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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 4664 ***
+
+LIGHT, LIFE, AND LOVE
+
+Selections from the German Mystics of the Middle Ages
+
+by
+
+W. R. Inge
+
+LONDON
+Second Edition
+
+1919
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+ECKHART
+TAULER
+MEDITATIONS ON THE SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS
+SUSO
+RUYSBROEK
+THEOLOGIA GERMANICA
+
+
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+Sect. 1. THE PRECURSORS OF THE GERMAN MYSTICS
+
+
+
+
+
+TO most English readers the "Imitation of Christ" is the
+representative of mediaeval German mysticism. In reality, however,
+this beautiful little treatise belongs to a period when that
+movement had nearly spent itself. Thomas a Kempis, as Dr. Bigg has
+said,[1] was only a semi-mystic. He tones down the most
+characteristic doctrines of Eckhart, who is the great original
+thinker of the German mystical school, and seems in some ways to
+revert to an earlier type of devotional literature. The "Imitation"
+may perhaps be described as an idealised picture of monastic piety,
+drawn at a time when the life of the cloister no longer filled a
+place of unchallenged usefulness in the social order of Europe. To
+find German mysticism at its strongest we must go back a full
+hundred years, and to understand its growth we must retrace our
+steps as far as the great awakening of the thirteenth century--the
+age of chivalry in religion--the age of St. Louis, of Francis and
+Dominic, of Bonaventura and Thomas Aquinas. It was a vast revival,
+bearing fruit in a new ardour of pity and charity, as well as in a
+healthy freedom of thought. The Church, in recognising the new
+charitable orders of Francis and Dominic, and the Christianised
+Aristotelianism of the schoolmen, retained the loyalty and profited
+by the zeal of the more sober reformers, but was unable to prevent
+the diffusion of an independent critical spirit, in part provoked
+and justified by real abuses. Discontent was aroused, not only by
+the worldiness of the hierarchy, whose greed and luxurious living
+were felt to be scandalous, but by the widespread economic distress
+which prevailed over Western Europe at this period. The crusades
+periodically swept off a large proportion of the able-bodied men, of
+whom the majority never returned to their homes, and this helped to
+swell the number of indigent women, who, having no male protectors,
+were obliged to beg their bread. The better class of these female
+mendicants soon formed themselves into uncloistered charitable
+Orders, who were not forbidden to marry, and who devoted themselves
+chiefly to the care of the sick. These Beguines and the
+corresponding male associations of Beghards became very numerous in
+Germany. Their religious views were of a definite type. Theirs was
+an intensely inward religion, based on the longing of the soul for
+immediate access to God. The more educated among them tended to
+embrace a vague idealistic Pantheism. Mechthild of Magdeburg
+(1212-1277), prophetess, poetess, Church reformer, quietist, was the
+ablest of the Beguines. Her writings prove to us that the technical
+terminology of German mysticism was in use before Eckhart,[2] and
+also that the followers of what the "Theologia Germanica" calls the
+False Light, who aspired to absorption in the Godhead, and despised
+the imitation of the incarnate Christ, were already throwing
+discredit on the movement. Mechthild's independence, and her
+unsparing denunciations of corruption in high places, brought her
+into conflict with the secular clergy. They tried to burn her
+books--those religious love songs which had already endeared her to
+German popular sentiment. It was then that she seemed to hear a
+voice saying to her:
+
+Lieb' meine, betrŸbe dich nicht zu sehr,
+
+Die Wahrheit mag niemand verbrennen!
+
+The rulers of the Church, unhappily, were not content with burning
+books. Their hostility towards the unrecognised Orders became more
+and more pronounced: the Beghards and Beguines were harried and
+persecuted till most of them were driven to join the Franciscans or
+Dominicans, carrying with them into those Orders the ferment of
+their speculative mysticism. The more stubborn "Brethren and Sisters
+of the Free Spirit" were burned in batches at Cologne and elsewhere.
+Their fate in those times did not excite much pity, for many of the
+victims were idle vagabonds of dissolute character, and the general
+public probably thought that the licensed begging friars were enough
+of a nuisance without the addition of these free lances.
+
+The heretical mystical sects of the thirteenth century are very
+interesting as illustrating the chief dangers of mysticism. Some of
+these sectaries were Socialists or Communists of an extreme kind;
+others were Rationalists, who taught that Jesus Christ was the son
+of Joseph and a sinner like other men; others were Puritans, who
+said that Church music was "nothing but a hellish noise" (nihil nisi
+clamor inferni), and that the Pope was the magna meretrix of the
+Apocalypse. The majority were Anti-Sacramentalists and Determinists;
+and some were openly Antinomian, teaching that those who are led by
+the Spirit can do no wrong. The followers of Amalric of Bena[3]
+believed that the Holy Ghost had chosen their sect in which to
+become incarnate; His presence among them was a continual guarantee
+of sanctity and happiness. The "spiritual Franciscans" had dreams of
+a more apocalyptic kind. They adopted the idea of an "eternal
+Gospel," as expounded by Joachim of Floris, and believed that the
+"third kingdom," that of the Spirit, was about to begin among
+themselves. It was to abolish the secular Church and to inaugurate
+the reign of true Christianity--i.e. "poverty" and asceticism.
+
+Such are some of the results of what our eighteenth-century
+ancestors knew and dreaded as "Enthusiasm"--that ferment of the
+spirit which in certain epochs spreads from soul to soul like an
+epidemic, breaking all the fetters of authority, despising tradition
+and rejecting discipline in its eagerness to get rid of formalism
+and unreality; a lawless, turbulent, unmanageable spirit, in which,
+notwithstanding, is a potentiality for good far higher than any to
+which the lukewarm "religion of all sensible men" can ever attain.
+For mysticism is the raw material of all religion; and it is easier
+to discipline the enthusiast than to breathe enthusiasm into the
+disciplinarian.
+
+Meanwhile, the Church looked with favour upon the orthodox mystical
+school, of which Richard and Hugo of St. Victor, Bonaventura, and
+Albertus Magnus were among the greatest names. These men were
+working out in their own fashion the psychology of the contemplative
+life, showing how we may ascend through "cogitation, meditation, and
+speculation" to "contemplation," and how we may pass successively
+through jubilus, ebrietas spiritus, spiritualis jucunditas, and
+liquefactio, till we attain raptus or ecstasy. The writings of the
+scholastic mystics are so overweighted with this pseudo-science,
+with its wire-drawn distinctions and meaningless classifications,
+that very few readers have now the patience to dig out their
+numerous beauties. They are, however, still the classics of mystical
+theology in the Roman Church, so far as that science has not
+degenerated into mere miracle-mongering.
+
+Sect. 2. MEISTER ECKHART
+
+It was in 1260, when Mechthild of Magdeburg was at the height of her
+activity, that Meister Eckhart, next to Plotinus the greatest
+philosopher-mystic, was born at Hocheim in Thuringia. It seems that
+his family was in a good position, but nothing is known of his early
+years. He entered the Dominican Order as a youth, perhaps at
+sixteen, the earliest age at which novices were admitted into that
+Order. The course of instruction among the Dominicans was as
+follows:--After two years, during which the novice laid the
+foundations of a good general education, he devoted the next two
+years to grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic, and then the same amount
+of time to what was called the Quadrivium, which consisted of
+"arithmetic, mathematics, astronomy, and music." Theology, the queen
+of the sciences, occupied three years; and at the end of the course,
+at the age of twenty-five, the brothers were ordained priests. We
+find Eckhart, towards the end of the century, Prior of Erfurt and
+Vicar of Thuringia, then Lector Biblicus at Paris, then Provincial
+Prior of Saxony. In 1307 the master of the Order appointed him
+Vicar-General for Bohemia, and in 1311 he returned to Paris. We find
+him next preaching busily at Strassburg,[4] and after a few more
+years, at Cologne, where the persecution of the Brethren of the Free
+Spirit was just then at its height. At Strassburg there were no less
+than seven convents of Dominican nuns, for since 1267 the Order had
+resumed the supervision of female convents, which it had renounced a
+short time after its foundation. Many of Eckhart's discourses were
+addressed to these congregations of devout women, who indeed were to
+a large extent the backbone of the mystical movement, and it is
+impossible not to see that the devotional treatises of the school
+are strongly coloured by feminine sentiment. A curious poem, written
+by a Dominican nun of this period, celebrates the merits of three
+preachers, the third of whom is a Master Eckhart, "who speaks to us
+about Nothingness. He who understands him not, in him has never
+shone the light divine." These nuns seem to have been fed with the
+strong meat of Eckhart's mystical philosophy; in the more popular
+sermons he tried to be intelligible to all. It was not very long
+after he took up his residence at Cologne that he was himself
+attacked for heresy. In 1327 he read before his own Order a
+retractation of "any errors which might be found" (si quid errorum
+repertum fuerit) in his writings, but withdrew nothing that he had
+actually said, and protested that he believed himself to be
+orthodox. He died a few months later, and it was not till 1329 that
+a Papal bull was issued, enumerating seventeen heretical and eleven
+objectionable doctrines in his writings.
+
+This bull is interesting as showing what were the points in
+Eckhart's teaching which in the fourteenth century were considered
+dangerous. They also indicate very accurately what are the real
+errors into which speculative mysticism is liable to fall, and how
+thinkers of this school may most plausibly be misrepresented by
+those who differ from them. After expressing his sorrow that "a
+certain Teuton named Ekardus, doctor, ut fertur, sacrae paginae, has
+wished to know more than he should," and has sown tares and thistles
+and other weeds in the field of the Church, the Pope specifies the
+following erroneous statements as appearing in Eckhart's
+writings[5]:--1. "God created the world as soon as God was. 2. In
+every work, bad as well as good, the glory of God is equally
+manifested. 3. A man who prays for any particular thing prays for an
+evil and prays ill, for he prays for the negation of good and the
+negation of God, and that God may be denied to him.[6] 4. God is
+honoured in those who have renounced everything, even holiness and
+the kingdom of heaven. 5. We are transformed totally into God, even
+as in the Sacrament the bread is converted into the Body of Christ.
+Unum, non simile. 6. Whatever God the Father gave to His
+only-begotten Son in His human nature, He has given it all to me. 7.
+Whatever the Holy Scripture says about Christ is verified in every
+good and godlike man. 8. External action is not, properly speaking,
+good nor divine; God, properly speaking, only works in us internal
+actions. 9. God is one, in every way and according to every reason,
+so that it is not possible to find any plurality in Him, either in
+the intellect or outside it; for he who sees two, or sees any
+distinction, does not see God; for God is one, outside number and
+above number, for one cannot be put with anything else, but follows
+it; therefore in God Himself no distinction can be or be understood.
+10. All the creatures are absolutely nothing: I say not that they
+are small or something, but that they are absolutely nothing." All
+these statements are declared to have been found in his writings. It
+is also "objected against the said Ekardus" that he taught the
+following two articles in these words:--1. "There is something in
+the soul, which is uncreated and uncreatable: if the whole soul were
+such, it would be uncreated and uncreatable: and this is the
+intelligence.[7] 2. God is not good or better or best: I speak ill
+when I call God good; it is as if I called white black."[8] The bull
+declares all the propositions above quoted to be heretical, with the
+exception of the three which I have numbered 8-10, and these "have
+an ill sound" and are "very rash," even if they might be so
+supplemented and explained as to bear an orthodox sense.
+
+This condemnation led to a long neglect of Eckhart's writings. He
+was almost forgotten till Franz Pfeiffer in 1857 collected and
+edited his scattered treatises and endeavoured to distinguish those
+which were genuine from those which were spurious. Since Pfeiffer's
+edition fresh discoveries have been made, notably in 1880, when
+Denifle found at Erfurt several important fragments in Latin, which
+in his opinion show a closer dependence on the scholastic theology,
+and particularly on St Thomas Aquinas, than Protestant scholars,
+such as Preger, had been willing to allow. But the attempt to prove
+Eckhart a mere scholastic is a failure; the audacities of his German
+discourses cannot be explained as an accommodation to the tastes of
+a peculiar audience. For good or evil Eckhart is an original and
+independent thinker, whose theology is confined by no trammels of
+authority.
+
+Sect. 3. ECKHART'S RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY
+
+The Godhead, according to Eckhart, is the universal and eternal
+Unity comprehending and transcending all diversity. "The Divine
+nature is Rest," he says in one of the German discourses; and in the
+Latin fragments we find: "God rests in Himself, and makes all things
+rest in Him." The three Persons of the Trinity, however, are not
+mere modes or accidents,[9] but represent a real distinction within
+the Godhead. God is unchangeable, and at the same time an
+"everlasting process." The creatures are "absolutely nothing"; but
+at the same time "God without them would not be God," for God is
+love, and must objectify Himself; He is goodness, and must impart
+Himself. As the picture in the mind of the painter, as the poem in
+the mind of the poet, so was all creation in the mind of God from
+all eternity, in uncreated simplicity. The ideal world was not
+created in time; "the Father spake Himself and all the creatures in
+His Son"; "they exist in the eternal Now"[10]--"a
+becoming without a becoming, change without change." "The Word of
+God the Father is the substance of all that exists, the life of all
+that lives, the principle and cause of life." Of creation he says:
+"We must not falsely imagine that God stood waiting for something to
+happen, that He might create the world. For so soon as He was God,
+so soon as He begat His coeternal and coequal Son, He created the
+world." So Spinoza says: "God has always been before the creatures,
+without even existing before them. He precedes them not by an
+interval of time, but by a fixed eternity." This is not the same as
+saying that the world of sense had no beginning; it is possible that
+Eckhart did not mean to go further than the orthodox scholastic
+mystic, Albertus Magnus, who says: "God created things from
+eternity, but the things were not created from eternity." St
+Augustine (Conf. xi. 30) bids objectors to "understand that there
+can be no time without creatures, and cease to talk nonsense."
+Eckhart also tries to distinguish between the "interior" and the
+"exterior" action of God. God, he says, is in all things, not as
+Nature, not as Person, but as Being. He is everywhere, undivided;
+yet the creatures participate in Him according to their measure.[11]
+The three Persons of the Trinity have impressed their image upon the
+creatures, yet it is only their "nothingness" that keeps them
+separate creatures. Most of this comes from the Neoplatonists, and
+much of it through the pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, a
+Platonising Christian of the fifth century, whose writings were
+believed in the Middle Ages to proceed from St Paul's Athenian
+convert. It would, however, be easy to find parallels in St
+Augustine's writings to most of the phases quoted in this paragraph.
+The practical consequences will be considered presently.
+
+The creatures are a way from God; they are also a way to Him. "In
+Christ," he says, "all the creatures are one man, and that man is
+God." Grace, which is a real self-unfolding of God in the soul, can
+make us "what God is by Nature"--one of Eckhart's audacious phrases,
+which are not really so unorthodox as they sound. The following
+prayer, which appears in one of his discourses, may perhaps be
+defended as asking no more than our Lord prayed for (John xvii.) for
+His disciples, but it lays him open to the charge, which the Pope's
+bull did not fail to urge against him, that he made the servant
+equal to his Lord. "Grant that I, by Thy grace, may be united to Thy
+Nature, as Thy Son is eternally one in Thy Nature, and that grace
+may become my nature."
+
+The ethical aim is to be rid of "creatureliness," and so to be
+united to God. In Eckhart's system, as in that of Plotinus,
+speculation is never divorced from ethics. On our side the process
+is a negative one. All our knowledge must be reduced to
+not-knowledge; our reason and will, as well as our lower faculties,
+must transcend themselves, must die to live. We must detach
+ourselves absolutely "even from God," he says. This state of
+spiritual nudity he calls "poverty." Then, when our house is empty
+of all else, God can dwell there: "He begets His Son in us." This
+last phrase has always been a favourite with the mystics. St Paul
+uses very similar language, and the Epistle to Diognetus, written in
+the second century, speaks of Christ as, "being ever born anew in
+the hearts of the saints." Very characteristic, too, is the doctrine
+that complete detachment from the creatures is the way to union with
+God. Jacob Bšhme has arrived independently at the same conclusion as
+Eckhart. "The scholar said to his master: How may I come to the
+supersensual life, that I may see God and hear Him speak? The master
+said: When thou canst throw thyself but for a moment into that place
+where no creature dwelleth, then thou hearest what God speaketh. The
+scholar asked: Is that near or far off? The master replied: It is in
+thee, and if thou canst for a while cease from all thy thinking and
+willing, thou shalt hear unspeakable words of God. The scholar said:
+How can I hear, when I stand still from thinking and willing? The
+master answered: When thou standest still from the thinking and
+willing of self, the eternal hearing, seeing, and speaking will be
+revealed to thee, and so God heareth and seeth through thee."
+
+In St Thomas Aquinas it is "the will enlightened by reason" which
+unites us to God. But there are two sorts of reason. The passive
+reason is the faculty which rises through discursive thinking to
+knowledge. The active reason is a much higher faculty, which exists
+by participation in the divine mind, "as the air is light by
+participation in the sunshine." When this active reason is regarded
+as the standard of moral action, it is called by Aquinas
+synteresis.[12] Eckhart was at first content with this teaching of
+St Thomas, whom he always cites with great reverence; but the whole
+tendency of his thinking was to leave the unprofitable
+classification of faculties in which the Victorine School almost
+revelled, and to concentrate his attention on the union of the soul
+with God. And therefore in his more developed teaching,[13] the
+"spark" which is the point of contact between the soul and its Maker
+is something higher than the faculties, being "uncreated." He seems
+to waver about identifying the "spark" with the "active reason," but
+inclines on the whole to regard it as something even higher still.
+"There is something in the soul," he says, "which is so akin to God
+that it is one with Him and not merely united with Him." And again:
+"There is a force in the soul; and not only a force, but something
+more, a being; and not only a being, but something more; it is so
+pure and high and noble in itself that no creature can come there,
+and God alone can dwelt there. Yea, verily, and even God cannot come
+there with a form; He can only come with His simple divine nature."
+And in the startling passage often quoted against him, a passage
+which illustrates admirably his affinity to one side of Hegelianism,
+we read: "The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which He
+sees me. Mine eye and God's eye are one eye and one sight and one
+knowledge and one love."
+
+I do not defend these passages as orthodox; but before exclaiming
+"rank Pantheism!" we ought to recollect that for Eckhart the being
+of God is quite different from His personality. Eckhart never taught
+that the Persons of the Holy Trinity become, after the mystical
+Union, the "Form" of the human soul. It is the impersonal light of
+the divine nature which transforms our nature; human personality is
+neither lost nor converted into divine personality. Moreover, the
+divine spark at the centre of the soul is not the soul nor the
+personality. "The soul," he says in one place, using a figure which
+recurs in the "Theologia Germanica," "has two faces. One is turned
+towards this world and towards the body, the other towards God." The
+complete dominion of the "spark" over the soul is an unrealised
+ideal.[14]
+
+The truth which he values is that, as Mr Upton[15] has well
+expressed it, "there is a certain self-revelation of the eternal and
+infinite One to the finite soul, and therefore an indestructible
+basis for religious ideas and beliefs as distinguished from what is
+called scientific knowledge. . . . This immanent universal principle
+does not pertain to, and is not the property of any individual mind,
+but belongs to that uncreated and eternal nature of God which lies
+deeper than all those differences which separate individual minds
+from each other, and is indeed that incarnation of the Eternal, who
+though He is present in every finite thing, is still not broken up
+into individualities, but remains one and the same eternal
+substance, one and the same unifying principle, immanently and
+indivisibly present in every one of the countless plurality of
+finite individuals." It might further be urged that neither God nor
+man can be understood in independence of each other. A recent writer
+on ethics,[16] not too well disposed towards Christianity, is, I
+think, right in saying: "To the popular mind, which assumes God and
+man to be two different realities, each given in independence of the
+other, . . . the identification of man's love of God with God's love
+of Himself has always been a paradox and a stumbling-block. But it
+is not too much to say that until it has been seen to be no paradox,
+but a simple and fundamental truth, the masterpieces of the world's
+religious literature must remain a sealed book to us."
+
+Eckhart certainly believed himself to have escaped the pitfall of
+Pantheism; but he often expressed himself in such an unguarded way
+that the charge may be brought against him with some show of reason.
+
+Love, Eckhart teaches, is the principle of all virtues; it is God
+Himself. Next to it in dignity comes humility. The beauty of the
+soul, he says in the true Platonic vein, is to be well ordered, with
+the higher faculties above the lower, each in its proper place. The
+will should be supreme over the understanding, the understanding
+over the senses. Whatever we will earnestly, that we have, and no
+one can hinder us from attaining that detachment from the creatures
+in which our blessedness consists.
+
+Evil, from the highest standpoint, is only a means for realising the
+eternal aim of God in creation; all will ultimately be overruled for
+good. Nevertheless, we can frustrate the good will of God towards
+us, and it is this, and not the thought of any insult against
+Himself, that makes God grieve for our sins. It would not be worth
+while to give any more quotations on this subject, for Eckhart is
+not more successful than other philosophers in propounding a
+consistent and intelligible theory of the place of evil in the
+universe.
+
+Eckhart is well aware of the two chief pitfalls into which the
+mystic is liable to fall--dreamy inactivity and Antinomianism. The
+sects of the Free Spirit seem to have afforded a good object-lesson
+in both these errors, as some of the Gnostic sects did in the second
+century. Eckhart's teaching here is sound and good. Freedom from
+law, he says, belongs only to the "spark," not to the faculties of
+the soul, and no man can live always on the highest plane.
+Contemplation is, in a sense, a means to activity; works of charity
+are its proper fruit. "If a man were in an ecstasy like that of St
+Paul, when he was caught up into the third heaven, and knew of a
+poor man who needed his help, he ought to leave his ecstasy and help
+the needy." Suso[17] tells us how God punished him for disregarding
+this duty. True contemplation considers Reality (or Being) in its
+manifestations as well as in its origin. If this is remembered,
+there need be no conflict between social morality and the inner
+life. Eckhart recognises[18] that it is a harder and a nobler task
+to preserve detachment in a crowd than in a cell; the little daily
+sacrifices of family life are often a greater trial than
+self-imposed mortifications. "We need not destroy any little good in
+ourselves for the sake of a better, but we should strive to grasp
+every truth in its highest meaning, for no one good contradicts
+another." "Love God, and do as you like, say the Free Spirits. Yes;
+but as long as you like anything contrary to God's will, you do not
+love Him."
+
+There is much more of the same kind in Eckhart's sermons--as good
+and sensible doctrine as one could find anywhere. But what was the
+practical effect of his teaching as a whole? It is generally the
+case that the really weak points of any religious movement are
+exposed with a cruel logicality most exasperating to the leaders by
+the second generation of its adherents. The dangerous side of the
+Eckhartian mysticism is painfully exhibited in the life of his
+spiritual daughter, "Schwester Katrei," the saint of the later
+Beguines. Katrei is a rather shadowy person; but for our present
+purpose it does not much matter whether the story of her life has
+been embroidered or not. Her memory was revered for such sayings and
+doings as these which follow. On one occasion she exclaimed:
+"Congratulate me; I have become God!" and on another she declared
+that "not even the desire of heaven should tempt a good man towards
+activity." It was her ambition to forget who were her parents, to be
+indifferent whether she received absolution and partook of the Holy
+Communion or not; and she finally realised her ambition by falling
+into a cataleptic state in which she was supposed to be dead, and
+was carried out for burial. Her confessor, perceiving that she was
+not really dead, awoke her: "Art thou satisfied?" "I am satisfied at
+last," said Katrei: she was now "dead all through," as she wished to
+be.
+
+Are we to conclude that the logical outcome of mysticism is this
+strange reproduction, in Teutonic Europe, of Indian Yogism? Many who
+have studied the subject have satisfied themselves that Schwester
+Katrei is the truly consistent mystic. They have come to the
+conclusion that the real attraction of mysticism is a pining for
+deliverance from this fretful, anxious, exacting, individual life,
+and a yearning for absorption into the great Abyss where all
+distinctions are merged in the Infinite. According to this view,
+mysticism in its purest form should be studied in the ancient
+religious literature of India, which teaches us how all this world
+of colour and diversity, of sharp outlines and conflicting forces,
+may be lost and swallowed up in the "white radiance," or black
+darkness (it does not really matter which we call it) of an empty
+Infinite.
+
+The present writer is convinced that this is not the truth about
+mysticism. Eckhart may have encouraged Schwester Katrei in her
+attempt to substitute the living death of the blank trance for the
+dying life of Christian charity; but none the less she caricatured
+and stultified his teaching. And I think it is possible to lay our
+finger on the place where she and so many others went wrong. The
+aspiration of mysticism is to find the unity which underlies all
+diversity, or, in religious language, to see God face to face. From
+the Many to the One is always the path of the mystic. Plotinus, the
+father of all mystical philosophy in Europe (unless, as he himself
+would have wished, we give that honour to Plato), mapped out the
+upward road as follows:--At the bottom of the hill is the sphere of
+the "merely many"--of material objects viewed in disconnection,
+dull, and spiritless. This is a world which has no real existence;
+it may best be called "not-being" ("ein lauteres Nichts," as Eckhart
+says), and as the indeterminate, it can only be apprehended by a
+corresponding indeterminateness in the soul. The soul, however,
+always adds some form and determination to the abstract formlessness
+of the "merely many." Next, we rise to, or project for ourselves,
+the world of "the one and the many." This is the sphere in which our
+consciousness normally moves. We are conscious of an overruling
+Mind, but the creatures still seem external to and partially
+independent of it. Such is the temporal order as we know it. Above
+this is the intelligible world, the eternal order, "the one-many,"
+das ewige Nu, the world in which God's will is done perfectly and
+all reflects the divine mind. Highest of all is "the One," the,
+Absolute, the Godhead, of whom nothing can be predicated, because He
+is above all distinctions. This Neoplatonic Absolute is the Godhead
+of whom Eckhart says: "God never looked upon deed," and of whom
+Angelus Silesius sings:
+
+  "Und sieh, er ist nicht Wille,
+  Er ist ein' ewige Stille."
+
+Plotinus taught that the One, being superessential, can only be
+apprehended in ecstasy, when thought, which still distinguishes
+itself from its object, is transcended, and knower and known become
+one. As Tennyson's Ancient Sage says:
+
+  "If thou would'st hear the Nameless, and descend
+  Into the Temple-cave of thine own self,
+  There, brooding by the central altar, thou
+  May'st haply learn the Nameless hath a voice,
+  By which thou wilt abide, if thou be wise;
+  For knowledge is the swallow on the lake,
+  That sees and stirs the surface-shadow there
+  But never yet hath dipt into the Abysm."
+
+In the same way Eckhart taught that no creature can apprehend the
+Godhead, and, therefore, that the spark in the centre of the soul
+(this doctrine, too, is found in Plotinus) must be verily divine.
+The logic of the theory is inexorable. If only like can know like,
+we cannot know God except by a faculty which is itself divine. The
+real question is whether God, as an object of knowledge and worship
+for finite beings, is the absolute Godhead, who transcends all
+distinctions. The mediaeval mystics held that this "flight of the
+alone to the alone," as Plotinus calls it, is possible to men, and
+that in it consists our highest blessedness. They were attracted
+towards this view by several influences. First, there was the
+tradition of Dionysius, to whom (e.g.) the author of the "Theologia
+Germanica" appeals as an authority for the possibility of "beholding
+the hidden things of God by utter abandonment of thyself, and of
+entering into union with Him who is above all existence, and all
+knowledge." Secondly, there was what a modern writer has called "the
+attraction of the Abyss," the longing which some persons feel very
+strongly to merge their individuality in a larger and better whole,
+to get rid not only of selfishness but of self for ever. "Leave
+nothing of myself in me," is Crashaw's prayer in his wonderful poem
+on St Teresa. Thirdly, we may mention the awe and respect long paid
+to ecstatic trances, the pathological nature of which was not
+understood. The blank trance was a real experience; and as it could
+be induced by a long course of ascetical exercises and fervid
+devotions, it was naturally regarded as the crowning reward of
+sanctity on earth. Nor would it be at all safe to reject the
+evidence, which is very copious,[19] that the "dreamy state" may
+issue in permanent spiritual gain. The methodical cultivation of it,
+which is at the bottom of most of the strange austerities of the
+ascetics, was not only (though it was partly) practised in the hope
+of enjoying those spiritual raptures which are described as being
+far more intense than any pleasures of sense[20]: it was the hope of
+stirring to its depths the subconscious mind and permeating the
+whole with the hidden energy of the divine Spirit that led to the
+desire for visions and trances. Lastly, I think we must give a place
+to the intellectual attraction of an uncompromising monistic theory
+of the universe. Spiritualistic monism, when it is consistent with
+itself, will always lean to semi-pantheistic mysticism rather than
+to such a compromise with pluralism as Lotze and his numerous
+followers in this country imagine to be possible.
+
+But it is possible to go a long way with the mystics and yet to
+maintain that under no conditions whatever can a finite being escape
+from the limitations of his finitude and see God or the world or
+himself "with the same eye with which God sees" all things. The old
+Hebrew belief, that to see the face of God is death, expresses the
+truth under a mythical form. That the human mind, while still "in
+the body pent," may obtain glimpses of the eternal order, and enjoy
+foretastes of the bliss of heaven, is a belief which I, at least,
+see no reason to reject. It involves no rash presumption, and is not
+contrary to what may be readily believed about the state of immortal
+spirits passing through a mortal life. But the explanation of the
+blank trance as a temporary transit into the Absolute must be set
+down as a pure delusion. It involves a conception of the divine
+"Rest" which in his best moments Eckhart himself repudiates. "The
+Rest of the Godhead," he says, "is not in that He is the source of
+being, but in that He is the consummation of all being." This
+profound saying expresses the truth, which he seems often to forget,
+that the world-process must have a real value in God's sight--that
+it is not a mere polarisation of the white radiance of eternity
+broken up by the imperfection of our vision. Whatever theories we
+may hold about Absolute Being, or an Absolute that is above Being,
+we must make room for the Will, and for Time, which is the "form" of
+the will, and for the creatures who inhabit time and space, as
+having for us the value of reality. Nor shall we, if we are to
+escape scepticism, be willing to admit that these appearances have
+no sure relation to ultimate reality. We must not try to uncreate
+the world in order to find God. We were created out of nothing, but
+we cannot return to nothing, to find our Creator there. The still,
+small voice is best listened for amid the discordant harmony of life
+and death.
+
+The search for God is no exception to the mysterious law of human
+nature, that we cannot get anything worth having--neither holiness
+nor happiness nor wisdom--by trying for it directly. It must be
+given us through something else. The recluse who lives like
+Parnell's "Hermit":
+
+"Prayer all his business, all his pleasure praise,"
+
+is not only a poor sort of saint, but he will offer a poor sort of
+prayers and praises. He will miss real holiness for the same reason
+that makes the pleasure-seeker miss real happiness. We must lose
+ourselves in some worthy interest in order to find again both a
+better self and an object higher than that which we sought. This the
+German mystics in a sense knew well. There is a noble sentence of
+Suso to the effect that "he who realises the inward in the outward,
+to him the inward becomes more inward than to him who only
+recognises the inward in the inward." Moreover, the recognition that
+"God manifests Himself and worketh more in one creature than
+another" ("Theologia Germanica"), involves a denial of the
+nihilistic view that all the creatures are "ein lauteres
+Nichts."[21] It would be easy to find such passages in all the
+fourteenth-century mystics, but it cannot be denied that on the
+whole their religion is too self-centred. There are not many maxims
+so fundamentally wrong-headed and un-Christian as Suso's advice to
+"live as if you were the only person in the world."[22] The life of
+the cloistered saint may be abundantly justified--for the spiritual
+activity of some of them has been of far greater service to mankind
+than the fussy benevolence of many "practical" busybodies--but the
+idea of social service, whether in the school of Martha or of Mary,
+ought surely never to be absent. The image of Christ as the Lover of
+the individual soul rather than as the Bridegroom of the Church was
+too dear to these lonely men and women. Unconsciously, they looked
+to their personal devotions to compensate them for the human loves
+which they had forsworn. The raptures of Divine Love, which they
+regarded as signal favours bestowed upon them, were not very
+wholesome in themselves, and diverted their thoughts from the needs
+of their fellow-men. They also led to most painful reactions, in
+which the poor contemplative believed himself abandoned by God and
+became a pray to terrible depression and melancholy. These fits of
+wretchedness came indeed to be recognised as God's punishment for
+selfishness in devotion and for too great desire for the sweetness
+of communing with God, and so arose the doctrine of "disinterested
+love," which was more and more emphasised in the later mysticism,
+especially by the French Quietists.
+
+I have spoken quite candidly of the defects of Eckhart's mystical
+Christianity. As a religious philosophy it does not keep clear of
+the fallacy that an ascent though the unreal can lead to reality.
+"To suppose, as the mystic does, that the finite search has of
+itself no Being at all, is illusory, is Maya, is itself nothing,
+this is also to deprive the Absolute of even its poor value as a
+contrasting goal. For a goal that is a goal of no real process has
+as little value as it has content."[23] But, as Prof. Royce says,
+mysticism furnishes us with the means of correcting itself. It
+supplies an obvious reductio ad absurdum of the theory with which it
+set out, that "Immediacy is the one test of reality," and is itself
+forced to give the world of diversity a real value as manifesting in
+different degrees the nature of God. Those who are acquainted with
+the sacred books of the East will recognise that here is the
+decisive departure from real Pantheism. And it may be fairly claimed
+for the German mystics that though their speculative teaching
+sometimes seems to echo too ominously the apathetic detachment of
+the Indian sage, their lives and example, and their practical
+exhortations, preached a truer and a larger philosophy. Eckhart, as
+we have seen, was a busy preacher as well as a keen student, and
+some of the younger members of his school were even more occupied in
+pastoral work. If the tree is to be judged by its fruits, mysticism
+can give a very good account of itself to the Marthas as well as the
+Marys of this world.
+
+Sect. 4. THE GERMAN MYSTICS AS GUIDES TO HOLINESS
+
+THIS little volume is a contribution to a "Library of Devotion," and
+in the body of the work the reader will be seldom troubled by any
+abstruse philosophising. I have thought it necessary to give, in
+this Introduction, a short account of Eckhart's system, but the
+extracts which follow are taken mainly from his successors, in whom
+the speculative tendency is weaker and less original, while the
+religious element is stronger and more attractive. It is, after all,
+as guides to holiness that these mystics are chiefly important to
+us. This side of their life's work can never be out of date, for the
+deeper currents of human nature change but little; the language of
+the heart is readily understood everywhere and at all times. The
+differences between Catholic and Protestant are hardly felt in the
+keen air of these high summits. It was Luther himself who discovered
+the "Theologia Germanica" and said of it that, "next to the Bible
+and St Augustine, no book hath ever come into my hands whence I have
+learnt or would wish to learn more of what God and Christ and man
+and all things are. I thank God that I have heard and found my God
+in the German tongue, as I have not yet found Him in Latin, Greek,
+or Hebrew." The theology of these mystics takes us straight back to
+the Johannine doctrine of Christ as the all-pervading Word of God,
+by whom all things were made and in whom all things hold together.
+He is not far from any one of us if we will but seek Him where He is
+to be found--in the innermost sanctuary of our personal life. In
+personal religion this means that no part of revelation is to be
+regarded as past, isolated, or external. "We should mark and know of
+a very truth," says the author of the "Theologia Germanica," "that
+all manner of virtue and goodness, and even the eternal Good which
+is God Himself, can never make a man virtuous, good, or happy, so
+long as it is outside the soul." In the same spirit Jacob Bšhme, 250
+years later, says: "If the sacrifice of Christ is to avail for me,
+it must be wrought in me." Or, as his English admirer, William Law,
+puts it: "Christ given for us is neither more nor less than Christ
+given into us. He is in no other sense our full, perfect, and
+sufficient Atonement than as His nature and spirit are born and
+formed in us." The whole process of redemption must in a sense be
+reenacted in the inner life of every Christian. And as Christ
+emptied Himself for our sakes, so must we empty ourselves of all
+self-seeking. "When the creature claimeth for its own anything good,
+such as life, knowledge, or power, and in short whatever we commonly
+call good, as if it were that, or possessed that--it goeth astray."
+Sin is nothing else but self-assertion, self-will. "Be assured,"
+says the "Theologia Germanica," "that he who helpeth a man to his
+own will, helpeth him to the worst that he can." He, therefore, who
+is "simply and wholly bereft of self" is delivered from sin, and God
+alone reigns in his inmost soul. Concerning the highest part or
+faculty of the soul, the author of this little treatise follows
+Eckhart, but cautiously. "The True Light," he says, "is that eternal
+Light which is God; or else it is a created light, but yet Divine,
+which is called grace." In either case, "where God dwells in a godly
+man, in such a man somewhat appertaineth to God which is His own,
+and belongs to Him only and not to the creature." This doctrine of
+divine immanence, for which there is ample warrant in the New
+Testament, is the real kernel of German mysticism. It is a doctrine
+which, when rightly used, may make this world a foretaste of heaven,
+but alas! the "False Light" is always trying to counterfeit the
+true. In the imitation of the suffering life of Christ lies the only
+means of escaping the deceptions of the Evil One. "The False Light
+dreameth itself to be God, and sinless"; but "none is without sin;
+if any is without consciousness of sin, he must be either Christ or
+the Evil Spirit."
+
+Very characteristic is the teaching of all these writers about
+rewards and punishments. Without in any way impugning the Church
+doctrine of future retribution, they yet agree with Benjamin
+Whichcote, the Cambridge Platonist, that "heaven is first a temper,
+then a place"; while of hell there is much to recall the noble
+sentence of Juliana of Norwich, the fourteenth-century visionary,
+"to me was showed no harder hell than sin." "Nothing burneth in hell
+but self-will," is a saying in the "Theologia Germanica."[24] They
+insist that the difference between heaven and hell is not that one
+is a place of enjoyment, the other of torment; it is that in the one
+we are with Christ, in the other without Him. "The Christlike life
+is not chosen," to quote the "Theologia Germanica" once more, "in
+order to serve any end, or to get anything by it, but for love of
+its nobleness, and because God loveth and esteemeth it so highly. He
+who doth not take it up for love, hath none of it at all; he may
+dream indeed that he hath put it on, but he is deceived. Christ did
+not lead such a life as this for the sake of reward, but out of
+love, and love maketh such a life light, and taketh away all its
+hardships, so that it becometh sweet and is gladly endured." The
+truly religious man is always more concerned about what God will do
+in him than what He will do to him; in his intense desire for the
+purification of his motives he almost wishes that heaven and hell
+were blotted out, that he might serve God for Himself alone.
+
+Sect. 5. WRITERS OF THE SCHOOL OF ECKHART--TAULER
+
+Such are the main characteristics of the religious teachings which
+we find in the German mystics. Among the successors of Eckhart, from
+whose writings the following extracts are taken, the most notable
+names are those of Tauler, Suso, and Ruysbroek. From Tauler I have
+taken very little, because a volume of selections from his sermons
+has already appeared in this series.[25] Accordingly, it will only
+be necessary to mention a very few facts about his life.
+
+John Tauler was born at Strassburg about 1300, and studied at the
+Dominican convents of Strassburg and Cologne. At both places he
+doubtless heard the sermons of Eckhart. In 1329 the great interdict
+began at Strassburg, and was stoutly resisted by many of the clergy.
+It is a disputed point whether Tauler himself obeyed the Papal
+decree or not. His uneventful life, which was devoted to study,
+preaching, and pastoral work, came to an end in 1361. Like Eckhart,
+he had a favourite "spiritual daughter," Margaret Ebner, who won a
+great reputation as a visionary.
+
+Sect. 6. SUSO
+
+Henry Suso was born in 1295 and died in 1365. His autobiography was
+published not long before his death. He is the poet of the band. The
+romance of saintship is depicted by him with a strange vividness
+which alternately attracts and repels, or even disgusts, the modern
+reader. The whole-hearted devotion of the "Servitor" to the "Divine
+Wisdom," the tender beauty of the visions and conversations, and the
+occasional na•veté of the narrative, which shows that the saint
+remained very human throughout, make Suso's books delightful
+reading; but the accounts of the horrible macerations to which he
+subjected himself for many years shock our moral sense almost as
+much as our sensibilities; we do not now believe that God takes
+pleasure in sufferings inflicted in His honour. Moreover, the erotic
+symbolism of the visions is occasionally unpleasant: we are no
+longer in the company of such sane and healthy people as Eckhart and
+Tauler. The half-sensuous pleasure of ecstasy was evidently a
+temptation to Suso, and the violent alternations of rapture and
+misery which he experienced suggest a neurotic and ill-balanced
+temperament.[26]
+
+On this subject--the pathological side of mysticism--a few remarks
+will not be out of place, for there has been much discussion of it
+lately. A great deal of nonsense has been written on the connexion
+between religion and neuroticism. To quote Professor James' vigorous
+protest, "medical materialism finishes up St Paul by calling his
+vision on the road to Damascus a discharging lesion of the occipital
+cortex, he being an epileptic. It snuffs out St Teresa as an
+hysteric, St Francis of Assisi as an hereditary degenerate. George
+Fox's discontent with the shams of his age, and his pining for
+spiritual veracity, it treats as a symptom of a disordered colon.
+Carlyle's organ-tones of misery it accounts for by a gastro-duodenal
+catarrh. All such mental over-tensions, it says, are, when you come
+to the bottom of the matter, mere affairs of diathesis
+(auto-intoxications most probably), due to the perverted action of
+various glands which physiology will yet discover."[27] Now, even if
+it were true that most religious geniuses, like most other geniuses,
+have been "psychopaths" of one kind or another, this fact in no way
+disposes of the value of their intuitions and experiences. Nearly
+all the great benefactors of humanity have been persons of
+one-sided, and therefore ill-balanced, characters. Even Maudsley
+admits that "Nature may find an incomplete mind a more suitable
+instrument for a particular purpose. It is the work that is done,
+and the quality in the worker by which it is done, that is alone of
+moment; and it may be no great matter from a cosmical standpoint, if
+in other qualities of character he (the genius) was singularly
+defective."[28] Except in the character of our Lord Himself, there
+are visible imperfections in the record of every great saint; but
+that is no reason for allowing such traces of human infirmity to
+discredit what is pure and good in their work. More particularly, it
+would be a great pity to let our minds dwell on the favourite
+materialistic theory that saintliness, especially as cultivated and
+venerated by Catholicism, has its basis in "perverted sexuality."
+There is enough plausibility in the theory to make it mischievous.
+The allegorical interpretation of the Book of Canticles was in truth
+the source of, or at least the model for, a vast amount of
+unwholesome and repulsive pietism. Not a word need be said for such
+a paltry narrative of endearments and sickly compliments as the
+"Revelations of the Nun Gertrude," in the thirteenth century. Nor
+are we concerned to deny that the artificially induced ecstasy,
+which is desired on account of the intense pleasure which is said to
+accompany it, nearly always contains elements the recognition of
+which would shock and distress the contemplatives themselves.[29]
+There are, however, other elements, of a less insidious kind, which
+make the ecstatic trance seem desirable. These are, according to
+Professor Leuba, the calming of the restless intellect by the
+concentration of the mind on one object; the longing for a support
+and comfort more perfect than man can give; and, thirdly, the
+consecration and strengthening of the will, which is often a
+permanent effect of the trance. These are legitimate objects of
+desire, and in many of the mystics they are much more prominent than
+any tendencies which might be considered morbid. As regards the
+larger question, about the alleged pathological character of all
+distinctively religious exaltation, I believe that no greater
+mistake could be made than to suppose that the religious life
+flourishes best in unnatural circumstances. Religion, from a
+biological standpoint, I take to be the expression of the racial
+will to live; its function (from this point of view) is the
+preservation and development of humanity on the highest possible
+level. If this is true, a simple, healthy, natural life must be the
+most favourable for religious excellence--and this I believe to be
+the case. Poor Suso certainly did not lead a healthy or natural
+life. But in his case, though the suppressed natural instincts
+obviously overflow into the religious consciousness and in part
+determine the forms which his devotion assumes, we can never forget
+that we are in the company of a poet and a saint who will lift us,
+if we can follow him, into a very high region of the spiritual life,
+an altitude which he has himself climbed with bleeding feet.
+
+The simple confidence which at the end of the dialogue he expresses
+in the value of his work is, I think, amply justified. "Whoever will
+read these writings of mine in a right spirit, can hardly fail to be
+stirred to the depths of his soul, either to fervent love, or to new
+light, or to hunger and thirst for God, or to hatred and loathing
+for his sins, or to that spiritual aspiration by which the soul is
+renewed in grace."
+
+Sect. 7. RUYSBROEK
+
+[Note: the Ruysbroek selection has not been reproduced in this
+electronic edition. An electronic text of a larger collection of
+Ruysbroek's works may be available.]
+
+Sect. 8. THEOLOGIA GERMANICA
+
+The "Theologia Germanica," an isolated treatise of no great length
+by an unknown author, was written towards the end of the fourteenth
+century by one of the Gottesfreunde, a widespread association of
+pious souls in Germany. He is said to have been "a priest and warden
+of the house of the Teutonic Order at Frankfort." His book is both
+the latest and one of the most important productions of the German
+mystical school founded by Eckhart. The author is a deeply religious
+philosopher, as much interested in speculative mysticism as Eckhart
+himself, but as thoroughly penetrated with devout feeling as Thomas
+ˆ Kempis. The treatise should be read by all, as one of the very
+best devotional works in any language. My only reason for not
+translating it in full here is that a good English translation
+already exists,[30] so that it seemed unnecessary to offer a new one
+to the public. I have therefore only translated a few characteristic
+passages, which are very far from exhausting its beauties, and a few
+of the more striking aphorisms, which indicate the main points in
+the religious philosophy of the writer.
+
+Sect. 9. MODERN MYSTICISM
+
+The revival of interest in the old mystical writers is not
+surprising when we consider the whole trend of modern thought. Among
+recent philosophers--though Lotze, perhaps the greatest name among
+them, is unsympathetic, in consequence of his over-rigid theory of
+personality--the great psychologist Fechner, whose religious
+philosophy is not so well known in this country as it deserves to
+be, has with some justice been called a mystic. And our own greatest
+living metaphysician, Mr F.H. Bradley, has expounded the dialectic
+of speculative mysticism with unequalled power, though with a bias
+against Christianity. Another significant fact is the great
+popularity, all over Europe, of Maeterlinck's mystical works, "Le
+Trésor des Humbles," "La Sagesse et la Destinée," and "Le
+Temple Enseveli."
+
+The growing science of psychology has begun to turn its attention
+seriously to the study of the religious faculty. Several able men
+have set themselves to collect material which may form the basis of
+an inductive science. Personal experiences, communicated by many
+persons of both sexes and of various ages, occupations, and levels
+of culture, have been brought together and tabulated. It is claimed
+that important facts have already been established, particularly in
+connexion with the phenomena of conversion, by this method. The
+results have certainly been more than enough to justify confidence
+in the soundness of the method, and hope that the new science may
+have a great future before it. Towards mysticism, recent writers on
+the psychology of religion have been less favourable than the pure
+metaphysicians. While the latter have shown a tendency towards
+Pantheism and Determinism, which makes them sympathise with the
+general trend of speculative mysticism, psychology seems just at
+present to lean towards a pluralistic metaphysic and a belief in
+free-will or even in chance. This attitude is especially noticeable
+in the now famous Gifford Lectures of Professor William James[31]
+and in the recent volume of essays written at Oxford.[32] But even
+if the rising tide of neo-Kantianism should cause the speculative
+mystics to be regarded with disfavour, nothing can prevent the
+religion of the twentieth century from being mystical in type. The
+strongest wish of a vast number of earnest men and women to-day is
+for a basis of religious belief which shall rest, not upon tradition
+or external authority or historical evidence, but upon the
+ascertainable facts of human experience. The craving for immediacy,
+which we have seen to be characteristic of all mysticism, now takes
+the form of a desire to establish the validity of the
+God-consciousness as a normal part of the healthy inner life. We may
+perhaps venture to predict that the Christian biologist of the
+future will turn the Pauline Christology into his own dialect
+somewhat after the following fashion:--"The function of religion in
+the human race is closely analogous to, if not identical with, that
+of instinct in the lower animals. Religion is the racial will to
+live; not, however, to live anyhow and at all costs, but to live as
+human beings, conforming as far as possible to the highest type of
+humanity. Religion, therefore, acts as a higher instinct, inhibiting
+all self-destroying and race-destroying impulses in the interest of
+a larger self than the individual life." To turn this statement into
+theological form it is only necessary to claim that the "perfect
+man" which the religious instinct is trying to form is "the measure
+of the stature of the fulness of Christ," that that perfect humanity
+was once realised in the historical Christ, and that the higher
+instinct within us--ourselves, yet not ourselves--which makes for
+life and righteousness, and is the source of all the good that we
+can think, say, or do, may (in virtue of that historical
+incarnation) be justly called the indwelling Christ. This is all
+that the Christian mystic needs.
+
+Sect. 10. SPECIMENS OF MODERN MYSTICISM
+
+I conclude this introductory essay with a few extracts from recent
+American books on the psychology of religion. It is interesting to
+find some of the strangest experiences of the cloister reproduced
+under the very different conditions of modern American life. The
+quotations will serve to show how far Tauler and the "Theologia
+Germanica" are from being out of date.
+
+"The thing which impressed me most" (says a correspondent of
+Professor William James)[33] "was learning the fact that we must be
+in absolutely constant relation or mental touch with that essence of
+life which permeates all and which we call God. This is almost
+unrecognisable unless we live into it ourselves actually--that is,
+by a constant turning to the very innermost, deepest consciousness
+of our real selves or of God in us, for illumination from within,
+just as we turn to the sun for light, warmth, and invigoration
+without. When you do this consciously, realising that to turn inward
+to the light within you is to live in the presence of God or of your
+Divine self, you soon discover the unreality of the objects to which
+you have hitherto been turning and which have engrossed you
+without."
+
+The next quotation comes from a small book by one of the "New
+Thought" or "Mind Cure" school in America. The enormous sale of the
+volume testifies to the popularity of the teaching which it
+contains.[34]
+
+"Intuition is an inner spiritual sense through which man is opened
+to the direct revelation and knowledge of God, the secret of nature
+and life, and through which he is brought into conscious unity and
+fellowship with God, and made to realise his own deific nature and
+supremacy of being as the son of God. Spiritual supremacy and
+illumination thus realised through the development and perfection of
+intuition under divine inspiration gives the perfect inner vision
+and direct insight into the character, properties, and purpose of
+all things to which the attention and interest are directed. It is,
+we repeat, a spiritual sense opening inwardly, as the physical
+senses open outwardly; and because it has the capacity to perceive,
+grasp, and know the truth at first hand, independent of all external
+sources of information, we call it intuition. All inspired teaching
+and spiritual revelations are based upon the recognition of this
+spiritual faculty of the soul and its power to receive and
+appropriate them. Conscious unity of man in spirit and purpose with
+the Father, born out of his supreme desire and trust, opens his soul
+through this inner sense to immediate aspiration and enlightenment
+from the divine omniscience, and the co-operative energy of the
+divine omnipotence, under which he becomes a seer and a master. On
+this higher plane of realised spiritual life in the flesh the mind
+acts with unfettered freedom and unbiassed vision, grasping truth at
+first hand, independent of all external sources of information.
+Approaching all beings and things from the divine side, they are
+seen in the light of the divine omniscience.[35] God's purpose in
+them, and so the truth concerning them, as it rests in the mind of
+God, are thus revealed by direct illumination from the divine mind,
+to which the soul is opened inwardly through this spiritual sense we
+call intuition."
+
+The practice of meditation "without images," as the mediaeval
+mystics called it, is specially recommended. "Many will receive
+great help, and many will be entirely healed by a practice somewhat
+after the following nature:--With a mind at peace, and with a heart
+going out in love to all, go into the quiet of your own interior
+self, holding the thought, I am one with the Infinite Spirit of
+Life, the life of my life. I now open my body, in which disease has
+gotten a foothold, I open it fully to the inflowing tide of this
+infinite life, and it now, even now, is pouring in and coursing
+through my body, and the healing process is going on." "If you would
+find the highest, the fullest, and the richest life that not only
+this world but that any world can know, then do away with the sense
+of the separateness of your life from the life of God. Hold to the
+thought of your oneness. In the degree that you do this, you will
+find yourself realising it more and more, and as this life of
+realisation is lived, you will find that no good thing will be
+withheld, for all things are included in this."[36]
+
+This modern mysticism is very much entangled with theories about the
+cure of bodily disease by suggestion; and it is fair to warn those
+who are unacquainted with the books of this sect that they will find
+much fantastic superstition mixed with a stimulating faith in the
+inner light as the voice of God.
+
+But whatever may be the course of this particular movement there can
+be no doubt that the Americans, like ourselves, are only at the
+beginning of a great revival of mystical religion. The movement will
+probably follow the same course as the mediaeval movement in
+Germany, with which this little book is concerned. It will have its
+philosophical supportees, who will press their speculation to the
+verge of Pantheism, perhaps reviving the Logos-cosmology of the
+Christian Alexandrians under the form of the pan-psychism of Lotze
+and Fechner. It will have its evangelists like Tauler, who will
+carry to our crowded town populations the glad tidings that the
+kingdom of God is not here or there, but within the hearts of all
+who will seek for it within them. It will assuredly attract some to
+a life of solitary contemplation; while others, intellectually
+weaker or less serious, will follow the various theosophical and
+theurgical delusions which, from the days of Iamblichus downward,
+have dogged the heels of mysticism. For the "False Light" against
+which the "Theologia Germanica" warns us is as dangerous as ever; we
+may even live to see some new "Brethren of the Free Spirit" turning
+their liberty into a cloak of licentiousness. If so, the world will
+soon whistle back the disciplinarian with his traditions of the
+elders; prophesying will once more be suppressed and discredited,
+and a new crystallising process will begin. But before that time
+comes some changes may possibly take place in the external
+proportions of Christian orthodoxy. The appearance of a vigorous
+body of faith, standing firmly on its own feet, may even have the
+effect of relegating to the sphere of pious opinion some tenets
+which have hitherto "seemed to be pillars."
+
+For these periodical returns to the "fresh springs" of religion
+never leave the tradition exactly where it was before. The German
+movement of the fourteenth century made the Reformation inevitable,
+and our own age may be inaugurating a change no less momentous,
+which will restore in the twentieth century some of the features of
+Apostolic Christianity.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+LIGHT, LIFE AND LOVE
+
+ECKHART
+
+
+
+
+
+GOD
+
+GOD is nameless, for no man can either say or understand aught about
+Him. If I say, God is good, it is not true; nay more; I am good, God
+is not good. I may even say, I am better than God; for whatever is
+good, may become better, and whatever may become better, may become
+best. Now God is not good, for He cannot become better. And if He
+cannot become better, He cannot become best, for these three things,
+good, better, and best, are far from God, since He is above all. If
+I also say, God is wise, it is not true; I am wiser than He. If I
+also say, God is a Being, it is not true; He is transcendent Being
+and superessential Nothingness. Concerning this St Augustine says:
+the best thing that man can say about God is to be able to be silent
+about Him, from the wisdom of his inner judgement. Therefore be
+silent and prate not about God, for whenever thou dost prate about
+God, thou liest, and committest sin. If thou wilt be without sin,
+prate not about God. Thou canst understand nought about God, for He
+is above all understanding. A master saith: If I had a God whom I
+could understand, I would never hold Him to be God. (318)[37]
+
+God is not only a Father of all good things, as being their First
+Cause and Creator, but He is also their Mother, since He remains
+with the creatures which have from Him their being and existence,
+and maintains them continually in their being. If God did not abide
+with and in the creatures, they must necessarily have fallen back,
+so soon as they were created, into the nothingness out of which they
+were created. (610)
+
+REST ONLY IN GOD
+
+IF I had everything that I could desire, and my finger ached, I
+should not have everything, for I should have a pain in my finger,
+and so long as that remained, I should not enjoy full comfort. Bread
+is comfortable for men, when they are hungry; but when they are
+thirsty, they find no more comfort in bread than in a stone. So it
+is with clothes, they are welcome to men, when they are cold; but
+when they are too hot, clothes give them no comfort. And so it is
+with all the creatures. The comfort which they promise is only on
+the surface, like froth, and it always carries with it a want. But
+God's comfort is clear and has nothing wanting: it is full and
+complete, and God is constrained to give it thee, for He cannot
+cease till He have given thee Himself. (300)
+
+It is only in God that are collected and united all the perfections,
+which in the creatures are sundered and divided. (324)
+
+Yet all the fulness of the creatures can as little express God, as a
+drop of water can express the sea. (173)
+
+GOD IS ALWAYS READY
+
+NO one ought to think that it is difficult to come to Him, though it
+sounds difficult and is really difficult at the beginning, and in
+separating oneself from and dying to all things. But when a man has
+once entered upon it, no life is lighter or happier or more
+desirable; for God is very zealous to be at all times with man, and
+teaches him that He will bring him to Himself if man will but
+follow. Man never desires anything so earnestly as God desires to
+bring a man to Himself, that he may know Him. God is always ready,
+but we are very unready; God is near to us, but we are far from Him;
+God is within, but we are without; God is at home, but we are
+strangers. The prophet saith: God guideth the redeemed through a
+narrow way into the broad road, so that they come into the wide and
+broad place; that is to say, into true freedom of the spirit, when
+one has become a spirit with God. May God help us to follow this
+course, that He may bring us to Himself. Amen. (223)
+
+GRACE
+
+THE masters say: That is young, which is near its beginning.
+Intelligence is the youngest faculty in man: the first thing to
+break out from the soul is intelligence, the next is will, the other
+faculties follow. Now he saith: Young man, I say unto thee, arise.
+The soul in itself is a simple work; what God works in the simple
+light of the soul is more beautiful and more delightful than all the
+other works which He works in all creatures. But foolish people take
+evil for good and good for evil. But to him who rightly understands,
+the one work which God works in the soul is better and nobler and
+higher than all the world. Through that light comes grace. Grace
+never comes in the intelligence or in the will. If it could come in
+the intelligence or in the will, the intelligence and the will would
+have to transcend themselves. On this a master says: There is
+something secret about it; and thereby he means the spark of the
+soul, which alone can apprehend God. The true union between God and
+the soul takes place in the little spark, which is called the spirit
+of the soul. Grace unites not to any work. It is an indwelling and a
+living together of the soul in God. (255)
+
+Every gift of God makes the soul ready to receive a new gift,
+greater than itself. (15)
+
+Yea, since God has never given any gift, in order that man might
+rest in the possession of the gift, but gives every gift that He has
+given in heaven and on earth, in order that He might be able to give
+one gift, which is Himself, so with this gift of grace, and with all
+His gifts He will make us ready for the one gift, which is Himself.
+(569)
+
+No man is so boorish or stupid or awkward, that he cannot, by God's
+grace, unite his will wholly and entirely with God's will. And
+nothing more is necessary than that he should say with earnest
+longing: O Lord, show me Thy dearest will, and strengthen me to do
+it. And God does it, as sure as He lives, and gives him grace in
+ever richer fulness, till he comes to perfection, as He gave to the
+woman at Jacob's well. Look you, the most ignorant and the lowest of
+you all can obtain this from God, before he leaves this church, yea,
+before I finish this sermon, as sure as God lives and I am a man.
+(187)
+
+O almighty and merciful Creator and good Lord, be merciful to me for
+my poor sins, and help me that I may overcome all temptations and
+shameful lusts, and may be able to avoid utterly, in thought and
+deed, what Thou forbiddest, and give me grace to do and to hold all
+that Thou hast commanded. Help me to believe, to hope, and to love,
+and in every way to live as Thou willest, as much as Thou willest,
+and what Thou willest. (415)
+
+THE WILL
+
+THEN is the will perfect, when it has gone out of itself, and is
+formed in the will of God. The more this is so, the more perfect and
+true is the will, and in such a will thou canst do all things. (553)
+
+SURRENDER OF THE WILL
+
+YOU should know, that that which God gives to those men who seek to
+do His will with all their might, is the best. Of this thou mayest
+be as sure, as thou art sure that God lives, that the very best must
+necessarily be, and that in no other way could anything better
+happen. Even if something else seems better, it would not be so good
+for thee, for God wills this and not another way, and this way must
+be the best for thee. Whether it be sickness or poverty or hunger or
+thirst, or whatever it be, that God hangs over thee or does not hang
+over thee--whatever God gives or gives not, that is all what is best
+for thee; whether it be devotion or inwardness, or the lack of these
+which grieves thee--only set thyself right in this, that thou
+desirest the glory of God in all things, and then whatever He does
+to thee, that is the best.
+
+Now thou mayest perchance say: How can I tell whether it is the will
+of God or not? If it were not the will of God, it would not happen.
+Thou couldst have neither sickness nor anything else unless God
+willed it. But know that it is God's will that thou shouldst have so
+much pleasure and satisfaction therein, that thou shouldst feel no
+pain as pain; thou shouldst take it from God as the very best thing,
+for it must of necessity be the very best thing for thee. Therefore
+I may even wish for it and desire it, and nothing would become me
+better than so to do.
+
+If there were a man whom I were particularly anxious to please, and
+if I knew for certain that he liked me better in a grey cloak than
+in any other, there is no doubt that however good another cloak
+might be, I should be fonder of the grey than of all the rest. And
+if there were anyone whom I would gladly please, I should do nothing
+else in word or deed than what I knew that he liked.
+
+Ah, now consider how your love shows itself! If you loved God, of a
+surety nothing would give you greater pleasure than what pleases Him
+best, and that whereby His will may be most fully done. And, however
+great thy pain or hardship may be, if thou hast not as great
+pleasure in it as in comfort or fulness, it is wrong.
+
+We say every day in prayer to our Father, Thy will be done. And yet
+when His will is done, we grumble at it, and find no pleasure in His
+will. If our prayers were sincere, we should certainly think His
+will, and what He does, to be the best, and that the very best had
+happened to us. (134)
+
+Those who accept all that the Lord send, as the very best, remain
+always in perfect peace, for in them God's will has become their
+will. This is incomparably better than for our will to become God's
+will. For when thy will becomes God's will--if thou art sick, thou
+wishest not to be well contrary to God's will, but thou wishest that
+it were God's will that thou shouldest be well. And so in other
+things. But when God's will becomes thy will--then thou art sick: in
+God's name; thy friend dies: in God's name! (55)
+
+SUFFERING
+
+MEN who love God are so far from complaining of their sufferings,
+that their complaint and their suffering is rather because the
+suffering which God's will has assigned them is so small. All their
+blessedness is to suffer by God's will, and not to have suffered
+something, for this is the loss of suffering. This is why I said,
+Blessed are they who are willing to suffer for righteousness, not,
+Blessed are they who have suffered. (434)
+
+All that a man bears for God's sake, God makes light and sweet for
+him. (45)
+
+If all was right with you, your sufferings would no longer be
+suffering, but love and comfort. (442)
+
+If God could have given to men anything more noble than suffering,
+He would have redeemed mankind with it: otherwise, you must say that
+my Father was my enemy, if he knew of anything nobler than
+suffering. (338)
+
+True suffering is a mother of all the virtues. (338)
+
+SIN
+
+DEADLY sin is a death of the soul. To die is to lose life. But God
+is the life of the soul; since then deadly sin separates us from
+God, it is a death of the soul.
+
+Deadly sin is also an unrest of the heart. Everything can rest only
+in its proper place. But the natural place of the soul is God; as St
+Augustine says, Lord, thou hast made us for Thyself, and our heart
+is restless till it finds rest in Thee. But deadly sin separates us
+from God; therefore it is an unrest of the heart. Deadly sin is also
+a sickness of the faculties, when a man can never stand up alone for
+the weight of his sins, nor ever resist falling into sin. Therefore
+deadly sin is a sickness of the faculties. Deadly sin is also a
+blindness of the sense, in that it suffers not a man to know the
+shortness of the pleasures of lust, nor the length of the punishment
+in hell, nor the eternity of joys in heaven. Deadly sin is also a
+death of all graces; for as soon as a deadly sin takes place, a man
+becomes bare of all graces. (217)
+
+Every creature must of necessity abide in God; if we fall out of the
+hands of his mercy, we fall into the hands of His justice. We must
+ever abide in Him. What madness then is it to wish not to be with
+Him, without whom thou canst not be! (169)
+
+CONTENTMENT
+
+A GREAT teacher once told a story in his preaching about a man who
+for eight years besought God to show him a man who would make known
+to him the way of truth. While he was in this state of anxiety there
+came a voice from God and spake to him: Go in front of the church,
+and there shalt thou find a man who will make known to thee the way
+of truth. He went, and found a poor man whose feet were chapped and
+full of dirt, and all his clothes were hardly worth
+twopence-halfpenny. He greeted this poor man and said to him, God
+give thee a good morning. The poor man answered, I never had a bad
+morning. The other said, God give thee happiness. How answerest thou
+that? The poor man answered, I was never unhappy. The first then
+said, God send thee blessedness. How answerest thou that? I was
+never unblessed, was the answer. Lastly the questioner said, God
+give thee health! Now enlighten me, for I cannot understand it. And
+the poor man replied, When thou saidst to me, may God give thee a
+good morning, I said I never had a bad morning. If I am hungry, I
+praise God for it; if I am cold, I praise God for it; if I am
+distressful and despised, I praise God for it; and that is why I
+never had a bad morning. When thou askedst God to give me happiness,
+I answered that I had never been unhappy; for what God gives or
+ordains for me, whether it be His love or suffering, sour or sweet,
+I take it all from God as being the best, and that is why I was
+never unhappy. Thou saidst further, May God make thee blessed, and I
+said, I was never unblessed, for I have given up my will so entirely
+to God's will, that what God wills, that I also will, and that is
+why I was never unblessed, because I willed alone God's will. Ah!
+dear fellow, replied the man; but if God should will to throw thee
+into hell, what wouldst thou say then? He replied, Throw me into
+hell! Then I would resist Him. But even if He threw me into hell, I
+should still have two arms wherewith to embrace Him. One arm is true
+humility, which I should place under Him, and with the arm of love I
+should embrace Him. And he concluded, I would rather be in hell and
+possess God, than in the kingdom of heaven without Him. (623)
+
+DETACHMENT
+
+THE man who has submitted his will and purposes entirely to God,
+carries God with him in all his works and in all circumstances.
+Therein can no man hinder him, for he neither aims at nor enjoys
+anything else, save God. God is united with Him in all his purposes
+and designs. Even as no manifoldness can dissipate God, so nothing
+can dissipate such a man, or destroy his unity. Man, therefore,
+should take God with him in all things; God should be always present
+to his mind and will and affections. The same disposition that thou
+hast in church or in thy cell, thou shouldst keep and maintain in a
+crowd, and amid the unrest and manifoldness of the world.
+
+Some people pride themselves on their detachment from mankind, and
+are glad to be alone or in church; and therein lies their peace. But
+he who is truly in the right state, is so in all circumstances, and
+among all persons; he who is not in a good state, it is not right
+with him in all places and among all persons. He who is as he should
+be has God with him in truth, in all places and among all persons,
+in the street as well as in the church; and then no man can hinder
+him. (547)
+
+It is often much harder for a man to be alone in a crowd than in the
+desert; and it is often harder to leave a small thing than a great,
+and to practise a small work than one which people consider very
+great. (565)
+
+PRAYER
+
+GOOD and earnest prayer is a golden ladder which reaches up to
+heaven, and by which man ascends to God.
+
+The man who will pray aright should ask for nothing except what may
+promote God's honour and glory, his own profit and the advantage of
+his neighbours. When we ask for temporal things we should always
+add, if it be God's will and if it be for my soul's health. But when
+we pray for virtues, we need add no qualification, for these are
+God's own working. (359)
+
+LOVE OF OUR NEIGHBOUR
+
+IT is a hard thing to practise this universal love, and to love our
+neighbours as ourselves, as our Lord commanded us. But if you will
+understand it rightly, there is a greater reward attached to this
+command, than to any other. The commandment seems hard, but the
+reward is precious indeed. (135)
+
+LOVE
+
+HE who has found this way of love, seeketh no other. He who turns on
+this pivot is in such wise a prisoner that his foot and hand and
+mouth and eyes and heart, and all his human faculties, belong to
+God. And, therefore, thou canst overcome thy flesh in no better way,
+so that it may not shame thee, than by love. This is why it is
+written, Love is as strong as death, as hard as hell. Death
+separates the soul from the body, but love separates all things from
+the soul. She suffers nought to come near her, that is not God nor
+God-like. Happy is he who is thus imprisoned; the more thou art a
+prisoner, the more wilt thou be freed. That we may be so imprisoned,
+and so freed, may He help us, Who Himself is Love. (30)
+
+THE UNION WITH GOD
+
+THE union of the soul with God is far more inward than that of the
+soul and body. (566)
+
+Now I might ask, how stands it with the soul that is lost in God?
+Does the soul find herself or not? To this will I answer as it
+appears to me, that the soul finds herself in the point, where every
+rational being understands itself with itself. Although it sinks and
+sinks in the eternity of the Divine Essence, yet it can never reach
+the ground. Therefore God has left a little point wherein the soul
+turns back upon itself and finds itself, and knows itself to be a
+creature. (387)
+
+God alone must work in thee without hindrance, that He may bring to
+perfection His likeness in thee. So thou mayest understand with Him,
+and love with Him. This is the essence of perfection. (471)
+
+THE LAST JUDGMENT
+
+PEOPLE say of the last day, that God shall give judgment. This is
+true. But it is not true as people imagine. Every man pronounces his
+own sentence; as he shows himself here in his essence, so will he
+remain everlastingly. (471)
+
+PRECEPT AND PRACTICE
+
+BETTER one life-master than a thousand reading-masters (wêger wêre
+ein lebemeister denne tûsent lesemeister). If I sought a master
+in the scriptures, I should seek him in Paris and in the high
+schools of high learning. But if I wished to ask questions about the
+perfect life, that he could not tell me. Where then must I go?
+Nowhere at all save to an utterly simple nature; he could answer my
+question. (599)
+
+RELICS
+
+MY people, why seek ye after dead bones? Why seek ye not after
+living holiness, which might give you everlasting life? The dead can
+neither give nor take away. (599)
+
+SAYINGS OF ECKHART
+
+MASTER ECKHART saith: He who is always alone, he is worthy of God;
+and he who is always at home, to him is God present; and be who
+abides always in a present now, in him doth God beget His Son
+without ceasing. (600)
+
+Master Eckhart saith: I will never pray to God to give Himself to
+me: I will pray Him to make me purer. If I were purer, God must give
+Himself to me, of His own nature, and sink into me. (601)
+
+Master Eckhart was asked, what were the greatest goods, that God had
+done to him. He said, there are three. The first is, that the lusts
+and desires of the flesh have been taken away from me. The second
+is, that the Divine Light shines and gives me light in all my
+doings. The third is, that I am daily renewed in virtue, grace and
+holiness. (602)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TAULER
+
+
+
+
+
+OUR AIM
+
+THINK, and think earnestly, how great, how unutterable will be the
+joy and blessedness, the glory and honour of those who shall see
+clearly and without veil the gladsome and beauteous face of God, how
+they will enjoy the best and highest good, which is God Himself. For
+in Him is included all pleasure, might, joy, and all beauty, so that
+the blessed in God will possess everything that is good and
+desirable, with everlasting joy and security, without fear lest they
+should ever be parted from Him. (138)[38]
+
+CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL
+
+FROM the time when the first man gave a ready ear to the words of
+the enemy, mankind have been deaf, so that none of us can hear or
+understand the loving utterances of the eternal Word. Something has
+happened to the ears of man, which has stopped up his ears, so that
+he cannot hear the loving Word; and he has also been so blinded,
+that he has become stupid, and does not know himself. If he wished
+to speak of his own inner life, he could not do it; he knows not
+where he is, nor what is his state. (91)
+
+How can it be that the noble reason, the inner eye, is so blinded
+that it cannot see the true light? This great shame has come about,
+because a thick coarse skin and a thick fur has been drawn over him,
+even the love and the opinion of the creatures, whether it be the
+man himself or something that belongs to him; hence man has become
+blind and deaf, in whatever position he may be, worldly or
+spiritual. Yes, that is his guilt, that many a thick skin is drawn
+over him, as thick as an ox's forehead, and it has so covered up his
+inner man, that neither God nor himself can get inside; it has grown
+into him. (92)
+
+THE FALL
+
+THROUGH two things man fell in Paradise--through pride, and through
+inordinate affection. Therefore we too must return by two things,
+that nature may recover her power: we must first sink our nature and
+bring it down under God and under all men in deep humility, against
+whom it had exalted itself in pride. We must also manfully die to
+all inordinate lusts. (1)
+
+LIFE A BATTLE
+
+NOTHING in the world is so necessary for man as to be constantly
+assailed; for in fighting he learns to know himself. As grace is
+necessary to a man, so also is fighting. Virtue begins in fighting,
+and is developed in fighting. In every state to which a man is
+called, inward and outward, he must of necessity be assailed. A high
+Master said: As little as meat can remain without salt and yet not
+become corrupt, so little can a man remain without fighting. (104)
+
+A man should in the first place act as when a town is besieged, and
+it is certain that the besieging army is stronger than the town.
+When the town is weakest, men take the very greatest care to guard
+and defend the town; if they neglected to do so, they would lose the
+town, and with it their lives and properties. So should every man
+do: he should be most careful to find out in what things the evil
+spirit most often besets him--that is, on what side the man is
+weakest, and to what kind of errors and failings he is most prone,
+and should manfully defend himself at those points.
+
+Next, turn thyself earnestly away from sin; for I tell you of a
+truth, by whatever temptation a man is assailed, if he turns not
+from it heartily, but stands in it vacillating, he has no
+wholehearted desire to leave his sins by God's will, and without
+doubt the evil spirit is close upon him, who may make him fall into
+endless perdition.
+
+Know of a truth, that if thou wouldst truly overcome the evil
+spirit, this can only be done by a complete manful turning away from
+sin. Say then with all thy heart: Oh, everlasting God, help me and
+give me Thy Divine grace to be my help, for it is my steadfast
+desire never again to commit any deadly sin against Thy Divine will
+and Thine honour. So with thy good will and intention thou entirely
+overcomest the evil spirit, so that he must fly from thee ashamed.
+
+Understand, however, that it is a miserable and pitiable thing for a
+reasonable man to let himself be overcome by the evil spirit, and in
+consequence of his attacks to fall voluntarily into grievous and
+deadly sin, whereby man loses the grace of God. A reasonable man,
+who allows himself voluntarily to be overcome by the evil spirit, is
+like a well-armed man who voluntarily lets a fly bite him to death.
+For man has many great and strong weapons, wherewith he may well and
+manfully withstand the evil spirit--the holy faith, the blessed
+sacrament, the holy word of God, the model and example of all good
+and holy men, the prayers of holy Church, and other great supports
+against the power of the evil spirit, whose power is much less than
+that of a fly against a great bear. If a man will manfully and
+boldly withstand the evil spirit, the evil one can gain no advantage
+against his free will.
+
+Turn, therefore, manfully and earnestly from your sins, and watch
+diligently and earnestly; for I tell you of a truth, that when you
+have come to the next world, if you have not withstood the evil
+spirit, and if you are found there without repentance and sorrow,
+you will be a mockery to all the devils and to yourself, and you
+will be eternally punished and tormented. And it will then be a
+greater woe to you, that you have followed the evil spirit, than all
+the external pains that you must endure eternally for your sins.
+
+Thirdly, a man should diligently attend to his inner Ground, that
+there shall be nothing in it save God alone, and His eternal glory.
+For alas! there are many men, both lay and clerical, who live
+falsely beneath a fair show, and imagine that they can deceive the
+everlasting God. No, in truth, thou deceivest thyself, and losest
+the day of grace, and the favour of God, and makest thyself guilty
+towards God, in that He gives the evil spirits power over thee, so
+that thou canst do no good work. Therefore, watch while it is day,
+that the hour of darkness and God's disfavour may not overtake thee,
+and take heed that in thy inner ground God may dwell, and nought
+besides. (75)
+
+Even as each man in his baptism is placed under the charge of a
+special angel, who is with him always and never leaves him, and
+protects him waking and sleeping in all his ways and in all his
+works, so every man has a special devil, who continually opposes him
+and exercises him without ceasing. But if the man were wise and
+diligent, the opposition of the devil and his exercises would be
+much more profitable to him than the aid of the good angel; for if
+there were no struggle, there could be no victory. (139)
+
+SIN
+
+WHEN a man has had the fair net of his soul torn by sin, he must
+patch and mend it by a humble, repentant return to the grace and
+mercy of God. He must act like one who wishes to make a crooked
+stick straight: he bends the stick further back than it ought to go,
+and by being thus bent back it becomes straight again. So must a man
+do to his own nature. He must bend himself under all things which
+belong to God, and break himself right off, inwardly and outwardly,
+from all things which are not God.
+
+Every deadly sin causes the precious blood of Christ to be shed
+afresh. Jesus Christ is spiritually crucified many times every day.
+(75)
+
+FISHING FOR SOULS
+
+THE fisherman throws his hook, that he may catch the fish; but the
+fish itself takes the hook. When the fish takes the hook, the
+fisherman is sure of the fish, and draws it to him. Even so, God has
+thrown His hook and His net into all the world, before our feet,
+before our eyes, before our minds, and He would gladly draw us
+securely to Himself by means of all His creatures. By pleasurable
+things He draws us on; by painful things He drives us on. He who
+will not be drawn, is in fault; for he has not taken God's hook, nor
+will he be caught in God's net. If he came therein, beyond doubt he
+would be caught by God and would be drawn by God. It is not God's
+fault if we will not be drawn; we should grasp the hand held out to
+us. If a man were in a deep pool, and one tried to help him and pull
+him out, would he not gladly grasp his hand and allow himself to be
+pulled out? (42)
+
+Where two things are so related to each other, that one may receive
+something for the other, there must be something in common between
+them. If they had nothing in common, there must be a middle term
+between them, which has something in common both with the higher,
+from which it may receive, and with the lower, to which it may
+impart. Now God hath created all things, and especially mankind,
+immediately for Himself. He created man for His pleasure. But by
+sin, human nature was so far estranged from God, that it was
+impossible for a man to attain to that, for which he was made. Now
+Aristotle says that God and Nature are not unprofitable
+workers--that is, what they work at, they carry to its end. Now God
+created man that He might have pleasure in him. If then God's work
+in creating mankind was not to be unprofitable, when they were so
+far estranged from God by sin, that they could not receive that by
+which they might return and attain the enjoyment of eternal
+happiness, a Mediator was necessary between us and God, one who has
+something in common with us and our natures, and also shares in the
+nature of God. In order that on the one side, He might in Himself
+destroy our sickness, which was a cause of all our sins, and also
+destroy all our sins, to which our weakness has brought us; and on
+the other side that He might include in Himself all the treasure of
+grace and of God's honour, that He might be able to give us grace
+richly, and forgiveness of our sins, and eternal glory hereafter,
+this could only be, if the Son of God became man. (90)
+
+Yea, the highest God and Lord of all lords, the Son of God, in His
+deep love felt pity for us poor, sinful men, condemned to the flames
+of hell. Though He was in the form of God, He thought it not robbery
+(as St Paul says) to be equal with God, and He annihilated Himself,
+and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made like any other
+man, being found in fashion as a man. He humbled Himself, and became
+obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (117)
+
+THE EFFICACY OF DIVINE GRACE
+
+ALL works which men and all creatures can ever work even to the end
+of the world, without the grace of God--all of them together,
+however great they may be, are an absolute nothing, as compared with
+the smallest work which God has worked in men by His grace. As much
+as God is better than all His creatures, so much better are His
+works than all the works, or wisdom, or designs, which all men could
+devise. Even the smallest drop of grace is better than all earthly
+riches that are beneath the sun. Yea, a drop of grace is more noble
+than all angels and all souls, and all the natural things that God
+has made. And yet grace is given more richly by God to the soul than
+any earthly gift. It is given more richly than brooks of water, than
+the breath of the air, than the brightness of the sun; for spiritual
+things are far finer and nobler than earthly things. The whole
+Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, give grace to the soul, and
+flow immediately into it; even the highest angel, in spite of his
+great nobility, cannot do this. Grace looses us from the snares of
+many temptations; it relieves us from the heavy burden of worldly
+cares, and carries the spirit up to heaven, the land of spirits. It
+kills the worm of conscience, which makes sins alive. Grace is a
+very powerful thing. The man, to whom cometh but a little drop of
+the light of grace, to him all that is not God becomes as bitter as
+gall upon the tongue. (86)
+
+Grace makes, contrary to nature, all sorrows sweet, and brings it
+about that a man no longer feels any relish for things which
+formerly gave him great pleasure and delight. On the other hand,
+what formerly disgusted him, now delights him and is the desire of
+his heart--for instance, weakness, sorrow, inwardness, humility,
+self-abandonment, and detachment from all the creatures. All this is
+in the highest degree dear to him, when this visitation of the Holy
+Ghost, grace, has in truth come to him. Then the sick man, that is
+to say the external man, with all his faculties is plunged
+completely into the pool of water, even as the sick man who had been
+for thirty-eight years by the pool at Jerusalem, and there washes
+himself thoroughly in the exalted, noble, precious blood of Christ
+Jesus. For grace in manifold ways bathes the soul in the wounds and
+blood of the holy Lamb, Jesus Christ. (22)
+
+PRAYER
+
+THE essence of prayer is the ascent of the mind to God, as holy
+teachers tell us. Therefore every good man, when he wishes to pray,
+ought to collect his outer senses into himself, and look into his
+mind, to see whether it be really turned to God. He who wishes that
+his prayers may be truly heard, must keep himself turned away from
+all temporal and external things, and all that is not Divine,
+whether it be friend or joy (Freund oder Freude), and all vanities,
+whether they be clothes or ornaments, and from everything of which
+God is not the true beginning and ending, and from everything that
+does not belong to Him. He must cut off his words and his conduct,
+his manners and his demeanour, from all irregularity, inward or
+outward. Dream not that that can be a true prayer, when a man only
+babbles outwardly with his mouth, and reads many psalms, gabbling
+them rapidly and hastily, while his mind wanders this way and that,
+backwards and forwards. Much rather must the true prayer be, as St
+Peter tells us, "one-minded"[39]—that is, the mind must cleave to
+God alone, and a man must look with the face of his soul turned
+directly towards God, with a gentle, willing dependence on Him. (80)
+
+If thy prayer has these conditions, thou mayst with true humility
+fall at the feet of God, and pray for the gentle succour of God;
+thou mayest knock at His fatherly heart, and ask for bread—that is,
+for love. If a man had all the food in the world, and had not bread,
+his food would be neither eatable, nor pleasant, nor useful. So it
+is with all things, without the Love of God. Knock also at the door
+through which we must go--namely, Christ Jesus. At this door, the
+praying man must knock for three ends, if he wishes to be really
+admitted. First he must knock devoutly, at the broken heart and the
+open side, and enter in with all devotion, and in recognition of his
+unfathomable poverty and nothingness, as poor Lazarus did at the
+rich man's gate, and ask for crumbs of His grace. Then again, he
+should knock at the door of the holy open wounds of His holy hands,
+and pray for true Divine knowledge, that it may enlighten him and
+exalt him. Finally, knock at the door of His holy feet, and pray for
+true Divine love, which may unite thee with Him, and immerse and
+cover thee in Him. (57)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+MEDITATIONS ON THE SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS
+
+
+
+
+
+[From a devotional treatise on the Passion of Christ, published in a
+Latin translation, by Surius, in 1548, and wrongly ascribed by him
+to Tauler. The author was an unknown German of the fourteenth
+century.]
+
+THE FIRST WORD
+
+NOW, O my soul, and all ye who have been redeemed by the precious
+blood of Christ, come, and let us go with inward compassion and
+fervent devotion to the blessed palm-tree of the Cross, which is
+laden with the fairest fruit. Let us pass like the bee from flower
+to flower, for all are full of honey. Let us consider and ponder
+with the greatest care the sacred words of Christ, which He spoke
+upon the Cross; for everything that comes From this blessed Tree is
+wholesome and good. In the Cross of our Lord and Saviour are centred
+all our salvation, all our health, all our life, all our glory; and,
+"if we suffer with Him," saith the Apostle, "we shall also reign
+with Him." That we may not be found ungrateful for these inestimable
+benefits, let us call upon heaven and earth, and all that in them
+is, to join us in praising and blessing and giving thanks to God.
+Let us invite them to come and look upon this wondrous sight, and
+say: "Magnify the Lord with me, for He hath done marvellous things.
+O praise and bless the Lord with me, for great is His mercy toward
+us." Come up with me, I pray you, ye angelic spirits, to Mount
+Calvary, and see your King Solomon on His throne, wearing the diadem
+wherewith His mother has crowned Him. Let us weep in the presence of
+the Lord who made us, the Lord our God. O all mankind, and all ye
+who are members of Christ, behold your Redeemer as He hangs on high;
+behold and weep. See if any sorrow is like unto His sorrow.
+Acknowledge the heinousness of your sins, which needed such
+satisfaction. Go to every part of His body; you will find only
+wounds and blood. Cry to Him with lamentations and say, "O Jesus,
+our redemption, our love, our desire, what mercy has overcome Thee,
+that Thou shouldest bear our sins, and endure a cruel death, to
+rescue us from everlasting death?" And Thou, O God, the almighty
+Father of heaven, look down from Thy sanctuary upon Thine innocent
+Son Joseph, sold and given over unjustly to the hands of bloody men,
+to suffer a shameful death. See whether this be Thy Son's coat or
+not. Of a truth an evil beast hath devoured Him. The blood of our
+sins is sprinkled over His garments, and all the coverings of His
+good name are defiled by it. See how Thy holy Child has been
+condemned with the wicked, how Thy royal Son has been crowned with
+thorns. Behold His innocent hands, which have known no sin, dripping
+with blood; behold His sacred feet, which have never turned aside
+from the path of justice, pierced through by a cruel nail; behold
+His defenceless side smitten with a sharp spear; behold His fair
+face, which the angels desire to look upon, marred and shorn of all
+its beauty; behold His blessed heart, which no impure thought ever
+stained, weighed down with inward sorrow. Behold, O loving Father,
+Thy sweet Son, stretched out upon the harp of the Cross, and harping
+blessings on Thee with all His members. Wherefore, O my God, I pray
+Thee to forgive me, for the sake of Thy Son's Passion, all the sins
+that I have committed in my members. O merciful Father, look on Thy
+only-begotten Son, that Thou mayst have compassion on Thy servant.
+Whenever that red blood of Thy Son speaks in Thy sight, do Thou wash
+me from every stain of sin. Whenever Thou beholdest the wounds of
+this Thy Son, open to me the bosom of Thy fatherly compassion.
+Behold, O tender Father, how Thy obedient Son does not cry, "Bind my
+hands and my feet, that I may not rebel against Thee," but how of
+His own will He extends His hands and feet, and gladly allows them
+to be pierced with nails. Look down, I pray Thee, not on the brazen
+serpent hanging on a pole for the salvation of Israel, but on Thine
+only Son hanging on the Cross for the salvation of all men. It is
+not Moses who now stretches out his hand to heaven, that the thunder
+and lightning and the other plagues may cease, but it is Thy beloved
+Son, who lovingly stretches out His bleeding arms to Thee, that Thy
+wrath may depart from the human race. Aaron and Hur are not now
+holding up the hands of Moses that he may pray more unweariedly for
+Israel; but hard and cruel nails have fastened the hands of Thy only
+Son to the Cross, that He may wait with long-suffering for our
+repentance, and receive us back into His grace, and that He may not
+turn away in wrath from our prayers. This is that faithful David,
+who now strings tight the harp-strings of His body, and makes sweet
+melody before Thee, singing to Thee the sweetest song that has been
+ever sung to Thee: "Father forgive them, for they know not what they
+do." This is that High Priest, who by His own blood has entered into
+the Holy of Holies, to offer Himself as a peace-offering for the
+sins of the whole world. This is that innocent Lamb, who has washed
+us in His own precious blood, who, Himself without spot of sin, has
+taken away the sins of the world. Therefore from the storehouse of
+His Passion I borrow the price of my debt, and I count out before
+Thee all its merits, to pay what I owe Thee. For He has done all in
+my nature, and for my sake. O merciful Father, if Thou weighest all
+my sins on one side of the balance, and in the other scale the
+Passion of Thy Son, the last will outweigh the first. For what sin
+can be so great, that the innocent blood of Thy Son has not washed
+it out? What pride, or disobedience, or lust, is so unchecked or so
+rebellious, that such lowliness, obedience, and poverty cannot
+abolish it? O merciful Father, accept the deeds of Thy beloved Son,
+and forgive the errors of Thy wicked servant. For the innocent blood
+of our brother Abel crieth to Thee from the Cross, not for
+vengeance, but for grace and mercy, saying, "Father, forgive them,
+for they know not what they do."
+
+THE SECOND WORD
+
+NOW the thieves who were crucified with Jesus reviled Him. But after
+a while, the one who hung on the right side of Christ, when he saw
+His great patience and long-suffering, wherewith He so lovingly
+prayed to His Father for those who cast reproaches upon Him and
+cruelly tortured Him, became entirely changed, and began to be moved
+with very great sorrow and repentance for his sins. And he showed
+this outwardly, when he rebuked his fellow-thief, who continued to
+revile Christ, saying: "Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in
+the same condemnation?" "Although" (he would say) "thou art so
+obstinate as not to fear men, and thinkest nought of thy bodily
+pain, yet surely thou must fear God, in the last moments of thy
+life--God, who hath power to destroy both thy body and soul in hell.
+And though we suffer the same punishment with Him, our deserts are
+very different. We, indeed, suffer justly, for we receive the due
+reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss." He, who
+but lately was a blasphemer, is now a confessor and preacher, he
+distinguishes good from evil, blaming the sinner, and excusing the
+innocent: the unbelieving thief has become the confessor of almighty
+God. O good Jesus, this sudden change is wrought by Thy right hand,
+at which he hung. Thy right hand touched him inwardly, and forthwith
+he is changed into another man. O Lord, in this Thou hast declared
+Thy patience, out of a stone Thou hast raised up a child unto
+Abraham. Verily, the penitent thief received the light of faith
+solely from that bright light on the candlestick of the Cross, which
+shone there in the darkness and scattered the shades of night. But
+what does this signify, save that our Lord Jesus, out of the
+greatness of His goodness, looked upon him with the eyes of His
+mercy, although He found no merit in him, except what it pleased Him
+out of His goodness to bestow? For as God gives to His elect, out of
+His goodness alone, what no one has a right to demand, so out of His
+justice He gives to the wicked what they deserve. For this cause
+David says: "He saved me because He desired me." And this is why the
+thief, before the Lord touched his heart with the beams of His grace
+and love, joined the other thief in reviling Christ, thus showing
+first what his own character was, and afterwards what was wrought in
+him by grace. At first he acted like the other, being, like him, a
+child of wrath; but when the precious blood of Christ was shed as
+the price of our redemption and paid to the Father for our debt,
+then the thief asked God to give him an alms for his good, and at
+once received it. For how can one alms diminish that inexhaustible
+treasure? How could our tender Lord, whose property is always to
+have mercy, have refused his request? Indeed He gave him more than
+he asked. Yet how could the thief escape the glow of the fire which
+was burning so near him? Truly this was the fire, which the Father
+had sent down from heaven to earth, which had long smouldered, but
+now, kindled anew, and fed by the wood of the Cross, and sprinkled
+with the oil of mercy, and fanned, as it were, by the reproaches and
+blasphemies of the Jews, sent up its flames to heaven, by which that
+thief was quite kindled and set on fire, and his love became as
+strong as death, so that he said: "I indeed suffer no grievous
+penalty, for it is less than I deserve; but that this innocent One,
+who has done no wrong, should be so tortured, contrary to justice
+and righteousness, this, truly, adds grievous sorrow to my sorrow."
+O splendid faith of this thief! He contemned all the punishment that
+might be inflicted on him: he feared not the rage of the people, who
+were barking like mad dogs against Jesus: he cared not for the chief
+priests: he feared not the executioners with their weapons and
+instruments of torture; but in the presence of them all, with a
+fearless heart he confessed that Christ was the true Son of God, and
+Lord of the whole world: and at the same time he confounded the Jews
+by confessing that He had done nothing amiss, and therefore that
+they had crucified Him unjustly. O wondrous faith! O mighty
+constancy! O amazing love of this poor thief, love that cast out all
+fear! He was indeed well drunken with that new wine which in the
+wine-press of the Cross had been pressed out of that sweet cluster,
+Jesus Christ, and therefore he confessed Christ without shame before
+all the people. At the very beginning of the Passion, the apostles
+and disciples had forsaken Christ and fled; even St Peter,
+frightened by the voice of one maidservant, had denied Christ. But
+this poor thief did not forsake Him even in death, but confessed Him
+to be the Lord of heaven in the presence of all those armed men. Who
+can do justice to the merits of this man? Who taught him so quickly
+that faith of his, and his clear knowledge of all the virtues, save
+the very Wisdom of the Father, Jesus Christ, who hung near him on
+the Cross? Him whom the Jews could not or would not know, in spite
+of the promises made to the patriarchs, the fulfilment of
+prophecies, the teaching of the Scriptures, and the interpretation
+of allegories, this poor thief learned to know by repentance. He
+confessed Christ to be the Son of God, though he saw Him full of
+misery, want, and torment, and dying from natural weakness. He
+confessed Him at a time when the apostles, who had seen His mighty
+works, denied Him. The nails were holding his hands and feet fixed
+to the cross; he had nothing free about him, except his heart and
+his tongue; yet he gave to God all that he could give to Him, and,
+in the words of Scripture, "with his heart he believed unto
+righteousness, and with his tongue he made confession of Christ unto
+salvation." O infinite and unsearchable mercy of God! For what
+manner of man was he when he was sent to the cross, and what when he
+left it? (Not that it was his own cross, that wrought this change,
+but the power of Christ crucified.) He came to the cross stained
+with the blood of his fellow-man; he was taken down from it cleansed
+by the blood of Christ. He came to the cross still savage and full
+of rage, and while he was upon it he became so meek and pitiful that
+he lamented for the sufferings of another more than for his own. One
+member only was left to him, and at the eleventh hour he came to
+work in God's vineyard, and yet so eagerly did he labour that he was
+the first to finish his work and receive his reward. Indeed he
+behaved like a just man; for he first accused himself and confessed
+his sins, saying, "and we, indeed, justly, for we receive the due
+reward of our deeds." Secondly, he excused Christ, and confessed
+that He was the Just One when he said "but this Man hath done
+nothing amiss." Thirdly, he showed brotherly love, for he said,
+"dost not thou fear God?" Fourthly, with all his members, or at
+least with all that he could offer, and with loving eyes and a
+devout heart and a humble spirit, he turned himself to Christ and
+prayed earnestly, "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy
+Kingdom." How great was the justice and humility and resignation
+which he showed in this prayer, for he asked only for a little
+remembrance of himself, acknowledging that he was not worthy to ask
+for anything great. Nor did he pray for the safety of his body, for
+he gladly desired to die for his sins. It was more pleasant for him
+to die with Christ than to live any longer. Nor did he pray that our
+Lord would deliver him from the pains of hell, or of purgatory, nor
+did he ask for the kingdom of heaven; but he resigned himself
+entirely to the will of God, and offered himself altogether to
+Christ, to do what He would with him. In his humility he prayed for
+nothing except for grace and mercy, for which David also prayed when
+he said, "Deal with Thy servant according to Thy mercy." And
+therefore, because he had prayed humbly and wisely, the Eternal
+Wisdom, Who reads the hearts of all who pray, heard his prayer, and,
+opening wide the rich storehouse of His grace, bestowed upon him
+much more than he had dared to ask. O marvellous goodness of God!
+How plainly dost Thou declare in this, that Thou desirest not the
+death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live.
+Now Thou hast manifested and fulfilled what Thou didst promise
+aforetime by Thy prophet: "When the wicked man shall mourn for his
+sins, I will remember his iniquity no more." Thou didst not impose
+upon him many years of severe penance, nor many sufferings in
+purgatory for the expiation of his sins; but just as if Thou hadst
+quite forgotten his crimes, and couldst see nothing in him but
+virtue, Thou didst say: "This day shalt thou be with Me in
+paradise." O immeasurable compassion of God! Our tender Lord forgot
+all the countless crimes which that poor thief had done, and forgave
+him when he repented, and gave so great and splendid a reward to the
+good which there was in him, small indeed though it was. Our loving
+God is very rich; He needs not our gifts; but He seeks for a heart
+which turns to Him with lowliness and resignation, such a heart as
+He found in this poor thief. For He says Himself: "turn to Me, and I
+will turn to you." And so when this thief so courageously and
+effectively turned to God, his prayer was at once not only accepted
+but answered. For our Lord did not reject his prayer, or say to him:
+"See how I hang here in torment, and I behold before My eyes My
+mother in sore affliction, and I have not yet spoken one word to
+her, so that to hear thee now would not be just." No, our Lord said
+nothing of this kind to the thief. Rather, He heard his prayer at
+once, and made answer in that sweet word, "Amen, I say unto thee,
+this day shalt thou be with Me in paradise." O tender goodness, O
+marvellous mercy of God! O great wisdom of the thief! He saw that
+the treasures of Christ were wide open, and were being scattered
+abroad. Who then should forbid him to take as much as would pay what
+he owed to his Lord? And O the accursed hardness of the impenitent
+thief, whom neither the rebuke of his associate, nor the patience of
+Christ, nor the many signs of love and mercy that shone forth in
+Christ, could melt or convert! He saw that alms were plentiful at
+the rich man's gate, that more was given than was asked for, and yet
+he was too proud and obstinate to ask. He saw that life and the
+kingdom of heaven were being granted, and yet he would not bend his
+heart to wish for them: therefore he shall not have them. He loved
+better revilings and curses, and they shall come unto him, and that
+for all eternity. These new first-fruits of the grape, which our
+Lord gathered on the wood of the Cross from our barren soil, by much
+sweat of His brow and much watering with His own precious blood, He
+sent with great joy as a precious gift to His heavenly Father, by
+His celestial messengers the holy angels. But if there is joy among
+the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth, how must they
+rejoice and exult at the salvation of this thief, of whom they had
+almost despaired? We can picture to ourselves with what joy the
+Father of heaven received these first-fruits of the harvest of His
+Son's Passion. But Christ Himself, though He felt some joy at the
+thief's conversion, was still more afflicted thereby, for by His
+wisdom He foresaw that this thief would be the cause of perdition to
+many, who would resolve to pass their whole lives in sin, hoping to
+obtain pardon and grace at the moment of death. Truly a most foolish
+hope, for nowhere in the Scriptures do we read that it has so
+happened to any man. In truth, they who seek after God only when
+they must, will not, it is to be feared, find Him near them in their
+time of need. In the meantime, none can trust too much in God, and
+no one has ever been forsaken by Him, who has turned to Him with his
+whole heart, and leant upon Him with loving confidence.
+
+THE THIRD WORD
+
+THERE stood also by the Cross of Jesus His most holy and ever-virgin
+mother Mary; not in order that His sufferings might thereby be
+lessened, but that they might be greatly augmented. For if any
+creature could have given consolation to the Lord while He hung on
+the Cross, no one could have done it so fitly as His blessed mother.
+But since it was God's will that Christ should die the most bitter
+of deaths, and end His Passion without any comfort or relief, but
+with true resignation, His mother's presence brought Him no
+consolation, but rather added to His sufferings, for her sufferings
+were thereby added to His, and this added yet more to His
+affliction. Who then, O good Jesus can discover by meditation how
+great was Thy inward grief, for Thou knowest the hearts of all, when
+Thou sawest all the body of Thy holy mother tortured by inward
+compassion, even as Thou wast tortured on the Cross, and her tender
+heart and maternal breast pierced with the sword of sharp sorrow,
+her face pale as death, telling the anguish of her soul, and almost
+dead, yet unable to die. When Thou beheldest her hot tears, flowing
+down abundantly like sweet rivers upon her gracious cheeks, and over
+all her face, all witnesses to Thee that she shared in Thy sorrow
+and love; when Thou heardest her sad laments, forced from her by the
+weight of her affliction; when Thou sawest that same tender mother,
+melted away with the heat of love, her strength quite failing her,
+worn out and exhausted by the pains of Thy Passion, which wasted her
+away; all this, truly, was a new affliction to Thee on the Cross; it
+was itself a new Cross. For Thou alone, by the spear of, Thy pity,
+didst explore the weight and grievousness of her woes, which to men
+are beyond comprehension. All this, indeed, greatly increased the
+pain of Thy Passion, because Thou wast crucified not only in Thy own
+body, but in Thy mother's heart; for her Cross was Thy Cross, and
+Thine was hers. O how bitter was Thy Passion, sweet Jesus! Great
+indeed was Thy outward suffering, but far more grievous was Thy
+inward suffering, which Thy heart experienced at Thy mother's
+anguish. It was now, beyond doubt, that the sword of sorrow pierced
+her through, for the queen of martyrs was terribly and mortally
+wounded in that part which is impassible--that is, the soul; she
+bore the death of the Cross in that part which could not die,
+suffering all the more her grievous inward death, as outward death
+departed further from her. Who, O most loving mother, can recount or
+conceive in his mind the immeasurable sorrows of thy soul, or thine
+inward woes? Him whom thou didst bring forth without pain, as a
+blessed mother free from the curse of our first mother Eve, who
+instead of the pains of labour wast filled with joy of spirit, and
+who for thy refreshment didst listen to the sweet songs of the
+angels as they praised thy Son, thou hast now seen slain before
+thine eyes with the greatest cruelty and tyranny. How manifold was
+that sorrow of thine, which thou wast permitted to escape at His
+birth, when thou sawest thy blessed and only Son hanging in such
+torment on the Cross, in the presence of a cruel and furious crowd,
+who showered upon Him all the insults and contumely and shame that
+they could think of; when thou sawest Him whom thou didst bear in
+thy pure womb without feeling the burden, so barbarously stretched
+on the Cross, and pierced with nails; when thou sawest His sacred
+arms, with which He had so many times lovingly embraced thee,
+stretched out so that He could not move them, and covered with red
+blood, His adorable head pierced with sharp thorns, and His whole
+body one streaming wound, while thou wast not able to staunch or
+anoint any of those wounds. What must thy grief have been when thou
+sawest Him whom thou hadst so often laid on thy virgin bosom that He
+might rest, without anything on which to lean His sacred head; and
+Him whom thou hadst nourished with the milk of thy holy breasts, now
+vexed with vinegar and gall. O how thy maternal heart was oppressed
+when thou beheldest with thy pure eyes that fair face so piteously
+marred, so that there was no beauty in it, and nothing by which He
+could be distinguished. How did the wave of affliction beat against
+and overflow and overwhelm thy soul! Truly, if even a devout man
+cannot without unspeakable sorrow and pity revolve in his mind the
+Passion of thy Son, what must have been thy Cross, thy affliction,
+who wast His mother and sawest it all with thine eyes? If to many
+friends of God and to many who love Him, thy Son's Passion is as
+grievous as if they suffered it themselves, if by inward pity they
+are crucified with thy Son, how terribly, even unto death, must thou
+have been crucified inwardly, when thou didst not only ponder and
+search into the outward and inward pains of thy Son in thy devout
+heart, but sawest them with thy bodily eyes? For never did any
+mother love her child as thou lovedst thy Son. And if St Paul, who
+loved so much, could say, out of his ardent love and deep pity for
+thy Son, "I am crucified with Christ; and I bear in my body the
+marks of the Lord Jesus," how much more wert thou crucified with
+Him, and didst inwardly receive all His wounds, being made, in a
+manner, an image and likeness of thy crucified Son?
+
+THE FOURTH WORD
+
+ABOUT the ninth hour our Lord Jesus cried with a loud voice, "My
+God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" He cried with a loud voice,
+that He might be easily heard by all, and also that by this wondrous
+word He might shake off from our souls the sleep of sloth, and cause
+them to wonder and marvel at the immeasurable goodness of God to us.
+Therefore He saith, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" For
+the sake of vile sinners, for evil and thankless servants, for
+sinful and disobedient deceivers, Thou hast forsaken Thy beloved Son
+and most obedient Child. That Thy enemies, who are vessels of wrath,
+might be changed into children of adoption, Thou hast slain Thine
+own Son, and given Him over to death like one guilty. "O my God,
+why, I pray Thee, hast Thou forsaken me?" For the very cause why men
+ought to praise and give thanks to Thee, and love Thee with an
+everlasting love; because Thou hast delivered Thy dear Son to death
+for their redemption, and sacrificed Him willingly, for this reason
+they will find ground for blasphemy and reproach against Thee,
+saying, "He saith He is the Son of God. Let God deliver Him now if
+He will have Him." Why, O my God, hast Thou willed to spend so
+precious a treasure for such vile and counterfeit goods? Besides,
+this word may be understood to have been spoken by Christ against
+those who seek to diminish the glory of His Passion, by saying that
+it was not really so bitter and terrible, owing to the great support
+and comfort which He drew from His Godhead. Let those who speak and
+think thus know that they renew His Passion and crucify Him afresh.
+It was to prove the error of such men that our Lord cried with a
+loud voice, and said, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
+It is as if He had said these words to His own Divine nature, with
+which He formed one Person--for the Godhead of the Father and of the
+Son is all one--wondering, Himself, at His own love, which had so
+cast Him down and worn Him out and humbled Him, and that He who
+brings help to all mankind should have forsaken Himself, and offered
+Himself to suffer every kind of pain, impelled thereto by conquering
+love alone. Again, we should not be wrong, if we were to interpret
+this word which Christ spoke out of the exceeding bitterness of His
+sorrow in the following way--namely, that His spirit and inward man,
+taking upon itself the severe judgment of God upon all sinners, and
+at the same time discerning clearly and feeling and measuring in
+Himself the intolerable weight of His Passion, on this account cried
+out in a sorrowful voice to His Father, and complained tenderly to
+Him because He had been cast into these dreadful torments; as if the
+goodness of His Father had become so embittered against the sins of
+men, that in the ardour of His justice He had quite forgotten the
+inseparable union between His passible humanity and His impassible
+Godhead, and therefore in the zealousness of His justice had quite
+given up His passible nature to the cruelty and malice of fierce
+men, that they might waste it away and destroy it. For this reason,
+therefore, He said, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
+This word has besides an inward meaning, according to which Christ,
+in His sensitive parts, complained to His Father that He had been
+forsaken by Him. For as many as contend for His honour, and endure
+patiently the troubles of this world, our merciful God so moderates
+and tempers their crosses and afflictions by the inpouring of His
+divine consolation, that by His sensible grace He makes their
+crosses hardly felt; but He left His own beloved Son quite without
+any comfort, and so deprived Him of all consolation and light, that
+He endured as much in His human nature as had been ordained by the
+Eternal Wisdom, according to the strictness of justice, as much as
+was needed to atone for so many sins. And indeed our salvation was
+the more nobly and perfectly achieved, in that it was done and
+finished without any light at all, in absolute resignation and
+abandonment. For a chief cause of the Passion was to show clearly
+how great was the injury and insult brought upon His most high
+Godhead by the sins of the human race. Now as the knowledge of
+Christ was greater and more acute than that of all other beings, in
+heaven or in earth, so much the greater and heavier was His sorrow
+and agony. Nay more--what is more wonderful than anything--whatever
+afflictions have been endured by all the saints, as members of
+Christ, existed much more abundantly in Christ their Head; and this
+I wish to be understood according to the spirit and reasonably. For
+all the saints have suffered no more than flowed in upon them
+through Christ, joined to them as His members, who communicated to
+them His own afflictions. For He took upon Himself the afflictions
+of all the saints, out of His great love for His members, and
+wondrous pity, and He suffered far greater internal anguish than any
+of the saints, nay, more even than the blessed Virgin, His mother,
+felt her own sharp sorrow and sickness of heart. For if an earthly
+father loves his child so much, that in fatherly pity he takes upon
+himself the sorrows of his child, and grieves for them as if he
+suffered them himself, what must have been Christ's Cross and
+compassion for the affliction of His members, and above all, of
+those who suffered for His name's sake? Truly He bore witness to His
+members, how much He suffered from their afflictions, and how great
+was His inward pity for their sufferings, when He took all their
+debt upon Himself, and abolished all the penalties which they had
+merited, so that they might depart free. The same is most amply
+proved by the words which He spoke to St Paul, when He said, "Saul,
+Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" For the persecution which Saul had
+stirred up against the disciples, the members of the Lord, was not
+less grievous to Him than if He had suffered it Himself. Therefore
+He says to His friends and members, "He who touches you, touches the
+apple of Mine eye." For is there anything suffered by the members,
+which the Head does not suffer with them, He whose nature is
+goodness, and whose property is always to have mercy and to forgive?
+
+THE FIFTH WORD
+
+OUR most tender Lord was so worn out and parched by the extreme
+bitterness of His pain and suffering, and by the great loss of
+blood, that He cried, "I thirst." A little word, but full of
+mysteries.
+
+In the first place it may be understood literally. For it is natural
+for those who are at the point of death to feel thirst, and to
+desire to drink. But how great was the drouth felt by Him who is the
+fountain of living water, but who was now worn out and parched by
+the heat of His ardent love, when he could truly say, "I am poured
+out like water," and "My strength is dried up like a potsherd." For
+not only did He shed all His own blood, and pour out moisture by
+tears, but the very marrow of His bones, and all His heart's blood,
+were consumed for our sakes by the heat and flame of love. Therefore
+He said rightly, "I thirst."
+
+But, secondly, the word may be understood spiritually, as if Christ
+said to all men, "I thirst for your salvation." Hence St Bernard
+says: "Jesus cried, I thirst, not, I grieve. O Lord, what dost Thou
+thirst for? For your faith, your joy. I thirst because of the
+torments of your souls, far more than for My own bodily sufferings.
+Have pity on yourselves, if not on Me." And again, "O good Jesus,
+Thou wearest the crown of thorns; Thou art silent about Thy Cross
+and wounds, yet Thou criest out, I thirst. For what, then, dost Thou
+thirst? Truly, for the redemption of mankind only, and for the
+felicity of the human race." This thirst of Christ was a hundred
+times more keen and intense than His natural thirst. And, besides,
+He had another sort of thirst--that is to say, a thirst to suffer
+more, and to prove to us still more clearly His immeasurable love,
+as if He said to man, "See how I am worn out and exhausted for thy
+salvation. See how terrible are the pains and anguish which I
+endure. The fierce cruelty of man has almost brought Me to nothing;
+the sinners of earth have drunk out all My blood, and yet I thirst.
+Not yet is My heart satisfied, nor My desire accomplished, nor the
+fire of My love quenched. For if it were possible for Me, and
+according to My Father's will, that I should be crucified again a
+thousand times for your salvation and conversion, or that I should
+hang here, in all this pain and anguish, till the day of judgment, I
+would gladly do it, to prove to you the immeasurable love which I
+bear you in My heart, and to soften your stony hearts and rouse you
+to love Me in return. This is why I hang here so thirsty by the
+fountain of your hearts, that I may watch the pious souls who come
+hither to draw from the deep well of My Passion. Therefore, the
+maiden to whom I shall say, 'Give Me to drink a little water out of
+the pitcher of thy conscience'--the water of devotion, pity, tears,
+and mutual love--and who shall let down to Me her pitcher, and shall
+say, 'Drink, my Lord; and for Thy camels also--that is, Thy
+servants, who carry Thee about daily on their bodies, and who by
+night and day are held bound fast by Thy yoke, I will draw the water
+of brotherly love'--that is the maiden whom the Lord hath prepared
+for the Son of My Lord, even the bride of the Word of God, united to
+My humanity. And she shall be counted worthy to enter, like a bride
+with her bridegroom, into the chamber of eternal rest, when the
+Bridegroom invites her, saying, 'Come, My blessed bride, inherit the
+Kingdom of My Father. For I was thirsty, and thou gavest Me drink.'"
+
+Thirdly, we may apply this word to the Father, as if Christ said to
+His Father: "Father, I have declared Thy name to mankind; I have
+finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do; and in Thy service I
+have spent My whole body as Thine instrument. Behold, I am all worn
+out and exhausted; and yet I still thirst to do and suffer more for
+Thine honour. This is why I hang here, extended to the furthest
+breadth of love, for I long to be an everlasting sacrifice, a sweet
+savour to Thee, and at the same time an eternal atonement and
+salvation to mankind." Thus, too, might this strong Samson have
+said: "O Lord, Thou hast put into the hand of Thy servant this very
+great salvation and victory, and yet behold, I die of thirst." As if
+He would say: "Father, I have accomplished Thy gracious will; I have
+finished the work of man's salvation, as Thou didst demand; and yet
+I still thirst; for the sins by which Thou art offended are
+infinite. And so I desire that the love and merits of My Passion, by
+which Thou wilt be appeased, may be infinite too. And as I now offer
+myself as a peace-offering and a living sacrifice for the salvation
+of all men, so through Me may all men appease Thee, by offering Me
+to Thee as a peace-offering to Thine eternal glory, in memory of My
+Passion, and to make good all their shortcomings." O how acceptable
+to the Father must this desire of love have been! For what was this
+thirst but a sweet and pleasant refreshment to the Father, and at
+the same time the blessed renovation of mankind? Or what other
+language does this burning throat speak to us, save that of Christ's
+burning love, without measure and without limit, out of which He did
+all His works? This truly is the most noble sacrifice of our
+redemption, this is that peace-offering which will be offered even
+to the last day, by all good men, to the Holy Ghost, to the highest
+Father, in memory of the Son, to the eternal glory of the adorable
+Trinity, and to the fruit of salvation for mankind. Here, certainly,
+is the inexhaustible storehouse of our reconciliation, which never
+fails, for it is greater than all the debts of the world. This is
+that immeasurable love, which is higher than the heavens, for it has
+repaired the ruin of the angels; deeper than hell, for it has freed
+souls from hell; wider and broader than the earth, for it is without
+end and incomprehensible by any created understanding. O how keen
+and intense was this thirst of our Lord! For not only did He then
+say once, "I thirst," but even now He says in our hearts
+continually, "I thirst; woman, give me to drink." So great, so
+mighty, is that thirst, that He asks drink not only from the
+children of Israel, but from the Samaritans. To each one He
+complaineth of His thirst. But for what dost Thou thirst, O good
+Jesus? "My meat and drink," saith He, "is that men should do My
+Father's will. Now this is the will of My Father, even your
+sanctification and salvation, that you may sanctify your souls by
+walking in My precepts, by doing works of repentance, by adorning
+yourselves with all virtues, in order that, like a bride adorned for
+her husband, you may be worthy to be present at My supper in My
+Father's kingdom, and to sleep with Me as My elect bride, in the
+chamber of My Father's heart." O how Christ longs to bring all men
+thither! This is the meaning of His words: "Where I am there shall
+also My servant be"; and again: "Father, I will that they may be one
+even as We are one." O, how incomprehensible is this thirst of
+Christ! What toil and labour He endured for thirty and three years,
+for the sake of it! For this His very heart's blood was poured out.
+See what our tender Lord says to His Father: "The zeal of Thine
+house hath even eaten Me." Truly, He would have submitted to be
+crucified a thousand times, rather than allow one soul to perish
+through any fault of His. O how this inward thirst tormented Him,
+when He thought that He had done all that He could, and even a
+hundredfold more than He need have done, and yet that so few had
+turned to Him, and been won by Him. His whole body was now worn out;
+all His blood was shed; nothing remained for Him to do; and
+therefore He was constrained to confess, "It is finished"; and yet
+by all His labours, afflictions, and sufferings, He had brought no
+richer harvest to the Father than this. Truly, this was the most
+bitter of all His sorrows, that after so hard a battle His victory
+had not been more glorious, and that He returned a conqueror to His
+Father with so few spoils. Therefore, all those who do not refresh
+Him by performing His will, and doing all that is pleasing and
+honourable to Him, and withstanding all that reason tells them to be
+displeasing to Him, will one day hear Him say, "I was thirsty, and
+ye gave Me no drink. Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire."
+
+Fourthly, there is yet another inward meaning of this word--namely,
+that Christ spoke it out of the love which inwardly draws Him
+towards all men, thus making known to us His ardent love, and
+opening His own heart, as a delightful couch, on which we may feed
+pleasantly, and inviting us to it, saying, "I thirst for you." For
+as the liquid which we drink is sent down pleasantly through the
+throat into the body, and so passes into the substance and nature of
+our body, so Christ out of the ardent thirst of His love, takes
+spiritual pleasure in drinking in all men into Himself, swallowing
+them, as it were, and incorporating them into Himself, and bringing
+them into the secret chamber of His loving heart. Therefore He says:
+"I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
+Me"--all men, that is, who allow themselves to be drawn by Me, and
+submit to Me as obedient instruments, suffering Me to do with them
+according to My gracious will. But those who resist Him quench not
+His thirst, but give Him a bitter draught instead, even the deeds of
+their own self-will. These, when our Lord tasteth them, He
+straightway rejects.
+
+THE SIXTH WORD
+
+WHEN Christ had tasted the draught of vinegar and gall, He spoke the
+sixth word: "It is finished." Thereby He signified that by His
+Passion had been fulfilled all the prophecies, types, mysteries,
+scriptures, sacrifices, and promises, which had been predicted and
+written about Him. This is that true Son of God, for whom the Father
+of heaven made ready a supper in the kingdom of His eternal
+blessedness; and He sent His servant--that is the human nature of
+Christ, coming in the form of a servant, to call them that were
+bidden to the wedding. For Christ, when He took human nature upon
+Him, was not only a servant but a servant of servants, and served
+all of us for thirty and three years with great toil and suffering.
