experientia vietur comprobatum. Who autem aliquid altius expertus fuerit secundum illam experientiam loqui potrit, nam in hoc negotio plurimum valet.
1 Moral. 1. 31, €. 25, n. 49, col. 600. Who in hac vita positi diu in divina contemplatione manere non possunt, sed, quasi locustarum more, a saltu quem dederant in pedibus sui se excipiunt, dum post contemplationum sublimia ad necessaria activæ vitae opera revertuntur, nec tamen in eadem vita activa remanere contenti sunt. Sed dum ad contemplationem wisheranter exsiliunt, quasi rursus aera volantees petunt; vitamque suam. quasi locustæ ascendentes descendentesque peragunt, dum sine stope semper and summa emptyre ambiunt, and ad semetipsas naturæ corruptibilis pondere revolvuntur.
2 Coll. 9, c. 31. Migne, pass. 807. Beati Antonii sensiam proferam, quem
that St.Antoine spent the nights in contemplation, and that at dawn he complained in the sun of what he soon came to interrupt his sweet union with the true Light.
Later we will propose with greater scope the remarkable interpretation of Saint Teresus! on alternatives to ecstasy: it applies from any point to contemplation in general, and is reduced to this: At the pinnacle of union, the powers of the soul are fixed, together with the will, on the object of the vision. Gradually the adhesion relaxes, the flying faculties of imagination and understanding resume their course, without the will, less inconstant, being entirely detached. But a new attraction, brought about by a resurgence of light or by acts of praise, actions of grace, desire, can occur and bring back the will and powers impereled to suspensive adherence.
Suarez provides a slightly different, or at least more extensive, explanation. The contemplation, according to the famous theologian, can be prolonged outside its peak in two ways, either by one or the other of its two constituent elements, intuition and love. As the eyes persevere, pure and simple, the will engages in various acts: adoration, praise, gratitude, love, admiration and similar. Similarly, as the mind moves from one point to another, the heart remains fixed and still, or at least does not detach itself entirely. When the contemplative suspension of all powers ceases, the adhesion is not necessarily interrupted in each of them; the soul can hold itself long on its object, sometimes by fixedness.
Ita nonnunquam in oratione novimus perstitisse, ut eodem in excessu lied pronouncing frequent, cum, solis ortus coeæpisset infundi, audierimus eum in fervore spiritus proclaimingem: What do I impedis, ground, ut me ab hujus veri luminis abstrahas claritate?
1 His Life, ch. 18.
of thought, sometimes of love. However, the spirit is greater than that of the will, so it is in it that membership continues!.
In short, the act of contemplation is fleeting and rapid; but the suspension of powers can be renewed several times, before they have all been completely detached. More importantly, is contemplative life, considered as a whole and in the multiplicity of its movements, likely to constitute a permanent state.
1 Suarez, l. 2, de Orat. v. 10, n. 13, p. 164. Ut ergo illa operaatio fiat aliquo modo diutturna, necesse est ut imprimis illi intentioni adjungatur amor. Existimoque rarissimum esse ut in uno simpliciti actu amoris continuato sine aliqua mutatione mens diu quietat, quia variatate et mutatione naturaliter delectatur. Nam si invariata maneat operatio, vix percipitur ab ipso operatante, and ita nec quietat, nec delectat animum. Semper ergo vel amor ipse aut renovatur, aut per novos actus exercitur... Possuntque hi actus in voluntate variari, fixo manente eodem intuitu intellectus, si circa illud idem objectum affectionus ipsi verser diversis modis ac rationibus. Interdum vero ac sæpius circa illam veritatem quam mens. contemplatur, simul per dona Spiritus sancti negotiatur: sibimet illam illustando, confirmando amabilemque reddendo. Ad quod maxim juvare solet experientia ipsorum affectionum qui in ipsamet contemplatione sentuntur. Atque hoc modo existimo contemplationem sæpe diutturnam; perrationem autem in uno simpliciti actu esse raram.
Perfection required: In principle, contemplation is granted only to the righteous and the perfect; it can meet in the beginnings and the progressors.—No honest condition excludes contemplative life.—Preferences in favor of the simple,—women,—Christian virgins,—religious.
"We can consider the subject of contemplation from the two points of view of the acquired perfection and the external condition.
What perfection presupposes the grace of contemplation in the soul that receives it?
In order to respond accurately, it is necessary to distimulate between the act and the habit of contemplation.
The isolated act is reduced to one or a few visions, either imaginary or intellectual. We will say later, and already we affirm here, that intellectual vision is generally granted only to perfects, but that imaginary vision can be met in still fabled souls, in sinners, and even in unfaithful ones; and so, that transient contemplative acts are not: incompatible with imperfection and sin.
It is not the same of contemplation envisaged as a state of prayer. The proper way to do this is to be one-sided. She doesn't just illify intelligence, she
In the case of a man who has a right to a life of his own, he is a man who has a right to a life of his own, a man who has a right to a life of his own.
Sequence, grace in the soul that she visits, or if sanctification did not exist, it seems that it would operate by its virtue. When the will is united with God by love, it cannot be separated by hatred at the same time: there would be a clear contradiction.
By admitting that the inseparability of justice and contemplation may be challenged in the early stages of supernatural prayer, when God only reveals his presence, it cannot be challenged in the higher degrees that bring to the soul, until clearly, the feeling of his union with God.
Not only is the usual and unitive contemplation addressed to the righteous and not to sinners, but in general it is only granted to the perfect.
And this, first, because it is the most beautiful and sweetest reward that God can grant to those who serve it with love; and, although it depends entirely on his goodness to give his gifts to whomever he wants, it nevertheless seems more appropriate whether it is to the most worthy and most willing souls!
Second, because the exercise of contemplative prayer requires, if it is only acquired, a great work of holiness and a long habit of meditation; and, when it is infused, passive purifications more or less intense, in the first sense and from the first ascension; then, in the mind, if it is called to the higher degrees of union. All this assumes that before reaching contemplation the soul is raised above the gross struggles of
4 ParzrPp. To SS. Sort. P. 2, Tr. 3, D. 1, to. 6, t. 2, p. 310. Verum tamen is quod, ex quadam decentia and congruutate, Deus potius perfectis quam imperfectis sua dona communicative, and ideo illis ordinarie, istis raro, supernaturalis gratiam contemplationis concedit. Cujus ratio est, quia secundum viam ordinariam, Deus sua dona magis dispositis solet concedere, quamvis via extraordinaria alien contingat.
the original virtue, that it is more flexible and more clear than it is from the first steps in the illumination path, and that it has arrived or that it touches the calm of the unitive life t.
However, this grace, God gives it to whomever he wants, and, while he often refuses it to the perfect, he sometimes grants to the beginnings?. But then it is a sign that God wants to lead certain souls, still weak and languishing, to a high perfection, by the gentle and rapid way of contemplative life °.
It should not be concluded that God grants this grace from childhood, that the souls who receive it are still in the first efforts of virtue: God exalts to his will at the highest heights, without any prior merit. And then innocent souls are particularly the object of divine complacency and intimate effusion of grace. Blessed Osanne of Mantua receives the gift of contemplation barely six years old. * Blessed Christine of Stommeln was engaged at the age of ten, for a three-day ecstasy; and the first apparitions of Our Lord began for this privileged child at the age of five*. The historian of the Venerable Mary of Agréda tells that she received enlightenments very much in the name of the Church.
1 AuvarEez de Paz, l. 5, P. 3, c. 3 p. 497: At communicate and ut plurimum donum contemplationis perfectorum is... Datur itaque contemplationis donum quasi ex habitu perfectis: illis nimirum qui primo a vitiis et a speccatis et pravis affectionibus bene purgantur; qui per studium virtutum moralium et orationis exercitia bene illuminantur et idonei sunt ut tranquilla mente altissimam Dei cognitionem et amorem unitem accepiant.
2 PRILEP. To SS. IRN. P. 2, Tr. 3, D. 1, to. 6, t. 2, p. 310. Nonnumquam imperfectis and incipientibus statim a principalio concedit, and perfectis etiam denegat, ut communiter docent, and percepta diversorum experientialia tum doctores mystici, tum sancti Patres.
3 ALvarez de Paz, I, 5, P. 3, c. 3, t. 6 p. 596. Ex his article quibus- donum contemplationis conceditur, quidam nondum perfecti sunt, sed per hane viam suavissimam ad perfectionem paulatim subvehuntur.
4 J. Oriver. BB. 18 Jun. — t. 24 p. 649, n. 263.
BB $. 22 Jun. — t. 95, p. 368, n. 3 and p. 367, n. 2.
blimes from his first childhood. These kinds of examples are so numerous that they don't count.
It is especially for those souls who have been warned so early that contemplation is the announcement of a eminent samtity, provided, however, that they will be faithful to the suave prevenances of divine goodness.
Let us add, with Philip of the Most Holy Trinity?, that when God grants this grace to the imperfect, it is by mercy, to wean them more effectively from the false meekness of the world and to make them move them forward with a rapid step towards holiness; and that, when he refuses it to the perfect, it is still out of mercy, wanting to leave them the merit of effort and combat; for, better than we, he knows what suits the salvation of each one and his own glory.
As for the various human conditions, none of them exclude contemplative life, provided that it was nothing uncompatible with honesty and holiness. Men and women, scholars and ignorant people, the poor and rich, married people and those who observe continence, secular and religious, priests and simple faithful, all, in a word, regardless of the rank they occupy, the functions they perform, their education and their way of life, can be called to rest and to the honor of contemplation. Here, God owes nothing to anyone; he gives to whom he pleases, and his infinite liberality, in accordance with his wisdom, hovers above the reserves, disdain and impossibility of worldly prudence.
1 P, XIMENÈS Samaxieco, Life of Ven. Mother Mary of Jesus of Agreda, ch. 2, trade in P. Croset. Ed. 1857, p. 26.
2 Pruxpp. To SS. Tin. P. 2, Tr: 3, D. 1, a. 6, t.2, p. 311. Cum igitur Deus imperfectis donum contemplationis supernaturalis concedit, misericorditer concedit; and cum illud denegat, etiam misericorditer denegat. Illis namque talis doni concessio, and istis ejus denegatio product ad saluteem; scit enim Dominus quid cuique conveniat, and unicuique concedit quod ei magis convenire, saltem in ordine ad majorem sui ipsius gloriam, judicat.
[ES I , the Holy Gregory the Great ', mystically explaining the description of the temple by Ezekiel, hears the many windows which opened all around, face and obliquely, on all the inner parts and even in the vestibule, of the light of contemplation, which Dicu makes shine upon whom he wishes, with a diversity that disconcertes human predictions and judgments, sometimes on those who are at the top of the hierarchy, sometimes on the members of the poor and dark Church: no condition, no office, no grandeur, no smallness, ensuring neither nor excluding from this divine illumination, always unanticipated
and sovereignly free.
Of all the states, the least suitable for these kinds of communications that hold more from heaven than from earth is that of marriage, because it binds as if by duty to the creature, to work and to the concerns of working life. And yet, even in the bonds and servitudes of conjugal life, can meet the grace of the highest contemplation.
Our century has given us a remarkable example in the venerable Anna-Maria Taigi, to whom God has given, in the midst of the duties and burdens of motherhood, the most extraordinary gifts of contemplative life. "His heart,
t Lib. Two, man. 6, in Ezechielem, n. 19 and 20. Migne, t. 76, Col. 996. Notandum vero quod intra portam undique per circuitum fenestræ obliquæ esse memoryur. Non enim contemplationis gratia summis datur and de minimis non datur, sed sepe manc summi, sæpe minimi, sæpius remoti, alivando etiam conjugati percipiunt. If ergo nullum is fidelium officium a quo posit gratia contemplationis excludeddi, quisquis cor intus habet, illustriri ctiam lumina contemplationis potest, quia intra portam undique per circuitum fenestræ obliquæ constructæ sunt, ut nemo ex hac gratia, quasi de singularitate glorietur... Postquam dixit fenestras in frontibus, adjungit fenestras in vestibulis per gyrum intrinsecus, quia non solum alta sanctæ Ecelesiæ membra quaæ præeminent hab contemplationis gratiam, sed plerumque hoc donum etiam illa membra percipiunt queæ, etsi jam per desiderium ad summa emicant, tamen per official in imo underlying. Nisi enim
and his who inspect emptying omnipotens Deus lumen contemplationis infanderet, fenestræ in vestibulis not fleeing, etc.
& wrote her second historian!, was under the charm of
these superhuman attractions that are not part of the Church
As to the great contemplatives, and who have formed in the mystical school, in the midst of the most austere virtues, the most holyly tender and tenderly loving souls. An ignorant and poor woman, but faithful to grace, became the emule of Saint Teresus, Saint Bonaventure, Saint John of the Cross... When she began to worship, she was as natural as she was to us as a prayer, and her soul was so seized, that it would have been said that she would have wanted to leave her body."
IHI. — Although contemplation is not prohibited under any honest conditions, God nevertheless seems to affect preferences.
According to Gerson?, the simples advance in mystical theology, which he declares elsewhere to be one with contemplation, faster and deeper by the exercise of faith, hope and charity, than the scholars poured out in the study of scholastic and discursive theology.
The cause he assigns is that their minds are less concerned by the noise of opinions and diverse thoughts, and that God loves to communicate to the humble and the small, while he treads on the pretensions of the superb ones.
Saint Diègue or Didace °, first pâtre, then brother lai in the order of Saint Francis, joined with admirable simplicity the gift of a very high contemplation and almost con-
1 The Ven. Servant of God Anna-Maria Taigi, by the Father. Gabriel Bouffier, 4865, 1.2, c. 13, p. 120 - and 421.
2 Myst. Theol. and ejus elucid. cons. 9, Col. 469. Stat simplicites idiotas ` per fidem, spem et charitatem, citius et sublimius pervenire ad theologiam mysticam, quam eruditos in theologia scholastica et discursiva. Sunt ad hec multæ rationes... Ita fides talium minus is worrieda per phantasias contrariarum opinionum (quas necaudiunt, nect cogitant. Sunt insupper humiliores, quibus gratiam dat Deus, which cum simplicitibus graditur, omnium vero superborum and sublimium colla proprio virtute calcavit.
3 RIBADENERA, Lives of the Saints, 13 Nov.
~ Thumbnail. We could cite many examples of this kind; for it is a constant fact that most contemplatives were devoid of any literary culture, and without any instruction other than that of the mysteries of faith, God putting a kind of jealousy to be their only master, and pleasing himself to teach all to pure and humble souls, who want to know nothing but by him and only him.
Science, says St Thomas!, brings man to trust in himself, and, on the other hand, not to give himself completely to God; hence it results that it sometimes becomes an obstacle to devotion; but, when science joins the moral qualities that make avoid this pitfall, far from reducing fervour, study can only increase.
The same must be said of contemplation, under penalty of the condemnation against Michel Molinos?, which claimed that the theologian had less ability to contemplative state than the ignorant man, for several reasons, which may occasionally be true, but which, erected in principles and absolutely affirmed, are false, insulting to science and to scientists.
IV. — Another no less certain preference is in favour of women.
In the third part, we will point out the just mistrusts and the wise precautions that women's stories require on this subject, including:
1 Sum. 2. 2. q. 82, a. 3, ad 3. Scientia et quidquid aliud ad magnitudinem pertinet, occasio est quod homo confidat de seipso, et ideo non totaliter se Deo tradat, et inde est quod hujusmodi quandoque occasionaliter devotionem impediunt, et in simplicibus et mulieribus devotio abundat, elationem compressendo. If tamen sawniam and quamcumque aliam perfectionem homo perfecte Deo subdat, ex hoc ipso devotio augetur.
2 Prop. ab Inxocenrio XI damn. 64: Theologus minorem dispositionem habet quam homo rudis ad status contemplativi; primo quia non habet fidem adeo puram; secundo, quia non adeo humilis; tertio, quia non adco curat propriom salutem; quarto, quia caput refertum habet phantasmatibus, speciebus, opinionibus and speculationibus, and not potest in illum ingredi purum lumen.
Herr (i) —
the impressionable character, passionate, weak, hidden,
is eager for emotion, brilliance, influence. This is no less an undeniable fact that they have the greatest share in the extraordinary graces of mystical life, and in particular contemplation.
Saint Térèse! declares that the number of women to whom
God grants these favors greatly outweighs
and to her own experience, she adds the authority of St Peter of Alcantara, who attests to her that the people of sex advance much more than men in these ways.
There are several reasons for this preference. In general, women are less distracted than men by the external occupations of study, business, and are better disposed, therefore, to the silence and rest of contemplative life. On the other hand, their innocence, protected by natural modesty, is better preserved, and brings them closer to God, who communicates with preference to pure souls. Third, their sensitive and affectionate organization makes them more flexible with supernatural impulses, or, if desired, makes them offer less resistance to the action of love. divine, which is the dominant character of contemplation. There is a more pronounced negative provision than it is usually in men. The feeling of the native weakness of their mind predisposes them to a more faithful and confident adherence to the inner light of God's spirit, and the inconstancy of their will has a special need for an extortionary help that fixes them in good and raises them to holiness.
On these considerations, from which we borrow the substance from P. Scaramelli?, perhaps the following could be added:
1 His Life, ch. 36. 2 Diret. Mist. Tract. €4. 19. Avvertim. 7, n. 260 et seq., p. 338. F. V. Voss. Compend. SCARAMELLI, l. 2, P. 9, ¢. 3, a. 2, p. 419. Sciat (director) e contra-
= it is that God pours more spiritual sweetness upon women and calls them to a greater participation of free graces, to compensate for the deprivation of priestly grace that they cannot receive.
V. — Among women, the best part of the gifts of contemplative life belongs to the Christian virgins.
Through these Christian virgins, we do not hear people who live in Christianity without materially losing their bodily integrity, but only those who keep this treasure only to devote it to the Bridegroom of souls, Jesus Christ Our Lord. The Holy Fathers! teach that true virginity resides more in the soul than in the body, more in the resolution to love than God, than in the abstention of external pleasures.
This voluntary release of the sensitive voluptuousness raises to the condition of the angels, and even above, according to the remark of St John Chrysostom °, since the angels, having no body, can only be immaculate, while the angels are still unimpaired.
rio... hujusmodi dona mulieribus reapse uberius impertiri quam viris. Talis is experientia omnium temporum, quae confirmatur ctiam ratione... Mulieres ad contemplationem et omnes gratias vitae contemplationis magis sunt dispositæ, vel, ut aptius loquar, minus sunt indispositæ quam viii. Nam ex natura jam ad amorem, which is contemplationis principalium and fundamentum, mulier propensior is viro... Primam istam dispositionem ad contemplationem comitatur in feminis secunda, quae pretiositor est prima et ejus moderatrix, inclinatio sciliat ad devotionem et pietem. Jure feminæ à sancta matre Ecelesia titulo devoti sexus honorant. Ex naturali ista dispositione ad pietatem et devotionem, nascitur amor solutudinis et præcipue innocentis vitae. Non raro inveniuntur puellæ quae innocentiæ suæ stolam illibatam custodiunt; raro autem juvenes qui innocentiam in baptismo acceptam nondum amierunt. Sed ubi is innocentia, aliæ etiam florent virtutes queæ omnes ad recipiendas Dei gratias disponunt. Omnibus his rationibus ultima quaedam addi potest ex debilitate. feminæ desumpta: Quum ex natura mulieres sint debiles, fragile, timidæ, inconstantes, phantasiam magis sequentiales. quam intellectum, et affectionui magis consulentes quam rationi, necessesse esse vidctur, ut Deus si quamdam earum ad sanctitatem evhere velit, mediis extraordinariis utatur.
Basin. lib. de Virginit. — Hierox. In course. 7 Jerem. — Epist. xxm. — l. t adv. Jovin. — Avevsr. lib. de Virgin. — Grecor. L 8 Moral., 30.
Z Virgin Lib. ©. 10.
DR PO had to find it difficult to live in a pure spirit in a corruptible and revolting flesh. Who does not see how much this clearance predisposes to the glorious ascension of contemplation?
Add to this that one can only reach and maintain himself at these heights where the senses remain silent, by a constant application to prayer; and the faithful practice of prayer, together with a great purity of heart, is, of all the preparations, the most suitable for introducing into contemplative life.
Finally, Jesus Christ loves with special love souls who renounce the pleasures and servitudes of the flesh so that he may be their only husband: should they not come first in the most brilliant testimonies that this kind Saviour can give in this world of his predilection, that is, in these mystical communications which are a foretaste of heaven?
VI. — Finally, among Christian virgins, one must point out a privileged category, on which God spreads with a kind of magnificence the effects of contemplative grace: it is the one who has taken refuge in the cloisters, to devote himself to the love of God and to the meditation of eternal thoughts.
Everything in these holy asylums contributes to the realization of the release of the soul which has the flight of contemplation: the separation and contempt of the world, silence, repeated meditations, the frequent use of the divine Eucharist, the usual renunciation of the own will through obedience, the stripping of external goods through poverty, the subjugation of the flesh by the vow of perpetual continence and by body macerations of all kinds. Under these rigors, willingly and joyfully accepted, of religious discipline, nature succumbs; the spirit, on the contrary, finds its momentum and something of the freedom of the angel; for one can hear from monastic life what
Saint John Climaque! said of chastity: "He who has overcome his body or his flesh has overcome nature; he who has overcome nature is above nature, and he who is above nature is very near to angels, I would almost dare say that he is in no way different from angels."
Man, although less disposed by nature to contemplation, finds himself prepared by this work which substitutes supernatural life for the inclinations of the senses. Saint Anthony, Saint Arsene, Saint Hilarion, Saint Pacôme, in the desert; Saint Benedict, Saint Bruno, Saint Francis of Assisi, in the solitude of the cloister, were contemplative. But it is above all the woman whom religious life transforms and raises as without effort to the sublime and suave abstractions of contemplative life. Under the persevering action of these many and powerful means of sanctification, the woman, already naturally more modest and passive than the man, squeezes entirely, and soon he survives only the sensitivity, love, devotion in what they have more exquisitely, and concentrated in God alone. The supernatural light only shines in its soul; it is ready to receive it and to simmer its rays.
This preparation, it completes, is not linked to the grace of contemplation neither logically nor by the promise of God: everything here remains free and dependent on divine goodwill.
We will not finish these indications on the ordinary subjects of contemplation, without making a special mention of the heroic penitents and pious widows, who find in the tears of humility the privileges that God gives to holy virginity. Marie-Madeleine, Thais, Zoe, Pélagie, Marguerite de Cortone, among the peaches-
1 Scala Paradisi Grad. 15. Migne, t. 88, Col. 895: Quisquis corpus suum seu carnem vicit, vicit naturam ipsam; qui naturam vicit, jam supra naturam est. Who ejusmodi is, jam paulo minor is angelis, ausim prope dicere nihil talem differentre ab angelis.
THE SUBJECT al
Saint Brigitte, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, the venerable Mary of Oignies, Saint Angel of Foligno, Saint Chantal, among widows; and many others, in Pune and the other condition, which we do not name, are memorable examples of the mystical favors that God grants to generous repentance and Christian viduity.
Gradual process of contemplation. — God keeps his freedom. — Difficulties of a classification. — Various classifications: Richard de Saint-Victor, — Saint Bonaventure, — Gerson, — Sainte Térèse, — Saint Francis de Sales, — Alvarez de Paz, — Philippe de la Très-Sainte-Trinité, — Joseph Lopez Ezquerra, — Saint Alphonse de Liguori, — Fr. Godinez and Fr. Schram, — Fr. Scaramelli, — Final classification.
I. — Contemplation follows an ascending step, and gradually invades the soul. These successive degrees are all different states in mystical prayer.
It is the providential order that the creature gradually rises to the perfection to which it is destined. God observes this law of time in his action on finite beings, to produce them, to govern them and to perfect them, and to subdue all nature therein. The brightest day is announced by weak lights that grow to the full light of the noon. All living beings come from a germ where life is hidden, and from where it ends by slow and insensitive efforts. In essence, this law is universal, for every contingent existence has a beginning, a continuation and an end.
If this is the case with creation and nature, why else would it be supernatural and mystical action?
on souls!? "Charity," said St Augustine?, "is not perfect at birth, and only happens through successive increments at its completion."
The experience attests, in fact, that contemplation, like purely natural operations, appears as a germ, develops through various peripets, and is consumed in a supreme embrace of divine charity. Anyone who has seen souls under this mysterious work of grace has seen these multiple and varied elevations, as difficult to characterize as to ignore. That's why all mystics admit in contemplative prayer successive states or increasing degrees that are as many steps towards the consumption of love.
II. — God, who never alienates his freedom of action, ssssaf- < crossed, when he judges it appropriate, from this law of succession, both in the order of grace, by raising a soul, suddenly and without transition, from the abyss of sin to the highest peaks of perfection, as in that of nature through miracles. Mystical gradation is therefore not an absolute, inexorable law; God does not want to do that. Through the powerful action of grace, he transports souls, according to the purposes of his liberality and wisdom, from the bottom of the ladder to the very dot of spiritual life; he sometimes lets them move forward slowly, and then makes them run by giant steps towards consumption.
1 S. Greek. Moral. l. 22, c. 19, n. 45. Migne, t. 76, Col. 240: Sed inter haec sawnum est quia cum ejusdem sacri Eloquii præcepta cogitamus, cumque mentem a vitae corruptibilis amore divertimas, quasi quibusdam cordis passibus ad interiora properamus. Nemo autem infirma deserens repente fit summus, quia ad obtinendum perfectionis meritum, dum quotidie mens in altum ducitur, ad hoc, procul dubio, velut ascensis quibusdam gradibus pervenitur.
2 In 1 Ep. Joann. Tract. 5, n. 4. Sed RE mox ut nascitur perfecta is charitas? Ut perficiatur, nascitur; cum fuerit nata, nutrient; cum fuerit nutrita, roboratur; cum fuerit roborata, perficitur; cum ad Derfectionem venerit, quid dicit? Mihi vivre Christus is, and mori lucrum.
At other times, they are seen crossing the first distances by unaccustomed leaps, and then parking or following a step in the intermediate degrees. "It may seem," said Saint Terèse!, referring to mystical ascents, "that in order to reach this new home it is necessary to have been in others for a long time. Although, for the ordinary, it is true that we must have passed through the one we have just spoken of, there is not, nevertheless, a certain rule, you have heard many times; and this, because God gives when he pleases him, in the way he pleases him and to whom he pleases; these things being his, he does not harm anyone." We would therefore be wrong, as noted by Fr. Godinez?, if one wanted to apply to contemplation the absolute laws of logic and science. God's spirit is not bound by any necessity in the operations of grace; it gives and withdraws, grows or retains, according to his love; as Scripture says, "the Spirit breaths wherever he pleases." But, whatever the exceptions, the rule remains, and according to this rule, contemplative life moves forward in successive degrees, from the first seizing to the supreme absorption of love. IE. — How do these gradual ascensions distinguish them, to see them in the depths of souls +? Nature's beings, especially living beings, are deve-
1 Int. 4 D., c. 1.
2 Theol. myst. Practica, 1. 6, ©. 7 p. 232. No es la contemplacion como las ciencias humanas que tienen primeros principalios de donde salen consecuencias; por que enlla no hay principalio alguno de que se sigan, ni tras este passo se sigue forçosamente esto otro passo, o grado de contemplacion... Antes toda contemplacion depends mas de los sucesos contingentes e inopinados que no de consecuencias forçosas.
3 Joan. m, 8.
4 RicuarD. A S. Vicror. Quartet. grad. Rape. Charitable. Migne, pass. 1207: Magna vis dilectitis, miranda virtus charitatis. Multigrade in ea, and in ipsis magna differentia. And who is worthy to distinguish vel saltem dinumerare sufficiate?
DEGREES are bogged down and marching towards their destiny by an imperceptible series of variations and transformations. In the impotence where one is to grasp them one by one and number them, one groups them into a few distinct phases, the more notable differences of which can be easily appreciated and stated. The work of vegetation, for example, is diversified by germination, flowering and fruiting; human life takes place in successive periods of childhood, youth, mature age and old age.
This is the case with mystical life. The divine influence, which subjugates, cleanses, raises and divinates the soul, is accomplished by infinite gradations. To recognize them all and to count them is as impossible as it is to follow the development of the germ, flowers and fruits from the eyes?; but as in natural germination and human life, we can surprise sufficiently appreciable and constant variations, which for us are diverse and distinct states.
This classification presents extreme difficulties.
The first is born of the very nature of the operations which are to be grouped and qualified. If it is difficult to distinguish and reduce into formulas the changes of the material world that fall under the senses, how much more will it be to extend his gaze to these mysterious depths of the soul, where God operates by wrapping veils? There may be a noticeable resounding in consciousness;
1 ALvarez de Paz, l. 5, P. 3, Introd., t. 6 p. 641. Contemplationis una est natura, multi vero gradus, quos non est facile numerare. Sicut enim Deus innumerabilibus modis animæ contemplatandi se communicative, ita innumerabiles posunt distinguishi hujus altissimæ communicationis graduated.
2 S. Franç. de Saes, Love of God, l. 7, ©. 1: And the human heart, transplanted from the world into God, through the celest love, if it is exercised loudly in prayer, certainly, it will continually stretch out, and tighten itself to the divinity, uniting more and more in his goodness, but by imperceptible increments, of which progress is not easily noticed while it is made, unbelieving when it is made.
466 , but, apart from the fact that the feeling belongs exclusively to the subject who is lukewarm, this order of emotions is so different from those given by nature, that it is not known how to find a faithful expression in human language.
To this difficulty is added, for most theologians who seek to grasp the laws of Mystics, that of the personal inexperience of these divine passions. They know them only by reading or by the confidences of souls who walk in these ways. How can we describe a path that has never been travelled, and whose various aspects, despite the exact descriptions, if one wishes, remain nevertheless, for those who have not seen or felt, impenetrable puzzles?
The diversity that God brings forth even in similar phenomena complicates the generalization that formulates laws; and, when these laws are strictly stated, their application to the particular cases that they govern. The variety of divine action is perhaps greater in the free influences of the mystical order than in those of nature and ordinary grace. Hence an increase in shadows and complications.
All these difficulties brought together lead to one last, the most disturbing and perhaps the most insurmountable, namely, the differences of theologians in enumeration of the degrees of contemplation. What happens to a question that can only be decided by means of authority, and on which the masters themselves are strangely divided?
The extent of these darks can be judged by the brief description of some of the most famous classifications. We indicate them here, not for the pleasure of reporting shadows, but to prepare a more luminous and well-founded solution; or at least to reconcile Pindulgence with the impartial reader.
AV. — On this subject we have two opuscules of Richard de Saint-Victor, one of the most illustrious representatives of mystic theology.
The first title is: DEGREES OF THE CHARITY; it
These are less of the degrees than the qualities of love, which
is insurmountable to combat, insatiable in enjoyment, insatiable in vision, inseparable in union?.
The other, entitled: FOUR DEGREES OF VIOLENT CHARITY, Or of the violence of charity, is more explicit, and brings to four the degrees of charity, namely: engagement, wedding, union and fertility.
To the first degree, God presents himself to soul, and the soul returns to itself. In the second, the soul rises above itself and ascends to God. On the third, it is fully absorbed into God. In the fourth, she comes out of her rest to engage in action and to work for the God whom she loves.
Of these four ascensions only two interest contemplative prayer, namely: the second, which introduces the soul into contemplation, and the third, in which, under the fire of contemplation, the soul transforms and
1 Tract. de Gradibus charitatis. Migne, pass. 4195.
2 Ibid. © Four, collar. 1204. Charitas inseverable pugnat, insatiable gustat, insabiliter videt, in manibus ardet, and inseverable haeret.
8 Tract. de quartet gradibus violentæ charitatis. Migne, pass. 1207.
4 Quartet grad. Rape. Char. Col. 428. Attendo ad opera violentæ charitatis et invenio quae sit vehementia perfectæ æmulationis. Ecce video alios vulneratos, alios ligatos, alios langantes, alios deficientes, non tamen a charitate. Charitas vulnerat, charitas ligat, charitas languidum fait; charitas defectum adducit. Quid horum non mirum, quid horum non violentum? Hi sunt graduated ardentis charitatis, graduated quibus interius toti interndimus... (Col. 4216). In primo gradu fait desponsatio, in secundo nuptiæ, in tertio copula, in quarto puerperium. In primo itaque graduated, dilecta frequenter visitatur, in secundo ducitur, in tertio dilecto copulatur, in quarto fecundatur... In primo itaque graduated Deus intrat ad animum, and animus _ redit ad seipsum. In secundo graduated, ascendit supra seipsum and elevatur
ad Deum. In tertio graduated, animus elevatus ad Deum, totus transit in ipsum. In quarto animus exit propter Deum and descended sub semetipsum.
Gets liquefy. The first degree refers to simple meditation, and the last to exercises of active life.
In short, Richard de Saint-Victor's purpose in these two treatises on charity was only to indicate the general characteristics and the ascending step of spiritual perfection, and not to describe the various forms of contemplation.
V.— Saint Bonaventure, or author of the opuscule entitled: SEVEN DEGREES OF CONTEMPLATION, counts, as this letter indicates, seven degrees, which it calls: fire, anointing, ecstasy, contemplation, taste, rest and glory.
The first six can be reached during the journey, not suddenly, but gradually; the last is reserved for the homeland?.
VI. — Gerson applies to mystical theology and prayer the three properties and gradations of love in general, which are: to delight, unify and satisfy.
1 Quartet grad. Rape. Char. Col. 1217. In primo intrat meditatione, in secundo ascendit contemplatione, in tertio retroducitur in jubilatione, in quarto egreditor ex compassione.
2 Seven-man-sandibus contemplating. Live, t. 12 p. 183. Septem graduated eo gloriosissimos quo scientia experientiæ probatissimos, in medium censui deducendos... Primum igitur dicamus ignem; secundum unctionem, tertium ettasim, quartum speculationem, quintum gustum, sextum quietem, septimum gloriam. First enim anima ignitur, ignita ungitur, uncta rapitur, rapta speculatur vel contemplatur, contemplans gustat, gustans quiescit. Hæc in via possunt acquiri, non tamen soudio, sed gradatim. Citius autem hec experimentur that frequentius spiritualibus is exercised. Septimus in patria confiertur abundantius iis who is in precedentibus gradibus exercuerunt.
3 Myst. theol. speculate. P. 7, considered. 35, t. Three, collar. 390. Rationalis spiritus, tanquam nauta per theologiam mysticam doctus, non nisi vocante Domino et secretis afflatibus velum lie impellente, a husband sensualitatis ad littus æternitatis, hoc est, a carnalibus ad spiritualia pervenit... Illud quaque clarius elucescit ex proprietatibus amoris, quarum tres ad præsens attingere satis erit. Amor enim rapits, unites, satisfaits. Primo quidem amor rapit ad amatum and inde ettasim fait. Secundo amor jungit cum amato and almost unum effective. Tertio sibi sufficit, nec aliud præter amare quarit... (Consid. 43, col. 396.) Properties and conditions amoris ac theological mysticæ quae supra dictatoræ sunt, etiam orationi perfectæ convenienter adscribi posunt. Hujus ratio est quia in anima contemplativa, amor, et mystica theologia, et oratio perfecta, aut idem sunt, aut se invicem præsupponunt.
f - PUS NE
In the developments that he gives to these statements, Gerson places the ecstasy and the ravishing to the first degree, union to the second?, and transformation to the third?. Among the effects of the union, he pointed to the peace of mind.
VII. — Holy Teresis, the uncompromising authority of contemplation, describes in detail in his works the ascensional march of supernatural prayer.
In a valuable letter to Fr. Rodrigue Alvarez of the Society of Jesus, one of her confessors, the saint lists the various states through which she passed. It points to inner recollection, quietness, sleep of powers, union, which can only reach the will or extend to all powers; suspension and rapture, which it distinguishes from rapt°; the theft of mind and Pimpetuousness of the mind?; the wound of love, which precedes, dit, the ravishes and impetuous movements. She speaks, in finishing, of a mode of prayer which is like the prelude of contemplation, and which she claims to be a presence of God unaccompanied by vision, and which consists in a very great ease of putting herself before God$.
In its VIE written by itself, the virgin seraphic of Carmel describes the prayer of contemplation and quietness, that of union, of rapture and ecstasy!!, and indicates, as one of the most remarkable effects of rapture,
1 Myst. Theol. special., p. 7, considered. 36, col. 391.
2 Ib. Consider. 39, col. 392.
3 Ib. P. 8, considered. 40, col. 393.
4 Ib. Consider. 41, col. 394.
S Oartan LS t 1; 1D-255-
6 Ib. p: 56, n. 13. The difference between arrobamiento and arrebatamiento. — (Lopez Ezquerra, tr. Five, five. 2, n. 10, p. 84, translated arbamiento by deliquia materialia, meaning fainting.)
T Ib. n.15, p. 57. El buelo de espiritu..., n. 17: Impetus, etc.
8 Ib. ad fin. 28.
9 Ch. 44 ct 15.
10 Ch. 16 and 17.
10 - I am flying spirit! of which it seems to make a special mode of prayer.
The PERFECTION CHECK deals with the prayer of collection?; but perhaps it is the active collection rather than the infused collection. The prayer of quietness is described at length, and also that of union and pleasure.
It is mainly in his DEMERES, or Inner Castle, that Saint Teresus exposes the gradual ascension of the soul to God. Each degree forms a new home.
The first home is that of souls who, snatching to sin by the knowledge of their memes and of God, reach to the grace of justification, but are still in the attachments and concerns of the century. The second contains the souls to whom God gives the grace to understand and feel that they must come out of the first, and who do not know how to break with the opportunities that hold them. The third is characterized by a serious work of virtue and a generous impetus towards perfection. In the fourth, the soul, after having tasted the suavities and contentments of meditation, passes to the prayer of contemplation! and to the prayer of tranquillity. The fifth residence is reserved for union. The sixth includes the trials and wounds of love, which precede, accompany or follow the delights, among which is reported, for its excellence and sublimitity, the theft of mind ©. Finally, in the seventh and
1 Path of the Perfection, ch. 15. 2 Ch. 28 and 29.
3 Ib. ch. 30 and 34.
4 Tb.eh.182.
5 4 Dem., c. 1.
6 Ib. c. 3.
7 Ib. ch- eta.
8 6 Dem., c. 2.
9 1b. c. 4.
10 Jb. c. 5.
The last dwelling, the soul is united to God through spiritual marriage.
By the rapid analysis of that of his writings, in which Saint Teresus expressly deals with the gradual ascension of the soul into the perfect ways, we can see that contemplative prayer appears only in the fourth dwelling, that it begins with recollection and quietness, continues with union, injury of love and delight, and is consumed in spiritual marriage.
VII. — Saint Francis of Sales composed his 'S LOVE to guide his dear daughters of the Visitation and the souls taken from holy love in the extraordinary ways. Although his descriptions seem to relate rather to active contemplation than to infuse prayer, the characters he assigns can absolutely fit one and the other. It is not doubtful at least that he does not touch passive union when he talks about ecstasy and delight.
Now, here is the gradation reported by the Holy Bishop of Geneva in the progress of contemplative prayer. In the first place appears the recollection!, the tranquillity succeeds him, and presents different forms: the simple rest, the silence, the drunkenness?; then come the flow or the liquefaction ê, the wound of love +, the languor of love; and finally the union, which includes the simple union and the ecstatic union*.
IX. — P. Alvarez de Paz, who treated this matter with extreme care and authority of the greatest masters, counts fifteen degrees that he deduces from the various denomis-
E a el. 7th
2 1b. c. 8-12. #0 ch:19. AO CAGE 5 Ib. c. 15. 6 Liv. 7 c. 4.
You're a good boy. 8 Ib. ch. 3.
nations employed by ascetic authors to designate contemplation.
These names and degrees are!: intuition of the truth, retreat or inner concentration of the forces of the soul, silence, rest, union, hearing of the word of God, spiritual sleep, ecstasy, delight, body appearance, imaginary appearance, intellectual vision, divine darkness, manifestation of God, intuitive vision of God.
To each or most of these degrees comes the sensitive suavity that accompanies them.
X. — P. Philip of the Most Holy Trinity lists six main degrees of passive prayer: recollection, quietness, ordinary union, divine impulse, delight, spiritual marriage?.
The disciple of Saint Teresis notes that the other degrees that are usually attached to the preceding ones, such as visions and words, are only circumstances that accompany these elates. *
1 De grad. contempl. 1. 5, P. 3, Introd., t. 6 p. 542: Nam quae de hac materia ex Patribus et viris spiritualibus indefesso studio decerpsi, iterum intensissime legam et nunquam ante præviam orationem aliquid scribam... Quindecim ergo nomina ad contemplationem relevantia in asceticis invenio, quae mihi emptyur totidem contemplationis graduated designare.
Hæc autem sunt: Intuitio veritatis; 2° secessus virium animæ ad interiora; 3° Silentium; 4°; 5° unio: 6° auditio loquelæ Dei; 7° somnus spiritualis; 8° ecstasy; 9° raptus; 10° appartitio corporalis; 110 appartitio imaginaria; 120 inspectio spiritualis; 130 divina caligo; 14° manifestio Dei; 45° visio intuuitiva Dei.
Ac tandem agentum est de suavitate sensibilité queæ his omnibus gradibus aut pluribus eorum solet adjungi.
2 Sum. Theol. myst. P. 3. Tract. 3. D. 3, a. 5, t. 3 p. 103. Primus igitur graduated is in orratione recollectionis; secundus in oratione quietis; tertius in oratione unionis ordinariæ; quartus in oratione impulsus; quintus in oratione raptus; sextus and supremus in oratione unionis specialis quae fit in matrimonio spirituali; quamvis non eodem prorsus ordine de illis dictum sit, sed paululum mutato, juxta demandiam materiæ.
3 Jb. Solent alii graduated orationis assignari, which tamen. potius sunt queædam prædictorum concomitant circumstantiae... Deus alloquitur ali-
He describes elsewhere! the multiple forms of mystical vision, under this title: MISCELLANEOUS DEGREES OF THE SURNATURE CONTEMPLATION. This score is not of interest to contemplative states, we do not have to report them here.
XI. — Joseph Lopez Ezquerra, one of the most famous Spanish mystics, who composed his MYSTICAL LAMP at the end of the 19th century, lists the supernatural and infused gifts that God makes to souls. Without distinguishing them from contemplation, or absolutely confusing them with it, he places them in the following order: Visions and their species?; the different kinds of supernatural words*; revelations; mystical sensations *; infuse touches 5; the gift of tears, the spiritual impetuousness $; the organic failure *; the ecstasy!°: ravishing"; sleep or mystical death °; drunkenness and healthy madness of the Mind #; God's inextinguishable thirst ‘; the divine tongue #; the wound or wound of love‘; the engagements'; the spiritual marriage #.
If we had to count as various forms and ascen-
quando animam in aliquo ex prædictis gradibus orationis constitutam... Communicat se etiam Deus Bi e per varias visiones.
Leave S aTr. 35 Diso 2, t2. pP: 344 and sef.
2 Lucerna AR 15% 3 qe + 85-99.
- What? Ib. ch. 9-11, p. 94-98.
5 Ib. eh. 13, p. 99.
6 Jb. c. 14, p. 100.
7 Ib. ch. 15, p. 101.
8 Jb. c. 16, p. 103.
9/]b° ch 18, p.105:
10 76. c. 20, p. 108.
ATP Ch 22217 "p.110
12 Jb. c. 22, p. 113. 13 Jb. c. 23, p. 114. ao. e 9%, pa 116. apeloi eN. AIT 25a f: 16 Ib. ch. 26 p. 119. 17.16. c. 27 p. 121. 18 Jb. c. 28 p. 122.
_sional of contemplation the different kinds of supernatural visions and words, this enumeration would go to more than twenty degrees.
XI. — The saint and illustrious Italian doctor Alphonse de Liguori, whose doctrine the Church holds in such great honour, and who, during his long and long life, touched all branches of ecclesiastical science, distinguishes the preliminary and preparatory acts of contemplation, from the truly contemplative operations.
At the beginning, active recollection takes place, which is like God's call to these glorious ascensions!. Passive purifications then come, variously spaced: those of the senses first, which prepare for the first communications; later those of the mind, before the more sublime favors of mystic union?.
This prayer consists of three successive degrees: recollection, tranquillity and union. The union develops into a threefold gradation: simple union, engagement and spiritual marriage!. The engagements are diversified in the three ascending forms of ecstasy, rapture, and spirit flight. In summary, this classification assigns seven degrees to contemplation.
XIE. — P. Schram also presents a nomenclature
1 Praxis confess. ¢. 9, § 2, n. 127: Advertere etiam oportet quod Deus, antequam concedat animabus donum contemplationis, solet eas introducere in orationem recollectionis, vulgo dictam otii contemplativi (sic illam vocant mystici), quae non est adhuc contemplationatio infusa, quoniam anima est adhuc in status activo. 5
- What? Ib. n. 198: Insuper advertendum est quod Deus, antequam introducat animam in orationem contemplationis, solet eam purgare ponendo in ariditate supernaturali quae appellatur Purgatio spiritualis, ete.
3 Ib n. 132: Sed transeamus ad primos contemplationis graduated, hi sunt: recollectio interior spiritus, et quies; de unione loquemur posta.
4 Praxis confess. n. 437: Tres dantur species unionis: Unio simplex, desponsatio, and unio consummata quae vocatur unio matrimonii spiritualis.
5 Jb. n. 1437: In hac vero unione desponsationis tres sunt alii gradus diversi, scilicet ectasis, raptus and elevationis spiritus.
: THE DEGREES 175 extent that complicated mystical states, and whose bottom is borrowed from the Spanish Jesuit Godinez. But this one seems to have less in sight the degrees of supernatural prayer than the diversity of its forms. After describing the trials that have at the contemplation itself, he divides it into cherubic and seraphic. The first is characterized by the predominance of light, and embraces, first, the main aspects of the supernatural vision, namely: the mystery of the Trinity, those of the Incarnation and the Eucharist, the attributes of God; then the inner divine words, and finally the prayer of silence and tranquillity.
The second includes the ardour, the impulses, the wounds and the wonderful effects of mystical love, and in this statement lies igneous contemplation, that of flame, resignation and nudity, affective loneliness, soloquists, spiritual cloud, freedom of the mind, obscure contemplation, the plague of love, passive flow and mystical transformation.
Schram adopts these divisions and assumes a gradual disposition, but warns that the gradation here has nothing rigorous. He distinguishes two kinds of union with God, dark and painful moon, the other luminous and suave, which occurs through contemplation, flow and transformation?. All mystical states come under one of these three forms.
1 Theol. myst. practice. 1. Four cents. 1, p. 135: Divide se la contemplacion como genero supremo en dos generos subalternos que son contemplicion Cherubica, y Serafica... The contemplacion Cherubica is divided in otras especies infimas intellectuales, como son: the contemplacion mystica de la sanctisima Trinidad, Encarnacion, Eucharistia, Attributes, symbolicas hablas interiores, y silencio; y estas contemplaciones son à donde lo intellectual mas campea.— The contemplacion Serafica is divided into contemplacion ignea, flamea, vulnerante, activa, passiva, clara, obscura; y la transformacion mystica, à donde lo afectivo y fervoroso del amor divino mas se descubre.
2 Theol. myst. § 172, schol. t. 4 p. 330: Unio alia is obscura, arida and insipida seu tristis quaedam rerum divinarum cognitio cum amore quodam pænali sociata; quae etiam unio dispositiva ad contemplationem diici potest
176 The first embraces the two general contemplation species admitted by P. Godinez, with their subdivisions, know: 4° the cherubic contemplation, which is exercised on the mysteries of the Most Holy Trinity, the Incarnation and the Eucharist; the attributes of God in his works, in symbolic visions and inner words, in the prayer of silence and quietness!; 20 Seraphic contemplation, which includes ten degrees: igneous and inflamed contemplation, conformity or resignation, nudity, emotional loneliness, solilocus, spiritual cloud, freedom of the mind, dark contemplation, the tongue of love? The union of flow or passive contemplation has three degrees: mystical death and annihilation, and passive flow? also called engagement, kissing, kissing +. Finally, the mystical transformation * is confused with spiritual marriage 6.
XIV. — P.E. Scaramelli lists twelve degrees of infuse prayer, i.e.: recollection?, spiritual silence$,
and made per delictionem seu purgationem passivam... Alia is unio suavis queæ fit vel per contemplationem, vel per illapsum, vel per transformationem.
1 Theol. myst. § 276, schol., p. 466: contemplatatio cherubica circa mysterium SS. Trinitatis!, Incarnationis, Eucharistiæ, etc. ($277-291), versari potest.
2 Ib. § 294, p. 491. Contempliatio seraphica in varios graduated dividitor. Horum primus is contemplatatio ignea, etc., § 294. — $319.
3 Ib. § 327-329, p. 543 et seq.: Gradus contemplationis passivæ modo asserendi et explicandi veniunt, quorum primus est mors mystica. Secundus graduated contemplationis passivæ est annihilatio mystica. Tertius gra-, dus contemplationis passivæ is illapsus passivus.
4 Ib. § 329, schol. 2, p. 546. Unio illapsus passivi merito vocatur sponsalitium, osculum and castus amplexus.
ë Ib. § 332, p. 551. Quarta unio animæ cum Deo consistit in supremo degree contemplationis per transformationem mysticam passivam.
6 Ib. § 333, schol. 2, p. 555. Transformatio mystica passiva a mysticis etiam dicitur matrimonium spirituale.
7 Dirett. Mist. Tratt: 3, ch. 4 p. 150.
emo Teh. ap: 153.
THE DEGREES 177 peace of mind, the drunkenness of love?, the spiritual sleep è, the anxiety and the thirst for love *, the divine touches *, the mystic union in general, the simple union, the ecstasy, the delight, the stable and perfect union £.
What the Italian author says about mystic union in general is suitable for the last four forms of supernatural prayer, and does not seem to us, even in his thought, to constitute a special degree of contemplation. So there would be only 11 degrees left.
The nomenclature of P. Scaramelli is fully reproduced by Fr. Seraphim ‘!, and also by the Father. C. Verhaege, except for a slight transposition. *
XV. — We can judge by all these variations of darkness that glide upon the gradation of mystical states. However, when these multiple classifications are carefully examined, two conclusions are detached, which bring unity closer to the intermediate ascents and justify them by delivering the secret of the end towards which they are directed.
The first result of this comparative examination is to indicate a number of common points, and to raise a classification based on the simultaneous consent of the masters who provide the elements.
Most place at the beginning the recollection or recollection of powers under the charm of divine appearance,
1 Dirett. Mist. Tratt. ch. 5, p. 155.
5 16. c. 13, p. 185.
ATO Ch-15% p.191
8 Ib. ch. 19, p. 206.
MTO eh. 21, p. 216.
10 Jb. c. 23, p. 223.
11 Principles of Mystical Theology (Casterman, 1873), Part 2, p. 63 et seq..
12 Manual of Mystical Theology (see V. Palmé, 1877), 1. 2, 1° sect.
18 and the respectful silence of the soul before God. All report the peace of mind or rest in God, and the transports that make her drunken and faint. They are still unanimous in asserting a state of union where the soul remains first in possession of itself, then flowing into God through ecstasy and ravishing, and finally being consumed in divine charity by an ineffable hymen.
The second conclusion reveals the very reason for this hierarchical and increasing disposition of contemplative states, from contemplation to supernatural marriage.
This reason is drawn from the final term to which these divine attractions tend, which is God's mystical covenant with the soul.
Like human marriage, mystical marriage has foreplay that prepares it. The two future spouses are first introduced to each other, they talk to each other, taste each other, bond with each other, and in these reciprocal communications become impatient to give one another. As soon as the union is resolved, the relationships become more intimate, and the engagement promises come, which are a mutual guarantee of fidelity and already form a public bond. Finally Punion is realized, marriage is accomplished.
So is it, in a way, between God and the soul. But there is this profound difference between mystical marriage and corporeal marriage, which, in this one, all ends and occurs by reciprocity between the two lovers, while in the other, God does everything, and the soul, delighted, undergoes with a delicious impulse the attraction, promises and caresses of this incomparable Spouse.
Above these suave communications that God makes to the traveling soul, 1 is left only the beatific contemplation of glory.
Using these statements and clarifications from mystical authors, we can draw and
Contemplation.
It opens with the supernatural call and grasp of Passus, and the soul, calling all its powers on the object that fascinates it, gathers and concentrates in the silent Vattitude of admiration and love.
Love, growing, sets the will in God in rest or quietness. This delicious face-to-face penetrates the soul of loving traits that wound her Suavely, transport her, drunken her, throw her into a languor and a sleep of love that have her at union.
The union begins without losing the soul the feeling of itself; it is the simple union. It continues with ecstasy and delight, and ends in spiritual marriage.
Does this union go down here to the contemplation of. glory, if not as a permanent state, at least as a transient manifestation? That is one last question to consider.
We can therefore bring the various degrees of contemplative prayer back to the following:
10 The Collection,
20 The Quiet,
30 Transport,
4° The Single Union,
9° L-Extase,
60 The Ravishing,
7° The Beatific Vision.
The first six ascensiones inadvertently awaken the thought of the six days of creation, during which the divine work is perfected; and the last, which does not see it? is confused with the seventh day, which is the eternal Sabbath. In the operations of nature and grace, it is always the same harmony.
motivation of the order to follow in the exposure of the degrees of
His notion. — How does he differ from active contemplation. — Various degrees. — Is silence a special form of contemplation? —
Effects of passive recollection. — Its duration. — Practical deductions. I. — Let us first say what contemplative contemplation is.
When God wants to raise a soul to mystical communications, he would abstract things from the outside, turn it back, so to speak, whole within, and draw it by a delicious feeling of his presence to the deepest of itself. Before conversing with her, he takes her into this inner solitude, and as soon as she has entered it, he already speaks to her heart through the suavities of which he langues!, while waiting for him to give himself to her in the inevitable intimacy of the union.
This inner call, which suddenly withdraws, without industry or human effort, the powers of the soul from the outside occupations and divagations, to concentrate them within, bow them sweetly and make them attentive to a mysterious presence of God in the intimate of the soul, consti-
1 Os. One, 14.
kills the first degree of supernatural prayer, and is called by mystics recollection or infused collection.
According to Saint Térèse!, this supernatural concentration of soul seems to give it new meanings within itself to see and enjoy the presence of God, as it has from outside to relate to material things; and the divine inclination that calls in precedence over the natural inclination that carries out.
"It is a recollection," she said elsewhere? "which also seems to me to be supernatural; for it does not arise by retreating into darkness or by closing its eyes, and does not depend on any external thing, since without will the eyes close, and one tends to loneliness. So, without any industry on our part, lifts up the vestibule of the prayer of divine tastes, and it seems that the senses and outward things lose their rights, so that the soul may recover the one it had lost."
Under the divine action that lurks, subjugates and pacifies, the soul finds itself, it does not know in what way, suddenly absorbed in an indistinct but penetrating thought of God, as if he warned that his voice would be heard, or as if his hand collected its powers in the way of the mother who gathers the little body of his child between her arms and on her breast.
Holy Teresis compares this intimate call of God to the whistle of the shepherd who gathers his sheep, and this signal of the master has so much strength on the senses and powers of the soul that they abandon the external things that absorb them and are contained within the castle. "It seems to me, she adds, that I may never have explained this so well that at this time ÿ."
1 Letter to P. Rodrigue Alvarez, Lettr. 7.
Int. cat. 4 Dem., c. Three, initio. AERALA D ICS
This is the first degree of contemplation.
- The reformer of Carmel, in her letter several times quoted in P. Rodrigue Alvarez, seems to indicate that there is another supernatural mode of prayer, which would precede all the others.
"I remember," she said in closing her letter, "another prayer that occurs before the one of recollection. It is a presence of God that is by no means a vision, and that consists of an extreme ease for the soul to find God as soon as she desires, even if only to pray vocally, except in the time of droughts."
Scaramelli! rightly points out that this ease of placing oneself in the presence of God does not constitute a passive prayer; it is rather, in fact, an extraordinary grace that prepares, if desired, for the infused contemplation, and thus serves as a prelude to contemplation.
I. — In order not to confuse mystical recollection with natural recollection, here, regardless of the diversity of the effects we will discuss later, are the characteristics that distinguish them.
Active recirculation results from the natural application of the mind, and is obtained only by the calm and silence of meditation. Passive recollection is sudden, unexpected, and also occurs in the hour of prayer and in the midst of outside occupation. The first is the fruit of human effort and divine grace, as ordinary supernatural acts, and can even be purely natural. The second is entirely due to the inner and extraordinary action of grace.
However, in one and the other, the soul exercises its freedom, albeit in a different way. It is through initiative and the energy of reflection that this one begins
Diretti Mist. Tratt. 3, c. A 0.10, pa ASi:
183 and continues, while the other occurs without the help of soul, although the soul can escape it by its free will, by bringing its powers back to the external things.
Let us hear St Francis de Sales! describe to us, with his usual clarity and grace, how passive recollection differs from active recollection.
"I am not speaking here, Theotime, of the contemplation by which those who want to pray put themselves in the presence of God, retranslating into themselves and withdrawing, in a way of saying, their soul in their hearts, to speak to God. For this recollection is done by the commandment of love, which, provoking us to prayer, makes us take this way of doing it well: so that we do ourselves this withdrawal from our mind. But the recollection of which I intend to speak, is not done by the commandment of love, and by Pamour mesme; that is, we do not do it ourselves by election, especially since it is not in our power to wash when we desire, and do not depend on our care; but God does it in us when he pleases him, by his most holy grace. Celuy, says the blessed mother Therese of Jesus, who has left by writing that the prayer of contemplation is done as when a herisson or a tortue withdraws within soy, hears well, except that these beasts withdraw within them when they want: but the contemplation does not gist in our will, it happens to us when it pleases God to give us this grace.
"But it is done so. Nothing is so natural to good that to unite and attract to be the things that can feel it, as our souls do, which draw alliours and go to their thresor, that is to say to what they love. It is therefore sometimes that Nostre-Lord repand imperceptibly, to the
4 Treaty of the Love of God, 1. 6, c. 7.
ht CURE PORT
deep in the heart, a certain sweet suavity, which bears witness to its presence, and at the moment the powers, even mesme the external senses of blade, by a certain secret consent, turn from the cost of this intimate part, where is the tresaimable and very-cher Espoux. For all as well as a new seine or spear of honeyflies, when he wants to flee and change his corn, is recalled by the sound that he makes gently on basins, or by the Podor of the emmielled wine, or by the scent of some fragrant herbs, so that he will simmer by the beginning of these sweets and enter into the hive which he has prepared: from the same Nostre-Lord, speaking some secret word of his love, or re-scenting the smell of the wine of his dilectiveness, more precious than honey, or evaporating the perfumes of his jackets, that is, some sentences of his own Celestial consolations in our hearts, and by this means making them feel his very fond presence, he removes from soy all the faculties of our soul, which gather around luy, and s'arresent in luy as in their very desirable object. And as one who puts a piece of eye between several needles, makes it clear that suddenly all their tips turn from the cost of their beloved aymant, and become attached to luy: also when Our Lord makes feel in the midst of ours his very precious presence, all our facultez return their points of this cost-la, to come to join this incomparable sweetness."
HI. — Seizure and absorption of the soul are occurring to varying degrees. It is two of them that it is important to notice.
Sometimes the soul feels attracted to God in such a way that its powers each retain its own action and movement. The intelligence pursues fugitive thoughts or its work of deduction, the imagination voltigates, the external senses have their full exercise. Nonob-
4; = 185 stant, the soul is highly abstract from sensitive things, and feels a sweet attraction that calls it inside.
This recollection without the suspension of powers may be the announcement of passive prayer; but it seems that there is not yet contemplation in the strict sense of the word, i.e. in love and suspensive intuition. In this simple contemplation one does not see, one does not hear, or at least the gaze of the soul is exercised only on the object and by the work of meditation; but one feels an inner attraction that fixes the mind and the heart: God begins to discover himself by the vague feeling that he gives of his presence. The soul is warned, God has only to reveal himself: she is ready to consider him, to listen to him, to admire him.
