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Produced by David E. Brown, Bryan Ness and the Online | |
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This | |
file was produced from images generously made available | |
by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) | |
ON UNION WITH GOD | |
Nihil Obstat. | |
F. THOS. BERGH, O.S.B., | |
CENSOR DEPUTATUS. | |
Imprimatur. | |
EDM. CAN. SURMONT, | |
VICARIUS GENERALIS. | |
WESTMONASTERII, | |
_Die 7 Decembris, 1911_. | |
[_All rights reserved_] | |
_The Angelus Series_ | |
ON UNION WITH | |
GOD | |
BY BLESSED | |
ALBERT THE GREAT, O.P. | |
WITH NOTES BY | |
REV. P. J. BERTHIER, O.P. | |
TRANSLATED BY | |
A BENEDICTINE OF PRINCETHORPE | |
PRIORY | |
_R. & T. WASHBOURNE, LTD._ | |
PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON | |
AND AT MANCHESTER, BIRMINGHAM, AND GLASGOW | |
PREFACE | |
Surely the most deeply-rooted need of the human soul, its purest | |
aspiration, is for the closest possible union with God. As one turns | |
over the pages of this little work, written by Blessed Albert the | |
Great[1] towards the end of his life, when that great soul had ripened | |
and matured, one feels that here indeed is the ideal of one's hopes. | |
Simply and clearly the great principles are laid down, the way is made | |
plain which leads to the highest spiritual life. It seems as though, | |
while one reads, the mists of earth vanish and the snowy summits appear | |
of the mountains of God. We breathe only the pure atmosphere of prayer, | |
peace, and love, and the one great fact of the universe, the Divine | |
Presence, is felt and realized without effort. | |
But is such a life possible amid the whirl of the twentieth century? To | |
faith and love all things are possible, and our author shows us the | |
loving Father, ever ready to give as much and more than we can ask. The | |
spirit of such a work is ever true; the application may vary with | |
circumstances, but the guidance of the Holy Spirit will never be wanting | |
to those souls who crave for closer union with their Divine Master. | |
This little treatise has been very aptly called the "Metaphysics of the | |
Imitation," and it is in the hope that it may be of use to souls that | |
it has been translated into English. | |
Blessed Albert the Great is too well known for it to be necessary for us | |
to give more than the briefest outline of his life. | |
The eldest son of the Count of Bollstaedt, he was born at Lauingen in | |
Swabia in 1205 or 1206, though some historians give it as 1193. As a | |
youth he was sent to the University of Padua, where he had special | |
facilities for the study of the liberal arts. | |
Drawn by the persuasive teaching of Blessed Jordan of Saxony, he joined | |
the Order of St. Dominic in 1223, and after completing his studies, | |
received the Doctor's degree at the University of Paris. | |
His brilliant genius quickly brought him into the most prominent | |
positions. Far-famed for his learning, he attracted scholars from all | |
parts of Europe to Paris, Cologne, Ratisbon, etc., where he successively | |
taught. It was during his years of teaching at Paris and Cologne that he | |
counted among his disciples St. Thomas Aquinas, the greatness of whose | |
future he foretold, and whose lifelong friendship with him then began. | |
In 1254 Albert was elected Provincial of his Order in Germany. In 1260 | |
he was appointed Bishop of Ratisbon, but resigned his see in 1262. He | |
then continued unweariedly until a few years before his death, when his | |
great powers, especially his memory, failed him, but the fervour of his | |
soul remained ever the same. In 1280, at Cologne, he sank, at last worn | |
out by his manifold labours. | |
"Whether we consider him as a theologian or as a philosopher, Albert | |
was undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary men of his age; I might | |
say, one of the most wonderful men of genius who appeared in past times" | |
(Jourdain). | |
Very grateful thanks are due to Rev. P. J. Berthier, O.P., for his kind | |
permission to append to this edition a translation of his excellent | |
notes (from the French edition, entitled "De l'Union avec Dieu"). | |
CONTENTS | |
CHAPTER PAGE | |
I. OF THE HIGHEST PERFECTION | |
WHICH MAN CAN ATTAIN UNTO | |
IN THIS LIFE 15 | |
II. HOW A MAN MAY DESPISE ALL | |
THINGS AND CLEAVE TO | |
CHRIST ALONE 19 | |
III. THE LAW OF MAN'S PERFECTION | |
IN THIS LIFE 23 | |
IV. THAT OUR LABOUR MUST BE | |
WITH THE UNDERSTANDING | |
AND NOT WITH THE SENSES 27 | |
V. OF PURITY OF HEART, WHICH | |
IS TO BE SOUGHT ABOVE ALL | |
ELSE 33 | |
VI. THAT A MAN TRULY DEVOUT | |
MUST SEEK GOD IN PURITY | |
OF MIND AND HEART 40 | |
VII. OF THE PRACTICE OF INTERIOR | |
RECOLLECTION 45 | |
VIII. THAT A TRULY DEVOUT MAN | |
SHOULD COMMIT HIMSELF TO | |
GOD IN ALL THAT BEFALLS | |
HIM 52 | |
IX. THE CONTEMPLATION OF GOD | |
IS TO BE PREFERRED ABOVE | |
ALL OTHER EXERCISES 57 | |
X. THAT WE SHOULD NOT BE TOO | |
SOLICITOUS FOR ACTUAL AND | |
SENSIBLE DEVOTION, BUT DESIRE | |
RATHER THE UNION OF | |
OUR WILL WITH GOD 65 | |
XI. IN WHAT MANNER WE SHOULD | |
RESIST TEMPTATION AND ENDURE | |
TRIALS 70 | |
XII. THE POWER OF THE LOVE OF | |
GOD 76 | |
XIII. OF THE NATURE AND ADVANTAGES | |
OF PRAYER,--OF INTERIOR | |
RECOLLECTION 82 | |
XIV. THAT EVERYTHING SHOULD BE | |
JUDGED ACCORDING TO THE | |
TESTIMONY OF OUR CONSCIENCE 88 | |
XV. ON THE CONTEMPT OF SELF: | |
HOW IT IS ACQUIRED: ITS | |
PROFIT TO THE SOUL 94 | |
XVI. OF THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD, | |
WHICH WATCHES OVER ALL | |
THINGS 102 | |
"It is good for me to adhere to my God." | |
"Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect." | |
ON UNION WITH GOD | |
CHAPTER I | |
OF THE HIGHEST PERFECTION WHICH MAN CAN ATTAIN UNTO IN THIS LIFE | |
I have felt moved to write a few last thoughts describing, as far as one | |
may in this waiting-time of our exile and pilgrimage, the entire | |
separation of the soul from all earthly things and its close, unfettered | |
union with God. | |
I have been the more urged to this, because Christian perfection has no | |
other end but charity, which unites us to God.[2] | |
This union of charity is essential for salvation, since it consists in | |
the practice of the precepts and in conformity to the Divine will. Hence | |
it separates us from whatever would war against the essence and habit of | |
charity, such as mortal sin.[3] | |
But religious, the more easily to attain to God, their last end, have | |
gone beyond this, and have bound themselves by vow to evangelical | |
perfection, to that which is voluntary and of counsel.[4] With the help | |
of these vows they cut off all that might impede the fervour of their | |
love or hinder them in their flight to God. They have, therefore, by | |
the vow of their religious profession, renounced all things, whether | |
pertaining to soul or body.[5] God is in truth a Spirit, and "they that | |
adore Him must adore Him in spirit and in truth,"[6] that is, with a | |
knowledge and love, an intelligence and will purified from every phantom | |
of earth. | |
Hence it is written: "When thou shalt pray, enter into thy | |
chamber"--_i.e._, into the inmost abode of thy heart--and, "having shut | |
the door" of thy senses, with a pure heart, a free conscience and an | |
unfeigned faith, "pray to thy Father" in spirit and in truth, in the | |
"secret" of thy soul.[7] | |
Then only will a man attain to this ideal, when he has despoiled and | |
stripped himself of all else; when, wholly recollected within himself, | |
he has hidden from and forgotten the whole world, that he may abide in | |
silence in the presence of Jesus Christ. There, in solitude of soul, | |
with loving confidence he makes known his desires to God. With all the | |
intensity of his love he pours forth his heart before Him, in sincerity | |
and truth, until he loses himself in God. Then is his heart enlarged, | |
inflamed, and melted in him, yea, even in its inmost depths. | |
CHAPTER II | |
HOW A MAN MAY DESPISE ALL THINGS AND CLEAVE TO CHRIST ALONE | |
Whosoever thou art who longest to enter upon this happy state or seekest | |
to direct thither thy steps, thus it behoveth thee to act. | |
First, close, as it were, thine eyes, and bar the doors of thy senses. | |
Suffer not anything to entangle thy soul, nor permit any care or trouble | |
to penetrate within it. | |
Shake off all earthly things, counting them useless, noxious, and | |
hurtful to thee.[8] | |
When thou hast done this, enter wholly within thyself, and fix thy gaze | |
upon thy wounded Jesus, and upon Him alone. Strive with all thy powers, | |
unwearyingly, to reach God through Himself, that is, through God made | |
Man, that thou mayest attain to the knowledge of His Divinity through | |
the wounds of His Sacred Humanity. | |
In all simplicity and confidence abandon thyself and whatever concerns | |
thee without reserve to God's unfailing Providence, according to the | |
teaching of St. Peter: "Casting all your care upon Him,"[9] Who can do | |
all things. And again it is written: "Be nothing solicitous";[10] "Cast | |
thy care upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee";[11] "It is good for | |
me to adhere to my God";[12] "I set the Lord always in my sight";[13] "I | |
found Him Whom my soul loveth";[14] and "Now all good things came to | |
me"[15] together with Him. This is the hidden and heavenly treasure, the | |
precious pearl, which is to be preferred before all. This it is that we | |
must seek with humble confidence and untiring effort, yet in silence and | |
peace. | |
It must be sought with a brave heart, even though its price be the loss | |
of bodily comfort, of esteem, and of honour. | |
Lacking this, what doth it profit a religious if he "gain the whole | |
world, and suffer the loss of his own soul?"[16]. Of what value are the | |
religious state, the holiness of our profession, the shaven head, the | |
