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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of On Union with God, by Albertus Magnus
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: On Union with God
+
+Author: Albertus Magnus
+
+Annotator: P. J. Berthier
+
+Release Date: June 12, 2011 [EBook #36402]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON UNION WITH GOD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David E. Brown, Bryan Ness and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ON UNION WITH GOD
+
+
+
+
+  Nihil Obstat.
+      F. THOS. BERGH, O.S.B.,
+          CENSOR DEPUTATUS.
+
+  Imprimatur.
+      EDM. CAN. SURMONT,
+          VICARIUS GENERALIS.
+
+  WESTMONASTERII,
+      _Die 7 Decembris, 1911_.
+
+
+  [_All rights reserved_]
+
+
+
+
+  _The Angelus Series_
+
+  ON UNION WITH
+  GOD
+
+  BY BLESSED
+  ALBERT THE GREAT, O.P.
+
+  WITH NOTES BY
+  REV. P. J. BERTHIER, O.P.
+
+  TRANSLATED BY
+  A BENEDICTINE OF PRINCETHORPE
+  PRIORY
+
+
+  _R. & T. WASHBOURNE, LTD._
+  PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
+  AND AT MANCHESTER, BIRMINGHAM, AND GLASGOW
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+Surely the most deeply-rooted need of the human soul, its purest
+aspiration, is for the closest possible union with God. As one turns
+over the pages of this little work, written by Blessed Albert the
+Great[1] towards the end of his life, when that great soul had ripened
+and matured, one feels that here indeed is the ideal of one's hopes.
+
+Simply and clearly the great principles are laid down, the way is made
+plain which leads to the highest spiritual life. It seems as though,
+while one reads, the mists of earth vanish and the snowy summits appear
+of the mountains of God. We breathe only the pure atmosphere of prayer,
+peace, and love, and the one great fact of the universe, the Divine
+Presence, is felt and realized without effort.
+
+But is such a life possible amid the whirl of the twentieth century? To
+faith and love all things are possible, and our author shows us the
+loving Father, ever ready to give as much and more than we can ask. The
+spirit of such a work is ever true; the application may vary with
+circumstances, but the guidance of the Holy Spirit will never be wanting
+to those souls who crave for closer union with their Divine Master.
+
+This little treatise has been very aptly called the "Metaphysics of the
+Imitation," and it is in the hope that it may be of use to souls that
+it has been translated into English.
+
+Blessed Albert the Great is too well known for it to be necessary for us
+to give more than the briefest outline of his life.
+
+The eldest son of the Count of Bollstädt, he was born at Lauingen in
+Swabia in 1205 or 1206, though some historians give it as 1193. As a
+youth he was sent to the University of Padua, where he had special
+facilities for the study of the liberal arts.
+
+Drawn by the persuasive teaching of Blessed Jordan of Saxony, he joined
+the Order of St. Dominic in 1223, and after completing his studies,
+received the Doctor's degree at the University of Paris.
+
+His brilliant genius quickly brought him into the most prominent
+positions. Far-famed for his learning, he attracted scholars from all
+parts of Europe to Paris, Cologne, Ratisbon, etc., where he successively
+taught. It was during his years of teaching at Paris and Cologne that he
+counted among his disciples St. Thomas Aquinas, the greatness of whose
+future he foretold, and whose lifelong friendship with him then began.
+
+In 1254 Albert was elected Provincial of his Order in Germany. In 1260
+he was appointed Bishop of Ratisbon, but resigned his see in 1262. He
+then continued unweariedly until a few years before his death, when his
+great powers, especially his memory, failed him, but the fervour of his
+soul remained ever the same. In 1280, at Cologne, he sank, at last worn
+out by his manifold labours.
+
+"Whether we consider him as a theologian or as a philosopher, Albert
+was undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary men of his age; I might
+say, one of the most wonderful men of genius who appeared in past times"
+(Jourdain).
+
+Very grateful thanks are due to Rev. P. J. Berthier, O.P., for his kind
+permission to append to this edition a translation of his excellent
+notes (from the French edition, entitled "De l'Union avec Dieu").
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                 PAGE
+
+     I. OF THE HIGHEST PERFECTION
+          WHICH MAN CAN ATTAIN UNTO
+          IN THIS LIFE                      15
+
+    II. HOW A MAN MAY DESPISE ALL
+          THINGS AND CLEAVE TO
+          CHRIST ALONE                      19
+
+   III. THE LAW OF MAN'S PERFECTION
+          IN THIS LIFE                      23
+
+    IV. THAT OUR LABOUR MUST BE
+          WITH THE UNDERSTANDING
+          AND NOT WITH THE SENSES           27
+
+     V. OF PURITY OF HEART, WHICH
+          IS TO BE SOUGHT ABOVE ALL
+          ELSE                              33
+
+    VI. THAT A MAN TRULY DEVOUT
+          MUST SEEK GOD IN PURITY
+          OF MIND AND HEART                 40
+
+   VII. OF THE PRACTICE OF INTERIOR
+          RECOLLECTION                      45
+
+  VIII. THAT A TRULY DEVOUT MAN
+          SHOULD COMMIT HIMSELF TO
+          GOD IN ALL THAT BEFALLS
+          HIM                               52
+
+    IX. THE CONTEMPLATION OF GOD
+          IS TO BE PREFERRED ABOVE
+          ALL OTHER EXERCISES               57
+
+     X. THAT WE SHOULD NOT BE TOO
+          SOLICITOUS FOR ACTUAL AND
+          SENSIBLE DEVOTION, BUT DESIRE
+          RATHER THE UNION OF
+          OUR WILL WITH GOD                 65
+
+    XI. IN WHAT MANNER WE SHOULD
+          RESIST TEMPTATION AND ENDURE
+          TRIALS                            70
+
+   XII. THE POWER OF THE LOVE OF
+          GOD                               76
+
+  XIII. OF THE NATURE AND ADVANTAGES
+          OF PRAYER,--OF INTERIOR
+          RECOLLECTION                      82
+
+   XIV. THAT EVERYTHING SHOULD BE
+          JUDGED ACCORDING TO THE
+          TESTIMONY OF OUR CONSCIENCE       88
+
+    XV. ON THE CONTEMPT OF SELF:
+          HOW IT IS ACQUIRED: ITS
+          PROFIT TO THE SOUL                94
+
+   XVI. OF THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD,
+          WHICH WATCHES OVER ALL
+          THINGS                           102
+
+
+
+
+  "It is good for me to adhere to my God."
+
+  "Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect."
+
+
+
+
+ON UNION WITH GOD
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+OF THE HIGHEST PERFECTION WHICH MAN CAN ATTAIN UNTO IN THIS LIFE
+
+
+I have felt moved to write a few last thoughts describing, as far as one
+may in this waiting-time of our exile and pilgrimage, the entire
+separation of the soul from all earthly things and its close, unfettered
+union with God.
+
+I have been the more urged to this, because Christian perfection has no
+other end but charity, which unites us to God.[2]
+
+This union of charity is essential for salvation, since it consists in
+the practice of the precepts and in conformity to the Divine will. Hence
+it separates us from whatever would war against the essence and habit of
+charity, such as mortal sin.[3]
+
+But religious, the more easily to attain to God, their last end, have
+gone beyond this, and have bound themselves by vow to evangelical
+perfection, to that which is voluntary and of counsel.[4] With the help
+of these vows they cut off all that might impede the fervour of their
+love or hinder them in their flight to God. They have, therefore, by
+the vow of their religious profession, renounced all things, whether
+pertaining to soul or body.[5] God is in truth a Spirit, and "they that
+adore Him must adore Him in spirit and in truth,"[6] that is, with a
+knowledge and love, an intelligence and will purified from every phantom
+of earth.
+
+Hence it is written: "When thou shalt pray, enter into thy
+chamber"--_i.e._, into the inmost abode of thy heart--and, "having shut
+the door" of thy senses, with a pure heart, a free conscience and an
+unfeigned faith, "pray to thy Father" in spirit and in truth, in the
+"secret" of thy soul.[7]
+
+Then only will a man attain to this ideal, when he has despoiled and
+stripped himself of all else; when, wholly recollected within himself,
+he has hidden from and forgotten the whole world, that he may abide in
+silence in the presence of Jesus Christ. There, in solitude of soul,
+with loving confidence he makes known his desires to God. With all the
+intensity of his love he pours forth his heart before Him, in sincerity
+and truth, until he loses himself in God. Then is his heart enlarged,
+inflamed, and melted in him, yea, even in its inmost depths.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+HOW A MAN MAY DESPISE ALL THINGS AND CLEAVE TO CHRIST ALONE
+
+
+Whosoever thou art who longest to enter upon this happy state or seekest
+to direct thither thy steps, thus it behoveth thee to act.
+
+First, close, as it were, thine eyes, and bar the doors of thy senses.
+Suffer not anything to entangle thy soul, nor permit any care or trouble
+to penetrate within it.
+
+Shake off all earthly things, counting them useless, noxious, and
+hurtful to thee.[8]
+
+When thou hast done this, enter wholly within thyself, and fix thy gaze
+upon thy wounded Jesus, and upon Him alone. Strive with all thy powers,
+unwearyingly, to reach God through Himself, that is, through God made
+Man, that thou mayest attain to the knowledge of His Divinity through
+the wounds of His Sacred Humanity.
+
+In all simplicity and confidence abandon thyself and whatever concerns
+thee without reserve to God's unfailing Providence, according to the
+teaching of St. Peter: "Casting all your care upon Him,"[9] Who can do
+all things. And again it is written: "Be nothing solicitous";[10] "Cast
+thy care upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee";[11] "It is good for
+me to adhere to my God";[12] "I set the Lord always in my sight";[13] "I
+found Him Whom my soul loveth";[14] and "Now all good things came to
+me"[15] together with Him. This is the hidden and heavenly treasure, the
+precious pearl, which is to be preferred before all. This it is that we
+must seek with humble confidence and untiring effort, yet in silence and
+peace.
+
+It must be sought with a brave heart, even though its price be the loss
+of bodily comfort, of esteem, and of honour.
+
+Lacking this, what doth it profit a religious if he "gain the whole
+world, and suffer the loss of his own soul?"[16]. Of what value are the
+religious state, the holiness of our profession, the shaven head, the
+outward signs of a life of abnegation, if we lack the spirit of humility
+and truth, in which Christ dwells by faith and love? St. Luke says: "The
+kingdom of God," that is, Christ, "is within you."[17]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE LAW OF MAN'S PERFECTION IN THIS LIFE
+
+
+In proportion as the mind is absorbed in the thought and care of the
+things of this world do we lose the fervour of our devotion, and drift
+away from the things of Heaven.
+
+The greater, on the other hand, our diligence in withdrawing our powers
+from the memory, love and thought of that which is inferior in order to
+fix them upon that which is above, the more perfect will be our prayer,
+the purer our contemplation. The soul cannot give itself perfectly at
+the same time to two objects as contrary one to another as light to
+darkness;[18] for he who lives united to God dwells in the light, he who
+clings to this world lives in darkness.
+
+The highest perfection, therefore, of man in this life lies in this:
+that he is so united to God that his soul with all its powers and
+faculties becomes recollected in Him and is one spirit with Him.[19]
+Then it remembers naught save God, nor does it relish or understand
+anything but Him. Then all its affections, united in the delights of
+love, repose sweetly in the enjoyment of their Creator.
+
+The image of God which is imprinted upon the soul is found in the three
+powers of the reason, memory, and will. But since these do not
+perfectly bear the Divine likeness, they have not the same resemblance
+to God as in the first days of man's creation.[20]
+
+God is the "form" of the soul upon which He must impress His own image,
+as the seal on the wax or the stamp on the object it marks.[21]
+
+This can only be fully accomplished when the reason is wholly
+illuminated according to its capacity, by the knowledge of God, the
+Sovereign Truth; the will entirely devoted to the love of the Supreme
+Good; the memory absorbed in the contemplation and enjoyment of eternal
+felicity, and in the sweet repose of so great a happiness.
+
+As the perfect possession of this state constitutes the glory of the
+Blessed in Heaven, it is clear that in its commencement consists the
+perfection of this life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THAT OUR LABOUR MUST BE WITH THE UNDERSTANDING AND NOT WITH THE SENSES
+
+
+Blessed is he who by continually cleansing his soul from the images and
+phantoms of earth draws its powers inward, and thence lifts them up to
+God.
+
+At length he in a manner forgets all images, and by a simple and direct
+act of pure intellect and will contemplates God, Who is absolutely
+simple.
+
+Cast from thee, therefore, all phantoms, images, and forms, and
+whatsoever is not God,[22] that all thy intercourse with Him may
+proceed from an understanding, affection, and will, alike purified. This
+is, in truth, the end of all thy labours, that thou mayest draw nigh
+unto God and repose in Him within thy soul, solely by thy understanding
+and by a fervent love, free from entanglement or earthly image.
+
+Not by his bodily organs or outward senses does a man attain to this,
+but by the intelligence and will, which constitute him man.[23] So long
+as he lingers, trifling with the objects of the imagination and senses,
+he has not yet passed beyond the limits and instincts of his animal
+nature, which he possesses in common with the brute beasts. They know
+and feel through images and by their senses, nor can it be otherwise,
+for they have no higher powers. Not so is it with man, who, by his
+intelligence, affections, and will, is created in the image and likeness
+of God. Hence it is by these powers that he ought, without intermediary,
+purely and directly to commune with God, be united to Him, and cleave to
+Him.[24]
+
+The Devil does his very utmost to hinder us from this exercise, for he
+beholds in it a beginning and a foretaste of eternal life, and he is
+envious of man. Therefore he strives, now by one temptation or passion,
+now by another, to turn away our thoughts from God.
+
+At one time he assails us by arousing in us unnecessary anxiety,
+foolish cares or troubles, or by drawing us to irregular conversations
+and vain curiosity. At another he ensnares us by subtle books, by the
+words of others, by rumours and novelties. Then, again, he has recourse
+to trials, contradictions, etc.
+
+Although these things may sometimes seem but very trifling faults, if
+faults at all, yet do they greatly hinder our progress in this holy
+exercise. Therefore, whether great or small, they must be resisted and
+driven from us as evil and harmful, though they may seem useful and even
+necessary. It is of great importance that what we have heard, or seen,
+or done, or said, should not leave their traces or fill our imagination.
+
+Neither before nor after, nor at the time, should we foster these
+memories or allow their images to be formed. For when the mind is free
+from these thoughts, we are not hindered in our prayer, in meditation,
+or the psalmody, or in any other of our spiritual exercises, nor do
+these distractions return to trouble us.
+
+Then shouldst thou readily and trustfully commit thyself and all that
+concerns thee to the unfailing and most sure Providence of God, in
+silence and peace. He Himself will fight for thee, and will grant thee a
+liberty and consolation better, nobler, and sweeter than would be
+possible if thou gavest thyself up day and night to thy fancies, to vain
+and wandering thoughts, which hold captive the mind, as they toss it
+hither and thither, wearying soul and body, and wasting uselessly alike
+thy time and strength.[25]
+
+Accept all things, whatsoever their cause, silently and with a tranquil
+mind, as coming to thee from the fatherly hand of Divine Providence.
+
+Free thyself, therefore, from all the impressions of earthly things, in
+so far as thy state and profession require, so that with a purified mind
+and sincere affection thou mayest cleave to Him to Whom thou hast so
+often and so entirely vowed thyself.
+
+Let nothing remain which could come between thy soul and God, that so
+thou mayest be able to pass surely and directly from the wounds of the
+Sacred Humanity to the brightness of the Divinity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OF PURITY OF HEART, WHICH IS TO BE SOUGHT ABOVE ALL ELSE
+
+
+Wouldst thou journey by the shortest road, the straight and safe way
+unto eternal bliss, unto thy true country, to grace and glory? Strive
+with all thy might to obtain habitual cleanness of heart, purity of
+mind, quiet of the senses. Gather up thy affections, and with thy whole
+heart cleave unto God.
+
+Withdraw as much as thou canst from thy acquaintance and from all men,
+and abstain from such affairs as would hinder thy purpose.
+
+Seek out with jealous care the place, time, and means most suited to
+quiet and contemplation, and lovingly embrace silence and solitude.
+
+Beware the dangers of which the times are full; fly the agitation of a
+world never at rest, never still.[26]
+
+Let thy chief study be to gain purity, freedom, and peace of heart.
+Close the doors of thy senses and dwell within, shutting thy heart as
+diligently as thou canst against the shapes and images of earthly
+things.
+
+Of all the practices of the spiritual life purity of heart stands
+highest, and rightly, for it is the end and reward of all our labours,
+and is found only with those who live truly according to the spirit and
+as good religious.
+
+Wherefore thou shouldst employ all thy diligence and skill in order to
+free thy heart, senses, and affections from whatever could trammel their
+liberty, or could fetter or ensnare thy soul. Strive earnestly to gather
+in the wandering affections of thy heart and fix them on the love of the
+sole and pure Truth, the Sovereign Good; then keep them, as it were,
+enchained within thee.
+
+Fix thy gaze unwaveringly upon God and Divine things; spurn the follies
+of earth and seek to be wholly transformed in Jesus Christ, yea, even to
+the heart's core.
+
+When thou hast begun to cleanse and purify thy soul of earthly images,
+and to unify and tranquillize thy heart and mind in God with loving
+confidence, to the end that thou mayest taste and enjoy in all thy
+powers the torrents of His good pleasure, and mayest fix thy will and
+intelligence in Him, then thou wilt no longer need to study and read the
+Holy Scriptures to learn the love of God and of thy neighbour, for the
+Holy Spirit Himself will teach thee.[27]
+
+Spare no pains, no labour, to purify thy heart and to establish it in
+unbroken peace.
+
+Abide in God in the secret place of thy soul as tranquilly as though
+there had already risen upon thee the dawn of Eternity, the unending Day
+of God.
+
+Strong in the love of Jesus, go forth from thyself, with a heart pure, a
+conscience at peace, a faith unfeigned; and in every trial, every event,
+commit thyself unreservedly to God, having nothing so much at heart as
+perfect obedience to His will and good pleasure.
+
+If thou wouldst arrive thus far, it is needful for thee often to enter
+within thy soul and to abide therein, disengaging thyself as much as
+thou canst from all things.
+
+Keep the eye of thy soul ever in purity and peace; suffer not the form
+and images of this world to defile thy mind; preserve thy will from
+every earthly care, and let every fibre of thy heart be rooted in the
+love of the Sovereign Good. Thus will thy whole soul, with all its
+powers, be recollected in God and form but one spirit with Him.
+
+It is in this that the highest perfection possible to man here below
+consists.
+
+This union of the spirit and of love, by which a man conforms himself
+in everything to the supreme and eternal will, enables us to become by
+grace what God is by His nature.[28]
+
+Let us not forget this truth: the moment a man, by the help of God,
+succeeds in overcoming his own will, that is, in freeing himself from
+every inordinate affection and care, to cast himself and all his
+miseries unreservedly into the bosom of God, that moment he becomes so
+pleasing to God that he receives the gift of grace. Grace brings
+charity, and charity drives out all fear and hesitation, and fills the
+soul with confidence and hope. What is more blessed than to cast all our
+care on Him Who cannot fail? As long as thou leanest upon thyself thou
+wilt totter. Cast thyself fearlessly into the arms of God. He will
+embrace thee, He will heal and save thee.[29]
+
+If thou wouldst ponder often upon these truths they would bring to thee
+more happiness than all the riches, delights, honours, of this false
+world, and would make thee more blessed than all the wisdom and
+knowledge of this corruptible life, even though thou shouldst surpass
+all the wise men who have gone before thee.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THAT A MAN TRULY DEVOUT MUST SEEK GOD IN PURITY OF MIND AND HEART
+
+
+As thou goest forward in this work of ridding thee of every earthly
+thought and entanglement thou wilt behold thy soul regain her strength
+and the mastery of her inward senses, and thou wilt begin to taste the
+sweetness of heavenly things.
+
+Learn, therefore, to keep thyself free from the images of outward and
+material objects, for God loves with a special love the soul that is
+thus purified. His "delights" are "to be with the children of men,"[30]
+that is, with those who, set free from earthly affairs and distractions,
+and at peace from their passions, offer Him simple and pure hearts
+intent on Him alone.
+
+If the memory, imagination, and thoughts still dwell below, it follows
+of necessity that fresh events, memories of the past, and other things
+will ensnare and drag thee down. But the Holy Spirit abides not amid
+such empty thoughts.
+
+The true friend of Jesus Christ must be so united by his intelligence
+and will to the Divine will and goodness that his imagination and
+passions have no hold over him, and that he troubles not whether men
+give him love or ridicule, nor heeds what may be done to him. Know well
+that a truly good will does all and is of more value than all.
+
+If the will is good, wholly conformed and united to God, and guided by
+reason, it matters little that the flesh, the senses, the exterior man
+are inclined to evil and sluggish in good, or even that a man find
+himself interiorly lacking in devotion.[31] It suffices that he remains
+with his whole soul inwardly united to God by faith and a good will.
+
+This he will accomplish if, knowing his own imperfection and utter
+nothingness, he understands that all his happiness is in his Creator.
+Then does he forsake himself, his own strength and powers, and every
+creature, and hides himself in complete abandonment in the bosom of
+God.
+
+To God are all his actions simply and purely directed. He seeks nothing
+outside of God, but knows that of a truth he has found in Him all the
+good and all the happiness of perfection. Then will he be in some
+measure transformed in God. He will no longer be able to think, love,
+understand, remember aught save God and the things of God. He will no
+longer behold himself or creatures save in God; no love will possess him
+but the love of God, nor will he remember creatures or even his own
+being, save in God.
+
+Such a knowledge of the truth renders the soul humble, makes her a hard
+judge towards herself, but merciful to others, while earthly wisdom
+puffs up the soul with pride and vanity. Behold, this is wise and
+spiritual doctrine, grounded upon the truth, and leading unto the
+knowledge and service of God, and to familiarity with Him.
+
+If thou desirest to possess Him indeed, thou must of necessity despoil
+thy heart of earthly affections, not alone for persons, but for every
+creature, that thou mayest tend to the Lord thy God with thy whole heart
+and with all thy strength, freely, simply, without fear or solicitude,
+trusting everything in entire confidence to His all-watchful
+Providence.[32]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+ON THE PRACTICE OF INTERIOR RECOLLECTION
+
+
+The author of the book entitled "De Spiritu et Anima" tells us (chap.
+xxi.)[33] that to ascend to God means nothing else than to enter into
+oneself. And, indeed, he who enters into the secret place of his own
+soul passes beyond himself, and does in very truth ascend to God.
+
+Banish, therefore, from thy heart the distractions of earth and turn
+thine eyes to spiritual joys, that thou mayest learn at last to repose
+in the light of the contemplation of God.
+
+Verily the soul's true life and her repose are to abide in God, held
+fast by love, and sweetly refreshed by the Divine consolations.
+
+But many are the obstacles which hinder us from tasting this rest, and
+of our own strength we could never attain to it. The reason is
+evident--the mind is distracted and preoccupied; it cannot enter into
+itself by the aid of the memory, for it is blinded by phantoms; nor can
+it enter by the intellect, for it is vitiated by the passions. Even the
+desire of interior joys and spiritual delights fails to draw it inward.
+It lies so deeply buried in things sensible and transitory that it
+cannot return to itself as to the image of God.
+
+How needful is it, then, that the soul, lifted upon the wings of
+reverence and humble confidence, should rise above itself and every
+creature by entire detachment, and should be able to say within itself:
+He Whom I seek, love, desire, among all, more than all, and above all,
+cannot be perceived by the senses or the imagination, for He is above
+both the senses and the understanding. He cannot be perceived by the
+senses, yet He is the object of all our desires; He is without shape,
+but He is supremely worthy of our heart's deepest love. He is beyond
+compare, and to the pure in heart greatly to be desired. Above all else
+is He sweet and love-worthy; His goodness and perfection are infinite.
+
+When thou shalt understand this, thy soul will enter into the darkness
+of the spirit, and will advance further and penetrate more deeply into
+itself.[34] Thou wilt by this means attain more speedily unto the
+beholding in a dark manner of the Trinity in Unity, and Unity in
+Trinity, in Christ Jesus, in proportion as thy effort is more inward;
+and the greater is thy charity, the more precious the fruit thou wilt
+reap. For the highest, in spiritual things, is ever that which is most
+interior. Grow not weary, therefore, and rest not from thy efforts until
+thou hast received some earnest or foretaste of the fulness of joy that
+awaits thee, and has obtained some first-fruits of the Divine sweetness
+and delights.
+
+Cease not in thy pursuit till thou shalt behold "the God of gods in
+Sion."[35]
+
+In thy spiritual ascent and in thy search after a closer union with God
+thou must allow thyself no repose, no slipping back, but must go forward
+till thou hast obtained the object of thy desires. Follow the example of
+mountain-climbers. If thy desires turn aside after the objects which
+pass below thou wilt lose thyself in byways and countless distractions.
+Thy mind will become dissipated and drawn in all directions by its
+desires. Thy progress will be uncertain, thou wilt not reach thy goal,
+nor find rest after thy labours.
+
+If, on the other hand, the heart and mind, led on by love and desire,
+withdraw from the distractions of this world, and little by little
+abandon baser things to become recollected in the one true and
+unchangeable Good, to dwell there, held fast by the bonds of love, then
+wilt thou grow strong, and thy recollection will deepen the higher thou
+risest on the wings of knowledge and desire.
+
+They who have attained to this dwell as by habit in the Sovereign Good,
+and become at last inseparable from it.
+
+True life, which is God Himself, becomes their inalienable
+possession;[36] for ever, free from all fear of the vicissitudes of time
+and change,[37] they repose in the peaceful enjoyment of this inward
+happiness, and in sweet communication with God. Their abode is for ever
+fixed within their own souls, in Christ Jesus, Who is to all who come to
+Him "the Way, the Truth, and the Life."[38]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THAT A TRULY DEVOUT MAN SHOULD COMMIT HIMSELF TO GOD IN ALL THAT BEFALLS
+HIM
+
+
+From all that has hitherto been said, thou hast understood, if I mistake
+not, that the more thou separatest thyself from earthly images and
+created objects, and the closer thy union with God, the nearer wilt thou
+approach to the state of innocence and perfection. What could be
+happier, better, sweeter than this?
+
+It is, therefore, of supreme importance that thou shouldst preserve thy
+soul so free from every trace or entanglement of earth that neither the
+world nor thy friends, neither prosperity nor adversity, things present,
+past, or future, which concern thyself or others, not even thine own
+sins above measure, should have power to trouble thee.
+
+Think only how thou mayest live, as it were, alone with God, removed
+from the world, the simple and pure life of the spirit, as though thy
+soul were already in eternity and separated from thy body.