When this manifestation takes place, contemplation begins. Then the inner light becomes so bright and penetrating that it suspends the natural play of the faculties. The reasoning stops discouraging, which is enough for the suspension; organic impressions go unnoticed; often, the imagination rising above the images that captivate it, the eye of the soul attaches itself to the inner object and holds it whole in the immobileness of admiration.
At this first degree of contemplation, the attraction, though suave and energizing, does not require. The soul can turn away and break the gentle pressure that removes it from the outside and absorbs it within; it does not lose consciousness of itself or of its freedom. However, mildness is such that the soul only withdraws from it with a heart and with a kind of violence.
The attitude of the body is felt by inner absorption. The eyes close spontaneously, the ears seem to refuse to hear any external noise, and the soul, to better ensure possession of the object that charms it, condemns the body
to an entire immobility!.
1 St. TÉRÈSE, Letter to P. Rodrigue Alvarez. 8*
IV. — The suspension of powers is referred to by mystics as silence. The language of each faculty is the exercise of its own, and when this function is suspended, it can be said that the faculty no longer speaks, that it is silent.
A few authors make this silence a special degree of prayer, among others Alvarez de Paz? and Scaramelli*, who refer on this point to the authority of the previous one.
It seems to us that it is wrong that one wants to see here a distinct state of contemplation; for the suspension that characterizes silence is also found in peace and union, which would make it necessary to distinguish as many species of spiritual silences as there are contemplative forms that carry the suspension of powers. Thus St Francis of Sales ‘in the quiet prayer of quietness points to the supernatural silence, which also occurs in the simple union; especially in ecstasy and delight where the suspension is more powerful and complete.
V. — Apart from the suave attraction which brings the soul into itself and gathers its powers under the gaze of God, the infused recollection is still characterized by its effects.
1 Azvarez de Paz, l. 5, P. 3, ©. 3 p. 554. Silet (anima) autem cum luce and amore craescent, desideriorum patefactio cessat, and ad quamdam suspensionem intelligentiæ transferur, and ad ardentiissimum amorem lacutiones illas internas impedientem elevatur. Tune intellectus, præ admiratione ejus veritatis aut pulchritudinis quam videt, tacet, nec discursibus aut ratiocinationibus procedere vel loqui libet. Tunc imaginatio a Deo ligata et veluti attonita effecta, mutire non audet nec per varia divagari præsumit... Breviter omnia in homine tacent, sensus non perstrepunt, desideria
and intellectum atque affectum in sua tranquillitate relinquunt.
2 Ibid.
3 Dirett. Mist. Tr. 3, C. 3, n. 15, p. 153: ILP. Giacomo Alvarez de Paz, mistico illustrious, met questo grado di contemplazione distincto del raccoglimento soprannaturale, di cui abiamo parlato, e dall'orazione di quiete, di cui ragionaremo nei sequentiali capitoli, perchè in realtà è maggiore di quello ed è minore di questa.
4 Tr. of the Am. of God, I. 6, ©. 11, n. 4. And other times the soul feels speaking the Espoux, but she does not scaurorate him speaking, because let her hear it or the reverence that she wears holds her in silence.
Ro RS, re ot ln, Cf TT, A A = 7 Es REC RE
We will often notice that divine interventions that reduce the soul to passivity result in an activity and energy that surpasses the effects of common grace. This effectiveness is felt from the beginning of the mystical ascension, and can be used to distinguish passive recollection from natural recollection.
It is mainly translated into a great ease of detaching from the passing things, a generous impulse towards God, a merveious attraction that bows to loneliness, and as a pressing need for prayer. "If this recollection is true," says Térèse!, "it is clearly seen by a certain effect that I do not know how to express; but he who has experienced it will hear well: the soul, in this state, feels so dilated and so high, that it already sees the nothingness of the things of this world. As in its best time, and to the limitation of those who withdraw to a fortress to cover themselves with enemies, it withdraws its senses from the external things, with such an empire that, without reflection, the eyes of the body close to not see them, so that those of the soul may open up more."
This infused feeling of divine presence has the second effect of spreading joy and suavities, delicious milk that God gives to the soul to attract in solitude and dispose it to the holy communications of his word °.
VI. — On the duration of the mystical recollection we have nothing to add to what we have said about the duration of contemplation in general. The time for the suspension of powers is very short and hardly more than half an hour. But, distracted from the object of contemplation, the
1 Chem. de la perf., €. 28.
2 Os. m, 14: Ecce ego Jactabo eam, and ducam eam in solitudinem and loquar ad cor ejus.
3 Scaaramelli, Dir. Mist. Tr. 3, C. 4, n. 22, p. 154.
This can be brought back by new illumination or attraction, and in these successive recollections the recollection can be prolonged for a long time.
VII. — From what we have just said, there are practical conclusions on the course to be taken in this first degree of contemplation.
The inner call that gathers the powers calls for silence and retreat. The soul thus warned must yield to this invitation suave. It can resist and turn away; but by doing so it would hurt and rebuke Ja's jealous delicacy of God who comes to seek it.
Let her withdraw herself, at this divine signal, to worship the God who only gives her the feeling of her presence to draw her out of the whirlwind of passing things.' Let it even suspend, as soon as the attraction begins, the meditation and the vocal prayer, to give up to the simple and gentle gaze of contemplation, or at least that it keeps itself from trouble and haste?.
More than that, when the soul received this first visit from God, it must, through a severe mortification of the senses, a detachment that does not save nothing, the practice of silence and retreat, the preparations and eflorts of the vigi-
1 5. Liguori, Prax. confess. n. 133: In hoc status no est cogenda anima ad suspendendum tranquillum eum discursum quem forte ei lux ipsa suaviter insinuaret: — quemadmodum nec debet incumbere considerationi rerum particularium aut determinationibus quas valet efficere. Nec debet curiosius inquigare quidnam sit interior ea spiritus recollectio; sed sinat se dirigi a Deo ad considerandas res illosque actus fafiendos ad quos se magis a Deo ferri cognoscit.
2 V. Voss, Compend. SCARAMELLI, p. 249. If that has Deo ad interiorem hanc recollectionem vocetur, dum precibus vacat vocalibus; aut omnino eas suspendat, aut cum quiete and pace prosequatur. Primum is faciendum quando preces vocals nulla lege præscriptæ, sed sponte sumptæ, impediunt orationem Dei and dissipating mentem. Secunda autem observanda est regula, quam celerrime eas absolvere conetur, quam celerrime eas absolvere conetur, quam celerrime aut præcepto sunt prescriptæ: caveat, ne tunc, utsancta Teresia de seipsa fatetur, quam celerrime eas absolvere conetur.
a deep humility, it must usually be gathered, ready to enter the first signal in this appointment where God draws!. However, this expectation should not degenerate into concerns and concerns.
. violent restraint: God will come back at his hour.
Although a wise director may be expected to give longer time to prayer, the attraction of this exercise must be limited and measured by the occupation of his condition, the strength of the body and other circumstances. It is also important to keep moderation in the suavities that accompany the contemplative attraction. By giving up without restraint to a kind of spiritual intemperance that rushes towards sweetness rather than to the hand that dispenses them, one runs a great risk of drying up the source and falling into the illusion °.
The drunkenness that fills soul exposes to another peril, that of communicating and spreading outside by indiscreet effusions. The most certain sign that these favors come from God, and the most effective way to keep them and increase them is humility, humility that results in annihilation and confusion before God, silence and erasure before men.
1 V, Voss, Compend. SCARAMELLI, p. 249. Director hujusmodi animæ majori cum solicitudine curam gerere debet. Inducat eam, ut tempus orationis augeat, a distractionibus et evagationibus sæculi remota in solitudine maneat et generose in solidarum virtutum, mortificationis et humilitatis exercitia progrediatur.
2 St. TERÈSE, His Life, ¢. 15. The great way to deliver oneself from the artifice of the devil and the tastes he gives is to follow, from the first steps, the way of the Cross, Our Lord having shown us this path of perfection by these words: Take your cross and follow me.
Notion and description. — Two degrees: suspension of the only will, or of all powers. — Silence and sleep. — Duration of peace. — In what way it differs from mystical recollection and from natural drowsiness. — Effects: disinterested love, release of all sensitive things, spiritual joy. — Practical advice: beware of disturbing the peace of will by worrying about the mobility of other powers. — Avoiding the return of self during this rest. — Do not suspend meditation entirely or engage in the exercise of prayer immoderately. — Perfection that requires or confers peace of mind.
I. — The Quitness was reported by all mystics, if not as a special form of passive prayer, at least as one of its first effects. But since Saint Térèse, who has treated excellently and in many places his writings of this mode of prayer, it is agreed to consider it, no longer as a simple effect, but as a distinct and well characterized degree of contemplative ascension.
Either before, or after Saint Térèse, this state was named under the various names of quietness, rest, taste!, silence, sleep, death, sepulchre?.
1 St. Térèse, Chdt. int. 4 D., c. 2: What I call the name of taste, and which I have named elsewhere from the name of peace of mind, is.
2 SCHRAM, $284, sch. 2, t. 1, p. 478. Oratio Silentii varis nominibus a mysticis expressur. Dicitur oratio quietis..., otium animæ..., oratio in Caligine..., somnus, walrus and sepulcrum.
Saint Francis de Sales! describes it by the pure and naive comparison of the child who falls asleep by sucking her mother's breast, Comparison borrowed from Saint Teresus.
"This is a comparison which Our Lord put in my mind in a prayer of this nature, which seems very right to me, and which, in my opinion, makes it clear what peace of mind is. In this state, the soul is like a little child still to the breast, to whom his mother to caress him, when he is between his arms, causes the milk to be distilled in his mouth without only stirring his lips. The same is true here: without work of understanding, the will loves, and Our Lord wants her to know without thinking that she is with Him, that she is content with sucking the milk that Her Majesty pours out in her mouth, that she may savor this dour-
1 Tr. of the Am. of God, 1.6, c. 9. Have you ever taken care, Theotime, of the ardour with which the little children sometimes cling to the tetins of their mothers when they are hungry? But after the strawcher of the laict has not soothed the appetizing heat of their little breasts, and the pleasant vapors which he sends to their brains begin to fall asleep; Theotime, you would see them close their little eyes and ceder little by little to sleep, without leaving the tetin, on which they do no action but that of a slow and almost insensitive movement of lips, by which they draw alliours the laict which they swallow imperceptibly; and this they do without thinking about it, but not without pleasure: for if they are oste of the tetin before the deep sleep has overwhelmed them, they wake up and weep bitterly, temoignans by the pain which they have in deprivation, that they see many sweetnesses in it. possession, — Now it is of the soul that is in rest and quietness before God; for it almost insensitively sucks the sweetness of this presence, without discourage, without operating, and without doing anything by any of its facultes, if not by the only tip of the will, which it gently and almost imperceptibly stirs, as the mouth through which between the delectation and the insensitive relaxation which it takes to play the divine presence. If we inconvenient this poor little puppy and we're looking to oster the puppy, all the more so as she seems to be asleep, she monsters well while she sleeps for all the rest of the things, she does not sleep for this one: for she perceives the evil of this separation and fascishs, thus showing the pleasure she enjoys, quoyque without thinking about it, the good she possesses. The Blessed Mother Therese, having written that she is so familiar with this similarity, I wanted to declare it.
2 Way of the Perfect., Ch. 31.
without even knowing that she comes from the Lord. Happy to enjoy it, that she does not seek to know how she enjoys it, or what good she enjoys; that she disinterests herself, convinced that He who is with her will not fail to provide for all that suits her." The prayer of quietness is therefore a feeling of the presence of God which is born to the most intimate of the soul and in which the will rests and delights in union with the other powers, or despite the mobility of these powers. It is through the will, which constitutes the substance of the soul, that the soul tastes, in the mystical peace of mind, the presence of God, that it savors the sweetness of it, that it attaches itself and sleeps on this sweet object, as expressed by the psalmist!: "I will fall asleep and rest in him in peace." Peace is therefore, in reality, nothing but an act of love and abandonment towards God present, not merely by faith or by sensitive suavities, but by a supernatural impression, which, penetrating the depths of the soul, seizes the master faculty, charm and captive. We must not confuse the state of peace with the peace that God often makes taste of the faithful soul out of contemplation; it is here a mystical favor and a precise form of contemplative life. "Would they be broken up with penances, prayers, or works of any kind to reach this prayer," said Saint Teresus? "If Our Lord does not want to give it, it serves a little. To manifest his greatness to the soul, God makes him hear that he is so close to her, that she does not need to send messengers to her, that she can speak to her herself and without raising her voice, because he is so close that to the simple movement he hears it." Sensitive suavities and tranquillity, which occur
1 psalm. 17, 9. 2 His Life, ch. 14.
ery
WHO STUDY 193 in the common life are neither the origin nor the form of supernatural tranquillity.
II. — This rest is more or less intense, more or less complete. The essential differences can be reduced to the two that we have already reported in the survey.
At the first degree of quietness, the will is fixed and suspended; the other faculties remain free and carry out their own operations. "This prayer," said Saint Terèse?, "speaks through a convocation of powers within oneself, to enjoy with more taste the contentment that God gives; these powers, however, are not lost or asleep; only the will is occupied, and, without seeing how captive it is, acquiesce to the sweet chains that God imposes upon it, knowing well that it is captive to Him whom she loves."
This is the second degree. Sometimes the captivity reaches the imperated powers, either by direct command of the will, or rather by a counter-clash of its complete absorption, which extends to all the operations of the soul, or by the brightness of the light that invades and fascinates the intellectual faculties. But this suspension is only transitory: thefts of their nature, these faculties, as soon as they are no longer imperatively fixed, resume their adventurous course.
Saint Térèse? repeatedly returns to these alternatives of union and disjunction between the will and the others
1 S. Francis of Saes, Tr, of the Am. of God, 1. 6, c. 11. Thus, according to what we have said, his quietness has various degreases: for sometimes it is in all the powers of the soul joined and united to the will. A few times it is only in the will, in which it is not appreciably, and formerly imperceptibly.
2 His Life, ch. 44.
3 His Life, ch. 14. — The Way of the Perf., c. 31. — Int. Chât., 4° Dem.,
49% Powers. But let us listen to St Francis de Sales: "Now this rest," he said, "is passed a few times so before in his peace, that all blade and all the powers of love remain as asleep, without making any movement any action, if not the only will, which mesine does no other thing but receives laissez and the satisfaction that the presence of the Beloved Luy gives. And what is even more admirable is that the will does not perceive this comfort and contentment which she receives, enjoying insensitively d'iceluy; especially since she does not think of soy, but to which the presence luy gives this pleasure, as it happens many times that surprised at a light sleep, we enter only what our friends say around us, or feel the caresses that they do to us, almost imperceptibly, without feeling that we feel."
It also happens, in the testimony of Saint Teresus?, that, while the will remains united, the other faculties regain their freedom, but only as regards the service of God. We will return to this point when we discuss the duration of the peace of mind.
At Pun and at the other of these degrees, the soul remains in possession of itself and retains the freedom to escape from the divine object that charms it. Her union with God is not yet complete; she can, at her own discretion, though not without pain, separate and return to ordinary action. Until in the seizing which binds all powers, da will can, by an effort of his free will, free himself and detach with it the enslaved faculties.
In a word, this is not yet the imperative ligature of ecstasy, at least regularly, although it may sometimes occur by passing, before the soul has emerged from the state of tranquillity. The more the absorption of the soul is
1 Tr. of the Am. of God, I. 6, c. 8. 2 Way of the perf., ch. 31.
The deeper the separation is, the more violent and painful it is.
IHI. — When the suspension is general, the soul is in a state of silence or sleep.
The silence that is being discussed here is not only in the attitude of astonishment and admiration; it is still and above all the suspensive attention that looks and listens. God speaks; he speaks to the eyes and ears, that is, by visions or by words!
The Holy Bishop of Geneva describes the various forms and degrees of this supernatural silence: "Some times not only does she see the presence of God, but she listens to some clarter and persuasions, which take place as words: no time she feels him speaking and speaking to him reciprocately, but so secretly, so gently, so beautifully, that it is without that losing the peace and quiet; if without waking, she watches with luy, that is, she watches and speaks to her beloved heart, with so much sweet tranquillity and gratious rest, as if she sleeps slowly. And other times she feels she speaks the Espoux, but she does not speak to her, because the comfort of the ouir, or the reverence that she wears, holds her in silence: or because she is in drought and so alangouria of mind, that she has strength only for where to speak and not for speaking, as it happens a few times bodyly to those who begin to fall asleep, or who are greatly weakened by some disease."
The complete absorption of powers can be accomplished by the attraction of love alone, and then the suspension is less a silence than a sleep; we sink and we rush suavely on the object loved, rather than staring at it and
1 Scaram, Theol. myst. § 284, schol. 4, t. 4 p. 478: In quo Silentio subinde etiam revelations, lochures, visions, ecstasy, raptus interyeniunt.
2 T.C. of God, I. 6, c. 11.
Don't listen to him. "L'ame is therefore so gathered in herself, in God or before God," said St Francis de Sales! "sometimes makes himself so gently attentive to the goodness of his Beloved, which he seems to be almost unattentioned, as she is simply and delicately exercised, as it happens in certain rivers that flow so sweetly and so also, that it seems to those who look at them or navigate on them, not to see any movement there, because they are not seen in any way to float. And it is this kind rest of the same which the Blessed Virgin Therese of Jesus calls quiet prayer, not wary different from that which she calls herself sleep of powers, if I still think well."
We will speak further on the climax of this sleep, dealing with the transports where divine love throws the soul, and we will quote the words of Saint Teresus to which the bishop of Geneva is currently referring.
Let us note only here that it is sleep as silence; it meets with a variety of intensity in several mystical states.
IV. — The duration of the prayer of quietness varies considerably, depending on whether it is the mere rest of the will or the simultaneous suspension of the will and other powers. 1
The immobility of these is almost never only momentary and rapid, as we have said in speaking of the contemplative suspension; and we have heard Saint Teresus, speaking of the prayer of quietness as she had experienced it, assert us "that this union lasted only very little", hardly "the time of a Ave Maria?".
This is not the case with the permanence of will. This accession, which is strictly speaking the
1 Tr. of the Am. of God, 1. 6, c. 8. 2 His Life, ch. 14.
ese
WHO STUDY is 197 tude, can be extended for a long time, for full hours, and even one or more days.
It is still Holy Teresus who attests to us herself: "In this state," she said, "we sometimes take an hour to say the Pater once." And shortly after she added: "God also does in this prayer another very difficult favor to hear, unless one has a great experience of it. But those who have experienced it will understand it without difficulty, and it will not be a small consolation for them to know what it is; and I believe that God often joins this grace with the prayer I speak of. When this quietness is great and lasts for a long time, it seems to me that if the will were not linked to something, it could not be maintained in this peace and satisfaction, which last, indeed, for a day or two, without one understanding how it takes place. On
see in this state that we are not entirely at the point of
that the main lack, namely: the will, which, in my opinion, is united to God and leaves the other powers free only to go about the things of his service, which they then do with great ease; but if it is the things of the world, they remain numb and sometimes as forbidden."
V. — We can, from these notions, indicate the differences that distinguish mystical recollection from quietness.
In the first degree, soul experiences an attraction that calls and concentrates it at the bottom of itself, separates it from the agitation and external noise, and tends to return its senses in a way to the inside, so that it sees, hears, tastes and touches only spiritual things. Thus removed, the soul remains attentive and unanswered under the rays of the
1 Way of the perf., ch. 31. — Madrid ed., 1861, cap. 53, t. 1, p. 357: By decir Padre nuestro una vez, pasará una hora.
light that bleaks; and, if the inner illumination becomes radiant to the point of suspending the exercise of powers, it enters into the state of silence; but this suspension and silence come more from light than from Pamour.
Quietness goes further. She seizes the will, fixes it in the feeling that the soul feels of God present in her, holds her captive under the bonds of Pamour, in a complete and suave abandonment to this suave presence.
The recollection mainly captures intelligence and sets attention; quietness is addressed to the will and provokes love!
Recollection is, on the part of God, the invitation to the rendezvous where he wants to communicate to the soul, and, on the part of the soul, the concentration that this call produces on his powers. Quietness is a beginning of enjoyment and membership. Not only does the soul gather and aspire to the sovereign Good, but it encounters it, it possesses it, it enjoys it to a degree that is still, to the truth, that begun and imperfect, — the union itself will come only later; — but finally the soul is already in the presence of the Beloved, it sees, it hears, it tastes the sweetness of its first communications; and the suaves accents of its voice, the sweet emanations of light and grace that escape from its still veiled face and its ready-to-give heart, it squeaks, simmers, illuminates and prepares itself for the great good. Union. In a state of peace, "soul," says Térèse?, means in a very different way than that which is done through the external senses, that she is already close to her God, and that for
1 Scaramelli, Tratt. 2, ©. 5, n. 34, p. 159: Donde può il Lettore facile dedurre la diversità che passa tra l?orazione di quiete e l'orazione di silenzio: poichè l?orazione di silenzio nasce. dalla: luce dell intelletto, che met l'anima in sospensione; e l?orazione di quiete nasce da un amore esperimentale della volontà, che sente e gutta Iddio presente.
2 Way of the perf., ch. 31, initio.
WHO STUDIES 199 as little as she gets closer to it, she dares by union to the same thing with him."
We will say in its place what makes the difference between Punion and quietness. Let us add to the distinctive signs that we have just pointed out, some indications that prevent us from confounding tranquillity with purely natural somnolence.
The habit of concentration, an intense effort to prolong the inner impression of sensitive devotion and to suspend any other feeling, the body debility that does not allow to sustain without failure a lively and pleasant emotion, can determine a state of torpor and fixedness similar to the suspension that occurs in mystical tranquillity. * Pre-examination of temperament, habits, inner occupations during meditation, and even more of the effects following this rest and its duration, are necessary to recognize surely whether it comes from nature or grace.
If it is seen that there is illusion, after having found the precise cause of the error, it should be corrected by suitable opposites, without going as far as to suppress the prayer, send extreme that Our Lord does not approve, to the testimony of Saint Teresus?.
VI. — The effects of tranquillity are remarkable, and can serve as a touchstone to distinguish it from any other state, either natural or supernatural.
The first of its effects is to stir up a pure love in the heart. Saint Térèse compares this prayer with a spark that lights the fire of charity. He doesn't know.
1 Parræp. To SS. TREATY. Theol: myst. P. 3, Tr. 1, to. 2, t. 3 p. 86.
2 His Life, ch. 29. When they had the prayer, he seemed indignant to me, and he commanded me to tell them that it was a tyranny.
3 His Life, ch. 15. This prayer is a little spark by which the Lord begins to ignite the soul of his true love and gives him to know with delight what this love is... When that spark
200 would be otherwise. The peace of mind consisting in the adherence of the will to God now, and God being the principle of Pamour as the will is the seat and the home, this adherence cannot occur without a proportionate burning of it.
From this love proceeds another no less precious effect, which is a generous release of the sensitive things and a perfect self-denial of the soul, to depend only on God's good will. Nothing, in fact, releases Pàme from perishable ties like to experience how sweet it is to be to God and with God. It then seems, as Saint Teresus still testifies, that we are no longer of this world, and it is written with St Peter in Tabor: "Lord, let us make here three tents!"
This abandonment to the good will of God leads the soul to forget itself, to stand before God without any desire other than that of being in his presence. This is one of the most enviable effects of the holy quietness, to the sentiment of Saint Francis de Sales, who painted this soul indifference rested in God by a comparison that remained famous?.
"My dear Theotime, let us still have the freedom to do this imagination. If a statue which the sculptor would have nestled in the gallery of some great prince, was given with understanding, and which she could speak and speak, and which she was asked: O beautiful statüe, say, why are you here in this niche?""Because, she said, my mantre colloquéed me there:"And if we turn back what: But it becomes of God, as little as it is, it makes a lot of noise, ct, if it is not extinguished by our fault, it soon ignites a great fire: which, I will say in its place, throws flames of this violent love which God gives to perfect souls.
Ad finem: Servile fear is banished, to make way for filial fear to a high degree. The soul sees in it a very disinterested love of God that begins to throw its flames, etc.
1 Chem. de la perf., ch. 31. 2 Tr. of the Am. of God, 1.6, ch. 11.
- THE QUIETNESS =~ Er ol quoy do you remain there without doing anything? — Because, she said, that my mantle has placed me so that I may do anything, only so that I may stand still there. — May if it is taken up again, saying: But, poor state, does it serve you to be like this? — Hey! God, she is right, I am not here for my interest and my service, but to obey and serve the will of my Lord and sculptor, and that is enough for me... O Lord, that it is a good way to "hold in the presence of God, to be and to want to alliour to be in his good pleasure!... But this quietness in laquene the n'agist will only by a very simple acquiescence to the good divine pleasure, it is a quietness sovereignly excellent, especially since it is pure of all kinds of interest, etc."
A third effect, born from the feeling of God's presence and the charity he lights up in the soul, is a great spiritual enjoyment.
Saint Teresus describes it as follows: "It is like an inner and outer fainting, during which the outside man, I speak of the body, would not move; as well as the traveler who, being almost at the end of the path, restes at ease and of hope, the body is filled with pleasure and contentment. The soul too, seeing itself so close to the fountain of life, is so happy that, even without drinking, it is satisfied. Seems like she's got nothing to do with it anymore. His powers enjoy such a rest that they would never want to leave; everything seems to threaten their love. However, they are not lost, since they can think with whom they are, and two remain free. The will alone is captive, and if she can feel some pain then it is to understand that she will have to regain her freedom. I mean, I don't want to see
1 Way of the perf., ch. 31.
202 that this object, and the memory only cares for itself: there is the only necessary... Sometimes tears flow, not with pain, but, on the contrary, with great suavity."
The sweetness of quietness is not always sensitive; sometimes they are purely internal, and as refugees in the tip of the mind and the will, as Saint Francis de Sales expresses itself.
This joy reaches its highest point when, as the dependent powers unite with the will, the whole soul gives up to the feeling of God's presence. It is less, regularly, when the will alone is at rest, and it often happens that the soul simmers with the divagations of the mind, and, in its trouble, diminishes the peace of will, and sometimes suspends it.
VII. — Holy Teresis! recommended that her daughters not worry about the mobility of thought, and protect the rest from the will from these agitations by a perfect indifference.
According to Saint Francis de Sales, wanting to force the spirit to the immobility where God fixes the heart is an impossible attempt and expose himself to draw the heart itself from his rest. "And note that then the will, held back in quietness by the pleasure which it takes in the presence of God, it does not move to bring back the other powers that are swaying,
1 Way of the perf., ch. 31. Please note, my friends, the advice that I will give you; you will often find yourself unable to use either understanding or memory. For it happens that the will is in a very great peace of mind and that the understanding, on the contrary, is so confused that it seems to him that it is not in his house that all this happens, but rather in a foreign home where he receives hospitality, and, not satisfied with the one where he is, he will seek other hotels, unable to stand in stability... So when the will is found in this peace of mind, that it makes no mention of the understanding, of the thought ow of the imagination, — I do not distinguish well all these operations, — nor of a madman; wanting to draw it from strength to oneself, it is distracting and worrying in pure loss; far from winning anything, we lose what Our Lord gives us without any work on our part.
WHO STUDY 203 that, if she wanted to undertake this, she would pervert her rest, slinging away from her beloved Beloved, and persevering in her trouble to run here and there to catch these flying powers!"
VII. — Not only must we undergo without trouble the involuntary mishaps of thought, we must also avoid vains. return to what is happening in the soul in this gentle rest of quietness, and free ourselves, as far as possible, from external excitement and tumult, but always without concern or worry.
There are, said pleasantly- Saint Francis de Sales?, active, fertile and abundant minds in consideration. There are some who are flexible, folded, and who love to feel what they are doing, who want to see everything and peel what is happening in them, always returning their widow on themselves to receive their advancement. There are others who do not content themselves with contension, if they do not feel, look and enjoy their contentment... Now all these spirits are usually subject to trouble in the sound of prayer: for if God gives them the sacred rest of his presence, they leave him willingly to see how they behave in Iceluy and to examine whether they are contented with it; worried to see if their peace is well-nigh and their quiet quiet quietness: so that instead of slowly occupying their will to feel the suavits of the divine presence, they use their understanding to dissect on the sentmens they have... The soul, therefore, to whom God gives the holy peace of love in prayer, must refrain as long as it can look at itself, even his rest, which, to be kept, must not be curiously looked at; for, who loves him too much, loses him; and the just rule of loving him is not to affect him. And like the child who sees where he is
1 Tr. of the Am. of God. 1. 6, €h. 40. 2 Ibid.
His feet dared to test his mother's breast, returned to it incontinent, because he was a strong mignard; so if we were to find ourselves distracted by the curiosity to see what we were doing in prayer, suddenly we would put our hearts back into the sweet and peaceful attention of God's presence, from which we were entertained."
IX. — Let us note yet another double pitfall, to which are exposed the intoxicated souls of the suavities of mystical peace.
The first is the disgust of meditation: "Here we must not abandon the entire mental prayer," said Saint Térèse!, "or stop using a few words, even vocals if we want it, or if we can; for if we have great peace of mind, we can only speak with great sorrow."
When we say that the soul can continue its meditation during the rest of the will, we want to talk about the application of other faculties that remain free to the religious subject that occupies them. For the will, one must respect his silence and immobility; but it can protect and nourish his adherence even through the visions that follow one another in the mind, without detaching in any way, under the pretext of producing emotional acts in relation to the thoughts of understanding. Making an effort to pray would compromise the rest of contemplation?.
The second danger to which the sensitive consolations which one tastes in peace exposes is to go to the prayer with excessive greed, detrimental to inner freedom, health and state obligations.
The more the soul seeks and gives way to the concern of
1 His Life, ch. 15.
2 SCARAMELLI, Dir. Mist. Tr. 3, ©. 6, n. 47, p. 163: Perciò avverta che l'anima posta da Dio in questa quiete, deve abbandonare facato il discorso; perche il discorso nell-orazione è unicamente ordinato a movere la vo- Jontà, etc., etc.
THE QUICK 808 the enjoyment, the less it has play and momentum towards God. This is elementary in spiritual life.
People of a delicate complexion who feel the concentration and the sweetness of quietness, often fall into a kind of natural fainting, which they sometimes take for ecstasy and which they prolong for long hours, to the great detriment of their health. These people must be measured the time of prayer, and they must be instructed to engage in outside occupations and relaxations, if they do not want to make themselves in a short time also incapable of any natural and supernatural application!.
At last, women, mainly, often find that the sweetness of contemplation leads them to neglect their duties as a state, in order to give themselves tirelessly to prayer. We must remind them that the first and indispensable means of sanctification is the sacrifice of his tastes to the will of God, and that it would be messy to make contemplation a refinement of sensuality and egoism? These unrepressed tendencies and weaknesses would lead to the suppression of these favors, assuming them divine; or rather,
1F. V. Voss. Compend. Scaramelli, p. 261. Director valde waitat ad personas languidæ valetudinis... If tales personæ a Deo in quamdam quietis orationem eleventur, contingit ut in omnibus exterioribus sensibus certum defectum ac speciem quamdam deliquii experiantur cum magna interna suavitate, quod extasim aut raptum esse familime putant. Quum Dei spiritui resistere nolint, deliquio illi totas tradunt et per multas horas, cum gravisssimo valetudinis præjudicio in tali lies stupiditate peristunt... Si director hujusmodi negligat remedia et deliquia permittat, brevi viebit valetudinem discipuli sui omnino destructam, et eum ad operationses tam naturales quam supernaturales prorsus ineptum. (See Prik. A SS TRIN.' t.:3, p. 87.)
2 Ibid., p. 264. Ultimo loco, director invigilet does contemplativi status sui opera omittant. Sunt enim, and præcipuæ feminæ, queæ orationis suavitatem degustare incipientes, semper velint orare, semper esse in ecclesia negligentes interim negotia, labores et aliś officia ad quae per status suum obligantur. Quas si inveniat, obliget director ad operandum et `attendendum exterioribus, quantum propriet status obligatio requires..
They already denounce these enjoyments as artifices of the lying spirit or as exaltations of nature.
X. — With regard to the perfection required to achieve quiet prayer, it is impossible to specify anything. When this contemplative state is the reward of a long meditation exercise, it obviously assumes an advanced virtue. But often this favor is purely infuse, and it can then be granted at the beginning of the spiritual life, as it can only appear in its progress or completion +.
Fr. Scaramelli? recommends with too many instances to spare the weakness of souls who have come to peace, to: hold these souls as already strongly rooted in good. He also expressly says that they are still in spiritual childhood. It seems difficult, however, that they enter into this rest before they have emerged from the violent struggles of purgative life; if they have not yet reached the equality of perfect life, they are at least in progress and they are walking hard. We will also say later that one is regularly raised to contemplation only after having undergone a more or less rigorous passive purification.
To any degree of virtue that has been achieved, quietness does not make impeccable. "I do not claim, said Santé Terèse, that these souls are free from the offense of God, although it is reasonable, after receiving such great favors, that they try to preserve them; but we are miserable."
1 Para. ASS. Trim. Theol. myst. P. 3, Tract. 1, d. 3, a. 2, 1.3, p. 85. Admonet S. Mr. (Teresia), Mons. 4, c. 4, quod licate ordinarie graded his ortionis noncommunietur nisi hiss qui mentalis orationis exercitium diu tenérrunt, aliquado tamen statim a principalio conceditur; Dominus enim sua toncedit dona cui vult, quando vult, quomodo vult. Ad hune quietis intemæ statam multæ pertingunt animæ, præsertim religiosæ; sed paucæ sunt quae superius ascendant.
2 Diret. Mist. Tratt. 3, C. 6, n. 54, P. 165.
3 His Life, ch. 15.
At last the same holy remark that it is few souls that rise higher than quietness, in contemplative prayer, and it attributes not to divine parsimony, but rather to the infidelity of Phom:ixe. In these mystical communications, God affects a holy jealousy: the slightest resistance on the part of the soul cools him, and if he is disdained, he withdraws!.
1 His Life, ch. 15. There are many souls who arrive at this state, and few who go further; I do not know who is guilty. Certainly, it is not God who lacks; for his divine majesty giving us the grace to lead us to this point, I believe that she would go even further, if there were no fault on our part. It is important that the soul, raised so high, know the great dignity where it is, the insignia that Our Lord has done to it, and how righteous it is that it is no longer of the earth.
Transportation links peace of mind to union. — Spiritual drunkenness, its various forms. — Two species. — Perfect drunkenness: its concept and its effects. — It does not go as far as the training of ecstasy. — Its degrees. — Its duration. — Precautions to be taken in sensitive drunkenness.
I. — The gathering is the call and the meeting; the peace of mind is the interview and the first brawl of a delicious trade. Before the mystic union occurs or at least is consumed, the soul enters into lively transports, in holy impatiences that lick it, ignite it and precipitate it to God with the vivacity of the long captive flame.
We would like to describe these happy dilations and suave impulses.
Judging by the differences of the authors who have dealt with these movements of contemplative soul, we touch on the most nebulous point of mystical ascension.
There is general agreement to report under various names
FIRST TRANSPORT: The SPIRITUAL IVRESSE 209 the states we are talking about, and to note that they confine themselves to quietness or union. Do we have to see separate intermediate degrees, or to which of the two above-mentioned times should they be reported? A difficult problem, but the solution, in our opinion, has only limited importance. It is sufficient to know, on the one hand, that these favors usually burst out at the height of peace or at the first attempts of union; and on the other, that, if God dispenses them according to his love and gives them the elevation and intensity that are appropriate for the purposes of his Providence, all nevertheless contribute to the flame of the soul and to make it more suitable for mystic union.
This is why we group these variable forms of contemplative prayer here under the general aspect which best reveals its character and raison d'être, under the common name of transport, and place them under one of the following four statements: drunkenness, sleep, divine touches, the wound of love.
We can see there, if we want, with most mystics, so many contemplative degrees of prayer, although it seems to us better to bring them back to unity by this logical point of view that they announce, prepare and realize the state of union. That is why we understand them in a single degree, without, however, challenging their distinction or even a certain degree of gradation. The order in our statement is true, and here is the justification.
As sleep is like the excess and the climax of drunkenness, it must come before it, and the injury of love being part of the divine touches, it is necessary to study the genus before treating the species. On the other hand, what the authors say of mystical touches, which they usually assume to belong to union, seems to place them above drunkenness and sleep, which are considered as an intermediary between this state of union and tranquillity.
This is the reason for the exposure we will follow.
RE THE SEA Ori PES AS TP OR THE EAST THIS EE EE TE yellow Re r MO ka ARTE
II. — First, therefore, appears spiritual drunkenness.
This drunkenness is an exhilarating jubilation in the Soul by V excess of love, and of the soul, overflowing over the senses by external effects that recall the prophecies and inconsistencies of material drunkenness. *
The signs by which this exaltation of the soul is manifested are: shouts, burning and interspersed words, tears, sighs, laughter, singing, improvised songs?, braidings that shake the whole body, sometimes extreme acceleration of the heart, jumps, impetuous movements that express the inner violence of Pamour; in a word, spiritual drunkenness is translated into this set of phenomena, which we will describe more fully by speaking of mystical jubilation.
These impulses are born of love. Love shakes the soul, dilate, precipitates it to the object that charms it, makes it mad of the desire and joy of possessing it. Love, as the author of the?mitation says, in this admirable chapter entitled: OF THE EFFECTS OF DIVINE LOVE, love knows no measure; it bubbles and overflows with every part.
"O God! Screams Holy Teresis $, how the soul is in this sweet drunkenness! She would want to be all converted.
1 S5. Amsr. From Noe and Arca, €. 29, n. 111. Migne, t. 14, col. 410. Ebrietatis itaque species gemina is: una quae titubationem corporat afferat, atque ejus supvantet vestigia sensumque disturbs; altera quae mentem virtutis vaporet gratia and omnem infirmitatem vidéatur avertere... (n. 448, Col. 413): Is enim præclarum poculum inebrians justos.
2 It was in one of these transports that Saint Teresus composed the ardent strophes which all ended with this cry of love: "I die not to die!" That muero porque no muero! And it is of itself that the saint speaks in her life (ch. 46), when she said: "I know a person who, in order to exhale his complaints, immediately, without being a poet, made couplets full of sentiment: it was not the work of his spirit, ete." 5L.3,C. 5, n. 4: Amor modum sæpe nescit, sed super omnem modum fervescit. 4 His Life, ch. 16.
in tongue to praise the Lord. It says a thousand holy extravagances, which are intended only to satisfy the One who puts it in this state. I know a person who, in order to exhale his complaints, immediately, without being a poet, did couplets full of feelings. These verses were not the work of his spirit; it was only to enjoy the glory that he was suffering so deliciously, that she complained to his God. She would have wanted her body and soul to break into pieces to bring forth the joy of which this pain was mixed. What torments could be presented to her then, that she did not delight in suffering them for her Lord?"
II. — Mystiques report two kinds of drunkenness: imperfect moon, perfect moon.
In the first, the transport of the soul reaches mainly the senses, although the cause that produces it is the inner devotion. These are sensitive bursts of fervour that often make more noise outside than they accuse of truth and holiness within.
In the second, it is the soul above all that is shaken and shaken to its depths by the slenderness of love; and, if the body receives its share, it is by the effect of the inner overflow. The enjoyment is here located in the very soul, while the enjoyment of imperfect drunkenness has its seat in the sensual and organic appetite.
The external manifestations are also more calm and contained, except for exceptions where one sees the occurrence, under the intensity of love, of holy and ardent souls, of agitations and excesses similar to those that accompany imperfect drunkenness, and often even more vehement. Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Philip of Neri, St Joseph of Copertino, St Madeleine of Pazzi, and others, are memorable examples of this. Qualifying these kinds of exultations, as well as doing, to be perfect
Y v A EEN e a a a a 7 a a D te T a de, AT ee
PES ES 7 A FeS D he
Several mystics, in our opinion, misunderstand. For in the servants of God whose names we have quoted, they are seen, not only in the first trials of their virtue, but also in the climax of their contemplative life. That these external radiances had violent and eccentric must therefore be attributed, not to imperfection, but to the only vehemence of inner love; and it is wrong that such intoxication would be deemed imperfect.
Saint John of the Cross uses a comparison that makes it clear the difference between these two drunken drinks heard in the sense that we have just made clear.
"We can compare, " he said, "to new wine those who begin to love God, and to old wine those who have long loved him. Like the new wine, which is not yet made, must boil in the barrel so that it throws its foam and its garbage, so those who begin to bitter God must, in their first fervor, purify themselves from their natural vices and imperfections. And as this wine is still neither pure nor tasteful nor healthy, so these people are neither strengthened in the service of God, nor of a pure and exquisite taste in spiritual things, nor fit for the holiness of the soul, because they are full of natural feelings, sensual tastes, etc. On the contrary, those who have been practicing for a long time in the love of God are similar to the old wine which is pure, healthy, firm, tasteful, without mixture of lee, without fermentation, without fleeing from the barrel, without breaking it. Thus these former friends of God are cleansed of sensitive fervors, unsettled rages of devotion, lightness and changes in virtue, too hot ardour, etc."
Imperfect drunkenness is therefore one of the spiritual and sensitive sweetnesses that God has custom of giving to those who
HAMTe Cant., p. 440.
FIRST TRANSPORT:-SPIRITUAL IVRESSE 213 which begin to serve him, and supposes the soul still struggling with the tyranny of the senses. In order to achieve, on the contrary, perfect drinking, the soul must have undergone the passive purification which serves as a prelude to contemplation t. This means that drunkenness which intervenes in contemplative prayer can generally be only perfect drunkenness, and that the sensitive jubilation only occurs outside contemplation, or, at the most, only following some transitional acts of contemplative suspension.
So here we have to talk about perfect intoxication.
IV. — It can be defined as: A very high infuse state of prayer, where a burning love is lit up in the soul that detachs it from all external things, and, carrying it out of itself, throws it into a happy delirium and a divine extravagance, according to the expression of Saint Teresus?.
The proper effect of this intimate exultation is to bring the soul to burst his love by heroic acts, to rush to God with a holy impetuousness, to praise, to bless by the word, the song and all the testimonies that she can imagine, this God who causes his drunkenness*. It is the drunkenness of St.Andreus in the sight of the cross, of St.Ignatius of Antioch going to martyrdom, of the Lawrence, of the Vincent, of the Pionius, in the midst of torments.
1 SCARAMELLI, Tratt. €3. 7, n. 59, p. 168. Passiamo ora à dichiarare la seconda ebrietà di amore, che è di caratere più nobile e di più fina tempra, è ad altri si concede che a persone di perfezione, che già del tutto, o in gran parte sono state da Dio rafinate nel crocivolo di queste proude purghe.
2 His Life, ch. 16.
3 RICHARD de Samr-Vicror, Benjamin minor, ©. 12, Col. 8. Expect nunc animum aliquem nimium amantem and nimio amore ferventem. Wait for what sentiate, quid secum loquatur de eo quem multum amat, quem valde miratur. Quid ergo dicit? quid secum tacitus loquitur? O, inquite, quam bonus, quam benignus, o quam suavis, quam dulcis, o quam amandus, quantum luxuries, quam totus admirabilis, quam totus wisherabilis! O beatum quem amat! O felicem quem suo amore dignum judicat! Me felicem si eo frui liceat; me beatum, si eum possidere contingat! Hæc nisi,
fallor, is illa vox exultationis et confessionis quae semper ex ore Judæ resonat in auribus divinæ pietatis.
Sat Dei u ox SA MO R ea NES EE
"This mixed wine," says Saint John of the Cross explaining his seventeenth song, "expresses another gift more excellent than the first. God sometimes favors souls advanced in perfection, in order to intoxicate them with a love full of charms, like a tasty and very powerful wine. This love is mixed with many virtues, as this wine is composed of several odoriferous drugs. The drunken soul so sends to God sighs, flames of love, praises, ardent desires to do everything and to suffer everything for him, as the extremely strong wine sends a lot of smoke to the head."
V. — Although the soul so intoxicated rarely reaches ecstasy, it no longer has its usual freedom.
"The powers of the soul, in this degree of prayer," says Scaramelli?, "are not completely bound and lost, nor are they entirely free and free. They are not entirely bound, because the drunken supremacy does not come to union, and even less to rapture, where the powers are totally lost in God; it is only, as I said, a quiet prayer, but to a very high degree. Nor are these faculties completely free and free, because, although they retain the power not to care for God by their own actions, they cannot be applied to other occupations or distracted from anything else."
Sainte Terèse is even more explicit*: "Powers," she says, "are unable to apply to anything other than
P7e Cant., p. 440.
The following is the statement:
After your remains The young girls run the way, At the touch of a spark,
In mixed wine, with the smells of a divine balm.
2 Diret. Myst., Tratte 3.0. 7, n. 61, p. 169, 3 His Life, ch. 16.
God. It seems like not a wose is moving. To distract them, it would take a great effort, and again I do not think that it could be achieved entirely."
VI. — While Fr. Scaramelli considers mystical drunkenness as a high degree of quietness, Saint Teresus points out in this spiritual jubilation two degrees, corresponding one to the prayer of quietness, the other to a higher form of prayer which limits to union; an important testimony which attests that these transports form the transition between one and the other of these two prayers.
"Sometimes," says the virgin seraphic Carmel describing the effects of tranquillity t, "we shed tears, not pain, but, on the contrary, great suavity. All the desire of these souls is that the name of God be sanctified. It seems to them that they are no longer of this world; they would like to see it no longer and to hear only God alone. Nothing hurts them or seems to be able to give them any. Finally, as long as this satisfaction and these delights lasted, they were so intoxicated (embebidas), so absorbed, that they did not even think that there was something else to be desired, and with good heart they would cry out with St Peter: "Lord, let us stand here three tabernacles."
In this inner jubilation where the soul, forgetful of itself and of the rest of the world, soothes and brawls in God, it is difficult not to see Spiritual, if not complete, drunkenness at least begun. The completion will be accomplished before the union or in Funion itself.
Let us listen, indeed, to Saint Teresus, on another prayer, intermediate between union and peace of mind.
"Let's talk now," she said, about the third water that waters the garden... The soul then knows what to do, for it does not know whether it speaks, whether it silent, whether it laughs, whether it cries.
* Way of the perf., ch. 31. 2 Sa: Life, ch. 16.
It is a glorious extravagance, a heavenly madness, where one learns true wisdom; and finally, it is a way for the soul to enjoy sovereignly delicious.
"For five or six years, I believe, Our Lord has often given me this prayer in abundance; but I could not understand it or express it. So I had resolved in myself, when I came to this place of my relationship, to talk about it little or no at all. I saw that it was not entirely the union of all powers, and clearly, that there was more than in the previous prayer, knowledge, peace; but, I confess, I could not clarify or understand what the difference was. As a reward, I believe, for the humility that led you to use a smallness as great as mine, Our Lord brought me into this prayer today, at the moment I had just been in communion, without I having been able to pass over; he put these comparisons in mind, taught me how to speak about this state, and what the soul must do about it. I felt a holy fear, for I understood everything in an instant. I had often seen myself carried away from this madness and intoxicated with this love, but I could not know how it was done. I could see that it was God, but I could not understand how he operated in me. It is because the powers are almost entirely united, but not yet so absorbed, that they still act. I have finally heard it, and I am at the height of joy. Blessed be the Lord, who gives me such a sweet blessing!"
The simplest and truest reconciliation of these differences is in the full freedom with which God set aside these supernatural favors, in the imperceptible transitions that connect these gradual ascensions of contemplative life, and more particularly in the very nature of the state we are talking about, which, being nothing but a shake-up, is the only way to reconcile these differences.
The excessiveness of the soul under the fire of love tends to reproduce every time God subjects the soul to an energetic and delicious action that ignites.
VII.—Divine drunkenness may extend beyond two or three days, although regularly it perseveres less long, but with slowings and successive returns more or less accentuated!
"This divine gift is kept longer in the soul than the other gifts," says Saint John of the Cross? "It often remains there for two or three days; sometimes it is felt more strongly; sometimes it seems more languishing and sweeter, without the soul contributing to increase or decrease its strength."
Add, with the same author, that "the effects of this drunkenness sometimes remain in the soul longer than the very drunkenness; sometimes also the drunkenness persists without its effects bursting out".
VI. — The well-known perfect drunkenness presents no danger to the perfection of the souls it carries. They may give up fully in the usual hour of prayer or at any other time, without any precaution other than that of a repetition of intimate humility, and, when these transports are planned and they break out at the
1 SCARAMELLI, Tratt. €3. 7, n. 61, p- 169: Suol durare una tal ebrietà talvolta uno, talvolta due, e talvolta anche più giorni: sebbene in questo tempo not so trova sempere l'anima un issa viverzza y tenore d'affetti.
2 147° Cant., p. 440.
3 SCARAMELLI, Trait. 3, C 8, n. 75, p. 173.
Voss, Compend. ScarAMELLI, p. 272. Si magnæ perfectionis animæ Deus impertitur ebrietatem perfectam amoris, directori non multum agentum incumbit. Ex una parte, oratio hujus gradus valde is secura; quia nec dæmon nec natura tantam dulcedinem and tantum gaudium productione valet; ex altera parte, not sunt timendi excessus vituperatione digni; quia spiritus divinus cum cautionia and moderatione operature. If ergo director securus sit animam perfecta frui ebrietate, nihil timeat, and not impediat quin anima tota communicationibus divinis se committat, inter Dei brachia se
Conjiciat. If eam velit in coelum elevare, vadat; if in infernum deducere, non afiguratur, dummodo Deo summo bono suo inbæreat.
outside, from a retreat that steals from all eyes. This law of darkness and silence must be rigorously imposed on those who are subjected to this divine violence." Imperfect drunkenness leads to more inconveniences, and requires great discernment and careful vigilance. The first peril to which it exposes is to make a supernatural state think of what may only be a effervescence of nature. Impressable, exalted, emotional temperaments easily fall into these kinds of illusions, making women particularly highly suspicious in this matter, as does Joseph Lopez Ezquerra?. Wherein it should not be concluded, according to the wise restriction of the same author °, that in them spiritual drunkenness is always deceptive. A modest, dignified and quiet natural, and a virtue based on mortification and Phu-
are sufficient guarantees of divine action.
We don't say anything about the fraud, with which we have to count +*+. Vanity or even more perverse purposes have inspired more than once the resounding outbursts of fervor.
Whatever the rightness of intentions, humility is always perilous in these kinds of favors, and the beginnings, seeing themselves drunken in this way, hardly escape the temptation to believe themselves already of the saints.
1 Lopez EZQUERRA, Lucern. myst. Tract. 5, n. 252, p. 115: Regulariter bonus spiritus fugit publicitatem...; liket divinus amor exuberante spiritu insolitos motus causare posit, regulariter tamen est in abscondito, et non in publico.
2 Lucerna myst. Tract, 5, n. 248, p. 115: Propterea si fæminæ sint, in quibus hec ebrietas divini amoris ceciderit, cautissime procedat, atque externarum actionum causas diligenter observationt.
3 Ibid. No. 250: If vero habeant naturam modetam, humilem, gravem and quietam, in his prædictæ pottrunt actions come ex vera crapula divini amoris.
4 SCARAMELLI, Tratt. 3, 8th, n. 68, p. 172: Possono anche procedere da affettazione, da finzione e da ipocrisia, con eui procuri alcuno, con queste appartenze esterne, acqguistarsi credito di gran bontà.
= Qes shaking of sensitivity, too often repeated,
can still compromise the body health of those who give up without moderation. The enjoyment that they experience brings them back instinctively and exhausts their forces without supernatural profit, unless they make them a merit of spiritual voluptuousness that they get drunk about. Instead, they must temper these excitals by a wise meditation that diverts the mind from tender and emotional considerations, and fixes it on others colder and no less useful. Fallüt-1l reduces the duration of the prayer, even suspending this exercise for some time, there is no need to hesitate if all other precautions remain ineffective‘. It would be better to resort momentarily to this extreme measure, rather than to let the body weaken itself into disastrous tremors, the backlash of which soon reaches the soul and reduces it to impotence.
This is true even of the sensitive shaking determined by perfect intoxication. Saint Térèse? expressly recommended to her sisters to moderate the impetuousness of the transports that the soul feels in contemplation, diverting thought on some other subject, otherwise, she says, one would completely ruin his health.
Thus the movements and bursts of the sensitive devotion, which is for the soul a kind of drunkenness, must be subjected, as all organic pleasures, to the empire of reason; for, as the Angelic Doctor teaches,
the enjoyments of the sensory part find their rule and
1 SCARAMELLI, €. 8, n. 73, p. 173: E bisognando gli viti ancora, non per sempere, che non conviene, ma per qualche tempo determinato, l-esercizio delle sue meditazioni; cosi sottraendo ogni material al suo fuoco, verrà a mitigarne il soverchio ardore.
2 Way of the perf., ch. 19.
2 Sum. 4. 2. q. 34, a. 5, ad. 3. Corporate elections sunt secundum partem sensitivam quae regulatory ratione; and ideo indigent temperari and refrenari per rationem. Sed delectationes spirituales sunt secundum mentem, queæ est ipsa regula: unde sunt secundum seipsas sobriæ and moderatæ.
o and wont of other Pa than Den itself; therefore, goes are still sober and moderate. a TOEA
His concept and his relationship to bodily sleep. — His causes; the luminous immersion and the absorption of the will. — In what way he differs from contemplative silence, drunkenness, and ecstasy. — Sleep occurs at the peak of drunkenness or without drunkenness. — Two degrees: simple somnolence and lethargy, to which liquefaction or discharge binds. — Duration of mystical sleep. — Characteristic marks. — Effects. — Perfection and safety of this state.
I. — "From the prayer of quietness," says Térèse!, "it is the custom of a sleep which is called powers, which are neither absorbed nor so suspended that it can be seen as a delight, nor is it entirely a union."
Like Saint Teresus, several mystics point to spiritual sleep among the degrees of contemplative prayer. We can quote Saint John of the Cross, Alvarez de Paz, * Scaramelli, 4.
1 Letter to P. Rodrigue Alvarez.
2 Mounted Carmel, 1. 2, ©. 14, p.D. 117.
3 De grad: contemplation. 1. 5, p. 3, ©. 7.t. 6 p. 574. Four Direts. Mist. Tratt. 3.0. 9, p. 173.
Long before all these authors, Richard de Saint-Victor indicated the relationship between mystical sleep and body sleep. The latter softens the external organs and suspends the exercise, which subjugates the inner senses and all mental powers: it is a delicious rest of the soul in the bosom of God.
Two things, in fact, characterize one and the other sleep: the absence of reflex knowledge and rest. Spiritual sleep therefore consists in an unconscious intuition of the Sovereign Good and in a suave and loving fixedness on this divine object. This must not be understood as an adherence to God without prior knowledge; for the gaze of the mind always precedes the movement of reasonable Pactiveness; but only in this sense that the very brightness of light or the vivacity of attraction draw so strongly soul out of itself, that it is all in the object of its vision and love, without returning to reflection on what is happening in it during this intellectual and affective operation.
IT. — Both of these causes, acting separately or simultaneously, namely: the immersion of the soul in light, or its absorption by love, explain mystical sleep and its various degrees.
Saint John of the Cross admirably describes the suspension of the conscious life of the soul by the effect of inner irradiation.
"Sometimes," he said, "this divine light strikes the soul.
1 Annot. in Ps. 1v. Migne, pass. 276: Cogita quid faciat somnus exterior circa hominem exteriorem; hoc fabit somnus hujusmodi circa hominem interiorem. Somnus corporeus exsuperat sensum corporeum; aufert enim officium oculorum, officium aurium, caeterorumque sensuum atque membrorum. Sicut autem per somnum exteriorem sopiuntur omnes sensus corporis, sie, per hunc de quo loquimur interioris hominis somnum, exsuperantur omnes sensus lied. Simul enim absorbs cogitationem, imaginationem, rationem, memoriam, intelligentiam, ut observation quod Aptosolus scribit, quia exsuperat omnem sensum. Hujusmodi somnum anima, inter veri sponsi amplexus, capit, cum in ejus sinu requiescit.
2 Mounted Carmel, l. 2, C. 14, p. 77.
© SECOND TRANSPORT: THE MYSTICAL SUMME 223 with so much strength and fills it so intimately that the soul does not recognize the darkness where it was before or the light that illuminates it; it even seems to him that it does not understand anything about this darkness, nor what looks at this light. That's why she is buried in a deep forgetfulness of all things, not knowing what she did, nor how long this operation lasted. She remains in this state for several hours, which only seems to her for a moment when she has returned to herself.
"The cause of this omission is none other than the purity and simplicity of this light, which, being spread in Passus, renders it pure and simple as it is, by emptying it from all the images of the senses and the memory which it used in its operations; and in this way the soul continues to remain in its oblivion, without making any reflection on the length or the brevity of time. Thus this prayer, although very long, seems to him very short, because soul does it in a very spiritual and very clean knowledge of any material idea. And it is this short prayer, which is commonly said to penetrate Heaven. We call it short because we don't take care of its duration. It is said that it penetrates Heaven, because the soul is united with God in an all heavenly knowledge, knowledge that makes in the soul great effects, which preserve in it when it comes out of this sweet sleep...
" Thus the sacred bride puts ignorance or oblivion of the things created between the effects that this mysterious sleep has produced in her, when she says: I did not know (Cant. vi, 41), i.e. I did not know where it came from. Nevertheless, although it seems to the bride that being full of this light she does nothing, especially since she does not operate by the senses, she surely convinces herself that she does not waste time. Indeed, although the opera-
nl said A, F ce AND 74 le v Atna er te RENE
224 THIRD DEGREE: The transport of its powers cease with regard to bodily things, its intelligence continues without any interruption.
"So much so that this careful bride herself responds to the objection that one can make on this subject, saying that she is sleeping, and that her heart is watching (Cant. v, 2). It means that to the truth it sleeps, according to the condition of nature, by ceasing to act, but that its heart supernaturally watches, being raised to a supernatural knowledge. The mark that one can thus have to judge whether this knowledge of God, secret, intimate and supernatural, is communicated to the soul, is when the soul no longer desires to know anything created, either great or small, or noble or abject and despicable."
The second form of mystical slumber occurs through the adherence of the will.
This master faculty can, under the light of inner enlightenment or by a special attraction that fascinates it, go to God with impetuousness that suspends the functions of other faculties and absorbs the whole soul. In this absorption, the soul keeps from its life only a vague feeling that it is to God, that it is lost in the abyss of its goodness, but without being able to say in what way.
He follows from there, according to the remark of St John of the Cross!, that the enjoyment of the will always leaves in soul a certain knowledge of his intimate operations, and therefore that spiritual sleep is conceived more
1 Mounted Carmel, l. 2, ©. 14, p. 78. It will be known that the same is in this forgetfulness of all things, since this supernatural light is spread in the mind alone. For when God also pours it into the will, as he ordinarily pours it into it, the soul sees that this divine knowledge occupies it, being persuaded by the sweetness of the love that is flaming, although it does not want a perfect discernment of what she loves. It is for this reason that this knowledge is called in love and general, both in the light of understanding, because it possesses it with darkness, and in respect of the will, because it loves confusedly without distinguishing the object from its love.
whole and more complete with the only illumination of the mind than with the loving absorption of the will.
HI. — The unconsciousness of the state in which one is thus forming the characteristic trait of sleep, and it is mainly by this aspect that it differs from the supernatural suspension, which we have called silence.
In silence as in sleep, the play of the powers is suspended, but the soul does not cease to see what is happening in it; it keeps the feeling of stopping the impregnated faculties and the enjoyment of the will. In sleep, on the contrary, the consciousness of contemplative suspension disappears or remains only confused and indefinable, as happens to those who already do not watch, and who do not sleep altogether yet.
Here too is the reason for the difference between sleep and simple drunkenness. The intoxicated soul shakes, braids, and by the vivacity of its slenderness and the tenderness of its complaints betrays the flame of love that devours it. But she still sees, and often the holy madness she seems to be agitated about is born of the impotence she feels to translate outside the transport that dominates her. When the soul sleeps, it no longer smells; all vibrations calm down, and life, although no less active and powerful, circulates silently, Suavely, concentrated on the object of love.