+Indeed, He spent His whole life in bidding all men to His supper. It
+was for this that He preached, and wrought miracles, and travelled
+from place to place, and proclaimed that the kingdom of heaven was
+at hand, and that all should be prepared for it. But they would not
+come. And when the Father of the household heard this, He said to
+His Servant: "Compel them to come in, that My house may be filled."
+Then that Servant thought within Himself: "How shall I be able
+without violence to compel these men to come, that rebellion may be
+avoided and yet that their privilege and power of free will may
+remain unimpaired? For if I compel them to come by iron chains, and
+blows, and whips, I shall have asses and not men." Then He said to
+Himself: "I perceive that man is so constituted as to be prone to
+love. Therefore I will show him such love as shall pass all his
+understanding, love than which no other love can be greater. If man
+will observe this, he will be so caught in its toils, that he will
+not be able to escape its heat and flame, and will be constrained to
+turn to God, and love Him in return. For, turn where he will, he
+will always be met by the immeasurable benefits, the infinite
+goodness, and the wonderful love of God; and at the same time he
+will feel more and more compelled to return love for love, till he
+will be no more able to resist it, and will be gently constrained to
+follow." When this was done, Jesus Christ, this faithful and wise
+Servant, said to His Lord and Father, "It is finished. I have
+finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. What more could I have
+done, and have not done it? I have no member left that is not weary
+and worn with toil and pain. My veins are dry, My blood is shed; My
+marrow is spent, My throat is hoarse with crying. Such love have I
+shown to man, that his heart cannot be human, cannot even be stony,
+or the heart of a brute beast, but must be quite devilish and
+desperate, if it be not moved by the thought of these things."
+
+Moreover, this word of our Lord Jesus is a word of sorrow, not of
+joy. He spoke it not as if He had now escaped from all His
+suffering. No; when He said, "It is finished," He meant all that had
+been ordained and decreed by the eternal Truth for Him to suffer.
+Besides, all the sufferings which had been inflicted upon Him by
+degrees and singly, He now endures together with immeasurable
+anguish. Who can have such a heart of adamant as not to be moved by
+such torment as this? How short were the words which our Lord Jesus
+spoke on the Cross, yet how full of sacramental mysteries! Now were
+fulfilled the words of Exodus: "And all things were finished which
+belonged to the sacrifice of the Lord."
+
+Moreover by this word our Lord declared the glorious victory of the
+Passion, and how the old enemy, the jealous serpent, was overcome
+and thrown down; for this was the cause for which He suffered. For
+this He had taken upon Himself the garment of human nature, that He
+might vanquish and confound the enemy, by the same weapons wherewith
+the enemy boasted that he had conquered man. This was the chief
+purpose of His Passion, and now He confesses that it is finished. O
+how wonderful are the mysteries, and the victories, included in this
+little but deep word: "It is finished!" All that the eternal Wisdom
+had decreed, all that strict justice had demanded for each man, all
+that love had asked for, all the promises made to the fathers, all
+the mysteries, types, ceremonies in Scripture, all that was meet and
+necessary for our redemption, all that was needed to wipe out our
+debts, all that must repair our negligences, all that was glorious
+and loving for the exhibition of this splendid love, all that we
+could desire, for our spiritual instruction--in a word, all that was
+good and fitting for the celebration of the glorious triumph of our
+redemption, all is included in that one word, "It is finished."
+What, then, remains for Him, but to finish and perfect His life in
+this glorious conflict; and, because nothing remains for Him to do,
+to commend His precious soul into His Father's hands, seeing that He
+has fought the good fight, and finished His course in all holiness?
+It is meet, then, that He should obtain the crown of glory which His
+heavenly Father will give Him on the day of His exaltation.
+
+Lastly, by this word Christ offered up all His toil, sorrow, and
+affliction for all the elect, as the Apostle saith: "Who in the days
+of His flesh offered up prayer and supplications with strong crying
+and tears unto Him who was able to save Him from death, and was
+heard in that He feared. For if the blood of bulls and of goats and
+the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the
+purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who
+through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God,
+purge our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
+
+THE SEVENTH WORD
+
+OUR Lord Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and said, "Father,
+into Thy hands I commend My Spirit." O all ye who love our Lord
+Jesus Christ, come, I beseech you, and let us watch, with all
+devotion and pity, His passing away. Let us see what must have been
+His sorrow and agony and torment, when His glorious soul was now at
+last forced to pass out of His worthy and most sacred body, in which
+for thirty and three years it had rested so sweetly, peacefully,
+joyfully, and holily, even as two lovers on one bed. How hard was it
+for them to be rent asunder, between whom no disagreement had ever
+arisen, no strife, or quarrel, or treachery. How unspeakably
+grievous was that Cross, when His sacred body was compelled to part
+with so faithful a friend, so gentle an occupant, so loving a
+teacher and master; and how great was the sorrow with which His
+glorious and pure soul was torn away from so faithful a servant,
+which had ever served obediently, never sparing any trouble, never
+shrinking from cold or heat or hunger or thirst; always enduring
+labour and sorrow in gentleness and patience. O how great was this
+affliction! For, as the philosopher says: "Of all terrible things
+death is the most terrible, on account of the natural and mutual
+affection, which is very great, between soul and body." How much
+greater must have been the anguish and sorrow, when the most holy
+soul and body of Christ were sundered, between which there had
+always been such wonderful harmony and love. Therefore, with inward
+pity and anxious sorrow, let us meditate on this sad parting; for
+the death of Christ is our life.
+
+Let us meditate devoutly how His sacred body, the instrument of our
+salvation, was steeped in anguish, when all His members, as if to
+bid a last farewell, were bowing themselves down to die! Who can
+look without remorse and sorrow and pity upon the most gracious face
+of Christ, and behold how it is changed into the pallor and likeness
+of death; how tears still flow from His dimmed eyes; how His sacred
+head is bent; how all His members prove to us, by signs and motions,
+the love which they can no longer show by deeds. Let us pity Him, I
+pray you, for He is our own flesh and blood, and it is for our sins,
+not His own, that He is shamefully slain. O ye who up till now have
+passed by the Cross of Jesus with tepid or cold hearts, and whom all
+these torments and tears, and His blood shed like water, have not
+been able to soften; now at last let this loud voice, this terrible
+cry, rend and pierce your hearts through and through. Let that voice
+which shook the heaven and the earth and hell with fear, which rent
+the rocks and laid open ancient graves, now soften your stony
+hearts, and lay bare the old sepulchres of your conscience, full of
+dead men's bones--that is to say, of wicked deeds, and call again
+into life your departed spirits. For this is the voice which once
+cried: "Adam, where art thou; and what hast thou done?" This is the
+voice which brought Lazarus from Hades, saying, "Lazarus, come
+forth: arise from the grave of sin, and let them free thee from thy
+grave-clothes." Truly it was not so much the grievousness of His
+sufferings, as the greatness of our sins, which made our Lord utter
+this cry. He cried also, to show that He had the dominion over life
+and death, over the living and the dead. For though he was quite
+worn out, and destitute of strength, and though He had borne the
+bitter pangs of death so long, beyond the power of man, yet He would
+not allow Death to put forth its power against Him, until it pleased
+Him.
+
+With a loud voice He cried, that earthly men, who care only for the
+things of earth, might quake with fear and trembling, and to cause
+them to meditate and see how naked and helpless the Lord of lords
+departed from this life. With a terrible voice He cried, to stir up
+all those who live in wantonness, and who have grown old in their
+defilement, and send forth a foul savour, like dead dogs, so that at
+last these miserable men may rise from their lusts and pleasures and
+sensual delights, and see how the Son of God, who was never strained
+with any spot of defilement, went forth to His Father; and with what
+toil and pain and anguish He departed from the light of day, and
+what He had to suffer before He reached his Father's Kingdom. He
+also cried with a loud voice, that He might inflame the lukewarm and
+slothful to devotion and love.
+
+Moreover He cried with a loud voice as a sign of the glorious
+victory which He had gained, when after a single combat with His
+strong and cruel enemy, and having descended into the arena--the
+battlefield of this world--He had routed him on Mount Calvary and
+stripped him bare of his spoils. This victory, this glorious
+triumph, Christ proclaimed with a loud voice, and thus departing
+from the battlefield triumphant and victorious, He departed to the
+place of all delights, to the heart and breast of God, His Father,
+commending to it, as to a safe refuge, both Himself and all His own,
+with the words, "Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit."
+
+We may learn from these words that the eternal Word, our Lord Jesus
+Christ, had been let down like a fishing-hook or great net, by the
+Father of heaven, into the great sea of this world, that He might
+catch not fish but men. Hear how He says: "My word, that goeth forth
+out of My mouth shall not return unto Me void, but shall execute
+that which I please, and shall prosper in the thing whereto I send
+it." And this net is drawn by the Father out of the salt sea, to the
+peaceful shore of His fatherly heart, full of the elect, of works of
+charity, of repentance, patience, humility, obedience, spiritual
+exercises, merits and virtues. For Christ drew unto Himself all the
+afflictions and good deeds of the good; just as St Paul says, "I
+live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Even so, Christ lives in
+all the good, and all who have been willing and obedient instruments
+in the hands of Christ. In all such Christ lives and suffers and
+works. For whatever good there is in all men, is all God's work.
+Therefore Christ, feeling His Father drawing Him, gathered together
+in Himself in a wonderful manner all the elect with all their works,
+and commended them to His Father, saying, "My Father, these are
+Thine; these are the spoils which I have won by My conquest, by the
+sword of the Cross; these are the vessels which I have purchased
+with My precious blood; these are the fruits of My labours. Keep in
+Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me. I pray not that Thou
+shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep
+them from the evil." Thus did Christ commend Himself and all His own
+into His Father's hands. Come therefore, O faithful and devout soul,
+and contemplate with great earnestness the coming in and the going
+out of thy Lord Jesus; follow Him with love and longing, even to the
+chamber and bed of joy, which He has prepared for thee in thy
+Father's heart. Happy would he be, who could now be dissolved with
+Christ, and die with the thief, and hear from the lips of the Lord
+that comfortable word, "This day shalt thou be with Me in paradise."
+And though this is not granted to us, yet whatever we can here gain
+by labours and watchings and fastings and prayers, let us commend it
+all with Christ to the Father; let us pour it back again into the
+fountain, whence it flowed forth for us; and let nothing be left in
+us of empty self-satisfaction, no seeking after human praise or
+honour or reward. But whatever our God hath been willing to do in
+us, let us return it back into His own hands and say, "We are
+nothing of ourselves. It is He who made us, and not we ourselves.
+All good was made by Him, and without Him was not anything made.
+When therefore He taketh with Him what He made Himself, we are
+absolutely nothing."
+
+Lastly, Christ commended His soul into His Father's hands, to show
+us how the souls of good and holy men mount up after Him to the
+bosom of the eternal Father, who must otherwise have gone down to
+hell; for it is He who has opened to us the way of life, and His
+sacred soul, by making the journey safe and free from danger, has
+been our guide into the kingdom of heaven.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+SUSO
+
+
+
+
+
+SUSO AND HIS SPIRITUAL DAUGHTER
+
+AFTER this, certain very high thoughts arose in the mind of the
+servitor's spiritual daughter, concerning which she asked him
+whether she might put questions to him. He replied, Yea verily:
+since thou hast been led through the proper exercises, it is
+permitted to thy spiritual intelligence to enquire about high
+things. Ask then whatever thou wilt. She said: Tell me, father, what
+is God, and how He is both One and Three? The servitor replied,
+These be indeed high questions. As to the first, What is God, you
+must know that all the Doctors who ever lived cannot explain it, for
+He is above all sense and reason. Yet if a man is diligent, and does
+not relax his efforts, he gains some knowledge of God, though very
+far off. Yet in this knowledge of God consists our eternal life and
+man's supreme happiness. In this way, in former times, certain
+worthy philosophers searched for God, and especially that great
+thinker Aristotle, who tried to discover the Author of Nature from
+the order of nature and its course. He sought earnestly, and he was
+convinced from the well-ordered course of nature that there must of
+necessity be one Prince and Lord of the whole universe--He whom we
+call God. About this God and Lord we know this much, that He is an
+immortal Substance, eternal, without before or after, simple, bare,
+unchangeable, an incorporeal and essential Spirit, whose substance
+is life and energy, whose most penetrating intelligence knows all
+things in and by itself, whose essence in itself is an abyss of
+pleasures and joys, and who is to Himself, and to all who shall
+enjoy Him in a future life, a supernatural, ineffable, and most
+sweet happiness. The maiden, when she heard this, looked up, and
+said: These things are sweet to tell and sweet to hear, for they
+rouse the heart, and lift the spirit up far beyond itself.
+Therefore, father, tell me more about these things. The servitor
+said: The Divine Essence, about which we speak, is an intelligible
+or intellectual Substance of such a kind, that it cannot be seen in
+itself by mortal eyes; but it can be discerned in its effects, even
+as we recognise a fine artist by his works. As the Apostle teaches
+us, "The invisible things of God from the creation of the world are
+clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made." For the
+creatures are a kind of mirror, in which God shines. This knowledge
+is called speculation, by which we contemplate the great Architect
+of the world in His works. Come now, look upward and about thee,
+through all the quarters of the universe, and see how wide and high
+the beautiful heaven is, how swift its motion, and how marvellously
+its Creator has adorned it with the seven planets, and with the
+countless multitude of the twinkling stars. Consider what
+fruitfulness, what riches, the sun bestows upon the earth, when in
+summer it sheds abroad its rays unclouded! See how the leaves and
+grass shoot up, and the flowers smile, and the woods and plains
+resound with the sweet song of nightingales and other birds; how all
+the little animals, after being imprisoned by grim winter, come
+forth rejoicing, and pair; and how men and women, both old and
+young, rejoice and are merry. O Almighty God, if Thou art so lovable
+and so pleasant in Thy creatures, how happy and blessed, how full of
+all joy and beauty, must Thou be in Thyself? But further, my
+daughter, contemplate the elements themselves--Earth, Water, Air,
+and Fire, with all the wonderful things which they contain in
+infinite variety--men, beasts, birds, fishes, and sea-monsters. And
+all of these give praise and honour to the unfathomable immensity
+that is in Thee. Who is it, Lord, who preserves all these things,
+who nourishes them? It is Thou who providest for all, each in his
+own way, for great and small, rich and poor. Thou, O God, doest
+this; Thou alone art God indeed! Behold, my daughter, thou hast now
+found the God whom thou hast sought so long. Look up, then, with
+shining eyes, with radiant face and exulting heart, behold Him and
+embrace Him with the outstretched arms of thy soul and mind, and
+give thanks to Him as the one and supreme Lord of all creatures. By
+gazing on this mirror, there springs up speedily, in one of loving
+and pious disposition, an inward jubilation of the heart; for by
+this is meant a joy which no tongue can tell, though it pours with
+might through heart and soul. Alas, I now feel within me, that I
+must open for thee the closed mouth of my soul; and I am compelled,
+for the glory of God, to tell thee certain secrets, which I never
+yet told to any one. A certain Dominican, well known to me, at the
+beginning of his course used to receive from God twice every day,
+morning and evening, for ten years, an outpouring of grace like
+this, which lasted about as long as it would take to say the "Vigils
+of the Dead" twice over.[40] At these times he was so entirely
+absorbed in God, the eternal Wisdom, that he would not speak of it.
+Sometimes he would converse with God as with a friend, not with the
+mouth, but mentally; at other times he would utter piteous sighs to
+Him; at other times he would weep copiously, or smile silently. He
+often seemed to himself to be flying in the air, and swimming
+between time and eternity in the depth of the Divine wonders, which
+no man can fathom. And his heart became so full from this, that he
+would sometimes lay his hand upon it as it beat heavily, saying,
+"Alas, my heart, what labours will befall thee to-day?" One day it
+seemed to him that the heart of his heavenly Father was, in a
+spiritual and indescribable manner, pressed tenderly, and with
+nothing between, against his heart; and that the Father's
+heart--that is, the eternal Wisdom, spoke inwardly to his heart
+without forms.[41] Then he began to exclaim joyously in spiritual
+jubilation: Behold, now, Thou whom I most fervently love, thus do I
+lay bare my heart to Thee, and in simplicity and nakedness of all
+created things I embrace Thy formless Godhead! O God, most excellent
+of all friends! Earthly friends must needs endure to be distinct and
+separate from those whom they love; but Thou, O fathomless sweetness
+of all true love, meltest into the heart of Thy beloved, and pourest
+Thyself fully into the essence of his soul, that nothing of Thee
+remains outside, but Thou art joined and united most lovingly with
+Thy beloved.
+
+To this the maiden replied: Truly it is a great grace, when anyone
+is thus caught up into God. But I should like to be informed,
+whether this is the most perfect kind of union or not? The servitor
+answered: No, it is not the most perfect, but a preliminary, gently
+drawing a man on, that he may arrive at an essential way of being
+carried up into God. The maiden asked him what he meant by essential
+and non-essential. He answered: I call that man essential or
+habitual (so to speak), who by the good and persevering practice of
+all the virtues, has arrived at the point of finding the practice of
+them in their highest perfection pleasant to him, even as the
+brightness of the sun remains constant in the sun. But I call him
+non-essential, in whom the brightness of the virtues shines in an
+unstable and imperfect way like the brightness of the moon. That
+full delight of grace which I described is so sweet to the spirit of
+the non-essential man, that he would be glad always to have it. When
+he has it, he rejoices; when he is deprived of it, he grieves
+inordinately; and when it smiles upon him, he is reluctant to pass
+to doing other things, even things that are pleasing to God; as I
+will show you by an example. The servitor of the Divine Wisdom was
+once walking in the chapter-house, and his heart was full of
+heavenly jubilation, when the porter called him out to see a woman
+who wished to confess to him. He was unwilling to interrupt his
+inward delight, and received the porter harshly, bidding him tell
+the woman that she must find some one else to confess to, for he did
+not wish to hear her confession just then. She, however, being
+oppressed with the burden of her sins, said that she felt specially
+drawn to seek comfort from him, and that she would confess to no one
+else. And when he still refused to go out, she began to weep most
+sadly, and going into a corner, lamented greatly. Meanwhile, God
+quickly withdrew from the servitor the delights of grace, and his
+heart became as hard as flint. And when he desired to know the cause
+of this, God answered him inwardly: Even as thou hast driven away
+uncomforted that poor woman, so have I withdrawn from thee my Divine
+comfort. The servitor groaned deeply and beat his breast, and
+hurried to the door, and as he did not find the woman there, was
+much distressed. The porter, however, looked about for her
+everywhere, and when he found her, still weeping, bade her return to
+the door. When she came, the servitor received her gently, and
+comforted her sorrowing heart. Then he went back from her to the
+chapter-house, and immediately God was with him, with His Divine
+consolations, as before.
+
+Then said the maiden: It must be easy for him to bear sufferings, to
+whom God gives such jubilation and internal joys. And yet, said the
+servitor, all had to be paid for afterward with great suffering.
+However, at last, when all this had passed away, and God's appointed
+time had come, the same grace of jubilation was restored to him, and
+remained with him almost continuously both at home and abroad, in
+company and alone. Often in the bath or at table the same grace was
+with him; but it was now internal, and did show itself outside.
+
+Then the maiden said: My father, I have now learned what God is; but
+I am also eager to know where He is. Thou shalt hear, said the
+servitor. The opinion of the theologians is that God is in no
+particular place, but that He is everywhere, and all in all. The
+same doctors say that we come to know a thing through its name. Now
+one doctor says that Being is the first name of God. Turn your eyes,
+therefore, to Being in its pure and naked simplicity, and take no
+notice of this or that substance which can be torn asunder into
+parts and separated; but consider Being in itself, unmixed with any
+Not-Being. Whatever is nothing, is the negation of what is; and what
+is, is the negation of what is not. A thing which has yet to be, or
+which once was, is not now in actual being. Moreover, we cannot know
+mixed being or not-being unless we take into account that which is
+all-being. This Being is not the being of this or that creature; for
+all particular being is mixed with something extraneous, whereby it
+can receive something new into itself. Therefore the nameless Divine
+Being must be in itself a Being that is all-being, and that sustains
+all particular things by its presence.
+
+It shows the strange blindness of man's reason, that it cannot
+examine into that which it contemplates before everything, and
+without which it cannot perceive anything. Just as, when the eye is
+bent on noticing various colours, it does not observe the light
+which enables it to see all these objects, and even if it looks at
+the light it does not observe it; so it is with the eye of the soul.
+When it looks at this or that particular substance, it takes no heed
+of the being, which is everywhere one, absolute and simple, and by
+the virtue and goodness of which it can apprehend all other things.
+Hence the wise Aristotle says, that the eye of our intelligence,
+owing to its weakness, is affected towards that being which is
+itself the most manifest of all things, as the eye of a bat or owl
+is towards the bright rays of the sun. For particular substances
+distract and dazzle the mind, so that it cannot behold the Divine
+darkness, which is the clearest light.
+
+Come now, open the eyes of thy mind, and gaze if thou canst, on
+Being in its naked and simple purity. You will perceive that it
+comes from no one, and has no before nor after, and that it cannot
+change, because it is simple Being. You will also observe that it is
+the most actual, the most present, and the most perfect of beings,
+with no defect or mutation, because it is absolutely one in its bare
+simplicity. This is so evident to an instructed intellect, that it
+cannot think otherwise. Since it is simple Being, it must be the
+first of beings, and without beginning or end, and because it is the
+first and everlasting and simple, it must be the most present. If
+you can understand this, you will have been guided far into the
+incomprehensible light of God's hidden truth. This pure and simple
+Being is altogether in all things, and altogether outside all
+things. Hence a certain doctor says: God is a circle, whose centre
+is everywhere, and His circumference nowhere.
+
+When this had been said, the maiden answered: Blessed be God, I have
+been shown, as far as may be, both what God is, and where He is. But
+I should like also to be told how, if God is so absolutely simple,
+He can also be threefold.
+
+The servitor answered: The more simple any being is in itself, the
+more manifold is it in its energy and operation. That which has
+nothing gives nothing, and that which has much can give much. I have
+already spoken of the inflowing and overflowing fount of good which
+God is in Himself. This infinite and superessential goodness
+constrains Him not to keep it all within Himself, but to communicate
+it freely both within and without Himself. But the highest and most
+perfect outpouring of the good must be within itself, and this can
+be nought else but a present, interior, personal and natural
+outpouring, necessary, yet without compulsion, infinite and perfect.
+Other communications, in temporal matters, draw their origin from
+this eternal communication of the Divine Goodness. Some theologians
+say that in the outflow of the creatures from their first origin
+there is a return in a circle of the end to the beginning; for as
+the emanation of the Persons from the Godhead is an image of the
+origin of the creatures, so also it is a type of the flowing back of
+the creatures into God. There is, however, a difference between the
+outpouring of the creatures and that of God. The creature is only a
+particular and partial substance, and its giving and communication
+is also partial and limited. When a human father begets a son, he
+gives him part, but not the whole, of his own substance, for he
+himself is only a partial good. But the outpouring of God is of a
+more interior and higher kind than the creature's outpouring,
+inasmuch as He Himself is a higher good. If the outpouring of God is
+to be worthy of His pre-eminent being, it must be according to
+personal relations.
+
+Now, then, if you can look upon the pure goodness of the highest
+Good (which goodness is, by its nature, the active principle of the
+spontaneous love with which the highest Good loves itself) you will
+behold the most excellent and superessential outpouring of the Word
+from the Father, by which generation all things exist and are
+produced; and you will see also in the highest good, and the highest
+outpouring, the most holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
+existing in the Godhead. And if the highest outpouring proceeds from
+the highest essential good, it follows that there must be in this
+Trinity the highest and most intimate consubstantiality or community
+of being, and complete equality and identity of essence, which the
+Persons enjoy in sweetest communion, and also that the Substance and
+power of the three almighty Persons is undivided and unpartitioned.
+
+Here the maiden exclaimed: Marvellous! I swim in the Godhead like an
+eagle in the air. The servitor, resuming his exposition, continued:
+It is impossible to express in words how the Trinity can subsist in
+the unity of one essence. Nevertheless, to say what may be said on
+the subject, Augustine says that in the Godhead the Father is the
+Fountain-head of the Son and the Holy Ghost. Dionysius says, that in
+the Father there is an outflowing of the Godhead, which naturally
+communicates itself to the Word or Son. He also freely and lovingly
+pours Himself out into the Son; and the Son in turn pours Himself
+out freely and lovingly into the Father; and this love of the Father
+for the Son, and of the Son for the Father, is the Holy Ghost. This
+is truly said, but it is made clearer by that glorious Doctor of the
+Church, St Thomas, who says as follows: In the outpouring of the
+Word from the Father's heart, God the Father must contemplate
+Himself with His own mind, bending back, as it were, upon His Divine
+essence; for if the reason of the Father had not the Divine essence
+for its object, the Word so conceived would be a creature instead of
+God; which is false. But in the way described He is "God of God."
+Again, this looking back upon the Divine essence, which takes place
+in the mind of God, must, in a manner, produce a natural likeness;
+else the Word would not be the Son of God. So here we have the unity
+of essence in the diversity of Persons; and a clear proof of this
+distinction may be found in the word of that soaring eagle St John:
+"The Word was in the beginning with God."
+
+Thus the Father is the Fountain-head of the Son, and the Son is the
+outflowing of the Father; and the Father and Son pour forth the
+Spirit; and the Unity, which is the essence of the Fountain-head, is
+also the substance of the three Persons. But as to how the Three are
+One, this cannot be expressed in words, on account of the simplicity
+of that Abyss. Into this intellectual Where, the spirits of men made
+perfect soar and plunge themselves, now flying over infinite
+heights, now swimming in unfathomed depths, marvelling at the high
+and wonderful mysteries of the Godhead. Nevertheless, the spirit
+remains a spirit, and retains its nature, while it enjoys the vision
+of the Divine Persons, and abstracted from all occupation with
+things below contemplates with fixed gaze those stupendous
+mysteries. For what can be more marvellous than that simple Unity,
+into which the Trinity of the Persons merges itself, and in which
+all multiplicity ceases? For the outflowing of the Persons is always
+tending back into the Unity of the same essence, and all creatures,
+according to their ideal existence in God, are from eternity in this
+Unity, and have their life, knowledge, and essence in the eternal
+God; as it is said in the Gospel: "That which was made, was Life in
+Him."[42] This bare Unity is a dark silence and tranquil inactivity,
+which none can understand unless he is illuminated by the Unity
+itself, unmixed with any evil. Out of this shines forth hidden
+truth, free from all falsehood; and this truth is born from the
+unveiling of the veiled Divine purity; for after the revelation of
+these things, the spirit is at last unclothed of the dusky light
+which up till now has followed it, and in which it has hitherto seen
+things in an earthly way. Indeed, the spirit finds itself now
+changed and something very different from what it supposed itself to
+be according to its earlier light: even as St Paul says, "I, yet not
+I." Thus it is unclothed and simplified in the simplicity of the
+Divine essence, which shines upon all things in simple stillness. In
+this modeless mode of contemplation, the permanent distinction of
+the Persons, viewed as separate, is lost. For, as some teach, it is
+not the Person of the Father, taken by Himself, which produces
+bliss, nor the Person of the Son, taken by Himself, nor the Person
+of the Holy Ghost, taken by Himself; but the three Persons, dwelling
+together in the unity of the essence, confer bliss. And this is the
+natural essence of the Persons, which by grace gives the substance
+or essence to all their creatures, and it contains in itself the
+ideas of all things in their simple essence. Now since this ideal
+light subsists as Being, so all things subsist in it according to
+their essential being, not according to their accidental forms; and
+since it shines upon all things, its property is to subsist as
+light. Hence all things shine forth in this essence in interior
+stillness, without altering its simplicity.
+
+Then the maiden said: I could wish greatly, sir, that you could give
+me this mysterious teaching, as you understand it, under a figure,
+that I might understand it better. I should also be glad if you
+could sum up what you have been saying at length, so that it may
+stick more firmly in my weak mind. The servitor replied: Who can
+express in forms what has no form? Who can explain that which has no
+mode of being, and is above sense and reason? Any similitude must be
+infinitely more unlike than like the reality. Nevertheless, that I
+may drive out forms from your mind by forms, I will try to give you
+a picture of these ideas which surpass all forms, and to sum up a
+long discourse in a few words. A certain wise theologian says that
+God, in regard to His Godhead, is like a vast circle, of which the
+centre is everywhere, and the circumference nowhere. Now consider
+the image which follows. If anyone throws a great stone into the
+middle of a pool, a ring is formed in the water, and this ring makes
+a second ring, and the second a third; and the number and size of
+the rings depend on the force of the throw. They may even require a
+larger space than the limit of the pool. Suppose now that the first
+ring represents the omnipotent virtue of the Divine nature, which is
+infinite in God the Father. This produces another ring like itself,
+which is the Son. And the two produce the third, which is the Holy
+Ghost. The spiritual superessential begetting of the Divine Word is
+the cause of the creation of all spirits and all things. This
+supreme Spirit has so ennobled man, as to shed upon him a ray from
+His own eternal Godhead. This is the image of God in the mind, which
+is itself eternal. But many men turn away from this dignity of their
+nature, befouling the bright image of God in themselves, and turning
+to the bodily pleasures of this world. They pursue them greedily and
+devote themselves to them, till death unexpectedly stops them. But
+he who is wise, turns himself and elevates himself, with the help of
+the Divine spark in his soul, to that which is stable and eternal,
+whence he had his own origin: he says farewell to all the fleeting
+creatures, and clings to the eternal truth alone.
+
+Attend also to what I say about the order in which the spirit ought
+to return to God. First of all, we should disentangle ourselves
+absolutely from the pleasures of the world, manfully turning our
+backs upon all vices; we should turn to God by continual prayers, by
+seclusion, and holy exercise, that the flesh may thus be subdued to
+the spirit. Next, we must offer ourselves willingly to endure all
+the troubles which may come upon us, from God, or from the
+creatures. Thirdly, we must impress upon ourselves the Passion of
+Christ crucified; we must fix upon our minds His sweet teaching, His
+most gentle conversation, His most pure life, which He gave us for
+our example, and so we must penetrate deeper and advance further in
+our imitation of Him. Fourthly, we must divest ourselves of external
+occupations, and establish ourselves in a tranquil stillness of soul
+by an energetic resignation, as if we were dead to self, and thought
+only of the honour of Christ and His heavenly Father. Lastly, we
+should be humble towards all men, whether friends or foes. . . . But
+all these images, with their interpretations, are as unlike the
+formless truth as a black Ethiopian is to the bright sun.
+
+Soon after this holy maiden died, and passed away happy from earth,
+even as her whole life had been conspicuous only for her virtues.
+After her death she appeared to her spiritual father in a vision.
+She was clothed in raiment whiter than snow; she shone with dazzling
+brightness, and was full of heavenly joy. She came near to him, and
+showed him in what an excellent fashion she had passed away into the
+simple Godhead. He saw and heard her with exceeding delight, and the
+vision filled his soul with heavenly consolations. When he returned
+to himself, he sighed most deeply, and thus pondered: O Almighty
+God, how blessed is he, who strives after Thee alone! He may well be
+content to bear affliction, whose sufferings Thou wilt thus reward!
+May the Almighty God grant that we likewise may be brought to the
+same joys as this blessed maiden!
+
+A MEDITATION ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST
+
+THEN said the Eternal Wisdom to the servitor, Attend and listen
+dutifully, while I tell thee what sufferings I lovingly endured for
+thy sake.
+
+After I had finished My last Supper with My disciples, when I had
+offered Myself to My enemies on the mount, and had resigned Myself
+to bear a terrible death, and knew that it was approaching very
+near, so great was the oppression of My tender heart and all My
+body, that I sweated blood; then I was wickedly arrested, bound, and
+carried away. On the same night they treated Me with insult and
+contumely, beating Me, spitting upon Me, and covering My head.
+Before Caiaphas was I unjustly accused and condemned to death. What
+misery it was to see My mother seized with unspeakable sorrow of
+heart, from the time when she beheld Me threatened with such great
+dangers, till the time when I was hung upon the cross. They brought
+Me before Pilate with every kind of ignominy, they accused Me
+falsely, they adjudged Me worthy of death. Before Herod I, the
+Eternal Wisdom, was mocked in a bright robe. My fair body was
+miserably torn and rent by cruel scourgings. They surrounded My
+sacred head with a crown of thorns; My gracious face was covered
+with blood and spittings. When they had thus condemned Me to death,
+they led Me out with My cross to bear the last shameful punishment.
+Their terrible and savage cries could be heard afar off: "Crucify,
+crucify, the wicked man."
+
+Servitor. Alas, Lord, if so bitter were the beginnings of Thy
+passion, what will be the end thereof? In truth, if I saw a brute
+beast so treated in my presence I could hardly bear it. What grief
+then should I feel in heart and soul at Thy Passion? And yet there
+is one thing at which I marvel greatly. For I long, O my most dear
+God, to know only Thy Godhead; and Thou tellest me of Thy humanity.
+I long to taste Thy sweetness, and Thou showest me Thy bitterness.
+What meaneth this, O my Lord God?
+
+Wisdom. No man can come to the height of My Godhead, nor attain to
+that unknown sweetness, unless he be first led through the
+bitterness of My humanity. My humanity is the road by which men must
+travel. My Passion is the gate, through which they must enter. Away
+then with thy cowardice of heart, and come to Me prepared for a hard
+campaign. For it is not right for the servant to live softly and
+delicately, while his Lord is fighting bravely. Come, I will now put
+on thee My own armour. And so thou must thyself also experience the
+whole of My Passion, so far as thy strength permits. Take,
+therefore, the heart of a man; for be sure that thou wilt have to
+endure many deaths, before thou canst put thy nature under the yoke.
+I will sprinkle thy garden of spices with red flowers. Many are the
+afflictions which will come upon thee; till thou hast finished thy
+sad journey of bearing the cross, and hast renounced thine own will
+and disengaged thyself so completely from all creatures, in all
+things, which might hinder thine eternal salvation, as to be like
+one about to die, and no longer mixed up with the affairs of this
+life.
+
+Servitor. Hard and grievous to bear are the things which Thou
+sayest, Lord. I tremble all over. How can I bear all these things?
+Suffer me, O Lord, to ask Thee something. Couldst Thou not devise
+any other way of saving my soul, and of testifying Thy love towards
+me, so as to spare Thyself such hard sufferings, and so that I need
+not suffer so bitterly with Thee?
+
+Wisdom. The unfathomable Abyss of My secret counsels no man ought to
+seek to penetrate, for no one can comprehend it. And yet that which
+thou hast suggested, and many other things, might have been
+possible, which nevertheless never happen. Be assured, however, that
+as created things now are, no more fitting method could be found.
+The Author of Nature doth not think so much what He is able to do in
+the world, as what is most fitting for every creature; and this is
+the principle of His operations. And by what other means could the
+secrets of God have been made known to man, than by the assumption
+of humanity by Christ? By what other means could he who had deprived
+himself of joy by the inordinate pursuit of pleasure, be brought
+back more fittingly to the joys of eternity? And who would be
+willing to tread the path, avoided by all, of a hard and despised
+life, if God had not trodden it Himself? If thou wert condemned to
+death, how could any one show his love and fidelity to thee more
+convincingly, or provoke thee to love him in return more powerfully,
+than by taking thy sentence upon himself? If, then, there is any one
+who is not roused and moved to love Me from his heart by My immense
+love, My infinite pity, My exalted divinity, My pure humanity, My
+brotherly fidelity, My sweet friendship, is there anything that
+could soften that stony heart?
+
+Servitor. The light begins to dawn upon me, and I seem to myself to
+see clearly that it is as Thou sayest, and that whoever is not
+altogether blind must admit that this is the best and most fitting
+of all ways. And yet the imitation of Thee is grievous to a slothful
+and corruptible body.
+
+Wisdom. Shrink not because thou must follow the footsteps of My
+Passion. For he who loves God, and is inwardly united to Him, finds
+the cross itself light and easy to bear, and has nought to complain
+of. No one receives from Me more marvellous sweetness, than he who
+shares My bitterest labours. He only complains of the bitterness of
+the rind, who has not tasted the sweetness of the kernel. He who
+relies on Me as his protector and helper may be considered to have
+accomplished a large part of his task.
+
+Servitor. Lord, by these consoling words I am so much encouraged,
+that I seem to myself to be able to do and suffer all things through
+Thee. I pray Thee, then, that Thou wilt unfold the treasure of Thy
+Passion to me more fully.
+
+Wisdom. When I was hung aloft and fastened to the wood of the cross
+(which I bore for My great love to thee and all mankind), all the
+wonted appearance of My body was piteously changed. My bright eyes
+lost their light; My sacred ears were filled with mocking and
+blasphemy; My sweet mouth was hurt by the bitter drink. Nowhere was
+there any rest or refreshment for Me. My sacred head hung down in
+pain; My fair neck was cruelly bruised; My shining face was
+disfigured by festering wounds; My fresh colour was turned to
+pallor. In a word, the beauty of My whole body was so marred, that I
+appeared like a leper--I, the Divine Wisdom, who am fairer than the
+sun.
+
+Servitor. O brightest mirror of grace, which the Angels desire to
+look into, in which they delight to fix their gaze, would that I
+might behold Thy beloved countenance in the throes of death just
+long enough to water it with the tears of my heart, and to satisfy
+my mind with lamentations over it.
+
+Wisdom. No one more truly testifies his grief over My Passion, than
+he who in very deed passes through it with Me. Far more pleasing to
+Me is a heart disentangled from the love of all transitory things,
+and earnestly intent on gaining the highest perfection according to
+the example which I have set before him in My life, than one which
+continually weeps over My Passion, shedding as many tears as all the
+raindrops that ever fell. For this was what I most desired and
+looked for in My endurance of that cruel death--namely, that mankind
+might imitate Me; and yet pious tears are very dear to Me.
+
+Servitor. Since then, O most gracious God, the imitation of Thy most
+gentle life and most loving Passion is so pleasing to Thee, I will
+henceforth labour more diligently to follow Thy Passion than to weep
+over it. But since both are pleasing to Thee, teach me, I pray Thee,
+how I ought to conform myself to Thy Passion.
+
+Wisdom. Forbid thyself the pleasure of curious and lax seeing and
+hearing; let love make sweet to thee those things which formerly
+thou shrankest from; eschew bodily pleasures; rest in Me alone; bear
+sweetly and moderately the ills that come from others; desire to
+despise thyself; break thy appetites; crush out all thy pleasures
+and desires. These are the first elements in the school of Wisdom,
+which are read in the volume of the book of My crucified body. But
+consider whether anyone, do what he may, can make himself for My
+sake such as I made Myself for his.
+
+Servitor. Come then, my soul, collect thyself from all external
+things, into the tranquil silence of the inner man. Woe is me! My
+heavenly Father had adopted my soul to be His bride; but I fled far
+from Him. Alas, I have lost my Father, I have lost my Lover. Alas,
+alas, and woe is me! What have I done, what have I lost? Shame on
+me, I have lost myself, and all the society of my heavenly country.
+All that could delight and cheer me has utterly forsaken me; I am
+left naked. My false lovers were only deceivers. They have stripped
+me of all the good things which my one true Lover gave me; they have
+despoiled me of all honour, joy, and consolation. O ye red roses and
+white lilies, behold me a vile weed, and see also how soon those
+flowers wither and die, which this world plucks. And yet, O most
+gracious God, none of my sufferings are of any account, compared
+with this, that I have grieved the eyes of my heavenly Father. This
+is indeed hell, and a cross more intolerable than all other pain. O
+heart of mine, harder than flint or adamant, why dost thou not break
+for grief? Once I was called the bride of the eternal King, now I
+deserve not to be called the meanest of his handmaids. Never again
+shall I dare to raise mine eyes, for shame. O that I could hide
+myself in some vast forest, with none to see or hear me, till I had
+wept to my heart's desire. O Sin, Sin, whither hast thou brought me?
+O deceitful World, woe to those who serve thee! Now I have thy
+reward, I receive thy wages--namely, that I am a burden to myself
+and the whole world, and always shall be.
+
+Wisdom. Thou must by no means despair; it was for thy sins and those
+of others that I came into this world, that I might restore thee to
+Thy heavenly Father, and bring thee back to greater glory and honour
+than thou ever hadst before.
+
+Servitor. Ah, what is this, which whispers such flattering things to
+a soul that is dead, abhorred, rejected?
+
+Wisdom. Dost thou not know Me? Why art thou so despondent? Art thou
+beside thyself with excessive grief, My dearest son? Knowest thou
+not that I am Wisdom, most gentle and tender, in whom is the Abyss
+of infinite mercy, never yet explored perfectly even by all the
+saints, but none the less open to thee and all other sorrowing
+hearts. I am he who for thy sake willed to be poor and an exile,
+that I might recall thee to thy former honour. I am He who bore a
+bitter death, that I might restore thee to life. I am thy Brother; I
+am thy Bridegroom. I have put away all the wrong that thou ever
+didst against Me, even as if it had never been, only henceforth,
+thou must turn wholly to Me, and never again forsake Me. Wash away
+thy stains in My blood. Lift up thy head, open thine eyes, and take
+heart. In token of reconciliation, take this ring and put it on thy
+finger as My bride, put on this robe, and these shoes on thy feet,
+and receive this sweet and loving name, that thou mayst both be and
+be called for ever My bride. Thou has cost Me much labour and pain;
+for that cause, the Abyss of My mercy toward thee is unfathomable.
+
+Servitor. O kindest Father, O sweetest Brother, O only joy of my
+heart, wilt Thou be so favourable to my unworthy soul? What is this
+grace? What is the Abyss of Thy clemency and mercy? From the bottom
+of my heart I thank Thee, O heavenly Father, and beseech Thee by Thy
+beloved Son, whom Thou hast willed to suffer a cruel death for love,
+to forget my impieties. . . .
+
+Now, O Lord, I remember that most loving word, wherewith in the book
+of Ecclesiasticus[43] Thou drawest us to Thyself. "Come to me, all
+ye who desire me, and be filled with my fruits. I am the mother of
+beautiful affection. My breath is sweeter than honey, and my
+inheritance above honey and the honeycomb." "Wine and music rejoice
+the heart, and above both is the love of Wisdom."[44] Of a surety, O
+Lord, Thou showest Thyself so lovable and desirable, that it is no
+wonder that the hearts of all long for Thee, and are tormented by
+the desire of Thee. Thy words breathe love, and flow so sweetly,
+that in many hearts the love of temporal things has wholly dried up.
+Therefore, I greatly long to hear Thee speak of Thy lovableness.
+Come, O Lord, my only comfort, speak to the heart of Thy servant.
+For I sleep sweetly beneath Thy shadow, and my heart is awake.
+
+Wisdom. Hear, My son, and see; incline thine ear, forgetting thyself
+and all other things. Lo, I in Myself am that ineffable Good, which
+is and ever was; which has never been expressed nor ever will be.
+For although I give Myself to be felt by men in their inmost hearts,
+yet no tongue can ever declare or explain in words what I am. For
+verily all the beauty, grace, and adornment which can be conceived
+by thee or by others, exists in me far more excellently, more
+pleasantly, more copiously, than any one could say in words. I am
+the most loving Word of the Father, begotten from the pure substance
+of the Father, and wondrously pleasing am I to His loving eyes in
+the sweet and burning love of the Holy Spirit. I am the throne of
+happiness, the crown of souls: most bright are Mine eyes, most
+delicate My mouth, My cheeks are red and white, and all My
+appearance is full of grace and loveliness. All the heavenly host
+gaze upon Me with wonder and admiration; their eyes are ever fixed
+upon Me, their hearts rest in Me, their minds turn to Me and turn
+again. O thrice and four times happy is he, to whom it shall be
+given to celebrate this play of love amid heavenly joys at My side,
+holding My tender hands in happiest security, for ever and ever to
+all eternity. Only the word that proceeds out of My sweet mouth
+surpasses the melodies of all the angels, the sweet harmony of all
+harps, and musical instruments of every kind....
+
+Servitor. There are three things, O Lord, at which I marvel greatly.
+The first is, that although Thou art in Thyself so exceedingly
+loving, yet towards sin Thou art a most severe judge and avenger.
+Alas, Thy face in wrath is too terrible; the words which Thou
+speakest in anger pierce the heart and soul like fire. O holy and
+adorable God, save me from Thy wrathful countenance, and defer not
+till the future life my punishment.
+
+Wisdom. I am the unchangeable Good, remaining always the same. The
+reason why I do not appear always the same, is on account of those
+who do not behold Me in the same way. By nature I am friendly; yet
+none the less I punish vice severely, so that I deserve to be
+feared. From My friends I require a pure and filial fear, and a
+friendly love, that fear may ever restrain them from sin, and that
+love may join them to Me in unbroken loyalty.
+
+Servitor. What Thou sayest pleases me, O Lord, and it is as I would
+have it. But there is another thing at which I greatly marvel--how
+it is that when the soul is faint from desire of the sweetness of
+Thy presence, Thou art wholly mute, and dost not utter a single word
+that can be heard. And who, O Lord, would not be grieved, when Thou
+showest Thyself so strange, so silent, to the soul that loves Thee
+above all things?
+
+Wisdom. And yet all the creatures speak of Me.
+
+Servitor. But that is by no means enough for the soul that loves.
+
+Wisdom. Also every word that is uttered about Me is a message of My
+love; all the voices of holy Scripture that are written about Me are
+letters of love, sweet as honey. They are to be received as if I had
+written them Myself. Ought not this to satisfy thee?
+
+Servitor. Nay but, O most holy God, dearest Friend of all to me,
+Thou knowest well that a heart which is on fire with love is not
+satisfied with anything that is not the Beloved himself, in whom is
+its only comfort. Even though all the tongues of all the angelic
+spirits were to speak to me, none the less would my unquenchable
+love continue to yearn and strive for the one thing which it
+desires. The soul that loves Thee would choose Thee rather than the
+kingdom of heaven. Pardon me, O Lord: it would become Thee to show
+more kindness to those who love Thee so ardently, who sigh and look
+up to Thee and say: Return, return! Who anxiously debate with
+themselves: alas, thinkest thou that thou hast offended Him? That He
+has deserted thee? Thinkest thou that He will ever restore thee His
+most sweet presence, that thou wilt ever again embrace Him with the
+arms of Thy heart, and press Him to thy breast, that all thy grief
+and trouble may vanish? All this, O Lord, Thou hearest and knowest,
+and yet Thou art silent.
+
+Wisdom. Certainly I know all this, and I watch it with great
+pleasure. But I would have thee also answer a few questions, since
+thy wonder, though veiled, is so great. What is it which gives the
+greatest joy to the highest of all created spirits?
+
+ Servitor. Ah, Lord, this question is beyond my range. I prithee,
+answer it Thyself.
+
+Wisdom. I will do as thou desirest. The highest angelic spirit finds
+nothing more desirable or more delightful than to satisfy My will in
+all things; so much so, that if he knew that it would redound to My
+praise for him to root out nettles and tares, he would diligently
+fulfil this task in preference to all others.
+
+Servitor. Of a truth, Lord, this answer of Thine touches me sharply.
+I perceive that it is Thy will that I should be resigned in the
+matter of receiving and feeling tokens of Thy love, and that I
+should seek Thy glory alone, in dryness and hardness as well as in
+sweetness.
+
+Wisdom. No resignation is more perfect or more excellent, than to be
+resigned in dereliction.
+
+ Servitor. And yet, O Lord, the pain is very grievous.
+
+Wisdom. Wherein is virtue proved, if not in adversity? But be
+assured, that I often come, and try whether the door into My house
+is open, but find Myself repulsed. Many times I am received like a
+stranger, harshly treated, and then driven out of doors. Nay, I not
+only come to the soul that loves me, but tarry with her like a
+friend; but that is done so secretly, that none know it save those
+who live quite detached and separated from men, and observe My ways,
+and care only to please and satisfy My grace. For according to My
+Divinity I am purest Spirit, and I am received spiritually in pure
+spirits.
+
+Servitor. So far as I understand, Lord God, Thou art a very secret
+Lover. How glad would I be if Thou wouldest give me some signs, by
+which I might know Thee to be truly present.
+
+Wisdom. By no other way canst thou know the certainty of My presence
+better, than when I hide Myself from thee, and withdraw what is Mine
+from thy soul. Then at last thou knowest by experience what I am,
+and what thou art. Of a surety I am everlasting Good, without whom
+no one can have anything good. When therefore I impart that immense
+Good, which is Myself, generously and lovingly, and scatter it
+abroad, all things to which I communicate Myself are clothed with a
+certain goodness, by which My presence can be as easily inferred, as
+that of the Sun, the actual ball of which cannot be seen, by its
+rays. If therefore thou ever feelest My presence, enter into
+thyself, and learn how to separate the roses from the thorns, the
+flowers from the weeds.
+
+Servitor. Lord, I do search, and I find within myself a great
+diversity. When I am deserted by Thee, my soul is like a sick man,
+whose taste is spoiled. Nothing pleases me, but all things disgust
+me. My body is torpid, my mind oppressed; within is dryness, without
+is sadness. All that I see or hear, however good in reality, is
+distasteful and hateful to me. I am easily led into sins; I am weak
+to resist my enemies; I am cold or lukewarm towards all good.
+Whoever comes to me, finds my house empty. For the House-Father is
+away, who knows how to counsel for the best, and to inspire the
+whole household. On the other hand, when the day-star arises in my
+inmost heart, all the pain quickly vanishes, all the darkness is
+dispelled, and a great brightness arises and shines forth. My heart
+laughs, my mind is exalted, my soul becomes cheerful, all things
+around me are blithe and merry; whatever is around me and within me
+is turned to Thy praise. That which before seemed hard, difficult,
+irksome, impossible, becomes suddenly easy and pleasant. To give
+myself to fasting, watching, and prayer, to suffer or abstain or
+avoid, in a word all the hardnesses of life seem when compared with
+Thy presence to have no irksomeness at all. My soul is bathed in
+radiance, truth, and sweetness, so that all its labours are
+forgotten. My heart delights itself in abundant sweet meditations,
+my tongue learns to speak of high things, my body is brisk and ready
+for any undertaking; whoever comes to ask my advice, takes back with
+him high counsels such as he desired to hear. In short, I seem to
+myself to have transcended the limits of time and space, and to be
+standing on the threshold of eternal bliss. But who, O Lord, can
+secure for me, that I may be long in this state? Alas, in a moment
+it is withdrawn from me; and for a long space again I am left as
+naked and destitute as if I had never experienced anything of the
+kind; till at last, after many and deep sighings of heart, it is
+restored to me. Is this Thou, O Lord, or rather I myself? Or what is
+it?
+
+Wisdom. Of thyself thou hast nothing except faults and defects.
+Therefore that about which thou askest is I Myself, and this is the
+play of love.
+
+Servitor. What is the play of love?
+
+Wisdom. So long as the loved one is present with the lover, the
+lover knoweth not how dear the loved one is to him; it is only
+separation which can teach him that.
+
+Servitor. It is a very grievous game. But tell me, Lord, are there
+any who in this life no longer experience these vicissitudes of Thy
+presence?
+
+Wisdom. You will find very few indeed. For never to be deprived of
+My presence belongs not to temporal but to eternal life.
+
+APHORISMS AND MAXIMS
+
+ACT according to the truth in simplicity; and, whatever happens, do
+not help thyself; for he who helps himself too much will not be
+helped by the Truth.
+
+God wishes not to deprive us of pleasure; but He wishes to give us
+pleasure in its totality--that is, all pleasure.
+
+Wilt thou be of use to all creatures? Then turn thyself away from
+all creatures.
+
+If a man cannot comprehend a thing, let him remain quiet, and it
+will comprehend him.
+
+Say to the creatures, I will not be to thee what thou art to me.
+
+The power of abstaining from things gives us more power than the
+possession of them would.
+
+Some men one meets who have been inwardly drawn by God, but have not
+followed Him. The inner man and the outer man in these cases are
+widely at variance, and in this way many fail.
+
+He who has attained to the purgation of his senses in God performs
+all the operations of the senses all the better.
+
+He who finds the inward in the outward goes deeper than he who only
+finds the inward in the inward.
+
+He is on the right road who contemplates under the forms of things
+their eternal essence.
+
+It is well with a man who has died to self and begun to live in
+Christ.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+RUYSBROEK
+
+THE ADORNMENT OF THE SPIRITUAL NUPTIALS
+
+BOOK I
+
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+"SEE the Bridegroom cometh: go forth to meet Him." St Matthew the
+evangelist wrote these words, and Christ said them to His disciples
+and to all men, in the Parable of the Ten Virgins. The Bridegroom is
+our Lord Jesus Christ, and human nature is the bride, whom God has
+made in His own image and likeness. He placed her at first in the
+most exalted, the most beautiful, the richest and most fertile place
+on earth--in paradise. He subjected to her all the creatures; He
+adorned her with graces; and He laid a prohibition upon her, in
+order that by obedience she might deserve to be established in an
+eternal union with her Bridegroom, and never more fall into any
+affliction, trouble, or guilt. Then came a deceiver--the infernal,
+envious foe, under the guise of a cunning serpent. He deceived the
+woman, and the two together deceived the man, who possessed the
+essence of human nature. So the enemy despoiled human nature, the
+bride of God, by his deceitful counsels, and she was driven into a
+strange country; poor and miserable, a prisoner and oppressed,
+persecuted by her enemies, as if she could never more return to her
+country and the grace of reconciliation. But when God saw that the
+time was come, and took pity on the sufferings of His beloved, He
+sent His only Son to earth, in a rich abode and a glorious
+temple--that is to say, in the body of the Virgin Mary. There he
+married His bride, our nature, and united it to His Person, by means
+of the pure blood of the noble Virgin. The priest who joined the
+Bride and Bridegroom was the Holy Spirit; the angel Gabriel
+announced the marriage, and the blessed Virgin gave her consent. So
+Christ, our faithful Bridegroom, united our nature to His, and
+visited us in a strange land, and taught us the manners of heaven
+and perfect fidelity. And He laboured and fought like a champion
+against our enemy, and He broke the prison and gained the victory,
+and His death slew our death, and His blood delivered us, and He set
+us free in baptism under the life-giving waters, and enriched us by
+His sacraments and gifts, that we might go forth, as He said,
+adorned with all virtues, and might meet Him in the abode of His
+glory, to enjoy Him throughout all eternity.
+
+Now the Master of truth, Christ, saith: "See, the Bridegroom
+cometh, go forth to meet Him." In these words Jesus, our Lover,
+teaches us four things. In the first word He gives a command, for He
+says, "See." Those who remain blind, and those who resist this
+command are condemned without exception. In the next word He shows
+us what we shall see--that is to say, the coming of the Bridegroom,
+when He says, "The Bridegroom cometh." In the third place, He
+teaches us and commands us what we ought to do, when He says, "Go
+forth." In the fourth place, when He says, "to meet Him," He shows
+us the reward of all our works and of all our life, for that must be
+a loving "going forth," by which we meet our Bridegroom.
+
+We shall explain and analyse these words in three ways, first,
+according to the ordinary mode of the beginner's life--that is to
+say, the active life, which is necessary to all who would be saved.
+In the second place, we shall analyse these words by applying them
+to the inner life, exalted and loving, to which many men arrive by
+the virtues and by the grace of God. Thirdly, we shall explain them
+by applying them to the superessential and contemplative life, to
+which few attain and which few can taste, because of the supreme
+sublimity of this life.
+
+ON THE ACTIVE LIFE
+
+CHRIST, the Wisdom of the Father, hath said from the time of Adam
+and still saith (inwardly, according to His Divinity), to all men,
+"See"; and this vision is necessary. Now let us observe attentively
+that for him who wishes to see materially or spiritually, three
+things are necessary. First, in order that a man may be able to see
+materially, he must have the external light of heaven, or another
+natural light, in order that the medium--that is to say, the air
+across which one sees, may be illuminated. In the second place, he
+must have the will, that the things which he will see may be
+reflected in his eyes. Thirdly, he must have the instruments, his
+eyes, healthy and without flaw, that the material objects may be
+exactly reflected in them. If a man lacks any one of these three
+things, his material vision disappears. We shall speak no more of
+this vision, but of another, spiritual and supernatural, wherein all
+our blessedness resides.
+
+Three things are necessary for spiritual and supernatural vision.
+First, the light of the divine grace, then the free conversion of
+the will towards God, and lastly, a conscience pure from all mortal
+sin. Now observe: God being a God common to all, and His boundless
+love being common to all, He grants a double grace; both antecedent
+grace, and the grace by which one merits eternal life. All men,
+heathens and Jews, good and bad, have in common antecedent grace. In
+consequence of the common love of God towards all men, He has caused
+to be preached and published His name and the deliverance of human
+nature, even to the ends of the earth. He who wishes to be converted
+can be converted. For God wishes to save all men and to lose none.
+At the day of judgment none will be able to complain that enough was
+not done for him, if he had wished to be converted. So God is a
+common Light and Splendour which illumine heaven and earth, and men
+according to their merits and their needs. But though God is common,
+and though the sun shines on all trees, some trees remain without
+fruit, and others bear wild fruit useless to mankind. This is why we
+prune these trees and graft fertile branches upon them, that they
+may bear good fruit, sweet to taste and useful for men. The fertile
+branch which comes from the living paradise of the eternal kingdom,
+is the light of divine grace. No work can have savour, or be useful
+to man, unless it comes from this branch. This branch of divine
+grace, which makes man acceptable and by which we merit eternal
+life, is offered to all. But it is not grafted on all, for they will
+not purge away the wild branches of their trees--that is to say,
+unbelief or a perverse will, or disobedience to the commandments of
+God. But in order that this branch of divine grace may be planted in
+our soul, three things are necessary; the antecedent grace of God,
+the conversion of our free will, and the purification of the
+conscience. Antecedent grace touches all men; but all men do not
+attain to free conversion and purification of the conscience, and
+this is why the grace of God, by which they might merit eternal
+life, fails to touch them. The antecedent grace of God touches man
+from within or from without. From without, by sickness or loss of
+outward goods, of relations and friends, or by public shame; or
+perhaps a man is moved by preaching, or by the examples of saints
+and just men, by their words or works, till he comes to the
+knowledge of himself. This is how God touches us from without.
+Sometimes also a man is touched from within, by recalling the pains
+and sufferings of our Lord, and the good which God has done to him
+and to all men, or by the consideration of his sins, of the
+shortness of life, of the eternal pains of hell and the eternal joys
+of heaven, or because God has spared him in his sins and has waited
+for his conversion; or he observes the marvellous works of God in
+heaven, on earth, and in all creation. These are the works of
+antecedent divine grace, which touch man from within or from
+without, and in divers manners. And man has still a natural
+inclination towards God, proceeding from the spark of his soul or
+synteresis, [Footnote: See Introduction] and from the highest
+reason, which always desires the good and hates the evil. Now, in
+these three manners God touches every man according to his needs, so
+that the man is struck, warned, frightened, and stops to consider
+himself. All this is still antecedent grace and not merited; it thus
+prepares us to receive the other grace, by which we merit eternal
+life; when the mind is thus empty of bad wishes and bad deeds,
+warned, struck, in fear of what it ought to do, and considers God,
+and considers itself with its evil deeds. Thence come a natural
+sorrow for sin and a natural good will. This is the highest work of
+antecedent grace.
+
+When man does what he can, and can go no further because of his
+weakness, it is the infinite goodness of God which must finish this
+work. Then comes a higher splendour of the grace of God, like a ray
+of the sun, and it is poured upon the soul, though it is as yet
+neither merited nor desired. In this light God gives Himself, by
+free will and by bounty, and no one can merit it before he has it.
+And it is in the soul an internal and mysterious operation of God,
+above time, and it moves the soul and all its faculties. Here then
+ends antecedent grace; and here begins the other--that is to say,
+supernatural light.
+
+This light is the first necessary condition, and from it is born a
+second spiritual condition--that is to say, a free conversion of the
+will in a moment of time, and then love is born in the union of God
+and the soul. These two conditions are connected, so that one cannot
+be accomplished without the other. There, where God and the soul are
+united in the unity of love, God grants His light above time, and
+the sou! freely turns to God by the force of grace, in a moment of
+time, and charity is born in the soul, from God and the soul, for
+charity is a bond of love between God and the loving soul. From
+these two things, the grace of God, and the free conversion of the
+will illuminated by grace, is born charity--that is to say, divine
+love. And from divine love proceeds the third point, the
+purification of the conscience. And this is accomplished in the
+consideration of sin and of the flaws in the soul, and because man
+loves God, there enters into him a contempt for self and for all his
+works. This is the order of conversion. From it are born a true
+repentance and a perfect sorrow for the evil that we have done, and
+an ardent desire to sin no more and to serve God henceforward in
+humble obedience; from it are born a sincere confession, without
+reserves, without duplicity and without pretences, the desire to
+satisfy God and to undertake the practice of all the virtues and all
+good works. These three things, as you have just heard, are
+necessary for divine vision. If you possess them, Christ says to
+you, "See," and you become really seeing. This is the first of the
+four chief ways in which Christ, our Lord, says "See."
+
+ON THE FIRST COMING OF CHRIST, IN THE FLESH
+
+NEXT, He shows us what we shall see when He says, "The Bridegroom
+cometh." Christ, our Bridegroom, says this word in Latin: Venit.
+The word expresses two tenses, the past and the present, and yet
+here it indicates the future. And this is why we must consider three
+comings of our Bridegroom Jesus Christ. At His first coming He was
+made man for love of man. The second coming is daily and frequent in
+every loving soul, with new graces and new gifts, as man is able to
+receive them. In the third coming, He will come manifestly on the
+dreadful day of judgment or at the hour of each man's death. In all
+these comings we must observe three things, the cause, the interior
+mode, and the external work.
+
+The cause of the creation of angels and men is the infinite goodness
+and nobleness of God; He wished that the wealth and blessedness,
+which are Himself, should be revealed to reasonable creatures, for
+them to enjoy in time, and in eternity above time. The reason why
+God became man, is His inconceivable love, and the distress of all
+men, lost since the fall in original sin, and unable to raise
+themselves again. But the reason why Christ, according to His
+divinity and His humanity, accomplished His works on earth, is
+fourfold--namely, His divine love, which is without measure; the
+created love, which is called charity, and which He had in His soul
+by the union of the Eternal Word and the perfect gift of His Father;
+the great distress of human nature; and the glory of His Father.
+These are the reasons for the coming of Christ, our Bridegroom, and
+for all His works, exterior and interior.
+
+Now we must observe in Jesus Christ, if we wish to follow Him in His
+virtues according to our powers, the mode or condition which He had
+within, and the works which He wrought without, for they are virtues
+and the acts of virtues.
+
+The mode which He had according to His divinity is inaccessible and
+incomprehensible to us, for it is after this mode that He is
+continually born of the Father, and that the Father in Him and by
+Him knows and creates and orders, and rules everything in heaven and
+on earth; for He is the Wisdom of the Father, and from them flows
+spiritually a Spirit--that is to say, a love, which is the bond
+between them and the bond of all the saints and just persons on
+earth and in heaven. We will speak no more of this mode but of the
+created mode which He had by these divine gifts and according to His
+humanity. These modes are singularly multiform; for Christ had as
+many modes as He had interior virtues, for each virtue has its
+special mode. These virtues and these modes were, in the mind of
+Christ, above the intelligence and above the comprehension of all
+creatures. But let us take three--namely, humility, charity, and
+interior or exterior suffering in patience. These are the three
+principal roots and origins of all virtues and all perfection.
+
+ON THE TWOFOLD HUMILITY OF CHRIST
+
+NOW understand: there are two kinds of humility in Jesus Christ,
+according to His divinity. First, He willed to become man; and this
+nature, which was accursed even to the depth of hell, He accepted
+according to His personality and was willing to unite Himself to it.
+So that every man, good or bad, may say, Jesus Christ, the Son of
+God, is my brother. Secondly, He chose for mother a poor virgin, and
+not a king's daughter, so that this poor virgin became the mother of
+God, who is the only Lord of heaven and earth and all creatures. In
+consequence, of all the works of humility which Christ ever
+accomplished, one may say that God accomplished them. Now let us
+take the humility which was in Jesus Christ according to His
+humanity and by grace and divine gifts; according to His humility
+His soul inclined with all its power in respect and veneration
+before the power of the Father. For an inclined heart is a humble
+heart. This is why He did all His works to the praise and glory of
+the Father, and sought in nothing His own glory according to His
+humanity. He was humble, and submitted to the old law, and to the
+commandments, and often to the customs. He was circumcised, and
+carried to the Temple, and redeemed according to usages, and He paid
+taxes to Caesar like other Jews. And He submitted Himself humbly to
+His mother and to Joseph, and served them with a sincere deference
+according to their needs. He chose for friends--for apostles--the poor
+and the despised, in order to convert the world. In his intercourse
+with them and all others He was humble and modest. This is why He
+was at the disposal of all men, in whatever distress they were,
+within or without; He was, as it were, the servant of the whole
+world. This is what we find first in Jesus Christ, our Bridegroom.
+
+ON THE LOVE OF CHRIST, ADORNED WITH ALL VIRTUES
+
+NEXT comes charity, the beginning and source of all virtues. This
+charity maintained the supreme forces of His soul in tranquillity,
+and in the enjoyment of the same blessedness which He enjoys at
+present. And this same charity kept Him continually exalted towards
+His Father, with veneration, love, praise, respect, with internal
+prayers for the need of all men, and with the offering of all His
+works to the glory of God the Father. And this same charity made
+Christ still overflow with love and kindness towards all the
+material or spiritual needs of mankind. This is why He has given, by
+His life, the model after which all men should fashion their lives.
+He has given spiritual nourishment to all well-disposed men by real
+internal teachings, as well as by outward miracles. We cannot
+comprehend His charity to its full extent, for it flowed from the
+unfathomable fountains of the Holy Spirit, above all the creatures
+who have ever received charity, for He was God and man in one
+Person. This is the second point of charity.
+
+ON THE PATIENCE OF CHRIST, EVEN UNTO DEATH
+
+THE third point is to suffer in patience. We will examine this
+seriously, for it is this which adorned Christ, our Bridegroom,
+during all His life. He suffered when He was newly born, from
+poverty and cold. He was circumcised and shed his blood. He was
+obliged to fly into a foreign country. He served Joseph and His
+mother, He suffered from hunger and thirst, from shame and contempt
+and from the wicked words and deeds of the Jews. He fasted, He
+watched, and was tempted by the enemy. He was subject to all men, He
+went from district to district, from town to town, to preach the
+gospel painfully and zealously. Finally, He was taken by the Jews,
+who were His enemies and whom He loved. He was betrayed, mocked,
+insulted, scourged, struck, and condemned on false testimony. He
+carried His cross with great pain to the mount of Calvary. He was
+stripped naked as at His birth, and never was seen a body so
+beautiful, nor a mother so unhappy. He endured shame, pain, and cold
+before all the world, for He was naked, and it was cold, and He was
+exhausted by His wounds. He was nailed with large nails to the wood
+of the cross, and was so strained that His veins were burst. He was
+lifted up and shaken upon the cross, so as to make His wounds bleed,
+His head was crowned with thorns, and His ears heard the fierce Jews
+crying out, "Crucify Him! crucify Him!" and many other shameful
+words. His eyes saw the obstinacy and wickedness of the Jews, and
+the distress of His mother, and His eyes were extinguished under the
+bitterness of pain and death. His mouth and palate were hurt by the
+vinegar and gall, and all the sensitive parts of His body wounded by
+the scourge.
+
+Behold then Christ, our Bridegroom, wounded to death, abandoned by
+God and the creatures, dying on the cross, hanging from a post, with
+no one to care much for Him except Mary, His unhappy mother, who
+nevertheless could not aid Him. And Christ suffered moreover
+spiritually, in His soul, from the hardness of the Jews' hearts and
+those who made Him die, for in spite of the prodigies and miracles
+which they saw, they remained in their wickedness; and He suffered
+by reason of their corruption and the vengeance which God was about
+to inflict upon them, in body and soul, for His death. He suffered
+moreover for the grief and misery of His mother and disciples, who
+were in great sadness. And He suffered because His death would be
+wasted for many men, and for the ingratitude of many, and for the
+blasphemies of those who would curse Him who died for love of us.
+And His nature and interior reason suffered because God withdrew
+from them the inflow of His gifts and consolations, and abandoned
+them to themselves in such distress. Therefore Christ complained and
+said, My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?
+
+Behold then the interior virtues of Christ; humility, charity, and
+suffering in patience. These three virtues Jesus, our Bridegroom,
+practised throughout His life, and He died in them, and He paid our
+debt by satisfying justice, and opened His side in His bounty. And
+thence flow rivers of delight, and sacraments of blessedness. And He
+was exalted to His power, and sat at the right hand of the Father,
+and reigns eternally. This is the first coming of our Bridegroom,
+and it is completely past.
+
+ON THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST, HOW HE EVERY DAY FLOWS INTO OUR
+HEARTS WITH NEW GRACE
+
+THE second coming of Christ, our Bridegroom, takes place every day
+in just men. We do not wish to speak here of the first conversion of
+man, nor of the first grace which was given him when he was
+converted from sin to virtue. But we wish to speak of a daily
+increase of new gifts and new virtues, and of a more actual coming
+of Christ, our Bridegroom, into our soul. Now we must observe the
+cause, the mode, and the work, of this coming. The cause is fourfold;
+the mercy of God, our misery, the divine generosity, and our
+desire. These four causes make the virtues grow and increase.
+
+Now understand. When the sun sends forth its bright rays into a deep
+valley between two high mountains, and while it is at the zenith, so
+that it can illuminate the depths of the valley, a triple phenomenon
+occurs; for the valley is lighted from the mountains, and it becomes
+warmer and more fertile than the plain. In the same way, when a just
+man sinks in his misery, and recognises that he has nothing, and is
+nothing, that he can neither halt nor go forward by his own
+strength; and when he perceives also that he fails often in virtues
+and good works, he thus confesses his poverty and distress, and
+forms the valley of humility. And because he is humble and in need,
+and because he confesses his need, he makes his plaint to the
+kindness and mercy of God. He is conscious of the sublimity of God,
+and of his own abasement.
+
+Thus he becomes a deep valley. And Christ is the sun of justice and
+mercy, which burns at the meridian of the firmament--that is to say,
+at the right hand of the Father, and shines even to the bottom of
+humble hearts; for Christ is always moved by distress, when man
+humbly offers to Him complaints and prayers. Then the two mountains
+rise--that is to say, a double desire, in the first place a desire to
+serve and love God by his merits, in the second place to obtain
+excellent virtues. These two desires are higher than heaven, for
+they touch God without any intermediary, and desire His immense
+generosity. Then that generosity cannot be kept back, it must flow,
+for the soul is at this moment susceptible of receiving countless
+boons.
+
+These are the causes of the second coming of Christ, with new
+virtues. Then the valley--that is to say, the humble heart, receives
+three things. It is enlightened the more, and illuminated by grace,
+and warmed by charity, and becomes more fertile in virtues and good
+works. Thus you have the cause, the mode, and the work, of this
+coming.
+
+HOW WE MAY MAKE DAILY PROGRESS BY THE SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
+
+THERE is yet another coming of Christ, our Bridegroom, which takes
+place every day, in the growth of grace and in new gifts--that is to
+say, when a man receives some sacrament with a humble and
+well-prepared heart. He receives then new gifts and more ample
+graces, by reason of his humility, and by the internal and secret
+work of Christ in the sacrament. That which is contrary to the
+sacrament is in baptism the want of faith, in confession the want of
+contrition; it is to go to the sacrament of the altar in a state of
+mortal sin, or of bad will; and it is the same with the other
+sacraments.
+
+ON THE THIRD COMING OF CHRIST, TO JUDGMENT
+
+THE third coming, which is still future, will take place at the last
+judgment or at the hour of death. Christ, our Bridegroom and our
+Judge at this judgment, will recompense and avenge according to
+justice, for He will award to each according to his deserts. He
+gives to every just man, for every good work done in the spirit of
+the Lord, a reward without measure, which no creature can merit--
+namely, Himself. But as He co-operates in the creature, the creature
+deserves, through His merit, to have a reward. And by a necessary
+justice He gives eternal pains to those who have rejected an eternal
+good for a perishable.
+
+ON THE THIRD SPIRITUAL GOING FORTH, TO ALL THE VIRTUES
+
+NOW understand and observe. Christ says at the beginning of our
+text, "See"--that is to say, see by charity and pureness of
+conscience, as you have been told. Now, He has shown us what we
+shall see--namely, His three comings.
+
+He orders us what we must do next, and says, "Go forth" if you have
+fulfilled the first necessary condition--that is to say, if you see
+in grace and in charity, and if you have well observed your model,
+Christ, in His "going forth"; there leaps up in you, from your love
+and loving observation of your Bridegroom, an ardour of justice--
+that is to say, a desire to follow Him in virtue. Then Christ says
+in you, "Go forth." This going forth must have three modes. We must
+go forth towards God, towards ourselves, and towards our neighbour
+by charity and justice; for charity always pushes upward, towards
+the kingdom of God, which is God Himself; for He is the source from
+which it flowed without any intermediary, and He remains always
+immanent in it. The justice which is born of charity wishes to
+perfect the manners and the virtues which are suitable to the
+kingdom of God--that is to say, to the soul. These two things,
+charity and justice, establish a solid foundation in the kingdom of
+the soul where God may dwell, and this foundation is humility. These
+three virtues support all the weight and all the edifice of all the
+virtues and all sublimity; for charity maintains man in presence of
+the unfathomable good things of God from whence it flows, so that it
+perseveres in God, and increases in all the virtues and in true
+humility; and justice maintains man in presence of the eternal truth
+of God, so that truth may be discovered by him, and that he may be
+illuminated, and may accomplish all the virtues without error. But
+humility maintains man always before the supreme power of God, so
+that he remains always abased and little, and abandons himself to
+God, and holds no longer by himself. This is the way in which a man
+must bear himself before God, that he may grow alway in new virtues.
+
+HOW HUMILITY IS THE FOUNDATION OF ALL THE VIRTUES
+
+NOW understand; for having made humility the base of everything, we
+must speak first of it. Humility is the desire of abasement or of
+depth--that is to say, an inclination or internal desire for
+abasement of heart and conscience before the sublimity of God. The
+justice of God exacts this submission, and, thanks to charity, the
+loving heart cannot abandon it. When the loving and humble man
+considers that God has served him so humbly, so lovingly, and so
+faithfully, and then that God is so high, so powerful, and so noble,
+and that man is so poor, little, and base, there is born from all
+this, in the humble heart, an immense respect and reverence towards
+God; for to reverence God in all works, within and without, is the
+first and most delightful work of humility, the sweetest work of
+charity, and the most suitable work of justice. For the humble and
+loving heart cannot pay honours to God and His noble humanity, nor
+abase himself so deeply as to satisfy his desire. That is why it
+seems to the humble man that he always does too little in honour of
+God and in his humble service. And he is humble, and venerates Holy
+Church and the sacraments, and he is temperate in meat and drink, in
+his words, and in all relations of life. He is content with poor
+raiment, with menial employment, and his face is naturally humble,
+without pretence. And he is hunible in his practices, within and
+without, before God and before men, that none may be offended by
+reason of him. Thus he tames and removes far from him all pride,
+which is the cause and origin of all sins. Humility breaks the
+snares of sin, the world, and the Devil. And man is ordered within
+himself, and established in the very place of virtue. Heaven is open
+to him, and God is inclined to hear his prayer, and he is loaded
+with graces. And Christ, the solid stone, is his support, and he who
+builds his virtues upon humility cannot go wrong.
+
+ON OBEDIENCE
+
+FROM this humility is born obedience, for only the humble man can be
+inwardly obedient. Obedience is a submission and pliant disposition,
+and a good will ready for all that is good. Obedience subjects a man
+to orders, to prohibitions, and to the will of God, and it subjects
+the soul and sensual force to the highest reason, in such a way that
+the man lives suitably and reasonably. And it makes men submissive
+and obedient to Holy Church and to the sacraments, and to all the
+good practices of holy Christianity. It prepares man, and makes him
+ready for the service of all, in works, in bodily and spiritual
+care, according to the needs of each, and prudence. Also, it drives
+far away disobedience, which is the daughter of pride, and which we
+ought to flee from more than from poison. Obedience in will and work
+adorns, extends, and manifests the humility of man. It gives peace
+to cloisters, and if it exists in the prelate, as it ought to exist,
+it attracts those who are under his orders. It maintains peace and
+equality among equals. And he who observes it is beloved by those
+who are above him, and the gifts of God, which are eternal, elevate
+and enrich him.
+
+ON THE ABDICATION OF OUR OWN WILL
+
+FROM this obedience is born the abdication of our own will. By this
+abdication the substance and occasion of pride are repulsed, and the
+greatest humility is accomplished. And God rules the man as He
+wills; and the will of the man is so well united to that of God that
+he can neither wish nor desire anything otherwise. He has put off
+the old man, and has put on the new man, renewed and perfect
+according to the divine will. It is of such an one that Christ said,
+"Blessed are the poor in spirit," that is, those who have renounced
+their will--"for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
+
+ON PATIENCE
+
+FROM the abandonment of the will is born patience; for no one can
+be perfectly patient in everything, except he who has submitted his
+will to the will of God, and to all men in things useful and
+convenient. Patience is a tranquil endurance of all that can happen
+to a man, whether sent by God or by men. Nothing can trouble the
+patient man, neither the loss of earthly goods, nor the loss of
+friends or relations, nor sickness, nor disgrace, nor life, nor
+death, nor purgatory, nor the devil, nor hell. For he has abandoned
+himself to the will of God in true love. And, provided that mortal
+sin does not touch him, all that God orders for him in time or
+eternity seems light. This patience adorns a man, and arms him
+against anger and sudden rage, and against impatience of suffering,
+which often deceives a man within and without, and exposes him to
+manifold temptations.
+
+ON GENTLENESS
+
+FROM this patience are born gentleness and kindness, for no one can
+be gentle under adversity if not the patient man. Gentleness creates
+in man peace and repose from everything; for the gentle man endures
+insulting words and gestures, and bad faces and bad deeds, and all
+manner of injustice towards his friends and himself, and he is
+content with all, for gentleness is suffering in repose. Thanks to
+gentleness, the force of anger remains immovable in its
+tranquillity, the force of desire lifts itself up towards the
+virtues, and the reason rejoices, and the conscience dwells in
+peace, for the other mortal sins, such as anger and rage, are
+removed far from her. For the Spirit of God reposes in a gentle and
+humble heart, as Christ saith, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall
+inherit the earth"--that is to say, their own nature and the things
+of earth in meekness, and, after this life, the things of eternity.
+
+ON KINDNESS
+
+FROM the same source as gentleness comes kindness, for the gentle
+spirit alone can possess kindness. This kindness causes a man to
+oppose a loving face and friendly words, and all the works of pity,
+to those who are angry with him, and he hopes that they will return
+to themselves and amend. Thanks to mercy and kindness, charity
+remains lively and fruitful in a man; for the heart full of kindness
+is like a lamp full of precious oil; and the oil of kindness
+lightens the wandering sinner by its good example, and soothes and
+heals by consoling words and deeds those whose heart is wounded,
+saddened, or irritated. And it inflames and illumines those who are
+in charity, and no jealousy or envy can touch it.
+
+ON COMPASSION
+
+FROM kindness is born compassion, by which we sympathise with every
+one, for no one can suffer with all men, except he who has kindness.
+Compassion is an inward movement of the heart, aroused by pity for
+the bodily or spiritual distress of all men. This compassion makes a
+man partaker in Christ's sufferings, when he considers the reason of
+these sufferings, the resignation and love of Christ, His wounds,
+His tortures, His shame, His nobleness, His misery, the shame which
+He endured, the crown, the nails, and the death in patience. These
+unheard of and manifold pains of Christ, our Redeemer and
+Bridegroom, move to pity anyone who is capable of feeling pity.
+Compassion makes a man observe and note his faults, his want of
+power to do any good thing, and weakness in all that pertains to the
+glory of God; his lukewarmness and slowness, the multitude of his
+faults, the waste of his time, and his positive shortcomings in
+virtue and good conduct. All this makes a man truly sorry for
+himself. Then his compassion for himself makes him consider his
+errors and wanderings, the small care which he has of God and of his
+eternal salvation, his ingratitude for all the good that God has
+done him, and for all that He has suffered for man. And he considers
+also that he is a stranger to the virtues, that he neither knows
+them nor practises them, while he is clever and crafty in all that
+is bad and unjust; he sees how attentive he is to the loss or gain
+of worldly goods, how inattentive and indifferent towards God, the
+things of eternity, and his own salvation. This consideration makes
+the just man feel a great compassion towards the salvation of all
+men. The man will also observe with pity the bodily needs of his
+neighbour and the manifold pains of nature, when he sees the hunger
+which men suffer, the thirst, cold, nakedness, poverty, contempt,
+and oppression; the sadness which they feel at the loss of
+relations, friends, goods, honour, and repose; and the innumerable
+afflictions to which flesh is heir. All this rouses the just man to
+compassion, and he suffers with all men; but his greatest suffering
+arises when he sees the impatience of others under their own
+sufferings, by which they lose their reward and often deserve hell.
+This is the work of compassion and pity.
+
+This work of compassion and love for all men overcomes and removes
+the third mortal sin--namely, hatred and envy; for compassion is a
+wound of the heart, which makes us love all men, and can only work
+healing in so far as some suffering lives in men; for God has
+ordained that mourning and pain must precede all the other virtues.
+This is why Christ said, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they
+shall be comforted"--that is to say, when they shall reap in joy what
+they now sow in compassion and sorrow.
+
+ON GENEROSITY
+
+FROM this compassion is born generosity, for no one can be
+supernaturally generous, with faith in all men, and with love,
+except the merciful man; though one many give to a particular
+individual without charity, and without supernatural generosity.
+
+Generosity is the copious outflow of a heart moved with charity and
+pity. When a man considers with compassion the sufferings and pains
+of Christ, from this compassion is born generosity, which excites us
+to praise and thank Christ for His pains and for His love, at the
+same time that it causes to be born in us respect and veneration,
+and a joyous and humble submission of heart and soul, in time and in
+eternity. When a man observes and pities himself, and considers the
+good that God has done to him and his own weakness, he cannot help
+flowing out into the liberality of God, taking refuge in His pity
+and fidelity, and abandoning himself to God, with a free and perfect
+wish to serve Him for ever. The generous man, who observes the
+errors, the wanderings, and the injustice of men, desires and
+implores the outflow of the divine gifts and the exercise of their
+generosity on all men, that they may return to themselves and be
+converted to the truth. The generous man considers also with
+compassion the material needs of all men; he helps them, gives,
+lends, consoles to the best of his power. By means of this
+generosity, men practise the seven works of mercy, the rich by their
+services and the bestowal of their goods, the poor by good will and
+the desire to do good if they can, and thus the virtue of generosity
+is perfected. Generosity in the depth of the heart multiplies all
+the virtues, and illuminates the forces of the soul. For the
+generous, man is always of joyful spirit, he is without anxiety; he
+is full of sympathy, and is ready to do kindnesses to all men in the
+works of virtue. He who is generous, and loves not the things of
+earth, however poor he may be, is like unto God, for all that he
+has, and all the thoughts of his heart flow out of him in largess.
+And so he is delivered from the fourth of the deadly sins, avarice.
+Jesus Christ saith to these: "Blessed are the merciful, for they
+shall obtain mercy"; in the day when they shall hear this word
+spoken unto them: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
+kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
+
+ON ZEAL AND DILIGENCE
+
+FROM this generosity are born supernatural zeal and diligence in all
+the virtues. None can exhibit this zeal, save the generous and
+diligent man. This is an internal and eager impulse towards all the
+virtues, and towards the imitation of Christ and the saints. In this
+zeal, a man desires to expend in the honour of God the united powers
+of his heart and senses, his soul and body, all that he is, and all
+that he may receive. This zeal makes a man watchful in reason and
+discrimination, and makes him practise the virtues in justice.
+Thanks to this supernatural zeal, all the forces of his soul are
+open to God, and prepared for all the virtues. His conscience is
+refreshed, and divine grace is increased, virtue is practised with
+joy, and his external works are adorned. He who has received this
+lively zeal from God is removed far from the fifth deadly
+sin--lukewarmness and gloominess towards the virtues necessary for
+salvation. [Footnote: The best account in English of the deadly sin
+of acedia, too much neglected in modern religious teaching, is to be
+found in Bishop Paget's Spirit of Discipline.] And sometimes this
+lively zeal disperses heaviness and sluggishness of the bodily
+temperament. It is on this subject that Jesus Christ says: "Blessed
+are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall
+be filled." This will be, when the glory of God shall be manifested,
+and shall fill every man in proportion to his love and justice.
+
+ON TEMPERANCE AND SOBRIETY
+
+FROM zeal are born temperance and sobriety within and without; for
+none can maintain true moderation in sobriety, if he is not
+thoroughly diligent and zealous to preserve his body and soul in
+justice. Sobriety separates the higher faculties from the animal
+faculties, and preserves a man from excesses. Sobriety wishes not to
+taste nor know those things which are not permitted.
+
+The incomprehensible and sublime nature of God surpasses all the
+creatures in heaven and earth, for whatever the creature conceives
+is creature. But God is above every creature, and within and without
+every creature, and all created comprehension is too strait to
+comprehend Him. In order that the creature may conceive and
+comprehend God, it must be drawn up into God from above; it is only
+by God that it can comprehend God. Those then who wish to know what
+God is, and to study Him, let them know that it is forbidden. They
+would become mad. All created light must fail here. What God is,
+passes the comprehension of every creature. But Holy Scripture,
+nature, and all the creatures show us that He is. We shall believe
+the articles of faith without trying to penetrate them, for that is
+impossible while we are here: this is sobriety. The difficult and
+subtle teachings of the inspired writings we shall only explain in
+accordance with the life of Christ and His saints. Man will study
+nature and the Scriptures, and every creature; and will seek to
+learn from them only what may be to his own advantage. This is
+sobriety of spirit.
+
+A man will maintain sobriety of the senses, and he will subdue by
+reason his animal faculties, that the animal pleasure in food and
+drink may not delight him too much, but that he may eat and drink as
+a sick man takes a potion, because it is his duty to preserve his
+strength for the service of God. This is sobriety of body. A man
+will preserve moderation in words and actions, in silence and
+speech, in eating and drinking, in what he does and abstains from
+doing, as Holy Church enjoins and the saints give the example.
+
+By moderation and sobriety of spirit within, a man maintains
+constancy and perseverance in the faith, that purity of intelligence
+and calmness of reason which are necessary to understand the truth,
+readiness to bend to the will of God with regard to every virtue,
+peace of heart and serenity of conscience. Thanks to this virtue, he
+possesses assured peace in God and in himself.
+
+By moderation and sobriety in the use of the bodily faculties, he
+often preserves health and contentment of the bodily nature, his
+honour in external relations, and his good name. And thus he is at
+peace with himself and with his neighbour. For he attracts and
+rejoices all men of good will, by his moderation and sobriety. And
+he escapes the sixth deadly sin, which is want of temperance, and
+gluttony. It is of this that Christ said: "Blessed are the
+peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." For
+being like unto the Son, who has made peace in all creatures who
+desire it, and who make peace in their turn, by moderation and
+sobriety, the Son will divide among them the heritage of His Father,
+and they will possess this heritage with Him throughout eternity.
+
+ON PURITY
+
+FROM this sobriety are born purity of soul and body, for none can be
+absolutely pure in body and soul, save he who follows after sobriety
+in body and soul. Purity of spirit consists in this--that a man
+cleaves to no creature with any passionate desire, but attaches
+himself to God only; for one may use all the creatures while
+rejoicing in God only. Purity of spirit makes a man attach himself
+to God above intelligence and above the senses, and above all the
+gifts which God may bestow upon the soul; for all that the creature
+receives in its intelligence or in its senses purity desires to
+transcend, and to repose in God only. We should approach the
+sacrament of the altar not for the sake of the delights, the
+pleasure, the peace, or the sweetness which we find there, but for
+the glory of God only, and that we may grow in all the virtues. This
+is purity of spirit.
+
+Purity of heart signifies that a man turns towards God without
+hesitation in every bodily temptation and every disturbance of
+nature, in the freedom of his will abandoning himself to Him with a
+new confidence and a firm resolve to abide always with God. For to
+consent to sin, or to the animal desires of the bodily nature, is a
+separation from God.
+
+Purity of body means that a man abstains from impure actions of
+every kind, when his conscience assures him that they are impure and
+contrary to the commandments, to the glory, and to the will of God.
+
+Thanks to these three kinds of purity, the seventh deadly sin, that
+of wantonness, is conquered and driven away. Wantonness is a
+voluptuous inclination of the spirit, leading away from God towards
+a created thing; it is the impure act of the flesh outside what
+Holy Church permits, and the carnal occupation of the heart in some
+taste or desire for a creature. I do not here refer to those sudden
+stirrings of love or desire which none can escape.
+
+You now know that purity of spirit preserves men in the likeness of
+God, without care for the creatures, inclined towards God and united
+to Him. The chastity of the body is compared to the whiteness of the
+lily and to the purity of the angels. In its resistance to
+temptation, it is compared to the redness of the rose, and to the
+nobility of the martyrs. If it is preserved for love of God and in
+His honour, it is then perfect, and it is compared to the
+heliotrope, for it is one of the highest adornments of nature.
+
+Purity of heart renews and increases the grace of God. In purity of
+heart all the virtues are inspired, practised, and preserved. It
+keeps and preserves the outer senses, it subdues and binds the
+animal desires within, and it is the ornament of all the inner life.
+It is the exclusion of the heart from things of earth and from all
+lies, and its inclusion among the things of heaven and all truth.
+And this is why Christ has said: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for
+they shall see God." This is the vision in which consists our
+eternal joy, and all our reward, and our entrance into bliss. This
+is why a man will be sober and moderate in everything, and will keep
+himself from every occasion which might tarnish the purity of his
+soul and body.
+
+ON THE THREE ENEMIES WHO ARE TO BE CONQUERED BY JUSTICE
+
+IF we wish to possess this virtue and to repulse these enemies, we
+must have justice, and we must practise it, and preserve it even
+until our death, in purity of heart, for we have three powerful
+enemies who try to attack us at all times, in all states, and in
+many different ways. If we make our peace with any one of them and
+follow him, we are vanquished, for they are in league with each
+other in all wickedness and injustice. These three enemies are the
+devil, the world, and our own flesh, which is the nearest to us, and
+is often the worst and most mischievous of our foes. For our animal
+desires are the weapons with which our enemies fight against us.
+Idleness, and indifference to virtue and the glory of God are the
+cause and occasion of war and combat. But the weakness of our
+natures, our negligence and ignorance of truth are the sword by
+which our enemies wound us and sometimes conquer us.
+
+And this is why we must be divided in ourselves. The lower part of
+ourselves, which is animal and contrary to the virtues, we ought to
+hate and persecute and cause it to suffer by means of penitence and
+austerities, so that it may be always crushed down and submissive to
+reason, and that justice, with purity of heart, may always keep the
+upper hand in all virtuous actions. And all the pains, sorrows, and
+persecutions which God makes us suffer at the hands of those who are
+enemies to virtue, we shall endure with joy, in honour of God and
+for the glory of virtue, and in the hope of obtaining and possessing
+justice in purity of heart; for Christ said: "Blessed are those who
+are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of
+heaven." For righteousness preserved in virtue and in virtuous
+actions is a coin of the same weight and value as the kingdom of
+heaven, and it is by it that we may purchase and obtain eternal
+life. By these virtues a man goes forth towards God and towards
+himself, in good conduct, virtue, and justice.
+
+ON THE KINGDOM OF THE SOUL
+
+HE who wishes to obtain and preserve these virtues, will adorn,
+occupy, and order his soul like a kingdom. Free will is the king of
+the soul. It is free by nature, and more free still by grace. It
+will be crowned with a crown or diadem named Charity. We shall
+receive this crown and this kingdom from the Emperor, who is the
+Lord, the sovereign and king of kings, and we shall possess, rule,
+and preserve this kingdom in His name. This king, free will, will
+dwell in the highest town in the kingdom--that is to say, in the
+concupiscent faculty of the soul. He will be adorned and clad with a
+robe in two parts. The right side of his robe will be a virtue
+called strength, that he may be strong and powerful to overcome all
+obstacles and sojourn in the heaven, in the palace of the supreme
+Emperor, and to bend with love and ardent self-surrender his crowned
+head before the supreme monarch. This is the proper work of charity.
+By it we receive the crown, by it we adorn the crown, and by it we
+keep and possess the kingdom throughout eternity. The left side of
+the robe will be a cardinal virtue, called moral courage. Thanks to
+it, free will, the king, will subdue all immorality, will accomplish
+all virtue, and will have the power to keep his kingdom even until
+death. The king will choose councillors in his country, the wisest
+in the land. They will be two divine virtues, knowledge and
+discretion, illuminated by divine grace. They will dwell near the
+king, in a palace called the reasonable force of the soul. They will
+be crowned and adorned with a moral virtue called temperance, that
+the king may always act and refrain from acting according to their
+advice. By knowledge we shall purge our conscience from all its
+faults and adorn it with all virtues; and, thanks to discretion, we
+shall give and take, do and not do, speak and be silent, fast and
+eat, listen and answer, and act in all ways according to knowledge
+and discretion clad in their moral virtue, which is called
+temperance or moderation.
+
+This king, free will, will also establish in his kingdom a judge,
+who will be justice, which is a divine virtue when it is born from
+love. And it is one of the highest moral virtues. This judge will
+dwell in the conscience, in the middle of the kingdom in the
+irascible faculty. And he will be adorned with a moral virtue called
+prudence. For justice without prudence cannot be perfect. This
+judge, justice, will traverse the kingdom with royal powers,
+accompanied by wise counsel and his own prudence. He will promote
+and dismiss, he will judge and condemn, will condemn to death and
+acquit, will mutilate, blind, and restore to sight, will exalt and
+abase and organise, will punish and chastise according to justice,
+and will destroy all vices. The people of the kingdom--that is to
+say, all the faculties of the soul, will be supported by humility
+and the fear of God, submitting to Him in all the virtues, each
+after its own manner. He who has thus occupied, preserved, and
+ordered the kingdom of his soul, has gone forth, by love and the
+virtues, towards God, towards himself, and towards his neighbour.
+This is the third of the four principal points which Christ speaks
+of when He says, Go forth.
+
+ON THE THREEFOLD MEETING OF THE SOUL
+
+WHEN a man has, by the grace of God, eyes to see, and a pure
+conscience, and when he has considered the three comings of Christ,
+our Bridegroom, and lastly when he has gone forth by the virtues,
+then takes place the meeting with our Bridegroom, and this is the
+fourth and last point. In this meeting consist all our blessedness,
+and the beginning and the end of all the virtues, and without this
+meeting no virtue can be practised.
+
+He who wishes to meet Christ as his well-beloved Bridegroom, and to
+possess in Him and with Him eternal life, must meet Christ, now in
+time, in three points or in three manners. First, he must love God
+in everything wherein we shall merit eternal life. Secondly, he must
+attach himself to nothing which he might love as much as or more
+than God. Thirdly, he must repose in God with all his might, above
+all creatures and above all the gifts of God, and above all acts of
+virtue and above all the sensible graces which God might spread
+abroad in his soul and body.
+
+Now understand: he who has God for his end must have Him present to
+himself, by some divine reason. That is to say, he must have in view
+Him who is the Lord of heaven, and of earth, and of every creature,
+Him who died for him, and who can and will give him eternal
+salvation. In whatever mode and under whatever name he represents
+God, as Lord of every creature, it is well. If he takes some divine
+Person, and in Him sees the essence and power of the divine nature,
+it is well. If he regards God as saviour, redeemer, creator,
+governor, as blessedness, power, wisdom, truth, goodness, it is
+well. Though the names which we ascribe to God are numerous, the
+sublime nature of God is simple and unnameable by the creatures. But
+we give Him all these names by reason of His nobleness and
+incomprehensible sublimity, and because we cannot name or proclaim
+Him completely. See now under what mode and by what knowledge God
+will be present to our intention. For to have God for our aim is to
+see spiritually. To this quest belong also affection and love, for
+to know God and be without love aids and advances us not a whit, and
+has no savour. This is why a man, in all his actions, must bend
+lovingly towards God, whom he seeks and loves above everything.
+This, then, is the meeting with God by means of intention and love.
+
+In order that the sinner may turn from his sins in a meritorious
+penitence, he must meet God by contrition, free conversion, and a
+sincere intention to serve God for ever, and to sin no more. Then,
+at this meeting, he receives from the mercy of God the assured hope
+of eternal salvation and the pardon of his sins, and he receives the
+foundation of all the virtues, faith, hope, and charity, and the
+good will to practise all the virtues. If this man advances in the
+light of faith, and observes all the works of Christ, all His
+sufferings and all His promises, and all that He has done for us and
+will do to the day of judgment and through eternity; if he examines
+all this for his soul's health, he must needs meet with Christ; and
+Christ must needs be present to his soul, so grateful and full of
+thankfulness. So his faith is fortified, and he is impelled more
+inwardly and powerfully towards all the virtues. If he still
+progresses in the works of virtue, he must again meet with Christ,
+by the annihilation of self. Let him not seek his own things; let
+him set before him no extraneous ends; let him be discreet in his
+actions; let him set God always before him, and the praise and glory
+of God; and let him so continue till his death; then his reason
+will be enlightened and his charity increased, and he will become
+more pious and apt for all the virtues. We shall set God before us
+in every good work; in bad works we cannot set Him before us. We
+shall not have two intentions--that is to say, we shall not seek God
+at the same time as something else, but all our intention must be
+subordinated to God and not contrary to Him, but of one and the same
+kind, so that it may help us and give us an impulse which may lead
+us more easily to God. Then and then only is a man in the right
+road. Moreover, we shall rest rather upon Him who is our aim and our
+goal and the object of our love, than upon the messengers whom He
+sends us--that is to say, His gifts. The soul will rest constantly
+upon God, above all the adornments and presents which His messengers
+may bring. The messengers sent by the soul are intention, love, and
+desire. They carry to God all our good works and virtues. Above all
+these, the soul will rest on God, its Beloved, above all
+multiplicity. This is the manner in which we shall meet Christ all
+through our life, in all our actions and virtues, by right
+intention, that we may meet Him at the hour of our death in the
+light of glory.
+
+This mode, as you have learnt, is called the active life. It is
+necessary to all men; or at least they must not live in a manner
+contrary to any virtue, though they may not attain the degree of
+perfection in all the virtues which I have described. For to live
+contrary to the virtues is to live in sin, as Christ has said: "He
+that is not with me is against me." He who is not humble is proud,
+and he who is proud belongs not to God. We must always possess a
+virtue and be in a state of grace, or possess what is contrary to
+that virtue and be in a state of sin. May every man examine and
+prove himself, and order his life as I have here described.
+
+ON THE DESIRE TO KNOW GOD AS HE IS, IN THE NATURE OF HIS GODHEAD
+
+THE man who thus lives, in this perfection, as I have here described
+it, and who devotes all his life and actions to the honour and glory
+of God, and who seeks and loves God above all things, is often
+seized by the desire to see and know Christ, this Bridegroom who was
+made man for love of him, who laboured in love even till death, who
+drove away from him sin and the enemy, who gave him His grace, who
+gave him Himself, who left him His sacraments and promised him His
+kingdom. When a man considers all this, he is exceedingly desirous
+to see Christ his Bridegroom, and to know what He is in Himself
+While He only knows Him in His works he is not satisfied. So he will
+do like Zacchasus, the publican, who desired to see Jesus Christ. He
+will go in front of the crowd--that is to say, the multitude of the
+creatures, for they make us so little and short, that we cannot
+perceive God. And he will climb the tree of faith, which grows from
+above downwards, for its roots are in the Godhead. This tree has
+twelve branches, which are the twelve articles of faith. The lower
+branches speak of the humanity of Christ, and of the things which
+concern the salvation of our body and soul. The higher part of the
+tree speaks of the Godhead, of the Trinity of the Divine Persons and
+the Unity of the Divine Nature. A man will strive to reach the unity
+at the top of the tree, for it is there that Jesus must pass with
+all His gifts. Here Jesus comes, and sees the man, and tells Him in
+the light of faith that He is, according to His Godhead,
+immeasurable and incomprehensible, inaccessible and abysmal, and
+that He surpasses all created light and all finite comprehension.
+This is the highest knowledge acquired in the active life, to
+recognise thus, in the light of faith, that God is inconceivable and
+unknowable. In this light Christ saith to the desire of a man: "Come
+down quickly, for I must lodge at thy house to-day." This rapid
+descent to which God invites him is nothing else but a descent, by
+desire and love, into the abyss of the Godhead, to which no
+intelligence can attain in crested light. But where intelligence
+remains outside, love and desire enter. The soul thus bending
+towards God, by the intention of love, above all that the intellect
+can comprehend, rests and abides in God, and God abides in her. Then
+mounting by desire, above the multitude of the creatures, above the
+work of the senses, above the light of nature, she meets Christ in
+the light of faith, and is enlightened, and recognises that God is
+unknowable and inconceivable. Finally, bending by her desires
+towards this inconceivable God, she meets Christ and is loaded with
+His gifts; by living and resting upon Him, above all His gifts,
+above herself and above all the creatures, she dwells in God and God
+in her.
+
+This is how you will meet Christ at the summit of the active life,
+if you have as your foundations justice, charity, and humility; and
+if you have built a house above--that is to say, the virtues here
+described, and if you have met Christ by faith--that is to say, by
+faith and the intention of love, you dwell in God and God dwells in
+you, and you possess the active life.
+
+This is the first explanation of the word of Jesus Christ our
+Bridegroom, when He said, "See, the Bridegroom cometh; go forth to
+meet Him."
+
+BOOK II
+
+THE SUBJECTS OF THE SECOND BOOK
+
+THE prudent virgin--that is to say, the pure soul, who has
+renounced the things of earth, and lives henceforth for God in
+virtue, has taken in the vessel of her heart the oil of charity and
+of divine works by means of the lamp of an unstained conscience. But
+when Christ, her Bridegroom, withdraws His consolations and the
+fresh outpouring of His gifts, the soul becomes heavy and torpid.
+
+At midnight--that is to say, when it is least expected, a spiritual
+cry resounds in the soul: "See, the Bridegroom cometh, go forth to
+meet Him." We shall now speak of this seeing, and of the inward
+coming of Christ, and of the spiritual going forth of the man to
+meet Jesus, and we shall explain these four conditions of an inward
+life, exalted and full of desire, to which all men attain not, but
+many reach it by means of the virtues and their inward courage.
+
+In these words, Christ teaches us four things. In the first, He
+requires that our intelligence shall be enlightened with a
+supernatural light. This is what we observe in the word, "See." In
+the next words He shows us what we ought to see--that is to say, the
+inward coming of our Bridegroom of eternal truth. This is His
+meaning when He says: "The Bridegroom cometh." In the third place,
+in the words "go forth," He bids us go forth in inward actions
+according to righteousness. In the fourth place, He shows us the end
+and motive of all our works, the meeting with our Bridegroom Jesus
+Christ in the joyous unity of His adorable Godhead.
+
+HOW WE MAY GAIN SUPERNATURAL VISION BY INTERNAL EXERCISES
+
+NOW let us speak of the first word. Christ saith, "See." Three
+things are required by him who would see supernaturally in interior
+exercises. The first is the light of the divine grace, but in a far
+more sublime manner than can be felt in the external, active life.
+The second is a stripping off of extraneous images and a denudation
+of the heart, so that a man may be free from images, and attachments
+to every creature. The third is a free conversion of the will, by
+means of a concentration of all the bodily and spiritual faculties,
+and complete deliverance from all inordinate affections. Thus this
+will flows together into the unity of the Godhead and of our own
+mind, so that the reasonable creature may be able to obtain and
+possess supernaturally the sublime unity of God. It is for this that
+God made the heaven and earth and mankind, it is for this that He
+was made man, and taught us by word and example by what way we
+should come to this unity. And then in the ardour of His love He
+endured to die, and He ascended to heaven, and opened to us this
+unity in which we may possess felicity and eternal blessedness.
+
+ON THE THREEFOLD NATURAL UNITY OF MAN
+
+NOW consider attentively: there are three kinds of natural unity in
+all men, and, moreover, of supernatural unity among the just. The
+first and supreme unity of man is in God; for all creatures are
+immanent in this unity, and if they were to be separated from God,
+they would be annihilated, and would become nothing. This unity is
+essential in us according to nature, whether we are good or bad. And
+without our co-operation it makes us neither holy nor blessed. This
+unity we possess in ourselves, and nevertheless above us, as a
+beginning and support of our life and essence.
+
+Another unity exists in us naturally--that of the supreme forces, in
+so far as they actively take their natural origin in the unity of
+the spirit or of the thoughts. This is the same unity as that which
+is immanent in God, but it is taken here actively and there
+essentially. Nevertheless the spirit is entirely in each unity
+according to the integrity of its substance. We possess this unity
+in ourselves, above the sensitive part of us; and thence are born
+memory, intelligence, and will, and all the power of spiritual
+works. In this unity the soul is called spirit.
+
+The third unity which is in us naturally is the foundation of bodily
+forces in the unity of the heart, the source and origin of bodily
+life. The soul possesses this unity in the lively centre of the
+heart, and from it flow all the material works and the five senses,
+and the soul draws from thence its name of soul (anima); for it is
+the source of life, and animates the body--that is to say, it makes
+it living and preserves it in life. These three unities are in man
+naturally, as a life and a kingdom. In the inferior unity we are
+sensible and animal, in the intermediate unity we are rational and
+spiritual; and in the superior unity we are preserved according to
+our essence. And this exists in all men, naturally.
+
+Now these three unities are adorned and cultivated naturally, like a
+kingdom and an eternal abode, by the virtues, in charity and in the
+active life. And they are adorned still better and more gloriously
+cultivated by the internal exercises of a spiritual life. But most
+gloriously and blessedly of all by a supernatural contemplative
+life.
+
+The inferior unity, which is corporeal, is adorned and cultivated
+supernaturally by external practices, by perfect conduct, by the
+example of Christ and the saints, by carrying the cross with Christ,
+by submitting our nature to the command of Holy Church and the
+teachings of the saints, according to the forces of nature and
+prudence.
+
+The other unity which resides in the spirit and which is absolutely
+spiritual, is adorned and cultivated supernaturally by the three
+Divine gifts, Faith, Hope, and Charity, and by the influx of grace
+and Divine gifts, and by good will directed to all the virtues, and
+the desire to follow the example of Christ and of holy Christendom.
+
+The third and supreme unity is above our intelligence and yet
+essentially in us. We cultivate it supernaturally when in all our
+works of virtue we have in view only the glory of God, without any
+other desire but to repose in Him, above thought, above ourselves,
+and above everything. And this is the unity from which we flowed out
+when we were created, and where we abide according to our essence,
+and towards which we endeavour to return by love. These are the
+virtues which adorn this triple unity in the active life.
+
+Now we proceed to say how this triple unity is adorned more
+sublimely and cultivated more nobly by interior exercises joined to
+the active life. When a man, by love and right intention, elevates
+himself in all his works and in all his life towards the honour and
+glory of God, and seeks rest in God above all things, he will wait
+in humility and patience and abandonment of self and in the hope of
+new riches and new gifts, and he will not be troubled or anxious
+whether it pleases God to grant His gifts or to refuse them. So men
+prepare themselves for receiving an internal life of desires; even
+as a vessel is fitted and prepared, into which a precious liquid is
+to be poured. There is no vessel more noble than the loving soul,
+and no drink more necessary than the grace of God. Man will thus
+offer to God all his works and all his life, in a simple and right
+intention, and in a zest above his intention, above himself, and
+above everything, in the sublime unity in which God and the loving
+spirit are united without intermediary.
+
+ON THE FIRST MODE OR DEGREE OF THE FIRST SPIRITUAL COMING OF CHRIST
+
+THE first coming of Christ to those who are engaged in the exercises
+of desire is an internal and sensible current from the Holy Spirit,
+which impels and attracts us to all the virtues. We shall compare
+this coming to the splendour and power of the sun, which, so soon as
+it is risen, enlightens and warms the whole world in the twinkling
+of an eye. In the same way Christ, the eternal sun, burns and
+shines, dwelling at the highest point of the spirit, and enlightens
+and fires the lower part of man--that is to say, his physical heart
+and sense-faculties, and this is accomplished in less time than the
+twinkling of an eye, for the work of God is prompt; but the man in
+whom it takes place ought to be internally seeing by means of his
+spiritual eyes.
+
+The sun burns in the East, in the middle of the world, on the
+mountains; there it hastens in the summer, and creates good fruits
+and strong wines, filling the earth with joy. The same sun shines in
+the West, at the end of the world; the country there is colder and
+the force of the heat less; nevertheless, it there produces a great
+number of good fruits, but not much wine. The men who dwell in the
+West part of themselves, abide in their external senses, and by
+their good intentions, their virtues, and their outer practices, by
+the grace of God produce abundant harvests of virtues of divers
+kinds, but they but rarely taste the wine of inward joy and
+spiritual consolation.
+
+The man who wishes to experience the rays of the eternal sun, which
+is Christ Himself, will be seeing; and will dwell on the mountains
+of the East, by concentrating all his faculties, and lifting up his
+heart to God, free, and indifferent to joy and pain and all the
+creatures. There shines Christ, the sun of righteousness, on the
+free and exalted heart, and this is what I mean by the mountains.
+Christ, the glorious sun and divine effulgence, shines through and
+fires by his internal coming, and by the power of His Spirit, the
+free heart and all the powers of the soul. This is the first work of
+the internal coming in the exercises of desire. Just as fire
+inflames things which are thrown into it, so Christ inflames the
+hearts offered to Him in freedom and exultation at His internal
+coming, and He says in this coming: "Go forth by the exercises
+appropriate to this life."
+
+ON UNITY OF HEART
+
+FROM this heat is born unity of heart, for we cannot obtain true
+unity, unless the Spirit of God lights His flame in our heart. For
+this fire makes one and like unto itself all that it can overtop and
+transform. Unity gives a man the feeling of being concentrated with
+all his faculties on one point. It gives internal peace and repose
+of heart. Unity of heart is a bond which draws and binds together
+the body and the soul, and all exterior and interior forces, in the
+unity of love.
+
+HOW THE VIRTUES PROCEED FROM UNITY
+
+FROM this unity of heart is born inwardness or the internal life,
+for none can have inwardness unless he is one and united in himself;
+fervour or inwardness is the introversion of a man into his own
+heart, to comprehend and experience the internal operation or speech
+of God. Inwardness is a sensible flame of love, which the Spirit of
+God lights and kindles in a man, and a man knows not whence it
+comes, nor what has happened to him.
+
+ON SENSIBLE LOVE
+
+FROM inwardness is born a sensible love which penetrates the heart
+of man and the highest faculties of the soul. This love and delight
+none can experience who has not inwardness. Sensible love is the
+desire and appetite for God as for an eternal good in which all is
+contained. Sensible love renounces all the creatures, not as needs
+but as pleasures. Interior love feels itself touched from above by
+the eternal love which it must practise eternally Interior love
+willingly renounces and despises everything, in order to obtain that
+which it loves.
+
+ON DEVOTION
+
+FROM this sensible love is born devotion to God and His glory. For
+none can have a hungry devotion in his heart, unless he possesses
+the sensible love of God. Devotion excites and stimulates a man
+internally and externally to the service of God. It makes the body
+and soul abound in glory and merit in the eyes of God and men. God
+exacts devotion in all that we do. It purges the body and soul from
+all that might hold us back; it shows us the true path to
+blessedness.
+
+ON GRATITUDE
+
+FROM fervent devotion is born gratitude, for none can thank or
+praise God perfectly if he is not fervent and pious. We should thank
+God for everything here below, that we may be able to thank Him
+eternally above. Those who praise not God here, will be mute
+eternally. To praise God is the most joyous and delicious employment
+of the loving heart. There is no limit to the praises of God, for
+therein is our salvation, and we shall praise Him eternally.
+
+Now hear a comparison, by which you may understand the exercise of
+gratitude. When the summer approaches and the sun mounts, it
+attracts the moisture of the earth along the stems and branches of
+the trees, whence come green leaves, flowers, and fruit. Even so
+when Christ, the eternal sun, rises in our hearts, He sends His
+light and heat upon our desires, and draws the heart away from all
+the manifold things of earth, creating unity and inwardness, and
+makes the heart grow and become green by interior love, and makes
+loving devotion flourish, and makes us bear the fruits of gratitude
+and love, and preserves these fruits eternally in the humble pain of
+our inability to praise and serve Him enough.
+
+Here ends the first of the four chief kinds ot interior exercises,
+which adorn the lower part of a man.
+
+HOW TO INCREASE INWARDNESS BY HUMILITY
+
+BUT in thus comparing to the splendour and power of the sun the
+modes in which Jesus Christ comes, we shall find in the sun another
+virtue or influence which makes the fruit more early ripe and more
+abundant.
+
+When the sun rises to a very great height, and enters the sign of
+the Twins--that is to say, into a double thing, but of the same
+nature, in the middle of the month of May, the sun has a double
+power over the flowers, herbs, and all that grows upon the earth. If
+at that time the planets which rule nature are well ordered
+according to the season of the year, the sun shines brightly on the
+earth, and attracts the moisture in the atmosphere. Hence are born
+dew and rain, and the fruits of the ground increase and multiply.
+
+Even so when Christ, that bright sun, rises in our heart above all
+other things, and when the requirements of material nature, which
+are contrary to the spirit, are well regulated according to reason,
+when we possess the virtues as I have said above, and when, lastly,
+we offer and restore to God, by the ardour of charity, and with
+gratitude and love, the delight and peace which we find in the
+virtues, from all these are born, at times, a gentle rain of new
+internal consolations, and a celestial dew of divine sweetness. This
+dew and rain make all the virtues increase and multiply day by day,
+if we put no hindrance in their way. This is a new and special
+operation, and a new coming of Christ into the loving heart.
+
+ON PURE SATISFACTION OF THE HEART
+
+FROM this sweetness is born satisfaction of heart, and of all the
+bodily faculties, so that a man imagines that he is inwardly
+embraced in the divine bands of love. This pleasure and consolation
+is greater and more delicious to body and soul than all the
+pleasures granted on earth, even if a man could enjoy them to the
+full. In this pleasure God sinks into the heart by means of His
+gifts with such a profusion of delights, consolations, and joys,
+that the heart overflows internally.
+
+ON THE OBSTACLES WHICH WE ENCOUNTER IN THIS STATE
+
+THIS coming, or kind of coming, is granted to beginners, when they
+turn from the world, when their conversion is complete, and they
+abandon all the consolations of earth to live for God only;
+nevertheless they are still weak, and need milk and not strong meat,
+such as great temptations and the hiding of God's face. At this
+season frost and fog often injure them, for they are in the middle
+of the May of the interior life. The frost is to wish to be
+something, or to imagine that we are something, or to be somewhat
+attached to ourselves, or to believe that we have deserved
+consolations and are worthy of them. The fog is the wish to rest
+upon internal consolations and pains. This obscures the atmosphere
+of reason, and the ilowers, which were about to unfold and bloom and
+bear fruits, shut up again. This is why we lose the knowledge of
+truth, and nevertheless we sometimes keep certain false sweetnesses
+granted by the enemy, which at the last lead men astray.
+
+HOW ONE OUGHT TO BEHAVE IN THIS CASE
+
+I WISH to give you here a brief comparison, that you may not go
+astray, and that you may be able to behave wisely in this case.
+Observe the wise bee, and imitate her. She dwells in unity, in the
+midst of the assembly of her kind, and she goes forth, not during a
+storm, but when the weather is calm and bright, and the sun shines;
+and she flies towards every flower where she may find sweetness. She
+rests not on any flower, neither for its beauty nor for its
+sweetness, but draws out from the cups of the flowers their
+sweetness and clearness--that is to say, the honey and wax, and she
+brings them back to the unity which is formed of the assembly of all
+the bees, that the honey and wax may be put to good use.
+
+The expanded heart on which Christ, the eternal sun, shines, grows
+and blooms under His rays, and from it flow all the interior forces
+in joy and sweetness.
+
+Now the wise man will act like the bee, and will try to settle, with
+affection, intelligence, and prudence, on all the gifts and all the
+sweetness that he has experienced, and on all the good that God has
+done to him. He will not rest on any flower of the gifts, but laden
+with gratitude and praise he will fly back towards the unity where
+he wishes to dwell, and to rest with God eternally.
+
+ON THE THIRD MODE OF THE SPIRITUAL COMING OF CHRIST
+
+WHEN the sun in heaven reaches its highest point, in the sign of the
+Crab--that is to say, when it can go no higher, but must begin to go
+backwards, then the greatest heat of the year begins. The sun
+attracts the moisture, the earth dries, and the fruits ripen. In the
+same way, when Christ, the divine sun, arises above the highest
+summit of our heart--that is to say, above all His gifts,
+consolations and sweetnesses, and if we do not rest in any of these,
+however sweet, but return always with humble praises to the source
+from which these gifts flow, Christ stops and remains lifted up
+above the summit of our heart, and desires to attract all our powers
+to Himself.
+
+This invitation is an irradiation of Christ, the eternal sun, and
+causes in the heart a joy and pleasure so great that the heart
+cannot close again after such an expansion, without pain. A man is
+wounded internally and feels the smart of love. To be wounded by
+love is the sweetest sensation and the most grievous pain that can
+be experienced. To be wounded by love is a sure sign that we shall
+be cured. This spiritual wound does us good and harm at the same
+time.
+
+ON THE FOURTH KIND OF THE SPIRITUAL COMING OF CHRIST
+
+NOW I wish to speak of the fourth kind of coming of Jesus Christ,
+which exalts and perfects the man in his interior exercises,
+according to the lower part of his being. But having compared all
+the interior comings to the shining of the sun, we will continue to
+speak, while following the course of the seasons, of the other
+effects and works of the sun.