+
+There thou wouldst not busy thyself with earthly things, nor be
+disquieted by the state of the world, by peace or war, fair skies or
+foul, or anything here below. But thou wouldst be absorbed and filled by
+His love.
+
+Strive even now in this present life to come forth in a manner from thy
+body and from every creature.
+
+As far as thou canst, fix the eye of thy soul steadfastly, with
+unobscured gaze, upon the uncreated light.
+
+Then will thy soul, purified from the clouds of earth, be like an Angel
+in a human body, no longer troubled by the flesh, or disturbed by vain
+thoughts.
+
+Arm thyself against temptations, persecutions, injuries, so that in
+adversity as in prosperity, thou mayest still cleave to God in unbroken
+peace.
+
+When trouble, discouragement, confusion of mind assail thee, do not lose
+patience or be cast down. Do not betake thee to vocal prayers or other
+consolations, but endeavour by an act of the will and reason to lift up
+thy soul and unite it to God, whether thy sensual nature will or no.
+
+The devout soul should be so united to God, should so form and preserve
+her will in conformity to the Divine will, that she is no more occupied
+or allured by any creature than before it was created, but lives as
+though there existed but God and herself.[39]
+
+She will receive in unvarying peace all that comes to her from the hand
+of Divine Providence. In all things she will hope in the Lord, without
+losing patience, peace, or silence.
+
+Behold, therefore, of how great value it is in the spiritual life to be
+detached from all things, that thou mayest be interiorly united to God
+and conformed to Him.
+
+Moreover, there will then be no longer anything to intervene between thy
+soul and God. Whence could it come? Not from without, for the vow of
+voluntary poverty has despoiled thee of all earthly goods, that of
+chastity has taken thy body. Nor could it come from within, for
+obedience has taken from thee thy very will and soul. There is now
+nothing left which could come between God and thyself.
+
+That thou art a religious, thy profession, thy state, thy habit and
+tonsure, and the other marks of the religious life declare. See to it
+whether thou art a religious in truth or only one in name.
+
+Consider how thou art fallen and how thou sinnest against the Lord thy
+God and against His justice if thy deeds do not correspond with thy holy
+state, if by will or desire thou clingest to the creature rather than to
+the Creator, or preferrest the creature to the Creator.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE CONTEMPLATION OF GOD IS TO BE PREFERRED ABOVE ALL OTHER EXERCISES
+
+
+Whatever exists outside of God is the work of His hands. Every creature
+is, therefore, a blending together of the actual and the possible, and
+as such is in its nature limited. Born of nothing, it is surrounded by
+nothingness, and tends to nothingness.[40]
+
+Of necessity the creature depends each moment upon God, the supreme
+Artist, for its existence, preservation, power of action, and all that
+it possesses.
+
+It is utterly unable to accomplish its own work, either for itself or
+for another, and is impotent as a thing which is not before that which
+is, the finite before the infinite. It follows, therefore, that our
+life, thoughts, and works should be in Him, of Him, for Him, and
+directed to Him, Who by the least sign of His will could produce
+creatures unspeakably more perfect than any which now exist.
+
+It is impossible that there should be in the mind or heart a thought or
+a love more profitable, more perfect or more blessed than those which
+rest upon God, the Almighty Creator, of Whom, in Whom, by Whom, towards
+Whom all tend.
+
+He suffices infinitely for Himself and for others, since from all
+eternity He contains within Himself the perfections of all things. There
+is nothing within Him which is not Himself. In Him and by Him exist the
+causes of all transitory things; in Him are the immutable origins of all
+things that change, whether rational or irrational.
+
+All that happens in time has in Him its eternal principle.
+
+He fills all; He is in all things by His essence, by which He is more
+present and more near to them than they are to themselves.[41]
+
+In Him all things are united and live eternally.[42] It is true that the
+weakness of our understanding or our want of experience[43] may oblige
+us to make use of creatures in our contemplation, yet there is a kind of
+contemplation which is very fruitful, good, and real, which seems
+possible to all. Whether he meditates on the creature or the Creator,
+every man may reach the point at which he finds all his joy in His
+Creator, God, One in Trinity, and kindles the fire of Divine love in
+himself or in others, so as to merit eternal life.
+
+We should notice here the difference which exists between the
+contemplation of Christians and that of pagan philosophers. The latter
+sought only their own perfection, and hence their contemplation affected
+their intellect only; they desired only to enrich their minds with
+knowledge. But the contemplation of Saints, which is that of
+Christians, seeks as its end the love of the God Whom they contemplate.
+Hence it is not content to find fruit for the intelligence, but
+penetrates beyond to the will that it may there enkindle love.
+
+The Saints desired above all in their contemplation the increase of
+charity.
+
+It is better to know Jesus Christ and possess Him spiritually by grace,
+than, without grace, to have Him in the body, or even in His essence.
+
+The more pure a soul becomes and the deeper her recollection, the
+clearer will be her inward vision. She now prepares, as it were, a
+ladder upon which she may ascend to the contemplation of God. This
+contemplation will set her on fire with love for all that is heavenly,
+Divine, eternal, and will cause her to despise as utter nothing all
+that is of time.
+
+When we seek to arrive at the knowledge of God by the method of
+negation, we first remove from our conception of Him all that pertains
+to the body, the senses, the imagination. Then we reject even that which
+belongs to the reason, and the idea of being as it is found in
+creatures.[44] This, according to St. Denis, is the best means of
+attaining to the knowledge of God,[45] as far as it is possible in this
+world.
+
+This is the darkness in which God dwells and into which Moses entered
+that he might reach the light inaccessible.[46]
+
+But we must begin, not with the mind, but with the body. We must observe
+the accustomed order, and pass from the labour of action to the repose
+of contemplation, from the moral virtues to those of sublime
+contemplation.[47]
+
+Why, O my soul, dost thou vainly wear thyself out in such multiplicity
+of things? Thou findest in them but poverty.
+
+Seek and love only that perfect good which includes in itself all good,
+and it will suffice thee. Unhappy art thou if thou knowest and
+possessest all, and art ignorant of this. If thou knewest at the same
+time both this good and all other things, this alone would render thee
+the happier. Therefore St. John has written: "This is eternal life: that
+they may know thee,"[48] and the Prophet: "I shall be satisfied when thy
+glory shall appear."[49]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THAT WE SHOULD NOT BE TOO SOLICITOUS FOR ACTUAL AND SENSIBLE DEVOTION,
+BUT DESIRE RATHER THE UNION OF OUR WILL WITH GOD
+
+
+Seek not too eagerly after the grace of devotion, sensible sweetness and
+tears, but let thy chief care be to remain inwardly united to God by
+good will in the intellectual part of the soul.[50]
+
+Of a truth nothing is so pleasing to God as a soul freed from all trace
+and image of created things. A true religious should be at liberty from
+every creature that he may be wholly free to devote himself to God alone
+and cleave to Him. Deny thyself, therefore, that thou mayest follow
+Christ, thy Lord and God, Who was truly poor, obedient, chaste, humble,
+and suffering, and Whose life and death were a scandal to many, as the
+Gospel clearly shows.[51]
+
+The soul, when separated from the body, troubles not as to what becomes
+of the shell it has abandoned--it may be burnt, hanged, spoken evil of;
+and the soul is not afflicted by these outrages,[52] but thinks only of
+eternity and of the one thing necessary, of which the Lord speaks in
+the Gospel.[53]
+
+So shouldst thou regard thy body, as though the soul were already freed
+from it. Set ever before thine eyes the eternal life in God, which
+awaits thee, and think on that only good of which the Lord said: "One
+thing is necessary."[54] A great grace will then descend upon thy soul,
+which will aid thee in acquiring purity of mind and simplicity of heart.
+
+And, indeed, this treasure is close at thy doors. Turn from the images
+and distractions of earth, and quickly shalt thou find it with thee and
+learn what it is to be united to God without hindrance or impediment.
+
+Then wilt thou gain an unshaken constancy, which will strengthen thee
+to endure all that may befall thee.
+
+Thus was it with the martyrs, the Fathers, the elect, and all the
+blessed. They despised all and thought only of possessing in God eternal
+security for their souls.
+
+Thus armed within and united to God by a good will, they despised all
+that is of this world, as though their soul had already departed from
+the body.
+
+Learn from them how great is the power of a good will united to God.
+
+By that union of the soul with God it becomes, as it were, cut off from
+the flesh by a spiritual separation, and regards the outward man from
+afar as something alien to it.
+
+Then, whatever may happen inwardly or in the body will be as little
+regarded as though it had befallen another person or a creature without
+reason.
+
+He who is united to God is but one mind with Him.
+
+Out of regard, therefore, for His sovereign honour, never be so bold as
+to think or imagine in His presence what thou wouldst blush to hear or
+see before men.
+
+Thou oughtest, moreover, to raise all thy thoughts to God alone, and set
+Him before thine inward gaze, as though He alone existed. So wilt thou
+experience the sweetness of Divine union and even now make a true
+beginning of the life to come.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+IN WHAT MANNER WE SHOULD RESIST TEMPTATION AND ENDURE TRIALS
+
+
+He who with his whole heart draws nigh unto God must of necessity be
+proved by temptation and trial.
+
+When the sting of temptation is felt, by no means give thy consent, but
+bear all with patience, sweetness, humility, and courage.
+
+If thou art tempted to blasphemy or any shameful sin, be well assured
+thou canst do nothing better than to utterly despise and contemn such
+thoughts. Blasphemy is indeed sinful, scandalous, and abominable, yet
+be not anxious about such temptations, but rather despise them, and do
+not let thy conscience be troubled by them. The enemy will most
+certainly be put to flight if thou wilt thus contemn both him and his
+suggestions. He is too proud to endure scorn or contempt. The best
+remedy is, therefore, to trouble no more about these thoughts than we do
+about the flies which, against our will, dance before our eyes. Let not
+the servant of Christ thus easily and needlessly lose sight of his
+Master's presence, nor let him grow impatient, murmur, or complain of
+these flies; I mean these light temptations, suspicions, sadness,
+depression, pusillanimity--mere nothings which a good will can put to
+flight by an elevation of the soul to God.
+
+By a good will man makes God his Master, and the holy Angels his
+guardians and protectors.
+
+Good will drives away temptation as the hand brushes away a fly.
+
+"Peace," therefore, "to men of good will."[55]
+
+In truth no better gift than this can be offered to God.
+
+Good will in the soul is the source of all good, the mother of all
+virtues. He who possesses it, possesses without fear of loss all he
+needs to live a good life.[56]
+
+If thou desirest what is good and art not able to accomplish it, God
+will reward thee for it as though thou hadst performed it.[57]
+
+He has established as an eternal and unchangeable law that merit should
+lie in the will, and that upon the will should depend our future of
+Heaven or hell, reward or punishment.[58]
+
+Charity itself consists in nothing else but a strong will to serve God,
+a loving desire to please Him, and a fervent longing to enjoy Him.
+
+Forget not, therefore, temptation is not sin, but rather the means of
+proving virtue. By it man may gain great profit,[59] and this the more
+inasmuch as "the life of man upon earth is a warfare."[60]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE POWER OF THE LOVE OF GOD
+
+
+All that we have hitherto described, all that is necessary for
+salvation, can find in love alone its highest, completest, most
+beneficent perfection.
+
+Love supplies all that is wanting for our salvation; it contains
+abundantly every good thing, and lacks not even the presence of the
+supreme object of our desires.
+
+It is by love alone that we turn to God, are transformed into His
+likeness, and are united to Him, so that we become one spirit with Him,
+and receive by and from Him all our happiness: here in grace,
+hereafter in glory. Love can find no rest till she reposes in the full
+and perfect possession of the Beloved.
+
+It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws nigh to man,
+and man to God, but where charity is not found God cannot dwell. If,
+then, we possess charity we possess God, for "God is charity."[61]
+
+There is nothing keener than love, nothing more subtle, nothing more
+penetrating. Love cannot rest till it has sounded all the depths and
+learnt the perfections of its Beloved. It desires to be one with Him,
+and, if it could, would form but one being with the Beloved. It is for
+this reason that it cannot suffer anything to intervene between it and
+the object loved, which is God, but springs forward towards Him, and
+finds no peace till it has overcome every obstacle, and reached even
+unto the Beloved.
+
+Love has the power of uniting and transforming; it transforms the one
+who loves into him who is loved, and him who is loved into him who
+loves. Each passes into the other, as far as it is possible.
+
+And first consider the intelligence. How completely love transports the
+loved one into him who loves! With what sweetness and delight the one
+lives in the memory of the other, and how earnestly the lover tries to
+know, not superficially but intimately, all that concerns the object of
+his love, and strives to enter as far as possible into his inner life!
+
+Think next of the will, by which also the loved one lives in him who
+loves. Does he not dwell in him by that tender affection, that sweet
+and deeply-rooted joy which he feels? On the other hand, the lover lives
+in the beloved by the sympathy of his desires, by sharing his likes and
+dislikes, his joys and sorrows, until the two seem to form but one.
+Since "love is strong as death,"[62] it carries the lover out of himself
+into the heart of the beloved, and holds him prisoner there.
+
+The soul is more truly where it loves than where it gives life, since it
+exists in the object loved by its own nature, by reason and will; whilst
+it is in the body it animates only by bestowing on it an existence which
+it shares with the animal creation.[63]
+
+There is, therefore, but one thing which has power to draw us from
+outward objects into the depths of our own souls, there to form an
+intimate friendship with Jesus. Nothing but the love of Christ and the
+desire of His sweetness can lead us thus to feel, to comprehend and
+experience the presence of His Divinity.
+
+The power of love alone is able to lift up the soul from earth to the
+heights of Heaven, nor is it possible to ascend to eternal beatitude
+except on the wings of love and desire.
+
+Love is the life of the soul, its nuptial garment, its perfection.[64]
+
+Upon charity are based the law, the prophets, and the precepts of the
+Lord.[65] Hence the Apostle wrote to the Romans: "Love is therefore the
+fulfilling of the law,"[66] and in the first Epistle to Timothy: "The
+end of the commandment is charity."[67]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+OF THE NATURE AND ADVANTAGES OF PRAYER--OF INTERIOR RECOLLECTION
+
+
+Of ourselves we are utterly unable to attain to charity or any other
+good thing. We have naught to offer to the Lord, the Author of all,
+which was not His already.
+
+One thing alone remains to us: that in every occurrence we should turn
+to Him in prayer, as He Himself taught us by word and example. Let us go
+to Him as guilty, poor, and miserable, as beggars, weak and needy, as
+subjects and slaves, yet as His children.
+
+Of ourselves we are utterly destitute. What can we do but cast ourselves
+at His feet in deepest humility, holy fear mingling in our souls with
+love, peace, and recollection?
+
+And while we are fain to draw nigh with all lowliness and modesty, with
+minds sincere and simple, let our hearts burn with great desires, with
+ardour and heartfelt longings. And so let us supplicate our God, and lay
+before Him with entire confidence the perils which menace us on every
+side. Let us freely, unhesitatingly, and in all simplicity, confide
+ourselves to Him, and offer Him our whole being, even to the last fibre,
+for are we not in truth absolutely His?
+
+Let us keep nothing for ourselves, and then will be fulfilled in us the
+saying of Blessed Isaac, one of the Fathers of the Desert, who,
+speaking of this kind of prayer, said: "We shall be one being with God,
+and He will be all in all to us, when that perfect charity by which He
+loved us first has entered into our inmost hearts."[68]
+
+This will be accomplished when God alone becomes the object of all our
+love, our desires, our striving, of all our efforts and thoughts, of all
+that we behold, speak of, hope for; when that union which exists between
+the Father and the Son, and between the Son and the Father shall be
+found also in our mind and soul.
+
+Since His love for us is so pure, sincere, and unchanging, ought not we
+in return to give Him a love constant and uninterrupted?
+
+So intimate should be our union with Him that our hopes, thoughts,
+prayers breathe only God.[69] The truly spiritual man should set before
+him, as the goal of all his efforts and desires, the possession even in
+a mortal body, of an image of the happiness to come, and the enjoyment
+even here below of some foretaste of the delights, the life, and glory
+of Heaven.
+
+This, I say, is the end of all perfection--that the soul may become so
+purified from every earthly longing, and so raised to spiritual things,
+that at last the whole life and the desires of the heart form one
+unbroken prayer.
+
+When the soul has thus shaken off the dust of earth and aspires unto her
+God, to Whom the true religious ever directs his intention, dreading
+the least separation from Him as a most cruel death; when peace reigns
+within and she is delivered from the bondage of her passions and cleaves
+with firmest purpose to the one Sovereign Good, then will be fulfilled
+in her the words of the Apostle: "Pray without ceasing,"[70] and "in
+every place, lifting up pure hands, without anger and contention."[71]
+
+When once this purity of soul has gained the victory over man's natural
+inclination for the things of sense, when all earthly longings are
+quenched and the soul is, as it were, transformed into the likeness of
+pure spirits or Angels, then all she receives, all she undertakes, all
+she does, will be a pure and true prayer.
+
+Only persevere faithfully in thy efforts and, as I have shown from the
+beginning, it will become as simple and easy for thee to contemplate God
+and rejoice in Him in thy recollection as to live a purely natural
+life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THAT EVERYTHING SHOULD BE JUDGED ACCORDING TO THE TESTIMONY OF OUR
+CONSCIENCE
+
+
+There is also another practice which will tend greatly to thy progress
+in spiritual perfection, and will aid thee to gain purity of soul and
+tranquil rest in God. Whatever men say or think of thee, bring it before
+the tribunal of thine own conscience. Enter within thyself, and there,
+turning a deaf ear to all else, set thyself to learn the truth. Then
+wilt thou see clearly that the praise and honour of men bring thee no
+profit, but rather loss, if thou knowest that thou art guilty and
+worthy of condemnation in the sight of truth. And, just as it is useless
+to be honoured outwardly by men if thy conscience accuse thee within, so
+in like manner is it no loss to thee if men despise, blame, or persecute
+thee without, if within thou art innocent and free from reproach or
+blame. Nay, rather, thou hast then great reason to rejoice in the Lord
+in patience, silence, and peace.
+
+Adversity is powerless to harm where sin has no dominion; and just as
+there is no evil which goes unpunished, so is there no good without
+recompense.
+
+Seek not with the hypocrites thy reward and crown from men, but rather
+from the hand of God, not now, but hereafter; not for a passing moment,
+but for eternity.
+
+Thou canst, therefore, do nothing higher nor better in every
+tribulation or occurrence than enter into the sanctuary of thy soul, and
+there call upon the Lord Jesus Christ, thy helper in temptation and
+affliction. There shouldst thou humble thyself, confessing thy sins, and
+praising thy God and Father, Who both chastises and consoles.
+
+There dispose thyself to accept with unruffled peace, readiness, and
+confidence from the hands of God's unfailing Providence and marvellous
+wisdom all that is sent thee of prosperity or adversity, whether
+touching thyself or others. Then wilt thou obtain remission of thy
+sins;[72] bitterness will be driven from thy soul, sweetness and
+confidence will penetrate it, grace and mercy will descend upon it.
+Then a sweet familiarity will draw thee on and strengthen thee, abundant
+consolation will flow to thee from the bosom of God. Then thou wilt
+adhere to Him and form an indissoluble union with Him.
+
+But beware of imitating hypocrites who, like the Pharisees, try to
+appear outwardly before men more holy than they know themselves in truth
+to be. Is it not utter folly to seek or desire human praise and glory
+for oneself or others, while within we are filled with shameful and
+grievous sins? Assuredly he who pursues such vanities can hope for no
+share in the good things of which we spoke just now, but shame will
+infallibly be his lot.
+
+Keep thy worthlessness and thy sins ever before thine eyes, and learn
+to know thyself that thou mayest grow in humility.
+
+Shrink not from being regarded by all the world as filthy mud, vile and
+abject, on account of thy grievous sins and defects. Esteem thyself
+among others as dross in the midst of gold, as tares in the wheat, straw
+among the grain, as a wolf among the sheep, as Satan among the children
+of God.
+
+Neither shouldst thou desire to be respected by others, or preferred to
+anyone whatsoever. Fly rather with all thy strength of heart and soul
+from that pestilential poison, the venom of praise, from a reputation
+founded on boasting and ostentation, lest, as the Prophet says, "The
+sinner is praised in the desires of his soul."[73]
+
+Again, in Isaias, we read: "They that call thee blessed, the same
+deceive thee, and destroy the way of thy steps."[74] Also the Lord says:
+"Woe to you when men shall bless you!"[75]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+ON THE CONTEMPT OF SELF: HOW IT IS ACQUIRED: ITS PROFIT TO THE SOUL
+
+
+The more truly a man knows his own misery, the more fully and clearly
+does he behold the majesty of God. The more vile he is in his own eyes
+for the sake of God, of truth, and of justice, the more worthy of esteem
+is he in the eyes of God.
+
+Strive earnestly, therefore, to look on thyself as utterly contemptible,
+to think thyself unworthy of any benefit, to be displeasing in thine own
+eyes, but pleasing to God. Desire that others should regard thee as
+vile and mean.
+
+Learn not to be troubled in tribulations, afflictions, injuries; not to
+be incensed against those that inflict them, nor to entertain thoughts
+of resentment against them. Try, on the contrary, sincerely to believe
+thyself worthy of all injuries, contempt, ill-treatment and scorn.
+
+In truth, he who for God's sake is filled with sorrow and compunction
+dreads to be honoured and loved by another. He does not refuse to be an
+object of hatred, or shrink from being trodden under foot and despised
+as long as he lives, in order that he may practise real humility and
+cleave in purity of heart to God alone.
+
+It does not require exterior labour or bodily health to love God only,
+to hate oneself more than all, to desire to seem little in the eyes of
+others: what is needed is rather repose of the senses, the effort of the
+heart, silence of the mind.
+
+It is by labouring with the heart, by the inward aspiration of the soul,
+that thou wilt learn to forsake the base things of earth and to rise to
+what is heavenly and Divine.
+
+Thus wilt thou become transformed in God, and this the more speedily if,
+in all sincerity, without condemning or despising thy neighbour, thou
+desirest to be regarded by all as a reproach and scandal--nay, even to
+be abhorred as filthy mire, rather than possess the delights of earth,
+or be honoured and exalted by men, or enjoy any advantage or happiness
+in this fleeting world.
+
+Have no other desire in this perishable life of the body, no other
+consolation than unceasingly to weep over, regret and detest thy
+offences and faults.
+
+Learn utterly to despise thyself, to annihilate thyself and to appear
+daily more contemptible in the eyes of others.
+
+Strive to become even more unworthy in thine own eyes, in order to
+please God alone, to love Him only and cling to Him.
+
+Concern not thyself with anything except thy Lord Jesus Christ, Who
+ought to reign alone in thy affections. Have no solicitude or care save
+for Him Whose power and Providence give movement and being to all
+things.[76]
+
+It is not now the time to rejoice but rather to lament with all the
+sincerity of thy heart.
+
+If thou canst not weep, sorrow at least that thou hast no tears to shed;
+if thou canst, grieve the more because by the gravity of thy offences
+and number of thy sins thou art thyself the cause of thy grief. A man
+under sentence of death does not trouble himself as to the dispositions
+of his executioners; so he who truly mourns and sheds the tears of
+repentance, refrains from delight, anger, vainglory, indignation, and
+every like passion.
+
+Citizens and criminals are not lodged in like abodes; so also the life
+and conduct of those whose faults call for sighs and tears should not
+resemble those of men who have remained innocent and have nothing to
+expiate.
+
+Were it otherwise, how would the guilty, great though their crimes may
+have been, differ in their punishment and expiation from the innocent?
+Iniquity would then be more free than innocence. Renounce all,
+therefore, contemn all, separate thyself from all, that thou mayest lay
+deep the foundations of sincere penance.
+
+He who truly loves Jesus Christ, and sorrows for Him, who bears Him in
+his heart and in his body, will have no thought, or care, or solicitude
+for aught else. Such a one will sincerely mourn over his sins and
+offences, will long after eternal happiness, will remember the Judgment
+and will think diligently on his last end in lowly fear. He, then, who
+wishes to arrive speedily at a blessed impassibility and to reach God,
+counts that day lost on which he has not been ill-spoken of and
+despised.
+
+What is this impassibility but freedom from the vices and passions,
+purity of heart, the adornment of virtue?
+
+Count thyself as already dead, since thou must needs die some day.
+
+And now, but one word more. Let this be the test of thy thoughts, words,
+and deeds. If they render thee more humble, more recollected in God,
+more strong, then they are according to God. But if thou findest it
+otherwise, then fear lest all is not according to God, acceptable to
+Him, or profitable to thyself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+OF THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD, WHICH WATCHES OVER ALL THINGS
+
+
+Wouldst thou draw nigh unto God without let or hindrance, freely and in
+peace, as we have described? Desirest thou to be united and drawn to Him
+in a union so close that it will endure in prosperity and adversity, in
+life and in death? Delay not to commit all things with trustful
+confidence into the hands of His sure and infallible Providence.
+
+Is it not most fitting that thou shouldst trust Him Who gives to all
+creatures, in the first place, their existence, power, and movement,
+and, secondly, their species and nature, ordering in all their number,
+weight, and measure?
+
+Just as Art presupposes the operations of Nature, so Nature presupposes
+the work of God, the Creator, Preserver, Organizer, and Administrator.
+
+To Him alone belong infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, essential
+mercy, justice, truth, and charity, immutable eternity, and immensity.
+Nothing can exist and act of its own power, but every creature acts of
+necessity by the power of God, the first moving cause, the first
+principle and origin of every action, Who acts in every active being.
+
+If we consider the ordered harmony of the universe, it is the Providence
+of God which must arrange all things, even to the smallest details.
+
+From the infinitely great to the infinitely small nothing can escape His
+eternal Providence; nothing has been drawn from His control, either in
+the acts of free-will, in events we ascribe to chance or fate, or in
+what has been designed by Him. We may go further: it is as impossible
+for God to make anything which does not fall within the dominion of His
+Providence as it is for Him to create anything which is not subject to
+His action. Divine Providence, therefore, extends over all things, even
+the thoughts of man.
+
+This is the teaching of Holy Scripture, for in the Epistle of St. Peter
+it is written: "Casting all your care upon Him, for He hath care of
+you."[77]
+
+And, again, the Prophet says: "Cast thy care upon the Lord and He shall
+sustain thee."[78] Also in Ecclesiasticus we read: "My children, behold
+the generations of men; and know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord,
+and hath been confounded. For who hath continued in His commandment, and
+hath been forsaken?"[79] And the Lord says: "Be not solicitous,
+therefore, saying, What shall we eat?"[80] All that thou canst hope for
+from God, however great it may be, thou shalt without doubt receive,
+according to the promise in Deuteronomy: "Every place that your foot
+shall tread upon shall be yours."[81] As much as thou canst desire thou
+shalt receive, and as far as the foot of thy confidence reaches, so far
+thou shalt possess.