Finally, it is still by unconsciousness that sleep differs from ecstasy itself. In ecstasy, indeed, the soul, though immersed in light, does not lose the feeling of its intimate acts; the memory of what struck its eyes and of the movements that contemplation has determined in it remains engraved in its memory, while sleep leaves no trace in the mind, or at most only confused impressions.
1 Jos. Lopez EzquerrA, Lucern. Myst. Tract. 5, n. 230, p. 112: Differt quod in extasi, dum anima ab ettatica sortione consurgit, recordatur
226 THIRD DEGREE: TRANSPORTATION: It follows from this that the sleep we are talking about does not involve any special divine communication, as often happens in ecstasy. If positive revelations were to occur, either by vision or by word, it would no longer be spiritual sleep, but that which the authors call prophetic, and which we will have to talk about by exposing the various forms of divine revelations.
The suspension of the external senses, which is not as deep in sleep as in ecstasy, is another difference between these two states. During ecstasy, the senses are completely suspended, and no external excitement is able to awaken them.
In mystical sleep, they can be bound to increasing degrees. The first is numbness as experienced in sleepiness, which serves as a transition from sleep to sleep. The second suspends the organs, as in ordinary sleep; they no longer exercise, but energetic excitement would remind them to themselves. Finally they are immersed in complete insensitivity, as in ecstasy*. In this state, the body usually remains motionless, in the attitude where contemplation surprises it;
omnium quae in extasi cognovit; in somnoautem, dum ab eo anima excitatur, nullius quod in somno habuit reminiscitur.
1 Jos. Lopez Ezuerra, ibid. n. 235: Si in somno, sive materiali sive infuso, aliquam visionem, lochureem vel alia hujusmodi perceperit anima, non hoc somno consopitur, sed somno propheto in quo tantum hujusmodi visiones et locutions fiunt.
- What? You're gonna have to go to Paz, ¢. 7 p. 574: Anima enim contemplatatrix, præ admiratione et suspensione intuitiveis, solet aliquado sensus externos, liquet non plene, relinquere, and, ad modum eorum qui soure incipiunt, circa sensibilita se habere.
3 SCARAMELLI, Tr. 3, n. 85, p. 176. My per togliere ogni equivocazione nella presente materia, si osservi che quantunque nel sonno spiegato in secondo luogo rimangono i sensi pienamente perti, como nell estasi, è pero l'estasi molto diversa da tal sonno, etc.
4 SCARAMELLI, tbid. n. 84: Talvolta rimane immobile nel sito in cui si trova, e talvolta cade in terra ed ivi rimane finchè dura l'orazione, destituta da sensi.
to DR
SECOND TRANSPORT: but sometimes it falls to the ground, as abandoned by life.
This latter case, however, must be rare, because mystics usually make this reservation that sleep does not bind entirely, like ecstasy, either mental powers or external senses. This ligature was complete, the second of these states, as we have already said, said to each other.
The first would still be the conscience of opera-
Intimateness.
A final difference is that mystical sleep occurs only in the time of recollection and prayer, while ecstasy can invade the soul outside of prayer t.
In summary, except for the characteristic note of unconsciousness or memory, there are between one and the other the greatest analogies, and as the remark Alvarez de Paz?, one can consider sleep as an ecstasy begun.
IV. — The sleep of the powers is the ordinary sequel and the culmination of mystical drunkenness. Just as the excess of natural intoxication plunges into drowsiness and insensitivity, spiritual intoxication, brought to its peak, also leads to a more or less complete inner absorption, a delicious and silent rest in God, and a perfect forgetfulness of all that is not this kind object. The soul comes as far as to ignore it; all in it seems to sleep; all, except the heart, as sings it in its joy The bride of the sacred Canrics: "I sleep, but my heart is awake." Life withdraws from all that is external, and the absorption of love suspends until the feeling of
1 Jos. Lopez Ezquerra, Tract. 5, n. 181, p. 112: Who (sopor) semper eam in orratione constitutam invadit.
2 Lib. 5, p. €3. 7 p. 574. Somnus who ad novum contemplationis gradum spectate, duplicate intelligent potest: primo quidem ita ut sit quaedam ettasis inchoatio.
3 ALvarez de Paz, €. 7 p. 574. Hic somnus sicut corporateis, sed ex ebrietate comes, non quidem ex ebrietate corporis, sed ex ebrietate lied.
attention and knowledge; or rather it is God who, after intoxicating the soul, plunges it, without his knowledge and without any effort on his part, into this admirable rest."
Mystical sleep is not always preceded by drunkenness. God throws, when he pleases him, the soul into this blessed ignorance of herself, within the light and Pamour. Without any emotional shaking that has announced or prepared this rest, the soul gathered before God is suddenly wrapped in light, captivated and absorbed in love, to the point that she does not know or cannot turn to herself, to realize the Pillumination and attraction that she experiences.
V.—Whether sleep appears as a result of drunkenness or without drunkenness, it involves this double gradation: simple drowsiness or true lethargy?.
It is mainly to this last degree that we seem to operate the phenomenon called by mystics SCALE-MENT Where LIQUEFACTION. At least Saint Francis of Sales, whom we follow here, places this state after quietness and before the wound of love, which precedes union. It would be, if we hear it well, a sort of soul delicacy, in which she seems to abandon her own life to dive into and lose herself in divine life. To the first ardour that consumes it, the soul first boils and is shaken by violent movements, like the liquid that the flame boils: it is drunkenness. Under the persevering action of the sacred fire of love, the soul, liquefied, flows on the very home that transforms it to become unified with
1 ALVAREZ de Paz, €. 7 p. 574. Quod externum est, soporatur, and omnis attentio ad inquindrem and cognoscendum abjicitur, and soli amori and amplexibus castissimis inhæretur. In hoc graduated, Dominus ipse, which vinum ad ebrietatem præbet, somnum ad quietem and exultationem immittit. Inebriat animam amoris vino, caritatis potu, and inde fait ut omnium oblivicatur, and sleep, and in sinu sponsi requirescat.
2 SCARAMELLI, Tract. 3, ¢. 9, n. 84, p. 167: E pero questa prima orazione, piuttosto che sonno, chiamerci sonnolenza.
he: so it's sleep, prelude to mystic union. But let us listen to Saint Francis of Sales! painting us how this flow of soul is accomplished in God.
"My soul," said Sacred lover (Cant. v. 6), "has been all melted down to the same extent that my Beloved One has spoken; and what is to say, it has melted down, otherwise it has no longer been contained in itself, has it come to its divine lover?... But how does this sacred scouring of Pame in his Beloved? An extreme complacency of laminating in the beloved thing produces a certain spiritual impotence, which makes the soul no longer feel any power to remain in harmony. It is for that reason, like a melted balm that has no firmness any more of solidity, it lets itself go and sniff in what it loves, it does not throw itself in a way of lance (intoxication), ny it does not tighten in a manner of union (so this is not yet union), but it goes gently flowing, as a fluid and liquid thing in the Divinity that it loves. And as we see that the clouds, which are slain by the wind of midy, are melted and converted without rain, can no longer remain in them, fall and shove down, and meslanus so intimately with the earth that they detrempt, that they are nothing but a mesme thing with icelle; so blade, which, quoy quaimante, still demerge in itself, comes out by this sacred flow and fluidity, and leaves itself so-so, not only to unite with the Beloved, but to meddle all together and to stretch out with luy.
"You can see, Theotime, that the flow of a soul into his God is something other than a true ecstasy, by which the soul is all out of its bounds, of its natural hold, all measured, absorbed and swallowed up in its God... The same scathed in God does not die; for
1 Treaty of the Love of God, I. 6, c. 12.
230 THIRD DEGREE: CARRIAGES, as it is, die of being abysmal in life? But she lives without living in herself, because, like the stars, without losing their light, no longer shine in the presence of the sun...; also the soul, without losing its life, no longer lives, being mellow with God, God lives in it."
As St Francis of Sales linsinus, this flow constitutes a sort of death for the soul, in that it loses consciousness of its own action and is so absorbed in divine life that the very feeling of its absorption escapes it. In itself, sleep is the image of death!; how does this mystical lethargy, where the soul ceases to belong and feel, where it deserts consciousness and senses, not evoke the thought of death and does it not take its name??
VI. — What is particularly remarkable in this sleep is its duration.
Saint John of the Cross has already told us that "the soul remains in this state for several hours, which appears to it only for a moment when it has returned to itself". Fr. Scaramelli, in his MYSTICAL DIRECTORY, repeatedly reproduces this important assertion.
God is free in his gifts, and when an order of fact is found, it is permitted to infer the characters of a state. But it must be recognized that this length of mystical sleep, assuming it is so considerable, would present
1 ALVAREZ de Paz, €. 7 p. 576. Post hec sequitur sleepio aut somnus quem tractamus. And cum somnus sit quaedam imago mortis, in eo homo perfectius quam antea mundo moritur, and omnium visibilum obliviscitur.
2 Jos. Lopez EZQUERRA, Luc. Myst. Tr. 5, n. 234, p. 113: Somnus ist... not dicitur somnus a somniando sed a soporando; unde melius dicitur sopor divinus vel mystica sormetio, vel mors... quamobrem melius mors diebet quam somnus. And vere haec is mors mystica, circa quam valde various loquuntur auctores.
3 Ascent of Carmel, €2. 44, p. 77.
Tratt se 9,n82,p: 175 eTa
SECOND TRANSPORT: THE MYSTICAL SUMME 231 a derogation from the General Law on Time Granted to Contemplative Suspension.
Perhaps it is not contrary to these serious authorities to bring their testimony back to the common order, with the help of a double restriction. The first would be to see only rare exceptions in these multi-hour oraisons. But, basically, this is a matter of experience. If, in reality, the contemplation of sleep usually lasts for long hours, there is more than just to record the facts and conclude with the law.
The second explanation is to distinguish in mystical sleep, as in all other species of contemplation, the apogee and the release of suspension. The top of this imperfect ecstasy would be subject to the same conditions of duration as other myslic prayer!. After stopping, this suspension can start again, fall back and resume again. At intervals, soul, without regaining normal exercise of its senses and faculties, would pass from sleep proper to sleepiness, or from deep drowsiness to another less unconscious. These alternatives, by renewing themselves, can embrace a remarkable time, without the soul notice and measure the duration. The indistinct visions which then operate in the mind providing no point of reference, whole hours go unnoticed and appear only for a moment.
The absence of any memory at awakening is not sufficient proof that there has been no touch in sleep; for, as well as at the time when one falls asleep or when one
1S. Bonavent. Profect. Relig. 1.2, c. 63. Live, t. 12 p. 499. Is enim talis somnus sicut illorum that incipiunt sleeping, etc... Amor enim Dei cum pura intelligentia conditus inebriat mentem et ab exterioribus abstractam sua virtute Deo conglutinat et conjungit; et quanto amor vehementior et intelligentior et lucidior, tanto validius mentem in se rapit, quausque tandem omnium quae sub Deo sunt plene oblita, in solo divinæ
contemplationis radio libree figatur, lictet breviter, velut in quodam corusco luminis coelitus emicantis.
One half awakens, one utters words and feels impressions whose memory does not keep any trace; similarly in the intervals of spiritual sleep, soul may have thoughts and feelings, but so slightly and so vaguely, that consciousness erases immediately.
VII. — This lack of memory often becomes a cause of concern for souls who enter this mystical state: they wonder whether this suspension comes from God, man or demon. It is therefore important to assign specific marks to which one can recognize its nature.
First, we must ensure that we do not enter this rest by a natural effort of concentration. If one admits that there is thoughtful desire and tendency, active gathering and voluntary silence of powers, it is a sign that sleep is the result of natural industry. The excess of food, and more often, the immoderate penances and the weakness of the physical complexion, can also determine this drowsyness!.
Saint Térèse denounces the confusion of contemplative sleep with natural drowsiness as quite common among people who practice prayer, mainly among women dedicated to piety, but weak in mind and body.
"I want to warn you," she said to her sisters? "of a peril that I have already pointed out, and in which I have seen people fall, especially women; the fragility of our sex predisposes them to it, and that is why what I am going to say is more appropriate to them.
"It's just a few, as a result of their big
1 SCARAMELLI, Tr. 3, ©. 10, n. 87, p. 177. If it sounds natural, o proverà da tropopo lunghe vigilia, e allora gli prescribed a più longo riposo; o nascerà da soverchio cibo e da smoderate fatiche, e allora moderi tali
Esorbitanze. 2 Cat. int., 4° Dem., ch. 3.
AA FRS pu W
penances, their prayers, their watches, or even only because of the weakness of their complexion, cannot receive an inner consolation without their nature being overcome; and, feeling within some delight, and in the body a sort of failure, when with it comes a sleep called spiritual and going a little beyond what I have said, they imagine that one is no different from the other, and let oneself go to this drunkenness. Then this increasing drunkenness, because nature is becoming increasingly weakened, they take it for a delight, and call it what is pure waste of time and ruin of health. I know a person who sometimes stays eight hours in this state, without losing the feeling and without having any of God's. By making her sleep and eating, and by removing her excessive penances, she is healed of this evil."
VII. — The effects following this sleep form its most distinctive and surest mark.
The proper of divine sleep is to strengthen the soul, to make it capable of the greatest sacrifices. It comes out of this mysterious rest animated by a new, generous and inflamed life for good, Invinciblely drawn to divine things, detached and disgusted from all that is not God. " If the body does not draw an increase of forces and energy for action, at least it loses nothing of its strength?. On the contrary, the natural drowsiness weighs the mind and emptiness of holy thoughts?; it cools the heart
1 Jos. Lopez EZQUERRA, Luc. Myst. Tr. 5, n. 230, p. 112, and n. 241, p. 114: Anima adeo divitiarum spiritualium locuples excitatur a somno, ut ei ad novam vitam surrexisse vidéatur... In mystico somno, liket anima nihil egisse præsumat, tamen, eo prætermisso, remanet fervida, devota, ad virtutem proclivis et prompta, ad Deum adeo intime conversa, ete.
2 Ste Térèse, Chåt. int., 4° Dem., c. 3, ad fin.
3 Jos. Lopez EZQUERRA, n. 242, p. 114: If autem somnus sit naturalis, dum ab eo excitatur, remanet anima tepida, gravis, ad nihil virtutis and _ operationis proclivis, and mens manet obscura and ad ulterius discurendem 10*
Rs * ue Sn MER in his RG disturbs the imagination, - _ over arouses the senses, inspires the disgust of things surna-: = oestural, sometimes drunk to obstinate obsessions. ]; Therefore, if, as a result of sleep, the soul is
It is not to be doubted that such a sleep is nothing divine, but that it is either natural or artificially caused by Satan.
IX. — Finally, another sign that characterizes 7 spiritual sleep is the already advanced perfection of souls. who receive this favor? It is granted only to those who, not only have emerged victorious from the inferior struggles of virtue, but have also crossed the first degrees of Re life and touched upon mystic union. Imperfect souls do not know this saint and profitably rest in God. ‘
As soon as it has been recognized that the operation is divided, it is possible to give up safely to its influence; or rather, as Joseph Lopez Ezquerra points out, all
tarda, ut contingit cum homo expergistur, which vix potest a se somnumexcutere.
1 St. TÉRÈSE, loc. cit.
2 Jos. Lopez EZQUERRA, Luc. Myst. Tr. 5, n. 241, p. 114: Ad cujus (somni) dieretionem, primo attendat ad earum status; nam si sint incipientes ne only adhuc in oratione supernaturali constitutæ, ille frequens somnus verus non erit; est enim communicatio perfectorum et eorum qui per viam passi- = vam incedunt. 5a 3 SCARAMELLI, Tr. 3, ©. 10, n. 88, p. 177. Essendo in sonno spirituale
a) orazione molto vicina all unione mistica e fruitiva damore, not so suole da Dio concedere, senonchè dopo un lungo esercizio di contemplazione infusa. = 4 ALVAREZ. de Paz, l. 5, P.3, €. 7 t. 6 p. 577. O igitur somnum vere beatum in quo anima vires ad laborandum recuperat, quemque Dominus ipse in ea diligenter observat. Dict enim adolescentulis, id est, animabus illis imperfectioribus quaæ necdum hune somnum per experientienam noverunt: Adjuro vos, etc. 5 Lucern. myst. Tr. 5, n. 236, p. 113: Who (sopor), cum nec procurari posit nec impediri, nihil in eo rejiciendum is only agentum, if co-
Oil w is more than just a divine ion. The child
nai
sleeps peacefully between her mother's arms: that o fear S 1st
4 gnoscatur verum fuisse somnum: sed animæ injungere quod non impediat somnum évenire suis discursibus et meditationibus; sed dum moveri se sentat et ab Sponso ad lectulum ejus vocari, eum Fee seseque sibi consopriri relinquat.
The idea dd GE dr dE or 2, ESC
General concept. — Deep sympathy between soul and God. — Touches are a test of union, if not union itself. — Their various forms. — Their effects in the soul and on the body. — It is concluded of their main characters, that God alone can produce them.
I. — To dispose of the mystical union of the soul already intoxicated and asleep in the transports of love, God causes it to seek it by holy slenderness which completes to break all the earthly bonds and leave it free to flourish towards heaven; to this end, he gives him views and feelings as delicious as urgent and irrefutable as his action and his choice. Before giving herself to her ineffable possession, he makes her haletante, impatient, dying of desire. The soul has more attraction for God, light and truth, than the senses have for the bodies. As soon as she sees it, she rushes to this object of her life with the spontaneity of instinct.
The impulses and ardour that we are talking about here are not the result of the soul's own activity; they are supernatural of
Anyway, and it is God himself who determines them by a special action of his grace!.
Mystical authors do not agree on the number and nature of these divine excitements. The cause of their differences seems to us to be due, not only to the pure gratuity of these kinds of graces, which God grants to the will of his choice?, but also to their regular appearance, both in the passive states that precede or follow union, and in the union itself, and with a variety of forms that render their classification and enunciation of extreme difficulty. Hence a great variety of names and formulas.
However, whether these supernatural impressions announce, accompany or follow the union, they offer a general and common aspect exactly rendered by the word of Mystical Touches: through them, God makes himself feel and taste the most intimate of the soul, in the light and sweetness of contemplation.
One of these keys, perhaps the easiest to hear, and wonderfully effective, is the love wound. We will study it separately in the next chapter. Let us now stop at the other forms of these divine excitements.
Scaramelli? defines them: real and real, but purely spiritual sensations, through which soul feels God to the most intimate of itself and tastes him with great delight. This feeling is not only about the
1 Pumpr. a SS. Troy: P. 2, Tract. 3, D. 4, a. 6, t. 2, p. 423. Tactus autem sumitur vel active vel passive. Tactus active sumptus importat actionem Dei intimate tangentis animam. Tactus passive sumptus importat immediatum hujus intimæ actuis performed in anima, which owns dicit sensum suavissimum animæ tali causatum actione.
Two Panra SS. Sort. Ibid. Hanc gratiam concedit Dominus cui vult, quando, ubi and quomodo vult.
3 Tratt. 3, ©. 18, n. 115, p. 185: I tocchi... consistono in una sensazione vera e reale, ma puramente spirituale, per cui l'anima sente Iddio nel suo intimate, e gusta con gran diletto.
- presence, as dane: Yorison of quietness, but the action and the very contact of God.
The suavity of these favours indicates that they are mainly intended for the will. "These feelings, taken in the meaning we give them here," says St John of the Cross, "do not look at understanding, but at will... It is therefore important to know that it reflects these feelings, that
they are born of the prompt movements that God excites in the soul, that they come from these successive touches.
and lasting, it rejalls, I say, in the understanding, a
certain knowledge, which is no other than a
taste that one has of God."
He. — What is this divine touching? No one, no doubt, can understand it but the one who tried it. However, is it not true that the contact that best responds to the nature of the reasonable, greedy and insatiable soul of infinity is the contact of God, who alone is infinite?? And this becomes even more obvious, considering that, by grace, soul becomes partaker of nature and divine life, as well as commonly taught by theologians; and that, therefore, grace is not conceived without God's contact. During the duration of the trial, this divine contact is not felt; the knowledge of this wonderful union w appears in the full day of consciousness only in the glory of heaven.
The various phenomena of contemplation are only essays and foretaste of the final revelation. Without the shadows of faith dissipating, the soul that receives these heavenlys
1 Mounted Carmel, 2, e. 32, p. 441.
2 S. Jean de la Croix, Long flame, 3° c., 3rd v., S 1, p. 368: Lighting the deep caverns: These caves are the powers of the soul, memory, understanding and will. They are so deep and so capable of containing great goods, that nothing can fill them but what is infinite. As they are in pain when they are empty of God, we judge that they are in joy when they are full of them.
2 Petr. 1, 4. Divinae consortes naturæ.
Adia diaa bn at €;
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and. S Toma de lus dites me already
He promised to do so. We will later indicate the role of the Holy Father's gifts.
Spirit and free graces in these demonstrations by
the world of the future and savor the first fruits of the drunken-
like the divine life poured out on souls. Here, let's limit-
The purpose of spiritual touches is to excite an inner impression immediately produced by God himself, and the result for the soul is a delicious feeling of his presence and action.
IH.—This contact therefore presupposes a relationship between God and the soul.
At least transient union, and that is why St John of the Cross, who excels in dealing with divine touches, observes that they are only suitable for mystic union.
"No one can have this eminent knowledge and:
Lovers, he says!, before enjoying the divine union,
because they belong to this union, and that they are
sit in a certain spiritual touch that is made between God and the soul: for it is God himself that one sees and tastes. And although this view is not so clear as it is in the glory of paradise, however this spiritual touch is so sublime, that it penetrates all the inside, or, to speak so, all the marrow of the soul."
And more lom?: "This knowledge is a part of
the union to which we desire to lead the soul."
Should we therefore conclude that the divine touches never meet in souls that have not yet been raised to union? Scaramelli hears it with this rigor ê.
1 Mounted Carmel, 1. 2, c. 26, p. 491.
2 Ibid., p. 124.
3 Dir. Mist. Tratt. 3, ©. 44, n. 130, p. 189: Per tanto se egli (il Direttore) non vulole errare, osservi bene se l'anima, che dice aver una si stretta communicazione con Dio, sia giunta allo stato di vera unione quale dichiararemo nei seguriti capi. Se conoscerà che ella non abbia ancora poggiato si alto, e forse si trovi molto lunghi da tanta elevazione di spirito, not creda en alcun modo, etc.
Fr. Seraphin ‘ believes this conclusion to be excessive, and interprets the statements of St John of the Cross of the highest touches.
Whatever the case may be with this interpretation, in our opinion, which is not well founded, so much St John of the Cross seems to be precise and formal, it seems to us that, based on the principle of the complete freeness of these divine favors and on their most extensive notion, there is no contradiction in admitting their pre-existence to the state of union as we will soon define it? But it must be recognized that if these keys are not even union, they are the prelude, and that they are one of the most powerful ways to prepare the soul for the sublimitity of these last ascents.
IV. — Let us add in favor of the feeling which admits these supernatural excitations in the mystical states before union, which the authors who have dealt with these matters, in particular St John of the Cross?, signal a great variety in the divine touches, one being more sensitive, more intense, more sublime than the other.
The most perfect are called substantial, not that they alone reach the substance of the soul or that they penetrate it without the functioning of the faculties, but because of their outstanding excellence. As they carry their divine influence further into the soul, only they are supposed to be
1 Principles of theol. myst., 2 p., ©. 8, n. 156, p. 194.
2PHripP. To OH ERT. R2 Tr 35 D. 4 46, p.333:Hanceratiam concedit Dominus cui vult, quando, ubi and quomodo vult. Unde sæpius accidit quod viris sanctis, post diuturnum orationis et contemplationis exercitium, illam deneget, and e contra tyronibus ac incipientibus viam perfectionis, in eminentissimo graddu concedat.
3 Mounted Carmel, l. 2, ©. 32, p. 140: Now some of these movements are distinctly felt and dissipated in a short time; some are less distinct, but they last longer... This knowledge comes to us sometimes in one way and sometimes in another; it is sometimes less, sometimes higher, according to the diversity of divine movements that produce the feelings from which these different tastes proceed.
touch the substance's background and intimacy. In the multiple forms they take on, sometimes it is the light that dominates, sometimes the attraction of the will; other times, they seize the soul without leaving it any other feeling than that of this blessed encounter with God. It is mainly then that they are said to be substantial.
These kinds of impressions represent what is highest in God's mystical relationship with the soul, and that is why they do not occur until the very height of mystical life, that is to say, spiritual marriage.
Spiritual touches reach the soul in a sudden and unexpected way, sometimes on the occasion of a religious memory, of a word of Scripture, of a godly exhortation, of any object that makes you think of God; most often without any external thought or excitement that calls them.
So Saint John of the Cross notes, in this regard, that the soul would vainly attempt to excite these wonderful emotions. Let's hear it? Summarize all this doctrine.
"The soul cannot rise to this knowledge and to these divine touches by its cooperation or by the efforts of its imagination: for this knowledge is above all things, and God produces them in it without it contributing by its powers or capacity. He grants them to her when she thinks about it and wants it the least. It takes only a slight memory of divine majesty or something, albeit very small, to excite all these movements in it... [they are sometimes born in the soul when the soul hears a word of Scripture wherever it is spoken to him about God; but they are weaker and more languishing, and do not have the same meaning.
1 SCARAMELLI, Tratt. 3, ©. 13, n. 126, p. 188. Quindi rimanga stabilito che tutti i tocchi, ancorchè siano sostanziali, ancorchè siano quelli più alti e più intimi che si concedono in isto di matrimonio spirituale, consistono en una notizia ed amore speciale di Dio, cte.
2 Mounted Carmel, l. 2, e. 26 p. 122. I 44
A ue of EC Ea
242 THIRD DEGREE: TRANSPORT; even efficient and the same sweetness. They are, however, of greater strength, and they must be valued more than all the knowledge of God's creatures and works.
"And because these lights and touches come from God suddenly and without waiting for the consent of the will, the soul must not strive to obtain them or to acquire them through his work; but it must humble itself and resign itself to his orders, for he will complete his work in the manner that he pleases him. I am not saying that the soul must stand in a purely negative state with regard to these operations, as I have said with regard to other knowledge, because these are part of the union to which we desire to lead soul."
V. — On the effects of the divine touches, let us again let St John of the Cross speak.
"Some of this knowledge and inner touches that God pours into the soul," he says, "Penriche in such a way that only one is enough, not only to deliver it all at once from the imperfections that she had not been able to overcome throughout her life, but also to Forner with profusion of Christian virtues and divine gifts. These sacred movements are so pleasant, and give the soul such sweet consolation, that all the pains of his life and all his pains seem to him well rewarded. She becomes so courageous, and she is so animated to suffer for God, that she is saddened when she is not besieged by all kinds of suffering."
Elsewhere, portraying the suavity and effectiveness of the substantial keys, he thus comments these verses of his Vive Flamme?:
1 S. Jean de la Croix, Long flame, 3°C, 3°V, § 1, P 191. 29th Cant., 3 and 4° v., p. 35% and SE
O MAN, who, being no less generous than powerful and rich, pour out your gifts abundantly upon me! O MAN DOUCE, all the more pleasant to my soul when you touch it, that you would be wonderful to him if you struck it sharply!... All these gifts, O my God, are the effects of your mercy and liberality, and you have granted me these graces through the divine touching of your Son, who is the splendour of your glory and the impression of your substance (Hebr. 1, 3). It is through him that you touched me; and, as it is your wisdom, it is through him that you conduct all things from their beginning to their end, with equal strength and mildness. O eternal Word, may you touch purely! may you subtly penetrate the substance of my soul, because of the purity and sublimitity of your substance! Oh, what divine sweetness make him taste then! Being as powerful and as fearsome as you are, you communicate to the soul with admirable sweetness. Happy souls who receive such gentle treatments, publish them throughout the earth, give knowledge of them to the world. But no, don't tell him about it; he doesn't know what these divine pleasures are; he can neither understand them nor enjoy them; and whatever you may say, he won't listen to you. O my God and my life, these will see and feel you in the delicateness of your inner touches, which, emerging from material things, have made themselves spiritual enough and subtle enough to receive your impressions...
"O a thousand times DELICIOUS ATTUCHMENT, who consume the soul by the strength of your subtlety, who take away the taste of all creatures, who bind to you alone, who print in his heart in such a charming way, that the touches of the lower or higher things, earthly or heavenly, seem harsh and offend him, that she. can only hardly speak of them or taste them, even. very slightly... © DELICIOUS ATTUCHMENTS Like you
244 THIRD DEGREE: THE CARRIAGE has nothing corporeal, you enter my soul more; you deliver it from material images, and, through the impres-
You are making the humane all divine. That's why she's still saying:
"In this touch you can feel a taste of paradise, although you don't feel it in a perfect and con--sommed degree. This is not incredible, since God can give himself substance to the soul, as he has given himself to many saints in this life. From there, one cannot explain the inconceivable delight that comes from this divine communication... These delights have this of their own that he who tastes them has some understanding for himself; he feels them, he rejoices; but he is obliged to hide them in silence, cannot explain them... All we can say is that he tastes eternal life in advance. For, although in this life "this divine touch does not raise us up to the same perfec-ion that we will have in the glory of the blessed, nean- "less it impresses us the taste of future and immortal life. Thus the soul is in an admirable way participating in "divine hoses; it feels the sweetness of it; it possesses, through supernatural infusion, strength, wisdom, love, beauty, grace, goodness, many other heavenly goods. For since God alone is all these things, when he communicates to the soul through these sacred flows of himself, he enriches with all these gifts, and tastes them in a sovereign degree of excellence. The abundance of these graces and tenderness of mind spreads even over the body and slips into the marrow of the bones, which seem to say to him, according to the language of David (Ps. xxxiv, 10): "Lord, who can be like you?"
The end of this long and beautiful quotation warns us that the body receives from this blessed contact on the other hand
— THIRD TRANSPORT: DIVINE TOUCHES 248 that which comes from internal exuberance and shaking.
The vehemence of the excitations produced on the soul can be such that not only the body receives a simple rejailing, but that it is agitated, overturned, deprived of feeling, and it is not uncommon for these kinds of impressions to lead to the per se delight.
At other times, emotion is entirely circumscribed in the soul's intimateness, either that the intensity is less, or: even because of its perfection, as we shall say; speaking of the consummated state of mystical covenant.
We have in support of this doctrine the express statements of St John of the Cross. To have his accurate and complete testimony on this point, let's add the following!:
"These movements are sometimes so sensitive and powerful that they pass to the body and cause it to tremble almost in all its parts. Other times, they make themselves felt in the mind when he is quiet, with all divine pleasure and without causing any tremor in the body."-
VI. — To sum up the characteristics of God's keys, we shall say that they consist in an impression: and in a contact made by God even upon the soul, and by which he warns not only that he is present to him, but also that he acts upon her and communicates himself to her substance.
Therefore, if the soul that receives these favors does not enjoy union, it is the announcement that it is about to achieve it.
These divine impulses are directed directly to the soul; and if their vivacity rejalls on the senses, the soul does not give it any attention; it remains absorbed in its inner and purely spiritual emotion.
Finally, these mystical graces do not offer any more secure-
1 Mounted Carmel, I. Two cents. 26 p. 122.
guarantees of their existence and their heavenly origin, that the effects of transformation and holiness that accompany or follow them.
To all these signs it is easy to recognize the hand of God, for God alone can thus penetrate the soul and make shine in it these shrapnel of holiness. Let the devil excite sensitive and fleeting suavities, acting on the organs, there is nothing impossible there; but he cannot reach these depths of the soul where God makes himself felt, and he has nothing in common with the solid fruits of virtue: that grace there.exceres t.
"The devil," said St John of the Cross? "cannot interfere in these divine operations, having no power to do anything like it, since there is nothing that can be compared to such avarging good. Nor can he pour into the soul such sweetness and equal pleasure; for this knowledge makes taste in some way the divine essence and eternal life.
"However," adds this mystical doctor, "the demon could sometimes represent to the soul sensitive perfections and tastes that would seem to be the rassacker and fill her; he could still strive to persuade her that it would be God herself that she would feel; but he could not cause these false images and imaginary consolations to flow into the bottom of the soul, nor to suddenly flame Pamour of God, as God's sweets usually do."
Nature is even more powerless to realize similar impressions and results.
So if we were to meet people who were still imperfect and barely entered into the contemplative life, more emotionally.
1 Jos. Lopez EZQUERRA, Luc. Myst. Tr. 5, ©. 14, n. 136, p. 401: In his parum Directori agentum restat, quia sunt divini, sublime, atque -ab omni dæmonis potestate prorsus alieni; qui nee quid simile adhuc efingere potest,
præsertim in animæ substantia, minusque prædictos performed causare. 2 Mounted Carmel, 1. 2, C. 26:p. 191.
In the depths of the soul, especially if one saw in them concern and effort to provoke these so-called divine touches, one must hold for certain that they are in bad faith, or in involuntary illusion, or under the perfidious action of Satan.
Moreover, those alone can be subject to worry, who have not experienced the true spiritual touches; for whoever experiences it remains invinciblely convinced that the impression received is real and that it comes from God.
As soon as this intimate persuasion is endowed with the sanction of the director, soul only has to give up with humility and gratitude to the divine action, also avoiding and resisting it and wanting to activate it by natural effort. On his part, everything must be limited to consenting?.
1 SCARAMELLI, Tr. 3, ©. 44, n. 181, p. 190. Da ciò siegue che un的 anima, la quale ha provato i veri tocchi di Dio, non potrà fare a meno di conoscere i falsi tocchi del diavolo, essendo tra gli uni e gli altri quella diversità che passa tra la luce e le tenebre; ma Tanima che non ha rievuto mai di Dio un tal favore, potrà di leggieri essere illusa, persuadendosi di sentie i tocchi di Dio in certe soavità sensibili, eccitatele dal demonio nel appetito sensitivo.
2 Pump. To SS. Trinir. P. 2, Tr. 3, D. 4, a. 6, t. 2, p. 424. Cum, ut dictum est, ad divinum tactum non cooperetur anima approxime et immediate (quamvis se remote disponat), sed mere passive ad illum recipiendum se habeat, ita ut vere tunc dicatur divina patiens, quod etiam verum est in ordine ad consequentem notitiam; inde is quod in utriusque receipte propriom adhibere non debet industriam, ne fructum utriusque impediat, sed tantum suavem præbendo consensum, cum humilitate and gratiarum actione tantum recipiat bonum.
The wound that is being discussed here is distinguished from the purifying trials. — Mixture of suavity and pain. — Love ep is the principle in different ways. — Its three forms: transfixion, spark, sweet and bitter liquor. — Its effects on the soul: embodiment, disgust of everything that is not God, anguish and thirst for love. — Its effects on the body: the tongue, the vehement movements, the ecstasy, the stigmas. — Holy Teresis wounded by the seraphim. — Subject of the mystical wound. — God alone can operate it.
I. — Those who know the joys and pains of emotional life know that unsatisfied love leaves the heart hurt.
This injury is conceived in two different forms: depending on whether the object loved is absent, distant, and that it is feared that it will not be reached; or that it is present, soliciting itself, ready to give itself, without giving itself again.
In the first case, the wound is only pain and desolation; in the second, it is a mixture of both mild and cruel impatience and love, in which the soul suffers from
FOURTH TRANSPORT: THE BLESSURE OF LOVE 249 does not yet possess, but braces to the hope of enjoying soon and already drunken to the anticipated enjoyment which comes to him from the presence and promises of the Beloved. This double wound is found in mystical ascension. One is part of the purifying trials which prepare for contemplative union, and which we will have to talk about; the other belongs to contemplation itself, and forms, according to most masters, one of the degrees of the mystical scale.
We are currently dealing only with this second injury.
It is, in the background, that a divine touch through which God enters the soul deliciously into its most intimate depths, a kind of burning trait and making it sigh with incredible ardour towards the divine Bridegroom who calls him and hurts her, calling him.
It is a supernatural impulse that makes itself felt at the very center of the soul and communicates to it an irresistible impulse towards God?.
II. — By what she has and by what is promised to her, the soul tastes a delicious braiding: what she has not yet and pursues with her most ardent desires causes her ineffable anguish, not only in her body, as the Father claims. Scaramelli, but deep down.
1 SCARAMELLI, Tr. €3. 27 n. 261, p. 238. Queste ferite di amore consistono in un tocco che Iddio fa allyou anima, acuto e penetrating, ma tutto amoroso e soave, con Cui la trapassa con gran dolcezza.
2 Paure. a SS. Trinrr. P.3, Tr. 4, D. 3, a. 4, t. 3 p. 98. Alium orationis gradum describit S. Mr. N. Theresia, tum in historia vitae suæ (c. 29), tum Mansione 6 (c. 2), quam possumus vocare orationem impulsus, in qua recipit anima quosdam impulsus a Domino, quibus excitata magno spiritus impetu tendit ad ipsum... Contingit enim aliquando, imo frequencer, quod anima, nihil tale cogitans, nect Dei memoriam tune habens, sentience se sovio velut sagitta a Domino immissa vel tonitru quodam excitari.
3 SCARAMELLI, Tr. €3. 27 n. 260, p. 238: The ferite di cui ora ragiono, non sono, dico, comes what temprate nella fucina dell amor purgativo,
"Theotime," said Saint Francis de Sales! "Pamour is indeed a complacency, and therefore it is very pleasant, for he does not leave in our hearts the guild of the desire; but when he leaves it, he leaves with imceluy a great pain. It is true that this pain comes from Pamour, and therefore it is a friendly and kind pain...
"This heart in love with its God, desiring infinitely to love, void although yet he cannot yet ny like ny enough to desire. But this desire, which cannot be met, is like a dart in the side of a generationous spirit: but the pain that one receives does not leave to be kind, especially as anyone who desires to love well, loves to desire as well, and considers the most believable of the universe, if he would not continually desire to love what is so sovereignly kind. Desiring to love, he receives pain; but loving to desire, he receives sweetness."
And further?: "But, as it may be, this is admirable in wounds received by the divine love, that the pain is acceptable, and all those who feel it consent to it, and do not want to change this pain to all the softness of universe. There is no pain emmy love, or if there is pain, it is a beloved pain."
An admirable mixture that exudes the soul and litters, drunkenness and desolateness, precipitates the movement of his life and throws it into the anguish of death! He alone can speak of it who has experienced these suavities and the rigors of Vamour è.
ma nella fornace dels amor puro e perfetto: e però recano allo spirito (prescindo per ora dal corpo) grande soavità ed estremo diletto, senza lamaro di alcun dolore.
1 Treaty of V Love of God, 1. 6, c. 13.
2 Abid. c. 14.
3 Prices. To SS. Trn. P.8, Tr. 1, D. 8, to. 4, t. 3 p. 100: Who is impetus non fuerit expertus, not potrit eos dignoscere... Non potest satis expressi nec extolli modus quo Deus vulnerat animam, nee poena inde processdens, qua laborans anima de se ipsa non curat; sed, ut dictum est, haec
IH. — Love is therefore always the cause of this injury, but it is in many different ways.
Sometimes it is in the form of a question that seems to question the fidelity of the soul, as when Our Lord, after his resurrection, three times asks the Prince of the Apostles: "Peter, do you love me?"
Sometimes it is the gentle complaint, tender reproach, as when the Saviour takes up the sister too eagerly of Lazarus and Madeleine, by these luminous and suave words: "Marthe, Martha, your cares fall on too many things?" — or that he complains to souls to be alone in the torments and anguishes of his Passion: "I waited for someone who wanted to be saddened with me, and he didn't come?" Or when he reveals a moving contrast of his goodness and the ingratitude of men, as he did to the Blessed Marguerite-Marie: "Here," he said to him, "this Heart that loved men so much, that he spared nothing, until he exhausted himself and consumed himself to show them his love! And in return I receive from most only ingratitudes."
Sometimes Our Lord addresses a word of satisfaction and thanks for the zeal and fidelity which he has displayed in his service, as in the vision where he said to the Angelic Doctor: "You have written well of me, Thomas; what do you want as a reward {?»
Most often, it is a word by which the divine Spouse invites the soul to follow him, to love him, to be faithful to him; pæna tam suavis is quod nulla sit in hac vita delectatio quae magis satisfaciat; vellet anima semper hac infirmitate mori, haec pæna gaudio mixta velut animam extra se et quasi dementem tenet, non enim capere potest quoodo hoc esse posit.
1 Joan. xxx, 17: Dictation ci tertio: Simon Joannis, amaze me?
4 Breviar. Rom. 7 mart. Bene scribesi de me, Thoma: quam ergo mercedem accipies?
Tells him his love as he does to the sacred Sunamite: "You have wounded my heart, my sister, my wife; " simply reveals to him his presence as at Madeleine at the tomb?, or as to the apostles, when he appears to them after his resurrection °.
At other times, the blow that hurts the soul seems to come from the soul itself. It is a memory that glitters and pierces, a memory of a grace received or disdained; it is a thought that suddenly shines in it and the Jette in transports; it is a movement of zeal that rises in its depths and consumption, as the psalmist tells it * of himself.
IV. — One can still consider the aspect of the divine wound of love in itself.
It is difficult to express these kinds of impressions in human language, and, moreover, it must not be forgotten that "all these words in love are drawn from the resemblance between the affections of the heart and the passions of the body".
The most ordinary form is transfixion. It seems that love pierces the soul of an invisible and mysterious sting, and that, not only in the mystical operations that are being discussed here, but even in the natural perspective. Mythology represented the son of Venus with a quiver filled with burning arrows, and, in the opinion of men, love is supposed to penetrate the heart only by wounding it.
The love, says St Francis of Sales 5, is the first, to be the principle and origin of all passions. It's why it's luy who enters the first into the heart, and
1 Cant. 1y, 9: Vulnerasti cor meum, soror mea, sponsa.
2 Joan. xx, 16: Dict ei Jesus: Maria. Conversa illa dixit: Rabboni. 3 Joan. xx, 19-26, etc.: Pax vobis.
4 Ps. cxvm, 139: Tabescere me fecit zelus meus.
5 S. François De SALES, Tr. de l'Am. de Dieu, l. 6, c. 13, init.
6 Ibid.
Because he thinks and drills until the end of the will
Where he has his seat, they say he hurts his heart. He is acute, says the apostate of France (saint Denis l'Aréopagite), and enters very intimately into the mind. Other conditions
This is also possible, but it is through the
lamour: for it is luy who piercing the heart, makes the passage for them; it is only the tip of the dart that hurts; the rest only enlarges the wound and the pain."
It therefore seems to the soul that God sinks into his flanks: a burning dart, which both beatify and torture "to the bottom of his bowels, according to the expression of Saint Teresus, and it is as if they were being taken away from him, when his divine Husband removes from it the dart from which he wounded him, so great is the feeling of lamour +".
It is mainly in this way for love to make the soul vibrate, that came to the divine touch that we are currently treating the name of love injury.
Saint Térèse also compares it to a spark that would spring from the infinite home, from God, on the soul, not to lukewarm and consume it, but only to inspire it the feeling and desire of these delicious flames.
"It comes to my mind now," she said? "that it is as if he were escaping from the fiery fire, which is my God, a spark, which falls into his soul, would make him feel the power of this fire, but which, being unable to completely fire, leaves him, with the delectable impression of his ardour, to be spared from it. This is the best comparison I have ever found to express this divine operation. This tasty pain is not pain. It is not always equal; sometimes it lasts a long time, and sometimes little, depending on how it pleases Our Lord to communicate it, without any human effort
Int. tender. 6th D., c. 2. 2 Ibid.
can contribute to this. If sometimes it lasts long enough, it is not in a continuous way; it goes and comes. Finally, she does not persevere in the same state, and therefore, the soul is never completely burned; at the moment when it begins to ignite, the spark is extinguished, leaving him with a very ardent desire to suffer this pain all of the love that she caused him."
Elsewhere, telling his own experiences, Saint Térèse still brings the two images of the arrow piercing and the spark burning, to paint these violences of love.
A third form of this mystical wound arises from the comparison of a bitter and at the same time delicious liqueur which, spreading over the substance and soaking all the fibers of the being, determines the simultaneous impression of bitterness and delight.
"Pomegranates," said Saint Francis de Sales? "still so graceful in his comparisons, by their vermilla colour, by the multitude of their grains well tighten and tidy, and by their beautiful crowns, represent naively, as said sanctity Gregoire, the very holy charity all vermilla, because of its ardour towards God, filled with all the variety of virtues, and which alone obtains and bears the crown of eternal rewards. But the pomegranates' suck, which, as we see, is so pleasant to the healthy and the sick, are so mellow with bitterness and sweetness, that they do not make any difference if they rejoicing the taste, or because they have their sweet sourness, or because they have an agrarian sweetness.—(Certes, Theotime, love is so so so bitter-sweet, and while we are in this world, it never has a perfectly sweet sweetness, because it is not perfect, never purely sleepy and satisfied;
1 His Life, ch. 29. 2 Treaty of the Love of God,, 6, c. 43.
-FOURTH TRANSPORT: THE BLESSURE OF LOVE 233 and yet it does not allow to be greatly pleasant, its sourness refining the suavity of its sweetness, as its sweetness sharpens the grace of its sourness."
Fr. Godinez! uses the comparison of a drop of strong water that first makes you feel like a freshness, but soon eats flesh, causes itching and pain. This is the so delicate and subtle caustic of divine love, which penetrates into the most intimate of the heart and produces an intolerable and delicious cooking.
Isn't this also the bouquet of myrrh that the sacred wife put in the middle of her breast, and who was intoxicating with bitterness and the sweetness of her perfume?
We say nothing here about the sad wound, although the wound doubled naturally produces a wound: he will swell us to speak about it in respect of the passive purifications carried out by the violence of love.
V.—In whatever form the injury of love appears, the effects on the soul and body are admirable. Let us consider, first of all, those who burst into souls.
The first is to ignite, to lenflame, to give him an impetuous and irresistible boom to God, and constitutes, one can judge by all that we have said about it, as the essence of this divine impulse.
The second is to untie the soul, distract it and disgust it from everything, apart from the divine Husband who charms it and calls it. As it rises in these regions of holy love, the lower things move away, regress, disappear, and the dominant cause of pain
1 Theol. myst. practice. 1. €6. 12 p. 245: Y como una gota de agua fuerte, aplicada à la carne, causa una llaga, que al imprimirla no se siente, pero despues escueze y duele; assi son los actos de este amor de tanta delicadeza, y son tan penetrantes ázia lo interior, que causan un sabroso escozor en el mismo corazon.
2 Cant. 1, 12. Fasculus myrrhæ Dilectus meus mihi, inter ubera mea commorabitur.
256 THIRD DEGREE: The transport which pierces it is to see itself still in the links of mortality.
"At the same time as she is greatly drawn to fly towards her Beloved One," observes St Francis de Sales! "she is also powerfully restrained and cannot fly, as attached to the low bets of this mortal life and her own impotence: she desires dove wings to fly in her rest (Ps. Liv, 7), and she's not treuve. So there she is, being sorely tormented between the violence of her eslans and that of her impotence."
The natural consequence of these ardent aspirations towards God and of this disgust for all that passes, is to communicate a holy greed for mortifications, to inspire the desire for death?, and to cast the soul into the state of fatigue and languor of which the Bride of SONGS speaks, when she says: "Support me; I'm defaming with love." The soul is plagued by ardours that consume it; it is hungry and thirsty for God.
So it seems to us that thirst and emotional anguish, some of which mystics * make a special degree of prayer
1 Treaty of God's Love, 1. 6, c. 13.
2 St. Térèse, His Life, ch. 29. When the impetuousness of his transports is not so great, it seems: that the pain is a little appeased by the use of some penances. At least the soul, which knows nothing to do with its evil, seeks by this way to lighten it. But she made the blood leak under the blows, she does not feel anything more than if the body was deprived of life. She is tired of inventing new ways of suffering something for God; the first pain is so great, that I believe there is no bodily torment that can remove her feeling. Finding no remedy there, because there is none here below, to heal a evil come from heaven, the only thing that can soften his trouble is to ask God for the remedy; and she sees no other than death, because she alone can make her enjoy her sovereign good.
8 Cant. n, 5: Fuleite me floribus, stipate me malis, quia amore langano.
4 Jos. Lopez EZQUERRA, Luc. Myst. Tr. 5, n. 254, D. 116: Hæc sitis, licatet interdum committees habeat impetus and impulsus..., sæpius tamen haec sitis de qua loquimur non in exteriores impetus, sed in interiorem ororem atque hydropisim convertur, and is specialis graduated orationis. — Item SCAMARELLI, Dir. mist. Tratt. 3, ©. 11, p. 178.
contemplative, could be placed among the effects of the love wound.
According to Scaramelli!, between the anguish and thirst that is being discussed here, there is this difference that one is an acute, but transient impatience; and the other a less violent but continuous desire. The first is in the second, the flame is in the fire: it is permanent and more intense; it has more vivacity and less persistence.
The very nature of this hunger and thirst is that it cannot be satisfied.
"Whatever she does, whatever she is to do for her," said Richard de Saint-Victor? "the soul is not able to master or satisfy her desires. She drinks, but she does not quench her thirst, drinking, and repeats it; the more she drinks, the more thirst she eats. The same is true of his hunger, nothing calms him. Worse if forbearance does not temper and even the drunkenness does not manage to quench! Hunger worthy of admiration: and pity that nothing can neither contain nor satisfy! Unacceptably incu-rable and desperate that the remedy itself only enlarges!"
This growing insatiability has a dual cause.
The first is in the reciprocal influence that occurs
1 SCARAMELLI, Dir. mist. Tratt. 3, ©. 11, n. 96, p. 180: Se l'appetito razionale ssinnalzi a Dio con qualche desiderio impaziente, ma passaggiero,. questo si chiama ansia d'amore. Ma si lo stesso desiderio ansioso se ne stia sempre radicato e fisso nel senso dell-anima, quello allora si chiama sete di amore. E però fra lansia e la sete vi è quella proporzione che passa fra Ja fiamma che esce dal legno accesso e poi se estinge, e il fuoco isso che se ne stà immobilie e fermo nella materia del legno, nè se parte nè finchè non l'abbia ridotto in cenere.
2 Quartet. grad. Rape. Charit. Migne, pass. 1242. Quidquid agat, quid-quid sibi fiat, desiderium arduis animæ non satiat: sitit et bibit; bibendo tamen simim suam non exstinguit, sed quo amplus bibit, eo amplus et sitit. Avidæ enim, imo insatiabilis animæ sitis vel esuries non sedatur, sed irri-tatur dum voto suo pro voto perfruitur... Quid, quaeso, molestius, quidve acerbius cum simim suam nect resistendo temperare, nec inebriando posit exstinguere? Miranda imo et miseranda ingluvies, queæ nec ulla acurationeexpellitur, nec aliqua satisfactione sedatur. Morbus irremediabilis and omnino-desperabilis ubi semper and remedium quaeritur and nusquam invenitur; imo quidquid præsumitur ad remedium salutis, verditur in increaseum furoris..
between love and desire; one lighting the other, until the full possession of the object loved and coveted. The more the soul loves God, the more she desires it; and the more she calls it, the more her charity increases. As God digs a void, he fills it, and filling it makes it a new ability to receive. "When God, says Saint Teresis, gives this water to a soul in great abundance, he makes it able to drink much, just as he who makes a vase makes it able to contain what he wants to put in it."
The second cause is the nature of the object of love and desire. Get object is God himself, infinite, whose possession by the creature can never be limited, and therefore likely to increase.
VI. — The share of the body is neither less varied nor less wonderful.
The:natural counter-clash of the soul wound is de-alanguir I body and reduce it to a kind of consummation. Several saints are mentioned who died in these anguishes of love. "It's quite a bumpy thing," said St Francis de Sales, "that human love has the strength, not only to hurt the heart, but to make the body sick until death... I certainly know, Theotime, that Plato thus speaks of the abject, vile and chetif love of the worldly. But, nevertheless, these owners do not allow us to tremble in the love of the Celeste and divine."
The stress and violence of the body, in these divine attacks which the soul shares with him, are translated into burning words, cries, sighs, tears, vehement and precipitated palpitations of the heart, ardours that stir and burn, to the point that one must resort to
15. Tuom., 4. p., q. 1. 2. a. 6. Ubi is major charitas, ibi is majus desiderium, and desiderium quodam modo fabit wantedantem aptum and paraatum ad susceptionem wantedati.
2 Way of the Perf., Ch. 49.? Treaty of the Love of God, I. 6, ©. 15.
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FOURTH TRANSPORT: THE BLESSURE OF LOVE 259 to refrigerants who tempered the vivacity of it; in a word, by this set of phenomena which we will describe further by talking about the mystical jubilation and the fire of love.
According to Saint Teresus? speaking of herself, "this is sometimes the vivacity of transport, which it renders incapable of any action, and that the paralyzed body cannot move neither feet nor hands. If you are standing, you fall on yourself, as if you no longer belong, and it's hardly possible to breathe. We grow only a few sighs, almost insensitive outside, but very sharp inside."
Philippe de la Très-Sainte-Trinité* observes that these kinds of impetuousness usually lead to ecstasy.
Among these wonders, the most wonderful are probably the stigmas and other supernatural marks printed on the body by love.
Against the allegations of false mystics, who exclude from the contemplation of the holy humanity of Jesus Christ, usually it is the appearance of this divine Savior who causes this wound. Its name alone is for the loving soul a sharp arrow that penetrates it and makes it braid. The scenes and pains of the Passion above all, excite a delicious and desolating sympathy. Under the repeated blows of these deep emotions, the soul receives in some way in its substance mysterious prints that make it an image of the Beloved; and, from the depths of the soul, God sometimes allows these prints to appear sensitive on the body. The blessed name of Jesus is engraved in gold letters
1 Gopneez, Theol Practitioner. Myst. 1.6, ©. 42, p. 245: De esta llaga se causa a vozes un muy regalado desfalleseimiento, a donde el amor está enxerto en dolor, y los frutos de este enxerto son suspiraros trienos, requiebros amorosos, afectos incendidos, jubilos celestiales, paz, gozo, union tranquilla, y un modo de amar que yo ne se expoundar.
2 His Life, ch. 29.
3 Theol. myst. P. 3, Tr. 4, D. 2, a. 4, t. 3 p. 102: Solent impetus hujusmodi ad ectasim terminari. j
250 THIRD DEGREE: TRANSPORTATION or fire in the heart itself or on the chest; the wounds of the Crucified simmer on the feet, hands and side; the instruments of the Passion are reproduced by similar images on the flesh that dwells and informs a soul that love identifies with Jesus Christ.
These miraculous effects of love on the body, when God's hand operates on them, are always accompanied by a corresponding wound in the soul; but the intimate wound may not be followed, and this is the ordinary law, of these external manifestations. Since the injury is not apparent, it is not permitted to contest the existence of the injury absolutely.
In a prayer like the one we are trying to describe, Sainte Terèse received a wound that Our Lord has told us to renew several times, and which she thus tells us in her Life written by herself!:
"I saw an angel on the left side in a bodily form... He was not great, but small and very beautiful; with his flaming face, he seemed to belong to this category of angels which are all kindled and which are called cherubims; for these spirits do not tell me their names... I saw him in his hands a long dart that was golden, and
1 His Life, ch. 29. In esa vision, quiso el Señor le vie ansi: no era grande, sino pequeño, hermoso mucho, el rostro tan encendido, que parecia de los ângeles muy subduedos que parece todos se abrasan. Deben ser los que ilaman Cherubines.
2 Most of the publishers and translators of the writings of the Teresis of Jesus have substituted the word of Cnerus In for the word of SERAPHN, which is suitable for the burning angels (todos se abrasan) of which the saint speaks, and it is possible to assume that the denomination of cherubim is due to a mere surprise. However, we can only agree with the scruples of the publishers who kept to the original text, and among them we will mention the most recent, D. Vicente de la Fuente, who illuminated this place with the following note:
"Al märgen de letra del padre Bañez: mas parece de los que llaman seraphis (serafines). He creido deber seguir lo que escribié santa Teresa, to pesar que fray Luis de Leon y todos los demás editores pusieron seraphines. Encuéntranse estas palabras en el original Escurialense al fól. 127 vuelto." (T.14, p. 89. MADRID, 1861.)
FOURTH TRANSPORT: THE BLESSURE OF LOVE 261 whose tip, at its end, appeared of fire. From time to time he plunged him through my heart and shoved him down to the bowels; by taking him away he seemed to tear them away from me with iron, and left me with a great love of God. The pain was so intense that it made me grow those weak sighs of which I once spoke; but the suavity that came to me from this extreme pain was so great, that I could neither desire the end of it nor rest on something that was less than God. It is not bodily pain, but spiritual, although the body also participates, and even greatly."
This way of expressing oneself might lead to the belief that the wound that 1 is involved was purely spiritual, and perhaps Saint Teresis believed it herself. In fact, it is quite different. The inspection of the saint's heart, after her death, the legal investigations, and the authorization granted to the religious and religious of Carmel to celebrate this miraculous TRANSVERBÉRATION with a special feast and a special office, do not allow in this regard any hesitation. Still today, we can see, across the globe where the heart is enclosed, several openings made by the stern of the Seraphim.
The largest, at its entrance, is no less than five
centimetres wide, and seems to have passed almost entirely through this main viscera of life. And yet Jesus' Testus survived nearly twenty years of this mortal wound!!
1 The story of the heart of St.Teresis is a real drama, which continues today.
Four or five years after the death of the Virgin Seraphic, while her body, reported to Albe de Tormes, was resting at the Incarnation Monastery, a sister conversed, fearing with good reason that this precious deposit would be taken away from them a second time, and probably moved by an inspiration of God, came to open, with the innuendo of the other nuns, the chasm where this venerated remains lay, and, cutting with her knife in the breast of the saint, she untied her heart and carried it into her cell. But her treasure betrays her. Fresh blood and heavenly emanations escaped from this heart, which drew all the sisters to the place where she claimed to hide it.
Tremblant and delighted, the nuns believed they had to carry the fact to the
God suspends here at his own discretion the common laws of grace; is it surprising that he still suspends those of nature?
VII. — These extraordinary testimonies of his choice, God grants them as a reward or as a promise. When they burst after a long enjoyment of supernatural prayer, mainly after the union started", they
knowledge of the ecclesiastical authority, which did not fail to blame lintrepid converse, while relating and admiring the prodigy. — One could see from this the obvious traces of the transfixion carried out by the Angel.
A crystal globe, hermetically closed, received the precious larceny; but a force of inner expansion soon made it burst, and it was necessary to replace it several times, until the moment when it was thought to practice at the upper part some openings by which this heart, still alive, could, in a way, breathe.
Around 1795, at the request of the Reformed Carmelites of Spain and Italy to celebrate with a feast the Transverberation of the heart of their holy Mother, took place legal and careful information to ascertain the very truth of the fact; and, following a favorable examination, Pope Benedict XIII instituted, in 1732, the requested feast, and fixed it at August 27th. Benoit XIV, by a brief of August 8, 1744, granted a perpetual indulgence to all the faithful who would visit the churches of Carmel, from the first vespers to the sunset on this feast of the Transverberation.
But this is the most wonderful.
On the night of March 48-19, 1836, a thorn was seen in the lower part of the heart of Saint Teresus, and on the very day of St Joseph of the same year, a second was seen. Ges thorns, then very small, now measure more than two inches.
On August 27, 1864, the day the Carmel celebrated the feast. of the Transverberation, appeared the third, first as a pinhead, now about an inch long. A fourth was already showing up or soon became apparent.
Since then it has deposited at the bottom of the jar a kind of detritus, where, along with other undecided forms of vegetation, germinate new thorns. There are almost fifteen of them.
Several commissions of theologians and doctors, doctors and professors of faculties were called upon to examine the prodigy in its various circumstances, and, after a careful and thorough discussion, they could not contradict it or explain it naturally. — See. Santa Teresa de Jesus, y las Espinas de su Corazon that will come in el monasterio de Carmelilas descualzas de Alba de Tormes, por N. ©. y B., Presbytero de la congregacion de la M. — Valencia, 1876.)
1 F. V. Voss, Compend. SCARAMELLI, p. 341. Notet director, except pla gis amoris, vulnera and cæteras amoris impressiones, etiam ante statuse perfectæ unionis locum habere possess.
serve as a crowning to the grace of contemplation. But they can occur from the first ascents, and even, albeit very rarely, before the grace of infuse prayer. In these cases, we must see the announcement of an imminent rise to the greatest favors of mystical life.
