Volume 37 · pp. 528–529
Chapter VI. That the devout man ought to adhere to God, with intellect and affection bared.
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Caput VI. Quod adhaerere debet homo devotus Deo, nudato intellectu et affectu.
Et quia quanto magis te nudaveris a phantasmatibus et implicationibus exterioribus mundanis et sensibilibus, tanto magis anima tua recuperabit vires et interiores sensus suos, ut sapiant ei quae sursum sunt. Disce ergo abstinere a phantasmatibus et imaginibus rerum corporalium, quia super omnia placet Deo mens nuda ab hujusmodi formis et speciebus, cujus etiam deliciae sunt esse cum filiis hominum, videlicet qui a talibus occupationibus et distractionibus et passionibus tranquilla, pura et simplici mente sibi intendunt, vacant et adhaerent. Alioquin si in talibus memoria, imaginatio et cogitatio tua saepe vacat, necesse est, vel rebus novis, vel reliquiis antiquorum deliniri, vel secundum alia objecta varie qualificari. Unde Spiritus sanctus aufert se a cogitationibus quae sunt sine intellectu 1.
Verus itaque Jesu Christi amator sic debet esse unitus intellectu per bonam voluntatem divinae voluntati et bonitati, et nudus ab omnibus phantasmatibus et passionibus, ut non advertat si derideatur, diligatur, vel quidquid sibi inferatur. Voluntas namque bona omnia complet, super omnia est. Unde si voluntas adsit bona, et Deo in intellectu pure conformis et unita fuerit, non nocet si caro et sensualitas et exterior homo moveatur ad malum, et torpeat ad bonum, aut etiam si interior homo torpet devotionem affectare, sed tantum fide et bona voluntate adhaerere debet Deo in intellectu nude. Et hoc facit, si omnem imperfectionem et nihileitatem suam animadvertat, et cognoscat bonum suum in solo Creatore consistere, et cum suis potentiis et viribus se ac cunctas creaturas relinquit, atque ex toto et totum se in Creatorem suum immergit, ita quod omnes operationes suas dirigit pure ex toto in Dominum Deum suum, nec extra eum quidquam quaerit, in quo percipit invenisse omne bonum, et omnem felicitatem perfectionis. Et sic transformatur quodammodo in Deum, quod nec cogitare, nec intelligere, nec amare, nec memorare potest, nisi Deum pariter et de Deo: creaturas autem alias et seipsum non videt, nisi tantum in Deo, nec diligit nisi solum Deum, nec memoratur de eis vel de se, nisi in Deo.
Chapter VI. That the devout man ought to adhere to God, with intellect and affection bared.
And because the more you have bared yourself of exterior worldly and sensible phantasms and entanglements, the more your soul will recover its powers and its interior senses, so that the things above may have savor for it. Therefore learn to abstain from phantasms and images of bodily things, because above all things a mind bare of forms and species of this kind pleases God, whose delights also are to be with the sons of men, that is, with those who, with tranquil, pure, and simple mind, attend to him, are free for him, and adhere to him apart from such occupations, distractions, and passions. Otherwise, if your memory, imagination, and thought are often free for such things, it is necessary either to be charmed by new things or by relics of old things, or to be variously qualified according to other objects. Hence the Holy Spirit withdraws himself from thoughts that are without understanding 1.
And so the true lover of Jesus Christ ought to be united in intellect, through good will, to the divine will and goodness, and bare of all phantasms and passions, so that he does not notice whether he is mocked, loved, or whatever is brought upon him. For good will completes all things; it is above all things. Hence, if a good will is present, and has been purely conformed and united to God in intellect, it does not harm if the flesh and sensuality and the exterior man are moved toward evil and are sluggish toward good, or even if the interior man is sluggish in affecting devotion; but only by faith and good will he ought to adhere to God nakedly in intellect. And he does this if he observes all his imperfection and nothingness, and knows that his good consists in the Creator alone, and with his powers and strengths leaves himself and all creatures, and wholly and totally immerses himself in his Creator, so that he directs all his operations purely and wholly into the Lord his God, and seeks nothing outside him, in whom he perceives that he has found every good and all the happiness of perfection. And thus he is in a certain manner transformed into God, because he can think, understand, love, or remember nothing except God equally and concerning God. But he does not see other creatures and himself except only in God, nor does he love except God alone, nor is he mindful of them or of himself except in God.
Haec vero cognitio veritatis semper facit animam humilem, seipsam, non alium judicantem: sed econtra mundana sapientia facit animam superbam, vanam, turgidam, et vento inflatam. Sit itaque haec spiritualis et fundamentalis doctrina, quod accedens ad Dei notitiam, servitium et familiaritatem, et si vis Deum veraciter possidere, necesse est quod cor tuum denudes omni amore sensibili, non tantum cujuscumque personae, sed etiam cujuscumque creaturae, ut simplici ac toto corde, secundum omne tuum posse, tendas in Dominum Deum tuum creatorem, libere, absque omni duplicitate, cura et sollicitudine, plena fiducia in sola ejus providentia de omnibus.
But this knowledge of truth always makes the soul humble, judging itself and not another; but on the contrary worldly wisdom makes the soul proud, vain, swollen, and inflated with wind. Therefore let this be the spiritual and foundational teaching: that one who approaches the knowledge, service, and familiarity of God, and if you wish truly to possess God, it is necessary that you bare your heart of every sensible love, not only of whatever person, but also of whatever creature, so that with a simple and whole heart, according to all your power, you may tend toward the Lord your God, the creator, freely, without any duplicity, care, and solicitude, with full trust in his providence alone concerning all things.
Notes
- Wisdom 1:5. (Sapient. I, 5.) ↩
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