Volume 37 · p. 525
Chapter III. What the conformity of man's perfection in this life may be?
Caput III. Quae sit conformitas perfectionis hominis in hac vita?
Porro quanto plus mens sollicita est ad ista inferiora et humana cogitanda et tractanda, tanto plus a superioribus et coelestibus per devotionis intima elongatur: et quanto ferventius ab inferiorum memoria, affectu et intellectu ad superiora sensus colligitur, tanto perfectior erit oratio, et purior contemplatio: quia simul perfecte non potest esse utrisque intenta, quae sicut lux et tenebrae sunt divisa. Quippe qui Deo adhaeret, versatur in lumine: qui vero mundo adhaeret, in tenebris est. Qua ex re, est hominis in hac vita sublimior perfectio, ita Deo uniri ut tota anima cum omnibus potentiis suis et viribus in Dominum Deum suum sit collecta, ut unus fiat spiritus cum eo, et nihil meminerit nisi Deum, nihil sentiat vel intelligat nisi Deum, et omnes affectiones in amoris gaudio unitae, in sola Conditoris fruitione suaviter quiescant.
Imago enim Dei in his tribus potentiis in anima expressa consistit, videlicet, ratione, memoria, et voluntate. Et quamdiu illae ex toto, Deo impressae non sunt, non est anima deiformis juxta primariam animae creationem. Forma nempe animae Deus est, cui debet imprimi, sicut cera sigillo, et signatum signo signatur. Hoc autem numquam plene fit, nisi cum ratio perfecte juxta capacitatem suam illuminatur ad cognitionem Dei, qui est summa veritas, et voluntas perfecte afficitur ad amandam summam bonitatem, et memoria plene absorbetur ad intuendum et fruendum aeterna felicitate, et ad suaviter et delectabiliter in ea quiescendum. Et quia in horum consummata adeptione consistit gloria beatitudinis, quae perficietur in patria, liquet quod istorum perfecta inchoatio est perfectio in hac vita.
Chapter III. What the conformity of man's perfection in this life may be?
Moreover, the more the mind is solicitous about thinking and treating of these lower and human things, the more it is drawn away from higher and heavenly things through the inward parts of devotion; and the more fervently the sense is gathered from the memory, affection, and intellect of lower things to higher things, the more perfect prayer will be and the purer contemplation. For it cannot at the same time be perfectly intent on both, which are divided as light and darkness are. Indeed, he who adheres to God dwells in light; but he who adheres to the world is in darkness. For this reason, man's more sublime perfection in this life is to be united to God in such a way that the whole soul, with all its powers and strengths, is gathered into the Lord its God, so that it becomes one spirit with him, and remembers nothing except God, senses or understands nothing except God, and all the affections, united in the joy of love, rest sweetly in the enjoyment of the Creator alone.
For the image of God expressed in the soul consists in these three powers, namely reason, memory, and will. And as long as those powers are not wholly impressed upon God, the soul is not deiform according to the primary creation of the soul. For God is the form of the soul, on whom it ought to be impressed, as wax is impressed by a seal and the thing sealed is marked by the mark. But this is never fully done unless reason is perfectly illuminated, according to its capacity, for the knowledge of God, who is highest truth; and the will is perfectly affected toward loving the highest goodness; and memory is fully absorbed in beholding and enjoying eternal happiness, and in resting sweetly and delightfully in it. And because the glory of beatitude, which will be perfected in the homeland, consists in the consummated attainment of these things, it is clear that the perfect beginning of these things is perfection in this life.
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