This explains why the authors place the mystical phenomenon of injury so diversely. However, as described above, it immediately precedes or accompanies the state of union. It is not doubtful at least that God grants such privileges only to souls already advanced in the perfect ways, if not in contemplative prayer t.
VIT. — We will make one last remark, with all mystic theologians, on the origin of the injury of love and the external effects that may result from it.
If Pon considers these effects in what they have of body and sensitivity, the demon can absolutely produce them?; and, if they are confined to simple emotions, some could be the result of a fiery imagination, such as it meets mainly among melancholic temperaments.
But it is not the same of the inner wound taken with this set of conditions and effects that we have described, in these depths of soul where it suddenly becomes felt, and where God alone can approach?,
1 Scaramelli, Tract. 3, ¢. 28 n. 263, p. 240. Cid non ostante loses, not so concedano da Dio tali favorite senonchè to which anime che già sono salite a gran perfezione, ed hanno acquistata con esso it stretta communicazione nelle loro orazioni, e pero sono guardate da lui con occhio di amore, e distinte, con questi segni de speciale benevolenza.
2 Ibid. n. 264. Può il demonio con la sua grande attività formare in alcuno le predette imprezioni corporali: perchè può aperire ferite e piaghi in varie parte del corpo, anche senza recar dolore, e può formarvi tumori, lividure e cose simili; oppure può fare che tali impressioni parsiiscono nell-altrui membra, benchè non vi siano, etc.
3 Purr: a SS. Tamir. P. 3, Tr. 4, D. 3, a. 4 p. 402: Quod tales impetus non procedant a natura, vel ab humor melancholico, ex eo observatoire
However, we must point out, with Saint Teresus!, the danger of engaging in indiscreet penances that ruin the health of the body, and outside manifestations that compromise humility, under the guise of the divine wound. These excesses have as principle a kind of unconscious sensuality of soul and the malignant suggestions of the demon, which almost always gains to the ruin of health.
quod ex intimo dimanant animæ centro, sæpius nulla precedente reflexione; natura vero rationalis non velut a casu potest operari, humoraut melancholicus suas fictiones tantum habet in imaginatione.
Quod non procedant a dæmone manifeste patet, tum quia non potest dæmon tales pænas deliciosas causare; pœnas causare potest, sicut et aliquos gustus, sed tantum gustum cum tam excessiva pæna conjungere non potest pænæ; quas causat sunt worried, ac plurimum insipidæ; tum quia hujusmodi pænæ sunt in ipso animæ centro, ubi dæmon nullum habet dominium; tum quia ex illis maximus animæ profectus and multiplex bonuses performed exsurgit, vialicet patiendi desiderium, fuga deliciarum tempora- Hum, aut quid simile; non potest arbore tam mala qualis est dæmon, juxta Domini sentriam, tam bonos fructus face.
1 Way of the perf., ch. 19.
E F. f-
Contemplation tends to mystic union.—God unites with the creature in two ways: naturally, through creation and providence; supernaturally, through sanctifying grace.—The supernatural union, unconscious in grace, bursting in the full day of glory.—Between the obseurities of faith and the radiance of glory, is the feeling that characterizes mystic union. His concept.—Although it is not substantially different from ordinary grace, it is nevertheless a special favor of God to the faithful soul.—His three degrees: simple union, ecstatic union, permanent union.
I. — Uniting the soul with God is the ultimate goal of contemplation.
- I'm sorry, I'm not. The increasing ascension we have described
tend to prepare and achieve this supreme result?. Through impressions, illuminations and multi-purpose attractions
1 Suarez, De Relig. Tr. 4, 1. 2, ©. 9, n. 8, p. 158: Finis hujus contemplationis (theologicæ) debet esse unio cum Deo.
2 S. Licvor. Prag. Confess. n. 136, p. 182. Post graduate istos fait Dominus animam tranire ad unionem. Unicus enim animæ scopus hisses debet, unio scilicet cum Deo. -
PRE PE res
266 FOURTH DEGREE: The Union =€ folded above, God calls, disposes and leads the soul to this ineffable conjunction where he takes the title of husband and gives to the soul the one of wife.
God exhausts all forms, expressions of goodness and love, towards the reasonable creature whom he raises to the participation of his life. He is called in turn master and lord, pastor, doctor, father, friend; but the name he prefers over all is that of husband, because he expresses more strongly his tenderness towards us, and the sacred union that his grace establishes between Him and our souls!
No matter how strange it may appear to those who do not have the sense of heavenly things, and who do not hear, as Saint Bernard says?, the language of divine love, these expressions, borrowed from an order in which human thought is maintained so indistinguishably pure and clear, they are met so many times in Scripture, that only those who have never travelled through these holy pages can ignore them. Mystical theology, in particular, so expressly affirms this union that, in the language of the masters, contemplative union and mystical theology merge into a single reality. *
1 Rica A S. Vicror. Explain. in Cantica Cant. Prolog. Migne, pass. 408. And notandum quod aliquando Dominus in sacra Scriptura se vocat dominum, vocat aliquando patrem, aliquando sponsum. When enim vult timeri, dominum is named; when vult honorari, patrem; when vult amari, sponsum... Quanto enim dignius honor quam timor, tanto plus Gaudet Deus pater quam dominus here. And quantum charius is amor quam honor, tanto plus Gaudet Deus sponsus diici quam pater... Cum se dominum nominat, indicat quod creati sumus; cum se patrem vocat, indicat quod adoptati; cum se sponsum nominat, indicat quod conjuncti sumus. Plus is autem conjunctos esse Deo quam creatos and adoptatos.
2 Serm. 19 in Cant. n. 1, p. 412. Quomodo enim græce loquentem non intelligit qui græcum non novit, nac latintem loquentem qui latinu; no est, et ita de cæteris: sic lingua amoris, ei qui non amat, barbara erit, eritque æs sonans aut eymbalum tinniens.
Three Gersons. Myst. theol. speculate. Consider. 42 and 43, col. 395. Per prædictam amorosam unionem in qua mystica theologica consistre vietur, etc... Proprictates and conditions amoris ac theologiae mysticæ, quae supra dictæ sunt, etiam orationi perfectæ convenienter adscribi posunt. Hujus ratio
PR re ae 2 Dore TS č OF THE MYSTICAL UNION IN URI TT
If we are to be surprised here, it is the excess of divine goodness, which, to excite us to his love, descends to the images of our misery; and also, let us say, of human infirmity, scandalizing itself from the very condescendences of a God who, in order to draw closer to us and to translate his tenderness more vigorously, uses the greatest boldness of the language we speak. Instead of being as disillusioned as we are with indecency as we are with ingratitude, let us try to understand, for everything is pure and adorable in these mysteries t.
II. — To better clarify these holy darknesss, let us examine how God can unite with the creature, and among these modes recognize the one who constitutes mystical life.
God unites and touches the creature in these two general ways: natural presence and supernatural grace?. The supernatural union of grace remains unconscious and veiled under the shadows of faith, or bursts into enjoyment
is, quia in anima contemplativa amor, and mystica theologia, and oratio perfecta, aut idem sunt, aut se invicem præsupponunt.
1 RıcHardD a S. Vicror. In Cantica Cant. Prolog. Migne, pass. 405. In quibus verbis non irridenda est sacra Scriptura, sed amplior Dei misericordia considerationanda est; quia dum membra corporis nominat, sic ad amorem vocat. Notandum is quodmirabiliter nobiscum est, and misericorditer operatur, which ut 的or nostrum ad instigationem sacri amoris accenderet usque ad turpis amoris notri v rba descendit.
2 S. JEAN DE LA Croix, 14° Cant., 4th v., p. 491. God can be present in Påme in three different ways. The first presence is essential. T is of this kind, not only in the righteous, but also in sinners and in all creatures; and it is by this presence that he gives them being and life; so that if he ceased to be so present, they would fall into nothingness. The soul continually enjoys it as the rest of the created things.
The second presence is spiritual. It depends on the sanctifying grace, since it is through it that God abides with pleasure in the soul. But it is not common to all men; those who are defiled with mortal sins are deprived of it.
The third is the work of: Spiritual RE. God gives it to many souls to fill them with his most sensitive consolations. But in some way he's present, he doesn't get seen as he is...
feeling. These radiances reach all their intensity and splendour in glory, or betray themselves by a more or less incomplete radiance in the suavities of contemplation.
Let's discuss this ascending nomenclature, so as to detach clearly from it what characterizes the mystic union.
God is present to all beings, in natural order, by his creative and conservative action. According to the School's expression, it touches the creature by its essence, its presence and its power, to give it the being, to accompany it with its gaze and to govern it with its gold.
He is particularly present to the intelligent creature by intellectual and ideal influence, according to the words of St John defining the Word: "He was the light that illuminates every man coming into this world?"Sufficiently explicit word by himself, and heard by the Christian tradition of the double illumination of nature and faith è. But it is impossible to project on a being a true influence of light and action without uniting with him in any way.
But the union which consists simply of acting to dispen-
1 Parp. To SS. TRT. P. 3, D. 1, a. 4, t. 3 p. 8. Primus modus unionis est, quo Deus ratione suæ immensitatis, est in omnibus rebus per essentiam, préæsentiam et potentiam. Per essentiam, ut in omnibus esse; per présentiam, ut omnia prospiens; per potentiam, ut de omnibus disponens. Propter quod dictur, Act. xvu: In ipso enim vivimus, and movemur and sumus; and hoc modo sic omnibus illabitur, and ita penetrat omnia quod sit mullo magis cuilibet unitus, præsens and intimus, quam lumen aeri, vel anima corpori. Sed hec unio animæ cum Deo is generalis, omnibus and ordinis naturalis.
2 Joan. 1, 9: Erat lux vera quae illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum.
3 S. Tuom. AQUN. Caten. aur. in Joan. c. 1. Lect. 3. And vita erat lux hominum: Potestautem totum duplicater exponi. Uno modo secundum inluxum cognitionis naturalis; alio modo secundum inluxum communicationis gratiæ... Iluminat omnem hominem: Illuminatio seu illuminari per Verbum intelligitur duplicater, scilicet de lumina naturalis cognitionis.e Item de lumina gratiæ.
ser l ́être and light, fades before the one who associates two beings in a common life. One is extrinsic and leaves the terms distinct and separate; the other makes them understand and confuse themselves in the same act, without however absorbing the individual identity of each.
The sanctifying grace realizes a union of this nature between God and the soul. It is not God who abandons his life to share that of man; it is man who, by ineffable condescendingness, is raised up to God by God himself to become partakers of his intimate life, of life which is not the same as God.
"Plendith in the adorable Trinity!" For by grace the whole Trinity dwells in our souls? And if our sanctification is best attributed to the Holy Spirit, it is because it is above all a work of love, and the Holy Spirit is, in the Trinity, the personification of love ê.
This doctrine, so beautiful, so high, which makes grace a participation in divine life, is common among the Fathers and theologians. The masters of spiritual life have only one voice to affirm that Christian perfection has no object other than to unite the soul with God and to associate them in one life. As for the Mystics themselves, they cannot hear and state the wonders that are the subject of their studies without resorting to this
1 Parer. a SS. True. P. 3, D. 1a.1.t. 3 p. 8: Secundus modus unionis animæ contemplativæ cum Deo is per gratiam sanctifyingcantem qua fimus divinæ consortes naturæ, apostolus Petrus... Deus hoc speciali modo est nobis conjunctus, non tantum per modum principali talem participationem causatis, sed etiam per modum termini in hac participatione uniti.
2 S. Tuom. 1 p., q. 43, a. 3. Dicendum quod per gratiam gratum facientem, tota Trinitas inhabitat mentem, secundum illud Joan. x1v: Ad eum veniemus, and mansionem apud eum famiemus.
3 Suarrz, from Gratia. Proleg. 3, ¢. 3, n. 4, t. 7 p. 137. Unde ipsa persona Spiritus sancti atque ideo tota Trinitas vera est gratia increata quatenés peculiari modo justis confirtur... Spiritusautem sanctus solum appropriate, nam commune is toti Trinitati justis donari and in eis habitare.
sublime theology, or rather without assuming it as axioms from where their science is deduced t.
We are currently limiting ourselves to these summary statements, reserving ourselves to give this crucial thesis the extent it entails, when we discuss the causality of mystical phenomena.
IHH. — The divine life communicated to our souls regularly, as long as it is hard to try, to the feeling of consciousness; it is hardly if, from afar, this sacred fire attests to its presence by the dilatätions and suavities of fervor; usually, it reveals itself only by the energy of which it animates souls for the struggles and triumphs of virtue. God hides behind the tight trellis of faith, or leaves only parsimonious and pale rays to escape. We believe, but we live in shadow, or at least we grasp only imperfectly and by riddle: the face-to-face not of this world; it is reserved for glory.
One day the veils will fall, the shadows will dissipate; God will appear to us united with our souls, flooding them with his light, penetrating them in his life, and the measure of this enlightenment and divine understanding will be that of our splendour and our bliss for eternity. It will be glorious life.
Thus grace and glory belong to the same order. One is the germ, the other is the full bloom and the
1 Para. To SS. Tr. P. 3, D. 1, a. 4, t. 3 p. 14. Quantum ad auctoritatem doctoral in theologica mystica, tam uniformis et commumis est, quod nullus, ex hac parte de intima unione animae contemplativæ cum Deo, dubii locus esse posit. Omnes quippe hujusmodi doctores in hac unione principaliter ipsam theologicam mysticam constituunt; and illam suppunt tanquam certam et indubitatam, sicut aliæ scientiæ supponunt ordinarie objecta propria, cum intra proprios limites probare non possint, nisi, ex una parte, esset scientia suprema, and ex alia parte, hoc objectum theologia mysticæ absconditum a sapientibus hujus sæculi, and revelatum parvulis tantum, possess negari.
LS. Tuom. 2. 2. q. 4, a. 9. ad 2. Gratia and gloria ad idem genus reruntur, quia gratia nihil aliud est quam inchoatio vitae in nobis.
frucüfication; the first is the dark, silent, unconscious union; the other, the full day and total enjoyment.
"The life of grace and glory is the same," said Bossuet!, "especially as there will be no difference between one and the other than the one between adolescence and the strength of age. There it is consumed, here it is in a state of perfection; but it is the same life... Glory is something other than a certain discovery which is made of our life hidden in this world, but which will appear in the whole other."
IV. — Between the darkness of faith and the full light of glory, the enjoyments of mystic union are placed.
Without fully revealing himself, God can give to the soul to whom he unites a more or less vivid feeling of this encounter, so that the soul, not only will believe by the adherence of faith to the communication of divine life that grace brings to him, but will see, feel, will enjoy the ineffable union that is accomplished between her and God.
The consciousness of this union, as experienced by the contemplative soul, is however different from that tasted by Blessed Soul; it is neither complete nor as radiant. Faith has not disappeared; for, in more than one aspect, vision and enjoyment do not yet exist. Yet it is already no longer pure faith with its darkness: light and possession begin, and sometimes the clarity will become so gleaming and the transports so intoxicating, that one will wonder if they do not carry a momentary elevation to vision and truly beatific Pamour.
Of these two elements that determine eternal bliss, clear vision and love, it is the second that seems to predominate in united contemplation?. That's why
1 9th sermon for the feast of all Saints.
2 Panar. a SS. Trin. P. 3, Tr. 4, D. 4, a. 5, t. 3 p. 41: In comparisone veræ perfectæ beatitudinis in patria consummatæ cum inchoata felicate
This union is called by the FRUITIVE mystics!, to express that the soul enters into it in the enjoyment of God, term of grace, and that she feels and savors this divine association even better than she has the full intuition.
V. — This state consists of one in a view, and mainly in a delicious feeling that God is united with the soul, absorbing all his attention and all his inner activity, and making her partaker of his life: union so penetrating and so deep, that she resolves herself in a transformation that substitutes in the intimate of the soul the divine life to the own life, without yet destroying, as alleged by false mystics, the individuality created. It is a flow as sweet as it is mysterious, which makes the soul pass into God and God into the soul, to melt them into communion of life. So the Mystics call it the kiss and embrace of God to the soul; the passive flow, death and Pannihilation of the soul in God?. Expressive and accurate images to paint the supernatural absorption of the soul, but which would become wrong and absurd if they were to be heard in the strict sense of a confusion of substance and an absolute identification °. hujus viæ, discrimen invenitur in hoc quod perfecta beatitudo in clara visione ac intuuitiva Dei in seipso contemplatione essentialiter consistit, and tantum amor fruitivus requireur ut complementum ipsius; inchoata vero beatitudo principalius in amore fruitivo Dei présentis quam in ejus contemplatione consistit.
1 Panir. a SS. TRN. Ibid. a. 1, p. 9: Tertius modus unionis est animæ contemplativæ cum Deo per quemdam contactum substantialem Dei ad animam, quo præsens et unitus sentitur, et perficitur hæc unio quando ctiam potentiae spirituales animae, quantum patitur vitae présentis statuses, Deo adhærent, intellectus per cognitionem pene continuan ac velut evidentem, voluntas vero per amorem, non tantum desiderii, sed quodammmodo satietatis et fruitionis.
2 Scuram, Theol. myst. § 323, schol. t. 4 p. 534: Omnes mystici convenient dari specialem unionem animæ cum Deo, quam illapsum passivum, unionem mysticam, annihilationem, sponsalitium, osculum and castum amplexum animæ vocant.
3 , l. 5, P. 3, © 5,t. 6 p. 562: Unio hæc animæ cum Deo nou fit in substantia quasi significet... quod anima suum propriem esse
Such a feeling can only produce in the soul a bliss that approaches that of heaven, and is as a prelude to it. Saint Augustine! assigns to the beatitude three conditions, which meet admirably here: that the well coveted be excellent, that he be loved, that he be possessed. The object of passive union is God himself, God loved and possessed by the soul. The soul therefore finds in it the full enjoyment of happiness.
VI. — We must not misunderstand it; what is most precious in this union is not the feeling and beatification that results from it, but the union itself, that is, this flow of God into the soul and the transformation of the soul into God.
Now this conjunction really exists in every soul that has sanctifying grace, and its true measure is taken, not of the sensitive enjoyment that one can receive in this world, but of the inner and real degree that will be revealed in the homeland?.
Hence it follows that the passive union, as we envision here, i.e. with this reflection of intimate grace that it brings to consciousness, is in no way necessary, neither for sanctification nor holiness, and that the active virtue can be
amittat and convertatur in Deum... Is impassibile.., quiniam, cum Deus sit immutabilis, nihil potest in ejus simplcissimam naturam converted, nec ipse cum alio in compositionem alicujus.
1 From Moribus Eccl. cathol. €. 4 p. 494: Quartum restat, ut video, ubi beata vita inveneri quat, cum id quod is hominis optimum, and amatur and habetur.
2 S, Jeax DE LA Croix: Long flame, Pref., p. 336. No one should be surprised that God gives such extraordinary graces to the souls he wants to fill with all divine delights. For if one considers with any attention that God is acting, and that, like God, he pours out his goods with unthinkable love and infinite goodness, one will find nothing contrary to reason in these divine profusions. Indeed, Jesus Christ himself said of him who would love him, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit would come to him and that they would dwell in him. That is, the three people of the Most Holy Trinity would make him live in them with a divine life and would make him remain in them, as the soul sings in these songs.
equally meritorious and no less effective in achieving Christian perfection!, even in what it has higher?.
The mystical union remains one of the most outstanding graces that God grants to the traveling creature. It only meets in souls that have arrived, by the effort of their virtue or by the effect of free concessions, to a high degree of perfection.
It itself opens an abundant source of divine life upon the soul that receives it. This soul will become God's bride, in a special way, by the anticipated feeling given to him of his union with the Holy Trinity: it is a high convenency that God first fills him with gifts and riches, to make her worthy of this incomparable covenant. So Passive Punion does not only imply the entry into the enjoyment of grace already received; it is mainly understood by a current condescendence on the part of God, and therefore by a new and extraordinary infusion of inner grace.
And to point out here that its most general effect, common to all degrees of this union, it establishes the soul in a wonderful activity of love, which returns and rests all its powers in God. It is then above all that the soul
1 SCARAMELLI, Tr. €3. 16, n. 152, p. 196: Avverta il Direttore che la perfezione cristiana non consiste nell-unione mistica di amore che abbiamo descritta. The perfezione deve potersi acquistare da chicchessia colla grazia; e però deve consists in quello a cui con gli ajuti di Dio ordinari possiamo tutti giungere... Jo non nego che la nostra perfezione consista nell-unione della nostra volontà con Dio; non però nell-unione affettiva per cui la volontà si trasforma in Dio con affetto soave di amore, ma nell-unione affittiva per cui voglia tutto ciò che Dio vuole, tolga da se tutto ciò che egli non vuole e in tutto si accommodi alle sue rettissime disposizioni.
2 S. Arrn. de Licuorr. Prax. confess. n. 136, p. 182: Ut anima perfectionem attingat, no is necessaria unio passiva; satis is illi pervenire ad unionem activam. Paucissimæ, inquited S. Teresia, sunt animæ illæ quae diriguntur a Deo per vias supernaturales; and our in coelo permultas aspicie-
mus quae, sine hujusmodi gratiis supernaturalibus, erunt gloriosiores illis quae gratias istes receperunt.
feel that God is his object, his center, his life, his whole!.
VIT. — Passive union is subject to the law of succession and progress; it begins, continues and ends. God, no doubt, we have already observed, can sway from this law; but he rarely does so, and his ordinary rule is that the soul gradually enters and advances in these glorious transformations of mystical life. To return to a comparison that serves as a figure to these mysterious wonders of love, something happens between the soul and God of what takes place in the foreplay and the conclusion of human alliances, i.e. openings, engagements and marriage.
God presents himself to the soul in the lower degrees of contemplation; and, when the soul has burned with holy desires, he begins, as with trials, to communicate and to unite; then, in a more intimate embrace, he gives the assurance that the union will soon be stable and definitive, and finally the bond becomes permanent and indissoluble?.
1 S. Boxavenr. Prof. religios. 1. 2, ©. 73. Live, t. 19, p. 429: Hæc is hominis in hac vita sublimior perfectio, ita inhærere Deo, ut tota anima, cum omnibus potentiis sui and viribus in Deum collecta, unus fiat spiritus cum eo, ut nihil meminerit nisi Deum, nihil sentiate vel intelligat nisi Deum, and omnes affectionus in amoris gaudie uniti, in sola Conditoris fruitione suaviter quiescant... Unde orationis perfectio est cum id obtinet anima ad quod orando tendit, ut tota ab infimis abstracta, solum uniatur divinis; nec volens nec valens aliud siee nisi Deum. Ibi vero quiet anima, sibi deliciatur in splendore lucis, in amænitate divinæ dulcedinis and in security pacis.
2 PHILIPP. To SS. NRT: P. 3, Tr. 4, D. 1, a. 3, t. 3 p. 28. Sicut igitur dum quis virginem quam summe diligit, in sponsam elegit, multis muneribus, donis pretiosis, signis evidentioribus amoris ad sponsationis and matrimonii corporalis vinculum suaviter allic, ut ex mutua unione ac perfecta voluntatum conformitate, jam non duo, sed una fiant caro, simulque conjuncti indissolubiliter vivant; multæ præcedunt visitations, mutua amoris colloquia; sed, jam inito sponsalitio, casti amplexus, and honesta succedunt oscula; ac tandem, celebrate matrimonio, jam fa unio maxima and indissolubilis conjunctio.
Sie dum Christus Dominus devotam aliquam animam sihi in sponsam elegit, post multa concessa spiritualia munera, post dona virtitum pretiosa, post exhibitiona amoris signa in via illuminativa, suaviter illam ad
"You have often heard that God spiritually marries souls," said the virgin Seraphic Teresis to his sisters! "Blessed be his mercy, which deigns to be low! No matter what this comparison is, I find no other one who expresses my thought better than the sacrament of marriage... But it seems to me that the union still does not happen to spiritual marriage, but that it happens as when in the world two people want to marry. They first examine whether they are suitable, if they wish, and then come to interviews to be more confident that they will be satisfied with each other. This is the case in spiritual marriage."
The mystical alliance therefore assumes three degrees, which form as many species of unions, and the first of which was called SIMPLE UNION; the second, FIANÇALLES; the third, SPIRITUAL MARIAGE °.
These degrees differ between them by their progressive perfection, and by the more or less intimate rapprochement they assume with God. In each there is union, that is, the feeling that God associates the soul with his life and that the soul flows into the bosom of God. But this fusion of soul with God manifests itself in different proportions. If it reveals itself as an intimate union, in a temporary and abstract way the soul outside the region of the senses, it is union
Sponsationis et matrimonii spiritualis unionem allicit, unde in viam unitivam inducit, ut jam non due, sed unus in postrum sint spiritus, simulque per affectionum mutuum conjuncti conjuncti indissolubiliter vit; multæ præcedunt visitationses, mutua amoris colloquia; sed jam inito spirituali sponsalitio, dulces amplexus et suavia in Spiritu sancto succedunt oscula; ac tandem celebrate spirituali matrimonio, jam fa maxima unio actualisation fruitiva, de qua in præsenti loquimur, et indissolubilis conjunctio quanta in hac mortali vita esse potest, donec perfecte consummato hoc spirituali matrimonio, in colesti gloria talis conjunctio firmetur in æternum.
1 Inside, 5th Dem., c. 4.
- What? S. ALPH. OF LIGUORI, Prag. Confession. n. 137, p. 184: Tres dantur species unionis, et sunt: unio simplex, unio desponsationis et unio consummata, quae vocatur unio matrimonii spiritualis.
Re f
9277 simple. When she bursts with a vivacity that suspends any other feeling, it's ecstatic Punion. Having become permanent and uninterrupted, it is the indissoluble union of marriage.
To express this gradual introduction of God into the soul and soul into God, Richard de Saint-Victor! uses another no less striking comparison, which makes the identity of union heard and the diversity of degrees heard. Iron, subject to the action of fire, identifies with fire: it is union. But this iron can be more or less ardent, more or less identified with fire. It first becomes burning, half iron and half fire; soon it is all burning and seems only fire; finally it liquefies and offers no more resistance. So is the soul gradually absorbed by love.
1 De Quat. grad. violent. Charit. Migne, pass. 1221: Vide quid intersit inter ferrum and ferrum; inter ferrum frigidum and fervidum, hoc is inter animum and animum, inter animum tepidum and animum divino incendio inflammatum. Cum enim ferrum in ignem projicitur, tam frigidum quam nigrum procul dubio primo videtur. Sed dum in ignis incendio moram fait, paulatim incalescit, paulatim nigredinem deponit, sensimque incandescens paulatim in se ignis similitudinem betrays, donec tandem totum liquefiat and a seipso plene deficiate. — Sic itaque, sic anima divinditi ardoris rogo intimique amoris incendio absorpta, æternorumque desideriorum globalis undique circumsepta, primo incalescit, posta incandescit, tandem tota liscit and a priori status penitus deficiency.
In what way the simple union differs from the mystical states that precede it and from those that follow it. — Sometimes it suspends all powers, sometimes only the will. — Its duration. — It only accidentally reaches to ecstasy. — Its effects on the body. — The various forms by which it reveals itself to the soul. — The effects that it produces. — It does not render impeccable and is not free of peril. — The signs to which it can be recognized.
I. — This first degree contains only the essential part of the mystical union, that is, an inner sensation, whereby the soul is warned that God is united with it and makes it partaker of his life.
"It is done, according to Saint John of the Cross, not by the substantial presence of God to all creatures to give them and to preserve their being, but by the love that transforms the soul into God, so that there is a resemblance of love between God and the soul: that is why it is called a union of resemblance, because the will of soul and the will of God are so similar and so uniform, that the soul wants all that God wants, and that it does not want all that is not in accordance with the will of God."
1 Mounted Carmel, 1. 2, ch. 5, p. 46.
By adding that the soul receives the feeling of this divine association, one has a complete notion of this kind of prayer.
In the lower degrees of contemplation, God simply manifested his presence to the soul: here he appears to him as intimately united and making only one life of his own life and that of the soul, or rather the soul seems to renounce his own life, to live only from that of God. So far, God was bowing to the soul, and the soul was stinging towards God; now God and the soul meet in an admirable communion of life.
According to Saint Térèse!, "between the prayer of quietness and the prayer of union, there is this difference that, in the first, God gives himself and unites with the soul outwardly, while in the second, he appears in the soul itself as a food that would be found in the body without any prior act of apprehension and swallowing."
We have, in fact, defined peace of mind: a delicious feeling of God's presence in the soul, which holds on to this divine object, if not all powers, at least will.
The intermediate states between quietness and union, transport, are like the consequences of the moon and the preliminary ones of the other. God makes himself feel at the soul by intimate touches that press her to give herself, by penetrating traits that hurt and charm her. Under these sweet and irresistible excitements, the soul enters into a holy drunkenness whose excess goes as far as to fall asleep in a mystical sleep. The mere presence and loving requests of God to the soul are sufficient to explain these drunkennesses: there may not yet be any union proper, or the compenetration of the soul by God, vital and conscious communion with God from the soul.
1 Path of the Perfection, ch. 31.
If we look above, the simple union differs from the ecstatic union in that it does not lead, like rapture and ecstasy, to the suspension of external senses; and from spiritual marriage, in that it is not permanent, but momentary and transient.
To this intrinsic difference is joined the variety of effects that result from these various states. The results of union reveal a greater intensity of supernatural life than the lower degrees; similarly the last two forms of union are distinguished by a repetition of grace and by a more effective and deeper transformation.
II. — Several authors, among others Saint Alphonse of Liguori t, and Fr. Scaramelli? who invokes the support of Saint Teresus, claim that the union leads to the complete suspension of the inner powers.
Saint Teresus seems to admit, in some places of his works, the total absorption of powers; but in several others, explaining and clarifying his thought, she expressly declares that this law is not absolute, and that sometimes, often even, union binds only the will. Thus, in the xvn chapter of her life, she sees "in this prayer a very manifest union of all soul with God"; and immediately after, she adds: "Sometimes, and often even so, the will alone is bound, in perfect enjoyment and quietness, and on the other hand, that understanding and memory retain enough freedom to take care of business and apply to charitable works."
1 Prax. confess., n. 135, p. 187: In simpliciti unione suspension potentiæ, sed non sensus corporei.
2 Diret. Mist. Tratt. 3, ©. 47, n. 160, p. 200: Nel? unione sempliee, non è cosí: perchè in questa, essendo già l'anima trasformata, è anche perita tutta in Dio; e perciò sono anche perste in Dio tutte le sue potenze, como dice santa Teresa. — Vita, c. 17. E continued the fantasy... è perto l'intelletto, è perva la volontà, ete. etc.
This is also the sentiment of Saint Francis de Sales, who describes with his ordinary clarity the different modes and degrees of this union:
"Sometimes," he said, "union is done by the will and by the will alone, and no time is the understanding, because the will draws it after soy and applies it to its object, giving it a special pleasure to watch it, as we see that love gives a deep and special attention in our bodily eyes, to stop them from seeing what we love.
"Sometimes this union is made of all the facultes of the blade, which all gather around the will, not to unite themselves with God, but to give more convenience to the will to make one's union: for if the others facultise are applied one each to his own object, the same, operating by icelles, does not so perfectly allow to be employed in the action by which union is made with God. This is the variety of unions."
According to Saint Francis de Sales, the essential part of union is thus realized in the will; but the other faculties can participate in this suspension, in which case Punion is complete, and there is no longer but the ligature of the external senses for it to arrive at ecstasy.
Let us note, however, that the grasping of the will and other faculties in union no longer takes place in an extrinsic way, if it can be expressed in this way, or by the fascination of an external object that attracts and suspends them, but by the taking of possession that God makes of the soul within itself, in its center and substance; and it is doubtless in this sense that Saint Terèse and other mystical doctors understand that the soul, in the state of union, is entirely lost in God.
1 Treaty of the Love of God,, 7 c. 2.
As for the total and simultaneous suspension of powers, it seems, according to the testimonies we have just heard, that it is of union as of recollection and quietness, where this complete absorption, which we have called silence and sleep, is not essential to these various states; it forms re but it is not what characterizes them.
Also, the union, at its highest point, fixes all inner powers and constitutes them in a state of silence or sleep, without always rising up until then. In order to draw as close as possible to masters who deserve a debt, perhaps one could look at this apogee as more frequent in union than in previous degrees, which does not contradict the declarations of Saint Teresus and Saint Francis of Sales. In any case, all agree that the total suspension is short!.
II. — If the union, at its summit, lasts little, it can be prolonged for a long time with the mere adherence of the will.
On this point, let us still listen to the Holy Reformer of Carmel?.
"To the truth, if I judge it by my experience, this prayer is in the beginnings of such short duration, that it is revealed less by the outward marks and by the lack of feeling, than by the abundance of graces; for the fire of the Sun which enlightened the soul has had to be quite ardent, since it is the light of the sun, and the light of the sun, which is the light of the sun, which is the light of the sun.
1F. V. Voss, Compend. Scaramelli, l. 9, P. 1 €. 7, a. 4 p. 287: Tempore unionis mysticæ omnes animæ potentieæ manent aliquo modo suspenseæ, sicut-S. Teresia and alii mystici doctores docent. Suspenditur intellectus, ita ut neque ad alia objecta Sur ne only circa proprios actus suos reflectere posit... Perditor voluntas, is... Phantasiaautem omnino loseur vel potius suspendur.. Quum vero suspensio haec et plena unio modico tempore animam teneat, una alterave potentia a profunda illa absorptione denuo expergistur... And tunc suspensio and unio non is amplius quoad omnes potentias, sed quoad solam voluntatem, quae in Deo pertita and submersa herere pergit, dum aliæ potentiae in speculiaribus and distinctis operationibus occupant.
2 Veen 0: 18.
THE SIMPLE -Masi MYSTICAL UNION thus liquefied. It should be noted, at least in my opinion, that in its greatest duration this suspension of all the powers of soul is very short. When she goes half an hour, it's a lot, and I don't think she's ever been so long. It is true, it is difficult to judge, since then one is deprived of feeling: I assure however that there is little time to go without one of the powers returning to it. The will is the one that keeps the canvas, but the other two soon resume their importunities. As the will remains calm, it brings them back and suspends them again; they stop a little more and then resume their natural agitation. With these alternatives, we can prolong and actually extend for a few hours. Once they have intoxicated themselves with the heavenly wine they have tasted, these two flying powers easily come back together and get lost with the will, to enjoy a happiness they do not find elsewhere; they therefore join in the will, and the three powers then enjoy together. But this complete absorption of all the powers, even of imagination, which I think is entirely lost, is, I repeat, of short duration; I will even add that, returning to them only imperfectly, they can remain in a sort of delusion within a few hours, during which God from time to time delights them again and fixes them in him."
IV. — Is the simple union going up to ecstasy without coming out of its radius?
It is accepted by all that, already at this first degree, the senses no longer have their full exercise; that they remain, at least usually, numb and paralyzed, which constitutes a beginning of suspension or ecstasy '.
1 SCARAMELLI, Tr. 3, e. 17, n. 159, p. 200: Concludiamo dunque che questa
unione semplice con questo smarrimmento imperfetto de ensei, che da alcuni Dottori mistici chiamasi estasi incoata, oppure imperfetta, è il primo ed
But can the suspension become complete without thereby crossing the limits of simple union?
All you have to do is get along. When external senses are totally suspended, it is obvious that there is ecstatic union, at least as a separate phenomenon. But a phenomenon does not constitute a state. Therefore, if we consider the simple union and the ecstatic union as distinct degrees, we understand that a soul, still in the first, touches by transitional acts to the second, without it being said that it has changed its state.
Moreover, the transitions from one degree to another are imperceptible, as we have observed in its place; it will inevitably happen that the end of one will be the beginning of the other.
But if the phenomenon of suspension were to recur in a persevering way, it should no longer be considered an accident or a transitional test of the higher degree; it would be a state, the state of ecstasy, and therefore the simple union would have ceased to give way to ecstatic union.
V. — Holy Teresus described the attitude of the body during this prayer of the simple mystic union.
"As she thus seeks her God, the soul," she said, "feels, with a very lively and sweet pleasure, almost all fainting, by a sort of fainting, which gradually takes away the body breath and all the forces. She can't even, without a very painful effort, shake her hands. The eyes close without her wanting to close them; and if she keeps them open, she sees almost nothing. If she reads, she does not manage to articulate a letter, or even to distinguish it well. She sees characters, but, like she--
infimo grado dell-unione mistica e trasformativa di amore, o della mistica Teologia, come altri la nominano. 1 His Life, ch. 18.
she can't read any more, for as long as she wants. She hears, but does not understand what she hears. Also, far from serving her, her senses Pincommodate and she are rather an obstacle that prevents the full enjoyment of what she has inside. It is in vain that she would try to speak: she cannot form a word; and if she did, she would lack the forces to speak it; for all the external forces P forsake, and those in them grow, on the contrary, to give her a more perfect enjoyment of her glory. From there a very lively and very apparent external delight. While this prayer lasts, it never harms health, at least I have never received any damage, and I do not remember that God did this favor, for sick as I was, without experiencing a much more sensitive one. How could such a great good cause some harm? The external effects are so bright, that one cannot doubt, I experienced it, that if this prayer slowly removes the forces by the excess of pleasure, it is for him then leave greater ones."
At the height of union the body is therefore as reduced to impotence. When it relaxes, the external senses, as well as the inner faculties other than the will, regain a little more play and action, without regaining their full freedom.
VI. — Although the soul is passive, even at this first degree of mystic union, this does not prevent some cooperation, if not in the act itself, at least by the free consent it gives to the divine embrace. And, in the feeling of this encounter, sometimes it is the spontaneous movement of the soul, sometimes the suave attraction of God, which seems to dominate: in the bottom, it is always God who operates.
Let us still hear the gracious bishop of Geneva: "Now, in prayer, union is often done in a small way, but
286 eslancemens and advancemens of the same in God; and if you take care of the little children united and joined to the tetins of their mothers, you will see that from time to time they rush and tighten themselves with small eslanks that the pleasure of teting gives them. Thus in prayer, the heart united to his God repeatedly makes some search for union through movements with which he clasps and presses more in the divine sweetness... But other times the union is made, not by splendors repainting, in the manner of a continuous insensitive press and advance of the heart in the divine Goodness: for as we see that a great and heavy mass of lead, of brass or of stone, quoy that is not pushed, tightens, sinks and presses so against the earth on which it is laid, that in the end with time we tremble it all buried because of the inclination of its weight, which by its gravity makes it all tender in the center: thus our heart being once joined to his God, if it remains in this union and that nothing of it will entertain, it will simmer continually by an insensitive progress of union until it is all in God, because of the sacred inclination that the healthy love gives it to unite more allior to the sovereign Goodness!"
And in the next chapter?: "Sometimes union is done without our cooperation, if not by a simple follow-up, allowing us to unite without resistance to the divine goodness, like a little child in love with his mother's womb, but so alangoury that he can make no movement to go there, ny to tighten himself when he is there; but only is it easy to be caught and pulled between the arms of his mother and to be pressed by her on her chest. Sometimes we cooperate, when we shoot, we run willingly to support the sweet strength of goodness that pulls us and squeezes us
1 Treaty of the Love of God, I. 7 c. 1. 2 Ibid., c. 2.
To be soy by his love. Sometimes it seems to us that we begin to join and embrace God before he joins us, because we feel the action of the sumion of our costed one without feeling the one made by God, which, no doubt, warns us all, although all of us do not feel his prevention; for if he does not unite with us, we would never unite with him: he chooses us all and seizes us all before we choose none.
"But when, following these imperceptible attractions, we begin to unite with one another, he sometimes makes the progress of our union, running through our imbecility and becoming appreciably luy-mesme to us; so that we feel him as he enters and penetrating our hearts by an incomparable suavity. And a few times too, as he has insensitively alter us to union, he continues insensitively to ayder us and rescue us...
"Never before, this union is so insensitive, that our hearts do not feel any divine operation in us, nor do we cooperate; in these he trevers the only union insensitively made, to the imitation of Jacob, who, without thinking about it, trevers married with Lia... At other times, we feel the clerics, the union being made by sensitive actions, both on the part of God and on the part of ours."
There can be no doubt that Saint Francis de Sales wanted to describe here the passive union: he himself expressly declares in the foregoing the first of these two quotations. After giving a comparison of the child that the mother holds on her breast and who cooperates best with this sweet and pure union, he applies it in these terms:
"So, Theotime, Nostre-Lord, showing the very kind bosom of his divine love to the devote, he pulls it all in soy, picks it up, and by way of saying, he folds all the powers of icelle in the girdle of his sweetness
ue TO DE
288 More Than Motherhood... Then the soul, initiated from the delights of these favors, not only consents and is ready to the union that God makes, but from all its power it cooperates, striving to join and tighten more and more to the divine goodness; so, all the time, that it recognates well that its union and connection to this sovereign meekness depends all upon divine operation, without which it does not only make the least attempt in the world to unite with icelle."
Let us carefully note this declaration of the holy bishop, because it states one of the distinct characteristics of the state of union. In whatever form this divine association reveals itself, the soul knows with a certainty that goes beyond any other feeling that God is the author and the consumer.
The immediate consequence of this conviction is to give the soul full assurance that it is united with God by grace; for the evidence of union clearly leads to the evidence of sanctification. There would be contradiction, as we have observed elsewhere, in assuming the soul united to God through love, and at the same time separated from God through sin.
VII. — Union voting is far more important than its effects on the preceding degrees.
The first effect that characterizes it is the transformation? of the soul, a transformation that consists in giving it a more vivid feeling of his life in God than of his own, and to make burst outside the reflection of this divine absorption.
1 PHLPP. To SS. Tan: Theol-myst. Disc. proemialis, t. 1, p. 52: Hæc divina gratia ac sublimis favor unionis fruitivæ sic animæ expertæ reddditur evidens, ut de eo dubitare nullautés posit: nam in hujusmodi unione, Deus interno tactu t amplexu percipitur et quodammodo palpatur ab anima et immensos gratiæ thesauros communicat, quae omnia manifeste videt anima, maxime Deo tunc réalis suæ præsentiæ certitudinem commutpicante.
2 Gerson, from Myst. theol. 41, col. 394: Amorosa unio lied cum Deo, quae fai per theologiam mysticam, congrue transformatio nominatur, sicut B. Dionysius and SS. Patres locuti sunt.
© 289 Saint Térèse compares this wonderful transfiguration to that of the silkworm, which dies in the tomb which it has made to itself and which comes out in a new form, changed to white and light butterfly.
She said, "Now let's see what this worm becomes, when, after having died in the world in this prayer, it converts into a small white butterfly. O greatness of God! in what state is a soul that has been plunged into the abyss of this greatness, which has been so close
united to God for a short time that ar-
Never half an hour! I tell you, truly, that this soul no longer knows itself; between what it was and what it is, there is as much difference as between a deformed worm and a white butterfly. She does not know how she could have deserved such a great good, nor where he could have come to her; for she cannot doubt that he is above his merits. She sees herself with such a desire to praise the Lord, whom she would want to tear up and die for Him of a thousand dead. She soon felt an ardour that tormented her to undertake great works, without being able to satisfy her. She feels her desire for penance, for loneliness, for God to be known to all, from which she comes an extreme pain of offended knowledge...
"Oh! who could see without praise God the worry of this little butterfly, though he never tasted his life more calm and peace? He does not know where to go or where to stop; and after enjoying such a good, all that he sees on earth disenchanted him, especially when God has given him several times of this wine which bleeds, and which, each time, repeats its wonderful effects. He now counts for nothing the work he was doing, still being a worm, which consisted of gradually forming the fabric of his hull. Wings him
1 Int. Chât., 5° Dem., ch. 2. I 13
came: how could he fly, he would be content to go step by step? All that he can do for God does not seem to him anything, having regard to his desires. He is not surprised at what the Saints have endured, already knowing from experience how Our Lord attends and transforms so much a soul, that she no longer seems to be the same or to retain her figure, as the weakness that she once felt for penance is changed into a force. The attachment to parents, friends, to the things of this world, whose actions, resolutions, or desires could not be overcome, and which seemed to her to redouble as she made more efforts to break it, now she dominates it so well, that, if something costs her, it is the relationships she is obliged to keep in order not to go against God. All fatigue, because she experienced that creatures cannot give her the real rest."
Joy always accompanies this ineffable encounter; but it may burst outside, or remain contained in the secret of the soul. Its intensity usually produces the transport of drunkenness, which, as we have already said, can be a preparation for mystic union and can also be a continuation of it.
Finally, in the union we find the effects of all the preceding oraisons, but carried to an overeminent degree!.
1 WANT Paz, l. 5, P.3, ©. 5, t. 6 p. 566: Achievements unionis iidem sunt omnino, liket in altiori graduated, cum his quos in quiete retulimus. In ea anima tanta dulcedine and delectatione repletur, ut vix absque rashe corporis eam sustinare videatur... Pars inferior animæ remanet blandissima and mira teneritudine repleta, qua tota in delces lacrymas resolvitur, and desideriis rerum celestium urgetur. Repletur etiam tunc anima indifici pace quam nullus eventus turbat, and serenitate quam nihil adversum obnubilate. Roboratur ad ad adversa et difficilia, ita ut nihil animam ab eo posit avertere quod Deo gratum esse conceperit. Zelo and desiderio salutis animarum accrediteur... Profundissima humilitate perficiture... Tandem hic exciting in anima desideria carnem deserendi, ete.
HIV.—Whether the intimacy between God and soul in the state of union is great, it does not go so far as to make it impeccable. As long as the trial lasts, man keeps the sad power to get away from God.
This is in particular what Saint Teresus affirms; but she declares that the grace of union is such, that God cannot allow it to be useless; and that, if it does not serve the subject that receives it, it will benefit other £.
And elsewhere?, the saint, speaking to the souls who were raised to this state, speaks to them as follows: "Christian friends whom the Lord has brought to these heights, for his love, I conjure you, do not neglect you, but avoid opportunities for falling; for the soul in this state is not so strong that it can put itself in jeopardy, as it could do after the conclusion of the marriage, which forms the sixth dwelling. Here, the divine communication was, as it is said, only a first interview, and there is no effort that the demon tries to prevent its effects and to cross this covenant. When it is made, seeing the soul completely submissive to the Bridegroom, it is no longer so bold; it dreads its faithfulness, because it knows from experience that the assaults turn to its shame and benefit those whom it attacks. I have known, my daughters, very high souls, who have come to this state, that the devil has gained again by his prestige and his tricks, all hell contributing to this ruin; for, I have said to you many times, it is not a soul that is lost here, but a multitude. The enemy already has experience of it; he knows as we do the great number of souls that God draws to him by one." - The first way in which the demon has the habit of tempting these souls, Holy Teresis has just told us, is to exaggerate their strength and their security, and to engage them in difficult occasions where they will succumb.
1 Interesting Chât., 5th Dem., c. 3. 2 Jbid., c. 4.
Another equally perilous temptation, which Saint Teresis also points out, is to insinuate the neglect of small things. These light infidelities gradually obscure the understanding, cool the will, revive natural tendencies, especially the mind, which
substitutes insensitively for God's spirit, or affections
from the heart that bow to the creatures?, until finally God, being no longer the master, withdraws and separates.
When it fails to throw into dangerous occasions and inspire contempt for the lesser things, the enemy tries at least to bring the soul to some inner complacency, and nothing may be controversy and distance the divine Husband as the dilatations of vanity in a totally supernatural and gratuitous operation, where everything is due to his liberality and his love.
IX. — The set of characters that we have just assigned to union may suffice to make it recognize, when the soul has passed successively through the degrees that precede it. But this ascension does not take place as methodically in souls as in the treatises of Mystics; this is why, in most cases, appreciation would be of extreme difficulty, if it were to be pronounced only on the basis of the notions and effects we have exposed.
1 Chüt. interested.
2 SCARAMELLI, Tr. 3, C. 18, n. 173, p. 205: The second cagione può essere l'affezionarsi l'anima ad aleuna cosa che non sia Dio. È vero che Iddio è sposo amantissimo dell, anima; ma è ancora gelosissimo della sua sponsa; vuol solo regnare nel di lei cuore e tutto vulole posederlo. Se questa cominci a rivolgersi ad altro oggetto con suoi affetti, egli tosto si ritira da lei, amareggiato dalla sua poca fedeltà, e comincia soudio à rupturere i trattati dello sposalizio che per mezzo delle passe unioni eransi si bene incamminati.
3 Ibid. The quinta cagione e il più delle volte qualche compiacenza che si prise l'anima dei doni di Dio, qualche confidenza che abbia in sè stesa e nella sua virtù; he che se riduce alla mancanza di una più soura umiltà. Non vi è cosa forse che più di questa disgusti lo Sposo divino e che l'induca a fare qualche ritiratiata pure tropopo funesta all anima incauta.
The effects of union are, at the bottom, of the same kind as those of the lower states, except for the intensity, which follows increasing proportions. But there is no repulsiveness to the results of quietness, for example, being or appear to be more radiant in one soul than in another, in the results of union.
Similarly, distinguishing union from mere presence west is not as easy in the secret of soul as when it comes to bodies. From the first suavities of infuse prayer, and even active contemplation, it seems to most of the souls who receive these favors that God compensate them, and that it is in the deepest of themselves that he pours out these delights that intoxicate them. How can we not believe in union within such enjoyments?
Also, observes Fr. Scaramelli!, "is there hardly a soul that, after having begun to taste God in some infuse degree of prayer, of quietness, of recollection, of silence, of drunkenness, of spiritual sleep, does not believe itself, to the first feeling of inner suavity that she experiences, already united to God with a close union of love."
In order to recognise this union we must therefore use more authentic and decisive signs.
The Italian author we have just quoted tells the spiritual director several of them.
He first points out to him that few souls arrive to union, and that it is never until after having undergone the most severe purifications and has greatly advanced in perfection?
The fact that the fact is rare, it matters and enlightens little: the cases
2Treaty.3, C48, No. 167, D. 203:
2 SCARAMELLI, Tratt. €3. 18, n. 167, p. 203. Sappia duunque il Direttore che l'unione mistica di amore anche nel grado più basso quale è l'unione semplice, di cui abbiamo ora ragione, a pomp anime so concede, e queste (parlo di legge ordinaria), soglino essere molto purgate e molto avvantaggiate nelle perfezzione.
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29% may decide on those where union exists. High perfection is at most a negative mark, and God can accelerate the walk of the soul by the exceptional abundance of his grace and by the rigour of passive purifications.
These passive tests themselves do not always inform infallibly. It is true that union prayer is granted only to souls who have undergone the purification of the senses and that of the spirit. As long as this test is not completed, it can be held for certain that union does not exist, if not as a transitory fact, which could absolutely take place outside ordinary conditions, at least as a state of prayer. But the purification of the mind which must precede the mystic union, can precede it and occur at the very beginning of contemplation.
This first mark would therefore not be entirely and constantly peremptory.
Another, brought by the same author, seems even less practical. It consists in that the united soul is lost in God with all its powers!. For first of all we have already, with Saint Teresus and Saint Francis of Sales, challenged to union this distinctive character of linking all powers; and second, would Punion take away this ligature, how to distinguish the loss of powers that would be in this state, from the total suspension that can take place in peace, drunkenness and other mystical transports?
To consider only the fullness of the suspension, it seems difficult to clarify the difference.
The third mark is the intimate, profound, unshakeable certainty given to the soul in union, that God is not only present to him, but united, truly united. From
1 SCARAMELLI, Tratt. 3, c. 18, n. 168, p. 203: The prima cosa si è, se l'anima rimane nell-orazione che fa con tutte le sue potenze perta in Dio. 2? Ibid., n. 169. The seconda cosa che deve esaminare il Direttore, per chia-
The 7908 all the clues, this one seems to us the safest and the most differentiated.
This appearance of God at the very centre of the soul brings with it his testimony and his evidence, so that it becomes impossible for the soul to doubt for a moment that God is in it, as Saint Teresis attests to us herself, and that she declares it several times
years his writings.
"God," she said, "is self-established within this soul in such a way that when it returns to it, it is impossible for it to doubt that it was in God and God in it; and this truth remains so firmly imprinted upon it, that, while it spent several years without receiving this grace from God, it cannot forget or doubt it, regardless of the effects that we will talk about later, because it is a point of great importance.
"But," you will tell me, "how did the soul see or hear this, since in this state it does not see or hear?""I reply that she does not see it then, but that she sees it clearly afterwards, not by a vision, but by a certainty that remains in the soul, and that God alone can put it. How can what we have not seen remain with this certainty? To this I have nothing to answer, except that it is the work of God; what I know well is that I am telling the truth; and who will not have this certainty, I assure him that he was not in the whole union of the soul with God, but only of one of the powers, or by some other of the rirssi being the anima che dice essere unita a Dio nell-orazione, his veramente già pervenita all unione dimore, ha da essere l'osservare se in una tal anima dopo l'orazione rimanga una certezza infallile ed indelebile che ella è stata con Dio e Iddio con esso lei, di modo che non aposa discredere una tal verità, ancorchè voglia, e anchorcè siale da altri contrastata, e quantunque passino mesi ed anni duplicatei, mai però not so parta da lei una persuazione si ferma.
1His Life, ch. 18.
2 Ch. int., 5th Dem., c. 1.
+ ITA - FAI a CTP. Er-
many and various favors that God does to the soul."
However, these subjective and personal statements cannot be the last word of certainty and direction: it remains to be discussed if the person is truly trustworthy and free from illusion, and for this reason the situation as a whole must be assessed, the trials suffered, the first iniquations, the journey travelled, the intimate conviction that union has been achieved, the results which attest.
In short, when a soul, raised to contemplation and in which everything reveals sincerity, a solid virtue, divine domination, has traversed the double purification of the senses and of the spirit, and that it has, for a more or less time, stationed in the first degrees of infuse prayer; that, on the other hand, it affirms with the accent of a full and indestructible certainty, not only the presence, but the inward and real union of God in the deepest of itself, and that the wonderful effects of transformation betray a new and more sublime ascension, it is no longer any more We doubt that this soul was truly raised to union.
The ecstatic union leads to the total alienation of the external senses. — Its three degrees: ecstasy, delight and theft of mind; their difference and their relationship. — Spiritual engagements and their ceremonial. — The effects of ecstatic union. — Perfection that it requires or that it brings.
I. — The simple union leaves the external senses free or
only half suspend them, by a kind of numbness
. and drowsiness. The ecstatic union binds them entirely, concentrating all the activity of the soul on the inner object of contemplation.
The feeling of divine union is thus becoming more intense here, and absorbs at this point the forces of the soul, that it goes as far as to remove the consciousness of its organic and vital operations in the body. Sometimes even he seems to remove it altogether, either by breaking the bond between them, which some doctors look as possible; or, which seems more likely, at least in principle, because the soul becomes unable to produce any appreciable manifestation in the organism that she lives and that she lives.
208 We will later consider the ecstasy as a simple mystical phenomenon, and we will specify its characters, causes, effects, duration. We are currently considering as a form and state of contemplative life. Very important distinction; for one can undergo ecstasy before being raised to ecstatic union, without even being given to achieve it.
As a special degree of passive prayer, ecstasy consists in such a vivid feeling of divine union that it leads to complete alienation of the senses. This transport which removes the soul from the organic region to absorb into the invisible world, it is God himself who determines and operates it by a sort of assemblage of the soul above herself, under the rays of supernatural light that floods and the ardour of Pamour that invites it and the press.
IL. — Three degrees are distinguished in the ecstatic union: the ecstasy itself, the rapture and the theft of mind.
The ecstasy removes the soul from the external things, the pupil and makes it flow into God insensitively and quietly, as if she were falling asleep on the bosom of her goodness.
The rapture takes hold of the soul with impetuousness and violence, suddenly abstracts all external impressions, and precipitates it, thrilling with a kind of divine stupor where wonder and love mix together, towards the vision that subjugates it with its grandeur, its brightness and its beauty.
The theft of mind, which Saint Teresis mentions on various occasions in his writings, is a delight of a special energy that produces in the soul a deeper absorption and a more sublime elevation.
Mystical authors often confuse these denomina-
1 S. LIGUORI, Prar. confess. n. 137, p. 185. In hac unione desponsationis tres sunt alii graduated diversi, scilicet, ecstasis, raptus, and elevationis spiritus.
And Saint Teresus herself, whose authority is here without equal?, observes that they are frequently applied to one and the same reality. "I wish, with the help of God," she said in her Life, "that I could explain the difference between union and rapture or elevation, or what is called theft of mind, or rapture, which is all one; for these different names, to which we must join the d ́extase, express one thing."
However, the saint carefully distinguishes them as various ways for God to invade the soul and dominate it, and we can, according to his teaching, specify the difference that characterizes these degrees.
The ecstatic union differs from the simple union in that it leaves a certain consciousness of organic life, as we said in the previous chapter, while ecstasy always takes away the total alienation of the senses.
The ecstasy is distinguished from the ecstasy itself by the way in which mental suspension is carried out. In the one, it occurs with a gentle and calm suavity, like a kind of quiet and delicious flow in God, which removes soul without his knowledge from the external trade of creatures; in the other, God suddenly fell upon the soul and wrenched it out with impetuous violence and intoxicating the feeling of bodily and sensitive life. Saint Térèse compares this prayer with a whirlwind that lifts and carries, and with an eagle that drags into his flight. "Any resistance," she says, "is impossible."
1 Pare. a SS. Trin. P. 3, D. 4, a. 3 p. 90: Oratio raptus idem omnino est, apud doctores mysticos, ae volatus seu elevatio spiritus, and ectasis.
2 S. JEAN DE LA Croix, Cant. spir. 43° Cant., p. 429: This would be the place to talk about these different ecstasy. But, as I intend only to explain these songs, I leave this work to someone else who will do it better than I do. Joint that our Blessed Mother Térèse of Jesus wrote admirably of these matters, and I hope of divine goodness that her works will be printed and given to the public shortly.
3 His Life, ch. 20, initio.
4 lbid.
For most often, without any thought warning or disposing, it is such a sudden and strong impetuousness that one feels taken away by this cloud or by this powerful eagle, and carried away one knows where."
When the irruption occurs with a violence that throws the soul into the stupor and a shudder of involuntary fear, the rapture becomes elevation or theft of mind. At the moment when it is thus invaded and absorbed, the soul feels under the empire of an irresistible power; sometimes even the body follows the movement that takes the soul, and is lifted up from the earth as by a divine attraction that Vaffranches the laws of gravity.
"There is another kind of delight that I call theft of spirit," said Saint Terèse, "the same, as regards substance, but nevertheless quite different by the way it is felt inside. It is that sometimes the soul suddenly feels such a prompt movement, and the mind is carried away with such speed, that it experiences great fear, especially in the beginnings... Think it is a slight trouble for a person in full possession of himself, to be taken away from his soul, and sometimes his body with him, as we read from a few saints, without knowing where he is going, who is taking him away, or how it is done? For, at the moment when this instant movement is declared, one does not have a complete certainty that he is from God. But, you say, there is no way to resist? No, in no way; and it is even worse when one tries it, what I know of a person who experienced it." — It is of itself that the saint speaks here.
Let us not forget that we are dealing with mystic union. At each of these three degrees, the soul, completely removed from external impressions, feels not only transported
1 Int. Chât., 6° Dem., ch. 5.
; 301 in God, but, it is the proper of these states, united to God: in ecstasy, in a gentle and quiet flow; with a strong and sudden vehemence, in delight; finally, in the flight of spirit, by an impetuous and irresistible eruption.
Although we should return to this point, when we describe the effects of ecstasy, let us note here that it can determine in the soul a growing elevation, first removing it from the servitude of the organs and leaving the imagination free; then suspending the exercise of the inner senses and plungeing the soul into a purely intellectual light; finally raising it to heights that approach or are part of the beatific vision.
If one wanted to put between the three ecstatic forms that we have indicated, not only a difference in fashion, but also a gradation of perfection, one could call ecstasy the simple alienation of the senses; ravishing, the suspension of the inner powers; and mind flight, these sublime communications that hold more of glory than mere contemplation, although it seems more accurate to stick to the commonly assigned distinction.
