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And Brings it By the Inward Way Written By MIGUEL DE MOLINOS Also Includes the Substance of Several Letters Translated from the Italian Copy Printed in the Year 1699 Molinos' The Spiritual Guide is an outstanding writing on the value of silence before the Lord. A purified Roman priest is an almost oxymoron; but remember that Molinos lived in Spain and Italy, where he would have been instantly killed if he had spoken against the Roman church. So he stayed, in an attempt to reform it. It would have been impossible to meet as a group, so all of his guidance is directed to individual, private effort; which is particularly appropriate to scattered pilgrims, without a group. He is a testimony to the fact that the Church of Christ consists of those who are truly "born again and do not sin," and a few such individuals can be found in past ages in both Protestant and Catholic arenas. Here is a Spanish priest, who almost revolutionized the Roman faith; with many thousands of followers enjoying the way to peace and fellowship with the Lord. Thousands of nuns, scores of Bishops, several Cardinals, and even the Pope practiced this silent prayer to the joy of true communion with the Teacher, benefiting from his changes by grace, and feeling a life of peace budding within themselves, such life being Christ himself. Unfortunately, as the Jesuits saw their influence dwindling, they envied Molinos' vast influence within the Roman church; so, with the mechanisms of the Inquisition already in place, they repeatedly examined him while imprisoned, finally resulting in his conviction on charges confessed , (which his thousands of acquaintances denied as fabricated). He was sentenced to life imprisonment for heresies, but died soon after, due to the repeated tortures of the Jesuits, (according to Fox's Book of Martyrs). This history is detailed below in the Postscript, and in an excerpt from Fox's (no relation to George) Book of Martyrs. PREFACE
The way of inward peace in all things Such as would have all things succeed and come to pass according to their own fancy, are not come to know this way: The way to peace they have not known (Rom 3:17). And therefore lead a harsh and bitter life, always restless and out of humor, without treading in the way of peace, which consists in a total conformity to the will of God. This conformity is the sweet yoke that this PREFACE introduces us into the regions of internal peace and serenity. Thus we may know, that the rebellion of our will is the chief occasion of our disquiet; and that because we will not submit to the sweet yoke of the Divine Will, we suffer so many difficulties and disturbances. Oh soul! If we submitted our own to the Divine Will, and to all His disposition, what tranquility should we feel! What sweet peace! What inward serenity! What supreme felicity, and earnest bliss! This then is to be the burden of this book. May it please God to give me His divine light, for discovering the secret parts of this inward way, and chief felicity of perfect peace.
THE SPIRITUAL GUIDE
You are to know that your soul is the center, habitation and kingdom of God. That therefore, to the end the Sovereign King may rest on that throne of your soul, you ought to take pains to keep it clean, quiet, void and peaceable; clean from guilt and defects; quiet from fears; void of affections, desires and thoughts; and peaceable in temptations and tribulations. You ought always, then, to keep your heart in peace, that you may keep pure that temple of God, and with a right and pure intention, you are to work, pray, obey, and suffer, without being in the least moved, whatever it pleases the Lord to send unto you. Because it is certain, that for the good of the soul, and for your spiritual profit, He will allow the envious enemy to trouble that city of rest, and throne of peace, with temptations, suggestions and tribulations, and by the means of creatures with painful troubles, and grievous persecutions. Be constant, and cheer up your heart in whatever disquiet these tribulations may cause to you. Enter within it, that you may overcome it, for within is the Divine fortress which defends, protects and fights for you. If a man has a safe fortress, he is not disquieted, though his enemies pursue him, because by retreating within it, these are disappointed and overcome. The strong castle that will make you triumph over all your enemies, visible and invisible, and over all their snares and tribulations, is within your own soul, because in it resides the Divine aid and Sovereign succor. Retreat within it, and all will be quiet, secure, peaceable and calm. It ought to be your chief and continual exercise, to pacify that throne of your heart, that the Supreme King may rest therein. The way to pacify it will be to enter into yourself by means of internal recollection; [faith and silence before God], all your protection is to be prayer, [a prayer of recollection: faith and silence before God] and a loving recollection in the Divine presence. When you see yourself more sharply assaulted, retreat into that region of peace, where you will find the fortress. When you are more faint-hearted, direct yourself to this refuge of prayer, the only armor for overcoming the enemy, and mitigating tribulation; you ought not to be at a distance from it in a storm, to the end you may, as another Noah, experience tranquility, security and serenity; and to the end your will may be resigned, devoted, peaceful and courageous. Finally, be not afflicted nor discouraged to see yourself faint-hearted. He returns to quiet you, that still He may stir you, because this Divine Lord will be alone with you, to rest in your soul, and form therein a rich throne of peace; that within your own heart, by means of internal recollection, and with His heavenly grace, you may look for silence in tumult, solitude in company, light in darkness, forgetfulness in pressures, vigor in despondency, courage in fear, resistance in temptation, peace in war, and quiet in tribulation.
CHAPTER II YOU will find yourself, as all other souls that are Called by the Lord to the inward way, full of confusion and doubts, because in prayer you have failed in your discourse [petitions, intercessions, and pleas]. It will seem to you that God does no more assist you as formerly, that the exercise of silent prayer is not in your power; that you lose time, while hardly and with great trouble you can make one single short utterance of prayer as you were predisposed to do. How much confusion, and what perplexities, will the desire to enlarge yourself with mental discourse [you will want to pray in the traditional manner of talking and making pleas to God] raise in you! And if in such a juncture you do not have a spiritual father who is expert in the mystical way, you will certainly conclude that your soul is out of order, and that for the security of your conscience, you stand in need of a general confession; the only result will be the shame and confusion of both. Oh how many souls are called to the inward way, and the spiritual fathers, for want of understanding their case, instead of guiding and helping them forwards, stop them in their course, and ruin them. [Molinos was then primarily speaking to a Roman sect audience, who were prone to turn to their priest, assuming he to be more wise than they in spiritual matters; which was obviously most often not the case, unless the priest had also been taught of the inward way.] Let me convince you, that when you feel the urge to enlarge in discourse [increase your prayers of conversation and pleas], thus to draw back [from inward silence] ; that it [inward silence] is your greatest happiness, because it is a clear sign that the Lord will have you to walk by faith and silence in His Divine presence, which is the most profitable and easiest path; in respect, that with a simple view, or amorous attention to God, the soul appears like a humble supplicant before its Lord, or as an innocent child, that casts itself into the sweet and safe bosom of its dear mother. Thus did Gerson express it: 'Though I have spent forty years in reading and prayer, yet I could not find anything more effective, nor direct, for attaining to mystical theology, than that our spirit should become like a young child and beggar in the presence of God.' That kind of prayer is not only the easiest, but the most secure; because it is abstracted from the operations of the imagination, that is always exposed to the tricks of the devil, and the extravagances of melancholy, and reasoning, wherein the soul is easily distracted, and being wrapped up in speculation, reflects on itself. When God had a mind to instruct His own captain, Moses (Exodus 24:15 ), and give him the two Tables of the Law, written in stone, He called him up to the mountain, at which time God being there with him, the mount was darkened, and enveloped with thick clouds; Moses stood idle, not knowing what to think or say. Seven days after, God commanded Moses to come up to the top of the mountain, where He showed him His glory, and filled him with great consolation. (Exodus 33:18-21 and 34:6) So in the beginning, when God intends, after an extraordinary manner, to guide the soul into the school of the Divine and loving notices of the internal law, He makes it travel with darkness and dryness, that He may bring it near to Himself. Because the Divine Majesty knows very well that a soul draws near to Him, not by the means of one's own reasoning, or industry; nor is by understanding scriptures and other divine documents; but rather by silent and humble resignation. The patriarch Noah gave a great instance of this, who after all men had considered him a fool; found himself floating in the middle of a raging sea, with which the whole world was overflowed, without sails and oars, and environed with wild beasts, that were shut up in the Ark; thus he walked by faith alone, not knowing nor understanding what God had in mind to do with him. What concerns you most, Oh redeemed soul, is patience, not to desist from the prayer you are about, [silence before God] though you cannot enlarge in discourse [increase your pleas and requests]. Walk with firm faith, and a holy silence, dying in yourself, with all your natural industry, trusting that God, who is the same and changes not, neither can he err, intends nothing but your good. It is clear dying is painful, but it it time well spent. For when the soul is dead, dumb, and resigned in the presence of God, there, without any clutter or distraction, the soul can receive the Divine influences. Through the senses [sight, sound, touch] we are not capable of [receiving] Divine blessings. Thus if you would be happy and wise, be silent and believe, suffer and have patience, be confident and walk on; it concerns you far more to hold your peace, and to let yourself be guided by the Hand of God, than to enjoy all the goods of this world. And though it seem to you that you do nothing at all, and are idle, being so dumb and resigned, yet it is of infinite fruit. Consider the blind beast that turns the wheel of the mill. Although the beast does not see the corn, neither know what it is doing; yet it does a great work in grinding the corn. And although it does not taste the corn, yet its master receives the fruit, and tastes of the same. Who would not believe that since a seed which lies a long time in the earth, that it would die! Yet afterwards the seed is seen to spring up, to grow and multiply. God does the same with the soul, when He deprives it of consideration and reasoning. While [in silent prayer] it thinks it does nothing, and is in a manner destroyed; in time the soul revives, improved, disengaged, and perfect, having never hoped for so much favor. Take care then that you afflict not yourself, nor draw back, but do not enlarge yourself, and discourse in prayer; suffer, hold your peace, and appear in the presence of God; persevere constantly, and trust to His infinite bounty, who can give unto you constant faith, true light, and Divine grace. Walk as though you are blindfolded, without thinking or reasoning; put yourself into His kind and paternal hands, resolving to do nothing but what His Divine will and pleasure is.