+
+Hence St. Bernard says: "God, the Creator of all things, is so full of
+mercy and compassion that whatever may be the grace for which we stretch
+out our hands, we shall not fail to receive it."[82]
+
+It is written in St. Mark: "Whatsoever ye shall ask when ye pray,
+believe that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you."[83]
+
+The greater and more persistent thy confidence in God, and the more
+earnestly thou turnest to Him in lowly reverence, the more abundantly
+and certainly shalt thou receive all thou dost hope and ask.
+
+But if, on account of the number and magnitude of his sins, the
+confidence of any should languish, let him who feels this torpor
+remember that all is possible to God, that what He wills must
+infallibly happen, and what He wills not cannot come to pass, and,
+finally, that it is as easy for Him to forgive and blot out innumerable
+and heinous sins as to forgive one.
+
+On the other hand, it is just as impossible for a sinner to deliver
+himself from a single sin as it would be for him to raise and cleanse
+himself from many sins; for, not only are we unable to accomplish this,
+but of ourselves we cannot even think what is right.[84] All comes to us
+from God. It is, however, far more dangerous, other things being equal,
+to be entangled in many sins than to be held only by one.
+
+In truth, no evil remains unpunished, and for every mortal sin is due,
+in strict justice, an infinite punishment, because a mortal sin is
+committed against God, to Whom belong infinite greatness, dignity, and
+glory.
+
+Moreover, according to the Apostle, "the Lord knoweth who are His,"[85]
+and it is impossible that one of them should perish, no matter how
+violently the tempests and waves of error rage, how great the scandal,
+schisms and persecutions, how grievous the adversities, discords,
+heresies, tribulations, or temptations of every kind.
+
+The number of the elect and the measure of their merit is eternally and
+unalterably predestined. So true is this that all the good and evil
+which can happen to them or to others, all prosperity and adversity,
+serve only to their advantage.
+
+Nay more, adversity does but render them more glorious, and proves their
+fidelity more surely.
+
+Delay not, therefore, to commit all things without fear to the
+Providence of God, by Whose permission all evil of whatever kind
+happens, and ever for some good end. It could not be except He permitted
+it; its form and measure are allowed by Him Who can and will by His
+wisdom turn all to good.
+
+Just as it is by His action that all good is wrought, so is it by His
+permission that all evil happens.[86]
+
+But from the evil He draws good, and thus marvellously shows forth His
+power, wisdom, and clemency by our Lord Jesus Christ. So also He
+manifests His mercy and His justice, the power of grace, the weakness of
+nature, and the beauty of the universe. So He shows by the force of
+contrast the glory of the good, and the malice and punishment of the
+wicked.
+
+In like manner, in the conversion of a sinner we behold contrition,
+confession, and penance; and, on the other hand, the tenderness of God,
+His mercy and charity, His glory and His goodness.
+
+Yet sin does not always turn to the good of those who commit it; but it
+is usually the greatest of perils and worst of ills, for it causes the
+loss of grace and glory. It stains the soul and provokes chastisement
+and even eternal punishment. From so great an evil may our Lord Jesus
+vouchsafe to preserve us! Amen.
+
+
+  R. AND T. WASHBOURNE, LTD., PRINTERS, LONDON.
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Following the general tradition, we attribute this work to Albert
+the Great, but not all critics are agreed as to its authenticity.
+
+[2] Albert the Great is speaking here in a special manner of religious
+perfection, although what he says is also true of Christian perfection
+in general.
+
+[3] He speaks here of the obligation laid upon all Christians.
+
+[4] Religious bind themselves to observe as a duty that which was only
+of counsel. To them, therefore, the practice of the counsels becomes an
+obligation.
+
+[5] The vows of religion have as their immediate object the removal of
+obstacles to perfection, but they do not in themselves constitute
+perfection. Perfection consists in charity. Albert the Great speaks of
+only one vow, because in his day the formulas of religious profession
+mentioned only the vow of obedience, which includes the other two vows.
+
+[6] John iv. 24.
+
+[7] Matt. vi. 6.
+
+[8] When Albert the Great and the other mystics warn us against
+solicitude with regard to creatures, they refer to that solicitude which
+is felt for creatures in themselves; they do not mean that we ought not
+to occupy ourselves with them in any way for God's sake. The great
+doctor explains his meaning in clear terms later on in this work.
+
+[9] 1 Pet. v. 7.
+
+[10] Phil. iv. 6.
+
+[11] Ps. liv. 23.
+
+[12] Ps. lxxii. 28.
+
+[13] Ps. xv. 8.
+
+[14] Cant. iii. 4.
+
+[15] Wis. vii. 11.
+
+[16] Matt. xvi. 26.
+
+[17] Luke xvii. 21.
+
+[18] Albert the Great supposes here that we give ourselves equally to
+God and to creatures, which would be wrong, and not that creatures are
+subordinated to God, which would be a virtue.
+
+[19] This must be understood to mean that God is the principal and
+supreme end of all created activities.
+
+[20] The perfect image of God in man does not consist merely in the
+possession of those faculties by which we resemble Him, but rather in
+performing by faith and love, as far as is in our power, acts like those
+which He performs, in knowing Him as He knows Himself, in loving Him as
+He loves Himself.
+
+[21] In scholastic theology the term "form" is used of that which gives
+to anything its accidental or substantial being. God is the "accidental
+form" of the soul, because in giving it its activity He bestows upon it
+something of His own activity, by means of sanctifying grace. Yet more
+truly may it be said that God is also the "form" of the soul in the
+sense that it is destined by the ordinary workings of Providence to
+participate by sanctifying grace in the Being of God, enjoying thus a
+participation real, though created, in the Divine nature.
+
+[22] We must avoid these things in so far as they separate us from God,
+but they may also serve to draw us nearer to Him if we regard them in
+God and for God.
+
+[23] It is by the intelligence and will that man actually attains to
+this, but the use of the sensitive faculties is presupposed.
+
+[24] The sensitive faculties, if used as a means, often help us to draw
+near to God, but when used as an end, their activity becomes an
+obstacle.
+
+[25] This teaching is the Christian rendering of the axiom formulated by
+the Philosopher: "Homo sedendo fit sapiens"--"It is in quiet that man
+gains wisdom."
+
+[26] This is especially true for religious.
+
+[27] By this is meant that the Holy Scriptures, though always
+presupposed as the foundation of our belief, of themselves give only an
+objective knowledge of God, while that which the Holy Ghost gives is
+experimental.
+
+[28] God knows and loves Himself in Himself by His own nature, while we
+know and love Him in Himself by grace.
+
+[29] A very striking feature in the doctrine of this book is that it
+requires first the perfection of the soul and the faculties, whence
+proceeds that of our actions. Some modern authors, confining themselves
+to casuistry, speak almost exclusively of the perfection of actions, a
+method less logical and less thorough.
+
+[30] Prov. viii. 31.
+
+[31] The exterior powers of a man are the imagination and passions; the
+interior his intelligence and will, which sometimes find themselves
+deprived of all the aids of sensible devotion.
+
+[32] In truth, all the designs of God in our regard are full of mercy,
+and tend especially to our sanctification; the obstacles to these
+designs come only from our evil passions.
+
+[33] The book "De Spiritu et Anima" is of uncertain authorship. It is
+printed after the works of St. Augustine in Migne's "Patrologia Latina,"
+vol. xl., 779.
+
+[34] This darkness is the silence of the imagination, which no longer
+gains a hearing, and that of the intellect, which is sufficiently
+enlightened to understand that we can in reality understand nothing of
+the Divinity in itself, and that the best thing we can do is to remove
+from our conception of God all those limitations which we observe in
+creatures. The reason of this is that we can only know God naturally by
+means of what we see in creatures, and these are always utterly
+insufficient to give us an adequate idea of the Creator.
+
+[35] Ps. lxxxiii. 8.
+
+[36] We only lose God, the uncreated Good, by an unlawful attachment to
+created good; if we are free from this attachment, we tend to Him
+without effort.
+
+[37] The subsequent condemnation, in 1687, of this doctrine, as taught
+by Molino, could not, of course, be foreseen by Blessed Albertus writing
+in the thirteenth century.
+
+[38] John xiv. 6.
+
+[39] And this she does because creatures no longer occupy her, except
+for God's sake.
+
+[40] This is so because, according to true philosophy, the essence of a
+thing is distinct from its existence.
+
+[41] Every actual cause is more intimately present to its accomplished
+work than the work itself, which it necessarily precedes.
+
+[42] John i. 3, 4.
+
+[43] We cannot always experience Divine things, and at first we can only
+compare them to the things which we experience here below.
+
+[44] We deny that there is in God anything which is a mere potentiality,
+or an imperfection. We deny in Him also the process of reasoning which
+is the special work of the faculty of reason, because this implies the
+absence of the vision of truth. We deny "being as it is found in
+creatures," because in creatures it is necessarily limited, and subject
+to accident.
+
+[45] "Nom. Div.," i.
+
+[46] Exod. xxxiii. 11; Num. xii. 8; Heb. iii. 2.
+
+[47] It would be well to quote St. Thomas, the disciple of Albert the
+Great, upon this important doctrine: "A thing may be said to belong to
+the contemplative life in two senses, either as an essential part of it,
+or as a preliminary disposition. The moral virtues do not belong to the
+essence of contemplation, whose sole end is the contemplation of
+truth.... But they belong to it as a necessary predisposition ...
+because they calm the passions and the tumult of exterior
+preoccupations, and so facilitate contemplation" ("Sum.," 2, 2{ae}, q.
+180, a. 2).
+
+This distinction should never be lost sight of in reading the mystic
+books of the scholastics.
+
+[48] John xvii. 3.
+
+[49] Ps. xvi. 15.
+
+[50] This admirable doctrine condemns a whole mass of insipid, shallow,
+affected and sensual books and ideas, which have in modern times flooded
+the world of piety, have banished from souls more wholesome thoughts,
+and filled them with a questionable and injurious sentimentality.
+
+[51] Matt. xi. 6; xiii. 57, etc.
+
+[52] This shows an excellent grasp of the meaning of the celebrated
+maxim "Perinde ac cadaver."
+
+[53] Luke x. 42.
+
+[54] _Ibid._
+
+[55] Luke ii. 14.
+
+[56] Nothing could be more conformable to the teaching of the Gospel
+than this doctrine.
+
+At His birth Jesus bids the Angels sing that peace belongs to men of
+good will (Luke ii. 14); later He will declare that His meat is to do
+the will of His Father (John iv. 34); that He seeks not His own will,
+but the will of Him Who sent Him (John v. 30); that He came down from
+heaven to accomplish it (John vi. 38); and when face to face with death
+He will still pray that the Father's will be done, not His (Matt. xxvi.
+39; Luke xxii. 42). Over and over again, in the Gospel, do we find Him
+using the same language.
+
+He would have His disciples act in the same manner. It is not the man,
+He tells us, who repeats the words: "My Father, my Father," who shall
+enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of God (Matt.
+vii. 21; Rom. ii. 13; Jas. i. 22); and in the prayer which He dictates
+to us He bids us ask for the accomplishment of this will as the means of
+glorifying God, and of sanctifying our souls (Matt. vi. 10).
+
+Finally, He tells us that if we conform ourselves to this sovereign
+will, we shall be His brethren (Matt. xii. 50; Mark iii. 35).
+
+When certain persons, pious or otherwise, confusing sentiment with true
+love, ask themselves if they love God, or if they will be able to love
+Him always, we have only to ask them the same question in other words:
+Are they doing the will of God? can they do it?--_i.e._, can they
+perform their duty for God's sake? Put thus, the question resolves
+itself.
+
+The reason for such a doctrine is very simple: to love anyone is to wish
+him well; that, in the case of God, is to desire His beneficent will
+towards us. Our Lord and Master recalled this principle when He said to
+His disciples, "You are My friends, if you do the things that I command
+you" (John xv. 14).
+
+[57] We must, in virtue of the same principle, keep a firm hold of the
+truth, as indisputable as it is frequently forgotten, that we have the
+merit of the good which we will to carry out and are unable to
+accomplish, as we have also the demerit of the evil we should have done
+and could not.
+
+[58] "Upon the will depends our future of Heaven or hell," because,
+given the knowledge of God, the will attaches itself to Him by love, or
+hates Him with obstinacy.
+
+[59] We may notice, in particular, a three-fold benefit: first,
+temptation calls for conflict, and so strengthens virtue; then it
+obliges a man to adhere deliberately to that virtue which is assailed by
+the temptation, and so gain a further perfection; finally, there are
+necessarily included in both the conflict and the adherence to good
+numerous virtuous, and therefore meritorious, acts. Thus we may reap
+advantage from temptation both in our dispositions and our acts.
+
+[60] Job vii. 1.
+
+[61] 1 John iv. 8.
+
+[62] Cant. viii. 6.
+
+[63] The author is speaking here of the soul in so far as it is human,
+and it is as such that it is more where it loves than where it gives
+life.
+
+[64] Without charity there is no perfect virtue, since without it no
+virtue can lead man to his final end, which is God, although it may lead
+him to some lower end. It is in this sense that, according to the older
+theologians, charity is the "form" of the other virtues, since by it the
+acts of all the other virtues are supernaturalized and directed to their
+true end--_i.e._, to God. _Cf._ St. Th. "Sum.," 2, 2{ae}, q. 23, aa. 7,
+8.
+
+[65] Matt. xxii. 40.
+
+[66] Rom. xiii. 10.
+
+[67] 1 Tim. i. 5.
+
+[68] God can only love Himself or creatures for His own sake; if we have
+this love within our souls we shall be in a certain sense one being with
+Him.
+
+[69] This teaching is based on the definition that prayer is essentially
+"an elevation of the soul to God."
+
+[70] 1 Thess. v. 17.
+
+[71] 1 Tim. ii. 8.
+
+[72] Remission may be obtained in this way of the fault in the case of
+venial sins, of the punishment due in all sins.
+
+[73] Ps. ix. 24.
+
+[74] Isa. iii. 12.
+
+[75] Luke vi. 26.
+
+[76] St. Thomas explains as follows both the possibility and the
+correctness of this opinion of ourselves: "A man can, without falsehood,
+believe and declare himself viler than all others, both on account of
+the secret faults which he knows to exist within him, and on account of
+the gifts of God hidden in the souls of others."
+
+St. Augustine, in his work "De Virginit.," ch. lii., says: "Believe that
+others are better than you in the depths of their souls, although
+outwardly you may appear better than they."
+
+In the same way one may truthfully both say and believe that one is
+altogether useless and unworthy in his own strength. The Apostle says (2
+Cor. iii. 5): "Not that we are sufficient to think anything of
+ourselves, as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God" ("Sum.," 2,
+2{ae}, q. 161, a. 6, 1{m}).
+
+[77] 1 Pet. v. 7.
+
+[78] Ps. liv. 23.
+
+[79] Ecclus. ii. 11, 12.
+
+[80] Matt. vi. 31.
+
+[81] Deut. xi. 24.
+
+[82] _Cf._ Serm. I. in Pent.
+
+[83] Mark xi. 24.
+
+[84] 2 Cor. iii. 5.
+
+[85] 2 Tim. ii. 19.
+
+[86] The teaching of Albert the Great on Divine Providence is truly
+admirable. It is based upon the axiom that the actions of the creature
+do not depend partly upon itself and partly upon God, but wholly upon
+itself and wholly upon God (_cf._ St. Thomas "Cont. Gent.," iii. 70).
+
+Human causality is not parallel with the Divine, but subordinate to it,
+as the scholastics teach. This doctrine alone safeguards the action of
+God and of that of the creature. The doctrine of parallelism derogates
+from both, and leads to fatalism by attributing to God things which He
+has not done, and suppressing for man the necessary principle of all
+good, especially that of liberty.
+
+It is the doctrine of subordinated causes also which explains how things
+decreed by God are determined by the supreme authority, and infallibly
+come to pass, without prejudice to the freedom of action of secondary
+causes. All this belongs to the highest theology. Unhappily, certain
+modern authors have forgotten it.
+
+
+
+
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+  =ON THE EXERCISES OF PIETY.= By Very Rev. J. GUIBERT, S.S. _13,000
+    Copies sold in France._
+
+  =ON UNION WITH GOD.= By Blessed ALBERT THE GREAT, O.P. With notes
+    by Rev. P. J. BERTHIER, O.P.
+
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+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+
+  Passages in italics or underlined are indicated by _italics_.
+
+  Passages in bold are indicated by =bold=.
+
+  Superscripted letters are indicated by {superscript}.
+
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+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of On Union with God, by Albertus Magnus
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+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+<!-- $Id: header.txt 236 2009-12-07 18:57:00Z vlsimpson $ -->
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of On Union With God, by Albertus Mangus.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+
+body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+
+p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;}
+
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+
+table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-indent: 0em;}
+
+a {text-decoration: none;}
+
+.pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;}
+
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+
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+
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+
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+  </head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of On Union with God, by Albertus Magnus
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: On Union with God
+
+Author: Albertus Magnus
+
+Annotator: P. J. Berthier
+
+Release Date: June 12, 2011 [EBook #36402]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON UNION WITH GOD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David E. Brown, Bryan Ness and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
+
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+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="giant">ON UNION WITH GOD</span></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="2" summary="table">
+<tr><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="big">Nihil Obstat.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">F. THOS. BERGH, O.S.B.,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;"><span class="smcap">Censor Deputatus</span>.</span><br />
+<br />
+Imprimatur.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">EDM. CAN. SURMONT,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;"><span class="smcap">Vicarius Generalis</span>.</span></span><br />
+<br />
+<span class="smcap">Westmonasterii</span>,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Die 7 Decembris, 1911</i>.</span></td></tr></table>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class= "center">[<i>All rights reserved</i>]</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="big"><span class="u">The Angelus Series</span></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="giant"><span class="smcap">On Union with God</span></span></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center"><span class="big">BY BLESSED</span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">ALBERT THE GREAT, O.P.</span></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center"><span class="big">WITH NOTES BY</span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">REV. P. J. BERTHIER, O.P.</span></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center"><span class="big">TRANSLATED BY</span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">A BENEDICTINE OF PRINCETHORPE PRIORY</span></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge"><i>R.&amp; T. WASHBOURNE, LTD.</i></span><br />
+<span class="big">PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON<br />
+AND AT MANCHESTER, BIRMINGHAM, AND GLASGOW</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">PREFACE</span></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>Surely the most deeply-rooted need of the human soul, its purest
+aspiration, is for the closest possible union with God. As one turns
+over the pages of this little work, written by Blessed Albert the
+Great<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> towards the end of his life, when that great soul had ripened
+and matured, one feels that here indeed is the ideal of one's hopes.</p>
+
+<p>Simply and clearly the great principles are laid down, the way is made
+plain which leads to the highest spiritual life. It seems as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> though,
+while one reads, the mists of earth vanish and the snowy summits appear
+of the mountains of God. We breathe only the pure atmosphere of prayer,
+peace, and love, and the one great fact of the universe, the Divine
+Presence, is felt and realized without effort.</p>
+
+<p>But is such a life possible amid the whirl of the twentieth century? To
+faith and love all things are possible, and our author shows us the
+loving Father, ever ready to give as much and more than we can ask. The
+spirit of such a work is ever true; the application may vary with
+circumstances, but the guidance of the Holy Spirit will never be wanting
+to those souls who crave for closer union with their Divine Master.</p>
+
+<p>This little treatise has been very aptly called the "Metaphysics of the
+Imitation," and it is in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> hope that it may be of use to souls that
+it has been translated into English.</p>
+
+<p>Blessed Albert the Great is too well known for it to be necessary for us
+to give more than the briefest outline of his life.</p>
+
+<p>The eldest son of the Count of Bollstädt, he was born at Lauingen in
+Swabia in 1205 or 1206, though some historians give it as 1193. As a
+youth he was sent to the University of Padua, where he had special
+facilities for the study of the liberal arts.</p>
+
+<p>Drawn by the persuasive teaching of Blessed Jordan of Saxony, he joined
+the Order of St. Dominic in 1223, and after completing his studies,
+received the Doctor's degree at the University of Paris.</p>
+
+<p>His brilliant genius quickly brought him into the most prominent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>
+positions. Far-famed for his learning, he attracted scholars from all
+parts of Europe to Paris, Cologne, Ratisbon, etc., where he successively
+taught. It was during his years of teaching at Paris and Cologne that he
+counted among his disciples St. Thomas Aquinas, the greatness of whose
+future he foretold, and whose lifelong friendship with him then began.</p>
+
+<p>In 1254 Albert was elected Provincial of his Order in Germany. In 1260
+he was appointed Bishop of Ratisbon, but resigned his see in 1262. He
+then continued unweariedly until a few years before his death, when his
+great powers, especially his memory, failed him, but the fervour of his
+soul remained ever the same. In 1280, at Cologne, he sank, at last worn
+out by his manifold labours.</p>
+
+<p>"Whether we consider him as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> theologian or as a philosopher, Albert
+was undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary men of his age; I might
+say, one of the most wonderful men of genius who appeared in past times"
+(Jourdain).</p>
+
+<p>Very grateful thanks are due to Rev. P. J. Berthier, O.P., for his kind
+permission to append to this edition a translation of his excellent
+notes (from the French edition, entitled "De l'Union avec Dieu").</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">CONTENTS</span></p>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="16"  summary="table">
+
+<tr><td><small>CHAPTER</small></td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top"><a href="#Page_15">I.</a></td><td> <span class="smcap">Of the Highest Perfection
+which Man can attain unto
+in this Life</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top"><a href="#Page_19">II.</a></td><td> <span class="smcap">How a Man may despise All
+Things and cleave to
+Christ alone</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top"><a href="#Page_23">III.</a></td><td> <span class="smcap">The Law of Man's Perfection
+in this Life</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top"><a href="#Page_27">IV.</a></td><td> <span class="smcap">That our Labour must be
+with the Understanding
+and not with the Senses</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top"><a href="#Page_33">V.</a></td><td> <span class="smcap">Of Purity of Heart, which
+is to be sought above All
+Else</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top"><a href="#Page_40">VI.</a></td><td> <span class="smcap">That a Man Truly Devout
+must seek God in Purity
+Of Mind and Heart</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top"><a href="#Page_45">VII.</a></td><td> <span class="smcap">Of the Practice of Interior
+Recollection</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top"><a href="#Page_52">VIII.</a></td><td> <span class="smcap">That a Truly Devout Man
+should commit himself to
+God in All that befalls
+him</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top"><a href="#Page_57">IX.</a></td><td> <span class="smcap">The Contemplation of God
+is to be preferred above
+All Other Exercises</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top"><a href="#Page_65">X.</a></td><td> <span class="smcap">That we should not be Too
+Solicitous for Actual And
+Sensible Devotion, but desire
+rather the Union of
+our Will with God</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_65">65</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top"><a href="#Page_70">XI.</a></td><td> <span class="smcap">In What Manner we should
+resist Temptation and endure
+Trials</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top"><a href="#Page_76">XII.</a></td><td> <span class="smcap">The Power of the Love of
+God</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top"><a href="#Page_82">XIII.</a></td><td> <span class="smcap">Of the Nature and Advantages
+of Prayer,&mdash;of Interior
+Recollection</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_82">82</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top"><a href="#Page_88">XIV.</a></td><td> <span class="smcap">That Everything should be
+judged according to the
+Testimony of our Conscience</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top"><a href="#Page_94">XV.</a></td><td> <span class="smcap">On the Contempt of Self:
+how it is acquired: its
+Profit to the Soul</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top"><a href="#Page_102">XVI.</a></td><td> <span class="smcap">Of the Providence of God,
+which watches over All
+Things</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td></tr></table>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<p class="center">"It is good for me to adhere to my God."</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center">"Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">ON UNION WITH GOD</span></p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER I</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">OF THE HIGHEST PERFECTION WHICH MAN CAN ATTAIN UNTO IN THIS LIFE</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>I have felt moved to write a few last thoughts describing, as far as one
+may in this waiting-time of our exile and pilgrimage, the entire
+separation of the soul from all earthly things and its close, unfettered
+union with God.</p>
+
+<p>I have been the more urged to this, because Christian perfection has no
+other end but charity, which unites us to God.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>This union of charity is essential for salvation, since it consists in
+the practice of the precepts and in conformity to the Divine will. Hence
+it separates us from whatever would war against the essence and habit of
+charity, such as mortal sin.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p>
+
+<p>But religious, the more easily to attain to God, their last end, have
+gone beyond this, and have bound themselves by vow to evangelical
+perfection, to that which is voluntary and of counsel.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> With the help
+of these vows they cut off all that might impede the fervour of their
+love or hinder them in their flight to God. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> have, therefore, by
+the vow of their religious profession, renounced all things, whether
+pertaining to soul or body.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> God is in truth a Spirit, and "they that
+adore Him must adore Him in spirit and in truth,"<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> that is, with a
+knowledge and love, an intelligence and will purified from every phantom
+of earth.</p>
+
+<p>Hence it is written: "When thou shalt pray, enter into thy
+chamber"&mdash;<i>i.e.</i>, into the inmost abode of thy heart&mdash;and, "having shut
+the door" of thy senses, with a pure heart, a free conscience and an
+unfeigned faith, "pray to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> thy Father" in spirit and in truth, in the
+"secret" of thy soul.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p>
+
+<p>Then only will a man attain to this ideal, when he has despoiled and
+stripped himself of all else; when, wholly recollected within himself,
+he has hidden from and forgotten the whole world, that he may abide in
+silence in the presence of Jesus Christ. There, in solitude of soul,
+with loving confidence he makes known his desires to God. With all the
+intensity of his love he pours forth his heart before Him, in sincerity
+and truth, until he loses himself in God. Then is his heart enlarged,
+inflamed, and melted in him, yea, even in its inmost depths.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER II</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">HOW A MAN MAY DESPISE ALL THINGS AND CLEAVE TO CHRIST ALONE</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>Whosoever thou art who longest to enter upon this happy state or seekest
+to direct thither thy steps, thus it behoveth thee to act.</p>
+
+<p>First, close, as it were, thine eyes, and bar the doors of thy senses.