But then would these three forms also be part of the ecstatic union? — There can be no doubt that with regard to mere ecstasy, and the question is this: does the state of union lead to the suspension of all internal powers? Question already asked and resolved in a negative sense, in the previous chapter.
It must be admitted with all mystics that as we move forward towards united and consummated contemplation, the imagination is increasingly bound, and that mystical life participates in the release and elevation of pure spirits. But from there to exclude any imagination operation, either natural or miraculous, there is a long way. That is precisely what confirms our sentiment, for it would be us.
easy to establish by the facts! that several contemplative souls, especially Saint Teresus, have more than once enjoyed union and ecstasy without any suspension than that of the will, and that in this state they have received imaginary visions and words; yet it is known that at the highest point of ecstasy and with the entire ligature of powers, soul is accessible only through intellectual communications. IH. — Mystical authors generally agree to place spiritual engagements in ecstatic union. "To conclude these engagements, what I consider to be taking place in the delights which he gives to the soul," said Saint Terèse, "God takes it out of his senses, because she could not, by remaining united in it, see herself so close to this supreme Majesty without entering into a fear that might cost her life." Engagement is the reciprocal promise of a next marriage. On the part of God, it is the assurance given to the soul that he will soon raise him up to the glorious title of wife, and that he will associate himself in a stable and permanent union. It is usually in an intellectual vision that this ineffable prelude to mystical covenant is completed. Everything here is spiritual and divine: it is understood that God presents himself to the soul only free from all the sensitive images 4. At these heights where the demon does not reach, the ecstasy is always sure, and the soul cannot doubt that it is God even who she meets.
1 SCARAMELLI, Tr. 3, ©. 21 n. 499, p. 215: Ed in fatti sapiamo esse statiperciò concessi a S. Pietro, S. Giovanni, ad Ezechiello, ad altri profeti, e ad altre anime di molto eminente santità.
2 SCHRAM, § 229, schol. 2, t. 4 p. 546. — SCARAMELLI, Tratt. €3. 22.n. 210, p. 220. — VERHAEGE, l. 2, sect. 1, Ch. 11, p. 216.
3 Int. Chât., 6° Dem., ch. 4.
4 SCARAMELLI, Tratt. €3. 22, n. 219, p. 220: Essendo Iddio puro spirito,. non può l'anima uniti a il in visione oculare o immaginaria; ma deve uniti in estasi ed in ratto col puro spirito: e però non in altro modo che in puro spirito possono propriomente celebrasi tali sponsali.
5 Jos. LOP EZQUERRA, Luc. Myst. Tr. 5, n: 222, p. 444: Exceded hs
Sometimes, however, engagements "are accomplished in a high imaginary vision where Our Lord reveals himself under sensitive exteriors, or even in a body appearance. The history of holy souls frequently presents these kinds of stories and makes us know the ordinary ceremonial of these divine promises.
Holy [vette!, reclused, is adorned by the angels and presented to his Husband in a suave delight. The Child Jesus appears to Saint Rose of Lima?, and addresses these sweet words to him: "Rose of my heart, be my wife."
Saint Gertrude ê, already engaged, received several times, in his soul, a kiss of an incomparable suavity. Those who have read the inspired pages of the Sacred Song 4, and those especially who have studied the symbols and mysteries of mystical life, will not be surprised by these human forms of divine love.
Saint Catherine of Bologna herself kisses PEnfant Jesus, in a delicious appearance, and after centuries, the miraculous trace still remains on the lips and face of the Blessed, whose flesh
omnem dæmonis potentiam, which nequite immediate sibi spirituales potentias subripere; nec similiter bonus angelus potest; hoc enim solius Dei est.
1 Hucues DE FLore, BB. 13 Jan., t. 2, p. 158, n. 68: Testata is sic se circumornatam variate coronatamque gloria and honors, angelorum obsequio deductam, and adductam ante thronum Dei and Agni, offerentibus cam Domino sic Angelis paratam and ornatam tanquam sponsam viro suo.
2 LeonarD Hansen, BB. 26 Aug., t. 39, p. 928, n. 440: Erupit tandem puerulus Jesus in hoc canticum dramatis: Rosa cordis mei! you mihi sponsa esto.
3 JEAN LansrerG, Revel. S. Gertrud., lib. 2, c. 22, p. 135. And sæpius experta sum (pro quo tibi gratiarum actions in unione mutui amoris semper venerandæ Trinitatis offero) lineem præsuavisssimi osculi tui, in tantum quod quandoque sedenti mihi et intenti tibi in intimis, et genti Horas canonicas, seu vigilias pro defunctis, sæpe inter unum psalmum decies vel pluries prædulce osculum infixisti ori animæ meæ, osculum quod omne aromaticum excedit et mellis poculum.
4 Cant. 1.4. Osculetur me osculo oris sui.
- Cf. Martm. Kempius, De Osculis, Dissert. 3. De Osculo mystico, p. 26. — Frankfurt, 1680.
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304 virgin CONTEMPLATION, always free of corruption, but discoloured, keeps at this place a brighter tint. Here is in substance this wonder, after the relationship that the saint made of it herself.
On Christmas night of the year 1435, while praying in the church of her monastery, at midnight, it is believed that the Saviour was born, the divine Mother appeared to her, holding between her arms the adorable Child wrapped in tangential like newborns. She came to her, and with extreme kindness she laid her Son in her hands. The servant of God, delighted to possess the One whom she recognized for the true Son of the eternal Father, shewed with unspeakable joy, pressed him against his heart, and approached his face with his divine mouth, which caused him such a drunkenness, that his soul seemed to melt with pleasure, as wax melted with the rays of the sun. "This vision," said the saint, "was not in a dream, it was not imaginary, nor seen in a transport of the spirit; it was a true and real appearance, without image and without veil." However, when the virgin approached her face from the Child's mouth, he immediately disappeared, leaving her flooded with ineffable suavity, whose only memory produced an extraordinary braiding in her heart and in her whole body.
God was pleased to show how real and divine this favor had been. The lips and cheek that had touched the face of the Saviour remained coloured with a charming redness
1 Grasset, BB. 9 mart., t. 8 p.,57, n. 47-49: Præsto ei fuchet venerabilis Dei Mater parvulum in amplexu tenens Jesum, ita fasciis involutum ut infantes recenter nati solent, and ad antedictam Christi ancillam accedens, cum benigne admodum in ejus amplexum tradidit. Quæ saws. illum esse verum æterni Patris Filium, incredibili cum gaudio amplexum ei tulit, strinxit ad pectus, illiusque ori suam admovit faciem... Nam visio hæc non in somnis, non imaginaria, non per ments excessum leak; sed aperta veraque, ac sine phantasmate aut aliquo velamine manifesta. Ubi tamen suum in Infantis faciem os demisit, omnis illa visio evanu... Labra eaque faiei pars quae sacras genes contingere meruerunt, insolitum ex eo contactu trixre candorem, etc.
= , 305, which the very death was to respect; and this, his biographer adds, is all the more wonderful because the Blessed, during her life, had a tanned complexion, and after her death her face became of a livid and dark color. Moreover, from that moment on, her breath exhaled such a sweet smell that the nuns and other people with whom she was conversing were in admiration. This was even more sensitive the very night when the apparition occurred; for as soon as Catherine appeared among her sisters to sing Matines, the choir suddenly found itself embalmed with a heavenly perfume that delighted the senses and spread a salutary joy in souls.
Thus God justifies by miracles the miracles of his tenderness to souls.
The most frequently repeated sensitive sign in the spiritual engagement is that of the ring.
It is narrated from Saint Colette that she received him from the hands of Saint John the Evangelist. The Blessed Osanne of Mantua?, the Blessed Marguerite Faventine è, Saint Madeleine de Pazzi‘, Saint Angèle de Folignoÿ, the Venerable Mother Agnes de Langeacf, and others were honorable.
1 Er. JULERS, BB. 6 mart., t. 7 p. 554, n. 66: Dulcissimus ille Joannes Evangelista... detulit eidem annulum quemdam aureum, ex parte summi Regis, illum sibi presentans et imponens digito tanquam ejusdem sponsæ, qui princeps est virginitatis et munditiei.
2 F. FERRARE SYLVESTRE, B.B. 48 Jun., t. 24 p. 579, n. 97: Osannæ manum Maria Virgo apprehendens, ad Filium porrigit: ille vero in ejus annularem digitum annulum immittens eam sibi haud mediocri plausu sponsam dicavit... Adusque extremos dies in digito annulum sibi ab Christo traditum gestavit, eratque suis oculis manifestus, tametsi ceteros lateret.
3 FLORENCE PIERRE, BB. 26 Aug., t. 39, p. 850, n. 44: Appearances ei Sponsors ejus cum multa jucunditate, annulum pretiosum in manu tenens, and dixit ei: Veni, sponsa dilecta, accipe arham desponsationis æternæ; and annulo eam digito subarrhavit.
4 Vic. Pucomm, BB. 25 Mayi, t. 49, p. 227, n. 188: Claro signo indicavit quod esset a Jesu desponsata: quando quidem protenso dextero brachio manum porrexit, ejusdemque dexteræ manus digitum annularem extulit.
5 ARNAUD, BB. 4 Jan., 4 p. 205, n. 120: Desponsavit annulo sui amoris. 6 From LANTAGES, Life of the Veneer Mother Agnes, 2° P., €. 7, n. 3, t. 4 p. 387:
306 re-established by Our Lord himself of this symbol of bridal fidelity.
Blessed Raymond de Capoue! Let us know
with which this favor was granted to Saint Catherine of Siena. The Saviour appeared to him escorted by the Blessed Virgin Mary, St John the Evangelist, the Apostle St Paul, his father in the religion of St Dominique, and David carrying the sacred psalm. As this prophet drew harmonious chords from his instrument, the Mother of God, taking the right hand of the virgin and presenting her to her Son, asked her to raise her to the dignity of wife. The eternal Word accepted this prayer, took from his hand a golden ring inlaid all around four pearls and in the middle of a diamond of great beauty, and passed it to the ring finger of the virgin, saying, "I give you back my wife, the wife of your Creator and your Savior, in the faith that you will keep inviolable until the day you celebrate your eternal wedding with me in heaven." And the vision disappeared; but the ring remained at the finger of the blessed bride, visible to her alone, but to her always visible. In the presence of the mother Prioress and the whole community, she pronounced the holy vows, and received the black veil with a ring on her finger for the mark of the holy marriage she contracted with the Son of God. At the same time as it happened, Our Lord appeared to him, who, invisible to the world, gave him another ring incomparably more beautiful. It was clear from her capacity for recollection and from the tears she shed throughout the action that her divine husband had some great effects of grace in her.
1 BB, 30 April, t. 12 p. 890, n. 414 and 445: Virgo Dei Genitrix, virginis dexteram sacratissima sua cepit manu, digitosque illius ostentens ad Filium, postulabat ut eam sibi desponsare dignaretur in fide. Quod Dei unigenitus gratis annuens, annulum protulit aureum habentem in circulationo suo quartet margaritas ac adamantinam gemam superpulcherrimam euaus va, summitate includedam. Quem digito annulari dexteræ virginis dextera sua supersacra imponens: Ecce, inquite, desponso te Creatori and Salvatori tuo, in fide quae, usquequo in coelis tuas mecum nuptias perpetuas celebrabis, semper conservatitur illibata... His dictis, disappeared visio, sed semper remansit annnuus ille in digito, non quidem secundum visionem
rarr pi
The same ceremonial is found in the engagement of another daughter of Saint Dominique, of the same name, Saint Catherine of Ricci £.
"On 9 April 1549, on Easter Day, Catherine, standing in her cell, about morning dawn, Jesus Christ appeared to her covered with glory with a shining cross on her shoulder and a magnificent crown on her head, accompanied by the glorious Virgin Mary her Mother, Saint Mary Magdalene, Saint Thomas d'Aquinas and another blessed of her order. His cell was filled immediately with dazzling light and a multitude of gracefully dressed angels, who stood tidy in the air, carrying various musical instruments in their hands. In the sight of so much majesty, Catherine was seized with great fear, and having fulfilled the requirements of obedience, she bowed three times to the earth to worship Jesus. Then the Most Holy Mother of God prayed to her divine Son to take Catherine for her wife. Jesus readily consented, and while the Most Holy Virgin presented her with the hand of his humble fiancée, he drew with his own ring finger a brilliant ring, which he placed himself at the index finger of Catherine's left hand, saying to her: "Daughter, receive this ring as a pledge and a testimony that you are mine and that you will always be mine." And as Catherine, wishing to show her gratitude, could not find an expression that responded to the favor that she had just received, the angels suddenly drew such a sweet melody from their musical instruments, that it seemed to her that her cell had become paradise. Jesus then urged the practice of humility, aliorum, sed tantum secundum ipsius virginis visionem. Confessa etenim, lilet verecunde, mihi sæpius est quod semper annulum illum viebat in
digito nec unquam leaks tempus in quo non vienderet. 1 SeraArino Razzi. (Excerpt from the Life of Saint Catherine of Ricci, by the
R-P. H. Bayonne, t. 4, c. 10, p. 169.)
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308 the obedience, of all Christian virtues, and after having made him taste some of these pure and intoxicating joys of the spirit which he reserves to his beloved wives, he disappeared with all his procession."
Here is a last line that offers less historical debt than the previous one, but so full of charm, that we do not resist the desire to share it with the reader.
It is narrated from Saint Catherine, martyrdom of Alexandria, that before she had received baptism and was still hesitant about the Christian faith, she saw in a dream the Blessed Virgin Mary carrying the Child Jesus between her arms. The divine Mother offered the still pagan virgin to her Son; but he turned away saying that she was not beautiful. Catherine awakened and understood the meaning of this vision. She therefore received the sacrament of regeneration; after which Our Lord appeared to her a second time during her sleep, in the presence of her glorious Mother and of a multitude of angels, and trusted her by giving her a ring which the virgin found in her hand when she woke up!
No matter how extraordinary they may seem, the facts of this kind are so numerous that there would be recklessness to contest their existence, and a ridiculous prudence to make a scandal of their only possibility.
But can we, if we want to, admit, with Scaramelli?
1 Perrus de NaraztBus, Catalog. Sanct. Lyon, 1542, f. cum: Vidit in somniis, cum Matre virgine Christum ultra omnem pulchritudinem speciosum. Cui dum Dei genitrix Katharinam offerret in sponsam, Christus eam repudiavit eamque non esse pulchram asseruit... Iterum eidem Mater cum Filio sole splendidiore and coetu angelorum appeared, Mater Filio sponsam obtulite, and ipse eam uti pulchram, and decoram ac purificatam accepit, eamque colesti annulo subarrhavit. Excitata virgo annulum sibi in digito reperit, and matri cum gaudio ostendit.
2 Dirett. mist. Tratt. 3, ©. 22, n. 212, p. 220: È vero che Gesù Cristo appearsendo visibilmente ad alcuni Santi e ad alcune Sante, l-ha sposate seco in altro modo sensibile, con porre loro in dito il sacro anello. Ma questo rigorosamente non può dirsi sposalizio dell-anima con Dio; ma più tosto
a pegno dello sposalizio che a tempo opportuno averebbe Iddio celebrato con esso loro.
The EXTATIC UNION E and others, which these sensitive manifestations presuppose and attest, but do not constitute the very act of marriage, which, according to them, is always carried out in a high intellectual vision.
IV. — We shall indicate elsewhere the backlash of the ecstasy on the body, and its general effect on the soul. We must now report on the effects of the ecstatic union. Better than all other signs, they are used to characterize and make it recognize.
The effects that follow simple Punion, namely: the transformation of the soul into God and the supernatural jubilation, are first to be found, but enlarged. In ecstasy, the flow in God is such that it removes the soul from the organic functions, and drunkenness that bleeds so great, that it remains suspended entirely on the object that delights it.
In addition to these fruits, we will also note the following, of which we borrow the precise from the P. Philip of the Most Holy Trinity t, because it seems to us to summarize what the authors. mystics, and in particular Saint Teresus, wrote on matter.
It counts seven. The first concerns the body; we will not say anything about it here. The second is an ardent desire to serve God, a desire that surpasses those whom one may have experienced in the lower degrees of contemplation. The soul that has seen and tasted God in ecstasy, would like all creation to burst out in admiration and praise, and it would gladly sound his voice in all the universe to celebrate divine grandeur and friendliness. The third
1 Sum. Theol. myst. P. 3, Tr. 4, D. 4, a. 5, t. 3 p. 123: Secundus performed is accensum Deo inserviendi desiderium... Tertius performed is multo major contemptus mundi, quam fuerit in præcedentibus orationis gradibus... Quartus performed is notitia tum divinæ Majestatis, tum propriele infirmitatis... Quintus performed is fieryissima sitis Dei liveis... Sextus performed is pæna maxima, sed- deliciosissima... Septimus performed is quidam men~tis jubilus and quidam graduated orationis extraordinarius.
310 is a sovereign release and contempt of all that is earthly and finite; creatures are priceless as much as they lead and raise up to God. The fourth, which we believe should appear in the first line, is a resplendent knowledge of God, and, on the other hand, an intimate view of human infirmity. These are, so to speak, two parallel tables, one of which narrows as the other grows. The fifth is a burning thirst for God, an extreme desire to possess him without reservation or interruption. The sixth is a painful and delicious wound all at once, by which the soul becomes taken and flogged by God. This wound can immediately precede the mystic union, as we have said in speaking of this divine touch; but it is mainly in the ecstatic union that it occurs and that it is deep. Finally, the seventh is mystical joy, which we have already reported. Sainte Terèse sums up almost all of these effects in the xIx chapter of her life, in which she tells the wonderful state where she was delighted. "This prayer and union, she says, leave in the soul such a great tenderness, that she would like to melt, not in pain, but in tears of joy which she sheds. She finds herself bathed in these tears without having felt them, and without knowing when or how they sank. She has an indescribable pleasure in seeing the impetuousness of this fire soothed by water that activates. This will appear to be Arabic, but it does. "Sometimes, in this degree of prayer, I found myself so out of my mind, that I didn't know whether it was a dream, or whether the glory I had felt was a reality. But when I saw all the water flooded with tears, which flowed out of my eyes without any pain, and
1 Cap. 19, p. 61: Queda el alma de esta oracion y union con grandisima ternura, de manera que querria deshacer, no de pena, sino de unas lagrimas gozosas.
D this
With so much impetuousness and abundance that this cloud of heaven seemed to pour it through torrents, I could see that it was not a dream. This took place in the beginnings, while this prayer lasted little.
"The soul remains so courageous, that if it were to be broken up for God at the moment, it would be a great consolation to him. These are the heroic promises and resolutions, the vivacity of desires, a sincere horror of the world and the clear view of its nothingness, and this with more advantage and sublimitity than in previous prayers, resulting in an increase of humility in particular for the soul. For she clearly sees that this excessive and grand favor is not the fruit of her industry, and that she has nothing to do neither to attract it nor to retain it. So it recognizes itself sovereignly unworthy; and, as where the sun gives in full, spider webs cannot remain unnoticed, here the soul likewise penetrates the bottom of its misery; and the vain glory is so far away, that it seems to it that it can have. She sees with her eyes the little or the nothing she has given; for it is hardly if there has been from her simple consent, or rather it is despite her, so to speak, that she has closed the door to the senses, so that she may enjoy more perfectly her God. Staying alone with Him, what does she have to do if not to love Him? She no longer sees, she no longer hears anything, unless she makes extreme violence; and few things are able to turn her away and please her."
V. — These magnificent effects tell enough what perfection supposes and brings mystical delight into the soul. Sensitive and spiritual purifications, indispensable for achieving simple union, precede ecstatic prayer more strongly, and accuse in the subject who receives it an advanced virtue. To this it is necessary to add that contemplation rarely begins with such a high prayer, and that it prepares the soul for this sublime ascent in it.
_ 342 5 shall first climb at least some of the intermediate degrees. But, indeed, it is not the duration of time, it is rather the divine outpouring of faithfully accepted grace, which is the true measure of inner sanctification. By the abundance and intensity of his gifts, God can replace in a short space of time, in a moment, if he wants, with a long effort of virtue. He preferably performs this miracle in pure souls, in which the brightness of innocence has never been tarnished.
No matter how high the souls raised to ecstasy have been in holiness, this favor is not a sure guarantee of fidelity and perseverance. We have observed it by appreciating the inferior states; we will even have to say it again, speaking of marriage, which forms the climax of mystical life: as long as the journey goes on, there is no absolute certainty nor definitive security.
Through sanctifying grace, God becomes the bridegroom of our souls. — The usual feeling of this union is mystical marriage. — Difference between this state and the previous ones. — Restrictions on its perfection and
— The way in which this sacred marriage is celebrated and concluded: the appearance of the Most Holy Trinity and union with the Word. — Justification by the theology of the descent and cohabitation of the Trinity in the soul, — and the title of Spouse attributed to the Word. — These mysteries are fulfilled in the very center of the soul. — This ceremony is renewed.
I. — These are the most holy things that the creature is given to conceive and declare: it is necessary to raise his mind and heart up to heaven, to be up to the height, to the light, to the purity that is suitable for such a subject.
Saint Teresa, who the first fully characterized this state, and his worthy emulate Saint John of the Cross?, only decided to tremble and protest their impotence to tell about this apogee of contemplation what they had learned from their personal experience: what will the sinners who are still in the darknesss and the labors of common prayer say?
1 Int. Chât., 1st D.,eh.1: 2 Long Flame, Pref., p. 335.
Our path is set. Here as elsewhere, and more than anywhere else, we will listen and reproduce the masters of mystical life, especially the two we have just named, Saint Teresus and Saint John of the Cross.
To better understand the mystical covenant between God and the soul, let us recall what has already been said, that sanctifying grace is an admirable union in which God is the bridegroom and faithful soul.
The Song of Songs is the epithalamus inspired by the Holy Spirit to celebrate this glorious hymen. That's why St. Denis calls it the sweet poem of divine loves!, and all commentators? apply this sacred song to the union of God with the Church, that is, with our souls.
The comparison of the wedding is used several times by Our Lord, in the Gospel, to express the gifts of grace and glory. Saint Paul reminded the Corinthians that he had engaged their souls to Jesus Christ*; and in his epistle to the Ephesians * he established a formal parallel between the Saviour's union with his Church and the union of man and woman; and he concluded that this covenant between Jesus Christ and the Church is a sacrament full of mystery and greatness ^.
Christian tradition has faithfully maintained these formulas, which are enshrined in the divine Scriptures. The Writings of the Saints
1 Eccl. yesterday. ©. 3. Dulcia carmina divinorum amorum.
2 Cornel. In Lar. Comm. in Cant. cannon. x. Totalis and adæquatus sensus literalis his is of known live conjunctione Christi and Ecclesiae per fidem and amorem. Partialis literalis est de conjunctione -Christi cum anima sancta, præsertim quae studet perfectioni; hæc est enim pars et membraum Ecclesiae. Partialis principalis is from Christo and B. Virgine; haec enim is præcipua pars primumque membrum Ecclesiae.
3 Matth. xxn, 2; xxy, 10. Luc. xu, 36, and alibi passim.
4 II Cor. x1, 2: Despondi enim your uni viro, virginem castam exhibition Christo.
5 Ephes. v. 23-32.
6 Ib. v. 32: Sacramentum hoc magnum est; egoautem dico in Christo and in Ecclesia.
To d x
Doctors contain countless passages where they call marriage the union of the soul with God. A famous Spanish mystic, Louis de Léon, who has wisely written on the names of Jesus Christ, after quoting Theodoret and Saint John Chrysostom applying the title of bridegroom to Our Lord invigorating our souls in the Eucharist, adds: "It is not only Theodoret, it is not only St John Chrysostom who kept this language; it is almost all the holy Fathers: St Irenaeus, St Hilaire, St Cyprien, St Augustine, Tertullian, St Ignatius of Antioch, St Gregory of Nyssa, St Cyrille, St Leon, Photius and Theophylact."
To these names we can add other no less illustrious ones, those mainly of the many commentators of the sacred Song, such as: Origen, who, in the testimony of St Jerome?, seems to have surpassed himself in his six homilies on the poem of Solomon; St.Ambroise, St.Anselm, St. Bernard, the pious Rupert, Hugues and Richard of St.Victor, St.Thomas, Denis the Chartreux, Gerson, and with them the innumerable crowd of exegetes. We say nothing about mystical authors, all unanimous in professing and justifying this magnificent teaching.
Bossuet celebrates this great mystery in a special discourse, where his knowledge of tradition, his profound theology, his ardent faith and the incomparable genius of his word burst out. Let's just mention the entry into the matter.
"The wife's name is the most compelling and gentle of whom Jesus Christ can honor the souls whom he calls to the holiness of his love; and he could not choose a
1 Names of Jesus Christ in the Scriptures, ©. 17, p. 365 (trad. by Abbé Postel). #
2 Interpretatio homiliarum duarum Origenis in Canticorum Canticorum, Præf. Migne, t. 23, Col. 117: Origenes cum in caeteris libris omnes vicerit, in Cantico Canticorum ipse se vivit.
3 Address on the union of Jesus Christ with his wife.
name cleaner than that of a husband, to express the love he bears to the soul, and Pam that the soul must have reciprocally for him. It remains to be seen where their covenant is made, and how they unite together."
So to dissipate from these images is to deny Scripture and the entire Christian tradition.
IL. — Hugues de Saint-Victor! goes so far as to claim that spiritual marriage is not a mere comparison having less reality and truth than human marriage; but rather it is this one which is shadow and figure. If marriage is great, it is especially between Jesus Christ and the Church. All that comes together with intimacy, fertility, joy and greatness in the earthly unions, is only coldness, impotence, sadness and lowness, compared to the union of God with our souls.
We have already said, this incomparable union is accomplished in the mystery of grace, and the enjoyment of it is reserved for glory. Grace is the promise and like the deposit of eternal weddings, as Hugues de Saint-Victor expresses himself in another place. That's why
1 De Sacramentis, l. 2, p. 41, ©. 3, t. Two, collar. 482: If ergo magnum is quod in carne est, majus utique is quod in Spiritu est. If recte per Scripturam sanctam Deus sponsus dicitur et anima rationalis sponsa vocatur, aliquid profecto inter Deum et animam est, cujus id quod in conjugio inter masculum et feminam observatoire, sacramentum et imago est... And hæc ipsa rursus dilectio qua masculus and femina in sanctitate conjugii animis uniuntur, sacramentum est and signum illius dilecteis qua Deus rationali animæ intus per infusionem gratiæ suæ and spiritus sui participationem conjungitur,
2? De amore Sponsi ad Sponsam, t. Two, collar. 987: Sed quaris quisnam sit ist talis sponsus, and quae sponsa ejus? Sponsus is Deus; sponsa is anima. Tune autem ponsus domi is quando per internum gaudium mentem replete; tune recedit, quando dulcedinem contemplationis subtrahit. Sed qua similitudine anima sponsa Dei dictur? Ideo sponsa, quia donis gratiarum subarrhata. Ideo sponsa, quia casto amore illi sociata. Ideo sponsa, quia per aspirationem Spiritus sancti prole virtutum fecundanda. Nulla is anima quae hujus sponsi arrah non acceperit; sed is quaedam arrah communis, quaedam specialis. Communis arrah is quod nati sumus, quod sentimus, quod sapimus, quod discernimus. Specialis arrah is quod rege-
Go.
- splendour of St John' shows us, in the illuminations of glory, the Lamb's Bride adorned for these divine weddings, of which all sanctified souls will have the enjoyment after the supreme judgment that will suspend and crown all trials, and that each one already celebrates by taking possession of the bliss of heaven.
However, even here below, God gives, when and to whom he pleases, a more or less vivid feeling of his covenant with the soul. When this consciousness is transitory, it constitutes a simple union or ecstatic union, depending on whether it leaves the soul mastery of itself or throws it into a transport that stops the exercise of its senses and powers. If it becomes continuous and permanent, it is the spiritual marriage, a sublime and special state whose existence is expressly affirmed by Saint Bernard?, Richard of Saint-Victorÿ, Saint Laurent Justinien‘, Saint Teresus, Saint John of the Cross, and by all the mystical authors who came after them".
This degree that consumes mystical ascension can therefore be defined: a supernatural and permanent feeling of God's presence in the soul, and of his union with it. The proper character of spiritual marriage is in this stability and in this continuity of consciousness, which is given to the soul, of its union with God.
nerati sumus, quod remissionem peccatorum conseccuti sumus, quod charismata virtutum accepimus.
1 Rev. xx, 9. Veni, and ostendam tibi sponsam uxorem Agni.
2 Serm. in Cant. passim.
3 Quartet grad. Rape. Charit. Migne, pass. 1216.
4 Of spirituali and well-known Verbi animæque casto. Paris, 1554, fol. xem.
8 Chåt. int., 7th Dem.
6 Long flame and spiritual songs of the same and of Jesus Christ her husband.
7 ŠCARAMELLI, Tratt. 3, C. 23, n. 221, p. 223. Altro che questo non hanno voluto significare S. Bernardo, S. Lorenzo Giustiniani, S. Teresa, S. Giovanni della Croce, e tutti i Dottori mistici che sono venuiti dopo loro, chiamando questa unione col titulo di Matrimonio spirituale dell的 anima con Dio.
HT. — It is easy, according to this notion, to establish the difference between the perfect union and the simple union and the ecstatic union.
The simple union gives the soul a deep but fugitive feeling of its union with God, without the abstract entirely from the region of the senses. In ecstasy, this enjoyment becomes so lively and compelling, that it absorbs all the attention and all the forces of the soul, which deserts the body to dive into and lose itself in the supernatural vision that delights it. But in one and the other of these states, the consciousness of union is temporary, and ceases with the divine touch that determines it. In marriage, on the contrary, it becomes stable or at least usual.
It must be understood, says Saint Térèse!, that there is a very great difference between the vision of this house and that of the previous ones, and that the spiritual engagement does not differ less from this divine marriage than the condition of the brides does not differ from the condition of those who can no longer separate... In the engagement one separates quite often; and, although there is union, this favor passes quickly and the soul is without this company of Our Lord, I mean that she no longer has the feeling. But in marriage it is not so; the soul always abides with God in this center of itself where he resides."
IV. — Two reservations, however, are to be made here: one concerning the perfection of this mystic union, the other concerning its permanence.
First of all, it is indisputable that the consciousness of the divine union, for the lively and brilliant as it is, does not reach, at least as a habit, the clarity and enjoyment of glory. God makes himself felt, he reveals himself even in half a day to the loving soul; but he does show himself
1 Int. Chât., 7th Dem., cb. 2.
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not face to face; it is not possessed with the fullness of the
final beatitude. To use the language of authors
Mystiques!, borrowed elsewhere from the Sacred Song, these are rather repeated visits and caresses of hope than the perfect enjoyment of love.
If God's communications sometimes rise up to the glorious vision, it is never just a transient phenomenon, while the marriage in question here is a state, a state whose dominant character is to be stable and habitual. So there is not yet, neither in light nor in joy, the supreme fullness. This is what makes theologians say that mystic marriage is to glory what the marriage concluded (ratum) is to consummate marriage (consummatum). The consumption of spiritual marriage is therefore reserved for glory?.
The continuity of the feeling that reveals union with God is not so perfect either, that it does not suffer any interruption.
Saint Teresus, who had the experience of this holy state, points out that "this presence of the Holy Trinity does not constantly manifest itself with perfection and evidence of the first time and of some occasions where it pleases the divine Goodness to renew this favor, because, if it were, the soul could no longer care for anything else, nor even live among humans. But, although it is not always with the same clarity, the soul, according to her, is
1 RICHARD. A S. Victor. Quartet grad. Rape. Char. Col. 1218. Sæpe sub hoc status, Dominus visitat, sæpe interna suavitate satiate, spiritusque sui dulcedine inebriat. Sæpe sub hoc status descended from coelis, sæpe visitat sedentem in tenebris and umbra mortis, sæpe gloria Domini implet tabernaculum foeæderis. Sic tamen suam préæsentiam exhibet ut faciem suam minimal ostendat.
2 Pumipp, a SS. TRIN. P. 3, Tr. 3, D. 4, a. 9, t. 3 p. 324: Maxima is hujus matrimonii spiritualis animæ cum Deo et matrimonii corporalis, rati quidem, sed non consummati similitudo: tantum enim matrimonium spirituale consummatur in gloria.
320 finds, whenever she thinks of it, with this divine company. It can be said that the soul is like a person who, being with others in a very clear apartment, would stop seeing them, if the windows were closed, without she ceasing to be sure of their presence. Perhaps you will ask me if it depends on her to find the light and vision when she wants it."No, it is not in her power; it is Our Lord who opens the window of understanding at her own discretion. He has given her enough mercy to never withdraw from her, and to want her to know so clearly!"
This cohabitation, or rather this feeling of divine presence and union, therefore does not mean any interruption, either through sleep, which suspends the regular exercise of conscious life, or during the day before, by external occupations that call attention to the outside. According to Schram °'s remark, made also before and after him by other authors, it is only by comparison with the lower states, in which God only rarely appears and stealthily, and because of the relative frequency of his manifestations in the state of marriage, that, in the state of marriage, union is said to be stable and permanent, although it does not persevere significantly with absolute continuity, as well as loving and faithful spouses, who do not distance one from the other but rarely, are supposed to live together and never separate.
1 Int. Chât., 7 Dem., c. 1.
2 S. JEAN DE La Croix, 18th Cant., p. 444: This union is not always present in this life, but it is sometimes interrupted.
3 Theol. myst. § 333, schol. 2, t. 4 p. 556. Ex his sequitur solummodo matrimonium hoc spirituale non verificari absolute in via, sed tantum comparative. Nam, ut vinculum illius censeatur in substantia perseverare, non-requiritur ut per determinatos actus continuos, sed aliquando sufficientes et mort non recissos peruret; imo ut cum omni sua perfectione matrimonium perseveret, sufficit ut per actus amatorios moraliter frequentes, veluti conjugalis cohabitio continutur.
321 We will examine further, speaking of its effects, whether this perfect union can be broken, either from God or from the soul.
We will add here, with Alvarez de Paz!, that the perseverance and intensity of union are not equal in all: more than in any other matter, absolute laws are forbidden in these high regions where love knows no law but itself.
V. — How does this mysterious and sacred marriage come about?
According to Saint Terèse, who described to us at the last residence of his INTERNAL CHATEAU the way in which the mystical alliance is celebrated, the ceremony opens with the visit and cohabitation of the Holy Trinity in the very center of the soul; it continues and ends with the apparition, the proposal and the acceptance of the Word of God as a bridegroom.
"The soul is therefore introduced into this home by an intellectual vision. Then, by a certain representation of the truth, the three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity appear to him, with a radiance of flames which, like a very bright cloud of light, first go to his mind. She knows, by an admirable knowledge given to her, that these Persons are distinct, and she hears with a sovereign truth that they are all three but one substance, one power, one wisdom and one God; so that, what we know by faith, the soul knows here, we can say, by sight, although the soul sees nothing from his eyes of the body or his inner eyes; for there is not here an immagi-
1 De grad. contempl. 1. 5, P. 3, ¢. 14, t. 6 p. 612: No est (hæc visio} brevis et quasi transiens, sed satis longa et per multum tempus protracta: nam mensibus et annis et usque ad finem vitae, non tamen in eadem intensie, in aliquibus justis solet durare: unde et interdum per modum habi-
tus datur, ut anima quoties voluerit se colligat ad Deum in interioribus am, and Domino visions and affectione juntta persistat.
I think it's a good idea. There the three Persons communicate to the soul, speak to it, and give it the understanding of these words that Our Lord says in the Gospel, that He, his Father and the Holy Spirit will come to dwell in the soul that weeps and keeps his commandments!"
The appearance of the Augustus Trinity is only the prelude or condition of the spiritual contract: the covenant itself is concluded between the soul and the Word. Saint Bernard? expressly affirms this wonderful conjunction, and indicates the reasons for it. Saint Laurent Justinien wrote one of his most important writings on spiritual life: SPIRITUAL AND CHASTE MARRIAGE OF THE VERBE AND THEAME°. The reformer of Carmel is very explicit * on this point, and all the mystics who followed reproduce this doctrine.
This teaching is not surprising.
And first of all, let the Holy Trinity descend and appear in the contemplative soul, is it surprising, since it is a doctrine commonly professed in theology that, by sanctifying grace, the three divine Persons take possession of our souls and live there as in their temple? The testimonies recorded in Scripture are numerous: this is not the place to produce them; even more are those which one can collect from Catholic tradition, and it would be a long work that we would undertake if we wanted to quote the statements of the Fathers and Doctors. Origen, saint
1 Int. Chât., 7th Dem., c. 1.
2 In Cant. Serm. 83,n. 2 and 3, p. 425; Jam vero animæ reditus conversio ejus ad Verbum, reformandæ per Ipsum, conformandæ Ipsi... Talis conformitas maritat animam Verbo, cum cui videlicet similis is per naturam, similim nihilominus Ipsi is exhibited per voluntatem, diligens sicut dilecta est. Ergo so perfecte diligit, nupsit... Vere spiritualis, sanctic known bii contractus is aristist. Parum dixi contractus; complexus is... Sponsus and sponsa sunt, etc.
3 From spirituali and well-known Verbi animæque casto.
4 Int. Chât., Te Dem., c. 2.
5 Empty apud Psrau, Theol. dogm., l. 8, c. 3, and sq.
Athanasius, Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Didymus the Blind, St. Vasil, St. Gregory of Nazianze, St. Ambrose, St. Gregory the Great, St. Bernard, then the multitude of
Scholastics, St. Thomas at their head, would come to lay down
in turn in favor of this cohabitation of the divine Trinity in our souls through grace.
It is true that the Mystics do not merely assert that the soul, in these sacred weddings, receives the feeling of the Trinity already present in it; they speak of a present coming and of a special presence of the three Persons, because of the alliance that occurs between the Word and the soul.
These assertions are consistent with the most severe theology concerning grace and the Trinity. Supernatural grace is, in essence, a participation in the divine life that constitutes and connects the People of the adorable Trinity. This communication, having the dominant character of being a work of love, is attributed by appropriation to the Holy Spirit, who represents in the divine essence the movement of Pamour, and forms his temporary mission in souls.
But the theologians wonder whether it is necessary to count, on the part of the sanctifying Spirit, as many new missions as it is made of internal increments of grace, and they commonly respond that, if the common and regular increments do not constitute missions, at least one must look as such at the extraordinary effusions?, among which they especially rank the gratuitous graces, and consequently the transition from a mystical state to a state of grace.
2 S, Tuomas, 1 P., q. 43, a. 6 ad 2: Etiam secundum profectum virtitis aut augmentum gratiæ fit missio invisibilis... Sed tamen secundum illud agmentum gratiæ præcipue missio invisibilis attenditur, quando aliquis proficit in aliquem novum actum. vel novum status gratiæ; ut puta, cum aliquis proficit in gratiam miraculorum aut prophetiæ, vel in hoc quod ex fervore charitatis exponit se martyrio, aut abrenuntiat his quae possidet, quodcumque opus arduum aggreditur. ~
Other significantly higher'. The elevation to spiritual marriage clearly fulfils these conditions, and therefore it is easy to interpret why this new state, the most sublime in the order of grace, takes a present and prominent descent from the Most Holy Trinity to the most intimate of the soul.
VI. — Theology also explains why the title of spiritual bridegroom is particularly suitable for the Word. The reasons she claims to establish the propriety of the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity are sufficient to justify the title of Spouse of the souls she is still given; and, indeed, these reasons seem to be more convincing here.
Marriage combines two similar beings and melts them into a common life. Now, of the three divine Persons, the closest to creatures, mainly reasonable creatures, is the Word, type of creation, the idea in which God the Father contemplates his divinity and according to which he realizes all that he does outside. The Word is therefore the husband best suited to the reasonable creature.
Another reason. Elevated by grace to the participation of divine nature, intelligent beings become the children of God and heirs of his goods, enjoying the light, life, and beatitude of the Holy Trinity, of which the Father is the first principle. That is why the Father has taken as his example and mediator of this new sonship the very Son whom he begets in the splendors of eternity, thus making the sonship freely realized in time, the continuation and the effect of the essential and eternal filiation. Through this union, the Word will communicate the life it receives from
1 Suarez from Trinit. 1. 12, ©. 5, n. 48, p. 813: Deinde assero quando gratia ita augetur extensive ad peculiares performed and actus, sive ejusdem gratiæ sanctificcantis, sive gratis datæ, aut specialis potostatis supernaturalis ut specialize sanctifyingcetur in ordine ad tales actus, tune ad illam fit proprissime missio etiamsi prius faita fuerit.
323 his Father, and thus become the procreator of divine life in souls.
This beautiful theology, which is that of the Fathers! and the Doctors?, makes heard and fully justifies why mystic marriage always ends with the Word.
And as what distinguishes this divine covenant from the common grace that unites all sanctified souls with God, it is a certain consciousness of this union and its permanence, this insignia favor always presupposes a supernatural manifestation of the Word to the soul, by which he declares himself his Spouse and declares her his wife. "The contract of a spiritual and holy marriage is really made between the soul and the Word," said Saint Bernardÿ. "It is not enough to say a contract, it is a perfect union." And further on, "When then you see a soul abandoning all things to adhere to the Word of all its vows, living only for the Word, acting by the Word, conceiving by the Word what it must bear for the Word, and which can say: "Jesus Christ is my life, and to die "is a gain to me," greet the bride, the bride of the Word."
Indeed, it is not only the Word, the Divine Person, but the Word clothed with our humanity, Jesus Christ Our Lord, who becomes the true husband of souls. This union of the Word incarnated with souls is only the ex-
1 S. Arnan. l. de Incarnatione. — S. Acusr. Tract. 17 in Joan. — S. J. Damasc. de Fide orthod. l. 4, C. 4. — S. BERNARD. Serm. 4 of Advent.
2 S. AxseLm. l. de Inconsid. ©. 4 and lib. 2. Cur Deus homo, ©. 9. — RICHARD. A S. Vicr. l. de Verb. incarn. ©. 9 and sq. — S. THomas, 3, q. 3, a. 8. — SUAREZ, from Incarnat. Disp. 12, sect. 4, n. 3, t. 17, p. 462.
3 In Cant. Serm. 83, n. 3 p. 425: Talis conformitas maritat animam Verbo... Vere spiritualis sanctic knownbii contractus is aristist. Parum dixi contractus: complexus est.
4 Ibid. Serm. 85, n. 42, p. 434. Ergo cum vigris animam, relictis omnibus, Verbo votis omnibus adhærere, Verbo vivre, Verbo se regere, de Verbo concipire quod pariat Verbo; quae posit dicere: Mihi vivre Christus est, et mori lucrum: puta conjugem Verboque maritatam.
Tension and the conclusion of his union with human nature; for the Word was united with the flesh only to reach souls, to make them partakers of his life, and to bring with them and with them all creation to his Father.
Saint Térèse says that this apparition of the Saviour is first representative, and ends with an intellectual vision. "The first time Our Lord has done this grace, His Majesty wants to show himself to the soul through an imaginary vision of his most holy humanity, so that she cannot doubt the insignia of which he honors. For others, it may be in another form; but it appeared to the person whom I am speaking about, as she had just communicated, with that splendour, beauty and majesty that burst in him after his resurrection; and he told him that it was time to think only about what was looking at him, that he would take care of her, and other words that it is easier to feel than to express... He appears in the centre of the soul, not by an imaginary vision, but by an intellectual vision even more delicate than the previous one, in the way that, without entering through the door, he presented himself to the apostles when he addressed these words to them: "Peace be with you."
This was the case for Saint Teresus; but it may be otherwise, as she herself observes in this place. Nor does it seem to us essential that the Word always appear with the outsides of humanity, although for the ordinary it is Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word, who appears and takes the title of bridegroom.
In short, let's say with the Father. Scaramelli? two.
1 Int. Chât., 7th Dem., c. 2.
2 Tratt. 3, ©. 24 n. 237, p. 230: Necessarie indispensabilmente pare che debbano essere le due cose seguenti..Primo, una preventiva visione intellettuale della santissima Trinità, per cui si stabilca la coabitazione di Dio con l'anima nel di lei centro, perchè questa pare necessaria a questo divino stato. Secondo, che l'anima a tempo opportuno abbia una visione intelellet-
Only things seem essential to the perfect union of which it is concerned: the first is the intellectual manifestation of the Most Holy Trinity and the consciousness of its cohabitation at the very centre of the soul; the second is the revelation of the Word, still by intellectual vision, with words and testimonies that warn the soul that it raises it to the dignity of wife. It does not matter whether the two apparitions are simultaneous or whether one occurs before the other, provided that the covenant between the soul and the Word is contracted in the presence of the Augustus Trinity. At least, in logical order, it is the Trinity that appears the first to prepare and witness this holy union.
VII. — Holy Teresis! adds that the revelation of the three divine Persons and of the adorable Husband is accomplished in the very center of the soul, as St John of the Cross expresses by the substance of the soul. Saint Angel of Foligno? reverses the expression to give the same idea; according to her, it is the soul that is immersed and lost in the midst of the Trinity.
tuale del divino Verbo insieme con qualche locuzione medesimamente intellettuale, che in qualche senso sia mutuo consenso e scambievole tradizione di ambedue, e che poi Siegua tra questi due spiriti l ́unione strettissima ed insolubile di amore. Quinso vi sia tutto questo, già pare che vi sia quanto basti alla sostanza di questa divina unione, ancorchè manchi la vista di Gesù glorioso.
1 Chåt. int., 7th Dem., c. 4: "When therefore it pleases Our Lord to grant to a soul the grace of this divine marriage, he makes it first enter into his home, and he wants to be to her in a way other than in the delights which he has already favored and in which he united her with His Majesty, and in the prayer which I have called of union, where it does not seem to the soul that she is called of God to enter, as in this home, to the same one of herself, but only to her upper part.
2 48th Cant., p. 444... The usual union she has with God according to its substance.
3 ARNAUD. BB. 4 Jan., t. 4 p. 197 and 498, n. 76, 78: Video enim sanctam Trinitatem in tenebra, and in ipsa Trinitate quam video in tanta tenebra, vietur mihi quod ego stem and maneam in ejus medio... Consequencer, postea elevata sum in spiritu et inveni me totam intus in Deo, modo alio quam nunquam consueverim et viebatur mihi quod eram in medio Tri-
Nitati.
328 All these formulae are intended to translate, as much as
This is allowed to the infirmity of our human language, lin-
The character of the union between God and the soul. All-
John of the Cross attributes to this expression, "the
the deepest center of the soul,» a party interpretation-
We must not hide it from the mystic. Commenting on this verse of his Vive FLAMM!:
"The soul," he said, "assuring that it is struck in its deepest center, suggests that it has other less profound centers...
"We call here the deepest centre of the soul, the last bounds where its nature, its virtue, the strength of its operation and movement can reach, without being able to pass further; in the same way as the last term where the stone can arrive by its natural property, without going beyond, is its center. But as the stone can remain in several depths of the earth, without going down to the last, where its gravity could precipitate it, and so it can be assigned several centers, deeper than each other, likewise the soul has several centers, which we will expose in this way. God is his center; if she arrives to Him, according to all her essence and all the virtue of her operations, it is certain that she has reached her deepest center; which is true when she knows God, that she loves Him with all her strength, and that she has full enjoyment of it. But if she has not yet ascended to this high degree of perfection, she abides in God by her grace and by the communication that he makes of herself; but she still has the power to move beyond this measure, and so she is not.
Sen Canta SN peA
Not in its deepest center. She has to pass through several degrees of love to enter. For it is love that leads to it, which finally is very perfect to God. And as there are several degrees in this love, the more the soul has gone through, the more deeply it is in God; and these different progresses or different dwelling places in God make the different centres of soul. Some are deeper than others, in proportion to the degree of love being more perfect; and when the last degree is in its consummation, the soul is in its deepest center of all, that is, it is all penetrated by the lights of God, all burning with the flames of his love, and in some way similar to him... Thus, when the soul says that the flame of divine love touches it into its deepest centre, this language means that Divine Pam causes it very deep wounds in its substance, in its virtue and in its strength."
VII. — The ceremony of this union is repeated several times, at the will of the heavenly Husband. Sante Terèse has already taught us that the Divine Goodness renews this favor from time to time!.
It is narrated in the life of Saint Gertrude, by John Lansperg °, that this admirable virgin who once expressed to Our Lord, at the moment of communion, the desire to renew in this sacrament the spiritual marriage which she had contracted with Him through faith, religion and virgi-
1 Int. Chât., 7° Dem., ch. 1.
2 Vilæ and Revelationum S. Gertr. l. 4, ©. 29 p. 516: Feria tertia Paschæ, dum communicatura, desideraret a Domino ut per idem sacramentum vivificum renovare signaretur in anima ejus matrimonium spirituale quod Ipsi in spiritu erat desponsata per fidem and religionem, nect non per virginalis pudicitiæ integritatem; Dominus blanda serenitate replied: "Hock, inquiens, inquitant fapiam." Sicque dintissime inclitis ad eam blandissimo affectionu eam ad se stringens osculum prædulce animæ ejus infixit: per osculum renovans in ea interiorem spiritus exercitationem; per amplexum autem printer viebatur pectori ejus monile quoddam splendidissimum gemmis pretiosis mirac vermiculatione exornatum.
The divine Husband bowed down to his soul with a delicious tenderness, gave him a witness of their union again, and left him, like so many precious pearls, with the most abundant spiritual gifts.
A similar fact is read in the life of Saint Angèle de Foligno, dictated by herself to Brother Arnaud, his confessor, Franciscan religious. "In a sickness," said this blessed woman, "as I very much desired to be in communion, one day of the feast of the holy angels, and that there was no one to bring me the sacred Body of the Lord, I felt an extreme pain. To temper my sorrow and desire, I began to think of the angels, whose feast it was, the praises they give to God, and the ministry they fulfill before his throne. Now, suddenly I find myself raised up and led by a multitude of these heavenly spirits before an altar: They said to me, "This is the altar of the angels!" and they showed me above their own praise, that is, He who is all praise; and they added, speaking to my soul, "In Him who is on the altar are the perfection and complement of the sacrifice in which you desire to take part. So prepare yourselves to receive the bridegroom who has already given you the ring of his covenant and who has declared you his wife: he wants to renew this divine marriage at this moment." I cannot say what I felt with joy, for my soul felt the whole truth of these words and received a delicious failure that cannot be expressed."
These wonders of God's love for his creature confuse human thought, and yet the sanctified souls carry in them all these glorious mysteries, whose clear vision will make the delight and beatitude of eternity.
1 BB. 4 Jan., t. 4 p. 205, n. 120: Præpara te ad recipiendum illum qui te desponsavit annulo sui amoris et conjugium jam factum est; and ideo de novyo modo vult facere conjugimentum et copulam.
God reigns over the soul through his enlightenments and inspirations, and, making it like him, imparts to him a wonderful beauty. — Supernatural and substantial touches. — The plagues of love. — Deep peace, constant equality, heroic virtues. — Inner Suavities; Does spiritual marriage exel ecstatic transports? — It confers relative impeccability, but not absolute. — The role of the Eucharist in the mystical covenant.
I. — All that God can spread of gifts and riches upon the soul sanctified by his grace, before P introduces into the splendors of glory, meets at the height of the mystical ascension of which we speak.
A first observation, which we have already made in considering union in general, is that all the favours of the previous states are found at this summit, but enlarged, supermindful, consumed; and, moreover, this state calls for others that are its own. However, if
4 Pricxpp. To SS. TRN. P. 3, Tr. 1, D. 4, a.6,t. 3 p. 130 Tandem omnes alii performed precedentium orationis unitivæ graduatedum possible unioni
These spiritual goods, though, are always likely to increase, and are presented with a great variety in the privileged ones who reach these sublime heights.
We can only sum up the wonderful effects of mystic marriage, indicating to those who wish to deepen the various points of view the admirable pages of Saint Teresus and Saint John of the Cross on this subject.
The first effect, the most immediate effect of the divine covenant, is to establish, between the Word and the soul his wife, a perfect community of goods. On the one hand, the Bridegroom communicates to the bride all her merits and all her riches, and she only lives to bring the glory of her Bridegroom. Let's hear Holy Teresus:
"Our Lord," she wrote, "having shown himself to me in the most intimate of my soul, through an imaginary vision, as he had often done, gave me his right hand and said to me: "Look at this nail; it is the mark and the pledge that from this day you will be my wife; until now you have not washed up; from now on you will have care for my honor, not only seeing in me your creator, your king, and your God, but also looking at yourself as my true wife. From this moment on, my honor is yours, and your honor is mine."
And soon after: "While I was at the foundation of the monastery of Seville, Our Lord said to me: "You know the spiritual marriage that exists between you and me; by this bond, this
fruitivæ atiribui tanquam propri, sed in quadam perfectionis eminentia quae in aliis gradibus non reperitur and cum exclusione plurium imperfectionum quae in aliis gradibus inveniuntur. Alii quippe graduated unionis sunt quaedam disposed præviæ ad istum ultimum and in hac vita supremum ordinatæ. Unde virtualiter ac eminenter omnes illos continens, omnium illorum performed in prædicta perfectionis eminentia causat.
1 Additions to her life by herself.
RE e -i - = be e rs
which I possess is yours, and so I give you all the pains and labors that I endured. By virtue of this gift, you can ask my Father, as if you were asking for your own good." I already knew that we were partakers of the sufferings and labors of Our Lord, but I understood it in a very different way; it seemed to me that I remained with a great apanage or empire; and the friendship with which the divine Master granted me this favor was such that it was impossible for me to express it here. I saw that the eternal Father admitted this gift; and from that time on I considered in a different way what Our Lord had suffered; I looked upon him as a good that belonged to me in his own right, and my soul drew a great consolation from it."
Another consequence of the perfect union is that God reigns as ruler over the soul that has become his wife. He reigns by a powerful illumination, where he communicates intimate secrets to the wife whom his tenderness identifies with himself, revealing to him what is hidden in the highest mysteries of faith, such as the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Eucharist, grace and glory. He reigns over her by the holy inspirations that rule and direct her; for in this state, without the direction by his ministers receiving any harm, in the end, it is God who is the sole guide of this soul?
This brightness of the divine face in the depths of the soul makes it an atmosphere of light that penetrates the intimate of its substance and gives it an incomparable
1 Puiurpp. a SS. Tran. P. 3, Tr. 4, D. 4, a. 6, t. 3 p. 129: Septimus performed is mirabilis splendor lucis quo Deus fidelibus served, imo dilectissimis amicis sui, in hac unione fruitiva constitutis, pleurra celestium veritatum arcana manifeste.
2 SCARAMELLI, Tr. €3. 25, n. 244, p. 232: Iddio a queste anime è vita della loro vita, esso con ispirazioni secrete fin dalle, intimo le muove, directs, the gouverna, the indrizza in tutte le loro operazioni, e siccome il sole posto in mezzo del cielo diffonde la sua luce alla Luna, alle stelle, ai pianeti, e tutte le creature; e tutte attorno le illustra coi suoi splendori, etc.
s A ra
Beauty. The gaze of the soul plunges into the abyss of divine perfections, and God in turn rests with complacency his eyes on the creature enriched with the gifts of his love. Then arise between the bridegroom and the bride these reciprocal exchanges of admiration and praise which we read in the Holy Songs, where the sacred Sunamite celebrates with transport the beauty of his Beloved?, and the mystic Solomon, in a language that scandalizes the fleshly men, because they do not hear it, exalts the beauty of his wife.
In fact, God's beauty becomes the beauty of the soul, and the beauty of the soul makes God's beauty shine out in this union where divine life flows over the creature until it makes it perfectly similar to its principle. The Apostle's words are already fulfilled: "When he appears to us, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is." If the resemblance is not yet complete, it is that the vision will be complete only in glory.
Let us hear St John of the Cross explaining this verse in one of his songs *:
"Here is the meaning of these words," he said, "that is, If you change me into your beauty, I'll see you in your beauty, and you
PHILIPP: To SS. TRN. P. 3, T. 4, D. 4, a. 6, t. 3 p. 198: Quintus performed is perfectissima animæ in Deo suaviter unitæ pulchritudo.
2 Ibid., Tr. 3, D. 6, a. 1, p. 449: Mire sponsi sui pulchritudinem commendat anima contemplativa; and not semel, sed sæpius; non solum ipsi colloquiens, sed alios etiam alloquens, non tantum verbis generalibus, verum etiam descriptionibus mibiliser expressis.
3 Ibid., a. 4 p. 438. Non solum sponsa suum laudat Sponsorsum, sed vicissim ab eo laudatur, and frequentius and amplus... Propterea, cum in sacro Canticorum Cantico sponsa tantum semel and iterum laudet Sponsi pulchritudinem, qui tali laude crescere non potest, Sponsus ipse passim sponsæ pulchritudinem exaltat, ita ut nullum sit caput in quo talis pulchritudinis elogia non continantur.
4 I Joan. m, 2: Charissimi, nunc filii Dei sumus, and nondum appeared quid erimus. Scimus quoniam cum appeared, like ei erimus, quoniam emptibimus eum sicuti est.
5 36° Cant., p. 472.
I will also see you in your beauty; you will see yourself in me in your beauty, and I will see myself in you in your beauty: so it will seem to me in your beauty that I will be yourself and you will be myself; it will seem that your beauty will be mine, and mine will be yours; and in your beauty I will be one thing with you, and you will be one thing with me."
If all this seems subtle, it is less to the mystical authors that one should take it than to the very nature of these intimate operations of divine love, and to those infinite delicacy that despair the human language.
IE. — So filled, beautified, impatient and desired, what can the soul do, if not rush and get lost in the infinite abyss of divine perfections? To activate this movement, God himself turns it on and calls it with supernatural touches of unmatched power and sweetness.
The most perfect substantial touches are indeed part, according to St John of the Cross, of the testimonies of love that the divine Spouse gives to his wife. "The bride tells us this mystical doctor," calls the ability she asks to love God in a very perfect way, "because this breath is nothing but a touch of God or a feeling that the Holy Spirit gives her by communicating to her. Then he lifts it up and carries it up, so that it sends to God sighs of love, imitating the mutual love of the Father and the Word, whose substantial term is the Holy Spirit which is given to the soul in this transformation, which would not be consumed if the soul were not united with the Holy Spirit and transformed into him. It is true that the lowness of this mortal life prevents the transformation from being made in a clear and manifest way; but the soul does not allow it to be received: 1 39th Cant., p. 477 and 478.
336 SIXTH DEGREE: THE SPIRITUAL MARRIAGE Š a glory and joy so extraordinary that no one can understand or explain them."
And the reason for these sublime touches is to produce in the soul a movement that lifts it up and mix it with the reciprocal relations of the three divine Persons. "It is not to be astonished," says St John of the Cross, "that the soul can do such a raised thing; for since God himself leads her to the divine union in the Most Holy Trinity, why, I pray you, would it seem incredible that she herself would produce acts of knowledge and love in the Trinity and with the Trinity that have some connection with the Trinity itself, although she does all this only through participation and the cooperation of God? If one asks how this is done, one cannot answer anything else, except that the Son of God has earned us this admirable elevation and we have obtained it from his Father, when he said (Joan. xvu, 24): "Father, I desire those whom you have given me to be where I am," knowing, by doing by participation what I am doing... God accomplishes all this by communicating to perfect men the love which he communicates to his Son, not by nature as to his Son, but by the unity and transformation of love. The Son does not also ask that they be one by nature and by nature, as the Father and the Son are one, but by union of love, as the Father and the Son are one by unity of love. From this comes that souls possess by participation what God has by nature, and that they are in any way God through the participation of divine nature."
The full enjoyment of this divine life spread in our souls through the grace of Jesus Christ is the sharing of glory; only souls raised to mystic union receive from here-low an anticipated feeling, which is to them as an essay of heavenly beatitude +.
1 SCARAMELLI, Tr. 3, ©. 26, n. 252, p. 234. Fa Iddio alla sua sposa in
IL. — The divine touches, when reaching the soul, make it look like an injury, as we have said in speaking of these kinds of keys called love wounds. But in the stable state of marriage, it is no longer a temporary and rapid excitement, it is repeated blows that mark in the soul, no longer wounds, but wounds, and eventually multiply to make the whole soul a single wound. Suave and blessed plea, which mortifies the living forces of nature and removes from it any other feeling than that of life and divine love.