CHAPTER III A sequel of the same matter.
It is the common opinion of all the holy men who have experience of the Spirit, and of all the mystical matters, that the soul cannot attain to perfection and a union with God, by means of contemplation and reasoning; because this is only good for beginning the spiritual way, to the end one may acquire a habit of knowledge, of the beauty of virtue, and ugliness of vice - which habit, in the opinion of Saint Teresa, may be attained to in six months' time; and according to St. Bonaventure, in two (In prolog. de Mist. Theol., p. 655). St. Austin complained of that, in the time when God led him to the mystical way, saying to His Divine Majesty, I, Lord, went wandering like strayed sheep, seeking you with anxious reasoning without, while you were within me. I wearied myself much in looking for you without, and yet you have your habitation within me, if I long and breathe after you. I went round the streets places of the city of this world, seeking You, and found you not; because in vain I sought without for Him who was within myself, (Soliloq., c. 31). The angelical Doctor St. Thomas, for all he was so circumspect in his writings, may seem yet to jeer those who go always in search of God without, by means of reasoning, when they have Him present within themselves. There is great blindness, and excessive folly in some (says the Saint) who always seek God, continually sigh after God, often long for God, invocate and call upon God daily in prayer; they themselves, (according to the Apostle), being the living Temple of God, and His true habitation, since their soul is the seat and throne of God, where He continually rests. Who then but a fool will look for an instrument abroad, which, he knows he has fast shut up within doors? Or, who can refresh himself with the food he desires, and yet not taste it! Such exactly is the life of some just men, always seeking and never enjoying, and therefore all their works are imperfect (Optusc. 63, c. 3 in fin). It is certain that our Lord Christ taught perfection to all, and ever will have all to be perfect, particularly the ignorant and simple. He clearly manifested this truth, when for His apostles He chose the smallest and most ignorant, saying to his Eternal Father, 'I thank You, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because you have kept these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes,' Mat 11:25. And it is certain that these cannot acquire perfection by acute contemplations and subtle reasonings, though they be as capable as the most learned, to attain to perfection by the affections of the will, wherein principally it consists. St. Bonaventure teaches us not to form conceptions of anything, no not [even] of God, because it is imperfection to make representations, images and ideas, how subtle or ingenious so ever, either of the will or of the goodness, Trinity and Unity; no, of the Divine Essence itsel f- in respect that though all these representations appear godly, yet are they not of God, who admits of no image or form. Non ibi (says the Saint) oportet cogitare res de creatures nec de, Angelis, nec de Trinitate, quia, hac sapientia, per affectus desiderioum, non per meditationem, previum debet consurgere (Myst. Theol., p. 2, q. Un. p. 685). We must not here think anything of creatures, of angels, nor of God Himself, because that wisdom and perfection is not acquired by nice and quaint contemplation, but by the desire and affection of the will. The holy man cannot speak more clearly, and would you deprive yourself, and leave off prayer, [of contemplation] because you know not, or can not tell how to enlarge therein, even though you may have a good will, good desire, and pure intention! If the young ravens, which are forsaken by their parents, (thinking them to be illegitmate because they are without black feathers), are fed by the dew of Heaven so that they may not perish; what will He do to redeem souls, though they cannot speak or reason, if they believe, trust, and open their mouths to Heaven, declaring their wants? Is it not more certain that the Divine bounty will provide for them, and give them their necessary food? When the soul finds itself deprived of the sensible pleasures it previously had, it is cleary a great martyrdom, and no small gift of God, for the soul to walk only by holy faith, through the dark and desert paths of perfection; perfection being unattainable, except by this painful though secure means. Therefore endeavor to be firm and fixed, not drawing back. Although you want to converse in prayer, maintain your firm belief that by remaining quietly silent with patient perseverance, you will find happiness, and attain to the Divine union, eminent rest, and progress to the supreme internal peace.
CHAPTER IV The soul is not to afflict itself, nor give up prayer, You will know that there are two sorts of prayer: the one tender, delightful, amiable, and full of sentiments; the other obscure, dry, desolate, tempted and darksome. The first is of beginners, the second of proficients, who are in the progress to perfection. God gives the first to gain souls, the second to purify them. With the first He uses them like children; with the second He begins to deal with them as with strong men. The first way may be called the natural life, and belongs to them who go in the track of the sensible devotion, which God uses to give to beginners, to the end that being endowed with that small taste and touch, as the natural man is with the sensible object, they may addict themselves to the spiritual life. The second is called the life of men, and belongs to those who, not minding sensible pleasures, fight and war against their own passions, that they may conquer and obtain perfection, the proper employment of men. Assure yourself, that dryness or aridity is the instrument of your good, because it is void of sensible pleasures; the seeking of which is the obstacle that puts a stop to the flight of almost all spiritual men, and makes them even draw back, and leave off prayer as may be seen in many souls, who only persevere while they taste sensible consolation. Know that the Lord makes use of the veil of dryness, to the end we may not know what He is working in us, and so be humble; because if we felt and knew what He is working in our souls, satisfaction and presumption would get in, imagining that we were doing some good thing, and believing ourselves very near to God: which would be our undoing. Lay this down as a firm ground in your heart, that for walking in the inward way, all sensibility must first be removed; and the means God uses is dryness to remove all sensibility. Using dryness, He also takes away reflection, or that view by which the soul sees what is happening. Such reflection being only an impediment that obstructs the advancing forward, and God's communicating Himself and operating in the soul. You ought not then to afflict yourself, nor think that you reap no fruit, because incoming from a communion or prayer, you have not experienced many sentiments, since that is a clear deception. The husbandman sows in one time, and reaps in another. So God, upon occasions, and in His own due time, will help you to resist temptations, and when least you think, will give you holy purposes, and more effectual desires of serving Him. And to the end you may not allow yourself to be transported by the violent suggestion of the enemy, who will enviously charge that you do nothing, and that you lose time, so that you will neglect prayer. I will declare to you some of the infinite fruits that your soul reaps from that great dryness:
All these, and many other fruits, are like new buds that spring from the prayer that you are tempted to abandon, because it seems to you to be dry, that you see no fruit of it, and reap no advantage there from. Be constant and persevere with patience, for though you know it not, your soul is profited by this dryness. Let it not be said that the soul is idle; because even though it does not operate actively, yet the Holy Spirit is operating in the soul experiencing dryness. CHAPTER V More of the same thing, declaring how many ways of devotion there are, (Note: This chapter was left out of the Google Source Book and so was obtained from another source.) There are to be found two sorts of devotion, the one essential and true; the other accidental and of the senses. The true devotion is a prompting of the mind to do well, [acts of kindness, doing to others as you would have done to you, gifts of love to the poor, etc.] to fulfill the commands of God, and to perform all things belonging to his service, even though everything is not done as is desired because of human frailty. This is true devotion, even though it is not accompanied with pleasure, sweetness, delight, nor tears; but rather, it is usually attended with temptation, dryness, and darkness. Accidental devotion of the senses occurs when good desires are attended with a pleasant softness of heart, tenderness of tears, or other affections. This is not to be sought after; no, it is rather should be avoided, and considered unimportant. Such emotional experiences are dangerous, being a great obstacle to progress and advancement in the internal way. Therefore we ought only to embrace the true and essential devotion, which is always in our power to come by, seeing every one doing his duty may with the assistance of the divine grace acquire the true devotion. Some think that when devotion with sensible pleasures are experienced, they have been gifts of favor by God; that they have arrived, and then their whole life is to be spent in panting after similar delights. But sensible pleasures are false gifts, because they are only a consolation of nature, and a pure illusion by which the soul beholds what it does; and which hinders the doing anything, or possibility of doing anything productive; the acquisition of the true light, and the making of one step in the way of perfection. The senses and emotions only affect the flesh, not the soul, which is pure spirit and has no feelings or senses; so the soul has no benefit from such pleasures. From this you may infer that devotion resulting in sensible pleasures is not from God, and neither from the Spirit; instead they are from the human fleshly nature. Therefore one ought to give little heed to them when they occur, actually despising them to persevere in silent prayer, leaving yourself to God’s grace of light in dryness and darkness. Don’t think that while you are in darkness and dryness in the presence, with faith and silence, that you accomplish nothing , are wasting time, and are idle; because according to St. Bernard: the true idleness is to wait on God, and the idleness of the soul is the business of God. You should not even say that the soul is idle; because although it does not operate actively, yet the Holy Spirit operates in it. Besides that, the soul is not without all activity, because it operates simply and intimately through the spirit. The true acts are to: be attentive to God, draw near to him, follow his internal inspirations, receive his divine influences, adore him in his own intimate center, reverence him with the pious affections of the will, cast away so many and so fantastical imaginations, and overcome many temptations with softness and contempt. I say these are all true acts; though simple, wholly spiritual, and in a manner imperceptible, through the great tranquility, by which the soul exerts them.
