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diff --git a/old/66820-h/66820-h.htm b/old/66820-h/66820-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index ff00e3f..0000000 --- a/old/66820-h/66820-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4100 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - Ruysbroeck, by Maurice Maeterlinck—A Project Gutenberg eBook - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2,h3 { - text-align: center; - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} -hr.tiny {width: 10%; margin-left: 45%; margin-right: 45%;} -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} -h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} - - -.tdl {text-align: left; text-indent: 2em;} -.tdr {text-align: right;} - -.pagenum { - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - font-style: normal; - font-weight: normal; - font-variant: normal; -} - -.blockquot { - margin-left: 17.5%; - margin-right: 17.5%; -} - -.ph1 {text-align: center; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;} -.ph2 {text-align: center; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;} -.bbox {border: 2px solid; padding: 2em;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -.xlarge {font-size: 150%;} -.large {font-size: 125%;} - -.antiqua { - font-family: Blackletter, Fraktur, Textur, "Old English Text MT", "Olde English Mt", "Olde English", Gothic, serif, sans-serif;} - -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; - page-break-inside: avoid; - max-width: 100%; -} - -div.titlepage {text-align: center; page-break-before: always; page-break-after: always;} -div.titlepage p {text-align: center; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 2em;} - -.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} - -.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} - -.fnanchor { - vertical-align: super; - font-size: .8em; - text-decoration: - none; -} - -.poetry-container {text-align: center;} -.poetry {display: inline-block; text-align: left;} -.poetry .verse {text-indent: -2.5em; padding-left: 3em;} -.poetry .first {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} -@media print { .poetry {display: block;} } -.x-ebookmaker .poetry {display: block;} - -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - margin-left: 17.5%; - margin-right: 17.5%; - padding: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - - </style> - </head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Ruysbroeck and the Mystics, by Maurice Maeterlinck</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Ruysbroeck and the Mystics</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>with selections from Ruysbroeck</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Maurice Maeterlinck</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Translator: Jane T. Stoddart</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Contributor: John van Ruysbroek</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: November 25, 2021 [eBook #66820]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Mark C. Orton, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RUYSBROECK AND THE MYSTICS ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/cover.jpg" width="40%" alt="" /></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<h1>RUYSBROECK</h1> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="bbox"> -<p class="ph1"><span class="antiqua">The Devotional Library.</span></p> - - -<p class="center">Handsomely printed and bound, price 3s. 6d. each volume.</p> - - -<p class="center"><i>THIRD EDITION.</i><br /> - -<b>THE KEY OF THE GRAVE.<br /> - -A Book for the Bereaved.</b><br /> - -By W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, M.A., LL.D.</p> - - -<p class="center"><i>SECOND EDITION.</i><br /> - -<b>MEMORANDA SACRA.</b><br /> - -By Professor J. RENDEL HARRIS, M.A., Fellow of<br /> -Clare College, Cambridge.</p> - - -<p class="center"><i>THE GENERAL GORDON EDITION.</i><br /> - -<b>CHRIST MYSTICAL.</b><br /> - -By JOSEPH HALL, D.D., Bishop of Norwich.<br /> - -Reprinted, with General Gordon’s marks, from the Original Copy<br /> -used by him, and with an Introduction on his Theology<br /> -By the Rev. H. CARRUTHERS WILSON, M.A.</p> - -<hr class="tiny" /> -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">London</span>: HODDER AND STOUGHTON.</p> - -</div></div></div></div> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> -<p><span class="xlarge">RUYSBROECK</span><br /> -AND THE<br /> -<span class="xlarge">MYSTICS</span></p> - -<p>WITH SELECTIONS FROM RUYSBROECK</p> - -<p>BY<br /> -<span class="large">MAURICE MAETERLINCK</span></p> - -<p>TRANSLATED BY<br /> -<span class="large">JANE T. STODDART</span></p> - - -<p><span class="antiqua">London</span><br /> -HODDER AND STOUGHTON<br /> -27 PATERNOSTER ROW</p> -<hr class="tiny" /> -<p>MDCCCXCIV</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="blockquot"> -<h2 class="nobreak">TRANSLATOR’S NOTE</h2> - - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> following is an authorised translation -of the essay prefixed by M. Maeterlinck to -L’Ornement des Noces Spirituelles, de Ruysbroeck -L’Admirable, Traduit du Flamand -par Maurice Maeterlinck, which was published -in 1891 by Paul Lacomblez of -Brussels. I have added selected passages -from Ruysbroeck’s own work.</p> -</div></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[vii]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" summary="table"> - -<tr><td> </td><td class="tdr"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> - -<tr><td colspan="2"><span class="smcap">M. Maeterlinck’s Introduction to his -Translation of<br /> “The Adornment of -the Spiritual Marriage”</span>—</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"> I</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">II</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Selected Passages from<br /> “The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage”</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">On the Kingdom of the Soul</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_122"> 122</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Christ the Sun of the Soul</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_126"> 126</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Lesson from the Bee</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_129"> 129</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Dew of Mid-day</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_130"> 130</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Lesson from the Ant</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_132"> 132</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">What shall the Forsaken do?</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_134"> 134</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Setting of the Eternal Sun</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_137"> 137</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">[viii]</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Nature of God</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_138"> 138</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Divine Generosity</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_139"> 139</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Christ the Lover of all Men</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_141"> 141</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">How Christ gave Himself to us in the Sacrament</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_142"> 142</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Soul’s Hunger for God</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_147"> 147</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Labour and Rest of Love</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_150"> 150</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Christian Life</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_151"> 151</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Coming of the Bridegroom</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_152"> 152</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[1]</span> - - - -<h2 class="nobreak">M. MAETERLINCK’S INTRODUCTION<br /> -TO HIS TRANSLATION<br /> -OF “THE ADORNMENT OF THE<br /> -SPIRITUAL MARRIAGE.”</h2> -</div> - - -<h3>I</h3> - -<p><span class="smcap">Many</span> works are more correctly beautiful -than this book of Ruysbroeck L’Admirable. -Many mystics—Swedenborg and Novalis -among others—are more potent in their -influence, and more timely. It is very -probable that his writings may but rarely -meet the needs of to-day. Looking at -him from another point of view, I know<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[2]</span> -few more clumsy authors. He wanders off -now and then into strange puerilities, and -the first twenty chapters of <i>The Adornment -of the Spiritual Marriage</i>, although they -are perhaps a necessary preparation for -what follows, contain little more than mild -and pious commonplaces. Outwardly, at -least, he has no order, no logic of the schools. -He is full of repetitions, and sometimes -seems to contradict himself. He shows -the ignorance of a child along with the -wisdom of one who might have returned -from the dead. Over his involved syntax -I have toiled more than once in the -sweat of my brow. He introduces an -image, and forgets it. There are some of -his images which the mind cannot realise, -and this phenomenon, so unusual in an -honest work, can only be explained by -his awkwardness or his extraordinary haste.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span> -He knows few of the tricks of language, and -can speak only of the unspeakable. He is -almost entirely ignorant of the habits, -skilled methods, and resources of philosophic -thought, and he is constrained to think only of -the unthinkable. When he speaks of his little -monastic garden, he can hardly tell us enough -about what goes on there; on that subject he -writes like a child. He undertakes to teach -us what transpires in the nature of God, and -writes pages which Plato could not have -written. Everywhere we find a grotesque -disproportion between his knowledge and -ignorance, his capacity and desire. You -must not expect a literary work; you will -see only the convulsive flight of an eagle, -dizzy, blind, and wounded, over snowy peaks. -I will add one word more by way of friendly -warning. It has been my lot to read books -generally considered most abstruse: <i>The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span> -Disciples at Saïs</i>, and the <i>Fragments</i> of -Novalis, for instance; the <i>Biographia Literaria</i> -and the <i>Friend</i> of Samuel Taylor Coleridge; -the <i>Timaeus</i> of Plato; the <i>Enneads</i> of -Plotinus; the <i>Divine Names</i> of St. Denys the -Areopagite; the <i>Aurora</i> of the great German -mystic, Jacob Böhme, with whom our author -has more than one point of analogy. I do -not venture to say that the works of Ruysbroeck -are more abstruse than these works; -but their abstruseness is less readily pardoned, -because we have here to do with an unknown -writer in whom we have no previous confidence. -I thought it necessary to give an -honest warning to idlers on the threshold of -this temple without architecture; for this -translation was undertaken only to please a -few Platonists. I believe that those who have -not lived in close fellowship with Plato and -with the Neo-Platonists of Alexandria will<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span> -not proceed far in reading it. They will -think they are entering the void; they will -feel as if they were falling steadily into a -bottomless abyss, between black and slippery -rocks. In this book there is no common -light or air; as a spiritual abode it -will be insupportable to those who come -unprepared. Do not enter here from literary -curiosity; there are hardly any dainty nick-nacks, -and the botanist in search of fine -images will find as few flowers here as on the -polar ice-banks. I tell them that this is a -boundless desert, where they will die of thirst. -They will find here very few phrases which -one may handle and admire after the way of -literary critics; nothing but jets of flame or -blocks of ice. Do not seek for roses in Iceland. -Some flower may still linger between -two icebergs—and indeed there are strange -outbursts, unknown expressions, unheard-of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span> -analogies, but they will not repay you for -the time lost in coming so far to pluck them. -Before entering here one must be in a philosophic -state as different from our ordinary -condition as the state of waking is from that -of slumber. Porphyry, in his <i>Principles of -the Theory of Intelligibles</i>, seems to me to -have written a warning which might fitly -stand at the beginning of this book—“By -our intelligence we say many things of the -principle which is higher than the intelligence. -But these things are divined much better by -an absence of thought than by thought. It -is the same with this idea as with that of -sleep, of which we speak up to a certain point -in our waking state, but the knowledge and -perception of which we can gain only by -sleeping. Like is known only by like, and -the condition of all knowledge is that the -subject should become like to the object.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span>It is most difficult, I repeat, to understand -such things without preparation; and -I believe that, in spite of our preparatory -studies, a great deal of this mysticism will -seem to us purely theoretic, and that the -most of these experiences of supernatural -psychology will be accessible to us only -in the character of spectators. The philosophical -imagination is a faculty which is -educated very slowly. We are here, all at -once, on the confines of human thought, and -far within the polar circle of the mind. It -is strangely cold here; it is strangely dark; -and yet all around there is light and flame. -But to those who come without having -trained their mind to these new perceptions, -this light and these flames are as dark -and cold as painted images. We are dealing -here with the most exact of sciences. We -have to explore the most rugged and least<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span> -habitable promontories of the divine “Know -Thyself”; and the midnight sun hangs over -the tempestuous sea, where the psychology -of man mingles with the psychology of God. -We have constantly to keep in mind that -we are dealing here with a very profound -science, and not with a dream. Dreams are -not unanimous; dreams have no roots; -while the glowing flower of divine metaphysic, -which is here full blown, has its -mysterious roots in Persia and in India, in -Egypt and in Greece. And yet it seems -unconscious as a flower, and knows nothing -of its roots. Unhappily it is almost impossible -for us to put ourselves in the position -of the soul which, without effort, conceived -this science; we cannot perceive it <i>ab intra</i> -and reproduce it in ourselves. We lack that -which Emerson would call the same “central -spontaneity”; we can no longer transform<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span> -these ideas into our own substance; the -utmost we can do is to take count, from the -outside, of the tremendous experiences which -are within the reach of only a very few -souls during the whole existence of a -planetary system. “It is not lawful,” says -Plotinus, “to inquire into the origin of -this intuitive science as if it were a thing -dependent on place and movement; for it -does not approach from here, nor set out -from there, in order to go elsewhere, but it -appears or does not appear. So that we -must not pursue it in order to discover its -secret sources, but wait in silence until it -suddenly shines out upon us, preparing ourselves -for the sacred sight, as the eye waits -patiently for the rising of the sun.” And -elsewhere he adds: “It is not by imagination -nor by reason, which is itself obliged -to draw its principles from elsewhere, that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span> -we represent to ourselves intelligible things -(that is to say, the highest of all), but rather -it is by our faculty for beholding them, the -faculty which enables us to speak of them -here below. We see them therefore by -awaking in ourselves, here on earth, the -same powers which we shall have to awake -when we are in the world of pure intelligence. -We are like a man who, on reaching the -summit of a rock, perceives with his eyes -objects which are invisible to those who -have not made the ascent along with him.”</p> - -<p>But although all beings, from the stone -and the plant up to man, are contemplations, -they are unconscious contemplations; and it -is very difficult to rediscover in ourselves -some memory of the previous activity of the -dead faculty. In this respect we resemble -the eye in the Neo-Platonic image. “It -turns away from the light to see the darkness,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span> -and by the very action it ceases to see; -for it cannot see the darkness with the light, -and yet without it, it sees not at all; and so, -by not seeing, it sees the darkness as far as -it is capable of seeing it.”</p> - -<p>I know the judgment which most men -will pronounce on this book. They will -think it the work of a deluded monk, of a -pale solitary, a hermit, dizzy with fasting -and worn with fever. They will take it for -a wild, dark dream, crossed with vivid -lightning flashes,—nothing more. This is -the common idea which people form of the -mystics; and they forget too often that -they alone are the possessors of certainty. -If it be true, as has been said, that every -man is a Shakespeare in his dreams, we -might well ask whether every man is not -in this life an inarticulate mystic, a thousand -times more transcendental than those who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span> -have confined themselves within the bonds -of words. Is not the eye of the lover or -of the mother, for instance, a thousand -times more abstruse, more impenetrable, and -more mystical than this book, which is -poor and easily explained, after all, like all -books, for these are but dead mysteries, -whose horizon will never be rekindled? If -we do not understand this, perhaps the -reason is that we no longer understand -anything. But, to return to our author, a -few will recognise without difficulty that, far -from being half-maddened by hunger, solitude, -and fever, this monk possessed, on the -contrary, one of the wisest, most exact, and -most subtle philosophic brains which have -ever existed. He lived, they tell us, in his -hut at Grönendal, in the midst of the forest -of Soignes. It was at the beginning of one -of the wildest centuries of the middle ages,—the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span> -fourteenth. He knew no Greek, and -perhaps no Latin. He was alone and poor; -and yet, in the depths of this obscure forest -of Brabant, his mind, ignorant and simple -as it was, receives, all unconsciously, dazzling -sunbeams from all the lonely, mysterious -peaks of human thought He knows, though -he is unaware of it, the Platonism of Greece, -the Sufism of Persia, the Brahmanism of India, -and the Buddhism of Tibet; and his marvellous -ignorance rediscovers the wisdom of -buried centuries, and foresees the knowledge -of centuries yet unborn. I could -quote whole pages of Plato, of Plotinus, of -Porphyry, of the Zendic books, of the Gnostics, -and of the Kabbala, the all but inspired -substance of which is to be found intact in -the writings of this humble Flemish priest.