+
+When the sun begins to descend the sky, it enters the sign of the
+Virgin, so called because this period of the year becomes barren
+like a virgin. The glorious virgin Mary, mother of Christ, full of
+joys and rich in all the virtues, ascended to heaven at this season.
+The heat begins then to diminish, and men gather, for use during the
+whole year, the ripe fruits which can be used long after, such as
+corn and the grape. And they sow part of the corn, that it may be
+multiplied for the use of men. At this season all the solar work of
+the year is finished. In the same way, when Christ, the glorious
+sun, has risen to the zenith in the heart of men, and begins to
+descend, so as to hide the splendour of His divine beams and to
+leave a man alone, the heat and impatience of love diminish. Now
+this occultation of Christ and the withdrawal of His light and heat
+are the first work and the new coming of this mode. Now Christ says
+spiritually in a man: "Go forth in the manner that I now show thee";
+and the man goes forth, and finds himself poor, miserable, and
+desolate. Here all the storm, all the passion and eagerness of love
+grow cold; summer becomes autumn, and all his wealth is changed into
+great poverty. And the man begins to complain by reason of his
+misery; what is become of his ardent love, his inwardness, his
+gratitude, the interior consolations, the heartfelt joys? Where has
+it all gone? How comes it that all is dead within him? He is like
+a scholar who has lost his knowledge and his work; and nature is
+often troubled by such losses. Sometimes these unhappy ones are
+deprived of the good things of earth, of their friends and
+relations, and are deserted by all the creatures; their holiness is
+mistrusted and despised, men put a bad construction upon all the
+works of their life, and they are rejected and disdained by all
+those who surround them; and sometimes they are afflicted with
+diverse diseases; and some of them fall into bodily temptations, or
+into spiritual temptations, the most dangerous of all. From this
+misery are born the fear of falling, and a sort of half-doubt, and
+this is the extreme point where we can stop without despair. Let
+such men seek out the good, complain to them, show them their
+distress, and ask their help, and implore the aid of Holy
+Church, and of all just men.
+
+WHAT A MAN OUGHT TO DO WHEN HE IS ABANDONED
+
+A MAN will here observe humbly that he has nothing but his distress,
+and he will say in his resignation and self-abnegation the words of
+holy Job: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; He hath done
+what seemed good to Him; blessed be the name of the Lord." And he
+will leave himself in everything, and will say and think in his
+heart: "Lord, I am as willing to be poor, lacking all that Thou hast
+taken from me, as I should be to be rich, if such were Thy will, and
+if it were for Thine honour. It is not my will according to nature
+which must be accomplished, but Thy will, and my will according to
+my spirit, O Lord; for I belong to Thee, and I should love as well
+to be Thine in hell as in heaven, if that could serve Thy glory; and
+therefore, O Lord, accomplish in me the excellence of Thy will."
+From all these pains and acts of resignation, a man will derive an
+inward joy, and he will offer himself into the hands of God, and
+will rejoice to be able to suffer in His honour. And if he so
+perseveres, he will taste inward pleasures such as he has never had
+before; for nothing so rejoices the lover of God as to feel that he
+is His beloved. And if he is truly exalted as far as this mode, in
+the path of virtue, it is not necessary for him to have passed
+through all the states which we have described above; for he feels
+within himself in action, in humble obedience, in patience, and in
+resignation, the source of all the virtues. It is thus that this
+mode is eternally sure.
+
+At this season the sun in the sky enters the sign of the Scales, for
+the day and night are equal, and the sun balances the light and the
+darkness. In the same way Jesus Christ is in the sign of the Scales
+for the resigned man; and whether He grants sweetness or
+bitterness, darkness or light, whatever He chooses to send him, the
+man keeps his balance, all things are equal to him except sin, which
+has been driven away once for all. When every consolation has been
+thus withdrawn from these resigned men, when they believe that they
+have lost all their virtues and that they are abandoned by God and
+all the creatures, if they then know how to reap the divers fruits,
+their corn and wine are ready and ripe. That is to say, that all
+that the bodily virtues can suffer will be offered by them to God
+with joy, without resistance to His supreme will. All the exterior
+and interior virtues, which they formerly practised with joy in the
+light of love, they will now practise courageously and laboriously,
+and will offer them to God, and never will they have so much merit
+in His eyes. Never will they have been more noble or more beautiful.
+All the consolations which God formerly granted, they will allow to
+be stripped from them with joy, since it is for the glory of God. It
+is thus that the virtues become perfect, and that sadness is
+transformed into an eternal vintage. These men--their life and their
+patience--improve and teach all who know and live near them, and
+thus it is that the wheat of their virtues is sown and multiplied
+for the good of all just men.
+
+This is the fourth kind of coming which, according to the bodily
+faculties and the lower part of his being, adorns and perfects a man
+in interior exercises.
+
+HOW THESE FOUR MODES ARE FOUND IN JESUS CHRIST
+
+WE must needs walk in the light if we wish not to lose our way, and
+we must observe Jesus Christ, who has taught us these four modes,
+and has preceded us in them. Christ, the bright sun, rises in the
+heaven of the sublime Trinity and in the dawn of His glorious mother
+the virgin Mary, who was and is the dawn of all the graces. Now
+observe. Christ had and still has the first mode, for He was unique
+and united. In Him were and are collected and united all the virtues
+which have ever been practised, and which ever will be, and besides
+this, all the creatures who will cultivate these virtues. He was
+thus in an unique sense the Son of the Father, and united to human
+nature. And He was equally full of inwardness, for it was He who
+brought upon earth the fire which has consumed all the saints and
+all good men. And He had a sensible and faithful love for His
+Father, and for all who will have joy in Him eternally, and His
+pitiful and loving heart sighed and glowed with love for all men,
+before His Father. All His life and all His actions, within and
+without, and all His words, were praises of His Father. This is the
+first mode.
+
+Christ, the sun of love, blazed and shone yet more brightly and
+warmly, for in Him was and is the fullness of all gifts. This is why
+the heart of Christ, and His character, and His habits and His
+service, overflowed with pity, sweetness, humility, and generosity.
+So gracious was He and so loving, that His manners and His
+personality attracted all whose nature was good. He was the pure
+lily in the midst of the flowers of the field, from which the good
+were to draw the honey of eternal sweetness and eternal
+consolations. According to His humanity He thanked His eternal
+Father for all the gifts which were ever granted to humanity, and
+praised Him, for His Father is the Father of all gifts, and He
+rested on Him, according to the highest faculties of His soul, above
+all gifts, in the sublime unity of God from which all the gifts flow;
+thus He had the second mode.
+
+Christ, the glorious sun, blazed and shone yet higher, and more
+brightly and warmly; for during all His days on earth, all His
+bodily faculties were invited and pressed to the sublime glory and
+bliss which He now experiences in His senses and body. And He was
+inclined thereto Himself, according to His desires; and nevertheless
+He willed to remain in this exile, till the time which the Father
+had foreseen and fixed from all eternity. Thus He had the third
+mode. When the time came at which Christ was to reap and carry away
+to the eternal kingdom the fruits of all the virtues which ever have
+been and ever will be practised, the eternal sun began to descend;
+for Christ humbled Himself, and gave up His bodily life into the
+hands of His enemies. And he was misunderstood and deserted by His
+friends in so great a distress; and all consolation, within and
+without, was withdrawn from His nature; and it was overwhelmed with
+misery, pain, and contempt, and paid all the debt which our sins
+justly incurred. All this He suffered in humble patience, and He
+accomplished the greatest works of love in this resignation, whereby
+He received and purchased our eternal inheritance. It is thus that
+the lower part of His noble humanity was adorned, for it was in it
+that He suffered this pain for our sins. It is on this account that
+He is called the Saviour of the world, and that He is glorified and
+raised up and seated on the right hand of His Father, and that He
+reigns in power. And every creature, on the earth, above the earth,
+and under the earth, bends the knee for ever before His glorious
+name.
+
+HOW A MAN SHOULD LIVE IF HE DESIRES TO BE ENLIGHTENED
+
+THE man who, in true obedience to the commandments of God, lives in
+the moral virtues, and moreover exercises himself in the interior
+virtues, after the direction and impulse of the Holy Spirit, acting
+and speaking according to righteousness, and who seeks not his own
+interests in time or in eternity, and who supports with true
+patience obscurity and affliction and every kind of misery, and who
+thanks God for everything, and offers himself in humble resignation,
+has received the first coming of Jesus Christ according to interior
+exercises. When this man is purified and pacified, and turns back
+upon himself according to his lower nature, he may be internally
+enlightened, if he asks it, and if God judges that the right time
+has come. It may also happen that he is enlightened from the
+beginning of his conversion, so that he may offer himself entirely
+to the will of God and give up all possession of himself, which is
+the supreme end. But if he is to follow any further the road which I
+have shown, in the exterior and at the same time in the interior
+life, it will be much easier for him than for the man who has been
+raised straight from the bottom, for the former will have more light
+than the latter.
+
+ON ANOTHER COMING OF CHRIST
+
+NOW we are about to speak of another mode of the coming of Christ,
+in interior exercises, which adorn, enlighten, and enrich a man,
+according to the three supreme faculties of his soul. We shall
+compare this coming to a life-giving fountain from which flow three
+rivers.
+
+This fountain is the fullness of divine grace in the unity of our
+spirit. There resides grace essentially in its permanence, like a
+full fountain, and it flows out actively by its rivers into each of
+the faculties of the soul, according to their needs. These rivers
+are a special influx, or operation of God in the highest faculties,
+in which God operates in various manners by the intermediary of His
+grace.
+
+HOW THE FIRST RIVER FLOWS INTO THE MEMORY
+
+THE first river of grace, which God causes to flow in this coming,
+is a pure simplicity which shines without distinction in the spirit.
+This river takes its source in the fountain, in the unity of the
+spirit, and flows directly downwards, and penetrates all the
+faculties of the soul, both higher and lower, and lifts them up out
+of all multiplicity and all over-occupation, and makes a simplicity
+in a man, and gives and shows him an internal bond in the unity of
+his spirit. A man is thus lifted up according to his memory, and
+delivered from strange and irrelevant thoughts, and from
+inconstancy. Now Christ in this light demands a going forth,
+according to the mode of this light and this coming. Then the man
+goes forth, and observes himself that by virtue of the simple light
+that is spread abroad in him he is united, established, penetrated
+and fixed in the unity of his spirit or of his thoughts. Here the
+man is exalted and established in a new essence; he turns his
+thoughts inwards, and rests his memory on the naked truth, above all
+sensuous images and above all multiplicity. There the man possesses
+essentially and supernaturally the unity of his spirit, for his own
+dwelling, and as an heritage of his own for ever. He always has an
+inclination towards that same unity, and this unity will have an
+eternal and loving inclination towards the more sublime unity where
+the Father and the Son are united with all the saints in the bands
+of the Holy Spirit.
+
+HOW THE SECOND RIVER ENLIGHTENS THE INTELLIGENCE
+
+THROUGH internal love, and loving inclination towards union with
+God, is born the second river from the fullness of grace, in unity
+of spirit, and this is a spiritual brightness which flows and sheds
+light through the intelligence, but with distinctions in the diverse
+modes. For this light shows and gives to the spirit, in the truth,
+the discretion in all the virtues. But this light is not placed
+altogether in our power, for though we have it always in our soul,
+God makes it speak or keep silence, and He can manifest or hide it,
+give or withdraw it, at all times and under all conditions, for this
+light is His. Such men do not absolutely need revelations, nor to be
+drawn up above sense, for their life and abode and habits and
+essence are in the spirit above sense and sensibility. And God shows
+them what He wills and what is necessary for them. Nevertheless God,
+if He wished, could withdraw their exterior sense, and show them,
+from within, unknown symbols and future things, in diverse manners.
+
+Now Christ desires that this man should go forth, and go into the
+light, according to the mode of this light. This enlightened man
+will therefore go forth and observe his state and his life within
+and without, in order to know if he is perfectly like Christ
+according to His humanity and also according to His divinity. And
+this man will lift up his eyes, enlightened by enlightened reason,
+in intelligible truth, and will observe and consider, as a creature
+can, the sublime nature of God, and the unlimited attributes which
+are in God.
+
+It is then necessary to consider and examine the sublime nature of
+God; how it contains simplicity and purity, inaccessible height and
+abysmal depth, incomprehensible extension and eternal duration; dark
+silence and wild waste; repose of all the saints in unity and joy in
+itself and in all the saints in eternity. This enlightened man will
+also examine the attributes of the Father in the Godhead, how He is
+all-powerful, the creator, mover, preserver, beginning and end,
+cause and existence of all creatures; this is what the bright river
+of grace shows to the enlightened reason. It shows also the
+attributes of the eternal Word, abysmal wisdom and truth, model of
+every creature and of all life, eternal norm of things, unveiled
+contemplation and intuition into everything, brightness and
+illumination of all saints, according to their merits, in heaven and
+on earth. But this bright river shows also to the enlightened reason
+the attributes of the Holy Spirit; inconceivable charity and
+generosity, pity and mercy, infinite watchfulness and faithfulness,
+immense and inconceivable riches flowing with delights through all
+heavenly spirits, ardent flame consuming all in unity, effluent
+fountain, preparation of all the saints for their eternal
+blessedness, and their introduction thereto; enveloping and
+penetrating the Father, the Son, and all the saints in joyous unity.
+
+ON THE STATE OF AMAZEMENT AT THE DIVINE EFFLUENCE
+
+THE incomprehensible wealth and sublimity, and the universal
+generosity which flow from the divine nature, bring a man into a
+state of amazement; and above all he admires the communication of
+God and His effluence above everything, for he sees the
+inconceivable essence, which is the common joy of God and all the
+saints. And he sees that the three divine Persons are a common
+effluence in works, in graces, and in glory, in nature and above
+nature, in all conditions and in all times, in the saints and in
+men, in heaven and on earth, in all reasonable and irrational
+creatures, according to each one's merits, needs, and powers of
+receiving. God is common to all, with all His gifts, the angels are
+common, the soul is common in all its faculties, in all life, in all
+the members, and all in each, for one cannot divide it, except by
+reason. For the higher and lower faculties, the spirit and the soul,
+are distinct according to reason, but one in nature. Thus God is
+entirely and specially present to each one, and nevertheless common
+to all the creatures, for by Him are all things, and on Him depend
+the heaven, the earth, and the whole of nature. When a man thus
+observes the astonishing wealth and sublimity of the divine nature,
+and all the manifold gifts which He grants and offers to His
+creatures, he is lifted up internally by wonder at such manifold
+riches and sublimity; and from thence arises a singular inward joy
+of spirit, and a vast confidence in God; and this internal joy
+surrounds and penetrates all the faculties of the soul in inwardness
+of spirit.
+
+HOW THE THIRD RIVER CONFIRMS THE WILL
+
+FROM this joy and fullness of graces, and divine faithfulness, there
+is born and flows out the third river in this same unity of spirit.
+This river, like a flame, lights up the spirit and absorbs all
+things in unity. And it causes to overflow and flood with rich gifts
+and singular nobility, all the faculties of the soul, and it creates
+in the will a love without labour, spiritual and subtle. Now Christ
+says internally in the spirit by means of this flaming river: "Go
+forth by exercises according to the mode of these gifts and this
+coming." Thanks to the first river--that is to say, to a simple
+light, the memory is lifted up above the accidents of sense, and is
+established in the unity of spirit. Thanks to the second river--
+that is to say, to the brightness spread abroad within, the
+intelligence and reason are enlightened, so as to recognise the
+diverse modes of the virtues and of exercises, and the mysteries of
+the Scriptures. Thanks to the third river--that is to say, to an
+inspired ardour, the sublime will is kindled into a more tranquil
+love, and adorned with greater riches. In this way a man becomes
+spiritually enlightened, for the grace of God abides, like a
+fountain in the unity of the spirit; and these rivers create in the
+faculties of the soul an effluence of all the virtues. And the
+fountain of grace always requires a reflux towards its source.
+
+HOW CHRIST IS GIVEN TO ALL MEN IN THE SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR
+
+THERE is a special benefit which Christ left in the Holy Church, to
+all good people, in this supper of the great Paschal feast, when He
+was about to pass from His sufferings to His Father after having
+eaten the Paschal lamb with His disciples, and when the ancient law
+was accomplished. At the end of the supper, He wished to give them a
+special meal, as He had long desired to do. And this is why He
+wished to finish the ancient law and to inaugurate the new law. He
+took bread in His sacred hands, and consecrated His holy body, and
+then His holy blood, and gave them to all His disciples, and left
+them to all the just, for their eternal good.
+
+This gift and this special food rejoice and adorn all the great
+festivals and all the banquets in heaven and on earth. In this gift
+Christ gives Himself to us in three manners; He gives us His flesh
+and blood and His bodily life, glorified and full of joys and
+griefs. And He gives us His spirit with its highest faculties, and
+full of glory, of gifts, of truths and justifications. And He gives
+us His personality with the divine light which lifts up His spirit
+and all enlightened spirits, even to the sublime and joyous unity.
+
+Now Christ wishes us to remember Him, whenever we consecrate, offer,
+and receive His body. Now observe how we should remember Him. We
+shall observe and consider how Christ bends towards us in loving
+affection, in great desire, in loving joy, and by flowing into our
+bodily nature. For He gives us that which He received from our
+humanity--that is to say, His flesh and blood and bodily nature. We
+shall contemplate this precious body pierced and wounded with love,
+by reason of His faithfulness to us. It is by it that we are adorned
+and nourished in the lower part of our human nature. He gives us
+also, in this sublime gift of the sacrament, His spirit full of
+glory, and the richest gifts of the virtues, and ineffable marvels
+of charity and nobleness.
+
+It is by this that we are nourished, adorned, and illuminated in the
+unity of our spirit and in our higher faculties, thanks to the
+indwelling of Christ with all His riches. He gives us also in the
+sacrament of the altar His sublime personality in incomprehensible
+light. And thanks to this, we are united to the Father, and so we
+reach our inheritance of divinity in eternal bliss. If a man
+meditate rightly on this, he will meet Christ in the same manner in
+which Christ comes to him. He will raise himself up to receive
+Christ, with all his faculties and in eager joy. It is not possible
+for our joy to be too great, for our nature receives His nature--that
+is to say the glorified humanity of Christ, full of joyfulness and
+full of merits. This is why I would that man, at the reception of
+this sacrament, should melt away with desire, joy, and pleasure, for
+he is receiving the fairest, the most gracious, the most lovable of
+the children of men, and is united to Him. In this union and in this
+joy great benefits often come to men, and many mysterious and
+marvellous secrets of divine treasures are manifested and disclosed.
+When a man meditates, at this reception, on the martyrdom and
+sufferings of the precious body of Christ, whom he is receiving, he
+enters sometimes into so loving a devotion and so great a
+compassion, that he desires to be nailed with Christ to the cross,
+and to shed his heart's blood for the honour of Christ. And he
+presses himself to the wounds and open heart of Christ His Saviour.
+In these exercises revelations and great benefits have often come to
+men.
+
+ON THE UNITY OF THE DIVINE NATURE IN THE TRINITY OF PERSONS
+
+THE sublime and superessential unity of the Divine nature, in which
+the Father and the Son possess their nature in the unity of the Holy
+Spirit, above the conception and comprehension of all our faculties,
+in the bare essence of our spirit, surpasses in this sublime calm
+all the creatures of created light. This sublime unity of the Divine
+nature is living and fruitful, for, from this same unity, the
+eternal Word is born from the Father without interruption. And by
+this birth the Father knows the Son, and all things in the Son. And
+the Son knows the Father, and all things in the Father, for their
+nature is simple. From this reciprocal vision of the Father and the
+Son in an eternal clearness, flow forth an eternal satisfaction and
+unfathomable love, which is the Holy Spirit. And by the Holy Spirit
+and the eternal Wisdom God inclines towards every creature
+severally, and loads every one of them with gifts and kindles it
+with love, according to its nobility and according to the state
+wherein it is constituted and elected though its virtues and the
+eternal foresight of God. And it is by this that all just spirits,
+in heaven and on earth, are united in virtue and justice.
+
+HOW GOD MOVES AND POSSESSES THE SOUL, NATURALLY AND SUPERNATURALLY
+
+NOW be attentive: I am about to give you an example on this
+subject. God has made the upper heaven a pure and simple clearness
+encircling and enveloping all the heavens; and all the material
+world which God has created for it is the exterior abode and kingdom
+of God and His saints, full of glory and eternal joys. Now the
+heaven being an unmixed clearness, there is there neither time, nor
+state, nor temptation, nor change, for it is unchangeably fixed
+above all things. The sphere which approaches most nearly to it is
+called the primum mobile. All movement, by the power of God,
+emanates from the supreme heaven. This is the movement which carries
+with it the motions of the firmament and all the planets. It is by
+this same initial movement that all the creatures live and grow,
+according to their order. Now understand that the essence of the
+soul is like a spiritual kingdom of God, full of Divine clearness,
+surpassing all our faculties, unless these faculties are not
+transformed in a simple fashion, of which I do not wish to speak
+now. See; in this essence of the soul in which God reigns, the
+unity of our spirit is like the primum mobile; for in this unity
+the spirit is moved from above, by the power of God, naturally and
+supernaturally; for by ourselves we have nothing either in or above
+nature. And this motion of God, when it is supernatural, is the
+first and chief cause of all our virtue. And by this motion of God
+the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are granted to certain
+enlightened men, like the seven planets which illuminate all the
+lives of men. This is how God possesses the essential unity of our
+spirit, as His Kingdom.
+
+ON THE ESSENTIAL MEETING WITH GOD, WITHOUT INTERMEDIARY
+
+NOW attend carefully. The unity of our spirit has two modes, one
+essential and the other active. You should know that the spirit,
+according to its essential existence, receives the coming of Christ
+in its bare nature, without intermediary and without interruption.
+For this essence and life which we are in God, in our eternal image,
+and which we have in ourselves, according to essential existence,
+are without intermediary and inseparable. This is why the spirit
+receives, in its highest and most intimate part, in its bare nature,
+the impression of its eternal image, and the divine brightness
+without interruption, and it is an eternal dwelling of God, which He
+occupies by a perpetual inhabitation, and which He visits always
+with a new coming, and a new effulgence from His eternal birth. For
+where He comes He is, and where He is He comes. And where He has
+never been, He will never come, for there is in Him neither accident
+nor change, and everything, where He is, is in Him, for He never
+goes out of Himself. And this is why the spirit possesses God
+essentially in its bare nature, and God the spirit, for the spirit
+lives in God, and God in the spirit. And it is capable, in its
+highest part, of receiving the brightness of God, and all that God
+may grant it, without intermediary. And by the brightness of its
+eternal image, which shines essentially and personally in it, the
+spirit is plunged, as regards the highest part of its vitality, in
+the divine essence; and there enters into possession of its eternal
+bliss, and flowing out again by the eternal birth of the Son is
+placed in its created essence by the free will of the Holy Trinity,
+And here it is like the image of the sublime Trinity and Unity for
+which it is created. And in its created nature, it takes the
+impression of its eternal image without interruption, like an
+immaculate mirror in which every impression abides, and which renews
+the likeness in itself without interruption. This essential unity of
+our spirit in God, exists not in itself, but abides in God and flows
+out from God, and is immanent in God and returns to God, as to its
+eternal cause. It never separates itself from God, for this unity is
+a fact of bare nature, and if nature separated itself from God it
+would fall into nothingness. And this unity is above time and
+conditions, and works always without interruption according to the
+mode of God. This is the nobleness which we have naturally according
+to the essential unity of our spirit, where it is united naturally
+to God.
+
+This makes us neither saints nor blessed, for all men have it in
+them, the bad as well as the good; but it is the first cause of all
+holiness and bliss; and this is the meeting and unity of God in our
+spirit, in our base nature.
+
+HOW MAN IS LIKE GOD BY GRACE, AND UNLIKE HIM BY MORTAL SIN
+
+NOW examine this thought with care, for if you understand well what
+I wish to say to you, and what I have already said, you will
+understand all the divine truth which a creature can apprehend at
+present, and even things far more sublime. In the second mode, our
+spirit keeps itself actively in this same unity, and subsists by
+itself as in its personal created essence. This is the foundation
+and origin of the supreme faculties, and this is the beginning and
+end of all the works of a created nature, accomplished according to
+the mode of the creatures, both in nature and above nature.
+
+Nevertheless this unity does not operate as unity; but all the
+faculties of the soul have their power entirely in their
+foundation--that is to say, in the unity of the spirit, where it
+resides in its personal essence. In this unity the spirit must
+always be like unto God, by grace and virtue, or unlike Him by
+mortal sin; for man is made in the likeness of God, which he must
+understand in the sense of grace; for grace is a deiform light which
+shines through us and makes us like unto God; and without this light
+we cannot be united supernaturally to God, even though we can never
+lose the image of God, nor our natural unity in Him. If we lose this
+likeness--that is to say, grace, we are damned. And this is why, so
+soon as God finds in us something which is capable of receiving His
+grace, He wishes to enliven us by His goodness, and to make us like
+unto Himself by His gifts. And this happens whenever we turn towards
+Him with full purpose; for at the same moment Christ comes to us and
+in us, with and without intermediary--that is to say, by the virtues
+and above all the virtues. And He impresses His image and likeness
+upon us--that is to say, Himself and all His gifts, and He relieves
+us from sin and makes us like unto Himself.
+
+By the same operation in which God relieves us from sin, and makes
+us like Him and free in charity, the spirit is plunged in joyous
+love. And here take place a meeting and a union, which are without
+intermediaries and supernatural, and wherein resides our supreme
+blessedness. Although all that He gives by love and pure goodness is
+natural to God, yet to us it is accidental and supernatural,
+according to our mode, since formerly we were strangers and unlike,
+and only subsequently have become like God and obtained union with
+Him.
+
+ON THE SUPREME DEGREE OF THE INTERIOR LIFE
+
+NOW understand. This incomprehensible light transforms and
+penetrates the joyous inclination of our spirit. In this light, the
+spirit is plunged in joyous repose; for this repose is without mode
+and without bottom, and we can only know it by itself--that is to
+say, by repose. For if we could know it and conceive it, it would
+fall into mode and measure, and so would not be able to satisfy us,
+and repose would become an eternal restlessness. And this is why the
+simple, loving, complete inclination of our spirit forms in us a
+joyous love, and joyous love is without bottom. And the abyss of God
+calls to abyss; so it is with all those whose spirits are united to
+God in joyous love. This calling is an irruption from His essential
+brightness; and this essential brightness in the embrace of His
+bottomless love, causes us to lose ourselves and escape from
+ourselves, in the lonely darkness of God. And thus united, without
+intermediary, to the spirit of God, we can meet God by God, and
+possess unchangeably, with Him and in Him, our eternal blessedness.
+
+ON THE FIRST MODE OF THIS HIGHEST MEETING
+
+THE most interior life is practised in three ways. Sometimes the
+interior man operates, above all activity and all virtue, by simple
+introspection in joyous love. And here he meets God without
+intermediary. And from the unity of God a simple light shines in
+him, and this light shows him darkness, nakedness, and nothingness.
+He is enveloped in darkness, and falls into the absence of mode as
+one who loses his way. He loses, in nakedness, the power of
+observing and distinguishing all things, and he is transformed and
+penetrated by a simple brightness. He loses, in nothingness, all his
+works, for he is overcome in the work of the unlimited love of God;
+and in the joyous inclination of his spirit he triumphs in God and
+becomes one spirit with Him. This is the first mode, which is
+inactive; for it empties a man of all things, and lifts him up above
+works and virtues.
+
+ON THE SECOND MODE
+
+THERE are moments when the interior man turns desirously and
+actively towards God, to pay Him homage, and to offer up and
+annihilate, in the love of God, his being and all that he can give.
+And here he meets God, through an intermediary. This intermediary is
+the gift of wisdom, which is the foundation and source of all the
+virtues, and excites the just to virtues in proportion to their love;
+and sometimes it touches and inflames the interior man with love
+so violently, that all the gifts of God, and all that God can give
+without giving Himself, seem to him too little and do not satisfy
+him, but only increase his impatience. For he has at the bottom of
+his being an interior perception or sensation, wherein all the
+virtues begin and end, and wherein he offers to God all the virtues,
+and wherein love lives. And thus the hunger and thirst of love
+become so great, that he is reduced to nothingness, and then touched
+anew, as it were for the first time, by the irradiation of God. Thus
+in living he dies and in dying he lives again. This is the second
+mode, and it is more useful and more glorious than the first; for
+none can enter into the repose that is above action unless he has
+first actively loved love. And this is why none will be inactive,
+who is master of himself and who is able to practise love.
+
+ON THE THIRD MODE
+
+FROM these two kinds is born the third, which is an interior life
+according to righteousness. Now understand. God comes to us without
+interruption, with and. without intermediary, He requires of us
+action and joy, in such a way that action may not hinder joy, nor
+joy action, but that each may help the other. This is why the
+interior man possesses his life in these two modes, repose and work.
+And in each of them he is entire and undivided; for he is entirely
+in God, in his joyous repose, and he is entirely in himself, in his
+active love; and God warns him that He requires him to renew
+continually his repose and his work. The righteousness of the spirit
+wishes to pay, every hour, what God requires of us, and this is why,
+at every irradiation of God, the spirit turns inwards, actively and
+joyously, and so is renewed in all the virtues, and plunged more
+deeply in joyous love. For God at every gift gives Himself with all
+His gifts, and the spirit whenever it turns inwards, gives itself
+with all its works. The spirit is united to God, and transferred
+without interruption into repose. The man is hungry, for he sees the
+nourishment of angels and the food of heaven. He works actively in
+love, for he sees his repose. He is a pilgrim, and he sees his
+country. He fights, in love, for victory, for he sees his crown.
+Consolation, peace, joy, beauty, and riches, and all that can
+rejoice the heart, are shown to the reason illuminated by God, in
+spiritual similitudes and without measure. And by this vision, at
+the touch of God, love remains active. For this just man has built
+up, in the spirit, a true life, which will last eternally, but after
+this life it will be transformed into a more sublime state. Thus the
+man is just, and he goes towards God by interior love in eternal
+work, and he goes in God by joyous inclination, in eternal repose.
+And he abides in God, and yet he goes out towards all the creatures,
+in common love, in the virtues, and in the works of justice. This is
+the supreme summit of the inner life.
+
+Note.--Here follow in Ruysbroek's treatise four chapters of warnings
+against the errors of Quietism, such as were exemplified in his time
+by many of the Brethren of the Free Spirit and similar sects.
+
+BOOK III
+
+THE THREE CONDITIONS BY WHICH WE MAY ATTAIN TO THE CONTEMPLATIVE
+LIFE
+
+THE interior lover of God, who possesses God in joyous repose, and
+possesses himself in the unity of active love, and possesses all his
+life in the virtues, enters into the contemplative life, thanks to
+these three points and to the secret manifestation of God; yes, it
+is the internal and devout lover, whom God will choose freely and
+lift him up even to a superessential contemplation in divine light
+and according to the mode of God. This contemplation places us in a
+purity and brightness above all intelligence, for it is a singular
+ornament and a celestial crown, and at last the eternal recompense
+of all the virtues and of all life. And none can arrive there by
+knowledge or subtlety, nor by any exercise; but he whom God wills to
+unite to His own Spirit and to illuminate by Himself, can
+contemplate God, and none other can. To such an one the heavenly
+Father says, in the secret and submerged part of the spirit: "See,
+the Bridegroom cometh, go forth to meet Him."
+
+I wish to analyse and explain these words, in their relation to
+superessential contemplation, which is the basis of all holiness and
+of the perfect life. Very few men attain to this divine
+contemplation, by reason of our incapacity, and the mystery of the
+light in which contemplation takes place. And this is why no one, by
+his own knowledge or by any subtle examination, will understand
+these ideas. For all words, and all that can be learned and
+understood according to the mode of the creatures, are strangers to
+the truth which I speak of, and far below it. But he who is united
+to God, and illuminated in this truth, can comprehend the truth by
+itself. For to conceive and understand God above all similitudes, as
+He is in Himself, is to be God in God, without intermediary and
+without any difference which might prove an obstacle. This is why I
+desire that every man who does not understand this, nor experience
+it in the joyous unity of his spirit, may not be wounded by my
+words, for what I say is true. And this is why he who wishes to
+understand this, must be dead to himself and alive to God, and he
+will turn his face to the eternal light, at the bottom of his
+spirit, where the hidden truth is manifested without intermediary.
+For the heavenly Father wishes that we should be seeing; for He is
+the Father of Light, and this is why He says eternally, without
+interruption and without intermediary, one abysmal word and no
+other. In this word He proffers Himself and all things. The word is:
+"See." And it is the going forth and the birth of the Son of the
+eternal light, in whom we see and recognise all our blessedness.
+
+HOW A MAN OUGHT TO EXERCISE HIMSELF, IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE ETERNAL
+LIGHT AND TO CONTEMPLATE GOD
+
+IN order that the spirit may contemplate God by God, without
+intermediary, in this Divine light, three things are necessary.
+First, the man must be well governed externally in all the virtues,
+and without obstacles within, and as free from all external works as
+if he did them not; for if he is troubled within by any act of
+virtue, he has images, and so long as they remain in him he cannot
+contemplate. In the second place, he must adhere internally to God,
+by the combination of intention and of love, like a burning fire,
+which can never more be extinguished. At the moment when he feels
+himself in this state, he can contemplate. In the third place, he
+should be lost in an absence of mode, and in a darkness, in which
+all contemplatives wander joyously, and can never find themselves
+again according to the mode of the creatures. In the abyss of this
+darkness, where the loving spirit is dead to itself, begin the
+manifestation of God and of eternal life. For in this darkness is
+born and shines an incomprehensible light, which is the Son of God,
+in whom we see eternal life. And in this light we become seeing; and
+this Divine light is given in the simple vision of the spirit, in
+which the spirit receives the clearness which is God Himself,
+without intermediary, and becomes without interruption this
+clearness which it receives. See; this dark clearness, in which we
+contemplate all that we desire, while the spirit is passive,--this
+clearness is so great than the loving contemplative, in the depth
+where he reposes, sees and experiences nothing save an
+incomprehensible light, and according to the simple nudity which
+envelopes all things, he sees and apprehends the same light by which
+he sees, and nothing else. This is the first condition of becoming
+seeing in the Divine light. Happy are the eyes which thus see, for
+they have eternal life.
+
+HOW THE ETERNAL BIRTH OF GOD IS RENEWED WITHOUT INTERRUPTION IN
+NOBLENESS OF SPIRIT
+
+WHEN we have thus become seeing, we can contemplate in joy the
+eternal coming of the Bridegroom, and this is the second point on
+which I wish to speak. What is then this coming of the Bridegroom
+which is eternal? It is a new birth and a new illumination without
+interruption; for the foundation out of which the clearness shines,
+and which is the clearness itself, is living and fruitful; and this
+is why the manifestation of the eternal light is renewed without
+interruption, in the most secret part of the spirit. See; every
+creaturely work, and every exercise of virtue must here submit
+themselves, for God works alone in the highest part of the spirit.
+There is nought here but an eternal contemplation and fixity of
+light, by light, and in light. And the coming of the Bridegroom is
+so swift that He comes always, and is immanent with His unfathomable
+riches, and comes back ever anew, in person, with such new
+splendours that He seems never to have come before. For His coming
+consists in an eternal Now, transcending time, and He is always
+received with new desire and new joy. The delights and joy which
+this Bridegroom brings at His coming are without bottom and without
+limits, for they are Himself. This is why the eyes of the spirit, by
+which the lover contemplates the Bridegroom, are open so wide that
+they will never more be shut. For the contemplation and fixity of
+the spirit remain eternal in the hidden manifestation of God. And
+the contemplation of the spirit is so widely opened, while waiting
+for the coming of the Bridegroom, that the spirit itself acquires
+the amplitude of that which it comprehends. And in this way, God is
+seen and comprehended by God, in which all our salvation and
+blessedness consists. This is the second manner in which we receive,
+without interruption in our spirit, the eternal coming of our
+Bridegroom.
+
+ON THE ETERNAL GOING FORTH WHICH WE POSSESS IN THE BIRTH OF THE SON
+
+NOW the Spirit of God saith, in the secret depths of our spirit:
+"Go forth," in an eternal contemplation and joy, according to the
+mode of God. All the wealth which is in God naturally, we possess in
+Him by love; and God possesses it in us, by His boundless Love,
+which is the Holy Spirit. For in this love all is tasted that can be
+desired. And this is why, thanks to this love, we are dead to
+ourselves, and have gone forth in loving liquefaction or immersion,
+in the absence of mode and in darkness. There the spirit, enveloped
+by the Holy Trinity, is eternally immanent in the superessential
+unity, in repose and in joy. And in this same unity, according to
+the mode of generation, the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the
+Father, and every creature in them both. And this is above the
+distinction of Persons, for here we understand by reason the
+fatherhood and sonship in the lively fruitfulness of nature.
+
+Here is born and begins an eternal going forth, and an eternal work
+without beginning, for there is here a beginning without beginning.
+For by means of the eternal birth of the Son, the Word of the
+Father, all creatures have gone forth eternally, before they were
+created in time, and God has considered and recognised them
+distinctly in Himself, in lively reason, and in distinction from
+Himself: but not in another mode, for all that is in God is God.
+This eternal going forth and this eternal life, which we have and
+are eternally in God, without ourselves, is the cause of our created
+essence in time. And our created essence is immanent in the eternal
+essence, and this eternal life, which we have and are in the eternal
+wisdom of God, is like unto God; for they have an eternal immanence,
+without distinction, in the divine essence. And they have an eternal
+effluence by the birth of the Son, in a difference with distinction,
+according to the eternal reason. And thanks to these two things, a
+man is in this way like unto God, that he recognises himself and
+reflects on himself without interruption, in this resemblance,
+according to essence and according to the Persons. For though here
+there is still distinction and difference, according to reason, this
+resemblance is nevertheless one with the very image of the Holy
+Trinity, which is the wisdom of God, and wherein God contemplates
+Himself and all things in an eternal Now, without before or after.
+In simple vision He regards Himself as He regards all things. And
+this is the image and likeness of God, and our image and likeness,
+for in it God and all things are reflected. In this divine image,
+all the creatures, without themselves, have an eternal life, as in
+their eternal model, and the Holy Trinity has made us in this
+eternal image and likeness. And this is why God wishes that we
+should go out from ourselves, in this eternal light, and that we
+should pursue this image, which is our true life, supernaturally,
+and possess it with Him actively and joyously, in eternal
+blessedness.
+
+For we know well that the bosom of the Father is our foundation and
+origin, wherein we begin our life and our being. And from our true
+foundation--that is to say, from the Father and from all that lives
+in Him, beams forth an eternal radiance, which is the birth of the
+Son. In this radiance, the Father manifests Himself, and all that
+lives in Himself, to Himself; for all that He is, and all that He
+has, He gives to the Son, except the prerogative of fatherhood,
+which resides in Himself. And this is why all that lives in the
+Father hidden in the Unity, lives also in the Son, and flows forth
+in His manifestation; but the simple foundation of our eternal image
+remains always without mode in the darkness. But the boundless
+radiance which shines out thence manifests and reflects in the mode
+the mystery of God. And all men who are raised above their
+creatureliness into a contemplative life, are united to this divine
+splendour. And they are this splendour itself, and they see,
+experience, and find, thanks to this divine radiance, that they are
+this same simple foundation, according to their uncreated essence,
+from which shines forth, in the divine mode, this immeasurable
+radiance, which, according to simplicity of essence, remains
+eternally within, and without mode. This is why interior men and
+contemplatives will go forth, according to the mode of
+contemplation, above distinction and above their created essence, by
+means of an eternal intuition. Thanks to this inborn light, they are
+transformed, and are united to this same light by which they see and
+which they see. In this manner contemplatives pursue the eternal
+image, after which they are made, and contemplate God and all things
+without distinction, by a pure vision in divine brightness. This is
+the most sublime and the most useful contemplation which we can
+attain in this life; for in this contemplation a man remains the
+best and freest master of himself, and at each loving introversion,
+above all that we can comprehend, he can advance in the sublimities
+of life, for he remains free and master of himself, in unity and in
+the virtues. And this contemplation in the divine light maintains
+him above all inwardness, above all virtue, above all merit, for it
+is the crown and recompense towards which we are striving, and which
+we already have and possess in this mode, for the contemplative life
+is a celestial life. But if we shall be drawn up out of this exile
+and this misery, we shall be, according to our created nature, more
+susceptible of this radiance, and then the glory of God would shine
+through us better and more sublimely. This is the mode above all
+modes, according to which we go forth in a divine contemplation and
+in an eternal stability, and according to which we are transformed
+and reformed in the divine radiance. This going forth of the
+contemplative is also loving; for by joyous love he surpasses his
+created essence, and finds and tastes the riches and delights which
+are God, and which He causes to flow without interruption into the
+most secret part of the spirit, into the place where he is like the
+sublimity of God.
+
+ON THE DIVINE MEETING, WHICH TAKES PLACE IN THE MOST SECRET PART OF
+OUR SPIRIT
+
+WHEN the interior man and contemplative has thus pursued his eternal
+image, and possessed in this purity the bosom of the Father by the
+Son, he is illuminated by the divine truth, and receives anew at
+each instant the eternal birth; and he goes forth according to the
+mode of light, in a divine contemplation. And here arises the fourth
+and last point--that is to say, the loving meeting, in which before
+all else resides our eternal blessedness.
+
+You know that our heavenly Father, like a living foundation, is
+actively inclined towards His Son, as towards His own eternal
+wisdom. And this same wisdom, and all that lives therein, is
+actively inclined in the Father--that is to say, in the foundation
+whence it proceeds. And in this meeting arises the Third Person,
+between the Father and the Son, and this is the Holy Spirit, their
+mutual love, which is united to them both in the same nature. And He
+envelopes and penetrates, actively and joyously, the Father and the
+Son and all that lives in them with such riches and such joy, that
+all the creatures must be silent thereupon eternally, for the
+incomprehensible marvel of this love surpasses eternally the
+intelligence of all the creatures. But where we comprehend and taste
+this amazement, without being amazed, there the spirit is above
+itself, and one with the Spirit of God, and it tastes and sees,
+without measure, like God, the riches which He is Himself in the
+unity of the living foundation, where He possesses Himself according
+to the unity of His uncreated essence.
+
+Now this delightful meeting is without interruption actively renewed
+in us, according to the mode of God, for the Father gives Himself in
+the Son, and the Son in the Father, in an eternal gratification and
+a loving embrace, and this is renewed at every hour in the ties of
+love; for even as the Father without interruption contemplates anew
+all things in the birth of His Son, so all things are beloved anew,
+by the Father and the Son, through the influence of the Holy Spirit.
+And this is the eternal meeting of the Father and the Son, in which
+we are lovingly wrapped by the Holy Spirit in eternal love.
+
+Now this active meeting and this loving embrace are, in their
+foundation, joyous and without mode, for God's infinite absence of
+mode is so obscure and so destitute of mode, that it envelopes in
+itself every divine mode and every work, and the individuality of
+the Persons, in the rich envelopment of essential unity, and forms a
+divine rejoicing in the abyss of the unnameable. And here there is a
+joyous and outflowing immersion in the essential nakedness, where
+all the divine names and all the modes, and all divine reason,
+reflected in the mirror of the divine truth, fall into simple
+ineffability, in the absence of mode and of reason. For in this
+boundless abyss of simplicity, all things are enveloped in joyous
+blessedness, and the abyss remains itself uncomprehended save by the
+essential unity. Before this essential unity, the Persons must give
+way, and all that lives in God. For here is nought but an eternal
+rest, in a joyous envelopment of loving immersion, and this is the
+essence, without mode, which all interior spirits have chosen above
+all other things. It is the dark silence in which all lovers are
+lost. But if we could prepare ourselves thus for the virtues, we
+should unclothe ourselves, so to speak, from life, and should float
+on the wide expanses of this divine sea, and created things would no
+longer have power to touch us.
+
+May we be able to possess, rejoicing, the essential unity, and
+clearly to contemplate the Unity in Trinity; and may the divine
+love, which rejects no suppliant, grant us this. Amen.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THEOLOGIA GERMANICA
+
+
+
+
+
+SIN AND SELFISHNESS
+
+SIN is nothing else but the turning away of the creature from the
+unchangeable Good to the changeable; from the perfect to the
+imperfect, and most often to itself. And when the creature claims
+for its own anything good, such as substance, life, knowledge, or
+power, as if it were that, or possessed it, or as if that proceeded
+from itself, it goeth astray. What else did the devil do, and what
+was his error and fall, except that he claimed for himself to be
+something, and that something was his and was due to him? This claim
+of his--this "I, me, and mine," were his error and his fall. And so
+it is to this day. For what else did Adam do? It is said that Adam
+was lost, or fell, because he ate the apple. I say, it was because
+he claimed something for his own, because of his "I, me, and mine."
+If he had eaten seven apples, and yet never claimed anything for his
+own, he would not have fallen: but as soon as he called something
+his own, he fell, and he would have fallen, though he had never
+touched an apple. I have fallen a hundred times more often and more
+grievously than Adam; and for his fall all mankind could not make
+amends. How then shall my fall be amended? It must be healed even as
+Adam's fall was healed. And how, and by whom, was that healing
+wrought? Man could not do it without God, and God could not do it
+without man. Therefore God took upon Himself human nature; He was
+made man, and man was made God. Thus was the healing effected. So
+also must my fall be healed. I cannot do the work without God, and
+He may not or will not do it without me. If it is to be done, God
+must be made man in me also; God must take into Himself all that is
+in me, both within and without, so that there may be nothing in me
+which strives against God or hinders His work. Now if God took to
+Himself all men who are or ever lived in the world, and was made man
+in them, and they were deified in Him, and this work were not
+accomplished in me, my fall and my error would never be healed
+unless this were accomplished in me also. And in this bringing back
+and healing I can and shall do nothing of myself; I shall simply
+commit myself to God, so that He alone may do and work all things in
+me, and that I may suffer Him, and all His work, and His divine
+will. And because I will not do this, but consider myself to be mine
+own, and "I, me, and mine," and the like, God is impeded, and cannot
+do His work in me alone and without let or hindrance; this is why my
+fall and error remain unhealed. All comes of my claiming something
+for my own. ii., iii.
+
+THE TWO EYES
+
+We should remember the saying that the soul of Christ had two eyes,
+a right eye and a left eye. In the beginning, when the soul of
+Christ was created, she fixed her right eye upon eternity and the
+Godhead, and remained in the full beholding and fruition of the
+Divine essence and eternal perfection; and thus remained unmoved by
+all the accidents and labours, the suffering, anguish, and pain,
+that befell the outer man. But with the left eye she looked upon the
+creation, and beheld all things that are therein, and observed how
+the creatures differ from each other, how they are better or worse,
+nobler or baser; and after this manner was the outer man of Christ
+ordered. Thus the inner man of Christ, according to the right eye of
+His soul, stood in the full exercise of His Divine nature, in
+perfect blessedness, joy, and eternal peace. But the outer man and
+the left eye of the soul of Christ stood with Him in perfect
+suffering, in all His tribulations, afflictions and labours; in such
+a way that the inner or right eye remained unmoved, unimpeded and
+untouched by all the labour, suffering, woe, and misery that
+happened to the outer man. It has been said that when Jesus was
+bound to the pillar and scourged, and when He hung on the cross,
+according to the outer man, the inner man, a soul according to the
+right eye, stood in as full possession of Divine joy and blessedness
+as it did after the ascension, or as it does now. Even so His outer
+man, or soul according to the left eye, was never impeded,
+disturbed, or troubled by the inward eye in its contemplation of the
+outward things which pertained to it. The created soul of man has
+also two eyes. The one is the power of looking into eternity, the
+other the power of looking into time and the creatures, of
+perceiving how they differ from each other, of giving sustenance and
+other things necessary to the body, and ordering and ruling it for
+the best. But these two eyes of the soul cannot both perform their
+office at once; if the soul would look with the right eye into
+eternity, the left eye must be shut, and must cease to work: it must
+be as if it were dead. For if the left eye is discharging its office
+towards outward things--if it is holding conversation with time and
+the creatures--then the right eye must be impeded in its working,
+which is contemplation. Therefore, he who would have one must let
+the other go; for no man can serve two masters. vii.
+
+A FORETASTE OF ETERNAL LIFE
+
+Some have asked whether it is possible for the soul, while it is
+still in the body, to reach so great a height as to gaze into
+eternity, and receive a foretaste of eternal life and blessedness.
+This is commonly denied; and in a sense the denial is true. For
+indeed it cannot come about, so long as the soul is occupied with
+the body, and the things which minister to the body and belong to
+it, and to time and created things, and is disturbed and troubled
+and distracted by them. For the soul that would mount to such a
+state, must be quite pure, entirely stripped and bare of all images;
+it must be wholly separate from all creatures, and above all from
+itself. Many think that this is impossible in this present life. But
+St Dionysius claims that it is possible, as we find from his words
+in his letter to Timothy, where he says: "In order to behold the
+hidden things of God, thou shalt forsake sense and the things of the
+flesh, and all that can be perceived by the senses, and all that
+reason can bring forth by her own power, and all things created and
+uncreated which reason can know and comprehend, and thou shalt stand
+upon an utter abandonment of thyself, as if thou knewest none of
+those things which I have mentioned, and thou shalt enter into union
+with Him who is, and who is above all existence and knowledge." If
+he did not think this to be possible in this present time, why did
+he teach it and urge it upon us in this present time? But you ought
+to know that a master has said, about this passage of St Dionysius,
+that it is possible, and may come to a man so often that he may
+become accustomed to it, and be able to gaze into eternity whenever
+he will. And a single one of these glances is better, worthier,
+higher, and more pleasing to God than all that the creature can do
+as a creature. He who has attained to it asks for nothing more, for
+he has found the kingdom of heaven and eternal life here on earth.
+viii.
+
+DESCENT INTO HELL
+
+Even as the soul of Christ had to descend into hell, before it
+ascended into heaven, so must the soul of man. And mark how this
+comes to pass. When a man truly perceives and considers who and what
+he is, and finds himself wholly base and wicked, and unworthy of all
+the consolation and kindness that he ever received, either from God
+or from the creatures, he falls into such a profound abasement and
+contempt for himself, that he thinks himself unworthy to walk upon
+the earth; he feels that he deserves that all creatures should rise
+against him and avenge their Maker upon him with punishments and
+torments; nay, even that were too good for him. And therefore he
+will not and dare not desire any consolation or release, either from
+God or any creature; he is willing to be unconsoled and unreleased,
+and he does not lament for his condemnation and punishment, for they
+are right and just, and in accordance with God's will. Nothing
+grieves him but his own guilt and wickedness; for that is not right,
+and is contrary to God's will: for this reason he is heavy and
+troubled. This is the meaning of true repentance for sin. And the
+man who in this life enters into this hell, enters afterwards into
+the kingdom of heaven, and has a foretaste of it which exceeds all
+the delights and happiness which he has ever had, or could have,
+from the things of time. But while a man is in this hell, no one can
+comfort him, neither God, nor the creatures. Of this condition it
+has been written, "Let me die, let me perish! I live without hope;
+from within and from without I am condemned, let no man pray for my
+deliverance." Now God has not forsaken a man, while he is in this
+hell, but He is laying His hand upon him, that he may desire nothing
+but the eternal Good only, and may discover that this is so noble
+and exceedingly good, that its blessedness cannot be searched out
+nor expressed, comfort and joy, peace, rest, and satisfaction. When,
+therefore, the man cares for and seeks and desires the eternal Good
+and nought beside, and seeks not himself, nor his own things, but
+the glory of God only, he is made to partake of every kind of joy,
+blessedness, peace, rest, and comfort, and from that time forward is
+in the kingdom of God.
+
+This hell and this heaven are two good safe ways for a man in this
+present life, and he is happy who truly finds them. For this hell
+shall pass away, but this heaven shall abide for evermore. Let a man
+also observe, that when he is in this hell, nothing can console him;
+and he cannot believe that he shall ever be delivered or comforted.
+But when he is in heaven, nothing can disturb him: he believes that
+no one will ever be able to offend or trouble him again, though it
+is indeed possible that he may again be troubled and left
+unconsoled.
+
+This heaven and hell come upon a man in such a way, that he knows
+not whence they come; and he can do nothing himself towards making
+them either come or depart. He can neither give them to himself, nor
+take them away from himself, neither bring them nor drive them away;
+even as it is written, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
+hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or
+whither it goeth." And when a man is in either of these two states,
+all is well with him, and he is as safe in hell as in heaven. And
+while a man is in the world, it is possible for him to pass many
+times from the one state into the other--even within a day and
+night, and without any motion of his own. But when a man is in
+neither of these two states, he holds intercourse with the
+creatures, and is carried this way and that, and knows not what
+manner of man he is. A man should therefore never forget either of
+these states, but carry the memory of them in his heart. xi.
+
+THE THREE STAGES
+
+Be well assured that none can be illuminated, unless he be first
+cleansed, purified, or stripped. Also none can be united to God
+unless he be first illuminated. There are therefore three
+stages--first, the purification; secondly, the illumination; and
+thirdly, the union. The purification belongs to those who are
+beginning or repenting. It is effected in three ways; by repentance
+and sorrow for sin, by full confession, and by hearty amendment. The
+illumination belongs to those who are growing, and it also is
+effected in three ways; by the renunciation of sin, by the practice
+of virtue and good works, and by willing endurance of all trials and
+temptations. The union belongs to those who are perfect, and this
+also is effected in three ways; by pureness and singleness of heart,
+by love, and by the contemplation of God, the Creator of all things.
+xiv.
+
+THE LIFE OF CHRIST
+
+We ought truly to know and believe that no life is so noble, or
+good, or pleasing to God, as the life of Christ. And yet it is to
+nature and selfishness the most bitter of all lives. For to nature,
+and selfishness, and the Me, a life of careless freedom is the
+sweetest and pleasantest, but it is not the best; indeed, in some
+men it may be the worst. But the life of Christ, though it be the
+bitterest of all, should be preferred above all. And hereby ye shall
+know this. There is an inward sight which is able to perceive the
+one true good, how that it is neither this nor that, but that it is
+that of which St Paul says: "When that which is perfect is come,
+then that which is in part shall be done away." By this he signifies
+that what is whole and perfect excels all the parts, and that all
+which is imperfect, and in part, is as nothing compared to what is
+perfect. In like manner, all knowledge of the parts is swallowed up
+when the whole is known. And where the good is known, it cannot fail
+to be desired and loved so greatly, that all other love, with which
+a man has loved himself, and other things, vanishes away. Moreover,
+that inward sight perceives what is best and noblest in all things,
+and loves it in the one true good, and for the sake of the true good
+alone. Where this inward sight exists, a man perceives truly that
+the life of Christ is the best and noblest life, and that it is
+therefore to be chosen above all others; and therefore he willingly
+accepts and endures it, without hesitation or complaining, whether
+it is pleasing or displeasing to nature and other men, and whether
+he himself likes or dislikes it, and finds it sweet or bitter.
+Therefore, whenever this perfect and true good is known, the life of
+Christ must be followed, until the decease of the body. If any man
+vainly deems otherwise, he is deceived, and if any man says
+otherwise, he tells a lie; and in whatever man the life of Christ is
+not, he will never know the true good or the eternal truth.
+
+But let no one imagine that we can attain to this true light and
+perfect knowledge, and to the life of Christ, by much questioning,
+or by listening to others, or by reading and study, or by ability
+and deep learning. For so long as a man is occupied with anything
+which is this or that, whether it be himself or any other creature;
+or does anything, or forms plans, or opinions, or objects, he comes
+not to the life of Christ. Christ Himself declared as much, for He
+said: "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take
+up his cross, and follow Me." "And if any man hate not his father
+and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea and
+his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." He means this: "He who
+does not give up and abandon everything can never know My eternal
+truth, nor attain to My life." And even if this had not been
+declared to us, the truth itself proclaims it, for so verily it is.
+But as long as a man holds fast to the rudiments and fragments of
+this world, and above all to himself, and is conversant with them,
+and sets great store by them, he is deceived and blinded, and
+perceives what is good only in so far as is convenient and agreeable
+to himself and profitable to his own objects.
+
+Since then the life of Christ is in all ways most bitter to nature
+and the self and the Me--for in the true life of Christ nature and
+the self and the Me must be abandoned and lost and suffered to die
+completely--therefore in all of us nature has a horror of it, and
+deems it evil and unjust and foolish; and she strives after such a
+life as shall be most agreeable and pleasant to ourselves; and says,
+and believes too in her blindness, that such a life is the best of
+all. Now nothing is so agreeable and pleasant to nature as a free
+and careless manner of life. To this therefore she clings, and takes
+enjoyment in herself and her powers, and thinks only of her own
+peace and comfort. And this is especially likely to happen, when a
+man has high natural gifts of reason, for reason mounts up in its
+own light and by its own power, till at last it comes to think
+itself the true eternal light, and gives itself out to be such; and
+it is thus deceived in itself, and deceives others at the same time,
+people who know no better and are prone to be so deceived.
+xviii.-xx.
+
+UNION WITH GOD
+
+In what does union with God consist? It means that we should be
+indeed purely, simply, and wholly at one with the one eternal Will
+of God, or altogether without will, so that the created will should
+flow out into the eternal Will and be swallowed up and lost in it,
+so that the eternal Will alone should do and leave undone in us. Now
+observe what may be of use to us in attaining this object. Religious
+exercises cannot do this, nor words, nor works, nor any creature or
+work done by a creature. We must therefore give up and renounce all
+things, suffering them to be what they are, and enter into union
+with God. Yet the outward things must be; and sleeping and waking,
+walking and standing still, speaking and being silent, must go on as
+long as we live.
+
+But when this union truly comes to pass and is established, the
+inner man henceforth stands immoveable in this union; as for the
+outer man, God allows him to be moved hither and thither, from this
+to that, among things which are necessary and right. So the outer
+man says sincerely, "I have no wish to be or not to be, to live or
+die, to know or be ignorant, to do or leave undone; I am ready for
+all that is to be or ought to be, and obedient to whatever I have to
+do or suffer." Thus the outer man has no purpose except to do what
+in him lies to further the eternal Will. As for the inner man, it is
+truly perceived that he shall stand immoveable, though the outer
+man must needs be moved. And if the inner man has any explanation of
+the actions of the outer man, he says only that such things as are
+ordained by the eternal Will must be and ought to be. It is thus
+when God Himself dwells in a man; as we plainly see in the case of
+Christ. Moreover, where there is this union, which is the outflow of
+the Divine light and dwells in its beams, there is no spiritual
+pride nor boldness of spirit, but unbounded humility and a lowly
+broken heart; there is also an honest and blameless walk, justice,
+peace, contentment, and every virtue. Where these are not, there is
+no true union. For even as neither this thing nor that can bring
+about or further this union, so nothing can spoil or hinder it,
+except the man himself with his self-will, which does him this great
+injury. Be well assured of this. xxvii., xxviii.
+
+THE FALSE LIGHT
+
+Now I must tell you what the False Light is, and what belongs to it.
+All that is contrary to the true light belongs to the false. It
+belongs of necessity to the true light that it never seeks to
+deceive, nor consents that anyone should be injured or deceived; and
+it cannot be deceived itself. But the false light both deceives
+others, and is deceived itself. Even as God deceives no man, and
+wills not that any should be deceived, so it is with His true light.
+The true light is God or Divine, but the false light is nature or
+natural. It belongeth to God, that He is neither this nor that, and
+that He requires nothing in the man whom He has made to be partaker
+in the Divine nature, except goodness as goodness and for the sake
+of goodness. This is the token of the true light. But it belongs to
+the creature, and to nature, to be something, this or that, and to
+intend and seek something, this or that, and not simply what is good
+without asking Why. And as God and the true light are without all
+self-will, selfishness, and self-Seeking, so the "I, Me, and Mine"
+belong to the false light, which in everything seeks itself and its
+own ends, and not goodness for the sake of goodness. This is the
+character of the natural or carnal man in each of us. Now observe
+how it first comes to be deceived. It does not desire or choose
+goodness for its own sake, but desires and chooses itself and its
+own ends rather than the highest good; and this is an error and the
+first deception. Secondly, it fancies itself to be God, when it is
+nothing but nature. And because it feigns itself to be God, it takes
+to itself what belongs to God; and not that which belongs to God
+when He is made man, or when He dwells in a Godlike man; but that
+which belongs to God as He is in eternity without the creature. God,
+they say, and say truly, needs nothing, is free, exempt from toil,
+apart by Himself, above all things: He is unchangeable, immoveable,
+and whatever He does is well done. "so will I be," says the false
+light. "The more like one is to God, the better one is; I therefore
+will be like God and will be God, and will sit and stand at His
+right hand." This is what Lucifer the Evil Spirit also said. Now God
+in eternity is without contradiction, suffering, and grief, and
+nothing can injure or grieve Him. But with God as He is made man it
+is otherwise. The false light thinks itself to be above all works,
+words, customs, laws, and order, and above the life which Christ led
+in the body which He possessed in His human nature. It also claims
+to be unmoved by any works of the creatures; it cares not whether
+they be good or bad, for God or against Him; it keeps itself aloof
+from all things, and deems it fitting that all creatures should
+serve it. Further, it says that it has risen beyond the life of
+Christ according to the flesh, and that outward things can no longer
+touch or pain it, even as it was with Christ after the Resurrection.
+Many other strange and false notions it cherishes. Moreover, this
+false light says that it has risen above conscience and the sense of
+sin, and that whatever it does is right. One of the so-called "Free
+Spirits" even said that if he had killed ten men, he would have as
+little sense of guilt as if he had killed a dog. This false light,
+in so far as it fancies itself to be God, is Lucifer, the Evil
+Spirit; but in so far as it makes of no account the life of Christ,
+it is Antichrist. It says, indeed, that Christ was without sense of
+sin, and that therefore we should be so. We may reply that Satan
+also is without sense of sin, and is none the better for that. What
+is a sense of sin? It is when we perceive that man has turned away
+from God in his will, and that this is man's fault, not God's, for
+God is guiltless of sin. Now, who knows himself to be free from sin,
+save Christ only? Scarce will any other affirm this. So he who is
+without sense of sin is either Christ or the Evil Spirit. But where
+the true light is, there is a true and just life such as God loves.
+And if a man's life is not perfect, as was that of Christ, still it
+is modelled and built on His, and His life is loved, together with
+modesty, order, and the other virtues, and all self-will, the "I,
+Me, and Mine," is lost; nothing is devised or sought for except
+goodness for its own sake. But where the false light is, men no
+longer regard the life of Christ and the virtues, but they seek and
+purpose what is convenient and pleasant to nature. From this arises
+a false liberty, whereby men become regardless of everything. For
+the true light is the seed of God, and bringeth forth the fruits of
+God; but the false light is the seed of the Devil, and where it is
+sown, the fruits of the Devil, nay the very Devil himself, spring
+up. xl.
+
+LIGHT AND LOVE
+
+It may be asked, What is it like to be a partaker of the Divine
+nature, or a Godlike man? The answer is, that he who is steeped in,
+or illuminated by, the eternal and Divine Light, and kindled or
+consumed by the eternal and Divine Love, is a Godlike man and a
+partaker of the Divine nature. But this light or knowledge is of no
+avail without love. You may understand this if you remember that a
+man who knows very well the difference between virtue and
+wickedness, but does not love virtue, is not virtuous, in that he
+obeys vice. But he who loves virtue follows after it, and his love
+makes him an enemy to wickedness, so that he will not perform any
+wicked act and hates wickedness in others; and he loves virtue so
+that he would not leave any virtue unperformed even if he had the
+choice, not for the sake of reward, but from love of virtue. To such
+a man virtue brings its own reward, and he is content with it, and
+would part with it for no riches. Such a man is already virtuous, or
+in the way to become so. And the truly virtuous man would not cease
+to be so to gain the whole world. He would rather die miserably. The
+case of justice is the same. Many men know well what is just and
+unjust, but yet neither are nor ever will be just men. For they love
+not justice, and therefore practise wickedness and injustice. If a
+man loved justice, he would do no unjust deed; he would feel so
+great abhorrence and anger against injustice whenever he saw it that
+he would be willing to do and suffer anything in order to put an end
+to injustice, and that men might be made just. He would rather die
+than commit an injustice, and all for love of justice. To him,
+justice brings her own reward, she rewards him with herself, and so
+the just man would rather die a thousand deaths than live as an
+unjust man. The same may be said of truth. A man may know very well
+what is truth or a lie, but if he loves not the truth, he is not a
+true man. If, however, he loves it, it is with truth as with
+justice. And of justice Isaiah speaks in the fifth chapter: "Woe
+unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for
+light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet
+for bitter." Thus we may understand that knowledge and light avail
+nothing without love. We see the truth of this in the case of the
+Evil One. He perceives and knows good and evil, right and wrong: but
+since he has no love for the good that he sees, he becomes not good.
+It is true indeed that Love must be led and instructed by knowledge,
+but if knowledge is not followed by Love, it will be of no avail. So
+also with God and Divine things. Although a man know much about God
+and Divine things, and even dream that he sees and understands what
+God Himself is, yet if he have not Love, he will never become like
+God or a partaker of the Divine nature. But if Love be added to his
+knowledge, he cannot help cleaving to God, and forsaking all that is
+not God or from God, and hating it and fighting with it, and finding
+it a cross and burden. And this Love so unites a man to God, that he
+can never again be separated from Him. xli.
+
+PARADISE
+
+What is Paradise? All things that are. For all things are good and
+pleasant, and may therefore fitly be called Paradise. It is also
+said, that Paradise is an outer court of heaven. In the same way,
+this world is truly an outer court of the eternal, or of eternity;
+and this is specially true of any temporal things or creatures which
+manifest the Eternal or remind us of eternity; for the creatures are
+a guide and path to God and eternity. Thus the world is an outer
+court of eternity, and therefore it may well be called a Paradise,
+for so indeed it is. And in this Paradise all things are lawful
+except one tree and its fruit. That is to say, of all things that
+exist, nothing is forbidden or contrary to God, except one thing
+only. That one thing is self-will, or to will otherwise than as the
+eternal Will would have it. Remember this. For God says to Adam
+(that is, to every man) "Whatever thou art, or doest, or leavest
+undone, or whatever happens, is lawful if it be done for the sake of
+and according to My will, and not according to thy will. But all
+that is done from thy will is contrary to the eternal Will." Not
+that everything which is so done is in itself contrary to the
+eternal Will, but in so far as it is done from a different will, or
+otherwise than from the Eternal and Divine Will. l.
+
+WILL AND SELF-WILL
+
+Some may ask: "If this tree, Self-Will, is so contrary to God and to
+the eternal will, why did God create it, and place it in Paradise?"
+We may answer: a man who is truly humble and enlightened does not
+ask God to reveal His secrets to him, or enquire why God does this
+or that, or prevents or allows this or that; he only desires to know
+how he may please God, and become as nothing in himself, having no
+will of his own, and that the eternal will may live in him, and
+possess him wholly, unhampered by any other will, and how what is
+due may be paid to the Eternal Will, by him and through him. But
+there is another answer to this question. For we may say: the most
+noble and gracious gift that is bestowed on any creature is the
+Reason and the Will. These two are so intimately connected that the
+one cannot be anywhere without the other. If it were not for these
+two gifts, there would be no reasonable creatures, but only brutes
+and brutality; and this would be a great loss, for God would then
+never receive His due, or behold Himself and His attributes
+exhibited in action; a thing which ought to be, and is, necessary to
+perfection. Now Perception and Reason are conferred together with
+will, in order that they may teach the will and also themselves,
+that neither perception nor will is of itself, or to itself, nor
+ought to seek or obey itself. Nor must they turn themselves to their
+own profit, nor use themselves for their own ends; for they belong
+to Him from whom they proceed, and they shall submit to Him, and
+flow back to Him, and become nothing in themselves--that is, in
+their selfhood.
+
+But now you must consider more in detail something concerning the
+will. There is an Eternal Will, which is a first principle and
+substance in God, apart from all works and all externalisation; and
+the same will is in man, or the creature, willing and bringing to
+pass certain things. For it pertains to the will, to will something.
+For what else does it exist? It would be a vain thing if it had no
+work to do, and this it cannot have without the creature. And so
+there must needs be creatures, and God will have them, in order that
+by their means the will may be exercised, and may work, though in
+God it must be without work. Therefore the will in the creature,
+which we call the created will, is as truly God's as the eternal
+will, and is not from the creature.
+
+And since God cannot exercise His will, in working and effecting
+changes, without the creature, He is pleased to do so in and with
+the creature. Therefore the will is not given to be exercised by the
+creature, but by God alone, who has the right to carry into effect
+His own will by the will which is in man, but yet is God's will. And
+in any man or creature, in whom it should be thus, purely and
+simply, the will of that man or creature would be exercised not by
+the man but by God, and thus it would not be self-will, and the man
+would only will as God wills; for God Himself, and not man, would be
+moving the will. Thus the will would be united with the Eternal
+Will, and would flow into it; although the man would retain his
+sense of liking and disliking, pleasure and pain. But nothing is
+complained of, except what is contrary to God. And there is no
+rejoicing except in God alone, and in that which belongs to Him. And
+as with the will, so is it with all the other faculties of man; they
+are all of God and not of man. And when the will is wholly given up
+to God, the other faculties will certainly be given up too; and God
+will have what is due to Him.
+
+No one may call that which is free his own, and he who makes it his
+own, doeth injustice. Now in all the sphere of freedom nothing is so
+free as the will; and he who makes it his own, and allows it not to
+remain in its excellent freedom, and free nobleness, and free
+exercise, does it a great injustice. This is what is done by the
+devil, and Adam, and all their followers. But he who leaves the will
+in its noble freedom does right; and this is what Christ, and all
+who follow Him, do. And he who deprives the will of its noble
+freedom, and makes it his own, must necessarily be oppressed with
+cares and discontent, and disquietude, and every kind of misery, and
+this will be his lot throughout time and eternity. But he who leaves
+the will in its freedom has contentment and peace and rest and
+blessedness, through time and eternity. Where there is a man whose
+will is not enslaved, he is free indeed, and in bondage to no man.
+He is one of those to whom Christ said: "The truth shall make you
+free"; and He adds immediately afterwards: "If the Son shall make
+you free, ye shall be free indeed."
+
+Moreover, observe that whenever the will chooses unhindered whatever
+it will, it always and in all cases chooses what is noblest and
+best, and hates whatever is not noble and good, and regards it as an
+offence. And the more free and unhampered the will is, the more it
+is grieved by evil, by injustice, by iniquity, and all manner of
+sin. We see this in Christ, whose will was the purest and freest and
+the least brought into bondage of any man's who ever lived. So was
+the human nature of Christ the most free and pure of all creatures;
+and yet He felt the deepest distress, pain, and wrath at sin that
+any creature ever felt. But when men claim freedom for themselves,
+in such a way as to feel no sorrow or anger at sin, and all that is
+contrary to God, and say that we must take no notice of anything,
+and care for nothing, but be, in this life, what Christ was after
+the resurrection, and so forth, this is not the true and Divine
+freedom that springs from the true and Divine light, but a natural,
+unrighteous, false, deceiving freedom, which springs from the
+natural, false, deceitful light.
+
+If there were no self-will, there would be no proprietorship. There
+is no proprietorship in heaven; and this is why contentment, peace,
+and blessedness are there. If anyone in heaven were so bold as to
+call anything his own, he would immediately be cast out into hell,
+and become an evil spirit. But in hell everyone will have self-will,
+and therefore in hell is every kind of wretchedness and misery. And
+so it is also on earth. But if anyone in hell could rid himself of
+his self-will and call nothing his own, he would pass out of hell
+into heaven. And if a man, while here on earth, could be entirely
+rid of self-will and proprietorship, and stand up free and at
+liberty in the true light of God, and continue therein, he would be
+sure to inherit the kingdom of heaven. For he who has anything, or
+who desires to have anything of his own, is a slave; and he who has
+nothing of his own, nor desires to have anything, is free and at
+liberty, and is in bondage to no man. li.
+
+UNION THROUGH CHRIST
+
+Observe now how the Father draws men to Christ. When something of
+the perfect good is revealed and made manifest within the human
+soul, as it were in a sudden flash, the soul conceives a desire to
+draw near to the perfect goodness, and to unite herself with the
+Father. And the more strongly she longs and desires, the more is
+revealed to her; and the more is revealed to her, the more she is
+drawn to the Father, and the more is her desire kindled. So the soul
+is drawn and kindled into an union with the eternal goodness. And
+this is the drawing of the Father; and so the soul is taught by Him
+who draws her to Himself, that she cannot become united with Him
+unless she can come to Him by means of the life of Christ. liii.
+
+[1]In his Introduction to the "Imitation of Christ," in this series.
+
+[2]e.g. she distinguishes, as Eckhart does, between God and the
+Godhead.
+
+[3]The "three propositions" of Amalric are--1. "Deus est omnia." 2.
+Every Christian, as a con-dition of salvation, must believe that he
+is a member of Christ. 3. To those who are in charity no sin is
+imputed.
+
+[4]Preger is probably wrong in identifying him with a "brother
+Eckhart," Prior of Frankfort, who about 1320 was delated to the head
+of the Order as suspectus de malis familiaritatibus, words which can
+only mean "keeping bad company" in a moral sense, not "con-sorting
+with heretics," as Preger suggests. Eckhart's character, so far as
+we know, was never assailed, even by his enemies, and it is
+therefore probable that "brother Eckhart" was a different person.
+
+[5]I have abridged the bull considerably, but have included all the
+main accusations.
+
+[6]See pages 13, 16.
+
+[7]See pages 14, 15.
+
+[8]See page 1.
+
+[9]This is an obscure point in Eckhart's philosophy, too technical
+to be discussed here; but Eckhart's doctrine of God is certainly
+more orthodox and less pantheistic than those of 'Dionysius' and
+Scotus Erigena.
+
+[10]Cf. St Augustine, In Joann. Ev. Tract. xxxix. 10: praeteritum et
+futurum invenio in omni motu rerum: in veritate quae manet
+praeteritum et futurum non invenio, sed solum praesens.
+
+[11]This doctrine is fully explained by St. Augustine, Epist. 237,
+who follows Plotinus, Enn. vi. 4-6.
+
+[12]This queer word occurs for the first time, I think, in Jerome's
+notes to the first chapter of Ezekiel. He writes the word in Greek,
+and explains it as that part of the soul which always opposes vices.
+The word is common in Bonaventura and other scholastic mystics, and
+is often misspelt synderesis.
+
+[13]It must, however, be said that Preger is too ready to assume
+that the logical development of Eckhart's system away from Thomist
+scholasticism can be traced as a gradual process in his writings,
+the order of which is very uncertain. We are not justified in saying
+in a positive manner that Eckhart's philosophy passed through three
+phases, in the first of which the primacy is held by the will, in
+the second by the created reason, and in the third by the uncreated
+reason.
+
+[14]See pages 14, 15.
+
+[15]C.B. Upton: "Hibbert Lectures," p. 17.
+
+[16]A.E. Taylor: "The Problem of Conduct," PP. 464-5.
+
+[17]See pages 71-2.
+
+[18]See pages 12-13.
+
+[19]See, for example, Prof. W. James' "Varieties of Religions
+Experience," P. 400.
+
+[20]Jacob Bšhme's experience is typical: "Suddenly did my spirit
+break through into the innermost birth or geniture of the Deity, and
+there was I embraced with love, as a bridegroom embraces his dearly
+beloved bride. But the greatness of the triumphing that was in the
+spirit I cannot express in speech or writing; nor can it be compared
+to anything but the resurrection of the dead to life. In this light
+my spirit suddenly saw through all; even in herbs and grass it knew
+God, who and what He is," etc. Dr Johnson was, no doubt, right in
+thinking that "Jacob" would have been wiser, and "more like St
+Paul," if he had not attempted to utter the unutterable things which
+he saw.
+
+[21]The extracts from the "Theologia Germanica" will show that this
+treatise represents a later and less paradoxical form of mystical
+thought than Eckhart's.
+
+[22]The maxim, however, is much older than Suso.
+
+[23]Royce: "The World and the Individual" vol. i. p. 193.
+
+[24]So in the "Lignum Vitae" of Laurentius Justinianus we read: "Let
+self-will cease, and there will be no more hell."
+
+[25] "The Inner Way," being thirty-six sermons by John Tauler.
+Translated by A.W. Hutton, M.A.
+
+[26]On the psychology of ecstatic mysticism see Leuba, in the Revue
+Philosophique, July and November 1902.
+
+[27] "Varieties of Religious Experience," p. 13.
+
+[28]Maudsley: "Natural Causes and Supernatural Seemings," p. 256.
+
+[29]See Leuba: "Tendances religieuses chez les mystiques
+chrétiens" in Revue Philosophique, Nov. 1902.
+
+[30] "Theologia Germanica," translated by Susanna Winkworth.
+Macmillan & Co., 1893.
+
+[31] "Varieties of Religious Experience," 1902.
+
+[32] "Personal Idealism," 1902.
+
+[33] "Varieties of Religious Experience," p. 103.
+
+[34] "In Tune with the Infinite," by R.W. Trine (Bell & Sons, 1902).
+Fifty-ninth thousand. The extract appears to be a quotation from
+another writer, but no reference is given.
+
+[35]Compare Eckhart's saying that the eye with which I see God is
+the same as the eye with which He sees me.
+
+[36] "In Tune with the Infinite," pp. 58, 119.
+
+[37]The numbers refer to pages in Pfeiffer's edition.
+
+[38]The numbers refer to the Sermons in Hamberger's edition of 1864.
+
+[39]The reference is to 1 Peter iii. 8.
+
+[40]The time would, I suppose, be about half-an-hour. Many other
+ecstatics have named this as the normal duration of trance.
+
+[41]Or, "spoke the eternal Wisdom (= the Word of God) in his heart."
+
+[42]John i. 3, 4. This punctuation, whereby the words "that which
+was made" are referred to the clause which follows, and not to that
+which precedes, is adopted by most of the Greek fathers, and is
+still maintained by some good commentators--e.g. Bishop Westcott.
+
+[43]Ecclus. xxiv. 19.
+
+[44]Ecclus. xl. 20.
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 4664 ***
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Light, Life, and Love
+by W. R. Inge
+
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+Title: Light, Life, and Love
+
+Author: W. R. Inge
+
+Release Date: November, 2003  [Etext #4664]
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+by W. R. Inge
+******This file should be named 4664.txt or 4664.zip******
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+This etext was produced by Charles Aldarondo.
+
+LIGHT, LIFE, AND LOVE
+
+Selections from the German Mystics of the Middle Ages
+
+by
+
+W. R. Inge
+
+LONDON
+Second Edition
+
+1919
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+ECKHART
+TAULER
+MEDITATIONS ON THE SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS
+SUSO
+RUYSBROEK
+THEOLOGIA GERMANICA
+
+
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+Sect. 1. THE PRECURSORS OF THE GERMAN MYSTICS
+
+
+
+
+
+TO most English readers the "Imitation of Christ" is the
+representative of mediaeval German mysticism. In reality, however,
+this beautiful little treatise belongs to a period when that
+movement had nearly spent itself. Thomas a Kempis, as Dr. Bigg has
+said,[1] was only a semi-mystic. He tones down the most
+characteristic doctrines of Eckhart, who is the great original
+thinker of the German mystical school, and seems in some ways to
+revert to an earlier type of devotional literature. The "Imitation"
+may perhaps be described as an idealised picture of monastic piety,
+drawn at a time when the life of the cloister no longer filled a
+place of unchallenged usefulness in the social order of Europe. To
+find German mysticism at its strongest we must go back a full
+hundred years, and to understand its growth we must retrace our
+steps as far as the great awakening of the thirteenth century--the
+age of chivalry in religion--the age of St. Louis, of Francis and
+Dominic, of Bonaventura and Thomas Aquinas. It was a vast revival,
+bearing fruit in a new ardour of pity and charity, as well as in a
+healthy freedom of thought. The Church, in recognising the new
+charitable orders of Francis and Dominic, and the Christianised
+Aristotelianism of the schoolmen, retained the loyalty and profited
+by the zeal of the more sober reformers, but was unable to prevent
+the diffusion of an independent critical spirit, in part provoked
+and justified by real abuses. Discontent was aroused, not only by
+the worldiness of the hierarchy, whose greed and luxurious living
+were felt to be scandalous, but by the widespread economic distress
+which prevailed over Western Europe at this period. The crusades
+periodically swept off a large proportion of the able-bodied men, of
+whom the majority never returned to their homes, and this helped to
+swell the number of indigent women, who, having no male protectors,
+were obliged to beg their bread. The better class of these female
+mendicants soon formed themselves into uncloistered charitable
+Orders, who were not forbidden to marry, and who devoted themselves
+chiefly to the care of the sick. These Beguines and the
+corresponding male associations of Beghards became very numerous in
+Germany. Their religious views were of a definite type. Theirs was
+an intensely inward religion, based on the longing of the soul for
+immediate access to God. The more educated among them tended to
+embrace a vague idealistic Pantheism. Mechthild of Magdeburg
+(1212-1277), prophetess, poetess, Church reformer, quietist, was the
+ablest of the Beguines. Her writings prove to us that the technical
+terminology of German mysticism was in use before Eckhart,[2] and
+also that the followers of what the "Theologia Germanica" calls the
+False Light, who aspired to absorption in the Godhead, and despised
+the imitation of the incarnate Christ, were already throwing
+discredit on the movement. Mechthild's independence, and her
+unsparing denunciations of corruption in high places, brought her
+into conflict with the secular clergy. They tried to burn her
+books--those religious love songs which had already endeared her to
+German popular sentiment. It was then that she seemed to hear a
+voice saying to her:
+
+Lieb' meine, betr�be dich nicht zu sehr,
+
+Die Wahrheit mag niemand verbrennen!
+
+The rulers of the Church, unhappily, were not content with burning
+books. Their hostility towards the unrecognised Orders became more
+and more pronounced: the Beghards and Beguines were harried and
+persecuted till most of them were driven to join the Franciscans or
+Dominicans, carrying with them into those Orders the ferment of
+their speculative mysticism. The more stubborn "Brethren and Sisters
+of the Free Spirit" were burned in batches at Cologne and elsewhere.
+Their fate in those times did not excite much pity, for many of the
+victims were idle vagabonds of dissolute character, and the general
+public probably thought that the licensed begging friars were enough
+of a nuisance without the addition of these free lances.
+
+The heretical mystical sects of the thirteenth century are very
+interesting as illustrating the chief dangers of mysticism. Some of
+these sectaries were Socialists or Communists of an extreme kind;
+others were Rationalists, who taught that Jesus Christ was the son
+of Joseph and a sinner like other men; others were Puritans, who
+said that Church music was "nothing but a hellish noise" (nihil nisi
+clamor inferni), and that the Pope was the magna meretrix of the
+Apocalypse. The majority were Anti-Sacramentalists and Determinists;
+and some were openly Antinomian, teaching that those who are led by
+the Spirit can do no wrong. The followers of Amalric of Bena[3]
+believed that the Holy Ghost had chosen their sect in which to
+become incarnate; His presence among them was a continual guarantee
+of sanctity and happiness. The "spiritual Franciscans" had dreams of
+a more apocalyptic kind. They adopted the idea of an "eternal
+Gospel," as expounded by Joachim of Floris, and believed that the
+"third kingdom," that of the Spirit, was about to begin among
+themselves. It was to abolish the secular Church and to inaugurate
+the reign of true Christianity--i.e. "poverty" and asceticism.
+
+Such are some of the results of what our eighteenth-century
+ancestors knew and dreaded as "Enthusiasm"--that ferment of the
+spirit which in certain epochs spreads from soul to soul like an
+epidemic, breaking all the fetters of authority, despising tradition
+and rejecting discipline in its eagerness to get rid of formalism
+and unreality; a lawless, turbulent, unmanageable spirit, in which,
+notwithstanding, is a potentiality for good far higher than any to
+which the lukewarm "religion of all sensible men" can ever attain.
+For mysticism is the raw material of all religion; and it is easier
+to discipline the enthusiast than to breathe enthusiasm into the
+disciplinarian.
+
+Meanwhile, the Church looked with favour upon the orthodox mystical
+school, of which Richard and Hugo of St. Victor, Bonaventura, and
+Albertus Magnus were among the greatest names. These men were
+working out in their own fashion the psychology of the contemplative
+life, showing how we may ascend through "cogitation, meditation, and
+speculation" to "contemplation," and how we may pass successively
+through jubilus, ebrietas spiritus, spiritualis jucunditas, and
+liquefactio, till we attain raptus or ecstasy. The writings of the
+scholastic mystics are so overweighted with this pseudo-science,
+with its wire-drawn distinctions and meaningless classifications,
+that very few readers have now the patience to dig out their
+numerous beauties. They are, however, still the classics of mystical
+theology in the Roman Church, so far as that science has not
+degenerated into mere miracle-mongering.
+
+Sect. 2. MEISTER ECKHART
+
+It was in 1260, when Mechthild of Magdeburg was at the height of her
+activity, that Meister Eckhart, next to Plotinus the greatest
+philosopher-mystic, was born at Hocheim in Thuringia. It seems that
+his family was in a good position, but nothing is known of his early
+years. He entered the Dominican Order as a youth, perhaps at
+sixteen, the earliest age at which novices were admitted into that
+Order. The course of instruction among the Dominicans was as
+follows:--After two years, during which the novice laid the
+foundations of a good general education, he devoted the next two
+years to grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic, and then the same amount
+of time to what was called the Quadrivium, which consisted of
+"arithmetic, mathematics, astronomy, and music." Theology, the queen
+of the sciences, occupied three years; and at the end of the course,
+at the age of twenty-five, the brothers were ordained priests. We
+find Eckhart, towards the end of the century, Prior of Erfurt and
+Vicar of Thuringia, then Lector Biblicus at Paris, then Provincial
+Prior of Saxony. In 1307 the master of the Order appointed him
+Vicar-General for Bohemia, and in 1311 he returned to Paris. We find
+him next preaching busily at Strassburg,[4] and after a few more
+years, at Cologne, where the persecution of the Brethren of the Free
+Spirit was just then at its height. At Strassburg there were no less
+than seven convents of Dominican nuns, for since 1267 the Order had
+resumed the supervision of female convents, which it had renounced a
+short time after its foundation. Many of Eckhart's discourses were
+addressed to these congregations of devout women, who indeed were to
+a large extent the backbone of the mystical movement, and it is
+impossible not to see that the devotional treatises of the school
+are strongly coloured by feminine sentiment. A curious poem, written
+by a Dominican nun of this period, celebrates the merits of three
+preachers, the third of whom is a Master Eckhart, "who speaks to us
+about Nothingness. He who understands him not, in him has never
+shone the light divine." These nuns seem to have been fed with the
+strong meat of Eckhart's mystical philosophy; in the more popular
+sermons he tried to be intelligible to all. It was not very long
+after he took up his residence at Cologne that he was himself
+attacked for heresy. In 1327 he read before his own Order a
+retractation of "any errors which might be found" (si quid errorum
+repertum fuerit) in his writings, but withdrew nothing that he had
+actually said, and protested that he believed himself to be
+orthodox. He died a few months later, and it was not till 1329 that
+a Papal bull was issued, enumerating seventeen heretical and eleven
+objectionable doctrines in his writings.
+
+This bull is interesting as showing what were the points in
+Eckhart's teaching which in the fourteenth century were considered
+dangerous. They also indicate very accurately what are the real
+errors into which speculative mysticism is liable to fall, and how
+thinkers of this school may most plausibly be misrepresented by
+those who differ from them. After expressing his sorrow that "a
+certain Teuton named Ekardus, doctor, ut fertur, sacrae paginae, has
+wished to know more than he should," and has sown tares and thistles
+and other weeds in the field of the Church, the Pope specifies the
+following erroneous statements as appearing in Eckhart's
+writings[5]:--1. "God created the world as soon as God was. 2. In
+every work, bad as well as good, the glory of God is equally
+manifested. 3. A man who prays for any particular thing prays for an
+evil and prays ill, for he prays for the negation of good and the
+negation of God, and that God may be denied to him.[6] 4. God is
+honoured in those who have renounced everything, even holiness and
+the kingdom of heaven. 5. We are transformed totally into God, even
+as in the Sacrament the bread is converted into the Body of Christ.
+Unum, non simile. 6. Whatever God the Father gave to His
+only-begotten Son in His human nature, He has given it all to me. 7.
+Whatever the Holy Scripture says about Christ is verified in every
+good and godlike man. 8. External action is not, properly speaking,
+good nor divine; God, properly speaking, only works in us internal
+actions. 9. God is one, in every way and according to every reason,
+so that it is not possible to find any plurality in Him, either in
+the intellect or outside it; for he who sees two, or sees any
+distinction, does not see God; for God is one, outside number and
+above number, for one cannot be put with anything else, but follows
+it; therefore in God Himself no distinction can be or be understood.
+10. All the creatures are absolutely nothing: I say not that they
+are small or something, but that they are absolutely nothing." All
+these statements are declared to have been found in his writings. It
+is also "objected against the said Ekardus" that he taught the
+following two articles in these words:--1. "There is something in
+the soul, which is uncreated and uncreatable: if the whole soul were
+such, it would be uncreated and uncreatable: and this is the
+intelligence.[7] 2. God is not good or better or best: I speak ill
+when I call God good; it is as if I called white black."[8] The bull
+declares all the propositions above quoted to be heretical, with the
+exception of the three which I have numbered 8-10, and these "have
+an ill sound" and are "very rash," even if they might be so
+supplemented and explained as to bear an orthodox sense.
+
+This condemnation led to a long neglect of Eckhart's writings. He
+was almost forgotten till Franz Pfeiffer in 1857 collected and
+edited his scattered treatises and endeavoured to distinguish those
+which were genuine from those which were spurious. Since Pfeiffer's
+edition fresh discoveries have been made, notably in 1880, when
+Denifle found at Erfurt several important fragments in Latin, which
+in his opinion show a closer dependence on the scholastic theology,
+and particularly on St Thomas Aquinas, than Protestant scholars,
+such as Preger, had been willing to allow. But the attempt to prove
+Eckhart a mere scholastic is a failure; the audacities of his German
+discourses cannot be explained as an accommodation to the tastes of
+a peculiar audience. For good or evil Eckhart is an original and
+independent thinker, whose theology is confined by no trammels of
+authority.
+
+Sect. 3. ECKHART'S RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY
+
+The Godhead, according to Eckhart, is the universal and eternal
+Unity comprehending and transcending all diversity. "The Divine
+nature is Rest," he says in one of the German discourses; and in the
+Latin fragments we find: "God rests in Himself, and makes all things
+rest in Him." The three Persons of the Trinity, however, are not
+mere modes or accidents,[9] but represent a real distinction within
+the Godhead. God is unchangeable, and at the same time an
+"everlasting process." The creatures are "absolutely nothing"; but
+at the same time "God without them would not be God," for God is
+love, and must objectify Himself; He is goodness, and must impart
+Himself. As the picture in the mind of the painter, as the poem in
+the mind of the poet, so was all creation in the mind of God from
+all eternity, in uncreated simplicity. The ideal world was not
+created in time; "the Father spake Himself and all the creatures in
+His Son"; "they exist in the eternal Now"[10]--"a
+becoming without a becoming, change without change." "The Word of
+God the Father is the substance of all that exists, the life of all
+that lives, the principle and cause of life." Of creation he says:
+"We must not falsely imagine that God stood waiting for something to
+happen, that He might create the world. For so soon as He was God,
+so soon as He begat His coeternal and coequal Son, He created the
+world." So Spinoza says: "God has always been before the creatures,
+without even existing before them. He precedes them not by an
+interval of time, but by a fixed eternity." This is not the same as
+saying that the world of sense had no beginning; it is possible that
+Eckhart did not mean to go further than the orthodox scholastic
+mystic, Albertus Magnus, who says: "God created things from
+eternity, but the things were not created from eternity." St
+Augustine (Conf. xi. 30) bids objectors to "understand that there
+can be no time without creatures, and cease to talk nonsense."
+Eckhart also tries to distinguish between the "interior" and the
+"exterior" action of God. God, he says, is in all things, not as
+Nature, not as Person, but as Being. He is everywhere, undivided;
+yet the creatures participate in Him according to their measure.[11]
+The three Persons of the Trinity have impressed their image upon the
+creatures, yet it is only their "nothingness" that keeps them
+separate creatures. Most of this comes from the Neoplatonists, and
+much of it through the pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, a
+Platonising Christian of the fifth century, whose writings were
+believed in the Middle Ages to proceed from St Paul's Athenian
+convert. It would, however, be easy to find parallels in St
+Augustine's writings to most of the phases quoted in this paragraph.
+The practical consequences will be considered presently.
+
+The creatures are a way from God; they are also a way to Him. "In
+Christ," he says, "all the creatures are one man, and that man is
+God." Grace, which is a real self-unfolding of God in the soul, can
+make us "what God is by Nature"--one of Eckhart's audacious phrases,
+which are not really so unorthodox as they sound. The following
+prayer, which appears in one of his discourses, may perhaps be
+defended as asking no more than our Lord prayed for (John xvii.) for
+His disciples, but it lays him open to the charge, which the Pope's
+bull did not fail to urge against him, that he made the servant
+equal to his Lord. "Grant that I, by Thy grace, may be united to Thy
+Nature, as Thy Son is eternally one in Thy Nature, and that grace
+may become my nature."
+
+The ethical aim is to be rid of "creatureliness," and so to be
+united to God. In Eckhart's system, as in that of Plotinus,
+speculation is never divorced from ethics. On our side the process
+is a negative one. All our knowledge must be reduced to
+not-knowledge; our reason and will, as well as our lower faculties,
+must transcend themselves, must die to live. We must detach
+ourselves absolutely "even from God," he says. This state of
+spiritual nudity he calls "poverty." Then, when our house is empty
+of all else, God can dwell there: "He begets His Son in us." This
+last phrase has always been a favourite with the mystics. St Paul
+uses very similar language, and the Epistle to Diognetus, written in
+the second century, speaks of Christ as, "being ever born anew in
+the hearts of the saints." Very characteristic, too, is the doctrine
+that complete detachment from the creatures is the way to union with
+God. Jacob B�hme has arrived independently at the same conclusion as
+Eckhart. "The scholar said to his master: How may I come to the
+supersensual life, that I may see God and hear Him speak? The master
+said: When thou canst throw thyself but for a moment into that place
+where no creature dwelleth, then thou hearest what God speaketh. The
+scholar asked: Is that near or far off? The master replied: It is in
+thee, and if thou canst for a while cease from all thy thinking and
+willing, thou shalt hear unspeakable words of God. The scholar said:
+How can I hear, when I stand still from thinking and willing? The
+master answered: When thou standest still from the thinking and
+willing of self, the eternal hearing, seeing, and speaking will be
+revealed to thee, and so God heareth and seeth through thee."
+
+In St Thomas Aquinas it is "the will enlightened by reason" which
+unites us to God. But there are two sorts of reason. The passive
+reason is the faculty which rises through discursive thinking to
+knowledge. The active reason is a much higher faculty, which exists
+by participation in the divine mind, "as the air is light by
+participation in the sunshine." When this active reason is regarded
+as the standard of moral action, it is called by Aquinas
+synteresis.[12] Eckhart was at first content with this teaching of
+St Thomas, whom he always cites with great reverence; but the whole
+tendency of his thinking was to leave the unprofitable
+classification of faculties in which the Victorine School almost
+revelled, and to concentrate his attention on the union of the soul
+with God. And therefore in his more developed teaching,[13] the
+"spark" which is the point of contact between the soul and its Maker
+is something higher than the faculties, being "uncreated." He seems
+to waver about identifying the "spark" with the "active reason," but
+inclines on the whole to regard it as something even higher still.
+"There is something in the soul," he says, "which is so akin to God
+that it is one with Him and not merely united with Him." And again:
+"There is a force in the soul; and not only a force, but something
+more, a being; and not only a being, but something more; it is so
+pure and high and noble in itself that no creature can come there,
+and God alone can dwelt there. Yea, verily, and even God cannot come
+there with a form; He can only come with His simple divine nature."
+And in the startling passage often quoted against him, a passage
+which illustrates admirably his affinity to one side of Hegelianism,
+we read: "The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which He
+sees me. Mine eye and God's eye are one eye and one sight and one
+knowledge and one love."
+
+I do not defend these passages as orthodox; but before exclaiming
+"rank Pantheism!" we ought to recollect that for Eckhart the being
+of God is quite different from His personality. Eckhart never taught
+that the Persons of the Holy Trinity become, after the mystical
+Union, the "Form" of the human soul. It is the impersonal light of
+the divine nature which transforms our nature; human personality is
+neither lost nor converted into divine personality. Moreover, the
+divine spark at the centre of the soul is not the soul nor the
+personality. "The soul," he says in one place, using a figure which
+recurs in the "Theologia Germanica," "has two faces. One is turned
+towards this world and towards the body, the other towards God." The
+complete dominion of the "spark" over the soul is an unrealised
+ideal.[14]
+
+The truth which he values is that, as Mr Upton[15] has well
+expressed it, "there is a certain self-revelation of the eternal and
+infinite One to the finite soul, and therefore an indestructible
+basis for religious ideas and beliefs as distinguished from what is
+called scientific knowledge. . . . This immanent universal principle
+does not pertain to, and is not the property of any individual mind,
+but belongs to that uncreated and eternal nature of God which lies
+deeper than all those differences which separate individual minds
+from each other, and is indeed that incarnation of the Eternal, who
+though He is present in every finite thing, is still not broken up
+into individualities, but remains one and the same eternal
+substance, one and the same unifying principle, immanently and
+indivisibly present in every one of the countless plurality of
+finite individuals." It might further be urged that neither God nor
+man can be understood in independence of each other. A recent writer
+on ethics,[16] not too well disposed towards Christianity, is, I
+think, right in saying: "To the popular mind, which assumes God and
+man to be two different realities, each given in independence of the
+other, . . . the identification of man's love of God with God's love
+of Himself has always been a paradox and a stumbling-block. But it
+is not too much to say that until it has been seen to be no paradox,
+but a simple and fundamental truth, the masterpieces of the world's
+religious literature must remain a sealed book to us."
+
+Eckhart certainly believed himself to have escaped the pitfall of
+Pantheism; but he often expressed himself in such an unguarded way
+that the charge may be brought against him with some show of reason.
+
+Love, Eckhart teaches, is the principle of all virtues; it is God
+Himself. Next to it in dignity comes humility. The beauty of the
+soul, he says in the true Platonic vein, is to be well ordered, with
+the higher faculties above the lower, each in its proper place. The
+will should be supreme over the understanding, the understanding
+over the senses. Whatever we will earnestly, that we have, and no
+one can hinder us from attaining that detachment from the creatures
+in which our blessedness consists.
+
+Evil, from the highest standpoint, is only a means for realising the
+eternal aim of God in creation; all will ultimately be overruled for
+good. Nevertheless, we can frustrate the good will of God towards
+us, and it is this, and not the thought of any insult against
+Himself, that makes God grieve for our sins. It would not be worth
+while to give any more quotations on this subject, for Eckhart is
+not more successful than other philosophers in propounding a
+consistent and intelligible theory of the place of evil in the
+universe.
+
+Eckhart is well aware of the two chief pitfalls into which the
+mystic is liable to fall--dreamy inactivity and Antinomianism. The
+sects of the Free Spirit seem to have afforded a good object-lesson
+in both these errors, as some of the Gnostic sects did in the second
+century. Eckhart's teaching here is sound and good. Freedom from
+law, he says, belongs only to the "spark," not to the faculties of
+the soul, and no man can live always on the highest plane.
+Contemplation is, in a sense, a means to activity; works of charity
+are its proper fruit. "If a man were in an ecstasy like that of St
+Paul, when he was caught up into the third heaven, and knew of a
+poor man who needed his help, he ought to leave his ecstasy and help
+the needy." Suso[17] tells us how God punished him for disregarding
+this duty. True contemplation considers Reality (or Being) in its
+manifestations as well as in its origin. If this is remembered,
+there need be no conflict between social morality and the inner
+life. Eckhart recognises[18] that it is a harder and a nobler task
+to preserve detachment in a crowd than in a cell; the little daily
+sacrifices of family life are often a greater trial than
+self-imposed mortifications. "We need not destroy any little good in
+ourselves for the sake of a better, but we should strive to grasp
+every truth in its highest meaning, for no one good contradicts
+another." "Love God, and do as you like, say the Free Spirits. Yes;
+but as long as you like anything contrary to God's will, you do not
+love Him."
+
+There is much more of the same kind in Eckhart's sermons--as good
+and sensible doctrine as one could find anywhere. But what was the
+practical effect of his teaching as a whole? It is generally the
+case that the really weak points of any religious movement are
+exposed with a cruel logicality most exasperating to the leaders by
+the second generation of its adherents. The dangerous side of the
+Eckhartian mysticism is painfully exhibited in the life of his
+spiritual daughter, "Schwester Katrei," the saint of the later
+Beguines. Katrei is a rather shadowy person; but for our present
+purpose it does not much matter whether the story of her life has
+been embroidered or not. Her memory was revered for such sayings and
+doings as these which follow. On one occasion she exclaimed:
+"Congratulate me; I have become God!" and on another she declared
+that "not even the desire of heaven should tempt a good man towards
+activity." It was her ambition to forget who were her parents, to be
+indifferent whether she received absolution and partook of the Holy
+Communion or not; and she finally realised her ambition by falling
+into a cataleptic state in which she was supposed to be dead, and
+was carried out for burial. Her confessor, perceiving that she was
+not really dead, awoke her: "Art thou satisfied?" "I am satisfied at
+last," said Katrei: she was now "dead all through," as she wished to
+be.
+
+Are we to conclude that the logical outcome of mysticism is this
+strange reproduction, in Teutonic Europe, of Indian Yogism? Many who
+have studied the subject have satisfied themselves that Schwester
+Katrei is the truly consistent mystic. They have come to the
+conclusion that the real attraction of mysticism is a pining for
+deliverance from this fretful, anxious, exacting, individual life,
+and a yearning for absorption into the great Abyss where all
+distinctions are merged in the Infinite. According to this view,
+mysticism in its purest form should be studied in the ancient
+religious literature of India, which teaches us how all this world
+of colour and diversity, of sharp outlines and conflicting forces,
+may be lost and swallowed up in the "white radiance," or black
+darkness (it does not really matter which we call it) of an empty
+Infinite.
+
+The present writer is convinced that this is not the truth about
+mysticism. Eckhart may have encouraged Schwester Katrei in her
+attempt to substitute the living death of the blank trance for the
+dying life of Christian charity; but none the less she caricatured
+and stultified his teaching. And I think it is possible to lay our
+finger on the place where she and so many others went wrong. The
+aspiration of mysticism is to find the unity which underlies all
+diversity, or, in religious language, to see God face to face. From
+the Many to the One is always the path of the mystic. Plotinus, the
+father of all mystical philosophy in Europe (unless, as he himself
+would have wished, we give that honour to Plato), mapped out the
+upward road as follows:--At the bottom of the hill is the sphere of
+the "merely many"--of material objects viewed in disconnection,
+dull, and spiritless. This is a world which has no real existence;
+it may best be called "not-being" ("ein lauteres Nichts," as Eckhart
+says), and as the indeterminate, it can only be apprehended by a
+corresponding indeterminateness in the soul. The soul, however,
+always adds some form and determination to the abstract formlessness
+of the "merely many." Next, we rise to, or project for ourselves,
+the world of "the one and the many." This is the sphere in which our
+consciousness normally moves. We are conscious of an overruling
+Mind, but the creatures still seem external to and partially
+independent of it. Such is the temporal order as we know it. Above
+this is the intelligible world, the eternal order, "the one-many,"
+das ewige Nu, the world in which God's will is done perfectly and
+all reflects the divine mind. Highest of all is "the One," the,
+Absolute, the Godhead, of whom nothing can be predicated, because He
+is above all distinctions. This Neoplatonic Absolute is the Godhead
+of whom Eckhart says: "God never looked upon deed," and of whom
+Angelus Silesius sings:
+
+  "Und sieh, er ist nicht Wille,
+  Er ist ein' ewige Stille."
+
+Plotinus taught that the One, being superessential, can only be
+apprehended in ecstasy, when thought, which still distinguishes
+itself from its object, is transcended, and knower and known become
+one. As Tennyson's Ancient Sage says:
+
+  "If thou would'st hear the Nameless, and descend
+  Into the Temple-cave of thine own self,
+  There, brooding by the central altar, thou
+  May'st haply learn the Nameless hath a voice,
+  By which thou wilt abide, if thou be wise;
+  For knowledge is the swallow on the lake,
+  That sees and stirs the surface-shadow there
+  But never yet hath dipt into the Abysm."
+
+In the same way Eckhart taught that no creature can apprehend the
+Godhead, and, therefore, that the spark in the centre of the soul
+(this doctrine, too, is found in Plotinus) must be verily divine.
+The logic of the theory is inexorable. If only like can know like,
+we cannot know God except by a faculty which is itself divine. The
+real question is whether God, as an object of knowledge and worship
+for finite beings, is the absolute Godhead, who transcends all
+distinctions. The mediaeval mystics held that this "flight of the
+alone to the alone," as Plotinus calls it, is possible to men, and
+that in it consists our highest blessedness. They were attracted
+towards this view by several influences. First, there was the
+tradition of Dionysius, to whom (e.g.) the author of the "Theologia
+Germanica" appeals as an authority for the possibility of "beholding
+the hidden things of God by utter abandonment of thyself, and of
+entering into union with Him who is above all existence, and all
+knowledge." Secondly, there was what a modern writer has called "the
+attraction of the Abyss," the longing which some persons feel very
+strongly to merge their individuality in a larger and better whole,
+to get rid not only of selfishness but of self for ever. "Leave
+nothing of myself in me," is Crashaw's prayer in his wonderful poem
+on St Teresa. Thirdly, we may mention the awe and respect long paid
+to ecstatic trances, the pathological nature of which was not
+understood. The blank trance was a real experience; and as it could
+be induced by a long course of ascetical exercises and fervid
+devotions, it was naturally regarded as the crowning reward of
+sanctity on earth. Nor would it be at all safe to reject the
+evidence, which is very copious,[19] that the "dreamy state" may
+issue in permanent spiritual gain. The methodical cultivation of it,
+which is at the bottom of most of the strange austerities of the
+ascetics, was not only (though it was partly) practised in the hope
+of enjoying those spiritual raptures which are described as being
+far more intense than any pleasures of sense[20]: it was the hope of
+stirring to its depths the subconscious mind and permeating the
+whole with the hidden energy of the divine Spirit that led to the
+desire for visions and trances. Lastly, I think we must give a place
+to the intellectual attraction of an uncompromising monistic theory
+of the universe. Spiritualistic monism, when it is consistent with
+itself, will always lean to semi-pantheistic mysticism rather than
+to such a compromise with pluralism as Lotze and his numerous
+followers in this country imagine to be possible.
+
+But it is possible to go a long way with the mystics and yet to
+maintain that under no conditions whatever can a finite being escape
+from the limitations of his finitude and see God or the world or
+himself "with the same eye with which God sees" all things. The old
+Hebrew belief, that to see the face of God is death, expresses the
+truth under a mythical form. That the human mind, while still "in
+the body pent," may obtain glimpses of the eternal order, and enjoy
+foretastes of the bliss of heaven, is a belief which I, at least,
+see no reason to reject. It involves no rash presumption, and is not
+contrary to what may be readily believed about the state of immortal
+spirits passing through a mortal life. But the explanation of the
+blank trance as a temporary transit into the Absolute must be set
+down as a pure delusion. It involves a conception of the divine
+"Rest" which in his best moments Eckhart himself repudiates. "The
+Rest of the Godhead," he says, "is not in that He is the source of
+being, but in that He is the consummation of all being." This
+profound saying expresses the truth, which he seems often to forget,
+that the world-process must have a real value in God's sight--that
+it is not a mere polarisation of the white radiance of eternity
+broken up by the imperfection of our vision. Whatever theories we
+may hold about Absolute Being, or an Absolute that is above Being,
+we must make room for the Will, and for Time, which is the "form" of
+the will, and for the creatures who inhabit time and space, as
+having for us the value of reality. Nor shall we, if we are to
+escape scepticism, be willing to admit that these appearances have
+no sure relation to ultimate reality. We must not try to uncreate
+the world in order to find God. We were created out of nothing, but
+we cannot return to nothing, to find our Creator there. The still,
+small voice is best listened for amid the discordant harmony of life
+and death.
+
+The search for God is no exception to the mysterious law of human
+nature, that we cannot get anything worth having--neither holiness
+nor happiness nor wisdom--by trying for it directly. It must be
+given us through something else. The recluse who lives like
+Parnell's "Hermit":
+
+"Prayer all his business, all his pleasure praise,"
+
+is not only a poor sort of saint, but he will offer a poor sort of
+prayers and praises. He will miss real holiness for the same reason
+that makes the pleasure-seeker miss real happiness. We must lose
+ourselves in some worthy interest in order to find again both a
+better self and an object higher than that which we sought. This the
+German mystics in a sense knew well. There is a noble sentence of
+Suso to the effect that "he who realises the inward in the outward,
+to him the inward becomes more inward than to him who only
+recognises the inward in the inward." Moreover, the recognition that
+"God manifests Himself and worketh more in one creature than
+another" ("Theologia Germanica"), involves a denial of the
+nihilistic view that all the creatures are "ein lauteres
+Nichts."[21] It would be easy to find such passages in all the
+fourteenth-century mystics, but it cannot be denied that on the
+whole their religion is too self-centred. There are not many maxims
+so fundamentally wrong-headed and un-Christian as Suso's advice to
+"live as if you were the only person in the world."[22] The life of
+the cloistered saint may be abundantly justified--for the spiritual
+activity of some of them has been of far greater service to mankind
+than the fussy benevolence of many "practical" busybodies--but the
+idea of social service, whether in the school of Martha or of Mary,
+ought surely never to be absent. The image of Christ as the Lover of
+the individual soul rather than as the Bridegroom of the Church was
+too dear to these lonely men and women. Unconsciously, they looked
+to their personal devotions to compensate them for the human loves
+which they had forsworn. The raptures of Divine Love, which they
+regarded as signal favours bestowed upon them, were not very
+wholesome in themselves, and diverted their thoughts from the needs
+of their fellow-men. They also led to most painful reactions, in
+which the poor contemplative believed himself abandoned by God and
+became a pray to terrible depression and melancholy. These fits of
+wretchedness came indeed to be recognised as God's punishment for
+selfishness in devotion and for too great desire for the sweetness
+of communing with God, and so arose the doctrine of "disinterested
+love," which was more and more emphasised in the later mysticism,
+especially by the French Quietists.
+
+I have spoken quite candidly of the defects of Eckhart's mystical
+Christianity. As a religious philosophy it does not keep clear of
+the fallacy that an ascent though the unreal can lead to reality.
+"To suppose, as the mystic does, that the finite search has of
+itself no Being at all, is illusory, is Maya, is itself nothing,
+this is also to deprive the Absolute of even its poor value as a
+contrasting goal. For a goal that is a goal of no real process has
+as little value as it has content."[23] But, as Prof. Royce says,
+mysticism furnishes us with the means of correcting itself. It
+supplies an obvious reductio ad absurdum of the theory with which it
+set out, that "Immediacy is the one test of reality," and is itself
+forced to give the world of diversity a real value as manifesting in
+different degrees the nature of God. Those who are acquainted with
+the sacred books of the East will recognise that here is the
+decisive departure from real Pantheism. And it may be fairly claimed
+for the German mystics that though their speculative teaching
+sometimes seems to echo too ominously the apathetic detachment of
+the Indian sage, their lives and example, and their practical
+exhortations, preached a truer and a larger philosophy. Eckhart, as
+we have seen, was a busy preacher as well as a keen student, and
+some of the younger members of his school were even more occupied in
+pastoral work. If the tree is to be judged by its fruits, mysticism
+can give a very good account of itself to the Marthas as well as the
+Marys of this world.
+
+Sect. 4. THE GERMAN MYSTICS AS GUIDES TO HOLINESS
+
+THIS little volume is a contribution to a "Library of Devotion," and
+in the body of the work the reader will be seldom troubled by any
+abstruse philosophising. I have thought it necessary to give, in
+this Introduction, a short account of Eckhart's system, but the
+extracts which follow are taken mainly from his successors, in whom
+the speculative tendency is weaker and less original, while the
+religious element is stronger and more attractive. It is, after all,
+as guides to holiness that these mystics are chiefly important to
+us. This side of their life's work can never be out of date, for the
+deeper currents of human nature change but little; the language of
+the heart is readily understood everywhere and at all times. The
+differences between Catholic and Protestant are hardly felt in the
+keen air of these high summits. It was Luther himself who discovered
+the "Theologia Germanica" and said of it that, "next to the Bible
+and St Augustine, no book hath ever come into my hands whence I have
+learnt or would wish to learn more of what God and Christ and man
+and all things are. I thank God that I have heard and found my God
+in the German tongue, as I have not yet found Him in Latin, Greek,
+or Hebrew." The theology of these mystics takes us straight back to
+the Johannine doctrine of Christ as the all-pervading Word of God,
+by whom all things were made and in whom all things hold together.
+He is not far from any one of us if we will but seek Him where He is
+to be found--in the innermost sanctuary of our personal life. In
+personal religion this means that no part of revelation is to be
+regarded as past, isolated, or external. "We should mark and know of
+a very truth," says the author of the "Theologia Germanica," "that
+all manner of virtue and goodness, and even the eternal Good which
+is God Himself, can never make a man virtuous, good, or happy, so
+long as it is outside the soul." In the same spirit Jacob B�hme, 250
+years later, says: "If the sacrifice of Christ is to avail for me,
+it must be wrought in me." Or, as his English admirer, William Law,
+puts it: "Christ given for us is neither more nor less than Christ
+given into us. He is in no other sense our full, perfect, and
+sufficient Atonement than as His nature and spirit are born and
+formed in us." The whole process of redemption must in a sense be
+reenacted in the inner life of every Christian. And as Christ
+emptied Himself for our sakes, so must we empty ourselves of all
+self-seeking. "When the creature claimeth for its own anything good,
+such as life, knowledge, or power, and in short whatever we commonly
+call good, as if it were that, or possessed that--it goeth astray."
+Sin is nothing else but self-assertion, self-will. "Be assured,"
+says the "Theologia Germanica," "that he who helpeth a man to his
+own will, helpeth him to the worst that he can." He, therefore, who
+is "simply and wholly bereft of self" is delivered from sin, and God
+alone reigns in his inmost soul. Concerning the highest part or
+faculty of the soul, the author of this little treatise follows
+Eckhart, but cautiously. "The True Light," he says, "is that eternal
+Light which is God; or else it is a created light, but yet Divine,
+which is called grace." In either case, "where God dwells in a godly
+man, in such a man somewhat appertaineth to God which is His own,
+and belongs to Him only and not to the creature." This doctrine of
+divine immanence, for which there is ample warrant in the New
+Testament, is the real kernel of German mysticism. It is a doctrine
+which, when rightly used, may make this world a foretaste of heaven,
+but alas! the "False Light" is always trying to counterfeit the
+true. In the imitation of the suffering life of Christ lies the only
+means of escaping the deceptions of the Evil One. "The False Light
+dreameth itself to be God, and sinless"; but "none is without sin;
+if any is without consciousness of sin, he must be either Christ or
+the Evil Spirit."
+
+Very characteristic is the teaching of all these writers about
+rewards and punishments. Without in any way impugning the Church
+doctrine of future retribution, they yet agree with Benjamin
+Whichcote, the Cambridge Platonist, that "heaven is first a temper,
+then a place"; while of hell there is much to recall the noble
+sentence of Juliana of Norwich, the fourteenth-century visionary,
+"to me was showed no harder hell than sin." "Nothing burneth in hell
+but self-will," is a saying in the "Theologia Germanica."[24] They
+insist that the difference between heaven and hell is not that one
+is a place of enjoyment, the other of torment; it is that in the one
+we are with Christ, in the other without Him. "The Christlike life
+is not chosen," to quote the "Theologia Germanica" once more, "in
+order to serve any end, or to get anything by it, but for love of
+its nobleness, and because God loveth and esteemeth it so highly. He
+who doth not take it up for love, hath none of it at all; he may
+dream indeed that he hath put it on, but he is deceived. Christ did
+not lead such a life as this for the sake of reward, but out of
+love, and love maketh such a life light, and taketh away all its
+hardships, so that it becometh sweet and is gladly endured." The
+truly religious man is always more concerned about what God will do
+in him than what He will do to him; in his intense desire for the
+purification of his motives he almost wishes that heaven and hell
+were blotted out, that he might serve God for Himself alone.
+
+Sect. 5. WRITERS OF THE SCHOOL OF ECKHART--TAULER
+
+Such are the main characteristics of the religious teachings which
+we find in the German mystics. Among the successors of Eckhart, from
+whose writings the following extracts are taken, the most notable
+names are those of Tauler, Suso, and Ruysbroek. From Tauler I have
+taken very little, because a volume of selections from his sermons
+has already appeared in this series.[25] Accordingly, it will only
+be necessary to mention a very few facts about his life.
+
+John Tauler was born at Strassburg about 1300, and studied at the
+Dominican convents of Strassburg and Cologne. At both places he
+doubtless heard the sermons of Eckhart. In 1329 the great interdict
+began at Strassburg, and was stoutly resisted by many of the clergy.