CHAPTER VI The soul is not to be disquieted, that it sees itself (Note: Since we all start in darkness, before enlightenment, such darkness is not to be so despised as to motivate us to be rid of our awareness of it, by abandoning our silence that shows our dark, deplorable state. As Paul said: If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! Gal 2:17. And as Peter said: And we have the prophetic word firmer still. You will do well to pay close attention to it as to a lamp shining in a dismal squalid and dark place, until the day breaks through and the Morning Star rises, comes into being, in your hearts. It has been said that to recognize light, one must first walk in darkness.) THERE are two sorts of darkness – some unhappy, and others happy. The first are such as arise from sin, and are unhappy, because they lead the soul to an eternal precipice. The second are those which the Lord suffers to be in the soul, to ground and settle it in virtue; and these are happy, because they enlighten it, fortify it, and cause greater light therein, so that you ought not to grieve and disturb yourself, nor be disconsolate in seeing yourself obscure and darksome, judging that God has failed you, and the light also that you formerly had experience of. Rather you ought at that time to persevere constantly in prayer, [silent prayer] it being a manifest sign that God in His infinite mercy intends to bring you into the inward path, and happy way of Paradise. Oh how happy will you be if you embrace it with peace and resignation, as the instrument of perfect quiet, true light, and of all your spiritual good. Know then that the straightest, most perfect, and secure way of proficients is the way of darkness, because in them the Lord placed his own throne; and He made darkness His secret place. Psalm 18:11. By them the supernatural light, which God infuses into the soul, grows and increases; amidst them, wisdom and strong love are begotten; by darkness the soul is annihilated, and the species, which hinders the right view of the Divine Truth, are consumed. By this means, God introduces the soul by the inward way into the prayer of rest, and of perfect meditation, of which so few have the experience. Finally, by darkness the Lord purges the senses and sensibility, which hinder the mystical progress. See now if darknesses are not to be esteemed and embraced. What you ought to do amidst them, is to believe that you are before the Lord, and in His presence; but you ought to do so with a sweet and quiet attention, not desire to know anything, nor search after delicacies, tendernesses, or sensible devotions, nor do anything but what is the good will and pleasure of God; because otherwise you will only make circles all your lifetime, and not advance one step towards perfection.
CHAPTER VII To the end the soul may attain to the supreme internal peace, So soon you shall firmly resolve to mortify your external senses, that you may advance towards the high mountain of perfection and union with God, His Divine Majesty will set His hand to the purging of your evil inclinations, inordinate desires, vain complacency, self-love and pride, and other hidden vices, which you know not, and yet reign in the inner parts of your soul, and hinder the Divine union. You will never attain to this happy state, though you tire yourself out with the external acts of mortification and resignation, until this Lord purges you inwardly, and disciplines you by His own methods, because He alone knows how your secret faults are to be purged out. If you persevere constantly, He will not only purge you from affections and engagements to natural and temporal goods, but in His own time also He will purify you with the supernatural and most excellent; including internal communications, inward raptures and ecstasies, and other infused graces, on which the soul rests and enjoys itself. God will do all this in your soul by means of the cross and dryness, if you freely give your consent to it by resignation, and walking through those darksome and desert ways. All you have to do is: to do nothing by your own choice alone. The subjection of your liberty is that which you ought to do, quietly resigning yourself up to God in everything, by which the Lord shall think fit internally and externally to mortify you.This is the only means by which your soul can become capable of the Divine influences, while you suffer internal and external tribulation, with humility, patience and quiet; not the penances, disciplines and mortifications which you could impose yourself. The husbandman sets a greater esteem upon the plants which he sows in the ground than those that spring up of themselves, because these never come to seasonable maturity. In the same manner God esteems, and is better pleased with, the virtue which He sows and infuses into the soul, (as being sunk into its own nothingness, calm and quiet, retreated within its own center, and without any election), than all the other virtues which the soul pretends to acquire by its own election and endeavors, [works of the flesh, which count for nothing]. Your only concern is to prepare your heart like clean paper, wherein the Divine wisdom may imprint characters to His own liking. Oh how great is the accomplishment for your soul to spend whole hours together in prayer, dumb, resigned and humble, without acting, knowing, or desiring to understand anything!
CHAPTER VIII A Sequel of the Same. WITH new efforts you will exercise yourself, but in another manner than previous, giving your consent to receive the secret and Divine operations, and to be polished and purified by the Lord, which is the only means by which you will become clean and purged from your ignorance and indulgences. Know, however, that you are to be plunged into a bitter sea of sorrows, and of internal and external pains, which torment will pierce into the most inward part of your soul and body. You will experience that the people of the world will forsake you, including those too from whom you hoped for most favor and compassion in your difficulties; the ways of your intellect will be so dried up, that you shall not be able to form any reasoning; no, nor so much as to conceive a good thought of God. Heaven will seem to you to be of brass, and you shall think to receive no light from it. Nor will the thought comfort you of times past when so much light and devout consolation has shone into your soul. The invisible enemies will pursue you with scruples, lascivious suggestions, and unclean thoughts, with incentives to impatience, pride, rage, cursing, and blaspheming the name of God, His sacraments and holy mysteries. You will find a great lukewarmness, loathing and wearisome for the things of God, an obscurity and darkness in your understanding, a faintness, confusion and narrowness of heart; such a coldness and feebleness of the will to resist, that a straw will appear to you a beam. Your desertion will be so great that you will think there is no more a God for you, and that you are rendered incapable of entertaining a good desire; so that you will continue shut up between two walls, inconstant difficulties and anguish, without any hopes of ever getting out of so dreadful an oppression. But fear not. All this is necessary for purging your soul, and making it know its own misery, and sensibly perceive the annihilation of all the passions and inordinate appetites, the pleasures of your past. Finally, so that the Lord may refine and purify you after His own manner with those inward torments, cast the Jonas of sense into the sea, forsaking the worldly logic, thereby procure the purging of your soul! Whatever your outward disciplines and mortifications, they will never result in true light, nor make one step towards perfection; rather such outward efforts will stop you in the beginning, and your soul will not progress to the amiable rest and supreme internal peace.