outward signs of a life of abnegation, if we lack the spirit of humility | |
and truth, in which Christ dwells by faith and love? St. Luke says: "The | |
kingdom of God," that is, Christ, "is within you."[17] | |
CHAPTER III | |
THE LAW OF MAN'S PERFECTION IN THIS LIFE | |
In proportion as the mind is absorbed in the thought and care of the | |
things of this world do we lose the fervour of our devotion, and drift | |
away from the things of Heaven. | |
The greater, on the other hand, our diligence in withdrawing our powers | |
from the memory, love and thought of that which is inferior in order to | |
fix them upon that which is above, the more perfect will be our prayer, | |
the purer our contemplation. The soul cannot give itself perfectly at | |
the same time to two objects as contrary one to another as light to | |
darkness;[18] for he who lives united to God dwells in the light, he who | |
clings to this world lives in darkness. | |
The highest perfection, therefore, of man in this life lies in this: | |
that he is so united to God that his soul with all its powers and | |
faculties becomes recollected in Him and is one spirit with Him.[19] | |
Then it remembers naught save God, nor does it relish or understand | |
anything but Him. Then all its affections, united in the delights of | |
love, repose sweetly in the enjoyment of their Creator. | |
The image of God which is imprinted upon the soul is found in the three | |
powers of the reason, memory, and will. But since these do not | |
perfectly bear the Divine likeness, they have not the same resemblance | |
to God as in the first days of man's creation.[20] | |
God is the "form" of the soul upon which He must impress His own image, | |
as the seal on the wax or the stamp on the object it marks.[21] | |
This can only be fully accomplished when the reason is wholly | |
illuminated according to its capacity, by the knowledge of God, the | |
Sovereign Truth; the will entirely devoted to the love of the Supreme | |
Good; the memory absorbed in the contemplation and enjoyment of eternal | |
felicity, and in the sweet repose of so great a happiness. | |
As the perfect possession of this state constitutes the glory of the | |
Blessed in Heaven, it is clear that in its commencement consists the | |
perfection of this life. | |
CHAPTER IV | |
THAT OUR LABOUR MUST BE WITH THE UNDERSTANDING AND NOT WITH THE SENSES | |
Blessed is he who by continually cleansing his soul from the images and | |
phantoms of earth draws its powers inward, and thence lifts them up to | |
God. | |
At length he in a manner forgets all images, and by a simple and direct | |
act of pure intellect and will contemplates God, Who is absolutely | |
simple. | |
Cast from thee, therefore, all phantoms, images, and forms, and | |
whatsoever is not God,[22] that all thy intercourse with Him may | |
proceed from an understanding, affection, and will, alike purified. This | |
is, in truth, the end of all thy labours, that thou mayest draw nigh | |
unto God and repose in Him within thy soul, solely by thy understanding | |
and by a fervent love, free from entanglement or earthly image. | |
Not by his bodily organs or outward senses does a man attain to this, | |
but by the intelligence and will, which constitute him man.[23] So long | |
as he lingers, trifling with the objects of the imagination and senses, | |
he has not yet passed beyond the limits and instincts of his animal | |
nature, which he possesses in common with the brute beasts. They know | |
and feel through images and by their senses, nor can it be otherwise, | |
for they have no higher powers. Not so is it with man, who, by his | |
intelligence, affections, and will, is created in the image and likeness | |
of God. Hence it is by these powers that he ought, without intermediary, | |
purely and directly to commune with God, be united to Him, and cleave to | |
Him.[24] | |
The Devil does his very utmost to hinder us from this exercise, for he | |
beholds in it a beginning and a foretaste of eternal life, and he is | |
envious of man. Therefore he strives, now by one temptation or passion, | |
now by another, to turn away our thoughts from God. | |
At one time he assails us by arousing in us unnecessary anxiety, | |
foolish cares or troubles, or by drawing us to irregular conversations | |
and vain curiosity. At another he ensnares us by subtle books, by the | |
words of others, by rumours and novelties. Then, again, he has recourse | |
to trials, contradictions, etc. | |
Although these things may sometimes seem but very trifling faults, if | |
faults at all, yet do they greatly hinder our progress in this holy | |
exercise. Therefore, whether great or small, they must be resisted and | |
driven from us as evil and harmful, though they may seem useful and even | |
necessary. It is of great importance that what we have heard, or seen, | |
or done, or said, should not leave their traces or fill our imagination. | |
Neither before nor after, nor at the time, should we foster these | |
memories or allow their images to be formed. For when the mind is free | |
from these thoughts, we are not hindered in our prayer, in meditation, | |
or the psalmody, or in any other of our spiritual exercises, nor do | |
these distractions return to trouble us. | |
Then shouldst thou readily and trustfully commit thyself and all that | |
concerns thee to the unfailing and most sure Providence of God, in | |
silence and peace. He Himself will fight for thee, and will grant thee a | |
liberty and consolation better, nobler, and sweeter than would be | |
possible if thou gavest thyself up day and night to thy fancies, to vain | |
and wandering thoughts, which hold captive the mind, as they toss it | |
hither and thither, wearying soul and body, and wasting uselessly alike | |
thy time and strength.[25] | |
Accept all things, whatsoever their cause, silently and with a tranquil | |
mind, as coming to thee from the fatherly hand of Divine Providence. | |
Free thyself, therefore, from all the impressions of earthly things, in | |
so far as thy state and profession require, so that with a purified mind | |
and sincere affection thou mayest cleave to Him to Whom thou hast so | |
often and so entirely vowed thyself. | |
Let nothing remain which could come between thy soul and God, that so | |
thou mayest be able to pass surely and directly from the wounds of the | |
Sacred Humanity to the brightness of the Divinity. | |
CHAPTER V | |
OF PURITY OF HEART, WHICH IS TO BE SOUGHT ABOVE ALL ELSE | |
Wouldst thou journey by the shortest road, the straight and safe way | |
unto eternal bliss, unto thy true country, to grace and glory? Strive | |
with all thy might to obtain habitual cleanness of heart, purity of | |
mind, quiet of the senses. Gather up thy affections, and with thy whole | |
heart cleave unto God. | |
Withdraw as much as thou canst from thy acquaintance and from all men, | |
and abstain from such affairs as would hinder thy purpose. | |
Seek out with jealous care the place, time, and means most suited to | |
quiet and contemplation, and lovingly embrace silence and solitude. | |
Beware the dangers of which the times are full; fly the agitation of a | |
world never at rest, never still.[26] | |
Let thy chief study be to gain purity, freedom, and peace of heart. | |
Close the doors of thy senses and dwell within, shutting thy heart as | |
diligently as thou canst against the shapes and images of earthly | |
things. | |
Of all the practices of the spiritual life purity of heart stands | |
highest, and rightly, for it is the end and reward of all our labours, | |
and is found only with those who live truly according to the spirit and | |
as good religious. | |
Wherefore thou shouldst employ all thy diligence and skill in order to | |
free thy heart, senses, and affections from whatever could trammel their | |
liberty, or could fetter or ensnare thy soul. Strive earnestly to gather | |
in the wandering affections of thy heart and fix them on the love of the | |
sole and pure Truth, the Sovereign Good; then keep them, as it were, | |
enchained within thee. | |
Fix thy gaze unwaveringly upon God and Divine things; spurn the follies | |
of earth and seek to be wholly transformed in Jesus Christ, yea, even to | |
the heart's core. | |
When thou hast begun to cleanse and purify thy soul of earthly images, | |
and to unify and tranquillize thy heart and mind in God with loving | |
confidence, to the end that thou mayest taste and enjoy in all thy | |
powers the torrents of His good pleasure, and mayest fix thy will and | |
intelligence in Him, then thou wilt no longer need to study and read the | |
Holy Scriptures to learn the love of God and of thy neighbour, for the | |
Holy Spirit Himself will teach thee.[27] | |
Spare no pains, no labour, to purify thy heart and to establish it in | |
unbroken peace. | |
Abide in God in the secret place of thy soul as tranquilly as though | |
there had already risen upon thee the dawn of Eternity, the unending Day | |
of God. | |
Strong in the love of Jesus, go forth from thyself, with a heart pure, a | |
conscience at peace, a faith unfeigned; and in every trial, every event, | |
commit thyself unreservedly to God, having nothing so much at heart as | |
perfect obedience to His will and good pleasure. | |
If thou wouldst arrive thus far, it is needful for thee often to enter | |
within thy soul and to abide therein, disengaging thyself as much as | |
thou canst from all things. | |
Keep the eye of thy soul ever in purity and peace; suffer not the form | |
and images of this world to defile thy mind; preserve thy will from | |
every earthly care, and let every fibre of thy heart be rooted in the | |
love of the Sovereign Good. Thus will thy whole soul, with all its | |
powers, be recollected in God and form but one spirit with Him. | |
It is in this that the highest perfection possible to man here below | |
consists. | |
This union of the spirit and of love, by which a man conforms himself | |