+It is a disputed point whether Tauler himself obeyed the Papal
+decree or not. His uneventful life, which was devoted to study,
+preaching, and pastoral work, came to an end in 1361. Like Eckhart,
+he had a favourite "spiritual daughter," Margaret Ebner, who won a
+great reputation as a visionary.
+
+Sect. 6. SUSO
+
+Henry Suso was born in 1295 and died in 1365. His autobiography was
+published not long before his death. He is the poet of the band. The
+romance of saintship is depicted by him with a strange vividness
+which alternately attracts and repels, or even disgusts, the modern
+reader. The whole-hearted devotion of the "Servitor" to the "Divine
+Wisdom," the tender beauty of the visions and conversations, and the
+occasional na�vet� of the narrative, which shows that the saint
+remained very human throughout, make Suso's books delightful
+reading; but the accounts of the horrible macerations to which he
+subjected himself for many years shock our moral sense almost as
+much as our sensibilities; we do not now believe that God takes
+pleasure in sufferings inflicted in His honour. Moreover, the erotic
+symbolism of the visions is occasionally unpleasant: we are no
+longer in the company of such sane and healthy people as Eckhart and
+Tauler. The half-sensuous pleasure of ecstasy was evidently a
+temptation to Suso, and the violent alternations of rapture and
+misery which he experienced suggest a neurotic and ill-balanced
+temperament.[26]
+
+On this subject--the pathological side of mysticism--a few remarks
+will not be out of place, for there has been much discussion of it
+lately. A great deal of nonsense has been written on the connexion
+between religion and neuroticism. To quote Professor James' vigorous
+protest, "medical materialism finishes up St Paul by calling his
+vision on the road to Damascus a discharging lesion of the occipital
+cortex, he being an epileptic. It snuffs out St Teresa as an
+hysteric, St Francis of Assisi as an hereditary degenerate. George
+Fox's discontent with the shams of his age, and his pining for
+spiritual veracity, it treats as a symptom of a disordered colon.
+Carlyle's organ-tones of misery it accounts for by a gastro-duodenal
+catarrh. All such mental over-tensions, it says, are, when you come
+to the bottom of the matter, mere affairs of diathesis
+(auto-intoxications most probably), due to the perverted action of
+various glands which physiology will yet discover."[27] Now, even if
+it were true that most religious geniuses, like most other geniuses,
+have been "psychopaths" of one kind or another, this fact in no way
+disposes of the value of their intuitions and experiences. Nearly
+all the great benefactors of humanity have been persons of
+one-sided, and therefore ill-balanced, characters. Even Maudsley
+admits that "Nature may find an incomplete mind a more suitable
+instrument for a particular purpose. It is the work that is done,
+and the quality in the worker by which it is done, that is alone of
+moment; and it may be no great matter from a cosmical standpoint, if
+in other qualities of character he (the genius) was singularly
+defective."[28] Except in the character of our Lord Himself, there
+are visible imperfections in the record of every great saint; but
+that is no reason for allowing such traces of human infirmity to
+discredit what is pure and good in their work. More particularly, it
+would be a great pity to let our minds dwell on the favourite
+materialistic theory that saintliness, especially as cultivated and
+venerated by Catholicism, has its basis in "perverted sexuality."
+There is enough plausibility in the theory to make it mischievous.
+The allegorical interpretation of the Book of Canticles was in truth
+the source of, or at least the model for, a vast amount of
+unwholesome and repulsive pietism. Not a word need be said for such
+a paltry narrative of endearments and sickly compliments as the
+"Revelations of the Nun Gertrude," in the thirteenth century. Nor
+are we concerned to deny that the artificially induced ecstasy,
+which is desired on account of the intense pleasure which is said to
+accompany it, nearly always contains elements the recognition of
+which would shock and distress the contemplatives themselves.[29]
+There are, however, other elements, of a less insidious kind, which
+make the ecstatic trance seem desirable. These are, according to
+Professor Leuba, the calming of the restless intellect by the
+concentration of the mind on one object; the longing for a support
+and comfort more perfect than man can give; and, thirdly, the
+consecration and strengthening of the will, which is often a
+permanent effect of the trance. These are legitimate objects of
+desire, and in many of the mystics they are much more prominent than
+any tendencies which might be considered morbid. As regards the
+larger question, about the alleged pathological character of all
+distinctively religious exaltation, I believe that no greater
+mistake could be made than to suppose that the religious life
+flourishes best in unnatural circumstances. Religion, from a
+biological standpoint, I take to be the expression of the racial
+will to live; its function (from this point of view) is the
+preservation and development of humanity on the highest possible
+level. If this is true, a simple, healthy, natural life must be the
+most favourable for religious excellence--and this I believe to be
+the case. Poor Suso certainly did not lead a healthy or natural
+life. But in his case, though the suppressed natural instincts
+obviously overflow into the religious consciousness and in part
+determine the forms which his devotion assumes, we can never forget
+that we are in the company of a poet and a saint who will lift us,
+if we can follow him, into a very high region of the spiritual life,
+an altitude which he has himself climbed with bleeding feet.
+
+The simple confidence which at the end of the dialogue he expresses
+in the value of his work is, I think, amply justified. "Whoever will
+read these writings of mine in a right spirit, can hardly fail to be
+stirred to the depths of his soul, either to fervent love, or to new
+light, or to hunger and thirst for God, or to hatred and loathing
+for his sins, or to that spiritual aspiration by which the soul is
+renewed in grace."
+
+Sect. 7. RUYSBROEK
+
+[Note: the Ruysbroek selection has not been reproduced in this
+electronic edition. An electronic text of a larger collection of
+Ruysbroek's works may be available.]
+
+Sect. 8. THEOLOGIA GERMANICA
+
+The "Theologia Germanica," an isolated treatise of no great length
+by an unknown author, was written towards the end of the fourteenth
+century by one of the Gottesfreunde, a widespread association of
+pious souls in Germany. He is said to have been "a priest and warden
+of the house of the Teutonic Order at Frankfort." His book is both
+the latest and one of the most important productions of the German
+mystical school founded by Eckhart. The author is a deeply religious
+philosopher, as much interested in speculative mysticism as Eckhart
+himself, but as thoroughly penetrated with devout feeling as Thomas
+� Kempis. The treatise should be read by all, as one of the very
+best devotional works in any language. My only reason for not
+translating it in full here is that a good English translation
+already exists,[30] so that it seemed unnecessary to offer a new one
+to the public. I have therefore only translated a few characteristic
+passages, which are very far from exhausting its beauties, and a few
+of the more striking aphorisms, which indicate the main points in
+the religious philosophy of the writer.
+
+Sect. 9. MODERN MYSTICISM
+
+The revival of interest in the old mystical writers is not
+surprising when we consider the whole trend of modern thought. Among
+recent philosophers--though Lotze, perhaps the greatest name among
+them, is unsympathetic, in consequence of his over-rigid theory of
+personality--the great psychologist Fechner, whose religious
+philosophy is not so well known in this country as it deserves to
+be, has with some justice been called a mystic. And our own greatest
+living metaphysician, Mr F.H. Bradley, has expounded the dialectic
+of speculative mysticism with unequalled power, though with a bias
+against Christianity. Another significant fact is the great
+popularity, all over Europe, of Maeterlinck's mystical works, "Le
+Tr�sor des Humbles," "La Sagesse et la Destin�e," and "Le
+Temple Enseveli."
+
+The growing science of psychology has begun to turn its attention
+seriously to the study of the religious faculty. Several able men
+have set themselves to collect material which may form the basis of
+an inductive science. Personal experiences, communicated by many
+persons of both sexes and of various ages, occupations, and levels
+of culture, have been brought together and tabulated. It is claimed
+that important facts have already been established, particularly in
+connexion with the phenomena of conversion, by this method. The
+results have certainly been more than enough to justify confidence
+in the soundness of the method, and hope that the new science may
+have a great future before it. Towards mysticism, recent writers on
+the psychology of religion have been less favourable than the pure
+metaphysicians. While the latter have shown a tendency towards
+Pantheism and Determinism, which makes them sympathise with the
+general trend of speculative mysticism, psychology seems just at
+present to lean towards a pluralistic metaphysic and a belief in
+free-will or even in chance. This attitude is especially noticeable
+in the now famous Gifford Lectures of Professor William James[31]
+and in the recent volume of essays written at Oxford.[32] But even
+if the rising tide of neo-Kantianism should cause the speculative
+mystics to be regarded with disfavour, nothing can prevent the
+religion of the twentieth century from being mystical in type. The
+strongest wish of a vast number of earnest men and women to-day is
+for a basis of religious belief which shall rest, not upon tradition
+or external authority or historical evidence, but upon the
+ascertainable facts of human experience. The craving for immediacy,
+which we have seen to be characteristic of all mysticism, now takes
+the form of a desire to establish the validity of the
+God-consciousness as a normal part of the healthy inner life. We may
+perhaps venture to predict that the Christian biologist of the
+future will turn the Pauline Christology into his own dialect
+somewhat after the following fashion:--"The function of religion in
+the human race is closely analogous to, if not identical with, that
+of instinct in the lower animals. Religion is the racial will to
+live; not, however, to live anyhow and at all costs, but to live as
+human beings, conforming as far as possible to the highest type of
+humanity. Religion, therefore, acts as a higher instinct, inhibiting
+all self-destroying and race-destroying impulses in the interest of
+a larger self than the individual life." To turn this statement into
+theological form it is only necessary to claim that the "perfect
+man" which the religious instinct is trying to form is "the measure
+of the stature of the fulness of Christ," that that perfect humanity
+was once realised in the historical Christ, and that the higher
+instinct within us--ourselves, yet not ourselves--which makes for
+life and righteousness, and is the source of all the good that we
+can think, say, or do, may (in virtue of that historical
+incarnation) be justly called the indwelling Christ. This is all
+that the Christian mystic needs.
+
+Sect. 10. SPECIMENS OF MODERN MYSTICISM
+
+I conclude this introductory essay with a few extracts from recent
+American books on the psychology of religion. It is interesting to
+find some of the strangest experiences of the cloister reproduced
+under the very different conditions of modern American life. The
+quotations will serve to show how far Tauler and the "Theologia
+Germanica" are from being out of date.
+
+"The thing which impressed me most" (says a correspondent of
+Professor William James)[33] "was learning the fact that we must be
+in absolutely constant relation or mental touch with that essence of
+life which permeates all and which we call God. This is almost
+unrecognisable unless we live into it ourselves actually--that is,
+by a constant turning to the very innermost, deepest consciousness
+of our real selves or of God in us, for illumination from within,
+just as we turn to the sun for light, warmth, and invigoration
+without. When you do this consciously, realising that to turn inward
+to the light within you is to live in the presence of God or of your
+Divine self, you soon discover the unreality of the objects to which
+you have hitherto been turning and which have engrossed you
+without."
+
+The next quotation comes from a small book by one of the "New
+Thought" or "Mind Cure" school in America. The enormous sale of the
+volume testifies to the popularity of the teaching which it
+contains.[34]
+
+"Intuition is an inner spiritual sense through which man is opened
+to the direct revelation and knowledge of God, the secret of nature
+and life, and through which he is brought into conscious unity and
+fellowship with God, and made to realise his own deific nature and
+supremacy of being as the son of God. Spiritual supremacy and
+illumination thus realised through the development and perfection of
+intuition under divine inspiration gives the perfect inner vision
+and direct insight into the character, properties, and purpose of
+all things to which the attention and interest are directed. It is,
+we repeat, a spiritual sense opening inwardly, as the physical
+senses open outwardly; and because it has the capacity to perceive,
+grasp, and know the truth at first hand, independent of all external
+sources of information, we call it intuition. All inspired teaching
+and spiritual revelations are based upon the recognition of this
+spiritual faculty of the soul and its power to receive and
+appropriate them. Conscious unity of man in spirit and purpose with
+the Father, born out of his supreme desire and trust, opens his soul
+through this inner sense to immediate aspiration and enlightenment
+from the divine omniscience, and the co-operative energy of the
+divine omnipotence, under which he becomes a seer and a master. On
+this higher plane of realised spiritual life in the flesh the mind
+acts with unfettered freedom and unbiassed vision, grasping truth at
+first hand, independent of all external sources of information.
+Approaching all beings and things from the divine side, they are
+seen in the light of the divine omniscience.[35] God's purpose in
+them, and so the truth concerning them, as it rests in the mind of
+God, are thus revealed by direct illumination from the divine mind,
+to which the soul is opened inwardly through this spiritual sense we
+call intuition."
+
+The practice of meditation "without images," as the mediaeval
+mystics called it, is specially recommended. "Many will receive
+great help, and many will be entirely healed by a practice somewhat
+after the following nature:--With a mind at peace, and with a heart
+going out in love to all, go into the quiet of your own interior
+self, holding the thought, I am one with the Infinite Spirit of
+Life, the life of my life. I now open my body, in which disease has
+gotten a foothold, I open it fully to the inflowing tide of this
+infinite life, and it now, even now, is pouring in and coursing
+through my body, and the healing process is going on." "If you would
+find the highest, the fullest, and the richest life that not only
+this world but that any world can know, then do away with the sense
+of the separateness of your life from the life of God. Hold to the
+thought of your oneness. In the degree that you do this, you will
+find yourself realising it more and more, and as this life of
+realisation is lived, you will find that no good thing will be
+withheld, for all things are included in this."[36]
+
+This modern mysticism is very much entangled with theories about the
+cure of bodily disease by suggestion; and it is fair to warn those
+who are unacquainted with the books of this sect that they will find
+much fantastic superstition mixed with a stimulating faith in the
+inner light as the voice of God.
+
+But whatever may be the course of this particular movement there can
+be no doubt that the Americans, like ourselves, are only at the
+beginning of a great revival of mystical religion. The movement will
+probably follow the same course as the mediaeval movement in
+Germany, with which this little book is concerned. It will have its
+philosophical supportees, who will press their speculation to the
+verge of Pantheism, perhaps reviving the Logos-cosmology of the
+Christian Alexandrians under the form of the pan-psychism of Lotze
+and Fechner. It will have its evangelists like Tauler, who will
+carry to our crowded town populations the glad tidings that the
+kingdom of God is not here or there, but within the hearts of all
+who will seek for it within them. It will assuredly attract some to
+a life of solitary contemplation; while others, intellectually
+weaker or less serious, will follow the various theosophical and
+theurgical delusions which, from the days of Iamblichus downward,
+have dogged the heels of mysticism. For the "False Light" against
+which the "Theologia Germanica" warns us is as dangerous as ever; we
+may even live to see some new "Brethren of the Free Spirit" turning
+their liberty into a cloak of licentiousness. If so, the world will
+soon whistle back the disciplinarian with his traditions of the
+elders; prophesying will once more be suppressed and discredited,
+and a new crystallising process will begin. But before that time
+comes some changes may possibly take place in the external
+proportions of Christian orthodoxy. The appearance of a vigorous
+body of faith, standing firmly on its own feet, may even have the
+effect of relegating to the sphere of pious opinion some tenets
+which have hitherto "seemed to be pillars."
+
+For these periodical returns to the "fresh springs" of religion
+never leave the tradition exactly where it was before. The German
+movement of the fourteenth century made the Reformation inevitable,
+and our own age may be inaugurating a change no less momentous,
+which will restore in the twentieth century some of the features of
+Apostolic Christianity.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+LIGHT, LIFE AND LOVE
+
+ECKHART
+
+
+
+
+
+GOD
+
+GOD is nameless, for no man can either say or understand aught about
+Him. If I say, God is good, it is not true; nay more; I am good, God
+is not good. I may even say, I am better than God; for whatever is
+good, may become better, and whatever may become better, may become
+best. Now God is not good, for He cannot become better. And if He
+cannot become better, He cannot become best, for these three things,
+good, better, and best, are far from God, since He is above all. If
+I also say, God is wise, it is not true; I am wiser than He. If I
+also say, God is a Being, it is not true; He is transcendent Being
+and superessential Nothingness. Concerning this St Augustine says:
+the best thing that man can say about God is to be able to be silent
+about Him, from the wisdom of his inner judgement. Therefore be
+silent and prate not about God, for whenever thou dost prate about
+God, thou liest, and committest sin. If thou wilt be without sin,
+prate not about God. Thou canst understand nought about God, for He
+is above all understanding. A master saith: If I had a God whom I
+could understand, I would never hold Him to be God. (318)[37]
+
+God is not only a Father of all good things, as being their First
+Cause and Creator, but He is also their Mother, since He remains
+with the creatures which have from Him their being and existence,
+and maintains them continually in their being. If God did not abide
+with and in the creatures, they must necessarily have fallen back,
+so soon as they were created, into the nothingness out of which they
+were created. (610)
+
+REST ONLY IN GOD
+
+IF I had everything that I could desire, and my finger ached, I
+should not have everything, for I should have a pain in my finger,
+and so long as that remained, I should not enjoy full comfort. Bread
+is comfortable for men, when they are hungry; but when they are
+thirsty, they find no more comfort in bread than in a stone. So it
+is with clothes, they are welcome to men, when they are cold; but
+when they are too hot, clothes give them no comfort. And so it is
+with all the creatures. The comfort which they promise is only on
+the surface, like froth, and it always carries with it a want. But
+God's comfort is clear and has nothing wanting: it is full and
+complete, and God is constrained to give it thee, for He cannot
+cease till He have given thee Himself. (300)
+
+It is only in God that are collected and united all the perfections,
+which in the creatures are sundered and divided. (324)
+
+Yet all the fulness of the creatures can as little express God, as a
+drop of water can express the sea. (173)
+
+GOD IS ALWAYS READY
+
+NO one ought to think that it is difficult to come to Him, though it
+sounds difficult and is really difficult at the beginning, and in
+separating oneself from and dying to all things. But when a man has
+once entered upon it, no life is lighter or happier or more
+desirable; for God is very zealous to be at all times with man, and
+teaches him that He will bring him to Himself if man will but
+follow. Man never desires anything so earnestly as God desires to
+bring a man to Himself, that he may know Him. God is always ready,
+but we are very unready; God is near to us, but we are far from Him;
+God is within, but we are without; God is at home, but we are
+strangers. The prophet saith: God guideth the redeemed through a
+narrow way into the broad road, so that they come into the wide and
+broad place; that is to say, into true freedom of the spirit, when
+one has become a spirit with God. May God help us to follow this
+course, that He may bring us to Himself. Amen. (223)
+
+GRACE
+
+THE masters say: That is young, which is near its beginning.
+Intelligence is the youngest faculty in man: the first thing to
+break out from the soul is intelligence, the next is will, the other
+faculties follow. Now he saith: Young man, I say unto thee, arise.
+The soul in itself is a simple work; what God works in the simple
+light of the soul is more beautiful and more delightful than all the
+other works which He works in all creatures. But foolish people take
+evil for good and good for evil. But to him who rightly understands,
+the one work which God works in the soul is better and nobler and
+higher than all the world. Through that light comes grace. Grace
+never comes in the intelligence or in the will. If it could come in
+the intelligence or in the will, the intelligence and the will would
+have to transcend themselves. On this a master says: There is
+something secret about it; and thereby he means the spark of the
+soul, which alone can apprehend God. The true union between God and
+the soul takes place in the little spark, which is called the spirit
+of the soul. Grace unites not to any work. It is an indwelling and a
+living together of the soul in God. (255)
+
+Every gift of God makes the soul ready to receive a new gift,
+greater than itself. (15)
+
+Yea, since God has never given any gift, in order that man might
+rest in the possession of the gift, but gives every gift that He has
+given in heaven and on earth, in order that He might be able to give
+one gift, which is Himself, so with this gift of grace, and with all
+His gifts He will make us ready for the one gift, which is Himself.
+(569)
+
+No man is so boorish or stupid or awkward, that he cannot, by God's
+grace, unite his will wholly and entirely with God's will. And
+nothing more is necessary than that he should say with earnest
+longing: O Lord, show me Thy dearest will, and strengthen me to do
+it. And God does it, as sure as He lives, and gives him grace in
+ever richer fulness, till he comes to perfection, as He gave to the
+woman at Jacob's well. Look you, the most ignorant and the lowest of
+you all can obtain this from God, before he leaves this church, yea,
+before I finish this sermon, as sure as God lives and I am a man.
+(187)
+
+O almighty and merciful Creator and good Lord, be merciful to me for
+my poor sins, and help me that I may overcome all temptations and
+shameful lusts, and may be able to avoid utterly, in thought and
+deed, what Thou forbiddest, and give me grace to do and to hold all
+that Thou hast commanded. Help me to believe, to hope, and to love,
+and in every way to live as Thou willest, as much as Thou willest,
+and what Thou willest. (415)
+
+THE WILL
+
+THEN is the will perfect, when it has gone out of itself, and is
+formed in the will of God. The more this is so, the more perfect and
+true is the will, and in such a will thou canst do all things. (553)
+
+SURRENDER OF THE WILL
+
+YOU should know, that that which God gives to those men who seek to
+do His will with all their might, is the best. Of this thou mayest
+be as sure, as thou art sure that God lives, that the very best must
+necessarily be, and that in no other way could anything better
+happen. Even if something else seems better, it would not be so good
+for thee, for God wills this and not another way, and this way must
+be the best for thee. Whether it be sickness or poverty or hunger or
+thirst, or whatever it be, that God hangs over thee or does not hang
+over thee--whatever God gives or gives not, that is all what is best
+for thee; whether it be devotion or inwardness, or the lack of these
+which grieves thee--only set thyself right in this, that thou
+desirest the glory of God in all things, and then whatever He does
+to thee, that is the best.
+
+Now thou mayest perchance say: How can I tell whether it is the will
+of God or not? If it were not the will of God, it would not happen.
+Thou couldst have neither sickness nor anything else unless God
+willed it. But know that it is God's will that thou shouldst have so
+much pleasure and satisfaction therein, that thou shouldst feel no
+pain as pain; thou shouldst take it from God as the very best thing,
+for it must of necessity be the very best thing for thee. Therefore
+I may even wish for it and desire it, and nothing would become me
+better than so to do.
+
+If there were a man whom I were particularly anxious to please, and
+if I knew for certain that he liked me better in a grey cloak than
+in any other, there is no doubt that however good another cloak
+might be, I should be fonder of the grey than of all the rest. And
+if there were anyone whom I would gladly please, I should do nothing
+else in word or deed than what I knew that he liked.
+
+Ah, now consider how your love shows itself! If you loved God, of a
+surety nothing would give you greater pleasure than what pleases Him
+best, and that whereby His will may be most fully done. And, however
+great thy pain or hardship may be, if thou hast not as great
+pleasure in it as in comfort or fulness, it is wrong.
+
+We say every day in prayer to our Father, Thy will be done. And yet
+when His will is done, we grumble at it, and find no pleasure in His
+will. If our prayers were sincere, we should certainly think His
+will, and what He does, to be the best, and that the very best had
+happened to us. (134)
+
+Those who accept all that the Lord send, as the very best, remain
+always in perfect peace, for in them God's will has become their
+will. This is incomparably better than for our will to become God's
+will. For when thy will becomes God's will--if thou art sick, thou
+wishest not to be well contrary to God's will, but thou wishest that
+it were God's will that thou shouldest be well. And so in other
+things. But when God's will becomes thy will--then thou art sick: in
+God's name; thy friend dies: in God's name! (55)
+
+SUFFERING
+
+MEN who love God are so far from complaining of their sufferings,
+that their complaint and their suffering is rather because the
+suffering which God's will has assigned them is so small. All their
+blessedness is to suffer by God's will, and not to have suffered
+something, for this is the loss of suffering. This is why I said,
+Blessed are they who are willing to suffer for righteousness, not,
+Blessed are they who have suffered. (434)
+
+All that a man bears for God's sake, God makes light and sweet for
+him. (45)
+
+If all was right with you, your sufferings would no longer be
+suffering, but love and comfort. (442)
+
+If God could have given to men anything more noble than suffering,
+He would have redeemed mankind with it: otherwise, you must say that
+my Father was my enemy, if he knew of anything nobler than
+suffering. (338)
+
+True suffering is a mother of all the virtues. (338)
+
+SIN
+
+DEADLY sin is a death of the soul. To die is to lose life. But God
+is the life of the soul; since then deadly sin separates us from
+God, it is a death of the soul.
+
+Deadly sin is also an unrest of the heart. Everything can rest only
+in its proper place. But the natural place of the soul is God; as St
+Augustine says, Lord, thou hast made us for Thyself, and our heart
+is restless till it finds rest in Thee. But deadly sin separates us
+from God; therefore it is an unrest of the heart. Deadly sin is also
+a sickness of the faculties, when a man can never stand up alone for
+the weight of his sins, nor ever resist falling into sin. Therefore
+deadly sin is a sickness of the faculties. Deadly sin is also a
+blindness of the sense, in that it suffers not a man to know the
+shortness of the pleasures of lust, nor the length of the punishment
+in hell, nor the eternity of joys in heaven. Deadly sin is also a
+death of all graces; for as soon as a deadly sin takes place, a man
+becomes bare of all graces. (217)
+
+Every creature must of necessity abide in God; if we fall out of the
+hands of his mercy, we fall into the hands of His justice. We must
+ever abide in Him. What madness then is it to wish not to be with
+Him, without whom thou canst not be! (169)
+
+CONTENTMENT
+
+A GREAT teacher once told a story in his preaching about a man who
+for eight years besought God to show him a man who would make known
+to him the way of truth. While he was in this state of anxiety there
+came a voice from God and spake to him: Go in front of the church,
+and there shalt thou find a man who will make known to thee the way
+of truth. He went, and found a poor man whose feet were chapped and
+full of dirt, and all his clothes were hardly worth
+twopence-halfpenny. He greeted this poor man and said to him, God
+give thee a good morning. The poor man answered, I never had a bad
+morning. The other said, God give thee happiness. How answerest thou
+that? The poor man answered, I was never unhappy. The first then
+said, God send thee blessedness. How answerest thou that? I was
+never unblessed, was the answer. Lastly the questioner said, God
+give thee health! Now enlighten me, for I cannot understand it. And
+the poor man replied, When thou saidst to me, may God give thee a
+good morning, I said I never had a bad morning. If I am hungry, I
+praise God for it; if I am cold, I praise God for it; if I am
+distressful and despised, I praise God for it; and that is why I
+never had a bad morning. When thou askedst God to give me happiness,
+I answered that I had never been unhappy; for what God gives or
+ordains for me, whether it be His love or suffering, sour or sweet,
+I take it all from God as being the best, and that is why I was
+never unhappy. Thou saidst further, May God make thee blessed, and I
+said, I was never unblessed, for I have given up my will so entirely
+to God's will, that what God wills, that I also will, and that is
+why I was never unblessed, because I willed alone God's will. Ah!
+dear fellow, replied the man; but if God should will to throw thee
+into hell, what wouldst thou say then? He replied, Throw me into
+hell! Then I would resist Him. But even if He threw me into hell, I
+should still have two arms wherewith to embrace Him. One arm is true
+humility, which I should place under Him, and with the arm of love I
+should embrace Him. And he concluded, I would rather be in hell and
+possess God, than in the kingdom of heaven without Him. (623)
+
+DETACHMENT
+
+THE man who has submitted his will and purposes entirely to God,
+carries God with him in all his works and in all circumstances.
+Therein can no man hinder him, for he neither aims at nor enjoys
+anything else, save God. God is united with Him in all his purposes
+and designs. Even as no manifoldness can dissipate God, so nothing
+can dissipate such a man, or destroy his unity. Man, therefore,
+should take God with him in all things; God should be always present
+to his mind and will and affections. The same disposition that thou
+hast in church or in thy cell, thou shouldst keep and maintain in a
+crowd, and amid the unrest and manifoldness of the world.
+
+Some people pride themselves on their detachment from mankind, and
+are glad to be alone or in church; and therein lies their peace. But
+he who is truly in the right state, is so in all circumstances, and
+among all persons; he who is not in a good state, it is not right
+with him in all places and among all persons. He who is as he should
+be has God with him in truth, in all places and among all persons,
+in the street as well as in the church; and then no man can hinder
+him. (547)
+
+It is often much harder for a man to be alone in a crowd than in the
+desert; and it is often harder to leave a small thing than a great,
+and to practise a small work than one which people consider very
+great. (565)
+
+PRAYER
+
+GOOD and earnest prayer is a golden ladder which reaches up to
+heaven, and by which man ascends to God.
+
+The man who will pray aright should ask for nothing except what may
+promote God's honour and glory, his own profit and the advantage of
+his neighbours. When we ask for temporal things we should always
+add, if it be God's will and if it be for my soul's health. But when
+we pray for virtues, we need add no qualification, for these are
+God's own working. (359)
+
+LOVE OF OUR NEIGHBOUR
+
+IT is a hard thing to practise this universal love, and to love our
+neighbours as ourselves, as our Lord commanded us. But if you will
+understand it rightly, there is a greater reward attached to this
+command, than to any other. The commandment seems hard, but the
+reward is precious indeed. (135)
+
+LOVE
+
+HE who has found this way of love, seeketh no other. He who turns on
+this pivot is in such wise a prisoner that his foot and hand and
+mouth and eyes and heart, and all his human faculties, belong to
+God. And, therefore, thou canst overcome thy flesh in no better way,
+so that it may not shame thee, than by love. This is why it is
+written, Love is as strong as death, as hard as hell. Death
+separates the soul from the body, but love separates all things from
+the soul. She suffers nought to come near her, that is not God nor
+God-like. Happy is he who is thus imprisoned; the more thou art a
+prisoner, the more wilt thou be freed. That we may be so imprisoned,
+and so freed, may He help us, Who Himself is Love. (30)
+
+THE UNION WITH GOD
+
+THE union of the soul with God is far more inward than that of the
+soul and body. (566)
+
+Now I might ask, how stands it with the soul that is lost in God?
+Does the soul find herself or not? To this will I answer as it
+appears to me, that the soul finds herself in the point, where every
+rational being understands itself with itself. Although it sinks and
+sinks in the eternity of the Divine Essence, yet it can never reach
+the ground. Therefore God has left a little point wherein the soul
+turns back upon itself and finds itself, and knows itself to be a
+creature. (387)
+
+God alone must work in thee without hindrance, that He may bring to
+perfection His likeness in thee. So thou mayest understand with Him,
+and love with Him. This is the essence of perfection. (471)
+
+THE LAST JUDGMENT
+
+PEOPLE say of the last day, that God shall give judgment. This is
+true. But it is not true as people imagine. Every man pronounces his
+own sentence; as he shows himself here in his essence, so will he
+remain everlastingly. (471)
+
+PRECEPT AND PRACTICE
+
+BETTER one life-master than a thousand reading-masters (w�ger w�re
+ein lebemeister denne t�sent lesemeister). If I sought a master
+in the scriptures, I should seek him in Paris and in the high
+schools of high learning. But if I wished to ask questions about the
+perfect life, that he could not tell me. Where then must I go?
+Nowhere at all save to an utterly simple nature; he could answer my
+question. (599)
+
+RELICS
+
+MY people, why seek ye after dead bones? Why seek ye not after
+living holiness, which might give you everlasting life? The dead can
+neither give nor take away. (599)
+
+SAYINGS OF ECKHART
+
+MASTER ECKHART saith: He who is always alone, he is worthy of God;
+and he who is always at home, to him is God present; and be who
+abides always in a present now, in him doth God beget His Son
+without ceasing. (600)
+
+Master Eckhart saith: I will never pray to God to give Himself to
+me: I will pray Him to make me purer. If I were purer, God must give
+Himself to me, of His own nature, and sink into me. (601)
+
+Master Eckhart was asked, what were the greatest goods, that God had
+done to him. He said, there are three. The first is, that the lusts
+and desires of the flesh have been taken away from me. The second
+is, that the Divine Light shines and gives me light in all my
+doings. The third is, that I am daily renewed in virtue, grace and
+holiness. (602)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TAULER
+
+
+
+
+
+OUR AIM
+
+THINK, and think earnestly, how great, how unutterable will be the
+joy and blessedness, the glory and honour of those who shall see
+clearly and without veil the gladsome and beauteous face of God, how
+they will enjoy the best and highest good, which is God Himself. For
+in Him is included all pleasure, might, joy, and all beauty, so that
+the blessed in God will possess everything that is good and
+desirable, with everlasting joy and security, without fear lest they
+should ever be parted from Him. (138)[38]
+
+CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL
+
+FROM the time when the first man gave a ready ear to the words of
+the enemy, mankind have been deaf, so that none of us can hear or
+understand the loving utterances of the eternal Word. Something has
+happened to the ears of man, which has stopped up his ears, so that
+he cannot hear the loving Word; and he has also been so blinded,
+that he has become stupid, and does not know himself. If he wished
+to speak of his own inner life, he could not do it; he knows not
+where he is, nor what is his state. (91)
+
+How can it be that the noble reason, the inner eye, is so blinded
+that it cannot see the true light? This great shame has come about,
+because a thick coarse skin and a thick fur has been drawn over him,
+even the love and the opinion of the creatures, whether it be the
+man himself or something that belongs to him; hence man has become
+blind and deaf, in whatever position he may be, worldly or
+spiritual. Yes, that is his guilt, that many a thick skin is drawn
+over him, as thick as an ox's forehead, and it has so covered up his
+inner man, that neither God nor himself can get inside; it has grown
+into him. (92)
+
+THE FALL
+
+THROUGH two things man fell in Paradise--through pride, and through
+inordinate affection. Therefore we too must return by two things,
+that nature may recover her power: we must first sink our nature and
+bring it down under God and under all men in deep humility, against
+whom it had exalted itself in pride. We must also manfully die to
+all inordinate lusts. (1)
+
+LIFE A BATTLE
+
+NOTHING in the world is so necessary for man as to be constantly
+assailed; for in fighting he learns to know himself. As grace is
+necessary to a man, so also is fighting. Virtue begins in fighting,
+and is developed in fighting. In every state to which a man is
+called, inward and outward, he must of necessity be assailed. A high
+Master said: As little as meat can remain without salt and yet not
+become corrupt, so little can a man remain without fighting. (104)
+
+A man should in the first place act as when a town is besieged, and
+it is certain that the besieging army is stronger than the town.
+When the town is weakest, men take the very greatest care to guard
+and defend the town; if they neglected to do so, they would lose the
+town, and with it their lives and properties. So should every man
+do: he should be most careful to find out in what things the evil
+spirit most often besets him--that is, on what side the man is
+weakest, and to what kind of errors and failings he is most prone,
+and should manfully defend himself at those points.
+
+Next, turn thyself earnestly away from sin; for I tell you of a
+truth, by whatever temptation a man is assailed, if he turns not
+from it heartily, but stands in it vacillating, he has no
+wholehearted desire to leave his sins by God's will, and without
+doubt the evil spirit is close upon him, who may make him fall into
+endless perdition.
+
+Know of a truth, that if thou wouldst truly overcome the evil
+spirit, this can only be done by a complete manful turning away from
+sin. Say then with all thy heart: Oh, everlasting God, help me and
+give me Thy Divine grace to be my help, for it is my steadfast
+desire never again to commit any deadly sin against Thy Divine will
+and Thine honour. So with thy good will and intention thou entirely
+overcomest the evil spirit, so that he must fly from thee ashamed.
+
+Understand, however, that it is a miserable and pitiable thing for a
+reasonable man to let himself be overcome by the evil spirit, and in
+consequence of his attacks to fall voluntarily into grievous and
+deadly sin, whereby man loses the grace of God. A reasonable man,
+who allows himself voluntarily to be overcome by the evil spirit, is
+like a well-armed man who voluntarily lets a fly bite him to death.
+For man has many great and strong weapons, wherewith he may well and
+manfully withstand the evil spirit--the holy faith, the blessed
+sacrament, the holy word of God, the model and example of all good
+and holy men, the prayers of holy Church, and other great supports
+against the power of the evil spirit, whose power is much less than
+that of a fly against a great bear. If a man will manfully and
+boldly withstand the evil spirit, the evil one can gain no advantage
+against his free will.
+
+Turn, therefore, manfully and earnestly from your sins, and watch
+diligently and earnestly; for I tell you of a truth, that when you
+have come to the next world, if you have not withstood the evil
+spirit, and if you are found there without repentance and sorrow,
+you will be a mockery to all the devils and to yourself, and you
+will be eternally punished and tormented. And it will then be a
+greater woe to you, that you have followed the evil spirit, than all
+the external pains that you must endure eternally for your sins.
+
+Thirdly, a man should diligently attend to his inner Ground, that
+there shall be nothing in it save God alone, and His eternal glory.
+For alas! there are many men, both lay and clerical, who live
+falsely beneath a fair show, and imagine that they can deceive the
+everlasting God. No, in truth, thou deceivest thyself, and losest
+the day of grace, and the favour of God, and makest thyself guilty
+towards God, in that He gives the evil spirits power over thee, so
+that thou canst do no good work. Therefore, watch while it is day,
+that the hour of darkness and God's disfavour may not overtake thee,
+and take heed that in thy inner ground God may dwell, and nought
+besides. (75)
+
+Even as each man in his baptism is placed under the charge of a
+special angel, who is with him always and never leaves him, and
+protects him waking and sleeping in all his ways and in all his
+works, so every man has a special devil, who continually opposes him
+and exercises him without ceasing. But if the man were wise and
+diligent, the opposition of the devil and his exercises would be
+much more profitable to him than the aid of the good angel; for if
+there were no struggle, there could be no victory. (139)
+
+SIN
+
+WHEN a man has had the fair net of his soul torn by sin, he must
+patch and mend it by a humble, repentant return to the grace and
+mercy of God. He must act like one who wishes to make a crooked
+stick straight: he bends the stick further back than it ought to go,
+and by being thus bent back it becomes straight again. So must a man
+do to his own nature. He must bend himself under all things which
+belong to God, and break himself right off, inwardly and outwardly,
+from all things which are not God.
+
+Every deadly sin causes the precious blood of Christ to be shed
+afresh. Jesus Christ is spiritually crucified many times every day.
+(75)
+
+FISHING FOR SOULS
+
+THE fisherman throws his hook, that he may catch the fish; but the
+fish itself takes the hook. When the fish takes the hook, the
+fisherman is sure of the fish, and draws it to him. Even so, God has
+thrown His hook and His net into all the world, before our feet,
+before our eyes, before our minds, and He would gladly draw us
+securely to Himself by means of all His creatures. By pleasurable
+things He draws us on; by painful things He drives us on. He who
+will not be drawn, is in fault; for he has not taken God's hook, nor
+will he be caught in God's net. If he came therein, beyond doubt he
+would be caught by God and would be drawn by God. It is not God's
+fault if we will not be drawn; we should grasp the hand held out to
+us. If a man were in a deep pool, and one tried to help him and pull
+him out, would he not gladly grasp his hand and allow himself to be
+pulled out? (42)
+
+Where two things are so related to each other, that one may receive
+something for the other, there must be something in common between
+them. If they had nothing in common, there must be a middle term
+between them, which has something in common both with the higher,
+from which it may receive, and with the lower, to which it may
+impart. Now God hath created all things, and especially mankind,
+immediately for Himself. He created man for His pleasure. But by
+sin, human nature was so far estranged from God, that it was
+impossible for a man to attain to that, for which he was made. Now
+Aristotle says that God and Nature are not unprofitable
+workers--that is, what they work at, they carry to its end. Now God
+created man that He might have pleasure in him. If then God's work
+in creating mankind was not to be unprofitable, when they were so
+far estranged from God by sin, that they could not receive that by
+which they might return and attain the enjoyment of eternal
+happiness, a Mediator was necessary between us and God, one who has
+something in common with us and our natures, and also shares in the
+nature of God. In order that on the one side, He might in Himself
+destroy our sickness, which was a cause of all our sins, and also
+destroy all our sins, to which our weakness has brought us; and on
+the other side that He might include in Himself all the treasure of
+grace and of God's honour, that He might be able to give us grace
+richly, and forgiveness of our sins, and eternal glory hereafter,
+this could only be, if the Son of God became man. (90)
+
+Yea, the highest God and Lord of all lords, the Son of God, in His
+deep love felt pity for us poor, sinful men, condemned to the flames
+of hell. Though He was in the form of God, He thought it not robbery
+(as St Paul says) to be equal with God, and He annihilated Himself,
+and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made like any other
+man, being found in fashion as a man. He humbled Himself, and became
+obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (117)
+
+THE EFFICACY OF DIVINE GRACE
+
+ALL works which men and all creatures can ever work even to the end
+of the world, without the grace of God--all of them together,
+however great they may be, are an absolute nothing, as compared with
+the smallest work which God has worked in men by His grace. As much
+as God is better than all His creatures, so much better are His
+works than all the works, or wisdom, or designs, which all men could
+devise. Even the smallest drop of grace is better than all earthly
+riches that are beneath the sun. Yea, a drop of grace is more noble
+than all angels and all souls, and all the natural things that God
+has made. And yet grace is given more richly by God to the soul than
+any earthly gift. It is given more richly than brooks of water, than
+the breath of the air, than the brightness of the sun; for spiritual
+things are far finer and nobler than earthly things. The whole
+Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, give grace to the soul, and
+flow immediately into it; even the highest angel, in spite of his
+great nobility, cannot do this. Grace looses us from the snares of
+many temptations; it relieves us from the heavy burden of worldly
+cares, and carries the spirit up to heaven, the land of spirits. It
+kills the worm of conscience, which makes sins alive. Grace is a
+very powerful thing. The man, to whom cometh but a little drop of
+the light of grace, to him all that is not God becomes as bitter as
+gall upon the tongue. (86)
+
+Grace makes, contrary to nature, all sorrows sweet, and brings it
+about that a man no longer feels any relish for things which
+formerly gave him great pleasure and delight. On the other hand,
+what formerly disgusted him, now delights him and is the desire of
+his heart--for instance, weakness, sorrow, inwardness, humility,
+self-abandonment, and detachment from all the creatures. All this is
+in the highest degree dear to him, when this visitation of the Holy
+Ghost, grace, has in truth come to him. Then the sick man, that is
+to say the external man, with all his faculties is plunged
+completely into the pool of water, even as the sick man who had been
+for thirty-eight years by the pool at Jerusalem, and there washes
+himself thoroughly in the exalted, noble, precious blood of Christ
+Jesus. For grace in manifold ways bathes the soul in the wounds and
+blood of the holy Lamb, Jesus Christ. (22)
+
+PRAYER
+
+THE essence of prayer is the ascent of the mind to God, as holy
+teachers tell us. Therefore every good man, when he wishes to pray,
+ought to collect his outer senses into himself, and look into his
+mind, to see whether it be really turned to God. He who wishes that
+his prayers may be truly heard, must keep himself turned away from
+all temporal and external things, and all that is not Divine,
+whether it be friend or joy (Freund oder Freude), and all vanities,
+whether they be clothes or ornaments, and from everything of which
+God is not the true beginning and ending, and from everything that
+does not belong to Him. He must cut off his words and his conduct,
+his manners and his demeanour, from all irregularity, inward or
+outward. Dream not that that can be a true prayer, when a man only
+babbles outwardly with his mouth, and reads many psalms, gabbling
+them rapidly and hastily, while his mind wanders this way and that,
+backwards and forwards. Much rather must the true prayer be, as St
+Peter tells us, "one-minded"[39]�that is, the mind must cleave to
+God alone, and a man must look with the face of his soul turned
+directly towards God, with a gentle, willing dependence on Him. (80)
+
+If thy prayer has these conditions, thou mayst with true humility
+fall at the feet of God, and pray for the gentle succour of God;
+thou mayest knock at His fatherly heart, and ask for bread�that is,
+for love. If a man had all the food in the world, and had not bread,
+his food would be neither eatable, nor pleasant, nor useful. So it
+is with all things, without the Love of God. Knock also at the door
+through which we must go--namely, Christ Jesus. At this door, the
+praying man must knock for three ends, if he wishes to be really
+admitted. First he must knock devoutly, at the broken heart and the
+open side, and enter in with all devotion, and in recognition of his
+unfathomable poverty and nothingness, as poor Lazarus did at the
+rich man's gate, and ask for crumbs of His grace. Then again, he
+should knock at the door of the holy open wounds of His holy hands,
+and pray for true Divine knowledge, that it may enlighten him and
+exalt him. Finally, knock at the door of His holy feet, and pray for
+true Divine love, which may unite thee with Him, and immerse and
+cover thee in Him. (57)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+MEDITATIONS ON THE SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS
+
+
+
+
+
+[From a devotional treatise on the Passion of Christ, published in a
+Latin translation, by Surius, in 1548, and wrongly ascribed by him
+to Tauler. The author was an unknown German of the fourteenth
+century.]
+
+THE FIRST WORD
+
+NOW, O my soul, and all ye who have been redeemed by the precious
+blood of Christ, come, and let us go with inward compassion and
+fervent devotion to the blessed palm-tree of the Cross, which is
+laden with the fairest fruit. Let us pass like the bee from flower
+to flower, for all are full of honey. Let us consider and ponder
+with the greatest care the sacred words of Christ, which He spoke
+upon the Cross; for everything that comes From this blessed Tree is
+wholesome and good. In the Cross of our Lord and Saviour are centred
+all our salvation, all our health, all our life, all our glory; and,
+"if we suffer with Him," saith the Apostle, "we shall also reign
+with Him." That we may not be found ungrateful for these inestimable
+benefits, let us call upon heaven and earth, and all that in them
+is, to join us in praising and blessing and giving thanks to God.
+Let us invite them to come and look upon this wondrous sight, and
+say: "Magnify the Lord with me, for He hath done marvellous things.
+O praise and bless the Lord with me, for great is His mercy toward
+us." Come up with me, I pray you, ye angelic spirits, to Mount
+Calvary, and see your King Solomon on His throne, wearing the diadem
+wherewith His mother has crowned Him. Let us weep in the presence of
+the Lord who made us, the Lord our God. O all mankind, and all ye
+who are members of Christ, behold your Redeemer as He hangs on high;
+behold and weep. See if any sorrow is like unto His sorrow.
+Acknowledge the heinousness of your sins, which needed such
+satisfaction. Go to every part of His body; you will find only
+wounds and blood. Cry to Him with lamentations and say, "O Jesus,
+our redemption, our love, our desire, what mercy has overcome Thee,
+that Thou shouldest bear our sins, and endure a cruel death, to
+rescue us from everlasting death?" And Thou, O God, the almighty
+Father of heaven, look down from Thy sanctuary upon Thine innocent
+Son Joseph, sold and given over unjustly to the hands of bloody men,
+to suffer a shameful death. See whether this be Thy Son's coat or
+not. Of a truth an evil beast hath devoured Him. The blood of our
+sins is sprinkled over His garments, and all the coverings of His
+good name are defiled by it. See how Thy holy Child has been
+condemned with the wicked, how Thy royal Son has been crowned with
+thorns. Behold His innocent hands, which have known no sin, dripping
+with blood; behold His sacred feet, which have never turned aside
+from the path of justice, pierced through by a cruel nail; behold
+His defenceless side smitten with a sharp spear; behold His fair
+face, which the angels desire to look upon, marred and shorn of all
+its beauty; behold His blessed heart, which no impure thought ever
+stained, weighed down with inward sorrow. Behold, O loving Father,
+Thy sweet Son, stretched out upon the harp of the Cross, and harping
+blessings on Thee with all His members. Wherefore, O my God, I pray
+Thee to forgive me, for the sake of Thy Son's Passion, all the sins
+that I have committed in my members. O merciful Father, look on Thy
+only-begotten Son, that Thou mayst have compassion on Thy servant.
+Whenever that red blood of Thy Son speaks in Thy sight, do Thou wash
+me from every stain of sin. Whenever Thou beholdest the wounds of
+this Thy Son, open to me the bosom of Thy fatherly compassion.
+Behold, O tender Father, how Thy obedient Son does not cry, "Bind my
+hands and my feet, that I may not rebel against Thee," but how of
+His own will He extends His hands and feet, and gladly allows them
+to be pierced with nails. Look down, I pray Thee, not on the brazen
+serpent hanging on a pole for the salvation of Israel, but on Thine
+only Son hanging on the Cross for the salvation of all men. It is
+not Moses who now stretches out his hand to heaven, that the thunder
+and lightning and the other plagues may cease, but it is Thy beloved
+Son, who lovingly stretches out His bleeding arms to Thee, that Thy
+wrath may depart from the human race. Aaron and Hur are not now
+holding up the hands of Moses that he may pray more unweariedly for
+Israel; but hard and cruel nails have fastened the hands of Thy only
+Son to the Cross, that He may wait with long-suffering for our
+repentance, and receive us back into His grace, and that He may not
+turn away in wrath from our prayers. This is that faithful David,
+who now strings tight the harp-strings of His body, and makes sweet
+melody before Thee, singing to Thee the sweetest song that has been
+ever sung to Thee: "Father forgive them, for they know not what they
+do." This is that High Priest, who by His own blood has entered into
+the Holy of Holies, to offer Himself as a peace-offering for the
+sins of the whole world. This is that innocent Lamb, who has washed
+us in His own precious blood, who, Himself without spot of sin, has
+taken away the sins of the world. Therefore from the storehouse of
+His Passion I borrow the price of my debt, and I count out before
+Thee all its merits, to pay what I owe Thee. For He has done all in
+my nature, and for my sake. O merciful Father, if Thou weighest all
+my sins on one side of the balance, and in the other scale the
+Passion of Thy Son, the last will outweigh the first. For what sin
+can be so great, that the innocent blood of Thy Son has not washed
+it out? What pride, or disobedience, or lust, is so unchecked or so
+rebellious, that such lowliness, obedience, and poverty cannot
+abolish it? O merciful Father, accept the deeds of Thy beloved Son,
+and forgive the errors of Thy wicked servant. For the innocent blood
+of our brother Abel crieth to Thee from the Cross, not for
+vengeance, but for grace and mercy, saying, "Father, forgive them,
+for they know not what they do."
+
+THE SECOND WORD
+
+NOW the thieves who were crucified with Jesus reviled Him. But after
+a while, the one who hung on the right side of Christ, when he saw
+His great patience and long-suffering, wherewith He so lovingly
+prayed to His Father for those who cast reproaches upon Him and
+cruelly tortured Him, became entirely changed, and began to be moved
+with very great sorrow and repentance for his sins. And he showed
+this outwardly, when he rebuked his fellow-thief, who continued to
+revile Christ, saying: "Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in
+the same condemnation?" "Although" (he would say) "thou art so
+obstinate as not to fear men, and thinkest nought of thy bodily
+pain, yet surely thou must fear God, in the last moments of thy
+life--God, who hath power to destroy both thy body and soul in hell.
+And though we suffer the same punishment with Him, our deserts are
+very different. We, indeed, suffer justly, for we receive the due
+reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss." He, who
+but lately was a blasphemer, is now a confessor and preacher, he
+distinguishes good from evil, blaming the sinner, and excusing the
+innocent: the unbelieving thief has become the confessor of almighty
+God. O good Jesus, this sudden change is wrought by Thy right hand,
+at which he hung. Thy right hand touched him inwardly, and forthwith
+he is changed into another man. O Lord, in this Thou hast declared
+Thy patience, out of a stone Thou hast raised up a child unto
+Abraham. Verily, the penitent thief received the light of faith
+solely from that bright light on the candlestick of the Cross, which
+shone there in the darkness and scattered the shades of night. But
+what does this signify, save that our Lord Jesus, out of the
+greatness of His goodness, looked upon him with the eyes of His
+mercy, although He found no merit in him, except what it pleased Him
+out of His goodness to bestow? For as God gives to His elect, out of
+His goodness alone, what no one has a right to demand, so out of His
+justice He gives to the wicked what they deserve. For this cause
+David says: "He saved me because He desired me." And this is why the
+thief, before the Lord touched his heart with the beams of His grace
+and love, joined the other thief in reviling Christ, thus showing
+first what his own character was, and afterwards what was wrought in
+him by grace. At first he acted like the other, being, like him, a
+child of wrath; but when the precious blood of Christ was shed as
+the price of our redemption and paid to the Father for our debt,
+then the thief asked God to give him an alms for his good, and at
+once received it. For how can one alms diminish that inexhaustible
+treasure? How could our tender Lord, whose property is always to
+have mercy, have refused his request? Indeed He gave him more than
+he asked. Yet how could the thief escape the glow of the fire which
+was burning so near him? Truly this was the fire, which the Father
+had sent down from heaven to earth, which had long smouldered, but
+now, kindled anew, and fed by the wood of the Cross, and sprinkled
+with the oil of mercy, and fanned, as it were, by the reproaches and
+blasphemies of the Jews, sent up its flames to heaven, by which that
+thief was quite kindled and set on fire, and his love became as
+strong as death, so that he said: "I indeed suffer no grievous
+penalty, for it is less than I deserve; but that this innocent One,
+who has done no wrong, should be so tortured, contrary to justice
+and righteousness, this, truly, adds grievous sorrow to my sorrow."
+O splendid faith of this thief! He contemned all the punishment that
+might be inflicted on him: he feared not the rage of the people, who
+were barking like mad dogs against Jesus: he cared not for the chief
+priests: he feared not the executioners with their weapons and
+instruments of torture; but in the presence of them all, with a
+fearless heart he confessed that Christ was the true Son of God, and
+Lord of the whole world: and at the same time he confounded the Jews
+by confessing that He had done nothing amiss, and therefore that
+they had crucified Him unjustly. O wondrous faith! O mighty
+constancy! O amazing love of this poor thief, love that cast out all
+fear! He was indeed well drunken with that new wine which in the
+wine-press of the Cross had been pressed out of that sweet cluster,
+Jesus Christ, and therefore he confessed Christ without shame before
+all the people. At the very beginning of the Passion, the apostles
+and disciples had forsaken Christ and fled; even St Peter,
+frightened by the voice of one maidservant, had denied Christ. But
+this poor thief did not forsake Him even in death, but confessed Him
+to be the Lord of heaven in the presence of all those armed men. Who
+can do justice to the merits of this man? Who taught him so quickly
+that faith of his, and his clear knowledge of all the virtues, save
+the very Wisdom of the Father, Jesus Christ, who hung near him on
+the Cross? Him whom the Jews could not or would not know, in spite
+of the promises made to the patriarchs, the fulfilment of
+prophecies, the teaching of the Scriptures, and the interpretation
+of allegories, this poor thief learned to know by repentance. He
+confessed Christ to be the Son of God, though he saw Him full of
+misery, want, and torment, and dying from natural weakness. He
+confessed Him at a time when the apostles, who had seen His mighty
+works, denied Him. The nails were holding his hands and feet fixed
+to the cross; he had nothing free about him, except his heart and
+his tongue; yet he gave to God all that he could give to Him, and,
+in the words of Scripture, "with his heart he believed unto
+righteousness, and with his tongue he made confession of Christ unto
+salvation." O infinite and unsearchable mercy of God! For what
+manner of man was he when he was sent to the cross, and what when he
+left it? (Not that it was his own cross, that wrought this change,
+but the power of Christ crucified.) He came to the cross stained
+with the blood of his fellow-man; he was taken down from it cleansed
+by the blood of Christ. He came to the cross still savage and full
+of rage, and while he was upon it he became so meek and pitiful that
+he lamented for the sufferings of another more than for his own. One
+member only was left to him, and at the eleventh hour he came to
+work in God's vineyard, and yet so eagerly did he labour that he was
+the first to finish his work and receive his reward. Indeed he
+behaved like a just man; for he first accused himself and confessed
+his sins, saying, "and we, indeed, justly, for we receive the due
+reward of our deeds." Secondly, he excused Christ, and confessed
+that He was the Just One when he said "but this Man hath done
+nothing amiss." Thirdly, he showed brotherly love, for he said,
+"dost not thou fear God?" Fourthly, with all his members, or at
+least with all that he could offer, and with loving eyes and a
+devout heart and a humble spirit, he turned himself to Christ and
+prayed earnestly, "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy
+Kingdom." How great was the justice and humility and resignation
+which he showed in this prayer, for he asked only for a little
+remembrance of himself, acknowledging that he was not worthy to ask
+for anything great. Nor did he pray for the safety of his body, for
+he gladly desired to die for his sins. It was more pleasant for him
+to die with Christ than to live any longer. Nor did he pray that our
+Lord would deliver him from the pains of hell, or of purgatory, nor
+did he ask for the kingdom of heaven; but he resigned himself
+entirely to the will of God, and offered himself altogether to
+Christ, to do what He would with him. In his humility he prayed for
+nothing except for grace and mercy, for which David also prayed when
+he said, "Deal with Thy servant according to Thy mercy." And
+therefore, because he had prayed humbly and wisely, the Eternal
+Wisdom, Who reads the hearts of all who pray, heard his prayer, and,
+opening wide the rich storehouse of His grace, bestowed upon him
+much more than he had dared to ask. O marvellous goodness of God!
+How plainly dost Thou declare in this, that Thou desirest not the
+death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live.
+Now Thou hast manifested and fulfilled what Thou didst promise
+aforetime by Thy prophet: "When the wicked man shall mourn for his
+sins, I will remember his iniquity no more." Thou didst not impose
+upon him many years of severe penance, nor many sufferings in
+purgatory for the expiation of his sins; but just as if Thou hadst
+quite forgotten his crimes, and couldst see nothing in him but
+virtue, Thou didst say: "This day shalt thou be with Me in
+paradise." O immeasurable compassion of God! Our tender Lord forgot
+all the countless crimes which that poor thief had done, and forgave
+him when he repented, and gave so great and splendid a reward to the
+good which there was in him, small indeed though it was. Our loving
+God is very rich; He needs not our gifts; but He seeks for a heart
+which turns to Him with lowliness and resignation, such a heart as
+He found in this poor thief. For He says Himself: "turn to Me, and I
+will turn to you." And so when this thief so courageously and
+effectively turned to God, his prayer was at once not only accepted
+but answered. For our Lord did not reject his prayer, or say to him:
+"See how I hang here in torment, and I behold before My eyes My
+mother in sore affliction, and I have not yet spoken one word to
+her, so that to hear thee now would not be just." No, our Lord said
+nothing of this kind to the thief. Rather, He heard his prayer at
+once, and made answer in that sweet word, "Amen, I say unto thee,
+this day shalt thou be with Me in paradise." O tender goodness, O
+marvellous mercy of God! O great wisdom of the thief! He saw that
+the treasures of Christ were wide open, and were being scattered
+abroad. Who then should forbid him to take as much as would pay what
+he owed to his Lord? And O the accursed hardness of the impenitent
+thief, whom neither the rebuke of his associate, nor the patience of
+Christ, nor the many signs of love and mercy that shone forth in
+Christ, could melt or convert! He saw that alms were plentiful at
+the rich man's gate, that more was given than was asked for, and yet
+he was too proud and obstinate to ask. He saw that life and the
+kingdom of heaven were being granted, and yet he would not bend his
+heart to wish for them: therefore he shall not have them. He loved
+better revilings and curses, and they shall come unto him, and that
+for all eternity. These new first-fruits of the grape, which our
+Lord gathered on the wood of the Cross from our barren soil, by much
+sweat of His brow and much watering with His own precious blood, He
+sent with great joy as a precious gift to His heavenly Father, by
+His celestial messengers the holy angels. But if there is joy among
+the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth, how must they
+rejoice and exult at the salvation of this thief, of whom they had
+almost despaired? We can picture to ourselves with what joy the
+Father of heaven received these first-fruits of the harvest of His
+Son's Passion. But Christ Himself, though He felt some joy at the
+thief's conversion, was still more afflicted thereby, for by His
+wisdom He foresaw that this thief would be the cause of perdition to
+many, who would resolve to pass their whole lives in sin, hoping to
+obtain pardon and grace at the moment of death. Truly a most foolish
+hope, for nowhere in the Scriptures do we read that it has so
+happened to any man. In truth, they who seek after God only when
+they must, will not, it is to be feared, find Him near them in their
+time of need. In the meantime, none can trust too much in God, and
+no one has ever been forsaken by Him, who has turned to Him with his
+whole heart, and leant upon Him with loving confidence.
+
+THE THIRD WORD
+
+THERE stood also by the Cross of Jesus His most holy and ever-virgin
+mother Mary; not in order that His sufferings might thereby be
+lessened, but that they might be greatly augmented. For if any
+creature could have given consolation to the Lord while He hung on
+the Cross, no one could have done it so fitly as His blessed mother.
+But since it was God's will that Christ should die the most bitter
+of deaths, and end His Passion without any comfort or relief, but
+with true resignation, His mother's presence brought Him no
+consolation, but rather added to His sufferings, for her sufferings
+were thereby added to His, and this added yet more to His
+affliction. Who then, O good Jesus can discover by meditation how
+great was Thy inward grief, for Thou knowest the hearts of all, when
+Thou sawest all the body of Thy holy mother tortured by inward
+compassion, even as Thou wast tortured on the Cross, and her tender
+heart and maternal breast pierced with the sword of sharp sorrow,
+her face pale as death, telling the anguish of her soul, and almost
+dead, yet unable to die. When Thou beheldest her hot tears, flowing
+down abundantly like sweet rivers upon her gracious cheeks, and over
+all her face, all witnesses to Thee that she shared in Thy sorrow
+and love; when Thou heardest her sad laments, forced from her by the
+weight of her affliction; when Thou sawest that same tender mother,
+melted away with the heat of love, her strength quite failing her,
+worn out and exhausted by the pains of Thy Passion, which wasted her
+away; all this, truly, was a new affliction to Thee on the Cross; it
+was itself a new Cross. For Thou alone, by the spear of, Thy pity,
+didst explore the weight and grievousness of her woes, which to men
+are beyond comprehension. All this, indeed, greatly increased the
+pain of Thy Passion, because Thou wast crucified not only in Thy own
+body, but in Thy mother's heart; for her Cross was Thy Cross, and
+Thine was hers. O how bitter was Thy Passion, sweet Jesus! Great
+indeed was Thy outward suffering, but far more grievous was Thy
+inward suffering, which Thy heart experienced at Thy mother's
+anguish. It was now, beyond doubt, that the sword of sorrow pierced
+her through, for the queen of martyrs was terribly and mortally
+wounded in that part which is impassible--that is, the soul; she
+bore the death of the Cross in that part which could not die,
+suffering all the more her grievous inward death, as outward death
+departed further from her. Who, O most loving mother, can recount or
+conceive in his mind the immeasurable sorrows of thy soul, or thine
+inward woes? Him whom thou didst bring forth without pain, as a
+blessed mother free from the curse of our first mother Eve, who
+instead of the pains of labour wast filled with joy of spirit, and
+who for thy refreshment didst listen to the sweet songs of the
+angels as they praised thy Son, thou hast now seen slain before
+thine eyes with the greatest cruelty and tyranny. How manifold was
+that sorrow of thine, which thou wast permitted to escape at His
+birth, when thou sawest thy blessed and only Son hanging in such
+torment on the Cross, in the presence of a cruel and furious crowd,
+who showered upon Him all the insults and contumely and shame that
+they could think of; when thou sawest Him whom thou didst bear in
+thy pure womb without feeling the burden, so barbarously stretched
+on the Cross, and pierced with nails; when thou sawest His sacred
+arms, with which He had so many times lovingly embraced thee,
+stretched out so that He could not move them, and covered with red
+blood, His adorable head pierced with sharp thorns, and His whole
+body one streaming wound, while thou wast not able to staunch or
+anoint any of those wounds. What must thy grief have been when thou
+sawest Him whom thou hadst so often laid on thy virgin bosom that He
+might rest, without anything on which to lean His sacred head; and
+Him whom thou hadst nourished with the milk of thy holy breasts, now
+vexed with vinegar and gall. O how thy maternal heart was oppressed
+when thou beheldest with thy pure eyes that fair face so piteously
+marred, so that there was no beauty in it, and nothing by which He
+could be distinguished. How did the wave of affliction beat against
+and overflow and overwhelm thy soul! Truly, if even a devout man
+cannot without unspeakable sorrow and pity revolve in his mind the
+Passion of thy Son, what must have been thy Cross, thy affliction,
+who wast His mother and sawest it all with thine eyes? If to many
+friends of God and to many who love Him, thy Son's Passion is as
+grievous as if they suffered it themselves, if by inward pity they
+are crucified with thy Son, how terribly, even unto death, must thou
+have been crucified inwardly, when thou didst not only ponder and
+search into the outward and inward pains of thy Son in thy devout
+heart, but sawest them with thy bodily eyes? For never did any
+mother love her child as thou lovedst thy Son. And if St Paul, who
+loved so much, could say, out of his ardent love and deep pity for
+thy Son, "I am crucified with Christ; and I bear in my body the
+marks of the Lord Jesus," how much more wert thou crucified with
+Him, and didst inwardly receive all His wounds, being made, in a
+manner, an image and likeness of thy crucified Son?
+
+THE FOURTH WORD
+
+ABOUT the ninth hour our Lord Jesus cried with a loud voice, "My
+God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" He cried with a loud voice,
+that He might be easily heard by all, and also that by this wondrous
+word He might shake off from our souls the sleep of sloth, and cause
+them to wonder and marvel at the immeasurable goodness of God to us.
+Therefore He saith, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" For
+the sake of vile sinners, for evil and thankless servants, for
+sinful and disobedient deceivers, Thou hast forsaken Thy beloved Son
+and most obedient Child. That Thy enemies, who are vessels of wrath,
+might be changed into children of adoption, Thou hast slain Thine
+own Son, and given Him over to death like one guilty. "O my God,
+why, I pray Thee, hast Thou forsaken me?" For the very cause why men
+ought to praise and give thanks to Thee, and love Thee with an
+everlasting love; because Thou hast delivered Thy dear Son to death
+for their redemption, and sacrificed Him willingly, for this reason
+they will find ground for blasphemy and reproach against Thee,
+saying, "He saith He is the Son of God. Let God deliver Him now if
+He will have Him." Why, O my God, hast Thou willed to spend so
+precious a treasure for such vile and counterfeit goods? Besides,
+this word may be understood to have been spoken by Christ against
+those who seek to diminish the glory of His Passion, by saying that
+it was not really so bitter and terrible, owing to the great support
+and comfort which He drew from His Godhead. Let those who speak and
+think thus know that they renew His Passion and crucify Him afresh.
+It was to prove the error of such men that our Lord cried with a
+loud voice, and said, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
+It is as if He had said these words to His own Divine nature, with
+which He formed one Person--for the Godhead of the Father and of the
+Son is all one--wondering, Himself, at His own love, which had so
+cast Him down and worn Him out and humbled Him, and that He who
+brings help to all mankind should have forsaken Himself, and offered
+Himself to suffer every kind of pain, impelled thereto by conquering
+love alone. Again, we should not be wrong, if we were to interpret
+this word which Christ spoke out of the exceeding bitterness of His
+sorrow in the following way--namely, that His spirit and inward man,
+taking upon itself the severe judgment of God upon all sinners, and
+at the same time discerning clearly and feeling and measuring in
+Himself the intolerable weight of His Passion, on this account cried
+out in a sorrowful voice to His Father, and complained tenderly to
+Him because He had been cast into these dreadful torments; as if the
+goodness of His Father had become so embittered against the sins of
+men, that in the ardour of His justice He had quite forgotten the
+inseparable union between His passible humanity and His impassible
+Godhead, and therefore in the zealousness of His justice had quite
+given up His passible nature to the cruelty and malice of fierce
+men, that they might waste it away and destroy it. For this reason,
+therefore, He said, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
+This word has besides an inward meaning, according to which Christ,
+in His sensitive parts, complained to His Father that He had been
+forsaken by Him. For as many as contend for His honour, and endure
+patiently the troubles of this world, our merciful God so moderates
+and tempers their crosses and afflictions by the inpouring of His
+divine consolation, that by His sensible grace He makes their
+crosses hardly felt; but He left His own beloved Son quite without
+any comfort, and so deprived Him of all consolation and light, that
+He endured as much in His human nature as had been ordained by the
+Eternal Wisdom, according to the strictness of justice, as much as
+was needed to atone for so many sins. And indeed our salvation was
+the more nobly and perfectly achieved, in that it was done and
+finished without any light at all, in absolute resignation and
+abandonment. For a chief cause of the Passion was to show clearly
+how great was the injury and insult brought upon His most high
+Godhead by the sins of the human race. Now as the knowledge of
+Christ was greater and more acute than that of all other beings, in
+heaven or in earth, so much the greater and heavier was His sorrow
+and agony. Nay more--what is more wonderful than anything--whatever
+afflictions have been endured by all the saints, as members of
+Christ, existed much more abundantly in Christ their Head; and this
+I wish to be understood according to the spirit and reasonably. For
+all the saints have suffered no more than flowed in upon them
+through Christ, joined to them as His members, who communicated to
+them His own afflictions. For He took upon Himself the afflictions
+of all the saints, out of His great love for His members, and
+wondrous pity, and He suffered far greater internal anguish than any
+of the saints, nay, more even than the blessed Virgin, His mother,
+felt her own sharp sorrow and sickness of heart. For if an earthly
+father loves his child so much, that in fatherly pity he takes upon
+himself the sorrows of his child, and grieves for them as if he
+suffered them himself, what must have been Christ's Cross and
+compassion for the affliction of His members, and above all, of
+those who suffered for His name's sake? Truly He bore witness to His
+members, how much He suffered from their afflictions, and how great
+was His inward pity for their sufferings, when He took all their
+debt upon Himself, and abolished all the penalties which they had
+merited, so that they might depart free. The same is most amply
+proved by the words which He spoke to St Paul, when He said, "Saul,
+Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" For the persecution which Saul had
+stirred up against the disciples, the members of the Lord, was not
+less grievous to Him than if He had suffered it Himself. Therefore
+He says to His friends and members, "He who touches you, touches the
+apple of Mine eye." For is there anything suffered by the members,
+which the Head does not suffer with them, He whose nature is
+goodness, and whose property is always to have mercy and to forgive?
+
+THE FIFTH WORD
+
+OUR most tender Lord was so worn out and parched by the extreme
+bitterness of His pain and suffering, and by the great loss of
+blood, that He cried, "I thirst." A little word, but full of
+mysteries.
+
+In the first place it may be understood literally. For it is natural
+for those who are at the point of death to feel thirst, and to
+desire to drink. But how great was the drouth felt by Him who is the
+fountain of living water, but who was now worn out and parched by
+the heat of His ardent love, when he could truly say, "I am poured
+out like water," and "My strength is dried up like a potsherd." For
+not only did He shed all His own blood, and pour out moisture by
+tears, but the very marrow of His bones, and all His heart's blood,
+were consumed for our sakes by the heat and flame of love. Therefore
+He said rightly, "I thirst."
+
+But, secondly, the word may be understood spiritually, as if Christ
+said to all men, "I thirst for your salvation." Hence St Bernard
+says: "Jesus cried, I thirst, not, I grieve. O Lord, what dost Thou
+thirst for? For your faith, your joy. I thirst because of the
+torments of your souls, far more than for My own bodily sufferings.
+Have pity on yourselves, if not on Me." And again, "O good Jesus,
+Thou wearest the crown of thorns; Thou art silent about Thy Cross
+and wounds, yet Thou criest out, I thirst. For what, then, dost Thou
+thirst? Truly, for the redemption of mankind only, and for the
+felicity of the human race." This thirst of Christ was a hundred
+times more keen and intense than His natural thirst. And, besides,
+He had another sort of thirst--that is to say, a thirst to suffer
+more, and to prove to us still more clearly His immeasurable love,
+as if He said to man, "See how I am worn out and exhausted for thy
+salvation. See how terrible are the pains and anguish which I
+endure. The fierce cruelty of man has almost brought Me to nothing;
+the sinners of earth have drunk out all My blood, and yet I thirst.
+Not yet is My heart satisfied, nor My desire accomplished, nor the
+fire of My love quenched. For if it were possible for Me, and
+according to My Father's will, that I should be crucified again a
+thousand times for your salvation and conversion, or that I should
+hang here, in all this pain and anguish, till the day of judgment, I
+would gladly do it, to prove to you the immeasurable love which I
+bear you in My heart, and to soften your stony hearts and rouse you
+to love Me in return. This is why I hang here so thirsty by the
+fountain of your hearts, that I may watch the pious souls who come
+hither to draw from the deep well of My Passion. Therefore, the
+maiden to whom I shall say, 'Give Me to drink a little water out of
+the pitcher of thy conscience'--the water of devotion, pity, tears,
+and mutual love--and who shall let down to Me her pitcher, and shall
+say, 'Drink, my Lord; and for Thy camels also--that is, Thy
+servants, who carry Thee about daily on their bodies, and who by
+night and day are held bound fast by Thy yoke, I will draw the water
+of brotherly love'--that is the maiden whom the Lord hath prepared
+for the Son of My Lord, even the bride of the Word of God, united to
+My humanity. And she shall be counted worthy to enter, like a bride
+with her bridegroom, into the chamber of eternal rest, when the
+Bridegroom invites her, saying, 'Come, My blessed bride, inherit the
+Kingdom of My Father. For I was thirsty, and thou gavest Me drink.'"
+
+Thirdly, we may apply this word to the Father, as if Christ said to
+His Father: "Father, I have declared Thy name to mankind; I have
+finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do; and in Thy service I
+have spent My whole body as Thine instrument. Behold, I am all worn
+out and exhausted; and yet I still thirst to do and suffer more for
+Thine honour. This is why I hang here, extended to the furthest
+breadth of love, for I long to be an everlasting sacrifice, a sweet
+savour to Thee, and at the same time an eternal atonement and
+salvation to mankind." Thus, too, might this strong Samson have
+said: "O Lord, Thou hast put into the hand of Thy servant this very
+great salvation and victory, and yet behold, I die of thirst." As if
+He would say: "Father, I have accomplished Thy gracious will; I have
+finished the work of man's salvation, as Thou didst demand; and yet
+I still thirst; for the sins by which Thou art offended are
+infinite. And so I desire that the love and merits of My Passion, by
+which Thou wilt be appeased, may be infinite too. And as I now offer
+myself as a peace-offering and a living sacrifice for the salvation
+of all men, so through Me may all men appease Thee, by offering Me
+to Thee as a peace-offering to Thine eternal glory, in memory of My
+Passion, and to make good all their shortcomings." O how acceptable
+to the Father must this desire of love have been! For what was this
+thirst but a sweet and pleasant refreshment to the Father, and at
+the same time the blessed renovation of mankind? Or what other
+language does this burning throat speak to us, save that of Christ's
+burning love, without measure and without limit, out of which He did
+all His works? This truly is the most noble sacrifice of our
+redemption, this is that peace-offering which will be offered even
+to the last day, by all good men, to the Holy Ghost, to the highest
+Father, in memory of the Son, to the eternal glory of the adorable
+Trinity, and to the fruit of salvation for mankind. Here, certainly,
+is the inexhaustible storehouse of our reconciliation, which never
+fails, for it is greater than all the debts of the world. This is
+that immeasurable love, which is higher than the heavens, for it has
+repaired the ruin of the angels; deeper than hell, for it has freed
+souls from hell; wider and broader than the earth, for it is without
+end and incomprehensible by any created understanding. O how keen
+and intense was this thirst of our Lord! For not only did He then
+say once, "I thirst," but even now He says in our hearts
+continually, "I thirst; woman, give me to drink." So great, so
+mighty, is that thirst, that He asks drink not only from the
+children of Israel, but from the Samaritans. To each one He
+complaineth of His thirst. But for what dost Thou thirst, O good
+Jesus? "My meat and drink," saith He, "is that men should do My
+Father's will. Now this is the will of My Father, even your
+sanctification and salvation, that you may sanctify your souls by
+walking in My precepts, by doing works of repentance, by adorning
+yourselves with all virtues, in order that, like a bride adorned for
+her husband, you may be worthy to be present at My supper in My
+Father's kingdom, and to sleep with Me as My elect bride, in the
+chamber of My Father's heart." O how Christ longs to bring all men
+thither! This is the meaning of His words: "Where I am there shall
+also My servant be"; and again: "Father, I will that they may be one
+even as We are one." O, how incomprehensible is this thirst of
+Christ! What toil and labour He endured for thirty and three years,
+for the sake of it! For this His very heart's blood was poured out.
+See what our tender Lord says to His Father: "The zeal of Thine
+house hath even eaten Me." Truly, He would have submitted to be
+crucified a thousand times, rather than allow one soul to perish
+through any fault of His. O how this inward thirst tormented Him,
+when He thought that He had done all that He could, and even a
+hundredfold more than He need have done, and yet that so few had
+turned to Him, and been won by Him. His whole body was now worn out;
+all His blood was shed; nothing remained for Him to do; and
+therefore He was constrained to confess, "It is finished"; and yet
+by all His labours, afflictions, and sufferings, He had brought no
+richer harvest to the Father than this. Truly, this was the most
+bitter of all His sorrows, that after so hard a battle His victory
+had not been more glorious, and that He returned a conqueror to His
+Father with so few spoils. Therefore, all those who do not refresh
+Him by performing His will, and doing all that is pleasing and
+honourable to Him, and withstanding all that reason tells them to be
+displeasing to Him, will one day hear Him say, "I was thirsty, and
+ye gave Me no drink. Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire."
+
+Fourthly, there is yet another inward meaning of this word--namely,
+that Christ spoke it out of the love which inwardly draws Him
+towards all men, thus making known to us His ardent love, and
+opening His own heart, as a delightful couch, on which we may feed
+pleasantly, and inviting us to it, saying, "I thirst for you." For
+as the liquid which we drink is sent down pleasantly through the
+throat into the body, and so passes into the substance and nature of
+our body, so Christ out of the ardent thirst of His love, takes
+spiritual pleasure in drinking in all men into Himself, swallowing
+them, as it were, and incorporating them into Himself, and bringing
+them into the secret chamber of His loving heart. Therefore He says:
+"I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
+Me"--all men, that is, who allow themselves to be drawn by Me, and
+submit to Me as obedient instruments, suffering Me to do with them
+according to My gracious will. But those who resist Him quench not
+His thirst, but give Him a bitter draught instead, even the deeds of
+their own self-will. These, when our Lord tasteth them, He
+straightway rejects.
+
+THE SIXTH WORD
+
+WHEN Christ had tasted the draught of vinegar and gall, He spoke the
+sixth word: "It is finished." Thereby He signified that by His
+Passion had been fulfilled all the prophecies, types, mysteries,
+scriptures, sacrifices, and promises, which had been predicted and
+written about Him. This is that true Son of God, for whom the Father
+of heaven made ready a supper in the kingdom of His eternal
+blessedness; and He sent His servant--that is the human nature of
+Christ, coming in the form of a servant, to call them that were
+bidden to the wedding. For Christ, when He took human nature upon
+Him, was not only a servant but a servant of servants, and served
+all of us for thirty and three years with great toil and suffering.
+Indeed, He spent His whole life in bidding all men to His supper. It
+was for this that He preached, and wrought miracles, and travelled
+from place to place, and proclaimed that the kingdom of heaven was
+at hand, and that all should be prepared for it. But they would not
+come. And when the Father of the household heard this, He said to
+His Servant: "Compel them to come in, that My house may be filled."
+Then that Servant thought within Himself: "How shall I be able
+without violence to compel these men to come, that rebellion may be
+avoided and yet that their privilege and power of free will may
+remain unimpaired? For if I compel them to come by iron chains, and
+blows, and whips, I shall have asses and not men." Then He said to
+Himself: "I perceive that man is so constituted as to be prone to
+love. Therefore I will show him such love as shall pass all his
+understanding, love than which no other love can be greater. If man
+will observe this, he will be so caught in its toils, that he will
+not be able to escape its heat and flame, and will be constrained to
+turn to God, and love Him in return. For, turn where he will, he
+will always be met by the immeasurable benefits, the infinite
+goodness, and the wonderful love of God; and at the same time he
+will feel more and more compelled to return love for love, till he
+will be no more able to resist it, and will be gently constrained to
+follow." When this was done, Jesus Christ, this faithful and wise
+Servant, said to His Lord and Father, "It is finished. I have
+finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. What more could I have
+done, and have not done it? I have no member left that is not weary
+and worn with toil and pain. My veins are dry, My blood is shed; My
+marrow is spent, My throat is hoarse with crying. Such love have I
+shown to man, that his heart cannot be human, cannot even be stony,
+or the heart of a brute beast, but must be quite devilish and
+desperate, if it be not moved by the thought of these things."
+
+Moreover, this word of our Lord Jesus is a word of sorrow, not of
+joy. He spoke it not as if He had now escaped from all His
+suffering. No; when He said, "It is finished," He meant all that had
+been ordained and decreed by the eternal Truth for Him to suffer.
+Besides, all the sufferings which had been inflicted upon Him by
+degrees and singly, He now endures together with immeasurable
+anguish. Who can have such a heart of adamant as not to be moved by
+such torment as this? How short were the words which our Lord Jesus
+spoke on the Cross, yet how full of sacramental mysteries! Now were
+fulfilled the words of Exodus: "And all things were finished which
+belonged to the sacrifice of the Lord."
+
+Moreover by this word our Lord declared the glorious victory of the
+Passion, and how the old enemy, the jealous serpent, was overcome
+and thrown down; for this was the cause for which He suffered. For
+this He had taken upon Himself the garment of human nature, that He
+might vanquish and confound the enemy, by the same weapons wherewith
+the enemy boasted that he had conquered man. This was the chief
+purpose of His Passion, and now He confesses that it is finished. O
+how wonderful are the mysteries, and the victories, included in this
+little but deep word: "It is finished!" All that the eternal Wisdom
+had decreed, all that strict justice had demanded for each man, all
+that love had asked for, all the promises made to the fathers, all
+the mysteries, types, ceremonies in Scripture, all that was meet and
+necessary for our redemption, all that was needed to wipe out our
+debts, all that must repair our negligences, all that was glorious
+and loving for the exhibition of this splendid love, all that we
+could desire, for our spiritual instruction--in a word, all that was
+good and fitting for the celebration of the glorious triumph of our
+redemption, all is included in that one word, "It is finished."
+What, then, remains for Him, but to finish and perfect His life in
+this glorious conflict; and, because nothing remains for Him to do,
+to commend His precious soul into His Father's hands, seeing that He
+has fought the good fight, and finished His course in all holiness?
+It is meet, then, that He should obtain the crown of glory which His
+heavenly Father will give Him on the day of His exaltation.
+
+Lastly, by this word Christ offered up all His toil, sorrow, and
+affliction for all the elect, as the Apostle saith: "Who in the days
+of His flesh offered up prayer and supplications with strong crying
+and tears unto Him who was able to save Him from death, and was
+heard in that He feared. For if the blood of bulls and of goats and
+the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the
+purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who
+through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God,
+purge our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
+
+THE SEVENTH WORD
+
+OUR Lord Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and said, "Father,
+into Thy hands I commend My Spirit." O all ye who love our Lord
+Jesus Christ, come, I beseech you, and let us watch, with all
+devotion and pity, His passing away. Let us see what must have been
+His sorrow and agony and torment, when His glorious soul was now at
+last forced to pass out of His worthy and most sacred body, in which
+for thirty and three years it had rested so sweetly, peacefully,
+joyfully, and holily, even as two lovers on one bed. How hard was it
+for them to be rent asunder, between whom no disagreement had ever
+arisen, no strife, or quarrel, or treachery. How unspeakably
+grievous was that Cross, when His sacred body was compelled to part
+with so faithful a friend, so gentle an occupant, so loving a
+teacher and master; and how great was the sorrow with which His
+glorious and pure soul was torn away from so faithful a servant,
+which had ever served obediently, never sparing any trouble, never
+shrinking from cold or heat or hunger or thirst; always enduring
+labour and sorrow in gentleness and patience. O how great was this
+affliction! For, as the philosopher says: "Of all terrible things
+death is the most terrible, on account of the natural and mutual
+affection, which is very great, between soul and body." How much
+greater must have been the anguish and sorrow, when the most holy
+soul and body of Christ were sundered, between which there had
+always been such wonderful harmony and love. Therefore, with inward
+pity and anxious sorrow, let us meditate on this sad parting; for
+the death of Christ is our life.
+
+Let us meditate devoutly how His sacred body, the instrument of our
+salvation, was steeped in anguish, when all His members, as if to
+bid a last farewell, were bowing themselves down to die! Who can
+look without remorse and sorrow and pity upon the most gracious face
+of Christ, and behold how it is changed into the pallor and likeness
+of death; how tears still flow from His dimmed eyes; how His sacred
+head is bent; how all His members prove to us, by signs and motions,
+the love which they can no longer show by deeds. Let us pity Him, I
+pray you, for He is our own flesh and blood, and it is for our sins,
+not His own, that He is shamefully slain. O ye who up till now have
+passed by the Cross of Jesus with tepid or cold hearts, and whom all
+these torments and tears, and His blood shed like water, have not
+been able to soften; now at last let this loud voice, this terrible
+cry, rend and pierce your hearts through and through. Let that voice
+which shook the heaven and the earth and hell with fear, which rent
+the rocks and laid open ancient graves, now soften your stony
+hearts, and lay bare the old sepulchres of your conscience, full of
+dead men's bones--that is to say, of wicked deeds, and call again
+into life your departed spirits. For this is the voice which once
+cried: "Adam, where art thou; and what hast thou done?" This is the
+voice which brought Lazarus from Hades, saying, "Lazarus, come
+forth: arise from the grave of sin, and let them free thee from thy
+grave-clothes." Truly it was not so much the grievousness of His
+sufferings, as the greatness of our sins, which made our Lord utter
+this cry. He cried also, to show that He had the dominion over life
+and death, over the living and the dead. For though he was quite
+worn out, and destitute of strength, and though He had borne the
+bitter pangs of death so long, beyond the power of man, yet He would
+not allow Death to put forth its power against Him, until it pleased
+Him.
+
+With a loud voice He cried, that earthly men, who care only for the
+things of earth, might quake with fear and trembling, and to cause
+them to meditate and see how naked and helpless the Lord of lords
+departed from this life. With a terrible voice He cried, to stir up
+all those who live in wantonness, and who have grown old in their
+defilement, and send forth a foul savour, like dead dogs, so that at
+last these miserable men may rise from their lusts and pleasures and
+sensual delights, and see how the Son of God, who was never strained
+with any spot of defilement, went forth to His Father; and with what
+toil and pain and anguish He departed from the light of day, and
+what He had to suffer before He reached his Father's Kingdom. He
+also cried with a loud voice, that He might inflame the lukewarm and
+slothful to devotion and love.
+
+Moreover He cried with a loud voice as a sign of the glorious
+victory which He had gained, when after a single combat with His
+strong and cruel enemy, and having descended into the arena--the
+battlefield of this world--He had routed him on Mount Calvary and
+stripped him bare of his spoils. This victory, this glorious
+triumph, Christ proclaimed with a loud voice, and thus departing
+from the battlefield triumphant and victorious, He departed to the
+place of all delights, to the heart and breast of God, His Father,
+commending to it, as to a safe refuge, both Himself and all His own,
+with the words, "Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit."
+
+We may learn from these words that the eternal Word, our Lord Jesus
+Christ, had been let down like a fishing-hook or great net, by the
+Father of heaven, into the great sea of this world, that He might
+catch not fish but men. Hear how He says: "My word, that goeth forth
+out of My mouth shall not return unto Me void, but shall execute
+that which I please, and shall prosper in the thing whereto I send
+it." And this net is drawn by the Father out of the salt sea, to the
+peaceful shore of His fatherly heart, full of the elect, of works of
+charity, of repentance, patience, humility, obedience, spiritual
+exercises, merits and virtues. For Christ drew unto Himself all the
+afflictions and good deeds of the good; just as St Paul says, "I
+live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Even so, Christ lives in
+all the good, and all who have been willing and obedient instruments
+in the hands of Christ. In all such Christ lives and suffers and
+works. For whatever good there is in all men, is all God's work.
+Therefore Christ, feeling His Father drawing Him, gathered together
+in Himself in a wonderful manner all the elect with all their works,
+and commended them to His Father, saying, "My Father, these are
+Thine; these are the spoils which I have won by My conquest, by the
+sword of the Cross; these are the vessels which I have purchased
+with My precious blood; these are the fruits of My labours. Keep in
+Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me. I pray not that Thou
+shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep
+them from the evil." Thus did Christ commend Himself and all His own
+into His Father's hands. Come therefore, O faithful and devout soul,
+and contemplate with great earnestness the coming in and the going
+out of thy Lord Jesus; follow Him with love and longing, even to the
+chamber and bed of joy, which He has prepared for thee in thy
+Father's heart. Happy would he be, who could now be dissolved with
+Christ, and die with the thief, and hear from the lips of the Lord
+that comfortable word, "This day shalt thou be with Me in paradise."
+And though this is not granted to us, yet whatever we can here gain
+by labours and watchings and fastings and prayers, let us commend it
+all with Christ to the Father; let us pour it back again into the
+fountain, whence it flowed forth for us; and let nothing be left in
+us of empty self-satisfaction, no seeking after human praise or
+honour or reward. But whatever our God hath been willing to do in
+us, let us return it back into His own hands and say, "We are
+nothing of ourselves. It is He who made us, and not we ourselves.
+All good was made by Him, and without Him was not anything made.
+When therefore He taketh with Him what He made Himself, we are
+absolutely nothing."
+
+Lastly, Christ commended His soul into His Father's hands, to show
+us how the souls of good and holy men mount up after Him to the
+bosom of the eternal Father, who must otherwise have gone down to
+hell; for it is He who has opened to us the way of life, and His
+sacred soul, by making the journey safe and free from danger, has
+been our guide into the kingdom of heaven.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+SUSO
+
+
+
+
+
+SUSO AND HIS SPIRITUAL DAUGHTER
+
+AFTER this, certain very high thoughts arose in the mind of the
+servitor's spiritual daughter, concerning which she asked him
+whether she might put questions to him. He replied, Yea verily:
+since thou hast been led through the proper exercises, it is
+permitted to thy spiritual intelligence to enquire about high
+things. Ask then whatever thou wilt. She said: Tell me, father, what
+is God, and how He is both One and Three? The servitor replied,
+These be indeed high questions. As to the first, What is God, you
+must know that all the Doctors who ever lived cannot explain it, for
+He is above all sense and reason. Yet if a man is diligent, and does
+not relax his efforts, he gains some knowledge of God, though very
+far off. Yet in this knowledge of God consists our eternal life and
+man's supreme happiness. In this way, in former times, certain
+worthy philosophers searched for God, and especially that great
+thinker Aristotle, who tried to discover the Author of Nature from
+the order of nature and its course. He sought earnestly, and he was
+convinced from the well-ordered course of nature that there must of
+necessity be one Prince and Lord of the whole universe--He whom we
+call God. About this God and Lord we know this much, that He is an
+immortal Substance, eternal, without before or after, simple, bare,
+unchangeable, an incorporeal and essential Spirit, whose substance
+is life and energy, whose most penetrating intelligence knows all
+things in and by itself, whose essence in itself is an abyss of
+pleasures and joys, and who is to Himself, and to all who shall
+enjoy Him in a future life, a supernatural, ineffable, and most
+sweet happiness. The maiden, when she heard this, looked up, and
+said: These things are sweet to tell and sweet to hear, for they
+rouse the heart, and lift the spirit up far beyond itself.
+Therefore, father, tell me more about these things. The servitor
+said: The Divine Essence, about which we speak, is an intelligible
+or intellectual Substance of such a kind, that it cannot be seen in
+itself by mortal eyes; but it can be discerned in its effects, even
+as we recognise a fine artist by his works. As the Apostle teaches
+us, "The invisible things of God from the creation of the world are
+clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made." For the
+creatures are a kind of mirror, in which God shines. This knowledge
+is called speculation, by which we contemplate the great Architect
+of the world in His works. Come now, look upward and about thee,
+through all the quarters of the universe, and see how wide and high
+the beautiful heaven is, how swift its motion, and how marvellously
+its Creator has adorned it with the seven planets, and with the
+countless multitude of the twinkling stars. Consider what
+fruitfulness, what riches, the sun bestows upon the earth, when in
+summer it sheds abroad its rays unclouded! See how the leaves and
+grass shoot up, and the flowers smile, and the woods and plains
+resound with the sweet song of nightingales and other birds; how all
+the little animals, after being imprisoned by grim winter, come
+forth rejoicing, and pair; and how men and women, both old and
+young, rejoice and are merry. O Almighty God, if Thou art so lovable
+and so pleasant in Thy creatures, how happy and blessed, how full of
+all joy and beauty, must Thou be in Thyself? But further, my
+daughter, contemplate the elements themselves--Earth, Water, Air,
+and Fire, with all the wonderful things which they contain in
+infinite variety--men, beasts, birds, fishes, and sea-monsters. And
+all of these give praise and honour to the unfathomable immensity
+that is in Thee. Who is it, Lord, who preserves all these things,
+who nourishes them? It is Thou who providest for all, each in his
+own way, for great and small, rich and poor. Thou, O God, doest
+this; Thou alone art God indeed! Behold, my daughter, thou hast now
+found the God whom thou hast sought so long. Look up, then, with
+shining eyes, with radiant face and exulting heart, behold Him and
+embrace Him with the outstretched arms of thy soul and mind, and
+give thanks to Him as the one and supreme Lord of all creatures. By
+gazing on this mirror, there springs up speedily, in one of loving
+and pious disposition, an inward jubilation of the heart; for by
+this is meant a joy which no tongue can tell, though it pours with
+might through heart and soul. Alas, I now feel within me, that I
+must open for thee the closed mouth of my soul; and I am compelled,
+for the glory of God, to tell thee certain secrets, which I never
+yet told to any one. A certain Dominican, well known to me, at the
+beginning of his course used to receive from God twice every day,
+morning and evening, for ten years, an outpouring of grace like
+this, which lasted about as long as it would take to say the "Vigils
+of the Dead" twice over.[40] At these times he was so entirely
+absorbed in God, the eternal Wisdom, that he would not speak of it.
+Sometimes he would converse with God as with a friend, not with the
+mouth, but mentally; at other times he would utter piteous sighs to
+Him; at other times he would weep copiously, or smile silently. He
+often seemed to himself to be flying in the air, and swimming
+between time and eternity in the depth of the Divine wonders, which
+no man can fathom. And his heart became so full from this, that he
+would sometimes lay his hand upon it as it beat heavily, saying,
+"Alas, my heart, what labours will befall thee to-day?" One day it
+seemed to him that the heart of his heavenly Father was, in a
+spiritual and indescribable manner, pressed tenderly, and with
+nothing between, against his heart; and that the Father's
+heart--that is, the eternal Wisdom, spoke inwardly to his heart
+without forms.[41] Then he began to exclaim joyously in spiritual
+jubilation: Behold, now, Thou whom I most fervently love, thus do I
+lay bare my heart to Thee, and in simplicity and nakedness of all
+created things I embrace Thy formless Godhead! O God, most excellent
+of all friends! Earthly friends must needs endure to be distinct and
+separate from those whom they love; but Thou, O fathomless sweetness
+of all true love, meltest into the heart of Thy beloved, and pourest
+Thyself fully into the essence of his soul, that nothing of Thee
+remains outside, but Thou art joined and united most lovingly with
+Thy beloved.
+
+To this the maiden replied: Truly it is a great grace, when anyone
+is thus caught up into God. But I should like to be informed,
+whether this is the most perfect kind of union or not? The servitor
+answered: No, it is not the most perfect, but a preliminary, gently
+drawing a man on, that he may arrive at an essential way of being
+carried up into God. The maiden asked him what he meant by essential
+and non-essential. He answered: I call that man essential or
+habitual (so to speak), who by the good and persevering practice of
+all the virtues, has arrived at the point of finding the practice of
+them in their highest perfection pleasant to him, even as the
+brightness of the sun remains constant in the sun. But I call him
+non-essential, in whom the brightness of the virtues shines in an
+unstable and imperfect way like the brightness of the moon. That
+full delight of grace which I described is so sweet to the spirit of
+the non-essential man, that he would be glad always to have it. When
+he has it, he rejoices; when he is deprived of it, he grieves
+inordinately; and when it smiles upon him, he is reluctant to pass
+to doing other things, even things that are pleasing to God; as I
+will show you by an example. The servitor of the Divine Wisdom was
+once walking in the chapter-house, and his heart was full of
+heavenly jubilation, when the porter called him out to see a woman
+who wished to confess to him. He was unwilling to interrupt his
+inward delight, and received the porter harshly, bidding him tell
+the woman that she must find some one else to confess to, for he did
+not wish to hear her confession just then. She, however, being
+oppressed with the burden of her sins, said that she felt specially
+drawn to seek comfort from him, and that she would confess to no one
+else. And when he still refused to go out, she began to weep most
+sadly, and going into a corner, lamented greatly. Meanwhile, God
+quickly withdrew from the servitor the delights of grace, and his
+heart became as hard as flint. And when he desired to know the cause
+of this, God answered him inwardly: Even as thou hast driven away
+uncomforted that poor woman, so have I withdrawn from thee my Divine
+comfort. The servitor groaned deeply and beat his breast, and
+hurried to the door, and as he did not find the woman there, was
+much distressed. The porter, however, looked about for her
+everywhere, and when he found her, still weeping, bade her return to
+the door. When she came, the servitor received her gently, and
+comforted her sorrowing heart. Then he went back from her to the
+chapter-house, and immediately God was with him, with His Divine
+consolations, as before.
+
+Then said the maiden: It must be easy for him to bear sufferings, to
+whom God gives such jubilation and internal joys. And yet, said the
+servitor, all had to be paid for afterward with great suffering.
+However, at last, when all this had passed away, and God's appointed
+time had come, the same grace of jubilation was restored to him, and
+remained with him almost continuously both at home and abroad, in
+company and alone. Often in the bath or at table the same grace was
+with him; but it was now internal, and did show itself outside.
+
+Then the maiden said: My father, I have now learned what God is; but
+I am also eager to know where He is. Thou shalt hear, said the
+servitor. The opinion of the theologians is that God is in no
+particular place, but that He is everywhere, and all in all. The
+same doctors say that we come to know a thing through its name. Now
+one doctor says that Being is the first name of God. Turn your eyes,
+therefore, to Being in its pure and naked simplicity, and take no
+notice of this or that substance which can be torn asunder into
+parts and separated; but consider Being in itself, unmixed with any
+Not-Being. Whatever is nothing, is the negation of what is; and what
+is, is the negation of what is not. A thing which has yet to be, or
+which once was, is not now in actual being. Moreover, we cannot know
+mixed being or not-being unless we take into account that which is
+all-being. This Being is not the being of this or that creature; for
+all particular being is mixed with something extraneous, whereby it
+can receive something new into itself. Therefore the nameless Divine
+Being must be in itself a Being that is all-being, and that sustains
+all particular things by its presence.
+
+It shows the strange blindness of man's reason, that it cannot
+examine into that which it contemplates before everything, and
+without which it cannot perceive anything. Just as, when the eye is
+bent on noticing various colours, it does not observe the light
+which enables it to see all these objects, and even if it looks at
+the light it does not observe it; so it is with the eye of the soul.
+When it looks at this or that particular substance, it takes no heed
+of the being, which is everywhere one, absolute and simple, and by
+the virtue and goodness of which it can apprehend all other things.
+Hence the wise Aristotle says, that the eye of our intelligence,
+owing to its weakness, is affected towards that being which is
+itself the most manifest of all things, as the eye of a bat or owl
+is towards the bright rays of the sun. For particular substances
+distract and dazzle the mind, so that it cannot behold the Divine
+darkness, which is the clearest light.
+
+Come now, open the eyes of thy mind, and gaze if thou canst, on
+Being in its naked and simple purity. You will perceive that it
+comes from no one, and has no before nor after, and that it cannot
+change, because it is simple Being. You will also observe that it is
+the most actual, the most present, and the most perfect of beings,
+with no defect or mutation, because it is absolutely one in its bare
+simplicity. This is so evident to an instructed intellect, that it
+cannot think otherwise. Since it is simple Being, it must be the
+first of beings, and without beginning or end, and because it is the
+first and everlasting and simple, it must be the most present. If
+you can understand this, you will have been guided far into the
+incomprehensible light of God's hidden truth. This pure and simple
+Being is altogether in all things, and altogether outside all
+things. Hence a certain doctor says: God is a circle, whose centre
+is everywhere, and His circumference nowhere.
+
+When this had been said, the maiden answered: Blessed be God, I have
+been shown, as far as may be, both what God is, and where He is. But
+I should like also to be told how, if God is so absolutely simple,
+He can also be threefold.
+
+The servitor answered: The more simple any being is in itself, the
+more manifold is it in its energy and operation. That which has
+nothing gives nothing, and that which has much can give much. I have
+already spoken of the inflowing and overflowing fount of good which
+God is in Himself. This infinite and superessential goodness
+constrains Him not to keep it all within Himself, but to communicate
+it freely both within and without Himself. But the highest and most
+perfect outpouring of the good must be within itself, and this can
+be nought else but a present, interior, personal and natural
+outpouring, necessary, yet without compulsion, infinite and perfect.
+Other communications, in temporal matters, draw their origin from
+this eternal communication of the Divine Goodness. Some theologians
+say that in the outflow of the creatures from their first origin
+there is a return in a circle of the end to the beginning; for as
+the emanation of the Persons from the Godhead is an image of the
+origin of the creatures, so also it is a type of the flowing back of
+the creatures into God. There is, however, a difference between the
+outpouring of the creatures and that of God. The creature is only a
+particular and partial substance, and its giving and communication
+is also partial and limited. When a human father begets a son, he
+gives him part, but not the whole, of his own substance, for he
+himself is only a partial good. But the outpouring of God is of a
+more interior and higher kind than the creature's outpouring,
+inasmuch as He Himself is a higher good. If the outpouring of God is
+to be worthy of His pre-eminent being, it must be according to
+personal relations.
+
+Now, then, if you can look upon the pure goodness of the highest
+Good (which goodness is, by its nature, the active principle of the
+spontaneous love with which the highest Good loves itself) you will
+behold the most excellent and superessential outpouring of the Word
+from the Father, by which generation all things exist and are
+produced; and you will see also in the highest good, and the highest
+outpouring, the most holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
+existing in the Godhead. And if the highest outpouring proceeds from
+the highest essential good, it follows that there must be in this
+Trinity the highest and most intimate consubstantiality or community
+of being, and complete equality and identity of essence, which the
+Persons enjoy in sweetest communion, and also that the Substance and
+power of the three almighty Persons is undivided and unpartitioned.
+
+Here the maiden exclaimed: Marvellous! I swim in the Godhead like an
+eagle in the air. The servitor, resuming his exposition, continued:
+It is impossible to express in words how the Trinity can subsist in
+the unity of one essence. Nevertheless, to say what may be said on
+the subject, Augustine says that in the Godhead the Father is the
+Fountain-head of the Son and the Holy Ghost. Dionysius says, that in
+the Father there is an outflowing of the Godhead, which naturally
+communicates itself to the Word or Son. He also freely and lovingly
+pours Himself out into the Son; and the Son in turn pours Himself
+out freely and lovingly into the Father; and this love of the Father
+for the Son, and of the Son for the Father, is the Holy Ghost. This
+is truly said, but it is made clearer by that glorious Doctor of the
+Church, St Thomas, who says as follows: In the outpouring of the
+Word from the Father's heart, God the Father must contemplate
+Himself with His own mind, bending back, as it were, upon His Divine
+essence; for if the reason of the Father had not the Divine essence
+for its object, the Word so conceived would be a creature instead of
+God; which is false. But in the way described He is "God of God."
+Again, this looking back upon the Divine essence, which takes place
+in the mind of God, must, in a manner, produce a natural likeness;
+else the Word would not be the Son of God. So here we have the unity
+of essence in the diversity of Persons; and a clear proof of this
+distinction may be found in the word of that soaring eagle St John:
+"The Word was in the beginning with God."
+
+Thus the Father is the Fountain-head of the Son, and the Son is the
+outflowing of the Father; and the Father and Son pour forth the
+Spirit; and the Unity, which is the essence of the Fountain-head, is
+also the substance of the three Persons. But as to how the Three are
+One, this cannot be expressed in words, on account of the simplicity
+of that Abyss. Into this intellectual Where, the spirits of men made
+perfect soar and plunge themselves, now flying over infinite
+heights, now swimming in unfathomed depths, marvelling at the high
+and wonderful mysteries of the Godhead. Nevertheless, the spirit
+remains a spirit, and retains its nature, while it enjoys the vision
+of the Divine Persons, and abstracted from all occupation with
+things below contemplates with fixed gaze those stupendous
+mysteries. For what can be more marvellous than that simple Unity,
+into which the Trinity of the Persons merges itself, and in which
+all multiplicity ceases? For the outflowing of the Persons is always
+tending back into the Unity of the same essence, and all creatures,
+according to their ideal existence in God, are from eternity in this
+Unity, and have their life, knowledge, and essence in the eternal
+God; as it is said in the Gospel: "That which was made, was Life in
+Him."[42] This bare Unity is a dark silence and tranquil inactivity,
+which none can understand unless he is illuminated by the Unity
+itself, unmixed with any evil. Out of this shines forth hidden
+truth, free from all falsehood; and this truth is born from the
+unveiling of the veiled Divine purity; for after the revelation of
+these things, the spirit is at last unclothed of the dusky light
+which up till now has followed it, and in which it has hitherto seen
+things in an earthly way. Indeed, the spirit finds itself now
+changed and something very different from what it supposed itself to
+be according to its earlier light: even as St Paul says, "I, yet not
+I." Thus it is unclothed and simplified in the simplicity of the
+Divine essence, which shines upon all things in simple stillness. In
+this modeless mode of contemplation, the permanent distinction of
+the Persons, viewed as separate, is lost. For, as some teach, it is
+not the Person of the Father, taken by Himself, which produces
+bliss, nor the Person of the Son, taken by Himself, nor the Person
+of the Holy Ghost, taken by Himself; but the three Persons, dwelling
+together in the unity of the essence, confer bliss. And this is the
+natural essence of the Persons, which by grace gives the substance
+or essence to all their creatures, and it contains in itself the
+ideas of all things in their simple essence. Now since this ideal
+light subsists as Being, so all things subsist in it according to
+their essential being, not according to their accidental forms; and
+since it shines upon all things, its property is to subsist as
+light. Hence all things shine forth in this essence in interior
+stillness, without altering its simplicity.
+
+Then the maiden said: I could wish greatly, sir, that you could give
+me this mysterious teaching, as you understand it, under a figure,
+that I might understand it better. I should also be glad if you
+could sum up what you have been saying at length, so that it may
+stick more firmly in my weak mind. The servitor replied: Who can
+express in forms what has no form? Who can explain that which has no
+mode of being, and is above sense and reason? Any similitude must be
+infinitely more unlike than like the reality. Nevertheless, that I
+may drive out forms from your mind by forms, I will try to give you
+a picture of these ideas which surpass all forms, and to sum up a
+long discourse in a few words. A certain wise theologian says that
+God, in regard to His Godhead, is like a vast circle, of which the
+centre is everywhere, and the circumference nowhere. Now consider
+the image which follows. If anyone throws a great stone into the
+middle of a pool, a ring is formed in the water, and this ring makes
+a second ring, and the second a third; and the number and size of
+the rings depend on the force of the throw. They may even require a
+larger space than the limit of the pool. Suppose now that the first
+ring represents the omnipotent virtue of the Divine nature, which is
+infinite in God the Father. This produces another ring like itself,
+which is the Son. And the two produce the third, which is the Holy
+Ghost. The spiritual superessential begetting of the Divine Word is
+the cause of the creation of all spirits and all things. This
+supreme Spirit has so ennobled man, as to shed upon him a ray from
+His own eternal Godhead. This is the image of God in the mind, which
+is itself eternal. But many men turn away from this dignity of their
+nature, befouling the bright image of God in themselves, and turning
+to the bodily pleasures of this world. They pursue them greedily and
+devote themselves to them, till death unexpectedly stops them. But
+he who is wise, turns himself and elevates himself, with the help of
+the Divine spark in his soul, to that which is stable and eternal,
+whence he had his own origin: he says farewell to all the fleeting
+creatures, and clings to the eternal truth alone.
+
+Attend also to what I say about the order in which the spirit ought
+to return to God. First of all, we should disentangle ourselves
+absolutely from the pleasures of the world, manfully turning our
+backs upon all vices; we should turn to God by continual prayers, by
+seclusion, and holy exercise, that the flesh may thus be subdued to
+the spirit. Next, we must offer ourselves willingly to endure all
+the troubles which may come upon us, from God, or from the
+creatures. Thirdly, we must impress upon ourselves the Passion of
+Christ crucified; we must fix upon our minds His sweet teaching, His
+most gentle conversation, His most pure life, which He gave us for
+our example, and so we must penetrate deeper and advance further in
+our imitation of Him. Fourthly, we must divest ourselves of external
+occupations, and establish ourselves in a tranquil stillness of soul
+by an energetic resignation, as if we were dead to self, and thought
+only of the honour of Christ and His heavenly Father. Lastly, we
+should be humble towards all men, whether friends or foes. . . . But
+all these images, with their interpretations, are as unlike the
+formless truth as a black Ethiopian is to the bright sun.
+
+Soon after this holy maiden died, and passed away happy from earth,
+even as her whole life had been conspicuous only for her virtues.
+After her death she appeared to her spiritual father in a vision.
+She was clothed in raiment whiter than snow; she shone with dazzling
+brightness, and was full of heavenly joy. She came near to him, and
+showed him in what an excellent fashion she had passed away into the
+simple Godhead. He saw and heard her with exceeding delight, and the
+vision filled his soul with heavenly consolations. When he returned
+to himself, he sighed most deeply, and thus pondered: O Almighty
+God, how blessed is he, who strives after Thee alone! He may well be
+content to bear affliction, whose sufferings Thou wilt thus reward!
+May the Almighty God grant that we likewise may be brought to the
+same joys as this blessed maiden!
+
+A MEDITATION ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST
+
+THEN said the Eternal Wisdom to the servitor, Attend and listen
+dutifully, while I tell thee what sufferings I lovingly endured for
+thy sake.
+
+After I had finished My last Supper with My disciples, when I had
+offered Myself to My enemies on the mount, and had resigned Myself
+to bear a terrible death, and knew that it was approaching very
+near, so great was the oppression of My tender heart and all My
+body, that I sweated blood; then I was wickedly arrested, bound, and
+carried away. On the same night they treated Me with insult and
+contumely, beating Me, spitting upon Me, and covering My head.
+Before Caiaphas was I unjustly accused and condemned to death. What
+misery it was to see My mother seized with unspeakable sorrow of
+heart, from the time when she beheld Me threatened with such great
+dangers, till the time when I was hung upon the cross. They brought
+Me before Pilate with every kind of ignominy, they accused Me
+falsely, they adjudged Me worthy of death. Before Herod I, the
+Eternal Wisdom, was mocked in a bright robe. My fair body was
+miserably torn and rent by cruel scourgings. They surrounded My
+sacred head with a crown of thorns; My gracious face was covered
+with blood and spittings. When they had thus condemned Me to death,
+they led Me out with My cross to bear the last shameful punishment.
+Their terrible and savage cries could be heard afar off: "Crucify,
+crucify, the wicked man."
+
+Servitor. Alas, Lord, if so bitter were the beginnings of Thy
+passion, what will be the end thereof? In truth, if I saw a brute
+beast so treated in my presence I could hardly bear it. What grief
+then should I feel in heart and soul at Thy Passion? And yet there
+is one thing at which I marvel greatly. For I long, O my most dear
+God, to know only Thy Godhead; and Thou tellest me of Thy humanity.
+I long to taste Thy sweetness, and Thou showest me Thy bitterness.
+What meaneth this, O my Lord God?
+
+Wisdom. No man can come to the height of My Godhead, nor attain to
+that unknown sweetness, unless he be first led through the
+bitterness of My humanity. My humanity is the road by which men must
+travel. My Passion is the gate, through which they must enter. Away
+then with thy cowardice of heart, and come to Me prepared for a hard
+campaign. For it is not right for the servant to live softly and
+delicately, while his Lord is fighting bravely. Come, I will now put
+on thee My own armour. And so thou must thyself also experience the
+whole of My Passion, so far as thy strength permits. Take,
+therefore, the heart of a man; for be sure that thou wilt have to
+endure many deaths, before thou canst put thy nature under the yoke.
+I will sprinkle thy garden of spices with red flowers. Many are the
+afflictions which will come upon thee; till thou hast finished thy
+sad journey of bearing the cross, and hast renounced thine own will
+and disengaged thyself so completely from all creatures, in all
+things, which might hinder thine eternal salvation, as to be like
+one about to die, and no longer mixed up with the affairs of this
+life.
+
+Servitor. Hard and grievous to bear are the things which Thou
+sayest, Lord. I tremble all over. How can I bear all these things?
+Suffer me, O Lord, to ask Thee something. Couldst Thou not devise
+any other way of saving my soul, and of testifying Thy love towards
+me, so as to spare Thyself such hard sufferings, and so that I need
+not suffer so bitterly with Thee?
+
+Wisdom. The unfathomable Abyss of My secret counsels no man ought to
+seek to penetrate, for no one can comprehend it. And yet that which
+thou hast suggested, and many other things, might have been
+possible, which nevertheless never happen. Be assured, however, that
+as created things now are, no more fitting method could be found.
+The Author of Nature doth not think so much what He is able to do in
+the world, as what is most fitting for every creature; and this is
+the principle of His operations. And by what other means could the
+secrets of God have been made known to man, than by the assumption
+of humanity by Christ? By what other means could he who had deprived
+himself of joy by the inordinate pursuit of pleasure, be brought
+back more fittingly to the joys of eternity? And who would be
+willing to tread the path, avoided by all, of a hard and despised
+life, if God had not trodden it Himself? If thou wert condemned to
+death, how could any one show his love and fidelity to thee more
+convincingly, or provoke thee to love him in return more powerfully,
+than by taking thy sentence upon himself? If, then, there is any one
+who is not roused and moved to love Me from his heart by My immense
+love, My infinite pity, My exalted divinity, My pure humanity, My
+brotherly fidelity, My sweet friendship, is there anything that
+could soften that stony heart?
+
+Servitor. The light begins to dawn upon me, and I seem to myself to
+see clearly that it is as Thou sayest, and that whoever is not
+altogether blind must admit that this is the best and most fitting
+of all ways. And yet the imitation of Thee is grievous to a slothful
+and corruptible body.
+
+Wisdom. Shrink not because thou must follow the footsteps of My
+Passion. For he who loves God, and is inwardly united to Him, finds
+the cross itself light and easy to bear, and has nought to complain
+of. No one receives from Me more marvellous sweetness, than he who
+shares My bitterest labours. He only complains of the bitterness of
+the rind, who has not tasted the sweetness of the kernel. He who
+relies on Me as his protector and helper may be considered to have
+accomplished a large part of his task.
+
+Servitor. Lord, by these consoling words I am so much encouraged,
+that I seem to myself to be able to do and suffer all things through
+Thee. I pray Thee, then, that Thou wilt unfold the treasure of Thy
+Passion to me more fully.
+
+Wisdom. When I was hung aloft and fastened to the wood of the cross
+(which I bore for My great love to thee and all mankind), all the
+wonted appearance of My body was piteously changed. My bright eyes
+lost their light; My sacred ears were filled with mocking and
+blasphemy; My sweet mouth was hurt by the bitter drink. Nowhere was
+there any rest or refreshment for Me. My sacred head hung down in
+pain; My fair neck was cruelly bruised; My shining face was
+disfigured by festering wounds; My fresh colour was turned to
+pallor. In a word, the beauty of My whole body was so marred, that I
+appeared like a leper--I, the Divine Wisdom, who am fairer than the
+sun.
+
+Servitor. O brightest mirror of grace, which the Angels desire to
+look into, in which they delight to fix their gaze, would that I
+might behold Thy beloved countenance in the throes of death just
+long enough to water it with the tears of my heart, and to satisfy
+my mind with lamentations over it.
+
+Wisdom. No one more truly testifies his grief over My Passion, than
+he who in very deed passes through it with Me. Far more pleasing to
+Me is a heart disentangled from the love of all transitory things,
+and earnestly intent on gaining the highest perfection according to
+the example which I have set before him in My life, than one which
+continually weeps over My Passion, shedding as many tears as all the
+raindrops that ever fell. For this was what I most desired and
+looked for in My endurance of that cruel death--namely, that mankind
+might imitate Me; and yet pious tears are very dear to Me.
+
+Servitor. Since then, O most gracious God, the imitation of Thy most
+gentle life and most loving Passion is so pleasing to Thee, I will
+henceforth labour more diligently to follow Thy Passion than to weep
+over it. But since both are pleasing to Thee, teach me, I pray Thee,
+how I ought to conform myself to Thy Passion.
+
+Wisdom. Forbid thyself the pleasure of curious and lax seeing and
+hearing; let love make sweet to thee those things which formerly
+thou shrankest from; eschew bodily pleasures; rest in Me alone; bear
+sweetly and moderately the ills that come from others; desire to
+despise thyself; break thy appetites; crush out all thy pleasures
+and desires. These are the first elements in the school of Wisdom,
+which are read in the volume of the book of My crucified body. But
+consider whether anyone, do what he may, can make himself for My
+sake such as I made Myself for his.
+
+Servitor. Come then, my soul, collect thyself from all external
+things, into the tranquil silence of the inner man. Woe is me! My
+heavenly Father had adopted my soul to be His bride; but I fled far
+from Him. Alas, I have lost my Father, I have lost my Lover. Alas,
+alas, and woe is me! What have I done, what have I lost? Shame on
+me, I have lost myself, and all the society of my heavenly country.