CHAPTER IX The soul ought not to be disquieted, Our own nature is so base, proud and ambitious, and so full of its own appetites, its own judgment and opinions, that if temptations did not restrain it, we would be lost without hope. The Lord, then, seeing our misery and perverse inclination, and thereby moved to compassion, suffers us to be assaulted by diverse thoughts against the faith, horrible temptations, and by violent and painful suggestions of impatience, pride, gluttony, luxury, rage, blasphemy, cursing, despair, and an infinite number of others, so that we may know ourselves and be humble. With these horrible temptations, with which infinite Goodness humbles our pride, we receive the most wholesome medicine by them. As Isaiah said, all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, (Isaiah 64:6), through the stains of vanity, conceitedness, and self-love. It is necessary they be purified with the fire of tribulation, and temptation, that so they may be clean, pure, perfect, and agreeable to the eyes of God. Therefore the Lord purifies the soul which He calls, and will have for Himself, with the rough file of temptation, with which He polishes it from the rust of pride, avarice, vanity, ambition, presumption, and self-conceitedness. With the same He humbles, pacifies and exercises it, making it to know its own misery. By this means He purifies and strips the heart, so that all its operations may be pure, and of inestimable value. Many souls, when they suffer those painful torments, are troubled, afflicted and disquieted; it seems to them that they have been sentenced to suffer eternal punishments; and if by misfortune they go to an inexperienced confessor, instead of comforting them, he leaves them in greater confusion and perplexities. In order to not lose internal peace, it is necessary you believe that it is the goodness of Divine mercy, which humbles, afflicts and tries you. For by that means your soul comes to have a deep knowledge of itself, believing itself the worst, most impious and abominable or all souls living, and thus with humility and lowliness it abhors itself. Oh how happy would souls be if they would be quiet, and believe that all temptations caused by the devil, and received from the hand of God, are for their gain and spiritual profit! But you will say, that it is not the work of the devil, when He molests you by means of your fellow man; but rather, when you are wronged and injured by your neighbor, it is because of their faults and malice. Know that this is another cunning and hidden temptation, because though God wills not the sin of another, yet He wills the injury and wrong on you, and the trouble which accrues to you from another's faults, so that He may see you improved by the benefits of patience and forgiveness. When you receive an injury from any man! There are two things in it: the sin of him that does it, and the punishment that you suffer; the sin is against the will of God, and displeases Him, though He permits it; the punishment is to aid you to conform to His will, and He wills the injury for your progress; for which reason you ought to receive it, as if from His hand. [When you accept that the wrongs done to you were orchestrated by him to occur, you can easily forgive the person doing the wrong to you; and when you do forgive them without anger and resentment, you have arrived at a critical milestone in your journey with the Lord]. The Passion and Death of our Lord Christ were the results of the wickedness and sins of Pilate, [and the religous leaders of Israel]; and yet it is certain that God willed the death of His own Son for our redemption, [as he orchestrated the time and place to be Passover in Jerusalem. And let us not forget the example of our Lord, who when suffering unimaginable pain on the cross, said, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."] Consider how the Lord makes use of another's fault for the good of your soul. Oh the greatness of the Divine Wisdom! Who can pry into the depths of the secret and extraordinary means, and the hidden parts by which He guides the soul, which He would have purged, transformed, and transformed to perfection and holiness. CHAPTER X A Sequel of the Same. So that the soul may be the habitation of the Celestial King, it is necessary that it should be pure, and without any blemish; for which reason the Lord purifies it as gold in the furnace of terrible and grievous temptations. It is certain that the soul never loves, nor believes more, than when it is afflicted and baited with such temptations; because those doubts and fears that surround it, whether it believes or not, whether it consents or not, are nothing else but the peculiarity of love. The effects that remain in the soul make this very clear; and commonly these are a loathing of itself, with a most profound acknowledgment of the greatness and omnipotence of God, and a great confidence in the Lord, that He will deliver it from all risk and danger; believing and confessing with far greater vigor of faith, that it is God who gives it strength to bear the torments of these temptations, because it would naturally be impossible, considering the force and violence with which sometimes they attack, to resist one quarter of an hour. You are to know then, that temptation is your great happiness; so that the more it surrounds you, the more you ought to rejoice in peace, instead of being sad, and thank God for the favor. He does favor you. In all those temptations, and odious thoughts, the remedy that works, is to despise them with a stayed neglect, because nothing more afflicts the proud devil, than to see that he is slighted and despised, as are all things else that he suggests to us. And therefore you are to tarry with him, as one that perceives him not, and to possess yourself in your peace without fretting, and without multiplying reasons and answers; seeing nothing is more dangerous than to contest in reasons with him who is ready to deceive you. The saints in arriving at holiness, passed through this doleful valley of temptations; and the greater saints they were, the greater temptations with which they grappled. No, after the saints have attained to holiness and perfection, the Lord allows them to be tempted with brisk temptations, that their crown may be the greater, and that the spirit of vainglory may be checked, or else hindered from entering in them, keeping them in that manner secure, humble, and concerned of their condition. Finally, you are to know, that the greatest temptation is to be without temptation; for which reason you ought to be glad when it assaults you, and with resignation, peace and constancy, resist it. Because if you will serve God, and arrive at the sublime region of internal peace, you must pass through that rugged path of temptation, put on that happy armor, fight in that fierce and cruel war, and in that burning furnace, polish, purge, renew, and purify yourself.
CHAPTER XI Declaring the nature of internal recollection, Internal recollection is faith, and silence in the presence of God. Thus you ought to be accustomed to recollect yourself in His presence, with an affectionate attention, as one that is given up to God, and united unto Him, with reverence, humility and submission, beholding Him in the most inward recess of your own soul, without form, likeness, manner, or figure; in the view and general nature of a living and obscure faith, without any distinction of perfection or attribute. There you are to be with attention, and a sincere regard, with a sedate heedfulness, and full of love towards the same Lord, resigning and delivering yourself up into His hands, to the end He may dispose of you, according to His goodwill and pleasure, without reflecting on yourself; no, or on perfection itself. Here you are to shut up the senses, trusting God with all the care of your welfare, and minding nothing of the affairs of this life. Finally, your faith ought to be pure without representations or likeness, simple without reasonings, and universal without distinctions. The prayer of internal recollection may be well typified by that wrestling which the Holy Scripture say the patriarch Jacob had all night with God, until day broke, and He blessed him. For which reason the soul is to persevere, and wrestle with the difficulties that it will find in internal recollection, without desisting, until the sun of internal light begin to appear, and the Lord give it His blessing. No sooner will you have given yourself up to your Lord in this inward way, but all hell will conspire against you; seeing one single soul inwardly retired to its own presence, makes greater war against the enemy, than a thousand others that walk externally; because the devil takes an infinite interest of an internal soul. In the time of the recollection, peace and resignation of your soul, God will more esteem the various, impertinent, troublesome and ugly thoughts in that you have, than the good purposes, and high sentiments. Know that the effort which you yourself may make to resist thoughts, is an impediment, and will leave your soul in greater anxiety. The best thing that is to be done, is sweetly to despise them, to know your own wretchedness, and peacefully make an offering to God of the trouble. Though you can not get rid of the anguish of thoughts, have no light, comfort, nor spiritual sentiment; yet be not afflicted, neither leave off recollection, because they are the snares of you enemy. Resign yourself at that time with vigor, endure with patience, and persevere in His presence, for while you persevere after that manner, your soul will be internally improved. Do you believe that when you come away from prayer dry, in the same manner as you began, that it is because of your lack of preparation, and that it has done you no good? This is a fallacy; because the fruit of true prayer consists not in enjoying the light, nor in having knowledge of spiritual things, since those may be found in a speculative intellect, without true virtue and perfection; it only consists in enduring with patience, and persevering in faith and silence, believing that you are in the Lord's presence, turning to Him your heart with tranquility and purity of mind. So while you persevere in this manner, you will have the only preparation and disposition which at that time is necessary, and shall reap infinite fruit. War is very usual in this internal recollection, which on the one hand, will deprive you of sensibility, to try, humble and purge you. On the other, invisible enemies will assault you with continual suggestions, to trouble and disquiet you. Nature herself, apparently, will torment you, she being always an enemy to the spirit, which in depriving her of sensible pleasures, remains weak, melancholy, and full of irksomeness, so that all spiritual exercises feel like Hell, particularly in that of prayer: thus it grows extremely impatient to be at an end of it, through the uneasiness of thoughts, the lassitude of body, the attraction of sleep, and you not being able to these curb the senses, every one of which would for its own share follow its own pleasure. Happy are you if you can persevere amidst this martyrdom. That great doctor, and mystical mistress, Saint Teresa, confirms all this by her heavenly doctrine, in the letter she wrote to the Bishop of Osmia, to instruct him how he was to behave himself in prayer, and in the variety of troublesome thoughts, which attack us at that time; where she says, There is a necessity of suffering the trouble of a troop of thoughts, importune imaginations, and the impetuosities of natural notions, not only of the soul, through the dryness and disunion it has, but of the body also, occasioned by the want of submission to the spirit, which it ought to have (8 of her Epistolary). These are called drynesses in spiritual terms, but are very profitable, if they are embraced and suffered with patience. Whoever shall accustom himself to suffer them without fretting, will from that labor draw vast advantage. It is certain, that in recollection the devil frequently charges the soul more fiercely with a battalion of thoughts, to discomfit the quiet of the soul, and alienate it from that most sweet and secure internal conversation, raising horrors, to the end it may quit the effort, reducing it most commonly to such a state, as if it were led forth to a most rigorous torment. The birds, which are the devils, knowing this (said the saint in the above-cited letter), prick and molest the soul with imaginations, troublesome thoughts, and the interruptions which, the devil that time brings in, transporting the thoughts, distracting them from one thing to another, and, after he had done with them, attacking the heart; and it is no small fruit of prayer patiently to suffer these troubles and importunities. That is an offering up of one’s self in a whole burnt sacrifice, that is to say, to be wholly consumed in the fire of temptation, and no part spared. See how this heavenly mistress encourages to suffer and endure thoughts and temptations; because, provided they be not consented to, they double the profit. As many times as you exercise yourself calmly to reject these vain thoughts, so many crowns will the Lord set upon your head; and though it may seem to you that you do nothing, be undeceived; for a good desire, with firmness and steadfastness in prayer, is very pleasing to the Lord. For which reason to be there (concludes the saint), without sensible profit, is not lost time, but of great gain, while one toils without interest, and merely for the glory of God; and though it may seem to be toiling is vain, yet it is not so; but it is as with children who toil and labor under the power of their fathers, although in the evening they did not receive the wages for their day’s work, yet at the year's end they enjoy all. In detail, you can see how the saint confirms our document with her precious doctrine.