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span> -We find strange coincidences and disturbing -agreements. We find more, for he seems, -at times, to have presupposed with exactitude -the work of most of his unknown predecessors. -Just as Plotinus begins his stern journey -at the crossroad where Plato, fearing, paused -and knelt down, so we might say that -Ruysbroeck awakened from a slumber of -several centuries; not, indeed, the same kind -of thought (for that kind of thought never -sleeps), but the same kind of language as -that which had fallen asleep on the mountains -where Plotinus forsook it, dazzled by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span> -that blaze of light, and with his hands before -his eyes, as if in presence of an immense -conflagration.</p> - -<p>But the organic method of their thought -differs strangely. Plato and Plotinus are -before all things princes in the sphere of -dialectic. They reach mysticism by the -science of reasoning. They use the discursive -faculties of their mind, and seem to -distrust their intuitive or contemplative -faculties. Reasoning beholds itself in the -mirror of reasoning, and endeavours to remain -indifferent to every other reflection. -It continues its course like a river of fresh -water in the midst of the sea, with the -presentiment of a speedy absorption. In -our author we find, on the contrary, the -habits of Asiatic thought; the intuitive -faculty reigns alone above the discursive -purification of ideas by means of words.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span> -The fetters of the dream have fallen off. -Is it for this reason less sure? None can -tell. The mirror of the human intellect is -entirely unknown in this book, but there is -another mirror, darker and more profound, -which we hide in the inmost depths of our -being; no detail can be seen distinctly, and -words will not remain on its surface; the -intellect would break it if it could for a -moment cast thereon the reflection of its -merely secular light; but something else is -seen there from time to time. Is it the -soul? is it God Himself? is it both at once? -We shall never know; yet these all but -invisible appearances are the only real rulers -of the life of the most unbelieving among us. -Here you will perceive nothing but the -dark reflections on the mirror, and, as its -treasure is inexhaustible, these reflections -are not like anything we have experienced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span> -in ourselves, but, in spite of all, they -have an amazing certainty. And this is why -I know nothing more terrifying than this -honest book. There is no psychological -idea, no metaphysical experience, no mystical -intuition, however abstruse, profound, and -surprising they may be, which it would be -impossible to reproduce if necessary, and -to cause to live for a moment in ourselves, -that we might be assured of their -human identity; but here on earth we -are like a blind father who can no longer -recall the faces of his children. None -of these thoughts has the childlike or -brotherly look of a thought of this earth; -we seem to have lost our experience of God, -and yet everything assures us that we are -not entered into the house of dreams. -Must we exclaim with Novalis that the -time has passed away when the Spirit of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span> -God was comprehensible, and that the -divine sense of the world is forever lost? -That of old all things were manifestations -of the Spirit, but that now we see only -lifeless reflections which we do not understand, -and live entirely on the fruits of -better times?</p> - -<p>I believe we must humbly confess that -the key of this book is not to be found on -the common pathways of the human mind. -That key is not meant to open earthly -doors, and we must deserve it by withdrawing -ourselves as far as possible -from the earth. One guide, indeed, we -may still meet at these lonely cross-roads, -who can point out the last way-marks -towards these mysterious isles of fire, these -Icelands of abstraction and of love. That -guide is Plotinus, who attempted to analyse, -by means of the human intellect, the divine<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span> -faculty which here holds sway. He experienced -the same ecstasies (as we say -in a word which explains nothing) which -are in their essence only the beginning of -the complete discovery of our being; and in -the midst of their trouble and their darkness, -he never for one moment closed the questioning -eye of the psychologist who seeks to -explain to himself the most abnormal phenomena -of his soul. He is thus like the last -outwork of the pier, from which we may -understand something of the waves and the -horizon of that dim sea. He tries to extend -the paths of the ordinary intellect into the -very heart of these desolations, and this is why -we must constantly revert to him, for he is -the one analytical mystic. For the sake of -those who may be tempted to undertake -this tremendous journey, I give here one -of the pages in which he has attempted to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span> -explain the organism of that divine faculty -of introspection:—</p> - -<p>“In the intuition of the intellect,” he says, -“intelligible objects are perceived by the intellect -by means of the light which the First -One spreads over them, and in seeing these -objects, it sees really the intelligible light. -But, as it gives its attention to the objects -on which the light falls, it does not perceive -with any exactness the principle which enlightens -them, while if, on the contrary, it -forgets the objects which it sees so as to -contemplate only the brightness which makes -them visible, it sees the light itself and the -principle of the light. But it is never outside -of itself that the intellect can contemplate -the intelligible light. It then resembles -the eye which, without contemplating an -exterior or alien light, and indeed before it -has even perceived it, is suddenly struck<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span> -by a brightness which belongs to itself, or -by a ray which darts from itself, and appears -to it in the midst of darkness: it is just the -same when the eye, so as to see no other -objects, closes its lids and draws its light -from itself, or when, pressed by the hand, it -perceives the light which it has in itself. -Then, although seeing no outside thing, it -still sees; it sees even more than at any -other time, for it sees the light. The other -objects which it saw before, although they -were luminous, were not the light itself. So, -when the intellect closes its eye in some -degree to other objects, and concentrates it -on itself, then, seeing nothing, it yet sees, -not an alien light which shines in alien -forms, but its own light, which all at once -shines inwardly with a pure radiance.”</p> - -<p>Again he says: “The soul which studies -God must form an idea of Him whom it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span> -seeks to know; being aware, moreover, to what -greatness it desires to unite itself, and persuaded -that it will find blessedness in that -union, it must plunge into the depths of -divinity, until, instead of contemplating itself, -or the intelligible world, it becomes itself -an object of contemplation, and shines with -the brightness of conceptions which have -their source above.”</p> - -<p>We have here almost all that human -wisdom can tell us; almost all that the -prince of transcendental metaphysicians -could express; as for other explanations, -we must find them in ourselves, in the -depths where all explanation disappears in -its expression. For it is not only in heaven -and earth, but above all in ourselves, that -there are more things than all philosophies -can contain; and as soon as we are no longer -obliged to formulate the mysteries within us,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span> -we are more profound than all that has been -written, and greater than all that exists.</p> - -<p>I have translated this book, then, solely -because I believe that the writings of the -mystics are the purest diamonds in the vast -treasure of humanity. A translation may -indeed very easily be useless, for experience -seems to prove that it matters little whether -the mystery of the incarnation of a thought -takes place in darkness or in light; it is -enough that it has taken place. But, however -this may be, the truths of mysticism have -a strange privilege over ordinary truths; -they can neither grow old nor die. There -is no truth which did not, one morning, -come down upon this world, lovely in -strength and in youth, and covered with the -fresh and wondrous dew which lies on things -yet unspoken: to-day you may pass through -the infirmaries of the human soul, where all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span> -thoughts come day by day to die, and you -will not find there a single mystic thought. -They have the immunity of the angels of -Swedenborg, who progress continually towards -the spring of their youth, so that the -oldest angels appear the youngest; and -whether they come from India, from Greece, -or from the North, they have neither country -nor date, and wherever we meet them, they -are calm and real as God Himself. A work -grows old in exact proportion to its anti-mysticism; -and that is why this book bears -no date. I know that it is unusually obscure, -but I believe that a sincere and honest -author is never obscure in the eternal sense -of the word, because he always understands -himself, and in a way which is infinitely -beyond anything that he says. It is only -artificial ideas which spring up in real -darkness, and flourish solely in literary epochs<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span> -and in the insincerity of self-conscious -ages, when the thought of the writer is -poorer than his expression. In the former -case, we have the rich shade of a forest; in -the latter, the gloom of a cavern, in which -only dismal parasites can grow. We must -take into account that unknown world which -our author’s phrases were meant to enlighten -through the poor double horn-panes of words -and thoughts. Words, as it has been said, -were invented for the ordinary uses of life, -and they are unhappy, restless, and as -bewildered as beggars round a throne, when, -from time to time, some royal soul leads -them elsewhere. And, from another point -of view, is the thought ever the exact image -of that unknown thing which gave it birth? -Do we not always behold in it the shadow -of a conflict like that of Jacob with the -angel, confused in proportion to the stature<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span> -of the soul and of the angel? “Woe to us,” -says Carlyle, “if we have nothing in us except -that which we can express and show to -others.” I know that on these pages there -lies the shadow cast from objects which we -have no recollection of having seen. The -monk does not stop to explain their use to -us, and we shall recognise them only when -we behold the objects themselves on the -other side of this life; but meanwhile, he -has made us look into the distance, and that -is much. I know, besides, that many of his -phrases float almost like transparent icicles -on the colourless sea of silence, but still they -exist; they have been separated from the -waters, and that is sufficient. I am aware, -finally, that the strange plants which he -cultivated on the high peaks of the spirit are -surrounded by clouds of their own, but these -clouds annoy only gazers from below. Those<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span> -who have the courage to climb see that they -are the very atmosphere of these plants, the -only atmosphere in which they can blossom -in the shade of non-existence. For this is a -vegetation so subtle that it can scarcely be -distinguished from the silence from which it -has drawn its juices and into which it seems -ready to dissolve. This whole work, moreover, -is like a magnifying glass turned upon -darkness and silence; and sometimes we do -not immediately discern the outline of the -ideas which are still steeped therein. It is -invisible things which appear from time -to time, and some attention is obviously -needed for their recognition. This book is -not too far off from us; probably it is in the -very centre of our humanity; it is we, on -the contrary, who are too far from the book; -and if it seems to us discouraging as the -desert, if the desolation of divine love in it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span> -appears terrible, and the thirst on its summits -unendurable, it is not that the book is too -ancient, but that we ourselves are perhaps -old and sad and lacking in courage, like -gray-haired men in presence of a child. -Plotinus, the great pagan mystic, is probably -right when he says to those who complain -that they see nothing on the heights of introspection: -“We must first make the organ of -vision analogous and similar to the object -which it is to contemplate. The eye would -never have perceived the sun, if it had not -first taken the form of the sun; so likewise -the soul could never see beauty if it did not -first become beautiful itself; and all men -should begin by making themselves beautiful -and divine, in order that they may -obtain the sight of the beautiful and of -divinity.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span></p> - - -<h3>II</h3> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> life of Jean von Ruysbroeck, like -that of most of the great thinkers of this -world, is entirely an inner life. He said -himself, “I have no concerns outside.” -Nearly all his biographers, Surius among -others, wrote nearly two centuries after his -death, and their work seems much intermixed -with legend. They show us a holy -hermit, silent, ignorant, amazingly humble, -amazingly good, who was in the habit -of working miracles unawares. The trees -beneath which he prayed were illumined by -an aureole; the bells of a Dutch convent -tolled without hands on the day of his death. -His body, when exhumed five years after his -soul had quitted it, was found in a state of -perfect preservation, and from it rose wonderful -perfumes, which cured the sick who were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span> -brought from neighbouring villages. A few -lines will suffice to give the facts which -are undoubtedly authentic. He was born -in the year 1274 at Ruysbroeck, a little -village between Hal and Brussels. He was -first a priest in the church of Sainte-Gudule; -then, by the advice of the hermit Lambert, -he left the Brabant town and retired to -Grönendal (Green Valley) in the forest of -Soignes, in the neighbourhood of Brussels. -Holy companions soon joined him there, -and with them he founded the abbey of -Grönendal, the ruins of which may be seen -to this day. Attracted by the strange renown -of his theosophy and his supernatural -visions, pilgrims from Germany and Holland, -among them the Dominican Jean Tauler -and Gerhard Groot, came to this retreat -to visit the humble old man, and went -away filled with an admiration of which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span> -the memory still lingers in their writings. -He died, according to the <i>Necrologium -Monasterii Viridis Vallis</i>, on the 2nd of -December 1381, and his contemporaries -gave him the title of “<i>L’Admirable</i>.”</p> - -<p>It was the century of the mystics and the -period of the gloomy wars in Brabant and -Flanders, of stormy nights of blood and -prayers under the wild reigns of the three -Johns, of battles extending into the very forest -where the saints were kneeling. St. Bonaventura -and St. Thomas Aquinas had just died, -and Thomas à Kempis was about to study -God in that mirror of the absolute which the -inspired Fleming had left in the depths of the -Green Valley; while, first Jehan de Bruges, -and afterwards the Van Eycks, Roger van -der Weyden, Hugues van der Goes, Thierry -Bouts, and Hans Memlinck were to people -with images the lonely <i>Word</i> of the hermit.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span>Here is a list of the writings of Ruysbroeck, -the sum-total of which is very large. -<i>The Book of the Twelve Beguines</i>; <i>The -Mirror of Eternal Salvation</i>; <i>The Book of -the Spiritual Tabernacle</i>; <i>The Sparkling -Stone</i>; <i>The Book of Supreme Truth</i>; <i>The -Book of the Seven Steps of Spiritual Love</i>; -<i>The Book of the Seven Castles</i>; <i>The Book of -the Kingdom of the Beloved</i>; <i>The Book of -the Four Temptations</i>; <i>The Book of the -Twelve Virtues</i>; <i>The Book of Christian -Faith</i>, and <i>The Adornment of the Spiritual -Marriage</i>. There are besides seven letters, -two hymns, and a prayer, to which Surius -gave these titles, <i>Epistolae septem utiles</i>, -<i>Cantiones duæ admodum spirituales</i>, and -<i>Oratio perbrevis sed pia valde</i>, the original -texts of which I have not been able to -discover in any of the Flemish manuscripts.</p> - -<p>Some years ago the greater number of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span> -these writings were edited with the utmost -care by a society of Flemish bibliophiles—<i>De -Maetschappij der Vlaemsche Bibliophilen</i>—and -most of this translation has -been made from the excellent text of that -edition.</p> - -<p>I shall not undertake to give here an -analysis of these different works; such an -analysis would be difficult, monotonous, and -useless. All the books of our author treat -exclusively of the same science: a theosophy -peculiar to Ruysbroeck, the minute study of -the introversion and introspection of the soul, -the contemplation of God above all similitudes -and likenesses, and the drama of the divine -love on the uninhabitable peaks of the spirit. -I shall therefore content myself with giving -some characteristic extracts from each of -these writings.