+All that could delight and cheer me has utterly forsaken me; I am
+left naked. My false lovers were only deceivers. They have stripped
+me of all the good things which my one true Lover gave me; they have
+despoiled me of all honour, joy, and consolation. O ye red roses and
+white lilies, behold me a vile weed, and see also how soon those
+flowers wither and die, which this world plucks. And yet, O most
+gracious God, none of my sufferings are of any account, compared
+with this, that I have grieved the eyes of my heavenly Father. This
+is indeed hell, and a cross more intolerable than all other pain. O
+heart of mine, harder than flint or adamant, why dost thou not break
+for grief? Once I was called the bride of the eternal King, now I
+deserve not to be called the meanest of his handmaids. Never again
+shall I dare to raise mine eyes, for shame. O that I could hide
+myself in some vast forest, with none to see or hear me, till I had
+wept to my heart's desire. O Sin, Sin, whither hast thou brought me?
+O deceitful World, woe to those who serve thee! Now I have thy
+reward, I receive thy wages--namely, that I am a burden to myself
+and the whole world, and always shall be.
+
+Wisdom. Thou must by no means despair; it was for thy sins and those
+of others that I came into this world, that I might restore thee to
+Thy heavenly Father, and bring thee back to greater glory and honour
+than thou ever hadst before.
+
+Servitor. Ah, what is this, which whispers such flattering things to
+a soul that is dead, abhorred, rejected?
+
+Wisdom. Dost thou not know Me? Why art thou so despondent? Art thou
+beside thyself with excessive grief, My dearest son? Knowest thou
+not that I am Wisdom, most gentle and tender, in whom is the Abyss
+of infinite mercy, never yet explored perfectly even by all the
+saints, but none the less open to thee and all other sorrowing
+hearts. I am he who for thy sake willed to be poor and an exile,
+that I might recall thee to thy former honour. I am He who bore a
+bitter death, that I might restore thee to life. I am thy Brother; I
+am thy Bridegroom. I have put away all the wrong that thou ever
+didst against Me, even as if it had never been, only henceforth,
+thou must turn wholly to Me, and never again forsake Me. Wash away
+thy stains in My blood. Lift up thy head, open thine eyes, and take
+heart. In token of reconciliation, take this ring and put it on thy
+finger as My bride, put on this robe, and these shoes on thy feet,
+and receive this sweet and loving name, that thou mayst both be and
+be called for ever My bride. Thou has cost Me much labour and pain;
+for that cause, the Abyss of My mercy toward thee is unfathomable.
+
+Servitor. O kindest Father, O sweetest Brother, O only joy of my
+heart, wilt Thou be so favourable to my unworthy soul? What is this
+grace? What is the Abyss of Thy clemency and mercy? From the bottom
+of my heart I thank Thee, O heavenly Father, and beseech Thee by Thy
+beloved Son, whom Thou hast willed to suffer a cruel death for love,
+to forget my impieties. . . .
+
+Now, O Lord, I remember that most loving word, wherewith in the book
+of Ecclesiasticus[43] Thou drawest us to Thyself. "Come to me, all
+ye who desire me, and be filled with my fruits. I am the mother of
+beautiful affection. My breath is sweeter than honey, and my
+inheritance above honey and the honeycomb." "Wine and music rejoice
+the heart, and above both is the love of Wisdom."[44] Of a surety, O
+Lord, Thou showest Thyself so lovable and desirable, that it is no
+wonder that the hearts of all long for Thee, and are tormented by
+the desire of Thee. Thy words breathe love, and flow so sweetly,
+that in many hearts the love of temporal things has wholly dried up.
+Therefore, I greatly long to hear Thee speak of Thy lovableness.
+Come, O Lord, my only comfort, speak to the heart of Thy servant.
+For I sleep sweetly beneath Thy shadow, and my heart is awake.
+
+Wisdom. Hear, My son, and see; incline thine ear, forgetting thyself
+and all other things. Lo, I in Myself am that ineffable Good, which
+is and ever was; which has never been expressed nor ever will be.
+For although I give Myself to be felt by men in their inmost hearts,
+yet no tongue can ever declare or explain in words what I am. For
+verily all the beauty, grace, and adornment which can be conceived
+by thee or by others, exists in me far more excellently, more
+pleasantly, more copiously, than any one could say in words. I am
+the most loving Word of the Father, begotten from the pure substance
+of the Father, and wondrously pleasing am I to His loving eyes in
+the sweet and burning love of the Holy Spirit. I am the throne of
+happiness, the crown of souls: most bright are Mine eyes, most
+delicate My mouth, My cheeks are red and white, and all My
+appearance is full of grace and loveliness. All the heavenly host
+gaze upon Me with wonder and admiration; their eyes are ever fixed
+upon Me, their hearts rest in Me, their minds turn to Me and turn
+again. O thrice and four times happy is he, to whom it shall be
+given to celebrate this play of love amid heavenly joys at My side,
+holding My tender hands in happiest security, for ever and ever to
+all eternity. Only the word that proceeds out of My sweet mouth
+surpasses the melodies of all the angels, the sweet harmony of all
+harps, and musical instruments of every kind....
+
+Servitor. There are three things, O Lord, at which I marvel greatly.
+The first is, that although Thou art in Thyself so exceedingly
+loving, yet towards sin Thou art a most severe judge and avenger.
+Alas, Thy face in wrath is too terrible; the words which Thou
+speakest in anger pierce the heart and soul like fire. O holy and
+adorable God, save me from Thy wrathful countenance, and defer not
+till the future life my punishment.
+
+Wisdom. I am the unchangeable Good, remaining always the same. The
+reason why I do not appear always the same, is on account of those
+who do not behold Me in the same way. By nature I am friendly; yet
+none the less I punish vice severely, so that I deserve to be
+feared. From My friends I require a pure and filial fear, and a
+friendly love, that fear may ever restrain them from sin, and that
+love may join them to Me in unbroken loyalty.
+
+Servitor. What Thou sayest pleases me, O Lord, and it is as I would
+have it. But there is another thing at which I greatly marvel--how
+it is that when the soul is faint from desire of the sweetness of
+Thy presence, Thou art wholly mute, and dost not utter a single word
+that can be heard. And who, O Lord, would not be grieved, when Thou
+showest Thyself so strange, so silent, to the soul that loves Thee
+above all things?
+
+Wisdom. And yet all the creatures speak of Me.
+
+Servitor. But that is by no means enough for the soul that loves.
+
+Wisdom. Also every word that is uttered about Me is a message of My
+love; all the voices of holy Scripture that are written about Me are
+letters of love, sweet as honey. They are to be received as if I had
+written them Myself. Ought not this to satisfy thee?
+
+Servitor. Nay but, O most holy God, dearest Friend of all to me,
+Thou knowest well that a heart which is on fire with love is not
+satisfied with anything that is not the Beloved himself, in whom is
+its only comfort. Even though all the tongues of all the angelic
+spirits were to speak to me, none the less would my unquenchable
+love continue to yearn and strive for the one thing which it
+desires. The soul that loves Thee would choose Thee rather than the
+kingdom of heaven. Pardon me, O Lord: it would become Thee to show
+more kindness to those who love Thee so ardently, who sigh and look
+up to Thee and say: Return, return! Who anxiously debate with
+themselves: alas, thinkest thou that thou hast offended Him? That He
+has deserted thee? Thinkest thou that He will ever restore thee His
+most sweet presence, that thou wilt ever again embrace Him with the
+arms of Thy heart, and press Him to thy breast, that all thy grief
+and trouble may vanish? All this, O Lord, Thou hearest and knowest,
+and yet Thou art silent.
+
+Wisdom. Certainly I know all this, and I watch it with great
+pleasure. But I would have thee also answer a few questions, since
+thy wonder, though veiled, is so great. What is it which gives the
+greatest joy to the highest of all created spirits?
+
+�Servitor. Ah, Lord, this question is beyond my range. I prithee,
+answer it Thyself.
+
+Wisdom. I will do as thou desirest. The highest angelic spirit finds
+nothing more desirable or more delightful than to satisfy My will in
+all things; so much so, that if he knew that it would redound to My
+praise for him to root out nettles and tares, he would diligently
+fulfil this task in preference to all others.
+
+Servitor. Of a truth, Lord, this answer of Thine touches me sharply.
+I perceive that it is Thy will that I should be resigned in the
+matter of receiving and feeling tokens of Thy love, and that I
+should seek Thy glory alone, in dryness and hardness as well as in
+sweetness.
+
+Wisdom. No resignation is more perfect or more excellent, than to be
+resigned in dereliction.
+
+�Servitor. And yet, O Lord, the pain is very grievous.
+
+Wisdom. Wherein is virtue proved, if not in adversity? But be
+assured, that I often come, and try whether the door into My house
+is open, but find Myself repulsed. Many times I am received like a
+stranger, harshly treated, and then driven out of doors. Nay, I not
+only come to the soul that loves me, but tarry with her like a
+friend; but that is done so secretly, that none know it save those
+who live quite detached and separated from men, and observe My ways,
+and care only to please and satisfy My grace. For according to My
+Divinity I am purest Spirit, and I am received spiritually in pure
+spirits.
+
+Servitor. So far as I understand, Lord God, Thou art a very secret
+Lover. How glad would I be if Thou wouldest give me some signs, by
+which I might know Thee to be truly present.
+
+Wisdom. By no other way canst thou know the certainty of My presence
+better, than when I hide Myself from thee, and withdraw what is Mine
+from thy soul. Then at last thou knowest by experience what I am,
+and what thou art. Of a surety I am everlasting Good, without whom
+no one can have anything good. When therefore I impart that immense
+Good, which is Myself, generously and lovingly, and scatter it
+abroad, all things to which I communicate Myself are clothed with a
+certain goodness, by which My presence can be as easily inferred, as
+that of the Sun, the actual ball of which cannot be seen, by its
+rays. If therefore thou ever feelest My presence, enter into
+thyself, and learn how to separate the roses from the thorns, the
+flowers from the weeds.
+
+Servitor. Lord, I do search, and I find within myself a great
+diversity. When I am deserted by Thee, my soul is like a sick man,
+whose taste is spoiled. Nothing pleases me, but all things disgust
+me. My body is torpid, my mind oppressed; within is dryness, without
+is sadness. All that I see or hear, however good in reality, is
+distasteful and hateful to me. I am easily led into sins; I am weak
+to resist my enemies; I am cold or lukewarm towards all good.
+Whoever comes to me, finds my house empty. For the House-Father is
+away, who knows how to counsel for the best, and to inspire the
+whole household. On the other hand, when the day-star arises in my
+inmost heart, all the pain quickly vanishes, all the darkness is
+dispelled, and a great brightness arises and shines forth. My heart
+laughs, my mind is exalted, my soul becomes cheerful, all things
+around me are blithe and merry; whatever is around me and within me
+is turned to Thy praise. That which before seemed hard, difficult,
+irksome, impossible, becomes suddenly easy and pleasant. To give
+myself to fasting, watching, and prayer, to suffer or abstain or
+avoid, in a word all the hardnesses of life seem when compared with
+Thy presence to have no irksomeness at all. My soul is bathed in
+radiance, truth, and sweetness, so that all its labours are
+forgotten. My heart delights itself in abundant sweet meditations,
+my tongue learns to speak of high things, my body is brisk and ready
+for any undertaking; whoever comes to ask my advice, takes back with
+him high counsels such as he desired to hear. In short, I seem to
+myself to have transcended the limits of time and space, and to be
+standing on the threshold of eternal bliss. But who, O Lord, can
+secure for me, that I may be long in this state? Alas, in a moment
+it is withdrawn from me; and for a long space again I am left as
+naked and destitute as if I had never experienced anything of the
+kind; till at last, after many and deep sighings of heart, it is
+restored to me. Is this Thou, O Lord, or rather I myself? Or what is
+it?
+
+Wisdom. Of thyself thou hast nothing except faults and defects.
+Therefore that about which thou askest is I Myself, and this is the
+play of love.
+
+Servitor. What is the play of love?
+
+Wisdom. So long as the loved one is present with the lover, the
+lover knoweth not how dear the loved one is to him; it is only
+separation which can teach him that.
+
+Servitor. It is a very grievous game. But tell me, Lord, are there
+any who in this life no longer experience these vicissitudes of Thy
+presence?
+
+Wisdom. You will find very few indeed. For never to be deprived of
+My presence belongs not to temporal but to eternal life.
+
+APHORISMS AND MAXIMS
+
+ACT according to the truth in simplicity; and, whatever happens, do
+not help thyself; for he who helps himself too much will not be
+helped by the Truth.
+
+God wishes not to deprive us of pleasure; but He wishes to give us
+pleasure in its totality--that is, all pleasure.
+
+Wilt thou be of use to all creatures? Then turn thyself away from
+all creatures.
+
+If a man cannot comprehend a thing, let him remain quiet, and it
+will comprehend him.
+
+Say to the creatures, I will not be to thee what thou art to me.
+
+The power of abstaining from things gives us more power than the
+possession of them would.
+
+Some men one meets who have been inwardly drawn by God, but have not
+followed Him. The inner man and the outer man in these cases are
+widely at variance, and in this way many fail.
+
+He who has attained to the purgation of his senses in God performs
+all the operations of the senses all the better.
+
+He who finds the inward in the outward goes deeper than he who only
+finds the inward in the inward.
+
+He is on the right road who contemplates under the forms of things
+their eternal essence.
+
+It is well with a man who has died to self and begun to live in
+Christ.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+RUYSBROEK
+
+THE ADORNMENT OF THE SPIRITUAL NUPTIALS
+
+BOOK I
+
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+"SEE the Bridegroom cometh: go forth to meet Him." St Matthew the
+evangelist wrote these words, and Christ said them to His disciples
+and to all men, in the Parable of the Ten Virgins. The Bridegroom is
+our Lord Jesus Christ, and human nature is the bride, whom God has
+made in His own image and likeness. He placed her at first in the
+most exalted, the most beautiful, the richest and most fertile place
+on earth--in paradise. He subjected to her all the creatures; He
+adorned her with graces; and He laid a prohibition upon her, in
+order that by obedience she might deserve to be established in an
+eternal union with her Bridegroom, and never more fall into any
+affliction, trouble, or guilt. Then came a deceiver--the infernal,
+envious foe, under the guise of a cunning serpent. He deceived the
+woman, and the two together deceived the man, who possessed the
+essence of human nature. So the enemy despoiled human nature, the
+bride of God, by his deceitful counsels, and she was driven into a
+strange country; poor and miserable, a prisoner and oppressed,
+persecuted by her enemies, as if she could never more return to her
+country and the grace of reconciliation. But when God saw that the
+time was come, and took pity on the sufferings of His beloved, He
+sent His only Son to earth, in a rich abode and a glorious
+temple--that is to say, in the body of the Virgin Mary. There he
+married His bride, our nature, and united it to His Person, by means
+of the pure blood of the noble Virgin. The priest who joined the
+Bride and Bridegroom was the Holy Spirit; the angel Gabriel
+announced the marriage, and the blessed Virgin gave her consent. So
+Christ, our faithful Bridegroom, united our nature to His, and
+visited us in a strange land, and taught us the manners of heaven
+and perfect fidelity. And He laboured and fought like a champion
+against our enemy, and He broke the prison and gained the victory,
+and His death slew our death, and His blood delivered us, and He set
+us free in baptism under the life-giving waters, and enriched us by
+His sacraments and gifts, that we might go forth, as He said,
+adorned with all virtues, and might meet Him in the abode of His
+glory, to enjoy Him throughout all eternity.
+
+Now the Master of truth, Christ, saith: "See, the Bridegroom
+cometh, go forth to meet Him." In these words Jesus, our Lover,
+teaches us four things. In the first word He gives a command, for He
+says, "See." Those who remain blind, and those who resist this
+command are condemned without exception. In the next word He shows
+us what we shall see--that is to say, the coming of the Bridegroom,
+when He says, "The Bridegroom cometh." In the third place, He
+teaches us and commands us what we ought to do, when He says, "Go
+forth." In the fourth place, when He says, "to meet Him," He shows
+us the reward of all our works and of all our life, for that must be
+a loving "going forth," by which we meet our Bridegroom.
+
+We shall explain and analyse these words in three ways, first,
+according to the ordinary mode of the beginner's life--that is to
+say, the active life, which is necessary to all who would be saved.
+In the second place, we shall analyse these words by applying them
+to the inner life, exalted and loving, to which many men arrive by
+the virtues and by the grace of God. Thirdly, we shall explain them
+by applying them to the superessential and contemplative life, to
+which few attain and which few can taste, because of the supreme
+sublimity of this life.
+
+ON THE ACTIVE LIFE
+
+CHRIST, the Wisdom of the Father, hath said from the time of Adam
+and still saith (inwardly, according to His Divinity), to all men,
+"See"; and this vision is necessary. Now let us observe attentively
+that for him who wishes to see materially or spiritually, three
+things are necessary. First, in order that a man may be able to see
+materially, he must have the external light of heaven, or another
+natural light, in order that the medium--that is to say, the air
+across which one sees, may be illuminated. In the second place, he
+must have the will, that the things which he will see may be
+reflected in his eyes. Thirdly, he must have the instruments, his
+eyes, healthy and without flaw, that the material objects may be
+exactly reflected in them. If a man lacks any one of these three
+things, his material vision disappears. We shall speak no more of
+this vision, but of another, spiritual and supernatural, wherein all
+our blessedness resides.
+
+Three things are necessary for spiritual and supernatural vision.
+First, the light of the divine grace, then the free conversion of
+the will towards God, and lastly, a conscience pure from all mortal
+sin. Now observe: God being a God common to all, and His boundless
+love being common to all, He grants a double grace; both antecedent
+grace, and the grace by which one merits eternal life. All men,
+heathens and Jews, good and bad, have in common antecedent grace. In
+consequence of the common love of God towards all men, He has caused
+to be preached and published His name and the deliverance of human
+nature, even to the ends of the earth. He who wishes to be converted
+can be converted. For God wishes to save all men and to lose none.
+At the day of judgment none will be able to complain that enough was
+not done for him, if he had wished to be converted. So God is a
+common Light and Splendour which illumine heaven and earth, and men
+according to their merits and their needs. But though God is common,
+and though the sun shines on all trees, some trees remain without
+fruit, and others bear wild fruit useless to mankind. This is why we
+prune these trees and graft fertile branches upon them, that they
+may bear good fruit, sweet to taste and useful for men. The fertile
+branch which comes from the living paradise of the eternal kingdom,
+is the light of divine grace. No work can have savour, or be useful
+to man, unless it comes from this branch. This branch of divine
+grace, which makes man acceptable and by which we merit eternal
+life, is offered to all. But it is not grafted on all, for they will
+not purge away the wild branches of their trees--that is to say,
+unbelief or a perverse will, or disobedience to the commandments of
+God. But in order that this branch of divine grace may be planted in
+our soul, three things are necessary; the antecedent grace of God,
+the conversion of our free will, and the purification of the
+conscience. Antecedent grace touches all men; but all men do not
+attain to free conversion and purification of the conscience, and
+this is why the grace of God, by which they might merit eternal
+life, fails to touch them. The antecedent grace of God touches man
+from within or from without. From without, by sickness or loss of
+outward goods, of relations and friends, or by public shame; or
+perhaps a man is moved by preaching, or by the examples of saints
+and just men, by their words or works, till he comes to the
+knowledge of himself. This is how God touches us from without.
+Sometimes also a man is touched from within, by recalling the pains
+and sufferings of our Lord, and the good which God has done to him
+and to all men, or by the consideration of his sins, of the
+shortness of life, of the eternal pains of hell and the eternal joys
+of heaven, or because God has spared him in his sins and has waited
+for his conversion; or he observes the marvellous works of God in
+heaven, on earth, and in all creation. These are the works of
+antecedent divine grace, which touch man from within or from
+without, and in divers manners. And man has still a natural
+inclination towards God, proceeding from the spark of his soul or
+synteresis, [Footnote: See Introduction] and from the highest
+reason, which always desires the good and hates the evil. Now, in
+these three manners God touches every man according to his needs, so
+that the man is struck, warned, frightened, and stops to consider
+himself. All this is still antecedent grace and not merited; it thus
+prepares us to receive the other grace, by which we merit eternal
+life; when the mind is thus empty of bad wishes and bad deeds,
+warned, struck, in fear of what it ought to do, and considers God,
+and considers itself with its evil deeds. Thence come a natural
+sorrow for sin and a natural good will. This is the highest work of
+antecedent grace.
+
+When man does what he can, and can go no further because of his
+weakness, it is the infinite goodness of God which must finish this
+work. Then comes a higher splendour of the grace of God, like a ray
+of the sun, and it is poured upon the soul, though it is as yet
+neither merited nor desired. In this light God gives Himself, by
+free will and by bounty, and no one can merit it before he has it.
+And it is in the soul an internal and mysterious operation of God,
+above time, and it moves the soul and all its faculties. Here then
+ends antecedent grace; and here begins the other--that is to say,
+supernatural light.
+
+This light is the first necessary condition, and from it is born a
+second spiritual condition--that is to say, a free conversion of the
+will in a moment of time, and then love is born in the union of God
+and the soul. These two conditions are connected, so that one cannot
+be accomplished without the other. There, where God and the soul are
+united in the unity of love, God grants His light above time, and
+the sou! freely turns to God by the force of grace, in a moment of
+time, and charity is born in the soul, from God and the soul, for
+charity is a bond of love between God and the loving soul. From
+these two things, the grace of God, and the free conversion of the
+will illuminated by grace, is born charity--that is to say, divine
+love. And from divine love proceeds the third point, the
+purification of the conscience. And this is accomplished in the
+consideration of sin and of the flaws in the soul, and because man
+loves God, there enters into him a contempt for self and for all his
+works. This is the order of conversion. From it are born a true
+repentance and a perfect sorrow for the evil that we have done, and
+an ardent desire to sin no more and to serve God henceforward in
+humble obedience; from it are born a sincere confession, without
+reserves, without duplicity and without pretences, the desire to
+satisfy God and to undertake the practice of all the virtues and all
+good works. These three things, as you have just heard, are
+necessary for divine vision. If you possess them, Christ says to
+you, "See," and you become really seeing. This is the first of the
+four chief ways in which Christ, our Lord, says "See."
+
+ON THE FIRST COMING OF CHRIST, IN THE FLESH
+
+NEXT, He shows us what we shall see when He says, "The Bridegroom
+cometh." Christ, our Bridegroom, says this word in Latin: Venit.
+The word expresses two tenses, the past and the present, and yet
+here it indicates the future. And this is why we must consider three
+comings of our Bridegroom Jesus Christ. At His first coming He was
+made man for love of man. The second coming is daily and frequent in
+every loving soul, with new graces and new gifts, as man is able to
+receive them. In the third coming, He will come manifestly on the
+dreadful day of judgment or at the hour of each man's death. In all
+these comings we must observe three things, the cause, the interior
+mode, and the external work.
+
+The cause of the creation of angels and men is the infinite goodness
+and nobleness of God; He wished that the wealth and blessedness,
+which are Himself, should be revealed to reasonable creatures, for
+them to enjoy in time, and in eternity above time. The reason why
+God became man, is His inconceivable love, and the distress of all
+men, lost since the fall in original sin, and unable to raise
+themselves again. But the reason why Christ, according to His
+divinity and His humanity, accomplished His works on earth, is
+fourfold--namely, His divine love, which is without measure; the
+created love, which is called charity, and which He had in His soul
+by the union of the Eternal Word and the perfect gift of His Father;
+the great distress of human nature; and the glory of His Father.
+These are the reasons for the coming of Christ, our Bridegroom, and
+for all His works, exterior and interior.
+
+Now we must observe in Jesus Christ, if we wish to follow Him in His
+virtues according to our powers, the mode or condition which He had
+within, and the works which He wrought without, for they are virtues
+and the acts of virtues.
+
+The mode which He had according to His divinity is inaccessible and
+incomprehensible to us, for it is after this mode that He is
+continually born of the Father, and that the Father in Him and by
+Him knows and creates and orders, and rules everything in heaven and
+on earth; for He is the Wisdom of the Father, and from them flows
+spiritually a Spirit--that is to say, a love, which is the bond
+between them and the bond of all the saints and just persons on
+earth and in heaven. We will speak no more of this mode but of the
+created mode which He had by these divine gifts and according to His
+humanity. These modes are singularly multiform; for Christ had as
+many modes as He had interior virtues, for each virtue has its
+special mode. These virtues and these modes were, in the mind of
+Christ, above the intelligence and above the comprehension of all
+creatures. But let us take three--namely, humility, charity, and
+interior or exterior suffering in patience. These are the three
+principal roots and origins of all virtues and all perfection.
+
+ON THE TWOFOLD HUMILITY OF CHRIST
+
+NOW understand: there are two kinds of humility in Jesus Christ,
+according to His divinity. First, He willed to become man; and this
+nature, which was accursed even to the depth of hell, He accepted
+according to His personality and was willing to unite Himself to it.
+So that every man, good or bad, may say, Jesus Christ, the Son of
+God, is my brother. Secondly, He chose for mother a poor virgin, and
+not a king's daughter, so that this poor virgin became the mother of
+God, who is the only Lord of heaven and earth and all creatures. In
+consequence, of all the works of humility which Christ ever
+accomplished, one may say that God accomplished them. Now let us
+take the humility which was in Jesus Christ according to His
+humanity and by grace and divine gifts; according to His humility
+His soul inclined with all its power in respect and veneration
+before the power of the Father. For an inclined heart is a humble
+heart. This is why He did all His works to the praise and glory of
+the Father, and sought in nothing His own glory according to His
+humanity. He was humble, and submitted to the old law, and to the
+commandments, and often to the customs. He was circumcised, and
+carried to the Temple, and redeemed according to usages, and He paid
+taxes to Caesar like other Jews. And He submitted Himself humbly to
+His mother and to Joseph, and served them with a sincere deference
+according to their needs. He chose for friends--for apostles--the poor
+and the despised, in order to convert the world. In his intercourse
+with them and all others He was humble and modest. This is why He
+was at the disposal of all men, in whatever distress they were,
+within or without; He was, as it were, the servant of the whole
+world. This is what we find first in Jesus Christ, our Bridegroom.
+
+ON THE LOVE OF CHRIST, ADORNED WITH ALL VIRTUES
+
+NEXT comes charity, the beginning and source of all virtues. This
+charity maintained the supreme forces of His soul in tranquillity,
+and in the enjoyment of the same blessedness which He enjoys at
+present. And this same charity kept Him continually exalted towards
+His Father, with veneration, love, praise, respect, with internal
+prayers for the need of all men, and with the offering of all His
+works to the glory of God the Father. And this same charity made
+Christ still overflow with love and kindness towards all the
+material or spiritual needs of mankind. This is why He has given, by
+His life, the model after which all men should fashion their lives.
+He has given spiritual nourishment to all well-disposed men by real
+internal teachings, as well as by outward miracles. We cannot
+comprehend His charity to its full extent, for it flowed from the
+unfathomable fountains of the Holy Spirit, above all the creatures
+who have ever received charity, for He was God and man in one
+Person. This is the second point of charity.
+
+ON THE PATIENCE OF CHRIST, EVEN UNTO DEATH
+
+THE third point is to suffer in patience. We will examine this
+seriously, for it is this which adorned Christ, our Bridegroom,
+during all His life. He suffered when He was newly born, from
+poverty and cold. He was circumcised and shed his blood. He was
+obliged to fly into a foreign country. He served Joseph and His
+mother, He suffered from hunger and thirst, from shame and contempt
+and from the wicked words and deeds of the Jews. He fasted, He
+watched, and was tempted by the enemy. He was subject to all men, He
+went from district to district, from town to town, to preach the
+gospel painfully and zealously. Finally, He was taken by the Jews,
+who were His enemies and whom He loved. He was betrayed, mocked,
+insulted, scourged, struck, and condemned on false testimony. He
+carried His cross with great pain to the mount of Calvary. He was
+stripped naked as at His birth, and never was seen a body so
+beautiful, nor a mother so unhappy. He endured shame, pain, and cold
+before all the world, for He was naked, and it was cold, and He was
+exhausted by His wounds. He was nailed with large nails to the wood
+of the cross, and was so strained that His veins were burst. He was
+lifted up and shaken upon the cross, so as to make His wounds bleed,
+His head was crowned with thorns, and His ears heard the fierce Jews
+crying out, "Crucify Him! crucify Him!" and many other shameful
+words. His eyes saw the obstinacy and wickedness of the Jews, and
+the distress of His mother, and His eyes were extinguished under the
+bitterness of pain and death. His mouth and palate were hurt by the
+vinegar and gall, and all the sensitive parts of His body wounded by
+the scourge.
+
+Behold then Christ, our Bridegroom, wounded to death, abandoned by
+God and the creatures, dying on the cross, hanging from a post, with
+no one to care much for Him except Mary, His unhappy mother, who
+nevertheless could not aid Him. And Christ suffered moreover
+spiritually, in His soul, from the hardness of the Jews' hearts and
+those who made Him die, for in spite of the prodigies and miracles
+which they saw, they remained in their wickedness; and He suffered
+by reason of their corruption and the vengeance which God was about
+to inflict upon them, in body and soul, for His death. He suffered
+moreover for the grief and misery of His mother and disciples, who
+were in great sadness. And He suffered because His death would be
+wasted for many men, and for the ingratitude of many, and for the
+blasphemies of those who would curse Him who died for love of us.
+And His nature and interior reason suffered because God withdrew
+from them the inflow of His gifts and consolations, and abandoned
+them to themselves in such distress. Therefore Christ complained and
+said, My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?
+
+Behold then the interior virtues of Christ; humility, charity, and
+suffering in patience. These three virtues Jesus, our Bridegroom,
+practised throughout His life, and He died in them, and He paid our
+debt by satisfying justice, and opened His side in His bounty. And
+thence flow rivers of delight, and sacraments of blessedness. And He
+was exalted to His power, and sat at the right hand of the Father,
+and reigns eternally. This is the first coming of our Bridegroom,
+and it is completely past.
+
+ON THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST, HOW HE EVERY DAY FLOWS INTO OUR
+HEARTS WITH NEW GRACE
+
+THE second coming of Christ, our Bridegroom, takes place every day
+in just men. We do not wish to speak here of the first conversion of
+man, nor of the first grace which was given him when he was
+converted from sin to virtue. But we wish to speak of a daily
+increase of new gifts and new virtues, and of a more actual coming
+of Christ, our Bridegroom, into our soul. Now we must observe the
+cause, the mode, and the work, of this coming. The cause is fourfold;
+the mercy of God, our misery, the divine generosity, and our
+desire. These four causes make the virtues grow and increase.
+
+Now understand. When the sun sends forth its bright rays into a deep
+valley between two high mountains, and while it is at the zenith, so
+that it can illuminate the depths of the valley, a triple phenomenon
+occurs; for the valley is lighted from the mountains, and it becomes
+warmer and more fertile than the plain. In the same way, when a just
+man sinks in his misery, and recognises that he has nothing, and is
+nothing, that he can neither halt nor go forward by his own
+strength; and when he perceives also that he fails often in virtues
+and good works, he thus confesses his poverty and distress, and
+forms the valley of humility. And because he is humble and in need,
+and because he confesses his need, he makes his plaint to the
+kindness and mercy of God. He is conscious of the sublimity of God,
+and of his own abasement.
+
+Thus he becomes a deep valley. And Christ is the sun of justice and
+mercy, which burns at the meridian of the firmament--that is to say,
+at the right hand of the Father, and shines even to the bottom of
+humble hearts; for Christ is always moved by distress, when man
+humbly offers to Him complaints and prayers. Then the two mountains
+rise--that is to say, a double desire, in the first place a desire to
+serve and love God by his merits, in the second place to obtain
+excellent virtues. These two desires are higher than heaven, for
+they touch God without any intermediary, and desire His immense
+generosity. Then that generosity cannot be kept back, it must flow,
+for the soul is at this moment susceptible of receiving countless
+boons.
+
+These are the causes of the second coming of Christ, with new
+virtues. Then the valley--that is to say, the humble heart, receives
+three things. It is enlightened the more, and illuminated by grace,
+and warmed by charity, and becomes more fertile in virtues and good
+works. Thus you have the cause, the mode, and the work, of this
+coming.
+
+HOW WE MAY MAKE DAILY PROGRESS BY THE SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
+
+THERE is yet another coming of Christ, our Bridegroom, which takes
+place every day, in the growth of grace and in new gifts--that is to
+say, when a man receives some sacrament with a humble and
+well-prepared heart. He receives then new gifts and more ample
+graces, by reason of his humility, and by the internal and secret
+work of Christ in the sacrament. That which is contrary to the
+sacrament is in baptism the want of faith, in confession the want of
+contrition; it is to go to the sacrament of the altar in a state of
+mortal sin, or of bad will; and it is the same with the other
+sacraments.
+
+ON THE THIRD COMING OF CHRIST, TO JUDGMENT
+
+THE third coming, which is still future, will take place at the last
+judgment or at the hour of death. Christ, our Bridegroom and our
+Judge at this judgment, will recompense and avenge according to
+justice, for He will award to each according to his deserts. He
+gives to every just man, for every good work done in the spirit of
+the Lord, a reward without measure, which no creature can merit--
+namely, Himself. But as He co-operates in the creature, the creature
+deserves, through His merit, to have a reward. And by a necessary
+justice He gives eternal pains to those who have rejected an eternal
+good for a perishable.
+
+ON THE THIRD SPIRITUAL GOING FORTH, TO ALL THE VIRTUES
+
+NOW understand and observe. Christ says at the beginning of our
+text, "See"--that is to say, see by charity and pureness of
+conscience, as you have been told. Now, He has shown us what we
+shall see--namely, His three comings.
+
+He orders us what we must do next, and says, "Go forth" if you have
+fulfilled the first necessary condition--that is to say, if you see
+in grace and in charity, and if you have well observed your model,
+Christ, in His "going forth"; there leaps up in you, from your love
+and loving observation of your Bridegroom, an ardour of justice--
+that is to say, a desire to follow Him in virtue. Then Christ says
+in you, "Go forth." This going forth must have three modes. We must
+go forth towards God, towards ourselves, and towards our neighbour
+by charity and justice; for charity always pushes upward, towards
+the kingdom of God, which is God Himself; for He is the source from
+which it flowed without any intermediary, and He remains always
+immanent in it. The justice which is born of charity wishes to
+perfect the manners and the virtues which are suitable to the
+kingdom of God--that is to say, to the soul. These two things,
+charity and justice, establish a solid foundation in the kingdom of
+the soul where God may dwell, and this foundation is humility. These
+three virtues support all the weight and all the edifice of all the
+virtues and all sublimity; for charity maintains man in presence of
+the unfathomable good things of God from whence it flows, so that it
+perseveres in God, and increases in all the virtues and in true
+humility; and justice maintains man in presence of the eternal truth
+of God, so that truth may be discovered by him, and that he may be
+illuminated, and may accomplish all the virtues without error. But
+humility maintains man always before the supreme power of God, so
+that he remains always abased and little, and abandons himself to
+God, and holds no longer by himself. This is the way in which a man
+must bear himself before God, that he may grow alway in new virtues.
+
+HOW HUMILITY IS THE FOUNDATION OF ALL THE VIRTUES
+
+NOW understand; for having made humility the base of everything, we
+must speak first of it. Humility is the desire of abasement or of
+depth--that is to say, an inclination or internal desire for
+abasement of heart and conscience before the sublimity of God. The
+justice of God exacts this submission, and, thanks to charity, the
+loving heart cannot abandon it. When the loving and humble man
+considers that God has served him so humbly, so lovingly, and so
+faithfully, and then that God is so high, so powerful, and so noble,
+and that man is so poor, little, and base, there is born from all
+this, in the humble heart, an immense respect and reverence towards
+God; for to reverence God in all works, within and without, is the
+first and most delightful work of humility, the sweetest work of
+charity, and the most suitable work of justice. For the humble and
+loving heart cannot pay honours to God and His noble humanity, nor
+abase himself so deeply as to satisfy his desire. That is why it
+seems to the humble man that he always does too little in honour of
+God and in his humble service. And he is humble, and venerates Holy
+Church and the sacraments, and he is temperate in meat and drink, in
+his words, and in all relations of life. He is content with poor
+raiment, with menial employment, and his face is naturally humble,
+without pretence. And he is hunible in his practices, within and
+without, before God and before men, that none may be offended by
+reason of him. Thus he tames and removes far from him all pride,
+which is the cause and origin of all sins. Humility breaks the
+snares of sin, the world, and the Devil. And man is ordered within
+himself, and established in the very place of virtue. Heaven is open
+to him, and God is inclined to hear his prayer, and he is loaded
+with graces. And Christ, the solid stone, is his support, and he who
+builds his virtues upon humility cannot go wrong.
+
+ON OBEDIENCE
+
+FROM this humility is born obedience, for only the humble man can be
+inwardly obedient. Obedience is a submission and pliant disposition,
+and a good will ready for all that is good. Obedience subjects a man
+to orders, to prohibitions, and to the will of God, and it subjects
+the soul and sensual force to the highest reason, in such a way that
+the man lives suitably and reasonably. And it makes men submissive
+and obedient to Holy Church and to the sacraments, and to all the
+good practices of holy Christianity. It prepares man, and makes him
+ready for the service of all, in works, in bodily and spiritual
+care, according to the needs of each, and prudence. Also, it drives
+far away disobedience, which is the daughter of pride, and which we
+ought to flee from more than from poison. Obedience in will and work
+adorns, extends, and manifests the humility of man. It gives peace
+to cloisters, and if it exists in the prelate, as it ought to exist,
+it attracts those who are under his orders. It maintains peace and
+equality among equals. And he who observes it is beloved by those
+who are above him, and the gifts of God, which are eternal, elevate
+and enrich him.
+
+ON THE ABDICATION OF OUR OWN WILL
+
+FROM this obedience is born the abdication of our own will. By this
+abdication the substance and occasion of pride are repulsed, and the
+greatest humility is accomplished. And God rules the man as He
+wills; and the will of the man is so well united to that of God that
+he can neither wish nor desire anything otherwise. He has put off
+the old man, and has put on the new man, renewed and perfect
+according to the divine will. It is of such an one that Christ said,
+"Blessed are the poor in spirit," that is, those who have renounced
+their will--"for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
+
+ON PATIENCE
+
+FROM the abandonment of the will is born patience; for no one can
+be perfectly patient in everything, except he who has submitted his
+will to the will of God, and to all men in things useful and
+convenient. Patience is a tranquil endurance of all that can happen
+to a man, whether sent by God or by men. Nothing can trouble the
+patient man, neither the loss of earthly goods, nor the loss of
+friends or relations, nor sickness, nor disgrace, nor life, nor
+death, nor purgatory, nor the devil, nor hell. For he has abandoned
+himself to the will of God in true love. And, provided that mortal
+sin does not touch him, all that God orders for him in time or
+eternity seems light. This patience adorns a man, and arms him
+against anger and sudden rage, and against impatience of suffering,
+which often deceives a man within and without, and exposes him to
+manifold temptations.
+
+ON GENTLENESS
+
+FROM this patience are born gentleness and kindness, for no one can
+be gentle under adversity if not the patient man. Gentleness creates
+in man peace and repose from everything; for the gentle man endures
+insulting words and gestures, and bad faces and bad deeds, and all
+manner of injustice towards his friends and himself, and he is
+content with all, for gentleness is suffering in repose. Thanks to
+gentleness, the force of anger remains immovable in its
+tranquillity, the force of desire lifts itself up towards the
+virtues, and the reason rejoices, and the conscience dwells in
+peace, for the other mortal sins, such as anger and rage, are
+removed far from her. For the Spirit of God reposes in a gentle and
+humble heart, as Christ saith, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall
+inherit the earth"--that is to say, their own nature and the things
+of earth in meekness, and, after this life, the things of eternity.
+
+ON KINDNESS
+
+FROM the same source as gentleness comes kindness, for the gentle
+spirit alone can possess kindness. This kindness causes a man to
+oppose a loving face and friendly words, and all the works of pity,
+to those who are angry with him, and he hopes that they will return
+to themselves and amend. Thanks to mercy and kindness, charity
+remains lively and fruitful in a man; for the heart full of kindness
+is like a lamp full of precious oil; and the oil of kindness
+lightens the wandering sinner by its good example, and soothes and
+heals by consoling words and deeds those whose heart is wounded,
+saddened, or irritated. And it inflames and illumines those who are
+in charity, and no jealousy or envy can touch it.
+
+ON COMPASSION
+
+FROM kindness is born compassion, by which we sympathise with every
+one, for no one can suffer with all men, except he who has kindness.
+Compassion is an inward movement of the heart, aroused by pity for
+the bodily or spiritual distress of all men. This compassion makes a
+man partaker in Christ's sufferings, when he considers the reason of
+these sufferings, the resignation and love of Christ, His wounds,
+His tortures, His shame, His nobleness, His misery, the shame which
+He endured, the crown, the nails, and the death in patience. These
+unheard of and manifold pains of Christ, our Redeemer and
+Bridegroom, move to pity anyone who is capable of feeling pity.
+Compassion makes a man observe and note his faults, his want of
+power to do any good thing, and weakness in all that pertains to the
+glory of God; his lukewarmness and slowness, the multitude of his
+faults, the waste of his time, and his positive shortcomings in
+virtue and good conduct. All this makes a man truly sorry for
+himself. Then his compassion for himself makes him consider his
+errors and wanderings, the small care which he has of God and of his
+eternal salvation, his ingratitude for all the good that God has
+done him, and for all that He has suffered for man. And he considers
+also that he is a stranger to the virtues, that he neither knows
+them nor practises them, while he is clever and crafty in all that
+is bad and unjust; he sees how attentive he is to the loss or gain
+of worldly goods, how inattentive and indifferent towards God, the
+things of eternity, and his own salvation. This consideration makes
+the just man feel a great compassion towards the salvation of all
+men. The man will also observe with pity the bodily needs of his
+neighbour and the manifold pains of nature, when he sees the hunger
+which men suffer, the thirst, cold, nakedness, poverty, contempt,
+and oppression; the sadness which they feel at the loss of
+relations, friends, goods, honour, and repose; and the innumerable
+afflictions to which flesh is heir. All this rouses the just man to
+compassion, and he suffers with all men; but his greatest suffering
+arises when he sees the impatience of others under their own
+sufferings, by which they lose their reward and often deserve hell.
+This is the work of compassion and pity.
+
+This work of compassion and love for all men overcomes and removes
+the third mortal sin--namely, hatred and envy; for compassion is a
+wound of the heart, which makes us love all men, and can only work
+healing in so far as some suffering lives in men; for God has
+ordained that mourning and pain must precede all the other virtues.
+This is why Christ said, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they
+shall be comforted"--that is to say, when they shall reap in joy what
+they now sow in compassion and sorrow.
+
+ON GENEROSITY
+
+FROM this compassion is born generosity, for no one can be
+supernaturally generous, with faith in all men, and with love,
+except the merciful man; though one many give to a particular
+individual without charity, and without supernatural generosity.
+
+Generosity is the copious outflow of a heart moved with charity and
+pity. When a man considers with compassion the sufferings and pains
+of Christ, from this compassion is born generosity, which excites us
+to praise and thank Christ for His pains and for His love, at the
+same time that it causes to be born in us respect and veneration,
+and a joyous and humble submission of heart and soul, in time and in
+eternity. When a man observes and pities himself, and considers the
+good that God has done to him and his own weakness, he cannot help
+flowing out into the liberality of God, taking refuge in His pity
+and fidelity, and abandoning himself to God, with a free and perfect
+wish to serve Him for ever. The generous man, who observes the
+errors, the wanderings, and the injustice of men, desires and
+implores the outflow of the divine gifts and the exercise of their
+generosity on all men, that they may return to themselves and be
+converted to the truth. The generous man considers also with
+compassion the material needs of all men; he helps them, gives,
+lends, consoles to the best of his power. By means of this
+generosity, men practise the seven works of mercy, the rich by their
+services and the bestowal of their goods, the poor by good will and
+the desire to do good if they can, and thus the virtue of generosity
+is perfected. Generosity in the depth of the heart multiplies all
+the virtues, and illuminates the forces of the soul. For the
+generous, man is always of joyful spirit, he is without anxiety; he
+is full of sympathy, and is ready to do kindnesses to all men in the
+works of virtue. He who is generous, and loves not the things of
+earth, however poor he may be, is like unto God, for all that he
+has, and all the thoughts of his heart flow out of him in largess.
+And so he is delivered from the fourth of the deadly sins, avarice.
+Jesus Christ saith to these: "Blessed are the merciful, for they
+shall obtain mercy"; in the day when they shall hear this word
+spoken unto them: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
+kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
+
+ON ZEAL AND DILIGENCE
+
+FROM this generosity are born supernatural zeal and diligence in all
+the virtues. None can exhibit this zeal, save the generous and
+diligent man. This is an internal and eager impulse towards all the
+virtues, and towards the imitation of Christ and the saints. In this
+zeal, a man desires to expend in the honour of God the united powers
+of his heart and senses, his soul and body, all that he is, and all
+that he may receive. This zeal makes a man watchful in reason and
+discrimination, and makes him practise the virtues in justice.
+Thanks to this supernatural zeal, all the forces of his soul are
+open to God, and prepared for all the virtues. His conscience is
+refreshed, and divine grace is increased, virtue is practised with
+joy, and his external works are adorned. He who has received this
+lively zeal from God is removed far from the fifth deadly
+sin--lukewarmness and gloominess towards the virtues necessary for
+salvation. [Footnote: The best account in English of the deadly sin
+of acedia, too much neglected in modern religious teaching, is to be
+found in Bishop Paget's Spirit of Discipline.] And sometimes this
+lively zeal disperses heaviness and sluggishness of the bodily
+temperament. It is on this subject that Jesus Christ says: "Blessed
+are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall
+be filled." This will be, when the glory of God shall be manifested,
+and shall fill every man in proportion to his love and justice.
+
+ON TEMPERANCE AND SOBRIETY
+
+FROM zeal are born temperance and sobriety within and without; for
+none can maintain true moderation in sobriety, if he is not
+thoroughly diligent and zealous to preserve his body and soul in
+justice. Sobriety separates the higher faculties from the animal
+faculties, and preserves a man from excesses. Sobriety wishes not to
+taste nor know those things which are not permitted.
+
+The incomprehensible and sublime nature of God surpasses all the
+creatures in heaven and earth, for whatever the creature conceives
+is creature. But God is above every creature, and within and without
+every creature, and all created comprehension is too strait to
+comprehend Him. In order that the creature may conceive and
+comprehend God, it must be drawn up into God from above; it is only
+by God that it can comprehend God. Those then who wish to know what
+God is, and to study Him, let them know that it is forbidden. They
+would become mad. All created light must fail here. What God is,
+passes the comprehension of every creature. But Holy Scripture,
+nature, and all the creatures show us that He is. We shall believe
+the articles of faith without trying to penetrate them, for that is
+impossible while we are here: this is sobriety. The difficult and
+subtle teachings of the inspired writings we shall only explain in
+accordance with the life of Christ and His saints. Man will study
+nature and the Scriptures, and every creature; and will seek to
+learn from them only what may be to his own advantage. This is
+sobriety of spirit.
+
+A man will maintain sobriety of the senses, and he will subdue by
+reason his animal faculties, that the animal pleasure in food and
+drink may not delight him too much, but that he may eat and drink as
+a sick man takes a potion, because it is his duty to preserve his
+strength for the service of God. This is sobriety of body. A man
+will preserve moderation in words and actions, in silence and
+speech, in eating and drinking, in what he does and abstains from
+doing, as Holy Church enjoins and the saints give the example.
+
+By moderation and sobriety of spirit within, a man maintains
+constancy and perseverance in the faith, that purity of intelligence
+and calmness of reason which are necessary to understand the truth,
+readiness to bend to the will of God with regard to every virtue,
+peace of heart and serenity of conscience. Thanks to this virtue, he
+possesses assured peace in God and in himself.
+
+By moderation and sobriety in the use of the bodily faculties, he
+often preserves health and contentment of the bodily nature, his
+honour in external relations, and his good name. And thus he is at
+peace with himself and with his neighbour. For he attracts and
+rejoices all men of good will, by his moderation and sobriety. And
+he escapes the sixth deadly sin, which is want of temperance, and
+gluttony. It is of this that Christ said: "Blessed are the
+peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." For
+being like unto the Son, who has made peace in all creatures who
+desire it, and who make peace in their turn, by moderation and
+sobriety, the Son will divide among them the heritage of His Father,
+and they will possess this heritage with Him throughout eternity.
+
+ON PURITY
+
+FROM this sobriety are born purity of soul and body, for none can be
+absolutely pure in body and soul, save he who follows after sobriety
+in body and soul. Purity of spirit consists in this--that a man
+cleaves to no creature with any passionate desire, but attaches
+himself to God only; for one may use all the creatures while
+rejoicing in God only. Purity of spirit makes a man attach himself
+to God above intelligence and above the senses, and above all the
+gifts which God may bestow upon the soul; for all that the creature
+receives in its intelligence or in its senses purity desires to
+transcend, and to repose in God only. We should approach the
+sacrament of the altar not for the sake of the delights, the
+pleasure, the peace, or the sweetness which we find there, but for
+the glory of God only, and that we may grow in all the virtues. This
+is purity of spirit.
+
+Purity of heart signifies that a man turns towards God without
+hesitation in every bodily temptation and every disturbance of
+nature, in the freedom of his will abandoning himself to Him with a
+new confidence and a firm resolve to abide always with God. For to
+consent to sin, or to the animal desires of the bodily nature, is a
+separation from God.
+
+Purity of body means that a man abstains from impure actions of
+every kind, when his conscience assures him that they are impure and
+contrary to the commandments, to the glory, and to the will of God.
+
+Thanks to these three kinds of purity, the seventh deadly sin, that
+of wantonness, is conquered and driven away. Wantonness is a
+voluptuous inclination of the spirit, leading away from God towards
+a created thing; it is the impure act of the flesh outside what
+Holy Church permits, and the carnal occupation of the heart in some
+taste or desire for a creature. I do not here refer to those sudden
+stirrings of love or desire which none can escape.
+
+You now know that purity of spirit preserves men in the likeness of
+God, without care for the creatures, inclined towards God and united
+to Him. The chastity of the body is compared to the whiteness of the
+lily and to the purity of the angels. In its resistance to
+temptation, it is compared to the redness of the rose, and to the
+nobility of the martyrs. If it is preserved for love of God and in
+His honour, it is then perfect, and it is compared to the
+heliotrope, for it is one of the highest adornments of nature.
+
+Purity of heart renews and increases the grace of God. In purity of
+heart all the virtues are inspired, practised, and preserved. It
+keeps and preserves the outer senses, it subdues and binds the
+animal desires within, and it is the ornament of all the inner life.
+It is the exclusion of the heart from things of earth and from all
+lies, and its inclusion among the things of heaven and all truth.
+And this is why Christ has said: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for
+they shall see God." This is the vision in which consists our
+eternal joy, and all our reward, and our entrance into bliss. This
+is why a man will be sober and moderate in everything, and will keep
+himself from every occasion which might tarnish the purity of his
+soul and body.
+
+ON THE THREE ENEMIES WHO ARE TO BE CONQUERED BY JUSTICE
+
+IF we wish to possess this virtue and to repulse these enemies, we
+must have justice, and we must practise it, and preserve it even
+until our death, in purity of heart, for we have three powerful
+enemies who try to attack us at all times, in all states, and in
+many different ways. If we make our peace with any one of them and
+follow him, we are vanquished, for they are in league with each
+other in all wickedness and injustice. These three enemies are the
+devil, the world, and our own flesh, which is the nearest to us, and
+is often the worst and most mischievous of our foes. For our animal
+desires are the weapons with which our enemies fight against us.
+Idleness, and indifference to virtue and the glory of God are the
+cause and occasion of war and combat. But the weakness of our
+natures, our negligence and ignorance of truth are the sword by
+which our enemies wound us and sometimes conquer us.
+
+And this is why we must be divided in ourselves. The lower part of
+ourselves, which is animal and contrary to the virtues, we ought to
+hate and persecute and cause it to suffer by means of penitence and
+austerities, so that it may be always crushed down and submissive to
+reason, and that justice, with purity of heart, may always keep the
+upper hand in all virtuous actions. And all the pains, sorrows, and
+persecutions which God makes us suffer at the hands of those who are
+enemies to virtue, we shall endure with joy, in honour of God and
+for the glory of virtue, and in the hope of obtaining and possessing
+justice in purity of heart; for Christ said: "Blessed are those who
+are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of
+heaven." For righteousness preserved in virtue and in virtuous
+actions is a coin of the same weight and value as the kingdom of
+heaven, and it is by it that we may purchase and obtain eternal
+life. By these virtues a man goes forth towards God and towards
+himself, in good conduct, virtue, and justice.
+
+ON THE KINGDOM OF THE SOUL
+
+HE who wishes to obtain and preserve these virtues, will adorn,
+occupy, and order his soul like a kingdom. Free will is the king of
+the soul. It is free by nature, and more free still by grace. It
+will be crowned with a crown or diadem named Charity. We shall
+receive this crown and this kingdom from the Emperor, who is the
+Lord, the sovereign and king of kings, and we shall possess, rule,
+and preserve this kingdom in His name. This king, free will, will
+dwell in the highest town in the kingdom--that is to say, in the
+concupiscent faculty of the soul. He will be adorned and clad with a
+robe in two parts. The right side of his robe will be a virtue
+called strength, that he may be strong and powerful to overcome all
+obstacles and sojourn in the heaven, in the palace of the supreme
+Emperor, and to bend with love and ardent self-surrender his crowned
+head before the supreme monarch. This is the proper work of charity.
+By it we receive the crown, by it we adorn the crown, and by it we
+keep and possess the kingdom throughout eternity. The left side of
+the robe will be a cardinal virtue, called moral courage. Thanks to
+it, free will, the king, will subdue all immorality, will accomplish
+all virtue, and will have the power to keep his kingdom even until
+death. The king will choose councillors in his country, the wisest
+in the land. They will be two divine virtues, knowledge and
+discretion, illuminated by divine grace. They will dwell near the
+king, in a palace called the reasonable force of the soul. They will
+be crowned and adorned with a moral virtue called temperance, that
+the king may always act and refrain from acting according to their
+advice. By knowledge we shall purge our conscience from all its
+faults and adorn it with all virtues; and, thanks to discretion, we
+shall give and take, do and not do, speak and be silent, fast and
+eat, listen and answer, and act in all ways according to knowledge
+and discretion clad in their moral virtue, which is called
+temperance or moderation.
+
+This king, free will, will also establish in his kingdom a judge,
+who will be justice, which is a divine virtue when it is born from
+love. And it is one of the highest moral virtues. This judge will
+dwell in the conscience, in the middle of the kingdom in the
+irascible faculty. And he will be adorned with a moral virtue called
+prudence. For justice without prudence cannot be perfect. This
+judge, justice, will traverse the kingdom with royal powers,
+accompanied by wise counsel and his own prudence. He will promote
+and dismiss, he will judge and condemn, will condemn to death and
+acquit, will mutilate, blind, and restore to sight, will exalt and
+abase and organise, will punish and chastise according to justice,
+and will destroy all vices. The people of the kingdom--that is to
+say, all the faculties of the soul, will be supported by humility
+and the fear of God, submitting to Him in all the virtues, each
+after its own manner. He who has thus occupied, preserved, and
+ordered the kingdom of his soul, has gone forth, by love and the
+virtues, towards God, towards himself, and towards his neighbour.
+This is the third of the four principal points which Christ speaks
+of when He says, Go forth.
+
+ON THE THREEFOLD MEETING OF THE SOUL
+
+WHEN a man has, by the grace of God, eyes to see, and a pure
+conscience, and when he has considered the three comings of Christ,
+our Bridegroom, and lastly when he has gone forth by the virtues,
+then takes place the meeting with our Bridegroom, and this is the
+fourth and last point. In this meeting consist all our blessedness,
+and the beginning and the end of all the virtues, and without this
+meeting no virtue can be practised.
+
+He who wishes to meet Christ as his well-beloved Bridegroom, and to
+possess in Him and with Him eternal life, must meet Christ, now in
+time, in three points or in three manners. First, he must love God
+in everything wherein we shall merit eternal life. Secondly, he must
+attach himself to nothing which he might love as much as or more
+than God. Thirdly, he must repose in God with all his might, above
+all creatures and above all the gifts of God, and above all acts of
+virtue and above all the sensible graces which God might spread
+abroad in his soul and body.
+
+Now understand: he who has God for his end must have Him present to
+himself, by some divine reason. That is to say, he must have in view
+Him who is the Lord of heaven, and of earth, and of every creature,
+Him who died for him, and who can and will give him eternal
+salvation. In whatever mode and under whatever name he represents
+God, as Lord of every creature, it is well. If he takes some divine
+Person, and in Him sees the essence and power of the divine nature,
+it is well. If he regards God as saviour, redeemer, creator,
+governor, as blessedness, power, wisdom, truth, goodness, it is
+well. Though the names which we ascribe to God are numerous, the
+sublime nature of God is simple and unnameable by the creatures. But
+we give Him all these names by reason of His nobleness and
+incomprehensible sublimity, and because we cannot name or proclaim
+Him completely. See now under what mode and by what knowledge God
+will be present to our intention. For to have God for our aim is to
+see spiritually. To this quest belong also affection and love, for
+to know God and be without love aids and advances us not a whit, and
+has no savour. This is why a man, in all his actions, must bend
+lovingly towards God, whom he seeks and loves above everything.
+This, then, is the meeting with God by means of intention and love.
+
+In order that the sinner may turn from his sins in a meritorious
+penitence, he must meet God by contrition, free conversion, and a
+sincere intention to serve God for ever, and to sin no more. Then,
+at this meeting, he receives from the mercy of God the assured hope
+of eternal salvation and the pardon of his sins, and he receives the
+foundation of all the virtues, faith, hope, and charity, and the
+good will to practise all the virtues. If this man advances in the
+light of faith, and observes all the works of Christ, all His
+sufferings and all His promises, and all that He has done for us and
+will do to the day of judgment and through eternity; if he examines
+all this for his soul's health, he must needs meet with Christ; and
+Christ must needs be present to his soul, so grateful and full of
+thankfulness. So his faith is fortified, and he is impelled more
+inwardly and powerfully towards all the virtues. If he still
+progresses in the works of virtue, he must again meet with Christ,
+by the annihilation of self. Let him not seek his own things; let
+him set before him no extraneous ends; let him be discreet in his
+actions; let him set God always before him, and the praise and glory
+of God; and let him so continue till his death; then his reason
+will be enlightened and his charity increased, and he will become
+more pious and apt for all the virtues. We shall set God before us
+in every good work; in bad works we cannot set Him before us. We
+shall not have two intentions--that is to say, we shall not seek God
+at the same time as something else, but all our intention must be
+subordinated to God and not contrary to Him, but of one and the same
+kind, so that it may help us and give us an impulse which may lead
+us more easily to God. Then and then only is a man in the right
+road. Moreover, we shall rest rather upon Him who is our aim and our
+goal and the object of our love, than upon the messengers whom He
+sends us--that is to say, His gifts. The soul will rest constantly
+upon God, above all the adornments and presents which His messengers
+may bring. The messengers sent by the soul are intention, love, and
+desire. They carry to God all our good works and virtues. Above all
+these, the soul will rest on God, its Beloved, above all
+multiplicity. This is the manner in which we shall meet Christ all
+through our life, in all our actions and virtues, by right
+intention, that we may meet Him at the hour of our death in the
+light of glory.
+
+This mode, as you have learnt, is called the active life. It is
+necessary to all men; or at least they must not live in a manner
+contrary to any virtue, though they may not attain the degree of
+perfection in all the virtues which I have described. For to live
+contrary to the virtues is to live in sin, as Christ has said: "He
+that is not with me is against me." He who is not humble is proud,
+and he who is proud belongs not to God. We must always possess a
+virtue and be in a state of grace, or possess what is contrary to
+that virtue and be in a state of sin. May every man examine and
+prove himself, and order his life as I have here described.
+
+ON THE DESIRE TO KNOW GOD AS HE IS, IN THE NATURE OF HIS GODHEAD
+
+THE man who thus lives, in this perfection, as I have here described
+it, and who devotes all his life and actions to the honour and glory
+of God, and who seeks and loves God above all things, is often
+seized by the desire to see and know Christ, this Bridegroom who was
+made man for love of him, who laboured in love even till death, who
+drove away from him sin and the enemy, who gave him His grace, who
+gave him Himself, who left him His sacraments and promised him His
+kingdom. When a man considers all this, he is exceedingly desirous
+to see Christ his Bridegroom, and to know what He is in Himself
+While He only knows Him in His works he is not satisfied. So he will
+do like Zacchasus, the publican, who desired to see Jesus Christ. He
+will go in front of the crowd--that is to say, the multitude of the
+creatures, for they make us so little and short, that we cannot
+perceive God. And he will climb the tree of faith, which grows from
+above downwards, for its roots are in the Godhead. This tree has
+twelve branches, which are the twelve articles of faith. The lower
+branches speak of the humanity of Christ, and of the things which
+concern the salvation of our body and soul. The higher part of the
+tree speaks of the Godhead, of the Trinity of the Divine Persons and
+the Unity of the Divine Nature. A man will strive to reach the unity
+at the top of the tree, for it is there that Jesus must pass with
+all His gifts. Here Jesus comes, and sees the man, and tells Him in
+the light of faith that He is, according to His Godhead,
+immeasurable and incomprehensible, inaccessible and abysmal, and
+that He surpasses all created light and all finite comprehension.
+This is the highest knowledge acquired in the active life, to
+recognise thus, in the light of faith, that God is inconceivable and
+unknowable. In this light Christ saith to the desire of a man: "Come
+down quickly, for I must lodge at thy house to-day." This rapid
+descent to which God invites him is nothing else but a descent, by
+desire and love, into the abyss of the Godhead, to which no
+intelligence can attain in crested light. But where intelligence
+remains outside, love and desire enter. The soul thus bending
+towards God, by the intention of love, above all that the intellect
+can comprehend, rests and abides in God, and God abides in her. Then
+mounting by desire, above the multitude of the creatures, above the
+work of the senses, above the light of nature, she meets Christ in
+the light of faith, and is enlightened, and recognises that God is
+unknowable and inconceivable. Finally, bending by her desires
+towards this inconceivable God, she meets Christ and is loaded with
+His gifts; by living and resting upon Him, above all His gifts,
+above herself and above all the creatures, she dwells in God and God
+in her.
+
+This is how you will meet Christ at the summit of the active life,
+if you have as your foundations justice, charity, and humility; and
+if you have built a house above--that is to say, the virtues here
+described, and if you have met Christ by faith--that is to say, by
+faith and the intention of love, you dwell in God and God dwells in
+you, and you possess the active life.
+
+This is the first explanation of the word of Jesus Christ our
+Bridegroom, when He said, "See, the Bridegroom cometh; go forth to
+meet Him."
+
+BOOK II
+
+THE SUBJECTS OF THE SECOND BOOK
+
+THE prudent virgin--that is to say, the pure soul, who has
+renounced the things of earth, and lives henceforth for God in
+virtue, has taken in the vessel of her heart the oil of charity and
+of divine works by means of the lamp of an unstained conscience. But
+when Christ, her Bridegroom, withdraws His consolations and the
+fresh outpouring of His gifts, the soul becomes heavy and torpid.
+
+At midnight--that is to say, when it is least expected, a spiritual
+cry resounds in the soul: "See, the Bridegroom cometh, go forth to
+meet Him." We shall now speak of this seeing, and of the inward
+coming of Christ, and of the spiritual going forth of the man to
+meet Jesus, and we shall explain these four conditions of an inward
+life, exalted and full of desire, to which all men attain not, but
+many reach it by means of the virtues and their inward courage.
+
+In these words, Christ teaches us four things. In the first, He
+requires that our intelligence shall be enlightened with a
+supernatural light. This is what we observe in the word, "See." In
+the next words He shows us what we ought to see--that is to say, the
+inward coming of our Bridegroom of eternal truth. This is His
+meaning when He says: "The Bridegroom cometh." In the third place,
+in the words "go forth," He bids us go forth in inward actions
+according to righteousness. In the fourth place, He shows us the end
+and motive of all our works, the meeting with our Bridegroom Jesus
+Christ in the joyous unity of His adorable Godhead.
+
+HOW WE MAY GAIN SUPERNATURAL VISION BY INTERNAL EXERCISES
+
+NOW let us speak of the first word. Christ saith, "See." Three
+things are required by him who would see supernaturally in interior
+exercises. The first is the light of the divine grace, but in a far
+more sublime manner than can be felt in the external, active life.
+The second is a stripping off of extraneous images and a denudation
+of the heart, so that a man may be free from images, and attachments
+to every creature. The third is a free conversion of the will, by
+means of a concentration of all the bodily and spiritual faculties,
+and complete deliverance from all inordinate affections. Thus this
+will flows together into the unity of the Godhead and of our own
+mind, so that the reasonable creature may be able to obtain and
+possess supernaturally the sublime unity of God. It is for this that
+God made the heaven and earth and mankind, it is for this that He
+was made man, and taught us by word and example by what way we
+should come to this unity. And then in the ardour of His love He
+endured to die, and He ascended to heaven, and opened to us this
+unity in which we may possess felicity and eternal blessedness.
+
+ON THE THREEFOLD NATURAL UNITY OF MAN
+
+NOW consider attentively: there are three kinds of natural unity in
+all men, and, moreover, of supernatural unity among the just. The
+first and supreme unity of man is in God; for all creatures are
+immanent in this unity, and if they were to be separated from God,
+they would be annihilated, and would become nothing. This unity is
+essential in us according to nature, whether we are good or bad. And
+without our co-operation it makes us neither holy nor blessed. This
+unity we possess in ourselves, and nevertheless above us, as a
+beginning and support of our life and essence.
+
+Another unity exists in us naturally--that of the supreme forces, in
+so far as they actively take their natural origin in the unity of
+the spirit or of the thoughts. This is the same unity as that which
+is immanent in God, but it is taken here actively and there
+essentially. Nevertheless the spirit is entirely in each unity
+according to the integrity of its substance. We possess this unity
+in ourselves, above the sensitive part of us; and thence are born
+memory, intelligence, and will, and all the power of spiritual
+works. In this unity the soul is called spirit.
+
+The third unity which is in us naturally is the foundation of bodily
+forces in the unity of the heart, the source and origin of bodily
+life. The soul possesses this unity in the lively centre of the
+heart, and from it flow all the material works and the five senses,
+and the soul draws from thence its name of soul (anima); for it is
+the source of life, and animates the body--that is to say, it makes
+it living and preserves it in life. These three unities are in man
+naturally, as a life and a kingdom. In the inferior unity we are
+sensible and animal, in the intermediate unity we are rational and
+spiritual; and in the superior unity we are preserved according to
+our essence. And this exists in all men, naturally.
+
+Now these three unities are adorned and cultivated naturally, like a
+kingdom and an eternal abode, by the virtues, in charity and in the
+active life. And they are adorned still better and more gloriously
+cultivated by the internal exercises of a spiritual life. But most
+gloriously and blessedly of all by a supernatural contemplative
+life.
+
+The inferior unity, which is corporeal, is adorned and cultivated
+supernaturally by external practices, by perfect conduct, by the
+example of Christ and the saints, by carrying the cross with Christ,
+by submitting our nature to the command of Holy Church and the
+teachings of the saints, according to the forces of nature and
+prudence.
+
+The other unity which resides in the spirit and which is absolutely
+spiritual, is adorned and cultivated supernaturally by the three
+Divine gifts, Faith, Hope, and Charity, and by the influx of grace
+and Divine gifts, and by good will directed to all the virtues, and
+the desire to follow the example of Christ and of holy Christendom.
+
+The third and supreme unity is above our intelligence and yet
+essentially in us. We cultivate it supernaturally when in all our
+works of virtue we have in view only the glory of God, without any
+other desire but to repose in Him, above thought, above ourselves,
+and above everything. And this is the unity from which we flowed out
+when we were created, and where we abide according to our essence,
+and towards which we endeavour to return by love. These are the
+virtues which adorn this triple unity in the active life.
+
+Now we proceed to say how this triple unity is adorned more
+sublimely and cultivated more nobly by interior exercises joined to
+the active life. When a man, by love and right intention, elevates
+himself in all his works and in all his life towards the honour and
+glory of God, and seeks rest in God above all things, he will wait
+in humility and patience and abandonment of self and in the hope of
+new riches and new gifts, and he will not be troubled or anxious
+whether it pleases God to grant His gifts or to refuse them. So men
+prepare themselves for receiving an internal life of desires; even
+as a vessel is fitted and prepared, into which a precious liquid is
+to be poured. There is no vessel more noble than the loving soul,
+and no drink more necessary than the grace of God. Man will thus
+offer to God all his works and all his life, in a simple and right
+intention, and in a zest above his intention, above himself, and
+above everything, in the sublime unity in which God and the loving
+spirit are united without intermediary.
+
+ON THE FIRST MODE OR DEGREE OF THE FIRST SPIRITUAL COMING OF CHRIST
+
+THE first coming of Christ to those who are engaged in the exercises
+of desire is an internal and sensible current from the Holy Spirit,
+which impels and attracts us to all the virtues. We shall compare
+this coming to the splendour and power of the sun, which, so soon as
+it is risen, enlightens and warms the whole world in the twinkling
+of an eye. In the same way Christ, the eternal sun, burns and
+shines, dwelling at the highest point of the spirit, and enlightens
+and fires the lower part of man--that is to say, his physical heart
+and sense-faculties, and this is accomplished in less time than the
+twinkling of an eye, for the work of God is prompt; but the man in
+whom it takes place ought to be internally seeing by means of his
+spiritual eyes.
+
+The sun burns in the East, in the middle of the world, on the
+mountains; there it hastens in the summer, and creates good fruits
+and strong wines, filling the earth with joy. The same sun shines in
+the West, at the end of the world; the country there is colder and
+the force of the heat less; nevertheless, it there produces a great
+number of good fruits, but not much wine. The men who dwell in the
+West part of themselves, abide in their external senses, and by
+their good intentions, their virtues, and their outer practices, by
+the grace of God produce abundant harvests of virtues of divers
+kinds, but they but rarely taste the wine of inward joy and
+spiritual consolation.
+
+The man who wishes to experience the rays of the eternal sun, which
+is Christ Himself, will be seeing; and will dwell on the mountains
+of the East, by concentrating all his faculties, and lifting up his
+heart to God, free, and indifferent to joy and pain and all the
+creatures. There shines Christ, the sun of righteousness, on the
+free and exalted heart, and this is what I mean by the mountains.
+Christ, the glorious sun and divine effulgence, shines through and
+fires by his internal coming, and by the power of His Spirit, the
+free heart and all the powers of the soul. This is the first work of
+the internal coming in the exercises of desire. Just as fire
+inflames things which are thrown into it, so Christ inflames the
+hearts offered to Him in freedom and exultation at His internal
+coming, and He says in this coming: "Go forth by the exercises
+appropriate to this life."
+
+ON UNITY OF HEART
+
+FROM this heat is born unity of heart, for we cannot obtain true
+unity, unless the Spirit of God lights His flame in our heart. For
+this fire makes one and like unto itself all that it can overtop and
+transform. Unity gives a man the feeling of being concentrated with
+all his faculties on one point. It gives internal peace and repose
+of heart. Unity of heart is a bond which draws and binds together
+the body and the soul, and all exterior and interior forces, in the
+unity of love.
+
+HOW THE VIRTUES PROCEED FROM UNITY
+
+FROM this unity of heart is born inwardness or the internal life,
+for none can have inwardness unless he is one and united in himself;
+fervour or inwardness is the introversion of a man into his own
+heart, to comprehend and experience the internal operation or speech
+of God. Inwardness is a sensible flame of love, which the Spirit of
+God lights and kindles in a man, and a man knows not whence it
+comes, nor what has happened to him.
+
+ON SENSIBLE LOVE
+
+FROM inwardness is born a sensible love which penetrates the heart
+of man and the highest faculties of the soul. This love and delight
+none can experience who has not inwardness. Sensible love is the
+desire and appetite for God as for an eternal good in which all is
+contained. Sensible love renounces all the creatures, not as needs
+but as pleasures. Interior love feels itself touched from above by
+the eternal love which it must practise eternally Interior love
+willingly renounces and despises everything, in order to obtain that
+which it loves.
+
+ON DEVOTION
+
+FROM this sensible love is born devotion to God and His glory. For
+none can have a hungry devotion in his heart, unless he possesses
+the sensible love of God. Devotion excites and stimulates a man
+internally and externally to the service of God. It makes the body
+and soul abound in glory and merit in the eyes of God and men. God
+exacts devotion in all that we do. It purges the body and soul from
+all that might hold us back; it shows us the true path to
+blessedness.
+
+ON GRATITUDE
+
+FROM fervent devotion is born gratitude, for none can thank or
+praise God perfectly if he is not fervent and pious. We should thank
+God for everything here below, that we may be able to thank Him
+eternally above. Those who praise not God here, will be mute
+eternally. To praise God is the most joyous and delicious employment
+of the loving heart. There is no limit to the praises of God, for
+therein is our salvation, and we shall praise Him eternally.
+
+Now hear a comparison, by which you may understand the exercise of
+gratitude. When the summer approaches and the sun mounts, it
+attracts the moisture of the earth along the stems and branches of
+the trees, whence come green leaves, flowers, and fruit. Even so
+when Christ, the eternal sun, rises in our hearts, He sends His
+light and heat upon our desires, and draws the heart away from all
+the manifold things of earth, creating unity and inwardness, and
+makes the heart grow and become green by interior love, and makes
+loving devotion flourish, and makes us bear the fruits of gratitude
+and love, and preserves these fruits eternally in the humble pain of
+our inability to praise and serve Him enough.
+
+Here ends the first of the four chief kinds ot interior exercises,
+which adorn the lower part of a man.
+
+HOW TO INCREASE INWARDNESS BY HUMILITY
+
+BUT in thus comparing to the splendour and power of the sun the
+modes in which Jesus Christ comes, we shall find in the sun another
+virtue or influence which makes the fruit more early ripe and more
+abundant.
+
+When the sun rises to a very great height, and enters the sign of
+the Twins--that is to say, into a double thing, but of the same
+nature, in the middle of the month of May, the sun has a double
+power over the flowers, herbs, and all that grows upon the earth. If
+at that time the planets which rule nature are well ordered
+according to the season of the year, the sun shines brightly on the
+earth, and attracts the moisture in the atmosphere. Hence are born
+dew and rain, and the fruits of the ground increase and multiply.
+
+Even so when Christ, that bright sun, rises in our heart above all
+other things, and when the requirements of material nature, which
+are contrary to the spirit, are well regulated according to reason,
+when we possess the virtues as I have said above, and when, lastly,
+we offer and restore to God, by the ardour of charity, and with
+gratitude and love, the delight and peace which we find in the
+virtues, from all these are born, at times, a gentle rain of new
+internal consolations, and a celestial dew of divine sweetness. This
+dew and rain make all the virtues increase and multiply day by day,
+if we put no hindrance in their way. This is a new and special
+operation, and a new coming of Christ into the loving heart.
+
+ON PURE SATISFACTION OF THE HEART
+
+FROM this sweetness is born satisfaction of heart, and of all the
+bodily faculties, so that a man imagines that he is inwardly
+embraced in the divine bands of love. This pleasure and consolation
+is greater and more delicious to body and soul than all the
+pleasures granted on earth, even if a man could enjoy them to the
+full. In this pleasure God sinks into the heart by means of His
+gifts with such a profusion of delights, consolations, and joys,
+that the heart overflows internally.
+
+ON THE OBSTACLES WHICH WE ENCOUNTER IN THIS STATE
+
+THIS coming, or kind of coming, is granted to beginners, when they
+turn from the world, when their conversion is complete, and they
+abandon all the consolations of earth to live for God only;
+nevertheless they are still weak, and need milk and not strong meat,
+such as great temptations and the hiding of God's face. At this
+season frost and fog often injure them, for they are in the middle
+of the May of the interior life. The frost is to wish to be
+something, or to imagine that we are something, or to be somewhat
+attached to ourselves, or to believe that we have deserved
+consolations and are worthy of them. The fog is the wish to rest
+upon internal consolations and pains. This obscures the atmosphere
+of reason, and the ilowers, which were about to unfold and bloom and
+bear fruits, shut up again. This is why we lose the knowledge of
+truth, and nevertheless we sometimes keep certain false sweetnesses
+granted by the enemy, which at the last lead men astray.
+
+HOW ONE OUGHT TO BEHAVE IN THIS CASE
+
+I WISH to give you here a brief comparison, that you may not go
+astray, and that you may be able to behave wisely in this case.
+Observe the wise bee, and imitate her. She dwells in unity, in the
+midst of the assembly of her kind, and she goes forth, not during a
+storm, but when the weather is calm and bright, and the sun shines;
+and she flies towards every flower where she may find sweetness. She
+rests not on any flower, neither for its beauty nor for its
+sweetness, but draws out from the cups of the flowers their
+sweetness and clearness--that is to say, the honey and wax, and she
+brings them back to the unity which is formed of the assembly of all
+the bees, that the honey and wax may be put to good use.
+
+The expanded heart on which Christ, the eternal sun, shines, grows
+and blooms under His rays, and from it flow all the interior forces
+in joy and sweetness.
+
+Now the wise man will act like the bee, and will try to settle, with
+affection, intelligence, and prudence, on all the gifts and all the
+sweetness that he has experienced, and on all the good that God has
+done to him. He will not rest on any flower of the gifts, but laden
+with gratitude and praise he will fly back towards the unity where
+he wishes to dwell, and to rest with God eternally.
+
+ON THE THIRD MODE OF THE SPIRITUAL COMING OF CHRIST
+
+WHEN the sun in heaven reaches its highest point, in the sign of the
+Crab--that is to say, when it can go no higher, but must begin to go
+backwards, then the greatest heat of the year begins. The sun
+attracts the moisture, the earth dries, and the fruits ripen. In the
+same way, when Christ, the divine sun, arises above the highest
+summit of our heart--that is to say, above all His gifts,
+consolations and sweetnesses, and if we do not rest in any of these,
+however sweet, but return always with humble praises to the source
+from which these gifts flow, Christ stops and remains lifted up
+above the summit of our heart, and desires to attract all our powers
+to Himself.
+
+This invitation is an irradiation of Christ, the eternal sun, and
+causes in the heart a joy and pleasure so great that the heart
+cannot close again after such an expansion, without pain. A man is
+wounded internally and feels the smart of love. To be wounded by
+love is the sweetest sensation and the most grievous pain that can
+be experienced. To be wounded by love is a sure sign that we shall
+be cured. This spiritual wound does us good and harm at the same
+time.
+
+ON THE FOURTH KIND OF THE SPIRITUAL COMING OF CHRIST
+
+NOW I wish to speak of the fourth kind of coming of Jesus Christ,
+which exalts and perfects the man in his interior exercises,
+according to the lower part of his being. But having compared all
+the interior comings to the shining of the sun, we will continue to
+speak, while following the course of the seasons, of the other
+effects and works of the sun.
+
+When the sun begins to descend the sky, it enters the sign of the
+Virgin, so called because this period of the year becomes barren
+like a virgin. The glorious virgin Mary, mother of Christ, full of
+joys and rich in all the virtues, ascended to heaven at this season.
+The heat begins then to diminish, and men gather, for use during the
+whole year, the ripe fruits which can be used long after, such as
+corn and the grape. And they sow part of the corn, that it may be
+multiplied for the use of men. At this season all the solar work of
+the year is finished. In the same way, when Christ, the glorious
+sun, has risen to the zenith in the heart of men, and begins to
+descend, so as to hide the splendour of His divine beams and to
+leave a man alone, the heat and impatience of love diminish. Now
+this occultation of Christ and the withdrawal of His light and heat
+are the first work and the new coming of this mode. Now Christ says
+spiritually in a man: "Go forth in the manner that I now show thee";
+and the man goes forth, and finds himself poor, miserable, and
+desolate. Here all the storm, all the passion and eagerness of love
+grow cold; summer becomes autumn, and all his wealth is changed into
+great poverty. And the man begins to complain by reason of his
+misery; what is become of his ardent love, his inwardness, his
+gratitude, the interior consolations, the heartfelt joys? Where has
+it all gone? How comes it that all is dead within him? He is like
+a scholar who has lost his knowledge and his work; and nature is
+often troubled by such losses. Sometimes these unhappy ones are
+deprived of the good things of earth, of their friends and
+relations, and are deserted by all the creatures; their holiness is
+mistrusted and despised, men put a bad construction upon all the
+works of their life, and they are rejected and disdained by all
+those who surround them; and sometimes they are afflicted with
+diverse diseases; and some of them fall into bodily temptations, or
+into spiritual temptations, the most dangerous of all. From this
+misery are born the fear of falling, and a sort of half-doubt, and
+this is the extreme point where we can stop without despair. Let
+such men seek out the good, complain to them, show them their
+distress, and ask their help, and implore the aid of Holy
+Church, and of all just men.
+
+WHAT A MAN OUGHT TO DO WHEN HE IS ABANDONED
+
+A MAN will here observe humbly that he has nothing but his distress,
+and he will say in his resignation and self-abnegation the words of
+holy Job: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; He hath done
+what seemed good to Him; blessed be the name of the Lord." And he
+will leave himself in everything, and will say and think in his
+heart: "Lord, I am as willing to be poor, lacking all that Thou hast
+taken from me, as I should be to be rich, if such were Thy will, and
+if it were for Thine honour. It is not my will according to nature
+which must be accomplished, but Thy will, and my will according to
+my spirit, O Lord; for I belong to Thee, and I should love as well
+to be Thine in hell as in heaven, if that could serve Thy glory; and
+therefore, O Lord, accomplish in me the excellence of Thy will."
+From all these pains and acts of resignation, a man will derive an
+inward joy, and he will offer himself into the hands of God, and
+will rejoice to be able to suffer in His honour. And if he so
+perseveres, he will taste inward pleasures such as he has never had
+before; for nothing so rejoices the lover of God as to feel that he
+is His beloved. And if he is truly exalted as far as this mode, in
+the path of virtue, it is not necessary for him to have passed
+through all the states which we have described above; for he feels
+within himself in action, in humble obedience, in patience, and in
+resignation, the source of all the virtues. It is thus that this
+mode is eternally sure.
+
+At this season the sun in the sky enters the sign of the Scales, for
+the day and night are equal, and the sun balances the light and the
+darkness. In the same way Jesus Christ is in the sign of the Scales
+for the resigned man; and whether He grants sweetness or
+bitterness, darkness or light, whatever He chooses to send him, the
+man keeps his balance, all things are equal to him except sin, which
+has been driven away once for all. When every consolation has been
+thus withdrawn from these resigned men, when they believe that they
+have lost all their virtues and that they are abandoned by God and
+all the creatures, if they then know how to reap the divers fruits,
+their corn and wine are ready and ripe. That is to say, that all
+that the bodily virtues can suffer will be offered by them to God
+with joy, without resistance to His supreme will. All the exterior
+and interior virtues, which they formerly practised with joy in the
+light of love, they will now practise courageously and laboriously,
+and will offer them to God, and never will they have so much merit
+in His eyes. Never will they have been more noble or more beautiful.
+All the consolations which God formerly granted, they will allow to
+be stripped from them with joy, since it is for the glory of God. It
+is thus that the virtues become perfect, and that sadness is
+transformed into an eternal vintage. These men--their life and their
+patience--improve and teach all who know and live near them, and
+thus it is that the wheat of their virtues is sown and multiplied
+for the good of all just men.
+
+This is the fourth kind of coming which, according to the bodily
+faculties and the lower part of his being, adorns and perfects a man
+in interior exercises.
+
+HOW THESE FOUR MODES ARE FOUND IN JESUS CHRIST
+
+WE must needs walk in the light if we wish not to lose our way, and
+we must observe Jesus Christ, who has taught us these four modes,
+and has preceded us in them. Christ, the bright sun, rises in the
+heaven of the sublime Trinity and in the dawn of His glorious mother
+the virgin Mary, who was and is the dawn of all the graces. Now
+observe. Christ had and still has the first mode, for He was unique
+and united. In Him were and are collected and united all the virtues
+which have ever been practised, and which ever will be, and besides
+this, all the creatures who will cultivate these virtues. He was
+thus in an unique sense the Son of the Father, and united to human
+nature. And He was equally full of inwardness, for it was He who
+brought upon earth the fire which has consumed all the saints and
+all good men. And He had a sensible and faithful love for His
+Father, and for all who will have joy in Him eternally, and His
+pitiful and loving heart sighed and glowed with love for all men,
+before His Father. All His life and all His actions, within and
+without, and all His words, were praises of His Father. This is the
+first mode.
+
+Christ, the sun of love, blazed and shone yet more brightly and
+warmly, for in Him was and is the fullness of all gifts. This is why
+the heart of Christ, and His character, and His habits and His
+service, overflowed with pity, sweetness, humility, and generosity.
+So gracious was He and so loving, that His manners and His
+personality attracted all whose nature was good. He was the pure
+lily in the midst of the flowers of the field, from which the good
+were to draw the honey of eternal sweetness and eternal
+consolations. According to His humanity He thanked His eternal
+Father for all the gifts which were ever granted to humanity, and
+praised Him, for His Father is the Father of all gifts, and He
+rested on Him, according to the highest faculties of His soul, above
+all gifts, in the sublime unity of God from which all the gifts flow;
+thus He had the second mode.
+
+Christ, the glorious sun, blazed and shone yet higher, and more
+brightly and warmly; for during all His days on earth, all His
+bodily faculties were invited and pressed to the sublime glory and
+bliss which He now experiences in His senses and body. And He was
+inclined thereto Himself, according to His desires; and nevertheless
+He willed to remain in this exile, till the time which the Father
+had foreseen and fixed from all eternity. Thus He had the third
+mode. When the time came at which Christ was to reap and carry away
+to the eternal kingdom the fruits of all the virtues which ever have
+been and ever will be practised, the eternal sun began to descend;
+for Christ humbled Himself, and gave up His bodily life into the
+hands of His enemies. And he was misunderstood and deserted by His
+friends in so great a distress; and all consolation, within and
+without, was withdrawn from His nature; and it was overwhelmed with
+misery, pain, and contempt, and paid all the debt which our sins
+justly incurred. All this He suffered in humble patience, and He
+accomplished the greatest works of love in this resignation, whereby
+He received and purchased our eternal inheritance. It is thus that
+the lower part of His noble humanity was adorned, for it was in it
+that He suffered this pain for our sins. It is on this account that
+He is called the Saviour of the world, and that He is glorified and
+raised up and seated on the right hand of His Father, and that He
+reigns in power. And every creature, on the earth, above the earth,
+and under the earth, bends the knee for ever before His glorious
+name.
+
+HOW A MAN SHOULD LIVE IF HE DESIRES TO BE ENLIGHTENED
+
+THE man who, in true obedience to the commandments of God, lives in
+the moral virtues, and moreover exercises himself in the interior
+virtues, after the direction and impulse of the Holy Spirit, acting
+and speaking according to righteousness, and who seeks not his own
+interests in time or in eternity, and who supports with true
+patience obscurity and affliction and every kind of misery, and who
+thanks God for everything, and offers himself in humble resignation,
+has received the first coming of Jesus Christ according to interior
+exercises. When this man is purified and pacified, and turns back
+upon himself according to his lower nature, he may be internally
+enlightened, if he asks it, and if God judges that the right time
+has come. It may also happen that he is enlightened from the
+beginning of his conversion, so that he may offer himself entirely
+to the will of God and give up all possession of himself, which is
+the supreme end. But if he is to follow any further the road which I
+have shown, in the exterior and at the same time in the interior
+life, it will be much easier for him than for the man who has been
+raised straight from the bottom, for the former will have more light
+than the latter.
+
+ON ANOTHER COMING OF CHRIST
+
+NOW we are about to speak of another mode of the coming of Christ,
+in interior exercises, which adorn, enlighten, and enrich a man,
+according to the three supreme faculties of his soul. We shall
+compare this coming to a life-giving fountain from which flow three
+rivers.
+
+This fountain is the fullness of divine grace in the unity of our
+spirit. There resides grace essentially in its permanence, like a
+full fountain, and it flows out actively by its rivers into each of
+the faculties of the soul, according to their needs. These rivers
+are a special influx, or operation of God in the highest faculties,
+in which God operates in various manners by the intermediary of His
+grace.
+
+HOW THE FIRST RIVER FLOWS INTO THE MEMORY
+
+THE first river of grace, which God causes to flow in this coming,
+is a pure simplicity which shines without distinction in the spirit.
+This river takes its source in the fountain, in the unity of the
+spirit, and flows directly downwards, and penetrates all the
+faculties of the soul, both higher and lower, and lifts them up out
+of all multiplicity and all over-occupation, and makes a simplicity
+in a man, and gives and shows him an internal bond in the unity of
+his spirit. A man is thus lifted up according to his memory, and
+delivered from strange and irrelevant thoughts, and from
+inconstancy. Now Christ in this light demands a going forth,
+according to the mode of this light and this coming. Then the man
+goes forth, and observes himself that by virtue of the simple light
+that is spread abroad in him he is united, established, penetrated
+and fixed in the unity of his spirit or of his thoughts. Here the
+man is exalted and established in a new essence; he turns his
+thoughts inwards, and rests his memory on the naked truth, above all
+sensuous images and above all multiplicity. There the man possesses
+essentially and supernaturally the unity of his spirit, for his own
+dwelling, and as an heritage of his own for ever. He always has an
+inclination towards that same unity, and this unity will have an
+eternal and loving inclination towards the more sublime unity where
+the Father and the Son are united with all the saints in the bands
+of the Holy Spirit.
+
+HOW THE SECOND RIVER ENLIGHTENS THE INTELLIGENCE
+
+THROUGH internal love, and loving inclination towards union with
+God, is born the second river from the fullness of grace, in unity
+of spirit, and this is a spiritual brightness which flows and sheds
+light through the intelligence, but with distinctions in the diverse
+modes. For this light shows and gives to the spirit, in the truth,
+the discretion in all the virtues. But this light is not placed
+altogether in our power, for though we have it always in our soul,
+God makes it speak or keep silence, and He can manifest or hide it,
+give or withdraw it, at all times and under all conditions, for this
+light is His. Such men do not absolutely need revelations, nor to be
+drawn up above sense, for their life and abode and habits and
+essence are in the spirit above sense and sensibility. And God shows
+them what He wills and what is necessary for them. Nevertheless God,
+if He wished, could withdraw their exterior sense, and show them,
+from within, unknown symbols and future things, in diverse manners.
+
+Now Christ desires that this man should go forth, and go into the
+light, according to the mode of this light. This enlightened man
+will therefore go forth and observe his state and his life within
+and without, in order to know if he is perfectly like Christ
+according to His humanity and also according to His divinity. And
+this man will lift up his eyes, enlightened by enlightened reason,
+in intelligible truth, and will observe and consider, as a creature
+can, the sublime nature of God, and the unlimited attributes which
+are in God.
+
+It is then necessary to consider and examine the sublime nature of
+God; how it contains simplicity and purity, inaccessible height and
+abysmal depth, incomprehensible extension and eternal duration; dark
+silence and wild waste; repose of all the saints in unity and joy in
+itself and in all the saints in eternity. This enlightened man will
+also examine the attributes of the Father in the Godhead, how He is
+all-powerful, the creator, mover, preserver, beginning and end,
+cause and existence of all creatures; this is what the bright river
+of grace shows to the enlightened reason. It shows also the
+attributes of the eternal Word, abysmal wisdom and truth, model of
+every creature and of all life, eternal norm of things, unveiled
+contemplation and intuition into everything, brightness and
+illumination of all saints, according to their merits, in heaven and
+on earth. But this bright river shows also to the enlightened reason
+the attributes of the Holy Spirit; inconceivable charity and
+generosity, pity and mercy, infinite watchfulness and faithfulness,
+immense and inconceivable riches flowing with delights through all
+heavenly spirits, ardent flame consuming all in unity, effluent
+fountain, preparation of all the saints for their eternal
+blessedness, and their introduction thereto; enveloping and
+penetrating the Father, the Son, and all the saints in joyous unity.
+
+ON THE STATE OF AMAZEMENT AT THE DIVINE EFFLUENCE
+
+THE incomprehensible wealth and sublimity, and the universal
+generosity which flow from the divine nature, bring a man into a
+state of amazement; and above all he admires the communication of
+God and His effluence above everything, for he sees the
+inconceivable essence, which is the common joy of God and all the
+saints. And he sees that the three divine Persons are a common
+effluence in works, in graces, and in glory, in nature and above
+nature, in all conditions and in all times, in the saints and in
+men, in heaven and on earth, in all reasonable and irrational
+creatures, according to each one's merits, needs, and powers of
+receiving. God is common to all, with all His gifts, the angels are
+common, the soul is common in all its faculties, in all life, in all
+the members, and all in each, for one cannot divide it, except by
+reason. For the higher and lower faculties, the spirit and the soul,
+are distinct according to reason, but one in nature. Thus God is
+entirely and specially present to each one, and nevertheless common
+to all the creatures, for by Him are all things, and on Him depend
+the heaven, the earth, and the whole of nature. When a man thus
+observes the astonishing wealth and sublimity of the divine nature,
+and all the manifold gifts which He grants and offers to His
+creatures, he is lifted up internally by wonder at such manifold
+riches and sublimity; and from thence arises a singular inward joy
+of spirit, and a vast confidence in God; and this internal joy
+surrounds and penetrates all the faculties of the soul in inwardness
+of spirit.
+
+HOW THE THIRD RIVER CONFIRMS THE WILL
+
+FROM this joy and fullness of graces, and divine faithfulness, there
+is born and flows out the third river in this same unity of spirit.
+This river, like a flame, lights up the spirit and absorbs all
+things in unity. And it causes to overflow and flood with rich gifts
+and singular nobility, all the faculties of the soul, and it creates
+in the will a love without labour, spiritual and subtle. Now Christ
+says internally in the spirit by means of this flaming river: "Go
+forth by exercises according to the mode of these gifts and this
+coming." Thanks to the first river--that is to say, to a simple
+light, the memory is lifted up above the accidents of sense, and is
+established in the unity of spirit. Thanks to the second river--
+that is to say, to the brightness spread abroad within, the
+intelligence and reason are enlightened, so as to recognise the
+diverse modes of the virtues and of exercises, and the mysteries of
+the Scriptures. Thanks to the third river--that is to say, to an
+inspired ardour, the sublime will is kindled into a more tranquil
+love, and adorned with greater riches. In this way a man becomes
+spiritually enlightened, for the grace of God abides, like a
+fountain in the unity of the spirit; and these rivers create in the
+faculties of the soul an effluence of all the virtues. And the
+fountain of grace always requires a reflux towards its source.
+
+HOW CHRIST IS GIVEN TO ALL MEN IN THE SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR
+
+THERE is a special benefit which Christ left in the Holy Church, to
+all good people, in this supper of the great Paschal feast, when He
+was about to pass from His sufferings to His Father after having
+eaten the Paschal lamb with His disciples, and when the ancient law
+was accomplished. At the end of the supper, He wished to give them a
+special meal, as He had long desired to do. And this is why He
+wished to finish the ancient law and to inaugurate the new law. He
+took bread in His sacred hands, and consecrated His holy body, and
+then His holy blood, and gave them to all His disciples, and left
+them to all the just, for their eternal good.
+
+This gift and this special food rejoice and adorn all the great
+festivals and all the banquets in heaven and on earth. In this gift
+Christ gives Himself to us in three manners; He gives us His flesh
+and blood and His bodily life, glorified and full of joys and
+griefs. And He gives us His spirit with its highest faculties, and
+full of glory, of gifts, of truths and justifications. And He gives
+us His personality with the divine light which lifts up His spirit
+and all enlightened spirits, even to the sublime and joyous unity.
+
+Now Christ wishes us to remember Him, whenever we consecrate, offer,
+and receive His body. Now observe how we should remember Him. We
+shall observe and consider how Christ bends towards us in loving
+affection, in great desire, in loving joy, and by flowing into our
+bodily nature. For He gives us that which He received from our
+humanity--that is to say, His flesh and blood and bodily nature. We
+shall contemplate this precious body pierced and wounded with love,
+by reason of His faithfulness to us. It is by it that we are adorned
+and nourished in the lower part of our human nature. He gives us
+also, in this sublime gift of the sacrament, His spirit full of
+glory, and the richest gifts of the virtues, and ineffable marvels
+of charity and nobleness.
+
+It is by this that we are nourished, adorned, and illuminated in the
+unity of our spirit and in our higher faculties, thanks to the
+indwelling of Christ with all His riches. He gives us also in the
+sacrament of the altar His sublime personality in incomprehensible
+light. And thanks to this, we are united to the Father, and so we
+reach our inheritance of divinity in eternal bliss. If a man
+meditate rightly on this, he will meet Christ in the same manner in
+which Christ comes to him. He will raise himself up to receive
+Christ, with all his faculties and in eager joy. It is not possible
+for our joy to be too great, for our nature receives His nature--that
+is to say the glorified humanity of Christ, full of joyfulness and
+full of merits. This is why I would that man, at the reception of
+this sacrament, should melt away with desire, joy, and pleasure, for
+he is receiving the fairest, the most gracious, the most lovable of
+the children of men, and is united to Him. In this union and in this
+joy great benefits often come to men, and many mysterious and
+marvellous secrets of divine treasures are manifested and disclosed.
+When a man meditates, at this reception, on the martyrdom and
+sufferings of the precious body of Christ, whom he is receiving, he
+enters sometimes into so loving a devotion and so great a
+compassion, that he desires to be nailed with Christ to the cross,
+and to shed his heart's blood for the honour of Christ. And he
+presses himself to the wounds and open heart of Christ His Saviour.
+In these exercises revelations and great benefits have often come to
+men.
+
+ON THE UNITY OF THE DIVINE NATURE IN THE TRINITY OF PERSONS
+
+THE sublime and superessential unity of the Divine nature, in which
+the Father and the Son possess their nature in the unity of the Holy
+Spirit, above the conception and comprehension of all our faculties,
+in the bare essence of our spirit, surpasses in this sublime calm
+all the creatures of created light. This sublime unity of the Divine
+nature is living and fruitful, for, from this same unity, the
+eternal Word is born from the Father without interruption. And by
+this birth the Father knows the Son, and all things in the Son. And
+the Son knows the Father, and all things in the Father, for their
+nature is simple. From this reciprocal vision of the Father and the
+Son in an eternal clearness, flow forth an eternal satisfaction and
+unfathomable love, which is the Holy Spirit. And by the Holy Spirit
+and the eternal Wisdom God inclines towards every creature
+severally, and loads every one of them with gifts and kindles it
+with love, according to its nobility and according to the state
+wherein it is constituted and elected though its virtues and the
+eternal foresight of God. And it is by this that all just spirits,
+in heaven and on earth, are united in virtue and justice.
+
+HOW GOD MOVES AND POSSESSES THE SOUL, NATURALLY AND SUPERNATURALLY
+
+NOW be attentive: I am about to give you an example on this
+subject. God has made the upper heaven a pure and simple clearness
+encircling and enveloping all the heavens; and all the material
+world which God has created for it is the exterior abode and kingdom
+of God and His saints, full of glory and eternal joys. Now the
+heaven being an unmixed clearness, there is there neither time, nor
+state, nor temptation, nor change, for it is unchangeably fixed
+above all things. The sphere which approaches most nearly to it is
+called the primum mobile. All movement, by the power of God,
+emanates from the supreme heaven. This is the movement which carries
+with it the motions of the firmament and all the planets. It is by
+this same initial movement that all the creatures live and grow,
+according to their order. Now understand that the essence of the
+soul is like a spiritual kingdom of God, full of Divine clearness,
+surpassing all our faculties, unless these faculties are not
+transformed in a simple fashion, of which I do not wish to speak
+now. See; in this essence of the soul in which God reigns, the
+unity of our spirit is like the primum mobile; for in this unity
+the spirit is moved from above, by the power of God, naturally and
+supernaturally; for by ourselves we have nothing either in or above
+nature. And this motion of God, when it is supernatural, is the
+first and chief cause of all our virtue. And by this motion of God
+the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are granted to certain
+enlightened men, like the seven planets which illuminate all the
+lives of men. This is how God possesses the essential unity of our
+spirit, as His Kingdom.
+
+ON THE ESSENTIAL MEETING WITH GOD, WITHOUT INTERMEDIARY
+
+NOW attend carefully. The unity of our spirit has two modes, one
+essential and the other active. You should know that the spirit,
+according to its essential existence, receives the coming of Christ
+in its bare nature, without intermediary and without interruption.
+For this essence and life which we are in God, in our eternal image,
+and which we have in ourselves, according to essential existence,
+are without intermediary and inseparable. This is why the spirit
+receives, in its highest and most intimate part, in its bare nature,
+the impression of its eternal image, and the divine brightness
+without interruption, and it is an eternal dwelling of God, which He
+occupies by a perpetual inhabitation, and which He visits always
+with a new coming, and a new effulgence from His eternal birth. For
+where He comes He is, and where He is He comes. And where He has
+never been, He will never come, for there is in Him neither accident
+nor change, and everything, where He is, is in Him, for He never
+goes out of Himself. And this is why the spirit possesses God
+essentially in its bare nature, and God the spirit, for the spirit
+lives in God, and God in the spirit. And it is capable, in its
+highest part, of receiving the brightness of God, and all that God
+may grant it, without intermediary. And by the brightness of its
+eternal image, which shines essentially and personally in it, the
+spirit is plunged, as regards the highest part of its vitality, in
+the divine essence; and there enters into possession of its eternal
+bliss, and flowing out again by the eternal birth of the Son is
+placed in its created essence by the free will of the Holy Trinity,
+And here it is like the image of the sublime Trinity and Unity for
+which it is created. And in its created nature, it takes the
+impression of its eternal image without interruption, like an
+immaculate mirror in which every impression abides, and which renews
+the likeness in itself without interruption. This essential unity of
+our spirit in God, exists not in itself, but abides in God and flows
+out from God, and is immanent in God and returns to God, as to its
+eternal cause. It never separates itself from God, for this unity is
+a fact of bare nature, and if nature separated itself from God it
+would fall into nothingness. And this unity is above time and
+conditions, and works always without interruption according to the
+mode of God. This is the nobleness which we have naturally according
+to the essential unity of our spirit, where it is united naturally
+to God.
+
+This makes us neither saints nor blessed, for all men have it in
+them, the bad as well as the good; but it is the first cause of all
+holiness and bliss; and this is the meeting and unity of God in our
+spirit, in our base nature.
+
+HOW MAN IS LIKE GOD BY GRACE, AND UNLIKE HIM BY MORTAL SIN
+
+NOW examine this thought with care, for if you understand well what
+I wish to say to you, and what I have already said, you will
+understand all the divine truth which a creature can apprehend at
+present, and even things far more sublime. In the second mode, our
+spirit keeps itself actively in this same unity, and subsists by
+itself as in its personal created essence. This is the foundation
+and origin of the supreme faculties, and this is the beginning and
+end of all the works of a created nature, accomplished according to
+the mode of the creatures, both in nature and above nature.
+
+Nevertheless this unity does not operate as unity; but all the
+faculties of the soul have their power entirely in their
+foundation--that is to say, in the unity of the spirit, where it
+resides in its personal essence. In this unity the spirit must
+always be like unto God, by grace and virtue, or unlike Him by
+mortal sin; for man is made in the likeness of God, which he must
+understand in the sense of grace; for grace is a deiform light which
+shines through us and makes us like unto God; and without this light
+we cannot be united supernaturally to God, even though we can never
+lose the image of God, nor our natural unity in Him. If we lose this
+likeness--that is to say, grace, we are damned. And this is why, so
+soon as God finds in us something which is capable of receiving His
+grace, He wishes to enliven us by His goodness, and to make us like
+unto Himself by His gifts. And this happens whenever we turn towards
+Him with full purpose; for at the same moment Christ comes to us and
+in us, with and without intermediary--that is to say, by the virtues
+and above all the virtues. And He impresses His image and likeness
+upon us--that is to say, Himself and all His gifts, and He relieves
+us from sin and makes us like unto Himself.
+
+By the same operation in which God relieves us from sin, and makes
+us like Him and free in charity, the spirit is plunged in joyous
+love. And here take place a meeting and a union, which are without
+intermediaries and supernatural, and wherein resides our supreme
+blessedness. Although all that He gives by love and pure goodness is
+natural to God, yet to us it is accidental and supernatural,
+according to our mode, since formerly we were strangers and unlike,
+and only subsequently have become like God and obtained union with
+Him.
+
+ON THE SUPREME DEGREE OF THE INTERIOR LIFE
+
+NOW understand. This incomprehensible light transforms and
+penetrates the joyous inclination of our spirit. In this light, the
+spirit is plunged in joyous repose; for this repose is without mode
+and without bottom, and we can only know it by itself--that is to
+say, by repose. For if we could know it and conceive it, it would
+fall into mode and measure, and so would not be able to satisfy us,
+and repose would become an eternal restlessness. And this is why the
+simple, loving, complete inclination of our spirit forms in us a
+joyous love, and joyous love is without bottom. And the abyss of God
+calls to abyss; so it is with all those whose spirits are united to
+God in joyous love. This calling is an irruption from His essential
+brightness; and this essential brightness in the embrace of His
+bottomless love, causes us to lose ourselves and escape from
+ourselves, in the lonely darkness of God. And thus united, without
+intermediary, to the spirit of God, we can meet God by God, and
+possess unchangeably, with Him and in Him, our eternal blessedness.
+
+ON THE FIRST MODE OF THIS HIGHEST MEETING
+
+THE most interior life is practised in three ways. Sometimes the
+interior man operates, above all activity and all virtue, by simple
+introspection in joyous love. And here he meets God without
+intermediary. And from the unity of God a simple light shines in
+him, and this light shows him darkness, nakedness, and nothingness.
+He is enveloped in darkness, and falls into the absence of mode as
+one who loses his way. He loses, in nakedness, the power of
+observing and distinguishing all things, and he is transformed and
+penetrated by a simple brightness. He loses, in nothingness, all his
+works, for he is overcome in the work of the unlimited love of God;
+and in the joyous inclination of his spirit he triumphs in God and
+becomes one spirit with Him. This is the first mode, which is
+inactive; for it empties a man of all things, and lifts him up above
+works and virtues.
+
+ON THE SECOND MODE
+
+THERE are moments when the interior man turns desirously and
+actively towards God, to pay Him homage, and to offer up and
+annihilate, in the love of God, his being and all that he can give.
+And here he meets God, through an intermediary. This intermediary is
+the gift of wisdom, which is the foundation and source of all the
+virtues, and excites the just to virtues in proportion to their love;
+and sometimes it touches and inflames the interior man with love
+so violently, that all the gifts of God, and all that God can give
+without giving Himself, seem to him too little and do not satisfy
+him, but only increase his impatience. For he has at the bottom of
+his being an interior perception or sensation, wherein all the
+virtues begin and end, and wherein he offers to God all the virtues,
+and wherein love lives. And thus the hunger and thirst of love
+become so great, that he is reduced to nothingness, and then touched
+anew, as it were for the first time, by the irradiation of God. Thus
+in living he dies and in dying he lives again. This is the second
+mode, and it is more useful and more glorious than the first; for
+none can enter into the repose that is above action unless he has
+first actively loved love. And this is why none will be inactive,
+who is master of himself and who is able to practise love.
+
+ON THE THIRD MODE
+
+FROM these two kinds is born the third, which is an interior life
+according to righteousness. Now understand. God comes to us without
+interruption, with and. without intermediary, He requires of us
+action and joy, in such a way that action may not hinder joy, nor
+joy action, but that each may help the other. This is why the
+interior man possesses his life in these two modes, repose and work.
+And in each of them he is entire and undivided; for he is entirely
+in God, in his joyous repose, and he is entirely in himself, in his
+active love; and God warns him that He requires him to renew
+continually his repose and his work. The righteousness of the spirit
+wishes to pay, every hour, what God requires of us, and this is why,
+at every irradiation of God, the spirit turns inwards, actively and
+joyously, and so is renewed in all the virtues, and plunged more
+deeply in joyous love. For God at every gift gives Himself with all
+His gifts, and the spirit whenever it turns inwards, gives itself
+with all its works. The spirit is united to God, and transferred
+without interruption into repose. The man is hungry, for he sees the
+nourishment of angels and the food of heaven. He works actively in
+love, for he sees his repose. He is a pilgrim, and he sees his
+country. He fights, in love, for victory, for he sees his crown.
+Consolation, peace, joy, beauty, and riches, and all that can
+rejoice the heart, are shown to the reason illuminated by God, in
+spiritual similitudes and without measure. And by this vision, at
+the touch of God, love remains active. For this just man has built
+up, in the spirit, a true life, which will last eternally, but after
+this life it will be transformed into a more sublime state. Thus the
+man is just, and he goes towards God by interior love in eternal
+work, and he goes in God by joyous inclination, in eternal repose.
+And he abides in God, and yet he goes out towards all the creatures,
+in common love, in the virtues, and in the works of justice. This is
+the supreme summit of the inner life.
+
+Note.--Here follow in Ruysbroek's treatise four chapters of warnings
+against the errors of Quietism, such as were exemplified in his time
+by many of the Brethren of the Free Spirit and similar sects.
+
+BOOK III
+
+THE THREE CONDITIONS BY WHICH WE MAY ATTAIN TO THE CONTEMPLATIVE
+LIFE
+
+THE interior lover of God, who possesses God in joyous repose, and
+possesses himself in the unity of active love, and possesses all his
+life in the virtues, enters into the contemplative life, thanks to
+these three points and to the secret manifestation of God; yes, it
+is the internal and devout lover, whom God will choose freely and
+lift him up even to a superessential contemplation in divine light
+and according to the mode of God. This contemplation places us in a
+purity and brightness above all intelligence, for it is a singular
+ornament and a celestial crown, and at last the eternal recompense
+of all the virtues and of all life. And none can arrive there by
+knowledge or subtlety, nor by any exercise; but he whom God wills to
+unite to His own Spirit and to illuminate by Himself, can
+contemplate God, and none other can. To such an one the heavenly
+Father says, in the secret and submerged part of the spirit: "See,
+the Bridegroom cometh, go forth to meet Him."
+
+I wish to analyse and explain these words, in their relation to
+superessential contemplation, which is the basis of all holiness and
+of the perfect life. Very few men attain to this divine
+contemplation, by reason of our incapacity, and the mystery of the
+light in which contemplation takes place. And this is why no one, by
+his own knowledge or by any subtle examination, will understand
+these ideas. For all words, and all that can be learned and
+understood according to the mode of the creatures, are strangers to
+the truth which I speak of, and far below it. But he who is united
+to God, and illuminated in this truth, can comprehend the truth by
+itself. For to conceive and understand God above all similitudes, as
+He is in Himself, is to be God in God, without intermediary and
+without any difference which might prove an obstacle. This is why I
+desire that every man who does not understand this, nor experience
+it in the joyous unity of his spirit, may not be wounded by my
+words, for what I say is true. And this is why he who wishes to
+understand this, must be dead to himself and alive to God, and he
+will turn his face to the eternal light, at the bottom of his
+spirit, where the hidden truth is manifested without intermediary.
+For the heavenly Father wishes that we should be seeing; for He is
+the Father of Light, and this is why He says eternally, without
+interruption and without intermediary, one abysmal word and no
+other. In this word He proffers Himself and all things. The word is:
+"See." And it is the going forth and the birth of the Son of the
+eternal light, in whom we see and recognise all our blessedness.
+
+HOW A MAN OUGHT TO EXERCISE HIMSELF, IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE ETERNAL
+LIGHT AND TO CONTEMPLATE GOD
+
+IN order that the spirit may contemplate God by God, without
+intermediary, in this Divine light, three things are necessary.
+First, the man must be well governed externally in all the virtues,
+and without obstacles within, and as free from all external works as
+if he did them not; for if he is troubled within by any act of
+virtue, he has images, and so long as they remain in him he cannot
+contemplate. In the second place, he must adhere internally to God,
+by the combination of intention and of love, like a burning fire,
+which can never more be extinguished. At the moment when he feels
+himself in this state, he can contemplate. In the third place, he
+should be lost in an absence of mode, and in a darkness, in which
+all contemplatives wander joyously, and can never find themselves
+again according to the mode of the creatures. In the abyss of this
+darkness, where the loving spirit is dead to itself, begin the
+manifestation of God and of eternal life. For in this darkness is
+born and shines an incomprehensible light, which is the Son of God,
+in whom we see eternal life. And in this light we become seeing; and
+this Divine light is given in the simple vision of the spirit, in
+which the spirit receives the clearness which is God Himself,
+without intermediary, and becomes without interruption this
+clearness which it receives. See; this dark clearness, in which we
+contemplate all that we desire, while the spirit is passive,--this
+clearness is so great than the loving contemplative, in the depth
+where he reposes, sees and experiences nothing save an
+incomprehensible light, and according to the simple nudity which
+envelopes all things, he sees and apprehends the same light by which
+he sees, and nothing else. This is the first condition of becoming
+seeing in the Divine light. Happy are the eyes which thus see, for
+they have eternal life.
+
+HOW THE ETERNAL BIRTH OF GOD IS RENEWED WITHOUT INTERRUPTION IN
+NOBLENESS OF SPIRIT
+
+WHEN we have thus become seeing, we can contemplate in joy the
+eternal coming of the Bridegroom, and this is the second point on
+which I wish to speak. What is then this coming of the Bridegroom
+which is eternal? It is a new birth and a new illumination without
+interruption; for the foundation out of which the clearness shines,
+and which is the clearness itself, is living and fruitful; and this
+is why the manifestation of the eternal light is renewed without
+interruption, in the most secret part of the spirit. See; every
+creaturely work, and every exercise of virtue must here submit
+themselves, for God works alone in the highest part of the spirit.
+There is nought here but an eternal contemplation and fixity of
+light, by light, and in light. And the coming of the Bridegroom is
+so swift that He comes always, and is immanent with His unfathomable
+riches, and comes back ever anew, in person, with such new
+splendours that He seems never to have come before. For His coming
+consists in an eternal Now, transcending time, and He is always
+received with new desire and new joy. The delights and joy which
+this Bridegroom brings at His coming are without bottom and without
+limits, for they are Himself. This is why the eyes of the spirit, by
+which the lover contemplates the Bridegroom, are open so wide that
+they will never more be shut. For the contemplation and fixity of
+the spirit remain eternal in the hidden manifestation of God. And
+the contemplation of the spirit is so widely opened, while waiting
+for the coming of the Bridegroom, that the spirit itself acquires
+the amplitude of that which it comprehends. And in this way, God is
+seen and comprehended by God, in which all our salvation and
+blessedness consists. This is the second manner in which we receive,
+without interruption in our spirit, the eternal coming of our
+Bridegroom.
+
+ON THE ETERNAL GOING FORTH WHICH WE POSSESS IN THE BIRTH OF THE SON
+
+NOW the Spirit of God saith, in the secret depths of our spirit:
+"Go forth," in an eternal contemplation and joy, according to the
+mode of God. All the wealth which is in God naturally, we possess in
+Him by love; and God possesses it in us, by His boundless Love,
+which is the Holy Spirit. For in this love all is tasted that can be
+desired. And this is why, thanks to this love, we are dead to
+ourselves, and have gone forth in loving liquefaction or immersion,
+in the absence of mode and in darkness. There the spirit, enveloped
+by the Holy Trinity, is eternally immanent in the superessential
+unity, in repose and in joy. And in this same unity, according to
+the mode of generation, the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the
+Father, and every creature in them both. And this is above the
+distinction of Persons, for here we understand by reason the
+fatherhood and sonship in the lively fruitfulness of nature.
+
+Here is born and begins an eternal going forth, and an eternal work
+without beginning, for there is here a beginning without beginning.
+For by means of the eternal birth of the Son, the Word of the
+Father, all creatures have gone forth eternally, before they were
+created in time, and God has considered and recognised them
+distinctly in Himself, in lively reason, and in distinction from
+Himself: but not in another mode, for all that is in God is God.
+This eternal going forth and this eternal life, which we have and
+are eternally in God, without ourselves, is the cause of our created
+essence in time. And our created essence is immanent in the eternal
+essence, and this eternal life, which we have and are in the eternal
+wisdom of God, is like unto God; for they have an eternal immanence,
+without distinction, in the divine essence. And they have an eternal
+effluence by the birth of the Son, in a difference with distinction,
+according to the eternal reason. And thanks to these two things, a
+man is in this way like unto God, that he recognises himself and
+reflects on himself without interruption, in this resemblance,
+according to essence and according to the Persons. For though here
+there is still distinction and difference, according to reason, this
+resemblance is nevertheless one with the very image of the Holy
+Trinity, which is the wisdom of God, and wherein God contemplates
+Himself and all things in an eternal Now, without before or after.
+In simple vision He regards Himself as He regards all things. And
+this is the image and likeness of God, and our image and likeness,
+for in it God and all things are reflected. In this divine image,
+all the creatures, without themselves, have an eternal life, as in
+their eternal model, and the Holy Trinity has made us in this
+eternal image and likeness. And this is why God wishes that we
+should go out from ourselves, in this eternal light, and that we
+should pursue this image, which is our true life, supernaturally,
+and possess it with Him actively and joyously, in eternal
+blessedness.