CHAPTER XII A Sequel of the Same Matter. God does not loves he who does most, who hears most, nor who shows greatest affection, but rather who suffers most, if he prays with faith and reverence, believing that he is in the Divine presence. The truth is, to take from the soul the prayer of the senses and of nature is a rigorous martyrdom to it; but the Lord rejoices and is glad in the soul’s peace, if the soul is so quiet and resigned. Do not use that time for vocal prayer, because however good it is and holy in itself, yet to use it then is a manifest temptation, by which the enemy pretends that God speaks not to your heart, under pretext that you have not sentiments, and that you lose time. God has no regard to the multitude of words, but to the purity of the intent. His greatest content and glory at that time is to see the soul in silence, desirous, humble, quiet, and resigned. Proceed, persevere, pray, and hold your peace; for where you find not a sentiment, you will find a door by which you may enter into your own nothingness, knowing yourself to be nothing, that you can do nothing; no, and that you don’t even have a single good thought. How many have begun this happy practice of prayer and internal recollection, and have abandoned it, pretending that they felt no pleasure, that they are wasting their time, that their thoughts trouble them, and that manner of prayer is not for them, while they do not find any sentiment of God, nor any ability to reason or discourse; when in fact they might have believed, been silent, and had patience! All this is no more but with ingratitude the seeking of sensible pleasures, allowing themselves to be transported with self-love, seeking themselves, and not God, because they cannot suffer a little pain and dryness, without reflecting on the infinite loss they sustain; when in fact by the least act of reverence towards God, amidst dryness and sterility, they receive an eternal reward. The Lord told the venerable Mother Francesca Lopaz of Valenza, and a religious of the third Order of St. Francia, three things of great light and consequence in order to internal recollection:
The more the soul rejoices in sensible love, the less delight God has in it; on the contrary, the less the soul rejoices in this sensible love, the more God delights in it. And know, that to fix the will on God, restraining thoughts and temptations, with the greatest tranquility possible, is the highest level of praying. I will conclude this chapter by undeceiving you of the vulgar error of those who say, that in this internal recollection, or prayer of rest, the faculties operate not, and that the soul is idle and wholly inactive. This is a manifest fallacy of those who have little experience, because although it operates not by means of the memory, nor by the second operation of the intellect, which is the judgment, nor by the third, which is discourse or reasoning, yet it operates by the first and chief operation of the intellect, which is simple apprehension enlightened by holy faith, and aided by the Divine gifts of the Holy Spirit. And the will is more apt to continue one act than to multiply many; so that as well the act of the intellect, as that of the will, is so simple, imperceptible, and spiritual, that hardly the soul knows them, and far less reflects upon them. CHAPTER XIII What the Soul ought to do in Internal Recollection. You ought to go to prayer, that you may deliver yourself wholly up into the hands of God, with perfect resignation, exerting an act of faith, believing that you are in the Divine presence, afterwards settling in that holy rest. With quietness, silence, and tranquility; and endeavoring for a whole day, a whole year, and your whole life, to continue that first act of meditation, by faith and love. It is not your businesses to multiply these acts, nor to repeat sensible affections, because they hinder the purity of the spiritual and perfect act of the will, while besides that these sweet sentiments are imperfect, (considering the reflection with which they are made, the self-content and external consolation with which they are sought after, the soul being drawn outwards to the external faculties), there is no necessity of renewing them, as the mystical Falcon has excellently expressed it by the following similitude: - If a jewel given to a friend were once put into his hands, it is not necessary to repeat such a donation already made, by daily telling him, "Sir, I give you that jewel," "Sir, I give you that jewel," But to let him keep it, and not take it from him, because provided he take it not, or design not to take it from him, he has surely given it to him. In the same manner, having once dedicated and lovingly resigned yourself to the will of God, there is nothing else for you to do but to continue the same, without repeating new and sensible acts, provided you take not back the jewel you have once given, by committing some notable fault against His Divine will; though you ought still to exercise yourself outwardly in the external works of your calling and state, for in so doing you do the will of God, and walks in continual and virtual oration: He always prays, (said Theophylact), who does good works, nor does he neglect prayer except when he leaves off to be just. You ought then to slight all those sensibilities, so the end your soul may be established, and acquire a habit of internal recollection, which is so effectual, that the resolution only of going to prayer awakens a lively presence of God, which is the preparation to the prayer that is about to be made; or, to say better, is no other than a more efficacious continuation of continual prayer, wherein the meditative person ought to be settled. Oh, how well did the venerable mother of Cantal, the spiritual daughter of St. Francis of Sales, practice this lesson, in whose life are the following words, written to her master: Most dear father, I cannot do any act, it seems to me always that this is the most firm and secure disposition: My spirit in the upper part is in a most simple unity; it is not united, because when it would perform acts of union, (which, it often sets about), it finds difficulty, and clearly perceives that it cannot unite, but be united. The soul would make this union, for the service of Matins, the Holy Mass, preparation for the Communion, and Thanksgiving; and in a word, it would for all things be in that most simple unity of spirit, without reflecting on anything else. To all this the holy father answered with approbation, persuading her to persist, and putting her in mind that the rest of God is in peace. Another time she wrote to the same saint these words: Endeavoring to do some more special acts of my simple intuition, total resignation, and annihilation in God, His Divine goodness rebuked me, and gave me to understand that that proceeded only from the love of myself, and that thereby I offended my soul. How happy and how well applied will your soul be, if, retreating within itself, it there shrink into its own nothing, both in its center and superior part, without minding what it does whether it recollect or not; whether it walk well or ill; if it operate or not; without heeding, thinking, or minding any sensible thing! At that time the intellect believes with a pure act, and the will loves with perfect love, without any kind of impediment, imitating that pure and continued act of intuition and love, which the saints say the blessed in heaven have, with no other difference than that they see one another there face to face, and the soul here through the veil of an obscure faith. Oh, how few are the souls that attain to this perfect way of praying, because they penetrate not enough into this internal recollection and mystical silence, and because they strip not themselves of imperfect reflection and sensible pleasure! Oh, that your soul, without thoughtful advertency, even of itself, might give itself in prayer to that holy and spiritual tranquility, and say with St. Austin, Sileat anima mea, et transeat se, non se cogitando (In his Confess, lib. 8, cap. 1O.) Let it be silent and do nothing, forget itself, and plunge into that obscure faith. How secure and safe would it be, though it might seem to it, that thus inactive and doing nothing, it were undone! I will sum up this doctrine with a letter that the illuminated mother of Cantal wrote to a sister and great servant of God: Divine bounty (said she) granted me this way of prayer that, with a single view of God, I felt myself wholly dedicated to Him, absorbed and reposed in Him. He still continued to me that grace, though I opposed it by my infidelity, giving way to fear, and thinking myself unprofitable in that state, for which cause, being willing to do something on my part, I quite spoiled all; and to this present, find myself sometimes assaulted by the same fear, though not in prayer, but in other exercises wherein I am always willing to employ myself a little, though I know very well that in doing acts I come out of my center, and see particularly that that simple view of God is my only remedy and help still, in all troubles, temptations, and the events of this life. And certainly would I have followed internal impulse, I should have made use of no other means in anything whatever, without exception; because when I think to fortify my soul with arts, reasonings, and resignations, then do I expose myself to new temptations and straits. Besides that, I cannot do it without great violence, which leads me exhausted and dry, so that it behooves me speedily to return to this simple resignation, knowing that God in this manner lets me see that it is His will and pleasure that a total stop should be put to the operation of my soul because He would have all things done by His Own Divine activity; and happily He expects no more of me, but only this view in all spiritual exercises and in all the pains, temptations, and afflictions that may befall me in this life. And the truth is, the quieter I keep my spirit by this means, the better all things succeed with me; and my crosses and afflictions suddenly vanish. Many times has my blessed father, St. Francis of Sales, assured me of this. To this purpose I remember that a few day, since God communicated to me an illumination, which made such an impression upon, me as if I had clearly seen Him; and this it is, that I never look upon myself, but walk with eyes shut, leaning on my beloved, without striving to be or know the way by which He guides me, neither fix my thoughts on anything nor yet beg favors of Him but as undone in myself rest wholly and sincerely upon Him. Thus does that illuminated and mystical mistress credit and authorize our doctrine by her words.