But let us allow the doctor who best described them after Saint Teresus to speak about these mysteries of holy love: "O DELICIEOUS PLAY!" exclaims Saint John of the Cross!. He who makes the plague heals it himself, and he heals it when he does it. It is, in some way, like an iron all red of fire; when it is applied on a wound it increases, and it makes it a wound of fire; and if it continues to be applied, the wound widens and deepens in such a way that it finally destroys the body that received it. Similarly the cautery of divine love heals the sore of love that he has made to the soul, and it increases every time it is applied. For the remedy that love uses to heal the soul that he has injured is to hurt her more, and multiply her wounds until the soul is only a universal wound. In this way, the soul being more than just a questo stato grazie si alte e si sublimi che non solo sono fabatto rimote da ogni cooperazione de ensei, ma sono anche superiori al ministerio isistso degli Angeli... Di questa specie sono certi tocchi che Iddio fa nella sostanza dell anima. Già da questo se intende che l-anima dildo in questi tocchi a diletto molto like al gaudio de-beati, e un saggio della patria celeste.
1 Long Flame, 2 Cant.,
O cauterio suave! O regalada plaga! O mano blanda! O toque delicada! That in vida eterna sabe, Y toda.deuda paga, Matando, muerte en vida lo has trocado. DOI SH i
love plague, and by this means being all changed to plague and love, she is healed. For it is the nature of this divine disease that the one who is most wounded is the most healthy, and the one who is all covered and all penetrated by wounds is healthy in all its parts. Gela does not prevent this divine cauterus from exercising his virtue over the soul every wounded and every healed; for he softens his wounds, he rejoices in his healing in the way we have explained. That's why she exclaims: O DELICIOUS PLATE! So it is so sweeter and more delicious that it comes from a more sublime and eminent love fire. It is the Holy Spirit who is the author of it, who does it, so that the soul may be cast into a sea of delights. O happy plague, since the hand that makes you heals you! O pleasant wound, since you only cause to soul unconceivable pleasures! You are exceedingly great, because He who makes you is infinite; the joys that you spread in Passus are boundless, because the fire of divine love is boundless. So, with a delicate wound, and all the more exquisitely delicate as you descend deeper into the center of the soul, so that this sacred fire may fill with ardour and pleasure all its substance and all its powers! It can be said, after that, that this cautery and wound are the highest degree of love where one can ascend in this state. There are, however, several others, which have nothing so high or similar to it. For it is God who flows into the soul and touches it, without using ghosts that the imagination can form."
IV.—God's sovereign dominion over the soul, now his wife, establishes him in a holy equality that no longer knows the fluctuations and troubles of the lower part. The senses remain submissive and silent, both inside and outside. Passions suspend their movements or act only with tranquility and sweetness. The
1 SCARAMELLI, Tr. 3, ©. 25, n. 243, p. 231: Animated in question, the fantasy
The waves of human impressions and futility do not disturb or import it, nor do the rivers that flow into the sea increase it or cause it to overflow, according to the comparison of Saint John of the Cross 4.
Detached from all that sevanonates, from all that does not interest the honor of her Husband, she feels no other desire than to obtain her glory. She has ceased to be to herself, she only lives by her conformity of thought and wants with the God who possesses her, governs her and Panime?.
From there results in the deepest of itself a peace imperturbable, a kind of impassability that no excitement manages to disturb, a serene immobility sheltered from winds and thunderstorms °.
Dead to herself, living only for the God she loves, the soul enters as naturally into the exercise of heroic virtues. For details of practical applications, we refer to P. Philip of the Most Holy Trinity, who devotes a whole treatise of his mystical theology to this interesting subject. Let us note only that this heroism has as its principle the love of God until forgetfulness and self-despite, and the invitation that the bridegroom makes to the bride in the day of their marriage.
suol essere ben ordinata e le passioni soglino stare sogette alla volntà. Di ordinario, in esse l ́irascibile non si muove, perchè è addolcita da gran diletto; la concupiscile non si sveglia, perchè è pasciuta da gran soavità.
1 30° Cant., p. 465.
2 Par, a SS. TRIN. 3. P. Tr. 4, D. 4, a. 6 p. 127: Tertius performed is oblvio quaedam sui, quasi non esset; sic enim anima in Sponso suo diligendo and honorando jugiter occpatur, quod sui curam totaliter deponat; unde pro se nec honorem, nec vitam, nec coeælum procurat, et quidquid ei accidit nullum fatidium afferre potest, nec ullo modo pacem ejus turbare, etc.
3 Ibid. Secundus performed is maxima tranquillititas ac veluti immobilitas animæ; sicut enim coelum empyreum non movetur ad as aliorum inferiorum, sed est omnino immobile, sic anima, in centro sui collecta tempore orationis unionis fruitivæ, manet velut immobilis and caret motibus illis quos in aliis gradibus patiebatur.
4 P, 3, Tr. 2, t. 3 p. 134-278. — Præamb. p. 434: In hoc quippe status intimæ unionis animæ cum Deo, virtutes omnes sunt in gradu herooico.
to look after only the interests of his glory.'
V. — The inner suavities of the illuminations and caresses of the heavenly Husband are inexpressible? This divine joy is without concussion, without external noise or radiance, it penetrates and intoxicates soul; but, far from agitating it, it adds to the serenity and assurance of its rest, through the feeling that it gives it of the intimacy and stability of its union with God. Everything is quiet and silent within the soul, as it was in the past during the construction of the temple of Solomon, where no sound of stone or hammer was heard: this is the comparison used by Saint Teresus. From the intimate background where God resides springs a peaceful but overabundant source, of ineffable voluptuousness +, which floods the soul and beatificia.
Are these drunkennesses going as far as ecstasy? This is a controversial point among mystics.
We do not know any author who completely excludes ecstatic transports from the state of spiritual marriage. The greatest number simply affirm the rarity of these phenomena at the last degree of union. Saint Térèse ÿ, Saint John of the Cross, Alvarez de Paz, Philip of the Most Holy Trinity*, profess this sentiment.
1 St. Térèse, Chât. int., Te Dem., ch. 3. This soul has such a self-forsakenness, that it seems that it no longer has to be, because the transformation that has taken place in it is so total, that it no longer knows itself. She does not think of the bliss of heaven, or of life, or of honor; but she is all concerned with the glory of God. We see in his life the faithful fulfillment of these words that Our Lord said to him: "Take care of my interests, I will take care of yours."
- What? Pamer. To SS. Taw. 3. P. Tr. 1, D. 4, a. 6, t. 3 p. 129: Sextus efes ctus is abundantia divinæ suavitatis, sed ineffabilis.
3 Chät. int., 7th Dem., c. 3.
4 WANT Paz, De grad., contemplative. 1. 5, P. 3, ©. 14, t. 6 p. 613. Ex illo cast iron which is in secreto animæ, quasi torrens voluptatis manat which substantiam istam terranam percurrens, eam irrigat and exhilarat.
8 Chåt. int., 7° Dem., c. 3.
6 Long flame. UT Supra, C. 14, D. 613: P. 2, Tract. 3, D. 1, a.1,t.2, p. 285.
Joseph Lopez Ezquerra clearly assumes the opposite, since he discusses the characters and causes of the ecstatic ascension which, according to him, is customary in the state of spiritual marriage.
Fr. Scaramelli? is inclined in the same direction, without dared to openly contradict the previous authorities. He claims in his favour a remarkable passage from Saint Bernard*, and historical facts; then he tries a conciliation between the two assertions, apparently very opposite, by reducing the exclusion of the above-mentioned masters to the only impetuous delights; and he concludes by recommending to the directors not to be surprised if they meet, at these heights, souls who no longer have ecstasy, and others who still experience it.
This practical conclusion breathes wisdom.
On the one hand, it is in no way repulsive that the highest contemplation occurs without alienation of the senses: Our Lord has enjoyed in his mortal life the beatific vision without ever suffering the failures of ecstasy, and the elect will keep in the bliss of heaven the full use of all their outer and inner powers, as well as teaching theologians #. The cause of the ecstatic suspension being in the insufficiency of the soul's forces for re-
1 Lucern. myst. Tr. 5, ©. 29 p. 124: From mirabili elevatione corporis, quae animabus in status Matrimonii spiritualis consistibus évenire solet,
2 Tr. 6, c. 29, n. 268-273, p. 242.
3 In Cant. serm. 85, n. 13, p. 434: In hoc ultimo genere, interdum exceditor, and seceditor etiam a corporeis sensibus, ut sese non sentiate quae Verbum sentit. Hoc fit, cum mens ineffabilis Verbi illecta dulcedine, quodam modo se sibi furatur, immo rapitur atque elabitur a seipsa, ut Verbo fruatur.
Suarez, De Relig. Tr. 4, l. 2, c. 15, n. 4, t. 44, p. 190: Igitur quod non sequatur naturaliter ectasis ex contemplatione, quantumcunque perfecta, suaderi potest, primo quia si sequeretur naturaliter, maxime sequeretur ex visione beatifica communicata animæ informi corpus mortale; sed ex jlla non sequitur. Ergo ex nulla contemplatione sequitur. Major patet, quia illa is summa contemplatio, and maxime vietur rapere totas animae vires
At the same time laying down to the vision that delights her inside and to the organic functions of the outside, one understands that the increase of the internal forces, the habit of supernatural communications can free her from these failures, and that, reaching the top of the perfect life, the soul contemplates with unalterable serenity the visions that once threw her into the violence of delight.
However, as long as the soul is in the infirmity of the journey, it would have reached the highest point of perfection, it is likely to receive divine illuminations and impulses that exceed its strength and force it to desert the senses!.
The last word is the facts. If, after surely having seen the elevation to the perfect mystic union, we still see ravishing, we will only have to affirm also one and the other. Let us be careful only not to argue the existence of spiritual marriage from outside of a great virtue: there is no necessary connection between these two states, which can survive one without the other. The free facts are not shown, they are shown.
VI.—No matter how close a union with God in the Deo. Minor autem probatur quia Christus Dominus habuit illam visionem toto tempore vitae mortalis sine ulla abstracte a sensibus. Item animæ Beatorum unitæ corporibus non habebund suspensionem a sensuum actionibus, ratione visionis. Is autem in eis eadem ratio quantum ad hoc quod omnes vires animæ rapuntur in illa visione and vix ad illam sufficiunt.
2 PHILIPP. A SS: TRN P. 2y Tm 3a DIE C A E p285 AONO tur mens in principalipo revelatas sibi divinas veritates intuetur, talibus non asseta and novitate quodammodo perterrita, Dei majestatem admiratur and admiration suspenditur; sed postquam fuerit prædictis favoreurbus asseta, cessat admiratio et suspensio, quia, ut communiter dicitur, ab assuetis non fait passio. Quod and ipsa probatur experientia. Nam cum ecstasy and raptus in proficientibus in hac vita illuminativa sint frequentiores, in viris pèrfectis in via unitiva sunt rariores, quamvis etiam in perfectissimis contingant, aliquaando ex eminenti and inusitata Dei manifestatione; aliquaando, non ex novitate manifestationis, sed ex impetu amoris, quo voluntas in-
flamatur circa bonitatem cognitam, and extra rapture anima flamemis amoris succensa.
343 spiritual marriage, some wonderful transformations that the soul is raised to this state, it is not entirely assured against the inherent failures of the traveling creature. It still remains subject to imperfections and to the sin of surprise; but God preserves it from deliberate venial sins!, and puts it in a kind of moral impotence to separate itself from him by mortal sin?. The extraordinary and overabundant graces that the divine Husband pours upon her are a surety of inviolable fidelity.
However, impeccability is not absolute, not only with regard to slight errors committed with full advertence, but also with regard to serious sins that give death to the soul and separate it from God.
Saint Teresa ë summarizes all this teaching in the following words: "Neither do you think that, despite these great desires and this resolve not to commit an imperfection for nothing in the world, these souls do not commit many, and even sins; not, however, with advertence; for Our Lord must give them special assistance for this purpose. I speak of venial sins; as for mortals, in what they can see, they are free of them; though not assured of having them who escape their knowledge, which is not a little torment to them. Another, no less, is to see souls lost, and though they have great hope
1: Scaramelli, T. 3, ©. 25, n. 250, p. 233: Quest is animated avvertment non peccano may, neppur venialmente. Dissi avvertmente, perchè mancando la piena avvertenza, commettono anche esse molte imperfezioni ed anche peccati leggieri.
2 Ibid., ©. 23, n. 226, p. 225: E chi non vede che in tali anime vi è un œ impassità morale a fare il male, purchè lo conoscano, ed a lasciare la via della perfezione, a cui sono quasi connaturalmente inclination per abito, e so strongly incitate da una potentissima grazia? E pero convien dire che sia in esse un- antecedente impassibità, non fisica che distractgerebbe la loro libertà, ma morale, a separarsi da Dio, recata loro da quel! unione
perfettissima, che con lo stesso Dio le ha si strettamente congiunte. 3 Int. Chât., 7° Dem., ch. 4.
344 SIXTH DEGREE: THE SPIRITUAL MARRIAGE of not being of this number, however, when they come to think of some of which the Scripture speaks, which seemed to be the object of divine favors, as a Solomon, who had such sublime communications with God, they cannot defend themselves, as I said, from a feeling of fear. Thus the one among you who believes himself to be the most confident must fear more, according to the word of David: "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord!" May the divine Master always keep us! The begging that he will give us the grace to never offend, is the greatest assurance we can have."
Philip of the Most Holy Trinity!, a faithful interpreter of his Seraphic mother Teresus, hears this fear of salvation in the soul raised to fruitive union, of the moments when the divine Spouse takes away from him the feeling of his presence and union, to test his fidelity, to add to his merits, and to return it to the common condition of the journey where fear is always mixed with love; and he declares that, according to the
1 Theol. myst. Disc. proæmialis, t. 4 p. 52: Quintum est, utrum in hoc sublimi gradu theologiae mysticæ, quo ad unionem Dei fruitivam pertingit anima, reddatur certa quod sit in status gratiæ and in numero electorum. — Respondetur, quod nullus sciat an amore, an odio dignus sit, absque speciali revelatione, and multo minus absque prædicta revelatione scire posit se esse de numero electorum; his tamen sublimis statis in quo Deus sic animæ tanquam sponsæ se familiariter manifeste quodammodo viendum, and communicant fruendum, -exigit ut Deus eidem animæ revelet evidenter quod sit in status gratiæ, and quod in numberero electorum computata, perveniet ad coronam gloriæ. Ita communius affirming doctores mystici. Explicitly docet S. Laurentius Justinianus, Tractatu de Casto knownbio Verbi et animæ, ©. 14, dictation: "Property effective certus, etc...." and cap. 25: "Sponsa of thalamo ascendit in cælum, and of cælo jugiter descendit in thalamum; non pavida, no de salute incerta, ingreditor sponsa in supernorum mansionem, sed tanquam in dilecti domum and in propriom possessionem." Quod efficaciter suadetur ratione quadam analogica, etc... Hæc licet vera sint, sæpius tamen contingit quod, maximo transacto tam sublimi theologiae mysticæ exercitio, recedat ab anima tam pretiosa propriosa sanctificationis et électisis sibi revelatæ notitia, dum aliquando dilectissimus ejus sponsus latet, ete... Unde quamvis in hoc sublimi statut, dum amor est actu perfectissimus, timerem penitus excluded..., renso tamen amoris tam perfecti actu, solet aliquado timor rendre. KE
ENCORE 2nd rs, EC FAN = CS er ,
which form all divine essence? Don't we have the view?
of the Word and its ineffable union with the soul?
What's missing?
He lacks perfect intuition and full enjoyment of the divine essence. It lacks absolute certainty that we will not fall from this happy state. It lacks the deliverance of the bonds of the body, whose animality is still an obstacle, and which could not long sustain the entire and continuous radiation of glory.
But in this essay where God begins to reveal himself, why can't the light burst sometimes until it gives the soul a glimpse, a half-view of the final beatitude?
God's veiled essence is claimed to every mortal man. But the true divine essence is not a God in three people, and have we not found that the supreme degree of mystical ascension regularly takes away, from the confession of all, a view and manifestation of this mystery?
The words of Scripture are invoked, the word of God to Moses! "No man can see me and live," and that of St John?: "No one has ever seen God."
The law is formal, it is true; but is it absolute and without exception of any kind? There is room for doubt. Isn't it also a law that, once dead, you don't come back to life until the day of the general resurrection? And yet Scripture and history show us many facts of the dead recalled from the tomb.
But our flesh, it will be said again, cannot sustain the brilliant irradiation of the beatific vision."It may be difficult to rigorously demonstrate this infini-
1 Exod. xxxm, 20. Rursum has: Non pottery empty faciem meam: no enim emptybit me homo and vict. 2 Joan. 1, 18: Deum nemo vidit unquam; unigenitus Filius, which is in sinu Patris, ipse enarravit. 457
radical body shape. Our Lord's soul was glorified from the first moment of its existence, and nevertheless linked to a flesh that was punishable. That if one uses a perpetual miracle to explain in Man-God the coincidence of passibility and glory, could not the same coincidence occur transiently in a mere mortal, by virtue of a rare and temporary derogation?
The possibility, moreover, being doctrinally out of the question, the whole question comes down to this: Did God declare that the act of glorious intuition, although it does not in itself imply repulsiveness, will never be realized in any living man, without exception any? — An absolutely exclusive answer would seem to us severe and questionable.
These exceptions, moreover, cannot be numerous, because of the privileges of the mystical alliance, because, on the one hand, the elevation to this sublime state is very rare; and, on the other, in this very state, the concession of the clear view of heaven is even more rare.
One last remark, which we consider important, is that knowledge of the divine essence does not exclude gradations, and that it can occur without going to fullness, without reaching to the finished proportions of glory. Just as there are degrees between the vision of one blessed and that of another, there may be, in the same subject, between such and such an act of intuition, although all these intuitions also concern the divine essence.
It doesn't matter whether one looks at contemplation as inseparable from sanctifying grace, or whether one places it among the free graces compatible with the state of sin. Whether the light whose soul is invested in contemplative degrees is a resplendent of the inner grace or the effect of an extrinsic illumination, the result remains what it is; and in particular, the one that characterizes spiritual marriage,
to the revelation that the soul receives from the presence of the three divine Persons in the center of itself, from its special union with the Word, and from the permanent feeling that it keeps of this presence and this union. If God can make communications of this nature to an unsanctified soul, why can he not give him the view of divine essence temporarily?
Moreover, to those who claim that the soul defiled with sin is inaccessible to the illumination of glory, far from opposing any denial to them, we would merely remind them that, in our view, the united contemplation, even more than the purely intellectual knowledge of glory, is incompatible with sin.
The definitive conclusion that we draw with the majority of theologians therefore amounts to saying that the manifestation of the divine essence does not belong to the regular series of mystical graces; with this reservation however that contemplation goes, through its natural progress, to the revelation of glory, and that God can sometimes grant this favor, either fully, or partially, but always in a transitional way.
The facts which are alleged in this sense are therefore, in our view, questionable, and must be rejected only because of insufficient evidence, and not solely because of considerations of principle and doctrine.
IV. — Let us, in concluding this chapter, look back at the successive gradations of contemplative prayer, to recognize its unity and harmony.
Unity is in purpose, and that goal is union.
God first calls the soul, collects it and makes it attentive to the intimate and supernatural manifestation of its presence. He fills it with graces, in this divine trade, and he ignites holy desires, making the feeling of his presence more and more vivid. From this feeling he lifts up to the consciousness of union, first quick consciousness and
356 contained, then irresistible and absorbent, though still temporary, finally almost uninterrupted, but calmer and deeper at the same time, winning in serenity what it gains in height. It's the hall of heaven.
Is the soul ever introduced into the temple, before the end of the journey, to contemplate there face to face, even with a stealthy look, the mysteries of which it already receives at the bottom of itself a partial revelation? The reader knows what we think, what he is allowed to think about this momentary anticipation of glory and this apogee of contemplation.
Why we place the study of the conditions preceding contemplation after that of contemplation itself. — Necessity of purifications
— The extent to which these tests have been carried out. — The extent to which they have been carried out. — The extent to which they have been carried out. The
The principal is the suppression of the radiance of inner devotion, on the senses in sensitive purification, and on the spirit in spiritual purification, — the absolute necessity, for souls undergoing passive purification, of prudent and skilful direction. — Signs forerunners of contemplation. — Conduct of the director.
I — We have made known the contemplation, its successive ascension, its splendors and its suavities; we still have to describe the terrible trials that must be experienced before we taste this delicious rest.
It may seem strange that we have dealt with contemplation before assigning the conditions that precede it. The reason for this inversion is that, on the one hand, the trials that prepare for contemplative prayer are full of shadows and practical difficulties, and nevertheless of vital importance in the direction of souls; and, on the other hand, the knowledge of these foreplays would bring little light to the study of contemplation itself, while this one makes it clearer, more clearly, than that.
Accurate and easier. It is the proper demonstration of a well-conducted demonstration of the contribution of the acquired claritys to the clarification of what remains obscure.
Moreover, contemplation is the term and the end, and the purifying trials are the way, the means; and the way is only well drawn when one looks at the term; the mean wa of meaning and scope only by its relation to the end.
II. — It is the unanimous teaching of the Mystics that a soul is raised to the various states of contemplation only after having been subjected to prior purifications that destroy in it obstacles to divine action.
Who knows? Sin has deeply disturbed our nature. The revolt of the spirit against God has been counterproductive in the revolt of the senses against the spirit. By the first fall, man is detached from God and falls in some way upon himself; by the second, he falls even lower, and his reasonable soul descends to the rank of the brute, whose whole life is in the flesh t. Man is plagued with pride and sensuality, constantly stumbling between these foolish elevations where he is equal to God, and these ignoble downs where he is equal to the beast.
By the effort of virtue and the help of grace, he rises up, rehabilitates himself, and as he reorders in his soul, he brings peace and dignity back to it; he binds himself to God through obedience and humility, and subjects his senses to the yoke of reason through the exercise of temperance.
1 Bossuer, Treaty of Concupiscence, c. 15, p. 316: So this is the fall of the whole man: like a water that flows from a high mountain first on a rock baut where it disperses, so to speak, to the infinity, and rushes to the deepest part of the abyss, the reasonable soul falls on itself and is precipitated to what is from the lowest. This is a true picture of the fall of our nature, We feel the last effect of it in this body that burdens us, and in the pleasures of the senses that captivate us. We find ourselves below all this, and truly slaves of bodily nature, we who were born to command it. This is the end of our fall.
GENERAL OVERVIEW 359 This purification and restoration work lasts all life; but in the beginnings it is harsher and more difficult. First of all it is the direct resistance to the flesh to subject it to the spirit; then it is the repression of the unreasonable ascension of the spirit against God. A bitter struggle, full of perils and anxieties, in which the Christian fights against himself and emerges from the gross slags of sin. This first phase of virtue was, for this reason, called the purgative state, in the sequel, it is the light that prevails;? 2 later, lamour: hence the names of illuminative life and of one-life given to the last two transformations. In short, active perfection is an ascending step towards union with God and a gradual preparation for the fullness of divine life that will burst into glory. Only then will purification, enlightenment and union be consumed. But we have already pointed out that contemplation is in the order of one-life, and that it is like a prelude to glory. It therefore requires a very advanced purification, all the more profound and effective since it is itself higher and more perfect. It is a general law with few exceptions +. To accomplish this purification to the proper degree, the human effort?, aided by common grace, is not enough, 1 SCHRAM, t. 4, § 246, n. 2, p. 495 (Literally borrowed from Godinez, p. 130): Unde rarisismus is contemplativus tributaries deliciis which non transierit per aliquem tramitem derelictionis; quare si contemplatatio sine hac dispositione superveniat, vel non erit diutturna, vel exceptio a regula generali. To SS. Trix. Sum. theol. myst. P. 1, Tr. 3. Præamb., t. 4 p. 347: Quamvis, Dei berantis benedictionibus adjuti, tam affectionum quam cogitationem, ipi Deo cooperantes, industria nostra purgare possimus, haec tamen purgatio superficialis admodum and satis imperfecta erit, si Deus ipse totum purgationis opus quasi propriorum non sussepserit, ita ut ipse sit solus primus et proximus, universalis et particularis agens; and our gratia ejus roborati divinam ipsius actionem purificativam patientes... ut sic purgati pravis dispositionibus, et sarcina culprum exonerati, facile et fru-
ctuose divinas impressiones suscipiamus ac promptius ac delectabilius in via perfectionis procedamus.
Nor does the momentum of active virtue suffice to raise up to the heights of contemplation. God must put his hand to it, and through a special action of his supernatural providence, he must cleanse the soul, free it from the servitude of the senses and illusions of the spirit, and give it a free and full boom towards the divine things. That is why the trials that have to contemplation are called by the PASSIVE Purging Mystics or Purifications.
They consist! in a series of external and inner tribulations, which fill the soul with anguish, give it to all the assaults of concupiscence, men and demons; throw it as in a burning crucible that consumes its filth, its fleshly instincts, its own life, and from where it comes out pure, resistant and brilliant as Por, animated by a new life, entirely flexible to the action and inspirations of God.
They are intended to restore in man the balance broken by sin, by subjecting the flesh to the spirit and the Spirit to God; for there man is whole, with the two elements that make up his being, in harmony and subordination commanded by reason.
There are therefore two purifications to be performed in man to raise him up and unite with God: the purification of the senses and the purification of the spirit. The first ends the division that wrestles both parts of man, the second completely subjects man to God.
As a person subject to the impressions of the senses, he lives in a life of body and animal life; as a person who is not a person of the same nature, he is a person of the same nature as a person of the same nature.
1 SCARAMELLI, Dirett. Mist. Tratt. 5, ©. 1, n. 10, p. 344. Queste purghe passive consistono in aggregato di grandi aridità, di tentazioni unusual, di altri travagli straordinari, si interni como esterni, che Iddio dispone con particolare providenza, a fine di abbatere a viva forza l'appetito ribelle alla ragione, di sveler gli abiti o viziozi o imperfetti, e di riordinare gli sconcerti della mente: onde resti il soggetto ben lavorato e ben disposto agsto agsussi delle celete contemplazioni.
© HIS EFFETS to eT ss the most common feeling of doctors, the most perfect union, which constitutes the culmination of mystical theology, carries not only the certainty of the state of grace, but also the assurance of predestination to glory. He relies in particular on the authority of Saint Laurent Jusünien, whose statements are express in this regard.
It would then be the special revelation spoken of by the Council of Trent, without which no one can be sure of his justification, more so because of his perseverance.
VII. — We will not conclude this rapid enumeration of the effects and wonders that are associated with the glorious state of spiritual marriage, without indicating the principal source from which they emanate and the centre to which they converge, namely, the divine Eucharist.
Philip of the Most Holy Trinity, who excels in pointing out and developing this point of view, presents the sacrament of lamour as the means by which soul contracts his divine marriage?, and calls it the wedding banquet è, the pantry 4 and the mystical layer We re-
1 Sess. 6, heading. 9: Quilibet dum seipsum,- suamque propriom infirmitatem et indispositionem respicit, de sua gratia formidare et timere potest, cum nullus scire valeat certitudine fidei, cui non potest subesse falsum, se gratiam Dei esse consecutum.
And Can. 16: So quis magnum illud usque in finem perseverantiæ donum se certo habiturum, absoluteta et infallibilité certitudine dinerit, nisi hoc ex speciali revelatione didicerit, anathema sit.
2 P, 3, Tr. 3, D. 2, t. 3 p. 326: Postquam dictum is contrahi matrimonium spirituale inter animam contemplativam and Deum, nunc dicendum is of medio quo contrahitur, quod is sanctissimum Eucharistiae sacramentum.
3 Jb. a. 4 p. 327: Sanctissimum Eucharistiæ sacramentum est mensa nuptialis matrimonii spiritualis.
4 Ib. a. 2, p. 334: Is cella vinaria colestis sponsi.
5 Ib. a. 3 p. 338: Is lectus in quo sponsus quiescit.
6 Ib. a. 4 p. 343: Is fons signatus gratiarum quae a sponso derivantur ad sponsam.
7 Ib. a. 5, p. 349: Is hortus concluded deliciarum sponssi and sponsæ.
8 Ib. a. 6 p. 356: Is thronus gloriæ in quo sponsus sociatur sponsæ.
rh A any BUAN £ \ z Re 346 SIXTH DEGREE: SPIRITUAL MARRIAGE let's not stop at these sublime and delicious considerations. Let us suffice to affirm that most of the supernatural wonders that we have just described, and especially those that concern the coronation of mystical life, begin, maintain and are consumed in the Eucharist and in the Eucharist.
It is usually after Holy Communion that Our Lord celebrates this sacred marriage with the soul, and renews, when he pleases him, its impression; it is at the moment of sacramental union that the soul receives the deepest feeling of its indissoluble covenant, and that she feels with more vivacity and power the happy effects.
The glorious vision is not part of the regular gradations of mystical prayer, and, according to the greatest number, is never granted to any living man. — Many admit exceptions. — The common opinion, true in principle, is perhaps severe as an absolute negation: Natural connection between grace, glory and contemplation. — Retrospective at a glance.
I. — Above the ineffable covenant which makes the faithful soul the bride of the Word, it has more than the vision and the blissful possession of God. This is the last term of contemplation, as well as the sign Alvarez de Paz!, following the princes of theology, Saint Thomas? and Saint Bonaventure*. And Philippe de la Trèés-Sainte-Trinité * adds
1 L. 5, P. 3, c. 45, p. 614: Ex his contemplationis gradibus non habet anima sancta quo amplus ascendant, nisi ad claram et facialm visionem Dei. Quæ licet alterius vitae sit ad quam tendimus et pro qua adipiscenda suspiramus, jure optimo grdus contemplationis ponitur, quoniam est supremum et perfectissimum, quo Deus posidetur et in quo mens intellectu et affectionu collocatur. Only in hoc singulares sumus, sed seraphicum Doctorem Bonaventuram sequimur; who septem graduated tantum contemplationis distinguished, and hunc visionis claræ Dei septimem et postremum fait... Imo, quod magis est, Thomas Aquinas eumdem loquendi modum admittit.
21209 e A75 at 40 2
3 Seven-year-olds contemplating., t. 12 p. 183.
4 P. 2, Tr. 3, D. 4, a. 5, t. 2, p. 343. Sed esto nullus viator purus claram
that this is the teaching of Scripture, of the councils, of the holy Fathers and of the whole School.
But theology still teaches, with the certainty of faith, that the intuition of the divine essence is not part of the ascending degrees of the test, and that it has never been granted, at least as a habit, to any living man, with the sole exception of Jesus Christ Our Lord!.
Therefore, there is no reason to speak of the beatific vision as a state of mystical prayer.
However, if it is certain that the usual view
The blessed is denied to the travelling man, it is not also that he cannot, by a special privilege of God, cast a quick and furtil look at his essence, and therefore enjoy, in a momentary way, the glorious vision?. Dei visionem hic habuerit, semper tamen manet quod contemplationatio supernaturalis ad claram et quidditaticam Dei visionem in patria pertingit. Hance fidem catholicam sacra Scriptura, concilia, sancti Patres, and communicate omnes theologique dicunt.
1 Suarez from Deo, 1. 9, 030 n. 3, t. 4 p. 178: De communi lege et potentia, non conceditur hominibus mortalibus clara visio divinæ essentiæ. Is assertio D. Thomæ: 1 P., q. 12, to. 11 and 19, —q. 5, a. 3, — 2.9., q. 180,a.5; is of fide.
2 Bexenicr. XIV. — serv. Beagent dei. 1. €3. 50, n. 5: Quæstio is inter theologos an aliquis homo, in status viæ, Dei essentiam viderit; and quaestio processit de puro homine, nam Christum Dominum Dei essentiam vidisse dum inter mortales degeret, a primo instanti suæ conceptionis, fide certum est, cum à primo instanti suæ conceptionis futt beatus. Communis est eorum sententia hominem purum in status viæ ad claram Dei visionem naturaliter pervenire non possé; quandiu enim anima permanet in corpore, naturaliter non cognoscit nisi habentia formam in materia. Manifestum per naturam et similitudines rerum materialium claram Dei visionem haberi non possé, et Dei cognitionem, quae per similitudinem habetur, non esse cognitionem Dei per essentiæ dei. liem quoque theologi passim admittunt posit Deum via extraordinaria et speciali privilegio hominem in hac mortalitate ad claram Dei visionem extollere, a lege quippe operandi et cognoscendi opera sensuum Deus naturæ auctor et dominus potest aliquem. solvere, aut remorando sensus externos ne agant, aut dando intellectui lumen gloriæ per modum transeuntis, vel per modum permanentis ut dedit Christo. — Anautem res ita se habuuerit in supra recensita visione Paali, quemadmodum et in alia Moysi de qua Num. xu, and Exod. xxm, adhuc inter eosdem theologos disputatur.
Gi na to ANUS Dr I
The absolute possibility of this favor cannot be challenged, whatever opinion is expressed concerning the facts. This assertion, according to Suarez?, must be considered very certain in theology. The whole question therefore boils down to whether, in fact, God has sometimes derogated from the general law which sets at the end of the test the revelation of glory.
The general feeling is for the negative °.
Il. — Several, however, while professing the general principle of the rarity of these graces, admit exceptions.
The first is due to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Suarez, though sharing the common rigour on this point, deals with the pious and probable sentiment of the serious authors who teach that the Mother of God was raised from time to time, during her mortal life, to the clear vision of the divine essence." Among these serious authors, whose testimonies we will refrain from producing here, he quotes St Antonin, Rupertf, and others no less competent, such as Gerson, who hold this feeling, no longer as a pious belief, as Suarez thinks and expresses himself, but as a certain doctrine.
1 WANT Paz, C. 43, p. 614: Ac certum is apud omnes theologos id a Deo proui possesse, ut scilicet Deus mortali homini sui visionem claram et intuuitivam concedat... An vero hoc quod absque ulla ambiguitate proui potest, aliquando factum sit, hoc opus, hic labor.
2 De Deo, 1. €2. 30, n. 2, t. 4 p. 178: Breviter tamen dicendum imprimis est, non esse absolute impassibile hominem in corpore mortali elevari secundum mentem ad videndum clare Deum. Hæc is assertio certissima in theologia.
3 LEGRAND, De Deo ac dinis attributes, q. 4, a. 2, § 2: Migne, Theol. curs. t. 7, Col. 208: Unde et plerique theologique his amplectuntur generalem negantem sensiam, pro qua sit consulsio: Nemini mortalium wheniu in vivis leaks, concessa est visio Dei intuuitiva.
4 From Christo. Disp. 49, sect. 4, n. 2, t. 49, p. 304. Dico ergo primo pie ac probabiliter credi dispose B. Virginem in hac vita interdum elevatam fuisse ad videndum clare divinam essentiam brevi tempore. Hæc is sensationia gravium auctorum.
5 Sum. 4 P., title. 15, €. 17, § 1.
6 L. 3 in Cant. — Migne, Patr., t. 168.
Many Fathers and Doctors! also admit that Moses, in the apparition where God revealed his glory to him?, and Saint Paul, delighted until the third heaven°, enjoyed intuitive vision. Saint Gregory the Great, and after him Saint Bernard, say the same of Saint Benedict. Some authors hear in the sense of a manifestation of glory the delight of Saint Augustine and his pious mother, told by himself in Book IX of his Conressions. There is no doubt that the holy doctor speaks of a certain revelation of heavenly bliss?; perhaps, however, his thought is exceeded by interpreting his account of a clear vision of the divine essence.
There are many, perhaps too many, of the holy characters who would have received this exceptional favor. To Moses and Saint Paul, St John of the Cross joins the founder of Carmel, the prophet Elijah. The
18. Auc., Ep. 119, c. 12 and 13. — De Gen. ad litt. L. 19 c. 27. — S. AMBR. Hexameron. l. 1, ©. 2. — S. Bası. Hexameron. Hom. 1. — Huc. A S. VICTOR. q. 34 in 2 ad Cor. — S. Anselx. In 2 ad Cor. — S. Tom. 2. 2., q. 175, a. 3.
2 Exod. xxx, 13, 18, 29.
EMS Cor. x, 2-4.
4 Dialog. 1. 2, c. 35. Migne, Patrol. t. 66, Col. 198.
5 Serm. 9, of diversis, n. 1, p. 21.
6 Confess. 1. 9, c. 40: Rapida cogitatione attigimus æternam sapientiam super omnia manantem; si continutur hoc et subtrahantur aliæ visiones rodent imparis generis, et hae una rapiat et absorbat, et recondat in inteliora gauda spectatorem suum, ut talis sit empirterna vita, quale fuchet hoc momentum intelligentiæ cui suspiravimus, nonne hoc est: Intra in Gaudium Domini tui?
7 BoucauD, History of Saint Monique, 1866, ©. 45, p. 381.
8 Mounted Carmel, 1. Two, that. 24 p. 415. As for the vision of the divine essence, it is the only one of the blessed; it does not communicate to anyone in this world, except perhaps by passing, God using a singular dispensation, or by preserving life to man, and raising his mind above his ordinary way of operating, as it may have happened to St Paul, who said of himself that he was delighted to the third heaven. It is also likely that God, wishing to discover his essence to Moses... made himself see this prophet... There is some appearance that God's sight was also given to Elijah, our father (III Reg. xx, 13), when, being at the entrance of a cave, he covered his face, hearing the sound of a sweet and pleasant wind that marked the presence of God. But, after all
P. Alvarez de Paz‘, a Jesuit, believes that if this privilege has never been granted, there is reason to believe that it was granted to his illustrious Father, Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
The Franciscan annals report that Blessed Gilles d'Assisi, Saint Francis' third companion, said for himself that he had no faith since God had given him the grace of his appearance. And his companion asked him how he would do, if he had to celebrate Mass, to say: CREDO IN Unum Deum; Brother Gilles, for every answer, began to sing aloud and a radiant face these words: CoGnasco UNUM DEUM, PATREM OMNIPOENTEM; i.e.: I know one God, the Almighty Father?.
It would be difficult to accord this fact, by hearing it from the clear vision of God, with the demands of theology; for it is no longer a fleeting act that it is here, but a state that would have lasted more than thirty years. This means that it must be revoked in doubt, or reduced to a smaller proportion.
To these stories we could add many more. Nothing is more frequent in the history of the saints favored by extraordinary graces than the revelations of glory and these visions are very rare, and God does not favor very many people, who are the strong spirits of the Church and the great observers and defenders of the law of God, as were the three we have just reported.
1 De grad. contempl. 1. 5, P. 3, ©. 15, p. 618: Ifautem tributatur visio clara et perspicua, not improbable tributi potest Ignatio parenti nostro, etc.
2 BB. 23 April, t. 42, p. 235, n. 56: Dixit Quoque Fr. Ægidius quater escapes natum. First, have, natus fled from genitore mea carnaliter; secundo, in sacramento Baptismi; tertio, quando intravi Religionem istam; quarto, quando fecit mihi Dominus misericordiam apparitionis suæ. And have illi prædictus frater: If irem ad partes remotas and quaerretur a me utrum cognoscerem te, possesse dicere sic: Triginta duo anni sunt quod F. Ægidius fled natus, and antequam fled natus habuit fidem (this is the fourth birth), and postquam fled natus amisit fidem. Respond: Sicut dixisti, ita is verum... Dixitque alius: If you don't have fidem, what do you face if esses sacerdos and vile dicere Missam solemnem, quoodo diceres: Credo in
Unum Deum? Respondens læta faie et cantans alta voce, dixit: Cognosco unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem.
of the bliss of heaven. But the difficulty is to establish that the spirit rises up to the intuitive contemplation of the divine essence and reaches the clear vision of the Blessed.
THI. — The common assertions and hesitations of the masters, which seem to relax from the general severity, make us shy. However, let us insinuate our opinion. It is evident from our way of conceiving grace, glory and contemplation.
In our opinion, and in this we do not come out of traditional teaching, grace and glory do not differ essentially: in one and the other, it is God who associates us with his life, and all their difference is in the consciousness or unconsciousness of this intimate participation in divine life. During the trial, God is veiled; hardly let us feel his presence by the strength which he gives us for good and by the consolations of virtue; but when the trial is over, God reveals himself and gives us the whole knowledge of his union with us; of grace he becomes glory.
But contemplation is for the soul a kind of glorification begun. As its light expands, it dissipates the darkness of faith. It first makes the feeling of God's presence flourish in the soul; then, in degrees, it gives it the feeling of union, which increases to the usual consciousness of the divine covenant. If the glorification is not complete, is it not at least already roughed? Is not the sight of the three Persons,
1 Suarez, De ult. fine hominis, D. 6 s. 1, n. 8 and 9, t. 4 p. 58 and 59: De facto exists specialis illapsus essentiæ divinæ in substantiam animæ nostræ... Per gratiam participat anima nostra speciali modo naturam divinam, atque deificatur and ad novum ordinem supernaturalem elevatur; and ideo, ratione hujus ess supernaturalis, did illi divinitas intimate præsens... Hæc unio seu illapsus divinitatis in substantiam animæ manet in beatitudine supernaturali. Hæc complètsio est certissima, supposita alia sententia quod gratia sanctificans sit in essentia animæ; and ita docent omnes theologique, which pædictam sententiam tenent: imo gloriam nihil aliud esse dicunt, quam gratiam consummatam.
GENERAL APERU 3 thinks, that he sees and wants the ideal things, divine, eternal, he lives from his most noble life, from the one that responds to the best part of himself, reason. These are the two homes of his life. That is why the masters of spiritual life have carefully distinguished in us the lower and upper parts, the two regions of senses and spirit.
Passive purifications extend to one and the other of these two faces of man, in the sense and in the mind. We will study these two points of view separately; but before we do so we must indicate the general aspects and the common characters.
II. — Let us first say how frightening are the trials to which God subjects the souls whom he calls to contemplation.
Mystical authors compare them to purgatory. "God lowers the soul a lot to raise it a lot," said Saint John of the Cross! "and if he did not quickly moderate the feelings that the soul so strongly impressed in the mind, she would abandon her body in a few days. But the fire of these punishments is only felt from time to time, not continuously; it is nevertheless sometimes so violent, that the soul believes that hell is open under it and ready to be engulfed. These kinds of people are of those who descend all living in hell and are purified there as in purgatory, since this is the purgation that everyone must make of his faults, although they are only venial. Thus it can be said with probability that a soul who has passed through this spiritual purgatory, or will not enter into the purgatory of the other world, or will not remain there for long; for an hour that she spends in the first. purgatory benefits her more, because of the merits that she acquires ‘and the satisfaction that she makes to divine justice, than rather so much so.
1 The Dark Night, I 2, c. 6 p. 291. I. 16
He would not serve many hours in the last purgatory, because she would not deserve it, and God would not give her any of her sufferings."
John Thauler! calls these kinds of sorrows a spiritual martyr, and St.Angèle de Foligno assured that she would have exchanged them for all the torments of this life, for any other kind of martyrdom?. There are some who go so far as to claim that this torture equals that of hell, and several saints have indeed, in the midst of these anxieties, addressed to God the complaint of the psalmist#: "The pains of hell are about."
The purification of the mind above all sometimes exceeds all that one can imagine in fact of temptations, desolations and neglects; and, in general, this inner torment by which God cleanses the soul by releasing it from creatures and from itself takes on a sharpness that do not have the most intense pains of common life.
Gerson ê uses several comparisons to make
1 In festo plurim. Martyr, p. 421: And whoa of martyribus loquimur, -duplex esse martyrium, hoc is passionem duplicatem, vobis, charissimi, notandum est. Fit enim aliquis martyr gladio extrinseco, and amore mortifying intrinsecus... Duplex porro vitae morientis crux seu affictio est. Prima externa est, dum quis voluptatibus acvitiis suis reluctatur... Altera spiritalis quaedam pressura est, and macritudo, seu ariditas et sensibilités gratiæ pritatio, in qua vel maxime sese loseit homo, cogiturque interdum per bange magis quam per aliud alirid ad Deum se converte.
2 ARNAUD, BB. 4 Jan., ©. 2, n. 44, t.1, p. 192: Unde pro commutatione prædictorum tormentorum et temptum, et ut Deus auferret a me pædicta, ego libenter eligerem et vellem omnia mala, et infirmitates omnes, et omnes dolores qui fiunt in omnibus cortoribus hominum sustinare; and crederem quod leviora et minora mala mihi esent quam prædicta tormenta. Unde pluries dixi quod pro commutatione prædictorum tormentorum ego eligerem omne genus martyrii sustinere.
3 Bona, De discr. spir. ©. 144, n. 7 p. 274: Hoc horribile tormentum pænis inferni assimilant that experti sunt.
4 Ps. xvu, 6.
5 Because. To SS. Tin. P. 14, Tr. 3, D. 3, a. 4, t. 4 p. 409: Vix sermone potest, etiam ab expertis, expression quantæ sint hujus noctis angustiæ, quantus horror, and quam intima spiritus afflicti tribulatio.
6 De Myst. theol, pract. Consider. 9, collar, 415. Hæc is antiperistasis
a IS PT ur at >: TT
GENERAL OVERVIEW 363 tend the reason and purpose of this ordeal. He calls it a kind of antiperistasis! spiritual that strengthens its opposite, the stone that sharpens the iron, the absinth that sows the children and rips them off from the sweets of the mother's breast, the hammer that dilates and spreads, the lime that polishes, purifies, derails and makes sparkle, the furnace where lor stripes its slags and takes all its brightness, the rod that strikes it delivers from hell.
In turn, Cardinal Bona? groups the expressions by which the authors have designated passive purification: they call it a spiritual death, a struggle between God's spirit and ours, despair, inner anguish, infernal tongue, division of soul and spirit, terrible martyrdom, horrific and indescribable torment, purgatory and hell. l
Before reaching these heights of contemplation where supernatural life bursts out and dominates, the soul must strip away its carnal and selfish instincts, let nature be defeated, terrified, and if not still dead entirely, at least shot down, submissive, silent.
IV. — However, the true measure of these tests,
dam spiritualis quae contrarium fortificat, est cos ferrum exacuens; hæc est absinthium pueros ablactans avellensque ab uberibus; malleus dilatans et extendens... Hæc lima poliens, mundans, æruginans, clarificans; hæc fornax in qua aurum purgatur ut rutilet; hæc virga qua percussus eripitur ab inferno.
1 Dict. de l'Acad. Axnrerisrase. Didactic term. Action of two contrary qualities, of which Pune increases the strength of the other.
2 Via compend. ad Deum, €. 40, n. 3 p. 128. None of them are inexplicable, sed tormentum. Saying what sit that experti sunt. Doctor mellifluus compares hunc status morti spirituali, quam vocant Angelorum. Rusbrochius, divini spiritus and nostri concertationem callat, and quamdam desperationem; Taulerus, pressuram internam; Harphius, infernalum languorem and divisionem animae ac spiritus; Barbansonius, item divisionem naturæ ac spiritus; Maria Vela sanctimonialis cisterciensis, terribile martyrium; B. Catharina Genuensis, horribile and unspeakable tormentum. Johannes a Cruce sub noctis obscuræ symbolo eum pingit and purgatorio assimilat: Thomas a Jesu purgatorium quoque esse dict in via contingens. B. Angela de Fulgineo maluiset in inferno esse quam talem privatim sustinare queæ in ipsa mirabilis leaks. 7}
It is less to the elevation of the goal to be achieved than to the will of God that it must be asked.
God can absolutely carry the soul, by instant sanctification, from the abyss of sin to the dot of contemplation; but such is not the ordinary march of his providence, which proceeds in slow and progressive degrees. What is more common in this introduction as in the continuation of mystical life is the variety of gradations and progress. Sometimes these purifications are rigorous, long, uninterrupted; sometimes benign, transient, tempered by alternatives of rest and sweetness. This goes through the most terrible traverses, and stops at the first degrees of contemplation: another reaches the summit with less tribulation and suffering.
"God purifies the soul more or less rigorously," says St John of the Cross! "and he uses more or less time in relation to the quality of the union he sets for him. This purgation is not always an equal force: it is sometimes harder, sometimes softer, because God does not allow this obscure contemplation to touch the soul and penetrate it in a purgative way, but in an illuminative and loving way. And then the soul comes out of the dreadful prison where it was before, and it enters into the enjoyment of great freedom, of pleasant peace, of communication with God easy, in love, intimate, strong spiritual."
He follows from there, according to the remark of P. Scaramelli?, that it is difficult to formulate absolute rules on sub-
1 The Dark Night, 1. 2, ©. 7 p. 293.
2 Dir. Mist. Tratt. 5, c€. 1, n. 6 p. 343. Da questo secondo avvertimento si deduce il terzo ed è che non si può dare una regola generale, che competa egualmente a tutte l'anime, nè in quantum alla sostanza, nè in quantum al modo, nè in quantum al tempo, perchè Iddio ha mille modi di purgare l'anime e renderle disposte a ricevere i suoi doni, come vediamo pure troppo con l'esperienza.
the manner or time of these trials. However, let us try to specify the ordinary mode they follow in their appearance, continuity and duration.
V. — In principle, the purification of the senses responds to the states of contemplation inferior to union; and that of the spirit, to union and to its various degrees!
The first, therefore, at least by a few tests, leads to the elevation to contemplative prayer, and the second one does or begins before union. One, however, may be preceded by a few acts of contemplation and some supernatural favours, such as - visions, revelations, ecstasy; the other, by some attempts at union; but these acts and effects do not constitute states, which first require proper intimate purgation.
Moreover, although the two purgations are distinct, and the senses usually precede that of the mind, they can be realized at the same time?. It is even difficult that they are completely separated, as is rightly observed Philip from the Most Holy Trinity?. "These two parts, the sensual and the spiritual," said St John of the Cross+, "are fed the same food,
1 S. ALPH. DE Lic. Pax. confess. n. 129, p. 175: Post hanc purgationem sensus solet Dominus concedere donum contemplationis quae dicitur gaudii; scilicet recollectionis supernaturalis, quietis et unionis, de qua deinceps loquemur; sed ante unionem et post recollectionem et quietem, solet Deus purgare animam ariditate spiritus, quae dictur ariditas substantialis qua Dominus vult ut anima se totam in seipso annihilet.
2 SCARAMELLI, Tratt. 5, ©. 45, n. 45x, p. 400: E di fatto abhiamo che la B. Angela da Fuligno fu nel tempo stesso purificata da Dio con ambedue le purghe e del senso e dello spirito. If legga la sua vita, and if vedrà che la cosa in lei passò cosi.
3 Theol. Myst. P. 1, Tr. 3, D. 4, Præamb., t. 1, p. 449: Nec media superius adducta, and sensitivæ purgationi deservenia, ab hac intellectiva penitus excludedduntur, imo etiam aliqualiter ad illam concurrunt, cum purgatio sensitiva completeatur cum intellectiva, and propter identitatem suppositi utriusque parties sensitivæ and intellectivæ and connaturalem ipsarum sympathiam, angustiæ and dolores unius redundant in aliam.
4 The Dark Night, 1. 2, c. 3 p. 282.
cune according to its nature. In this way, they agree to bear the rigorous purgation of the mind that they must soon feel in order to be perfectly freed from their imperfections. For one is never purified exactly without the other, and the entire purgation of the senses is only accomplished when the spirit of the mind begins. So that the night of the senses must be called rather the reformation and moderation of passions, than the deliverance of their imperfections. The reason for this is that the disorders of the animal part have their strength and root in the spirit."
Let us add with Scaramelli that the cleansing of the mind always has a painful and salutary impact on the senses!, while the cleansing of the senses less reacts to the mind.
This mixture, which can make both tests simultaneous, leaves the general law in which the purification of the senses occurs before that of the mind?. It seems certain that this one never precedes this one. Next Joseph Lopez Ezquerra °, God would suddenly carry abhorrences of sin to the heights of perfection, as he did in Paul and Madeleine, rather than
1 Dirett. Mist. Tratt. 5, ©. 17, n. 175, p. 407. Dell的 appetito sensitivo dirò solo, che in tempo di questa purga è il ricetto di tutte le pene da cui è cruciata la parte superiore dell的 uomo. The tenebre dell intelletto vanno ad oppressorlo; lafflizioni della volntà vanno a traffiggerlo; the angustie della memoria vanno a dargli strette tormentosissime, etc.
2 Pripp. To SS. TRIN. P. 4, Tr. 3, D. 3, Præamb., t. 4 p. 407: Quamyis hec purgatio (intellectiva) non immediate sequatur purgationem passivam parties sensitivæ; solet enim proficientibus post longum contemplationis exercitium, and copiosam rerum supernaturalium communicationem adventire; quia tamen aliquando præcedenti purgationi sensitivæ conjungitur, and maxime propter connecteem materiæ, de illa nunc agitur.
3 Lucern. myst. Tr. 6, n. 199: Licet Deus posit hunc ordinem invertere et tempora non servare, raro tamen aut nunquam visum est; and potius ex pravo homine aut femina sovio faciet perfectum, ut egit in Paulo and Magdalena, quam seorsim purget primo spiritum quam sensum, vel ante arreptam viam virtutis in qua homo proficere incipiate, inchoet spiritus purgationem.
pre HET
to put the cleansing of the mind before that of the senses. It is difficult, in fact, to conceive a soul free of everything, free and completely purified in the upper part of itself, and, by the sensitive part, still in the face of: assaults of coarse passions.
VI. — The duration of sensitive purifications usually exceeds that of spiritual purifications.
In fact, it is impossible to specify anything, either on the duration in general or on the respective duration of each of these two tests. Saint Angèle de Foligno undergoes one and the other for more than two years; the same applies to Mr. Olier? Saint Madeleine de Pazzi? was, according to Our Lord's announcement, in such a torment, the space of five years. Michel Godinez 4 declares that he saw him prolong for fourteen, fifteen, and even twenty years; Scaramelli attests to having encountered cases of twelve and nineteen continuous years of neglect?. Schram® poses in the general thesis that these tests cannot be given a certain limit and that they can last for 20 years or more.
Cardinal Bona, if poured into the matters of spiritua-
1 ANAUD, BB. 4 Jan., t. 4 p. 192, n. 44: And incipit prædictus status istorum tormmentorum and temptationum aliquanto tempore ante pontificatum papæ Cælestini, and duravit plusquam per duos annos.
2 FalLLon, Life of Mr. Olier, 1° P., 1. 7 t. 4 p. 304: After eighteen months or more, God began to leave me the freedom to raise me from time to time to him.
3 Vincent. Puccemi, BB. 25 maji, n. 36, t. 19, p. 189: Scito etiam quod inde per quinquennium, sicut tibi alias dixi, privatibo te sensu gratiæ meæ, non tamen ipsa gratia queæ semper manebit tecum.
4 Theol. myst. Pratica, 1. 3, ©. 44. Preg. 4 p. 1430: Quanto tiempo suele durar el desemparo? — Resp. No tiene tiempo limitado; conoci algunas personas que catorze, 15 y vonte años estubieron desamparandäs; y estas recibieron despues altisimo don de contemplacion.
5 Tratt. 5, ©. 13, n. 146, p. 395: Ho conosciute persone che anno proseguito a penare in questo stato purgativo, quali dodeci, quali diecinove anni continui.
6 Theol. myst. t. 4, § 246, n. 3 p. 425: Derelictio non habet certum temporis terminum; per viginti et plumes annos subinde durat, usquedum contemplatio succedat. i
It seems to have done a special study from the point of view which occupies us, precisely assigns the duration of the passive tests in several famous contemplatives whose names he quotes. Hubertin de Casali spent fifteen years in these purifying anxieties; Saint Teresus, eighteen; Saint Francis d'Assisi, only two; Blessed Claire de Montefalco, fifteen; Saint Catherine de Bologna, five; Saint Mary Egyptian, seventeen; Saint Madeleine de Pazzi, five years first, then sixteen others; Blessed Henri Suso, ten; Fr. Balthasar Alvarez, sixteen years too.. It must therefore be concluded, with St John of the Cross?, that "on the length of time, one cannot surely say how long this mortification lasts, because not all are treated in the same way and do not suffer the same trials. God's only will gives them their measure differently, depending on whether each one has more or less imperfections to destroy, or on the degree of union to which God wants to raise the soul; thus he holds it more or less in the exercises of humility."
VII. — These tests are sometimes continuous until complete purgation; most often they present
1 Via compend. ad Deum, €. 10, n. 6 p. 130: And do not emptyer temere loqui affero exempla: Ubertinus de Casali quatuordecim annis laboravit priusquam introduci ad intimam perfectionem mereretur. S. Teresia octodecim annis intolerabiles angustias passa est. S. Franciscus per biennium gravisssimo mærore tabescebat. B. Clara de Montefalco quindecim annos huic priti impendit. B. Catharina Genuensis martyrium suum in suo Dialogo ipsa describit. Altera Catharina Bononiensis per quinque annos valde desolata leaks and a daemonibus exagitata. Maria Ægyptiaca septemdecim annis afflictta ad purum decoxit spuriam suam. B. Maria Magdalena de Pazzis per annos quinque et deinde per alios sexdecim tantam ariditatem passa est, ut vivreretur a. Deo derelicta. B. Henricus Suso per decennium divina caruit consolatione. Balthasar Alvarez, vir eximiæ sanctitatis e societe Jesu, non nisi post sexdecim annos in vita mystica cum tenebris and labore decursos divinæ lucis adeptus is illustrated.
2 The Dark Night, ©. 14, p. 277.
GENERAL OVERVIEW: 369 releases that allow the soul to breathe and retrench its courage.
The interruptions are simple suspensions of inner anguish or sensitive refreshments of grace. These delicious rest are still of two kinds: either God gives back to the tested soul the feeling of devotion and fervor; or he raises it, which is rarer, to the very acts of contemplation.
The common law is, that to the passive purification of the senses respond the first degrees of infuse prayer, and that the soul is raised to union only after having undergone the purification of the mind. Now, as the number of those who come to union is small, few too are those who go through the test of the purification of the spirit: "The night that purifies the senses is common to many, and especially to the beginnings," says Saint John of the Cross, "the night that purifies the spirit is the own only of few people, that is, of those who have advanced in the inner life and who have long exercised themselves in this way."
The same saint adds further? that when spiritual purification occurs, it is usually following the sensitive purification: "So this is the night or purgation of the senses... Those whom she purifies come out commonly only to enter into the night of the spirit, which is more difficult and more unfortunate, and they walk there to reach the union of love with God; but there are few ordinarily that do so."
Saint Liguori? seems to affirm that the most general law
1 The Dark Night, 1. 1, ch. 7 p. 258.
2 I6, Ch. 44, p. 276.
3 See above, p. 365, note 1. — And in the same book Praxis confess. n. 139, p. 178: Completea ergo purgatione sensus et ad finem percta ariditate sensibilisation, ponit Deus animam in status contemplationis. — And n. 137, p. 185: Hanc unionem solet ordinarie præcedere ariditas substantialis, quae est purgatio spiritus.
It would be that the purification of the senses immediately succeeds. The prayer of passive recollection, and that the purification of the mind is placed between the lower degrees and that of union. One can claim facts in support of one and the other assertion, in which it follows that there may be no general law and that it is necessary in this order to simply record the facts.
In some souls, we even encounter an amazing mixture of the most frightening trials and the most sublime favors of contemplation; we see them in turn as a result of the most sharp features of divine justice, and a little before or soon after, drunkenness of the holy exultations of love. The Blessed Marguerite-Marie! offers a memorable example of these repeated alternatives of rigour and enjoyment.
VIII. — The principal means used by God to purify either the sensitive part or the intellectual part of man is to extract the feeling of devotion. It is of such importance in the present question that it is absolutely essential to bring it to light.
The Angelic Doctor? defines devotion a generous disposition of the will that makes it quickly embrace all that is of God's service. Or, after Saint Francis of Sales è: "votion is something other than spiritual agility and vivacity by means of which charity does its actions in us, or through us, promptly and affectionately."
The essential part of devotion therefore lies in will. To want to be God's, obey him and please him without delay or reserve, this is the best way to be devoted to him, it is to have the very substance of devotion.