</p> - -<p><i>The Book of the Twelve Beguines</i>, in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span> -Latin translation of Surius, is entitled <i>De -vera contemplatione, opus præclarum, variis -divinis institutionibus, eo quo Spiritus Sanctus -suggessit ordine descriptis, exuberans</i>. This -title explains more exactly the nature of the -work, but is not to be found in any of the -early manuscripts. The truth is that Ruysbroeck, -following the custom of his age, -seldom gave a title to his writings, and the -titles by which they are now known, as well -as the marginal rubrics of the chapters, have -apparently been interpolated by the copyists. -In the edition of the <i>Maetschappij der -Vlaemsche Bibliophilen</i> we find collected -under the title, <i>Dat boec van den twaelf -beghinen</i>, first of all that treatise on the contemplative -life mentioned by Surius, next -a kind of manual of symbolical astrology, -and lastly some thoughts on the passion -and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span> -three works are marked off from each other -with more or less distinctness, and Ruysbroeck -evidently fixes the place where he forsakes -the inner universe and descends to the -visible firmament, when he says at the end -of chapter xxxi., “And after this I leave -the contemplative life, which is God Himself, -and which He grants to those who have -renounced self and have followed His Spirit -to where, in eternal glory, He rejoices in -Himself and in His chosen.”</p> - -<p>The first eight chapters of this book -are written in singular and very beautiful -verses, and across their images, on the dark -background of essential love, as across the -windows of a burning convent, there flicker -continually bright spiritual flames, and also -frozen sadnesses, not unlike those of Villon -or of Verlaine.</p> - -<p>Here are some of these verses:—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="first">“Contemplation is a science without mode,</div> -<div class="verse">Above human reason remaining evermore;</div> -<div class="verse">Unto our reason can it not come down,</div> -<div class="verse">Neither above it can reason ever rise.</div> -<div class="verse">Its enlightened freedom is a noble mirror,</div> -<div class="verse">Wherein the eternal splendour of God doth shine.</div> -<div class="verse">This modeless freedom hath no manner of its own,</div> -<div class="verse">And before it all the works of reason pale;</div> -<div class="verse">This modeless freedom is not God Himself,</div> -<div class="verse">But it is the light by which we see Him.</div> -<div class="verse">Those who move in this freedom unrestrained</div> -<div class="verse">In the light of God,</div> -<div class="verse">See vast prospects stretching out within them.</div> -<div class="verse">This modeless freedom is more high than reason,</div> -<div class="verse">Yet not without reason;</div> -<div class="verse">All things beholdeth it without surprise—</div> -<div class="verse">Surprise is far beneath it</div> -<div class="verse">The life of contemplation is without surprise:</div> -<div class="verse">It sees, but knows not what is seen,</div> -<div class="verse">Above all things is it, and neither this nor that.”</div> -</div></div> - -<p>Afterwards, the poet, perceiving that his -verses are becoming too obscure, standing as -he is on the threshold of eternal knowledge, -says suddenly and very simply—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="first">“Now must I cease from versing</div> -<div class="verse">And speak of contemplation clearly.”</div> -</div></div> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span>From this point he makes use of a strange -prose, dark as the fearful void into which he -is gazing, resembling that fierce cold which -reigns above all our images, with blue lights -flashing over the black frosts of abstraction. -And when he descends for a moment into -the regions of similitudes, he touches only -the most distant, the most subtle, and the -most unknown; he loves, too, such things as -mirrors, reflections, crystal, fountains, burning -glasses, water-plants, precious stones, glowing -iron, hunger, thirst, fire, fish, the stars, and -everything that helps him to endow his ideas -with visible forms—forms laid prostrate in -the presence of love on these clear summits -of the soul—and to give distinctness to -those unheard-of truths which he calmly -reveals. It is needless to say more, for you -shall presently reach the threshold of that -spiritual marriage, and from there behold the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span> -still tempest of joy, reaching as far as to the -eternal heart of God. In one word, this -man of all others went near to beholding -thought as it will be after death, and -showed a faint shadow of its rich growths -of the future, in the midst of the incomprehensible -effluence of the Holy Trinity. I -believe that this is a work which we shall -perhaps remember elsewhere and always. -You shall see, too, that the most amazing -outbursts of St. Teresa are hardly to be -distinguished from the top of those unlighted, -colourless, and airless glaciers to -which we climb with him “beyond surprise -and emotion, above reason and the virtues,” -in the dark symphony of contemplation.</p> - -<p>I give a passage from the book: <i>De -altero veræ contemplationis modo</i>:—</p> - -<p>“After this comes another mode of contemplation.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span>“Those who have raised themselves into -the absolute purity of their spirits by the -love and reverence which they have for God, -stand in His presence, with open and unveiled -faces. And from the splendour of the -Father a direct light shines on those spirits -in which the thought is naked and free from -similitudes, raised above the senses, above -similitudes, above reason and without reason, -in the lofty purity of the spirit.</p> - -<p>“This light is not God, but is a mediator -between the seeing thought and God. It is -a light-ray from God or from the Spirit of the -Father. In it God shows Himself immediately, -not according to the distinction and -the mode of His persons, but in the simplicity -of His nature and His substance; and -in it also the Spirit of the Father speaks -in thought, lofty, naked, and without similitude, -‘Behold me as I behold you.’ At the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span> -same time the keenness of the pure eyes is -revealed, when the direct brightness of the -Father falls upon them, and they behold the -splendour of the Father—that is to say, the -substance or the nature of God in an immediate -vision, above reason and without -distinction.</p> - -<p>“This brightness and this manifestation -of God give to the contemplative spirit a -real knowledge of the vision of God, as far -as it can be enjoyed in this mortal state. In -order that you may understand me clearly, I -will give you an image from the senses. -When you stand in the dazzling radiance of -the sun, and turn away your eyes from all -colour, from attending to and distinguishing -all the various things which the sun illuminates, -if then you simply follow with your -eyes the brightness of the rays which flow -from the sun, you shall be led into the sun’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span> -very essence; and so likewise, if you follow -with a direct vision the dazzling rays which -stream from the splendour of God, they will -lead you to the source of your creation, and -there you will find nothing else but God -alone.”</p> - -<p>I come now to the second of the works -enumerated above. <i>The Mirror of Eternal -Salvation</i> (<i>Die Spieghel der Ewigher Salicheit</i>) -is, like all the writings of the mystic, -a study of the joys of introversion, or of the -return of man into himself, until he comes -into touch with God. It was sent by the -admirable doctor and eminent contemplator -of the Green Valley “To the dear Sister -Margaret van Meerbeke, of the convent of -the Clares at Brussels, in the year of our -Lord 1359.” In some manuscripts the -work is entitled “Book of the Sacraments,” -and it is indeed the poem of eucharistic love,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span> -above all distinctions and in the midst of -the blinding effluence of God, where the soul -seems to shake the pollen from its essence and -to have an eternal foreknowledge. Here, as -elsewhere, we would need, in order to realise -even slightly these terrors of love, a language -which has the intrinsic omnipotence of -tongues which are almost immemorial. The -Flemish dialect possesses this omnipotence, -and it is possible that several of its words -still contain images dating from the glacial -epochs. Our author then had at his disposal -one of the very oldest modes of speech, in -which words are really lamps behind ideas, -while with us ideas must give light to words. -I am also disposed to believe that every -language thinks always more than the man, -even the man of genius, who employs it, and -who is only its heart for the time being, and -that this is the reason why an ignorant monk<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span> -like this mysterious Ruysbroeck, was able, -by gathering up his scanty forces in prayers -so many centuries ago, to write works which -hardly correspond to our senses in the present -day. I translate from this book the following -fragment:—</p> - -<p>“See now, here must our reason and -all definite actions give way; for our -powers become simple in love, and are -silent and bend low before the manifestation -of the Father; for the manifestation of the -Father raises the soul above reason, into -nakedness without similitudes. There the -soul is simple, pure, and emptied of everything, -and in that pure emptiness the Father -shows His divine brightness. Into that -brightness there can enter neither reason nor -the senses, observation nor distinction. All -these things must remain underneath it, for -that measureless brightness dazzles the eyes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span> -of the spirit, so that their lids must close -under its inconceivable radiance. But the -naked eye, above reason, and in the inmost -depths of intelligence, is always open, and -beholds and contemplates with naked vision -that light by that light itself. There we -have eye to eye, glass to glass, image to -image. By these three things we are like -unto God, and are united to Him. For this -vision which strikes upon our naked eye is a -living mirror which God has made in His -image. His image is His divine brightness, -and with it He has filled to overflowing the -mirror of our soul, so that no other brightness -and no other image can enter there. -But this brightness is not an intermediary -between God and us; for it is the thing -which we see, and also the light by which -we see, but not our eye which sees. For -although the image of God is without intermediary<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span> -in the mirror of our soul, and is -united to Him, still the image is not the -mirror, for God does not become the creature. -But the union of the image with the mirror -is so great and so noble that the soul is -called the mirror of God.</p> - -<p>“Further, that very image of God which -we have received and which we carry in our -souls is the Son of God, the eternal mirror -of divine wisdom, in which we all dwell, and -are continually reflected. Yet we are not -the wisdom of God, otherwise we should -have created ourselves, which is impossible -and a suggestion savouring of heresy. For -whatever we are and whatever we have, we -have received all from God and not from -ourselves. And although this sublimity is -so great a thought for our soul, yet is it -hidden from the sinner and from many -righteous persons. And all that we can<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span> -know by the light of nature is incomplete -and savourless and without emotion, for we -cannot contemplate God or find Him reigning -in our souls without His aid and grace, -and without diligently exercising ourselves -in His love.”</p> - -<p><i>The Book of the Spiritual Tabernacle</i> -(<i>Dat boec van den Gheesteleken Tabernacule</i>). -<i>In Tabernaculum Mosis et ad id pertinentia -commentaria, ubi multa etiam Exodi, Levitici, -Numerorum mysteria, divino spiritu explicantur</i>, -as Surius describes it, is the longest work -of the hermit, and contains a strange, naïve, -and arbitrary interpretation of the symbols of -the ark of the covenant, and of the sacrifices -of the ancient law. I shall give somewhat -copious extracts from this work, for it shows -an interesting and brotherly aspect of his -Flemish soul; and the artistic subtlety with -which he labours to elucidate his emblems,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span> -as well as his amusing and childlike delight -in certain effects of colour and of figures, -reminds us now and then of his marvellous -contemporaries of the Cologne school, the -old dreamy painters, Meister Wilhelm and -Lochner, and of the splendid succession of -nameless dreamers, who, in lands far off -from his, gave a fixed form to the almost -supernatural reflections of the spiritual joys -of that and the following century, which -passed away so near to God and so far from -earth.</p> - -<p>Here is what he says with regard to the -offering of the poor as commanded in the -Jewish law:—</p> - -<p>“And they (the doves) shall keep near -streams and beside clear waters, so that if -any bird flies downwards to seize them or -to do them any injury, they may recognise -him by his reflection in the water and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span> -beware of him. The clear water is Holy -Scripture, the lives of saints, and the mercy -of God. We shall reflect ourselves therein -when we are tempted, and so none shall -be able to hurt us. These doves have a -loving nature, and young doves are often -born of them, for whenever, to the glory of -God and for our own felicity, we think of -sin with scorn and hatred, and of virtue with -love, we give birth to young doves—that is -to say, to new virtues.”</p> - -<p>In the following passages he pictures, -with the help of these same doves, the offering -of Saint Paul:—</p> - -<p>“And our Lord replied that His grace -should be sufficient for him, for virtue is -perfected in the weakness of temptations. -When he understood this he offered these -two doves into the hands of our Lord. For -he renounced self, and willingly became poor,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span> -and bent the necks of his doves (that is, his -desires) under the hands of our Lord Jesus -Christ and of the Holy Church. And -Christ broke the necks and the wings of the -doves, and then he became incapable of -desiring or of flying towards any desire -except that which was God’s will. And then -Christ placed the head (that is to say, the -will, which was dead and powerless) under -the broken wings, and then the doves were -ready to be consumed; and so the holy -apostle says: ‘Most gladly, therefore, will -I rather glory in my weakness, that the -power of Christ may rest upon me.’”</p> - -<p>Let us consider further the extraordinary -interpretation of the spiritual flowers embroidered -on the hangings of the tabernacle:—</p> - -<p>“On these four curtains of divers colours -the Lord ordered Bezaleel and Aholiab to -weave and to embroider with the needle<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span> -many ornaments. So likewise our obedient -will and our intelligence will place upon -these four colours divers ornaments of -virtues. On the white colour of innocence -we shall place red roses, by evermore resisting -all that is evil. Thus we maintain -purity and crucify our own nature, and these -red roses with their sweet perfume are very -lovely on the white colour. Again, upon -innocence we shall embroider sunflowers, by -which we mean obedience; for when the -sun rises in the east, the sunflower opens -towards its rays, and turns ever eagerly -towards the sun, even until its setting in -the west; and at night it closes and hides -its colours and awaits the return of the -sun. Even so will we open our hearts by -obedience towards the illumination of the -grace of God, and humbly and eagerly will -we follow that grace so long as we feel the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span> -warmth of love. And when the light of -grace ceases to awaken fresh emotions, and -we feel the warmth of love but little, or feel -it not at all, then it is night, when we shall -close our heart to all that may tempt it; and -so shall we shut up within ourselves the -golden colour of love, awaiting a new dawn, -with its new brightness and its fresh emotions; -and thus shall we preserve innocence always -in its pristine splendour. On the blue -colour, which is like the firmament, we shall -embroider birds with varied plumage; in -other words, we shall keep before our minds, -with clear observation, the lives and the works -of the saints, which are manifold. These -works are their varied plumage, so gracious -and so beautiful, and with this they adorned -themselves and soared to heaven. They are -birds which we must observe with attention; -if we are like them in their plumage, we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span> -shall follow them to their eternal rest. On -the purple colour (that is, violet or blood-red, -meaning generosity) we shall place water-lilies, -and these symbolise the free possession -of all the treasures of God. For we notice -four things in the water-lily. It keeps itself -always above the water, and has four green -leaves between the air and the water; and it -is rooted in the earth, and above it is opened -out to the sun; and it is a remedy for those -who are fevered. So also may we, by -generosity and freedom of spirit, possess the -waves of all the riches of God. And between -this free possession by our spirit and the -waves of the lavish gifts of God, we shall -have green leaves—that is to say, an -earnest consideration of the way in which -the eternal liberality of God flows forth, -with ever new gifts to men, and we -shall consider also how the gifts are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span> -bestowed with discrimination, according to -the nature of the beloved ones who receive -them, and how the final cause of all the -gifts is the generous outflow of divine love; -and the more immediate cause the wisdom -and generosity in human creatures, which -makes them resemble God. For none can -know the wealth of the gifts of God except -the wise and generous man, who, out of the -treasures of God, can give wisely and -generously to all creatures. So shall we -adorn generosity, and then we shall be -rooted in the soil of all the gifts—that is to -say, in the Holy Spirit, as the water-lily is -rooted deep down under the water. And we -shall open our hearts in the air above, towards -truth and towards the sun of righteousness. -And thus we are a remedy for all the world; -for the generous heart which possesses the -treasures of God, ought to fill, console,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span> -refresh, and cool all those who are afflicted. -And it is thus that the purple colour is -adorned with the red colour—that is to say, -with burning love. On it we shall place -bright stars, by which I mean pious and -devout prayer for the good of our neighbour, -and reverent and secret communion between -God and ourselves. These are the stars -which illuminate with their brightness the -kingdoms of heaven and of earth, and they -make us inwardly light-giving and fruit-bearing, -and fix us in the firmament of -eternal life.”