+Suffer not anything to entangle thy soul, nor permit any care or trouble
+to penetrate within it.</p>
+
+<p>Shake off all earthly things, counting them useless, noxious, and
+hurtful to thee.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>When thou hast done this, enter wholly within thyself, and fix thy gaze
+upon thy wounded Jesus, and upon Him alone. Strive with all thy powers,
+unwearyingly, to reach God through Himself, that is, through God made
+Man, that thou mayest attain to the knowledge of His Divinity through
+the wounds of His Sacred Humanity.</p>
+
+<p>In all simplicity and confidence abandon thyself and whatever concerns
+thee without reserve to God's unfailing Providence, according to the
+teaching of St. Peter: "Casting all your care upon Him,"<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> Who can do
+all things. And again it is written: "Be nothing solicitous";<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> "Cast
+thy care upon the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> Lord and He shall sustain thee";<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> "It is good for
+me to adhere to my God";<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> "I set the Lord always in my sight";<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> "I
+found Him Whom my soul loveth";<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> and "Now all good things came to
+me"<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> together with Him. This is the hidden and heavenly treasure, the
+precious pearl, which is to be preferred before all. This it is that we
+must seek with humble confidence and untiring effort, yet in silence and
+peace.</p>
+
+<p>It must be sought with a brave heart, even though its price be the loss
+of bodily comfort, of esteem, and of honour.</p>
+
+<p>Lacking this, what doth it profit a religious if he "gain the whole
+world, and suffer the loss of his own soul?"<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a>. Of what value are the
+religious state, the holiness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> of our profession, the shaven head, the
+outward signs of a life of abnegation, if we lack the spirit of humility
+and truth, in which Christ dwells by faith and love? St. Luke says: "The
+kingdom of God," that is, Christ, "is within you."<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER III</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">THE LAW OF MAN'S PERFECTION IN THIS LIFE</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>In proportion as the mind is absorbed in the thought and care of the
+things of this world do we lose the fervour of our devotion, and drift
+away from the things of Heaven.</p>
+
+<p>The greater, on the other hand, our diligence in withdrawing our powers
+from the memory, love and thought of that which is inferior in order to
+fix them upon that which is above, the more perfect will be our prayer,
+the purer our contemplation. The soul cannot give itself perfectly at
+the same time to two objects as contrary one to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> another as light to
+darkness;<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> for he who lives united to God dwells in the light, he who
+clings to this world lives in darkness.</p>
+
+<p>The highest perfection, therefore, of man in this life lies in this:
+that he is so united to God that his soul with all its powers and
+faculties becomes recollected in Him and is one spirit with Him.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a>
+Then it remembers naught save God, nor does it relish or understand
+anything but Him. Then all its affections, united in the delights of
+love, repose sweetly in the enjoyment of their Creator.</p>
+
+<p>The image of God which is imprinted upon the soul is found in the three
+powers of the reason,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> memory, and will. But since these do not
+perfectly bear the Divine likeness, they have not the same resemblance
+to God as in the first days of man's creation.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p>
+
+<p>God is the "form" of the soul upon which He must impress His own image,
+as the seal on the wax or the stamp on the object it marks.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>This can only be fully accomplished when the reason is wholly
+illuminated according to its capacity, by the knowledge of God, the
+Sovereign Truth; the will entirely devoted to the love of the Supreme
+Good; the memory absorbed in the contemplation and enjoyment of eternal
+felicity, and in the sweet repose of so great a happiness.</p>
+
+<p>As the perfect possession of this state constitutes the glory of the
+Blessed in Heaven, it is clear that in its commencement consists the
+perfection of this life.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER IV</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">THAT OUR LABOUR MUST BE WITH THE UNDERSTANDING AND NOT WITH THE SENSES</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>Blessed is he who by continually cleansing his soul from the images and
+phantoms of earth draws its powers inward, and thence lifts them up to
+God.</p>
+
+<p>At length he in a manner forgets all images, and by a simple and direct
+act of pure intellect and will contemplates God, Who is absolutely
+simple.</p>
+
+<p>Cast from thee, therefore, all phantoms, images, and forms, and
+whatsoever is not God,<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> that all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> thy intercourse with Him may
+proceed from an understanding, affection, and will, alike purified. This
+is, in truth, the end of all thy labours, that thou mayest draw nigh
+unto God and repose in Him within thy soul, solely by thy understanding
+and by a fervent love, free from entanglement or earthly image.</p>
+
+<p>Not by his bodily organs or outward senses does a man attain to this,
+but by the intelligence and will, which constitute him man.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> So long
+as he lingers, trifling with the objects of the imagination and senses,
+he has not yet passed beyond the limits and instincts of his animal
+nature, which he possesses in common with the brute<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> beasts. They know
+and feel through images and by their senses, nor can it be otherwise,
+for they have no higher powers. Not so is it with man, who, by his
+intelligence, affections, and will, is created in the image and likeness
+of God. Hence it is by these powers that he ought, without intermediary,
+purely and directly to commune with God, be united to Him, and cleave to
+Him.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p>
+
+<p>The Devil does his very utmost to hinder us from this exercise, for he
+beholds in it a beginning and a foretaste of eternal life, and he is
+envious of man. Therefore he strives, now by one temptation or passion,
+now by another, to turn away our thoughts from God.</p>
+
+<p>At one time he assails us by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> arousing in us unnecessary anxiety,
+foolish cares or troubles, or by drawing us to irregular conversations
+and vain curiosity. At another he ensnares us by subtle books, by the
+words of others, by rumours and novelties. Then, again, he has recourse
+to trials, contradictions, etc.</p>
+
+<p>Although these things may sometimes seem but very trifling faults, if
+faults at all, yet do they greatly hinder our progress in this holy
+exercise. Therefore, whether great or small, they must be resisted and
+driven from us as evil and harmful, though they may seem useful and even
+necessary. It is of great importance that what we have heard, or seen,
+or done, or said, should not leave their traces or fill our imagination.</p>
+
+<p>Neither before nor after, nor at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> the time, should we foster these
+memories or allow their images to be formed. For when the mind is free
+from these thoughts, we are not hindered in our prayer, in meditation,
+or the psalmody, or in any other of our spiritual exercises, nor do
+these distractions return to trouble us.</p>
+
+<p>Then shouldst thou readily and trustfully commit thyself and all that
+concerns thee to the unfailing and most sure Providence of God, in
+silence and peace. He Himself will fight for thee, and will grant thee a
+liberty and consolation better, nobler, and sweeter than would be
+possible if thou gavest thyself up day and night to thy fancies, to vain
+and wandering thoughts, which hold captive the mind, as they toss it
+hither and thither, wearying soul and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> body, and wasting uselessly alike
+thy time and strength.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p>
+
+<p>Accept all things, whatsoever their cause, silently and with a tranquil
+mind, as coming to thee from the fatherly hand of Divine Providence.</p>
+
+<p>Free thyself, therefore, from all the impressions of earthly things, in
+so far as thy state and profession require, so that with a purified mind
+and sincere affection thou mayest cleave to Him to Whom thou hast so
+often and so entirely vowed thyself.</p>
+
+<p>Let nothing remain which could come between thy soul and God, that so
+thou mayest be able to pass surely and directly from the wounds of the
+Sacred Humanity to the brightness of the Divinity.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER V</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">OF PURITY OF HEART, WHICH IS TO BE SOUGHT ABOVE ALL ELSE</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>Wouldst thou journey by the shortest road, the straight and safe way
+unto eternal bliss, unto thy true country, to grace and glory? Strive
+with all thy might to obtain habitual cleanness of heart, purity of
+mind, quiet of the senses. Gather up thy affections, and with thy whole
+heart cleave unto God.</p>
+
+<p>Withdraw as much as thou canst from thy acquaintance and from all men,
+and abstain from such affairs as would hinder thy purpose.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>Seek out with jealous care the place, time, and means most suited to
+quiet and contemplation, and lovingly embrace silence and solitude.</p>
+
+<p>Beware the dangers of which the times are full; fly the agitation of a
+world never at rest, never still.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p>
+
+<p>Let thy chief study be to gain purity, freedom, and peace of heart.
+Close the doors of thy senses and dwell within, shutting thy heart as
+diligently as thou canst against the shapes and images of earthly
+things.</p>
+
+<p>Of all the practices of the spiritual life purity of heart stands
+highest, and rightly, for it is the end and reward of all our labours,
+and is found only with those who live truly according to the spirit and
+as good religious.</p>
+
+<p>Wherefore thou shouldst employ<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> all thy diligence and skill in order to
+free thy heart, senses, and affections from whatever could trammel their
+liberty, or could fetter or ensnare thy soul. Strive earnestly to gather
+in the wandering affections of thy heart and fix them on the love of the
+sole and pure Truth, the Sovereign Good; then keep them, as it were,
+enchained within thee.</p>
+
+<p>Fix thy gaze unwaveringly upon God and Divine things; spurn the follies
+of earth and seek to be wholly transformed in Jesus Christ, yea, even to
+the heart's core.</p>
+
+<p>When thou hast begun to cleanse and purify thy soul of earthly images,
+and to unify and tranquillize thy heart and mind in God with loving
+confidence, to the end that thou mayest taste and enjoy in all thy
+powers the torrents of His good pleasure, and mayest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> fix thy will and
+intelligence in Him, then thou wilt no longer need to study and read the
+Holy Scriptures to learn the love of God and of thy neighbour, for the
+Holy Spirit Himself will teach thee.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p>
+
+<p>Spare no pains, no labour, to purify thy heart and to establish it in
+unbroken peace.</p>
+
+<p>Abide in God in the secret place of thy soul as tranquilly as though
+there had already risen upon thee the dawn of Eternity, the unending Day
+of God.</p>
+
+<p>Strong in the love of Jesus, go forth from thyself, with a heart pure, a
+conscience at peace, a faith unfeigned; and in every trial, every event,
+commit thyself unreservedly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> to God, having nothing so much at heart as
+perfect obedience to His will and good pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>If thou wouldst arrive thus far, it is needful for thee often to enter
+within thy soul and to abide therein, disengaging thyself as much as
+thou canst from all things.</p>
+
+<p>Keep the eye of thy soul ever in purity and peace; suffer not the form
+and images of this world to defile thy mind; preserve thy will from
+every earthly care, and let every fibre of thy heart be rooted in the
+love of the Sovereign Good. Thus will thy whole soul, with all its
+powers, be recollected in God and form but one spirit with Him.</p>
+
+<p>It is in this that the highest perfection possible to man here below
+consists.</p>
+
+<p>This union of the spirit and of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> love, by which a man conforms himself
+in everything to the supreme and eternal will, enables us to become by
+grace what God is by His nature.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p>
+
+<p>Let us not forget this truth: the moment a man, by the help of God,
+succeeds in overcoming his own will, that is, in freeing himself from
+every inordinate affection and care, to cast himself and all his
+miseries unreservedly into the bosom of God, that moment he becomes so
+pleasing to God that he receives the gift of grace. Grace brings
+charity, and charity drives out all fear and hesitation, and fills the
+soul with confidence and hope. What is more blessed than to cast all our
+care on Him Who cannot fail? As long as thou leanest upon thyself thou
+wilt<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> totter. Cast thyself fearlessly into the arms of God. He will
+embrace thee, He will heal and save thee.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p>
+
+<p>If thou wouldst ponder often upon these truths they would bring to thee
+more happiness than all the riches, delights, honours, of this false
+world, and would make thee more blessed than all the wisdom and
+knowledge of this corruptible life, even though thou shouldst surpass
+all the wise men who have gone before thee.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER VI</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">THAT A MAN TRULY DEVOUT MUST SEEK GOD IN PURITY OF MIND AND HEART</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>As thou goest forward in this work of ridding thee of every earthly
+thought and entanglement thou wilt behold thy soul regain her strength
+and the mastery of her inward senses, and thou wilt begin to taste the
+sweetness of heavenly things.</p>
+
+<p>Learn, therefore, to keep thyself free from the images of outward and
+material objects, for God loves with a special love the soul that is
+thus purified. His "delights" are "to be with the children of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> men,"<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a>
+that is, with those who, set free from earthly affairs and distractions,
+and at peace from their passions, offer Him simple and pure hearts
+intent on Him alone.</p>
+
+<p>If the memory, imagination, and thoughts still dwell below, it follows
+of necessity that fresh events, memories of the past, and other things
+will ensnare and drag thee down. But the Holy Spirit abides not amid
+such empty thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>The true friend of Jesus Christ must be so united by his intelligence
+and will to the Divine will and goodness that his imagination and
+passions have no hold over him, and that he troubles not whether men
+give him love or ridicule, nor heeds what may be done to him. Know well
+that a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> truly good will does all and is of more value than all.</p>
+
+<p>If the will is good, wholly conformed and united to God, and guided by
+reason, it matters little that the flesh, the senses, the exterior man
+are inclined to evil and sluggish in good, or even that a man find
+himself interiorly lacking in devotion.<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> It suffices that he remains
+with his whole soul inwardly united to God by faith and a good will.</p>
+
+<p>This he will accomplish if, knowing his own imperfection and utter
+nothingness, he understands that all his happiness is in his Creator.
+Then does he forsake himself, his own strength and powers, and every
+creature, and hides himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> in complete abandonment in the bosom of
+God.</p>
+
+<p>To God are all his actions simply and purely directed. He seeks nothing
+outside of God, but knows that of a truth he has found in Him all the
+good and all the happiness of perfection. Then will he be in some
+measure transformed in God. He will no longer be able to think, love,
+understand, remember aught save God and the things of God. He will no
+longer behold himself or creatures save in God; no love will possess him
+but the love of God, nor will he remember creatures or even his own
+being, save in God.</p>
+
+<p>Such a knowledge of the truth renders the soul humble, makes her a hard
+judge towards herself, but merciful to others, while earthly wisdom
+puffs up the soul with pride and vanity. Behold,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> this is wise and
+spiritual doctrine, grounded upon the truth, and leading unto the
+knowledge and service of God, and to familiarity with Him.</p>
+
+<p>If thou desirest to possess Him indeed, thou must of necessity despoil
+thy heart of earthly affections, not alone for persons, but for every
+creature, that thou mayest tend to the Lord thy God with thy whole heart
+and with all thy strength, freely, simply, without fear or solicitude,
+trusting everything in entire confidence to His all-watchful
+Providence.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER VII</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">ON THE PRACTICE OF INTERIOR RECOLLECTION</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>The author of the book entitled "De Spiritu et Anima" tells us (chap.
+xxi.)<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> that to ascend to God means nothing else than to enter into
+oneself. And, indeed, he who enters into the secret place of his own
+soul passes beyond himself, and does in very truth ascend to God.</p>
+
+<p>Banish, therefore, from thy heart the distractions of earth and turn
+thine eyes to spiritual joys, that thou mayest learn at last to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> repose
+in the light of the contemplation of God.</p>
+
+<p>Verily the soul's true life and her repose are to abide in God, held
+fast by love, and sweetly refreshed by the Divine consolations.</p>
+
+<p>But many are the obstacles which hinder us from tasting this rest, and
+of our own strength we could never attain to it. The reason is
+evident&mdash;the mind is distracted and preoccupied; it cannot enter into
+itself by the aid of the memory, for it is blinded by phantoms; nor can
+it enter by the intellect, for it is vitiated by the passions. Even the
+desire of interior joys and spiritual delights fails to draw it inward.
+It lies so deeply buried in things sensible and transitory that it
+cannot return to itself as to the image of God.</p>
+
+<p>How needful is it, then, that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> soul, lifted upon the wings of
+reverence and humble confidence, should rise above itself and every
+creature by entire detachment, and should be able to say within itself:
+He Whom I seek, love, desire, among all, more than all, and above all,
+cannot be perceived by the senses or the imagination, for He is above
+both the senses and the understanding. He cannot be perceived by the
+senses, yet He is the object of all our desires; He is without shape,
+but He is supremely worthy of our heart's deepest love. He is beyond
+compare, and to the pure in heart greatly to be desired. Above all else
+is He sweet and love-worthy; His goodness and perfection are infinite.</p>
+
+<p>When thou shalt understand this, thy soul will enter into the darkness
+of the spirit, and will advance further and penetrate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> more deeply into
+itself.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> Thou wilt by this means attain more speedily unto the
+beholding in a dark manner of the Trinity in Unity, and Unity in
+Trinity, in Christ Jesus, in proportion as thy effort is more inward;
+and the greater is thy charity, the more precious the fruit thou wilt
+reap. For the highest, in spiritual things, is ever that which is most
+interior. Grow not weary, therefore, and rest not from thy efforts until
+thou hast received some earnest or foretaste of the fulness of joy that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>
+awaits thee, and has obtained some first-fruits of the Divine sweetness
+and delights.</p>
+
+<p>Cease not in thy pursuit till thou shalt behold "the God of gods in
+Sion."<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p>
+
+<p>In thy spiritual ascent and in thy search after a closer union with God
+thou must allow thyself no repose, no slipping back, but must go forward
+till thou hast obtained the object of thy desires. Follow the example of
+mountain-climbers. If thy desires turn aside after the objects which
+pass below thou wilt lose thyself in byways and countless distractions.
+Thy mind will become dissipated and drawn in all directions by its
+desires. Thy progress will be uncertain, thou wilt not reach thy goal,
+nor find rest after thy labours.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>If, on the other hand, the heart and mind, led on by love and desire,
+withdraw from the distractions of this world, and little by little
+abandon baser things to become recollected in the one true and
+unchangeable Good, to dwell there, held fast by the bonds of love, then
+wilt thou grow strong, and thy recollection will deepen the higher thou
+risest on the wings of knowledge and desire.</p>
+
+<p>They who have attained to this dwell as by habit in the Sovereign Good,
+and become at last inseparable from it.</p>
+
+<p>True life, which is God Himself, becomes their inalienable
+possession;<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> for ever, free from all fear of the vicissitudes of time
+and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> change,<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> they repose in the peaceful enjoyment of this inward
+happiness, and in sweet communication with God. Their abode is for ever
+fixed within their own souls, in Christ Jesus, Who is to all who come to
+Him "the Way, the Truth, and the Life."<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER VIII</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">THAT A TRULY DEVOUT MAN SHOULD COMMIT HIMSELF TO GOD IN ALL THAT BEFALLS
+HIM</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>From all that has hitherto been said, thou hast understood, if I mistake
+not, that the more thou separatest thyself from earthly images and
+created objects, and the closer thy union with God, the nearer wilt thou
+approach to the state of innocence and perfection. What could be
+happier, better, sweeter than this?</p>
+
+<p>It is, therefore, of supreme importance that thou shouldst preserve thy
+soul so free from every trace or entanglement of earth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> that neither the
+world nor thy friends, neither prosperity nor adversity, things present,
+past, or future, which concern thyself or others, not even thine own
+sins above measure, should have power to trouble thee.</p>
+
+<p>Think only how thou mayest live, as it were, alone with God, removed
+from the world, the simple and pure life of the spirit, as though thy
+soul were already in eternity and separated from thy body.</p>
+
+<p>There thou wouldst not busy thyself with earthly things, nor be
+disquieted by the state of the world, by peace or war, fair skies or
+foul, or anything here below. But thou wouldst be absorbed and filled by
+His love.</p>
+
+<p>Strive even now in this present life to come forth in a manner from thy
+body and from every creature.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>As far as thou canst, fix the eye of thy soul steadfastly, with
+unobscured gaze, upon the uncreated light.</p>
+
+<p>Then will thy soul, purified from the clouds of earth, be like an Angel
+in a human body, no longer troubled by the flesh, or disturbed by vain
+thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>Arm thyself against temptations, persecutions, injuries, so that in
+adversity as in prosperity, thou mayest still cleave to God in unbroken
+peace.</p>
+
+<p>When trouble, discouragement, confusion of mind assail thee, do not lose
+patience or be cast down. Do not betake thee to vocal prayers or other
+consolations, but endeavour by an act of the will and reason to lift up
+thy soul and unite it to God, whether thy sensual nature will or no.</p>
+
+<p>The devout soul should be so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> united to God, should so form and preserve
+her will in conformity to the Divine will, that she is no more occupied
+or allured by any creature than before it was created, but lives as
+though there existed but God and herself.<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p>
+
+<p>She will receive in unvarying peace all that comes to her from the hand
+of Divine Providence. In all things she will hope in the Lord, without
+losing patience, peace, or silence.</p>
+
+<p>Behold, therefore, of how great value it is in the spiritual life to be
+detached from all things, that thou mayest be interiorly united to God
+and conformed to Him.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, there will then be no longer anything to intervene between thy
+soul and God. Whence could it come? Not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> from without, for the vow of
+voluntary poverty has despoiled thee of all earthly goods, that of
+chastity has taken thy body. Nor could it come from within, for
+obedience has taken from thee thy very will and soul. There is now
+nothing left which could come between God and thyself.</p>
+
+<p>That thou art a religious, thy profession, thy state, thy habit and
+tonsure, and the other marks of the religious life declare. See to it
+whether thou art a religious in truth or only one in name.</p>
+
+<p>Consider how thou art fallen and how thou sinnest against the Lord thy
+God and against His justice if thy deeds do not correspond with thy holy
+state, if by will or desire thou clingest to the creature rather than to
+the Creator, or preferrest the creature to the Creator.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER IX</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">THE CONTEMPLATION OF GOD IS TO BE PREFERRED ABOVE ALL OTHER EXERCISES</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>Whatever exists outside of God is the work of His hands. Every creature
+is, therefore, a blending together of the actual and the possible, and
+as such is in its nature limited. Born of nothing, it is surrounded by
+nothingness, and tends to nothingness.<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p>
+
+<p>Of necessity the creature depends each moment upon God, the supreme
+Artist, for its existence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> preservation, power of action, and all that
+it possesses.</p>
+
+<p>It is utterly unable to accomplish its own work, either for itself or
+for another, and is impotent as a thing which is not before that which
+is, the finite before the infinite. It follows, therefore, that our
+life, thoughts, and works should be in Him, of Him, for Him, and
+directed to Him, Who by the least sign of His will could produce
+creatures unspeakably more perfect than any which now exist.</p>
+
+<p>It is impossible that there should be in the mind or heart a thought or
+a love more profitable, more perfect or more blessed than those which
+rest upon God, the Almighty Creator, of Whom, in Whom, by Whom, towards
+Whom all tend.</p>
+
+<p>He suffices infinitely for Himself and for others, since from all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
+eternity He contains within Himself the perfections of all things. There
+is nothing within Him which is not Himself. In Him and by Him exist the
+causes of all transitory things; in Him are the immutable origins of all
+things that change, whether rational or irrational.</p>
+
+<p>All that happens in time has in Him its eternal principle.</p>
+
+<p>He fills all; He is in all things by His essence, by which He is more
+present and more near to them than they are to themselves.<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p>
+
+<p>In Him all things are united and live eternally.<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> It is true that the
+weakness of our understanding or our want of experience<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> may oblige<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
+us to make use of creatures in our contemplation, yet there is a kind of
+contemplation which is very fruitful, good, and real, which seems
+possible to all. Whether he meditates on the creature or the Creator,
+every man may reach the point at which he finds all his joy in His
+Creator, God, One in Trinity, and kindles the fire of Divine love in
+himself or in others, so as to merit eternal life.</p>
+
+<p>We should notice here the difference which exists between the
+contemplation of Christians and that of pagan philosophers. The latter
+sought only their own perfection, and hence their contemplation affected
+their intellect only; they desired only to enrich their minds with
+knowledge. But the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> contemplation of Saints, which is that of
+Christians, seeks as its end the love of the God Whom they contemplate.