3 His life, written by herself, passed away.
2 Sum. 2. 2., q. 82, a. 1: Devotio nihil aliud esse vietur quam voluntas quam prompta tradendi se ad ea quae relevant ad Dei famulatum.
3 Introduction to Voting Life, ch. 4.
According to St.Thomas's judicious remark, while joy is one of the direct and principal effects of devotion, it also accidentally and secondaryly produces sadness. Joy is derived from the consideration of divine goodness, a term to which the generous act of the will tends. Sadness arises from the sight of our misery, which the will strives to escape in the act of devotion. Devotion is the source and the feeling of joy and sadness, and these two effects can also be reflected on the reasonable part of man and on the sensitive part, as the psalmist says: "My heart and my flesh have braided in the living God." But this radiation is purely accidental; when it disappears or does not appear, devotion does not cease for this, provided that the will continues its accelerated movement towards God. It is a Christian truth guaranteed by the unanimous teaching of doctors and by universal experience, that faith and charity can survive and act in the soul without any other testimony of their presence than that of the action itself and works.
In short, the substance of devotion lies in will and is inseparable from the acts produced by will. It results in joy and sadness; and the manifestation of this dual feeling is confined to the upper and intellectual part of the soul, or extends to the part
1 Sum. 2.2., q. 82, a. 4: Devotio per se quidem and principaliter spiritualem lætitiam lie causat; ex consistenti autem per accidens causat tristitiam. Mainiter quidem ex regarde divinæ bonitatis, quia ista consideratio pertinet quasi ad terminum motus voluntatis tradentis se Deo; and ex ista consideratione per se quidem sequitur delectatio... Secundario vero causatur devotio ex consideratione propriorum defectuum... Hæc autem consideratio e converso se habet ad primam; nam per se quidem nata est tristitiam causare, recogitando proprios defectus, per accedens autem lætitiam, scilicet propter spem divine subsidis. And sic patet quod ad devotionem primo et per se consequitur delectatio; secundario autem and
per accidens tristitia quae is secundum Deum. 2 Ps. LXXXNI, 3.
lower. But neither one of these manifestations belongs to the essence of devotion; therefore, they may not exist without the disappearance of devotion.
That being said, we can give reason for the two ways in which passive cleansing of the soul is carried out.
In the sensitive purification, the delectable radiance that is born of love does not come out of the upper enclosure of the soul, and does not extend to the senses, while that of sadness, on the contrary, dominates it without mixing. The purification of the mind removes all joyous glare both within and outside, and leaves to the devotion of other manifestation than that of sadness and anguish!; or, after having revealed itself to the soul and washed away wounded with love, God withdraws and abandons him in the grip of ardour and desires that consume him.
To this deprivation of the suavities that accompany the devotion and the feeling of divine presence, a deprivation that conliterates the principal and fundamental punishment of passive purification, come the assaults of the demon, the opposition of men, misfortunes and tortures of all kinds. God cleanses the soul by separating it from all that is not him, and disgusts the creatures by the bitterness that it allows them to drink.
Finally, the purification ends with love, whose painful ardour will confuscate the last traces of selfish and natural life.
IX.—The soul, in these trials, has an absolute need for a
1 SCARAMELLI, Tratt. Five, five. 3, n. 34, p. 352: The purghe del senso consistono nella pritazione di ogni divozione accidental sensibile; perchè in realtà l'appetito sensitivo in tempo di queste purghe è arido, secco e freddo, senz的 alcun sentimenti verso le cose soprannaturali e sante, e bene spesso ancora è affilitto da noje, da tedj e da altri penosi affitti. My non consistono già the debt purghe nella pritazione di ogni divozione accidental spirituale, poichè la sottrazione di una tal divozione propriomente appartie alla purgha dello spirito.
wise and skilful director'. She's like a blind man who can't do without a friendly hand that guides him; like a ship beaten by the storm, and that only an experienced pilot can save from the shipwreck. Always morally necessary, the help of the management becomes indispensable here.
"If they do not then have a director who fully understands their interior, and who leads them with great caution," observes Saint John of the Cross? "speaking of those who are suffering these tribulations, they retreat instead of moving forward; they leave the right path, they relax in their exercises, they prevent themselves from going further in the path of virtue."
This is the unanimous feeling of the masters.
Saint Terese? recommends that one address a holy and enlightened director; that if one has to choose between a pious but uneducated man, and another, learned and less perfect, one should prefer the one who has science to the one who has only piety. In another place, the same saint declares that the worst directors are the half-scientists: "I know it by experience," she said; "it is better, when they are good people and holy morals, that they have no education at all than to have mediocre ones, because then they are wary of themselves just as I would do myself."
1 Purper. To SS. Trin. P. 4, Tr. 3, D. 1, a. 6, t. 4 p. 375: Debent primo directorem seu patrem spiritualem, si proudi potest, simul doctum and expertum eligee cujus ductu and prudenceia in omnibus moveantur. — Ibid., P. 4, Tr. 3, D. 3, a. 6 p. 440. Aliqua superius adducta sunt documenta circa modum processdendi in purgatione passiva parties sensitivæ, queæ etiam pro hac purgatione passiva parties intellectivæ valde sunt uselia, and mullo magis necessaria; primum maxime de eligendo directore apto, scilicet prudent, docto and experto, si profi potest. Cum enim hujus purgationis via non sit ordinaria and a paucis trita, ductore magis-experto opus est, ne in ipso viæ processu periculum adsit, and incauta pereat anima.
2 The Dark Night, I. 1, ch. 10, p. 264.
HIS VIe Ch. 13.
4 Ibid., c. 5.
374 - PURIFICATIONS PASSIVE even, and seek advice from other more educated people. Scientists have never deceived me."
It is therefore very important that the directors all have some knowledge of the various trials by which God disposes souls to contemplation, and that many have on these subjects the eminent science to which less informed directors or souls themselves can resort in these difficult circumstances.
X.—The first precaution to be taken is to recognize that the trials that one is undergoing are in the order of contemplation. It meets souls who are delivered to the bitterest internal desolations, in the face of adversities of all kinds, which are not called to passive prayer. The conduct to be held with these distressed souls is not the one suitable for the elect of mystical life.
Saint John of the Cross, faithfully followed by the spiritual authors who came after him, among others by Philip of the Most Holy Trinity!, Schram? and Scaramelli*, brings to three the distinctive marks of passive purifications. It is true that in the places we will quote, this doctor deals particularly with the aridities that accompany the purgation of the senses; but the conditions which he assigns to the prelude of contemplation are general, and also suitable for one and the other passive purification.
"The first mark," says the famous Spanish mystic, "is when the one to whom divine things do not give any sensible satisfaction finds no contentment in creatures. When God puts the soul in the dark night, he deprives it of all kinds of pleasures, in order to purify its passions. And then it's a clear sign that his disgust and his
1P 4, Tras DA Aaaa pes6nt 2 Theol myst., t. $1,196, schol. p. 352. 8 Dir. Mist Tratt.5, 04 109962 p895. 4 The Dark Night, 1. 4, c. 9, p: 260.
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General APERCD 20 7 38 bitterness flows from this source and does not come from its sins or imperfections... But this disgust of natural and supernatural things can have as principle melancholy, which does not allow us to take any pleasure.
"The second mark of the dark night or the purgation of the senses is that this night raises the Spirit to God and that she often puts God in memory, with sorrow nevertheless and with pain, because the soul always believes, being always removed from its first consolations, that it does not serve God well, and that instead of advancing it recedes. It is seen that it is not the warmth and the relaxation that cause him this trouble. For it is the proper of the lukewarm and cowardly to have neither care for God's things nor haste to perfect himself. From there we easily draw the difference that is between wariness and warmth...
"The third mark consists in that the soul can no longer, any effort it makes, nor meditate nor discur, using imagination as before to arouse and move. For God then begins to communicate to the soul, not by the senses and reasonings, but by the pure and unspoken mind, and by a simple contemplation to which the inner and outer senses of the lower part cannot reach. That's why imagination and fantasy are no longer able to support themselves, nor can they begin to meditate, nor continue to meditate if it is begun, nor contribute in any way to it."
So when darkness has the effect of disgusting creatures and making God's thought almost continuous, and it is translated into moral or absolute impotence to meditate, one can hold for certain that the soul has entered into the passive purification that heralds contemplation.
Of these three marks, the last one seems to us to be decisive. For there can be souls that God sanctifies
in the common way of meditation, by the deprivation of all sensible consolation and all contentment in creatures; that he fills with the continual thought of his presence, less to comfort and rejoice them, than to purify and ignite them. But, when to these two signs is added the impotence of discouraging through meditation and the fixedness of the mind on a single thought, it becomes evident that God wants to withdraw from discursive prayer and establish in the passivity of contemplation.
XI. — As soon as this impotence to disturb is found, the director must advise to soul who feels him to undergo without contemplative immobility.
"The way to govern oneself in the night of the senses," says St John of the Cross, "is not to put oneself in pain of meditation and speech, since it is no longer the time to use it, but to give up to the rest and tranquillity where God puts the soul, although it seems that nothing is done, that we waste time, and that we live in warmth, which prevents us from having any good thought in prayer, nor any tender and affectionate feeling. Those whom God treats in this way will do much to patiently endure their desolation and to be constant in mental prayer. All that is asked of them at that time is that they leave their souls in peace, that they release them from all knowledge and feelings, that they do not worry about what they can meditate on, that they merely make a quiet and loving attention to God. They must persist in this state, without care, without effort, without the desire of God in themselves and to taste it. All these eagernesses would disturb them and keep them away from loving idleness from the contemplation that God communicates to the soul."
To this wise decision to suspend vain and painful efforts to continue the discursive prayer, the director joins- Si La Nuit obscurée, to. 10, p: 265:
© GENERAL OVERVIEW A1 -dra! a compassionate, gentle and firm charity towards the souls who suffer these desolating anxieties. He will comfort them with all the motives that inspire trust in God and that defend him from ever despairing of his goodness. He will listen to them with patience and without giving any sign of astonishment or embarrassment; on the contrary, he will reassure them with his own assurance, and command them with calm and authority.
But let him not promise them a future deliverance or quick relief; for the duration of these trials depends entirely on God's good will. Even less will he make them see contemplation as the high reward of their trials, so as not to expose them to the peril of vain complacency; and also because, despite the favourable indications, God remains absolute master of his gifts, and free to refuse them or dispense them at his own will, when and as he pleases.
1 ScarAm, § 247. Watch. 5, p. 433: Attendat director ut erga istas persons affilictas cum multa procedure charity and urbanitate, earum pœnarum clerkando atque ab earum liebbus timerem ne a Deo rejiciantur depellendo.
Necessity of purging the senses because of imperfections mixed with sensitive enjoyments, even in the order of piety. — Difficulties in discerning the principle from which these enjoyments proceed, and their faltering effect on the body. — Passive purifications of the senses include the struggle against pleasures of temperance and chastity; — and the painful deprivation of sensitive goods: through the droughts of the soul, diseases and infirmities of the body, the loss of parents and friends, that of wealth, honours, reputation.
I. — As we have already said, this purification reformes the lower part of man, and subjects it to reason by a series of struggles and bitterness that disgust the soul of sensitive goods and pleasures.
It is inconceivable how alive and irresistible the slope of nature toward sensual delectations. Contained within limits that do not contradict reason, these enjoyments are nothing delicacy, and they can become one of the powerful baits of virtue. It is an ordinary law of sanctification that the beginnings of spiritual life are accompanied by sensitive suavities that, by drawing to God by the charm of pure voluptuousness, turn away from gross and disorderly pleasures of the senses, ignite with a
© ace in CRE RE. A to" The Are to
©; To 319 generous courage to fight against everything that threatens the fidelity of love. And when this help of the sensitive fervour is lacking to the beginnings, God, according to the remark of Thauler!, besupplies it with a special grace that saves them from the imminent peril of sin.
"After the soul is determined to embrace the divine service," said St John of the Cross? "God nourishes her spiritually with as much sweetness and caress as the most passionate mother feeds her child. This mother warms up in her breast; she gives her the sweetest milk and the most delicate food she can have; she carries it between her arms, she flatters it, she delights him in every possible way... God makes similar treatments to the soul in his first fervors; he makes him taste in the exercises of the inner life a spiritual milk, sweet and tasty, and sensitive consolations."
But this virtue, determined by pleasure, is without consistency and subject to many imperfections, as well as the mystical doctor we have just quoted in the same place. And, to better establish what is going on, he lists at length, afterward, the ordinary defects and falls of the beginnings lenient by these sensitive consolations. Through the seven capital sins, he points out the returns and complacency of vanity, the misgivings against oneself after failures, the severe judgments: on the neighbor, the comparisons and reckless preferences, an excessive attachment to the external testimonies of devotion; a kind of spiritual lust that leads to abandoning to the delectable emotions of the sensitive fervour, soon exposes and almost always leads, by a hidden slope, to carnal rebellions; impatience
1 In festo plurim. martyr. Serm. unic. p. 421.
2 The Dark Night, 1. 4, Ch. 4 p. 244. 3 Jbid., 1. 4, ch. 2-7, p. 245-258.
The least imperfections that one sees in himself or in others; an immoderate appetite for the sweetness of piety, and a eagerness, not regulated by prudence, to resort to the means of increasing them or finding them; the envy of the spiritual goods granted to others; finally, the torpor and laziness to fulfill the obligations for which one does not feel attractive or sensitive taste.
Thus, even assuming that the sensitive suavities have a pure source, and that they come from divine grace, they are mixed with natural imperfections that delay the entire gift of the soul to God, and they expose to failures that can sink back into the abyss of sin.
JI. — These disadvantages and perils are greatly increased by the difficulty of recognizing the true principle of these deliberations.
The demon may be the author: the Apostle warns us 1 that this deceitful spirit is transformed into an angel of light to seduce us and rush us into evil by slopes that seem the avenues of good and holiness?
The danger will appear even greater if we pay attention to the ease with which we assume the passage from the fervour sensitive to the extraordinary graces of mystical life. (It is indeed one of the pitfalls of the beginnings to take the living emotions of piety for contemplative life to be perceived as a feeling of concern; and Satan is always ready to shvule, with souls eager to enjoy, the sacred embraces of divine union. The consequences of these contempts are incalculable.
2 Pauipr. To SS. TRI. P. 4, Tr. 3, D. 1, a. 3,t. 4 p. 357: Angelus Satanæ, se transformans in Angelum lucis in communicationibus gratiæ sensibilities, potest, Deo permittente, immisceri et incarcos vel elatos incipientes, in errorem, imo et in ruinam adducere, ut sanctorum Patrum doctrina, sacræ Scripture multiplicati testimonio, etiam frequenti experientia comprobatur.
3 S. Laurenr. Justo. Lib. of discipline and perfect. monast. conversationis,
These enjoyments can also be an effect of temperament. They are then reduced to a refined and purely natural sensuality, closer to sensual voluptuousness than to deino charity, as Richard de Saint-Victor said excellently.
From whatever source the sensitive devotion proceeds, it has the direct consequence of shaking the body, and, if it is not wisely contained, weakens the forces of the body. The ordinary backlash of excesses that ruin body health is to turn away from piety. How, above all, could the body support the shaking of a vehement contemplation and the extreme shaking of ecstasy: if one assumes the soul still struggling with the sensitive enjoyments?
The purity, safety, holiness of divine contemplation therefore require that the soul called to this sublime elevation be previously freed from organic bondages and purified in the dark night of the senses.
Philippe de la Très-Sainte-Trinité? sums up the main points of the report.
c. 8 f. LXV: Sed antequam sapientia imbuatur anima, priusquam Dei Verbo amoris vinculo confederetur, sæpe labitur, errorem pro veritate suscipiens; plerumque tamen, permittent Sponso, ut sibi ardourius dilectam copulet, aut ad altiora provehat, aut prudeuriorem efficiat, Satanas in lucis angelum transformatur, atque illo tanquam sancto contubernio admitcetur: quem cum anima, adhuc celestium ignora visionum, erroris admitrit spiritum, and veluti Domino se ill substraverit, sine mora secedit Sponsus, and illico succedunt tenebra, ac quaedam opaca lie hebetudo; contino obduriscit animus; and proprio contunditor confusion, atque ex his quae patitur, insight intelligit spiritum quem suscepit inimicum.
1 Explain. in Cantica Cant. v. Six, pass. 422: Dulcis in Deum affectionus quodammodo carnalis est et fallax, et humanitatis interdum potiusquam gra~ tiæ, cordis quam spiritus, sensualitatis quam rationis, ita ut magis avidat aliquado ad minus bonum, et minus ad majus, et ad aliquid quod sapit amplius quam quod expedit... Sic affectionuose interdum carnalis aliquis and imperfectus ad Deum affictur, non quod valde diligat, sed quia dulcedinem gratiæ degustat, quae quantum durat, tantum juvat; quasiu durat dulcedo, durat and dilectio. Sed non agnoscetur in bonis amicus. i - 2P. 14, Tr. 3, D. 1, a. 3, t. 4, p. 363: Hæc sunt præcipua motiva, propter quae Deus per substractionem gratiæ sensibilities, incipients ad noctem obscuram: sensus reduced: per ipsam enim. yult partem sensitivam diyinæ unioni præ-
the need for this purification: it disposes of the sensual part of the divine union, protects from the traps of the demon, makes discern the supernatural communications of the operations of nature, removes ordinary gifts from the righteous, and the common graces from sinners, to grant them greater ones; removes what is less and imperfect, to dispense liberally more extensive and sublime favors; removes the opportunities of pride; it is a safeguard against the defilements of the flesh and other dangers capable of injure the flesh; it is a protection against the evils of the flesh; it is a protection against the evils of the flesh; it is a protection against the evils of the flesh; and it is a protection against the evils of the flesh. Purity of the soul; finally, it provides for the health of the body.
II. — The field of sensitive purification embraces, in the form of pleasure, everything that rejoices and flatters sensual appetite, and, in the form of pain, everything that tortures and crucifies him.
The first of these forms is the most formidable. It interests temperance as a special virtue, and chastity.
The excesses in drinking and eating are rarely temptations strong enough to take place among the passive trials, which precede contemplation. However, activated by the demon, they can reach this degree of intensity and importunity. The lives of the saints provide some examples of these kinds of diabolical obsessions t. parare; vult deceptiones dæmonis evitari, vult supernatural communications a naturalibus operanationibus discernere; vult dona justis et impiis communia evacuare, ut majora concedat; vult imperfectiora et minora tollere, ut perfectiora et majora liberaliter præbeat; vult occasionem superbiæ removere, vult carnales impuritates aliaque pericula præcavere; and tandem vult corporis sanitatem conservare, ut his mediis incipientes ad optatam perfectionis metam pervacat.
1 Life of B. Marguerite-Marie Alacoque, written by herself, t. 2, p. 410: I was suffering during that time from fierce fighting from the demon... Other times, he attacked vain glory, and then this abo-
and then he represented me all that is able to satisfy the guillot, and
Pal
_ SA NATURE 383 Chastity fights are otherwise common, multiplied and violent. There are few souls who do not pass through this crucible, of all the most cruel and perilous; hardly can we mention a few saints and saints who were freed from it by an exemption which is due to the miracle t. But in passive trials these temptations sometimes take on unprecedented proportions. Thoughts, images, uprisings and upheavals of nature within and outside, everything seems to be gathered to obsess the soul, torturing it under Vaiguillon so hard to suppress pleasure, to throw it into anxiety about the fidelity of resistance, all the more terrible that the soul retains a more delicate and jealous love of purity; for in its fear and delicacy it seems to her that she weakens, that she succumbs, that she defiles herself, lost and submerged in the phanges.
What adds to the frequency, vivacity and peril of these temptations is that all the enemies of man are helping to awaken them, to nourish them, to activate them: the flesh, which naturally tends to revolt and here pursues its supreme lust; the world, which erects in principle the domination and satisfaction of the flesh, and, by its pumps and examples, is the staging and as the permanent apotheosis of clarity; the devil who, knowing that the evil vice extinguishes the beautiful flame
this in the time of my spiritual exercises, which was a strange torment. And that hunger lasted until I entered the refectory to take my repair, which I felt first in such a great disgust, that I had to make a great violence to take some food. And first of all, when I was out of the table, my hunger started again more violent than before.
1 Scnram, t. 1, § 233, schol. 4 p. 407: Nobis hic no est sermo de ordinariis tempteibus contra castitatem, quibus omnes homines incumbant necte ad spirituales exercises, obnoxii sunt: rarissimi enim inveniuntur Aloysii Gonzagæ, qui non tantum angelicis moribus, sed angelica quasi natura præditi, nullum carnis stimulum toto suæ vitae tempore experti sint. Loquimurhic, etc. etc.
of charity and prayer, try the last efforts to deliver everything to its invaders.
Well sustained, this struggle has a great efficiency. to purify the soul, to give it a deep feeling of its misery, to free it from sensual attachments and primers, to precipitate it to God with a constant and penetrating prayer!,
IV. — Painful trials include involuntary suppression of a sensitive good.
In the first place comes the subtraction of the sensitive devotion, which gives the soul to drought, desolation, to the fear of having lost God, makes it laborious and painful the acts of good; and, although it can still preserve in the upper part of itself the feeling of light, fidelity and peace, soul nevertheless remains, in the lower part, wrapped in darkness, worried, shaken, tormented up to anguish. There is, undeniably, the principal and most painful crucification of the flesh. With the sensitive consolations of piety, the other sorrows appear light and can become a new source of inner joy, witnesses to the martyrs; while, together with darkness and spiritual desolation, the external afflictions are always a bitter addition to sadness and suffering?
1 PHLPP. To SS. TRIN. P. 1, Tr. 3, D. Two, two. 4, t. 1, p. 380: Unde tentatio contra Castitatern est pene purgatio universalis incipientium, amara quidem, sed efficacissima: dum enim examinerur, per illam interius operantem, miris iuodis conturbantur et torquenteur conscientiæ præcordia; tum scrupulis consensus qui passim exurgunt; tum fæditate materiæ quam puræ horrent animæ; tum metu ruinæ quam ut posibilem infirmitati naturæ, et quasi préæsentem aliorum exemplo territi formidant; tum quia temptientem hujusmodi, velut performem peccati gravis de novo commis suspicantur; tum denic, quia per illam se coram Deo reddi credunt abominabiles et exosos... Vix enim concipi potest quam efficaciter purget dum animum incipientium sibi complacentem et ex receptis sensibilities gratiæ favoreurbus elatum ad proprie vilitatis et tune apparentis infirmitatis confusionem addducit.
2 Ibid., Tr: 3, D. 2; a. 6 p. 402: Cæterorum omnium bonorum tam exter-
norum quam internorum ipsius corporis, privative tolerabilis, imo suavis est, quamdiu quis se eam pro Christo credit tolerare, and simul prædicto-
These trials, if they are not faithful and attentive, tend to a disastrous consequence, disgust of spiritual life, discouragement and cowardice, and finally to the abandonment of piety and virtue!
Diseases, infirmities and bodily pain are almost always part of the sensitive purgation. These kinds of afflictions embrace everything that affects the well-being of the body, its beauty, and the full use of its limbs?. They occur in multiple forms; but most often they have strange characters that disconcert science and medical resources, which is one of the notes of mystical diseases. If they suddenly appear and disappear as well; if they strike the senses and organs that may have been the cause or occasion of the sins committed, they are still signs of supernatural intervention.
rum tributuelia bonorum amarescit, ut avoir Bernardus in Cantico: "Cui Christus incipit dulcescere, necesse est amarescere mundum." Sed in hac purgatione passiva parties sensitivæ, vir devotus, per substractionem gratiæ sensibilis, sic obscuratatibus involvitur, ut potius se derelictum et inimicum Dei judicet quam amicum, potius se ei displacere credat quam placere ita quod vereatur omnia opera sua.
1 PUP. To SS. TRIN. P. 4, Tr. 3, D. 5,a.1, p. 439: Temptation cessandi a bonis operabus. Hæc tentatio valde frequens et pene communis est in purgatione passiva parties sensitivæ, nonautem in purgatione parties intellectivæ. Ratio utriusque est: quia purgatio passiva parties sensitivæ præcedens intelectivam solis convenit incipientibus nondum in virtute firmatis, qui potiusamore concupiscentiæ et motivo delcedinis spiritualis qua in virtutum exercitio perfruuntur quam amore amicitiæ, seu unico placendi Deo ducuntur motivo, and sic ad maximam difficultatem terrentur et a bonis operabus cessare temptereur.
2 PmLIPP. To SS. Sort. P. 1, Tr. 3, D. 2, a. 5, p. 398: Sub bonis corporis sequenceia numeramus: perfectam villicet sanitatem, connaturalem omnjum membrorum usum, non impeditas quinque sensuum operationses, decentem pulchritudinem et alia hujusmodi in quibus homines, carnales præsertim, magnam beatitudinnis partem, et aliquaando totalem beatitudinem constituunt; ipsique viri spirituales, ete... Unde quibusdam infirmitates ordinarias, et aliquando continuas, aliis membri alicujus carentiam, aliis sensus alicujus privatim, aliisque denique corboralem immittit deformitatem, quibus eos perfecte purificatos sanctet, ut in Sanctorum historiis manifestum habetur.
The test, moreover, could offer miraculous characters, without it being for that purpose the prelude of contemplative life; as also of what a disease would be part of passive purification, it should not be concluded that it is supernatural. These two things are perfectly distinct, and one can meet without the other. We have sufficiently indicated the signs of passive purgation; we will further describe the characteristic marks of mystical suffering. `
There is another test that holds the middle between the purification of the senses and the purification of the spirit, and that consists in that the bodily and spiritual faculties are removed from the empire of the soul. A remarkable example of this is Mr. Olier, founder of the seminary of Saint-Sulpice. He himself described this kind of supernatural purification with such sharpness, which the reader will be grateful to reproduce here the main part of this passage:
"He therefore wanted to cleanse me of the superb motives that I was attacked with," he said, "God began by pointing out to me that our body was not at our disposal, and that we could not live, survive, or move except through him and through his assistance. This is difficult to conceive, unless God himself teaches us, because this influence of God in us is not sensitive, and it seems to be man's, coming out of the hands of God, like our works, which no longer depend on the workers once they have come out of their hands. But God's goodness often made me experience it, by appreciably removing from me this vigour from the body, and that virtue that sustains it, and that proceeds from the sovereign and universal cause, that preserves it and preserves all things. Sometimes this virtue seemed to be withdrawing from me and things.
1 FAILLON, Life of Mr. Olier, 19 P., 1. 7, n. 3, t. 1, p. 270, Gd., 1873,
for my use, as if I saw the water removed from a canal by means of a pump, or the liquor of a vase with a torch. At least, God seemed to withdraw this virtue and to replace it in some other way, so that, after these apparent subtractions, I no longer knew how to walk; and, as I felt that a certain virtue had withdrawn me, if I came to put a Pun foot in front of the other, I did not know what power it was, nor even how to support me. I was always ready to fall, and similar to those men taken from wine who have strength and do not know how to serve them. I was surprised that the others were so confident and firm, and that they had at their disposal the freedom and conduct of their bodies. Sometimes I felt this impotence in the use of the things most necessary for life: I didn't know how to eat, I almost lost it. I admired that the others take their meals with ease, and it seemed to me that I gave these foods to a dead body, feeling that the natural virtue was taken away from me. [It also seemed to me that my soul was no longer, or at least was no longer doing its natural functions, and remained as being deprived of the use of all its powers. You gave me this conviction, O my God! O my dear Jesus! to learn me out of necessity to muse with these faculties only according to your good pleasure, and to expect a principle of action other than that which had led me in the past. You wanted me to learn that my soul is not in my hands, but in yours, to my All! who are the only Master.
"What God's goodness had done with regard to bodily faculties, it also did with regard to the spiritual faculties of my soul, and it left me in tongues, stupidities, and hebeticness, which can only be understood by those who have experienced them. My good
Master did this grace for a very long time: my mind was then surrounded by such darkness, that I could not renew myself from anything; I didn't even know what I was saying; I heard speaking the world as a deaf man would do, without holding anything back or understanding; I could not express any thought, even things that I had understood in the past; I was looking in my mind, and I couldn't find anything: often the thought appeared and withdrew immediately, so that, beginning to express it, I didn't know where I was. This embarrassment and impotence were not only the object of science and study, but also the most indifferent and easy things, such as hearing about business, to converse with my friends. I was so committed, that I could not say a word; I remained all forbidden and the spirit suspended, almost as one sees fools in company, who, hearing speaking, do not conceive or respond anything, and remain hebetic in looking at the world. My mother, when she saw me in this state, said of me: You'd say he's become stupid and insane. I could not do otherwise; I even thought that I would be reduced for ever to this state, and often I offered myself to God with good heart to lose, if he wanted, completely minded and become crazy. I still remember that I was reduced to such an end, that I could not write; sometimes trying to do so, I remained for hours to write two or three lines, and still was all wrong. I was deprived, for my conduct, of all inner light, and almost all outer counsel; for I could not expose the matters on which I would have wished to consult, holding nothing and not understanding more. If I visited for myself or for the company we formed with my friends, I missed the people I was going to see, or I succeeded so badly, that everyone had reason to believe that Our Lord was not with me, and that his
divine Spirit had abandoned me. Above all, I was forced to be driven by my servant into the streets, always having the misfortune to forget my way, because of this dreadful weakening that accompanied my sorrows." The bonds of t family and friendship form one of the most vivid enjoyments of human sensibility, and their rupture often causes more pain than diseases and bodily infirmities. On the pretext that nature inspires and commands these affections, qwen themselves they want nothing disordered, we abandon it with an greed that delays the soul's momentum towards divine things. One becomes a slave without even being aware of these excesses, and one lives unreservedly and remorseful of a natural life that holds away from God.
That is why God almost always makes the sacrifice of all these goods enter among the tribulations that predispose to passive prayer. Since the aim of these trials is to free the heart, it is appropriate that they focus more on affections than on organic life itself. The stories of the saints overabund in fact of this kind, and one sees divine jealousy breaking one by one the bonds that hold the soul captive and prevent rest only in God.
The loss of material property still eases the soul and releases it from gross attachments that embarrass and paralyze it. In order to make the outcast of external wealth feel better and to give the soul all its freedom, God, when he pleases him, suddenly passes from the brightness of Populence to the abandonment and anguish of poverty. Job is an admirable example of these divine rigors and the hau-
1 Prp: To SS. Tr. P. 1, Tr. 3, D. 2, a. 4 p. 393. Inter res sensibiles quantum attinet ad præsens institute, computantur bona fortunæ, consanguinei et affines, honors and dignitates, quorum omnium jactus Deus utitur ut servos suos viam perfectionis ingessos a pravis affectibus purificet, ut sigillatim exemplis e sacra Scriptura deductis, vel etiam Sanctorum historiis demonstrabitur.
A virtuous man who is able to see God's purposes and bless his father's hand in such trials.
Finally, the counting of material property must be combined with that of honours, public charges and dignity; the even more significant loss of reputation by real faults, or, more often, by malicious attacks, by undeserved and slanderous assumptions.
Purifiers are: God, by himself or by means of second causes; — men: wicked, close and friends, good people; — the demon, by temptations and obsession, rarely by possession. — Conduct and advice of the director in these encounters. — Effects: reduction of sensual appetite, self-knowledge, progress of virtues, inner vitality.
I. — The agents of passive purifications are: God, men and devil.
God is, by himself or by the second causes, the author of trials that do not bring about injustice or moral disorder.
First, it must be held for the only true and immediate cause of the withdrawal of the sensitive fervour, which is the fundamental penalty of passive purification. He makes his action and presence feel as he pleases, sometimes on the mind and on the senses, sometimes restricting the feeling in the sphere of the mind, and, when he wants, totally suppressing it.
The mystics teach that the suppression of the sensitive devotion is accomplished with the help of a light which they call purgative and which God pours into the soul for
draw her and stare her in him, without any feeling that warns of her presence. Through this clarity the soul has a keener awareness of the disordered tendencies of sensual appetite and purity to which it must strive; therefore, of the struggle that it must sustain in order to resist the depraved instincts of the flesh.
We see it, it is God himself who works here purification by multiplying the inner light without betraying his presence and leaving to the tested soul only the feeling of revolt of the senses and their sufferings. And, although Pspirit remains still calm and enlightened, the effort of the struggle against sensitivity is such, that the soul suffers more from what is lacking in its flesh than from what consoles and rejoices its spirit.
God is still involved in this purification work by means of the natural causes that he is putting into play and leading towards this end. Illnesses, bodily suffering, loss of parents, friends, protectors, setbacks of fortune, these thousand incidents that do not cause by themselves any moral disorder, God can directly target them as very effective means to purify and sanctify souls. Creatures are in their realization only the instruments of His Providence.
Finally, God allows evil to the demon and to the world, and, when evil is laid down, he makes it serve for the work of purification of which he is no longer immediate agent, but the indirect cause.
II. — The persecution of men is also a crucible where the soul depletes and deposits all alloys before being raised to contemplation +.
The contact and trade of men is an opportunity for all to test, patience and mortification. But
1 ScHram, § 200, t. 1, p. 359: Purgatio passiva parties sensitises perficitur subdued per temptations and persecutions ab hominibus inductas, quales etiam S. Job ab uxore and amicis amustinuit.
These difficulties constitute a true martyrdom more painful to endure than the ills of the body, the separations of the heart, and even the vexations of demons!
The wicked? persecute those who obstruct their perversity, or who are only so, through the purity of their lives, contradiction and censorship. The world, which is an incarnation of Satan, does not support the protest of virtue, and rather sashes against holiness.
Sometimes the impetuous and indiscreet zeal of the beginnings gives rise to oppositions that can become so bitterer, as one is accused by the good of having aroused them recklessly.
The pain caused by these tribulations is greater when they come from relatives and friends, even more acute when they come from the superiors to whom we owe obedience and respect. We can disdain and explain the malice of strangers and enemies; we always suffer when we see ourselves facing the prosecution of those we love and reverence, whether they are in good faith or ill-intentioned.
But the most difficult test to bear is that of good people, righteous, serious and godly people, and primarily of the directors of conscience. Saint Teresus recounts how much she had to suffer from this kind of upsetness, and having opened herself on this point to St Peter of Alcantara, this great servant of God comforted her beautiful-
1 Ppictpp. To SS. TRN. Sum. Theol. myst. P. 1, Tract. 3, D. Two, two. 3, t. 4 p. 388: Sensitivity nonnunquam is hominum persecutio quam dæmonum. i
2 SCHRAM, § 201, t. 4 p. 360: Persecutions etiam pro purgatione sua, subinde animabus perfectioni studentibus moventur ab improbis catholicis. "
3 LAuRÆA, Opusc. 6 of Oratione, c. 5: Aliqui justi a Superioribus etiam ecclesiasticis et supremies, male informatis, Deo permittente, purgantur and mortificant.
4 His Life, ch. 28.
"This contradiction that she received from good people was one of the greatest pains that one could experience in this life!"
Perhaps another more painful and crucifying one is to live in a religious community and be confronted with suspicion, harassment, mockery and violence. One rightly wondered whether the cenobitic persecution was not the cruelst of all? These can answer who know from experience how bitter and unbearable the vexations of community life are to nature.
IL. — It is rare that the demon does not ostensibly intervene in the work of purifying the senses.
The evil persecution is exercised in three degrees: through ordinary temptations, by obsession and by possession.
In simple temptation, the evil mind raises and activates concupiscence by acting directly on organs or by implementing external agents to make them opportunities for sin, but in one and the other case by concealing its presence and excitement.
In the obsession, his attack, although still outside, is more lively and more open. Here it is revealed either by the violence itself and by the duration of the temptation, inexplicable without an extrinsic agent; or by external manifestations that do not allow to doubt its intervention: it speaks, moves the limbs, stirs up the material objects, shows itself in various forms able to scare or seduce, is agitated, according to the expression of St Peter, as a roaring lion, around the prey that he covets; but it remains outside; it is seat, it is not yet the master and possessor.
Possession, indeed, goes further. It introduces the
1 His Life, ch. 30. 2 THEOPHIL. RAyN. Pratum spirit. One hundred. 49, t. 17, p. 619.
Demon in the body of Phomme and subject him to his power as a thing which belongs to him, which he moves in his name and at his will, so that in the act of possession it is not man who speaks, walks, acts, but the demon who uses organs and members of man as a body which is his own.
Simple temptations are always part of the means of inner purification; but, like this kind of attack wa only ordinary and common, we will say nothing of it here, and we refer on this point to the notions and advices of ascetic theology.
We will deal specifically with possessions and obsessions in the third part of this book, when we discuss the various modes of the evil supernatural. At present, we will limit ourselves to these two forms to the reflections necessary to enlighten the matter of passive purifications.
Possession does not belong regularly to the trials that prepare for contemplation t. The reason for this is that possession, suspending the use of reason and freedom, prevents the exercise of perfection, while passive purification is, on the contrary, accomplished by free and meritorious acts? That is why Saint Augustine assigns the
4 SCARAMELLI, Tr. 5, ©. 7, n. 70, p. 366. Dico che la detta possessione non si appropriée alle purghe del senso, di cui ragioniamo nel presente trattato, voglio dire, che non si appropriée à quel purghe che sono indi-
ricezate alla perfezione del saggetto, e bene spesso all acquisto della divina contemplazione.
2 SCHRAM, § 217, t. 1, p. 382: Ratio est, quia statis arreptitii valde impedit exercitium perfectionis, uti ex encensendis mox impedimentis apparebit et satis apparet ex perturbato et everso, in illo statu, usu rationis, qui tamen ad augenda merita et perfectionem per ea promvendam omnino requirementur, qui est totus finis animas sanctas per diabolicas vexationes probandi et perficiendi; atque hec est ratio cur animæ sanctæ potius per obsessionem probentur et perficierur; possessionibus vero, vel raro admodum vel nonnisi ex parte and transeunter; quod vix ad propriom possessionem suffcit.
3 From Civit. Dei, 1. 10, €. 22, p. 490: Non enim aliquem vincit aut subjugate nisi societe peccati.
sin as the usual cause of possessions. The rare examples of God's servants subjected to this test, such as the holy abbot Moses!, the nun Saint Gregory the Great speaks of, and a few others, do not prove that these possessions were intended to prepare contemplation; but rather to punish, as these accounts attest, the slight mistakes which God wanted to inspire to these faithful souls an extreme horror. *
So if possession is found in the preludes of contemplation, it is just as good to say that contemplation has occurred despite possession, as it is to see possession as a preparation for contemplation. However, it is not absolutely repugnant that this evil tyranny is among the means of passive purgation: God knows how to draw good from evil and to give a punishment the purifying virtue that meets the purposes of his righteousness and goodness.
Lobsession, on the contrary, is one of the ordinary forms of soul purification.
Not only does the demon intervene by occult action in the disturbances of the imagination and the uprisings of the senses to give them extreme intensity f, but
1 Cassrex, Coll. 7, ©. 27, Migne, t. 49, col. 706.
2 Dialog. 1. 1, ©. 4. Migne, t. 77, col. 468.
3 GORRES, Mystique, l. 6, ©. 12, t. 4 p. 352.
4 SCARAMELLI, Tr. 5, ©. 7, n. 73, p. 367: Sebbene le predette possessioni diaboliche accaddero in persone sante, non furono però loro permesse dia Dio diitttamente, come purghe conductenti a gradi di più sublime perfezione e di alta contemplazione..., ma solo in pena di alcuni peccati, di quei gran servi di Dio, che sebbene non erano gravi, ma soltanto leggieri, ciò non ostante però in persone di tanto mento erano considerrabili.
5 SCHRAM, § 216, p. 380: Fieri quaque potest ut personæ sanctiores etiam dæmonum possessione exercanteur et purntur.
6 S. JEAN OF THE CRON, the Dark Night, 1. 1, ch. 44, p. 276: During this terrible night, Satan's angel, who is the spirit of fornication, attacks some of them and tireds their sense of abominable and very strong temptations; he fills their minds with filthy thoughts, he infects their imaginations with very vivid representations, he finally makes them suffer from more cruel torments than death. Sometimes the blasphemous mind joins the mind
again he shows up to disconcert the man
and reduce it by his terrible injunctions or false promises. Sometimes it takes frightening forms, threatening with all its vengeance if it is abandoned the practices of piety and mortification, the exercise of prayer, the relations with the director; sometimes it appears under seductive and voluptuous outsides, while by secret action it excites outside and within the movements of passions.
Often it comes to ill-treatment, striking, injuring, paralyzing the limbs and organs, inflicting on the body torture of any kind, reducing them to an end by real or imaginary diseases.
Sometimes demons appear ostensibly by troops and assault God's servants with inexpressible violence. Such facts are very common in contemplatives. It is enough to read what Saint Teresus wrote of herself, and what is narrated in the lives of Saint Hilarion?, Saint Anthony, Saint Benedict‘, Seraphic Francis d'Assisiÿ, Saint Catherine of Siena 5, Saint Madeleine of Pazzi, Saint Saint
unclean. He suggests execrable blasphemies and prints them so vividly in the imagination, that they often pass to the tongue and appear to be pronounced. Which gives an inexplicable penalty. At other times they are beaten with the spirit of vertigo that overturns their sense so much, that it fills them with a thousand scruples and a thousand embarrassing doubts, so that they cannot satisfy themselves or submit themselves to the judgment of others. This spirit has something more horrible and horrible than anything that happens on this spiritual night.
2Savie,.ch..31:
2 S, Hreronym. Vila S: Hilarion. Erem., n. 6 and 7. Migne, t. 93, col. 31.
3 S. ATHANAS. Vila S. Anton., n. 5. and sq. Migne, t. 26, col. 846 et seq.
4S. GREG. Mr. Dialog. 1. 2, c. 2. Migne, t. 66, Col. 132.
5 Thomas DE CELANO, BB. 4 Oct., t. 50, p. 703, n. 74 et seq.
-6 Raym. BB. 30 April, t. 12 p. 961, n. 403.
7 Vic. Pucomr, BB. 25 Mayi, t. 49, p. 490, n. 40 and 41.
Angèle de Foligno', of the venerable Mother Agnes °, of the Blessed Marguerite-Marie °.
IV. — These evil assaults are of great effectiveness in purifying the soul by the fear they inspire and by their extreme bitterness. Under the blow of these audacity and vexations, the soul looks at itself as being in the face of the righteousness of God, who punishes his faults by abandoning himself to the wrath of demons. The feeling that dominates in her and stifles all others is that of her inner misery, where the fear of God's judgments and the humble supplication of prayer are instinctively born.
The danger is in the weakness of the flesh, which can yield to the violence of these attacks, and in the collapse of despair where this struggle can throw.
After God who assists with a powerful grace, it is the director who presents to these souls the strongest support. He must comfort them and reassure them, not by showing the high rewards of contemplative life, but the secret merits of a faithfully sustained fight. He will remind them that it is not the temptation that defiles, but the free consent that is given to him; that the devil probably makes so much noise outside only because he is not in the place; that, since sin, the senses are no longer
1 ANAUD, BB. 4 Jan., €. 2, t. 4 p. 190.
2 Life of Ven. Mother Agnes of Jesus, by M. de LanTaGEes, nouv. ed. by M. Lucor, 2nd part, ch. 4-7.
3 Her life, by herself, passed away.
4 Pare. To SS. Tan. Tr. 3, D. 9, a. 2, t. 4 p. 387: Hæc purgatio passiva parties sensitivæ queæ media dæmonum persecutione perficitur, admodum amara et efficacissima est; nam, ex una parte, dæmones, ut incipientes ab ardua perfectionis via deterreant, sævissime in illos juxta intentionem et extensionem divinæ permissionis eos afflictunt; ex alia vero parte, hac persecutione territi incipientes, se misrrimos et quasi reprobos existimant. Cum enim illam in peccatorum suorum pœnam evenisse arbitrantur, and latens ibi divinæ bonitatis arcanum ignore, credunt se jam daemonibus traditos, ut ex tune in æternum exactas peccatorum suorum pænas lunant.
Unde miris afliguntur et coram Deo humiliantur; and sic a præteritis purgantur immundiiis.
under the absolute empire of man, and that, of all his faculties, only the will always remains free and master himself; that the saints have been violently assailed and mistreated by Satan, without ceasing to be God's friends; let God hide himself to be sought and called.
After exhorting and consoling, he will advise the use of the means put by Jesus Christ at the disposal of Elise and the faithful against the infernal powers: prayer, mortifications, sacramentals, in particular the holy water and the sign of the cross, and, if necessary, the precarious exorcisms. We will return to this subject by indicating the remedies against obsession, and we will then make known the differences between theologians and mystics concerning the use of exorcisms.
- Thus conducted, the purification of the senses goes straight to the goal, and realizes surely and more quickly the transformation effects that it is intended to produce.
V. -— The main and most direct is the reduction of the sensual appetite that constantly struggles and revolts against reason. The natural impetuousness that brings the soul to pleasure slows down and tempers itself, the impressions and movements of the instinct sever and moderate under the guillon of this expiating suffering. The soul now knows what it costs, curses it and withdraws from it; it frees itself from the servitude and tyranny of the senses.
1 S, JEAN OF CROIX. The Dark Nurt, l. 1, ©. 11, p. 268: Since God only introduces the soul into that night to purify the senses of the lower part and to subdue them and unite them with the spirit, she derives such great benefits, that she counts for an extreme happiness to have been out on that night from the close ties of the animal part, which makes her say:
This exit means the deliverance of the soul from its subjection to the sensual part, in the search for God by weak, limited and
RASA eE an a RAA ae PC Qi et A A, a E NA NET: rA ASEIN PRE A du
This defeat of the lower part removes the obstacles that the senses oppose contemplation, corrects the imperfections indicated above by St John of the Cross in the first enjoyments of the sensitive fervor, warns against the vain imaginations and against the illusions of the spirit of lie, even disposes the body to support without prejudice the manifestations and bursts of mystic joy.
But these are only negative effects that make evil go away. The positive fruits listed by the masters! are in large numbers, one can bring them back to the following three: the knowledge of God and of oneself, advancement in virtues and an increasingly increasing inner strength.
The uprisings of sensual appetite, and its undeniable connivance with the demon and with the world, inevitably bring the soul that is suffering these storms to the feeling of its native corruption, to the conviction of its irremediable misery, to the contempt of itself and man. On the other hand, God's holiness appears more manifest and his justice more terrible, to the supernatural light that envelops the soul without his knowledge and shows him, in a striking contrast, the weakness and abjection of man, the majesty and unalterable stability of God. The sight of the corruption and fragility of the flesh produces humility; the sight of God holy, righteous and great, inspires the reverential fear.
Disillusioned herself and invinciblely carried, though trembling, towards the invariable, the incorruptible and the eternal,
as the operations of this part. For it fell, almost at every step, into a thousand imperfections and in a thousand ignorances, as we have shown above in speaking of the seven capital vices, from which the soul is withdrawn that night.
15. Cross, the Night obsesses., l. 1, ©. 49 and 13, p. 269. — PHILIPP. To SS. TRIN. P. 4, Tr. 3, D. Four, to. 5, p. 370. — ScaraMellr, Tratt. 5, c. 5, n. 41, p. 355.
Lot a At, Ets PT re des ee ee A pae pe
The soul sneezes toward God, his end and his salvation, through humble and ardent prayer, comes out of herself to seek refuge and be lost in God, is ready to abandon love and to wonder at admiration. "It is therefore constant, let us say with St John of the Cross, that the knowledge of oneself and that of God flow from this dark night as from their source." This is the first positive result of the test that purifies the senses.
The second is the improvement of Christian virtues, through the active exercise that it gives them. "Another fruit of this night of senses," adds the mystical doctor we have just quoted?, "is that the soul is exercised at the same time in all virtues. These are patience..., Pamour of God..., strength; finally all the theologal, cardinal and moral virtues reign during these aridities."
Indeed, in the darkness that envelops, the soul is guided only by the light of faith, which, paralyzing the efforts of reasoning, becomes a prelude to contemplative fixedness. Anxieties where God himself, the only single medium and term of salvation, seems to escape the soul, can only be sustained by the heroism of hope. The neglect of sensitivity warns that God wants to be served, not for enjoyment, but for pure love, which arouses and ignites charity.
Moral virtues also grow and perfect under this purifying fire. This must be; for moral virtues regulate the movements of passions according to the requirements of reason, and sensitive purgation is precisely to subject the instinctive part of man to the reasonable part.
Among the virtues that strengthen in these trials we
1 The Dark Night, 1. 1, ch. 12 p. 272.
2 Ibid., c. 13, p. 274. z 17
have already pointed out humility, which Saint Bernard ‘define the knowledge and the confession of our own misery. With humility, those who shine with a brighter shine are chastity and patience.
As For comes out purer from the crucible where he has suffered the action of fire, the holy and kind virtue of purity acquires all its lust and perfect beauty when it traverses without defilement the perilous flame of temptations, mainly violent and exceptional temptations that we are talking about here.
Similarly, the virtue which makes us endure with constant equality the evils that are necessary, always finds itself to be exercised. in the midst of tribulations and anxieties by which the sensitive purification takes place. In this struggle against the flesh, the world and hell, patience is as necessary as it is effective. There is no point in agitating and disturbing: the only means of salvation are calm, prayer and an invincible trust that God will not abandon. But the sensitive help of grace is long to come; by patience, the soul is contained, hopes against all hope, and waits in peace for the hour of deliverance; for, according to the thought of St Augustine?, what inspires and sustains patience, is hope to arrive at eternal goods.
Detached from herself, united to God, in continuous exercise of virtue, it is possible that the soul may not be strengthened, that it strip the tongues and delicacy of the child and put on the energy and attitude of manhood.
This is the purpose of passive trials, namely, to heal the soul of its tenderness and attachment for the false and childish enjoyments of the senses, of the
1 De grad. humiliate. ©. 1, n. 2, t. 1, p. 472: Humilitas is virtus qua homo verissima sui agnitione sibi ipsi vilescit.
2 From Patientia, ©. 2, t. 16, p. 4. Patientia hominis... ea perhibetur qua
æquo animo mala toleramus, ne'mo iniquo bona deseramus per quae ad meliora perveniamus.
weaning of this milk of children, to give it the strong and substantial food of the made men.
Two causes contribute to this result: the infusion of the supernatural gifts that God makes to the soul, and the reduction of passions, which, by their whims and their revolts against reason, are compared to childhood, still under the empire of instinct!.
Thus, passive cleaning of the senses is carried out. We still have to tell how the spirit works.
1 Parupr. To SS. Tan. P. 1, Tr. 3, D. Four, to. 5, t. 1, p. 370: Secundus fructus est robur animæ per hoc quod eam abractat a gratia sensibilité, quae est lac incipientium parvulorum in vita spirituali; ipsam quippe abnournis infantiæ tenuioribus ad solidos virtutum cibos reducit, and a Lento infantium processdendi modo adcurrendam perfectionis viam impellit... Hoc autem robur animæ duplicate dimanat principio: tum scilicet ex charismatum supernaturalium in hac nocte obscurae contemplationis infusione, tum ex passionum moderatione, peccatorum et imperfectionum evacuatione acvitiorum extirpatione, quae omnia virtutem animæ in varia distrahunt et debilitant.
The purification of the spirit disposes the soul to union. — Four reasons for its necessity: to complete the purgation of the senses, to remove the inner stains and imperfections, to realize the resemblance to Jesus Christ, to enrich with graces and merits. — Nature of spiritual neglect: the greatest torment is the deprivation of any feeling of devotion. — This aridity is complicated by horrific temptations, mainly against faith and trust in God. — From there are other temptations, murmuring, fatigue. — How one comes out triumphant from these trials.
I. — When contemplation does not exceed the lower degrees, the passive test which tames the flesh suffices; if it must rise up to union, a second purgation becomes necessary, that of the spirit.
"The reason for this is, says St John of the Cross t, that the affections and knowledge of the spirit purified and raised to perfection are of a higher rank than the affections and knowledge of nature: they are supernatural and divine; so that, in order to acquire the acts and habits of them, it is necessary that those who do not come out of the bounds of nature be extinguished. That's why it's a big
1 The Dark Night, 1. 2, ch. 9, p. 296.
In this matter, let the spirit lose its natural knowledge in this night, to be clothed with this very subtle and all divine light, and to become himself in some way all divine in his union with the wisdom of God. This night or darkness must therefore last as long as it takes to get into the practical habit of this supernatural light.
"We must say the same thing about the will. She is obliged to get rid of all the affections that attach her to natural objects, to receive the admirable effects of love, which is extremely spiritual, subtle, delicate, intimate, which surpasses all the natural feelings and affections of the will, which is, in a word, all divine; and that it may be transformed into this love by the union which is granted to her in the loss of all her natural goods."
The night of the senses is therefore intended to reduce the sensual appetite under the yoke of reason; the night of the mind subjects reason itself to the higher reason of God. The first makes order reign between the two elements that make up man; the second substitutes for human and rational life supernatural and divine life. One pacifizes the lower region, the other unites the upper part to God and makes him a new life.
And as much as the distance between God and man surpasses that which divides the spirit of the flesh, so much the night of the spirit takes it away in depth, in darkness, in bitterness on the night of the flesh.
Let us first highlight the reason for these anxieties, which, by torturing the mind, cleanse it, release it, give it the activity and brightness of the flame, bring it closer to God,
1S, JEAN OF THE Cross, the Dark Night, l. 1, © 7, p. 296: The pains of the will are so great in this state, that the memory of these evils and the uncertainty of their remedies strongly strike the soul and burden all
That's right.
pure and infinite flame of charity, and dispose it to union, to ineffable absorption of love with God and in God.
II. — The first reason is the complete completion of the purification of the senses. The instinct of sensitive pleasure is so rooted in man, that man can only dominate him by rising above nature, and leaving in some way of himself to live a higher life.
Second, in addition to the weaknesses that arise directly from the senses, there is still after the first purification of the more imperceptible and subtle stains and imperfections, which hold more of the mind, and which delay the union of the soul with God +. Usual defects: on the side of understanding, in distractions and divagations that withdraw from the thought of God and bring back to creatures; on the part of the heart, innate love of self and excessive attachment to spiritual tastes. Current defects: such as a perilous ease to misunderstand in the judgments that one bears extraordinary graces, and the presumptuous, selfish, reckless feelings that one thinks can abandon by a strange abuse of these divine communications, which themselves tend rather to humility, love, filial fear?. It's just a matter of
1 S. JEAN DE LA CROIX, the Dark Night, l. 1, ©. 2, p. 280: Those who benefit in the inner life have two kinds of imperfections, some of which are customary, others present. The usual ones are imperfect affections and habits which have remained as roots in the mind and which the purging of the senses could pull away. There is the same difference between the present imperfections and the usual imperfections as between the ease of cutting a small branch of tree and removing a new spot, and the difficulty of tearing a large root and removing an old spot. For the purgation of the senses is only the beginning and the door, so to speak, of the contemplation that falls into the mind, and it serves more to subject the meaning to the mind than the spirit to God.
2 PHLPP. To SS. Trin. P. 1, Tr. 3, D. 3, a. 3, t. 1, p. 423: Primum motivum est, ut imperfections et defectus, tam actuales quam habituales, in anima remanentes, quos purgatio passiva parties sensitivæ non potuit eradiare, penitus evacuentur... Hujusmodi autem defectus habituales sunt, ex parte intellectus, distractio et evagatio spiritus a Deo ad creaturas; ex parte vero
the clarity of the supernatural light in which it is immersed, the soul perceives, fights and expiates these injustices, represses these excesses, dispels these illusions, and that which is damaged in the consciousness of its nothingness and misery, it comes to no longer oppose resistance to the vocation and divine action of grace. Then she'll be ready for union.
A third reason, which explains and justifies the purifying test of the spirit, derives from the necessity, for the sancüfication and glorification, to resemble Jesus Christ. One is not Christian, one is perfect only to the extent that one resembles Jesus Christ: it is the very law of predestination, formulated by St Paul in his epitome to the Romans!
But if Jesus Christ, to atone for our crimes, has suffered the most cruel neglect of mind, is it surprising that the true culprits must participate in this kind of anguish?
affections, innatus amor proprus, and nimia ad gustus spirituales adhæsio. Actualsautem defectus ex parte intellectus sunt, decipi frequenter in visionibus and revelationibus, in locuturibus and prophetiis, and vera judicare falsa, and falsa vera. Ex parte vero affectionus, sunt præsumptio, superbia, arrogantia and audacia, processes ex abusu divinarum communicationuru, quae ex propria natura potius tilting ad humilitatem, amorem and timerem Dei subsidiary, etc.
1 Rom. vm, 29 and 30. Quos præscivit and prædestinavit conforms proudi imaginis Filii sui, ut sit ipse primogenitus in multis frats. Quos autem prædestinavit hos et vocavit; and quos vocavit, hos et justificavit; quos autem justificavit, illos et glorificavit.
2 Panmr. To SS. Trix. P. 4, Tr. 3, d. 3, a. 3, t. 1, p. 424: Quartum motivum est, ut speciales Dei filii qui ad summam sanctitatem destinantur, Christo Domino primogenito in multis fratritos and unigenito Filio naturali perfecte conformer; quos enim sic præscivit, prædestinavit conform consonant profi imaginis Filii sui: Christus autem Dominus flees in amarissima hac purgatione, maxime tempore sanctissimæ passionis suæ, dum dixit apostolis: Tristis is anima mea usque ad mortem; and dum in cruce clamavit ad Patrem: Deus, Deus meus, ut quid dereliquisti me? Tunc enim summam flees passum tristitiam, communicate docent expositores. If autem Christus Dominus tam amaram hausit purgationem, ut aliorum infirmitates purgaret, qualem debent homines haurire ut proprios purge infirmitates? Unde Christus Dominus omnibus ad se venientibus præcipiebat tollere crucem, etc.
Most Christians expect, in order to undergo these atonements and realize this resemblance with the Redeemer, the exit from the trial and the end of the present life; but the privileged souls, whom God calls to taste here below the preludes of glory through the consciousness of mystic union, must first reproduce in them the divine Crucified.
These considerations will appear more well-founded and more pressing to remember that the spiritual marriage is contracted between the Incarnate Word and the faithful soul, and that the propriety of this union requires a perfect resemblance between the bride and the Bridegroom. Every soul that does not have the seal of the cross, Jesus Christ will not recognize it, as he declared in his Gospel; on the contrary, the more a soul reproduces the features of the Crucified, the more it is entitled to its predilection.
Finally, the law of proportions and proprieties still requires that the soul destined to unite with the Word be adorned with supernatural gifts that make it worthy of this union; and, in the providential plan of sanctification, it is through the work of virtue and by personal merits" united with the merits of Jesus Christ that this relative fullness of grace is realized in the soul. Who then sees the reason for the supernatural neglect of the spirit, of all the sources of grace and of the highest and most abundant merit? The soul enriches and transforms in the very proportion of the bitterness that water, the fidelity and the love with which it drinks this chalice of tribulation.
These are the main motives that make it necessary to purgate the mind, before the soul is raised to the grace of mystic union. Let us now say what this ordeal is and what its results are.
1 Paurpp. To SS. Erw. P. 4, Tr. 3, D. 3, a. 3, t. 4 p. 424: Quintum motivum is meritum copiosum quod ex tribulatione and voluntaria purgationis hujus tolerantia consurgit.
IT. — In order to explain more precisely what the acts, means and fruits of passive cleansing of the mind are, we must distinguish between two very different phases! In the first, the soul is plagued by the cruel uncertainties and poignant bitterness of neglect; it thinks itself abandoned, repulsed, cursed. Here, we see, everything is darkness, desolation and anguish. In the second, the torment of the soul comes to him less from shadow than from light, less from uncertainty and fear than from limpatience and desire. God reveals himself to the soul and then disappears, letting it burn in the ardour and eagerness of love that has lost its object, that pursues and calls it.
This chapter and the following relate to the first form of spiritual purgation, arid, obscure, sorry. We will then deal with the second form, which mystics call the purification of love, which is less a preparation for contemplation, than contemplation even already in activity.
The fundamental torment of the dark purgation of the mind consists in the total suppression of accidental devotion, that is, as we have already stated, in the absence of the pleasant feeling that accompanies usually and attests to the generous movement of charity. The soul seeks God, goes to God, is to God; and yet she is aware only of the effort she makes to produce these acts, but not to have met the God whom she desires and whom she loves.