</p> - -<p>I shall next translate the whole of the -“chapter on fishes,” with its amazing analogies:—</p> - -<p>“This is why the symbolic law ordered -the Jews to eat clean fish, which had -scales and fins; and all other fish were -unclean and were forbidden by the law.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span> -By this we understand that our inner life -ought to have a clothing of virtues, and our -inward devotions ought to be covered with -the application of our reason, just as the -fish is clothed and adorned with its scales. -And our loving power should move in four -different ways:—in triumphing over our own -will, in loving God, in desiring to resist -our own nature, and in seeking to acquire -virtues. These are four fins between which -our inward life should swim, as fish do, in -the water of divine grace. The fish has -besides, in the middle of its body, a straight -fin, which remains motionless in all its -movements. So our inward feelings, firmly -centred, should be empty of everything and -without personal preference; in other words, -we should allow God to act in us and in -all things, both in heaven and earth. The -fourth scale balances us in the mercy of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span> -God and in true divine peace. And so -our devotion has fins and scales and becomes -for us a pure nourishment which pleases -God. But the scales which clothe and -adorn our inward exercises should be of -four colours, for some fish have gray scales, -others red scales, others green scales, and -others again white scales. The gray scales -teach us that the images with which we -clothe our devotions must be humble; in -other words, we must think of our sins, -of our want of virtue, of the humility of our -Lord Jesus Christ, and of His mother, and -of all things which may abase and humble -us, and we shall love poverty and contempt -and to be unknown and despised by everybody. -This is the gray colour, which is -very beautiful in the eyes of God.</p> - -<p>“Further, we shall clothe our devotions -with red scales—that is to say, we shall<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span> -remember that the Son of God laid down His -life for love of us, and we shall keep His -passion in our memory, like a glorious -mirror before our inward eyes, so that we -may remember His love and console ourselves -in all our sorrows. And we shall also -think of the many torments of the martyrs, -who by their sufferings followed our Lord -into eternal life. These are red scales, set -well in order, and they are a delightful -clothing for our inward emotions.</p> - -<p>“Then, again, we shall adorn our secret -thoughts with green scales. I mean that we -shall earnestly meditate upon the noble -lives of confessors and saints, remembering -how they despised the world, and by what -wonderful work and in what divers ways -they honoured and served God. Green is -the colour which attracts and rejoices loving -hearts and willing eyes. Let us stir our<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span> -fins, then, and follow the saints by imitating -their good works to the utmost of our -power.</p> - -<p>“Again, we shall clothe our inward -exercise with white scales; in other words, -we shall glass ourselves in the purity of -virgins, and shall observe how they fought -and how they conquered flesh and blood, -by which is meant the inclination of nature. -This is why they wear the crown of gold -and follow the Lamb, who is Christ, with -new songs, which none shall sing save -those who have preserved chastity in soul -and body. But if we have lost purity, we -may still acquire innocence and clothe -ourselves with other virtues, and so we may -reach the day of judgment shining brighter -than the sun, and possess the glory of God -through an unending eternity. In this way, -then, we shall cover our inward devotion<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span> -with four kinds of scales, and each kind -shall have the active fins of good-will; -that is, we must desire to carry out in good -works that which we understand by our -intelligence. So shall our spiritual nourishment -be clean; for knowledge and wisdom -without a virtuous life are like scales without -fins; and practical virtues without reflection -are fins without scales; and so we -must know, love, and practise virtues, in -order that our life may be pure; and then -we shall be nourished with clean fish which -have scales and fins.”</p> - -<p>I give next the following passage:—</p> - -<p>“Further, each lamp had a vase of gold, -full of water, in which was extinguished the -fire taken away from the wicks. By this we -learn that every gift demands from our -mind a desire towards every cardinal virtue—a -desire so simple that we can feel in ourselves<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span> -the yearning of love after union with -God. We observe this in Jesus Christ, who -is our mirror in all things; for in every -virtue which He practised, He excelled so -lovingly that He sought ardently after union -with His Father. And we shall unite all -our yearnings in that loving yearning which -He felt towards His Father in all cardinal -virtues. For our loving yearnings are our -golden vases, full of water—that is, of truth -and righteousness—we shall plunge into -them our burning wicks, the acts, that is, of -all the virtues which we have practised; we -shall plunge them in and extinguish them, -by commending ourselves to His righteousness, -and by uniting ourselves to His -adorable merits; without this the wick of -all our virtues would smoke and would have -an evil savour before God and before all -His saints.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span>Elsewhere, he examines the twelve jewels -of the Breastplate, and sees in them reflections -of eternal symbols, as well as unsuspected, -precise, and suggestive analogies. -Let us see whether it is not so.</p> - -<p>“In the rays of the sun, the topaz surpasses -in splendour all precious stones; and -even so does the humanity of our Lord -Jesus Christ excel in glory and in majesty -all the saints and all the angels because of -His union with the eternal Father. And in -this union the reflection of the Divine Sun -is so clear and glorious that it attracts and -reflects in its clearness all the eyes of saints -and angels in immediate vision, and those -also of just men to whom its splendour is -revealed. So likewise does the topaz attract -and reflect in itself the eyes of those who -behold it, because of its great clearness. -But if you were to cut the topaz it would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span> -darken, while if you leave it in its natural -state it will remain clear. And so, too, if -you examine and try to penetrate the splendour -of the eternal Word, that splendour -will darken and you will lose it. But leave -it as it is, and follow it with earnest gaze, and -with self-abnegation, and it will give you -light.”</p> - -<p>Let us next consider the curious correspondences -which he discovered in other -precious stones:—</p> - -<p>“In this article we compare Christ to the -noble sapphire, of which there are two kinds. -The first is yellow with shades of purple -and seems to be mingled with powdered -gold; the other is sky-blue, and in the -rays of the sun it gives forth a burning splendour, -and one cannot see through it. And we -find all this in our Lord, in this fifth article of -the creed. For when His noble soul rose to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span> -heaven, His body lay in the tomb—yellow, -because of the soul’s departure; purple, -because of His bleeding wounds; and mingled -with powdered gold because He was united -to the divine nature. And His soul descended -into hell, blue as the sky, so that all -his friends rejoiced and were glad in His -splendour; and in His resurrection the splendour -becomes so great and so powerful, both -in body and soul, through the illumination -of the Divine Sun, that it darts forth lightnings -and burning rays, and inflames with -love all things which it touches. And none -can see through that noble sapphire, Christ, -because in His divine nature there is a depth -unfathomable.”</p> - -<p>I pass over the amethyst “from which -red roses seem to flow forth,” and as a -closing passage from this work, I shall -translate the last three symbols: those<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span> -of the chrysolite, the emerald, and the -jasper.</p> - -<p>First of all, the chrysolite:—</p> - -<p>“The communion of saints and the forgiveness -of sins are obtained by the <i>waves -of the night</i>—that is to say, by two sacraments -of the Holy Church, baptism and penance. -These are the waves which by faith wash -that night of darkness, sin. And God has -sworn, even from the time of Abraham, that -He would give Himself to us and would -become our familiar friend, and because of -His all-embracing and overflowing love, He -has willed to wash us in His blood. And -in order that we might believe without doubting -in the oath which He sware by Himself, -He has sealed it with His own death, and has -given the merits of His death to all men -in the Holy Church for the remission of -sins, and to the saints, for the adornment of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span> -their glory. That precious stone, the chrysolite, -symbolises to us that article of the -creed, ‘the communion of saints, the forgiveness -of sins,’ for it is like the waves of the sea, -translucent and green, and moreover it has -gleams of gold. And so likewise all saints -and just men are translucent by grace or by -glory, and they are green by their holy -life, and they gleam with the gold of divine -love which shines through them. And -these three adornments are common to all -saints and to all just persons, for they are -the treasure of the holy churches, here and in -eternal life. And all who by penance have -put away from them the colour of the Red Sea—that -is, a sinful life—are like the chrysolite.</p> - -<p>“You must know that this sea is red -because of its country and the colour of its -bed. It is between Jericho and Zoar, -Jericho signifies ‘the moon,’ and Zoar the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span> -beast which blinds the reason. Between the -moon of inconstancy and the inclination -of reason towards the beast, there is always -the Red Sea—that is to say, an impure life. -No creature can live in the Red Sea, and -whatever does not live in it sinks to the -bottom; and that is why it is called the -Dead Sea, because there is no movement in -it, and it is like bitumen or pitch, because -it seizes and slays whatever enters it, and in -this way it very closely resembles sin, which -seizes man and puts him to spiritual death in -the sight of God, and plunges him into hell.”</p> - -<p>Let us see, lastly, how he applies the -emerald and the jasper to the third and -sixth articles of the Apostles’ Creed:—</p> - -<p>“In this article we compare to the Son of -God that beautiful stone which is called the -emerald, and which is so green that neither -leaves nor grass nor any other green thing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span> -can compare with its viridity. And it fills -and feeds with its greenness the eyes of those -who behold it. Now when the eternal Word -of the Father was made man, then was seen -the greenest colour ever known on earth. -That union of natures is so green and so -lovely and so joyful, that no other colour can -equal it; and so in a holy vision it has filled -and fed the eyes of such men as have prepared -themselves to perceive it. Nothing is -more lovely and more pleasant to the eye -than the emerald when it has been cut and -polished, and everything that it reflects may -be recognised and seen as in a mirror. And -so, if we examine in detail the divine being -of Him who took our nature through His -love for us, we must needs admire, and we -cannot sufficiently praise its sublimity. -And when we consider how He became -man, we must be ashamed of ourselves,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span> -remembering His humility, and we cannot -abase ourselves too deeply. And when we -remember what His motive was in becoming -man, we cannot rejoice enough or love Him -as He deserves.</p> - -<p>“In these three ways we shall behold with -eager desire, and we shall polish and lovingly -examine Christ our noble emerald; -and so doing, we shall find nothing more -pleasant to the eyes of our reason, nothing -more attractive, for we shall find Him reflected -in us, and we shall find ourselves -re-echoed in Him through His grace and a -virtuous life, and so we shall turn away from -earthly things and keep this mirror ever -before our eyes.</p> - -<p>“In another article we compare Christ -to the noble jasper, which has a green -colour, very pleasant to the eye; and it -almost equals the emerald in its greenness.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span> -And so we compare it to the ascension of -our Lord, who was green and beautiful in the -eyes of the apostles, and so pleasant that -they could never forget Him during all their -lives. And we shall rightly have the same -experience; we shall consider that the noble -emerald, the eternal Word, descended into -our nature because of His love for us, -with an overflowing greenness, and we shall -rejoice in this above all, for this vision is full -of grace. We shall further consider that the -glorious jasper, by which I mean our Lord -Jesus, ascended to heaven wearing our nature, -and is seated at the right hand of the -Father, and has prepared for us the state of -glory—Amen.”</p> - -<p>Next comes <i>The Book of the Twelve -Virtues</i>, which Laurentius Surius entitles -more exactly <i>Tractatus de præcipuis quibusdam -virtutibus</i>. In it the hermit of Grönendal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span> -seems to have made a violent effort to -open his bodily eyes, and all his thoughts -are intertwined with the simplicity of divine -children, in the green and blue rays of -humility and mercy, while his prose, which -is usually quite impersonal, is enlivened here -with various counsels and practical matters.</p> - -<p>Here is a fragment on humility:—</p> - -<p>“To reach the lowest place is to have no -longer any desire towards evil; and as we -have always some sin to forsake, so long -as we are in this mortal life, we never reach -the lowest place, for to die is to attain, not -according to the senses, but in a spiritual -paradox. And if any one were to say that -to be steeped in humility is to have reached -the lowest place, I should not contradict his -opinion. But it seems to me that to bathe -oneself in humility is to bathe oneself in -God, for God is the source of humility, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span> -He is at the same height and the same depth -above and below all places. And between -self-abasement and the attainment of the -lowest place, there is, to my mind, a difference. -For to reach the lowest place is to -have no longer any desire towards evil, and -to experience self-abasement is to be steeped -in humility, and that is self-annihilation in -God and death in God. Now, we have -always something to forsake so long as we -live, and to have nothing more to forsake is -to have reached the lowest place. This is -why we cannot attain to the lowest place. -For what man was ever so humble that he -could not have been more humble still? and -who ever loved so fervently that he could -not have loved more fervently still? Except -Christ, assuredly not one. And so let us -never be satisfied while in this dying life, -for we may always become more humble<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span> -than we are to-day. It is a most joyful -thought that we have so great and good a -God that we can never give Him sufficient -homage and praise. Yes, not even if each -single man could give every moment that -which is given by all men and by all angels. -But if we steep ourselves in humility, that is -enough, and we please God by Himself, for -in that immersion we are <i>one life</i> in Him, -not according to nature, but by being bathed -in humility, because by humility we have -descended below our creation, and we have -flowed into God, who is the source of -humility. And there we lack nothing, for -we are beyond ourselves and in God, and -there is neither giving nor receiving, nor -anything which can be called <i>there</i>, for it -is neither <i>there</i> nor <i>here</i>, but I know not -where.”</p> - -<p>From the same book I transcribe the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span> -following passage on detachment from all -things:—</p> - -<p>“Now, he who has found God thus reigning -in him by His grace, and who dwells in -God above the measure of his human -strength, may remain insensible to joy, to -grief, and to the multitude of creatures. For -God is <i>essenced</i> in him, and he is more disposed -to introversion than to extroversion; -and this essence is recalled to him wherever -man is found; and this inclination and this -essence are never forgotten, unless the man -should deliberately turn away from God; -and this he will not readily do, for he who -has experienced God in this way cannot -easily turn away from Him. I do not say -that this can never happen, for no one is -certain of anything in this mortal life, -except of certain revelations.</p> - -<p>“God takes by His divine power the man<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span> -whom he has <i>essenced</i> in himself in this way, -and enlightens him in everything, for everything -is full to him of divine enjoyment; -for he who refers all things to the glory of -God, enjoys God in all things, and he sees -in them the image of God. For he takes -all from the hand of God, thanks Him and -praises Him in everything, and God shines -ever brightly before him, for he watches God -with close attention, and never willingly turns -away to worthless things. And as soon as -he sees that he has turned towards worthless -things, he at once turns away from them with -great bitterness against himself, and bewails -his unfaithfulness to God and resolves never -again to turn knowingly towards worthless -things. For all is bare and empty in which -there is not either the glory of God or the -good of our neighbour or our own salvation. -He who thus watches over himself is less<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span> -and less distracted, for his friend is often -present with him, and that delights him -above all. He is like to one who has a -burning thirst. In his thirst he does nothing -but drink. He may think of many other -things besides the thirst which consumes -him; but whatever he does, and whoever he -is, or of whatever object he thinks, the image -of drink does not disappear from his mind so -long as he suffers from thirst. And the longer -the thirst endures, the greater is the suffering -of the man. And it is even so with the man -who loves anything so passionately that he -has no taste for aught besides, while nothing -really touches his heart except that with -which he is busied, and on which his love is -set. Wherever he may be, with whomsoever -he may find himself, nothing removes from -him that which he so ardently loves. And -he sees in all things the image of the beloved<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span> -object; and the greater and more powerful -his love, the more vividly that image is -present to him. He does not seek repose -and idleness that he may enjoy it, for no -distraction hinders him from having the -image of the beloved abiding ever with -him.”