+Hence it is not content to find fruit for the intelligence, but
+penetrates beyond to the will that it may there enkindle love.</p>
+
+<p>The Saints desired above all in their contemplation the increase of
+charity.</p>
+
+<p>It is better to know Jesus Christ and possess Him spiritually by grace,
+than, without grace, to have Him in the body, or even in His essence.</p>
+
+<p>The more pure a soul becomes and the deeper her recollection, the
+clearer will be her inward vision. She now prepares, as it were, a
+ladder upon which she may ascend to the contemplation of God. This
+contemplation will set her on fire with love for all that is heavenly,
+Divine, eternal,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> and will cause her to despise as utter nothing all
+that is of time.</p>
+
+<p>When we seek to arrive at the knowledge of God by the method of
+negation, we first remove from our conception of Him all that pertains
+to the body, the senses, the imagination. Then we reject even that which
+belongs to the reason, and the idea of being as it is found in
+creatures.<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> This, according to St. Denis, is the best means of
+attaining to the knowledge of God,<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> as far as it is possible in this
+world.</p>
+
+<p>This is the darkness in which God dwells and into which Moses<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> entered
+that he might reach the light inaccessible.<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p>
+
+<p>But we must begin, not with the mind, but with the body. We must observe
+the accustomed order, and pass from the labour of action to the repose
+of contemplation, from the moral virtues to those of sublime
+contemplation.<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p>
+
+<p>Why, O my soul, dost thou vainly wear thyself out in such multiplicity
+of things? Thou findest in them but poverty.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>Seek and love only that perfect good which includes in itself all good,
+and it will suffice thee. Unhappy art thou if thou knowest and
+possessest all, and art ignorant of this. If thou knewest at the same
+time both this good and all other things, this alone would render thee
+the happier. Therefore St. John has written: "This is eternal life: that
+they may know thee,"<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> and the Prophet: "I shall be satisfied when thy
+glory shall appear."<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER X</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">THAT WE SHOULD NOT BE TOO SOLICITOUS FOR ACTUAL AND SENSIBLE DEVOTION,
+BUT DESIRE RATHER THE UNION OF OUR WILL WITH GOD</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>Seek not too eagerly after the grace of devotion, sensible sweetness and
+tears, but let thy chief care be to remain inwardly united to God by
+good will in the intellectual part of the soul.<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>Of a truth nothing is so pleasing to God as a soul freed from all trace
+and image of created things. A true religious should be at liberty from
+every creature that he may be wholly free to devote himself to God alone
+and cleave to Him. Deny thyself, therefore, that thou mayest follow
+Christ, thy Lord and God, Who was truly poor, obedient, chaste, humble,
+and suffering, and Whose life and death were a scandal to many, as the
+Gospel clearly shows.<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p>
+
+<p>The soul, when separated from the body, troubles not as to what becomes
+of the shell it has abandoned&mdash;it may be burnt, hanged, spoken evil of;
+and the soul is not afflicted by these outrages,<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> but thinks only of
+eternity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> and of the one thing necessary, of which the Lord speaks in
+the Gospel.<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p>
+
+<p>So shouldst thou regard thy body, as though the soul were already freed
+from it. Set ever before thine eyes the eternal life in God, which
+awaits thee, and think on that only good of which the Lord said: "One
+thing is necessary."<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> A great grace will then descend upon thy soul,
+which will aid thee in acquiring purity of mind and simplicity of heart.</p>
+
+<p>And, indeed, this treasure is close at thy doors. Turn from the images
+and distractions of earth, and quickly shalt thou find it with thee and
+learn what it is to be united to God without hindrance or impediment.</p>
+
+<p>Then wilt thou gain an unshaken constancy, which will strengthen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> thee
+to endure all that may befall thee.</p>
+
+<p>Thus was it with the martyrs, the Fathers, the elect, and all the
+blessed. They despised all and thought only of possessing in God eternal
+security for their souls.</p>
+
+<p>Thus armed within and united to God by a good will, they despised all
+that is of this world, as though their soul had already departed from
+the body.</p>
+
+<p>Learn from them how great is the power of a good will united to God.</p>
+
+<p>By that union of the soul with God it becomes, as it were, cut off from
+the flesh by a spiritual separation, and regards the outward man from
+afar as something alien to it.</p>
+
+<p>Then, whatever may happen inwardly or in the body will be as little
+regarded as though it had befallen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> another person or a creature without
+reason.</p>
+
+<p>He who is united to God is but one mind with Him.</p>
+
+<p>Out of regard, therefore, for His sovereign honour, never be so bold as
+to think or imagine in His presence what thou wouldst blush to hear or
+see before men.</p>
+
+<p>Thou oughtest, moreover, to raise all thy thoughts to God alone, and set
+Him before thine inward gaze, as though He alone existed. So wilt thou
+experience the sweetness of Divine union and even now make a true
+beginning of the life to come.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XI</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">IN WHAT MANNER WE SHOULD RESIST TEMPTATION AND ENDURE TRIALS</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>He who with his whole heart draws nigh unto God must of necessity be
+proved by temptation and trial.</p>
+
+<p>When the sting of temptation is felt, by no means give thy consent, but
+bear all with patience, sweetness, humility, and courage.</p>
+
+<p>If thou art tempted to blasphemy or any shameful sin, be well assured
+thou canst do nothing better than to utterly despise and contemn such
+thoughts. Blasphemy is indeed sinful, scandalous,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> and abominable, yet
+be not anxious about such temptations, but rather despise them, and do
+not let thy conscience be troubled by them. The enemy will most
+certainly be put to flight if thou wilt thus contemn both him and his
+suggestions. He is too proud to endure scorn or contempt. The best
+remedy is, therefore, to trouble no more about these thoughts than we do
+about the flies which, against our will, dance before our eyes. Let not
+the servant of Christ thus easily and needlessly lose sight of his
+Master's presence, nor let him grow impatient, murmur, or complain of
+these flies; I mean these light temptations, suspicions, sadness,
+depression, pusillanimity&mdash;mere nothings which a good will can put to
+flight by an elevation of the soul to God.</p>
+
+<p>By a good will man makes God<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> his Master, and the holy Angels his
+guardians and protectors.</p>
+
+<p>Good will drives away temptation as the hand brushes away a fly.</p>
+
+<p>"Peace," therefore, "to men of good will."<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></p>
+
+<p>In truth no better gift than this can be offered to God.</p>
+
+<p>Good will in the soul is the source of all good, the mother of all
+virtues. He who possesses it, possesses without fear of loss all he
+needs to live a good life.<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>If thou desirest what is good and art not able to accomplish it, God
+will reward thee for it as though thou hadst performed it.<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p>
+<p>He has established as an eternal and unchangeable law that merit should
+lie in the will, and that upon the will should depend our future of
+Heaven or hell, reward or punishment.<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a></p>
+
+<p>Charity itself consists in nothing else but a strong will to serve God,
+a loving desire to please Him, and a fervent longing to enjoy Him.</p>
+
+<p>Forget not, therefore, temptation is not sin, but rather the means of
+proving virtue. By it man may gain great profit,<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> and this the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> more
+inasmuch as "the life of man upon earth is a warfare."<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XII</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">THE POWER OF THE LOVE OF GOD</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>All that we have hitherto described, all that is necessary for
+salvation, can find in love alone its highest, completest, most
+beneficent perfection.</p>
+
+<p>Love supplies all that is wanting for our salvation; it contains
+abundantly every good thing, and lacks not even the presence of the
+supreme object of our desires.</p>
+
+<p>It is by love alone that we turn to God, are transformed into His
+likeness, and are united to Him, so that we become one spirit with Him,
+and receive by and from Him all our happiness: here in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> grace,
+hereafter in glory. Love can find no rest till she reposes in the full
+and perfect possession of the Beloved.</p>
+
+<p>It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws nigh to man,
+and man to God, but where charity is not found God cannot dwell. If,
+then, we possess charity we possess God, for "God is charity."<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a></p>
+
+<p>There is nothing keener than love, nothing more subtle, nothing more
+penetrating. Love cannot rest till it has sounded all the depths and
+learnt the perfections of its Beloved. It desires to be one with Him,
+and, if it could, would form but one being with the Beloved. It is for
+this reason that it cannot suffer anything to intervene between it and
+the object loved, which is God, but springs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> forward towards Him, and
+finds no peace till it has overcome every obstacle, and reached even
+unto the Beloved.</p>
+
+<p>Love has the power of uniting and transforming; it transforms the one
+who loves into him who is loved, and him who is loved into him who
+loves. Each passes into the other, as far as it is possible.</p>
+
+<p>And first consider the intelligence. How completely love transports the
+loved one into him who loves! With what sweetness and delight the one
+lives in the memory of the other, and how earnestly the lover tries to
+know, not superficially but intimately, all that concerns the object of
+his love, and strives to enter as far as possible into his inner life!</p>
+
+<p>Think next of the will, by which also the loved one lives in him who
+loves. Does he not dwell in him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> by that tender affection, that sweet
+and deeply-rooted joy which he feels? On the other hand, the lover lives
+in the beloved by the sympathy of his desires, by sharing his likes and
+dislikes, his joys and sorrows, until the two seem to form but one.
+Since "love is strong as death,"<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> it carries the lover out of himself
+into the heart of the beloved, and holds him prisoner there.</p>
+
+<p>The soul is more truly where it loves than where it gives life, since it
+exists in the object loved by its own nature, by reason and will; whilst
+it is in the body it animates only by bestowing on it an existence which
+it shares with the animal creation.<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>There is, therefore, but one thing which has power to draw us from
+outward objects into the depths of our own souls, there to form an
+intimate friendship with Jesus. Nothing but the love of Christ and the
+desire of His sweetness can lead us thus to feel, to comprehend and
+experience the presence of His Divinity.</p>
+
+<p>The power of love alone is able to lift up the soul from earth to the
+heights of Heaven, nor is it possible to ascend to eternal beatitude
+except on the wings of love and desire.</p>
+
+<p>Love is the life of the soul, its nuptial garment, its perfection.<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>Upon charity are based the law, the prophets, and the precepts of the
+Lord.<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> Hence the Apostle wrote to the Romans: "Love is therefore the
+fulfilling of the law,"<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> and in the first Epistle to Timothy: "The
+end of the commandment is charity."<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XIII</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">OF THE NATURE AND ADVANTAGES OF PRAYER&mdash;OF INTERIOR RECOLLECTION</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>Of ourselves we are utterly unable to attain to charity or any other
+good thing. We have naught to offer to the Lord, the Author of all,
+which was not His already.</p>
+
+<p>One thing alone remains to us: that in every occurrence we should turn
+to Him in prayer, as He Himself taught us by word and example. Let us go
+to Him as guilty, poor, and miserable, as beggars, weak and needy, as
+subjects and slaves, yet as His children.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>Of ourselves we are utterly destitute. What can we do but cast ourselves
+at His feet in deepest humility, holy fear mingling in our souls with
+love, peace, and recollection?</p>
+
+<p>And while we are fain to draw nigh with all lowliness and modesty, with
+minds sincere and simple, let our hearts burn with great desires, with
+ardour and heartfelt longings. And so let us supplicate our God, and lay
+before Him with entire confidence the perils which menace us on every
+side. Let us freely, unhesitatingly, and in all simplicity, confide
+ourselves to Him, and offer Him our whole being, even to the last fibre,
+for are we not in truth absolutely His?</p>
+
+<p>Let us keep nothing for ourselves, and then will be fulfilled in us the
+saying of Blessed Isaac, one of the Fathers of the Desert, who,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>
+speaking of this kind of prayer, said: "We shall be one being with God,
+and He will be all in all to us, when that perfect charity by which He
+loved us first has entered into our inmost hearts."<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></p>
+
+<p>This will be accomplished when God alone becomes the object of all our
+love, our desires, our striving, of all our efforts and thoughts, of all
+that we behold, speak of, hope for; when that union which exists between
+the Father and the Son, and between the Son and the Father shall be
+found also in our mind and soul.</p>
+
+<p>Since His love for us is so pure, sincere, and unchanging, ought not we
+in return to give Him a love constant and uninterrupted?</p>
+
+<p>So intimate should be our union<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> with Him that our hopes, thoughts,
+prayers breathe only God.<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> The truly spiritual man should set before
+him, as the goal of all his efforts and desires, the possession even in
+a mortal body, of an image of the happiness to come, and the enjoyment
+even here below of some foretaste of the delights, the life, and glory
+of Heaven.</p>
+
+<p>This, I say, is the end of all perfection&mdash;that the soul may become so
+purified from every earthly longing, and so raised to spiritual things,
+that at last the whole life and the desires of the heart form one
+unbroken prayer.</p>
+
+<p>When the soul has thus shaken off the dust of earth and aspires unto her
+God, to Whom the true religious ever directs his intention,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> dreading
+the least separation from Him as a most cruel death; when peace reigns
+within and she is delivered from the bondage of her passions and cleaves
+with firmest purpose to the one Sovereign Good, then will be fulfilled
+in her the words of the Apostle: "Pray without ceasing,"<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> and "in
+every place, lifting up pure hands, without anger and contention."<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></p>
+
+<p>When once this purity of soul has gained the victory over man's natural
+inclination for the things of sense, when all earthly longings are
+quenched and the soul is, as it were, transformed into the likeness of
+pure spirits or Angels, then all she receives, all she undertakes, all
+she does, will be a pure and true prayer.</p>
+
+<p>Only persevere faithfully in thy efforts and, as I have shown from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> the
+beginning, it will become as simple and easy for thee to contemplate God
+and rejoice in Him in thy recollection as to live a purely natural
+life.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XIV</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">THAT EVERYTHING SHOULD BE JUDGED ACCORDING TO THE TESTIMONY OF OUR
+CONSCIENCE</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>There is also another practice which will tend greatly to thy progress
+in spiritual perfection, and will aid thee to gain purity of soul and
+tranquil rest in God. Whatever men say or think of thee, bring it before
+the tribunal of thine own conscience. Enter within thyself, and there,
+turning a deaf ear to all else, set thyself to learn the truth. Then
+wilt thou see clearly that the praise and honour of men bring thee no
+profit, but rather loss, if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> thou knowest that thou art guilty and
+worthy of condemnation in the sight of truth. And, just as it is useless
+to be honoured outwardly by men if thy conscience accuse thee within, so
+in like manner is it no loss to thee if men despise, blame, or persecute
+thee without, if within thou art innocent and free from reproach or
+blame. Nay, rather, thou hast then great reason to rejoice in the Lord
+in patience, silence, and peace.</p>
+
+<p>Adversity is powerless to harm where sin has no dominion; and just as
+there is no evil which goes unpunished, so is there no good without
+recompense.</p>
+
+<p>Seek not with the hypocrites thy reward and crown from men, but rather
+from the hand of God, not now, but hereafter; not for a passing moment,
+but for eternity.</p>
+
+<p>Thou canst, therefore, do<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> nothing higher nor better in every
+tribulation or occurrence than enter into the sanctuary of thy soul, and
+there call upon the Lord Jesus Christ, thy helper in temptation and
+affliction. There shouldst thou humble thyself, confessing thy sins, and
+praising thy God and Father, Who both chastises and consoles.</p>
+
+<p>There dispose thyself to accept with unruffled peace, readiness, and
+confidence from the hands of God's unfailing Providence and marvellous
+wisdom all that is sent thee of prosperity or adversity, whether
+touching thyself or others. Then wilt thou obtain remission of thy
+sins;<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> bitterness will be driven from thy soul, sweetness and
+confidence will penetrate it,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> grace and mercy will descend upon it.
+Then a sweet familiarity will draw thee on and strengthen thee, abundant
+consolation will flow to thee from the bosom of God. Then thou wilt
+adhere to Him and form an indissoluble union with Him.</p>
+
+<p>But beware of imitating hypocrites who, like the Pharisees, try to
+appear outwardly before men more holy than they know themselves in truth
+to be. Is it not utter folly to seek or desire human praise and glory
+for oneself or others, while within we are filled with shameful and
+grievous sins? Assuredly he who pursues such vanities can hope for no
+share in the good things of which we spoke just now, but shame will
+infallibly be his lot.</p>
+
+<p>Keep thy worthlessness and thy sins ever before thine eyes, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> learn
+to know thyself that thou mayest grow in humility.</p>
+
+<p>Shrink not from being regarded by all the world as filthy mud, vile and
+abject, on account of thy grievous sins and defects. Esteem thyself
+among others as dross in the midst of gold, as tares in the wheat, straw
+among the grain, as a wolf among the sheep, as Satan among the children
+of God.</p>
+
+<p>Neither shouldst thou desire to be respected by others, or preferred to
+anyone whatsoever. Fly rather with all thy strength of heart and soul
+from that pestilential poison, the venom of praise, from a reputation
+founded on boasting and ostentation, lest, as the Prophet says, "The
+sinner is praised in the desires of his soul."<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a></p>
+
+<p>Again, in Isaias, we read: "They that call thee blessed, the same<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>
+deceive thee, and destroy the way of thy steps."<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> Also the Lord says:
+"Woe to you when men shall bless you!"<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XV</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">ON THE CONTEMPT OF SELF: HOW IT IS ACQUIRED: ITS PROFIT TO THE SOUL</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>The more truly a man knows his own misery, the more fully and clearly
+does he behold the majesty of God. The more vile he is in his own eyes
+for the sake of God, of truth, and of justice, the more worthy of esteem
+is he in the eyes of God.</p>
+
+<p>Strive earnestly, therefore, to look on thyself as utterly contemptible,
+to think thyself unworthy of any benefit, to be displeasing in thine own
+eyes, but pleasing to God. Desire that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> others should regard thee as
+vile and mean.</p>
+
+<p>Learn not to be troubled in tribulations, afflictions, injuries; not to
+be incensed against those that inflict them, nor to entertain thoughts
+of resentment against them. Try, on the contrary, sincerely to believe
+thyself worthy of all injuries, contempt, ill-treatment and scorn.</p>
+
+<p>In truth, he who for God's sake is filled with sorrow and compunction
+dreads to be honoured and loved by another. He does not refuse to be an
+object of hatred, or shrink from being trodden under foot and despised
+as long as he lives, in order that he may practise real humility and
+cleave in purity of heart to God alone.</p>
+
+<p>It does not require exterior labour or bodily health to love God only,
+to hate oneself more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> than all, to desire to seem little in the eyes of
+others: what is needed is rather repose of the senses, the effort of the
+heart, silence of the mind.</p>
+
+<p>It is by labouring with the heart, by the inward aspiration of the soul,
+that thou wilt learn to forsake the base things of earth and to rise to
+what is heavenly and Divine.</p>
+
+<p>Thus wilt thou become transformed in God, and this the more speedily if,
+in all sincerity, without condemning or despising thy neighbour, thou
+desirest to be regarded by all as a reproach and scandal&mdash;nay, even to
+be abhorred as filthy mire, rather than possess the delights of earth,
+or be honoured and exalted by men, or enjoy any advantage or happiness
+in this fleeting world.</p>
+
+<p>Have no other desire in this perishable life of the body, no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> other
+consolation than unceasingly to weep over, regret and detest thy
+offences and faults.</p>
+
+<p>Learn utterly to despise thyself, to annihilate thyself and to appear
+daily more contemptible in the eyes of others.</p>
+
+<p>Strive to become even more unworthy in thine own eyes, in order to
+please God alone, to love Him only and cling to Him.</p>
+
+<p>Concern not thyself with anything except thy Lord Jesus Christ, Who
+ought to reign alone in thy affections. Have no solicitude or care save
+for Him Whose power and Providence give movement and being to all
+things.<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>It is not now the time to rejoice but rather to lament with all the
+sincerity of thy heart.</p>
+
+<p>If thou canst not weep, sorrow at least that thou hast no tears to shed;
+if thou canst, grieve the more because by the gravity of thy offences
+and number of thy sins thou art thyself the cause of thy grief. A man
+under sentence of death does not trouble himself as to the dispositions
+of his executioners; so he who truly mourns and sheds the tears of
+repentance, refrains from delight, anger, vainglory,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> indignation, and
+every like passion.</p>
+
+<p>Citizens and criminals are not lodged in like abodes; so also the life
+and conduct of those whose faults call for sighs and tears should not
+resemble those of men who have remained innocent and have nothing to
+expiate.</p>
+
+<p>Were it otherwise, how would the guilty, great though their crimes may
+have been, differ in their punishment and expiation from the innocent?
+Iniquity would then be more free than innocence. Renounce all,
+therefore, contemn all, separate thyself from all, that thou mayest lay
+deep the foundations of sincere penance.</p>
+
+<p>He who truly loves Jesus Christ, and sorrows for Him, who bears Him in
+his heart and in his body, will have no thought, or care, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> solicitude
+for aught else. Such a one will sincerely mourn over his sins and
+offences, will long after eternal happiness, will remember the Judgment
+and will think diligently on his last end in lowly fear. He, then, who
+wishes to arrive speedily at a blessed impassibility and to reach God,
+counts that day lost on which he has not been ill-spoken of and
+despised.</p>
+
+<p>What is this impassibility but freedom from the vices and passions,
+purity of heart, the adornment of virtue?</p>
+
+<p>Count thyself as already dead, since thou must needs die some day.</p>
+
+<p>And now, but one word more. Let this be the test of thy thoughts, words,
+and deeds. If they render thee more humble, more recollected in God,
+more strong, then they are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> according to God. But if thou findest it
+otherwise, then fear lest all is not according to God, acceptable to
+Him, or profitable to thyself.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">CHAPTER XVI</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">OF THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD, WHICH WATCHES OVER ALL THINGS</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>Wouldst thou draw nigh unto God without let or hindrance, freely and in
+peace, as we have described? Desirest thou to be united and drawn to Him
+in a union so close that it will endure in prosperity and adversity, in
+life and in death? Delay not to commit all things with trustful
+confidence into the hands of His sure and infallible Providence.</p>
+
+<p>Is it not most fitting that thou shouldst trust Him Who gives to all
+creatures, in the first place, their existence, power, and movement,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>
+and, secondly, their species and nature, ordering in all their number,
+weight, and measure?</p>
+
+<p>Just as Art presupposes the operations of Nature, so Nature presupposes
+the work of God, the Creator, Preserver, Organizer, and Administrator.</p>
+
+<p>To Him alone belong infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, essential
+mercy, justice, truth, and charity, immutable eternity, and immensity.
+Nothing can exist and act of its own power, but every creature acts of
+necessity by the power of God, the first moving cause, the first
+principle and origin of every action, Who acts in every active being.</p>
+
+<p>If we consider the ordered harmony of the universe, it is the Providence
+of God which must arrange all things, even to the smallest details.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>From the infinitely great to the infinitely small nothing can escape His
+eternal Providence; nothing has been drawn from His control, either in
+the acts of free-will, in events we ascribe to chance or fate, or in
+what has been designed by Him. We may go further: it is as impossible
+for God to make anything which does not fall within the dominion of His
+Providence as it is for Him to create anything which is not subject to
+His action. Divine Providence, therefore, extends over all things, even
+the thoughts of man.</p>
+
+<p>This is the teaching of Holy Scripture, for in the Epistle of St. Peter
+it is written: "Casting all your care upon Him, for He hath care of
+you."<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a></p>
+
+<p>And, again, the Prophet says: "Cast thy care upon the Lord and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> He shall
+sustain thee."<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> Also in Ecclesiasticus we read: "My children, behold
+the generations of men; and know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord,
+and hath been confounded. For who hath continued in His commandment, and
+hath been forsaken?"<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> And the Lord says: "Be not solicitous,
+therefore, saying, What shall we eat?"<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> All that thou canst hope for
+from God, however great it may be, thou shalt without doubt receive,
+according to the promise in Deuteronomy: "Every place that your foot
+shall tread upon shall be yours."<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> As much as thou canst desire thou
+shalt receive, and as far as the foot of thy confidence reaches, so far
+thou shalt possess.</p>
+
+<p>Hence St. Bernard says: "God,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> the Creator of all things, is so full of
+mercy and compassion that whatever may be the grace for which we stretch
+out our hands, we shall not fail to receive it."<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a></p>
+
+<p>It is written in St. Mark: "Whatsoever ye shall ask when ye pray,
+believe that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you."<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a></p>
+
+<p>The greater and more persistent thy confidence in God, and the more
+earnestly thou turnest to Him in lowly reverence, the more abundantly
+and certainly shalt thou receive all thou dost hope and ask.</p>
+
+<p>But if, on account of the number and magnitude of his sins, the
+confidence of any should languish, let him who feels this torpor
+remember that all is possible to God, that what He wills must
+infallibly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> happen, and what He wills not cannot come to pass, and,
+finally, that it is as easy for Him to forgive and blot out innumerable
+and heinous sins as to forgive one.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, it is just as impossible for a sinner to deliver
+himself from a single sin as it would be for him to raise and cleanse
+himself from many sins; for, not only are we unable to accomplish this,
+but of ourselves we cannot even think what is right.<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> All comes to us
+from God. It is, however, far more dangerous, other things being equal,
+to be entangled in many sins than to be held only by one.</p>
+
+<p>In truth, no evil remains unpunished, and for every mortal sin is due,
+in strict justice, an infinite punishment, because a mortal sin is
+committed against God, to Whom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> belong infinite greatness, dignity, and
+glory.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, according to the Apostle, "the Lord knoweth who are His,"<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a>
+and it is impossible that one of them should perish, no matter how
+violently the tempests and waves of error rage, how great the scandal,
+schisms and persecutions, how grievous the adversities, discords,
+heresies, tribulations, or temptations of every kind.</p>
+
+<p>The number of the elect and the measure of their merit is eternally and
+unalterably predestined. So true is this that all the good and evil
+which can happen to them or to others, all prosperity and adversity,
+serve only to their advantage.</p>
+
+<p>Nay more, adversity does but render them more glorious, and proves their
+fidelity more surely.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>Delay not, therefore, to commit all things without fear to the
+Providence of God, by Whose permission all evil of whatever kind
+happens, and ever for some good end. It could not be except He permitted
+it; its form and measure are allowed by Him Who can and will by His
+wisdom turn all to good.</p>
+
+<p>Just as it is by His action that all good is wrought, so is it by His
+permission that all evil happens.<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>But from the evil He draws good, and thus marvellously shows forth His
+power, wisdom, and clemency by our Lord Jesus Christ. So also He
+manifests His mercy and His justice, the power of grace, the weakness of
+nature, and the beauty of the universe. So He shows by the force of
+contrast the glory of the good, and the malice and punishment of the
+wicked.</p>
+
+<p>In like manner, in the conversion of a sinner we behold contrition,
+confession, and penance; and, on the other hand, the tenderness of God,
+His mercy and charity, His glory and His goodness.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>Yet sin does not always turn to the good of those who commit it; but it
+is usually the greatest of perils and worst of ills, for it causes the
+loss of grace and glory. It stains the soul and provokes chastisement
+and even eternal punishment. From so great an evil may our Lord Jesus
+vouchsafe to preserve us! Amen.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center">R. AND T. WASHBOURNE, LTD., PRINTERS, LONDON.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">FOOTNOTES:</span></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Following the general tradition, we attribute this work to
+Albert the Great, but not all critics are agreed as to its
+authenticity.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Albert the Great is speaking here in a special manner of
+religious perfection, although what he says is also true of Christian
+perfection in general.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> He speaks here of the obligation laid upon all Christians.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Religious bind themselves to observe as a duty that which
+was only of counsel. To them, therefore, the practice of the counsels
+becomes an obligation.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> The vows of religion have as their immediate object the
+removal of obstacles to perfection, but they do not in themselves
+constitute perfection. Perfection consists in charity. Albert the Great
+speaks of only one vow, because in his day the formulas of religious
+profession mentioned only the vow of obedience, which includes the other
+two vows.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> John iv. 24.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Matt. vi. 6.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> When Albert the Great and the other mystics warn us against
+solicitude with regard to creatures, they refer to that solicitude which
+is felt for creatures in themselves; they do not mean that we ought not
+to occupy ourselves with them in any way for God's sake. The great
+doctor explains his meaning in clear terms later on in this work.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> 1 Pet. v. 7.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Phil. iv. 6.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Ps. liv. 23.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Ps. lxxii. 28.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Ps. xv. 8.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Cant. iii. 4.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Wis. vii. 11.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Matt. xvi. 26.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Luke xvii. 21.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Albert the Great supposes here that we give ourselves
+equally to God and to creatures, which would be wrong, and not that
+creatures are subordinated to God, which would be a virtue.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> This must be understood to mean that God is the principal
+and supreme end of all created activities.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> The perfect image of God in man does not consist merely in
+the possession of those faculties by which we resemble Him, but rather
+in performing by faith and love, as far as is in our power, acts like
+those which He performs, in knowing Him as He knows Himself, in loving
+Him as He loves Himself.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> In scholastic theology the term "form" is used of that
+which gives to anything its accidental or substantial being. God is the
+"accidental form" of the soul, because in giving it its activity He
+bestows upon it something of His own activity, by means of sanctifying
+grace. Yet more truly may it be said that God is also the "form" of the
+soul in the sense that it is destined by the ordinary workings of
+Providence to participate by sanctifying grace in the Being of God,
+enjoying thus a participation real, though created, in the Divine
+nature.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> We must avoid these things in so far as they separate us
+from God, but they may also serve to draw us nearer to Him if we regard
+them in God and for God.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> It is by the intelligence and will that man actually
+attains to this, but the use of the sensitive faculties is presupposed.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> The sensitive faculties, if used as a means, often help us
+to draw near to God, but when used as an end, their activity becomes an
+obstacle.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> This teaching is the Christian rendering of the axiom
+formulated by the Philosopher: "Homo sedendo fit sapiens"&mdash;"It is in
+quiet that man gains wisdom."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> This is especially true for religious.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> By this is meant that the Holy Scriptures, though always
+presupposed as the foundation of our belief, of themselves give only an
+objective knowledge of God, while that which the Holy Ghost gives is
+experimental.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> God knows and loves Himself in Himself by His own nature,
+while we know and love Him in Himself by grace.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> A very striking feature in the doctrine of this book is
+that it requires first the perfection of the soul and the faculties,
+whence proceeds that of our actions. Some modern authors, confining
+themselves to casuistry, speak almost exclusively of the perfection of
+actions, a method less logical and less thorough.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Prov. viii. 31.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> The exterior powers of a man are the imagination and
+passions; the interior his intelligence and will, which sometimes find
+themselves deprived of all the aids of sensible devotion.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> In truth, all the designs of God in our regard are full of
+mercy, and tend especially to our sanctification; the obstacles to these
+designs come only from our evil passions.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> The book "De Spiritu et Anima" is of uncertain authorship.