4 SCARAMELLI, Tratt. 5, ©. 21 n. 229, p. 495: La purga perfetta dello spirito si fa principalmente con due luci di contemplazione: una che oscura l-anima con folte tenebre e fissandola nella vista. desuoi peccati e miserie, la riempie di gravissimi affizioni; laltra che rappresenta all anima vivamente lamabilità di Dio, non per dargliene possesso di amore, ma solo per eccitare in lei desiderj acutissimi che la trafiggano e la riducano a pene di mort... Alcune anime Iddio purga con una di debt luci, altre con l'altra, altre con ambedue.
While God remains veiled and wrapped in his own light, the soul, with the rays of this same clarity, sees his weakness, his imperfections, his faults, with evidence that terrifies him and makes him feel sick. It is necessary that, by seeing herself as a sinner, a miserable, devoid of everything, by searching for the emptiness and the nothingness of every creature, she may find herself abhorring herself and understanding that God alone is her salvation, that only he is just and good.
"Every one penetrated with a very keen feeling of his suffering... she will have no way to soften them, until Our Lord completes purifying her in the way and in the time that she pleases. She looks like a man with his hands and feet tied together in a dark prison; he can neither move nor see, nor receive any relief. Similarly, the soul groaned in irons, in the cross, in darkness, still, without help, until the spirit was amolished, humiliated, purified, so freed from material and sensitive things, so subtle, so simple, that it could become in some way the same spirit with the spirit of God, according to the nature and degree of union of love to which divine mercy will raise it £."
The memory of the abundance and joys of the past adds to the destitution and aridity of the present. "To these sorrows," said St John of the Cross again? "we must join the recollection of past prosperity. For men who feel the bitterness of this night have usually been warned of divine sweetness, and have rendered to God considerable service. The deprivation of such a happy state and the apparent impossibility of recovering it pierce the heart of infinitely sensitive pain."
IV. — This spiritual aridity is complicated by the most pressing and often the most atrocious temptations.
1 Cross, the Obsc. Night, 1. 2, ch. 7, p: 293. 2 Ibid., p. 291.
It is rare that faith, which is the basis of supernatural life, would not want to suffer the most terrible assaults. There is a thousand objections that one is unable to resolve, either because of their subtlety, or because, in these kinds of trials, the mind is reduced to gravity, to darkness that paralyzes it. All his activity is exhausted in problems and negations, so that the soul seems to succumb and consent to these cruel perplexities of doubt, to which it can oppose only an act of the will barely felt. You have to have experienced such thunderstorms to appreciate all that they have frightening. Sometimes the difficulties concern only one specific point of our mysteries; but, constantly renaissant, they obsess and fatigue the mind to the equal of temptations that vary in succession.
The best way to combat these suggestions is to adhere by internal acts to the threatened truth, to strengthen oneself by the consideration of authority! which guarantees faith, and particular motives that establish its divine character; last but not least, to avoid any discussion with oneself and others.
These temptations against faith often take the form of blasphemy. Not only does the spirit fill with doubts and anxiety, but it is also in the soul of uprisings which, if not contained, would burst into shouts of rage and curse. It is mainly, as we shall soon say, under the oppressive action of the demon that these explosions tend to occur.
The most torturing anxiety comes from thought, and almost
1 Prirrre. To SS. TRIN. P. 1, Tr. 3, D. 4, a. 1, t-1, p. 453. Sed ad majorem fidei firmitatem, etsi tentatus unicum habere debeat formalem credendi rationem scilicet revelationem obscuram et Ecclesiae catholicæ proposem tanquam conditionem sine qua non et velut regulam credendorum, potest tamen laudabiliter enquirerere motiva quaedam efficaciter demonstrantia quod fidei dogmata per Ecclesiam Romanam proposita sunt a Deo revelata, et quod Ecclesia Romana sit vera catholica.
a kind of persuasion that is abandoned of God, suffering from his righteousness and anathema. "The greatest torment of the soul," says St John of the Cross, "is to believe that God hates her, abandons her, and throws her for this reason into darkness. When the contemplation that God uses to purify the soul mortifies it by stripping it from everything, the soul experiences with a penetrating vivacity all the horror that death causes, and all the pains and moanings of hell; because, in this state, it seems to know by a sensitive experience that God is angry with it, that he punishes it in the ardour of his anger, that he rejected it and that he is no longer with it. She even fears, with much appearance according to what she feels, that he will treat her forever with the same severity."
Can we imagine anything harder, more horrible for a soul who loves God and wants to serve him? Jeremiah presents, in his LAMENTATIONS?, a completed model of the soul thus abandoned and continued by divine indignation. Several mystics, among others Saint John of the Cross and Philip of the Most Holy Trinity +, have excelled in commenting on these complaints of the prophet, applying them to the soul subjected to the purification of the spirit. The story of Job * contains another example, no less admirable, which is easy to apply to the spiritual test we are talking about.
Still if, like Job, the abandoned soul could keep the feeling of his innocence. But passive purification is rarely accompanied by perplexities.
1 Night Obsc., 1. 1, ch. 6 p. 288.
2 Thren. m, 1 and seg:
3 Night Obsc., 1. 2, ch. 7 p. 292 et seq.
SSPrryrmP. To SS-TRIT. P 45 Tr3, D AAAS
AND DE PERESA te RTS
bitter scruples t. Everything is shadow and obstacle; everywhere we see evil, imperfection, opportunities for falling; to any act AS we find or imagine a selfish and perverse intention that corrupts it, or at least a defective aspect that weakens. We no longer know on which side to turn our gazes: the past is an inexhaustible source of anxiety and remorse; the future, a deep night where we see only ghosts and pitfalls, anger and curse; and the present is made of these bitter memories and poignant apprehensions.
V. — From these storms and darknesss that overwhelm the mind and disconcerte the will, spontaneously arise more real temptations, and perhaps even more formidable.
The first is that of impatience and murmuring against God and his providence. On the one hand, one feels at the bottom of oneself a devouring desire to be to God, and one calls him with extreme ardour; on the other, it seems that God is deaf to all prayers, that he resists, that he rejects, that he curses. From there, naturally, the thought that God is cruel, implacable, even unjust arises in the mind, and this thought tends to spread over the heart in bitterness, in complaints, in anger. The anguish of despair sometimes becomes so pressing, that one is tempted to give himself death.
If the will were to yield to these movements of revolt, prayer would give way to blasphemy, and the soul, instead of rising up and uniting with God, would rush into the spoils of sin.
1 Pare. To SS. Sort. P. 4, Tr. 3, D, 4, a. 4 p. 464: Multi sunt qui tempore purgationis intellectivæ scrupulorum importunitate vexantur.
2 S. BonavenT. De Profect. religios. l. Two cents. 2, t. 42, p. 367: Sequitur alia tentatio gravis impatientiæ contra Deum, quare tam durus and immesseritors sit tribolato, quare tam parcus in dando egeno gratiam, and tam anxie petenti, and tam importune pulsanti. And hec tentatio quandoque tam valida est, quod quasi insanit homo and palpitat ex vehementi mærore;
quia ibi non invenit solatium quod deberet ei esse unicum refugia, scilicet in oratione et in tanta supplicatione.
Without going so far as to break up with God as with a declared enemy, the soul could come to weariness, discouragement, and, to emerge from a trial that seems to hold to the prayer life, renounce the very prayer and the work of perfection, at least to the loneliness of the inner life: temptation more perilous than the previous one, according to Saint Bonaventure t, because it is less felt, which detachs from the sources of grace and brings back to the creature by specious and no less harmful pretexts.
VI. — God, who assists these souls with an exceptional grace such as the trial they are undergoing, usually preserves them from these lamentable defections; but since they can derail, reaching the serenity of contemplation, how can they be protected from failure in the violent shakings and bitterness of temptation?
To escape this misfortune, these passively tried souls must persevere in humble and confident prayer, call upon all the principles of faith and hope to stand with complete submission under the hand of God, who punishes and feels only to purify and bless, which associates, out of love, with the sufferings, humiliations and neglects of the crucified Saviour.
Above all, as we have already seen, it is important that we should be able to make the most of the resources available to us.
1 De Profect. religios. l. 1, ©. 2, t. 12 p. 367: llla autem tentatio periculosa est quae minus molesta senteur; quaso ex longo usu subtractionis gratiæ devotionis, et post anxia multa desideria et labores pro recuperanda gratia, homo quasi lassus remittit animum ab intentione quaerendi, et sub colore patientiæ desinit oculos attollee ad oces quas habere se possessione non vividet, et indignanti humilitate cogitat se indignum tali gratia; quia forsitan aliud de llo præordinavit Dominus, ut exteriora conversus multis prosit, et ideo ab interioribus sit repulsus. Vult ctiam sub discretionis velamine deinceps carre sibi, ne corpus nimis debilitetur, vel caput irrecuperabiliter destruatur. And incipit redisior esse in studio orationis et ad confibulationes promptior, ad evagandum paratior, ad corporis commoda studiosior... And ita paulatim subtrahitur a primo fervore, and desiderium perficiendi refrigescit. *
445 quee, which is used to conduct a prudent, knowledgeable and experienced director.
For his part, the director must give to these desolate souls, who see nothing in the light, his compassion and all his care, supporting them by the maxims of faith, the words of the divine Scripture, the examples of the saints, by all the industries of his mind and heart.
The causes: men contribute to spiritual purification, especially those of whom we expect sympathy and help. — The demon intervenes with violent suggestions and temptations. — God is the true agent of this purification by a penetrating light that reveals to the soul his misery. — The effects are: self-despite, adherence to God, — The perfection of virtues up to heroism. — This progress is slow and fruitful: comparison of Saint John of the Cross and Hugues of Saint Victor.
J. — The causes of the purification of the mind are those we have assigned to sensitive purgation, but with essential differences which must be noted.
The world and the demon have less share in the purification of the mind than in the purification of the senses. They may, however, be instruments of contradiction and moral suffering, which are directed rather to the reasonable party than to the sensitive party.
Men compete to the test of the spirit in many ways, mainly in three kinds of circumstances.
First, when by his acts, omissions, words, the tried and tested person inadvertently provides the opportunity or pretext to do wrong. It is a great subject of desolation for delicate consciences who hate to
God's offense, having to recognize that they are for others a cause of fall and scandal.
The same is true when one is confronted with the contradiction, reproaches, reprimands of good people, either by the effect of illusions or misunderstandings so frequent among the poor, or by the faults or imperfections that God permits to provoke oppositions and resistance.
Finally, there is a special bitterness that rarely misses the holy souls, in these trials of mystical life, it is the persecution of the directors who should console and support them. The venerable Mother Agnes de Langeac had to wipe away all sorts of scraps from Fr. Panassière, his confessor +. Saint Teresus often recalls, in his writings, the crosses that came to her from the priests whom she consulted on the state of her soul and on his revelations. The confessions of Blessed Raymond de Capoue?, on the mistrusts which the first openings of his illustrious penitent Catherine de Siena inspired him, are neither less explicit nor less instructive.
II. — The demon * also intervenes in temptations that torment the spirit and threaten to raise it against God.
1 De LanrTAGes, Life of Mother Agnes of Jesus, 11 P., ch. 18, n. 6, t.1, p. 242: The only person in the world in whom she could seek some consolation was certainly her director, who was, after God, the true witness of her innocence and inviolable fidelity to her divine Husband. But God allowed, for a more singular trial of his handmaiden, that this good father, having conceived of the mistrust of his sincerity, for having listened too much to the speeches of various persons, became in such a bad mood towards her, that there was more for her than very severe scraps, and that he sometimes went so far as to send her back with kicks. We know that of himself, who simply tells it in his Memoirs, showing an extreme regret for having used it in this way.
2 BB. 30 April, t. 12 p. 883, n. 87-90: Scire te igitur volo, reader dilecte, quod in principalipio, cum audito ejus præconio coepi familiariter cum ea conversari, multifarie multisque modis de incredulitate, Deo permittente pro meliori, tentatus fuche.
3 Harrmius, Theol. myst. 1. 2, c. 49, fol. cLxxxu, b.: Second grade
It is not that he can act directly on thought; but, by means of signs and sensitive concussions, he brings the mind to the subjects that can be a cause for him to fall, and keeps it in spite of him.
In general, the serious and exorbitant temptations of pride have as instigator rebellious and maddened Lange. The violent suggestions against faith, the stubborn thoughts of hatred and blasphemy, the attacks of despair that lead to suicide, and, in principle, all the temptations that by their violence and their duration signify obsession, thus betray the presence of Satan!
It would be doubtful whether, in the agitations of the mind, an external passivity is joined which is partly realized and as a mechanically realized, by a kind of necessity and physical impulse, intimate thoughts, for example, if the temptation of contempt against Jesus Christ or against the saints is accompanied by involuntary signs which express it, when the lips partly utter the intimate thoughts of revolt and curse; if, in the access of despair, one strikes with his own hands, one begins the act of suicide; and that after these temptations one stops, surprised, sorry as a man who awakens and becomes aware of
probationis venite ab impugnatione et tempte dæmonum, Deo permittente ad probandum graviter dilectum; quia Deus, non solum subtrahit sibi omnem spiritualem influxum, verum etiam exponit eum omni temptationi, denegando fere cunctum divinæ protectionis refutum vėl auxilium... isti amici a Deo exponuntur ineffabilbus spiritualibus tempteibus..., de quibus vix credi potest aliquem christianum ipsas habere aut pati posie,
1 Pamupp, a. SS. Eri. P. 4, Tr. 3, D. 4, a. 6, t. 4 p. 475: Permitt alie quando Deus quod diabolus existantibus in hac purgatione spiritum blasphemiae, which, singulis eorum conceptionibus immixtus, ad horribiles contra Deum and sanctos blasphemias quasi compellit interius in mente, and exterius ad cas pronuntiandum voce. Quidquid sanctum tunc empty, quidquid devotum legunt, illo blasphemiæ spiritu, in deteriorem partem detorquetur. And sic illis emptyur computari de quibus dicitur quod "posuerunt in coelum os suum". Vix concipi potest, quales angustiæ in eorum anima generentur: seipsos horrent et inter reprobos reputant, cum se tam indigna de Deo et sanctis ejus advertunt cogitare.
ug himself. There are many examples of these kinds of obsessions in the lives of the Saints, especially those of Saint Teresis t, Saint Angèle de Foligno?, Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi 3.
Scaramelli 4 following Lopez Ezquerra warns managers that they should be careful to make too harsh judgments towards those subjected to these evil obsessions: these external acts are most often indelibrated, unconscious, totally or largely involuntary.
One can judge by what Saint Teresus tells of herself: "Another time," she said, "after talking about such appearances, the demon tormented me in the space of five hours with such terrible pains and internal and external trouble, that I did not think I could resist it any longer. The sisters present were terrified, and did not know, more than I did, than to become. I have
1 His Life, ch. 31.
2 ARNAUD, BB. 4 Jan., t. 1, p. 1490, n. 36 et seq.: Tormenta vero et animæ passiones, quas sine comparisone acerbiores et plumes esse dico quam corporis, patior quasi assidue ab ipsis daemonibus... Aliquando etiam tanta will venit in me, quod vix possum me tenere, quin me totam dilaniem; alivando vero non possum me tenere quin horribiliter me percutiam, and percutiendo me ipsam, tumefeci aliquando caput meum and alia membra. And when anima videre and discedere omnes virtute, did planctus animæ, and vociferor ad Deum meum, and almost sine intermissione: Deus meus, Deus meus, don't relinquas me, etc.
3 Vic. Puconr. BB. 25 mali, ©. 5, 6, 7, Professor Mtt,
4 Diret. Mist. Tr. 5, ©. 10, n. 4113, p. 381: My non creda però il Direttore che tali persone gravee pecchino in simili trasporti; perchè, come nota bene Lopez Ezquerra (Luc. myst. Tr. Six cents. 3), tali attack o sono violenti, o indeliberati, essendo la ragione prevenita da quell-impeto di vemente passione: E si deduce da questo, ch的 il mai non conpiscono gli atti feroci, con cui avevano presi ad uccidersi, o a farsi altro grave male: ma nell-atto di eseguirli si riscuotino quasi da un profonto sonno, ritrano in sè stesse, desistono dal male incominciato, e rimangono con dolore e con iscrupolo di quei lori furiosi trasporti: segno chiaro che primo non avvertivano, meno con plena cognizione, a ciò che facevano; mentre al primo lampo di riflessione suveno sè raffrenano.
custom, in these accesses of suffering, to do as I can internal acts, and to implore Our Lord that, if it serves his glory, he gives me patience and leaves me in this state until the end of the world. This time again, I sought in these acts and resolutions a relief from the harsh embraces that I felt, when it pleased Our Lord to let me know that all this came from the demon. For I saw a grit of a horrible figure, who was grinning teeth, as if desperate to lose where he thought he was winning. When I saw him, I began to laugh and was not afraid, having with me some sisters, who knew nothing to do or what remedy to bring to such a great torment. It was such that I gave myself terrible blows, moving, with the body, the head, and the arms. But the worst thing was the violence of the inner disorder, which allowed me no rest. I dared to ask for holy water, for fear of frightening my companions and making them know what was happening."
In these evil kinds of obsessions, we must not rush to blame the disorderly external acts of those who suffer these harassments. Unless they confess knowingly committed them, with perfect deliberation and full consent, one will be much closer to truth and justice by assigning them to the disturbing angel.
II. — The truly effective cause of spiritual purification is God, who in this trial disposes the soul by itself to mystic union. We have already said on many occasions, to be elevated to this absorption with
1 Harpmus, Theol. myst., 2, ©. 49, fol. crxxxm: Itta tentatio effectiveur in eis tam vigorosa, ut eis vidéatur omni momento quod in eam consentant; in superiori endem parte intellectus ac voluntatis duntaxat sentunt resistentiam... If omnes vires animæ consent in temptationem, non haberent tantum conflicttum aut pressuram, and etiam leviter ad alia grossa peccata declinarent, etc.
God, the soul must be dead to its own life, that it no longer opposes the supernatural action, the reign of the Holy Spirit in it; that it must emerge from all ties with the creature, that it purifies itself from all the filth of sin, that it become this pristine virgin presented to the King Savior to be his wife t. The demon and the world are detestable instruments of purification; in the end, true purification is God who l'operates.
He operates with the help of a light which he sheds in the soul and by which he reveals to him with terrifying evidence his sins, his corruption, the damage which is being opened under his steps. He himself appears there, but only by the aspect of his holiness, of his majesty, of his righteousness. To this contrast of greatness and weakness, purity and defilement, justice and iniquity, trembling soul knows no place to take refuge: in itself, it is misery and death; below, the abyss of hell where its crimes are brought forth; above, the God who judges and condemns it. There, however, is his salvation. She tends to it, she aspires to it, she rests there by pure faith, by heroic hope, by charity stronger than death. To save herself from the wrath of God, she takes refuge in God himself, according to the word of St Augustine?.
In short, this divine light intended to reveal to man his nothingness, his impotence, his infirmities, his ingratitudes, under the gaze of a severe and incorruptible judge, seems less clear than a thick night when he feels plunged and lost. He sees only to see that he goes astray and that he has no way out before him other than the eternal abyss. If he takes refuge in the deeper damage of mercy, it is not by what he sees, but by what he believes.
1 II Cor., x1, 2. Æmulor enim your Dei æmulatione. Answered your questions
uni viro virginem castam exhibit Christo. 2 Serm. 214. Times Deum, refuge in Deum.
To learn more about the nature of this light that purifies the spirit, let us listen to the mystical doctor, St John of the Cross, who speaks of it with the authority and the sereneness of a master who tells his visions and experiences.
Explaining the first verse of his first song:
"This dark night," he said, "is an influence of God on the soul, which saves it from its ignorances and its usual imperfections, natural and spiritual. Contemplatives call it infuse contemplation, or mystical theology, and God secretly teaches the soul and perfects it in his love. But the soul then only applies itself lovingly to God, to listen to him and to receive his lights, without understanding how this contemplation is going, because it is in love with God's wisdom that produces these special effects in the soul, having it at union by purity and by the clarity that it gives him. Hence the same wisdom that purifies the blessed spirits and illuminates them, also purifies the soul and illuminates it in this state.
"If anyone asks why the soul gives the name of the night to the divine light that dispels its ignorances, I answer that this divine wisdom is not only the night of the soul, but also its torment, for two reasons. The first is that the sublimitity of divine wisdom so surpasses the capacity of the soul, that it is only night and darkness for it. The second, the lowness and Purity of the soul are such, that this wisdom fills it with sorrow and darkness.
"To hear the first reason, we must assume the doctrine of the philosopher who teaches that more things
1 The Dark Night, I. 2, ch. 5, p. 285.
divines are clear and manifest themselves, the more they -
The light, the brighter and brighter it is, the dazzling and blinder the owl; and, as the more a person stares at the sun, the more he covers the eyes of darkness, because of the excess of the rays that strike them, and the weakness of his sight. So when the divine light of this contemplation enters the soul that is not yet well lit, it spreads spiritual darkness upon it that deprives it of its natural intelligence. For this reason, Saint Denis and other mystic theologians call the infuse contemplation of the rays of darkness towards the soul that is not purified and illuminated, because the excessive light of this contemplation surpasses and extinguishes the natural forces of understanding...
"That this RP by its eminent light and excellence, causes great sorrow to the soul, is a certain and manifest thing; for this light is extremely bright and pure. On the contrary, the soul on which it falls vehemently has much darkness and impurity. So, when she receives her, she suffers a violent pain: as well as eyes full of malignant moods feel a painful acrimony when a bright light strikes them very strongly and suddenly. Suffering is very great when the soul is illuminated and strongly penetrated by this divine light. For she sees herself so impure and so miserable that she believes that God is contrary to her, and that she herself is opposed to her; which afflicts her to the point of smearing that he has completely forsaken her... The soul sees so clearly, through this light, its impureness, that it considers itself very unworthy of God and his creatures. And what torments her more is that she fears that she will never be able to deserve her good graces, and that she has already lost all her spiritual possessions. The cause and the source of
These feelings, it is that she has damaged her mind in the knowledge of herself and her own misery; for this divine light, though obscure, discovers them all distinctly to her, and persuades her that she herself has only evil...
"The second kind of torment that the soul suffers in this state comes from its natural infirmity and spiritual weakness. This divine contemplation is communicated to him in such a strong and impetuous way, with the intention of strengthening it by taming it, that its weakness cannot bear it, and that it even comes to faint in some way, especially when the vehemence of the light is too great. For the sense and the spirit suffer as if they were oppressed by an immense and invisible burden, and they fall into such cruel agony, that death then seems a real relief... It is indeed a thing worthy of admiration and pain, to see that the soul has so much weakness and imperfection in this state, that it finds the hand of God so hard and so heavy, whatever it is so soft and so light, and that it touches the soul only very delicately. For God treats her in this way only to enrich her with her gifts and not to punish her."
IV. — The effects of the purification of the mind are in keeping with the purpose which it must achieve, namely, mystic union. To achieve this goal, the soul must renounce its own life, raise itself up and set itself in God by heroic, inviolable and tranquil fidelity.
These are in fact the fruits of spiritual purification, which can be brought back to the following three: self-despite, continued adherence to God, an increasing effect of virtue.
The contempt of self arises from the full knowledge that the divine light gives to the soul of itself, that is, from its nothingness, from its misery, from its impureness, The sun reveals
In the eyes of the body an infinite, hitherto invisible, ditoms, which one can see swirling with its rays. In the same way the purifying claritys that God projects on the soul reveal to him in it a whole world of thoughts, feelings, desires, acts that tend to evil, and clearly attest to him what it is and what it is worth!. This view causes him a deep affliction, hatred and disgust of herself: how to dwell without horror in this receptacle of abominations and immondices?
The creature also appears to him with his powerlessness, poverty, injustices. She sees that leaning on a nothingness that cannot give her more than she finds in herself is madness.
When you leave yourself and everything created, where will the soul take refuge, if not in God? Her adherence to infiniteness is necessarily in proportion to the disgust she feels for her own misery and her detachment from perishable things °.
V. — This continuing effort to renounce his natural life and the objects that feed him, and this momentum towards God
1 Pair. To SS. Trinir. P. 1, Tr. 3, D. 3, to. 4, t. 1, p. 427: Primus igitur performed live fruittus hujus purgationis, is clara sui cognitio cum humilitate and maxima afflictione. Cujus ratio est; quia lux contemplationis infusæ quae est principium hujus purgationis, ex divina dispositione pervadit omnes pervadite omnes conscienceiæ proprioe secreta, and omnes maculas and atomos quarumcumque imperfectionum, aka latents, manifested. Quod declaratur exemplo lucis materialis, quae cum radio solis intentius aeri communicata, minimos materiales atomos volitantes demonstrat, qui cum luce ordinaria erant imperceptibiles: ex qua manifestatione tot propriorum defectuum sequitur quod anima, seipsam sic impuream et miseram contemplando, vilissimam et abjectissimam de seipsa habet æstimationem.
2 Panum. a SS. Trt. P. 4, Tr. 3, D. 3, a. 4, t. 4 p. 430: Tertius performed is continuous Dei memoria sive presentia: cognitio namque sui and proprioæ miseriæ perpetua in hoc status contemplationatio perfectam causing Dei notitiam, miseria siquidem humana divinam reclamat misericordiam... Hæc tamen cognitio Dei nimis obscurita, and sæpe imperceptibilis, and dum percipitur, is in aliqua generalitate confoundeda; distincta namque Dei cognitio, and particularis divinarum perfectionum contemplationatio pro status unionis reservatur.
Quartus performed is ardens quidam amor and multo major illo that in purgation passiva parties sensitivæ vigebat.
raise the soul to the highest degree of virtue. Not only does it renounce, as in the passive purgation of the senses, the disorderly attractions of the flesh to subject it to the law of the spirit, it still immolates its own spirit to the spirit of God, its reason for faith, the whole natural life to the divine life.
From then on virtues come out of ordinary and common proportions to assume the character of heroism where the Holy Spirit's portals through the communication of his gifts.
We can only touch summarily from this point of view so interesting, developed with complacency and rare happiness by the P. Philippe de la Très-Sainte-Trinité!.
Faith rises to the practical contempt of all that is not God or leads to God, brings in and moves in the way of humiliation and suffering, and comes to the cry of St Paul: "Not from me that I glorify myself in anything other than the cross of Jesus Christ Our Lord?" to the motto of Saint Teresis è: "Suffer or die!" to that of Saint Madeleine de Pazzi +: "Suffer and not die!" or that of Saint John of the Cross è: "Lord, suffer and be despised for you!"
The hope remains firm and unwavering despite all the impossibility and impossibility of man, and, even under the blows of divine anger, it resteth in his mercy, as did the patriarch Job, when he said: "Will he give me the blow of death, in him would still be my hope f;" and like Abraham, who "hoped against hope 7?"
1 Theol. myst. P. 3, Tr. 2 (the whole Treaty), t. 3 p. 134-978.
2 Galat. vi, 14. Mihi absit gloriari nisi in cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi.
3 Brev. Rom. 15 Oct., l. 6: Aut pati aut mori.
at Ibid. 27 May, l. 6: Pati, not mori.
5 Jbid. 24 Nov., l. 6: Domine, pati and contemplative.
6 Job xm, 15: Etiamsi occiderit me, in ipso spermo.
7 Rom. 1y, 18. Who contra spem, in spem credit.
a. TATE RENDA Yi S THE $ž
Charity sneezes toward God through holy transports, abandons itself to the complaints and impatiences of desire. For God, she is capable of everything, of all sacrifices, of all fatigues, of all boldness. On the activity of divine love we do not know a description that surpasses that of the author of ImiTATIoN in chapter fifth of the third book t. We must have known these holy ardours to paint them with such vivacity, colour and flame.
To serve, to rescue and to save the neighbor whom she idenüfies with God, charity knows no obstacle. She observes, not only the precepts, but the tiniest nuances of the council; she makes herself all to all, to win them all to Jesus Christ, and to serve Jesus Christ in all, fully realizing the portrait drawn by St Paul, in his first to the Corinthians?, of his patience, his benignness, his prudence, his humility, his disinterestedness, his mildness, his righteousness, his simplicity, his love of good and the truth. His heroism, in a word, is translated into these words of the same apostle to the Romans! "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? tribulation? anguish? hunger? nakedness, peril, persecution? sword? None of this; for neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor present things, nor future things, nor strength, nor height, nor depth, nor any creature can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
1 Of Imitation Christi, I. 3, c. 5: De mirabili performed divini amoris, n. 3 et seq.
2 xm, 4-7: Charitas patiens est, benigna est; charitas non æmulatur, non agitation perperam, non inflatur, no ambitiosa, non quaerit quae sua sunt, non irritatur, non cogitat malum, non Gaudet super iniquitate, congaudet autem veritati.
8 vni, 35, 37-39.
It sometimes goes further, to excesses that seem incomprehensible and barely excusable: it accepts to be anathema, and to spend eternity in the torments of hell, if that could be the good pleasure of God. Supreme madness beyond which one no longer conceives anything +.
According to Saint Francis de Sales?, the perfect indifferent "loves hell better with the will of God, than Paradise without the will of God. Even though he preferred hell in Paradise, if he saw that there was a little more good divine pleasure in that than in this: so that if, by imagination of something impossible, he knew that his damnation was a little more acceptable to God than his salvation, he left his salvation and ran to his damnation."
These ways of speaking meet quite often in the mouth of mystics; but we must not forget that it is a pure fiction of love, and that "this indifference is impossible in man, as Bossuet è assures, since the only thing that could do it, that is, the separation of the good pleasure of God from paradise, cannot be".
Moral virtues also dilate to heroism, to the ardour of supernatural purifications of the mind. The humility that is filled with abjection, obedience that knows no other limit than that of evil, poverty that is stripped of everything, mortification that crucifies the flesh, patience that rejoices in persecutions, mildness that contains the least movements of the irate instinct, chastity that prefers death than permitted reliefs,
1 RicnarD A S. Victor. De Quat. grad. Rape. Charit. Col. 1224: Denique cupit anathema proud to Christo pro fratits suis qui hujusmodi est. What ergo dicemus? Nonne hic amoris graduated emptyur animum hominis quasi in amentiam verdrere, dum non sinit eum in sua æmulatione modum mensuramve tenere? Nonne summæ amentiæ vidétur esse, veram vitam repeller?...
2 Treaty of the Love of God, I. 9, c. 4.
3 Instructing on the state of prayer, l. 9, n.14, t. 6 p. 477.
above all a surrender and a complete resignation to the good will of God in time and eternity; in a word, all human virtues, by the side that most repugnates nature, and with perfection that surpasses the requirements and counsels of reason, burst into this night of the spirit that precedes the higher contemplation.
VI. — It is pointless to point out that the soul only moves towards this perfection in degrees, for otherwise purification would be instantaneous; it is only under the increasing fire of the purifying grace that the transformation is taking place.
Saint John of the Cross makes you hear this progression with a comparison that we will report in full, concluding this chapter. "This night, this contemplation or light that we are talking about," he says, "purifies the soul and disposes of it at union with God, in the same way that fire transforms the wood that it burns. First, the fire removes moisture from the wood and the dry, then it blackens it and defiles it with fumes and smoke. Then he consumes all that he finds in it contrary and rude. He finally ignites and changes it in himself; he makes it beautiful, bright, radiant; nevertheless, that the wood no longer only receives the action of the fire without acting itself in that state; and then it is clothed with all the qualities of its victor: it is dry and dries; it is hot and warm, it shines and lights; it is lighter than it was, and it is the fire that produces all these effects.
"We must reason in the same way with the fire of this dark contemplation and this divine love. Before he unites his soul to himself, he discharges it from the weight of all his imperfections; he covers it with blackness and ugliness; which makes it appear in his eyes more wicked than he did in his eyes.
t The Dark Night, l. 2, ©. 10, p. 299.
because this brilliant fire shows him his flaws which were hidden and unknown; he throws it into darkness. After that, he began to spread the glow of his rays over her, until, having filled her with light and warmth, he transformed her into himself without her operating, and communicated to her the perfect union of divine love.
"To give more light to this truth, it must be noted, first of all, that, as it is the same fire that prepares the wood and completes to change it, so it is the same divine light that has the soul and leads it to Punion.
< It should be noted, second, that as fire causes the wood to suffer because of its provisions contrary to the activity of fire, so this divine fire causes the soul to suffer, because of its imperfections opposite to the impression of God...
"Third, we can conjecture from there, in a way, how souls suffer in purgatory. For as the souls who pass here through the fire of that night or contemplation are so afflicted, that when all their imperfections are erased and consumed, they are delivered from their sorrows, because there is no more matter left, and they enter into the enjoyment of God as much as is possible in this life: likewise, souls are tormented in purgatory, until the fire has cleansed them from the stains of their sins, and has thus prepared them to take possession of the kingdom of their Creator.
"Finally, we learn from this that as wood receives the heat of fire with increments commensurate with its dispositions, so the soul is inflamed little by little with the love that purifies it according to the measure of its dispositions, and the purity that this divine fire gives it. Nevertheless, the soul does not always know how hard it is
434 of the love that is lulling; she understands it only when this contemplation does not light up so vehemently... While the flame is acting on the wood and the surrounding, we do not see well all that she has consumed, nor the progress that she has made; but when she ceases to cover it from all sides, one sees better its effect, and we use it more easily. Thus the soul ignores what happens in it when the operation is strong and occupies it as a whole; it knows it when the operation is interrupted and saffold; and then it enjoys the fruit that it derives from it.
"Fifthly, the same comparison still makes us understand how souls, after tasting these small consolations, fall back into new sufferings greater than the former. For, as fire, the more it penetrates into the wood, the more it consumes the inside to the marrow: just as, after the fire of love has purged the soul from its external defects, it undertakes its imperfections more interior, more spiritual, more subtle; it consumes them; and by this sharper action, it afflicts the soul in a more fixed, more acute and more penetrating way.
"Sixthly, we infer from this principle that, although the soul has intervals of joy that make it hope that its afflictions will not come back again, however it still feels in itself I do not know what fund that prevents it from fully enjoying this pleasure; it seems to him to hear I do not know what threatens her with a new sorrow. She can see that there is still something left in her interior to purify, and that this is where her new pains must be born. In this it is similar to wood, where it is distinguished, from what is burned in the outer parts, which remains to be burned in the inner parts. However when this spiritual purgation is done in what the soul has most intimate, the soul, penetrated by new pains, no longer sees in it any good, and despairs to return
in possession of those she had previously enjoyed."
Long before Saint John of the Cross, Hugues de Saint-Victor! had used and beautifully developed this same comparison of fire which envelops, works and transforms the wood, to make hear the progressive action of contemplation on the soul. The extent of this comment does not allow us to reproduce it here.
1 In Ecclesiasten. hom. 19. Migne, t. 175, col. 117: Velut ignis in ligno viridi primo quidem difficile apprehendit, sed cum flatu vehementiori excitatus fuerit et acrius in subjectam materiam exardescere coeperit, tune magnos quosdam fumosæ caliginis globos exsurgere, etc. Primum ergo visus is ignis cum flamma et fumo, deinde ignis cumflamma sine fumo, postremo ignis purus sine flamma et fumo. Sic nimirum carnale cor quasi lignum viride, etc.
Nature of this supreme purification. — Three degrees: wound, — wounds, — agony of love. — Diversity in violence and duration. — The effects of purifying love, and its ten echelons, after Saint John of the Cross.
I. — The comparison of Saint John of the Cross,
_ we quoted at the end of the previous chapter, made quite com-
take that the passive purification of the mind leads to a burning love that ends up purifying the soul and introducing it into the mystery of contemplation. The fire that penetrates into its intimate fibers remains initially hidden, but gradually it is declared outside by the radiation of heat and by the incandescence of its flame. As long as the darkness lasts, the soul ignores the fire that consumes and transforms it; when the smoke has dissipated and the light flame appears, it becomes aware of itself, and its purification continues with a repetition of activity and a painful mixture of light, desires and hopes.
On this last trial, which prepares for the most sublime ascension of contemplative life, let us listen again to Saint John of the Cross!:
1 The Dark Night, I. 2,c. 11, p. 302. I: 19
"This is where we see how much ardour is in love that ignites the mind. This is the center where God picks up
and gathers together all the powers of the soul, that the soul may
All together cares to love his Creator... So when the soul is thus kindled with divine flames, who can understand the excesses and tenderness of love that spread in all its powers? This love does not, however, fully satisfy her; there is always some doubt and some darkness; and the more God communicates to her, the more she feels of hunger and desire to love her. The attraction of this love and of this dry divine fire, so to speak, Mind and inflame its affections in such a way that the heart makes every effort to relieve its ardour, and to quench its thirst. A thousand times the soul turns and folds in itself; it desires God and seeks him in a thousand ways... She feels this love and desire at all times and in all places; she takes no rest; she is ardent in burning and injuring her, the press constantly... His affliction, moreover, grew in love for two reasons. The first is that the spiritual darkness of which it is surrounded tires it of doubts and worries. The second is that the divine love l'embrases, hurts her heart, and the consumption of a devouring and insatiable fire."
These transports and impatiences are nothing of the noise and agitation of the senses: the deprivation of the goods after which the soul sighs is felt in the upper part, which alone can appreciate.
"As this ardour and thirst for love come from the Holy Spirit," adds the mystical doctor, whom we do not tire of citing in a matter where he surpasses all the others, "they are very different from those we have spoken of in the dark night of meaning. For, though the meaning has somewhere to this ardour, because the punishments
1 The Dark Night, I. 2, ©. 13, p. 306.
of the spirit reminisce to the very meaning, however the cause and the vivacity of this thirst for love reside in the upper part of the soul, I mean in the Spirit; and then the soul recognizes that she is deprived of the things she wishes: so that she does not state any of the pain of the meaning, although incomparably greater than she was in the first night of the senses."
The torment of the soul comes from the enlightenment of the mind or the eagerness of the will; sometimes it is the light that dominates, sometimes it is love. "Sometimes the soul is enlightened in the midst of this darkness, and this light falls upon the understanding: the will also participates in it in some way. But this communication is done according to the different feelings that one has of God, and it sometimes touches the will so strongly, that Pamour lights up with great tenderness, strength and elevation!"
However Joseph Lopez Ezquerra? notes with great accuracy that this supreme purification reaches above all the will, in order to consume the least attachments, to remove up to the last fibers of clean and natural life, to fix in God with a deep, serene and invincible energy. Feeling that she still belongs, that she is not all in God and that God is not all in her, is to the soul a torment more cruel than death; according to the cry of Saint Teresis, she then dies not to die.
1 S. Jean De LA Croix, Ibëd., 1. 2, ©. 13, p. 306.
2 Lucern. myst. Tr. 6, 6. 15, n. 158, p. 154: Hæc amoris purgatio tota dirigitur ad voluntatem..., licet illius motiva in intelectu recipiantur, quia effectiveur vulnerando voluntatem efficaci radio divini amoris, precedente in intelectu altissimo conceptu dilecti; cui additur quaædam activissima et penetrativa amoris flamma, quae, inflammando voluntatem, simul ab ea aliquid imperfectum consumit, scilicet aliquem quasi famum proprietatis, qui adfecte introducendam formam divinam aliquantulum resistebat.
3 Poesia I. Madrid, 1861, t. 4 p. 509:
Vivo sin vivir en mi, Y tan alta vida espero Que muero porque no muero.
This purifying love can follow as it can precede the exercise of contemplation. When it precedes, it consists, as we have just said, in the feeling of the divine fire that cleanses the soul and that is transformed into an ardent desire to meet and taste God, to see the shadows that conceal his presence dissipate and fill the distances that prevent union. These ardours follow the contemplation and are the fruit of it, when God, after showing himself to the soul in the sweet embrace of a union begun, disappears, leaving only a memory full of
regret which sharpens his desires and makes him impatiently su-
carry absence and separation. However, since nothing is more capable of achieving the perfect disappropriation required in mystic marriage, than this impatience that brings the soul out of itself and those ardours that carry it to God with an irresistible momentum, this final cleansing never has more activity than between the spiritual engagement and the definitive covenant."
II. — Purifying ardours which light up in contemplation follow a progression whose degrees, by diversifying themselves, constitute successive states which are distinctly distinct between them. The mystics report three: the wound, the wounds and the agony of love?
1 J. Lopez EZQUERRA, Luc. myst., ibid., n. 166, p. 155: And quamvis hec amoris sublimatio sive purgatio, ab statu desponsationis suæ ad status matrimonii continutur ibique finiatur, tamen scire oportet quod etiam in statu matrimonii (quia Deus semper magis magisque communiquebilis est) assidue ad ulteriores favorores recipientos eam purgat et disponit, ete.
2 S. JEAN DE LA Croix, ed. 1875, 7° stanza, p. 163. By this we see that the sufferings that the love of the Beloved one endures to the soul are of three kinds, which respond to the three degrees of knowledge that one can have of him.
The first one is called a light wound that lasts a short time... The second is called wound, because, deeper and longer lasting, elie truly pierces the soul of love... Tamour's third suffering is like death. The wound has become cruelly inflamed, and the whole soul sees itself in this unfortunate state: its life is only a continuous death until love, giving it the last blow, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the child, the death of the death, the death, the death of the death of the child, the death, the death of the death, the death, the death of the death, the death of the death of the child, the death, the death, the death, the death of the death of the death of the child, the death of the death of the death of the child, the death, the death, the death, the death of the death, the death of the death, the death, the death, the death, the death, the death, the death, the death, the death, the death, the death, the death, the death, the death, the death, the death, the death, the death, the death, the death, the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the death, the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the death of the
We have already talked about the love wound + and we have pointed out that it can be delicious or painful, depending on whether the object loved is present and asking to give itself, or whether it is absent and veiled. We have studied the first form, which, according to several mystics, constitutes one of the degrees of infuse prayer. We must now deal with the second, which belongs to the passive trials of the spirit.
Scaramelli defines it: "A burning and burning touch of love by which God suddenly lifts the soul up to the emotional and felt possession of himself, and comes to an immediate end?"
The object loved, by giving itself to disappear then, cannot fail to hurt, to pierce, to desolate the loving heart.
Who can measure, indeed, this torment of the soul to whom God is all and who, after long desires, finally meets this supreme Good, but to lose it immediately? She absorbs herself into the thought of the Beloved she has seen and into the feeling of the wound that she is absent, for this disappearance is like an arrow that pierces her and torture."
transforms into himself and communicates to him a new life full of love... The soul remains dying done and every day more, and as she still lives, she dies from being unable to die.
1 Ch. 16, p. 234.
2 Dirett. mist. Tr. 5, ©. 21 n. 213, p. 421: Consistant, questa in tocco infocato ed accesso di amore, per cui Iddio eleva in un sovito anima al posesso di sè, facendosi feele in quel tocco, e sous nasconde.
3 S. Tuom. In 2. Sent. Disc. 27, q. 1, a. 1, ad 4: Amans quodammodo penetrat in amatum, and secundum hoc amor dictur acutus, accuti enim est, dividendo, ad intima rei becomee; and similiter amatum penetrat amantem ad interiora ejus perveniens; and propter hoc dicitur quod amor vulnerat and quod transfigurit jecur.
4 Harras, Theol. myst., l. €3. 9. Serm. 13, fol. cxxvm: And in hoc desiderium vulnerabit cor ejus sensibilité dolore, who dolor augetur and renovatur -in exercitiis anhelosi amoris ad Deum. And hec is tertia probationis sagitta... Dum igitur impatiens amator sic æstu divini amoris vulneratus... intolera-
Saint Térèse describes the depth and pain of this injury with the vivacity that one puts to tell his own experiences. "In this state," she said, "soul is so inflamed that very often, at the slightest thought, at the slightest word that reminds her that death is delayed, suddenly, without her knowing where or how, she feels struck like a lightning strike or as pierced by an arrow of fire. I'm not saying it's an arrow; but whatever it may be, we clearly see that it's not something that comes from our nature; nor am I saying that it's a lightning strike, for the wound that we receive is even more penetrating. And this wound, in my opinion, is not done in the place where we feel ordinary pains, but in the deepest and most intimate of the soul, in the place where this ray of fire, which passes quickly, reduces to powder all that it encounters of our earthly nature, for during this time it is impossible to think of anything of our being. From the first moment, the powers of the soul are bound, to the point of not keeping freedom for anything, except for what must increase this pain.
"Don't take this as an exaggeration; I see, on the contrary, clearly that I don't say enough, the thing being such that she can't express herself. I repeat, it is a delight of the senses and powers in all that does not help to make this grief felt. For understanding has a great vivacity to hear with how much reason the soul is saddened to be absent from his God; and God adds to it, by a very lively knowledge of himself, which increases the pain to such a degree, that the person
bilem cordis angustiam incurrit, velut si parturiens parturiendi facultate privittur. Quod fit ut dum intuitu vicario, nunc vulnus cordis, nune vultum amati contemplari non desinit.
1 Int. Chåt., 6° Dem., c. 41.
who suffers her comes to shout loudly. For patient and accustomed to suffering as it is, she cannot do otherwise, because, as I said, this impression is not felt in the body, but within the soul. This person, of which I have already spoken, learned how much the pains of the soul are more painful than those of the body, and he knew that it is in this way that one suffers in purgatory, where the absence of the body does not prevent suffering much greater than all that one can endure with the body in this life. I saw a person reduced to that end, and I really thought she was going to die, which would not have been very surprising, for there is a great danger of death. Thus, although it lasts little, the body remains as dislocated; the pulse is as weak as if it were about to make the soul to God, no less than that. The reason for this is that natural heat is lacking, and that the soul simmers to the point that it does not care that God fulfills his desires of death. It is not that she feels pain, small or great, in her body, which nevertheless, as I have already said, remains all dislocated, in such a way that, for two or three days, he does not even have the strength to write, is in a state of severe pain, and remains, in my opinion, more stupid than before."
II. — This prolonged and repeated divine touch produces the languor and the wounds of love. These are purely gratuitous graces that God gives with the intensity and frequency that he pleases. If, after striking and inflaming the soul, he leaves the feeling of his wound and the flame that consumes it, or renews it with increasing vivacity, the first passive impression of the soul will become a languor and a wound.
Let St John of the Cross speak, who had experienced
1 First Song, 3° V, p. 400.
these admirable crueltys of love. "In addition to several visits
God does to the soul to hurt her and for her to
perfect in his love, he usually turns on in his heart the movements of a love which he pierces through as many arrows of fire. It's what we call the wounds of love. This is how this bitter pain forms in his heart. When God hurts the soul of the strais inflamed with his love, the soul aspires incontinent to the possession of his beloved whose movement she felt. But she immediately deplores her remoteness and abandons herself to moaning and sighing. For these visits are not similar to those where God rejoices the soul and the satisfaction of quiet and continuous pleasures. He then visits her, not on purpose to heal her, but to cover her with wounds; not to satisfy her, but to cause her new sorrows, because he wants to increase her knowledge, her desires and her pain. As these new plagues of love fill her with contentment, she would gladly die a thousand times, if it were possible, to obtain the enjoyment of her God."
IV. — Finally these assaults of love can become so intense and so pressing that the soul is reduced to a kind of agony. If she does not manage to escape from the body she animates, it is that God, by his will and by his grace, retains it. She lives, so to speak, always dying, less attached by natural instinct to organic life than she is driven by an irresistible impulse towards God, the only object of her love, of her happiness, of her life.
Holy Térèse! painted in the brightest colors these anxieties as she felt them herself. She calls them an agony, a martyrdom, and compares them to the torment of a man suspended, the rope on the neck, between heaven and earth; it is so great, according to her, that she surpasses all others,
1 His Life, ch. 20.
=- 4 infinitely more cruel than death, since, to put an end to it, nothing is desired as long as to die.
Although this torment is in the soul, the body receives the backlash: "I was sometimes," said Saint Teresus, "without almost having a pulse," to what my sisters who are approaching and who now have more knowledge of my condition claim. I have my bones as if they were dislocated, and my hands are sometimes so stiff that I cannot reach them, and I have so much pain in the arteries and in the body that I feel that it is all dislocated. Sometimes it comes to my mind that if it continues in this way, God will give me the grace to find in this torment the end of my life, for he is violent enough to give death, if I was not unworthy of such a great favor. One desire then consumes me, that of dying."
These anguishes of love, so tearing and so bitter, are at the same time so sweet and so dear to soul, that she would spend all life there, even eternity, if such was the good will of God, as Saint Teresis expresses herself at the very place that we have just reported. The reason is, according to Scaramelli?, that these sharp arrows that pierce so painfully, are soaked in the very sweet flames of charity, from where their strange suavity comes to them.
V. — This martyrdom of the spirit is sometimes greater, sometimes less. The measurement of these various tests is all in
1 His life, ch. 20.
2 Tratt. 5, ©. 216, p. 421: Ma più ammirabile si è, che un dolore so grande e si strano riesce all anima piagata si saporito e si soave, che non vorebbe mai starne senza... perchè sebbene queste ferite vengono aperte da strali acutissimi, sono però questi temprati nella fornace del divino amore, in fiamme soavissime di carità, che sempre soo soavi. '
3 SCARAMELLI, Tratt. 5, C. 21 n. 222, p. 423: If avverta però che questo languore di amore, not e sempre in un grado sì intenso, quale si è finora descritto; ma ora è maggiore, ed ora è minore: sempre però è un gran martirio di spirito.:
-the last part of the divine will, source and sole rule of these rigorous favors. However, the injury of love is in itself more acute than the state of languor; its first injury is usually very painful.
The length of time is difficult to specify. Sometimes it's a quick blow; other times the darter makes itself feel full hours and the pain then is such, that the body is in danger of dying t." In its greatest intensity, says Saint Térèse speaking indirectly of herself?, this pain lasts little: no more, it seems to me, of three or four hours, for if it were prolonged for a long time, the natural weakness could not endure it, unless a miracle. It lasted only a quarter of an hour, and this person remained completely broken. It is true that this eruption was so violent that it made him lose all feeling."
In the tongue, violence is less impetuous, but more continuous, and this continuity can bring the soul to the same ends. The ordinary cause of this is that it comes from burning traits, very sharp slenderness, which accelerates the ardour and emotional movements.
Prolonged, these extreme anxieties constitute what mystics rightly call the agony of the soul, a qualification that is better suited to a persistent situation than to isolated and rapid phenomena.
In general, the languor that results from the love wound is longer than the agony, and the agony lasts longer than the injury itself.
VI. — The eflets that come from the purification of love are wonderful and powerfully effective in preparing and consuming the mystical union between the soul and God.
1 SCARAMELLI, Ibid., No. 219, p. 422: IL dolore di questa ferita alle volte passa in breve tempo, alle volte dura per ore intere, secondo che Iddio ora presto, ora tardi la medica col balsamo di qualche communicazione
Soave. 2 Int. Chât., 6 Dem., c. 11.
Lt & to A =
Saint Thomas, reproducing Saint Bernard, assigns ten
degrees to heroic charity, namely: the languor who consumes usefully, the incessant search, the continuous action, the tireless work, the impatient desire, the accelerated race, the vehement audacity, the tightness that defies any separation, the fire that burns Suavely, the total assimilation.
Saint John of the Cross, following these doctors, counts ten degrees which are as many progressive ascensions carried out by love. If not all these degrees belong to the passive trials, at least all contribute to sanctification through love, as can be seen from the summary statement we make here.
"One last reason why contemplation is the rise of the soul is that it contains the science of divine love. This science is, strictly speaking, the knowledge of the infuse and affectionate God, who enlightens the soul and ignites it, until it reaches its Creator in degrees, since it is love alone that unites with God. As we can see these things more distinctly, we will mark the degrees of this sacred ladder by detailing the effects and characters of each step, so that the soul can conjecture from there how far it is. But, since it is naturally impossible to know them and God alone can put them before our eyes, I am content, with St Bernard and St Thomas, to say what effects they have on the environment.
1 Opusc. 61. Magna res is amor, sed suntin eo graduated. Loquendo ergo aliquantulum magis moraliter quam realityter, decem amoris hujus perfecti graduated distinguishe possumus, per quos contingit a summo hoc status viæ ad status patriarche scandere ordinate. Primus, in quo fait languere utiliter; secundus, in quo quarerere incessanter; tertius, in quo operari indesinenter; quartus, in quo sustinere instatigabiliter; quintus, in quo appetere impatienter; sextus, in quo currerere velociter; septimus, in quo audere vehementer; octavus, in quo stringere inadmissibiliter; nonus, in quo ardere suaviter; decimus, in quo assimilari totaliter.
- What? The Dark Night. 2, ch. 18, p. 319.
AL" mr PE LES 7 in MED RE Re
and how they raise up to God.
"The first of the ten steps! that make up the scale of God's love is to weaken the soul in itself, as the sacred Wife, when she said? "I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, to tell him that I languish with love." But this languor is not mortal; this holy soul suffers only for the glory of God, for it is this spiritual disease that causes her to die to sin and to all that is not God, and that ignites with divine love. That's what David's talking about: "My spirit," he said, "is dead to all creatures, and my soul seeks only you, to my salvation and my help." Indeed, as a sick person loses the taste and appetite of the meats, and changes his face, likewise, when the soul is affected by this love, she no longer has any taste or appetite for the things created; she changes her colour and face like a lover carried away with her passion. This infirmity only happens to the soul when it receives this excessive heat, which I can call, in any way, a spiritual and mystical fever...
"From there it passes to the second step or the second degree, seeking God without interruption. This degree of love inspires the soul to care so eagerly for its God, that it seeks him everywhere, and that all his thoughts, all his words, all his actions tend only to him... But, because she regains her strength in this second degree of love, she then climbs up to the third step.
"This third degree causes her to operate with courage and vibe with a warm and comforting warmth that prevents her from getting tired of her pursuits and abandoning them... Some great deeds she does for the love of her beloved, she
1 The Dark Night, 1. 2, ch. 19. 2 Cant. 1x, 8. 3 Psalm. cxvn, 81.
He considers them very small, and for a long time as she consumes in her service, it only seems to him for a moment, as she is kindled with love... Whatever she does for God, she looks at herself as useless and as the most wicked and vile of all creatures, either because Pamour discovers to her the greatness of God and the honor he deserves, or because she notices great defects in her works and a very low and unworthy way of acting of divine majesty. What covers her with confusion, heavy sentences and distances her from vain glory, presumption and judgment disadvantageous to her neighbor. This third degree of love makes all these effects in the soul with several others of the same nature, which make it stronger to rise to the fourth echelon.
"For the fourth degree is a source of suffering, which the soul endures for his beloved, without getting tired, with generosity and perseverance... She no longer offers herself comfort or taste, either in God or in the creature; she does not ask for the gifts of heaven in this life. She relates her thoughts, her purposes, her care, to the point of doing God's good pleasure, because of her infinite merits and her blessings... This degree of love is very sublime; for the soul is continually brought to God by a true love and a sincere desire to be charged with the cross for him. Nevertheless divine goodness often rewards his sufferings with delicious joy, as the extreme love of Jesus Christ for his wives cannot see them in afflictions without helping them...
"The fifth degree inspires the soul a holy impatience and eagerness to possess God, so much so that the slightest delay seems to him long and difficult to bear: she always imagines herself that she will find her beloved at every step she takes. But when she sees that her hopes are in vain, she falls into failure and engulfment,
in the language of the prophet king. In this degree of love, the soul must possess his beloved or suffer the agony of death... The soul hungered and thirsted only for love, fed and satisfied itself only with love; and that is what leads it to the sixth step of God's love.
"The sixth degree of Pamour makes the soul run very quickly towards God, and his hope, supported by the wings of love, flies there with strength and speed. "For those who hope in the Lord," said Isaiah, speaking of this degree, "will change their strength; they will take wings like eagles; they will run and fly without difficulty; they will constantly move forward." The cause of the agility and speed that the soul acquires in this degree of love is none other than the extent of his charity, and the perfect purity that God has communicated to him through these trials...
"The seventh degree of this rise gives the soul boldness, courage and vehemence in its endeavours. This vehementness prevents him from following the rules of judgment when he has to wait for the answers she wishes, and taking advice when he has to change his design; the very shame and modesty are not able to stop the execution of his plans, for the favors God makes him and the love he gives him make her fearless and ardent in his actions. Moses practiced the maxims of this degree, when he said to God, with great boldness,‘ "Or forgive them this crime, or erase me from the book that you wrote..." The bride even dared to say, "Let him give me a kiss from his mouth."
"This freedom with God has it in the eighth degree, of which the soul is obliged to embrace God and to
1 Ps. Lxxxmr, 4. Concupiscit and deficiency anima mea in atria Domini. 2 The Dark Night, ch. 20, p. 322. EXT 0e
4 Exod. 31 31 5 Cant.1, A.
to be inseparably attached to him, as the Holy Wife says of herself: "I found the one I love: I took it
and will never leave him." In this degree of union, the soul
fulfills all his desires: it nevertheless slips from P interruption, since some of those who have arrived
incontinent. Indeed, if they persuaded it,
They would enjoy the glory of the blessed in some way from this life. It is therefore true that
The soul remains very little time in this state...
"The ninth degree of love, which is the degree of the perfect, leads the soul to ardour full of spiritual delights. It is the Holy Spirit who lights it in the heart, because of the union of the soul with God. The apostles were kindled, as Saint Gregory remarked, when this divine Spirit came down visibly upon them. For the supernatural goods whose soul is enriched, it is impossible to understand them; and a few books that could be made to explain them, there would be much more to say.
"The tenth and last degree is not of the present life, but of the future life. The soul becomes like it to God, by the clear sight she has of it when she is delivered from the body...
"This is the secret rise that the soul speaks of in its song. It is true, however, that it is not entirely hidden from him; love discovers it to him in the degrees we have just deduced by the admirable effects he produces there. And it is in this way that it comes out of itself and from the passing things, and that it ascends to God through this secret love that always rises up to heaven, as fire always tends up, towards its sphere and its natural center."
We see it, love, like a devouring fire, first shakes and torments the soul to clear it from all its defilements and break all its bonds; he and him lumbles
2 Cant. m, 4.
448 = prints purity, brightness, lightness, but also the anxiety of the flame still captive, until finally it simmers free, resplendent and immaculate towards the sky.
Saint John of the Cross has just described these ardours and movements of sacred love. As long as the soul feels inflamed and tormented, it is still in the passive test that we are talking about, the purification of love, which prepares and operates union. This work and this fire of love, in fact, by consuming the last remains of natural and clean life, and by replacing it with divine life, excelly realize the essentials of mystical life. Only the consciousness of this union is lacking in the soul to touch this apogee of contemplation, or rather the violence and impatience of love, which throws soul out of itself, are less an announcement than the prelude and the very exercise of the united prayer.
Here we end this long and difficult presentation of the Contemplation. We have studied this divine operation in turn in itself, in its end, in its causes and effects, in the subject which receives it, in its progressive ascension, from the purifying trials which gnaw and prepare it, until the climax of the Mystical Union.
To the spectacle of these divine condescendences, a cry of admiration escapes from our heart. He also escapes a prayer. May divine love multiply the holy souls he tortures and beatifies, for they are the perfume, the honor and the protection of the earth. And if he would meet to whom these pages serve to give light and security, let them in return obtain us the mercy and grace of the Lord.
Prede So GEODE XIIE authore a AE ee RE Letter from His Em. Cardinal Bourret:........... re eme Ne vi Report of the Examiner...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... PREface of the first edition....
RATE NYSIE in PENETAL ATEN Ein These are II. Its own concept, and its place in ascetic Theology...
IT. Reservations on the distinction between the three states of perfection and the
the relationship of mystical facts with each of them...... IV. Mystics as experience and as science. V. Experimental Mystics after Saint Bonaventure, Gerson, Bona, Saint Francis de Sales; last formula...... VI. Diabolical Counterfeiting and EEA Parelle Analogues VII. Definition of Doctrinal or Scientific Mystics...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... VEHI. Necessity and usefulness of mystical Theology...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... and 17 D E rer nr, X- Plan and division of the work +:.... +: to. CCE MIS authentic doernales RENE a EU NE A
The Contemplation occupies the first place in the Mys--~ thetic Theology. — Three points of view embrace all the matter: the Contemplation in general, its degrees, the purifications that precede it.
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