+
+For we know well that the bosom of the Father is our foundation and
+origin, wherein we begin our life and our being. And from our true
+foundation--that is to say, from the Father and from all that lives
+in Him, beams forth an eternal radiance, which is the birth of the
+Son. In this radiance, the Father manifests Himself, and all that
+lives in Himself, to Himself; for all that He is, and all that He
+has, He gives to the Son, except the prerogative of fatherhood,
+which resides in Himself. And this is why all that lives in the
+Father hidden in the Unity, lives also in the Son, and flows forth
+in His manifestation; but the simple foundation of our eternal image
+remains always without mode in the darkness. But the boundless
+radiance which shines out thence manifests and reflects in the mode
+the mystery of God. And all men who are raised above their
+creatureliness into a contemplative life, are united to this divine
+splendour. And they are this splendour itself, and they see,
+experience, and find, thanks to this divine radiance, that they are
+this same simple foundation, according to their uncreated essence,
+from which shines forth, in the divine mode, this immeasurable
+radiance, which, according to simplicity of essence, remains
+eternally within, and without mode. This is why interior men and
+contemplatives will go forth, according to the mode of
+contemplation, above distinction and above their created essence, by
+means of an eternal intuition. Thanks to this inborn light, they are
+transformed, and are united to this same light by which they see and
+which they see. In this manner contemplatives pursue the eternal
+image, after which they are made, and contemplate God and all things
+without distinction, by a pure vision in divine brightness. This is
+the most sublime and the most useful contemplation which we can
+attain in this life; for in this contemplation a man remains the
+best and freest master of himself, and at each loving introversion,
+above all that we can comprehend, he can advance in the sublimities
+of life, for he remains free and master of himself, in unity and in
+the virtues. And this contemplation in the divine light maintains
+him above all inwardness, above all virtue, above all merit, for it
+is the crown and recompense towards which we are striving, and which
+we already have and possess in this mode, for the contemplative life
+is a celestial life. But if we shall be drawn up out of this exile
+and this misery, we shall be, according to our created nature, more
+susceptible of this radiance, and then the glory of God would shine
+through us better and more sublimely. This is the mode above all
+modes, according to which we go forth in a divine contemplation and
+in an eternal stability, and according to which we are transformed
+and reformed in the divine radiance. This going forth of the
+contemplative is also loving; for by joyous love he surpasses his
+created essence, and finds and tastes the riches and delights which
+are God, and which He causes to flow without interruption into the
+most secret part of the spirit, into the place where he is like the
+sublimity of God.
+
+ON THE DIVINE MEETING, WHICH TAKES PLACE IN THE MOST SECRET PART OF
+OUR SPIRIT
+
+WHEN the interior man and contemplative has thus pursued his eternal
+image, and possessed in this purity the bosom of the Father by the
+Son, he is illuminated by the divine truth, and receives anew at
+each instant the eternal birth; and he goes forth according to the
+mode of light, in a divine contemplation. And here arises the fourth
+and last point--that is to say, the loving meeting, in which before
+all else resides our eternal blessedness.
+
+You know that our heavenly Father, like a living foundation, is
+actively inclined towards His Son, as towards His own eternal
+wisdom. And this same wisdom, and all that lives therein, is
+actively inclined in the Father--that is to say, in the foundation
+whence it proceeds. And in this meeting arises the Third Person,
+between the Father and the Son, and this is the Holy Spirit, their
+mutual love, which is united to them both in the same nature. And He
+envelopes and penetrates, actively and joyously, the Father and the
+Son and all that lives in them with such riches and such joy, that
+all the creatures must be silent thereupon eternally, for the
+incomprehensible marvel of this love surpasses eternally the
+intelligence of all the creatures. But where we comprehend and taste
+this amazement, without being amazed, there the spirit is above
+itself, and one with the Spirit of God, and it tastes and sees,
+without measure, like God, the riches which He is Himself in the
+unity of the living foundation, where He possesses Himself according
+to the unity of His uncreated essence.
+
+Now this delightful meeting is without interruption actively renewed
+in us, according to the mode of God, for the Father gives Himself in
+the Son, and the Son in the Father, in an eternal gratification and
+a loving embrace, and this is renewed at every hour in the ties of
+love; for even as the Father without interruption contemplates anew
+all things in the birth of His Son, so all things are beloved anew,
+by the Father and the Son, through the influence of the Holy Spirit.
+And this is the eternal meeting of the Father and the Son, in which
+we are lovingly wrapped by the Holy Spirit in eternal love.
+
+Now this active meeting and this loving embrace are, in their
+foundation, joyous and without mode, for God's infinite absence of
+mode is so obscure and so destitute of mode, that it envelopes in
+itself every divine mode and every work, and the individuality of
+the Persons, in the rich envelopment of essential unity, and forms a
+divine rejoicing in the abyss of the unnameable. And here there is a
+joyous and outflowing immersion in the essential nakedness, where
+all the divine names and all the modes, and all divine reason,
+reflected in the mirror of the divine truth, fall into simple
+ineffability, in the absence of mode and of reason. For in this
+boundless abyss of simplicity, all things are enveloped in joyous
+blessedness, and the abyss remains itself uncomprehended save by the
+essential unity. Before this essential unity, the Persons must give
+way, and all that lives in God. For here is nought but an eternal
+rest, in a joyous envelopment of loving immersion, and this is the
+essence, without mode, which all interior spirits have chosen above
+all other things. It is the dark silence in which all lovers are
+lost. But if we could prepare ourselves thus for the virtues, we
+should unclothe ourselves, so to speak, from life, and should float
+on the wide expanses of this divine sea, and created things would no
+longer have power to touch us.
+
+May we be able to possess, rejoicing, the essential unity, and
+clearly to contemplate the Unity in Trinity; and may the divine
+love, which rejects no suppliant, grant us this. Amen.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THEOLOGIA GERMANICA
+
+
+
+
+
+SIN AND SELFISHNESS
+
+SIN is nothing else but the turning away of the creature from the
+unchangeable Good to the changeable; from the perfect to the
+imperfect, and most often to itself. And when the creature claims
+for its own anything good, such as substance, life, knowledge, or
+power, as if it were that, or possessed it, or as if that proceeded
+from itself, it goeth astray. What else did the devil do, and what
+was his error and fall, except that he claimed for himself to be
+something, and that something was his and was due to him? This claim
+of his--this "I, me, and mine," were his error and his fall. And so
+it is to this day. For what else did Adam do? It is said that Adam
+was lost, or fell, because he ate the apple. I say, it was because
+he claimed something for his own, because of his "I, me, and mine."
+If he had eaten seven apples, and yet never claimed anything for his
+own, he would not have fallen: but as soon as he called something
+his own, he fell, and he would have fallen, though he had never
+touched an apple. I have fallen a hundred times more often and more
+grievously than Adam; and for his fall all mankind could not make
+amends. How then shall my fall be amended? It must be healed even as
+Adam's fall was healed. And how, and by whom, was that healing
+wrought? Man could not do it without God, and God could not do it
+without man. Therefore God took upon Himself human nature; He was
+made man, and man was made God. Thus was the healing effected. So
+also must my fall be healed. I cannot do the work without God, and
+He may not or will not do it without me. If it is to be done, God
+must be made man in me also; God must take into Himself all that is
+in me, both within and without, so that there may be nothing in me
+which strives against God or hinders His work. Now if God took to
+Himself all men who are or ever lived in the world, and was made man
+in them, and they were deified in Him, and this work were not
+accomplished in me, my fall and my error would never be healed
+unless this were accomplished in me also. And in this bringing back
+and healing I can and shall do nothing of myself; I shall simply
+commit myself to God, so that He alone may do and work all things in
+me, and that I may suffer Him, and all His work, and His divine
+will. And because I will not do this, but consider myself to be mine
+own, and "I, me, and mine," and the like, God is impeded, and cannot
+do His work in me alone and without let or hindrance; this is why my
+fall and error remain unhealed. All comes of my claiming something
+for my own. ii., iii.
+
+THE TWO EYES
+
+We should remember the saying that the soul of Christ had two eyes,
+a right eye and a left eye. In the beginning, when the soul of
+Christ was created, she fixed her right eye upon eternity and the
+Godhead, and remained in the full beholding and fruition of the
+Divine essence and eternal perfection; and thus remained unmoved by
+all the accidents and labours, the suffering, anguish, and pain,
+that befell the outer man. But with the left eye she looked upon the
+creation, and beheld all things that are therein, and observed how
+the creatures differ from each other, how they are better or worse,
+nobler or baser; and after this manner was the outer man of Christ
+ordered. Thus the inner man of Christ, according to the right eye of
+His soul, stood in the full exercise of His Divine nature, in
+perfect blessedness, joy, and eternal peace. But the outer man and
+the left eye of the soul of Christ stood with Him in perfect
+suffering, in all His tribulations, afflictions and labours; in such
+a way that the inner or right eye remained unmoved, unimpeded and
+untouched by all the labour, suffering, woe, and misery that
+happened to the outer man. It has been said that when Jesus was
+bound to the pillar and scourged, and when He hung on the cross,
+according to the outer man, the inner man, a soul according to the
+right eye, stood in as full possession of Divine joy and blessedness
+as it did after the ascension, or as it does now. Even so His outer
+man, or soul according to the left eye, was never impeded,
+disturbed, or troubled by the inward eye in its contemplation of the
+outward things which pertained to it. The created soul of man has
+also two eyes. The one is the power of looking into eternity, the
+other the power of looking into time and the creatures, of
+perceiving how they differ from each other, of giving sustenance and
+other things necessary to the body, and ordering and ruling it for
+the best. But these two eyes of the soul cannot both perform their
+office at once; if the soul would look with the right eye into
+eternity, the left eye must be shut, and must cease to work: it must
+be as if it were dead. For if the left eye is discharging its office
+towards outward things--if it is holding conversation with time and
+the creatures--then the right eye must be impeded in its working,
+which is contemplation. Therefore, he who would have one must let
+the other go; for no man can serve two masters. vii.
+
+A FORETASTE OF ETERNAL LIFE
+
+Some have asked whether it is possible for the soul, while it is
+still in the body, to reach so great a height as to gaze into
+eternity, and receive a foretaste of eternal life and blessedness.
+This is commonly denied; and in a sense the denial is true. For
+indeed it cannot come about, so long as the soul is occupied with
+the body, and the things which minister to the body and belong to
+it, and to time and created things, and is disturbed and troubled
+and distracted by them. For the soul that would mount to such a
+state, must be quite pure, entirely stripped and bare of all images;
+it must be wholly separate from all creatures, and above all from
+itself. Many think that this is impossible in this present life. But
+St Dionysius claims that it is possible, as we find from his words
+in his letter to Timothy, where he says: "In order to behold the
+hidden things of God, thou shalt forsake sense and the things of the
+flesh, and all that can be perceived by the senses, and all that
+reason can bring forth by her own power, and all things created and
+uncreated which reason can know and comprehend, and thou shalt stand
+upon an utter abandonment of thyself, as if thou knewest none of
+those things which I have mentioned, and thou shalt enter into union
+with Him who is, and who is above all existence and knowledge." If
+he did not think this to be possible in this present time, why did
+he teach it and urge it upon us in this present time? But you ought
+to know that a master has said, about this passage of St Dionysius,
+that it is possible, and may come to a man so often that he may
+become accustomed to it, and be able to gaze into eternity whenever
+he will. And a single one of these glances is better, worthier,
+higher, and more pleasing to God than all that the creature can do
+as a creature. He who has attained to it asks for nothing more, for
+he has found the kingdom of heaven and eternal life here on earth.
+viii.
+
+DESCENT INTO HELL
+
+Even as the soul of Christ had to descend into hell, before it
+ascended into heaven, so must the soul of man. And mark how this
+comes to pass. When a man truly perceives and considers who and what
+he is, and finds himself wholly base and wicked, and unworthy of all
+the consolation and kindness that he ever received, either from God
+or from the creatures, he falls into such a profound abasement and
+contempt for himself, that he thinks himself unworthy to walk upon
+the earth; he feels that he deserves that all creatures should rise
+against him and avenge their Maker upon him with punishments and
+torments; nay, even that were too good for him. And therefore he
+will not and dare not desire any consolation or release, either from
+God or any creature; he is willing to be unconsoled and unreleased,
+and he does not lament for his condemnation and punishment, for they
+are right and just, and in accordance with God's will. Nothing
+grieves him but his own guilt and wickedness; for that is not right,
+and is contrary to God's will: for this reason he is heavy and
+troubled. This is the meaning of true repentance for sin. And the
+man who in this life enters into this hell, enters afterwards into
+the kingdom of heaven, and has a foretaste of it which exceeds all
+the delights and happiness which he has ever had, or could have,
+from the things of time. But while a man is in this hell, no one can
+comfort him, neither God, nor the creatures. Of this condition it
+has been written, "Let me die, let me perish! I live without hope;
+from within and from without I am condemned, let no man pray for my
+deliverance." Now God has not forsaken a man, while he is in this
+hell, but He is laying His hand upon him, that he may desire nothing
+but the eternal Good only, and may discover that this is so noble
+and exceedingly good, that its blessedness cannot be searched out
+nor expressed, comfort and joy, peace, rest, and satisfaction. When,
+therefore, the man cares for and seeks and desires the eternal Good
+and nought beside, and seeks not himself, nor his own things, but
+the glory of God only, he is made to partake of every kind of joy,
+blessedness, peace, rest, and comfort, and from that time forward is
+in the kingdom of God.
+
+This hell and this heaven are two good safe ways for a man in this
+present life, and he is happy who truly finds them. For this hell
+shall pass away, but this heaven shall abide for evermore. Let a man
+also observe, that when he is in this hell, nothing can console him;
+and he cannot believe that he shall ever be delivered or comforted.
+But when he is in heaven, nothing can disturb him: he believes that
+no one will ever be able to offend or trouble him again, though it
+is indeed possible that he may again be troubled and left
+unconsoled.
+
+This heaven and hell come upon a man in such a way, that he knows
+not whence they come; and he can do nothing himself towards making
+them either come or depart. He can neither give them to himself, nor
+take them away from himself, neither bring them nor drive them away;
+even as it is written, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
+hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or
+whither it goeth." And when a man is in either of these two states,
+all is well with him, and he is as safe in hell as in heaven. And
+while a man is in the world, it is possible for him to pass many
+times from the one state into the other--even within a day and
+night, and without any motion of his own. But when a man is in
+neither of these two states, he holds intercourse with the
+creatures, and is carried this way and that, and knows not what
+manner of man he is. A man should therefore never forget either of
+these states, but carry the memory of them in his heart. xi.
+
+THE THREE STAGES
+
+Be well assured that none can be illuminated, unless he be first
+cleansed, purified, or stripped. Also none can be united to God
+unless he be first illuminated. There are therefore three
+stages--first, the purification; secondly, the illumination; and
+thirdly, the union. The purification belongs to those who are
+beginning or repenting. It is effected in three ways; by repentance
+and sorrow for sin, by full confession, and by hearty amendment. The
+illumination belongs to those who are growing, and it also is
+effected in three ways; by the renunciation of sin, by the practice
+of virtue and good works, and by willing endurance of all trials and
+temptations. The union belongs to those who are perfect, and this
+also is effected in three ways; by pureness and singleness of heart,
+by love, and by the contemplation of God, the Creator of all things.
+xiv.
+
+THE LIFE OF CHRIST
+
+We ought truly to know and believe that no life is so noble, or
+good, or pleasing to God, as the life of Christ. And yet it is to
+nature and selfishness the most bitter of all lives. For to nature,
+and selfishness, and the Me, a life of careless freedom is the
+sweetest and pleasantest, but it is not the best; indeed, in some
+men it may be the worst. But the life of Christ, though it be the
+bitterest of all, should be preferred above all. And hereby ye shall
+know this. There is an inward sight which is able to perceive the
+one true good, how that it is neither this nor that, but that it is
+that of which St Paul says: "When that which is perfect is come,
+then that which is in part shall be done away." By this he signifies
+that what is whole and perfect excels all the parts, and that all
+which is imperfect, and in part, is as nothing compared to what is
+perfect. In like manner, all knowledge of the parts is swallowed up
+when the whole is known. And where the good is known, it cannot fail
+to be desired and loved so greatly, that all other love, with which
+a man has loved himself, and other things, vanishes away. Moreover,
+that inward sight perceives what is best and noblest in all things,
+and loves it in the one true good, and for the sake of the true good
+alone. Where this inward sight exists, a man perceives truly that
+the life of Christ is the best and noblest life, and that it is
+therefore to be chosen above all others; and therefore he willingly
+accepts and endures it, without hesitation or complaining, whether
+it is pleasing or displeasing to nature and other men, and whether
+he himself likes or dislikes it, and finds it sweet or bitter.
+Therefore, whenever this perfect and true good is known, the life of
+Christ must be followed, until the decease of the body. If any man
+vainly deems otherwise, he is deceived, and if any man says
+otherwise, he tells a lie; and in whatever man the life of Christ is
+not, he will never know the true good or the eternal truth.
+
+But let no one imagine that we can attain to this true light and
+perfect knowledge, and to the life of Christ, by much questioning,
+or by listening to others, or by reading and study, or by ability
+and deep learning. For so long as a man is occupied with anything
+which is this or that, whether it be himself or any other creature;
+or does anything, or forms plans, or opinions, or objects, he comes
+not to the life of Christ. Christ Himself declared as much, for He
+said: "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take
+up his cross, and follow Me." "And if any man hate not his father
+and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea and
+his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." He means this: "He who
+does not give up and abandon everything can never know My eternal
+truth, nor attain to My life." And even if this had not been
+declared to us, the truth itself proclaims it, for so verily it is.
+But as long as a man holds fast to the rudiments and fragments of
+this world, and above all to himself, and is conversant with them,
+and sets great store by them, he is deceived and blinded, and
+perceives what is good only in so far as is convenient and agreeable
+to himself and profitable to his own objects.
+
+Since then the life of Christ is in all ways most bitter to nature
+and the self and the Me--for in the true life of Christ nature and
+the self and the Me must be abandoned and lost and suffered to die
+completely--therefore in all of us nature has a horror of it, and
+deems it evil and unjust and foolish; and she strives after such a
+life as shall be most agreeable and pleasant to ourselves; and says,
+and believes too in her blindness, that such a life is the best of
+all. Now nothing is so agreeable and pleasant to nature as a free
+and careless manner of life. To this therefore she clings, and takes
+enjoyment in herself and her powers, and thinks only of her own
+peace and comfort. And this is especially likely to happen, when a
+man has high natural gifts of reason, for reason mounts up in its
+own light and by its own power, till at last it comes to think
+itself the true eternal light, and gives itself out to be such; and
+it is thus deceived in itself, and deceives others at the same time,
+people who know no better and are prone to be so deceived.
+xviii.-xx.
+
+UNION WITH GOD
+
+In what does union with God consist? It means that we should be
+indeed purely, simply, and wholly at one with the one eternal Will
+of God, or altogether without will, so that the created will should
+flow out into the eternal Will and be swallowed up and lost in it,
+so that the eternal Will alone should do and leave undone in us. Now
+observe what may be of use to us in attaining this object. Religious
+exercises cannot do this, nor words, nor works, nor any creature or
+work done by a creature. We must therefore give up and renounce all
+things, suffering them to be what they are, and enter into union
+with God. Yet the outward things must be; and sleeping and waking,
+walking and standing still, speaking and being silent, must go on as
+long as we live.
+
+But when this union truly comes to pass and is established, the
+inner man henceforth stands immoveable in this union; as for the
+outer man, God allows him to be moved hither and thither, from this
+to that, among things which are necessary and right. So the outer
+man says sincerely, "I have no wish to be or not to be, to live or
+die, to know or be ignorant, to do or leave undone; I am ready for
+all that is to be or ought to be, and obedient to whatever I have to
+do or suffer." Thus the outer man has no purpose except to do what
+in him lies to further the eternal Will. As for the inner man, it is
+truly perceived that he shall stand immoveable, though the outer
+man must needs be moved. And if the inner man has any explanation of
+the actions of the outer man, he says only that such things as are
+ordained by the eternal Will must be and ought to be. It is thus
+when God Himself dwells in a man; as we plainly see in the case of
+Christ. Moreover, where there is this union, which is the outflow of
+the Divine light and dwells in its beams, there is no spiritual
+pride nor boldness of spirit, but unbounded humility and a lowly
+broken heart; there is also an honest and blameless walk, justice,
+peace, contentment, and every virtue. Where these are not, there is
+no true union. For even as neither this thing nor that can bring
+about or further this union, so nothing can spoil or hinder it,
+except the man himself with his self-will, which does him this great
+injury. Be well assured of this. xxvii., xxviii.
+
+THE FALSE LIGHT
+
+Now I must tell you what the False Light is, and what belongs to it.
+All that is contrary to the true light belongs to the false. It
+belongs of necessity to the true light that it never seeks to
+deceive, nor consents that anyone should be injured or deceived; and
+it cannot be deceived itself. But the false light both deceives
+others, and is deceived itself. Even as God deceives no man, and
+wills not that any should be deceived, so it is with His true light.
+The true light is God or Divine, but the false light is nature or
+natural. It belongeth to God, that He is neither this nor that, and
+that He requires nothing in the man whom He has made to be partaker
+in the Divine nature, except goodness as goodness and for the sake
+of goodness. This is the token of the true light. But it belongs to
+the creature, and to nature, to be something, this or that, and to
+intend and seek something, this or that, and not simply what is good
+without asking Why. And as God and the true light are without all
+self-will, selfishness, and self-Seeking, so the "I, Me, and Mine"
+belong to the false light, which in everything seeks itself and its
+own ends, and not goodness for the sake of goodness. This is the
+character of the natural or carnal man in each of us. Now observe
+how it first comes to be deceived. It does not desire or choose
+goodness for its own sake, but desires and chooses itself and its
+own ends rather than the highest good; and this is an error and the
+first deception. Secondly, it fancies itself to be God, when it is
+nothing but nature. And because it feigns itself to be God, it takes
+to itself what belongs to God; and not that which belongs to God
+when He is made man, or when He dwells in a Godlike man; but that
+which belongs to God as He is in eternity without the creature. God,
+they say, and say truly, needs nothing, is free, exempt from toil,
+apart by Himself, above all things: He is unchangeable, immoveable,
+and whatever He does is well done. "so will I be," says the false
+light. "The more like one is to God, the better one is; I therefore
+will be like God and will be God, and will sit and stand at His
+right hand." This is what Lucifer the Evil Spirit also said. Now God
+in eternity is without contradiction, suffering, and grief, and
+nothing can injure or grieve Him. But with God as He is made man it
+is otherwise. The false light thinks itself to be above all works,
+words, customs, laws, and order, and above the life which Christ led
+in the body which He possessed in His human nature. It also claims
+to be unmoved by any works of the creatures; it cares not whether
+they be good or bad, for God or against Him; it keeps itself aloof
+from all things, and deems it fitting that all creatures should
+serve it. Further, it says that it has risen beyond the life of
+Christ according to the flesh, and that outward things can no longer
+touch or pain it, even as it was with Christ after the Resurrection.
+Many other strange and false notions it cherishes. Moreover, this
+false light says that it has risen above conscience and the sense of
+sin, and that whatever it does is right. One of the so-called "Free
+Spirits" even said that if he had killed ten men, he would have as
+little sense of guilt as if he had killed a dog. This false light,
+in so far as it fancies itself to be God, is Lucifer, the Evil
+Spirit; but in so far as it makes of no account the life of Christ,
+it is Antichrist. It says, indeed, that Christ was without sense of
+sin, and that therefore we should be so. We may reply that Satan
+also is without sense of sin, and is none the better for that. What
+is a sense of sin? It is when we perceive that man has turned away
+from God in his will, and that this is man's fault, not God's, for
+God is guiltless of sin. Now, who knows himself to be free from sin,
+save Christ only? Scarce will any other affirm this. So he who is
+without sense of sin is either Christ or the Evil Spirit. But where
+the true light is, there is a true and just life such as God loves.
+And if a man's life is not perfect, as was that of Christ, still it
+is modelled and built on His, and His life is loved, together with
+modesty, order, and the other virtues, and all self-will, the "I,
+Me, and Mine," is lost; nothing is devised or sought for except
+goodness for its own sake. But where the false light is, men no
+longer regard the life of Christ and the virtues, but they seek and
+purpose what is convenient and pleasant to nature. From this arises
+a false liberty, whereby men become regardless of everything. For
+the true light is the seed of God, and bringeth forth the fruits of
+God; but the false light is the seed of the Devil, and where it is
+sown, the fruits of the Devil, nay the very Devil himself, spring
+up. xl.
+
+LIGHT AND LOVE
+
+It may be asked, What is it like to be a partaker of the Divine
+nature, or a Godlike man? The answer is, that he who is steeped in,
+or illuminated by, the eternal and Divine Light, and kindled or
+consumed by the eternal and Divine Love, is a Godlike man and a
+partaker of the Divine nature. But this light or knowledge is of no
+avail without love. You may understand this if you remember that a
+man who knows very well the difference between virtue and
+wickedness, but does not love virtue, is not virtuous, in that he
+obeys vice. But he who loves virtue follows after it, and his love
+makes him an enemy to wickedness, so that he will not perform any
+wicked act and hates wickedness in others; and he loves virtue so
+that he would not leave any virtue unperformed even if he had the
+choice, not for the sake of reward, but from love of virtue. To such
+a man virtue brings its own reward, and he is content with it, and
+would part with it for no riches. Such a man is already virtuous, or
+in the way to become so. And the truly virtuous man would not cease
+to be so to gain the whole world. He would rather die miserably. The
+case of justice is the same. Many men know well what is just and
+unjust, but yet neither are nor ever will be just men. For they love
+not justice, and therefore practise wickedness and injustice. If a
+man loved justice, he would do no unjust deed; he would feel so
+great abhorrence and anger against injustice whenever he saw it that
+he would be willing to do and suffer anything in order to put an end
+to injustice, and that men might be made just. He would rather die
+than commit an injustice, and all for love of justice. To him,
+justice brings her own reward, she rewards him with herself, and so
+the just man would rather die a thousand deaths than live as an
+unjust man. The same may be said of truth. A man may know very well
+what is truth or a lie, but if he loves not the truth, he is not a
+true man. If, however, he loves it, it is with truth as with
+justice. And of justice Isaiah speaks in the fifth chapter: "Woe
+unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for
+light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet
+for bitter." Thus we may understand that knowledge and light avail
+nothing without love. We see the truth of this in the case of the
+Evil One. He perceives and knows good and evil, right and wrong: but
+since he has no love for the good that he sees, he becomes not good.
+It is true indeed that Love must be led and instructed by knowledge,
+but if knowledge is not followed by Love, it will be of no avail. So
+also with God and Divine things. Although a man know much about God
+and Divine things, and even dream that he sees and understands what
+God Himself is, yet if he have not Love, he will never become like
+God or a partaker of the Divine nature. But if Love be added to his
+knowledge, he cannot help cleaving to God, and forsaking all that is
+not God or from God, and hating it and fighting with it, and finding
+it a cross and burden. And this Love so unites a man to God, that he
+can never again be separated from Him. xli.
+
+PARADISE
+
+What is Paradise? All things that are. For all things are good and
+pleasant, and may therefore fitly be called Paradise. It is also
+said, that Paradise is an outer court of heaven. In the same way,
+this world is truly an outer court of the eternal, or of eternity;
+and this is specially true of any temporal things or creatures which
+manifest the Eternal or remind us of eternity; for the creatures are
+a guide and path to God and eternity. Thus the world is an outer
+court of eternity, and therefore it may well be called a Paradise,
+for so indeed it is. And in this Paradise all things are lawful
+except one tree and its fruit. That is to say, of all things that
+exist, nothing is forbidden or contrary to God, except one thing
+only. That one thing is self-will, or to will otherwise than as the
+eternal Will would have it. Remember this. For God says to Adam
+(that is, to every man) "Whatever thou art, or doest, or leavest
+undone, or whatever happens, is lawful if it be done for the sake of
+and according to My will, and not according to thy will. But all
+that is done from thy will is contrary to the eternal Will." Not
+that everything which is so done is in itself contrary to the
+eternal Will, but in so far as it is done from a different will, or
+otherwise than from the Eternal and Divine Will. l.
+
+WILL AND SELF-WILL
+
+Some may ask: "If this tree, Self-Will, is so contrary to God and to
+the eternal will, why did God create it, and place it in Paradise?"
+We may answer: a man who is truly humble and enlightened does not
+ask God to reveal His secrets to him, or enquire why God does this
+or that, or prevents or allows this or that; he only desires to know
+how he may please God, and become as nothing in himself, having no
+will of his own, and that the eternal will may live in him, and
+possess him wholly, unhampered by any other will, and how what is
+due may be paid to the Eternal Will, by him and through him. But
+there is another answer to this question. For we may say: the most
+noble and gracious gift that is bestowed on any creature is the
+Reason and the Will. These two are so intimately connected that the
+one cannot be anywhere without the other. If it were not for these
+two gifts, there would be no reasonable creatures, but only brutes
+and brutality; and this would be a great loss, for God would then
+never receive His due, or behold Himself and His attributes
+exhibited in action; a thing which ought to be, and is, necessary to
+perfection. Now Perception and Reason are conferred together with
+will, in order that they may teach the will and also themselves,
+that neither perception nor will is of itself, or to itself, nor
+ought to seek or obey itself. Nor must they turn themselves to their
+own profit, nor use themselves for their own ends; for they belong
+to Him from whom they proceed, and they shall submit to Him, and
+flow back to Him, and become nothing in themselves--that is, in
+their selfhood.
+
+But now you must consider more in detail something concerning the
+will. There is an Eternal Will, which is a first principle and
+substance in God, apart from all works and all externalisation; and
+the same will is in man, or the creature, willing and bringing to
+pass certain things. For it pertains to the will, to will something.
+For what else does it exist? It would be a vain thing if it had no
+work to do, and this it cannot have without the creature. And so
+there must needs be creatures, and God will have them, in order that
+by their means the will may be exercised, and may work, though in
+God it must be without work. Therefore the will in the creature,
+which we call the created will, is as truly God's as the eternal
+will, and is not from the creature.
+
+And since God cannot exercise His will, in working and effecting
+changes, without the creature, He is pleased to do so in and with
+the creature. Therefore the will is not given to be exercised by the
+creature, but by God alone, who has the right to carry into effect
+His own will by the will which is in man, but yet is God's will. And
+in any man or creature, in whom it should be thus, purely and
+simply, the will of that man or creature would be exercised not by
+the man but by God, and thus it would not be self-will, and the man
+would only will as God wills; for God Himself, and not man, would be
+moving the will. Thus the will would be united with the Eternal
+Will, and would flow into it; although the man would retain his
+sense of liking and disliking, pleasure and pain. But nothing is
+complained of, except what is contrary to God. And there is no
+rejoicing except in God alone, and in that which belongs to Him. And
+as with the will, so is it with all the other faculties of man; they
+are all of God and not of man. And when the will is wholly given up
+to God, the other faculties will certainly be given up too; and God
+will have what is due to Him.
+
+No one may call that which is free his own, and he who makes it his
+own, doeth injustice. Now in all the sphere of freedom nothing is so
+free as the will; and he who makes it his own, and allows it not to
+remain in its excellent freedom, and free nobleness, and free
+exercise, does it a great injustice. This is what is done by the
+devil, and Adam, and all their followers. But he who leaves the will
+in its noble freedom does right; and this is what Christ, and all
+who follow Him, do. And he who deprives the will of its noble
+freedom, and makes it his own, must necessarily be oppressed with
+cares and discontent, and disquietude, and every kind of misery, and
+this will be his lot throughout time and eternity. But he who leaves
+the will in its freedom has contentment and peace and rest and
+blessedness, through time and eternity. Where there is a man whose
+will is not enslaved, he is free indeed, and in bondage to no man.
+He is one of those to whom Christ said: "The truth shall make you
+free"; and He adds immediately afterwards: "If the Son shall make
+you free, ye shall be free indeed."
+
+Moreover, observe that whenever the will chooses unhindered whatever
+it will, it always and in all cases chooses what is noblest and
+best, and hates whatever is not noble and good, and regards it as an
+offence. And the more free and unhampered the will is, the more it
+is grieved by evil, by injustice, by iniquity, and all manner of
+sin. We see this in Christ, whose will was the purest and freest and
+the least brought into bondage of any man's who ever lived. So was
+the human nature of Christ the most free and pure of all creatures;
+and yet He felt the deepest distress, pain, and wrath at sin that
+any creature ever felt. But when men claim freedom for themselves,
+in such a way as to feel no sorrow or anger at sin, and all that is
+contrary to God, and say that we must take no notice of anything,
+and care for nothing, but be, in this life, what Christ was after
+the resurrection, and so forth, this is not the true and Divine
+freedom that springs from the true and Divine light, but a natural,
+unrighteous, false, deceiving freedom, which springs from the
+natural, false, deceitful light.
+
+If there were no self-will, there would be no proprietorship. There
+is no proprietorship in heaven; and this is why contentment, peace,
+and blessedness are there. If anyone in heaven were so bold as to
+call anything his own, he would immediately be cast out into hell,
+and become an evil spirit. But in hell everyone will have self-will,
+and therefore in hell is every kind of wretchedness and misery. And
+so it is also on earth. But if anyone in hell could rid himself of
+his self-will and call nothing his own, he would pass out of hell
+into heaven. And if a man, while here on earth, could be entirely
+rid of self-will and proprietorship, and stand up free and at
+liberty in the true light of God, and continue therein, he would be
+sure to inherit the kingdom of heaven. For he who has anything, or
+who desires to have anything of his own, is a slave; and he who has
+nothing of his own, nor desires to have anything, is free and at
+liberty, and is in bondage to no man. li.
+
+UNION THROUGH CHRIST
+
+Observe now how the Father draws men to Christ. When something of
+the perfect good is revealed and made manifest within the human
+soul, as it were in a sudden flash, the soul conceives a desire to
+draw near to the perfect goodness, and to unite herself with the
+Father. And the more strongly she longs and desires, the more is
+revealed to her; and the more is revealed to her, the more she is
+drawn to the Father, and the more is her desire kindled. So the soul
+is drawn and kindled into an union with the eternal goodness. And
+this is the drawing of the Father; and so the soul is taught by Him
+who draws her to Himself, that she cannot become united with Him
+unless she can come to Him by means of the life of Christ. liii.
+
+[1]In his Introduction to the "Imitation of Christ," in this series.
+
+[2]e.g. she distinguishes, as Eckhart does, between God and the
+Godhead.
+
+[3]The "three propositions" of Amalric are--1. "Deus est omnia." 2.
+Every Christian, as a con-dition of salvation, must believe that he
+is a member of Christ. 3. To those who are in charity no sin is
+imputed.
+
+[4]Preger is probably wrong in identifying him with a "brother
+Eckhart," Prior of Frankfort, who about 1320 was delated to the head
+of the Order as suspectus de malis familiaritatibus, words which can
+only mean "keeping bad company" in a moral sense, not "con-sorting
+with heretics," as Preger suggests. Eckhart's character, so far as
+we know, was never assailed, even by his enemies, and it is
+therefore probable that "brother Eckhart" was a different person.
+
+[5]I have abridged the bull considerably, but have included all the
+main accusations.
+
+[6]See pages 13, 16.
+
+[7]See pages 14, 15.
+
+[8]See page 1.
+
+[9]This is an obscure point in Eckhart's philosophy, too technical
+to be discussed here; but Eckhart's doctrine of God is certainly
+more orthodox and less pantheistic than those of 'Dionysius' and
+Scotus Erigena.
+
+[10]Cf. St Augustine, In Joann. Ev. Tract. xxxix. 10: praeteritum et
+futurum invenio in omni motu rerum: in veritate quae manet
+praeteritum et futurum non invenio, sed solum praesens.
+
+[11]This doctrine is fully explained by St. Augustine, Epist. 237,
+who follows Plotinus, Enn. vi. 4-6.
+
+[12]This queer word occurs for the first time, I think, in Jerome's
+notes to the first chapter of Ezekiel. He writes the word in Greek,
+and explains it as that part of the soul which always opposes vices.
+The word is common in Bonaventura and other scholastic mystics, and
+is often misspelt synderesis.
+
+[13]It must, however, be said that Preger is too ready to assume
+that the logical development of Eckhart's system away from Thomist
+scholasticism can be traced as a gradual process in his writings,
+the order of which is very uncertain. We are not justified in saying
+in a positive manner that Eckhart's philosophy passed through three
+phases, in the first of which the primacy is held by the will, in
+the second by the created reason, and in the third by the uncreated
+reason.
+
+[14]See pages 14, 15.
+
+[15]C.B. Upton: "Hibbert Lectures," p. 17.
+
+[16]A.E. Taylor: "The Problem of Conduct," PP. 464-5.
+
+[17]See pages 71-2.
+
+[18]See pages 12-13.
+
+[19]See, for example, Prof. W. James' "Varieties of Religions
+Experience," P. 400.
+
+[20]Jacob B�hme's experience is typical: "Suddenly did my spirit
+break through into the innermost birth or geniture of the Deity, and
+there was I embraced with love, as a bridegroom embraces his dearly
+beloved bride. But the greatness of the triumphing that was in the
+spirit I cannot express in speech or writing; nor can it be compared
+to anything but the resurrection of the dead to life. In this light
+my spirit suddenly saw through all; even in herbs and grass it knew
+God, who and what He is," etc. Dr Johnson was, no doubt, right in
+thinking that "Jacob" would have been wiser, and "more like St
+Paul," if he had not attempted to utter the unutterable things which
+he saw.
+
+[21]The extracts from the "Theologia Germanica" will show that this
+treatise represents a later and less paradoxical form of mystical
+thought than Eckhart's.
+
+[22]The maxim, however, is much older than Suso.
+
+[23]Royce: "The World and the Individual" vol. i. p. 193.
+
+[24]So in the "Lignum Vitae" of Laurentius Justinianus we read: "Let
+self-will cease, and there will be no more hell."
+
+[25] "The Inner Way," being thirty-six sermons by John Tauler.
+Translated by A.W. Hutton, M.A.
+
+[26]On the psychology of ecstatic mysticism see Leuba, in the Revue
+Philosophique, July and November 1902.
+
+[27] "Varieties of Religious Experience," p. 13.
+
+[28]Maudsley: "Natural Causes and Supernatural Seemings," p. 256.
+
+[29]See Leuba: "Tendances religieuses chez les mystiques
+chr�tiens" in Revue Philosophique, Nov. 1902.
+
+[30] "Theologia Germanica," translated by Susanna Winkworth.
+Macmillan & Co., 1893.
+
+[31] "Varieties of Religious Experience," 1902.
+
+[32] "Personal Idealism," 1902.
+
+[33] "Varieties of Religious Experience," p. 103.
+
+[34] "In Tune with the Infinite," by R.W. Trine (Bell & Sons, 1902).
+Fifty-ninth thousand. The extract appears to be a quotation from
+another writer, but no reference is given.
+
+[35]Compare Eckhart's saying that the eye with which I see God is
+the same as the eye with which He sees me.
+
+[36] "In Tune with the Infinite," pp. 58, 119.
+
+[37]The numbers refer to pages in Pfeiffer's edition.
+
+[38]The numbers refer to the Sermons in Hamberger's edition of 1864.
+
+[39]The reference is to 1 Peter iii. 8.
+
+[40]The time would, I suppose, be about half-an-hour. Many other
+ecstatics have named this as the normal duration of trance.
+
+[41]Or, "spoke the eternal Wisdom (= the Word of God) in his heart."
+
+[42]John i. 3, 4. This punctuation, whereby the words "that which
+was made" are referred to the clause which follows, and not to that
+which precedes, is adopted by most of the Greek fathers, and is
+still maintained by some good commentators--e.g. Bishop Westcott.
+
+[43]Ecclus. xxiv. 19.
+
+[44]Ecclus. xl. 20.
+
+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Light, Life, and Love
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Light, Life, and Love
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+Title: Light, Life, and Love
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+Author: W. R. Inge
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+Release Date: November, 2003  [Etext #4664]
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+
+LIGHT, LIFE, AND LOVE
+
+Selections from the German Mystics of the Middle Ages
+
+by
+
+W. R. Inge
+
+LONDON
+Second Edition
+
+1919
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+ECKHART
+TAULER
+MEDITATIONS ON THE SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS
+SUSO
+RUYSBROEK
+THEOLOGIA GERMANICA
+
+
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+Sect. 1. THE PRECURSORS OF THE GERMAN MYSTICS
+
+
+
+
+
+TO most English readers the "Imitation of Christ" is the
+representative of mediaeval German mysticism. In reality, however,
+this beautiful little treatise belongs to a period when that
+movement had nearly spent itself. Thomas a Kempis, as Dr. Bigg has
+said,[1] was only a semi-mystic. He tones down the most
+characteristic doctrines of Eckhart, who is the great original
+thinker of the German mystical school, and seems in some ways to
+revert to an earlier type of devotional literature. The "Imitation"
+may perhaps be described as an idealised picture of monastic piety,
+drawn at a time when the life of the cloister no longer filled a
+place of unchallenged usefulness in the social order of Europe. To
+find German mysticism at its strongest we must go back a full
+hundred years, and to understand its growth we must retrace our
+steps as far as the great awakening of the thirteenth century--the
+age of chivalry in religion--the age of St. Louis, of Francis and
+Dominic, of Bonaventura and Thomas Aquinas. It was a vast revival,
+bearing fruit in a new ardour of pity and charity, as well as in a
+healthy freedom of thought. The Church, in recognising the new
+charitable orders of Francis and Dominic, and the Christianised
+Aristotelianism of the schoolmen, retained the loyalty and profited
+by the zeal of the more sober reformers, but was unable to prevent
+the diffusion of an independent critical spirit, in part provoked
+and justified by real abuses. Discontent was aroused, not only by
+the worldiness of the hierarchy, whose greed and luxurious living
+were felt to be scandalous, but by the widespread economic distress
+which prevailed over Western Europe at this period. The crusades
+periodically swept off a large proportion of the able-bodied men, of
+whom the majority never returned to their homes, and this helped to
+swell the number of indigent women, who, having no male protectors,
+were obliged to beg their bread. The better class of these female
+mendicants soon formed themselves into uncloistered charitable
+Orders, who were not forbidden to marry, and who devoted themselves
+chiefly to the care of the sick. These Beguines and the
+corresponding male associations of Beghards became very numerous in
+Germany. Their religious views were of a definite type. Theirs was
+an intensely inward religion, based on the longing of the soul for
+immediate access to God. The more educated among them tended to
+embrace a vague idealistic Pantheism. Mechthild of Magdeburg
+(1212-1277), prophetess, poetess, Church reformer, quietist, was the
+ablest of the Beguines. Her writings prove to us that the technical
+terminology of German mysticism was in use before Eckhart,[2] and
+also that the followers of what the "Theologia Germanica" calls the
+False Light, who aspired to absorption in the Godhead, and despised
+the imitation of the incarnate Christ, were already throwing
+discredit on the movement. Mechthild's independence, and her
+unsparing denunciations of corruption in high places, brought her
+into conflict with the secular clergy. They tried to burn her
+books--those religious love songs which had already endeared her to
+German popular sentiment. It was then that she seemed to hear a
+voice saying to her:
+
+Lieb' meine, betr�be dich nicht zu sehr,
+
+Die Wahrheit mag niemand verbrennen!
+
+The rulers of the Church, unhappily, were not content with burning
+books. Their hostility towards the unrecognised Orders became more
+and more pronounced: the Beghards and Beguines were harried and
+persecuted till most of them were driven to join the Franciscans or
+Dominicans, carrying with them into those Orders the ferment of
+their speculative mysticism. The more stubborn "Brethren and Sisters
+of the Free Spirit" were burned in batches at Cologne and elsewhere.
+Their fate in those times did not excite much pity, for many of the
+victims were idle vagabonds of dissolute character, and the general
+public probably thought that the licensed begging friars were enough
+of a nuisance without the addition of these free lances.
+
+The heretical mystical sects of the thirteenth century are very
+interesting as illustrating the chief dangers of mysticism. Some of
+these sectaries were Socialists or Communists of an extreme kind;
+others were Rationalists, who taught that Jesus Christ was the son
+of Joseph and a sinner like other men; others were Puritans, who
+said that Church music was "nothing but a hellish noise" (nihil nisi
+clamor inferni), and that the Pope was the magna meretrix of the
+Apocalypse. The majority were Anti-Sacramentalists and Determinists;
+and some were openly Antinomian, teaching that those who are led by
+the Spirit can do no wrong. The followers of Amalric of Bena[3]
+believed that the Holy Ghost had chosen their sect in which to
+become incarnate; His presence among them was a continual guarantee
+of sanctity and happiness. The "spiritual Franciscans" had dreams of
+a more apocalyptic kind. They adopted the idea of an "eternal
+Gospel," as expounded by Joachim of Floris, and believed that the
+"third kingdom," that of the Spirit, was about to begin among
+themselves. It was to abolish the secular Church and to inaugurate
+the reign of true Christianity--i.e. "poverty" and asceticism.
+
+Such are some of the results of what our eighteenth-century
+ancestors knew and dreaded as "Enthusiasm"--that ferment of the
+spirit which in certain epochs spreads from soul to soul like an
+epidemic, breaking all the fetters of authority, despising tradition
+and rejecting discipline in its eagerness to get rid of formalism
+and unreality; a lawless, turbulent, unmanageable spirit, in which,
+notwithstanding, is a potentiality for good far higher than any to
+which the lukewarm "religion of all sensible men" can ever attain.
+For mysticism is the raw material of all religion; and it is easier
+to discipline the enthusiast than to breathe enthusiasm into the
+disciplinarian.
+
+Meanwhile, the Church looked with favour upon the orthodox mystical
+school, of which Richard and Hugo of St. Victor, Bonaventura, and
+Albertus Magnus were among the greatest names. These men were
+working out in their own fashion the psychology of the contemplative
+life, showing how we may ascend through "cogitation, meditation, and
+speculation" to "contemplation," and how we may pass successively
+through jubilus, ebrietas spiritus, spiritualis jucunditas, and
+liquefactio, till we attain raptus or ecstasy. The writings of the
+scholastic mystics are so overweighted with this pseudo-science,
+with its wire-drawn distinctions and meaningless classifications,
+that very few readers have now the patience to dig out their
+numerous beauties. They are, however, still the classics of mystical
+theology in the Roman Church, so far as that science has not
+degenerated into mere miracle-mongering.
+
+Sect. 2. MEISTER ECKHART
+
+It was in 1260, when Mechthild of Magdeburg was at the height of her
+activity, that Meister Eckhart, next to Plotinus the greatest
+philosopher-mystic, was born at Hocheim in Thuringia. It seems that
+his family was in a good position, but nothing is known of his early
+years. He entered the Dominican Order as a youth, perhaps at
+sixteen, the earliest age at which novices were admitted into that
+Order. The course of instruction among the Dominicans was as
+follows:--After two years, during which the novice laid the
+foundations of a good general education, he devoted the next two
+years to grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic, and then the same amount
+of time to what was called the Quadrivium, which consisted of
+"arithmetic, mathematics, astronomy, and music." Theology, the queen
+of the sciences, occupied three years; and at the end of the course,
+at the age of twenty-five, the brothers were ordained priests. We
+find Eckhart, towards the end of the century, Prior of Erfurt and
+Vicar of Thuringia, then Lector Biblicus at Paris, then Provincial
+Prior of Saxony. In 1307 the master of the Order appointed him
+Vicar-General for Bohemia, and in 1311 he returned to Paris. We find
+him next preaching busily at Strassburg,[4] and after a few more
+years, at Cologne, where the persecution of the Brethren of the Free
+Spirit was just then at its height. At Strassburg there were no less
+than seven convents of Dominican nuns, for since 1267 the Order had
+resumed the supervision of female convents, which it had renounced a
+short time after its foundation. Many of Eckhart's discourses were
+addressed to these congregations of devout women, who indeed were to
+a large extent the backbone of the mystical movement, and it is
+impossible not to see that the devotional treatises of the school
+are strongly coloured by feminine sentiment. A curious poem, written
+by a Dominican nun of this period, celebrates the merits of three
+preachers, the third of whom is a Master Eckhart, "who speaks to us
+about Nothingness. He who understands him not, in him has never
+shone the light divine." These nuns seem to have been fed with the
+strong meat of Eckhart's mystical philosophy; in the more popular
+sermons he tried to be intelligible to all. It was not very long
+after he took up his residence at Cologne that he was himself
+attacked for heresy. In 1327 he read before his own Order a
+retractation of "any errors which might be found" (si quid errorum
+repertum fuerit) in his writings, but withdrew nothing that he had
+actually said, and protested that he believed himself to be
+orthodox. He died a few months later, and it was not till 1329 that
+a Papal bull was issued, enumerating seventeen heretical and eleven
+objectionable doctrines in his writings.
+
+This bull is interesting as showing what were the points in
+Eckhart's teaching which in the fourteenth century were considered
+dangerous. They also indicate very accurately what are the real
+errors into which speculative mysticism is liable to fall, and how
+thinkers of this school may most plausibly be misrepresented by
+those who differ from them. After expressing his sorrow that "a
+certain Teuton named Ekardus, doctor, ut fertur, sacrae paginae, has
+wished to know more than he should," and has sown tares and thistles
+and other weeds in the field of the Church, the Pope specifies the
+following erroneous statements as appearing in Eckhart's
+writings[5]:--1. "God created the world as soon as God was. 2. In
+every work, bad as well as good, the glory of God is equally
+manifested. 3. A man who prays for any particular thing prays for an
+evil and prays ill, for he prays for the negation of good and the
+negation of God, and that God may be denied to him.[6] 4. God is
+honoured in those who have renounced everything, even holiness and
+the kingdom of heaven. 5. We are transformed totally into God, even
+as in the Sacrament the bread is converted into the Body of Christ.
+Unum, non simile. 6. Whatever God the Father gave to His
+only-begotten Son in His human nature, He has given it all to me. 7.
+Whatever the Holy Scripture says about Christ is verified in every
+good and godlike man. 8. External action is not, properly speaking,
+good nor divine; God, properly speaking, only works in us internal
+actions. 9. God is one, in every way and according to every reason,
+so that it is not possible to find any plurality in Him, either in
+the intellect or outside it; for he who sees two, or sees any
+distinction, does not see God; for God is one, outside number and
+above number, for one cannot be put with anything else, but follows
+it; therefore in God Himself no distinction can be or be understood.
+10. All the creatures are absolutely nothing: I say not that they
+are small or something, but that they are absolutely nothing." All
+these statements are declared to have been found in his writings. It
+is also "objected against the said Ekardus" that he taught the
+following two articles in these words:--1. "There is something in
+the soul, which is uncreated and uncreatable: if the whole soul were
+such, it would be uncreated and uncreatable: and this is the
+intelligence.[7] 2. God is not good or better or best: I speak ill
+when I call God good; it is as if I called white black."[8] The bull
+declares all the propositions above quoted to be heretical, with the
+exception of the three which I have numbered 8-10, and these "have
+an ill sound" and are "very rash," even if they might be so
+supplemented and explained as to bear an orthodox sense.
+
+This condemnation led to a long neglect of Eckhart's writings. He
+was almost forgotten till Franz Pfeiffer in 1857 collected and
+edited his scattered treatises and endeavoured to distinguish those
+which were genuine from those which were spurious. Since Pfeiffer's
+edition fresh discoveries have been made, notably in 1880, when
+Denifle found at Erfurt several important fragments in Latin, which
+in his opinion show a closer dependence on the scholastic theology,
+and particularly on St Thomas Aquinas, than Protestant scholars,
+such as Preger, had been willing to allow. But the attempt to prove
+Eckhart a mere scholastic is a failure; the audacities of his German
+discourses cannot be explained as an accommodation to the tastes of
+a peculiar audience. For good or evil Eckhart is an original and
+independent thinker, whose theology is confined by no trammels of
+authority.
+
+Sect. 3. ECKHART'S RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY
+
+The Godhead, according to Eckhart, is the universal and eternal
+Unity comprehending and transcending all diversity. "The Divine
+nature is Rest," he says in one of the German discourses; and in the
+Latin fragments we find: "God rests in Himself, and makes all things
+rest in Him." The three Persons of the Trinity, however, are not
+mere modes or accidents,[9] but represent a real distinction within
+the Godhead. God is unchangeable, and at the same time an
+"everlasting process." The creatures are "absolutely nothing"; but
+at the same time "God without them would not be God," for God is
+love, and must objectify Himself; He is goodness, and must impart
+Himself. As the picture in the mind of the painter, as the poem in
+the mind of the poet, so was all creation in the mind of God from
+all eternity, in uncreated simplicity. The ideal world was not
+created in time; "the Father spake Himself and all the creatures in
+His Son"; "they exist in the eternal Now"[10]--"a
+becoming without a becoming, change without change." "The Word of
+God the Father is the substance of all that exists, the life of all
+that lives, the principle and cause of life." Of creation he says:
+"We must not falsely imagine that God stood waiting for something to
+happen, that He might create the world. For so soon as He was God,
+so soon as He begat His coeternal and coequal Son, He created the
+world." So Spinoza says: "God has always been before the creatures,
+without even existing before them. He precedes them not by an
+interval of time, but by a fixed eternity." This is not the same as
+saying that the world of sense had no beginning; it is possible that
+Eckhart did not mean to go further than the orthodox scholastic
+mystic, Albertus Magnus, who says: "God created things from
+eternity, but the things were not created from eternity." St
+Augustine (Conf. xi. 30) bids objectors to "understand that there
+can be no time without creatures, and cease to talk nonsense."
+Eckhart also tries to distinguish between the "interior" and the
+"exterior" action of God. God, he says, is in all things, not as
+Nature, not as Person, but as Being. He is everywhere, undivided;
+yet the creatures participate in Him according to their measure.[11]
+The three Persons of the Trinity have impressed their image upon the
+creatures, yet it is only their "nothingness" that keeps them
+separate creatures. Most of this comes from the Neoplatonists, and
+much of it through the pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, a
+Platonising Christian of the fifth century, whose writings were
+believed in the Middle Ages to proceed from St Paul's Athenian
+convert. It would, however, be easy to find parallels in St
+Augustine's writings to most of the phases quoted in this paragraph.
+The practical consequences will be considered presently.
+
+The creatures are a way from God; they are also a way to Him. "In
+Christ," he says, "all the creatures are one man, and that man is
+God." Grace, which is a real self-unfolding of God in the soul, can
+make us "what God is by Nature"--one of Eckhart's audacious phrases,
+which are not really so unorthodox as they sound. The following
+prayer, which appears in one of his discourses, may perhaps be
+defended as asking no more than our Lord prayed for (John xvii.) for
+His disciples, but it lays him open to the charge, which the Pope's
+bull did not fail to urge against him, that he made the servant
+equal to his Lord. "Grant that I, by Thy grace, may be united to Thy
+Nature, as Thy Son is eternally one in Thy Nature, and that grace
+may become my nature."
+
+The ethical aim is to be rid of "creatureliness," and so to be
+united to God. In Eckhart's system, as in that of Plotinus,
+speculation is never divorced from ethics. On our side the process
+is a negative one. All our knowledge must be reduced to
+not-knowledge; our reason and will, as well as our lower faculties,
+must transcend themselves, must die to live. We must detach
+ourselves absolutely "even from God," he says. This state of
+spiritual nudity he calls "poverty." Then, when our house is empty
+of all else, God can dwell there: "He begets His Son in us." This
+last phrase has always been a favourite with the mystics. St Paul
+uses very similar language, and the Epistle to Diognetus, written in
+the second century, speaks of Christ as, "being ever born anew in
+the hearts of the saints." Very characteristic, too, is the doctrine
+that complete detachment from the creatures is the way to union with
+God. Jacob B�hme has arrived independently at the same conclusion as
+Eckhart. "The scholar said to his master: How may I come to the
+supersensual life, that I may see God and hear Him speak? The master
+said: When thou canst throw thyself but for a moment into that place
+where no creature dwelleth, then thou hearest what God speaketh. The
+scholar asked: Is that near or far off? The master replied: It is in
+thee, and if thou canst for a while cease from all thy thinking and
+willing, thou shalt hear unspeakable words of God. The scholar said:
+How can I hear, when I stand still from thinking and willing? The
+master answered: When thou standest still from the thinking and
+willing of self, the eternal hearing, seeing, and speaking will be
+revealed to thee, and so God heareth and seeth through thee."
+
+In St Thomas Aquinas it is "the will enlightened by reason" which
+unites us to God. But there are two sorts of reason. The passive
+reason is the faculty which rises through discursive thinking to
+knowledge. The active reason is a much higher faculty, which exists
+by participation in the divine mind, "as the air is light by
+participation in the sunshine." When this active reason is regarded
+as the standard of moral action, it is called by Aquinas
+synteresis.[12] Eckhart was at first content with this teaching of
+St Thomas, whom he always cites with great reverence; but the whole
+tendency of his thinking was to leave the unprofitable
+classification of faculties in which the Victorine School almost
+revelled, and to concentrate his attention on the union of the soul
+with God. And therefore in his more developed teaching,[13] the
+"spark" which is the point of contact between the soul and its Maker
+is something higher than the faculties, being "uncreated." He seems
+to waver about identifying the "spark" with the "active reason," but
+inclines on the whole to regard it as something even higher still.
+"There is something in the soul," he says, "which is so akin to God
+that it is one with Him and not merely united with Him." And again:
+"There is a force in the soul; and not only a force, but something
+more, a being; and not only a being, but something more; it is so
+pure and high and noble in itself that no creature can come there,
+and God alone can dwelt there. Yea, verily, and even God cannot come
+there with a form; He can only come with His simple divine nature."
+And in the startling passage often quoted against him, a passage
+which illustrates admirably his affinity to one side of Hegelianism,
+we read: "The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which He
+sees me. Mine eye and God's eye are one eye and one sight and one
+knowledge and one love."
+
+I do not defend these passages as orthodox; but before exclaiming
+"rank Pantheism!" we ought to recollect that for Eckhart the being
+of God is quite different from His personality. Eckhart never taught
+that the Persons of the Holy Trinity become, after the mystical
+Union, the "Form" of the human soul. It is the impersonal light of
+the divine nature which transforms our nature; human personality is
+neither lost nor converted into divine personality. Moreover, the
+divine spark at the centre of the soul is not the soul nor the
+personality. "The soul," he says in one place, using a figure which
+recurs in the "Theologia Germanica," "has two faces. One is turned
+towards this world and towards the body, the other towards God." The
+complete dominion of the "spark" over the soul is an unrealised
+ideal.[14]
+
+The truth which he values is that, as Mr Upton[15] has well
+expressed it, "there is a certain self-revelation of the eternal and
+infinite One to the finite soul, and therefore an indestructible
+basis for religious ideas and beliefs as distinguished from what is
+called scientific knowledge. . . . This immanent universal principle
+does not pertain to, and is not the property of any individual mind,
+but belongs to that uncreated and eternal nature of God which lies
+deeper than all those differences which separate individual minds
+from each other, and is indeed that incarnation of the Eternal, who
+though He is present in every finite thing, is still not broken up
+into individualities, but remains one and the same eternal
+substance, one and the same unifying principle, immanently and
+indivisibly present in every one of the countless plurality of
+finite individuals." It might further be urged that neither God nor
+man can be understood in independence of each other. A recent writer
+on ethics,[16] not too well disposed towards Christianity, is, I
+think, right in saying: "To the popular mind, which assumes God and
+man to be two different realities, each given in independence of the
+other, . . . the identification of man's love of God with God's love
+of Himself has always been a paradox and a stumbling-block. But it
+is not too much to say that until it has been seen to be no paradox,
+but a simple and fundamental truth, the masterpieces of the world's
+religious literature must remain a sealed book to us."
+
+Eckhart certainly believed himself to have escaped the pitfall of
+Pantheism; but he often expressed himself in such an unguarded way
+that the charge may be brought against him with some show of reason.
+
+Love, Eckhart teaches, is the principle of all virtues; it is God
+Himself. Next to it in dignity comes humility. The beauty of the
+soul, he says in the true Platonic vein, is to be well ordered, with
+the higher faculties above the lower, each in its proper place. The
+will should be supreme over the understanding, the understanding
+over the senses. Whatever we will earnestly, that we have, and no
+one can hinder us from attaining that detachment from the creatures
+in which our blessedness consists.
+
+Evil, from the highest standpoint, is only a means for realising the
+eternal aim of God in creation; all will ultimately be overruled for
+good. Nevertheless, we can frustrate the good will of God towards
+us, and it is this, and not the thought of any insult against
+Himself, that makes God grieve for our sins. It would not be worth
+while to give any more quotations on this subject, for Eckhart is
+not more successful than other philosophers in propounding a
+consistent and intelligible theory of the place of evil in the
+universe.
+
+Eckhart is well aware of the two chief pitfalls into which the
+mystic is liable to fall--dreamy inactivity and Antinomianism. The
+sects of the Free Spirit seem to have afforded a good object-lesson
+in both these errors, as some of the Gnostic sects did in the second
+century. Eckhart's teaching here is sound and good. Freedom from
+law, he says, belongs only to the "spark," not to the faculties of
+the soul, and no man can live always on the highest plane.
+Contemplation is, in a sense, a means to activity; works of charity
+are its proper fruit. "If a man were in an ecstasy like that of St
+Paul, when he was caught up into the third heaven, and knew of a
+poor man who needed his help, he ought to leave his ecstasy and help
+the needy." Suso[17] tells us how God punished him for disregarding
+this duty. True contemplation considers Reality (or Being) in its
+manifestations as well as in its origin. If this is remembered,
+there need be no conflict between social morality and the inner
+life. Eckhart recognises[18] that it is a harder and a nobler task
+to preserve detachment in a crowd than in a cell; the little daily
+sacrifices of family life are often a greater trial than
+self-imposed mortifications. "We need not destroy any little good in
+ourselves for the sake of a better, but we should strive to grasp
+every truth in its highest meaning, for no one good contradicts
+another." "Love God, and do as you like, say the Free Spirits. Yes;
+but as long as you like anything contrary to God's will, you do not
+love Him."
+
+There is much more of the same kind in Eckhart's sermons--as good
+and sensible doctrine as one could find anywhere. But what was the
+practical effect of his teaching as a whole? It is generally the
+case that the really weak points of any religious movement are
+exposed with a cruel logicality most exasperating to the leaders by
+the second generation of its adherents. The dangerous side of the
+Eckhartian mysticism is painfully exhibited in the life of his
+spiritual daughter, "Schwester Katrei," the saint of the later
+Beguines. Katrei is a rather shadowy person; but for our present
+purpose it does not much matter whether the story of her life has
+been embroidered or not. Her memory was revered for such sayings and
+doings as these which follow. On one occasion she exclaimed:
+"Congratulate me; I have become God!" and on another she declared
+that "not even the desire of heaven should tempt a good man towards
+activity." It was her ambition to forget who were her parents, to be
+indifferent whether she received absolution and partook of the Holy
+Communion or not; and she finally realised her ambition by falling
+into a cataleptic state in which she was supposed to be dead, and
+was carried out for burial. Her confessor, perceiving that she was
+not really dead, awoke her: "Art thou satisfied?" "I am satisfied at
+last," said Katrei: she was now "dead all through," as she wished to
+be.
+
+Are we to conclude that the logical outcome of mysticism is this
+strange reproduction, in Teutonic Europe, of Indian Yogism? Many who
+have studied the subject have satisfied themselves that Schwester
+Katrei is the truly consistent mystic. They have come to the
+conclusion that the real attraction of mysticism is a pining for
+deliverance from this fretful, anxious, exacting, individual life,
+and a yearning for absorption into the great Abyss where all
+distinctions are merged in the Infinite. According to this view,
+mysticism in its purest form should be studied in the ancient
+religious literature of India, which teaches us how all this world
+of colour and diversity, of sharp outlines and conflicting forces,
+may be lost and swallowed up in the "white radiance," or black
+darkness (it does not really matter which we call it) of an empty
+Infinite.
+
+The present writer is convinced that this is not the truth about
+mysticism. Eckhart may have encouraged Schwester Katrei in her
+attempt to substitute the living death of the blank trance for the
+dying life of Christian charity; but none the less she caricatured
+and stultified his teaching. And I think it is possible to lay our
+finger on the place where she and so many others went wrong. The
+aspiration of mysticism is to find the unity which underlies all
+diversity, or, in religious language, to see God face to face. From
+the Many to the One is always the path of the mystic. Plotinus, the
+father of all mystical philosophy in Europe (unless, as he himself
+would have wished, we give that honour to Plato), mapped out the
+upward road as follows:--At the bottom of the hill is the sphere of
+the "merely many"--of material objects viewed in disconnection,
+dull, and spiritless. This is a world which has no real existence;
+it may best be called "not-being" ("ein lauteres Nichts," as Eckhart
+says), and as the indeterminate, it can only be apprehended by a
+corresponding indeterminateness in the soul. The soul, however,
+always adds some form and determination to the abstract formlessness
+of the "merely many." Next, we rise to, or project for ourselves,
+the world of "the one and the many." This is the sphere in which our
+consciousness normally moves. We are conscious of an overruling
+Mind, but the creatures still seem external to and partially
+independent of it. Such is the temporal order as we know it. Above
+this is the intelligible world, the eternal order, "the one-many,"
+das ewige Nu, the world in which God's will is done perfectly and
+all reflects the divine mind. Highest of all is "the One," the,
+Absolute, the Godhead, of whom nothing can be predicated, because He
+is above all distinctions. This Neoplatonic Absolute is the Godhead
+of whom Eckhart says: "God never looked upon deed," and of whom
+Angelus Silesius sings:
+
+  "Und sieh, er ist nicht Wille,
+  Er ist ein' ewige Stille."
+
+Plotinus taught that the One, being superessential, can only be
+apprehended in ecstasy, when thought, which still distinguishes
+itself from its object, is transcended, and knower and known become
+one. As Tennyson's Ancient Sage says:
+
+  "If thou would'st hear the Nameless, and descend
+  Into the Temple-cave of thine own self,
+  There, brooding by the central altar, thou
+  May'st haply learn the Nameless hath a voice,
+  By which thou wilt abide, if thou be wise;
+  For knowledge is the swallow on the lake,
+  That sees and stirs the surface-shadow there
+  But never yet hath dipt into the Abysm."
+
+In the same way Eckhart taught that no creature can apprehend the
+Godhead, and, therefore, that the spark in the centre of the soul
+(this doctrine, too, is found in Plotinus) must be verily divine.
+The logic of the theory is inexorable. If only like can know like,
+we cannot know God except by a faculty which is itself divine. The
+real question is whether God, as an object of knowledge and worship
+for finite beings, is the absolute Godhead, who transcends all
+distinctions. The mediaeval mystics held that this "flight of the
+alone to the alone," as Plotinus calls it, is possible to men, and
+that in it consists our highest blessedness. They were attracted
+towards this view by several influences. First, there was the
+tradition of Dionysius, to whom (e.g.) the author of the "Theologia
+Germanica" appeals as an authority for the possibility of "beholding
+the hidden things of God by utter abandonment of thyself, and of
+entering into union with Him who is above all existence, and all
+knowledge." Secondly, there was what a modern writer has called "the
+attraction of the Abyss," the longing which some persons feel very
+strongly to merge their individuality in a larger and better whole,
+to get rid not only of selfishness but of self for ever. "Leave
+nothing of myself in me," is Crashaw's prayer in his wonderful poem
+on St Teresa. Thirdly, we may mention the awe and respect long paid
+to ecstatic trances, the pathological nature of which was not
+understood. The blank trance was a real experience; and as it could
+be induced by a long course of ascetical exercises and fervid
+devotions, it was naturally regarded as the crowning reward of
+sanctity on earth. Nor would it be at all safe to reject the
+evidence, which is very copious,[19] that the "dreamy state" may
+issue in permanent spiritual gain. The methodical cultivation of it,
+which is at the bottom of most of the strange austerities of the
+ascetics, was not only (though it was partly) practised in the hope
+of enjoying those spiritual raptures which are described as being
+far more intense than any pleasures of sense[20]: it was the hope of
+stirring to its depths the subconscious mind and permeating the
+whole with the hidden energy of the divine Spirit that led to the
+desire for visions and trances. Lastly, I think we must give a place
+to the intellectual attraction of an uncompromising monistic theory
+of the universe. Spiritualistic monism, when it is consistent with
+itself, will always lean to semi-pantheistic mysticism rather than
+to such a compromise with pluralism as Lotze and his numerous
+followers in this country imagine to be possible.
+
+But it is possible to go a long way with the mystics and yet to
+maintain that under no conditions whatever can a finite being escape
+from the limitations of his finitude and see God or the world or
+himself "with the same eye with which God sees" all things. The old
+Hebrew belief, that to see the face of God is death, expresses the
+truth under a mythical form. That the human mind, while still "in
+the body pent," may obtain glimpses of the eternal order, and enjoy
+foretastes of the bliss of heaven, is a belief which I, at least,
+see no reason to reject. It involves no rash presumption, and is not
+contrary to what may be readily believed about the state of immortal
+spirits passing through a mortal life. But the explanation of the
+blank trance as a temporary transit into the Absolute must be set
+down as a pure delusion. It involves a conception of the divine
+"Rest" which in his best moments Eckhart himself repudiates. "The
+Rest of the Godhead," he says, "is not in that He is the source of
+being, but in that He is the consummation of all being." This
+profound saying expresses the truth, which he seems often to forget,
+that the world-process must have a real value in God's sight--that
+it is not a mere polarisation of the white radiance of eternity
+broken up by the imperfection of our vision. Whatever theories we
+may hold about Absolute Being, or an Absolute that is above Being,
+we must make room for the Will, and for Time, which is the "form" of
+the will, and for the creatures who inhabit time and space, as
+having for us the value of reality. Nor shall we, if we are to
+escape scepticism, be willing to admit that these appearances have
+no sure relation to ultimate reality. We must not try to uncreate
+the world in order to find God. We were created out of nothing, but
+we cannot return to nothing, to find our Creator there. The still,
+small voice is best listened for amid the discordant harmony of life
+and death.
+
+The search for God is no exception to the mysterious law of human
+nature, that we cannot get anything worth having--neither holiness
+nor happiness nor wisdom--by trying for it directly. It must be
+given us through something else. The recluse who lives like
+Parnell's "Hermit":
+
+"Prayer all his business, all his pleasure praise,"
+
+is not only a poor sort of saint, but he will offer a poor sort of
+prayers and praises. He will miss real holiness for the same reason
+that makes the pleasure-seeker miss real happiness. We must lose
+ourselves in some worthy interest in order to find again both a
+better self and an object higher than that which we sought. This the
+German mystics in a sense knew well. There is a noble sentence of
+Suso to the effect that "he who realises the inward in the outward,
+to him the inward becomes more inward than to him who only
+recognises the inward in the inward." Moreover, the recognition that
+"God manifests Himself and worketh more in one creature than
+another" ("Theologia Germanica"), involves a denial of the
+nihilistic view that all the creatures are "ein lauteres
+Nichts."[21] It would be easy to find such passages in all the
+fourteenth-century mystics, but it cannot be denied that on the
+whole their religion is too self-centred. There are not many maxims
+so fundamentally wrong-headed and un-Christian as Suso's advice to
+"live as if you were the only person in the world."[22] The life of
+the cloistered saint may be abundantly justified--for the spiritual
+activity of some of them has been of far greater service to mankind
+than the fussy benevolence of many "practical" busybodies--but the
+idea of social service, whether in the school of Martha or of Mary,
+ought surely never to be absent. The image of Christ as the Lover of
+the individual soul rather than as the Bridegroom of the Church was
+too dear to these lonely men and women. Unconsciously, they looked
+to their personal devotions to compensate them for the human loves
+which they had forsworn. The raptures of Divine Love, which they
+regarded as signal favours bestowed upon them, were not very
+wholesome in themselves, and diverted their thoughts from the needs
+of their fellow-men. They also led to most painful reactions, in
+which the poor contemplative believed himself abandoned by God and
+became a pray to terrible depression and melancholy. These fits of
+wretchedness came indeed to be recognised as God's punishment for
+selfishness in devotion and for too great desire for the sweetness
+of communing with God, and so arose the doctrine of "disinterested
+love," which was more and more emphasised in the later mysticism,
+especially by the French Quietists.
+
+I have spoken quite candidly of the defects of Eckhart's mystical
+Christianity. As a religious philosophy it does not keep clear of
+the fallacy that an ascent though the unreal can lead to reality.
+"To suppose, as the mystic does, that the finite search has of
+itself no Being at all, is illusory, is Maya, is itself nothing,
+this is also to deprive the Absolute of even its poor value as a
+contrasting goal. For a goal that is a goal of no real process has
+as little value as it has content."[23] But, as Prof. Royce says,
+mysticism furnishes us with the means of correcting itself. It
+supplies an obvious reductio ad absurdum of the theory with which it
+set out, that "Immediacy is the one test of reality," and is itself
+forced to give the world of diversity a real value as manifesting in
+different degrees the nature of God. Those who are acquainted with
+the sacred books of the East will recognise that here is the
+decisive departure from real Pantheism. And it may be fairly claimed
+for the German mystics that though their speculative teaching
+sometimes seems to echo too ominously the apathetic detachment of
+the Indian sage, their lives and example, and their practical
+exhortations, preached a truer and a larger philosophy. Eckhart, as
+we have seen, was a busy preacher as well as a keen student, and
+some of the younger members of his school were even more occupied in
+pastoral work. If the tree is to be judged by its fruits, mysticism
+can give a very good account of itself to the Marthas as well as the
+Marys of this world.
+
+Sect. 4. THE GERMAN MYSTICS AS GUIDES TO HOLINESS
+
+THIS little volume is a contribution to a "Library of Devotion," and
+in the body of the work the reader will be seldom troubled by any
+abstruse philosophising. I have thought it necessary to give, in
+this Introduction, a short account of Eckhart's system, but the
+extracts which follow are taken mainly from his successors, in whom
+the speculative tendency is weaker and less original, while the
+religious element is stronger and more attractive. It is, after all,
+as guides to holiness that these mystics are chiefly important to
+us. This side of their life's work can never be out of date, for the
+deeper currents of human nature change but little; the language of
+the heart is readily understood everywhere and at all times. The
+differences between Catholic and Protestant are hardly felt in the
+keen air of these high summits. It was Luther himself who discovered
+the "Theologia Germanica" and said of it that, "next to the Bible
+and St Augustine, no book hath ever come into my hands whence I have
+learnt or would wish to learn more of what God and Christ and man
+and all things are. I thank God that I have heard and found my God
+in the German tongue, as I have not yet found Him in Latin, Greek,
+or Hebrew." The theology of these mystics takes us straight back to
+the Johannine doctrine of Christ as the all-pervading Word of God,
+by whom all things were made and in whom all things hold together.
+He is not far from any one of us if we will but seek Him where He is
+to be found--in the innermost sanctuary of our personal life. In
+personal religion this means that no part of revelation is to be
+regarded as past, isolated, or external. "We should mark and know of
+a very truth," says the author of the "Theologia Germanica," "that
+all manner of virtue and goodness, and even the eternal Good which
+is God Himself, can never make a man virtuous, good, or happy, so
+long as it is outside the soul." In the same spirit Jacob B�hme, 250
+years later, says: "If the sacrifice of Christ is to avail for me,
+it must be wrought in me." Or, as his English admirer, William Law,
+puts it: "Christ given for us is neither more nor less than Christ
+given into us. He is in no other sense our full, perfect, and
+sufficient Atonement than as His nature and spirit are born and
+formed in us." The whole process of redemption must in a sense be
+reenacted in the inner life of every Christian. And as Christ
+emptied Himself for our sakes, so must we empty ourselves of all
+self-seeking. "When the creature claimeth for its own anything good,
+such as life, knowledge, or power, and in short whatever we commonly
+call good, as if it were that, or possessed that--it goeth astray."
+Sin is nothing else but self-assertion, self-will. "Be assured,"
+says the "Theologia Germanica," "that he who helpeth a man to his
+own will, helpeth him to the worst that he can." He, therefore, who
+is "simply and wholly bereft of self" is delivered from sin, and God
+alone reigns in his inmost soul. Concerning the highest part or
+faculty of the soul, the author of this little treatise follows
+Eckhart, but cautiously. "The True Light," he says, "is that eternal
+Light which is God; or else it is a created light, but yet Divine,
+which is called grace." In either case, "where God dwells in a godly
+man, in such a man somewhat appertaineth to God which is His own,
+and belongs to Him only and not to the creature." This doctrine of
+divine immanence, for which there is ample warrant in the New
+Testament, is the real kernel of German mysticism. It is a doctrine
+which, when rightly used, may make this world a foretaste of heaven,
+but alas! the "False Light" is always trying to counterfeit the
+true. In the imitation of the suffering life of Christ lies the only
+means of escaping the deceptions of the Evil One. "The False Light
+dreameth itself to be God, and sinless"; but "none is without sin;
+if any is without consciousness of sin, he must be either Christ or
+the Evil Spirit."
+
+Very characteristic is the teaching of all these writers about
+rewards and punishments. Without in any way impugning the Church
+doctrine of future retribution, they yet agree with Benjamin
+Whichcote, the Cambridge Platonist, that "heaven is first a temper,
+then a place"; while of hell there is much to recall the noble
+sentence of Juliana of Norwich, the fourteenth-century visionary,
+"to me was showed no harder hell than sin." "Nothing burneth in hell
+but self-will," is a saying in the "Theologia Germanica."[24] They
+insist that the difference between heaven and hell is not that one
+is a place of enjoyment, the other of torment; it is that in the one
+we are with Christ, in the other without Him. "The Christlike life
+is not chosen," to quote the "Theologia Germanica" once more, "in
+order to serve any end, or to get anything by it, but for love of
+its nobleness, and because God loveth and esteemeth it so highly. He
+who doth not take it up for love, hath none of it at all; he may
+dream indeed that he hath put it on, but he is deceived. Christ did
+not lead such a life as this for the sake of reward, but out of
+love, and love maketh such a life light, and taketh away all its
+hardships, so that it becometh sweet and is gladly endured." The
+truly religious man is always more concerned about what God will do
+in him than what He will do to him; in his intense desire for the
+purification of his motives he almost wishes that heaven and hell
+were blotted out, that he might serve God for Himself alone.
+
+Sect. 5. WRITERS OF THE SCHOOL OF ECKHART--TAULER
+
+Such are the main characteristics of the religious teachings which
+we find in the German mystics. Among the successors of Eckhart, from
+whose writings the following extracts are taken, the most notable
+names are those of Tauler, Suso, and Ruysbroek. From Tauler I have
+taken very little, because a volume of selections from his sermons
+has already appeared in this series.[25] Accordingly, it will only
+be necessary to mention a very few facts about his life.
+
+John Tauler was born at Strassburg about 1300, and studied at the
+Dominican convents of Strassburg and Cologne. At both places he
+doubtless heard the sermons of Eckhart. In 1329 the great interdict
+began at Strassburg, and was stoutly resisted by many of the clergy.
+It is a disputed point whether Tauler himself obeyed the Papal
+decree or not. His uneventful life, which was devoted to study,
+preaching, and pastoral work, came to an end in 1361. Like Eckhart,
+he had a favourite "spiritual daughter," Margaret Ebner, who won a
+great reputation as a visionary.
+
+Sect. 6. SUSO
+
+Henry Suso was born in 1295 and died in 1365. His autobiography was
+published not long before his death. He is the poet of the band. The
+romance of saintship is depicted by him with a strange vividness
+which alternately attracts and repels, or even disgusts, the modern
+reader. The whole-hearted devotion of the "Servitor" to the "Divine
+Wisdom," the tender beauty of the visions and conversations, and the
+occasional na�vet� of the narrative, which shows that the saint
+remained very human throughout, make Suso's books delightful
+reading; but the accounts of the horrible macerations to which he
+subjected himself for many years shock our moral sense almost as
+much as our sensibilities; we do not now believe that God takes
+pleasure in sufferings inflicted in His honour. Moreover, the erotic
+symbolism of the visions is occasionally unpleasant: we are no
+longer in the company of such sane and healthy people as Eckhart and
+Tauler. The half-sensuous pleasure of ecstasy was evidently a
+temptation to Suso, and the violent alternations of rapture and
+misery which he experienced suggest a neurotic and ill-balanced
+temperament.[26]
+
+On this subject--the pathological side of mysticism--a few remarks
+will not be out of place, for there has been much discussion of it
+lately. A great deal of nonsense has been written on the connexion
+between religion and neuroticism. To quote Professor James' vigorous
+protest, "medical materialism finishes up St Paul by calling his
+vision on the road to Damascus a discharging lesion of the occipital
+cortex, he being an epileptic. It snuffs out St Teresa as an
+hysteric, St Francis of Assisi as an hereditary degenerate. George
+Fox's discontent with the shams of his age, and his pining for
+spiritual veracity, it treats as a symptom of a disordered colon.
+Carlyle's organ-tones of misery it accounts for by a gastro-duodenal
+catarrh. All such mental over-tensions, it says, are, when you come
+to the bottom of the matter, mere affairs of diathesis
+(auto-intoxications most probably), due to the perverted action of
+various glands which physiology will yet discover."[27] Now, even if
+it were true that most religious geniuses, like most other geniuses,
+have been "psychopaths" of one kind or another, this fact in no way
+disposes of the value of their intuitions and experiences. Nearly
+all the great benefactors of humanity have been persons of
+one-sided, and therefore ill-balanced, characters. Even Maudsley
+admits that "Nature may find an incomplete mind a more suitable
+instrument for a particular purpose. It is the work that is done,
+and the quality in the worker by which it is done, that is alone of
+moment; and it may be no great matter from a cosmical standpoint, if
+in other qualities of character he (the genius) was singularly
+defective."[28] Except in the character of our Lord Himself, there
+are visible imperfections in the record of every great saint; but
+that is no reason for allowing such traces of human infirmity to
+discredit what is pure and good in their work. More particularly, it
+would be a great pity to let our minds dwell on the favourite
+materialistic theory that saintliness, especially as cultivated and
+venerated by Catholicism, has its basis in "perverted sexuality."
+There is enough plausibility in the theory to make it mischievous.
+The allegorical interpretation of the Book of Canticles was in truth
+the source of, or at least the model for, a vast amount of
+unwholesome and repulsive pietism. Not a word need be said for such
+a paltry narrative of endearments and sickly compliments as the
+"Revelations of the Nun Gertrude," in the thirteenth century. Nor
+are we concerned to deny that the artificially induced ecstasy,
+which is desired on account of the intense pleasure which is said to
+accompany it, nearly always contains elements the recognition of
+which would shock and distress the contemplatives themselves.[29]
+There are, however, other elements, of a less insidious kind, which
+make the ecstatic trance seem desirable. These are, according to
+Professor Leuba, the calming of the restless intellect by the
+concentration of the mind on one object; the longing for a support
+and comfort more perfect than man can give; and, thirdly, the
+consecration and strengthening of the will, which is often a
+permanent effect of the trance. These are legitimate objects of
+desire, and in many of the mystics they are much more prominent than
+any tendencies which might be considered morbid. As regards the
+larger question, about the alleged pathological character of all
+distinctively religious exaltation, I believe that no greater
+mistake could be made than to suppose that the religious life
+flourishes best in unnatural circumstances. Religion, from a
+biological standpoint, I take to be the expression of the racial
+will to live; its function (from this point of view) is the
+preservation and development of humanity on the highest possible
+level. If this is true, a simple, healthy, natural life must be the
+most favourable for religious excellence--and this I believe to be
+the case. Poor Suso certainly did not lead a healthy or natural
+life. But in his case, though the suppressed natural instincts
+obviously overflow into the religious consciousness and in part
+determine the forms which his devotion assumes, we can never forget
+that we are in the company of a poet and a saint who will lift us,
+if we can follow him, into a very high region of the spiritual life,
+an altitude which he has himself climbed with bleeding feet.
+
+The simple confidence which at the end of the dialogue he expresses
+in the value of his work is, I think, amply justified. "Whoever will
+read these writings of mine in a right spirit, can hardly fail to be
+stirred to the depths of his soul, either to fervent love, or to new
+light, or to hunger and thirst for God, or to hatred and loathing
+for his sins, or to that spiritual aspiration by which the soul is
+renewed in grace."
+
+Sect. 7. RUYSBROEK
+
+[Note: the Ruysbroek selection has not been reproduced in this
+electronic edition. An electronic text of a larger collection of
+Ruysbroek's works may be available.]
+
+Sect. 8. THEOLOGIA GERMANICA
+
+The "Theologia Germanica," an isolated treatise of no great length
+by an unknown author, was written towards the end of the fourteenth
+century by one of the Gottesfreunde, a widespread association of
+pious souls in Germany. He is said to have been "a priest and warden
+of the house of the Teutonic Order at Frankfort." His book is both
+the latest and one of the most important productions of the German
+mystical school founded by Eckhart. The author is a deeply religious
+philosopher, as much interested in speculative mysticism as Eckhart
+himself, but as thoroughly penetrated with devout feeling as Thomas
+� Kempis. The treatise should be read by all, as one of the very
+best devotional works in any language. My only reason for not
+translating it in full here is that a good English translation
+already exists,[30] so that it seemed unnecessary to offer a new one
+to the public. I have therefore only translated a few characteristic
+passages, which are very far from exhausting its beauties, and a few
+of the more striking aphorisms, which indicate the main points in
+the religious philosophy of the writer.
+
+Sect. 9. MODERN MYSTICISM
+
+The revival of interest in the old mystical writers is not
+surprising when we consider the whole trend of modern thought. Among
+recent philosophers--though Lotze, perhaps the greatest name among
+them, is unsympathetic, in consequence of his over-rigid theory of
+personality--the great psychologist Fechner, whose religious
+philosophy is not so well known in this country as it deserves to
+be, has with some justice been called a mystic. And our own greatest
+living metaphysician, Mr F.H. Bradley, has expounded the dialectic
+of speculative mysticism with unequalled power, though with a bias
+against Christianity. Another significant fact is the great
+popularity, all over Europe, of Maeterlinck's mystical works, "Le
+Tr�sor des Humbles," "La Sagesse et la Destin�e," and "Le
+Temple Enseveli."
+
+The growing science of psychology has begun to turn its attention
+seriously to the study of the religious faculty. Several able men
+have set themselves to collect material which may form the basis of
+an inductive science. Personal experiences, communicated by many
+persons of both sexes and of various ages, occupations, and levels
+of culture, have been brought together and tabulated. It is claimed
+that important facts have already been established, particularly in
+connexion with the phenomena of conversion, by this method. The
+results have certainly been more than enough to justify confidence
+in the soundness of the method, and hope that the new science may
+have a great future before it. Towards mysticism, recent writers on
+the psychology of religion have been less favourable than the pure
+metaphysicians. While the latter have shown a tendency towards
+Pantheism and Determinism, which makes them sympathise with the
+general trend of speculative mysticism, psychology seems just at
+present to lean towards a pluralistic metaphysic and a belief in
+free-will or even in chance. This attitude is especially noticeable
+in the now famous Gifford Lectures of Professor William James[31]
+and in the recent volume of essays written at Oxford.[32] But even
+if the rising tide of neo-Kantianism should cause the speculative
+mystics to be regarded with disfavour, nothing can prevent the
+religion of the twentieth century from being mystical in type. The
+strongest wish of a vast number of earnest men and women to-day is
+for a basis of religious belief which shall rest, not upon tradition
+or external authority or historical evidence, but upon the
+ascertainable facts of human experience. The craving for immediacy,
+which we have seen to be characteristic of all mysticism, now takes
+the form of a desire to establish the validity of the
+God-consciousness as a normal part of the healthy inner life. We may
+perhaps venture to predict that the Christian biologist of the
+future will turn the Pauline Christology into his own dialect
+somewhat after the following fashion:--"The function of religion in
+the human race is closely analogous to, if not identical with, that
+of instinct in the lower animals. Religion is the racial will to
+live; not, however, to live anyhow and at all costs, but to live as
+human beings, conforming as far as possible to the highest type of
+humanity. Religion, therefore, acts as a higher instinct, inhibiting
+all self-destroying and race-destroying impulses in the interest of
+a larger self than the individual life." To turn this statement into
+theological form it is only necessary to claim that the "perfect
+man" which the religious instinct is trying to form is "the measure
+of the stature of the fulness of Christ," that that perfect humanity
+was once realised in the historical Christ, and that the higher
+instinct within us--ourselves, yet not ourselves--which makes for
+life and righteousness, and is the source of all the good that we
+can think, say, or do, may (in virtue of that historical
+incarnation) be justly called the indwelling Christ. This is all
+that the Christian mystic needs.
+
+Sect. 10. SPECIMENS OF MODERN MYSTICISM
+
+I conclude this introductory essay with a few extracts from recent
+American books on the psychology of religion. It is interesting to
+find some of the strangest experiences of the cloister reproduced
+under the very different conditions of modern American life. The
+quotations will serve to show how far Tauler and the "Theologia
+Germanica" are from being out of date.
+
+"The thing which impressed me most" (says a correspondent of
+Professor William James)[33] "was learning the fact that we must be
+in absolutely constant relation or mental touch with that essence of
+life which permeates all and which we call God. This is almost
+unrecognisable unless we live into it ourselves actually--that is,
+by a constant turning to the very innermost, deepest consciousness
+of our real selves or of God in us, for illumination from within,
+just as we turn to the sun for light, warmth, and invigoration
+without. When you do this consciously, realising that to turn inward
+to the light within you is to live in the presence of God or of your
+Divine self, you soon discover the unreality of the objects to which
+you have hitherto been turning and which have engrossed you
+without."
+
+The next quotation comes from a small book by one of the "New
+Thought" or "Mind Cure" school in America. The enormous sale of the
+volume testifies to the popularity of the teaching which it
+contains.[34]
+
+"Intuition is an inner spiritual sense through which man is opened
+to the direct revelation and knowledge of God, the secret of nature
+and life, and through which he is brought into conscious unity and
+fellowship with God, and made to realise his own deific nature and
+supremacy of being as the son of God. Spiritual supremacy and
+illumination thus realised through the development and perfection of
+intuition under divine inspiration gives the perfect inner vision
+and direct insight into the character, properties, and purpose of
+all things to which the attention and interest are directed. It is,
+we repeat, a spiritual sense opening inwardly, as the physical
+senses open outwardly; and because it has the capacity to perceive,
+grasp, and know the truth at first hand, independent of all external
+sources of information, we call it intuition. All inspired teaching
+and spiritual revelations are based upon the recognition of this
+spiritual faculty of the soul and its power to receive and
+appropriate them. Conscious unity of man in spirit and purpose with
+the Father, born out of his supreme desire and trust, opens his soul
+through this inner sense to immediate aspiration and enlightenment
+from the divine omniscience, and the co-operative energy of the
+divine omnipotence, under which he becomes a seer and a master. On
+this higher plane of realised spiritual life in the flesh the mind
+acts with unfettered freedom and unbiassed vision, grasping truth at
+first hand, independent of all external sources of information.
+Approaching all beings and things from the divine side, they are
+seen in the light of the divine omniscience.[35] God's purpose in
+them, and so the truth concerning them, as it rests in the mind of
+God, are thus revealed by direct illumination from the divine mind,
+to which the soul is opened inwardly through this spiritual sense we
+call intuition."
+
+The practice of meditation "without images," as the mediaeval
+mystics called it, is specially recommended. "Many will receive
+great help, and many will be entirely healed by a practice somewhat
+after the following nature:--With a mind at peace, and with a heart
+going out in love to all, go into the quiet of your own interior
+self, holding the thought, I am one with the Infinite Spirit of
+Life, the life of my life. I now open my body, in which disease has
+gotten a foothold, I open it fully to the inflowing tide of this
+infinite life, and it now, even now, is pouring in and coursing
+through my body, and the healing process is going on." "If you would
+find the highest, the fullest, and the richest life that not only
+this world but that any world can know, then do away with the sense
+of the separateness of your life from the life of God. Hold to the
+thought of your oneness. In the degree that you do this, you will
+find yourself realising it more and more, and as this life of
+realisation is lived, you will find that no good thing will be
+withheld, for all things are included in this."[36]
+
+This modern mysticism is very much entangled with theories about the
+cure of bodily disease by suggestion; and it is fair to warn those
+who are unacquainted with the books of this sect that they will find
+much fantastic superstition mixed with a stimulating faith in the
+inner light as the voice of God.
+
+But whatever may be the course of this particular movement there can
+be no doubt that the Americans, like ourselves, are only at the
+beginning of a great revival of mystical religion. The movement will
+probably follow the same course as the mediaeval movement in
+Germany, with which this little book is concerned. It will have its
+philosophical supportees, who will press their speculation to the
+verge of Pantheism, perhaps reviving the Logos-cosmology of the
+Christian Alexandrians under the form of the pan-psychism of Lotze
+and Fechner. It will have its evangelists like Tauler, who will
+carry to our crowded town populations the glad tidings that the
+kingdom of God is not here or there, but within the hearts of all
+who will seek for it within them. It will assuredly attract some to
+a life of solitary contemplation; while others, intellectually
+weaker or less serious, will follow the various theosophical and
+theurgical delusions which, from the days of Iamblichus downward,
+have dogged the heels of mysticism. For the "False Light" against
+which the "Theologia Germanica" warns us is as dangerous as ever; we
+may even live to see some new "Brethren of the Free Spirit" turning
+their liberty into a cloak of licentiousness. If so, the world will
+soon whistle back the disciplinarian with his traditions of the
+elders; prophesying will once more be suppressed and discredited,
+and a new crystallising process will begin. But before that time
+comes some changes may possibly take place in the external
+proportions of Christian orthodoxy. The appearance of a vigorous
+body of faith, standing firmly on its own feet, may even have the
+effect of relegating to the sphere of pious opinion some tenets
+which have hitherto "seemed to be pillars."
+
+For these periodical returns to the "fresh springs" of religion
+never leave the tradition exactly where it was before. The German
+movement of the fourteenth century made the Reformation inevitable,
+and our own age may be inaugurating a change no less momentous,
+which will restore in the twentieth century some of the features of
+Apostolic Christianity.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+LIGHT, LIFE AND LOVE
+
+ECKHART
+
+
+
+
+
+GOD
+
+GOD is nameless, for no man can either say or understand aught about
+Him. If I say, God is good, it is not true; nay more; I am good, God
+is not good. I may even say, I am better than God; for whatever is
+good, may become better, and whatever may become better, may become
+best. Now God is not good, for He cannot become better. And if He
+cannot become better, He cannot become best, for these three things,
+good, better, and best, are far from God, since He is above all. If
+I also say, God is wise, it is not true; I am wiser than He. If I
+also say, God is a Being, it is not true; He is transcendent Being
+and superessential Nothingness. Concerning this St Augustine says:
+the best thing that man can say about God is to be able to be silent
+about Him, from the wisdom of his inner judgement. Therefore be
+silent and prate not about God, for whenever thou dost prate about
+God, thou liest, and committest sin. If thou wilt be without sin,
+prate not about God. Thou canst understand nought about God, for He
+is above all understanding. A master saith: If I had a God whom I
+could understand, I would never hold Him to be God. (318)[37]
+
+God is not only a Father of all good things, as being their First
+Cause and Creator, but He is also their Mother, since He remains
+with the creatures which have from Him their being and existence,
+and maintains them continually in their being. If God did not abide
+with and in the creatures, they must necessarily have fallen back,
+so soon as they were created, into the nothingness out of which they
+were created. (610)
+
+REST ONLY IN GOD
+
+IF I had everything that I could desire, and my finger ached, I
+should not have everything, for I should have a pain in my finger,
+and so long as that remained, I should not enjoy full comfort. Bread
+is comfortable for men, when they are hungry; but when they are
+thirsty, they find no more comfort in bread than in a stone. So it
+is with clothes, they are welcome to men, when they are cold; but
+when they are too hot, clothes give them no comfort. And so it is
+with all the creatures. The comfort which they promise is only on
+the surface, like froth, and it always carries with it a want. But
+God's comfort is clear and has nothing wanting: it is full and
+complete, and God is constrained to give it thee, for He cannot
+cease till He have given thee Himself. (300)
+
+It is only in God that are collected and united all the perfections,
+which in the creatures are sundered and divided. (324)
+
+Yet all the fulness of the creatures can as little express God, as a
+drop of water can express the sea. (173)
+
+GOD IS ALWAYS READY
+
+NO one ought to think that it is difficult to come to Him, though it
+sounds difficult and is really difficult at the beginning, and in
+separating oneself from and dying to all things. But when a man has
+once entered upon it, no life is lighter or happier or more
+desirable; for God is very zealous to be at all times with man, and
+teaches him that He will bring him to Himself if man will but
+follow. Man never desires anything so earnestly as God desires to
+bring a man to Himself, that he may know Him. God is always ready,
+but we are very unready; God is near to us, but we are far from Him;
+God is within, but we are without; God is at home, but we are
+strangers. The prophet saith: God guideth the redeemed through a
+narrow way into the broad road, so that they come into the wide and
+broad place; that is to say, into true freedom of the spirit, when
+one has become a spirit with God. May God help us to follow this
+course, that He may bring us to Himself. Amen. (223)
+
+GRACE
+
+THE masters say: That is young, which is near its beginning.
+Intelligence is the youngest faculty in man: the first thing to
+break out from the soul is intelligence, the next is will, the other
+faculties follow. Now he saith: Young man, I say unto thee, arise.
+The soul in itself is a simple work; what God works in the simple
+light of the soul is more beautiful and more delightful than all the
+other works which He works in all creatures. But foolish people take
+evil for good and good for evil. But to him who rightly understands,
+the one work which God works in the soul is better and nobler and
+higher than all the world. Through that light comes grace. Grace
+never comes in the intelligence or in the will. If it could come in
+the intelligence or in the will, the intelligence and the will would
+have to transcend themselves. On this a master says: There is
+something secret about it; and thereby he means the spark of the
+soul, which alone can apprehend God. The true union between God and
+the soul takes place in the little spark, which is called the spirit
+of the soul. Grace unites not to any work. It is an indwelling and a
+living together of the soul in God. (255)
+
+Every gift of God makes the soul ready to receive a new gift,
+greater than itself. (15)
+
+Yea, since God has never given any gift, in order that man might
+rest in the possession of the gift, but gives every gift that He has
+given in heaven and on earth, in order that He might be able to give
+one gift, which is Himself, so with this gift of grace, and with all
+His gifts He will make us ready for the one gift, which is Himself.
+(569)
+
+No man is so boorish or stupid or awkward, that he cannot, by God's
+grace, unite his will wholly and entirely with God's will. And
+nothing more is necessary than that he should say with earnest
+longing: O Lord, show me Thy dearest will, and strengthen me to do
+it. And God does it, as sure as He lives, and gives him grace in
+ever richer fulness, till he comes to perfection, as He gave to the
+woman at Jacob's well. Look you, the most ignorant and the lowest of
+you all can obtain this from God, before he leaves this church, yea,
+before I finish this sermon, as sure as God lives and I am a man.
+(187)
+
+O almighty and merciful Creator and good Lord, be merciful to me for
+my poor sins, and help me that I may overcome all temptations and
+shameful lusts, and may be able to avoid utterly, in thought and
+deed, what Thou forbiddest, and give me grace to do and to hold all
+that Thou hast commanded. Help me to believe, to hope, and to love,
+and in every way to live as Thou willest, as much as Thou willest,
+and what Thou willest. (415)
+
+THE WILL
+
+THEN is the will perfect, when it has gone out of itself, and is
+formed in the will of God. The more this is so, the more perfect and
+true is the will, and in such a will thou canst do all things. (553)
+
+SURRENDER OF THE WILL
+
+YOU should know, that that which God gives to those men who seek to
+do His will with all their might, is the best. Of this thou mayest
+be as sure, as thou art sure that God lives, that the very best must
+necessarily be, and that in no other way could anything better
+happen. Even if something else seems better, it would not be so good
+for thee, for God wills this and not another way, and this way must
+be the best for thee. Whether it be sickness or poverty or hunger or
+thirst, or whatever it be, that God hangs over thee or does not hang
+over thee--whatever God gives or gives not, that is all what is best
+for thee; whether it be devotion or inwardness, or the lack of these
+which grieves thee--only set thyself right in this, that thou
+desirest the glory of God in all things, and then whatever He does
+to thee, that is the best.
+
+Now thou mayest perchance say: How can I tell whether it is the will
+of God or not? If it were not the will of God, it would not happen.
+Thou couldst have neither sickness nor anything else unless God
+willed it. But know that it is God's will that thou shouldst have so
+much pleasure and satisfaction therein, that thou shouldst feel no
+pain as pain; thou shouldst take it from God as the very best thing,
+for it must of necessity be the very best thing for thee. Therefore
+I may even wish for it and desire it, and nothing would become me
+better than so to do.
+
+If there were a man whom I were particularly anxious to please, and
+if I knew for certain that he liked me better in a grey cloak than
+in any other, there is no doubt that however good another cloak
+might be, I should be fonder of the grey than of all the rest. And
+if there were anyone whom I would gladly please, I should do nothing
+else in word or deed than what I knew that he liked.
+
+Ah, now consider how your love shows itself! If you loved God, of a
+surety nothing would give you greater pleasure than what pleases Him
+best, and that whereby His will may be most fully done. And, however
+great thy pain or hardship may be, if thou hast not as great
+pleasure in it as in comfort or fulness, it is wrong.
+
+We say every day in prayer to our Father, Thy will be done. And yet
+when His will is done, we grumble at it, and find no pleasure in His
+will. If our prayers were sincere, we should certainly think His
+will, and what He does, to be the best, and that the very best had
+happened to us. (134)
+
+Those who accept all that the Lord send, as the very best, remain
+always in perfect peace, for in them God's will has become their
+will. This is incomparably better than for our will to become God's
+will. For when thy will becomes God's will--if thou art sick, thou
+wishest not to be well contrary to God's will, but thou wishest that
+it were God's will that thou shouldest be well. And so in other
+things. But when God's will becomes thy will--then thou art sick: in
+God's name; thy friend dies: in God's name! (55)
+
+SUFFERING
+
+MEN who love God are so far from complaining of their sufferings,
+that their complaint and their suffering is rather because the
+suffering which God's will has assigned them is so small. All their
+blessedness is to suffer by God's will, and not to have suffered
+something, for this is the loss of suffering. This is why I said,
+Blessed are they who are willing to suffer for righteousness, not,
+Blessed are they who have suffered. (434)
+
+All that a man bears for God's sake, God makes light and sweet for
+him. (45)
+
+If all was right with you, your sufferings would no longer be
+suffering, but love and comfort. (442)
+
+If God could have given to men anything more noble than suffering,
+He would have redeemed mankind with it: otherwise, you must say that
+my Father was my enemy, if he knew of anything nobler than
+suffering. (338)
+
+True suffering is a mother of all the virtues. (338)
+
+SIN
+
+DEADLY sin is a death of the soul. To die is to lose life. But God
+is the life of the soul; since then deadly sin separates us from
+God, it is a death of the soul.
+
+Deadly sin is also an unrest of the heart. Everything can rest only
+in its proper place. But the natural place of the soul is God; as St
+Augustine says, Lord, thou hast made us for Thyself, and our heart
+is restless till it finds rest in Thee. But deadly sin separates us
+from God; therefore it is an unrest of the heart. Deadly sin is also
+a sickness of the faculties, when a man can never stand up alone for
+the weight of his sins, nor ever resist falling into sin. Therefore
+deadly sin is a sickness of the faculties. Deadly sin is also a
+blindness of the sense, in that it suffers not a man to know the
+shortness of the pleasures of lust, nor the length of the punishment
+in hell, nor the eternity of joys in heaven. Deadly sin is also a
+death of all graces; for as soon as a deadly sin takes place, a man
+becomes bare of all graces. (217)
+
+Every creature must of necessity abide in God; if we fall out of the
+hands of his mercy, we fall into the hands of His justice. We must
+ever abide in Him. What madness then is it to wish not to be with
+Him, without whom thou canst not be! (169)
+
+CONTENTMENT
+
+A GREAT teacher once told a story in his preaching about a man who
+for eight years besought God to show him a man who would make known
+to him the way of truth. While he was in this state of anxiety there
+came a voice from God and spake to him: Go in front of the church,
+and there shalt thou find a man who will make known to thee the way
+of truth. He went, and found a poor man whose feet were chapped and
+full of dirt, and all his clothes were hardly worth
+twopence-halfpenny. He greeted this poor man and said to him, God
+give thee a good morning. The poor man answered, I never had a bad
+morning. The other said, God give thee happiness. How answerest thou
+that? The poor man answered, I was never unhappy. The first then
+said, God send thee blessedness. How answerest thou that? I was
+never unblessed, was the answer. Lastly the questioner said, God
+give thee health! Now enlighten me, for I cannot understand it. And
+the poor man replied, When thou saidst to me, may God give thee a
+good morning, I said I never had a bad morning. If I am hungry, I
+praise God for it; if I am cold, I praise God for it; if I am
+distressful and despised, I praise God for it; and that is why I
+never had a bad morning. When thou askedst God to give me happiness,
+I answered that I had never been unhappy; for what God gives or
+ordains for me, whether it be His love or suffering, sour or sweet,
+I take it all from God as being the best, and that is why I was
+never unhappy. Thou saidst further, May God make thee blessed, and I
+said, I was never unblessed, for I have given up my will so entirely
+to God's will, that what God wills, that I also will, and that is
+why I was never unblessed, because I willed alone God's will. Ah!
+dear fellow, replied the man; but if God should will to throw thee
+into hell, what wouldst thou say then? He replied, Throw me into
+hell! Then I would resist Him. But even if He threw me into hell, I
+should still have two arms wherewith to embrace Him. One arm is true
+humility, which I should place under Him, and with the arm of love I
+should embrace Him. And he concluded, I would rather be in hell and
+possess God, than in the kingdom of heaven without Him. (623)
+
+DETACHMENT
+
+THE man who has submitted his will and purposes entirely to God,
+carries God with him in all his works and in all circumstances.
+Therein can no man hinder him, for he neither aims at nor enjoys
+anything else, save God. God is united with Him in all his purposes
+and designs. Even as no manifoldness can dissipate God, so nothing
+can dissipate such a man, or destroy his unity. Man, therefore,
+should take God with him in all things; God should be always present
+to his mind and will and affections. The same disposition that thou
+hast in church or in thy cell, thou shouldst keep and maintain in a
+crowd, and amid the unrest and manifoldness of the world.
+
+Some people pride themselves on their detachment from mankind, and
+are glad to be alone or in church; and therein lies their peace. But
+he who is truly in the right state, is so in all circumstances, and
+among all persons; he who is not in a good state, it is not right
+with him in all places and among all persons. He who is as he should
+be has God with him in truth, in all places and among all persons,
+in the street as well as in the church; and then no man can hinder
+him. (547)
+
+It is often much harder for a man to be alone in a crowd than in the
+desert; and it is often harder to leave a small thing than a great,
+and to practise a small work than one which people consider very
+great. (565)
+
+PRAYER
+
+GOOD and earnest prayer is a golden ladder which reaches up to
+heaven, and by which man ascends to God.
+
+The man who will pray aright should ask for nothing except what may
+promote God's honour and glory, his own profit and the advantage of
+his neighbours. When we ask for temporal things we should always
+add, if it be God's will and if it be for my soul's health. But when
+we pray for virtues, we need add no qualification, for these are
+God's own working. (359)
+
+LOVE OF OUR NEIGHBOUR
+
+IT is a hard thing to practise this universal love, and to love our
+neighbours as ourselves, as our Lord commanded us. But if you will
+understand it rightly, there is a greater reward attached to this
+command, than to any other. The commandment seems hard, but the
+reward is precious indeed. (135)
+
+LOVE
+
+HE who has found this way of love, seeketh no other. He who turns on
+this pivot is in such wise a prisoner that his foot and hand and
+mouth and eyes and heart, and all his human faculties, belong to
+God. And, therefore, thou canst overcome thy flesh in no better way,
+so that it may not shame thee, than by love. This is why it is
+written, Love is as strong as death, as hard as hell. Death
+separates the soul from the body, but love separates all things from
+the soul. She suffers nought to come near her, that is not God nor
+God-like. Happy is he who is thus imprisoned; the more thou art a
+prisoner, the more wilt thou be freed. That we may be so imprisoned,
+and so freed, may He help us, Who Himself is Love. (30)
+
+THE UNION WITH GOD
+
+THE union of the soul with God is far more inward than that of the
+soul and body. (566)
+
+Now I might ask, how stands it with the soul that is lost in God?
+Does the soul find herself or not? To this will I answer as it
+appears to me, that the soul finds herself in the point, where every
+rational being understands itself with itself. Although it sinks and
+sinks in the eternity of the Divine Essence, yet it can never reach
+the ground. Therefore God has left a little point wherein the soul
+turns back upon itself and finds itself, and knows itself to be a
+creature. (387)
+
+God alone must work in thee without hindrance, that He may bring to
+perfection His likeness in thee. So thou mayest understand with Him,
+and love with Him. This is the essence of perfection. (471)
+
+THE LAST JUDGMENT
+
+PEOPLE say of the last day, that God shall give judgment. This is
+true. But it is not true as people imagine. Every man pronounces his
+own sentence; as he shows himself here in his essence, so will he
+remain everlastingly. (471)
+
+PRECEPT AND PRACTICE
+
+BETTER one life-master than a thousand reading-masters (w�ger w�re
+ein lebemeister denne t�sent lesemeister). If I sought a master
+in the scriptures, I should seek him in Paris and in the high
+schools of high learning. But if I wished to ask questions about the
+perfect life, that he could not tell me. Where then must I go?
+Nowhere at all save to an utterly simple nature; he could answer my
+question. (599)
+
+RELICS
+
+MY people, why seek ye after dead bones? Why seek ye not after
+living holiness, which might give you everlasting life? The dead can
+neither give nor take away. (599)
+
+SAYINGS OF ECKHART
+
+MASTER ECKHART saith: He who is always alone, he is worthy of God;
+and he who is always at home, to him is God present; and be who
+abides always in a present now, in him doth God beget His Son
+without ceasing. (600)
+
+Master Eckhart saith: I will never pray to God to give Himself to
+me: I will pray Him to make me purer. If I were purer, God must give
+Himself to me, of His own nature, and sink into me. (601)
+
+Master Eckhart was asked, what were the greatest goods, that God had
+done to him. He said, there are three. The first is, that the lusts
+and desires of the flesh have been taken away from me. The second
+is, that the Divine Light shines and gives me light in all my
+doings. The third is, that I am daily renewed in virtue, grace and
+holiness. (602)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TAULER
+
+
+
+
+
+OUR AIM
+
+THINK, and think earnestly, how great, how unutterable will be the
+joy and blessedness, the glory and honour of those who shall see
+clearly and without veil the gladsome and beauteous face of God, how
+they will enjoy the best and highest good, which is God Himself. For
+in Him is included all pleasure, might, joy, and all beauty, so that
+the blessed in God will possess everything that is good and
+desirable, with everlasting joy and security, without fear lest they
+should ever be parted from Him. (138)[38]
+
+CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL
+
+FROM the time when the first man gave a ready ear to the words of
+the enemy, mankind have been deaf, so that none of us can hear or
+understand the loving utterances of the eternal Word. Something has
+happened to the ears of man, which has stopped up his ears, so that
+he cannot hear the loving Word; and he has also been so blinded,
+that he has become stupid, and does not know himself. If he wished
+to speak of his own inner life, he could not do it; he knows not
+where he is, nor what is his state. (91)
+
+How can it be that the noble reason, the inner eye, is so blinded
+that it cannot see the true light? This great shame has come about,
+because a thick coarse skin and a thick fur has been drawn over him,
+even the love and the opinion of the creatures, whether it be the
+man himself or something that belongs to him; hence man has become
+blind and deaf, in whatever position he may be, worldly or
+spiritual. Yes, that is his guilt, that many a thick skin is drawn
+over him, as thick as an ox's forehead, and it has so covered up his
+inner man, that neither God nor himself can get inside; it has grown
+into him. (92)
+
+THE FALL
+
+THROUGH two things man fell in Paradise--through pride, and through
+inordinate affection. Therefore we too must return by two things,
+that nature may recover her power: we must first sink our nature and
+bring it down under God and under all men in deep humility, against
+whom it had exalted itself in pride. We must also manfully die to
+all inordinate lusts. (1)
+
+LIFE A BATTLE
+
+NOTHING in the world is so necessary for man as to be constantly
+assailed; for in fighting he learns to know himself. As grace is
+necessary to a man, so also is fighting. Virtue begins in fighting,
+and is developed in fighting. In every state to which a man is
+called, inward and outward, he must of necessity be assailed. A high
+Master said: As little as meat can remain without salt and yet not
+become corrupt, so little can a man remain without fighting. (104)
+
+A man should in the first place act as when a town is besieged, and
+it is certain that the besieging army is stronger than the town.
+When the town is weakest, men take the very greatest care to guard
+and defend the town; if they neglected to do so, they would lose the
+town, and with it their lives and properties. So should every man
+do: he should be most careful to find out in what things the evil
+spirit most often besets him--that is, on what side the man is
+weakest, and to what kind of errors and failings he is most prone,
+and should manfully defend himself at those points.
+
+Next, turn thyself earnestly away from sin; for I tell you of a
+truth, by whatever temptation a man is assailed, if he turns not
+from it heartily, but stands in it vacillating, he has no
+wholehearted desire to leave his sins by God's will, and without
+doubt the evil spirit is close upon him, who may make him fall into
+endless perdition.
+
+Know of a truth, that if thou wouldst truly overcome the evil
+spirit, this can only be done by a complete manful turning away from
+sin. Say then with all thy heart: Oh, everlasting God, help me and
+give me Thy Divine grace to be my help, for it is my steadfast
+desire never again to commit any deadly sin against Thy Divine will
+and Thine honour. So with thy good will and intention thou entirely
+overcomest the evil spirit, so that he must fly from thee ashamed.
+
+Understand, however, that it is a miserable and pitiable thing for a
+reasonable man to let himself be overcome by the evil spirit, and in
+consequence of his attacks to fall voluntarily into grievous and
+deadly sin, whereby man loses the grace of God. A reasonable man,
+who allows himself voluntarily to be overcome by the evil spirit, is
+like a well-armed man who voluntarily lets a fly bite him to death.
+For man has many great and strong weapons, wherewith he may well and
+manfully withstand the evil spirit--the holy faith, the blessed
+sacrament, the holy word of God, the model and example of all good
+and holy men, the prayers of holy Church, and other great supports
+against the power of the evil spirit, whose power is much less than
+that of a fly against a great bear. If a man will manfully and
+boldly withstand the evil spirit, the evil one can gain no advantage
+against his free will.
+
+Turn, therefore, manfully and earnestly from your sins, and watch
+diligently and earnestly; for I tell you of a truth, that when you
+have come to the next world, if you have not withstood the evil
+spirit, and if you are found there without repentance and sorrow,
+you will be a mockery to all the devils and to yourself, and you
+will be eternally punished and tormented. And it will then be a
+greater woe to you, that you have followed the evil spirit, than all
+the external pains that you must endure eternally for your sins.
+
+Thirdly, a man should diligently attend to his inner Ground, that
+there shall be nothing in it save God alone, and His eternal glory.
+For alas! there are many men, both lay and clerical, who live
+falsely beneath a fair show, and imagine that they can deceive the
+everlasting God. No, in truth, thou deceivest thyself, and losest
+the day of grace, and the favour of God, and makest thyself guilty
+towards God, in that He gives the evil spirits power over thee, so
+that thou canst do no good work. Therefore, watch while it is day,
+that the hour of darkness and God's disfavour may not overtake thee,
+and take heed that in thy inner ground God may dwell, and nought
+besides. (75)
+
+Even as each man in his baptism is placed under the charge of a
+special angel, who is with him always and never leaves him, and
+protects him waking and sleeping in all his ways and in all his
+works, so every man has a special devil, who continually opposes him
+and exercises him without ceasing. But if the man were wise and
+diligent, the opposition of the devil and his exercises would be
+much more profitable to him than the aid of the good angel; for if
+there were no struggle, there could be no victory. (139)
+
+SIN
+
+WHEN a man has had the fair net of his soul torn by sin, he must
+patch and mend it by a humble, repentant return to the grace and
+mercy of God. He must act like one who wishes to make a crooked
+stick straight: he bends the stick further back than it ought to go,
+and by being thus bent back it becomes straight again. So must a man
+do to his own nature. He must bend himself under all things which
+belong to God, and break himself right off, inwardly and outwardly,
+from all things which are not God.
+
+Every deadly sin causes the precious blood of Christ to be shed
+afresh. Jesus Christ is spiritually crucified many times every day.