+It is printed after the works of St. Augustine in Migne's "Patrologia
+Latina," vol. xl., 779.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> This darkness is the silence of the imagination, which no
+longer gains a hearing, and that of the intellect, which is sufficiently
+enlightened to understand that we can in reality understand nothing of
+the Divinity in itself, and that the best thing we can do is to remove
+from our conception of God all those limitations which we observe in
+creatures. The reason of this is that we can only know God naturally by
+means of what we see in creatures, and these are always utterly
+insufficient to give us an adequate idea of the Creator.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Ps. lxxxiii. 8.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> We only lose God, the uncreated Good, by an unlawful
+attachment to created good; if we are free from this attachment, we tend
+to Him without effort.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> The subsequent condemnation, in 1687, of this doctrine, as
+taught by Molino, could not, of course, be foreseen by Blessed Albertus
+writing in the thirteenth century.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> John xiv. 6.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> And this she does because creatures no longer occupy her,
+except for God's sake.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> This is so because, according to true philosophy, the
+essence of a thing is distinct from its existence.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Every actual cause is more intimately present to its
+accomplished work than the work itself, which it necessarily precedes.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> John i. 3, 4.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> We cannot always experience Divine things, and at first we
+can only compare them to the things which we experience here below.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> We deny that there is in God anything which is a mere
+potentiality, or an imperfection. We deny in Him also the process of
+reasoning which is the special work of the faculty of reason, because
+this implies the absence of the vision of truth. We deny "being as it is
+found in creatures," because in creatures it is necessarily limited, and
+subject to accident.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> "Nom. Div.," i.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Exod. xxxiii. 11; Num. xii. 8; Heb. iii. 2.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> It would be well to quote St. Thomas, the disciple of
+Albert the Great, upon this important doctrine: "A thing may be said to
+belong to the contemplative life in two senses, either as an essential
+part of it, or as a preliminary disposition. The moral virtues do not
+belong to the essence of contemplation, whose sole end is the
+contemplation of truth.... But they belong to it as a necessary
+predisposition ... because they calm the passions and the tumult of
+exterior preoccupations, and so facilitate contemplation" ("Sum.," 2,
+2<sup>ae</sup>, q. 180, a. 2).
+</p><p>
+This distinction should never be lost sight of in reading the mystic
+books of the scholastics.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> John xvii. 3.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Ps. xvi. 15.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> This admirable doctrine condemns a whole mass of insipid,
+shallow, affected and sensual books and ideas, which have in modern
+times flooded the world of piety, have banished from souls more
+wholesome thoughts, and filled them with a questionable and injurious
+sentimentality.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Matt. xi. 6; xiii. 57, etc.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> This shows an excellent grasp of the meaning of the
+celebrated maxim "Perinde ac cadaver."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Luke x. 42.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Luke ii. 14.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> Nothing could be more conformable to the teaching of the
+Gospel than this doctrine.
+</p><p>
+At His birth Jesus bids the Angels sing that peace belongs to men of
+good will (Luke ii. 14); later He will declare that His meat is to do
+the will of His Father (John iv. 34); that He seeks not His own will,
+but the will of Him Who sent Him (John v. 30); that He came down from
+heaven to accomplish it (John vi. 38); and when face to face with death
+He will still pray that the Father's will be done, not His (Matt. xxvi.
+39; Luke xxii. 42). Over and over again, in the Gospel, do we find Him
+using the same language.
+</p><p>
+He would have His disciples act in the same manner. It is not the man,
+He tells us, who repeats the words: "My Father, my Father," who shall
+enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of God (Matt.
+vii. 21; Rom. ii. 13; Jas. i. 22); and in the prayer which He dictates
+to us He bids us ask for the accomplishment of this will as the means of
+glorifying God, and of sanctifying our souls (Matt. vi. 10).
+</p><p>
+Finally, He tells us that if we conform ourselves to this sovereign
+will, we shall be His brethren (Matt. xii. 50; Mark iii. 35).
+</p><p>
+When certain persons, pious or otherwise, confusing sentiment with true
+love, ask themselves if they love God, or if they will be able to love
+Him always, we have only to ask them the same question in other words:
+Are they doing the will of God? can they do it?&mdash;<i>i.e.</i>, can they
+perform their duty for God's sake? Put thus, the question resolves
+itself.
+</p><p>
+The reason for such a doctrine is very simple: to love anyone is to wish
+him well; that, in the case of God, is to desire His beneficent will
+towards us. Our Lord and Master recalled this principle when He said to
+His disciples, "You are My friends, if you do the things that I command
+you" (John xv. 14).</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> We must, in virtue of the same principle, keep a firm hold
+of the truth, as indisputable as it is frequently forgotten, that we
+have the merit of the good which we will to carry out and are unable to
+accomplish, as we have also the demerit of the evil we should have done
+and could not.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> "Upon the will depends our future of Heaven or hell,"
+because, given the knowledge of God, the will attaches itself to Him by
+love, or hates Him with obstinacy.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> We may notice, in particular, a three-fold benefit: first,
+temptation calls for conflict, and so strengthens virtue; then it
+obliges a man to adhere deliberately to that virtue which is assailed by
+the temptation, and so gain a further perfection; finally, there are
+necessarily included in both the conflict and the adherence to good
+numerous virtuous, and therefore meritorious, acts. Thus we may reap
+advantage from temptation both in our dispositions and our acts.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Job vii. 1.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> 1 John iv. 8.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Cant. viii. 6.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> The author is speaking here of the soul in so far as it is
+human, and it is as such that it is more where it loves than where it
+gives life.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Without charity there is no perfect virtue, since without
+it no virtue can lead man to his final end, which is God, although it
+may lead him to some lower end. It is in this sense that, according to
+the older theologians, charity is the "form" of the other virtues, since
+by it the acts of all the other virtues are supernaturalized and
+directed to their true end&mdash;<i>i.e.</i>, to God. <i>Cf.</i> St. Th. "Sum.," 2,
+2<sup>ae</sup>, q. 23, aa. 7, 8.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> Matt. xxii. 40.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Rom. xiii. 10.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> 1 Tim. i. 5.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> God can only love Himself or creatures for His own sake;
+if we have this love within our souls we shall be in a certain sense one
+being with Him.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> This teaching is based on the definition that prayer is
+essentially "an elevation of the soul to God."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> 1 Thess. v. 17.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> 1 Tim. ii. 8.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> Remission may be obtained in this way of the fault in the
+case of venial sins, of the punishment due in all sins.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> Ps. ix. 24.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> Isa. iii. 12.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Luke vi. 26.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> St. Thomas explains as follows both the possibility and
+the correctness of this opinion of ourselves: "A man can, without
+falsehood, believe and declare himself viler than all others, both on
+account of the secret faults which he knows to exist within him, and on
+account of the gifts of God hidden in the souls of others."
+</p><p>
+St. Augustine, in his work "De Virginit.," ch. lii., says: "Believe that
+others are better than you in the depths of their souls, although
+outwardly you may appear better than they."
+</p><p>
+In the same way one may truthfully both say and believe that one is
+altogether useless and unworthy in his own strength. The Apostle says (2
+Cor. iii. 5): "Not that we are sufficient to think anything of
+ourselves, as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God" ("Sum.," 2,
+2<sup>ae</sup>, q. 161, a. 6, 1<sup>m</sup>).</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> 1 Pet. v. 7.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> Ps. liv. 23.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> Ecclus. ii. 11, 12.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> Matt. vi. 31.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> Deut. xi. 24.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> Serm. I. in Pent.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> Mark xi. 24.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> 2 Cor. iii. 5.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> 2 Tim. ii. 19.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> The teaching of Albert the Great on Divine Providence is
+truly admirable. It is based upon the axiom that the actions of the
+creature do not depend partly upon itself and partly upon God, but
+wholly upon itself and wholly upon God (<i>cf.</i> St. Thomas "Cont. Gent.,"
+iii. 70).
+</p><p>
+Human causality is not parallel with the Divine, but subordinate to it,
+as the scholastics teach. This doctrine alone safeguards the action of
+God and of that of the creature. The doctrine of parallelism derogates
+from both, and leads to fatalism by attributing to God things which He
+has not done, and suppressing for man the necessary principle of all
+good, especially that of liberty.
+</p><p>
+It is the doctrine of subordinated causes also which explains how things
+decreed by God are determined by the supreme authority, and infallibly
+come to pass, without prejudice to the freedom of action of secondary
+causes. All this belongs to the highest theology. Unhappily, certain
+modern authors have forgotten it.</p></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="huge"><span class="u">The Angelus Series</span></span></p>
+
+<p class="center">OF</p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="big">Authorized Translations of Standard<br/>
+Foreign Works, Original Works,<br/>
+and Selections</span></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center">THE FIRST SEVEN VOLUMES ARE</p>
+
+<p class="blockquot"><b>ON KINDNESS.</b> By Very Rev. J. <span class="smcap">Guibert</span>, S.S. 20,000 <i>Copies sold in
+France</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="blockquot"><b>ON CHARACTER.</b> By Very Rev. J. <span class="smcap">Guibert</span>, S.S. 18,000 <i>Copies sold in
+France</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="blockquot"><b>ON THANKSGIVING.</b> Selected from Father Faber's Works. By the Hon.
+<span class="smcap">Alison Stourton</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="blockquot"><b>FROM A GARDEN JUNGLE.</b> By <span class="smcap">an Unpaid Secretary</span>.</p>
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+<i>Copies sold in France</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="blockquot"><b>ON UNION WITH GOD.</b> By Blessed <span class="smcap">Albert the Great</span>, O.P. With notes by
+Rev. P. J. <span class="smcap">Berthier</span>, O.P.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
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+</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
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+</pre>
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+</body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of On Union with God, by Albertus Magnus
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: On Union with God
+
+Author: Albertus Magnus
+
+Annotator: P. J. Berthier
+
+Release Date: June 12, 2011 [EBook #36402]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON UNION WITH GOD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David E. Brown, Bryan Ness and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ON UNION WITH GOD
+
+
+
+
+  Nihil Obstat.
+      F. THOS. BERGH, O.S.B.,
+          CENSOR DEPUTATUS.
+
+  Imprimatur.
+      EDM. CAN. SURMONT,
+          VICARIUS GENERALIS.
+
+  WESTMONASTERII,
+      _Die 7 Decembris, 1911_.
+
+
+  [_All rights reserved_]
+
+
+
+
+  _The Angelus Series_
+
+  ON UNION WITH
+  GOD
+
+  BY BLESSED
+  ALBERT THE GREAT, O.P.
+
+  WITH NOTES BY
+  REV. P. J. BERTHIER, O.P.
+
+  TRANSLATED BY
+  A BENEDICTINE OF PRINCETHORPE
+  PRIORY
+
+
+  _R. & T. WASHBOURNE, LTD._
+  PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
+  AND AT MANCHESTER, BIRMINGHAM, AND GLASGOW
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+Surely the most deeply-rooted need of the human soul, its purest
+aspiration, is for the closest possible union with God. As one turns
+over the pages of this little work, written by Blessed Albert the
+Great[1] towards the end of his life, when that great soul had ripened
+and matured, one feels that here indeed is the ideal of one's hopes.
+
+Simply and clearly the great principles are laid down, the way is made
+plain which leads to the highest spiritual life. It seems as though,
+while one reads, the mists of earth vanish and the snowy summits appear
+of the mountains of God. We breathe only the pure atmosphere of prayer,
+peace, and love, and the one great fact of the universe, the Divine
+Presence, is felt and realized without effort.
+
+But is such a life possible amid the whirl of the twentieth century? To
+faith and love all things are possible, and our author shows us the
+loving Father, ever ready to give as much and more than we can ask. The
+spirit of such a work is ever true; the application may vary with
+circumstances, but the guidance of the Holy Spirit will never be wanting
+to those souls who crave for closer union with their Divine Master.
+
+This little treatise has been very aptly called the "Metaphysics of the
+Imitation," and it is in the hope that it may be of use to souls that
+it has been translated into English.
+
+Blessed Albert the Great is too well known for it to be necessary for us
+to give more than the briefest outline of his life.
+
+The eldest son of the Count of Bollstaedt, he was born at Lauingen in
+Swabia in 1205 or 1206, though some historians give it as 1193. As a
+youth he was sent to the University of Padua, where he had special
+facilities for the study of the liberal arts.
+
+Drawn by the persuasive teaching of Blessed Jordan of Saxony, he joined
+the Order of St. Dominic in 1223, and after completing his studies,
+received the Doctor's degree at the University of Paris.
+
+His brilliant genius quickly brought him into the most prominent
+positions. Far-famed for his learning, he attracted scholars from all
+parts of Europe to Paris, Cologne, Ratisbon, etc., where he successively
+taught. It was during his years of teaching at Paris and Cologne that he
+counted among his disciples St. Thomas Aquinas, the greatness of whose
+future he foretold, and whose lifelong friendship with him then began.
+
+In 1254 Albert was elected Provincial of his Order in Germany. In 1260
+he was appointed Bishop of Ratisbon, but resigned his see in 1262. He
+then continued unweariedly until a few years before his death, when his
+great powers, especially his memory, failed him, but the fervour of his
+soul remained ever the same. In 1280, at Cologne, he sank, at last worn
+out by his manifold labours.
+
+"Whether we consider him as a theologian or as a philosopher, Albert
+was undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary men of his age; I might
+say, one of the most wonderful men of genius who appeared in past times"
+(Jourdain).
+
+Very grateful thanks are due to Rev. P. J. Berthier, O.P., for his kind
+permission to append to this edition a translation of his excellent
+notes (from the French edition, entitled "De l'Union avec Dieu").
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                 PAGE
+
+     I. OF THE HIGHEST PERFECTION
+          WHICH MAN CAN ATTAIN UNTO
+          IN THIS LIFE                      15
+
+    II. HOW A MAN MAY DESPISE ALL
+          THINGS AND CLEAVE TO
+          CHRIST ALONE                      19
+
+   III. THE LAW OF MAN'S PERFECTION
+          IN THIS LIFE                      23
+
+    IV. THAT OUR LABOUR MUST BE
+          WITH THE UNDERSTANDING
+          AND NOT WITH THE SENSES           27
+
+     V. OF PURITY OF HEART, WHICH
+          IS TO BE SOUGHT ABOVE ALL
+          ELSE                              33
+
+    VI. THAT A MAN TRULY DEVOUT
+          MUST SEEK GOD IN PURITY
+          OF MIND AND HEART                 40
+
+   VII. OF THE PRACTICE OF INTERIOR
+          RECOLLECTION                      45
+
+  VIII. THAT A TRULY DEVOUT MAN
+          SHOULD COMMIT HIMSELF TO
+          GOD IN ALL THAT BEFALLS
+          HIM                               52
+
+    IX. THE CONTEMPLATION OF GOD
+          IS TO BE PREFERRED ABOVE
+          ALL OTHER EXERCISES               57
+
+     X. THAT WE SHOULD NOT BE TOO
+          SOLICITOUS FOR ACTUAL AND
+          SENSIBLE DEVOTION, BUT DESIRE
+          RATHER THE UNION OF
+          OUR WILL WITH GOD                 65
+
+    XI. IN WHAT MANNER WE SHOULD
+          RESIST TEMPTATION AND ENDURE
+          TRIALS                            70
+
+   XII. THE POWER OF THE LOVE OF
+          GOD                               76
+
+  XIII. OF THE NATURE AND ADVANTAGES
+          OF PRAYER,--OF INTERIOR
+          RECOLLECTION                      82
+
+   XIV. THAT EVERYTHING SHOULD BE
+          JUDGED ACCORDING TO THE
+          TESTIMONY OF OUR CONSCIENCE       88
+
+    XV. ON THE CONTEMPT OF SELF:
+          HOW IT IS ACQUIRED: ITS
+          PROFIT TO THE SOUL                94
+
+   XVI. OF THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD,
+          WHICH WATCHES OVER ALL
+          THINGS                           102
+
+
+
+
+  "It is good for me to adhere to my God."
+
+  "Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect."
+
+
+
+
+ON UNION WITH GOD
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+OF THE HIGHEST PERFECTION WHICH MAN CAN ATTAIN UNTO IN THIS LIFE
+
+
+I have felt moved to write a few last thoughts describing, as far as one
+may in this waiting-time of our exile and pilgrimage, the entire
+separation of the soul from all earthly things and its close, unfettered
+union with God.
+
+I have been the more urged to this, because Christian perfection has no
+other end but charity, which unites us to God.[2]
+
+This union of charity is essential for salvation, since it consists in
+the practice of the precepts and in conformity to the Divine will. Hence
+it separates us from whatever would war against the essence and habit of
+charity, such as mortal sin.[3]
+
+But religious, the more easily to attain to God, their last end, have
+gone beyond this, and have bound themselves by vow to evangelical
+perfection, to that which is voluntary and of counsel.[4] With the help
+of these vows they cut off all that might impede the fervour of their
+love or hinder them in their flight to God. They have, therefore, by
+the vow of their religious profession, renounced all things, whether
+pertaining to soul or body.[5] God is in truth a Spirit, and "they that
+adore Him must adore Him in spirit and in truth,"[6] that is, with a
+knowledge and love, an intelligence and will purified from every phantom
+of earth.
+
+Hence it is written: "When thou shalt pray, enter into thy
+chamber"--_i.e._, into the inmost abode of thy heart--and, "having shut
+the door" of thy senses, with a pure heart, a free conscience and an
+unfeigned faith, "pray to thy Father" in spirit and in truth, in the
+"secret" of thy soul.[7]
+
+Then only will a man attain to this ideal, when he has despoiled and
+stripped himself of all else; when, wholly recollected within himself,
+he has hidden from and forgotten the whole world, that he may abide in
+silence in the presence of Jesus Christ. There, in solitude of soul,
+with loving confidence he makes known his desires to God. With all the
+intensity of his love he pours forth his heart before Him, in sincerity
+and truth, until he loses himself in God. Then is his heart enlarged,
+inflamed, and melted in him, yea, even in its inmost depths.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+HOW A MAN MAY DESPISE ALL THINGS AND CLEAVE TO CHRIST ALONE
+
+
+Whosoever thou art who longest to enter upon this happy state or seekest
+to direct thither thy steps, thus it behoveth thee to act.
+
+First, close, as it were, thine eyes, and bar the doors of thy senses.
+Suffer not anything to entangle thy soul, nor permit any care or trouble
+to penetrate within it.
+
+Shake off all earthly things, counting them useless, noxious, and
+hurtful to thee.[8]
+
+When thou hast done this, enter wholly within thyself, and fix thy gaze
+upon thy wounded Jesus, and upon Him alone. Strive with all thy powers,
+unwearyingly, to reach God through Himself, that is, through God made
+Man, that thou mayest attain to the knowledge of His Divinity through
+the wounds of His Sacred Humanity.
+
+In all simplicity and confidence abandon thyself and whatever concerns
+thee without reserve to God's unfailing Providence, according to the
+teaching of St. Peter: "Casting all your care upon Him,"[9] Who can do
+all things. And again it is written: "Be nothing solicitous";[10] "Cast
+thy care upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee";[11] "It is good for
+me to adhere to my God";[12] "I set the Lord always in my sight";[13] "I
+found Him Whom my soul loveth";[14] and "Now all good things came to
+me"[15] together with Him. This is the hidden and heavenly treasure, the
+precious pearl, which is to be preferred before all. This it is that we
+must seek with humble confidence and untiring effort, yet in silence and
+peace.
+
+It must be sought with a brave heart, even though its price be the loss
+of bodily comfort, of esteem, and of honour.
+
+Lacking this, what doth it profit a religious if he "gain the whole
+world, and suffer the loss of his own soul?"[16]. Of what value are the
+religious state, the holiness of our profession, the shaven head, the
+outward signs of a life of abnegation, if we lack the spirit of humility
+and truth, in which Christ dwells by faith and love? St. Luke says: "The
+kingdom of God," that is, Christ, "is within you."[17]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE LAW OF MAN'S PERFECTION IN THIS LIFE
+
+
+In proportion as the mind is absorbed in the thought and care of the
+things of this world do we lose the fervour of our devotion, and drift
+away from the things of Heaven.
+
+The greater, on the other hand, our diligence in withdrawing our powers
+from the memory, love and thought of that which is inferior in order to
+fix them upon that which is above, the more perfect will be our prayer,
+the purer our contemplation. The soul cannot give itself perfectly at
+the same time to two objects as contrary one to another as light to
+darkness;[18] for he who lives united to God dwells in the light, he who
+clings to this world lives in darkness.
+
+The highest perfection, therefore, of man in this life lies in this:
+that he is so united to God that his soul with all its powers and
+faculties becomes recollected in Him and is one spirit with Him.[19]
+Then it remembers naught save God, nor does it relish or understand
+anything but Him. Then all its affections, united in the delights of
+love, repose sweetly in the enjoyment of their Creator.
+
+The image of God which is imprinted upon the soul is found in the three
+powers of the reason, memory, and will. But since these do not
+perfectly bear the Divine likeness, they have not the same resemblance
+to God as in the first days of man's creation.[20]
+
+God is the "form" of the soul upon which He must impress His own image,
+as the seal on the wax or the stamp on the object it marks.[21]
+
+This can only be fully accomplished when the reason is wholly
+illuminated according to its capacity, by the knowledge of God, the
+Sovereign Truth; the will entirely devoted to the love of the Supreme
+Good; the memory absorbed in the contemplation and enjoyment of eternal
+felicity, and in the sweet repose of so great a happiness.
+
+As the perfect possession of this state constitutes the glory of the
+Blessed in Heaven, it is clear that in its commencement consists the
+perfection of this life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THAT OUR LABOUR MUST BE WITH THE UNDERSTANDING AND NOT WITH THE SENSES
+
+
+Blessed is he who by continually cleansing his soul from the images and
+phantoms of earth draws its powers inward, and thence lifts them up to
+God.
+
+At length he in a manner forgets all images, and by a simple and direct
+act of pure intellect and will contemplates God, Who is absolutely
+simple.
+
+Cast from thee, therefore, all phantoms, images, and forms, and
+whatsoever is not God,[22] that all thy intercourse with Him may
+proceed from an understanding, affection, and will, alike purified. This
+is, in truth, the end of all thy labours, that thou mayest draw nigh
+unto God and repose in Him within thy soul, solely by thy understanding
+and by a fervent love, free from entanglement or earthly image.
+
+Not by his bodily organs or outward senses does a man attain to this,
+but by the intelligence and will, which constitute him man.[23] So long
+as he lingers, trifling with the objects of the imagination and senses,
+he has not yet passed beyond the limits and instincts of his animal
+nature, which he possesses in common with the brute beasts. They know
+and feel through images and by their senses, nor can it be otherwise,
+for they have no higher powers. Not so is it with man, who, by his
+intelligence, affections, and will, is created in the image and likeness
+of God. Hence it is by these powers that he ought, without intermediary,
+purely and directly to commune with God, be united to Him, and cleave to
+Him.[24]
+
+The Devil does his very utmost to hinder us from this exercise, for he
+beholds in it a beginning and a foretaste of eternal life, and he is
+envious of man. Therefore he strives, now by one temptation or passion,
+now by another, to turn away our thoughts from God.
+
+At one time he assails us by arousing in us unnecessary anxiety,
+foolish cares or troubles, or by drawing us to irregular conversations
+and vain curiosity. At another he ensnares us by subtle books, by the
+words of others, by rumours and novelties. Then, again, he has recourse
+to trials, contradictions, etc.
+
+Although these things may sometimes seem but very trifling faults, if
+faults at all, yet do they greatly hinder our progress in this holy
+exercise. Therefore, whether great or small, they must be resisted and
+driven from us as evil and harmful, though they may seem useful and even
+necessary. It is of great importance that what we have heard, or seen,
+or done, or said, should not leave their traces or fill our imagination.
+
+Neither before nor after, nor at the time, should we foster these
+memories or allow their images to be formed. For when the mind is free
+from these thoughts, we are not hindered in our prayer, in meditation,
+or the psalmody, or in any other of our spiritual exercises, nor do
+these distractions return to trouble us.
+
+Then shouldst thou readily and trustfully commit thyself and all that
+concerns thee to the unfailing and most sure Providence of God, in
+silence and peace. He Himself will fight for thee, and will grant thee a
+liberty and consolation better, nobler, and sweeter than would be
+possible if thou gavest thyself up day and night to thy fancies, to vain
+and wandering thoughts, which hold captive the mind, as they toss it
+hither and thither, wearying soul and body, and wasting uselessly alike
+thy time and strength.[25]
+
+Accept all things, whatsoever their cause, silently and with a tranquil
+mind, as coming to thee from the fatherly hand of Divine Providence.
+
+Free thyself, therefore, from all the impressions of earthly things, in
+so far as thy state and profession require, so that with a purified mind
+and sincere affection thou mayest cleave to Him to Whom thou hast so
+often and so entirely vowed thyself.
+
+Let nothing remain which could come between thy soul and God, that so
+thou mayest be able to pass surely and directly from the wounds of the
+Sacred Humanity to the brightness of the Divinity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OF PURITY OF HEART, WHICH IS TO BE SOUGHT ABOVE ALL ELSE
+
+
+Wouldst thou journey by the shortest road, the straight and safe way
+unto eternal bliss, unto thy true country, to grace and glory? Strive
+with all thy might to obtain habitual cleanness of heart, purity of
+mind, quiet of the senses. Gather up thy affections, and with thy whole
+heart cleave unto God.
+
+Withdraw as much as thou canst from thy acquaintance and from all men,
+and abstain from such affairs as would hinder thy purpose.
+
+Seek out with jealous care the place, time, and means most suited to
+quiet and contemplation, and lovingly embrace silence and solitude.
+
+Beware the dangers of which the times are full; fly the agitation of a
+world never at rest, never still.[26]
+
+Let thy chief study be to gain purity, freedom, and peace of heart.
+Close the doors of thy senses and dwell within, shutting thy heart as
+diligently as thou canst against the shapes and images of earthly
+things.
+
+Of all the practices of the spiritual life purity of heart stands
+highest, and rightly, for it is the end and reward of all our labours,
+and is found only with those who live truly according to the spirit and
+as good religious.
+
+Wherefore thou shouldst employ all thy diligence and skill in order to
+free thy heart, senses, and affections from whatever could trammel their
+liberty, or could fetter or ensnare thy soul. Strive earnestly to gather
+in the wandering affections of thy heart and fix them on the love of the
+sole and pure Truth, the Sovereign Good; then keep them, as it were,
+enchained within thee.
+
+Fix thy gaze unwaveringly upon God and Divine things; spurn the follies
+of earth and seek to be wholly transformed in Jesus Christ, yea, even to
+the heart's core.
+
+When thou hast begun to cleanse and purify thy soul of earthly images,
+and to unify and tranquillize thy heart and mind in God with loving
+confidence, to the end that thou mayest taste and enjoy in all thy
+powers the torrents of His good pleasure, and mayest fix thy will and
+intelligence in Him, then thou wilt no longer need to study and read the
+Holy Scriptures to learn the love of God and of thy neighbour, for the
+Holy Spirit Himself will teach thee.[27]
+
+Spare no pains, no labour, to purify thy heart and to establish it in
+unbroken peace.