</p> - -<p>Let us glance next at the little work on -<i>Christian Faith</i>, to which Surius gives the -title <i>De fide et judicio, tractatulus insignis</i>. -Its twenty pages form a kind of catechism, -splendid in its precision, from which I take -the following fragment on the happiness of -the elect:—</p> - -<p>“We shall behold with our inward eyes -the mirror of the wisdom of God, in which -shall shine and be illumined all things which -have ever existed and which can rejoice our -hearts. And we shall hear with our outward -ears the melody and the sweet songs<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span> -of saints and angels, who shall praise God -throughout eternity. And with our inner -ears we shall hear the inborn Word of the -Father; and in this Word we shall receive -all knowledge and all truth. And the -sublime fragrance of the Holy Spirit shall -pass before us, sweeter than all balms and -precious herbs that ever were; and this -fragrance shall draw us out of ourselves, -towards the eternal love of God, and we -shall taste His everlasting goodness, sweeter -than all honey, and it shall feed us, and -enter into our soul and our body; and we -shall be ever an hungered and athirst for -it, and because of our hunger and thirst, -these delights and this nourishment shall -remain with us for ever, ever more renewed; -and this is eternal life.</p> - -<p>“We shall understand by love and we shall -be understood by love, and God shall possess<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span> -us and we Him in unity. We shall enjoy -God, and, united to Him, we shall rest in -blessedness. And this measureless delight, -in that super-essential rest, is the ultimate -source of blessedness, for we are then -swallowed up in satisfaction beyond all -possibility of hunger. Hunger can have no -place in it, for there is nothing here but -unity; all loving spirits shall here fall asleep -in super-essential darkness, and nevertheless -they shall live and wake for ever in the -light of glory.”</p> - -<p>Next we come to <i>The Book of the Sparkling -Stone, De Calculo, sive de perfectione -filiorum Dei, libellus admirabilis</i>, as Surius -adds. Here the subject is the mysterious -stone of which the Spirit says in the Apocalypse: -<i>Et dabo illi (vincenti) calculum candidum, -et in calculo nomen novum scriptum, -quod nemo scit nisi qui accepit</i> (Rev. ii. 17).<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span> -This stone, according to the monk of the -forest of Soignes, is the symbol of Christ, -given to His loved ones only, and like a -flame which images the love of the eternal -Word. And then again we have glimpses of -those dark shadows of love, from which break -forth uninterrupted sobs of light, seen in -awful flowers through the gradual expansions -of contemplation and above the strange -verdure of an unequalled gladness. Let us -examine this passage:—</p> - -<p>“And hence follows the third point, that is -to say, an inward exercise above reason and -without restraint; for that union with God -which every loving spirit has possessed in love -continually attracts and draws towards the inmost -centre of its essence the divine persons -and all loving spirits; and all those who love -feel this attraction, more or less, according to -their love and their holy exercises. And he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span> -who keeps guard over this attraction and -clings closely to it cannot fall into deadly sin. -But the contemplative one, who has renounced -his own being and all things else, does not experience -an expulsive force, because he no -longer possesses anything, but is emptied of -all; and so he can always enter naked and -imageless into the secret place of his spirit. -There he sees the eternal light revealed, and -in that light he feels an eternal craving for -union with God. And he himself feels a constant -fire of love which desires above all -things to be one with God. And the more -he observes that attraction and that craving, -the more keenly he feels it; and the more he -feels it, the more he desires to be one with -God, for he longs to pay the debt which -God calls on him to pay. This eternal -craving for union with God causes the spirit -to glow evermore with love; but as the spirit<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span> -uninterruptedly continues paying its debt, a -perpetual consumption goes on within it; -for in the refreshment of unity all spirits grow -weary in their task, and feel only the absorption -of everything into simple unity with God. -This simple unity can be felt and possessed -by none save by those who stand before the -immense brightness and before love, above -reason and without restraint. In this presence -the spirit feels itself perpetually inflamed -with love; and in this glow of love -it finds neither beginning nor end. And it -feels itself <i>one</i> with that burning fire of love. -The spirit remains always on fire in itself, for -its love is eternal, and it feels itself always -consumed away in love; for it is attracted -towards the refreshment of union with God, in -which the spirit burns with love. If it observes -itself, it finds a distinction and a difference -between itself and God, but where it burns<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span> -it is pure and has no distinction, and that is -why it feels nothing else but unity; for the -immeasurable flame of the divine love consumes -and swallows up all that it has -enveloped in its essence.</p> - -<p>“And you may thus understand that the -attracting unity of God is nothing else save -boundless love, which lovingly draws inwards, -in eternal enjoyment, the Father, -the Son, and all who live in love. And we -desire to burn and be consumed in that love -everlastingly, for in it the blessedness of all -spirits is found. And so we ought all to -found our lives on a fathomless abyss; we -shall thus be able to descend evermore in -love, and to plunge ourselves beyond ourselves -into its unsounded depths; and by the -same love we shall rise and go beyond ourselves -into its inconceivable height, and we -shall wander in that measureless love, and it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span> -will lead us away into the boundless expanse -of the love of God. And there will be a -flow and outflow beyond ourselves, in the -unknown pleasure of the divine goodness -and riches. There will be an eternal fusion -and transfusion, absorption and perabsorption -of ourselves in the glory of God. See how, -in each of these comparisons, I have shown -to the contemplative mind its essence and its -inward exercises. But no other can understand -me, for no man can teach contemplation -to his fellow. But when the eternal -truth is revealed to the spirit, it is instructed -in all that is needful.”</p> - -<p>I ought in fairness to translate also the many -strange things in chapters vi., vii., and viii., -which deal with “The difference between the -hirelings and the faithful servants of God,” -“The difference between the faithful servants -and the secret friends of God,” and “The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span> -difference between the secret friends and the -hidden sons of God.” Here it does really -seem as if the anchorite of the Green -Valley had dipped into things beyond this -world. But having run to such lengths -already, I can hardly attempt it I must, -however, be permitted to give the following -fragment, which shall be the last from this -book. It is strangely beautiful:—</p> - -<p>“Understand, now, that this is the mode -of progress: in our going towards God, we -ought to carry our being and all our works -before us, as an eternal offering to God; and -in presence of God we shall surrender ourselves -and all our works, and, dying in love, -we shall pass beyond all creation into the -super-essential kingdom of God. There we -shall possess God in an eternal death to -ourselves. And this is why the Spirit of -God says in the book of the Apocalypse,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span> -‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.’ -Rightly indeed does He call them the blessed -dead, for they remain continually dead to -themselves and immersed beyond their own -nature in the gladdening unity of God. And -they die ever newly in love, by the attracting -refreshment of that same unity. Furthermore, -the divine Spirit saith, ‘They shall -rest from their labours, and their works -shall follow them.’ In this finite existence, -where we are born of God into -a spiritual and virtuous life, we carry -our works before us as an offering to -God; but in that unconditioned life, where -we die anew in God, into a life of -everlasting blessedness, our good works -follow us, for they are one life with -us. In our walk towards God, God dwells -within us; but in our death to ourselves and -to all things besides, we dwell in God. If<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span> -we have faith, hope, and love, we have received -God, and He dwells in us with His -mercies, and He sends us out as His faithful -servants, to keep His commandments. And -He calls us in as His mysterious friends, and -we obey His counsels. But above all things, -if we desire to enjoy God, or to experience -eternal life within us, we must rise far above -human reason, and enter into God through -faith; and there we shall remain pure, at -rest, and free from all similitudes, lifted by -love into the open nakedness of thought. -For when in love we die to all things, when -in ignorance and obscurity we die to all the -notice of the world, we are wrought and reformed -by the eternal Word, who is an image -of the Father. And in the repose of our spirit -we receive the incomprehensible splendour -which envelops and penetrates us, just as -the air is penetrated by the brightness of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span> -the sun. And this splendour is merely a -boundless vision and a boundless beholding. -What we are, that we behold; and what we -behold, that we are; for our thought, our -life, and our essence are closely united with -that truth which is God, and are raised along -with it. And that is why in this pure vision -we are one life and one spirit with God; and -this is what I call a contemplative life. By -connecting ourselves closely to God through -love, we choose the better part; but when -we thus behold God in super-essence, we -possess Him altogether. This contemplation -is united with an untrammelled inward -devotion, that is to say, with a life in which -earthly things are destroyed; for when we -go outside ourselves into darkness and -into unlimited freedom, the pure ray of -the brightness of God shines perpetually on -us; we are fixed in the ray, and it draws<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span> -us out of ourselves into our super-essence -till we are overwhelmed in love. And this -overwhelming in love is always accompanied -and followed by the free inward exercise -of love. For love cannot be idle; it -longs by knowledge and taste to enter -into the immense riches which dwell in -its inmost heart; and its hunger is inappeasable. -To be always receiving in -this powerlessness is to swim against the -stream. We can neither leave nor take, do -without nor receive, speak nor be silent, for -it is above reason and intelligence, and -higher than all created beings. And so -we can neither attain nor pursue it; but we -shall look within, and there we shall feel -that the Spirit of God is leading us and -drawing us on in this impatience of love. -We shall look above, and there we shall -feel that the Spirit of God is drawing us out<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span> -of ourselves, and that we are lost in Him—that -is, in the super-essential love with which -we are one, and which we possess more -deeply and more widely than all other -things.</p> - -<p>“This possession is a pure and profound -enjoyment of all good and of eternal life; -and we are swallowed up in this enjoyment, -above reason and without reason, in the -deep calm of Godhead, which shall nevermore -be stirred. It is by experience only -that we can know that this is true. For -how this is, or who, or in what place, or -what, neither reason nor inward exercise can -tell us, and it is for this reason that our -inward exercise which follows must remain -without mode or limit. For we can neither -conceive nor understand the unfathomable -good which we possess and enjoy; neither -by our inward exercises can we go out of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span> -ourselves to enter into it. And so we are -poor in ourselves, but rich in God; hungry -and thirsty in ourselves, satiated and full -of wine in God; laborious in ourselves, in -God enjoying perfect rest. And thus we -shall remain throughout eternity. For -without the exercises of love we can never -possess God, and he who feels or thinks -otherwise is deceived. And thus we live -wholly in God, by possessing our beatitude, -and we live wholly in ourselves by exercising -our souls in love towards God; and although -we live wholly in God and wholly in ourselves, -yet it is but one life, which has two-fold -and contrary sensations. For riches and -poverty, hunger and satiety, work and idleness, -these things are absolutely contrary to -one another. Nevertheless, in this consists -the nobility of our nature, now and everlastingly, -for it is impossible that we should<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span> -become God, or lose our created essence. -But if we remain wholly in ourselves, -separated from God, we shall be miserable -and unsaved; and so we ought to feel -ourselves living wholly in God and wholly -in ourselves, and between these two sensations -we shall find nothing but the grace of -God and the exercises of our love. For -from the height of our highest sensation, the -splendour of God shines upon us, and it -teaches us truth and impels us towards all -virtues into the eternal love of God. Without -interruption we follow this splendour on -to the source from which it flows, and there -we feel that our spirits are stripped of all -things and bathed beyond thought of rising -in the pure and infinite ocean of love. If -we remained there continually, with a pure -vision, we should never lose this experience, -for our immersion in the enjoyment of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span> -God would be without interruption, if we had -gone out of ourselves and were swallowed -up in love, so possessing God. For if, overwhelmed -in love, and lost to ourselves, we -are the possessors of God, God is ours and -we are His, and we plunge far beyond our -depth, eternally and irrevocably having God -as our own. This immersion in love -becomes the habit of our being, and so it -takes place while we sleep and while we -wake, whether we know it or whether we -know it not. And in this way it deserves -no other praise; but it maintains us in -possession of God and of all the good which -we have received from His hands. It is like -unto streams, which, without pause and without -returning, flow continually into the sea, -since that is the place to which they belong. -And so, if we possess God alone, the immersion -of our being through habitual love<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span> -is always, and without return, flowing into -an unfathomable emotion, which we possess, -and which belongs to us. If we were always -pure, and if we always beheld with the same -directness of vision, we should have such a -feeling as this. Now, this immersion in -love is above all virtues, and above all the -practices of love. For it is simply an -eternal going forth out of ourselves, by a -clear prevision, into a changed state, towards -which we lean out of ourselves, as if towards -our beatitude. For we feel ourselves eternally -drawn outside ourselves and towards -another. And this is the most secret and -the most hidden distinction which we can -experience between God and ourselves, and -above it there is no more any difference. -Nevertheless, our reason remains with its -eyes open in the darkness—that is to say, -in infinite ignorance—and in that darkness<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span> -the boundless splendour remains secret and -hidden from us, for the presence of its immensity -blinds our reason. But it wraps us -round with its purity and transforms us by -its essence, and so we are wrought out of -our personality and transformed until, overwhelmed -in love, we possess our beatitude, -and are one with God.”</p> - -<p>Let us next look at <i>The Book of the -Seven Steps of the Ladder of Love</i> (called -by Surius <i>De Septem Gradibus amoris, -libellus optimus</i>) in which the prior of Grönendal -studies seven virtues which lead from -introversion to the confines of absorption. -This seems to me one of the most beautiful -works of a saint, whose works are all -strange and beautiful I ought to translate -from it some rather singular passages; among -others, that in which he discusses the four -melodies of heaven; but space fails us, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span> -this introduction is already too long. I -shall content myself with giving the following -page:—</p> - -<p>“The Holy Spirit cries in us with a loud -voice and without words, ‘Love the love -which loves you everlastingly.’ His crying -is an inward contact with our spirit. This -voice is more terrifying than the storm. The -flashes which it darts forth open the sky to -us and show us the light of eternal truth. -The heat of its contact and of its love is so -great that it well-nigh consumes us altogether. -In its contact with our spirit it -cries without interruption, ‘Pay your debt; -love the love which has loved you from -all eternity.’ Hence there arises a great -inward impatience and also an unlimited -resignation. For the more we love, the more -we desire to love; and the more we pay of -that which love demands, the greater becomes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span> -our debt to love. Love is not silent, but -cries continually, ‘Love thou love.’ This -conflict is unknown to alien senses. To -love and to enjoy, that is to labour and to -suffer. God lives in us by His grace. He -teaches us, He counsels us, He commands -us to love. We live in Him above all grace -and above our own works, by suffering and -enjoying. In us dwell love, knowledge, contemplation, -and possession, and, above them, -enjoyment. Our work is to love God; our -enjoyment is to receive the embrace of love.</p> - -<p>“Between love and enjoyment there is a -distinction, even as between God and His -grace. We are spirits when we hold fast by -love, but when He robs us of our spirit, and -re-makes us by His own spirit, then we are -enjoyment. The Spirit of God breathes us -out towards love and good works, and it -breathes us in to rest and enjoyment; and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span> -that is eternal life, just as we breathe out -the air which is in us and breathe in fresh -air; and in that consists our mortal life and -nature. And although our spirit should be -ravished and its powers fail in enjoyment -and in blessedness, it is always renewed in -grace, in charity, and in virtues. And so -what I love is to enter into a restful enjoyment, -to go forth in good works, and to -remain always united to the Spirit of God. -Just as we open the eyes of the body, see, -and shut them again, so quickly that we -hardly notice what we have done, even so -we die in God, we live out of God, and we -remain always one with Him.”</p> - -<p>Next we have <i>The Book of the Seven -Castles</i>, called by Laurentius Surius <i>De -Septem Custodiis, Opusculum longe piissimum</i>. -It is not without resemblance to the <i>Castle -of the Soul</i>, by Saint Teresa of Avila, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span> -has also seven dwellings, of which prayer -is the door. The hermit of the forest of -Soignes sends this work, with the <i>Mirror -of Eternal Salvation</i>, “To the holy Clare, -Margaret van Meerbeke, of the convent of -Brussels,” and so the counsels on which he -touches in the prologue have a slight note -of pitying sadness. For instance, he teaches -her in what way she shall go to the window -of the convent parlour, shutting out from -her eyes the face of man; and speaks of the -joy of pain and the care of the sick, with -pale counsels for the sick-ward. Then there -rise the seven spiritual castles of St. Clara, -the doors of which are closed by divine -grace, and must no more be opened to look -into the streets of the heart. Let us hear -what follows, still on the subject of love:—</p> - -<p>“And the loving soul cannot give itself -wholly to God, nor perfectly receive God, for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span> -all that it receives is but a little thing as -compared with that which it lacks, and -counts as nothing in its eager emotion. -And so it is disturbed, and falls into impatience, -and into the strong passion of -love; for it can neither do without God nor -have Him, reach His depth nor His height, -follow nor forsake Him. And this is the -storm and the spiritual plague of which I -have spoken; for no tongue can describe -the many storms and agitations which arise -from the two sides of love. For love makes -a man now hot, now cold; now bold, now -timid; now joyous, now sorrowful; it brings -him fear, hope, despair, tears, complaints, -songs, praises, and such things without -number. Such are the sufferings of those -who live in the passion of love; and yet -this is the most spiritual and the most -useful life which man can live, each according<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span> -to his own capacity. But where man’s -method fails and can reach no higher, then -God’s method begins; where man, by his -sufferings, his love, and his unsatisfied desires, -entwines himself with God and cannot be -united to Him, then the Spirit of our Lord -comes like a fierce fire which burns and consumes -and swallows up all things in itself, -so that the man forgets his inward exercises, -and forgets himself and feels just as if he -were one spirit and one love with God. Here -our senses and all our powers are silent, and -they are calmed and satisfied, for the fountain -of divine goodness and wealth has -flowed over everything, and each has received -more than he can desire.</p> - -<p>“Next comes the third method, which we -attribute to our heavenly Father—that in -which He empties the memory of forms and -images, and lifts up our naked thought to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span> -the ultimate source, which is Himself. There -man is fixed firmly at his beginning, which -is God, and is united to Him. And there is -given to him strength and freedom to work -inwardly and outwardly by means of all the -virtues. And he receives knowledge and -understanding in all exercises which are -according to reason. And he learns how -to receive the inward working of God and -the transformation of the divine methods, -which are above reason, even as we have -already said. And above all divine limits, -he will understand by the same boundless -intuition, the boundless essence of God, -whose being is without limitation. For one -cannot express it by words, nor by works, -nor by methods, nor signs, nor similitudes, -but it manifests itself spontaneously to the -simple intuition of pure and naked thought.</p> - -<p>“But we may place on the road signs and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span> -similitudes which prepare man for the sight of -the Kingdom of God, and you shall imagine -this essence like the glow of a boundless -fire, in which everything is silently consumed—a -red and motionless conflagration. -And so it is with the calm of essential love, -which is the enjoyment of God and of all -the saints, above all limitations, and above -all the works and all the practices of virtue. -This love is a wave, boundless and calmed, of -riches and joys, in which all the saints are -swallowed up with God in an unlimited -enjoyment. And this joy is wild and lonely -like a wandering, for it has neither limit, -nor road, nor path, nor rest, nor measure, -nor end, nor beginning, nor anything which -one can show or express by words. And -this is the pure blessedness of all of us, this -divine essence, and our super-essence, above -reason and without reason. If we desire to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span> -experience it, our spirit must go forth into -it, above our created essence, towards that -eternal centre in which all our lines begin -and end. And in this centre these lines -lose their name and all distinction, and are -united to this centre, and become that same -unity which the centre itself is; and nevertheless -in themselves they always remain as -converging lines.</p> - -<p>“See, then, how we shall thus always remain -what we are in our created essence, and -yet by the ascent of our spirit we shall continually -pass into our super-essence. In it we -shall be above ourselves, below ourselves, -beyond our breadth, beyond our length, in -an eternal wandering which has no return.”</p> - -<p>I shall say little of the small work entitled -<i>Four Temptations</i>, which deals with -the very subtle dangers which threaten the -contemplative mind, the most formidable of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span> -them all being quietism. With the exception -of certain discoveries in the unknown -psychology of prayer, this work, which, -as I have said, is very short, does not present -any very exceptionally lofty summit to our -souls.</p> - -<p>The other little work, which is about the -same length—that is to say, about twenty -pages—is called <i>The Book of Supreme Truth</i>, -or, according to Surius, <i>Samuel</i>. He adds:—“Qui -alias de alta contemplatione dicitur, -verius autem apologice quorumdam sancti -hujus viri dictorum sublimium inscribi possit.” -But this book is so marvellous that -one would need to translate the whole. -At present I shall make no extract from it, -since we can no more divide it than we can -divide that essence whose perpetual effusion -is displayed in its unique and awful mirror.</p> - -<p>I come, therefore, to <i>The Book of the Kingdom<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span> -of Lovers</i>, the strangest and most abstract -work of the sage of the Green Valley, in the -midst of which the soul stretches itself, and is -filled with terror in a spiritual void which -is doubtless normal, and which for the mind -that does not follow it is like some dark -glass bell, in which there is neither air, nor -image, nor anything that can be exactly -conceived, except uninterrupted stars in the -eternal spaces.</p> - -<p>The work is founded on that verse in Wisdom, -“Justum deduxit per vias rectas et -ostendit illi regnum Dei,” and includes the -three virtues of theology and the seven -gifts of the Holy Ghost I proceed at once -to translate, and more fully than ever.</p> - -<p>Let us look first at this passage on the -deserts of being:—</p> - -<p>“The soul of man being made of nothing, -which God took from nowhere, man has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span> -followed this nothingness, which is nowhere, -and he has gone out of his ego into wanderings, -by immersion in the simple essence -of God, as in his own ultimate source; and -he has died in God. To die in God is to -be blessed; and, for each one according to -his own merits, it involves a great difference -both in grace and glory. This blessedness is -to understand God and to be understood by -God, in the joyful unity of the divine persons, -and to have flowed by this unity into the -super-essence of God. Now this unity brings -joy when we look inward, and bears fruit -in our outward life, and so the fountain of -unity flows; that is to say, the Father begets -the Son, the eternal truth, who is the image -of the Father, in which He sees Himself and -all things. This image is the life and cause -of all creatures, for in this image is everything, -according to the divine mode of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span> -being; and by this image all things are perfectly -made, and all things are wisely ruled -upon that model; and according to this image -everything is set apart for its own end, so far -as it is possible for God to do so; for every -creature has received the means of attaining -blessedness. But the reasonable creature is -not the image of the Father, according to -the effluence of his created mode of being, -for that effluence flows forth in as far as it -is a creature, and that is why it enjoys and -loves with measure in the light of grace or -of glory. For no one possesses the divine -nature actively according to the divine mode, -except the divine persons themselves, since -no creature can work according to an infinite -mode, for if it worked thus it would -be God and not a creature.</p> - -<p>“By His own image God has made His -creatures like unto Himself in their nature,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span> -and in those who have turned to Him, He -has made the likeness even greater—higher -than nature in the light of grace or of -glory, each one according to the capacity -which he has by the state of his soul or by -his merits. Now all those who feel this -inward contact, who have an enlightened -reason and the eagerness of love, and to -whom love’s infinite freedom has been -revealed, enter into joyful contemplation in -the super-essence of God. Moreover, God -is united to His essence in a joyful manner, -and contemplates that very essence which -He enjoys. According to the mode of the -enjoyment, the divine light constantly fails -in the infinite essence; but in contemplation -and in a fixed and steady gaze the vision -cannot be darkened, for we shall forever -behold that which we enjoy. Those for -whom the light constantly fails are those<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span> -who rest in enjoyments, in the midst of those -wild solitudes where God possesses Himself -in perpetual joy; there the light grows dim -in rest and in the infinitude of the sublime -essence. There God is His own throne, -and all those who possess God in grace and -in glory in this degree are the thrones and -the tabernacles of God, and they have died -in God in an eternal rest.</p> - -<p>“From this death there arises a super-essential -life—that is to say, a life of contemplation—and -here the gift of intelligence -begins. For God, who without ceasing contemplates -the very essence which He enjoys, -and who grants the impatience of love to -those whom He makes like unto Himself, -gives also rest and enjoyment to those who -are united with Him. But where there is -union of being and complete immersion, -there is no more giving or receiving. And<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span> -because He grants an enlightened reason -to those whom He makes like unto Himself, -He also gives a boundless splendour to -those who are united to Him. That -boundless splendour is the image of the -Father. We are created in this image, and -we are capable of being united to it in a -grandeur more lofty than thrones, if we only -contemplate, above our own human weakness, -the glorious face of the Father—in -other words, the sublime nature of deity. -Now this unfathomed splendour is a common -gift to all spirits who rejoice in grace and -in glory. It thus streams forth for all like -the splendour of the sun, and yet those who -receive it are not all equally enlightened. -The sun shines more clearly through glass -than through stone, more clearly through -crystal than through glass, and each precious -stone shines and shows its beauty and its<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span> -power and its colour in the light of the -sun. Even so is each man enlightened both -in grace and in glory, according as he is -capable of receiving so sublime a gift; but -he who is most enlightened in grace yet has -less than he who is least enlightened in -glory. Nevertheless the light of glory is -not an intermediary between the soul and -this unlimited splendour, but our spiritual -condition, our earthly state, and our inconstancy -disturb us, and so we have to gain -merits, which those who dwell in glory -have no need to gain.</p> - -<p>“This sublime splendour is the simple -contemplation of the Father, and of all -those who behold and rejoice, and look -fixedly in one direction by means of an -incomprehensible light, each one according -as the light is bestowed upon him. For that -measureless light shines ceaselessly into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span> -all our thoughts; but the man who lives -here, in this earthly state, is often overwhelmed -with images, so that he does not -always actively and steadily behold the -super-essence of God by means of this light. -But in receiving this gift he virtually possesses -it, and he can contemplate whenever -he wills. Since the light by which we -contemplate is unlimited, and that which -we contemplate of an unfathomed depth, -the one can never reach the other; but this -fixed gaze of our contemplation remains -eternally turned towards the infinite, in the -joyful presence of the sublime Majesty, -where the Father, by His eternal wisdom, -gazes fixedly into the depths of His own -infinite being.”</p> - -<p>A great part of this book on <i>The Kingdom -of Lovers</i> is written in singular verses. The -three-lined and breathlessly monotonous<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span> -rhythm is rather like that of the <i>Stabat -Mater</i>, only that the third line of every -strophe reproduces the same rhyme throughout -the entire work, and rests on an abstract -idea from which the two preceding lines -rise, like twin flowers of obscurity and -restlessness. We can imagine this hollow -music floating through the spiritual dreams -of the maids of Memlinck, while their secret -senses, their faces, and their little hands -all unite in ecstasy; but unhappily a -translation cannot reproduce its taste of -darkness and of bread soaked in the night, -nor catch the image of the tear-brightened -gloom, of ice mingled with fire, of -oppression without hope, which we feel -throughout the work. I shall therefore -translate only one of these dark poems, the -subject of which is the “Gift of Intelligence.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="first">“He who seeks that gift to light him</div> -<div class="verse">Must rise beyond his nature,</div> -<div class="verse">To the highest height of being.</div> -<div class="verse">Brightness without measure</div> -<div class="verse">There shall he perceive it</div> -<div class="verse">In primal purity.</div> -<div class="verse">Through his soul will flow</div> -<div class="verse">The light of heavenly truth,</div> -<div class="verse">And he in it shall vanish.</div> -<div class="verse">That universal radiance</div> -<div class="verse">Enlightens the pure-hearted</div> -<div class="verse">According to their merits.</div> -<div class="verse">Then can they behold</div> -<div class="verse">With gaze that knows no limit</div> -<div class="verse">The very face of joy.</div> -<div class="verse">For ever shall we gaze on</div> -<div class="verse">That which we there enjoy</div> -<div class="verse">And lose ourselves in vision.</div> -<div class="verse">Far off has gone the Lover;</div> -<div class="verse">We turn our eyes for ever</div> -<div class="verse">Towards the blessed vision.</div> -<div class="verse">Yet has he reached the goal</div> -<div class="verse">And the lover has the loved one</div> -<div class="verse">In the lonely realm of union.</div> -<div class="verse">So shall we thus remain</div> -<div class="verse">And ever strive to follow</div> -<div class="verse">To that wondrous depth divine.”</div> -</div></div> - -<p>I should have liked to translate many other<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span> -passages from this remarkable volume; but -I shall close with a translation of the chapter -entitled “Of the gift of sweet-savoured -wisdom”:—</p> - -<p>“The seventh divine gift is that of -sweet-savoured wisdom. It is granted on -the highest peak of introversion, and it -penetrates the intelligence and the will -according as they are turned towards the -absolute. This savour is without source and -without measure, and it flows from within -outwards, and drinks in the body and the -soul (in proportion to their respective capacity -for its reception) even to the inmost -sense—that is to say, even to a physical -sensation. The other senses, like sight -and hearing, take their pleasure outside, in -the marvels which God has created for -His own glory and for the needs of men. -This incomprehensible savour, above the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span> -mind and in the vast breadth of the soul, -is without measure, and it is the Holy Spirit, -the incomprehensible love of God. In -lower regions than the spirit, sensation is -limited. But as its powers are inherent, -they overwhelm everything. Now, the eternal -Father has adorned the contemplative spirit -with joy in unity, and with active and -passive comprehension in which the self is -lost, and the spirit thus becomes the throne -and the rest of God; and the Son, the -eternal Truth, has adorned the contemplative -intelligence with His own brightness, so that -it may behold the face of joy. And now the -Holy Spirit desires to adorn the contemplative -will, and the inherent unity of its powers, -so that the soul may taste, know, and feel -how great God is. This savour is so vast -that the soul imagines that heaven, earth, -and all that is in them must dissolve and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span> -sink in nothingness before its unbounded -sweetness. These delights are above and -beneath, within and without, and have entirely -enveloped and saturated the kingdom -of the soul. Then the intellect beholds -the pure source from which all these delights -flow forth. This awakes the attention of -the enlightened reason. It knows well, however, -that it is incapable of knowing these -unimaginable delights, for it observes by -means of a created light, while this joy is -entirely without measure. Therefore the -reason fails in its attention; but the intellect, -which is transformed by this illimitable -splendour, beholds without ceasing the incomprehensible -joy of beatitude.”