CHAPTER XIV Declaring how the soul, putting itself in the presence You will tell me, (as many souls have told me), that though by a perfect resignation you have put yourself in the presence of God, by means of pure faith, as has been already hinted, yet you do not merit nor improve, because your thoughts are so distracted that you can not be fixed upon God. Be not disconsolate, for you do not lose time nor merit, neither desist you from prayer because it is not necessary that during that whole time of recollection you should actually think on God; it is enough that you have been attentive in the beginning, provided you discontinue not your purpose, nor revoke the actual attention which you had. As he who hears mass, and says the divine office, performs his duly very well, by virtue of that primary actual attention, though afterwards he persevere not, in keeping his thoughts actually fixed on God. This the angelical doctor, St. Thomas, confirms in the following words: That first intention only and thinking on God when one prays has force and value enough to make the prayer during all the rest of time it continues to be true, imperative, and meritorious, though all that while there be no actual contemplation on God (22 qusest, 82 are. 13 ad. 1). See now if the saints could speak more clearly to our purpose! So that, (in the judgment of that Saint), the prayer still continues, though the imagination may ramble upon infinite numbers of thoughts, provided one consent not to it, shift not place, intermit not the prayer, nor change the first intention of being with God. And it is certain that he changes it not, while he does not leave his place; thus it follows in sound doctrine that one may persevere in prayer, though the imagination be carried about with various and involuntary thoughts. He prays in spirit and in truth (says the saint in the before cited place) whoever goes to prayer with, the spirit and intention of praying, though afterwards through misery and frailty his thoughts may struggle. Would it not be impertinent and disrespectful if, being in the presence of a king, you should every now and then say to him, Sir, I believe your Majesty is here! It is the very same thing. By the eye of pure faith the soul sees God, believes in Him, and is in His presence; and so when the soul believes, it has no need to say, My God, you are here; but to believe as it does believe, seeing when prayer time is come, faith and intention guide and conduct it to contemplate God by means of pure faith and perfect resignation. So that, as long as you do not retract that faith and intention of being resigned, you always walk in faith and resignation, and consequently in prayer, and in virtual and acquired meditation, although you perceive it not, remember it not, neither exert new acts and reflections thereon; after the example of a Christian, a wife, and a monk, who, though they exert us new acts and remembrances, the one as to his profession, saying, I am a monk, the other as to her matrimony, saying, I am a wife, and the third as to his baptism, saying, I am a Christian. All three do not cease for all that from being, the one baptized, the other married, and the third professed. The Christian shall only be obliged to do good works in confirmation of his faith, and to believe more with the heart than with the mouth. The wife ought to give demonstrations of the fidelity which she promised to her husband, and the monk of the obedience which he made profession of to his superior. In the same manner, the inward soul being once resolved to believe that God is in it, and that it will not desire nor act anything but through God, ought to rest satisfied in that faith and intention in all its works and exercises, without forming or repeating new acts of the same faith, or of such a resignation.
CHAPTER XV A Sequel of the same Matter. THIS true doctrine serves not only for the time of prayer, but also after it is over, by night and by day, at all hours, and in all the daily functions of your calling, your duty and condition. And if you tell me, that many times you forget during a whole day to renew your resignation, I answer, that though it seem to you that you are diverted from it, by attending the daily occupations of your vocation, as studying, reading, preaching, eating, drinking, doing business, and the like, you are mistaken; for the one destroys not the other, nor by so doing do you neglect to do the will of God, nor to proceed in virtual prayer, as St. Thomas says. Because these occupations are not contrary to His will, nor contrary to your resignation; it being certain that God would have you to eat, study, take pains, do business, etc. So that to perform these exercises, which are conformed to His will and pleasure, you depart not out of His presence, nor from your own resignation. But if in prayer, or out of it, you should willingly be diverted or distracted, suffering yourself deliberately to be transported into any passion, then it will be good for you to revert to God, and return into His Divine presence, renewing the purest acts of faith and resignation. However it is not necessary to exert those acts, when you find yourself in dryness, because dryness is good and holy, and cannot, how severe so ever it be, take from the soul the Divine presence, which is established in faith. You ought never to call dryness distraction, because in beginners it is want of sensibility, and in proficient abstractedness, by means whereof, if you bear it out with constancy, resting quiet in your own emptiness, your soul will become more and more inward, and the Lord will work wonders in it. Strive then when you come from prayer, to the end you may return to it again, not to be distracted, nor diverted, but to carry yourself with a total resignation to the Divine will; that God may do with you and all your according to His heavenly pleasure, relying on Him as on a kind and loving father. Never recall that intention, and though you should be taken up about the affairs of the condition wherein God has placed you, yet you will still be in prayer in the presence of God, and in perpetual acts of resignation. Therefore St. John Chrysostom said, A just man leaves not off to pray unless he leaves off to be just. He always prays who always does well; the good desire is prayer, and if the desire be continued, so is also the prayer. (Super 5, ad Thessolon.) You will understand all that has been said by this clear example: When a man begins a journey to Rome, every step he makes in the progress is voluntary; and nevertheless it is not necessary that at every step he shall express his desire, or exert a new act of the will, saying, I am going to Rome, I go to Rome; because by virtue of that first intention he had of traveling to Rome, the same will still remains in him; so he goes on without saying so, though he does not without intending so; you will clearly find, besides, that this traveler, with one single and explicit act of the will and intention, travels, speaks, hear, sees, reasons, eats, drinks, and does several other things, without any interruption to his first intention, nor yet of his actual journeying to Rome. It is just so in the meditative soul. A man having once made the resolution of doing the will of God, and of being in His presence, he still perseveres in that act, so long as he recalls not the same, although he be taken up in hearing, speaking, eating, or in any other external good work or function of his calling and quality. St. Thomas Aquinas expressed all this in few words: Non enim oportet quod qui propter Deum aliquod iter arripuit, in qualibet parte itineris de Deo cogitet actu (Contra Gentiles, 1. 3, c. 138, un. 2). You will say that all Christians walk in this exercise, because all have faith, and may, although they be not internal, fulfill this doctrine, especially such as go in the external way of contemplation and reasoning. It is true, all Christians have faith, and more particularly they who think and consider. But the faith of those who advance by the inward way is much different, because it is a lively faith, universal and indistinct, and by consequence more practical, active, effectual, and illuminated; insomuch as the Holy Ghost enlightens the soul that is best disposed most; and that soul is always best disposed which holds the mind recollected; for proportionally to the recollection the Holy Ghost illuminates. And albeit it be true that God communicates some light in contemplation, yet it is so scanty and different from that which He communicates to the mind, recollected in a pure and universal faith, that the one to the other is no more than like two or three drops of water in respect of an ocean: since in contemplation two or three particular truths are communicated to the soul; but in the internal recollection, and the exercise of a pure and universal faith, the wisdom of God is an abundant ocean which is communicated in that obscure, simple, general, and universal knowledge. In like manner resignation is more perfect in these souls, because it springs from the internal and infused fortitude, which grows as the internal exercise of pure faith, with silence and resignation, is continued; in the manner that the gifts of God's Spirit grow in meditative souls. For though these Divine gifts are to be found in all those that are in a state of grace; nevertheless they are as it were dead, without strength, and in a manner infinitely different from those which reign. In contemplative persons, by reason of their illustration, vivacity, and efficacy. All who are persuaded that the inward soul, accustomed to go daily at certain hours to prayer, with the faith and resignation I have mentioned to you, walk continually in the presence of God. All holy, expert, and mystical masters teach this true and important doctrine, because they have all had one and the same Master, who is the Holy Ghost.