in everything to the supreme and eternal will, enables us to become by | |
grace what God is by His nature.[28] | |
Let us not forget this truth: the moment a man, by the help of God, | |
succeeds in overcoming his own will, that is, in freeing himself from | |
every inordinate affection and care, to cast himself and all his | |
miseries unreservedly into the bosom of God, that moment he becomes so | |
pleasing to God that he receives the gift of grace. Grace brings | |
charity, and charity drives out all fear and hesitation, and fills the | |
soul with confidence and hope. What is more blessed than to cast all our | |
care on Him Who cannot fail? As long as thou leanest upon thyself thou | |
wilt totter. Cast thyself fearlessly into the arms of God. He will | |
embrace thee, He will heal and save thee.[29] | |
If thou wouldst ponder often upon these truths they would bring to thee | |
more happiness than all the riches, delights, honours, of this false | |
world, and would make thee more blessed than all the wisdom and | |
knowledge of this corruptible life, even though thou shouldst surpass | |
all the wise men who have gone before thee. | |
CHAPTER VI | |
THAT A MAN TRULY DEVOUT MUST SEEK GOD IN PURITY OF MIND AND HEART | |
As thou goest forward in this work of ridding thee of every earthly | |
thought and entanglement thou wilt behold thy soul regain her strength | |
and the mastery of her inward senses, and thou wilt begin to taste the | |
sweetness of heavenly things. | |
Learn, therefore, to keep thyself free from the images of outward and | |
material objects, for God loves with a special love the soul that is | |
thus purified. His "delights" are "to be with the children of men,"[30] | |
that is, with those who, set free from earthly affairs and distractions, | |
and at peace from their passions, offer Him simple and pure hearts | |
intent on Him alone. | |
If the memory, imagination, and thoughts still dwell below, it follows | |
of necessity that fresh events, memories of the past, and other things | |
will ensnare and drag thee down. But the Holy Spirit abides not amid | |
such empty thoughts. | |
The true friend of Jesus Christ must be so united by his intelligence | |
and will to the Divine will and goodness that his imagination and | |
passions have no hold over him, and that he troubles not whether men | |
give him love or ridicule, nor heeds what may be done to him. Know well | |
that a truly good will does all and is of more value than all. | |
If the will is good, wholly conformed and united to God, and guided by | |
reason, it matters little that the flesh, the senses, the exterior man | |
are inclined to evil and sluggish in good, or even that a man find | |
himself interiorly lacking in devotion.[31] It suffices that he remains | |
with his whole soul inwardly united to God by faith and a good will. | |
This he will accomplish if, knowing his own imperfection and utter | |
nothingness, he understands that all his happiness is in his Creator. | |
Then does he forsake himself, his own strength and powers, and every | |
creature, and hides himself in complete abandonment in the bosom of | |
God. | |
To God are all his actions simply and purely directed. He seeks nothing | |
outside of God, but knows that of a truth he has found in Him all the | |
good and all the happiness of perfection. Then will he be in some | |
measure transformed in God. He will no longer be able to think, love, | |
understand, remember aught save God and the things of God. He will no | |
longer behold himself or creatures save in God; no love will possess him | |
but the love of God, nor will he remember creatures or even his own | |
being, save in God. | |
Such a knowledge of the truth renders the soul humble, makes her a hard | |
judge towards herself, but merciful to others, while earthly wisdom | |
puffs up the soul with pride and vanity. Behold, this is wise and | |
spiritual doctrine, grounded upon the truth, and leading unto the | |
knowledge and service of God, and to familiarity with Him. | |
If thou desirest to possess Him indeed, thou must of necessity despoil | |
thy heart of earthly affections, not alone for persons, but for every | |
creature, that thou mayest tend to the Lord thy God with thy whole heart | |
and with all thy strength, freely, simply, without fear or solicitude, | |
trusting everything in entire confidence to His all-watchful | |
Providence.[32] | |
CHAPTER VII | |
ON THE PRACTICE OF INTERIOR RECOLLECTION | |
The author of the book entitled "De Spiritu et Anima" tells us (chap. | |
xxi.)[33] that to ascend to God means nothing else than to enter into | |
oneself. And, indeed, he who enters into the secret place of his own | |
soul passes beyond himself, and does in very truth ascend to God. | |
Banish, therefore, from thy heart the distractions of earth and turn | |
thine eyes to spiritual joys, that thou mayest learn at last to repose | |
in the light of the contemplation of God. | |
Verily the soul's true life and her repose are to abide in God, held | |
fast by love, and sweetly refreshed by the Divine consolations. | |
But many are the obstacles which hinder us from tasting this rest, and | |
of our own strength we could never attain to it. The reason is | |
evident--the mind is distracted and preoccupied; it cannot enter into | |
itself by the aid of the memory, for it is blinded by phantoms; nor can | |
it enter by the intellect, for it is vitiated by the passions. Even the | |
desire of interior joys and spiritual delights fails to draw it inward. | |
It lies so deeply buried in things sensible and transitory that it | |
cannot return to itself as to the image of God. | |
How needful is it, then, that the soul, lifted upon the wings of | |
reverence and humble confidence, should rise above itself and every | |
creature by entire detachment, and should be able to say within itself: | |
He Whom I seek, love, desire, among all, more than all, and above all, | |
cannot be perceived by the senses or the imagination, for He is above | |
both the senses and the understanding. He cannot be perceived by the | |
senses, yet He is the object of all our desires; He is without shape, | |
but He is supremely worthy of our heart's deepest love. He is beyond | |
compare, and to the pure in heart greatly to be desired. Above all else | |
is He sweet and love-worthy; His goodness and perfection are infinite. | |
When thou shalt understand this, thy soul will enter into the darkness | |
of the spirit, and will advance further and penetrate more deeply into | |
itself.[34] Thou wilt by this means attain more speedily unto the | |
beholding in a dark manner of the Trinity in Unity, and Unity in | |
Trinity, in Christ Jesus, in proportion as thy effort is more inward; | |
and the greater is thy charity, the more precious the fruit thou wilt | |
reap. For the highest, in spiritual things, is ever that which is most | |
interior. Grow not weary, therefore, and rest not from thy efforts until | |
thou hast received some earnest or foretaste of the fulness of joy that | |
awaits thee, and has obtained some first-fruits of the Divine sweetness | |
and delights. | |
Cease not in thy pursuit till thou shalt behold "the God of gods in | |
Sion."[35] | |
In thy spiritual ascent and in thy search after a closer union with God | |
thou must allow thyself no repose, no slipping back, but must go forward | |
till thou hast obtained the object of thy desires. Follow the example of | |
mountain-climbers. If thy desires turn aside after the objects which | |
pass below thou wilt lose thyself in byways and countless distractions. | |
Thy mind will become dissipated and drawn in all directions by its | |
desires. Thy progress will be uncertain, thou wilt not reach thy goal, | |
nor find rest after thy labours. | |
If, on the other hand, the heart and mind, led on by love and desire, | |
withdraw from the distractions of this world, and little by little | |
abandon baser things to become recollected in the one true and | |
unchangeable Good, to dwell there, held fast by the bonds of love, then | |
wilt thou grow strong, and thy recollection will deepen the higher thou | |
risest on the wings of knowledge and desire. | |
They who have attained to this dwell as by habit in the Sovereign Good, | |
and become at last inseparable from it. | |
True life, which is God Himself, becomes their inalienable | |
possession;[36] for ever, free from all fear of the vicissitudes of time | |
and change,[37] they repose in the peaceful enjoyment of this inward | |
happiness, and in sweet communication with God. Their abode is for ever | |
fixed within their own souls, in Christ Jesus, Who is to all who come to | |
Him "the Way, the Truth, and the Life."[38] | |
CHAPTER VIII | |
THAT A TRULY DEVOUT MAN SHOULD COMMIT HIMSELF TO GOD IN ALL THAT BEFALLS | |
HIM | |
From all that has hitherto been said, thou hast understood, if I mistake | |
not, that the more thou separatest thyself from earthly images and | |
created objects, and the closer thy union with God, the nearer wilt thou | |
approach to the state of innocence and perfection. What could be | |
happier, better, sweeter than this? | |
It is, therefore, of supreme importance that thou shouldst preserve thy | |
soul so free from every trace or entanglement of earth that neither the | |
world nor thy friends, neither prosperity nor adversity, things present, | |
past, or future, which concern thyself or others, not even thine own | |
sins above measure, should have power to trouble thee. | |
Think only how thou mayest live, as it were, alone with God, removed | |
from the world, the simple and pure life of the spirit, as though thy | |
soul were already in eternity and separated from thy body. | |
There thou wouldst not busy thyself with earthly things, nor be | |
disquieted by the state of the world, by peace or war, fair skies or | |
foul, or anything here below. But thou wouldst be absorbed and filled by | |
His love. | |
Strive even now in this present life to come forth in a manner from thy | |