+(75)
+
+FISHING FOR SOULS
+
+THE fisherman throws his hook, that he may catch the fish; but the
+fish itself takes the hook. When the fish takes the hook, the
+fisherman is sure of the fish, and draws it to him. Even so, God has
+thrown His hook and His net into all the world, before our feet,
+before our eyes, before our minds, and He would gladly draw us
+securely to Himself by means of all His creatures. By pleasurable
+things He draws us on; by painful things He drives us on. He who
+will not be drawn, is in fault; for he has not taken God's hook, nor
+will he be caught in God's net. If he came therein, beyond doubt he
+would be caught by God and would be drawn by God. It is not God's
+fault if we will not be drawn; we should grasp the hand held out to
+us. If a man were in a deep pool, and one tried to help him and pull
+him out, would he not gladly grasp his hand and allow himself to be
+pulled out? (42)
+
+Where two things are so related to each other, that one may receive
+something for the other, there must be something in common between
+them. If they had nothing in common, there must be a middle term
+between them, which has something in common both with the higher,
+from which it may receive, and with the lower, to which it may
+impart. Now God hath created all things, and especially mankind,
+immediately for Himself. He created man for His pleasure. But by
+sin, human nature was so far estranged from God, that it was
+impossible for a man to attain to that, for which he was made. Now
+Aristotle says that God and Nature are not unprofitable
+workers--that is, what they work at, they carry to its end. Now God
+created man that He might have pleasure in him. If then God's work
+in creating mankind was not to be unprofitable, when they were so
+far estranged from God by sin, that they could not receive that by
+which they might return and attain the enjoyment of eternal
+happiness, a Mediator was necessary between us and God, one who has
+something in common with us and our natures, and also shares in the
+nature of God. In order that on the one side, He might in Himself
+destroy our sickness, which was a cause of all our sins, and also
+destroy all our sins, to which our weakness has brought us; and on
+the other side that He might include in Himself all the treasure of
+grace and of God's honour, that He might be able to give us grace
+richly, and forgiveness of our sins, and eternal glory hereafter,
+this could only be, if the Son of God became man. (90)
+
+Yea, the highest God and Lord of all lords, the Son of God, in His
+deep love felt pity for us poor, sinful men, condemned to the flames
+of hell. Though He was in the form of God, He thought it not robbery
+(as St Paul says) to be equal with God, and He annihilated Himself,
+and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made like any other
+man, being found in fashion as a man. He humbled Himself, and became
+obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (117)
+
+THE EFFICACY OF DIVINE GRACE
+
+ALL works which men and all creatures can ever work even to the end
+of the world, without the grace of God--all of them together,
+however great they may be, are an absolute nothing, as compared with
+the smallest work which God has worked in men by His grace. As much
+as God is better than all His creatures, so much better are His
+works than all the works, or wisdom, or designs, which all men could
+devise. Even the smallest drop of grace is better than all earthly
+riches that are beneath the sun. Yea, a drop of grace is more noble
+than all angels and all souls, and all the natural things that God
+has made. And yet grace is given more richly by God to the soul than
+any earthly gift. It is given more richly than brooks of water, than
+the breath of the air, than the brightness of the sun; for spiritual
+things are far finer and nobler than earthly things. The whole
+Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, give grace to the soul, and
+flow immediately into it; even the highest angel, in spite of his
+great nobility, cannot do this. Grace looses us from the snares of
+many temptations; it relieves us from the heavy burden of worldly
+cares, and carries the spirit up to heaven, the land of spirits. It
+kills the worm of conscience, which makes sins alive. Grace is a
+very powerful thing. The man, to whom cometh but a little drop of
+the light of grace, to him all that is not God becomes as bitter as
+gall upon the tongue. (86)
+
+Grace makes, contrary to nature, all sorrows sweet, and brings it
+about that a man no longer feels any relish for things which
+formerly gave him great pleasure and delight. On the other hand,
+what formerly disgusted him, now delights him and is the desire of
+his heart--for instance, weakness, sorrow, inwardness, humility,
+self-abandonment, and detachment from all the creatures. All this is
+in the highest degree dear to him, when this visitation of the Holy
+Ghost, grace, has in truth come to him. Then the sick man, that is
+to say the external man, with all his faculties is plunged
+completely into the pool of water, even as the sick man who had been
+for thirty-eight years by the pool at Jerusalem, and there washes
+himself thoroughly in the exalted, noble, precious blood of Christ
+Jesus. For grace in manifold ways bathes the soul in the wounds and
+blood of the holy Lamb, Jesus Christ. (22)
+
+PRAYER
+
+THE essence of prayer is the ascent of the mind to God, as holy
+teachers tell us. Therefore every good man, when he wishes to pray,
+ought to collect his outer senses into himself, and look into his
+mind, to see whether it be really turned to God. He who wishes that
+his prayers may be truly heard, must keep himself turned away from
+all temporal and external things, and all that is not Divine,
+whether it be friend or joy (Freund oder Freude), and all vanities,
+whether they be clothes or ornaments, and from everything of which
+God is not the true beginning and ending, and from everything that
+does not belong to Him. He must cut off his words and his conduct,
+his manners and his demeanour, from all irregularity, inward or
+outward. Dream not that that can be a true prayer, when a man only
+babbles outwardly with his mouth, and reads many psalms, gabbling
+them rapidly and hastily, while his mind wanders this way and that,
+backwards and forwards. Much rather must the true prayer be, as St
+Peter tells us, "one-minded"[39]�that is, the mind must cleave to
+God alone, and a man must look with the face of his soul turned
+directly towards God, with a gentle, willing dependence on Him. (80)
+
+If thy prayer has these conditions, thou mayst with true humility
+fall at the feet of God, and pray for the gentle succour of God;
+thou mayest knock at His fatherly heart, and ask for bread�that is,
+for love. If a man had all the food in the world, and had not bread,
+his food would be neither eatable, nor pleasant, nor useful. So it
+is with all things, without the Love of God. Knock also at the door
+through which we must go--namely, Christ Jesus. At this door, the
+praying man must knock for three ends, if he wishes to be really
+admitted. First he must knock devoutly, at the broken heart and the
+open side, and enter in with all devotion, and in recognition of his
+unfathomable poverty and nothingness, as poor Lazarus did at the
+rich man's gate, and ask for crumbs of His grace. Then again, he
+should knock at the door of the holy open wounds of His holy hands,
+and pray for true Divine knowledge, that it may enlighten him and
+exalt him. Finally, knock at the door of His holy feet, and pray for
+true Divine love, which may unite thee with Him, and immerse and
+cover thee in Him. (57)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+MEDITATIONS ON THE SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS
+
+
+
+
+
+[From a devotional treatise on the Passion of Christ, published in a
+Latin translation, by Surius, in 1548, and wrongly ascribed by him
+to Tauler. The author was an unknown German of the fourteenth
+century.]
+
+THE FIRST WORD
+
+NOW, O my soul, and all ye who have been redeemed by the precious
+blood of Christ, come, and let us go with inward compassion and
+fervent devotion to the blessed palm-tree of the Cross, which is
+laden with the fairest fruit. Let us pass like the bee from flower
+to flower, for all are full of honey. Let us consider and ponder
+with the greatest care the sacred words of Christ, which He spoke
+upon the Cross; for everything that comes From this blessed Tree is
+wholesome and good. In the Cross of our Lord and Saviour are centred
+all our salvation, all our health, all our life, all our glory; and,
+"if we suffer with Him," saith the Apostle, "we shall also reign
+with Him." That we may not be found ungrateful for these inestimable
+benefits, let us call upon heaven and earth, and all that in them
+is, to join us in praising and blessing and giving thanks to God.
+Let us invite them to come and look upon this wondrous sight, and
+say: "Magnify the Lord with me, for He hath done marvellous things.
+O praise and bless the Lord with me, for great is His mercy toward
+us." Come up with me, I pray you, ye angelic spirits, to Mount
+Calvary, and see your King Solomon on His throne, wearing the diadem
+wherewith His mother has crowned Him. Let us weep in the presence of
+the Lord who made us, the Lord our God. O all mankind, and all ye
+who are members of Christ, behold your Redeemer as He hangs on high;
+behold and weep. See if any sorrow is like unto His sorrow.
+Acknowledge the heinousness of your sins, which needed such
+satisfaction. Go to every part of His body; you will find only
+wounds and blood. Cry to Him with lamentations and say, "O Jesus,
+our redemption, our love, our desire, what mercy has overcome Thee,
+that Thou shouldest bear our sins, and endure a cruel death, to
+rescue us from everlasting death?" And Thou, O God, the almighty
+Father of heaven, look down from Thy sanctuary upon Thine innocent
+Son Joseph, sold and given over unjustly to the hands of bloody men,
+to suffer a shameful death. See whether this be Thy Son's coat or
+not. Of a truth an evil beast hath devoured Him. The blood of our
+sins is sprinkled over His garments, and all the coverings of His
+good name are defiled by it. See how Thy holy Child has been
+condemned with the wicked, how Thy royal Son has been crowned with
+thorns. Behold His innocent hands, which have known no sin, dripping
+with blood; behold His sacred feet, which have never turned aside
+from the path of justice, pierced through by a cruel nail; behold
+His defenceless side smitten with a sharp spear; behold His fair
+face, which the angels desire to look upon, marred and shorn of all
+its beauty; behold His blessed heart, which no impure thought ever
+stained, weighed down with inward sorrow. Behold, O loving Father,
+Thy sweet Son, stretched out upon the harp of the Cross, and harping
+blessings on Thee with all His members. Wherefore, O my God, I pray
+Thee to forgive me, for the sake of Thy Son's Passion, all the sins
+that I have committed in my members. O merciful Father, look on Thy
+only-begotten Son, that Thou mayst have compassion on Thy servant.
+Whenever that red blood of Thy Son speaks in Thy sight, do Thou wash
+me from every stain of sin. Whenever Thou beholdest the wounds of
+this Thy Son, open to me the bosom of Thy fatherly compassion.
+Behold, O tender Father, how Thy obedient Son does not cry, "Bind my
+hands and my feet, that I may not rebel against Thee," but how of
+His own will He extends His hands and feet, and gladly allows them
+to be pierced with nails. Look down, I pray Thee, not on the brazen
+serpent hanging on a pole for the salvation of Israel, but on Thine
+only Son hanging on the Cross for the salvation of all men. It is
+not Moses who now stretches out his hand to heaven, that the thunder
+and lightning and the other plagues may cease, but it is Thy beloved
+Son, who lovingly stretches out His bleeding arms to Thee, that Thy
+wrath may depart from the human race. Aaron and Hur are not now
+holding up the hands of Moses that he may pray more unweariedly for
+Israel; but hard and cruel nails have fastened the hands of Thy only
+Son to the Cross, that He may wait with long-suffering for our
+repentance, and receive us back into His grace, and that He may not
+turn away in wrath from our prayers. This is that faithful David,
+who now strings tight the harp-strings of His body, and makes sweet
+melody before Thee, singing to Thee the sweetest song that has been
+ever sung to Thee: "Father forgive them, for they know not what they
+do." This is that High Priest, who by His own blood has entered into
+the Holy of Holies, to offer Himself as a peace-offering for the
+sins of the whole world. This is that innocent Lamb, who has washed
+us in His own precious blood, who, Himself without spot of sin, has
+taken away the sins of the world. Therefore from the storehouse of
+His Passion I borrow the price of my debt, and I count out before
+Thee all its merits, to pay what I owe Thee. For He has done all in
+my nature, and for my sake. O merciful Father, if Thou weighest all
+my sins on one side of the balance, and in the other scale the
+Passion of Thy Son, the last will outweigh the first. For what sin
+can be so great, that the innocent blood of Thy Son has not washed
+it out? What pride, or disobedience, or lust, is so unchecked or so
+rebellious, that such lowliness, obedience, and poverty cannot
+abolish it? O merciful Father, accept the deeds of Thy beloved Son,
+and forgive the errors of Thy wicked servant. For the innocent blood
+of our brother Abel crieth to Thee from the Cross, not for
+vengeance, but for grace and mercy, saying, "Father, forgive them,
+for they know not what they do."
+
+THE SECOND WORD
+
+NOW the thieves who were crucified with Jesus reviled Him. But after
+a while, the one who hung on the right side of Christ, when he saw
+His great patience and long-suffering, wherewith He so lovingly
+prayed to His Father for those who cast reproaches upon Him and
+cruelly tortured Him, became entirely changed, and began to be moved
+with very great sorrow and repentance for his sins. And he showed
+this outwardly, when he rebuked his fellow-thief, who continued to
+revile Christ, saying: "Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in
+the same condemnation?" "Although" (he would say) "thou art so
+obstinate as not to fear men, and thinkest nought of thy bodily
+pain, yet surely thou must fear God, in the last moments of thy
+life--God, who hath power to destroy both thy body and soul in hell.
+And though we suffer the same punishment with Him, our deserts are
+very different. We, indeed, suffer justly, for we receive the due
+reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss." He, who
+but lately was a blasphemer, is now a confessor and preacher, he
+distinguishes good from evil, blaming the sinner, and excusing the
+innocent: the unbelieving thief has become the confessor of almighty
+God. O good Jesus, this sudden change is wrought by Thy right hand,
+at which he hung. Thy right hand touched him inwardly, and forthwith
+he is changed into another man. O Lord, in this Thou hast declared
+Thy patience, out of a stone Thou hast raised up a child unto
+Abraham. Verily, the penitent thief received the light of faith
+solely from that bright light on the candlestick of the Cross, which
+shone there in the darkness and scattered the shades of night. But
+what does this signify, save that our Lord Jesus, out of the
+greatness of His goodness, looked upon him with the eyes of His
+mercy, although He found no merit in him, except what it pleased Him
+out of His goodness to bestow? For as God gives to His elect, out of
+His goodness alone, what no one has a right to demand, so out of His
+justice He gives to the wicked what they deserve. For this cause
+David says: "He saved me because He desired me." And this is why the
+thief, before the Lord touched his heart with the beams of His grace
+and love, joined the other thief in reviling Christ, thus showing
+first what his own character was, and afterwards what was wrought in
+him by grace. At first he acted like the other, being, like him, a
+child of wrath; but when the precious blood of Christ was shed as
+the price of our redemption and paid to the Father for our debt,
+then the thief asked God to give him an alms for his good, and at
+once received it. For how can one alms diminish that inexhaustible
+treasure? How could our tender Lord, whose property is always to
+have mercy, have refused his request? Indeed He gave him more than
+he asked. Yet how could the thief escape the glow of the fire which
+was burning so near him? Truly this was the fire, which the Father
+had sent down from heaven to earth, which had long smouldered, but
+now, kindled anew, and fed by the wood of the Cross, and sprinkled
+with the oil of mercy, and fanned, as it were, by the reproaches and
+blasphemies of the Jews, sent up its flames to heaven, by which that
+thief was quite kindled and set on fire, and his love became as
+strong as death, so that he said: "I indeed suffer no grievous
+penalty, for it is less than I deserve; but that this innocent One,
+who has done no wrong, should be so tortured, contrary to justice
+and righteousness, this, truly, adds grievous sorrow to my sorrow."
+O splendid faith of this thief! He contemned all the punishment that
+might be inflicted on him: he feared not the rage of the people, who
+were barking like mad dogs against Jesus: he cared not for the chief
+priests: he feared not the executioners with their weapons and
+instruments of torture; but in the presence of them all, with a
+fearless heart he confessed that Christ was the true Son of God, and
+Lord of the whole world: and at the same time he confounded the Jews
+by confessing that He had done nothing amiss, and therefore that
+they had crucified Him unjustly. O wondrous faith! O mighty
+constancy! O amazing love of this poor thief, love that cast out all
+fear! He was indeed well drunken with that new wine which in the
+wine-press of the Cross had been pressed out of that sweet cluster,
+Jesus Christ, and therefore he confessed Christ without shame before
+all the people. At the very beginning of the Passion, the apostles
+and disciples had forsaken Christ and fled; even St Peter,
+frightened by the voice of one maidservant, had denied Christ. But
+this poor thief did not forsake Him even in death, but confessed Him
+to be the Lord of heaven in the presence of all those armed men. Who
+can do justice to the merits of this man? Who taught him so quickly
+that faith of his, and his clear knowledge of all the virtues, save
+the very Wisdom of the Father, Jesus Christ, who hung near him on
+the Cross? Him whom the Jews could not or would not know, in spite
+of the promises made to the patriarchs, the fulfilment of
+prophecies, the teaching of the Scriptures, and the interpretation
+of allegories, this poor thief learned to know by repentance. He
+confessed Christ to be the Son of God, though he saw Him full of
+misery, want, and torment, and dying from natural weakness. He
+confessed Him at a time when the apostles, who had seen His mighty
+works, denied Him. The nails were holding his hands and feet fixed
+to the cross; he had nothing free about him, except his heart and
+his tongue; yet he gave to God all that he could give to Him, and,
+in the words of Scripture, "with his heart he believed unto
+righteousness, and with his tongue he made confession of Christ unto
+salvation." O infinite and unsearchable mercy of God! For what
+manner of man was he when he was sent to the cross, and what when he
+left it? (Not that it was his own cross, that wrought this change,
+but the power of Christ crucified.) He came to the cross stained
+with the blood of his fellow-man; he was taken down from it cleansed
+by the blood of Christ. He came to the cross still savage and full
+of rage, and while he was upon it he became so meek and pitiful that
+he lamented for the sufferings of another more than for his own. One
+member only was left to him, and at the eleventh hour he came to
+work in God's vineyard, and yet so eagerly did he labour that he was
+the first to finish his work and receive his reward. Indeed he
+behaved like a just man; for he first accused himself and confessed
+his sins, saying, "and we, indeed, justly, for we receive the due
+reward of our deeds." Secondly, he excused Christ, and confessed
+that He was the Just One when he said "but this Man hath done
+nothing amiss." Thirdly, he showed brotherly love, for he said,
+"dost not thou fear God?" Fourthly, with all his members, or at
+least with all that he could offer, and with loving eyes and a
+devout heart and a humble spirit, he turned himself to Christ and
+prayed earnestly, "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy
+Kingdom." How great was the justice and humility and resignation
+which he showed in this prayer, for he asked only for a little
+remembrance of himself, acknowledging that he was not worthy to ask
+for anything great. Nor did he pray for the safety of his body, for
+he gladly desired to die for his sins. It was more pleasant for him
+to die with Christ than to live any longer. Nor did he pray that our
+Lord would deliver him from the pains of hell, or of purgatory, nor
+did he ask for the kingdom of heaven; but he resigned himself
+entirely to the will of God, and offered himself altogether to
+Christ, to do what He would with him. In his humility he prayed for
+nothing except for grace and mercy, for which David also prayed when
+he said, "Deal with Thy servant according to Thy mercy." And
+therefore, because he had prayed humbly and wisely, the Eternal
+Wisdom, Who reads the hearts of all who pray, heard his prayer, and,
+opening wide the rich storehouse of His grace, bestowed upon him
+much more than he had dared to ask. O marvellous goodness of God!
+How plainly dost Thou declare in this, that Thou desirest not the
+death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live.
+Now Thou hast manifested and fulfilled what Thou didst promise
+aforetime by Thy prophet: "When the wicked man shall mourn for his
+sins, I will remember his iniquity no more." Thou didst not impose
+upon him many years of severe penance, nor many sufferings in
+purgatory for the expiation of his sins; but just as if Thou hadst
+quite forgotten his crimes, and couldst see nothing in him but
+virtue, Thou didst say: "This day shalt thou be with Me in
+paradise." O immeasurable compassion of God! Our tender Lord forgot
+all the countless crimes which that poor thief had done, and forgave
+him when he repented, and gave so great and splendid a reward to the
+good which there was in him, small indeed though it was. Our loving
+God is very rich; He needs not our gifts; but He seeks for a heart
+which turns to Him with lowliness and resignation, such a heart as
+He found in this poor thief. For He says Himself: "turn to Me, and I
+will turn to you." And so when this thief so courageously and
+effectively turned to God, his prayer was at once not only accepted
+but answered. For our Lord did not reject his prayer, or say to him:
+"See how I hang here in torment, and I behold before My eyes My
+mother in sore affliction, and I have not yet spoken one word to
+her, so that to hear thee now would not be just." No, our Lord said
+nothing of this kind to the thief. Rather, He heard his prayer at
+once, and made answer in that sweet word, "Amen, I say unto thee,
+this day shalt thou be with Me in paradise." O tender goodness, O
+marvellous mercy of God! O great wisdom of the thief! He saw that
+the treasures of Christ were wide open, and were being scattered
+abroad. Who then should forbid him to take as much as would pay what
+he owed to his Lord? And O the accursed hardness of the impenitent
+thief, whom neither the rebuke of his associate, nor the patience of
+Christ, nor the many signs of love and mercy that shone forth in
+Christ, could melt or convert! He saw that alms were plentiful at
+the rich man's gate, that more was given than was asked for, and yet
+he was too proud and obstinate to ask. He saw that life and the
+kingdom of heaven were being granted, and yet he would not bend his
+heart to wish for them: therefore he shall not have them. He loved
+better revilings and curses, and they shall come unto him, and that
+for all eternity. These new first-fruits of the grape, which our
+Lord gathered on the wood of the Cross from our barren soil, by much
+sweat of His brow and much watering with His own precious blood, He
+sent with great joy as a precious gift to His heavenly Father, by
+His celestial messengers the holy angels. But if there is joy among
+the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth, how must they
+rejoice and exult at the salvation of this thief, of whom they had
+almost despaired? We can picture to ourselves with what joy the
+Father of heaven received these first-fruits of the harvest of His
+Son's Passion. But Christ Himself, though He felt some joy at the
+thief's conversion, was still more afflicted thereby, for by His
+wisdom He foresaw that this thief would be the cause of perdition to
+many, who would resolve to pass their whole lives in sin, hoping to
+obtain pardon and grace at the moment of death. Truly a most foolish
+hope, for nowhere in the Scriptures do we read that it has so
+happened to any man. In truth, they who seek after God only when
+they must, will not, it is to be feared, find Him near them in their
+time of need. In the meantime, none can trust too much in God, and
+no one has ever been forsaken by Him, who has turned to Him with his
+whole heart, and leant upon Him with loving confidence.
+
+THE THIRD WORD
+
+THERE stood also by the Cross of Jesus His most holy and ever-virgin
+mother Mary; not in order that His sufferings might thereby be
+lessened, but that they might be greatly augmented. For if any
+creature could have given consolation to the Lord while He hung on
+the Cross, no one could have done it so fitly as His blessed mother.
+But since it was God's will that Christ should die the most bitter
+of deaths, and end His Passion without any comfort or relief, but
+with true resignation, His mother's presence brought Him no
+consolation, but rather added to His sufferings, for her sufferings
+were thereby added to His, and this added yet more to His
+affliction. Who then, O good Jesus can discover by meditation how
+great was Thy inward grief, for Thou knowest the hearts of all, when
+Thou sawest all the body of Thy holy mother tortured by inward
+compassion, even as Thou wast tortured on the Cross, and her tender
+heart and maternal breast pierced with the sword of sharp sorrow,
+her face pale as death, telling the anguish of her soul, and almost
+dead, yet unable to die. When Thou beheldest her hot tears, flowing
+down abundantly like sweet rivers upon her gracious cheeks, and over
+all her face, all witnesses to Thee that she shared in Thy sorrow
+and love; when Thou heardest her sad laments, forced from her by the
+weight of her affliction; when Thou sawest that same tender mother,
+melted away with the heat of love, her strength quite failing her,
+worn out and exhausted by the pains of Thy Passion, which wasted her
+away; all this, truly, was a new affliction to Thee on the Cross; it
+was itself a new Cross. For Thou alone, by the spear of, Thy pity,
+didst explore the weight and grievousness of her woes, which to men
+are beyond comprehension. All this, indeed, greatly increased the
+pain of Thy Passion, because Thou wast crucified not only in Thy own
+body, but in Thy mother's heart; for her Cross was Thy Cross, and
+Thine was hers. O how bitter was Thy Passion, sweet Jesus! Great
+indeed was Thy outward suffering, but far more grievous was Thy
+inward suffering, which Thy heart experienced at Thy mother's
+anguish. It was now, beyond doubt, that the sword of sorrow pierced
+her through, for the queen of martyrs was terribly and mortally
+wounded in that part which is impassible--that is, the soul; she
+bore the death of the Cross in that part which could not die,
+suffering all the more her grievous inward death, as outward death
+departed further from her. Who, O most loving mother, can recount or
+conceive in his mind the immeasurable sorrows of thy soul, or thine
+inward woes? Him whom thou didst bring forth without pain, as a
+blessed mother free from the curse of our first mother Eve, who
+instead of the pains of labour wast filled with joy of spirit, and
+who for thy refreshment didst listen to the sweet songs of the
+angels as they praised thy Son, thou hast now seen slain before
+thine eyes with the greatest cruelty and tyranny. How manifold was
+that sorrow of thine, which thou wast permitted to escape at His
+birth, when thou sawest thy blessed and only Son hanging in such
+torment on the Cross, in the presence of a cruel and furious crowd,
+who showered upon Him all the insults and contumely and shame that
+they could think of; when thou sawest Him whom thou didst bear in
+thy pure womb without feeling the burden, so barbarously stretched
+on the Cross, and pierced with nails; when thou sawest His sacred
+arms, with which He had so many times lovingly embraced thee,
+stretched out so that He could not move them, and covered with red
+blood, His adorable head pierced with sharp thorns, and His whole
+body one streaming wound, while thou wast not able to staunch or
+anoint any of those wounds. What must thy grief have been when thou
+sawest Him whom thou hadst so often laid on thy virgin bosom that He
+might rest, without anything on which to lean His sacred head; and
+Him whom thou hadst nourished with the milk of thy holy breasts, now
+vexed with vinegar and gall. O how thy maternal heart was oppressed
+when thou beheldest with thy pure eyes that fair face so piteously
+marred, so that there was no beauty in it, and nothing by which He
+could be distinguished. How did the wave of affliction beat against
+and overflow and overwhelm thy soul! Truly, if even a devout man
+cannot without unspeakable sorrow and pity revolve in his mind the
+Passion of thy Son, what must have been thy Cross, thy affliction,
+who wast His mother and sawest it all with thine eyes? If to many
+friends of God and to many who love Him, thy Son's Passion is as
+grievous as if they suffered it themselves, if by inward pity they
+are crucified with thy Son, how terribly, even unto death, must thou
+have been crucified inwardly, when thou didst not only ponder and
+search into the outward and inward pains of thy Son in thy devout
+heart, but sawest them with thy bodily eyes? For never did any
+mother love her child as thou lovedst thy Son. And if St Paul, who
+loved so much, could say, out of his ardent love and deep pity for
+thy Son, "I am crucified with Christ; and I bear in my body the
+marks of the Lord Jesus," how much more wert thou crucified with
+Him, and didst inwardly receive all His wounds, being made, in a
+manner, an image and likeness of thy crucified Son?
+
+THE FOURTH WORD
+
+ABOUT the ninth hour our Lord Jesus cried with a loud voice, "My
+God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" He cried with a loud voice,
+that He might be easily heard by all, and also that by this wondrous
+word He might shake off from our souls the sleep of sloth, and cause
+them to wonder and marvel at the immeasurable goodness of God to us.
+Therefore He saith, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" For
+the sake of vile sinners, for evil and thankless servants, for
+sinful and disobedient deceivers, Thou hast forsaken Thy beloved Son
+and most obedient Child. That Thy enemies, who are vessels of wrath,
+might be changed into children of adoption, Thou hast slain Thine
+own Son, and given Him over to death like one guilty. "O my God,
+why, I pray Thee, hast Thou forsaken me?" For the very cause why men
+ought to praise and give thanks to Thee, and love Thee with an
+everlasting love; because Thou hast delivered Thy dear Son to death
+for their redemption, and sacrificed Him willingly, for this reason
+they will find ground for blasphemy and reproach against Thee,
+saying, "He saith He is the Son of God. Let God deliver Him now if
+He will have Him." Why, O my God, hast Thou willed to spend so
+precious a treasure for such vile and counterfeit goods? Besides,
+this word may be understood to have been spoken by Christ against
+those who seek to diminish the glory of His Passion, by saying that
+it was not really so bitter and terrible, owing to the great support
+and comfort which He drew from His Godhead. Let those who speak and
+think thus know that they renew His Passion and crucify Him afresh.
+It was to prove the error of such men that our Lord cried with a
+loud voice, and said, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
+It is as if He had said these words to His own Divine nature, with
+which He formed one Person--for the Godhead of the Father and of the
+Son is all one--wondering, Himself, at His own love, which had so
+cast Him down and worn Him out and humbled Him, and that He who
+brings help to all mankind should have forsaken Himself, and offered
+Himself to suffer every kind of pain, impelled thereto by conquering
+love alone. Again, we should not be wrong, if we were to interpret
+this word which Christ spoke out of the exceeding bitterness of His
+sorrow in the following way--namely, that His spirit and inward man,
+taking upon itself the severe judgment of God upon all sinners, and
+at the same time discerning clearly and feeling and measuring in
+Himself the intolerable weight of His Passion, on this account cried
+out in a sorrowful voice to His Father, and complained tenderly to
+Him because He had been cast into these dreadful torments; as if the
+goodness of His Father had become so embittered against the sins of
+men, that in the ardour of His justice He had quite forgotten the
+inseparable union between His passible humanity and His impassible
+Godhead, and therefore in the zealousness of His justice had quite
+given up His passible nature to the cruelty and malice of fierce
+men, that they might waste it away and destroy it. For this reason,
+therefore, He said, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
+This word has besides an inward meaning, according to which Christ,
+in His sensitive parts, complained to His Father that He had been
+forsaken by Him. For as many as contend for His honour, and endure
+patiently the troubles of this world, our merciful God so moderates
+and tempers their crosses and afflictions by the inpouring of His
+divine consolation, that by His sensible grace He makes their
+crosses hardly felt; but He left His own beloved Son quite without
+any comfort, and so deprived Him of all consolation and light, that
+He endured as much in His human nature as had been ordained by the
+Eternal Wisdom, according to the strictness of justice, as much as
+was needed to atone for so many sins. And indeed our salvation was
+the more nobly and perfectly achieved, in that it was done and
+finished without any light at all, in absolute resignation and
+abandonment. For a chief cause of the Passion was to show clearly
+how great was the injury and insult brought upon His most high
+Godhead by the sins of the human race. Now as the knowledge of
+Christ was greater and more acute than that of all other beings, in
+heaven or in earth, so much the greater and heavier was His sorrow
+and agony. Nay more--what is more wonderful than anything--whatever
+afflictions have been endured by all the saints, as members of
+Christ, existed much more abundantly in Christ their Head; and this
+I wish to be understood according to the spirit and reasonably. For
+all the saints have suffered no more than flowed in upon them
+through Christ, joined to them as His members, who communicated to
+them His own afflictions. For He took upon Himself the afflictions
+of all the saints, out of His great love for His members, and
+wondrous pity, and He suffered far greater internal anguish than any
+of the saints, nay, more even than the blessed Virgin, His mother,
+felt her own sharp sorrow and sickness of heart. For if an earthly
+father loves his child so much, that in fatherly pity he takes upon
+himself the sorrows of his child, and grieves for them as if he
+suffered them himself, what must have been Christ's Cross and
+compassion for the affliction of His members, and above all, of
+those who suffered for His name's sake? Truly He bore witness to His
+members, how much He suffered from their afflictions, and how great
+was His inward pity for their sufferings, when He took all their
+debt upon Himself, and abolished all the penalties which they had
+merited, so that they might depart free. The same is most amply
+proved by the words which He spoke to St Paul, when He said, "Saul,
+Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" For the persecution which Saul had
+stirred up against the disciples, the members of the Lord, was not
+less grievous to Him than if He had suffered it Himself. Therefore
+He says to His friends and members, "He who touches you, touches the
+apple of Mine eye." For is there anything suffered by the members,
+which the Head does not suffer with them, He whose nature is
+goodness, and whose property is always to have mercy and to forgive?
+
+THE FIFTH WORD
+
+OUR most tender Lord was so worn out and parched by the extreme
+bitterness of His pain and suffering, and by the great loss of
+blood, that He cried, "I thirst." A little word, but full of
+mysteries.
+
+In the first place it may be understood literally. For it is natural
+for those who are at the point of death to feel thirst, and to
+desire to drink. But how great was the drouth felt by Him who is the
+fountain of living water, but who was now worn out and parched by
+the heat of His ardent love, when he could truly say, "I am poured
+out like water," and "My strength is dried up like a potsherd." For
+not only did He shed all His own blood, and pour out moisture by
+tears, but the very marrow of His bones, and all His heart's blood,
+were consumed for our sakes by the heat and flame of love. Therefore
+He said rightly, "I thirst."
+
+But, secondly, the word may be understood spiritually, as if Christ
+said to all men, "I thirst for your salvation." Hence St Bernard
+says: "Jesus cried, I thirst, not, I grieve. O Lord, what dost Thou
+thirst for? For your faith, your joy. I thirst because of the
+torments of your souls, far more than for My own bodily sufferings.
+Have pity on yourselves, if not on Me." And again, "O good Jesus,
+Thou wearest the crown of thorns; Thou art silent about Thy Cross
+and wounds, yet Thou criest out, I thirst. For what, then, dost Thou
+thirst? Truly, for the redemption of mankind only, and for the
+felicity of the human race." This thirst of Christ was a hundred
+times more keen and intense than His natural thirst. And, besides,
+He had another sort of thirst--that is to say, a thirst to suffer
+more, and to prove to us still more clearly His immeasurable love,
+as if He said to man, "See how I am worn out and exhausted for thy
+salvation. See how terrible are the pains and anguish which I
+endure. The fierce cruelty of man has almost brought Me to nothing;
+the sinners of earth have drunk out all My blood, and yet I thirst.
+Not yet is My heart satisfied, nor My desire accomplished, nor the
+fire of My love quenched. For if it were possible for Me, and
+according to My Father's will, that I should be crucified again a
+thousand times for your salvation and conversion, or that I should
+hang here, in all this pain and anguish, till the day of judgment, I
+would gladly do it, to prove to you the immeasurable love which I
+bear you in My heart, and to soften your stony hearts and rouse you
+to love Me in return. This is why I hang here so thirsty by the
+fountain of your hearts, that I may watch the pious souls who come
+hither to draw from the deep well of My Passion. Therefore, the
+maiden to whom I shall say, 'Give Me to drink a little water out of
+the pitcher of thy conscience'--the water of devotion, pity, tears,
+and mutual love--and who shall let down to Me her pitcher, and shall
+say, 'Drink, my Lord; and for Thy camels also--that is, Thy
+servants, who carry Thee about daily on their bodies, and who by
+night and day are held bound fast by Thy yoke, I will draw the water
+of brotherly love'--that is the maiden whom the Lord hath prepared
+for the Son of My Lord, even the bride of the Word of God, united to
+My humanity. And she shall be counted worthy to enter, like a bride
+with her bridegroom, into the chamber of eternal rest, when the
+Bridegroom invites her, saying, 'Come, My blessed bride, inherit the
+Kingdom of My Father. For I was thirsty, and thou gavest Me drink.'"
+
+Thirdly, we may apply this word to the Father, as if Christ said to
+His Father: "Father, I have declared Thy name to mankind; I have
+finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do; and in Thy service I
+have spent My whole body as Thine instrument. Behold, I am all worn
+out and exhausted; and yet I still thirst to do and suffer more for
+Thine honour. This is why I hang here, extended to the furthest
+breadth of love, for I long to be an everlasting sacrifice, a sweet
+savour to Thee, and at the same time an eternal atonement and
+salvation to mankind." Thus, too, might this strong Samson have
+said: "O Lord, Thou hast put into the hand of Thy servant this very
+great salvation and victory, and yet behold, I die of thirst." As if
+He would say: "Father, I have accomplished Thy gracious will; I have
+finished the work of man's salvation, as Thou didst demand; and yet
+I still thirst; for the sins by which Thou art offended are
+infinite. And so I desire that the love and merits of My Passion, by
+which Thou wilt be appeased, may be infinite too. And as I now offer
+myself as a peace-offering and a living sacrifice for the salvation
+of all men, so through Me may all men appease Thee, by offering Me
+to Thee as a peace-offering to Thine eternal glory, in memory of My
+Passion, and to make good all their shortcomings." O how acceptable
+to the Father must this desire of love have been! For what was this
+thirst but a sweet and pleasant refreshment to the Father, and at
+the same time the blessed renovation of mankind? Or what other
+language does this burning throat speak to us, save that of Christ's
+burning love, without measure and without limit, out of which He did
+all His works? This truly is the most noble sacrifice of our
+redemption, this is that peace-offering which will be offered even
+to the last day, by all good men, to the Holy Ghost, to the highest
+Father, in memory of the Son, to the eternal glory of the adorable
+Trinity, and to the fruit of salvation for mankind. Here, certainly,
+is the inexhaustible storehouse of our reconciliation, which never
+fails, for it is greater than all the debts of the world. This is
+that immeasurable love, which is higher than the heavens, for it has
+repaired the ruin of the angels; deeper than hell, for it has freed
+souls from hell; wider and broader than the earth, for it is without
+end and incomprehensible by any created understanding. O how keen
+and intense was this thirst of our Lord! For not only did He then
+say once, "I thirst," but even now He says in our hearts
+continually, "I thirst; woman, give me to drink." So great, so
+mighty, is that thirst, that He asks drink not only from the
+children of Israel, but from the Samaritans. To each one He
+complaineth of His thirst. But for what dost Thou thirst, O good
+Jesus? "My meat and drink," saith He, "is that men should do My
+Father's will. Now this is the will of My Father, even your
+sanctification and salvation, that you may sanctify your souls by
+walking in My precepts, by doing works of repentance, by adorning
+yourselves with all virtues, in order that, like a bride adorned for
+her husband, you may be worthy to be present at My supper in My
+Father's kingdom, and to sleep with Me as My elect bride, in the
+chamber of My Father's heart." O how Christ longs to bring all men
+thither! This is the meaning of His words: "Where I am there shall
+also My servant be"; and again: "Father, I will that they may be one
+even as We are one." O, how incomprehensible is this thirst of
+Christ! What toil and labour He endured for thirty and three years,
+for the sake of it! For this His very heart's blood was poured out.
+See what our tender Lord says to His Father: "The zeal of Thine
+house hath even eaten Me." Truly, He would have submitted to be
+crucified a thousand times, rather than allow one soul to perish
+through any fault of His. O how this inward thirst tormented Him,
+when He thought that He had done all that He could, and even a
+hundredfold more than He need have done, and yet that so few had
+turned to Him, and been won by Him. His whole body was now worn out;
+all His blood was shed; nothing remained for Him to do; and
+therefore He was constrained to confess, "It is finished"; and yet
+by all His labours, afflictions, and sufferings, He had brought no
+richer harvest to the Father than this. Truly, this was the most
+bitter of all His sorrows, that after so hard a battle His victory
+had not been more glorious, and that He returned a conqueror to His
+Father with so few spoils. Therefore, all those who do not refresh
+Him by performing His will, and doing all that is pleasing and
+honourable to Him, and withstanding all that reason tells them to be
+displeasing to Him, will one day hear Him say, "I was thirsty, and
+ye gave Me no drink. Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire."
+
+Fourthly, there is yet another inward meaning of this word--namely,
+that Christ spoke it out of the love which inwardly draws Him
+towards all men, thus making known to us His ardent love, and
+opening His own heart, as a delightful couch, on which we may feed
+pleasantly, and inviting us to it, saying, "I thirst for you." For
+as the liquid which we drink is sent down pleasantly through the
+throat into the body, and so passes into the substance and nature of
+our body, so Christ out of the ardent thirst of His love, takes
+spiritual pleasure in drinking in all men into Himself, swallowing
+them, as it were, and incorporating them into Himself, and bringing
+them into the secret chamber of His loving heart. Therefore He says:
+"I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
+Me"--all men, that is, who allow themselves to be drawn by Me, and
+submit to Me as obedient instruments, suffering Me to do with them
+according to My gracious will. But those who resist Him quench not
+His thirst, but give Him a bitter draught instead, even the deeds of
+their own self-will. These, when our Lord tasteth them, He
+straightway rejects.
+
+THE SIXTH WORD
+
+WHEN Christ had tasted the draught of vinegar and gall, He spoke the
+sixth word: "It is finished." Thereby He signified that by His
+Passion had been fulfilled all the prophecies, types, mysteries,
+scriptures, sacrifices, and promises, which had been predicted and
+written about Him. This is that true Son of God, for whom the Father
+of heaven made ready a supper in the kingdom of His eternal
+blessedness; and He sent His servant--that is the human nature of
+Christ, coming in the form of a servant, to call them that were
+bidden to the wedding. For Christ, when He took human nature upon
+Him, was not only a servant but a servant of servants, and served
+all of us for thirty and three years with great toil and suffering.
+Indeed, He spent His whole life in bidding all men to His supper. It
+was for this that He preached, and wrought miracles, and travelled
+from place to place, and proclaimed that the kingdom of heaven was
+at hand, and that all should be prepared for it. But they would not
+come. And when the Father of the household heard this, He said to
+His Servant: "Compel them to come in, that My house may be filled."
+Then that Servant thought within Himself: "How shall I be able
+without violence to compel these men to come, that rebellion may be
+avoided and yet that their privilege and power of free will may
+remain unimpaired? For if I compel them to come by iron chains, and
+blows, and whips, I shall have asses and not men." Then He said to
+Himself: "I perceive that man is so constituted as to be prone to
+love. Therefore I will show him such love as shall pass all his
+understanding, love than which no other love can be greater. If man
+will observe this, he will be so caught in its toils, that he will
+not be able to escape its heat and flame, and will be constrained to
+turn to God, and love Him in return. For, turn where he will, he
+will always be met by the immeasurable benefits, the infinite
+goodness, and the wonderful love of God; and at the same time he
+will feel more and more compelled to return love for love, till he
+will be no more able to resist it, and will be gently constrained to
+follow." When this was done, Jesus Christ, this faithful and wise
+Servant, said to His Lord and Father, "It is finished. I have
+finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. What more could I have
+done, and have not done it? I have no member left that is not weary
+and worn with toil and pain. My veins are dry, My blood is shed; My
+marrow is spent, My throat is hoarse with crying. Such love have I
+shown to man, that his heart cannot be human, cannot even be stony,
+or the heart of a brute beast, but must be quite devilish and
+desperate, if it be not moved by the thought of these things."
+
+Moreover, this word of our Lord Jesus is a word of sorrow, not of
+joy. He spoke it not as if He had now escaped from all His
+suffering. No; when He said, "It is finished," He meant all that had
+been ordained and decreed by the eternal Truth for Him to suffer.
+Besides, all the sufferings which had been inflicted upon Him by
+degrees and singly, He now endures together with immeasurable
+anguish. Who can have such a heart of adamant as not to be moved by
+such torment as this? How short were the words which our Lord Jesus
+spoke on the Cross, yet how full of sacramental mysteries! Now were
+fulfilled the words of Exodus: "And all things were finished which
+belonged to the sacrifice of the Lord."
+
+Moreover by this word our Lord declared the glorious victory of the
+Passion, and how the old enemy, the jealous serpent, was overcome
+and thrown down; for this was the cause for which He suffered. For
+this He had taken upon Himself the garment of human nature, that He
+might vanquish and confound the enemy, by the same weapons wherewith
+the enemy boasted that he had conquered man. This was the chief
+purpose of His Passion, and now He confesses that it is finished. O
+how wonderful are the mysteries, and the victories, included in this
+little but deep word: "It is finished!" All that the eternal Wisdom
+had decreed, all that strict justice had demanded for each man, all
+that love had asked for, all the promises made to the fathers, all
+the mysteries, types, ceremonies in Scripture, all that was meet and
+necessary for our redemption, all that was needed to wipe out our
+debts, all that must repair our negligences, all that was glorious
+and loving for the exhibition of this splendid love, all that we
+could desire, for our spiritual instruction--in a word, all that was
+good and fitting for the celebration of the glorious triumph of our
+redemption, all is included in that one word, "It is finished."
+What, then, remains for Him, but to finish and perfect His life in
+this glorious conflict; and, because nothing remains for Him to do,
+to commend His precious soul into His Father's hands, seeing that He
+has fought the good fight, and finished His course in all holiness?
+It is meet, then, that He should obtain the crown of glory which His
+heavenly Father will give Him on the day of His exaltation.
+
+Lastly, by this word Christ offered up all His toil, sorrow, and
+affliction for all the elect, as the Apostle saith: "Who in the days
+of His flesh offered up prayer and supplications with strong crying
+and tears unto Him who was able to save Him from death, and was
+heard in that He feared. For if the blood of bulls and of goats and
+the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the
+purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who
+through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God,
+purge our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
+
+THE SEVENTH WORD
+
+OUR Lord Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and said, "Father,
+into Thy hands I commend My Spirit." O all ye who love our Lord
+Jesus Christ, come, I beseech you, and let us watch, with all
+devotion and pity, His passing away. Let us see what must have been
+His sorrow and agony and torment, when His glorious soul was now at
+last forced to pass out of His worthy and most sacred body, in which
+for thirty and three years it had rested so sweetly, peacefully,
+joyfully, and holily, even as two lovers on one bed. How hard was it
+for them to be rent asunder, between whom no disagreement had ever
+arisen, no strife, or quarrel, or treachery. How unspeakably
+grievous was that Cross, when His sacred body was compelled to part
+with so faithful a friend, so gentle an occupant, so loving a
+teacher and master; and how great was the sorrow with which His
+glorious and pure soul was torn away from so faithful a servant,
+which had ever served obediently, never sparing any trouble, never
+shrinking from cold or heat or hunger or thirst; always enduring
+labour and sorrow in gentleness and patience. O how great was this
+affliction! For, as the philosopher says: "Of all terrible things
+death is the most terrible, on account of the natural and mutual
+affection, which is very great, between soul and body." How much
+greater must have been the anguish and sorrow, when the most holy
+soul and body of Christ were sundered, between which there had
+always been such wonderful harmony and love. Therefore, with inward
+pity and anxious sorrow, let us meditate on this sad parting; for
+the death of Christ is our life.
+
+Let us meditate devoutly how His sacred body, the instrument of our
+salvation, was steeped in anguish, when all His members, as if to
+bid a last farewell, were bowing themselves down to die! Who can
+look without remorse and sorrow and pity upon the most gracious face
+of Christ, and behold how it is changed into the pallor and likeness
+of death; how tears still flow from His dimmed eyes; how His sacred
+head is bent; how all His members prove to us, by signs and motions,
+the love which they can no longer show by deeds. Let us pity Him, I
+pray you, for He is our own flesh and blood, and it is for our sins,
+not His own, that He is shamefully slain. O ye who up till now have
+passed by the Cross of Jesus with tepid or cold hearts, and whom all
+these torments and tears, and His blood shed like water, have not
+been able to soften; now at last let this loud voice, this terrible
+cry, rend and pierce your hearts through and through. Let that voice
+which shook the heaven and the earth and hell with fear, which rent
+the rocks and laid open ancient graves, now soften your stony
+hearts, and lay bare the old sepulchres of your conscience, full of
+dead men's bones--that is to say, of wicked deeds, and call again
+into life your departed spirits. For this is the voice which once
+cried: "Adam, where art thou; and what hast thou done?" This is the
+voice which brought Lazarus from Hades, saying, "Lazarus, come
+forth: arise from the grave of sin, and let them free thee from thy
+grave-clothes." Truly it was not so much the grievousness of His
+sufferings, as the greatness of our sins, which made our Lord utter
+this cry. He cried also, to show that He had the dominion over life
+and death, over the living and the dead. For though he was quite
+worn out, and destitute of strength, and though He had borne the
+bitter pangs of death so long, beyond the power of man, yet He would
+not allow Death to put forth its power against Him, until it pleased
+Him.
+
+With a loud voice He cried, that earthly men, who care only for the
+things of earth, might quake with fear and trembling, and to cause
+them to meditate and see how naked and helpless the Lord of lords
+departed from this life. With a terrible voice He cried, to stir up
+all those who live in wantonness, and who have grown old in their
+defilement, and send forth a foul savour, like dead dogs, so that at
+last these miserable men may rise from their lusts and pleasures and
+sensual delights, and see how the Son of God, who was never strained
+with any spot of defilement, went forth to His Father; and with what
+toil and pain and anguish He departed from the light of day, and
+what He had to suffer before He reached his Father's Kingdom. He
+also cried with a loud voice, that He might inflame the lukewarm and
+slothful to devotion and love.
+
+Moreover He cried with a loud voice as a sign of the glorious
+victory which He had gained, when after a single combat with His
+strong and cruel enemy, and having descended into the arena--the
+battlefield of this world--He had routed him on Mount Calvary and
+stripped him bare of his spoils. This victory, this glorious
+triumph, Christ proclaimed with a loud voice, and thus departing
+from the battlefield triumphant and victorious, He departed to the
+place of all delights, to the heart and breast of God, His Father,
+commending to it, as to a safe refuge, both Himself and all His own,
+with the words, "Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit."
+
+We may learn from these words that the eternal Word, our Lord Jesus
+Christ, had been let down like a fishing-hook or great net, by the
+Father of heaven, into the great sea of this world, that He might
+catch not fish but men. Hear how He says: "My word, that goeth forth
+out of My mouth shall not return unto Me void, but shall execute
+that which I please, and shall prosper in the thing whereto I send
+it." And this net is drawn by the Father out of the salt sea, to the
+peaceful shore of His fatherly heart, full of the elect, of works of
+charity, of repentance, patience, humility, obedience, spiritual
+exercises, merits and virtues. For Christ drew unto Himself all the
+afflictions and good deeds of the good; just as St Paul says, "I
+live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Even so, Christ lives in
+all the good, and all who have been willing and obedient instruments
+in the hands of Christ. In all such Christ lives and suffers and
+works. For whatever good there is in all men, is all God's work.
+Therefore Christ, feeling His Father drawing Him, gathered together
+in Himself in a wonderful manner all the elect with all their works,
+and commended them to His Father, saying, "My Father, these are
+Thine; these are the spoils which I have won by My conquest, by the
+sword of the Cross; these are the vessels which I have purchased
+with My precious blood; these are the fruits of My labours. Keep in
+Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me. I pray not that Thou
+shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep
+them from the evil." Thus did Christ commend Himself and all His own
+into His Father's hands. Come therefore, O faithful and devout soul,
+and contemplate with great earnestness the coming in and the going
+out of thy Lord Jesus; follow Him with love and longing, even to the
+chamber and bed of joy, which He has prepared for thee in thy
+Father's heart. Happy would he be, who could now be dissolved with
+Christ, and die with the thief, and hear from the lips of the Lord
+that comfortable word, "This day shalt thou be with Me in paradise."
+And though this is not granted to us, yet whatever we can here gain
+by labours and watchings and fastings and prayers, let us commend it
+all with Christ to the Father; let us pour it back again into the
+fountain, whence it flowed forth for us; and let nothing be left in
+us of empty self-satisfaction, no seeking after human praise or
+honour or reward. But whatever our God hath been willing to do in
+us, let us return it back into His own hands and say, "We are
+nothing of ourselves. It is He who made us, and not we ourselves.
+All good was made by Him, and without Him was not anything made.
+When therefore He taketh with Him what He made Himself, we are
+absolutely nothing."
+
+Lastly, Christ commended His soul into His Father's hands, to show
+us how the souls of good and holy men mount up after Him to the
+bosom of the eternal Father, who must otherwise have gone down to
+hell; for it is He who has opened to us the way of life, and His
+sacred soul, by making the journey safe and free from danger, has
+been our guide into the kingdom of heaven.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+SUSO
+
+
+
+
+
+SUSO AND HIS SPIRITUAL DAUGHTER
+
+AFTER this, certain very high thoughts arose in the mind of the
+servitor's spiritual daughter, concerning which she asked him
+whether she might put questions to him. He replied, Yea verily:
+since thou hast been led through the proper exercises, it is
+permitted to thy spiritual intelligence to enquire about high
+things. Ask then whatever thou wilt. She said: Tell me, father, what
+is God, and how He is both One and Three? The servitor replied,
+These be indeed high questions. As to the first, What is God, you
+must know that all the Doctors who ever lived cannot explain it, for
+He is above all sense and reason. Yet if a man is diligent, and does
+not relax his efforts, he gains some knowledge of God, though very
+far off. Yet in this knowledge of God consists our eternal life and
+man's supreme happiness. In this way, in former times, certain
+worthy philosophers searched for God, and especially that great
+thinker Aristotle, who tried to discover the Author of Nature from
+the order of nature and its course. He sought earnestly, and he was
+convinced from the well-ordered course of nature that there must of
+necessity be one Prince and Lord of the whole universe--He whom we
+call God. About this God and Lord we know this much, that He is an
+immortal Substance, eternal, without before or after, simple, bare,
+unchangeable, an incorporeal and essential Spirit, whose substance
+is life and energy, whose most penetrating intelligence knows all
+things in and by itself, whose essence in itself is an abyss of
+pleasures and joys, and who is to Himself, and to all who shall
+enjoy Him in a future life, a supernatural, ineffable, and most
+sweet happiness. The maiden, when she heard this, looked up, and
+said: These things are sweet to tell and sweet to hear, for they
+rouse the heart, and lift the spirit up far beyond itself.
+Therefore, father, tell me more about these things. The servitor
+said: The Divine Essence, about which we speak, is an intelligible
+or intellectual Substance of such a kind, that it cannot be seen in
+itself by mortal eyes; but it can be discerned in its effects, even
+as we recognise a fine artist by his works. As the Apostle teaches
+us, "The invisible things of God from the creation of the world are
+clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made." For the
+creatures are a kind of mirror, in which God shines. This knowledge
+is called speculation, by which we contemplate the great Architect
+of the world in His works. Come now, look upward and about thee,
+through all the quarters of the universe, and see how wide and high
+the beautiful heaven is, how swift its motion, and how marvellously
+its Creator has adorned it with the seven planets, and with the
+countless multitude of the twinkling stars. Consider what
+fruitfulness, what riches, the sun bestows upon the earth, when in
+summer it sheds abroad its rays unclouded! See how the leaves and
+grass shoot up, and the flowers smile, and the woods and plains
+resound with the sweet song of nightingales and other birds; how all
+the little animals, after being imprisoned by grim winter, come
+forth rejoicing, and pair; and how men and women, both old and
+young, rejoice and are merry. O Almighty God, if Thou art so lovable
+and so pleasant in Thy creatures, how happy and blessed, how full of
+all joy and beauty, must Thou be in Thyself? But further, my
+daughter, contemplate the elements themselves--Earth, Water, Air,
+and Fire, with all the wonderful things which they contain in
+infinite variety--men, beasts, birds, fishes, and sea-monsters. And
+all of these give praise and honour to the unfathomable immensity
+that is in Thee. Who is it, Lord, who preserves all these things,
+who nourishes them? It is Thou who providest for all, each in his
+own way, for great and small, rich and poor. Thou, O God, doest
+this; Thou alone art God indeed! Behold, my daughter, thou hast now
+found the God whom thou hast sought so long. Look up, then, with
+shining eyes, with radiant face and exulting heart, behold Him and
+embrace Him with the outstretched arms of thy soul and mind, and
+give thanks to Him as the one and supreme Lord of all creatures. By
+gazing on this mirror, there springs up speedily, in one of loving
+and pious disposition, an inward jubilation of the heart; for by
+this is meant a joy which no tongue can tell, though it pours with
+might through heart and soul. Alas, I now feel within me, that I
+must open for thee the closed mouth of my soul; and I am compelled,
+for the glory of God, to tell thee certain secrets, which I never
+yet told to any one. A certain Dominican, well known to me, at the
+beginning of his course used to receive from God twice every day,
+morning and evening, for ten years, an outpouring of grace like
+this, which lasted about as long as it would take to say the "Vigils
+of the Dead" twice over.[40] At these times he was so entirely
+absorbed in God, the eternal Wisdom, that he would not speak of it.
+Sometimes he would converse with God as with a friend, not with the
+mouth, but mentally; at other times he would utter piteous sighs to
+Him; at other times he would weep copiously, or smile silently. He
+often seemed to himself to be flying in the air, and swimming
+between time and eternity in the depth of the Divine wonders, which
+no man can fathom. And his heart became so full from this, that he
+would sometimes lay his hand upon it as it beat heavily, saying,
+"Alas, my heart, what labours will befall thee to-day?" One day it
+seemed to him that the heart of his heavenly Father was, in a
+spiritual and indescribable manner, pressed tenderly, and with
+nothing between, against his heart; and that the Father's
+heart--that is, the eternal Wisdom, spoke inwardly to his heart
+without forms.[41] Then he began to exclaim joyously in spiritual
+jubilation: Behold, now, Thou whom I most fervently love, thus do I
+lay bare my heart to Thee, and in simplicity and nakedness of all
+created things I embrace Thy formless Godhead! O God, most excellent
+of all friends! Earthly friends must needs endure to be distinct and
+separate from those whom they love; but Thou, O fathomless sweetness
+of all true love, meltest into the heart of Thy beloved, and pourest
+Thyself fully into the essence of his soul, that nothing of Thee
+remains outside, but Thou art joined and united most lovingly with
+Thy beloved.
+
+To this the maiden replied: Truly it is a great grace, when anyone
+is thus caught up into God. But I should like to be informed,
+whether this is the most perfect kind of union or not? The servitor
+answered: No, it is not the most perfect, but a preliminary, gently
+drawing a man on, that he may arrive at an essential way of being
+carried up into God. The maiden asked him what he meant by essential
+and non-essential. He answered: I call that man essential or
+habitual (so to speak), who by the good and persevering practice of
+all the virtues, has arrived at the point of finding the practice of
+them in their highest perfection pleasant to him, even as the
+brightness of the sun remains constant in the sun. But I call him
+non-essential, in whom the brightness of the virtues shines in an
+unstable and imperfect way like the brightness of the moon. That
+full delight of grace which I described is so sweet to the spirit of
+the non-essential man, that he would be glad always to have it. When
+he has it, he rejoices; when he is deprived of it, he grieves
+inordinately; and when it smiles upon him, he is reluctant to pass
+to doing other things, even things that are pleasing to God; as I
+will show you by an example. The servitor of the Divine Wisdom was
+once walking in the chapter-house, and his heart was full of
+heavenly jubilation, when the porter called him out to see a woman
+who wished to confess to him. He was unwilling to interrupt his
+inward delight, and received the porter harshly, bidding him tell
+the woman that she must find some one else to confess to, for he did
+not wish to hear her confession just then. She, however, being
+oppressed with the burden of her sins, said that she felt specially
+drawn to seek comfort from him, and that she would confess to no one
+else. And when he still refused to go out, she began to weep most
+sadly, and going into a corner, lamented greatly. Meanwhile, God
+quickly withdrew from the servitor the delights of grace, and his
+heart became as hard as flint. And when he desired to know the cause
+of this, God answered him inwardly: Even as thou hast driven away
+uncomforted that poor woman, so have I withdrawn from thee my Divine
+comfort. The servitor groaned deeply and beat his breast, and
+hurried to the door, and as he did not find the woman there, was
+much distressed. The porter, however, looked about for her
+everywhere, and when he found her, still weeping, bade her return to
+the door. When she came, the servitor received her gently, and
+comforted her sorrowing heart. Then he went back from her to the
+chapter-house, and immediately God was with him, with His Divine
+consolations, as before.
+
+Then said the maiden: It must be easy for him to bear sufferings, to
+whom God gives such jubilation and internal joys. And yet, said the
+servitor, all had to be paid for afterward with great suffering.
+However, at last, when all this had passed away, and God's appointed
+time had come, the same grace of jubilation was restored to him, and
+remained with him almost continuously both at home and abroad, in
+company and alone. Often in the bath or at table the same grace was
+with him; but it was now internal, and did show itself outside.
+
+Then the maiden said: My father, I have now learned what God is; but
+I am also eager to know where He is. Thou shalt hear, said the
+servitor. The opinion of the theologians is that God is in no
+particular place, but that He is everywhere, and all in all. The
+same doctors say that we come to know a thing through its name. Now
+one doctor says that Being is the first name of God. Turn your eyes,
+therefore, to Being in its pure and naked simplicity, and take no
+notice of this or that substance which can be torn asunder into
+parts and separated; but consider Being in itself, unmixed with any
+Not-Being. Whatever is nothing, is the negation of what is; and what
+is, is the negation of what is not. A thing which has yet to be, or
+which once was, is not now in actual being. Moreover, we cannot know
+mixed being or not-being unless we take into account that which is
+all-being. This Being is not the being of this or that creature; for
+all particular being is mixed with something extraneous, whereby it
+can receive something new into itself. Therefore the nameless Divine
+Being must be in itself a Being that is all-being, and that sustains
+all particular things by its presence.
+
+It shows the strange blindness of man's reason, that it cannot
+examine into that which it contemplates before everything, and
+without which it cannot perceive anything. Just as, when the eye is
+bent on noticing various colours, it does not observe the light
+which enables it to see all these objects, and even if it looks at
+the light it does not observe it; so it is with the eye of the soul.
+When it looks at this or that particular substance, it takes no heed
+of the being, which is everywhere one, absolute and simple, and by
+the virtue and goodness of which it can apprehend all other things.
+Hence the wise Aristotle says, that the eye of our intelligence,
+owing to its weakness, is affected towards that being which is
+itself the most manifest of all things, as the eye of a bat or owl
+is towards the bright rays of the sun. For particular substances
+distract and dazzle the mind, so that it cannot behold the Divine
+darkness, which is the clearest light.
+
+Come now, open the eyes of thy mind, and gaze if thou canst, on
+Being in its naked and simple purity. You will perceive that it
+comes from no one, and has no before nor after, and that it cannot
+change, because it is simple Being. You will also observe that it is
+the most actual, the most present, and the most perfect of beings,
+with no defect or mutation, because it is absolutely one in its bare
+simplicity. This is so evident to an instructed intellect, that it
+cannot think otherwise. Since it is simple Being, it must be the
+first of beings, and without beginning or end, and because it is the
+first and everlasting and simple, it must be the most present. If
+you can understand this, you will have been guided far into the
+incomprehensible light of God's hidden truth. This pure and simple
+Being is altogether in all things, and altogether outside all
+things. Hence a certain doctor says: God is a circle, whose centre
+is everywhere, and His circumference nowhere.
+
+When this had been said, the maiden answered: Blessed be God, I have
+been shown, as far as may be, both what God is, and where He is. But
+I should like also to be told how, if God is so absolutely simple,
+He can also be threefold.
+
+The servitor answered: The more simple any being is in itself, the
+more manifold is it in its energy and operation. That which has
+nothing gives nothing, and that which has much can give much. I have
+already spoken of the inflowing and overflowing fount of good which
+God is in Himself. This infinite and superessential goodness
+constrains Him not to keep it all within Himself, but to communicate
+it freely both within and without Himself. But the highest and most
+perfect outpouring of the good must be within itself, and this can
+be nought else but a present, interior, personal and natural
+outpouring, necessary, yet without compulsion, infinite and perfect.
+Other communications, in temporal matters, draw their origin from
+this eternal communication of the Divine Goodness. Some theologians
+say that in the outflow of the creatures from their first origin
+there is a return in a circle of the end to the beginning; for as
+the emanation of the Persons from the Godhead is an image of the
+origin of the creatures, so also it is a type of the flowing back of
+the creatures into God. There is, however, a difference between the
+outpouring of the creatures and that of God. The creature is only a
+particular and partial substance, and its giving and communication
+is also partial and limited. When a human father begets a son, he
+gives him part, but not the whole, of his own substance, for he
+himself is only a partial good. But the outpouring of God is of a
+more interior and higher kind than the creature's outpouring,
+inasmuch as He Himself is a higher good. If the outpouring of God is
+to be worthy of His pre-eminent being, it must be according to
+personal relations.
+
+Now, then, if you can look upon the pure goodness of the highest
+Good (which goodness is, by its nature, the active principle of the
+spontaneous love with which the highest Good loves itself) you will
+behold the most excellent and superessential outpouring of the Word
+from the Father, by which generation all things exist and are
+produced; and you will see also in the highest good, and the highest
+outpouring, the most holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
+existing in the Godhead. And if the highest outpouring proceeds from
+the highest essential good, it follows that there must be in this
+Trinity the highest and most intimate consubstantiality or community
+of being, and complete equality and identity of essence, which the
+Persons enjoy in sweetest communion, and also that the Substance and
+power of the three almighty Persons is undivided and unpartitioned.
+
+Here the maiden exclaimed: Marvellous! I swim in the Godhead like an
+eagle in the air. The servitor, resuming his exposition, continued:
+It is impossible to express in words how the Trinity can subsist in
+the unity of one essence. Nevertheless, to say what may be said on
+the subject, Augustine says that in the Godhead the Father is the
+Fountain-head of the Son and the Holy Ghost. Dionysius says, that in
+the Father there is an outflowing of the Godhead, which naturally
+communicates itself to the Word or Son. He also freely and lovingly
+pours Himself out into the Son; and the Son in turn pours Himself
+out freely and lovingly into the Father; and this love of the Father
+for the Son, and of the Son for the Father, is the Holy Ghost. This
+is truly said, but it is made clearer by that glorious Doctor of the
+Church, St Thomas, who says as follows: In the outpouring of the
+Word from the Father's heart, God the Father must contemplate
+Himself with His own mind, bending back, as it were, upon His Divine
+essence; for if the reason of the Father had not the Divine essence
+for its object, the Word so conceived would be a creature instead of
+God; which is false. But in the way described He is "God of God."
+Again, this looking back upon the Divine essence, which takes place
+in the mind of God, must, in a manner, produce a natural likeness;
+else the Word would not be the Son of God. So here we have the unity
+of essence in the diversity of Persons; and a clear proof of this
+distinction may be found in the word of that soaring eagle St John:
+"The Word was in the beginning with God."
+
+Thus the Father is the Fountain-head of the Son, and the Son is the
+outflowing of the Father; and the Father and Son pour forth the
+Spirit; and the Unity, which is the essence of the Fountain-head, is
+also the substance of the three Persons. But as to how the Three are
+One, this cannot be expressed in words, on account of the simplicity
+of that Abyss. Into this intellectual Where, the spirits of men made
+perfect soar and plunge themselves, now flying over infinite
+heights, now swimming in unfathomed depths, marvelling at the high
+and wonderful mysteries of the Godhead. Nevertheless, the spirit
+remains a spirit, and retains its nature, while it enjoys the vision
+of the Divine Persons, and abstracted from all occupation with
+things below contemplates with fixed gaze those stupendous
+mysteries. For what can be more marvellous than that simple Unity,
+into which the Trinity of the Persons merges itself, and in which
+all multiplicity ceases? For the outflowing of the Persons is always
+tending back into the Unity of the same essence, and all creatures,
+according to their ideal existence in God, are from eternity in this
+Unity, and have their life, knowledge, and essence in the eternal
+God; as it is said in the Gospel: "That which was made, was Life in
+Him."[42] This bare Unity is a dark silence and tranquil inactivity,
+which none can understand unless he is illuminated by the Unity
+itself, unmixed with any evil. Out of this shines forth hidden
+truth, free from all falsehood; and this truth is born from the
+unveiling of the veiled Divine purity; for after the revelation of
+these things, the spirit is at last unclothed of the dusky light
+which up till now has followed it, and in which it has hitherto seen
+things in an earthly way. Indeed, the spirit finds itself now
+changed and something very different from what it supposed itself to
+be according to its earlier light: even as St Paul says, "I, yet not
+I." Thus it is unclothed and simplified in the simplicity of the
+Divine essence, which shines upon all things in simple stillness. In
+this modeless mode of contemplation, the permanent distinction of
+the Persons, viewed as separate, is lost. For, as some teach, it is
+not the Person of the Father, taken by Himself, which produces
+bliss, nor the Person of the Son, taken by Himself, nor the Person
+of the Holy Ghost, taken by Himself; but the three Persons, dwelling
+together in the unity of the essence, confer bliss. And this is the
+natural essence of the Persons, which by grace gives the substance
+or essence to all their creatures, and it contains in itself the
+ideas of all things in their simple essence. Now since this ideal
+light subsists as Being, so all things subsist in it according to
+their essential being, not according to their accidental forms; and
+since it shines upon all things, its property is to subsist as
+light. Hence all things shine forth in this essence in interior
+stillness, without altering its simplicity.
+
+Then the maiden said: I could wish greatly, sir, that you could give
+me this mysterious teaching, as you understand it, under a figure,
+that I might understand it better. I should also be glad if you
+could sum up what you have been saying at length, so that it may
+stick more firmly in my weak mind. The servitor replied: Who can
+express in forms what has no form? Who can explain that which has no
+mode of being, and is above sense and reason? Any similitude must be
+infinitely more unlike than like the reality. Nevertheless, that I
+may drive out forms from your mind by forms, I will try to give you
+a picture of these ideas which surpass all forms, and to sum up a
+long discourse in a few words. A certain wise theologian says that
+God, in regard to His Godhead, is like a vast circle, of which the
+centre is everywhere, and the circumference nowhere. Now consider
+the image which follows. If anyone throws a great stone into the
+middle of a pool, a ring is formed in the water, and this ring makes
+a second ring, and the second a third; and the number and size of
+the rings depend on the force of the throw. They may even require a
+larger space than the limit of the pool. Suppose now that the first
+ring represents the omnipotent virtue of the Divine nature, which is
+infinite in God the Father. This produces another ring like itself,
+which is the Son. And the two produce the third, which is the Holy
+Ghost. The spiritual superessential begetting of the Divine Word is
+the cause of the creation of all spirits and all things. This
+supreme Spirit has so ennobled man, as to shed upon him a ray from
+His own eternal Godhead. This is the image of God in the mind, which
+is itself eternal. But many men turn away from this dignity of their
+nature, befouling the bright image of God in themselves, and turning
+to the bodily pleasures of this world. They pursue them greedily and
+devote themselves to them, till death unexpectedly stops them. But
+he who is wise, turns himself and elevates himself, with the help of
+the Divine spark in his soul, to that which is stable and eternal,
+whence he had his own origin: he says farewell to all the fleeting
+creatures, and clings to the eternal truth alone.
+
+Attend also to what I say about the order in which the spirit ought
+to return to God. First of all, we should disentangle ourselves
+absolutely from the pleasures of the world, manfully turning our
+backs upon all vices; we should turn to God by continual prayers, by
+seclusion, and holy exercise, that the flesh may thus be subdued to
+the spirit. Next, we must offer ourselves willingly to endure all
+the troubles which may come upon us, from God, or from the
+creatures. Thirdly, we must impress upon ourselves the Passion of
+Christ crucified; we must fix upon our minds His sweet teaching, His
+most gentle conversation, His most pure life, which He gave us for
+our example, and so we must penetrate deeper and advance further in
+our imitation of Him. Fourthly, we must divest ourselves of external
+occupations, and establish ourselves in a tranquil stillness of soul
+by an energetic resignation, as if we were dead to self, and thought
+only of the honour of Christ and His heavenly Father. Lastly, we
+should be humble towards all men, whether friends or foes. . . . But
+all these images, with their interpretations, are as unlike the
+formless truth as a black Ethiopian is to the bright sun.
+
+Soon after this holy maiden died, and passed away happy from earth,
+even as her whole life had been conspicuous only for her virtues.
+After her death she appeared to her spiritual father in a vision.
+She was clothed in raiment whiter than snow; she shone with dazzling
+brightness, and was full of heavenly joy. She came near to him, and
+showed him in what an excellent fashion she had passed away into the
+simple Godhead. He saw and heard her with exceeding delight, and the
+vision filled his soul with heavenly consolations. When he returned
+to himself, he sighed most deeply, and thus pondered: O Almighty
+God, how blessed is he, who strives after Thee alone! He may well be
+content to bear affliction, whose sufferings Thou wilt thus reward!
+May the Almighty God grant that we likewise may be brought to the
+same joys as this blessed maiden!
+
+A MEDITATION ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST
+
+THEN said the Eternal Wisdom to the servitor, Attend and listen
+dutifully, while I tell thee what sufferings I lovingly endured for
+thy sake.
+
+After I had finished My last Supper with My disciples, when I had
+offered Myself to My enemies on the mount, and had resigned Myself
+to bear a terrible death, and knew that it was approaching very
+near, so great was the oppression of My tender heart and all My
+body, that I sweated blood; then I was wickedly arrested, bound, and
+carried away. On the same night they treated Me with insult and
+contumely, beating Me, spitting upon Me, and covering My head.
+Before Caiaphas was I unjustly accused and condemned to death. What
+misery it was to see My mother seized with unspeakable sorrow of
+heart, from the time when she beheld Me threatened with such great
+dangers, till the time when I was hung upon the cross. They brought
+Me before Pilate with every kind of ignominy, they accused Me
+falsely, they adjudged Me worthy of death. Before Herod I, the
+Eternal Wisdom, was mocked in a bright robe. My fair body was
+miserably torn and rent by cruel scourgings. They surrounded My
+sacred head with a crown of thorns; My gracious face was covered
+with blood and spittings. When they had thus condemned Me to death,
+they led Me out with My cross to bear the last shameful punishment.
+Their terrible and savage cries could be heard afar off: "Crucify,
+crucify, the wicked man."
+
+Servitor. Alas, Lord, if so bitter were the beginnings of Thy
+passion, what will be the end thereof? In truth, if I saw a brute
+beast so treated in my presence I could hardly bear it. What grief
+then should I feel in heart and soul at Thy Passion? And yet there
+is one thing at which I marvel greatly. For I long, O my most dear
+God, to know only Thy Godhead; and Thou tellest me of Thy humanity.
+I long to taste Thy sweetness, and Thou showest me Thy bitterness.
+What meaneth this, O my Lord God?
+
+Wisdom. No man can come to the height of My Godhead, nor attain to
+that unknown sweetness, unless he be first led through the
+bitterness of My humanity. My humanity is the road by which men must
+travel. My Passion is the gate, through which they must enter. Away
+then with thy cowardice of heart, and come to Me prepared for a hard
+campaign. For it is not right for the servant to live softly and
+delicately, while his Lord is fighting bravely. Come, I will now put
+on thee My own armour. And so thou must thyself also experience the
+whole of My Passion, so far as thy strength permits. Take,
+therefore, the heart of a man; for be sure that thou wilt have to
+endure many deaths, before thou canst put thy nature under the yoke.
+I will sprinkle thy garden of spices with red flowers. Many are the
+afflictions which will come upon thee; till thou hast finished thy
+sad journey of bearing the cross, and hast renounced thine own will
+and disengaged thyself so completely from all creatures, in all
+things, which might hinder thine eternal salvation, as to be like
+one about to die, and no longer mixed up with the affairs of this
+life.
+
+Servitor. Hard and grievous to bear are the things which Thou
+sayest, Lord. I tremble all over. How can I bear all these things?
+Suffer me, O Lord, to ask Thee something. Couldst Thou not devise
+any other way of saving my soul, and of testifying Thy love towards
+me, so as to spare Thyself such hard sufferings, and so that I need
+not suffer so bitterly with Thee?
+
+Wisdom. The unfathomable Abyss of My secret counsels no man ought to
+seek to penetrate, for no one can comprehend it. And yet that which
+thou hast suggested, and many other things, might have been
+possible, which nevertheless never happen. Be assured, however, that
+as created things now are, no more fitting method could be found.
+The Author of Nature doth not think so much what He is able to do in
+the world, as what is most fitting for every creature; and this is
+the principle of His operations. And by what other means could the
+secrets of God have been made known to man, than by the assumption
+of humanity by Christ? By what other means could he who had deprived
+himself of joy by the inordinate pursuit of pleasure, be brought
+back more fittingly to the joys of eternity? And who would be
+willing to tread the path, avoided by all, of a hard and despised
+life, if God had not trodden it Himself? If thou wert condemned to
+death, how could any one show his love and fidelity to thee more
+convincingly, or provoke thee to love him in return more powerfully,
+than by taking thy sentence upon himself? If, then, there is any one
+who is not roused and moved to love Me from his heart by My immense
+love, My infinite pity, My exalted divinity, My pure humanity, My
+brotherly fidelity, My sweet friendship, is there anything that
+could soften that stony heart?
+
+Servitor. The light begins to dawn upon me, and I seem to myself to
+see clearly that it is as Thou sayest, and that whoever is not
+altogether blind must admit that this is the best and most fitting
+of all ways. And yet the imitation of Thee is grievous to a slothful
+and corruptible body.
+
+Wisdom. Shrink not because thou must follow the footsteps of My
+Passion. For he who loves God, and is inwardly united to Him, finds
+the cross itself light and easy to bear, and has nought to complain
+of. No one receives from Me more marvellous sweetness, than he who
+shares My bitterest labours. He only complains of the bitterness of
+the rind, who has not tasted the sweetness of the kernel. He who
+relies on Me as his protector and helper may be considered to have
+accomplished a large part of his task.
+
+Servitor. Lord, by these consoling words I am so much encouraged,
+that I seem to myself to be able to do and suffer all things through
+Thee. I pray Thee, then, that Thou wilt unfold the treasure of Thy
+Passion to me more fully.
+
+Wisdom. When I was hung aloft and fastened to the wood of the cross
+(which I bore for My great love to thee and all mankind), all the
+wonted appearance of My body was piteously changed. My bright eyes
+lost their light; My sacred ears were filled with mocking and
+blasphemy; My sweet mouth was hurt by the bitter drink. Nowhere was
+there any rest or refreshment for Me. My sacred head hung down in
+pain; My fair neck was cruelly bruised; My shining face was
+disfigured by festering wounds; My fresh colour was turned to
+pallor. In a word, the beauty of My whole body was so marred, that I
+appeared like a leper--I, the Divine Wisdom, who am fairer than the
+sun.
+
+Servitor. O brightest mirror of grace, which the Angels desire to
+look into, in which they delight to fix their gaze, would that I
+might behold Thy beloved countenance in the throes of death just
+long enough to water it with the tears of my heart, and to satisfy
+my mind with lamentations over it.
+
+Wisdom. No one more truly testifies his grief over My Passion, than
+he who in very deed passes through it with Me. Far more pleasing to
+Me is a heart disentangled from the love of all transitory things,
+and earnestly intent on gaining the highest perfection according to
+the example which I have set before him in My life, than one which
+continually weeps over My Passion, shedding as many tears as all the
+raindrops that ever fell. For this was what I most desired and
+looked for in My endurance of that cruel death--namely, that mankind
+might imitate Me; and yet pious tears are very dear to Me.
+
+Servitor. Since then, O most gracious God, the imitation of Thy most
+gentle life and most loving Passion is so pleasing to Thee, I will
+henceforth labour more diligently to follow Thy Passion than to weep
+over it. But since both are pleasing to Thee, teach me, I pray Thee,
+how I ought to conform myself to Thy Passion.
+
+Wisdom. Forbid thyself the pleasure of curious and lax seeing and
+hearing; let love make sweet to thee those things which formerly
+thou shrankest from; eschew bodily pleasures; rest in Me alone; bear
+sweetly and moderately the ills that come from others; desire to
+despise thyself; break thy appetites; crush out all thy pleasures
+and desires. These are the first elements in the school of Wisdom,
+which are read in the volume of the book of My crucified body. But
+consider whether anyone, do what he may, can make himself for My
+sake such as I made Myself for his.
+
+Servitor. Come then, my soul, collect thyself from all external
+things, into the tranquil silence of the inner man. Woe is me! My
+heavenly Father had adopted my soul to be His bride; but I fled far
+from Him. Alas, I have lost my Father, I have lost my Lover. Alas,
+alas, and woe is me! What have I done, what have I lost? Shame on
+me, I have lost myself, and all the society of my heavenly country.
+All that could delight and cheer me has utterly forsaken me; I am
+left naked. My false lovers were only deceivers. They have stripped
+me of all the good things which my one true Lover gave me; they have
+despoiled me of all honour, joy, and consolation. O ye red roses and
+white lilies, behold me a vile weed, and see also how soon those
+flowers wither and die, which this world plucks. And yet, O most
+gracious God, none of my sufferings are of any account, compared
+with this, that I have grieved the eyes of my heavenly Father. This
+is indeed hell, and a cross more intolerable than all other pain. O
+heart of mine, harder than flint or adamant, why dost thou not break
+for grief? Once I was called the bride of the eternal King, now I
+deserve not to be called the meanest of his handmaids. Never again
+shall I dare to raise mine eyes, for shame. O that I could hide
+myself in some vast forest, with none to see or hear me, till I had
+wept to my heart's desire. O Sin, Sin, whither hast thou brought me?
+O deceitful World, woe to those who serve thee! Now I have thy
+reward, I receive thy wages--namely, that I am a burden to myself
+and the whole world, and always shall be.
+
+Wisdom. Thou must by no means despair; it was for thy sins and those
+of others that I came into this world, that I might restore thee to
+Thy heavenly Father, and bring thee back to greater glory and honour
+than thou ever hadst before.
+
+Servitor. Ah, what is this, which whispers such flattering things to
+a soul that is dead, abhorred, rejected?
+
+Wisdom. Dost thou not know Me? Why art thou so despondent? Art thou
+beside thyself with excessive grief, My dearest son? Knowest thou
+not that I am Wisdom, most gentle and tender, in whom is the Abyss
+of infinite mercy, never yet explored perfectly even by all the
+saints, but none the less open to thee and all other sorrowing
+hearts. I am he who for thy sake willed to be poor and an exile,
+that I might recall thee to thy former honour. I am He who bore a
+bitter death, that I might restore thee to life. I am thy Brother; I
+am thy Bridegroom. I have put away all the wrong that thou ever
+didst against Me, even as if it had never been, only henceforth,
+thou must turn wholly to Me, and never again forsake Me. Wash away
+thy stains in My blood. Lift up thy head, open thine eyes, and take
+heart. In token of reconciliation, take this ring and put it on thy
+finger as My bride, put on this robe, and these shoes on thy feet,
+and receive this sweet and loving name, that thou mayst both be and
+be called for ever My bride. Thou has cost Me much labour and pain;
+for that cause, the Abyss of My mercy toward thee is unfathomable.
+
+Servitor. O kindest Father, O sweetest Brother, O only joy of my
+heart, wilt Thou be so favourable to my unworthy soul? What is this
+grace? What is the Abyss of Thy clemency and mercy? From the bottom
+of my heart I thank Thee, O heavenly Father, and beseech Thee by Thy
+beloved Son, whom Thou hast willed to suffer a cruel death for love,
+to forget my impieties. . . .
+
+Now, O Lord, I remember that most loving word, wherewith in the book
+of Ecclesiasticus[43] Thou drawest us to Thyself. "Come to me, all
+ye who desire me, and be filled with my fruits. I am the mother of
+beautiful affection. My breath is sweeter than honey, and my
+inheritance above honey and the honeycomb." "Wine and music rejoice
+the heart, and above both is the love of Wisdom."[44] Of a surety, O
+Lord, Thou showest Thyself so lovable and desirable, that it is no
+wonder that the hearts of all long for Thee, and are tormented by
+the desire of Thee. Thy words breathe love, and flow so sweetly,
+that in many hearts the love of temporal things has wholly dried up.
+Therefore, I greatly long to hear Thee speak of Thy lovableness.
+Come, O Lord, my only comfort, speak to the heart of Thy servant.
+For I sleep sweetly beneath Thy shadow, and my heart is awake.
+
+Wisdom. Hear, My son, and see; incline thine ear, forgetting thyself
+and all other things. Lo, I in Myself am that ineffable Good, which
+is and ever was; which has never been expressed nor ever will be.
+For although I give Myself to be felt by men in their inmost hearts,
+yet no tongue can ever declare or explain in words what I am. For
+verily all the beauty, grace, and adornment which can be conceived
+by thee or by others, exists in me far more excellently, more
+pleasantly, more copiously, than any one could say in words. I am
+the most loving Word of the Father, begotten from the pure substance
+of the Father, and wondrously pleasing am I to His loving eyes in
+the sweet and burning love of the Holy Spirit. I am the throne of
+happiness, the crown of souls: most bright are Mine eyes, most
+delicate My mouth, My cheeks are red and white, and all My
+appearance is full of grace and loveliness. All the heavenly host
+gaze upon Me with wonder and admiration; their eyes are ever fixed
+upon Me, their hearts rest in Me, their minds turn to Me and turn
+again. O thrice and four times happy is he, to whom it shall be
+given to celebrate this play of love amid heavenly joys at My side,
+holding My tender hands in happiest security, for ever and ever to
+all eternity. Only the word that proceeds out of My sweet mouth
+surpasses the melodies of all the angels, the sweet harmony of all
+harps, and musical instruments of every kind....
+
+Servitor. There are three things, O Lord, at which I marvel greatly.
+The first is, that although Thou art in Thyself so exceedingly
+loving, yet towards sin Thou art a most severe judge and avenger.
+Alas, Thy face in wrath is too terrible; the words which Thou
+speakest in anger pierce the heart and soul like fire. O holy and
+adorable God, save me from Thy wrathful countenance, and defer not
+till the future life my punishment.
+
+Wisdom. I am the unchangeable Good, remaining always the same. The
+reason why I do not appear always the same, is on account of those
+who do not behold Me in the same way. By nature I am friendly; yet
+none the less I punish vice severely, so that I deserve to be
+feared. From My friends I require a pure and filial fear, and a
+friendly love, that fear may ever restrain them from sin, and that
+love may join them to Me in unbroken loyalty.
+
+Servitor. What Thou sayest pleases me, O Lord, and it is as I would
+have it. But there is another thing at which I greatly marvel--how
+it is that when the soul is faint from desire of the sweetness of
+Thy presence, Thou art wholly mute, and dost not utter a single word
+that can be heard. And who, O Lord, would not be grieved, when Thou
+showest Thyself so strange, so silent, to the soul that loves Thee
+above all things?
+
+Wisdom. And yet all the creatures speak of Me.
+
+Servitor. But that is by no means enough for the soul that loves.
+
+Wisdom. Also every word that is uttered about Me is a message of My
+love; all the voices of holy Scripture that are written about Me are
+letters of love, sweet as honey. They are to be received as if I had
+written them Myself. Ought not this to satisfy thee?
+
+Servitor. Nay but, O most holy God, dearest Friend of all to me,
+Thou knowest well that a heart which is on fire with love is not
+satisfied with anything that is not the Beloved himself, in whom is
+its only comfort. Even though all the tongues of all the angelic
+spirits were to speak to me, none the less would my unquenchable
+love continue to yearn and strive for the one thing which it
+desires. The soul that loves Thee would choose Thee rather than the
+kingdom of heaven. Pardon me, O Lord: it would become Thee to show
+more kindness to those who love Thee so ardently, who sigh and look
+up to Thee and say: Return, return! Who anxiously debate with
+themselves: alas, thinkest thou that thou hast offended Him? That He
+has deserted thee? Thinkest thou that He will ever restore thee His
+most sweet presence, that thou wilt ever again embrace Him with the
+arms of Thy heart, and press Him to thy breast, that all thy grief
+and trouble may vanish? All this, O Lord, Thou hearest and knowest,
+and yet Thou art silent.
+
+Wisdom. Certainly I know all this, and I watch it with great
+pleasure. But I would have thee also answer a few questions, since
+thy wonder, though veiled, is so great. What is it which gives the
+greatest joy to the highest of all created spirits?
+
+�Servitor. Ah, Lord, this question is beyond my range. I prithee,
+answer it Thyself.
+
+Wisdom. I will do as thou desirest. The highest angelic spirit finds
+nothing more desirable or more delightful than to satisfy My will in
+all things; so much so, that if he knew that it would redound to My
+praise for him to root out nettles and tares, he would diligently
+fulfil this task in preference to all others.
+
+Servitor. Of a truth, Lord, this answer of Thine touches me sharply.
+I perceive that it is Thy will that I should be resigned in the
+matter of receiving and feeling tokens of Thy love, and that I
+should seek Thy glory alone, in dryness and hardness as well as in
+sweetness.
+
+Wisdom. No resignation is more perfect or more excellent, than to be
+resigned in dereliction.
+
+�Servitor. And yet, O Lord, the pain is very grievous.
+
+Wisdom. Wherein is virtue proved, if not in adversity? But be
+assured, that I often come, and try whether the door into My house
+is open, but find Myself repulsed. Many times I am received like a
+stranger, harshly treated, and then driven out of doors. Nay, I not
+only come to the soul that loves me, but tarry with her like a
+friend; but that is done so secretly, that none know it save those
+who live quite detached and separated from men, and observe My ways,
+and care only to please and satisfy My grace. For according to My
+Divinity I am purest Spirit, and I am received spiritually in pure
+spirits.
+
+Servitor. So far as I understand, Lord God, Thou art a very secret
+Lover. How glad would I be if Thou wouldest give me some signs, by
+which I might know Thee to be truly present.
+
+Wisdom. By no other way canst thou know the certainty of My presence
+better, than when I hide Myself from thee, and withdraw what is Mine
+from thy soul. Then at last thou knowest by experience what I am,
+and what thou art. Of a surety I am everlasting Good, without whom
+no one can have anything good. When therefore I impart that immense
+Good, which is Myself, generously and lovingly, and scatter it
+abroad, all things to which I communicate Myself are clothed with a
+certain goodness, by which My presence can be as easily inferred, as
+that of the Sun, the actual ball of which cannot be seen, by its
+rays. If therefore thou ever feelest My presence, enter into
+thyself, and learn how to separate the roses from the thorns, the
+flowers from the weeds.
+
+Servitor. Lord, I do search, and I find within myself a great
+diversity. When I am deserted by Thee, my soul is like a sick man,
+whose taste is spoiled. Nothing pleases me, but all things disgust
+me. My body is torpid, my mind oppressed; within is dryness, without
+is sadness. All that I see or hear, however good in reality, is
+distasteful and hateful to me. I am easily led into sins; I am weak
+to resist my enemies; I am cold or lukewarm towards all good.
+Whoever comes to me, finds my house empty. For the House-Father is
+away, who knows how to counsel for the best, and to inspire the
+whole household. On the other hand, when the day-star arises in my
+inmost heart, all the pain quickly vanishes, all the darkness is
+dispelled, and a great brightness arises and shines forth. My heart
+laughs, my mind is exalted, my soul becomes cheerful, all things
+around me are blithe and merry; whatever is around me and within me
+is turned to Thy praise. That which before seemed hard, difficult,
+irksome, impossible, becomes suddenly easy and pleasant. To give
+myself to fasting, watching, and prayer, to suffer or abstain or
+avoid, in a word all the hardnesses of life seem when compared with
+Thy presence to have no irksomeness at all. My soul is bathed in
+radiance, truth, and sweetness, so that all its labours are
+forgotten. My heart delights itself in abundant sweet meditations,
+my tongue learns to speak of high things, my body is brisk and ready
+for any undertaking; whoever comes to ask my advice, takes back with
+him high counsels such as he desired to hear. In short, I seem to
+myself to have transcended the limits of time and space, and to be
+standing on the threshold of eternal bliss. But who, O Lord, can
+secure for me, that I may be long in this state? Alas, in a moment
+it is withdrawn from me; and for a long space again I am left as
+naked and destitute as if I had never experienced anything of the
+kind; till at last, after many and deep sighings of heart, it is
+restored to me. Is this Thou, O Lord, or rather I myself? Or what is
+it?
+
+Wisdom. Of thyself thou hast nothing except faults and defects.
+Therefore that about which thou askest is I Myself, and this is the
+play of love.
+
+Servitor. What is the play of love?
+
+Wisdom. So long as the loved one is present with the lover, the
+lover knoweth not how dear the loved one is to him; it is only
+separation which can teach him that.
+
+Servitor. It is a very grievous game. But tell me, Lord, are there
+any who in this life no longer experience these vicissitudes of Thy
+presence?
+
+Wisdom. You will find very few indeed. For never to be deprived of
+My presence belongs not to temporal but to eternal life.
+
+APHORISMS AND MAXIMS
+
+ACT according to the truth in simplicity; and, whatever happens, do
+not help thyself; for he who helps himself too much will not be
+helped by the Truth.
+
+God wishes not to deprive us of pleasure; but He wishes to give us
+pleasure in its totality--that is, all pleasure.
+
+Wilt thou be of use to all creatures? Then turn thyself away from
+all creatures.
+
+If a man cannot comprehend a thing, let him remain quiet, and it
+will comprehend him.
+
+Say to the creatures, I will not be to thee what thou art to me.
+
+The power of abstaining from things gives us more power than the
+possession of them would.
+
+Some men one meets who have been inwardly drawn by God, but have not
+followed Him. The inner man and the outer man in these cases are
+widely at variance, and in this way many fail.
+
+He who has attained to the purgation of his senses in God performs
+all the operations of the senses all the better.
+
+He who finds the inward in the outward goes deeper than he who only
+finds the inward in the inward.
+
+He is on the right road who contemplates under the forms of things
+their eternal essence.
+
+It is well with a man who has died to self and begun to live in
+Christ.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+RUYSBROEK
+
+THE ADORNMENT OF THE SPIRITUAL NUPTIALS
+
+BOOK I
+
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+"SEE the Bridegroom cometh: go forth to meet Him." St Matthew the
+evangelist wrote these words, and Christ said them to His disciples
+and to all men, in the Parable of the Ten Virgins. The Bridegroom is
+our Lord Jesus Christ, and human nature is the bride, whom God has
+made in His own image and likeness. He placed her at first in the
+most exalted, the most beautiful, the richest and most fertile place
+on earth--in paradise. He subjected to her all the creatures; He
+adorned her with graces; and He laid a prohibition upon her, in
+order that by obedience she might deserve to be established in an
+eternal union with her Bridegroom, and never more fall into any
+affliction, trouble, or guilt. Then came a deceiver--the infernal,
+envious foe, under the guise of a cunning serpent. He deceived the
+woman, and the two together deceived the man, who possessed the
+essence of human nature. So the enemy despoiled human nature, the
+bride of God, by his deceitful counsels, and she was driven into a
+strange country; poor and miserable, a prisoner and oppressed,
+persecuted by her enemies, as if she could never more return to her
+country and the grace of reconciliation. But when God saw that the
+time was come, and took pity on the sufferings of His beloved, He
+sent His only Son to earth, in a rich abode and a glorious
+temple--that is to say, in the body of the Virgin Mary. There he
+married His bride, our nature, and united it to His Person, by means
+of the pure blood of the noble Virgin. The priest who joined the
+Bride and Bridegroom was the Holy Spirit; the angel Gabriel
+announced the marriage, and the blessed Virgin gave her consent. So
+Christ, our faithful Bridegroom, united our nature to His, and
+visited us in a strange land, and taught us the manners of heaven
+and perfect fidelity. And He laboured and fought like a champion
+against our enemy, and He broke the prison and gained the victory,
+and His death slew our death, and His blood delivered us, and He set
+us free in baptism under the life-giving waters, and enriched us by
+His sacraments and gifts, that we might go forth, as He said,
+adorned with all virtues, and might meet Him in the abode of His
+glory, to enjoy Him throughout all eternity.
+
+Now the Master of truth, Christ, saith: "See, the Bridegroom
+cometh, go forth to meet Him." In these words Jesus, our Lover,
+teaches us four things. In the first word He gives a command, for He
+says, "See." Those who remain blind, and those who resist this
+command are condemned without exception. In the next word He shows
+us what we shall see--that is to say, the coming of the Bridegroom,
+when He says, "The Bridegroom cometh." In the third place, He
+teaches us and commands us what we ought to do, when He says, "Go
+forth." In the fourth place, when He says, "to meet Him," He shows
+us the reward of all our works and of all our life, for that must be
+a loving "going forth," by which we meet our Bridegroom.
+
+We shall explain and analyse these words in three ways, first,
+according to the ordinary mode of the beginner's life--that is to
+say, the active life, which is necessary to all who would be saved.
+In the second place, we shall analyse these words by applying them
+to the inner life, exalted and loving, to which many men arrive by
+the virtues and by the grace of God. Thirdly, we shall explain them
+by applying them to the superessential and contemplative life, to
+which few attain and which few can taste, because of the supreme
+sublimity of this life.
+
+ON THE ACTIVE LIFE
+
+CHRIST, the Wisdom of the Father, hath said from the time of Adam
+and still saith (inwardly, according to His Divinity), to all men,
+"See"; and this vision is necessary. Now let us observe attentively
+that for him who wishes to see materially or spiritually, three
+things are necessary. First, in order that a man may be able to see
+materially, he must have the external light of heaven, or another
+natural light, in order that the medium--that is to say, the air
+across which one sees, may be illuminated. In the second place, he
+must have the will, that the things which he will see may be
+reflected in his eyes. Thirdly, he must have the instruments, his
+eyes, healthy and without flaw, that the material objects may be
+exactly reflected in them. If a man lacks any one of these three
+things, his material vision disappears. We shall speak no more of
+this vision, but of another, spiritual and supernatural, wherein all
+our blessedness resides.
+
+Three things are necessary for spiritual and supernatural vision.
+First, the light of the divine grace, then the free conversion of
+the will towards God, and lastly, a conscience pure from all mortal
+sin. Now observe: God being a God common to all, and His boundless
+love being common to all, He grants a double grace; both antecedent
+grace, and the grace by which one merits eternal life. All men,
+heathens and Jews, good and bad, have in common antecedent grace. In
+consequence of the common love of God towards all men, He has caused
+to be preached and published His name and the deliverance of human
+nature, even to the ends of the earth. He who wishes to be converted
+can be converted. For God wishes to save all men and to lose none.
+At the day of judgment none will be able to complain that enough was
+not done for him, if he had wished to be converted. So God is a
+common Light and Splendour which illumine heaven and earth, and men
+according to their merits and their needs. But though God is common,
+and though the sun shines on all trees, some trees remain without
+fruit, and others bear wild fruit useless to mankind. This is why we
+prune these trees and graft fertile branches upon them, that they
+may bear good fruit, sweet to taste and useful for men. The fertile
+branch which comes from the living paradise of the eternal kingdom,
+is the light of divine grace. No work can have savour, or be useful
+to man, unless it comes from this branch. This branch of divine
+grace, which makes man acceptable and by which we merit eternal
+life, is offered to all. But it is not grafted on all, for they will
+not purge away the wild branches of their trees--that is to say,
+unbelief or a perverse will, or disobedience to the commandments of
+God. But in order that this branch of divine grace may be planted in
+our soul, three things are necessary; the antecedent grace of God,
+the conversion of our free will, and the purification of the
+conscience. Antecedent grace touches all men; but all men do not
+attain to free conversion and purification of the conscience, and
+this is why the grace of God, by which they might merit eternal
+life, fails to touch them. The antecedent grace of God touches man
+from within or from without. From without, by sickness or loss of
+outward goods, of relations and friends, or by public shame; or
+perhaps a man is moved by preaching, or by the examples of saints
+and just men, by their words or works, till he comes to the
+knowledge of himself. This is how God touches us from without.
+Sometimes also a man is touched from within, by recalling the pains
+and sufferings of our Lord, and the good which God has done to him
+and to all men, or by the consideration of his sins, of the
+shortness of life, of the eternal pains of hell and the eternal joys
+of heaven, or because God has spared him in his sins and has waited
+for his conversion; or he observes the marvellous works of God in
+heaven, on earth, and in all creation. These are the works of
+antecedent divine grace, which touch man from within or from
+without, and in divers manners. And man has still a natural
+inclination towards God, proceeding from the spark of his soul or
+synteresis, [Footnote: See Introduction] and from the highest
+reason, which always desires the good and hates the evil. Now, in
+these three manners God touches every man according to his needs, so
+that the man is struck, warned, frightened, and stops to consider
+himself. All this is still antecedent grace and not merited; it thus
+prepares us to receive the other grace, by which we merit eternal
+life; when the mind is thus empty of bad wishes and bad deeds,
+warned, struck, in fear of what it ought to do, and considers God,
+and considers itself with its evil deeds. Thence come a natural
+sorrow for sin and a natural good will. This is the highest work of
+antecedent grace.
+
+When man does what he can, and can go no further because of his
+weakness, it is the infinite goodness of God which must finish this
+work. Then comes a higher splendour of the grace of God, like a ray
+of the sun, and it is poured upon the soul, though it is as yet
+neither merited nor desired. In this light God gives Himself, by
+free will and by bounty, and no one can merit it before he has it.
+And it is in the soul an internal and mysterious operation of God,
+above time, and it moves the soul and all its faculties. Here then
+ends antecedent grace; and here begins the other--that is to say,
+supernatural light.
+
+This light is the first necessary condition, and from it is born a
+second spiritual condition--that is to say, a free conversion of the
+will in a moment of time, and then love is born in the union of God
+and the soul. These two conditions are connected, so that one cannot
+be accomplished without the other. There, where God and the soul are
+united in the unity of love, God grants His light above time, and
+the sou! freely turns to God by the force of grace, in a moment of
+time, and charity is born in the soul, from God and the soul, for
+charity is a bond of love between God and the loving soul. From
+these two things, the grace of God, and the free conversion of the
+will illuminated by grace, is born charity--that is to say, divine
+love. And from divine love proceeds the third point, the
+purification of the conscience. And this is accomplished in the
+consideration of sin and of the flaws in the soul, and because man
+loves God, there enters into him a contempt for self and for all his
+works. This is the order of conversion. From it are born a true
+repentance and a perfect sorrow for the evil that we have done, and
+an ardent desire to sin no more and to serve God henceforward in
+humble obedience; from it are born a sincere confession, without
+reserves, without duplicity and without pretences, the desire to
+satisfy God and to undertake the practice of all the virtues and all
+good works. These three things, as you have just heard, are
+necessary for divine vision. If you possess them, Christ says to
+you, "See," and you become really seeing. This is the first of the
+four chief ways in which Christ, our Lord, says "See."
+
+ON THE FIRST COMING OF CHRIST, IN THE FLESH
+
+NEXT, He shows us what we shall see when He says, "The Bridegroom
+cometh." Christ, our Bridegroom, says this word in Latin: Venit.
+The word expresses two tenses, the past and the present, and yet
+here it indicates the future. And this is why we must consider three
+comings of our Bridegroom Jesus Christ. At His first coming He was
+made man for love of man. The second coming is daily and frequent in
+every loving soul, with new graces and new gifts, as man is able to
+receive them. In the third coming, He will come manifestly on the
+dreadful day of judgment or at the hour of each man's death. In all
+these comings we must observe three things, the cause, the interior
+mode, and the external work.
+
+The cause of the creation of angels and men is the infinite goodness
+and nobleness of God; He wished that the wealth and blessedness,
+which are Himself, should be revealed to reasonable creatures, for
+them to enjoy in time, and in eternity above time. The reason why
+God became man, is His inconceivable love, and the distress of all
+men, lost since the fall in original sin, and unable to raise
+themselves again. But the reason why Christ, according to His
+divinity and His humanity, accomplished His works on earth, is
+fourfold--namely, His divine love, which is without measure; the
+created love, which is called charity, and which He had in His soul
+by the union of the Eternal Word and the perfect gift of His Father;
+the great distress of human nature; and the glory of His Father.
+These are the reasons for the coming of Christ, our Bridegroom, and
+for all His works, exterior and interior.
+
+Now we must observe in Jesus Christ, if we wish to follow Him in His
+virtues according to our powers, the mode or condition which He had
+within, and the works which He wrought without, for they are virtues
+and the acts of virtues.
+
+The mode which He had according to His divinity is inaccessible and
+incomprehensible to us, for it is after this mode that He is
+continually born of the Father, and that the Father in Him and by
+Him knows and creates and orders, and rules everything in heaven and
+on earth; for He is the Wisdom of the Father, and from them flows
+spiritually a Spirit--that is to say, a love, which is the bond
+between them and the bond of all the saints and just persons on
+earth and in heaven. We will speak no more of this mode but of the
+created mode which He had by these divine gifts and according to His
+humanity. These modes are singularly multiform; for Christ had as
+many modes as He had interior virtues, for each virtue has its
+special mode. These virtues and these modes were, in the mind of
+Christ, above the intelligence and above the comprehension of all
+creatures. But let us take three--namely, humility, charity, and
+interior or exterior suffering in patience. These are the three
+principal roots and origins of all virtues and all perfection.
+
+ON THE TWOFOLD HUMILITY OF CHRIST
+
+NOW understand: there are two kinds of humility in Jesus Christ,
+according to His divinity. First, He willed to become man; and this
+nature, which was accursed even to the depth of hell, He accepted
+according to His personality and was willing to unite Himself to it.
+So that every man, good or bad, may say, Jesus Christ, the Son of
+God, is my brother. Secondly, He chose for mother a poor virgin, and
+not a king's daughter, so that this poor virgin became the mother of
+God, who is the only Lord of heaven and earth and all creatures. In
+consequence, of all the works of humility which Christ ever
+accomplished, one may say that God accomplished them. Now let us
+take the humility which was in Jesus Christ according to His
+humanity and by grace and divine gifts; according to His humility
+His soul inclined with all its power in respect and veneration
+before the power of the Father. For an inclined heart is a humble
+heart. This is why He did all His works to the praise and glory of
+the Father, and sought in nothing His own glory according to His
+humanity. He was humble, and submitted to the old law, and to the
+commandments, and often to the customs. He was circumcised, and
+carried to the Temple, and redeemed according to usages, and He paid
+taxes to Caesar like other Jews. And He submitted Himself humbly to
+His mother and to Joseph, and served them with a sincere deference
+according to their needs. He chose for friends--for apostles--the poor
+and the despised, in order to convert the world. In his intercourse
+with them and all others He was humble and modest. This is why He
+was at the disposal of all men, in whatever distress they were,
+within or without; He was, as it were, the servant of the whole
+world. This is what we find first in Jesus Christ, our Bridegroom.
+
+ON THE LOVE OF CHRIST, ADORNED WITH ALL VIRTUES
+
+NEXT comes charity, the beginning and source of all virtues. This
+charity maintained the supreme forces of His soul in tranquillity,
+and in the enjoyment of the same blessedness which He enjoys at
+present. And this same charity kept Him continually exalted towards
+His Father, with veneration, love, praise, respect, with internal
+prayers for the need of all men, and with the offering of all His
+works to the glory of God the Father. And this same charity made
+Christ still overflow with love and kindness towards all the
+material or spiritual needs of mankind. This is why He has given, by
+His life, the model after which all men should fashion their lives.
+He has given spiritual nourishment to all well-disposed men by real
+internal teachings, as well as by outward miracles. We cannot
+comprehend His charity to its full extent, for it flowed from the
+unfathomable fountains of the Holy Spirit, above all the creatures
+who have ever received charity, for He was God and man in one
+Person. This is the second point of charity.
+
+ON THE PATIENCE OF CHRIST, EVEN UNTO DEATH
+
+THE third point is to suffer in patience. We will examine this
+seriously, for it is this which adorned Christ, our Bridegroom,
+during all His life. He suffered when He was newly born, from
+poverty and cold. He was circumcised and shed his blood. He was
+obliged to fly into a foreign country. He served Joseph and His
+mother, He suffered from hunger and thirst, from shame and contempt
+and from the wicked words and deeds of the Jews. He fasted, He
+watched, and was tempted by the enemy. He was subject to all men, He
+went from district to district, from town to town, to preach the
+gospel painfully and zealously. Finally, He was taken by the Jews,
+who were His enemies and whom He loved. He was betrayed, mocked,
+insulted, scourged, struck, and condemned on false testimony. He
+carried His cross with great pain to the mount of Calvary. He was
+stripped naked as at His birth, and never was seen a body so
+beautiful, nor a mother so unhappy. He endured shame, pain, and cold
+before all the world, for He was naked, and it was cold, and He was
+exhausted by His wounds. He was nailed with large nails to the wood
+of the cross, and was so strained that His veins were burst. He was
+lifted up and shaken upon the cross, so as to make His wounds bleed,
+His head was crowned with thorns, and His ears heard the fierce Jews
+crying out, "Crucify Him! crucify Him!" and many other shameful
+words. His eyes saw the obstinacy and wickedness of the Jews, and
+the distress of His mother, and His eyes were extinguished under the
+bitterness of pain and death. His mouth and palate were hurt by the
+vinegar and gall, and all the sensitive parts of His body wounded by
+the scourge.
+
+Behold then Christ, our Bridegroom, wounded to death, abandoned by
+God and the creatures, dying on the cross, hanging from a post, with
+no one to care much for Him except Mary, His unhappy mother, who
+nevertheless could not aid Him. And Christ suffered moreover
+spiritually, in His soul, from the hardness of the Jews' hearts and
+those who made Him die, for in spite of the prodigies and miracles
+which they saw, they remained in their wickedness; and He suffered
+by reason of their corruption and the vengeance which God was about
+to inflict upon them, in body and soul, for His death. He suffered
+moreover for the grief and misery of His mother and disciples, who
+were in great sadness. And He suffered because His death would be
+wasted for many men, and for the ingratitude of many, and for the
+blasphemies of those who would curse Him who died for love of us.
+And His nature and interior reason suffered because God withdrew
+from them the inflow of His gifts and consolations, and abandoned
+them to themselves in such distress. Therefore Christ complained and
+said, My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?
+
+Behold then the interior virtues of Christ; humility, charity, and
+suffering in patience. These three virtues Jesus, our Bridegroom,
+practised throughout His life, and He died in them, and He paid our
+debt by satisfying justice, and opened His side in His bounty. And
+thence flow rivers of delight, and sacraments of blessedness. And He
+was exalted to His power, and sat at the right hand of the Father,
+and reigns eternally. This is the first coming of our Bridegroom,
+and it is completely past.
+
+ON THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST, HOW HE EVERY DAY FLOWS INTO OUR
+HEARTS WITH NEW GRACE
+
+THE second coming of Christ, our Bridegroom, takes place every day
+in just men. We do not wish to speak here of the first conversion of
+man, nor of the first grace which was given him when he was
+converted from sin to virtue. But we wish to speak of a daily
+increase of new gifts and new virtues, and of a more actual coming
+of Christ, our Bridegroom, into our soul. Now we must observe the
+cause, the mode, and the work, of this coming. The cause is fourfold;
+the mercy of God, our misery, the divine generosity, and our
+desire. These four causes make the virtues grow and increase.
+
+Now understand. When the sun sends forth its bright rays into a deep
+valley between two high mountains, and while it is at the zenith, so
+that it can illuminate the depths of the valley, a triple phenomenon
+occurs; for the valley is lighted from the mountains, and it becomes
+warmer and more fertile than the plain. In the same way, when a just
+man sinks in his misery, and recognises that he has nothing, and is
+nothing, that he can neither halt nor go forward by his own
+strength; and when he perceives also that he fails often in virtues
+and good works, he thus confesses his poverty and distress, and
+forms the valley of humility. And because he is humble and in need,
+and because he confesses his need, he makes his plaint to the
+kindness and mercy of God. He is conscious of the sublimity of God,
+and of his own abasement.
+
+Thus he becomes a deep valley. And Christ is the sun of justice and
+mercy, which burns at the meridian of the firmament--that is to say,
+at the right hand of the Father, and shines even to the bottom of
+humble hearts; for Christ is always moved by distress, when man
+humbly offers to Him complaints and prayers. Then the two mountains
+rise--that is to say, a double desire, in the first place a desire to
+serve and love God by his merits, in the second place to obtain
+excellent virtues. These two desires are higher than heaven, for
+they touch God without any intermediary, and desire His immense
+generosity. Then that generosity cannot be kept back, it must flow,
+for the soul is at this moment susceptible of receiving countless
+boons.
+
+These are the causes of the second coming of Christ, with new
+virtues. Then the valley--that is to say, the humble heart, receives
+three things. It is enlightened the more, and illuminated by grace,
+and warmed by charity, and becomes more fertile in virtues and good
+works. Thus you have the cause, the mode, and the work, of this
+coming.
+
+HOW WE MAY MAKE DAILY PROGRESS BY THE SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
+
+THERE is yet another coming of Christ, our Bridegroom, which takes
+place every day, in the growth of grace and in new gifts--that is to
+say, when a man receives some sacrament with a humble and
+well-prepared heart. He receives then new gifts and more ample
+graces, by reason of his humility, and by the internal and secret
+work of Christ in the sacrament. That which is contrary to the
+sacrament is in baptism the want of faith, in confession the want of
+contrition; it is to go to the sacrament of the altar in a state of
+mortal sin, or of bad will; and it is the same with the other
+sacraments.
+
+ON THE THIRD COMING OF CHRIST, TO JUDGMENT
+
+THE third coming, which is still future, will take place at the last
+judgment or at the hour of death. Christ, our Bridegroom and our
+Judge at this judgment, will recompense and avenge according to
+justice, for He will award to each according to his deserts. He
+gives to every just man, for every good work done in the spirit of
+the Lord, a reward without measure, which no creature can merit--
+namely, Himself. But as He co-operates in the creature, the creature
+deserves, through His merit, to have a reward. And by a necessary
+justice He gives eternal pains to those who have rejected an eternal
+good for a perishable.
+
+ON THE THIRD SPIRITUAL GOING FORTH, TO ALL THE VIRTUES
+
+NOW understand and observe. Christ says at the beginning of our
+text, "See"--that is to say, see by charity and pureness of
+conscience, as you have been told. Now, He has shown us what we
+shall see--namely, His three comings.
+
+He orders us what we must do next, and says, "Go forth" if you have
+fulfilled the first necessary condition--that is to say, if you see
+in grace and in charity, and if you have well observed your model,
+Christ, in His "going forth"; there leaps up in you, from your love
+and loving observation of your Bridegroom, an ardour of justice--
+that is to say, a desire to follow Him in virtue. Then Christ says
+in you, "Go forth." This going forth must have three modes. We must
+go forth towards God, towards ourselves, and towards our neighbour
+by charity and justice; for charity always pushes upward, towards
+the kingdom of God, which is God Himself; for He is the source from
+which it flowed without any intermediary, and He remains always
+immanent in it. The justice which is born of charity wishes to
+perfect the manners and the virtues which are suitable to the
+kingdom of God--that is to say, to the soul. These two things,
+charity and justice, establish a solid foundation in the kingdom of
+the soul where God may dwell, and this foundation is humility. These
+three virtues support all the weight and all the edifice of all the
+virtues and all sublimity; for charity maintains man in presence of
+the unfathomable good things of God from whence it flows, so that it
+perseveres in God, and increases in all the virtues and in true
+humility; and justice maintains man in presence of the eternal truth
+of God, so that truth may be discovered by him, and that he may be
+illuminated, and may accomplish all the virtues without error. But
+humility maintains man always before the supreme power of God, so
+that he remains always abased and little, and abandons himself to
+God, and holds no longer by himself. This is the way in which a man
+must bear himself before God, that he may grow alway in new virtues.
+
+HOW HUMILITY IS THE FOUNDATION OF ALL THE VIRTUES
+
+NOW understand; for having made humility the base of everything, we
+must speak first of it. Humility is the desire of abasement or of
+depth--that is to say, an inclination or internal desire for
+abasement of heart and conscience before the sublimity of God. The
+justice of God exacts this submission, and, thanks to charity, the
+loving heart cannot abandon it. When the loving and humble man
+considers that God has served him so humbly, so lovingly, and so
+faithfully, and then that God is so high, so powerful, and so noble,
+and that man is so poor, little, and base, there is born from all
+this, in the humble heart, an immense respect and reverence towards
+God; for to reverence God in all works, within and without, is the
+first and most delightful work of humility, the sweetest work of
+charity, and the most suitable work of justice. For the humble and
+loving heart cannot pay honours to God and His noble humanity, nor
+abase himself so deeply as to satisfy his desire. That is why it
+seems to the humble man that he always does too little in honour of
+God and in his humble service. And he is humble, and venerates Holy
+Church and the sacraments, and he is temperate in meat and drink, in
+his words, and in all relations of life. He is content with poor
+raiment, with menial employment, and his face is naturally humble,
+without pretence. And he is hunible in his practices, within and
+without, before God and before men, that none may be offended by
+reason of him. Thus he tames and removes far from him all pride,
+which is the cause and origin of all sins. Humility breaks the
+snares of sin, the world, and the Devil. And man is ordered within
+himself, and established in the very place of virtue. Heaven is open
+to him, and God is inclined to hear his prayer, and he is loaded
+with graces. And Christ, the solid stone, is his support, and he who
+builds his virtues upon humility cannot go wrong.
+
+ON OBEDIENCE
+
+FROM this humility is born obedience, for only the humble man can be
+inwardly obedient. Obedience is a submission and pliant disposition,
+and a good will ready for all that is good. Obedience subjects a man
+to orders, to prohibitions, and to the will of God, and it subjects
+the soul and sensual force to the highest reason, in such a way that
+the man lives suitably and reasonably. And it makes men submissive
+and obedient to Holy Church and to the sacraments, and to all the
+good practices of holy Christianity. It prepares man, and makes him
+ready for the service of all, in works, in bodily and spiritual
+care, according to the needs of each, and prudence. Also, it drives
+far away disobedience, which is the daughter of pride, and which we
+ought to flee from more than from poison. Obedience in will and work
+adorns, extends, and manifests the humility of man. It gives peace
+to cloisters, and if it exists in the prelate, as it ought to exist,
+it attracts those who are under his orders. It maintains peace and
+equality among equals. And he who observes it is beloved by those
+who are above him, and the gifts of God, which are eternal, elevate
+and enrich him.
+
+ON THE ABDICATION OF OUR OWN WILL
+
+FROM this obedience is born the abdication of our own will. By this
+abdication the substance and occasion of pride are repulsed, and the
+greatest humility is accomplished. And God rules the man as He
+wills; and the will of the man is so well united to that of God that
+he can neither wish nor desire anything otherwise. He has put off
+the old man, and has put on the new man, renewed and perfect
+according to the divine will. It is of such an one that Christ said,
+"Blessed are the poor in spirit," that is, those who have renounced
+their will--"for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
+
+ON PATIENCE
+
+FROM the abandonment of the will is born patience; for no one can
+be perfectly patient in everything, except he who has submitted his
+will to the will of God, and to all men in things useful and
+convenient. Patience is a tranquil endurance of all that can happen
+to a man, whether sent by God or by men. Nothing can trouble the
+patient man, neither the loss of earthly goods, nor the loss of
+friends or relations, nor sickness, nor disgrace, nor life, nor
+death, nor purgatory, nor the devil, nor hell. For he has abandoned
+himself to the will of God in true love. And, provided that mortal
+sin does not touch him, all that God orders for him in time or
+eternity seems light. This patience adorns a man, and arms him
+against anger and sudden rage, and against impatience of suffering,
+which often deceives a man within and without, and exposes him to
+manifold temptations.
+
+ON GENTLENESS
+
+FROM this patience are born gentleness and kindness, for no one can
+be gentle under adversity if not the patient man. Gentleness creates
+in man peace and repose from everything; for the gentle man endures
+insulting words and gestures, and bad faces and bad deeds, and all
+manner of injustice towards his friends and himself, and he is
+content with all, for gentleness is suffering in repose. Thanks to
+gentleness, the force of anger remains immovable in its
+tranquillity, the force of desire lifts itself up towards the
+virtues, and the reason rejoices, and the conscience dwells in
+peace, for the other mortal sins, such as anger and rage, are
+removed far from her. For the Spirit of God reposes in a gentle and
+humble heart, as Christ saith, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall
+inherit the earth"--that is to say, their own nature and the things
+of earth in meekness, and, after this life, the things of eternity.