CHAPTER XVI A way by which one may enter into internal recollection, THERE are two sorts of spiritual men, diametrically contrary to one another. The one says: that the mysteries of the Passion of Christ are always to be considered and thought upon. The others, running to the opposite extreme, teach: that the contemplation of the mysteries of the Life, Passion, and Death of our Saviour is not prayer, or even a remembrance of them; but the exalted elevation to God, whose Divinity contemplates the soul in quiet and silence, ought only to be called prayer. It is certain that our Lord Christ is the Guide, the Door, and the Way; as He Himself has said in His own Words, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, (John 14:6). And before the soul can be fit to enter into the presence of the Divinity, and to be united with it, it is to be washed with the precious Blood of a Redeemer, and adorned with the rich robes of His Passion. Our Lord Christ with His doctrine and example is the Mirror, the Guide of the soul, the Way, and the only Door by which we enter into those pastures of life eternal, and into the vast ocean of the Divinity. Thus it follows that the remembrance of the Passion and Death of our Saviour ought not wholly to be blotted out; no, it is also certain, that whatever high elevation of mind the soul may be raised to, it ought not in all things to separate from the most holy humanity. But then it follows not from thus neither that the soul accustomed to internal recollection, that can no longer reason, should always be contemplating on, and considering, (as the other spiritualists say), the most holy mysteries of our saviour. It is holy and good to contemplation; and would to God that all men of this world practiced it! And the soul besides, with facility, ought to be let alone in that state, and not pushed on to another higher, so long as in that of contemplation it finds nourishment and profit. It belongs to God alone, and not to the spiritual guide, to promote the soul from contemplation to meditation; because if God, through His special grace, does not call the soul to this state of prayer, a spiritual guide can do nothing with all his wisdom and instructions. To take a secure means then, and to avoid those two so contrary extremes, of not wholly blotting out the remembrance of the humanity, and of not having it continually before our eyes, we ought to suppose that there are two ways of attending the holy humanity, by which one may enter at the divine port, which is Christ our well-being. The first is by considering the mysteries, and contemplating the actions of the Life, Passion, and Death of our Saviour. The second by thinking on Him, by the application of the intellect, pure faith, or memory. When the soul proceeds, in perfecting and internalizing itself, by means of internal recollection, having for some time contemplated on the mysteries of which it has been already informed, then it retains faith and love to the Word Incarnate, being ready for His sake to do whatever He inspires into it, walking according to His precepts, though they be not always before its eyes. As if it should be said to a son that he ought never to forsake his father, they intend not thereby to oblige him to have his father always in sight, but only to have him always in his memory, that in time and place he may be ready to his duty. The soul then that is entered into internal recollection, with the opinion and approbation of an expert guide, has no need to enter by the first door of contemplation on the mysteries, being always taken up in contemplating upon them, because that is not to be done without great fatigue to the intellect; nor does it stand in need of such contemplations, since these serve only as a means to attain to believing that of which it has already obtained the possession. The most noble, spiritual, and proper way for souls that are proficients in internal recollection to enter by the humanity of Christ our Lord, and entertain a remembrance of Him, is the second way; eying that humanity, and the passion thereof, by a simple act of faith, looking and reflecting on the same as the Tabernacle of the Divinity, the beginning and end of our salvation, Jesus Christ. Having been born, suffered, and died a shameful death for our sakes. [Just to think on his name, or to think on Christ within us is sufficient, for either recalls his death, resurrection, the cross, the hope, his teachings, priorities, etc.] This is the way that makes internal souls profit, and this holy, pious, swift, and instantaneous fee remembrance of the humanity can be no obstacle to them in the course of internal recollection, unless, if when the soul enters into prayer, it finds itself drawn back; for then it will be better to continue recollection and mental exercise. But not finding itself drawn back, the simple and swift remembrance of the humanity of the Divine Word gives no impediment to the highest and most elevated, the most abstracted and transformed soul. This is the way that Santa Teresa recommends to the meditative, rejecting the tumultuous opinions of some school men. This is the straight and safe way, free from dangers, which the Lord has taught to many souls, for attaining to rest and the holy tranquility of meditation. Let the soul then, when it enters into recollection, place itself at the gate of Divine mercy, which is the amiable and sweet remembrance of the Cross and Passion of the Word that was made man, and died for love; let it stand there with humility, resigned to the will of God, in whatever it pleases the Divine Majesty to do with it; and if from that holy and sweet remembrance it soon falls into forgetfulness, there is no necessity of making a new repetition, but to continue silent and quiet in the presence of the Lord. Wonderfully does St. Paul favour this our doctrine in the epistle which he wrote to the Colossians, wherein he exhorts them and us, that whether we eat, drink, or do anything else, we should do it in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ. God grant that we may all begin by Jesus Christ, and that in Him and by Him alone we may arrive at perfection.
