Volume 37 · pp. 531–532
Chapter VIII. How in any event the devout man ought to commit himself to God?
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Caput VIII. Quomodo in quolibet eventu homo devotus se debeat Deo committere?
Credo jam et arbitror, quod ex hucusque deductis cognoscas, quod quanto magis magisque te nudaveris a phantasmatibus, et omnibus rebus mundialibus et creatis, ac per bonam voluntatem intellectu Deo unitus fueris, tanto magis ad statum innocentiae et perfectionis appropinquas. Quo quid melius? quidve felicius ac jucundius? Super omnia ergo valet, ut teneas mentem nudam sine phantasmatibus et imaginibus, et a quibuscumque implicationibus, ut nec de mundo, nec de amicis, nec de prosperis, nec de adversis, praesentibus, praeteritis, vel futuris, in te nec in aliis, nec etiam nimis de propriis peccatis solliciteris: sed cum quadam puritatis simplicitate te esse cum Deo extra mundum nude cogita, ac si anima tua jam esset in aeternitate extra corpus separata, utique non tractaret saecularia, nec curaret de statu mundi, nec de pace, nec de guerra nec de sereno, nec de pluvia, et plane nec de aliquo hujus saeculi: sed soli Deo conformiter totaliter intenderet, vacaret, et inhaereret. Sic suo modo vel nunc relinque corpus tuum, et omnia praesentia et futura creata, et defige aciem mentis ac spiritus tui fixe, secundum omne tuum posse, nude et expedite, in illud increatum lumen. Et sic ab omnibus phantasmatibus et involutionibus ac obnubilationibus depuratus sit spiritus tuus, tamquam Angelus corpori alligatus, qui per operationem carnis non impeditur, nec cogitationibus vanis ac vagis implicatur.
Fortificet ergo se spiritus contra quascumque tentationes, vexationes, injurias, ut aequanimiter inconcusse in utraque fortuna perseveret in Deo. Et cum adest turbatio, aut acedia, vel mentis confusio, non propterea insolescas, aut pusillanimis sis, nec propter hoc curras ad orationes vocales, aut alias consolationes: sed hoc solum ut resuscites te per voluntatem bonam in intellectu, ut adhaereas Deo mente, velit nolit sensualitas corporis.
Chapter VIII. How in any event the devout man ought to commit himself to God?
I now believe and judge that, from the things brought forward so far, you know that the more and more you have bared yourself of phantasms and of all worldly and created things, and have been united to God in intellect through good will, the more you approach the state of innocence and perfection. What is better than this? Or what is happier and more pleasant? Therefore above all things it is valuable that you keep the mind bare without phantasms and images, and free from whatever entanglements, so that you are solicitous neither about the world, nor about friends, nor about prosperous things, nor about adverse things, present, past, or future, in yourself or in others, nor even too much about your own sins. But with a certain simplicity of purity, nakedly think that you are with God outside the world, as if your soul were now in eternity, separated outside the body; surely it would not handle secular things, nor care about the state of the world, nor about peace, nor about war, nor about clear weather, nor about rain, and plainly not about anything of this age, but would totally attend, be free, and adhere conformably to God alone. Thus, in its own way, even now leave your body and all present and future created things, and fix the point of your mind and spirit fixedly, according to all your power, nakedly and readily, in that uncreated light. And thus let your spirit be purified from all phantasms, involvements, and cloudings, like an angel bound to a body, who is not impeded by the operation of the flesh nor entangled by vain and wandering thoughts.
Therefore let the spirit strengthen itself against whatever temptations, vexations, and injuries, so that with equanimity and unshaken it may persevere in God in either fortune. And when disturbance, or acedia, or confusion of mind is present, do not on that account become insolent, or be faint-hearted, nor on that account run to vocal prayers or other consolations; but do this alone, that you may raise yourself again through good will in the intellect, so that you may adhere to God in mind, whether the sensuality of the body wishes or does not wish.
Devota namque anima sic debet esse cum Deo unita, et suam voluntatem divinae voluntati tam conformem habere et facere, quod se cum nulla creatura occupet, seu adhaereat, sicut dum non erat creata: ac si nihil sit praeter solum Deum, et ipsam animam. Et sic universa et singula aequanimiter de manu divinae providentiae secure et infallibiliter accipiat, sustinens uniformiter in omnibus Dominum in patientia, tranquillitate, et silentio.
Qua de re nudare mentem ab omnibus phantasmatibus super omnia valet ad vitam spiritualem, ut sis per bonam voluntatem unitus Deo in intellectu et conformis.
Praeterea, nihil erit medium inter te et Deum: quod sic patet, quia nec res aliqua ab extra erit medium, cum per votum voluntariae paupertatis ablata sit omnis rei possessio usque ad ultimum, et per castitatis votum corpus, et per obedientiam voluntas et ipsa anima: et sic quodammodo nihil relinquitur, quod mediat inter te et Deum. Quod autem religiosus sis, probat professio ipsa, status tuus, et nunc habitus tuus, et tonsura, et similia hujusmodi: sed an fictus, an verus religiosus sis, tu videris.
Animadverte ergo, quam graviter degeneres et pecces in Dominum Deum tuum, et in omnem ejus justitiam, si secus egeris, et creaturae potius quam Creatori ipsi voluntate et amore inhaeseris, creaturam praeponens Creatori.
For the devout soul ought to be so united with God, and to have and make its will so conformable to the divine will, that it does not occupy itself with any creature or adhere to any creature, just as when it had not been created; and as if there were nothing except God alone and the soul itself. And thus it should receive all things, each and all, with equanimity, securely and infallibly, from the hand of divine providence, awaiting the Lord uniformly in all things in patience, tranquility, and silence.
For this reason, to bare the mind from all phantasms is valuable above all things for spiritual life, so that through good will you may be united and conformed to God in intellect.
Furthermore, there will be nothing intermediate between you and God. This is clear thus: because no thing from outside will be intermediate, since by the vow of voluntary poverty the possession of every thing has been taken away down to the last thing, and by the vow of chastity the body, and by obedience the will and the soul itself. And thus, in a certain manner, nothing is left that mediates between you and God. But that you are a religious is proved by the profession itself, your state, and now your habit, and tonsure, and similar things of this sort; but whether you are a feigned or a true religious, you yourself will see.
Therefore notice how gravely you degenerate and sin against the Lord your God and against all his justice, if you act otherwise, and adhere by will and love to the creature rather than to the Creator himself, putting the creature before the Creator.
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