body and from every creature. | |
As far as thou canst, fix the eye of thy soul steadfastly, with | |
unobscured gaze, upon the uncreated light. | |
Then will thy soul, purified from the clouds of earth, be like an Angel | |
in a human body, no longer troubled by the flesh, or disturbed by vain | |
thoughts. | |
Arm thyself against temptations, persecutions, injuries, so that in | |
adversity as in prosperity, thou mayest still cleave to God in unbroken | |
peace. | |
When trouble, discouragement, confusion of mind assail thee, do not lose | |
patience or be cast down. Do not betake thee to vocal prayers or other | |
consolations, but endeavour by an act of the will and reason to lift up | |
thy soul and unite it to God, whether thy sensual nature will or no. | |
The devout soul should be so united to God, should so form and preserve | |
her will in conformity to the Divine will, that she is no more occupied | |
or allured by any creature than before it was created, but lives as | |
though there existed but God and herself.[39] | |
She will receive in unvarying peace all that comes to her from the hand | |
of Divine Providence. In all things she will hope in the Lord, without | |
losing patience, peace, or silence. | |
Behold, therefore, of how great value it is in the spiritual life to be | |
detached from all things, that thou mayest be interiorly united to God | |
and conformed to Him. | |
Moreover, there will then be no longer anything to intervene between thy | |
soul and God. Whence could it come? Not from without, for the vow of | |
voluntary poverty has despoiled thee of all earthly goods, that of | |
chastity has taken thy body. Nor could it come from within, for | |
obedience has taken from thee thy very will and soul. There is now | |
nothing left which could come between God and thyself. | |
That thou art a religious, thy profession, thy state, thy habit and | |
tonsure, and the other marks of the religious life declare. See to it | |
whether thou art a religious in truth or only one in name. | |
Consider how thou art fallen and how thou sinnest against the Lord thy | |
God and against His justice if thy deeds do not correspond with thy holy | |
state, if by will or desire thou clingest to the creature rather than to | |
the Creator, or preferrest the creature to the Creator. | |
CHAPTER IX | |
THE CONTEMPLATION OF GOD IS TO BE PREFERRED ABOVE ALL OTHER EXERCISES | |
Whatever exists outside of God is the work of His hands. Every creature | |
is, therefore, a blending together of the actual and the possible, and | |
as such is in its nature limited. Born of nothing, it is surrounded by | |
nothingness, and tends to nothingness.[40] | |
Of necessity the creature depends each moment upon God, the supreme | |
Artist, for its existence, preservation, power of action, and all that | |
it possesses. | |
It is utterly unable to accomplish its own work, either for itself or | |
for another, and is impotent as a thing which is not before that which | |
is, the finite before the infinite. It follows, therefore, that our | |
life, thoughts, and works should be in Him, of Him, for Him, and | |
directed to Him, Who by the least sign of His will could produce | |
creatures unspeakably more perfect than any which now exist. | |
It is impossible that there should be in the mind or heart a thought or | |
a love more profitable, more perfect or more blessed than those which | |
rest upon God, the Almighty Creator, of Whom, in Whom, by Whom, towards | |
Whom all tend. | |
He suffices infinitely for Himself and for others, since from all | |
eternity He contains within Himself the perfections of all things. There | |
is nothing within Him which is not Himself. In Him and by Him exist the | |
causes of all transitory things; in Him are the immutable origins of all | |
things that change, whether rational or irrational. | |
All that happens in time has in Him its eternal principle. | |
He fills all; He is in all things by His essence, by which He is more | |
present and more near to them than they are to themselves.[41] | |
In Him all things are united and live eternally.[42] It is true that the | |
weakness of our understanding or our want of experience[43] may oblige | |
us to make use of creatures in our contemplation, yet there is a kind of | |
contemplation which is very fruitful, good, and real, which seems | |
possible to all. Whether he meditates on the creature or the Creator, | |
every man may reach the point at which he finds all his joy in His | |
Creator, God, One in Trinity, and kindles the fire of Divine love in | |
himself or in others, so as to merit eternal life. | |
We should notice here the difference which exists between the | |
contemplation of Christians and that of pagan philosophers. The latter | |
sought only their own perfection, and hence their contemplation affected | |
their intellect only; they desired only to enrich their minds with | |
knowledge. But the contemplation of Saints, which is that of | |
Christians, seeks as its end the love of the God Whom they contemplate. | |
Hence it is not content to find fruit for the intelligence, but | |
penetrates beyond to the will that it may there enkindle love. | |
The Saints desired above all in their contemplation the increase of | |
charity. | |
It is better to know Jesus Christ and possess Him spiritually by grace, | |
than, without grace, to have Him in the body, or even in His essence. | |
The more pure a soul becomes and the deeper her recollection, the | |
clearer will be her inward vision. She now prepares, as it were, a | |
ladder upon which she may ascend to the contemplation of God. This | |
contemplation will set her on fire with love for all that is heavenly, | |
Divine, eternal, and will cause her to despise as utter nothing all | |
that is of time. | |
When we seek to arrive at the knowledge of God by the method of | |
negation, we first remove from our conception of Him all that pertains | |
to the body, the senses, the imagination. Then we reject even that which | |
belongs to the reason, and the idea of being as it is found in | |
creatures.[44] This, according to St. Denis, is the best means of | |
attaining to the knowledge of God,[45] as far as it is possible in this | |
world. | |
This is the darkness in which God dwells and into which Moses entered | |
that he might reach the light inaccessible.[46] | |
But we must begin, not with the mind, but with the body. We must observe | |
the accustomed order, and pass from the labour of action to the repose | |
of contemplation, from the moral virtues to those of sublime | |
contemplation.[47] | |
Why, O my soul, dost thou vainly wear thyself out in such multiplicity | |
of things? Thou findest in them but poverty. | |
Seek and love only that perfect good which includes in itself all good, | |
and it will suffice thee. Unhappy art thou if thou knowest and | |
possessest all, and art ignorant of this. If thou knewest at the same | |
time both this good and all other things, this alone would render thee | |
the happier. Therefore St. John has written: "This is eternal life: that | |
they may know thee,"[48] and the Prophet: "I shall be satisfied when thy | |
glory shall appear."[49] | |
CHAPTER X | |
THAT WE SHOULD NOT BE TOO SOLICITOUS FOR ACTUAL AND SENSIBLE DEVOTION, | |
BUT DESIRE RATHER THE UNION OF OUR WILL WITH GOD | |
Seek not too eagerly after the grace of devotion, sensible sweetness and | |
tears, but let thy chief care be to remain inwardly united to God by | |
good will in the intellectual part of the soul.[50] | |
Of a truth nothing is so pleasing to God as a soul freed from all trace | |
and image of created things. A true religious should be at liberty from | |
every creature that he may be wholly free to devote himself to God alone | |
and cleave to Him. Deny thyself, therefore, that thou mayest follow | |
Christ, thy Lord and God, Who was truly poor, obedient, chaste, humble, | |
and suffering, and Whose life and death were a scandal to many, as the | |
Gospel clearly shows.[51] | |
The soul, when separated from the body, troubles not as to what becomes | |
of the shell it has abandoned--it may be burnt, hanged, spoken evil of; | |
and the soul is not afflicted by these outrages,[52] but thinks only of | |
eternity and of the one thing necessary, of which the Lord speaks in | |
the Gospel.[53] | |
So shouldst thou regard thy body, as though the soul were already freed | |
from it. Set ever before thine eyes the eternal life in God, which | |
awaits thee, and think on that only good of which the Lord said: "One | |
thing is necessary."[54] A great grace will then descend upon thy soul, | |
which will aid thee in acquiring purity of mind and simplicity of heart. | |
And, indeed, this treasure is close at thy doors. Turn from the images | |
and distractions of earth, and quickly shalt thou find it with thee and | |
learn what it is to be united to God without hindrance or impediment. | |
Then wilt thou gain an unshaken constancy, which will strengthen thee | |
to endure all that may befall thee. | |
Thus was it with the martyrs, the Fathers, the elect, and all the | |
blessed. They despised all and thought only of possessing in God eternal | |
security for their souls. | |
Thus armed within and united to God by a good will, they despised all | |
that is of this world, as though their soul had already departed from | |
the body. | |
Learn from them how great is the power of a good will united to God. | |
By that union of the soul with God it becomes, as it were, cut off from | |
the flesh by a spiritual separation, and regards the outward man from | |
afar as something alien to it. | |
Then, whatever may happen inwardly or in the body will be as little | |
regarded as though it had befallen another person or a creature without | |
reason. | |
He who is united to God is but one mind with Him. | |
Out of regard, therefore, for His sovereign honour, never be so bold as | |