CHAPTER XVII Of Internal and Mystical Silence. THERE are three kinds of silence; the first is of words, the second of desires, and the third of thoughts. The first is perfect; the second more perfect; and the third most perfect. In the first, that is, of words, virtue is acquired; in the second, to wit, of desires, quietness is attained to; in the third, of thoughts, internal recollection is gained. By not speaking, nor desiring, and not thinking, one arrives at the true and perfect mystical silence, wherein God speaks with the soul, communicates Himself to it, and in the abyss of its own depth teaches it the most perfect and exalted wisdom. He calls and guides it to this inward solitude and mystical silence, when He says that He will speak to it alone, in the most secret and hidden part of the heart. You are to keep yourself in this mystical silence if you would hear the sweet and divine voice. It is not enough for gaining this treasure to forsake the world, nor to renounce your own desires, and all things created, if you wean not yourself from all desires and all things created; if you wean not yourself from all desires and thoughts. Rest in this mystical silence, and open the door, that so God may communicate Himself unto you, unite with you, and then form you into Himself. The perfection of the soul consists not in speaking, nor in thinking much on God, but in loving Him sufficiently. This love is attained to by means of perfect resignation and internal silence; all consists in works. The love of God has but few words. Thus St. John the Evangelist confirms and inculcates it: My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:18). You are clearly convinced now that perfect love consists not in amorous acts, nor tender short prayers, nor yet in the internal acts, wherein you tell God that you have an infinite love for Him, and you love Him more than yourself. It may be that at that time you seek more yourself, and the love of yourself, than the true love of God, because love consists in works and not in fair discourse. That a rational creature may understand the secret desire and intention of your heart, there is a necessity that you should express it to him in words. But God, who searches the heart, stands not in need that you should make profession, and assure Him of it; nor does He rest satisfied, as the evangelist says, with love in word nor in tongue, but with that which is true and in deed. What avails it to tell Him, with great zeal and fervor, that you tenderly and perfectly love Him above all things, if at one bitter word or slight injury you do not resign yourself, nor are mortified for the love of Him? - This being a manifest proof that your love was a love in tongue, and not in deed. Strive to be resigned in all things with silence, and in so doing, without saying that you love Him, you will attain to the most perfect, quiet, and effectual and true love. St. Peter most affectionately told the Lord, that for His sake he was ready willingly to lay down his life; but at the word of a young damsel he denied Him, and there was an end of his zeal. Mary Magdalene said not a word, and yet the Lord Himself, taken with her perfect love, became her eulogy of praise saying that she had loved much. It is internally, then, that with dumb silence the most perfect virtues of faith, hope, and charity are practiced, without any necessity of telling God that you love Him, hope and believe in Him; because the Lord knows better than you do what the internal motions of your heart are. How well was that pure act of love understood and practiced by that profound and great mystic, the venerable Gregory Lopez, whose whole life was a continual prayer and a continued act of meditation, and of so pure and spiritual a love of God, that it never gave way to affections and sensible sentiments! Having for the space of three years continued that short utterance, Your will be done in time and in eternity, repeating it as often as he breathed, God Almighty discovered to him that infinite treasure of the pure and continued act of faith and love, with silence and resignation; so that he came to say, that during the thirty-six years he lived after, he always continued, in his inward man, that pure act of love, without ever uttering the least petition, short utterance of prayer, or anything that was sensible or sprung from nature. Oh Incarnate Seraph and Deified Man! How well did you know how to dive into that internal and mystical silence, and to distinguish between the outward and inward man! POSTSCRIPT The Substance of several Letters sent from Italy IN the year 1676, this book was first published, with five approbations before it. One was by the Archbishop of Rheggio; another was by the General of the Franciscans, who was likewise one of the Qualificators of the Inquisition; another was by Father Martin de Esparsa, a Jesuit, that had been Divinity Professor both at Salamanca and at Rome, and was at that time a Qualificator of the Inquisition. As for the rest, I refer you to the book itself. The book was no sooner printed than it was much read, and highly esteemed, both in Italy and Spain. It was considered as a book written with much clearness and great simplicity; and this so raised the reputation of the author that his acquaintance came to be generally much desired. Those who were in the greatest credit in Rome seemed to value themselves upon his friendship. Letters were written to him from all places; so that a correspondence was settled between him and those who approved of his method in many different places of Europe. Some secular priests, both at Rome and Naples, declared themselves openly for it, and consulted him as a sort of an oracle upon many occasions. But those who joined themselves to him with the greatest heartiness and sincerity were some of the Fathers of the Oratory; in particular, three of the most eminent of them, who were all advanced at the last promotion of Cardinals, Coleredi, Giceri, but above all Petrucci, who was accounted his Timothy. Many of the Cardinals were also observed to court his acquaintance, and they thought it no small honour to be reckoned in the number of Molinos' friends. Such were Cassanta, Azolini, and Carpegna; but above all, Cardinal de Estrees. The last, you must needs know, is a man of great learning. He was ambitious to be thought a reformer of some of those abuses which are among them, that are too gross to pass upon a man of his freedom of spirit, who had been bred up in the Sorbon, and had conversed much with Mr. de LauNo. He therefore seemed the most zealous of all others to advance Molinos' design; so that he entered into a very close commerce with him. They were often and long together; and notwithstanding all the distrust that a Spaniard has naturally of a Frenchman, and that all men have of one another, who have lived long at Rome, yet Molinos, who was sincere and plain-hearted, opened himself without reserve to the Cardinal; and by his means a correspondence was settled between Molinos and some in France; for though the spirits of those of that nation go generally too quick for a way of devotion that was settled and silent, yet some very strongly inclined to favour it even there. Perhaps it might be considered as a method more like to gain upon Protestants, and to facilitate the design of the reunion that was so long talked of there. All these things concurred to raise Molinos' character, and to render his person considerable. When the Pope that now reigns was advanced to the throne, which was, you know, in the year 1676, he took most particular notice of him, and made it visibly apparent that even in all that exaltation he thought it might contribute to raise his character if he were considered as a friend of Molinos and an encourager of his design; for he lodged him in an apartment of the palace, and put many singular marks of his esteem on him. This made him become still the more conspicuous, when he had the advantage of favour joined to his qualities; though he neither seemed to be fond of it, nor lifted up with it. His conversation was much desired; and many priests came not only to form themselves according to his method, but to dispose all their penitents to follow it; and it grew to be so much in vogue in Rome that all the nuns, except those who had Jesuits to their Confessors, began to lay aside their rosaries and other devotions, and to give themselves much to the practice of mental prayer. This way had more credit given to it by the translation of a French book that was written upon the same subject, which Cardinal de Estrees ordered to be made. It was written in the form of a dialogue, and was printed in France in the year 1669, by the approbation of some doctors of the Sorbon. I am able to give no other account of the author but that in the Italian translation he is called Francis Malevella, a blind clergyman. The book, being chiefly formed upon the model of St. Teresa, the translation of it was dedicated to the Discalcerate Carmelites of her order. This did not contribute a little for raising the credit of Molinos' method, since it appeared to be approved both in Italy, France, and Spain. At the same time Father Petrucci wrote a great many letters and treatises relating to a contemplative state; yet he mixed in many of them so many rules relating to the devotions of the choir that there was less occasion given for censure in his writings. They are a little too tedious; but they were written chiefly for nuns and others, who perhaps could not have apprehended his meaning aright if he had expressed himself in a closer style, and in fewer words. But the Jesuits and the Dominicans began to be alarmed at the progress of Quietism. They saw clearly that their trade was in a decay, and must decay still more and more, if some stop was not put to the progress of this new method. In order to this, it was necessary to decry the authors of it; and because, of all the imputations in the world, heresy is that which makes the greatest impression at Rome, Molinos and his followers were given out to be heretics. It being also necessary to fasten a particular name to every new heresy, they branded this with the name of Quietism. Books were also written by some Jesuits against Molinos and his method, in which there appeared much of that sourness and malignity that is thought to be peculiar to that society; they were also written with their usual candor and sincerity. One of the Fathers, Segueri, took a more dexterous method to decry it. He began his book, magnifying the contemplative state highly as superior to all others, and blaming those who had said anything that seemed to detract from it; yet he corrected all this by saying, That few were capable of it, and that none ought to pretend to it but those who were called by God to so sublime state. And by this he seemed only to censure the indiscretion of those spiritual guides, who proposed this way of devotion to all persons, without distinction. He also believed that such as were at sometime called to it could not remain long in so high a state, to which God called men rather for some happy minutes than for a longer continuance; therefore he thought that such persons as were raised to it ought not to fancy that they were now got so far above all their former helps as never to need them any more; so he proposed to them the accustoming themselves still to contemplation, and to support themselves by that when they could not meditate. He censured severely some of Molinos' expressions, such as that, He who had God had Christ, as if this were an abandoning of Christ's humanity. He also insisted much on that of a fixed looking on God, and the suspending of all the powers of the soul; but that on which he insisted most was that Molinos, (whom he never named, though he cited his words, and described him very plainly), made the quiet of meditation to be a state to which a man could raise himself. When in fact he maintains, that in the quiet the soul is passive, and, as it were, in a rapture; and that she could not raise herself to it, but that it was an immediate and extraordinary favor, which was only to be expected from God, and which an humble mind could not so much as ask of Him. These disputes raised so much noise in Rome that the Inquisition took notice of the whole matter. Molinos and his book, and Father Petrucci's treatises and letters, were brought under a second and severe examination; and here the Jesuits were considered as the accusers. It is true one of the Society, as was formerly told, had approved Molinos' book; but they took care that he should be no more seen at Rome; for he was sent away, and it is not known where. It is generally believed that he is shut up within four walls; but what truth so ever may be in that, he is no more visible, so careful are they to have all their Order speak the same language; and if any speak in a different style from the rest, they at least take care that he shall speak no more; yet in this examination that was made both Molinos and Petrucci justified themselves so well, that their books were again approved, and the answer which the Jesuits had written was censured as scandalous. And in this matter Petrucci behaved himself so signally well that it raised not only the credit of th |