+
+ON KINDNESS
+
+FROM the same source as gentleness comes kindness, for the gentle
+spirit alone can possess kindness. This kindness causes a man to
+oppose a loving face and friendly words, and all the works of pity,
+to those who are angry with him, and he hopes that they will return
+to themselves and amend. Thanks to mercy and kindness, charity
+remains lively and fruitful in a man; for the heart full of kindness
+is like a lamp full of precious oil; and the oil of kindness
+lightens the wandering sinner by its good example, and soothes and
+heals by consoling words and deeds those whose heart is wounded,
+saddened, or irritated. And it inflames and illumines those who are
+in charity, and no jealousy or envy can touch it.
+
+ON COMPASSION
+
+FROM kindness is born compassion, by which we sympathise with every
+one, for no one can suffer with all men, except he who has kindness.
+Compassion is an inward movement of the heart, aroused by pity for
+the bodily or spiritual distress of all men. This compassion makes a
+man partaker in Christ's sufferings, when he considers the reason of
+these sufferings, the resignation and love of Christ, His wounds,
+His tortures, His shame, His nobleness, His misery, the shame which
+He endured, the crown, the nails, and the death in patience. These
+unheard of and manifold pains of Christ, our Redeemer and
+Bridegroom, move to pity anyone who is capable of feeling pity.
+Compassion makes a man observe and note his faults, his want of
+power to do any good thing, and weakness in all that pertains to the
+glory of God; his lukewarmness and slowness, the multitude of his
+faults, the waste of his time, and his positive shortcomings in
+virtue and good conduct. All this makes a man truly sorry for
+himself. Then his compassion for himself makes him consider his
+errors and wanderings, the small care which he has of God and of his
+eternal salvation, his ingratitude for all the good that God has
+done him, and for all that He has suffered for man. And he considers
+also that he is a stranger to the virtues, that he neither knows
+them nor practises them, while he is clever and crafty in all that
+is bad and unjust; he sees how attentive he is to the loss or gain
+of worldly goods, how inattentive and indifferent towards God, the
+things of eternity, and his own salvation. This consideration makes
+the just man feel a great compassion towards the salvation of all
+men. The man will also observe with pity the bodily needs of his
+neighbour and the manifold pains of nature, when he sees the hunger
+which men suffer, the thirst, cold, nakedness, poverty, contempt,
+and oppression; the sadness which they feel at the loss of
+relations, friends, goods, honour, and repose; and the innumerable
+afflictions to which flesh is heir. All this rouses the just man to
+compassion, and he suffers with all men; but his greatest suffering
+arises when he sees the impatience of others under their own
+sufferings, by which they lose their reward and often deserve hell.
+This is the work of compassion and pity.
+
+This work of compassion and love for all men overcomes and removes
+the third mortal sin--namely, hatred and envy; for compassion is a
+wound of the heart, which makes us love all men, and can only work
+healing in so far as some suffering lives in men; for God has
+ordained that mourning and pain must precede all the other virtues.
+This is why Christ said, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they
+shall be comforted"--that is to say, when they shall reap in joy what
+they now sow in compassion and sorrow.
+
+ON GENEROSITY
+
+FROM this compassion is born generosity, for no one can be
+supernaturally generous, with faith in all men, and with love,
+except the merciful man; though one many give to a particular
+individual without charity, and without supernatural generosity.
+
+Generosity is the copious outflow of a heart moved with charity and
+pity. When a man considers with compassion the sufferings and pains
+of Christ, from this compassion is born generosity, which excites us
+to praise and thank Christ for His pains and for His love, at the
+same time that it causes to be born in us respect and veneration,
+and a joyous and humble submission of heart and soul, in time and in
+eternity. When a man observes and pities himself, and considers the
+good that God has done to him and his own weakness, he cannot help
+flowing out into the liberality of God, taking refuge in His pity
+and fidelity, and abandoning himself to God, with a free and perfect
+wish to serve Him for ever. The generous man, who observes the
+errors, the wanderings, and the injustice of men, desires and
+implores the outflow of the divine gifts and the exercise of their
+generosity on all men, that they may return to themselves and be
+converted to the truth. The generous man considers also with
+compassion the material needs of all men; he helps them, gives,
+lends, consoles to the best of his power. By means of this
+generosity, men practise the seven works of mercy, the rich by their
+services and the bestowal of their goods, the poor by good will and
+the desire to do good if they can, and thus the virtue of generosity
+is perfected. Generosity in the depth of the heart multiplies all
+the virtues, and illuminates the forces of the soul. For the
+generous, man is always of joyful spirit, he is without anxiety; he
+is full of sympathy, and is ready to do kindnesses to all men in the
+works of virtue. He who is generous, and loves not the things of
+earth, however poor he may be, is like unto God, for all that he
+has, and all the thoughts of his heart flow out of him in largess.
+And so he is delivered from the fourth of the deadly sins, avarice.
+Jesus Christ saith to these: "Blessed are the merciful, for they
+shall obtain mercy"; in the day when they shall hear this word
+spoken unto them: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
+kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
+
+ON ZEAL AND DILIGENCE
+
+FROM this generosity are born supernatural zeal and diligence in all
+the virtues. None can exhibit this zeal, save the generous and
+diligent man. This is an internal and eager impulse towards all the
+virtues, and towards the imitation of Christ and the saints. In this
+zeal, a man desires to expend in the honour of God the united powers
+of his heart and senses, his soul and body, all that he is, and all
+that he may receive. This zeal makes a man watchful in reason and
+discrimination, and makes him practise the virtues in justice.
+Thanks to this supernatural zeal, all the forces of his soul are
+open to God, and prepared for all the virtues. His conscience is
+refreshed, and divine grace is increased, virtue is practised with
+joy, and his external works are adorned. He who has received this
+lively zeal from God is removed far from the fifth deadly
+sin--lukewarmness and gloominess towards the virtues necessary for
+salvation. [Footnote: The best account in English of the deadly sin
+of acedia, too much neglected in modern religious teaching, is to be
+found in Bishop Paget's Spirit of Discipline.] And sometimes this
+lively zeal disperses heaviness and sluggishness of the bodily
+temperament. It is on this subject that Jesus Christ says: "Blessed
+are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall
+be filled." This will be, when the glory of God shall be manifested,
+and shall fill every man in proportion to his love and justice.
+
+ON TEMPERANCE AND SOBRIETY
+
+FROM zeal are born temperance and sobriety within and without; for
+none can maintain true moderation in sobriety, if he is not
+thoroughly diligent and zealous to preserve his body and soul in
+justice. Sobriety separates the higher faculties from the animal
+faculties, and preserves a man from excesses. Sobriety wishes not to
+taste nor know those things which are not permitted.
+
+The incomprehensible and sublime nature of God surpasses all the
+creatures in heaven and earth, for whatever the creature conceives
+is creature. But God is above every creature, and within and without
+every creature, and all created comprehension is too strait to
+comprehend Him. In order that the creature may conceive and
+comprehend God, it must be drawn up into God from above; it is only
+by God that it can comprehend God. Those then who wish to know what
+God is, and to study Him, let them know that it is forbidden. They
+would become mad. All created light must fail here. What God is,
+passes the comprehension of every creature. But Holy Scripture,
+nature, and all the creatures show us that He is. We shall believe
+the articles of faith without trying to penetrate them, for that is
+impossible while we are here: this is sobriety. The difficult and
+subtle teachings of the inspired writings we shall only explain in
+accordance with the life of Christ and His saints. Man will study
+nature and the Scriptures, and every creature; and will seek to
+learn from them only what may be to his own advantage. This is
+sobriety of spirit.
+
+A man will maintain sobriety of the senses, and he will subdue by
+reason his animal faculties, that the animal pleasure in food and
+drink may not delight him too much, but that he may eat and drink as
+a sick man takes a potion, because it is his duty to preserve his
+strength for the service of God. This is sobriety of body. A man
+will preserve moderation in words and actions, in silence and
+speech, in eating and drinking, in what he does and abstains from
+doing, as Holy Church enjoins and the saints give the example.
+
+By moderation and sobriety of spirit within, a man maintains
+constancy and perseverance in the faith, that purity of intelligence
+and calmness of reason which are necessary to understand the truth,
+readiness to bend to the will of God with regard to every virtue,
+peace of heart and serenity of conscience. Thanks to this virtue, he
+possesses assured peace in God and in himself.
+
+By moderation and sobriety in the use of the bodily faculties, he
+often preserves health and contentment of the bodily nature, his
+honour in external relations, and his good name. And thus he is at
+peace with himself and with his neighbour. For he attracts and
+rejoices all men of good will, by his moderation and sobriety. And
+he escapes the sixth deadly sin, which is want of temperance, and
+gluttony. It is of this that Christ said: "Blessed are the
+peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." For
+being like unto the Son, who has made peace in all creatures who
+desire it, and who make peace in their turn, by moderation and
+sobriety, the Son will divide among them the heritage of His Father,
+and they will possess this heritage with Him throughout eternity.
+
+ON PURITY
+
+FROM this sobriety are born purity of soul and body, for none can be
+absolutely pure in body and soul, save he who follows after sobriety
+in body and soul. Purity of spirit consists in this--that a man
+cleaves to no creature with any passionate desire, but attaches
+himself to God only; for one may use all the creatures while
+rejoicing in God only. Purity of spirit makes a man attach himself
+to God above intelligence and above the senses, and above all the
+gifts which God may bestow upon the soul; for all that the creature
+receives in its intelligence or in its senses purity desires to
+transcend, and to repose in God only. We should approach the
+sacrament of the altar not for the sake of the delights, the
+pleasure, the peace, or the sweetness which we find there, but for
+the glory of God only, and that we may grow in all the virtues. This
+is purity of spirit.
+
+Purity of heart signifies that a man turns towards God without
+hesitation in every bodily temptation and every disturbance of
+nature, in the freedom of his will abandoning himself to Him with a
+new confidence and a firm resolve to abide always with God. For to
+consent to sin, or to the animal desires of the bodily nature, is a
+separation from God.
+
+Purity of body means that a man abstains from impure actions of
+every kind, when his conscience assures him that they are impure and
+contrary to the commandments, to the glory, and to the will of God.
+
+Thanks to these three kinds of purity, the seventh deadly sin, that
+of wantonness, is conquered and driven away. Wantonness is a
+voluptuous inclination of the spirit, leading away from God towards
+a created thing; it is the impure act of the flesh outside what
+Holy Church permits, and the carnal occupation of the heart in some
+taste or desire for a creature. I do not here refer to those sudden
+stirrings of love or desire which none can escape.
+
+You now know that purity of spirit preserves men in the likeness of
+God, without care for the creatures, inclined towards God and united
+to Him. The chastity of the body is compared to the whiteness of the
+lily and to the purity of the angels. In its resistance to
+temptation, it is compared to the redness of the rose, and to the
+nobility of the martyrs. If it is preserved for love of God and in
+His honour, it is then perfect, and it is compared to the
+heliotrope, for it is one of the highest adornments of nature.
+
+Purity of heart renews and increases the grace of God. In purity of
+heart all the virtues are inspired, practised, and preserved. It
+keeps and preserves the outer senses, it subdues and binds the
+animal desires within, and it is the ornament of all the inner life.
+It is the exclusion of the heart from things of earth and from all
+lies, and its inclusion among the things of heaven and all truth.
+And this is why Christ has said: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for
+they shall see God." This is the vision in which consists our
+eternal joy, and all our reward, and our entrance into bliss. This
+is why a man will be sober and moderate in everything, and will keep
+himself from every occasion which might tarnish the purity of his
+soul and body.
+
+ON THE THREE ENEMIES WHO ARE TO BE CONQUERED BY JUSTICE
+
+IF we wish to possess this virtue and to repulse these enemies, we
+must have justice, and we must practise it, and preserve it even
+until our death, in purity of heart, for we have three powerful
+enemies who try to attack us at all times, in all states, and in
+many different ways. If we make our peace with any one of them and
+follow him, we are vanquished, for they are in league with each
+other in all wickedness and injustice. These three enemies are the
+devil, the world, and our own flesh, which is the nearest to us, and
+is often the worst and most mischievous of our foes. For our animal
+desires are the weapons with which our enemies fight against us.
+Idleness, and indifference to virtue and the glory of God are the
+cause and occasion of war and combat. But the weakness of our
+natures, our negligence and ignorance of truth are the sword by
+which our enemies wound us and sometimes conquer us.
+
+And this is why we must be divided in ourselves. The lower part of
+ourselves, which is animal and contrary to the virtues, we ought to
+hate and persecute and cause it to suffer by means of penitence and
+austerities, so that it may be always crushed down and submissive to
+reason, and that justice, with purity of heart, may always keep the
+upper hand in all virtuous actions. And all the pains, sorrows, and
+persecutions which God makes us suffer at the hands of those who are
+enemies to virtue, we shall endure with joy, in honour of God and
+for the glory of virtue, and in the hope of obtaining and possessing
+justice in purity of heart; for Christ said: "Blessed are those who
+are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of
+heaven." For righteousness preserved in virtue and in virtuous
+actions is a coin of the same weight and value as the kingdom of
+heaven, and it is by it that we may purchase and obtain eternal
+life. By these virtues a man goes forth towards God and towards
+himself, in good conduct, virtue, and justice.
+
+ON THE KINGDOM OF THE SOUL
+
+HE who wishes to obtain and preserve these virtues, will adorn,
+occupy, and order his soul like a kingdom. Free will is the king of
+the soul. It is free by nature, and more free still by grace. It
+will be crowned with a crown or diadem named Charity. We shall
+receive this crown and this kingdom from the Emperor, who is the
+Lord, the sovereign and king of kings, and we shall possess, rule,
+and preserve this kingdom in His name. This king, free will, will
+dwell in the highest town in the kingdom--that is to say, in the
+concupiscent faculty of the soul. He will be adorned and clad with a
+robe in two parts. The right side of his robe will be a virtue
+called strength, that he may be strong and powerful to overcome all
+obstacles and sojourn in the heaven, in the palace of the supreme
+Emperor, and to bend with love and ardent self-surrender his crowned
+head before the supreme monarch. This is the proper work of charity.
+By it we receive the crown, by it we adorn the crown, and by it we
+keep and possess the kingdom throughout eternity. The left side of
+the robe will be a cardinal virtue, called moral courage. Thanks to
+it, free will, the king, will subdue all immorality, will accomplish
+all virtue, and will have the power to keep his kingdom even until
+death. The king will choose councillors in his country, the wisest
+in the land. They will be two divine virtues, knowledge and
+discretion, illuminated by divine grace. They will dwell near the
+king, in a palace called the reasonable force of the soul. They will
+be crowned and adorned with a moral virtue called temperance, that
+the king may always act and refrain from acting according to their
+advice. By knowledge we shall purge our conscience from all its
+faults and adorn it with all virtues; and, thanks to discretion, we
+shall give and take, do and not do, speak and be silent, fast and
+eat, listen and answer, and act in all ways according to knowledge
+and discretion clad in their moral virtue, which is called
+temperance or moderation.
+
+This king, free will, will also establish in his kingdom a judge,
+who will be justice, which is a divine virtue when it is born from
+love. And it is one of the highest moral virtues. This judge will
+dwell in the conscience, in the middle of the kingdom in the
+irascible faculty. And he will be adorned with a moral virtue called
+prudence. For justice without prudence cannot be perfect. This
+judge, justice, will traverse the kingdom with royal powers,
+accompanied by wise counsel and his own prudence. He will promote
+and dismiss, he will judge and condemn, will condemn to death and
+acquit, will mutilate, blind, and restore to sight, will exalt and
+abase and organise, will punish and chastise according to justice,
+and will destroy all vices. The people of the kingdom--that is to
+say, all the faculties of the soul, will be supported by humility
+and the fear of God, submitting to Him in all the virtues, each
+after its own manner. He who has thus occupied, preserved, and
+ordered the kingdom of his soul, has gone forth, by love and the
+virtues, towards God, towards himself, and towards his neighbour.
+This is the third of the four principal points which Christ speaks
+of when He says, Go forth.
+
+ON THE THREEFOLD MEETING OF THE SOUL
+
+WHEN a man has, by the grace of God, eyes to see, and a pure
+conscience, and when he has considered the three comings of Christ,
+our Bridegroom, and lastly when he has gone forth by the virtues,
+then takes place the meeting with our Bridegroom, and this is the
+fourth and last point. In this meeting consist all our blessedness,
+and the beginning and the end of all the virtues, and without this
+meeting no virtue can be practised.
+
+He who wishes to meet Christ as his well-beloved Bridegroom, and to
+possess in Him and with Him eternal life, must meet Christ, now in
+time, in three points or in three manners. First, he must love God
+in everything wherein we shall merit eternal life. Secondly, he must
+attach himself to nothing which he might love as much as or more
+than God. Thirdly, he must repose in God with all his might, above
+all creatures and above all the gifts of God, and above all acts of
+virtue and above all the sensible graces which God might spread
+abroad in his soul and body.
+
+Now understand: he who has God for his end must have Him present to
+himself, by some divine reason. That is to say, he must have in view
+Him who is the Lord of heaven, and of earth, and of every creature,
+Him who died for him, and who can and will give him eternal
+salvation. In whatever mode and under whatever name he represents
+God, as Lord of every creature, it is well. If he takes some divine
+Person, and in Him sees the essence and power of the divine nature,
+it is well. If he regards God as saviour, redeemer, creator,
+governor, as blessedness, power, wisdom, truth, goodness, it is
+well. Though the names which we ascribe to God are numerous, the
+sublime nature of God is simple and unnameable by the creatures. But
+we give Him all these names by reason of His nobleness and
+incomprehensible sublimity, and because we cannot name or proclaim
+Him completely. See now under what mode and by what knowledge God
+will be present to our intention. For to have God for our aim is to
+see spiritually. To this quest belong also affection and love, for
+to know God and be without love aids and advances us not a whit, and
+has no savour. This is why a man, in all his actions, must bend
+lovingly towards God, whom he seeks and loves above everything.
+This, then, is the meeting with God by means of intention and love.
+
+In order that the sinner may turn from his sins in a meritorious
+penitence, he must meet God by contrition, free conversion, and a
+sincere intention to serve God for ever, and to sin no more. Then,
+at this meeting, he receives from the mercy of God the assured hope
+of eternal salvation and the pardon of his sins, and he receives the
+foundation of all the virtues, faith, hope, and charity, and the
+good will to practise all the virtues. If this man advances in the
+light of faith, and observes all the works of Christ, all His
+sufferings and all His promises, and all that He has done for us and
+will do to the day of judgment and through eternity; if he examines
+all this for his soul's health, he must needs meet with Christ; and
+Christ must needs be present to his soul, so grateful and full of
+thankfulness. So his faith is fortified, and he is impelled more
+inwardly and powerfully towards all the virtues. If he still
+progresses in the works of virtue, he must again meet with Christ,
+by the annihilation of self. Let him not seek his own things; let
+him set before him no extraneous ends; let him be discreet in his
+actions; let him set God always before him, and the praise and glory
+of God; and let him so continue till his death; then his reason
+will be enlightened and his charity increased, and he will become
+more pious and apt for all the virtues. We shall set God before us
+in every good work; in bad works we cannot set Him before us. We
+shall not have two intentions--that is to say, we shall not seek God
+at the same time as something else, but all our intention must be
+subordinated to God and not contrary to Him, but of one and the same
+kind, so that it may help us and give us an impulse which may lead
+us more easily to God. Then and then only is a man in the right
+road. Moreover, we shall rest rather upon Him who is our aim and our
+goal and the object of our love, than upon the messengers whom He
+sends us--that is to say, His gifts. The soul will rest constantly
+upon God, above all the adornments and presents which His messengers
+may bring. The messengers sent by the soul are intention, love, and
+desire. They carry to God all our good works and virtues. Above all
+these, the soul will rest on God, its Beloved, above all
+multiplicity. This is the manner in which we shall meet Christ all
+through our life, in all our actions and virtues, by right
+intention, that we may meet Him at the hour of our death in the
+light of glory.
+
+This mode, as you have learnt, is called the active life. It is
+necessary to all men; or at least they must not live in a manner
+contrary to any virtue, though they may not attain the degree of
+perfection in all the virtues which I have described. For to live
+contrary to the virtues is to live in sin, as Christ has said: "He
+that is not with me is against me." He who is not humble is proud,
+and he who is proud belongs not to God. We must always possess a
+virtue and be in a state of grace, or possess what is contrary to
+that virtue and be in a state of sin. May every man examine and
+prove himself, and order his life as I have here described.
+
+ON THE DESIRE TO KNOW GOD AS HE IS, IN THE NATURE OF HIS GODHEAD
+
+THE man who thus lives, in this perfection, as I have here described
+it, and who devotes all his life and actions to the honour and glory
+of God, and who seeks and loves God above all things, is often
+seized by the desire to see and know Christ, this Bridegroom who was
+made man for love of him, who laboured in love even till death, who
+drove away from him sin and the enemy, who gave him His grace, who
+gave him Himself, who left him His sacraments and promised him His
+kingdom. When a man considers all this, he is exceedingly desirous
+to see Christ his Bridegroom, and to know what He is in Himself
+While He only knows Him in His works he is not satisfied. So he will
+do like Zacchasus, the publican, who desired to see Jesus Christ. He
+will go in front of the crowd--that is to say, the multitude of the
+creatures, for they make us so little and short, that we cannot
+perceive God. And he will climb the tree of faith, which grows from
+above downwards, for its roots are in the Godhead. This tree has
+twelve branches, which are the twelve articles of faith. The lower
+branches speak of the humanity of Christ, and of the things which
+concern the salvation of our body and soul. The higher part of the
+tree speaks of the Godhead, of the Trinity of the Divine Persons and
+the Unity of the Divine Nature. A man will strive to reach the unity
+at the top of the tree, for it is there that Jesus must pass with
+all His gifts. Here Jesus comes, and sees the man, and tells Him in
+the light of faith that He is, according to His Godhead,
+immeasurable and incomprehensible, inaccessible and abysmal, and
+that He surpasses all created light and all finite comprehension.
+This is the highest knowledge acquired in the active life, to
+recognise thus, in the light of faith, that God is inconceivable and
+unknowable. In this light Christ saith to the desire of a man: "Come
+down quickly, for I must lodge at thy house to-day." This rapid
+descent to which God invites him is nothing else but a descent, by
+desire and love, into the abyss of the Godhead, to which no
+intelligence can attain in crested light. But where intelligence
+remains outside, love and desire enter. The soul thus bending
+towards God, by the intention of love, above all that the intellect
+can comprehend, rests and abides in God, and God abides in her. Then
+mounting by desire, above the multitude of the creatures, above the
+work of the senses, above the light of nature, she meets Christ in
+the light of faith, and is enlightened, and recognises that God is
+unknowable and inconceivable. Finally, bending by her desires
+towards this inconceivable God, she meets Christ and is loaded with
+His gifts; by living and resting upon Him, above all His gifts,
+above herself and above all the creatures, she dwells in God and God
+in her.
+
+This is how you will meet Christ at the summit of the active life,
+if you have as your foundations justice, charity, and humility; and
+if you have built a house above--that is to say, the virtues here
+described, and if you have met Christ by faith--that is to say, by
+faith and the intention of love, you dwell in God and God dwells in
+you, and you possess the active life.
+
+This is the first explanation of the word of Jesus Christ our
+Bridegroom, when He said, "See, the Bridegroom cometh; go forth to
+meet Him."
+
+BOOK II
+
+THE SUBJECTS OF THE SECOND BOOK
+
+THE prudent virgin--that is to say, the pure soul, who has
+renounced the things of earth, and lives henceforth for God in
+virtue, has taken in the vessel of her heart the oil of charity and
+of divine works by means of the lamp of an unstained conscience. But
+when Christ, her Bridegroom, withdraws His consolations and the
+fresh outpouring of His gifts, the soul becomes heavy and torpid.
+
+At midnight--that is to say, when it is least expected, a spiritual
+cry resounds in the soul: "See, the Bridegroom cometh, go forth to
+meet Him." We shall now speak of this seeing, and of the inward
+coming of Christ, and of the spiritual going forth of the man to
+meet Jesus, and we shall explain these four conditions of an inward
+life, exalted and full of desire, to which all men attain not, but
+many reach it by means of the virtues and their inward courage.
+
+In these words, Christ teaches us four things. In the first, He
+requires that our intelligence shall be enlightened with a
+supernatural light. This is what we observe in the word, "See." In
+the next words He shows us what we ought to see--that is to say, the
+inward coming of our Bridegroom of eternal truth. This is His
+meaning when He says: "The Bridegroom cometh." In the third place,
+in the words "go forth," He bids us go forth in inward actions
+according to righteousness. In the fourth place, He shows us the end
+and motive of all our works, the meeting with our Bridegroom Jesus
+Christ in the joyous unity of His adorable Godhead.
+
+HOW WE MAY GAIN SUPERNATURAL VISION BY INTERNAL EXERCISES
+
+NOW let us speak of the first word. Christ saith, "See." Three
+things are required by him who would see supernaturally in interior
+exercises. The first is the light of the divine grace, but in a far
+more sublime manner than can be felt in the external, active life.
+The second is a stripping off of extraneous images and a denudation
+of the heart, so that a man may be free from images, and attachments
+to every creature. The third is a free conversion of the will, by
+means of a concentration of all the bodily and spiritual faculties,
+and complete deliverance from all inordinate affections. Thus this
+will flows together into the unity of the Godhead and of our own
+mind, so that the reasonable creature may be able to obtain and
+possess supernaturally the sublime unity of God. It is for this that
+God made the heaven and earth and mankind, it is for this that He
+was made man, and taught us by word and example by what way we
+should come to this unity. And then in the ardour of His love He
+endured to die, and He ascended to heaven, and opened to us this
+unity in which we may possess felicity and eternal blessedness.
+
+ON THE THREEFOLD NATURAL UNITY OF MAN
+
+NOW consider attentively: there are three kinds of natural unity in
+all men, and, moreover, of supernatural unity among the just. The
+first and supreme unity of man is in God; for all creatures are
+immanent in this unity, and if they were to be separated from God,
+they would be annihilated, and would become nothing. This unity is
+essential in us according to nature, whether we are good or bad. And
+without our co-operation it makes us neither holy nor blessed. This
+unity we possess in ourselves, and nevertheless above us, as a
+beginning and support of our life and essence.
+
+Another unity exists in us naturally--that of the supreme forces, in
+so far as they actively take their natural origin in the unity of
+the spirit or of the thoughts. This is the same unity as that which
+is immanent in God, but it is taken here actively and there
+essentially. Nevertheless the spirit is entirely in each unity
+according to the integrity of its substance. We possess this unity
+in ourselves, above the sensitive part of us; and thence are born
+memory, intelligence, and will, and all the power of spiritual
+works. In this unity the soul is called spirit.
+
+The third unity which is in us naturally is the foundation of bodily
+forces in the unity of the heart, the source and origin of bodily
+life. The soul possesses this unity in the lively centre of the
+heart, and from it flow all the material works and the five senses,
+and the soul draws from thence its name of soul (anima); for it is
+the source of life, and animates the body--that is to say, it makes
+it living and preserves it in life. These three unities are in man
+naturally, as a life and a kingdom. In the inferior unity we are
+sensible and animal, in the intermediate unity we are rational and
+spiritual; and in the superior unity we are preserved according to
+our essence. And this exists in all men, naturally.
+
+Now these three unities are adorned and cultivated naturally, like a
+kingdom and an eternal abode, by the virtues, in charity and in the
+active life. And they are adorned still better and more gloriously
+cultivated by the internal exercises of a spiritual life. But most
+gloriously and blessedly of all by a supernatural contemplative
+life.
+
+The inferior unity, which is corporeal, is adorned and cultivated
+supernaturally by external practices, by perfect conduct, by the
+example of Christ and the saints, by carrying the cross with Christ,
+by submitting our nature to the command of Holy Church and the
+teachings of the saints, according to the forces of nature and
+prudence.
+
+The other unity which resides in the spirit and which is absolutely
+spiritual, is adorned and cultivated supernaturally by the three
+Divine gifts, Faith, Hope, and Charity, and by the influx of grace
+and Divine gifts, and by good will directed to all the virtues, and
+the desire to follow the example of Christ and of holy Christendom.
+
+The third and supreme unity is above our intelligence and yet
+essentially in us. We cultivate it supernaturally when in all our
+works of virtue we have in view only the glory of God, without any
+other desire but to repose in Him, above thought, above ourselves,
+and above everything. And this is the unity from which we flowed out
+when we were created, and where we abide according to our essence,
+and towards which we endeavour to return by love. These are the
+virtues which adorn this triple unity in the active life.
+
+Now we proceed to say how this triple unity is adorned more
+sublimely and cultivated more nobly by interior exercises joined to
+the active life. When a man, by love and right intention, elevates
+himself in all his works and in all his life towards the honour and
+glory of God, and seeks rest in God above all things, he will wait
+in humility and patience and abandonment of self and in the hope of
+new riches and new gifts, and he will not be troubled or anxious
+whether it pleases God to grant His gifts or to refuse them. So men
+prepare themselves for receiving an internal life of desires; even
+as a vessel is fitted and prepared, into which a precious liquid is
+to be poured. There is no vessel more noble than the loving soul,
+and no drink more necessary than the grace of God. Man will thus
+offer to God all his works and all his life, in a simple and right
+intention, and in a zest above his intention, above himself, and
+above everything, in the sublime unity in which God and the loving
+spirit are united without intermediary.
+
+ON THE FIRST MODE OR DEGREE OF THE FIRST SPIRITUAL COMING OF CHRIST
+
+THE first coming of Christ to those who are engaged in the exercises
+of desire is an internal and sensible current from the Holy Spirit,
+which impels and attracts us to all the virtues. We shall compare
+this coming to the splendour and power of the sun, which, so soon as
+it is risen, enlightens and warms the whole world in the twinkling
+of an eye. In the same way Christ, the eternal sun, burns and
+shines, dwelling at the highest point of the spirit, and enlightens
+and fires the lower part of man--that is to say, his physical heart
+and sense-faculties, and this is accomplished in less time than the
+twinkling of an eye, for the work of God is prompt; but the man in
+whom it takes place ought to be internally seeing by means of his
+spiritual eyes.
+
+The sun burns in the East, in the middle of the world, on the
+mountains; there it hastens in the summer, and creates good fruits
+and strong wines, filling the earth with joy. The same sun shines in
+the West, at the end of the world; the country there is colder and
+the force of the heat less; nevertheless, it there produces a great
+number of good fruits, but not much wine. The men who dwell in the
+West part of themselves, abide in their external senses, and by
+their good intentions, their virtues, and their outer practices, by
+the grace of God produce abundant harvests of virtues of divers
+kinds, but they but rarely taste the wine of inward joy and
+spiritual consolation.
+
+The man who wishes to experience the rays of the eternal sun, which
+is Christ Himself, will be seeing; and will dwell on the mountains
+of the East, by concentrating all his faculties, and lifting up his
+heart to God, free, and indifferent to joy and pain and all the
+creatures. There shines Christ, the sun of righteousness, on the
+free and exalted heart, and this is what I mean by the mountains.
+Christ, the glorious sun and divine effulgence, shines through and
+fires by his internal coming, and by the power of His Spirit, the
+free heart and all the powers of the soul. This is the first work of
+the internal coming in the exercises of desire. Just as fire
+inflames things which are thrown into it, so Christ inflames the
+hearts offered to Him in freedom and exultation at His internal
+coming, and He says in this coming: "Go forth by the exercises
+appropriate to this life."
+
+ON UNITY OF HEART
+
+FROM this heat is born unity of heart, for we cannot obtain true
+unity, unless the Spirit of God lights His flame in our heart. For
+this fire makes one and like unto itself all that it can overtop and
+transform. Unity gives a man the feeling of being concentrated with
+all his faculties on one point. It gives internal peace and repose
+of heart. Unity of heart is a bond which draws and binds together
+the body and the soul, and all exterior and interior forces, in the
+unity of love.
+
+HOW THE VIRTUES PROCEED FROM UNITY
+
+FROM this unity of heart is born inwardness or the internal life,
+for none can have inwardness unless he is one and united in himself;
+fervour or inwardness is the introversion of a man into his own
+heart, to comprehend and experience the internal operation or speech
+of God. Inwardness is a sensible flame of love, which the Spirit of
+God lights and kindles in a man, and a man knows not whence it
+comes, nor what has happened to him.
+
+ON SENSIBLE LOVE
+
+FROM inwardness is born a sensible love which penetrates the heart
+of man and the highest faculties of the soul. This love and delight
+none can experience who has not inwardness. Sensible love is the
+desire and appetite for God as for an eternal good in which all is
+contained. Sensible love renounces all the creatures, not as needs
+but as pleasures. Interior love feels itself touched from above by
+the eternal love which it must practise eternally Interior love
+willingly renounces and despises everything, in order to obtain that
+which it loves.
+
+ON DEVOTION
+
+FROM this sensible love is born devotion to God and His glory. For
+none can have a hungry devotion in his heart, unless he possesses
+the sensible love of God. Devotion excites and stimulates a man
+internally and externally to the service of God. It makes the body
+and soul abound in glory and merit in the eyes of God and men. God
+exacts devotion in all that we do. It purges the body and soul from
+all that might hold us back; it shows us the true path to
+blessedness.
+
+ON GRATITUDE
+
+FROM fervent devotion is born gratitude, for none can thank or
+praise God perfectly if he is not fervent and pious. We should thank
+God for everything here below, that we may be able to thank Him
+eternally above. Those who praise not God here, will be mute
+eternally. To praise God is the most joyous and delicious employment
+of the loving heart. There is no limit to the praises of God, for
+therein is our salvation, and we shall praise Him eternally.
+
+Now hear a comparison, by which you may understand the exercise of
+gratitude. When the summer approaches and the sun mounts, it
+attracts the moisture of the earth along the stems and branches of
+the trees, whence come green leaves, flowers, and fruit. Even so
+when Christ, the eternal sun, rises in our hearts, He sends His
+light and heat upon our desires, and draws the heart away from all
+the manifold things of earth, creating unity and inwardness, and
+makes the heart grow and become green by interior love, and makes
+loving devotion flourish, and makes us bear the fruits of gratitude
+and love, and preserves these fruits eternally in the humble pain of
+our inability to praise and serve Him enough.
+
+Here ends the first of the four chief kinds ot interior exercises,
+which adorn the lower part of a man.
+
+HOW TO INCREASE INWARDNESS BY HUMILITY
+
+BUT in thus comparing to the splendour and power of the sun the
+modes in which Jesus Christ comes, we shall find in the sun another
+virtue or influence which makes the fruit more early ripe and more
+abundant.
+
+When the sun rises to a very great height, and enters the sign of
+the Twins--that is to say, into a double thing, but of the same
+nature, in the middle of the month of May, the sun has a double
+power over the flowers, herbs, and all that grows upon the earth. If
+at that time the planets which rule nature are well ordered
+according to the season of the year, the sun shines brightly on the
+earth, and attracts the moisture in the atmosphere. Hence are born
+dew and rain, and the fruits of the ground increase and multiply.
+
+Even so when Christ, that bright sun, rises in our heart above all
+other things, and when the requirements of material nature, which
+are contrary to the spirit, are well regulated according to reason,
+when we possess the virtues as I have said above, and when, lastly,
+we offer and restore to God, by the ardour of charity, and with
+gratitude and love, the delight and peace which we find in the
+virtues, from all these are born, at times, a gentle rain of new
+internal consolations, and a celestial dew of divine sweetness. This
+dew and rain make all the virtues increase and multiply day by day,
+if we put no hindrance in their way. This is a new and special
+operation, and a new coming of Christ into the loving heart.
+
+ON PURE SATISFACTION OF THE HEART
+
+FROM this sweetness is born satisfaction of heart, and of all the
+bodily faculties, so that a man imagines that he is inwardly
+embraced in the divine bands of love. This pleasure and consolation
+is greater and more delicious to body and soul than all the
+pleasures granted on earth, even if a man could enjoy them to the
+full. In this pleasure God sinks into the heart by means of His
+gifts with such a profusion of delights, consolations, and joys,
+that the heart overflows internally.
+
+ON THE OBSTACLES WHICH WE ENCOUNTER IN THIS STATE
+
+THIS coming, or kind of coming, is granted to beginners, when they
+turn from the world, when their conversion is complete, and they
+abandon all the consolations of earth to live for God only;
+nevertheless they are still weak, and need milk and not strong meat,
+such as great temptations and the hiding of God's face. At this
+season frost and fog often injure them, for they are in the middle
+of the May of the interior life. The frost is to wish to be
+something, or to imagine that we are something, or to be somewhat
+attached to ourselves, or to believe that we have deserved
+consolations and are worthy of them. The fog is the wish to rest
+upon internal consolations and pains. This obscures the atmosphere
+of reason, and the ilowers, which were about to unfold and bloom and
+bear fruits, shut up again. This is why we lose the knowledge of
+truth, and nevertheless we sometimes keep certain false sweetnesses
+granted by the enemy, which at the last lead men astray.
+
+HOW ONE OUGHT TO BEHAVE IN THIS CASE
+
+I WISH to give you here a brief comparison, that you may not go
+astray, and that you may be able to behave wisely in this case.
+Observe the wise bee, and imitate her. She dwells in unity, in the
+midst of the assembly of her kind, and she goes forth, not during a
+storm, but when the weather is calm and bright, and the sun shines;
+and she flies towards every flower where she may find sweetness. She
+rests not on any flower, neither for its beauty nor for its
+sweetness, but draws out from the cups of the flowers their
+sweetness and clearness--that is to say, the honey and wax, and she
+brings them back to the unity which is formed of the assembly of all
+the bees, that the honey and wax may be put to good use.
+
+The expanded heart on which Christ, the eternal sun, shines, grows
+and blooms under His rays, and from it flow all the interior forces
+in joy and sweetness.
+
+Now the wise man will act like the bee, and will try to settle, with
+affection, intelligence, and prudence, on all the gifts and all the
+sweetness that he has experienced, and on all the good that God has
+done to him. He will not rest on any flower of the gifts, but laden
+with gratitude and praise he will fly back towards the unity where
+he wishes to dwell, and to rest with God eternally.
+
+ON THE THIRD MODE OF THE SPIRITUAL COMING OF CHRIST
+
+WHEN the sun in heaven reaches its highest point, in the sign of the
+Crab--that is to say, when it can go no higher, but must begin to go
+backwards, then the greatest heat of the year begins. The sun
+attracts the moisture, the earth dries, and the fruits ripen. In the
+same way, when Christ, the divine sun, arises above the highest
+summit of our heart--that is to say, above all His gifts,
+consolations and sweetnesses, and if we do not rest in any of these,
+however sweet, but return always with humble praises to the source
+from which these gifts flow, Christ stops and remains lifted up
+above the summit of our heart, and desires to attract all our powers
+to Himself.
+
+This invitation is an irradiation of Christ, the eternal sun, and
+causes in the heart a joy and pleasure so great that the heart
+cannot close again after such an expansion, without pain. A man is
+wounded internally and feels the smart of love. To be wounded by
+love is the sweetest sensation and the most grievous pain that can
+be experienced. To be wounded by love is a sure sign that we shall
+be cured. This spiritual wound does us good and harm at the same
+time.
+
+ON THE FOURTH KIND OF THE SPIRITUAL COMING OF CHRIST
+
+NOW I wish to speak of the fourth kind of coming of Jesus Christ,
+which exalts and perfects the man in his interior exercises,
+according to the lower part of his being. But having compared all
+the interior comings to the shining of the sun, we will continue to
+speak, while following the course of the seasons, of the other
+effects and works of the sun.
+
+When the sun begins to descend the sky, it enters the sign of the
+Virgin, so called because this period of the year becomes barren
+like a virgin. The glorious virgin Mary, mother of Christ, full of
+joys and rich in all the virtues, ascended to heaven at this season.
+The heat begins then to diminish, and men gather, for use during the
+whole year, the ripe fruits which can be used long after, such as
+corn and the grape. And they sow part of the corn, that it may be
+multiplied for the use of men. At this season all the solar work of
+the year is finished. In the same way, when Christ, the glorious
+sun, has risen to the zenith in the heart of men, and begins to
+descend, so as to hide the splendour of His divine beams and to
+leave a man alone, the heat and impatience of love diminish. Now
+this occultation of Christ and the withdrawal of His light and heat
+are the first work and the new coming of this mode. Now Christ says
+spiritually in a man: "Go forth in the manner that I now show thee";
+and the man goes forth, and finds himself poor, miserable, and
+desolate. Here all the storm, all the passion and eagerness of love
+grow cold; summer becomes autumn, and all his wealth is changed into
+great poverty. And the man begins to complain by reason of his
+misery; what is become of his ardent love, his inwardness, his
+gratitude, the interior consolations, the heartfelt joys? Where has
+it all gone? How comes it that all is dead within him? He is like
+a scholar who has lost his knowledge and his work; and nature is
+often troubled by such losses. Sometimes these unhappy ones are
+deprived of the good things of earth, of their friends and
+relations, and are deserted by all the creatures; their holiness is
+mistrusted and despised, men put a bad construction upon all the
+works of their life, and they are rejected and disdained by all
+those who surround them; and sometimes they are afflicted with
+diverse diseases; and some of them fall into bodily temptations, or
+into spiritual temptations, the most dangerous of all. From this
+misery are born the fear of falling, and a sort of half-doubt, and
+this is the extreme point where we can stop without despair. Let
+such men seek out the good, complain to them, show them their
+distress, and ask their help, and implore the aid of Holy
+Church, and of all just men.
+
+WHAT A MAN OUGHT TO DO WHEN HE IS ABANDONED
+
+A MAN will here observe humbly that he has nothing but his distress,
+and he will say in his resignation and self-abnegation the words of
+holy Job: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; He hath done
+what seemed good to Him; blessed be the name of the Lord." And he
+will leave himself in everything, and will say and think in his
+heart: "Lord, I am as willing to be poor, lacking all that Thou hast
+taken from me, as I should be to be rich, if such were Thy will, and
+if it were for Thine honour. It is not my will according to nature
+which must be accomplished, but Thy will, and my will according to
+my spirit, O Lord; for I belong to Thee, and I should love as well
+to be Thine in hell as in heaven, if that could serve Thy glory; and
+therefore, O Lord, accomplish in me the excellence of Thy will."
+From all these pains and acts of resignation, a man will derive an
+inward joy, and he will offer himself into the hands of God, and
+will rejoice to be able to suffer in His honour. And if he so
+perseveres, he will taste inward pleasures such as he has never had
+before; for nothing so rejoices the lover of God as to feel that he
+is His beloved. And if he is truly exalted as far as this mode, in
+the path of virtue, it is not necessary for him to have passed
+through all the states which we have described above; for he feels
+within himself in action, in humble obedience, in patience, and in
+resignation, the source of all the virtues. It is thus that this
+mode is eternally sure.
+
+At this season the sun in the sky enters the sign of the Scales, for
+the day and night are equal, and the sun balances the light and the
+darkness. In the same way Jesus Christ is in the sign of the Scales
+for the resigned man; and whether He grants sweetness or
+bitterness, darkness or light, whatever He chooses to send him, the
+man keeps his balance, all things are equal to him except sin, which
+has been driven away once for all. When every consolation has been
+thus withdrawn from these resigned men, when they believe that they
+have lost all their virtues and that they are abandoned by God and
+all the creatures, if they then know how to reap the divers fruits,
+their corn and wine are ready and ripe. That is to say, that all
+that the bodily virtues can suffer will be offered by them to God
+with joy, without resistance to His supreme will. All the exterior
+and interior virtues, which they formerly practised with joy in the
+light of love, they will now practise courageously and laboriously,
+and will offer them to God, and never will they have so much merit
+in His eyes. Never will they have been more noble or more beautiful.
+All the consolations which God formerly granted, they will allow to
+be stripped from them with joy, since it is for the glory of God. It
+is thus that the virtues become perfect, and that sadness is
+transformed into an eternal vintage. These men--their life and their
+patience--improve and teach all who know and live near them, and
+thus it is that the wheat of their virtues is sown and multiplied
+for the good of all just men.
+
+This is the fourth kind of coming which, according to the bodily
+faculties and the lower part of his being, adorns and perfects a man
+in interior exercises.
+
+HOW THESE FOUR MODES ARE FOUND IN JESUS CHRIST
+
+WE must needs walk in the light if we wish not to lose our way, and
+we must observe Jesus Christ, who has taught us these four modes,
+and has preceded us in them. Christ, the bright sun, rises in the
+heaven of the sublime Trinity and in the dawn of His glorious mother
+the virgin Mary, who was and is the dawn of all the graces. Now
+observe. Christ had and still has the first mode, for He was unique
+and united. In Him were and are collected and united all the virtues
+which have ever been practised, and which ever will be, and besides
+this, all the creatures who will cultivate these virtues. He was
+thus in an unique sense the Son of the Father, and united to human
+nature. And He was equally full of inwardness, for it was He who
+brought upon earth the fire which has consumed all the saints and
+all good men. And He had a sensible and faithful love for His
+Father, and for all who will have joy in Him eternally, and His
+pitiful and loving heart sighed and glowed with love for all men,
+before His Father. All His life and all His actions, within and
+without, and all His words, were praises of His Father. This is the
+first mode.
+
+Christ, the sun of love, blazed and shone yet more brightly and
+warmly, for in Him was and is the fullness of all gifts. This is why
+the heart of Christ, and His character, and His habits and His
+service, overflowed with pity, sweetness, humility, and generosity.
+So gracious was He and so loving, that His manners and His
+personality attracted all whose nature was good. He was the pure
+lily in the midst of the flowers of the field, from which the good
+were to draw the honey of eternal sweetness and eternal
+consolations. According to His humanity He thanked His eternal
+Father for all the gifts which were ever granted to humanity, and
+praised Him, for His Father is the Father of all gifts, and He
+rested on Him, according to the highest faculties of His soul, above
+all gifts, in the sublime unity of God from which all the gifts flow;
+thus He had the second mode.
+
+Christ, the glorious sun, blazed and shone yet higher, and more
+brightly and warmly; for during all His days on earth, all His
+bodily faculties were invited and pressed to the sublime glory and
+bliss which He now experiences in His senses and body. And He was
+inclined thereto Himself, according to His desires; and nevertheless
+He willed to remain in this exile, till the time which the Father
+had foreseen and fixed from all eternity. Thus He had the third
+mode. When the time came at which Christ was to reap and carry away
+to the eternal kingdom the fruits of all the virtues which ever have
+been and ever will be practised, the eternal sun began to descend;
+for Christ humbled Himself, and gave up His bodily life into the
+hands of His enemies. And he was misunderstood and deserted by His
+friends in so great a distress; and all consolation, within and
+without, was withdrawn from His nature; and it was overwhelmed with
+misery, pain, and contempt, and paid all the debt which our sins
+justly incurred. All this He suffered in humble patience, and He
+accomplished the greatest works of love in this resignation, whereby
+He received and purchased our eternal inheritance. It is thus that
+the lower part of His noble humanity was adorned, for it was in it
+that He suffered this pain for our sins. It is on this account that
+He is called the Saviour of the world, and that He is glorified and
+raised up and seated on the right hand of His Father, and that He
+reigns in power. And every creature, on the earth, above the earth,
+and under the earth, bends the knee for ever before His glorious
+name.
+
+HOW A MAN SHOULD LIVE IF HE DESIRES TO BE ENLIGHTENED
+
+THE man who, in true obedience to the commandments of God, lives in
+the moral virtues, and moreover exercises himself in the interior
+virtues, after the direction and impulse of the Holy Spirit, acting
+and speaking according to righteousness, and who seeks not his own
+interests in time or in eternity, and who supports with true
+patience obscurity and affliction and every kind of misery, and who
+thanks God for everything, and offers himself in humble resignation,
+has received the first coming of Jesus Christ according to interior
+exercises. When this man is purified and pacified, and turns back
+upon himself according to his lower nature, he may be internally
+enlightened, if he asks it, and if God judges that the right time
+has come. It may also happen that he is enlightened from the
+beginning of his conversion, so that he may offer himself entirely
+to the will of God and give up all possession of himself, which is
+the supreme end. But if he is to follow any further the road which I
+have shown, in the exterior and at the same time in the interior
+life, it will be much easier for him than for the man who has been
+raised straight from the bottom, for the former will have more light
+than the latter.
+
+ON ANOTHER COMING OF CHRIST
+
+NOW we are about to speak of another mode of the coming of Christ,
+in interior exercises, which adorn, enlighten, and enrich a man,
+according to the three supreme faculties of his soul. We shall
+compare this coming to a life-giving fountain from which flow three
+rivers.
+
+This fountain is the fullness of divine grace in the unity of our
+spirit. There resides grace essentially in its permanence, like a
+full fountain, and it flows out actively by its rivers into each of
+the faculties of the soul, according to their needs. These rivers
+are a special influx, or operation of God in the highest faculties,
+in which God operates in various manners by the intermediary of His
+grace.
+
+HOW THE FIRST RIVER FLOWS INTO THE MEMORY
+
+THE first river of grace, which God causes to flow in this coming,
+is a pure simplicity which shines without distinction in the spirit.
+This river takes its source in the fountain, in the unity of the
+spirit, and flows directly downwards, and penetrates all the
+faculties of the soul, both higher and lower, and lifts them up out
+of all multiplicity and all over-occupation, and makes a simplicity
+in a man, and gives and shows him an internal bond in the unity of
+his spirit. A man is thus lifted up according to his memory, and
+delivered from strange and irrelevant thoughts, and from
+inconstancy. Now Christ in this light demands a going forth,
+according to the mode of this light and this coming. Then the man
+goes forth, and observes himself that by virtue of the simple light
+that is spread abroad in him he is united, established, penetrated
+and fixed in the unity of his spirit or of his thoughts. Here the
+man is exalted and established in a new essence; he turns his
+thoughts inwards, and rests his memory on the naked truth, above all
+sensuous images and above all multiplicity. There the man possesses
+essentially and supernaturally the unity of his spirit, for his own
+dwelling, and as an heritage of his own for ever. He always has an
+inclination towards that same unity, and this unity will have an
+eternal and loving inclination towards the more sublime unity where
+the Father and the Son are united with all the saints in the bands
+of the Holy Spirit.
+
+HOW THE SECOND RIVER ENLIGHTENS THE INTELLIGENCE
+
+THROUGH internal love, and loving inclination towards union with
+God, is born the second river from the fullness of grace, in unity
+of spirit, and this is a spiritual brightness which flows and sheds
+light through the intelligence, but with distinctions in the diverse
+modes. For this light shows and gives to the spirit, in the truth,
+the discretion in all the virtues. But this light is not placed
+altogether in our power, for though we have it always in our soul,
+God makes it speak or keep silence, and He can manifest or hide it,
+give or withdraw it, at all times and under all conditions, for this
+light is His. Such men do not absolutely need revelations, nor to be
+drawn up above sense, for their life and abode and habits and
+essence are in the spirit above sense and sensibility. And God shows
+them what He wills and what is necessary for them. Nevertheless God,
+if He wished, could withdraw their exterior sense, and show them,
+from within, unknown symbols and future things, in diverse manners.
+
+Now Christ desires that this man should go forth, and go into the
+light, according to the mode of this light. This enlightened man
+will therefore go forth and observe his state and his life within
+and without, in order to know if he is perfectly like Christ
+according to His humanity and also according to His divinity. And
+this man will lift up his eyes, enlightened by enlightened reason,
+in intelligible truth, and will observe and consider, as a creature
+can, the sublime nature of God, and the unlimited attributes which
+are in God.
+
+It is then necessary to consider and examine the sublime nature of
+God; how it contains simplicity and purity, inaccessible height and
+abysmal depth, incomprehensible extension and eternal duration; dark
+silence and wild waste; repose of all the saints in unity and joy in
+itself and in all the saints in eternity. This enlightened man will
+also examine the attributes of the Father in the Godhead, how He is
+all-powerful, the creator, mover, preserver, beginning and end,
+cause and existence of all creatures; this is what the bright river
+of grace shows to the enlightened reason. It shows also the
+attributes of the eternal Word, abysmal wisdom and truth, model of
+every creature and of all life, eternal norm of things, unveiled
+contemplation and intuition into everything, brightness and
+illumination of all saints, according to their merits, in heaven and
+on earth. But this bright river shows also to the enlightened reason
+the attributes of the Holy Spirit; inconceivable charity and
+generosity, pity and mercy, infinite watchfulness and faithfulness,
+immense and inconceivable riches flowing with delights through all
+heavenly spirits, ardent flame consuming all in unity, effluent
+fountain, preparation of all the saints for their eternal
+blessedness, and their introduction thereto; enveloping and
+penetrating the Father, the Son, and all the saints in joyous unity.
+
+ON THE STATE OF AMAZEMENT AT THE DIVINE EFFLUENCE
+
+THE incomprehensible wealth and sublimity, and the universal
+generosity which flow from the divine nature, bring a man into a
+state of amazement; and above all he admires the communication of
+God and His effluence above everything, for he sees the
+inconceivable essence, which is the common joy of God and all the
+saints. And he sees that the three divine Persons are a common
+effluence in works, in graces, and in glory, in nature and above
+nature, in all conditions and in all times, in the saints and in
+men, in heaven and on earth, in all reasonable and irrational
+creatures, according to each one's merits, needs, and powers of
+receiving. God is common to all, with all His gifts, the angels are
+common, the soul is common in all its faculties, in all life, in all
+the members, and all in each, for one cannot divide it, except by
+reason. For the higher and lower faculties, the spirit and the soul,
+are distinct according to reason, but one in nature. Thus God is
+entirely and specially present to each one, and nevertheless common
+to all the creatures, for by Him are all things, and on Him depend
+the heaven, the earth, and the whole of nature. When a man thus
+observes the astonishing wealth and sublimity of the divine nature,
+and all the manifold gifts which He grants and offers to His
+creatures, he is lifted up internally by wonder at such manifold
+riches and sublimity; and from thence arises a singular inward joy
+of spirit, and a vast confidence in God; and this internal joy
+surrounds and penetrates all the faculties of the soul in inwardness
+of spirit.
+
+HOW THE THIRD RIVER CONFIRMS THE WILL
+
+FROM this joy and fullness of graces, and divine faithfulness, there
+is born and flows out the third river in this same unity of spirit.
+This river, like a flame, lights up the spirit and absorbs all
+things in unity. And it causes to overflow and flood with rich gifts
+and singular nobility, all the faculties of the soul, and it creates
+in the will a love without labour, spiritual and subtle. Now Christ
+says internally in the spirit by means of this flaming river: "Go
+forth by exercises according to the mode of these gifts and this
+coming." Thanks to the first river--that is to say, to a simple
+light, the memory is lifted up above the accidents of sense, and is
+established in the unity of spirit. Thanks to the second river--
+that is to say, to the brightness spread abroad within, the
+intelligence and reason are enlightened, so as to recognise the
+diverse modes of the virtues and of exercises, and the mysteries of
+the Scriptures. Thanks to the third river--that is to say, to an
+inspired ardour, the sublime will is kindled into a more tranquil
+love, and adorned with greater riches. In this way a man becomes
+spiritually enlightened, for the grace of God abides, like a
+fountain in the unity of the spirit; and these rivers create in the
+faculties of the soul an effluence of all the virtues. And the
+fountain of grace always requires a reflux towards its source.
+
+HOW CHRIST IS GIVEN TO ALL MEN IN THE SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR
+
+THERE is a special benefit which Christ left in the Holy Church, to
+all good people, in this supper of the great Paschal feast, when He
+was about to pass from His sufferings to His Father after having
+eaten the Paschal lamb with His disciples, and when the ancient law
+was accomplished. At the end of the supper, He wished to give them a
+special meal, as He had long desired to do. And this is why He
+wished to finish the ancient law and to inaugurate the new law. He
+took bread in His sacred hands, and consecrated His holy body, and
+then His holy blood, and gave them to all His disciples, and left
+them to all the just, for their eternal good.
+
+This gift and this special food rejoice and adorn all the great
+festivals and all the banquets in heaven and on earth. In this gift
+Christ gives Himself to us in three manners; He gives us His flesh
+and blood and His bodily life, glorified and full of joys and
+griefs. And He gives us His spirit with its highest faculties, and
+full of glory, of gifts, of truths and justifications. And He gives
+us His personality with the divine light which lifts up His spirit
+and all enlightened spirits, even to the sublime and joyous unity.
+
+Now Christ wishes us to remember Him, whenever we consecrate, offer,
+and receive His body. Now observe how we should remember Him. We
+shall observe and consider how Christ bends towards us in loving
+affection, in great desire, in loving joy, and by flowing into our
+bodily nature. For He gives us that which He received from our
+humanity--that is to say, His flesh and blood and bodily nature. We
+shall contemplate this precious body pierced and wounded with love,
+by reason of His faithfulness to us. It is by it that we are adorned
+and nourished in the lower part of our human nature. He gives us
+also, in this sublime gift of the sacrament, His spirit full of
+glory, and the richest gifts of the virtues, and ineffable marvels
+of charity and nobleness.
+
+It is by this that we are nourished, adorned, and illuminated in the
+unity of our spirit and in our higher faculties, thanks to the
+indwelling of Christ with all His riches. He gives us also in the
+sacrament of the altar His sublime personality in incomprehensible
+light. And thanks to this, we are united to the Father, and so we
+reach our inheritance of divinity in eternal bliss. If a man
+meditate rightly on this, he will meet Christ in the same manner in
+which Christ comes to him. He will raise himself up to receive
+Christ, with all his faculties and in eager joy. It is not possible
+for our joy to be too great, for our nature receives His nature--that
+is to say the glorified humanity of Christ, full of joyfulness and
+full of merits. This is why I would that man, at the reception of
+this sacrament, should melt away with desire, joy, and pleasure, for
+he is receiving the fairest, the most gracious, the most lovable of
+the children of men, and is united to Him. In this union and in this
+joy great benefits often come to men, and many mysterious and
+marvellous secrets of divine treasures are manifested and disclosed.
+When a man meditates, at this reception, on the martyrdom and
+sufferings of the precious body of Christ, whom he is receiving, he
+enters sometimes into so loving a devotion and so great a
+compassion, that he desires to be nailed with Christ to the cross,
+and to shed his heart's blood for the honour of Christ. And he
+presses himself to the wounds and open heart of Christ His Saviour.
+In these exercises revelations and great benefits have often come to
+men.
+
+ON THE UNITY OF THE DIVINE NATURE IN THE TRINITY OF PERSONS
+
+THE sublime and superessential unity of the Divine nature, in which
+the Father and the Son possess their nature in the unity of the Holy
+Spirit, above the conception and comprehension of all our faculties,
+in the bare essence of our spirit, surpasses in this sublime calm
+all the creatures of created light. This sublime unity of the Divine
+nature is living and fruitful, for, from this same unity, the
+eternal Word is born from the Father without interruption. And by
+this birth the Father knows the Son, and all things in the Son. And
+the Son knows the Father, and all things in the Father, for their
+nature is simple. From this reciprocal vision of the Father and the
+Son in an eternal clearness, flow forth an eternal satisfaction and
+unfathomable love, which is the Holy Spirit. And by the Holy Spirit
+and the eternal Wisdom God inclines towards every creature
+severally, and loads every one of them with gifts and kindles it
+with love, according to its nobility and according to the state
+wherein it is constituted and elected though its virtues and the
+eternal foresight of God. And it is by this that all just spirits,
+in heaven and on earth, are united in virtue and justice.
+
+HOW GOD MOVES AND POSSESSES THE SOUL, NATURALLY AND SUPERNATURALLY
+
+NOW be attentive: I am about to give you an example on this
+subject. God has made the upper heaven a pure and simple clearness
+encircling and enveloping all the heavens; and all the material
+world which God has created for it is the exterior abode and kingdom
+of God and His saints, full of glory and eternal joys. Now the
+heaven being an unmixed clearness, there is there neither time, nor
+state, nor temptation, nor change, for it is unchangeably fixed
+above all things. The sphere which approaches most nearly to it is
+called the primum mobile. All movement, by the power of God,
+emanates from the supreme heaven. This is the movement which carries
+with it the motions of the firmament and all the planets. It is by
+this same initial movement that all the creatures live and grow,
+according to their order. Now understand that the essence of the
+soul is like a spiritual kingdom of God, full of Divine clearness,
+surpassing all our faculties, unless these faculties are not
+transformed in a simple fashion, of which I do not wish to speak
+now. See; in this essence of the soul in which God reigns, the
+unity of our spirit is like the primum mobile; for in this unity
+the spirit is moved from above, by the power of God, naturally and
+supernaturally; for by ourselves we have nothing either in or above
+nature. And this motion of God, when it is supernatural, is the
+first and chief cause of all our virtue. And by this motion of God
+the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are granted to certain
+enlightened men, like the seven planets which illuminate all the
+lives of men. This is how God possesses the essential unity of our
+spirit, as His Kingdom.
+
+ON THE ESSENTIAL MEETING WITH GOD, WITHOUT INTERMEDIARY
+
+NOW attend carefully. The unity of our spirit has two modes, one
+essential and the other active. You should know that the spirit,
+according to its essential existence, receives the coming of Christ
+in its bare nature, without intermediary and without interruption.
+For this essence and life which we are in God, in our eternal image,
+and which we have in ourselves, according to essential existence,
+are without intermediary and inseparable. This is why the spirit
+receives, in its highest and most intimate part, in its bare nature,
+the impression of its eternal image, and the divine brightness
+without interruption, and it is an eternal dwelling of God, which He
+occupies by a perpetual inhabitation, and which He visits always
+with a new coming, and a new effulgence from His eternal birth. For
+where He comes He is, and where He is He comes. And where He has
+never been, He will never come, for there is in Him neither accident
+nor change, and everything, where He is, is in Him, for He never
+goes out of Himself. And this is why the spirit possesses God
+essentially in its bare nature, and God the spirit, for the spirit
+lives in God, and God in the spirit. And it is capable, in its
+highest part, of receiving the brightness of God, and all that God
+may grant it, without intermediary. And by the brightness of its
+eternal image, which shines essentially and personally in it, the
+spirit is plunged, as regards the highest part of its vitality, in
+the divine essence; and there enters into possession of its eternal
+bliss, and flowing out again by the eternal birth of the Son is
+placed in its created essence by the free will of the Holy Trinity,
+And here it is like the image of the sublime Trinity and Unity for
+which it is created. And in its created nature, it takes the
+impression of its eternal image without interruption, like an
+immaculate mirror in which every impression abides, and which renews
+the likeness in itself without interruption. This essential unity of
+our spirit in God, exists not in itself, but abides in God and flows
+out from God, and is immanent in God and returns to God, as to its
+eternal cause. It never separates itself from God, for this unity is
+a fact of bare nature, and if nature separated itself from God it
+would fall into nothingness. And this unity is above time and
+conditions, and works always without interruption according to the
+mode of God. This is the nobleness which we have naturally according
+to the essential unity of our spirit, where it is united naturally
+to God.
+
+This makes us neither saints nor blessed, for all men have it in
+them, the bad as well as the good; but it is the first cause of all
+holiness and bliss; and this is the meeting and unity of God in our
+spirit, in our base nature.
+
+HOW MAN IS LIKE GOD BY GRACE, AND UNLIKE HIM BY MORTAL SIN
+
+NOW examine this thought with care, for if you understand well what
+I wish to say to you, and what I have already said, you will
+understand all the divine truth which a creature can apprehend at
+present, and even things far more sublime. In the second mode, our
+spirit keeps itself actively in this same unity, and subsists by
+itself as in its personal created essence. This is the foundation
+and origin of the supreme faculties, and this is the beginning and
+end of all the works of a created nature, accomplished according to
+the mode of the creatures, both in nature and above nature.
+
+Nevertheless this unity does not operate as unity; but all the
+faculties of the soul have their power entirely in their
+foundation--that is to say, in the unity of the spirit, where it
+resides in its personal essence. In this unity the spirit must
+always be like unto God, by grace and virtue, or unlike Him by
+mortal sin; for man is made in the likeness of God, which he must
+understand in the sense of grace; for grace is a deiform light which
+shines through us and makes us like unto God; and without this light
+we cannot be united supernaturally to God, even though we can never
+lose the image of God, nor our natural unity in Him. If we lose this
+likeness--that is to say, grace, we are damned. And this is why, so
+soon as God finds in us something which is capable of receiving His
+grace, He wishes to enliven us by His goodness, and to make us like
+unto Himself by His gifts. And this happens whenever we turn towards
+Him with full purpose; for at the same moment Christ comes to us and
+in us, with and without intermediary--that is to say, by the virtues
+and above all the virtues. And He impresses His image and likeness
+upon us--that is to say, Himself and all His gifts, and He relieves
+us from sin and makes us like unto Himself.
+
+By the same operation in which God relieves us from sin, and makes
+us like Him and free in charity, the spirit is plunged in joyous
+love. And here take place a meeting and a union, which are without
+intermediaries and supernatural, and wherein resides our supreme
+blessedness. Although all that He gives by love and pure goodness is
+natural to God, yet to us it is accidental and supernatural,
+according to our mode, since formerly we were strangers and unlike,
+and only subsequently have become like God and obtained union with
+Him.
+
+ON THE SUPREME DEGREE OF THE INTERIOR LIFE
+
+NOW understand. This incomprehensible light transforms and
+penetrates the joyous inclination of our spirit. In this light, the
+spirit is plunged in joyous repose; for this repose is without mode
+and without bottom, and we can only know it by itself--that is to
+say, by repose. For if we could know it and conceive it, it would
+fall into mode and measure, and so would not be able to satisfy us,
+and repose would become an eternal restlessness. And this is why the
+simple, loving, complete inclination of our spirit forms in us a
+joyous love, and joyous love is without bottom. And the abyss of God
+calls to abyss; so it is with all those whose spirits are united to
+God in joyous love. This calling is an irruption from His essential
+brightness; and this essential brightness in the embrace of His
+bottomless love, causes us to lose ourselves and escape from
+ourselves, in the lonely darkness of God. And thus united, without
+intermediary, to the spirit of God, we can meet God by God, and
+possess unchangeably, with Him and in Him, our eternal blessedness.
+
+ON THE FIRST MODE OF THIS HIGHEST MEETING
+
+THE most interior life is practised in three ways. Sometimes the
+interior man operates, above all activity and all virtue, by simple
+introspection in joyous love. And here he meets God without
+intermediary. And from the unity of God a simple light shines in
+him, and this light shows him darkness, nakedness, and nothingness.
+He is enveloped in darkness, and falls into the absence of mode as
+one who loses his way. He loses, in nakedness, the power of
+observing and distinguishing all things, and he is transformed and
+penetrated by a simple brightness. He loses, in nothingness, all his
+works, for he is overcome in the work of the unlimited love of God;
+and in the joyous inclination of his spirit he triumphs in God and
+becomes one spirit with Him. This is the first mode, which is
+inactive; for it empties a man of all things, and lifts him up above
+works and virtues.
+
+ON THE SECOND MODE
+
+THERE are moments when the interior man turns desirously and
+actively towards God, to pay Him homage, and to offer up and
+annihilate, in the love of God, his being and all that he can give.
+And here he meets God, through an intermediary. This intermediary is
+the gift of wisdom, which is the foundation and source of all the
+virtues, and excites the just to virtues in proportion to their love;
+and sometimes it touches and inflames the interior man with love
+so violently, that all the gifts of God, and all that God can give
+without giving Himself, seem to him too little and do not satisfy
+him, but only increase his impatience. For he has at the bottom of
+his being an interior perception or sensation, wherein all the
+virtues begin and end, and wherein he offers to God all the virtues,
+and wherein love lives. And thus the hunger and thirst of love
+become so great, that he is reduced to nothingness, and then touched
+anew, as it were for the first time, by the irradiation of God. Thus
+in living he dies and in dying he lives again. This is the second
+mode, and it is more useful and more glorious than the first; for
+none can enter into the repose that is above action unless he has
+first actively loved love. And this is why none will be inactive,
+who is master of himself and who is able to practise love.
+
+ON THE THIRD MODE
+
+FROM these two kinds is born the third, which is an interior life
+according to righteousness. Now understand. God comes to us without
+interruption, with and. without intermediary, He requires of us
+action and joy, in such a way that action may not hinder joy, nor
+joy action, but that each may help the other. This is why the
+interior man possesses his life in these two modes, repose and work.
+And in each of them he is entire and undivided; for he is entirely
+in God, in his joyous repose, and he is entirely in himself, in his
+active love; and God warns him that He requires him to renew
+continually his repose and his work. The righteousness of the spirit
+wishes to pay, every hour, what God requires of us, and this is why,
+at every irradiation of God, the spirit turns inwards, actively and
+joyously, and so is renewed in all the virtues, and plunged more
+deeply in joyous love. For God at every gift gives Himself with all
+His gifts, and the spirit whenever it turns inwards, gives itself
+with all its works. The spirit is united to God, and transferred
+without interruption into repose. The man is hungry, for he sees the
+nourishment of angels and the food of heaven. He works actively in
+love, for he sees his repose. He is a pilgrim, and he sees his
+country. He fights, in love, for victory, for he sees his crown.
+Consolation, peace, joy, beauty, and riches, and all that can
+rejoice the heart, are shown to the reason illuminated by God, in
+spiritual similitudes and without measure. And by this vision, at
+the touch of God, love remains active. For this just man has built
+up, in the spirit, a true life, which will last eternally, but after
+this life it will be transformed into a more sublime state. Thus the
+man is just, and he goes towards God by interior love in eternal
+work, and he goes in God by joyous inclination, in eternal repose.
+And he abides in God, and yet he goes out towards all the creatures,
+in common love, in the virtues, and in the works of justice. This is
+the supreme summit of the inner life.
+
+Note.--Here follow in Ruysbroek's treatise four chapters of warnings
+against the errors of Quietism, such as were exemplified in his time
+by many of the Brethren of the Free Spirit and similar sects.
+
+BOOK III
+
+THE THREE CONDITIONS BY WHICH WE MAY ATTAIN TO THE CONTEMPLATIVE
+LIFE
+
+THE interior lover of God, who possesses God in joyous repose, and
+possesses himself in the unity of active love, and possesses all his
+life in the virtues, enters into the contemplative life, thanks to
+these three points and to the secret manifestation of God; yes, it
+is the internal and devout lover, whom God will choose freely and
+lift him up even to a superessential contemplation in divine light
+and according to the mode of God. This contemplation places us in a
+purity and brightness above all intelligence, for it is a singular
+ornament and a celestial crown, and at last the eternal recompense
+of all the virtues and of all life. And none can arrive there by
+knowledge or subtlety, nor by any exercise; but he whom God wills to
+unite to His own Spirit and to illuminate by Himself, can
+contemplate God, and none other can. To such an one the heavenly
+Father says, in the secret and submerged part of the spirit: "See,
+the Bridegroom cometh, go forth to meet Him."
+
+I wish to analyse and explain these words, in their relation to
+superessential contemplation, which is the basis of all holiness and
+of the perfect life. Very few men attain to this divine
+contemplation, by reason of our incapacity, and the mystery of the
+light in which contemplation takes place. And this is why no one, by
+his own knowledge or by any subtle examination, will understand
+these ideas. For all words, and all that can be learned and
+understood according to the mode of the creatures, are strangers to
+the truth which I speak of, and far below it. But he who is united
+to God, and illuminated in this truth, can comprehend the truth by
+itself. For to conceive and understand God above all similitudes, as
+He is in Himself, is to be God in God, without intermediary and
+without any difference which might prove an obstacle. This is why I
+desire that every man who does not understand this, nor experience
+it in the joyous unity of his spirit, may not be wounded by my
+words, for what I say is true. And this is why he who wishes to
+understand this, must be dead to himself and alive to God, and he
+will turn his face to the eternal light, at the bottom of his
+spirit, where the hidden truth is manifested without intermediary.
+For the heavenly Father wishes that we should be seeing; for He is
+the Father of Light, and this is why He says eternally, without
+interruption and without intermediary, one abysmal word and no
+other. In this word He proffers Himself and all things. The word is:
+"See." And it is the going forth and the birth of the Son of the
+eternal light, in whom we see and recognise all our blessedness.
+
+HOW A MAN OUGHT TO EXERCISE HIMSELF, IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE ETERNAL
+LIGHT AND TO CONTEMPLATE GOD
+
+IN order that the spirit may contemplate God by God, without
+intermediary, in this Divine light, three things are necessary.
+First, the man must be well governed externally in all the virtues,
+and without obstacles within, and as free from all external works as
+if he did them not; for if he is troubled within by any act of
+virtue, he has images, and so long as they remain in him he cannot
+contemplate. In the second place, he must adhere internally to God,
+by the combination of intention and of love, like a burning fire,
+which can never more be extinguished. At the moment when he feels
+himself in this state, he can contemplate. In the third place, he
+should be lost in an absence of mode, and in a darkness, in which
+all contemplatives wander joyously, and can never find themselves
+again according to the mode of the creatures. In the abyss of this
+darkness, where the loving spirit is dead to itself, begin the
+manifestation of God and of eternal life. For in this darkness is
+born and shines an incomprehensible light, which is the Son of God,
+in whom we see eternal life. And in this light we become seeing; and
+this Divine light is given in the simple vision of the spirit, in
+which the spirit receives the clearness which is God Himself,
+without intermediary, and becomes without interruption this
+clearness which it receives. See; this dark clearness, in which we
+contemplate all that we desire, while the spirit is passive,--this
+clearness is so great than the loving contemplative, in the depth
+where he reposes, sees and experiences nothing save an
+incomprehensible light, and according to the simple nudity which
+envelopes all things, he sees and apprehends the same light by which
+he sees, and nothing else. This is the first condition of becoming
+seeing in the Divine light. Happy are the eyes which thus see, for
+they have eternal life.
+
+HOW THE ETERNAL BIRTH OF GOD IS RENEWED WITHOUT INTERRUPTION IN
+NOBLENESS OF SPIRIT
+
+WHEN we have thus become seeing, we can contemplate in joy the
+eternal coming of the Bridegroom, and this is the second point on
+which I wish to speak. What is then this coming of the Bridegroom
+which is eternal? It is a new birth and a new illumination without
+interruption; for the foundation out of which the clearness shines,
+and which is the clearness itself, is living and fruitful; and this
+is why the manifestation of the eternal light is renewed without
+interruption, in the most secret part of the spirit. See; every
+creaturely work, and every exercise of virtue must here submit
+themselves, for God works alone in the highest part of the spirit.
+There is nought here but an eternal contemplation and fixity of
+light, by light, and in light. And the coming of the Bridegroom is
+so swift that He comes always, and is immanent with His unfathomable
+riches, and comes back ever anew, in person, with such new
+splendours that He seems never to have come before. For His coming
+consists in an eternal Now, transcending time, and He is always
+received with new desire and new joy. The delights and joy which
+this Bridegroom brings at His coming are without bottom and without
+limits, for they are Himself. This is why the eyes of the spirit, by
+which the lover contemplates the Bridegroom, are open so wide that
+they will never more be shut. For the contemplation and fixity of
+the spirit remain eternal in the hidden manifestation of God. And
+the contemplation of the spirit is so widely opened, while waiting
+for the coming of the Bridegroom, that the spirit itself acquires
+the amplitude of that which it comprehends. And in this way, God is
+seen and comprehended by God, in which all our salvation and
+blessedness consists. This is the second manner in which we receive,
+without interruption in our spirit, the eternal coming of our
+Bridegroom.
+
+ON THE ETERNAL GOING FORTH WHICH WE POSSESS IN THE BIRTH OF THE SON
+
+NOW the Spirit of God saith, in the secret depths of our spirit:
+"Go forth," in an eternal contemplation and joy, according to the
+mode of God. All the wealth which is in God naturally, we possess in
+Him by love; and God possesses it in us, by His boundless Love,
+which is the Holy Spirit. For in this love all is tasted that can be
+desired. And this is why, thanks to this love, we are dead to
+ourselves, and have gone forth in loving liquefaction or immersion,
+in the absence of mode and in darkness. There the spirit, enveloped
+by the Holy Trinity, is eternally immanent in the superessential
+unity, in repose and in joy. And in this same unity, according to
+the mode of generation, the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the
+Father, and every creature in them both. And this is above the
+distinction of Persons, for here we understand by reason the
+fatherhood and sonship in the lively fruitfulness of nature.
+
+Here is born and begins an eternal going forth, and an eternal work
+without beginning, for there is here a beginning without beginning.
+For by means of the eternal birth of the Son, the Word of the
+Father, all creatures have gone forth eternally, before they were
+created in time, and God has considered and recognised them
+distinctly in Himself, in lively reason, and in distinction from
+Himself: but not in another mode, for all that is in God is God.
+This eternal going forth and this eternal life, which we have and
+are eternally in God, without ourselves, is the cause of our created
+essence in time. And our created essence is immanent in the eternal
+essence, and this eternal life, which we have and are in the eternal
+wisdom of God, is like unto God; for they have an eternal immanence,
+without distinction, in the divine essence. And they have an eternal
+effluence by the birth of the Son, in a difference with distinction,
+according to the eternal reason. And thanks to these two things, a
+man is in this way like unto God, that he recognises himself and
+reflects on himself without interruption, in this resemblance,
+according to essence and according to the Persons. For though here
+there is still distinction and difference, according to reason, this
+resemblance is nevertheless one with the very image of the Holy
+Trinity, which is the wisdom of God, and wherein God contemplates
+Himself and all things in an eternal Now, without before or after.
+In simple vision He regards Himself as He regards all things. And
+this is the image and likeness of God, and our image and likeness,
+for in it God and all things are reflected. In this divine image,
+all the creatures, without themselves, have an eternal life, as in
+their eternal model, and the Holy Trinity has made us in this
+eternal image and likeness. And this is why God wishes that we
+should go out from ourselves, in this eternal light, and that we
+should pursue this image, which is our true life, supernaturally,
+and possess it with Him actively and joyously, in eternal
+blessedness.
+
+For we know well that the bosom of the Father is our foundation and
+origin, wherein we begin our life and our being. And from our true
+foundation--that is to say, from the Father and from all that lives
+in Him, beams forth an eternal radiance, which is the birth of the
+Son. In this radiance, the Father manifests Himself, and all that
+lives in Himself, to Himself; for all that He is, and all that He
+has, He gives to the Son, except the prerogative of fatherhood,
+which resides in Himself. And this is why all that lives in the
+Father hidden in the Unity, lives also in the Son, and flows forth
+in His manifestation; but the simple foundation of our eternal image
+remains always without mode in the darkness. But the boundless
+radiance which shines out thence manifests and reflects in the mode
+the mystery of God. And all men who are raised above their
+creatureliness into a contemplative life, are united to this divine
+splendour. And they are this splendour itself, and they see,
+experience, and find, thanks to this divine radiance, that they are
+this same simple foundation, according to their uncreated essence,
+from which shines forth, in the divine mode, this immeasurable
+radiance, which, according to simplicity of essence, remains
+eternally within, and without mode. This is why interior men and
+contemplatives will go forth, according to the mode of
+contemplation, above distinction and above their created essence, by
+means of an eternal intuition. Thanks to this inborn light, they are
+transformed, and are united to this same light by which they see and
+which they see. In this manner contemplatives pursue the eternal
+image, after which they are made, and contemplate God and all things
+without distinction, by a pure vision in divine brightness. This is
+the most sublime and the most useful contemplation which we can
+attain in this life; for in this contemplation a man remains the
+best and freest master of himself, and at each loving introversion,
+above all that we can comprehend, he can advance in the sublimities
+of life, for he remains free and master of himself, in unity and in
+the virtues. And this contemplation in the divine light maintains
+him above all inwardness, above all virtue, above all merit, for it
+is the crown and recompense towards which we are striving, and which
+we already have and possess in this mode, for the contemplative life
+is a celestial life. But if we shall be drawn up out of this exile
+and this misery, we shall be, according to our created nature, more
+susceptible of this radiance, and then the glory of God would shine
+through us better and more sublimely. This is the mode above all
+modes, according to which we go forth in a divine contemplation and
+in an eternal stability, and according to which we are transformed
+and reformed in the divine radiance. This going forth of the
+contemplative is also loving; for by joyous love he surpasses his
+created essence, and finds and tastes the riches and delights which
+are God, and which He causes to flow without interruption into the
+most secret part of the spirit, into the place where he is like the
+sublimity of God.
+
+ON THE DIVINE MEETING, WHICH TAKES PLACE IN THE MOST SECRET PART OF
+OUR SPIRIT
+
+WHEN the interior man and contemplative has thus pursued his eternal
+image, and possessed in this purity the bosom of the Father by the
+Son, he is illuminated by the divine truth, and receives anew at
+each instant the eternal birth; and he goes forth according to the
+mode of light, in a divine contemplation. And here arises the fourth
+and last point--that is to say, the loving meeting, in which before
+all else resides our eternal blessedness.
+
+You know that our heavenly Father, like a living foundation, is
+actively inclined towards His Son, as towards His own eternal
+wisdom. And this same wisdom, and all that lives therein, is
+actively inclined in the Father--that is to say, in the foundation
+whence it proceeds. And in this meeting arises the Third Person,
+between the Father and the Son, and this is the Holy Spirit, their
+mutual love, which is united to them both in the same nature. And He
+envelopes and penetrates, actively and joyously, the Father and the
+Son and all that lives in them with such riches and such joy, that
+all the creatures must be silent thereupon eternally, for the
+incomprehensible marvel of this love surpasses eternally the
+intelligence of all the creatures. But where we comprehend and taste
+this amazement, without being amazed, there the spirit is above
+itself, and one with the Spirit of God, and it tastes and sees,
+without measure, like God, the riches which He is Himself in the
+unity of the living foundation, where He possesses Himself according
+to the unity of His uncreated essence.
+
+Now this delightful meeting is without interruption actively renewed
+in us, according to the mode of God, for the Father gives Himself in
+the Son, and the Son in the Father, in an eternal gratification and
+a loving embrace, and this is renewed at every hour in the ties of
+love; for even as the Father without interruption contemplates anew
+all things in the birth of His Son, so all things are beloved anew,
+by the Father and the Son, through the influence of the Holy Spirit.
+And this is the eternal meeting of the Father and the Son, in which
+we are lovingly wrapped by the Holy Spirit in eternal love.
+
+Now this active meeting and this loving embrace are, in their
+foundation, joyous and without mode, for God's infinite absence of
+mode is so obscure and so destitute of mode, that it envelopes in
+itself every divine mode and every work, and the individuality of
+the Persons, in the rich envelopment of essential unity, and forms a
+divine rejoicing in the abyss of the unnameable. And here there is a
+joyous and outflowing immersion in the essential nakedness, where
+all the divine names and all the modes, and all divine reason,
+reflected in the mirror of the divine truth, fall into simple
+ineffability, in the absence of mode and of reason. For in this
+boundless abyss of simplicity, all things are enveloped in joyous
+blessedness, and the abyss remains itself uncomprehended save by the
+essential unity. Before this essential unity, the Persons must give
+way, and all that lives in God. For here is nought but an eternal
+rest, in a joyous envelopment of loving immersion, and this is the
+essence, without mode, which all interior spirits have chosen above
+all other things. It is the dark silence in which all lovers are
+lost. But if we could prepare ourselves thus for the virtues, we
+should unclothe ourselves, so to speak, from life, and should float
+on the wide expanses of this divine sea, and created things would no
+longer have power to touch us.
+
+May we be able to possess, rejoicing, the essential unity, and
+clearly to contemplate the Unity in Trinity; and may the divine
+love, which rejects no suppliant, grant us this. Amen.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THEOLOGIA GERMANICA
+
+
+
+
+
+SIN AND SELFISHNESS
+
+SIN is nothing else but the turning away of the creature from the
+unchangeable Good to the changeable; from the perfect to the
+imperfect, and most often to itself. And when the creature claims
+for its own anything good, such as substance, life, knowledge, or
+power, as if it were that, or possessed it, or as if that proceeded
+from itself, it goeth astray. What else did the devil do, and what
+was his error and fall, except that he claimed for himself to be
+something, and that something was his and was due to him? This claim
+of his--this "I, me, and mine," were his error and his fall. And so
+it is to this day. For what else did Adam do? It is said that Adam
+was lost, or fell, because he ate the apple. I say, it was because
+he claimed something for his own, because of his "I, me, and mine."
+If he had eaten seven apples, and yet never claimed anything for his
+own, he would not have fallen: but as soon as he called something
+his own, he fell, and he would have fallen, though he had never
+touched an apple. I have fallen a hundred times more often and more
+grievously than Adam; and for his fall all mankind could not make
+amends. How then shall my fall be amended? It must be healed even as
+Adam's fall was healed. And how, and by whom, was that healing
+wrought? Man could not do it without God, and God could not do it
+without man. Therefore God took upon Himself human nature; He was
+made man, and man was made God. Thus was the healing effected. So
+also must my fall be healed. I cannot do the work without God, and
+He may not or will not do it without me. If it is to be done, God
+must be made man in me also; God must take into Himself all that is
+in me, both within and without, so that there may be nothing in me
+which strives against God or hinders His work. Now if God took to
+Himself all men who are or ever lived in the world, and was made man
+in them, and they were deified in Him, and this work were not
+accomplished in me, my fall and my error would never be healed
+unless this were accomplished in me also. And in this bringing back
+and healing I can and shall do nothing of myself; I shall simply
+commit myself to God, so that He alone may do and work all things in
+me, and that I may suffer Him, and all His work, and His divine
+will. And because I will not do this, but consider myself to be mine
+own, and "I, me, and mine," and the like, God is impeded, and cannot
+do His work in me alone and without let or hindrance; this is why my
+fall and error remain unhealed. All comes of my claiming something
+for my own. ii., iii.
+
+THE TWO EYES
+
+We should remember the saying that the soul of Christ had two eyes,
+a right eye and a left eye. In the beginning, when the soul of
+Christ was created, she fixed her right eye upon eternity and the
+Godhead, and remained in the full beholding and fruition of the
+Divine essence and eternal perfection; and thus remained unmoved by
+all the accidents and labours, the suffering, anguish, and pain,
+that befell the outer man. But with the left eye she looked upon the
+creation, and beheld all things that are therein, and observed how
+the creatures differ from each other, how they are better or worse,
+nobler or baser; and after this manner was the outer man of Christ
+ordered. Thus the inner man of Christ, according to the right eye of
+His soul, stood in the full exercise of His Divine nature, in
+perfect blessedness, joy, and eternal peace. But the outer man and
+the left eye of the soul of Christ stood with Him in perfect
+suffering, in all His tribulations, afflictions and labours; in such
+a way that the inner or right eye remained unmoved, unimpeded and
+untouched by all the labour, suffering, woe, and misery that
+happened to the outer man. It has been said that when Jesus was
+bound to the pillar and scourged, and when He hung on the cross,
+according to the outer man, the inner man, a soul according to the
+right eye, stood in as full possession of Divine joy and blessedness
+as it did after the ascension, or as it does now. Even so His outer
+man, or soul according to the left eye, was never impeded,
+disturbed, or troubled by the inward eye in its contemplation of the
+outward things which pertained to it. The created soul of man has
+also two eyes. The one is the power of looking into eternity, the
+other the power of looking into time and the creatures, of
+perceiving how they differ from each other, of giving sustenance and
+other things necessary to the body, and ordering and ruling it for
+the best. But these two eyes of the soul cannot both perform their
+office at once; if the soul would look with the right eye into
+eternity, the left eye must be shut, and must cease to work: it must
+be as if it were dead. For if the left eye is discharging its office
+towards outward things--if it is holding conversation with time and
+the creatures--then the right eye must be impeded in its working,
+which is contemplation. Therefore, he who would have one must let
+the other go; for no man can serve two masters. vii.
+
+A FORETASTE OF ETERNAL LIFE
+
+Some have asked whether it is possible for the soul, while it is
+still in the body, to reach so great a height as to gaze into
+eternity, and receive a foretaste of eternal life and blessedness.
+This is commonly denied; and in a sense the denial is true. For
+indeed it cannot come about, so long as the soul is occupied with
+the body, and the things which minister to the body and belong to
+it, and to time and created things, and is disturbed and troubled
+and distracted by them. For the soul that would mount to such a
+state, must be quite pure, entirely stripped and bare of all images;
+it must be wholly separate from all creatures, and above all from
+itself. Many think that this is impossible in this present life. But
+St Dionysius claims that it is possible, as we find from his words
+in his letter to Timothy, where he says: "In order to behold the
+hidden things of God, thou shalt forsake sense and the things of the
+flesh, and all that can be perceived by the senses, and all that
+reason can bring forth by her own power, and all things created and
+uncreated which reason can know and comprehend, and thou shalt stand
+upon an utter abandonment of thyself, as if thou knewest none of
+those things which I have mentioned, and thou shalt enter into union
+with Him who is, and who is above all existence and knowledge." If
+he did not think this to be possible in this present time, why did
+he teach it and urge it upon us in this present time? But you ought
+to know that a master has said, about this passage of St Dionysius,
+that it is possible, and may come to a man so often that he may
+become accustomed to it, and be able to gaze into eternity whenever
+he will. And a single one of these glances is better, worthier,
+higher, and more pleasing to God than all that the creature can do
+as a creature. He who has attained to it asks for nothing more, for
+he has found the kingdom of heaven and eternal life here on earth.
+viii.
+
+DESCENT INTO HELL
+
+Even as the soul of Christ had to descend into hell, before it
+ascended into heaven, so must the soul of man. And mark how this
+comes to pass. When a man truly perceives and considers who and what
+he is, and finds himself wholly base and wicked, and unworthy of all
+the consolation and kindness that he ever received, either from God
+or from the creatures, he falls into such a profound abasement and
+contempt for himself, that he thinks himself unworthy to walk upon
+the earth; he feels that he deserves that all creatures should rise
+against him and avenge their Maker upon him with punishments and
+torments; nay, even that were too good for him. And therefore he
+will not and dare not desire any consolation or release, either from
+God or any creature; he is willing to be unconsoled and unreleased,
+and he does not lament for his condemnation and punishment, for they
+are right and just, and in accordance with God's will. Nothing
+grieves him but his own guilt and wickedness; for that is not right,
+and is contrary to God's will: for this reason he is heavy and
+troubled. This is the meaning of true repentance for sin. And the
+man who in this life enters into this hell, enters afterwards into
+the kingdom of heaven, and has a foretaste of it which exceeds all
+the delights and happiness which he has ever had, or could have,
+from the things of time. But while a man is in this hell, no one can
+comfort him, neither God, nor the creatures. Of this condition it
+has been written, "Let me die, let me perish! I live without hope;
+from within and from without I am condemned, let no man pray for my
+deliverance." Now God has not forsaken a man, while he is in this
+hell, but He is laying His hand upon him, that he may desire nothing
+but the eternal Good only, and may discover that this is so noble
+and exceedingly good, that its blessedness cannot be searched out
+nor expressed, comfort and joy, peace, rest, and satisfaction. When,
+therefore, the man cares for and seeks and desires the eternal Good
+and nought beside, and seeks not himself, nor his own things, but
+the glory of God only, he is made to partake of every kind of joy,
+blessedness, peace, rest, and comfort, and from that time forward is
+in the kingdom of God.
+
+This hell and this heaven are two good safe ways for a man in this
+present life, and he is happy who truly finds them. For this hell
+shall pass away, but this heaven shall abide for evermore. Let a man
+also observe, that when he is in this hell, nothing can console him;
+and he cannot believe that he shall ever be delivered or comforted.
+But when he is in heaven, nothing can disturb him: he believes that
+no one will ever be able to offend or trouble him again, though it
+is indeed possible that he may again be troubled and left
+unconsoled.
+
+This heaven and hell come upon a man in such a way, that he knows
+not whence they come; and he can do nothing himself towards making
+them either come or depart. He can neither give them to himself, nor
+take them away from himself, neither bring them nor drive them away;
+even as it is written, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
+hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or
+whither it goeth." And when a man is in either of these two states,
+all is well with him, and he is as safe in hell as in heaven. And
+while a man is in the world, it is possible for him to pass many
+times from the one state into the other--even within a day and
+night, and without any motion of his own. But when a man is in
+neither of these two states, he holds intercourse with the
+creatures, and is carried this way and that, and knows not what
+manner of man he is. A man should therefore never forget either of
+these states, but carry the memory of them in his heart. xi.
+
+THE THREE STAGES
+
+Be well assured that none can be illuminated, unless he be first
+cleansed, purified, or stripped. Also none can be united to God
+unless he be first illuminated. There are therefore three
+stages--first, the purification; secondly, the illumination; and
+thirdly, the union. The purification belongs to those who are
+beginning or repenting. It is effected in three ways; by repentance
+and sorrow for sin, by full confession, and by hearty amendment. The
+illumination belongs to those who are growing, and it also is
+effected in three ways; by the renunciation of sin, by the practice
+of virtue and good works, and by willing endurance of all trials and
+temptations. The union belongs to those who are perfect, and this
+also is effected in three ways; by pureness and singleness of heart,
+by love, and by the contemplation of God, the Creator of all things.
+xiv.
+
+THE LIFE OF CHRIST
+
+We ought truly to know and believe that no life is so noble, or
+good, or pleasing to God, as the life of Christ. And yet it is to
+nature and selfishness the most bitter of all lives. For to nature,
+and selfishness, and the Me, a life of careless freedom is the
+sweetest and pleasantest, but it is not the best; indeed, in some
+men it may be the worst. But the life of Christ, though it be the
+bitterest of all, should be preferred above all. And hereby ye shall
+know this. There is an inward sight which is able to perceive the
+one true good, how that it is neither this nor that, but that it is
+that of which St Paul says: "When that which is perfect is come,
+then that which is in part shall be done away." By this he signifies
+that what is whole and perfect excels all the parts, and that all
+which is imperfect, and in part, is as nothing compared to what is
+perfect. In like manner, all knowledge of the parts is swallowed up
+when the whole is known. And where the good is known, it cannot fail
+to be desired and loved so greatly, that all other love, with which
+a man has loved himself, and other things, vanishes away. Moreover,
+that inward sight perceives what is best and noblest in all things,
+and loves it in the one true good, and for the sake of the true good
+alone. Where this inward sight exists, a man perceives truly that
+the life of Christ is the best and noblest life, and that it is
+therefore to be chosen above all others; and therefore he willingly
+accepts and endures it, without hesitation or complaining, whether
+it is pleasing or displeasing to nature and other men, and whether
+he himself likes or dislikes it, and finds it sweet or bitter.
+Therefore, whenever this perfect and true good is known, the life of
+Christ must be followed, until the decease of the body. If any man
+vainly deems otherwise, he is deceived, and if any man says
+otherwise, he tells a lie; and in whatever man the life of Christ is
+not, he will never know the true good or the eternal truth.
+
+But let no one imagine that we can attain to this true light and
+perfect knowledge, and to the life of Christ, by much questioning,
+or by listening to others, or by reading and study, or by ability
+and deep learning. For so long as a man is occupied with anything
+which is this or that, whether it be himself or any other creature;
+or does anything, or forms plans, or opinions, or objects, he comes
+not to the life of Christ. Christ Himself declared as much, for He
+said: "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take
+up his cross, and follow Me." "And if any man hate not his father
+and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea and
+his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." He means this: "He who
+does not give up and abandon everything can never know My eternal
+truth, nor attain to My life." And even if this had not been
+declared to us, the truth itself proclaims it, for so verily it is.
+But as long as a man holds fast to the rudiments and fragments of
+this world, and above all to himself, and is conversant with them,
+and sets great store by them, he is deceived and blinded, and
+perceives what is good only in so far as is convenient and agreeable
+to himself and profitable to his own objects.
+
+Since then the life of Christ is in all ways most bitter to nature
+and the self and the Me--for in the true life of Christ nature and
+the self and the Me must be abandoned and lost and suffered to die
+completely--therefore in all of us nature has a horror of it, and
+deems it evil and unjust and foolish; and she strives after such a
+life as shall be most agreeable and pleasant to ourselves; and says,
+and believes too in her blindness, that such a life is the best of
+all. Now nothing is so agreeable and pleasant to nature as a free
+and careless manner of life. To this therefore she clings, and takes
+enjoyment in herself and her powers, and thinks only of her own
+peace and comfort. And this is especially likely to happen, when a
+man has high natural gifts of reason, for reason mounts up in its
+own light and by its own power, till at last it comes to think
+itself the true eternal light, and gives itself out to be such; and
+it is thus deceived in itself, and deceives others at the same time,
+people who know no better and are prone to be so deceived.
+xviii.-xx.
+
+UNION WITH GOD
+
+In what does union with God consist? It means that we should be
+indeed purely, simply, and wholly at one with the one eternal Will
+of God, or altogether without will, so that the created will should
+flow out into the eternal Will and be swallowed up and lost in it,
+so that the eternal Will alone should do and leave undone in us. Now
+observe what may be of use to us in attaining this object. Religious
+exercises cannot do this, nor words, nor works, nor any creature or
+work done by a creature. We must therefore give up and renounce all
+things, suffering them to be what they are, and enter into union
+with God. Yet the outward things must be; and sleeping and waking,
+walking and standing still, speaking and being silent, must go on as
+long as we live.
+
+But when this union truly comes to pass and is established, the
+inner man henceforth stands immoveable in this union; as for the
+outer man, God allows him to be moved hither and thither, from this
+to that, among things which are necessary and right. So the outer
+man says sincerely, "I have no wish to be or not to be, to live or
+die, to know or be ignorant, to do or leave undone; I am ready for
+all that is to be or ought to be, and obedient to whatever I have to
+do or suffer." Thus the outer man has no purpose except to do what
+in him lies to further the eternal Will. As for the inner man, it is
+truly perceived that he shall stand immoveable, though the outer
+man must needs be moved. And if the inner man has any explanation of
+the actions of the outer man, he says only that such things as are
+ordained by the eternal Will must be and ought to be. It is thus
+when God Himself dwells in a man; as we plainly see in the case of
+Christ. Moreover, where there is this union, which is the outflow of
+the Divine light and dwells in its beams, there is no spiritual
+pride nor boldness of spirit, but unbounded humility and a lowly
+broken heart; there is also an honest and blameless walk, justice,
+peace, contentment, and every virtue. Where these are not, there is
+no true union. For even as neither this thing nor that can bring
+about or further this union, so nothing can spoil or hinder it,
+except the man himself with his self-will, which does him this great
+injury. Be well assured of this. xxvii., xxviii.
+
+THE FALSE LIGHT
+
+Now I must tell you what the False Light is, and what belongs to it.
+All that is contrary to the true light belongs to the false. It
+belongs of necessity to the true light that it never seeks to
+deceive, nor consents that anyone should be injured or deceived; and
+it cannot be deceived itself. But the false light both deceives
+others, and is deceived itself. Even as God deceives no man, and
+wills not that any should be deceived, so it is with His true light.
+The true light is God or Divine, but the false light is nature or
+natural. It belongeth to God, that He is neither this nor that, and
+that He requires nothing in the man whom He has made to be partaker
+in the Divine nature, except goodness as goodness and for the sake
+of goodness. This is the token of the true light. But it belongs to
+the creature, and to nature, to be something, this or that, and to
+intend and seek something, this or that, and not simply what is good
+without asking Why. And as God and the true light are without all
+self-will, selfishness, and self-Seeking, so the "I, Me, and Mine"
+belong to the false light, which in everything seeks itself and its
+own ends, and not goodness for the sake of goodness. This is the
+character of the natural or carnal man in each of us. Now observe
+how it first comes to be deceived. It does not desire or choose
+goodness for its own sake, but desires and chooses itself and its
+own ends rather than the highest good; and this is an error and the
+first deception. Secondly, it fancies itself to be God, when it is
+nothing but nature. And because it feigns itself to be God, it takes
+to itself what belongs to God; and not that which belongs to God
+when He is made man, or when He dwells in a Godlike man; but that
+which belongs to God as He is in eternity without the creature. God,
+they say, and say truly, needs nothing, is free, exempt from toil,
+apart by Himself, above all things: He is unchangeable, immoveable,
+and whatever He does is well done. "so will I be," says the false
+light. "The more like one is to God, the better one is; I therefore
+will be like God and will be God, and will sit and stand at His
+right hand." This is what Lucifer the Evil Spirit also said. Now God
+in eternity is without contradiction, suffering, and grief, and
+nothing can injure or grieve Him. But with God as He is made man it
+is otherwise. The false light thinks itself to be above all works,
+words, customs, laws, and order, and above the life which Christ led
+in the body which He possessed in His human nature. It also claims
+to be unmoved by any works of the creatures; it cares not whether
+they be good or bad, for God or against Him; it keeps itself aloof
+from all things, and deems it fitting that all creatures should
+serve it. Further, it says that it has risen beyond the life of
+Christ according to the flesh, and that outward things can no longer
+touch or pain it, even as it was with Christ after the Resurrection.
+Many other strange and false notions it cherishes. Moreover, this
+false light says that it has risen above conscience and the sense of
+sin, and that whatever it does is right. One of the so-called "Free
+Spirits" even said that if he had killed ten men, he would have as
+little sense of guilt as if he had killed a dog. This false light,
+in so far as it fancies itself to be God, is Lucifer, the Evil
+Spirit; but in so far as it makes of no account the life of Christ,
+it is Antichrist. It says, indeed, that Christ was without sense of
+sin, and that therefore we should be so. We may reply that Satan
+also is without sense of sin, and is none the better for that. What
+is a sense of sin? It is when we perceive that man has turned away
+from God in his will, and that this is man's fault, not God's, for
+God is guiltless of sin. Now, who knows himself to be free from sin,
+save Christ only? Scarce will any other affirm this. So he who is
+without sense of sin is either Christ or the Evil Spirit. But where
+the true light is, there is a true and just life such as God loves.
+And if a man's life is not perfect, as was that of Christ, still it
+is modelled and built on His, and His life is loved, together with
+modesty, order, and the other virtues, and all self-will, the "I,
+Me, and Mine," is lost; nothing is devised or sought for except
+goodness for its own sake. But where the false light is, men no
+longer regard the life of Christ and the virtues, but they seek and
+purpose what is convenient and pleasant to nature. From this arises
+a false liberty, whereby men become regardless of everything. For
+the true light is the seed of God, and bringeth forth the fruits of
+God; but the false light is the seed of the Devil, and where it is
+sown, the fruits of the Devil, nay the very Devil himself, spring
+up. xl.
+
+LIGHT AND LOVE
+
+It may be asked, What is it like to be a partaker of the Divine
+nature, or a Godlike man? The answer is, that he who is steeped in,
+or illuminated by, the eternal and Divine Light, and kindled or
+consumed by the eternal and Divine Love, is a Godlike man and a
+partaker of the Divine nature. But this light or knowledge is of no
+avail without love. You may understand this if you remember that a
+man who knows very well the difference between virtue and
+wickedness, but does not love virtue, is not virtuous, in that he
+obeys vice. But he who loves virtue follows after it, and his love
+makes him an enemy to wickedness, so that he will not perform any
+wicked act and hates wickedness in others; and he loves virtue so
+that he would not leave any virtue unperformed even if he had the
+choice, not for the sake of reward, but from love of virtue. To such
+a man virtue brings its own reward, and he is content with it, and
+would part with it for no riches. Such a man is already virtuous, or
+in the way to become so. And the truly virtuous man would not cease
+to be so to gain the whole world. He would rather die miserably. The
+case of justice is the same. Many men know well what is just and
+unjust, but yet neither are nor ever will be just men. For they love
+not justice, and therefore practise wickedness and injustice. If a
+man loved justice, he would do no unjust deed; he would feel so
+great abhorrence and anger against injustice whenever he saw it that
+he would be willing to do and suffer anything in order to put an end
+to injustice, and that men might be made just. He would rather die
+than commit an injustice, and all for love of justice. To him,
+justice brings her own reward, she rewards him with herself, and so
+the just man would rather die a thousand deaths than live as an
+unjust man. The same may be said of truth. A man may know very well
+what is truth or a lie, but if he loves not the truth, he is not a
+true man. If, however, he loves it, it is with truth as with
+justice. And of justice Isaiah speaks in the fifth chapter: "Woe
+unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for
+light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet
+for bitter." Thus we may understand that knowledge and light avail
+nothing without love. We see the truth of this in the case of the
+Evil One. He perceives and knows good and evil, right and wrong: but
+since he has no love for the good that he sees, he becomes not good.
+It is true indeed that Love must be led and instructed by knowledge,
+but if knowledge is not followed by Love, it will be of no avail. So
+also with God and Divine things. Although a man know much about God
+and Divine things, and even dream that he sees and understands what
+God Himself is, yet if he have not Love, he will never become like
+God or a partaker of the Divine nature. But if Love be added to his
+knowledge, he cannot help cleaving to God, and forsaking all that is
+not God or from God, and hating it and fighting with it, and finding
+it a cross and burden. And this Love so unites a man to God, that he
+can never again be separated from Him. xli.
+
+PARADISE
+
+What is Paradise? All things that are. For all things are good and
+pleasant, and may therefore fitly be called Paradise. It is also
+said, that Paradise is an outer court of heaven. In the same way,
+this world is truly an outer court of the eternal, or of eternity;
+and this is specially true of any temporal things or creatures which
+manifest the Eternal or remind us of eternity; for the creatures are
+a guide and path to God and eternity. Thus the world is an outer
+court of eternity, and therefore it may well be called a Paradise,
+for so indeed it is. And in this Paradise all things are lawful
+except one tree and its fruit. That is to say, of all things that
+exist, nothing is forbidden or contrary to God, except one thing
+only. That one thing is self-will, or to will otherwise than as the
+eternal Will would have it. Remember this. For God says to Adam
+(that is, to every man) "Whatever thou art, or doest, or leavest
+undone, or whatever happens, is lawful if it be done for the sake of
+and according to My will, and not according to thy will. But all
+that is done from thy will is contrary to the eternal Will." Not
+that everything which is so done is in itself contrary to the
+eternal Will, but in so far as it is done from a different will, or
+otherwise than from the Eternal and Divine Will. l.
+
+WILL AND SELF-WILL
+
+Some may ask: "If this tree, Self-Will, is so contrary to God and to
+the eternal will, why did God create it, and place it in Paradise?"
+We may answer: a man who is truly humble and enlightened does not
+ask God to reveal His secrets to him, or enquire why God does this
+or that, or prevents or allows this or that; he only desires to know
+how he may please God, and become as nothing in himself, having no
+will of his own, and that the eternal will may live in him, and
+possess him wholly, unhampered by any other will, and how what is
+due may be paid to the Eternal Will, by him and through him. But
+there is another answer to this question. For we may say: the most
+noble and gracious gift that is bestowed on any creature is the
+Reason and the Will. These two are so intimately connected that the
+one cannot be anywhere without the other. If it were not for these
+two gifts, there would be no reasonable creatures, but only brutes
+and brutality; and this would be a great loss, for God would then
+never receive His due, or behold Himself and His attributes
+exhibited in action; a thing which ought to be, and is, necessary to
+perfection. Now Perception and Reason are conferred together with
+will, in order that they may teach the will and also themselves,
+that neither perception nor will is of itself, or to itself, nor
+ought to seek or obey itself. Nor must they turn themselves to their
+own profit, nor use themselves for their own ends; for they belong
+to Him from whom they proceed, and they shall submit to Him, and
+flow back to Him, and become nothing in themselves--that is, in
+their selfhood.
+
+But now you must consider more in detail something concerning the
+will. There is an Eternal Will, which is a first principle and
+substance in God, apart from all works and all externalisation; and
+the same will is in man, or the creature, willing and bringing to
+pass certain things. For it pertains to the will, to will something.
+For what else does it exist? It would be a vain thing if it had no
+work to do, and this it cannot have without the creature. And so
+there must needs be creatures, and God will have them, in order that
+by their means the will may be exercised, and may work, though in
+God it must be without work. Therefore the will in the creature,
+which we call the created will, is as truly God's as the eternal
+will, and is not from the creature.
+
+And since God cannot exercise His will, in working and effecting
+changes, without the creature, He is pleased to do so in and with
+the creature. Therefore the will is not given to be exercised by the
+creature, but by God alone, who has the right to carry into effect
+His own will by the will which is in man, but yet is God's will. And
+in any man or creature, in whom it should be thus, purely and
+simply, the will of that man or creature would be exercised not by
+the man but by God, and thus it would not be self-will, and the man
+would only will as God wills; for God Himself, and not man, would be
+moving the will. Thus the will would be united with the Eternal
+Will, and would flow into it; although the man would retain his
+sense of liking and disliking, pleasure and pain. But nothing is
+complained of, except what is contrary to God. And there is no
+rejoicing except in God alone, and in that which belongs to Him. And
+as with the will, so is it with all the other faculties of man; they
+are all of God and not of man. And when the will is wholly given up
+to God, the other faculties will certainly be given up too; and God
+will have what is due to Him.
+
+No one may call that which is free his own, and he who makes it his
+own, doeth injustice. Now in all the sphere of freedom nothing is so
+free as the will; and he who makes it his own, and allows it not to
+remain in its excellent freedom, and free nobleness, and free
+exercise, does it a great injustice. This is what is done by the
+devil, and Adam, and all their followers. But he who leaves the will
+in its noble freedom does right; and this is what Christ, and all
+who follow Him, do. And he who deprives the will of its noble
+freedom, and makes it his own, must necessarily be oppressed with
+cares and discontent, and disquietude, and every kind of misery, and
+this will be his lot throughout time and eternity. But he who leaves
+the will in its freedom has contentment and peace and rest and
+blessedness, through time and eternity. Where there is a man whose
+will is not enslaved, he is free indeed, and in bondage to no man.
+He is one of those to whom Christ said: "The truth shall make you
+free"; and He adds immediately afterwards: "If the Son shall make
+you free, ye shall be free indeed."
+
+Moreover, observe that whenever the will chooses unhindered whatever
+it will, it always and in all cases chooses what is noblest and
+best, and hates whatever is not noble and good, and regards it as an
+offence. And the more free and unhampered the will is, the more it
+is grieved by evil, by injustice, by iniquity, and all manner of
+sin. We see this in Christ, whose will was the purest and freest and
+the least brought into bondage of any man's who ever lived. So was
+the human nature of Christ the most free and pure of all creatures;
+and yet He felt the deepest distress, pain, and wrath at sin that
+any creature ever felt. But when men claim freedom for themselves,
+in such a way as to feel no sorrow or anger at sin, and all that is
+contrary to God, and say that we must take no notice of anything,
+and care for nothing, but be, in this life, what Christ was after
+the resurrection, and so forth, this is not the true and Divine
+freedom that springs from the true and Divine light, but a natural,
+unrighteous, false, deceiving freedom, which springs from the
+natural, false, deceitful light.
+
+If there were no self-will, there would be no proprietorship. There
+is no proprietorship in heaven; and this is why contentment, peace,
+and blessedness are there. If anyone in heaven were so bold as to
+call anything his own, he would immediately be cast out into hell,
+and become an evil spirit. But in hell everyone will have self-will,
+and therefore in hell is every kind of wretchedness and misery. And
+so it is also on earth. But if anyone in hell could rid himself of
+his self-will and call nothing his own, he would pass out of hell
+into heaven. And if a man, while here on earth, could be entirely
+rid of self-will and proprietorship, and stand up free and at
+liberty in the true light of God, and continue therein, he would be
+sure to inherit the kingdom of heaven. For he who has anything, or
+who desires to have anything of his own, is a slave; and he who has
+nothing of his own, nor desires to have anything, is free and at
+liberty, and is in bondage to no man. li.
+
+UNION THROUGH CHRIST
+
+Observe now how the Father draws men to Christ. When something of
+the perfect good is revealed and made manifest within the human
+soul, as it were in a sudden flash, the soul conceives a desire to
+draw near to the perfect goodness, and to unite herself with the
+Father. And the more strongly she longs and desires, the more is
+revealed to her; and the more is revealed to her, the more she is
+drawn to the Father, and the more is her desire kindled. So the soul
+is drawn and kindled into an union with the eternal goodness. And
+this is the drawing of the Father; and so the soul is taught by Him
+who draws her to Himself, that she cannot become united with Him
+unless she can come to Him by means of the life of Christ. liii.
+
+[1]In his Introduction to the "Imitation of Christ," in this series.
+
+[2]e.g. she distinguishes, as Eckhart does, between God and the
+Godhead.
+
+[3]The "three propositions" of Amalric are--1. "Deus est omnia." 2.
+Every Christian, as a con-dition of salvation, must believe that he
+is a member of Christ. 3. To those who are in charity no sin is
+imputed.
+
+[4]Preger is probably wrong in identifying him with a "brother
+Eckhart," Prior of Frankfort, who about 1320 was delated to the head
+of the Order as suspectus de malis familiaritatibus, words which can
+only mean "keeping bad company" in a moral sense, not "con-sorting
+with heretics," as Preger suggests. Eckhart's character, so far as
+we know, was never assailed, even by his enemies, and it is
+therefore probable that "brother Eckhart" was a different person.
+
+[5]I have abridged the bull considerably, but have included all the
+main accusations.
+
+[6]See pages 13, 16.
+
+[7]See pages 14, 15.
+
+[8]See page 1.
+
+[9]This is an obscure point in Eckhart's philosophy, too technical
+to be discussed here; but Eckhart's doctrine of God is certainly
+more orthodox and less pantheistic than those of 'Dionysius' and
+Scotus Erigena.
+
+[10]Cf. St Augustine, In Joann. Ev. Tract. xxxix. 10: praeteritum et
+futurum invenio in omni motu rerum: in veritate quae manet
+praeteritum et futurum non invenio, sed solum praesens.
+
+[11]This doctrine is fully explained by St. Augustine, Epist. 237,
+who follows Plotinus, Enn. vi. 4-6.
+
+[12]This queer word occurs for the first time, I think, in Jerome's
+notes to the first chapter of Ezekiel. He writes the word in Greek,
+and explains it as that part of the soul which always opposes vices.
+The word is common in Bonaventura and other scholastic mystics, and
+is often misspelt synderesis.
+
+[13]It must, however, be said that Preger is too ready to assume
+that the logical development of Eckhart's system away from Thomist
+scholasticism can be traced as a gradual process in his writings,
+the order of which is very uncertain. We are not justified in saying
+in a positive manner that Eckhart's philosophy passed through three
+phases, in the first of which the primacy is held by the will, in
+the second by the created reason, and in the third by the uncreated
+reason.
+
+[14]See pages 14, 15.
+
+[15]C.B. Upton: "Hibbert Lectures," p. 17.
+
+[16]A.E. Taylor: "The Problem of Conduct," PP. 464-5.
+
+[17]See pages 71-2.
+
+[18]See pages 12-13.
+
+[19]See, for example, Prof. W. James' "Varieties of Religions
+Experience," P. 400.
+
+[20]Jacob B�hme's experience is typical: "Suddenly did my spirit
+break through into the innermost birth or geniture of the Deity, and
+there was I embraced with love, as a bridegroom embraces his dearly
+beloved bride. But the greatness of the triumphing that was in the
+spirit I cannot express in speech or writing; nor can it be compared
+to anything but the resurrection of the dead to life. In this light
+my spirit suddenly saw through all; even in herbs and grass it knew
+God, who and what He is," etc. Dr Johnson was, no doubt, right in
+thinking that "Jacob" would have been wiser, and "more like St
+Paul," if he had not attempted to utter the unutterable things which
+he saw.
+
+[21]The extracts from the "Theologia Germanica" will show that this
+treatise represents a later and less paradoxical form of mystical
+thought than Eckhart's.
+
+[22]The maxim, however, is much older than Suso.
+
+[23]Royce: "The World and the Individual" vol. i. p. 193.
+
+[24]So in the "Lignum Vitae" of Laurentius Justinianus we read: "Let
+self-will cease, and there will be no more hell."
+
+[25] "The Inner Way," being thirty-six sermons by John Tauler.
+Translated by A.W. Hutton, M.A.
+
+[26]On the psychology of ecstatic mysticism see Leuba, in the Revue
+Philosophique, July and November 1902.
+
+[27] "Varieties of Religious Experience," p. 13.
+
+[28]Maudsley: "Natural Causes and Supernatural Seemings," p. 256.
+
+[29]See Leuba: "Tendances religieuses chez les mystiques
+chr�tiens" in Revue Philosophique, Nov. 1902.
+
+[30] "Theologia Germanica," translated by Susanna Winkworth.
+Macmillan & Co., 1893.
+
+[31] "Varieties of Religious Experience," 1902.
+
+[32] "Personal Idealism," 1902.
+
+[33] "Varieties of Religious Experience," p. 103.
+
+[34] "In Tune with the Infinite," by R.W. Trine (Bell & Sons, 1902).
+Fifty-ninth thousand. The extract appears to be a quotation from
+another writer, but no reference is given.
+
+[35]Compare Eckhart's saying that the eye with which I see God is
+the same as the eye with which He sees me.
+
+[36] "In Tune with the Infinite," pp. 58, 119.
+
+[37]The numbers refer to pages in Pfeiffer's edition.
+
+[38]The numbers refer to the Sermons in Hamberger's edition of 1864.
+
+[39]The reference is to 1 Peter iii. 8.
+
+[40]The time would, I suppose, be about half-an-hour. Many other
+ecstatics have named this as the normal duration of trance.
+
+[41]Or, "spoke the eternal Wisdom (= the Word of God) in his heart."
+
+[42]John i. 3, 4. This punctuation, whereby the words "that which
+was made" are referred to the clause which follows, and not to that
+which precedes, is adopted by most of the Greek fathers, and is
+still maintained by some good commentators--e.g. Bishop Westcott.
+
+[43]Ecclus. xxiv. 19.
+
+[44]Ecclus. xl. 20.
+
+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Light, Life, and Love
+by W. R. Inge
+******This file should be named lllov10.txt or lllov10.zip******
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