+
+Abide in God in the secret place of thy soul as tranquilly as though
+there had already risen upon thee the dawn of Eternity, the unending Day
+of God.
+
+Strong in the love of Jesus, go forth from thyself, with a heart pure, a
+conscience at peace, a faith unfeigned; and in every trial, every event,
+commit thyself unreservedly to God, having nothing so much at heart as
+perfect obedience to His will and good pleasure.
+
+If thou wouldst arrive thus far, it is needful for thee often to enter
+within thy soul and to abide therein, disengaging thyself as much as
+thou canst from all things.
+
+Keep the eye of thy soul ever in purity and peace; suffer not the form
+and images of this world to defile thy mind; preserve thy will from
+every earthly care, and let every fibre of thy heart be rooted in the
+love of the Sovereign Good. Thus will thy whole soul, with all its
+powers, be recollected in God and form but one spirit with Him.
+
+It is in this that the highest perfection possible to man here below
+consists.
+
+This union of the spirit and of love, by which a man conforms himself
+in everything to the supreme and eternal will, enables us to become by
+grace what God is by His nature.[28]
+
+Let us not forget this truth: the moment a man, by the help of God,
+succeeds in overcoming his own will, that is, in freeing himself from
+every inordinate affection and care, to cast himself and all his
+miseries unreservedly into the bosom of God, that moment he becomes so
+pleasing to God that he receives the gift of grace. Grace brings
+charity, and charity drives out all fear and hesitation, and fills the
+soul with confidence and hope. What is more blessed than to cast all our
+care on Him Who cannot fail? As long as thou leanest upon thyself thou
+wilt totter. Cast thyself fearlessly into the arms of God. He will
+embrace thee, He will heal and save thee.[29]
+
+If thou wouldst ponder often upon these truths they would bring to thee
+more happiness than all the riches, delights, honours, of this false
+world, and would make thee more blessed than all the wisdom and
+knowledge of this corruptible life, even though thou shouldst surpass
+all the wise men who have gone before thee.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THAT A MAN TRULY DEVOUT MUST SEEK GOD IN PURITY OF MIND AND HEART
+
+
+As thou goest forward in this work of ridding thee of every earthly
+thought and entanglement thou wilt behold thy soul regain her strength
+and the mastery of her inward senses, and thou wilt begin to taste the
+sweetness of heavenly things.
+
+Learn, therefore, to keep thyself free from the images of outward and
+material objects, for God loves with a special love the soul that is
+thus purified. His "delights" are "to be with the children of men,"[30]
+that is, with those who, set free from earthly affairs and distractions,
+and at peace from their passions, offer Him simple and pure hearts
+intent on Him alone.
+
+If the memory, imagination, and thoughts still dwell below, it follows
+of necessity that fresh events, memories of the past, and other things
+will ensnare and drag thee down. But the Holy Spirit abides not amid
+such empty thoughts.
+
+The true friend of Jesus Christ must be so united by his intelligence
+and will to the Divine will and goodness that his imagination and
+passions have no hold over him, and that he troubles not whether men
+give him love or ridicule, nor heeds what may be done to him. Know well
+that a truly good will does all and is of more value than all.
+
+If the will is good, wholly conformed and united to God, and guided by
+reason, it matters little that the flesh, the senses, the exterior man
+are inclined to evil and sluggish in good, or even that a man find
+himself interiorly lacking in devotion.[31] It suffices that he remains
+with his whole soul inwardly united to God by faith and a good will.
+
+This he will accomplish if, knowing his own imperfection and utter
+nothingness, he understands that all his happiness is in his Creator.
+Then does he forsake himself, his own strength and powers, and every
+creature, and hides himself in complete abandonment in the bosom of
+God.
+
+To God are all his actions simply and purely directed. He seeks nothing
+outside of God, but knows that of a truth he has found in Him all the
+good and all the happiness of perfection. Then will he be in some
+measure transformed in God. He will no longer be able to think, love,
+understand, remember aught save God and the things of God. He will no
+longer behold himself or creatures save in God; no love will possess him
+but the love of God, nor will he remember creatures or even his own
+being, save in God.
+
+Such a knowledge of the truth renders the soul humble, makes her a hard
+judge towards herself, but merciful to others, while earthly wisdom
+puffs up the soul with pride and vanity. Behold, this is wise and
+spiritual doctrine, grounded upon the truth, and leading unto the
+knowledge and service of God, and to familiarity with Him.
+
+If thou desirest to possess Him indeed, thou must of necessity despoil
+thy heart of earthly affections, not alone for persons, but for every
+creature, that thou mayest tend to the Lord thy God with thy whole heart
+and with all thy strength, freely, simply, without fear or solicitude,
+trusting everything in entire confidence to His all-watchful
+Providence.[32]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+ON THE PRACTICE OF INTERIOR RECOLLECTION
+
+
+The author of the book entitled "De Spiritu et Anima" tells us (chap.
+xxi.)[33] that to ascend to God means nothing else than to enter into
+oneself. And, indeed, he who enters into the secret place of his own
+soul passes beyond himself, and does in very truth ascend to God.
+
+Banish, therefore, from thy heart the distractions of earth and turn
+thine eyes to spiritual joys, that thou mayest learn at last to repose
+in the light of the contemplation of God.
+
+Verily the soul's true life and her repose are to abide in God, held
+fast by love, and sweetly refreshed by the Divine consolations.
+
+But many are the obstacles which hinder us from tasting this rest, and
+of our own strength we could never attain to it. The reason is
+evident--the mind is distracted and preoccupied; it cannot enter into
+itself by the aid of the memory, for it is blinded by phantoms; nor can
+it enter by the intellect, for it is vitiated by the passions. Even the
+desire of interior joys and spiritual delights fails to draw it inward.
+It lies so deeply buried in things sensible and transitory that it
+cannot return to itself as to the image of God.
+
+How needful is it, then, that the soul, lifted upon the wings of
+reverence and humble confidence, should rise above itself and every
+creature by entire detachment, and should be able to say within itself:
+He Whom I seek, love, desire, among all, more than all, and above all,
+cannot be perceived by the senses or the imagination, for He is above
+both the senses and the understanding. He cannot be perceived by the
+senses, yet He is the object of all our desires; He is without shape,
+but He is supremely worthy of our heart's deepest love. He is beyond
+compare, and to the pure in heart greatly to be desired. Above all else
+is He sweet and love-worthy; His goodness and perfection are infinite.
+
+When thou shalt understand this, thy soul will enter into the darkness
+of the spirit, and will advance further and penetrate more deeply into
+itself.[34] Thou wilt by this means attain more speedily unto the
+beholding in a dark manner of the Trinity in Unity, and Unity in
+Trinity, in Christ Jesus, in proportion as thy effort is more inward;
+and the greater is thy charity, the more precious the fruit thou wilt
+reap. For the highest, in spiritual things, is ever that which is most
+interior. Grow not weary, therefore, and rest not from thy efforts until
+thou hast received some earnest or foretaste of the fulness of joy that
+awaits thee, and has obtained some first-fruits of the Divine sweetness
+and delights.
+
+Cease not in thy pursuit till thou shalt behold "the God of gods in
+Sion."[35]
+
+In thy spiritual ascent and in thy search after a closer union with God
+thou must allow thyself no repose, no slipping back, but must go forward
+till thou hast obtained the object of thy desires. Follow the example of
+mountain-climbers. If thy desires turn aside after the objects which
+pass below thou wilt lose thyself in byways and countless distractions.
+Thy mind will become dissipated and drawn in all directions by its
+desires. Thy progress will be uncertain, thou wilt not reach thy goal,
+nor find rest after thy labours.
+
+If, on the other hand, the heart and mind, led on by love and desire,
+withdraw from the distractions of this world, and little by little
+abandon baser things to become recollected in the one true and
+unchangeable Good, to dwell there, held fast by the bonds of love, then
+wilt thou grow strong, and thy recollection will deepen the higher thou
+risest on the wings of knowledge and desire.
+
+They who have attained to this dwell as by habit in the Sovereign Good,
+and become at last inseparable from it.
+
+True life, which is God Himself, becomes their inalienable
+possession;[36] for ever, free from all fear of the vicissitudes of time
+and change,[37] they repose in the peaceful enjoyment of this inward
+happiness, and in sweet communication with God. Their abode is for ever
+fixed within their own souls, in Christ Jesus, Who is to all who come to
+Him "the Way, the Truth, and the Life."[38]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THAT A TRULY DEVOUT MAN SHOULD COMMIT HIMSELF TO GOD IN ALL THAT BEFALLS
+HIM
+
+
+From all that has hitherto been said, thou hast understood, if I mistake
+not, that the more thou separatest thyself from earthly images and
+created objects, and the closer thy union with God, the nearer wilt thou
+approach to the state of innocence and perfection. What could be
+happier, better, sweeter than this?
+
+It is, therefore, of supreme importance that thou shouldst preserve thy
+soul so free from every trace or entanglement of earth that neither the
+world nor thy friends, neither prosperity nor adversity, things present,
+past, or future, which concern thyself or others, not even thine own
+sins above measure, should have power to trouble thee.
+
+Think only how thou mayest live, as it were, alone with God, removed
+from the world, the simple and pure life of the spirit, as though thy
+soul were already in eternity and separated from thy body.
+
+There thou wouldst not busy thyself with earthly things, nor be
+disquieted by the state of the world, by peace or war, fair skies or
+foul, or anything here below. But thou wouldst be absorbed and filled by
+His love.
+
+Strive even now in this present life to come forth in a manner from thy
+body and from every creature.
+
+As far as thou canst, fix the eye of thy soul steadfastly, with
+unobscured gaze, upon the uncreated light.
+
+Then will thy soul, purified from the clouds of earth, be like an Angel
+in a human body, no longer troubled by the flesh, or disturbed by vain
+thoughts.
+
+Arm thyself against temptations, persecutions, injuries, so that in
+adversity as in prosperity, thou mayest still cleave to God in unbroken
+peace.
+
+When trouble, discouragement, confusion of mind assail thee, do not lose
+patience or be cast down. Do not betake thee to vocal prayers or other
+consolations, but endeavour by an act of the will and reason to lift up
+thy soul and unite it to God, whether thy sensual nature will or no.
+
+The devout soul should be so united to God, should so form and preserve
+her will in conformity to the Divine will, that she is no more occupied
+or allured by any creature than before it was created, but lives as
+though there existed but God and herself.[39]
+
+She will receive in unvarying peace all that comes to her from the hand
+of Divine Providence. In all things she will hope in the Lord, without
+losing patience, peace, or silence.
+
+Behold, therefore, of how great value it is in the spiritual life to be
+detached from all things, that thou mayest be interiorly united to God
+and conformed to Him.
+
+Moreover, there will then be no longer anything to intervene between thy
+soul and God. Whence could it come? Not from without, for the vow of
+voluntary poverty has despoiled thee of all earthly goods, that of
+chastity has taken thy body. Nor could it come from within, for
+obedience has taken from thee thy very will and soul. There is now
+nothing left which could come between God and thyself.
+
+That thou art a religious, thy profession, thy state, thy habit and
+tonsure, and the other marks of the religious life declare. See to it
+whether thou art a religious in truth or only one in name.
+
+Consider how thou art fallen and how thou sinnest against the Lord thy
+God and against His justice if thy deeds do not correspond with thy holy
+state, if by will or desire thou clingest to the creature rather than to
+the Creator, or preferrest the creature to the Creator.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE CONTEMPLATION OF GOD IS TO BE PREFERRED ABOVE ALL OTHER EXERCISES
+
+
+Whatever exists outside of God is the work of His hands. Every creature
+is, therefore, a blending together of the actual and the possible, and
+as such is in its nature limited. Born of nothing, it is surrounded by
+nothingness, and tends to nothingness.[40]
+
+Of necessity the creature depends each moment upon God, the supreme
+Artist, for its existence, preservation, power of action, and all that
+it possesses.
+
+It is utterly unable to accomplish its own work, either for itself or
+for another, and is impotent as a thing which is not before that which
+is, the finite before the infinite. It follows, therefore, that our
+life, thoughts, and works should be in Him, of Him, for Him, and
+directed to Him, Who by the least sign of His will could produce
+creatures unspeakably more perfect than any which now exist.
+
+It is impossible that there should be in the mind or heart a thought or
+a love more profitable, more perfect or more blessed than those which
+rest upon God, the Almighty Creator, of Whom, in Whom, by Whom, towards
+Whom all tend.
+
+He suffices infinitely for Himself and for others, since from all
+eternity He contains within Himself the perfections of all things. There
+is nothing within Him which is not Himself. In Him and by Him exist the
+causes of all transitory things; in Him are the immutable origins of all
+things that change, whether rational or irrational.
+
+All that happens in time has in Him its eternal principle.
+
+He fills all; He is in all things by His essence, by which He is more
+present and more near to them than they are to themselves.[41]
+
+In Him all things are united and live eternally.[42] It is true that the
+weakness of our understanding or our want of experience[43] may oblige
+us to make use of creatures in our contemplation, yet there is a kind of
+contemplation which is very fruitful, good, and real, which seems
+possible to all. Whether he meditates on the creature or the Creator,
+every man may reach the point at which he finds all his joy in His
+Creator, God, One in Trinity, and kindles the fire of Divine love in
+himself or in others, so as to merit eternal life.
+
+We should notice here the difference which exists between the
+contemplation of Christians and that of pagan philosophers. The latter
+sought only their own perfection, and hence their contemplation affected
+their intellect only; they desired only to enrich their minds with
+knowledge. But the contemplation of Saints, which is that of
+Christians, seeks as its end the love of the God Whom they contemplate.
+Hence it is not content to find fruit for the intelligence, but
+penetrates beyond to the will that it may there enkindle love.
+
+The Saints desired above all in their contemplation the increase of
+charity.
+
+It is better to know Jesus Christ and possess Him spiritually by grace,
+than, without grace, to have Him in the body, or even in His essence.
+
+The more pure a soul becomes and the deeper her recollection, the
+clearer will be her inward vision. She now prepares, as it were, a
+ladder upon which she may ascend to the contemplation of God. This
+contemplation will set her on fire with love for all that is heavenly,
+Divine, eternal, and will cause her to despise as utter nothing all
+that is of time.
+
+When we seek to arrive at the knowledge of God by the method of
+negation, we first remove from our conception of Him all that pertains
+to the body, the senses, the imagination. Then we reject even that which
+belongs to the reason, and the idea of being as it is found in
+creatures.[44] This, according to St. Denis, is the best means of
+attaining to the knowledge of God,[45] as far as it is possible in this
+world.
+
+This is the darkness in which God dwells and into which Moses entered
+that he might reach the light inaccessible.[46]
+
+But we must begin, not with the mind, but with the body. We must observe
+the accustomed order, and pass from the labour of action to the repose
+of contemplation, from the moral virtues to those of sublime
+contemplation.[47]
+
+Why, O my soul, dost thou vainly wear thyself out in such multiplicity
+of things? Thou findest in them but poverty.
+
+Seek and love only that perfect good which includes in itself all good,
+and it will suffice thee. Unhappy art thou if thou knowest and
+possessest all, and art ignorant of this. If thou knewest at the same
+time both this good and all other things, this alone would render thee
+the happier. Therefore St. John has written: "This is eternal life: that
+they may know thee,"[48] and the Prophet: "I shall be satisfied when thy
+glory shall appear."[49]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THAT WE SHOULD NOT BE TOO SOLICITOUS FOR ACTUAL AND SENSIBLE DEVOTION,
+BUT DESIRE RATHER THE UNION OF OUR WILL WITH GOD
+
+
+Seek not too eagerly after the grace of devotion, sensible sweetness and
+tears, but let thy chief care be to remain inwardly united to God by
+good will in the intellectual part of the soul.[50]
+
+Of a truth nothing is so pleasing to God as a soul freed from all trace
+and image of created things. A true religious should be at liberty from
+every creature that he may be wholly free to devote himself to God alone
+and cleave to Him. Deny thyself, therefore, that thou mayest follow
+Christ, thy Lord and God, Who was truly poor, obedient, chaste, humble,
+and suffering, and Whose life and death were a scandal to many, as the
+Gospel clearly shows.[51]
+
+The soul, when separated from the body, troubles not as to what becomes
+of the shell it has abandoned--it may be burnt, hanged, spoken evil of;
+and the soul is not afflicted by these outrages,[52] but thinks only of
+eternity and of the one thing necessary, of which the Lord speaks in
+the Gospel.[53]
+
+So shouldst thou regard thy body, as though the soul were already freed
+from it. Set ever before thine eyes the eternal life in God, which
+awaits thee, and think on that only good of which the Lord said: "One
+thing is necessary."[54] A great grace will then descend upon thy soul,
+which will aid thee in acquiring purity of mind and simplicity of heart.
+
+And, indeed, this treasure is close at thy doors. Turn from the images
+and distractions of earth, and quickly shalt thou find it with thee and
+learn what it is to be united to God without hindrance or impediment.
+
+Then wilt thou gain an unshaken constancy, which will strengthen thee
+to endure all that may befall thee.
+
+Thus was it with the martyrs, the Fathers, the elect, and all the
+blessed. They despised all and thought only of possessing in God eternal
+security for their souls.
+
+Thus armed within and united to God by a good will, they despised all
+that is of this world, as though their soul had already departed from
+the body.
+
+Learn from them how great is the power of a good will united to God.
+
+By that union of the soul with God it becomes, as it were, cut off from
+the flesh by a spiritual separation, and regards the outward man from
+afar as something alien to it.
+
+Then, whatever may happen inwardly or in the body will be as little
+regarded as though it had befallen another person or a creature without
+reason.
+
+He who is united to God is but one mind with Him.
+
+Out of regard, therefore, for His sovereign honour, never be so bold as
+to think or imagine in His presence what thou wouldst blush to hear or
+see before men.
+
+Thou oughtest, moreover, to raise all thy thoughts to God alone, and set
+Him before thine inward gaze, as though He alone existed. So wilt thou
+experience the sweetness of Divine union and even now make a true
+beginning of the life to come.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+IN WHAT MANNER WE SHOULD RESIST TEMPTATION AND ENDURE TRIALS
+
+
+He who with his whole heart draws nigh unto God must of necessity be
+proved by temptation and trial.
+
+When the sting of temptation is felt, by no means give thy consent, but
+bear all with patience, sweetness, humility, and courage.
+
+If thou art tempted to blasphemy or any shameful sin, be well assured
+thou canst do nothing better than to utterly despise and contemn such
+thoughts. Blasphemy is indeed sinful, scandalous, and abominable, yet
+be not anxious about such temptations, but rather despise them, and do
+not let thy conscience be troubled by them. The enemy will most
+certainly be put to flight if thou wilt thus contemn both him and his
+suggestions. He is too proud to endure scorn or contempt. The best
+remedy is, therefore, to trouble no more about these thoughts than we do
+about the flies which, against our will, dance before our eyes. Let not
+the servant of Christ thus easily and needlessly lose sight of his
+Master's presence, nor let him grow impatient, murmur, or complain of
+these flies; I mean these light temptations, suspicions, sadness,
+depression, pusillanimity--mere nothings which a good will can put to
+flight by an elevation of the soul to God.
+
+By a good will man makes God his Master, and the holy Angels his
+guardians and protectors.
+
+Good will drives away temptation as the hand brushes away a fly.
+
+"Peace," therefore, "to men of good will."[55]
+
+In truth no better gift than this can be offered to God.
+
+Good will in the soul is the source of all good, the mother of all
+virtues. He who possesses it, possesses without fear of loss all he
+needs to live a good life.[56]
+
+If thou desirest what is good and art not able to accomplish it, God
+will reward thee for it as though thou hadst performed it.[57]
+
+He has established as an eternal and unchangeable law that merit should
+lie in the will, and that upon the will should depend our future of
+Heaven or hell, reward or punishment.[58]
+
+Charity itself consists in nothing else but a strong will to serve God,
+a loving desire to please Him, and a fervent longing to enjoy Him.
+
+Forget not, therefore, temptation is not sin, but rather the means of
+proving virtue. By it man may gain great profit,[59] and this the more
+inasmuch as "the life of man upon earth is a warfare."[60]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE POWER OF THE LOVE OF GOD
+
+
+All that we have hitherto described, all that is necessary for
+salvation, can find in love alone its highest, completest, most
+beneficent perfection.
+
+Love supplies all that is wanting for our salvation; it contains
+abundantly every good thing, and lacks not even the presence of the
+supreme object of our desires.
+
+It is by love alone that we turn to God, are transformed into His
+likeness, and are united to Him, so that we become one spirit with Him,
+and receive by and from Him all our happiness: here in grace,
+hereafter in glory. Love can find no rest till she reposes in the full
+and perfect possession of the Beloved.
+
+It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws nigh to man,
+and man to God, but where charity is not found God cannot dwell. If,
+then, we possess charity we possess God, for "God is charity."[61]
+
+There is nothing keener than love, nothing more subtle, nothing more
+penetrating. Love cannot rest till it has sounded all the depths and
+learnt the perfections of its Beloved. It desires to be one with Him,
+and, if it could, would form but one being with the Beloved. It is for
+this reason that it cannot suffer anything to intervene between it and
+the object loved, which is God, but springs forward towards Him, and
+finds no peace till it has overcome every obstacle, and reached even
+unto the Beloved.
+
+Love has the power of uniting and transforming; it transforms the one
+who loves into him who is loved, and him who is loved into him who
+loves. Each passes into the other, as far as it is possible.
+
+And first consider the intelligence. How completely love transports the
+loved one into him who loves! With what sweetness and delight the one
+lives in the memory of the other, and how earnestly the lover tries to
+know, not superficially but intimately, all that concerns the object of
+his love, and strives to enter as far as possible into his inner life!
+
+Think next of the will, by which also the loved one lives in him who
+loves. Does he not dwell in him by that tender affection, that sweet
+and deeply-rooted joy which he feels? On the other hand, the lover lives
+in the beloved by the sympathy of his desires, by sharing his likes and
+dislikes, his joys and sorrows, until the two seem to form but one.
+Since "love is strong as death,"[62] it carries the lover out of himself
+into the heart of the beloved, and holds him prisoner there.
+
+The soul is more truly where it loves than where it gives life, since it
+exists in the object loved by its own nature, by reason and will; whilst
+it is in the body it animates only by bestowing on it an existence which
+it shares with the animal creation.[63]
+
+There is, therefore, but one thing which has power to draw us from
+outward objects into the depths of our own souls, there to form an
+intimate friendship with Jesus. Nothing but the love of Christ and the
+desire of His sweetness can lead us thus to feel, to comprehend and
+experience the presence of His Divinity.
+
+The power of love alone is able to lift up the soul from earth to the
+heights of Heaven, nor is it possible to ascend to eternal beatitude
+except on the wings of love and desire.
+
+Love is the life of the soul, its nuptial garment, its perfection.[64]
+
+Upon charity are based the law, the prophets, and the precepts of the
+Lord.[65] Hence the Apostle wrote to the Romans: "Love is therefore the
+fulfilling of the law,"[66] and in the first Epistle to Timothy: "The
+end of the commandment is charity."[67]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+OF THE NATURE AND ADVANTAGES OF PRAYER--OF INTERIOR RECOLLECTION
+
+
+Of ourselves we are utterly unable to attain to charity or any other
+good thing. We have naught to offer to the Lord, the Author of all,
+which was not His already.
+
+One thing alone remains to us: that in every occurrence we should turn
+to Him in prayer, as He Himself taught us by word and example. Let us go
+to Him as guilty, poor, and miserable, as beggars, weak and needy, as
+subjects and slaves, yet as His children.
+
+Of ourselves we are utterly destitute. What can we do but cast ourselves
+at His feet in deepest humility, holy fear mingling in our souls with
+love, peace, and recollection?
+
+And while we are fain to draw nigh with all lowliness and modesty, with
+minds sincere and simple, let our hearts burn with great desires, with
+ardour and heartfelt longings. And so let us supplicate our God, and lay
+before Him with entire confidence the perils which menace us on every
+side. Let us freely, unhesitatingly, and in all simplicity, confide
+ourselves to Him, and offer Him our whole being, even to the last fibre,
+for are we not in truth absolutely His?
+
+Let us keep nothing for ourselves, and then will be fulfilled in us the
+saying of Blessed Isaac, one of the Fathers of the Desert, who,
+speaking of this kind of prayer, said: "We shall be one being with God,
+and He will be all in all to us, when that perfect charity by which He
+loved us first has entered into our inmost hearts."[68]
+
+This will be accomplished when God alone becomes the object of all our
+love, our desires, our striving, of all our efforts and thoughts, of all
+that we behold, speak of, hope for; when that union which exists between
+the Father and the Son, and between the Son and the Father shall be
+found also in our mind and soul.
+
+Since His love for us is so pure, sincere, and unchanging, ought not we
+in return to give Him a love constant and uninterrupted?
+
+So intimate should be our union with Him that our hopes, thoughts,
+prayers breathe only God.[69] The truly spiritual man should set before
+him, as the goal of all his efforts and desires, the possession even in
+a mortal body, of an image of the happiness to come, and the enjoyment
+even here below of some foretaste of the delights, the life, and glory
+of Heaven.
+
+This, I say, is the end of all perfection--that the soul may become so
+purified from every earthly longing, and so raised to spiritual things,
+that at last the whole life and the desires of the heart form one
+unbroken prayer.
+
+When the soul has thus shaken off the dust of earth and aspires unto her
+God, to Whom the true religious ever directs his intention, dreading
+the least separation from Him as a most cruel death; when peace reigns
+within and she is delivered from the bondage of her passions and cleaves
+with firmest purpose to the one Sovereign Good, then will be fulfilled
+in her the words of the Apostle: "Pray without ceasing,"[70] and "in
+every place, lifting up pure hands, without anger and contention."[71]
+
+When once this purity of soul has gained the victory over man's natural
+inclination for the things of sense, when all earthly longings are
+quenched and the soul is, as it were, transformed into the likeness of
+pure spirits or Angels, then all she receives, all she undertakes, all
+she does, will be a pure and true prayer.
+
+Only persevere faithfully in thy efforts and, as I have shown from the
+beginning, it will become as simple and easy for thee to contemplate God
+and rejoice in Him in thy recollection as to live a purely natural
+life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THAT EVERYTHING SHOULD BE JUDGED ACCORDING TO THE TESTIMONY OF OUR
+CONSCIENCE
+
+
+There is also another practice which will tend greatly to thy progress
+in spiritual perfection, and will aid thee to gain purity of soul and
+tranquil rest in God. Whatever men say or think of thee, bring it before
+the tribunal of thine own conscience. Enter within thyself, and there,
+turning a deaf ear to all else, set thyself to learn the truth. Then
+wilt thou see clearly that the praise and honour of men bring thee no
+profit, but rather loss, if thou knowest that thou art guilty and
+worthy of condemnation in the sight of truth. And, just as it is useless
+to be honoured outwardly by men if thy conscience accuse thee within, so
+in like manner is it no loss to thee if men despise, blame, or persecute
+thee without, if within thou art innocent and free from reproach or
+blame. Nay, rather, thou hast then great reason to rejoice in the Lord
+in patience, silence, and peace.