to think or imagine in His presence what thou wouldst blush to hear or | |
see before men. | |
Thou oughtest, moreover, to raise all thy thoughts to God alone, and set | |
Him before thine inward gaze, as though He alone existed. So wilt thou | |
experience the sweetness of Divine union and even now make a true | |
beginning of the life to come. | |
CHAPTER XI | |
IN WHAT MANNER WE SHOULD RESIST TEMPTATION AND ENDURE TRIALS | |
He who with his whole heart draws nigh unto God must of necessity be | |
proved by temptation and trial. | |
When the sting of temptation is felt, by no means give thy consent, but | |
bear all with patience, sweetness, humility, and courage. | |
If thou art tempted to blasphemy or any shameful sin, be well assured | |
thou canst do nothing better than to utterly despise and contemn such | |
thoughts. Blasphemy is indeed sinful, scandalous, and abominable, yet | |
be not anxious about such temptations, but rather despise them, and do | |
not let thy conscience be troubled by them. The enemy will most | |
certainly be put to flight if thou wilt thus contemn both him and his | |
suggestions. He is too proud to endure scorn or contempt. The best | |
remedy is, therefore, to trouble no more about these thoughts than we do | |
about the flies which, against our will, dance before our eyes. Let not | |
the servant of Christ thus easily and needlessly lose sight of his | |
Master's presence, nor let him grow impatient, murmur, or complain of | |
these flies; I mean these light temptations, suspicions, sadness, | |
depression, pusillanimity--mere nothings which a good will can put to | |
flight by an elevation of the soul to God. | |
By a good will man makes God his Master, and the holy Angels his | |
guardians and protectors. | |
Good will drives away temptation as the hand brushes away a fly. | |
"Peace," therefore, "to men of good will."[55] | |
In truth no better gift than this can be offered to God. | |
Good will in the soul is the source of all good, the mother of all | |
virtues. He who possesses it, possesses without fear of loss all he | |
needs to live a good life.[56] | |
If thou desirest what is good and art not able to accomplish it, God | |
will reward thee for it as though thou hadst performed it.[57] | |
He has established as an eternal and unchangeable law that merit should | |
lie in the will, and that upon the will should depend our future of | |
Heaven or hell, reward or punishment.[58] | |
Charity itself consists in nothing else but a strong will to serve God, | |
a loving desire to please Him, and a fervent longing to enjoy Him. | |
Forget not, therefore, temptation is not sin, but rather the means of | |
proving virtue. By it man may gain great profit,[59] and this the more | |
inasmuch as "the life of man upon earth is a warfare."[60] | |
CHAPTER XII | |
THE POWER OF THE LOVE OF GOD | |
All that we have hitherto described, all that is necessary for | |
salvation, can find in love alone its highest, completest, most | |
beneficent perfection. | |
Love supplies all that is wanting for our salvation; it contains | |
abundantly every good thing, and lacks not even the presence of the | |
supreme object of our desires. | |
It is by love alone that we turn to God, are transformed into His | |
likeness, and are united to Him, so that we become one spirit with Him, | |
and receive by and from Him all our happiness: here in grace, | |
hereafter in glory. Love can find no rest till she reposes in the full | |
and perfect possession of the Beloved. | |
It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws nigh to man, | |
and man to God, but where charity is not found God cannot dwell. If, | |
then, we possess charity we possess God, for "God is charity."[61] | |
There is nothing keener than love, nothing more subtle, nothing more | |
penetrating. Love cannot rest till it has sounded all the depths and | |
learnt the perfections of its Beloved. It desires to be one with Him, | |
and, if it could, would form but one being with the Beloved. It is for | |
this reason that it cannot suffer anything to intervene between it and | |
the object loved, which is God, but springs forward towards Him, and | |
finds no peace till it has overcome every obstacle, and reached even | |
unto the Beloved. | |
Love has the power of uniting and transforming; it transforms the one | |
who loves into him who is loved, and him who is loved into him who | |
loves. Each passes into the other, as far as it is possible. | |
And first consider the intelligence. How completely love transports the | |
loved one into him who loves! With what sweetness and delight the one | |
lives in the memory of the other, and how earnestly the lover tries to | |
know, not superficially but intimately, all that concerns the object of | |
his love, and strives to enter as far as possible into his inner life! | |
Think next of the will, by which also the loved one lives in him who | |
loves. Does he not dwell in him by that tender affection, that sweet | |
and deeply-rooted joy which he feels? On the other hand, the lover lives | |
in the beloved by the sympathy of his desires, by sharing his likes and | |
dislikes, his joys and sorrows, until the two seem to form but one. | |
Since "love is strong as death,"[62] it carries the lover out of himself | |
into the heart of the beloved, and holds him prisoner there. | |
The soul is more truly where it loves than where it gives life, since it | |
exists in the object loved by its own nature, by reason and will; whilst | |
it is in the body it animates only by bestowing on it an existence which | |
it shares with the animal creation.[63] | |
There is, therefore, but one thing which has power to draw us from | |
outward objects into the depths of our own souls, there to form an | |
intimate friendship with Jesus. Nothing but the love of Christ and the | |
desire of His sweetness can lead us thus to feel, to comprehend and | |
experience the presence of His Divinity. | |
The power of love alone is able to lift up the soul from earth to the | |
heights of Heaven, nor is it possible to ascend to eternal beatitude | |
except on the wings of love and desire. | |
Love is the life of the soul, its nuptial garment, its perfection.[64] | |
Upon charity are based the law, the prophets, and the precepts of the | |
Lord.[65] Hence the Apostle wrote to the Romans: "Love is therefore the | |
fulfilling of the law,"[66] and in the first Epistle to Timothy: "The | |
end of the commandment is charity."[67] | |
CHAPTER XIII | |
OF THE NATURE AND ADVANTAGES OF PRAYER--OF INTERIOR RECOLLECTION | |
Of ourselves we are utterly unable to attain to charity or any other | |
good thing. We have naught to offer to the Lord, the Author of all, | |
which was not His already. | |
One thing alone remains to us: that in every occurrence we should turn | |
to Him in prayer, as He Himself taught us by word and example. Let us go | |
to Him as guilty, poor, and miserable, as beggars, weak and needy, as | |
subjects and slaves, yet as His children. | |
Of ourselves we are utterly destitute. What can we do but cast ourselves | |
at His feet in deepest humility, holy fear mingling in our souls with | |
love, peace, and recollection? | |
And while we are fain to draw nigh with all lowliness and modesty, with | |
minds sincere and simple, let our hearts burn with great desires, with | |
ardour and heartfelt longings. And so let us supplicate our God, and lay | |
before Him with entire confidence the perils which menace us on every | |
side. Let us freely, unhesitatingly, and in all simplicity, confide | |
ourselves to Him, and offer Him our whole being, even to the last fibre, | |
for are we not in truth absolutely His? | |
Let us keep nothing for ourselves, and then will be fulfilled in us the | |
saying of Blessed Isaac, one of the Fathers of the Desert, who, | |
speaking of this kind of prayer, said: "We shall be one being with God, | |
and He will be all in all to us, when that perfect charity by which He | |
loved us first has entered into our inmost hearts."[68] | |
This will be accomplished when God alone becomes the object of all our | |
love, our desires, our striving, of all our efforts and thoughts, of all | |
that we behold, speak of, hope for; when that union which exists between | |
the Father and the Son, and between the Son and the Father shall be | |
found also in our mind and soul. | |
Since His love for us is so pure, sincere, and unchanging, ought not we | |
in return to give Him a love constant and uninterrupted? | |
So intimate should be our union with Him that our hopes, thoughts, | |
prayers breathe only God.[69] The truly spiritual man should set before | |
him, as the goal of all his efforts and desires, the possession even in | |
a mortal body, of an image of the happiness to come, and the enjoyment | |
even here below of some foretaste of the delights, the life, and glory | |
of Heaven. | |
This, I say, is the end of all perfection--that the soul may become so | |
purified from every earthly longing, and so raised to spiritual things, | |
that at last the whole life and the desires of the heart form one | |
unbroken prayer. | |
When the soul has thus shaken off the dust of earth and aspires unto her | |
God, to Whom the true religious ever directs his intention, dreading | |
the least separation from Him as a most cruel death; when peace reigns | |
within and she is delivered from the bondage of her passions and cleaves | |
with firmest purpose to the one Sovereign Good, then will be fulfilled | |
in her the words of the Apostle: "Pray without ceasing,"[70] and "in | |
every place, lifting up pure hands, without anger and contention."[71] | |
When once this purity of soul has gained the victory over man's natural | |
inclination for the things of sense, when all earthly longings are | |
quenched and the soul is, as it were, transformed into the likeness of | |
pure spirits or Angels, then all she receives, all she undertakes, all | |
she does, will be a pure and true prayer. | |