</p> - -<p>It remains now to say a word about the -different translations of Ruysbroeck’s work. -Twenty years ago, Ernest Hello, who, -with Villiers de l’Isle Adam and Stéphane<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span> -Mallarmé, is the greatest French mystic of -our time, published a brief volume in which -he collected under headings, chosen mostly -as his fancy dictated, various passages of -our author, translated from a Latin translation -written in the sixteenth century by -Laurentius Surius, a Carthusian monk of -Cologne. This translation of Surius, noble -and subtle in its Latinity, gives with strict -and admirable care the sense of the original; -but with its over-anxiety, its prolixity, and -its weakness, it resembles, when we contrast -with it the crude colours of the original -Flemish, some distant image seen through -sullied panes. When his author uses one -word, Surius generally employs two or -three, and even then, still dissatisfied, he -very often paraphrases once more that -which he has already translated in full. -The hermit utters cries of love so passionate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span> -that they are sometimes almost -like blasphemies; Surius is frightened as -he reads them and sets down something -different. There are times when the old -hermit looks outside himself, and in speaking -of God searches for images drawn from the -garden, the kitchen, or from the stars. -Surius does not always venture to follow -these flights, and he tries to weaken the -meaning or flatters himself that he is ennobling -it.</p> - -<p class="center">“He escapes me like a truant,”</p> - -<p>says one of the Flemish Beguines in speaking -of Jesus, and others add:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="first">“Christ and I keep house together,</div> -<div class="verse">He is mine, I His;</div> -<div class="verse">Night and day His love outwears me;</div> -<div class="verse">He my heart hath stolen;</div> -<div class="verse">In His mouth He holds me,</div> -<div class="verse">What care have I outside!”</div> -</div></div> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span>Elsewhere God says to man:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="first">“I will be thy nourishment,</div> -<div class="verse">Thy host and thy cook.</div> -<div class="verse">My flesh was well roasted</div> -<div class="verse">On the cross for love of thee.</div> -<div class="verse">Shalt eat and drink with Me.”</div> -</div></div> - -<p>The translator is terrified and changes -these astonishing flights into pale circumlocutions. -The wild and simple air, the vast -and savage love of the original work, most -frequently disappear in a wise, correct, -copious, and monotonous conventual phraseology; -the fidelity to the meaning remaining -all the while exact. It was fragments of -this translation which Ernest Hello translated -in his turn, or rather, he gathered -together in chapters arranged by himself, -phrases taken from different portions of the -work, and disfigured by a double translation. -He thus formed a kind of anthology, admirable -in its way, almost entirely consecutive;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span> -but in which, in spite of careful searching, I -have been unable to find more than three -or four passages reproduced in their entirety.</p> - -<p>As for the present translation, its one -merit is its literal exactitude. I might -perhaps have been able to make it, if -not more elegant, at least more readable, -and to improve the work a little from the -point of view of theological and metaphysical -terminology. But it seemed to -me less dangerous and more loyal to confine -myself to an almost blind word-for-word -translation. I have also resisted the -inevitable temptation to introduce unfaithful -splendours, for the mind of the old monk is -constantly touching upon strange beauties, -which his discretion does not awake, and -all his paths are peopled with lovely -sleeping dreams, whose slumber his humility -does not venture to disturb.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span> - - - - - -<h2 class="nobreak">SELECTED PASSAGES FROM “THE<br /> -ADORNMENT OF THE SPIRITUAL<br /> -MARRIAGE.”</h2> -</div> - - -<h3><span class="smcap">On the Kingdom of the Soul</span></h3> - -<p><span class="smcap">He</span> who desires to obtain and to preserve -virtue will adorn, occupy, and arrange his -soul like to a kingdom. Free will is the king -of the soul. He is free by nature, and yet -more free through divine mercy. He will be -crowned with a crown named charity. This -crown and this kingdom we shall receive -from the Emperor, who is the Lord, the -Ruler and the King of kings, and we shall -possess, rule, and maintain this kingdom in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span> -His name. The sovereign, free will, shall -dwell in the highest town of the kingdom—that -is to say, in the strong desires of the -soul. And he will be adorned with a robe -of two parts. The right side of the robe shall -be a virtue which is called strength, so that -he may be strong and powerful to conquer -every obstacle, and to dwell at last in -heaven in the palace of the great Emperor, -bending his crowned head with love and -passionate self-surrender before the supreme -and sovereign King. This is the fitting -work of charity. Through it we receive -the crown. Through it we adorn the crown, -and through it we maintain and possess the -kingdom through all eternity. The left -side of the robe shall be a cardinal virtue, -which is called moral strength. Through -its aid shall free will, the king, put down -all immorality and fulfil all virtue, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span> -shall have the power to maintain his kingdom -unto death.</p> - -<p>This king shall choose councillors in -his country, the wisest to be found in -the land. These will be two divine -virtues, knowledge and discretion, enlightened -by the grace of God. They -will dwell near the king, in a palace which -is called the soul’s strength of reason; but -they will be clothed and adorned with a -moral virtue which is called temperance, so -that the king may always act or refrain -from acting according to their counsels. -By knowledge we shall purge the conscience -from all its faults and adorn it with every -virtue; and by discretion we shall give and -take, do and leave undone, speak and be -silent, fast and eat, listen and reply; and in -all things we shall act according to knowledge -and discretion, clothed with their moral<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span> -virtue, which is called temperance or moderation.</p> - -<p>This king, free will, shall also set up -in his kingdom a judge, who shall be -called justice, a divine virtue when it -springs from love; and it is one of the -highest moral virtues. This judge shall -dwell in the conscience, in the centre of the -kingdom, in the strongest passions. And he -will be adorned with moral virtue, which is -called prudence. For justice cannot be -perfect. This judge, justice, shall travel -through the kingdom with the power and -the force of the king, accompanied by -wisdom of counsel and by his own prudence. -He will promote and dismiss, judge and -condemn, kill and keep alive, mutilate, blind -and restore sight, lift up and put down, -organise, punish, and chastise every sin with -perfect justice, and at last destroy all vices.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span>The people of this kingdom—that is all -the pure of soul—shall be established on -and in the fear of God; they shall -be subject unto God in all virtues, each -according to his own capacity. He who -has thus occupied, adorned, and regulated -the kingdom of his soul, has gone forth in -love and virtue towards God, himself, and -his neighbour.</p> - - -<h3><span class="smcap">Christ the Sun of the Soul</span></h3> - -<p>The sun shines in the east, in the centre -of the world, on the mountains; it hastens -summer in that region, and creates good -fruits and potent wines, filling the earth -with joy. The same sun shines in the -west, at the ends of the earth; there the -country is colder, and the power of its heat -is less, yet nevertheless it produces a great<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span> -many excellent fruits; but few wines are -found there.</p> - -<p>Those men who dwell in the west of their -own being, remain in the outward senses, and -by their good intentions, their virtues, and -their outward practices, through God’s grace, -they produce abundant harvests and virtues -in various ways, but they seldom taste the -wine of inward joy and of spiritual consolation.</p> - -<p>The man who will feel the shining of the -Eternal Sun, which is Christ Himself, will -have clear vision, and will dwell on the -mountains of the east, concentrating all his -energies and raising his heart towards God, -free and careless as regards joy, sorrow, and -all creatures. There Christ the Sun of -Righteousness shines on the free and uplifted -heart; and these are the mountains which I -have in mind. Christ, the glorious sun and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span> -the divine brightness, shines and illumines -and enkindles by His inward coming, and -the power of His Spirit, the free heart and -all the powers of the soul.</p> - -<p>When summer draws near, and the sun -rises higher in the heavens, it draws the -moisture of the soil through the roots and -the trunk of the trees, until it reaches the -branches, and hence come foliage, flowers, -and fruits. So likewise, when Christ, the -Eternal Sun, rises in our hearts, so that the -summer reigns over their adornment of -virtues, He sends His light and His fire -into our will, and draws the heart from the -multitude of earthly things, and creates -unity and close fellowship, and makes the -heart to grow and become green through -inward love, and to bear the flowers of -loving devotion and the fruits of gratitude -and affection, and preserves these fruits in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span> -the sorrow and humility we feel because -of our impotence.</p> - - -<h3><span class="smcap">The Lesson from the Bee</span></h3> - -<p>Observe the wise bee and make it your -model. It dwells in a community in the -midst of its companions, and it goes forth, -not during the storm, but when the weather -is calm and still and the sun is shining; -and it flies towards all the flowers on which -it can find sweetness. It does not rest on -any flower, neither in its beauty nor in its -sweetness, but it draws from each calix -honey and wax—that is to say, the sweetness -and the substance of its brightness—and it -bears them back to the community in which -all the bees are assembled, so that the honey -and wax may profitably bear fruit.</p> - -<p>The opened heart on which Christ, the -Eternal Sun, is shining, grows and flourishes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span> -under His rays, and flows with all its inner -powers into joy and sweetnesses.</p> - -<p>Now the wise man will act like the bee, -and he will fly out in order to settle with -care, intelligence, and prudence on all the -gifts and on all the sweetness which he -has experienced, and on all the good which -God has done to him; and through the rays -of the sun and his own inward observation -he will experience a multitude of consolations -and blessings. And he will not rest on any -flower of all these gifts, but, laden with -gratitude and praise, he will fly back again -toward the home in which he longs to dwell -and rest for evermore with God.</p> - - -<h3><span class="smcap">The Dew of Mid-day</span></h3> - -<p>Sometimes in these burning days there -falls the honey-dew of some false sweetness, -which soils the fruits or completely spoils<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span> -them. It falls for the most part at noon, in -bright sunshine, and its great drops can -hardly be distinguished from rain. Even so -there are some men who can be caught -away from their outward senses by some -brightness which is the gift of the enemy. -And this brightness enwraps and envelops -them, and at that moment they behold images, -falsehoods, and many kinds of truths, and -voices speak to them in different ways, and -all this is seen and received with great joy. -And here there fall at times the honey-drops -of a false sweetness in which the man delights -himself. He who values it highly -receives a great quantity, and so the man is -often injured, for if he holds for true such -things as have no resemblance to truth, -because they have been shown or taught -him, he falls into error and the fruit of -virtue is lost. But those who have climbed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span> -by the paths which I have pointed out above, -although they may indeed be tempted by -that spirit and by that brightness, will -recognise them and receive no injury.</p> - - -<h3><span class="smcap">The Lesson from the Ant</span></h3> - -<p>I will give a brief parable to those who -live in continual ebullitions of love, in order -that they may endure this disposition -nobly and becomingly, and may attain to -a higher virtue.</p> - -<p>There is a little insect which is called -the ant; it is strong and wise, and very -tenacious of life, and it lives with its fellows -in warm and dry soils. The ant works -during summer and collects food and grain -for the winter, and it splits the grain so that -it may not become rotten or spoiled, and -may be eaten when there is nothing more -to be found. And it does not make<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span> -strange paths, but all follow the same path, -and after waiting till the proper time they -become able to fly.</p> - -<p>So should these men do; they will be -strong by waiting for the coming of Christ, -wise against the appearance and the inspiration -of the enemy. They will not choose -death, but they will prefer God’s glory -alone and the winning of fresh virtues. -They will dwell in the community of their -heart and of their powers, and will follow -the invitation and the constraint of divine -unity. They will live in rich and warm -soils, or, in other words, in the passionate -heat of love, and in great impatience. And -they will work during the summer of this -life, and will gather in for eternity the -fruits of virtue. These they will divide in -two—one part means that they will always -desire the supreme joy of eternity; the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span> -other, that by their reason they will -always restrain themselves as much as -possible, and wait the time that God -has appointed for them, and so the fruit of -virtue shall be preserved into eternity. -They will not follow strange paths or -curious methods, but through all storms -they will follow the path of love, towards -the place whither love shall guide them. -And when the set time has come, and they -have persevered in all the virtues, they shall -be fit to behold God, and their wings shall -bear them towards His mystery.</p> - - -<h3><span class="smcap">What shall the Forsaken do?</span></h3> - -<p>He shall humbly consider that he hath -nothing of his own save his misery, and -shall say with resignation and self-abandonment -the same words which were spoken -by holy Job: “The Lord gave, and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span> -Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name -of the Lord.” And in all things he shall -yield up his own will, saying and thinking -in his heart, “Lord, I am as willing to be -poor and without all those things of which -Thou hast deprived me, as I should be -ready to be rich, Lord, if Thy will were so, -and if in that state I might further Thy -glory. It is not my natural will which must -be done, but Thy will and the will of my -spirit. Lord, I am Thine, and I should be -Thine as gladly in hell as in heaven, if in -that way I could advance Thy glory. So -then, O Lord, fulfil in me the good pleasure -of Thy will.” Out of all sufferings and all -renunciations the man will draw for himself -an inward joy; he will resign himself into the -hands of God, and will rejoice to suffer in -promoting God’s glory. And if he perseveres -in this course, he will enjoy secret<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span> -pleasures never tasted before; for nothing -so rejoices the lover of God as to feel that -he belongs to his Beloved. And if he has -truly risen to this height in the path of -virtues, it is not necessary that he shall have -passed through the different states which we -have pointed out in previous chapters, for he -feels in himself, in work, in humble obedience, -and in patience and resignation, the -source of every virtue. This method has -therefore an everlasting certainty.</p> - -<p>At this season the sun enters into the -sign of Libra, for the day and night -are equal, and light and darkness evenly -balanced. Even so for the resigned soul -Jesus Christ is in the sign of Libra; -and whether He grants sweetness or bitterness, -darkness or light, of whatever nature -His gift may be, the man retains his balance, -and all things are one to him, with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span> -exception of sin, which has been driven out -once for all. When all consolation has -been withdrawn from these resigned ones, so -that they believe they have lost all their -virtues, and are forsaken of God and of -every creature; then, if they know how to -reap the various fruits, the corn and wine are -ripe and ready.