+
+Adversity is powerless to harm where sin has no dominion; and just as
+there is no evil which goes unpunished, so is there no good without
+recompense.
+
+Seek not with the hypocrites thy reward and crown from men, but rather
+from the hand of God, not now, but hereafter; not for a passing moment,
+but for eternity.
+
+Thou canst, therefore, do nothing higher nor better in every
+tribulation or occurrence than enter into the sanctuary of thy soul, and
+there call upon the Lord Jesus Christ, thy helper in temptation and
+affliction. There shouldst thou humble thyself, confessing thy sins, and
+praising thy God and Father, Who both chastises and consoles.
+
+There dispose thyself to accept with unruffled peace, readiness, and
+confidence from the hands of God's unfailing Providence and marvellous
+wisdom all that is sent thee of prosperity or adversity, whether
+touching thyself or others. Then wilt thou obtain remission of thy
+sins;[72] bitterness will be driven from thy soul, sweetness and
+confidence will penetrate it, grace and mercy will descend upon it.
+Then a sweet familiarity will draw thee on and strengthen thee, abundant
+consolation will flow to thee from the bosom of God. Then thou wilt
+adhere to Him and form an indissoluble union with Him.
+
+But beware of imitating hypocrites who, like the Pharisees, try to
+appear outwardly before men more holy than they know themselves in truth
+to be. Is it not utter folly to seek or desire human praise and glory
+for oneself or others, while within we are filled with shameful and
+grievous sins? Assuredly he who pursues such vanities can hope for no
+share in the good things of which we spoke just now, but shame will
+infallibly be his lot.
+
+Keep thy worthlessness and thy sins ever before thine eyes, and learn
+to know thyself that thou mayest grow in humility.
+
+Shrink not from being regarded by all the world as filthy mud, vile and
+abject, on account of thy grievous sins and defects. Esteem thyself
+among others as dross in the midst of gold, as tares in the wheat, straw
+among the grain, as a wolf among the sheep, as Satan among the children
+of God.
+
+Neither shouldst thou desire to be respected by others, or preferred to
+anyone whatsoever. Fly rather with all thy strength of heart and soul
+from that pestilential poison, the venom of praise, from a reputation
+founded on boasting and ostentation, lest, as the Prophet says, "The
+sinner is praised in the desires of his soul."[73]
+
+Again, in Isaias, we read: "They that call thee blessed, the same
+deceive thee, and destroy the way of thy steps."[74] Also the Lord says:
+"Woe to you when men shall bless you!"[75]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+ON THE CONTEMPT OF SELF: HOW IT IS ACQUIRED: ITS PROFIT TO THE SOUL
+
+
+The more truly a man knows his own misery, the more fully and clearly
+does he behold the majesty of God. The more vile he is in his own eyes
+for the sake of God, of truth, and of justice, the more worthy of esteem
+is he in the eyes of God.
+
+Strive earnestly, therefore, to look on thyself as utterly contemptible,
+to think thyself unworthy of any benefit, to be displeasing in thine own
+eyes, but pleasing to God. Desire that others should regard thee as
+vile and mean.
+
+Learn not to be troubled in tribulations, afflictions, injuries; not to
+be incensed against those that inflict them, nor to entertain thoughts
+of resentment against them. Try, on the contrary, sincerely to believe
+thyself worthy of all injuries, contempt, ill-treatment and scorn.
+
+In truth, he who for God's sake is filled with sorrow and compunction
+dreads to be honoured and loved by another. He does not refuse to be an
+object of hatred, or shrink from being trodden under foot and despised
+as long as he lives, in order that he may practise real humility and
+cleave in purity of heart to God alone.
+
+It does not require exterior labour or bodily health to love God only,
+to hate oneself more than all, to desire to seem little in the eyes of
+others: what is needed is rather repose of the senses, the effort of the
+heart, silence of the mind.
+
+It is by labouring with the heart, by the inward aspiration of the soul,
+that thou wilt learn to forsake the base things of earth and to rise to
+what is heavenly and Divine.
+
+Thus wilt thou become transformed in God, and this the more speedily if,
+in all sincerity, without condemning or despising thy neighbour, thou
+desirest to be regarded by all as a reproach and scandal--nay, even to
+be abhorred as filthy mire, rather than possess the delights of earth,
+or be honoured and exalted by men, or enjoy any advantage or happiness
+in this fleeting world.
+
+Have no other desire in this perishable life of the body, no other
+consolation than unceasingly to weep over, regret and detest thy
+offences and faults.
+
+Learn utterly to despise thyself, to annihilate thyself and to appear
+daily more contemptible in the eyes of others.
+
+Strive to become even more unworthy in thine own eyes, in order to
+please God alone, to love Him only and cling to Him.
+
+Concern not thyself with anything except thy Lord Jesus Christ, Who
+ought to reign alone in thy affections. Have no solicitude or care save
+for Him Whose power and Providence give movement and being to all
+things.[76]
+
+It is not now the time to rejoice but rather to lament with all the
+sincerity of thy heart.
+
+If thou canst not weep, sorrow at least that thou hast no tears to shed;
+if thou canst, grieve the more because by the gravity of thy offences
+and number of thy sins thou art thyself the cause of thy grief. A man
+under sentence of death does not trouble himself as to the dispositions
+of his executioners; so he who truly mourns and sheds the tears of
+repentance, refrains from delight, anger, vainglory, indignation, and
+every like passion.
+
+Citizens and criminals are not lodged in like abodes; so also the life
+and conduct of those whose faults call for sighs and tears should not
+resemble those of men who have remained innocent and have nothing to
+expiate.
+
+Were it otherwise, how would the guilty, great though their crimes may
+have been, differ in their punishment and expiation from the innocent?
+Iniquity would then be more free than innocence. Renounce all,
+therefore, contemn all, separate thyself from all, that thou mayest lay
+deep the foundations of sincere penance.
+
+He who truly loves Jesus Christ, and sorrows for Him, who bears Him in
+his heart and in his body, will have no thought, or care, or solicitude
+for aught else. Such a one will sincerely mourn over his sins and
+offences, will long after eternal happiness, will remember the Judgment
+and will think diligently on his last end in lowly fear. He, then, who
+wishes to arrive speedily at a blessed impassibility and to reach God,
+counts that day lost on which he has not been ill-spoken of and
+despised.
+
+What is this impassibility but freedom from the vices and passions,
+purity of heart, the adornment of virtue?
+
+Count thyself as already dead, since thou must needs die some day.
+
+And now, but one word more. Let this be the test of thy thoughts, words,
+and deeds. If they render thee more humble, more recollected in God,
+more strong, then they are according to God. But if thou findest it
+otherwise, then fear lest all is not according to God, acceptable to
+Him, or profitable to thyself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+OF THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD, WHICH WATCHES OVER ALL THINGS
+
+
+Wouldst thou draw nigh unto God without let or hindrance, freely and in
+peace, as we have described? Desirest thou to be united and drawn to Him
+in a union so close that it will endure in prosperity and adversity, in
+life and in death? Delay not to commit all things with trustful
+confidence into the hands of His sure and infallible Providence.
+
+Is it not most fitting that thou shouldst trust Him Who gives to all
+creatures, in the first place, their existence, power, and movement,
+and, secondly, their species and nature, ordering in all their number,
+weight, and measure?
+
+Just as Art presupposes the operations of Nature, so Nature presupposes
+the work of God, the Creator, Preserver, Organizer, and Administrator.
+
+To Him alone belong infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, essential
+mercy, justice, truth, and charity, immutable eternity, and immensity.
+Nothing can exist and act of its own power, but every creature acts of
+necessity by the power of God, the first moving cause, the first
+principle and origin of every action, Who acts in every active being.
+
+If we consider the ordered harmony of the universe, it is the Providence
+of God which must arrange all things, even to the smallest details.
+
+From the infinitely great to the infinitely small nothing can escape His
+eternal Providence; nothing has been drawn from His control, either in
+the acts of free-will, in events we ascribe to chance or fate, or in
+what has been designed by Him. We may go further: it is as impossible
+for God to make anything which does not fall within the dominion of His
+Providence as it is for Him to create anything which is not subject to
+His action. Divine Providence, therefore, extends over all things, even
+the thoughts of man.
+
+This is the teaching of Holy Scripture, for in the Epistle of St. Peter
+it is written: "Casting all your care upon Him, for He hath care of
+you."[77]
+
+And, again, the Prophet says: "Cast thy care upon the Lord and He shall
+sustain thee."[78] Also in Ecclesiasticus we read: "My children, behold
+the generations of men; and know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord,
+and hath been confounded. For who hath continued in His commandment, and
+hath been forsaken?"[79] And the Lord says: "Be not solicitous,
+therefore, saying, What shall we eat?"[80] All that thou canst hope for
+from God, however great it may be, thou shalt without doubt receive,
+according to the promise in Deuteronomy: "Every place that your foot
+shall tread upon shall be yours."[81] As much as thou canst desire thou
+shalt receive, and as far as the foot of thy confidence reaches, so far
+thou shalt possess.
+
+Hence St. Bernard says: "God, the Creator of all things, is so full of
+mercy and compassion that whatever may be the grace for which we stretch
+out our hands, we shall not fail to receive it."[82]
+
+It is written in St. Mark: "Whatsoever ye shall ask when ye pray,
+believe that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you."[83]
+
+The greater and more persistent thy confidence in God, and the more
+earnestly thou turnest to Him in lowly reverence, the more abundantly
+and certainly shalt thou receive all thou dost hope and ask.
+
+But if, on account of the number and magnitude of his sins, the
+confidence of any should languish, let him who feels this torpor
+remember that all is possible to God, that what He wills must
+infallibly happen, and what He wills not cannot come to pass, and,
+finally, that it is as easy for Him to forgive and blot out innumerable
+and heinous sins as to forgive one.
+
+On the other hand, it is just as impossible for a sinner to deliver
+himself from a single sin as it would be for him to raise and cleanse
+himself from many sins; for, not only are we unable to accomplish this,
+but of ourselves we cannot even think what is right.[84] All comes to us
+from God. It is, however, far more dangerous, other things being equal,
+to be entangled in many sins than to be held only by one.
+
+In truth, no evil remains unpunished, and for every mortal sin is due,
+in strict justice, an infinite punishment, because a mortal sin is
+committed against God, to Whom belong infinite greatness, dignity, and
+glory.
+
+Moreover, according to the Apostle, "the Lord knoweth who are His,"[85]
+and it is impossible that one of them should perish, no matter how
+violently the tempests and waves of error rage, how great the scandal,
+schisms and persecutions, how grievous the adversities, discords,
+heresies, tribulations, or temptations of every kind.
+
+The number of the elect and the measure of their merit is eternally and
+unalterably predestined. So true is this that all the good and evil
+which can happen to them or to others, all prosperity and adversity,
+serve only to their advantage.
+
+Nay more, adversity does but render them more glorious, and proves their
+fidelity more surely.
+
+Delay not, therefore, to commit all things without fear to the
+Providence of God, by Whose permission all evil of whatever kind
+happens, and ever for some good end. It could not be except He permitted
+it; its form and measure are allowed by Him Who can and will by His
+wisdom turn all to good.
+
+Just as it is by His action that all good is wrought, so is it by His
+permission that all evil happens.[86]
+
+But from the evil He draws good, and thus marvellously shows forth His
+power, wisdom, and clemency by our Lord Jesus Christ. So also He
+manifests His mercy and His justice, the power of grace, the weakness of
+nature, and the beauty of the universe. So He shows by the force of
+contrast the glory of the good, and the malice and punishment of the
+wicked.
+
+In like manner, in the conversion of a sinner we behold contrition,
+confession, and penance; and, on the other hand, the tenderness of God,
+His mercy and charity, His glory and His goodness.
+
+Yet sin does not always turn to the good of those who commit it; but it
+is usually the greatest of perils and worst of ills, for it causes the
+loss of grace and glory. It stains the soul and provokes chastisement
+and even eternal punishment. From so great an evil may our Lord Jesus
+vouchsafe to preserve us! Amen.
+
+
+  R. AND T. WASHBOURNE, LTD., PRINTERS, LONDON.
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Following the general tradition, we attribute this work to Albert
+the Great, but not all critics are agreed as to its authenticity.
+
+[2] Albert the Great is speaking here in a special manner of religious
+perfection, although what he says is also true of Christian perfection
+in general.
+
+[3] He speaks here of the obligation laid upon all Christians.
+
+[4] Religious bind themselves to observe as a duty that which was only
+of counsel. To them, therefore, the practice of the counsels becomes an
+obligation.
+
+[5] The vows of religion have as their immediate object the removal of
+obstacles to perfection, but they do not in themselves constitute
+perfection. Perfection consists in charity. Albert the Great speaks of
+only one vow, because in his day the formulas of religious profession
+mentioned only the vow of obedience, which includes the other two vows.
+
+[6] John iv. 24.
+
+[7] Matt. vi. 6.
+
+[8] When Albert the Great and the other mystics warn us against
+solicitude with regard to creatures, they refer to that solicitude which
+is felt for creatures in themselves; they do not mean that we ought not
+to occupy ourselves with them in any way for God's sake. The great
+doctor explains his meaning in clear terms later on in this work.
+
+[9] 1 Pet. v. 7.
+
+[10] Phil. iv. 6.
+
+[11] Ps. liv. 23.
+
+[12] Ps. lxxii. 28.
+
+[13] Ps. xv. 8.
+
+[14] Cant. iii. 4.
+
+[15] Wis. vii. 11.
+
+[16] Matt. xvi. 26.
+
+[17] Luke xvii. 21.
+
+[18] Albert the Great supposes here that we give ourselves equally to
+God and to creatures, which would be wrong, and not that creatures are
+subordinated to God, which would be a virtue.
+
+[19] This must be understood to mean that God is the principal and
+supreme end of all created activities.
+
+[20] The perfect image of God in man does not consist merely in the
+possession of those faculties by which we resemble Him, but rather in
+performing by faith and love, as far as is in our power, acts like those
+which He performs, in knowing Him as He knows Himself, in loving Him as
+He loves Himself.
+
+[21] In scholastic theology the term "form" is used of that which gives
+to anything its accidental or substantial being. God is the "accidental
+form" of the soul, because in giving it its activity He bestows upon it
+something of His own activity, by means of sanctifying grace. Yet more
+truly may it be said that God is also the "form" of the soul in the
+sense that it is destined by the ordinary workings of Providence to
+participate by sanctifying grace in the Being of God, enjoying thus a
+participation real, though created, in the Divine nature.
+
+[22] We must avoid these things in so far as they separate us from God,
+but they may also serve to draw us nearer to Him if we regard them in
+God and for God.
+
+[23] It is by the intelligence and will that man actually attains to
+this, but the use of the sensitive faculties is presupposed.
+
+[24] The sensitive faculties, if used as a means, often help us to draw
+near to God, but when used as an end, their activity becomes an
+obstacle.
+
+[25] This teaching is the Christian rendering of the axiom formulated by
+the Philosopher: "Homo sedendo fit sapiens"--"It is in quiet that man
+gains wisdom."
+
+[26] This is especially true for religious.
+
+[27] By this is meant that the Holy Scriptures, though always
+presupposed as the foundation of our belief, of themselves give only an
+objective knowledge of God, while that which the Holy Ghost gives is
+experimental.
+
+[28] God knows and loves Himself in Himself by His own nature, while we
+know and love Him in Himself by grace.
+
+[29] A very striking feature in the doctrine of this book is that it
+requires first the perfection of the soul and the faculties, whence
+proceeds that of our actions. Some modern authors, confining themselves
+to casuistry, speak almost exclusively of the perfection of actions, a
+method less logical and less thorough.
+
+[30] Prov. viii. 31.
+
+[31] The exterior powers of a man are the imagination and passions; the
+interior his intelligence and will, which sometimes find themselves
+deprived of all the aids of sensible devotion.
+
+[32] In truth, all the designs of God in our regard are full of mercy,
+and tend especially to our sanctification; the obstacles to these
+designs come only from our evil passions.
+
+[33] The book "De Spiritu et Anima" is of uncertain authorship. It is
+printed after the works of St. Augustine in Migne's "Patrologia Latina,"
+vol. xl., 779.
+
+[34] This darkness is the silence of the imagination, which no longer
+gains a hearing, and that of the intellect, which is sufficiently
+enlightened to understand that we can in reality understand nothing of
+the Divinity in itself, and that the best thing we can do is to remove
+from our conception of God all those limitations which we observe in
+creatures. The reason of this is that we can only know God naturally by
+means of what we see in creatures, and these are always utterly
+insufficient to give us an adequate idea of the Creator.
+
+[35] Ps. lxxxiii. 8.
+
+[36] We only lose God, the uncreated Good, by an unlawful attachment to
+created good; if we are free from this attachment, we tend to Him
+without effort.
+
+[37] The subsequent condemnation, in 1687, of this doctrine, as taught
+by Molino, could not, of course, be foreseen by Blessed Albertus writing
+in the thirteenth century.
+
+[38] John xiv. 6.
+
+[39] And this she does because creatures no longer occupy her, except
+for God's sake.
+
+[40] This is so because, according to true philosophy, the essence of a
+thing is distinct from its existence.
+
+[41] Every actual cause is more intimately present to its accomplished
+work than the work itself, which it necessarily precedes.
+
+[42] John i. 3, 4.
+
+[43] We cannot always experience Divine things, and at first we can only
+compare them to the things which we experience here below.
+
+[44] We deny that there is in God anything which is a mere potentiality,
+or an imperfection. We deny in Him also the process of reasoning which
+is the special work of the faculty of reason, because this implies the
+absence of the vision of truth. We deny "being as it is found in
+creatures," because in creatures it is necessarily limited, and subject
+to accident.
+
+[45] "Nom. Div.," i.
+
+[46] Exod. xxxiii. 11; Num. xii. 8; Heb. iii. 2.
+
+[47] It would be well to quote St. Thomas, the disciple of Albert the
+Great, upon this important doctrine: "A thing may be said to belong to
+the contemplative life in two senses, either as an essential part of it,
+or as a preliminary disposition. The moral virtues do not belong to the
+essence of contemplation, whose sole end is the contemplation of
+truth.... But they belong to it as a necessary predisposition ...
+because they calm the passions and the tumult of exterior
+preoccupations, and so facilitate contemplation" ("Sum.," 2, 2{ae}, q.
+180, a. 2).
+
+This distinction should never be lost sight of in reading the mystic
+books of the scholastics.
+
+[48] John xvii. 3.
+
+[49] Ps. xvi. 15.
+
+[50] This admirable doctrine condemns a whole mass of insipid, shallow,
+affected and sensual books and ideas, which have in modern times flooded
+the world of piety, have banished from souls more wholesome thoughts,
+and filled them with a questionable and injurious sentimentality.
+
+[51] Matt. xi. 6; xiii. 57, etc.
+
+[52] This shows an excellent grasp of the meaning of the celebrated
+maxim "Perinde ac cadaver."
+
+[53] Luke x. 42.
+
+[54] _Ibid._
+
+[55] Luke ii. 14.
+
+[56] Nothing could be more conformable to the teaching of the Gospel
+than this doctrine.
+
+At His birth Jesus bids the Angels sing that peace belongs to men of
+good will (Luke ii. 14); later He will declare that His meat is to do
+the will of His Father (John iv. 34); that He seeks not His own will,
+but the will of Him Who sent Him (John v. 30); that He came down from
+heaven to accomplish it (John vi. 38); and when face to face with death
+He will still pray that the Father's will be done, not His (Matt. xxvi.
+39; Luke xxii. 42). Over and over again, in the Gospel, do we find Him
+using the same language.
+
+He would have His disciples act in the same manner. It is not the man,
+He tells us, who repeats the words: "My Father, my Father," who shall
+enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of God (Matt.
+vii. 21; Rom. ii. 13; Jas. i. 22); and in the prayer which He dictates
+to us He bids us ask for the accomplishment of this will as the means of
+glorifying God, and of sanctifying our souls (Matt. vi. 10).
+
+Finally, He tells us that if we conform ourselves to this sovereign
+will, we shall be His brethren (Matt. xii. 50; Mark iii. 35).
+
+When certain persons, pious or otherwise, confusing sentiment with true
+love, ask themselves if they love God, or if they will be able to love
+Him always, we have only to ask them the same question in other words:
+Are they doing the will of God? can they do it?--_i.e._, can they
+perform their duty for God's sake? Put thus, the question resolves
+itself.
+
+The reason for such a doctrine is very simple: to love anyone is to wish
+him well; that, in the case of God, is to desire His beneficent will
+towards us. Our Lord and Master recalled this principle when He said to
+His disciples, "You are My friends, if you do the things that I command
+you" (John xv. 14).
+
+[57] We must, in virtue of the same principle, keep a firm hold of the
+truth, as indisputable as it is frequently forgotten, that we have the
+merit of the good which we will to carry out and are unable to
+accomplish, as we have also the demerit of the evil we should have done
+and could not.
+
+[58] "Upon the will depends our future of Heaven or hell," because,
+given the knowledge of God, the will attaches itself to Him by love, or
+hates Him with obstinacy.
+
+[59] We may notice, in particular, a three-fold benefit: first,
+temptation calls for conflict, and so strengthens virtue; then it
+obliges a man to adhere deliberately to that virtue which is assailed by
+the temptation, and so gain a further perfection; finally, there are
+necessarily included in both the conflict and the adherence to good
+numerous virtuous, and therefore meritorious, acts. Thus we may reap
+advantage from temptation both in our dispositions and our acts.
+
+[60] Job vii. 1.
+
+[61] 1 John iv. 8.
+
+[62] Cant. viii. 6.
+
+[63] The author is speaking here of the soul in so far as it is human,
+and it is as such that it is more where it loves than where it gives
+life.
+
+[64] Without charity there is no perfect virtue, since without it no
+virtue can lead man to his final end, which is God, although it may lead
+him to some lower end. It is in this sense that, according to the older
+theologians, charity is the "form" of the other virtues, since by it the
+acts of all the other virtues are supernaturalized and directed to their
+true end--_i.e._, to God. _Cf._ St. Th. "Sum.," 2, 2{ae}, q. 23, aa. 7,
+8.
+
+[65] Matt. xxii. 40.
+
+[66] Rom. xiii. 10.
+
+[67] 1 Tim. i. 5.
+
+[68] God can only love Himself or creatures for His own sake; if we have
+this love within our souls we shall be in a certain sense one being with
+Him.
+
+[69] This teaching is based on the definition that prayer is essentially
+"an elevation of the soul to God."
+
+[70] 1 Thess. v. 17.
+
+[71] 1 Tim. ii. 8.
+
+[72] Remission may be obtained in this way of the fault in the case of
+venial sins, of the punishment due in all sins.
+
+[73] Ps. ix. 24.
+
+[74] Isa. iii. 12.
+
+[75] Luke vi. 26.
+
+[76] St. Thomas explains as follows both the possibility and the
+correctness of this opinion of ourselves: "A man can, without falsehood,
+believe and declare himself viler than all others, both on account of
+the secret faults which he knows to exist within him, and on account of
+the gifts of God hidden in the souls of others."
+
+St. Augustine, in his work "De Virginit.," ch. lii., says: "Believe that
+others are better than you in the depths of their souls, although
+outwardly you may appear better than they."
+
+In the same way one may truthfully both say and believe that one is
+altogether useless and unworthy in his own strength. The Apostle says (2
+Cor. iii. 5): "Not that we are sufficient to think anything of
+ourselves, as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God" ("Sum.," 2,
+2{ae}, q. 161, a. 6, 1{m}).
+
+[77] 1 Pet. v. 7.
+
+[78] Ps. liv. 23.
+
+[79] Ecclus. ii. 11, 12.
+
+[80] Matt. vi. 31.
+
+[81] Deut. xi. 24.
+
+[82] _Cf._ Serm. I. in Pent.
+
+[83] Mark xi. 24.
+
+[84] 2 Cor. iii. 5.
+
+[85] 2 Tim. ii. 19.
+
+[86] The teaching of Albert the Great on Divine Providence is truly
+admirable. It is based upon the axiom that the actions of the creature
+do not depend partly upon itself and partly upon God, but wholly upon
+itself and wholly upon God (_cf._ St. Thomas "Cont. Gent.," iii. 70).
+
+Human causality is not parallel with the Divine, but subordinate to it,
+as the scholastics teach. This doctrine alone safeguards the action of
+God and of that of the creature. The doctrine of parallelism derogates
+from both, and leads to fatalism by attributing to God things which He
+has not done, and suppressing for man the necessary principle of all
+good, especially that of liberty.
+
+It is the doctrine of subordinated causes also which explains how things
+decreed by God are determined by the supreme authority, and infallibly
+come to pass, without prejudice to the freedom of action of secondary
+causes. All this belongs to the highest theology. Unhappily, certain
+modern authors have forgotten it.
+
+
+
+
+  _The Angelus Series_
+
+  OF
+
+  Authorized Translations of Standard
+  Foreign Works, Original Works,
+  and Selections
+
+
+  THE FIRST SEVEN VOLUMES ARE
+
+  =ON KINDNESS.= By Very Rev. J. GUIBERT, S.S. _20,000 Copies sold in
+    France._
+
+  =ON CHARACTER.= By Very Rev. J. GUIBERT, S.S. _18,000 Copies sold in
+    France._
+
+  =ON THANKSGIVING.= Selected from Father Faber's Works. By the Hon.
+    ALISON STOURTON.
+
+  =FROM A GARDEN JUNGLE.= By AN UNPAID SECRETARY.
+
+  =ON PIETY.= By Very Rev. J. GUIBERT, S.S. _13,000 Copies sold in
+    France._
+
+  =ON THE EXERCISES OF PIETY.= By Very Rev. J. GUIBERT, S.S. _13,000
+    Copies sold in France._
+
+  =ON UNION WITH GOD.= By Blessed ALBERT THE GREAT, O.P. With notes
+    by Rev. P. J. BERTHIER, O.P.
+
+
+  OTHER VOLUMES IN PREPARATION.
+
+  _Art linen, gilt, with ingrained paper sides, 1s. 3d. net._
+
+  _Paste-grain leather, gilt top and back, 2s. 6d. net._
+
+
+  LONDON:
+  R. & T. WASHBOURNE, LTD., PATERNOSTER ROW.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+
+  Passages in italics or underlined are indicated by _italics_.
+
+  Passages in bold are indicated by =bold=.
+
+  Superscripted letters are indicated by {superscript}.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of On Union with God, by Albertus Magnus
+
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