Only persevere faithfully in thy efforts and, as I have shown from the | |
beginning, it will become as simple and easy for thee to contemplate God | |
and rejoice in Him in thy recollection as to live a purely natural | |
life. | |
CHAPTER XIV | |
THAT EVERYTHING SHOULD BE JUDGED ACCORDING TO THE TESTIMONY OF OUR | |
CONSCIENCE | |
There is also another practice which will tend greatly to thy progress | |
in spiritual perfection, and will aid thee to gain purity of soul and | |
tranquil rest in God. Whatever men say or think of thee, bring it before | |
the tribunal of thine own conscience. Enter within thyself, and there, | |
turning a deaf ear to all else, set thyself to learn the truth. Then | |
wilt thou see clearly that the praise and honour of men bring thee no | |
profit, but rather loss, if thou knowest that thou art guilty and | |
worthy of condemnation in the sight of truth. And, just as it is useless | |
to be honoured outwardly by men if thy conscience accuse thee within, so | |
in like manner is it no loss to thee if men despise, blame, or persecute | |
thee without, if within thou art innocent and free from reproach or | |
blame. Nay, rather, thou hast then great reason to rejoice in the Lord | |
in patience, silence, and peace. | |
Adversity is powerless to harm where sin has no dominion; and just as | |
there is no evil which goes unpunished, so is there no good without | |
recompense. | |
Seek not with the hypocrites thy reward and crown from men, but rather | |
from the hand of God, not now, but hereafter; not for a passing moment, | |
but for eternity. | |
Thou canst, therefore, do nothing higher nor better in every | |
tribulation or occurrence than enter into the sanctuary of thy soul, and | |
there call upon the Lord Jesus Christ, thy helper in temptation and | |
affliction. There shouldst thou humble thyself, confessing thy sins, and | |
praising thy God and Father, Who both chastises and consoles. | |
There dispose thyself to accept with unruffled peace, readiness, and | |
confidence from the hands of God's unfailing Providence and marvellous | |
wisdom all that is sent thee of prosperity or adversity, whether | |
touching thyself or others. Then wilt thou obtain remission of thy | |
sins;[72] bitterness will be driven from thy soul, sweetness and | |
confidence will penetrate it, grace and mercy will descend upon it. | |
Then a sweet familiarity will draw thee on and strengthen thee, abundant | |
consolation will flow to thee from the bosom of God. Then thou wilt | |
adhere to Him and form an indissoluble union with Him. | |
But beware of imitating hypocrites who, like the Pharisees, try to | |
appear outwardly before men more holy than they know themselves in truth | |
to be. Is it not utter folly to seek or desire human praise and glory | |
for oneself or others, while within we are filled with shameful and | |
grievous sins? Assuredly he who pursues such vanities can hope for no | |
share in the good things of which we spoke just now, but shame will | |
infallibly be his lot. | |
Keep thy worthlessness and thy sins ever before thine eyes, and learn | |
to know thyself that thou mayest grow in humility. | |
Shrink not from being regarded by all the world as filthy mud, vile and | |
abject, on account of thy grievous sins and defects. Esteem thyself | |
among others as dross in the midst of gold, as tares in the wheat, straw | |
among the grain, as a wolf among the sheep, as Satan among the children | |
of God. | |
Neither shouldst thou desire to be respected by others, or preferred to | |
anyone whatsoever. Fly rather with all thy strength of heart and soul | |
from that pestilential poison, the venom of praise, from a reputation | |
founded on boasting and ostentation, lest, as the Prophet says, "The | |
sinner is praised in the desires of his soul."[73] | |
Again, in Isaias, we read: "They that call thee blessed, the same | |
deceive thee, and destroy the way of thy steps."[74] Also the Lord says: | |
"Woe to you when men shall bless you!"[75] | |
CHAPTER XV | |
ON THE CONTEMPT OF SELF: HOW IT IS ACQUIRED: ITS PROFIT TO THE SOUL | |
The more truly a man knows his own misery, the more fully and clearly | |
does he behold the majesty of God. The more vile he is in his own eyes | |
for the sake of God, of truth, and of justice, the more worthy of esteem | |
is he in the eyes of God. | |
Strive earnestly, therefore, to look on thyself as utterly contemptible, | |
to think thyself unworthy of any benefit, to be displeasing in thine own | |
eyes, but pleasing to God. Desire that others should regard thee as | |
vile and mean. | |
Learn not to be troubled in tribulations, afflictions, injuries; not to | |
be incensed against those that inflict them, nor to entertain thoughts | |
of resentment against them. Try, on the contrary, sincerely to believe | |
thyself worthy of all injuries, contempt, ill-treatment and scorn. | |
In truth, he who for God's sake is filled with sorrow and compunction | |
dreads to be honoured and loved by another. He does not refuse to be an | |
object of hatred, or shrink from being trodden under foot and despised | |
as long as he lives, in order that he may practise real humility and | |
cleave in purity of heart to God alone. | |
It does not require exterior labour or bodily health to love God only, | |
to hate oneself more than all, to desire to seem little in the eyes of | |
others: what is needed is rather repose of the senses, the effort of the | |
heart, silence of the mind. | |
It is by labouring with the heart, by the inward aspiration of the soul, | |
that thou wilt learn to forsake the base things of earth and to rise to | |
what is heavenly and Divine. | |
Thus wilt thou become transformed in God, and this the more speedily if, | |
in all sincerity, without condemning or despising thy neighbour, thou | |
desirest to be regarded by all as a reproach and scandal--nay, even to | |
be abhorred as filthy mire, rather than possess the delights of earth, | |
or be honoured and exalted by men, or enjoy any advantage or happiness | |
in this fleeting world. | |
Have no other desire in this perishable life of the body, no other | |
consolation than unceasingly to weep over, regret and detest thy | |
offences and faults. | |
Learn utterly to despise thyself, to annihilate thyself and to appear | |
daily more contemptible in the eyes of others. | |
Strive to become even more unworthy in thine own eyes, in order to | |
please God alone, to love Him only and cling to Him. | |
Concern not thyself with anything except thy Lord Jesus Christ, Who | |
ought to reign alone in thy affections. Have no solicitude or care save | |
for Him Whose power and Providence give movement and being to all | |
things.[76] | |
It is not now the time to rejoice but rather to lament with all the | |
sincerity of thy heart. | |
If thou canst not weep, sorrow at least that thou hast no tears to shed; | |
if thou canst, grieve the more because by the gravity of thy offences | |
and number of thy sins thou art thyself the cause of thy grief. A man | |
under sentence of death does not trouble himself as to the dispositions | |
of his executioners; so he who truly mourns and sheds the tears of | |
repentance, refrains from delight, anger, vainglory, indignation, and | |
every like passion. | |
Citizens and criminals are not lodged in like abodes; so also the life | |
and conduct of those whose faults call for sighs and tears should not | |
resemble those of men who have remained innocent and have nothing to | |
expiate. | |
Were it otherwise, how would the guilty, great though their crimes may | |
have been, differ in their punishment and expiation from the innocent? | |
Iniquity would then be more free than innocence. Renounce all, | |
therefore, contemn all, separate thyself from all, that thou mayest lay | |
deep the foundations of sincere penance. | |
He who truly loves Jesus Christ, and sorrows for Him, who bears Him in | |
his heart and in his body, will have no thought, or care, or solicitude | |
for aught else. Such a one will sincerely mourn over his sins and | |
offences, will long after eternal happiness, will remember the Judgment | |
and will think diligently on his last end in lowly fear. He, then, who | |
wishes to arrive speedily at a blessed impassibility and to reach God, | |
counts that day lost on which he has not been ill-spoken of and | |
despised. | |
What is this impassibility but freedom from the vices and passions, | |
purity of heart, the adornment of virtue? | |
Count thyself as already dead, since thou must needs die some day. | |
And now, but one word more. Let this be the test of thy thoughts, words, | |
and deeds. If they render thee more humble, more recollected in God, | |
more strong, then they are according to God. But if thou findest it | |
otherwise, then fear lest all is not according to God, acceptable to | |
Him, or profitable to thyself. | |
CHAPTER XVI | |
OF THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD, WHICH WATCHES OVER ALL THINGS | |
Wouldst thou draw nigh unto God without let or hindrance, freely and in | |
peace, as we have described? Desirest thou to be united and drawn to Him | |
in a union so close that it will endure in prosperity and adversity, in | |
life and in death? Delay not to commit all things with trustful | |
confidence into the hands of His sure and infallible Providence. | |
Is it not most fitting that thou shouldst trust Him Who gives to all | |
creatures, in the first place, their existence, power, and movement, | |
and, secondly, their species and nature, ordering in all their number, | |
weight, and measure? | |
Just as Art presupposes the operations of Nature, so Nature presupposes | |
the work of God, the Creator, Preserver, Organizer, and Administrator. | |
To Him alone belong infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, essential | |
mercy, justice, truth, and charity, immutable eternity, and immensity. | |
Nothing can exist and act of its own power, but every creature acts of | |