</p> - - -<h3><span class="smcap">The Setting of the Eternal Sun</span></h3> - -<p>When the time came for Christ to gather -in and bear away to the eternal kingdom -the fruits of all the virtues that ever were -and ever shall be practised upon earth, then -the Eternal Sun began to set; for He humbled -Himself and gave up the life of His body -into the hands of His enemies. And in His -distress he was misunderstood and forsaken -by His friends, and all consolation, from -without and from within, was taken away<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span> -from His human nature, and it was overwhelmed -with misery and pain, with scorn -and heaviness, and in it He paid all the -debt that justice claimed for sin. He -suffered these things with humble patience, -and in this resignation He fulfilled the -highest tasks of love, and so He received -and redeemed our eternal heritage. Thus -was adorned the lower part of His noble -humanity, for in it He suffered this sorrow -for our sins. And this is why He calls -Himself the Saviour of the world; this is -why He is now famous and glorified, exalted -and seated at the right hand of His Father, -where He reigns with power. And every creature -on earth, in heaven, and in hell, bends continually -the knee before His glorious name.</p> - - -<h3><span class="smcap">The Nature of God</span></h3> - -<p>We must consider and examine the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span> -sublime nature of God: how it is simplicity -and purity; height that cannot be scaled and -depth that cannot be sounded; breadth without -understanding and length without end; -awful silence and the savage wilderness; rest -of all saints in the union and in the common -joy which He shares with His saints -throughout eternity.</p> - - -<h3><span class="smcap">The Divine Generosity</span></h3> - -<p>The incomprehensible wealth and sublimity -and the universality of the gifts which -flow forth from the divine nature awake -wonder in the heart of man, and above -all he marvels at the universal presence -of God and of His works, a presence -which is above everything, for he beholds -the inconceivable essence, which is -the common joy of God and of all the -saints. And he sees that the Divine<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span> -Persons send forth one common effluence in -works, in grace, and in glory, in nature and -above nature, in all states and in all times, -in men and in the glorified saints, in heaven -and on earth, in all reasonable creatures, -and in those which are without reason or -material, according to the merits, the needs, -and the receptivity of each. And he sees -the creation of the heaven and the earth, the -sun and the moon, the four elements with -all the creatures, and the course of the -heavens, which is common to all. God, with -all His gifts, is common to all, men and -angels are a common gift, and the soul with -all its faculties....</p> - -<p>When man thus considers the wealth and -the marvellous sublimity of the divine nature, -and all the manifold gifts which He grants -and offers to His creatures, amazement is -stirred up in his spirit at the sight of so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span> -manifold a wealth and majesty; at the sight -of the immense faithfulness of God to all -His creatures. This causes a strange joy of -spirit, and a boundless trust in God, and this -inward joy surrounds and penetrates all the -forces of the souls in the secret places of the -spirit.</p> - - -<h3><span class="smcap">Christ the Lover of all Men</span></h3> - -<p>Consider how Christ gave Himself to -all in perfect faithfulness. His secret and -sublime prayer flowed forth towards His -Father, and was for the common good of all -who desire salvation. Jesus Christ was all -things to all men in His love, in His teaching, -in His reproaches, in His consolations -and sweetness, in His generous gifts, in His -gracious forgiveness. His soul and His body, -His life, His death, and His service were -and are for the common good of all. His<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span> -sacrament and His gifts are for all. Christ -received neither food, nor drink, nor anything -that was needful for His body, without -thinking of the common good of all those -who shall be saved even until the last day.</p> - -<p>Christ had nothing of His own, but all -was held in common, body and soul, mother -and disciples, tunic and cloak. He ate and -drank for us, He lived and toiled for us. -His toil and grief and misery were indeed -His own, but the blessings and the good -which flowed from them were the common -possession of all. And the glory of His -merits shall be the possession of all throughout -eternity.</p> - - -<h3><span class="smcap">How Christ gave Himself to us in -the Sacrament</span></h3> - -<p>There is a special benefit which Christ, -in the Holy Church, has left to all the good:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span> -namely, that supper of the great feast of -Passover, which He instituted when the time -had come for Him to leave His sorrow and -go to the Father, after He had eaten of the -paschal lamb with His disciples and the -ancient law had been fulfilled. At the end -of the meal and of the feast, He wished to -give them a special food, which He had long -desired to give. In this way He would -make an end of the ancient law and bring -in the new, and so He took bread in His -sacred hands and consecrated His sacred -body and afterwards His blood, and gave -them to all His disciples, and left them as -a common gift to all just men, for their -eternal benefit.</p> - -<p>This gift and this special food rejoice and -adorn all great festivals and all banquets in -heaven and on earth. In this gift Christ -gives Himself to us in three ways: He gives<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span> -us His flesh and His blood and His bodily -life, glorified and full of joys and sorrows; -and He gives us His Spirit, with its supreme -faculties, full of glory and of gifts, of truth -and justifying power; and He gives us -His personality, with the divine light which -raises His Spirit and the spirits of all enlightened -beings into the sublime unity and -joy of God.</p> - -<p>Christ desires that we shall remember -Him whenever we consecrate, offer, and -receive His body. Consider now in what -way we shall remember Him. We shall -observe and examine how Christ inclines -Himself towards us, by loving affection, by -great desires, by a tender joy and warm influence -passing into our bodily nature. For -He gives us that which He received from -our humanity, His flesh, His blood, and His -bodily nature. We shall likewise observe<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span> -and examine that precious body, tortured, -furrowed, and wounded with love, because -of His faithfulness towards us. So shall we -be adorned and nourished in the lower part -of our human nature. In this sublime gift -of the Sacrament He also gives us His -Spirit full of glory, and the richer gifts of -virtues and unspeakable mercies of charity -and goodness.</p> - -<p>By these we are nourished and adorned -and enlightened in the unity of our spirit -and in our higher powers, because Christ -with all His riches dwells within us.</p> - -<p>In the sacrament of the altar He further -bestows upon us His sublime personality -and His incomprehensible light. Through -this we are united and given up to -the Father, and the Father receives -His elect children at the same time as -His only begotten Son, and so we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span> -reach our divine inheritance and our eternal -felicity.</p> - -<p>If a man has diligently considered these -things, he will meet Christ in the same way -in which Christ comes to him. He will rise -to receive Christ with eager joy in his heart, -his desires, his love, and all his powers. And -it is thus that Christ Himself receives. This -joy cannot possibly be too great, for our -nature receives His nature, the glorified -humanity of Christ, full of gladness and -merit. Therefore I desire that in thus -receiving man shall, as it were, dissolve and -flow forth through his desires, his joys, and -his pleasures, for he receives the most lovely, -the most gracious, and the kindest of the -children of men, and is made one with Him. -In this union and this joy great delights -often come to men, and many mysterious -and secret marvels of divine treasures are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span> -manifested and revealed. When in so receiving -a man meditates on the torment and -the sufferings of this precious body of Christ -of which he is partaking, there sometimes -enters into him a devotion so loving and a -compassion so keen that he desires to be -nailed with Christ to the wood of the Cross, -and to shed his heart’s blood in honour of -Christ. And he presses into the wounds -and into the open heart of Christ his Saviour. -In such exercises revelations and great benefits -have often come to men.</p> - - -<h3><span class="smcap">The Soul’s Hunger for God</span></h3> - -<p>Here there begins an eternal hunger, -which shall nevermore be satisfied. It is -the yearning and the inward aspiration of -our faculty of love, and of our created spirit -towards an uncreated good. And as the -spirit desires joy, and is invited and constrained<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span> -by God to partake of it, it is always -longing to realise joy. Behold then the -beginning of an eternal aspiration and of -eternal efforts, while our impotence is likewise -eternal. These are the poorest of all -men, for they are eager and greedy, and -they can never be satisfied. Whatever they -eat or drink, they can never have enough, -for this hunger lasts continually. For a -created vessel cannot contain an uncreated -good, and hence that continual struggle of -the hungry soul, and its feebleness which is -swallowed up in God. There are here great -banquets of food and drink, which none -knoweth saving he who partakes of them; -but full satisfaction of joy is the food which -is ever lacking, and so the hunger is perpetually -renewed. Yet streams of honey -flow within reach, full of all delights, for the -spirit tastes these pleasures in every imaginable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span> -way, but always according to its -creaturely nature and below God, and that -is why the hunger and the impatience are -without end. If God were to grant to this -man all the gifts which are possessed by all -the saints, and everything that He has to -offer, but were to deny Himself, the open-mouthed -eagerness of his spirit would be -still hungry and unsatisfied. Emotion and -the inward contact with God are the explanation -of our hunger and our striving; for -the Spirit of God gives chase to our spirit, -and the closer the contact the greater the -hunger and the striving. This is the life of -love in its highest development, above reason -and higher than all understanding; for in such -love reason can neither give nor take away, -for our love is in touch with the divine love. -And I think that once this point is reached -there will be no more separation from God.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span> -The contact of God with us, so long as we -feel it, and our own loving efforts, are both -created and of the nature of the creature, and -so they may grow and increase all the days -of our life.</p> - - -<h3><span class="smcap">The Labour and Rest of Love</span></h3> - -<p>In one single moment and at the same -time, love labours and rests in its beloved. -And the one is strengthened by the other; -for the loftier the love, the greater is the -rest, and the greater the rest, the closer is -the love; for the one lives in the other, and -he who loves not rests not, neither does he -who rests not know aught of love. There -are, nevertheless, some righteous men who -believe that they neither love nor rest in -God. But this thought itself springs from -love, and because their desire to love is -greater than their ability, therefore it seems<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span> -to them that they are powerless to love. -And in this labour they taste of love and -rest, for none except the resigned, passive, -and enlightened man can understand how -one may rest and also enjoy.</p> - - -<h3><span class="smcap">The Christian Life</span></h3> - -<p>He (the believer) is hungry and thirsty, -for he sees the food of angels and the drink -of heaven. He labours diligently in love, -for he beholds his rest. He is a pilgrim, -and he sees his fatherland. He strives in -love for the victory, for he sees his crown. -Consolation, peace, joy, beauty, and riches, -and all that the heart can desire, are shown -to the reason which is enlightened to see -God in spiritual similitudes and without -measure or limit.... Those who do not -possess, at the same time, the power of rest -and action, and are not exercised in both,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span> -have not received this righteousness of the -just.</p> - - -<h3><span class="smcap">The Coming of the Bridegroom</span></h3> - -<p>What is this eternal coming of our Bridegroom? -It is a new birth and a new illumination -which are without interruption; for the -source from which the brightness streams, -and which is itself the brightness, is living -and fertile; and so the manifestation of the -eternal light is renewed without interruption, -in the secret depths of the spirit.... And -the coming of the Bridegroom is so swift -that He is always coming, and that He -dwells within us with His unfathomable -riches, and that He returns ever anew in -person, with such new brightness that it -seems as if He had never come before. For -His coming is comprised beyond all limit of -time, in an eternal <i>Now</i>; and He is ever<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span> -received with new desires and a new delight. -Behold, the joys and the pleasures which -this Bridegroom brings with Him at His -coming are boundless and without limit, for -they are Himself. And this is why the eyes -of the spirit, by which the loving soul beholds -its Bridegroom, are opened so wide -that they will never shut again. For the -contemplation and the fixed gaze of the -spirit are eternal in the secret manifestation -of God. And the comprehension of the -spirit is so widely opened, as it waits for -the appearance of the Bridegroom, that the -spirit itself becomes vast as that which it -comprehends. And so is God beheld and -understood by God, in whom all our blessedness -is found.</p> - - -<p class="center">THE END</p> - - -<p class="center"><i>Printed by</i> R. & R. <span class="smcap">Clark</span>, <i>Edinburgh</i>.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="ph2"><span class="antiqua">The Devotional Library.</span></p> - - -<p class="center">Handsomely printed and bound, price 3s. 6d. each, cloth.</p> - - -<p class="center"><i>THIRD EDITION.</i><br /> - -<b>THE KEY OF THE GRAVE.<br /> - -A Book for the Bereaved.</b><br /> - -By W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, M.A., LL.D.</p> - -<p>“This volume is a collection of brief but pregnant chapters, written in -sweet, simple English which is full of consolation and drops gently into the -reader’s heart. We give the book our warm commendation and believe that -it has a mission of comfort to perform for burdened souls.”—<i>New York -Independent.</i></p> - -<p>“Dr. Robertson Nicoll has produced a unique, exquisite, and most edifying -book. We are much impressed by the delicate and profound spiritual -insight manifested on every page of this beautiful little volume. Many a -familiar passage in the Bible shines with a new, unexpected, and immortal -light. It is difficult to know what to quote from a volume so full of delightful -and memorable passages. It is pre-eminently a book to put into the hands -of the refined, sensitive, scholarly, and devout, when they feel the awful -pressure of the greatest bereavement.”—<i>Methodist Times.</i></p> - - -<p class="center"><i>SECOND EDITION.</i><br /> - -<b>MEMORANDA SACRA.</b><br /> - -By Professor J. RENDEL HARRIS, M.A., Fellow of<br /> -Clare College, Cambridge.</p> - -<p>“Two gifts, both of the very highest, are marvellously united in Professor -Rendel Harris, and here we have the ripe fruits of one, in most delicious -flavour and most wholesome nourishment. It is not possible to review such a -book as this. Words about it do not tell us what it is. Nor will a selection -of words from it half convey its incommunicable fragrance.”—<i>Expository -Times.</i></p> - - -<p class="center"><i>THE GENERAL GORDON EDITION.</i><br /> - -<b>CHRIST MYSTICAL.</b><br /> - -By JOSEPH HALL, D.D., Bishop of Norwich.<br /> - -Reprinted, with General Gordon’s marks, from the Original Copy<br /> -used by him, and with an Introduction on his Theology<br /> - -By the Rev. H. CARRUTHERS WILSON, M.A.</p> - -<p>“A book which was so highly prized by so romantic and heroic a Christian -as General Gordon is sure to awaken a widespread curiosity. This edition -is not only printed from his copy, but shows the passages which he had -marked for special consideration. The treatise itself is worthy of the place -it held in his esteem. Mr. Wilson’s introduction is entirely appropriate, and -we cannot but feel that the publishers have rendered good service by including -the work in their Devotional Library.”—<i>Baptist Magazine.</i></p> - -<p>“Hall’s treatise is in itself an excellent example of the best kind of -devotional literature, and it will contribute to its appreciation by the modern -reader that its sacred teachings and appeals formed part of the spiritual -nourishment of the English nineteenth-century hero and saint.”—<i>Christian -World.</i></p> - - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">London</span>: HODDER AND STOUGHTON.</p> -</div></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph1">FOOTNOTE:</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> I shall give only one example, which is elementary in -both senses of the word. Ruysbroeck distinguishes three -kinds of life—the active life, the inward life, and the super-essential -life. The Gnostics distinguish the spirit, the soul, -and the material life, and divide men into three classes—the -pneumatic or spiritual men, psychic or soul men, and -hylic or material men. Plotinus also distinguishes between -the soul, the intellect, the reasonable soul, and the animal -nature. The Zohar distinguishes the spirit, the soul, and the -life of the senses, and in the two systems, as in Ruysbroeck, -the relation of the three principles is explained by a <i>procession</i> -which is of the nature of an <i>irradiation</i>; then the theory of -the divine meeting, God coming into us from within towards -without, we going to Him from without towards within, -etc. Cf. also the 5th Ennead, etc. etc.</p> - -</div></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="transnote"> -<p class="ph1">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:</p> - - -<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.</p> - -<p>The cover image for this eBook was created by the transcriber and is entered into the public domain.</p> -</div></div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RUYSBROECK AND THE MYSTICS ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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