necessity by the power of God, the first moving cause, the first | |
principle and origin of every action, Who acts in every active being. | |
If we consider the ordered harmony of the universe, it is the Providence | |
of God which must arrange all things, even to the smallest details. | |
From the infinitely great to the infinitely small nothing can escape His | |
eternal Providence; nothing has been drawn from His control, either in | |
the acts of free-will, in events we ascribe to chance or fate, or in | |
what has been designed by Him. We may go further: it is as impossible | |
for God to make anything which does not fall within the dominion of His | |
Providence as it is for Him to create anything which is not subject to | |
His action. Divine Providence, therefore, extends over all things, even | |
the thoughts of man. | |
This is the teaching of Holy Scripture, for in the Epistle of St. Peter | |
it is written: "Casting all your care upon Him, for He hath care of | |
you."[77] | |
And, again, the Prophet says: "Cast thy care upon the Lord and He shall | |
sustain thee."[78] Also in Ecclesiasticus we read: "My children, behold | |
the generations of men; and know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord, | |
and hath been confounded. For who hath continued in His commandment, and | |
hath been forsaken?"[79] And the Lord says: "Be not solicitous, | |
therefore, saying, What shall we eat?"[80] All that thou canst hope for | |
from God, however great it may be, thou shalt without doubt receive, | |
according to the promise in Deuteronomy: "Every place that your foot | |
shall tread upon shall be yours."[81] As much as thou canst desire thou | |
shalt receive, and as far as the foot of thy confidence reaches, so far | |
thou shalt possess. | |
Hence St. Bernard says: "God, the Creator of all things, is so full of | |
mercy and compassion that whatever may be the grace for which we stretch | |
out our hands, we shall not fail to receive it."[82] | |
It is written in St. Mark: "Whatsoever ye shall ask when ye pray, | |
believe that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you."[83] | |
The greater and more persistent thy confidence in God, and the more | |
earnestly thou turnest to Him in lowly reverence, the more abundantly | |
and certainly shalt thou receive all thou dost hope and ask. | |
But if, on account of the number and magnitude of his sins, the | |
confidence of any should languish, let him who feels this torpor | |
remember that all is possible to God, that what He wills must | |
infallibly happen, and what He wills not cannot come to pass, and, | |
finally, that it is as easy for Him to forgive and blot out innumerable | |
and heinous sins as to forgive one. | |
On the other hand, it is just as impossible for a sinner to deliver | |
himself from a single sin as it would be for him to raise and cleanse | |
himself from many sins; for, not only are we unable to accomplish this, | |
but of ourselves we cannot even think what is right.[84] All comes to us | |
from God. It is, however, far more dangerous, other things being equal, | |
to be entangled in many sins than to be held only by one. | |
In truth, no evil remains unpunished, and for every mortal sin is due, | |
in strict justice, an infinite punishment, because a mortal sin is | |
committed against God, to Whom belong infinite greatness, dignity, and | |
glory. | |
Moreover, according to the Apostle, "the Lord knoweth who are His,"[85] | |
and it is impossible that one of them should perish, no matter how | |
violently the tempests and waves of error rage, how great the scandal, | |
schisms and persecutions, how grievous the adversities, discords, | |
heresies, tribulations, or temptations of every kind. | |
The number of the elect and the measure of their merit is eternally and | |
unalterably predestined. So true is this that all the good and evil | |
which can happen to them or to others, all prosperity and adversity, | |
serve only to their advantage. | |
Nay more, adversity does but render them more glorious, and proves their | |
fidelity more surely. | |
Delay not, therefore, to commit all things without fear to the | |
Providence of God, by Whose permission all evil of whatever kind | |
happens, and ever for some good end. It could not be except He permitted | |
it; its form and measure are allowed by Him Who can and will by His | |
wisdom turn all to good. | |
Just as it is by His action that all good is wrought, so is it by His | |
permission that all evil happens.[86] | |
But from the evil He draws good, and thus marvellously shows forth His | |
power, wisdom, and clemency by our Lord Jesus Christ. So also He | |
manifests His mercy and His justice, the power of grace, the weakness of | |
nature, and the beauty of the universe. So He shows by the force of | |
contrast the glory of the good, and the malice and punishment of the | |
wicked. | |
In like manner, in the conversion of a sinner we behold contrition, | |
confession, and penance; and, on the other hand, the tenderness of God, | |
His mercy and charity, His glory and His goodness. | |
Yet sin does not always turn to the good of those who commit it; but it | |
is usually the greatest of perils and worst of ills, for it causes the | |
loss of grace and glory. It stains the soul and provokes chastisement | |
and even eternal punishment. From so great an evil may our Lord Jesus | |
vouchsafe to preserve us! Amen. | |
R. AND T. WASHBOURNE, LTD., PRINTERS, LONDON. | |
FOOTNOTES: | |
[1] Following the general tradition, we attribute this work to Albert | |
the Great, but not all critics are agreed as to its authenticity. | |
[2] Albert the Great is speaking here in a special manner of religious | |
perfection, although what he says is also true of Christian perfection | |
in general. | |
[3] He speaks here of the obligation laid upon all Christians. | |
[4] Religious bind themselves to observe as a duty that which was only | |
of counsel. To them, therefore, the practice of the counsels becomes an | |
obligation. | |
[5] The vows of religion have as their immediate object the removal of | |
obstacles to perfection, but they do not in themselves constitute | |
perfection. Perfection consists in charity. Albert the Great speaks of | |
only one vow, because in his day the formulas of religious profession | |
mentioned only the vow of obedience, which includes the other two vows. | |
[6] John iv. 24. | |
[7] Matt. vi. 6. | |
[8] When Albert the Great and the other mystics warn us against | |
solicitude with regard to creatures, they refer to that solicitude which | |
is felt for creatures in themselves; they do not mean that we ought not | |
to occupy ourselves with them in any way for God's sake. The great | |
doctor explains his meaning in clear terms later on in this work. | |
[9] 1 Pet. v. 7. | |
[10] Phil. iv. 6. | |
[11] Ps. liv. 23. | |
[12] Ps. lxxii. 28. | |
[13] Ps. xv. 8. | |
[14] Cant. iii. 4. | |
[15] Wis. vii. 11. | |
[16] Matt. xvi. 26. | |
[17] Luke xvii. 21. | |
[18] Albert the Great supposes here that we give ourselves equally to | |
God and to creatures, which would be wrong, and not that creatures are | |
subordinated to God, which would be a virtue. | |
[19] This must be understood to mean that God is the principal and | |
supreme end of all created activities. | |
[20] The perfect image of God in man does not consist merely in the | |
possession of those faculties by which we resemble Him, but rather in | |
performing by faith and love, as far as is in our power, acts like those | |
which He performs, in knowing Him as He knows Himself, in loving Him as | |
He loves Himself. | |
[21] In scholastic theology the term "form" is used of that which gives | |
to anything its accidental or substantial being. God is the "accidental | |
form" of the soul, because in giving it its activity He bestows upon it | |
something of His own activity, by means of sanctifying grace. Yet more | |
truly may it be said that God is also the "form" of the soul in the | |
sense that it is destined by the ordinary workings of Providence to | |
participate by sanctifying grace in the Being of God, enjoying thus a | |
participation real, though created, in the Divine nature. | |
[22] We must avoid these things in so far as they separate us from God, | |
but they may also serve to draw us nearer to Him if we regard them in | |
God and for God. | |
[23] It is by the intelligence and will that man actually attains to | |
this, but the use of the sensitive faculties is presupposed. | |
[24] The sensitive faculties, if used as a means, often help us to draw | |
near to God, but when used as an end, their activity becomes an | |
obstacle. | |
[25] This teaching is the Christian rendering of the axiom formulated by | |
the Philosopher: "<DW25> sedendo fit sapiens"--"It is in quiet that man | |
gains wisdom." | |
[26] This is especially true for religious. | |
[27] By this is meant that the Holy Scriptures, though always | |
presupposed as the foundation of our belief, of themselves give only an | |
objective knowledge of God, while that which the Holy Ghost gives is | |
experimental. | |
[28] God knows and loves Himself in Himself by His own nature, while we | |
know and love Him in Himself by grace. | |
[29] A very striking feature in the doctrine of this book is that it | |
requires first the perfection of the soul and the faculties, whence | |
proceeds that of our actions. Some modern authors, confining themselves | |
to casuistry, speak almost exclusively of the perfection of actions, a | |
method less logical and less thorough. | |
[30] Prov. viii. 31. | |
[31] The exterior powers of a man are the imagination and passions; the | |
interior his intelligence and will, which sometimes find themselves | |
deprived of all the aids of sensible devotion. | |
[32] In truth, all the designs of God in our regard are full of mercy, | |
and tend especially to our sanctification; the obstacles to these | |
designs come only from our evil passions. | |
[33] The book "De Spiritu et Anima" is of uncertain authorship. It is | |
printed after the works of St. Augustine in Migne's "Patrologia Latina," | |
vol. xl., 779. | |
[34] This darkness is the silence of the imagination, which no longer | |
gains a hearing, and that of the intellect, which is sufficiently | |
enlightened to understand that we can in reality understand nothing of | |
the Divinity in itself, and that the best thing we can do is to remove | |
from our conception of God all those limitations which we observe in | |
creatures. The reason of this is that we can only know God naturally by | |
means of what we see in creatures, and these are always utterly | |
insufficient to give us an adequate idea of the Creator. | |
[35] Ps. lxxxiii. 8. | |
[36] We only lose God, the uncreated Good, by an unlawful attachment to | |
created good; if we are free from this attachment, we tend to Him | |
without effort. | |
[37] The subsequent condemnation, in 1687, of this doctrine, as taught | |
by Molino, could not, of course, be foreseen by Blessed Albertus writing | |
in the thirteenth century. | |
[38] John xiv. 6. | |
[39] And this she does because creatures no longer occupy her, except | |
for God's sake. | |
[40] This is so because, according to true philosophy, the essence of a | |
thing is distinct from its existence. | |
[41] Every actual cause is more intimately present to its accomplished | |
work than the work itself, which it necessarily precedes. | |
[42] John i. 3, 4. | |
[43] We cannot always experience Divine things, and at first we can only | |
compare them to the things which we experience here below. | |
[44] We deny that there is in God anything which is a mere potentiality, | |
or an imperfection. We deny in Him also the process of reasoning which | |
is the special work of the faculty of reason, because this implies the | |
absence of the vision of truth. We deny "being as it is found in | |
creatures," because in creatures it is necessarily limited, and subject | |
to accident. | |
[45] "Nom. <DW37>.," i. | |
[46] Exod. xxxiii. 11; Num. xii. 8; Heb. iii. 2. | |
[47] It would be well to quote St. Thomas, the disciple of Albert the | |
Great, upon this important doctrine: "A thing may be said to belong to | |
the contemplative life in two senses, either as an essential part of it, | |
or as a preliminary disposition. The moral virtues do not belong to the | |
essence of contemplation, whose sole end is the contemplation of | |
truth.... But they belong to it as a necessary predisposition ... | |
because they calm the passions and the tumult of exterior | |
preoccupations, and so facilitate contemplation" ("Sum.," 2, 2{ae}, q. | |
180, a. 2). | |
This distinction should never be lost sight of in reading the mystic | |
books of the scholastics. | |
[48] John xvii. 3. | |
[49] Ps. xvi. 15. | |
[50] This admirable doctrine condemns a whole mass of insipid, shallow, | |
affected and sensual books and ideas, which have in modern times flooded | |
the world of piety, have banished from souls more wholesome thoughts, | |
and filled them with a questionable and injurious sentimentality. | |
[51] Matt. xi. 6; xiii. 57, etc. | |
[52] This shows an excellent grasp of the meaning of the celebrated | |
maxim "Perinde ac cadaver." | |
[53] Luke x. 42. | |
[54] _Ibid._ | |
[55] Luke ii. 14. | |
[56] Nothing could be more conformable to the teaching of the Gospel | |
than this doctrine. | |
At His birth Jesus bids the Angels sing that peace belongs to men of | |
good will (Luke ii. 14); later He will declare that His meat is to do | |
the will of His Father (John iv. 34); that He seeks not His own will, | |
but the will of Him Who sent Him (John v. 30); that He came down from | |
heaven to accomplish it (John vi. 38); and when face to face with death | |
He will still pray that the Father's will be done, not His (Matt. xxvi. | |
39; Luke xxii. 42). Over and over again, in the Gospel, do we find Him | |
using the same language. | |
He would have His disciples act in the same manner. It is not the man, | |
He tells us, who repeats the words: "My Father, my Father," who shall | |
enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of God (Matt. | |
vii. 21; Rom. ii. 13; Jas. i. 22); and in the prayer which He dictates | |
to us He bids us ask for the accomplishment of this will as the means of | |
glorifying God, and of sanctifying our souls (Matt. vi. 10). | |
Finally, He tells us that if we conform ourselves to this sovereign | |
will, we shall be His brethren (Matt. xii. 50; Mark iii. 35). | |
When certain persons, pious or otherwise, confusing sentiment with true | |
love, ask themselves if they love God, or if they will be able to love | |
Him always, we have only to ask them the same question in other words: | |
Are they doing the will of God? can they do it?--_i.e._, can they | |
perform their duty for God's sake? Put thus, the question resolves | |
itself. | |
The reason for such a doctrine is very simple: to love anyone is to wish | |
him well; that, in the case of God, is to desire His beneficent will | |
towards us. Our Lord and Master recalled this principle when He said to | |
His disciples, "You are My friends, if you do the things that I command | |
you" (John xv. 14). | |
[57] We must, in virtue of the same principle, keep a firm hold of the | |
truth, as indisputable as it is frequently forgotten, that we have the | |
merit of the good which we will to carry out and are unable to | |
accomplish, as we have also the demerit of the evil we should have done | |
and could not. | |
[58] "Upon the will depends our future of Heaven or hell," because, | |
given the knowledge of God, the will attaches itself to Him by love, or | |
hates Him with obstinacy. | |
[59] We may notice, in particular, a three-fold benefit: first, | |
temptation calls for conflict, and so strengthens virtue; then it | |
obliges a man to adhere deliberately to that virtue which is assailed by | |
the temptation, and so gain a further perfection; finally, there are | |
necessarily included in both the conflict and the adherence to good | |
numerous virtuous, and therefore meritorious, acts. Thus we may reap | |
advantage from temptation both in our dispositions and our acts. | |
[60] Job vii. 1. | |
[61] 1 John iv. 8. | |
[62] Cant. viii. 6. | |
[63] The author is speaking here of the soul in so far as it is human, | |
and it is as such that it is more where it loves than where it gives | |
life. | |
[64] Without charity there is no perfect virtue, since without it no | |
virtue can lead man to his final end, which is God, although it may lead | |
him to some lower end. It is in this sense that, according to the older | |
theologians, charity is the "form" of the other virtues, since by it the | |
acts of all the other virtues are supernaturalized and directed to their | |
true end--_i.e._, to God. _Cf._ St. Th. "Sum.," 2, 2{ae}, q. 23, aa. 7, | |
8. | |
[65] Matt. xxii. 40. | |
[66] Rom. xiii. 10. | |
[67] 1 Tim. i. 5. | |
[68] God can only love Himself or creatures for His own sake; if we have | |
this love within our souls we shall be in a certain sense one being with | |
Him. | |
[69] This teaching is based on the definition that prayer is essentially | |
"an elevation of the soul to God." | |
[70] 1 Thess. v. 17. | |
[71] 1 Tim. ii. 8. | |
[72] Remission may be obtained in this way of the fault in the case of | |
venial sins, of the punishment due in all sins. | |
[73] Ps. ix. 24. | |
[74] Isa. iii. 12. | |
[75] Luke vi. 26. | |
[76] St. Thomas explains as follows both the possibility and the | |
correctness of this opinion of ourselves: "A man can, without falsehood, | |
believe and declare himself viler than all others, both on account of | |
the secret faults which he knows to exist within him, and on account of | |
the gifts of God hidden in the souls of others." | |
St. Augustine, in his work "De Virginit.," ch. lii., says: "Believe that | |
others are better than you in the depths of their souls, although | |
outwardly you may appear better than they." | |
In the same way one may truthfully both say and believe that one is | |
altogether useless and unworthy in his own strength. The Apostle says (2 | |
Cor. iii. 5): "Not that we are sufficient to think anything of | |
ourselves, as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God" ("Sum.," 2, | |
2{ae}, q. 161, a. 6, 1{m}). | |
[77] 1 Pet. v. 7. | |
[78] Ps. liv. 23. | |
[79] Ecclus. ii. 11, 12. | |
[80] Matt. vi. 31. | |
[81] Deut. xi. 24. | |
[82] _Cf._ Serm. I. in Pent. | |
[83] Mark xi. 24. | |
[84] 2 Cor. iii. 5. | |
[85] 2 Tim. ii. 19. | |
[86] The teaching of Albert the Great on Divine Providence is truly | |
admirable. It is based upon the axiom that the actions of the creature | |
do not depend partly upon itself and partly upon God, but wholly upon | |
itself and wholly upon God (_cf._ St. Thomas "Cont. Gent.," iii. 70). | |
Human causality is not parallel with the Divine, but subordinate to it, | |
as the scholastics teach. This doctrine alone safeguards the action of | |
God and of that of the creature. The doctrine of parallelism derogates | |
from both, and leads to fatalism by attributing to God things which He | |
has not done, and suppressing for man the necessary principle of all | |
good, especially that of liberty. | |
It is the doctrine of subordinated causes also which explains how things | |
decreed by God are determined by the supreme authority, and infallibly | |
come to pass, without prejudice to the freedom of action of secondary | |
causes. All this belongs to the highest theology. Unhappily, certain | |
modern authors have forgotten it. | |
_The Angelus Series_ | |
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Transcriber's Notes: | |
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End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of On Union with God, by Albertus Magnus | |
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